Date: Jun 13, 2017 10:45 Subject: From Fatima hoping to hear from you soon Cc: From Fatima hoping to hear from you soon. Thanks for the contact It gives me great pleasure to speak with you again in this medium of communication, How was your day? Mine was hot over here. My name is ( Fatima Abdel )(24)years, single and never married, i am from Libya in North Africa,Attached here is my picture but presently i am residing in the refugee camp here in Dakar Senegal as a result of war that was fought in my country.i have decided to have a very good and close relationship with you, am a social type i like cooking and singing, i use my free time to read or watch movies, i like men of integrity who there yes is yes that can not betray and i hate pretender an car-words.I would like to know more about you. Your likes and dislikes,your hobbies and what you are doing presently. I am the only survival child of my parents.My late father MAJOR GENERAL, (ABDEL FATTAH YOUNES).He also held the post of Minister of Interior, but resigned to defect the rebel in Libyan civil war. My father was killed by members of an anti-Gaddafi military When rebels anti-Gaddafi military troupe attacked our house one early morning killing my parents. while i was living in school, I lost every thing including some of my close relatives during the war .I was able to ran to this country where i am staying now with the help of United nation peace keeping team that came to my country.Now i am in Senegal seeking asylum under the united nation high commission. I do not have my freedom here to help my self, I am just like someone staying in a prison, Hunger and lack, I can not take care of my self as a girl, I cries every day and night for what i am passing through here.I will like to hear your voice.Now i have something that i want to disclose to you which i will like you to keep only to your self ,I have my late father,s statement of account document in one of the leading banks where he deposited some huge amount of money with my name as his next of kin,I have contacted the bank recently to know how i can access the money in order to help my self out from here.But the bank advised me to look for someone to represent me to transfer the money to his or her position,because my present status as a refugee does not permit them to deal directly with me.With the regard of the information i had from the bank, I decided to tell someone about it which led me to fasting and prayer for a trustworthy person that can help me to transfer the money.Darling this is the main reason , i have decided to contact you after my prayer and became convinced in my heart to tell you about this.I will like you to help me to contact the bank and transfer the money into your account so that you will help me and send small of it to me so i can use it and process my traveling document and join you in your country and continue my education, I will be happy to offer you 5% of the total money for your assistance in doing this for me. The money in question is ($ 7.3 M) ( seven Million three Hundred Thousand American dollars) which has my name as his next of kin.For your own information, i want you to view this news information about the killing of my late Father story through BBC WORLD NEWS google it outhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/w orld-africa-14336122 keep it to yourself as secret and don' t tell it to anyone because i am afraid of loosing my life and the money if people gets to know about it.You can call to speak with me through the general camp telephone, the person in the office is a Catholic Reverend Father, His name is Rev John Bonky, I have already explain things between me and you to him and he accepts me to be receiving your call through him, and can also use his computer to write you always, Here is the phone number( + 221775716433), Any time you calls, tell him that you want to speak with Fatima from Libya section ,he will invite me to his office to answer your call, i will come back to th.e Rev father computer to cheek your reply. Yours faithfully in need Fatima From: fatima Abdel < fabdel607@gmail.com >Date: Jun 13, 2017 10:45Subject: From Fatima hoping to hear from you soonCc: Date: Jun 13, 2017 19:23 Subject: HOW DO YOU WANT TO HELP ME MY BELOVED Cc: Hello Dearest, Greetings to you, I have received your mail with happiness and will be the most happy one if you can help me out from this suffering, actually i have suffered in this place , I have read and could understand the content of your mail but i will like you to help me out in the area of transferring my late Father' s fund in the bank which is my inheritance, because it is the money that can help us to get me out of this place as i will need some of the money when the bank transfer it to your position which i will use to process my traveling documents to join you over to continue my education, so my plans are if you can help me to contact the bank in Scotland and inform them that you are my representative that you want them to inform you about the possibilities of transferring the fund to your account as they have demanded so that you can help me out of the Refugee camp to join you over for the fact that my Refugee status does not permit me in transferring the money by myself, that you want to represent me in doing that . Then when you contact them, we will wait for their response to know the way forward, as you know dear, If you wants to help me to come out from here without getting the fund transfer, it may be little difficult because it requires money which i did not have at the moment, unless if you are willing to help me financially to process my traveling document, Then we can finish the transfer process when i come over to your country,or if it will be possible for you to come down here so that you can see me face to face before any thing i will be more happy if you can do that for me, About your question Thanks for asking my dear I was studying English language in Tripoli International School (TIS) Address: Fallah-Swani Road / P.O. Box: 6456 Tripoli, Libya. Now i will be waiting for your response to know what you suggest, if it is to go for the transfer, then i will give you the bank contact immediately for you to contact them and will also write to the bank about you,or if you choose to come down here then you can phone the reverend that is in charge of this section so that he can organize how you will come to meet me here, Your quick response is very importance to me which will determine the way forward to us,And i will also need your contact information' s, (1) your full name (2) phone number ( 3) house address (4) occupation and your photos, only person that knows about this is the Reverend father because he is like a father to me and i will like you also to keep this to yourself because i don' t want people to know about this because of my life . So in the above information i will like you to keep it to yourself and don' t tell it to anyone for i am afraid of loosing my life and the money if people gets to know about it . Remember i am giving you all these information because of the trust i have on you . I like honest , understanding and God fearing people , truthful and a person of vision and hardworking person, i waited for your call from the phone number i gave to you. thanks and God bless you. Yours lovely in need Fatima. From: fatima Abdel < fabdel607@gmail.com >Date: Jun 13, 2017 19:23Subject: HOW DO YOU WANT TO HELP ME MY BELOVEDCc: Date: Jun 14, 2017 16:24 Subject: Darling Please write to the bank for more verification Cc: Compliment of the beautiful day dearest one. I am hoping that you are having a wonderful and nice moment over there in your country. Love, i have written a letter of authorization to the bank which i believed that they received it. i introduced you to the bank as my foreign trustee partner so you are now free to contact them Write to the bank through their e-mail address and tell them that you are my foreign trustee partner and you want to know the possibility of assisting me to transfer the fund to your bank account, Once you hear from the bank, please do let me know ok. STATED BELOW IS THE CONTACT ADDRESS OF THE BANK. ROYAL BANK Plc Bankcentre, Merrion Rd, Dublin 4, Ireland. Tel: + 353 1771 24 24 Email:( royalbank_ custormercare1 @ aol.com THE ACCOUNT INFORMATION IS AS FOLLOW: Account Deposit Number: AIB91090176155 Depositor ' s Name:Abdel Fattah Younes Next of Kin: Miss. Fatima Abdel. Amount: $7.3M (Seven Million Three Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) You have to send an email to the Bank to enable them start up the process of releasing the funds to you as i am not allowed directly to claim the money but through an appointed representative as the united refugee law governing refugee all over the world stated. Thanks for this great help, i am waiting to hear good news from you. BELOW IS THE MAIL WHICH YOU WILL COPY AND SEND TO BANK The Management, ROYAL BANK Plc Bankcentre, Merrion Rd, Dublin 4, Ireland. Tel: + 353 1771 24 24 Email: Info.royalbank_custormercare1 @ aol.com Sir, SEND THIS LETTER TO THE BANK The information' s about the money. Account Deposit Number: AIB91090176155 ACCOUNT NAME. . (Abdel Fattah Younes ) AMOUNT DEPOSITED. . US$ 7,300.000.00 NEXT OF KIN. . MISS. Fatima Abdel. Fill this message and send it to the bank ok. Hello Sir My name is . . . . . . . . . . , my address, . . . . . . , my occupation,. . . . . . . . . phone number, . . . . . . ., I am writing to you in respect of the information passed across to me by Miss. Fatima Abdel Fattah Younes, who is presently in Senegal Refugee camp as a result of untimely death of her parents. I have been informed by her to contact you on her behalf. Reason, her late father (Abdel Fattah Younes,) deposited an amount of $7.3 Million USD with her name as next of kin in your Bank. I am here requesting you to inform me about the possibility of transferring this fund into my personal account in other to get her out from the refugee camp to join me in my country to continue her education and live investments. I will appreciate your prompt respond regarding this information. Thanks, From - - - - - From: fatima Abdel < fabdel607@gmail.com >Date: Jun 14, 2017 16:24Subject: Darling Please write to the bank for more verificationCc: Date: Jun 15, 2017 11:16 Subject: BELOW IS THE MAIL WHICH YOU WILL COPY AND SEND TO BANK Cc: Sir, SEND THIS LETTER TO THE BANK The information' s about the money. Account Deposit Number: AIB91090176155 ACCOUNT NAME. . (Abdel Fattah Younes ) AMOUNT DEPOSITED. . US$ 7,300.000.00 NEXT OF KIN. . MISS. Fatima Abdel. Fill this message and send it to the bank ok. Hello Sir My name is . . . . . . . . . . , my address, . . . . . . , my occupation,. . . . . . . . . phone number, . . . . . . ., I am writing to you in respect of the information passed across to me by Miss. Fatima Abdel Fattah Younes, who is presently in Senegal Refugee camp as a result of untimely death of her parents. I have been informed by her to contact you on her behalf. Reason, her late father (Abdel Fattah Younes,) deposited an amount of $7.3 Million USD with her name as next of kin in your Bank. I am here requesting you to inform me about the possibility of transferring this fund into my personal account in other to get her out from the refugee camp to join me in my country to continue her education and live investments. I will appreciate your prompt respond regarding this information. Thanks, From - - - - - From: fatima Abdel < fabdel607@gmail.com >Date: Jun 15, 2017 11:16Subject: BELOW IS THE MAIL WHICH YOU WILL COPY AND SEND TO BANKCc: Date: Jun 16, 2017 10:06 Subject: OUR OFFICIAL RESPONSE Cc: KIND ATTENTION: C/O MISS FATIMA ABDEL FATTAH YOUNES. RE-YOUR INQUIRY ON ACCOUNT REFERENCE DEPOSIT NUMBER: AIB91090176155 Reference to the letter we received from you and Miss, Fatima Abdel Fattah Youne informing us her decision to appoint you as her trustee in regard to the fund deposited by her late father Abdel Fattah Younes, in regard to this am directed by the director of Foreign Operation/Wire Transfer to write you in respect to herletter as the next of kin Miss, Fatima Abdel Fattah Younes. Actually, we earlier informed her to look for a trustee due to her being a refugee. we have been informed about you by the young lady Miss,Fatima Abdel Fattah Younes who is the next of kin to her late father' s fund deposit in our bank here that she wishes you to be her trustee/representative for the claim of her late father' s deposit with our bank. Her late father Abdel Fattah Younesis one of our late customers with account no. AIB91090176155 substantial amount ($7,300,000.00 US) of deposit with us. Hence you have been really appointed as a trustee to represent the next of Kin, however before our bank will transact any business concerning the transfer of the fund into your bank, it is mandatory we observe the policy which is in accordance with article 34B; subsection 132 of the International monetary Regulations as amended in the 1996 constitution and thereby we will like you to send the followings immediately to our bank for verification of authentication: 1. A power of attorney permitting you to claim and transfer the funds to your bank account on her behalf. Note : This Power of attorney must be endorsed by a Senegalese resident lawyer since the money originated from there in Africa and the young lady is currently residing in Senegal. 2. The death certificate of Her deceased father confirming his death. 3. A copy of fund deposit certificate issued to her deceased father by our bank. 4. An Affidavit of support from Senegalese high court there in Senegal. Note : The above are compulsory and are needed to protect our interest, yours and the next of kin after the transfer has been made and these shall also ensure that a smooth, quick and successful transfer of the fund is made within 72 hoursfrom when we receive the above mentioned document. Also be rest assured that our bank would carryout the transfer as directed by you to ensure a transfer free in volumes of your choice until the total amount is completely transferred successfully into your account but if you choose the transfer to be made once it all depend on your direction.It is our obligation to ensure that our customers are treated with utmost respect and regard and for more information/s please contact the director of credit administration dept. through this e-mail address for more clarifications. YOURS FAITHFULLY, MR. MARK BOURKE. ( CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER/EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.) From: Royalbank Custormercare < royalbank_custormercare1@aol.com >Date: Jun 16, 2017 10:06Subject: OUR OFFICIAL RESPONSECc: Date: Jun 16, 2017 11:20 Subject: Darling please contact this lawyer for help Cc: Good Afternoon My Dear ! By the special grace of God i hope you are doing great over there? As for me here our good lord has been taking care of us despite the situation here in the camp, honestly i am so happy going through your mail today and i appreciate your cares and concern you have shown to me all this little period of knowing you. I am very happy reading from you once again. My dear, i also received the respond from the bank to you which was forwarded ( Cc ) to me and i have carefully read the bank email which contain requirement needed before this transfer can be made, and i am very happy because very soon the money will be transfer to your bank account for me to come and join you over there in your country. Like i told you before, i have with me the Deposit of account of my late father and the Death certificate presently, but we are having a little problem which is the POWER OF ATTORNEY and AFFIDAVIT OF OATH which the bank said it must to be prepared by a Senegalese lawyer. My dear, i don' t know any lawyer here because i am living in the camp and that makes me worry a lot. But as God may have it, the reverend father was able to get one of the best lawyers here to get the remaining two documents for us. He invited the lawyer to his office some minutes ago and i show the mail from the bank to him. And the lawyer said he understand all the procedures and how to get the documents for us. The lawyer said that i should tell you to contact him personally because he will need some of your personal information to prepare the POWER OF ATTORNEY and AFFIDAVIT OF OATH as you are my trustee, that is why am giving you his contact information' s for you to contact him now and know the type of your information' s he may need from you ok. Bellow is the contact of the lawyer that will help us to get the documents. PAT LAW CHAMBERS Name: Barr Patrick Harry Private telephone: :+ 221708121473 E-mail: chamberpatlaw @ yahoo.com Office address: 45, Boulevard de la republique Dakar Senegal. My dear, i will be waiting to hear from you the response from the lawyer, and please try to call him on phone so that he will know our seriousness ok at the same time send also an email to him. Thank you for your concern, always put me in your daily prayers. My Best Regard to you. Yours in need. From: fatima Abdel < fabdel607@gmail.com >Date: Jun 16, 2017 11:20Subject: Darling please contact this lawyer for helpCc: Date: Jun 17, 2017 09:28 Subject: THANKS FOR ALL YOU EFFORT Cc: Darling! I have seen your efforts towards an unknown orphan like me and i pray that as you have decided to bring me out of this camp God will bring you out of any pain you have in your life, i will respect and love you till death if only your efforts will bring me out of this camp alive. I want to let you know that i have nothing more to say now until we see face to face alive. God sent you to be my savior and the same God is sending me to be a Blessing in your life, nothing happen by accident or chance in this world, i believe that the heart belongs to God and He direct it to wherever he wishes, He has directed our hearts to click together and i know it is His Will, My dear, please try to inform me any discussion you have with the Lawyer.and try to email him ( chamberpatlaw @ yahoo.com Hoping to hear from you again, Yours lovely, From: fatima Abdel < fabdel607@gmail.com >Date: Jun 17, 2017 09:28Subject: THANKS FOR ALL YOU EFFORTCc: Date: Jun 17, 2017 18:12 Subject: INFORMATION NEEDED you can get me with this line(+221707045073 Cc: PATLAWCHAMBERSCONSULTANTS SOLICITORS AND ADVOCATES. 45, BOULEVARD DE LA REPUBLIQUE DAKAR SENEGAL. WEL COME TO UNITED NATION REPRESENTATIVE FOR HUMAN RIGHT IN SENEGAL. ATTN: LIEU WITH MY DISCUSSION WITH YOUR PARTNER AND REV. FATHER JOHN BONKY, ON HOW TO GET A LETTER OF AFFIDAVIT AND PREPARATION OF POWER OF AN ATTORNEY FOR YOU AND YOUR PARTNER THAT WILL GIVE YOU A LEGAL SUPPORT TO STAND ON HER BEHALF AS HER PARTNER/TRUSTEE IN TRANSFERRING HER LATE FATHER' S FUND DEPOSITED IN THE BANK INTO YOUR BANK ACCOUNT. MY NOBLE LAW FIRM WISHES TO INFORM YOU THAT BEFORE WE WOULD PROCEED WITH THIS SERVICES, WE WILL WANT YOU TO FORWARD TO THIS LAW FIRM IMMEDIATELY YOUR FULL CONTACT DETAILS SUCH AS. (1) YOUR FULL NAME: (2) DATE OF BIRTH: (3) ADDRESS: (4) NATIONALITY/ CITY : (5) OCCUPATION: (6) PHONE NUMBER: (7)YOUR INTERNATIONAL PASSPORT OR ANY IDENTITY CARD NUMBER: AS YOU WOULD WANT IT TO APPEAR ON THE POWER OF ATTORNEY. MY INQUIRY FROM THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT OF SENEGAL. AFTER MEETING WITH REV JOHN AND THE YOUNG LADY. THEN WE WILL GET THE COST AND GET BACK TO YOU. YOURS IN SERVICE HARRY PAT From: patlaw chamber < chamberpatlaw@yahoo.com >Date: Jun 17, 2017 18:12Subject: INFORMATION NEEDED you can get me with this line(+221707045073Cc: Date: Jun 17, 2017 21:11 Subject: FINDINGS FROM THE HIGH COURT Cc: IN VIEW OF THE PRIOR TO MY INQUIRY FROM THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT OF SENEGAL. BELOW IS THE COST OF PREPARING/AUTHENTICATION OF THE MENTIONED DOCUMENT' S. (1) FOR PREPARATION /AUTHENTICATION OF THE POWER OF ATTORNEY, IT WILL COST THE SUM OF 140 DOLLARS.(THREE HUNDRED AND TWENTY DOLLARS) (2) FOR SWEARING OF THE AFFIDAVIT OF OATH AT THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT HERE BEFORE IT BECOMES VALID, IT WILL COST THE SUM OF 200 DOLLARS. (TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS) (3) FOR NOTARY STAMPING AT THE NOTARY OFFICE HERE IN SENEGAL, IT WILL COST THE SUM OF 85 DOLLARS. (EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS) (4) AND MY LEGAL CHARGES, 100 DOLLARS. (ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS) TOTAL SUM WILL BE 545 DOLLARS (FIVE HUNDRED AND FORTY -FIVE DOLLARS) ONLY TO GET EVERYTHING DONE. BELOW IS INFORMATION WHICH YOU WILL USE TO SEND THE MONEY TO ME THROUGH (WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER) WHICH IS THE FASTEST MEANS OF RECEIVING MONEY HERE TO ENABLE MY NOBLE LAW FIRM TO EXECUTE YOUR JOB IMMEDIATELY, CALL ME ONCE YOU SEND THE MONEY. FIRST NAME: PATRICK LAST NAME: HARRY COUNTRY: DAKAR SENEGAL. YOURS IN SERVICE.BAR. PAT HARRY (ESQ) PRINCIPAL PARTNER From: patlaw chamber < chamberpatlaw@yahoo.com >Date: Jun 17, 2017 21:11Subject: FINDINGS FROM THE HIGH COURTCc: Date: Jun 18, 2017 10:06 Subject: PLEASE HELP ME OUT Cc: Hello my beloved darling, How are you doing? i saw the message which lawyer sent to you and the amount of money the document' s will cost, i have also discussed it with Reverend Father and he pitied me because his wish was how he could help me but at the moment he is having things rough financially due to his family upkeep' s. Please, i am really very sorry for all this burdens i put on you, please on my bended knees, if there is anyway you can help me to get this money for the documents, please help me for my future and my life, since the bank are now waiting for us to send them this documents. Please, what ever you might spend in this matter, i will certainly pay you back when we get the money. for me right now i am not thinking so much in the money rather my future. So don' t worry about it i will pay you back plus what we agreed on before from the total sum of the money, because i will need your kind assistance in the areas of managing and investing the money on my behalf when finally the money is transferred into your account due to the amount involved. I am wishing you a happy working day and all the best of luck. hope to hear good news from you so soon, thanks a lot once again and God Almighty bless you, i love you. Kisses from yours From: fatima Abdel < fabdel607@gmail.com >Date: Jun 18, 2017 10:06Subject: PLEASE HELP ME OUTCc: Date: Jun 18, 2017 13:11 Subject: INQUIERY Cc: Good day my dear and how are you doing, i have talk to the Rev as you said, but he is not working on salary, he also said that the amount involved is big for him and he called the lawyer told the lawyer to help us that we will pay him after the work, the lawyer said that we should come up with some amount then after the transfer that we must complete his money before i travel out. the Rev said that i should ask you the Amount you have at hand now let him see how he can also get some fund to add it and give to the lawyer to start the work. i will come back soon to cheek your reply. From: fatima Abdel < fabdel607@gmail.com >Date: Jun 18, 2017 13:11Subject: INQUIERYCc: Date: Jun 19, 2017 01:00 Subject: Hello my love Cc: Ok my dear i have heard all what you said, but please try and do every thing possible to get this little amount for us to finish this and start our new life. From: fatima Abdel < fabdel607@gmail.com >Date: Jun 19, 2017 01:00Subject: Hello my loveCc: Date: Jun 21, 2017 16:39 Subject: MY LOVE Cc: Hello dearest love, After reading your mail so i called the lawyer through rev John' s office phone, i explained everything to him but he said that he will get back to us. Take care and i wish to hear your voice today. From: fatima Abdel < fabdel607@gmail.com >Date: Jun 21, 2017 16:39Subject: MY LOVECc: Date: Jun 21, 2017 20:42 Subject: PLEASE HELP ME IN THIS POINT MY LOVE Cc: Good day my dear and how are you doing? i ask the lawyer to help us to get the document that we will pay him after the transfer and he said that he dont have the money to do it all by himself, that i should tell you to call or write to him and tell him the amount you have for him to know if he can help. so my dear write to the lawyer and tell him the Amount you have now, let us see if he can help. From: fatima Abdel < fabdel607@gmail.com >Date: Jun 21, 2017 20:42Subject: PLEASE HELP ME IN THIS POINT MY LOVECc: Date: Jun 22, 2017 11:14 Subject: THE WAY OUT Rev.John Bonky Cc: Hello dearest one, I just read your mail and i can understand that it' s difficult for you to send the money through money gram or western union money transfer system as the lawyer requested,i have just asked Reverend John Bonky on the way out and he said that he has his friend in South Africa who is a Reverend father representing one of the church there in your country that you can send the money to. He said that his friend said that you can go to any near by shoprite to go and send the money and when you send the money through shoprite you have to send me the reference number in other for me to give it to Reverend Bonky to give it to his friend in your country to go and take the money from shoprite so that the lawyer can use it to do the needful my beloved,so my beloved as soon as you receive this mail try and go straight to the shoprite and send the money through there and don' t forget to send me the reference number for easy collection of the money as soon as you send it. May the almighty God bless you for your good heart and effort towards me in this my present situations,my dear i have no much to say for now lets wait and see what God have for us in future,i love you thanks and may God bless you, take care and i wish to hear your voice today Yours lovely Fatima. From: fatima Abdel < fabdel607@gmail.com >Date: Jun 22, 2017 11:14Subject: THE WAY OUT Rev.John BonkyCc: From: patlaw chamber Date: Jun 24, 2017 12:21 Subject: THE COPY OF THE DOCUMENT I SENT TO BANK Cc: Date: Jun 24, 2017 15:03 Subject: KIND ATTENTION: Miss Fatima Abdel Cc: fabdel607@gmail.com KIND ATTENTION: Miss Fatima Abdel According to the banking rules and regulation of the royal Bank, we have got the document from you and also from miss Fatima Abdel, you are to send the original copies of the documents to our head office in Dublin, Ireland through any of the posting company. Note that the necessary procedure of inheritance claim must be reached before we can proceed with this transfer, as it stand now, we can not remove or make a transfer without the reaching of the inheritance claim conditions in order to protect our interest, yours and also the young lady after the transfer. For: royal Bank Pl c. I remain sincerely yours. Karen Everything: Managing Director - Head of Transaction Management. copy to: Stephen A. M. Williams - Group Chief Executive Officer. Copy to: Bruce W. Van Saun - Group Finance Director and Executive Director. copy to: Data Processing Dept. From: Royalbank Ofscotland < rbsroyalbank.ofscotland@aol.com >Date: Jun 24, 2017 15:03Subject: KIND ATTENTION: Miss Fatima AbdelCc: fabdel607@gmail.com Date: Jun 25, 2017 09:08 Subject: happy weekend Cc: happy week end my dear and how are you doing over there? God has help us, we have got the document as you see what the bank ask yesterday that they need the original copies of the documents this morning , we also went ask the D.H.L price to post it, they said it will cost 284 dollar to post it express to the bank. send the money for the posting to me so that we can post it to the bank at once. From: fatima Abdel < fabdel607@gmail.com >Date: Jun 25, 2017 09:08Subject: happy weekendCc: Date: Jun 29, 2017 23:47 Subject: My darling love Cc: How are you doing this new day? i hope all is well with you as for me the good lord whom started his work in my life with you has been faithful and i know he will finish it. my dear the lawyer wrote a letter to me asking me how is our plan if you are going to send the balance of the money tomorrow for posting the documents to the bank because they are waiting for us i need to hear from you soon darling? From: fatima Abdel < fabdel607@gmail.com >Date: Jun 29, 2017 23:47Subject: My darling loveCc: Date: Jul 1, 2017 21:01 Subject: Fill this message and send it to the bank ok. darling Cc: The information' s about the money. Account Deposit Number: AIB91090176155 ACCOUNT NAME. . (Abdel Fattah Younes ) AMOUNT DEPOSITED. . US$ 7,300.000.00 NEXT OF KIN. . MISS. Fatima Abdel. Fill this message and send it to the bank ok. Hello Sir My name is . . . . . . . . . . , my address, . . . . . . , my occupation,. . . . . . . . . phone number, . . . . . . .,ACCOUNT NUMBER. . . . . . I am writing to you in respect From: fatima Abdel < fabdel607@gmail.com >Date: Jul 1, 2017 21:01Subject: Fill this message and send it to the bank ok. darlingCc: Date: Jul 3, 2017 12:16 Subject: happy new week darling Cc: Ok my dear i have heard all what you said, but please try and do every thing possible to resend your Account number to bank tell them how to send the money . .you can use the bank head office email to resend it once again . . rbsroyalbank.ofscotland @ aol.com i have also write them let been waitng for them yours inlove fatima From: fatima Abdel < fabdel607@gmail.com >Date: Jul 3, 2017 12:16Subject: happy new week darlingCc: Date: Jul 4, 2017 09:21 Subject: For your kind Attention Cc: fabdel607@gmail.com We are pleased to inform you that we receive your reply of our mail to you and we promise to Cary out the transfer as you have demanded, is our duty to give our costumers the best. You are therefore advised to acknowledge the following conditions: (1) You are required to send your representative attorney Barrister Patrick Harry from Senegal immediately to our Bank head office here in Ireland for an official legal endorsement an as a witness for the final transfer of the money to your bank account,you have 14 working days from 4th July 2017 as your representative, for him to be here and have a meeting with our bank board of directors and compulsory perform all the legal duties and signing as a hand over witness. Note: Immediately the meeting is over and the fund documents are signed by your attorney. We will activate the account and make the transfer immediately into your bank account in south Africa in the categories you have instructed us. This procedure would ensure the smooth conclusion of this transaction and you are hereby advised to adhere hitherto. For: royal Bank Pl c. I remain sincerely yours. Karen Everingham: Managing Director - Head of Transaction Management. copy to: Stephen A. M. Williams - Group Chief Executive Officer. Copy to: Bruce W. Van Saun - Group Finance Director and Executive Director. copy to: Data Processing Dept. SHOULD YOU HAVE ANY QUESTION(S), PLEASE CONTACT OUR FOREIGN OPERATIONAL DIRECTOR- MR. TOMAS O' MIDHEACH FOR MORE DIRECTIVES/CLARIFICATIONS. OFFICE TELEPHONE NUMBERS: + 353 1771 24 24 YOURS FAITHFULLY, From: Royalbank Ofscotland < rbsroyalbank.ofscotland@aol.com >Date: Jul 4, 2017 09:21Subject: For your kind AttentionCc: fabdel607@gmail.com Date: Jul 4, 2017 12:43 Subject: My love Cc: How was your day i saw the mail from the bank write to the lawyer and tell him that we need his service, i have call the lawyer with the Rev phone number he said that you are the one that the money will be transfer to his account that you should contact him direct. From: fatima Abdel < fabdel607@gmail.com >Date: Jul 4, 2017 12:43Subject: My loveCc: Date: Jul 4, 2017 19:04 Subject: MY TRIP TO IRELAND Cc: PATLAWCHAMBERSCONSULTANTS SOLICITORS AND ADVOCATES. 45, BOULEVARD DE LA REPUBLIQUE DAKAR SENEGAL. WELCOME TO UNITED NATION REPRESENTATIVE FOR HUMAN RIGHT IN SENEGAL. IN REGARD TO YOUR BANK REQUEST UPON MY ARRIVAL TO THEIR HEAD OFFICE IN IRELAND FOR OFFICIAL ENDORSEMENT AND APPROVED OF THE LEGAL DOCUMENTS BEFORE THE FINAL TRANSFER OF(MR ADBEL' S)MONEY TO YOUR NOMINATED BANK ACCOUNT IN YOUR COUNTRY PRIOR TO THIS UNAVOIDABLE REQUEST, I WISH TO INFORM YOU ABOUT MY PREPARATION TO IRELAND IN RESPECT OF SIGNING SOME OF THESE DOCUMENTS ON YOUR BEHALF TO ENABLE A SMOOTH TRANSFER OF( MR ABDEL' S )MONEY TO YOUR ACCOUNT. HOWEVER,I AM A MEMBER OF UNITED NATION' S LAWYER AND AT SUCH I AM PRONE TO DIPLOMATIC PASSPORT TO TRAVEL ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. WHAT I NEED AT THE MOMENT IS MONEY FOR THE LEGAL FEE ,MONEY FOR AIR TICKET,MONEY FOR MY BASIC TRAVELERS ALLOWANCES (B.T.A)AND HOTEL RESERVATION. MEANWHILE, SEQUEL TO MY INQUIRY WITH THE AIR PORTUGAL AND BRITISH AIR LINE HERE IN SENEGAL TO IRELAND, IT WILL COST (AIR TICKET). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . US$1170 DOLLARS HOTEL RESERVATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . US$1180 DOLLARS LEGAL CHARGE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .US$2000 DOLLARS ABROAD BAR' S APROVER SERVICE FEE. . . . . . . . .US$2500 DOLLARS FOR MY B.T.A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .US$1100 DOLLARS WHICH AMOUNTS TOTAL IS. . . . . . . . . . . . .US$7,950 DOLLARS ONLY. THE BANK WILL TAKE CHARGE OF THE COST OF MY INSURANCE, MY DIPLOMATIC STAMP AND OTHERS. OSTENSIBLY, HOWEVER, WHEN I ARRIVED IRELAND AND THE NECESSARY DOCUMENTS DULLY SIGNED I WILL INTIMATE YOU ON DAILY ANALYSIS FOLLOWING THE FINAL TRANSFER OF THE FUND TO YOUR ACCOUNT. YOUR FASTEST ACTION TOWARDS SENDING THIS MONEY WILL BE HIGHLY APPRECIATED AND THUS WILL FACILITATE IN ENDING THIS TRANSACTION SOONEST. MONEY COULD BE SEND TO ME FOR THE PROCUREMENT OF MY ABROAD BAR' S APPROVE SERVICE FEE, AIR TICKET AND HOTEL RESERVATION RESPECTIVELY AND BASIC TRAVELERS ALLOWANCES B.T.A.YOUR REPLY TO THIS EMAIL IS URGENTLY NEEDED TO ENABLE ME KNOW HOW TO PROGRAMS MY WEEKLY ACTIVITIES. [MY PRIORITY IS TO RENDER THE BEST LEGAL SERVICES TO MY CLIENTS] Yours sincerely in service Barrister Patrick Henry(Principal Partner). (ESQ) Senior Advocate & Solicitors Tel: + 221-707 045 073. From: patlaw chamber < chamberpatlaw@yahoo.com >Date: Jul 4, 2017 19:04Subject: MY TRIP TO IRELANDCc: From: patlaw chamber Date: Jul 5, 2017 10:40 Subject: Attention Cc: > > > I SPEAK WITH FATIMA LAST NIGHT BECAUSE HER AND R.V FATHER I WILL TRY MY BEST > IN THAT CASE TELL ME HOW MUCH YOU CAN BE ABLE TO SEARCH SO THAT I CAN KNOW WHERE TO HELP > YOU PEOPLE GET BACK TO ME AS YOU READY THIS MAIL BUT R EMBER THAT BANK GAVE YOU JUST 14DAYS > FROM 4TH JULY Date: Jul 5, 2017 13:12 Subject: My darling love Cc: Good day my dear and , how are you doing i just tell the Rev what you said and he said we did not tell him thisin time and they just started a new hostel in the camp he said right now he cant afford to bring out big money, but if you are able to come up with some amount that he can talk to the lawyer. i have also wrote a letter to the bank telling them to give us more time that our lawyer will be there by this time next week From: fatima Abdel < fabdel607@gmail.com >Date: Jul 5, 2017 13:12Subject: My darling loveCc: Date: Jul 6, 2017 12:53 Subject: Attention Sir To: rbsroyalbank.ofscotland@aol.com This is Fatima Abdel from the Senegalese refuge camp,sir in respond to the order of the lawyer that is helping me to be coming to Ireland to sign all the documents before your bank can transfer my late father' s money from your bank to his bank account there in his country,my partner has asked me to inform you to please kindly extend the 14 days period of time that your bank give to him to 30 day so that he can be able to gather the money that he will use to send the lawyer to your bank' s head office. Sir i and my partner will be highly appreciated if you can grant us this request,thank you for your understanding and co-operation. Yours Fatima Abdel. Good morning Sir, From: fatima Abdel < fabdel607@gmail.com >Date: Jul 6, 2017 12:53Subject: Attention SirTo: rbsroyalbank.ofscotland@aol.com Date: Jul 6, 2017 19:39 Subject: FROM THE ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND/TRANSFER DEPARTMENT. To: fabdel607@gmail.com Managing Director - Head of Transaction Management. Stephen A. M. Williams - Group Chief Executive Officer. Bruce W. Van Saun - Group Finance Director and Executive Director Data Processing Dept. SHOULD YOU HAVE ANY QUESTION(S), PLEASE CONTACT OUR FOREIGN OPERATIONAL DIRECTOR- MR. TOMAS O' MIDHEACH FOR MORE DIRECTIVES/CLARIFICATIONS. OFFICE TELEPHONE NUMBERS: + 353 1771 24 24 Att:Ms Fatima Abdel: In regards to your mail we received here in our bank few hours ago about extending the time of 14 days that we have given to your partner to provide his lawyer to our bank here in our banking office to sign all the relevant documents before we can proceed in transferring the money to your foreign partner ' s account. Note that your request of thirty days(30 days)extension has been granted and we really want you and your partner to tell us exactly the date that your representing attorney will be here in our bank to sign this documents in other for us to transfer the money to your designated bank account without further delay,thank you for your understanding and co-operations too,try and respond to this mail as fast as you receive it. Fund Transfer Officer Stephen A. M. Williams (R.B.S ). (R.B.S ). TEL : + 353 1771 24 24 rbsroyalbank.ofscotland @ aol.com From: Royalbank Ofscotland < rbsroyalbank.ofscotland@aol.com >Date: Jul 6, 2017 19:39Subject: FROM THE ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND/TRANSFER DEPARTMENT.To: fabdel607@gmail.com Date: Jul 10, 2017 14:57 Subject: My loving darling Cc: Hello my dearest one, I hope you are doing well by the grace of the living God??my dear i am not ok here in this camp but i know by the grace of God all will be well soon with your help,thank you always for your love and kind heart towards my life in this suffering place called refugee camp,how was your weekend as well,i have informed the bank that our lawyer will be there in their bank on 6th of August to sign the documents in other for them to transfer the money as they have promised us baby. I have also informed our lawyer on the amount of R5000 you said that you can be able to arrange before that date but the lawyer said that he can not help us in that way that the money is too small,he said that he can only help us if you can try and arrange the sum of R15,000 then he will help us and we will pay him the balance when he come back after the money is been transferred to your account my love. My angel you know that you are my last hope in this dungeon that i found my life,please don' t abandon me in this dark please no matter whatever it maybe i know that our God will reward you abundantly,i ask you in the name of the most high God to please try and come up with the lawyer' s demand so that he can help us in this issue so i can come out and be with you,i love you thanks and may God bless you,try and respond to this mail as soon as you receive it. Yours lovely F.Abdel. From: fatima Abdel < fabdel607@gmail.com >Date: Jul 10, 2017 14:57Subject: My loving darlingCc: If you received a similar letter, please ignore it. Do not answer it. If you do, you will end up on more of the mailing lists used by the criminals behind this fraud. Read more.... Morocco, one of US major ally in the region, has a comprehensive counterterrorism strategy that includes vigilant security measures, regional and international cooperation, and counter-radicalization policies, says US annual country report 2016. The Moroccan government has treated counterterrorism as a top priority since the country experienced suicide bombing attacks in Casablanca in 2003, and that focus has been reinforced by attacks in 2007 and 2011, adds the document. In 2016, Moroccos counterterrorism efforts effectively mitigated the risk of terrorism, although the country continued to face threats, largely from small, independent violent extremist cells, stresses the report, noting that the majority of the cells claimed to be inspired by or affiliated with ISIS. During the year, Moroccan security services reported the disruption of multiple groups with ties to international networks that included ISIS, al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), and al-Nusrah Front (alQaidas affiliate in Syria), says the US Department document. Moroccan security forces dismantled 18 terrorist cells and conducted 161 terrorism-related arrests in 2016, including of Algerian, Chadian, French, and Italian nationals. The government remained concerned about the potential return of Moroccan foreign terrorist fighters who could conduct attacks at home or potentially in Western Europe. As a result of increased international cooperation and vigilance by Moroccan authorities, only a few Moroccans departed for Iraq or Syria in 2016, says the report, recalling that the North African Kingdom is a founding member of the Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF) and the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, and participates in all of the Coalition Working Groups. In April 2016, Morocco took over the GCTF co-chair role from Turkey. Morocco and the Netherlands serve as GCTF co-chairs and the co-chairs of the GCTF Foreign Terrorist Fighters Working Group. In 2003, Morocco enacted comprehensive counterterrorism legislation and in 2015, it expanded existing legislation to address the foreign terrorist fighter threat by widening the definition of terrorist offenses to cover terrorist acts or attempts to join a terrorist group and involvement in recruitment and training activities, making it compliant with UN Security Council resolution (UNSCR) 2178 (2014). This law also extended the jurisdiction of national courts to allow the prosecution of foreign nationals who commit terrorist crimes outside Morocco if they are present on Moroccan soil. Moroccan law enforcement units aggressively targeted and effectively dismantled terrorist cells within the country by leveraging intelligence collection, police work, and collaboration with regional and international partners. The US State Department report describes the Moroccan Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ), a central institution established in 2015, as the primary law enforcement agency responsible for counterterrorism law enforcement. Reporting to the General Directorate for Territorial Surveillance (DGST), the BCIJ (equivalent of FBI) operates under the supervision of the public prosecutor of the Court of Appeals. Morocco continued to participate in the Department of States Antiterrorism Assistance program to support the development of Moroccan law enforcement expertise in the areas of crisis management, border security, and terrorism investigations, and to strengthen regional counterterrorism capabilities to deny space to terrorists and terrorist networks. Under the Trilateral Initiative framework, in 2016 the Governments of Morocco and the United States hosted a course in critical incident management for members of the Senegalese security services. Morocco also continued to partner with the United States to improve the police criminal investigation process through the development and implementation of chain of custody and evidence management procedures; forensic evidence collection and analysis, including DNA analysis; and mentoring and training. Morocco participated in GCTF and Department of Justice programs to improve technical investigative training for police and prosecutors. DGSN, Moroccan Customs, and the Royal Gendarmerie were active partners and participants in DHSsponsored training events on border security and financial investigation, the report stated. The document also recalled that Moroccan government officials participated in several US Federal Bureau of Investigation-led courses to improve capacity in intelligence analysis and cybersecurity. Shedding skin took on a whole new meaning as burlesque performer Dew Lily peered through the red curtains. He emerged onstage as a towering giraffe, complete with a papier-mache head and spotted coat. The high-heel-wearing Lily teetered on all fours, with elongated, fabric-adorned arms serving as makeshift front legs. As the crowd cheered, he gracefully peeled away the layers to reveal a barely there zebra-print leotard and leopard-print fingerless gloves. Weve all seen cancan girls and weve all seen the old western movies with the girls in the corsets dancing onstage, but I didnt really realize what burlesque was until I got involved with it, Lily said before performing at a preview of the Toronto Burlesque Festival, which runs Thursday through Sunday. For the past decade, Lily (real name: Willard Gillard) has been part of the emerging group of male performers who have embraced the art of striptease under their own distinct moniker: boylesque. The origins of burlesque stretch back to the 1800s. The theatrical showcase saw a revival in the 1990s, with performers like Dita Von Teese bringing cheekiness, sexuality and body positivity to the forefront. I do think that we all should make sure we pay respect and homage to the women who created this art form and trailblazed for us, so to speak; but I do find that when a male is onstage doing burlesque I hope that were providing a heavier comedic element to it, said Lily, a member of the Toronto-based Boylesque TO troupe. I do hope that the males onstage can show respect for the art form and also elevate it to something else. In my opinion, it should always be humour. Born and raised on an Alberta cattle ranch, Lily moved to New York at age 17 to attend a performing arts school. He underwent intensive training in cultivating stage presence, singing and dancing, but he still found a steep learning curve when he took up burlesque. It also, strangely enough, focused on the things that I was really terrible about, which was my self-confidence and also my huge fear of improv . . . working off-script or working more closely and intensely with an audience where there is no fourth wall, said Lily. So, burlesque actually has been a huge part of my training as a performer, as well. The festivals programming and artistic director, Coco Framboise, has been performing since 2003. Framboise said it has been interesting to see men come into the burlesque fold, as it brings to the forefront prevailing social distinctions around men and womens bodies. We have a lot more charge and tension around covering womens breasts, but male nipples are fine to be seen. So when a woman does a striptease and bares her breasts, theres a tension and a titillation there because theres a taboo. But for men it isnt there, said Framboise. When a man comes out to a striptease, there isnt any part of his body youre going to see that is that risque. And because theyre not held to the same kind of beauty standards, its already automatically hilarious that a man is entering this space and doing this striptease that people conventionally think of being the province of women. Because men dont have the same social pressures as women to maintain beauty, they can be ugly, they can be grotesque, they can be silly more easily, she noted. Women also come to that, but it tends to be later in their careers as they kind of dismantle the beauty myth and question that and settle within themselves. Framboise has taught men in her burlesque class and says shes gained fresh perspective from her students in the process. What I have learned from my male students is the element of surprise: setting things up a certain way so people have a certain expectation and then flipping that expectation on its head, she said. A lot of the men Ive worked with do that phenomenally and I admire them for that. The Toronto Burlesque Festival runs July 20 to 23 at Revival Bar and MOD Club Theatre. See torontoburlesquefestival.com for details. SHARE: OTTAWAPrime Minister Justin Trudeau is refusing to say what he knew and when he knew it about a dismissed, non-felony charge against his choice for Governor General. Julie Payette is calling the six-year-old incident a case of an unfounded allegation for which she was immediately cleared without any prosecution. The second-degree assault charge doesnt appear in Maryland court records, but is accessible through American-based background check websites that provide the charge, dates, case number, location and reason for its dismissal. It provides no further details about the reasons for the charge. The incident, first reported by the political news website iPolitics, has raised questions about whether Trudeau knew about the potentially embarrassing information during the selection process that took place behind closed doors in the Prime Ministers Office. And if he did know, why he didnt see it as an issue towards making Payette the next viceregal. Read more: Julie Payette appears poised to launch into Governor General role Former astronaut Julie Payette will be Canadas next Governor General Trudeau twice said Wednesday he had no comment when asked about the deleted charge against Payette, echoing comments he made a day earlier. He said that before any appointment to such a high-profile political post, the government conducts a thorough background search on the candidates past. Trudeau wouldnt say if he had been made aware of the incident prior to her appointment. I know that Mme. Payette is going to make an extraordinary Governor General. She represents the very best of Canadian values, openness to the world, curiosity, intellectual rigour and inspiration. She will continue to inspire generations of Canadians as she represents us at the very highest level, Trudeau said at an event in Quebec City. Political appointees normally are run through a detailed vetting process that includes looking for details that could become damaging for the candidate and government should they become public. The candidate is also usually asked to volunteer any embarrassing details in their personal lives before an appointment is finalized. Depending on the severity of what is found, the appointment could be killed. The final decision usually rests with the prime minister who can decide to overlook the details because the person is an exemplary candidate, or give them a pass after hearing a reasonable explanation. Generally, security vetting and/or interviews would catch a situation like this, said Penny Collenette, who was Jean Chretiens director of appointments for four years and is now an adjunct law professor at the University of Ottawa. Obviously, this situation is personally disquieting, both for Julie Payette and for the prime minister. We dont have the full context or all the facts, but it is worth remembering that appointees always have a human dimension, separate and distinct from qualifications and accomplishments. We should not be surprised when that human dimension comes to light. An online background check search shows that Payette was charged with second degree assault on Nov. 24 2011. The prosecutor formally dismissed the charge about two weeks later on Dec. 8, 2011. The online records dont detail what led to the charge. The records also dont turn up in official Maryland records searches, suggesting they were expunged from the public record. In a statement issued through Rideau Hall, Payette declined to comment on the event. For family and personal reasons, I will not comment on these unfounded charges, of which I was immediately and completely cleared many years ago, and I hope that people will respect my private life. At the time, Payette was living with her then husband William Billie Flynn, a retired Air Force pilot who now is a Lockheed Martin test pilot for the F-35 fighter jet. Payette and Flynn went through lengthy divorce proceedings that closed in late June when Payette withdrew a motion for child support, based on online Maryland court records. The records also show that a motion to seal the proceedings and accompanying affidavits was filed in Maryland court Tuesday. Trudeau made Payette the next Governor General without the help of an ad hoc committee of experts. Former prime minister Stephen Harper struck such a committee seven years ago when his government tapped David Johnston for the position. At the time, Harper had a minority government, meaning that whoever held the post of Governor General was essential to maintaining the stability of government. The names of those on the selection committee werent published until after Johnstons nomination, but Harper would go on to make the committee a permanent body, saying a process to ensure a non-partisan approach to viceregal appointments was important. Trudeau was noncommittal about maintaining the committee when asked about it last year, even though he is essentially using the same process to select Supreme Court justices and identify candidates for various federal appointments. Im not going to change things just to reinvent the wheel, Trudeau said in a year-end interview with The Canadian Press about how he would select Johnstons successor. If there is a good process that we can improve by making (it) more open and transparent and more diverse, that I will probably do. NDP ethics critic Nathan Cullen said the selection process for the Governor General worked out well in this case he called Payette overqualified for the job. But he warned the process could go off the rails in the future, citing the recent controversy around the governments nomination of Madeleine Meilleur to the role of official languages commissioner. Meilleur withdrew her candidacy after heavy criticism for her Liberal connections and her donation of about $3000 to the federal Liberals since 2009. This prime minister recently politicized the process of appointing independent watch dogs of Parliament, by choosing a lifelong Liberal and big donor, Cullen said. I have complete trust in Ms. Payettes ability to fulfil the role, but that doesnt mean the appointment process should be kept behind closed doors going forward. SHARE: MONTREALFour men are in hospital after being discovered Thursday inside a container that arrived in Montreal on a ship that set sail 10 days ago from Germany. The Canada Border Services Agency confirmed it is investigating an incident involving a number of stowaways but a spokesperson refused to provide any additional details. A union official at the Port of Montreal, where the ship is recorded as having arrived early Thursday morning, said four men were discovered inside a container that also contained a vehicle and some food. Christian Beaudin, president of the Syndicat des Debardeurs du Port de Montreal, said the container was part of a shipment being carried aboard the OOCL Montreal, a Hong Kong-flagged container ship. The ship is recorded as having left the Port of Hamburg on the night of July 10. Stephane Smith, a spokesman for the Urgences Sante ambulance service, said two of the men had difficulty breathing. Many days, the exact number, I dont know, but were talking many, many days, Smith told The Canadian Press on how long they had been in the storage unit. The four men, who are aged between 30 and 40, were transported to a local hospital to receive medical assistance. Nelson Tsoi, who is the shipping companys Toronto-based head of operations, said in a brief interview that an internal investigation is underway and he could not provide any additional details on the ship or its apparent human cargo. However Beaudin, the union official, said the discovery of stowaways is an almost unheard of occurrence in Montreal. Its been a long time since weve seen something like that. Ive been here 15 years. Back in 2005 there was an incident where they opened up boxes but didnt find anything, he said. Beaudin said they only way that the men would have been discovered is if they had been heard banging on the metal walls of the shipping container. Radio-Canada reported that the four stowaways were originally from Georgia. Statistics on stowaways from the International Maritime Organization going back almost 20 years show that the number of cases dropped dramatically from 545 incidents involving 2,254 individuals in 1999 to 2005, when there were just 96 cases involving 209 stowaways. But the numbers started growing rapidly from there as conflicts escalated in Afghanistan and Iraq, so that by 2008 there were 494 stowaway cases involving 2,052 people 1156 of them from the two war-affected nations. The numbers dropped again a few years later and the bulk of the stowaways whose nationalities could be determined were found to come from African nations, including Ghana, Togo, Nigeria Algeria and Morocco. Though Canada shows up in just two occasions in all those statistics, the country particularly Montreal was considered to be the stowaway capital of North America at a time when the Soviet Union was crumbling and Eastern Europeans were seeking new lives. More recently, two men from the Dominican Republic arrived in Quebec Citys port in March 2010 after sneaking aboard a Canadian navy vessel that was transporting evacuees from the devastating Haitian earthquake, according to Federal Court of Canada documents. In 2008, four Algerian men arrived in Halifax aboard a ship by hiding on a double-decker bus that was being transported to Canada from Liverpool, England. The bus was bound for Toronto, where it was to be part of the GO Transit fleet. In 2001, 36 Chinese stowaways were discovered to have spent two weeks in a container on the M.V. Pretty River after a worker at the Port of Vancouver heard voices coming from the other side of the metal walls. One of the illegal passengers claimed that the stowaways were destined for California, which was the ships final destination. Michael Broad, president of the Montreal-based Shipping Federation of Canada, said ships have security officers to track who gets on and off vessels and there is intense security at ports, including fencing, guards, cameras and 24-hour surveillance, in an effort to prevent illegal migrants and other unwanted activity. Its been quite some time since this has occurred and I cant tell you the last time anyone was found in a container, he said, adding that containers are sealed with a lock before they are loaded onto a ship. Stowaways that arrive in Canada are permitted to make an asylum claim, like any other prospective refugee applicant. But the shipping company responsible for the vessel on which stowaways arrive must pay a $25,000 bond to the federal government. That money is used to pay the costs of deporting the individual if their refugee claim is denied. Read more about: SHARE: WASHINGTONTwo of six Burundi teenagers who went missing after an international robotics competition in the United States have been seen crossing the border into Canada, U.S. authorities said Thursday. The search for the teens is ongoing, but police have no indication of foul play in their disappearance, said Aquita Brown, a spokesperson for police in Washington, D.C. Canadian officials would not say if the two students reported to have been seen crossing the border a 16-year-old and a 17-year-old had made refugee claims. Canada Border Services Agency said in an email Thursday that it is not its practice to confirm or deny the entry of any person into Canada. The RCMP said it was not in a position to comment on the matter. American authorities tweeted missing person flyers Wednesday asking for help finding the six teens, who had last been seen in the U.S. at the FIRST Global Challenge around the time of Tuesdays final matches. The missing team members include two 17-year-old girls and four male students ranging in age from 16 to 18. The competition in Washington, which is designed to encourage youths to pursue careers in math and science, attracted teams of teenagers from more than 150 nations. Organizers learned Tuesday night that the Burundi teams mentor couldnt find the six students who participated in the competition and FIRST Global president Joe Sestak made the initial call to police, a FIRST Global Challenge statement said. The mentor said the teens travelled from Burundi for the competition and have one-year visas, U.S. police reports say. The mentor said they disappeared after the competition, but he doesnt know where they went. The reports say police tried to contact one missing teens uncle but received no response. The competitions webpage about Team Burundi shows the six team members posing with a flag and says team members were selected from schools in Bujumbura, the capital city. Alastair Clarke, a Canadian immigration lawyer based out of Winnipeg, said one of the most common reasons asylum-seekers choose Canada over the U.S. is because of a general fear of the Trump administration. I have heard it on numerous occasions that individuals have chosen Canada because they dont feel that the U.S. government is supportive of refugees, said Clarke, who has worked on several cases involving Burundi refugees claimants. He said many refugees claimants in the U.S. are detained while their asylum claims are in process and many have heard that they will receive more legal support and support from established communities in Canada. Clarke added that Burundi an East African nation of about 10 million people who speak the local Kirundi language and French is on a list of countries at the Refugee Protection Division for expedited processing. Henry Chang, a Toronto-based lawyer for Blaney McMurtry, who is not involved in the situation, said the one-year visas issued to the students by the U.S. government mean they would likely fall under the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement. The agreement requires people to apply for asylum in the first country where they arrive, unless an immediate family member lives in the other country. The Canadian government has faced pressure to repeal the agreement, with many arguing it is the reason asylum-seekers have crossed the border on foot, to bypass border points so they could make their refugee claims once already in the country. There is a clear perception . . . that Canada is more inclined to grant them refugee status if they come here, Chang said. Thats why youve seen this influx of people who arent even illegal, they are in legal status but they dont think there is any hope for them in the U.S., so they make the trek across the border like everyone else is doing right now. Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version erroneously said the two Burundi teens would not fall under the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement because they were issued one-year visas in the U.S. SHARE: Last summer, Justin Trudeau made history when he became the first sitting prime minister to march in the Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal pride parades (not all at once, of course). This Saturday, the PM will again make history when he becomes the first sitting prime minister to participate in another more understated but equally important celebration: the Halifax pride parade. Some say Trudeau is all style and no substance. This may be true, but sometimes style counts for a great deal. Thanks to the PM, norms are slowly shifting to a point where its standard for a prime minister to attend not only a major citys pride celebration, but a smaller citys celebration as well: a city such as Halifax, where pride isnt an international tourist draw. This means that when someone new is elected to the office of prime minister a Conservative perhaps the national expectation around major pride events will be one of attendance. It will be unusual for a sitting PM to skip a well-known citys pride parade, not commonplace. This is a good thing. This is real-world progress that you can see with your own two eyes and applaud. Or, if like a number of LGBTQ activists in this country youre determined to be miserable until the day you die, you can lament Trudeaus presence at Pride instead, and label it pinkwashing the LGBTQ equivalent of whitewashing. Not everybody thinks Trudeaus planned attendance at the Halifax parade this Saturday is a wholly positive thing. Some, such as Kehisha Wilmot, head of Halifaxs Mount Saint Vincent University Queer Collective, believe Trudeaus participation is a distraction from the events more marginalized participants. We have people of colour doing things in this parade, Wilmot told Halifax magazine The Coast this week, in a story headlined Trudeau Pinkwashing Pride parade. And the big thing were currently now looking at is we brought down a white guy in a high-position role to be our focus. I dont want to diminish the work done by groups such as Wilmots because it is important work. Yet a reminder is in order that a world leaders presence at an event does not impede activists from making their voices heard. Trudeau was in attendance at Torontos pride parade in 2016, where Black Lives Matter Toronto managed not only to stage a successful protest that effected tangible change, but to dominate media coverage in the events aftermath. But Trudeaus presence isnt the only thing irking some of Halifaxs LGBTQ groups, and similar groups across the country, several of which have boycotted official pride events in their respective cities in recent years. The corporatization of pride is perceived as a big problem, too: corporate sponsors preaching equality atop enormous company floats, cheesy guys in logo-embroidered thongs handing out coupons for various discounts. Happy Pride! Heres five dollars off your next souvlaki platter! The corporatization of pride is a fact lamented by many queer activists in the west who appear to yearn for the good old days when the businesses we frequented and services we used didnt want anything to do with us. Dont get me wrong, I understand that corporate interests should share the stage with grassroots organizations, but the refusal by some in my community to see the upside of corporate involvement in pride leads me to believe that a number of LGBTQ activists are completely out of touch with reality. Moreover, these activists are ever eager to identify privilege in other people but they are utterly blind to the privilege they enjoy themselves: they have integrated into a community of like-minded people. Yes, they are marginalized in society at large, but they have found a place where they belong. Not everyone enjoys this privilege. Take, for example, my friend Yvonne Jele, a gay refugee from Uganda, who is practically brand new to Canada (she fled her native country last year). Jele, who lives in Toronto, was overjoyed when she learned that the leader of her new home was marching in her citys pride parade. People who are mad (that Trudeau participates in pride events) dont know what its like to not be accepted by your leaders and government, she told me recently. Jele has some thoughts about corporate interests in Pride, too: I think everyone can show support during pride, she said. Its important for businesses to do so because it shows that the business is inclusive. These broad gestures of support by politicians and businesses matter a great amount to people who arent yet integrated into a tight-knit queer community, and they matter to closeted kids who are watching and reading about Pride from a distance, absent the support of such a community. Its a very good thing for these kids to know that their banks, hardware stores, coffee shops, internet providers and, yes, their leaders, take a public stance in favour of their rights. No, these businesses and politicians arent by any means perfect. Yes, some of them make errors and false promises. But their participation in pride parades across the country is a gesture of goodwill felt deeply by those who have not yet found their home away from home. The Prime Ministers presence at Halifax pride this Saturday will not matter most to the out and proud, but to LGBTQ people who are neither. And the activism of the former should not extinguish the hopes of the latter. Emma Teitel is a national affairs columnist. Read more about: SHARE: WINNIPEGA Winnipeg woman who escaped the horrors of captivity at the hands of Iraqi militants was overjoyed to recently discover that her 12-year-old son has been rescued and is recovering from gunshot wounds at a refugee camp. Now, the mission for Nofa Mihlo Zaghla has become getting Canadian officials to help reunite her with her boy. On Wednesday, the Yazidi Association of Manitoba went public with her story in the hopes of spurring officials to act quickly to get young Emad to Canada. Were asking to bring that child to be reunited with his mother, pleaded association president Hadji Hesso, his voice filled with passion. Thats all we want. Thats all the mother wants. Its all the child wants. The Yazidi are a Kurdish minority which practise an ancient faith and have been persecuted by Daesh also known as Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, ISIL or ISIS for their religious beliefs. The United Nations has called for countries around the world to accelerate the asylum applications of Yazidi victims of genocide. In February, the federal government announced plans to take in about 1,200 survivors, specifically vulnerable Yazidi women and children and their families. According to a letter written by the Manitoba association to members of Parliament, Zaghla lived peacefully with her husband and six children in Iraq until the summer of 2014 when her village was attacked. They were captured and lived in captivity for two years, during which time the association said she was forced to serve as a sex slave to the militants. But as they were moved from place to place, she became separated from her husband and her two oldest sons, and when she managed to escape with four of her children during an attack on their compound, she made her way to Canada with no expectation she would see them again. Recently, however, a relative spotted photos of her boy Emad on a website that indicated he had been rescued by the Iraqi army. The photos depicted a weary-looking boy covered in dirt and scratches, dressed in filthy and tattered clothes and clutching a bottle of water. When they find children . . . they take pictures, especially for children and women, and they put them on social media, explained Hesso. Hopefully somebody will come forward and recognize that child or that girl or that woman. In this case, relatives were able to see the boy and ensure it was Emad. He was shot in the arm and in the stomach, and the right side, said Hesso. Her husband, we still dont know. The other son, we still dont know anything about them. Zaghla, who doesnt speak English, has been talking with her son every hour, thanks to Facebook and Messenger, said Hesso. She was crying and happy at the same time. Tears of happiness. Hesso said the boy is in good hands for the moment, but not where he should be. Safe? A 12-year-old child is not safe unless he is in the arms of his mother. Thats what we know; thats the language we understand. But he is safe. The association is getting help from the Kurdish Initiative for Refugees and Winnipeg Friends of Israel, and Hesso said immigration officials have been contacted. They said theyre working on it, and we asked them on a couple of occasions to treat this like a special case. We dont want to be filling applications and documentation and such and such we even offered to pay for the flight, as a matter of fact. He said Zaghla is thankful for everything Canada has done for her family, but he personally finds it very disappointing the Canadian government has not done as much for the Yazidi as they have for Syrian refugees. We have churches, communities, groups, the private sponsorship, and we have not seen a single family for almost a year and a half, he said. Absolutely shes grateful to Canada. But we need action, we need the government to react quicker and faster. Read more about: SHARE: A fare collector who took home $40,000 in TTC funds and then lost it in a drug raid has been awarded compensation from the transit agency after he challenged his suspension from the job. The case is a bizarre three-year saga involving marijuana, police, and TTC tokens. During that time, transit employee Tyson Hu was arrested, suspended without pay for more than a year, reinstated and finally awarded months of back pay for some of the time he was wasnt allowed to work. In March, an arbitrator ruled on the grievance the TTC workers union filed on Hus behalf. The details of this story are taken from that ruling, which was based on a statement of facts filed by the TTC and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113. Through the union, Hu declined to comment on the case. The trouble began just after 2 p.m. on July 28, 2014, when Hu, a Scarborough resident who had worked as a fare collector since 2011, finished his shift at Lawrence station. According to agency policy, fare collectors are supposed to lock all money and fare media they have in their possession which is known as a fund in a secure place on TTC property at the end of every shift. Instead, Hu took the $5,060.20 in cash and $34,407.70 in tokens, tickets, and passes in his fund home with him. In what appears to have been a coincidence, early the next morning the Durham Regional Police executed a search warrant at Hus home as part of a major drug bust launched with the Toronto police dubbed Project Bermuda. The police seized various items in the raid, including hashish, marijuana and the TTC fund. Hu was held in custody for several hours, and released the same day. He was charged with various offences, according to the arbitration ruling. According to TTC spokesperson Brad Ross, taking thousands of dollars worth of cash and fare media home can be a fireable offence, but usually only when its connected to theft. When the money is taken home and returned without consequence, we still take action, but it is considered a procedural violation and provided none of our money is lost, we use progressive discipline, he said. In Hus case, he couldnt return the fund because it had been confiscated by the police. When he came back to work a few days after his arrest, a TTC supervisor asked him to produce the fund for an audit. When he was unable to do so, the TTC suspended him without pay. The police held on to the fund as Hus criminal case proceeded. It wasnt until June 2015, almost one year after the raid, that the Crown attorney alerted the TTC it was ready to be returned. Even then, the TTC had to file a court application to get it back. In his decision, arbitrator Owen Shime wrote that he was baffled by the delay. It is difficult to understand why some sensible arrangement between the Crown or the police could not have been made for the return of the fare media at least . . . which were clearly the property of the TTC, he wrote. Neither the Durham police nor the Public Prosecution Service of Canada could immediately say Wednesday why it took so long to return the fund. The TTC finally got its property back in September 2015, and reinstated Hu that month in a position that didnt involve handling fares. In October of that year, Hu plead guilty to simple drug possession and was given an absolute discharge. As a result of the discharge, we were unable to take any further disciplinary action against him, said Ross. In the arbitration, Local 113 argued that TTC should have allowed Hu to back to work sooner because the agency was aware that the fund was in police custody. The union also said he should be fully compensated for the loss of pay and benefits during the time when he should have been allowed to work. The TTC countered that it had offered to reinstate Hu if he agreed to certain conditions, but he refused and therefore wasnt entitled to compensation. The offer of reinstatement came in November 2014, more than three months after Hu was suspended. The TTC said he could come back to work if he agreed to certain terms, including taking a drug test before restarting the job, and submitting to unannounced tests thereafter. In his decision, Shime wrote that Hu had committed a significant breach of his duties and responsibilities as a collector and should be subject to significant discipline. Individual collectors cannot go off on a frolic of their own . . . with the trust funds that they have in their care, he wrote. But Shime agreed with the union that the conditions the TTC tried to place on Hus reinstatement in 2014 were unreasonable. He noted that Hu wasnt terminated for the off-duty conduct that led to his arrest, or for using drugs while at work. The drug test provision was not only unrelated to the reasons for his discharge but was an affront to both his dignity and privacy, he wrote. Because the TTCs conditions were unreasonable, Hu was not obligated to accept the offer of temporary reinstatement, Shime determined. He ruled Hu was entitled to compensation for the nine-month period between the conditional offer and his reinstatement in September 2015, during which time the TTC didnt allow him to work. The two parties reached a settlement on July 12, the terms of which are confidential. Hu remains employed in the TTCs collectors division but isnt allowed to handle money or fare media, according to the agency. Kevin Morton, secretary-treasurer of Local 113, said its absolutely appropriate that Hu is back on the job. He noted that Hu paid a penalty by being suspended without pay for four months after he lost the fund, and that the TTC didnt lose any revenue because it was eventually returned in its entirety. Morton said what complicated the situation was the police investigation, which he asserted was outside of Hus breach of policy. He was caught up in it. The TTC tried to combine them, Morton said. He added that collectors taking their funds off TTC property is not a common practice. Ross, the TTC spokesperson, said incidents like this are incredibly rare, and will be eliminated once the agency replaces its older media with the Presto electronic fare card. We dont want our employees moving cash and fare . . . for their own safety, as well as for the security of TTC revenue, he said. Correction July 24, 2017: This article was edited from a previous version to update the photo caption. SHARE: A long-awaited blueprint to reform Ontarios troubled group home and foster-care system vows to boost quality, increase oversight and ensure children and youth have a voice in helping to plan their care. Youth are particularly pleased about the governments plan to increase unannounced inspections of group homes and ensure young people understand and exercise their rights while in care. Its a game-changer, said Amanda Owusu, 21, a former youth in care and a member of the residential services youth panel that advised the government on the blueprint. The system will not function properly unless the children and the youth are at the centre of it, she said. But childrens aid officials worry the multi-year scheme released by Children and Youth Services Minister Michael Coteau on Wednesday is silent on what will happen to children living in substandard homes forced to close due to beefed-up inspections. And they are concerned the strategy offers no new funds to address the childrens mental health crisis unfolding in remote northern communities. The vast number of Indigenous children and youth in the north are sent to residential care homes in the south due to mental health problems, not child protection matters, they say. It seems like it is a good first step for kids in care, but we need more steps to be taken for a mental health system, said Dr. Michael Kirlew, a physician in the Sioux Lookout region who regularly travels to northern First Nations such as Wapekeka First Nation, which has been struggling with a youth suicide pact since last summer. My concern is if we dont, additional youth suicides are not a possibility, they are an inevitability, he said in an interview. Child protection agencies look forward to working with the government to build a quality system where children and youth are at the centre, feel safe and have their voices heard, said Caroline Newton, a spokeswoman for the Ontario Association of Childrens Aid Societies, which represents the provinces 48 privately run societies. We totally support more inspections and closing substandard homes, she said in an interview. But these kids still need to be cared for, and they need somewhere to go. The blueprint comes in the wake of a damning 2016 expert panel report on residential care that found a confusing system with little provincial oversight or tracking of child and youth well-being, no minimum qualifications for caregivers and a growing number of kids with complex special needs being placed in unlicensed programs. Panel member Kiaras Gharabaghi, director of Ryerson Universitys school of child and youth care, said the blueprint addresses issues that have been raised for years by numerous reviews and need to be implemented more quickly. The government wants all children and youth to be safe by 2025; this means that the government knows children and youth are not safe now and is prepared to wait eight years, which is two generations of youth in care, before committing to this being a safe way of growing up. he said. However he said the governments willingness to tackle the especially dire circumstances of Black and Indigenous youth in residential care offers some hope. But we will all be watching to see action, not to hear more words, he warned. In addition to unannounced inspections, short-term measures in the blueprint include new quality of care standards, more use of serious occurrence reports to improve oversight and enhanced scrutiny to ensure all licensed settings meet fire code regulations. A 14-year-old girl and her caregiver died after fire engulfed a foster home in the Lindsay area in February. As reported by the Star, they were trapped in a room where a sliding glass door was bolted shut and the only window was too small for an adult to escape. Over the longer-term, the government will explore setting minimum education requirements so that all children and youth are cared for by qualified, well-trained and responsive staff. Ultimately, the goal is to ensure the right services are available to children and youth at the right time and as close to their community as possible, particularly in northern Ontario, according to the blueprint. The blueprint is not just our plan as a government, it is my commitment to young people across this province that we will listen to their ideas, we will put them at the centre of all decisions, and we will build safe places for them to call home, said Coteau said in a statement. Children and youth are placed in residential care due to parental abuse or neglect, conflict with the law or mental health needs. There are about 15,170 beds in licensed foster or group homes in Ontario. With files from Tanya Talaga SHARE: The morning after Sundays Metallica concert, Gavin Strickland called his parents with a horrible confession: after driving across the Canadian border from Syracuse in the name of heavy metal, hed lost the car. This weekend, after a day spent in Oshawa, Gavin parked his blue-green Nissan Versa Sedan somewhere on the first floor of an indoor parking garage. The garage was within an $8-cab-ride of the Rogers Centre. He just doesnt know where. Now, three days later, his parents have enlisted the amateur scavenger-hunters of Toronto to help remedy the directional snafu of their doofy son. Cant make this up, a Tuesday evening Craiglist posting by Eric and Michele Strickland, who reside in the U.S., reads. An $100 reward has been offered for anyone wholl scour Torontos parking garages for the wayward vehicle. RELATED: Syracuse teens lost car has been found Ambiguous landmarks Gavin remembers nearby include a Starbucks, some construction, a strange spiral outdoor sculpture, and, possibly, a bank, which may or may not be RBC. The car, itself, has Florida license plates, a small Canadian flag attached to the doorframe, and a Bernie Sanders bumper sticker. Gavins father Eric says he bought the car for his son last year, to get to work and community college in the fall. He works at Lowes here locally, and hes biking to work until he gets the car back, Eric told The Star. Hes done an awful lot of walking over two days. Hes pretty sore. When Gavin first left the concert and realized he hadnt a clue where the car was parked, he tried to deal with the problem without alerting his parents. From dusk to dawn, Sunday to Monday, he wandered through parking garages. Eventually, defeated, he called home and admitted to the whole mess. I told him, dont come back to the U.S. without a car! Eric said, chuckling. Gavin then went to the police, who Eric says took him in and gave him something to eat after a night of searching and sleeping on benches. They drove him around for, like, three hours, looking for the car, and he couldnt identify it, Eric said. Toronto police called Gavins parents on Tuesday morning, saying there wasnt much more they could do, and it wasnt good for Gavin to keep hanging around the city all night. After that, Gavins parents put him on a Greyhound bus back to Syracuse. You can only do so much screaming at him, Eric said. Theyre hoping, like last time, the car finds its way back again. Last winter, the 19-year-old lost his car at a concert in New York, but it was found shortly by police several blocks away. In the case of the last concert Gavin had driven to which he wont be doing anymore! Eric added a spare key had fallen out of his pocket onto the ground near the parked car. Supposedly, someone took that and drove it, Eric said. Police found the car in a completely different area than Gavin had been in, without damage, but unlocked. The spare key was nowhere to be found. So somebodys got a key out there for his car, but he got it back that time, Eric said. Hes had bad luck. Currently, the Stricklands say seven or eight people in Toronto are scouring through parking garages in a two-mile radius of the Rogers Centre. Ones been to four garages today. Another called it the best scavenger hunt ever. To the family, itll be the best once it has a winner . . . . Im just hoping this is just a funny family story coming up when we find the thing, Eric said. And we can talk about it for years down the road. SHARE: A study that could reshape road safety measures across the city will be delayed up to a year. Council asked city staff in December 2016 to analyze Torontos traffic warrant system the policies that determine which roads and intersections are recommended for road-safety measures such as crosswalks, stop lights and stop signs. The motion asked staff to report back, by the first quarter of 2017, on ways to enhance safety for vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists. It passed by a margin of 28 to 11. Read more: Riskiest spots for pedestrians and cyclists get new rules in road-safety plan No, lower speed limits dont kill people. Thats crazy: Keenan Now, the report wont arrive until the end of 2017 or even the beginning of 2018, up to a year after it was supposed to go before the citys public works committee. Transportation Services staff are in the process of reviewing the various warrants noted in this council motion, wrote city spokesperson Steve Johnston in an email. This review has taken longer than expected to complete. Councillor Janet Davis, who originally put forward the motion for a review, understands the analysis can be difficult. But Davis also stressed that with dozens of pedestrian and cyclist fatalities each year and the city having committed to a safe-streets plan, completing the work in a timely manner is essential. These warrants are outdated and they need to be changed, she said, arguing the policies are based on a set of assumptions that are no longer valid. Under the current system, when a community group or councillor wants to introduce a road-safety measure, a traffic study is conducted. City staff only recommend changes if the area meets certain criteria, including the traffic speed, volume and proximity to other intersections. But road-safety advocates such as Dylan Reid of Walk Toronto have long accused the existing warrant system of protecting a car-centric status quo. The problem with the system is that its a bit of a Catch-22, Reid explained. It may be that people arent using the intersection to cross because its dangerous, he said, which city staff might point to as a sign of insufficient demand. The warrant system can even turn down requests at intersections with bus stops or places of worship. Basically, the traffic control system is very limited and doesnt really have the flexibility to take the situation into account. Davis motion in December followed the death of Jae Blue, a senior citizen in her ward. Blue was on her way to the local community centre when she was hit by a driver at Cedarvale and Cosburn Aves. She was 69. Davis had asked for road-safety measures at that intersection on two previous occasions, but staff said it didnt meet the warrant criteria. The warrant system does not reflect the views of the local community, she said, calling it out of touch with whats needed. SHARE: Chicken will be the best-positioned protein due to its low price position in times of pressure on consumer spending power but rises in production costs and the long-term impact of COVID-19 threaten to disrupt the sector, according to Rabobank. An old, cheaper test for heart disease is just as effective as newer, costlier ones, Ontario researchers have found. Their work, published Thursday in the Journal of the American Heart Association, suggests that health systems could save money by using the decades-old exercise stress test as a first-line diagnostic tool to identify coronary artery disease. With healthcare budgets rising sharply in many high-income countries and with cardiac diagnostic testing and medical imaging contributing substantively to these costs, the assessment of comparative clinical effectiveness is important to assess the real-world impact of these modalities, the study states. The paper compares four different non-invasive tests for coronary artery disease, the second leading cause of death in Canada, after cancer. The oldest of these tests, in existence for more than half a century, is the exercise stress test. Also known as a graded exercise test (GXT), it shows how the heart responds to increasing levels of stress on a treadmill or stationary bike and reveals whether there are blockages in arteries. Three newer tests studied include: Stress echocardiography, or stress echo. This is similar to a GXT, but also involves taking ultrasound images of the heart. Myocardial profusion imaging (MPI), also known as a nuclear stress test. It assesses blood flow through the heart and involves the intravenous injection of a small amount of a radioactive blood flow marker. Coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA). A CT scanner is used to look at the structures and blood vessels of the heart after a patient is injected with an intravenous dye. Contemporary MPI technology was first used in 1988. Stress echo and CCTA are newer tests for which OHIP billing codes were introduced in 2011. All tests have undergone many iterations and improvements over time. Lead author Dr. Idan Roifman, an adjunct scientist at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences and staff cardiologist at the Schulich Heart Centre at Sunnybrook Hospital, said there has been an international debate among cardiologists about which test to use first on patients suspected of having coronary artery disease. American guidelines recommend the exercise stress test, but European guidelines suggest that an MPI or stress echo may be preferable. There are no Canadian guidelines. No one knows what the best approach is because there is disagreement among the guideline writers, and in clinical practice people do whatever they feel is better, Roifman explained. Over the last five years, cardiologists have been increasingly using the three newer tests, which provide more information on heart structure and/or function than the GXT, he noted. Physicians do it because they honestly think its better since they are getting more information, he explained. In an attempt to get some clarity, Ontario researchers did a retrospective study, looking at administrative and clinical data for 18,819 Ontario adults who had undergone some form of non-invasive diagnostic testing in 2012. Within six months, these patients also underwent invasive angiograms, considered the gold-standard in diagnostic testing for coronary artery disease. This test can tell a physician what percentage of an artery is blocked, but is used more sparingly because it comes with higher risks. It involves inserting a catheter into an artery, typically in the groin region, and threading it up through the femoral artery to the heart. Contrast dye is injected into the coronary arteries. In comparing the four initial tests, Ontario researchers planned to rank them by assessing their ability to detect coronary artery disease and their association with improved clinical outcomes. For outcomes, researchers looked at rates of heart attacks and deaths. Roifman said they were surprised by what they found. They expected one of the three newer tests to show superior results, given that they are being used more and provide more information. But there was no significant difference between the newer tests and the plain old stress test, he said. The oldest, least expensive test performed just as well as the newer, costlier ones, the study found. The angiograms didnt show heart disease more often in the patients who had the fancy tests, the non-GXT tests. And, more importantly, there was no difference in clinical outcomes down the road, Roifman said. The study did not draw any conclusions about potential cost savings. Roifman said thats the next step and his team is now working on a cost analysis. Between 2011 and 2014, physicians billed for more than 2.2 million non-invasive cardiac diagnostic tests in Ontario. Because so many are performed, its important to determine the most efficient way to utilize (them). Our study begins to lay the foundations for understanding this and does not support the trend in performing non-GXT tests as a first line, RoiFman said. A quick look at the OHIP schedule of benefits reveals how much doctors bill the taxpayer-funded insurance plan for these tests. An exercise stress test (including professional and technical fees) costs $105 while a nuclear stress test (including multiple component fees) costs around $600. The other two tests fall in between. The study says that more research is necessary to assess outcomes related to all patients who undergo non-invasive cardiac testing in Ontario, not just those who have subsequent invasive angiograms. The paper emphasizes that about 20 per cent of patients requiring non-invasive cardiac testing are ineligible for exercise stress tests. As well, a certain subpopulation may benefit from initial non-GXT tests, something else the researchers continue to study. SHARE: Is there a statute of limitations on statues? Do personalities of the past deserve amnesties after the fact, forgiving their transgressions while sanitizing their triumphs? Or must our founders be held to account, forcing their followers to admit that historical legacies are subject to latter day judgments? There are no easy answers, but one more question: For all the fuss over erasing the images of Egerton Ryerson in Toronto and Edward Cornwallis in Halifax, why do we give a pass to their overlords who issued the overarching orders? All these years later, no one seems to demand that the statues of our former monarchs be toppled, and that the crown be abolished. On the manicured grounds of Queens Park, an imposing statute of Queen Victoria, perched on her throne, reigns over the legislative assembly. Flanking it to the north is a commanding image of King Edward VII on horseback. Why question the legacy of a dead king at Queens Park? History records that Edward VII and his horse reached Toronto only after a circuitous journey. His statue was unveiled in Delhi, commemorating his passing as Emperor of India. Savouring its independence, India dumped the statue on Ontario home of the United Empire Loyalists which granted refuge to the king in 1969. Another statue of Queen Victoria, overlooking the Irish parliament, was similarly retired to a Dublin warehouse until monarchists in Sydney, Australia claimed it as their own in 1986. The statue almost made it to London, Ont., but for a lack of funds and we already had one here. We play a peculiar game of royal musical thrones: Other decolonized democracies unload unwanted historical baggage, and we cheerfully offer sanctuary to their surplus statues of kings and queens. Why do Canadians cling to the crown, whether in person or in sculpture? Its worth noting that many of the Indigenous protestors who condemn Ryerson or Cornwallis have little enthusiasm for abolition of the monarchy. Indeed, Prince Charles has at least three ceremonial names granted by Indigenous hosts, and he was warmly received on a visit to Iqaluit last month. The Assembly of First Nations argues there are important fiduciary ties to the crown dating to the Royal Proclamation of 1763. But Indigenous affection for our future king seems at odds with the injustices perpetrated by, or for, his ancestors. Upon independence, the Irish were less forgiving, faulting Queen Victoria for famine, repression and executions. Politicians objected that this relic of imperialism should still disgrace the precincts of our parliamentary institution. When the Australians later offered to rescue her from storage, Dublin was divided about liberating her, according to declassified cabinet documents noting her place in Irish history. It is part of our heritage in no less a way than Norman or Viking remains. The Irish ultimately evicted the Queen with a crane. Separatist radicals in Quebec dynamited her out of Montreals Victoria Square in 1963, not just dethroning but decapitating her. Quebecers are unsentimental about name changes that keep up with changing times. Montreals Dorchester Blvd. was long ago rechristened Boul. Rene Levesque to honour the popular sovereigntist premier at the expense of the forsaken Lord Dorchester (Westmount still clings to the original Dorchester name within its own largely anglo borders). As a foreign correspondent, I became fascinated by hero worship and the cult of personality, manifested in statues or propaganda posters. I visited the mausoleums of Mao Zedong in Beijing, Ho Chi Minh in Hanoi and Kim Il-sung in Pyongyang to behold their embalmed corpses on public display evidence of how dead dictators live on. Along the way I collected archival busts (and have placed a likeness of Mao beside his Taiwanese nemesis, Chiang Kai-shek, alongside Vladimir Lenin). But cults come and go I watched in amazement as my Chinese Communist friends at university literally crossed out the faces of politicians who were purged from the ruling party after Maos death. I cannot imagine a statue to Hitler standing anywhere in Germany. No surprise that Saddam Hussein monuments were toppled after his defeat in Iraq. Which brings us back to Canadas complicated history. As governor of a nascent Nova Scotia, Cornwallis crossed a line when he issued the infamous Scalping Proclamation of 1749 offering a bounty for any Mikmaq adult or child (Three years earlier Cornwallis had led soldiers pacifying Scotlands Western Highlands, where suspected Jacobite families were boarded into homes and burned to death, according to the Canadian Encyclopedia.) Such ethnic cleansing demands a historical reckoning. By contrast, the campaign against Ryerson by some students seems misplaced. Historians note his close ties to Indigenous people, his aspirations for education and the lack of any direct link to the Residential Schools calamity that came much later (full disclosure I have just been named a distinguished visiting professor at the university). Each statue, like each story, is full of contradictions. We are not alone in revisiting our monuments or revising our history, which cannot be frozen in time. India and Ireland did it, and the U.K. and U.S. are doing it now. The only certainty is that the victors get to write history. The vanquished try to rewrite it. And writers keep writing about it not least the need to one day abolish the monarchy and its legacy. Martin Regg Cohns political column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. mcohn@thestar.ca , Twitter: @reggcohn SHARE: The totals in this story have been updated to reflect Trumps Wednesday interview with the New York Times. WASHINGTONU.S. President Donald Trump had just finished making another false statement, ho hum, when he said something especially suspect. He wasnt exactly sure, he conceded, if this particular inaccurate boast was accurate. And he was worried, he claimed, that a fact-checker was going to give him a Pinocchio. I dont like those, he said on Monday. I dont like Pinocchios. Fact check: he really doesnt care about Pinocchios. Thursday is six-month anniversary of Trumps inauguration. Over those 180 days, by our count, he has uttered a total of 413 lies and otherwise false claims a staggering 2.3 per day. RELATED: Six months of spelling mistakes from the Trump White House: Analysis The Star has tracked every single word Trump has said, tweeted or issued in his name since he took the oath on Jan. 20. Other than the sheer quantity of lies, whats most striking is their outlandish obviousness. With some exceptions, this is not sophisticated deceit. Trump is the toddler with purple icing on his face declaring that a fairy must have eaten the last piece of cake. Dartmouth College government professor Brendan Nyhan co-authored a book about the deceptions of George W. Bush. He says Trumps dishonesty is much worse in its frequency, severity and brazenness. From the Bush administration, Nyhan said, dishonesty tended to be carefully constructed half-truths that contained a misleading suggestion that couldnt be backed up by evidence; it was quite rare to see wholesale falsehoods that could be definitively debunked at the time. Trumps lies are transparent. Trumps most frequent lie as president, repeated 19 times, is Obamacare is dead. He keeps saying this as millions of people pay for their visits to the doctor using Obamacare insurance plans. Trump has simply decided that the benefits of dishonesty outweigh the costs. Few media outlets regularly and forcefully call out presidents lies. Trump knows that even the most ridiculous of claims will be covered uncritically by Fox News and even, often, by traditional outlets. Weve been victimized, Nyhan said, by a media ecosystem that amplifies statements regardless of whether theyre true, immediately. Trump opponents worry about a world in which political lying has no consequences. Trump, after all, won the presidency lying all the time, and he has maintained his support base lying some more. When we asked Trump voters in Ohio about Trumps lies, several of them said they like dishonesty that gets elites all agitated. So the concern is understandable. But the hand-wringing sometimes ignores the dreadfulness of Trumps approval rating, now below 40 per cent. A mere third of the public now thinks he is honest. The exposure of his dishonest claims, especially his dishonest policy pledges, may well be reflected in his historically horrible overall standing. But he shows no sign of slowing down. He made 34 false claims in the week in which he professed concern about Pinocchios. Trumps persistence has spawned a variety of complex theories about what he is trying to do. Some veteran observers of authoritarian leaders have suggested that he is strategically attempting to obliterate the very idea of an objective reality that differs from what he says it is. A simpler theory seems more plausible to us. There is no grand plan. Lying is simply what Donald Trump has always done. Its how his brain works. He views deception as a more efficient solution than truth-telling. I think throughout much of his life hes been rewarded for defaulting to the lie instead of the truth as most people do, said Steve McCornack, a University of Alabama at Birmingham professor who studies deception. I really think, cognitively, his default discourse-production setting is just to go to the lie. He lies to make himself look better than he is. (The Electoral College is almost impossible for a Republican to win.) He lies to make his predecessor look worse than he is. (How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones.) He lies to make his policy proposals seem more necessary than they are. (We have an $800 billion trade deficit.) He lies to try to embarrass his enemies. (Watched low rated Morning Joe). And he lies even when he is embarrassing himself. In May, he told Time magazine that he doesnt watch CNN. Then he offered a detailed critique of three separate CNN shows. Heres the full list: Read more about: SHARE: MADRIDJudicial authorities in Spain say that autopsy results show the Spanish banker involved in graft scandals who was found dead this week with a bullet to his chest deliberately shot himself. The body of Miguel Blesa, the 69 year-old former chairman of the disappeared Caja Madrid, was found Wednesday in the garage of a private hunting estate in southern Spain after he told other guests he was going to move his car. The forensic report confirms the widespread speculation it had been a case of suicide. Blesa had been waiting for the result of an appeal to a six-year prison sentence for misusing corporate credit cards issued by Bankia SA, which absorbed Caja Madrid in 2011. Bankia was later nationalized and bailed out for $30 billion. Read more: Former chairman of one of Spains largest banks found dead with gunshot wound Read more about: SHARE: MIDDLETOWN, CONN.Police say a Connecticut man who left his dog to die in a hot car three years ago has been arrested after another dog died the same way. Seventy-nine-year-old David Beveridge told police in Middletown that he meant to take the Labradoodle named Jennie to a pet care centre around noon Tuesday before going to work. He said he did not remember until around 2:30 p.m. that the dog was still in the car. Temperatures that day were in the 90s. Police say records at a veterinary hospital show a poodle mix named Charlie died in May 2014 after Beveridge left it in a car. Beveridge has been arrested on animal cruelty charges. A phone message left for him was not immediately returned. SHARE: WASHINGTONOfficials in the U.S. and Europe on Thursday announced the takedown of two internet marketplaces for drugs, counterfeit goods, weapons, hacking tools and other illicit items in what U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said was the largest dark web takedown in world history. European authorities said the operation, led by the FBI, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and Dutch police, shut down infrastructure belonging to the networks AlphaBay and Hansa. Prosecutors said AlphaBay had 200,000 members and 40,000 vendors before it was went offline earlier this month, making it the largest of many illegal marketplaces that operate on the dark web, which consists of hidden online networks which are not accessible through a typical web browser. This is likely one of the most important criminal investigations of this entire year, Sessions said. In addition to seizing the networks infrastructure, prosecutors charged AlphaBays suspected founder, Alexandre Cazes, with crimes including conspiracy to engage in racketeering and conspiracy to distribute narcotics. Cazes, 26, a Canadian citizen who had resided in Thailand, apparently killed himself while in custody in Thailand this month, the Justice Department said, and prosecutors have moved to seize his and his wifes assets throughout the world. The Bangkok Post reports Cazes was discovered in the bathroom of his cell hanging from a towel. The NSBs Major General Soontorn Chalermkiat told the paper there are no clues that suggest he didnt hang himself. Cazes was reportedly set to meet with an attorney about his extradition to the U.S. on drug trafficking charges an hour before his reported suicide. Another Thai official, Maj. Gen. Chayapote Hasoonha, told the Bangkok Post Cazes had been living in Thailand for about eight years and had a Thai wife. The official added Cazes spouse has been charged with money laundering. He was a computer expert involved with international transactions of bitcoins, Chalermkiat told Agence France-Presse. He didnt have any business in Thailand but he had many houses. The Bangkok paper said he also had four Lamborghini sports cars in Thailand. Cazes father, Martin, told Journal de Montreal his son was an extraordinary young man, with no history, no judicial record. He never smoked a cigarette, never used drugs. Neither the Canadian nor U.S. Embassies in Thailand responded to request for further detail on Cazes arrest, extradition and reported death. AlphaBay operated on the Tor network, which helps users browse the internet anonymously. Visitors to the online marketplace paid through digital currencies such as Bitcoin. Officials say hundreds of vendors advertised either fentanyl or heroin. With files from the Associated Press Read more about: SHARE: Re: Retailers warn Ottawa of duty-free dangers, July 19 Retailers warn Ottawa of duty-free dangers, July 19 For a long time, Canadians have been ripped off by the telecom monopolies. In the publishing of books, price of cars, electronics, etc., we have been ripped off by the U.S. It is interesting to see that the U.S. now wants to raise the import duty trigger from $20 to $800 and have their telecoms allowed into Canada. Both of these things will benefit the average Canadian and make our retailers lower their prices to compete. Why is Canada fighting this? How much money does Rogers, Bell and Telus need to make? Verizon has a much better set of plans at much lower rates for the average consumer. Im sure there are lots of issues to be addressed, but I will be disappointed with our government if it cant see its way clear to helping Canadians improve and lower the cost of living in this very expensive country. Carole Ann Alloway, Toronto SHARE: Re: Omar Khadr payout gains traction in U.S. media after Conservative MPs op-ed, July 17 Omar Khadr payout gains traction in U.S. media after Conservative MPs op-ed, July 17 It seems that Conservatives and their base just dont want to let this go. And now some of Canadas politicians are taking to American media outlets to air out their beefs. Its bad enough that the Conservatives have made this an issue they are going to ride until the next election. But now, Thornhill MP Peter Kent has decided to go play partisan politics in the right-wing American media. Shameful, shameful, shameful! I find it incredibly un-Canadian that Conservatives would go anywhere abroad and sell out their own government for the sake of pandering to their hateful, racist base. The right-wing media outlets down there are, of course, going to milk this for U.S. President Donald Trumps own base. It seems that reporting facts has long been forgotten for the sake of partisan politics. If Kent wants to continue making this an issue, he has a seat in Parliament where he can do as part of his job. It is disgusting that he chose to put down his own country through the American right-wing media. Phil Marambio, Oakville Peter Kent is following in his old bosss pen prints with his opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal. How is it he feels entitled as a representative of Canadian citizens to bring back his flawed journalist skills to disagree with the federal government, using an American newspaper? How is this in the best interests of Canada, with NAFTA negotiations in full gear? Is he using his past journalist code of ethics? Did the good voters of Thornhill implore him to write it? Who paid him? Mr. Kent is entitled to his opinion on any issue. But he is certainly not thinking about Canada, which pays him his salary. J.L. Isopp, Nanaimo, B.C. SHARE: Re: Manitoba premier calls for delay in nationwide marijuana legalization to 2019, July 19 Manitoba premier calls for delay in nationwide marijuana legalization to 2019, July 19 The premiers of Canada are a pathetic lot. They get together and all they can do is derail the meeting and tell everyone they cant even manage to get their act together to sell legal marijuana. Did they forget that the federal government was elected by the people of Canada and part of their platform was legalization of marijuana? Maybe they need to ask kids at the local high school how they handle marijuana distribution. Its a Conservative of course leading the charge that the sky is falling. Fifty years of waging war on pot is not good enough for them. Lets keep locking up our kids and neighbours and tying up the courts. Pot has been legal in many states south of the border and Alaska to the north. Have those states gone back to making pot illegal? Does the sun still shine in those states or has the sky fallen? Maybe the premiers should be talking about a national prescription drug plan or a national dental plan. Maybe they could eliminate inter-provincial trade barriers. But I guess if they are declaring themselves so inept at pot distribution, what can we really expect. Where have all the real leaders gone? Stephen Woof, Haliburton, Ont. Wynne to push new pharmacare plan, Cohn, July 18 Martin Regg Cohn has eloquently described Ontarios push for a national pharmacare plan as arguing not only for social equity and decency, but fiscal efficiency and raw purchasing power. One can only hope that other provincial premiers will begin the process of getting a national, universal plan by emulating Ontarios lead a pharmacare program for people up to 25. A good start. The arguments for a national plan have been made for years. Are we seeing a glimmer of political will to finally add pharmacare to our national health care? Bill Wensley, Cobourg, Ont. SHARE: Re: Canada is committed to improving mental health in Indigenous communities, Opinion, July 17 Canada is committed to improving mental health in Indigenous communities, Opinion, July 17 Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott expresses commendable sympathy for the victims of recent suicides by Indigenous youth in our hinterland. Potential causes are touched on but are essentially vague, steeped in a too-simple history and missing the desperation that gripped these poor kids. What may be needed is a reassessment of remote reserves and whether they should continue their existence in abject isolation a world in which resources, diversity and opportunities are intrinsically scarce. Even the hardiest amongst us could feel trapped, segregated and hopeless in this environment. A cost-benefit analysis of a reserve of any type or circumstance may seem a non-starter. However, if brighter prospects for human life and welfare are in the offing, perhaps urgency, conviction and imagination shall come to the fore. Otherwise, the good wishes, advice and financial transfers on offer have done little to save these fragile souls. Jeff Stephan, Toronto SHARE: In the early hours of Tuesday, I found myself accosted by a supervisor for Toronto Police driving a gas-guzzling SUV. I watched as he observed me smoking a cigarette outside a bar. He then made a U-turn to check other bars before coming back to me. I was waved over to the vehicle, informed that smoking within nine metres of a public doorway is illegal and that since he was such a nice guy, I would not face the $300 fine plus surcharges that he felt was within his right to levy. I am truly sorry he didnt, as this law is absurd. To add to the absurdity, I was ordered to smoke across the street from the bar, in front of an ice-cream store that happened to be closed, which presumably would also be a violation of the law. For those of us who reside on the major commercial streets of Toronto, this law is not only unenforceable, it is unconstitutional. Greg Stock, Toronto SHARE: Can any young Toronto woman today imagine that she could be arrested and imprisoned for living with her boyfriend? Thats what happened in 1939 when the city was a much different place. On May 3 of that year, 18-year-old Velma Demerson had been enjoying breakfast with her fiance Harry Yip when there was banging on the door of their downtown rented room. Two police officers and Demersons grim-faced father barged in. Is that her? She recalled one police officer asking her father. Yes, thats her, came the answer. Police took Demerson away and she was soon before a judge who was told that shed been found wearing pyjamas in a room with Yip, who was wearing a bathrobe. The judge asked if she was pregnant and she said, yes, and pleaded to be freed so she could marry Yip, as they had planned. Instead, the judge remanded her for a week before sentencing and she was packed off to the Don Jail, forced to sleep on a bench without a blanket. She was never read her rights or offered a lawyer. It was not explained at the time, but Demerson had been picked up under Ontarios Female Refuges Act (1897-1964), used to arrest and imprison women from ages 15 to 35 if they were found begging, drunk or were suspected of leading an idle or dissolute life. Anyone could make such a charge. Judges were only required to make reasonable inquiry into the truth. The act also specified that a parent or guardian of a female, under age 21, who was unmanageable could have that person brought before a judge. If found incorrigible, the female was sent to an industrial refuge (a place often run by religious groups, where women were confined, given moral direction and put to work for up to two years). The act was amended in 1939 to allow any incorrigible woman to also be sent to Torontos Mercer Reformatory for Females (Canadas first womens prison). Now 96, and living in Toronto, Demerson still finds it incredible that so many girls and women were deprived of their freedom under a provincial act that was illegal . . . all those years they got away with it, she told the Star in an interview. Theres nothing in the Criminal Code about unmanageable or incorrigible women, she says. And she wonders why Ottawa allowed it. Id like to have the federal government look at this . . . admit responsibility. But at the time of her arrest, Demerson had no idea what was going on and was not offered any means to contact anyone. She knew her fiance couldnt help her. In 1939 Toronto, as in other parts of Canada, discrimination against Chinese residents was a fact of life there was even a provincial law prohibiting white women from working in businesses run by Chinese men. A Chinese man can hardly come looking for a white woman without endangering himself, Demerson wrote in her 2004 book about her ordeal, Incorrigible. (Wilfrid Laurier University Press.) Demerson had been living with her divorced mother when she started going out with Yip, a restaurant waiter, about a year before her arrest. When her father, a New Brunswick businessman, heard she had moved in with a Chinese man, he took the train to Toronto. Demerson speculated in her book that when her father went to police they likely filled his head with warnings about white slavery, vice and drugs . . . Hes afraid that my association with a Chinese man will bring disgrace to his family. Demerson returned to court on May 10 and the judge pronounced her incorrigible and sentenced her to one year in the citys Belmont Home, an industrial refuge run by Protestant church women. There were about 60 other incorrigible young women confined at the home, including a 14-year-old victim of incest. Because Demerson was pregnant, she did light housekeeping, while most women did laundry. In her book, Demerson called it a tolerable confinement. One volunteer told her that the home was so much better than the Andrew Mercer Reformatory for Women, which opened in 1872 as the first womens prison in Canada and was a house of horrors. The truth of that description would soon become apparent. At the end of June, the women were told the home was closing and most were being transferred to the notorious Mercer. All of us were in shock, Demerson told the Star. At the Mercer Reformatory, now the site of Lamport Stadium on King St. W., the women were put into windowless, one-by-two-metre, cockroach-ridden cells, with buckets for toilets. Reading materials and clocks were not allowed. Inmates spent all day at sewing machines and were only allowed to talk to each other for 30 minutes a day. Demerson was forced to submit to frequent, painful internal exams and unexplained procedures by the Mercers Dr. Edna Guest, a eugenicist who supported sterilization of the unfit. She was given a variety of medications. The contents or effects were not explained. She was allowed to go to Toronto General Hospital to give birth. Shortly after mother and son returned to the Mercer, Guest was replaced by a new doctor. He asked Demerson about her future plans. She recalled the conversation in her book: Im going to marry the father of my baby. Why are you throwing yourself away? he said. Do you mean because hes Chinese? Well, yes, the doctor responded. On March 1, 1940, Demerson was released. She and Yip married. By marrying an alien she lost her Canadian citizenship. The emotional cost of her ordeal, the babys severe eczema and the expensive medicines treatment required, took a toll on the marriage. It ended after three years and they lost contact. Demerson struggled to care for her son, but by the age of 12, he had become a ward of the Childrens Aid. Tragically, he drowned at age 25. The Mercer Reformatory was closed and demolished in 1969, years after a damning 1964 Grand Jury investigation which found shocking conditions, including hidden basement cells used for solitary confinement. Girls jail shocks grand jury was the headline on the front page of the Nov. 5, 1964 Star. Meanwhile, Demerson married a second time and had two more children. Widowed, and in her 60s, she started investigating what had happened in 1939, researching at the Ontario Archives. Thats when she realized there was no Criminal Code offence of incorrigibility, the basis for jailing women. It hit me they had no right to do this, she told the Star. She also discovered from a report in the archives that she was used in a drug study at the Mercer without her knowledge. At age 81, Demerson sued the Ontario government for $11 million and asked for an apology. In December 2002, she got a letter of apology from the Ontario attorney-general for being unjustifiably incarcerated under the FRA and for its adverse effects on Demerson, Harry Yip and their son, Harry. Later the province gave her an undisclosed monetary settlement. Velma Demerson has written a satirical novel based on her experiences at the Mercer called Nazis in Canada. A launch party will take place July 26, from 7 to 9 p.m. at Another Story Bookshop, 315 Roncesvalles Ave. Share your story suggestions at OnceUponACity@thestar.ca . To search more about this story or your story go to thestar.com/archives . To purchase or browse more photos go to starstore.ca/collections/once-upon-a-city, or visit us on Facebook at facebook.com/TorontoStarArchives or on Twitter: @StarHistoricPix. SHARE: Your Ultimate Investing Toolkit Sign up for MarketBeat All Access to gain access to MarketBeat's full suite of research tools: Portfolio Monitoring Top Stock Lists Premium Reports Stock Screeners Live News Feed Premium Support Free for your first month. President Donald Trump will soon have to pick a side in a dispute between two of his favorite industries. Pipeline companies and the U.S. steel industry are facing off ahead of a report due this weekend from the Department of Commerce that could lead to limits on pipelines' ability to import steel, a proposition pipeline companies say could spell doom for upcoming projects and the steel industry believes will bolster the country's economy. The report follows a presidential memorandum signed January 24 ordering the department to sketch out a plan for maximizing the use of domestic materials in pipelines built in the United States, and is due Sunday, July 23. Trump has in the past promoted policies that favored both industries, speeding regulatory approval for major pipeline projects early in his presidency, and recently mulling import tariffs on steel that are expected to be announced in the coming weeks. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is a former steel executive whose policy papers advising the Trump campaign cited unfair trade practices as a drag on American steel companies. The pipeline decision pits the two industries in a zero-sum effort to win over the administration, while also putting into conflict the president's twin goals of supporting infrastructure development and promoting domestic manufacturing. Pipeline companies have said that an import restriction could increase prices. A study funded by industry groups said a requirement to source American steel could drive up pipe costs 25%, an amount that could add $76 million to the construction costs of most pipelines and up to $300 million for mega-projects like the $3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline. Roger Schagrin, general counsel for the Committee on Pipe and Tube Imports, called the study "one of the worst pieces of garbage" he has seen during his career, saying in an email that there is more than enough domestic steel capacity for pipeline construction and that piping accounts for 10% of the cost of a pipeline. A 2015 report from the Congressional Research Service examining the Department of Transportation's "Buy America" policy said that evidence of increasing costs and delays was largely anecdotal. The Department of Transportation's policy allows for waivers if inclusion of domestically sourced materials could raise the price of a project by more than 25%. Pipeline companies also say that U.S. steel manufacturers do not produce enough steel for a domestic sourcing requirement to make sense. Energy Transfer Equity (ETE) , which built almost 2,000 miles of pipeline last year, said in comments to the Department of Commerce that the company consumed almost the entire U.S. steel market by itself, possibly limiting the supply for other pipeline companies. Steel makers, on the other hand, are hoping Trump will force pipelines to buy American-made steel - saying the capacity is there, and that the move could bolster the economy as a whole. "With capacity utilization rates hovering around 70 percent, the domestic steel industry has ample existing capacity to supply materials for pipeline projects," Steel Manufacturers Association President Philip K. Bell wrote in a letter to the Department of Commerce. The Department of Commerce report comes as both industries are facing declining sales growth. Growth for domestic steel producers such as U.S. Steel (X) - Get Free Report has been declining over the past few years, with the sector contracting 6.7% last year and almost 21% in 2015, according to FactSet data. Meanwhile, pipeline companies such as Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (EPD) - Get Free Report have been on the downswing, with the sector seeing sales decline almost 10% last year and more than 30% in 2015. A specific point of contention revolves around larger-diameter, thicker-walled steel plating, which pipeline companies say they are unable to purchase domestically. "It represents a niche segment of the overall market and the cyclical nature of the pipeline construction industry means U.S. producers have moved away from this market segment in recent decades," Association of Oil Pipelines spokesman John Stoody said in an email. Dominion Energy (D) - Get Free Report , which has proposed a 600 mile, $5.1 billion natural gas pipeline that would run through West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina, sourced half its steel plate from manufacturers in South Korea because they could not find the large plating the project required in the United States, a spokesman said. "I don't believe there are any capability restrictions in the United States that limit large diameter heavier section pipe production," Quaker City Castings president Geoff Korff said in an email. "If it can be made in China, it can be made in the US." According to Schagrin, from the Committee on Pipe and Tube Imports, extra-thick walled piping has made up a declining portion of pipeline construction in recent decades. "[E]xtra thick walled pipe is primarily used in Gulf of Mexico," he wrote. "Was about 10% of consumption 20 years ago. About 2% now post Deepwater Horizon. Can be excluded from any program." Rusty Braziel, president of RBN Energy, said an increasing number of mega-projects could increase the demand for larger, thicker steel -- but that the demand likely would not be felt until 2019, giving the industry some time to adjust to any new rules. Most of the pipe and tube products imported into the United States come from South Korea, including almost a million metric tons last year, according to the International Trade Administration. Canada, Mexico, Turkey and Japan are the other major suppliers. Regardless of the details of the report Sunday, any trade restriction could face significant legal hurdles, experts have said. The United States is part of the World Trade Organization's Government Procurement Agreement, which would prohibit directly telling U.S. companies to purchase American goods. Nonetheless, there are a number of caveats the administration could pursue to work around the law. Wall Street will be on cloud nine if Microsoft (MSFT) - Get Free Report can prove that its new business strategies keep paying off. Microsoft reports its fiscal fourth-quarter results after Thursday's closing bell. Analysts are hoping to get more color on how Microsoft's cloud and AI businesses are shaping up, as well as new details on the layoffs announced earlier this month. The tech giant is expected to report earnings of 71 cents per share and $24.3 billion in revenue for the quarter. Microsoft doesn't break out results for its Azure cloud product; instead, it falls under the company's Intelligent Cloud unit, which analysts' predict will see sales increase quarter-over-quarter to $7.3 billion. The Productivity and Business Processes segment, which handles LinkedIn, Office 365 and Dynamics customer relationship management software, is also expected to see its sales rise quarter-over-quarter to $8.4 billion. The company's latest round of annual layoffs were made as part of its effort to increase its focus on cloud services. In June, Microsoft said it would cut a number of employees from its sales group, most of which were located outside the U.S. At the time, it didn't disclose how many employees lost their jobs, but that data could possibly come during the company's earnings call. Microsoft faces tough competition in the cloud market from rivals Amazon's (AMZN) - Get Free Report AWS, Alphabet Inc.'s (GOOGL) - Get Free Report Google Cloud and IBM (IBM) - Get Free Report Cloud, but Wall Street continues to believe that the company's Azure product is growing fast. Alphabet is a holding in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. Want to be alerted before Cramer buys or sells GOOGL? Learn more now. After surveying a number of executives at large enterprises, Credit Suisse said it found that demand for Azure could be at a positive inflection point. Approximately 40% of respondents said Azure was their preferred cloud vendor, up from 21% six months ago. At 49%, Amazon Web Services was still the most preferred cloud vendor among respondents, but Microsoft isn't far behind. The firm also found that demand for Office 365 and Windows 10 remains steady. Credit Suisse said that Microsoft has a lot of factors working in its favor relative to competitors, including its large installed base of enterprise customers, existing relationships with "enterprises of all sizes," strong product differentiators (its Azure Stack hybrid cloud offering), a rapidly expanding ecosystem of partners and third-party vendors and continued innovation in hardware and software. Goldman Sachs analyst Heather Bellini remained similarly bullish about Microsoft's cloud opportunities. Strength in Microsoft's cloud offerings should help bring upside to both its top and bottom line, she added. "As Azure continues to build scale and O365 commercial dollar growth outpaces legacy declines, we expect gross profit growth to increase 9% in FY18 and to accelerate to 10% growth in FY19; the fastest growth rates we have seen since FY11," Bellini explained. Bellini said she conducted a survey of CIOs at several companies and the results were better than ever for Microsoft Azure. The same number of CIO respondents said they're currently using Microsoft Azure as AWS, Bellini said, which is a "key milestone" for Azure. Azure's increasing favorability in the enterprise market could foreshadow a future where it eventually dominates against competitors, namely Amazon. AWS has been in the "pole position" for a long time, having the largest cloud revenue base over the past five years, according to Pacific Crest Securities analyst Brent Bracelin. Microsoft's Commercial Cloud segment (which includes Azure, Office 365 Cloud and Dynamics) could dominate AWS in terms of revenue as soon as this year, he noted. "This would firmly mark Microsoft's transition from cloud laggard to cloud leader, in our view," Bracelin said. More of What's Trending on TheStreet: Shares of Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. (SRPT) - Get Free Report jumped 17.7% to $40.10 in premarket trading on Thursday, July 20, after the Cambridge, Mass.-based firm on Wednesday released second-quarter results and raised revenue guidance. The company reported a non-GAAP net loss of $25.3 million, or $0.46 per share, compared to a net loss of $54.8 million, or $1.19 per share, in the same period in 2016. During the quarter, Sarepta recognized net revenue of $35 million from product sales. No revenue was recognized in the same period last year. Sarepta increased its revenue guidance range to $125 million to $130 million for 2017. Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc. (INO) - Get Free Report shares were down 7.2% to $6.29 after the Plymouth Meeting, Pa.-based firm on Wednesday said it has priced an underwritten public offering of 12.5 million shares at $6.00 apiece, which would generate gross proceeds of $75 million. Inovio has given underwriters a 30day option to buy up to 1.88 million additional shares. The company plans to use the net proceeds for general corporate purposes. Shares of Mylan NV (MYL) - Get Free Report rose 1.1% to $38.77 after the company and Theravance Biopharma Inc. (TBPH) - Get Free Report on Wednesday reported positive results from a 12-month Phase 3 safety study of revefenacin (TD-4208), which is being developed for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Worried about how to finance your golden years? Register here to watch a free webinar in which TheStreet's Jim Cramer talks with Ken Fisher, founder of Fisher Investments, about the market trends shaping retirement planning today. WATCH HERE: TheStreet's new series #AlphaRising: It is now really time to say good-bye to Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) - Get Free Report CEO Steve Ells. "Fire the CEO. What more can I say?" Howard Penney, managing director at Hedgeye Risk Management, told TheStreet in an interview on Thursday, July 20, after the Wall Street Journal revealed that 133 customers reported getting sick on iwaspoisoned.com after eating at the Sterling, Va., Chipotle restaurant, compared to the first news that there were only 13 people affected. Today, David Goodfriend, spokesman for the Loudoun County, Va., health department, said 60 ill people have been directly connected to the Virginia restaurant. He said, so far, one has tested positive for norovirus. "As a restaurant, you can't break rule No. 1, which is to not get the customer sick," Penney said. On Tuesday, Chiptole confirmed that it closed the Virginia restaurant on Monday, July 17, to sanitize it after there were a "small number of reported illnesses" at the one location. It was reopened on Wednesday. After the original report, Penney told TheStreet that Ells needs to go. Penney reiterated his stance Thursday and pointed out that Chipotle, in its statement to the press, never once apologized to the customers sickened by the outbreak. Instead, it took a defensive route, blaming the sicknesses on a likely spread of norovirus among employees, rather than it being the result of an outbreak of E.coli, which was found in its food at restaurants in 14 states in 2015. "Chipotle has significant operational issues that need to be addressed," Penney added. "The fact that there was no apology shows that crisis management is significantly lacking, which speaks to the CEO running the company." The norovirus, nicknamed the "winter vomiting bug" because it typically spreads during winter months, is highly contagious and carries symptoms like vomiting, diarrhea and stomach cramps - consistent with food poisoning. Chipotle Spokesman Chris Arnold declined to comment further for this story. On Tuesday, Penney predicted that Chipotle stock could eventually plunge to $250 a share. On Thursday afternoon, shares of the burrito chain dropped 3.67% to $359.15. More of What's Trending on TheStreet: World Bank Vice-President for Africa Makhtar Diop, who has just paid a visit to Conakry July 15-17, confirmed that Guinea will receive $574 million loan from the international financial institution in 2017 to finance over 12 projects in energy, mining, agriculture and infrastructure sectors. Last March the Bretton Woods institution already made available a first $23 million to support the agricultural sector, which is one of the Governments priorities. Makhtar Diops visit to the African country followed the Governments recent launch of the National Economic and Social Development Plan (PNDES) 2016 2020 and the World Banks preparation of a new Country Partnership Framework. During his visit to Guinea, Diop held talks with Guinean President Alpha Conde and other officials on WB-financed projects and other development sectors with particular emphasis on the energy sector. He commended in this vein Guineas progress in the field of hydropower generation with the construction of the Kaleta (240 megawatts), and Souapiti (500 megawatts) energy generating stations and other projected dams. Makhtar Diop also pledged that his institution will continue its support to Guinea to foster its performance in the transport and distribution of energy to populations and SMEs. At present, only 18% of the population has access to electricity. He said the WB would support certain private initiatives in the fight against poverty in underprivileged areas. The WB official visited the site of the IFC-financed expansion Project of Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinee (CBG) in Kamsar more than 250 KM from capital Conakry. Diop has served as the World Banks Vice President for Africa since May 2012. Under his leadership, the World Bank committed $11.9 billion to Sub-Saharan Africa in FY 2017 to help tackle development challenges such as increasing food security and agricultural productivity; improving access to affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy; and creating economic opportunities for Africas youth. The following companies are subsidiares of WPP: 24/7 Real Media UK Ltd., 41?29! Media Internet, AD Venture Worldwide Inc, AKQA, AKQA Denmark A/S, AKQA GmbH, AKQA Inc., AKQA Limited, AQuest, Acceleration, Acceleration eMarketing Inc, All Global, Always (Shanghai) Marketing Services Co Ltd, Arctouch LLC, BCW LLC, BWR PR, Beijing Benpao Century Technology Development Co. Ltd., Benenson Strategy Group LLC, Black and Deen, Blast Radius, Blast Radius Inc., Bomtempo Anahory e Ralha, Bottle Rocket, Bottle Rocket LLC, Brindfors Design AB, CB Associes S.A., CMI Media, CMI Media LLC, CONEXANCE MD, CT Finances SA, Catalyst Online LLC, Cavendish Square Holding BV, Center Partners, Cerebra, Cockpit Holdings Limited, Cognifide, Commarco, Commarco GmbH 120274, Cordiant Communications Group Limited, Dawson Integrated Marketing Communications, DeepLocal Inc., Design Bridge, Design Bridge Limited, Dewey Square Group, Ecommera, EffectiveUI, Enduring Organisation, Entreprise de Communications Tank Inc., Essence, Essence Global Group Limited, Essence Global LLC, Eurosem Belgium SA/NV, F.biz, FAST - Financial Administration Solutions & Technologies Srl, Finecast Limited, Finsbury LLC, Forward Limited, GREY Dusseldorf GmbH, GTB Agency LLC, GTB Shanghai Advertising Co. Ltd, GTB Stat LLC, GWE LLC, Geometry Global Japan GK, Geometry Global LLC, Geometry Global Limited, Glendinning Management Consultants, Go Direct Marketing Inc., Gorilla LLC, Grey, Grey Advertising Limited, Grey Global Group LLC, Group M France SAS, Group M Worldwide LLC, Group SJR LLC, GroupM (Shanghai) Advertising Co. Ltd, GroupM Argentina Trading S.A., GroupM B.V., GroupM Chile SAC, GroupM Competence Center GmbH, GroupM Denmark A/S, GroupM Japan KK, GroupM Limited, GroupM Market Advertising Co. Ltd., GroupM Media India Pvt Ltd, GroupM Pakistan (Private) Ltd, GroupM Singapore Pte Ltd, GroupM Srl, GroupM UK Digital Limited, Guangzhou Dawson Marketing Communication Co. Ltd, H-ART, HERING SCHUPPENER Consulting Strategieberatung fur Kommunikation GmbH, HeathWallace, Hill & Knowlton Limited, Hill and Knowlton Strategies LLC, Hirschen Group GmbH, Hogarth California LLC, Hogarth Worldwide Inc., Hogarth Worldwide Limited, Icon Brand Navigation Group, IntelliQuest Information Group Inc, International Meetings & Science LLC, J Walter Thompson Middle East and North Africa E.C., J Walter Thompson Publicidade Ltda, J.Walter Thompson Bridge Advertising Co. Ltd., John Street Inc., KBM Group LLC, KR Media UK Limited, KR Wavemaker SAS, Kantar TNS, Kinetic Advertising (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Kinetic Worldwide Limited, LLC GroupM, LLC Wavemaker, Landor LLC, M Media Group Pty Ltd, M2 Digital Inc., Marketeers Vietnam, Marketing Direct LLC, Marketing Perspectives Limited, Mather Direct GmbH, Maxus Communications (UK) Limited, Media Club SpA, Media Insight SNC, MediaCom - Warszawa Sp.z.o.o., MediaCom AS (Norway), MediaCom Agentur fur Media-Beratung GmbH, MediaCom Communications Pvt Ltd, MediaCom Danmark A/S, MediaCom Group Limited, MediaCom Istanbul Medya Hizmetleri A.S., MediaCom TWENTYFIVE GmbH, Mediacom AG, Mediacom Australia Pty Limited, Mediacom Canada, Mediacom Iberia SA, Mediacom Italia Srl, Mediacom LLC, Mediacom Middle East & North Africa Holding W.L.L., Mediacom North Limited, Mediacom Paris SA, Mediacom Worldwide LLC, Mediaedge:CIA Worldwide Limited, Mediaedge:cia India Pvt Ltd, Medialets, Memac Ogilvy & Mather Holding Inc, Mind Share Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., MindShare Canada, MindShare GmbH, MindShare Hong Kong Limited, MindShare Polska Sp. z.o.o., Mindshare Media UK Limited, Mindshare SA, Mindshare South Africa (Gauteng) (Proprietary) Limited, Mindshare SpA, Mindshare Spain SA, Mindshare USA LLC, Mirum LLC, Mirum S.A. de C.V., Motion Content Group Limited, OPR AGENCY PTY LIMITED, Ogilvy & Mather Brasil Comunicacao Ltda, Ogilvy & Mather Group (Holdings) Limited, Ogilvy & Mather Pvt Ltd, Ogilvy & Mather S.A.S, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide LLC, Ogilvy Australia Pty Ltd, Ogilvy Commonhealth Worldwide LLC, Ogilvy Public Relations GmbH, Ogilvy Singapore Pte. Ltd., Ootworld, OpenMindWorld LLC, P Four Consultancy, PTR Comunicacoes Ltda, Penn Schoen & Berland Associates LLC, Penn Schoen Berland, Pep LLC, Plano.Trio Comunicacao, Potato London Ltd, Premiere Group Holdings Limited, Prism Sport + Entertainment, Promotion Execution Partners LLC, Public Strategies Inc., Quasar Media Private, Quinn Gillespie & Associates, Quirk, RLM Finsbury, Rasor Holdings LLC, Ray + Keshavan Design Associates, Real Media, Red Fuse New York LLC, Regional Management Group SAS, Russell Square Holding BV, Salmon Limited, Salmon Ltd, Sandtable, Scangroup, Set Management LLC, Shanghai Easycom Advertising Co. Ltd., Shanghai Linjie Marketing Services Co. Ltd., Shanghai Ogilvy & Mather Advertising Ltd, Shire Hall Group, Spafax Airline Network Limited, Spafax Networks LLC, Stickleback Limited, Sudler & Hennessey LLC, Superunion Limited, Swift + POSSIBLE LLC, Syzygy AG, TMARC, Taxi, Taxi Inc., Team Garage LLC, The Brand Union, The Cocktail Global S.L., The Finsbury Group Limited, The Glover Park Group, The Glover Park Group LLC, The GroupM ESP Clever Company S.R.L. de C.V., The Lacek Group LLC, The Marketing & Communication Agency, The Ogilvy Group LLC, The Performers Group, The Young & Rubicam Group of Companies ULC, Triad Digital Media LLC, Twist Image, Two Circles, VML LLC, VMLY&R, WPP (Thailand) Ltd, WPP 2005 Limited, WPP AMC Holdings, WPP AUNZ, WPP Beans Limited, WPP Brands (UK) Limited, WPP Brands Development Holdings (UK) Limited, WPP Brands Holdings (UK) Limited, WPP Deutschland Holding GmbH & Co. KG, WPP Finance 2013, WPP Finance 2015 Limited, WPP Finance Co. Limited, WPP Finance SA, WPP Group (UK) Ltd, WPP Group Canada Finance Inc., WPP Group U.S. Finance LLC, WPP Group USA Inc., WPP Health Limited, WPP Holdings Spain S.L., WPP Jubilee Limited, WPP Luxembourg Gamma Three Sarl, WPP Luxembourg Sarl, WPP Luxembourg Turris S.a r.l., WPP Marketing Communications (Hong Kong) Limited, WPP Marketing Communications Germany GmbH, WPP Media Ltd, WPP Montagu Square LLC, WPP Mexico S.R.L. de C.V., WPP Ottawa Ltd, WPP Samson Limited, WPP Sigma Limited, WPP Sphinx Limited, WPP Square one B.V, WPP UK Germany Holdings, WPP Unicorn Limited, WPPIH 2001 Inc., Warwicks, Wavemaker A/S, Wavemaker Australia Pty Ltd, Wavemaker BV, Wavemaker Canada ULC, Wavemaker Czech s.r.o., Wavemaker Global LLC, Wavemaker Global Limited, Wavemaker GmbH, Wavemaker Hong Kong Limited, Wavemaker Hungary Kft, Wavemaker Italia S.r.l., Wavemaker Limited, Wavemaker MENA FZ LLC, Wavemaker Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Wavemaker Publicidad Spain S.L., Wavemaker Sp.z.o.o, Wavemaker Taiwan Ltd, Wavemaker Servicos Publicitarios Ltda, Who Digital, Witgoud Investments B.V., Worldwide Mediacom Mexico S de R.L. de C.V., Wunderman A/S, Wunderman Thompson (UK) Limited, Wunderman Thompson LLC, XMKT Group, Xaxis LLC, Xaxis US LLC, Y&R Propaganda Ltda, Young & Rubicam, Young & Rubicam LLC, clarus digital, dBOD, groupm Germany GmbH & Co. KG, mPlatform LLC, plista GmbH, thjnk, and thjnk AG. Read More Vesuvius plc provides engineering services and solutions principally to steel and foundry industries worldwide. It operates in two divisions, Steel and Foundry. The company offers foundry consumables and equipment, including binders, coatings, feeding systems, filtration and gating systems, melt shop refractories, metallurgical and pouring control systems, die dressings and coatings, melt treatment products, crucibles, and ceramics for the iron, steel, and nonferrous foundries. It also provides nonferrous metals, such as primary and secondary aluminum, copper, and other metals and alloys; cement and lime solutions, iron ore pelletizing and calcination products, and grains and powders; and process heaters, FCC units, hydrogen reformers, boilers, coke calciners, and thermal oxidizers, as well as sulphur, ethylene, and ammonia plants. In addition, the company offers solutions for power generation and incineration; glass products comprising artistic, display, float, hollow, and optical glass; glass tempering, and reheat and forming products; and solutions for solar multicrystal silicon ingots, thin film and cell processing, and feedstock. Further, it provides solutions for blast furnace stack repair; taphole clay, iron and slang runner, sampler and temperature, tilting runner, and torpedo ladle solutions; iron ladle solutions; lining, taphole system, bath agitation and tuyere system, electric arc furnace and BOF maintenance, and metallurgical sensor solutions; and ladle, ladle to tundish, and tundish solutions, as well as tundish to mold solutions for conventional slab, thin and slim slab, beam blank, flow control valve bloom or billet, and calibrated nozzle billet casters. Additionally, the company offers ingot casting solutions; and reheat furnace, steel hot forming, galvanized steel, and electrical and stainless-steel solutions. Vesuvius plc was founded in 1916 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company provides solutions that allow customers to capture, analyze, and act upon data seamlessly in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Japan. The company offers general purpose servers for multi-workload computing and workload-optimized servers; HPE ProLiant rack and tower servers; HPE BladeSystem and HPE Synergy; and solutions for secondary workloads and traditional tape, storage networking, and disk products, such as HPE Modular Storage Arrays and HPE XP. It also offers HPE Apollo and Cray products; and HPE Superdome Flex, HPE Nonstop, HPE Integrity, and HPE Edgeline products. In addition, the company provides HPE Aruba product portfolio that includes wired and wireless local area network hardware products, such as Wi-Fi access points, switches, routers, and sensors; HPE Aruba software and services comprising cloud-based management, network management, network access control, analytics and assurance, and location; and professional and support services, as well as as-a-service and consumption models for the intelligent edge portfolio of products. Further, it offers various leasing, financing, IT consumption, and utility programs and asset management services for customers to facilitate technology deployment models and the acquisition of complete IT solutions, including hardware, software, and services from Hewlett Packard Enterprise and others. Additionally, the company invests in communications and media solutions. It has a partnership with Striim, Inc. to offer high performance and mission-critical solutions with real-time analytics. It serves commercial and large enterprise groups, such as business and public sector enterprises; and through various partners comprising resellers, distribution partners, original equipment manufacturers, independent software vendors, systems integrators, and advisory firms. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company was founded in 1939 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. engages in the mining of mineral properties in North America, South America, and Indonesia. The company primarily explores for copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, and other metals, as well as oil and gas. Its assets include the Grasberg minerals district in Indonesia; Morenci, Bagdad, Safford, Sierrita, and Miami in Arizona; Tyrone and Chino in New Mexico; and Henderson and Climax in Colorado, North America, as well as Cerro Verde in Peru and El Abra in Chile. The company also operates a portfolio of oil and gas properties primarily located in offshore California and the Gulf of Mexico. As of December 31, 2021, it operated approximately 135 wells. The company was formerly known as Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. and changed its name to Freeport-McMoRan Inc. in July 2014. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. operates bookstores for college and university campuses, and K-12 institutions in the United States. It operates through three segments: Retail, Wholesale, and Digital Student Solutions. The company sells and rents new and used print textbooks, digital textbooks, and publisher hosted digital courseware through physical and virtual bookstores, as well as directly to students through Textbooks.com. It also offers First Day and First Day Complete access programs; BNC OER+, a turnkey solution for colleges and universities, that offers digital content, such as videos, activities, and auto-graded practice assessments; and general merchandise, including collegiate and athletic apparel, school spirit products, lifestyle products, technology products, supplies, graduation products, and convenience items. In addition, the company sources, sells, and distributes new and used textbooks; and sells hardware and a software suite of applications that provides inventory management and point-of-sale solutions to approximately 350 college bookstores. Further, it offers direct-to-student subscription-based writing services; and bartleby, a direct-to-student subscription-based offering that includes textbook solutions, expert questions and answers, and writing and tutoring services. The company operates 805 physical college and university bookstores; 622 virtual bookstores; 8 True Spirit e-commerce websites; pop-up retail locations; 73 customized cafes and 11 stand-alone convenience stores; and a media channel for brands targeting the college demographic. Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. The following companies are subsidiares of Abbott Laboratories: 3A Nutrition (Vietnam) Company Limited, ABON Biopharm (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd., AGA Medical Belgium, AGA Medical Corporation, AGA Medical Holdings Inc., ALR Holdings, AML Medical LLC, APK Advanced Medical Technologies LLC, ATS Bermuda Holdings Limited, ATS Laboratories Inc., Abbott, Abbott (Jiaxing) Nutrition Co. Ltd., Abbott (UK) Finance Limited, Abbott (UK) Holdings Limited, Abbott AG, Abbott Asia Holdings Limited, Abbott Asia Investments Limited, Abbott Australasia Holdings Limited, Abbott Australasia Pty Ltd, Abbott B.V., Abbott Bahamas Overseas Businesses Corporation, Abbott Belgian Investments, Abbott Bermuda Holding Ltd., Abbott Biologicals B.V., Abbott Biologicals LLC, Abbott Bulgaria Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Capital India Limited, Abbott Cardiovascular Inc., Abbott Cardiovascular Systems Inc., Abbott Delaware LLC, Abbott Diabetes Care Inc., Abbott Diabetes Care Limited, Abbott Diabetes Care Sales Corporation, Abbott Diagnostics GmbH, Abbott Diagnostics International Ltd., Abbott Diagnostics Technologies AS, Abbott Doral Investments S.L., Abbott Equity Holdings Unlimited, Abbott Equity Investments LLC, Abbott Established Products Holdings (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Finance Company SA, Abbott Financial Holdings SRL, Abbott France S.A.S., Abbott Fund Tanzania Limited, Abbott Gesellschaft m.b.H., Abbott GmbH & Co. KG, Abbott Health Products LLC, Abbott Healthcare (Puerto Rico) Ltd., Abbott Healthcare B.V., Abbott Healthcare Costa Rica S.A., Abbott Healthcare LLC, Abbott Healthcare Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Healthcare Private Limited, Abbott Healthcare Products B.V., Abbott Healthcare Products Ltd, Abbott Holding (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Holding GmbH, Abbott Holding Subsidiary (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Holding Subsidiary (Gibraltar) Limited Luxembourg S.C.S., Abbott Holdings B.V., Abbott Holdings LLC, Abbott Holdings Limited, Abbott Holdings Poland Spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Abbott Hungary Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Abbott Iberian Investments (2) Limited, Abbott Iberian Investments Limited, Abbott India Limited, Abbott Informatics Asia Pacific Limited, Abbott Informatics Canada Inc, Abbott Informatics Corporation, Abbott Informatics Europe Limited, Abbott Informatics France, Abbott Informatics Germany GmbH, Abbott Informatics Netherlands B.V., Abbott Informatics Singapore Pte. Limited, Abbott Informatics Spain S.A., Abbott Informatics Technologies Ltd, Abbott International Corporation, Abbott International Enterprises Ltd., Abbott International Holdings Limited, Abbott International LLC, Abbott International Luxembourg S.ar.l., Abbott Investments Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Ireland, Abbott Ireland Financing Designated Activity Company, Abbott Ireland Limited, Abbott Japan Co. Ltd., Abbott Kazakhstan Limited Liability Partnership, Abbott Knoll Investments B.V., Abbott Korea Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Bangladesh) Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Chile) Holdco (Dos) SpA, Abbott Laboratories (Chile) Holdco SpA, Abbott Laboratories (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Abbott Laboratories (Mozambique) Limitada, Abbott Laboratories (Pakistan) Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Philippines), Abbott Laboratories (Puerto Rico) Incorporated, Abbott Laboratories (Singapore) Private Limited, Abbott Laboratories A/S, Abbott Laboratories Argentina Sociedad Anonima, Abbott Laboratories B.V., Abbott Laboratories C.A., Abbott Laboratories Finance B.V., Abbott Laboratories GmbH, Abbott Laboratories Inc., Abbott Laboratories International LLC, Abbott Laboratories Ireland Limited, Abbott Laboratories Limited, Abbott Laboratories Limited - Laboratoires Abbott Limitee, Abbott Laboratories NZ Limited, Abbott Laboratories Pacific Ltd., Abbott Laboratories Poland Spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Abbott Laboratories Products B.V., Abbott Laboratories Residential Development Fund Inc., Abbott Laboratories S.A., Abbott Laboratories SA, Abbott Laboratories Services Corp., Abbott Laboratories Slovakia s.r.o., Abbott Laboratories South Africa (Pty) Ltd., Abbott Laboratories Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Abbott Laboratories Trustee Company Limited, Abbott Laboratories Uruguay S.A., Abbott Laboratories Vascular Enterprises, Abbott Laboratories d.o.o., Abbott Laboratories de Chile Limitada, Abbott Laboratories de Colombia S.A., Abbott Laboratories de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Abbott Laboratories druzba za farmacijo in diagnostiko d.o.o., Abbott Laboratories s.r.o., Abbott Laboratories(Hellas) Societe Anonyme, Abbott Laboratorios S.A., Abbott Laboratorios S.A., Abbott Laboratorios del Ecuador Cia. Ltda., Abbott Laboratuarlari Ithalat Ihracat ve Ticaret Ltd.Sti, Abbott Laboratorios Lda, Abbott Laboratorios do Brasil Ltda., Abbott Limited Egypt LLC, Abbott Logistics B.V., Abbott Management GmbH, Abbott Management LLC, Abbott Manufacturing Singapore Private Limited, Abbott Mature Products International Unlimited Company, Abbott Mature Products Management Limited, Abbott Medical (Hong Kong) Limited, Abbott Medical (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Abbott Medical (Portugal) Distribuicao de Produtos Medicos Lda, Abbott Medical (Schweiz) AG, Abbott Medical (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Abbott Medical (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical Australia Pty. Ltd., Abbott Medical Austria Ges.m.b.H., Abbott Medical Balkan d.o.o. Beograd (Novi Beograd), Abbott Medical Belgium, Abbott Medical Canada Inc./ Medicale Abbott Canada Inc., Abbott Medical Danmark A/S, Abbott Medical Devices Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical Espana S.A., Abbott Medical Estonia OU, Abbott Medical Finland Oy, Abbott Medical France SAS, Abbott Medical GmbH, Abbott Medical Hellas Limited Liability Trading Company, Abbott Medical Ireland Limited, Abbott Medical Italia S.p.A., Abbott Medical Japan Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical Korea Limited, Abbott Medical Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Abbott Medical Laboratories LTD, Abbott Medical Nederland B.V., Abbott Medical New Zealand Limited, Abbott Medical Norway AS, Abbott Medical Overseas Cyprus Limited, Abbott Medical Sweden AB, Abbott Medical Taiwan Co., Abbott Medical U.K. Limited, Abbott Medical spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Abbott Middle East S.A.R.L., Abbott Molecular Inc., Abbott Morocco SARL, Abbott Nederland C.V., Abbott Nederland Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Netherlands Investments B.V., Abbott Norge AS, Abbott Nutrition Limited, Abbott Nutrition Manufacturing Inc., Abbott Operations Singapore Pte. Ltd., Abbott Operations Uruguay S.R.L., Abbott Overseas Cyprus Limited, Abbott Overseas Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Overseas S.A., Abbott Oy, Abbott Point of Care Canada Limited, Abbott Point of Care Inc., Abbott Poland Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Procurement LLC, Abbott Products (Philippines) Inc., Abbott Products (Spain) S.L., Abbott Products Algerie EURL, Abbott Products B.V., Abbott Products Distribution SAS, Abbott Products Egypt LLC, Abbott Products Limited, Abbott Products Limited Liability Company, Abbott Products Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Products Operations AG, Abbott Products Operations LLC, Abbott Products Romania S.R.L., Abbott Products Tunisie S.A.R.L., Abbott Products Unlimited Company, Abbott Resources Inc., Abbott Resources International Inc., Abbott S.r.l., Abbott Saudi Arabia Trading Company, Abbott Scandinavia Aktiebolag, Abbott Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable, Abbott South Africa Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Strategic Opportunities Limited, Abbott Trading Company Inc., Abbott Universal LLC, Abbott Vascular Devices (2) Limited, Abbott Vascular Devices Limited, Abbott Vascular Inc., Abbott Vascular Instruments Deutschland GmbH, Abbott Vascular International, Abbott Vascular Japan Co. Ltd, Abbott Vascular Limitada, Abbott Vascular Netherlands B.V., Abbott Vascular Solutions Inc., Abbott Ventures Inc., Abbott West Indies Limited, Abbott drustvo sa ogranicenom odgovornoscu za trgovinu i usluge, Advanced Neuromodulation Systems Inc., Alere, Alere (Shanghai) Diagnostics Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Healthcare Management Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Medical Sales Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Technology Co. Ltd., Alere A/S, Alere AB, Alere AS, Alere AS Holdings Limited, Alere BBI Holdings Limited, Alere Bangladesh Limited, Alere China Co. Ltd., Alere Colombia S.A., Alere Connect LLC, Alere Connected Health Limited, Alere Connected Health Ltd., Alere Diagnostics GmbH, Alere DoA Holding GmbH, Alere GmbH, Alere GmbH (Austria), Alere GmbH (Germany), Alere HK Holdings Ltd., Alere Health B.V., Alere Health BVBA, Alere Health Corp., Alere Health Sdn Bhd, Alere Health Services B.V., Alere Healthcare (Pty) Limited, Alere Healthcare Connections Limited, Alere Healthcare Inc., Alere Healthcare Nigeria Limited, Alere Healthcare S.L., Alere Holdco Inc., Alere Holding GmbH, Alere Holdings Bermuda Limited, Alere Holdings Pty Limited, Alere Home Monitoring Inc., Alere Inc., Alere Informatics Inc., Alere International Holding Corp., Alere International Limited, Alere Lda, Alere Limited, Alere Limited (New Zealand), Alere Medical BVBA, Alere Medical Co. Ltd., Alere Medical Pakistan (Private) Limited, Alere Medical Private Limited, Alere North America LLC, Alere Oy Ab, Alere Philippines Inc., Alere Phoenix ACQ Inc., Alere Pte Ltd, Alere S.A., Alere S.r.l., Alere S/A, Alere SAS, Alere San Diego Inc., Alere Scarborough Inc., Alere Spain S.L., Alere Switzerland GmbH, Alere Technologies GmbH, Alere Technologies Holdings Limited, Alere Technologies Limited, Alere Toxicology AB, Alere Toxicology Inc., Alere Toxicology S.r.l., Alere Toxicology Services Inc., Alere Toxicology plc, Alere UK Holdings Limited, Alere UK Subco Limited, Alere ULC, Alere US Holdings LLC, Alere s.r.o., Alisoc Investment & Co, Amedica Biotech Inc., Ameditech Inc., American Generics S.A.S., American Medical Supplies Inc., American Pharmacist Inc., Antares S.A., Apica Cardiovascular Limited, Aquagestion Capacitacion S.A., Aquagestion S.A., Arriva Medical LLC, Arriva Medical Philippines Inc., Arvis Investments Limited, Atlas Farmaceutica S.A., Avee Laboratories Inc., Axis-Shield AD III AS, Axis-Shield AD IV AS, Axis-Shield AS, Axis-Shield Diagnostics Limited, Axis-Shield Ltd., BBI Animal Health Limited, BBI Diagnostics Group 2 Public Limited Company, Banco de Vida S.A., Bioabsorbable Vascular Solutions Inc., Bioalgae S.A., Biohealth LLC, Biosite Incorporated, Bosque Bonito S.A., Branan Medical Corporation, Brandex Europe C.V., British Colloids Limited, CFR Chile S.A., CFR Interamericas EL Salvador Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable, CFR Interamericas Nicaragua Sociedad Anonima, CFR Interamericas Panama S.A., CFR Pharmaceuticals, California Property Holdings III LLC, CardioMEMS LLC, Caripharm Inc., Cephea Valve Technologies, Cephea Valve Technologies Inc., Colibri Medical Aktiebolag, Comercializadora y Distribuidora CFR Interamericas Honduras S.A., Concateno South Limited, Concateno UK Limited, Consorcio Tecnologico en Biomedicina Clinico-Molecular S.A., Continuum Services LLC, Cozart Limited, Dextech S.A., Diagnostik Nord GmbH, Distribuciones Uquifa S.A.S., Domesco Medical Import-Export Joint-Stock Corporation, Duphar International Research B.V., Endocardial Solutions, Epocal (US) Inc, Esprit de Vie S.A., European Chemicals & Co, European Drug Testing Service EDTS AB, European Services S.A., Evalve Inc., Evalve International Inc., FARMINDUSTRIA S.A., Fada Pharma Paraguay Sociedad Anonima, Fadapharma del Ecuador S.A., Farmaceutica Mont Blanc S.L., Farmacologia Em Aquicultura Veterinaria Ltda., Farmacologia en Aquacultura Veterinaria FAV Ecuador S.A., Farmacologia en Aquacultura Veterinaria FAV S.A., Fernwood Investment S.A., First Check Diagnostics LLC, Focus Pharmaceutical S.A.S., Forensics Limited, Forestcreek Overseas S.A., Fournier Pharma Corp., Fournier Pharma GmbH, Fournier Pharmaceuticals Limited, Framed B.V., Gabmed GmbH, Garden Hills LLC, Global Analytical Development LLC, Globapharm & CO LP, Glomed Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Golnorth Investments S.A., Gynocare Limited, Gynopharm Sociedad Anonima, Gynopharm de Centroamerica S.A., Gynopharm de Venezuela C.A., Hi-Tronics Designs Inc., IDEV Technologies Inc., IG Innovations Limited, IMTC Finance B.V., IMTC Holdings B.V., IMTC Technologies Inc., Ibis Biosciences LLC, Igloo Zone Chile S.A., Igloo Zone S.L., Inmobiliaria Naknek S.A.C., Innovacon Inc., Instant Tech Subsidiary Acquisition Inc., Instant Technologies Inc., Instituto de Criopreservacion de Chile S.A., Integrated Vascular Systems Inc., Inverness Canadian Acquisition Corporation, Inverness Medical (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Inverness Medical Innovations Australia Pty Ltd., Inverness Medical Innovations Hong Kong Limited, Inverness Medical Innovations SK LLC, Inverness Medical Investments LLC, Inverness Medical LLC, Inverness Medical Shimla Private Limited, Inversiones K2 SpA, Inversiones Komodo S.R.L., Ionian Technologies LLC, Irvine Biomedical Inc., Kalila Medical, Kangshenyunga S.A., Knoll UK Investments Unlimited, LLC VeroInPharm, Laboratoires Fournier S.A.S., Laboratorio Franco Colombiano Lafrancol S.A.S., Laboratorio Franco Colombiano del Ecuador S.A., Laboratorio Internacional Argentino S.A., Laboratorio Synthesis S.A.S., Laboratorios Lafi Limitada, Laboratorios Naturmedik S.A.S., Laboratorios Pauly Pharmaceutical S.A.S., Laboratorios Recalcine S.A., Laboratorios Transpharm S.A., Laboratory Specialists of America Inc., Lafrancol Dominicana S.A.S., Lafrancol Guatemala S.A. Sociedad Anonima, Lafrancol Internacional S.A.S, Lafrancol Peru S.R.L, Lake Forest Investments LLC, Lightlab Imaging Inc., Limited Liability Company Abbott Laboratories, Limited Liability Company Abbott Ukraine, Limited Liability Company VEROPHARM, Lung Fung Hong (China) Limited, Mansbridge Pharmaceuticals Limited, MediGuide LLC, MediGuide Ltd., Medscreen Holdings Limited, Metropolitana Farmaceutica S.A., Midwest Properties LLC, Murex Argentina S.A., Murex Biotech Limited, Murex Biotech South Africa, Murex Diagnostics Inc., Murex Diagnostics International Inc., Natural Supplement Association LLC, Negocios Denia Sociedad Anonima, Neosalud S.A.C., Nether Pharma N.P. C.V., NeuroTherm LLC, Normann Pharma-Handels GmbH, North Shore Properties Inc., Novamedi S.A., Novasalud.com S.A., Nutravida S.A., OJSC Voronezhkhimpharm, Omnilab Iberia Sociedad Limitada, OptiMedica, Orgenics France SAS, Orgenics International Holdings B.V., Orgenics Ltd., PBM-Selfcare LLC, PDD II LLC, PDD LLC, PT Alere Health, PT. Abbott Indonesia, PT. Abbott Products Indonesia, Pacesetter Inc., Pantech (RF) (PTY) LTD, Pembrooke Occupational Health Inc., Penagos S.A., Pharma International Sociedad Anonima, Pharmaceutical Technologies (Pharmatech) S.A., Pharmatech Boliviana S.A., Polygon Labs S.A., Quality Assured Services Inc., RF Medical Holdings LLC, RTL Holdings Inc., Ramses Business Corp., Recben Xenerics Farmaceutica Limitada, Redwood Toxicology Laboratory Inc., Rich Horizons International Limited, SC VEROPHARM, SJ Medical Mexico S de R.L. de C.V., SJM International Inc., SJM Thunder Holding Company, SPDH Inc., Saboya Enterprises Corporation, Salviac Limited, Scanax AS, Sealing Solutions Inc., Selfcare Technology Inc., Shandong Abbott Dairy Product Co. Ltd., Shanghai Abbott Medical Devices Science and Technology Co. Ltd., Shanghai Abbott Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Shanghai Si Fa Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Sinensix & Co., Spinal Modulation LLC, St. Jude Medical, St. Jude Medical AB, St. Jude Medical ATG Inc., St. Jude Medical Argentina S.A., St. Jude Medical Asia Pacific Holdings GK, St. Jude Medical Atrial Fibrillation Division Inc., St. Jude Medical Brasil Ltda., St. Jude Medical Business Services Inc., St. Jude Medical Cardiology Division Inc., St. Jude Medical Colombia Ltda., St. Jude Medical Coordination Center, St. Jude Medical Costa Rica Limitada, St. Jude Medical Europe Inc., St. Jude Medical Export Ges.m.b.H., St. Jude Medical GVA Sarl, St. Jude Medical Holdings B.V., St. Jude Medical India Private Limited, St. Jude Medical International Holding, St. Jude Medical LLC, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings II, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings NT, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings SMI S.a r.l., St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings TC S.a r.l., St. Jude Medical Mexico Business Services S. de R.L. de C.V., St. Jude Medical Middle East DMCC, St. Jude Medical Operations (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., St. Jude Medical Puerto Rico LLC, St. Jude Medical S.C. Inc., St. Jude Medical Systems AB, St. Jude Medical Turkey Medikal Urunler Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Standard Diagnostics Inc., Standing Stone LLC, Swan-Myers Incorporated, TC1 LLC, Tendyne Holdings Inc., Tendyne Medical Inc., Thoratec Delaware LLC, Thoratec Europe Limited, Thoratec LLC, Thoratec Switzerland GmbH, Tobal Products Incorporated, Topera GmbH in Liquidation, Topera Inc., Tremora S.A., Tuenir S.A., TwistDx, UAB Abbott Laboratories, UAB Abbott Medical Lithuania, Union-Madison Realty Company Inc., Unipath Limited (dba Alere International/aka Cranfield), Unipath Management Limited, Unipath Pension Trustee Limited, Veropharm, Veropharm Limited Liability Partnership, Vida Cell Inversiones S.A., Vida Cell S.A., Vivalsol, W&R Pharma Handels GmbH, Western Pharmaceuticals S.A., X Technologies Inc., Yissum Holding Limited, ZonePerfect Nutrition Company, eScreen Canada ULC, eScreen Inc., ( ), and Abbott Laboratories Baltics. Read More Fortune Brands Home & Security, Inc. provides home and security products for residential home repair, remodeling, new construction, and security applications. It operates in three segments: Plumbing, Outdoors & Security, and Cabinets. The Plumbing segment manufactures, assembles, and sells faucets, accessories, kitchen sinks, and waste disposals under the Moen, ROHL, Riobel, Victoria+Albert, Perrin & Rowe, and Shaws brands in the United States, China, Canada, Mexico, Southeast Asia, Europe, and South America directly through its own sales force, as well as through independent manufacturers' representatives to wholesalers, home centers, mass merchandisers, and industrial distributors. The Outdoors & Security segment offers fiberglass and steel entry door systems under the Therma-Tru brand; storm, screen, and security doors under the Larson brand; composite decking and railing under the Fiberon brand; and urethane millwork under the Fypon brand. This segment also manufactures, sources, and distributes locks, safety and security devices, and electronic security products under the Master Lock and American Lock brands; and fire resistant safes, security containers, and commercial cabinets under the SentrySafe brand. It serves home centers, hardware and other retailers, millwork building products and wholesale distributors, specialty dealers, and remodeling and renovation markets, as well as locksmiths, industrial and institutional users, and original equipment manufacturers in the United States, Canada, Europe, Central America, Japan, and Australia. The Cabinets segment manufactures custom, semi-custom, and custom cabinetry, as well as vanities for the kitchen, bath, and other parts of the home directly to kitchen and bath dealers, home centers, wholesalers, and builders in North America under the AOK, Diamond Brands, Homecrest, Kitchen Craft, Omega, and EVE brands. The company was incorporated in 1988 and is headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois. Best Buy Co., Inc. retails technology products in the United States and Canada. The company operates in two segments, Domestic and International. Its stores provide computing products, such as desktops, notebooks, and peripherals; mobile phones comprising related mobile network carrier commissions; networking products; tablets covering e-readers; smartwatches; and consumer electronics consisting of digital imaging, health and fitness, home theater, portable audio comprising headphones and portable speakers, and smart home products. The company's stores also offer appliances, such as dishwashers, laundry, ovens, refrigerators, blenders, coffee makers, and vacuums; entertainment products consisting of drones, peripherals, movies, music, and toys, as well as gaming hardware and software, and virtual reality and other software products; and other products, such as baby, food and beverage, luggage, outdoor living, and sporting goods. In addition, it provides consultation, delivery, design, health-related, installation, memberships, repair, set-up, technical support, and warranty-related services. The company offers its products through stores and websites under the Best Buy, Best Buy Ads, Best Buy Business, Best Buy Health, CST, Current Health, Geek Squad, Lively, Magnolia, Best Buy Mobile, Pacific Kitchen, Home, and Yardbird, as well as domain names bestbuy.com, currenthealth.com, lively.com, yardbird.com, and bestbuy.ca. As of January 30, 2022, it had 1,144 stores. The company was formerly known as Sound of Music, Inc. The company was incorporated in 1966 and is headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota. After missing the big Galaxy S8 launch this spring and then spending some time in beta, the Bixby Voice features for Samsungs digital assistant have finally arrived in the U.S., available now as software update for the Galaxy S8 and S8+. Early reviews have been mixed: There were lots of issues when the beta began, and they seem mostly unresolved. (Image credit: Sam Rutherford/Tom's Guide) Including sexist hashtag descriptions of the male and female voices arent helping, though Samsung is addressing that issue. But Bixby has problems beyond the fact that its somewhat slow and unreliable. Its fundamentally flawed in its approach to artificial intelligence as a tool. Samsung is trying to solve problems with Bixby, but they arent the problems the phone maker should be solving. MORE: Samsung Bixby: Tons of Potential, Still a Work in Progress A good AI is like any other good tool it lets you do more with less effort. A great AI assistant is an answer to the question, how can the application of some intelligence allow the user to do more, faster and easier? The whole point of machine learning, in the context of AI assistants, is to use your personal data (history, emails, location, contacts, whatever is appropriate) to provide context unique to you as an individual and ultimately predict whats next. For example: Lets say I want to see if the gym I go to closes early on Saturday. If I asked an AI assistant what time does the gym close? I should get a contextual answer that makes sense for me personally. Looking at my location history or maybe billing emails, plus my current location, the assistant could know exactly which gym Im talking about, check the hours of operation for today and come back with an answer like, Crunch Gym on Greenback Lane closes at 7 p.m. today. Thats much faster and easier than typing in a search query, finding the right gym, and tracking down the operating hours. A better AI assistant would prompt me: Hey if you want to make it to the gym three times this week, you better leave the house within the next hour. It closes at 7 p.m. today. An even better AI would preempt this question. It would know from my location history that I go to the gym three times a week and stay there for an hour. It could then see that I have only gone twice this week, and its 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. It would then prompt me. Hey if you want to make it to the gym three times this week, you better leave the house within the next hour. It closes at 7 p.m. today. Thats the potential for AI assistants on our phones: to perform useful and personal tasks without having to be explicitly told what to do, like getting a reminder you never even knew to set. In its present form, Bixby Voice does none of this. Its not even trying to. For the most part, its trying to replace tapping with speaking as a means of interacting with apps. That can be useful, as Avi Greengart, a research director for consumer platforms and device at GlobalData, notes. If you want to change the screen timeout, you have to know where to find [that setting], Greengart says of a task that Bixby is designed to handle. The flipside to that, Greengart quickly adds, is that the voice command has to work, too, and that hasnt been the case with early versions of the assistant. Even at what Samsung is trying to do, it still has tremendous challenges, Greengart says. So Bixbys focus on voice commands makes it different from Siri, Cortana or Google Assistant. But it seems built to be different solely to answer the marketing departments question, how does our thing stand out? rather than because this different approach is more valuable to users. Bixby is for Samsung, not you Samsung desperately wants its own ecosystem. It has its own operating system (Tizen), and a whole mess of smart home gadgets and appliances that work together. But it hasnt been able to own the ecosystem where it counts the most on phones. There, its beholden to Android, and though the phone maker does its best to build its own interface and features and apps that duplicate all of Googles, Samsung still cant realistically sell a phone with its own OS instead of Googles. Now pundits are predicting that AI is the next big platform, and Samsung will be damned if its going to miss the boat and be stuck piggybacking on someone elses ecosystem again. And so it broke out the checkbook last year and bought Viv, an AI company founded in 2014 by the principal inventors of Siri (who left a couple years after Apple bought Siri). That same year, Samsung bought SmartThings for $200 million when smart home gadgets were the new frontier, and it saw this as a way to quickly claim a part of a critical future market. Samsungs interest is not in making the best Android phone, but in making the best Samsung phone. In other words, Samsungs interest in AI isnt about solving a problem no other company is solving. Its about making sure theres a Samsung version of a thing everyone is going to be using in a few years. It exists for the same reason Samsung loads up its phones with its own web browser, image gallery, email app, SMS app, clock app, and calendar app not because the Google apps arent good enough, but because theyre Googles and not Samsungs. Samsungs interest is not in making the best Android phone, but in making the best Samsung phone (that happens to run Android because nobody would buy a phone without access to all those Android apps). A long way to go The Bixby Voice assistant can do a few general things like setting reminders, but its not really aimed at providing answers to general knowledge questions (How old is Bradley Cooper) or preemptively predicting what youre going to need to do next. Rather, its focus is on letting you control your phone with your voice. The worlds most advanced voice-control accessibility feature does not make for a great AI assistant. In the supported apps (did I mention apps be updated to support it?), you can tell Bixby to do almost anything you can do with taps and swipes. Thats a fantastic achievement in accessibility for some users and a potential time-saver for others, but its not that game-changing for everyone else. Staring at an image in the gallery app and saying rotate this photo to the right isnt easier or faster than tapping an interface element to do it. Post this photo to Twitter isnt a big step up from just tapping the share button and then the Twitter icon. Even if Bixby Voice worked flawlessly, the utility of taking a smartphone (whose entire design evolution is built around touch) and operating it with your voice is limited. Samsung will continue to improve Bixby. It has to; the companys all-in. Samsung even put a hardware button on its latest flagship phone and prohibited you from mapping it to anything else, because Samsung needs Bixby to become A Thing. That maximizes the chances the people will use Bixby, says Greengart, who also notes that if the assistant doesnt work properly, they wont be inclined to come back and see if there are any improvements in a few months time, button or not. And right now, Samsungs assistant is just so far from being dedicated hardware button ready. (Image credit: Sam Rutherford/Tom's Guide) The image recognition component of Bixby Vision is terribly inaccurate, app support for the voice control component is limited, speech recognition is a big step behind Google Assistant or Siri, and the whole thing is ponderously slow. Even as those things improve, Samsung will have to greatly expand the entire idea of what Bixby is even supposed to be. The worlds most advanced voice-control accessibility feature does not make for a great AI assistant. As it exists today, Bixby is not the future, its the past. Its about providing duplicative ways to do things you already do with your phone instead of making your phone an intelligent partner that does things you couldnt easily do before. More to the point, its current iteration seems to exist so that Samsung isnt left out of the supposed next great ecosystem battle AI assistants as it was on the mobile operating system race. The future of natural gas fracking in Florida and the fate of offshore oil drilling off the coasts could one day come down to a vote in the Florida Senate. Judging by the answers to a questionnaire released Thursday by an environmental advocacy group Food & Water Action, and reporting by the Miami Herald, the majority of candidates running for Senate District 40 either oppose the controversial activity or steer away from answering. The primary is Tuesday. The Democratic candidates in the race -- Ana Rivas Logan and Annette Taddeo, as well as the no-party-affiliated candidate Christian Schlaerth oppose fracking in South Florida and support a moratorium on offshore drilling in the Gulf and the Atlantic. On the Republican side, Rep. Jose Felix Diaz also opposes drilling off Florida's coast but believes it is a federal question and not one that can be influenced by the state. "We do not need to be drilling off our coasts,'' he said Friday. "It's an aesthetic blight." He added that in today's market "there's no point to drilling now." Businessman Lorenzo Palomares opposes a moratorium on offshore drilling off the coast of Florida and also opposes a statewide ban on fracking, adding that he would only support a ban in the Everglades. Former Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla, refused to answer the questions and did not respond to a request for comment from the Miami Herald. On the fracking issue, Diaz has voted in favor of legislation to prevent local governments from regulating fracking activities and the issue of hydraulic fracturing was not a hot topic when Diaz de la Portilla served in the state Senate. As chair of the Senate's Energy and Utilities Committee in 2010, Diaz de la Portilla could not stray far from the utility industry's agenda. As chair of the House's Regulated Industries Committee, neither did Diaz -- although he told the Miami Herald editorial board last month that he has worked to impose term limits on regulators at the Public Service Commission whom he thinks have been too soft on the utility industry. (For example, he said he supports stronger energy efficiency standards which the PSC and utilities have "steered away from.") Back in 2008, a measure to open Florida waters to offshore oil drilling passed the state House but it was stopped in the Senate, when then-Senate President Jeff Atwater didn't want to advance it so Diaz de la Portilla was spared from taking a vote. The issue could resurface again this year, however, environmentalists fear. They cite a push by the Trump administration to lease offshore drilling areas in the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf. The comment period is open for 45 days, ending on August 17th. "Food & Water Action believes that drilling in Florida and off Florida's coast is too risky,'' the organization said in a press release Thursday. "The BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill was a major wake up call to the risks posed by offshore oil drilling and the potential for fracking disasters. Floridas elected officials must protect the environment, communities, and economy by banning both practices." Legislation to regulate or ban fracking in Florida is also expected to emerge again as a perennial issue. In the 2017 legislative session, two Republican legislators and half of the state Senate sponsored a bill to ban fracking but the measure never moved in either chamber. In 2016, Diaz voted in favor of an industry-backed bill that would have allowed oil and gas companies to shield from the public the chemicals used in the fracking process and would have banned local governments from prohibiting the controversial activity. At least 90 counties and cities have passed ordinances and resolutions in opposition to fracking in the state, including Miami Dade. In both the House and Senate, however, Republican leaders advanced a bill pushed by Florida Power & Light to allow the company to expand its rate base by charging customers for investments in natural gas fracking operations in other states. The bill, HB 1043 by Rep. Jason Brodeur, R-Sanford, would give the Florida Public Service Commission the authority to allow utilities that generate at least 65 percent of their electricity using natural gas to invest in oil and natural gas exploration, including fracking. House leadership ordered the bill to be heard by the House Subcommittee on Energy and Utilities. It was approved 9-5 and was next scheduled to go to Diaz's Commerce Committee for a hearing but, in an interview with the Miami Herald editorial board, Diaz took credit for killing it. He said FPL was attempting to explore for natural gas in other states "on the backs of our voters." He said the company "can go to the secondary market like everybody else" to obtain fuel for its power plants. He also said he opposes the attempt by utilities to get regulators like the Public Service Commission and the Legislature to allow them to "socialize the risk and privatize the profits" of providing electricity in Florida. Photo credit: Associated Press UPDATE: This post was updated July 21 to reflect an interview with Rep. Jose Felix Diaz. - A senior al Shabaab who has been terrorising police posts in border towns on the Kenya-Somalia border has been killed - Hassan Ibrahim, alias Beila, was killed by KDF and his body put on display in Dhobley town - Two of his bodyguards were also killed - He was also the mastermind of the car jacking of miraa at a number of border towns A senior al Shabaab commander was on WWednesday, July 19, killed in a Kenya Defense Forces raid in Somalia. According to reports seen by TUKO.co.ke, Hassa Issach Ibrahim alias Beila and his two bodygurads were killed in a joint operation between KDF and Jubaland security forces. The Daily Nation on Thursday, July 20, reported that Beila as in charge of Gelef area in Somalia and was the force behind the carjacking od vehicles ferrying miraa between Kenya and Somalia at the border points in Diff, Dhobley and Hamey. READ ALSO: Jubilee exposes new alleged illegal NASA 'plan' on getting the election postponed after losing case to IEBC Kenya Defense Forces in Somalia. Photo: Daily Nation. READ ALSO: Kamba community split between NASA and Jubilee as Sonko is crowned elder He was also said to be behind the numerous attacks on police posts in the region. Further reports indicated that Beilas body was also put on display along with the AK-47 assault rife, grenade and mobile phone found on his body. The commanders body was displayed to the public in Dhobley town. READ ALSO: Raila beats Uhuru in latest opinion poll three weeks to General Election Beila had been the force behind militants carjacking miraa ferrying vehicles along the Kenya-Somalia border. Photo: Business Daily. Install TUKO App To Read News For FREE Kenyas fight against al Shabaab was also boosted after the KDF received two powerful Huey II helicopters from the United States of America on Wednesday, July 19. This brings the total to six helicopters which have been imported into the country since December 2016. READ ALSO: Meet veteran Kalenjin pastor whose song for Raila has angered Jubilee supporters A Huey II chopper. PHOTO: JensDefenseMagazine READ ALSO: More pain for Zari after her mother dies weeks after her children's father died TUKO.co.ke reported that the use of the choppers will aid the fight as the military will no longer have to worry much about the land mines al Shabaab has resorted to planning on the grounds. Have something to add to this article? Send to news@tuko.co.ke Watch the late Joseph Nkaissery's final journey below: Source: TUKO.co.ke The President General of the NUGFW and NATUC, James Lambert says, too many people in the cou Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. The Finance Ministry of Ukraine and PrivatBank signed a memorandum of cooperation, which will allow using unique achievements and technologies of the bank in the IT industry to create a unified system for verifying budgetary payments in Ukraine, the PrivatBank press service reports. According to Finance Minister Oleksandr Danyliuk, the national budget annually loses billions of hryvnias due to the lack of a system for monitoring the use of funds to pay benefits, social assistance, and subsidies. "Our main goal is to increase the effectiveness of the system for verifying budgetary payments, which will significantly save budget funds. Therefore, cooperation with PrivatBank in this direction is important and necessary for the whole country," said Danyliuk. iy The international festival Honey of Prykarpattia will kick off in Ivano-Frankivsk city on July 22. The beekeepers from Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania will attend the festival. Co-organizer of the festival, chairman of the Union of Beekeepers of Ivano-Frankivsk region Ivan Yusko announced this at the press conference. "We have been cherishing the idea of organizing the honey festival for many years. Its goal is to popularize healthy eating habits and the profession of a beekeeper. We expect the beekeepers from all the regions of Ukraine to come to our honey fair. The beekeepers from Lublin, Warsaw and Vilnius also want to attend our festival," Yusko said. According to him, more than 60 beekeepers will participate in the honey festival in western Ukraine. ol @alextdaugherty Sen. Bill Nelson sharply criticized Donald Trump's nominee for the number two position at the Interior Department on Thursday, saying in a speech on the Senate floor that he plans to oppose David Bernhardt due to his noncommittal position on an oil drilling moratorium in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico. Trump and Interior Department secretary Ryan Zinke announced a review on drilling in the Western and Central Gulf of Mexico in April, a sign that the administration wants to loosen drilling restrictions. "I am going to lift the restrictions on American energy, and allow this wealth to pour into our communities," Trump said in April. Bernhardt told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee during his confirmation hearing that he supports the Trump administration's review. His nomination passed out of committee by a vote of 14 to 9, with West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin and Maine Independent Sen. Angus King voting with Republicans. "During his confirmation process, [Bernhardt] gave some very troubling answers to questions about the moratorium," Nelson said. "When it comes to the eastern Gulf, there is no good way to increase offshore production while balancing environmental concerns. And, secondly, as I have explained time and time again, it makes no sense to drill in an area that is critically important to the United States military." In 2006, Nelson helped pass a ban on oil drilling 125 miles off of Florida's coast. That ban is set to expire in 2022 and a number of congressional Republicans and industry groups are in favor of ending the ban. "The top brass in the Pentagon are asking that we extend this moratorium," Nelson said, adding that the moratorium allows for military training operations in the Gulf in addition to the environmental benefits. "So we should not put someone in charge at the Department of the Interior if he has an open objection to what is obviously needed for the national security and if he has such a demonstrated history of siding just with special interest, which would be a bad decision when it comes to the national security of this country." Nelson filed legislation earlier this year that would extend Florida's moratorium by five years. The Senate will vote Monday on Bernhardt's nomination. Bernhardt is a longtime lobbyist on environmental issues in Washington who once sued the Interior Department. He also worked as legal counsel for the Interior Department under George W. Bush. "Bernhardt is a walking conflict of interest," said U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., in April. The Ukrainian delegation has called on the main UN institutions to react swiftly to the conflicts in the world with the aim of localizing them and preventing the growth of violence and human rights violations. Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Serhiy Kyslytsia said this at the meeting of the UN Security Council on Wednesday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. "The speed of the UN reaction is critical in terms of preventing conflicts and growth of human rights violations," Kyslytsia said during the debate on peace and security in Africa. In this regard, the representative of Ukraine recalled that the UN had failed to prevent the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. "Twenty years later, the United Nations, the Security Council and the Secretary General did nothing to stop the occupation of Crimea and the military aggression of Russia," the Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister said. ol President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko will hold talks with President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko tomorrow. This is reported on the website of the Head of State. "On July 20 - 21, President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko pays an official visit to Ukraine. Within the framework of the visit, an official welcome ceremony will be held at 11:00 on Friday, July 21," the statement reads. After the talks, which will last about one and a half hours, at 12.30, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko will make a statement to the media. As reported, the presidents will discuss the development of political, trade and economic and humanitarian cooperation between Belarus and Ukraine. ish Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman says that the decentralization reform is one of the most successful in Ukraine. He stated this in a speech at the forum dedicated to the issues of decentralization, which was held in Ternopil on July 20, an Ukrinform correspondent reported. Yes, there was resistance, people were afraid of unification. At present unsubsidized budgets are being formed. Since 2014, local budgets have grown by UAH 100 billion, and this is only the beginning. Without a proper level of local government, it is impossible to build a strong Ukrainian economic state, Groysman stressed. Iy The future of the Florida Supreme Court could all come down to Monday or Tuesday. Gov. Rick Scott argued Wednesday in a late-afternoon response to a challenge by a group of left-leaning voting groups, that he alone has the power to appoint the next three justice of the state's high court because their terms expire on a Monday, while his expires on a Tuesday. In a 38-page response to a lawsuit filed in June by the Florida League of Women Voters and Common Cause, Scott's lawyers argue that his term technically ends at the moment his successor takes the oath of office -- on the first Tuesday in January 2019 -- and the power to appoint the successors to Justices R. Fred Lewis, Barbara Pariente and Peggy Quince continues until that very moment. The justices, however -- who are scheduled to retire because they have reached the mandatory retirement age of 70 -- face six-year terms that expire "at the end of the first Monday in January," the governor argues. Because Monday ends before Tuesday, Scott's lawyers argue, the lawsuit should be dismissed and the governor should be allowed to proceed with the appointment of the three justices. If that were to happen, Scott would leave an indelible mark on the state's highest court by having named at least four of the seven justices. It is a prospect that liberal and progressive groups fear could shift the balance of power on the bench for the next decade. But the voting rights groups disagree. They say the justices' term expires on the same Tuesday he leaves office in 2019 and instead and want the court to avoid a potential "constitutional crisis" and affirm that Scott does not have the authority to appoint the justices. Scott, a two-term Republican, said during a December press conference that: "I'll appoint three more justices the morning I finish my term. But the voting-rights groups warn that if Scott attempts to choose the successors before the deadline, it will draw lawsuits and set the court system into chaos. The petition cites previous court opinions to conclude "that the outgoing governor does not get to appoint successor justices or judges on the way out of office." But the governor's lawyers cited a 1955 case, Tappy v. State, in which outgoing Gov. Charley Johns appointed Thomas Tappy to be a county court judge but incoming Gov. Leroy Collins rejected him and, after he took the oath of office at noon on a Tuesday, Collins appointed someone else to fill the court vacancy. The court sided with Johns. Scott's lawyers also argue that the lawsuit by the voting-rights groups is inappropriate because they court can't rule on something that happened yet based on a "hypothetical set of facts." "The petition should be dismissed on jurisdictional grounds because its allegations of a pending 'constitutional crisis' depend upon a series of factual assumptions that may never ripen into a justiciable controversy,'' they argue. The voting-rights groups provide "no factual basis for its assumptions regarding the future plans of any currently serving justice or appellate judge,'' the governor argues. "More than half of the justices to depart this court over the last two decades did so before their final day of constitutional eligibility,'' his response claims. Ironically, the only people who might know what the future plans of the three justices are the justices themselves -- who will decide the case. Photo: Florida Supreme Court in Tallahassee by Scott Keeler of the Tampa Bay Times. UNICEF COTONOU, Benin, 20 July 2017 - UNICEF international Goodwill Ambassador, Angelique Kidjo and UNICEF Benin national Goodwill Ambassador Zeynab Abib, along with seven of Benins greatest artists have joined forces to create a song calling on the population to say NO to child marriage, as part of the national Zero Tolerance Campaign against child marriage. A little girl is still a child. She cannot be a mother or a bride. Let her grow up to live a fulfilling life. Say NO to child marriage!, sing UNICEFs Goodwill Ambassadors, Angelique Kidjo and Zeynab Abib, accompanied by Danialou Sagbohan, Kalamoulai, Don Metok, Sessime, Dibi Dobo, Norberka and Olga Vigouroux. As part of the national Zero Tolerance Campaign against child marriage, launched by the Government of Benin on June 16th - the Day of the Africa Child (DAC) - the nine artists committed themselves to this unprecedented movement to help break the silence around child marriage. Through the creation of a song and a video, which are deeply moving, yet full of hope, the nine artists called on the population of Benin to act. Child marriage is a negation of childrens right to grow up free. Every child has the right to a childhood. I call on parents not to marry off their young daughters as they are our wealth and the future of our continent, said Angelique Kidjo who co-created the song with Zeynab Abib. The artists sing in a variety of languages, including Fon, Mina, Mahi, Sahoue, Yoruba, Goun, Bariba and French in order for the message to reach people throughout the country and in neighbouring countries. The impact on these girls is terrible. Once married, they no longer attend school, they are raped, they fall pregnant, which puts their health and that of their baby in danger. We artists are saying NO to all these injustices! Girls are not the property of anyone; they have the right to choose their own destinies, insists Beninese pop star Zeynab Abib, who was able to mobilise Benins greatest artists around this cause. In most African societies, marriage extends beyond the couple, sealing the union between two families. As such, certain parents or guardians force their children to marry before they are physically or psychologically mature. Poverty, poor levels of education, and the prevalence of traditions and belief systems, along with a general culture of impunity, are all tied to the continued practice of child marriage. Among the 700 million women around the world who are victims of forced marriage, more than one in three - or 250 million - were married before the age of 18. In Central and Western Africa, two in five girls (41%) marry before reaching their 18th birthday. In Benin, one in ten girls is married under the age of 15 and three out of ten girls are married before they are 18 years old. We need all the strength and weapons we can muster to fight the scourge of child marriage. Art, especially music, is a powerful weapon. As Nelson Mandela said, politics can be strengthened by music, but music has a potency that defies politics. This power must be harnessed! said Dr Claudes Kamenga, UNICEF Representative in Benin. The national authorities, through the voice of the Minister for Communications and the Minister of Social Affairs also hailed the commitment of the performers and called on the media to broadcast the video widely. The Zero Tolerance campaign against child marriage is directly in line with the African Union Campaign to End Child Marriage on the continent. The campaign has been made possible thanks to financial support from the nations of Belgium and the Netherlands. ### Notes for editors: Watch the video [English subtitles] SAY NO TO CHILD MARRIAGE Watch the video [French subtitles] DISONS NON AU MARIAGE DES ENFANTS Listen to the audio DISONS NON AU MARIAGE DES ENFANTS The four wings of Florida's Tomoka Correctional Institutions E cell block is home to some of the prisons most menacing inmates. They have arrived there because of administrative and disciplinary problems but, in addition to restricting them to confined, two-man cells, the prison also deprives them of society's most basic necessities. Toilet paper. In prison after prison over seven months, Rep. David Richardson, D-Miami Beach, reported that toilet paper, toothbrushes, toothpaste, pillows, sheets, shirts and soap were often withheld from inmates, especially those in confinement. Richardson, who has been on a one-man mission to hold the states troubled prison agency accountable, first observed the toilet paper troubles during a Jan. 19 visit to Baker Correctional Institution in northern Florida. After finding dozens of inmates without toilet paper, toothbrushes and other supplies, he asked the prison warden to open the storage unit just feet away from the inmate dorms, and deliver hygiene products with him to more than 50 inmates. It is behavior that is intended to dehumanize them treating them like an animal, Richardson said. The warden at Baker Correctional was embarrassed, he said, as they walked from cell to cell delivering the tissue paper rolls. He complained to headquarters and they were apologetic and put out an all-points bulletin that this was wrong. But the problem continued. During his fourth visit on to Tomoka Correctional near Daytona Beach on Saturday, Richardson said the situation was deplorable. E1-219 no toilet paper, no pillow. Out of TP since 8am Friday, he wrote in notes he sent to state prison officials Saturday, which he forwarded to the Miami Herald. E1-218, out of TP since last night...E1-210, no pillow case; roaches and rats a big problem in the cell block...E1-214, no pillow, no soap. His notes detailed his findings of 37 cells. He found one inmate so sick he was throwing up and his roommate had been deprived of his inhaler for more than a month. Another inmate had an open, weeping wound and for days had no treatment. Windows in many of the dorms that have no air conditioning wouldnt crank open for proper ventilation. Several inmates wore shirts and pants that were threadbare, torn or barely hanging on. Until now, Richardson said he had not gone public about his findings about the hygiene products, hoping his reports and complaints to the FDC would change behavior. Im not seeking publicity for myself. I'm seeking change, he said Wednesday. I wanted to work with them and see if they could get their problem under control and change behavior without being publicly shamed. It didn't work. Read more here. Gunfire erupted near several police installations across Ivory Coast's main city Abidjan late on Wednesday, witnesses and a police source said, in what appeared to be a renewed bout of insecurity following months of military mutinies. Shooting broke out at around 9.30 p.m. (2130 GMT) in the Cocody neighborhood near the national police and gendarmes academies and lasted for around an hour, according to one Reuters witness. A second Reuters reporter later heard sustained gunfire near the base of the police anti-riot brigade in the Yopougon neighborhood in northern Abidjan. A local resident also said shooting broke out near a police station in another part of Yopougon. "On the radio in the station they were talking about an attack a bit all over the place, including the police academy as well as Angre and Attoban [neighborhoods]," a police officer told Reuters, asking not to be named. The unrest erupted just hours after President Alassane Ouattara dismissed his defense minister and replaced him with the minister of the interior. The move was seen as an attempt to put a stop to successive waves of armed uprisings launched by members of the security forces demanding bonus payments. Argentina said Wednesday that it has sent the regional bloc Mercosur its ratification of the groups 2010 trade agreement with Egypt, and the pact will go into force within a month. The trade deal, which covers food, cars, auto parts and industrial supplies, was signed by Egypt and Mercosur members Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay in 2010, but it did not go into effect because Argentinas Congress had not approved it. Argentinas Congress signed off on the deal in May, and Argentina has sent Mercosur its formal ratification, the last step needed for implementation, Argentinas production ministry said. In 30 days the agreement will be in full force, the ministry said in a statement Wednesday. The deal will eliminate tariffs on 60 percent of Argentinas exports immediately and phase in reduced tariffs for other products over 10 years, the ministry said. Tariffs in Argentina on imports of beef, pears, apples and cars and auto parts from Egypt will also be lifted, it added. The announcement comes as Mercosur has been seeking to finalize trade deals with other blocs and countries, including the European Union, Canada and South Korea, after pro-business governments took office in Argentina and Brazil. Australia is contributing funds to help Sri Lanka combat its worst outbreak of dengue fever, which has claimed 250 lives and infected nearly 100,000 people so far this year in the Indian Ocean island nation. Visiting Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Wednesday night that Australia is giving $475,000 Australian (US $377,000) to the World Health Organization to implement immediate dengue prevention, management and eradication programs in Sri Lanka. Sri Lankas hospitals are overcrowded with patients, and the government has deployed soldiers, police and health officials to inspect houses and clear rotting garbage, stagnant water pools and other potential mosquito-breeding grounds across the country. Health officials blamed the public for their failure to clear puddles and piles of trash after last months heavy monsoon rains. The number of infections nationwide is 38 percent higher than last year, when 55,150 people were diagnosed with dengue and 97 died, according to the Health Ministry. Cases were concentrated around the main city of Colombo, though they were occurring across the tropical island nation. Bishop is on a two-day visit and will meet Thursday with government leaders. She said Australia is offering an additional $1 million (US $795,000) for a research partnership between Australias Monash University and Sri Lankas Health Ministry to test the introduction of naturally occurring Wolbachia bacteria to eradicate dengue fever from Sri Lanka. She said the bacteria prevent transmission of dengue virus between humans and that it has shown success during the last six years in countries such as Brazil, Columbia, Australia, India, Vietnam and Indonesia where it was piloted. The bacteria have the ability to block other mosquito-borne diseases such as Zika and Chikungunya, the Australian embassy said in a statement. Two Republican senators are working with the White House on a comprehensive immigration bill that reports say will cut legal immigration in half. An earlier version of the bill proposed in February by Senators David Perdue and Tom Cotton was also expected to cut legal immigration from 1 million to 500,000 each year. It called for limiting admission for migrants' family members, ending the diversity visa lottery program and making the process of obtaining green card work permits much more difficult. Senator Cotton and Senator Perdue are continuing to build on the RAISE act they introduced earlier this year and hope to introduce a new bill soon, Communications Director for Cotton, Caroline Rabbitt, replied when VOA requested an interview with Cotton. But I would be nervous if we cut the number of immigrants by 50 percent, Kim Rueben, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute, told VOA. Explaining why, Rueben said one of the most striking findings of research she participated in with the National Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine was that starting in 2020 the only increases in the U.S. labor-force are expected to come from immigrants and the children of immigrants. We kind of need immigrants and their children to keep our country growing, she said. Cotton and Perdue argue that the generation-long-influx of low-skilled immigrants has been a major factor in the downward pressure on the wages of working Americans. We support the bill one hundred percent," said Joe Guzzardi, national media director at the Californians for Population Stabilization. It achieves many of the objectives: low levels of legal immigration, eliminating the diversity visa which it's hard to defend the need for diversity visa and also lower numbers for refugee resettlement. Guzzardi hopes the legislation will stimulate an "intelligent conversation" in the U.S. Congress about the consequences of what he said is "continuing on autopilot with the same immigration policies that have been in effect for decades... regardless of recession or regardless of a mortgage meltdown, regardless of a job market." US jobs, employment The latest data from the U.S. Department of Labor shows that in June job growth "was strong," which economists say contradicts the idea that immigrants are taking jobs away from native born Americans. "Since January, the unemployment rate has dropped by 0.4 percent and is well below the pre-recession rate of 5.3 percent. (June's) robust job creation and moderate wage growth has direct impact on American families," Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta said in a statement. Rueben says the economy actually needs people to take on jobs. "As baby boomers and generation X age and natives are having fewer children, the people who are going to be replacing them in the labor force are largely coming from immigrant populations and their children," Rueben said. Bayard Winthrop, chief executive of American Giant, a company that makes sweatshirts 100 percent made in America, told a local Washington, D.C., radio station that one of the biggest problems his company faces is not having enough American workers applying for positions such as picking cotton. "If you go through our supply chain and talk to a lot of the businesses that are ginning cotton, dyeing and finishing cotton, what you hear pretty universally is they have open job requests but few people actually want these entry-level, lower-wage jobs," Winthrop said. Guzzardi says the solution is not bringing in more foreign workers. "If you can't fill a job for say $12 an hour, the historic solution for that problem is to offer $14 an hour and if you can't offer $14 an hour go on ahead and try $15 an hour," he told VOA. Temporary work visas On Monday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) made 15,000 additional H-2B visas available for companies to hire temporary, non-agricultural foreign workers before the end of the fiscal year Sept. 30. "It looks clearly that they caved into the cheap labor lobby and went on ahead with some kind of compromise situation," Guzzardi said. Rueben's research shows that immigrants are "actually good" for the country's bottom line. "Children of immigrants tend to have more education and earn more in wages than their parents did," she said. "Because the federal government uses the progressive income tax, if you have more education and people are earning more money they pay more in federal taxes," she said. Cotton and Perdue are expected to introduce the latest version of their bill later in the summer. Brazil's justice minister and the top prosecutor both insisted Wednesday that the corruption probe they've led against their country's top politicians will continue in full force, even after ensnaring President Michel Temer. Justice Minister Torquato Jardim says the investigation, dubbed Operation Car Wash, is a win for Brazilians. It is unstoppable, he said. Whatever needs to be done will be done under the Constitution and the laws. 'Brazilians are vigilant now' Brazil's Prosecutor General Rodrigo Janot says the country will not tolerate a return to the system that was in place before the investigation began. Brazilians are vigilant now, Janot said. On June 26, Temer became the country's first sitting president to be charged formally with corruption. Janot's office has accused him of accepting bribes. But Congress has to approve the investigation of the president for the probe to move forward, and some lawmakers also have been caught up in the investigation. Brazil's lower house, the Chamber of Deputies, is to vote on whether Temer should be charged in August. While both agree with the spirit of continuing the investigations, Jardim and Janot have very different but complementary roles. Jardim's office funds the investigators on the case who work for the independent office of the prosecutor general. The prosecutor general authorizes the charges. More charges for Temer? The Ministry of Justice is part of the president's Cabinet, and as such advises the president on criminal justice policy, law enforcement and the judiciary, but a personal attorney advises Temer on the corruption charges. Janot has indicated he might prepare a second round of charges against Temer. Asked about that possibility, Jardim, the justice minister, said that if that happens, the government will see what we have to do. Let's see what happens first. Temer is Brazil's third president in a row to have issues with the law. Ex-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was convicted last week for corruption and money laundering, as part of the same investigation in which Temer is charged. On Wednesday, Lula's bank assets were frozen as a result of his conviction. His successor, Dilma Rousseff, was impeached for an illegal change in the budget, unrelated to the corruption probe. Temer succeeded Rousseff in office. Janot made his remarks at the Atlantic Council, while Jardim spoke at the Wilson Center. Both are Washington think tanks. Janot is attending meetings about international collaboration in corruption investigations. An official says Burundi's president is traveling out of the country for the first time since the failed coup attempt of May 2015. Presidential spokesman Jean Claude Karerwa Ndenzako said Thursday that President Pierre Nkurunziza is visiting neighboring Tanzania. The East African country is home to tens of thousands of Burundian refugees who have fled deadly political violence. In May 2015, Nkurunziza's allies in the armed forces put down a coup attempt mounted while the president was attending a summit in Tanzania. The attempt followed weeks of street protests against Nkurunziza's ultimately successful attempt to win a disputed third term. The presidency says Nkurunziza is currently in Tanzania to reinforce cooperation between the two countries. More than 100 people have been tortured by Cameroon security forces and held incommunicado in the past four years on suspicion of involvement with the Nigeria-based Islamic extremist group Boko Haram, according to a report released Thursday by Amnesty International. Such treatment has become routine and is practiced with impunity, and it violates both national and international law, the group said. In the majority of cases, people were held on little or no evidence. People are usually caught up in sweeping arrests after a large attack by Boko Haram, whose eight-year insurgency has killed more than 20,000 people and displaced millions in Nigeria and neighboring countries, including Cameroon. The extremists have killed more than 1,500 civilians in Cameroon's Far North region since 2014, according to Amnesty International. Cameroon, Chad and Niger all contribute to a multinational force to combat the insurgency. "We have always said security forces are pursuing the right cause," Amnesty International's deputy regional director for West and Central Africa, Stephen Cockburn, told The Associated Press. However, "in this type of combat you need trust in the population to get the type of intelligence and information that you need. And if you are seen as a force that preys on the population rather than protects it, that's not going to help your campaign against Boko Haram." The rights group has called on Cameroon's government to end incommunicado detention and investigate all allegations of torture and other cruel treatment. Cameroon's government has not responded to the new report. "What they are doing in Cameroon is way beyond the law. It should be subjected to criminal investigation," Cockburn said. Most of the 101 cases investigated by Amnesty International involved men 18 to 45 years old, though the group documented the mistreatment of some women, children and people with mental and physical disabilities. On average, those interviewed by the rights group were held without access to family or lawyers for about 32 weeks, with some held for up to two and half years, the report said. "Detainees were severely beaten with various objects including electric cables, machetes and wooden sticks," suspended from poles and subjected to drowning, the report said, adding that many were deprived of food, water and medical attention. More than 30 people interviewed said they had witnessed deaths after torture. Many cases were traced to two sites: the headquarters for the Rapid Intervention Battalion in Salak and another facility in Yaounde called "Lac" and run by the General Directorate of External Research, Amnesty International said. Though no one interviewed told the rights group of direct involvement by agents of other countries, some described seeing white men speaking English at the Salak base on several occasions. Several countries provide military assistance to Cameroon, including the United States and France. Amnesty International called on both governments to investigate the degree to which its personnel may have been aware of the practices carried out. A letter from the U.S. Embassy in Cameroon to Amnesty International said it takes such allegations seriously, and "in accordance with the Leahy Law, do not furnish assistance to any security force unit if the secretary of state has credible information that such a unit has committed a gross violation of human rights.'' Top Canadian and Mexican diplomats expressed optimism on Thursday that a NAFTA deal could be reached early next year and cautioned that widespread uncertainty over the future of the three-way trade agreement had slowed business investment. Mexican sources say the plan is to hold seven rounds of talks at three-week intervals, a schedule that trade experts warned was aggressive and not easily attainable. Mexico's ambassador to the United States, Geronimo Gutierrez, said his country wanted to get the negotiations over before a presidential election campaign ramps up next year. Gutierrez said no country would want trade discussions during a campaign. That is not wise ... because it becomes a Christmas tree, everybody wants to hang something onto the Christmas tree, he told an audience at the Washington International Trade Association conference. Trump's policies a concern U.S. officials say there is growing concern within the administration, business community, and among U.S. lawmakers that the policies of President Donald Trump could embolden anti-U.S. populist Lopez Obrador. The Trump administration released its objectives for the talks on Monday. The first round will start on Aug. 16. Gutierrez said there was still a possibility that Trump could back out of the talks. In all honesty, I can't say that risk has been completely dismissed, he said, adding: No one would sit down and negotiate under a strong threat that at any time he would pull out. Gutierrez said all three governments agreed that uncertainty over the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement had to be dealt with quickly. Investment decisions throughout North America have been, to the best of my knowledge, postponed because of uncertainty, he said. David MacNaughton, Canada's ambassador to Washington, said while it would be a challenge to finish negotiations over just four months, it was possible. I do genuinely think all three parties want to find a solution to this because (of) the uncertainty that has been created ... people defer making decisions, said. Meeting in Ottawa Canadian and Mexican officials met in Ottawa on Wednesday but spent little time on the substance of the talks, given uncertainty over how much could be achieved by the end of 2017, said a well-placed source. There's a 99 percent chance the negotiations won't be finished by then, said the source. The three nations will also require all those involved, including stakeholders and lobbyists, to sign non-disclosure agreements. A Canadian official said the move was designed to allow officials to have frank conversations knowing it won't be in the public domain two hours later. China says its large economic collaboration program with Pakistan has entered the stage of early harvest", making it the fastest and most effective" among all projects in Beijings Belt and Road Initiative, or BRI. President Xi Jinping launched the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, or CPEC, two years ago, during his landmark visit to Islamabad. Cooperation has since cemented decades-old relations between the traditionally close allies. China is investing about $60 billion on a network of roads, railways, fiber optic cables, energy pipelines, industrial clusters and special economic zones in Pakistan. The corridor will link China's western region of Xinjiang to the Pakistani port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea, giving the Chinese region the shortest trade route to international markets. China's acting ambassador to Islamabad, Lijian Zhao, says that 19 CPEC projects worth about $19 billion are either completed or in progress. CPEC, as a pilot and major project of BRI, is now the fastest and most effective project among all the projects under the BRI, he told a seminar in Islamabad. He described the cooperation as an unprecedented undertaking in the history of China-Pakistan relations. Economic cooperation connected to CPEC has employed thousands of Pakistanis and officials anticipate tens of thousands more will be hired in the next few years. Gwadar is in Pakistan's Baluchistan province, where deadly attacks on CPEC workers have taken place in recent months. Some critics in Pakistan have raised concerns about the viability of CPEC, while others have questioned its implications for the country. But officials dismiss the skepticism as unfounded. Despite (the fact) there is this criticism and noises here and there, after this four years of hard work and joint efforts of both countries, the CPEC has not been affected by those noises. I can report to you that CPEC is going on very well on the ground, said the Chinese envoy. He did not elaborate further. Most of the CPEC projects are in Baluchistan. Pakistani officials allege rival Indias intelligence agency is behind the militant attacks in the province in an attempt to sabotage the Chinese investment. New Delhi denies the charge, but officials there have voiced concerns over the corridor because it passes through the Pakistan-controlled portion of Kashmir, which is divided between India and Pakistan and both claim the Himalayan region in its entirety. Pakistans foreign secretary, Tehmina Janjua, while addressing the conference, explained security challenges facing her countrys project with China. May I point out, unfortunately, our eastern neighbor (India) has publicly announced its opposition to CPEC. The grounds they give for their opposition are baseless, Janjua noted. She went on to denounce Indias opposition as appalling for a project that she said would bring development and prosperity to the people of Kashmir. China and Pakistan stand shoulder to shoulder in developing CPEC on the agreed time lines. We will continue to march ahead with complete determination, ignoring the negative voices and forcefully responding to any threat to CPEC, said Janjua. The Pakistani military has deployed thousands of security personnel to guard the projects and protect Chinese experts and workers. China has also rejected reported U.S. concerns China plans to turn Gwadar into a Chinese naval base. Major infrastructure projects being established in the Chinese-funded port of Gwadar include a Free Zone and a new international airport that will be operational by next year, officials say. While new highways are being built and existing roads upgraded to link areas under CPEC, a coal fired power plant in the central city of Sahiwal has recently been completed, adding 1,320-megawatts of electricity to Pakistan's national grid. A second 1,320-megawatt coal fired power plant in the southern port city of Karachi is expected to be inaugurated by November at an estimated cast of about $2 billion. China is also focusing on upgrading Pakistan's railways, increasing average speeds to about 180 kilometers an hour from the current average of 80 kilometers an hour, said Chinese envoy Zhao. Six months into his presidency, Donald Trump has a mixed record on his pledges to reverse much of his predecessor's foreign policy legacy. Trump has withdrawn from the Paris climate accord, pulled out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact and vocally supported improving relations with Russia. The president, for now, is sticking with the Obama administration's Iran nuclear deal, and he appears to be maintaining the limited U.S. military involvement in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. When he speaks in public, however, there is no confusing Trump with his predecessor. In a speech to cheering Poles in Warsaw this month, Trump distanced himself from Barack Obama's multilateral diplomacy. He strongly defended Western values, which he said are increasingly threatened by terrorism from those who do not share them, and by complacency from those who do. "Do we have the desire and the courage to preserve our civilization in the face of those who would subvert and destroy it?" he asked. Trump also used the Warsaw speech to answer critics who have accused him of being soft on Russia at a time intelligence agencies are saying the Kremlin meddled in U.S. elections on his behalf. He warned Moscow against aggressive behavior. "We urge Russia to cease its destabilizing activities in the Ukraine and elsewhere and its support for hostile regimes, including Syria and Iran, and instead join the community of responsible nations in our fight against common enemies in defense of civilization itself," Trump said. Unpredictable partner Many policy analysts, however, say Trump has proven to be an unpredictable partner, weakening the trust of longtime allies and effectively jeopardizing America's traditional role as a global leader. "There are deep-seated questions about American values and about where this administration is going," said Charles Kupchan, senior fellow at the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations who served in the Clinton and Obama administrations. Watch: Despite Rhetoric, Trump's Foreign Policy Hews Close to Obama's "If it heads in a very nationalist and a very populist direction, four years from now we could see a very serious erosion in the trust, the confidence the stickiness, if you will of the relationships in the institutions that have kept the international order in a stable fashion," Kupchan said. Perhaps Trump's two biggest breaks from Obama have been in withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which already faced on uncertain fate in Congress, and withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement, which sparked outrage at home and abroad. At a summit for leaders of the Group of 20 leading industrialized nations in Germany this month, Trump's pullout from the Paris accord earned him a stern rebuke from all 19 other participants. "In the end, the negotiations on climate reflect dissent, all against the United States of America," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the summit host. Clearly stung by the unanimity of the opposition, Trump suggested he might change his mind. "Something could happen with respect to the Paris accord," he said at a news conference last week with French President Emmanuel Macron. "We'll see what happens." Advantage to China Kupchan said the biggest beneficiary of Trump's go-it alone, "America First" approach might be China, the chief U.S. rival on the world stage. "The president pulled down the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which was a U.S.-led effort to create a trading zone, and he backed out of the Paris climate agreement," Kupchan said. "Both of those moves have sort of handed on a silver platter global leadership to China." Another area where Trump has deviated from Obama has been the Middle East. His first overseas trip was to Saudi Arabia, where leaders of more than 50 Muslim countries applauded his grand plan to organize a coalition to fight Islamist radicals. That idea has since run aground on the rocks of an internecine squabble among regional adversaries, setting off a fresh wave of instability in the Gulf. And unlike Obama, Trump ordered a military strike on Syrian government forces deemed responsible for a chemical weapons attack on civilians. On other issues, however, Trump's policies have been surprisingly close to his predecessor's, even in cases where he ridiculed Obama's actions. After repeatedly pledging to tear up the nuclear agreement Obama signed with Iran, saying he thought it was a bad deal, he agreed this week to certify Iran's compliance for another three months, at least temporarily keeping the accord in place. Experts point to a number of factors that have contributed to tempering Trump's impulsive instincts toward more Obama-like positions. Regarding Iran, it was his foreign policy team of cooler heads; on his travel ban, it has been the courts restraining and limiting his executive order; and on his plan to compel North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions, it was simply coming to the realization that, like Obama, he has no good options. 'Constraints' encountered Reva Goujon, vice president for Global Analysis at the Texas-based Stratfor research group, said Trump is learning that on many international issues, there's little room to maneuver. "In many respects, the Trump foreign policy record has been largely predictable, and that's because there are constraints embedded in the international system and on the United States that he is responding to," Goujon told VOA. Douglas Feith, former undersecretary of defense in the George W. Bush administration and now a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, a Washington think tank, told VOA the presidency has its own way of moderating a candidate's campaign rhetoric. "He made a number of statements in the campaign that were pretty radical, saying the kinds of things that American political leaders generally don't say or haven't said about, in particular, about our alliances, about NATO, our alliance with South Korea and Japan, for example," Feith said. "But as president I think he's gone a long way toward reassuring the allies that we're going to have a much more conventional approach." Six months into his presidency, Donald Trump has a mixed record on his pledges to reverse much of his predecessor's foreign policy legacy. He has withdrawn from the Paris climate accord, dropped the Trans Pacific Partnership trade pact and vocally supported better relations with Russia. But as VOA White House correspondent Peter Heinlein reports, many other aspects of Barack Obama's policy, such as the Iran nuclear deal, remain in place. The White House has declined to release any details of a G-20 summit dinner conversation earlier this month between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. "This was a social dinner and that was the nature of the evening," White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters who pressed her on Wednesday about the topics the two leaders discussed. Looking back at news coverage of the Trump-Putin meeting a day earlier, when the encounter first became known in the United States, Sanders said it was "a little bit ridiculous" to describe the two presidents' chat as a private conversation, when more than two dozen other national leaders and interpreters were sitting nearby and in plain view during a formal dinner in a large dining room. However, many former diplomats, political commentators and Democratic lawmakers repeated the same phrase Wednesday when asked about the second extended Trump-Putin conversation: "It's not normal." 'Deeply troubling' for some Democrats The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff, said he was astonished to learn of the meeting and found it "deeply troubling." "Guess this is what Trump calls [transparency]," Schiff wrote on Twitter. The president should, either through Twitter or his press secretary, "immediately read out the content of his one-on-one chat with Putin before Putin does," said a former U.S. ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul. Trump's tweets and White House officials strongly rejected assertions that the second Putin-Trump conversation was kept under wraps, just hours after two presidents' first face-to-face conversation in Hamburg on July 7 a meeting of more than two hours, with the U.S. secretary of state and the Russian foreign minister present, along with a translator for each side. Officials traveling with Trump at the time had not mentioned the dinnertime conversation, but they said on Wednesday that the dinner was well publicized. Reporters and photographers were not allowed to be present during the dinner, however, and there was no detailed "readout" from White House officials about Trump's contacts with other heads of state, as well as Putin. A 'secret' conversation? 'Absurd!' "To act as if this was some secret is absolutely absurd," Sanders said at an off-camera White House briefing. Trump took to Twitter quickly to repudiate the stories that flashed across U.S. news media Tuesday evening: "Fake News story of secret dinner with Putin is 'sick.'" At issue, however, is how long the two conversed after Trump moved away from his designated seat at the dinner, near Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The White House initially described the second Trump-Putin discussion as "brief." "We weren't following him around with a stopwatch," said Sanders on Wednesday when pressed for a more precise length. "But it certainly wasn't an hour," as it was described in many media reports based on anonymous accounts from other leaders at the dinner. Trump told the New York Times Wednesday that he and Putin talked for about 15 minutes, "pleasantries more than anything else." "I actually talked about Russian adoption with him," Trump said. The Russian leader banned adoptions of Russian children by Americans five years ago, after the United States enacted sanctions on Russians accused of human-rights abuses. No other Americans present Trump also was criticized for having such an extended discussion with the Kremlin leader without any other Americans present. Images from the dinner show Putin and Trump seated side by side, with a Russian interpreter leaning over between them. Other dinner guests were seated near the two presidents, but the spacious table setting made it possible to keep the conversation private. The furor over the Trump-Putin dinner chat is the latest chapter in an ongoing controversy involving the U.S. president and Russia. Last week's domestic news was dominated by reports of a meeting in June 2016 between Donald Trump Jr., the president's eldest son, and a group of Russians including a Kremlin-linked lawyer, a former Soviet spy and an interpreter previously investigated for money laundering. Trump Jr. had tried to minimize that session in New York as a routine, brief and uneventful meeting, but piecemeal disclosures of what happened and who took part forced him to switch his story several times. The president has continued to deny any collusion with Russia and insists that the United States will benefit if he can build a friendship with the Russian leader. Ties between the Trump presidential campaign and Russia are the subject of an investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. In addition, there are four congressional committees investigating Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election in which Trump won the electoral count, defeating Democrat Hillary Clinton, who captured the most votes. The European Union is coming closer to imposing sanctions on Poland for the government's controversial attempt to take control of the judiciary, a senior EU official warned Wednesday, as new street protests and heated debate erupted in the Polish parliament. The ruling conservative and populist Law and Justice Party had been rushing to get parliament's approval for a contentious draft law that would reorganize the nation's highest court. But it has had to slow down after vehement objection from the opposition, alarm from the EU and mass peaceful protests against the measure. After a tense debate in parliament, lawmakers on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly to send the draft bill on the Supreme Court for more work by a special parliamentary commission. Opposition legislators have proposed 1,300 amendments to the draft, which they say violates the constitution, kills judicial independence and destroys the democratic principle of the separation of the judiciary from the executive branch. Crowds have held street protests in Warsaw and other cities in defense of democracy and judicial independence, chanting "Free courts!'' and "Freedom, equality, democracy!'' They urged President Andrzej Duda to veto the draft legislation. It was the latest in a string of conflicts that has exposed the deepening political divide in Poland since Law and Justice won power in 2015. The proposed bill calls for the immediate dismissal of the current Supreme Court judges, except those chosen by the justice minister. It would give the justice minister the power to appoint the key court's judges. In a proposed amendment, the Law and Justice has switched those powers to the president. The ruling party, led by Jaroslaw Kaczynski, insists that its reforms will introduce "good change'' expected by the people who voted them in. It also argues that the judiciary still works along communist-era principles and needs radical reforms and new people to be efficient. The opposition says the changes to the judiciary are Kaczynski's revenge on judges who have been critical of his policies. Kaczynski, a lawyer, is currently Poland's most powerful politician, controlling the government, the parliament and having influence on the president, even though he holds no government office. The vote Wednesday was 434-6 with one abstention for a justice commission to review the draft law. Shortly after the vote, European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans said in Brussels that the EU may soon strip Poland of its voting rights because its recent steps toward the judiciary "greatly amplify the threat to the rule of law'' and threaten to put the judiciary "under full political control of the government.'' Such a sanction, which was intended to ensure democratic standards in EU members, requires unanimity among all other member states. Timmerman said the dialogue between the EU and Poland should continue while the legislation is being worked on. Poland's parliament has already approved new laws that give lawmakers the power to appoint judges to the regulatory National Council of the Judiciary, and changed regulations for ordinary courts. All changes require the approval of Duda, who has so far followed the ruling party line. Law and Justice has previously backed down under mass protests including last year when it withdrew a proposed ban on abortions after a nationwide women's strike. The debate preceding Wednesday's vote has led to some unpleasant exchanges in parliament. An opposition lawmaker, Borys Budka, drew Kaczynski's wrath when he implied that his late twin brother, President Lech Kaczynski, had prevented him previously from taking any drastic steps toward the justice system. Kaczynski's reaction was immediate and violent. "Don't wipe your treacherous mugs with the name of my late brother. You destroyed him, you murdered him, you are scoundrels,'' Kaczynski shouted from the podium. He was referring to the 2010 plane crash that killed the president, his brother, which he blames on the former government of the Civic Platform party. Poland's former foreign minister and head of the Civic Platform, Grzegorz Schetyna, condemned the tone of the parliamentary debate. "It shows that we are in some catastrophic place, not only regarding emotions, but also regarding the level of the public debate,'' Schetyna said Wednesday. Europe's top human rights court ruled on Thursday that online videos considered by a Belgian court to be Islamist hate speech were not protected under free speech provisions. Fouad Belkacem is a Belgian national currently imprisoned for his activities as the head of Sharia4Belgium, an organization banned for recruiting foreign fighters to participate in militant activities in the Middle East. The European Court of Human Rights evaluated Belkacem's argument that his remarks in a series of videos on online platform YouTube fell within his freedoms of expression and religion and were not meant to incite violence. In the videos, Belkacem had called on viewers to "overpower non-Muslims, teach them a lesson and fight them", content the Court called "markedly hateful" and "vehement". He had also called for the violent establishment of Sharia law. The ECHR upheld the 2013 decision of Belgium's top court, which found that, far from simply expressing his views, Belkacem had incited others to discriminate on the basis of faith and to violence against non-Muslims. Belkacem is serving a 12-year prison sentence after being convicted in 2015 of leading a terrorist group in the country's largest trial of militants. Belgium continues to grapple with a comparatively high number of nationals who have travelled to Syria and Iraq to join jihadist groups. As more cases of online radicalization and recruitment of European citizens emerge, the EU expects technology and social media companies to stem the tide. In June, EU heads of state called for the industry to step up its efforts to police its own platforms. Days later, social media giants Facebook, Google's YouTube, Twitter and Microsoft said they were forming a global working group to combine their efforts to remove terrorist content from their platforms. The companies said they would share technical solutions for quickly removing extremist content, commission research to inform their counter-speech efforts and work more with counter-terrorism experts. Ancient civilizations plowed themselves into oblivion, and modern agriculture risks doing it again, geologist David Montgomery says. In his new book, Montgomery says a growing number of farmers are using techniques that can save their farms from slow death by erosion. In Growing a Revolution: Bringing Our Soil Back to Life, Montgomery meets farmers who are building healthy soil and buffering themselves against climate change and saving money while doing it by practicing what is called conservation agriculture. Experts worldwide are working to persuade farmers to reject thousands of years of agricultural tradition in order to save their soil. Erosion of civilizations Montgomery told VOA, while finishing his previous book, Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations, "It was very difficult to write the final chapter and not have it sound really depressing." Dirt describes how tillage, one of the oldest practices in agriculture, degraded farms and civilizations from Mesopotamia to 1930's Dust Bowl America. Farmers till the soil to control weeds and make planting easier, but exposed soil washes away in the rain and blows away in the wind, carrying with it the nutrients plants need to thrive. And yet, most farmers worldwide still plow their soil and leave it bare in the off-season. Many plant the same crops over and over again. All three practices wear out the soil. Growing a Revolution picks up where Dirt ends, with the promise of a relatively new kind of farming. "Conservation agriculture flip[s] all three of those ideas on their head," he said. "It's a completely different philosophy to not till, to always have the ground covered with either a commercial crop or a cover crop, and to grow a much more diverse rotation." Trouble in tidy fields Trey Hill of Maryland has not tilled his soybean field in years. The young crop peeks out from below waist-high brown stalks of what remains of last year's cover crop, a mix of grains, legumes, radishes and more. "If you don't like your fields to look like a mess," Hill said with a laugh, "it has to kind of grow on you. Yet, I have a lot of other owners and peers that are, like, 'Wow, what you're doing is really exciting.'" A short drive away, in a neighbor's conventionally tilled field, soybeans grow in neat and tidy lines on a clean slate of bare earth. University of Maryland soil scientist Ray Weil sees signs of trouble. The lower leaves of the soybean plants are splashed with mud from a rainstorm two nights earlier. "When it rained, that soil went flying," Weil said. "When the soil goes flying, it goes running down the slope. That's the first step in soil erosion." Just a few millimeters below the surface, he finds soybean roots growing sideways, unable to penetrate a layer of hard earth packed down by the effects of tillage. If it turns dry later in the summer, he said, "they're going to be crying uncle for water." 'Farming ugly' "When no-till started, they called it 'farming ugly,'" Weil said. Hill's "ugly" field is pretty on the inside. The roots of the cover crop he planted last year held onto the soil and its precious nutrients through the winter. Legumes added nitrogen, a key fertilizer. Earthworms feasting on the decomposing plants dig tunnels in the earth. Those pores soak up rainfall like a sponge, and they provide paths for the roots of Hill's soybeans to grow through. Cushioning against droughts and downpours, these soils help Hill through the weather extremes that are becoming more frequent with climate change. And Hill is saving money. Less tilling means paying for less tractor fuel. He buys less fertilizer because his cover crops feed the soil. "It all means more income to the farmer," Hill said. Profits for big and small farms Conservation agriculture is also working on small farms in the developing world. "What surprised me was how profitable these techniques can be in both settings," Montgomery said. Montgomery visited Ghana, where traditional slash-and-burn farming is degrading the soil, but conservation agriculture is turning fields into food forests. Farmers raised multiple crops on the same field, keeping the ground covered year 'round. "You would have, say, an overstory of plantains and an understory of peppers and cassava," he said. "If I'd squinted and didn't know better, I might have sworn I was in a jungle, but everything around me was food." The spread of conservation agriculture has been slow. The transition can take several years. Weeds can cut yields in that time. Equipment designed to work on bare earth may not operate on cover-cropped fields. Developing world farmers, in particular, often remove the residues of one crop before planting the next, to feed livestock, thatch roofs, or use as cooking fuel. "There's lots of uses," Weil said. "But the residues need to be left in the field, at least most of them, to feed the soil." "Lots of barriers to giving it a try," he added. "But once you get going, it's cheaper." Cheaper, soil-saving and climate-friendly, experts worldwide are helping farmers switch to conservation agriculture and consign the plow to the history books. Five women hanged during the 17th-century witch trials in colonial America are being remembered on the 325th anniversary of their deaths. Sarah Good, Elizabeth Howe, Susannah Martin, Rebecca Nurse and Sarah Wildes were hanged on July 19, 1692, at Proctor's Ledge in Salem Village, in what is now the eastern state of Massachusetts. It was the first of three mass hangings at the spot. In all, 25 people died during the dark period in colonial American history known as the Salem Witch Trials. Proctor's Ledge was where 19 women and men were executed by hanging. Five other accused "witches" died in jail, including two infants. One 80-year-old man was crushed to death in prison. On Wednesday, dozens of people gathered at the site to help dedicate the new Salem Witch Trials Memorial, a semicircle of stone memorializing the men and women who were killed during the Salem Witch Trials. 'It did not need to happen' "We should not be here commemorating the heartbreaking and tragic loss of life, it did not need to happen,'' said the Reverend Jeff Barz-Snell, minister at the Unitarian Universalist First Church in Salem. "And so we are here to remember, to resolve, to rededicate.'' The infamous Salem witch trials began in 1692, when a group of young girls in Salem Village (now the town of Danvers) claimed to be possessed by the devil and accused several local women of witchcraft. As a wave of hysteria spread throughout colonial towns and villages, a special court convened in Salem to hear the cases; the first convicted witch, Bridget Bishop, was hanged that June. About 200 men and women were accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials, which extended into 1693, although the level of hysteria began to decline a few months after the initial executions, and public opinion turned against the process. Those attending Wednesday's memorial dedication included Salem Mayor Kimberly Driscoll and Professor Emerson Baker of Salem State University, one of the researchers who confirmed Proctor's Ledge as the location of the hangings, based on 17th-century witnesses' accounts and modern mapping technology. "The sun casts few shadows this time of day, and yet the shadows from this site extend across our city in ways we cannot see with our eyes,'' Driscoll said at the ceremony. The memorial was primarily funded through a $174,000 Community Preservation Act government grant, along with small donations, many from descendants of those executed at the site. Turkey has rejected German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel's strong criticism Thursday of Ankara's detention of six human rights activists, including a German national. Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin described the criticism as "unfortunate," but said Ankara remains committed to German-Turkish relations. Gabriel criticized Ankara for detaining the rights activists and for a wider crackdown following a failed coup last year in Turkey. The German foreign minister announced a number of measures cautioning German nationals on the risk of visiting Turkey, and the dangers' of "arbitrary arrests." The six activists are being held on suspicion of supporting a terrorist organization, a charge widely used in the detention of more than 50,000 people since Turkey's introduction of emergency rule. Ten German nationals have been detained in the crackdown so far. Turkey appears to be downplaying Gabriel's comments. "We think that those unfortunate statements are about internal politics aimed at the approaching elections in Germany," Kalin said. Germany holds general elections in September. Kalin also said that Turkey's judiciary was independent and that Germany's legal system unfairly treated Turkish citizens who have been accused of espionage. Simmering tensions German authorities have accused Turkish nationals, including imams sent by Turkey's religious affairs directorate, of spying on critics of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In 2015, three Turkish nationals were arrested for spying. Turkish media reported one of those detained was close to Erdogan. Tensions have been simmering between the two NATO allies for several years, but last July's failed coup has brought those tensions to a boiling point. Ankara accuses Berlin of harboring people involved in the failed coup, while the German government counters that Turkish officials have failed to provide evidence to back their claims. German Foreign Minister Gabriel also warned of the risks of investing in Turkey. The warning follows German media reports that Ankara has compiled a list of German companies operating in Turkey that are being investigated for links to suspected coup conspirators. Among them were industrial giants Daimler and BASF. Turkish officials have denied the reports. Hundreds of Turkish companies, worth billions of dollars, have been seized under emergency rule because of alleged links to U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen. Ankara blames Gulen for the failed coup. Gulen denies the allegation. Germany is Turkey's largest trading partner, and many German companies have been based in the country for decades. Turkish financial markets recorded only moderate falls following Berlin's threats. There are doubts that Berlin is prepared to follow through on the threats. Sanctions could hurt both "Trade is very lively between Turkey and Germany and the rest of Europe at the moment," said Semih Idiz, a political columnist at Al Monitor website. "But it's a double-edged knife, as any sanctions will hurt both sides." Turkey's valuable tourism industry could be most vulnerable, according to analysts. "The [German foreign minister's] advice to its own citizens it might not be safe to go to Turkey is kind of scary," said Atilla Yesilada, a political consultant for Global Source Partners. "It's not going to be good for tourism. Some of the late reservations could be affected; a lot of Europeans use Turkey as a last resort, so the effect could be substantial." Yesilada says Berlin's warning that $3.4 billion in European Union aid could be at risk is more important. The aid is in exchange for Turkey controlling refugees entering Europe. "The incentive for retaliation on the Turkish side would be immense, i.e., to relax the supervision of Syrian refuges allowing them to sail off to across the Aegean Sea to Greece, or cross the Turkish-Bulgarian border. That would mean all-out war between Turkey and EU," Yesilada said. More than one million migrants escaping war and persecution in Africa and the Middle East crossed into Europe in 2015, the International Organization for Migration estimated. Despite new pressure from Berlin, Ankara defends its crackdown and shows no sign of giving any concessions. "This week's Cabinet reshuffle sends a message. The foreign minister, interior minister, EU minister are all hardliners in supporting the crackdown, all kept their jobs. So a change is not on the books," Yesilada said. Gunmen, some of them in uniform, attacked the base of an elite security unit in Ivory Coast's main city, Abidjan, killing an officer, stealing weapons and then fighting security forces in another part of the city, defense officials said on Thursday. The raid, late on Wednesday, follows months of military mutinies. It came hours after the government rejigged top security posts, and two days before an event that will bring in thousands from around the French-speaking world to Ivory Coast. Shooting broke out at around 9.30 p.m. (2130 GMT) at the national police academy in Abidjan's Cocody neighborhood and lasted for about an hour, one Reuters witness said. The academy houses a detachment of the CCDO, a rapid response unit composed of police officers, gendarmes and soldiers that is one of the best-equipped units in the Ivorian security forces. Defense Minister Hamed Bakayoko told Reuters during a visit to the base early on Thursday that the attack was clearly aimed at seizing weaponry. "These are saboteurs, men who mount sporadic operations and create a feeling of insecurity, and sabotage the work of the government. They aren't able to hold a position for long," he said. Bakayoko, previously minister of the interior, was appointed defense minister on Wednesday. The government shake-up was part of an attempt to end successive waves of armed uprisings by members of the security forces demanding bonus payments. Bakayoko said security forces had fought off the attackers, who fled with stolen weapons. Spent bullet casings littered the parking lot outside the CCDO base and bullet holes marked the walls inside. An army spokesman said later that one security officer was killed in the initial raid. Following that attack, a second Reuters reporter heard sustained gunfire near the base of the police anti-riot brigade in the Yopougon neighborhood in northern Abidjan, which also houses a CCDO unit. Bakayoko said security forces had clashed with the same group of gunmen there. "We found their vehicle in Yopougon. There was an engagement between our forces and these people, and we found weaponry that was taken here [at the police academy]," he said. Authorities were trying to determine if any arms were still missing, Bakayoko said. Witnesses and a police source had reported gunfire in other parts of Abidjan overnight also, but the city was calm by early morning and two attack helicopters were patrolling the skies. From Friday, Abidjan will host the Jeux de la Francophonie, a 10-day sporting and cultural event when 3,000 Francophone athletes and artists will convene. Rampant sexual violence in Haiti against women and children, including some toddlers, should be treated as a public health issue and more care made available for survivors, the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said. Most of the 1,300 survivors of sexual violence who have been treated at one clinic run by MSF in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince since it opened in May 2015 are younger than 25, and more than half are children, according to a MSF report this month. Four in every five people who sought free medical and psychological care at the MSF Pran Menm clinic had been raped. 80 survivors a month at clinic We would like sexual violence to be recognized as a public health problem because there is not a lot of health services and care available for patients, said Carl Frederic Casimir, deputy medical coordinator at the clinic. The 24-hour clinic receives an average of 80 survivors of sexual violence a month, providing emergency contraception and antiretroviral drugs to prevent the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS. Casimir said he has seen children as young as 2 years old treated for sexual assault at the clinic. This is the most shocking part of it, the minors. Most of the time with the children, its people (the attackers) they know, Casimir told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Police help victims get care Just less than half of all child victims of sexual assault who came to the clinic were referred by the police, a sign authorities are playing an important role in helping girls and women get emergency care, MSF said. Their collaboration has been instrumental for ensuring timely medical and psychological care for young survivors, the MSF report said. It could also suggest that some of these young women were confident enough to go to the police after sexual abuse. Rape survivors are often traumatized and having access to mental health care, including counseling, is crucial for them to recover and to avoid developing depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, Casimir said. Ministry addressing issue Haitis ministry for women has said addressing the countrys high levels of sexual violence and improving access to justice for victims is a priority. Yet there are no official figures to show the scale of violence against women and girls in Haiti, in a country where rape has been a crime only since 2005. Cases of sexual violence are underreported because of stigma and shame, as well as fear of reprisal from attackers or the community, MSFs report said. Rights groups and the United Nations say sexual assaults and rape escalated after the 2010 earthquake that devastated Haiti. Made homeless by the disaster, hundreds of thousands of Haitians were forced to live in overcrowded camps with little privacy, police presence and poor lighting, putting women and girls at risk of sexual violence. A 2010 decision by the Washington-based Inter-American Commission on Human Rights requested the Haitian government take urgent measures to tackle rising levels of sexual violence and address impunity surrounding such cases. About 45,000 Haitians made homeless by the quake still live in tents and make-shift shelters. Hundreds of Haitians lined up in the blazing sun for a chance to join the country's newly formed military this week, looking past concerns about a lack of funding for the force and a history of bloody coups. Young men motivated by scarce jobs in the Americas' poorest economy waited since early Monday morning at a base on the outskirts of the capital, Port-au-Prince, to be interviewed by recruiters. Haiti has been without military forces since 1995, when former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide disbanded the army after he returned to power following a coup and the national police became responsible for security. "The army that we build today will be a professional army that will protect our future, if the state takes it seriously," said John Felix, a 25-year-old from the southern city of Les Cayes, as he waited to enlist. The new army's job will be to patrol the seas and the border with the Dominican Republic, Haiti's neighbor on the island of Hispanola, and to help rebuild after natural disasters in a country that has suffered death and destruction from a catastrophic earthquake and a fierce hurricane in recent years. Minister of Defense Herve Denis said the army would also fight terrorism and he envisions a force of around 500 compared to the 15,000-member police force. The military mounted dozens of coups in Haiti and its forces were accused of rampant human rights abuses. Now, critics and activists complain the army could stretch the limited resources of a government that is already struggling to pay for education and health care. "Haiti is not yet ready to reconstruct the army of Haiti. It's going to cost a lot of money," said Pierre Esperance, who head Haiti's National Human Rights Defense Network. "The authorities can't manage the national police, how are they going to manage a new force?" Esperance asked. Former president Michel Martelly, whose term ended last year, and Jovenel Moise, who took power in February, both backed plans for the new army. On Tuesday, potential recruits waited inside an air-conditioned room for officials to sift through their diplomas, photographs and identity documents. Louicin Dieudonne, who leads the registration process, said more than 1,000 people had tried to enlist so far but many were too old or lacked the necessary education. Only 300 had made it through the first level of screening, he said. Recruits still face medical exams and psychological and intelligence tests. "We have borders that aren't controlled at all. We have insecurity in the country, and unemployment too," said potential recruit, Whitman Francisque, 25. "I want to bring order to the country." In the old, military-ruled Myanmar, it would not have been a surprising scene: three journalists, bound together in chains, raising shackled hands in unison and speaking out against their repressive government. But this moment, captured on video by a local news organization, the Democratic Voice of Burma, was not from another era. It was recorded Tuesday, and it underscores how little has changed in the Southeast Asian country since the party led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate and longtime opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi won elections a year and a half ago. Just look at these chains. This is what we get for being journalists, said Lawi Weng, one of three reporters detained by the military on June 26 for covering a drug-burning ceremony organized by an ethnic rebel group in the northeast. How can we say this is democracy? Weng asked before entering a police van headed back to jail after a brief court hearing in Shan state's Hsipaw township. The reporters each face three years in prison for violating the nation's Unlawful Associations Act, which was designed to punish people who associate with or assist illegal groups - in this case, the Ta'ang National Liberation Army, one of more than a dozen small rebel armies that control patches of territory in the north and east. The rebels burned a cache of narcotics to mark the United Nations' International Day Against Drug Abuse. Members of various rebel groups, along with their sympathizers and some aid workers, have been prosecuted under the Unlawful Associations Act. But rarely, if ever, have journalists - many of whom travel regularly to zones controlled by the Ta'ang and other insurgent groups. It's unclear why these journalists were singled out. Suu Kyi's government, which is struggling to broker a nationwide cease-fire with the country's rebel armies, simply says they broke the law and should have informed security forces before visiting a conflict zone. The arrests, combined with the prosecution of critics who have spoken out against the nation's military and civilian authorities, have surprised many who thought Suu Kyi's rise would herald a new era of freedom of expression. Suu Kyi spent nearly 15 years under house arrest during the nation's long era of military rule, and she was praised worldwide for leading the struggle for democracy. Although her administration is officially in charge, the military still wields most power. Shawn Crispin, Southeast Asia representative of the Committee to Protect Journalists, said Suu Kyi's administration continues to use antiquated laws to threaten and imprison journalists. Reporters are still being targeted for reprisals and imprisoned for their reporting, Crispin said. Frankly, that's not what we thought an Aung San Suu Kyi-led government would condone or promote. It's been massively disappointing. The New York-based press freedom group, which has called for the reporters to be released, had hoped the administration would prioritize amending or scrapping these draconian provisions, Crispin said. To our dismay, they've chosen to use them to suppress criticism instead. Since Suu Kyi's party swept elections in November 2015, at least 67 lawsuits have been filed under the controversial Telecommunications Law, which had been employed by the former military governments to punish dissent and prosecute those who took part in the pro-democracy struggle. The law targets anyone extorting, coercing, restraining, wrongfully defaming, disturbing, causing undue influence or threatening to any person. At least a dozen people have been charged so far, according to the Telecom-Law Research Team, an independent research group. Several suits have involved alleged insults against Suu Kyi, among them a woman now serving a six-month jail term for criticizing her on social media. In addition to Lawi Weng, who works for the Irrawaddy media outlet, the two other journalists detained after crossing into rebel territory in Shan state are Aye Nai and Pyae Bone Naing, both from the Democratic Voice of Burma. Their court appearances have repeatedly been changed without notice, fueling speculation authorities want to minimize media coverage. Charles Santiago, a Malaysian lawmaker who chairs the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights, said that covering developments in conflict areas is already dangerous work. Journalists shouldn't have to add to their list of worries the possibility that the military might imprison them based on a century-old law that clearly wasn't intended to apply to them and should have been repealed altogether long ago, he said. Speaking after their court appearance Tuesday, journalist Aye Nai said Democratic Voice of Burma reporters had traveled repeatedly to other rebel zones controlled by insurgent groups like the Kachin, the Karen and other minorities fighting for greater autonomy. They had not been charged before, and should not be now, he said. The government has reached provisional cease-fires with many of the rebel groups. The Ta'ang are among several still fighting, however, along with allies Kachin Independence Army and the Shan State Army-South. The government that was elected by the people should ... amend these laws, Aye Nai said. And even though they have detained us, the belief we have in media will never fade away. We (will) do our job. In summer, life becomes intolerable for rickshaw puller Mohammad Khan. I keep running into the shade to save myself from the sun, he said as he waited for midafternoon customers in a busy New Delhi market. Like millions of others, Khan is experiencing on the ground what a recent study has highlighted: Heat waves in India have become deadlier and further global warming could take a relatively drastic human toll in the coming years. Amir Aghakouchak, an associate professor at the University of California, Irvine who co-authored the study, said they found that even small variations in temperature are causing the change. While mean temperatures from 1960 to 2009 increased by around 0.5 C degrees, both heat waves and mortality have increased substantially, he said. Grim warning The India-specific study is the latest grim warning of how new deadly summer highs are affecting India, where millions cope with perennial shortages of water and power. Spring became summer when temperatures crossed 40 degrees Celsius in March in several parts of the country this year. Last year was declared the warmest year on record since 1901, and in May 2016, the northern town of Phalodi shattered the national heat record when the mercury touched 51 degrees Celsius. In 2015, the worlds fifth deadliest heat wave seared large swathes of India, claiming about 2,500 victims. The director of the Indian Institute of Public Health in Gandhinagar, Dileep Mavalankar, said, heat waves are the single most important reason of disaster-related deaths in India in the last few years although only the tip of the iceberg is getting reported. Focus on poor people As record-breaking heat becomes a fact of life, the focus is turned on millions of poor people who are impacted the most by more intense summers, particularly in urban areas. According to Aghakouchak, adverse effects are pummeling the worlds most vulnerable populations. They are wage workers, such as construction laborers, rickshaw pullers, hawkers and vendors who toil outdoors in the day and live in sweltering slums. And in sprawling cities like New Delhi and Mumbai, where the population tops 20 million, the only shelter people on the street often find is in metro stations or under road bridges. The deputy director at New Delhis Center for Science and Environment, Chandra Bhushan, said what is called an urban heat island effect is taking a huge toll on the health, productivity and livelihoods of poor people in cities. Its a concrete jungle where heat gets trapped and many studies indicate that the temperature in city centers is 5 degrees, even 7 degrees higher than the ambient temperature, he said. Shorter work days A report by the U.N. Environment Program last year said workers such as farmers or construction laborers will have to shorten their work days within four decades, simply because it will be too hot outdoors. That could result in significant economic loss for poor people in countries such as India. Researchers in New Delhi say that is already happening. Studies have demonstrated that street hawkers and others lose three to four hours of work a day because even acclimatized populations are unable to cope with the spiking temperatures. On a hot summer morning, 17-year-old Anil Kumar, is downcast. He usually hangs around Delhis popular landmark India Gate, hoping to make some money taking photos of visitors, but the crowds are much thinner than usual. I have come since the morning, but have not got a single customer. It is so sunny, people dont come, he said. Heat Action Plan As studies highlight that the high temperatures are here to stay, there have been growing calls for the government to draw up contingency plans to cope with heat events in the same manner as natural disasters like earthquakes and cyclones. A handful of cities are now launching a Heat Action Plan begun five years ago in the western Ahmedabad city that has helped bring down heat-related deaths. Mavalankar said it involves public awareness campaigns, setting up cooling spaces in public buildings, training doctors and alerting supervisors on how to protect laborers. But the efforts are sporadic and more programs need to be implemented nationwide, experts say. You dont allow people to work in the afternoon, you have availability of water and shelter, you have emergency medical response and office timings are changed, Bhushan said. In long term in urban areas, there is a lot of talk of having more greenery in the city to reduce the impact of heat island effect. A small start has been made. Last year, the Indian meteorological department began putting out temperature advisories from April to June for 100 Indian cities to encourage people to stay indoors on very hot days. However that is unlikely to help rickshaw puller Khan or photographer Kumar, who have no option but to earn their livelihood under a blazing sun. India says both New Delhi and Beijing should pull back their forces to restore the status quo on a remote Himalayan plateau where a tense standoff between the Asian rivals is now in its second month. Saying that other countries support New Delhis position, Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj told parliament on Thursday, India has not said anything unreasonable. It is the first time Indias foreign minister has spoken about the confrontation that flared in mid-June when Indian soldiers obstructed China from building a road on a strip of territory that lies at a high mountain junction between China, India and Bhutan. While China accuses Indian troops of intruding into its territory, India says Beijing has entered a border area that is disputed between China and Bhutan, and which is strategic for New Delhi. Withdrawal as precondition China has made the withdrawal of Indian troops a precondition for talks, but Swaraj says if discussions are to be held, both sides must pull back. She told parliament that Indias security would be jeopardized by the Chinese actions. "If China unilaterally changes the status quo of the trijunction point, then it poses a challenge to our security straightaway," said Swaraj. New Delhi is worried because Chinese control of the Doklam Plateau could give its troops easy access to a narrow strip that connects India to its northeast. India says its troops are in the region with the consent of Bhutan, its close ally. Swaraj pointed to a 2012 agreement, according to which disputed borders on a junction between the three countries are to be settled through talks. But she said Beijing this time had brought bulldozers and excavators to build a road. Nearly five weeks on, amid sharp rhetoric from China and no signs of either side backing down, it is being called the most serious confrontation between the two Asian giants who fought a brief war in 1962. India says it is making diplomatic efforts to defuse the row. Indias approach has been to find peaceful solution of all matters concerning the border with China, Foreign Ministry spokesman Gopal Baglay said at a weekly briefing on Thursday. Beijing, on the other hand, repeatedly has warned New Delhi that it risks escalation by not vacating the plateau. Chinas aggression and rhetoric on the recent standoff are unusual, Indias top diplomat, S. Jaishankar told lawmakers during a briefing this week. With no signs of a resolution to the latest row, the standoff has raised concerns in the international community. During a visit to New Delhi this week, Australian foreign minister, Julie Bishop, urged the Asian neighbors to resolve the row amicably. We dont want to see any escalation of tensions that could lead to miscalculation and misjudgment, she said. US State Department The U.S. State Department also has expressed concern. "We believe that both parties, both sides should work together to try to come up with some better sort of arrangement for peace," State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert told reporters. Meanwhile, Indias foreign minister expressed confidence about the support of other countries. "All the countries are understanding that India's stand is not wrong. Justice is on our side, this is being accepted by all others, Swaraj said. India's top builders have pledged to make at least a fifth of their new housing developments sustainable by 2022, as the country looks to tap sectors other than renewable energy to meet its ambitious climate goals. The campaign is led by the Sustainable Housing Leadership Consortium (SHLC) comprising builders Godrej Properties, Mahindra Lifespaces, Shapoorji Pallonji, Tata Housing and VBHC Value Homes. It is backed by the Ministry of Housing. Builders will use mainly local and recycled material, and design homes that conserve water and electricity and make best use of natural light and wind patterns, while also pursuing more energy-efficient methods of construction. "The construction industry has one of the biggest carbon footprints, so it's really important for us to take action to minimize the impact," said Jainin Desai, head of design and sustainability at developer Mahindra Lifespaces. "This initiative pushes us to incorporate sustainability right from the selection of the site to the design, the use of materials and in increasing awareness in the industry, as well as among our clients," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. India is the world's third-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases that cause global warming. As a signatory to the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, India is committed to reducing its carbon emissions by a third by 2030. It is doing so with tougher emission norms, more electric vehicles and giant solar power plants to replace energy generated by coal. The real-estate sector is responsible for nearly a quarter of the country's carbon dioxide emissions. Those emissions come mainly from energy-intensive processes in making construction materials such as steel, cement and bricks. As India's economy grows at a fast clip, demand for homes, offices, roads, airports and factories is also rising. The demand for homes is particularly acute: in urban areas alone, there is a shortage of about 20 million homes. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made affordable housing a priority, with incentives such as subsidized loans to meet a 2022 target of "Housing for All." This has led to a boom in construction across the country. The effort by SHLC - an initiative of the World Bank's International Finance Corporation under the eco-cities program of the European Union - will add 110 million sq ft of green housing by 2020. Green homes the norm? While "green" homes were built at a premium earlier and therefore had a niche appeal, newer technologies and greater demand have narrowed the cost differential between them and traditional housing to "almost nothing" now, Desai said. Developers and buyers are also able to tap financing more easily for sustainable projects, as banks and investors look beyond renewable energy. The SHLC campaign is backed by HDFC Bank and PNB Housing Finance. "India has huge funding requirements in ... sustainable housing, metro rail networks, urban waste management and infrastructure development, that can be met through green financing options," said Sanjeev Jha, India head of Global Capital Markets at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. India, a relatively new player to green financing, has issued nearly $4.5 billion worth of green bonds so far, he said. For homeowners, green homes will create savings of 198 million kWh per year in electricity consumption, and 108 billion liters in water savings, according to SHLC. This will reduce India's carbon footprint by approximately 0.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, it estimates. "Our long-term goal is to make green homes 100 percent of the industry portfolio," Desai said. "We see green homes becoming the default choice." The U.S. Carrier factory where President Donald Trump says he saved 800 jobs from moving to Mexico is expected to notify 300 people this week that they are being laid off. The layoff notices are expected to start as early as Thursday, exactly six months since Trump took office. The layoffs are part of a deal Trump made with the company in December to prevent deeper cuts at the Indianapolis plant. The layoffs are the first of a group of 630 job terminations planned for the year as the company moves some of its operations to Mexico. Carrier announced in December that its fan coil department would relocate to Mexico by the end of 2017. Watch: Despite Trump's Intervention, Job Security Still Elusive for Indiana Carrier Employees In a letter sent to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development in May, a human resources manager for Carrier said, "While the entire facility is not closing, the separations are expected to be permanent." In addition, Carrier's parent company, United Technologies Corporation, is expected to lay off an additional 700 workers at factories in the town of Huntington, Indiana, near the city of Fort Wayne. However, Carrier has also said it will honor its commitment, made in 2016, to employ about 1,100 people in Indianapolis. Robert James, the man who heads the Carrier workers' local union, has told VOA the union is trying to negotiate retirement incentives and "voluntary separation" incentives, or buyouts, for the workers to cut down the number of actual job losses. The Carrier plant, which makes gas furnaces, became an issue in last year's presidential election when United Technologies announced plans to eliminate about 2,100 jobs in the state and transfer those operations to Mexico. As a presidential candidate, Trump roundly criticized that decision. After winning the presidential election, Trump worked out a deal with his vice president-elect, then the governor of Indiana, to provide as much as $7 million in tax incentives and training grants for Carrier in exchange for keeping about 700 of those jobs in the state. Trump also tweeted twice about former union leader Chuck Jones after Jones criticized the deal. Trump said Jones had done a "terrible job" negotiating for the workers and suggesting that he "spend more time working." Jones has since retired. Carrier said the employees who lose their jobs will get severance pay. It says at least 30 people are taking advantage of educational funding offered by Carrier. Kenyas minister of health has ordered two top hotels in Nairobi to shut down after they were linked to a cholera outbreak. The minister, Cleopa Mailu, said the hotels had supplied food to an event where cholera was reported. The order for Nairobis San Valencia and Jacaranda Hotels to shut down follows allegations cholera may have been transmitted through the hotels catering services. This is after several delegates attending a trade expo catered by the hotels this week were hospitalized with symptoms of the waterborne disease. Two Cabinet ministers attending the expo were also affected. The Ministry of Health said this week that 336 possible cases of cholera have been reported in Nairobi County since May, and that three people have died. Nairobis governor, Evans Kidero, told journalists that this outbreak, unlike previous ones, has spread beyond poor areas. It has not just been people who are in the informal settlements like Mathare, like Kibera, like Mukuru. We have noticed also that people from higher income areas have also fallen, Kidero said. Last month, around 50 visitors to an international medical conference held at Nairobis lavish Weston Hotel were reported to have fallen ill with symptoms associated with cholera. The Ministry of Health says the latest incident at the trade expo is being investigated and that samples of food, water and sewage are being tested. It said results from the tests are expected within a week. Meanwhile, Nairobi County health executive Dr. Bernard Muia said all restaurants in the area are being inspected. We are mapping out any eatery, and when I talk about eatery here, I am even talking about any hotel, regardless of the category and also validating the food handlers, Muia said. Minister of Health Mailu said Nairobis water services will also be thoroughly inspected. The leader of the Western Hemisphere's largest diplomatic body said Wednesday he backs targeted sanctions against high-ranking Venezuelan officials responsible for the political and economic turmoil gripping the South American nation. But Luis Almagro, the secretary general of the Organization of American States, cautioned a congressional oversight panel against sweeping economic penalties that could worsen the suffering of Venezuelan citizens. He described Venezuela as the most corrupt country on that continent. "The only action of the government we see these days is repression," Almagro told the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere and transnational crime. "The scenarios that we see are pretty ugly for Venezuela." Almagro, as part of a bleak assessment of Venezuela, also questioned whether sanctions would succeed in having their desired effect, which is to force President Nicolas Maduro and his supporters to make drastic changes. Sanctions helped push South Africa to abolish apartheid in the early 1990s, he said, but the country was committed to ending racial segregation. He cited Cuba as an example of country that's resisted external pressure to embrace democracy. "There is no way to push a dictatorship down from abroad," he said. "So sanctions may work or may not work. It depends on the internal pressure in the country." Upcoming vote President Donald Trump threatened earlier this week to take unspecified "economic actions" if Maduro presses ahead with a July 30 vote on a constituent assembly to retool the constitution. Maduro's socialist supporters want the assembly to grant him more power over the few institutions still outside the control of his ruling party. Trump administration officials also told reporters Tuesday that they were considering a wide range of sanctions on Venezuela, including cuts in oil imports. Trump has imposed travel bans and has frozen the assets of high-ranking officials in recent weeks, but refrained from broad sanctions against Venezuela that could deepen its economic crisis. The oil-rich nation was once one of Latin America's most prosperous, but it has been plunged into chaos as petroleum prices plummet, nationalized farms and factories halt production, and corruption runs rampant. Venezuela's opposition said that more than 7.5 million people voted against the constitutional assembly at unofficial ballot boxes set up nationwide and in expatriate communities Sunday. Almagro said that more than 100 people have been killed and thousands more have been injured in Venezuela since a wave of protests began in April. Of those killed, more than 30 were under the age of 21, he said. More than 450 investigations into human rights violations have been opened, according to Almagro, and there are 444 political prisoners in Venezuela. But he said the reluctance of other countries to "act in defense of democracy has allowed the situation to deteriorate incrementally, but consistently, to the point where today it has become a full-blown humanitarian and security crisis." Convicted militants and criminals imprisoned in Pakistan's Sindh province are reportedly running day-to-day affairs of the same prisons they are held captive in, according to a recent report by the province's Counter Terrorism Department (CTD). The CTD initiated its investigation into prisons following the escape of two high-profile militants of Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, a banned Sunni militant group in Pakistan with ties to al-Qaida and the Taliban in Afghanistan. The two militants escaped from Karachi's heavily guarded prison in early June. "Our investigation into the recent jailbreak revealed ... that prisons in Sindh, and particularly Karachi, are divided into zones among [a] few hard-core militants and terrorists who run the daily affairs," CTD chief Sanaullah Abbasi told VOA. The CTD found that convicted militants roam around freely, rule over wards inside prison, force other inmates to obey their orders, have access to drugs and mobile phones, and manage their terror activities with impunity from inside the prison. The CTD findings raised concerns that militants might be planning and coordinating terror attacks from inside prisons in Pakistan's third-largest province. Reforms called vital "Militants' running of jail affairs is alarming, but Sindh's jails had been plagued with the culture of convicted criminals ruling over them in the past as well," Jameel Yusuf, an activist and founder of the Citizens Police Liaison Committee, told VOA. The committee is a self-funded nongovernmental organization that gathers data on crime and extremist activities in Karachi. "The government has no option but to come up with new prison reforms and to implement them," Yusuf added. Officials cited corruption, incompetence and fear of militants' outside sympathizers as reasons behind militants' growing influence inside prisons in the province. Sindh's capital, Karachi, the country's financial hub, is also home to several banned militant organizations, armed political parties and organized criminal gangs. The city's central jail holds more than 6,000 convicted terrorists and criminals. "Lack of capacity of the jail administration, corruption, maladministration, fear and intimidation by the terrorist organizations have ruined our prison system," the CTD's Abbasi told VOA. In 2014, security forces discovered an underground tunnel near Karachi's central jail that was to be used to break into the jail and facilitate the escape of several high-profile terrorists. Prison search Following last month's escape of the two militants from Karachi prison, security forces searched the prison and seized more than 300 mobile phones used by prisoners, along with drugs worth more than $20,000. The incident led to the dismissal and arrest of several jail officials on charges of negligence, and security has since been heightened in all prisons across the province, according to officials. "We've suggested to the government to take concrete steps to impose new jail reforms throughout Sindh and especially in Karachi," Abbasi said. "We've also suggested to move Karachi's main prison out of the city to a low-populated area." Yusuf, of the Citizens Police Liaison Committee, agreed that provincial and central governments need prison reforms. "It is absolutely necessary to provide training to the jail administration, to work on eliminating corruption within the staffers, and to provide jail authorities with modern, high-tech security equipment," he said. The Sindh government said it planned to increase its security budget to combat crime and extremism within the province. It has allocated nearly $19 million to equip law enforcement agencies in the province with security equipment. Murad Ali Shah, Sindh's chief minister, said strengthening law enforcement agencies is one of his government's top priorities. "In these trying times, strengthening our law enforcement agencies through training and equipment is at the forefront of our fight against terrorism," Shah said during a recent speech regarding the state budget. A power-sharing deal between two former arch foes is slowly taking shape in Gaza and could lead to big changes in the Hamas-ruled territory, including an easing of a decade-long border blockade. In the latest sign that the Egypt-backed understandings are moving forward, Hamas permitted more than 2,000 supporters of its former nemesis, Mohammed Dahlan, to stage a rally in Gaza City on Thursday. They held up banners with large photos of the ex-Gaza strongman and signs reading, "Thank you, Dahlan." Dahlan backers also opened an office in Gaza last month as a springboard for political activity and began disbursing $2 million in Dahlan-procured aid from the United Arab Emirates to Gaza's poor. All involved appear to benefit from the new deal for Gaza, described in detail by key players. - Egypt, which is battling Islamic extremist insurgents in the Sinai Peninsula next to Gaza, hopes to contain the Islamic militant Hamas through new security arrangements. - Dahlan, forced into exile after falling out with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2010, is poised to launch a comeback and advance his Palestinian leadership ambitions. - Hamas gets a chance to prolong its rule with a promised easing of Gaza's stifling border blockade. Egypt and Israel had imposed the closure after Hamas seized Gaza in a violent 2007 takeover that included battles with forces loyal to Dahlan. The three-way agreement aims to revive Gaza's battered economy and restore a sense of normalcy for 2 million Gazans, who have largely been barred from travel and trade for the past decade and have endured rolling power cuts, most recently of up to 20 hours a day. Yet a stable Palestinian "mini-state'' in Gaza could undermine long-standing Palestinian ambitions to set up an entity that is also meant to include the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Israel, which captured those territories in the 1967 Mideast war, withdrew from Gaza in 2005, but keeps a tight grip on the rest. Abbas, who administers autonomous West Bank enclaves, has tried to negotiate a broader statehood deal with Israel, but his internationally backed efforts ran aground almost a decade ago, in part because of continued Israeli settlement expansion in east Jerusalem and the West Bank. Israel's hard-line government has said it would not withdraw to the pre-1967 lines in the West Bank or give up Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem. If Gaza stabilizes, Israel could argue that Palestinians already have a state there and face less international pressure to negotiate a broader peace deal. The Trump administration promised to try to revive statehood negotiations, but expectations are low and there's no sign the U.S. found a way to break the long-standing diplomatic impasse. "The expected changes in Gaza are posing a big threat to the Palestinian national project," said analyst Ali Jerbawi, a former minister in Abbas' self-rule government. The emerging Dahlan-Hamas agreement was made possible, in part, by the election of Yehiyeh Sinwar as the new Hamas chief in Gaza in March. Dahlan, 55, and Sinwar, 54, have known each other since boyhood. Both grew up in the same neighborhood of southern Gaza's Khan Younis refugee camp, attended the same U.N. school and later the territory's Islamic University, said Ahmed Yousef, a former Hamas official who also grew up in southern Gaza. Their paths diverged when they joined rival political factions, Hamas and Fatah, where both became known for their ruthlessness. Sinwar helped establish the Hamas military wing in the late 1980s, while Dahlan rose through the ranks of Fatah, becoming chief of a feared Gaza security service that used to shave heads of Hamas prisoners to humiliate them. Rumors of rapprochement began circulating in late spring. By early June, delegations led by Dahlan and Sinwar were negotiating in Egypt, and participants said the two men established an easy rapport. The recent shift of Hamas' power from exile in Qatar to Gaza, a result of leadership elections, also helped the deal by speeding up decision-making. Hamas spokesman Salah Bardaweel said this week that the deal with Dahlan and Egypt is moving forward. Egypt has begun sending fuel to Gaza's only power-plant, helping ease a debilitating electricity shortage. Hamas, meanwhile, has been clearing brush to create a security buffer zone on the Gaza side of the border, and pledged not to give refuge to anti-Egypt insurgents from the Sinai. Egypt is refurbishing the now largely closed Rafah crossing with Gaza, and is to reopen it by the fall for passengers and goods, Bardaweel said. The extent of future Rafah operations remains unclear. Dahlan, who has strong ties with the United Arab Emirates, pledged to funnel tens of millions of dollars in Gulf aid to Gaza, Bardaweel said. The money will be used to compensate the families of some 400 people killed in Fatah-Hamas clashes that preceded the 2007 Hamas takeover, he said. In June, a UAE-funded committee also began distributing aid to 30,000 needy families from a $2 million fund. It remains unclear to what extent Dahlan would be involved in governing Gaza. Hamas will remain in charge of the security forces, while Dahlan is to serve as Gaza's advocate abroad. Dahlan has no plans for now to settle in Gaza. However, his top lieutenants are to return to Gaza as early as next week and join those who remained in rebuilding his political organization. Last month, they opened a new headquarters in Gaza City. During a visit Wednesday, the office was still sparsely furnished, lacking phones and computers. Hamas and Dahlan's supporters will also try to revive the Palestinian parliament, defunct since 2007, in hopes of boosting their political legitimacy. The 82-year-old Abbas has been watching the developments with alarm, seeking reassurances last week from Egypt in a hastily arranged trip to Cairo. If the deal goes forward, it would further undercut Abbas' claim that he represents all Palestinians. Despite the apparent progress, both sides are cautious, taking small steps. "We and Hamas are political rivals, but at the same time, we have common ground," said Sufian Abu Zaydeh, a pro-Dahlan lawmaker. "There are obstacles on the ground, but we have to kick-start the reconciliation and cooperation to face the tough problems in Gaza," he said. "We are making real progress." Qatari officials investigating a cyberattack that sparked a diplomatic crisis with four Arab countries said on Thursday their findings indicate the attack was coordinated with one of the countries, and that the United Arab Emirates had benefited the most from it. Qatar's state news agency and its affiliated social media accounts were hacked in May amid a spike in traffic from one of the three neighboring Gulf states that cut ties with Qatar after the incident, the officials said. According to the officials, hackers took over the Qatar News Agency early on May 24 and posted fabricated comments attributed to Qatar's ruler, in which Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani calls Iran an "Islamic power" and says Qatar's relations with Israel are "good." The comments were quickly disavowed by Qatar, but state-owned and semi-official media in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain continued to report the remarks for days - without mentioning the disclaimer. On June 5, the three Gulf states and Egypt cut ties with Qatar, accusing it of backing terror groups and extremists. Qatar denies the allegations and says the moves are politically motivated. The small, gas-rich nation's support of Islamist opposition groups in the region has angered Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt, which view these groups as a threat to political stability and security. The quartet has also barred Qatar from using the four countries' airspace, stopped direct flights to Doha, blocked access within their countries to the Qatar-based Al Jazeera news network and affiliated websites. Saudi Arabia also closed Qatar's only land border. The crisis has now dragged on for more than a month with neither side showing signs of backing down. The Washington Post, quoting unnamed U.S. intelligence officials, reported on Sunday that the UAE orchestrated the hacking and planted a false story that was used as a pretext for the crisis. The UAE has denied it had any role in the hacking. On Thursday, Lt. Ali Mohammed al-Mohannadi, head of the Qatari investigation team, said the UAE had the most to gain from the attack - but stopped short of directly accusing officials there of orchestrating the cyberattack. He said the media in the UAE appeared ready and prepared to report the fabricated comments once the site was hacked. Due to ties being cut, Qatar has not been able to confirm more details about the nationality and identity of the attackers in the neighboring Gulf states, he said. "The only thing we are sure of is that... the anticipation and the benefit from this hacking was in the United Arab Emirates," al-Mohannadi said during a rare press conference in Doha, broadcast live on Qatari news channels. He said some countries have assisted Qatar in the investigation, but declined to elaborate. President Donald Trump has decided to halt the CIAs years-long covert program to arm and train moderate Syrian rebels battling the regime of the nations president Bashar al-Assad. Russia had long pushed the United States to end the program. The phasing out of the secret program was reported by The Washington Post Wednesday. Officials told the newspaper that ending the operation reflects Trumps interest in finding ways to work with Russia. The program was a key component begun by the Obama administration in 2013 to put pressure on Assad to relinquish power. But even its supporters have questioned its usefulness since Moscow sent forces in Syria two years later. Russia long saw the anti-Assad program as an assault on its interests. Ending the plan, in addition to appeasing Russian President Vladimir Putin, is also an acknowledgment of the United States limited ability to remove Assad from power. Russia launched its military campaign in Syria with a stated goal of fighting the Islamic State group, but it faced criticism after targeting rebel fighters, including those backed by the United States. White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Sanders declined to comment on the reported end of the program and said she did not know if it was discussed during a pair of conversations including one just revealed Tuesday that Trump had with Putin at an international summit earlier this month. The CIA declined comment on the report. The White House had previously condemned Assad, and just three months ago Trump launched dozens of airstrikes against a Syrian air base after the United States accused the Syrian regime of using chemical weapons on its own people. After the Trump-Putin meeting, the United States and Russia announced an agreement to back a new cease-fire in southwest Syria, where many of the CIA-supported rebels have worked. Trump made the decision nearly a month ago, after an Oval Office meeting with national security adviser H.R. McMaster and CIA Director Mike Pompeo, according to the newspaper. And officials told The Washington Post that the move to end the program to arm the anti-Assad rebels was not a condition of the cease-fire. The U.S. military will continue leading a coalition of forces conducting airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria and neighboring Iraq. It will also continue arming and training other Syrian rebel groups, including the Syrian Democratic Forces, which is largely made up of Kurdish fighters and currently taking part in a campaign to oust Islamic State from its de facto capital of Raqqa. Turkey, which has battled a Kurdish insurgency for three decades, sharply opposes the United States providing weapons to the SDF, while the U.S.-led coalition has said those arms will be returned after the Raqqa mission is complete. The Voice of America contributed to this report. U.S. Senator John McCain has been diagnosed with brain cancer, the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix said Wednesday. A malignant tumor was discovered after the Republican senator from Arizona, who is 80, underwent a surgical procedure last week to remove a 5-centimeter blood clot behind his left eye. Subsequent tissue pathology revealed that a primary brain tumor known as a glioblastoma was associated with the blood clot, the hospital said. The senators doctors say he is recovering from his surgery amazingly well and his underlying health is excellent, a statement from McCain's office said. "Further consultations with the Mayo Clinic care team will indicate when he will return to the United States Senate." McCain, a Vietnam War hero who has been in the Senate for more than 30 years, and his family are said to be considering options for further treatment, which most often include a combination of chemotherapy and radiation. It wont surprise you to learn that in all this, the one of us who is most confident and calm is my father, McCains daughter, Meghan, said. He is the toughest person I know. He has survived multiple health crises in the past, including melanoma the most dangerous form of skin cancer and a variety of problems caused by his incarceration in Vietnamese prisoner-of-war camps from 1967-73. At the White House, President Donald Trump said: "Senator John McCain has always been a fighter. Melania and I send our thoughts and prayers to Senator McCain, [his wife] Cindy and their entire family. Get well soon." The Republican Majority Leader in the U.S. Senate, Mitch McConnell, added his thoughts in a separate statement: "John McCain is a hero to our [Republican Party] and a hero to our country. He has never shied from a fight and I know that he will face this challenge with the same extraordinary courage that has characterized his life. The entire Senate family's prayers are with John, Cindy and his family, his staff, and the people of Arizona he represents so well.'' Former President Barack Obama, who won office by defeating McCain in the 2008 election, offered his support in a Twitter message: John McCain is an American hero & one of the bravest fighters Ive ever known. Cancer doesnt know what its up against. Give it hell, John. McCain was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986. His absence from Washington this week had forced McConnell to delay planned action on health care legislation. Glioblastoma is a particularly aggressive cancer that forms tumors in the brain and spinal cord, according to the American Brain Tumor Association. The same form of cancer was a prime cause of the death in 2009 of Senator Ted Kennedy, a brother of the assassinated former U.S. President John F. Kennedy. The American Cancer Society estimates that people who develop glioblastoma after the age of 55 have a five-year survival rate of 4 percent. Russia outfoxed European Union sanctions by delivering gas turbines made by Germanys Siemens to the annexed Ukrainian region of Crimea. Now for the hard part, switching them on. No Russian company, according to Reuters data, has ever got a Siemens turbine working without the help of the manufacturer. In this case, Siemens said the turbines were shipped to Crimea behind its back and is refusing to be involved, leaving Moscow to work out how to start them up to fulfill President Vladimir Putins promise to give Crimea a stable power supply. Siemens has filed a lawsuit against its Russian customer over the delivery of the turbines to Crimea, and says it will do everything in its power to block their installation and commissioning. If Russia can somehow get the turbines operating at the two new power plants under construction, having irked Europe by delivering them, it will again demonstrate its ability to thumb its nose at the sanctions. Tough test Ten industry specialists who spoke to Reuters said starting the turbines without engineers from Siemens or its partners would be a tough test of the countrys engineering resourcefulness, fraught with technical problems, expensive and a legal minefield. Without Siemens it will be very hard to do it, said an industry source. But the majority of the specialists said it can be done even if it has never been attempted before. A firm involved in building the Crimean power plants had hired a Russian company called Interavtomatika, which is 45.7 percent owned by Siemens, to help turn on the turbines, according to three sources familiar with the project. Since then, Siemens said it has got a written undertaking from Interavtomatika that it will halt any activities connected to Crimea. In an implied threat to pull out of the venture, a company source familiar with the matter has also said Siemens is reviewing its engagement in its Russian businesses. The source declined to say whether that could affect Interavtomatika and Siemens declined to comment. Scouting for talent EU companies are banned from transferring energy technology to Crimea under the sanctions, imposed after Moscow seized the peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. But, in a loophole Moscow seems to have exploited, their Russian subsidiaries are not directly liable. Several of the industry sources said a Russian firm called ROTEK had experience with Siemens turbines. It is part of the Renova conglomerate controlled by billionaire Viktor Vekselberg. The company, along with its partners, services 13 Siemens gas turbines in Russia similar to the model delivered to Crimea, according to ROTEKs website. The company, asked by Reuters if it has been approached to help with the Crimea turbines, declined to comment. Some of the Siemens turbines ROTEK services are installed at power stations owned by gas giant Gazprom, and ROTEK services those ones with a Gazprom-owned firm called Teploenergoremont-Servis. That company, via a representative in Gazproms power division, declined to comment. High risk of sanctions Any Russian company that agrees to set up the Crimea turbines must weigh the very high risk of sanctions being imposed on any EU or U.S. business it has, according to Artyom Zhavoronkov, partner in the Russian office of law firm Dentons. Renova has assets in the European Union and the United States. Gazprom has assets in the European Union. Russian officials have not acknowledged shipping Siemens turbines to Crimea. They say the turbines were obtained second hand and were Russian-made. Siemens makes turbines at a factory it co-owns in Russia. Technopromexport, the Russian company building the Crimean power plants, has also not confirmed the turbines are made by Siemens. It declined to go into detail on how they would be serviced, beyond saying it would be by Russian specialists and contractors. According to one industry specialist, 18 turbines of the same model now in Crimea have previously been launched in Russian power stations. As a result, there is a pool of people who have at least observed the turbines being commissioned. In theory you can try to launch them without Siemens, said one industry specialist, who, like all the other people in the sector who spoke to Reuters, requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject. The model of Siemens turbines the German firm and the three sources close to the power plant say is now in Crimea, the SGT5-2000E, is not the latest word in turbine technology, but is highly sophisticated. It is run by an automatic control system that uses Siemens proprietary software. It contains highly engineered parts, such as the blades that turn the turbine, which up to now have only ever been bought from Siemens or its partners. The blades need to be replaced after between three and four years and no homegrown Russian company manufactures blades compatible with the Siemens turbines in Crimea, several of the specialists told Reuters. Workarounds mentioned by people in the industry included sourcing non-original spare parts from manufacturers in China, Russian engineers attempting to replicate the blades themselves or trying to buy them via intermediaries. Republican leaders in the U.S. Senate are struggling to find a way to revive their effort to overhaul the country's health care law, but so far have not reached agreement among fractious wings of the party on how it ought to be reshaped. Several Republicans met late into Wednesday, looking for ways to replace the Affordable Care Act, commonly called Obamacare a reference to former President Barack Obama, during whose first term it was approved. President Donald Trump had told GOP senators earlier in the day they should stay in Washington through their normal August recess until they reached agreement to repeal and replace the law. Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said he would call a vote next week on repealing the law without replacing it, but also could call for a vote on a repeal-and-replace measure. Several Republicans have announced their opposition to even starting debate on either of the bills, leaving McConnell short of a majority to move ahead. The chamber's minority Democrats remain unified in their opposition to upending Obamacare. At a White House lunch, Trump exhorted Republican senators to vote for the repeal, saying any Republican who voted against it was telling voters they were "fine with Obamacare." Republican lawmakers have called for repealing the law since 2010, when Democrats pushed it through Congress without a single Republican vote in favor of it. Surveys reflect law's popularity About 20 million Americans have gained insurance under the law, and national surveys show Obamacare is more popular than Republican proposals to replace it. The Congressional Budget Office said if that Obamacare was repealed without a replacement, 17 million Americans would lose their health insurance next year and 32 million by 2026. Under a Senate Republican replacement proposal, the CBO said 22 million would lose their health care insurance coverage to help pay medical bills in the next decade, but the plan would save the government $420 million. With Republicans holding a 52-48 majority in the Senate, party leaders looking to repeal the law can lose the votes of only two Republican dissenters, with Vice President Mike Pence casting a vote in favor of the repeal in the event of a 50-50 tie. Some Republican lawmakers opposing the repeal effort say the changes go too far in curbing insurance coverage under the government's health care program for impoverished people, while others say the party leaders' repeal plan does not go far enough to dismantle the Obama law. Whatever their disagreements, Trump emphatically told the Republican lawmakers at Wednesday's lunch that they needed to keep their seven-year promise to voters to repeal and replace the law. "There is no question that the president's meeting added a lot of momentum towards getting to a result," said Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee. "He handled it very well." 'No harm' seen in vote to repeal McConnell said "no harm would be done" to simply repeal Obamacare, noting that a repeal would not take effect for two years and that the bill to scrap Obamacare could be amended at any time. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the CBO numbers bore out what Democrats have been saying: that a repeal is a "horrible idea" and would "devastate the American health care system." Prior to the White House meeting, at least three Republican senators had said they would vote against starting debate on repeal-only legislation, and four said they would oppose debate on a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare. In both instances, that would be enough to kill the legislation in the 100-member chamber. The White House on Thursday expressed tepid support for the attorney general and did not rule out that a special counsel looking into Russian election interference could be eventually fired. "The president is disappointed in the decision" by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to recuse himself from the Russia probe, said White House principal deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Pressed on whether the president retained confidence in Sessions, the spokeswoman said that "clearly he has confidence in him or he wouldn't be attorney general." Watch: Sessions Says He'll Stay as Attorney General Despite Withering Trump Criticism Some outside the administration saw it differently. Trump's comments to The New York Times on Wednesday "suggest he has lost confidence in his attorney general," William Galston, Brookings Institution senior fellow in governance studies, told VOA News. "If that is the way he feels, then he probably should consider replacing Mr. Sessions, even though that would be to replace one of his earliest, strongest, most loyal supporters and someone who has helped him mightily on the immigration issue which is probably what he cares about the most." In an Oval Office interview the previous day, Trump told the Times he never would have appointed Sessions if he had known the former Alabama senator would step back from the probe into Russian meddling in last year's presidential election. He also warned of a red line being crossed if the special counsel leading the Russia investigation, Robert Mueller, began scrutinizing Trump's finances. Bloomberg News reported Mueller was expanding his investigation to do precisely that examining a broad range of transactions involving Trump's businesses, as well as those of his associates. Sanders, asked whether Trump intended to fire Mueller, replied, "The president has no intention to do so at this time." Galston, a former Clinton administration policy adviser, said "it's by no means clear legally" whether the president can fire the special counsel, but if he tried to do so, it "will generate a genuine crisis for his presidency that could conceivably lead to efforts to impeach him." Sessions' intentions Earlier Thursday, Sessions, speaking a day after the president had leveled his criticism, said he would continue in his job "as long as that is appropriate." The president told the Times that "Sessions should have never recused himself, and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before he took the job and I would have picked somebody else." Sessions, asked about what were called the president's "disparaging remarks" at a Justice Department news conference, expressed his love for the job and his intention to continue in it. Sessions' statement, at least temporarily, quieted some of the speculation he would quit. The president's criticism during the 50-minute newspaper interview was seen by many observers as a not too subtle request for Session's resignation. The attorney general had reportedly offered to resign in May, but Trump refused. Sessions recused himself from the Russia probe in March after it was revealed that he'd had several contacts with Moscow's ambassador in Washington, Sergei Kislyak, a central figure in the probe into allegations that Trump campaign officials colluded with Russia to influence the election outcome. After Sessions recused himself, his deputy, Rod Rosenstein, appointed Mueller, a former FBI director, as the special counsel to carry out the Russia probe. Committees in the Senate and House of Representatives are also conducting investigations. If Sessions were to resign, experts said, it could throw Mueller's investigation into a state of uncertainty. The president would have the opportunity to nominate a replacement who would not have to recuse himself from oversight of the probe. Trump has repeatedly insisted there was no collusion between him and Russians to influence the election. "I have done nothing wrong. A special counsel should never have been appointed in this case," the president told the Times. Trump also suggested that former FBI Director James Comey shared with him a file of alleged, but unconfirmed, compromising material about Trump to gain leverage. "In my opinion, he shared it so that I would think he had it out there," Trump told the Times. The president fired Comey in May. Comey testified before a U.S. Senate committee in June that he privately briefed Trump about the file in January because of the belief the material would soon be publicly reported and that the intelligence community should not keep knowledge of the material from the president-elect. Donald Trump Jr.; Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and a White House senior adviser; and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort met last year with a Russian attorney who said she had damaging information about Trump's Democratic opponent in the presidential race, Hillary Clinton. Trump downplayed the meeting in the Times interview, calling it "standard political stuff" and reaffirming his belief that most politicians would have taken such a meeting. VOA's William Gallo contributed to this report. More than nine billion tons of plastic has been produced since 1950 with most of it discarded in landfills or the environment, hurting ecosystems and human health, according to the first major global analysis of mass-produced plastics. Nearly 80 percent of this plastic ended up in landfills or the environment and production in increasing quickly, researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara, said in the study published on Wednesday. Less than 10 percent was recycled and about 12 percent was incinerated. "If you spread all of this plastic equally, ankle-deep, it would cover an area the size of Argentina," Roland Geyer, a professor of industrial ecology and the study's lead author, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "It is an enormous amount of material that does not biodegrade ... I am very worried." Burning plastics contributes to climate change and adversely impacts human health, while build-ups of the material can hurt the broader environment, Geyer said. Packaging is the largest market for plastic and the petroleum-based product accelerated a global shift from reusable to single-use containers, researchers said. As a result, the share of plastics in city dumps in high and middle income countries rose to more than 10 percent by 2005 from less than 1 percent in 1960. Unlike other materials, plastic can stay in the environment for thousands of years, Geyer said. There are more than 5 trillion pieces of plastic floating in the world's oceans, according to a 2014 study published in a Public Library of Science journal. This build-up harms marine life and ecosystems on sea and land, Geyer said. If current trends continue more than 13 billion tons of plastic waste will end up in the environment or landfills by 2050, researchers said. A pilot program that paid landowners in Uganda to not cut down trees was successful, according to researchers looking for ways to try to reduce carbon emissions. The researchers used interviews, periodic inspections and satellite images to monitor forests around 121 villages over two years. In 60 villages, they offered landowners $28 every year for each hectare of forest they preserved. Deforestation is responsible for about one-tenth of global carbon emissions, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, and leaving trees in place is one of the most cost-efficient options for capturing carbon. But it is hard to show it is effective. If you put up solar panels, you can say, Ha! I put in those solar panels. Please give me my credits towards my target.' If you slow deforestation it's harder to really know what impact you had, co-author Seema Jayachandran, an economist at Northwestern University, told VOA. Uganda deforestation The study was conducted by researchers at Northwestern and a Dutch organization named Porticus. Uganda was an ideal location to attempt the program because between 2005-2010, the country had one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world, with a 2.7 percent loss each year. Researchers wanted to address concerns that payments wouldn't actually reduce deforestation, either because participants in the program wouldn't have harvested trees anyway, they would just harvest more from other unprotected forest or they would quickly harvest immediately after the end of the program. The study, published in the journal Science, found that there was less than half as much deforestation around villages in the program than around the control villages. Researchers found that villages in the payment program had preserved 5.5 more hectares of forestland than other villages. And after the program ended, there was not a rush to cut down trees, so the benefits of the program lasted. However, because the study was small, relative to the size of the national timber and charcoal markets, researchers were not able to see its effect on those markets. Without that information, they were not able to demonstrate that reduced deforestation in the study region didn't lead to increased deforestation elsewhere. Reasons for deforestation Jayachandran said a program like this would do best if it was paired with efforts to address the reasons for deforestation. These could be helping people in cities get stoves, so they aren't cooking with charcoal, or teaching farmers how to grow more food in less space, so they don't need to clear as much forest for crop land. The researchers hope that governments trying to meet their carbon emission targets under the 2015 Paris Agreement will consider paying poorer countries to reduce deforestation. The Paris accord on climate change aims to keep average world temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times. Program was popular Jayachandran told VOA that humanity can't afford to ignore any opportunity to reduce carbon emissions. The program was administered by the Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservation Trust. The Chimpanzee trust talked to participants about other ways to make a livelihood from the forest such as bee keeping or growing mushrooms, and about the benefits of preserving forest land. Lilly Ajarova, executive director of the trust, said the program was very popular with participants. The challenge we have at this point is that there has been no continuity, Ajarova said. The program will need to be more long term in order for it to have real economic benefits, not just for the people involved but for the whole nation. The Trump administrations decision to end the CIA's semi-covert arming of Syrias rebel militias came as no surprise to the insurgent commanders, whove been battling the government of President Bashar al-Assad for half a decade. But they remain angry at what they see as being cast off by an unreliable ally, who, they say, never supplied them with sufficient weapons especially shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles that they argue would have enabled them to win the war against Assad. They say the decision to end a program that U.S. president Barack Obama started in 2013 amounts to a final abandonment of non-jihadist insurgent militias. They warn it will likely prompt more fighters to join al-Qaida and other extremist groups if for no other reason than to survive. Some regional experts and U.S. politicians say the move will hurt the moderate rebels. Charles Lister, an analyst at the Middle East Institute and author of several studies on the moderate rebels, tweeted: Moscow will be delighted. Russias biggest, most important target was U.S.-vetted FSA groups. We just killed them off. Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, agrees the move may well mark the end of the rebellion. The cutoff of CIA funding for Syria's rebels is the raggedy ending of America's failed regime-change policy in Syria and the region at large, he told VOA. 'Stupid wars' Landis says there should be no surprise at the decision. President Trump called the wars in the Middle East stupid wars, during his campaign. He called America's policy of regime change a failed policy. This is his effort to concentrate narrowly on eliminating ISIS and ending Washington's effort to drive Assad from power by force of arms. He believes that working with the Russians, the United States, will destroy ISIS more quickly. Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator and backer of the Syrian rebels from the start, views the development as a setback for the U.S. He tweeted: a big loss for: 1) Syrians who have been relentlessly attacked by Assad, 2) Our Arab partners, 3) U.S. standing in the Middle East. Russia, which backs Assad, has long urged the U.S. to stop supplying arms to the rebels, arguing they are terrorists. Rebels fear that it will now be open season on them in the north of the country and in parts of the southwest, where the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah has said it is preparing to launch an offensive along the Lebanon-Syrian border. The regime will increase the rate of military operations to achieve greater control over rebel territory and the intransigence will increase of an emboldened Assad so that no just or comprehensive and lasting solution to the war will be reached, predicts Salim Idris, a former top commander of the Free Syrian Army. The reasons for the conflict will continue to exist, violence will not stop and that is interests of al-Qaida and other terrorist groups that thrive in conditions of chaos, Idris told VOA. Trickle of arms For Idris and other rebels the cutting off of supplies takes away any remaining leverage they and Western powers may have had in negotiations to end the multifaceted conflict thats left up to half-a-million Syrians dead, six million internally displaced and forced five million to flee the country. Even before Trumps decision to end the weapons program for the FSA and other militias, the rebels had been receiving only a trickle of U.S. arms and ammunition from the agency little more than just enough to keep them going. And that was the case even before Donald Trump entered office this year. The U.S. scaled back the CIA program in late 2015 as a Russian-backed government offensive started north of Aleppo. Former U.S. officials say Obama feared that increasing supplies to the rebels especially anti-aircraft missiles would drag the U.S. deep into a quagmire and risked triggering a confrontation between the U.S. and Russia. At the time, U.S. policymakers also were grappling with the failure of an additional American train-and-equip program aimed at mustering a rebel army to focus not on Assad but on Islamic State. Few moderate or Islamic rebel factions were prepared to switch their attention to IS, arguing their priority enemy had to remain the government in Damascus. Volunteers were few in number and 60 recruits who had graduated were sent inside Syria as a vanguard but they were routed by an al-Qaida affiliate. Now, in the wake of the Trump decision, FSA units will face stark choices. They will be even more at the mercy of Turkey and Gulf states for supplies. Syrian rebels killed at least 28 Syrian regime troops Thursday in an ambush outside Damascus, according to a report from the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The soldiers came under fire from rebels as they attempted to advance on the town of Al-Rihan. The observatory said officers were among those killed in the ambush and the death toll is likely to rise. U.S. senators announced Wednesday that President Donald Trump's eldest son, former campaign manager and son-in-law would testify next week about their meeting last June with a Russian attorney who said she had damaging information about Trump's Democratic opponent in last year's election. Two Senate committees will be involved. The Judiciary Committee will question Donald Trump Jr. and Paul Manafort, the former campaign chief, in a public session July 26. The Intelligence Committee will hear from Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and senior White House adviser, on July 24, but that meeting will be closed to the public and reporters. The Judiciary Committee's request to interview Trump Jr. and Manafort in open session was reviewed and approved by Robert Mueller, the Justice Department's special counsel investigating extent of the Russian government's involvement in and influence on the 2016 presidential election. Kushner's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said his client would appear voluntarily before the Intelligence Committee and would cooperate with the proceedings. Lowell said Kushner "appreciates the opportunity to assist in putting this matter to rest." The Russian lawyer at the center of the mysterious meeting in New York last year, meanwhile, said she was ready to share with senators everything she knew about her meeting with Trump Jr., Manafort and Kushner. Natalia Veselnitskaya was interviewed in Moscow by the Kremlin-funded RT broadcast network, formerly known in the U.S. as Russia Today. At least 8 participants The meeting in June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York, the future president's campaign headquarters, is now known to have included at least eight people: Trump Jr., Manafort and Kushner, plus five Russian or Russian-linked participants: attorney Veselnitskaya; Russian-American lobbyist Rinat Akhmetshin, a former Soviet counterterrorism agent who now has American citizenship; British music publicist Rob Goldstone, who represents several Russian clients, and who arranged the meeting by email; Russian businessman Ike Kaveladze; and a Russian translator, Anatoli Samochornov. Trump Jr. wrote in an email exchange with Goldstone that he would "love it" if Veselnitskaya had incriminating material on Democrat Hillary Clinton, as promised. But after news of the gathering surfaced this month, the president's son said the lawyer had no information of value about Clinton, and that their conference ended quickly. Subsequent media accounts of the meeting have produced other details, including a report that the Russians turned over a dossier containing printed information related to the Clinton campaign. RT published excerpts of its interview with Veselnitskaya online late Wednesday. Speaking through a translator, the lawyer said: "If the Senate wishes to hear the real story, I will be happy to speak up and share everything I wanted to tell Mr. Trump." She did not mention the Clinton campaign, but contended she was the victim of a "disinformation" campaign organized by an American businessman, William Browder, the chief executive and co-founder of the investment fund Hermitage Capital Management, which once was the largest foreign investor in post-Soviet Russia. FBI nominee's advice The president's nominee to head the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Christopher Wray, testified at his Senate confirmation hearing last week that anyone contacted during a political campaign and offered potentially damaging political information by a foreign adversary like Russia should have contacted the FBI before agreeing to any meeting. Trump, however, has staunchly defended his 39-year-old son's actions. Through Twitter and in public appearances, he has said such a meeting amounted to normal "opposition research" seeking information about an opposing political candidate and that no precaution such as that recommended by Wray was necessary. The Veselnitskaya meeting is one of several developments being investigated in Washington following the U.S. intelligence community's conclusion that Russian President Vladimir Putin personally directed a campaign to interfere in last year's election and help Trump win. In addition to examining contacts between Trump's campaign team and Russian interests, Mueller a former FBI director who also held senior posts in the U.S. Justice Department is probing whether Trump obstructed justice by firing FBI Director James Comey earlier this year, when Comey was leading that agency's Russia investigation and before Mueller was named to his current post. Oil giant Exxon-Mobil is suing the U.S. Treasury Department to stop a $2 million fine for violating sanctions against Russia while Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was Exxon CEO. Exxon said the decision is fundamentally unfair and insists it did nothing wrong. It is challenging the Treasury action in U.S. District Court in Texas. The Treasury Department said Exxon signed a contract in 2014 with Igor Sechin, head of Russias state-owned Rosneft oil company and a longtime businesses associate of Tillerson. Sechin was on a list of Russian officials sanctioned because of the Russian annexation of Ukraines Crimea region. Treasury said Exxon-Mobil demonstrated reckless disregard for U.S. sanctions when it signed the deal with Sechin for oil and gas projects in Russia. It also said Exxon failed to voluntarily self-disclose the agreement. Exxon said the blacklist against Sechin only applies to any personal dealings with him and did not apply to Roseneft. Treasury officials said they never gave anyone reason to believe the sanctions did not cover professional business deals with blacklisted individuals, too. The State Department would not comment and referred all questions to Treasury. Secretary of State Tillerson was head of ExxonMobil from 2006 until 2016 and developed deep ties with Russia, including a friendship with President Vladimir Putin. Tillerson has said he would recuse himself from Exxon-related matters for his first two years as secretary. While at Exxon, Tillerson said he did not support sanctions, because we dont find them to be effective unless they are very well implemented comprehensively and thats a very hard thing to do. But during a visit to Ukraine a few weeks ago as secretary of state, Tillerson said, U.S. and EU sanctions on Russia will remain in place until Moscow reverses its actions that triggered these particular sanctions. President Donald Trump has declined an invitation to address the annual convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said Wednesday. The White House did not offer any details on why Trump would not speak to the 108-year-old civil rights group. My understanding is that the invitation has been declined for this year, Sanders told reporters at a briefing. She said that while Trump would not speak at the conference, the White House would be happy to have a dialogue with the group. We would certainly like to be able to continue to do that, Sanders said. The NAACP did not immediately respond to request for comment. Trump had declined to speak at the NAACP convention last year because it coincided with the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, where he was formally nominated as the partys presidential candidate. Previous Republican presidential nominees regularly attended the annual meetings of the oldest U.S. civil rights organization. Trumps most recent predecessors in the White House, Barack Obama, a Democrat, and George W. Bush, a Republican, both delivered speeches to the NAACP during their time in office. This years NAACP convention begins Saturday in Baltimore. During his campaign, Trump pledged to improve the lives of black Americans, who voted overwhelmingly in favor of his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, in the 2016 presidential election. Trump has been criticized by some groups, including the Congressional Black Caucus, for not doing enough to address issues in the African-American community. The Trump administration has yet to complete its strategy to stabilize Afghanistan, with one Pentagon official telling VOA it would be "weeks" before a plan was finalized and announced. And when President Donald Trump was asked by a reporter Thursday whether he would deploy additional American troops to the war-torn country, the president responded, "We'll see." Trump made the comments during a visit to the Pentagon, where he and Vice President Mike Pence met with Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joe Dunford, and other key officials. Pentagon officials close to the meeting told VOA the president would receive a global security update during the visit. "This was a global layout," Pentagon spokesperson Dana White told reporters after Thursday's meeting, which lasted about two hours. White said the discussion focused on economic tools that could influence international affairs, in additional to diplomatic and military efforts. The visit to the U.S. military headquarters comes a day after the president gathered his national security team at the White House to discuss South Asia strategy. U.S. officials have said the president's team is split over what is arguably the region's biggest conundrum: How to stabilize Afghanistan. The military contingency Mattis, Dunford and National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster all seem to agree with their commander on the ground that a troop increase in Afghanistan should be one part of a complex solution. But White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon appears to have not "bought into" that solution, according to Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the Woodrow Wilson Center's Asia Program. "The Bannon wing is really the holdout," Kugelman told VOA on Wednesday. "The Bannon group simply wants to reduce the U.S. footprint in the world, which President Trump himself has suggested he really wanted to do as well." Pentagon spokesperson White confirmed to reporters Thursday that a decision on Afghanistan strategy would not come in the immediate future. "I don't anticipate any decisions being made this week," she said. The president also received an update on the counter-Islamic State fight in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. "We're doing very well against ISIS. ISIS is falling fast, very fast," Trump told reporters ahead of the meeting, using one of many acronyms for the terror group. Last week, the Pentagon announced that a U.S. strike killed the leader of Islamic State-Khorasan, the IS affiliate in Afghanistan. The Iraqi government also recently announced it had pushed the terror group out of Mosul, the largest populated city once under Islamic State control. Following Thursday's meeting, Trump shook hands with more than two dozen service members at the Pentagon before returning to the White House. U.S. President Donald Trump told the New York Times that if a special prosecutor investigating Russia's influence on last year's presidential election and possible collusion with his campaign expands the probe to look at Trump's family finances unrelated to Russia, that would cross the line of what is acceptable. "I would say yes," Trump said when asked if that would represent a "red line," according to a transcript released late Wednesday. "I have no income from Russia. I don't do business with Russia." In a wide-ranging interview, Trump also expressed dismay with the decision by Attorney General Jeff Sessions to recuse himself from the Russia investigation, saying if Sessions had indicated that intention before being nominated then Trump would have "picked someone else." "Sessions never should have recused himself, and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before he took the job," Trump said. The president further suggested that former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey shared with him a file of alleged, but unconfirmed compromising material about Trump in order to gain leverage. "In my opinion, he shared it so that I would think he had it out there," Trump told the Times. He fired Comey in May. Comey testified before a U.S. Senate committee in June that he privately briefed Trump about the file in January because of the belief the material would soon be publicly reported and that the intelligence community should not keep knowledge of the material from the president-elect. After Sessions recused himself, his deputy, Rod Rosenstein, appointed another former F.B.I. director, Robert Mueller, as special counsel to carry out the Russia probe. Committees in the Senate and House of Representatives are conducting their own investigations as well. Trump has repeatedly insisted there was no link. "I have done nothing wrong. A special counsel should never have been appointed in this case," he told the Times. Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., his son-in-law and current White House senior adviser Jared Kushner and his then-campaign advisor Paul Manafort met last year with a Russian attorney who said she had damaging information about Trump's Democratic opponent in the presidential race, Hillary Clinton. Trump downplayed the meeting in his interview, calling it "standard political stuff" and reaffirming his stance that he believes most politicians would have taken such a meeting. Donald Trump Jr. has said the Russian lawyer had no information of value about Clinton and that the talks ended quickly. When asked about it by the Times, the president said it "must have been a very unimportant meeting, because I never even heard about it." Hours after his son set up the meeting in June 2016, Trump said he would soon be giving a major speech focused on Clinton. In Wednesday's interview, he rejected the idea that the two events were linked, saying he "made many of those speeches." "There wasn't much I could say about Hillary Clinton that was worse than what I was already saying," Trump said. While much of the interview focused on the questions about Russia and the campaign, Trump talked about other issues that have emerged during his presidency and declared that the country is "doing well." He pledged during his run for office to overhaul the nation's healthcare system, and after the Republican-held Senate faced several setbacks in recent weeks in efforts to repeal and replace the program put in place under former President Barack Obama, Trump hosted a group of lawmakers for talks Wednesday at the White House. "If we dont get it done, we are going to watch Obamacare go down the tubes, and well blame the Democrats. And at some point, they are going to come and say, 'Youve got to help us,'" Trump said. He added that under a Republican plan, Americans will see "major tax cuts, and reform," which he said is "like a windfall for the country." The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has evaluated several versions of Republican health care bills, and while the details of each are a little different, generally the CBO projected the plans would save the government several hundred billion dollars over a decade and result in millions of people losing health coverage. On international issues, Trump criticized Obama for inaction on Ukraine, North Korea and Syria. Trump said that when Russia annexed Crimea, Obama "allowed it to get away." "He didnt talk tough to North Korea. You know, we have a big problem with North Korea. Big. Big, big," Trump said. Obama in 2013 threatened to use force against the Syrian government if it carried out a chemical weapons attack, but never did, as his administration worked with Russia to negotiate an agreement that required Syria to send its stockpiles of chemical weapons out of the country. After a chemical attack blamed on Syrian forces in April, Trump did order airstrikes on a Syrian airfield. "He didnt do the shot. I did the shot," Trump said. The Pentagon says it has raised its concerns with Turkey after a Turkish news agency published a map of U.S. military posts in northern Syria. The state-run Anadolu News Agency printed the map Wednesday, showing 10 U.S. locations in a portion of Syria under Syrian-Kurdish control. Turkey says the Kurdish People's Protection Unit is the armed branch of the Kurdish Democratic Party, which Turkey considers to be a terrorist group. A Pentagon spokesman said U.S. military officials cannot identify the source of the map, but "would be very concerned if officials from a NATO ally would purposefully endanger our forces by releasing sensitive information." The Pentagon would not confirm if the information on the map is accurate. Ugandan police say they arrested dozens of political opposition activists this week. The arrests coincide with speculation President Yoweri Museveni will act to change the constitution to allow himself to run for another term in 2021. Uganda's constitution stipulates presidential candidates must be younger than 75 when they stand for election. Museveni, who has held power for 31 years, will be 77 by the next election. Forum for Democratic Change official Ingrid Turinawe told AFP she believes the arrest of 56 opposition party members on Wednesday is linked to the issue. Museveni has not publicly communicated his intent to run for another term, telling the Ugandan media on Wednesday not to "waste your time" with the rumored constitutional amendment. On Thursday, 13 members of a smaller opposition party were arrested for illegal assembly. Allegedly, they were attempting to circulate a petition opposing the possible change to Uganda's constitution. Museveni rose to power in 1986 after his National Resistance Army toppled the previous regime. His government began allowing multi-party democratic elections a decade later, but critics contend he continues to stiffle dissent by regularly jailing opposition activists and politicians. In an interview with Al Jazeera earlier this year, Museveni defended the recent jailing of dissident Stella Nyanzi. "If you are an activist and you commit an offence, because with human rights you must also speak of the rights of others, you cannot trample on the rights of others and you say, 'It is my rights to abuse other people' to insult other people. No. Rights come with responsibilities - if you know anything about democracy." The constitution was previously amended in 2005 to eliminate a two-term limit for presidents, allowing Museveni to successfully run for a third term in 2006. Egyptian authorities transferred scores of detained students from China's Uighur community to a massive prison complex in Cairo on Wednesday for interrogation alongside Chinese officials, students and activists from the ethnic minority said. Egypt appears to be assisting China in a crackdown on the group as Cairo looks to Beijing as a key ally and source of much-needed investment, including in mega-projects like the construction of a new capital and an expansion of the Suez Canal. Egyptian authorities in coordination with Beijing have detained some 120 students this month, with at least 80 still held, activist Abduweli Ayup said from Turkey. Others put the total figure near 200. Chinese authorities have been waging a wide-scale security crackdown in Xinjiang, in China's far west, which officials say is necessary to curb Islamic extremism. Beijing is also reportedly seeking the immediate return of Uighurs studying abroad. Overseas Uighurs and human rights groups say the measures have turned Xinjiang into a police state, with widespread arbitrary detentions and invasive surveillance. The detentions in Egypt underline Beijing's determination to extend its reach abroad to a popular destination for religious study among China's Muslims, many of whom attend the prestigious Al-Azhar University in Cairo, the seat of Sunni Islam. Uighur students who have gone underground in Egypt say friends inside the notorious Tora prison told them that police are collecting students who were detained elsewhere and bringing them there for possible deportation at Beijing's request. "The Egyptian Interior Ministry is gathering all the detained Turkistani students in Egypt from different police stations and airports and is transporting them all to Tora prison, and is starting to interrogate the students before Chinese investigators,'' they said in an Arabic-language statement. Turkistan refers to an area in central Asia that includes the Uighurs' native Xinjiang province, and that separatists have sought as a state for decades. The broad sweep in Cairo included raids at restaurants, apartments and a supermarket. On July 1, a masked SWAT team stormed a Uighur restaurant and arrested nearly 40 Uighurs inside, according to witnesses and activists. Neither the Egyptian Interior Ministry nor the Chinese Embassy responded to requests for comment, although a Foreign Ministry spokesman in Beijing had previously acknowledged the detentions by saying the individuals would receive consular visits. He gave no further details. A message in the Uighur language circulated by activists on social media and signed by a woman who identified herself only as "the wife of Qari'' said that she had been allowed to see her detained husband and that his and the students' condition was dire. "The police from China are forcing them to accept their 'crime' and they are not getting enough food to eat,'' she said, adding that some 10 students were being held in Cairo's Ain Shams detention center. Students have also reported fellow Uighurs being held in other police stations across the sprawling Egyptian capital. Videos shared on social media earlier this month purportedly showed more than 70 Uighurs sitting on a floor in a government building and others being driven in a truck in handcuffs. Egyptian officials denied Uighurs were being held at Cairo's international airport for deportation at the time but declined to comment further. It was not possible to independently verify the videos or the woman's statement. Lucia Parrucci, a spokeswoman for the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, a Brussels-based advocacy group, said that some 150 students are at immediate risk for deportation to China, where they face immediate imprisonment, and where some of their families have been detained to encourage their return. "We have learned that many of the students have been arrested directly at the airport upon their return and sent to re-education camps,'' she said. "None of them have been able to see family members and no information was provided to their families about their whereabouts.'' Egypt has itself faced widespread allegations of human rights violations since the military overthrew an elected Islamist president in 2013. Egyptian police have arrested thousands of dissidents, holding many without charge. Egypt is also battling an increasingly powerful Islamic State-led insurgency in the northern Sinai Peninsula. Egypt has held up Al-Azhar as a bastion of moderate Islam, but that reputation could be undermined by its raids against the Uighurs under the banner of Chinese-branded anti-terrorism efforts, as most Uighurs study there. The predominantly Muslim, Turkic-speaking people ethnically distinct from China's Han majority have chafed for decades under Beijing's heavy-handed rule. Uighur separatists belonging to the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), a militant group based in the rugged tribal areas of nearby Afghanistan and Pakistan and allied with al-Qaeda, have been blamed for attacks in Chinese cities. The militants often use crude but effective weapons such as knives, Molotov cocktails and speeding vehicles. Uighurs have also surfaced in Syria fighting for the Islamic State group. After renowned journalist Pavel Sheremet was killed in a car bombing in central Kyiv last year, Ukraine's president promised all-out efforts to solve the case. But as of Thursday's anniversary of his death, there has been no visible progress. Instead, say Ukrainian journalists, the case is mired in either incompetence or deliberate inaction. In a country where violence against journalists is frequent, reporters feel more in danger than ever. The killing of 44-year-old Sheremet, who was driving in central Kyiv to appear on a morning radio show on July 20, 2016, was a shock that resonated far beyond Ukraine. The Belarusian native had received international awards and was widely lauded for bold reporting at home, where he was jailed for three months and then given a two-year prison suspended sentence in 1997. He later moved to Russia, where he worked for a TV station controlled by Putin critic Boris Berezovsky, then went to Ukraine to work at respected internet publication Ukrainska Pravda. Ukrainska Pravda was long a thorn in the side of Ukraine's corruption-ridden elite. Its first editor, Heorhiy Gongadze, was found decapitated in 2000 and audio recordings later emerged that implicated then-president Leonid Kuchma in his killing. The failure to find Sheremet's killer leaves Ukraine's journalists feeling imperiled. Lack of progress in the Sheremet case is better than any declaration to show how authorities really care about the safety of journalists, National Union of Journalists head Serhiy Tomilenko said. Sheremet's friends, colleagues and activists gathered Thursday morning around the time that Sheremet was killed. About 200 people laid flowers and left candles at the intersection where his car blew up before setting off to march to the presidential administration to express their frustration with the investigation. Some of the mourners spray-painted Who killed Pavel? on the sidewalk outside the presidential administration and plastered a poster with Sheremet's portrait at the entrance to National Police headquarters. Police say the killing was committed carefully, making identifying suspects harder. Unfortunately, the criminal offense was committed with good quality, so the investigation has not yet found the person who can be reasonably suspected of involvement in the murder, Interior Ministry spokesman Artem Shevchenko said. Impunity has become the norm Tomilenko's group told an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe freedom-of-speech conference last month that more than 800 journalists have faced violence or threats in Ukraine since 2014. Although about half the incidents were connected to the 2014 mass protests that drove a Moscow-friendly president into exile or with the conflicts in Crimea and eastern Ukraine that followed, about 400 cases have happened in the rest of the country. Most recently, reporter Volodymyr Volovodyuk, who had investigated black-market trading in the central Vinnytsia region, was beaten on July 12.** None of these cases have been prosecuted. Impunity has become the norm, Tomilenko said. The daily life of journalists is more like reports from the front. After the 2014 uprising, Ukraine has increased its drive to become more integrated with Western Europe and to move out of Russia's sphere of influence. But Europe is often uneasy with Ukraine's disorder and corruption, and the Sheremet case adds to nervousness. Authorities say Russia is the prime suspect, but the lack of progress in the case, coupled with evidence pointing to possible Ukrainian involvement, weaken Kyiv's credibility and suggest the need for an independent probe, the Committee to Protect Journalists international watchdog said in a recent report. The evidence referred to by CPJ centers on a report put together by Sheremet's colleagues and other journalists, assisted by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project. That investigation identified two people observed by security cameras as lurking near Sheremet's car the night before the blast, and identified one of them as a former agent of the national security service, the SBU. The SBU decline comment. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko met with Sheremet's family last week and acknowledged that the probe had brought no results, but confirmed that he was interested in a transparent investigation. **Editor's Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that reporter Volodymyr Volovodyuk had been beaten to death. Volovodyuk survived the attack. We regret the error. The United Nations is demanding that journalists be allowed into Yemen after the Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthi rebels refused to allow a plane carrying three BBC reporters to land. The reporters were on a U.N. aid flight that was supposed to go to the capital, Sana'a, on Tuesday but was grounded in Djibouti because the journalists were on board. "Steps like this do not help. This has been a large, man-made humanitarian problem. The world needs to know and journalists need to have access," U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said Wednesday. He said incidents like the grounding of the flight explained why one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters was not getting enough attention from the international community. Haq said the aid flight that was not allowed to fly Tuesday was given permission to land Wednesday in Yemen, but without the BBC reporters. The Saudis reportedly told U.N. officials they could not guarantee the safety of the BBC crew. The Saudi-led coalition controls the airspace over Yemen. It is fighting the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels both from the air and on the ground. The rebels seized Sana'a in 2015, forcing the internationally recognized Yemeni government into exile to Saudi Arabia. It later returned to the Yemeni port of Aden. U.N. officials say 80 percent of Yemen's population is in desperate need of food, clean water and medical care. A cholera outbreak has killed more than 1,700 people since April, with more than 320,000 suspected cases. U.N. refugee officials said they were "deeply shocked and saddened" by the latest reports of civilians killed by an airstrike in Yemen's Taizz region. At least 20 people were killed in Tuesday's attack. Most were from the same family, and all were people who had been driven from their homes because of the fighting. A senior U.N. peacekeeping official said Thursday that fighting had escalated in parts of South Sudan, despite a government-declared unilateral cease-fire in May. "There have been concerning reports of active military operations in the Equatorias and Upper Nile," U.N. deputy peacekeeping chief El Ghassim Wane told the Security Council. "The security environment remains extremely volatile and South Sudan is in need of an effective and credible cease-fire," he said. Wane said earlier this month that the U.N. peacekeeping mission in South Sudan had received credible reports of heavy fighting after the Sudanese army moved toward Mathiang in Upper Nile. He said there were also clashes between government and opposition forces near Torit, in Eastern Equatoria. "The nature of these operations clearly contradicts the unilateral cease-fire declared by the government," he said. Last August, the Security Council authorized the deployment of 4,000 additional peacekeepers as part of a Regional Protection Force. They will be based in the capital, Juba, to help protect civilians. Deployment has been slower than envisioned. Wane told the council that troops from Rwanda and Ethiopia should be arriving in the next two months. Revitalizing peace process Meanwhile, efforts to revive the stalled peace process continue. Former Botswana President Festus Mogae, who chairs the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission, which is overseeing peace efforts in South Sudan, told the council via a video link from Juba that he had engaged in extensive outreach to stakeholders and regional leaders. Among those he met with recently was former South Sudan Vice President Riek Machar, who is the political rival at the center of the more than three-year-old conflict with President Salva Kiir. Machar is living in South Africa. Mogae told the council, "The message I conveyed to Dr. Riek Machar was to renounce violence, declare a unilateral cease-fire and participate in the national dialogue" an initiative begun by Kiir to try to reconcile all grievances of South Sudan's political and armed groups. "He declined to do so," Mogae said. "However, he demanded a new political process by the region outside South Sudan." Also of concern is the obstruction of humanitarian aid deliveries by both the government and opposition. More than 6 million South Sudanese are severely food insecure. In June, council diplomats said aid was blocked 100 times, the worst month for aid access this year. In addition, the government is still asking humanitarian groups to pay high fees to continue operating in the country. Sanctions, arms embargo "This council must be prepared to hold the parties accountable for their inaction and for the continued suffering of South Sudan's people," U.S. Deputy U.N. Ambassador Michele Sison told the council. "The council must put real pressure on the parties to change their behavior. That should start with additional targeted sanctions and an arms embargo." She said imposing such measures would show that the Security Council was serious about pushing for an end to the fighting and a return to the negotiating table. A U.S.-led effort in the council last December to impose an arms embargo on South Sudan failed, with only seven of the 15 council members supporting the measure and the other eight abstaining. "I haven't seen a significant enough change to be confident that there would be nine positive votes and no vetoes this time around," British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft told reporters when asked about a possible move to try again for an arms embargo. Since fighting along largely ethnic lines erupted between forces loyal to Kiir and Machar in December 2013, tens of thousands of people have been killed and more than 2 million have been displaced from their homes. The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said Thursday that he planned to discuss with Chinese officials the situation of the widow of dissident Liu Xiaobo, who died last week in government custody from liver cancer. "We are now focused on his wife and trying to ensure that she has freedom of movement and that if she wants to leave China, she should be able to leave China," High Commissioner Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said of widow Liu Xia. "The claim was that there was never any real restriction, but the feeling was that she was being restricted," he told a small group of reporters. "We want to use this moment to assure ourselves that she is able to leave if she wants to." Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, 61, was China's best-known human rights prisoner. He spent the past eight years in jail for his campaign for democratic political reforms and died at a hospital in Shenyang, China, on July 13. He had been moved there from his prison cell in the final stage of his illness. His wife, Liu Xia, is a photographer, painter and poet. She was with her husband at the hospital in his final weeks, but has been under effective house arrest since Liu Xiaobo won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010. The Nobel committee's choice of Liu Xiaobo angered Beijing, which severed ties with Oslo. The two nations announced in December that they were normalizing relations after the six-year rift. A former Thai Buddhist monk facing numerous criminal charges, including sexual relations with an underage girl, has been extradited from the United States. Wirapon Sukphon was arrested late Wednesday night after arriving at Bangkok's international airport after a flight from the U.S. Sukphon first raised eyebrows in 2013 after a video was released showing him on a private jet wearing designer sunglasses and carrying a bag sold by fashion designer Louis Vuitton. He was eventually stripped of his orange saffron robes after an investigation found millions of dollars in assets in his name. Sukphon was eventually charged that year with money laundering, defrauding the public, computer crime and child abduction, along with the child sex charges, but fled to the United States. His case is one of many scandals that have sullied Thailand's Buddhist clergy in recent years. A number of monks have been defrocked after being charged with such crimes as extortion, drug dealing and improper sexual relations. A dramatic illustration of the economics of pianos can be found in Dean Petrich's workshop and piano sheds. Petrich is a longtime piano tuner based on Whidbey Island, Washington. So many upright pianos of all ages and conditions are packed in so tightly in multiple sheds, Petrich has trouble counting them all. But he estimates he has about 82 pianos stored on his rural property. The prior owners gave them to Petrich just to get rid of them and then paid him to haul the instruments away. Americans are still making music, just not as much on traditional pianos. "As the technology for electronic instruments and keyboards has improved people have switched," Petrich observes, "because you don't have to tune an electronic keyboard. You can carry it with you, it's lightweight. It can make any sound you want." The economic difficulties of piano dealers reflect the larger issues that faced Americas piano manufacturers. Like the U.S. auto industry, it was hit hard by imports from Asia, as well as by the growing popularity of electronic keyboards. There were 160 piano makers in the U.S. a century ago. There are only four major producers today. Manufacturing has shifted largely to China, Korea and Japan. Restore, recycle, reuse "I am getting more creative for what to do with old pianos," Petrich said, explaining how hes whittling down his accumulation of cast-off pianos, from more than 200 a couple of years ago, to under 100 today. The irrepressible tuner has a book in the works describing how every part of a piano can be repurposed. Hes also restored, recycled or donated instruments. A chance encounter last year with a small international relief charity, Eagles Nest Foundation, led to another outlet. "I went in there and talked to them and said, 'Well, what about pianos?' They said, 'We never thought of that. We don't take pianos.' But they called me two weeks later and said, 'You know what, my husband knows somebody at the University of Cambodia and they have no pianos there. So we would like some." Petrich donated 10 that were sent to Cambodia in November. He also pulled 20 pianos from his inventory that just shipped to Vietnam to benefit needy schools there. As for local piano sales, Petrich strikes a hopeful note because of the upturn in the economy. "The piano industry is directly related to the health of our economy. When the economy is down, the piano industry was definitely down," he said. "Now the economy is picking up. Stores are doing better." But that might not be enough. New piano sales nationwide went into a steep dive at the beginning of the last recession in 2008. They continue to decline now "in large part due to the swelling inventory of used instruments," according to the industry journal Music Trades. It reported 30,806 grand pianos and upright pianos were sold through retailers last year. That compares to almost 54,000 in 2007. New markets Curt Clinton is the fourth generation of his family to run Clinton's Music House, and he says, maybe the last. The piano dealership was founded in 1898 in Tacoma, Washington. Clinton recalls organs "were selling like crazy" along with new pianos when he took over in 1978, and he had nine competitors. Now it's just him and a couple of professional tuners who sell pianos on the side. "As that evolved over the years and more and more keyboards started coming out, that business kind of shrunk," he said. "As that business shrunk and the mall business shrunk and we started moving out of the malls, we needed to find something else." Clinton says refurbishing and reselling "good used pianos" is now the major part of his business. "You always have to have that feeler out looking for that used piano that some family is done with, something that's decent that we can pick up and make into a good piano again," he said. A longtime fixture in Oregon, Portland Piano Company, is surviving by moving out of downtown this summer to a cheaper warehouse district by the airport and by investing in online marketing. Company manager Brenda Kell says she never would've thought that selling pianos over the Internet would work, but that's what's happening. Another interesting trend she notes is how families who immigrated to the U.S. from East Asia and India represent an increasing share of her customer base. "If it weren't for them, I don't know what we would do," Kell said. And she's not alone in observing a high value placed on musical proficiency among Asian immigrant populations in the U.S. That emphasis is reflected in the number of Asian-Americans in prestigious music competitions, including Daniel Hsu, from San Francisco, who captured the Bronze Medal at this years Van Cliburn international competition. The downward trend in new piano sales tends to obscure the continued interest in playing the piano. That's according to Music Trades. Music publishers, for their part, report continued strength in piano method book sales. News that Arizona Republican Senator John McCain has brain cancer triggered expressions of shock and an avalanche of well wishes across Washington and around the world on Thursday. Capitol Hill witnessed an outpouring of support for a lion of the Senate. "Senator McCain is an American hero," said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican. "He's a hero to our conference, he's a hero to our country. Here in the Senate, he's a friend to almost all of us." "From the bottom of my heart, I wish him and his family well," said Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat. "So does every member of this chamber. The respect that this man has is broad and deep." On Twitter, McCain promised he will be back soon. McCain's absence felt McCain's absence deprives the Senate of one of its strongest, most resolute voices and deprives Republicans of a vote they desperately need. The absence is particularly ill-timed for Senate Republicans, who could not muster the votes to reform health care even before the Arizonan's diagnosis. "It's pretty clear that there are not 50 Republicans at the moment to vote for a replacement for Obamacare," McConnell said earlier this week, when Republicans assumed McCain would make a speedy return after what was initially described as surgery to remove a blood clot behind his eye. Watch: US Senate Rallies Behind John McCain With a slim majority 52 seats in the 100-member chamber Republicans will be one member short for an unknown length of time, just as they face intense pressure to make good on years of promising the end of Obamacare, which was President Barack Obama's signature legislative achievement. "People are hurting. Inaction is not an option," President Donald Trump told Republican senators at the White House Wednesday. "And frankly, I don't think we should leave town unless we have a health insurance plan, unless we can give our people great health care." A make-or-break Senate vote to begin debate on health care is expected next week. Democrats are united in opposition to the initiative, and some moderate Republicans as well as fiscal conservatives are not sold on their party's plan to replace Obamacare. From Vietnam POW to statesman A man who survived five years as a prisoner-of-war in Vietnam, John McCain's legendary grit and determination propelled him to six terms in the U.S. Senate and two White House bids. Never one to sugarcoat words, McCain has not shied from criticizing the Trump White House. "Obviously there is an administration that is in significant disarray," the Arizona senator remarked in February. Before entering the White House, Trump had sharp words about McCain. "He's a war hero because he was captured [in Vietnam]," Trump said of the senator in 2015. "I like people that weren't captured." In recent days, the president has spoken in more conciliatory terms. "And I can tell you, we hope John McCain gets better very soon because we miss him. He's a crusty voice in Washington. Plus, we need his vote," the president said. Former Senator Edward Kennedy was stricken with the same form of cancer in 2008, yet was able to work for more than a year before succumbing to the disease. Should McCain resign, Arizona's Republican governor would name a temporary replacement, keeping the seat in the Republican caucus. But raw political calculations were not at the forefront of Senate action Thursday, as the chamber rallied behind a revered member. "Oh God, our shield. ... Place your healing hand on Senator John McCain," Senate Chaplain Barry Black said as the chamber gaveled in Thursday. "Astound us with your power." Yemen was named on Thursday as the nation where the risk of genocide or mass killing rose the most last year, while Syria topped an annual "Peoples Under Threat" index for the third consecutive year. The index, by human rights group Minority Rights Group International (MRG), said vulnerable people were at risk in a growing number of no-go zones around the world with a lack of access from the outside world allowing killing to go unchecked. The report comes after United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein last month condemned some governments for refusing access to U.N. officials while a study this week showed the U.N. had succeeded in preventing wars. The 12th MRG index found the risks rose most markedly in Yemen last year, with the impoverished Arab country devastated by a war between a Saudi-led coalition and Iran-allied Houthis that has killed more than 10,000 people and left millions starving. "Parties on both sides of the conflict have violated international humanitarian law with impunity," the report said. "International isolation is a known risk factor for genocide or mass killing," added Mark Lattimer, MRG's executive director, in a statement. Yemen was listed as No. 8 in a list of 70 countries where people are seen as being at risk, behind Syria, Somalia, Iraq, Sudan, Afghanistan, South Sudan and Democratic Republic of the Congo. Other countries to move significantly in the list last year were Libya, Nigeria, Eritrea and Turkey. The MRG report said the failed coup in Turkey last year was followed by a nationwide program of dismissals and arrests of tens of thousands of public officials. Requests by the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) for "effective and unfettered access" continues to be denied, the report said. "If governments are increasingly evading international scrutiny, this is a serious concern," Lattimer said. Preventing war A study released on Wednesday by the U.S.'s Dartmouth College and Ohio State University found the United Nations has been an effective force at preventing wars over its history. The review of more than 5,000 voting records found the 193-member state organization provides a forum for diplomacy and communication, fostering alliances and reducing conflict. "There is more nuance in voting records than we previously thought," said Skyler Cranmer, professor of political science at Ohio State University. "The evidence demonstrates that the U.N. is more effective at achieving its mandate of avoiding wars than many experts think." An international robotics competition in Washington was in its final day Tuesday, with teams of teenagers from more than 150 nations competing. The team getting the most attention at the FIRST Global Robotics Challenge was a squad of girls from Afghanistan who were twice rejected for U.S. visas before President Donald Trump intervened. But there are even more stories than there are teams. Here are a few: Girl power Sixty percent of the teams participating in the competition were founded, led or organized by women. Of the 830 teens participating, 209 were girls. And in addition to the Afghan squad, there were five other all-girl teams, from the United States, Ghana, Jordan, the Palestinian territories and the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu. Vanuatu's nickname: the "SMART Sistas." Samira Bader, 16, on the Jordanian team, said "it's very difficult for us because everyone thinks" building robots is "only for boys." She said her team wanted to prove that "girls can do it." The three-girl U.S. team included sisters Colleen and Katie Johnson of Everett, Washington, and Sanjna Ravichandar of Plainsboro, New Jersey. Colleen Johnson, 16, said her team looked forward "to a day when an all-girls team is going to be no more special than an all-boys team or a co-ed team, just when that's completely normal and accepted." The team competing from Brunei was also all female, though a male member previously worked on the project. An unusual alliance The United States and Russia were on the same side Tuesday. During the fourth round of the competition, the U.S. team was paired with teams from Russia and Sudan to work as an alliance. The robots all the teams in the competition created were designed with the same kit of parts and did the same task: pick up and distinguish between blue and orange balls. To score points, teams deposited the blue balls, which represented water, and the orange balls, which represented contaminants, into different locations. Each three-nation alliance competed head to head in 2-minute games. Both U.S. and Russian teams paid their counterparts compliments after their game Tuesday. Russian team member Aleksandr Iliasov said of the U.S. team: "They cooperate well." And U.S. team member Colleen Johnson called the Russian team's robot "very innovative," saying they had smartly used extra wheels and gears and zip ties to keep balls inside their robot. Despite their good collaboration, U.S.-Russia-Sudan fell short, losing 40 to 20 to Zimbabwe, Moldova and Trinidad and Tobago. A little help The team from Iran got some help building their robot from American students. It turns out that the competition's kit of robot parts, including wheels, brackets, sprockets, gears, pulleys and belts, was not approved for shipment to Iran because of sanctions involving technology exports to the country. So the competition recruited a robotics team at George C. Marshall High School in Falls Church, Virginia, to help. Iran's team designed the robot, and about five Marshall students built it in the United States. The team explained on its competition web page that "our friends in Washington made our ideas as a robot." Because of the time difference between the countries, the three-member team and its mentor were sometimes up at midnight or 3 a.m. in Iran to talk to their collaborators. Amin Dadkhah, 15, called working with the American students "a good and exciting experience for both of us." Kirianna Baker, one of the U.S. students who built the robot, agreed. "Having a team across the world with a fresh set of eyes is very valuable," she said. A robot refugee A group of three refugees from Syria competed as Team Refugee, also known as Team Hope. All three fled Syria to Lebanon three years ago because of violence in their country. Mohamad Nabih Alkhateeb, Amar Kabour and Mahir Alisawaui named their robot "Robogee," a combination of the words "robot" and "refugee." Alkhateeb, 17, and Kabour, 16, said they wanted to be robotics engineers, and Alisawui wanted to be a computer engineer. Kabour said it's important to the team to win, to "tell the world" refugees are "here and they can do it." Alkhateeb also said that living as a refugee had been difficult, but he hoped to someday return home. "I will go back after I have finished my education so I can rebuild Syria again," he said. Eleven million people half the Syrian population have been forced from their homes by the civil war. Suspected Zanu PF activists have set on fire a business belonging to vice president Elias Mudzuri of the Movement for Democratic Change led by Morgan Tsvangirai (MDC-T) and vandalized a house occupied by an MDC-T councilor in Harare in what the party says is a resurgence of politically-motivated violence ahead of the 2018 general elections. According to MDC-T activists, the attack Mudzuris bar and MDC-T Ward 38 councillor Wilton Janjazis house were attacked early Wednesday. Property worth thousands of dollars went up in smoke. The opposition party has condemned the attack as a barbaric move meant to intimidate MDC-T supporters currently campaigning for the forthcoming general polls. Police were not yet available for comment. In a statement, the MDC-T said it is deeply disturbed and concerned about the recent spate of thuggery and banditry taking place in and around the country, particularly in the capital city, Harare. Only last week, an Isuzu pick-up truck belonging to the MDC Youth Assembly was torched at a car park in Kuwadzana by suspected Zanu PF thugs. As if this was not enough evidence of Zanu PFinspired thuggery and violence, on Tuesday night, July 18, 2017, Vice President Elias Mudzuris Dandaro bar in Harare was set alight by arsonists whom we strongly suspect to be Zanu PF thugs. On the same night, Councilor Janjazis house in Kuwadzana was also attacked and torched by armed thugs and arsonists. No rocket science is needed to conclude that these savage and thuggish criminal activities are orchestrated by Zanu PF thugs and agents as the country approaches the make or break 2018 elections. The Zanu PF regime is cornered, deeply fractured, incorrigibly factionalised and crumbling. The regime is facing a crushing and humiliating defeat at next years elections. The MDC-T claimed that in typical Zanu PF fashion, the regime has resorted to its default mode of violence, thuggery and banditry. The armed men and arsonists who attacked VP Mudzuris bar and vandalised Cllr. Janjazis house in Kuwadzana are, without a shadow of doubt, State agents. These thugs threatened residents at a nearby car park in Kuwadzana before proceeding to embark on their orgy of arson and banditry. It is through the grace of God that no one was injured or killed as these ruthless thugs embarked on their senseless spree of State sponsored savagery. The party noted that it is a peaceloving and lawabiding social democratic political party, which remains disciplined and focused in the face of immense provocation and wanton criminal attacks by Zanu PF hoodlums and thugs. We have resolutely resisted the temptation to fight violence with violence, thuggery with thuggery. But then, the crumbling and factioninfested Zanu PF regime shouldnt take our discipline and focus as a sign of weakness. Far from it! There will come a time when peaceloving citizens of Zimbabwe shall be left with no other viable alternative but to defend themselves from the orgy of banditry and thuggery that is being perpetrated by Zanu PF thugs. About 200 MDC supporters were killed, thousands maimed and others displaced when Zanu PF activists allegedly unleashed an orgy of violence in the 2008 presidential election re-run. Tsvangirai, who defeated President Robert Mugabe in the first round, dropped out of the election race due to violence. Zimbabwe's Environmental Management Agency has temporarily lifted its ban on the use of expanded polystyrene (EPS) as food packaging material to allow businesses to clear their stocks. The Agency says it has given businesses until October 17 to stop using existing containers and replace them with recyclable or biodegradable ones. The reprieve follows an outcry from businesses last week when the government board imposed an immediate ban of EPS, also known as kaylite. Environmental Management Agency spokesman Steady Kangata says the new deadline wont affect the ban itself. "The ban still stands, it was only a reprieve of three-months given just to allow businesses to [tidy] up. It is also in line with the principle of natural justice to give them time to mop up their kaylite. Furthermore there are conditions that they were given, that within three months they are supposed to initiate a water management program that would ensure that the environment is clean. Not that kaylite would be seen all over," Kangata said. The EPS containers are among the garbage clogging drainage in Harare and contributing to flooding. The government also says EPS emits toxic chemicals when the containers are burned, and garbage is routinely burned in Zimbabwe. Environmentalists in Zimbabwe are applauding the ban, but say the government has not gone nearly far enough. Other African countries, including most recently Kenya, have banned the use of plastic bags. The president of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers, Denford Mutashu, welcomes the three-month reprieve given to his members. "It is not enough but at least it is a breathing space. There are some companies that have invested into the production of kaylite. We will also be helping them to lobby through the government to ensure that they get a reprieve. Because it is not easy for someone to bring their machinery here and two years down the line they are asked to move out or to stop production. So this is a serious area of concern." But the Environment Management Agency maintains the law under which the ban of EPS is being put in effect was enacted in 2012, and businesses had time to switch to other food packages or ask customers to it in instead using EPS. When the reprieve ends, the government says anyone found breaking the EPS ban could be fined from $30 to $5,000. Zimbabwes opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, President Robert Mugabes fiercest rival for the past 18 years, has dismissed rumors that he has only six months to live as fake news peddled by his political rivals ahead of the 2018 elections. Tsvangirai is currently undergoing treatment for colon cancer. Rumors have been circulating on online line publications and social media that his medical team had given him a few months to live. But in an exclusive interview with VOAs Studio 7, Tsvangirai said he is responding well to treatment and is surprised by those spreading rumors that he is bed-ridden and in a vegetative state. I am feeling fine, I am responding well to treatment, Tsvangirai said. He added; This misrepresentation (that he has months to live) is meant to create a certain impression that Tsvangirai is not able to go to the next election." Tsvangirai disclosed his diagnosis in 2016 and urged all political leaders to do the same. As a leader and a public figure, I have taken a decision to make public my condition, Tsvangirai said, adding that he was receiving chemotherapy treatment in neighboring South Africa. It is my firm belief that the health of national leaders, including politicians, should not be a subject of national speculation and uncertainty. Tsvangirai, a veteran trade unionist who lost the 2013 presidential vote against Mr. Mugabe, has led the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) since 1999. However, the party has been weakened by splits over how to confront Mugabes Zanu-PF. Both Tsvangirai and Mr. Mugabe have been frequently flying outside the country for medical check-up. President Mugabe has travelled to Singapore three times this year for treatment. Public hospitals in Zimbabwe often suffer from chronic shortages of drugs and staff as the economy has struggled to rebound following years of mismanagement. BANKING Morgan Stanley prot up 11% in 2nd quarter Investment bank Morgan Stanley said its second-quarter profit rose 11 percent from a year ago, and that the banks trading desks outmaneuvered its rivals in a quiet market. Morgan Stanley reported Wednesday that it earned $1.76 billion in the three months ending June 30, or 87 cents a share, compared with $1.58 billion, or 75 cents a share, in the same period a year earlier. The bank had bond trading revenue of $1.2 billion, down slightly from $1.3 billion a year earlier. Stock trading, a market that historically is Morgan Stanleys strongest, saw a modest increase in revenue. The strong quarter in trading comes as Morgan Stanley is moving away from relying on stock trading to focusing on more stable businesses, such as asset and wealth management. Morgans better-than-expected quarter was also reflected in its return-on-equity ratio, a measure of an investment banks profitability, which improved to 9.1 percent from 8.3 percent a year earlier. Morgan Stanleys wealth management division also had a relatively strong quarter, reporting a profit of $1.1 billion compared with $859 million a year earlier. Assets under management also increased. Overall, Morgan Stanley had revenue of $9.50 billion, up from $8.91 billion a year earlier. Associated Press Food companies McCormick to acquire Reckitts food group McCormick & Co. agreed to acquire Reckitt Benckiser Groups food business for $4.2 billion, adding Frenchs mustard and Franks RedHot sauce to its lineup of spices and seasonings. The deal brings a stable of well-known condiments to Sparks, Md.-based McCormick. For Reckitt Benckiser, unloading the products continues an overhaul that began with an expansion into baby formula through the British companys acquisition of Mead Johnson Nutrition Co. for $16.6 billion. The transaction price equates to 20 times the divisions earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, which feels to us like a very high price for a U.S.-oriented ambient food business, James Edwardes Jones, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, wrote in a note. Concerns that McCormick might have overpaid weighed on its shares on Wednesday. The stock dropped as much as 7.1 percent to $90.25, its biggest intraday decline in more than three years. Reckitt Benckiser stock rose 1.4 percent in London, extending its increase for the year to about 15 percent. Reckitt, which is led by chief executive Rakesh Kapoor, said it was looking to unload its food business in April, when the Slough, England-based company described the division as non-core. With 411 million pounds ($536 million) in sales last year, Frenchs Foods accounted for 4 percent of Reckitts total revenue. Frenchs and Franks RedHot will become McCormicks second- and third-largest brands, respectively, chief executive Lawrence E. Kurzius said in a statement late Tuesday. Also in Business Swedens Volvo said on Wednesday that a stretched supply chain and extra costs to meet strong demand for its trucks dented margins in the second quarter, even as it reported an increase in profits and order intake. Adjusted operating profit rose to 8.54 billion Swedish crowns ($1.03 billion) from 6.13 billion. Order intake of trucks under brands such as Volvo, Mack and Renault shot up 22 percent in the second quarter. American Express Co. reported a 36 percent decline in quarterly profit, hurt in part by higher spending on rewards to retain customers and attract new ones. Net income attributable to common shareholders fell to $1.31 billion, or $1.47 a share, in the second quarter ended June 30, from $1.98 billion, or $2.10 a share, a year earlier. T-Mobile US Inc.s popularity among wireless consumers continued as the fastest-growing mobile carrier exceeded subscriber estimates and again raised its forecast for customer growth this year. T-Mobile expects to add 3 million to 3.6 million customers this year, up from an April forecast of 2.8 million to 3.5 million. From news services Coming today 8:30 a.m.: Labor Department releases weekly jobless claims. 10 a.m.: Freddie Mac releases weekly mortgage rates. Earnings: Union Pacific Corp., Microsoft Corp. and Visa Inc. As an acting student at Juilliard in the early 2000s, Michael Urie was required to pick a play excerpt to perform in a Shakespeare scene-study class. His instinct was to go right for the really tough stuff: a scene from Hamlet. Jessica Chastain and I did the nunnery scene, Urie recalled in an interview. I remember my classmates saying, Youre doing what? Chastain remembered it vividly, too. This scene was special, the Oscar-nominated actress recounted in an email. Michael put love notes for Ophelia on the student board every other day leading up to our rehearsals. When I handed Hamlet back his love letters in the beginning of the scene, I used the ones that Michael had written. Of the inventiveness Urie brought to the assignment, she added: Thats how you know youre working with a great actor. The class was taught by Michael Kahn, who seems to have thought pretty much the same thing. Because the Texas-born Urie, best known as a giddily mischievous underling on ABCs Ugly Betty, is to play Hamlet for Artistic Director Kahn next winter at Shakespeare Theatre Company. The casting, which was announced Thursday by the company, is noteworthy not only because of Kahns history with Urie, but also because this Hamlet undoubtedly constitutes the last version of Shakespeares emblematic tragedy that Kahn will stage for the company, from which he retires at the end of the 2018-2019 season after more than three decades at the helm. In prior productions, Tom Hulce and Jeffrey Carlson the latter also a Juilliard graduate played the Danish prince for Kahn in Washington. Over the years I enjoyed watching Michael develop his talents, along with his comedic and physical skills, which resulted in some extraordinary performances, Kahn said. Each time I saw him in a dramatic role, I wanted to cast him in Hamlet, and this season has provided me with the opportunity to do that. Urie, who turns 37 next month, found early success a decade ago as Ugly Bettys Marc St. James, personal assistant of Vanessa Williamss conniving fashion magazine creative director Wilhemina Slater. Still, much of his resume is filled with stage work, most notably, the 600 times he portrayed the sole character in Jonathan Tolinss Buyer and Cellar, an imagined tale about an actor hired to work in a basement shop in Barbra Streisands Malibu compound. At present, hes the star of a hit off-Broadway mounting of the Nikolai Gogol satire The Government Inspector, and in September, Urie takes on the role of Arnold in a major revival at Second Stage Theatre of Harvey Fiersteins Torch Song Trilogy, now retitled Torch Song, with Moises Kaufman directing and Mercedes Ruehl as his mother. Hes had a soft spot for canonical roles ever since Juilliard, where he earned the John Houseman Prize, bestowed upon the best classical actor. I see it anytime I can, because I love it, Urie said of Hamlet, with which hes had some other professional experience: He played Horatio to Hamish Linklaters Hamlet a decade ago at South Coast Repertory in Orange County, Calif. I can still hear every one of Hamishs line readings. The opportunity to begin formulating his own line readings was presented to him by Kahn last fall after the artistic director saw him in an off-Broadway play. Right in the lobby, he asked me, Urie recalled. I saw him in the hallway, and he said, Want to do Hamlet? I said, Of course I do! They agreed then and there. It still hasnt really sunk in, Urie added. Performances begin Jan. 16 in the companys Sidney Harman Hall. One person eager for the results is Uries drama school scene partner. Im really excited that Michael Kahn and Urie are working on Hamlet again, Chastain said. Itll be so interesting to see how the performance has grown all these years later. Ravens Home (Disney Channel at 8) This Thats So Raven spinoff finds Raven Baxter (Raven-Symone) navigating life as a single mother alongside her best friend Chelsea (Anneliese van der Pol, far right). (Eric McCandless/Disney Channel) The Great British Baking Show (WETA at 9) The remaining six bakers battle through a series of dessert challenges for a spot in the quarterfinal. Wynonna Earp (Syfy at 10) Doc and Wynonnas poor decisions lead to tension within the group. CNN Special Report After O.J.: The Fuhrman Tapes Revealed (CNN at 10) Kyra Phillips talks to Laura Hart McKinny, the screenwriter whose recorded conversations with former Los Angeles police detective Mark Fuhrman became a smoking gun for the defense team in O.J. Simpsons 1995 murder trial. Syfy Live From Comic-Con (Syfy at 11) Host Zachary Levi talks to actors Alan Tudyk and Karen Gillan. Premieres Ozark (Netflix streaming) Jason Bateman stars in this drama about a Chicago financial planner who relocates his family to an idyllic Midwestern community in hopes of escaping a vengeful Mexican drug cartel. Dateline: Secrets Uncovered (Oxygen at 8) NBC News journalist Craig Melvin hosts this true-crime docu-series. Movie Descendants 2 (Disney Channel, ABC, Freeform and Lifetime at 8) Multiple networks premiere the sequel to the 2015 musical fantasy film about the adolescent children of Disney villains including Maleficent, Jafar and Cruella de Vil. Returning Last Chance U (Netflix streaming) Season 2. Documentary Vice Special Report: A World in Disarray (HBO at 10) Condoleezza Rice, Tony Blair, Samantha Power and other political notables discuss world conflicts and the foreign policies that preceded them. Late Night Fallon (NBC at 11:34) Kevin Bacon, Jenna Dewan Tatum, Nate Bargatze. Colbert (CBS at 11:35) Kenneth Branagh. Director William Oldroyds debut feature Lady Macbeth returns, again and again, to a single shot: Florence Pugh, as Katherine, a young woman forced into a loveless marriage with a sexually dysfunctional and abusive heir to a coal mine, sits perfectly still on a couch, smoothing the thick folds of her blue gown and staring straight ahead. Her face betrays no sign of the pent-up rage, wild lust or coldblooded determination that, alternately, motivate her. A cat jumps down from a cabinet. She remains motionless. This image, this woman, is familiar. She is Catherine Earnshaw of Wuthering Heights, swearing I am Heathcliff. She is Emma Bovary and Lady Chatterley: passionate and stifled. And, of course, shes Lady Macbeth, asking the spirits to turn her breast milk into poison. (Although there are other parallels with Macbeth, the film is not, strictly speaking, an adaptation of the Shakespearean tragedy.) Oldroyds brilliance (and Pughs) is to probe this age-old archetype the Gothic antiheroine, the adulteress and find pathos and cruelty. Its also to uncover the complex web of hierarchies of race and class, as well as gender that ensnare and empower her. Adapted by screenwriter Alice Birch from Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk, an 1865 novella by Russian author Nikolai Leskov, Lady Macbeth opens in a 19th-century English countryside of dense forests and raging winds. But most of the films action takes place inside the stark manor house of Katherines father-in-law, where every object and every resident has its place. Power passes among the members of the household like a poison arrow, its path shifting but its aim true. 1 of 28 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad Four-star movies of 2017 View Photos A sampling of recent movies that received four stars from Washington Post film critics. Caption A sampling of recent movies that received four stars from Washington Post film critics. Downsizing Hong Chau and Matt Damon in Downsizing, a film that is set in a world where people can be shrunk to the size of Barbie dolls in an effort to preserve Earths dwindling resources. Ann Hornaday writes, The rewards are rich and revelatory in a film that doesnt soft-pedal the woes facing the planet, but celebrates the kind of direct, healing action that makes it worth fighting for, even in the face of certain doom. Read the full review Paramount Pictures/Paramount Pictures Wait 1 second to continue. Early in the film, after his father mocks him at dinner, Katherines new husband (Paul Hilton) orders her to stand still while he masturbates. Dont smile, he says. Take off your dress. Face the wall. Later, Katherine, after discovering her husbands workers humiliating Anna, a black maid, gives them a similar order: Dont smile. Face the wall. (Shes angry, by the way, not because of what theyre doing, but because theyre doing it on her husbands time.) When Katherine begins an affair with one of those workers, the dark-skinned Sebastian (Cosmo Jarvis), it seems as though their passion might upend the rigid hierarchy of the house. We watch Pugh become more confident and more sensual, her eyes and skin growing brighter, her laugh more defiant. When her stern father-in-law (Christopher Fairbank) asks where her husband has gone, she shrugs: Wherever you put him, she says, raising an eyebrow. But as Katherine resorts to increasingly desperate means to sustain her relationship with Sebastian, her irreverence morphs into ruthlessness. Rather than upend hierarchy, she enforces it, controlling and crushing those less powerful than her. Anna, sensitively played by Naomi Ackie, acts as the films conscience and Katherines foil. Like a reflection in a funhouse mirror, she shrinks as Katherine grows and becomes more ferocious. And as the mistress expresses her desires and demands, the maid becomes mute, traumatized into silence. And as Katherines behavior becomes more extreme, Anna can only channel her fear and rage into the dough she kneads in the kitchen. Shakespeares Lady Macbeth frames unnamed servants for Duncans murder, placing bloody daggers on their sleeping bodies. Anna, without speaking a word, gives voice to their suffering. Vaulting ambition topples not only kings, it seems, but also the powerless. In Lady Macbeth, Oldroyd never allows us to look away from the horror, focusing, in long, intense shots, on the faces of his characters as they suffer. But he turns our attention, often, toward subtler actions: white curtains fluttering, a spoon gently tapping a glass, that prowling cat. These delicate movements, juxtaposed against violent acts, force us to consider the brutality embedded in the quiet domesticity of the manor house. The author and her husband, John Graham, in Agra, India, arrived before dawn to see the Taj Mahal in its best light. (Courtesy of Eileen Graham) Our readers share tales of their ramblings around the world. Who: Eileen Graham (the author) and her husband, John Graham, of Gardners, Pa. Where, when, why: India was not at the top of our list, but the exotic 23-day itinerary the Chandni Chowk bazaar of Delhi; the Amber Palace and Palace of Winds in Jaipur; a tented camp at the Nagaur Cattle Fair; Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan; the Taj Mahal in Agra; Varanasi and the Ganges River; and Kochi drew us in like the folds of a silk sari. We traveled with a small-group company that allowed a maximum of 16 travelers and went in February, prior to monsoon season. Highlights and high points: I told myself not to be disappointed if we didnt see a royal Bengal tiger in Ranthambore, one of 11 national tiger preserves. On dusty drives into the park via an open-air canter, we observed sambar deer, blue antelopes, langur monkeys, spotted deer and some of the 450 native bird species, including the rufous treepie, white-throated kingfisher and black-headed ibis. There are 26 tigers in the 100-square-mile former hunting reserve of maharajas and our guide knew them like his own family. Just when we had given up hope, we sighted the reigning female, Arrowhead (named for triangular white markings on her ears), stalking her prey not 100 feet away. Cultural connection or disconnect: Working for Dastkar, a nearby village handicrafts cooperative, can enable women to send their children to private school. We visited the Bright Future English School, a private school where parents pay a substantial part of their income on a sliding scale. We had the honor of meeting their graduating class of 13 or so seventh-graders, only two of whom were girls. After I took their photo with my iPhone, some of the boys crowded around, hungry to lay hands on technology. When we got home, I found selfies of five of them with their names and phone numbers in my contact list. Biggest laugh or cry: Camels are a feature of the Nagaur cattle fair, where they are bought and sold alongside cows and horses, and tourists are offered camel rides. Looking at the lineup, I saw an ancient beast with a tiny, white-bearded man in a big turban and thought, Betcha thats the one they give me. My camel had a mouth full of slobber, only a few teeth, a makeshift saddle with a pommel made of rebar and frayed rope stirrups. Getting on the kneeling camel, leaning way back when it rises, is a fearsome thing. But as we strolled the fairgrounds, I eschewed the stirrups and happily lolled back and forth until a group of teenagers spied me (think: old woman, old camel, old keeper) and doubled over in laughter. How unexpected: Nothing can prepare you for Varanasi. It is a Hindu mecca where 20,000 pilgrims flock each day, ecstatically wandering amid the chaos of car and motorbike horns, merchants hawking their wares, holy men begging alms, and cows, goats, sheep and dogs searching the garbage-strewn streets for food. Elbow-to-elbow, we watched where we walked to avoid all manner of excrement, all on our way to the Ganges . We boarded a boat and received paper saucers with flowers and a candle in each as we paddled to the cremation grounds. Bodies are placed in white shrouds on sandalwood pyres and cremated on the night of their death. As we watched, mesmerized by white-clad figures carrying out this final celebration while sacred cows roamed among them, one of our number quietly floated her husbands ashes off the stern of our boat. The next morning, we rose before dawn to see the same pilgrims bathing in the Ganges. Favorite memento or memory: Though it is a minority religion, there are more than 31,000 Sikh temples in India, whose mission it is to do good works and feed the hungry. Indians overarching belief in karma and the chance to return as a better being in the next life brings thousands of volunteers daily to make soup and bread. Helping to bake bread at a Sikh temple touched me deeply and provided an unforgettable glimpse into the kind soul of India. To tell us about your own trip, go to washingtonpost.com/travel and fill out the What a Trip form with your fondest memories, finest moments and favorite photos. More from Travel: Enchantment under the sea with whales in Tahiti Family history comes alive in Finland Honeymooning in Middle Earth: Leaving current events behind to explore New Zealand Education Secretary Betsy DeVos blasted Washington, teachers unions and defenders of the status quo Thursday as she pledged to shrink the role of the federal government in U.S. schools and colleges. This drives the big-government folks nuts, but its important to reiterate: Education is best addressed at the state, local and family levels, DeVos said, winning applause from lawmakers gathered in Denver for the annual meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Conference (ALEC), an influential group known for promoting conservative policy goals nationwide. DeVos has long been an ardent proponent of giving states more power over education, but in recent weeks, some conservatives have questioned her moves as the Education Department began reviewing state plans to implement a far-reaching new federal law, the Every Student Succeeds Act. State officials viewed some of the departments feedback as overreaching and the criticism nitpicking, seemingly out of line with DeVoss pledge to get Washington out of the way. In her remarks Thursday, she assured state legislators nationwide that she had no intention of overstepping and that she is seeking ways to shrink the federal footprint in education. The time of inefficient, top-down, one-size-fits-all mandates is over, DeVos said. This approach does not work, it has not worked, and it will never work. It was a friendly crowd for an education secretary who has become one of the most visible and controversial members of President Trumps Cabinet. On Wednesday, hundreds gathered in downtown Denver to protest what they described as DeVoss efforts to undermine public education, according to the Denver Post. [The popular uprising that threatens the DeVos nomination] Debbie Lesko, a Republican state senator from Arizona who interviewed DeVos on stage Thursday, called her remarks refreshing after eight years of Democratic control of the Education Department. We absolutely love what you have to say, Lesko said. DeVos spent 30 years lobbying state lawmakers to expand school choice, and as education secretary she is pushing an agenda that ALEC which has been a key force backing legislation allowing for charter schools, virtual schools, private-school vouchers and tax-credit scholarships embraces. She urged state legislators to continue working for more and larger choice programs, saying the next reforms wont originate from Washington, D.C. theyll come from you. The Trump administration proposed spending $1.25 billion to expand school choice next fiscal year, but that proposal appears to be headed nowhere. House Republicans have rejected the new investment in their appropriations bill. DeVos took aim at teachers unions during her speech Thursday, repeatedly referring to them as defenders of the status quo that dont have the best interest of children at heart. She pointed to a tweet from the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) that criticized her for saying that public money should be invested in individual students and arguing instead that we should invest in a system of great public schools for all kids. I couldnt believe it when I read it, but you have to admire their candor, she said. Theyve made it clear that they care more about a system, one created in the 1800s, than they do about individual students. . . . What exactly is education, if not an investment in students? Miles away in Washington, Randi Weingarten president of the AFT and one of DeVoss most relentless critics attacked the education secretary as a public school destroyer whose push for school choice and proposals to shrink federal education funding harms the students DeVos says she wants to help. Weingarten, speaking in Washington before hundreds of AFT members at the unions annual meeting, said school choice is a term that has long been used to cloak overt racism, recalling how school districts in the South used school choice as a tool of massive resistance after the Supreme Court deemed segregated schools unconstitutional. Prince Edward County in Virginia, for example, closed its public schools and then gave white families vouchers they could use for private school tuition. Make no mistake: This use of privatization, coupled with disinvestment, are only slightly more polite cousins of segregation, Weingarten said. We are in the same fight, against the same forces, who are keeping the same children from getting the public education they need and deserve. Weingartens remarks echoed a recent report from the left-leaning Center for American Progress titled, The Racist Origins of Private School Vouchers. Voucher proponents said it is unfair and offensive to draw a line between modern school choice and efforts to perpetuate segregation particularly given that many students who take advantage of choice programs are low-income and nonwhite. Groups gather for the Women's March on Washington on Jan. 21. (Amanda Voisard for The Washington Post) Janet Martin was despondent and dejected after Donald Trump was elected president. She lost faith in the country, thinking she was alone in what she believed American values to be. But then came the Womens March. On Jan. 21, Martin dragged herself to the Mall and joined millions who protested around the world in a rebuke of the president on his first full day in the White House. It affirmed her belief that the progress she wanted for the country still was possible. It motivated her to get to work. Martin, 58, a retired software engineer who had never been involved in activism, has attended community meetings and volunteered for Virginia political campaigns with the hope of turning the swing state blue. Friday marks the six-month anniversary of a march hailed as giving birth to a new and reenergized feminist movement. While no Washington demonstration this year has matched the size of the Womens March, organizers say they have sustained momentum in less visible ways. And people such as Martin have converted the spirit of the march into something more tangible through volunteering and activism. Still, supporters will have to wait until the 2018 midterms to see whether their movement can translate into electoral victories. 1 of 44 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad Photos from the scene of the Womens March on Washington View Photos The protest march, a rejoinder to the inauguration of President Trump, was the largest D.C. rally in years. Caption The protest march, a rejoinder to the inauguration of President Trump, was the largest D.C. rally in years. Jan. 21, 2017 With U.S. Capitol in the background, a crowd fills the streets on Washington during the Womens March. Oliver Contreras/for The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue. January made me think that I am not alone, Martin said. We were all marching with a purpose to prove that democracy is not dead in this country, that the country I believe in, in terms of progress, is still alive and intact. Bob Bland, one of the movements organizers, said that since the Womens March, its leaders have morphed it into an advocacy organization with plans to become a nonprofit group. They have directed supporters to organize local huddle groups around the country to push progressive agendas in their own communities. They also have staged demonstrations such as the Day Without a Woman strike in March and a protest earlier this month outside the National Rifle Association offices in suburban Washington. The planning of Januarys Womens March exposed long-existing racial, socioeconomic and political rifts within the feminist movement. Bland said the focus of the Womens March continues to be elevating women, particularly women of color, in politics and society, while training the next generation of activists. [Women protest, skip work as part of Day Without a Woman ] The immediate question we got after the march is, how do you take the moment and make it into something sustainable? she said. That takes time, and it takes tenacity, and over the last six months we have continued building together on an intersectional basis. People who say they were inspired by the march also have initiated actions of their own. Jennifer Taub, a law professor who had the idea for the April 15 Tax March in Washington, credited the Womens March for making her feel optimistic about the power of organized resistance. Stephanie Hansen, a Democrat who won a special election in February to become a Delaware state senator, noted a swell of support after the January protest. The Womens March kicked off a string of protests on the Mall during the Trump presidency, including the March for Science and March for Truth. The National Park Service says it processed 388 permits to host demonstrations on federal land between January and the end of June, a nearly 30 percent increase over the same period last year. Bland said these actions, while unaffiliated with the Womens March, are a boon for the movement they are working to build. These are ripple effects that are difficult to quantify, but you can absolutely feel it when you are on the ground and in organizing spaces, she said. We are inspiring women to seek social changes on their own terms. But even if the Womens March helped to build a resistance to Trump and his policies, leaders face an uphill challenge in translating it into widespread electoral victories. A Washington Post-ABC poll released Wednesday shows that Republicans hold an advantage in enthusiasm for the 2018 campaign cycle. Sixty-five percent of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents say they are certain to vote next year, compared with 57 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents. [Ahead of midterms, voters prefer Democrats even as Republicans appear more motivated to vote] The Womens March also cannot claim any national legislative victories, particularly considering that Trumps budget proposal aims to cut federal funds to Planned Parenthood. Bland said such victories take time and organizers are still laying a groundwork. Dianne Fergusson, 72, attended a Womens March in her home town of Oxford, Miss., and decided to start a local chapter of the League of Women Voters a 100-year-old bipartisan group that often supports left-leaning positions and has seen a resurgence in the Trump era. Emilys List, an organization that encourages and supports women seeking elected offices, says thousands of women have contacted the group about running for office. In response, the organization launched a specialized campaign to help more women run at the local, state and national levels. The march and election galvanized me, and I wanted to do something positive, said Fergusson, a retired English teacher. We attempt to fight apathy, and I think apathy is the worst thing going on in our country. Over the next six months, Bland said, the Womens March will continue work to motivate supporters to engage with their local community and to help eliminate an us vs. them mentality. Organizers also plan to host a national Womens March conference in the fall. The best organizations are the ones that are working toward their own extinction, she said. We are not concentrating this as a lasting movement but as a lasting course to bringing women, particularly women of color, into this work and into the center of leadership. The Maryland Department of Education is soliciting bids from auditing firms to investigate allegations of widespread grade manipulation at Prince Georges County public schools, schools chief Kevin Maxwell said Thursday. Maxwell repeatedly denied that his administration had inflated graduation rates in remarks he made during a two-hour meeting with the state lawmakers who represent Prince Georges in Annapolis. But the superintendent said he welcomes the review to put this matter behind us. We should go ahead and give people what they need, which is the assurance that there is nothing related to systemic corruption going on, he said. The sometimes heated meeting was the first chance for state lawmakers to directly confront Maxwell and his staff about numerous school issues, including allegations of child abuse and neglect in the Head Start preschool program, a sharp increase in the number of teachers placed on leave after being accused of wrongdoing, the discovery of lead in school water pipes and alleged grade manipulation. The lawmakers and school officials squabbled for weeks over scheduling the session, which grew heated at times as different delegates sided either with Maxwell and the schools administration or with the small group of elected school board members that has levied the most criticism. The board members wrote a letter to Gov. Larry Hogan (R) in May alleging that they had evidence that senior school officials were pressuring subordinates to change grades and promote students who had not met graduation requirements. The state education agency issued an emergency solicitation on July 10 asking for contract proposals to conduct an independent performance audit. The bidding will close on July 25, and the audit is expected to take about six months. Maxwell has vehemently denied any systemwide effort to graduate students who have not earned it. On Thursday, Jay Walker (D-Prince Georges), chairman of the countys delegation in Annapolis, told Maxwell that he had been shown grade-change forms from different schools that were signed exclusively by principals and not teachers. In one case, he said, he saw documents that changed two failing grades to an A for a student without any supporting documents. In another case, he viewed forms showing a student who had been absent for more than 40 days but was allowed to graduate. Youre okay with that? he asked Maxwell. There are a lot of reasons why kids arent in school, from medical issues, sometimes to legal issues, or domestic issues, homelessness, Maxwell said. Walker cut him short. But these are normally extenuating circumstances and not the norm, the lawmaker said. So if it does turn out this is happening on a pretty regular basis . . . grade changes without any documentation or work being done, if that is the norm . . . is that acceptable? Thats the question Im asking. You have to look at the individual circumstances for every student, Maxwell said. Del. Darryl Barnes (D-Prince Georges) asked Maxwell if he had contacted school board member Edward Burroughs, who is a frequent critic of the schools chief and has been the leader of the group behind the graduation allegations, or the other board members to discuss their concerns. I have not sat down to speak with Mr. Burroughs . . . and he does not seem to want to speak to the administration, Maxwell said. Mr. Burroughs, for some reason, tends to like to communicate with other people about his concerns and not directly with us. Barnes was incredulous. You have not reached out to say, Lets sit down and talk about it? he repeated. Del. Dereck E. Davis (D-Prince Georges), whose wife is one of Maxwells top deputies, directed his outrage at Burroughs and his board allies, accusing them of grandstanding and seeking media attention instead of trying to work with school officials to address problems. Im embarrassed, Davis said. We have this minstrel show going. . . . This incessant need to appear on Fox 5 or in The Washington Post has to stop. He called on those involved to act more professionally. In an interview, Burroughs, who did not attend the meeting, said, The only way to clean up and prevent wrongdoing is to expose it. I am not willing to turn a blind eye or deaf ear to the concerns, he said. Maryland environmental officials say 70 percent of the states ground-level ozone pollution comes from upwind states where regulations on power plant emissions are less stringent. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post) Maryland regulators are threatening to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for failure to address the states 2016 request for federal officials to crack down on upwind air pollution from the Midwest and nearby areas. Maryland Secretary of the Environment Ben H. Grumbles notified EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt of the potential legal action in a letter on Thursday, saying Marylands air quality suffers because of the nitrogen oxide emissions from five other states. He said the EPA had failed to fulfill its duty under the federal Clean Air Act to respond within 60 days to a November 2016 petition asking the agency to weigh in on the matter and potentially intervene. The EPA gave itself a six-month extension to act on the request, Grumbles said, but that deadline expired July 15. The secretary warned that the state will sue the EPA in federal court if the agency does not meet its obligations within 60 days of Thursdays letter. In an interview, Grumbles called the notice evidence that Maryland will use all available tools and strategies, including suing the EPA, to attain clean-air progress upwind and throughout the Chesapeake region. The 2016 petition claims that power plants in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia are emitting nitrogen oxide at levels that violate a good-neighbor provision in U.S. clean-air law and prevent Maryland from meeting federal air-quality standards. EPA spokeswoman Enesta Jones said the agency is continuing to review the petition and related information. She declined to discuss the states threatened lawsuit, citing a policy of not commenting on potential litigation. Maryland environmental officials estimate that 70 percent of the states ground-level ozone pollution which experts say contributes to health problems including respiratory illness and heart disease comes from upwind regions. Federal regulations require coal plants to install technology to remove from their exhausts sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, which react with other compounds to form ozone in the atmosphere. But they do not mandate continuous use of the systems as long as average output stays below federal standards. Maryland requires power plants within the state to use the controls daily during summer months, when heat and sunshine enhance ozone creation. We really need action upwind, Grumbles said. The extensive data we have, which is based on EPA data and data from the power plants themselves, tells us well get real and lasting results if those plants run their controls during ozone season. Maryland is part of an EPA commission in which member jurisdictions are legally required to takes steps to reduce ozone transport throughout the East Coast. The group also includes Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, the District of Columbia and the northern counties of Virginia. New York and five other commission members sued the EPA in federal court last year to compel the agency to act on a request to expand the group to include Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. It was a routine drug arrest in one of Baltimores more troubled neighborhoods. But it has become a flash point sparked by video from one of the officers body cameras. The public defenders office looked at the video and contended it showed an officer planting evidence in a trash-strewn alley. Baltimore police countered with a more complicated explanation. They are investigating whether the officer had legitimately found drugs but, realizing he had forgotten to turn on his body camera, reconstructed his find. His body camera captured both him hiding the drugs and then finding them. Authorities said that would be improper but would not be an effort to make a false arrest of an innocent citizen. The video led prosecutors to drop the felony drug case against a suspect who had been jailed for nearly six months. Baltimore police said one officer has been suspended and two others were placed on desk duty amid an internal investigation. (BaltimorePolice/Twitter) The case is among the latest to show the challenges faced by the growing number of police agencies whose officers wear cameras, including questions of when officers should start and stop recording, and how much discretion they should be given. The Jan. 24 video shows the officers in the back of a vacant rowhouse. One places a zip-top bag full of drugs under a board in a back alley, walks out and then returns seconds later to retrieve the same bag. Planted the drugs, the public defenders office said in a statement that made the video public. Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis told reporters that his department is looking to see if the officers in fact replaced drugs they had already discovered in order to document the discovery with their body-worn cameras. Davis played three clips from body cameras from several officers that precede the one released by the public defender. These videos showed officers searching the lot for some time and finding some drugs, though not necessarily the same heroin seen in the later video. Right here, one officer says. Theres more here, adds another. There is a five-minute gap between the end of that video and the one that shows the officer hiding the bag. Why were the cameras turned off and then turned back on? Davis said. I dont know right now. The video that went viral on the Internet is yet another troubling episode for a department under a federal consent decree because of a documented pattern of discriminatory and abusive practices. Christy Lopez, a Georgetown University law professor who led the Justice Department group that conducted reviews of troubled police departments, including Baltimores, said she was not surprised by the video. She said her offices review documented a culture in which that kind of behavior can occur. Lopez said she sees little distinction in whether drugs were planted or merely repositioned for the camera. Its still a lie, either way. The incident occurred on Eagle Street in southwest Baltimore. The 1 minute 19 second video shared by the public defender shows three officers in an alley, with one appearing to hide the bag of drugs. The officers then walk out of the alley, and the officer who had the bag activates his camera, apparently forgetting it records the 30 seconds prior to him hitting the switch, thus capturing his placement of the bag. Ill check here, hold on, the officer says as he returns to the alley, lifts a rock and finds the bag. Davis said that even if the officers intent was to re-create what he had missed recording earlier, the video shows an officer apparently placing evidence and recovering evidence in a way that is inconsistent with the way police officers do business. Debbie Katz Levi, the head of the public defenders special litigation section, said that if the officer did re-create his investigation for the camera, he should have said that in his charging document used to justify the arrest. We already have issues that place the credibility of officers into question, Levi said. Until Baltimore officers have earned the trust of the city, they should not be able to have the discretion to turn these cameras on and off. Montgomery County police said a man was fatally shot in his home Wednesday night in the Silver Spring area. At about 9:5o p.m., officers responded to a house in the 1600 block of Belvedere Boulevard after a person living there reported that someone had entered the home, shot another resident and fled, Montgomery police said in a statement. They found Jon-Christian Kemachet-Webster, 20, on the upper level of the house with a gunshot wound, the statement said. He died at a hospital. Police do not think the incident was random, according to the statement, and asked anyone with information to contact them at 240-773-5070. Protesters against the Republic health care proposals sit outside the office of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP) U.S. Capitol Police officers arrested at least 155 demonstrators Wednesday at Senate office buildings, as health care advocates continued to pressure lawmakers two days after a Republican effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act collapsed. Police officials said in a statement that officers responded to demonstration activity at 45 separate locations in Senate office buildings beginning about 2:15 p.m. Authorities said demonstrators were warned to cease and desist with their unlawful demonstration activities before police made arrests, the statement said. Officials reported that the 155 people had been charged with crowding, obstructing, or incommoding. Five demonstrators also were charged with resisting arrest. That statement said demonstrations in Capitol buildings violate D.C. code. The demonstrations were to follow a meeting described as at National Town Hall Meeting on Health Care at St. Marks Church in Southeast Washington, according to a statement released by several protest groups. Organizers included the Center for Popular Democracy, Housing Works, National Nurses United and Health Care for America Now, among others. Activists said they sought to have more than 500 people occupy offices of 52 Republicans. [U.S. Capitol Police arrest 80 at House and Senate offices] On July 10, Capitol police arrested at least 80 people on the same charge in the hallways of both House and Senate buildings. Hordes of teenagers displaying colors and flags from 157 countries cheered wildly in DAR Constitution Hall on Tuesday afternoon, exhausted and exhilarated from two days of robotics competitions. Somewhere on the packed auditorium floor, six teenagers from Burundi quietly slipped away amid the closing gala. D.C. police said the 16 to 18 year olds from the small African country were long gone by the time their chaperone reported them missing early Wednesday and police later posted their photos on the Internet . By Thursday morning, police said Don Charu Ingabire, 16, and Audrey Mwamikazi, 17, were in Canada with friends or family and the other four were somewhere in the U.S., not yet with relatives but believed to be safe. How and why the students or others orchestrated what appears to authorities a well-planned but very secret bid for possible asylum in Canada and the U.S. remains a mystery. Neither the students nor their relatives could be reached, and the organizer of the competition and a representative of the Burundi Embassy called their disappearance a surprise. [Two of six missing African teens cross boarder into Canada] The FIRST Global Challenge robotics competition is run by Joe Sestak, a former Navy admiral and congressman. A statement from his spokesman, Jose Escotto, said the group may have self-initiated the disappearance, noting that the students had taken their clothes from their dorm at Trinity Washington University and left their room keys behind. The Burundi robotics team are shown, in the screengrab from First Global Media video, at the First Global competition in Washington, DC. The team has disappeared after the competition. (N/A/FIRST Global Media ) The statement says the coach, Canesius Bindaba, left Constitution Hall Tuesday evening without the teens, assuming they had returned to the dorm on a different shuttle bus and only later discovered they were gone. After a search, Sestak called police shortly after midnight Wednesday. The statement said there was security at the dorms and to shuttle the students to events. Speaking over WhatsApp from Kenya, a stop on his trip home, Bindaba said he had heard rumors that the teens might have plans to stay in the U.S., but he hoped they were not true. I just tried to build some kind of trust, hoping they were just rumors, he said. I feel cheated and disappointed by those who planned this behind my back. In addition to Ingabire and Mwamikazi, Richard Irakoze, 18, Kevin Sabumukiza, 17, Nice Munezero, 17 and Aristide Irambona, 18, also were reported missing. Youth at the competition, won by Team Europe, built robots that sorted blue and orange balls meant to simulate clean and contaminated water. Burundi Embassys First Counselor Benjamin Manirakiza said his office did not know the six students were in the U.S. until Bindaba informed him they had disappeared. We want to make sure the team members are in safe hands, Manirakiza said in an interview. That is our wish. But, he added, I am surprised the entire team left.. . . I dont know if they planned this or maybe had some relatives help. Many people from Burundi come to the U.S. for conferences, but they go home. The robotics competition had run into a problem even before the Burundi team left when a team from Afghanistan was initially barred from getting visas. U.S. officials are wary of approving visa requests to some groups of scholarship students, academic fellows and teachers, afraid they might not return home. [U.S. wary of granting Visas to some academic groups fearing they wont go home] Burundi has been roiled by civil war and reports of human rights abuses. In 2015, Burundis president, the former Hutu rebel leader Pierre Nkurunziza, successfully sought reelection to a third term. Mass protests organized by the opposition were put down, and the climate grew more repressive after an attempted coup in May 2015. The State Department issued a travel warning in June, advising Americans of political tensions, political and criminal violence, and the potential for civil unrest. That warning stated that rebel forces, ex-combatants and youth gangs from Congo had reportedly attacked and kidnapped civilians, while armed groups have ambushed vehicles. Hundreds of people have been killed, and hundreds more have disappeared, allegedly the work of Burundis security forces. In the past two years, more than 400,000 people have fled the country, according to human rights activists. [Global competition starts for international robotics teams] Pat Jones, the executive director of immigrant outreach services, a nonprofit based at St. Matthew Catholic Church in Baltimore, called the Burundi students brave and said their families could face persecution if they knew or helped the teens flee. She said it is difficult for a Burundi to obtain a Visa to the U.S. and there are worries within the struggling country about talented people leaving and creating a brain-drain. Maybe they were coached in some way, said Jones, whose group helps people from more than 140 countries seek asylum or other help. Or perhaps they knew of family here and leaving made sense. I think it would have to be pretty well coordinated. Bindaba said he was proud of bringing the Burundian team to an international stage. My dream was to achieve something no one has done before in my country, he wrote over WhatsApp. To come up with the first robot build by Burundian kids was a sign of hope to me and my beloved country as well. Carol Morello, Robert McCartney, Tara Bahrampour and Clarence Williams contributed to this report. Young women dressed as Quinceaneras walk through the Texas Capitol to visit lawmakers as they protest SB4, an anti-"sanctuary cities" bill, in Austin on Wednesday. Texas's special session continues and conservatives in the legislature plan to work on antiabortion measures, school vouchers and defanging local ordinances in Texas's big and liberal cities. (Eric Gay/Associated Press) FLORIDA Opioid mixture found in 10-year-olds body A Florida state attorney is voicing alarm after a 10-year-old boy died with a dangerous opioid mixture in his system making him one of the states youngest victims in the nationwide drug epidemic. The Miami Herald reported that Alton Banks started vomiting June 23 after he returned to his Miami home from a community pool. Authorities said the boy was later found unconscious and rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Preliminary toxicology results recently showed the child had heroin and fentanyl in his system a lethal mixture that has claimed numerous lives across the country, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said. But the circumstances surrounding his death are still unknown, and the state attorney says she wants answers. Fentanyl can be prescribed as a legal painkiller, but its illicit use has experts particularly concerned amid a raging and relentless nationwide drug crisis. Opioid deaths have continued to spike, with more than 33,000 fatalities across the country in 2015 the highest toll in recent history, according to data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Lindsey Bever GEORGIA Man to serve five years for computer fraud A Russian man who helped develop and distribute malicious software designed to steal personal financial information was sentenced Wednesday in Atlanta to serve five years in prison. Mark Vartanyan, also known as Kolypto, had pleaded guilty in March to a computer fraud charge after reaching a deal with prosecutors. U.S. District Judge Mark Cohen said Vartanyan would receive credit for time served, including more than two years in a prison in Norway following his arrest there in October 2014. Starting in 2011, Citadel was marketed on invite-only, Russian-language Internet forums used by cybercriminals, and users targeted the computer networks of major financial and government institutions around the world to steal account credentials and personally identifiable information, prosecutors have said. Industry estimates indicate it infected about 11 million computers worldwide and caused more than $500 million in losses. Vartanyan, a native of Moscow, was involved in the development and distribution of Citadel from August 2012 to January 2013 while living in Ukraine and again from April 2014 to June 2014 while living in Norway, prosecutors have said. Associated Press Paramedics work on retrieving passengers from a Pennsylvania Department of mMlitary and Veterans Affairs bus that crashed into a nine-foot overpass in Pittsburgh. Multiple passengers in wheelchairs had to be removed from the bus. (Alex Driehaus/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP) NATIONAL SECURITY Ban on laptops in plane cabins ends The ban on laptops in the cabins of planes flying from the Middle East to the United States is over, as federal officials say that large airports in the region have taken other steps to increase security. Those measures include checking electronic devices to make sure they dont contain a bomb, and pulling more people out of airport lines for additional screening. A spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security said Thursday that all airlines and airports with flights departing for the United States had met the agencys first phase of new security measures, which were announced in late June but not described in any detail. In March, the United States imposed a ban on laptops in the cabins of planes coming into the country from 10 Middle Eastern airports. This week, King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was the last of the 10 to comply with U.S. security measures and exit the laptop-ban list. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said the laptop ban was a pause, a stopgap measure until airports could make other security improvements. It grew from fear that terrorists were working on bombs that can be hidden in devices such as laptop and tablet computers. He said at a security conference in Colorado that intelligence reports indicated terrorists lacked the ability to detonate such a bomb remotely meaning they couldnt trigger a bomb in the cargo hold while sitting in the cabin. Associated Press WEATHER Hundreds evacuated in Wisconsin flooding Several hundred people evacuated their homes early Thursday in the small western Wisconsin community of Arcadia as heavy rain sent a creek over its banks. The waterlogged city was among those affected by more widespread storm damage and flooding in Wisconsin and Minnesota that closed roads and triggered mudslides. Thunderstorms in Iowa produced a possible tornado that caused heavy damage to buildings in a city near the Mississippi River. In Wisconsin, several hundred people in the Trempealeau County city of Arcadia voluntarily evacuated flooded neighborhoods and the downtown area starting about 2:30 a.m., Mayor Robert Reichwein said. The evacuation included the overnight shift at Ashley Furniture, a major manufacturer in Arcadia, a city of 2,900 people about 45 miles north of La Crosse. Reichwein said Turton Creek overflowed its banks, also flooding the citys main thoroughfare, Highway 95. The Red Cross set up a shelter at a church for evacuees. Elsewhere in Wisconsin, a mudslide closed part of Highway 95 near Fountain City. Numerous roads in Vernon and Buffalo counties were also affected by flooding. Associated Press SOUTH CAROLINA Three arrested for helping inmate escape Three people have been arrested for helping an inmate escape from a maximum-security prison in South Carolina, officials said Thursday. Jimmy Causey got more help after cutting his way through the fences using tools delivered to him by a drone at Lieber Correctional Institution, according to information released by the state Department of Corrections. Robert Williams picked up the convicted kidnapper on July 4 outside the prison in Ridgeville and drove him for more than an hour to a motel in Cayce, according to warrants. Another man, Benjamin Bevier, is accused of giving Williams his truck, knowing it would be used in an escape. A third person, Lareece Rosier, sent money to Causey several times, knowing that he would use it to remain a fugitive, authorities said. Rosier and Williams are both charged with aiding in an escape. Bevier is charged with obstructing justice and accessory to a felony after the fact. Associated Press Yahya Abdullah, an imam from Masjid Muhammad in Jacksonville, Fla., sells books and other items at an annual retreat at New Medinah. (William Widmer/For The Washington Post) When Abdul Hakim Shareef looks out on these hills, this mosque this perfect embodiment of a Muslim ideal he hopes it wont all end with him. Shareef, 86, was three decades younger when he pooled his money with a small group of fellow Muslims here in Mississippi and founded this community 25 miles west of Hattiesburg. The dream was to be able to feed themselves, educate themselves and live an Islamic life in a community all their own. But Shareefs grandchildren have largely moved away, and he knows New Medinah is going to need people young people to keep it going after he is gone. If we could just get them to grasp that concept and get on board, Shareef says. Thats what Im counting on now. For them to step up to the plate. There was a time, about five decades ago, when American Muslim tended to mean black Muslim native-born black Americans such as Shareef who had joined the Nation of Islam, a black nationalist group that gained prominence during the tumultuous days of the civil rights movement. But todays image of the American Muslim largely obscures that history. The stories of Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali have faded in the American memory, replaced by portrayals of Muslims as immigrants, people with foreign accents and ideologies. As a result, Shareefs community has realized that, as the relevance of this American sect fades into the background, New Medinahs existence might die with its founders. [Muslim Town: How one American city embraced a Muslim community in decline] The prevailing image of the American Muslim has shifted with the numbers: An influx of Muslim immigrants after 1965 quickly outnumbered the native-born black Muslim population. About 1.7 milllion Muslims entered the United States as legal permanent residents in the two decades before 2012, according to estimates by the Pew Research Center. By 2014, native-born black American Muslims made up just 9 percent of the countrys total Muslim population. Members of Shareefs community are followers of the late Warith Deen (W.D.) Mohammed, a son of former Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad. Although he broke with the Nation, Mohammed, who died in 2008, maintained some of the Nations cultural practices and saw American Islam as intertwined with the experience and lessons of slavery and black oppression. About 180 mosques nationwide follow his teachings. But the countrys shifting demographics mean that fewer American Muslims link their religious identity to their racial history in the United States. The presumed mastery of Middle Eastern Muslims in the field of Islamic scholarship has in recent decades overshadowed American interpretations of the religion. For many black American Muslims today, the legacies of the Nation of Islam and W.D. Mohammed are not relevant anymore, said Nicquan Church, 40, of Philadelphia, who attends a Salafist mosque, a strict Orthodox sect of Sunni Islam. American blacks who are Muslim now constitute a diverse population of different sects, ideologies, cultures and national heritages. The brand of Islam practiced at Churchs mosque tends to have more in common with some Saudi or Egyptian mosques, for example, than it does with the W.D. Mohammed tradition even though most of Churchs fellow congregants are black, native-born Americans. No one there thinks about Islam as uniquely linked to the black American experience, Church said. Abdul Hakim Shareef and his wife, Ruth Shareef, are two of New Medinahs founders and are among its oldest residents. (William Widmer/For The Washington Post) Saabirah Mohammed Bashir and her husband, Aziz Uddin Bashir, have lived at New Medinah since 2014. (William Widmer/For The Washington Post) (William Widmer/For The Washington Post) Always under attack Shareef, his wife, Ruth Shareef, and their peers founded this community a 64-acre spread of homes, farms and a mosque in the mid-1980s with the encouragement of W.D. Mohammed, Shareef said. The idea was to create a space where Muslims could live, collaborate on business endeavors, and cultivate the land for vegetable plots, cattle, chickens and honey bees. They wanted to build an Islamic community that could overcome the odds black Americans face, especially in the South. They named it New Medinah, after one of Islams two holiest cities and the place in Saudi Arabia where the prophet Muhammad attracted his first followers. They set up a school so their children could learn while being immersed in the teachings of Islam and the calm of a rural lifestyle. [Imam: Theres an atmosphere of intolerance that says, Thats okay. Thats acceptable now.] But by 2009, the school had closed. And the trickle of arrivals was ultimately outnumbered by the departures: kids leaving for college or jobs in urban areas and founders who died. On a recent summer weekend, dozens of W.D. Mohammeds followers across the South arrived at New Medinah in cars and minivans to convene for the tiny Islamic communitys 31st annual retreat. Most were retirement-age attendees who practiced tai chi at dawn, waxed nostalgic about the good old days and spent the rest of their discussion time fretting about the challenges facing the next generation. The sign at the entrance to New Medinah. (William Widmer/For The Washington Post) Elsewhere, President Trump was promoting travel restrictions that critics derided as a Muslim ban, and the deaths of two people killed by a man ranting against Muslims in Portland, Ore., had become a national news story. But the undercurrent of anti-Muslim sentiment in the country was never broached at the New Medinah retreat. Being the target of government suspicion and public fear is not new for black Muslim Americans. During the 1960s, the FBI used informants close to the Nation of Islam to surveil the group and its most prominent members. We have always been under attack as African Americans and as Muslims, said Youssef Kromah, 27, of Philadelphia. The city, a former stronghold of the Nation of Islam, is now home to a large Muslim community, the majority of which is black. When you have individuals like our new president threatening Muslims, Kromah said, the African American community isnt afraid, because weve been there, done that. We suffered. But the targets of public suspicion have shifted. Todays debates about immigration, terrorism and national security have recast the American publics sense of threat and with it, the sense of what it means to be an American Muslim, argues Edward E. Curtis IV, a professor of religion at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. It is brown Muslims whom the government, media, think tanks and other centers of interpretation construct as a potential enemy of the United States, he said. Institutional Islamophobia renders the brown Muslim visible and silences the voices of black Muslims. Leadership indigenous to us Samory Rashid, a political science professor at Indiana State University, says the term black Muslim was coined by a journalist who was neither black nor Muslim: the CBS News reporter Mike Wallace. He used the term in his 1959 TV documentary The Hate That Hate Produced about the Nation of Islam, and many Muslims today dismiss the notion of an explicit black Muslim identity. Elijah Muhammad , the Nations leader, led his followers in an ideology that cast whites as devils and shunned the broader civil rights movements goal of integration. The ideology appealed to many young, working-class black people at the time. I was full of fire because Elijah Muhammad had made us gods, said Shareef, who grew up in segregated Mississippi, where he was trained to step out of the way when he saw a white person on the sidewalk. [The sanctuary city on the front line of the fight over Trumps immigration policy] But the notion of black supremacy was at odds with mainstream Islam, and after Muhammads death in 1975, his son W.D. Mohammed broke with the Nation and its new torchbearer, Louis Farrakhan. He introduced his followers to mainstream Islam, which he portrayed as more empowering: a belief system hinging on the idea of one humanity under one God. The community learned to pray and observe Islamic customs followed by millions of other Muslims worldwide. They studied Arabic and the Koran and the Hadiths. They embraced the idea of racial equality. Retreat attendees listen to a presentation on reading Koranic Arabic by Aziz Uddin Bashir, inside the mosque at New Medinah. (William Widmer/For The Washington Post) Mohammed maintained the important distinction of his communitys black American roots. The Nations cultural practices, such as the business-minded cultivation of Whiting fish and the consumption of bean pies, carried on, as did Elijah Muhammads emphasis on entrepreneurship and economic success as a way to empower black Americans. Imam [W.D.] Mohammed gave us leadership that is indigenous to us, said AbdAllah Adesanya of Columbia, S.C., who follows the W.D. Mohammed tradition. Were not beholden to any sheikh in the Middle East. Retreat attendees pray inside the masjid at New Medinah, one of the most uncommon Muslim communities in the Southeast. (William Widmer/For The Washington Post) Dont let the legacy . . . die However equipped they feel to help bridge the divide between newer Muslim communities and wider America, leaders of the W.D. Mohammed tradition say they are rarely called on for guidance. Still occasionally stereotyped for their onetime association with the Nation of Islam, the communitys leaders say they are sometimes dismissed by other Muslims as less authentic or less authoritative scholars of the religion. And racism has kept immigrant Muslims from joining historically black mosques in larger numbers, they say. The only time they come to us is when the white folks whip them upside the head, said Sameeh Ali of Newark, a bakery owner and follower of the W.D. Mohammed tradition. The black Muslims have a history of dealing with discrimination and abuse, he insisted. We got the answer! Ive been around white folks for 300 years. I was born understanding white folks. Others say the W.D. Mohammed set is simply losing relevance in a country that has moved beyond segregated lunch counters and has experienced the rise of a larger, more diverse Muslim community. In Philadelphia, where local leaders say the Muslim population is still predominantly black, only three of the citys 37 mosques subscribe to the W.D. Mohammed tradition. At New Medinah, which once embodied the ideal of the W.D. Mohammed community, the question today is longevity. The community school shut down in 2009 with the departure of its last students, and similar W.D. Mohammed schools in larger cities have met similar fates. A Muslim cemetery at New Medinah now has a few dozen graves more than the number of permanent residents. Shareef talks wistfully about opening a boarding school at some point as the key to New Medinahs future. A large sign hammered into a grassy hill on the property now reads, Future Home of W. Deen Mohammed Boarding School. In an early-evening lecture during the retreat, a visiting religious scholar from Houston emphasized that the next generation must be developed if the community is to survive. Tyerre El Amin Boyd, 41, had traveled from a mosque that was regularly attracting new, young members. As an audience of older men and women listened intently from the prayer rooms carpet, Boyd told the old leadership that they, too, must figure out a way to attract youth. Were praying for Allah to raise our children, Boyd said, so that we dont let the legacy of Imam W.D. Mohammed die. The last abortion clinic in Kentucky found an unlikely ally this week: The U.S. Justice Department. Government lawyers on Wednesday asked a federal judge to ban protesters from a small area outside E.M.W. Womens Surgical Center in Louisville, citing fears that activists from a stridently antiabortion organization gathering for a conference next week could try to block women from entering the facility. The group, Operation Save America, has a history of extreme antiabortion activism and in May staged a blockade of the Louisville clinic, leading to the arrest of several members. Leaders of the Texas-based group have said there are no plans to mount any acts of civil disobedience next week, when hundreds of members will gather in Louisville for the groups annual conference. Still, government lawyers and abortion rights advocates say the precautions are necessary. The government lawyers are seeking a court order that would create a buffer zone extending from the clinics front door to the curb, where patients are frequently dropped off. Reproductive rights advocates praised the actions from Justice Department officials and the local U.S. attorney, which came despite Attorney General Jeff Sessionss personal opposition to abortion. These extremists are testing law enforcement on the ground in Louisville and they are testing the Department of Justice to see if they are in fact going to enforce the law, said Vicki Saporta, president of the National Abortion Federation, an organization of abortion providers. The court filing and a previous lawsuit sent a clear signal that the law will indeed be enforced, she said. But the legal maneuvers drew criticism from leaders of Operation Save America, who pledged to fight the request in court. By creating this buffer zone, it restricts us, said Joseph Spurgeon, a pastor and local leader of the group. We want to be able to hand women tracts and pamphlets with other resources, to offer them financial assistance, to offer to adopt their children. We want to be able to converse with them one-on-one. The conflict heightens tensions in Louisville, which has become a magnet for abortion foes who see the potential to make Kentucky the first state in the country without a single abortion clinic. Other clinics in the state have either closed or stopped providing abortions since Republican leaders began aggressively regulating them. Now, E.M.W. Womens Surgical Center is wrangling with state regulators in a legal battle that will determine whether it, too, will have to close. Operation Save America, previously known as Operation Rescue, is a decades-old antiabortion group known for its extreme tactics. (A separate organization currently carries the Operation Rescue moniker.) It is critical of mainstream antiabortion groups, which it considers too timid, and is trying to push Kentucky and other states to outlaw abortion in violation of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized the procedure nationally. Spurgeon said the group tried to demonstrate the sacrifices that might be necessary for the cause on May 13, when the members staged a blockade of the Louisville clinic. Several members were arrested after linking arms in front of the doors, blocking access to and from the clinic. That was a one-time thing, he said. The group has asked attendees of the conference, which is expected to attract as many as 1,000 people, to keep it civil and law-abiding. He said he expects that it will stay that way unless people get the sense that federal authorities are trampling on their free speech rights. We believe in obeying authorities, Spurgeon said. Moreover, he said, our people are not going to rebel against what weve asked them to do. But Meg Sasse Stern, a volunteer who helps escort women from the sidewalk to the front door, said Thursday that she is unconvinced. One person talking to a reporter to say, I promise to be peaceful doesnt mean everyone is going to respect that, she said. URUGUAY Legal cannabis sales begin under 2013 law Pharmacies in Uruguay began selling cannabis directly to consumers on Wednesday, culminating a pioneering legalization effort that began more than three years ago. The South American country is the first in the world to legalize the entire process of marijuana production for recreational use, including its cultivation and sale. In Uruguay, any citizen older than 18 can now register to buy cannabis for personal use. The law was passed in late 2013 as Uruguay sought to shift the market from criminals to the government. The product is grown, packaged and distributed by two companies, which are authorized and taxed by the state. But the rollout was slow as the government faced internal opposition and tricky logistics. Other nations in Latin America have moved toward allowing cannabis for medical use. Reuters POLAND E.U. closer to sanctions over draft judiciary law The European Union is closer to imposing sanctions on Poland over the governments attempt to take control of the judiciary, a senior E.U. official warned Wednesday, as new street protests erupted and members of Parliament had a heated debate. The ruling conservative Law and Justice party had been rushing to get Parliaments approval for a contentious draft law that would reorganize the nations highest court. But it has had to slow down after vehement objection from the opposition, alarm from the E.U. and mass protests against the measure. After a tense debate in Parliament, lawmakers on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly to send the bill on the Supreme Court for more work by a special parliamentary commission. Opposition legislators have proposed 1,300 amendments to the draft, which they say violates the constitution, kills judicial independence and destroys the democratic principle of the separation of the judiciary from the executive branch. After the vote, European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans said Poland may soon be stripped of its E.U. voting rights because its recent steps greatly amplify the threat to the rule of law and risk putting the judiciary under full political control of the government. Associated Press THAILAND General convicted in human-trafficking case A Thai army general was one of dozens of people found guilty Wednesday in a major human trafficking trial that included 103 defendants accused of involvement in a modern-day slavery trade. Lt. Gen. Manas Kongpaen was convicted of offenses involving trafficking and taking bribes. He had been tasked with keeping out and expelling migrants who entered Thailand illegally. The defendants were arrested in 2015 after 36 bodies were discovered in shallow graves in southern Thailand in what had served as holding camps until migrants could be smuggled over the border into Malaysia, the intended destination for most. Other such camps with scores more bodies also were later found. According to investigators, smugglers held Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in Burma for ransom in the jungle camps until relatives could pay for their release. In some cases, they were sold to work as virtual slaves in Thailand. Poor Bangladeshis also were among the migrants. Associated Press Chiles Senate passes bill allowing abortion in some cases: Chilean lawmakers have taken a major step toward legalizing abortion in some cases, a dramatic development in one of Latin Americas most conservative countries. The Senate voted to allow abortions when a mothers life is in danger, when the fetus is not viable and in cases of rape. The bill now goes to the lower house, where it is expected to pass. President Michelle Bachelet has said she would sign the measure. Brazil freezes Lulas accounts in graft case: Brazils central bank has frozen four bank accounts belonging to former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva because of his recent conviction on corruption charges, the federal judge overseeing the case said. Lula was sentenced last week to 9 years in prison as part of a sprawling graft probe involving state-run oil giant Petrobras. He remains free pending an appeal. Indonesia bans group that seeks global caliphate: The Indonesian government has banned Hizbut Tahrir, an Islamist organization that wants to establish a global caliphate, under a new presidential decree. The decree gives the government almost unfettered power to ban organizations deemed against the constitution and the official state ideology enshrining democracy and social justice. From news services POLAND Lower house backs bill on judiciary overhaul Polish lawmakers in the lower house voted Thursday to approve a contentious bill that gives control of the nations Supreme Court to the president instead of to judges, sparking new protests outside Parliament in Warsaw. The legislation also has drawn condemnation from the European Union. The European Commission has warned that it could strip Poland of its E.U. voting rights over the legislation. Critics say the legislation kills judicial independence and violates the rule of law. Among other things, the measure, proposed by the ruling Law and Justice party, gives the president the power to influence the courts work and to appoint its judges. The vote Thursday came after a parliamentary commission summarily rejected 1,300 opposition amendments. The bill still needs approval from the Senate, which is expected Friday, and from President Andrzej Duda. Associated Press KUWAIT Irans cultural mission shut as rift deepens Kuwait said Thursday that it is shutting the Iranian cultural mission and calling for a reduction in the number of Iranian diplomats in the country, deepening a rift between Persian Gulf Arab states and Tehran. The official Kuwait News Agency announced the move, linking the decision to the case of a terrorist cell broken up in 2015 that authorities allege had contacts with Iran and the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah. The 2015 case centers on a group of 26 people whose arrests for purported links to Shiite powerhouse Iran touched on sensitive sectarian issues in Kuwait, a Sunni-majority country. Besides having furtive contacts with Hezbollah and Iran, its members were accused of arms possession and of planning hostile actions inside Kuwait, a U.S.-allied Arab state. Members of the cell have been tried and have received sentences ranging from a few years in prison to life imprisonment. Associated Press Turkey denies disclosing U.S. troop locations in Syria: A spokesman for Turkeys president said the government had no role in the publication of a map by the state-run Anadolu news agency showing U.S. military posts in Syria. The U.S. military said it had raised concerns after the agency published a map showing 10 sites where it says U.S. troops are located. Spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said that the article with the map was based on the agencys own newsgathering network and that the government had not given the information or directed the agency. $2.8 million in Lulas pension funds ordered to be seized: A judge in Brazil ordered the seizure of more than $2.8 million in pension funds from former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in connection with his corruption conviction. The funds were in one of Lulas individual accounts and in another linked to his company LILS, which administers assets from his lectures, according to the ruling. Last week, Lula was sentenced to 9 years in prison as part of a graft probe involving state-run oil giant Petrobras. From news services A U.S. Marine and his translator meet with local Afghan villagers in Kirta, in remote southwest Afghanistan, in 2009. (John Moore/Getty Images) Matt Zeller is co-founder of No One Left Behind. Nine years ago, Taliban insurgents attacked me and my squad during a routine mission in Afghanistans Ghazni Province. Those insurgents would have killed us had it not been for Janis Shenwary, our Afghan translator, who shot and killed two of them. I approached Janis the next morning in our bases chow hall and asked him why he saved us. His answer: You are a guest in my country. It is an honor to protect those who are fighting for us. That day we became brothers, and I promised to one day bring him to America. Janis finally arrived in the United States in 2013 on a special immigrant visa after four years of vetting. Now, the two of us are on a mission to fulfill Americas promise to other wartime allies looking to come to the United States. But thats not enough. We need to properly honor the service of those who put their lives at risk standing shoulder to shoulder with the American military. First, Congress should expand the special immigrant visa program a valuable strategic tool that protects our allied men and women overseas. Unfathomably, the visa program is in critical condition. There are more than 14,000 such visa applications from Afghans pending at the State Department, but Congress has agreed to add only 2,500 visas to the 1,500 allowed for this year under the National Defense Authorization Act. Are we really willing to tell those who fought with our country that its okay with us if they die at the hands of the same enemies we asked them to help fight? Is that what the United States now stands for? Or will we have the courage and conviction to live up to our values? Opponents of the special immigrant visa program claim that Afghan and Iraqi combat translators and their families rely heavily on state and federal welfare programs. But spend any time with these immigrants, and youll realize that characterization is unfair. These men and women give much more back to their new communities than they ever take in and have earned their place in our communities through their profound sacrifice and service. Second, we need to make sure that once immigrants get here, they have opportunities to thrive. Because they are not legally U.S. veterans and therefore not federally protected you will find them working minimum-wage jobs. Ask your Uber or Lyft drivers whether they served in Afghanistan. If they did, their stories will humble you. Ask any service member if our Afghan and Iraqi translators were critical to the mission. Their responses will only confirm our belief that these heroes are our fellow veterans. Yet these people receive no health or educational benefits just because of where they were born. This threatens Americas reputation abroad. We have a simple, innovative solution: Congress should declare simple immigrant visa recipients honorary veterans. Such a classification wouldnt entitle them to typical benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs, but it would unleash the support of the private sector. These visa holders would finally be able to take advantage of nonprofit organizations benefiting veterans, as well as any company that has a veterans employment or development program. This would immediately help all the combat translators and their family members who have already been settled nationwide at no cost to taxpayers. And if youre still not convinced, ask the men of the Pennsylvania National Guard 103rd Armored Regiment if their translator, whom they welcomed into the country at Dulles International Airport on Sunday, is a veteran. Theres also precedent for this: After World War II, the United States promised to treat more than 250,000 Filipino soldiers who fought alongside U.S. forces as veterans (although it ended up only partially fulfilling that promise). To this day, there is still an American VA regional office in Manila. One recipient of a special immigrant visa who recently arrived in the United States told me: Being here is not the American dream. It is the American reality. In other words, only in America do certain dreams become reality. Yes, people are still fighting and dying for a chance just a chance to experience that reality for their families. We owe that to them. We must remain shoulder to shoulder with our allies. Suzanne Spaulding was undersecretary for cybersecurity and critical infrastructure protection in the Department of Homeland Security from 2013 to 2016. Last week, the president tweeted about forming a joint cyber-unit with the country that hacked our election. Now the White House reportedly is considering giving Russia back the compounds it used to spy on us. This latest signal that the United States is moving on, rather than seriously addressing Russian interference in our democracy, should meet the same fate as last weeks bad idea: bipartisan condemnation followed by a quick reversal. If the administration is set on talking to Russia about cybersecurity, however, we could consider engaging in carefully limited cybersecurity talks, strategically focused on our national interests and with a clear-eyed understanding that Russia is not our ally. As the head of cybersecurity and critical infrastructure protection at the Department of Homeland Security in the Obama administration, I was part of similar talks with China. The lessons from that dialogue, which led to a significant reduction in Chinas commercial cyberespionage activities, can teach President Trump much about how to deal with Russia. China has a long record of stealing sensitive U.S. business information to help its own industries. For years, China had rejected U.S. assertions that commercial espionage could not be tolerated in a global economy. But the Obama administration remained clear and consistent in communications with China that this kind of activity was unacceptable. In 2014, for example, five members of the Chinese military were indicted on cybertheft charges. In the late summer of 2015, as President Xi Jinping prepared for his first state visit to the United States, the media reported that the U.S. government was preparing sanctions against China. The White Houses consistent messages and actions up to that point made these threats credible. Not wanting to mar the images of his arrival in the United States, Xi dispatched senior advisers to fly to Washington to negotiate a way out. With that leverage, I joined an interagency team in talks that finally produced an agreement, announced days later by Presidents Barack Obama and Xi. The result was that, for the first time, China agreed that it should not steal sensitive business information to benefit its commercial entities. Getting caught violating a commitment made at the presidential level raised the stakes for Chinas cyberspies. At a minimum, it significantly increased their costs by requiring them to be more stealthy and targeted. They could no longer engage in widespread, unsophisticated smash-and-grab operations across our economy. Private cybersecurity firm FireEye reported in June 2016 that the number of network compromises by the China-based hacking groups it tracked dropped from 60 in 2013 to fewer than 10 three years later. The agreement also established an important mechanism for regular high-level talks and appropriate working-level communications. I made several trips to Beijing over the next two years, and we hosted senior Chinese cyber officials in the United States. China clearly valued this ongoing dialogue, and we made clear in every meeting that its continuation was contingent upon China living up to its agreements. We never implied that we were ready to move on. In contrast, members of the current administration apparently couldnt even wait until they were in office to begin weakening their leverage over Russia. Weeks before inauguration, Michael Flynn already was discussing with the Russian ambassador the sanctions imposed by the previous administration. Do we really think that discussion conveyed the incoming administrations strong determination to keep those sanctions in place unless Russia changed its behavior? Administration policy since the inauguration is not encouraging to those looking for a more robust stand against Russian interference. Instead, media reports indicate that the White House continues to work to weaken the current sanctions bill in Congress. And Trump says sanctions were not even discussed in his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. What clearly did come up was the desire to move on and work together to guard against election hacking and many other negative things. (We know what Putin puts in the category of negative things: free speech, dissent, the open flow of information and true democracy.) It will clearly take more pressure from all sides for the presidents behavior to change. And its not just the White House that needs to start operating from a position of strength instead of as a supplicant trying to curry favor because we need Russias help. Congress also needs to assert itself more strongly. All parts of the government need to make clear that existing deterrents will remain in place and that further punishments are possible. Moving promptly on a strong sanctions bill would be a good start. Otherwise, Russia will continue interfering in U.S. democracy. THE ALARMS over President Trumps second meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Group of 20 summit are, in one way, overheated. Staying engaged with Russia and its leader, including through a spontaneous pull-aside at a closed dinner for world leaders, is not in itself a fault: At best, it might help alleviate mistrust and avoid miscalculation at a time of high tension. While it is possible to object to Mr. Trumps impulsive style and tendency to bypass established channels, the problem is not so much that he sought out Mr. Putin for an informal chat. Rather, it is the deeply troubling and unresolved questions about his relationship with Russia, which mean that any such contact raises serious and understandable concerns. Engagement is not a dirty word. Even in the worst days of the Cold War, in the shadow of the Cuban missile crisis and the 1983 war scare, the United States remained in close communication with the Soviet Union. A back channel often proved vital. During the tense days of autumn 1983, the National Security Council specialist on Soviet affairs, Jack F. Matlock Jr., met quietly in a cafeteria opposite the Old Executive Office Building with a Soviet journalist he had known, who revealed the dire situation in Moscow, including Soviet leaders deepening uncertainty about possible war with the United States. This was important information. Talk isnt bad; whats key is the nature of the talk. To carefully calibrate messages to world leaders, presidents usually rely on an elaborate bureaucratic machine, including the interagency process and the National Security Council staff. Mr. Trumps dinner chat showed once again his proclivity to act alone, and he undoubtedly created headaches. With no U.S. note-taker or interpreter, the U.S. national security structure was left without a record of the exchange, except for Mr. Trumps memory. Mr. Putin will have a better record. But the deeper problem is the epidemic of mistrust Mr. Trump has created about his ties to Russia, which sensationalizes contacts that might otherwise be unremarkable. The doubts began during the campaign with his failure to release his tax returns, which could show the origins of his income, and grew worse when Russia hacked the Democratic National Committee and the email account of Hillary Clintons campaign chairman. Mr. Trump refused to accept U.S. intelligence community warnings of Russian interference during the election, and his family and his campaign associates have repeatedly been negligent or untruthful about their contacts with Russian officials most recently, in the accounts of a meeting with a Russian lawyer offering dirt on Ms. Clinton. In his first meeting as president with Russias foreign minister, Mr. Trump blurted out classified information. Its reasonable to worry about what he might have told Mr. Putin. Mr. Trump often calls investigations of his Russia ties a witch hunt. But the fact is that he created the swirl of suspicion. Only he can clear it up and until he does, there will be reason for concern about any contact he has with Mr. Putin. A FEDERAL appeals court on Wednesday appeared to resurrect what would be the Washington areas most important new transit link since the Silver Line the light-rail Purple Line, which will connect Marylands close-in suburbs by lifting a stay imposed this spring by a fuzzy-headed federal judge. The appeals courts order gives the state of Maryland a fighting chance at reclaiming $900 million in federal funding for the Purple Line that was blocked at the 11th hour by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon. At last, judicial common sense may revive a critical project nearly derailed by Mr. Leon, who ruled this spring that state and federal officials hadnt seriously considered the potential effect of declining ridership on Metro, from which the new light-rail line expects to draw many of its users. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reinstated the projects environmental approval, which Mr. Leon had invalidated based on the risible proposition that transit officials are clairvoyants who had failed to employ their powers to foresee Metros ridership levels far into the future. In fact, no one foretold the steep passenger loss that Metro suffered starting in 2011; and, now that the subway system has invested heavily in track repair as well as marketing, no one can predict whether ridership will recover, and if so at what pace. As it happens, just a few weeks after Mr. Leons ruling, Metrorail had its five highest weekday ridership days of the year, including one (June 27) when the passenger count jumped to nearly 700,000, more than 10 percent above average counts a year earlier and nearly as high as the average for that period two years ago. What is known, and what the Federal Transit Administration has quite reasonably argued, is that even under pessimistic scenarios in fact, even if zero passengers transfered from Metro the Purple Line would still be among the most heavily used light-rail projects to win federal funding nationally in recent years. The FTA joined Maryland in appealing Mr. Leons ruling, which flew in the face of the Supreme Courts admonition that judges should not substitute their views for the expertise of federal officials in cases, like this one, involving environmental studies. In the meantime, the FTAs original approach offering five scenarios for future Metro (and Purple Line) ridership, ranging from moderate growth to continued decline continues to look eminently sensible. It is silly to look at a few days ridership numbers and take those as evidence of a trend. It was equally silly for Mr. Leon to examine a few years decline in ridership, following decades of underinvestment in Metro, and assume an irreversible pattern. The lawsuit seeking to block the Purple Line will continue for now, even as the state seeks to unlock the federal funds. The appeals court must still issue a ruling on its underlying claims. But amid all the legal wrangling, there is no doubt of the projects fundamental appeal: It would provide an enormous convenience to tens of thousands of daily commuters and a means of revitalizing aging neighborhoods in its path. President Trump travels to Germany for the Group of 20 Summit, where he will meet with several European leaders who view him skeptically and hold starkly different views on globalization. President Trump travels to Germany for the Group of 20 Summit, where he will meet with several European leaders who view him skeptically and hold starkly different views on globalization. President Trump travels to Germany for the Group of 20 Summit, where he will meet with several European leaders who view him skeptically and hold starkly different views on globalization. THERE IS a danger that Americans become so inured to President Trumps indifference to rule of law that they forget how a president who respected public service and the Constitution and had nothing to hide would speak and behave. In the interest of jogging memories, we have matched a few of Mr. Trumps Wednesday comments to the New York Times (reprinted below in italics) with imagined quotations of what an ethical president might say. Mr. Trump: Well, [Attorney General Jeff] Sessions should have never recused himself, and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before he took the job, and I would have picked somebody else. . . . I think [it] is very unfair to the president. Jeff Sessions was very involved in my campaign, so of course he had to recuse himself from any matters having to do with my campaign. Once it came out, after his confirmation, that he had given inaccurate testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee about his meetings with Russian officials, it was doubly a no-brainer. Very properly, he didnt give me a heads-up. After all, an attorney general is supposed to enforce the laws, not be part of a presidents political team. And frankly, if he hadnt recused, I would have called him up and said, What are you waiting for? We cant have the slightest appearance of impropriety in my administration! Mr. Trump: I then end up with a second man, whos a deputy . . . and thats Rosenstein, Rod Rosenstein, who is from Baltimore. There are very few Republicans in Baltimore, if any. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post) Fortunately, we had in place a highly respected deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, who consistently in his career you know, he was the U.S. attorney in Baltimore for many years has had the support and respect of senators and other politicians from both parties. By the way, Baltimore is a city in the United States. Im president of all the United States blue state, red state, makes no difference. New York Times: But did that email concern you, that the Russian government was trying something to compromise Mr. Trump: I just heard there was an email requesting a meeting or something yeah, requesting a meeting. That they have information on Hillary Clinton, and I said I mean, this was standard political stuff. Concern me? You better believe I have taken Junior to the woodshed over that one. I mean, someone sends a message saying a hostile foreign power is offering opposition research through a government lawyer, what do you do? What does anyone do? You call the FBI and run the other way. Instead, Junior takes the meeting and brings my campaign manager along, to boot. What was he thinking? As we find out how deeply implicated Russia was in interfering in the election, this only becomes more alarming. New York Times: Last thing, if [special counsel Robert S.] Mueller was looking at your finances and your family finances, unrelated to Russia is that a red line? . . . Would that be a breach of what his actual charge is? Mr. Trump: I would say yeah. I would say yes. By the way, I would say, I dont I dont I mean, its possible theres a condo or something, so, you know, I sell a lot of condo units, and somebody from Russia buys a condo, who knows? (The Washington Post) You know, I dont think I should say anything about what Mueller should or shouldnt do, because his independence is paramount. But let me just say this: Ive got nothing to hide. Whatever he wants to look at, he is welcome to look at, and the sooner the better, because the sooner it will prove that Ive done nothing wrong. And to show you how strongly I feel about that, Ive got some documents here you can take on your way out. Heres copies of my tax returns for the past 10 years, and heres my business records, showing every real estate deal Ive done with Russian oligarchs, the prices they paid me compared with market price, and so on. Please read them carefully and report on them. Why wouldnt I make them public, after all? The collapse of the Republican effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act is a monumental political defeat wrought by a party and a president that never took health-care policy or the need to bring coverage to millions of Americans seriously. But their bungling also demonstrates that the intense attention to Obamacare over the past six months has fundamentally altered our nations health-care debate. Supporters of the 2010 law cannot rest easy as long as the current Congress remains in office and as long as Donald Trump occupies the White House. On Wednesday, the president demanded that the Senate keep at the work of repeal, and, in any event, Congress could undermine the act through sharp Medicaid cuts in the budget process and other measures. And Trump, placing his own self-esteem and political standing over the health and security of millions of Americans, has threatened to wreck the system. Well let Obamacare fail, and then the Democrats are going to come to us, Trump said after it became obvious that the Senate could not pass a bill. But if Obamacare does implode, it will not be under its own weight but because Trump and his team are taking specific administrative and legal steps to prevent it from working. Im not going to own it, Trump insisted. But he will. And if Trump does go down the path of policy nihilism, it will be the task of journalists to show that it is the president doing everything in his power to choke off this lifeline for the sick and the needy. As long as repeal Obamacare was simply a slogan, what the law actually did was largely obscured behind attitudes toward the former president. But the Affordable Care Acts core provisions were always broadly popular, particularly its protections for Americans with preexisting conditions and the big increase in the number of insured it achieved. The prospect of losing these benefits moved many of the previously indifferent to resist its repeal. And the name doesnt matter so much with Obama out of office. (The Washington Post) To the surprise of some on both sides, the debate brought home the popularity of Medicaid, which for the first time received the sort of broad public defense usually reserved for Medicare and Social Security. The big cuts Republicans proposed to the program paradoxically highlighted how it assisted many parts of the population. This creates an opening for a new push to expand Medicaid under the ACA in the 19 states that have resisted it, which would add 4 million to 5 million to the ranks of the insured. Republicans also found, as they did during the budget battles of the 1990s, that when they tie their big tax cuts for the wealthy to substantial reductions in benefits for a much broader group of Americans, a large majority will turn on them and their tax proposals. For critics of the GOPs tax-cutting obsession, said Jacob Leibenluft of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, this episode underscores the importance of making clear the trade-offs of Republican fiscal policy. To win on tax cuts, the GOP has to disguise their effects or pump up the deficit. One Democratic senator told me early on that Republicans would be hurt by their lack of accumulated expertise on health care, since they largely avoided sweating the details in the original Obamacare debate after deciding early to oppose it. This showed. They had seven years after the law was passed and could not come up with a more palatable blueprint. The popular mobilization against repeal mattered, too. With Republican senators discovering opposition to their partys ideas in surprising places, pro-ACA activists drove two wedges into the Republican coalition. One was between ideologues and pragmatic conservatives (Republican governors as well as senators) who worried about the impact of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnells designs on their states. The other divide was within Trumps own constituency, a large share of which truly believed his pledge to make the system better. They were horrified to learn that they could be much worse off under the GOP proposal. A Post-ABC News poll this month found that 50 percent of Americans preferred Obamacare and only 24 percent picked the Republican bill. Trumps approval ratings are dismal, but the GOP plans were even worse. Defectors in the Trump base may have been the silent killers of this flawed scheme. And that is why a scorched-earth approach from the president would be both cruel and self-defeating. Americans now broadly support the basic principles of Obamacare. Republicans, including Trump, would do well to accommodate themselves to this reality. Read more from E.J. Dionnes archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke rides a horse at the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah on May 9. (Scott G. Winterton/Associated Press) With control over more than 500 million acres of public land and hundreds of millions of acres offshore, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is moving rapidly to promote American production of coal, oil and gas a critical piece of President Trumps vision for making America great again. In the past few weeks alone, Zinke has lowered the price companies must pay the government for offshore drilling; acted to accelerate approval for onshore drilling permits; approved exploratory drilling in the Arctics Beaufort Sea; and scheduled lease sales on Western land the Obama administration had deemed off limits. And Zinkes moves have had an immediate effect. While Trumps ambitious plans to overhaul the tax code and renegotiate international trade pacts remain far off, and his campaign to roll back environmental regulations will take months to produce results for industry, Zinke is taking concrete action to deliver on one of Trumps most important campaign promises. [Forecast of weak growth raises doubts about Trumps populist agenda] As a candidate, Trump pledged that within his first 100 days, he would lift the restrictions on the production of $50 trillion worth of job-producing American energy reserves, including shale, oil, natural gas and clean coal. Although federal rules prevent him from wiping out these curbs overnight, Trump has taken what he describes as historic steps to lift the restrictions on American energy, to reverse government intrusion and to cancel job-killing regulations. At this task, Trump remarked during an event at Interior in late April, Zinke is doing an incredible job. Elizabeth Gore, chair of the government relations practice at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, said Trumps clear vision on the subject has allowed Zinke to move ahead more quickly than some other appointees. They had very defined policy objectives from the get-go as opposed to some areas where were still struggling to get meat on the bones, beyond the bullet points, Gore said. Since taking office, Trump has issued two major executive orders on energy development, reversing several of President Barack Obamas signature climate rules, as well as limits Obama imposed on drilling in the Arctic, Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Interior officials have moved rapidly to implement those orders, citing them in multiple federal notices seeking big shifts in policy. [Trump signs order to expand drilling: Were opening it up.] On July 6, for example, as he outlined a new secretarial order aimed at speeding the oil and gas permitting process within the departments Bureau of Land Management, Zinke said: This is just good government, and will further support the presidents goal of American energy dominance. The department has repeatedly upended Obama-era rules that sought to extract higher royalty payments from the energy industry or set new limits on where and how companies can develop publicly owned resources. The same day Zinke moved to expedite permits, Interiors Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced that it would lower the rate companies must pay the government for shallow-water offshore drilling projects from a planned 18.75 percent to 12.5 percent. Months earlier, Interiors Office of Natural Resources Revenue suspended a new accounting system that would have compelled coal firms and other companies to pay millions of dollars in additional royalties on minerals on federal land. [Zinke and other Cabinet members who woo, but also singe, federal employees] Critics say these moves will imperil fragile habitats and the species that depend on them, while also depriving taxpayers of the returns they deserve on public resources. The moves also could slow the development of renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, critics say. In an interview, BLM Acting Director Michael Nedd said his agency strives to balance the need for energy with the need to safeguard the environment. One could argue I dont know, but one could argue that under the previous administration that scale could have been tipped too far on the environmental side and energy wasnt developed, he said. So right now, what were looking at is: How can we have that balance? Nedd said the administration is allowing firms to develop all forms of energy, including renewables, and then let the market choose. A gas flare burns as Jim Zumwalt, a driver with Black Hills Trucking, monitors a water tank while loading saltwater from an oil well storage tank near Sidney, Mont., in 2015. (Daniel Acker/Bloomberg News) Kathleen Sgamma, president of the Western Energy Alliance, a consortium of independent energy producers, met with Zinke in April to discuss federal energy policy. She and five top oil and gas officials from the group made the case to Zinke and his deputies that less restrictive federal rules would free their industry to create more high-paying jobs. We can help put working-class people back to work, the main constituency of President Trump, back to work, Sgamma said, adding that the new mind-set at Interior is very helpful. Environmentalists and some state officials are protesting the moves. Last month, the attorneys general for California and New Mexico filed suit in federal court challenging Interiors about-face on royalty payments for federal minerals, saying it nullifies much-needed, common-sense regulations that were formulated through a time-intensive rulemaking process. California and New Mexico also filed suit July 5 charging that the departments decision to delay implementation of a rule limiting methane emissions from oil and gas operations on federal land deprives them of millions of dollars in payments needed to support education. Kate Kelly, who served as a senior adviser to former interior secretary Sally Jewell and now directs the public lands program at the liberal Center for American Progress, said in an email that Zinkes singular focus on energy development is starting to shift how the department operates, particularly regarding the collection of royalties. One area of clear friction is Obamas identification of priority habitat for the dwindling numbers of greater sage grouse in 11 Western states. The plan took years to develop and received the approval of both Republican and Democratic governors. A rocky landscape surrounding the Fossil Quarry entrance of the Dinosaur National Monument, which is located in Colorado and Utah, reflects the geological forces that shaped the region. (John Kimble/For The Washington Post) Under Zinke, BLM already has scheduled lease sales in at least two areas in Utah and Wyoming identified as priority habitat for the birds. The agency is also moving ahead with a lease sale near Utahs Dinosaur National Monument, although the National Park Service had in the past objected the project. Leasing these lands, most of which do not even have high potential for development, according to the BLMs own analyses, has a lot of risk and not a lot of benefit except, presumably, to show that more leasing can be considered anywhere at any time, said Nada Culver, senior counsel at the Wilderness Society. [Zinke moves dozens of top Interior officials in massive shake-up] Recent developments in the energy market have made the federal government a less central player over the past decade, in part because of new oil and gas finds and easier leasing practices on private land. The federal share of crude oil production dropped from nearly 36 percent in fiscal 2010 to 21 percent in fiscal 2015, according to the Congressional Research Service, while its share of natural gas production dropped from nearly 33 percent in fiscal 2006 to just 16 percent in fiscal 2015. Federal land remains more central to coal production, accounting for about 40 percent of the coal thats burned in American power plants each year. Zinke lifted a year-long moratorium the department had imposed on federal coal leasing, but it is unclear how many buyers there will be: Several companies privately informed department officials last year that they had sufficient supplies for the near term. Given the continuing retirement of coal-fired power plants, fresh interest in federal coal leases may reflect a new period of speculation rather than a rise in demand, Tom Sanzillo, finance director for the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, said in an email. And Mike Cantrell, co-chairman of the Oklahoma Energy Producers Alliance, noted that public equity offerings in the shale oil industry dropped significantly this year. Opening up more federal areas to drilling could depress current prices even further. Still, Erik Milito, who directs the American Petroleum Institutes upstream and industry operations, said Interior is establishing the kind of stable regulatory regime that allows firms to make long-term plans. It will take some time, he said, but the signals are very positive. ALSO READ: Trumps wall: The inside story of how the president crafts immigration policy Tillerson stays close to Trump, but the State Department seems to be benched Sen. John McCain used his signature snark on Thursday to warn colleagues that he will be returning soon to Washington and chastised the Trump administration for ending assistance to moderate Syrian rebels battling the government of Bashar al-Assad. The twin statements served as reminders of the outsized role the 80-year old senator plays on Capitol Hill. Republicans badly need him to return as they try to shore up a weeks-long debate on a health-care overhaul. And he has been more willing than most Republicans to buck his party and the president to demand more decisive action to bolster the nations security, particularly in areas involving the countrys cyber defenses and posture against Russia. McCain announced late Wednesday that he has been diagnosed with a tumor called a glioblastoma after surgery to remove a blood clot above his left eye last week. The tumor is an aggressive type of brain cancer, and the prognosis is generally poor. The news sparked bipartisan calls for his swift return and public statements of support from Trump and his predecessors. Former president George W. Bush said on Thursday that he phoned his 2000 GOP presidential campaign rival to encourage him in his fight. Instead, he encouraged me, Bush said. I was impressed by his spirit and determination. He has devoted his life to his country. Thankfully, he is committed to continuing that service. Responding to the well wishes, McCain tweeted on Thursday, I greatly appreciate the outpouring of support unfortunately for my sparring partners in Congress, Ill be back soon, so stand-by! In a separate statement, he blasted reports that President Trump is ending the CIAs covert program to arm and train moderate Syrian rebels battling Assads government, a move long sought by Russia. If true, the administration is playing right into the hands of Vladimir Putin, McCain said in the statement. Making any concession to Russia, absent a broader strategy for Syria, is irresponsible and shortsighted. The administration has yet to articulate its vision for Syria beyond the defeat of [the Islamic State], let alone a comprehensive approach to the Middle East. [Whether he wanted to or not, McCain played an outsized role in Trumps campaign] The criticism signaled that no matter where he is, McCain intends to remain engaged. When he might return to Washington, however, remains in doubt. The Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, which diagnosed McCain, said that the senator and his family are considering treatment options, including a combination of chemotherapy and radiation. His office did not indicate on Thursday where he will undergo treatment and when he might return to the Senate. We look forward to seeing our friend again soon, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Thursday, and we hope hell be back in the very near future. McCains absence plunged the ongoing health care debate into further chaos. McConnell has vowed to hold a vote next week to begin formal debate on legislation to repeal the 2010 Affordable Care Act. With 52 Republicans and 48 Democrats in the Senate, the GOP can only afford to have one more senator absent or vote against the procedural motion to begin debate since Democrats all plan to vote against it. [5 questions about the brain cancer diagnosed in Sen. John McCain] On Thursday, one Republican holdout, Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.), said that he is willing to move ahead with the bill if certain concessions are made. But several other Republicans, including Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Dean Heller (Nev.), have not yet signaled what they will do. That makes McCains absence all the more difficult. Our focus is not on the missing vote. Its on Senator McCains health, Collins told reporters when asked about the stakes. And all of us are deeply saddened and shocked by the diagnosis. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said he was troubled to think that a terrible diagnosis was a factor in the fate of high-stakes legislation. But, he acknowledged, Practically speaking, you know that you have to put that in the vote count. As chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, McCain is also scheduled in the coming weeks to steer floor debate on the annual defense policy bill that sets military policy. McConnell announced this month that he would cancel the first two weeks of the scheduled August recess in order to allow debate and passage of the National Defense Authorization Act. [What John McCain learned from Ted Kennedy on challenging his own party] Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), the third-ranking Senate Republican, indicated that other senior members of the armed services panel probably could lead debate on the bill in McCains absence, but we need John here. Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), McCains closest friend in Congress, added that the Senate is likely to wait for McCains return to consider the defense bill. He also echoed McCains disdain for Trumps latest reported moves on Syria. The decision to stop supporting opposition forces to Assad in my view is a complete capitulation to the Russians, to the Iranians, to Assad, he said. It is a betrayal of the Syrian people who have been slaughtered by Assad and Russia and Irans support for them it is a strategic mistake, it puts our allies in a bad spot, and it diminishes our standing. Other than that its a good idea. In an interview, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) recalled that he and McCain bonded over cold pizza as they led the bipartisan Gang of Eight senators who spent hours toiling over details of the 2013 comprehensive immigration reform bill. The measure ultimately died, but was heralded by members of both parties as a good-faith compromise bill. He was so good, he knew when to hold, he knew when to fold. He worked for the good of the eight not just himself, Schumer said. He is such a needed guy around here, he added. The number of people who have the ability to say what they think even if other people dont like it including the president you can count on a couple of hands. Hes one of them. Sean Sullivan and Kelsey Snell contributed to this report. Read more at PowerPost Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) has been planning for a conservative primary challenger for several years, particularly after joining the unsuccessful 2013 bid to revamp immigration laws and create a path to citizenship for some undocumented immigrants. Now, however, Flake finds himself battling not just conservatives in the August 2018 Republican primary but also the constant chatter that President Trump is out to knock him off because of their clashes during the 2016 campaign. Potential rivals have been open about their discussions with White House officials over challenging Flake, including one meeting that involved the brother of White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon. The moves have angered senior Republicans, especially because antagonizing any senator is not smart when leaders need every possible vote to resuscitate the floundering health-care proposal and pursue the rest of the GOP policy agenda. Trump probably didnt help matters at a White House meeting Wednesday, when he singled out Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.), whom White House officials seated next to the president, as well as Sens. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah), for their opposition to the health-care bill. In each case, he cracked jokes that doubled as veiled threats that their political futures could stumble if they cross him. Flake has decided to stay the course and remain a Trump antagonist whenever he feels that the president has crossed a line. I have no doubt I can make my life, as far as reelection, a lot easier if I was just a go-along-to-get-along guy. But, you know, its not worth it. Its not worth it to be here if youre not going to try to accomplish something, Flake said Wednesday in an interview. Unlike his potential challengers, Flake has decided not to discuss his 2018 reelection with anyone inside the White House, not even his close friend Vice President Pence. Flake and Pence arrived together in Congress in 2001, becoming fast friends as rebels against an iron-fisted leadership team of House Republicans. In Flakes view, he was more of a rebel in those days toward House Republican leaders and President George W. Bushs White House than he is today. I opposed No Child Left Behind, the presidents signature initiative, along with Mike Pence; I opposed the prescription-drug benefit, the presidents signature initiative, along with Mike Pence, Flake said. I opposed the presidents Cuba policy for eight years. Did that make him a pariah to Bush? President Bush came and did a fundraiser for me, Flake said. I [voted] with him most of the time, and thats how the White House usually works. They realize that no senator is there as a rubber stamp. White House officials have tried to deny that Trump has intended to threaten senators. Theres not a sense of a veiled threat, Marc Short, Trumps director of legislative affairs, said at Wednesdays White House news briefing. The presidents been pretty direct in his words, and hes right now saying, This is what you promised. Short said Trump would campaign for Heller and any other Republican who wants him during next years midterm elections. Flake believes he has done little to anger Trump this year. He counts one vote against Trumps position the Russia thing, as he put it, when he was part of a 97-to-2 roll call supporting tougher sanctions against Russia. GOP leaders do not appreciate the stories about White House meddling in the Arizona primary. I dont think thats productive, particularly right now, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), the majority whip, said Wednesday. The former chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Cornyn fought with factions of the party over primaries and does not think its useful. But he said that he has not had time to talk to White House officials about Flake and other Senate primaries. That Flake, 54, has morphed from a House rabble-rouser into some sort of moderate establishment figure in the Senate says more about todays conservative movement than his own ideology. So much of the ethos seems to be about anger and political posture, how much a Republican is willing to scream into the wind or, more to the point, on cable news promising absolute confrontation. And that, without question, is not Flakes demeanor. His Democratic colleagues still recall that his first Senate speech was about comity and working together. He possesses a near-constant smile, even when expressing deep regret. Flake is, in his demeanor, possibly the most anti-Trump member of the Senate. He has embraced his senior senator, John McCain (R-Ariz.), as a mentor in his bipartisan approach and wariness toward Trump. Flake campaigned furiously on McCains behalf last summer during his own primary challenge, prompting the mischievous 80-year-old to often joke that if he only had Flakes looks, he would be president by now. McCain said he wants to return the favor for Flake on the trail next year, but that came into question with his brain cancer diagnosis late Wednesday that shook the Senate and left it unclear when McCain could return to work. He counts Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) as a text-messaging buddy. When Kaine was picked as the Democrats 2016 vice presidential nominee, Flake joked on Twitter that he was counting the ways I hate Kaine. Drawing a blank, he wrote as a way to congratulate his good friend. On Tuesday, Flake defended one of his Democratic challengers, Deedra Abboud, from hateful messages posted on her Facebook page because she is Muslim. Sorry you have to put up with this. Lots of wonderful people across AZ. Youll find them, he wrote. He wears his decency on his sleeve often, and that cant be said of everybody around here, said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). Kaine, Murphy and Flake are part of the class of 2012, a group that has forged an old-fashioned bipartisan bond even as they joust over policy. That set up a clash with Trump from the very beginning, when he launched his campaign in the summer of 2015 by targeting undocumented Mexican immigrants. The first one, the comment, I think the first day, about Mexican rapists, Flake recalled Wednesday. It was just, I thought, uncalled for. A few weeks later, Trump demeaned McCains military service for getting shot down over Vietnam. By the summer of 2016, at a Trump meeting with Senate Republicans, Flake challenged Trump from the outset. Im the other senator from Arizona the one that wasnt captured, he said in the private meeting. He never endorsed Trump, and by the time an Access Hollywood tape was released in October 2016, revealing Trumps comments about groping women, Flake called for him to withdraw from the race. If the president wants to recruit a primary opponent, thats his prerogative. He can do that, Flake said, having begun a full-fledged effort to build a strong campaign for next year. Ive had issues with other Republican presidents on policy, maybe not as many. But anyway, thats what you do if youre a senator. Thats what you should do. Read more from Paul Kanes archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. A new gene therapy drug, the first in its class, was recommended for approval to the US Food and Drug Administration by an advisory committee on Wednesday. If approved by the FDA, the agency would consider it the first gene therapy to hit the market. The drug may provide a second chance to some leukemia patients whose first-line drugs have failed. A panel of experts voted to endorse the immunotherapy drug, known as tisagenlecleucel, which treats a type of leukemia that is more common among children. Ten committee members voted in favor, and one left early without voting. None voted against. The drug enables patients' own immune cells to recognize and kill the source of the cancer: a different immune cell gone awry. "Which one wins is really the question of life or death," said Dr. Catherine Diefenbach, clinical director of lymphoma at the NYU Perlmutter Cancer Center. Diefenbach, who was not involved in researching the drug and has no ties to its manufacturer, Novartis, described its results as "astounding." The research presented to the committee studied the drug as a treatment for the relapse of a blood cancer known as B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or ALL. This is the most common type of cancer among children, according to the National Cancer Institute. Nearly 5,000 people were diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2014, the most recent year on record, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although more than half of those with this diagnosis were children and teens, they represented only 14% of those who died that year. The vast majority of people with ALL recover through other treatments, including chemo, radiation and stem-cell transplantation. But if the cancer comes back, the prognosis can be dire. "The patients who are left behind when chemotherapy doesn't work are left in really tough shape," Dr. Stephan Grupp, director of the Cancer Immunotherapy Program at Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania, said Wednesday at the FDA advisory committee's meeting. His hospital is one of 26 clinical centers that participated in the study, and he served as the lead investigator there. As such, he has studied and treated patients with tisagenlecleucel for over five years and receives research support from Novartis. But the drug has side effects that can be fatal, such as cytokine release syndrome or CRS, which "looks like sepsis" and causes blood pressure to drop dangerously low, said Diefenbach. This could limit the drug's availability to those hospitals that are specially equipped to deal with this complication, she added. In this pivotal study informing the committee's decision, roughly half of 68 patients receiving the drug experienced high-grade CRS, though none died from it. Slightly fewer patients experienced neurological side effects, such as seizures and hallucinations, according to the committee's briefing document. And because the treatment kills one type of immune cell, patients are more likely to come down with certain infections. At least three patients died with various infections -- including viral, bacterial and fungal -- more than a month after the drug's one-time infusion, according to the brief. But the overall effectiveness of the drug and the lack of other options seem to have won the committee over: Based on the available data, patients had an 89% chance of surviving at least six months and a 79% chance of surviving one year or more, with the majority being relapse-free at that point. "They're taking some people that had uncurable diseases and potentially turning them into curable diseases," said Dr. Joshua Brody, director of the Lymphoma Immunotherapy Program at Mount Sinai's Icahn School of Medicine. Brody has helped design trials for similar drugs but not for Novartis. Tisagenlecleucel is a type of immunotherapy called chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, or CAR-T. CAR-T drugs like tisagenlecleucel are made by removing immune cells from a patient, genetically modifying them using a virus and putting them back into the patient. The virus creates a new cell receptor -- which is, in Novartis' case, part mouse -- that targets another receptor on the cancer cells: CD19. This modification of the cells causes them to attack the cancer cells. By modifying immune cell DNA, this method could, in theory, lead to other cancers -- a longtime concern for gene therapy. But researchers have found no cases of this happening with the CAR-T treatment so far. Brody said it could take decades to conclusively say this does not happen. "We've never seen this theoretical thing," Brody said, arguing that the chance of any adverse event happening is certainly smaller than the certain death of relapsed cancer. "It's not an opinion. This is straightforward numbers." Brody said personalized immunotherapy treatments like this one require that patients use their own immune cells because they would "almost never (find) a match" in an off-the-shelf product. "You can put someone else's red blood cells into you," he said. "You can almost never put someone's (immune) cells into you." "This therapy will no doubt save the lives of many children and young adults who have had no other effective therapy," said Dr. John Maris, a pediatric oncologist at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and leader of the SU2C-St. Baldrick's Pediatric Cancer Dream Team. "This is truly a turning point in the management of this disease." Kite Pharmaceuticals has another CAR-T drug up for FDA priority review for the treatment of lymphoma. The Novartis drug would not be the only FDA-approved drug to target CD19; Amgen's blinatumomab treats ALL using this target, but "it's overall not quite as good" as the data coming out of the Novartis trials, Brody said. The FDA previously approved Amgen's T-VEC, which injects a modified herpesvirus into melanoma cells, causing them to rupture. The same goes for personalized immunotherapy: Dendreon's Provenge was FDA-approved to treat prostate cancer in 2010, for example. Novartis refers to the drug as immunotherapy, not gene therapy. The FDA, however, would classify it as gene therapy. The FDA does not have to follow the recommendation of their advisory committees, although it often does. The agency declined to comment on when it would issue a final decision on the committee's recommendation. Novartis expects the FDA to make a final decision by October but declined to comment on the drug's potential price tag. CNN's Daniella Emanuel contributed to this report. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has been diagnosed with a brain tumor, his office said Wednesday, throwing into doubt when and if he will return to Washington to resume his duties in the Senate. The Mayo Clinic said doctors diagnosed a tumor called a glioblastoma after surgery to remove a blood clot above McCains left eye last week. The senator and his family are considering treatment options, including a combination of chemotherapy and radiation, according to the hospital. McCain, 80, has been away from the Senate this week, recovering from the surgery and undergoing tests. His office issued a statement describing him in good spirits and noting that his doctors say his underlying health is excellent but not indicating when he will return to the Senate. Glioblastoma is an aggressive type of brain cancer, and the prognosis for this kind of cancer is generally poor. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) survived less than 15 months after his was found in 2008. McCains doctors said the tissue of concern was removed during the blood-clot procedure. [5 questions about the brain cancer diagnosed in Sen. John McCain] (Ashleigh Joplin/The Washington Post) McCains significance inside Congress is hard to overstate and his absence, however long, will reverberate across the Capitol. The Arizonans illness leaves Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and by proxy President Trump, who has openly mocked the Arizona senator with 51 votes, the barest of majorities at a time when Republicans are divided on such issues as health care, taxes and defense spending. McCains absence would also deprive the Senate of its moral conscience on many key issues, particularly in the ongoing investigation of the Trump campaigns potential involvement in Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign. Colleagues from both parties reacted swiftly to McCains announcement with sadness and encouragement. Trump exhorted McCain to get well soon and declared the senator a fighter. Former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton both tweeted their good wishes. McConnell said: I know that he will face this challenge with the same extraordinary courage that has characterized his life. The entire Senate familys prayers are with John, Cindy and his family, his staff, and the people of Arizona he represents so well. We all look forward to seeing this American hero again soon. [Give it hell: Obama, lawmakers react to John McCains cancer diagnosis] Senator John McCain (R-AZ) questions former FBI Director, James Comey as he appeared before the Senate Intelligence Committee in the Hart Office Building on Thursday June 08, 2017. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post) McCain, a prisoner of war in Vietnam and a two-time presidential candidate, is known for his unfiltered opinions and willingness to buck Republican Party orthodoxy. Along with Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), perhaps his closest friend in the Senate, McCain has become one of Trumps leading Republican critics, particularly on issues of foreign policy and national security. Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) said the news of McCains diagnosis was announced during a meeting between GOP senators and White House staff on health care. Hoeven said the news left the group in stunned disbelief. It was very emotional, Hoeven said. I think for all of us hes a special person. Graham also attended the meeting and told others there that he had spoken with McCain and described him as resolved and determined. He said, Im going to have to stay here a little bit longer and take some treatments, but Ill be back, Graham said of McCain. He said, Ive been through worse, and basically then we started talking about health care and the NDDA a reference to the National Defense Authorization Act. McCain has staunchly defended Trumps national security team he has particular respect for Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and national security adviser H.R. McMaster. But McCain has criticized the president for campaigning on a promise to fortify the countrys defenses without, in his view, devoting enough money to the task. McCain has also criticized Trumps apparent affinity for Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, warning that Russia is an enemy that should not be trusted and becoming one of the earliest Republicans to lend his support to a congressional investigation of Russias ties to the election. John McCain has always been a warrior. Its who he is, said House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.). I know John is going to fight this with the same sheer force of will that has earned him the admiration of the nation. And all of us, not as Republicans or Democrats, but as Americans, are behind him. The prayers of the whole House are with Senator McCain and his family. McCains formal title is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, but McConnell essentially deputized him after his second presidential bid, in 2008, to run all national security issues for Senate Republicans. But McCains standing from his stature borne of overcoming torture in Vietnam to his denunciations of Trump as a candidate and as president reaches far across the aisle. He is an iconic figure as beloved by Democrats as Republicans. Almost every major bipartisan deal of the last 15 years has come with McCains backing, on issues including immigration, outlawing torture and the Senates internal rules. Democrats line up to travel with McCain overseas because foreign leaders treat him as if hes a prime minister, winning audiences that are usually reserved for a secretary of state. His fights with fellow senators have been legendary, but so have his dealmaking skills. Heartbreaking news, wrote Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Twitter. He said he traveled the world with McCain and learned a lot from him. Murphy added: there is no one tougher. In a written statement she posted on Twitter, McCains daughter, Meghan McCain, said the news of her fathers illness has affected every one of us in the McCain family. She said they live with anxiety about what comes next, which they have endured before. McCain has a history of melanoma, a dangerous form of skin cancer. She added, it wont surprise you to learn that in all this, the one of us who is most confident and calm is my father. He is the toughest person I know. The cruelest enemy could not break him. McCains absence could complicate the fate of the annual National Defense Authorization Act, massive legislation that McCain has played an outsized role in shepherding through Congress since he took over as chairman of the Senates Armed Services Committee in 2015. From that perch, McCain has made a name for himself attempting to hold contractors to account over stalled projects while driving an overhaul of the acquisition process. He has pushed for greater investments to improve the quality and availability of materiel and training, an expansion of the U.S. military footprint abroad, particularly in hotspots like Afghanistan and Iraq, and an unprecedented focus on improving the countrys ability to safeguard against cyberthreats and hacking. McCain was relentless in his criticism of Obamas understanding of national security, accusing him of compromising the nations security by making nuclear deals with Iran and pulling troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq. But McCain was also open to working with the president to explore closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. That effort ultimately failed. McCains absence from the Senate this week came as GOP leaders struggled to bring their failing push to rewrite the 2010 Affordable Care Act to a conclusion. Leaders had intended to vote on a bill this week but postponed their plans late Saturday after McCain said he would be out recovering from the surgery to remove the blood clot. On Monday, McConnell scrapped plans to vote on the bill altogether once it became clear it would not have the support to pass even with McCain in town to vote. McCain had voiced skepticism about the GOP repeal and replace plan. It was unclear that he would ever get to yes on it. About 12,400 new cases of glioblastoma are expected in 2017, according to the American Brain Tumor Association. It is the most common of all malignant brain tumors, and a tumor that more commonly occurs in older adults than younger people. Matthias Holdhoff, an associate professor at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, said the first step after a diagnosis is to surgically remove as much of the glioblastoma as possible. But that can be difficult; it is a tumor that spreads through extensions into the tissue, more like a mesh work than a lump. Its not just a matter of the cancer, but where it is and what its doing to the patient, said Chevy Chase, Md., oncologist Frederick Smith, speaking generally about glioblastomas and not specifically about McCains case. A blood clot over the eye tends to indicate the tumor was in the brains frontal lobe, which controls cognition among other things, he said. Again speaking generally of patients with this diagnosis, they might be fine for a number of months or even years. But they are never cured. Lenny Bernstein, Laurie McGinley, Kelsey Snell, Lena H. Sun and Ed OKeefe contributed to this report. Read more at PowerPost For hour after hour Wednesday, members of the House Appropriations Committee sat around tables inside a cramped room on Capitol Hill and dutifully processed amendments to bills that would spend a combined $200 billion to keep federal agencies open next year a day after they learned those bills may never see the House floor intact. Republican leaders announced Tuesday that they plan to bring a package of 2018 spending bills to a vote next week. It would probably be the last item passed in the chamber before members depart for a five-week summer recess. But in the latest instance in which the House GOP has flinched from the basic responsibilities of governing, that package is set to include only four of the 12 yearly appropriations bills. That has exposed tensions inside the GOP over how its leaders have approached the annual spending cycle. Since Republicans reclaimed the House in 2010, appropriations bills have been painstakingly negotiated with Democrats because, ultimately, President Barack Obama would have to sign them. With President Trumps election, however, many House Republicans were expecting a change. The move to pass only a handful of bills has, for now, dashed that expectation. There is an overwhelming frustration that this looks like this is the same pattern, that we are on the same spinning hamster wheel that we have been on for the last few years, said Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.), chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee, which has pushed to insert more GOP policy priorities in spending legislation. Republicans have struggled for years to garner enough votes among their ranks to pass spending bills. Many members say the bills simply spend too much money; others shy away from funding agencies they do not support. But the practical effect each year is to empower Democrats: In order to avert routine government shutdowns, Republicans have parleyed and ultimately agreed to spend at mutually negotiated levels and discard poison pill policy provisions. Things might have been different this year. A cadre of Republican appropriators, led by Rep. Tom Graves (R-Ga.), had pressed their colleagues in recent weeks to combine all 12 spending bills into a single $1 trillion omnibus and pass it before the summer recess in order to assert GOP policies to put our markers down on what we believe as Republicans in our priorities for our country, Graves said Wednesday and give the party a better negotiating posture ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline. The bills processed by the Appropriations Committee so far this year are calibrated to boost defense spending and cut other spending in keeping with Republican priorities. They also include GOP-favored changes such as curbs on the Internal Revenue Service, provisions to block the Dodd-Frank financial regulation law and numerous antiabortion restrictions. Under orders from House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), appropriators rushed to complete their bills the final two were set to emerge from committee Wednesday and party leaders polled lawmakers Monday on whether they wished to proceed with the combined bill. The answer, according to several knowledgeable members, was a resounding meh. Appropriators and a handful of others were enthusiastic, but most rank-and-file members said they simply did not know enough about the bills and what amendments might be added. They dont know whats going to be the final product, so theyre not willing to commit to it, and leadership doesnt want to take that chance with the last week, said Rep. Dennis A. Ross (R-Fla.), a deputy whip. So under the House GOPs Plan B, the military, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Energy and Congress itself would be funded, along with a $1.6 billion down payment on the Mexican border wall proposed by Trump. The remainder of the federal bureaucracy would be left for another day most likely for a hard-nosed bipartisan negotiation with Senate Democrats that will leave numerous GOP initiatives on the cutting-room floor. I think our hand has been weakened, Graves said. A Republican aide on the Appropriations Committee said members expect to complete the eight other bills in September: All this work isnt for naught. But members have their doubts, and Democrats pointed to the move as the latest evidence of the GOPs inability to govern alongside a moribund health-care bill and a House budget that is struggling to win support from enough Republicans. They hold the majority; they insist on this go-it-alone approach, and when they go it alone, they cant produce anything, said Linda T. Sanchez (D-Calif.), vice chairwoman of the House Democratic Caucus. Theyre incapable of governing, doing basic things to keep the lights on for the country, and it shows that theyre very fractured. James T. Walsh, a former Republican House member who chaired several Appropriations subcommittees during the 1990s and early 2000s, recalled that it was not always so hard to pass spending bills in a GOP-controlled House. We used to get 375, 385 votes for these bills. It was a lot easier then, because there was something in it for members, he said referring to spending earmarks, which were abolished in 2010 after pay-for-play scandals. Theres always a lot of reasons to vote against a big bill, Walsh said. Its easier to explain. But back in the old days when we had earmarks. . . they could go home, and they could say, Hey, I wasnt crazy about this bill, but heres what we got. They cant do that anymore. Instead, Republican appropriators now find themselves in a cycle that Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), an appropriator, described as deja vu all over again. Were just in some quicksand right now, he said. People are finding different reasons to be no on things, and when youre in the governing majority, youve got to get to yes. Read more at PowerPost Donald Trump Jr. (left), and Paul Manafort (right) have been scheduled to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee the same week as the Senate Intelligence Committee plans to interview Jared Kushner (center). (Brian Snyder, Carlo Allegri/Reuters) The Senate Judiciary Committee has preapproved subpoenas to force former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and the presidents son Donald Trump Jr. to appear before the panel if they do not accept by Friday evening an invitation to appear next week. Committee chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) said Thursday that Manafort, Trump Jr. and a third invited witness, Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson, have until Friday night to accept the invitation to testify in a public hearing scheduled for Wednesday. If they do not accept, Grassley said, subpoenas would be issued almost immediately. Weve already authorized the orders, Grassley said, explaining that the committees top Democrat, Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), had also signed off on the orders in advance. She and I dont have to take any action its already been taken. A member of Manaforts legal team said they are considering the Judiciary Committee request, understanding that they have until Friday afternoon to respond. Previously, a Manafort spokesman said the former Trump campaign chair was cooperating with the Senate and House Intelligence panels and had not decided which committee to respond to first. The lawyer for Trump Jr., Alan Futerfas, did not respond to requests for comment Thursday. [Senate Judiciary Committee to seek testimony from Trump Jr. and Manafort] But on Wednesday night, a lawyer for Manafort indicated that his client was still trying to determine which congressional panel to appear before first. Trump Jr.s lawyer, Alan Futerfas, did not respond to requests for comment about his clients plans. Grassley scheduled the two senior Trump campaign surrogates to appear before the panel the same week as the Senate Intelligence Committee plans to interview the presidents senior adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner. That interview is scheduled for Monday, according to Kushners lawyer although on Thursday, the Senate Intelligence Committees top Democrat, Mark R. Warner (Va.), indicated the committee was also planning on a second audience with Kushner. The Monday meeting is just a staff interview, Warner said, indicating he was not planning to attend because Im going to see him at another time. Warner did not specify when. [Kushner to speak to Senate intelligence panel Monday as part of Russia probe] Kushner, Manafort and Trump Jr. are all expected to be queried about their interactions with Russian nationals and, specifically, about their participation in a June 2016 meeting in Trump Tower that was pitched to Trump Jr. as an opportunity for a Kremlin-connected lawyer to offer the Trump campaign damaging information about Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. There were eight individuals present at the meeting, with the Russian side being represented by Natalia Veselnitskaya, a lawyer who had lobbied against the human rights sanctions bill known as the Magnitsky Act and its successor, the Global Magnitsky Act; Rinat Akhmetshin, a Russian-American lobbyist with experience serving in a Soviet military intelligence unit; Ike Kaveladze, a U.S.-based employee of a Russian real estate company who was once the subject of a congressional inquiry into money laundering; and a translator. Music producer Rob Goldstone, who had helped broker the meeting, was also present. [Eighth person in Trump Tower meeting is identified] Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) said Wednesday that all eight of those individuals will be important to us and that the committees going to reach out to everybody we feel has some contribution to make. Grassley has not indicated whether the Judiciary Committee plans to call as witnesses all of the others who were in that meeting. But Burr has scheduled Manafort and Trump Jr.s testimony to occur concurrently with the testimony of two other witnesses: Simpson of Fusion GPS and William Browder, the chief executive of Hermitage Capital Management, which employed Sergei Magnitsky, the Russian after whom the bills Veselnitskaya has lobbied against were named. Browder filed a complaint last year that Grassley has seized upon in recent months, alleging that Fusion GPS acted as an unregistered agent of the Russian government. Fusion is a research firm that is behind an unverified dossier detailing various salacious and otherwise compromising details of Trumps activities in Russia. It once did research for the legal team representing the Russian company Prevezon in a civil court case; Prevezon is the company for which Veselnitskaya works. Tom Hamburger contributed to this report. Read more at PowerPost Ted Kennedy liked to tell a favorite story about Sen. John McCain. The Massachusetts Democrat and the Arizona Republican were on the floor of the Senate and became distracted by a heated debate between two freshmen senators. Just for the fun of it, Kennedy and McCain launched into the fray. As one spoke, the other circled the chamber, pretending to be agitated. They bellowed away at each other. Finally, they scared the freshman senators off the floor, leaving them unsure why their legendary colleagues had ever joined the debate on an issue neither particularly cared about. At that, Kennedy and McCain went back to doing what they did best, mastering the Senate and crafting a bipartisan deal that would overwhelm the opposition. Ted and I shared the sentiment that a fight not joined was a fight not enjoyed, McCain said during a speech seven years ago inside Bostons John F. Kennedy Presidential Library. Then-Sens. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) appear with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) after a Senate immigration bill passed in May 2006. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post) He was delivering a eulogy at the memorial service of my friend Ted, days after Sen. Edward M. Kennedy had succumbed to a form of brain cancer known as glioblastoma. Sometimes fierce opponents, sometimes mischief-making partners, Kennedy and McCain helped define what the modern Senate could be, or at least should be. Now, their shared bond has taken a brutal turn: McCain has been diagnosed with the same brain cancer that cut Kennedys life short at 77. The Arizonans office announced that he is considering several medical options, including chemotherapy and radiation a path that Kennedy chose during his 15-month bout with the disease. It is unclear when McCain will return to the chamber, but his friends have reported that he expects to stay involved while fighting the cancer. On Thursday morning, McCain issued a statement criticizing President Trumps decision to end assistance to Syrian rebels battling the government of Bashar al-Assad. The administration is playing right into the hands of Vladimir Putin, McCain wrote with his tendency not to mince words. After a 2008 seizure led to his brain cancer diagnosis, Kennedy made very few appearances in the Senate, trying to help monitor the debate over the Affordable Care Act from his home on Cape Cod. If McCains appearances are as few and far between as Kennedys were, it will leave a gaping hole in the Senates fabric. [McCain escaped death twice as a Navy pilot and survived five years as a POW] Learning from more senior colleagues such as Kennedy, McCain has become a force unto himself in Congress, a power center with more sway on some issues at times than whoever holds the title of Senate majority leader. There is no other senator in the rank and file who wields that much clout. The last to do so was Kennedy. (Victoria Walker/The Washington Post) In the minority or majority, McCain uses his identity to shape the issues, and over the past year, nowhere has that fiercely independent status been more prevalent than in challenging Trump. Through his perch as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, McCain has become Trumps most high-profile critic of his attempt to steer a new course toward relations with Russia. The 2008 Republican presidential nominee has called for a full investigation into the presidents 2016 campaign and its ties to Russian operatives. The first sign that something might be wrong with McCain came at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing with James B. Comey testifying. His questions to the fired FBI director were confused and befuddled, almost making it appear that McCain was defending Trump. He wasnt, or at least he didnt mean to. Some wondered whether it was fatigue or something worse. This week, we learned it was worse, much worse. In his tributes to Kennedy over the years, McCain credited his more senior colleague with teaching him how to be a great senator. I admired his passion for his convictions, his patience with the hard and sometimes dull work of legislating, and his uncanny sense for when differences could be bridged, McCain told the Boston crowd in 2009. Theirs was an unlikely pairing. As he recounted in an oral history for the Edward M. Kennedy Institute, McCain initially viewed the liberal lion as a bit of a bully and perhaps too passionate in expression of his views. Kennedy was a playboy in his early years, while McCain served in the Navy and was held captive in Vietnam for 5 years after his fighter jet was shot down. But they both came from dynasties in which they played the role of the underperforming neer-do-well. Kennedys older brothers included war heroes, a president and an attorney general, while young Ted needed family strings just to win a Senate seat. McCains grandfather and father were Navy legends, four-star admirals who helped command the Pacific fleet during World War II and the Vietnam War. John S. McCain III was the class clown at the Naval Academy, constantly in trouble. Together, Kennedy and McCain found common cause in the Senate, and there, in many ways, they forged bigger legacies than anyone in their respective families. Combined, their service adds up to 77 years, and counting, in the chamber. Neither could resist the presidential temptation Kennedy in 1980, running in the Democratic primary against Jimmy Carter; McCain, falling short in 2000 to George W. Bush, then winning the 2008 GOP nomination only to lose decisively to Barack Obama. In a twist of fate, Kennedy provided a critical symbolic launch to Obama by endorsing the first-term senator in the Democratic primary, setting him on the path to an electoral college rout. The friendship never wavered. During the presidential campaign, Ted never said anything about me, McCain said. The Kennedy-McCain bond first blossomed during arcane policy hearings of the sea power subcommittee, where they realized their shared interests often outweighed their ideological distance. You never had even a small doubt. . . once his word was given and a course of action decided, McCain said in his eulogy. They both utilized a wicked sense of humor that left everyone at ease once the laughter ended. The nicest thing about his laughter is that it was genuine, McCain told the EMK Institutes oral history. Kennedy never called McCain by his first name only, always saying, Oh, John, as if he had two first names. It made McCain smile. Kennedy may have been called the liberal lion, but he had deep pragmatism that let him work with Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) in creating the Childrens Health Insurance Program and with McCain on the Patients Bill of Rights. Neither achieved what Kennedy called the cause of my life, what became the Affordable Care Act, but they moved the ball forward in the direction of that cause. Kennedy challenged presidents of both parties some Carter allies never forgave him for the 1980 primary and he did not hesitate to challenge his own leader. He rolled over fellow Democrats who objected to his work with the Bush White House on education and prescription-drug legislation. McCains clashes with his party leaders perhaps hit a crescendo in December, when he personally delivered to Comey an unverified dossier about Trumps ties to Russia. Two months after Kennedys death, McCain told his oral history interviewer that he missed him every day, expecting to turn the corner and see him in the Russell Senate Office Building, where they both worked. Oh, John, McCain recalled Kennedy saying after any memorable Sunday news show appearance. I saw you on Sunday, and you really gave us hell, didnt you? In March 2015, McCain again trekked to Boston, for the EMK Institute grand opening, next to the JFK Library. No one told the Phoenix resident that the event was outdoors and to prepare for a typical Boston day that went from 55 degrees and sunny to 35 with snow squalls. He later confessed that he borrowed a topcoat from one of Obamas Secret Service agents to endure the cold, before taking the stage to pay tribute to Kennedys Senate career in the same way we all hope it will be some day far in the future McCains colleagues will remember him. I miss my friend. I miss him a lot, McCain told the crowd, just after he finished telling the story about the time they scared those freshman senators. I knew I would when I said six years ago that the Senate wouldnt be the same without him. And it hasnt been. I have no doubt that the place would be a little more productive and a lot more fun if he were there. Read more from Paul Kanes archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. U.S. Sens. Jon Tester and Steve Daines of Montana are working to free Guthrie McLean, a University of Montana student detained in China this week. Daines' office confirmed Wednesday the U.S. Consulate in Wuhan will meet shortly with McLean, a UM senior majoring in East Asian studies. Chief of Staff Jason Thielman said Daines' office is working with the U.S. Embassy, Chinese Embassy and Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing, who all are coordinating with local police to expedite the case. Daines lived in China from 1991 to 1997 when he worked for Proctor and Gamble. Thielman also said the U.S. Embassy and national Chinese government officials are telling local government authorities to resolve the situation as quickly as possible. McLean grew up mostly in China and traveled to Zhengzhou in May to visit his mother, Jennifer McLean, who teaches there. She said he planned to visit historic sites and a panda rescue center and leave China for the U.S. on August 29. However, Chinese police arrested him Sunday and demanded money for his release a few weeks after an altercation between the McLeans and a cab driver, according to Jennifer McLean. She and a family friend are calling the apprehension a "shakedown." Tester, in a letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and U.S. Ambassador to China Terry Branstad, urged fast action on behalf of the UM student. "It is my understanding that Guthrie has not yet been able to contact his mother nor has he been able to contact U.S. officials about his detention," Tester wrote. "For that reason, I strongly urge you and the U.S. Embassy in Beijing to provide diplomatic intervention to secure his timely release." McLean has been in custody at a detention center since July 17 but has not been formally charged, the letter said. Tester expressed frustration about the difficulty of obtaining information on the case. He also requested a brief conversation with Branstad for an update on McLean's situation. In her correspondence to Thielman, Jennifer McLean continued to stress the need for intervention on behalf of her son. She said he had been cut off from communications and she feared police were stalling contact with the U.S. Embassy. "The police relayed several messages to me yesterday morning saying my son is in distress and wants me to pay the police," she wrote. "If the police admit he is in distress, then the Embassy has a compelling reason to act." A few weeks ago, relatively few people in India had heard of Ram Nath Kovind. But on Thursday the countrys Parliament and state leaders selected the low-caste septuagenarian to be Indias president, the constitutional head of state. Born in a mud hut in an impoverished village, Kovind, who is from the Koli weaver caste, rose to become a Supreme Court lawyer and later a politician with the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). As president, his role is mostly ceremonial, but he does have certain powers the right to issue presidential pardons to those facing the death sentence, for example. His victory, by a two-thirds majority, was widely predicted after he was selected by the governing coalition led by Prime Minister Narendra Modis BJP. Analysts said that his selection was an effort on the part of the party to woo lower-caste voters. Generations of oppression, coupled with limited economic opportunity, long kept senior political positions out of the reach of most low-caste Dalits, once known as untouchables. Kovind is the second Dalit president since Indias independence; the first was Kocheril Raman Narayanan, who was president from 1997 to 2002. Modi tweeted congratulations to Kovind on Thursday, as well as a photo of the two men together in their younger days. In earlier tweets, the prime minister carefully avoided mention of Kovinds Dalit status, presenting him instead as a representative of people from poor socioeconomic backgrounds. I am sure Shri Ram Nath Kovind will make an exceptional President & continue to be a strong voice for the poor, downtrodden & marginalised, he wrote. In recent months, BJP-led policies have antagonized low-caste leaders. Efforts to curb the sale of beef, by which many Dalit communities subsist, have led to public lynchings by self-styled cow protectors, who believe the animal is sacred in the Hindu religion. [In rebuke to Modi government, Indias high court suspends ban on trade of cattle for slaughter] The nomination of high-caste Yogi Adityanath to the coveted position of chief minister in Indias most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, was also seen as pandering to the partys high-caste voter base. The BJP has been at the wrong end of the political spectrum due to the rising number of atrocities committed against the Dalits during their regime, said Praveen Rai, political analyst at the Center for the Study of Developing Societies, based in New Delhi. By selecting him on Dalit identity, it hopes to [calm] the rising tempers of the community and win back their votes for the next general elections in 2019. For weeks ahead of the presidential vote, Indian newspapers and magazines detailed Kovinds virtuous beginnings: that he would walk miles to the next village to attend high school, that he could recite sacred texts from memory as a 15-year old, that he once solemnly corrected a politicians Hindi mispronunciation at a swearing-in ceremony a testament to his devotion to the Indian constitution. The opposition candidate, Meira Kumar, also born a Dalit, was reportedly chosen to split the electoral college along gender lines, a strategy that failed miserably, Rai said. Sonia Gandhi, head of the opposition Indian National Congress party, had presented the election as an ideological battle. We cannot and must not let India be hostage to those who wish to impose upon it a narrow-minded, divisive and communal vision, she said, according to NDTV. Over the years, Kovind has been close to the Hindu nationalist organization known as Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the right-wing ideological parent of the BJP supporting its causes but never actually participating in its daily meetings, according to India Today magazine. Though a BJP stalwart, his distance from the Sangh meant his nomination was palatable to secularists, analysts said. Analysts say that Kovind has repeatedly shown deference and a willingness to be a yes-man, especially in his previous role as governor of Bihar, where he loyally backed state initiatives including a controversial liquor ban. A profile in India Today suggested that he will be an unobtrusive president, leaving the limelight for Modi. Read more: Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news Clashes broke out at the entrance to the al-Aqsa Mosque compound Thursday night between Muslim protesters and police, as tension mounted over Israels implementation this week of metal detectors at the gates of the holy site. Dozens of Palestinians were injured in the violence and at least five police officers received medical attention, according to media reports. The heightened security measures were put in place Sunday after an attack last Friday in which two Israeli police officers were fatally shot by three Palestinian Israeli gunmen. The gunmen, who Israeli police say came from inside the holy complex, were killed in a shootout with police. Muslim leaders in Jerusalem have called on their followers to descend on the mosque on Friday, the Muslim holy day, in a form of protest against the metal detectors, which they believe are an attempt by Israel to force its sovereignty at the sensitive site. The Israeli military has been put on high alert, media reported. A Palestinian protester holds a copy of the Koran, Islam's holy book, and shouts slogans in front of Israeli security forces during a demonstration in Jerusalem's Old City on July 20, 2017, against new Israeli security measures at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing increasing diplomatic pressure from the Palestinians and much of the Arab world to remove the metal detectors. Netanyahu met with security personnel late into the evening Thursday to decide whether to remove them. An official told The Washington Post earlier Thursday that the prime ministers position had not changed since security consultations early in the week. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters. In a statement Saturday, Netanyahu said: I held a discussion with the top security leadership and I instructed that metal detectors be placed at the entrance gates. He maintained his position as tensions have risen in Jerusalem this week. [Gunmen kill 2 Israeli police officers at entrance to Jerusalem mosque complex] The holy site is revered by both Muslims and Jews. For Muslims, who refer to it as the Haram al-Sharif, it is the spot where the prophet Muhammad is said to have started his night journey to Mecca. Al-Aqsa is Islams third-holiest site after Mecca and Medina. Israeli security forces stand guard as Palestinian Muslim worshipers pray outside the Lions Gate, a main entrance to the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, July 20, 2017. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images) Jews refer to the site as the Temple Mount. It is Judaisms holiest site, said to contain the foundation stone of the worlds creation, the place Abraham was instructed by God to sacrifice his son, Isaac, and once the site of two Jewish temples. Israel and Jordan share responsibility for running the site under a complicated status quo agreement that has been in place for decades. Any change to that agreement by either side is seen as a provocation. Under the arrangement, Muslims are allowed to enter and pray freely, while Jews and other visitors can go inside but are forbidden from praying there. After last Fridays attack, the compound was shut down by Israeli police as they swept the site for more weapons and tried to understand how such an assault could have happened. It was the first time that Muslim worshipers were not able to enter since 1969. The site was reopened Sunday, but only for residents of Jerusalem. It was slowly reopened to other Muslims throughout the week, although with heightened security measures, including the metal detectors. [Israel implements controversial security measures at holy site] In a protest against the new security arrangements, the Waqf, or Islamic trust that runs the site day-to-day, instructed Muslim worshipers not to enter. Clashes have continued just outside the gates between Muslim protesters and Israeli police, who have used riot-dispersal methods, such as rubber bullets, to control the growing crowds. A showdown between worshipers and police is expected Friday, the Muslim holy day, unless Israel removes the metal detectors and relaxes its security. This is a new procedure in order to prevent people from worshiping and is given under the excuse of security, said Ibrahim Awadallah, deputy minister of the Waqf committee in Jerusalem. We are not talking about a supermarket or a nightclub or an airport where you need an electric gate. The number of worshipers who come to al-Aqsa is huge. Metal detectors will delay them, not to mention humiliate them, he said. Awadallah said Muslims fear that Israel plans to divide the compound and give part of it to Jewish worshipers. Some senior Israeli ministers and political leaders have broached the prospect in the past. I am leading the effort against lone-wolf terrorism in Israel, and one of the characteristics is that they copy each other, said Israels minister of public security, Gilad Erdan. Friday's terrorists have been glorified, and others might follow in their footsteps when others realize the Temple Mount is a place you can smuggle weapons and explosives into. Many, many mosques around the world have exactly the same security checks, and many use metal detectors. Any protest over this is really an issue over who has sovereignty at the Temple Mount, said Erdan, who oversees Israels police force. He said that both he and the police are urging the prime minister to keep the metal detectors in place. [Jewish activists want to pray on Temple Mount, alarming Muslims] The police believe they can handle any unrest that might happen in Jerusalem, he said. In a statement Wednesday, the White House said it was concerned about the tensions in Jerusalem and has urged Israel and Jordan to find a solution. Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the police were ready to deal with the large number of people expected to show up at the mosque to worship Friday. If the security measures stay as they are, then whoever goes through the metal detectors will be able to pray at the mosque, he said. Israeli legislator Yaakov Peri, a former head of Israels general security agency Shin Bet, called the situation in Jerusalem fragile and sensitive. Its in the interest of everybody Islam, Judaism, governments, people, Jews and Palestinians to try to protect these holy places better than they were protected before the act of terror, he said. Every sensitive holy place in the world is protected, and I dont think Israel adding tools to tighten security means there is a change in the status quo. Sufian Taha contributed to this report. Read more: Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news Marc and Debra Tice, the parents of missing American journalist Austin Tice, during a news conference in Beirut on Thursday. (Jamal Saidi/Reuters) The parents of missing American journalist Austin Tice said Thursday that they are fully confident their son will be released from captivity in Syria, and they urged his captors to contact them ahead of the fifth anniversary of his disappearance near Damascus. Marc and Debra Tice, speaking at a news conference in Beirut, encouraged anyone with information on their sons whereabouts to come forward, pledging to work with any government or group to win his freedom. Tice, a former Marine and Georgetown University law student, vanished Aug. 13, 2012 two days after he turned 31. His stories from Syria including vivid front-line dispatches appeared in The Washington Post, McClatchy newspapers and other news outlets. We are willing to cooperate with any government or group in order for our son to return home, said Debra Tice, who has made numerous trips to Damascus to investigate her sons disappearance. Syria at the time was on the verge of a full-blown civil war. Our message has been the same for five years, she said. We are just asking whoever is holding Austin: What is going to be required to resolve this issue and bring Austin safely home? Tices parents said Thursday that they would not speculate on the identity of their sons captors. U.S. officials have said they believed Tice was being held by the Syrian government but little progress has been made in finding out the details of his captivity. In June, the New York Times reported that CIA Director Mike Pompeo had opened up a back channel with the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, with the goal of securing Tices release. That line of communication, however, was reportedly abandoned after President Trump ordered strikes on a Syrian air base as punishment for a chemical-weapons attack on civilians in Idlib province in April. (In June 2012, Tice wrote a Washington Post story from Khan Sheikhoun, the site of the chemical-weapons attack). The Tices declined to comment on the Times report but said they have been pleased with the speed and engagement with which the Trump White House has approached their case. The administration has prioritized the release of captive Americans abroad, including Egyptian American Aya Hijazi, who was held in Egypt, and the now-deceased Otto Warmbier, who had been imprisoned in North Korea. For us, I think, the main thing is that there is absolutely no evidence that he is not alive, Marc Tice said of his son at the news conference. We are working with the confidence that he is alive and hell come home safe. It is just a matter of excruciating time. Syrian officials have denied knowledge of Tices location. The only time his captors reached out to prove he had been taken was six weeks after he vanished, when a brief video showing Tice blindfolded on a hillside was uploaded to YouTube. In the video, Tice is surrounded by armed men. Oh, Jesus. Oh, Jesus, he can be heard saying. In a posting on its website that was updated last month, Paris-based Reporters Without Borders, a media advocacy organization, said without further explanation that Tice is alive and he is not being held by ISIS, as the Islamic State extremist group is widely known. A representative of Reporters Without Borders said at Thursdays news conference that Tice is the last American journalist detained in Syria. We need another chance to communicate with him, Debra Tice said. In a message to her son, she said: We dont give up. Were waiting. Were ready. Well get you home. Hang in there. Cunningham reported from Istanbul. Read more Austin Tice: Its nice and all, but please quit telling me to be safe. U.S. hostage Peter Theo Curtis is freed after nearly two years in Syria The anatomy of a failed hostage rescue deep in Islamic State territory Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news The would-be terrorist who tried to blow up Brusselss main transit hub last month had plenty of ambition but no discernible talent. His homemade bomb, a suitcase stuffed with nails and camp-stove gas canisters, caught fire as he wheeled it into the station, sending passersby fleeing before the device could properly explode which it failed to do. The only casualty was the bomb-maker himself, an Islamic State sympathizer who was shot and killed as he lunged at police, armed only with his fists. As an act of terrorism, the June 20 attempt was a merciful failure. Yet it also bore hallmarks that are becoming increasingly familiar to Western officials who monitor attacks by the terrorist group in countries around the globe: simple plots, crude weapons and inexperienced perpetrators who act alone, without apparent direction or training. A State Department report released Wednesday underscores the persistence of the terrorist threat posed by the Islamic State, which despite military setbacks posted a record number of attacks and fatalities in 2016, surpassing all other militant groups worldwide. But at the same time, the sophistication of the groups operations is slipping, suggesting that counterterrorism measures arrayed against the militants are taking a toll, U.S. and European counterterrorism officials say. With its Iraqi and Syrian sanctuaries nearing collapse, the Islamic State is facing new difficulties in dispatching operatives to targets, and its communications and financial networks are under unprecedented strain, analysts said in interviews. As a result, they say, terrorist leaders are becoming ever more reliant on volunteers who lack training and act with little or no coordination or guidance. We are talking really about low-key losers, said a senior Belgian law enforcement official, describing what he called a shift in the predominant terrorist threat his country faces. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence assessments, said that Belgiums biggest problem is no longer the foreign fighters or returnees, but the homegrown, who never left for Iraq and Syria. [Trump cuts covert aid to anti-Assad rebels in move favored by Moscow] The implications are mixed. Some lone-wolf attacks can be extremely effective, as in the case of the May 22 suicide bombing in Manchester, England, that killed 23 concertgoers and wounded 250. Moreover, plots by solitary actors are more difficult to detect and disrupt, and the number of potential volunteers can be vastly larger, compared with trained terrorist cadres in sleeper cells. But the trend also is viewed as further evidence of disarray within the Islamic State, a terrorist organization that once seemed unstoppable. Nearly unnoticed among the recent military victories against the group are countless smaller successes, U.S. and European officials say, ranging from the targeting killings of the Islamic State operational commanders, to the shuttering of financial networks, to the disruption of dozens of plots by intelligence and law enforcement officials worldwide. The groups increasingly urgent appeals for lone-wolf attacks are proof that such efforts are working, said Justin Siberell, the State Departments acting coordinator for counterterrorism. ISIS directed its followers to attack in their home countries rather than attempt to travel to the conflict zone, Siberell said. He described the pleas as an acknowledgment of the more difficult environment within the groups self-proclaimed caliphate. Most analysts predict that terrorist attacks will continue and perhaps increase in the near term. But the setbacks are making it harder for the militants to plan and execute the kind of sophisticated operation that could inflict widespread damage and large numbers of casualties, said Daniel Benjamin, who helped direct the State Departments counterterrorism efforts during the Obama administration. In this June 20, 2017 photo a man blows up an explosive device in the station in Brussels. The man was shot by soldiers afterwards in what prosecutors are treating as a "terrorist attack." He lay still for several hours while a bomb squad checked whether he was carrying more explosives and later died. No one else was hurt. (Remy Bonnaffe/AP) The improvements never seem like enough, especially in an era when you can have a motivated individual carrying out a truck attack or using semiautomatic weapons to spray gunfire, said Benjamin, who heads the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth College. Some of these things you wont be able to stop. But overall, the organized conspiracy has become much more difficult. The State Departments report, called Country Reports on Terrorism 2016, is a global assessment of terrorism trends in 2016, a year in which the Islamic State retained control of much of northern Iraq and eastern Syria and helped guide numerous large-scale terrorist attacks abroad, including airport bombings in Brussels and Istanbul. Even as terrorist attacks overall fell by more than 9 percent that year, the Islamic State remained the most potent terrorist threat to global security, the report said. The groups operatives carried out more than 1,100 attacks worldwide that claimed more than 9,000 lives, the bulk of them in Iraq. [Bin Ladens son steps into spotlight as al-Qaeda seeks comeback] Yet by late last year, the international coalition battling the Islamic State had also achieved significant successes that would impede the groups ability to carry out attacks, State Department officials said. The most crucial step was the liberation of terrorist-held cities and towns along the Turkish border, which had long served as conduits for newly arriving recruits as well as experienced operatives heading north into Europe. Those exits are effectively sealed, U.S. officials say. Foreign fighters are not coming into Syria anymore, Brett McGurk, the U.S. envoy to the coalition fighting the Islamic State, said in a briefing last week. And those who are already in Iraq and Syria weve been working very hard to make sure that they can never get out. By late 2016, hundreds of militants had returned to Europe, some of them blending in with the streams of Syrian and Iraqi refugees heading north. But with each liberated Iraqi town and city, the U.S.-led coalition has seized troves of computer data, including personal details and photos of thousands of Islamic State recruits. In recent months the data has been shared with U.S. allies from northern Europe to Southeast Asia, leading to dozens of arrests, counterterrorism officials say. Other initiatives some of them secret have shut down communication networks used by the Islamic State to send instructions abroad. Even the number of social media channels used by the militants has plummeted, from 40 active sites in 2015 to just 19 at the beginning of 2017. Meanwhile, the Islamic States cash supply has dwindled to the point that the group constantly struggles to meet its payroll, with little or nothing left over to send to regional affiliates or to finance terrorist operations abroad, said a senior U.S. counterterrorism official who tracks the groups finances. Were seeing pay cuts for fighters and pay cuts for employees, missing payments, deferred payments, more criminal activity to supplement incomes, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence assessments. We see them trying to hide money, perhaps for personal gain or to make sure they have something after the caliphate falls. But its very hard. [As ISIS retreats in Syria, U.S. and Iran scramble for control] As the pressures increase, so do the pleas from Islamic State leaders for outside help. Last week, as the last of Mosuls neighborhoods were being retaken by Iraqi forces, the terrorist group posted an appeal in its online magazine, Rumiyah, urging lone-wolf supporters to strike blows against the West using any means available. The message even called for the kidnapping of children to raise money for the terrorist group. Invest your time in everything that enrages the kuffar [infidel], affects and weakens them, destroys their morale and inflicts the great damage upon them, the article said. Make this your habit for yourself and your family. The same edition included an article lionizing perpetrators of failed attacks, including Oussama Zariouh, the 36-year-old man behind the unsuccessful bombing of the Brussels train station on June 20. Previous postings have suggested elaborate weapons and plots, from chemical toxins to coordinated train derailments. But more recent messages have emphasized simpler methods. One missive, posted in late June, included elaborately detailed instructions on how to obtain the right kind of truck for running over pedestrians. The tone of the message hinted at impatience and exasperation. Cannot one of you stab a filthy Crusader, it asked, or run him over with your car, or throw him from a high place, or put poison in his food? [He says he went to Syria to save his wife from ISIS. Now he sits in prison] [U.S. lacks system for spotting, defusing homegrown terror threats] [Opinion: Mosul points the way to victory over ISIS] Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Thursday that he plans to stay in his job despite comments from President Trump that he would not have nominated Sessions to the post had he known that he would recuse himself from the investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign. Sessions said that he had the honor of serving as attorney general, and that he plans to continue to do so as long as that is appropriate. Asked whether he could keep running the Justice Department given Trumps comments, he responded: Im totally confident that we can continue to run this office in an effective way. But Sessionss public expression of confidence masked deeper private tensions regarding his position in the administration and his rapport with a president who once turned to him as a confidant and policy guide. Since his decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation in March, Sessions has rapidly lost his standing as one of Trumps most trusted advisers and has drifted from the presidents inner circle, according to two White House officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to be candid. Trump has frequently cited Sessionss recusal to aides in private as one of the reasons he thinks his administration is under siege on Russia matters and has vented to friends that Sessionss decision has left him vulnerable to attack, the officials said. In recent weeks, those complaints from Trump have not abated as the White House has dealt with near daily twists regarding Russia. Trump has turned to new legal advisers on those developments rather than his longtime ally Sessions, who was the first senator to endorse Trump at a time when few in the Republican establishment supported the candidate, and has felt increasingly isolated from the White House, people close to Sessions and Trump say. Although Sessions and his deputies are in close touch with some Trump advisers on issues of law enforcement, they are no longer driving the presidents thinking or highly influential with Trump as he navigates the controversies and plots out his agenda. The attorney general speaks less regularly with the president, these people say, and instead has buried himself in his work at the Justice Department putting in place some of the policies Trump touted on the campaign trail, in essence remaining an ally but not a confidant. Deputy White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Thursday that although the president was disappointed in Sessionss decision to recuse himself, clearly he has confidence in him or he would not be the attorney general. There was minimal communication between the White House and the Justice Department following Sessionss statement Thursday that he wouldnt resign, according to people in the administration. Justice Department officials said they were not surprised to hear the presidents criticism of Sessions, because they have been aware for months of Trumps anger about the recusal. Sessions, who served as a prosecutor before his career in the Senate, described the attorney general job Thursday as something that goes beyond any thought I would have ever had for myself and showed no sign of being ready or willing to resign from his job. A Justice Department news conference Thursday took on a surreal quality with Sessions announcing a major case busting a shadowy online marketplace that became a hub for drug trafficking. It should have been a triumphant moment for the Justice Department in its effort to crack down on crime and narcotics, a top priority for the president. Instead, Sessions faced reporters questioning how he could continue serving as attorney general. Were serving right now, he said. The work were doing today is the kind of work that we intend to continue. On Wednesday, the New York Times published highlights from an interview with Trump in which the president suggested that he regretted nominating Sessions. Sessions should have never recused himself, and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before he took the job, and I would have picked somebody else, Trump said, according to the New York Times. Sessionss recusal came in March after The Washington Post reported that he had met with Russias ambassador to the United States and had not disclosed the contacts when the matter came up at his congressional confirmation hearing. When Sessions announced the recusal, he cited his involvement with the Trump campaign. [Sessions met with Russian envoy twice last year, encounters he later did not disclose] Trump said Sessionss recusal was unfair to him as president. How do you take a job and then recuse yourself? he said. If he would have recused himself before the job, I would have said, Thanks, Jeff, but Im not going to take you. Its extremely unfair and thats a mild word to the president. In the attorney general role, Sessions has proved to be one of Trumps most loyal foot soldiers, methodically enacting policies the president supports on criminal justice. When Sessions directed federal prosecutors nationwide in April to make immigration cases a higher priority, for example, he declared in no uncertain terms, This is the Trump era. Sessions, 70, has been working long hours. He arrives at the Justice Department from his Capitol Hill home every day about 6 a.m., said several people who work with him. The back of the nameplate on his desk that he has had since he was the attorney general of Alabama says, Be prepared, a reference to his days as an Eagle Scout. He has breakfast, a bowl of oatmeal heated in his microwave, in his fifth-floor office overlooking Constitution Avenue, people close to him said. Then he works out on a treadmill in a side room and showers before his meetings start at 8:20 a.m. He often doesnt leave work until 8 p.m. After a bruising confirmation battle, Sessions arrived at the Justice Department in February with big plans to undo many of the Obama administrations policies on criminal justice. [Jeff Sessions testifies: Refuses to say whether he spoke to Trump about Comeys handling of Russia investigation] With the Russia scandal enveloping the White House, Sessions has forged ahead with his agenda aimed at empowering law enforcement and putting more criminals behind bars. One of Sessionss most significant changes has been to reverse an Obama-era policy aimed at changing how prosecutors treat nonviolent drug offenders, part of an effort to end mass incarceration. Sessions, instead, has instructed lawyers to pursue the most serious, readily provable offense, including charges that carry mandatory minimum sentences. He also overturned the Obama administrations decision to stop using private prisons. This week, Sessions issued a new policy on asset forfeiture to increase seizures of cash and property by police undoing another policy by his predecessor designed to curb abuse by law enforcement officials. Sessions also has begun a campaign to step up the deportation of undocumented immigrants, adding 25 immigration judges to handle deportation proceedings with the promise of 125 more over the next two years. The attorney general has vowed to punish sanctuary cities by withholding federal funding. Sessions is going in a different direction on voting rights issues, reversing the departments position on a Texas voter ID law that several courts have found unconstitutional. He has tied a recent increase in violent crime in some cities to a lack of respect for police officers and vowed that his department will be more supportive of law enforcement. Sessions has ordered Justice Department lawyers to review all reform agreements with troubled police forces nationwide to ensure that they dont work against Trump administration goals and he tried to delay moving forward with a police consent decree in Baltimore. Next week, Sessionss task force on crime reduction is set to present him with recommendations on a range of policies, including federal drug policy on marijuana. Sessions has argued for years that the Justice Department should enforce federal laws regarding marijuana, even as states have legalized the drug. But Sessions also has faced roadblocks, including his deteriorating relationship with the president. At one point in recent months, things grew so tense between Trump and his attorney general that Sessions offered to resign. Nearly six months into his tenure, the attorney general also has faced a personnel vacuum at the highest levels of the department and in field offices nationwide. The nominees to head the Justice Departments criminal, civil and national security divisions, as well as the designated solicitor general, have not had Senate confirmation hearings. And although 25 of 93 U.S. attorneys have been announced by the White House, none have been confirmed. Only two Senate-confirmed U.S. attorneys are in place across the country and they were appointed by President Barack Obama. [Sessions greenlights police to increase seizures of cash and property from people suspected of crimes but not charged] Sessionss weekends have been consumed with trying to find candidates to fill key positions to implement his law enforcement agenda. Former Justice Department officials say that acting U.S. attorneys and other high-ranking officials do not operate with the same authority as those who are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Were all a little frustrated about the delay and the time that it takes to get our folks confirmed, Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein said. It certainly would be easier to have everybody on board more quickly. Armand DeKeyser, Sessionss former chief of staff in the Senate, visited the attorney general in his new office earlier this spring. There were a lot of empty offices, said DeKeyser, executive director of the Alabama Humanities Foundation. He said, I am trying to get people up here as quick as I can. He kind of laughed and said, I need some help up here. Devlin Barrett contributed to this report. Read more: Sessions offered in recent months to resign as attorney general Trumps hard-line actions have an intellectual godfather: Jeff Sessions Trumps pick for attorney general is shadowed by race and history Attorney General Jeff Sessions, along with FBI Acting Director Andrew McCabe, speaks to the media about an international cybercrime enforcement action at the Justice Department. (Jim Lo Scalzo/European Pressphoto Agency) The Justice Department announced Thursday that it had shuttered an illicit Internet marketplace for drugs, firearms and fake documents in what Attorney General Jeff Sessions said was the largest dark Web takedown in world history. AlphaBay was a site on the dark Web where users whose identities were masked could engage in substantial buying and selling of illicit goods. The Justice Department said that one AlphaBay staff member claimed that it served more than 200,000 users and 40,000 vendors. About the time of the takedown, there were more than 250,000 listings for illegal drugs and toxic chemicals, and more than 100,000 listings for stolen and fraudulent identification documents and access devices, counterfeit goods, malware and other computer hacking tools, firearms and fraudulent services. This is likely one of the most important criminal investigations of this entire year, Sessions said. [Suspected AlphaBay founder dies in Bangkok jail after shutdown of online black market] AlphaBays founder, Alexandre Cazes, 25, a Canadian citizen who was residing in Thailand, apparently killed himself while in custody in Bangkok this month, the Justice Department said, and prosecutors have moved to seize his and his wifes assets throughout the world. Cazes had been charged with crimes including conspiracy to engage in racketeering and conspiracy to distribute narcotics. Although the marketplace might have been little known outside the shadowy world of the dark Web, officials said it produced real-world consequences. Sessions said investigators had found instances in which drugs purchased on AlphaBay were used in overdose deaths. In one instance, Sessions said, a 13-year-old boy died after overdosing on a synthetic opioid a junior high classmate had purchased on AlphaBay. He said investigators found 122 vendors on the site advertising fentanyl, and 238 advertising heroin. Its called dark not just because these sites are intentionally hidden, Sessions said. Its also dark because of whats sold on many of them. In 2013, federal authorities shut down a similar online drug marketplace called Silk Road. Its founder, Ross Ulbricht, was sentenced to life in prison in 2015. Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe said AlphaBay was about 10 times the size of that marketplace. U.S. authorities said they worked with law enforcement officials in several other countries including Britain, Canada, France, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Thailand to bring down AlphaBay. Their efforts, they said, coincided with Dutch authorities shuttering another illicit online market, known as Hansa Market. Although authorities stressed that the takedown was significant, they also acknowledged that other illicit online marketplaces would crop up or move in to take its place. U.S. officials said they are aware of and investigating hundreds of services for secret online transactions of drugs and illicit goods. Like AlphaBay, the services operate on the dark Web a collection of websites accessible only by using specific services to help hide users identities. AlphaBay operated on what is known as the Tor network, in which data accessed through a browser is passed through multiple relays, masking a users IP address. Transactions were conducted using digital currency, and the marketplace took a cut of the proceeds when the deals were completed. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson at the White House in June. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) Secretary of State Rex Tillersons close relationship with President Trump was on display during Trumps formal sit-down with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this month in Germany. He was the only other U.S. official present, apart from an interpreter, for the most anticipated diplomatic meeting of the new administration, held as Trump and Putin were attending the Group of 20 summit. The picture was one of a trusted envoy at the center of the action. Back in Washington, however, the State Department that Tillerson leads is adrift. (The Washington Post) Trump is his administrations loudest and most-watched voice on foreign policy and has consolidated decision-making among a small group of trusted aides and family members at the White House. Tillerson meets with the president most days the two are in Washington and takes calls from him at all hours on his mobile phone. But diplomacy, or at least the kind the State Department traditionally conducts, has seemed a low priority for a president who is openly skeptical of international entanglements. [Graphic: The U.S. foreign aid budget visualized] There were early signs that the State Department would be benched. Trump put his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who had no foreign policy background, in charge of Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking. And he disregarded the advice of Tillerson and the State Department when he decided to leave the Paris climate accord. Diplomats breathed a sigh of relief when Trump did not quickly lift punitive sanctions on Russia that many of the State Departments senior leaders had worked for years to impose, and when he backed off his harshest criticism of China as a currency manipulator. Similarly, Trump has signaled that he will not immediately abandon the State Department-negotiated Iran nuclear deal. But in each case, current and former department employees said, the State Departments voice was muted or regarded with a measure of suspicion. Several credited the addition of similar recommendations from the Pentagon for changing Trumps mind. The nations oldest Cabinet department has a hollowed-out feel these days. Six months into Trumps presidency, most of the top jobs remain unfilled, and lower-level hiring is largely on hold. Theres a lot of stuff where its not clear theres anybody at the helm, said Ronald Neumann, a former ambassador who is president of the American Academy of Diplomacy. Theres a sense of incoherence in the way they fire people without replacements, shuttle people into the job and then have to shuttle somebody else into that job. Tillerson wants to restructure the department to reduce its size and get rid of overlapping areas of responsibility. Congressional critics, including numerous Republicans, told Tillerson last month that streamlining may be a good idea but that empty desks and large budget cuts are not. Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) opened a hearing on the State Department budget by praising Tillersons straight-talking style, while warning him that he has a lot to learn. Graham took Tillerson on a rhetorical tour of trouble spots, including Syria, North Korea, Ukraine and the Persian Gulf, among others. The U.S. secretary of state has to confront all of them, the veteran senator told Tillerson. Youre the man, Graham said. Youre going to do all that and cut the budget by 29 percent? Tillerson has made clear that he thinks the departments structure and functions need reforming for the 21st century. He has told diplomats that he has seen the benefits of periodic management overhauls. [Tillerson tells State Department employees that budget cut reflects new priorities] But his timeline for change extending to late 2018, or halfway through the presidential term is languorous by the standards of Washington political cycles. A senior adviser, R.C. Hammond, said Tillerson, a mechanical engineer by training, has approached the job methodically. First he huddled with Trump and the national security team, a job set back by the sudden resignation of national security adviser Michael Flynn. Then he proceeded in charted phases. First he laid the groundwork for the most pressing problem, trying to coax China into turning its back on North Korea over its nuclear program. A South Korean soldier walks past a television screen showing an image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, seated, during a news broadcast on the countrys ballistic missile launch on July 4. (Seongjoon Cho/Bloomberg) In the first six months, we set up an entire new direction with our policy toward North Korea, he said. Its not because the administration changed. Its because of world events. Now, Tillerson is trying to improve relations with Moscow despite growing questions over its attempts to disrupt the U.S. election, and he is wading into the crises in Syria and the Persian Gulf. Hammond dismissed the narrative that Tillerson is isolated from the staff. He said he has met frequently with desk officers and advisers on hot spots that he is training his attention on. And he is known for insisting that his schedule block out dedicated hours for reading briefing papers. People mistake the value of face time versus reading time, Hammond said. This is a guy who gets excited reading instructions from Ikea. Hes a mechanical engineer who reads and analyzes. He spends a lot of time with the guys who work on China and the Middle East. The information he needs to do the job is dictated by what the president is looking for. In the next six months, Hammond said, Tillerson will speak frequently on the immorality of human trafficking, the wisdom of nuclear nonproliferation, and cooperation with Mexico to combat the drug cartels. This was the plan all along, Hammond said of Tillersons pace. Hes not adjusting because of criticism. Hes staying on the railroad track he laid out for himself, and continues chugging along. Tillerson has begun to project his own role more aggressively. That became publicly noticeable when he introduced the annual human trafficking report last month. Six weeks earlier, he had skipped the rollout of the annual human rights report entirely, a sharp departure from previous secretaries of state who used it to underscore the centrality of human rights to U.S. foreign policy. But when the human trafficking report came around, Tillerson was front and center in the opulent Benjamin Franklin room, with several prominent members of Congress in attendance. Talking off the cuff as the cameras rolled, he struck themes similar to those of his immediate predecessor, John F. Kerry, saying that the consequences of our failure to act in this area has so many other negative impacts around the world: It breeds corruption; it undermines rule of law; it erodes the core values that underpin a civil society. He was willing to infuriate Beijing with the report, which downgraded China to a ranking reserved for the worlds worst offenders. He spoke scornfully and at length of China using North Korean guest workers whose pay goes directly to Pyongyang despite its nuclear weapons program. At the G-20 summit in Hamburg, the man who in March described himself as not a big media press access person stood comfortably in front of a room of reporters, answering their questions and even making light of first lady Melania Trumps unsuccessful attempt to break up the meeting with Putin when it ran long. After months of watching silently while the White House grabbed the big items in the foreign policy portfolio, Tillerson and the State Department are edging to the forefront of several foreign initiatives. He has appointed a special representative to push U.S. views and help shape negotiations over the war in Ukraine, where an agreement mediated by the French and Germans has languished for years. In the Syrian war, the State Department was involved in weeks of negotiations to get an agreement for a cease-fire in the southwest, and Tillerson hopes the cooperation he has sought with Russia will lead to a further cessation of hostilities elsewhere in the country. And Tillerson spent several days in July flying around the Persian Gulf trying to help end a trade and diplomatic embargo placed on Qatar by its neighbors. At the end of that trip, Tillerson told reporters that he hoped he had nudged the squabbling parties closer, and he suggested that he is more comfortable with that part of the job than he is navigating political Washington. Saudi King Salman, right, receives U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Saudi Arabia this month. (Saudi Press Agency via Associated Press) It is a lot different than being CEO of [ExxonMobil], because I was the ultimate decision-maker. That always makes life easier, Tillerson said. Neumann said it is perhaps too easy to criticize Tillerson and the new administration for sidelining the State Department. Tension between the department and the White House National Security Council is nothing new, he noted, nor is a tug-of-war over influence in policy decisions. The larger question looming over the department, Neumann said, is how diplomacy figures in an administration that still feels ad hoc and that is continually buffeted by Trumps own behavior. Its one thing having policies under debate. Its another to have policies that have to be reversed because the president is undercutting his own Cabinet secretaries, Neumann said. President Trump has never described the work of his administration in modest terms. He boasts about the record-setting pace of accomplishments. Six months in, we look at how Trumps government is working. ALSO READ: Trumps wall: The inside story of how the president crafts immigration policy In the push to deliver on campaign promises, Interiors energy drive looms large Will proposed cuts undermine Trumps vision of energy dominance? Syrian rebel commanders said Thursday that they were disappointed in the Trump administrations decision to end a covert CIA weapons and training program for opposition fighters, an initiative that began under President Barack Obama but fizzled out amid battlefield losses and concerns about extremism within rebel ranks. We definitely feel betrayed, said Gen. Tlass al-Salameh of Osoud al-Sharqiya, a group affiliated with the Free Syrian Army. Salameh and his deputies say that they have received CIA support to rout the Islamic State from areas of eastern Syria but that they have also fought battles against pro-government forces. It feels like we are being abandoned at a very difficult moment, Salameh said. It feels like they only wanted to help when we were fighting [the Islamic State]. Now that we are also fighting the regime, the Americans want to withdraw. Salameh and others, reached by phone Thursday, said they had only read about the decision, which was first reported by The Washington Post, in reports translated by local news media. The commanders were unclear how the policy to end the program would be implemented or whether their fighters would be affected. Others pointed to President Trumps warming relations with Russia, a staunch backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Both the U.S. and Russian governments have said the priority is to fight the Islamic State. A truck drives down a destroyed street in a rebel-held area in Daraa on July 19. (Mohamad Abazeed/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images) The picture is not clear for us yet, but I think it is a very bad move, Col. Ahmed al-Hammadi, a Free Syrian Army commander in the Damascus countryside, said of the decision. It will give a boost to the Assad regime and strengthen the Iranians, he said, referring to Irans substantial support for Assad. And it will weaken Americas influence in Syria and the region. [Trump ends covert CIA program to arm anti-Assad rebels in Syria] But it also put an official end to what analysts say had become an ineffective and largely defunct program, blunted by Russias military intervention to prop up the Syrian regime in 2015, which dealt a devastating blow to the rebels. The weapons and resources the CIA provided were very little when compared with what Russia and Iran have sent to the regime, Salameh said. It made a difference, but not a massive one, he said of the CIA support. Its not like the U.S. is sending us planes or ground troops. The Obama policy was, in fact, designed to provoke a battlefield stalemate which the administration hoped would lead to a negotiated end to the conflict. It began in 2013, with training and weapons for rebels vetted for extremist ties. This included groups such as northern Syrias Division 13 and the Yarmouk Army in the south, and they put Assad on the back foot. But then Russia intervened with warplanes and battleships, and with the United States focused on the Islamic State, the rebels have struggled ever since. The program played an important role in organizing and supporting the rebels, said Lt. Col. Ahmed al-Saud, who commands the Division 13 rebel group in Idlib province. He said that this wont affect our fight against the regime, the Islamic State or Nusra, which is the former name of Syrias al-Qaeda affiliate. But he also expressed disbelief that the United States would end its support. I dont think this is going to happen, he said. America is a superpower. It wont just retreat like that. Habib reported from Stockholm. Zakaria Zakaria in Istanbul contributed to this report. Read more: Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news Several small wildfires added acreage Wednesday as warm and gusty conditions returned to western Montana. A lightning strike from Tuesday nights storm ignited the Arrastra fire on the Lincoln Ranger District. Its now consumed 150 to 200 acres. A 30-person volunteer crew responded to the initial report of smoke on Wednesday morning and nearly had the fire surrounded by ground line, but windy conditions allowed it to escape containment. Forest Service officials plan to fully suppress the fire as soon as resources can be assembled. A community meeting in Lincolns Hooper Park is set for 7 p.m. Thursday. About 25 miles southwest of Philipsburg, the Meyers and Whetstone fires are 69 and 374 acres respectively. Both were started by lightning and are completely uncontained. Three 20-person hand crews assisted by two helicopters are on scene. The Sunrise fire 10 miles south of Superior grew to about 100 acres when afternoon winds forced firefighters to back off for safety. The fire continues to push toward the edge of the Great Burn proposed wilderness area about a mile east of Sunrise Mountain. It has 40 personnel, a grader and water tender on scene backed up by a heavy retardant bomber and three helicopters. The Burdette fire has burned about 70 acres nine miles southeast of Tarkio near the South Fork Fish Creek drainage. Lolo National Forest fire managers were surveying the fire activity and hadnt deployed any ground forces on Wednesday, according to Forest Service spokesman Boyd Hartwig. Just across the Montana border in Idaho, the Craig Mountain Complex of fires 30 miles south of Lewiston has limited access to the Salmon River, with an emergency closure at Eagle Creek Road and its boat landing. Floaters on that stretch of the Salmon have to travel to the next exit at Heller Park. Both the 16,876-acre Powerline fire and the 1,782-acre Corral Creek fire showed little growth on Wednesday. They have a combined crew of 406 firefighters, three Type 1 and one Type 3 helicopters, 13 engines and six water tenders on scene. Both fires are considered 5 percent contained. An American consulate officer has met with the University of Montana student being held in a Chinese detention center for allegedly assaulting a taxi driver and reported that he is physically and mentally fit. Guthrie McLean, a UM senior, was arrested and detained in Zhengzhou on Sunday, July 16, while visiting his mother, an American teacher who lives in China. McLean has not been charged with a crime, but Chinese police must present a recommendation on whether charges should be filed within seven days of detaining someone a clock that runs out Friday, U.S. officials said. Should he be formally charged, he could face up to another year in detention for case development, said his mother, Jennifer McLean. The filing of formal charges also could limit the effectiveness of diplomatic efforts to secure his release. Guthrie was detained for assaulting a taxi driver which resulted in an injury to the drivers knee, according to information relayed to his mother by Keith Devereaux, who works for American Citizen Services within the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. The UM senior was arrested after an altercation five weeks earlier over cab fare between his mother, who is deaf, and a taxi driver. Both Guthrie and Jennifer McLean were detained Sunday, though Jennifer McLean was released that same day. Thursday morning, U.S. Sen. Steve Daines spoke with Chinese Ambassador to the U.S. Cui Tiankai. Tiankai was unaware Jennifer McLean was deaf and Daines stressed the urgent need for the release of her son, who is due to return to Missoula on Aug. 29 for school. U.S. Sen. Jon Tester also is working the diplomatic channels. He said Thursday that U.S. Ambassador to China Terry Branstad "assures me he is working toward" Guthrie McLean's release. "We are keeping an open dialogue with the State Department, the Embassy in China, and Guthries mom to ensure he remains safe and healthy until hes released hopefully as soon as possible," Tester said. The UM student is being held with 21 others in a cell in a detention facility in Zhengzhou, according to Devereaux. He is stressed, but otherwise in good physical shape. Officials from the Wuhan Consulate General met with Guthrie McLean for approximately 40 minutes. Also present were three detention center officials and a detention center translator. Detention center officials videotaped the meeting, according to the information provided to Devereaux by the U.S. consulate in Wuhan. After a message from Jennifer McLean was read to her son, he told her, "I love you. I am stressed out but otherwise OK. Please dont worry too much and I hope you are getting some rest," according to the account Devereaux gave Jennifer McLean. Chinese police have asked Jennifer McLean to pay for her son's release, something she has termed a "shakedown." She said the amount requested has dropped in the last few days to the U.S. equivalent of $7,400. But she still does not have the money to pay it. She said students have posted a YouCaring site for donations. While the Chinese have agreed to give Guthrie McLean access to a lawyer, Jennifer McLean has been unable to reach either of the law firms listed by the Embassy after repeated attempts and methods, she said Thursday by email. The UM student grew up mostly in China and traveled to Zhengzhou in May to visit his mother. He planned to tour historic sites and a panda rescue center before returning to the U.S. to finish his degree in East Asian studies. SUPERVALU INC., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a grocery wholesaler and retailer in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Wholesale and Retail. The Wholesale segment engages in the wholesale distribution of various food and non-food products to independent retail customers, such as single and multiple grocery store operators, regional chains, and the military. It also provides professional services, such as pass-through programs; and various services comprising retail store support, advertising, couponing, e-commerce, network and data hosting, training and certifications classes, and administrative back-office solutions. The Retail segment operates retail stores that provide groceries and various additional products that include general merchandise, home, health and beauty care, and pharmacy products. It provides its products under the Cub Foods, Shoppers Food & Pharmacy, and Hornbacher's names, as well as 1 Rainbow stores. The company's stores offer a range of branded and private-label products comprising perishable and nonperishable grocery products. As of February 24, 2018, it operated a network of 3,437 stores, including 3,323 wholesale primary stores; and 114 retail grocery stores. The company was founded in 1871 and is headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. The High Court gave the go-ahead last week for the British government to continue licensing arms sales to Saudi Arabia, which is engaged in a devastating war against its southern neighbour, Yemen. The judges based their decision on evidence given in secret, supposedly due to national security concerns which they did not explainstating that the open evidence was only part of the picture. The High Court thus gave carte blanche to Prime Minister Theresa Mays Conservative government to flout international law. Like all its post-war predecessors, this government has relied on the Saudi monarchy as a bulwark of reaction against the working class throughout the Middle East and Central Asia. The British governments support for one of the most repressive regimes on the planet is bound up with Saudi Arabias crucial role in keeping the region tied to capitalism; its determination to preserve the commercial position of its oil giants Shell and BP, and arms manufacturers, particularly BAEand the necessity of ensuring that the Gulf States substantial foreign exchange reserves that accrue from oil and gas find their way to the City of London. With Saudi Arabia by far the largest customer of UK arms manufacturers, any judicial review would have challenged the legal and political basis of the governments arms export policy and undermined the viability of Britains arms manufacturers. It demonstrates once again the infinite malleability of the law whenever the commercial and geostrategic interests of the corporate and political elite are at stake. The Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) launched the case in pursuit of a judicial review challenging the governments decision to licence the export of military equipment to Saudi Arabia. It argued that the British government could not guarantee that UK-made weapons were not being used against Yemeni civilians. CAAT said it would appeal the ruling. The legal challenge is part of a broader campaign by CAAT and a coalition of NGOs, including Amnesty International and Save the Children, to stop immoral and illegal arms sales to Saudi Arabia following the launching of its criminal war against Yemen in March 2015. In January 2016, a leaked United Nations report highlighted the widespread and systematic targeting of civilians in Saudi-led air strikes that included attacks on hospitals and schools, as well as refugee camps. A report by Human Rights Watch shows that UK-made weaponry, including a Paveway guided bomb and a Hakim cruise missile, were used in indiscriminate attacks on civilian targets. This includes 13 civilian economic structures in 17 raids by the Saudi-led coalition that killed 130 civilians and injured 171. The Saudi-led US and UK-backed war to reinstate the puppet government of President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, who was ousted in 2015 by an alliance of Houthi militias and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, has had a devastating impact on the poorest country in the Middle East. According to UN estimates, more than 16,000 people have been killed by airstrikes and ground fighting, of whom nearly two-thirds have been civilians. A staggering 17 million Yemenis, in a country with a pre-war population of 27 million, are in need of food aid. Seven million are dying from famine, while more than three million Yemenis have been displaced from their homes. The US has imposed a crippling naval blockade of the country that has resulted in the complete breakdown of Yemens physical and social infrastructure and led to the outbreak of a deadly cholera epidemic that has spread rapidly. Some 320,000 Yemenis have contracted the disease, with more than 1,700 having died from it since April. Children account for a quarter of the deaths and half of all infections. Saudi Arabia and its allies from nine African and Middle East countries have been supplied with bombs and missiles, aerial refuelling and vital logistical and intelligence support from the US and British governments. They have deliberately and ruthlessly carried out air strikes on food markets, schools, residential neighbourhoods, hospitals and other critical infrastructure. The British government has licensed more than 3.3 billion of arms to Saudi Arabia since the start of the war in Yemen, despite overwhelming evidence that weapons made in the UK are being used in violations of International Humanitarian law. In addition, the Ministry of Defence has stated that it has provided technical support, precision guided weapons and exchanging information with the Saudi Arabian armed forces. The government denied that the Saudi-led coalition was targeting civilians. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson urged the cabinet to continue arms sales to Riyadh, even after the bombing of a funeral killed more than 140 civilians last October. In so doing, he confirmed what Sir Simon McDonald, the top official at the Foreign Office, had told the House of Commons foreign affairs committee in 2015: Human rights were not one of our top priorities and commercial interests were far more important. The government ignored the advice of its own Export Control Organisation, the body responsible for granting arms export licences, that warned against continuing to export, and pressed ahead with the sale of arms to the petro-monarchy. The decision breached both UK and European Union legislation in the wake of the outcry over Saudi Arabias action in Yemen, which had been condemned as unlawful by a UN panel of experts, the European Parliament and humanitarian NGOs. After initially denying it, the British government has admitted supplying Riyadh with cluster bombs, illegal under international law, which have been used repeatedly. Had CAAT been successful in obtaining a judicial review of the decision to licence arms sales to Saudi Arabia, Britain would have been forced to suspend the export of weapons for use in Yemen, thereby rupturing Londons cosy relations with Riyadh. It could also have prompted a broader investigation into the sale of weapons to other countries suspected of breaching international humanitarian law. To use the judges own words, the other part of the picture was revealed last April when Prime Minister Theresa May, acting as sales person in chief for the arms industry, visited Saudi Arabia to try to drum up trade and negotiate a post-Brexit trade deal with the Gulf States after the UK leaves the European Union in 2019. While in Riyadh, she announced that Britain would help review the House of Sauds defence capabilities and ignored all calls to end arms sales. She has also refused to publish a report into the funding of terrorism in the UK, commissioned by her predecessor David Cameron in 2015, believed to indict Saudi Arabias role as a principal sponsor. So anxious is the City of London to win the listing of five percent of Aramco, Saudi Arabias national oil company, on the London Stock Exchange that the Financial Conduct Authority announced it will loosen its regulations to suit the Saudis. It is to create a new category within its premium listing rules, which would exempt state-owned companies such as Saudi Aramco, the worlds largest oil producer valued at $2 trillion, from some rules that apply to oligarchs or other private groups and allow the Saudi state to conduct business without scrutiny. Xavier Rolet, the head of the London Stock Exchange Group, travelled with May to Riyadh in April to lobby for the flotation. This comes just four years after Britain was forced to tighten controls on listings of foreign-owned, overseas-headquartered firms, following several scandals involving such companies. (Yahoo News photo illustration; photos: AP, Martinez Monsivais/AP, Andrew Harnik/AP, AP, Jacquelyn Martin/AP, AP, NYT) President Trump lashed out at Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, former FBI Director James Comey, acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe and independent counsel Robert Mueller in an interview with the New York Times on Wednesday. In a wide-ranging discussion with Times reporters Peter Baker, Michael S. Schmidt and Maggie Haberman in the Oval Office, Trump sounded off on topics ranging from the Russia investigation to presidential handshakes. Here are some of the notable moments from the presidents interview with the newspaper he likes to describe as failing. Trump wants to have a military parade on Pennsylvania Avenue like the one he saw in Paris Trump: It was one of the most beautiful parades I have ever seen. And in fact, we should do one one day down Pennsylvania Ave. Haberman: I wondered if you were going to say that. Trump: Ive always thought of that. Haberman: Really? Trump: Ive always thought of that. Ive thought of it long before. The Bastille Day parade was now that was a super-duper O.K. I mean, that was very much more than normal. They must have had 200 planes over our heads. Normally you have the planes and thats it, like the Super Bowl parade. And everyone goes crazy, and thats it. That happened for and you know what else that was nice? It was limited. You know, it was two hours, and the parade ended. It didnt go a whole day. They didnt go crazy. You dont want to leave, but you have to. Or you want to leave, really. These things are going on all day. It was a two-hour parade. They had so many different zones. Maybe 100,000 different uniforms, different divisions, different bands. Then we had the retired, the older, the ones who were badly injured. The whole thing, it was an incredible thing. Trump explains his extended handshakes with French President Emmanuel Macron Haberman: He was very deferential to you. Very. Trump: Hes a great guy. Smart. Strong. Loves holding my hand. Story continues Haberman: Ive noticed. Trump: People dont realize he loves holding my hand. And thats good, as far as that goes. Trump talks about invading Russia Trump: Well, Napoleon finished a little bit bad. But I asked that. So I asked [President Macron], so what about Napoleon? He said: No, no, no. What he did was incredible. He designed Paris. [garbled] The street grid, the way they work, you know, the spokes. He did so many things even beyond. And his one problem is he didnt go to Russia that night because he had extracurricular activities, and they froze to death. How many times has Russia been saved by the weather? [garbled] Same thing happened to Hitler. Not for that reason, though. Hitler wanted to consolidate. He was all set to walk in. But he wanted to consolidate, and it went and dropped to 35 degrees below zero, and that was the end of that army. But the Russians have great fighters in the cold. They use the cold to their advantage. I mean, theyve won five wars where the armies that went against them froze to death. Its pretty amazing. So, were having a good time. The economy is doing great. Trump says the first lady of Japan, Akie Abe, who gave a speech in English in 2014, couldnt even say hello Trump: So, I was seated next to the wife of Prime Minister Abe [Shinzo Abe of Japan], who I think is a terrific guy, and shes a terrific woman, but doesnt speak English. Haberman: Like, nothing, right? Like zero? Trump: Like, not hello. Haberman: That must make for an awkward seating. Trump: Well, its hard, because you know, youre sitting there for Haberman: Hours. Trump: So the dinner was probably an hour and 45 minutes. Vladimir Putin. (Kay Nietfeld,Pool/Reuters) Trump says his unscheduled chat with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 summit was about Russian adoption Trump: [Melania] was sitting next to Putin and somebody else, and thats the way it is. So the meal was going, and toward dessert I went down just to say hello to Melania, and while I was there I said hello to Putin. Really, pleasantries more than anything else. It was not a long conversation, but it was, you know, could be 15 minutes. Just talked about things. Actually, it was very interesting, we talked about adoption. Haberman: You did? Trump: We talked about Russian adoption. Yeah. I always found that interesting. Because, you know, he ended that years ago. And I actually talked about Russian adoption with him, which is interesting because it was a part of the conversation that Don [Trump Jr.] had in that meeting. As Ive said most other people, you know, when they call up and say, By the way, we have information on your opponent, I think most politicians I was just with a lot of people, they said [inaudible], Who wouldnt have taken a meeting like that? Trump believes Comey was seeking leverage over him by sharing the dossier about allegations that the Russian government had compiled incriminating information on him Trump: When he brought it to me, I said this is really made-up junk. I didnt think about anything. I just thought about, man, this is such a phony deal. I said, this is honestly, it was so wrong, and they didnt know I was just there for a very short period of time. It was so wrong, and I was with groups of people. It was so wrong that I really didnt, I didnt think about motive. I didnt know what to think other than, this is really phony stuff. In my opinion, he shared it so that I would think he had it out there. Schmidt: As leverage? Trump: Yeah, I think so. In retrospect. Trump says a special counsel should never have been appointed Trump: I have done nothing wrong. A special counsel should never have been appointed in this case. Jeff Sessions. (Photo: Susan Walsh/AP) Trump says he regrets choosing Sessions as attorney general Trump: Sessions should have never recused himself, and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before he took the job, and I would have picked somebody else. Haberman: He gave you no heads up at all, in any sense? Trump: Zero. So Jeff Sessions takes the job, gets into the job, recuses himself. I then have which, frankly, I think is very unfair to the president. How do you take a job and then recuse yourself? If he would have recused himself before the job, I would have said, Thanks, Jeff, but I cant, you know, Im not going to take you. Its extremely unfair, and thats a mild word, to the president. So he recuses himself. I then end up with a second man, whos a deputy. What Jeff Sessions did was he recused himself right after, right after he became attorney general. And I said, Why didnt you tell me this before? Trump appears to think the FBI director reports to him Trump: And nothing was changed other than Richard Nixon came along. And when Nixon came along [inaudible] was pretty brutal, and out of courtesy, the F.B.I. started reporting to the Department of Justice. But there was nothing official, there was nothing from Congress. There was nothing anything. But the F.B.I. person really reports directly to the president of the United States, which is interesting. You know, which is interesting. And I think were going to have a great new F.B.I. director. Trumps granddaughter makes a surprise appearance Trump: Hi baby, how are you? Arabella Kushner: [enters room] Hi, Grandpa. Trump: My granddaughter Arabella, who speaks say hello to them in Chinese. Kushner: Ni hao. [laughter] Trump: This is Ivanka. You know Ivanka. Ivanka Trump: [from doorway] Hi, how are you? See you later, just wanted to come say hi. Trump: Shes great. She speaks fluent Chinese. Shes amazing. Baker: Thats very impressive. Trump: She spoke with President Xi [Jinping of China]. Honey? Can you say a few words in Chinese? Say, like, I love you, Grandpa Kushner: Wo ai ni, Grandpa. Baker: Thats great. Trump: Shes unbelievable, huh? [crosstalk] Trump: Good, smart genes. Trump gives a curious explanation of how health insurance works Trump: Pre-existing conditions are a tough deal. Because you are basically saying from the moment the insurance, youre 21 years old, you start working and youre paying $12 a year for insurance, and by the time youre 70, you get a nice plan. Heres something where you walk up and say, I want my insurance. Its a very tough deal, but it is something that were doing a good job of. Trump claims he is not under FBI investigation Trump: The bottom line is this. The countrys doing well. We are, we are moving forward with a lot of great things. The unemployment is the lowest its been in 16 years. The stock market is the highest its ever been. Its up almost 20 percent since I took office. And were working hard on health care. Um, the Russian investigation its not an investigation, its not on me you know, theyre looking at a lot of things. Trump calls his sons meeting last year with a number of Russians offering information to use against Hillary Clinton standard political stuff Trump: I didnt look into it very closely, to be honest with you. Baker: O.K. Trump: I just heard there was an email requesting a meeting or something yeah, requesting a meeting. That they have information on Hillary Clinton, and I said I mean, this was standard political stuff. Schmidt: Did you know at the time that they had the meeting? Trump: No, I didnt know anything about the meeting. Schmidt: But you didnt Trump: It must have been a very important must have been a very unimportant meeting, because I never even heard about it. Donald Trump. (Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images) Trump says the meeting had no effect on his campaign Trump: I dont think I added anything much different than I had been doing. Ive made some very strong speeches about the corrupt emails. The 33,000 emails being deleted and bleached, and all of the things she was doing. I would make those speeches routinely. There wasnt much I could say about Hillary Clinton that was worse than what I was already saying. I mean, I was talking about, she deleted and bleached, which nobody does because of the cost. How she got away with that one, I have no idea. 33,000 emails. I talked about the back of the plane, I talked about the uranium deal, I talked about the speech that Russia gave Clinton $500,000 while she was secretary of state the husband. I talked about the back of the plane honestly, Peter, I mean, unless somebody said that she shot somebody in the back, there wasnt much I could add to my repertoire. Trump warns Mueller not to look into his familys finances beyond Russia, but declines to say whether he would fire him for doing so Trump: I dont I mean, its possible theres a condo or something, so, you know, I sell a lot of condo units, and somebody from Russia buys a condo, who knows? I dont make money from Russia. In fact, I put out a letter saying that I dont make from one of the most highly respected law firms, accounting firms. I dont have buildings in Russia. They said I own buildings in Russia. I dont. They said I made money from Russia. I dont. Its not my thing. I dont, I dont do that. Over the years, Ive looked at maybe doing a deal in Russia, but I never did one. Other than I held the Miss Universe pageant there eight, nine years [crosstalk]. Schmidt: But if he was outside that lane, would that mean hed have to go? Trump: I think thats a violation. Look, this is about Russia. So I think if he wants to go, my finances are extremely good, my company is an unbelievably successful company. And actually, when I do my filings, peoples say, Man. People have no idea how successful this is. Its a great company. But I dont even think about the company anymore. I think about this. Cause one thing, when you do this, companies seem very trivial. O.K.? I really mean that. They seem very trivial. But I have no income from Russia. I dont do business with Russia. Haberman: Would you fire Mueller if he went outside of certain parameters of what his charge is? Trump: I cant answer that question because I dont think its going to happen. Read more from Yahoo News: As I first revealed this week, it turns out there were two meetings between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin of which we dont know the contents. But what little we do know is troubling enough. Here are five quick takeaways: Trump may have gotten played Donald Trump likes to talk, even when he shouldnt. That was fine when he was a private citizen. But as President, even his offhand remarks carry the weight of official policy. Americans are still adjusting to this new reality; so are his foreign counterparts. The problem isnt that Trump just says whatever comes to his mind. Its that he says things people want to hear without fully understanding the implications and what comes next. Take Trumps recent trip to Saudi Arabia. He lands in Riyadh and tells the Saudis what he believes will make them happy: Iran is evil, and Iran-friendly Qatar is a problem. The Saudis feel emboldened, they impose a political and economic blockade on Qatar, which is home to the largest U.S. military base in the Middle East, and the Middle East is suddenly embroiled in a huge fight. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson are then sent in to clean up the mess. Its a challenging job made even more difficult by the fact that people dont actually know whether they speak for the President. Putin is good at these games; hes been playing them for nearly two decades. Trump has been in office six months. When Trump meets Putin, he should have friends on his side of the table. Tale of the tape That second meeting took place between Trump, Putin, and a Russian interpreter. Thats it. No other American staff members were in attendance, which is a breach of protocol, though Trump could clearly care less. Much more concerning is the fact that the entire conversation between the two heads of state is predicated on the trustworthiness and abilities of the Russian translator a translator who owes his allegiance to Putin and Putin alone. For all we know, Trump may have been having a completely different conversation than the one he thought he was having. Story continues More to the point: Trump has put himself in a compromising position. If he said something that he doesnt understand could be used against him or the United States, the Russians can leak it. They could even have a recording of the conversation. And what happens if the Russians accuse Trump of saying something he didnt actually say? Without Americans there to corroborate, its effectively Trumps word against that of the Kremlin. And lets be honestfew in todays media landscape will give Trump the benefit of the doubt. Perceptions matter; G20 edition G20 members were already worrying about Trump; theyve been worrying about Putin for years. The summit in Hamburg gives the rest of the G20 leaders good reason for concern. While others couldnt hear even the subject of the conversation between Trump and Putin, they could see the friendly body language and the personal chemistry between them, which was apparently far warmer than Trump enjoys with any traditional U.S. ally. Whats Trump offering Putin, they might well wonder? Never in my life as a political scientist have I seen two countries with such conflicting interests have leaders go so far out of their way to keep a personal relationship warm. You can bet that none of the other participants in Hamburg have, either. If nothing else, having this second meeting with Putin in full view of all other participants just made Trumps relationship with those remaining allies that much more difficult. Lies, damn lies, and . . . more lies Trump has lied a lot, about things both small and big. Hes lied about the crowds at his inauguration, and hes lied about Michael Flynn. Demonstrable falsehoods fly out of the White House at a steady clip, most recently in defense of Donald Trump, Jr.s meeting with a Kremlin-connected lawyer (among others) during the campaign. Some of these lies will lead to absolutely nothing; others may lead to something more. But too often the world learns what the Trump team has been up to only when someone leaks details to the media. When it comes to Trump and Russia, even if theres not yet a visible fire, investigators and the media are at serious risk of death by smoke inhalation. Maybe Trump himself didnt collude with the Kremlin, but maybe a family member did. This is pure speculation at this point. Whatever the Russia connection is, the unwillingness of Trump and those around him to come clean until secrets spill out into the open is damning. Trump has attacked as many U.S. allies as rivals. Russia is the one country Donald Trump will not criticize under any circumstances, and there has never been a good explanation why. This meeting doesnt officially matter, which makes it matter more Weve already gotten conflicting accounts of what happened in the first, official meeting between Putin and Trump, a gathering that also included Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, in addition to two translators. The official readout of this meeting was relatively light, and most analysis has focused on whether Trump forcefully confronted Putin on Russias election tampering. But there have been interesting developments since then. The U.S. and Russia have been in talks about the possible return of two Russian properties suspected of being used in surveillance activities, which the U.S. seized in response to the election hacks. Just this week, the Russian foreign ministry insisted on the unconditional return of these properties. Thats a particularly bold demand. It makes one wonder if more details of the exchange were discussed in a pull-aside or this second meeting. While the world has been focused on discovering the contents of the first meeting, its the second meeting that may be most revealing, precisely because it wasnt supposed to matter at all. And the lack of information about the second meeting makes information on the first meeting largely irrelevant. The White House continues to insist it isnt lying. Maybe it isnt, but its hard to correct the record on basic facts again and again and again. At a certain point, you have to start wondering: if the White House isnt lying, why do we keep hearing about what the White House is or isnt up to from other people? When pressed, the White House communication team confirmed that the second meeting took place, even as they dismissed its significance. The bottom line: After all the memory lapses, evasive excuses, and conflicting accounts of contact, Trump-Russia relations is a subject on which this White House has zero credibility. Aboriginal people have been in Australia for at least 65,000 years, longer than previously thought, roaming the area alongside giant megafauna, scientists said in a finding that sheds fresh light on when modern humans left Africa. Australian Aborigines are believed to be custodians of the oldest continuous culture on the planet, but when they first arrived has been a contested issue. Previous estimates have ranged from 47,000 to 60,000 years ago. A key site in the debate is Madjedbebe, a remote rock shelter in northern Australia's Kakadu region that is the oldest-known human occupation area in the country. New evidence uncovered by a team of archaeologists and dating specialists during a dig there, including the oldest ground-edge stone axe technology in the world, has pushed back their presence even further. The findings, published in the journal Nature this week, set a new minimum age for the dispersal of modern humans out of Africa and across south Asia. "It's hugely significant in tying down what happened," the University of Queensland's Chris Clarkson, the lead author who led the team that excavated the site, most recently in 2015, told AFP. "It means that we can set the minimum age for modern humans coming out of Africa, which until now has been a bit tenuous. We can now say with certainty that they arrived in Australia 65,000 years ago." It also indicates that they arrived on the continent before the extinction of Australian megafauna such as giant wombats, kangaroos and lizards. In addition to showing the deep antiquity of Aboriginal occupation, the dig also revealed evidence of activities and complex lifestyle, including flaked stone tools and grinding stones. "The site contains the oldest ground-edge stone axe technology in the world, the oldest-known seed-grinding tools in Australia and evidence of finely made stone points which may have served as spear tips," said Clarkson. Story continues "Most striking of all in a region known for its spectacular rock art are the huge quantities of ground ochre and evidence of ochre processing found at the site, from the older layer continuing through to the present." It was clear the population was "technologically sophisticated". - First major water crossing - Some 11,000 artefacts were discovered in the lowest layer from the 2015 dig, with the team carefully assessing the position of each one to ensure they matched the ages of the sediments in which they were found. Extensive dating by optically stimulated luminescence methods -- which estimates the time since mineral grains were last exposed to sunlight -- showed a general pattern of increasing age with depth, and provided a timeframe that the scientists said was far more accurate than before. The new dates for Madjedbebe fit well with genetic analyses indicating modern humans left Africa between 60,000 and 80,000 years ago. At that time, there were much lower sea levels and the crossing distance from the islands of Southeast Asia to Australia was shorter than today. "This would have been the first major water crossing ever by humanity," said Clarkson. The Mirarr clan, traditional owners of large parts of Kakadu and western Arnhem Land, have now closed access to Madjedbebe, but applications have been made by archaeologists to examine other sites in the area to see if they have the same sequences. "This study confirms the sophistication of the Australian Aboriginal toolkit and underscores the universal importance of the Jabiluka area," said Justin O'Brien, chief executive of the Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation, which works to advance the interests of the Mirarr. "These findings reinforce the need for the highest level of conservation and protection for this site." Former Vice President Al Gore thinks we still have time to avoid catastrophic repercussions from climate change, I think that were gonna solve this crisis, he said earlier this week. The politician turned climate change activist has been a huge proponent for climate change action for much of his career and he didnt stop just because he left office. A little more than a week before the release of his second film, An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, Gore sat down with New York Times reporter Coral Davenport for a TimeTalks discussion. Tuesday evening he fielded Davenports questions on stage and then took questions from an audience. Read: What Is The Paris Climate Agreement? Are Accord, Climate Change Goals Dead If Trump Withdraws US? Gore first brought climate change to the big screen in 2006 with his first film, An Inconvenient Truth. While the film won awards, some people had a hard time accepting a future that involved climate change. Now hes back with his second film in which he covers whats happened in the last ten years since the first film was released. The trailer for the new film begins with President Donald Trump speaking at a crowded campaign rally, We need some global warming! he says to the crowd, refering to the chilly weather that day. The the trailer cuts to Gore showing and explaining that what his first film predicted has actually come true in some cases. Gore has met with President Trump to talk climate change, and on Tuesday said he thought Trump had been open to the idea of taking on climate change during their discussions. I actually thought there was a real chance he would come to his senses and stay within the Paris Agreement but I was wrong, Gore said. Read : Global Climate Change: 2017 Second Warmest Year Since 1880 So when Trump announced he was pulling the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement Gore said he was worried other countries might follow suit. Something other countries have not done. This doubling down on the agreement by other countries, some states, and big companies has also helped to give Gore some confidence in the fight against climate change. He also noted how far the technology has come since his first film. The solutions are here and they are increasingly affordable, he said. All of these technologies are becoming mainstream, he continued. Story continues But he still believes that the United States needs to play a key role in leading the fight against climate change, as it did under the Paris Agreement and under the Kyoto Protocol that was adopted while Gore was in office. He noted that the Chinese are taking the lead, but said "U.S. leadership is still essential, there is no other country that can lead the world the way the U.S. can." You can watch the full "TimesTalk" here: Related Articles Like many political figures, Deedra Abboud is no stranger to online abuse. But because Abboud, a 45-year-old Arizona attorney, is Muslim, the digital vitriol she faces is especially nasty. Towel headed piece of sh*t, reads one recent comment. Your first love is Satan (AKA Allah), reads another. No room for Muslims in our government, says a third. Its unfortunate that this is the type of discourse that has become acceptable in America, says Abboud, whos running to challenge Republican Sen. Jeff Flake. We as a society have never stood up and said, No, this doesnt reflect us.' Abboud, who wears a hijab, converted to Islam in 1998 (she was previously a Southern Baptist.) Abboud started and served as president of the Arizona chapter of the Council of American Islamic Relations, and was the director of the Muslim American Societys Freedom Foundation. Abboud graduated from Arizona Summit Law School in 2012, practicing immigration and estate law before shifting into politics. To be sure, Abbouds campaign is a long shot. Before facing Sen. Flake, she must defeat Army veteran Chris Russell in the Democratic primary next summer. Additionally, neither of Arizonas Senate seats has been held by a Democrat in over 20 years. Ultimately, the numbers in Arizona still work to the Republicans advantage, says Samara Klar, assistant professor of political science at the University of Arizona. We have more Republican [voters] than we do Democrats, so the simple numbers are going to make it more difficult for the Democrats. But on Tuesday, Abboud got support from a potentially surprising source: Sen. Flake, Abbouds would-be general election opponent if both politicians win their respective primaries. Hang in there, Flake told Abboud via Twitter. Sorry you have to put up with this. Lots of wonderful people across AZ. Youll find them. Hang in there @deedra2018. Sorry you have to put up with this. Lots of wonderful people across AZ. You'll find them. https://t.co/uVfLaAfVV2 Jeff Flake (@JeffFlake) July 19, 2017 For Abboud, Flakes message shows exactly how she believes politicians should act more often. I expect our elected leaders to stand up and say when somethings wrong, says Abboud. I dont think anyone has expected that lately, including myself, which is why I got into the campaign. Story continues Thank you @JeffFlake for leadership in rejecting behavior that doesn't reflect our American values. AZ's amazing people deserve more of this https://t.co/t0FztPNKbj Deedra2018 (@deedra2018) July 19, 2017 Abboud tells TIME that Flake hasnt contacted her beyond the Twitter exchange. It wasnt a tragedy where someone needs to reach out to another person, she says. It was on social media, and he handled it on social media, and that was very gracious. Flakes office declined to comment further. Flakes overture is being praised by some as a rare moment of civility in an increasingly partisan political climate. Flake is one of the most decent people I know, tweeted Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat. David Ramadan, a Republican and former member of the Virginia House of Delegates, called Flake a class act and a dying breed. Tim Fullerton, who runs digital communications for New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, applauded Flake for standing up and saying whats right. Flakes message to Abboud comes as his re-election bid appears increasingly vulnerable. At least one member of his own party, former Arizona state Sen. Kelli Ward, is openly challenging him, while several others are said to be mulling a similar move. CNN reports that Ward has been in contact with the White House about her campaign against Flake, who has been critical of President Trump. Abboud says that, for Flake, responding to her situation is a good political move because this is happening in his backyard. I think that Flake does think that this is wrong, she adds. Lim Ji Hyun defected from North Korea to South Korea in 2014, where she became a modest celebrity. On television, she recounted her tales of serving with a North Korean military artillery unit and described how she used to bribe her teacher with cigarettes so that she could play hookey and sell illegal smuggled bottles of liquor for money, according to the New York Times Tuesday. Now it appears as if she has gone back to North Korea. A video published on YouTube Saturday showed Lim, 26, emotionally recalling her time in South Korea to another person who defected back to North Korea. READ: Exploited North Korean Workers Sent To Russia Every single day of my life in the South was a hell, said Lim, When I was alone in a dark, cold room, I was heartbroken and I wept every day, missing my fatherland and my parents back home. The Unification Ministry, the South Korean government agency tasked with handling issues with defectors, is investigating the incident. The agency will determine how and why she went back to North Korea, and determine she if defected back on her own or if she was abducted. I was lured to the South by a delusion that I would eat well and make a lot of money there, she said. It was not the place I had imagined. I had wandered around everywhere there to make money, working in drinking bars, but nothing had worked out. A North Korean famine in the 90s caused over 30,000 people to defect to the South, often through China. Defectors go through a South Korean orientation program to help them adjust to life in South Korea, but often it is a difficult transition. READ: Trump Slams North Korea Missile Launch During Poland Visit: Something Will Have To Be Done About It North Koreas leader Kim Jong Un has sought to crack down on defections, tightening border security and cracking down on South Korean movies and television smuggled into the North. Any person lured back to North Korea from defection, either on their own or though blackmail and abduction, is seen as a huge moral victory for Kim and his regime. Story continues I was lured to the South by a delusion that I would eat well and make a lot of money there, said Lim. It was not the place I had imagined. I had wandered around everywhere there to make money, working in drinking bars, but nothing had worked out. Related Articles The man who admitted to killing four young men in Pennsylvania had a history of run-ins with the law, including incidents that got him banned at two separate educational institutions. Cosmo DiNardo, 20, was banned from his alma mater, Holy Ghost Preparatory School, as well as Arcadia University, where he was enrolled for a single semester. DiNardo appeared at an open house at Holy Ghost Preparatory School in October, despite not being invited. School administrators noticed something off about his behavior at the event. He soon became disruptive and was asked to leave the campus. Read: Who Is Cosmo DiNardo? Man Who Confessed To Killing Pennsylvania Men Spoke Of Murder Before The behavior was enough for us to be concerned, school spokesman William Doherty told WCAU-TV Wednesday, declining to go into the specifics of the incident. The school then filed a police report and called DiNardos parents to notify them that their son was banned from the school going forward. The incident was merely the first time DiNardo was forbidden from entering a school. The 20-year-old attended Arcadia University in Glendale, Pennsylvania for one semester in fall 2015. When he tried to return to the school the next year, administrators told him he was not welcome there and would be trespassing if he tried to enter the campus. University administrators cited verbal incidents and behavior that made people uncomfortable as reasons for DiNardos ban from the school, a spokesperson told WCAU. The situation was handled as a public safety issue. A diagnosed schizophrenic, DiNardo was involuntarily committed to a mental institution at some point in the past, though the timeline and details surrounding the situation remained unclear. DiNardo and his cousin, Sean Kratz, were charged with the criminal homicide of four young men in Bucks County, Pennsylvania last week. The bodies of Jimi Patrick, 19, Tom Meo, 21, Mark Sturgis, 22, and Dean Finocchiaro, 19, were all found buried on a 68-acre property belonging to DiNardos parents. He told investigators he and Kratz killed the men during or after selling them marijuana, though no further motive was discerned. Story continues Im not sure well ever know, Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub said of the motive. Read: Cosmo DiNardo Says He Killed Two Others Before Murdering Four Pennsylvania Men While confessing to the four murders, DiNardo also reportedly told investigators he had killed two other people in Philadelphia when he was younger. Police said they hadnt yet determined whether there was any truth to the claims, but said they were actively looking into it. Given what he was already been accused of, its certainly a possibility, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross told WCAU Tuesday. We would be remiss if we didnt investigate further. In order for us to lend any credence to it, we would have to talk to him directly. When youre dealing with someone who is pathological like that, you dont know where he is coming from. Related Articles The group that owns the theme park Ark Encounters have sold the park to their nonprofit affiliates for 10 dollars to avoid paying taxes, according to a report Monday by the Lexington Herald-Leader. The Christian theme park in Williamstown, Kentucky is owned by creationist Ken Ham and features a life-sized recreation of Noah's Ark. Ark Encounter LLC sold the park's land on June 28 to its nonprofit affiliate, Crosswater Canyon, for ten dollars, just a day before the city sent a letter rejecting the organization's request to be exempted from a new safety tax because of its religious affiliation. By selling the land to its nonprofit counterpart, the group has claimed that the park is a non-profit establishment and not subject to the new safety tax passed by city officials. The safety tax, if implemented by the city, would collect 50 cents of every entry ticket sold on $40 adult tickets and $28 children's tickets. The theme park pulls in an estimated 1.4 million visitors a year, which, when the safety tax was imposed, means the company would owe the city of Williamstown approximately $700,000. READ:Controversial Noah's Ark Theme Park Slated To Open July 2016 Ark Encounter has, up to this point, identified themselves legally as a for-profit business in order to receive a number of tax incentives from the city. When city officials voted to impose the 50-cent safety tax, the theme-park argued that the property should be exempt because they run a non-profit ministry. The property is worth $48 million, according to the Grant County property valuation, although the deed said that the property is only worth only $18.5 million, the Lexington Herald Leader reported. The amusement park is owned by the infamous creationist, Ken Ham, who owns both Ark Encounter and the Creation Museum. Ham's organization sold the land one day before Williamstown city attorney, Jeffrey Shipp, sent a letter to the organization rejecting its request to be exempted from a new safety tax. Story continues READ:Who Is Jerry Falwell Jr? As Trump Picks Cabinet, Creationist Liberty University President Involved In Education Decisions Williamstown City Councilman Kim Crupper told the Herald-Leader that the taxes the city's council approved in April were necessary because repairs are needed to upgrade the citys emergency services that cover the park, which include the police and fire department "This ordinance was carefully thought out, this does not affect their bottom line," Crupper told the Herald-Leader. "We have to make sure your police and fire and emergency services can assure safety. If youre going to pay $40 for a ticket and $10 to park, I dont think youre going to argue over 50 cents." Melany Ethridge, the spokeswoman for Ark Encounter, said in a statement to the Herald-Leader that the amusement park looks to work with city officials to find a "fair" solution regarding the safety tax. "The Ark Encounter seeks to pay its fair share when it comes to a safety fee assessment recently instituted by the city of Williamstown," Ethridge said. "The Ark Encounter has conveyed that sincere sentiment to Williamstown's leadership and will continue to work with city officials to find a fair and equitable solution regarding contributions to the safety fund." GettyImages-545141744 Photo: (Photo by Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images) Related Articles Mars might be so weird and mysterious because a dwarf planet crashed into it more than 4.4 billion years ago. The Martian system has long been a head-scratcher for astronomers. One reason is that its northern hemisphere is full of smooth and flat land while its southern hemisphere is pocked with craters and has a ton of high-elevation land and volcanoes a contrast that is commonly called the Martian dichotomy. That planet also has two moons that look more like asteroids spinning around it. But a new study in the journal Geophysical Research Letters might help solve these mysteries, and it involves a big collision. Read: How Much Water Did Mars Once Hold? Once the terrestrial planets had mostly completed their assembly, bombardment continued by planetesimals left over from accretion, the study says. Its referring to masses of material floating around and crashing into the bodies in the inner solar system: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. Accretion is the process by which the planets formed and grew, as material came together and settled into a spherical shape with the help of gravity. During the time of late accretion, when much of that work to form the inner planets was finished, objects were still colliding with them and Mars gained some weight in metals. According to the researchers, this metallic acquisition could have come from an enormous impact. They say a mass as huge as almost 750 miles in diameter could have hit Mars 4.43 billion years ago, as its crust was forming. To put that into perspective, 750 miles is longer than the distance between New York City and Chicago; or between Paris and Rome; or between Athens and Cairo. Its roughly the mileage across Texas at its longest width. Its longer than the stretch of water between the southern tip of South America and the northernmost icy tentacle of Antarctica. The study adds that such a collision, in addition to explaining Mars composition that includes the rare metals platinum, osmium and iridium in its mantle, would also explain two other Martian mysteries: the fact that its northern and southern hemispheres have such differing geography and the origin of its two oddly shaped moons, Phobos and Deimos. Story continues mars-sphere Photo: NASA/JPL/USGS We showed in this paper that from dynamics and from geochemistry that we could explain these three unique features of Mars, researcher Stephen Mojzsis said in a statement from the University of Colorado at Boulder. This solution is elegant, in the sense that it solves three interesting and outstanding problems about how Mars came to be. The study refers to the collision of the 750-mile-diameter object as an asteroid impact, but compares the asteroid culprit as being comparable to the size of Ceres, which is just shy of 600 miles across and is so large that it has been classified as a dwarf planet. Ceres lives in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter that marks the boundary between the inner and outer solar system. It is the largest object there and the only dwarf planet in the inner solar system, with a dwarf planet being an object massive enough and with enough gravity to be round but not large enough to clear its path around the sun of asteroids and other objects. Pluto is officially classified as a dwarf planet, although it is much larger than Ceres, measuring close to 1,500 miles in diameter. Read: Here's How Rain on Mars Changed As the Planet Got Older A Ceres-sized asteroid that may have crashed into Mars as it was forming could have ripped off a chunk of the northern hemisphere and left behind a legacy of metallic elements in the planets interior, the university explained. The crash also created a ring of rocky debris around Mars that may have later clumped together to form its moons. The scientists calculated the size of the impactor using simulations of collisions, to determine how big it would have to be to give Mars that boost of metals that have been found in its mantle. The surprising part is how well it fit into our understanding of the dynamics of planet formation, Mojzsis said. Such a large impact event elegantly fits into what we understand from that formative time. Related Articles US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson listens to questions by journalists during a press conference in Doha,: AFP/Getty Images Donald Trumps administration is closing the US State Department office tasked with investigating war crimes and trying to prevent genocides, reports suggest. The Office of Global Criminal Justice, which holds war criminals to account, is being shut and its leader, Todd Buchwald, moved to a job in the departments legal affairs unit, it has been claimed. Rex Tillerson, the US Secretary of State, is said to be re-organising his department to focus more on Americas economic and military interests and less on issues such as human rights. Campaigners warned that the move would have a big impact on efforts to bring war criminals to justice. Theres no mistaking it this move will be a huge loss for accountability, Richard Dicker, director of Human Rights Watchs international justice program, told Foreign Policy magazine. David Scheffer, a professor of law at Northwestern University, who was previously the first US ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues, said: This is a very harsh signal to the rest of the world that the United States is essentially downgrading the importance of accountability for the commission of atrocity crimes. This sends a strong signal to perpetrators of mass atrocities that the United States is not watching you anymore. One State Department source told Foreign Policy talk of closing the war crimes office was speculation but admitted there was a huge reorganisation underway at the department as priorities shift. The Office of Global Criminal Justice was established in 1997 during Bill Clintons presidency, in the wake of genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia. It worked closely with international organisations such as the International Criminal Court (ICC) to bring human rights abusers to justice. In recent years, the office has worked to isolate Sudanese president Omar Al-Bashir, who is wanted by the ICC on genocide charges; helped establish an African Union court to hold suspected war criminals to justice; worked to identify individuals responsible for atrocities in Syria and supported the peace process in Colombia. Donald Trump is still saying that the 2016 election was rigged against him. During an address at his voter fraud commission, he insisted - without evidence - that votes cast in the name of dead people were responsible for his popular vote election loss to Hillary Clinton. Mr Trump, who fell short of Ms Clinton by nearly three million votes, won in the electoral college after wins in a few key states that were considered to be Democratic "firewall" states. Mr Trump created the voter fraud commission in response to that popular vote embarrassment, and has steadily insisted that he should have won the popular vote but was snubbed as a result of fraudulent ballots. "Every time voter fraud occurs, it cancels out the vote of a lawful citizen," Mr Trump said. "Any form of illegal or fraudulent voting, whether by non-citizens or the diseased, and any form of voter suppression or intimidation, must be stopped." The commission's highest profile action thus far has been to request voter data from states, which many state officials have rejected. That request asked for information including the names of voters, their addresses, their political party registration, and the last four digits of their social security numbers. Most of that data is already made available by many states, and is frequently sold to political campaigns hoping to beef up their operations. "If any state does not want to share this information one has to wonder what they're worried about," Mr Trump said. "I ask the vice president, I ask the commission what they're worried about? There's something. There always is." Mr Trump's voter fraud commission has been criticised, with opponents saying that the commission may have violated federal law in asking for the voter data. Before the first meeting, Democrats penned a letter to Vice President Mike Pence to request that he remove Kris Kobach from the commission. Mr Kobach is the Kansas secretary of State, and has been sued several times by the American Civil Liberites Union, which has alleged that his policies pose restrictive and unconstitutional challenges for voters. Turmoil within the Trump family is the subject of a new cover story in People magazine. Read: Author Says Donald Trump Jr. Has Always Been a 'Problem Child' The article says President Trump was not happy when his son admitted he messed up by attending a meeting in Trump Tower with lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya and a Russian lobbyist in 2016. Now, Trump's oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., is reportedly "miserable" and "he cant wait for these four years to be over. Meanwhile, it has been revealed that an SNL skit nearly cost Trumps Chief Strategist, Steve Bannon, his job. Read: Whatever Happened to Trump's Second Wife, Marla Maples? Joshua Green, the author of Devils Bargain: Steve Bannon, Donald Trump and the Storming of the Presidency, says Trump was incensed that Bannon was portrayed as more powerful than him. "He was on the brink of getting fired," Green said. To read an excerpt from Devil's Bargain, click here. Watch: Meet Russian Pop Star Allegedly At the Center of Donald Trump Jr. Email Scandal Related Articles: Hearing to come less than two weeks after revelations of meeting with Kremlin-linked lawyer alongside Jared Kushner, who will testify in separate closed session Donald Trump Jr and Paul Manafort will testify before the Senate judiciary committee on 26 July. Photograph: Portland Press Herald/Press Herald via Getty Images Donald Trump Jr, along with the former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, are scheduled to testify publicly before Congress on 26 July. In a hearing entitled Oversight of the Foreign Agents Registration Act and Attempts to Influence US Elections: Lessons Learned from Current and Prior Administrations, the presidents eldest son and his former top campaign aide will appear before the Senate judiciary committee as further scrutiny mounts of the Trump campaigns connections to Russia. A spokesman for Manafort told the Guardian: We just received the letter and were reviewing it. We have nothing else to add. A spokesman for Trump Jr did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Their testimony comes less than two weeks after it was revealed that the two, along with Jared Kushner, a top White House aide and Trumps son-in-law, met with a Kremlin-linked lawyer in 2016 who offered Trump Jr negative information about Hillary Clinton. Kushner is expected to testify in a closed session before the Senate intelligence committee on 24 July. In an email thread published between Trump Jr and Rob Goldstone, the publicist for a Russian oligarch, the presidents son was told: The crown prosecutor of Russia offered to provide the Trump campaign with some official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father. This is obviously very high-level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its governments support for Mr Trump. Trump Jr responded: If its what you say, I love it, especially later in the summer. He then forwarded the email thread to Kushner and Manafort, who attended the meeting. Kushner, who is a White House official, did not disclose the meeting as required on security clearance forms until recent weeks, raising questions about whether he should keep his security clearance. Story continues Democrat Brian Schatz of Hawaii told the Guardian last week that Kushner probably needs to lose his clearance. When asked if he should lose his White House position altogether, Schatz said: Thats the decision that the president gets to make, but let me put it this way: if he were not related by marriage to the president, I think hed be already gone. Manafort has long been under scrutiny for his ties to Russia. A veteran Republican political operative, he has extensive experience working in the former Soviet Union and was a longtime aide to the former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych. As a result of Manaforts work, he recently filed a belated registration as a foreign agent for $17m in political consulting fees that his firm received for advising Yanukovychs pro-Russian political party from 2012 to 2014. In addition to Trump Jr and Manafort, the open hearing before the Senate judiciary committee is scheduled to include testimony from Glenn Simpson, the head of research for the firm Fusion GPS, and Bill Browder, an investor who has long been active in pushing for increased sanctions on Russia. Simpsons firm produced the infamous Steele dossier on Trumps contacts with Russia, which was first published in January. The Philippine government's peace talks with communist rebels teetered near collapse Wednesday as President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to end negotiations after suspected guerrillas shot and wounded five of his bodyguards in an ambush. Aides said Duterte was not in the convoy when gunmen opened fire on two Presidential Security Group vehicles on the southern island of Mindanao, where troops have also been battling Islamic State group-inspired gunmen for nearly two months. "The president directed the government panel... not to resume formal peace talks unless the reds (rebels) agree to stop their attacks against government troops in Mindanao," said a statement issued by the presidential palace. The rebels have been in off-and-on peace talks with the government since Duterte, a self-described socialist, was elected last year. Both sides have since declared unilateral ceasefires, but these did not last. Duterte suspended formal peace talks in May after both sides failed to resolve a dispute over a rebel order for fighters to step up attacks. On Tuesday Duterte separately ordered negotiators to informally meet communist counterparts in Europe in the coming days and raise the issue, Dureza told ABS-CBN television a day later. But Duterte's peace adviser Jesus Dureza later announced that the government was also cancelling the planned informal talks with the rebels due to Wednesday's attacks by the communists' 4,000-member armed wing the New People's Army. The communist party, which is waging Asia's longest-running insurgency, called on its guerrillas on Tuesday to launch offensives in response to Duterte's plan to put Mindanao under martial law until the end of the year. Mindanao is already under a 60-day martial rule as the security forces battle Islamist militants in Marawi city, but on Tuesday the Duterte government said it needed more time to accomplish the mission. "The situation on the ground necessary to provide the desired enabling environment for the conduct of peace negotiations are still not present up to this time," Dureza said in a statement. The communist insurgency began in 1968 and the military says it is now mostly waged in Mindanao. The rebellion has claimed an estimated 30,000 lives. Wednesday's ambush appeared to dash hopes for an early political settlement to the insurgency. A couple and their three children were booted from a JetBlue flight after they say their 1-year-old daughter kicked the seat of another passenger. Mandy Ifrah, of Brooklyn, N.Y., told Inside Edition that her family was left stranded at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida with nowhere to go, no luggage and no baby supplies. Read: How Crews Deal With Unruly Fliers "What they did to us was just no family should ever go through that," she said. Ifrah, her husband and their three daughters were traveling home from a wedding when they boarded the JetBlue flight from Fort Lauderdale to New York on July 2. She says her youngest daughter, Eden, was getting fussy just before takeoff and was kicking the seat in front of her. Ifrah said she apologized to the passenger, who simply changed seats. "Everything was done and over with," she said. "No argument, no violence. Nothing like that whatsoever." But then a JetBlue supervisor stepped in. Cell phone video shows him telling the family to leave the plane. "What I need you guys to do is come with me outside the plane," he says in the footage. But Ifrah said she couldn't understand why. "I had no idea," she said. "I kept asking him on the flight. I kept asking him, 'Can you please give me a reason? What's the reason?'" The man is heard telling her, "If you come out with me, we can discuss it." But Ifrah says she's not leaving the plane. "I have three kids," she tells him in the video. "At first I was resistant because... I didn't hear a reason as to why I was being kicked off the flight," she told Inside Edition. JetBlue then asked everyone on the plane to exit. Once off the plane, the employee told her they were removed because "you did not cooperate with me." Police officers responding to the dispute shut down the confrontation. An officer told the family the airline would not allow them to fly. Story continues Read: United Apologizes After Toddler Bumped From Flight Has to Sit on Mom's Lap for 3-Hour Journey "The luggage stayed on the flight," Ifrah told Inside Edition. "I had no baby clothes, no diapers, nothing with me." But JetBlue told Inside Edition in a statement that there's another side to the story, and the children had nothing to do with the family being asked to leave the plane. "After a verbal altercation that included physical threats and profanities against a nearby customer, the aircraft door was reopened and our airport's team politely asked the customers to step off to discuss the situation," the statement said. "The customers refused repeated requests and our crewmembers deplaned the entire aircraft. Law enforcement escorted them out of the gate area and we provided a refund." The company added: "The customers were not removed due to the actions of their children." Ifrah said that all she wants from the airline is an apology. Watch: See What Happened When This Dog Got Loose on Plane Related Articles: By Nate Raymond (Reuters) - A former Credit Suisse Group AG banker from Switzerland pleaded guilty on Wednesday to participating in a wide-ranging scheme to help Americans hide millions of dollars in offshore accounts to evade U.S. taxes. Susanne Ruegg Meier, a former manager with Credit Suisse, pleaded guilty in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia to conspiring to defraud the United States through her work heading of a team of bankers, the U.S. Justice Department said. Her plea came six years after the Swiss citizen was indicted in 2011 in what was one of a number of cases spilling out of a broad crackdown by the United States on offshore tax evasion by Americans. The probe led to charges against several other bankers and resulted in Credit Suisse pleading guilty in 2014 to conspiring to aid and assist taxpayers in filing false returns as part of a $2.6 billion settlement. Ruegg Meier faces up to five years in prison. She is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept 8. A lawyer for Ruegg Meier did not respond to a request for comment. Prosecutors said that from 2002 through 2011, while working as the head of the Zurich team of Credit Suisse's North American desk in Switzerland, Ruegg Meier participated in a conspiracy to help U.S. taxpayers hide assets in secret Swiss bank accounts. Prosecutors said she oversaw the servicing of accounts for over 1,000 to 1,500 client relationships. She was also personally responsible for the accounts of 140 to 150 clients, almost all of which were U.S. citizens, which held about $400 million in assets under management, prosecutors said. After Credit Suisse began closing U.S. customers' accounts in 2008, Ruegg Meier helped clients keep their assets concealed, in some cases helping them open new accounts at other Swiss banks, prosecutors said. According to the Justice Department, Ruegg Meier admitted that the tax loss that resulted from her criminal conduct was $3.5 million to $9.5 million. The case is U.S. v. Adami, et al, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, No. 11-cr-95. (Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; additional reporting by Eric Walsh in Washington; Editing by Sandra Maler) Following news that Sen. John McCain has a brain tumor, the senator saw an outpouring of support from family, friends and lawmakers across the political spectrum. McCain, who has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer, will undergo further treatment to fight the disease. His family is still determining the best course of action, his office said Wednesday night. Doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix discovered and removed the tumor Friday, while the senator underwent surgery to remove a blood clot from above his left eye. Cindy McCain, his wife, wrote that her husband is doing well in a Wednesday Instagram post, calling the senator the toughest person I know. We as a family will face the next hurdle together, she wrote. He is my hero and I love him with all my heart. Thank all of you for the wonderful thoughts. @senjohnmccain is doing well. We as a family will face the next hurdle together. One thing I do know is he is the toughest person I know. He is my hero and I love him with all my heart. A post shared by Cindy McCain (@cindymccain) on Jul 19, 2017 at 9:05pm PDT Daughter Meghan McCain echoed her mothers sentiment in her own statement Wednesday. It wont surprise you to learn that in all this, the one of us who is the most confident and calm is my father, she wrote. He is the toughest person I know. The cruelest enemy could not break him. The aggressions of political life could not bend him [Cancer] will not make him surrender. Nothing ever has. McCain has run for president twice, securing the Republican nomination in 2008 over his then-top GOP foe, Mitt Romney, but falling short in the general election to Barack Obama. Both Romney and Obama praised the former Vietnam War prisoner of war as a fighter. Story continues John McCain is an American hero & one of the bravest fighters Ive ever known, wrote Obama. Cancer doesnt know what its up against. Give it hell, John. John McCain is an American hero & one of the bravest fighters I've ever known. Cancer doesn't know what it's up against. Give it hell, John. Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 20, 2017 Romney praised the senators patriotism and courage, calling both traits vital to the nation. With the fearful news tonight, Ann and I pray for his recovery, Romney wrote. He is strong and he will beat this, said former Vice President Joe Biden, whose son Beau died of brain cancer in 2015. Incredible progress in cancer research and treatment in just the last year offers new promise and hope. You can win this fight, John. Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, who represents Arizona alongside McCain, said that his colleague had told him about the diagnosis in passing on Wednesday. I called him before we heard of the diagnosis and spoke to him for several minutes about what was going on on Capitol Hill and what he was missing, Flake said on Good Morning America. When Flake asked McCain about his health, the elder senator responded, Im feeling fine, but I might have some chemotherapy in my future. Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain (R-AZ) listens as he is being introduced at a campaign rally in Denver, Colorado October 24, 2008. (Photo: Brian Snyder/Reuters) Hes optimistic, obviously, Flake added. Hes John McCain; thats what we expect. Prayers also came from U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III, D-Mass., a great-nephew of veteran former Sen. Ted Kennedy, who died from brain cancer in 2009. You wont met any stronger and braver than him, Rep. Kennedy wrote. Despite the diagnosis, the Arizona Republican wants to get back to work as quickly as possible. According to Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., McCain told him Wednesday night, Im going stay here a little bit longer, take some treatments and Ill be back. Read more from Yahoo News: Gwyneth Paltrows website Goop has suggested drinking goats milk to get rid of parasites is this a good idea, or just Hollywood hype? Watch: Is Your Detox Bogus? "Gwyneth, we love you! says Plastic Surgeon Dr. Andrew Ordon. If we didnt have you, we wouldnt have anything to talk about at the end of our shows! And what has The Doctors talking today is the goat milk cleanse eight days consuming nothing but herbs and goats milk to get rid of the parasites that, an article claims, we all have. Apparently the milk baits the parasites out of the gut lining, because they love to drink it and then the herbs destroy the parasites, explains ER Physician Dr. Travis Stork. Somebodys got a wild imagination! comments Dr. Ordon. Dr. Ordon also notes that the article is vague. I want to know what parasites, he says. Although its possible to pick up parasitic diseases while traveling, he points out, the host would feel very sick. Saying that we all have these parasites and we need to cleanse ourselves of them? Iffy! Watch: Are Cleanse Diets Good for You? The Doctors agree although Dr. Stork thinks goat milk is a perfectly fine beverage, this cleanse is Hollywood hype. The police officer who shot yoga instructor Justine Damond may have been startled by a loud noise before he fatally shot her, according to a preliminary investigation. Read: Newly Revealed Audio Sheds Light on Final Moments of Yoga Teacher Shot Dead by Cop The 40-year-old bride-to-be was in her pajamas when she twice called 911 to report a possible sexual assault in an alleyway near her home. Officer Mohammed Noor was in the passenger seat of the cop car when he and a fellow officer arrived at the scene, moments before firing at least two shots at the woman. The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension claims the squad car came to the alleyway and the officers were startled by a sound as Justine approached the driver side window. A published report says the sound maybe have been someone banging on the vehicle. Another theory is that the sound they heard was fireworks, since police radio traffic earlier that night mentioned fireworks had been mistaken for gunfire. Noor is reportedly not cooperating with investigators and Australia, where Damond is from, is looking for answers. "This is a shocking killing," Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said. "It is inexplicable." Read: Fiance Speaks Out After Cop Kills Minneapolis Yoga Teacher: 'Our Hearts Are Broken' Meanwhile, a transcript has been released that details Damond's two calls to police that night: Justine: I can hear someone out the back and Im not sure if she's having sex or being raped...I think she just yelled out, 'Help.'" 911 Operator: You're just hearing a female screaming then? Justine: I think she tried to say help and it sounds distressed. Eight minutes later, she called again. 911 Operator: You're hearing a female screaming? Justine: Yes, along behind the house. 911 Operator: Officers are on the way. Justines family and friends held a vigil on a Sydney beach before tossing flowers into the ocean. Story continues Watch: Yoga Instructor to Wed Next Month Is Killed by Cops After Calling 911 Related Articles: Genius trumped taboo in Iran when some state-run newspapers, in their tribute to mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani, splashed their front pages with her photograph bearing uncovered head. While some newspapers photoshopped Mirzakhanis photographs to make it hijab-compliant, others followed the lead of Iran President Hassan Rouhani who, on his Instagram account, posted a hijab-less picture of the mathematician who died aged 40 due to breast cancer Saturday in the U.S. The grievous passing of Maryam Mirzakhani, the eminent Iranian and world-renowned mathematician, is very much heart-rending, he wrote. Mirzakhani, who became the first woman to win the Fields Medal, often described as Maths Nobel Prize, in her death ignited the debate that has been at the center of women's rights in the Islamic country mandatory hijab. READ: Maryam Mirzakhani Becomes First Woman To Win Fields Medal Obligatory wearing of the hijab in public by women has been an integral policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran since the revolution of 1979 when Ayatollah Khomeini took over. Article 63 of the Iranian penal code penal code states: Those women that appear in the streets and public places without the Islamic hijab shall be sentenced to prison or fined as a punishment to pay some money to superior authorities. It is also one of the edicts the state has found the hardest to enforce, with the moderates in constant debate with hardliners over the definition of public places. Story continues In a recent dissent against mandatory head covering in public spaces, a growing number of women are refusing to wear the hijab while driving their cars, saying the car is a private space where they can dress freely. Though President Rouhani has decried the crackdown on women who dont wear the hijab in private spaces, judicial authorities and police have disputed that interpretation. The countrys media has refrained from taking on the establishment and criticizing mandatory hijab, the ambiguity over the definition of private space has allowed them to give play to both sides of the debate. Private or not private? read an article carried by the state-run Irna news agency. This is a question that has created a legal and religious discussion about private space within cars. READ: Swedish Official Ann Linde Criticized For Wearing Headscarf To Iran Following Mirzakhanis obituaries in newspapers, a writer and a sociologist, Mohsen Hessam Mazaheri, wrote official media had been presented with a serious challenge to show a popular and respectable woman without hijab. The challenge of publishing a photograph of Mirzakhani provided an unexpected opportunity to challenge the official lineand in this challenge, the loser was the official discourse on hijab, he wrote. The winner, he said, was Mirzakhani who, with her undeniable standing, forced at least some of the official media to accept that she had made a choice. For the first time in almost 40 years after hijab was made compulsory, the picture of a respected Iranian woman has appeared on the front pages of the countrys newspapers," wrote Mazaheri. It wasnt just obligatory hijab that Mirzakhani indirectly challenged after her death. A group of 60 parliamentarians Sunday urged the speeding up of an amendment to a law that would allow children of Iranian mothers married to foreigners to be given Iranian nationality, Fars news agency reported. Mirzakhani is survived by her Czech scientist husband and her daughter. However, a marriage between an Iranian woman and a non-Muslim man was previously not recognized, making it difficult for their children to visit Iran, the Guardian reported. Related Articles TIKRIT, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqi forces on Thursday regained control over Imam Gharbi, a village south of Mosul, from Islamic State militants who had seized it as their defense of their stronghold in the city crumbled, Iraqi police said. The action formed part of the next phase of the U.S.-backed government's campaign to drive Islamic State from Iraq and dismantle their self-proclaimed caliphate. Police Colonel Kareem Aboud said government forces took full control of Imam Gharbi at dawn. They discovered the bodies of two Iraqi journalists who were killed there shortly after the militants attacked, he said. Troops were now searching the village for remaining militants. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over Islamic State in Mosul on July 10 after a nine-month battle, marking the biggest defeat for the hardline Sunni Muslim group since its lightning sweep through northern Iraq three years ago. But the militants seized most of Imam Gharbi, on the western bank of the Tigris River about 70 km (44 miles) south of Mosul, in the kind of strike they are now expected to make as Iraqi forces regain control over cities the group captured during its 2014 offensive. Stripped of Mosul, Islamic State's dominion in Iraq will be reduced to mainly rural, desert areas west and south of the city. Islamic State also faces pressure in its operational base in the Syrian city of Raqqa, where U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish and Arab forces have seized territory on three sides of the city. (Reporting by Ghazwan Hassan in Tikrit; Writing by Angus MacSwan; Editing by Andrew Heavems) While the Duchess of Cambridges fashion choices are regularly compared to those of Princess Diana, she was likened to another influential figure on Thursday when the royal stepped out in a yellow dress in Berlin. Kate Middleton has been dubbed the new Princess Diana by German media. (Photo: PA) On the second day of her tour of Germany with her immediate family, including the Duke of Cambridge and their children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, Kate Middleton sported a summery piece from one of her favorite designers, Jenny Packham, to visit the German Cancer Research Centre. Funny enough, just two days ago, Ivanka Trump was photographed outside her Washington, D.C., home heading to work at the White house wearing a similar design featuring a thick brocade fabric and floral embroidery. Kate Middletons yellow Jenny Packham dress was pretty similar to one worn by Ivanka Trump two days ago. (Photo: PA/Instagram) While the first daughter went for a more exaggerated look, completing her ensemble with bright turquoise heels and similarly colored jewelry, the duchess went with more classic accoutrements, including Oscar de la Renta earrings and her preferred comfy shoes, Monsoon espadrille wedges. Just as she has done many times over the course of the past few days, Middleton went down the diplomatic route in her fashion choice, with yellow being one of Germanys national colors. The royal couple covered up in lab coats while at a cancer research facility. (Photo: PA) The duchess took the time to look through a microscope. (Photo: PA) During the visit to the research facility, the royal couple met with Nobel Prize winner Harald zur Hausen, whos known for discovering the link between human papillomavirus and cervical cancer. His research led to the HPV vaccine being given to women and girls around the world. The day will take on a competitive edge when William and Kate take to the River Neckar for a rowing race. This evening, the royals will leave George and Charlotte at home once again for a grand reception at one of Berlins oldest ballrooms. Read more from Yahoo Style + Beauty: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. For Twitter updates, follow @YahooStyle and @YahooBeauty. A former Nebraska teacher has been sentenced to 90 days in jail for having sex with a student on his 16th birthday. Emily Lofing, 27, was charged with debauching a minor as the boy was 16 years old, the age of consent in Nebraska. Lofing did not contest the charge, WOWT reports. The married former teacher was working in Weeping Water at the time of the offence. She is alleged to have met up with the teenager to have sex in July 2016. Her lawyer, Desirae Solomon, claimed she had suffered a mental breakdown and pleaded with the judge to consider Lofings stress from work and family history of depression as contributing factors to her behaviour. Ms Solomon said Lofing had been leading a double life and people who have known her for her whole entire life were shocked at this type of behaviour, KWBE reports. Deputy Otoe County Attorney John Palmtag requested that Lofing be given 180 days in jail and the maximum fine to send a strong message that we wont tolerate predatory acts among students. Judge John Steinheider drew attention to the timing of the offence, and told Lofing in court: This alleged indiscretion, Ill say, took place on the victims 16th birthday. You were less than 24 hours away from a felony here. Lofing has been sentenced to 90 days in jail, which could be reduced to 53 days for good behaviour, two years probation, 240 hours' community service and a $1,000 (767) fine for contributing to the delinquency of a child. She has resigned from her job at Nebraska City Middle School and surrendered her state teaching certificate. A nine-year-old boy from New Mexico physically stumbled upon a rare fossil last November while out for a walk with his parents and brothers. When Jude Sparks (now 10) initially looked at what had tripped him up he and his family didnt quite know what to make of it, according to the New York Times. The family decided to take some photos of their finding and did some research when they got home. kid found fossil Photo: New Mexico State University They ended up contacting Professor Peter Houde at New Mexico State University about the unique find after they saw a video of him on YouTube talking about a similar fossil. The fossil he was discussing in the video resembled an elephant, with large tusks and a massive skull, just like what Jude had tripped over. They later discovered that Jude had actually fallen right at the jaw of a million-year-old Stegomastodon fossil. Read: Dinosaur Evolution: Skeleton Shows Diversity Of Marine Reptiles When Houde got the email from the Sparks family he recognized the fossil quickly, reported the Times. The finding is unusual, probably only the second complete skull ever found in the state of New Mexico, reported NMSU. The Stegomastodon is likely 1.2 million years old, Houde estimates. While its name sounds like that of a dinosaur, its actually a relative of elephants. The dinosaurs walked the Earth millions of years before this elephant-like creature did, the most recent dinos died out 65 million years ago. But Judes discovery is still a rare fossil, even if it doesnt belong to a T-Rex or a Stegosaurus. Jude and his family were able to join Professor Houde in May to help uncover the skull. Part of the reason it was delayed for months was that the skull originally sat on private property and it took some time to get the chemicals needed to preserve the bones, reported NMSU. The exact location where the fossil was discovered will be kept under wraps, at the landowner's request. Story continues Read: What Ice Age Fossils Can Teach Us About Climate Change Today kid fossil Photo: New Mexico State University While the large fossil looks strong, Houde explained that its actually fairly fragile. The actual skull is thin, and the upper part of the skull is partially hollow to lighten the load and the weight on the Stegomastodon's neck. This is why the special chemicals were needed and why the extraction process took a week, not to mention the fine cleaning afterwards, wrote NMS U. Fully reconstructing the skull, jaw and tusks will take years but once its finished the Judes find will go on display. Jude told the Times that when he was younger he went through a dino-loving phase, much like other kids do. But finding the Stegomastodon hes rekindled his interest in fossils. Houde hopes that the fossil will go on display at the University, somewhere close to Jude where he can show his friends what he found one day. Related Articles The fatal shooting Saturday of Australia-born Minnesota woman Justine Damond by a police officer could go unanswered for months, as Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said he will ask authorities in the U.S. about the inexplicable death. Turnbull also said his government is determined to find out what went tragically wrong, it was reported Wednesday. "How can a woman out in the street in her pyjamas seeking assistance be shot like that?" he told the Australian Nine network, according to the BBC. Damond, who was born as Justine Ruszcyk but had already taken on her fiances last name, called 911 to report a possible assault in Hennepin County but was fatally shot by one of the officers answering the call. The 40-year-old Damond had reportedly approached the police car on the drivers side when officer Mohamed Noor fired his weapon from the passengers side, striking her in the abdomen. In what has become a major alarm raised by many now, the cameras that every police officer, as well as their squad cars in Minneapolis, is equipped with, were not activated and the incident was not recorded, BBC reported. It is one of several unanswered questions about the incident. Meanwhile, spokesman for the Hennepin County attorneys office, Chuck Laszewski, said it could take between two and four months before the investigation by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) is completed. Read: Audio Released From Justine Diamond Shooting In Minneapolis Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges said she wanted to know what the officer who shot Damond had to say but could not legally compel him to do so. The officer in question, Mohamed Noor, decided to exercise his constitutional right, allowing him to not speak to BCA, and his lawyer, Thomas Plunkett did not say if or when he will, according to CNN. Noors lawyer issued a statement Tuesday, but it was not an explanation of what happened. It said the officer extends his condolences to the family and anyone else who has been touched by this event. He takes their loss seriously and keeps them in his daily thoughts and prayers, The Guardian reported. Story continues Mayor Betsy Hodges said in a news conference Tuesday, "He has a story to tell that no one else can tell. We can't compel him by law, but I wish that he would make that statement," CNN reported. The handling of the incident has led to growing community anger, especially after it was revealed that Mohamed Noor already had two open investigations into his police conduct. With the Minneapolis police chief away on leave, her deputy, Medaria Arradondo said he was unaware Noor was under investigation, The Daily Telegraph reported. Unlike his partner, officer Matthew Harrity did speak to investigators and told them the two were startled by a loud sound near their squad car moments before the shooting. Media reports and audio from police radio have suggested that it might have been fireworks. Read: Laquan McDonald Case Leads To 3 Chicago Officers Being Charged With Felony Mayor Betsy Hodges also made an appeal to an 18-to-25-year-old white male cyclist who was at the scene, according to Harrity, watching as they tried to provide medical assistance to Damond. There was someone, an 18- to 25-year-old male who was there who may have some information. I would implore this person to come forward, she said. Justine Damond was originally from Sydney and was about to get married to her American fiance Don Damond next month. His son Zach Damond had said the entire incident resulting in the tragic shooting began after she "heard a noise in the alley and called the police." Related Articles A South Carolina woman allegedly threw her newborn in the trash, aided by the babys grandmother, after giving birth during a break at the restaurant where she works, police said. The baby fell out of the garbage bag and later died at a hospital, Greenville Police Department Officer Johnathan Bragg told InsideEdition.com Wednesday. Read: Woman Who Threw Newborn to Her Death From 8th Story Window Gets Probation Estela Ruiz-Gomez, 19, has been charged with murder or homicide by child abuse. Her mother, Lorenza Gomez Rodriguez, 41, was charged with abetting a murder or homicide by child abuse. Both are being held without bond at an ICE detention center, police said. Ruiz-Gomez was ordered deported last year, but did not leave, Bragg said. The women originally told investigators that Ruiz-Gomez gave birth on July 12 in the bathroom of a Mexican restaurant where they both work. The younger woman busses tables and Rodriquez is a dishwasher. An autopsy later revealed gravel and dirt on the babys body, and the coroner said the infants death was homicide. The child still had a heartbeat when paramedics arrived, Bragg said. Days later, investigators questioned employees at the restaurant, including Ruiz-Gomezs boyfriend, the babys father. Read: Watch Police Rush Abandoned Newborn to Hospital After Finding Him Inside a Bucket Another worker told investigators that she emptied the bathroom garbage, but it was heavier than usual and she had to drag it across the parking lot, according to Bragg. The trash bag split and the baby fell out, he said. The infants father ran outside and scooped up the baby, taking it to the women in the bathroom and calling 911 for help. The mother claimed she thought the baby was dead, Bragg said. Police are still interviewing workers and additional charges may be filed against them, he said, citing "false statements" employees gave on the day of the infants death. Story continues Bragg said police did not know why Ruiz-Gomez was ordered deported in 2016. Watch: Photographer Snaps Final Moments of Twin Newborns Bonding Before One Dies Related Articles: Detroit (AFP) - Imposing new tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico could raise the price of new cars in the US by an average of $1,100 and eliminate as many as 50,000 US jobs, according to a new study Wednesday. The Motor Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA) said the study shows the dangers of changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement, including steps such as a border adjustment tax or new duties. And MEMA president Steve Handschuh warned that such steps would not return jobs to the United States. "Tax and trade policies that force companies to re-shore jobs will not work," Handschuh said during a press briefing. "The economics of re-shoring a significant number of jobs is currently not possible." Xavier Mosquet, a senior partner at the Boston Consulting Group and lead author of the study conducted for MEMA, said the motor vehicle sector depends on an integrated supply chain with plants in Canada, Mexico and the United States. "Vitality in the motor vehicle sector hinges on a globally integrated supply chain," Mosquet said. "Introducing new tariffs, a border tax and a retreat from NAFTA would greatly impede the industry's relatively smooth and cost-effective flow of goods across borders in North America and around the world," he warned. The study found that US tariffs of 20 to 35 percent would add $16 billion to $27 billion to automotive costs in the US market. Manufacturers most reliant on imports would see its per-vehicle costs rise by an average of $1,100. The study also found that manufacturers and suppliers would not respond to a border tax or tariffs by bringing jobs back to the US. Mosquet estimated it takes nine years to recover the cost of building a new plant, and manufacturers and suppliers indicated they would continue to operate existing factories rather than building new US facilities. As manufacturing costs go up under the weight of a border tax or NAFTA tariff, companies likely would respond by reducing the content on the vehicles they sell, which would impact suppliers who provide the sophisticated safety equipment found on modern vehicles, Mosquet said. If US cars sales remained stable at around 16.8 million units annually, the reduction in the use of sophisticated technology and higher prices could lead to the elimination of 25,000 to 50,000 jobs at US factories, the study showed. O.J. Simpson granted parole O.J. Simpson (L) arrives for his parole hearing in at Lovelock Correctional Centre in Lovelock, Nevada, U.S. July 20, 2017. (Sholeh Moll/Nevada Department of Transportation/Reuters) O.J. Simpson is about to be a free man once again. Simpson has been granted parole by a unanimous vote the Nevada Board of Parole Commissioners, and is eligible to walk out the gates of Lovelock Correctional Facility by Oct. 1 of this year. Simpson had been found not guilty of the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman in 1995, and the attention surrounding this parole hearing echoed the frenzy that surrounded that mid-90s cultural touchstone. Simpson has spent the last nine years as an inmate at Lovelock following his conviction on a range of charges arising from a September 2007 robbery. Simpson had conspired with several others to reclaim some of his own memorabilia, and broke into a Vegas hotel room where a memorabilia dealer was staying. During the course of the six-minute invasion, Simpson ordered his associates to prevent anyone from leaving the room while another man brandished a gun. That was enough to get Simpson hit with both kidnapping and weapons charges in addition to assault and robbery, for a total of 12 counts. A Nevada judge sentenced Simpson to nine to 33 years in prison. READ more on Yahoo Sports >>> See the slideshow: Revisiting the O.J. Simpson saga >>> _____ See more news-related photo galleries and follow us on Yahoo News Photo Twitter and Tumblr. By Todd Melby MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - Mohamed Noor was celebrated when he became a Minneapolis police officer 21 months ago, joining a handful of other Somalis on the police force in a city with one of the United States' largest Somali communities. Now he is now under investigation in fatal shooting of Justine Damond, an Australian woman who had made Minneapolis her home and who was killed by a single gunshot wound to the abdomen that state law enforcement officials say was fired by Noor. Noor, 31, still has supporters after the shooting of Damond, who had called 911 to report a possible sexual assault in her neighborhood on Saturday. But some are worried about a backlash in the Somali community, while one former politician had only harsh words. The eldest of 10 children, Noor came to the United States as a child and has been held up by the Somali community as an example. He was one of only about 20 Somali police officers in Minnesota. Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges had touted his arrival to the police force in a Facebook post. "I want to take a moment to recognize Officer Mohamed Noor, the newest Somali officer in the Minneapolis Police Department," she said in a May 2016 post, a few months after he joined the department, alongside photos of Noor smiling at a community meet-and-greet. "His arrival has been highly celebrated, particularly by the Somali community." He remains a role model for some. "He is inspiring to young people in the community," Abdikadir Hassan, a candidate for a Minneapolis Park Board seat, told the Star Tribune said this week. Others said the community could suffer. "A lot of people are holding the Somali community accountable," said Abdirizak Bihi, director of the Somali Education and Social Advocacy Center in Minneapolis. "That's absolutely wrong." Among the most vocal critics was Michele Bachmann, a Republican former U.S. representative. On Wednesday she called Noor an "affirmative-action hire by the hijab-wearing mayor of Minneapolis," the Star Tribune reported. Story continues Noor has refused to be interviewed by authorities about the shooting, which has sparked outrage in Minneapolis and in Australia. Police are investigating why body cameras on Noor and the second police officer who arrived at the scene and the dashboard camera on their patrolcar were not turned on at the time. His record has not been spotless. In his 21 months on the force, he received three complaints. The police union said that rate is not very unusual. Police records show that one of the complaints closed with no discipline and two remain open. It did not detail the issues involved, and police have not yet released his personnel file. Noor was sued in June along with two other officers in a case now in federal court for a rights violation over their role in transporting a woman to a hospital after a relative reported concern about her mental health. The case is pending. It is not clear when Noor came to the United States, but in 2011 he earned a degree in business administration, management and economics from Augsburg College in Minneapolis, according to a spokeswoman for the school. He worked as a hotel manager in Minnesota and at a real estate business in St. Louis, court documents show. Noor has a 7-year-old son, according to court documents filed as part of a child custody proceeding. At one point, he lived alone in a sparse one-bedroom apartment, where he had a box of Lego blocks for his son, the documents said. It was not clear where the son currently resides. "He joined the police force to serve the community and to protect the people he serves," his lawyer, Tom Plunkett, said in a statement. "Officer Noor is a caring person with a family he loves." (Reporting by Todd Melby in Minneapolis Editing by Leslie Adler) In a stunning admission, President Donald Trump said in an interview that he regrets appointing Attorney General Jeff Sessions and would have never done so had he known that Sessions would recuse himself from the Russia investigation, saying the decision was very unfair to the president. Sessions should have never recused himself and if he was going to recuse himself he should have told me before he took the job and I would have picked somebody else, Trump said Wednesday in a wide-ranging interview with the New York Times. Despite Sessions endorsing Trump back in February 2016 as the then-candidate was battling Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Chris Christie in the Republican primary, the President has apparently grown weary with the Attorney General, saying his recusal unnecessarily prompted the appointment of a special counsel into the Russia probe still clouding the Trump administration. At the time of the endorsement, Trump said of Sessions: I have a man who is respected by everybody here, greatly respected. The Department of Justice did not return a request for comment. Trumps criticism of public officials didnt stop there, as he once again targeted former FBI Director James Comey, whom the President abruptly fired in May. In a brand new accusation, Trump said that Comey used a dossier with salacious material against the President as leverage so that Comey could keep his job. And Trump fired a warning at special counsel Robert Mueller, who is currently leading the FBIs Russia probe, saying that an investigation into Trumps family finances would cross a red line, the Times said. I think thats a violation. Look, this is about Russia, Trump said, though he refused to say if he would do anything about it should Mueller choose to investigate in that direction. By Richard Cowan and David Schwartz WASHINGTON/PHOENIX, Ariz. (Reuters) - U.S. Senator John McCain promised on Thursday he would return rapidly to Washington despite his newly diagnosed brain cancer, flashing the fighting spirit that has defined him since he was held in captivity as a Navy pilot during the Vietnam War. McCain, a veteran senator and former Republican presidential candidate known as a strong and sometimes fiercely independent voice on defense and security issues, was found to have an aggressive form of brain tumor, glioblastoma, after surgery last week for a blood clot above his left eye. The news, issued by his office late on Wednesday, drew a wave of support from across the political spectrum, and raised questions about how long McCain would be absent from the Senate, where Republicans have a narrow majority and are eager to notch up some legislative successes for President Donald Trump. "I greatly appreciate the outpouring of support - unfortunately for my sparring partners in Congress, I'll be back soon, so stand-by!" McCain, 80, wrote on Twitter shortly before issuing a news release through his office related to Syria. McCain was making phone calls from his home in Phoenix, Arizona, to stay abreast of congressional matters. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, one McCain's closest friends in Congress, said the senator called him three times on Thursday morning. He wanted to discuss healthcare legislation that is at the center of the Senate's attention, and a sprawling defense bill McCain would usher through as the Senate Armed Services Committee's chairman, Graham said. Graham told reporters McCain admonished him, "'No more woe is me.' He is yelling at me to buck up. I'm going to buck up." The son and grandson of admirals, McCain survived more than five years of captivity during the Vietnam War. As a lawmaker he has been a strong advocate for the U.S. military as well as being willing to cross the political aisle and work with Democrats. Among Republican lawmakers, he has been one of the most critical of Trump. 'HUMAN SIDE TO POLITICIANS' Well-wishers included Democratic former President Barack Obama and Trump, who called McCain on Thursday to wish him well, the White House said. Senator Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, said the flood of "bipartisan respect and love for John McCain as he faces this cancer battle reminds us that, after all the meanness, there is a human side to politicians. Count this Democrat in John McCains corner. Glioblastoma multiforme is the most common and most deadly form of brain and nervous system tumor, typically killing half its victims within a year. Patients rarely survive more than three years. Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy died of the disease in 2009. McCain's doctors said he was recovering from surgery well, and praised his underlying health as excellent. His doctors told CNN on Wednesday that he had no sign of neurological impairment before or during his surgery. Treatment options include a combination of chemotherapy and radiation. McCain's illness has potential policy implications for healthcare legislation and other agenda items in Washington. Republicans hold a narrow 52-48 seat majority in the Senate, and McCain's absence has made it more difficult to gather the 50 votes needed to advance a healthcare bill. He has been recovering at his Arizona home since his initial surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix last week. It was not immediately clear when he would return to Washington. McCain has previously battled back from injuries suffered during his time as a prisoner of war, and has had non-invasive melanomas removed at least three times. McCain, who ran a failed White House race in 2008 against Obama, won a sixth six-year term in the U.S. Senate last November. If the senator were to retire or die before his term ends in January 2023, the state's Republican governor would pick a Republican replacement, who would serve until a special election in November 2018. Whoever was elected would fill out McCain's term. Arizona's other senator, Republican Jeff Flake, is up for re-election next year. The state's electorate is divided: one-third Republican voters, nearly one-third Democratic and one-third independent. Matt Roberts, spokesman for the Arizona Secretary of States office, said registered independents would soon exceed Republicans. But Republicans tend to turn out to vote on Election Day in stronger numbers than their counterparts. The Southwestern state is the birthplace of former Senator and 1964 presidential candidate Barry Goldwater, who some call the father of the Republican conservative movement. (Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Steve Holland in Washington; Editing by Frances Kerry and Jonathan Oatis) With Adam Rawnsley Trump, Putin, alone: The White House failed to disclose a second, hour-long private meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 summit in Germany earlier this month. And the most remarkable bit? The only other person involved was Putins Russian translator, a Russian government employee. No other American official was present. The dinner with leaders from G-20 countries was on the presidents public schedule, and press was not allowed inside. The presidents decision to leave his seat and engage the Russian leader was not planned (we think), and White House officials did not mention it until forced to on Tuesday. And remember this bit, from the NYT: The evening after his two meetings with Mr. Putin the first lasting 135 minutes and the second an hour Mr. Trump returned to Washington. On the Air Force One flight back, his top advisers helped draft a statement about a meeting his son Donald Trump Jr. attended last year with a Kremlin-connected lawyer who promised damaging information about Hillary Clinton. North Korea can hit the U.S. Maybe. The Pentagons second highest-ranking military officer, Gen. Paul Selva, told Congress Tuesday that North Korea cant yet hit the United States with any degree of accuracy. The Norths missiles have the range, but not the ability to hit a specific target, he said. What the experts tell me is that the North Koreans have yet to demonstrate the capacity to do the guidance and control that would be required, Selva added. NATO, Russia, China drill. Tens of thousands of troops are on the move from the Baltic to the Black Sea this month, as NATO and Russia open up a series of massive military exercises the size of which the continent hasnt seen since the Cold War. FPs Paul Mcleary writes that while both sides claim the drills, which involve aircraft, warships, tanks and artillery and Chinese warships in the Baltic are purely defensive in nature. But it is clear the exercises are also meant to show off new capabilities and technologies, and display not only the strength of alliances, but how swiftly troops and heavy equipment can move to squash a threat at the frontier. Story continues Pentagon Gets new No. 2. The Senate on Tuesday confirmed President Trumps pick for the Pentagons second-highest ranking civilian official. The 92-7 vote confirmed former Boeing exec Patrick Shanahan to be the next Deputy Defense Secretary, the person who runs the day-to-day operations of the Defense Department. Hell replace Bob Work, who has held the job since the Obama administration and was asked to stay on while Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and the White House struggled to agree on a replacement. Four more coming. A group of White House nominees for other top Pentagon positions had an easy go of it Tuesday before the Senate Armed Services Committee and look to be a lock for confirmation: John Gibson, nominee for deputy chief management officer; Ellen Lord, tabbed to be undersecretary for acquisition, technology, and logistics; Lucian Niemeyer, pending assistant secretary for energy, installations, and environment; and Matthew Donovan, picked for Air Force undersecretary. Payday. The U.S. government is paying Donald Trump $130,000 a month to lease space in Trump Tower, despite the fact that Trump hasnt spent a night in New York since January. More from the Wall Street Journal: The militarys lease in Trump Tower puts the space far above market rate for similarly sized apartments in the luxury high rise market and makes it one of the most expensive residential rentals in Manhattan. Kurds make their case. Iraqi Kurds are mounting a campaign in Washington this week to rally U.S. government support for an independence bid before a referendum in September. But Baghdad opposes talk of secession, and with the United States committed to a one-Iraq policy, its going to be an uphill fight, FPs Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian reports Welcome to SitRep. Send any tips, thoughts or national security events to paul.mcleary@foreignpolicy.com or via Twitter: @paulmcleary or @arawnsley. Ambassador. The Trump administration is nominating Jon Huntsman, former Utah Governor and Obama administration ambassador to China, to be U.S. ambassador to Russia. Theres always one. Jon Huntsman called to see me. I said no, he gave away our country to China! @JonHuntsman. Donald Trump in 2012, tweeting his disdain for Huntsmans service as ambassador to China. Mass graves. Transnational Justice Working Group, a human rights NGO, released a new report pinpointing the location 40 mass graves in North Korea based on satellite imagery and defector interviews. North Korean civilians and former officials interviewed for the report said they had witnessed public executions at over 300 different sites. Defections. North Korean defector Jeon Hye-sung has done what few North Koreans have done before gone back to the North after living in the South. Jeon appeared in a recent North Korean propaganda video, bemoaning life in the South. But intelligence officials in South Korea believe that Jeon, who had a high profile career in television, may have been kidnapped by North Korean agents while working to help family members still in the North make it across the border into China. Summer getaways. Forgotten to book your summer vacation yet? Theres no need to worry as North Koreas National Tourism Administration has a new website up offering you all the information you need to take the spouse and kids for an unforgettable trip to the workers paradise north of the 38th parallel. Negative content. China is unhappy with the latest version of the National Defense Authorization Act because of provisions calling for joint exercises and training with Taiwanese forces and the U.S. military. Malorossiya. Novorossiya, the self-declared New Russia proclaimed by Russia and the rebels it backs in Ukraine, is gone, replaced by the rebranded breakaway Ukrainian statelet name Malorossiya or Little Russia. The head of the Donetsk Peoples Republic, Alexander Zakharchenko, proclaimed the new country this week, although Russia and Malorossiyas rebel enclave cousins in the Luhansk Peoples Republic, have been notably cool to the declaration. Game of Thrones. The New York Times has the inside scoop on how Mohammed bin Salman managed to elbow former heir to the throne Mohammed bin Nayef out of the line of succession. Mohammed bin Nayef, told that King Salman wanted to see him, was summoned to a palace in Mecca where princes stripped him of his phone and told him to give up his government post and claim to the throne while other Saudi officials spread rumors that he was addicted to pain pills prescribed to him after being wounded by an al-Qaeda suicide bomber. Yemen. A Saudi airstrike killed 20 civilians in the village of al-Atera in Taiz province with some of the victims including women and children. Sanctions. The Trump administration has applied new sanctions to Iran, targeting industries and individuals that support the countrys Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The sanctions come as a kind of consolation prize for the administration, which has certified Iranian compliance with the nuclear deal signed by the Obama administration but is nonetheless unhappy with the agreement. Think tanked. The American Enterprise Institutes Katherine Zimmerman has a new report out, The Salafi-Jihadi Movement, arguing that the U.S. is losing the war on terror, defining its enemy too narrowly and prioritizing military action against terrorist groups to the exclusion of addressing political grievances fueling their support in Sunni communities. In an effort to reorganize the United States State Department, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will shut down an office that coordinates cyber and technology issues with other nations, Bloomberg reported. The Office of the Coordinator for Cyber Issues, created in 2011 under President Barack Obama, will cease existence as a standalone entity and will instead operate as a part of the State Departments Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs. Read: U.S. Cyber Security News: White House Chief Information Security Officer Reportedly Removed From Position Instead of the Coordinator for Cyber Issues reporting directly to the secretary of state and allowing the head of the department to address issues directly, they will now go through the agencys chain of command before an issue is elevated to the highest levels. The elimination of the office comes as part of a larger, department-wide reorganization that Tillerson has pushed for. The Secretary of State appointed by President Donald Trump has pushed to get rid of positions he believes overlap with others and has signed on to the Presidents plan to slash the State Departments budget by nearly 30 percent. The Office of the Coordinator for Cyber Issues was responsible for establishing the 2015 cyber accord between the U.S. and China. The agreement helped curb Chinese hacking attempts on corporate targets and reduced the countrys espionage efforts against the U.S. Robert Knake, a senior fellow for cybersecurity at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington and former director of cybersecurity policy at the National Security Council under the Obama administration, told Bloomberg the reorganization is taking an issue thats preeminent and putting it inside a backwater within the State Department. Read: Trump Cybersecurity Executive Order Calls For Review Of Security Of Government Agencies, Infrastructure The current cyber coordinator for the State Department, Christopher Painter, is leaving the position by the end of the month according to a report from Politico. Painter seemingly confirmed the report on Twitter. Story continues Painters departure and the decision to fold his office into another bureau at the State Department comes at an odd time, as the U.S. has been subject to an apparent effort by the Russian government to interfere with the 2016 presidential election. There have also been a number of global cyberattacks that have affected businesses and organizations inside the U.S. and around the world. The Trump administration has place little emphasis on cybersecurity despite its growing impact on all aspects of daily operations for businesses, governments and individuals. President Trump did sign an executive order on cybersecurity earlier this year, which called for increased scrutiny on cyber defense for critical infrastructure and a review of security practices of government agencies, but results from the order have yet to be seen. The reorganization from Secretary of State Tillerson is not the first instance of the Trump administration minimizing positions that focus on cybersecurity. At the start of his administration, Trump removed the chief information security officer at the White House with little notice and no immediate plan to fill the position. Related Articles Jordan was attacked at random by a stranger, who posted footage of the attack to Snapchat. The teenager suffered severe injuries, including a skull fracture and brain trauma that prevented him from skateboarding, which he loves. He visited The Doctors after the attack how is he doing now? The Doctors arranged for Jordan to meet his idol, skate legend Tony Hawk. It was crazy! Jordan says. Hes 49, and hes still shredding better than I ever could! Jordan continues to recover. Im not back, obviously, but getting better every day, he says. Watch: I Was Brutally Attacked on Snapchat! What I love about your story, Jordan, is that you have flipped the script with the help of your dad, ER Physician Dr. Travis Stork tells him. I really took this as a message, explains Ed, Jordans dad. Since Jordans assault, Ed has been visiting schools to talk about social media attacks. Its that race for the likes, he says kids first reaction in a crisis is to start filming. Dr. Stork notes that Weve had no laws in place to prevent people from doing this. He introduces California State Assembly member Matt Debabneh, who has introduced a bill to combat social media attacks. Assemblyman Debabneh has worked with Ed and his Assembly colleagues to create Jordans Law. The bill introduces criminal charges for planning and filming an attack. Watch: Assault on Snapchat The social media sites where these attacks are getting posted do you feel like youre getting good support from them? Dr. Stork wants to know. Assemblyman Debabneh says that many of the sites are concerned and want to help law-enforcement address social-media violence. *Update: Since the taping of this episode, CA Assembly Bill 1542 (Jordan's Law) passed the CA Senate Safety Committee with a unanimous vote. The bill will have one more vote on the CA Senate Floor before heading to the Governor's office. A Thai court began handing down guilty verdicts Wednesday at the culmination of the countrys largest ever human trafficking trial, Reuters reports. Bangkoks Criminal Court Division for Human Trafficking had been trying 103 suspects including 20 government officials and a Thai army general accused of trafficking stateless Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar and Bangladeshi nationals across the Thai-Malaysia border. Thai authorities began making arrests in 2015 after dozens of trafficking victims were found buried in a mass grave in a jungle in the countrys south. Some of the suspects in the case face life imprisonment for human trafficking, holding people for ransom, murder, and other crimes. Only one of 22 defendants whose cases concluded in a morning session was found not guilty, according to Reuters. More guilty verdicts are expected to follow. Southeast Asia-based non-profit Fortify Rights called the trial an unprecedented effort by Thai authorities to hold perpetrators of human trafficking accountable in a press release Tuesday, but noted that the proceedings were beset by threats against witnesses, interpreters and police investigators. Its been a rocky road, and its not case-closed for survivors of human trafficking here, Amy Smith, an executive director at the non-profit, said in the release. Thailand has a long way to go to ensure justice for thousands who were exploited, tortured, and killed by human traffickers during the last several years. Read more: 4 Things to Know About Thailands Trial of Alleged Human Traffickers Fortify Rights also noted that authorities had arrested only 103 suspects out of 153 who were named on official arrest warrants issued in connection with the investigation. In a separate interview with Reuters, Smith said that while the crackdown had disrupted human trafficking in Thailand, the illicit network remains well in place. Thailand has long been a source, transit route and destination for human trafficking from poorer neighboring countries such as Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos. Just last month, the U.S. State Department kept Thailand on the Tier 2 Watchlist in its annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report the second lowest ranking for what were deemed insufficient efforts to combat human smuggling and trafficking. [Reuters] Washington (AFP) - An angry President Donald Trump railed Tuesday against dissenters in his party who dashed his months-long effort to dismantle Barack Obama's landmark health care law. Trump fired off a series of early morning tweets complaining about how he was "let down" by Democrats "and a few Republicans," who announced their opposition the previous night to the latest leadership plan to repeal and replace the 2010 Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. With four Republicans now lined up against Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's health overhaul, the plan has flatlined in the 100-member chamber, where the party could afford only two defectors in order to get the measure passed. The dramatic implosion effectively means Trump, who marks his first six months in office later this week, has no major legislative victory under his belt, squandering months of political capital. Trump had campaigned relentlessly on a pledge to abolish most of the Affordable Care Act, proclaiming at an October campaign rally that it would be "so easy" to immediately repeal and replace the law. But on Monday night he ran into the uncompromising reality of American politics: even with a president's party enjoying a majority in both chambers, crafting and passing landmark legislation can be difficult in the US Congress. The failure suggests an inability by Trump -- a political neophyte who often highlighted his lack of connections to establishment Washington -- to get members of his own party to fall into line. Nevertheless Trump put on a brave face, insisting on Twitter that "we will return!" "As I have always said, let ObamaCare fail and then come together and do a great healthcare plan. Stay tuned," he added. - 'Time to start over' - McConnell was by no means giving up. He told colleagues Tuesday that despite "regret" that the effort failed, "I believe we must continue to push forward now." Story continues In the coming days, McConnell will introduce a bill that repeals Obamacare outright, but with a two-year delay of implementation, in order to allow Congress time to craft a replacement. A straight repeal bill passed Congress in 2015. But that was during Obama's presidency, and Republicans knew they would pay no political price for their votes, as Obama vetoed the measure. Trump would likely sign such legislation, putting Republicans on the hook for any ensuing disruption to the health care system. Two years ago, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office warned that simply repealing Obamacare would essentially kick 18 million people off health care in the first year compared to current law, a figure that would balloon to 32 million by 2026. That is far above the 22 million that CBO forecast would lose coverage under the latest repeal-and-replace legislation. Nevertheless, Vice President Mike Pence said Tuesday he and Trump "fully support" McConnell's decision to move ahead with an Obamacare repeal. But with a number of Senate Republican moderates voicing concern about how the latest bill could adversely impact millions of people insured through Medicaid, the health coverage program for the poor and the disabled, it appeared unlikely that McConnell's repeal bid would win enough support. "I can not vote to repeal Obamacare without a replacement plan that addresses my concerns and the needs of West Virginians," Republican Senator Shelley Moore Capito said in a statement. House Speaker Paul Ryan, whose chamber passed its own health reform bill in May, appeared to recognize the quandary the Senate was in, but stressed the commitment Republicans have made to voters over the past seven years. "We've got a promise to keep," he told reporters. But Ryan hesitated to map out the way forward, because it remained unclear what repeal effort, if any, could pass the Senate. While Democrats celebrated, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer extended an olive branch to his Republican rivals. "It's time to move on. It's time to start over" on health care, he said. Schumer called on Republicans to "work with Democrats on a bill that lowers premiums, provides longterm stability to the markets and improve our health care system." President Donald Trumps decision on Monday to certify that Iran is still abiding by the terms of the nuclear deal, or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action a decision that prevents the reimposition of U.S. proliferation-related sanctions on Iran would seem to be good news for supporters of the nuclear agreement. However, stories that Trump spent an hour arguing with his entire national security team about whether to certify and only reluctantly agreed to continue the nuclear agreement should be of grave concern. Indeed, Trumps behavior and the administrations insistence on coupling every certification with over the top, belligerent rhetoric may be setting the United States up to walk away from the nuclear agreement on the worst terms possible. The first problem is that in the event Trump decides to leave the agreement, the blame game will be critical. If the United States is blamed for the collapse by its P5+1 partners (Britain, China, France, Germany, and Russia) and other key international actors, sanctions will be nearly impossible to reimplement. Many of Americas partners will continue to engage with Iran economically and call our bluff, daring the United States to sanction them. The end result will be an Iran that is no longer constrained by the nuclear obligations of the deal but is not under severe economic pressure. At every turn, the administration has made absolutely clear that it does not like the nuclear agreement, believes it was a bad deal, and is signaling a desire to abandon it. This approach, combined with the overall negative perception of Trump across the globe, means that in almost any scenario he will be blamed for the collapse of the agreement. It is hard to imagine a scenario in which the Trump administration would be able to reimplement sanctions. Even if Iran were caught cheating red-handed, the intelligence would likely be disputed. And with the administration facing such a trust deficit globally, specifically on this issue, it is hard to see how the United States could come out of the situation in a strong position. Story continues But even as the United States signals to the world that it may walk away from the deal, the message to Iran is that the United States will talk tough but not really take meaningful steps to counter the Islamic Republic in the region. That is because the tough talk has run into the reality that the Middle East is incredibly complicated and that there is little support in the United States for new, major military adventures. In Islamic State-controlled eastern Syria, the administration has hotly debated whether to compete militarily not just with the Islamic State, but also with Iran. And it appears that the more cautious Pentagon approach may be prevailing over the more aggressive strategy being pushed by the National Security Council. Meanwhile, Jordan, Russia, and the United States earlier this month agreed to a ceasefire in southwest Syria. Trump has touted this breakthrough as a major success. But in recent days, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has come out against the agreement, arguing that it is too friendly to Iran and could allow Iran and its allies in Syria to establish a base on Israels border. The text of the agreement has not been shared publicly, so it is hard to know where the precise problem lies. But it seems most likely that this is a case in which the United States is willing to accept more risk to cut an agreement that it believes is in its interests and Israels, while the Israelis take a more absolutist position about their security. Indeed, this dynamic is quite similar to the years-long disagreements over the nuclear deal though Israels supporters in Washington do not seem to be going after Trump for this approach with nearly the same vigor that they did when President Barack Obama and Netanyahu had similar disputes. These policy decisions in Syria may be the right ones. But if they are, why does the administration persist in its over-the-top rhetoric and threats toward Iran? All the administration is doing is demonstrating to Iran and to U.S. regional partners that the United States is all talk no action, which will weaken its hand on Iran policy overall, and especially in a scenario in which the nuclear deal collapses and Iran considers restarting its program. It is hard to explain why the administration is pursuing these incoherent and contradictory steps. What appears to be driving it is a similar dynamic to what we see with healthcare. The American public has moved on from both the healthcare debate and the Iran debate. It is ready to focus on new issues. But Trump has no clear agenda or policies of his own, and in their absence he is simply trying to tear down Obamas key domestic and foreign policy achievements, with little understanding or care for what might replace them. On Tuesday, he failed quite spectacularly on both fronts. But he is going to keep trying and unfortunately, on Iran, as opposed to healthcare, he does not need Congresss help to bring down the policy. Photo credit: ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will nominate Jon Huntsman, an envoy to China under former Democratic President Barack Obama, as U.S. ambassador to Russia, the White House said on Tuesday. The job, all the more high-profile because of allegations that Russia meddled in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, requires confirmation by the U.S. Senate. If confirmed, Huntsman, who has long been expected to be Trump's pick for the job, will head to Moscow as the U.S. Congress and a special counsel investigate Russia's role in the 2016 presidential election and allegations that Trump's campaign had ties to Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied the interference, and Trump has said there was no collusion with Moscow. Huntsman, a former Utah governor, was U.S. ambassador to China from 2009 to 2011. He has served in the administrations of five U.S. presidents and was a candidate for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. Trump has said he wants to improve relations with Russia. The Republican president met with Putin in Germany at the gathering of G20 leaders there earlier this month and officials said he raised the issue of Russian meddling in the election before moving on to other issues such as the war in Syria. Reports in March that Huntsman would get the Moscow envoy post were greeted with mixed reviews in Moscow, with one politician saying he was "not a dove" and the Kremlin saying it would welcome anyone who was a "convinced proponent" of establishing a dialogue with Russia. (Reporting by Steve Holland; Writing by Roberta Rampton and Jeff Mason; Editing by Peter Cooney and Sandra Maler) Public schools in Big Horn County have missed out on nearly $250,000 in tax revenue from a Hardin coal-fired power plant, one of the area's largest taxpayers that is delinquent by more than $2 million. The unpaid tax bills from the 116-megawatt Hardin Generating Station also drains county operations, the city of Hardin and its development district of expected revenue, according to records reviewed by The Gazette. And while a law passed this year by the Montana Legislature grants the county some additional power to try to recoup the money, officials have made no such move so far. The power plant is owned by Rocky Mountain Power, an entity that was set up to construct the plant, which opened in 2006. The plant was exempt from paying taxes for eight years as part of a bond agreement with Hardin to build the infrastructure needed to support the plant. Its most immediate corporate parent is Colorado Energy, which operates the plant and makes tax payments to the county. The company's outstanding bill is $2,140,854.49 for 2014 and 2016, according to Big Horn County Treasurer Jody Guptill. Colorado Energy also hasn't paid on another parcel that's part of the plant but assessed separately. About $156,000 is owed for 2015 and 2016. No payment had been made as of Tuesday, Guptill said. That includes a total of $247,584 that would have gone toward public schools in the county. The money was destined for transportation, building, retirement and general funds, among others in the school district. Those tax payments also would have contributed to various county government functions, including $31,246 for public safety and $27,549 for the general fund. The city of Hardin has missed out on $135,125 in tax revenue from the plant, which sits in the city's industrial development district, the records show. In September 2016, the Colorado Energy paid $798,679 to the county to cover its 2015 taxes. It has one of the biggest property tax bills for a single entity in the countyaccounting for as much as 12 percent of the county's overall tax revenue. "It's probably the largest one we have," Guptill said. Local governments now have the power to seek a judge's order to recover large sums of unpaid taxes. A law passed earlier this year allows taxing jurisdictions to sue delinquent taxpayers who owe more than $250,000. Missoula state Rep. Kimberly Dudik carried the bill, HB 516, and Gov. Steve Bullock signed it in May. Missoula County utilized the new law to sue the owners of the former Smurfit-Stone mill in Frenchtown over a $1.2 million tax delinquency. As part of the suit, the county also sought an injunction to prevent transfer of the property by the company, M2GREEN, the Missoulian reported. County officials worried that taxpayers would have to cover the cleanup cost if the county assumed a tax lien on the mill site. The plant is under consideration as a federal Superfund site due to the industrial pollution that remains there. There's no lawsuit in the works to recover unpaid taxes in Big Horn County, an area that has seen an economic downturn alongside the coal industry. Within the last year, Hardin Public Schools considered reaching out to community members to help pay to repair its pool facility, which had fallen into disrepair. Officials cancelled a state swim meet in Hardin because of the facility's condition. The county has been looking for ways to pay for additional jail space. Voters rejected a bond proposal in November. County Attorney Jay Harris said that he has not received any inquiries about the power plant's unpaid taxes. He referred The Gazette to Lance Pedersen, the county commissioners' legal counsel. Petersen said that commissioners hadn't discussed the matter with him but they may review options in the future. County Commissioner George Real Bird III said on Monday that the delinquent tax issue came up once before during a joint meeting with Hardin city officials, but there has been no move to recover the funds. Colorado Energy has not returned repeated requests for comment. The company is owned by Heorot Power Holdings, a subsidiary of Beowulf Energy. Inquiries to Beowulf were also not returned. Rocky Mountain Power in Hardin has no affiliation with the Utah-based power utility with the same name. In 2006, the city of Hardin issued about $12 million in bonds to build infrastructure to support the plant. The repayment of that debt was to be drawn from tax revenue paid by the power plant as part of a tax increment financing district. As part of the deal, the plant was exempt from taxes for eight years. During that time, Rocky Mountain Power and its parent company, Bicent Holdings, filed for bankruptcy. When it emerged, the plant's market value plummeted. Without tax revenue, the city hasn't been able to service that debt. The bond debt is the responsibility of private bondholders and not local taxpayers. The majority of Colorado Energy's unpaid taxes would have stayed in that TIF district about $1.4 million. But officials have said that due to the low market value, the tax payments wouldn't have been enough to make minimum debt payments. Washington (AFP) - President Donald Trump has tapped veteran diplomat and former Utah governor Jon Huntsman as ambassador to Russia, the White House said Tuesday. The announcement came amid swirling controversy and multiple investigations into allegations that the Trump campaign colluded with Moscow to win the 2016 election. Huntsman, 57, previously served as US ambassador to China and Singapore. If confirmed by the US Senate, Huntsman would venture to Moscow for a job that will be particularly high-profile as a special counsel in Washington probes the ever-growing Russia scandal plaguing the White House. As a candidate, Trump criticized Huntsman, a fluent Mandarin speaker, for letting China do "a major number on the US" during his time in Beijing under former president Barack Obama. Huntsman spent less than two years in that post before launching a failed bid to secure the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. A two-time governor of the state of Utah, Huntsman currently serves as chairman of the Atlantic Council, a foreign policy think tank, as is a director on a number of corporate boards, including Caterpillar, Chevron, Ford Motor Company and Hilton. The father-of-seven initially endorsed Trump for president last year, but later called on him to drop out following the release of a 2005 recording in which the former reality TV star used vulgar language to brag about groping women. A moderate Republican, he was George Bush Sr's ambassador to Singapore from 1992-93 -- becoming the youngest American to hold the post of ambassador in more than 100 years. He served as a deputy trade representative under George W. Bush's administration from 2001-2003 where he helped negotiate several pacts with China. He then resigned to run for governor of Utah, a heavily Mormon state with which he shares religious ties, winning with 78 percent of the vote when he stood a second time. Former president Barack Obama reached across party lines to name Huntsman his ambassador to China in 2009, a position he held until 2011, when he left to launch a presidential run against his former boss. Story continues The Trump administration has been besieged by allegations that the president's closest advisors colluded with Russia to win the 2016 election. Trump's eldest son Donald Jr recently released emails showing he held a meeting during the campaign with Kremlin-connected figures, hoping to get dirt on his dad's election rival Hillary Clinton. The controversy grew Tuesday after the White House revealed the US leader had an additional, previously undisclosed chat with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at this month's G20 summit in Hamburg, raising questions about what the pair talked about, who was present and why the meeting was not previously mentioned. Meanwhile the State Department said Tuesday it had held "tough, forthright" talks with Russian officials over access to diplomatic compounds in the United States that were suspended by Obama. DUBAI (Reuters) - The head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Wednesday Washington should move its bases and avoid "miscalculations" over new sanctions against Tehran, Iranian agencies reported. The Trump administration imposed the new sanctions on Tuesday over Iran's ballistic missile program and said Tehran's "malign activities" in the Middle East undercut any positive contributions coming from the 2015 nuclear accord. Iran says its program to develop ballistic missiles is defensive and does not violate the nuclear accord. "If the United States wants to pursue sanctions against Iran's defenses and the Guards, then it has to move its regional bases to a distance of about 1,000 km (620 miles) around Iran and be aware that it would pay a high price for any miscalculations," Tasnim and other news agencies quoted Guards commander Mohammad Ali Jafari as saying. The Pentagon said it was not planning on its moving bases. "We have no intention of adjusting our posture as a result of these statements," Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway, a Pentagon spokesman, said. The United States has bases in Qatar and Kuwait across the Gulf from Iran and the U.S. Fifth Fleet is based in nearby Bahrain. Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has repeatedly test-fired ballistic missiles, which Washington sees as a challenge to a U.N. resolution and the nuclear deal. "Iran's missile capability in the air, sea and land is growing rapidly, and this is an absolute principle for us," Jafari was quoted as saying. In February, Washington said it was putting Tehran on notice over its "destabilizing activity" after Iran test-launched a medium-range ballistic missile that a U.S. official said had exploded after traveling 1,010 km. In June, Iran fired missiles into eastern Syria, targeting bases of Islamic State which had claimed responsibility for attacks in Tehran that killed 18 people. President Hassan Rouhani said earlier on Wednesday the new sanctions contravened the nuclear accord with world powers and vowed Tehran would "resist" them. "Some of the actions of the Americans are against the spirit and even the letter of the (nuclear accord). We shall resist these," Iranian state television quoted Rouhani as saying. "One of the plots of the Americans is to act in such a way that would make Iran say that it is not following its commitments ... I think the Americans will fail as we will always respect our international commitments," Rouhani said. Rouhani said Iran would have an "appropriate response" to the sanctions, but he did not elaborate. Iran's parliament agreed on Tuesday to discuss measures, including increased funding for the missile program, as retaliation for the new U.S. sanctions, state media reported. The U.S. measures signal that the administration of President Donald Trump is seeking to put more pressure on Iran while keeping in place the agreement under which Iran must curb its nuclear program in return for the lifting of international oil and financial sanctions. (Reporting by Dubai newsroom. Additional reporting by Idrees Ali in Washington; Editing by Sami Aboudi and Alison Williams) (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Defense said the Navy will commission its first "Ford-class" aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, on Saturday at its base in Norfolk, Virginia - three years behind schedule and billions over budget. U.S. President Donald Trump will deliver the principal address at Naval Station Norfolk, the DoD said in a statement. (http://bit.ly/2tuInzU) Trump said in March that the newest generation of Ford-class carriers - the most expensive warships ever built - will remain the centerpiece of projecting American power abroad. He has vowed to expand the number of carriers the United States fields from 10 to 12. The new carrier is the lead ship of the Ford-class of "super -carriers", the first new class in more than 40 years, and will replace the current Nimitz-class carriers. The Navy also said it would spend $43 billion in total to build the first three ships in the class, including the USS John F. Kennedy and the USS Enterprise. The warships are being built by Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. (Reporting by Radhika Rukmangadhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva) By Matt Spetalnick and Andrew Cawthorne WASHINGTON/CARACAS (Reuters) - The Trump administration is preparing sanctions against several senior Venezuelan officials, U.S. officials said on Tuesday, to pressure President Nicolas Maduro to abort plans for a controversial congress foes say would cement dictatorship. Maduro's leftist government vowed to proceed with the July 30 vote for the new Constituent Assembly despite what it called a "brutal interventionist" threat from its ideological foe. President Donald Trump said on Monday he would take "strong and swift economic actions" if Maduro went ahead with the new body that would have power to rewrite Venezuela's constitution and supersede other institutions. Trump's administration is crafting possible sanctions against Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez and Socialist Party No. 2 Diosdado Cabello for alleged rights violations, U.S. officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. A senior Trump administration official made no announcement of new sanctions on a conference call with reporters on Tuesday and said the policy review was still under way. That official stressed "all options are on the table," including possible measures against Venezuela's vital oil sector, as Washington seeks to head off the July 30 vote, which it sees as Maduro's effort to create a "full dictatorship." The possible sanctions on officials, which would follow similar steps against Venezuela's vice president earlier this year, would freeze their U.S. assets and prohibit anyone in the United States from doing business with them. A sanctions announcement could be made within days unless Trump decides to put the move on hold, something one of the sources told Reuters could not be ruled out. The senior administration official declined to provide the names of individuals or entities that could be on any forthcoming list, but said the United States "reserved the right" to issue sanctions even before the July 30 vote. While tough oil-related sanctions could bankrupt the Maduro administration and worsen grave food shortages, hitting Venezuela's energy sector could raise U.S. domestic gasoline prices, which would be unpopular with Americans. Venezuela is the third largest foreign oil supplier to the United States, after Canada and Saudi Arabia, exporting about 780,000 barrels per day of crude. Any sanctions by Trump, who is largely unpopular abroad, could be used by Maduro to bolster his accusations that Washington is trying to sabotage leftism in Latin America and unite the ruling Socialist Party just as fissures were emerging. 'XENOPHOBIC THREAT' Decrying "imperialism" still resonates for some in a region scarred by Washington's support of coups during the Cold War. "Venezuelans are free and will unite against the insolent threat from a xenophobic and racist government ... (and) the United States' brutal interventionist efforts," Foreign Minister Samuel Moncada said, vowing the July 30 vote would go ahead. "It is an act of political sovereignty by the Republic. Nothing and nobody can stop it," he said. Polls show a majority of Venezuelans oppose the Constituent Assembly, which critics say would be elected in a sham poll. Maduro insists it is the only way to bring peace after months of anti-government unrest that has killed 100 people and further hurt a crippled economy. Maduro's opponents say they drew 7.5 million people onto the streets at the weekend to vote in a symbolic referendum where 98 percent disagreed with the assembly. Calls to cancel the assembly and instead hold conventional elections have come from around the world, including the European Union and major Latin American nations. The ruling Socialist Party would likely be thrashed in any normal vohe due to widespread anger over economic hardships. "The Constituent Assembly should be abandoned ... The whole world is asking for that," Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos tweeted. (Additional reporting by Diego Ore, Andreina Aponte, Alexandra Ulmer and Girish Gupta in Caracas, Marianna Parraga in Houston, John Walcott and Ayesha Rascoe in Washington; Writing by Andrew Cawthorne and Alexandra Ulmer; Editing by David Gregorio and Andrew Hay) By Mohammad Zargham and Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States slapped new economic sanctions against Iran on Tuesday over its ballistic missile program and said Tehran's "malign activities" in the Middle East undercut any "positive contributions" coming from the 2015 Iran nuclear accord. The measures signaled that the administration of President Donald Trump was seeking to put more pressure on Iran while keeping in place an agreement between Tehran and six world powers to curb its nuclear program in return for lifting international oil and financial sanctions. The U.S. government said it was targeting 18 entities and people for supporting what is said was "illicit Iranian actors or transnational criminal activity." Those sanctioned had backed Iran's military or Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps by developing drones and military equipment, producing and maintaining boats, and procuring electronic components, it said. Others had "orchestrated the theft of U.S. and Western software programs" sold to Iran's government, the Treasury Department said. "The United States remains deeply concerned about Iran's malign activities across the Middle East which undermine regional stability, security, and prosperity," the State Department said in a statement. It said the activities "undercut whatever 'positive contributions' to regional and international peace and security were intended to emerge" from the nuclear agreement. On Monday, the Trump administration said Iran was complying with the nuclear agreement but it was also in default of the spirit of the accord and Washington would look for ways to strengthen it. It was the second time Trump certified Iranian compliance with the agreement since he took office in January, despite having described it as "the worst deal ever" during his 2016 presidential campaign, criticizing then-President Barack Obama whose administration negotiated the accord. "Even as we continue to work to prevent Iran from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon, we cannot look away while Iran threatens our country and our allies in ways beyond their nuclear threat," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters on Tuesday. 'POISON THE ATMOSPHERE' The statement listed Iranian support for groups including Lebanon's Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas movement, the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad and Houthi rebels in Yemen. Iran condemned Washington's sanctions announcement as "contemptible and worthless." Iran "will reciprocate the move by imposing sanctions on a number of American natural and legal persons who have taken steps against the Iranian people and other Muslim nations in the region," the foreign ministry said in a statement. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told CBS News the sanctions "poison the atmosphere" and violate the "spirit" of the nuclear agreement. "We will look at it and see whether it violates the letter of the deal. And we will act accordingly," he said. The Trump administration is reviewing policy on Iran, not only looking at Tehran's compliance with the nuclear deal but also its behavior in the region which Washington says undermines U.S. interests in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon. Trump's reservations about the nuclear deal held up the White House's announcement on compliance, a U.S. official said. In the end, Trump agreed reluctantly to recertify the agreement after being advised repeatedly by his top national security aides to do so, another senior U.S. official said. Behind the scenes, advisers argued that there was no alternative but to recertify the deal for now because the past sanctions regime the United States had with European allies against Iran is no longer in place and unilateral sanctions are not as effective as multilateral ones. The State Department also called on the Iranian government to release U.S. citizens Baquer Namazi, Siamak Namazi, Xiyue Wang and other "unjustly detained U.S. citizens" and said it was deeply concerned about reports of their declining health. "Iran should immediately release all of these U.S. citizens on humanitarian grounds," the State Department said. (Additional reporting by Susan Heavey and David Alexander in Washington; Babak Dehghanpisheh in Beirut; Writing by Yara Bayoumy and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Grant McCool and Sandra Maler) Venezuela has been wracked by 100 days of protest - and President Nicolas Maduro insists the July 30 Constituent Assembly vote will end the demonstrations - AFP The White House has threatened Venezuela with strong and swift action unless President Nicolas Maduro calls off a July 30 constitutional congress, which the US believes will push the South American country further towards a dictatorship. Mr Maduro, who has now faced more than 100 days of protests, killing around 100 people, insists that the congress to rewrite the constitution is the only way to restore calm to the troubled country which has the largest oil reserves in the world, and was once a stable, middle class nation. But his opponents say that the congress will cement his "dictatorship". In brief | Venezuela On Tuesday a senior White House official said that all options are on the table if Venezuela goes ahead with the vote. The president is very concerned about the well being of the Venezuelan people, the incredible erosion of democracy right before our eyes, the official said. And he has instructed us to do everything we can to support democracy there. The Trump administration was preparing sanctions against Diosdado Cabello, Mr Maduros second in command, and Vladimir Padrino Lopez, the defence minister, Reuters reported. Nicolas Maduro at a rally in Caracas to promote the July 30 vote The sanctions would freeze the officials' US assets and prohibit anyone in the United States from doing business with them. Mr Cabello responded on Twitter with an 1826 quote from Simon Bolivar, the independence hero idolised by Hugo Chavez and his allies. Nuestro Libertador vigente hoy: "Los EEUU parecen destinados por la providencia, a plagar la America de miserias en nombre de la libertad" Diosdado Cabello R (@dcabellor) July 18, 2017 He tweeted: Our liberator is watching over us today: The United States seems destined by providence to plague America with misery in the name of liberty. He then re-tweeted a message of support from Evo Morales, president of Bolivia, who described the threat as shameful. Story continues There was also a suggestion that the US could be preparing sanctions against PDVSA, the state oil company. Venezuela is the third largest foreign oil supplier to the United States, after Canada and Saudi Arabia, exporting about 780,000 barrels per day of crude. While sanctions against the PDVSA could bankrupt the Maduro administration and worsen already grave food shortages, hitting Venezuela's energy sector could also raise US domestic fuel prices, which would be unpopular with Americans. The White House would not confirm who or what would be sanctioned, but only promised strong and swift economic actions. The president views Venezuela as a disaster, and a man-made disaster, the official said, in a briefing call with journalists. It used to be a middle income country and has been destroyed by corruption, narco-trafficking and mismanagement. The president is very troubled by this, and by the suffering of the Venezuelan people, and he wants it to become the democracy that the Venezuelan people want it to be. Members of the National Guard are caught up in a blast during protests in Caracas on July 10, 2017 The Venezuelan embassy in Washington issued a furious response to what it termed "open aggression against a Latin American country." "Without a doubt, the government of the United States is used to humiliating other nations in its international relations and believes that it will receive as a response the subordination to which they are accustomed," the embassy said in a statement. "The thin democratic veil of the Venezuelan opposition has fallen, and it reveals the brutal interventionist force of the US government, which has been behind the violence suffered by the Venezuelan people in the last four months. "It is not the first time that we denounce and confront threats as ludicrous as those contained in this unbelievable document." Mr Maduros government vowed to proceed with the vote, hitting out at what it called a "brutal interventionist" threat from its ideological foe in the north. "Venezuelans are free and will unite against the insolent threat from a xenophobic and racist government," said Samuel Moncada, the foreign minister, on Tuesday. He said the elections for the Constituent Assembly was an act of political sovereignty by the republic. Nothing and nobody can stop it," he added. Polls show a majority of Venezuelans oppose the Constituent Assembly, which critics say would be elected in a sham poll. Julio Borges, president of Venezuela's National Assembly, center, gives a speech as lawmakers and opposition leaders celebrate after the result announcement of a symbolic Venezuelan plebiscite on Sunday Mr Maduro's opponents say they drew 7.5 million people onto the streets at the weekend to vote in a symbolic referendum, where 98 per cent disagreed with the assembly plan. Calls to cancel the assembly and instead hold conventional elections have come from around the world, including the European Union and major Latin American nations. The ruling Socialist Party would likely be thrashed in any normal vote due to widespread anger over economic hardships. "The Constituent Assembly should be abandoned to achieve a negotiated, safe and peaceful solution in Venezuela. The whole world is asking for that," Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos tweeted. Protesters blocked roads in parts of Caracas on Tuesday, and a national strike was planned for Thursday. Caracas (AFP) - Venezuela's military reaffirmed its loyalty to President Nicolas Maduro on Wednesday by saying its forces would protect a controversial vote he has called for next week to elect a body to rewrite the constitution. The declaration, read out by Maduro's defense minister, General Vladimir Padrino Lopez, marked another official rejection of a threat by President Donald Trump to impose economic sanctions on Venezuela if the vote proceeds. Padrino Lopez said Venezuela's armed forces, which he controls as operational commander, recognize the "legitimate nature" of Maduro's plan to have a body called a constituent assembly elected. "As such, soldiers will deploy on July 30 across all the national territory... to guarantee the complete exercise of the right to vote by all Venezuelans," he said. Venezuela's opposition, which held a symbolic election last weekend in which more than a third of the country's voters rejected Maduro's plan, says the constituent assembly is a way for the president to hold on to power through "Cuba-like" dictatorial measures. - Nationwide strike - Trump on Monday warned of unspecified "strong and swift economic actions" if the vote goes ahead, calling Maduro "a bad leader who dreams of becoming a dictator." The UN, EU, the Organization of American States and major Latin American nations have also condemned the constituent assembly initiative. Chilean President Michelle Bachelet told Argentina's daily La Nacion she feared the showdown between Maduro's government and the opposition "could lead to even greater instability... there is always a risk of arriving at a more violent path." Negotiations were needed to avoid that, she said. But Maduro on Tuesday said the controversial step would go ahead -- "now more than ever" after Trump's threat -- and that "conspirators" in the country trying to stop it would be punished. Story continues His labor minister, Nestor Ovalles, warned that companies in Venezuela that joined a 24-hour, nationwide strike on Thursday called by the opposition would be "sanctioned." There is a risk that the unyielding campaigns by Maduro and the opposition could worsen the bloodshed Venezuela has suffered since April, when anti-government protests turned violent, with nearly 100 people killed. Demonstrations continue, and on Tuesday a truck was set ablaze in a Caracas avenue during a protest. Government prosecutors also said on Twitter that a man died in the northeastern state of Anzoategui when he was "burned during a demonstration," but gave no details or date of the alleged incident. - 'Firm' military - Maduro chaired a meeting of his Defense Council on Tuesday to prepare responses to the threatened US action. Venezuela is deep in the grip of an economic crisis brought on in part by low global prices for oil -- its main export and pillar of its finances. Around a third of the country's crude production is exported to the US, and a White House official on Tuesday said "all options are on the table" to punish Maduro if the election goes ahead. While Maduro is widely unpopular -- 70 percent of Venezuelans reject his leadership, according to the polling firm Datanalisis -- and the congress is controlled by the opposition, he holds onto power in large part because of the military's support. The opposition has tried to split military chiefs away to their side. But those efforts have been in vain, possibly because the military enjoys control over vast swaths of the economy. Padrino Lopez, who has more power than any other minister in Maduro's cabinet, stressed that "we are going to remain firm." He was especially scathing of the EU's top diplomatic official, Federica Mogherini, who has urged Maduro to drop his constituent assembly plan. "The obvious bias and dark threats from this official are outrageous," the general said, accusing Mogherini of bowing down to the "extremist elite" in charge in the United States and of accepting opposition "propaganda" concerning its vote. Baltimore news outlets have published body cam video from a supposed drug bust back in January. The video appears to show a cop planting drugs in a trash pile, before going back to the road, activating his body camera, and finding the drugs that supposedly belonged to a suspect. The cop was using a model of body cam that constantly captures and buffers footage, so that when you press the record button, it saves the previous 30 seconds of footage. Don't Miss: New report claims iPhone 8 will cost $1,100 and will launch sooner than we thought Presumably unaware of this feature, the cop accidentally films himself placing a baggie of pills in an empty can in a yard filled with trash. The officer then goes back out to the sidewalk with two other cops, presses record on the body cam, and is then heard saying Hey, lets check over here. The officer is seen discovering the bag of pills in record time, before coming back out to the road and turning the camera off. The drugs and the officers testimony of finding them were to be used in a case against a suspect. After reviewing the video, a public defender brought up the apparent planting of evidence to the prosecutor in the case. Charges were subsequently dropped, and some kind of investigation is ongoing, although the Baltimore Police Department has refused further comment. Body cams have become more and more prevalent among cops in recent years, although policies around when they should be recorded and how evidence should be disclosed are still working out. Cases like this show how some police officers appear to be manipulating the cameras (however badly!) to try and manipulate evidence, showing that theyre far from the perfect solution that some have hoped for. Trending right now: See the original version of this article on BGR.com MERLIN, Ore. Grayback Forestry, Inc. reports that on July 19, an employee was killed in the line while fighting forest fire on the Seeley Ranger District of the Lolo National Forest in Montana. Grayback Forestry is a private firefighting contractor out of Oregon. The employee, 19 years old and a resident of Missoula, was part of a 20-person attack crew. He was struck by a falling tree. His name is being withheld pending notification of his family. Its been a long wait for Galaxy S8 users eager to start using one of the signature features of Samsungs new flagship phones, but Bixby Voice is finally here. Don't Miss: This smartphone controlled paper airplane has a built-in live streaming camera Samsung on Wednesday announced that Bixby is ready to expand its Voice capabilities to the US, as US English is finally supported. So far, Bixby Voice only worked in South Korea, as Samsung had to delay to US launch after running into Bixby Voice issues. Bixby Voice will let users seamlessly navigate their phones and easily switch between voice commands, touch, vision, and text, Samsungs announcement explains. Bixby Voice works with core Samsung apps, the company says, which will let you do by voice anything that you could do with touch or type. In the future, support for third-party apps is also expected: Users can ask Bixby to complete simple tasks, like turning on the flashlight or taking a selfie, or complex tasks, like remind me to pick up milk at the grocery store, or find photos I took in Spain and create an album called Vacation. To start using Bixby Voice, youll have to update the application to the latest software version. Once thats done, you can invoke the assistant by saying Hi Bixby, or by pressing that hardware button that you hardly used so far its the one on the side of the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+. If you need to learn more details about how to master Samsungs voice assistant, head on over to Samsungs Bixby portal at this link. Trending right now: See the original version of this article on BGR.com After much delay, Samsung has begun rolling out its Bixby smart assistant to users in the U.S. The company said today that an update will allow owners of the Galaxy S8 and S8+ to gain voice capabilities for the service. Bixby is the Korean phone maker's take on Apple's Siri, Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, but it didn't ship with Samsung's Galaxy S8 and S8+ when the phones launched in March. Instead, the firm shipped a limited "preview" of the service in June. Now, however, those lucky users in the U.S. will be able to navigate their device, make calls, set tasks and more using their voice thanks to Bixby. "Almost anything you could do with touch or typing, you can now do with your voice," Samsung said of the new capabilities for Bixby, adding that third-party support will come next. There's a lot hanging on that. Samsung went to the trouble of adding a dedicated Bixby button to the S8 phones, and how it is embraced by makers of other apps and owners of other services will be the key if it is to graduate from voice assistant to intelligent assistant as rival services are doing. For now though, we'll have to wait. There's not even word on when Bixby will expand its language support beyond English -- which is also open to users in Samsung's native Korea, but Korean isn't. More language options is a key move to globalize the service, and give other ventures -- Samsung is reported to be looking into a Bixby-powered speaker -- the potential to take-off. Today's update is very much the first step of a long journey. (TOKYO) An underwater robot entered a badly damaged reactor at Japans crippled Fukushima nuclear plant Wednesday, capturing images of the harsh impact of its meltdown, including key structures that were torn and knocked out of place. Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said the robot, nicknamed the Little Sunfish, successfully completed the days work inside the primary containment vessel of the Unit 3 reactor at Fukushima, which was destroyed by a massive March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. TEPCO spokesman Takahiro Kimoto praised the work, saying the robot captured views of the underwater damage that had not been previously seen. However, the images contained no obvious sign of the melted nuclear fuel that researchers hope to locate, he said. The robot was left inside the reactor near a structure called the pedestal, and is expected to go deeper inside for a fuller investigation Friday in hopes of finding the melted fuel. The damage to the structures was caused by the melted fuel or its heat, Kimoto told a late-night news conference held nine hours after the probe ended its exploration earlier in the day. The robot, about the size of a loaf of bread, is equipped with lights, maneuvers with five propellers and collects data with two cameras and a dosimeter. It is controlled remotely by a group of four operators. The robot was co-developed by Toshiba Corp., the electronics and energy company charged with helping clean up the plant, and the International Research Institute for Nuclear Decommissioning, a government-funded consortium. It was on a mission to study the damage and find the fuel that experts say has melted, breached the core and mostly fallen to the bottom of the primary containment chamber, where it has been submerged by highly radioactive water as deep as 6 meters (20 feet). The robot discovered that a grate platform that is supposed to be below the reactor core was missing and apparently was knocked down by melted fuel and other materials that fell from above, and that parts of a safety system called a control rod drive were also missing. Story continues Remote-controlled robots are key to the decades-long decommissioning of the damaged plant, but super-high levels of radiation and structural damage have hampered earlier probes at two other reactors at the plant. Japanese officials say they want to determine preliminary methods for removing the melted nuclear fuel this summer and start work in 2021. Scientists need to know the fuels exact location and understand the structural damage in each of the three wrecked reactors to work out the safest and most efficient ways to remove the fuel. Robots tested earlier became stuck inside the two other reactors. A scorpion-shaped robots crawling function failed and it was left inside the plants Unit 2 containment vessel. A snake-shaped robot designed to clear debris for the scorpion probe was removed after two hours when its cameras failed due to radiation levels five times higher than anticipated. The robot used Wednesday was designed to tolerate radiation of up to 200 sieverts a level that can kill humans instantly. Kimoto said the robot showed that the Unit 3 reactor chamber was clearly more severely damaged than Unit 2, which was explored by the scorpion probe. Two Israeli men and a minor were convicted Thursday morning for attacking Palestinians farmers with wooden sticks and metal bars in 2014 near the Migron outpost in the West Bank. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter While the judge rejected claims presented by the prosecution that the defendants launched their assault on their victims purely because they were Arabs, the indictment states that Yosef Weinberger and Eliran Landau assaulted and injured the Palestinian farmers under aggravated circumstances. Migron (Photo: lowshot.com) Regarding the prosecutions position that the racist perceptions of the defendants is expressed by their conclusion the Arabs presence means they are dangerous and are coming to attack, and therefore they must be attacked beforehandI dont accept this, wrote the judge following the conviction at the Jerusalem District Court. The incident took place in territory which is partially toiled by Palestinian Arabs who require special permission and to be escorted by a military security detail. The upper half of the land is settled by Israeli residents. In March 2014 Yousef Abu Ali, Omer al-Hajj, Ahmed Sayem and Nasif Abdul Jaabar began working an olive grove on the land without the required coordination under the Migron outpost. According to the indictment, the convicts approached the three Arabs, began throwing stones at them, cursed them and proceeded to strike them with sticks and bars. The defendants claimed however that they only made their way to the area to show their presence after receiving messages that Arabs were assaulting Jews in the area and were approaching the Jewish-populated areas. They also claimed that the plaintiffs were the people responsible for attacking and throwing stones at other people in the outpost and that any wounds they may have sustained in the ensuing skirmish could be attributed to self defense. Nevertheless, the judges determined that the version of events by the complainants was not without its contradictions, noting that they entered the agricultural part of the land without first consulting with the military. Moreover, two of them had already served prison sentences in the past for rock-throwing and the judges acknowledged the possibility that they could have hurled rocks at the defendants. At the same time, they also identified a contradiction in the version of events set forth by the defendants and therefore concluded this was a violent clash between the two sides, and that it cant be determined who was the attacker and who was the victim. Entrance to Migron (Photo: AFP) However, one of the judges dismissed the notion that the convicted attackers acted out of self defense, highlighting that they decided to remain in the area even after it became clear that matters were heading toward a clash. They should have left the area, it was ruled, contacted the military and asked for help. The fact that the three were not convicted of racial crimes will result in a more lenient punishment, but the decision was based on previous ruling in which a young Arab who participated in the Nakba Day march in Jerusalem once attacked, with fellow marchers, Haredi passersby. In that ruling, the Judges determined that his mere participation in the Nakba Day marches and the fact that he was wearing a T-shirt on which Palestinian was written did not necessarily indicate a racial motive behind the attack and that to determine otherwise would require proof of a premeditated attack or that racist slurs were heard during the attack. A terrorist attempted to stab an IDF female soldier Thursday afternoon near Tuqu' in the West Bank before being shot and killed by security forces at the scene. No other injuries were caused. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The incident is the fourth attempted stabbing to have taken place in the West Bank within a week and a half, putting an end to a comparative period of quiet. Terrorist killed X Security forces urged residents of Tekoa nearby to avoid the area in the next hour as they sealed it off to any traffic. The terrorist was later identified as 20-year-old Mohammad Hussein al-Tanuh from Tuqu'. Some 200 Palestinians gathered at the scene of an attempted stabbing and began throwing stones at IDF forces. The troops responded with gas. A week-and-a-half ago, an attempted vehicular attack took place at the same spot which ended in one soldier sustained light wounds. Attempted stabbing On Tuesday, three IDF soldiers were lightly wounded in a vehicular attack after a terrorist attempted to plow his car into a group of four stationed at the entrance of Beit Einun, a Palestinian village in Hebron north of Kiryat Arba. Two of the victims were evacuated to Shaare Zedek Medical Center while another was treated at the scene by paramedics for slight injuries. Knife used in the attack (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit) Israel has been on high alert for potential terror attacks in light of ongoing riots and protests against the decision to install metal detectors at the entrance to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem in response to a deadly terror attack last week. Preparing for more eruptions of violence, the IDF said Thursday five battalions have been put on-call in the West Bank in case tensions heightened on the Temple Mount. I was born and raised in Havre and have spent a significant amount of time recreating in the Upper Missouri River Breaks area of Montana. I recall the robust public process that the Breaks went through 16 years ago. The drastic changes that are being proposed for our national monuments could cause irrevocable harm to these wild places. This action is out of touch with Montana values as reflected in a recent poll, which showed that 77 percent of Montanans support the Upper Missouri Breaks and other existing monuments. Changes to the national monument system will have huge consequences for families and small businesses, like mine, who work in and enjoy the wild spaces of our national monuments. I am the co-founder and program director for the Montana Wilderness School (MWS). We provide empowering expeditionary wilderness courses to kids that foster personal growth and cultivate a conservation ethic through connecting with remote landscapes and wild places. MWS is an authorized outfitter and guides youth on 15-day canoe expeditions through the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument. As the Department of Interior reviews certain national monuments, I ask Secretary Ryan Zinke to remember future generations, and think deeply about the type of nation you want to leave for future Americans. When Zinke was in Whitefish late last month, he said that his likely recommendation will be to leave the Missouri Breaks as is.'' This is good news if he stays true to his word. The possibility of shrinking or changing the management of the Breaks would have massive negative impacts on Montana and especially on MWS. Shrinking the Breaks as Zinke recommended for the Bears Ears National Monument in southern Utah would forever damage one of MWS best classrooms for outdoor learning. Zinke and our entire congressional delegation often speak openly about the importance of outdoor recreation and the influence it has upon their lives. Based on these statements, its a safe assumption that they all understand the importance of getting youth outside. Studies show kids are now spending about half as much time outdoors as they did in the 1990s. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the average American boy or girl spends as few as 30 minutes in unstructured outdoor play, but more than seven hours each day in front of an electronic screen. These two facts are a stark reminder of the separation between our youth and the outdoors. And research by the Montana State Parks Office suggests that a lack of access to public lands is the No. 1 factor that keeps Montana youth from enjoying the outdoors. On our last expedition to the Breaks, our students followed in the canoe wake of Lewis and Clark, full of anticipation and wonder about what would be around the next river bend. Dont take that sense of awe and adventure away from our kids; dont rob them of the opportunity to develop perseverance and challenge themselves in wild Montana. Leave the Breaks and all our national monument designations in place to protect these wild and historic landscapes for future generations. Two of our elected officials U.S. Sen. Jon Tester and Gov. Steve Bullock have already publicly expressed their support of leaving the Breaks unchanged. If you want these wild places to remain protected, please contact U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, Tester and U.S. Congressman Greg Gianforte and request they hold Secretary Zinke to his pledge of keeping the Upper Missouri River Breaks as it is a national monument. The Missoulian is among the Montana newspapers and other organizations challenging Marsys Law in court. Heres why: The constitutional initiative approved by voters last November describes Marsys Law as a victims bill of rights that adds 18 broad new provisions to the Montana Constitution. Some of these new laws are merely duplicative of rights already protected by that document. Others, however, directly conflict with other existing constitutional rights such as the right to know and the right of the public to participate in the justice system. If these rights are subverted, the press cannot do its job of informing the public of important criminal proceedings. In fact, neither the news media nor the larger public will be able to access public information that helps us hold local government accountable. The new set of constitutional rights in Marsys Law promises to create a slew of problems not only for news media, police and prosecutors, but for defendants and victims as well. Most alarmingly, if Marsys Law is upheld in court, it will undermine the very foundations of the Montana Constitution and leave all Montanans poorer for it. That is why the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana, Montana Association of Counties, Montana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, a county attorney and a victims rights advocate have petitioned the Montana Supreme Court to review the law. And its why a number of newspapers in Montana, including the Missoulian, have joined the legal battle as a friend of the court. Montana voters passed Marsys Law by a strong margin: 66 percent. It was scheduled to take effect at the beginning of July, but the court agreed to delay its implementation at least until the state attorney general and secretary of state have a chance to respond. Notwithstanding the strong voter support, we believe the court will find this initiative unconstitutional because it violates the long-established rights of Montanans and severely restricts the freedom of the press enshrined in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. News organizations in Montana are already running into problems. Law enforcement personnel in several Montana counties are weighing whether they can release even the most basic, most important crime information such as the names of murder victims. The current practice is to release the identity of the deceased after family members have been notified. The new law, however, requires law enforcement to go to extraordinary, time-consuming lengths to local additional victims to notify. The law has an overly broad definition of victims, each of which is entitled to notified throughout a criminal proceeding. Distant relatives, friends and even business entities and corporations are granted the right to notification of even the most minor proceedings involving even misdemeanors crimes, such as shoplifting. Meanwhile, each victim is also allowed to refuse to be interviewed or deposed. And this notification promises to take up a great deal of public time and resources, although just how much it will cost is still unclear. Police and prosecutors are still struggling to gauge just how much to expand their budgets in order to comply with the new notification requirements. At the very least, it will take longer to release public information, as public officials try to locate as many victims as possible and screen all documents to make sure make sure their release doesnt violate the sometimes conflicting terms of Marsys Law. Thats an impossible position in which to place these public servants. In particularly sensitive cases involving allegations of sexual assault or domestic violence, the notification requirements could also cause real and lasting harm. Victims of rape may not want all their friend and neighbors kept informed about every proceeding in their criminal case but the new law says they must. On the defense side, the new law directly violates the rights of those accused of crimes, such as the right to face ones accuser in court. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven otherwise; Marsys Law treats them with a presumption of guilt. For instance, it provides victims the right to be present before someone accused of a crime may be released from jail. Imagine the shoplifter who is forced to remain in jail until a corporate representative could be brought in to Montana to be present. Common sense tells us this is overkill. Legally, the ACLU points out that the initiative approved by voters would change multiple sections of the Montana Constitution at least eight when an initiative may amend only one section at a time. Montana voters should have been presented with at least eight initiatives to consider. But that wasnt taken into account because Marys Law wasnt made for Montana. It is the result of a campaign begun by a wealthy California man after his sister, Marsy Nicholas, was murdered, and family members bumped into the person accused of her murder a week later at the grocery store. Henry Nicholas has since spent millions on campaigns to implement Marsys Law in each state, starting with California and proceeding to Montana, where he spent more than $2 million to push Constitutional Initiative 116. That campaign focused on aspects of the justice system many consider unfair to victims, without acknowledging that there are less drastic ways of resolving these concerns and without noting that the proposed changes would trample the rights of others. Journalists go to great lengths on the publics behalf to expose such problems, to keep the light shining on every aspect of public safety and law enforcement, from initial victim reports through arrests and incarceration. Our justice system is set up to serve the public, but the public can only determine how well it is being served if it able to observe and participate in the process. Marsys Law would throw much of Montanas justice system into the dark. It must be thrown out instead. The Montana State Fire Marshal's Office is assisting Anaconda police and fire officials in the investigation of two fires that occurred within two days of each other on the same street in Anaconda, an official with the Anaconda Fire Department told The Montana Standard Tuesday. Fire Chief RJ Tocher said the cause of both fires is yet to be determined and that his department is investigating the fires in collaboration with the two agencies. The second incident occurred around 5:30 a.m. Monday at the KANA AM radio station at 105 Main St., just two days after fire destroyed an 1894 mansion on the corner of Main and 5th Streets late Friday night. The two fires occurred within three blocks of each other. Tocher said his crews arrived at the second fire around 5:35 a.m., shortly after someone had called 911 to report smoke emanating from the building. Fire crews entered the building and observed that fire was coming through the ground-level floor, which indicated the fire was likely coming from the basement, Tocher said. Crews found where the fire burned a hole through the floor and sprayed water through the opening. Afterward, Tocher said, firefighters descended into the basement, where they extinguished the blaze No one was in the building at the time and no one was injured, the fire chief said. Tocher said the fire at 105 Main appears to have spared the building, despite causing smoke damage to its main level and burning the joists that support the floor above the basement. While the KANA building is likely salvageable, the same cant be said of the two-story historic mansion as flames destroyed much of the second floor, causing a portion of its roof to collapse. On Saturday Tocher called the incident a fireball in the air and said that the fire likely originated in the middle of the building on the second story. Because of the roof collapsed, the fire was ventilated, the fire chief said, causing the building to be engulfed in flames before crews arrived and preventing firefighters from entering the building. These factors could indicate that the fire was particularly hot, the chief said at the time. Whether the two fires are related hasnt been determined, Tocher said, citing the ongoing investigation. We are looking at everything, said Tocher, stating that his department and the other agencies are evaluating evidence and examining all possibilities. Tim Barkell, Anaconda police chief, said detectives are looking into the matter, prompted by the close succession of the two fires. Its just suspicious to us when we have two in two days, said Barkell. In the interim, Barkell said, Anaconda police and fire officials are awaiting a report from the State Fire Marshal's Office. It is shaping up to be the biggest homecoming Butte has seen in years. When Air Force Capt. Robert Holtons remains arrive in Bozeman in a casket Friday, 48 years after his fighter plane crashed in Laos at the height of the Vietnam War, passengers on the commercial flight will be the first to pay respects. Others will do so as Holtons casket and a procession make their way to Butte, including motorcycle patriots, veterans groups, police officers, firefighters and just plain folks who never met the man but will cry and cheer just the same. On the way into town on Interstate 90, the procession will be greeted by a giant American flag hanging from a ladder fire truck on the Continental Drive exit overpass. Hes coming home, Butte-Silver Bow Fire Chief Jeff Miller said Wednesday. This is America. Its what we do. Holton was Buttes lone service member missing in action from Vietnam, a status that changed formally last month when the U.S. Air Force verified his remains found in Laos. Sue MacPherson, who hung out with Holton as a teen in Butte, said students in the Montana History Club at Butte High School will hold a Welcome Home Capt. Robert Holton banner as the procession turns onto Harrison Avenue. Tillo Graphics in Butte donated time and material for the banner. MacPherson has worn an MIA bracelet in Holton's honor since 1971. She cried momentarily over the phone Wednesday before saying, I will take it off Saturday. Services are set for 10 a.m. that day at Wayrynen-Richards Funeral Home. Burial with full military honors, including an Honor Guard gun salute and a flyover by the U.S. Air Force, will follow at Sunset Memorial Park, according to the funeral home. Holton and Maj. William Campbell were in an F4 Phantom fighter-bomber on Jan. 29, 1969, when they spotted an enemy truck convoy along the Ho Chi Minh Trail near the border of Laos and Vietnam. They were hit by anti-aircraft fire and crashed. The crash site was pinpointed earlier this year and after excavation work, teeth were found and later identified as Holtons. One of his dog tags also was found at the site. Holtons brother, Bill, got a call in June saying the remains had been verified and would be flown from Honolulu to Montana this week. Bill Holton and his wife, Judy, still live in Butte and will be among 15 or so on the tarmac in Bozeman when the plane arrives around 3:45 p.m. Friday. Judy Holton said the casket will be on a commercial flight, and as is customary, passengers will wait until it and an Air Force escort are off the plane before deboarding. Motorcycle riders from the Montana POW/MIA Awareness Association and Patriot Guard Riders will be part of the procession coming to Butte, and police from Gallatin and Jefferson counties will be among escorts along the way, organizers said. At least one Butte-Silver Bow Police vehicle will lead the procession, Undersheriff George Skuletich said, and others will join in at the Silver Bow County line at Homestake Pass. Miller said the ladder truck will be on the overpass at the Continental Drive exit and the flag will extend out and over Interstate 90. The procession will take the Harrison Avenue exit, turning right onto that street and traveling north until it turns to the funeral home at George Street. Members of the United Veterans Council will be standing with flags where the interstate ramp joins Harrison, and organizers hope anyone and everyone who wants to pay their respects line up along Harrison to George Street by 5:30 p.m. Friday. Pastor Martha McCreight will preside over the 10 a.m. Saturday services at the funeral home, and Judy Holton said her son, Todd, will offer a toast. Afterwards, the casket and procession will travel the 13 miles west to the cemetery. Capt. Holtons wife, Diane, will arrive in Butte on Thursday, Judy Holton said. The two were classmates at Butte High. Judy said it has been a hectic week and one full of intense emotions 48 years after the plane crashed. The number of people wanting to be a part of the homecoming in Butte has grown every day, she said. I dont know if its because we are a close-knit community or a small town, she said, but its amazing how many people have come forward. Fresh from a two-day break in his first season as a wildland firefighter, Trenton Johnson was about to begin his first initial attack on a fire when disaster struck. The 19-year-old Missoula man had just finished a two-week deployment mopping up a fire in Utah for Grayback Forestry Inc., an Oregon-based business with a firefighting contract to the U.S. Forest Service. His 20-person ground crew had been split in half to help with a rash of small forest fires around Missoula following last weekends lightning storm. Ten went to the Bitterroot National Forest. Johnson headed north to Seeley Lake, assigned to a lightning strike on Rice Ridge near Florence Lake. The half-acre fire didnt even have a name when he arrived Wednesday afternoon. Johnson had graduated from Hellgate High School in 2016 as captain of his lacrosse team and member of the National Honor Society. He was a sophomore attending Montana State University when he started his first season fighting forest fires. A Forest Service ground crew had scratched out a preliminary containment line around the burning timber on Wednesday before the Grayback crew arrived about 3:30 p.m. Everyone pulled together to assess the scene and work out a strategy to keep the flames from spreading. They went through the four-step protocol of setting up a lookout, establishing communications, picking escape routes if fire conditions got radical and reviewing general safety precautions. As a first-year wildland firefighter, Johnson had been through a 40-hour training course followed by a day of field exercises. While he was a rookie, the combined team had more than the required number of experienced members on the line. Johnson and the others with less field-time used Pulaskis, shovels and hoes to scratch undergrowth away from mineral soil, blocking the fires ability to spread to new fuel. More qualified teammates used chainsaws to cut away larger trees. A helicopter dropped buckets of water from overhead. It was as fast as a lightning bolt, Grayback President Michael Wheelock said Thursday. They just heard a crack and that was it. Three of them were able to get out of the way, and Trenton didnt. A burning tree near the meeting point broke apart and fell toward the group of four, which included Johnsons crew boss. Johnson was the only one hit. He was still alive when they reached the evacuation site for a helicopter airlift to St. Patrick Hospital, but died soon after reaching Missoula about 5 p.m. Wednesday. Along with transportation accidents and heart attacks, falling snags are the leading cause of death among wildland firefighters. Wheelock said he had just held a review with his crew supervisors about snag threats. You just have to be heads up all the time, Wheelock said. Lot of times, you never even see them. Its smoky and you dont even know theyre there. Every tree is different in the forest how rotten it is, how far along it is, how much of it is burning, how long its been burning. In addition to Graybacks own review, the Forest Service and U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration will investigate the incident. Results of those examinations could take up to a year, and will be added to lessons learned and safety protocols for future firefighting operations. Grayback officials met with family members and investigators Thursday morning. The private contractor works with state and federal firefighting services on fire suppression, emergency services and prescribed fire operations. Its headquarters is in Merlin, Oregon, with three additional Oregon bases as well as one in Missoula. Johnsons death drew memorials from officials throughout Montana on Thursday. Lolo National Forest Supervisor Tim Garcia noted that the family had deep connections to the agency. This is a heart-wrenching loss of life and Trenton leaves behind many friends and family members who are feeling this profound loss right now, Garcia said in an email statement Thursday. This loss is rippling across the Lolo National Forest this morning and is most keenly felt on the Seeley Lake Ranger District, where Trentons sister works as a Forest Service employee. This is a tragic day for Missoula and all of Montana as we mourn the loss of firefighter Trenton Johnson, Sen. Jon Tester wrote in an email statement Thursday morning. His bravery and sacrifice will not be forgotten. This is a sobering reminder that every day firefighters put their lives on the line to protect ours. Sharla and I send our thoughts to Mr. Johnsons family and friends, and we pray for comfort and healing during this difficult time. Johnsons Hellgate Knights lacrosse team won the state championship all four years, and Johnson earned second-team All State honors his senior year after winning the championship game. He was my favorite player that I ever coached, said Kevin Flynn, a former Hellgate lacrosse coach. He started for us all four years, and we won the state title all four years. He made varsity as a freshman and came to every game of his career, so he played more games than any other player for Hellgate. Flynn said he started working with Johnson in sixth grade. He was one of those goofy, gangly, non-athletic kids that found something he could get good at, Flynn said. He turned into a great player, a great teammate and a captain for us. He was well-liked by everybody. There are always cliques that form on sports teams, Flynn said, but Johnson was a friend to everybody. He was the least divisive player I ever had, Flynn said. He played with everybody. He wasnt in it for the accolades. He was the glue that held everyone together. Current Hellgate lacrosse coach Patrick Small said he didnt know Johnson well, but met him during a firefighting training. I noticed him wearing a Hellgate lacrosse shirt in our training, Small said. We were just talking for a bit. It seemed like from what I knew, he seemed like a great kid. He always had a smile on his face. He was young still. He seemed to have his life together. He was starting a new job and he seemed very happy. He seemed like a mature kid with a good life ahead of him. Johnson was the son of Martin and Dawn Johnson. His senior year, he earned an Academic All-State Award and was a qualifier for the Business Professionals Award. He earned a Premier Scholarship to Montana State University and was a member of the National Honor Society. Flynn said Johnson was attending MSU with a slew of his old high school teammates. Firefighters dedicate their lives each day to ensure the safety of our communities," Gov. Steve Bullock said in an email statement. "Lisa and I send our deepest condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of firefighter Trenton Johnson. He will forever be remembered as a brave man who exemplifies the courage and selflessness of all our first responders. After Johnson was struck, the whole fire team disengaged from the scene. The Grayback firefighters returned to Missoula. Forest Service crews from the Lolo and Coconino national forests returned to Rice Ridge on Thursday to resume fighting the blaze. On the edge of the Bob Marshall Wilderness, the fire doesnt threaten any structures or private property. Wheelock said word of Johnsons death has been relayed to all Grayback firecrews, 14 of which are currently deployed throughout the United States. This is not the first time for such an announcement. In 2008, seven Grayback firefighters died in a helicopter crash on the Iron 44 fire in northern California. Were bringing in a chaplain, the same one who went through it with us at Iron 44, Wheelock said. All the crews have the option to disengage. Sometimes the best therapy is to keep working. Johnsons family plans a memorial service on Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Missoula Alliance Church, followed by a reception. We all wear the same green and yellow, Wheelock said of the standard wildland firefighters protective pants and workshirt. When one falls, the whole community comes together. 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In a groundbreaking case against agricultural giant Monsanto, a jury has awarded $250 million in punitive damages and nearly $40 million in compensatory damages to a former school groundskeeper who said he got terminal cancer from the weedkiller Roundup. Dewayne Johnson was seeking about $400 million in punitive damages and $39 million in compensatory damages from Monsanto, his attorney Timothy Litzenburg said. Johnson's victory Friday could set a massive precedent for thousands of other cases against Monsanto. Johnson was the first of hundreds of cancer patients to take the company to court over its popular weedkiller, Roundup. CNN reported last year that more than 800 patients were suing Monsanto, claiming Roundup gave them non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Since then, hundreds more plaintiffs -- including cancer patients, their spouses or their estates -- have also sued the agricultural giant, making similar claims. Johnson's case was the first to go to trial because in court filings, doctors said he was near death. And in California, dying plaintiffs can be granted expedited trials. Lesions on much of his body Johnson, 46, applied Roundup weedkiller 20 to 30 times per year while working as a groundskeeper for a school district near San Francisco, his attorneys said. He testified that during his work, he had two accidents in which he was doused with the product. The first accident happened in 2012. Two years later, in 2014, he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. On bad days, Johnson is too crippled to speak. Lesions have covered as much as 80% of his body. Litzenburg said the most heartbreaking part of Johnson's testimony was when the father of two described telling his sons that he had terminal cancer. Johnson's wife now works two 40-hour-per-week jobs to support the family, Litzenburg said. How carcinogenic (or not) are Roundup and glyphosate? The big questions at stake were whether Roundup can cause cancer and, if so, whether Monsanto failed to warn consumers about the product's cancer risk. In March 2015, the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) said the key ingredient in Roundup, glyphosate, is "probably carcinogenic to humans." "For the herbicide glyphosate, there was limited evidence of carcinogenicity in humans for non-Hodgkin lymphoma," the report states. But Monsanto has long maintained that Roundup does not cause cancer, and that the IARC report is greatly outnumbered by studies saying glyphosate is safe. "More than 800 scientific studies, the US EPA, the National Institutes of Health and regulators around the world have concluded that glyphosate is safe for use and does not cause cancer," said Scott Partridge, Monsanto's vice president of strategy. He highlighted the Agricultural Health Study, which studied the effects of pesticides and glyphosate products on farmers and their spouses from 1993 to 2013. "Many had already been using Roundup and other formulated products (since) it first came on the market," Partridge said. A summary of that study said "no association was apparent between glyphosate and any solid tumors or lymphoid malignancies overall, including NHL (non-Hodgkin's lymphoma)." "We all have sympathy for Mr. Johnson," Partridge said. "It's natural he's looking for answers. Glyphosate is not the answer." But Litzenburg said glyphosate isn't the big problem -- Roundup is. He said the interaction between glyphosate and other ingredients in Roundup cause a "synergistic effect" that makes the product more carcinogenic. Monsanto spokeswoman Charla Lord disputed that notion, saying regulatory authorities help ensure Roundup as a whole is safe. "The safety of each labeled use of a pesticide formulation must be evaluated and approved by regulatory authorities before it is authorized for sale," she said. The National Pesticide Information Center -- a cooperative between Oregon State University and the EPA -- said studies on cancer rates in humans "have provided conflicting results on whether the use of glyphosate containing products is associated with cancer." What did Johnson have to prove? While it's impossible to prove Roundup caused Johnson's terminal illness, it's also impossible for Monsanto to prove Roundup did not cause his cancer. "Cancer is a very difficult case to try," Litzenburg said. "You can't X-ray it or biopsy it and come back with what caused it." In this case, Monsanto was not required to prove anything. The burden of proof was on Johnson, the plaintiff. But that doesn't mean Johnson's team had to prove Roundup was the sole cause of his non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The question was whether Roundup was a "substantial contributing factor" to Johnson's illness. "Under California law, that means Mr. Johnson's cancer would not have occurred but for his exposure to Roundup," Monsanto spokeswoman Lord said. She noted that it's possible his cancer could have developed from something unrelated to Roundup. The majority of lymphoma cases are idiopathic -- meaning the cause is unknown, according to the American Cancer Society. Litzenburg agreed that most non-Hodgkin's lymphoma cases have not been linked to one primary reason in the past. But he said the tide is starting to turn -- similar to how it took decades for people to learn that tobacco can be a big contributing factor for lung cancer. "You can't take a lung cancer tumor and run a test that proves that tobacco caused that cancer. ... You're seeing the same thing here," Litzenburg said. "I think we're in the beginning of that era of this dawning on us as a country -- as a public -- the connection between these two things." Thousands of cases to follow Litzenburg said he and other attorneys have more than 2,000 similar cases awaiting trial in various state courts. He estimates another 400 cases have been filed in federal multidistrict litigation, or MDL. MDL is similar to a class-action lawsuit because it consolidates pre-trial proceedings for the sake of efficiency. But unlike a class-action lawsuit, each case within an MDL gets its own trial -- with its own outcome. In other words, one MDL plaintiff might get a large settlement, while another plaintiff might get nothing. No dates have been set for those MDL trials, Litzenburg said. But one advantage of filing in state court -- as Johnson did -- instead of through MDL is that state courts sometimes produce an outcome faster. And in Johnson's case, time is critical. CNN's Phil Gast contributed to this report The Muscatine County Conservation Board will hold hunter education courses in August and September. The courses will be offered from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 26, and Saturday, Sept. 9, at the Environmental Learning Center, 3300 Cedar St. An optional live fire session will be held at the West Liberty Gun Club from 9-11 a.m. the day following each class. Anyone born after Jan. 1, 1972, who wants to purchase a hunting license in Iowa must successfully complete the course. The minimum age for certification is 12. To take the course, register online at www.iowadnr.gov. Registrants must pick up their handbook at the Environmental Learning Center and complete the chapter review questions at the end of the handbook before coming to class. Students should also bring lunch to class. The course is free, but class size is limited to 50 students. Les emplois a Rennes sont abondants et varies. Il y a quelque chose pour tout le monde. Que vous soyez a la recherche dun emploi [] Les blattes ou cafards (Blatta orientalis) sont des insectes qui appartiennent a la famille des Blattoptera. Ils se caracterisent par leur forme allongee, leurs ailes [] Anne Branch is the new executive director of the Napa Valley College Foundation. I am excited to lead this Foundation forward as we assist Napa Valley College in fulfilling its advancement needs, said Branch, who previously lived in Napa for five years. Branchs role is new to the community, where she will participate in events and raising funds for a variety of needs at Napa Valley College. Branch hopes to launch a new Viticulture and Winery Technology Education Center capital campaign in the fall so that the college can continue to serve students in the wine and agriculture industries. With more than 20 years of development experience, Branch has raised more than $50 million for a variety of nonprofits. Branch holds a global MBA from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey Bay, and a Post-Graduate Certificate in Strategic Business Planning from USC. She also spent a year at the Sorbonne University of Paris and speaks French and German. The Solano-Napa Habitat for Humanity was honored recently as the 2017 Nonprofit of the Year by Senator Bill Dodd. The local nonprofit was joined by other leaders from Senate districts across the state that were also honored at the 2017 California Nonprofits Day event. Solano-Napa Habitat for Humanity is truly honored," said Gerry Raycraft, president of the board of directors of Solano-Napa Habitat for Humanity. Solano-Napa Habitat for Humanity opened in 1991 to serve the residents of Solano County. I am honored to recognize the Solano-Napa Habitat for Humanity as our nonprofit of the year, said Dodd. In its 26 years of service, Solano-Napa Habitat for Humanity has built 15 new homes from the ground up and rehabilitated many more in Solano and Napa counties. When the 37th Napa Valley Writers Conference gets underway on July 23, three aspiring Napa writers will be taking part thanks to scholarships designated for local residents. Erika Gottl, a creative writing student at Napa Valley College, and local writers Frances Stockton and Kathleen Thomas will attend the conference on scholarships that partially underwrite conference tuition. The scholarships are funded by the Community Projects Foundation and Napa Valley Writers, a branch of the California Writers Club. The annual conference, established in 1981, is a project of Napa Valley College. We like to say were the Napa Valleys best-kept literary secret, said Angela Pneuman, executive director of the conference. We have a national reputation for the quality of our visiting faculty and intensive instruction, and thanks to our partnerships with local organizations, were now able to offer conference participation to more Napa County residents than ever. The conference, which runs through July 28, also includes readings and lectures, to which the public is invited. Readers, book club members, and other supporters of the literary arts will also have expanded access to the summer conference, thanks to a free class to be held at the St. Helena Public Library July 24-26 from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Led by Bay Area poet Caroline Goodwin, the class will spotlight members of the conferences visiting faculty. Each day, the class will feature the poet and fiction writer who will appear later that evening at literary readings open to the public at area wineries. Admission to the readings is $20 per person, and students with valid ID are admitted free. We realize not everyone who loves reading is eager to share writing in a workshop critique setting, so were happy to expand our programming and offer more events for local book lovers, said Pneuman. With the new class, were proud to be partnering with the Saint Helena Public Library as part of its community programs. Daytime lectures on the craft of writing fiction and poetry are also open to the public for $25 per lecture, or $15 for students. The full lineup of public events is as follows: Sunday, July 23 7 p.m.: Poet Ada Limon and fiction writer Daniel Orozco will read at the Upper Valley Campus of Napa Valley College, 1088 College Ave., St. Helena. A half-hour wine reception will open the event, with the evenings program beginning at 7:30. Monday, July 24 9 a.m.: Jane Hirshfield will give a talk about poetry titled It Is Solved by Walking at the Upper Valley Campus of Napa Valley College, 1088 College Ave., St. Helena. 1:30 p.m.: Lan Samantha Chang will give a talk about writing fiction titled What Is Structure?: Pacing, and How to Pace Yourself at the Upper Valley Campus of Napa Valley College, 1088 College Ave., St. Helena. 4:30 p.m.: Caroline Goodwin will discuss the works of Eavan Boland and ZZ Packer at the St. Helena Public Library, 1492 Library Lane, St. Helena. 7 p.m.: Poet Eavan Boland and fiction writer ZZ Packer will read at Merryvale Vineyards, 1000 Main St., St. Helena. A half-hour wine reception will open the event, with the evenings program beginning at 7:30. Tuesday, July 25 9 a.m.: Matthew Zapruder will give a talk about poetry titled The Irresistible Beauty of All Things at the Upper Valley Campus of Napa Valley College, 1088 College Ave., St. Helena. 1:30 p.m.: ZZ Packer will give a talk about writing fiction titled Story Structure at the Upper Valley Campus of Napa Valley College, 1088 College Ave., St. Helena. 4:30 p.m.: Caroline Goodwin will discuss the works of Jane Hirshfield and Peter Ho Davies at the St. Helena Public Library, 1492 Library Lane, St. Helena. 6 p.m.: Poet Jane Hirshfield and fiction writer Peter Ho Davies will read at Robert Mondavi Winery, 7801 St. Helena Highway, Oakville. A half-hour wine reception will open the event, with the evenings program beginning at 6:30. Wednesday, July 26 9 a.m.: Eavan Boland will give a talk about poetry titled Using Images in a Poem at the Upper Valley Campus of Napa Valley College, 1088 College Ave., St. Helena. 1:30 p.m.: Peter Ho Davies will give a talk about writing fiction titled The Revision Thing at the Upper Valley Campus of Napa Valley College, 1088 College Ave., St. Helena. 4:30 p.m.: Caroline Goodwin will discuss the works of Matthew Zapruder and Lan Samantha Chang at the St. Helena Public Library, 1492 Library Lane, St. Helena. 6 p.m.: Poet Matthew Zapruder and fiction writer Lan Samantha Chang will read at Pine Ridge Vineyards, 5901 Silverado Trail, Napa. A half-hour wine reception will open the event, with the evenings program beginning at 6:30. Thursday, July 27 9 a.m.: Ada Limon will give a talk about poetry titled On Duende & the Ladder: Mystery and Hope in Poetry at the Upper Valley Campus of Napa Valley College, 1088 College Ave., St. Helena. 1:30 p.m.: Daniel Orozco will give a talk about writing fiction titled The Really, Really Short Story: A Hyperbolic Query into Narrative Craft at the Upper Valley Campus of Napa Valley College, 1088 College Ave., St. Helena. 7:30 p.m.: Participant reading at the Upper Valley Campus of Napa Valley College, 1088 College Ave., St. Helena. Students at the conference will take the stage on the closing night to read their best works. Admission is free. For more about the conferences visiting faculty writers, and full details about the event schedule, visit napawritersconference.org. To join the conference online, like the conference at facebook.com/napawriters or follow twitter.com/napawriters. Dine-and-donate fundraisers Book lovers can support the Napa Valley Writers Conference by patronizing local businesses in July. Through July 31, the Napa Valley Coffee Roasting Company will donate a percentage of revenues from bean orders of a special writers conference blend at the Napa location, 948 Main St.; and on Wednesday, July 26, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., the company will donate a percentage of receipts collected at its St. Helena location, 1400 Oak Ave. On Monday, July 24, Gotts Roadside will donate a percentage of revenues from orders placed between 4 p.m. and closing time at 10 p.m. at its St. Helena location, 933 Main St. Customers who want their orders counted for the conference should mention the writers conference, or present event flyers, which are available for download and printing at napawritersconference.org. The last three California election cycles demonstrated that at the political margins, voter turnout can have a major impact. Democrats achieved long-sought two-thirds supermajorities in both houses of the Legislature in 2012, lost them in 2014 when a few seats changed partisan hands, then regained them last year, albeit very narrowly. The ups and downs largely stemmed from the fact that Democrats did well in presidential election years, when voter turnout is high, and relatively poorly in non-presidential off years, when turnout is markedly lower. The 2014 cycle in which Republicans scored gains in legislative seats, in fact, was marked by record-low voter participation, with just 25 percent of registered voters casting ballots in the June primary and fewer than 50 percent in Novembers general election. It explains why Democrats are a bit nervous about Democratic Sen. Josh Newmans chances of surviving a possible recall election in his Orange County-centered district. His narrow win in a traditionally Republican district last year provided the partys Senate supermajority, thanks largely to a high presidential election turnout. A special recall election would have a very low turnout, which would help the Republican Partys effort to unseat Newman, so Democrats have changed election rules to make it more likely that the recall would appear on next years general election ballot instead. Turnout would be higher then, although probably less than were it a presidential election year. Even if Newman survived a recall attempt, another low-turnout general election next year could see a few legislative seats go Republican and the supermajorities once again erased. Thats because the turnout differential between presidential and off-year elections appears to be growing, according to new research by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC). Californias overall voter registration falls short, vis-a-vis that of other states, and PPIC researcher Eric McGhee attributes that to low rates among fast-growing Latino and Asian populations. But McGhee attributes the very low, and declining, turnout in off-year elections to the behavior of young voters. Young people, he writes in his report, have been voting at slightly higher rates in presidential elections and at much lower rates in (off years) than voters of the same age did two decades ago. Democratic leaders, concerned about the effects of low off-year election turnouts, have been trying to goose participation by making registration much easier, but McGhee believes that registration alone wont close the gap and that highly focused get-out-the-vote efforts would be needed. McGhees research doesnt delve into motives of those who dont vote, but its not a stretch to speculate that Democrats may be victims of their own success in dominating Californias politics. Their victories in statewide offices and all but a handful of congressional and legislative districts are virtually certain, thus eliminating the excitement and voting motivation that real contests would provide. Presidential elections automatically generate such interest but Californias preordained elections for most state offices are off-putting, as the record-low turnout in 2014 underscored. Jerry Brown was cruising to a fourth term as governor against token opposition, there was no U.S. Senate contest and no visceral ballot measure to motivate Californians, particularly the young, to cast ballots. Jared Kushner allegedly tried to arrange a secret back-channel with Russia that would have cut out U.S. intelligence and relied on Russian communications. It was one of many Russian contacts that he and other members of the Trump team failed to list on security clearance forms. That meeting is not to be confused with the eight-person confab in June 2016 involving Kushner, then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort, Donald Trump Jr. and a flock of Russians, including a former counter-intelligence operative, a suspected money-launderer and a Russian legal insider. That meeting was also "forgotten" - before Trump Jr. came clean, sort of, with a series of story-changing admissions. Now we learn that the president also failed to disclose a one-on-one meeting this month with Russian President Vladimir Putin at which only a Russian translator was present. No one in the Trump delegation sought to disclose this in all the press briefings and interviews. The incident came to light only because European leaders agitated by the president's private chat decided to spill the beans. The Washington Post reports: "At some point during the meal, [President] Trump left his own seat to occupy a chair next to Putin. Trump approached alone, and Putin was attended only by his official interpreter. "In a statement issued Tuesday night after published reports of the conversation, the White House said that 'there was no "second meeting" between President Trump and President Putin, just a brief conversation at the end of a dinner. The insinuation that the White House has tried to "hide" a second meeting,' it said, 'is false, malicious and absurd.' " 'All the leaders' circulated around the room throughout the dinner, and 'President Trump spoke with many leaders,' the statement said. 'As the dinner was concluding,' it said, Trump spoke 'briefly' with Putin, who was seated next to first lady Melania Trump." Actually, the meeting lasted about an hour, according to Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, who broke the story. "The odd issue here, as has been the case with this White House when it comes to connections with the Russians, is that the Administration didn't disclose this meeting when it had many opportunities to do so," Alina Polyakova of the Atlantic Council observes. "As a result, suspicions grow." Trump's eagerness to chat up Putin beyond the prying ears and eyes of U.S. officials and/or allies fits the pattern of incessant, hush-hush conversations between the Trump team and Russian officials. "I have more questions than answers right now," former ambassador Eric Edelman says. "Did POTUS debrief senior staff after the meeting? Do we have a record of what was said? Did they agree on anything? What will the Russians claim about it? Why didn't [Secretary of State Rex] Tillerson brief on it?" We certainly have a bonanza of "colluding" - secretly during the campaign (at Trump Tower), publicly during the campaign when Trump encouraged Russian hacking of Democrats and (undisclosed) during the transition when Kushner and Michael T. Flynn continued their forays without supervision from the Obama team. But let's not forget the administration's immediate efforts after taking office to roll back Russia sanctions, its current foot-dragging over new sanctions, Trump's sharing of code-word intelligence information with Russian officials in the Oval Office and now this unsupervised confab in Hamburg that no one thought to bring up until now. Each time the Trump team has a meeting with Russians out of the purview of intelligence professionals it creates the potential for confusion and risks compromising the presidency (as to what might have been said and as to the meeting itself). Recall former acting attorney general Sally Yates warned that when Flynn lied about contacts with Russians, he became a security risk. "We weren't the only ones who knew about all of these. The Russians knew what General Flynn had done," Yates said in testimony in May. "They likely had proof of this information. And that created a compromise situation, a situation where the national security adviser essentially could be blackmailed by the Russians." The plethora of furtive conversations with Russian officials underscores the sense of desperation Trump exudes to stay in the Kremlin's good graces, perhaps as a result of indebtedness (either political or financial). These tete-a-tetes convey to Putin how weak and easily manipulated the egocentric, clueless American president really is. And of course, these exchanges raise the possibility that the Trump team is giving something improper to Russia (or vice versa) as part of an unholy alliance between the American blunderbuss president and the leader of our greatest international foe. No other president during or after the Cold War has interacted in this manner with the Russians. Fortunately, special counsel Robert Mueller is on the case, already seeking to question the participants in the Trump Jr. meeting last June. Remember once upon a time (like last month) Trump spinners still claimed that there was no collusion between the Trump team and the Russians? Good times, good times. In April, President Trump issued an executive order directing the U.S. Department of the Interior to review the designations of 27 national monuments, six of which are in California. This unprecedented attack, which could lead to drilling, mining, and other harmful development on our public lands, included the opportunity for Americans to voice their opinions. June 10 marked the end of the comment review period, and over 2.7 million comments were submitted, the vast majority of which were in support of protecting our national monuments. It is clear that the Trump administration and Secretary Zinke are bowing to corporate interests instead of the American people. It is, therefore, vital that we continue to fight against these attacks on our precious lands which protect our ecosystems, history, culture and endangered species, including Berryessa Snow Mountain. We must continue to make our voices heard by contacting our representatives and senators. Phoebe Sauter Environment California Oakland (Natural News) Although the Zika mass hysteria has largely died down, those who stand to benefit financially from the overblown illness are trying to keep it in the headlines. The latest news sees a malaria drug being touted as a possible treatment, and a mainstream media news story about the medication features a blink-and-youll-miss-it admission that Zika virus vaccines offer no protection. Just a few years ago, we were all hearing that the world would soon be overrun by small-skulled babies if we didnt spray pesticides across vast areas of the world. Women were canceling trips to South America and even Florida, and Olympic athletes were concerned about competing in Rio. However, the ravages of this disease predicted by fear-mongers never materialized. In fact, out of 12,000 pregnant women in Colombia with Zika, only 21 babies were born with brain defects, which is more or less the typical rate for all births regardless of Zika. And yet experts continue to insist that vaccines and pesticides are necessary for avoiding the mosquito-borne illness. Upon first glance, you might not even notice the line in the Daily Mail article. After gushing about a malaria drug that they say can protect fetuses against Zika, they admitted that Zika virus vaccines are not a viable option, writing: However, to this date no medics have been able to offer a medical option such as drugs or vaccines to protect them or their unborn children from infection. Pushing more vaccines In any case, why would anyone want to assume the risks of any type of vaccine in the first place considering what an anticlimactic event a Zika infection is for most people, if the CDCs official overview page is anything to go by? They report that most people who carry Zika do not have symptoms, nor do they need to be hospitalized. In most cases, they wont even realize they are infected. Those who do show symptoms will experience something akin to a cold or mild flu, with headaches, muscle pain and mild fever for up to a week. Its hardly anything worth injecting yourself with heavy metals and other dangerous toxins to avoid. Moreover, once youve been infected, your body will immunize itself against the virus and youll be protected from future infections. In fact, Zika is essentially its own vaccine. However, selling a fear of the disease is a great way for vaccine makers to make a pile of money. Pharmaceutical companies have been pushing pregnant women to get experimental vaccines against the virus, and they enlisted a group of experts to conclude that there were no ethical reasons pregnant women should not get the jab. Really? How about the fact that vaccines themselves could cause brain damage, which is precisely what a Zika vaccine is supposed to prevent? Another big moneymaker that the Zika hype is creating a demand for is a Zika drug like the one at the center of the Daily Mail article in question. The piece cites research showing that a malaria drug that has already gained FDA approval can block the virus from infecting a fetus. The drug, hydroxychloroquine, is already used to treat malaria in pregnant women, so they want us to assume it must be safe. The Zika hype also served as a convenient excuse for Obama to direct $1.8 billion to the vaccine industry. In addition, it has been used to justify the spraying of more toxic chemicals around the world on the pretense of getting rid of Zika mosquitos. This spraying is something that could well cause even more deformities in babies, with some people believing the cases of microcephaly blamed on Zika were really caused by a mass fumigation using a chemical larvicide in the hardest-hit area. Of course, any birth defects caused by the spraying will likely be blamed on Zika, and so the argument will be made for even more spraying and more vaccines. Sources include: DailyMail.co.uk NaturalNews.com NaturalNews.com NaturalNews.com NaturalNews.com A gift from the estate of Mary Lee Hardin Willard of Gadsden, Alabama, has created a permanently funded endowment to support the position of the dean of Emory's Candler School of Theology. Emorys Board of Trustees acknowledged the gift during its June meeting and approved naming the deanship at Candler after its honoree. Jan Love will be installed as the inaugural Mary Lee Hardin Willard Dean of Candler School of Theology during the schools fall convocation on Aug. 24. It is a unique and humbling privilege to be Candlers first Mary Lee Hardin Willard Dean, says Love, who has served as the schools dean since 2007. The naming of the deanship is a remarkable milestone for Candler, one that affirms the importance of our mission of educating faithful and creative leaders for the churchs ministries throughout the world and acknowledges our good work toward fulfilling that mission. I am grateful to Mary Lee for placing her trust in Candler in this way. The gift is not the first Candler has received from the Hardin family. Mary G. Hardin and her daughters, Elisabeth Hardin and Mary Lee Hardin Willard, longtime members of Candlers Committee of 100, established the Hardin Scholarship at Candler School of Theology in the 1970s to support students preparing to serve as elders in the North Alabama Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. Elisabeth Hardin says her mother had a vision to educate ministers from northeast Alabama, a vision that moved toward fruition when O.B. Sainsbury introduced the Hardin family to the Rev. Jack Gilbert and Candler School of Theology. Gilbert was the schools development director at the time. We were smitten, Hardin says. Our familys connection with Candler was a match made in heaven. To date, 83 students from the North Alabama Annual Conference have received support from the Hardin Scholarship. We are so proud of the students we have supported through the Hardin Scholarship over the years wonderful people who are now in ministry in the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church. We are especially proud of the Rev. Dr. Dedric Cowser, one of our Hardin Scholars who earned his master of divinity and doctor of ministry degrees at Candler, Hardin says. And now, the deanship named for Mary Lee. Thine be glory to her name, Hardin adds. Bill Willard, Mary Lees husband, says hes certain that his wife would be delighted to see her legacy memorialized in this way, and further explains the motivation behind the gift. Following her conversion to Methodism in her early 20s, Mary Lees dedication to her faith grew significantly through her familys long-term relationship with Emory University and its Candler School of Theology, he says. During her last years, she often spoke of her admiration for the leadership Dean Jan Love was providing, the young ministers she was seeing Candler graduate, and the direction in which the school was moving. Mathew Pinson, Candlers associate dean of development and alumni relations, applauds the gift as particularly visionary. The naming of a deanship recognizes the importance of providing strategic funding, directed by the dean, which can be deployed in support of the schools strategic priorities, he says. Such an endowment will enhance the leadership of Candlers deans for generations to come. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-19 22:39:49|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close NAIROBI, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Kenya requires 45 million U.S. dollars in order to achieve universal access for communications services, telecommunication industry regulator said on Wednesday. Francis Wangusi, director general of Communications Authority of Kenya, told a media briefing in Nairobi that currently 94.4 percent of the country's population has access to at least basic voice and Short Messaging Service (SMS). "Kenya is therefore seeking 45 million dollars in order to reach the unserved and underserved areas that were left out during the liberalization of the communication sector," Wangusi said during the inauguration of the council members of the Universal Service Advisory Council (USAC). Wangusi said that Kenya has set a target of achieving full connectivity for the entire population in the next five years. The East African nation is currently instituting measures geared towards bridging digital divide in the country. "One of the milestones in the last financial year 2016/17 was the operationalization of the Universal Service Fund," Wangusi said. The kitty which was established to reduce the digital divide for Kenyans, acts as an incentive for attracting operators and service providers to rural and high cost areas through provision of subsidies and grants. The regulator said that a financial model will be developed to calculate the subsidy levels required by an operator to roll out services in unserved and underserved areas. The Fund is also expected to support Information Communication Technology innovation and development of content and applications in addition to supporting capacity building in the country. According to the director general, regions that are sparsely populated and or have inadequate road infrastructure are most affected by lack of telecom services. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-19 22:55:02|Editor: yan Video Player Close LONDON, July 19 (Xinhua) -- The British government announced Wednesday it is to bring forward by up to seven years the raising of the state pension age to 68. Ministers say the change is in line with continuing increases in life expectancy. The Department for Works and Pensions (DWP) said the state pension age is regularly reviewed to make sure that the pension system is affordable and fair. But with people living longer, and spending a larger proportion of their adult life in retirement than in the past, the dates are to be amended. Latest projections from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that the number of people over state pension age in Britain is expected to grow by a third between 2017 and 2042, from 12.4 million in 2017 to 16.9 million in 2042. Under the existing law, the state pension age was due to increase to 68 between 2044 and 2046. Following a review the government announced plans to bring this timetable forward to 68 between 2037 and 2039. A DWP spokesman said: "When the State Pension was introduced in 1948, a 65-year-old could expect to spend 13.5 years in receipt of it -- around 23 percent of their adult life. This has been increasing ever since. In 2017, a 65-year-old can now expect to live for another 22.8 years, or 33.6 percent of their adult life." The changes mean there will be no change for people born on or before April, 1970 who will qualify for state pension when they are 67. People born between 1970 and 1978 will see the pension age rise to 68 depending on their date of birth, and people born from April 1978 will get their pension when they reach 68. The DWP said the proposed changes need parliamentary approval. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 01:21:40|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close DHAKA, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Millions of people living in central Bangladesh used to refer to the Dhaleshwari River as the "River of Sorrows" as the waterway made it extremely difficult for people to get to the capital city Dhaka. In the absence of a bridge spanning the river, people were cut off from the capital for centuries, which impacted businesses as well as communities. But the peoples' collective headache was finally remedied by China constructing a bridge and linking both banks and, in doing so, making life easier for all concerned. The 6th China-Bangladesh Friendship Bridge, as it is known, is situated in the Munshiganj district, about 30 kilometers away from Dhaka and the bridge's construction was finished eight years ago. The bridge has meant that there is now a fixed transportation route between Dhaka city and Munshiganj, one of the major areas supplying agricultural products to the capital city. Local businesses said the vast changes brought on by the bridge have been revolutionary, in terms of both the economic development of the area itself and also the convenience and ease it offers locals both professionally and personally. Such is the popularity of the bridge, that it has been labeled as one of Bangladesh's "lifeline structures." Construction of the sixth China- Bangladesh Friendship Bridge began in July 2005 and was completed in January 2008, six months ahead of schedule, much to the delight of all involved and all whose lives would be improved by the bridge. Funding for the sizable project comprised around 26 million U.S. dollars, of which China contributed 17 million U.S. dollars in grants and interest free loans, while Bangladesh picked up the rest of the hefty tab for the bridge, which boasts a span of more than 150 meters and mainly facilitates Dhaka and its adjacent Narayanganj and Munshiganj districts. Hira Montaz, a member of the Munshiganj Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told Xinhua recently that entire economic condition of the region has improved notably as a result of the bridge. "The business situation as a result of the bridge has improved a lot. And, therefore, albeit indirectly, the entire country also benefits from this bridge," said Montaz. According to the leading businessman, it now takes only about one hour to reach Dhaka by bus from Munshiganj thanks to the bridge. This compares to up to a 2-hour wait for a ferry to cross the river in the past, Montaz added. "We can never repay the kindness shown to us by the Chinese government. We're deeply indebted to China for this bridge, which has removed all of our business and communication inconveniences. China is indeed a very close friend," said Montaz, also a proprietor of Baishaki Banija Bitan, which trades rice. "We expect more and more Bangladesh-China cooperation in various fields in the future and hope China supports Bangladesh in its efforts to develop infrastructure in future," he added. BM Ruhul Amin, a resident of Malrpahtor village, said people can now go anywhere in the country including Dhaka and its adjacent Narayanganj town on the side of the river whenever they choose, thanks to China building the bridge. "We used to have to spend hours at night to get to the other side of the river by ferry. At night, there used to be a lot of trouble for the patients to get to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for treatment," he said. "Some patients have died en route in the past, but this bridge has changed our fate and improved our lifestyle greatly," he added. Shah Chand Bhuiyan, another Munshiganj district resident, said that the bridge had definitely made life a lot easier. "Now that China has built this bridge, it has been very good for us in the Vikrampur area, as this area has now developed a lot of new businesses. Because of this bridge, the entire area has witnessed a huge development." He added, "We are very happy to have this bridge. Words can't express our happiness." For bus driver Nurul Kabir, the bridge is simply an indispensable lifeline. He now conducts multiple trips to and from Dhaka daily and now nets a decent salary for his four-member family. "I can earn more now as we can operate many trips in the same day." Seven friendship bridges have already been completed across Bangladesh owing to Chinese grants, and the eighth is under construction. The construction of the first Bangladesh-China Friendship Bridge, with a span of more than 917 meters in length, began in October 1986, and was completed in February 1989. Bangladeshi Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said China has been contributing greatly to the infrastructural development of Bangladesh. Describing China as a "trusted friend" and an "important stakeholder in the global economy," Quader said he hoped for more Chinese assistance in implementing major projects across the country. Friendship bridges assisted by the Chinese government have greatly improved the infrastructure in Bangladesh and enhanced the country's economic development, Quader said Building friendship bridges has surely underscored the ongoing friendship between Bangladesh and China, and Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on several occasions has thanked China for its contributions to Bangladesh's economic development. Hasina now expects that Bangladesh will be able to reach its desired goal of becoming a middle-income country by 2021 and a developed one by 2041, with the support from China and other friendly countries. Although many years have elapsed since the friendship bridges were built, Bangladeshi people still remember with much reverence and fondness the Chinese people and their sound technical knowledge, skills and friendliness. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 02:02:02|Editor: yan Video Player Close HELSINKI, July 19 (Xinhua) -- An ultra light aircraft crashed in central Finland on Wednesday, killing the pilot. The wreckage was found in the village of Lievestuore, east of Jyvaskyla, local media reported. Veli-Pekka Nurmi, director of the Finnish accident investigation center, told national broadcaster Yle that most crashes involving light aircraft are caused by pilot errors. The crashed aircraft was flying under the bottom level of controlled airspace. Light aircraft registered in Finland are generally in good technical condition. Nurmi said that as light aircraft usually do not have an organization supporting them, the responsibilities lie heavily on the pilot. During the past ten years, there have been 20 crashes of light aircraft killing 30 people in Finland. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 02:02:04|Editor: yan Video Player Close LAGOS, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Military authorities in Nigeria on Wednesday said 37 people suspected to be wives and children of Boko Haram terrorists were arrested by troops after they escaped from the insurgents' custody. Thirty of the escapees were intercepted on Tuesday at Gujba area of restive northeast Yobe State while seven others were intercepted also on Tuesday at Kamuya in Yobe, Brig.-Gen. Sani Usman, the Army Spokesman, said in a statement reaching Xinhua. According to him, the suspects claimed to have escaped from Boko Haram terrorists' hideouts in Borno state. Both sets of escapees are currently being screened and profiled, the military spokesperson said. Meanwhile, troops also intercepted and neutralized no fewer than four suspected suicide bombers between Sunday and Tuesday. Usman appealed to the public to volunteer information to the military and other security agencies to preempt suicide bombings and other atrocities by remnants of Boko Haram terrorists. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 02:07:10|Editor: yan Video Player Close WINDHOEK, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Namibia's information minister Tjekero Tweya has urged government public relations officers to use the digital media to inform the public of developmental projects. Tweya said this Wednesday when he addressed a three-day workshop being attended by 40 government public relations officers at Otjiwarongo, about 250 kilometers north of capital Windhoek. The minister complained that despite the presence of public relations officers at every ministry, most websites are down or rarely get updated. Tweya further said that he has discovered that either the public relations officers do not know how to use the internet or that the companies hired to do the work were not doing anything. According to Tweya, using the internet to inform the public about ministries promotes accountability and transparency. "We must create an open society as public relations and information officers, so that we can then start to talk about poverty alleviation with empowered residents with the right information," he said. By not disseminating information through social media, Tweya said, the public relations officers are depriving the public of the right to know. "You are doors between the public and institutions you work for, therefore, keep those doors wide open because if you do not, the public will become suspicious and break it for them to see why it is kept closed," Tweya said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 02:12:12|Editor: yan Video Player Close BEIRUT, July 19 (Xinhua) -- After passing the public sector's salary scale bill on Tuesday, the Lebanese parliament approved on Wednesday a series of laws that raise taxes to secure revenues for funding the wage scale. The house, in the second legislative session, approved a 7 percent tax rate on bank's profits, along with an imposed fine on maritime public property. The parliament also approved charging a fee of 5,000 Lebanon Pound (3.3 U.S. dollars) for non-Lebanese citizens upon their entry into the country, cancelled fees on economy travel tickets and kept the current fee at a price of 60,000 Lebanon Pound (40 U.S. dollars). Meanwhile, activists from the civil society, Kataeb party and former members of Armed Forces rallied near the parliament protesting against the tax hike. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 03:02:35|Editor: ZD Video Player Close Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang (C) addresses the first China-U.S. Comprehensive Economic Dialogue in Washington July 19, 2017. Wang Yang on Wednesday called for cooperation between China and the U.S. instead of confrontation to address their differences. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) WASHINGTON, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang on Wednesday called for cooperation between China and the United States instead of confrontation to address their differences. "China and the U.S. are each other's biggest trading partner and important source of investment. Cooperation is a realistic choice for both sides," Wang said in his opening remarks at the first China-U.S. Comprehensive Economic Dialogue here Wednesday. "Dialogue cannot immediately address all differences, but confrontation will immediately damage the interests of both," said Wang. He noted that cooperation between China and the U.S. not only benefits businesses and peoples of the two countries but the world as a whole. According to the vice premier, the primary task of the one-day dialogue is to increase mutual understanding, mutual trust and consensus. With down-to-earth and visionary approaches, Wang called on both sides to make sure that China-U.S. economic relationship will move forward along the right track and continue to produce tangible results. Wang said that China was ready to work with the U.S. to achieve win-win results for both sides. Wang co-chairs the first China-U.S. Comprehensive Economic Dialogue together with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. Both sides are discussing a range of economic issues that will have long-term and strategic importance to the economic cooperation between the two countries. The dialogue is one of the four major dialogue mechanisms the two sides established in April. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 03:27:45|Editor: Zhou Xin Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov (C),Turkish FM Mevlut Cavusoglu (L) and Turkmenistan's FM Rashid Meredov (R) shake hands before the fourth trilateral meeting of the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Turkey in Baku, Azerbaijan, July 19, 2017.(Xinhua/Tofik Babayev) BAKU, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Azerbaijani, Turkish and Turkmen foreign ministers have agreed to develop a 2017-2020 cooperation roadmap, Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said here Wednesday. He made the remarks at a news briefing following the meeting with his Turkish and Turkmen counterparts Mevlut Cavusoglu and Rashid Meredov in Baku. A declaration has been signed following the trilateral meeting. According to Elmar Mammadyarov, the three sides conducted productive and interesting negotiations in Baku. Touching upon the implementation of various regional projects, Mammadyarov said the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project will be completed by the end of this year and will bring enormous opportunities for cooperation.' Stressing the importance of the railway project, the Azerbaijani foreign minister said that the related countries also intend to use other ways of cargo transportation, including sea. "This issue was discussed today at a trilateral meeting, and it would be right to discuss it also at the level of other ministries and departments," Mammadyarov said. The minister said that next year the work will be completed on expansion of the port in Turkmenbashi (Turkmenistan), and it will increase cargo transportation between the port of Alat (Azerbaijan) and Turkmenbashi up to 25 million tons per year. The Azerbaijani, Turkish and Turkmen foreign ministers held the fourth trilateral meeting in Baku on July 19. They discussed development of cooperation in the political, economic, energy, transport fields and as well as the implementation of regional projects. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 04:03:11|Editor: yan Video Player Close BISHKEK, July 19 ( Xinhua) -- National Security Committee of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan officers detained a suspect in preparation of a terrorist attack in the country, the press service of the committee reported on Wednesday. The 37-year-old detainee, a citizen of the Kyrgyz Republic, is a member of the international terrorist organization, said the report. He was detained at the stage of preparation to commit a terrorist attack. During a search of his residence, an improvised explosive device with damaging elements weighing 8 kilogram was found, the report said. The discovered bomb was defused by the sappers. According to the report, the detainee had participated in the armed conflict of the Syrian-Iraqi zone, underwent sabotage and combat training, according to the report. Investigative unit of the national security committee has initiated a criminal case. In 2016, 17 terrorist attacks were prevented in Kyrgyzstan and eight terrorist groups were eliminated. Turkish Foreign Affairs Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu (L) and his Azerbaijani and Turkmen counterparts, Elmar Mammadyarov (C) and Rashid Meredov (R), shake hands during their 4th ministerial meeting in Baku on July 19, 2017. (AFP PHOTO) BAKU, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Azerbaijani, Turkish and Turkmen foreign ministers have agreed to develop a 2017-2020 cooperation roadmap, Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said here Wednesday. He made the remarks at a news briefing following the meeting with his Turkish and Turkmen counterparts Mevlut Cavusoglu and Rashid Meredov in Baku. A declaration has been signed following the trilateral meeting. According to Elmar Mammadyarov, the three sides conducted productive and interesting negotiations in Baku. Touching upon the implementation of various regional projects, Mammadyarov said the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project will be completed by the end of this year and will bring enormous opportunities for cooperation.' Stressing the importance of the railway project, the Azerbaijani foreign minister said that the related countries also intend to use other ways of cargo transportation, including sea. "This issue was discussed today at a trilateral meeting, and it would be right to discuss it also at the level of other ministries and departments," Mammadyarov said. The minister said that next year the work will be completed on expansion of the port in Turkmenbashi (Turkmenistan), and it will increase cargo transportation between the port of Alat (Azerbaijan) and Turkmenbashi up to 25 million tons per year. The Azerbaijani, Turkish and Turkmen foreign ministers held the fourth trilateral meeting in Baku on July 19. They discussed development of cooperation in the political, economic, energy, transport fields and as well as the implementation of regional projects. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 04:53:35|Editor: yan Video Player Close LOS ANGELES, July 19 (Xinhua) -- The internet erupted with responses after a U.S. congressman baffled a panel of senior NASA scientists on whether ancient civilizations existed on Mars "thousands of years ago." During a hearing of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology on Tuesday, U.S. Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher stunned a panel of senior space experts when he asked about life on Mars, video showed. "You have indicated that Mars was totally different thousands of years ago. Is it possible that there was a civilization on Mars thousands of years ago?" Rohrabacher asked. The question was an add-on at the hearing, which was about the U.S. space agency NASA's upcoming flagship missions to other planets, including Mars and Europa, an ice-covered moon of Jupiter. Behind the question, the California Republican's premise was inaccurate because "the evidence is that Mars was different billions of years ago, not thousands of years ago," said Kenneth Farley, a project scientist on NASA's Mars Rover 2020 Project. "There is no evidence that I'm aware of," said the noble scientist at the California Institute of Technology. "Would you rule that out? See, there's some people ... well, anyway..." Rohrabacher persisted, referring to civilizations existing on the red planet. After he was told by the space expert that an ancient colony on Mars was 'extremely unlikely', the exchange drew notice on the internet. Science news Twitter account @earthskyscience, which has over 817,000 followers, asked: 'You decide...was he for real?' New York Times bestselling author's account @kurteichenwald, which has over 347,000 followers, said: "I wish the NASA folk testifying before @DanaRohrabacher had, when he asked about life on mars, just answered "Yes" with a straight face." American television host Rachel Maddow's Twitter account @maddow, which has over 7,940,000, tweeted: "The congressman is not joking. The scientist witness is... very kind." Others said the congressman was seriously wondering whether there was a civilization on Mars and he was asking purely on behalf of America's curious kids. Photos by NASA's Viking 1 Mars orbiter in 1976 and subsequent clearer images by later spacecraft revealed the "Face on Mars" to be nothing more than a rock formation. However, The belief that aliens may live on Mars has a rich history, some still believe that there is Red Planet civilization. And there even is a conspiracy theory which has been maintaining for years that the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is hiding evidence of Mars civilizations. Russia's President Vladimir Putin lays flowers during a ceremony to commemorate the anniversary of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War against Nazi Germany in 1941 near memorials by the Kremlin walls in Moscow, June 22, 2014. (Xinhua/Reuters) MOSCOW, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Russia is preparing a retaliatory response to Poland's decision to dismantle Soviet monuments, head of the upper house of the Russian parliament said Wednesday. "(Polish authorities) are violating international agreements with Russia, according to which Poland made a commitment to preserve historic monuments," Russian Federation Council speaker Valentina Matvienko said at a meeting of the council. The agreements are valid and haven't been terminated by anyone, she added. Calling the decision "sacrilegious, cynical and absolutely immoral", Matvienko said Moscow is considering a tit-for-tat response. "A corresponding statement has been made in the Russian Foreign Ministry. I know they are preparing measures appropriate to the current situation," Matvienko was cited by Sputnik news agency as saying. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Polish President Andrzej Duda signed the law of June 22, 2017 on amendments to the law of April 1, 2016, which authorizes the removal of monuments and memorial plaques to the Soviet soldiers who liberated Poland from Nazi occupation in 1944-1945. Under bilateral agreements reached by the two countries in 1992-1994, Polish authorities are obligated to protect and preserve these memorial facilities including martyr cemeteries and monuments, the ministry said Tuesday in a statement. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 05:34:19|Editor: yan Video Player Close ANKARA, July 19 (Xinhua) -- A Turkish court ordered the formal arrest of a film producer after he made a controversial movie about President Erdogan, reported Hurriyet daily Wednesday. The film producer Ali Avci was detained by police on suspicion of links to the group blamed by Ankara for the failed coup in July 2016 that tried to overthrow Erdogan. Avci was subsequently formally arrested over "managing an armed terror organisation" by an Istanbul court, Hurriyet daily reported. The trailer for Avci's new film "Uyanis" (Awakening) caused controversy even before it hit cinemas, just days before the first anniversary of the coup attempt, it said. Avci was also a producer of the film "Reis" (the Chief), a biopic about Erdogan's early political life, which hit screens ahead of a key April referendum that boosted Erdogan's powers. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 05:54:37|Editor: yan Video Player Close RIO DE JANEIRO, July 19 (Xinhua) -- The Brazilian government's institutional security division has installed an audio jamming device in the office of President Michel Temer, which will prevent anyone from using recording devices and prevent the leader from being recorded without knowing it, local media reported on Wednesday. Known as a voice scrambler, this device was installed three weeks ago and emits sounds at a frequency which cannot be heard by the human ear but which interferes with the recording of ambient sound, including any conversations taking place in the president's office. The news was published by TV station Globonews, which said other similar devices have been installed in ministries as well as in Jaburu Palace, Temer's residence. It was in this residence that Joesley Batista, owner of meatpacking giant JBS, surreptitiously recorded a conversation with Temer, in which the president could seemingly be heard signing off on bribing public officials. This recording was later turned over to prosecutors by Batista and was used by prosecutor-general Rodrigo Janot to press corruption charges against Temer. This device is not the first security apparatus installed in the presidential office. In May, Temer received a telephone protected by encryption. His predecessor, Dilma Rousseff, as well as key ministries and Brazilian companies, had been spied upon by U.S. intelligence agencies, through phones being tapped. : , , . Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 07:35:18|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close MENDOZA, Argentina, July 19 (Xinhua) -- A summit of Mercosur (Southern Common Market) nations kicked off on Wednesday with a push to form a pact with newer Latin American trade bloc, the Pacific Alliance. The gathering being held in Argentina's north-central city of Mendoza, opened with a seminar that analyzed the need for an agreement with the Pacific Alliance parallel to the one being negotiated with the European Union. The leaders of Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay are expected to arrive in Mendoza starting Thursday for Mercosur's first summit in a year and a half, which comes amid tension sparked by the divergent political currents of its member countries. Since Brazil and Argentina have come under conservative leadership, they have clashed with also member Venezuela and its ruling socialist government. Venezuela was suspended from Mercosur, after which it announced it was withdrawing from the trade and integration bloc. The infighting has weakened the bloc, making an alliance with the the Pacific Alliance, which gathers Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Peru, all the more attractive. Strengthening the alliances between the different trade blocs will be one of the main points on the agenda at the Mercosur summit," said the Mexican news agency Notimex. The leaders' summit will be held on Friday, culminating with a joint declaration. Argentina, which took on the bloc's rotating presidency after Venezuela was stripped of the role, will be handing the reins over to Brazil. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 09:25:49|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close MELBOURNE, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Australian researchers have developed a drug capable of reprogramming the immune system to fight cancer, it was announced on Thursday. The landmark new therapy, developed by the Peter MacCallum Cancer Center, involves removing immune cells from the body to genetically enhance them before putting them back in the body to fight cancer. The form of immunotherapy has previously been effective in fighting blood cancers but lead scientists Phillip Darcy and Paul Beavis found a way to improve its effectiveness against solid tumors for the first time. Darcy said that the enhanced immune cells, known as CAR T cells, have been ineffective against solid tumors which have been able to produce a metabolite called adenosine which destroys the cells. Some tumors have even shown the ability to simply reverse the enhancements placed on the cells, making them revert to T cells which have little ability to combat the tumors. "The suppressive tumour environment dampens down the ability of the immune cells so we needed to give the cells something extra to be able to work in those environments," Darcy told Australian media on Thursday. Researchers successfully trialled a drug in mice that blocks the metabolite, allowing CAR T cells to effectively target tumors. They are now planning to take the drug into phase one human trials. "We are really excited by the results and the possibilities emerging from immunotherapy," Darcy said. Todd Harper, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Cancer Council Victoria, said he is excited about the drug "providing more targeted treatment with less side effects." Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 10:11:54|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close by Matthew Rusling WASHINGTON, July 19 (Xinhua) -- The clock is ticking for U.S. President Donald Trump to start delivering on his campaign promises, and failure to do so could lead to disaster for the GOP in the 2018 mid-term elections, experts said. This week marks six months since Trump took office. But despite his dominance of the news cycle, the president has yet to pass any meaningful legislation on a host of issues he promised to deal with while he was a presidential candidate last year. Indeed, this week saw the implosion of the president's plan to repeal and replace the current U.S. healthcare system -- known as Obamacare, former President Barack Obama's signature legislation -- when Senators from his own party refused to support the bill. The move blindsided the president, and sent Republicans scrambling to figure out the next step. "Trump is running out of time," Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West told Xinhua. "He has been president for six months and has delivered nothing for Republicans except one Supreme Court confirmation," he said. "He has not been successful on any of the big issues he identified during the campaign," he said. Indeed, Trump was elected at a time of major dissatisfaction among many Americans at the direction the United States is taking. He was also elected at a time when the U.S. economy has not fully recovered from the 2007-2008 economic nose dive. While the economy has recovered in many major cities, rural areas continue to see factories shutter, and millions are unemployed or underemployed. Although the official jobless rate is low, the figures do not count the army of Americans who have dropped out of the workforce due to sheer frustration at their dim prospects. The poor economies in former industrial states such as Kentucky, West Virginia and Ohio have also been a factor in the nation's widespread but under reported drug problem -- the worst in U.S. history, said experts. Trump's supporters elected him to make sweeping changes after eight years of what they saw as an elitist administration in Washington that was more interested, in their view, in pushing political correctness than in solving the nation's economic problems. One of candidate Trump's promises was to repeal and replace Obamacare, as critics point out the law, passed by Obama, has led to surging premiums, new and increased taxes and fewer choices in healthcare. Some people living paycheck to paycheck have found it financially difficult to comply with the Obamacare law that imposes a fine on individuals who do not purchase health insurance. With Trump's failure on the healthcare front this week, the president will need to act fast to prove he can deliver on his campaign promises. Experts said the New York billionaire needs to pivot away from healthcare for the time being and focus on other legislative promises. "The sooner the GOP can pivot away from heath care and look to get money back from overseas, money back in Americans' pockets, and Americans back to work on outdated infrastructure, the better," Dan Mahaffee, senior vice president and director of policy at the Center for the Study of Congress and the Presidency, told Xinhua. "Quick victories -- and the time spent trying to get a quick victory -- will likely prolong a process that has sucked away political capital and left the public increasingly disenchanted with the GOP, save for a very vocal base," Mahaffee said. "This will require a major pivot by President Trump, his administration, and the Congress, but history shows that it is possible," Mahaffee said. Now, Trump is scrambling to figure out the next step on healthcare, taking to social media this week and threatening Democrats that he will allow the current healthcare system -- passed several years back by Democrats -- to fail. Experts said allowing Obamacare to simply fail would leave millions of Americans out in the cold. Supporters note that it has provided millions of Americans with health insurance. West said if Congress repeals Obamacare without a replacement in mind, it will devastate rural hospitals and the rural people they help. These hospitals need the financial help that Obamacare provides in order to remain solvent, and many health care providers will be hurt if there is repeal without a solid replacement, he said. "The pain would fall disproportionately on places that voted for Trump so an outright repeal would be very detrimental to Trump supporters," the Brookings fellow said. Some experts have called for a compromise, and West said Republicans should craft a repair bill with Democrats to fix problems with Obamacare. "There are some bipartisan things the two parties could do. But it can't involve repeal because that would be a non-starter for Democrats," he said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 10:44:08|Editor: Zhou Xin A participant rides a freight bicycle during the Bike-to-Shop challenge in Vancouver, Canada, July 19, 2017. Bike-to-Shop challenge is a one-day competition that people team up to compete for the the shortest time to shop and carry goods by bicycle while travelling in downtown area. The competition aims to promote bicycle as an efficient, ecological and economical transportation in the city. (Xinhua/Liang Sen) Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 10:22:05|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close LIMA, July 19 (Xinhua) -- The Central Reserve Bank of Peru (BCRP) on Wednesday issued a new coin featuring the endangered Andean bear in a bid to raise people's awareness about the threats to the species. The coin is the first in a series called "Peru's Endangered Wild Animals," which will showcase the wildlife threatened with extinction. "The series on endangered animals that we are presenting today is going to consist of 10 (different) coins," said Julio Velarde, president of the BCRP. "In the first place, we have chosen the Andean bear, the only one of the world's eight types of bears that exists in our region," said Velarde. Coins featuring the Andean bear aim to both draw attention to the plight of wildlife and to promote coin collecting, according to the BCRP. "We are going to mint 10 million coins. It is a limited edition of a sol (Peru's currency), it is legal tender and has special characteristics that make it collectible," it said. The coin, made of alpaca silver, which is an alloy of mainly copper and nickel, features an image of the bear, also known as the spectacled bear, due to the unique markings around its eyes. The flip side of the coin, which is worth one sol, features Peru's coat of arms. The spectacled bear can reach 2.2 meters in height, weighs up to 180 kilos, and inhabits the mountain ranges of South America, between 800 and 4,750 meters above sea level. Solitary and timid, it spends much of its time climbing trees and feeding on fruits and berries. According to the national park service, Peru's estimated 18,000 Andean bears are threatened by encroaching agriculture, illegal logging and unregulated hunting, with farmers considering them destructive to their corn fields. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 10:42:15|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close LUSAKA, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Zambia recorded a year-over-year decline in the number of road traffic casualties during the second quarter of 2017, Zambia Police Service said Wednesday. A total of 432 people were killed in road traffic accidents in the second quarter compared to 705 during the same period last year, a decrease of 273. Public relations officer for the police service Esther Mwaata-Katongo said that 1,353 persons were seriously injured in the accidents, with a year-over-year decline from 1,762. The country recorded 7,252 road traffic accidents during the quarter under review while the number during the same period last year was 9,074, she added. The police spokesperson attributed the reduction to constant patrols, a ban on public vehicles from working at night, and promoting compliance with traffic rules. Mwaata-Katongo said the accidents could be attributed to the following: 15.7 percent from rear-end collisions, 14.3 percent from overspeeding, 13.3 percent from failing to keep clear of sides, 8.45 percent from plunging cars and 6.6 percent from backing up. Photo taken on July 6, 2010 shows the sixth Bangladesh-China Friendship Bridge in Munshiganj district, about 30 km away from Dhaka, Bangladesh. (Xinhua/Nian Yifeng) DHAKA, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Millions of people living in central Bangladesh used to refer to the Dhaleshwari River as the "River of Sorrows" as the waterway made it extremely difficult for people to get to the capital city Dhaka. In the absence of a bridge spanning the river, people were cut off from the capital for centuries, which impacted businesses as well as communities. But the peoples' collective headache was finally remedied by China constructing a bridge and linking both banks and, in doing so, making life easier for all concerned. The 6th China-Bangladesh Friendship Bridge, as it is known, is situated in the Munshiganj district, about 30 kilometers away from Dhaka and the bridge's construction was finished eight years ago. The bridge has meant that there is now a fixed transportation route between Dhaka city and Munshiganj, one of the major areas supplying agricultural products to the capital city. Local businesses said the vast changes brought on by the bridge have been revolutionary, in terms of both the economic development of the area itself and also the convenience and ease it offers locals both professionally and personally. Such is the popularity of the bridge, that it has been labeled as one of Bangladesh's "lifeline structures." Construction of the sixth China- Bangladesh Friendship Bridge began in July 2005 and was completed in January 2008, six months ahead of schedule, much to the delight of all involved and all whose lives would be improved by the bridge. Funding for the sizable project comprised around 26 million U.S. dollars, of which China contributed 17 million U.S. dollars in grants and interest free loans, while Bangladesh picked up the rest of the hefty tab for the bridge, which boasts a span of more than 150 meters and mainly facilitates Dhaka and its adjacent Narayanganj and Munshiganj districts. Hira Montaz, a member of the Munshiganj Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told Xinhua recently that entire economic condition of the region has improved notably as a result of the bridge. "The business situation as a result of the bridge has improved a lot. And, therefore, albeit indirectly, the entire country also benefits from this bridge," said Montaz. According to the leading businessman, it now takes only about one hour to reach Dhaka by bus from Munshiganj thanks to the bridge. This compares to up to a 2-hour wait for a ferry to cross the river in the past, Montaz added. "We can never repay the kindness shown to us by the Chinese government. We're deeply indebted to China for this bridge, which has removed all of our business and communication inconveniences. China is indeed a very close friend," said Montaz, also a proprietor of Baishaki Banija Bitan, which trades rice. "We expect more and more Bangladesh-China cooperation in various fields in the future and hope China supports Bangladesh in its efforts to develop infrastructure in future," he added. BM Ruhul Amin, a resident of Malrpahtor village, said people can now go anywhere in the country including Dhaka and its adjacent Narayanganj town on the side of the river whenever they choose, thanks to China building the bridge. "We used to have to spend hours at night to get to the other side of the river by ferry. At night, there used to be a lot of trouble for the patients to get to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for treatment," he said. "Some patients have died en route in the past, but this bridge has changed our fate and improved our lifestyle greatly," he added. Shah Chand Bhuiyan, another Munshiganj district resident, said that the bridge had definitely made life a lot easier. "Now that China has built this bridge, it has been very good for us in the Vikrampur area, as this area has now developed a lot of new businesses. Because of this bridge, the entire area has witnessed a huge development." He added, "We are very happy to have this bridge. Words can't express our happiness." For bus driver Nurul Kabir, the bridge is simply an indispensable lifeline. He now conducts multiple trips to and from Dhaka daily and now nets a decent salary for his four-member family. "I can earn more now as we can operate many trips in the same day." Ph oto taken on March 29, 2016 shows the first Bangladesh-China Friendship Bridge in Dhaka, Bangladesh. (Xinhua/Shariful Islam) Seven friendship bridges have already been completed across Bangladesh owing to Chinese grants, and the eighth is under construction. The construction of the first Bangladesh-China Friendship Bridge, with a span of more than 917 meters in length, began in October 1986, and was completed in February 1989. Bangladeshi Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said China has been contributing greatly to the infrastructural development of Bangladesh. Describing China as a "trusted friend" and an "important stakeholder in the global economy," Quader said he hoped for more Chinese assistance in implementing major projects across the country. Friendship bridges assisted by the Chinese government have greatly improved the infrastructure in Bangladesh and enhanced the country's economic development, Quader said Building friendship bridges has surely underscored the ongoing friendship between Bangladesh and China, and Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on several occasions has thanked China for its contributions to Bangladesh's economic development. Hasina now expects that Bangladesh will be able to reach its desired goal of becoming a middle-income country by 2021 and a developed one by 2041, with the support from China and other friendly countries. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 12:37:57|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close LUSAKA, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Globalization will leaves the poor behind unless the United Nations (UN) implements its development goals in a way that benefits landlocked countries, a Zambian official said Wednesday. The UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development is aimed at eradicating poverty. The goals can be achieved only if the fundamental principle of "not leaving everyone behind" is translated into action at the global, regional and national level, said Zambia's Minister of National Development and Planning Lucky Mulusa. The Zambian minister, a representative for LandLocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) at a UN forum in New York, said economic growth in LLDCs has not yet eradicated poverty and citizens benefit little from their economic growth. Developing landlocked countries, he said, continue to face many development challenges related to their inherent problems like unfavorable locations. "Why does economic growth in Landlocked Developing Countries fail to eradicate poverty? Why has globalization made rich nations richer and poor countries poorer? We know the answers but we fail to act," he said, according to a statement released by the Permanent Mission of Zambia to the UN. Zambia is the current chair of the LLDCs. According to the Zambian minister, inclusive economic growth requires sustainable industrialization, innovation and resilient infrastructure. The development agenda of LLDCs prioritizes eradicating poverty and achieving socio-economic prosperity, he added. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 12:42:59|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close LAGOS, July 19 (Xinhua) -- An official of China's Hebei Province said it was ready to carry out pragmatic cooperation with northern Kaduna state of Nigeria. Wang Xiaodong, vice governor of Hebei Province in northern China, made the remarks when he visited Kaduna State to sign a letter of intention with Kaduna Governor El-Rufai. The cooperation is aimed at creating sister state relationship and establishing industries in Kaduna state. The signing ceremony was witnessed by Zhou Pingjian, Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Zhao Dianlong, president of China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), officials of Kaduna state and Hebei Province, as well as entrepreneurs from both sides. El-Rufai said that Kaduna and Hebei Province have a lot in common and would benefit immensely from such a partnership. "We invited our private sector because we believe it is the private sector that would take advantage of the enormous opportunities existing in commercial, industrial and business communities between the two states," he added. "Like Hebei Province, agriculture is the mainstay of our economy. We are interested in discussions on how Hebei Province can link up some of our investors to establish manufacturing industries here in Kaduna State," El-Rufai said. Wang said Hebei with a population of 74 million people is a leading industrial province in the production of steel, cement, glass, photo-voltaic cells, equipment manufacturing and agriculture. According to him, the Chinese entrepreneurs are ready to cooperate with Kaduna in many aspects including iron and steel production. "We know that Kaduna is a big state of agriculture, and with hardworking Kaduna people we have so much in common. We believe that with Governor el-Rufai and the CCECC, we will improve our exchanges and discussions for a brighter future," Wang added. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 12:53:08|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close CARACAS, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela's opposition coalition hinted Wednesday there will be no dialogue unless the goverment cancels National Constituent Assembly (ANC). "A magnificent gesture ... would be for him (President Nicolas Maduro) ... to overcome the pressures of his party" and cancel the National Constituent Assembly (ANC), said Henry Ramos Allup, leader of the opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD). Venezuela is set to elect the ANC on July 30, which will be mandated to rewrite the constitution. The government reckons it as the best way to lead the country out of the current political and economic crisis, while the opposition sees the move as a power grab by Maduro. Dropping the ANC would be a gesture showing a willingness to talk, and "prove that this man (Maduro) leads as he is the president," said Allup. Maduro has reiterated his call for political dialogue with the MUD. "We must be aware of the differences we have in the country. We must resolve them with peace, with votes and not bullets, with tolerance, with democracy," he said on Sunday. While stating its preconditions for renewing dialogue, the MUD will not "let the streets go cold," said Allup, indicating that opposition protests will continue to demand Maduro step down. Maduro has slammed the opposition as being terrorists for leading anti-government protests, which have left at least 97 people dead. He has also repeatedly invited the MUD to participate in the ANC, only to be rejected by the opposition coalition. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 12:53:10|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close HANOI, July 20 (Xinhua) -- The Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee's General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong left here on Thursday for a three-day visit to Cambodia, said the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Ministry. The party chief is visiting Cambodia at the invitation of Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni. The trip, the second state visit to Cambodia by the party leader, aims to enhance trust between the Communist Party of Vietnam and the Cambodian People's Party, and accelerate the implementation of agreements inked by the two countries. Vietnam and Cambodia exchanged 150 delegations of all levels last year and in the first half of this year. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 13:13:16|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close COLOMBO, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Australia has pledged to combat the dengue epidemic in Sri Lanka by partnering with the World Health Organisation (WHO), Australia's Monash University and Sri Lanka's Ministry of Health. Addressing a media briefing in Colombo Wednesday night, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Australia's 500,000-Australian dollar (400,000-U.S. dollars) contribution to WHO will support the implementation of a comprehensive dengue prevention and control plan in Sri Lanka to enhance hospital triage and case management, cleaning, public awareness and surveillance systems. "Working with Sri Lankan health authorities and other partners, the objective will be to reduce transmission of dengue," Bishop said. Bishop also launched the Australian government's partnership between Monash University's 'Eliminate Dengue Program' and Sri Lanka's Ministry of Health to reduce the incidence of dengue in Sri Lanka. Eliminate Dengue Program is pioneering the use of the Wolbachia bacteria to reduce rates of dengue infection. Wolbachia, which prevents the dengue virus being transmitted between people, has a similar effect on other viruses such as zika, chikungunya and yellow fever. There have been close to 100,000 people in Sri Lanka infected by the dengue virus this year and over 250 people killed, in the worst possible outbreak to hit the island country in recent years. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 13:18:22|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close BEIJING, July 20 (Xinhua) -- A series of recent extreme weather conditions worldwide, including the long-lasting heat waves across the northern hemisphere, have served as a dreadful warning on climate change and intensified the urgency to tackle the global problem. Since the start of this summer, a number of countries and regions have suffered from scorching temperature, drought, heavy rainfall, flood and snowstorm, which have led to various disasters and incidents that severely impacted the lives of people. Meteorologists are deeply worried, so do the general public. Experts said global warming is the major cause of extreme weather conditions, and warned about further consequences if the current situation doesn't change. Climate change is more real than ever. It's time to walk the talk. GLOBAL WARMING IS MAJOR CULPRIT Deadly flash flood following continuous heat waves in the U.S. State of Arizona, frequent wildfire breakouts in British Columbia of Canada, persistent drought in Italy and Spain, unusual heavy snowfall in the capital of Chile, are among the worrisome weather conditions that have swept across the globe recently. According to the latest study of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), global warming, not El Nino, remains the main reason for the recent extreme weather conditions worldwide. Using the climate assessment models of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the WMO predicted that if greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase, the Earth's average global surface temperature could rise more than 4 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, meaning more intense heat waves and more extremely hot days and nights ahead. The study, which was released this week, warned that many of the assessed cities could see their maximum daily temperatures in summer rise by as much as 6 to 9 degrees Celsius by the year 2100. Paris, for example, will see its average summer daily highs to rise to 29.2 degrees Celsius from 22.7 degrees. Despite speculations that the recent extreme weather conditions had links to El Nino effects, the WMO clarified in early July that it was not. Statistics from the UN agency show that atmospheric patterns in the east-central equatorial Pacific have continued to reflect neutral El Nino-Southern Oscillation conditions. "Even without a strong El Nino in 2017, we are seeing other remarkable changes across the planet that are challenging the limits of our understanding of the climate system. We are now in truly uncharted territory," said World Climate Research Program Director David Carlson. Extreme weather is not the only signal on climate change. One of the biggest recorded iceberg broke off Antarctica's Larsen C ice shelf in recent days, as another reminder of the continent's rapid change. Human-induced climate change has the power to cause a significant rise in sea levels over the next 100 years, said Dr. Valerie Masson-Delmotte, a climate scientist from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. PARIS ACCORD NEEDS INSTANT ACTION Few would deny the imminent danger of climate change nowadays. Unfortunately, concerted efforts from all parties in the international community are still lacking, despite such a precarious situation. The landmark Paris Climate Agreement, signed in late 2015 by 195 economies, used to greatly boost global confidence in cracking the hard nut. The accord aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions in a way to keep the rise in the average temperature by no higher than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The implementation of the high-profile accord has, however, been severely hindered by the inconstancy of some parties, especially reflected in the case of U.S withdrawal from the accord in early June. Even facing mounting criticism, U.S. President Donald Trump hasn't turned around just yet. At the G20 Hamburg Summit earlier this month, major world leaders didn't manage to reach consensus on climate change, with Trump's stance at odds with the other 19. But, there seems to be a silver lining. Last week, Trump hinted a possible change in his position over the Paris climate accord from which he withdrew weeks ago. "Something could happen with respect to the Paris accord, let's see what happens," said Trump. Such uncertainty is not enough. As the world struggles to deal with such a challenging issue, its largest economy, also the second-largest emitter, should play a key role in the center, instead of walking away on its lonely road. Some have turned to the UN global climate conference to be held in Bonn later this year for potential progress on the implementation of the Paris accord, and whether the United States returns to the accord remains to be seen. Anyhow, the world can't wait long. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 14:03:44|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close WASHINGTON, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Doris Payne, an 86-year-old notorious international jewel thief, was arrested on Monday for attempting to steal items worth 86.22 U.S. dollars from a Walmart store in the U.S. city of Chamblee, local police said. The arrest took place at around 5 p.m. local time (2200 GMT) on Monday. Payne was seen by a Walmart employee snap up items in the pharmacy, electronics and grocery departments, and put some in her purse, a Walmart shopping bag and a cart, according to a police report. However, Payne only paid for the items in the cart but not stuff she had kept in her purse and the bag at the checkout. Payne was stopped and arrested by an off-duty police officer notified by a shore employee, after she tried to leave the scene with unpaid goods. The police said Payne was booked into a city jail with an electronic ankle monitor placed by a probation office. All of the items she had tried to shoplifted have been returned to the store. Payne's attorney said this time is different from her previous cases because she did not steal high-end jewelry. In March, Payne pleaded guilty of stealing a 2,000-U.S.-dollar diamond necklace from a department store. Dubbed "world-renowned jewelry theft," Payne has been arrested for about 20 times in several different countries. She reportedly stole the first diamond in her 20s, and probably got away more often than she was convicted of. In a 2013 documentary film, Payne bragged of stealing jewelry worth at least 2 million dollars. "There's never been a day that I went to steal that I did not get what I went to do," she said in the film "The Life and Crimes of Doris Payne." Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 14:03:46|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close JALALABAD, Afghanistan, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Seven militants loyal to the hardliner Islamic State (IS) group were killed as their explosive device went off prematurely in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province, a local official said Thursday. The official said on condition of anonymity that the incident took place in Godari village of Pachiragam district on Tuesday when the militants were making a mine for a roadside attack targeting security forces convoys. But the device exploded suddenly, killing seven on the spot. IS militants who are active in parts of the eastern Nangarhar province with Jalalabad as its capital 120 km east of Kabul are yet to make comment. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 14:18:54|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close PHNOM PENH, July 20 (Xinhua) -- A conservationist group said Thursday that it has found a globally endangered Masked Finfoot, an aquatic bird, on its nest for the first time in four years in the Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary (KPWS) in northwest Cambodia's Preah Vihear province. This site near the Memay river is the only confirmed breeding location in Cambodia for this very rare species, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) said in a statement. Masked Finfoot (Heliopais personatus) is listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List as Globally Endangered because its global population is declining at an alarming rate, the statement said. This riverine species lives only in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, it said, adding that its global population is less than 1,000 individuals, while little is known about the numbers in Cambodia. "After educating local communities about the Masked Finfoot, the research team worked together with Community Protected Area committee and other local community members to search for the species, and we then found a Masked Finfoot on the nest near the Memay River," said Rours Vann, head of the Environment Ministry and WCS research team in KPWS. "I am proud of this finding because it is very rare species. We have not recorded any nests since 2013," he said. "Through nest protection program, we have hired two local villagers to protect the nest to prevent any harm and disturbance." Song Chansocheat, deputy chief of Environment Department in Preah Vihear province, said his staff would work closely with community wildlife rangers to protect this rare species. The Northern Plains landscape in Preah Vihear province consists of KPWS, Prey Preah Roka Wildlife Sanctuary and Chhep Wildlife Sanctuary, and is home to many globally endangered birds. Those include critically endangered Giant Ibis, white-shouldered Ibis, and three species of vulture, globally endangered white-winged Duck, Masked Finfoot and many other important wildlife, the WCS said. "This finding provides further evidence that Northern Plains of Cambodia is an important biodiversity hotspot and critical area for conserving breeding habitat for globally threatened water birds," said Alistair Mould, WCS's technical advisor to Northern Plains of Cambodia. "Masked Finfoots are globally endangered and extremely rare in Cambodia. Targeted riverine habitat protection at key breeding locations like the Mamay river is required to ensure the survival of these remaining Cambodian populations," he said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 14:44:10|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close by Le Yanna, Bui Long HANOI, July 20 (Xinhua) -- After the U.S. withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is considered by Vietnam as an alternative choice, and its negotiations are expected to be wrapped up by the end of this year, opening up significant opportunities for many economies. The RCEP is a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the six countries with which ASEAN has existing free trade agreements - Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand. The countries are expected to conclude RCEP talks by the end of this year, ASEAN Secretary-General Le Luong Minh told reporters on the sidelines of the conference "ASEAN at 50: ASEAN Economic Community and the Opportunities for Vietnamese Businesses." The conference was host by the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Jakarta-based Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) in Hanoi on Wednesday. The RCEP negotiations focus on trade in goods and services, investment, economic and technical cooperation, intellectual property, competition, dispute resolution, e-commerce, and matters related to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), among others. "While anti-globalization and trade protection trends are emerging in the world, ASEAN is clinging to its open regionalism policy, opening up big opportunities for not only regional and global integration processes but also for businesses in ASEAN member states," Minh said. The 16 RCEP participating countries account for almost half of the world's population, and contribute over a quarter of its exports and some 30 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP). The RCEP will also offer a framework aimed at reducing trade barriers and ensuring improved market access for goods and services for businesses in the region, through some key actions and activities. They include recognizing ASEAN's centrality in the emerging regional economic architecture and the interests of ASEAN's FTA partners in bolstering economic integration. The framework also stresses, as well as economic cooperation among the participating countries, trade facilitation, investment and enhanced transparency in trade and investment ties between the countries, as well as SMEs' engagements in global and regional supply chains, and broadening and deepening ASEAN's economic engagements with its FTA partners. On the sidelines of the conference, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Quoc Dung told reporters that after the U.S. exit from the TPP, many people considered the RCEP as being an alternative, so the pressure on speeding up negotiations to finalize the partnership is increasing. Despite differences in economic scales and interests, the 16 RCEP-participating countries share a common determination in and aspiration for accelerating the negotiations, the deputy minister said. According to ERIA's senior researchers' presentations and documents released at the conference, the RCEP will be the main venue of ASEAN's deepening economic relations with the rest of East Asia. The RCEP is now also the main mechanism for the official initiatives to deepen their economic integration and cooperation in East Asia. According to the senior researchers, a major challenge for ASEAN is how to steer the RCEP towards its successful conclusion that takes into consideration the widely differing levels of development and different concerns of the 16 countries involved in the talks. Given that ASEAN's intra-regional trade accounts for only a quarter of its total trade, and because production networks go beyond ASEAN and deeply involve the rest of East Asia, ASEAN economic integration with the rest of the East Asian countries is expected to bring large gains to ASEAN economies. However, the RCEP should be designed well and incorporate significant improvements over and above those of the existing ASEAN+1 FTAs and generate significant economic benefits for ASEAN member states and the region. Many economists proposed that the RCEP should set a target of 95-percent tariff elimination and take a "common concession" approach, as well as strengthen liberalization commitments in trade in goods and services. In addition, analysts with knowledge of the matter have also recommended that the rules of origin should be a focal point, as well as minimizing the ASEAN+1 FTA overlapping rules and commitments. Other proposals traverse the ideas of adopting liberal regional accumulation rules to help ASEAN companies' participation in the East Asian production networks, and provide deeper economic cooperation for facilitation measures as compared to the ASEAN+1 FTAs. According to Ponciano Intal, ERIA's senior economist, firms will benefit from the increasingly growing middle class in ASEAN in particular and East Asia in general, with goods producers and service providers relying on the Chinese market. China established dialogue relationship with ASEAN, which groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, in 1991. The two sides forged a strategic partnership in 2003. China is the largest trading partner of ASEAN, and the regional block is China's third largest trading partner. Two-way trade reached 452.2 billion U.S. dollars last year, while combined two-way investment had exceeded 183 billion U.S. dollars by the end of May 2017. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 15:04:32|Editor: ZD Video Player Close BEIJING, July 20 (Xinhua) -- It has been a big year for China's military. In April, China's first domestically produced aircraft carrier was launched, which was followed by the debut of its new generation of destroyer in June. In July, the country's first aircraft carrier allowed visits by the public for the first time. As the 90th birthday of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) approaches, the country's army has shown how much its military capacity has grown and how committed it is to maintaining world peace. A STRONGER ARMY The PLA has come a long way since its birth during the armed uprising in the city of Nanchang on August 1, 1927, when it had only 20,000 soldiers. Ninety years later, the country boasts 2 million servicemen, making it the world's largest military force, according to a national defense white paper titled "China's Military Strategy," published in 2015. Besides the growth in numbers, the PLA has armed its soldiers with world-class equipment. During China's epic V-Day parade in September 2015, the country displayed its Dongfeng-5B intercontinental strategic missiles, designed to carry nuclear warheads, and its Dongfeng-21D anti-ship ballistic missiles, described by some media as the "carrier killer." Other cutting-edge weaponry included the PLA's state-of-the-art tanks, unmanned aerial vehicles, and its new generation of airborne early warning and control aircraft, carrier-based fighters and attack helicopters that fly low across the sky. In April of this year, China launched its second aircraft carrier in a Dalian shipyard in northeastern province of Liaoning. It is the first carrier designed and built by China. The country's first carrier, the Liaoning, was a refitted Soviet Union-made carrier put into commission by the PLA Navy in 2012. Another Navy development was the launch of a new destroyer, a domestically designed and produced 10,000-tonne vessel. The destroyer is the first vessel of China's new generation of destroyers equipped with new air defense, anti-missile, anti-ship and anti-submarine weapons. For military observers, all these achievements can be seen in a video titled "PLA Today" released by the Ministry of National Defense (MND) last week. The 16-minute English-language video, with Chinese subtitles, displayed a host of unmanned "smart" military vehicles, reconnaissance robots and drones, followed by footage of live-fire drills in the South China Sea and the East China Sea in July last year. "If war is declared, we are ready," one line said. A MORE OPEN ARMY The video was not the PLA's only bid for attention on social media. The military debuted a five-episode live-streaming program on China's Twitter-like Weibo service on Tuesday. The first episode featured China's airborne troops and showed the tough training soldiers must undergo. The other four episodes will focus on soldiers from other service branches, the descendants of war heros, and war veterans. Last year, the military released an action-packed online video featuring rap music to attract young recruits. The PLA has also made real-life outreach efforts. In early July, a flotilla including the aircraft carrier arrived in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for a visit. During the trip, the Liaoning opened to the public for visits for the first time. More than 5,000 Hong Kong people boarded the aircraft carrier and three escorting warships, during their stay in Hong Kong from July 7 through July 11. "I have witnessed the progress of my country, and I am so proud standing on board the Liaoning," said a Hong Kong visitor who spent 14 hours queueing for the free ticket. A PEACEFUL ARMY In 2017, China, the world's second largest economy, budgeted 1.04 trillion yuan (about 153 billion U.S. dollars) for annual military expenditures, according to the Ministry of Finance (MOF) in March. The figure is second only to the United States, which has a military spending budget of 583.7 billion dollars. However, China's defense budget growth in 2017, at 7 percent, is actually the slowest in at least a decade. The increase last year was 7.6 percent, down from a multi-year run of double-digit growth. "The majority of the defense budget will be spent on deepening national defense and military reforms, bolstering military and civilian integration, and improving the living, training and working conditions for service personnel at grassroots levels," said the MOF. China's per capita military spending represented only about 5.6 percent of that of the United States, 11 percent of Britain's, and 25 percent of Japan's, said Maj. Gen. Chen Zhou. Showing its determination in peaceful development, the country announced a cut of 300,000 troops from September 2015 levels. China is also continuing its efforts in international cooperation. As of June 2017, the Chinese military had participated in 24 UN peacekeeping missions, sending 31,000 personnel, 13 of whom lost their lives in duty, according to the MND's "PLA Today" video. Since 2008, the Navy has dispatched 26 escort task force groups, including more than 70 ships for escort missions in the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia. More than 6,300 Chinese and foreign ships have been protected during these missions. To improve cooperation in Africa and western Asia, China is setting up its first overseas support base in Djibouti in July. According to the PLA Navy, the base will ensure China's ability to perform missions, such as escorting, peacekeeping and humanitarian aid in the region. The base will also assist with overseas tasks such as military cooperation, joint exercises, emergency rescue, evacuation and protection of overseas Chinese, and jointly maintaining the security of strategic international seaways. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 15:29:43|Editor: ying Video Player Close NEW DELHI, July 20 (Xinhua) -- More than 15,000 farmers have ended their lives in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh in the past 13 years, the state government said. "As many as 15,129 farmers and the people associated with farming have killed themselves in the last 13 years, ending December 2016," Madhya Pradesh's Home Minister Bhupendra Singh told the state assembly Wednesday. India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has been governing the state since December 2003. At least six farmers were killed in police firing in Madhya Pradesh last month when their protests demanding loan waivers and better prices for their produce turned violent. Unseasonal rainfall, hailstorms and even drought often destroy crops, putting strain on impoverished farmers and driving many of them to kill themselves. In 2015, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that "for several years, farmers' suicide has been a cause of worry for the nation." "The problem is old, deep-rooted and widespread and we have to seek solutions in that context. There should be a collective resolve in this regard. We have an open mind to consider any suggestion that is made," Modi said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 15:29:43|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao Video Player Close NANNING, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Tourism on the China-Vietnam border is booming, thanks to government policies and abundant resources. The customs of Dongxing, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, recorded about 4.66 million people crossing the border in the first half of 2017, up 41.84 percent year on year. Dongxing is located on the China-Vietnam border. It is just across the border from the Vietnamese city of Mong Cai. "This is a record high, thanks to easier access to visas and affordable facilities," said an official with Dongxi's tourism bureau. Dongxing is the third largest land port in China. China has allowed foreigners to apply for visas in Dongxing from 2013, which increased the number of tourists from around the world using the city to enter Southeast Asia, according to Dongxi's tourism bureau. From last year, private-rented cars have been allowed to cross between Dongxing and Mong Cai, further contributing to tourist numbers. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 15:39:49|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao Video Player Close BEIJING, July 20 (Xinhua) -- China's naval forces are fully aware of any situation occurring in waters around China, said the Ministry of National Defense on Thursday. The ministry made the remarks in response to a report from Taiwan that when aircraft carrier Liaoning's formation sailed through the Taiwan Strait, a U.S. destroyer also sailed into the strait and tracked the Chinese formation. "We have noted the report in question. China's armed forces have kept monitoring that sea area from the very beginning and have measures to effectively deal with any situation," said the ministry. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 15:39:50|Editor: ying Video Player Close JAKARTA, July 20 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian government on Thursday condemned Israel's closure of the al-Aqsa Mosque, the foreign ministry said here. "Indonesia is concerned and also condemned worsened situation in al-Aqsa Mosque compound," a statement from the ministry said. Israel shut down the holy site and installed checkpoints and metal detectors at its entrances after three Muslim Palestinians with Israeli citizenship gunned down two Israeli policemen on Friday. The attackers were then killed by Israeli police inside the holy compound. The Indonesian government called on Israel to restore stability and security in the compound, and not to change "the status quo" of the compound. The al-Aqsa Mosque compound, holy to both Muslims and Jews, is one of the most sensitive sites in the region. It is revered by Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, and by Jews as the Temple Mount. The Indonesian government has no diplomatic ties with Israel. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 15:49:53|Editor: ying Video Player Close HANOI, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Typhoon Talas, which hit Vietnam's central provinces Monday, has left eight people dead and four others missing. Talas was the second tropical storm the country has faced so far this year. It has also caused 175 houses to collapse, ripped roofs off nearly 6,200 houses, sank 57 fishing ships and boats, damaged roads and bridges, the Vietnam's Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control told Xinhua on Thursday. In the first half of the year, natural disasters in Vietnam killed or left missing 27 people, injured 30 others, damaged 5,900 houses and inundated 11,400 hectares of crops, causing property losses of over 433 billion Vietnamese dong (19.2 million U.S. dollars), said the country's General Statistics Office. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 15:49:54|Editor: ying Video Player Close JALALABAD, Afghanistan, July 20 (Xinhua) -- At least four policemen were killed and two others injured as a roadside bomb planted by militants struck a police van in Khogiani district of Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, spokesman for the provincial government Attaullah Khogiani said. "A mine planted by militants struck a police vehicle in Khogiani district early today, killing four police personnel on the spot and injuring two others," Khogiani told reporters here. Neither Taliban nor the Islamic State group that are active in Nangarhar province has claimed responsibility for the attack. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 16:15:02|Editor: ying Video Player Close JERUSALEM, July 20 (Xinhua) -- An Israeli soldier with 18-month sentence in prison for killing a wounded, incapacitated Palestinian assailant has been placed under house arrest on Thursday. A military court in Tel Aviv convicted Elor Azaria of manslaughter in January, as he shot Abdel Fattah al-Sharif when he was injured and immobilized on the ground in March. The incident took place in the neighborhood of Tel Rumeida in the West Bank city of Hebron, where a few hundreds of settlers live in a heavily guarded enclave between some 200,000 Palestinians. Azaria has appealed the court to reconsider his sentence. Since his military service ends on July 20, he was allowed to travel to his parents' home in Ramla, west of Tel Aviv, and stay there under house arrest until his appeal on July 30. Since the incident, Azaria has been under "open arrest," meaning he was confined to a military base but was allowed to move there freely. The rare conviction against Azaria, a military medic, marked the first time in 12 years that an Israeli court convicted a soldier of this charge. The case stirred a polarized public debate in Israel, with many political leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling that Azaria should be pardoned. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 16:30:13|Editor: ying Video Player Close JERUSALEM, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Israeli security forces on Thursday were discussing removing the metal detectors at contested East Jerusalem shrine amidst spiraling tensions and Muslim calls for mass protest in the city, local media widely reported. According to Channel 2 TV news, the Shin Bet security service supports the removal of the electronic gates, which were installed at the entrance to the courtyard of the al-Aqsa mosque compound. According to the Shin Bet's assessment, the gates are not essential to maintain the security at the site. However, Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan said the gates are necessary for conducting proper security checks. Erdan told Army Radio that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would rule on the matter later on Thursday after he returns from his trip to Hungry. Erdan charged that the new security measures did not change the status quo at the site. The measures sparked tensions around the site, known as the Noble Sanctuary to Muslims and Temple Mount to Jews. Since the electronic gates were installed, dozens of Muslim worshippers have been holding prays outside the compound, protesting the new measures. Daily clashes between Palestinians and the police saw dozens of injuries, according to Palestinian media. The Palestinians, as well as some Arab countries, urged Israel to remove the gates, saying it was a violation of the long-held status quo under which the Muslim Waqf is in charge of running the site. The gates were installed after three Arab citizens of Israel carried out a shooting attack on Friday, killing two Israeli policemen. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 16:35:15|Editor: ying Video Player Close ANKARA, July 20 (Xinhua) -- The UK authority has informed Turkish officials that the flight electronics ban imposed in March will be lifted from Turkey, state-run Anadolu Agency reported Thursday. Earlier this month, the U.S. lifted a three-month-long ban on in-cabin electronic devices, such as laptops and tablet computers, on flights from Turkey. In March, the U.S. banned large electronics in cabins on flights from 10 airports in eight countries - Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Turkey - to address fears that explosives could be concealed in devices. The UK followed the regulation soon, covering six countries in its ban. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 17:00:36|Editor: ying Video Player Close TIKRIT, Iraq, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi forces on Thursday freed the village of Imam Gharbi in Salahudin province from Islamic State (IS) militants, who seized the village about two weeks ago. A joint force from the Iraqi army, Salahudin's provincial police and paramilitary Hashd Shaabi unit launched an operation in the early morning on the village near the town of Shirqat, some 280 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, Lt. Col. Kareem Aboud from Salahudin security forces told Xinhua. The troops, backed by the army's helicopter gunships, freed the village after fierce clashes with IS militants who were holed up in some houses on the village, leaving at least eight militants killed, while the helicopters killed many others when they chased the IS vehicles running away from the scene, Aboud said. The troops started a search campaign in the village looking for possible hiding militants and defused many roadside bombs and booby-trapped buildings, Aboud added. Imam Gharbi village, which located near the border line between the province of Salahudin and the northern province of Nineveh, was seized by IS militants earlier in the month, when dozens of militants came from the desert area on July 6 and took control of it. Since then, sporadic clashes occurred to regain control of the village, which also resulted in the killing of two Iraqi journalists who were covering the battles in the village. The recapture of the village came after Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on July 10 officially declared Mosul liberated from IS after nearly nine months of fierce fighting to dislodge the extremist militants from their last major stronghold in Iraq. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 17:00:36|Editor: ying Video Player Close SEOUL, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Documents have been found in the presidential Blue House of South Korea to favor the transfer of management control to Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong from his ailing father Chairman Lee Kun-hee. Presidential spokesman Park Soo-hyun told a press briefing on Thursday that 504 documents, which were compiled under the impeached President Park Geun-hye, were discovered from one of the offices of the Blue House. The 504 documents, which were written from March 2014 to October 2016, included those about whether and how the Park government would intervene in the merger of two affiliates of Samsung Group, the country's largest family-controlled conglomerate. Secret documents, compiled under the previous administration, were first found on July 14, after which hundreds of additional documents were discovered from multiple offices of the Blue House. Documents about the Samsung merger were forecast to influence the ongoing trial on the Samsung heir, who has been in custody over bribery charge involving the impeached president and her longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil. A presidential official, who declined to be identified, told Xinhua that the Samsung documents were about granting favors to Samsung's father-to-son management succession. Vice Chairman Lee was charged with donating tens of millions of U.S. dollars to two non-profit foundations controlled by Choi, who was at the center of the corruption scandal embroiling former President Park. Samsung also provided financial assistance for an equestrian training of Choi's daughter, while offering millions of euros to a German company owned by Choi. The donation was suspected of being made in return for getting support in the merger of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries in July 2015, which was extremely important to the younger Lee to inherit management control from his father Chairman Lee Kun-hee who has been hospitalized for over three years. Ousted President Park was suspected of ordering the former health and welfare minister to pressure the National Pension Service (NPS) into voting for the Samsung merger. The NPS was then the biggest shareholder of Samsung C&T, a construction and trade unit which in effect became the holding company of Samsung Group after the merger. The impeached leader and the Samsung heir met face-to-face around the time of the merger. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 18:01:15|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao Video Player Close ADDIS ABABA, July 20 (Xinhua) -- The African Union (AU) has noted that inadequate force enablers and multipliers, as well as financial resource gaps are among the major challenging situations facing Africa in its efforts to ensure peace and stability on the continent. Speaking to the UN Security Council, Smail Chergui, AU Commissioner for Peace and Security, noted that conflict prevention remains the most cost effective conflict management tools but yet the least resourced, according to an AU statement late Wednesday. Stating that AU is an indispensable partner in promoting peace and security in Africa, Chergui has called for more strengthened cooperation with the UN and the international community on peace and security on the continent. Over the last decade, AU has authorized the deployment of more than 100,000 uniformed and civilian personnel, many of whom are deployed in some of the most high risk and volatile environment, according to the Commissioner. "This has come at a huge cost to human lives. It is noteworthy to mention here that the number of casualties by African troops in peace support operations in the last decade exceeds the combined casualties experienced in UN peacekeeping missions over the last 70 years," he said. "This is a compelling reality to demonstrate the commitment of Africans and the African Union to durable peace and stability on the continent," noted the Commissioner. "Despite these sacrifices and commitment, African troops are faced with some of the most challenging situations due to inadequate force enablers and multipliers, as well as financial resource gaps," he said. Last week, the AU Peace and Security Council declared that the AU mission in Somalia (AMISOM) had successfully achieved its mandate over the last decade on the basis of a recently concluded study by the AU Commission. Yet, the Commissioner said AMISOM remains the least resourced mission in comparison with other deployed regional or international enforcement missions with similar mandates. He has commended China for its support to Africa's peace and security, especially the support to the Africa Standby Force (ASF), and AMISOM. "I am delighted to make this presentation to the Security Council under the Chinese Presidency whose contribution to peace and security in Africa has been invaluable. Let me recall the donation of 100 million U.S. dollars support provided for the enhancement of the ASF and its regular contribution to AMISOM for the last years, to name few," said the Commissioner. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 18:11:21|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao Video Player Close CAPE TOWN, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Police Minister Fikile Mbalula on Thursday assured South Africans that death threats resulting from political disagreements will be treated "very seriously". "I assure South Africans that no matter your race, creed, religion or social strata, where there exists a real threat to life, SAPS (South African Police Service) will treat the matter very seriously," Fikile Mbalula said. He was responding to alleged death threats against Makhosi Khoza, an MP of the ruling African National Congress (ANC). Khoza, Chairperson of Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration, claimed that she had repeatedly received death threats after she openly said she would defy an order from the ANC to vote with the opposition in a no-confidence motion against President Jacob Zuma through secret ballot. The vote on the motion is scheduled for August 8. Parliament Speaker Baleka Mbete has yet to decide whether the vote will be carried in secrecy. Given the fact that the scourge of politically motivated assassinations and violence do exist in South Africa, threats against Khoza "are therefore serious", Mbalula said. The minister pledged that police will provide close protection to Khoza. "No political disagreements enter the space of SAPS operations," Mbalula said, adding that Khoza likewise is being treated that way, with an added burden on the police mandate to protect the institutions of democracy and free political will. "This democracy could evaporate in seconds if elected political leaders are constantly harassed, threatened or killed. "Our mandate in this regard is therefore to be seen in two; that is the protection of all persons and the protection of our democracy itself," Mbalula said. Political disagreements must never lead to harm and loss of life or injury, he stressed. Referring to Khoza's open support for the motion of no confidence against Zuma through secret ballot, Mbalula said any ANC member who openly decides to defy party instructions or constitution or rules, such a person destroys his or her party career. The ANC has warned that any ANC MPs who vote with the opposition in support of the anti-Zuma motion will be disciplined. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 18:11:22|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao Video Player Close The first China-U.S. Comprehensive Economic Dialogue is held in Washington July 19, 2017. Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang on Wednesday called for cooperation between China and the U.S. instead of confrontation to address their differences. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) WASHINGTON, July 19 (Xinhua) -- China and the United States discussed a one-year action plan of economic cooperation during the first China-U.S. Comprehensive Economic Dialogue (CED) on Wednesday. The dialogue "charted the course for China-U.S. economic cooperation," said a statement from the Chinese delegate who participated in the one-day talks on Wednesday. According to the statement, the two countries agreed to cooperate in areas such as macro economy, finance, trade, investment and global economic governance in the one-year action plan. They also agreed to work constructively together to address the trade imbalance between the two countries. Both sides will further expand cooperation in the service and manufacturing sectors, as well as increase trade in services and high-tech products. In terms of investment, the two countries will expand mutual investment and create a more open, equitable, transparent and convenient investment environment. Both sides will also strengthen macro-economic policy communication and coordination, and deepen practical cooperation in financial regulation and financial market development. With regard to international cooperation, China and the United States will enhance cooperation in the Group of 20 and on other global economic governance platforms, advance the reform of the international economic and financial systems, and promote the strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive development of the world economy. "China and the United States are each other's largest trading partner and major source of investment. Cooperation is the only right choice for the two sides," Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang said in his opening remarks at the CED on Wednesday. China-U.S. cooperation will benefit not only the companies and people of the two countries, but also the whole world, said Wang. The United States also acknowledged the importance of the bilateral economic relationship. "As the world's two largest economies and the major drivers of global growth, the United States and China have strong overlapping interests," said U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in his opening remarks at the CED. The two countries need to work together to maximize the benefits for both sides and develop a fair and balanced economic relationship between the two countries, said Mnuchin. Both China and the United States agreed that the dialogue has served the purpose of deepening mutual understanding, building mutual trust and expanding consensus, and laid a solid foundation for long-term and stable cooperation between the two countries, said the statement. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 18:16:28|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close Chinese Vice Minister of Finance Zhu Guangyao speaks at a press briefing after the conclusion of the first China-U.S. Comprehensive Economic Dialogue (CED) in Washington D.C., the United States, July 19, 2017. (Xinhua/Jin Minmin) WASHINGTON, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Both China and the United States recognized that steel overcapacity is a global issue that requires a global solution, a senior Chinese official said here Wednesday. At a press briefing after the conclusion of the first China-U.S. Comprehensive Economic Dialogue (CED) in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, Chinese Vice Minister of Finance Zhu Guangyao said the two sides discussed the issue of steel overcapacity during the one-day high-level economic dialogue. China shared the same view with the United States that steel overcapacity is a global issue, which requires a global collective response, Zhu said, adding China also emphasized that the excess steel capacity was a result of sluggish global economic recovery. Meanwhile, the Chinese delegation told the U.S. side that China had actively taken measures to cut steel overcapacity, Zhu said, citing China's plans to reduce steel capacity by 100 million to 150 million tons from 2016 to 2020. As the world's two largest economies and co-chairs of the global forum on steel excess capacity, China and the United States have maintained policy dialogue and communication regarding the steel glut, Zhu said, noting G20 leaders agreed to establish the forum at last year's Hangzhou summit. At the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany earlier this month, G20 leaders called on the forum to fulfill their commitments on enhancing information sharing and cooperation by August, and to rapidly develop concrete policy solutions that reduce steel excess capacity, the official said. The G20's new commitment to address global steel overcapacity comes as the Trump administration is about to release a report on the national security implications of steel imports in the coming weeks. In defense of the U.S. steel industry, the Trump administration in April invoked a decades-old, rarely used trade tool, known as a Section 232 investigation under the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, to look into all foreign steel imports. If the investigation concludes that steel imports would undermine U.S. national security, the trade law would allow the U.S. government to impose tariffs, quotas, or other measures to restrict the imports. Many trade experts and economists have warned that it would hurt millions of U.S. consumers and thousands of U.S. manufacturers if the Trump administration imposes new restrictions on steel imports. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 18:16:30|Editor: ying Video Player Close JUBA, July 20 (Xinhua) -- The UN humanitarian agency on Thursday condemned threats against aid workers in South Sudan which it said may jeopardize humanitarian operations in the country. Acting Humanitarian Coordinator for South Sudan, Mahimbo Mdoe, condemned recent threat letters issued against aid workers in at least three locations in South Sudan: Bor in Jonglei, Torit in Eastern Equatoria and Mankien in Unity. "It is absolutely unacceptable that aid workers, who place themselves at risk each day to help others, are being subjected to discrimination, threats and violence," Mdoe said in a statement issued in Juba. He said aid workers are working tirelessly across South Sudan with the sole aim of saving lives and alleviating the suffering of civilians caught-up in conflict and desperate circumstances. Mdoe called on all authorities to ensure the safety and security of humanitarians in the areas they control across the country and to work to prevent future threats against them. "I am grateful for the steps already taken by authorities in Bor, Torit and Mankien to address the recent threats against aid workers in these areas," said Mdoe. He said humanitarians must be able to reach people in need throughout South Sudan, regardless of their place of origin, ethnicity, tribe or any other characteristic. "I call on all those with influence to reiterate their respect for aid workers, and to take swift action to prevent threats such as these arising in the future," he said. South Sudan has been embroiled in more than three years of conflict that has taken a devastating toll on the people. According to the UN, South Sudan has become a hostile environment for aid workers to operate. In March, gunmen killed six aid workers on a road linking the capital Juba to the eastern state of Boma. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 18:21:33|Editor: ying Video Player Close MADRID, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Spanish Maritime Rescue services rescued 60 immigrants from northern Africa off the Spanish coast on Wednesday. These immigrants were from Africa's Maghreb region, among whom 28 were minors, including a "two to three" year-old child, Spanish authorities confirmed. The inflatable dinghy carrying the immigrants was discovered a mile off the "Mangueta" beach in the Spanish town of Barbate. The immigrants were then taken to the nearby port where they were received by members of the Red Cross and the Spanish National Police. Wednesday saw the rescue of a second dinghy containing a further two men from the Maghreb region. This dinghy was discovered five miles south of Tarifa, which is also in the southwest corner of Spain. The rescue came a day after Spanish Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido confirmed that 10,751 undocumented immigrants were able to enter Spain by either land or sea during the first half of 2017. Among them, 2,189 attempted to cross the Straits of Gibraltar which separates Spain from Africa. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 18:36:49|Editor: ying Video Player Close BEIJING, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Yao Gang, vice chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, has been expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) and dismissed from public office for various wrongdoings, including graft, it was announced Thursday. Yao, 55, abused his power to seek benefits for others and accepted "a huge amount" of bribes, according to a statement from the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI). Investigators allege that Yao took advantage of his post to help others or companies in order to raise his standing in the eyes of influential political figures; obstructed investigations; and failed to report his personal information in accordance with rules, according to the CCDI. Yao, a senior Party official, has "sabotaged the order of the capital market and the political ecology of securities supervision," it said. Yao's illegal gains will be confiscated and his case will be handed over to prosecutors. The CCDI announced an investigation into Yao in November 2015. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 18:41:53|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao Video Player Close Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress, meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, July 20, 2017. (Xinhua/Li Tao) BEIJING, July 20 (Xinhua) -- China's top legislator Zhang Dejiang met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas here on Thursday, pledging to strengthen bilateral relations. China supports the Palestinian people'a pursuit of legitimate national rights and appreciates Palestine's support on issues of China's major interests, Zhang said. China will work with Palestine to implement the consensus reached between the two heads of state and advance bilateral friendly cooperation, Zhang said. China's National People's Congress (NPC) will have more exchanges with the Palestine side to enhance the mutual understanding and friendship of the people, said Zhang, chairman of the Standing Committee of the NPC. Abbas thanked China's support to Palestine, saying Palestine will increase the friendly exchanges and cooperation with China. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 18:46:55|Editor: ying Video Player Close NAIROBI, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan police said Thursday they are questioning a university student wanted over a series of terror incidents in the country. Salad Tarif Gufu surrendered to police in Nairobi maintaining he is not a terrorist as claimed by police who on Wednesday circulated his name and photographs urging the public to give information that may lead to his arrest and four others. "As a citizen and a student, am being suspected for a crime that I am not even capable of. My friends know me and attest to my innocence. I therefore encourage you all to spread this message of truth: Salad wasn't, isn't and won't be a terrorist," he said in his Facebook. The suspect was later handed over to the anti-terror police unit who took him in for questioning. Salad denied police claims he is a terrorist and had planned attacks in parts of Lamu County. Police and intelligence officials said the terrorists are trooping to Lakta belt near Boni Forest in Lamu with an aim of attacking locals. "I am not involved in any terror activities and I am not armed like the police are saying. I am a student at the Moi University and I just completed my attachment waiting to resume my studies in September after the elections," Salad said. The police report released on Wednesday says Gufu had opened a studio at the Marsabit town market secretly selling VCDs and DVDs of radical sheikhs who propagate jihad. "He is also affiliated to Mohammed Abdi Ali aka Abu Fidaa, an online Islamic State recruiter. Abu Fidaa was arrested before he could launch an Anthrax attack in Kenya in 2016,"the police said. The police said terrorists who are fleeing increased attacks in Somalia have reportedly dispatched five militants to lead the planned attacks and police believe some of their relatives are involved in helping them sneak and hide in the country. Security agencies said Kenyan relatives could be trying to aid the return of their brothers fighting alongside Al-Shabaab in Somalia so that they can join the war in Boni forest. The authorities want the public to help them in tracing the whereabouts of the wanted men with a bounty of Sh2 million on each of them. Those wanted include Abdikadir Mohamed aka Ikrima, Mohammed Tajir Ali, Suleiman Irungu Mwangi as well as brothers Salad Tari Gufu and Gufu Tari Gufu. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 19:22:32|Editor: ying Video Player Close JAKARTA, July 20 (Xinhua) -- In a bid to expand its connectivity and arrivals of foreign visitors, Indonesia provided airport incentives for airlines willing to open new scheduled routes to Indonesia with initial implementation in Bali's international airport. The incentives were manifested in discount schemes, provided by Indonesian airport operator agency of Angkasa Pura I on landing fee, use of airport facilities by airlines opening their new routes to Bali international airport of I Gusti Ngurah Rai. The discount schemes were given in six months since the initial arrivals of planes operated by the airlines in their new routes to Bali. Indonesian Tourism Minister Arief Yahya praised the airport incentive initiative, saying that widening air connectivity holds essential factor to boost arrivals of foreign visitors as air transport serves up to 80 percent of foreign visitor arrivals in Indonesia. "This is excellent, the initiative is in line with President Joko Widodo's expectation to widely open the access for tourism," the minister said on Thursday. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 19:27:36|Editor: ying Video Player Close RIYADH, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Arabia has announced that 83,828 Iranian pilgrims will perform Hajj this season, after Iran boycotted the religious ritual last year. Minister of Hajj, Omra Dr Mohammed Benton, made the announcement when inspecting the headquarters of Hajj contractors of Iranian pilgrims, Okaz local news reported on Thursday. The visit is part of a series of similar visits to other contractors to ensure the best services for foreign pilgrims. In March, Saudi Arabia announced the finalization of the required steps for the participation of Iranian pilgrims in the upcoming Hajj season. Iran boycotted the last Hajj season over rifts between the two countries, mainly the death of Iranian pilgrims in a stampede in Mina area in 2015 Hajj. Saudi Arabia cut ties with Iran early in 2016 and ban citizens from travelling there. The country clarified that cutting relations covered commercial ties, while Iranian pilgrims would always be welcome in Saudi Arabia. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 19:42:49|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao Video Player Close Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao meets with visiting Tunisian Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui in Beijing, capital of China, July 20, 2017. (Xinhua/Wang Ye) BEIJING, July 20 (Xinhua) -- China will strengthen cooperation with Tunisia under the Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao said Thursday. Li made the remarks while meeting with visiting Tunisian Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui. Hailing the two countries' traditional friendship, Li said China and Tunisia supported each other on issues of core interest and major concerns, coordinated in international and regional affairs, and witnessed remarkable achievements in cooperation. Li said Tunisia was welcome to the Belt and Road Initiative, and called on both sides to beef up pragmatic cooperation within other frameworks such as the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation to elevate bilateral ties to a new high. Jhinaoui expressed the Tunisian side's willingness to participate in the Belt and Road development and boost cooperation in various areas. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 20:08:07|Editor: An Yang Yanyi (4th L), ambassador and head of the Chinese Mission to the EU, Qi Huajun (2nd L), defense adviser for the Chinese Mission to the EU, General Mikhail Kostarakos (3rd L), Chairman of the European Union Military Committee, and other guests cut a cake to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army of China at a reception in Brussels, Belgium, on July 19, 2017. General Mikhail Kostarakos, Chairman of the European Union Military Committee, congratulated the 90th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army of China at a reception co-hosted by the Chinese Mission to the EU and Chinese embassy in Belgium. (Xinhua/Han Chong) BRUSSELS, July 20 (Xinhua) -- General Mikhail Kostarakos, Chairman of the European Union Military Committee, congratulated the 90th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army of China at a reception co-hosted by the Chinese Mission to the EU and Chinese embassy in Belgium. The reception on Wednesday evening was attended by more than 600 guests, including Yang Yanyi, ambassador and head of the Chinese Mission to the EU, Prince Laurent of Belgium, Petr Pavel, chairman of the NATO Military Committee, Rear Admiral Robberecht, the Belgian naval component commander, and other senior diplomats and military attaches. "During their 90 years of history, People's Liberation Army have achieved very much for the Chinese people," Kostarakos said in his speech delivered at the reception. "People's Liberation Army contribution is not limited only to Chinese people. It is ... an instrument that often used to make world a better place," he added. Highlighting China's contribution to world peace and stability, Kostarakos hailed that "China is a very active global actor in security building." "As the number one troop contributor to United Nations missions among the five permanent Security Council members, China tangibly demonstrates its support to the international rules-based system. At the same time, it demonstrates China's commitment to contributing to global stability," Kostarakos said. "The initiative announced by President Xi Jinping in September 2015 to create a standby force of 8,000 peacekeepers only underlines this noble and responsible position," Kostarakos added. On China-EU military cooperation, he said "Chinese and European Union troops work in parallel in Mali and in the Horn of Africa, assisting local authorities in building up their own capacities." "China enjoys the highest appreciation in their missions because of your troops' performance and contribution. I strongly believe that there is so much to achieve if we identify ways to work together," he said. "Together, the military of the EU and People's Liberation Army, we can build one more bridge that will bring our nations together. The respect of one soldier towards another provides fertile ground for these efforts to flourish," Kostarakos concluded. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 20:18:16|Editor: ying Video Player Close PHNOM PENH, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia and Vietnam on Thursday signed five cooperation documents, aiming at enhancing their bilateral ties and cooperation, according to an announcement at the signing ceremony here. The deals were inked by government officials of the two countries at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh under the presence of Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen and visiting General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong. The documents included a joint statement on strengthening friendship and cooperation, a framework agreement on economic connectivity, a protocol on disaster rescue activity along the border, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the development of a power plant, and a MoU on human resources development in telecommunications sector. Prior to the signing ceremony, Hun Sen held a 90-minute talk with Nguyen Phu Trong, and both sides vowed to further enhance bilateral ties and cooperation for mutual benefits, Eang Sophalleth, an assistant to Hun Sen, told reporters after the meeting. "Both sides agreed to boost the bilateral trade volume to 5 billion U.S. dollars by 2025," he said. The trade volume between the two neighboring countries was valued at 2.92 billion U.S. dollars in 2016. According to the assistant, during the meeting, Nguyen Phu Trong told Hun Sen that Vietnam decided to give 25 million U.S. dollars in grant aid to Cambodia for the construction of a building for the General Secretariat of the National Assembly. Nguyen Phu Trong arrived in Phnom Penh on Thursday morning for a three-day state visit at the invitation of Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 20:18:18|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao Video Player Close CHENGDU, July 20 (Xinhua) -- A giant panda named Nini gave birth to twins Thursday morning, bringing the total number of new arrivals this year at Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Center in Sichuan Province to eight. Nini's pregnancy was confirmed late June and she gave birth to two cubs in the early hours of Thursday. The male cub, weighing 203 grams, was born at 5:48 a.m.; his sister, weighing 91 grams, arrived about an hour later at 6:33 a.m. Both of the cubs and their mother are in a healthy condition. This was Nini's second delivery after giving birth to twins in August, 2015. Born in August 2008, the same month Beijing held the Olympic Games, Nini and her twin brother Yingying got their names from the Olympic slogan "Beijing huan ying ni," which means "Beijing welcomes you." Nini's family is known as the "Olympic family". Her grandfather Cobi was born on the same day as the opening ceremony of the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, and was named after the mascot, a Catalan sheepdog, by Juan Antonio Samaranch, former president of the International Olympic Committee. Pandas are an endangered species due to extremely low reproductive rates in the wild. In recent years, giant pandas have often given birth to twins in captivity, due to a change in artificial breeding methods, according to Wu Kongju from the center. "We used to rely entirely on the giant pandas being in heat to arrange mating, but during the past decade, we began observing their hormonal changes to take advantage of the best mating opportunities," Wu said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 20:18:19|Editor: ying Video Player Close JAKARTA, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian counter-terrorism agency has disclosed that Indonesian children, who followed their parents joining terrorist activities in conflict areas, have been trained on skills for terrorist strikes during the period, top official of the agency said here on Thursday. Head of the agency Suhardi Alius disclosed that many militants from Indonesia have included their wives and kids in the journey, and the agency pledged to terminate such activities of planting seeds of terrorism to the children. "These children have been trained (on terrorist skills), they were trained on how to shoot, how to use an arrow. Then they return to Indonesia, isn't this dangerous?" Alius said. "When the parents finished joining a war there, the children will also be back home to Indonesia with such mind set (terrorism). That is our task to stop this," he stressed. Indonesian security authorities have been monitoring dozens of the citizens back home from joining Islamic States (IS) activities in Syria. In recent months, Indonesia has witnessed a spate of suicide attacks linked with the IS group. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 20:23:24|Editor: ying Video Player Close ISLAMABAD, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani forces have killed 13 terrorists and destroyed many of their hideouts during a major operation currently underway in a difficult mountainous terrain, the military said on Thursday. Operation "Khyber-4" was launched on July 16 in Rajgal, a valley in Khyber tribal area, bordering Afghanistan where the militant groups still have some hideouts. Operation 'Khyber-4' is progressing as planned. Advancing from multiple directions, troops including special services group have cleared 90-square-km area and now are squeezing the terrorists, the army spokesman said in a statement. He said that terrorists had laid number of improvised explosive devices, which have been detected, recovered and neutralized by Pakistan Army Engineers Counter IED teams. Many terrorist hideouts have been destroyed in targeted strikes by Pakistan Air Force, Army Aviation and Artillery, the spokesman said. "So far 13 terrorists have been killed and six injured. During exchange of fire a soldier Abdul Jabbar has laid his life for the motherland," he said. The military spokesman had stated the operation was launched to "break the contacts between Afghanistan-based Daesh with Pakistani militants and to stop the Daesh militants from entering Pakistani areas from Afghanistan." Pakistani forces launched the operation a day after the U.S. defense department Pentagon said that the U.S. forces killed the Daesh regional leader Abu Sayed in a recent airstrike in Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province. Abu Sayed was the third Daesh leader for Khorasan region who has been killed in Afghanistan in one year. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 20:33:42|Editor: ying Video Player Close CAIRO, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Egypt sent a cargo of medical aid including medicines and other medical supplies to neighboring conflict-stricken Libya, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday. "The cargo is to be distributed on hospitals and medical centers in different Libyan areas in order to support the medical services provided to the Libyan people," said the Egyptian ministry. In coordination with the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, the medical aid was delivered by Egypt's Health Ministry and Red Crescent to the Libyan Red Crescent on Wednesday. Six years after the 2011 uprising ended the 42-year rule of Muammar Gaddafi as well as his life, Libya is currently engaged in a civil war and run by two rival administrations, one in Tobruk and another in Tripoli. Hosting several meetings between Libyan rival factions, Egypt is keen on reaching a political settlement to restore security and stability to the war-torn neighboring country whose chaotic conditions pose a threat to the Egyptian western borders with eastern Libya. Egypt's Western Desert witnessed a terrorist attack that killed at least 21 soldiers in July 2014. Later in February 2015, IS militants released a video showing the beheading of 20 Egyptians near the Libyan chaotic city of Sirte. Since May, the Egyptian air forces destroyed at least 42 vehicles loaded with weapons, ammunition and explosives before infiltrating into Egypt via its western borders with Libya. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 20:33:44|Editor: ZD Chinese Premier Li Keqiang meets with New Zealand's former Prime Minister John Key in Beijing, capital of China, July 20, 2017. (Xinhua/Zhang Duo) BEIJING, July 20 (Xinhua) -- China will take measures to expand its opening up and offer a fair and convenient environment for both Chinese and foreign businesses, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said Thursday. Li made the remarks while meeting with New Zealand's former Prime Minister John Key. China on Monday reported a faster-than-expected 6.9 percent growth in the first half of the year. Li said China's economic structure had been optimized, and the service industry and consumption made prominent contributions to the country's economic growth. "China will open its door even wider to the world, and welcomes more foreign companies to invest in the country," Li said. He vowed to provide a fair, equal and convenient business environment for Chinese and foreign enterprises. Regarding China-New Zealand relations, Li said China hoped to work with New Zealand to maintain sound momentum for bilateral ties and cooperation, and to inject new vitality to the stability and development of both countries and the Asia-Pacific region. John Key recalled Li's visit to New Zealand in March this year, which facilitated new progress in bilateral relations and cooperation. Calling the two countries good friends and partners, he said New Zealand was committed to boosting friendship and cooperation with China, and confident for greater achievements of ties. Photo taken on Feb. 19, 2015 shows the newly commissioned Nigeria navy warships Okpaban, Centenary, Sagbama and Prosperity at the Naval Dockyard in Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria. (Xinhua/Eniola Oba) LAGOS, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Nigeria has deployed warships and troops in a massive operation to end pirates' attacks on local and international merchant ships in the Gulf of Guinea, the Nigerian navy said Wednesday. The operation sought to contain high spate of attacks by thieves on critical oil and gas installations and other criminality prevalent in the nation's territorial waters, the country's Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Adm. Iboke-Ete Ibas, said. He spoke at the launch of the special operation, code-named "Tsare Teku V", in Onne, Rivers State. The operation was a continuation of an earlier operation launched in the first quarter of 2016 to protect offshore oil and gas facilities and economic activities, he added. According to him, the operation has yielded positive results with significant improvement in the safety of shipping and offshore oil and gas facilities. "It is gratifying to note that between January and June 2017, there were only four successful attacks on shipping within Nigeria's waters as against 36 between January and June 2016," he said. "This improvement in security situation within Nigeria's offshore maritime domain is attributable to the intensive patrols and efforts of Operation Tsare Teku," the navy chief added. Ibas said the International Maritime Bureau in its first quarter 2017 report on piracy and armed robbery in the Gulf of Guinea attributed current decline to the efforts of the Nigerian navy. The navy chief added that the report observed that the area remained a kidnap hot spot for criminals, especially hijackers. "This report re-emphasizes the need for sustenance of the operation, and as such, made it imperative to extend the operation by another six months," he said. "The Nigerian Navy remains absolutely committed to creating a secure and enabling maritime environment for economic activities to thrive toward national growth," Ibas added. The Gulf of Guinea, which is believed to hold as much as 10 percent of the world's oil reserves, has been plagued by pirates, smugglers and other criminals. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 20:43:49|Editor: ying Video Player Close MOGADISHU, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan soldiers who are part of the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia (AMISOM) killed a senior Al-Shabaab commander and two of his bodyguards during a raid on his hideout in southern Somalia Wednesday evening, officials confirmed on Thursday. Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) said Hassan Isaack Ibrahim alas Beila was killed in a joint security operation with Jubbaland Security Force (JSS) in Gelef town. "The body of the Al-Shabaab commander killed was displaced in Dhobley town today. The troops recovered AK 47, one grenade and his personal phone," a KDF official said. Ibrahim was in charge of Gelef town and its environs. He is from Darasime sub clan of the larger Darood clan in Somalia. The slain Al-Shabaab commander was responsible for most of the hijackings of miraa (khat) ferrying landcruisers along the Kenya-Somalia border. The KDF official said Ibrahim was behind attacks of police posts along the common frontier especially in Diff, Hamey and general area of Dhobley. The killing came hours after three Al-Shabaab terrorists were arrested in the Jubabland State during an operation conducted in Dhobley town. Haybe Ahmed Abdullahi, Jubbaland State forces Commander for Dhobley town said the insurgents were planning to carry out explosive attacks in the town. Abdullahi said that African Union forces' Kenya Defence Force (KDF) helped them to defuse explosive elements in which they seized from Al-Shabaab fighters. Dhobley town is located at the Somali border with Kenya and is one of the towns which have enjoyed relative peace in southern Somalia. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 20:54:00|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao Video Player Close BEIJING, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese prosecutors have filed a lawsuit against Huang Xingguo, former mayor of Tianjin Municipality, for suspected bribery, the Supreme People's Procuratorate said Thursday. Huang, who was also formerly acting secretary of the Tianjin Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, is accused of taking advantage of his various posts in eastern China's Zhejiang Province and Tianjin Municipality to offer assistance to entities and individuals in land-related projects and promotions. In return, he accepted bribes worth a large amount of money, according to prosecutors in northern China's Hebei Province. The lawsuit was filed by Shijiazhuang People's Procuratorate to Shijiazhuang Intermediate People's Court, both being located in Shijiazhuang, capital city of Hebei Province. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 21:04:13|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao Video Player Close HOHHOT, July 20 (Xinhua) -- It was in the middle of the afternoon, but the herdsmen had put off their work and gathered for the arrival of the Ulan Muqir. Ulan Muqir (Red Bud Troupe) is the Mongolian name for a traveling troupe that travels from one grazing site to another, performing for the herdsmen who live in some of China's most remote areas. Since it was formed in 1957 in Inner Mongolia, generations of performers have played for the herdsmen and taken root in the prairie. This time Ulan Muqir was set to perform in Xar Moron township, Chifeng city in northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. "I am so excited that they have finally come. Ulan Muqir's performances are my favorite," said Tumendelger, one of the herdsmen. Yilan, 83, a first-generation Ulan Muqir performer, still remembers when the first Ulan Muqir troupe formed. "It was June 17, 1957. We gave our first performance in Sunite Right Banner in Xilingol League. So many herdsmen came to watch our performance. The blue sky was our curtain and the grassland our stage," she said. "The herdsmen were so happy and they sang and danced with us and didn't want to leave." According to Yilan, as herdsmen lived in prairies far from the city, they did not have books, newspapers or radios, or access to folk art. "But they had the need, and that was why we formed the first Ulan Muqir troupe," she said. "At that time, we only had a gramophone, two gas lamps, several musical instruments and a few costumes." Yilan said that nine members in the troupe traveled over 3,000 kilometers in the next two months, bringing over 30 performances to herdsmen living deep in the prairies. The troupe rode horses in summer and camels in winter. "The road could often be very bumpy," she said. "Despite the difficulties, we all felt very happy as the herdsmen and us were like a family. They treated us just like their children, with hospitality and the best food they had." Not only did Ulan Muqir perform for the herdsmen, but they also helped them with shepherding, sheep-shearing and mowing. The Ulan Muqir would bring a newspaper in Mongolian and read news to the herdsmen to help them keep informed about the country. "Apart from newspapers and books, we then brought things they needed such as medicine. We also did hair-dressing or fixed clocks for them," said Jia Fengying, 49, who joined Sunite Right Banner Ulan Muqir troupe in 1983. Sarinhua, 54, is a big fan of Ulan Muqir. "I take my children to watch Ulan Muqir's performances every time they come to our village," she said. "We now have radio and television, but we still prefer their performances because we can see our life in their songs and dances." According to Mongh, head of the Sunite Right Banner Ulan Muqir troupe, all the works of Ulan Muqir are rooted in herdsman life. "Ulan Muqir takes root in herdsman life and serves the herdsmen. This is essential to Ulan Muqir," he said. Unin, 32, a dancer in the troupe, explained how they choreographed the milk dance. "We went to the prairie and observed how herdsmen milked [their animals]. Every gesture must be real to reflect the herdsmen's life," she said. Inspired by her grandmother, who was also a Ulan Muqir performer, Unin joined Ulan Muqir about ten years ago. Thanks to transport improvements, the troupe now has vehicles, but things are not as easy as they seem. "Once, the shuttle broke down halfway on a snowy day. It was freezing cold," she said. "But no one complained. We carried our musical instruments on our shoulders and walked and sang happily all our way. Every Ulan Muqir performer is able to bear hardship." Aside from performing she also has a deep understanding of the spiritual significance of what they are doing. "Ulan Muqir performers are devoted and always have an attachment to the herdsmen and the prairie. It is a spirit that has been passed down from my grandma's generation to my generation," she said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 21:19:31|Editor: ying Video Player Close DUBAI, July 20 (Xinhua) -- An Airbus A380 flight of Emirates Airline nearly collided in mid-air with an Air Seychelles passenger jet when the Dubai-based carrier was about to land in Mauritius, local media reported on Thursday. The near-collision is reportedly due to the Emirates crew members' incorrect report of the plane altitude, when the Emirates A380-800 descended to land Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport in Mauritius, according to Dubai daily Gulf News. UAE daily The National reported the double-decker aircraft with hundreds of passengers aboard, almost crashed into the Air Seychelles Airbus A320-200 plane, which just took off from the same airport. The Air Seychelles flight veered "sharply to the right" after it ran directly into the path of the Emirates A380, the world's biggest passenger jet. No passenger was injured on the Emirates flight, said the report, adding that further investigation about the incident was underway. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 21:44:49|Editor: ying Video Player Close JUBA, July 20 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan ceasefire monitor on Thursday urged the SPLA-in opposition (SPLA-IO) rebels and other armed groups to end ambushes and attacks on civilians amid ongoing ceasefire violations by both the warring parties. The head of the Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring Mechanism (CTSAMM) Maj.Gen Molla Hailemariam told leaders and diplomats in Juba that the warring parties need to do much more to end continuous ceasefire violations and allow access for CTSAMM teams. "CTSAMM urges the parties to respect the ceasefire as continued hostilities will not bring about an end to the conflict. CTSAMM also urges the SPLA-IO faction and other armed groups to stop ambushes and attacks on civilians and respect the ceasefire," he said. There have been hundreds of brutal civilian killings by armed groups along major roads like Juba-Nimule, Bor and Yei roads since the renewed July violence last year which the government blames on rebels. Hailemariam revealed they have prioritized visiting areas of concern including Yei, Boma, Fashoda,Raja, Mundri and the rebel stronghold of Pagak where the UN reported last week fighting between government troops (SPLA) and rebels forcing over 5,000 people to flee as refugees in neighboring Ethiopia. "The security situation in the country, despite some cessation of hostilities, continues to witness conflict, fighting is evident in the areas of Pagak and some of the Equatorias. As the humanitarian crisis continues to worsen, the ceasefire continues to be violated by all opposition factions and the government," he said. Hailemariam added that plans were underway for the ceasefire team to reach out to the warring parties and other armed groups in order to facilitate monitoring and verification activities and also collaborate with the regional protection force to monitor the implementation of the transitional security arrangements. "CTSAMM plans to deploy additional monitoring and verification teams to new sites in Mundri, Kapoeta, Raja and Yei in coordination with UNMISS and Joint Military Ceasefire Commission (JMCC)," he disclosed. But, he also decried obstruction of ceasefire monitors by local authorities and field commanders, hence slowing their mission. "In previous JMEC meetings we reported that the process for gaining access to the government is time consuming for us and we are again appealing to the transitional unity government to overcome this and allow CTSAMM to conduct its missions fully," Hailemariam said. He added that they have completed investigation into seven alleged violations of the common ceasefire and transitional security arrangements, which will be submitted to the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) for further action. Hailemariam said that they are aware of the need to revitalize the peace process, and are now focused on how to streamline CTSAMM activities in line with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) peace deal revitalization process. In addition, he said CTSAMM supported by helicopter carried out 42 patrols and held over 115 meetings with local stakeholders since April, and added they will continue to engage other stakeholders such as civil society, authorities of SPLA leadership to cooperate and coordinate on mission activities. South Sudan descended into violence in December 2013 after political dispute between President Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar led to fighting that pitted mostly Dinka ethnic soldiers loyal to Kiir against Machar's Nuer ethnic group. The 2015 peace agreement to end the violence was again violated in July 2016 when the rival factions resumed fighting in the capital forcing Machar to flee into exile. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions that have sought refuge in neighbouring countries. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 22:20:14|Editor: ying Video Player Close MOSUL, Iraq, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi F-16 jet fighters carried out on Thursday airstrikes on suspected Islamic State (IS) posts in and near the IS-held town of Tal Afar in west of the newly-freed city of Mosul, the Iraqi military said. Based on intelligence reports, the jets bombarded a huge weapons and ammunition warehouse in al-Askari neighborhood, which is one of the main IS redoubts in the town of Tal Afar, some 70 km west of Mosul, destroying a large quantities of weapons and ammunition, the media office of the Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a statement. The jets also bombarded two IS headquarters in the town of al-Aydhiyah, some 10 km northwest of Tal Afar, destroying the two posts and killing at least six IS militants, the statement said. The air strikes came after Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on July 10 officially declared Mosul liberated from IS after nearly nine months of fierce fighting to dislodge the extremist militants from their last major stronghold in Iraq. Earlier in the month, Iraqi military officials, including Abdul Amir Yarallah from the Joint Operations Command, said after the liberation of Mosul the troops will advance westward to free Tal Afar, the last IS redoubt in Nineveh province. Tal-Afar is home to majority of both Sunni and Shiite Turkomans, in addition to other minorities of Kurds and Arabs. The town fell to IS in 2014. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 22:55:36|Editor: yan Video Player Close TIRANA, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Large surfaces with pine trees and bushes have been burned down due to massive fires that have swept several forests in Albania in recent days to the heat wave, latest data released by the National Civil Emergencies (NCE) showed Thursday. "Some 11 new fires were registered during the last 24 hours as a consequence of the heat wave that has engulfed Albania," a spokesperson of NCE told media. Meanwhile, some 87 firefighters supported by five firefighting vehicles, 40 volunteers and 30 forest police forces are battling the flames and aiming to prevent the situation from further deterioration. According to the firefighters, the fires are difficult to control as they are in remote zones, where vehicles cannot go, and because of the strong winds, which further spread the fires. Earlier, sources from the Albanian government said they had sought assistance from neighboring countries and NATO to cope with the fires. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 22:55:39|Editor: yan Video Player Close BEIJING, July 20 (Xinhua) -- A total of 85 suspects stood trial in Beijing from Tuesday to Thursday, in a cross-border telecom fraud case. More than 70 suspects, including 44 Taiwan residents, were arrested in Kenya and extradited to China in April 2016, according to Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court. The suspects pleaded guilty to cheating 185 victims on the Chinese mainland out of more than 29 million yuan (4.3 million U.S. dollars), the court said. Thirty-five suspects were accused of carrying out fraud in Indonesia from June to November 2014 and the other 50 in Kenya from June 2015 to April 2016. The suspects claimed to work for police, procuratorates or express delivery firms and called Chinese citizens, telling them their personal information had been stolen and they should pay money to protect their assets and prove they had not committed any crimes. The court will announce the verdicts at a later date. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 23:00:42|Editor: yan Video Player Close BEIJING, July 20 (Xinhua) -- China will ban imports of 24 types of solid waste by the end of 2017 in a fresh move to reduce environmental pollution, an official said Thursday. China has notified the World Trade Organization of the ban, which covers waste plastics, unsorted scrap paper, discarded textiles, vanadium slag and other kinds of waste, Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) official Guo Jing told a press conference. Imported solid waste, some of which had been useful as raw materials in the past, has caused damage to the country's environment and public health, said Guo, who is in charge of international cooperation at the MEP. According to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, which China has signed, exports of hazardous wastes and other wastes should not be permitted if the state of import does not specifically consent in writing, Guo said. However, some traders both in and outside of China have illegally smuggled "foreign garbage" into the country for their own interests, giving rise to environmental woes, according to Guo. "The problem of foreign garbage is loathed by everyone in China," he told reporters. The Chinese government is stepping up the fight against pollution and environmental degradation as decades of fast growth have left the country saddled with smog and contaminated soil. In April this year, a reform plan to improve management of solid waste imports was adopted, demanding a substantial reduction in the amount and types of solid waste imports. The MEP launched a month-long campaign on July 1 to crack down on pollution in imported waste processing, with 420 inspectors selected from 27 provincial regions forming 60 teams to conduct full-scale examinations. China's medium-sized and large cities imported 46.98 million tonnes of solid waste in 2015, down 5.3 percent year on year, according to MEP figures. In 2014, the whole country imported 49.6 million tonnes of solid waste, with scrap paper, plastics and metal taking up large shares, according to the MEP. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 23:05:46|Editor: yan Video Player Close CAIRO, July 20 (Xinhua) -- The Arab League (AL) warned on Thursday against growing cholera outbreak in war-ravaged Yemen, urging the international community to respond to the pleas of UN organizations to control the epidemic. In a statement on Thursday, AL Secretary General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit called on the world's states and civil society organizations to urgently respond to the calls of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to provide 22 million U.S. dollars, out of which 16 million are immediately required, to contain the crisis. "It is necessary to work closely to contain the cholera epidemic and prevent its outbreak in more Yemeni provinces and cities to avoid a possible humanitarian crisis whose consequences may last for years to come," said the AL chief in the statement. As many as 362,545 suspected cholera cases and 1,817 related deaths have been reported in 91.3 percent of Yemeni governorates and 88 percent of its districts, said a WHO report on July 19. Yemen has been suffering a civil war for about two years and a half, since Houthi rebels supported by forces of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh ousted the UN-backed transitional government led by fleeing President Abd-Rabbo Mansour Hadi and occupied the capital Sanaa in September 2014. From March 2015 to March 2017, the civil war, ground battles and airstrikes killed over 10,000 Yemenis, half of whom are civilians, injured about 40,000 and displaced over two million, according to humanitarian agencies. The AL chief blames the Houthis for Yemen's "catastrophic situation" due to their establishment of their own government and not responding to political settlement initiatives and UN peacemaking efforts. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 23:26:00|Editor: yan Video Player Close ROME, July 20 (Xinhua) -- An Italian court sentenced leaders and members of a mafia-like network based in the capital city up to 20 years in prison on Thursday. Overall, 46 defendants stood trial for allegedly being part of a ring that syphoned millions of euros of public funds by rigging contracts in Rome. The leader of the gang -- 59-year-old, one-eyed, former neo-fascist Massimo Carminati -- was given 20 years in prison. His right-hand man, Salvatore Buzzi, was sentenced to 19 years in jail. Buzzi was the chief of leftist cooperatives operating in various social sectors, such as managing migrant reception centers and reintegrating ex-convicts into society. All but three of the 46 defendants were convicted, although with lesser sentences. These included a 10-year prison term for Franco Panzironi, former chief executive officer of Rome's public waste management firm AMA, who stood accused of taking bribes for arranging a public tender in favor of Buzzi. The probe involved common gangsters, former far-right activists, entrepreneurs, white-collar workers, public employees in the municipality, and local politicians from across the spectrum. Some 22 of the defendants -- including Carminati and Buzzi -- faced the most serious allegations of mafia association and other mafia-related crimes. According to the Italian penal code, such charges -- if proved in court -- bring about much tougher sentences. The case has become known as the "Mafia Capital" scandal, and the trial has represented the biggest judiciary effort so far against organized crime in Rome. Yet, the first-grade court on Thursday did not recognize the "mafia-like" nature of the criminal organization. According to chief prosecutor Giuseppe Pignatone who led the probe, the network represented a new type of mafia genuinely rooted in Rome, and not subordinate to any of Italy's three traditional mobs. Carminati, the leading figure, had been jailed in 1998 as a member of a common criminal gang called "Banda della Magliana", which dominated the criminal life in Rome in the 1970s and 1980s. He also has a long history of violence as a former member of far-right factions, including terrorist neo-fascist NAR group. Carminati lost his eye during a shoot-out with police in the early 1980s. The trial began in November 2015 at the "bunker" courtroom in Rome's Rebibbia prison. It included some 230 hearings, involved four prosecutors, and over 60 defense lawyers. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 23:41:05|Editor: yan Video Player Close YEREVAN, July 20 (Xinhua) -- The Armenian government has approved an agreement on a joint military force with Russia, the official Armenpress news agency reported Thursday. The government-approved draft legislation will be presented to Parliament for approval, the report said. Armenia and Russia signed an agreement in November 2016 to establish a joint military force to ensure security in the Caucasus region. The joint force will conduct border patrols in designated areas, take part in air defense, and offer aerial protection to troops and objects of top priority of the two countries within the region. Russia's State Duma, the lower house of parliament, ratified the agreement on Friday. Armenia has been in close cooperation with Russia in the field of security since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Russia established a military base in Armenia in 1995, and the two countries agreed in 2010 to extend the contract until 2044. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 23:46:10|Editor: yan Video Player Close BEIJING, July 20 (Xinhua) -- China has punished senior officials in northwest China's Gansu Province over environmental violations in the Qilian Mountains national nature reserve, showing the country's resolve for green development. An inspection team has found various irregularities in the area, including over-exploitation of mineral resources, illegal construction and operation of hydropower facilities, excessive emissions by local enterprises, as well as the failure of local officials to rectify existing environmental issues, according to a document jointly released by the general offices of Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Thursday. Senior officials, including Yang Zixing, vice governor of Gansu Province, were held accountable for their failure to prevent and look into the environmental issues, and have been urged to learn a lesson from the incident. Provincial department heads and city officials were given warnings, while some were punished with administrative sanctions. The violations were fundamentally a result of a lack of environmental awareness by local officials and their failure to implement environmental protection policies, the document said. For example, despite a ban on the continued operation of a mine inside the nature reserve, the province's safety watchdog approved its production capacity and renewed its operation. Local officials also failed to realize the importance of a sustainable growth pattern, rolling out regulations that were not conducive to environmental protection. Provincial officials as well as authorities at the nature reserve failed to undertake their duties or have been accused of malpractice, leaving many illegal projects unobstructed. "Many management provisions at the nature reserve exist in name only," the document said. Environmental violations in the Qilian Mountains national nature reserve have been a long-standing issue. As a nature reserve standing on the border of Gansu and Qinghai provinces, Qilian Mountains was designated a national protected site in 1988, but hundreds of mines in the area, and many kinds of construction projects, have continued to take a toll on the environment. Excessive and disorderly development since the 1960s had left the area in a deep crisis, with water sources contaminated and grassland degraded, until officials moved to tackle the environmental problems. While some efforts have been made to rectify issues found in local inspections, the situation has barely improved. From 2013 to 2016, Gansu Province has basically held no one accountable for dereliction of duty or misconduct, according to the document. While many problems were found during inspections, local officials often just released documents to rectify the problems rather than actually dealing with them. Thursday's decision marked the latest efforts by Chinese authorities to shift to a green development model, vowing to rectify practices that boost economic growth at the cost of the environment. More Chinese officials will face environmental impact audits of their work, according to a new reform endorsed at the 36th meeting of the Central Leading Group for Deepening Overall Reform on June 26. The regulation stated that if negative environmental impacts are found in the audit, they will be taken into consideration even after officials leave their posts, as such audits would affect future promotions. The assessment includes both environment and ecological damage and the local consumption of natural resources, which must be supervised within official duty. On Thursday, the Ministry of Environmental Protection also announced plans to inspect environmental issues in 446 national nature reserves from July to December this year. Dubbed "Green Shield 2017", the inspections include comprehensive investigations into violations within the reserves and into rectification progress on existing issues. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-20 23:46:13|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close Yu Zhengsheng, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, presides over a bi-weekly consultation session in Beijing, capital of China, July 20, 2017. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei) BEIJING, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Political advisors called for improving China's medical assistance for African countries at a bi-weekly consultation session Thursday. Yu Zhengsheng, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, chaired and addressed the meeting. The advisors said that China should continue to help build the capacity of health systems in Africa. Local authorities should support medical teams going to Africa by providing favorable policies and improving the living and working conditions of medical aid workers, they said. They also suggested that traditional Chinese medicine should be promoted in Africa. China has been providing medical assistance to Africa for more than 50 years and will continue to offer its help, according to a statement released after the meeting. Russia's President Vladimir Putin talks to Melania Trump during the official dinner at the Elbphilharmonie Concert Hall during the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany July 7, 2017. (Reuters Photo) MOSCOW, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, discussed the adoption of Russian children by U.S. citizens at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, the Kremlin said Thursday. "I can confirm that this topic indeed was touched upon. I cannot say more than that," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a daily news briefing. The spokesman denied that the Dima Yakovlev Law, which bans U.S. citizens from adopting Russian orphans, will be revoked, saying "this is not under discussion." The law, which Putin signed in December 2012, is widely seen as retaliation to the U.S. Magnitsky Act adopted in the end of 2012. The Magnitsky Act imposed visa bans and asset freezes on Russian officials believed to be responsible for the death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in a Moscow jail in 2009 after accusing officials of tax fraud. U.S. media reported earlier this week that Putin and Trump had an undisclosed dinner in addition to a two-hour official meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit. The White House said in a statement Wednesday that there had been no second meeting and it was just a brief conversation over dinner. "Fake News story of secret dinner with Putin is sick," Trump tweeted Wednesday. Shortly after that, he tweeted: "Even a dinner arranged for top 20 leaders in Germany is made to look sinister!" Peskov said there is no agreement so far for a new Putin-Trump meeting, but there is a chance for that. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-21 00:01:21|Editor: yan Video Player Close WASHINGTON, July 20 (Xinhua) -- The ongoing blockade by four Arab countries had no damage to Qatar's economy, the Qatari ambassador to the United States has said. The Qatari economy is solid and can "continue like this forever," Meshal bin Hamad Al-Thani told CNN on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Al-Thani also noted that Qatar is looking forward to having this crisis resolved quickly, as it is "counterproductive for everyone." Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain cut ties with Qatar on June 5, accusing it of supporting extremism and terrorism, an allegation which Qatar has denied. On June 23, the four countries issued a list of 13 demands to end the rift with Doha, including closing Al-Jazeera television and cutting Qatar-Iran diplomatic ties. Since Qatar's response seemed unsatisfactory, the Arab quartet have decided to maintain their sanctions against Qatar. Earlier this week, the four seemed to have modified their demands, urging the tiny Gulf nation to commit to six principles on combatting extremism and terrorism and negotiate a plan with specific measures to implement them. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-21 00:31:49|Editor: yan Video Player Close TEHRAN, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry on Thursday categorically denied that a number of people in Kuwait were spying for the Islamic republic, semi-official Fars news agency reported. On Thursday, Iran summoned the Kuwaiti charge d'affaires, Falah al-Hajraf, to protest the Arab state's restrictions on the Iranian mission, the Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Bahram Qasemi, was quoted as saying. This is unfortunate that the Kuwaiti officials have alleged "baseless charges" against the Islamic republic, Qasemi told al-Hajraf. Kuwait shut down Iranian cultural mission on Thursday and ordered 15 Iranian diplomats to leave the country. The move came after Kuwait convicted a group of men, one Iranian and the rest Kuwaiti, of "spying for Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group" last year. "The Islamic republic had no links with the case, and this has been announced to the Kuwaiti officials earlier," Qasemi said. Tehran preserves the right to reduce the diplomatic mission of Kuwait in Tehran, he added. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-21 00:41:55|Editor: yan Video Player Close LONDON, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Sir Vince Cable, the veteran politician who said Brexit was not inevitable, was named Thursday as the new leader of Britain's Liberal Democrat Party. He was unopposed for the position of leading Britain's third political party following the resignation of Tim Farron. Cable served in the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition government as Business Secretary in David Cameron's Downing Street cabinet. But in the 2015 general election, Cable was one of the majority of Liberal Democrat members of parliament to lose their seats. The party went from a group of over 50 strong to just nine MPs in the House of Commons. Cable was beaten in 2015 by Conservative Tania Mathias who won the Twickenham parliament seat. In the June 8 snap election, Cable made his political comeback by regaining his seat in the same constituency when he beat Mathias by a majority of around 10,000. The Lib Dems made modest gains, taking the number of their MPs to 12. In their election manifesto, the Lib Dems called for the people of Britain to be given a second referendum to decide on the deal negotiated as part of the country's exit from the European Union. Cambridge-educated Cable, who is 74, has previously served as acting leader and deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats. He became the oldest leader in the party's history. In his leadership manifesto, Cable said: "We are the only party that can represent the millions of liberal-minded people alarmed by the direction this country is taking: people, whether they voted remain or leave, who hate the intolerance, xenophobia and division that the Brexit vote unleashed." On Brexit, Cable said: "It is imperative that the UK remains at the very heart of the EU, a member of the Single Market and the Customs Union. The opportunities and the prosperity this offers cannot be replaced. They are the bedrock on which we can build a better Britain. Sal Brinton, who announced the decision said: "Vince Cable has been the leading candidate throughout and has been unanimously supported by our MPs and has had a strong backing from the wider party membership. "As no other candidate has been nominated at the close of nominations, I am delighted to announce that Vince Cable is the new leader of the Liberal Democrats. "With the significant challenges that our country faces, the need for the Liberal Democrats is bigger than ever and the election of Vince marks a new point." Away from politics, Cable enjoys ballroom dancing and he has recently soon-to-be-published political novel about a post-Brexit future in Britain. Cable was named leader after other potential contenders decided not to stand for the job. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-21 00:46:57|Editor: yan Video Player Close BUJUMBURA, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza Thursday drove to Ngara District in western Tanzania where he met Tanzanian President John Pombe Magufuli, the first foreign trip since a failed coup plot in 2015, the president's office said. "The state visit carried out by the Burundian president in Tanzania is aimed at strengthening bilateral relations between Tanzania and Burundi," the Burundian president's office said in a press release. Nkurunziza was accompanied by several ministers including the foreign minister, the security minister, the East African Community affairs minister, the finance minister and the defense minister. The president's office added that on the sidelines of the visit, the president is expected to hold other meetings. This is Nkurunziza's first foreign trip since a failed coup plot staged on May 13, 2015 when he was in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania to attend a regional summit. Burundi plunged into a crisis since April 2015 when Burundian President Nkurunziza decided to run his controversial third term in violation of the national constitution and the 2000 Arusha Agreement. His candidature, which was opposed by the opposition and civil society groups, resulted in a wave of protests, violence and even the failed coup on May 13, 2015. More than 500 people in Burundi have been killed and some 400,000 people fled to neighboring countries mostly Tanzania, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda since the outbreak of the crisis. Currently, Tanzania is the largest host of Burundi refugees. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-21 00:51:58|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets with his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani in Beijing, capital of China, July 20, 2017. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao) BEIJING, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Beijing Thursday, calling on all parties to address their differences within the framework of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). "All sides should continue restraint and conduct face-to-face talks as soon as possible, so as to avoid escalation of the situation, send out a positive signal in addressing the crisis through political and diplomatic means, and reassure the role of the GCC," Wang said. Calling the GCC "a mature regional organization which has successfully solved many disputes," Wang expressed confidence that the Gulf countries have the capability to manage the current situation and address their differences within the GCC. Opposing all forms of terrorism is the common consensus of the international community. The Gulf countries can find a way to resolve the crisis through candid talks, on the basis of jointly fighting terrorism, mutual respect, non-interference in each other's domestic affairs, and staying committed to their international obligations, he said. "China appreciates and supports Kuwait's mediation efforts," Wang said, calling on the international community to help create conditions to resolve the crisis at a regional level. As a sincere friend of Arab countries, China stands ready to play a constructive role in promoting peace talks if necessary, Wang said. Al Thani said that Qatar is willing to launch constructive talks with all sides on the basis of respecting sovereignty, non-interference in domestic affairs and complying with international law, so as to gradually establish mutual trust and address differences fundamentally. The Qatari foreign minister commends China's objective position on the crisis, saying that Qatar stands ready to maintain communication and coordination with China, and hoping that China will continue to play a positive role. The two foreign ministers also exchanged opinions on bilateral ties and agreed to strengthen pragmatic cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative and facilitate people-to-people exchanges. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-21 00:57:00|Editor: yan Video Player Close MADRID, July 20 (Xinhua) -- An autopsy carried out on the body of former Caja Madrid bank president Miguel Blesa on Thursday confirmed the original hypothesis that he had committed suicide. Blesa's body was found Wednesday morning in the garage of his hunting lodge close to the city of Cordoba in the south of Spain with a bullet wound to the chest. Judicial sources said Thursday's autopsy concluded he had died as the result of "self-injury with a firearm." There were no further signs of violence on his body. Blesa, 69, had previously asked an employee if he had his wife's telephone number in case anything happened to him. Blesa, who headed Caja Madrid between 1996 to 2009, was condemned to six years in prison this February for overseeing the use of a fraudulent credit card scheme by bank directors. The court heard that the total spending on these cards ran up to 12.5 million euros (14.4 million U.S. dollars), over a decade. Blesa himself spent 436,700 euros, much of it to finance a luxurious lifestyle, on his so-called "black" credit card at a time when Spain was in the depths of the economic crisis. Held up as an example of everything that was wrong with the Spanish banking sector, Blesa was also scheduled to stand trial in a separate case following the mismanagement of Caja Madrid, which merged with five other banks to form Bankia in 2010. Less than two years after its creation, Bankia needed a massive government bailout of around 20 billion euros in 2012. The bank had been under the presidency of Rodrigo Rato at the time. Rato is also facing a jail term for the use of fraudulent credit cards. (1 euro = 1.15 U.S. dollars) Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-21 00:57:02|Editor: Song Lifang U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions (C) speaks at a press conference at the U.S. Justice Department in Washington D.C., the United States, on July 20, 2017. The world's largest "dark market" on the Internet, AlphaBay, has been shut down, the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) said Thursday. (Xinhua/Ting Shen) WASHINGTON, July 20 (Xinhua) -- The world's largest "dark market" on the Internet, AlphaBay, has been shut down, the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) said Thursday. The U.S. DOJ said in a statement that the so-called dark web marketeplace AlphaBay has been used to sell deadly illegal drugs such as fentanyl and heroin, stolen and fraudulent identification documents and access devices, counterfeit goods, malware and other computer hacking tools, firearms, and toxic chemicals since its creation in 2014. In order to hide the locations of its servers and the identities of its administrators, moderators, and users, the website operated as a hidden service on the Tor network and utilized cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, it said. "This is likely one of the most important criminal investigations of this entire year," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said at a press conference announcing the takedown. "Make no mistake, the forces of law and justice face a new challenge from the criminals and transnational criminal organizations who think they can commit their crimes with impunity by 'going dark,'" said Sessions. "This case, pursued by dedicated agents and prosecutors, says you are not safe. You cannot hide. We will find you, dismantle your organization and network, and we will prosecute you," he said. According to the U.S. DOJ, AlphaBa serviced over 200,000 users and 40,000 vendors and, around the time of takedown, there were over 250,000 listings for illegal drugs and toxic chemicals on the website, and over 100,000 listings for stolen and fraudulent identification documents and access devices, counterfeit goods, malware and other computer hacking tools, firearms and fraudulent services. Comparatively, Silk Road, the largest dark web marketplace before Alpha Bay, which was seized in November 2013, had reportedly approximately 14,000 listings for illicit goods and services at the time of seizure, the department said. On July 5, Alexandre Cazes, a 25-year-old Canadian citizen residing in Thailand, was arrested by Thai authorities for creating and running AlphaBay. One week later, Cazes apparently took his own life while in custody in Thailand, the U.S. DOJ said. An ongoing investigation also found an AlphaBay staffer living in the United States, but the U.S. DOJ revealed no further details. The operation to seize the AlphaBay site was led by the United States and contributed by law enforcement authorities in Thailand, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Canada, the United Kingdom, and France, as well as the European law enforcement agency Europol. The crackdown coincided with efforts by Dutch law enforcement to investigate and take down Hansa, the third largest criminal marketplace on the dark web which trades similarly high volumes in illicit drugs and other commodities. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-21 01:02:10|Editor: yan Video Player Close CAIRO, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Egypt admonished Thursday the U.S. for warning its citizens against travel to the Middle Eastern country because of the threats from terrorists and violent political groups. In a press statement, Spokesman for Egypt's Foreign Ministry Ahmed Abu Zaid said the Egyptian embassy in Washington has handed over a letter of dissatisfaction to the U.S. State Department over the phrasing of its travel warning issued on Wednesday. The travel warning referred to terrorist acts that occurred years ago, but it did not mention the dates of these incidents, giving a false impression to those who read the warning, said Abu Zaid. On Wednesday, the U.S. State Department warned U.S. citizens to consider the risks of travelling to Egypt given threats from terrorist and violent political opposition groups. The distinction between terrorist groups and "violent political opposition groups" is unacceptable because any political group using violence is a terrorist group, the spokesman explained. According to the travel warning, the terrorist attacks could occur anywhere in Egypt, a reference that contradicts with other indications in the warning which also said the Egyptian authorities are tightening security in tourist and strategic areas, the spokesman noted. Abu Zaid expressed surprise that the U.S. issued such a travel warning against Egypt, but not other countries suffering from similar terror attacks. Egypt has been facing a rising wave of terrorist activities following the military removal of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 in response to mass protests against his one-year rule and his now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group. Terror attacks, which have killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers over the past few years in Egypt, had been concentrated in restive North Sinai before they spread nationwide. Last week, a man attacked a beach in the Red Sea resort city of Hurghada, killing two German women and wounding four others, including two Armenians and one Czech. Terror attacks and political turmoil have damaged the country's once-thriving tourism sector, which used to bring billions of foreign currencies to the state treasury. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-21 01:12:15|Editor: yan Video Player Close JERUSALEM, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Israeli President Reuven Rivlin talked over the phone with Turkish President Recep Erdogan in a rare conversation between the two leaders over the escalating tensions around East Jerusalem's al-Aqsa Mosque compound. A statement released by Rivlin's spokesperson said that the conversation was held at the request of Erdogan, who wanted to be involved in finding a solution to quell the violence at the holy site. Israeli media reported that the talk was held despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the foreign ministry have objected the talk. The ministry was concerned that such a talk would give Erdogan a leverage as an important mediator while in the past the Jewish country has accused him of inciting against Israel's position in annexed East Jerusalem, according to Channel 2 news TV. In the talk, Rivlin told Erdogan that after terror attacks in Turkey, Israel was quick to condemn the acts. He said Israel expects "to hear similar condemnation from Turkey," according to the statement. Rivlin claimed that Israel "was maintaining and would continue to maintain the status quo at the holy sites." He added that the controversial security measures, including new electronic detectors, were intended to ensure that attacks like Friday's deadly shooting assault will not be repeated. "Israel is committed to safeguarding the lives of all the citizens who visited the holy places," Rivlin said. Israel and Turkey renewed their full diplomatic ties in June 2016, following six years of diplomatic strife over the deadly Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound Turkish flotilla in 2010. Tensions around the al-Aqsa compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, has been escalating since Friday attack, in which three Israeli Arabs killed two Israeli policemen. The electronic gates installed in the wake of the attack sparked daily protests in East Jerusalem, with dozens of injuries. The Palestinians maintain that the new measures constitute a violation of the long-held status quo at the site. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-21 01:17:18|Editor: yan Video Player Close SAN FRANCISCO, July 20 (Xinhua) -- A team of researchers in the United States has found evidence for the Majorana fermion, a particle that is its own antiparticle. The discovery followed a plan proposed by Shoucheng Zhang, professor of physics at Stanford University and one of the senior authors of a research paper published Thursday in journal Science, and his colleagues. "Our team predicted exactly where to find the Majorana fermion and what to look for as its 'smoking gun' experimental signature," said Zhang. "This discovery concludes one of the most intensive searches in fundamental physics, which spanned exactly 80 years." In 1928, English physicist Paul Dirac made the prediction that every fundamental particle in the universe has an antiparticle, as its identical twin but with opposite charge; and that when particle and antiparticle met, they would be annihilated, releasing a poof of energy. A few years later, the first antimatter particle, namely the electron's opposite, the positron, was discovered. In 1937, Italian physicist Ettore Majorana predicted that in the class of particles known as fermions, which includes the proton, neutron, electron, neutrino and quark, there should be particles that are their own antiparticles. The first firm evidence of such a fermion was found in latest lab experiments on exotic materials at the University of California (UC) in collaboration with Stanford, by a team led by UC-Irvine Associate Professor Jing Xia and UCLA Professor Kang Wang. The type of Majorana fermion observed is known as a "chiral" fermion because it moves along a one-dimensional path in just one direction. While the experiments were extremely difficult to conceive, set up and carry out, according to the researchers, the signal they produced was clear and unambiguous. "It does seem to be a really clean observation of something new," Frank Wilczek, a theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) who was not involved in the study, was quoted as saying in a news release from Stanford. "It's not fundamentally surprising, because physicists have thought for a long time that Majorana fermions could arise out of the types of materials used in this experiment." Majorana's prediction applied only to fermions that have no charge, like the neutron and neutrino. As an antiparticle has been found for the neutron, scientists have good reasons to believe that the neutrino could be its own antiparticle About 10 years ago, scientists realized that Majorana fermions might also be created in experiments that explore the physics of materials. What they've been looking for are "quasiparticles," namely particle-like excitations that arise out of the collective behavior of electrons in superconducting materials, which conduct electricity with 100 percent efficiency. The process that gives rise to these quasiparticles is akin to the way energy turns into short-lived "virtual" particles and back into energy again in the vacuum of space, according to Albert Einstein's famous equation E = mc2. While quasiparticles are not like the particles found in nature, they would nonetheless be considered real Majorana fermions. Over the past five years, scientists have had some success with this approach, reporting that they had seen promising Majorana fermion signatures in experiments involving superconducting nanowires. In the experiments at UCLA and UC-Irvine, the team stacked thin films of two quantum materials - a superconductor and a magnetic topological insulator - and sent an electrical current through them, all inside a chilled vacuum chamber. While the top film was a superconductor, the bottom one was a topological insulator, which conducts current only along its surface or edges but not through its middle. Putting them together created a superconducting topological insulator, where electrons zip along two edges of the material's surface without resistance. It was Zhang's idea to tweak the topological insulator by adding a small amount of magnetic material to it, making the electrons flow one way along one edge of the surface and the opposite way along the opposite edge. Then the team swept a magnet over the stack, to make the flow of electrons slow, stop and switch direction. These changes took place in abrupt steps, like identical stairs in a staircase. At certain points in this cycle, Majorana quasiparticles emerged, arising in pairs out of the superconducting layer and traveling along the edges of the topological insulator just as the electrons did. One member of each pair was deflected out of the path, allowing the researchers to measure the flow of the individual quasiparticles that kept forging ahead. Like the electrons, they slowed, stopped and changed direction - but in steps exactly half as high as the ones the electrons took. These half-steps were what the researchers call the "smoking gun" evidence of Majorana fermion. The results of these experiments are not likely to have any effect on efforts to determine if the neutrino is its own antiparticle, noted Stanford physics professor Giorgio Gratta, who played a major role in designing and planning one of the four experiments currently underway to check on the neutrino. "The quasiparticles they observed are essentially excitations in a material that behave like Majorana particles. But they are not elementary particles and they are made in a very artificial way in a very specially prepared material." Acknowledging that the search for the famous fermion seems more intellectual than practical, Zhang said it could have real-life implications for building robust quantum computers in the future. Since each Majorana is essentially half a subatomic particle, a single qubit of information could be stored in two widely separated Majorana fermions, decreasing the chance that something could perturb them both at once and make them lose the information they carry. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-21 01:22:21|Editor: yan Video Player Close BRUSSELS, July 20 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) and Britain failed to bridge their differences on key Brexit issues, including financial settlements, jurisdiction of overseas citizens and the Northern Irish border, as the second round of negotiations concluded here on Thursday. During talks, the 27 EU members put on a united front against a more seemingly divided British cabinet, led by Prime Minister Theresa May, who is currently under fire in her Conservative party and among the wider British public. In a press conference, British Brexit Secretary David Davis and his EU counterpart Michel Barnier chose their words carefully in gauging their divergences. When it came to financial settlements, Barnier underlined EU's stand with a tough tone. "We want -- and we are working towards -- an orderly exit of the United Kingdom. And an orderly exit requires the payment of the accounts," said Barnier. Davis, for his part, sidestepped a direct response to Barnier, and instead emphasized the obligations of both sides. Hailing the talks as "robust" and "constructive," Davis said the two sides recognized the importance of sorting out the obligations that Britain and EU have to one another. "Ultimately getting to a solution will require flexibility from both sides," he said. Addressing the issue of EU citizens' rights in Britain, Barnier said: "We are now moving in a common direction. But there remains a fundamental divergence on how to guarantee these rights, and on several other points, such as the rights of future members of the family or the export of certain social benefits." "Citizens must be able to find in the withdrawal agreement itself the legal certainty they need in their daily lives. And of course, any reference to European rights implies its control by the Court of Justice of the European Union," he added. Davis said he was pleased by the progress made thus far, and acknowledged divergences were to be expected. "We have looked at each other's proposals in depth and identified many concrete areas where we agree as well as areas where there will be further discussion, which will be a priority for the next round as Michel has said," he said. "We agreed on the need for certainty on the part of citizens both the EU and the UK. We obviously have different views on how we achieve that," said Davis. A silver lining in the four-day talks was the two sides' "constructive" talks over the Ireland border issue. Davis said his hope to achieve "a flexible and imaginative solution to address the unique circumstances around the border" was echoed by the EU. However, that's where the silver lining stops. The EU said it needs to better understand how Britain intends on ensuring the continuation of cooperation between Ireland and Northern Ireland after Brexit which currently is embedded in the common framework of EU law and policies. It also wants Britain to clarify in the next session how it intends on maintaining the common travel area after leaving the EU. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-21 01:27:24|Editor: yan Video Player Close SIAULIAI, Lithuania, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Lithuania would be ready to permanently deploy the U.S. long-range air defense system Patriot if such a decision would be taken by NATO, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said on Thursday. She was visiting Lithuania's Siauliai Air Base, northern Lithuania, where the Patriot system was presented as part of the military exercise Tobruq Legacy 2017. "Maybe it is not so important if the systems are deployed in Poland or in the Baltic states. However, sometimes the speed of response to the threat is very important, thus it would be purposeful to have such a weaponry in the Baltics as it would ensure better security for all the states," Grybauskaite added. According to Grybauskaite, the deployment of the system demonstrates strong commitment of the United States and NATO to the Baltic region. "The fact that the multinational ground-based air defense Exercise Tobruq Legacy 2017 is held in Lithuania shows that neither exercises of this kind nor deployment of strategic air defense systems in Lithuania is a taboo any longer," Raimundas Karoblis, Lithuania's minister of national defense, said during the event in Siauliai. The Tobruq Legacy 2017 exercise began in July 11 and will end on July 22. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-21 02:02:41|Editor: yan Video Player Close AMMAN, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Jordan's Prime Minister Hani Mulki on Thursday inaugurated the 32nd Jerash Festival for Culture and Arts. "We expect the festival to be a great success this year as it brings about many artists and groups from many countries," Aqel Biltaji, head of the festival's higher committee, said at the opening of the festival in the Greco-Roman town of Jerash. The festival is scheduled to take place between July 20 and 30 in Jerash, and from July 31 until August 6 in Amman. He added that the festival will include a seminar titled "Jerusalem in the hearts of Jordanians," in light of Amman being the current Capital of Islamic Culture. The festival highlights the Kingdom's "stability and security amidst a turbulent region," he added Thursday. Both the main 3,000-capacity southern theatre and the 1,500-capacity northern theatre will host a variety of Jordanian and Arab stars, as well as international troupes. The Oval Piazza, the "heart" of the festival, will host Jordanian, Arab and international folkloric performances. The colonnaded street, the ancient main road also known as "Cardo," will have exhibitions that showcase artifacts and handicrafts made by individuals and societies from Jerash and other Jordanian governorates. In Amman, it will include activities related to Amman as the 2017 Capital of Islamic Culture, such as roundtable discussions on Jerusalem. The Jerash festival is held in the ancient Greco-Roman town of Jerash, 48 km north of Amman, known in the past as Gerasa. In 2011, the government revived the festival, which was first launched in 1981, after a four-year suspension. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-21 02:07:50|Editor: yan Video Player Close SKOPJE, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Macedonia's new government commitment to implement a number of reforms and find a mutually acceptable solution for the name dispute with Greece is essential for Macedonia to be invited to join NATO, visiting NATO Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy Tacan Ildem said here Thursday. "We continue to support Macedonia on the path to join the Alliance. As for all aspirant countries, it is important to remain focused on the reform agenda and to ensure political stability," the NATO official said at a joint press conference with Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov. Highlighting NATO's support for Macedonia, Ildem conveyed NATO's support and appreciation for the commitment and enthusiasm for reforms shown by the Macedonian government, saying that he encouraged all the interlocutors to keep the intense pace in this political process. Macedonian FM Dimitrov said Ildem's visit to Macedonia after a long period of time was an important step in the process of revival of relations between Macedonia and NATO. Dimitrov said they agreed to work together on increasing Macedonia's visibility in NATO vice-versa, by expanding cooperation projects in different fields. Athens and Skopje are at odds over the use of the name of Macedonia since Greece's northern neighbor broke away from Yugoslavia in 1991. Macedonia is the name of a northern province in Greece and Athens is worried that the use of the same name by the neighboring state could lead to territorial claims. The need to solve the name dispute has been considered as the main obstacle keeping Macedonia away from NATO. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-21 02:12:52|Editor: yan Video Player Close TEHRAN, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Iranian ambassador to Kuwait, Ali-Reza Enayati, and 14 other diplomats of Iran are ordered to leave Kuwait in 45 days, semi-official ISNA news agency reported on Thursday. The Iranian diplomatic mission will be reduced to charge d'affaires level and Iranian cultural mission will also be shut down, the report said. Besides, the activities of joint committees of Iran and Kuwait will be stopped, according to the report. The move came after Kuwait convicted a group of men, one Iranian and the rest Kuwaiti, of "spying for Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group" last year. On Thursday, Iran's Foreign Ministry categorically denied that a number of people in Kuwait were spying for the Islamic republic. On the day, Iran summoned the Kuwaiti charge d'affaires, Falah al-Hajraf, to protest the Arab state's restrictions on the Iranian mission, the Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi said. This is unfortunate that the Kuwaiti officials have alleged "baseless charges" against the Islamic republic, Qasemi told al-Hajraf. "The Islamic republic had no links with the case, and this has been announced to the Kuwaiti officials earlier," Qasemi said. Tehran preserves the right to reduce the diplomatic mission of Kuwait in Tehran, he added. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-21 02:12:56|Editor: yan Video Player Close AMMAN, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Palestine parliamentary committee at Jordan's Lower House expressed Thursday its rejection of Israeli violations in al-Aqsa Mosque following a gun attack that resulted in the death of two Israeli policemen, state-run Petra news agency reported. At a meeting with Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, the committee said the Jordanians reject any violation in the holy mosque. The committee also called on the international community to shoulder its responsibilities and pressure Israel to stop its violations in Jerusalem. Safadi pointed out that Jordan was exerting efforts to restore stability and end the tension to prevent any escalation. Jordan, which oversees the holy Islamic and Christian sites in East Jerusalem including al-Aqsa Mosque, will continue its efforts to ensure the mosque is open to all Palestinians, the minister noted. Israel needs to respect the status quo in East Jerusalem and refrain from any attempts to alter the status quo in the city, Safadi added. Last Friday, three Israeli Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli forces inside the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, after two Israeli officers were killed in an attack. Israel reopened the compound on Sunday with the introduction of metal detectors and security checks installed at the entrances. Protests have since broken out in the holy site, with dozens of Muslim worshippers refused to enter the Mosque and prayed outside, considering the security checks a "violation" of the third holiest place for Muslims. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-21 02:17:58|Editor: yan Video Player Close DAMASCUS, July 20 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian Parliament on Thursday sacked its speaker, Hadiya Khalaf Abbas, over her "lack of performance," according to local media. The Syrian parliament members assembled on Thursday evening in an emergency session to discharge the speaker of the parliament, Abbas, who has been in her post since June 6, 2016. Abbas was the first woman to claim the position of the speaker of the Syrian parliament since the parliament was formed in 1919. Her deputy, Najdat Ismail Anzour was appointed as a temporary speaker of the parliament. He was quoted by the local Sham FM radio as saying that Abbas was discharged over her ill performance. Anzour is also a famous Syrian television director. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-21 04:49:49|Editor: yan Video Player Close RIO DE JANEIRO, July 20 (Xinhua) -- The Brazilian government said Thursday it was sending 800 police officers to the state of Rio de Janeiro to help contain a rising wave of violence. At a press conference, it was announced that Brazilian President Michel Temer had authorized the dispatching of 420 officers from the national security forces, belonging to the Ministry of Justice, and 380 officers from the federal highway police to help stabilize the situation. These new agents will join 200 other federal cops already on the ground in Rio de Janeiro, bringing the total number of reinforcements to 1,000. The announcement was made by Rio de Janeiro governor Luiz Fernando Pezao alongside Defense Minister Raul Jungmann. They announced that Temer also asked for all areas of the government, including intelligence services, to help reinforce security in Rio de Janeiro. Brazil's most popular tourist destination is undergoing a wave of violence, coinciding with the country's ongoing financial crisis. The state of Rio de Janeiro declared a state of financial emergency a year ago as it did not have the money to meet its obligations, including paying staff. This has led to a smaller police presence on the streets, with homicides, assaults and robberies spiralling upwards, leading to the city's worst violence in a decade, according to government data. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-21 05:05:00|Editor: yan Video Player Close WINDHOEK, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Namibia's poverty eradication blueprint will allow the government to implement the Basic Income Grant and other policies aimed at fostering equality. Speaking to the media in Windhoek Thursday, information minister Tjekero Tweya said Cabinet approved the blueprint Tuesday. The blueprint, Tweya said, was submitted by the poverty eradication ministry that sought approval on how to implement it. The drafting of the blueprint, Tweya said, contains interventions to address poverty, following consultations held countrywide in 2015 by President Hage Geingob with several Cabinet ministers and presidential advisors. "The blueprint will foster the implementation of a Basic Income Grant and various policies aimed at addressing poverty, and lay out wealth redistribution strategies through various taxation modalities," Tweya said. He added that the blueprint will also foster prudent land distribution in both rural and urban areas; as well as skills development and employment creation policies. "Cabinet took note of the detailed activities to be undertaken by the Offices, Ministries and Agencies and support the implementation of the blueprint," he said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-21 05:10:04|Editor: yan Video Player Close LA PAZ, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Bolivia's anti-drug trafficking police force (FELCN) seized one ton of cocaine during an operation in the northern area of Baures, Interior Minister Carlos Romero announced Thursday. "It is calculated that the value of the drugs would reach 10 million U.S. dollars in the Brazilian market," Romero told the press in the city of Trinidad, capital of the department of Beni, where the drugs were found. According to the FELCN, the drugs were already prepared in bricks, with 60 percent of it in a purified state and 40 percent in the drug's base form. Besides the drugs, a small plane and weapons were seized, although there was no mention of anyone being arrested. They also reported that a clandestine airstrip and a large drug processing center were found. The director-general of the FELCN, Santiago Delgadillo, said the operation was the result of a rigorous investigation with "important" information received from intelligence services. "The information shared by the intelligence (services) served to plan the successful operation. We entered the mountain with the help of Los Diablos Negros (The Black Devils, an air force brigade)," explained Delgadillo. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-21 05:50:31|Editor: yan Video Player Close RABAT, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Local authorities said 83 were injured on Thursday when police dispersed a massive protest in the northeastern city of Al Hociema. The police said later in a statement that 72 policemen and 11 protesters were injured after tear gas was fired to stop an "unauthorized" demonstration in the city. Masked protesters attacked policemen by throwing stones, it noted. Nasser Zefzafi, the jailed leader of the protest movement, called before his arrest in late May for a massive demonstration on July 20, the anniversary of a famous battle between the region and Spanish colonial forces in 1921. The situation in Al Hoceima has been tense since October 2016, when fish vendor Mouhcine Fikri was crushed to death after climbing into a rubbish lorry to retrieve his swordfish confiscated by police. The demands for justice for Fikri in the northeastern region has evolved into a major grassroots movement to require greater government investment to create more jobs. Morocco has not witnessed any protests of this size since the pro-democracy demonstrations during the Arab spring in 2011. Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-21 06:05:44|Editor: yan Video Player Close RABAT, July 20 (Xinhua) -- A Moroccan anti-terror court sentenced seven female teens to a maximum of five years in prison for terror-related crimes, Moroccan official MAP news agency reported on Thursday. The principal defendant was given five years in prison, while three were sentenced to four years, two to three years and two others to two years, MAP said. The defendants were convicted of "forming a gang to prepare and commit terrorist attacks and apology of terrorist acts and organizations." The all-female terror cell was busted in October, 2016. The arrested are mostly minors, two aged 15, two 16 and three 17, and all have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group, according to the authorities. 4 Bulgarians face sentencing today It is understood that a translator for the accused men is expected to leave the country soon and the court would have to find a replacement. None of the four speak English. The issue of sourcing a translator for the case was raised at the beginning of court proceedings last month when prosecutors were told of the difficulty in sourcing a translator. The case was stalled until a translator arrived from St Lucia. This translator is scheduled to return home soon which would leave the Arima cases in abeyance until a replacement is found. Magistrate Charles remanded the men into custody and ordered to return before her today for facts and sentencing. Two of the Bulgarians, Toncho Tonchev and Dimitri Georgiev were arrested last month at a bank in Price Plaza, Piarco after bank customers reported seeing people tampering with one of the banks ATM machines. The other two were arrested at a guest house in Maraval in relation to a credit and ATM debit card skimming ring. Body found in Carlsen Field identified His mother Irma Mitchell told Newsday yesterday at the Forensic Science Centre in St James, that her sons death came as a shock and she is praying the authorities could find out why he was killed. If he was involved in something he would have told us, she said. Mitchell was a father of three and a truck driver with Nestle. His mother told Newsday the last time he was seen was early Tuesday morning when he left home for work. Police reports indicated residents of Roosevelt Avenue in Carlsen Field called police after hearing gunshots. Police found Mitchells body with several gunshot wounds to his upper body. Seven spent shells were recovered at the scene. A motive has not yet been established for the killing. The murder toll for the year stands at 267 Man released on bond Acosta, a former supervisor for the Urban Development Corporation (Udecott) stood before Senior Magistrate Nanette Forde-John charged with the possession of marijuana and heroin with intent to traffic. Augustus was arrested by officers of the Organised Crime and Narcotics Bureau (OCNB) during the execution of a search warrant at his Barataria home in 2009. Charges were read aloud in open court yesterday and Augustus pleaded guilty. His attorney Patrick Godson-Phillips told the court that eight years in prison awaiting the trials start, was tantamount to a sentence served. He said Acosta was deeply traumatised on being separated from his family for so long. Your worship, my client has no previous matters before the court and during his time in prison he has shown good character. When a man is charged with an offence between the time of his arrest to the time he appears in court, there is trauma. They dont forget about it. I am convinced he has turned over a new leaf and is trying to put the past behind him. Magistrate Forde-John placed Acosta on a bond to be of good behaviour and then informed him that the case was ended and he was free to go. Acosta thanked the magistrate and left, walking out of the courthouse and seeing Port of Spain as a free man, for the first time in eight years. Temple execs and man in land battle The mandirs executive pleaded in a claim filed in the High Court, that they have been using the land adjoining the temple to house their jhandi with flags, religious offerings and providing parking for devotees and have been doing so for several years. The temple is an affiliate of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha and the disputed land comprises 408 square metres. Artma Maharaj, Shiva Mohan Mahabir and Reuben Pariag, in their capacity as executive members of the mandir, accuse Raghoonanan of unlawfully entering the property while a religious function was in progress on November 6. They further alleged that wedding functions were often interrupted and, on another occasion, guests were forced to move their vehicles while a religious function was in progress. They are contending that at no time Raghoonanan ever asserted ownership over the land although he has paper title to it and that the mandir has been in uninterrupted occupation of the plot for more than 16 years. The case came up before Justice Ronnie Boodoosingh yesterday who gave directions for filing of witness statements by both sides, by October 2. The matter was then fixed for November 6 for a pre trial review. Mom charged with child abandonment The accused woman of Mt Pleasant Road, Carolina Village appeared before Magistrate Siumongal Ramsaran in the Couva courthouse to answer the charge laid by WPC Henry of the Couva CID. The charge was indictable and so the accused mother was not called upon to plead. Residents reported to Couva police that on several occasions, the accused left her child alone overnight in a house. On Tuesday at about 11 pm, Sgt Ali together with PC Girwar, WPC Henry and others went to the house where they found the child. At the time, the child who is a primary school student was asleep, alone in the house. It was alleged that the mother went to work at a night club in the Penal district. Yesterday, the court instructed the child to be handed over to the care and custody of the Childrens Authority. Magistrate Ramsaran granted the woman $10,000 own bail and adjourned the case to August 15. TS Don dies with little damage done Grenada was expected to be hit the hardest with the north-north eastern part of Trinidad bearing the brunt of the fringes of the storm. Albert Alexander, Meteorologist II at the Meteorological Office at Piarco, said Grenada was spared the full fury of TS Don. Don has died...he dissipated in the Caribbean Sea, Alexander said. It passed through Grenada, but there was not much rainfall. It was just that Trinidad experienced some rain. Alexander said there were no organised systems presently affecting the islands so it is mainly rainy season conditions which will prevail. However, there is another wave which should be passing within the next two or three days which could affect the northern-most islands and cause increased rainfall by tomorrow or Saturday. He said there would be an increase in the intensity and frequency of showers as the islands are between systems right now. While Tropical Storm Don did not wreak the havoc that was feared, given the recent flooding which left many reeling from hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses, it did leave behind some flood damage in some areas including central, northern and north central. Head of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management Neville Wint said there have been reports of landslides and street and flash flooding in Maraval and Diego Martin and some structural collapse of retaining walls in San Juan. Asked about flooding in certain areas, especially around the Queens Park Savannah, Wint said the countrys drainage system has not developed at the rate of our infrastructure development. He said the Ministry of Works has been pursuing this issue for some time, saying there was an engineering problem. Wint said there is also need for more public responsibility in the way garbage is disposed. CAL employees object to relocation plans eTecK says safety is assured for its Wallerfield estate ten The company was responding to reported concerns by staff of Caribbean Airlines Limited (CAL) who are protesting plans, reported exclusively in Newsday on Monday, by the airline to relocate its largely female corporate office staff from the companys head office at Golden Grove Road, Piarco, to the Tamana InTech Park. CALs employee change management team questioned the planned move, saying it was not consulted on the decision. They said the Wallerfield area is frequented by murderers and kidnappers and questioned whether management considered providing security escort for the workers. In a statement responding to questions submitted by Newsday, e tecK said it is committed to the safety and security of all its tenants and visitors to the industrial estate. Saying iQor has been occupying the e TecK Flagship Complex at the park since 2015, e TecK said it provides security coverage in and around the industrial estate which comprises 1,100 acres and has established positive networks with the countrys protective services within the area. Companies on the park, in partnership with PTSC, can develop customised transportation solutions based on employee location and shift requirements. This cost is borne by the requesting company. As to the suggestion by CALs change management team that the move is driven by e tecKs mandate to fill space at the industrial estate, e tecK said its three-story flagship complex on the Tamana InTech Park is occupied by its staff and employees of its tenant, iQor Limited and it has space available for lease on the first and ground floors. e tecK said as owner and landlord of the estate it facilitates site visits by any organisation which requests such visits but it does not decide which companies lease space. Correction The Embassy of the Republic of Korea, in a press release, announced that the National Institute for International Education (NIIED) awarded a scholarship to Trini student Deisha Hamilton to pursue a Masters Degree program in South Korea. The NIIED Scholarship was selected on the basis of academic merit and will cover the full cost of study for three years. The NIIED, the Embassy explained, offers the Korean Government Scholarship Program (KGSP) to foreign students who wish to further their studies in Korea. The NIIED has offered the KGSP to students of Trinidad and Tobago at the Bachelors, Masters and PhD levels since 2013. For this year the Embassy congratulated Hamilton who was chosen to pursue a Masters Degree in International Studies at Yonsei University with an additional one year allocated for Korean Language Program at Konyang University. Newsday regrets the error and any inconvenience it may have caused. Moroccan Ambassador seeks close regional ties Morocco is the only Arab and North African country that has diplomatic missions in the Caribbean Region, he said. Kadmiri, who on Tuesday presented letters of credence to President Anthony Carmona at the Office of the President, St Anns, has also served Morocco as a diplomat in the Pacific islands. The diplomat who is based in St Lucia, said that over the last year since he assumed duties, he has presented credentials to eight Caribbean countries apart from St Lucia. As a token of appreciation, Carmona presented to Kadmiri the book A walk back in time __ Snapshots of the History of Trinidad and Tobago by Angelo Bissessarsingh to remind him, of the day he presented his credentials. Speaking mainly to Carmonas guests which included this years SE A top student Lexi Balchan, secondary school students and two senior journalists, Kadmiri said Morocco is looking forward to cooperating with TT and other Caribbean countries in a number of areas including tourism and educational opportunities. His country, he said, is the leading producer of phosphate and fertilisers in the world in both quality and quantity. With access to the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean in North Africa, he said that these bodies of water provide Morocco with the opportunity to develop sea industries, and tourism like most Caribbean countries. Proud of their tourism achievements, he said, that in 2016 the country had a little less than 11 million tourists, and their goal now is to attract 20 million by 2021. Morocco was economically and politically stable with a coalition government in place, he said. The country, which believes in South-South cooperation, he told the students, is very important to the Caribbean region. When you go back home, see where Morocco is located on the world map. We have a lot of affinity that we share with the Caribbean. SCAM: U.S. lottery rigged, software used to rig outcome in Wisconsin, Colorado, Kansas, and Oklahoma Texas businessman, Robert Rhodes, admitted to rigging the Megabucks lottery in Wisconsin to receive $783,000; an amount that he used to collect another $180,000 in fraudulent tax refunds. Under oath, Rhodes confessed to the (almost) successful investment scheme after an accomplice supplied him with the winning lottery numbers using a simple software hack. This scandal has created a wave of ill-disguised fascination with national and state lotteries and how they can potentially be duped. Rhodes conceded in court that his friend, Eddie Tipton, who used to be a security director for the Multi-State Lottery Association, had given him the winning numbers for the Wisconsin lottery on Dec. 29, 2007. It was revealed that Tipton, 54, had also provided other friends with winning numbers for jackpots in Colorado in 2005, Kansas in 2010, and Oklahoma in 2011. The system was brilliant in its simplicity. Tipton merely installed a basic software that allowed the computers in the lottery draw to work as they should except for three days of the year; May 27, November 22, and December 29. During these days, they would produce predictable numbers when the drawings happened either on a Wednesday or Saturday after 8 p.m. Tipton worked with his younger brother, who was a former Texas magistrate judge and law enforcement officer, to generate winning lottery numbers and claim prizes in multiple states. Tipton spoke of his crime to Judge Brad McCall: I wrote software that included code that allowed me to understand or technically predict winning numbers, and I gave those numbers to other individuals who then won the lottery and shared the winnings with me. Rhodes, 49, took Tiptons fraud even further. After winning the Megabucks lottery, Rhodes set up his own limited liability company, which he called Delta S Holdings, to collect the prize. Rhodes and Tipton were both wary that their fraud would be discovered if Rhodes was listed as the winner. After all, Rhodes had previously visited the lottery associations office. Rhodes used his LLC to file a lawsuit to claim the winnings after lottery officials in Wisconsin said they could not give a corporation a lottery prize without a court order. Rhodes then spoke with several tax planning experts to buy a plan that would allow him to receive a tax refund. This went simpler than expected. Delta bought several insurance policies from Bancroft Life & Casualty ICC Limited and then claimed the purchase as a business expense. This allowed Rhodes to receive undeserved tax refunds from the government. Bancroft was the ideal selection its clientele were wealthy individuals who would pay for expensive policies they didnt need but which they used to receive lucrative returns. Supposedly, Bancroft would loan up to 70 percent of their payments to various assets such as real estate and construction. Rhodes collected a $250,000 loan from Bancroft after sending $450,000. However, he began to become suspicious of Bancroft after receiving an insurance claim for $75,000 for regulatory changes which Rhodes said never materialized. Rhodes said his relationship with Bancroft reached a sour point in 2012, when the insurance company dissolved and absconded with $150,000 from Rhodes LLC. (Related: The Illinois lottery just imploded, declaring it can no longer pay large winnings.) I started getting insurance account records that say all of the money that Delta S Holdings had put there through paying the premium was gone. Some expletives followed on my part, you know, what the hell happened to whatever money was there to pay insurance claims? Well, there is none. What the hell? he said. Tipton was not told about Rhodes tax fraud until Bancroft was found to be cheating its multiple clients of funds as well. Still, both Rhodes and Tipton pleaded guilty to rigging the 2007 lottery and will refund the state of Wisconsin the payout along with an additional $18,100 each to cover the state tax refund. Sources include: CBC.ca Pittsburgh.CBSLocal.com Submit a correction >> It's been quite a year. And I make no predictions about the one to come. I do know that it will -- at least where we are -- start ou... Morocco was hailed by the United States as a stable security-exporting partner in North Africa thanks to its adoption of a comprehensive counterterrorism strategy and the vigilance of its security services. Morocco is a stable security-exporting partner in North Africa and is the only African nation to contribute military assets to the Defeat-ISIS Coalition campaign in Syria and Iraq, underscored the US State Department in its Country Reports on Terrorism 2016. Morocco has treated counterterrorism as a top priority and has undertaken efforts that have effectively mitigated the risk of terrorism in 2016, said the US State Department, noting that Moroccan authorities dismantled 18 terrorist cells and conducted 161 terrorism-related arrests in 2016, including of Algerian, Chadian, French, and Italian nationals. The report highlights facets of the success of Moroccos counterterrorism strategy, which rests notably on adapting legislation to address the foreign terrorist fighter threat, countering the financing of terrorism, fighting violent extremism and strengthening regional and international cooperation. At the legislative level, the document underscores the adoption by Morocco in 2015 of a law to address the foreign terrorist fighter threat by widening the definition of terrorist offenses to cover terrorist acts or attempts to join a terrorist group and involvement in recruitment and training activities, making it compliant with UN Security Council resolution (UNSCR) 2178 (2014). Moroccan authorities reported approximately 1,500 Moroccan nationals are foreign terrorist fighters. As a result of increased international cooperation and vigilance by Moroccan authorities, and consistent with global trends on foreign terrorist fighters, only a few Moroccans departed for Iraq or Syria in 2016, the report underlined. The US State Department also shed light on the key role played by the Moroccan Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ), since its establishment in 2015, as the primary law enforcement agency responsible for counterterrorism law enforcement. The BCIJ conducted operations in cooperation with international partners leading to numerous disruptions of alleged terrorist cells and prosecutions of associated individuals, adds the document. Morocco is also demonstrating success in detecting terrorist financing, notes the report, saying that the Kingdom is a member of the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force, a Financial Action Task Force (FATF)-style regional body. Its financial intelligence unit, the Unite de Traitement du Renseignement Financier (UTRF), is a member of the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units. Morocco criminalizes money laundering violations in accordance with international standards and actively uses the statutes to detect terrorist financing, underscores the report. At the level of countering violent extremism, Morocco adopts a comprehensive approach that prioritizes economic and human development goals in addition to tight control of the religious sphere and messaging, the document stated, adding that the Kingdom launched a reform of the religious sphere focusing on the promotion of moderation and the training of Imams from Morocco and abroad. The Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs has developed an educational curriculum for Moroccos nearly 50,000 imams and Morocco is training hundreds of imams from African and European nations at its international imam training center in Rabat. The US State Department also commends Moroccos contribution to international counterterrorism efforts, notably at international fora including the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS and the Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF) where the Kingdom co-chairs together with the Netherlands the Foreign Terrorist Fighters Working Group. The report also points out to Moroccos role as a member of the Global Initiative to Counter Nuclear Terrorism, and sheds light on the contribution of Moroccos security and law enforcement officials in training forces from Sub-Saharan countries such as Chad, Cote dIvoire, Mali, and Senegal. As a major non-North Atlantic Treaty Organization ally and a Mediterranean Dialogue (5+5) partner in the EUs Barcelona Process, Morocco participates in the 5+5 Defense Initiative, which brings together five European and five North African countries to address security issues in the Mediterranean. Morocco also participates in multilateral regional training exercises, such as the maritime-focused PHOENIX EXPRESS and the FLINTLOCK security operations exercise and hosts the annual multilateral AFRICAN LION exercise and MAGHREB MANTLET disaster response exercise, the US Department of State recalled in its report. Morocco is also an active member of the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership (TSCTP), a US multi-year interagency regional program aimed at building the capacity of governments in the Maghreb and Sahel to confront threats posed by violent extremists. The verdict handed by the appeals court in Sale against the 23 individuals accused of the killing of 11 members of Moroccos security forces in the Gdim Izik events is fair and impartial, said the international observers who attended the hearings and proceedings. The Court has respected the principle of individualization of sentences by delivering verdicts ranging from two years to life sentence, said the lawyers at a press conference in Rabat. The press conference was held after the appeal courts sentencing that handed jail terms ranging from two-years in prison to life sentence to the individuals involved in the killing of authority agents in the incidents that erupted during the dismantling of the Gdim Izik camp near Laayoune in November 2010. In this respect, French lawyer Pierre Legros lauded the Courts impartiality saying that the judges examined meticulously the charges against each defendant without being influenced by the pressures of the defense. Legros, who highlighted the pertinence of the re-trial of the Gdim Izik defendants before a civilian court, noted that foreign observers who had followed the trial closely for seven months are satisfied with the fairness of the verdict, which was taken in line with the guarantees provided for in the international Law. For his part, French lawyer Hubert Seillan said that the courts decision was impartial and that the charges against the accused were thoroughly examined. We were with observers from several countries and we were all convinced that this trial was conducted in the best conditions, which resulted in fair sentences, said Belgian-Rwandan lawyer Andre Martin Karongozi. For his part, Danish lawyer Laue Smidt described the trial as professional, noting that all conditions were met so that the accused and their defense perform their duties in the best way possible. In the same vein, President of the Coordination of families and friends of victims of the events of Gdim Izik, Ahmed Atertor, said that the sentences were fair, welcoming the courts decision not to hand any death penalty in spite of the fact that the crimes committed were punishable by the death sentence. The Coordination of the families also added that the trial has complied with all the guarantees provided for by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Moroccan Constitution and the Code of criminal procedures. On the other hand, the Coordination noted that the court has presented the evidence, including testimonies, documents, videos and photos, which testify without a doubt to the crimes committed and to their perpetrators. According to the Coordination, the court showed great patience and a spirit of openness that enabled it to look at the circumstances of the death of 11 victims of our sons who were in the ranks of the Emergency services, the royal Gendarmerie and the auxiliary Forces. The victims were only carrying out their professional and humanitarian duties without committing any act of violence, and they did not even react to the unprecedented violence perpetrated against them, the coordination said. In 2013 a military court sentenced the defendants to jail terms ranging from 20 years to life imprisonment. Despite the fact that this trial respected international rules and regulations, Moroccan authorities decided to cancel the military tribunal sentences and referred the case to a civilian court following a recommendation made by the Moroccan national council of human rights. In July 2016, the Court of Cassation ordered a civilian court to re-examine the case. The UN asked Khalifa Haftars Libyan National Army (LNA) to suspend Mahmoud Al-Warfali, a commander of Saiqa Special Forces, accused of having committed war crimes in liberated Benghazi after a video showed terrorist suspects being executed. Haftar early this month declared victory over extremists in Benghazi after three years of combat. The UN however sounded the alarm over war crimes in the second Libyan city citing extra-judicial killings of prisoners. We are deeply concerned that, after recent fighting in Benghazi, people taken prisoner by members of the Libyan National Army, which effectively controls eastern Libya, may be at imminent risk of torture and even summary execution, said UN human rights spokesperson Liz Throssell. Mahmoud Al-Warfali has been singled out after he appeared in a series of videos showcasing execution operations by Haftar forces in Benghazi. In a first video, Warfali executed three kneeling militant suspects in the Benghazi district of Salmania. In other videos, he appeared giving orders for summary executions of alleged terrorists or shooting the prisoners himself, Libya Heralds reports. We urge the LNA to ensure there is a full, impartial investigation into these allegations, Liz Throssell said. Over the UN outcry, the commander stepped down but the chief of the Special Forces maintained him. This is not the first time that war crimes are reported in the North African country. After the UN reported incidents, last March, the LNA vowed to investigate and report to the UN. But Liz Throssel complained that the UN has never been informed of the process. In November last year, the International Criminal Court (ICC) told the UN Security Council that it would increase efforts to investigate cases of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Libya by factions vying for power. The Courts Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda would reportedly return to Libya to assemble cases for new indictments, some made public and others confidential. The Mauritanian army arrested this week some men and several weapons on board a four-wheel vehicle near Mauritanias North-eastern borders with Algeria. The arrest took place just few days after Mauritanian authorities declared the borders with Algeria and Mali a military zone strictly forbidden to civilians. The decision was made amid the proliferation of terrorist groups engaging in all kinds of criminal activities including kidnappings and all sorts of trafficking, Mauritanian authorities had explained, warning that any civilian found in the area will be treated as a military target. The vehicle was spotted thanks to the aerial surveillance set in place since the closure of borders, Mauritanian media reported. The vehicle was coming from the Polisario-run Tindouf camps, in Western Algeria, near the Mauritania border, and was escorting a shipment of drug, reported the Mauritanian media, adding that the SUV vehicle was being chased by members of the Polisarios armed militias, before it was neutralized by the Mauritanian soldiers. The individuals on board the seized vehicle belonged to a network of drug traffickers, the local media reported, quoting the Mauritanian army. The Polisario Front, which is contesting Moroccos sovereignty over Western Sahara, has repeatedly been accused of involvement in drug trafficking and smuggling activities in the area. Dutch authorities have released, pending trial, Said Chaou a Moroccan-Dutch who is under two international warrants and wanted in Rabat for drug trafficking and setting up of a criminal band. The former Moroccan lawmaker was arrested end of last June and put on an extradition list at the demand of Moroccan authorities who also accuse him of kindling social unrest in the Rif region, Northern Morocco. The Moroccan Ministry of Justice said it had taken note of the statement issued on Wednesday by Dutch authorities on the provisional release of Said Chaou after he spent three weeks in detention under the extradition warrant issued by Moroccan judicial authorities. The Ministry indicated the provisional liberation does not affect the normal course of the extradition procedure initiated by Dutch authorities. The extradition procedure remains in force against the person concerned until final decision on the matter, the Ministry said. According to the Dutch Authorities statement, Said Chaou has been released on condition to wear an electronic bracelet enabling Dutch authorities to monitor his movements. Chaou is summoned to appear in court in September for a hearing over Moroccos request for his extradition. He must also show up at any time at the request of judicial or security authorities. Chaou caused diplomatic row between the EU member and Morocco after the North African country complained about The Netherlands reluctance to nab the drug dealer despite international warrants issued against him in 2010 and 2015. The Dutch drug trafficker of Moroccan origin was finally arrested in the Netherlands after Rabat recalled for consultation its ambassador to The Hague. Moroccan le360 portal had then reported, quoting a source from the Moroccan Foreign Ministry, that Chaou is sued for serious crimes in the Netherlands, his country of residence, where he awaits a verdict due by the end of 2017 on charges of forming a criminal gang as well as drug and arms trafficking. The Dutch broadcaster NOS, on its part had reported, that Chaou owned a cannabis cafe in the Netherland, which was closed because it served overdoses to its clients. He was reportedly arrested in 2015 in the southern Dutch town of Roosendaal as part of a crackdown on a drug network. In Morocco, Chaou is accused of constituting a criminal band, homicide, corruption and international drug trafficking. Besides, he backs unrest in the Rif region to recreate, according to Moroccan Authorities, chaos in the region and consequently resume his lucrative cannabis trafficking activities. Bluff caller. Photo: J. Scott Applewhite/AP A day after President Trump told the New York Times that any investigation of his personal business dealings by special counsel Robert Mueller would be a violation, Bloomberg is reporting that Mueller is doing exactly that. The special counsels probe, ostensibly about digging into potential ties between the Trump campaign and the Kremlins efforts to influence last years election, has expanded to include a broad range of transactions involving Trumps businesses as well as those of his associates, Bloomberg says. Among the topics of interest to the special counsel are the 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which was held in Moscow, and the purchase of Trump properties by Russian oligarchs. Some business dealings of Commerce secretary Wilbur Ross and Trumps son-in-law, Jared Kushner, are also being investigated. By delving into Trumps business ties with Russian actors, Mueller is continuing work started by former Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who was fired by Trump in March. It hardly seems like a coincidence that this aspect of the investigation was leaked to Bloomberg the day after Trump agreed that it would be a red line for Mueller to dig into his business ties. Asked if he would fire Mueller if he went outside of certain parameters of what his charge is, Trump said, I cant answer that question because I dont think its going to happen. Now that its happened, Trump will have to answer that question. Manafort is set to testify before the Senate next week. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Before becoming Donald Trumps campaign chairman, Paul Manafort owed as much as $17 million to pro-Russia interests, according to financial records from Cyprus. The New York Times reports that Manafort kept bank accounts in Cyprus while working as a political consultant for Ukraines pro-Russia Party of Regions, and the money was owed by shell companies connected to Manafort. The documents list transactions that took place in 2012 and 2013, involving a complex web of more than a dozen entities. According to the Times, its unclear why the transfers occurred, and it is possible they were characterized as loans for another purpose, like avoiding taxes that would otherwise be owed on income or equity investments. One of the more interesting debts is $7.8 million owed to Oleg V. Deripaska, a Russian oligarch close to Russian president Vladimir Putin. Deripaska has previously claimed that Manafort and his associates owed him $19 million for a failed investment in a Ukrainian TV company. Manafort spokesman Jason Maloni said the records were stale and do not purport to reflect any current financial arrangements. Manafort has repeatedly denied that he colluded with Russia to influence the U.S. election. Manafort was forced to resign in August as reports emerged about his activities in Ukraine. Earlier this month, the AP reported that the ongoing probe into Manaforts business dealings is now being overseen by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Manafort is set to testify before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee at a hearing on July 26, along with Donald Trump Jr., the presidents son. The Constitution has something to say about Trumps strategy. Photo: Pool/Getty Images For years, Republicans complained that President Obama was a lawless president, engaging in executive actions or inactions that did violence to the constitutional order and Congresss prerogative to write the laws. Ted Cruz even wrote a passionate article in a legal journal about it, declaring that Obamas repeated assertions of this power to suspend and dispense with duly-enacted laws violate the Take Care Clause and represent a profound threat to our constitutional checks and balances and, ultimately, to individual liberty. This wasnt just an academic exercise. To prove their point, the GOP was willing to take Obama to court over this perceived lawlessness. The House of Representatives sued his administration over the payment of cost-sharing subsidies under the Affordable Care Act that litigation is now in a state of flux as did a coalition of states, led by Texas, claiming that Obama, in moving to protect the undocumented parents of American citizens and lawful residents, was transgressing his duty to enforce the immigration laws already on the books. By Cruzs and others accounts, the part of the Constitution that was in danger by Obamas monarchic ways was the section of Article II that requires the president to take care that the laws be faithfully executed. In the Texas immigration case, lower courts never took the argument seriously, but the Supreme Court did, asking the parties to address whether Obamas decision to spare from deportation certain low-priority immigrants was somehow a violation of his constitutional duty to execute the laws. The Supreme Court never got around to it: Justice Antonin Scalia died while the case was pending, the remaining eight deadlocked in the dispute, and we were left to wonder what todays court really thinks about the ancient constitutional text. But the advent of Donald Trump provides a fresh start. And his craven desire to let Obamacare explode could just be the perfect vehicle to test Republicans own theory of lawlessness against their president. Well let Obamacare fail. Were not going to own it. Im not going to own it. I can tell you, the Republicans are not going to own it, Trump reiterated Tuesday when asked about the failure of Trumpcare, the wildly unpopular and nearly dead plan to repeal and replace his predecessors main policy achievement. As I have always said, let ObamaCare fail and then come together and do a great healthcare plan. Stay tuned! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 18, 2017 Setting aside the sheer immorality of blowing up Obamacare because he can, Trump may be setting the stage for the American public to learn, under his presidency, what the Take Care Clause requires of him. Obama may have deprioritized the deportation of a subset of immigrants with deep roots in the United States, but he did so by relying on a lengthy memorandum from the Department of Justices Office of Legal Counsel, an implementation plan by the Department of Homeland Security, and extensive intra-Executive coordination. It was hardly an open-and-shut case that he lacked the prosecutorial discretion to exercise compassion, let alone that he was flouting existing immigration laws in doing so. What Trump is doing, or refusing to do, is an entirely different animal. Obamacare remains the law of the land, and the Republicans failure to repeal it has only solidified its validity not just as a matter of public policy, but in the eyes of millions who depend on it for access to health insurance. For the Trump administration to want so flagrantly to see the law fail whether by pulling already paid-for enrollment ads, willfully weakening the individual mandate, and taking other steps to hamstring its effectiveness is the antithesis of faithful execution of the laws. Or as The Atlantics Garrett Epps, a constitutional scholar himself, quipped: He has a constitutional duty to Take Care that the Laws be ruthlessly sabotaged. This self-perpetuating, self-inflicted death spiral turns the Constitution on its head. And thus states like New York, which have already intervened to save other aspects of Obamacare, would be well within their rights to take Trump to court over a law that hes duty-bound to execute. Theres already talk that thats in the cards: Deepak Gupta, one of the big-time lawyers behind a major emoluments challenge to Trump, told Reuters in April that a take-care lawsuit may one day become a reality. In the wake of Trumps new threat that he wants to end billions in subsidies for low-income enrollees, that day may already be here. When all is said and done, a federal judge may be reluctant to order the nations chief executive to play nice with a law his own party cant repeal, but theres no need to go there. A simple declaration of what the presidents constitutional duty is may be just what Trump and this country need. Health secretary Tom Price. Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images Its the summer of 2016 and Donald Trump is delivering a major speech on his vision for reforming the American health-care system. He decries Obamacare as a total disaster and vows to change everything that his party hates about the law. The GOP nominee promises that, if elected, he and his allies in Congress will try to eliminate regulatory protections for people with preexisting conditions; cut nearly $800 billion from Medicaid; radically increase the cost of insurance for lower-middle-class elderly people in rural areas; radically increase the deductibles of plans sold over the individual market; restore the freedom of insurance companies to impose lifetime limits on coverage, thereby bankrupting families with children who suffer from severe medical disorders; add upwards of 20 million people to the ranks of the uninsured within the coming decade; and use the resulting savings to clear up budget space for delivering massive tax breaks for the wealthiest people in the United States. The moguls gaze drifts away from the teleprompter, and he informs the crowd that Ted Cruzs grandfather murdered Amelia Earhart. Or, so say many people. He ruminates on this theme for several minutes. Then, hes back to health care. Trump acknowledges that his plans may be difficult to pass through Congress, as they are extremely unpopular. But he vows that his administration will do everything in its power to undermine the existing law sowing uncertainty to increase premiums, using public funds to discourage sign-ups until the only choices before the American people are to accept his partys draconian bill or a completely nonfunctional individual insurance market. How many votes do you suppose he would have gotten? How many votes would Republican congressional candidates have received, had they run on the same platform? Well never know, because Trump and his congressional allies didnt want to find out. Instead, the president campaigned on a promise to deliver universal coverage that was both more generous, and less expensive, than what Obamacare had provided. Mitch McConnell lamented the millions that the Affordable Care Act had left uninsured, and the high deductibles that kept others from using the insurance they did have. And Paul Ryan just said the phrase patient-centered over and over again. But make no mistake, had Trump delivered the speech outlined above, he would have told no lie (except, perhaps, for that Amelia Earhart bit). The president has not yet gone nuclear, and used his authority to withhold federal subsidies from insurers, thereby triggering chaos in the individual market. But he has also refused to promise that he wont do this. When insurers came to Washington seeking such an assurance from the White House, the administration offered them the same deal it had implicitly offered the American people: If you dont want us to sabotage the health-care system, then support our bill to throw 22 million people off of insurance. Insurers balked, and raised premiums to protect themselves against the threat. On Thursday, the Daily Beast detailed another prong of the administrations sabotage strategy: The Trump administration has spent taxpayer money meant to encourage enrollment in the Affordable Care Act on a public relations campaign aimed at methodically strangling it. The effort, which involves a multi-pronged social media push as well as video testimonials designed at damaging public opinion of President Obamas health care law, is far more robust and sustained than has been publicly revealed or realized. Under Secretary Tom Prices stewardship, HHS has filmed and produced a series of testimonial videos featuring individuals claiming to have been harmed by Obamacare. Funding for those videos would come from the Departments consumer information and outreach budget, which was previously used for the purposes of advertising the ACA and encouraging enrollmentTwo sources familiar with the videos say that HHS continues to draw money from the outreach fund, even though its objective has switched from promoting the ACA to highlighting the laws critics and its shortcomings. In 2015, the Government Accountability Office ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency had violated the law by encouraging public support for its clean-water regulations over social media an effort that constituted covert propaganda. While Health and Human Services is allowed to use funds to educate the public, it is prohibited from openly advocating for the passage of legislation. The departments official Twitter account has done precisely that. But these bureaucratic improprieties are less alarming than the broader effort theyre meant to serve: A major American political party is trying to take health care away from millions of Americans, in contradiction of its own promises, and in defiance of its own voters wishes, by actively sabotaging a duly passed law that has proven too popular to kill through legislative means. Trump is mad that the attorney general behaved appropriately. Photo: Pool/Getty Images Even after six months on the job, there are quite a few things that President Trump doesnt seem to grasp about the United States political system, from the idea that his policies are subject to judicial review to how exactly the Republican health-care plan works. Trumps interactions with James Comey, and the FBI directors subsequent firing, made it abundantly clear that the independence of the Justice Department belongs somewhere near the top of that list. While he now has a team of lawyers to break down matters related to the Russia probe, in an interview with the New York Times on Wednesday, Trump demonstrated that he still doesnt comprehend some key facts about what got him here. In a wide-ranging discussion with Peter Baker, Michael Schmidt, and Maggie Haberman, Trump complained that Attorney General Jeff Sessions should have never recused himself from the investigation into Russias interference in the 2016 election, and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before he took the job, and I would have picked somebody else. HABERMAN: He gave you no heads up at all, in any sense? TRUMP: Zero. So Jeff Sessions takes the job, gets into the job, recuses himself. I then have which, frankly, I think is very unfair to the president. How do you take a job and then recuse yourself? If he would have recused himself before the job, I would have said, Thanks, Jeff, but I cant, you know, Im not going to take you. Its extremely unfair, and thats a mild word, to the president. So he recuses himself. I then end up with a second man, whos a deputy. While the Justice Department is part of the executive branch, as Politico explains, over the past few decades a series of directives issued by Justice Department officials were put in place to ensure that federal investigations are free from political interference. Trump can fire the FBI director, but hes not supposed to ask for his personal loyalty and hes certainly not supposed to publicly suggest he fired the director because he doesnt like the probe into his Russia ties. Presumably, someone went over this point with Trump, as its raised the possibility that hes guilty of obstruction of justice. Yet, in the Times interview, Trump suggests that he expected Sessions to manage the Russia probe for him when he made him attorney general. Trumps complaint that Sessions should have told me [hed recuse himself] before he took the job doesnt make sense, as the Washington Post points out. Sessionss two-day Senate confirmation hearing largely focused on whether hed be able to uphold the law in an impartial manner, despite his close relationship with Trump. When asked if hed recuse himself from an investigation involving the Trump campaign, Sessions replied: I would review it and try to do the right thing as to whether or not it should stay within the jurisdiction of the attorney general or not. Its a wordy answer, but Sessions made his point more clearly when asked if hed recuse himself from an investigation into Hillary Clinton, since hed criticized her during the campaign. He said the attorney general shouldnt act in any way that would suggest anything less than political objectivity. In addition to lashing out at Sessions on Wednesday, Trump went after nearly every other Justice Department official involved in the Russia probe. He complained that Sessionss recusal put the Russia investigation under the jurisdiction of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who worked as a federal prosecutor in Baltimore. There are very few Republicans in Baltimore, if any, he complained. Trump seems to be implying that Rosenstein appointed Special Counsel Robert Mueller because hes a Democrat, but Rosenstein actually grew up in Pennsylvania and his political affiliation is unknown. Trump also continued his unwise habit of making vague threats against those involved in the Russia probe, such as when he threatened to release tapes of his discussions with Comey (though they dont exist). Trump told the Times that he interviewed Mueller to replace Comey just one day before he was appointed special counsel. He was up here, and he wanted the job, Trump said. I said, what the hell is this all about? Talk about conflicts? But he was interviewing for the job. There were many other conflicts that I havent said, but I will at some point. When asked if he thought Mueller probing his familys finances beyond their ties to Russia would cross a red line, Trump responded, I would say yes. He didnt say hed have Mueller fired, but he added, I think thats a violation. Look, this is about Russia. Trumps confusion was not limited to the idea that Justice Department officials arent supposed to let their own politics or the president sway investigations. He tried to downplay the controversy over his apres-dinner chat with Russian president Vladimir Putin by revealing that they only talked about adoptions: TRUMP: Really, pleasantries more than anything else. It was not a long conversation, but it was, you know, could be 15 minutes. Just talked about things. Actually, it was very interesting, we talked about adoption We talked about Russian adoption. Yeah. I always found that interesting. Because, you know, he ended that years ago. And I actually talked about Russian adoption with him, which is interesting because it was a part of the conversation that Don [Jr., Mr. Trumps son] had in that meeting. Putin ended the adoption of Russian children by Americans in response to the Magnitsky Act, a 2012 U.S. law that punished Russian officials for human rights abuses. So talking adoptions with Putin is actually talking sanctions with Putin. Its a bit odd for Trump to tie his talk with Putin to the uproar over his sons emails, but it seems hes unclear on the implications of Don Jr. eagerly taking a meeting related to Russias attempts to influence the U.S. election. As Trump explained, hes heard about the email exchange, but he hasnt bothered to look at it very closely. BAKER: Right, your point is that Democrats are trying to use this as an excuse, fine. But did that email concern you, that the Russian government was trying something to compromise TRUMP: You know, Peter, I didnt look into it very closely, to be honest with you. BAKER: O.K. TRUMP: I just heard there was an email requesting a meeting or something yeah, requesting a meeting. That they have information on Hillary Clinton, and I said I mean, this was standard political stuff. If Trump was going to recuse himself from taking any of his legal teams advice, he should have told them before they took the job. COPYRIGHT NZCIVAIR All information and photographs used on this blog are copyright to NZCIVAIR. lmao at the synopsis like...Jane you already have feelings for this guy, what even are you on about.... So Sutton wants to be a stylist? Okay... there wasn't enough Sam Page in the ep lol. If the only male co-worker hooks up with Sutton imma rage The show is fun, the characters are all cute, even the boss lady that reminds me of my uni professor that I hate............... Reply Thread Link Honestly it's a cute show...and Katie Stevens liked my tweet last night...I was happy lol Reply Thread Link what was the tweet aw Reply Parent Thread Link I said, "this is becoming one of my fav shows! Dope cast!" Lolol I know it's nothing profound Reply Parent Thread Link aww that's still cute <3 Reply Parent Thread Link Lol <3 Reply Parent Thread Link Lol yes! Reply Parent Thread Link lmaooo that was me just getting into the show and seeing the promo wasn't posted it's once a week lol Reply Parent Thread Link lmao noo (i wish it were though, i miss the days of shows being on every day lol), it's really cute and fun, it has a similar feel like Younger which i like Reply Parent Thread Link LMAO Reply Parent Thread Link it's cute. i'll keep watching. Reply Thread Link It's such a good summer show that I'd rather binge watch it than wait every week. Reply Thread Link I'm behind but I started watching this and it's cute. I'll probably let episodes add up on the DVR rather than watching weekly Reply Thread Link Yeah it's great! Glad the boss isn't mean and actually cares about her employees Reply Parent Thread Link Watching the episode I was thinking how I like that the boss isn't the typical character of the mean boss lady who yells at the girls and tells them they aren't good enough. I like that she is really building them up and wants them to succeed in the job. Reply Parent Thread Link Learn more about LiveJournal Ratings in Hello! Your entry got to top-25 of the most popular entries in LiveJournal!Learn more about LiveJournal Ratings in FAQ Reply Thread Link This show is so basic and generic but it's the kind of summer trash I love so *shrug emoji* Reply Thread Link I am so enjoying this show! :D (Also, what is Jane talking about? She clearly likes Ryan (pinstripe) as the second episode showed!) Reply Thread Link So she dyed her hair right? Cuz in one of the episodes it was red.. Reply Thread Link That actress hair use to change every other episode on Faking It as well. Reply Parent Thread Link What's up with that??? I secretly liked that show lol..but secretly. Reply Parent Thread Link Thanks ONTD for recommending this show and Insecure. I needed both in my life so badly <3 Reply Thread Link i'm excited for kat punching that dude out. this show is so simple but it makes me happy lol Reply Thread Link http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/342849-john-mccain-diagnosed-with-brain-cancer eta updated link Edited at 2017-07-20 12:33 am (UTC) mccain has brain cancereta updated link Reply Thread Link Very sad. Hope he recovers. Reply Parent Thread Link Per AZ law, Gov picks someone to replace him, and he can only pick someone of the same party as the person being replaced. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I think someone said that the governor would pick McCain's replacement instead of a special election. Reply Parent Thread Link Probably explains why he was so confused at that hearing a few weeks ago. :/ Reply Parent Thread Link D': this explains his weird line of questioning in that hearing and how he seems so off sometimes. dude pisses me off but i wish him well, hope he's able to take a lot of time off Reply Parent Thread Link I know it would be par for the course to post something rude/snide but cancer isn't something I wouldn't really wish upon someone, though I do have a few minor exceptions. Reply Parent Thread Link I heard about this as breaking news. Anyone going through any type of cancer is a rough ordeal and a process. :( Hopefully he recovers well. Reply Parent Thread Link My mom had a friend who died from that form of cancer :( it's horrible. Reply Parent Thread Link there was a time when i liked him. when he seemed like his own man and had promise. then came the weird GOP tea party machine and Palin. Then came his bitterness at losing to obama and his unwillingness to work with him. I will never forget the night Jon Stewart did a breakdown on the Daily Show and looked straight in the camera and said, "Senator I expected better of you." Because so did i. I'm not a repub. never have been. but there were times he talked a lot of sense. but it's been a lot of years since he did that. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Now I feel bad for laughing at his wacky ass questions at the comey hearing Reply Parent Thread Link This explains his questions at the Comey hearing Reply Parent Thread Expand Link dude's been a complicit coward throughout this entire administration from hell. cancer sucks but i have a hard time feeling sympathetic. Reply Parent Thread Link Ohhh, that's what he was in the hospital for. Reply Parent Thread Link My uncle has the same type of brain cancer, only he couldn't get it all removed due to its location. His prognosis is bleak as fuck - they have done everything they can, he probably only has a few months left. So yeah, I am thinking it doesn't look good for McCain. :/ Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Shit. Sucks for him. Reply Parent Thread Link hope he dies Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Holy shit. I'm no fan of the man, but I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Reply Parent Thread Link glioblastoma is one of the most aggressive cancers there is. he ain't recovering y'all, especially at his age. Reply Parent Thread Link Everyone hoping he recovers doesn't understand the type of cancer he has plus his age. He isn't going to recover. Let's just hope his replacement is decent. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I just watched a documentary Vice did on an Indigenous tribe in Arizona and how majorly McCain fucked them over. This is my rationale for not having as much sympathy as I would about him tbh. Don't @ me ONTD. Edited at 2017-07-20 07:00 am (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link I heard about this last night and was like ?!?!. I guess that explains why he was so scattered at the Comey hearing, among other things. :/ Honestly, I think he should step down and focus on his health, but I guess that's ultimately up to him. I wish him and his family the best though; cancer sucks and brain cancer in particular is just horrific. Reply Parent Thread Link McCain's behaviors during the Comey hearing make so much sense now. He's so lucky to have such good insurance. If only he would want other people to have insurance like his. Reply Thread Link That was the first thing I said when I read that headline -- now his bizarre behavior during those Senate testimony hearings makes sense! Reply Parent Thread Link mte Reply Parent Thread Link mte Reply Parent Thread Link what was his behavior like? i can barely keep track on what's happening with hearings Reply Parent Thread Link A lot of word salad, aka saying things that didn't make sense. He also called Trump "President Comey." Reply Parent Thread Link He was just nonsensical... his line of questioning made no sense. Something didn't seem right. Reply Parent Thread Link He seemed confused and incoherent, everyone was like "wtf?" at his questioning. Reply Parent Thread Link A bizarre, nonsensical line of questioning asking Comey why the investigation into Clinton's emails ended at a different time and arrived at a different conclusion than the Trump-Russia investigation. He also addressed Comey as "President" more than once. Reply Parent Thread Link That's what I thought about when I heard about the blood clot. This makes even more sense. Reply Parent Thread Link the way my dad acted before it was discovered that the cancer had spread to his brain was so, so scary. i'll never forget how terrified i was when he almost ran us off the road because he forgot where we were going. cancer fucking sucks. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link yep Reply Parent Thread Link Yep. I immediately thought both of these things. Reply Parent Thread Link Especially if it's treated as a pre-existing condition. I can't stand the hypocrisy in all this. Reply Parent Thread Link MTE Reply Parent Thread Link mccain will probably die from his cancer...it is very sad. He's been in the public eye for so long Reply Thread Link and while he's had shitty stances, he's served this country and overcame a lot. wish him the best. Reply Parent Thread Link On the one hand I don't want him to die because he's one of the few Repubs to actually question things. On the other hand he always just falls back in line and never does shit about any of his ~~~concerns~~~ sooo Reply Parent Thread Link Doesn't mean he deserves to die. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Yeah that's why I'm torn. He's not as evil as Ryan and McConnell tho so I don't wish death on him after what he went through serving our country. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link he has his issues but as far as Repugs go, he's one of the few I think are relatively ethical and patriotic, and I don't want him to suffer or die. Why couldn't it be AynRyan, McTurtle, or Dump??? Reply Parent Thread Link Yeah this is a very aggressive cancer. He probably only has two, maybe three years, at the most (and that's being generous) Edited at 2017-07-20 12:40 am (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Yeah he's already 80. Things are looking bleak. Reply Parent Thread Link my BF's mom was diagnosed with a glioblastoma and lasted almost exactly 12 months w/ treatment. and she was only in her early 60s, not 80 like McCain. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link i love how Dump is calling the Republicans who voted no on the wealthcare bill "disloyal". i mean i doubt they did it because they actually gaf about the American people but sorry that not everyone is licking your ass dude. keep trying to kill all those poor people though. Edited at 2017-07-20 12:36 am (UTC) Reply Thread Link I mean, she is still a republican so she can't be all that great, but Collins does seem to give a shit about her constituents. She has been the republican senator most willing to oppose Trump and the party line. Reply Parent Thread Link I hope McCain realizes how important healthcare is for everyone. LMAO at tramp being scared of what Mueller will find in his finances. Reply Thread Link That's how I saw it. Trump raised even more red flags lmao. Reply Parent Thread Link lol he's such a dumbass Reply Parent Thread Link He's as predictable as rain in the springtime. Every time he's made aware of some new portion of his past getting the squeeze, he publicly rants about it. He might as well go ahead and start straight up confessing to shit for all the good it does him in the name of plausible deniability. Reply Parent Thread Link Trump is going to fire everyone who is in anyway tied to keeping Mueller. Trump only cares about his money, he isn't letting Mueller anywhere near his finances without a fight. Reply Parent Thread Link It's so sad that our healthcare system is shitty. Healthcare should not be a good. Reply Thread Link Trump threatening Mueller over non-Russia finances. Guess we now know there's a lot hidden there. Trump's words he said the voter commission make even more sense now. He was definitely deflecting when he said that. Edited at 2017-07-20 12:38 am (UTC) Reply Thread Link McCain's brain cancer explains his recent behavior during the hearing. Hope he recovers. Reply Thread Link glioblastoma is what Ted Kennedy had. Reply Parent Thread Link he won't Reply Parent Thread Link I wonder how long till tramp tweets something sick and revolting about McCain's condition. Reply Thread Link "I like senators who don't have cancer." - tramp, soon Reply Parent Thread Link + Pathetic! or Sad! And bingo. Reply Parent Thread Link he NEEDS to tweet that. repubs really wont like that...then theyll impeach him!!!! lol i wish Reply Parent Thread Link I wouldn't be surprised. I honestly wouldn't be surprised. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I'm horrible for loling but w/e Reply Parent Thread Link I'm laughing, but it's a sad laugh because I can actually see it happening. Someone needs to take his phone away and change his Twitter password. Reply Parent Thread Link McCain is a RINO -- has brain tumors like Kennedy and Carter! Reply Parent Thread Link He won't. He already said he misses McCain and hope he gets back soon or something. Because he needed McCain's vote, of course. Reply Parent Thread Link i never understoom why back in 2015 trump said cain wasn't a war hero or something , like mention he was capture and he isn't a hero was he trying to piss off macain Reply Thread Link Bc trump has no respect for those who serve or have served in the military. He's a draft dodger himself. Reply Parent Thread Link His motive was/is to say ridiculous shit to get headlines. Also I think he just straight up doesn't like the dude. Reply Parent Thread Link what's a draft dodger? someone who was in the army but kicked out? Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Because Trump is an asshole. I do not like McCain, but to mock his war service is repugnant. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link You have got to stop with trying to make sense of Trump's actions. The man is evil, That's all. Trust me, it's not worth it trying to understand him. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link 45's probably foolish enough to think had he been in war, it would've been like an action movie where 45 singlehandedly takes out everyone against the US. Reply Parent Thread Link Because he's a pathetic bully. Reply Parent Thread Link I can't @ Tr*mp threatening Mueller, I hope he brings the hammer down hard on this entire administration Reply Thread Link He needs to Mjolnir his ass tbh Reply Parent Thread Link lol same, hope they get a hold of the pee tapes too Reply Parent Thread Link They might already have them. Reply Parent Thread Link He is so public about it, at least with Comey he met with him in private to tell him to back off the investigation. This is a sign that Mueller is getting fired, Trump is not going to let Mueller anywhere near his finances! Reply Parent Thread Expand Link that entire family is just so stupid, it is funny how they flaunt their eduction as if that means jack shit about their actual ~real world~ smarts. "don't look too deep into my finances"... gee why not just ask somebody with literally all access to whatever information they want to start with your finances then. Ugh I just hope Mueller really dives head first into this investigation and leaves no ruble unturned. Reply Parent Thread Link McCain has brain cancer huh? Well. ...let me just not. Glad to hear Trumpcare is still failing at every turn! Reply Thread Link I'll be in the corner, just-notting with you lol Reply Parent Thread Link I told my husband and we exchanged the longest, blankest looks then turned back to our respective computers, and I feel that sums up my feelings/all I can say, lol. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I'll join y'all Reply Parent Thread Link Cancer is crazy. My mom went in for a backache, and was told she had stage 4 cancer! Reply Parent Thread Link Sorry to hear about your mom =( Reply Parent Thread Link Immunotherapy can work wonders if they start it early enough Reply Parent Thread Expand Link louise mensch spent the day tweeting that bannon and trump were facing the death penalty. she said she took no pleasure in reporting it but kept @ing bannon and trump in her tweets lol. who let this woman happen?? Reply Thread Link best not to give her the attention she so desperately craves Reply Parent Thread Link i can't stand her anymore. she was bearable at the beginning of the year. Reply Parent Thread Link i fucking love her! Reply Parent Thread Link I legit worry about her mental health sometimes. She is paranoid and delusional Reply Parent Thread Link Someone needs to take her computer away. Reply Parent Thread Link she's an alt right schill lol Reply Parent Thread Link Here's Donald Trump desperately trying to get Vlad's attention at the G20 dinner. pic.twitter.com/5sIKuJvtu8 Jennifer Hayden (@Scout_Finch) July 19, 2017 ok, there's too many things happening right now but we HAVE to talk about this! Reply Thread Link Is he offering blowjob? Reply Parent Thread Link lol looks like it Reply Parent Thread Link lol that was the first thing I thought. Reply Parent Thread Link lmaooo that's really what it looks like Reply Parent Thread Link Probably just another machismo ra-ra gesture because he's been deluded into thinking Putin is his best buddy and they're equals. But I'm going to pretend it's a blowjob request. Reply Parent Thread Link lmao Reply Parent Thread Link maybe vlad was about to leak the pee tape and dump was desperately trying to get him to reconsider by offering a bj Reply Parent Thread Link That looks like he's trying to signal that he wants to give him a handjob. Reply Parent Thread Link reminds me of this gif Reply Parent Thread Expand Link the results are in and................................. Reply Thread Link I want a Maury: Art Edition stat! Reply Thread Link OMG IT SHOULD BE LIVE!!!! Reply Parent Thread Link I've always wanted Maury to do the paternity reveals on pandas, but Maury: Art Edition would also be acceptable. Reply Parent Thread Link That's so awful, those guardians should fry in hell for that. I love that he didn't just do capital-A Art, he dabbled in applied art too. The closest I'll ever get to owning his work is Chupa Chups wrappers, but I'm still a straight-up fangirl for his stuff. Reply Parent Thread Link Chupa Chups wrappers :o I did not know that 'til today! Reply Parent Thread Link I feel like that happened with lots of artists, where they'd just churn out mediocre work later in life to cash in. I used to work at a place where mid-level art collectors would would spend tons of money at auction on truly awful Picasso or Rauschenberg lithos that were part of an edition of like 8,000. Were it a no-name artist, they would never buy it but you get to own something by a blue-chip artist. Reply Parent Thread Link Ugh, fuck his "guardians" for exploiting him like that. :( Reply Parent Thread Link There's a photo of the woman here: http://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/salvador-dali-exhumation-1.4213900 Reply Thread Link Yeah, I could buy that. Reply Parent Thread Link It's wild to me to realize how not that long ago he was, like a child still alive? All great artist seem like they're a billion years in the past to me Reply Parent Thread Expand Link She does resemble him, but she also looks like a lot of Spanish women. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link What the fuck Reply Thread Link I just can't imagine Dali cheating on Gala?? Like maybe they had an open relationships but otherwise I just can't see it. Like he was OBSESSED with Gala. Reply Thread Link yeah, sorry, I was actually trying to edit my comment because I realized that I kind of misrepresented their relationship. Like I know she banged lots of other dudes and stuff but again, like you said, I can't imagine Dali having sex with someone other than Gala Reply Parent Thread Link um, wow. the more you know Reply Parent Thread Link classy cuck for the ages Reply Parent Thread Link Yeah, she was his muse. Gala is in a ton of his work. Like he used to sign her names along with his on paintings, he was obsessed. I know Gala slept with a lot of other people during their relationship but Dali knew about it and encouraged. Maybe he also slept with other people? I don't know. Reply Parent Thread Link Welp Reply Thread Link I wish I could force the father I've never met into getting a paternity test. Reply Thread Link Wait til he's dead. Reply Parent Thread Link He probably would have been way into being exhumed. Reply Thread Link lol almost comment twins Reply Parent Thread Link Lol you're probably right Reply Parent Thread Link I'm getting Al Capone's vault vibes... Reply Thread Link CBC? Eh? Hello fellow Canadian. Reply Parent Thread Link chicken tetrazzini! Reply Thread Link Lol I remember that! Reply Parent Thread Link if anyone finds themselves in Spain, going to his hometown is Figueres is WORTH IT. Reply Thread Link to see what? if you don't mind me asking Reply Parent Thread Link Teatre-Museu Dali! They turned his house into a museum and it's batshit and I loved it. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link kicking myself for not having gone last time i was in barca Reply Parent Thread Link Researchers have created a concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) system with embedded microtracking that is capable of producing 50 percent more energy per day than the standard silicon solar cells. Solar cells used to be expensive, but now theyre getting really cheap, says Chris Giebink, an assistant professor of electrical engineering at Penn State. As a result, the solar cell is no longer the dominant cost of the energy it produces. The majority of the cost increasingly lies in everything elsethe inverter, installation labor, permitting fees, etc.all the stuff we used to neglect, he says. This changing economic landscape has put a premium on high efficiency. In contrast to silicon solar panels, which currently dominate the market at 15 to 20 percent efficiency, concentrating photovoltaics focus sunlight onto smaller, but much more efficient solar cells like those used on satellites, to enable overall efficiencies of 35 to 40 percent. Current CPV systems are largethe size of billboardsand have to rotate to track the sun during the day. These systems work well in open fields with abundant space and lots of direct sun. What were trying to do is create a high-efficiency CPV system in the form factor of a traditional silicon solar panel, says Giebink. To do this, the researchers embed tiny multi-junction solar cells, roughly half a millimeter square, into a sheet of glass that slides between a pair of plastic lenslet arrays. The whole arrangement is about two centimeters thick and tracking is done by sliding the sheet of solar cells laterally between the lenslet array while the panel remains fixed on the roof. Related: The Qatar Blockade Is Threatening The OPEC Deal An entire days worth of tracking requires about one centimeter of movement, which is practically imperceptible. Our goal in these recent experiments was to demonstrate the technical feasibility of such a system, says Giebink. We put together a prototype with a single microcell and a pair of lenses that concentrated sunlight more than 600 times, took it outdoors, and had it automatically track the sun over the course of an entire day. Because the team needed to know exactly how much direct and diffuse sunlight there was during the test, they set up at the Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center at Penn State where there is a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Surface Radiation monitoring site. Researchers worked to test the system over two sunny days from dawn to dusk right alongside a commercial silicon solar cell. The CPV system reached 30 percent efficiency, in contrast to the 17 percent efficiency of the silicon cell. All together over the entire day, the CPV system produced 54 percent more energy than the silicon and could have reached 73 percent if microcell heating from the intense sunlight were avoided. According to Giebink, this embedded tracking CPV technology would be perfect for places with lots of direct sunlight, such as the southwestern United States or Australia. Giebink notes that major challenges still lie ahead in scaling the system to larger areas and proving that it can operate reliably over the long term, but he remains optimistic. With the right engineering, were looking at a step-change in efficiency that could be useful in applications ranging from rooftops to electric vehiclesreally anywhere its important to generate a lot of solar power from a limited area. A paper summarizing the research appears in Nature Energy. Additional researchers who contributed to this work are from Penn State, Semprius Inc., and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy and the National Science Foundation supported this work. By Futurity.org More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Many oil majors have steered their strategies and investments into natural gas, aiming to seize the projected global gas demand growth as the world shifts away from coal-fired power generation. Oil and gas supermajors are pitching natural gas as the bridge fuel between coal and renewables, with the value proposition that even if its a fossil fuel, natural gas burns cleaner than coal and allows for stable power supply until storage solutions paves the way for renewables to become less intermittent. However, the cost of wind and solar is falling and is expected to drop sharply in the long term, and some analysts predict that there is not time enough for natural gas to assert itself as a true transition fuel before renewable energy takes over. Everyone agrees that natural gas demand will grow, but some analysts forecast that the growth may not be as high as it was expected just a few years ago. Nevertheless, Big Oil has bet big on natural gas demand growth. After completing the acquisition of BG in early 2016, Shells CEO Ben van Beurden said: I want Shell to be part of this transition by producing more natural gas to replace coal in power generation. Earlier this month, van Beurden said at the World Petroleum Congress in Istanbul that Shell is determined to find solutions and will be spending up to $1 billion a year on our New Energies division by the end of the decade. Wind and solar are contributing more and more to the global energy system and this must also happen if the world is to decarbonize. But the intermittency of renewables both day by day and also season by season means there will be a long-term role for natural gas power generation. New energy storage technologies will, in time, help the intermittency issue, but they do not exist yet, the manager noted. Totals chief executive Patrick Pouyanne says that we see gas as the only fossil fuel which will have a growing shareand its flexible enough to offer the right combination with renewableswe are positioning Total more and more on gas and in 35 years Total will produce and distribute more gas than oil. ExxonMobils current outlook to 2040 projects that demand for natural gas globally will rise by 45 percent, and demand for natural gas in the chemical industry will increase by 30 percent. Related: Will Oil Inventories Continue To Fall Over The Summer? BP sees natural gas growing at more than twice the rate of either oil or coal to 2035, but the UK oil major points out that there may be risks to gas demand. Gas demand could be challenged by alternative assumptions about the strength of future climate and environmental policies, with both stronger and weaker policy assumptions posing potential threats. But according to the latest long-term outlook by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), the market share of gas in global power generation is expected to fall from 23 percent in 2016 to 16 percent by 2040, and gas-fired power generation capacity will start to drop after 2031. Wind and solar are just getting too cheap, too fast. Gas does not win more than a third of the market lost by coal, according to Seb Henbest, lead author of the BNEF report. Henbest pointed out that in this scenario the U.S. is likely one exception, where cheap gas has started driving coal out of the mix. However, even here the age of gas may be limited once the tipping points for solar and wind are reached, the author noted. This view on natural gas demand is not as optimistic as the oil and gas supermajors are expecting. Natural gas demand is growing, but the growth curve hinges on many factors, including but not limited to: how fast China and India will transition away from coal, how energy storage solutions will evolve, and how government policies will affect demand from now until 2040. Right now, the major oil and gas companies are positioning themselves to take advantage of natural gas in the era of fading coal and before the advent of en-mass renewable energy. But one day theyll have to admit that natural gas demand cant grow forever. The question is: When will it happen? By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: We are entering a new age of American energy dominance according to Energy Secretary Rick Perry. President Trump reflected that view in comments he made last week that weve got underneath us more oil than anybody, and nobody knew it until five years ago. Trump was referring to tight oil production and today, that means the Permian basin. Global energy dominance by the United States is somewhere between aspirational and absurd. So far in 2017, the U.S. has imported more than 9 million barrels of crude oil per day, and net imports have averaged more than 7.3 million barrels per day. How exactly can the worlds biggest importer of oil become the supplier upon which other countries depend? The recently released BP Statistical Review Of World Energy 2017 places the United States 10th in the global ranking of oil reserve holders between Libya and Nigeria (Figure 1). Thats not bad but it hardly puts the U.S. in the same league as energy-dominant countries like Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Iran, Iraq and Russia that have on average 4 times more proved reserves than the U.S. (Click to enlarge) Figure 1. The U.S. is the 10th Largest Oil Reserve Holder in the World. Source: BP and Labyrinth Consulting Services, Inc. Perhaps the President and Secretary Perry have been reading John Mauldins recent work of magical realism Shale Oil: Another Layer of US Power. It features a chart which shows that the U.S. is the largest oil reserve holder in the world (Figure 2) (Click to enlarge) Figure 2. John Mauldins Recoverable Oil Reserves chart. Source: Mauldin Economics and Rystad Energy. The chart is so wrong that it defies explanation. Its Rystad Energy source data reveals that Mauldin has misrepresented recoverable resourcesall oil regardless of commercial valueas reservesa specific volume that is commercial at todays oil prices. It also seems that Mauldin didnt show Rystads data correctly. Saudi Arabiaand not the U.S.is the largest holder of recoverable resources according to Rystad (Figure 3). (Click to enlarge) Figure 3. Rystad Energy Global Oil Recoverable Resource Estimate. The chart shows Rystads 2PCX category: proved reserves plus contingent resources plus risked prospective resources in undiscovered fields. Source: Rystad Energy and Labyrinth Consulting Services, Inc. Table 1. EIA 2015 Tight Oil Reserves. Source: EIA U.S. Crude Oil and Natural Gas Proved Reserves, 2014 https://www.eia.gov/naturalgas/crudeoilreserves/ Table 2. Estimated 2016 Permian Basin Tight Oil Play Reserves. Source: Company 10-K Filings, Drilling Info and Labyrinth Consulting Services, Inc. Figure 4. Concho & Pioneer Proved Undeveloped Future Production Expected to Peak in 2019. Source: Company 10-K Filings and Labyrinth Consulting Services, Inc. Figure 5. Permian Tight Oil Production Has Reached The Eagle Ford Peak & Is Still Increasing. Source: Drilling Info and Labyrinth Consulting Services, Inc. (Click to enlarge) Figure 5. Permian Tight Oil Production Has Reached The Eagle Ford Peak & Is Still Increasing. Source: Drilling Info and Labyrinth Consulting Services, Inc. To many, this implies that Permian production will continue to increase and will eventually eclipse output from the older tight oil plays. That may be true but, without additional reserves from new plays or deeper layers, it may only reflect rate acceleration followed by steep decline once peak production is reached. Conchos and Pioneers future production forecast suggests that peak production may occur sooner than later. This study represents one scenario that may provide context for the claims and expectations about future production potential for the Permian basin. Aside from weak growth in the offshore Gulf of Mexico, or some return to growth in the Bakken and Eagle Ford plays, it is the only current basis for the crude oil portion of emerging American energy dominance. (Click to enlarge) Figure 6. The U.S. Must Double Reserves To Become an Oil-Dominant Producer Even Doubling or Tripling Permian Reserves Not Nearly Enough. Source: BP, EIA and Labyrinth Consulting Services, Inc. In some upside scenario in which Permian reserves of 3.7 billion barrels somehow double or triple, that still will not be nearly enough for the U.S. to become energy dominant in oil. Engineers commonly think of reserves as a tankyou can drain the tank with the best technology at very high rates, and perhaps make some money along the way, but ultimate production is limited by the size of the tank. I have presented an estimate of tank size using as a basis data from the companies that know most about the plays. If it is even close to correct, American energy dominance should be recognized as just another expression of alternative facts By Art Berman for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The largest and oldest-producing gas field in Western Europe, the Groningen field, is on the verge of being shut down. If that happens, it will entail the tumbling of Netherlands' indigenous gas production, making it a net gas importer. This is a bitter pill to swallow for producers in the Netherlands, EUs leading gas producer up to now, given that the Dutch led the world in the 1970s in natural gas exports volumes (the ramp-up in exports was so massive that the Dutch government implemented export caps to put some freeze on it). For Dutch locals, however, this might represent a long-awaited victory and a sign that governments can pay heed to their concerns, if sufficient pressure is applied. It remains to be seen whether an abrupt end to gas production in the Netherlands is in anybodys interest. Graph 1. Total Consumption, Domestic Gas Production and Natural Gas Imports and Exports in the Netherlands 1960-2016. (Click to enlarge) Source: Statistics Netherlands. Residents from the Groningen area, joined by environmental groups, are asking for the complete closure of the Groningen, citing frequent, albeit low magnitude, earthquakes as a significant nuisance. The phenomenon is no novelty, with 80 000 damage claims totaling 1.2 billion having been filed with the government and NAM, the operator of the Groningen field, a joint venture between Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil. Earthquakes became more frequent in past years due to the collapse of empty underground pockets close to the surface, due to the depletion of the Groningen field following 54 years of exploitation (see Graph 1). The Groningen field has left a hefty sociopolitical imprint on the region its rapid development in the 1960s brought about the term Dutch disease, which infers the lopsided development of a countrys economy. Moreover, domestic appliances in adjacent countries, like France, Germany or Belgium, which were buying and consuming Groningen gas for decades, have been adapted to the low-calorific Groningen gas (due to its 14 percent nitrogen content). Related: Low Oil Prices Lead To Fastest Mature Fields Decline In 25 Years Although earthquakes have been felt around the field since 1991, with most of them within the 0.5-1.5 magnitude interval, it was the August 2012 earthquake near Huizinge (M L of 3.6) that triggered an administrative response. Thus, despite its historical and symbolic value, since 2014 the Dutch government has been capping Groningen production in order to minimize the risk of further earthquakes. After 2013, during which 54 BCm of gas were produced, 2014 saw a 42.5 BCm cap, 2015 30 BCm, in 2016 it was first lowered to 27 BCm, then to 24 BCm and this April the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs ordered that the cap should be set at 21.6 from Gas Year 2017 (October 2017 September 2018). Not only did the Dutch government cap the production, it also obligated NAM to essentially shut down the Loppersum part of the Groningen field, representing about 10 percent of total capacity, on the grounds that it constitutes the highest earthquake risk. Thus, in a mere three years, Loppersum output was brought down by 16 BCm/year to its current level of 1BCm/year. Although NAM has appealed against previous production caps, the litigations never yielded any positive result for the operator company it appealed against the latest cap, too, however it is unlikely to do any better. This is all but good news for Dutch gas enthusiasts, as the Netherlands gas output has seen an astonishing 42 percent decrease from 2013 (Graph 1). It has to be noted that the frequency of earthquakes has subsided since the introduction of production caps, however, theres a fine line to be walked so as not to suffocate the gas production. Groningen is not yet on the brink of depletion, as 25 percent of its initial recoverable reserves (cca 0.7 BCm) are believed to still be in place and the field is expected to produce at least until 2040. Related: Will Oil Inventories Continue To Fall Over The Summer? Gas imports, a virtually unknown phenomenon for the Netherlands in the 20th century, are becoming a staple of Amsterdams 21st century energy matrix. As export pipeline capacity from Norway is already at its maximum and is unlikely to grow any further, Russia seems to stand gain the most from the demise of Dutch indigenous gas production. Taking into consideration that the second string of Nord Stream will be coming online by late 2019, Dutch companies will opt for this relatively cheap and flexible source of gas, with volumes increasing from the current 8 BCm/year into double digits well before the end of the decade. LNG imports will also play a more important role (in 2016, the Netherlands imported 0.36 mtpa) as oversupply pushes down prices and inches closer to evening out margins in Asia and Europe, and a rational combination of the two new increasing gas supplies will entail a more complex usage of underground gas storages to balance seasonal fluctuations. The future might hold many unforeseeable twists of fate for the Netherlands. Although the Dutch government banned the development of shale reserves before 2020, shale gas might become an issue sooner or later. The technically recoverable reserves of shale gas in the Netherlands are believed to amount to up to 700 BCm, the most notable area being the Epen formation in Groningen and Friesland provinces. However, if the locals objected to conventional gas reserves being exploited, shale development will most likely remain a pipe dream. In its quest to remain self-sufficient in energy terms and fulfill its 16 percent renewables quota in gross energy consumption by 2023, the Netherlands will ramp up their wind energy facilities. Approximately half of it (4.5 GW) is supposed to come from offshore plants, for which the combination of shallow water and plentiful wind provides a good foundation. Still, it is a far cry from playing the role gas had in the Dutch economy. By Victor Katona for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Despite U.S. oil stocks falling 7.6 million barrels, the biggest drop since September, a recent Financial Times article reports, quoting U.S. Energy Information Administration data, that the oil price is struggling to get back to $48 per barrel, let alone the heady heights above $50 it achieved in May. U.S. refineries are running flat out to meet summer demand, drawing down on U.S. stocks but still, the price is not responding. Meanwhile U.S. exports are booming. Rather than being constrained by OPEC cuts, global production is rising. Ironically, even Saudi Arabia is pumping above its target, reporting to the cartel that last month it raised output to 10.7 million barrels per day, a 190,000 b/d increase on the previous month and 12,000 b/d above its own target. The Kingdom claims it needed to increase output to meet peak electricity-generating demand experienced during the summer months, but the Saudi increase contributed to total OPEC overproduction of 393,500 b/d from last month, according to the Financial Times. (Click to enlarge) Source: Financial Times Iraq, Nigeria and Libya are all pumping more oil than at any time this year and Iran is close to its own years highest output, too. In addition, Canadian oil sands production is rising, Production is predicted to be higher still next year as new projects come on-stream (despite the low prices), making many projects marginal or even loss-making, debts must be repaid and oil sands producers are hanging in there hoping for firmer prices. Related: Settling The Ukrainian Gas War News south of the border is not encouraging, though. U.S. tight or shale oil production has continued to rise this year, although at a more gradual rate than seen over the last 12 months. Nevertheless, shale oil producers have become adept at squeezing profits out of production, even at sub-$50 per barrel prices, and show no signs of backing off at current levels. Long-position holders are hoping OPEC may take further action to curb supplies, but members are sticking to their mantra that they expect stocks to decrease and, therefore, prices to rise, as the current restrictions bite. But as the Financial Times notes, OPECs own monthly report indicates the group still faces an uphill struggle to balance output under the terms of its supply deal, what with cheating and non-OPEC production. A balanced oil market seems a distant dream for producers. By AG Metal Miner More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The conflict between Ukraine and Russia has taken on many facets, of which the energy-related ones are seemingly the easiest ones to solve. As Kiev and Moscow are exploring the limits of arbitration, it seems that all the necessary prerequisites and conditions for a potential settlement are present. It has to be said that such a dispute adjustment faces numerous obstacles, with political headwinds dominating not only the two nations energy discourse, but also its coverage in the media. If one is to avoid the temptation to have recourse to the usual finger-pointing and rather delve into the realm of figures, the potential for cooperation is easily detectable. Ukraines gas market is in a dire condition. Despite many potentially favorable measures initiated by the cabinet of ministers, i.e. the unbundling of Naftogazs activities, the corruption-ridden character of Ukraines public administration has led to scant progress in their implementation. In just three years, gas consumption has fallen by 40 percent (see Graph 1) due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraines Eastern regions, as well as several-fold increases in gas prices, as mandated by the IMF. Ukraines gas transmission system urgently needs refurbishment and modernization, only immediate costs to cover for supplies by 2030 amount to at least $3 billion. Moreover, its pipelines are becoming obsolete, too, Gazproms Nord Stream pipelines operate under 120 bar pressure, whilst Ukraines are 75 bar. Yet on the back of arbitration dealings, visceral political atmosphere and full cessation of Russian imports, Russian transit to Europe has actually increased in the last two years and Ukraine assured supply safety for transited volumes, so coming to an agreement is not a delirious idea. Graph 1. Ukraines Domestic Gas Consumption, Russian Gas Imports and Transit 2000-2016. (Click to enlarge) The protracted arbitration proceedings at the Stockholm Arbitration Court have so far only partially indicated where the Russo-Ukrainian gas issue could develop further. The claims and counterclaims are very unlikely to yield any sensational result, Gazproms $44.8 billion take-or-pay non-payment claim seems to be dismissed on the ground that Kiev neednt have paid the minimum take-or-pay price as there was a material change in market circumstances, a clause included in the contract. Naftogazs claim that Gazprom applied unfair pricing from 2011 is also believed to be significantly curbed, as the Stockholm Court ruled that it was only after 2014 that such practices could be observed. The Courts overall ruling will try to counterbalance the two sides claims, possibly with a little tilt towards Naftogaz (apart from legal factors, politics will make an impact, too, as any large Gazprom victory would result in a Naftogaz bankruptcy). Yet the arbitration will achieve what the two sides by themselves could not place the Russo-Ukrainian gas issue into a wider European context, equating it to effective terms that became norm with Gazproms other European partners. Related: The Only Way OPEC Can Kill U.S. Shale Since December 2015, Ukraine is buying gas to its own detriment. In every single month since the abrupt cessation of supplies, the price of reverse gas supplies has significantly exceeded that of Gazproms European average (see Graph 2). By buying reverse Russian gas, supplied to Kiev by European traders, Ukraine is losing $35-40 million on a monthly basis, which, given the wretched state of its public finances and its economy (GDP-wise it is back to 2005 levels), is a sore neglect. Although it would be politically suicidal to express interest in resuming supplies, Ukraines Naftogaz has admitted that the price it pays for reverse gas could be more favorable. Hopes that LNG supplies transported to Ukraine via Poland might be profitable are plainly wrong under current market conditions, only a considerable price hike in global oil prices could alter the balance as both Poland and Ukraines gas supply contracts (valid until 2022 and 2019, correspondingly) are oil-indexed. Graph 2. Gazproms Average European Gas Price vs Ukraines Average Fact Price (December 2015 June 2017) (Click to enlarge) Since 2015, Gazprom has repeatedly confirmed that it seeks to nullify the Ukrainian transit route after the currently effective 10-year contract runs out in 2019. There are numerous obstacles to this, however, as even the 55 BCm/year throughput capacity Nord Stream 2 and TurkStreams 15.75 BCm/year branch destined for Southeastern Europe cannot fully cover Ukraines 82.2 BCm transit (as of 2016, expected to reach 88-90 BCm in 2017). Therefore, Gazprom officials have acknowledged the full cessation of gas transit via Ukraine is improbable and stated that approximately 15 BCm per annum will be supplied after 2019. Even if a sweeping renaissance of relations were to take place between Moscow and Kiev, Ukraine will no longer be a priority for Russian exporters, as the Baltic route is economically more profitable. Apart from being 1800km shorter than the Ukrainian route and as a consequence being closer to Russias leading gas-producing regions which are drifting all the more to the north, it entails no transit fees. Related: 4 Reasons Oil Will Rally Back To $50 Whilst the Stockholm Arbitration will curtail Gazproms maneuvering possibilities in Ukraine and dovetail it with dealings vis-a-vis other European partners, it is unlikely to influence Ukraines tariff-setting much. Yet it remains one of the key factors if Ukraine is intent to keep at least the 15-20 BCm/year transit further on. The Kiev-set tariffs are currently prohibitively high, for instance, transiting to Slovakia totals $32.8/MCm, almost the same as the total fee for Nord Stream ($37/MCm). According to Naftogaz, this is due to cover amortization costs which occurred as a result of the 115BCm/year pipeline systems underutilization it now operates around 60% of capacity, in 2014-2015 it was oscillating around 50%. Traditionally, Naftogazs transportation branch has been used to cross-subsidize pretty much all the other branches which operated at a loss, yet this has to change. The underlying logic is fairly obvious. Even though the re-export clause that Gazprom incorporated into the previous contracts is now gone, Ukraine has no chances whatsoever of exporting gas to Russia. If it wants to garner any transit money, it must reconsider the foundations of its tariff-setting. All in all, the resolution of the gas dispute between Ukraine and Russia is both feasible and desirable. Moscow needs it because it seems unlikely it will be able to find another viable transportation route for Central European countries that would not jeopardize its other commitments, Kiev, on the other hand, ought to come to terms with the fact that no one apart from Russia will use its gas transportation system for transiting. Even if gas transit is limited at 15-20BCm/year, the $500-600 million to be earned from this is too big a sum to be shrugged off, especially for depression-stricken Ukraine. Political issues, such as the appropriate determination of Crimeas legal status or the unobjectionable fulfillment of the Minsk Agreements, represent a far bigger challenge it would be a waste not to normalize relations at least in the gas sector. By Viktor Katona for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: State refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp. will be allowed to sell a $4.6 billion stake of itself to Indias largest fossil fuel explorer and producer, according to a new report by Bloomberg. Crude price volatility in the past three years has seriously hurt the bottom lines of Indian oil firms, which have not been able to compete with multinationals such as Total and Royal Dutch Shell due to scale issues. Oil and National Gas Corp. (ONGC) is expanding its upstream and downstream capacities to become an international fossil fuel player by mitigating short-term oil price risk. This deal will make both ONGC and HPCL stronger as the benefits of synergy are huge," ONGC Chairman Dinesh Kumar Sarraf said in a phone interview with Bloomberg on Wednesday. "It will add value to shareholders of both companies." The Indian cabinet has given its blessing for the multibillion-dollar transaction, which involves a 51.1 percent stake of HPCL, though no official announcement has been made, the report said, citing an anonymous source. Indias top refiner Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) may also buy out the governments 66-percent stake in exploration company Oil India in a second deal involving oil firms that is part of Indias plan to create a giant integrated oil company, ET Now news reported on Monday, citing sources. Related: Iraq Dethrones Saudi Arabia As Indias No.1 Oil Supplier IOC also became the first Indian company to buy US crude, purchasing 1.6 million barrels of Mars crude earlier this month. Indias plan to merge some state-held oil enterprises could reduce inefficiencies in the sector, Fitch Ratings said in February, shortly after the initial project was announced. An oil major would also be in a better position to compete for resources globally and withstand oil price volatility. On the downside, Fitch sees the plan as likely reducing competition on the domestic market, and facing challenges in the actual executions of the mergers. By Zainab Calcuttawala for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Diplomats from the four Arab countries that are leading the boycott against Qatar have signaled that the Saudi-led bloc is no longer demanding that Qatar comply with a list of 13 demands that many analysts and politicians have said are too draconian for the tiny gas-rich nation to agree to meet. Diplomats from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) told reporters at the UN on Tuesday that the four countries no longer want Qatar to comply with the 13 demands, but have come up with six broad principles which they want Qatar to sign up to, the New York Times reports. Speaking at a news conference convened by the UAE at its mission to the UN, the diplomats said that their so-called six broad principles include denying safe havens and financing to terrorists, combating terrorism and extremism, stopping incitement of hatred and violence, and refraining from interfering in the internal politics of other countries. Less than two weeks ago, the four Arab states vowed to take new measures against their tiny gas-rich neighbor after Doha rejected in full the list of 13 ultimatums. On June 22, the four countries issued a list of 13 demands to Qatar, giving their isolated neighbor just 10 days to meet those demands, which included severing ties with Saudi archrival Iran, and shutting down the Al-Jazeera TV network. At the end of the 10-day deadline, the four countries gave their neighbor another 48 hours to meet those demands. Qatar did not. Our aim is to reach a diplomatic solution, the NYT quoted Saudi Arabias United Nations ambassador, Abdullah bin Yahya Almouallimi, as saying on Tuesday. Asked if compromise were possible, Almouallimi said that of course we can compromise but no compromise on the six principles. The UAE ambassador to the UN, Lana Nusseibeh, said that regardless of how things evolve, were never going back to the status quo that needs to be understood by the Qataris. Related: U.S. May Halt Oil Imports From Venezuela Anwar Gargash, the UAEs Foreign Affairs Minister, told Bloomberg in an interview in London earlier this week: Weeks, months, as long as it will take them to realize that this is not a crisis that we are looking for a quick fix. This is a crisis that we want to get to the bottom of, and we want to take away Qatars huge, huge support for this extremism and terrorism that were seeing everywhere. We need a solution that will stick. We need a solution thats long-term. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: South Korea is set to ease restrictions for international oil traders to blend fuels at the countrys oil storage terminals in its attempt to become a trading hub in Northeast Asia, which could potentially pose a challenge to the established oil hub in Singapore. Earlier this year, the government passed legislation that would allow international oil trading companies to blend fuels as per client specifications at the oil storage terminals. So far fuel blending at the terminals was only allowed for domestic refiners. Even though the South Korean government is still tweaking the final guidelines and technical aspects, the country with a vast refining sector relying almost exclusively on crude oil imports is advancing the plan to ease restrictions that has been in the making since 2014. Back then, the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy said that regulations on blending or other activities will be eased so that oil products can be mixed or processed into high value-added products with additives, as part of the plan to turn South Korea into a Northeast Asian oil hub. Now the president of the Ulsan Port Authority (UPA), Jong Yeol Kang, told Reuters, replying to emailed questions: The idea of the new regulation is to allow international oil traders to blend petroleum products and chemicals freely in bonded areas like tank terminals. Regulation and guidelines will be announced soon, according to Kang, who added that the feedback from oil traders has been positive so far. Related: Qatar Spat Worsens As Saudi-Led Arab States Vow New Measures South Koreas plan could potentially challenge the supremacy of the established hub in Asia, Singapore, and possible divert some trade away from Singapore, Ellen Ruhotas, managing director at Ratio Group, a Singapore-based advisory firm specializing in bulk liquids storage, told Reuters. With this new capability traders could, for example, supply the near-by Japanese market with various fuels that would have otherwise come from places like Singapore, and so it would be interesting to see how that unfolds, Ruhotas told Reuters. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: NAB already looking into the Sharifs London properties: JIT report 20 July, 2017 Related News Imran Khan distributed loan cheques under Kamyab Jawan Programme PTI govt to face all challenges coming its way: Imran khan More on this View All Top 2021 Accessories We Know You Will Love Types of Casino Payment Methods Tips for Taking Incredible iPhone Travel Photos Best Poker Hands ever played on a Casino Are Slot Developers Important for players? Hand Wash and Toiletries in Pakistan And the Role of DUPAS in Reshaping the Industry Ways that Players Used to Take Advantage of Slot Sites ISLAMABAD: According to Volume II of the JIT report, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is already looking into the Sharifs London properties. This was disclosed to the JIT by the NAB chairman. Legal experts feel that had the chairman told the Supreme Court about its ongoing investigation into the Mayfair apartments in the UK, the court might have refrained from forming a joint investigation team and directing it to investigate the properties and their ownership. When the chairman appeared in front of the JIT, he told them that the investigation into the London properties was in progress when the Supreme Court admitted petitions against the prime minister for regular hearing in November last year, and that the bureau had stopped the investigation until a final verdict in these petitions. However, when NAB Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry appeared before the Supreme Court on February 21, he did not tell the court that the bureau was already looking into the four London flats owned by the Sharif family. Even the JIT claimed in its report that the case might have met its logical end if this investigation had been carried out efficiently. An excerpt from the report read: The entire Panama [Papers] case primarily revolves around the allegations on the basis of which this investigation was authorised. Had this case been conducted in a professional manner, the issue [would have] been addressed many years ago. According to legal experts, since the apex court was not informed about the ongoing investigation on London properties, therefore, the court constituted a six-member investigation team to probe the matter. Former Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) vice chairman Mohammad Ramzan Chaudhry said that had this fact been brought before the Supreme Court during the hearing of the Panama Papers case, the JIT might not have been constituted and the apex court may have simply passed some direction to NAB regarding the expeditious disposal of the investigation. The superior courts never interfere with investigations unless someone presents strong evidence of flaws in the process. I cannot understand why the NAB chairman did not disclose this to the apex court when he appeared for the Panama Papers hearing. Former deputy prosecutor general Raja Amir Abbas Hassan also endorsed this opinion. He said that the superior courts never interrupt or change the investigation from one department to another department or constitute a JIT over an ongoing investigation. He said that in the recent past, the apex court had ordered changes in the investigation of the case of then-chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhrys son. However, this change was ordered after Arsalan Iftikhars lawyer convinced the bench about the mala fide intentions of NAB; subsequently, the probe was referred to a one-man commission of then-Federal Tax Ombudsman Shoaib Suddle. It is important to remember that in 2016, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists disclosed that the Sharif family owned four flats in Park Lane London through offshore companies. The revelations prompted opposition parties to start a campaign against the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, which eventually led to some of them filing petitions before the Supreme Court seeking investigations into the money trail of these properties. The apex court in November 2016 admitted the petitions for regular hearing. In other words, this entire saga began because of the London apartments. Earlier, in September 2016, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) the supreme accountability forum of parliament had also convened a meeting where the NAB chairman, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) Chairman Zafarul Haq Hijazi, former State Bank of Pakistan governor Ashraf Wathra, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Director General Amlish Khan, Federal Board of Revenue Chairman Nisar Mohammad, and Law Secretary Karamutullah Niazi apprised the committee about progress in the Panama Papers issue. FBR told parliamentarians it had issued notices to those whose names appeared in the Panama Papers, including the Sharif family, adding that if any criminality surfaced, they would report it to NAB or any other law enforcement agency for further proceedings. But the NAB chairman did not tell the PAC about the investigation into the London properties. Sources in NAB, however, claim that Irfan Naeem Mangi, its representative on the JIT, was aware of the pending investigations and inquiries against the Sharif family, since he had served as director general operations at NAB headquarters. According to the sources, Mangi informed the JIT about all the cases, inquiries and investigations NAB was pursuing against the Sharif family, including the one related to the London properties. The NAB documents related to the London properties in the JIT report reveal that the former military dictator retired General Pervez Musharraf authorised the investigation into this matter on December 27, 1999, a few months after the coup against Nawaz government. On March 3, 2000, the then- NAB chairman referred the matter to the DG FIA for investigation. NABs investigation alleged that flats were reportedly purchased through Urs Specker [who allegedly materialised the sale deal] during period from 1993 to 1996 where Mr Hussain Nawaz Sharif had been residing. However, the investigation in this matter remained pending until June 25, 2015 when then-NAB Lahore DG retired Major Syed Burhan Ali referred the investigation to a junior investigation officer, Haider Ali Naz. The documents in the report do not explain why this investigation was suddenly reactivated in 2015. A year later after the Panama Papers had come to the fore on June 24, 2016, NAB Additional Director Rana Mohammad Ali wrote to the NAB DG operations that no incriminating evidence is available in the case file and from perusal of record, it appears that no investigation on the allegations have ever been conducted. He sought further guidance from the DG office. On November 4, 2016, three days after the Supreme Court accepted the petition against the Sharif family and its offshore companies exposed in the Panama Papers, NAB changed the investigation officer and asked a senior investigation officer, Assistant Director Mohammad Imran, to probe the matter. He was directed to to take over the case papers/relevant record and continue detailed investigation and submit investigation report together with the evidence and other material collected by you for the appraisal of the competent authority. Since the case is sub judice, therefore, NABs spokesman Nawazish Ali Asim did not comment on this issue. A senior NAB official, on condition of anonymity, said that the apex court only questioned the NAB chairman about the Hudaibya Papers Mills Case. He said that Mr Chaudhry properly assisted the Supreme Court on Hudaibya case. We are supplying wood pellets. Our latest price is 400 euro per 1000kg delivered to Germany. Douglas V. Gibbs is a proud member of the American Authors Association Douglas V. Gibbs is a proud member of the Military Writers Society of America. Washington County sheriffs investigators traveled to Florida in recent days as they continued to investigate last weeks killing of a 95-year-old Fort Ann woman. Washington County sheriffs Capt. Tony LeClaire said the investigation has continued as the two former caregivers for victim Leona Twiss remain in Washington County Jail. LeClaire said investigators continue to seek to talk to those who had contact with suspects Kevin L. Gonyea and his wife, Melissa Gonyea, since they arrived in Fort Ann last summer to care for Twiss, who was Kevin Gonyeas grandmother. Mr. Gonyea, 50, faces a second-degree murder charge for allegedly choking his grandmother to death July 9 in what police described as a mercy killing as she battled dementia and was being considered for a nursing home. Both he and his wife face felony charges for tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution for disposing of a towel that police believe was used to kill Ms. Twiss in her Twiss Road home. The death was initially believed to be from natural causes, with no obvious injuries to Ms. Twiss. But an autopsy found she was strangled, and the Gonyeas were arrested after sheriffs officers and State Police questioned them. LeClaire said sheriffs officers were in Florida running down leads about the background of the Gonyeas, who spent most of their lives in Florida before coming to Fort Ann last summer. Mr. Gonyea came north to care for Twiss, who was his maternal grandmother. He was originally from Fort Ann, but has spent the past 30 or so years in the South. LeClaire would not say if the efforts in Florida yielded anything substantive. We have been out doing a lot of interviews, he said. Gonyea had a criminal history of domestic violence arrests in Florida, including two arrests shortly before he came to Washington County. Florida online public records show he was arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges in late 2015, including a felony child abuse charge and misdemeanor charge alleging he violated an order of protection. He was convicted of the misdemeanor, but the felony count was dropped in March, several months before he moved north to stay with Twiss. Court-appointed lawyers for the two suspects could not be reached Wednesday or Thursday. Both Gonyeas are due back in Kingsbury Town Court on Aug. 2, though grand jury action before that could render the hearing moot. Washington County District Attorney Tony Jordan said earlier this week that no grand jury date had been set. Anyone with information in the case was asked to call the Sheriffs Office at 747-4623. QUEENSBURY A Pennsylvania man was killed Wednesday afternoon on Route 9 after falling off his motorcycle and into the path of an oncoming dump truck, police said. The Warren County Sheriffs Office identified the victim as 49-year-old Peter J. Connor. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The crash happened shortly after 3 p.m. near the Route 149 intersection. According to police, Connor and Robert H. Lafferty Jr., 55, also of Pennsylvania were traveling together when Connor changed lanes abruptly, causing an impact between the two motorcycles that sent both vehicles sliding sideways across the highway. Connors bike slid across into the southbound lane, and was struck by the truck. Lafferty Jr. was sent to Glens Falls Hospital for minor injuries. The dump truck carried Caitlyn E. Kasuba, 17, of Salem and two passengers, none of whom were harmed. Officers from the Warren County Sheriffs Office were joined at the scene by the Queensbury Central and Lake George Fire Departments. The West Glens Falls and Bay Ridge Rescue Squads also provided assistance. Police say alcohol does not appear to have been a factor in the crash. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Q. What is the status of the restoration of the Capitol Theatre in Davenport? Back in 2014, it was reported in the Times that the Gills of Restoration St. Louis were going undertake a conversion to an updated movie venue, but no activity has been seen on the site since then. Is this beautiful venue (including the mighty pipe-organ) lost to us? Howard, Delmar, Iowa A. We contacted Eastern Iowa Community Colleges regarding your question. Alan Campbell, associate director for marketing & communications for Eastern Iowa Community Colleges, responded: "Yes, the plan has always been to address this in two phases with the Kahl Building and Capitol Theatre occurring once work is completed on our new Scott Community College Urban Campus. Classrooms and offices in the Kahl will be moving to the new campus so its completion had to come first. "We're very excited to report we are on schedule to have the classroom building, at 3rd and Main streets, opened for our Spring session beginning this January. The other building that is part of the campus, at 3rd and Brady streets, will be completed in early spring. "You might recall Governor Reynolds was just in Davenport several weeks ago, touring the Capitol Theatre as part of her visit. The discussion with her then was her continued support of the state's historical tax credit program that will be essential to the renovation of the Kahl Building and Capitol Theatre." For more information on the Capitol Theatre and the Scott Community College Urban Campus, visit qctimes.com/askthetimes Q. What is Mediacom's number for station 8.2? -- Nancy A. According to WQAD-TV8's website http://bit.ly/2vxJMlV Antenna TV or channel 8.2 should be Channel 101 on Mediacom. If you have any questions regarding Antenna TV 8.2, you can contact WQAD-TV8 at http://wqad.antennatv.tv/contact-form/ or 309-764-8888. To contact Mediacom at https://support.mediacomcable.com/contact-us or 1-844-274-6753. Question for Ask the Times readers Ellen from Bettendorf asks if anyone remembers "Dairy Babies" at the former St. Luke's Hospital, Davenport? According to Ellen, the first baby born on June 1 received free dairy for a year. Her daughter was born June 2, 1979, and just missed out on the opportunity. We contacted Genesis Health System, the Iowa State Dairy Association and local dairies for more information. We will follow up with any information they provide. Ads from the 1950s and 1960s do seem to support Ellen's claim. A local ad labeled "Baby Talk" published Jan. 25, 1952, and sponsored by the Iowa-Illinois Dairy, 1205 Harrison St., Davenport, pictures a series of three baby photos with cute captions. Other ads from around the state of Iowa are labeled "Dairy Baby" also were sponsored by local dairies. To view the ad visit qctimes.com/askthetimes June 10 1 A hit and run accident, no damage total listed, was reported on the 2600 block of Tech Drive. June 16 2 Joshua Lee Lamaack, 35, 1611 Central Ave., was arrested on the 1600 block of Central Avenue on suspicion of drug possession/delivery of marijuana, conspiracy to commit a felony, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. June 17 3 Criminal mischief, totaling $500, was reported at Q-C Mart, on the 1600 block of Grant Street. 4 A soda, valued at $1, was reported stolen at Q-C Mart, on the 1600 block of Grant Street. June 18 5 Criminal mischief, totaling $110, was reported on the 3000 block of Devils Glen Road. 6 Jason Lamar Harrell, 30, 2629 Hawthorne Drive, was arrested on the 1400 block of Fairlane Drive on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance. June 19 7 Ryan Michael Shannon, 30, 5256 Heatherstone Court, was arrested on the 1100 block of Lincoln Road on suspicion of fifth degree criminal mischief. June 20 8 Cell phones, valued at $969, were reported stolen at Splash Landing, on the 2200 block of 23rd Street. 9 Batteries and soda, valued at $7.75, were reported stolen at Dollar General, on the 2300 block of Spruce Hills Drive. June 21 10 A 2016 Dodge Caravan and a 2014 Ford Fusion collided on the 3700 block of Creek Hill Drive, resulting in $3,000 in damage. 11 Joeph Ansu Mwita, 29, 4319 W. 16th St., Davenport, was arrested on the 4500 block of Utica Ridge Road on suspicion of driving while license denied, suspended, canceled or revoked. 12 Criminal mischief, totaling $400, was reported on the 1600 block of Alcoa Avenue. 13 A television, luggage, records and speakers, valued at $1,650, were all reported stolen on the 800 block of Devils Glen Road. June 22 14 Zachary Charles Stiles, 27, 2217 W. 3rd St., Davenport, was arrested at 10th and Grant streets on suspicion of possession of drug paraphernalia. 15 Alcohol, valued at $15.39, was reported stolen at Schnucks, on the 800 block of Middle Road. June 23 16 A backpack and fishing poles, valued at $370, were reported stolen on the 2100 block of Oak Street. 17 Alcohol, valued at $29.29, was reported stolen at Schnucks, on the 800 block of Middle Road. 18 A bicycle, no value listed, was reported stolen at Whiteys Ice Cream, on the 3500 block of Middle Road. 19 Cash, valued at $400, was reported stolen at Devils Glen Car Wash, on the 3000 block of Devils Glen Road. 20 Joshua Attie Gilchrist, 30, 2111 W. 4th St., Davenport, was arrested on the 2200 block of Grant Street on suspicion of habitual offender driving while barred. 21 Alcohol, valued at $283.24, was reported stolen at Schnucks, on the 800 block of Middle Road. 22 Alcohol, valued at $88, was reported stolen at Schnucks, on the 800 block of Middle Road. June 24 23 Tools and a cargo trailer, valued at $14,188, were reported stolen on the 2400 block of Kimberly Road. 24 Sara Hartney, 45, 2615 Central Ave., No. 3, was arrested on the 2600 block of Central Avenue for suspicion of first offense operating while intoxicated. June 25 25 Rene Gale Richard, 60, 3421 Meadow Court, was arrested on the 2900 block of Devils Glen Road on suspicion of first offense operating while intoxicated. 26 Fraud, totaling $969.26, was reported on the 4400 block of State Street. 27 Rocky Gordon Waller, 61, 3254 Orchard Ave., Davenport, was arrested at Hy-Vee, on the 2900 block of Devils Glen Road on suspicion of fifth degree theft. 28 A watch, charging cord and iPhone, valued at $600, were reported stolen on the 3000 block of Westmar Drive. 29 A 2011 Toyota Camry and a 2005 Honda CRV collided on the 2900 block of Devils Glen Road, resulting in $2,300 in damage. June 26 30 A 1996 Toyota Camry collided with a light pole at 12th and State streets, resulting in $17,000 in damage. 31 Criminal mischief, totaling $200, was reported on the 1500 block of Central Avenue. June 27 32 Criminal mischief, totaling $150, was reported on the 1200 block of Denniston Avenue. 33 A 2015 Ford Focus and a 2006 Chevrolet Impala collided at River Drive and Greenwood Avenue, resulting in $9,000 in damage. June 28 34 A hit-and-run crash on a vehicle, no damage total listed, was reported on the 1800 block of Oak Street. 35 Michael Callahan, 48, 2905 E. Locust St., Davenport, was arrested on the 900 block of Middle Road on suspicion of third degree theft and public consumption/intoxication. 36 Samuel Ryan Dunn, 36, 1624 Oak St., was arrested on the 1600 block of Oak Street on suspicion of domestic assault with injury. 37 A prescription pill bottle, no value listed, was reported stolen at Bettendorf Health Care, on the 2700 block of Crow Creek Road. June 29 38 A 2007 Ford Taurus and a 2011 Toyota Sienna collided at 29th Street and Middle Road, no damage total listed. 39 Brendon Bormann, 20, 1609 State St., was arrested on the 6900 block of Schutter Lane on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance. 40 Private property damage, totaling $100, was reported on the 900 block of Pius Lane. 41 A 1994 Chrysler LHS and a 2012 Chrysler 200 collided at 17th and Grant streets, resulting in $4,000 in damage. June 30 42 A 2011 Ford Fiesta and a 2006 Ford F-150 collided at Happy Joe Drive and Middle Road, resulting in $12,000 in damage. July 1 43 A 2000 Nissan Frontier and a 2006 Nissan Altima collided at 14th and Grant streets, resulting in $4,700 in damage. 44 Cassandra Simmons, 24, 975 39th St., No. 12, was arrested at Q-C Mart, on the 900 block of Middle Road on suspicion of fifth degree theft. 45 Criminal mischief, totaling $450, was reported on the 1500 block of Fairlane Drive. 46 A phone case, wallet, drivers license, cash and debit cards, valued at $35, were all reported stolen on the 800 block of Middle Road. July 3 47 A 2000 Toyota Corolla and a 2017 Toyota Camry collided on the 800 block of Middle Road, resulting in $800 in damage. 48 Julia Louise Hoskinson, 29, 2324 W. 3rd St., No. 3, Davenport, was arrested on the 800 block of Lincoln Road on suspicion of habitual offender driving while barred and driving while license denied, suspended, cancelled or revoked. 49 A 2014 Ford F-250 and a 2016 Honda CRV collided at Holmes and 10th streets, resulting in $2,000 in damage. 50 Brandon Robert Jewell, 30, 816 24th St., was arrested on the 2600 block of Central Avenue on suspicion of second offense consumption/intoxication. July 5 51 Criminal mischief, totaling $1,000, was reported on the 2000 block of Parkway Drive. 52 A 2012 Honda Accord and a 2004 Volkswagen Beetle collided at Interstate 74 west first Iowa exit, resulting in $1,800 in damage. 53 Emma Michelle McDowell, 28, 4415 Woodfield Drive, was arrested on the 1100 block of State Street on suspicion of first offense consumption/intoxication. A Rock Island man charged in the deaths of his grandmother and uncle in May will be evaluated to determine whether he is fit to stand trial. If John P. Conwell is found unfit for trial, the proceedings against him will halt and he will be transferred to the custody of the Illinois Department of Human Services for treatment until fitness is attained. Rock Island County prosecutors made the request for an evaluation Tuesday during a hearing at the Rock Island County Justice Center. They did so based on some concerning statements made at a prior court hearing, States Attorney John McGehee said. Judge Frank Fuhr granted prosecutors' request. The evaluation will be performed by Moline-based clinical psychologist Kirk Witherspoon. A status hearing is scheduled for Aug. 8. McGehee said he did not know for sure whether the evaluation will be completed by then. Conwell, 39, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Eleanor "Petty" and Steve Conwell, 90 and 69, respectively. Police were called at 7:54 p.m. May 14 to the 1200 block of 29th Street for a welfare check and found the bodies of the Conwells. Prosecutors claim in charging documents that John Conwell "knowingly and without justification" struck Eleanor and Steve Conwell in the head and cut their throats. John Conwell was later arrested a day later in Davenport. He remained in the Rock Island County Jail on Tuesday on a $5 million cash bond. Police investigate shots fired calls Davenport police are investigating two shots fired calls one involving a 19-year-old man who was injured reported earlier this week. Police were called just before 3 a.m. to Genesis Medical Center-West Central Park, Davenport, for the man who arrived by private vehicle. Police say he suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound. Officers located a scene in the 1700 block of West 16th Street. No other injuries or damage was reported. Detectives are following-up on the incident. No further information is available at this time. At 3:38 a.m. Wednesday, police responded to the 2200 block of East 12th Street. During a canvas, officers located a parked vehicle that had been struck. They also recovered shell casings in the 1200 block of Jersey Ridge Road. No injuries or other damage was reported. Police on Thursday declined to say whether the two incidents are related. Anyone with information is asked to call 563-326-6125 or submit an anonymous tip via the mobile app CityConnect Davenport, IA or CrimeReports by Motorola. --Times staff Man sentenced to probation in October crash A Davenport man was sentenced Wednesday to a suspended two-year prison sentence and placed on one year probation in connection with a crash in October that left several juveniles injured. Trevor A. Henderson, 25, pleaded guilty in Scott County District Court to two counts of child endangerment, an aggravated misdemeanor, and reckless driving, a traffic citation. At 2:50 p.m. Oct. 8, Davenport police were dispatched to a single-vehicle crash in the 6000 block of North Fairmount Street. According to police, Henderson was driving his vehicle in a reckless manner by driving at a high rate of speed on a gravel surface and that he was intentionally accelerating the vehicle as the rear end was sliding from side to side on the gravel. Henderson lost control of the vehicle, which slid into the ditch, rolled over to the side, became airborne and landed in a corn field, according to police. Three juveniles suffered injuries. A 12-year-old boy sharing the seat belt with another juvenile was serious injured transported to Genesis Medical Center-East Rusholme Street, Davenport, and taken by air to University Hospitals, Iowa City, for treatment, according to police. --Times staff Two arrested in marijuana, money laundering case A Davenport man and woman were arrested Wednesday on charges of conspiracy to manufacture and distribute marijuana and money laundering following a federal investigation dating back to August. The same day, Jennifer Hoang, 25, and Randy Wardrip, 23, made an initial court appearance on the charges in U.S. District Court, Davenport. Detention and preliminary hearings are scheduled July 24, according to court records. The United States Attorneys Office for the Southern District of Iowa said in a news release that federal search warrants were executed at two locations in the 600 block of 15th Street and the 4800 block of West Locust Street Wednesday as part of the investigation. Warrants also were executed in Asbury, Iowa; Colorado Springs, Colorado; Selma, Oregon; Portland, Oregon; Grants Pass, Oregon; and Clear River Falls, Nevada, according to the release. Police also arrested Douglas Tran, 57, of Henderson, Nevada, in connection with the investigation. --Times staff A Davenport elementary school teacher arrested last month on allegations of child pornography was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury. Michael Loren Ross, 43, will be arraigned July 27 on charges of receiving and distributing child pornography and possession of child pornography, according to court records. Federal prosecutors also are seeking forfeiture of any property used to commit or to promote the commission of the alleged offenses. That property, according to the indictment, includes computer hardware and computer storage devices. The filing of the indictment supersedes a criminal complaint that was filed June 23 in U.S. District Court, Davenport. According to court documents: On March 27, a special agent with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation received a tip through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that a user named "Mike Ross," who had a Hotmail email address, uploaded a video depicting child pornography to his Dropbox account on Feb. 7. The agent executed a search warrant several days later for the Dropbox account, which was opened by Ross in July 2013, and found that it was a paid account and that files were being uploaded from at least three devices. The account had numerous files that depicted prepubescent females performing sex acts. On June 19, Davenport Police Detective Erin Pape obtained a search warrant for Ross and his home, garages/storage areas on his property and vehicles owned or operated by him. Officers executed the search warrant the following day and seized Ross's cellphone, laptop, digital camera, camcorder and a thumb drive. Ross, who was home during the search, admitted that he possessed child pornography and that he both received and distributed it. He told officers that he exchanged child pornography through Dropbox links being shared on Kik, a freeware instant messaging mobile application. Ross also admitted that he used his phone and laptop to access the files and that he did so for his own sexual gratification, according to court documents. He was arrested June 26. On July 7, Magistrate Judge Stephen B. Jackson Jr. denied prosecutors' request for Ross to be in custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial. The judge ordered that Ross must live in a transitional housing facility and abide by a curfew and remain on GPS monitoring, among other conditions of his pretrial release. Ross, a fifth-grade at Wilson Elementary School, was placed on administrative leave. In just a few days, ground will be excavated so seven-year-old Taylor Engels, and 350 of her classmates, will have a new Grant Wood Elementary School in Bettendorf. Taylor, in the first grade, is one of the students who will actually attend the school, to be built adjacent to the existing Grant Wood building located in central Bettendorf. A ground-breaking on Thursday was four days before ground is to be excavated for a construction pad. That's planned for July 24, said Jeff Hill, with Estes Construction, the construction firm who is working with the design firm, Legat Architects on the project. Dignitaries and firms associated with the project spoke at the event, but first-grader Taylor was succinct with her thoughts about a new school. "Cool," she said. Bettendorf Superintendent Mike Raso introduced the project before about 100 guests who gathered in the back of the current Grant Wood. "This is the first of many projects to come, with our elementary schools and in the district," Raso said. The project is an example of why Bettendorf is an appealing place to live for so many people, said Scott Naumann, 2nd ward alderman on the Bettendorf City Council. The school district is a "point of pride" for the city, he said. Paul Castro, a member of the Bettendorf School Board, stood in for an ailing Gordon Staley, board president who had planned to speak at the event. The new school is an effort to reduce elementary class sizes in Bettendorf, he said. "This is a great day in Bettendorf." The design firm, Legat Architects, Moline, was represented by Patrick Brosnan, president and CEO. Brosnan said the design was a collaborative approach, using input from Grant Wood staff, and others. As it is built, children in the current school can use the new one as a type of laboratory study, said Kent Pilcher, president of Estes Construction, Davenport. Pilcher, and Raso, the district superintendent, also plugged an extension of the one-cent sales tax for school construction projects in Iowa, an issue to come before the 2018 Iowa Legislature. Pilcher said his firm builds a number of new schools in the state, and the sales tax revenue enables new building projects not seen in 50-75 years in Iowa. Like several of the speakers, Pilcher's children attended Grant Wood school and are graduates of Bettendorf, he said. The new building will include a glass "Innovation Spine" and tall windows to allow natural light into the halls and classrooms, Grant Wood Principal John Cain said. The new Grant Wood is 62,500 square feet, nearly double the size of the old one. "Anyone who has been in the current school knows about the tight classroom space," Cain said. There is also a new gym, double the size of the old one. The principal predicted that future Bettendorf athletes will get their start in an expanded physical education program in that gym, and it will be open for rent to the community. "This is a very impressive design, and it is not in the flood zone. Spread the word!" Cain said. Gregg Johnson, a Democrat and prominent local labor activist, has announced his candidacy for the Illinois' 36th District state Senate seat in next year's election. Johnson is a former president of the AFSCME union representing workers at the East Moline Correctional Center. Johnson, 53, is retired from the prison. An East Moline resident who worked for more than 31 years at the prison, Johnson said his campaign will emphasize how to improve the economy. He also said the state needs a fairer tax structure and that the wealthy haven't paid their fair share. "We need a much less regressive tax system," he said. Johnson also is critical of Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner for the two-year budget impasse. "I don't believe the governor ever wanted a budget," he said. He said it is good that a budget was passed. He called the budget and tax increase measures a bipartisan agreement. "A budget was certainly better than no budget," he said. Ten House Republicans and a Senate Republican joined Democrats to override Rauner's veto on the tax measure. Johnson has been active in Democratic politics in the area for several years. In addition to heading the AFSCME union at the prison from 2011 to 2015, he was the political chair in the Illinois Quad-Cities for AFSCME Council 31. Rock Island County Democratic Chairman Doug House said Wednesday that, so far, Johnson is the only Democrat he's aware of who is planning to announce that he will run for the 36th District nomination. The filing deadline isn't until December. The 36th District seat is held by Sen. Neil Anderson, a Republican from Andalusia. He was first elected in 2014. The primary will be March 20. Change is afoot in the board that governs the Martin Luther King Center in Rock Island, and it is aimed at those who live in Scott County as well as Rock Island County. On July 24, Rock Island City Council will consider a proposal to have up to three members on the 11-person board be nonresidents of Rock Island. It's part of the strategic plan for board. The center, 630 9th St., Rock Island, is run by the nonprofit corporate board, but is supported by the city. "It's a hybrid," said Jerry Jones, executive director since March 2016. The goal is to maximize the potential of the board, Jones said, and to expand the presence of the King Center to a local and regional level by being inclusive of Rock Island and Scott county residents. Adding new members to the board brings in a new, appreciated perspective, said Jim Kerr, a current board member. Kerr, retired from Farmall, and as a lieutenant at the East Moline Correctional Center, has served on the board the past few years. Jones is a native of Chicago and was named to the top post after expanding the center's programs and leading a $3.1 million capital campaign in 2011. According to newspaper archives, the King Center was opened in March 1975, on the site of the former Rialto Theatre that was razed in 1974. It was part of a renovation to a Ninth Street neighborhood business district in that area of Rock Island. According to its 2015 tax filing the most recent one available the King Center collected $514,807 in contributions from donors and grants, and had expenses of $544,206. Some of the center's programs include at least some people who don't live in Rock Island. For example, the ACTIVE Club, or Aging Citizens Take Interest in a Variety of Experiences Club, is for those who are 55 years old or older. It is comprised of 70 percent Rock Island residents, and 30 percent from outside the city. Kerr, who is also president of the ACTIVE club, said people who participate in the King Center may simply live in other places. "We should be open to those who are willing to come to Rock Island, and put their time and effort into this," he said. The ACTIVE club has a modest entrance fee, and its latest activity is a trip to Washington, D.C., to see the sights of the nation's capital. In addition, there is the Metropolitan Youth Drill Team, which has a very small registration fee, Jones said. Youths in this group beat drums, dance, and march in local parades and during events. Kids are able to learn how to dance and play the drums, and also may become interested in high school band, or marching band programs, Jones said. Students from Rock Island, Moline, East Moline and Davenport are on the drill team. The city of Rock Island provides 50 percent of the center's support, and thus, program priorities are made for the city's residents, Jones said. The proposal is placed before the Rock Island City Council next week to reflect the community's support of the King Center and because the board seeks to be transparent about the change, he said. Pat Walsh spent part of his Wednesday afternoon looking over and photographing the display boards showing the future construction of the Interstate 74 Bridge Project that the Iowa and Illinois departments of transportation put up in Davenports RiverCenter. An informational meeting on Wednesday was to give Iowa residents a chance to see where the project is and what is left to be done. I find it interesting, said Walsh of Davenport, as he looked carefully at each board and then took a photo of it with his cell phone. A neighbor of his has an interest in the bridge and Walsh was taking the images to show him. Walsh said he finds the engineering behind the bridge and its construction fascinating. But what is of interest is how quickly the spans are to be constructed, he added. I want to see if theyll be able to stay on schedule, Walsh said. It will be interesting to see how construction goes during high water or a flood, he said. Its an aggressive schedule, Walsh added, with construction of both spans is scheduled to be completed by 2022. But there is anticipation. I want to see the new bike path and the glass deck, Walsh said. Thats going to be cool. Iowa DOT engineer Danielle Mulholland said that the two arch spans will cost a total of $322 million. The westbound span is scheduled to be completed in the winter of 2019-2020, she said. The eastbound span that will have the bike path will be completed in 2021, she added. George Ryan, vice president of Amec Foster Wheeler, the prime consultant firm for the bridge, said during construction recreational boaters should avoid the construction area. Barge traffic will have a way through the zone. Also, while the Channel Cat will be operating it also will be avoiding the construction zone. The construction crews will have buoys out marking the river traffic lanes, he said. Also, construction on 7th Avenue and 19th Street in Moline will begin soon, Ryan said. The intersection in that area will be closed for two months. They cant close it before August 1 and they have to have it open by Nov. 1. But at some point between August 1 and Nov. 1 that area will be closed for two months. Lunda, of Black River Falls, Wis., was awarded the $322 million contract to build the bridge spans. Another informational meeting will be held today at the iWireless Center in Moline from 4:30-7:30 p.m. A military weapon built for battlefield action around the world will hit the streets next Saturday in downtown Davenport for the 43rd annual running of the Quad-City Times Bix 7. Positioned near the starting line at 4th and Brady streets, the jungle green cannon mounted on the rear of a matching armored Humvee will help kick off the seven-mile road race. It marks the third consecutive year that Mandus Group will transport its self-propelled howitzer from its Rock Island headquarters to the event, which is expected to draw upward of 14,000 runners and walkers. Fully loaded, the cannon coined the Hawkeye fires off 105mm rounds that can destroy a target up to seven miles away. On race day, however, operators will load a 8-gauge shotgun blank into the breech of the gun to produce a blast and a cloud of smoke for effect. The sound, which one company representative compared to a firecracker explosion, should not startle participants or spectators. You can hear it, but theres just so much noise and commotion down there its not as loud as you would think," said Kris Jansen, who co-owns Mandus Group. 'Fired up to run' Quad-City Times publisher Debbie Anselm will fire the official starting gun at the same time, race director Ed Froehlich said. The simultaneous shots will follow Jack Careys singing of God Bless the USA and the national anthem. And for the fifth straight year, a squadron of four vintage aircraft will appear above the crowd to honor military men and women, who can register for the race for free. Its very moving, Froehlich said of the patriotic start. Its a great way to get fired up to run up the Brady Street hill. Both the flyover and the cannon launch are results of efforts by longtime Bix 7 volunteer Jerry Dykes, who formerly worked for Mandus Group. The retired U.S. Army master sergeant has made it part of his mission to increase the military presence at the race, Froehlich said. Because their creation has become an integral part of the pre-race festivities, Mandus Group officials now treat Bix 7 as a traditional get-together. We all go down there with our families, said Sam Kupresin, who co-owns the company with Jansen and his two brothers, Kevin and Keith. We think the Bix is a great event; it's always been very patriotically oriented." Groundbreaking technology The Jansens founded their business in 1998, where many successful organizations have started in a garage. Almost 20 years later, the engineering and manufacturing firm, which specializes in the development of military equipment, employs 22 full- and part-time staffers. They primarily work out of a nondescript facility at 2408 4th Ave. in Rock Island, where they store their green cannon and a desert tan one. The rig hit the mobile artillery market last year, following a five-year period of designing, building and testing. Although Mandus Group has not yet sold any units, which cost slightly more than $1.5 million, they have several irons in the fire. "We're getting a lot of interest from the U.S. Army, the Marines and many foreign countries," said Kupresin, who noted many of the cannon's parts were manufactured at the Rock Island Arsenal. Touted as the lightest mobile weapon system of its kind, it weighs 13,300 pounds without ammo. The 33-caliber barrel measures almost 11 feet. On board, the machine's recoil mechanism, which basically serves as a buffer between the gun and the vehicle, separates this self-propelled howitzer from others. The patented component reduces the force of each discharge by 70 percent, allowing users to equip light-weight vehicles, such as AM General's Humvee, with the weapon, Kupresin said. "They (AM General) looked at our technology, and they said, "Wow, this is a game-changer on the battlefield,'" he added. "No one else in the world has this recoil mechanism." About 5:45 a.m. next Saturday, a Mandus Group representative plans to drive the Hawkeye to the starting line, where those who want to learn more about the cannon can check it out themselves. As a mental health professional, I say, No, thank you, to the psychiatric hospital proposed by Strategic Behavioral Health. I have seen first-hand the progress that UnityPoint Health - Trinitys Robert Young Center (RYC) and other not-for-profit providers have made in improving our communitys mental health resources. In addition to the comprehensive inpatient and outpatient mental health services provided by RYC, our team delivers 24/7 crisis support and evaluation services throughout the five-county eastern Iowa region with the goal of connecting patients with the right level of care. This community-based approach is working. Last year, 5,440 patients were served through our crisis evaluation program and 72 percent of mental health presentations did not require inpatient admission. In the first quarter of 2017, we saw a 71 percent drop in the number of patients who had to be transferred outside of our community for inpatient mental health services compared to the previous time-frame. Adding new inpatient psychiatric beds in the Quad-Cities is unnecessary and will undermine our current system. The significant progress being made by existing non-profit providers like RYC would be jeopardized by having a for-profit facility cherry-pick patients with commercial insurance and destabilize the workforce of qualified behavioral health professionals by unfairly competing for workers. This facility is not right for the Quad-Cities. Its not needed. I urge everyone in our community to oppose it. Jen Tamayo Davenport Editors note: Tamayo is lead care coordinator, Robert Young Center I am living proof that Robert Young Centers (RYC) integrated community-based approach to behavioral health care not only works, but leads to better outcomes for people like me. I have long struggled with mental illness. I had to be hospitalized for inpatient psychiatric services about 20 times between 2007 and 2015. But I have not been hospitalized the past two years because Ive been given the tools I need to succeed through RYCs Integrated Health Homes Program. My care team has provided me with community integration skills, coping skills, and other basic needs so I can manage my life at home instead of at the hospital. Unlike these local, not-for-profit health care providers, Strategic Behavioral Health is a for-profit company motivated to make money for its Tennessee-based executive team. My father was denied care for his mental illness by another provider because he didnt have insurance. I fear this will also be the case for many of our most vulnerable patients who believe this for-profit hospital is the answer. I truly believe our community does not need more inpatient beds. When I needed treatment, the outstanding doctors and nurses at RYC were there for me, without regard for my ability to pay. I am grateful every day for their kindness and dedication. I strongly oppose Strategic Behavioral Healths plans to build a for-profit hospital in our community. Michelle Wild Davenport MILWAUKEE | Harley-Davidson Inc. is eliminating about 180 production jobs at its plants this fall, union officials said last week, with locations in suburban Milwaukee and Kansas City, Mo., to be hit the hardest. The 180 permanent job cuts are coming in the next couple of months as the company throttles back production amid weak U.S. motorcycle sales. Temporary furloughs also are expected at the plants. "It's not looking too good at this point," said Ross Winklbauer, a sub-district director for the United Steelworkers union that represents the workers. "We did not see this coming," he said. Harley-Davidson has said soft U.S. motorcycle sales resulted in a disappointing fiscal quarter ended June 25. Net income fell 7.7 percent to $258.9 million, or $1.48 per share, in the three-month period from $280.4 million, or $1.55 per share, a year earlier. Revenue fell to $1.58 billion from $1.67 billion. Harley said U.S. sales were down 9.3 percent, and global sales were down 6.7 percent from the same period a year ago _ when sales also declined. The company previously forecast "flat to down modestly" full-year motorcycle shipments but said it now expects to ship 241,000 to 246,000 bikes in 2017 down 6 percent to 8 percent from 2016. The new projection includes a 10 percent to 20 percent decline in production in the current quarter. Harley President and CEO Matt Levatich said details of the job reductions were provided to plant employees Tuesday and Wednesday in meetings with department managers. "Lower expected shipments means we will need to reduce plant production and this has an implication for our manufacturing facilities, our people and our financial performance. This action will require an hourly workforce reduction at some of our U.S. manufacturing plants," Levatich said in a conference call with analysts. The company's York, Pa., plant is not included in the job reductions, according to the company, although that plant has lost hundreds of positions in the last few years. The Milwaukee-area plant, which builds motorcycle engines, and the Kansas City plant, which assembles bikes, will be hit the hardest, according to the Steelworkers. The number of people forced out of work could be lessened through voluntary buyouts. It depends on what incentives the company offers, union officials said. No salaried employees are expected to lose their jobs at the plants. Levatich described the second-quarter earnings as disappointing and said the company is aggressively managing its inventory as it nears the introduction of the 2018 model-year lineup this fall. Manufacturers of cruiser and touring motorcycles have seen their U.S. sales fall as the economy has remained weak in some areas, including states dependent on oil and gas production. Harley-Davidson's U.S. market share for the quarter was 48.5 percent in the heavyweight motorcycle category, down a percentage point from a year earlier. The company has faced pressure from Japanese and European motorcycle manufacturers and Minnesota-based Indian Motorcycle Co. Analysts said Harley's performance in the second quarter was worrisome, given that typically it's the biggest three-month period for U.S. motorcycle sales. It's a "pretty telling sign as to what's going to happen the rest of the year," said analyst Robin Diedrich with Edward Jones Co. The sharp reduction in motorcycle shipments for the year, which follows similar actions from the company, has shaken some analysts' confidence. "At some point, doubt starts to creep in," Diedrich said about the management. Makers of heavyweight motorcycles are struggling to sell new bikes even as sales of used bikes remain strong. Healthy used bike sales are an indication that the Harley brand is in good shape, Levatich said. The company's 10-year goal is to attract several million more customers, which is important as baby boomers age out of riding. It now has nine motorcycles selling for less than $12,000, which appeals to younger riders. "Plenty of millennials ride motorcycles ... it's up to us to inspire even more of them to ride and to engage with Harley-Davidson's products and experiences," Levatich said. A judge has thrown out a lawsuit that challenged voting by absentee ballot in Detroit, saying a Republican candidate for secretary of state failed to produce any evidence of violations. Wayne County Judge Tim Kenny says critics have raised a red flag of election law wrongdoing. But Kenny says his ruling takes down that flag. Kristina Karamo and others sued to try to force Detroit voters to vote in person or go to the city clerks office to get an absentee ballot. They made a variety of allegations about how Detroit reviews signatures on absentee ballots and monitors ballot drop-off boxes. The judge says they failed dramatically to back up any of it. DEADWOOD - The 128th Annual Meeting of the Society of Black Hills Pioneers will be held July 22, at the Homestake Adam Research and Cultural Center, 150 Sherman Street, Deadwood. A social time begins at noon with the introductions of attendees at 12:30 p.m. and banquet at 1 p.m. The program on the Projects of the Society of Black Hills Pioneers will begin at about 1:45 p.m. Vernon Davis will speak about the area cemetery projects and Clint Jolley will give updates on the Nolin Monument in Sturgis. Cost of the banquet is $20. Reservations needed to be for the banquet by calling Chris Maupin at (307) 467-5260 by July 15. However, you may attend just the program. The Society is raffling off a 22 L/R Henry Golden Boy rifle with gold inlays. It is engraved on the stock along with an inlaid Society pin. Tickets maybe purchased that day or by contacting Chris Maupin. A silent auction will also be held that day to help pay for the Society scholarship. During the program, four $500 scholarships will be given. Two are provided by the Wong Family, one is the Kinghorn Memorial Scholarship and one is given by the Society of Black Hills Pioneers. Students from the area may apply for these each year by contacting their school guidance counselors. The Kinghorn Memorial Scholarship is open to any Society member or their descendants from anywhere in the United States or a foreign country. The winners have written an essay about the area history and the Society winner will present the essay at the meeting. The Society began in 1889 because the prospectors felt an exclusive bond and wanted the world to remember they were the first. Membership qualification is that you must have had an ancestor, who was in the Black Hills prior to or at the time of the first federal census taken in June, 1880. The Black Hills area includes the counties of Lawrence, Meade, Butte, Pennington, Custer and Fall River in Dakota Territory and Crook or Weston counties in Wyoming Territory. The Society works to preserve the area cemeteries and other historical sites, presents scholarships, publishes an annual history book and has a float in the Days of 76 parade. The 2017 history book will be available at the meeting and also may be obtained from Chris Maupin, Society Secretary by writing to her at P O Box 252, Hulett, WY 82720. Copies of the fourteen Society published books are available for reading at most of the area libraries and contain many family histories as well as articles about local towns and events in those towns. If you are interested in Society membership, please contact Chris Maupin as well for an application. Turns out they didnt mean it. Tuesdays ignominious Mitch McConnell withdrawal of Senate Republicans latest half-baked and half-hearted repeal and replace effort sealed it: They never meant it. Those seven years of sending Republican-backed repeal Obamacare bills to President Obamas desk on the guarantee they would be vetoed was mere Kabuki theatre. They were a sham. Always a sham. This time, I predict, a sham too far. Since passage of the absurdly named Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, in 2010, Republican politicians have won nearly a thousand city, county, state and federal elections running, in no small part, against Obamacare. For all the recent media backed polls (yes, polls, theyre back) touting Obamacares current popularity just remember those elections. Thats a thousand polls using actual voters with electoral teeth. Im no politician perish the thought but if I were a Republican officeholder Id think about that number, a thousand, and muse: Hmm, maybe voters are hinting at something. Not for nothing are Republicans called the stupid party. This latest debacle recalls a term first heard at Fort Leonard Wood during boot camp: Untrainable. Over a year ago I switched my party identification from Republican to Independent based on the demonstrable truth of the old chestnut that there is not a dimes worth of difference between Republicans and Democrats." Consider Tuesday exhibit A. We have one party in Washington D.C.: The Cronycrats. This latest example of the shell game Cronycrats have always played underscores how parlous a state our Representative Republic is in. On Tuesday we witnessed, without a fig leaf of shame, the truth that our elections, at least to Congress, no longer have consequences. Cronycrats, with their monied mistresses the lobbyists long have they ruled. The palpable frustration of millions whove seen their insurance deductibles and premiums skyrocket since Affordable Care became the law of the land will go back on the boil. The number of counties will increase to the point of entire states that will have either one insurance provider or none participating in their exchanges. And to all you smirking on the sidelines Democrats, in the immortal words of Han Solo: Laugh it up fuzzball. President Trump is right. Like the Titanic, when the stern of Obamacare goes vertical before plunging into the murky depths, all eyes will be upon you. What have you done? What have any of you done besides cynically try to buy votes to at least mitigate this disaster? Another sad old truth about the abysmal state of our elected officials seems sadly born to light: We have the best politicians money can buy. But whos money bought them? Need we once again follow the money? Whos in the pocket of Big Pharma, insurance and any other corporations tied to this boondoggle? But hey, follow the bouncing media ball. What about Russia and how they hacked the election? Brother Barack, where are you when we need you? Please come back and tell us all how the 1980s called and they want their foreign policy back. Instead of crafting legislation to make health care more affordable and accessible as promised, it seems Republicans are determined to do just the opposite. Plan A was crafted in secret by 13 senators, including John Thune of South Dakota. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, it would have cost an estimated 22 million Americans their health care. After it was rejected when exposed to the light of scrutiny and it became clear the loyal opposition to the Affordable Care Act couldnt agree on a more humane plan, Plan B which could cost an estimated 32 million Americans their health care was put on the table. Why do some Republicans, including Sen. Thune, believe that pushing people out of the health care system is the best way to reform it? Why does the same party that said Obamacare would lead to death panels appear so anxious to take care away from the sick, elderly or those with ongoing medical conditions? A vote to repeal Obamacare, rather than repeal and replace as President Trump and Republicans promised, could occur next week. If passed by the Senate and House and signed into law by Trump, millions of Americans who purchase their insurance on health exchanges will see their rates soar and in many cases will no longer be able to afford coverage. In South Dakota, more than 29,000 people get insurance from the exchanges, which the government subsidizes by assessing a tax on the wealthiest individuals to make premiums affordable. In addition, millions more on Medicaid including women, children and those who live in assisted living facilities or get care at rural hospitals would lose their health care. Why punish Americans who need health care for a political failure? Now that the leadership of the party in power has failed to reform the most expensive health care system in the world, it wants to throw in the towel. Rather than truly lead and find a common ground that serves the best interests of their constituents, the Republican leadership wants to terminate the program and hope Democrats will be punished politically for their botched attempt at reform. In essence, they are hoping that sick Americans, senior citizens and those with pre-existing conditions which can be just about anything when left to an insurance company's discretion will pressure the Democrats to support a Republican plan that lets insurers decide who gets covered and how much it will cost them. And once this happens, the Republicans promise they will then get around to someday replacing Obamacare. If the GOP does that, it will have broken a promise the party has made for years. Now, though, voters are expected to believe this new promise without having any idea what to expect from Republican leaders who now seek to take away their health care. If the Republican Party introduces a bill to only repeal Obamacare, it will be asking their members to choose between the party and a legislative victory or the people they represent who in many cases view this as a life-and-death matter. Sens. Thune and Rounds and Rep. Noem need to do what is right and reject the repeal-only legislation and then work harder for a plan that is best for their constituents and America. AFK Sistema loses bid to recuse judge in dispute with Rosneft MOSCOW, July 20 (RAPSI) - The Commercial Court of the Republic of Bashkortostan on Thursday refused to recuse the presiding judge from proceedings in a 170.6-billion-ruble lawsuit (about $3 billion) lodged by Russias oil giant Rosneft against holding company AFK Sistema, the court told RAPSI on Thursday. AFK Sistema filed a petition for the judge disqualification because of alleged subjectivity and prejudgment. Earlier, the court dismissed AFK Sistemas request to conduct financial and economical examination to estimate damages. On July 12, the court rejected motion to bring Felix Yevtushenkov, the son of the companys owner, and Nachmann Rechtsanwalte law firm founder Joseph Nachmann, who had previously worked in AFK Sistema, into the proceedings as third parties. However, a motion filed by Rosneft seeking to seize 185 billion rubles ($3.1 billion) in AFK Sistemas assets was granted. On June 23, the Commercial Court of the Republic of Bashkortostan seized 31.76% of MTS mobile operators shares owned by AFK Sistema and its subsidiary Sistema-Invest as well as 100% of Medsi Groups shares and 90.47% of Bashkir Power Grid Companys (BESK) as part of 170.6 billion rubles (about $3 billion at the current exchange rate) lawsuit filed by Rosneft, Bashneft and Republic of Bashkiria against the companies. According to AFK Sistema, the asset seizure resulted in a technical default on 3.9 billion rubles ($66 million). The Eighteenth Commercial Court of Appeals will hear AFK Sistemas appeal against seizure of its assets on August 7. According to press service of Rosneft, the lawsuit is connected with alleged siphoning of assets. Initially, Rosneft sought to collect 106.6 billion ($1.8 billion) rubles in damages from Sistema. Later the oil giant increased its claim to 170.6 billion rubles. The plaintiff revised the claim damage upwards taking into account currency fluctuations, according to a companys representative. Actions of AFK Sistema allegedly led to decrease of assets at this sum, the plaintiff said. AFK Sistema claims that the plaintiffs demands are illegal and groundless. Russian-Israeli blogger sentenced to 3 years in prison by Azerbaijan court MOSCOW, July 20 (RAPSI) The Baku Court on Grave Crimes in Azerbaijan on Thursday sentenced blogger Alexander Lapshin, who has citizenship of Russia and Israel, to 3 years in prison for entrance to the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region without official sanction of Baku, RAPSI learnt in the court. Lapshin was arrested in Belarus in late 2016. In February, he was extradited to Azerbaijan where he went on trial. He was charged with separatism propaganda, violating laws On the state border of the Azerbaijan Republic and On Passports. According to Azeri prosecutors, he illegally entered Nagorno-Karabakh in 2011 and 2012 and as a result he was prohibited from visiting Azerbaijan. However, in 2016, he travelled to Azerbaijan using a Ukrainian passport. Spelling of his name in his Ukrainian passport differs from the other documents; therefore, he could skirt the ban. Azeri authorities also claim that the blogger pushed for independence of Nagorno-Karabakh in his posts. Under Azeri law, calls for violation of territorial integrity are illegal. Lapshin has pleaded guilty to the brought charges. Russian FM says Hague-based PCA had no jurisdiction in Arctic Sunrise case MOSCOW, July 20 (RAPSI) Russia has taken no part in the litigation relating to the seizure of Greenpeace vessel Arctic Sunrise in 2013 initiated by the Netherlands in the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague due to the fact that PCA lacked jurisdiction in the case, Artem Kozhin, deputy official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, told journalists on Thursday. Russia has always upheld the position that PCA had no jurisdiction in the case, according to the comments Kozhin made on the Courts final award issued on Tuesday. The PCA ruled earlier that Russia must pay the Netherlands about 5.4 million in compensation in the Arctic Sunrise ship confiscation case, including legal costs and interest. The Tribunal determined that Russia had breached the Convention by failing to comply with the order prescribing provisional measures issued by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in connection with this arbitration (ITLOS Provisional Measures Order) and by failing to pay the deposits requested by the Tribunal in the proceedings. The lawsuit was filed by the Netherlands in October 2013. In August 2015, the Court held that Russian authorities are to compensate the Dutch side in the Arctic Sunrise case. The PCA award does not take into account the fact that Greenpeace activists provocative actions directly endangered the safety of the platform and its personnel, forcing Russian authorities to resort to lawful measures to stop the wrongdoing, Kozhin said adding that it was regrettable the Courts decision in fact facilitated pointedly illegitimate actions under the pretense of peaceful protests. On September 18, 2013, Greenpeace activists attempted to land on the Prirazlomnaya oil rig to protest oil production in the Arctic. The next day, Russian border officials landed on the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise in a helicopter and towed it to Kola Bay. All 30 crew members were arrested. After the protest on the Prirazlomnaya, a criminal case on piracy was opened. Later, the charges were changed to disorderly conduct. In December 2013, all 30 activists were released under an amnesty marking 20 years of the Russian Constitution. BILLINGS The demand by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke that Bureau of Land Management officials get cracking on a backlog of the oil and gas permits had Montana officials a little perplexed. The number of delayed drilling applications for Montana federal land is fewer than 100. The number that could be potentially rushed to approval was much smaller. In Montana, there were 84 pending applications and of those, 82 of them are in a pending status. Theres no way of acting on them because theyre in the Interior Board of Land Appeals, said Scott Haight, of BLM. Oil and gas drilling permits on federal land in Montana werent languishing because of BLM foot dragging, Haight explained. The permits were being slowed either by public objections over project conditions or myriad other reasons. Either another government agency hadnt signed off, or an oil and gas company hadnt supplied all the necessary information to move ahead. The order signed by Zinke on July 6 has uncorked a long-fermented jug of criticisms about oil and gas development on federal lands, both by environmentalists and energy companies. The former say poor market prices for fossil fuels, combined with federal policy that allows awarded leases to go undeveloped, has gummed up the program. Energy advocates say the BLM delays are real and are hurting fossil fuel development in the West. We all know what drives this is the market, said Jayson ONeill of the Western Values Project in Whitefish. Market prices for oil arent setting any records right now. Working with Democrats in the U.S. House, Western Values Project has compiled a list of more than 7,000 awarded leases nationally that arent producing oil, gas, or the royalties that flow to both federal and state governments. Federal law allows energy companies to apply for lease suspensions and extensions that keep a lease active without any production. Citing permitting delays as the cause to order BLM to get busy on processing leases, ONeill said, opens the door to softening regulations. The delays in federal oil and gas leases are real, said Alan Olson, Montana Petroleum Association executive director. The big kicker is even on a Bakken well with the state, we can get a permit in 30 days for a horizontal well 10 days for vertical well, Olson said. The BLM, for reasons I dont understand, can take 18 months to two years. There are many things that can trip up a federal lease, Olson said. If theres U.S. Forest Service or tribal land involved, officials for those agencies have to sign off. When they dont the process stalls. Energy companies nominate federal parcels for lease sales, which are supposed to take place quarterly. A bidder actually identifies the parcel where the company wants to drill. BLM then begins the environmental review and the public comment process that must take place before the lease sale. The deadline required for nominating a parcel has in some cases been set nine months in advance, Olson said. That wait can hobble negotiations with private landowners with mineral rights in the project area. BLM land can be described as the property sodbusters passed on during the land grab era of the 1910s. More often than not, the BLM property shares a fence line with private land. Its nearly impossible to develop a project on private land without getting a lease for the neighboring federal land, Olson said. A long delay for a federal lease can thwart agreements with neighboring private landowners, Olson said. In ordering BLM to ramp up permitting, Zinke cited 2,802 delayed drilling permits through the end of January. Theres a 30-day processing deadline for permits, but on average processing is taking 257 days. The secretarys order calls for quarterly lease sales, something energy companies say hasnt been happening. Haight said lease sales have been quarterly for the BLM division headquartered in Billings. The BLM office holds lease sales for Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota. However, not every region handled by the BLM office in Billings received a sale every quarter. Montana is divided into two parts, with sales tied to Miles City and representing the eastern part of the state occurring regularly. The remainder of the state comprises a second division where lease sales might take place once a year, according to one developer who requested not to be named out of concern that his name might tip off other energy companies about his Montana development plans far from the Bakken. Oil and gas development in Montana has all but stalled out, with only one drilling rig active in the state last week, according to Baker Hughes, a drilling supply company that monitors drilling activity worldwide. Amazon Prime Discount E-commerce giant Amazon.com is planning an 855,000-square-foot fulfillment center in the tiny village of North Randall, where the facility could support more than 1,200 jobs upon opening. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) NORTH RANDALL, Ohio -- An Amazon.com fulfillment center could bring more than 1,200 jobs to the long-ailing village of North Randall, in southeast Cuyahoga County. Across the country, the e-commerce giant is disrupting the traditional retail business and contributing to shopping malls' struggles. In Northeast Ohio, though, Amazon is literally replacing them. The North Randall project, an 855,000-square-foot building, would occupy approximately 69 acres of the former Randall Park Mall site. A rendering displayed at Thursday's Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority board meeting shows what the proposed Amazon.com fulfillment center in North Randall might look like. The project popped up on the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority board's agenda on Thursday morning. The board approved a request to provide up to $123 million worth of bond financing for the project, which could open during the second half of 2018. "This is part of our ever-growing network," Eric Murray, senior manager of economic development for Amazon, said during the meeting. "We're very excited about the opportunity to consider Northeast Ohio." Seefried Industrial Properties, Inc., an Atlanta-based developer that has worked on other projects for Amazon, has a contract to buy the North Randall site, David Riefe, the company's senior vice president for the Midwest, said during Thursday's port board meeting. The properties belong to multiple owners today. A site plan shows the location and orientation of a proposed Amazon.com fulfillment center in North Randall, on 69 acres of the former Randall Park Mall site. The developer plans to raze the existing buildings - a shuttered Burlington Coat Factory store, a closed automotive-maintenance facility and a former department store occupied by Ohio Technical College's PowerSport Institute, which would relocate. Seefried expects to construct a $177 million facility and lease it to Amazon, which has more than 70 such fulfillment centers across the country. Murray said that North Randall is vying against other, out-of-town sites for the project, which would include 2,600 parking spaces, 64 truck docks and parking for 200 trailers. Employees at the facility would earn "very competitive" salaries, Murray said, though he wouldn't provide numbers. The jobs would include healthcare, dental care, access to a 401(k) retirement-savings plan and other benefits, he added. David Smith, North Randall's longtime mayor, expressed cautious optimism during an interview after Thursday's port board meeting. He stressed that the fulfillment-center deal is far from done. "It's the biggest development, I think - the potential for the biggest development - since I've been in office," he said. "When the demolition of the mall site started, we anticipated having the opportunity to have this type of development. We're just hoping that it is completed." The workforce at the Amazon facility would surpass North Randall's population of roughly 1,100 people. But the employment would be a fraction of the estimated 5,000 or so people who worked at the mall in its heyday. Randall Park Mall closed in 2009. Bargain-focused developers Stuart Lichter and Chris Semarjian eventually acquired much of the property and started razing the central mall building in late 2014. They've been marketing the sprawling site, near Interstates 480 and 271, as an industrial park. Smith said the village doesn't have cash to put into the Amazon deal. But the village could grant partial property-tax abatement for the new building. "If we're fortunate to receive this project, that has been a topic of discussion," he said. "I'm not sure what we're going to end up at, but we are going to be amenable to as much as we can grant." Documents distributed at the port board meeting also mentioned a state grant that, along with private money from investors, could round out the funding package. JobsOhio, a private, statewide economic-development corporation that handles deals in their early stages, hasn't announced any incentives for the project. "The company is working with JobsOhio on state and JobsOhio assistance; however, there are no executed agreements at this time," Matt Englehart, a spokesman, wrote in an email. Murray told members of the port's board that Amazon has garnered "tremendous" support from the local community, including the village and the Greater Cleveland Partnership, the regional chamber of commerce. The company could make a decision on the project in 30 to 45 days, he said. "We're glad the project is under consideration, and we're optimistic that it will be approved," Deb Janik, the chamber's senior vice president for real estate and business development, said during a phone call after the meeting. She wouldn't comment further. The Plain Dealer reported in May that Seefried also has a deal to buy the shuttered Euclid Square Mall in Euclid for another large project - a 650,000-square-foot building that could be expanded to 1 million square feet for an unidentified tenant. On Thursday, Riefe said the projects aren't mutually exclusive. The North Randall deal doesn't impact Seefried's plans in Euclid, where a rezoning of 70 or so acres from retail to industrial use is on track for a City Council vote in late August. Jonathan Holody, Euclid's planning and development director, wouldn't comment on the potential use for the building, which Seefried has talked about opening late next year. Riefe also won't say whether the project is being designed for Amazon, which has a huge appetite for space and a penchant for secrecy when it comes to real estate. But Amazon has opened multiple fulfillment centers in other markets, including the Columbus area. The company, based in Seattle, employs thousands of workers at two such facilities in Etna and Obetz, respectively east and south of Columbus. Those buildings are 20 miles apart - roughly the same distance between the Euclid Square Mall site, east of Cleveland, and the former Randall Park Mall property. Kathmandu, Nepal: The Government of Nepal has on Thursday formed the Constituency Delimitation Commission (CDC) under the chairmanship of former Justice of the Supreme Court (SC) Kamal Narayan Das on Thursday. A meeting of the Council of Ministers held on Thursday afternoon at Signhdurbar made the decision. In the CDC, Madhav Adhikari, Bishwa Kalyan Parajuli and Ganesh Raj Karki are named as the members while Yogendra Sharma Paudel as Secretary The CDC has to present its report within 21 days regarding the number of constituencies in the country. Constitutionally, the CDC should be formed to determine the number of constituencies before the national and provincial elections. The government has to hold the provincial and national elections by January, 2018. As the government had not shown concerns to for the CDC, the Election Commission EC) had repeatedly urged the government to form the Commission without any further delay. I know by now the children must be crying in the land where they let the children cry, and tonight the stars'll be out, and don't you know that God is Pooh Bear? -On the Road Everything belongs to me because Im poor. - Visions of Cody Finding Nirvana is like locating silence. - Dharma Bums The Polisario announced the arrest last Sunday, to the east of the Moroccan defense wall in the Sahara, of 19 Moroccan civilians, accusing them of serving as mules (individual carriers) for drug dealers. The 19 Moroccans were arrested, according to a statement from the so-called Ministry of Defense in the locality of Aghchan Lbyad, near the Moroccan town of Gueltat Zemmour. This incident took place few months after the crisis triggered by the separatist front at the Moroccan border post of Guerguerat, near northern Mauritania. The crisis ended after the UN Security Council summoned the Polisarios armed militias to withdraw from the area last April. It also intervened just a few days after an armed confrontation between Sahrawi drug dealers in Awsserd camp, in Tindouf, in the presence of the Polisario leader Brahim Ghali who was visiting the camp. Through these provocative maneuvers, the separatist movements leadership, whose hard wing has long called for the resumption of the armed struggle, seeks to ignite tension to force the UN and Morocco to resume the negotiations on the Western Sahara issue. Likewise, the Polisario attempts to engage the Royal Armed Forces in an armed confrontation, to meet the secret aspirations of Algerian generals who want to destabilize the Moroccan neighbor. Since Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika suffered a stroke in 2013 that left him physically incapacitated, the Polisario has been fearing the political uncertainty in Algeria, combined with rising social tension in the Tindouf camps, where the deprived inhabitants have lost all hope in a better future. And last week, Mauritania announced the closure of its land border with Algeria which it has proclaimed military zone prohibited to civilians. The decision was made following the rise of drug dealing activities. Besides, tension in Tindouf is aggravated by the underhand war Brahim Ghalis clan has been delivering over the last few months to the supporters of his opponent, Mohamed Lamine Ould Bouhali. Bouhali and his clan cannot forget the fact that he had been dismissed, in December 2016, from the so-called key position of Minister of Defense that he had held for fifteen years. In its statement, the Polisario specifies the venue of the arrest of the 19 Moroccan citizens, all from the southern provinces of Morocco, but it does not provide any proof that they are drug traffickers. One of their two cars was confiscated but no drug seizure was announced. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Since Vietnam, the America's all-volunteer military has been engaged in a number of conflicts, from the invasion of Grenada in 1983, to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Today, 1.4 million people are on active duty and another 850,000 are in the reserves. They are deployed around the world, including facing down North Korea and fighting terrorists in Syria, Iraq and other conflict zones. From all accounts, the all-volunteer force has worked out well. For one thing, less than 0.5 percent of the population serves in the U.S. armed forces as opposed to 12 percent in World War II. It has also saved taxpayers money. The Pentagon's budget accounts for 20 percent of the government's budget, down from 45 percent during height of Vietnam. Moreover, everybody in the armed services wants to be there. No one is forced to serve. Advertisement The result, Gropman and others say, is a quality army with no rival on the world stage. A 2015 report by Credit Suisse, a multi-national financial firm, bears that out. The company's research institute ranked the United States military as the best in the world, despite the reduction in size and budget. Researchers ranked each nation on six variables, including the number of active personal, aircraft, tanks, attack helicopters, aircraft carriers and submarines. The U.S. far outdistanced the conscripted armies of Russia, Israel, South Korea, Egypt, among others. " " Soldiers of the 200th Military Police Command conduct physical fitness training at Fort Meade, Maryland, in July 2017. U.S. Army/Sgt. Audrey Hayes Moreover, while an army of conscripts tend to fall on the edge of the socio-economic spectrum, America's all-volunteer force now reflects a broad spectrum of society. Volunteers with different cultural and economic backgrounds stay in the military longer, allowing for more complex training and creating consistency and cohesion for units. The armed services also have high standards for intelligence, health and behavior, which an army of draftees lacks. But there are problems. Under the standards set by the military, only 20 percent of Americans are qualified to serve, which makes recruiting hard. During times of conflict there might not be enough soldiers to fight. We saw this during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, when the military had to dip into its reserve and National Guard units to do the bulk of the fighting. Many units did multiple tours. That's one reason of why some still believe the U.S. would be better off without a volunteer army. Joseph Epstein, a former draftee who served in the Army from 1958 to 1960 told The Atlantic that "a reinstated draft, or compulsory military service, would redistribute the burden of the responsibility for fighting wars, and engage the nation in military conflicts in a more immediate and democratic way. A truly American military, inclusive of all social classes, might cause politicians and voters to be more selective in choosing which battles are worth fighting and at what expense." Now That's Interesting A 2007 Gallup Poll found that 80 percent of Americans did not think Congress should reinstitute the draft. A 2013 Rasmussen Reports poll yielded the same results. At that time, only 29 percent of all American voters thought the draft should be reinstated. One of the true legends of Hong Kong cinema, Eric Tsang has made more than 250 films in a career spanning over 40 years that shows no sign of stopping. Tsang came to the New York Asian Film Festival to receive the Star Hong Kong Lifetime Achievement Award and premiere his film Mad World. Tsang spoke with me about 40 years of stardom and using his celebrity to sustain and reinvigorate Hong Kong cinema for future generations. The Lady Miz Diva: In my research for MAD WORLD, I understand initially you did not want to play such a heavy role. What changed your mind? Eric Tsang: Wow! You studied well. It was the script and because of the character. I was surprised that such a young person {Chun with screenwiter Florence Chan} could write such a mature script, and also tackle such a serious subject matter. So, when something this good comes along, it is hard for you to resist, or turn it down. LMD: Please talk about your costar, Shawn Yue. Youve known him since one of his first films, INFERNAL AFFAIRS, almost 15 years ago. Please tell us about working with him on this piece, and how youve watched him mature as an actor. ET: Of course, Shawn has matured a lot since I worked with him on Infernal Affairs. So, the hardest part of this film for me was, whenever I am on set, I like to goof off. I like to bring a lot of food, I like to talk to the crew and the cast, and lighten the mood. But Shawn was hardly on set, because he needed to properly prepare himself mentally for his scenes, because he had so many dramatic outbursts, and there were so many scenes of him in emotional turmoil. So, we might just see each other maybe minutes before we started shooting that particular scene, because he needed to prepare himself emotionally. So, we couldnt joke; we couldnt talk to each other, or affect his feelings, otherwise it might affect his performance. LMD: This is not the first time Im meeting Ms. Heiward Mak, who produced MAD WORLD. We first met in 2008 for her debut film, HIGH NOON, which you produced. Back then, she praised your guidance and encouragement. Amongst your many talents, I think its particularly great that you encourage young filmmakers. Please talk about why this is important to you? ET: Actually it is a strange story, because 10 years ago, Heiward was a new director, back then; now she is a producer of the film, but the relationship that we have is more like a teacher and a student, because she was a student of director Patrick Tam. He used to teach film students, and I would look at his film students as a way to find new talent. It is too sad that Patrick is no longer teaching, because he is such an expert in editing, cinematography, and movement. Patrick would help me a lot just by telling me, Oh, you should look at the students work, and it would help save me a lot of time in looking at all these different works. Patrick recommended Heiward to me. He said, Oh, shes good. That helped in finding suitable material. I worked with Wong Chun on a short film, and when he came over, he introduced Heiward to me again. Wong was like her younger brother. So, again, there was a brother-sister relationship here. Its like strongly-built trust. I was very impressed by his short film, which lured me to work with him, and I thought this was a very good collaboration. LMD: Besides coming to the festival to show MAD WORLD, you are also receiving the Star Hong Kong Lifetime Achievement Award. Thinking of your place as an icon of Hong Kong cinema, I also think of stars like Andy Lau, Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung, Jackie Chan. Im not sure that I see who is coming behind them to keep Hong Kong cinema alive. Is that part of what motivates your investment in young talent? ET: Yeah. This is what I want to do, but my capabilities are kind of limited. Not only because I cant do it all, but also because there is a generation gap, Ive found. So, Im hoping that by nurturing young directors, that they can help me find new actors. I seriously feel that we havent had a good new actor from Hong Kong in a long time. So, there is almost like a broken layer between the older actors and the new actors. This year we have 27 new directors in Hong Kong, so it is my hope that they can also bring out new actors. I also hope that the movies that the new directors make will combine both old and new talent, so that the more experienced veterans can provide on-site interaction and share their experience, share their insights, and then the new generation and the old generation of actors can share their own filmmaking experiences. So, I really want to see more new talent in front of the screen, and we hope that by having projects where it involves young directors, hopefully we can see more new actors at the forefront of Hong Kong cinema. LMD: As someone who is so synonymous with the Golden Age of Hong Kong film, please tell us how you have seen Hong Kong cinema evolve, and what you think is necessary for HK film to keep its unique identity? ET: For me, the biggest change in terms of the Hong Kong cinema experience, I realised that a lot of directors and actors have gone to China and make big-budget productions in China. So, now, we are only limited to making small budget Hong Kong films, and as a result, the subject matter for these films are very limited. This is unlike the 80s, where we could basically make anything; fantasy, horror, comedy, action. Now, I feel like that the current state of Hong Kong cinema is almost like Taiwanese cinema: Due to the budget, we can only do indie films that touch on issues like homosexuality, social bullying - less big productions. We want to break this barrier, so that new directors can also get a bigger budget more than just the HK$2 million that we got for this film - so that the new directors dont have to just make low-budget films. When I was making Jiang Hu with Andy Lau, Shawn Yue and Edison Chen - Shawn was very young then, too - and that is similar to something that I want to do; I want to have young actors. The old leading the new. And now, I want to have the new leading the new, so to speak. We have a few veterans leading the new, coming generation of actors. The new interacting with the old, so that Hong Kong movies cannot just be limited to big China. Right now, all of the big-budget movies are in China. So, we want to have a market that is similar to China, where it is not restrained by the budget. This is what I want to see the most. LMD: After more than 40 years as an actor, over 250 films and now winning the Star Hong Kong Lifetime Achievement award, how you would like the public to remember the name Eric Tsang, or can you say what your own proudest professional achievement has been? ET: I hope that people remember me for every single role Ive played; because some people like me is a gangster, some people like me as a comedian, some may like me as an actor. So, I hope that every role Ive played will be remembered. I am also very happy that I was able to do so many things and encompass so many roles as an actor, director, producer, stuntman. And I hope to do more in future films. I feel that now, I have already accomplished what I wanted to accomplish. I have passed the moneymaking stage. So, to me, right now I am at the stage where I want to share my experience. I want to share what I know. I want to continue to do what I want to do, and I want to keep sharing my experience and accomplishments in all the projects that I do. Here it is: a slipcase the size of a coffee table book, featuring the distinct artwork Satoshi Kon created for the 2008 Japanese Blu-ray release, celebrating the film's themes of conflict between multiple identities. To show what size this slipcase is, here it is next to a regular Blu-ray Amaray. Actually, the slipcase is a double one: a translucent plastic one covers the whole package, and it has to be removed before you can get at the contents. The inner slipcase, fully revealed. Inside the slipcase is a Digipak containing the film's discs, and two books. All contents displayed. At 64 and 192 pages of this size, these books are actual books, not booklets. All contents opened. As a fan of Satoshi Kon's artwork, this is awesome. The reverse side of the Digipak. This is the 64-page artwork book. In it, we get posters, promotion artwork, backgrounds, character designs, interviews... it is a veritable treasure trove for fans. Next we have the 192-page storyboard book. Note that a similar book can be gotten separately from Japan, but its price BY ITSELF exceeds the price of this French package. Unlike the Japanese version which has one storyboard page a page, this one has two storyboard pages a page (which accounts for why it has only 192 pages instead of 400). The inside of the storyboard page. Note the bathtub-screaming scene on the top right, later re-used shot for shot by Darren Aronofsky in Requiem for a Dream. To top it off: there's a separate chapter dedicated to the storyboards of deleted scenes. Fantastic stuff! The (back)end of a fantastic... wait. Ah, of course, the back-end also has the double-slipcase effect. So here is the REAL (back)end of this absolutely gorgeous edition. Well done, Kaze, well done indeed... As part of celebrating 100 years of Japanese animation, French distributor Kaze released a special edition of, Satoshi Kon's debut film as a director.This happens to be one of my favorite anime. Satoshi Kon basically used the tropes of Italy's psycho-sexual "gialli" thrillers to create a unique perspective on extreme stress, and while many people wondered why this film is animated instead of live-action, it allowed for some seamless tinkering with hallucinations and illusions.Released back in 1997,has been a major influence for many directors, and is openly referenced (sometimes credited, even) in films likeandSeven years ago, Satoshi Kon was unexpectedly diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and died a few months afterwards, at the incredibly young age of 46. I'd be hard-pressed to think of an artist whose passing I mourn more. I applaud Kaze's choice to use one of his films as an example of a highlight within a huge industry.Of course, as a big fan I ownedalready, it's not even the first time the film pops up in this series of articles, heh.... But the new French edition contained artwork books and was, while pricey, not terribly expensive. So I went for it.It arrived yesterday and while I expected it, I didn't recognize it because of the size of the package it was in. I expected a regular boxset, but what I got was the size of a coffee table book. When I unwrapped it my jaw hit the floor and bounced a few times.Now, a few words of warning: this set is French-friendly, not English-friendly. There are French dubs and subs, not English ones. On top of that, the Blu-ray and DVD are coded for Europe (region B and region 2 respectively), so if you buy this for the discs make sure your equipment can handle that.Here is a gallery of shots. Click on the edge of the pictures to scroll through them, or at the center of each to see a bigger version. Which I recommend, because... well, feast your eyes! I love horror movies that are disquieting and suspenseful. I hate horror movies that traffic in sheer cruelty and stupidity. So I love the first half of Killing Ground. Sam (Harriet Dyer) and Ian (Ian Meadows) are the prototypical romantic couple from the city who head off into the remote woods for a little rest and recreation. It's a very familiar premise, to the point that horror movie devotees will assume that the supposedly sophisticated people from the city will undoubtedly cross paths with savage country bumpkins, leading to blood flowing freely and bodies piling up. That's not exactly the way it goes, though. Damien Power, who wrote and directed, previously made a series of short films, and his experience becomes evident as the story develops. For one thing, when Sam and Ian cross paths early on with local bumpkins Chook and German (Aaron Glenane, Aaron Pederson), it's not clear if they're savages in waiting or just folks from the country who are a bit rough. Though the tone is always dead serious, I thought about Tucker and Dale vs Evil: what if the country folk are just country folk? What if their threatening exterior is easily misunderstood by outsiders? Once Sam and Ian arrive at their intended campsite by a river, they note that other campers have already set up nearby. They decide to stay anyway, and set up their camp, and enjoy themselves into the late evening. But what about the other campers? Filmmaker Power sets up a three-pronged situation that becomes increasingly uncomfortable as it progresses, playing with expectations and jumping around in time. We learn more about locals Chook and German; we also meet the family that camped at the wrong place. We're also drawn deeper into the dilemma faced by Sam and Ian, whose easy camaraderie dissolves at the stakes are ratcheted up. The stories are told in a quiet, deliberate fashion, which adds to the unease. After a certain point, though, the film succumbs to genre expectations and, indeed, the blood begins to flow. That will be reassuring to some viewers, I am sure, but I confess that the violence caused me to disengage from the experience. It's not that anything extremely graphic is presented; it's more that the brutality is extended until it becomes torturous to watch, especially because Power and the actors have created realistic portraits of recognizable human beings. Over the years, my tolerance for such things has contracted, so the violence feels especially cruel and excessive. Still, the first half of Killing Ground remains powerful and haunting, and is utterly compelling. Power is clearly a filmmaker to watch. IFC Midnight will release the film in select theaters and on VOD on Friday, July 21. In the studio world's constant quest to mine familiar IP, this one was inevitable, folks. Deadline reported this afternoon that Warner Bros. has hired veteran producer John Davis (Predator, Alien vs. Predator, AND Predators!) to lead the development of a new adaptation of Jack Finney's 1954 novel "The Body Snatchers", with The Conjuring 2 scribe David Leslie Johnson along for the ride. Davis is a man with a bazillion projects in development, so we'll just have to see how far this goes. Though in terms of sure bets this one should be firing on all cylinders. If you're a reader of ScreenAnarchy than you are no doubt a fan of at least one of the four film adaptations that's been made from the source material in the last 60 years. Okay, scratch that. None of you are fans of 2007's botched The Invasion... right? Philip Kaufman's 1978 take is one of my all-time favorite films, while Don Siegel's 1956 first take remains good fun, and Abel Ferrara's 1993 version is a curious detour that clunks out in the third act. I'll save folks a monologue on why a new take on this material could actually be worthwile in this day and age, and leave you with this: How would you feel about seeing Raw's Julia Ducournau in the director's chair? If you've got thoughts of any kind on the matter at hand, chime in with a comment below! If you are currently a print subscriber but don't have an online account, select this option. You will need to use your 7 digit subscriber account number (with leading zeros) and your last name (in UPPERCASE). BART continues to have to answer for its aging train car woes, and for its recent spate of crime, and the latest terrible tidbit comes via the Chronicle, where we learn that more than 100 of the so-called "working" surveillance cameras aboard BART trains are using video technology from the 1970s, including some that are recording on aging Betamax tape. The news comes just a couple weeks after BART proudly announced that they'd completed a project to replace what were in many cases decoy cameras with real, modern ones a project that cost $1.42 million and took them over a year to complete, following the revelation that many of the cameras didn't work or didn't exist in the wake of a high-profile fatal shooting on a train early last year. Ironically, their announcement noted that the new, digital cameras had a usable life span of six to seven years uh, what's the life span of a Betamax camera, folks? "Tapes just get worse with age, say digital forensics guy Doug Carner, speaking to the Chron. "Its just a terrible medium." Apparently some of the cameras are still using VHS tapes too. Sony killed off the Betamax player technology, officially, in 2002, despite it being superseded in popular culture two decades earlier by VHS. Because of the niche market represented by agencies like BART, Sony continued producing Betamax tapes until 2015, when they officially killed those off as well. So, it's true that all of BART's onboard cameras now work, allegedly. But if something bad happens to you or someone you know on a train, you'd better hope you or they are on one of the 555 cars with digital cameras on them, not the 97 still outfitted with Beta cameras and 17 outfitted with VHS cameras, because that footage is going to be a mess. BART spokesperson Alicia Trost counters that saying that the only reason the cameras haven't been replaced is because they're still producing usable footage, but can we trust that they've actually really checked them all? She says that when police request footage and it comes back (in Beta!) totally unusable, the camera in question gets replaced. Clearly BART is trying to save a few dollars here given that their Fleet of the Future is set to get rolling, ever so slowly, starting with a few cars by the end of this year. In related news, some of those Fleet of the Future cars are going to be seen rolling through stations on your commute soon KQED reports that the new cars are being tested during regular business hours on BART's main lines right now. ALSO, BART director Bevan Dufty announced Tuesday that after much protest by the media, BART Police will be reinstating their daily crime log emails, which had recently been replaced by the CrimeMapping.com tool. "We need to be open," Dufty told the Chronicle. "Our focus needs to be on recruiting more [BART Police] officers and not curtailing information." Related: Rapes On BART Are Rapidly On The Rise This Year Fans of Conservatives vs. Antifa antics in Berkeley will want to know that the latest dust-up is going precisely according to formula. Barely a week after Berkeley College Republicans and the Young Americas Foundation booked conservative pundit Ben Shapiro without having secured a venue, theyve been informed by Berkeley Student Affairs that a venue is not available on the date and time they requested. This being the third time in seven months that a conservative speaker has not been afforded their requested time slot to speak on the UC Berkeley campus, the denial of a venue demanded at a specific time has organizers crying Berkeley Blocks Ben Shapiro. The scenario has parallels to the last-minute cancellation of a Milo Yiannopoulos speech in February in the midst of violent protests, and Ann Coulters withdrawal from an April speaking engagement when organizers withdrew support. The Berkeley College Republicans and Young Americas Foundation booked Shapiro and announced his appearance on July 11, without yet having a venue arranged. The groups requested a 500-seat venue for use specifically on September 14 at 7 p.m., which Student Affairs said via email it was unable to accommodate, though their reply reportedly did offer other dates and venues. Berkeleys inability to find a lecture hall more than two months in advance is laughable, the Young Americas Foundation said a in a press release. The universitys email is full of double-speak such as the statement Ben Shapiro is welcome on our campus, and we are committed to supporting his, and your, rights to free speech, despite paragraphs earlier denying him the same platform willingly granted to high-profile liberals. Im no expert on UC Berkeley venue reservation protocol, but Ive received enough Cal Perfomances emails to know that UCB's event facilities are often booked up more than ten months in advance. The Berkeley College Republicans, though, feel the denial is a specific attack on their right to free speech. It is important to note that the university did not in fact identify any other dates, times, or venues for Mr. Shapiros speaking engagement at UC Berkeley, BCR vice president Naweed Tahmas said in an email to the Daily Californian. Is that true though? Shapiro was provided a venue to speak on the Berkeley campus for a previous 2016 engagement, and as noted in the Young Americas Foundation press release, Student Affairs did say Mr. Shapiro is welcome on our campus. According to the full email acquired by the Daily Californian, Student Affairs also said, We have tentatively reserved a few venues on BCRs behalf that can be discussed as part of the events security review. These venues include smaller spaces on the date requested and larger venues on other dates in September. This would indicate the potential for negotiations, rather than press release warfare and Twitter battles with zero-sum game phraseology like Ben Shapiro vs. Berkeley and Berkeley Blocks Ben Shapiro. (The Young Americas Foundation is also suing UC Berkeley over the Ann Coulter incident, though they too dropped their support of that event.) The Shapiro saga is likely to be publicized as an attack on free speech, but it may just be a misunderstanding on the logistics of securing a free venue. Related: Berkeley College Republicans Threatened By Graffiti The biggest wildfire currently raging in California is the 70,000-acre, 109-square mile Detwiler Fire in Mariposa County. It nearly doubled again in size between Wednesday and Thursday, and as the Weather Channel notes, it is now larger than the size of Seattle. The fire has forced the evacuation of the entire town of Mariposa, population 2,000, and it is currently threatening 1,500 structures though the Associated Press reports that firefighters have managed to keep the blaze at bay from the town by about a half mile. A CalFire spokesperson said yesterday that the total number of homes and structures under threat is 4,500. There was a brief power outage in Yosemite National Park Tuesday related to the fire, however power was restored. As the LA Times reports, the park's main, 70,000-volt transmission line is nearby but not currently threatened by the fire, unless the fire changes directions. The fire is burning in steep, hilly terrain on both sides of Highway 49, and at its closest it now appears to be between 5 and 10 miles from the western edge of Yosemite though a CalFire spokesperson put it at 35 miles away on Wednesday. Smoke has made the air hazy around Yosemite's famous attractions, and fine ash is raining down over the park as well, per the LA Times. The fire is northeast of Merced, and due east of Turlock by about 40 miles. Nearly 5,000 people have been evacuated so far, and according to the CalFire incident report, 3,181 firefighters are currently battling the blaze. 45 structures have been destroyed so far, and it's unclear how many of those are homes. Jeff Marshall, a fire behavior analyst with CalFire's Incident Management team, tells the LA Times that the flames are between two and four feet, with some flares reaching 25 feet high. The fire has been described as "explosive" and "aggressive," and Mariposa County Sheriff Doug Binnewies tells the LAT that this is the first time he's ever known of an entire town having to be evacuated from a fire though the Bay Area likely will remember that the town of Middletown had to be quickly evacuated, and was largely destroyed, during the Valley Fire in Lake County in 2015. The Detwiler Fire is already twice the size of the last big wildfire to hit the region, the 30,000-acre Telegraph Fire in 2008, which destroyed 30 homes in the area of the town of Midpines. Previously: Detwiler Fire Triples In Size, Entire Town Of Mariposa Evacuated Contemporary Bay Area residents can rightfully complain of overpopulation, overdevelopment, and a housing crunch. But amidst this development boom, the history buffs over at KQED remind us that the Bay Area still has one ghost town. KQEDs ongoing series Bay Curious gives the details on the abandoned Fremont-area ghost town of Drawbridge, speaking to historians and residents of what had been a booming resort between the 1880s and 1930s. Our story begins back in 1876, when Ulysses Grant was president, California had been a U.S. state for barely 15 years, and nicknames were real nicknames. Slippery Jim Fair Alfred Hog Davis built a railroad from Alameda to Santa Cruz, and tracks were built over the marshlands of what would become Drawbridge. A small number of cabins were built at Drawbridge to accommodate riders during train stops, but riders noticed huge flocks of ducks and unrivaled fishing conditions, and the midway stop became as popular as the trains destination. With no government or law enforcement taking jurisdiction over Drawbridge, hunters could fill small cannons full of nails and kill dozens of ducks with a single shot. As Prohibition took effect, Drawbridge became a popular destination for tourists seeking unregulated booze, prostitution, and gambling. During that era, Drawbridge hosted 80-90 homes and its population grew to 600 people on the weekends. But as throughout Bay Area history, s**t happens. Specifically, raw sewage and industrial waste from the growing and more powerful establishment towns of Fremont and San Jose built up in the creeks and waterways of Drawbridge. Salt ponds on every side made life more miserable, and evolving water patterns left Drawbridge residents homes routinely flooded. By 1963, only five residents remained in Drawbridge, leading to media descriptions of the area as a ghost town. They also said there was all kinds of antiques and stuff here, former Drawbridge resident Roger Battinich told KQED. Which there were, but people still owned them. Such talk led to looting and vandalism of what was left of the town, and the population dwindled to just one diehard resident. That resident, Charlie Luce, left the island in 1979. Is there drone video of what Drawbridge looks like today? Heck yes there is, and it is embedded above. People are no longer allowed to set foot on Drawbridge land, as it is now a protected wildlife preserve and visitors can be cited for trespassing. (But Drawbridge does have a Yelp page, with reviewers claiming you can park at the McDonald's and jump over the fence.) Amtrak trains do pass through Drawbridge, though, and this 2011 Blogspot post provides an excellent photo tour of what remains today. Related: The Abandoned Couches of San Francisco A crackdown on hourly rentals in Tennessee hotels has apparently sent sex workers into area Airbnbs, with one Oakland man allegedly traveling south to cash in on the brave new brothel world. ABC 7 reports that 23-year-old Oakland, California resident Travis Young was arrested in Memphis, Tennessee Monday, after a neighbor tipped police off regarding an alleged pop-up brothel being run from the home. According to NewsFix, a neighbor identified only as "Jeff" was hosting a Game of Thrones premiere party Sunday when he says he saw as many as 31 solitary men coming and going from the property. For the first few guys I thought, Im not really seeing what Im seeing here, but after a while, it became pretty clear." WMCA reports that police found an online posting advertising sex at the address, then "contacted the advertiser, who confirmed prices for sexual favors." On Monday, police raided the residence, finding "used condoms strewn about the floor, jars of marijuana, $4,058 in cash, a handgun that's believed to be stolen, and three children." Young and four others were arrested at the scene. NewsFix reports that Young rented the property through San Francisco-based Airbnb, noting that "both renters and guests have to undergo background checks in order to use the site." According to WCMA, one of the sex workers employed in the rental says "she provides for Travis Young through prostitution. She said Young does not have a job, but he reserves rental properties for her to use while prostituting. She said she pays for the rentals and supports Young with the proceeds she makes." The home's owners, who were on vacation when Young rented the residence from July 14-17, have removed it from Airbnb, Fox 13 reports. The owners of the home are great people, and they rented it out before, Jeff said. Weve never had an issue. This was definitely unusual. David Harris, who works on the cleaning crew that reportedly comes to the Airbnb after each renter leaves, tells Fox 13 Theres condoms on the floor...Every single dirty thing you can imagine is probably in there. "This has ruined Airbnb for me," Harris says. As reported in 2016, Airbnbs are reportedly widely used for sex work, as Airbnb is a simple way for women who dont have an enormous amount of money to transition into indoor work, one sex worker said at the time. And in Tennessee, there's another incentive to choose Airbnb as a venue for clients: According to the Tennessean, in an effort to crack down on sex work, hotels in that state's major cities prohibit rental periods of less than ten hours, making an Airbnb no more expensive than any but the seediest hotel room. When contacted in 2016, Airbnb said that they "have a zero-tolerance policy for issues like these...When hosts and guests sign up for our service they agree to comply with local law." In reference to this week's case, Airbnb released a statement that echoed that sentiment, saying" Airbnb has zero tolerance for this type of behavior and we are outraged over what has reportedly taken place. We immediately removed this user from our community and we are fully supporting our host. Airbnb runs background checks on all US residents using the platform and we are urgently investigating this in coordination with local law enforcement. But when asked by Fox 13 if he believed Airbnb did enough to protect users, Harris said I dont think they do at all. They should do a lot more to weed out this kind of thing. The city of Memphis is charging Young with "promoting prostitution, money laundering, and drug possession," Fox 13 reports. The three children found at the scene have since been placed with child protective services. Previously: Local Sex Workers Stoked About Abundance Of Airbnbs Accordingly, the center was equipped with the modern technologies which directly imported from Italy and European countries.The opening is expected to create favorable business conditions for small- medium enterprises in Vietnams leather-footwear industry.As plan, the center will collaborate with the Ho Chi Minh City Commerce & Industry College to open training classes to develop footwear products and designs of Vietnamese enterprises, meeting the worlds new manufacturing trends. BY TRUC HAU- Translated by Huyen Huong The three are strategically located along the East-West Economic Corridor. Savannakhet, which lies west of Quang Binh and Quang Tri provinces and east of Thailand, is offering incentives for investments in high-tech, clean and organic agriculture, agricultural and forestry processing, sustainable tourism, education, healthcare, infrastructure, banking and development of modern trading centres among others. Santiphab Phomvihane, Secretary and Governor of Savannakhet, said the province is suitable for infrastructure development, especially in Build- Operate- Transfer (BOT) and Public-Private Partnership (PPP) modes, and export-oriented agriculture. He said firms could also invest in irrigation works to support rice cultivation and establishment of seeds and livestock breeds supply centres. Savannakhet also solicited investment in vocational schools, modern hospitals, hotel and tourism services related to history, culture and protection of the natural environment, he said. Vietnamese companies, with 24 projects there worth over US$170 million, are the third largest foreign investors in the province. There are an increasing number of Vietnamese firms investing in various sectors in the province, contributing significantly to its socio-economic development and to improving peoples lives, he said. The provinces infrastructure is being developed to facilitate faster and more convenient transport of goods by road, boost industry and services, and enable it to become a modern industrial province and a logistics and cross-border transportation hub. The province has consistently worked to improve its investment environment, he added. Khammouane Province listed 13 projects seeking investment in 2017, including construction and development of the Langkhang Economic Zone and development of rice-based products, logistics, modern rice mills, micro-organic fertiliser plants, tourism services and others. Bunmy Phimmasone, deputy secretary and deputy governor of the province, said the 13 projects were identified on the basis of the provinces advantages like energy and mines, agriculture-forestry, services and tourism. Bolikhamxay invited businesses from Vietnam and other countries to invest in an industrial park in Paksan District, a border economic zone in Khamkot District, the Viengkham-Thasaad Special Economic Zone, a cement plant in Pakkading, a resort, a tourism project in Thaphabath District and several other projects. Le Thanh Liem, deputy chairman of the HCM City Peoples Committee, said being a major economic and cultural centre of Vietnam, the city considers Laos a strategic and promising market for investment and trade. More than 30 city enterprises have invested over $250 million in Laos, he said. The conference is expected to promote further investment by city firms in Laos, contributing to economic development there, he said. He said relevant departments and industries in the city and the three provinces and businesses should properly discuss areas of mutual concern and co-ordination mechanisms to building effective long-term co-operation. The three Lao provinces should create favourable conditions for foreign investors, including Vietnamese, he added. The conference on promoting tourism, investment and trade in three Laos central provinces was organised by the Investment and Promotion Centre of HCM City. VNS This years Luxembourg Fest, located in Belgium, Wis. on Saturday, Aug. 12, will feature a special Ansay International Tasting event. Bofferding beers, Domaines Vinsmoselle wines and Ramborn hard cider will all be on hand at the tasting. The tasting event is really our love-letter to Luxembourgers, people of Luxembourgish descent and festival-goers who are looking for something fun and unique, said Kate Ansay, Ansay International operations director, in a press release. The event runs from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. at 548 Park St. (Belgium, Wis.). Tickets are available to pre-order for $45 at www.facebook.com/ansayintl or can be purchased the day of the event for $50. The ticket price includes access to samples of the Luxembourgish beer, wine and hard cider. It also includes a free entry into a raffle, a drink ticket good for a free beverage at the American Legion bar, meet and greet access with Ramborn Cider founder Carlo Hein, a donation to the Luxembourg American Cultural Society and snacks accompanied by mustard from Luxembourg. SIOUX CITY | Three local nonprofits have been awarded United Way of Siouxland grants. The recipients of the organization's Funding Opportunity to Connect and Uplift Siouxland (FOCUS) Grants are given to eligible nonprofit organizations that "provide support for programs and initiatives that are working to correct the issues most negatively impacting our community," a press release said. Mid-Step Services got $40,000 for its Pier Center for Autism program. Siouxland Human Investment Partnership received $30,000 for its Bridging and Overcoming Obstacles through Service and Training -- Fast Forward program. And $30,000 was given to Jackson Recovery Centers' Women and Children's Center. This process allows us to reach out to the community in a more diverse way to help us achieve the positive community outcomes for some of the most pressing needs in Siouxland, said Heather Hennings, United Way of Siouxland president, in the release. Over the last 9 years we have implemented our community impact model and this grant program is an extension of that process. SIOUX CITY | United Way of Siouxland held a luncheon Thursday to recognize business supporters for outstanding contributions. The 2017 Major Business of the Year went to Security National Bank. The Medium Business of the Year was given to Aalfs Manufacturing, Inc. and the Small Business of the Year was Mills, Shellhammer, Puetz & Associates. AGP was given the Most Improved Business award for the year. Amy Abraham of the Mary J. Treglia Community House was also honored with the Outstanding Services Professional of the year. This was the first ever leadership awards luncheon for the organization. This event is a great way to showcase and recognize the businesses and service professionals that go above and beyond to support the needs of our Siouxland community, Kristie VerMulm-McManamy, United Way campaign co-chair, said in the release. We are extremely fortunate to live in a community where local businesses take giving back so seriously. LE MARS, Iowa | A man accused of killing his sister is now scheduled to stand trial in December. District Judge Jeffrey Neary on Thursday set a Dec. 19 trial date for Thomas Bibler, though the date could be moved pending the availability of witnesses. Bibler has waived his right to a jury trial and will instead have Neary decide his case. Bibler, 34, of Le Mars, has pleaded not guilty in Plymouth County District Court to first-degree murder, willful injury and going armed with intent in connection with the June 11, 2016, stabbing death of Shannon Bogh, 27, of Le Mars. Public defender Billy Oyadare waived Bibler's right to a speedy trial within a year of his arraignment. Bibler entered his not guilty plea on July 29, 2016. Neary also ruled that Plymouth County Attorney Darin Raymond can have Bibler examined by a mental health expert. Oyadare has filed notice that Bibler intends to assert a defense of intoxication and/or diminished responsibility at trial. On Thursday, Oyadare said that Bibler was not intoxicated on alcohol or illegal drugs, but rather prescription drugs. The state's mental health expert will be able to examine Bibler to form an opinion on whether those drugs affected Bibler's mental condition at the time of his sister's death. Mental health experts hired by the defense have already interviewed Bibler. Bibler is accused of assaulting Bogh in her home at 591 15th St. SW with an edged weapon. She died a short time later at the Le Mars hospital. A witness to the stabbing identified Bibler as a suspect, and he was arrested without incident in the apartment about 30 minutes after the assault. According to court documents, Bibler has told investigators he has no recollection of what happened. SIOUX CITY | Shaun Broyhill, who stepped down from the Sioux City school board just days after winning election four years ago, said Thursday he will run for a seat on the board again this fall. "For over a decade I have worked hard to further the education of students within our district, and hope to continue to show the passion and drive that I have to make every student in the district successful," Broyhil said in a news release. Broyhill, 37, is a database administrator for Dakota Dunes-based Beef Processors Inc. This is Broyhill's third run for elective office in Sioux City. He unsuccessfully sought an Iowa House seat in 2016. Broyhill previously won a school board seat in 2013, then resigned before the first meeting of four-year term. At the time he said he was stepping down because he has to serve 120 days in jail for violating probation on a misdemeanor theft charge. I know that over a decade ago I made many youthful mistakes, and those mistakes came to light four years ago. Since then, I have taken responsibility for my actions, and hope that I have proven and will continue to prove that I am a strong and compassionate leader," Broyhill said. Broyhill said he has a good skill set to be a school board member. I also hope to expand the depth of our school board by bringing my background in psychology and technology to help grasp modern day struggles of the school district. With a masters degree focused on both Cognitive Psychology and Technology, and the pursuit of a doctoral degree in Educational Psychology, I hope that my knowledge and expertise can help fill the gap that our district currently faces in these areas," he said. Broyhill becomes the third candidate in the field. Three of the seven seats will be elected on Sept. 12. The other candidates are incumbent Perla Alarcon-Flory and Jeremy Saint. Paul Gorski and John Meyers are not running for re-election. People who want to run for the Sioux City School Board may do that through the deadline of 5 p.m. Aug. 3. People can submit nomination papers with the school board secretary, Cyndi Lloyd, at the downtown district office, 627 Fourth St. SIOUX CITY | State Sen. Rick Bertrand, R-Sioux City, called Wednesday for Senate Majority Leader Bill Dix to step down in the wake of a jury awarding $2.2 million to a former Senate Republican caucus aide who sued the state and others for sexual harassment. Bertrand said the damage wrought by the lawsuit necessitates a change in leadership. "After learning the facts of this lawsuit, and reading the shocking testimony of the current caucus staff, I believe its time for Senator Dix to step aside as majority leader and allow the Senate Republican caucus a start fresh," Bertrand said in a statement. The lawsuit, filed by former Republican caucus communications director Kirsten Anderson, alleged that her abrupt 2012 firing was retribution for her delivery of a memo detailing sexual harassment in the office. This harassment consisted mostly of obscene jokes and conversations. In a statement, Senate Democratic Minority Leader Rob Hogg of Cedar Rapids shamed his Republican colleagues for their behavior, which cost the state a multimillion-dollar payout. "If the Senate's policies and procedures had been followed, this $2.2 million verdict could have been avoided and taxpayers wouldn't have to pay the bill for the inappropriate actions of Republican Senators and staff," Hogg said in the statement. Gov. Kim Reynolds confirmed on Tuesday that the $2.2 million awarded to Anderson would be taken from the state's general fund. In his statement, Bertrand said it wouldn't be out-of-character for Dix to have dismissed Anderson out of wrath. Senator Dix has a pattern of retaliation, we all know that, and unfortunately power has that effect on some people, and this jury did not believe that Ms. Anderson was justly fired, and ultimately her dismissal was Bill Dixs decision, and that lack of judgement has consequences," Bertrand said in the statement. SIOUX CITY | For seven years, Iowa 4th District Rep. Steve King sought to immediately repeal the 2010 Affordable Care Act. The Republican congressman is now fine with a two-year timeframe in doing that, as majority party Republicans continue to fail to get on the same page to enact their own health care rewrite. The Republican-controlled House passed a bill to repeal and replace the health care overhaul commonly known as Obamacare but the effort crumbled Tuesday in the Senate, where the GOP holds a slim two-vote majority. In an interview with the Journal, King said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell didn't feel he had the needed 50 of 52 Republican senator votes to pass a modified repeal-and-replace measure. As the machinations played out, McConnell's third and most recent plan was a bill to repeal the ACA, but there is no clear signs that will work either. King said "the votes are there in the Senate" for a repeal, if the senators get back to work. Through a series of tweets and other statements, the position of Republican President Donald Trump since Monday shifted four times, from repeal and replace to outright repeal alone to let Obamacare fail and back to repeal and replace. One option is a repeal with a two-year delay in the effective date, which King said is not ideal, but he can support it. "If they send the repeal over here to the House, I would hope we could take that repeal up the same day and send it to the president...It is the right thing to do, under the political circumstances we have right now," King said. With a two-year delayed enactment of repeal, King said lawmakers then could use the time to enact individual bills that deal with individual pieces of health reform. King said that could include his bill setting a limit of $250,000 on medical malpractice lawsuit plaintiff non-economic damages and the reimportation of less expensive prescription drugs from other nations. "There are lots of these pieces that a lot of us wanted to do and our (House Republican) leadership wanted to package up into one big bill of repeal and replace. We can go down that path, of one component after another," King said. He added that any such individual health pieces could be enacted with immediate effective dates or timed with a delay to match the two-year end of Obamacare. Trump on Wednesday stepped up the pressure on reluctant Republicans to erase much of the Affordable Care Act, tweeting, "They MUST keep their promise to America" and vowing the measure would improve at his White House lunch with senators. SIOUX CITY | A fire hydrant at Cook Park will be opened up Thursday for another Sioux City hydrant party, courtesy of Sioux City Fire Rescue. The event, at West Fifth and Main Streets (Cook Park), starts at 2 p.m. There will also be rig tours and fire safety information. It would be hard to find a hotter day for a hydrant party - highs in Sioux City Thursday are expected to be in the mid-90s with a heat index of over 100 degrees. A heat advisory has been issued from 1-8 p.m. SIOUX CITY | Roadwork on Jones Street struck a gas line before 9 a.m. Thursday morning, causing a gas smell in the neighborhood along Jackson and Jones Streets near 30th Street. Sioux City Fire Rescue Assistant Chief Brad Robinson said the department was monitoring the situation as it unfolded. The highest level detected in any of the houses in the neighborhood, he said, was 4 percent of the Lower Explosive Limit (LEL)-- not sufficient cause to evacuate. "When it (LEL) gets to 100 percent, then you need to start worrying," he said. The fire department initially considered evacuating the nearby Blessed Sacrament Church, where a daycare is located, but decided instead to have everyone inside "shelter in place," as the gas levels weren't high enough to warrant an evacuation. Though parts of the neighborhood did smell distinctly of gas, Robinson noted that the wind was blowing the gas around, making it smell worse than reality. The leak was not yet repaired by 9:45 a.m., but Robinson said Mid-American energy was on its way to remedy the issue. STORM LAKE, IA | Three people were arrested and four children taken into custody after a Wednesday-morning search of a Storm Lake residence that netted drugs, guns and large amounts of cash. According to a press release, the Storm Lake Police Department's Tactical Entry Team, supported by the Buena Vista County Emergency Response Team and the Sac County Sheriff's Department K-9 unit, executed a search warrant at 1102 West Fifth Street in Storm Lake, seeking drugs. Bounpane Phaymany, 33, and Brenda Vang, 26, both of Storm Lake, were arrested, and four children between the ages of 3 and 6 were taken into custody. In the house, authorities found 1.2 pounds of methamphetamine, with a street value of about $19,000, as well as a semi-automatic handgun and $400 in cash. While authorities were still at the residence, a third person, Dylan Gustafson, 24, of Aurelia, IA, showed up. He was searched and found to be in possession of $8,500 in cash, two ounces of marijuana, a small amount of methamphetamine and a loaded semi-automatic handgun. Phaymany was charged with Conspiracy to Deliver a Controlled Substance Methamphetamine, a class B felony; Failure to Affix a Drug Tax Stamp, a class D felony; and four counts of Child Endangerment, a class D felony. He was booked into the Buena Vista County jail on a $25,000 bond. Vang was charged with four counts of Child Endangerment, a class D felony. She was booked into the Buena Vista County jail on a $5,000 bond. Gustafson was charged with possession of methamphetamine and possession of marijuana, both serious misdemeanors. He was booked into the Buena Vista County Jail on a $1,000.00 bond. The four children were taken into the custody of the Iowa Department of Human Services. CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa Congressional Republicans shouldnt give up on writing a new health care policy even if it means working with Democrats, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley said Wednesday. Grassley wants to get all 100 senators involved in repairing the broken promises of the Obamacare bill. The House approved its plan, the American Health Care Act, with difficulty and the Senate GOP has been unable to get the necessary votes to proceed with debate on its version of health care reform. We shouldnt give up in the United States Congress, Grassley told reporters. Grassley, who voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act in December 2015, said he would vote for that plan again because it would give Congress two years to come up with a replacement for Obamacare. I would vote for almost any motion to proceed because I think all 100 senators should have an opportunity to participate in a serious way, he said, adding that he would like to see a return to regular order. Thats the normal legislative process of bills being assigned to committees for discussion and hearings, and the text being released to the public. Although he wants all members of the Senate to be able to join the discussion and offer amendments, the Iowa Republican is not optimistic about the likelihood of a bipartisan effort. Its kind of hard to take Democrats seriously on bipartisanship when Schumer has said they shouldnt work with us, Grassley said, referring to U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York. Repealing Obamacare would force Congress to take action, Grassley said. If no action is taken, the Affordable Care Act remains in place indefinitely with all the faults that youve heard me talk about, all of the broken promises and all the increases in premiums. However, when legislation sunsets or expires, Congress takes action, Grassley said. So, in two years, there would be nothing and that forces Congress to act, he said. Grassley again downplayed concerns that the Congressional Budget Office has projected that more than 22 million people would lose their health insurance under the GOP plans. Obamacare, he said, was premised on people being able to keep the doctor of their choice, the insurance plan of their choosing and that premiums would go down. Those were things that CBO projected were possibilities, but they didnt turn out that way, Grassley said. This doesnt even start for three years for Medicaid then phases in over five years, he added, once again referencing the GOP plan. Weve got opportunities to change things if they dont work out. DES MOINES Law enforcement, fire and first-response agencies soon will have access to an enhanced communications network that would give them priority during emergencies under a commitment signed Tuesday by Gov. Kim Reynolds making Iowa the fifth state to join the system. By agreeing to opt in to the FirstNet and AT&T plan, Iowa agencies can contract for advanced, high-speed cellular service that provides emergency officials with priority access via existing mobile radios, smartphones or other devices to communicate with one another in real time during crises. The FirstNet network will not only strengthen and modernize public safety communications in our state, but also bring much needed investment to our communications infrastructure, Reynolds said at her weekly news conference, where she signed the commitment. Local governments will decide whether they want to opt into the network, she said. Linn County Sheriff Brian Gardner said FirstNet has the potential to be a valuable tool for law enforcement and first responders, particularly during major emergencies or disasters. He mentioned scenarios such as the aftermath of a tornado when a large number of people could be using their cellphones to communicate. When theres a large- scale emergency, one of the first things to go down is your cellphone towers because they get overburdened, Gardner said. With FirstNet, first responders wont lose the ability to communicate with outside agencies or others who might not be on the radio network. Well have a secure network just for us, he said. Building on AT&Ts Iowa footprint that was enhanced with nearly $150 million in recent investments, FirstNet will be able to expand coverage for first responders, which also will help expand coverage for rural Iowans, Reynolds added, providing access to a reliable, high-speed wireless connection in areas with little or no connectivity today. Until now, the governor said, first responders have used more than 10,000 networks to communicate, which has created issues during emergencies. First responders also have had to compete with consumers trying to access the same cellular network. With FirstNet, Iowas first responders will have special SIM cards for their smartphones, putting them first on the network to connect and stay connected. The system also will provide interoperability, allowing first responders from different agencies, jurisdictions or even over state lines to talk to one another, Reynold said. FirstNet will help bring broadband 4G LTE to both citizens and public safety users in rural areas, helping erase the digital divide between the technologies available to urban versus rural areas, officials noted. Iowa incurs no risk, responsibility or cost for the FirstNet network and makes no commitment with this opt-in. FirstNet and AT&T will deploy, operate, maintain and improve the FirstNet network in Iowa and assume all responsibility for capital expenditures, operating costs and other costs, such as staffing, training, integration, environmental compliance and program management for the next 25 years, according to a news release. FirstNet officials said full network deployment will take place over the next five years, but Iowa agencies will be able to access to prioritized network with pre-emption capabilities by the end of the year. WASHINGTON -- Let us consider the qualifications of President Trump's nominee to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Holy See: one Callista Gingrich of Virginia. She is a former clerk on the House Agriculture Committee. She is the author of children's books about an elephant named Ellis. She sings in the choir at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. She plays French horn in City of Fairfax Band. And, she testified Tuesday, she has "looked at some of" Pope Francis's encyclical on climate change. But really, Gingrich was receiving a confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee because of one qualification: She is married to Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House and a major backer of President Trump. And now, for his support of Trump, he is getting the ultimate patronage: the chance to live in Rome on the taxpayer's dime while his wife, the president of Gingrich Productions, enjoys a plum posting. Newt, who converted to Catholicism several years ago, set his wife up nicely for the job by co-hosting two videos with her about Pope John Paul II, produced with a Gingrich political ally. But if it is good news for the Gingriches, it is an(other) insult to Francis from Trump, who has sparred with the pope over immigration and climate change. Newt carried on a six-year extramarital affair with Callista in the 1990s when she, 23 years his junior, was a House staffer and he, as speaker, led the impeachment of Bill Clinton over his extramarital affair with an intern. National Catholic Reporter's Michael Sean Winters called it "astonishing that a party that celebrates family values at every turn has a president who is on his third wife and who has bragged about his extramarital affairs and who is appointing an ambassador to the Vatican who had a six-year affair with her future husband while he was still married to his second wife." The nomination of Callista is also Trump's beatification of Newt, who has done as much as anyone to coarsen American politics -- and to pave the way for Trump -- with his name-calling, demonizing and brinkmanship. All presidents reward supporters with patronage. New York Jets owner Woody Johnson will be our man in London. On Gingrich's panel Tuesday was George Glass, a big Trump donor, tapped to be ambassador to Portugal though he doesn't speak Portuguese. But the choice of Callista Gingrich is another category of cronyism for an administration populated by friends and relations rather than appointees of merit. This has fueled the Russia scandal, stalled the agenda in Congress and made the administration seem singularly incompetent -- yet Republicans in Congress have been unwilling to say that this is unacceptable. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., introduced Gingrich on Tuesday by noting that she was valedictorian of her high school class. Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., who succeeded Newt in the House before moving to the Senate, declared that "one of her great, great persuasive talents is to not only convince Newt to marry her, but convert him to Catholicism." Gingrich, an uncomfortable smile fixed on her face, provided, in lieu of actual answers to questions, strung-together snippets of cliches. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., asked about refugee policy, on which Francis and Trump disagree. Gingrich responded with a bromide about "a deep commitment in this country to work to forward peace and stability." Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., asked how she would work with the Vatican to counter extremism. Gingrich responded with a word salad about looking "forward to working on those issues of our shared policy opportunities." Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., asked about the pope's climate change encyclical. She responded with boilerplate about how "President Trump wants to maintain that we have clean air and clean water." Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., asked if she had even read the encyclical. "I have looked at some of it," the witness replied. "Are there pieces of it that particularly resonate for you?" "Well," Gingrich replied generically, "I think we're all called to be stewards of the land." Staffers on both sides of the committee were now grinning at the pained responses. Johnson, attempting to rehabilitate the witness, urged her to talk about her "study" of John Paul II and what she learned about U.S. and Vatican leadership. Gingrich retreated again to platitude: "It's so important that we reach out to places like the Holy See to forward good in this world," she said. That was enough for Johnson, who pronounced her "perfectly suited for this position." Perfectly situated, at least. Every morning it's the same routine. I wake up and unplug the double-headed fan from my bedroom socket and carry it to the living room. I plug the fan back in and await its synthetic breeze to cool me off before a single drop of sweat forms above my brow or lips. The apartment is humid and uncomfortable. I can hardly stand it. There's no air conditioning unit even though it's listed as one of the amenities for renters. The only thing keeping me and the dog cool is that fan. Every morning Zorro wakes up he looks like he's run a mile. The ol' dog is about 12 years old now, so part of that is age. But the other part is clearly this awful weather. He looks at me with his droopy brown eyes, panting, every morning. The fan is only gone for a few seconds when I make the switch, but it's enough to wear him out completely. Last weekend the poor guy made as much effort as he could to not walk on the concrete. I imagine the hot surface was hurting his paws. As a result, we've been avoiding walks and outdoor play time as much as possible. There's no "fresh air" to enjoy, so why bother even going outside. Geez, what the heck did I like about summer in the first place as a kid? I mean, sure, the time away from school was certainly something to look forward to. In fact, that's probably the main reason why I loved summer so much... To beat the heat, I remember I used to walk less than a mile to the public pool to swim for a couple of hours. Mom would leave me a couple bucks to pay for my way in and maybe have a few dollars left to spare for snacks at the concessions stand. Other summers were spent playing outside scuffing up my knees while horsing around on my bike or scooter. I specifically remember my green Razor scooter getting me into a lot of trouble with my mom. Had to explain all the cuts and bruises and torn jeans. I also remember going on quite a few fishing trips with my grandpa. We traveled to Missouri many times to fish rainbow trout. We'd freeze them and bring them back home to eat later on in the trip. I had a blast every time. I remember always packing sunscreen to appease my mom, but I know I never put any on. And she knew I didn't use any when I came back home with red shoulders and cheeks. My mom and I would keep it simple in the summer time. If we were hot, we'd go up to the local ice cream shops for a cone of hard-serve. Mom would usually get mint chocolate chip. I'd go for the super sugary choice of peanut butter fudge or bubble gum. The ice treat always cooled us off. Summer used to be fun. I liked summer. Perhaps life without air conditioning has made me bitter. It's certainly made me hotter. And not in a good way. 'Dunkirk' (Rated PG-13 for ) -- Allied armies from Belgium, British Empire, Canada and France are evacuated during a fierce battle with German forces in World War II. 'Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets' (Rated PG-13 for ) -- Special operatives are called upon to thwart the dark forces threatening a metropolis that hold species from a thousand planets. 'Girls Trip' (Rated R for ) -- Four lifelong friends take a trip to New Orleans and rediscover their sisterly bonds after wild nights of dancing, drinking, brawling and romancing. New DVD Releases for this week: 'The Boss Baby' 'Ghost in the Shell' 'Gifted' 'Unforgettable' Back in her native Poland, Sonia Jozajtis aunt prepares coffee traditionally. Beans are ground and swirled in hot water. The grounds are allowed to settle. At the table, one then drinks until they reappear on the tongue, coffee and ritual intertwined. Given this background, its unsurprising that Jozajtis and the other minds behind High Voltage Seafront Cafe, a pop-up-gone-permanent on the Asbury Park boardwalk, have achieved such a textured vibe. The cafe space opened this June after a successful a 2016 summer pop-up run, and synthesizes the vision of Jozajtis, her partner Jason Thomson, Allison Trautwein, and Mike Caliendo. The common denominator here is an intentionality about the coffee, the food, and the experience, delivered in a space that feels like the living room of plugged-in friends who manage not to take themselves too seriously. We built everything ourselves, says Thomson, who is also the editor/creative director of the local alt-weekly triCityNews. From a design perspective, I like the look of a worn-in space. Like an old pair of blue jeans, it has more soul. Everything from the hand-lettered logo to the custom counters and blues-meets-indie soundtrack feeds an urban/beach mash-up vibe equally ready for the freelance set and the sun-seekers. It brings people to another place, Trautwein says. The design also draws on Thomson and Jozajtis travels, including jaunts back to Poland. Lets set the scene. Youre lounging on an avocado-hued loveseat with a lavender latte in hand. Morning sun streams through the floor-to-ceiling windows as it rises over the Atlantic and dances across a back wall painted High Voltage blue. The cafeall raw tables and vintage chairs, all artfully strewn magazines and hand-mounted subway tileradiates with early light. Its Asbury Park with a Euro twist, and it fits. The city is known for its mash-up of moods and cultures, deliciously eclectic. There is Convention Hall, its swirling plaster seashells evoking another heyday. There are girls in pin-up bathing suits, mural artists, and folks carrying throwback boom boxes. Then theres the beach, punctuated by a riot of rainbow umbrellas. The city draws a raucous crowd, but a friendly one. Theres no city like this on the East Coast, says Jozajtis, a Poland-to-Brooklyn-to-Asbury transplant who also owns lifestyle brand Nomad Asbury and glamping company Wanderland Popup Hotel with Thomson. (Sensing a theme?) The food program at High Voltage continues Jozajtis international bent, with notes of Balkan, Euro, and other global elements. You always remember the flavors from when you travel, she says. So, she worked to create a sense of adventure with a menu heavy on healthy options that still read like an indulgence. On weekends, that includes seasonal pierogis and flatbread pizzas, a riff on Polish street food. The team also tapped neighbor-bakers Medusa Stone Fired Kitchen, who churn out killer wood-fired bread for open-faced sandwiches, along with traditional Polish pastries like rogal. Since its pop-up days, High Voltage has seen rising energy in Asburys coffee scene. It really feels like a coffee community here now, Jozajtis says. Case in point: the team tapped Maiden Coffee Roasters, a new offshoot of the ever-popular Cafe Volan, as one of two New Jersey roasters. I like the way they roast, says Caliendo After three years honing his coffee cred at Jersey Shore roaster and shop Rook Coffee, Caliendo brought a passion for exploring the potential of each roast to the High Voltage team as manager. By his second day on the job, the infectiously enthusiastic employee knew he wanted all inhes now a co-owner. Single-origin pour-overs (roasted by Maiden) are prepped on a picture-pretty Yama Silverton, or available as Japanese style hot brewed over ice. Batch-brewed coffee gets the FETCO treatment, and relies on the Humble Jefferson blend from Jersey City-based ModCup, who also provide the espresso that makes its way to a La Marzocco Linea Classic. A Mazzer grinder rounds out the equipment. When the boardwalk spot surfaced, High Voltage was already planning a Springwood Street locationpart coffee shop and cafe, part streamlined grocery stocked with local, sustainable goods, it will be part of Asbury Parks new transit villageslated for fall. But despite the huge task of building two cafes at once, they couldnt resist. It was full throttle, Trautwein says. The hustle paid off. When youre sitting on the boardwalk with a coffee in hand, youre definitely doing summer rightbut dont think of High Voltage as seasonal. Come winter, the team envisions Euro-style days on the boards. I want to bring that European vibe into Asbury, Jozajtis says. Wrap yourself in a blanket, drink hot cocoa, and stare at the ocean. Sign us up. Jenn Hall (@jennsarahhall) is a Sprudge contributor who writes about food, culture, and drink from a Jersey-side suburb of Philly. Read more Jenn Hall on Sprudge. Trainer Norm Parker and owner/breeder Robert Key had a banner night at Scioto Downs on July 19, winning a pair of four $40,000 Ohio Sires Stakes contested for two-year-old trotting fillies. Parker, 56, made the trek to Scioto Downs from his home base of The Meadows in Pennsylvania and his rookie fillies who are each owned and bred by Robert Key of Leechburg, Pennsylvania -- more than paid their way. First, Parker harnessed 2-1 Looking For Zelda to victory, who finished second but was placed first when 3-1 Tickle My Fancy (Josh Sutton) made several choppy breaks in the late stretch. The Break The Bank K lass had won OHSS Leg 1 at Northfield in 1:59.1 for driver Tony Hall, who was back in the sulky for this second triumph. Looking For Zelda in the winner's circle at Scioto Downs on July 19. (Conrad Photo) Paul Reed trained both of these fillies down in Florida all winter for [owner] Bob [Key] and we got them the first part of May, Parker offered. We just put the finishing touches on their training. Zelda has been perfect throughout, and weve been careful to keep her quiet, as the Break The Bank Ks can tend to get a little hot. Tony [driver Hall] certainly wanted to win with Zelda but he wanted to do it the right way and thats why he sat in with her tonight, Parker explained. He told me that he wants to teach her to race correctly so that she can control her speed as she progresses. Tickle My Fancy was placed third and that moved third-place finisher, 28-1 longshot Dashanay (Chris Page) up to second. The victory -- Looking For Zeldas second in as many starts -- upped her career earnings to $40,000. The time for the mile was 1:56.3, which equalled the Scioto track record for two-year-old trotting fillies. Looking For Zelda is the second foal out of the Conway Hall mare My Winning Way K 3, 1:59.4f ($77,488) and is a half-sister to the Muscle Massive colt Boyz N Guitars 2, 1:58.3f ($24,007), who is also owned by Key. Parker then tightened the girth on 9-5 Sugar Break, another Break The Bank K lass who was clocked in 1:57.4 in her first career victory with Hall in the sulky. Shes been a bit more slow to mature, but is a nice big filly, who is getting there, Parker said. Shes getting the hang of things, just a bit more slowly than the other filly. Hall moved Sugar Break three-wide around the final turn and the solidly-gaited filly got up just in time to best 65-1 longshot Risky Deal (Crist Hershberger) by a head at the wire. Champagne Hall finished third, two lengths back, at odds of 5-2 for driver Aaron Merriman. Sugar Break now has $23,125 in her bank account for owner/breeder Key. She is the first foal out of the Angus Hall mare Sugar Heart 3, 2:02.2f ($7,199). Impinktoo, a Jim Dailey trainee, posted a 1:57.4 clocking via her OHSS victory. Peter Wrenn was in the sulky behind the 4-1 choice, who is owned by Billy Walters and Joe McLead of Delaware, Ohio and Rtk Racing of Powell, Ohio. The Manofmanymissions lass used come-from-behind tactics to score the win, the first of her career in two starts. Red Storm was second at 6-1 for Aaron Merriman, while 14-1 Simplyamission was third with Tyler Smith at the controls. Impinktoo had previously finished second in Leg 1 at Northfield Park on July 3 to the aforementioned Looking For Zelda and now has $30,000 in lifetime earnings. Bred by Jay Mossbarger, Impinktoo is a half-sister to world champion Pinkman 3, 1:51 ($2.5+ million) and is the third foal out of the Angus Hall mare Margie Seelster 6, 1:55.1s ($247,483). Co-owner McLead purchased the filly for $27,000 at the 2016 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale. Sesame was given a perfect steer by Aaron Merriman to win her OHSS division in 1:58.4. The Triumphant Caviar daughter was sent off as the even-money choice and prevailed by a neck over the hard-driving, 14-1 longshot Eds Chargin lady (Tyler Smith), while Storm Beach O Kidd was third with Peter Wrenn at the lines. Conditioned and co-owned by Chris Beaver in partnership with Wilbur Lang of Jamestown, Ohio, Sesame had won her OHSS Leg 1 event at Northfield Park on July 3 in 1:59. Bred by Ohios Jonas Schlabach, she is now two-for-two, with $40,000 in her seasonal coffers. Sesame is the fifth of six foals out of the Credit Winner mare Jewell Creek and is a half-sister to Explosive Ripple (by Explosive Matter) 4, 1:58.f ($84,089). (With files from OSDF) Trot Insider has learned that horseman Douglas James Ertel, who was in his 70th year, passed away at home, surrounded by family, on Tuesday, July 18. Douglas was the best friend and much adored husband of Regina (Gebauer) Ertel for 47 years. Ever-loved father to Robbie (Tammy) and Randy (Cory) and his adoring dogs, Winnie and Chewie. Treasured Poppi to Kai and Damien. Loving brother to Ruth Arsenault and Joyce (Bill) Lichty. Loved by his brother-in-law Peter (Linda) Gebauer. Loving uncle to Trevor, Stacy, Tracy, Jason, Todd and Sean. Predeceased by his parents, Anne and Lloyd, and his mother and father-in-law, Friedel and Artur Gebauer and brother-in-law, Ray. Doug could build and create anything, and he enjoyed his backyard in the summer, but his big passion was Standardbred racing. He was a horse owner and trainer for over 35 years, as he frequented numerous tracks in southern Ontario and New York State. The last few years, he loved going scrapping. He was always the life of a party, and will be forever and sorely missed by his many friends. Doug's family will receive relatives and friends on Friday, July 21, 2017 from 11 a.m. - 12:45 p.m., followed by a memorial service at 1 p.m. in the chapel of the Henry Walser Funeral Home, 507 Frederick Street, Kitchener, 519-749-8467. Cremation has taken place. As expressions of sympathy, donations to the The Terry Fox Foundation or the MS Society would be appreciated by the family (cards available at the funeral home). Please click here to visit Douglas' memorial. Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Douglas Ertel. Sandra Kaufman, chairman of the co-sponsored SOA of New York/Yonkers Raceway Scholarship Committee, has announced that John McDermott Jr. is the winner of the 2017-2018 Scholarship Award in the amount of $5,000. The second place award of $3,000 went to Christopher Regina and Olena Hauser picked up the third place scholarship award of $2,000. John McDermott Jr. recently received a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from the University of Florida. He is currently enrolled for the fall at the University of Florida Levin College of Law. Johns father, John McDermott, races horses at Yonkers Raceway and around the east coast. Christopher Regina recently graduated from Mahopac High School in Mahopac, New York. He will be continuing his education this fall at the University of Albany where he will be pursuing a degree in Finance and Business Administration. Christophers father, Anthony Regina, has campaigned Standardbreds at Yonkers Raceway for more than 20 years. Olena Hauser is currently attending Pace Universitys Lubin School of Business in New York City where she is majoring in International Business. Hauser also received a scholarship last year from SOA of NY/Yonkers Raceway, finishing in a tie for second. Olenas stepfather, Timothy Hauser, is longtime horse owner campaigning top trotters including Classic Martine and Frau Blucher. We were very pleased to have 12 very strong applicants for this years award, noted Kaufman. The point totals were very close this year and so many of the students displayed a strong combination of academic achievement and community involvement. The committee wishes all of the applicants the very best as they continue on with their education. The annual SOA/Yonkers Raceway scholarships are awarded to SOA members, or members of their immediate families, or to covered individuals (backstretch personnel) or a member of their immediate families, for study beyond the high school level. The recipient is chosen on the basis of merit and financial need. This years scholarship was renamed in memory of Jo Ann Hertlein, a longtime office administrator at the SOA of NY offices who passed away in December. (SOANY) Perseverance of the Faith-based Community Pushes Investment Pioneer, Timothy Plan, Over $1B Contact: Stephen Ally, Timothy Plan , 407-644-1986ORLANDO, Fla., July 20, 2017 / Standard Newswire / -- Timothy Partners, LTD (Orlando, FL), manager and adviser of Timothy Plan, announced on Thursday, July 20th that the family of funds has eclipsed $1 billion in assets under management (AUM). This is a milestone moment for any packaged investment product, but for the family of mutual funds that started an entire movement, it is particularly special."I didn't allow myself to dream about reaching milestones like this when we launched in 1994. The purpose of Timothy Plan is to provide Christian and principled investors the opportunity to earn competitive returns, while aligning their investments with the Biblical principles in which they believe," said Arthur Ally, President of Timothy Partners, LTD and founder of Timothy Plan. The first of its kind, Timothy Plan was started in 1994 when Art Ally, then a financial advisor, was tasked with starting a retirement plan for non-denominational pastors. What he experienced, when undertaking that task, shocked the financial veteran."I couldn't find any funds or investment products that employed Biblical screens of the companies in which they invest. We had pastors preaching on Sundays about how we need to stand against the increasing number of abortions, or the infiltration of pornographic material into our society, but then were funding their retirement plans with the stocks of companies that were directly supporting these two industries. When I showed this to them, they were shocked."Timothy Plan screens all their investments to make certain that the companies in which they invest do not have ties to anything contrary to a traditional, conservative interpretation of Biblical principles. At the time of launch, there were no other funds or investment vehicles that comprehensively screened their investments for religious principles. Now, there are other faith funds, green funds and socially responsible funds. There are even "sin" funds that stand in direct contrast to the purpose of Timothy Plan. While other funds have been quicker to reach the $1 billion watermark, Timothy Plan has weathered the storm of the recession and was built upon its own success, without the backing of a mainline church denomination."There may be other funds that screen, and I am glad that we started a movement to align investments with belief. But, none of that matters if a person's heart isn't right with God. What I can promise is that Timothy Plan will never compromise on its original mission, and I believe that is what God asks of us. Today is not about Timothy Plan, nor is any other day. Today is about realizing the amazing things that can happen when individuals are willing to change an aspect of their lives to further the Kingdom of God." Arthur Ally, President & Founder, Timothy Partners, LTD, Timothy Plan Play at the new site will be free and first come, first served through the... The sounds of the 1960s will waft over Lake Sacajawea tonight thanks to Western Washingtons premiere Beatles cover band. Creme Tangerine, from the Bellevue area, will be the second weekly performer for Longview Parks and Recreations Summer Concerts at the Lake series. Although the band aesthetically is nothing like the Beatles there are five members instead of four, and none of them resemble any of the Fab Four, and they dont try to their sound is perfectly Beatles-esque. According to drummer and band manager Jeff Lockhart, the band came together in 2002 after a group of friends casually started playing their favorite Beatles songs. Wed all hang out and have beer and pizza, and we learned how to play the White Album, he said. Its really cool how the years have gone by and it turned out so well. Lockhart said the bands big break came in January 2009, when they performed a tribute to the Liverpool bands famous rooftop concert 50 years earlier. They helped organize an event at Pike Place Market, and were joined by drummer Alan White, who performed on John Lennons Imagine, as well as with the prog rock band Yes. Since then, Creme Tangerine has played at Trail Blazers, Seahawks and Mariners games. They were even the house band for the Seattle Sounders from 2013-15, according to Lockhart. They now perform around 40-50 times a year at festivals and events around the Northwest. When asked why the Beatles were Creme Tangerines main focal point, Lockhart had a very reasonable response. Theres not many artists that span the generations that everyone appreciates, he said. What I had in common with everybody in the band was that we were all very serious fans and students of the Beatles. We all love their music and what they stood for, the positive message. Its just timeless music that everybody loves. The drummer also said the band enjoys covering the Beatles because of the various styles the Liverpool group dabbled in over the years. Unusually for a cover band, Creme Tangerine intentionally avoids looking like the Beatles. Lockhart said he feels acts that try too hard to impersonate famous bands and artists are a bit cheesy. Some bands try to impersonate (the Beatles), but we just focus on the music, he said. Were not trying to be the Beatles or look like them at all. Creme Tangerine has also performed Beatles albums in entirety, particularly their later works such as Abbey Road and their self-titled record, nicknamed The White Album. Lockhart said the band in general prefers the Fab Fours latter-era songs his five personal favorite Beatles tracks are A Day In The Life, I Am The Walrus, You Cant Do That, Got to Get You into My Life, and the sixteen-minute medley that ends Abbey Road. However, the group is open to perform other song requests even Freebird, which theyve performed many times before. If someone yells it, well probably play it, the manager said. Lockhart said that even if someone isnt familiar with the Beatles music, theyll still have a wonderful experience at Creme Tangerines high-energy, audience-involving show. Time will move by really fast and the bands gonna give it their all, he said. Were all in the moment together. Were not doing something to you, were doing something with you. U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler has weighed in on Oregons plan to partly fund transportation improvements with tolls on Interstates 5 and 205. Herrera Beutler, a Southwest Washington Republican, sent a letter to Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and Oregon Department of Transportation Director Matthew Garrett on Thursday stating that she would oppose any tolling proposal by the State of Oregon that would unfairly target Washington commuters. She promised to defend Southwest Washington residents from any unfair tolling plans using every appropriate means at my disposal. Herrera Beutlers letter said she does not oppose the idea of fees dedicated toward the construction, maintenance or upkeep of resources paid by the people who use the resources, but she warned that might not necessarily be the case with Oregons plan. Any attempt to levy tolls on I-5 or I-205 at the Washington State line, the lions share of which would be paid by Washington commuters, in order to pay for infrastructure improvements south of Portland that would rarely be used by the vast majority of those paying the tolls, would be unfair in the extreme, Herrera Beutlers letter said. Oregon has no right to make Southwest Washington an unwilling piggy bank for Oregons infrastructure projects. Oregons $5.3 billion transportation bill would create a transportation commission that would seek approval from the Federal Highway Administration by Dec. 31, 2018, to put tolls on I-205 and I-5 beginning at the state line and ending where the two connect near Tualatin, Ore. The bill directs the commission to implement value pricing to reduce traffic congestion. Value pricing can mean a number of things, including constructing new high-occupancy tolling lanes, setting variable pricing on bridges or converting existing lanes into toll lanes, to name just a few. The commission would also work with Washington officials to establish and operate tolls at the state line. What the tolls would cost or what the system would look like isnt yet clear. But the bill specifies that toll revenue would go into a congestion-relief fund. A veterinarian late Tuesday night put down Cowlitz County Sheriffs K-9 Fritz, who had suffered from a short but intense illness, the sheriffs office reported Wednesday. Just after 11 p.m. Fritz went on to play in heavenly pastures with Nitro, Xaran, Trux, JJ, Raccer, Brix, and Toby, the agencys previous police dogs, according to a sheriffs office Facebook post. Sheriffs office employees will wear black memorial bands until at least 6 a.m. Monday. Fritz, who was between 10 and 11 years old, had been with the agency since late 2009 and was just a few months from retirement. Deputy Brent Harris (Fritzs handler) and K-9 Fritz served the citizens of Cowlitz County with great courage and honor; he will be sorely missed. Our hearts go out to Brent, Julie and the Harris family and we will support them through this time as we all mourn the loss of our partner and friend, Fritz, the post said. Fritz had not been feeling well for a couple days, but it took visits to three different vets to determine the fatal nature of his illness, and the decision to put him down was obvious to Sheriff Mark Nelson and deputy Harris, said Charlie Rosenzweig, chief criminal deputy. Fritz was unique in the sense that he was excellent at adapting between public events, where he would be showcased before civic groups and mingle with the public and children, but could get very serious tracking dangerous and armed suspects. He was so successful making that switch, with a lot of the credit going to deputy Harris. Not all police dogs can do that, Rosenzweig said. Sheriff Nelson noted in a press release: K-9 Fritz was a big part of the Sheriffs Office family. While he had a great disposition with folks and was loved at schools and public events, if you were on the working side of him, well lets just say he had a way of getting a bad guys attention. Rosenzweig recalled two cases in particular in which Fritz chased down criminal suspects. One was a vehicle pursuit case in Columbia County in which the suspect changed vehicles. Fritz tracked him down two miles from where he abandoned the car. In the second, he tracked down two suspects in a car chase in which the passenger was found to have an out-of-state warrant for attempted murder. Fritz was wounded in the January 2016 confrontation in Rose Valley in which deputies and a Kelso police officer shot and killed a 37-year-old man who had threatened them with a chain saw. Fritz took shrapnel and needed surgery to remove the bullet fragments, Rosenzweig said. Deputy Harris and K9 Fritz had a long and very successful eight-year career which resulted in dozens of captures of people; most wanted for violent and serious felonies. They captured suspects wanted for felony assaults, car theft, domestic violence, and felony warrants for a wide variety of serious crimes, Sheriff Nelson wrote. Fritz had replaced K-9 Nitro, who also died recently after a long retirement, Rosenzweig said. Fritzs passing leaves the sheriffs office without an on-duty canine member. In June, the agency purchased a new dog from the Czech Republic named Icarus (the figure in Greek mythology who drowned in the sea when his wax wings melted because he flew too close to the sun). Icarus starts training in August and likely will be put into duty within two months, Rosenzweig estimated. Meanwhile, the sheriffs office can call on police dogs from many surrounding agencies should the need for canine assistance arise, he said. Memorial arrangements for Fritz are pending. A 28-year-old transient is accused of stealing a womans personal information and attempting to use it to extort sexual favors from her. Cowlitz County Superior Court Judge Michael Evans on Wednesday found probable cause to charge Darryl E. McWilliams with first-degree extortion and identity theft. Evans set bail at $2,500. McWilliams arraignment is at 9 a.m. Aug. 1. On June 1, the Cowlitz County Sheriffs Office responded to the report of a theft. A 21-year-old Kelso woman told deputies she had been the victim of several previously reported domestic violence crimes where McWilliams was a suspect. She told deputies McWilliams had left her Kelso residence several days earlier and that he took her birth certificate, military dependent identification and her U.S. passport, as well as several items of personal value, according to court records. The woman told deputies that McWilliams also had access to her bank account information, her Social Security number and that he threatened to use it in order to withdraw money and open lines of credit. She also said McWilliams had threatened to sell her personal information for profit, according to court records. On May 31, the woman said McWilliams contacted her in a video chat and that he showed her all of her personal information. He told her that he had made copies of the information and stored them in separate locations, according to the records. The woman told deputies that during the video chat she asked McWilliams how she could get her information back. The woman said McWilliams said she had to perform a sex act on camera for him to watch and that she had to meet up with him at an undisclosed location in June so he could perform any sex act he wishes with her and so that he could take the love he gave back, according to court records. The woman told deputies that McWilliams also threatened to release naked photos and videos of her to her family, friends and professional contacts in order to defame her character, according to the records. Deputies booked McWilliams Tuesday. April 27, 2021 UPDATE: All charges associated with the arrest outlined in this report were dismissed Jan. 8, 2018 by the Cowlitz County Superior Court. PTI HMD Global, which holds the rights to Nokia brand name, today said its chief executive officer Arto Nummela will leave the company with immediate effect. While HMD did not state the reason for the sudden departure, it said "through mutual agreement between Chief Executive Officer Arto Nummela and the HMD Global Board of Directors, Arto Nummela will leave HMD with immediate effect". Florian Seiche, who is currently serving as President, will take over the additional responsibility as acting CEO, the Finnish firm said in a statement. Seiche had been co-leading HMD Global as President since the start of the company. "Arto Nummela has played a key role in the creation of the HMD Global operation, building the team and launching our first products," HMD Global Oy Chairman of the Board Sam Chin said. HMD had acquired the manufacturing and distribution assets of the former Nokia phone business from Microsoft last year. Earlier this year, HMD revived Nokia's classic 3310 feature phone and is looking at bringing in more such devices as it aims to tap into growth markets like India and countries in Africa. tech2 News Staff The French Court on Wednesday, 20 July, referred the 'right to be forgotten' issue between Google and French Data Protection Authority (CNIL), to the Court of Justice of the European Union . As per a Reuters' report, the 'right to be forgotten' is the bone of contention between the two parties, where the Alphabet owned Google denied removing the personal data of its users from the search engine globally, while the CNIL demanded the removal of personal content globally. The 'right to be forgotten' comes under the protection of personal data in the European commission, 'a person can ask for personal data to be deleted once that data is no longer necessary (Article 12 of the Directive).' According to the data regulation authorities, the regulation allows "the data protection authorities to impose 2 percent of annual worldwide turnover, if companies do not respect the rights of the citizen." The case had previously erupted in 2014, where Google complied with European Commission of the Court of Justice' 'right to be forgotten' in all European countries, but not globally. Thereby, the same authority had slammed Google with a hefty fine of 100,000 euros in 2016. In 2016 Google had said, We comply with the laws of the countries in which we operate. But if French law applies globally, how long will it be until other countries perhaps less open and democratic start demanding that their laws regulating information likewise have global reach? IANS The Karnataka government will gift laptops to 1.5 lakh students of 'poor' families joining colleges across the state this academic year, Law Minister T. B. Jaychandra said on Wednesday. "The state cabinet has approved to distribute laptops free of cost to 1.5 lakh students who got admission in government and aided medical, engineering, first grade and polytechnic colleges in the state," Jaychandra told reporters after the cabinet meet. Admitting that the gesture would cost the exchequer about Rs 300 crore, the minister said the laptops would be given to only those students whose family annual income was Rs 2.5 lakh. The cabinet nod came four months after state Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who also holds the finance portfolio, told the lawmakers in the state legislative assembly while presenting the budget for this fiscal (2017-18) on 15 March. The cabinet also approved the state's new policy on animation, visual effects, gaming and comics, to attract more investments in the sector and create about 20,000 jobs. "The policy will also give thrust to skill development in the sunrise sector and make Bengaluru a hub for the new software and hardware products," added Jayachandra. PTI Seeking a follow-up of open house discussion on contentious issue of call connect charges, telecom operators body COAI has alleged that the regulator TRAI is "acting in undue haste" to conclude review of the matter and to meet the procedural requirements. In a communication to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, COAI has alleged that TRAI is "acting in undue haste to conclude the review of IUC (interconnection usage charges)". Telecom operators levy interconnection charge (IUC) on incoming calls from the network of other operator. These charges are passed on to mobile subscribers by service providers. TRAI fixes IUC which has several components. Charges levied for interconnecting mobile calls dominate the IUC issue. A telecom operator charges 14 paise per minute for every incoming mobile calls that it receives from other operators network. Incumbent operators -- Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular -- on Tuesday sought doubling of mobile termination charge (MTC), a part of IUC, saying that terminating incoming calls on their networks costs 30-35 paise per minute. When contacted, Cellular Operators Association of India Director General Rajan S Mathews said the industry body has asked the regulator to share the model that it used in last consultation process and the one that it plans to use for upcoming review of IUC. In the letter, COAI had requested TRAI to postpone the open house discussion on review of IUC scheduled for July 20,2017 to a date which is at least four weeks after the sharing of cost models. "The letter was written before TRAIs workshop (held on July 18). We were expecting TRAI to share the model that it plans to use to determine IUC but the regulator said that it will finalise model based on all the discussions. We told TRAI that once it takes the decision then share the model with stakeholders so that we can point out shortcoming if any," Mathews said. He said that last time the regulator had missed to include some of elements in IUC like spectrum cost which was added later. Mathews said that COAI will request TRAI to hold another round of discussion after it shares cost model for IUC that it firms up for ongoing review. The COAI in the letter said "it seems that the process is being followed mechanically to comply to the procedural requirements for framing the regulation under the TRAI Act, rather than actually sharing the models with the stakeholders followed by detailed deliberations." Mathews said COAI wants TRAI to complete the review process after listening about all the aspects of IUC. Any change in IUC has a direct impact on mobile call rates as the charge is taken into account while setting telecom tariffs. Mathews, however, said "Some people have wrongly carried the perception that MTC can drive up retail tariffs for the consumer. This is wrong, as the retail tariffs are driven by market dynamics and competition and MTC can be one of the many components in retails prices. The industry body which represents all the leading telecom operators said that Aircel and Reliance Jio have divergent view on the subject and will represent individually before the regulator. Disclaimer: Reliance Jio is owned by Reliance Industries, who also own Network18, the publisher of Firstpost and Tech2. Rashi Peripherals recently organized a flagship Component Training program for its key Champions. The two day event organized on July 14 & 15 in Mumbai, was aimed to provide the latest information on technological innovations in the Component business and encourage Champions to explore business potentials in the Personalized PC segment in India. Leading IT brands, Toshiba, Asus, Intel, Western Digital and ADATA showcased their new offerings and also conducted in-depth training session on their latest product portfolio. Rashi also organized a training session on GST to educate Champions on the new tax regime. The Component training program is a unique initiative by Rashi Peripherals, conducted in association with its strategic vendor partners to educate Champions on the new market opportunities in the Personalized PC segment. Key Champions from across the regions gather under one roof to upgrade their product knowledge and sharpen sales and marketing skills in the knowledge packed training sessions. Around 55 Champions from major cities attended the event and gained insights into latest technological innovations and market conditions. Businesses across the industry domain are gearing up for the implementation of the recently rolled out Goods and Services Tax (GST). While many IT organizations are still grappling with the new tax regime, Rashi Peripherals was the distribution house to start billing as per the GST norms from July 1 itself. The company has conducted various awareness and training sessions for its partners and Champions. Continuing its training series, Rashi organized an extensive GST training session for the Champions. Mr. Krishna Choudhary, Co-founder & Director at Rashi Peripherals, explained Champions various minute, but crucial components of the new tax regime. He also assured all the required support to Champions in GST compliance. Rashi Peripherals is committed to help our Champions and employees sail through the GST transition. We have conducted many training and education programs for our Champions, branch heads and the accounting staff since December. We were the first company to become GST compliant and bill to our partners on July 1, the day of roll out of the long awaited GST tax regime. This is how we are promoting the GST and we will continue to offer our support to our Champions and partners, said Mr. Choudhary. Leading IT company Asus also leveraged the platform to educate Champions on their latest technological innovations. During the 6 hour long intense training sessionheld on July 14, Asus representatives addressed various queries of Champions. Champions gave their feedback on the vendor support and also highlighted their challenges on the field in terms of stock availability and support. Complementing Rashi for its unique initiative, Mr. Vinay Shetty, Regional Head ASUS Technology Pvt Ltd India & South Asia, commented, I thank Rashi Peripherals for organizing a training program on Asus products. It provided us a great platform to interact with the key Rashi Champions. The event was also a good opportunity for us to provide the Champions in-depth knowledge on the Asus product line. I congratulate the Rashi team for bringing Champions from across the regions on a common platform and making this day event a grand success. Another key participant, Toshiba showcased its cutting edge innovation in the storage space. Mr.Polad Garda, Country Manager, Toshiba India, presented latest solution offerings for its key target vertical such as healthcare, energy etc. Commenting on the event, Mr. Garda said, The Component training meet is a very innovative and excellent initiative by Rashi Peripherals. It is a great platform to share latest product updates with all Champions, who position our offerings to the end users. The best thing about this Component meet was we were able to interact with over 50 Champions under a one roof and pass on our message to them. Champions appreciated small key points, which can become a crucial factor for us selling products and this really becomes our value add business. Garda also outlined Rashis contribution to business expansion of Toshiba in India. Rashis pan India presence has helped Toshiba to reach out in across the regions in India. Rashi gives a lot of thrust on education and training for partners and Champions to pass on the latest information on the products and market opportunity to them. This is one kind of value add that comes from Rashi to us. We always appreciate Rashi for their value added initiatives like this Component training program and we always come forward to participate on such kind of events, Garda added. Other key vendors, Intel, Western Digital and ADATA also presented their future product roadmap in their in-depth training sessions. The desktop business is going through a significant transition and the demand for the Personalized PCs is set to propel the demand for Components. Rashi Peripherals is very aggressive to promote Personalized PCs in the Indian enterprise segment. The company enjoys a significant market share in this space and manages the distribution of over 50% of personalized computer handling parts across the country. As part of its efforts to promote DIY PCS in India, the company rolled out its ambitious 4P initiative in 2015. Rashis Proud to Promote Personalized PC aims to motivate partners and Champions to promote DIY PCs in the country. Mr. Rajesh Goenka, VP Sales and Marketing atRashi Peripherals, outlined the future business potentials in the Personalized PCs segment. In his inspiring session, Mr. Goenka said, We are very emotional about Personalized PCs and we are very dominant player in this space. Our Component business marked significant growth last year that indeed reflects potentials in this space. The PC business is set to grow in the next three years with more demand for personalized computers. I urge Champions to take this business very seriously and go aggressive in the market. Personalized PC is a very big opportunity for Champions, provided they remain focused on their business. We are committed to promote Personalized PCs and will continue to run programs to sensitize our Champions on this highly potential business segment. Champions were seen very responsive to vendors sessions, which made the day long training program highly interactive and joyous. Encouraged by the speech of Mr. Goenka, Champion from Coimbatore, Mr. L. Satish said, It was a very useful trainingwith me for personalized P.C. I will try to do double the business in this year. Commenting on the training session, Mr. HarshulRihan, Champion from Bhopal said, We got in depth knowledge of upcoming technology and how and where to pitch the offering. This platform helped us align with the vision of Rashi and identify market prospects. The two day event received an overwhelming response from the Champions. Vendors as well as Champions appreciated the Rashi team for the successful execution of the Component training program. Technuter.com News Service The saga of a cult of ultra-Orthodox fundamentalist Jews whose controversial practices have led them to wander the world from Israel to the U.S., Canada, Guatemala and finally to Mexico could be heading into a dramatic final chapter. Mexican media outlets are reporting that the charismatic leader of the Lev Tahor sect, Rabbi Shlomo Helbrans, drowned in a river. A Foreign Ministry spokesman told Haaretz that an official from the Israeli consulate in Mexico is headed to the countrys southern region to confirm the death and identify Helbrans body. According to Mexican media reports, Helbrans, 55, was overtaken by river currents in the southeastern state of Chiapas while taking part in a ritual immersion. The fact that members of the group, ruled a dangerous cult by an Israeli court, were living in Mexico was little-known. Oded Twik, an activist for the families of Lev Tahor members, said that Helbrans had quietly led his followers out of Guatemala several months ago, crossing the border into the Chiapas, where they were seeking asylum status, without alerting the media. The Mexican government, he said, had allowed Helbrans and his followers to temporarily remain in the country for 180 days, and the group had already begun a campaign to convince the Mexicans to let them stay longer. When the news of Helbrans drowning first broke on Saturday, Twik thought perhaps they werent true and it was some kind of a ruse. I suspected that he staged it in order to evade authorities who were chasing him, he said. But over the course day on Sunday, he checked with his contacts in the region and the reports appeared increasingly credible. Twik was told that Helbrans was not yet been buried and that his body was in refrigeration, awaiting official identification, but his family members would not permit an autopsy. The activist, who extracted his own family members from Lev Tahor in Guatemala two years ago, said he was concerned about ensuing actions by the groups leadership following Helbrans death. He also worried that distressed members could harm themselves: These are people in a cult who have lost their spiritual leader. The reaction could be extreme. There is little that isnt extreme about Lev Tahor, comprised of an estimated 250 members (though the precise number of adherents is unknown). The group is known as the Jewish Taliban in the Israeli press because the women wear head-to-toe black robes, reminiscent of what women in Afghanistan had to wear during Taliban rule. The groups name means Pure Heart and reflects the philosophy of Helbrans, who preached that members must purify themselves from the corrupting influences that defile the rest of the world including other ultra-Orthodox groups, from which many of his followers came. He dictated a closely supervised, spartan way of life and rejected modern technology, going beyond the decrees of even the strictest ultra-Orthodox streams. He did share with them an anti-Zionist philosophy and a belief that the State of Israel is an evil and illegitimate entity. Twik and other relatives of Lev Tahor members charge that the cult keeps its members in line with cruel and extreme methods, including physical violence, psychiatric drugs, the removal of children from their parents and forcing underage girls to marry older men. Helbrans was born into a secular Israeli family. As a teenager, he became religious and joined the anti-Zionist Satmar Hassidic sect. In the late 1980s, Helbrans developed his own following, preaching the future apocalyptic destruction of the State of Israel and basing his predictions on biblical prophecies. In 1990 he moved his followers to the United States, and founded a yeshiva in Brooklyn. Four years later, he was convicted of kidnapping a 13-year-old who was sent to the yeshiva to study for his bar mitzvah by convincing him to become ultra-Orthodox, sever ties with his family and join Lev Tahor. After serving two years in prison for the crime, he was granted parole and moved with his followers to Monsey, New York, where he again ran a yeshiva, but the local ultra-Orthodox community became hostile toward the group. In 2000, the United States deported Helbrans back to Israel, but he and his followers soon moved to Quebec, Canada, seeking and receiving refugee status from the Canadian government. Helbrans claimed he was persecuted by Israel for his anti-Zionist views. The group remained in Canada for a decade, but their troubles with authorities followed them, with allegations of child abuse mounting over the years. In 2013 the scrutiny of the Quebec child protection services drove them out of that province and to Ontario, but they remained on the radar of Canadian authorities and the Canadian media, which reported on their severe practices extensively. After several of the sects children were placed in foster care and it appeared that group's leaders would face criminal charges, members fled Canada in 2014, heading for Guatemala. After an initial stay in Guatemala City, the group moved to the village of San Juan La Laguna on the shores of Lake Atitlan, but they were soon forcibly driven out after clashing with the villages Council of Indigenous Elders. The towns former mayor ended up with a year-long prison sentence for forcing them out of the town. After the expulsion, Lev Tahor members moved back to Guatemala City, but after authorities there raided the sects compound amid allegations of physical and mental abuse of their children in 2016, they moved once again, this time to Oratorio, a village 50 miles southeast of Guatemala City. On April 25, 2017 a ruling by an Israeli court declared that the sect was a dangerous cult that abused children. The court was petitioned by families of Lev Tahor devotees to increase pressure on the government to repatriate Israeli children living with the sect abroad and try to prevent others from being taken out of the country. Evidence showed the Lev Tahor community treats the children of the community ... with severe physical punishment, with underage marriage ... with spouses who sometimes have age differences of up to 20 years," wrote Judge Rivka Makayes wrote in her decision. She added that there is a punitive policy toward members of the community that includes the separation of children from their parents even in infancy and the transfer of children to be raised in another family; the prevention of formal education and isolation from the outside world and all external sources of information. According to the Foreign Ministry, the mandate of the diplomat headed to Chiapas is strictly to confirm Helbrans' death, not to investigate the state of the Israeli Lev Tahor members there. Twik says Israel has turned a deaf ear to the appeals of families of Lev Tahor members over the years, and has not done enough to help the children he believes they have abused. He said that he took the matter into my own hands two years ago and rescued his family members by force from Guatemala himself after concluding that the state wasnt going to do anything. Twiks sister and her children now live in New Jersey. He said they were in complete shock at the news of Helbrans' death. He said he was not at all certain that the death of the group's founder would mark the end of Lev Tahor. Although the loss of the spiritual leader will cause cracks, Twik believes that overall, the organization is a well-oiled machine, and that other powerful members of the group, including Helbrans son Nahman, are capable of taking over the leadership role. He noted that during the times Helbrans was detained or imprisoned, the sect made up mainly of Israeli and American Jews continued to function. Israeli officials should go there now, talk to the people, calm them down, check up on them. There are Israeli children there, said Twik. Its a crazy group with crazy practices. I look at my family and they were abused badly not just by Helbrans, but by powerful families in the group. One 14-year-old boy, who belongs to the Sadigora hasidic court, spoke to Kikar Hashabbat about violence towards himself and his friends. In a video taken two weeks ago - before Rabbi Shlomo Halberantz drowned - by a delegate who infiltrated the group and was sent by the boy's relatives, the boy can be heard speaking about the difficult life he and the other children in the community face. The boy's parents are still part of "Lev Tahor," were mesmerized by Halberantz and joined his community. "I've lived with Lev Tahor for twelve and a half years, and I want to tell them everything," the boy said, stuttering and with a low grade vocabulary. "I live there. This hell that everyone says isn't real? It's real. I want to tell you... I want to tell you about all the things that happened in Lev Tahor." "I wrote this note, it talks about all the things I want to tell you. A lot of bad things happened here. First of all I want to tell you about A. He's a bad teacher. He did a lot of bad things with the children. He punched the children, kicked the children, and did a lot of bad things." The boy then listed more of the group's leaders, explaining that one of them "killed a baby and another person, he punches and kicks the children." Later, he spoke about some of the group's more known personalities, who violently undressed the children and brutally hit them. The boy also described horrific things which were done by one of the leaders to one of the children, but at some point he stopped himself and said, "I can't tell you more things that B did to C... He did a lot of very bad things." About himself, he said, "They undressed me, beat me and kicked me many times, and they did a lot of bad things to me. At first I thought they were good Jews, but afterwards I saw that they are bad people, especially what D did to E." That's what we have to hope, now that their guru's gone to face divine prosecution. This article talks about how everything stands now:Who deserve to be punished themselves too. Testimonies have come out about the abuse inflicted in the cult, and these too are chilling:If the part about an infant/child being murdered are correct, then the cult is guilty of - what else? - murder in the first degree. That's all the more reason why, one way or another, they have to be shut down. Labels: Canada, dhimmitude, haredi corruption, islam, Israel, Latin America, misogyny, Moonbattery, United States After Mosul, Islamic State digs in for guerilla warfare Members of the Iraqi Army\'s 9th Armoured Division are photographed with an Islamic State flag, claimed after fighting with Islamic State militants in western Mosul, Iraq. Reuters, Mosul : Islamic State militants began reinventing themselves months before U.S.-backed Iraqi forces ended their three-year reign of terror in Mosul, putting aside the dream of a modern-day caliphate and preparing the ground for a different fight. Intelligence and local officials said that, a few months ago, they noticed a growing stream of commanders and fighters flowing out of the city to the Hamrin mountains in northeast Iraq which offer hideouts and access to four Iraqi provinces. Some were intercepted but many evaded security forces and began setting up bases for their new operations. What comes next may be a more complex and daunting challenge for Iraqi security forces once they finish celebrating a hard-won victory in Mosul, the militants' biggest stronghold. Intelligence and security officials are bracing for the kind of devastating insurgency al Qaeda waged following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, pushing Iraq into a sectarian civil war which peaked in 2006-2007. "They are digging in. They have easy access to the capital," Lahur Talabany, a top Kurdish counter-terrorism official, told Reuters. As part of the U.S.-led coalition, he is at the forefront of efforts to eliminate Islamic State. Some Iraqi Islamic State fighters have roots dating back to al Qaeda's campaign of car and suicide bombs that exploded by the dozens each day and succeeded in fueling a sectarian bloodbath in Iraq, a major oil producer and key U.S. ally. When a U.S.-funded tribal initiative crushed al-Qaeda, the hardcore regrouped in the desert between Iraq and Syria. They reappeared with a new jihadist brand that took the world by surprise: Islamic State. Shortly after its lighting sweep through Mosul, the group outdid al Qaeda's brutality, carrying out mass beheadings and executions as it imposed its ultra-hardline ideology. Unlike al-Qaeda, it seized a third of Iraqi territory, gaining knowledge of land that could come in handy as it hits back at Iraqi security forces. Former Iraq intelligence officers who served under Saddam Hussein joined forces with Islamic State in an alliance of convenience. These shrewd military strategists from his Baath Party are expected to be the new generation of Islamic State leaders, Talabany and other security officials said. India among five countries that faced most terror attacks in 2016: US AP, Washington : More than half of the terror attacks in the world in 2016 took place in five countries, including India and Pakistan, a senior US counter-terror official has said. Justin Siberell, Acting Coordinator for Counter-terrorism, in a media briefing on the release of the Country Reports on Terrorism by the US State Department, also said that the total number of terror attacks in 2016 were lower than in 2015. "And although terrorist attacks took place in 104 countries in 2016, they were heavily concentrated geographically, as they have been for the past several years." "Fifty-five per cent of all attacks took place in Iraq, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, and the Philippines, and 75 per cent of all deaths due to terrorist attacks took place in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Nigeria, and Pakistan," Mr Siberell said. He also said the total number of terrorist attacks in 2016 decreased by 9 per cent, and total deaths due to terrorist attacks decreased by 13 per cent compared to 2015. "This was largely due to fewer attacks and deaths from terrorist attacks in Afghanistan, Syria, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Yemen. At the same time, there was an increase in terrorist attacks and total deaths in several countries, including Iraq, Somalia, and Turkey." High growth rates always not good for countries Barry Eichengreen : China's focus on economic targets reflects the same mistakes that led to Asian crisis 20 years ago This month marks the 20th anniversary of the Asian financial crisis - or, more precisely, of the event that triggered the crisis: the devaluation of Thailand's baht. While such anniversaries are not exactly cause for celebration, they at least afford an opportunity to look back and examine what has changed - and, no less important, what hasn't. The causes of the crisis were contested at the time, and they remain contested to this day. Western observers placed the blame on Asian countries' lack of transparency and on overly close relations between firms and governments - what they described as "crony capitalism". Asian commentators, for their part, blamed hedge funds for destabilising regional financial markets and the International Monetary Fund for prescribing a course of treatment that nearly killed the patient. There is some validity to both viewpoints. The Bank of Thailand's published balance sheet wildly exaggerated its available foreign-exchange reserves - hardly a shining example of financial transparency. Foreign speculators actively bet against the baht, and the short sellers included not just hedge funds but also investment banks, including one that was simultaneously advising the Thai government on how to defend its currency. And when counselling Asian countries on how to manage the crisis, the IMF erred - not for the last time, it should be noted - in the direction of too much fiscal austerity. At a more fundamental level, the crisis reflected the mismatch between Asia's historic growth model and its current circumstances. That model emphasised stable exchange rates, which were seen as necessary for the expansion of exports. It stressed investment - however much was required for double-digit growth. And it encouraged foreign borrowing as needed to finance the requisite level of capital formation. But by 1997, the Southeast Asian economies had reached a stage of development at which brute-force investment alone was no longer enough to sustain high growth rates. In relying on foreign borrowing, their growth model neglected the risks. External forces, meanwhile, compounded the problem. South Korea's admission to the OECD required its government to dismantle capital controls, exposing the economy to inflows of short-term "hot money." More generally, countries felt pressure from the IMF and the US Treasury to remove capital-flow restrictions, which magnified the risks and made maintaining pegged exchange rates still more problematic. This sketch of the crisis highlights how much has changed over the subsequent 20 years. For starters, the crisis countries have ratcheted down their investment rates and growth expectations to sustainable levels. Asian governments still emphasise growth, but not at any cost. Second, Southeast Asian countries now have more flexible exchange rates. None is perfectly flexible, to be sure, but the region's governments have at least abandoned the rigid dollar pegs that were the source of such vulnerability in 1997. Third, countries like Thailand that were running large external deficits, heightening their dependence on foreign finance, are now running surpluses. Running surpluses has helped them accumulate foreign-exchange reserves, which serve as a form of insurance. Fourth, Asian countries are now working together to ring-fence the region. In 2000, in the wake of the crisis, they created the Chiang Mai Initiative, a regional network of financial credits and swaps. And now they have the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank to regionalise the provision of development finance as well. These initiatives can be understood as a reaction to Asia's unhappy experience with the IMF. More fundamentally, they reflect the emergence of China. In 1997, a China still uncertain of its regional role was not a vocal supporter of the Japanese plan for an Asian Monetary Fund. Its lack of support ultimately sealed the fate of that proposal. Subsequently, China's growing self-confidence and leadership helped to spearhead regional institution building and cooperation. This change, occurring against the backdrop of 20 years of robust Chinese growth, is the most consequential change affecting Asia since the crisis. But if the emergence of China signifies how much has changed, it is also a reminder of how much remains the same. China is still wedded to a model that prioritises a target rate of growth, and it still relies on high investment to hit that target. The government maintains liquidity provision at whatever levels are needed to keep the economic engine humming, in a manner dangerously reminiscent of what Thailand was doing before its crisis. Because China's government relaxed restrictions on offshore borrowing faster than was prudent, Chinese enterprises with links to the government have high levels of foreign debt. And there is still a reluctance to let the currency float, something that would discourage Chinese firms from accumulating such large foreign-currency-denominated obligations. China is now at the same point as its Southeast Asian neighbours 20 years ago: like them, it has outgrown its inherited growth model. We have to hope that Chinese leaders have studied the Asian crisis. Otherwise they are doomed to repeat it. -Project Syndicate (Barry Eichengreen is Professor of Economics at University of California, Berkeley, and former senior policy adviser at the International Monetary Fund). Rice from govt. godowns entering black market LAW enforcers have seized a total of around 3,039 tons of rice packed in bags with writing of Directorate General of Food loaded in 12 trucks in the Port City on Monday and Tuesday. Clearly these bags were released from the Government Food Depots in the Port City but on inspections of all food grains depots and silos, their stock maintained in ledger books showed no food grains were missing. Then the question arises how the seized food grains are draped in jute sacks with the Food Ministry label on them. There is no doubt rice from government depots are entering black market and a syndicate of powerful people are engaged. The incident came to the fore when the country is suffering from shortage of rice in government stock and it is importing huge amount of food grains from abroad to beef up the depleted stock. Price is now high and black-marketeers are active to take advantage of the situation to mint illegal fortune. The matter is quite intriguing how the stock from government depots is slipping out when the stock records appear normal. Many believe that it may be a case of outright theft or government distributors who get allotment to deliver the stock to local dealers are selling their vouchers to the hoarders and black-marketeers instead of reaching the supply to the dealers. Such business is now highly profiteering slowing supply to the market to create artificial supply crisis. They are selling the stock at higher price. Reports said law enforcers have arrested Manager of the Halisahar Central Storage Depot (CSD), from where the rice was allegedly stolen and four truckers who were later sent to jail by a local court. But surprisingly inspection of the officials of the Directorate at all 126 Government Food Depots in Chittagong found the stock in tact. Many point finger at a big powerful racketeers group engaging in the theft and having their reach to depots documents to cover the theft. We have previously seen huge corruption in importing wheat from Brazil and France and senior Food Ministry officials were engaged to cover up the corruption. They also made secret payment for the sub-standard wheat. In fact theft and misuse of food stock at government godowns are taking place almost unabated and depot officials are very clever to cover up the removal of food grains perfecting the documents with protection from above. Theft and secret selling of food grains from Government Depots are good business and the latest arrest in the Port City shows vested interest groups are operating without fear of the law and punishment by the courts. They can manage and escape. We ask the law enforcing agencies to arrest the main culprits - two businessmen who are now on run to put them on trial. Plundering of food stock can't go this way. PM greets new Indian President Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has greeted Ram Nath Kovind on being elected the President of India. "We continue to look forward to working closely with the government of India in elevating our multifarious relations further in order to achieve common prosperity for our peoples," Sheikh Hasina said in her congratulatory message to the newly elected Indian president on Thursday. Sheikh Hasina noted with satisfaction that Dhaka and New Delhi have taken their bilateral relations to a new height drawing strength from cultural and historical relations. Extending her heartiest congratulations, the Prime Minister warmly invited the newly-elected Indian president to visit Bangladesh at his convenience, according to Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi. Girl dies after 12 days of rescue from city hotel Staff Reporter : A 22-year old Mithila, who was rescued from a city hotel in senseless condition on July 8, died at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) on Thursday. Mithila died while undergoing treatment at DMCH as she was admitted to the hospital with several severe injury marks in her body, said Azizul Haque, Sub-Inspector (SI) of Mohamampur Police Station. The deceased was rescued in a senseless state from room No.107 of Tajin Hotel in Shyamali after being informed by the hotel authorities at the night, the police official said. The SI said that one Ashraf along with the girl, both hailed from Kasba upzila of Brahmanbaria, rented a room at Tajin Hotel at around 8:00am on the fateful day. The duo claimed themselves as husband-wife to the hotel authorities, he said. Ashraf left the hotel room saying that he will visit a doctor outside at around 12:30pm. Soon after leaving the room of Ashraf, noise of loud groaning was being heard from the room of the hotel. The hotel authorities then broke the door open and found the girl lying blood-stained, the SI said quoting the hotel manager. Police tried to ascertain her identity by collecting her finger prints but they failed as she does not have any database, he said. A doctor of the hospital said that someone tried to kill her by strangling. During the process, her brain did not receive enough oxygen, leading to this senseless state. She was kept under observation at neurosurgery department of DMCH where her physical condition remained unchanged and showed no sign of improvement since then, he said. The hospital authorities tried to provide Mithila with better care on humanitarian grounds, doctors at the DMCH said. Ram Nath Kovind to take oath as 14th President of India on July 25 NDTV, New Delhi : Ram Nath Kovind has won the presidential election after securing over two-thirds of the total electoral college votes. Mr Kovind will be sworn-in as the 14th President of India on July 25. Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Ram Nath Kovind for winning the presidential election. PM Modi tweeted: "Congratulations to Shri Ram Nath Kovind Ji on being elected the President of India! Best wishes for a fruitful & inspiring tenure." Flowers and extra security had arrived at the former Bihar governor's home in Delhi long before the official announcement and sweets were passed around at his hometown in Uttar Pradesh. The counting of votes for the presidential election began at 11 am today. The contest, between the ruling NDA's Ram Nath Kovind and the Opposition's Meira Kumar, both Dalits, had seen nearly 99 per cent lawmakers and legislators cast their vote - the highest ever. Voting had taken place on July 17. Many schools now used as flood shelter centres M M Jasim : The Education Ministry is going to prepare a list of flood affected educational institutions for repairing with a view to conducting the academic activities smoothly, sources said. Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid has asked the concern officials of the ministry to prepare the list as early as possible. The ministry officials said that some instructions would also be provided to the affected institutions to recover the gap of the study of the students. Director General of Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) Dr SM Wahiduzzaman said that they asked all the district education officers to send reports on schools damaged by the flood as soon as possible. He said that they would address the losses suffered by the students on the basis of the reports. He also assured that they would provide books to students if those were also damaged by the flood. At least 1,289 primary schools and 255 secondary schools have so far been closed for flood in the northern districts of Lalmonirhat, Kurigram, Gaibandha, Nilphamari, Rangpur, Sirajganj, Bogra, Jamalpur and the north-eastern districts of Moulivibazar, Sunamganj and Sylhet, according to district education and primary education officials. Besides, classes of 27 more primary schools have been suspended as they are being used as flood shelter centres. Deputy Director of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE), Rangpur Division, Sirajul Islam said that academic activities of 77 secondary schools of the same districts were suspended due to the flood. They, however, failed to provide the district-wise statistics. Sirajul Islam informed that many secondary school authorities had to reschedule the mid-term examinations. Deputy Director of the Department of Primary Education (DPE), Rangpur Division, Mahbub Ali said that during the last several days academic activities remained suspended for 460 primary schools in Rangpur, Lalmonirhat, Nilphmaray, Gaibandha and Kurigram districts. Mahbub Ali said that they asked the school authorities to suspend the classes for Class I and II of schools the adjacent areas of which went under water. "We cannot take the risk of the life of any student," he said. Field level reports also forecast closure of more schools as flood water has reached the adjacent areas of another 100 schools, he said. Deputy Director of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE), Sylhet Division, Tahmina Khatun said that classes remained suspended at 305 primary schools in Sylhet, Sunamganj and Maulvibazar. She informed that another 27 schools were being used as flood shelter centre while school authorities in some cases arranged alternative places like houses of school managing committee chairmen and local influential people to continue classes. Two injured, 13 held DU affiliated college students clash with cops Police thwarted the demonstration, staged by the students of seven affiliated govt colleges in city\'s Shahbagh intersection with a call to implement seven-point demands on Thursday. Staff Reporter : The students of newly affiliated seven government colleges with University of Dhaka staged demonstration at Shahbagh intersection on Thursday demanding several demands, including announcement of examinations schedule. But the police thwarted the demonstration and detained 13 students. Four students were also injured. The students of Dhaka College, Eden Mohila College, Government Shaheed Suhrawardy College, Kabi Nazrul Government College, Begum Badrunnessa Government Girls' College, Government Bangla College, and Government Titumir College took to the street around 10:00am to meet their demands. The demands are announcement of examinations schedule, formation of a combined website for the affiliated colleges, infrastructure development of the colleges, mitigation of session jam, arrangement for new academic syllabus and declaration of relations of the colleges with the University of Dhaka. The students were shouting slogans stopping the road of the Shahbagh intersection which hampers the movement of vehicles causing immense sufferings to the commuters. Earlier, police requested the demonstrating students to remove from the road, but they denied. Thus, a scuffle also took place between the students and the police personnel. At one stage, police lobbed teargas shells and fired rubber bullets to disperse them, leaving four students injured. Police also detained 13 students from the spot. HM Azimul Haque, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Ramna Division Police, said the students were first requested to clear the busy intersection. "When they didn't listen, we dispersed them." "When we tried to remove the demonstrating students from the road, they began hurling bricks and stones at us. Following their attack three policemen injured. So we responded with four rounds of teargas shells to disperse them. We picked up 13 students from the spot," he said. Monir Hossain, a Masters student of the Department of Physics at Dhaka College said, "We (Hundreds of students) formed a human chain at Shahbagh intersection at around 12:00 noon. A lot of police was surrounding us, claiming that they were there to maintain law and order." "Without any warning, the police charged us with batons and fired teargas shells at us, injuring several students," he further said. "Other college students are sitting for their final year exams while our future remains uncertain. What is going to happen to our education and career?" asked a protester. Jamal Uddin Ahmed, a student of Kabi Nazrul, said, "Our families can't afford to send us money regularly. Because of examination delay, our future has become bleak." Later in the afternoon, authorities announced the dates of examination for the students of the seven government colleges. The DU Vice-Chancellor and the Principals of the seven colleges at a meeting decided that the examinations will be held centrally, said IK Selim Ullah Khandaker, Secretary General of BCS General Education Association. Japan trade balance returns to surplus in June AFP, Tokyo : Japan logged a trade surplus of nearly $4 billion in June, rebounding from a deficit the previous month, but its politically sensitive surplus with the United States slipped, government data showed Thursday. The world's third-largest economy logged a surplus of 439.9 billion yen ($ 3.9 billion), down 35.9 percent from the same month a year earlier, according to data from the finance ministry. The result came in below market expectations of a 488 billion yen surplus. Japan's surplus with the US fell 4.9 percent to 587.4 billion yen as growth in imports of oil and coal overwhelmed exports of vehicles and other manufactured goods. Japan's trade flows with the US, over which the two countries battled for decades into the 1990s, became less of hot button issue under recent presidential administrations. But new US President Donald Trump has vowed to root out "unfair" trade practices around the world, targeting other countries, including Japan, and their companies. Overall exports in June rose 9.7 percent from a year earlier to 6.61 trillion yen thanks to growth in chip-manufacturing devices and steel products, marking the seventh consecutive monthly rise. Imports expanded 15.5 percent to 6.17 trillion yen, boosted by imports of liquefied natural gas and coal and electronic devices from Asian countries, logging the sixth straight monthly increase. A lake, forests, mountains Pokhara has many delights Pokhara was a discovery in several ways. It has a laidback charm that contrasts with the rush and pollution of capital Kathmandu Weekend Plus Desk : Standing by a lake, with forested hills on one side and snow-capped Himalayan peaks on the other, was an unforgettable moment for me in Pokhara, the picturesque Nepalese city that is arguably its tourism capital. Pokhara was a discovery in several ways. It has a laidback charm that contrasts with the rush and pollution of capital Kathmandu. The translucent Phewa lake provided some breath-taking vistas and the experience of observing the peaks of the Annapurna range at close quarters was memorable. Sarangkot, a hill station near Pokhara, offers spectacular views of the Annapurna range and I was told to reach there early to witness the snow-capped mountains change hues in the rays of the rising sun. I left my hotel at 4:00am and reached the designated point well before the sunrise. As I waited, there was no sign of the sun. There were clouds and mist and much as I wished they disappeared, they would not. I, however, did not leave the place disappointed. The scene of the valley below was clearer and almost like an image from the sky. The houses looked tiny and there were vast swathes of greenery. As the valley undulated, with Phewa lake almost in the middle, smaller hills gave way to bigger ones and to still bigger ones. On the agenda during the day was a boat ride on the lakes tranquil waters. The 15-minute ride to Tal Barahi temple on an island in the expansive lake presented panoramic views as the backdrop shifted from forested hills to the mountains. A gentle breeze blew across, adding to the pleasant feeling. Pokhara has a few tourist and religious spots near the lake. I visited Devis Falls, which gets its name from a Swiss citizen Davis who was swept away by its gushing waters in 1961 while taking bath with her husband. Her body was later recovered after a lot effort. Not far away is Gupteshwar Mahadev cave - its upper part a temple to Lord Shiva. The lower part, which is reached by some deft walking, leads to cascading waters that spring out from rocks after going underground at the Devis Falls. Pokhara offers good shopping options and almost all that you get in Kathmandus tourism district of Thamel is available here, sometimes at a better price. The place is also popular with adventure-lovers who have a wide range of options, including paragliding, rafting, sky-diving and mountain trekking. There are eating options galore, with restaurants serving a variety of international cuisines - Korean, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, French and Thai. One of my fondest memories in Pokhara is of working while seated outside a restaurant on a table and chair crafted from a log of wood. Working on my computer in this setting, with people of different nationalities and in different moods passing by, was quite different from the usual work in a formal setting. While Pokhara was a treat, reaching the city from Kathmandu was not. The nearly 200-km road journey took two hours more than the seven it usually takes. There was road repair work on in Kathmandu which led to unusually long snarls. The best time to leave Kathmandu for Pokhara is early morning when there is less traffic in the capital city. The other option is to take a flight. Among the charms of a road journey is that a large part is along the Trishuli river. There are agricultural fields carved into hill slopes, delicate bridges that connect villages to the main road and colourful houses. There are several eating options on the way and we opted for a landscaped restaurant that served an authentic Nepali thali - largely comprising green vegetables - and the piping hot food helped beat the tiredness. As I was packing my bag after a satisfying visit, my roommate asked if I had gone to the terrace see a clear view of the peaks ofthe Annapurna range. As I stepped out on the terrace, the view of Machapuchare (also known as fish tail mountain) was mesmerising. The 6,993-metre mountain, revered by the locals, was shinning in golden hues in the morning sun alongside other peaks of Annapurna range. It was a sight to behold. But then, all good things must come to an end and it was time to return to the mundane world. n 2 'militants' held in city Staff Reporter : Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in a drive arrested two suspected members of Sarwar-Tamim group of the militant outfit "Neo JMB" in the city Demra area of on Thursday morning. The arrested persons, Tusar Habib alias Aiyub, 26, and Abu Bakar Siddik, 35, are accused in several cases. Both of them are hailed from Rupganj upazila of Narayanganj district, a RAB official said. A team of RAB-11condcuted a drive in Damra in the small hours of the day and arrested them, said Md Shakil Ahmed, Rab-11 Additional Superintendent of Police. On initial interrogation, the detainees confessed to their involvement with the Sarwar-Tamim group, the RAB official said. They were involved in militant activities around two years ago, he said. "We will further interrogate for them," the official of the elite force said. Petition seeks arrest warrant for Khaleda A petition was filed with a court here on Thursday seeking a warrant for the arrest of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in the Zia Charitable Trust graft case for going to London with court's permission. The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) lawyer Mosharraf Hossain Kajal filed the petition with the court of Special Judge-5 Md Akhtaruzzaman. However, the court did not pass any order in this regard. Meanwhile, Khaleda's counsel Sanaullah Miah filed another petition seeking continuation of the case proceedings in the absence of the BNP chief. The court accepted the pleas after hearing and fixed July 24 for the next hearing. On August 8, 2011, the ACC filed the Zia Charitable Trust graft case with Tejgaon Police Station accusing four people, including Khaleda Zia, of abuse of power in raising funds for the trust from unknown sources. Why AL escapes London seminar? BNP says it doesn't believe in democracy, discussion Special Correspondent : The opposition BNP has raised question about the 'undemocratic attitude' of Awami League after the ruling party team recently escaped a seminar in London called by a Member of the House of Lords. The seminar, called by Independent Member Alexander Charles Carlile, titled: "Terrorism in Bangladesh and Rule of Law" was held in the UK House of Lords, London on Tuesday afternoon where a BNP delegation and some rights activists took part. Expressing annoyance, BNP Standing Committee Member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury said: "It's mysterious. It is proved that AL does not believe in dialogue, discussion, democracy and accountability. And it has again proven on the soil of foreign country. It's very shameful to the people and country in which way the AL escaped the seminar on Bangladesh affairs in the British Parliament." Khasru made this comment at a press conference arranged in London on Wednesday to express his party's view over the boycott of seminar by the AL. He also read out a paper in which Alexander Charles Carlile expressed his frustration for non-participation of AL team. According to information available, different issues especially latest political situation of Bangladesh and upcoming national elections were discussed in the seminar. At that time, BNP representatives claimed that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina could influence the next election, if it is held under her authorities. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Economic Adviser Dr Moshiur Rahman and BNP Standing Committee Member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury were scheduled to lead their respective sides in the seminar. In the Awami League team PM's Foreign Adviser Gowher Rizvi and former Foreign Minister and AL Joint General Secretary Dr Dipu Moni were included. Besides, the BNP team also includes party's Secretary of International Affairs Humayun Kabir and Assistant Secretary of International Affairs Rumi Farhana. To attend the programme, both the teams had reached London in due time. But a few minutes after the seminar had started, an official of Bangladesh High Commission in London sent an 'SMS' to the organizer saying that AL team would not attend it. The short message did not elaborate the reasons behind the boycott. Dr Moshiur Rahman, however, told the BBC Bangla service yesterday that AL team had boycotted the seminar as it was a personal initiative called by an independent member Alexander Charles Carlile. "The AL team would suppose to take part, if joint committee of the UK parliament had taken the initiative," the PM's adviser said. When Dr Rahman was asked whether AL team escaped the programme to avoid the representatives of different rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, he said: "A person's discussion is not relevant to us; a committee could do the discussion." Countering the statements, Amir Khasru showed two invitation cards and said this year's invitation card was almost the same like one of the previous year. "Whereas the AL is now trying to put blame on 'personal arrangement' or 'Jamaat'. Not only that, the AL team also had taken part in the lunch party before the seminar had started. We feel embarrassed seeing AL's attitude," the BNP leader said. "When there is no scope of discussion in Bangladesh, in that case such an arrangement brings an opportunity to express the answerability of both sides. So far we think, the AL has nothing to say about the rule of law and terrorism affairs. They are not ready of being accountable," the BNP leader further said. Such kind of seminar held in UK in regular basis each year, which was at first initiated by Lord Avebury, then vice chair of the Parliamentary Human Rights Group and Chairman of International Bangladesh Foundation. Anisul meets CJ again Court Correspondent : Law Minister Anisul Huq met Chief Justice Surendra Kuman Sinha in connection with issuing a gazette notification on the disciplinary and conduct rules for the sub-ordinate court judges. The meeting was held at the Chief Justice's Supreme Court office yesterday afternoon. Later, Anisul Huq told reporters on the apex court premises that there was a significant progress in the meeting to finalise the rules and issuing the gazette notification. The government is trying to issue the notification very soon, he said. He expressed hope that it might be done next week. Earlier on July 16, the Law Minister met the Chief Justice to discuss the disciplinary and conduct rules. Anisul Huq then said the government will finalise the rules determining the discipline and code of conduct for the sub-ordinate court judges by next week and hoped that a gazette notification on the rules will be issued by the end of the next week. On July 17, the apex court gave one week time to the government for issuing the gazette notification. Earlier on July 2, the seven-member bench of the Appellate Division gave the government a two-week ultimatum for issuing the gazette. "It's the last chance," said Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, who was heading the apex court bench, while hearing in the judiciary separation case, also known as Masdar Hossain Case. The apex court on several occasions had earlier expressed annoyance and dissatisfaction at the government's failure to publish the notification in line with its orders. The judiciary was officially separated from the executive in November 2007, but the conduct rules for the sub-ordinate court judges is yet to be finalised. The government drafted the conduct rules and sent those to the Supreme Court for its opinion about two years ago. The apex court revised the draft in the light of the 1999 verdict in the separation of judiciary case. BD govt statement `false` Special Correspondent : After AL boycott, Lord Carlile in a statement clarified his stance saying that the statement of Press Minister. Nadeem Kadir of Bangladesh High Commission in London about the holding and conduct of the seminar was "false". He also said that he had a statement on July 12 and it was sent to respective participants. Accordingly the Bangladesh government delegation confirmed their attendance. The statement said: "The seminar is not an official or public event. Rather, it is a privately organised and closed event in which I intend to give invited participants the opportunity to make short statements, hopefully focused on democracy and the Rule of Law in Bangladesh, followed by a relaxed and constructive open discussion, which I shall chair. I hope and expect that those invited will recognise that the event has been created in a constructive and cooperative spirit." It continued: "It is taking place in the UK Parliament, where we apply the doctrine of free speech whether we like or dislike those with whom we may disagree: there will be no compromise of that doctrine. I shall consider it lacking in courtesy if any intended participant wishes to exclude any other, or withdraws because some other person or group will be given the opportunity to speak. I am sure that this will not occur." "I look forward to seeing you all at the event, and am grateful for the efforts many are making to be there. Our aim was to provide an opportunity for a factual analysis of the very serious problems affecting secular political parties/groups as well as ethnic & religious minorities in context of the growing extremism and the worrying culture of impunity and democracy, rule of law." The statement said: "These are areas of legitimate and continuing interest for the UK Parliament as well as the international community and it was hoped that the Bangladesh Government would use the occasion of the seminar to provide its inputs and engage in a constructive and mature manner. Unfortunately, they have withdrawn in the last moment without valid reason." "It may be mentioned here that I and Anne Maine MP has organised a similar pattern seminar where the Awami League/Govt has attended without reservation last year," it added. The best bang for your buck! This option enables you to purchase online 24/7 access and receive the Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday print edition at no additional cost * Print edition only available in our carrier delivery area. Allow up to 72 hours for delivery of your print edition to begin. Print edition not available for Day Pass option. An upcoming program at The Varsity Center will combine film and music. The show, "An Evening of Film and Music," which takes place at 7:30 p.m. July 22, features films by Southern Illinois filmmaker Dan Johnson and percussionist and marimba player Kevin Lucas. Johnson will present three travel films, featuring Turkey, Iceland and underwater Cozumel. Some original music by Lucas is included in the Iceland film. Lucas also will be playing a selection of pieces preshow and between film showings. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased in advance online at thevarsitycenter.eventbrite.org and at the door. Doors and bar open at 6:45 p.m. The bar features classic and craft beers, wines and select cocktails. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. For more on the The Varsity Center, go to www.facebook.com/varsitycenter. For more on Lucas, go to kevinlucasorchestra.com; for more on Johnsons work, go to https://danjohnsonfilms.wixsite.com/films/turkish-tracings. The Southern CAIRO The body found Monday in the area where the Mississippi and Ohio rivers meet was identified as a Cape Girardeau man. Missouri Department of Public Safety's Sgt. Clark Parrot said the body was that of Travis M. Davie, 35. Davie's body was recovered from the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers near the U.S. 60/62 bridge near Cairo, according to Sgt. Richard Morris of the Illinois State Police District 22. It is not clear how long Davie's body had been in the water or how it got into the water, Parrot said. He said foul play was not suspected. Parrot said Davie had not been reported missing, as far as he knew. Missouri public safety investigators are overseeing the case, which could be turned over to police in Cape Girardeau, as that is where Davie was from, Parrot said. Meanwhile, searches are continuing for two other people, a man and a 13-year-old teenage boy, who bodies are also believed to be in area waters. They were involved in separate incidents, about two weeks apart. Missing are 42-year-old Michael Shawn Neill of Karnak and 13-year-old Paul Johnson of Du Quoin. Neill disappeared on June 26, more than three weeks ago, from a campsite at the Grand Chain Lodge in Grand Chain. Although he is believed to have gone missing in the river, investigators are not certain that he did. His mother reported him missing when she went to his campsite to take him to a doctor's appointment on Monday morning, June 27. His cellphone and his tablet and other belongings were there, as was a four-wheeler, its key in the ignition, which he'd taken there. Paul was with David Totten, a 50-year-old from Du Quoin, when the two went swimming on Sunday, July 9, in the Mississippi River, apparently becoming caught up in a current. Totten's body was recovered around 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, July 12, in waters about 12 miles south of Grand Tower in Union County. Someone who bought a Powerball ticket in Southern California has won a record $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot. The winning numbers drawn Tuesday morning at the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee were: white balls 10, 33, 41, 47 and 56, and the red Powerball was 10. The jackpot ticket was sold at Joes Service Center in Altadena, northeast of Los Angeles. The business will receive a maximum Powerball bonus of $1 million. The Multi-State Lottery Association said Monday nights scheduled drawing was delayed by nearly 10 hours until Tuesday because a participating lottery had issues processing sales. The jackpot was by far the largest lottery jackpot ever won, topping the previous record $1.586 billion prize won by three Powerball ticketholders in 2016. NORTH -- Firefighters from across South Carolina gathered to celebrate the life of one their own on Wednesday, North Fire Chief Gregory Gambrell. Gambrell died on Sunday after a battle with cancer. He was 59. Greg Gambrell was not afraid to die, said his pastor, the Rev. Larry Davis of Fellowship Baptist Church. He was a man of integrity and a man of his word, Davis said. The faith that Greg had was very plainly obvious, said the Rev. Gene Ball, chaplain of the Orangeburg County Fire District. Ball recalled hearing Gambrell say, Im looking forward to heaven. For 20 years, Gambrell served as Norths fire chief. In total, he spent 44 years of service as a firefighter and was inducted into the S.C. Firefighters Hall of Fame in recent months. Ball told how Gambrell not only gave of his time as a firefighter, but as an instructor at the S.C. Fire Academy, a trainer for the North Fire Department and for departments throughout Orangeburg County. Several years ago, Gambrell helped design a firetruck ideal for rural fire districts known as the Orangeburg tanker, Ball said. The Orangeburg tanker is now used in fire districts throughout the county and the state, he said. Ball also noted that Gambrell was a charter member of the Orangeburg Countys STAR (Special Tactics and Rescue) team. What a man! Hes going to be missed! he said. Hes made an indelible mark on Orangeburg County and South Carolina." S.C. Fire Marshal Jonathan Jones described Gambrell as a life well-lived. He recognized that strong families make strong communities and strong fire departments, Jones said. Gambrell sought to include the families of firefighters as part of the North Fire Department, he said. For example, the rehabilitation unit was maintained by local firefighters families, Jones said. There was always an underlying theme to Gregs life, including his fire service, Jones said, Greg loved the Lord. To know Greg was to know his God. To know Greg was to know his hope." Longtime friend and Barnwell Fire Chief Tony Dicks described Gambrell as a community servant his entire life. Rest assured, Greg has inherited eternal life, Dicks said. Gambrells son, Berry, spoke of his fathers devotion to their family and Jesus Christ. I saw my parents truly live up to their vows for richer and poorer, in sickness and health, he said. "My dad was always devoted to his family. He cherished the time we spent together as family. He remembered his fathers advice for when he encountered troubles, Give it to God." Gambrell's son recalled an occasion when his father was in the intensive care unit of a hospital and medical providers told them that he may not ever wake up. I prayed my heart out for a chance to talk to him again, he said. The next morning, he was not only awake, but he was talking. Boy, was he talking, Berry Gambrell said. Gambrells widow, Karen, said, God sent me to nursing school not to become a nurse, but to meet my husband. Im going to miss my best friend. Its only through faith, my faith in Jesus, that Im able to stand up here today, she said, addressing an auditorium filled with firefighters, friends and community members at North High School. She said it's not unusual to pray Thy will be done. Weve all prayed that. Sometimes it becomes something that we say, she noted. "But we all have to learn to accept what Gods will is." She and her husband had hoped to enjoy more time together upon his retirement, but she said God had a different plan. The S.C. Fire Honor Guard escorted Gambrells American flag-draped casket from North High School to the cemetery. Dozens of firetrucks followed in the procession including those from North, Wolfton, the Orangeburg County STAR Team, the Orangeburg Department of Public Safety, Cordova, Vance, Providence, Edisto, Eutawville, Springfield, the Orangeburg County Fire District, Neeses, Jamison, Lugoff, the U.S. Fire District, Denmark, Santee and the Richland County Sheriffs Office. At the graveside, a ceremonial final call for Gambrell went out over firefighters radios. He leaves behind his wife, son and daughter and his grandchild, who will be born in a few months. And just as they will mourn him, so, too, will his extended family of firefighters and his community. Claflin University will hold a public meeting at 7 p.m. Aug. 21 in Ministers Hall. The purpose of the meeting is to give citizens an opportunity to become acquainted with a proposed Rural Development Project, which consists of the following components: A Health and Wellness Center featuring a community kitchen. A Farmers Market. Card reader accessibility for public and private entrance. Additional security elements to accommodate increased traffic. The meeting also will provide citizens the opportunity to comment on such items as economic and environmental impacts, service area and alternatives to the project. Members of the Orangeburg County Litter Control Committee are discussing ways to hold litterbugs accountable and build community pride. Santee Mayor Donnie Hilliard said his towns approach includes reminding residents to help out. The town has been working to instill the mindset that, If your citys not clean, the people arent going to visit you, he said. County Council Chairman Johnnie Wright echoed Hilliards sentiments, saying We have to educate people and we have to be persistent. We are quick to forget, but the more people see something, the better off it is, Wright added. After a while, if they keep hearing it, it will make a difference. The committee met Tuesday evening to discuss problems members have seen throughout the county and what can be done to clean the county. Orangeburg County Development Commission member Joey Williamson suggested banning Styrofoam. That stuff never deteriorates, he said. Williamson said coastal towns banned the use of plastics near the water, so having a similar ordinance should be looked at. Deputy County Administrator Marion Lloyd said the idea will be taken to the countys legal advisers to see if such an ordinance can be written. Members also discussed installing cameras along commonly littered areas. Litter enforcement officers at the meeting said they have had to throw out several cases because they could not prove who littered based on information found in trash bags. Litter suspects just said they had someone else take their trash for them. The countys ordinance makes littering a criminal offense and requires substantial proof to verify who littered. Councilwoman Janie Cooper-Smith suggested the county consider changing littering from a criminal offense to a civil offense. We will do whatever it takes to amend our present ordinance, Cooper-Smith said. All I want us to be able to do, when an ordinance is amended, is enforce it. Rowesville Mayor Paul Bishop said, We really need to identify the problem. A lot of problems I see is people taking trash to the convenience sites, forgetting theyve got it on their hood, Bishop said. Next thing you know, its on the side of the road. Next thing you know, you have stray dogs in it, tearing it all over the place. Bishop said there are not enough traps to catch the animals or officers to enforce the ordinance. Weve got to have some way to catch them to bring them to the court system to fine them, he said. If we dont have a way to catch them, then any law you make is not going to be worth the paper its written on if you cant enforce it. Benjamin Boensh of Rowesville Town Council emphasized a need to enforce the covered loads law. Its a state law, Boensch said. Anything that has the propensity to blow out the vehicle should be covered. He said this could be as little as one bag. Boensch also spoke of building support for keeping the community clean. I think we need to keep it out in the open and get as much community support as possible, Boensch said. County Planning Director Richard Hall said it will take a communitywide effort to keep the county clean. We can do everything we can. This committee, this staff, we cant fix this problem, Hall said. The 91,000 members of our community have to fix this problem. Councilman Johnny Ravenell suggested civic organizations and churches make stronger efforts. If each church were to take a perimeter of a half a mile or a mile circumference, you can imagine how much litter can be picked up, Ravenell said. The county will be holding a volunteer, two-week countywide cleanup event. The goal is to get the community to take time from Sept. 17 through Sept. 30 to clean up where they live. Orangeburg County and Palmetto Pride will supply bags, gloves and vests for anyone willing to help. Locations to pick up supplies are the town halls, the Orangeburg County Litter Control office at 1347 Amelia Street or the Keep Orangeburg County Beautiful office at 1550 Henley Street. When you have completed your clean up, to have your bags picked up, call Litter Control at 803-533-6162, Glenda Lewis at 803-534-2409, ext. 101 or Diane Curlee at 803-533-2409, ext. 118. Burak Cingi/RedfernsRZA's latest offering is a number of original beats using... black beans, guacamole and crispy corn tacos? Mexican food chain Chipotle has recruited the Wu-Tang Clan producer-rapper to compose musical beats using one of the brand's 51 menu ingredients for a project called SAVOR.WAVS. You can also create a remix based on the ingredients of your personal favorite Chipotle order, just like the artist himself. Visit SAVORWAVS.com to get started on composing delicious music. Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. I love the Orangeburg area. I have faint memories of when it was considered a prosperous town and one of the best places to live in South Carolina. I attended the public hearing on the county business license proposal Monday evening and listened with interest to County Administrator Harold Youngs opening statement and those of my business neighbors. Several things became apparent over the next hour. The business owners of the county are almost unanimously opposed to the measure. County Council members do not consider business owners their constituents. Our county administrator and council members have very little regard for a balanced budget, and indeed the concept seems to escape them. If our county is running in such a deficit spending mode where new taxes have to be implemented simply to break even, why spend $5.3 million on a pedestrian bridge that Ive never seen anyone actually walk across? Young says it was for aesthetic reasons. Well Mr. Young, that $2.6 million share that we paid would have balanced your budget for three years without any tax increases. I understand that the same contractor bid the same bridge in the Upstate for $1.4 million and lost the bid. What a waste of taxpayer money. Is it true council approved a loan of $4 million for broadband Internet extending into the Cattle Creek area? No one lives out there except Councilman Harry Wimberly. On one thing we agree: This measure would be bad for farmers. Wimberly is a farmer and he has apparently helped reduce the percentage farmers pay in this measure to half of what other businesses pay. I guess if you dont watch out for yourself, no one else will. I think our citizens are OK with paying for needed services like law enforcement, schools, county libraries, but this superfluous pork barrel stuff is just ridiculous when the county is broke. This business license is simply another way for council to gouge money out of businesses. It opens up an avenue that they can come back to time and again without justification. If it were a one-time deal or if the cap and percentage were fixed forever, it would be one thing. The council sees this as the goose that lays the golden egg. The concern of the business community is that the council will squeeze the neck of the goose until it dies. Council has shown public concern in the past that many businesses are leaving the county and thus decreasing the tax base. This is how they reward those of us who have chosen to stay? It makes no sense. Im not sure how much longer I will be working. God willing, I hope to be carried out of my office one day. I guess considering I pay federal and state income taxes, property taxes (the fifth highest in the state in Orangeburg County), annual license fees for my dental license, state and fed drug license, X-ray licenses on every machine, hazardous waste tax, and several hundred dollars per year for my county fire contract, I can probably swallow this too. But it is a bitter pill considering that this money will probably be thrown away needlessly. It is apparent our county administration is not competent to handle our financial future. That isnt their fault. That is our fault. The voters of Orangeburg County keep putting these same people in office. There ought to be a term limit so folks like this dont get so comfortable that they can waste money. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Dont blame the county administration for failure. Get rid of them. Bring in a new group that is fiscally sound. Let them hire a new administrator. Try something different. I have lived here all of my life and it is painful for me to see the place I love, live and will be forever struggling in decline. If I could paraphrase what Councilwoman Janie Cooper-Smith said recently: Its a shame we live in an area where we have to tax our way into prosperity. What the heck does that mean? Young boasted in The Times and Democrat the following day that voters were wrong when other council initiatives (like maximizing property tax increases and a subdivision ordinance) didnt kill Orangeburg County. Are you sure about that Mr. Young? By Trend Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree July 19 on additional measures to strengthen social protection of media workers. According to the decree, five million manats will be allocated from the Presidents Reserve Fund envisaged in Azerbaijans state budget for 2017 for the State Fund for Support of Mass Media Development under the Azerbaijani president in connection with the improvement of living conditions of Azerbaijani media workers and the construction of another residential building for them to continue the measures implemented in the sphere of strengthening the social protection of mass media workers operating in the country. The Ministry of Finance has been instructed to provide financing in the amount indicated in the decree. By Trend President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev received the Friend of Journalists award. The award was presented to the president by Aflatun Amashov, chairman of the Azerbaijani Press Council, at the ceremony of presenting apartments to journalists on the occasion of the National Press Day in another building built for journalists. By Trend An aide to the Russian president on military-technical cooperation has confirmed a contract with Iraq on the sale of a "large batch" of modernized T-90MS main battle tanks, Sputnik reported. Russias Uralvagonzavod company said earlier the first shipment of 73 tanks was scheduled for this year. "A significant contract for a large batch. I cannot name its exact worth but the amount [of tank] is large," Vladimir Kozhin told the Izvestiya newspaper, adding Kuwait was also interested in this type of hardware. According to the outlet, more T-90MS shipments would follow. Russias Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, which oversees such deals, declined to comment. Trakhees, the regulatory arm of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation in Dubai, recently partnered with Al Ansari Exchange, a global remittance company, to provide easy and convenient payment options for its customers. Under the terms of the agreement, Trakhees customers can now conveniently make quick payments through any of Al Ansari Exchanges network of more than 170 branches across the UAE. The agreement was signed by Adnan Ali Abbar, CEO of Trakhees, and Rashed Ali Al Ansari, general manager of Al Ansari Exchange and witnessed by Senior Management and key officials from both sides. Ali Abbar said: We are pleased to sign an agreement with Al Ansari Exchange as one of the leading exchange companies in the UAE. This partnership is in line with our continuous efforts to provide the best services to our customers for their convenience, including simple and fast payment methods through secure and quick payment. We are confident that this collaboration will result in our services being more accessible to our customers who can now visit any of Al Ansari Exchange's branches across Dubai and the UAE to make their payments. The new partnership with Trakhees reflects our efforts to provide the best solutions and facilities in providing customers with quick, easy and convenient ways to make payments. The aim of this collaboration is to enhance Trakhees customers experience by enabling them to settle the payments of Trakheess wide range of services with ease and comfort through any of our branches throughout the UAE. We will continue to provide convenient payment solutions to our partners and customers and raise their level of satisfaction, concluded Al Ansari. TradeArabia News Service National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) has recorded a net profit of BD31.74 million ($84.41 million) for the six months ended June 30, compared to BD31.72 million ($84.36 million) for the corresponding period of 2016. During the first half of 2017, the bank achieved an operating profit of BD38.01 million, an increase of 6.6 percent over BD35.66 million achieved during the corresponding period of 2016, said a bank statement. For the second quarter of 2017, the bank recorded a net profit of BD17 million ($45.21 million), a strong increase of 21.8 per cent compared to BD13.96 million ($37.13 million) for the corresponding period of the previous year. The financial results were approved at a board meeting held on July 19 chaired by the banks chairman Farouk Yousuf Khalil Almoayyed. Almoayyed expressed his satisfaction on the results recorded by the bank. He thanked the executive management team and employees for their dedicated service and the banks clients for their valued business relationship and the confidence reposed by them in the institution. Jean Christophe Durand, chief executive officer, said: The banks focus on new business initiatives and increasing the customer footprint resulted in a strong improvement in the operating profit for 2017. As a result, the cank recorded a marginal increase in net profit despite the need to take impairment on certain credit exposures due to financial difficulties faced by some borrowers. The net interest income for the six months was BD34.95 million compared to BD31.82 million for H1 2016, an increase of 9.8 per cent. The increase is attributed to growth in earning assets and better asset liability management leading to an improvement in net interest margin. Other income for the six months period in 2017 was BD18.67 million compared with BD19.70 million for 2016. The decrease in Other Income was due to certain income from sale of investments in the previous year while such opportunities were not available during the current year, the bank said. However, core banking activities continued to show steady increase with commission from such activities recording a strong growth of 17.1 per cent. Total Earning Assets (comprising of Treasury bills, Bank placements, Loans & Advances, Investment Securities and Investment in associates) remained steady at BD2.824 billion ($7.512 billion) as at June 30, compared to BD2.817 billion as at June 30, 2016. Customer deposits stood at BD2.143 billion, compared with BD2.196 billion. The earnings per share was 25.2 fils, similar to H1 2016. - TradeArabia News Service Saudi civil aviation authorities said about 90 per cent of the new airport project in Jeddah, which comprises the existing King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA), has been completed. The airport, which is spread over a 670,000-sq-m area, will boast 82 domestic, international and VIP lounges in addition to 96 air bridges, reported The Saudi Gazette. It will serve about 30 million passengers in its first phase starting early 2018, it added. The new Jeddah airport is one of the vital development projects in the giant economic city, stated Deputy Minister of Transport Saad Al Khalab while briefing Deputy Emir Prince Abdullah Bin Bandar on the project. Khalab said following the completion of Phase I, the airport will serve about 30 million passengers, followed by 55 million in Phase II and 100 million in the final phase. The new airport will be able to receive the new generation of aircraft and will be a pivotal air facility in the region, he added. On its other ambitious development, Haramain Express Train project, Khalab said it would be ready by the end of this year. "The train will cross the 450-km distance between Makkah and Madinah, in just over two hours. It has been designed to serve about 60 million pilgrims and residents by 35 well-equipped, fast and comfortable trains," he added. Dubai Hospitals Dr Fariborz Bagheri, head of the Urology Department, has received a Guinness World Record for removing the worlds largest kidney from a 56-year-old Emirati man. The record was attained, after months of verifying the data by the Guinness World Record, which concluded that one of the kidneys removed, was in fact the largest in the world with the weight of 4.25kg and 34 17 cm in diameter. Dr Bagheri, who led the surgery, removed Sayeds two kidneys during a five-hour surgery on October 11, 2016 due to polycystic kidney disease. He explained that while the Guinness World Record was obtained for a 4.25kg kidney, at the time of the surgery, the kidneys each weighed more than 6kgs totalling to 13kg. However, due to insufficient evidence, the kidney was weighed again three months later by the Guinness World Record, following an anatomy, and it was found that they have shrunk to 4.25kgdue to it losing fluids from the anatomy. Despite the shrinkage, it was found that one of the kidneys still broke the previous record of 2.14kg. Humaid al Qutami, chairman of the Board and director general of the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) said that achieving this record is a reflection of the capabilities of Dubai Hospital in conducting complicated surgeries adding that the DHA exerts all efforts to provide customers with quality services. Al Qutami added that Dubai Hospital has also previously succeeded in conding the first-of-its kind surgery in the country to remove a tumour using 3Dprinting technology, which is a testimonial to the authoritys capabilities in adopting the latest technology in the medical field to provide quality services that are at par with international standards. During the conference, Dr Abdul Rahman Al Jasmi, CEO of Dubai Hospital said that the hospital succeeded in beating the previous 2.14kg record for the largest kidney in the world, which shows how rare the case was and why it deserves to be documented by the global authority on breaking records. During the press conference, Dr Bagheri said the patients kidneys expanded because he was suffering from polycystic kidneys from birth and had a distended abdomen but was not aware of it, this genetic disorder that causes the growth of several cysts on the kidney. In Saeeds cases the kidneys growing size was compressing all his internal organs. We had recommended removal of the kidneys a few years ago, however due to potential complications of the operation, the patient was reluctant until his general health condition deteriorated with difficulty in walking and breathing due to severely enlarged abdomen. Eventually, in October 2016, the patient accepted to undergo the recommended operation, he said. Dr Bagheri explained that while kidney removal surgeries are considered routine procedures in the urology field, the removal of kidneys of this size is extremely challenging and delicate. Talal Omar, head of Guinness World Records Dubai-based office said: We have spent many months studying extremely complex medical records and now that the assessment is complete, Guinness World Records is happy to announce that the record title of the largest kidney is now official. As the leading global authority on record breaking, we want to challenge the way people and brands view themselves. We believe in offering record breaking ideas for everyone, everywhere and will continue to seek out new and exciting records in the UAE a market that has no dearth of creative ideas and inspiration. I am back to normal, I can move, I can jump and I can run. No one believes that I have removed both kidneys. Before the surgery I had problems breathing because and even moving. I would like to thank Dubai Hospitals staff for my life changing surgery, said Saeed. TradeArabia News Service Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), the Bahrain-based international aluminium smelter, has managed to close the first half of 2017 with a sales volume of 453,089 metric tonnes, down by 3.9 per cent year-on-year (YoY), with the recovery process of reduction Line 5 underway. The company also reported that production volume reached 453,395 metric tonnes, down by 4.5 per cent YoY. Additionally, sales and production volumes for the second quarter of 2017 topped 210,157 metric tonnes and 204,617 metric tonnes respectively, it said. Albas value-added sales averaged 61 per cent of total shipments in Q2 2017 versus 55 per cent for the same period in 2016 and 58 per cent for the first half of 2017 compared to 54 per cent in H1 2016. Alba experienced a power station outage on April 5 that resulted in a temporary loss of power in all five reduction lines for approximately three hours. Reduction Lines 1-4 started operating at normal levels immediately, while Alba said Reduction Line 5 was partially running and is expected to be fully operational in Q3 2017. The company estimated that the incident will result in a loss of 3 to 5 percent of its total production for 2017. Albas chief executive officer Tim Murray said: We are pleased with the pace of Line 5 recovery process, which has allowed us to reduce the impact on lost production. We are also committed to safely bringing back Line 5 to full production in the coming weeks, he said. Alba will release its second quarter 2017 financial results to the public on July 24, as well as upload the IR presentation, it added. TradeArabia News Service Bahrain-based Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (GPIC) has reported that Global Auditing Company (DNV) has carried out a successful external audit of its Integrated Management Systems (PAS 99). The auditors verified the integrity of all the company's operations, its various activities, working documents and procedures, and the employees' understanding and application over a one-week period, said a statement from GPIC. The audit certifies that the company complies with the requirements of the PAS 99 systems, the Business Continuity Management System (ISO 22301 and ISO 27001) and the Responsible Care Management System (RC 14001), it said. GPIC continually conducts the audit the audits because of its desire to ensure the safety of procedures in place, in addition to contributing to its further improvement and continuous development, increasing efficiency and sustainable quality of work, it added. The company recently trained a group of its employees and qualified them to carry out internal audits throughout the year, according to a detailed schedule of more than 70 internal audits to ensure its operations and procedures are in line with requirements and regulations. The company is one of the first in the region to introduce administrative systems and is one of the most applicable management systems in the world. GPIC has a total of 14 administrative systems, which enable the company to undergo various independent external audits continuously and throughout the year. Dr Abdulrahman Jawahery, president, GPIC, praised its commitment to the implementation of various global management systems, now one of the most important elements on which the Company's success depends. He said that the executive management and the employees believe in the importance of these audits and their reflection on all actions the company takes to ensure safety of procedures and their efficiency, while continuously improving them. TradeArabia News Service Oman's non-oil exports declined to RO2.4 billion ($6.2 billion) in value in 2016, down from RO3 billion ($7.79 billion) a year earlier, a drop of 20.1 per cent, said a report quoting Central Bank of Oman (CBO) data. The slump was primarily because of the general economic downturn and also on account of lacklustre growth in the GCC and the slowdown in China, the principal destinations for a substantial share of non-hydrocarbon trade outflows, added the Oman Daily Observer report. The decline was however lower than the steep 27.2 per cent fall in exports registered in 2015 versus the previous years high of RO4.1 billion ($10.6 billion) just before the current global downturn was unleashed, it said. Much of the contraction in the non-oil export sector occurred in commodities falling under the plastics, rubber and articles category. Exports of merchandise under this category fell a hefty 49.1 per cent. Significant reductions were also recorded in the categories for base metals and articles (22 per cent), mineral products (17.5 per cent) and chemicals and allied products (15.8 per cent). Key non-oil exports mainly comprised chemicals, accounting for 24 per cent of total outflows, while vegetable-related products grew five per cent as well. Relatively depressed economic conditions in the main import markets were also partly to blame, according to the CBO report. Four countries the UAE, Saudi Arabia, India and China account for a more than half of all Omani origin non-oil exports, added the report. Bahrain-based Batelco Group, a global telecom company with operations across 14 countries, has posted a net profit of BD19 million ($50.4 million) for the first half (H1) of the year. The net profit was a 16 per cent decline compared to the corresponding period in 2016 and a quarter on quarter decline of 17 per cent over Q2 2016. However, the net profit is up by 32 per cent compared to Q1 2017 as Q1 results were impacted by the share of loss from the groups investment in Sabafon, Yemen, due to the continued instability in the region caused by political unrest. The groups gross revenues of BD181.1 million ($480.4 million) have remained steady year-on year (YoY) with a slight 1 per cent decline compared to the same period in 2016. The gross revenues for the second quarter of 2017 show a 1 per cent decrease compared to Q2 2016 but an increase of 2 per cent compared to Q1 2017. EBITDA for the period was BD64.0 million ($169.8 million), a 10 per cent decline year over year, and quarter on quarter decline of 12 per cent compared to Q2 2016. EBITDA for Q2 2017 was in line with that of the previous quarter with only a 2 per cent marginal decline. The YoY drop in EBITDA is a partly due to increased operating expenses compared to 2016, mainly higher network and IT costs as a result of network enhancements and additional sites across the Group. Despite the reduction in EBITDA, the Group continues to sustain its robust EBITDA margin of 35 per cent. The groups balance sheet remained strong; as of June 30 net assets were BD532.9 million ($1.413 billion) with substantial cash and bank balances of BD157.4 million ($417.5 million). Earnings per share were 11.4 fils and the Board of Directors approved an interim cash dividend for shareholders of 10 fils per share for the six month period. Batelco chairman Shaikh Mohamed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa said that Batelco Group continues to be immersed in a lengthy period of harsh competitive pressure and the impact of this is reflected in the Groups financial results. This operating environment is due to circumstances in the telecom industry, not just in Bahrain, but across the geographies in which we operate. However, our strategy is evolving so that we are prepared to meet the ongoing changes in the industry. We are investing in restructuring and training to ensure we have the right mix of skills and expertise across our management and general staff teams, he said. Another key area where we are continuously evolving is on strengthening the relationship we have with our customers by focusing on the overall customer experience rather than just customer services. We are client and customer focused across all sectors from the general public to government, medical, banking and beyond. Additionally, our combined Group-wide efforts to pool resources is making good progress and helping to support our efforts to reduce costs, Shaikh Mohamed added. Batelco Group chief executive Ihab Hinnawi said that throughout the Group, in order to remain viable in the current digital era and to cater for the continuous digital demand from customers, Batelcos affiliates and subsidiaries are in the process of transforming their operations by digitizing all their touch points and internal processes in addition to introducing new digital services that will enhance the life of customers as part of the group digital strategy. The provision of full digital services will enable a superior customer experience which is always among our key priorities, said Hinnawi. All our operations place great importance on the quality of their networks and the quality of their customer services while working to implement new solutions to elevate our standards, and the success of their efforts has been reflected by increasing customer numbers. We are very pleased to announce that overall subscriber numbers are up 4 per cent YoY and 3 per cent since Q1 2017. At the end of the six month period, 59 per cent of Revenues and 52 per cent of EBITDA were attributable to operations outside of Bahrain. This is compared with 59 per cent of Revenues and 57 per cent of EBITDA in the first half of 2016. Across the Group a number of locations showed significant growth in their customer numbers with Dhiraagu mobile and Broadband subscribers up by 16 per cent YoY. Sure Group has also made impressive gains with their fixed line customer base up by 11 per cent YoY and Broadband subscribers up by 6 per cent. We are particularly pleased to note that Broadband customers at Batelco in Bahrain are up by 34 per cent over the first six months of 2016 and up by 8 per cent over Q1 of this year, he added. Batelco Bahrain CEO Muna Al Hashemi said that ongoing investment to modernise Batelco Bahrains systems and to implement innovative new solutions were key on the home operations agenda. Among our key focus points currently is the modernization of our IT systems, which is well underway. Our efforts are designed to deliver a number of key benefits to our customers including enabling them to interact with us in an increasing digital and online way. Additionally the upgrade will significantly increase the speed and sophistication of our service delivery for our customers while also supporting our commitment to introduce new generation products and services on a more regular basis. Furthermore, and very important in this age of cyber threats, having the most up to date IT systems in place will meet the ever growing need for data protection solutions, added Al Hashemi. Hinnawi added: Mobile subscriber numbers in Bahrain were up by 10 per cent over the previous quarter but showed a decline year-on-year of 11 per cent. However, both the fixed line and Broadband customer base has grown with an increase of 2 per cent and 8 per cent respectively over Q1 2017. Fixed line subscriber numbers are up by 6 per cent YoY while Broadband numbers are up by a very impressive 34 per cent. We are very pleased with this progress which reflects the strong uptake for our value-added-services and also the growing uptake of Batelcos fibre offers. Looking ahead Were a profitable company with some very strong businesses and were generating strong cash flow. We are confident that through our restructuring and cost transformation activities along with our efforts to provide the best customer experience, that we can support profitable growth and create further value for our shareholders, Shaikh Mohammed continued. Our confidence in our ability to strengthen our financial and operational performance throughout the rest of 2017 has been boosted by a number of improvements made during the second quarter and we look forward to adding to our achievement during the second half of the year, Shaikh Mohammed concluded. TradeArabia News Service Eleven expatriate workers were killed in Saudi Arabia's Najran when a fire ripped through the windowless house they shared, reports said. Ten of those killed are Indians and one is a Bangladeshi. Six others were injured in the fire which broke out due to short circuit in an old air-conditioning unit, according to preliminary information. Firefighters put out a blaze in an old house lacking windows for ventilation. Eleven people died of asphyxiation, and six others were injured, in the southern province of Najran, the civil defense said in a tweet. The workers, who belonged to a construction company, were living near a gold market area in Faisaliah district. Among the six injured workers, four were from India, Saudi Gazette reported. The regions governor, Prince Jluwi bin Abdelaziz bin Musaed, has ordered the formation of a committee to investigate the fire incident, said an Arab News report. The governors office will be supervising the committee, which will include representatives from the Civil Defense, Municipality and the Ministry of Labor and Social Development, it said. The governor expressed disappointment on the lack of control on expatriates' humble lodgings in the region, questioning the role of field inspection teams, affiliated to the municipality and civil defense, said an SPA report. Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Courts has partnered with Microsoft to drive the digital transformation of the commercial courts systems in the region and beyond. Building on successful digital courts projects such as the DIFC Courts Smart Small Claims Tribunal (SCT), the DIFC Dispute Resolution Authority (DRA) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Microsoft during the International Association of Court Administrators (IACA) in Washington, DC. The English language, common-law DIFC Courts offers businesses in the Middle East, Asia and Africa access to one of the worlds most advanced and innovative commercial courts. Utilising leading-edge technologies, the Smart SCT has already proven the promise of digital courts, enabling parties to attend a virtual court from anywhere in the world, and to benefit from globally enforceable judgements. In 2017, this service was named one of the worlds Top 10 Court Technology Solutions by the US-based National Association for Court Management (NACM). As a first step, the agreement is aimed at enhancing connectivity and virtual solutions to advance the more traditional court areas such as registrations, filings, case management, and even trials. For the courts of the future, DRAs unique partnership with Microsoft formalises a joint ambition to advance technological innovation by leveraging their combined skillsets of court management, judicial excellence and digital transformation to create new standards of digital excellence in line with achieving DIFC Courts 2021 vision of establishing and maintaining a world-class courts system that is reliable, accessible, efficient and fair. Mark Beer, OBE, registrar-general of DIFC Courts, CEO of DRA and president-elect of the International Association of Court Administrators (IACA), said: As technology becomes universal, entrepreneurs and investors should be able to rely on courts to provide certainty, even as old models are disrupted. By bringing together two pioneers in their respective fields, the DIFC Courts and Microsoft believe we can help to secure businesses in the future by ensuring commercial dispute resolution keeps pace with the new digitised, connected, virtual world. Technology has been central to the DIFC Courts operating model since starting operations in 2006. Among the many technologies the courts have pioneered to increase access to justice, is the state-of-the-art e-filing system that now accounts for approximately 90 per cent of all documents filed. Microsoft is committed to empowering every individual and organisation on the planet achieve more, said Sayed Hashish, regional general manager, Microsoft Gulf. Our partnership with DRAs DIFC Courts is a prime example of how digital transformation can open up new avenues of operational excellence. By focusing on the pillars of engaging customers, empowering employees, enhancing operations and transforming services, organisations like DIFC Courts can deliver tangible change that sets them apart from peers. We look forward to working with them in their continuing campaign to envision and promote excellence within the global legal community. In addition to exploring the potential of the Microsoft cloud for continuous innovation, DIFC Courts will also engage in thought leadership discussions with Microsoft experts to drive digital transformation, and collaborate further to bring about disruptive technological concepts for ground-breaking advancement in civil and commercial dispute resolution. This is what makes digital transformation so exciting, Hashish explained. Organisations take a due-diligence path to excellence, supported by the technologies of the cloud, and then go on to become leaders and teachers. We are thrilled to be a part of those journeys to watch innovators innovate and then move on to help others benefit from lessons learned. TradeArabia News Service Netherlands-based AkzoNobel, a leading global paints company, announced today (July 19) that its chief executive officer Ton Buchner has stepped down with immediate effect due to health reasons. The company has announced Thierry Vanlancker as the new chief executive officer. Buchner joined AkzoNobel in 2012 and has been responsible for significantly improving the performance of the company, increasing profitability and cash flow to record levels, said a statement from the company. He put in place a solid operational and financial foundation, which enabled the company to recently announce the creation of two focused high performing businesses; paints and coatings and specialty chemicals. Vanlancker was most recently head of specialty chemicals at AkzoNobel, having joined the company in 2016. A Belgian national, prior to joining AkzoNobel he was president fluoroproducts for Chemours, the spin-off company of DuPont's chemical businesses formed in 2015. Vanlancker joined DuPont in 1988 and held a number of senior positions both in Europe and the US, including Vice-President Performance Coatings and Business Manager of Refinish Systems across Europe, Middle East and Africa. Antony Burgmans, chairman of the supervisory board, said: It is with great regret that Buchner is stepping down due to health reasons. He has been an outstanding leader for our company, transforming the company and setting it up for future success. His focus on delivering for our customers and operational excellence has driven profitability to record levels, increasing returns to shareholders, he said. Burgmans continued: His passion for the business and personal commitment has helped create a strong culture across the company. He will be greatly missed in the boardroom and by many colleagues of our company around the world. I wish Buchner well and hope he is now able to focus fully on his own health. Our remains focused on delivering for our customers every day. In Vanlancker we have an outstanding executive who is well placed to continue building momentum for the company. This includes the creation of two focused businesses, delivering sustainable growth and profitability, he added. His extensive experience in the chemicals and coatings industry gives him a unique perspective and I look forward to continuing to work with him in his new role as CEO, he concluded. Buchner commented: It was a privilege to work for AkzoNobel and I am extremely proud of all the achievements the team delivered during my five years at the company. The company is full of highly engaged, talented and passionate people who deliver every day for our customers and I want to thank all of them for their contribution and support over the years, he said. Our commitment to value creation, sustainability, innovation and the communities in which we operate is a major driver of our success, he added. Buchner stated: Vanlancker is a great addition to the team and is well placed to take AkzoNobel forward, delivering long term value creation for all stakeholders. I wish him all the best. A successor for the head of specialty chemicals will be announced in due course, it stated. TradeArabia News Service Hilton, one of the largest hospitality companies in the world, has announced the appointment of Mohab Ghali as vice president operations for Egypt and North Africa. In his new role, Ghali will be responsible for regional strategy development and well as overseeing operations for 19 hotels and 14 pipeline hotels in Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria, said a statement from the hospitality giant. An Egyptian-Italian national and lifelong hotelier with more than 25 years experience, Ghali has a proven track record of successfully managing all aspects of hotel operations, opening seven Hilton properties in 11 years across four different brands. Ghali is widely recognized as a corporate strategy and development specialist who is effective and accountable in high-profile executive roles, said the statement. His consistent delivery of superior results in growth, revenue, operational performance and profitability earned him the 2010 General Manager of the Year Award, and the 2015 MEA President Award for Hilton Worldwide. Ghali began his career as a front office supervisor in 1992, progressing in his career with Hilton hotels across Egypt holding managerial positions that included front office manager, executive assistant manager, resident manager and general manager. In 2008, Ghali took the position of country manager for Hilton in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE where he was responsible for leading operations and projects across the emirate for seven operating hotels and managing three general managers, four hotel managers and a full cluster set-up of 2,300 team members. He then served as the general manager for Conrad Hilton Dubai before taking on his current role in Egypt. With a Hilton hotel or resort in nearly every corner of Egypt, the company is in a unique position to help meet the needs of every guest, no matter their style or preference, remarked Ghali. "I am looking forward to further showcasing Hilton as an all-encompassing brand, providing guests with quality experiences in Egypt while promoting the individual destinations and the country itself to a wide audience of travellers both domestic and international," he added.-TradeArabia News Service The Bahrain International Airshow 2018 has confirmed that United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) has been added to its roster of participants after returning from MAKS 2017. At a signing ceremony which took place on July 19, UAC confirmed that all its subsidiary companies would participate in the show including Sukhoi, Ilyushin, Tupolev and Irkut. Bahrains Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications, Engineer Kamal bin Ahmed Mohammed, attended the Russian aviation showcase to meet with a variety of Russian organisations including Rostec, Russian Helicopters, Rosoboronexport, National Space Agency and Roscosmos to discuss their participation in the forthcoming show which takes place from November 14th-16th, 2018. He also met with newly appointed sales agency, Global Business Link (GBL), members of the Russian-Bahraini Business Council. Speaking from MAKS, Mohammed, said: We have had a very busy schedule here at MAKS, with many expressing their keenness to participate in BIAS18. The Bahraini Government is committed to building stronger ties with Russia and working together so that both our countries benefit from the fast growth in Russia and the GCC. Russian businesses have participated at BIAS since the inaugural event and we are delighted to see their continued support. Yousif Mahmoud, head of the Bahrain International Airshow, who was also attending MAKS added: The Bahrain International Airshow provides the perfect venue to explore business opportunities in Bahrain and the Middle East. Our exceptional civil and military delegation programme means that the event is becoming more and more attractive to companies looking to showcase their aircraft or other technological advances in aviation. The Bahrain International Airshow will take place from November 14-16, 2018, and is the fastest growing airshow in the Middle East. While the show has grown, it still retains the unique qualities of its first show in offering an exclusive business environment for high-level business meetings. Its civil and military delegations programme is unparalleled and the exhibition feature hall has allowed even more international businesses to participate in the show. Furthermore, its unique location at the Sakhir Airbase means it can display just about any type of aircraft. With the show still more than a year away, chalet and exhibition space is already 75 per cent sold or reserved. - TradeArabia News Service Wyoming netted $14 million from an oil and gas lease sale Wednesday, most of which will go to the states public schools. The week-long online bidding war between 60 participants closed with 85,882 acres of state land leased for oil and gas development. It was the second state sale of the year. In March, Wyoming made nearly $30 million in the online auction. Failing oil prices over the last two years has driven down oil and gas operations across the state, with the number of drilling rigs falling from highs in the 50s to the single digits in 2016. Though the benchmark price of crude has parked just under $50 a barrel, interest in drilling in Wyoming appears to be ticking up. State regulators have experienced increased applications for the right to drill throughout the beginning for the year. State and federal oil and gas lease sales have further signaled that though the price is low, operators continue to stake out claims in Wyoming. The state of Wyoming had another big win today, said Bridget Hill, director of the Office of State Lands and Investments, in a statement. Todays auction results are a great boost to the states coffers, especially the states education system. We hope this is an indicator that Wyoming has seen the bottom of this cycle in the oil and gas market. Online bidding is a new avenue for the state agency to attract operators. This was the second online sale, and results have been promising, said Jason Crowder, assistant director for trust land management. Prior to doing the online ones, we were at $1 million, sometimes less than a million, sometimes breaking $2 million, he said. Wed like to see a little bit more to get a trend idea of how its working, but weve had two great auctions, a whole lot more activity within the auctions and the returns we are seeing are much higher. The auction offered 240 tracts of land for lease across the state, with many located along the border of Natrona and Fremont counties. Parcels were also up for bid in Sweetwater, Campbell and Carbon counties. Only about half of the land up for sale received bids. There are parcels in this state that just dont have any oil and gas potential, Crowder said. Part of our fiduciary responsibility is to see which parcels those are. We dont know that until we expose them to the market. Land that doesnt receive a bid is put out in one more sale, with a discounted royalty rate, before the agency takes it off the market, he said. Some of the tracts available in the sale that closed Wednesday had been offered late last year, said Emma Van Vlack, senior lands management specialist for State Lands and Investments. Parcels that are generally passed over the first time dont necessarily pique everyones interest, she said. But they still are available for bid and several of those did sell. There are nine beneficiaries of state lease income. About $8.3 million from the Wednesday sale will go into the states common school fund, while $3.9 million goes to the farm loan fund. In an effort to solve visitor damage to one of Yellowstone National Parks most famed features, park officials recently built an overlook trail and extra parking area. The Grand Prismatic Spring Overlook will now take visitors above the Grand Prismatic Spring the largest hot spring in Yellowstone to avoid walking on or near the feature itself. The trail and overlook provide a different view of Grand Prismatic Spring and minimize the growth of unsightly, unofficial social trails in the process, said Superintendent Dan Wenk in a news release. The new trail climbs 105 feet over 0.6 miles from the Fairy Falls Trailhead to an overlook with views of Midway Geyser Basin. In 2016, a Canadian man pleaded guilty to walking on the colorful feature to take photos and was ordered to pay $8,000 in fines, restitution and community service. He was also on probation for five years. His group initially posted pictures and video of their trek onto the spring on social media but later deleted them. When people walk on them it actually makes like white footprints in the bacterial mat, Yellowstone spokeswoman Charissa Reid said in 2016. Not only does it damage the bacterial mat, but it also means that other people may be tempted to walk the same path. Yellowstone distributes literature to visitors and posts signs near geothermal features warning people not to stray off boardwalks and paths. Casper is making an exception to its blue laws for bar owners during the eclipse festival in August. Bars and liquor stores in the Oil City are allowed to serve and sell until 2 a.m. on every day but Sunday when they must close four hours earlier. But with the total solar eclipse falling on a Monday, liquor dealers in Natrona County are hoping to capitalize on the 35,000 anticipated visitors coming to Casper to view the celestial event. We think its going to be a really good weekend, bar owner and dealer representative Matt Galloway told City Council in May. Galloway requested an extension allowing bars and package liquor stores to serve until 2 a.m. on Monday, August 21. Bars and liquor stores are required to close by 10 p.m. on Sunday nights. Council is allowed to grant four such exemptions per year. In a letter to city staff, Galloway explained that the exemption would allow liquor dealers to capitalize on the significant influx of visitors to the community for Eclipse 2017. City Council approved the request on Tuesday, allowing dealers to operate from 6 a.m. until 2 a.m. on the Sunday during the festival. The move is the latest in a series of ordinance changes made to accommodate liquor dealers. Council recently expanded the definition of dispensing rooms to match state law that effectively eliminated restrictions on where alcohol can be served in licensed buildings. The body also eliminated the restriction on gambling in bars to allow for off-track horse betting at Galloways Irish Pub. The Wyoming Eclipse Festival is expected to draw about 25,000 overnight visitors and an additional 10,000 on the day of the eclipse, which takes place around 11 a.m. But organizers say that weather and other variables make it hard to precisely estimate how many people will travel to Casper. A number of bars are hoping to open or complete renovations before the festival. Bars currently under construction include the Wonder Bar on Center Street, Gaslight Social formerly Roaring 22 on the corner of Ash Street and Midwest Avenue and the Old Yellowstone Bar and Grill on West Yellowstone Highway. The Casper College board of trustees appointed Steven Degenfelder, a local land manager, to fill a vacancy left by the resignation of the previous president. Degenfelder, who has written opinion pieces in the Star-Tribune, was unanimously recommended by a three-member subcommittee organized after Matthew Loucks announced his resignation late last month. Loucks had served on the board since 2012 and was the president. Degenfelder has lived in Casper for 36 years and had previously served on the Natrona County School Board and the county planning and zoning commission, according to a college press release. He currently works as a land manager for Kirkwood Oil and Gas. He brings community connections and advocacy, especially with legislators, that will be of great benefit to Casper College, said board member Suzanne Sandoval, who was on the subcommittee that recommended Degenfelder. He has worked on budgeting processes and sees the budgeting challenges as opportunities as Wyoming funding changes. Loucks was elected to serve until 2020, but Degenfelder will hold the position until 2018, when an early election will be held to determine if he will fulfill the rest of Loucks term. After Loucks resignation, Susan Miller was selected as board president. Degenfelder did not return a request for comment Wednesday. He comes to the colleges governing board at a challenging time. Since the beginning of 2017, one dean has been removed from his position and two others have left the college. The school has lost roughly 10 percent of its budget in the wake of a statewide economic downturn, and President Darren Divine has faced public criticism from faculty members including a resolution from the Faculty Senate alleging unprofessional behavior. Loucks told the Star-Tribune in June that his decision to resign was made solely because he was moving his business to Sheridan and that any upheaval at the school had no influence on his departure. CHEYENNE Gov. Matt Mead says Wyoming's budget woes aren't as bad as predicted, but he says the state still faces big challenges with funding its public K-12 school system. Mead said Wednesday that the state general fund is exceeding projections by about $70 million. Other revenue, including various school funds, also are doing better than anticipated. However, the Republican governor says that's still isn't enough to overcome the estimated $250 million a year shortfall expected in education. While there's talk of more cuts and new revenue, Mead says everyone is waiting for a report from consultants on whether Wyoming should change how it funds schools. Separately, Mead says he opposes sanctuary cities and doesn't agree with letting the federal health care law fail on its own without a replacement. ROCK SPRINGS Police in southwest Wyoming say new information has led them to search a home for evidence connected to the unsolved 2006 death of a Colorado hitchhiker. The Sweetwater County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday detectives are processing a Rock Springs residence for evidence. Ben Bradley, then 28, was traveling from his home in Tabernash, Colorado, to Jackson on a snowboarding outing when he disappeared in the Rock Springs area on the night of June 2, 2006. His body was found about four months later about 25 miles north of Rock Springs. An autopsy determined the cause of death was multiple stab wounds to the chest area, according to a press release. A ballistic-missile interceptor made by Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems has been ruled out as the cause of a failed intercept test in late June, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency says. The agency also eliminated the Aegis Weapon System, made by Lockheed Martin, as the cause of the failure of a June 22 flight test off Hawaii, in which a Raytheon Standard Missile-3 Block IIA interceptor failed to intercept a medium-range ballistic missile target. In a statement initially made to Aviation Week, agency Director Lt. Gen. Sam Greaves said the interceptor and the Aegis combat weapon control system were not to blame based on the agencys initial investigation, but he declined further comment. Though the review is still in process, the SM-3 IIA interceptor and Aegis Combat System have been eliminated as the potential root cause, Greaves said. We are conducting an extensive review as part of our standard engineering and test processes, and it would be inappropriate to comment further until we complete the investigation. The SM-3 Block IIA, which is under joint development with Japan, is a bigger and faster version of the SM-3 missile interceptors currently deployed on U.S. and Japanese ships. During the June 22 test, a medium-range ballistic target missile was launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Kauai, Hawaii. The guided missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones detected and tracked the target missile with its onboard radar and launched one SM-3 Block IIA missile, but the missile did not intercept the target, the MDA said. The failed test followed a successful intercept of another medium-range target by the same type of missile in February. The agency is not commenting on the impact the test failure will have on the SM-3 Block IIA development program or the prospect of a retest, spokesman Christopher Johnson said. The SM-3 Block IIA had been on track for deployment by the end of 2018, with additional intercept tests planned. A missile-defense advocate said the agency now likely will be looking at human error as cause for the test failure. Tucsons Dragoon Brewing Co. is roughly doubling its brewing capacity to meet demand for its beers and to expand statewide. Dragoon has gutted its small original taproom at 1859 W. Grant Road to make room for two new, 15-barrel brewing vessels, which will eventually replace the companys 15-barrel setup, said Tristan White, a co-founder and general manager of Dragoon. The expansion project, expected to be completed by mid-August, will boost Dragoons capacity to about 20,000 31-gallon barrels annually, White said. Dragoon wont need all that new capacity right away, but in the meantime the larger setup will will allow Dragoon to brew fewer, larger batches each week, he said. The brewing expansion, which follows an expansion of the brewerys canning line last year, will help Dragoon keep up with increased demand for its beers and expand to more Arizona markets, White said. Besides offering an array of draft beers at its taproom and brewery, Dragoon cans and sells its flagship Dragoon IPA and Stronghold Session Ale through distributors at retail outlets in the Tucson, Phoenix and Flagstaff markets. The company soon plans to expand its distribution to Cochise County home to the Dragoon Mountains and the small community of Dragoon as well as Greenlee and Graham counties. Dragoon will move into other Arizona markets when and where it makes sense, White said. We've collected a few front pages from newspapers.com to give you a look at some July 20 papers in history. With a subscription to newspapers.com you can search the Arizona Daily Star and many other newspapers using keywords or dates, and download articles or pages. Former Rep. Gabby Giffords and her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, are not betting against Senator John McCain in his fight with an aggressive brain cancer. The couple became close six and half years ago, as Giffords fought for her life after surviving an assassination attempt in 2011. And as Kelly has seen first-hand, a positive outlook is crucial to fighting the cancer. "It matters a lot," Kelly says. "Ive seen it in Gabby in the last six years, especially in the beginning. "With a significant brain injury, it is important to battle back and not give up," Kelly said. The former Navy pilot says he has looked up to McCain his entire life. "He is an icon as far Navy fight pilots go," Kelly said in an interview Wednesday night. He notes that McCain never gave up during the five and half years as a prisoner of war, refusing to be released early after brutal torture. "He is a tough guy," Kelly said. "We are incredibly optimistic on his recovery." On Twitter Wednesday night, Giffords told McCain to "hang in there." Tom Moulton, the former head of county attractions and tourism, announced his retirement in March, several months after workplace harassment allegations were made against him. In early November, an employee left the office in tears after Moulton allegedly told her to shut the ---- up, according to a brief Nov. 3 human-resources report obtained by the Star through a public-records request. Similar incidents were alleged to have occurred previously, during which employees in the office would shut their doors, according to the report. An unnamed employee made the complaints to Chief Deputy County Administrator Jan Lesher, Moultons direct supervisor, who then relayed them to HR, as required by county policy, according to Lesher. The employee allegedly yelled at by Moulton, whose name is redacted from the document, appears to have told an unnamed colleague she feared she would lose her job if she reported the incident. Another unnamed person reported Moulton aggressively yelling at a city of Tucson employee after a December meeting, according to HR reports. Jan went on to say that Tom usually talks loudly, a Dec. 12 human-resources report reads. He does not appear to be happy with a recent move the department made from nice offices in the Bank of America building to ones that are not as nice. Moulton would not comment when contacted by the Star. The Star requested any documents detailing the results of a subsequent investigation, but the county would not provide them, citing concerns about employee privacy, which were heightened because of the departments small size. There are four full-time employees, according to recent budget documents. A county spokesman said the brief summaries of allegations the Star was provided would also not have been released if they had been reviewed in the same way. In response to questions about whether the investigation corroborated the allegations, fully or partially cleared Moulton or uncovered additional wrongdoing, county spokesman Mark Evans told the Star that all we can say without violating the privacy rights of our employees or damaging the countys extensive program to ensure a workplace free from inappropriate or wrongful behavior is that a complaint was made against Mr. Moulton and he was placed on paid leave while Human Resources investigated the claims. Moulton, who worked for the county for about 16 years, submitted retirement paperwork after the investigation was completed, according to Evans written comments. In a March 23 letter to Lesher announcing his May departure, Moulton wrote Ive enjoyed my employment with the county and will miss both work and the people. His decision came before any final decisions had been made about what repercussions, if any, should result from the findings of the HR investigation, Evans wrote in response to questions from the Star about whether the county had asked Moulton to retire or contemplated firing him. The combined salary and benefits for Moultons position were worth $155,000, according to a recent budget document. The county hired Diane Frisch, formerly a sales and marketing manager with the PGA Tour, in May to replace Moulton. Among other things, the attractions and tourism department manages the contracts to operate several county-owned facilities, including the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and the Colossal Cave Mountain Park. PHOENIX A judge on Wednesday rejected a bid by Arizona Public Service to let the Arizona Corporation Commission vote on the companys rate hike request before he considers claims by one utility regulator that he has a right to question company executives about their political influence over the panel. Utility attorney Mary OGrady told Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Daniel Kiley that he cannot consider the legal bid by Bob Burns to subpoena APS officials until the pending rate case is completed. She said only after the commission acts on and presumably approves the deal in place involving 29 different parties can Burns contend he has a right to subpoena top utility officials. But that would undermine Burns efforts to discover whether the utility, through its political spending on behalf of other commissioners, has improperly influenced them now that they are weighing how much more money to allow APS to collect from its customers. Potentially more significant, it would keep Burns from discovering whether the other commissioners have conflicts of interest because of APS financial support, support that could preclude them from considering higher APS rates in the first place. The other commissioners have denied they have any conflict. Bill Richards, the attorney for Burns, told Capitol Media Services that what OGrady sought would make what Burns is trying to do meaningless. The harm thats being done right now is that commissioner Burns is not being allowed to investigate something he has a right to investigate, the public has a right to know about, all in connection with whether APS improperly influenced sitting commissioners, Richards said. He said putting off that legal question until after the rate case is complete means the harm already has been done. Now people are being charged if theres a rate increase thats been approved, he explained. Now youre sort of battling all that after the fact, Richards continued. Its a little bit difficult to put the genie back in the bottle at that point. Kiley rebuffed OGradys bid for delay. The judge said the only reason he put Burns lawsuit seeking subpoenas on hold in May was to give the full commission a chance to consider his request. Kiley said once the other commissioners voted last month to block those subpoenas, there is no longer any reason to keep Burns from pursuing his lawsuit. Kileys ruling comes as Burns is seeking to widen the case. His original lawsuit sought only to compel officials from APS and parent company Pinnacle West Capital Corp. to provide documents and answer questions about their political, lobbying and charitable spending. Now Burns wants to add the other four commissioners as defendants and get Kiley to rule that he has the right to call and question witnesses in the pending APS rate case the case OGrady wants resolved first no matter what the other commissioners say. Central to the issue are questions about who put $3.2 million into the 2014 race to help secure the election of Republicans Tom Forese and Doug Little. The two organizations that did independent expenditures on their behalf contend their status as social welfare organizations under federal tax law means they need not disclose their donors. APS officials will not confirm nor deny they were behind any of that money. So Burns wants to question them, under oath, about whether they used ratepayer-generated funds to capture the allegiance or influence the actions or attitudes of commissioners or candidates, with the ultimate goal of the utility to unreasonably and improperly increase the cost of utility services to APSs customers. In his latest pleadings, Burns said his concerns are more than pure speculation. He pointed out that Pinnacle West, in a disclosure to the Securities and Exchange Commission, acknowledged it has received federal grand jury subpoenas that seek information principally pertaining to the 2014 statewide general election races in Arizona for secretary of state and for positions on the ACC. And those subpoenas seek records involving certain Pinnacle West officers and employees, including CEO Don Brandt. Richards said Burns is entitled to ask questions, as just the risk of APS being pulled into a criminal investigation creates material risks of economic instability for the utility. Such disruptions can include the devotion of substantial executive time, worry and resources defending against a criminal investigation, or the disruptions that would obviously occur in management should such investigation result in criminal prosecution, and especially conviction, of any shared APS or Pinnacle West executives, Richards wrote. That leaves the legal question for Kiley: Can Burns issue and enforce his subpoenas. Richards wants the judge to rule the subpoenas are appropriate and lawful. He also wants the judge to say that Burns is not required to get authorization from any other commissioners or the panel as a whole. PHOENIX The current system of having city courts in Arizona cities under the control of council members is so flawed that it needs to be overhauled or scrapped entirely, according to a new report. The study released earlier this week by the Goldwater Institute and the American Civil Liberties Union concludes there is too much opportunity for improper influence, whether overt or covert, when city magistrates are appointed and can be fired by the council. At the very least, the report states, magistrates can be pressured to impose more or higher fines because those go directly into city coffers. Hand-in-hand with that issue is the council, in turn, sets the budget for the courts. And that, the study says, creates an incentive by magistrates to generate more revenues. At a minimum, this undermines the legal systems credibility, the study says. Judicial independence requires that the system not directly benefit from convictions. The conclusions are based on an article by Mark Flatten, a former East Valley Tribune reporter who now works for the Goldwater Institute. He said that if people want to see what can go wrong with having magistrates appointed by council members all they need to do is look at what the U.S. Department of Justice found about Ferguson, Missouri, in the wake of rioting there stemming from the police shooting of Michael Brown. The DOJ report concluded that law-enforcement practices in that city were shaped by the citys focus on revenue rather than public safety needs. And while much of the focus was on the police department, federal investigators found multiple instances of abuse on the court side, such as a Ferguson woman who spent more than $1,000 and six days in jail for parking her car illegally once in 2007. Ken Strobeck, executive director of the League of Arizona Cities and Towns, said the problems found in Missouri have no bearing on Arizona. In fact, he said, even the report released Tuesday concluded that most Arizona cities actually lose money on operating their court systems. There are exceptions, though, like Tempe and Paradise Valley. But Strobeck said the report quotes several judges and court officials who said they were never pressured to increase revenues. This whole article appears to me to be a solution in search of a problem, as far as Arizona is concerned, he said. But both the Goldwater Institute and the ACLU say they see an inherent conflict in the system. At the very least, the new report says, city courts should be financed by the state rather than relying on how much or how little the city council agrees to provide. There also are recommendations for more radical changes, like consolidating city courts with justice of the peace courts which, in turn, are controlled by county superior courts. Theres also the fact that justices of the peace are directly elected. That brings that level of accountability to the people, Flatten said. And it removes that ability of city councils to say, You know what? Revenues are not looking good. You need to get them up. But the justice of the peace system has its own financial quirks, including that pay is based, in part, on judicial productivity credits, meaning the more business a JP does, the greater that persons pay. Goldwater Institute attorney Timothy Sandefur said he doesnt see that as a problem. And he said its better than what exists now in city courts. What we want is a system that makes it easier for a judge to say, I dont work for you to a city council when theyre pressured to raise revenue, he said. If that idea doesnt fly, the report says the other way to eliminate the financial pressure is to have magistrates elected by voters, the same as all other judges from the Supreme Court right down to the justices of the peace. What the study envisions is not a true direct election but a system similar to what exists in the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals and superior courts of Pima, Pinal and Maricopa counties. Specifically, the council would make the initial appointment but only from a list of those who had been recommended by a special screening panel. And the magistrates would have to stand for election regularly on a retain-or-reject basis. Alessandra Soler, state director of the ACLU, said its not just an academic question of what happens when magistrates report to city councils. She said it harms those who wind up in front of those magistrates. When the courts face pressure to generate revenue streams from fines and fees and then institute punitive practices ranging from suspending your drivers license all the way to the more egregious practice of locking people up for not paying fines, it distorts the criminal justice system, she said. Flatten said people should be concerned that city courts have jurisdiction over far more than things like traffic tickets. He said he found instances of people being arrested and jailed for everything from violating Mesas ordinance against smoking in public to those who ran afoul of a Peoria law about how tall the weeds could be in someones yard. He acknowledged, though, that the actual reason for arresting someone may have been a separate factor above and beyond those ordinance violations. U.S. Sen. John McCain revealed Wednesday evening that he has a brain tumor. The announcement follows a procedure to remove a blood clot from above his left eye at the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix last Friday, where a pathology report revealed the glioblastoma, a malignant brain tumor. Treatment options may include a combination of chemotherapy and radiation. A statement from McCain's doctors say he is recovering from his surgery, but it is unclear when the 80-year-old Republican would return to the Senate. "Further consultations with Senator McCain's Mayo Clinic care team will indicate when he will return to the United States Senate," the statement read. Because glioblastomas can grow rapidly, the most common symptoms are usually caused by increased pressure in the brain. These symptoms can include headache, nausea, vomiting, and drowsiness. Depending on the location of the tumor, patients can develop a variety of other symptoms such as weakness on one side of the body, memory and/or speech difficulties, and vision changes, according to the American Brain Tumor Association website. Glioblastoma can be difficult to treat because the tumors contain so many different types of cells, the association says. About 20,000 people in the U.S. each year are diagnosed with a glioblastoma. The American Cancer Society puts the five-year survival rate for patients over 55 at about 4 percent. The tumor digs tentacle-like roots into normal brain tissue. Patients fare best when surgeons can cut out all the visible tumor, which happened with McCain's tumor, according to his office. That isn't a cure; cancerous cells that aren't visible still tend to lurk, the reason McCain's doctors are considering further treatment including chemotherapy and radiation. The senator and chairman of the Armed Services Committee had been recovering at his Arizona home. His absence had forced Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to delay action on health care legislation. In a statement, McConnell said: "John McCain is a hero to our Conference and a hero to our country. He has never shied from a fight and I know that he will face this challenge with the same extraordinary courage that has characterized his life. The entire Senate family's prayers are with John, Cindy and his family, his staff, and the people of Arizona he represents so well." U.S. Rep. Martha McSally, R-Arizona, said McCain is "one of the bravest men I know a hero, a warrior and a survivor." "I am confident he will defeat this foe as well," she said in a statement. "Senator McCain has been a personal mentor for me. I have been honored to serve alongside him in the Arizona delegation in Congress, and I look forward to continuing to do so. My thoughts are with him and his family, and my prayers are for his health and full recovery. Doctors say McCain is recovering from his surgery amazingly well and his underlying health is excellent, according to the statement. McCain was the GOP's presidential nominee in 2008, when he and running mate Sarah Palin lost to Barack Obama. A Navy pilot, he was shot down over Vietnam and held as a prisoner for 5 years. The senator's daughter, Meghan McCain, tweeted about how the news of her father's cancer shocked the family. "It won't surprise you to learn that in all this, the one of us who is most confident and calm is my father. He is the toughest person I know. The cruelest enemy could not break him. The aggressions of political life could not bend him. So he is meeting this challenge as he has every other. Cancer may afflict him in many ways: but it will not make him surrender. Nothing ever has," she wrote. Help India! By Mirza Mosaraf Hossain, TwoCircles.net In the first week of July, Bengal was engulfed in communal tension, with the North 24 Parganas simmering with incidents of violence. However, nearly 400 km from Kolkata, another incident of people expressing their anger over the behaviour of political party goons went largely unnoticed. Reason? This case was related to the Adivasis of Bengal, who rarely if ever, make it to the news. Support TwoCircles In a single day, four women from Adivasi community were abducted, sexually harassed and two of them, who are minors, were raped by people who were said to be the members of the ruling party Trinamool Congress. The four women managed to escape from their abductors and were able to reach their homes, but the failure to capture all the perpetrators of this crime resulted in massive protests from the Adivasi community in West Bengal. On July 9, Babita (13), Savita (14) [name changed], both in their seventh grade, from the villages of Pochabari and Bharia respectively of Uttar Dinajpurs Karandighi block, were coming from Udaipur High School Girls Hostel, Raiganj, waiting for a bus at the Raiganj bus terminus to head home, about 60 km from the bus depot. There they met two sisters, namely Carolina Tudu(26), a member of staff at a Missionary School at Raiganj and Celestina Tudu (30) from Mohanpur village of Itahar block, 24 km away from Raiganj. Celestina went to meet her son who reads in a missionary school at Raiganj and with her younger sister Carolina who joined her in the bus stop from her workplace. At around 2:30 P.M. six to seven drunk men began harassing the sisters and subsequently dragged them to the upper floor of the waiting room, which also serves as the office of the TMC-led Raiganj Bus Association. They were sexually harassed and tortured; their phones were snatched and they were made to call their family to bring money as ransom. Carolina instead called the local panchayat of their village when they offered the phone for calls to their family. Later, that panchayat member called the local police and rescued the two sisters from the spot at around 8 P.M. In the meantime, two of the drunk men dragged Babita and Savita to a nearby hotel, namely Nightingale Hotel Cum Bar which is located just 50 metres from the bus terminus. There they were raped several times before somehow managing to flee from the hotel and boarding a Malda-bound state bus. At Gazole, a sub urban area of Bengals Malda district, 50 km away from Raiganj, they got off on the bus and with the help of a local woman they were handed over to their families by the police of Gazole. At around 9 pm on July 9, Carolina filed an F.I.R against the accused and three of the culprits were arrested by the police from the spot. The police, as well as local people who were present, then came to know about the two minor girls from the two sisters, whose address the police and Adivasi community got to know from their school on Monday. A separate F.I.R was lodged by Sangita and Dhani at the Raiganj Police Station. However, this is not the first time where people of Uttar Dinajpur witnessed such a massive protest march by the Adivasis. Last year, another woman from Karan dighi block of this district was raped and killed and her dead body was thrown away in a pond. Following the ghastly incidents and the fact that only three of the perpetrators had been caught by the police, the Adivasi community in the state took to the streets and on Friday, July 14, more than 30,000 Adivasis marched to ensure justice the rape victims. According to Rabin Kisku, a school teacher at nearby Rampur High School, also the Vice President of All India Adivasi Bikash Parishad, We took to the streets only because the police failed to arrest the accused. We started our protest march at Siliguri More which is about 3 km from the Raiganj Bus terminus and assembled near the NH 34. At around 4 pm, we gave a memorandum to the district administration who came at once and promised us that necessary steps will be taken at the earliest. The six-clause memorandum includes the arrest of the hotel manager and its owner and of the rapists as soon as possible, CCTV should be stationed at the bus terminus, skilled advocates to argue for maximum punishment possible for the offenders and ensuring safety and security of the Adivasi as well as other marginalised communities. Many non-political organisations stood together in this protest march, including Adivasi Socio-Educational & Cultural Association (ASECA), Adivasi Mahasabha, Sara Bharat Adivasi Adhikar Mancha, Bhumi Rakha Committee and All India Adivasi Bikash Parishad All India Santhalis Students and Youth Association of India, Uttar Dinajpur Adivasi Sommonoy Committee. The protests got a little out of hand when some protesters burnt bikes, cycles and tyres. They also vandalised the Bus Associations office, the reception room of the hotel and many shops near the bus stop. The Superintendent of Police, Uttar Dinajpur, confirmed on Saturday, July 15 that seven accused are arrested have been arrested and the police recovered one country-made gun and seven rounds ammunition. Locals of Raiganj are in the opinion that the accused have a good liaison with the TMC led Vice Chairman of Raiganj municipality. He was with the culprits all the time when it happened and he tried to divert the case in its earlier stages with the help of local police, said a local on the condition of anonymity. If they were not from Indian National Trinamool Trade Union Congress (INTTUC) led Raiganj Bus Association, how did they get the keys to the office room where they accomplished their heinous deed. The spirit of the protests also went beyond Raiganj. Once the news was posted on Facebook, similar protests took place in various other parts of Bengal. In Santiniketan of Birbhum, students of Adivasi community marched for this cause, while there was another march by the Adivasi community in West Medinipur district. Ampo Mardi, the grandfather of Savita, said, we are day labourers and now we are in a state of a social boycott in our village. Every day, more than 60 men and women are coming to our house and abusing her and my family. We want death sentence of the bloody culprits who have spoilt my peaceful happy family in a single moment, he said. Babita, the other victim from Pachabari village lives with her mother working as domestic help in many homes to earn a living. According to Samuel Mardi, the General Secretary of Uttar Dinajpur Adivasi Sommonoy Committee, villagers and locals are harassing the victim with the same questions asking how it happened, She even tried to hang herself on Monday afternoon, saying this stigma will only chase her throughout her life. Kisku, the teacher of history at Rampur High School summed up the situation. We the Santhalis had fought against the British Colonialism for Independence of our country in 1855. More than 15,000 Santhalis lost their lives. But in this post-Independence India, we are treated in dehumanised behaviour in hospitals, schools colleges and in public life. What is our fault? Sidho Kanhu fought for Indias Independence against the British and we will fight against the majoritarian, sectarian upper caste-led ideologically-biased society for our own share, our right from the Independent India, he said. Help India! By Siddhant Mohan, TwoCircles.net Delhi Development Authority (DDA) demolished premises of three mosques and two dargahs situated in Nizamuddin on July 10, following which local businessman around the Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah closed their shop in protest. The main point of the protest and dissent was that DDA was unlawfully meddling in the affairs of Waqf Board. Support TwoCircles Following the dispute about the Tikona graveyard, in which the establishments are situated the matter gone in the court, which resulted in a stay order from the court. But it looks like DDA is in some sort of hurry to get rid of the structure on its own. Various worshipers, locals and residents have accused DDA personnel along with administration of putting pressure of masjid committee to remove the structure even before the courts order and have July 24 for the next hearing. On Wednesday, more than 100 police personnel arrived at the demolition site to remove the debris of previous demolition. As court has stayed all sorts of activities, the action by the police was highly opposed. But the police managed to remove the debris anyway. Ironically police did not stop at this. Police was putting pressure over masjid caretakers and praying personnel to remove the tin shed, which is installed as a temporary roof. Technically, if people removed the roof themselves, then police could have removed the remaining structure as debris. One of the activist Amir Hussain who attended afternoon prayers on Wednesday on the same graveyard talked with TwoCircles.net over the increasing fears. Amir told, We have felt like something was wrong. Why it was necessary to bring hundred policemen just to remove the debris? Moreover he told, They were putting pressure to remove the tin roof of mosque, no one complied to this pressure. Why they wanted to remove a roof when they could see people were praying under it? What is more surprising for people that DDA is looking into the affairs which are supposed to be concerning the Waqf board. According to the 1972 Gazette, the property is listed under Waqf board, under such circumstances only Waqf board has right to perform action over the site. On July 10, police from Hazrat Nizamuddin PS along with the accompanying force reached the site and started demolishing the encroachment around the pavement of Amir Khusro Park or Tikona Park. With the aforesaid demolition, Police also broke parts of the mosque and the dargah mentioning them as encroachment over DDAs land. On the opposite side of the Tikona graveyard is the is five-star multi million Oberoi Hotel, which is supposed to be one of the reasons behind DDAs involvement in the case. Some local sources, on the condition of anonymity, have informed that the look of the graveyard, and situated mosque and dargah inside of it might be unpleasant for the tourists and hotel management. Some have also alleged that DDA is looking forward to turn the graveyard into a plain ground, but the purpose is unclear. Javed Miyan Naqshbandi, who is regular at the mosques and dargahs does not endorse the allegations, but he does smell something fishy. He said, Oberoi is such a large and old group. I dont think they will get into such a dispute as it will tarnish their image. But I do feel that there could be some other group who might be associated in such acts, who is involving DDA, Waqf Board and Police at the same time. Javed Miyan and other have expressed their fear that polices pro-active activities suggest that something might happen on mosque and dargah site on July 21, before July 24, the day of courts hearing. TwoCircles.net has filed for a media comment on the issue to the Oberoi group of hotel and to the Delhi Development Authority, but received no response yet. Help India! By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter About 40 children from the families of farmers who committed suicide were humiliated and denied entry into the DLF Place Saket in Delhi. Support TwoCircles These children, orphaned by farmer suicides, had travelled from Maharashtra to Delhis Jantar Mantar to narrate the sufferings that a farmers family has to face after he commits suicide. At the Kisan Mukti Sansad yesterday, the children also spoke against the governments apathy towards the conditions of farmers. On Wednesday, when the children visited a shopping mall in Delhi before leaving for their ashram in Nashik, they were denied entry without special permission. The kids were left humiliated by mall officials and security staff. These children, who are mostly under the age of 10, were denied entry because of their appearance and attire. The kids were wearing Nehru caps and Kurtas. Swaraj India volunteer Ashutosh told TwoCircles.net, The guards and managerial staff did not like their appearance and told us that the dresses are not appropriate. There was one more kid with us, who had a wound in his feet, therefore, he could not wear any footwear. Guards told him that barefoot entry is not allowed in the mall, Ashutosh added. They were allowed to enter into the mall after volunteers of Swaraj India started protesting against such behaviour of the mall authorities. The statement raised by the Swaraj India said, Realising the seriousness of the situation and the fact that such news could hurt their image, the mall authorities went in a damage control mode and allowed the children to enter the mall premises after apologising to them. The statement further said, The fact that these kids had to face such a humiliating situation is proof enough that this city must be a witness to numerous such incidents every day. The unfortunate incident reveals not only the ignorance of the urban population of Delhi regarding the pain & sufferings of farmers but also their insensitivity towards it. France has always been a key touristic attraction for people worldwide, with Paris being one of the most visited cities in the world. However, Education has also risen to the challenge of internationalisation in France and the number of international students choosing France as their destination has risen quickly. Various reports suggest that France now only follows the United States and the United Kingdom in terms of the number of international students per year. Even though the French language being a barrier for some, an increasing number of students are now open to joining French institutions and these institutions are being consistently ranked among the best in the world. Emmanuel Macron and his message to the United States There was a grave threat to the internationalisation process of educational institutions in France as one of the two final presidential candidates Marine Le Pen was angling to get France out of the European Union. The programme of Marine Le Pen suggested measures such as extra taxation of enterprises willing to hire non-French labour. But with Emmanuel Macron winning the election, the idea of France leaving the EU was put to rest. President Macron even went out of his way to share a message welcoming researchers, engineers and entrepreneurs from the United States working on climate change. As the new president focuses on a stronger EU and encourages stronger cross border links, the educational institutions can once again focus on presenting France as the warm and welcoming country that it is. French schools Even though France is wildly popular as a centre of culture and arts, with Paris leading the way, the French prestige for educational institutions is driven by their business schools. INSEAD in Paris leads the way in rankings over all the world renowned ivy league institutes from the United States or the prestigious Cambridge or Oxford of the United Kingdom. The French system of business institutions is not just limited to a couple of top ranked schools, 'Grande Ecoles' are another kind of educational institutions, which are highly prestigious business schools designed to select and train the best students in the country and from around the world. While most of these schools are highly international, the language barrier in France is something which keeps it at a disadvantage compared to its English speaking counterparts in the United States and the United Kingdom. Seeking more students from across the world While more and more schools understand the importance of learning and teaching in the English language, they are trying to introduce courses based on the English language, as they seek more students from across the world. Other key areas of interest to international students in France are Language and Humanities. The cultural and touristic aspect of France has charmed people from around the world for years, now education in France is becoming more and more open to those people. The institutions of France stand as an example to the world that language is not a barrier that divides people but rather a bridge that brings people together. In 1975, 67% of eligible voters decided Britain should remain a part of the European Economic Community, or the Common Market as it was commonly known as back then. The then Remain campaign's overwhelming victory was delivered by a belief among the electorate that joining the Common Market was best for Britain's trading interests; how wrong they were then. They were duped. What is worse is that the CIA funded the Remain campaign during that referendum because it was in the United States' best interests for Britain to remain part of the EEC. Since Donald Trump became President of the United States, we have witnessed a dramatic change in US foreign policy regarding Europe since the Second World War. Every US President since Roosevelt has claimed to be interested in the 'special relationship' between Britain and America, but no president since Trump has stood up for the UK in quite the way he has, especially as Britain prepares to leave the EU. The bond between both nations was damaged by the Obama years. Obama suggested the UK would be at the 'back of the queue' for a trade deal post-Brexit, a line that was clearly scripted for him by his former PR buddy, Cameron, as queue is a British word. Prior to that, he made many more snubs against Britain, like leaving Cameron in the cold over his lack of intervention in Syria. Since he stood down, his Republican successor has moved the UK to the 'front of the queue' for a trade agreement since his inauguration. 'Powers have been surrendered to Brussels.' Yet what is the one factor prohibiting this nation's ability to forge trade deals with growing economies? The European Common Commercial Policy. What is this law? It is a piece of EU legislation that prevents individual member states from negotiating their own trade agreements with non-EU countries. Instead, those powers have been surrendered to Brussels. If many who voted to remain in the Common Market in 1975 knew this, the outcome then would have been very different. It is welcome news to the Prime Minister and many Brexiteers that UK and US officials will meet next week to lay the foundations for a post-EU trade agreement. But nothing can be signed until the Government repeals the Common Commercial Policy. Once that happens, this country will have the sovereignty to trade with the rest of the globe. The EU's track record of forging trade deals with other countries is abysmal, a cataclysmic failure. Last year, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, the proposed trade agreement between the US and the EU, collapsed, with hatred for this proposal emerging from both wings of the political spectrum. And President Trump does not seem interested in enhancing Obama's work here. Considering the EU is more interested in centralising its power than propserous trade agreements, it is a relief that Britain voted to leave this failing trading bloc last year. The Daily Express has revealed that UK officials will fly to the US next week to prepare the foundations for a post-Brexit trade deal. In what will be viewed as a significant improvement for Theresa May's credibility at home and abroad, British and American officials will meet in Washington DC on July 24th and 25th to initiate a new trade deal once Britain leaves the European Union in March 2019. The meeting has been organised by the UK-US trade and investment working group. 'This gathering will focus on commercial continuity.' International Trade Secretary Liam Fox and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will be attending the meeting. An unnamed official disclosed to The Daily Express that the gathering would focus on commercial continuity and strengthen trade and business ties. The 'special relationship' between the UK and the US has been further boosted by the Trump administration's efforts to reach out to Britain. New data has revealed that President Trump phones the Mrs May more than any other global leader since he took office in January. They have talked either in person or on the phone a total of nine times. 'The person who has ruined Germany.' Many commentators will view this as a crucial step in ensuring the UK can form free trade deals with other countries throughout the world after March 2019. It may also help ease threats of mutiny from the Conservative Party at home. Both leaders met in January at the White House during Mrs May's official visit to the US. In a joint press conference, President Trump pledged constant support and faith in the two countries' 'special relationship.' He vowed to renew the deep bond between both nations, a direct snub at his predecessor, Barack Obama, who many viewed as anti-British. The US President was also invited to attend a state visit to Britain in October this year on behalf of Her Majesty The Queen, despite recent protests from the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and Scotland's First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, that he should not be allowed to visit the UK. The only country that comes close to the UK's record is Japan, where Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the President have talked both in person and on the phone a total of 8 times. One meeting between the two leaders was conducted with an awkward handshake. President Trump has held seven talks with Israel, Saudi Arabia and Germany. The latter is particularly surprising to many of the Republican's critics, as he has dismissed Angela Merkel as the person who has ruined Germany. He also refused the German Chancellor's offer of a handshake during a tense meeting at the White House earlier this year. The US President has held six talks with China, Egypt, Canada and Turkey, and five with Russia, South Korea, France and Peru. 'At the back of the queue.' The topic of trade between the US and Britain has been a tense issue since the beginning of the EU Referendum last year when Barack Obama warned British voters that the UK would be 'at the back of the queue' for a trade deal if it left the trading bloc. His Republican successor has been a staunch critic of the EU since he began his campaign to become president. He visited Scotland the day after the referendum result and has pledged to aid Britain in any way he can if elected. The Republican nominee even invited former UKIP leader Nigel Farage to attend a rally of his in the summer last year, which was quickly condemned by his Democrat rival, Hillary Clinton. It is believed Mr Trump wanted to repeat the same shock effect that the Brexit result had in Britain after last year's EU Referendum. He went on to secure an unexpected victory at the polls last year, much to the surprise of many political analysts. Since being elected, the Republican President has vowed to reverse Obama's pledge to keep Britain at 'the back of the queue' for a trade deal and has instead said the UK would be 'at the front of the queue.' He also said a trade agreement between both nations could be organised 'pretty quickly.' Tuesday marks World Refugee Day where there is global observance of the millions of refugees who have been forced out of their homeland. After Ivanka Trump decided to offer her thoughts on Twitter, critics of the administration were quick to fire back. Ivanka on Twitter When Donald Trump kicked off his campaign for president, he did so by generating controversy when he referred to illegal immigrants from Mexico as "rapists" and "murderers." In the weeks that followed, the former host of "The Apprentice" elaborated on his views when it comes to immigration, and included his thoughts on the Middle East. Trump took a hard-line stance on the issue, going as far as proposing a ban on incoming refugees from the Middle East as part of his plan to fight the rise and spread of Islamic terrorism. Following his shocking election win over Hillary Clinton, Trump quickly jumped at the chance to sign an executive order that restricted the entry into the United States from seven countries in the Middle East. The order, which critics dubbed the "Muslim ban," has since been overturned by multiple federal judges, leaving the White House scrambling for a way to potentially re-write the bill so it stands up in a court of law. With controversy hanging over the White House, Ivanka Trump decided to acknowledge World Refugee Day with a tweet on June 20. On #WorldRefugeeDay we remember the plight & courage of the 22 million+ refugees globally. We must work to restore peace & end this crisis. https://t.co/CMMn8zno10 Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) June 20, 2017 Taking to her Twitter account on Tuesday night was Ivanka Trump who took time bring attention to World Refugee Day. "On World Refugee Day we remember the plight & courage of the 22 million+ refugees globally," Ivanka posted, before adding, "We must work to restore peace & end this crisis." As expected, the reaction she received following her tweet was not positive, with critics of the president pushing back at the first daughter over the irony in her remarks. Twitter reacts Not long after Ivanka Trump tweeted about World Refugee Day, her father's critics gave their thoughts by reminding her of the president's recent history on the subject. "I mean...yeah, you're right...but based on everything you and your dad have done...I guess...I would just say...'shut up?'" Ken Tremendous tweeted back. Are you serious right now?! You tweeting you care about refugees while your father is actively screwing them ... pic.twitter.com/PxF1IGmUMw AE (@iamchefapple) June 20, 2017 I mean...yeah, you're right...but based on everything you and your dad have done...I guess...I would just say..."shut up?" Ken Tremendous (@KenTremendous) June 20, 2017 Your father retweeted this, hon. Your own father. pic.twitter.com/AsZWgge4XL Iskandrah (@iskandrah) June 20, 2017 "The disingenuity of your Donald Trump surrogacy is stunning, Ma'am," author Joe Papp tweeted out. "Are you serious right now?! You tweeting you care about refugees while your father is actively screwing them," another tweet went on to read. How do you reconcile this comment with the oppressive policies of your administration? Are you clueless, or just have no shame? Hillary Haldane (@HillaryHaldane) June 20, 2017 You're joking, right? Your father is actively trying to ban an entire religious group from entering the country. Darwin Brandis (@DarwinBrandis) June 20, 2017 Sean Spicer "Donald Trump's number one priority is to protect our people first." Then he should resign. #WorldRefugeeDay #PressBriefing Tommy Campbell (@MrTommyCampbell) June 20, 2017 "You're joking, right? Your father is actively trying to ban an entire religious group from entering the country," an additional Twitter user added. "How do you reconcile this comment with the oppressive policies of your administration? Are you clueless, or just have no shame?" another tweet noted. As the backlash continued, it was made clear that the opposition to Donald Trump was not going to end anytime soon. Sean Spicer is reportedly out as press secretary, or a least in how the job as been traditionally viewed. Spicer will now hold his briefings off camera, with no video or audio recording allowed, and Chief Strategist Steve Bannon has an interesting excuse for why the change was made. Bannon on Spicer Not long after Donald Trump pulled off the shocking upset during the 2016 presidential election with a win over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, his transition team worked to put together who would be surrounding the new president in the White House. While many controversial names had been added and nominated to various positions in the administration, Sean Spicer being chosen to become to the new White House Press Secretary received little backlash. However, as time went on, Spicer came under fire for how he handled the daily press briefings at the White House. The most notable example took place when Spicer failed when comparing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to Adolf Hitler, while claiming the Nazis never used chemical weapons during World War 2. Spicer then became the butt of a joke when actress Melissa McCarthy took on the role of the press secretary during multiple episodes of "Saturday Night Live." In recent weeks, Spicer has held several off-camera press briefings, which became official as confirmed in a report by CNN. As reported by the Atlantic on June 20, Steve Bannon elaborated on why Spicer would no longer be the on-camera press secretary. Steve Bannon Explains White House Press Briefing Disruption: Sean Got Fatter https://t.co/yKahZnQQ1W pic.twitter.com/uzlRAUtkgH Mediaite (@Mediaite) June 20, 2017 The daily press briefings at the White House had become a must-watch event as Sean Spicer clashed with reporters while attempting to defend Donald Trump over his policies and controversial rhetoric. As the two sides clashed on a weekly basis, it appears that it will no longer be the case. CNN's Jim Acosta ripped into the White House on Monday for continuing to hold briefings off camera, tweeting, "This is a WH that is stonewalling the news media. Hiding behind no camera/no audio gaggles." Once the off-camera briefings became official, the Atlantic reported further, explaining that Steve Bannon had sent a text message that simply replied "Sean got fatter," which has since gone unanswered. As of press time, neither Sean Spicer nor the White House have responded to Bannon's remarks. The White House is mulling a new away-from-the-podium role for press secretary Sean Spicer, a WH official said https://t.co/vX0pu6Ry2L pic.twitter.com/vnmDVuht5D CNN (@CNN) June 20, 2017 Moving forward With Sean Spicer out as the on-camera press secretary, it's unknown how the White House will handle their meetings with the press in the future. Fox News reported on Monday night that Spicer was being offered a potential promotion by running the entire communications division, which would see him get a bump in the administration, while avoiding the interaction with the press. Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) is currently recovering after he underwent surgery to remove a blood clot above his left eye on Friday last week. His office confirmed that the senior senator has been diagnosed with brain cancer after his doctor discovered a severe type of tumor during his physical examination last week, CNN Edition reported. McCain diagnosed with brain cancer The GOP member reportedly complained about feeling fatigued and having blurry visions when he visited his doctor for his regular check up. He was sent for a CT scan and an MRI following which, they discovered his brain tumor. McCain was discharged from Mayo Clinic Hospital a day after his surgery after the blood clot was successfully removed. The U.S. senator, who is now resting at his home in Arizona, is reportedly considering treatment options to fully recover from brain cancer. His office also assured that the 80-year-old politician is recovering "amazingly well" after the operation. His doctors also revealed that the patient showed no signs of neurological problems throughout the procedure. They were even impressed by McCain's sharp memory when he woke up after the surgery. Sen. John Hoeven (R-North Dakota) said they were "stunned" and "emotional" after learning about McCain's brain tumor diagnosis. He added that the senators were informed about the unfortunate news during a meeting for health care. Former U.S. presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton extended their well-wishes to the GOP senator through social media. Obama said McCain is a hero and a brave fighter who is capable of winning against cancer. Clinton, on the other hand, wished for the senator's speedy recovery. John McCain is an American hero & one of the bravest fighters I've ever known. Cancer doesn't know what it's up against. Give it hell, John. Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 20, 2017 As hes shown his entire life, dont bet against John McCain. Best wishes to him for a swift recovery. Bill Clinton (@billclinton) July 20, 2017 Internet reacts to Trump's short message Meanwhile, the incumbent U.S. leader, Donald Trump, released a short statement to extend his thoughts to the senator and his family. "Senator John McCain has always been a fighter. Melania and I send our thoughts and prayers to Senator McCain, Cindy, and their entire family. Get well soon," the statement read. Some social media users slammed the president for his "insensitive and awkward" message to someone who has served the country for decades. Others could not help but compare Trump's statement to Obama and Clinton's posts. The sad thing is Donald Trump will tweet about Fake News, Dems, his golf course, and Obama before sending prayers to John McCain. Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) July 20, 2017 Hes not a war hero. He was a war hero 'cause he was captured. I like people that werent captured. Trump on McCain, 2 years ago yesterday https://t.co/uwU62Azl30 Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) July 20, 2017 I just wanna bring something up: notice all the Democrats' outpouring support for McCain. Then notice this pos Trump's two sentences. #fdt (@eddiefuentes_) July 20, 2017 Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), on the other hand, believes that McCain will get through this difficulty. I know that he will face this challenge with the same extraordinary courage that has characterized his life," he added. The two hero Republicans who helped 32 million Americans from losing their health coverage were scolded on Wednesday by President Donald Trump. While Kansan Sen. Jerry Moran one of the two senators who tweeted on Monday night that they cannot support the GOP-backed health care act managed to flee reporters by darting from them over the subway tracks in the Senate, but he did not escape the presidents sharp tongue. At a lunch with Republicans in another bid to push for the repeal of Obamacare and craft a replacement legislation, Trump said he was surprised that some senators, whom he considered friends, may no longer be on his friend list anymore. I have to get em back, he vowed, The New York Daily News reported. I will be having lunch at the White House today with Republican Senators concerning healthcare. They MUST keep their promise to America! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 19, 2017 Veiled threats Another legislator, Nevada Sen. Dean Heller who also opposed the bill earlier than the four was made to sit on the hot seat, literally beside Trump who hinted the senator might lose in the 2018 reelection. He wants to remain a senator, doesnt he? the real estate billionaire asked. The veiled threats were not just for the three other senators Utah Sen. Mike Lee, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, and Maine Sen. Susan Collins but all the Republican senators whom the president urged not to leave Capitol Hill for the August break unless we can give our people great health care. The new pressure is a U-turn from Trumps Tuesday stand when in the specter of the defeat of the GOP bill, he said that the administration would just let Obamacare die without a replacement. He said it after three female Republican senators tweeted on Tuesday that they will not support legislation that would repeal the Affordable Care Act but replace it with another Health Care Bill within two years. CBO report He told the GOP senators at the White House lunch, in a renewed bid to kill President Barack Obamas legacy, that he intends to keep his campaign promise, and the rest of the Republican legislators in the Senate must keep theirs too, The New York Post reported. Beyond political rhetoric, a new analysis released on Wednesday by the bipartisan Congressional Budget Office would explain why some GOP lawmakers are willing to gamble on a different strategy to win another term. The CBO report estimated that compared with Obamacare, the Better Care Reconciliation Act which Trump is again pushing will cause 17 million American to lose health coverage in 2018 which would further rise to 27 million in 2020, and 32 million in 2026. At the same time, premiums would go up significantly, Fortune reported. With the recent terror attacks in the U.K. and other areas of Europe, people are understandably nervous. As a fire started in the kitchen of a pizza restaurant in a Fuengirola Shopping Center, sounding the fire alarm, hundreds of shoppers fled in panic, believing a terrorist attack was underway. Fire in pizza restaurant sparks terror The incident happened on July 13 in the Miramar Parque shopping center, located in Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol in southern Spain. What started as a fire in a pizza restaurant ended with hundreds of people panicking, screaming and running from the shopping center, believing a Terror Attack was underway. What is going on miramar shopping center in Fuengirola?? People going crazy CyberLight (@CyberLight__) July 13, 2017 As noted by the Daily Star, the shopping center in the resort of Fuengirola is popular with locals and visitors alike and with it being summer it was packed to the hilt with shoppers. However, as reported by the Sun, that soon changed after a loud bang came from a pizza restaurant, leading to shoppers panicking and running for their lives, believing a terrorist attack was ongoing in the center. Miramar Parque shopping center evacuated itself According to the shopping center manager, David del Barrio, a fire in the kitchen of the pizza restaurant had set off the centers fire alarm. However, he added that after that alarm sounded, there was no need to evacuate the center, as it practically evacuated itself. Chilling screams as Brit tourists flee holiday hotspot from suspected terror attack https://t.co/IPcjXWKWTz pic.twitter.com/dsV4iLTauf Daily Star (@Daily_Star) July 14, 2017 Witness captures footage of shoppers running in panic One witness outside the shopping center filmed the panic as shoppers fled from the scene. In the footage, people can be seen running across a bridge leading from the center to the road, and along the grass riverbank in front of the shopping center. People could be heard screaming as they ran. The videographer asks someone in Spanish what was happening, to which a woman replied that it was a "bomb scare." The man, relatively calmly, replies, Ah, a bomb. I spoke to Holly Williams, 37, one of the shoppers who fled from the scene. She was seated at a restaurant in the center and while she didnt hear the alarm going off, she saw many people running in terror. Believing it to be a terrorist attack, Williams said she didnt think twice, leaving her bag and baby stroller right there and running with her baby, one-year-old Tristan, in her arms, all the way to the local police station. Local firefighters later said a fryer in the pizza restaurant had caused the fire, leading to the alarm sounding and resulting widespread panic. The restaurant was damaged along with the floor directly below, but apart from one woman who sprained her ankle in the resulting mayhem, no one was seriously injured. CNN has recently reported that jared kushner's cooperation in the meeting with Russian authority concerns the Security Clearance. This clearance concerning President's son in law is Oval House's primary concern these days. This meeting has been talked about a lot of late, with Jared Kushner, who is not only President Trump's daughter's husband but also an employee at the White House. Kushner additionally ran the web-based social networking operation for the Trump, in spite of the fact that it's uncertain regardless of whether that operation may have been penetrated by the Russian government. In capitol hill, Democrats, specifically, are requiring the security clearance to be lifted. Intelligence report divulges the communication details Then again, US authorities informed and referred to that as an intercepted correspondence amongst Kushner and Kremlin to uncover a correspondence proposition. The reason for this proposition was to build a secretive correspondence channel between the two countries. Furthermore, it's accounted that Kushner passed on this proposition to Russian representative Sergey Ivanovich Kislyak amid an early December meeting at Trump Tower. US authorities propose that this game plan was prescribed to Russian specialists to safeguard the pre-launch talks. CNN announced before that the two men as far as anyone knows, met as a major aspect of an activity to build a back channel to Russian President Vladimir Putin. These disclosures come as a test of Russian obstruction in the 2016 presidential campaign. The White House is yet to offer a remark on this report. Is Jared Kushner's security clearance in trouble? The FBI is keen to bore a hole on Kushner's various parts in the Trump campaign and post election move. This consolidates the data analytics operation run by Kushner to target voters in key areas that helped Trump win the administration. The three critical zones that added to the achievement of this campaign are specifically Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. Likewise, government authorities are examining whether the Russian agents utilized Trump campaign associates to spread information about Hilary Clinton online. At present, Kushner's contacts with Russia are under investigation. In any case, there are serious doubts that Jared Kushner won't get his final security clearance. Regardless, President Trump has the power to administer the final option. Although, If President Trump decides in favor of Kushner, it will end up in a political blowback for Capitol Hill. Although Prison Break Season 6 has yet to be renewed, fans have high hopes that it will soon return to the small screens. In fact, in an interview with the shows executive producer Paul Scheuring, he teased that the show may possibly continue with a very good storyline. With that, the 48-year-old screenwriter talked about the most probable things to happen and the possible comeback of some characters. After the swirling rumors that Paul Kellerman (Paul Adelstein) is still alive, there are now reports that John Abruzzi (Peter Stormare) will be once again seen. The possible return of Stormare In a recent interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Paul Scheuring discussed the potential appearance of John Abruzzi or one from the Abruzzi family in Prison Break Season 6. "Oh, I would die to have Stormare back, the director told the publication. However, while he was talking, he made a quick pause, had second thoughts, and continued saying that the 63-year-old stars return wasnt a bad idea at all. "Oh, man. Season six! You cracked it!" he added. From the looks of it, just like Paul Kellerman, John Abruzzi might also be alive. To recall, Peter Stormare played a role of the big shot mob boss in Chicago. He was guilty of two counts of conspiracy murder and was sentenced to spend 120 years in prison without parole. But his influence and connection made him privileged to live normally while behind the bars. However, at the end of the shows second season, the FBI along with Agent Mahone (William Fichtner) put him to rest. A probable end of the story Evidently, Paul Scheuring is thinking of ideas to continue Prison Break Season 6. Although it is merely a joke, he still has the intention to proceed with the story. However, the television serial dramas previous season concluded with a closed-ended" tale. Thus, fans are confused as to whether the creator is just tricking them and making them hope that there will be a sixth season. There's a zero percent chance of the show coming back if we don't have a top-notch story, Paul Scheuring explained to the Hollywood Reporter. He added that at this time, they dont have this top-notch story yet. However, this doesnt mean that they cant make the best-quality narrative that their producers are looking for. As a matter of fact, he, along with the shows writers, wants the new storyline to be of very high value and high quality. But, viewers cant expect it to be announced anytime soon. So it may never come back, he added. He continued to say that if they cant produce a new tale that will be quite different from the others, they cant continue the show So, they have to think of a new plot that will definitely knock the fans socks off, especially now that Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) is out of the prison. Tyler Perry's numerous shows have been successful on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) for the last five years. It has been reported that Perry's current contract is up in May 2019. Viacom announced last Friday that the network has signed a deal with Perry, who is an actor, writer, director, and producer. Perry is already working on films for Viacom even though his deal won't start until he has officially left OWN. Then his television shows, films, and videos will be produced at Viacom and BET. Any shows that Perry is working on now are earmarked for Viacom. When his contract with OWN expires in 2019, his Viacom deal becomes official and will run through 2024. Perry and Viacom In a statement, Perry explained his decision to go with Viacom after a successful run with OWN. He explained that Viacom has the capability to reach his audience through its TV, film, and digital platforms. In other words, Perry wants one place to house all of his projects. Also, it will be an opportunity for his shows to be viewed by a larger audience. As it stands now, his shows are on different networks. Two of his popular comedies, "House of Payne and Meet the Browns" originally aired on TBS, but they are already on BET in syndication. Perry's shows will help the struggling Viacom just as they helped OWN when it was struggling. Viacom has been going downhill, but the deal with Perry is sure to help the network gain some ground just as it did with OWN. The Viacom deal will not go into effect immediately while Perry is still with OWN. Perry and OWN Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry are close friends. So, how will Perry's new deal affect OWN and their personal relationship? His leaving her network must certainly be a disappointment because of the impact his shows have made on said network. OWN was launched in 2008 and had a very slow start until Perry's shows began airing. When his shows are taken off the network, there will naturally be a very big gap. Scripted shows like If Loving You Is Wrong and The Haves and Have Nots bring millions of viewers to OWN every week. At the end of Perry's contract, he has the option to work with the network again but on a non-exclusive basis. As of now, the 47-year-old filmmaker has a deal with OWN that is similar to his upcoming deal with Viacom. That deal is to create 90 episodes a year which includes comedies and dramas. Perry's shows are not ending on OWN all at once. He is slowly phasing them out in stages. Some of them like "The Haves and the Have Nots" will end in 2018, some will end in 2019, and others like "The Paynes" will not end until Perry's contract ends in 2020. WASHINGTON - China and the United States held candid and down-to-earth talks about trade imbalance between the two countries and agreed to work constructively to address the issue, a senior Chinese official said here on Wednesday. "Both sides agreed that one of the solutions to address the trade imbalance is for the United States to expand its exports to China, instead of reducing imports from China," said Chinese Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao after the conclusion of the first China-US Comprehensive Economic Dialogue (CED). China has made its stance clear in terms of addressing the trade imbalance with the United States, said Zhu. China does not intentionally pursue a trade surplus with the United States but is willing instead to balance bilateral trade, said the official. With China's efforts to rebalance its economy and push forward supply-side reforms, China has made tremendous progress in improving trade imbalances, said Zhu. In the first quarter of this year, China's current account surplus accounted for only 0.7 percent of the GDP, down sharply from its peak of about 10 percent in 2007. Zhu expected China's current account surplus to GDP ratio would be less than 1.5 percent for all of 2017. In breaking down China's trade surplus with the United States, China has a surplus in the trade of goods with the United States, while sees a deficit in terms of the services trade, said Zhu. In order to address the imbalance, China has been urging the United States to remove its outdated regulations on export control and increase the exports of high-tech products to China, said Zhu. China will push for this demand in the one-year action plan for economic cooperation which both sides discussed during the CED, Zhu added. On Tuesday, Chinese Vice-Premier Wang Yang who co-chairs the CED also called on the United States to relax export barriers against China and allow the two sides to tap the huge market potential in bilateral trade. While US high-tech exports to China accounted for 16.7 percent of China's total imports of such products in 2001, the percentage dropped to 8.2 percent last year, said the vice premier. A Carnegie Endowment for International Peace research showed that, if the United States were to liberalize its export barriers against China to the same level as those applicable to Brazil or France, the US trade deficit with China would narrow by up to 24 percent and 34 percent respectively. The CED is one of the four major dialogue mechanisms the two sides established in April. Wang co-chaired the first China-US CED together with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross on Wednesday. Both sides discussed a range of economic issues that will have long-term and strategic importance to the economic cooperation between the two countries. BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping Wednesday called for solid moves to advance reforms. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks at the 37th meeting of the Central Leading Group for Deepening Overall Reform, which he heads. All localities should be devoted to delivering reforms, shouldering their due responsibilities and making concrete and pioneering efforts, Xi said. The group called for green and sustainable development of agriculture. Relevant departments should properly deal with the relationship between green development and ecological protection, grain safety, and raising farmers' income, according to a statement released after the meeting. Agricultural development should be compatible with the environment and resources, and should stay coordinated with production and people's livelihoods to achieve sustainable growth. The group urged the establishment of a national technology transfer system, with a focus on strategic industries of far-reaching significance. Technology transfer should play a better role in upgrading technological innovation and boosting economic and social development, the statement said. Reforms should be made to promote corporate governance structures in public cultural institutions to improve management and services, and to inject vitality into these institutions, according to the statement. Boards of directors should be the main form of corporate governance structure in these institutions, such as libraries and museums. Representatives of the industry, professionals and people from all walks of life would also be invited to participate in the management of these institutions, it said. The conference stressed efforts to enhance and improve people-to-people communication with other countries, emphasizing confidence in the path, theories, system and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics. In an effort to raise the professional level of civil servants, the appointment system should be introduced in recruiting personnel to posts with special expertise requirements, according to the statement. To protect consumer interests and ensure good quality is the bottom line, it said. The group called for the establishment of a safety monitoring and quick response system for imports and exports. The meeting highlighted the importance of ensuring good quality drugs and medical equipment. The drug approval system should be improved to enhance innovation and research capabilities of medical businesses. Regarding the national park system, the group urged priority to be given to ecological protection. Legal protection and oversight should be put into place to establish a natural reserve system of which the national parks play a major part. Since the third plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee was held, a package of pilot reforms have been implemented. They are replicable and applicable, as a role model and a breakthrough in the comprehensive reform agenda. Relevant departments should review the progress of the reform and correct the wrongdoing in a timely fashion. To deal with difficult reform agenda, officials should push and track the reform progress in person. Pioneering efforts are needed to break major barriers and well implement the pilot reforms, the statement said. By Chen Weihua in Washington and An Baijie in Beijing | China Daily | Updated: 2017-07-20 07:07 Vice-Premier Wang Yang urged the United States on Tuesday to loosen its "outdated" restrictions on high-tech exports to China so it can tap the vast Chinese market and reduce the bilateral trade imbalance. Wang, who is in Washington for the first round of China-US Comprehensive Economic Dialogue, said that as China upgrades its industries, there is a huge market for US exports of advanced technologies, key equipment and critical parts to China. "Unfortunately, American businesses have not had their fair share of the cake due to outdated US regulations on export control," he told a luncheon attended by US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and hundreds of Chinese and US business leaders. Wang cited China's import of integrated circuits, which hit $227 billion last year, more than the import of crude oil, iron ore and primary plastics combined. But only 4 percent of China's integrated circuit imports came from the US. If the US were to liberalize its export barriers against China to the same level applicable to France, the US trade deficit with China would drop by up to 34 percent, Wang said, citing a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace article. The demand for high-quality US products and services is growing fast, according to Wang. The US-China Business Council predicted that US goods and services exported to China will double to $369 billion in the coming decade and rise to $520 billion by 2050. "China's development and progress is a long-term certainty, which offers the most important external environment for foreign businesses to work with China," Wang said. "I am sure any business with vision would value such a huge market, and any government with ambition would value cooperation with China." He also stressed that cooperation is the only right choice for the two countries, a message expressed by several senior Chinese leaders. "The giant ship of China-US economic and trade relations is sailing on the right course," Wang said. Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a regular news conference on Wednesday in Beijing that Wang's speech has sent three key messages: cooperation is the only right choice for China and the US; China's development has long-term certainties; and the Chinese market has huge potential. Noting that it is natural for the two countries to have economic disagreements and friction, Lu said the two sides could properly handle disputes through dialogue with the principle of equal treatment and mutual trust. Ross, the commerce secretary, described the China-US trade and investment relationship as "the most important in the entire world", saying "that relationship has brought benefits to both nations". He applauded China's resumption of US beef imports after 14 years and described it as just a start, given the huge Chinese market potential. "Even now, (although) we occasionally disagree on individual items, we have fundamentally shared objectives. So I am very hopeful about the opportunities through further success," Ross said. Serious concerns about a trade war between the two large countries based on Trump's tough campaign rhetoric have dissipated dramatically the past few months, especially after the first summit between President Xi Jinping and Trump at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, in early April. At Mar-a-Lago, the two sides established a four-track comprehensive dialogue mechanism and agreed to work on a 100-day action plan, which was due on July 16. Both sides have so far spoken positively of the progress made within a relatively short period of time. Contact the writers at chenweihua@chinadailyusa.com Vice-Premier Wang Yang and US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin talk before the China-US Comprehensive Economic Dialogue, where they discussed economic and trade issues in Washington.Yuri Gripas / Reuters (China Daily 07/20/2017 page1) BEIJING -- Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged officials to make "every possible effort" to solve public grievances. He said officials must treat the handling of public petitions as important work in keeping abreast of public events, pooling people's wisdom, protecting the public interest and improving social solidarity. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks in a written instruction conveyed to the eighth national conference on petition work, which was held in Beijing on Tuesday and Wednesday. He urged Party committees, government agencies and officials to handle people's legitimate appeals lawfully, in timely fashion and in the local areas, address the root causes of issues, and build a stronger grassroots system. The construction of the legal institutions and related systems for addressing public petitions should be improved, Xi said, calling for efforts to make petition work more forward-looking, systematic and targeted. Speaking highly of petition work in recent years, the president said those handling petitions have helped solve large numbers of problems concerning the immediate interests of the people and played an important role in safeguarding the country's reform, development and stability. Xi ordered Party committees to enhance leadership over the work, show support and care for those handling petitions, and build a high-quality team that are loyal to the Party, dedicated to serving the people and good at working with the general public. At the two-day event, model individuals and units were awarded for their contribution to the work and certificates of merit were presented to those who had handled petitions for more than 25 years. China has established a system to handle appeals and petitions from the public, including citizens seeking government redress in cases ranging from illegal land acquisition, social security, education, to healthcare and environmental protection. China unveiled a set of reforms on the petition system in 2014, vowing to expand petition channels to facilitate public grievances, punish officials for malpractice and promote rule of law in handling petition cases. As the reform has gone deep, remarkable progress has been made in the petition work in the past three years, with a steady drop in the number of petitions and improved public trust in the work. Petitioners now have a variety of channels to file petitions, through hotlines, WeChat, mobile apps and other online formats. They can inquire and follow the development of their cases and give feedback on the handling by local petition departments. According to guidelines issued by Chinese authorities in early 2014, officials are required to accept petitions in a face-to-face manner at intervals ranging from one day in six months for provincial-level officials and one day every week at township-level. Those found to have showed indifference or hampered people's interests in petition handling, refusing or delaying petitions, will be seriously punished. Local governments also improved the assessment of officials regarding the handling of petitions, by placing more stock in the effectiveness of settlements and petitioners' satisfaction with their cases. To promote rule of law in handling petition cases, Chinese authorities issued another regulation that defines the responsibilities of the Party and state organs in handling petitions in October 2016. Such agencies should ensure sufficient funding and personnel for dealing with petition letters and visits, and work to prevent and reduce conflicts that result in petitions, according to the regulation. It highlighted supervision over the handling of petitions, stating that agencies should conduct at least one relevant annual inspection accordingly. Officials will be held accountable if improper decision-making or neglect of duty cause major petition incidents or damage people's interests. Senior supervisors will undertake joint liability if their subordinates harm other people's interests. German Chancellor Angela Merkel receives Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge and his wife Catherine, The Duchess of Cambridge, at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany July 19, 2017. The royal couple and their children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, are on an official three-day-visit in Germany after making their first official visit to Poland. [Photo/Agencies] US Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain (R-AZ) listens as he is being introduced at a campaign rally in Denver, Colorado October 24, 2008. [Photo/Agencies] WASHINGTON - US Senator John McCain has a brain tumor and is reviewing treatment options that may include a combination of chemotherapy and radiation, his office said on Wednesday. The six-term Republican senator and 2008 presidential nominee, who is 80, has been recovering at home in Arizona since undergoing surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix last Friday to remove a blood clot from above his left eye. Tissue analysis since that procedure revealed that a primary brain tumor known as a glioblastoma was associated with the clot, his office said. McCain's doctors said he was recovering from his surgery "amazingly well" and that his underlying health was excellent. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called McCain, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War, a hero and said he looked forward to having him back in Washington. "We all look forward to seeing this American hero again soon," McConnell said in a statement. Reuters Senior Chinese and US government officials spoke positively of their first Comprehensive Economic Dialogue (CED) in Washington on Wednesday after they reached a wide consensus. Chinese Vice-Premier Wang Yang, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross co-chaired the meeting held at the US Treasury Department, where the two sides discussed bilateral trade and investment, the 100-Day Action Plan and One-Year Plan, global economy and governance, and macroeconomic policy, finance and agriculture. Wang said that cooperation is the only correct choice for China and the US, which are each other's largest trade partner and important source of foreign investment. "Good cooperation between China and the US, the world's two largest economies, will not only benefit the businesses and people of the two countries, but the entire world," he said. Chinese Vice-Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao said a major task for the CED was reviewing the progress on the consensus reached by President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump when they met in Florida in early April. In their first summit at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, the two leaders agreed on a four-track comprehensive dialogue mechanism, including the CED and a 100-Day Action Plan for economic cooperation. "Both sides spoke highly of the implementation of the 100-Day Action Plan," Zhu told the press on Wednesday after the conclusion of the CED. Meanwhile, the two sides agreed to start their One-Year Action Plan for economic cooperation and strive for early harvest, according to Zhu, who has been deeply involved in the Chinese preparation for the CED. He expressed the two sides will do their utmost on the One-Year Plan. During the Wednesday meeting, the two sides agreed to pursue economic cooperation based on the principle of win-win cooperation. Both sides also agreed to resort to dialogue and negotiation in addressing their differences. The two governments also agreed to keep their communication on major economic policy issues. Zhu noted that while the CED was a one-day event, the teams on both sides have kept their contact on a daily basis, sometimes even several times a day. He said the close contacts have reflected a spirit of mutual respect and helped improve understanding and strategic trust. Wang also praised the two teams, saying the biggest achievement of the CED is the increased understanding and trust between the two teams, which will play a positive role in advancing the China-US economic relationship. "Since the presidential summit, the first 100 days made progress on important issues including credit ratings, bond clearing, electronic payments, commercial banking and liquefied natural gas. Also, this is the first time since 2003 that the Chinese have allowed for imports of American beef," said a statement by Mnuchin and Ross after the meeting. It said that China acknowledged the shared objective on the trade deficit, which both sides will work cooperatively on to achieve. "The principles of balance, fairness and reciprocity on matters of trade will continue to guide the American position so we can give American workers and businesses an opportunity to compete on a level playing field," the US statement said. About 20 Chinese and US business leaders, including Jack Ma of Alibaba Group and Stephen Schwarzman of the Blackstone Group, met on Tuesday in Washington to help push for expanded economic cooperation between the two countries. Bilateral trade between China and the US hit $519 billion in 2016. China is the destination for 26 percent of US-exported Boeing aircraft, 56 percent of its soybeans, 16 percent of its automobiles, and 15 percent of its farm products. China is also one of the fastest-growing markets for US exports. In the past decade, US exports to China increased 11 percent a year on average, while China's exports to the US grew 6.6 percent. The US maintains a surplus with China in service sector trade while running a deficit in the trade of goods. chenweihua@chinadailyusa.com Acting head of Security Council says Africa well-being affects entire world Promoting peace and security on the African continent is in the "interest of the entire international community", along with addressing the underlying causes of conflicts in various African hot spots, said China's permanent representative to the United Nations. "Africa is still confronted with multiple challenges in the areas of peace and security. Some countries of the region are still plagued by ongoing conflicts or political instability," Liu Jieyi said on Wednesday during an open debate at the UN Security Council on enhancing African capacities in peace and security. "In the face of these difficulties, Africa is not fully equipped with the tasks of conflict prevention and resolution and maintenance of peace and security, and [African Union] peace operations are constrained by inadequacies in financial resources, equipment, technology and management systems," Liu said. He said that "the international community must vigorously help Africa solve their difficulties and support Africa in its capacity-building in areas of peace and security". The African Union (AU) and the UN in April signed a framework to strengthen their partnership that addresses how to better respond to challenges that peace operations face in the AU. Called the Joint UN-AU Framework for Enhancing Partnership on Peace and Security, it boosts coordination on all levels of peacekeeping, human rights and sustainable development. Liu said that the UN and the AU need to continuously improve coordination, support peace operations conducted by the AU, support Africa in addressing the root causes of conflict, and strengthen UN peacekeeping operations on the continent. "African hot spots involve complex, national, ethnic, religious and social tensions. It is therefore necessarily important to address both the symptoms and the root causes, while giving attention to the current problems of peace and security," Liu said. "We need to work to eliminate the source of these problems, particularly to support Africa in accelerating development and reducing poverty, thus eliminating the breeding grounds of conflicts and extremism," Liu said. Antnio Guterres, secretary-general of the UN, said that the AU and the UN have a shared interest in defusing conflicts before they escalate and to manage them effectively when they occur. "Enhancing African capacities is essential both in the context of our collective response to international peace and security challenges as well as for the self-reliance of the African continent," he said. Smal Chergui, commissioner for peace and security for the AU, said that "conflict-prevention remains the most cost-effective conflict management tools, but yet the least resourced". Similarly, the United Kingdom's Ambassador to the UN, Matthew Rycroft, said that too much time and money are spent on responding to crises rather than preventing them, and that the UK supports an agenda that focuses on conflict-prevention. Mankeur Ndiaye, minister of foreign affairs of Senegal, said that his country's delegation welcomes the strengthening of the partnership between the UN and the AU on peace and security. Ndiaye said that strengthening African capabilities in this area must be approached "as part of a discussion on how to intensify cooperation, which links the UN to the African Union and its regional economic communities". amyhe@chinadailyusa.com Please turn JavaScript on and reload the page. Loading... Checking your browser before accessing the website. This process is automatic. Your browser will redirect to your requested content shortly. Please wait a few seconds. Phnom Penh, July 20 (VNA) Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong held talks with Cambodian King Nodorom Sihamoni following an official welcoming ceremony for the Vietnamese Party leader in Phnom Penh on July 20. Welcoming the Vietnamese Party chief and his entourage, the King described the visit of Nguyen Phu Trong as a especially important milestone in the good neighbourliness, traditional friendship and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Cambodia in the context of the two countries celebrating 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties (June 24). The host and guest exchanged news on their respective countries recent affairs and expressed their delight at progress achieved by both sides. The two leaders looked back on bilateral engagement in the past five decades and agreed that the ties, fostered by generations of Vietnamese and Cambodian leaders and people, have overcome obstacles and yielded fruitful outcomes. King Sihamoni expressed his deep gratitude toward Vietnams support for Cambodia during its past struggle for national liberation and against the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime, as well as in the periods of rebuilding and developing the country. Calling Vietnam a great and trustworthy friend of Cambodia, he said his nation will always stand by Vietnams side as a good neighbour. King Nodorom Sihamoni vowed to continue his father King Norodom Sihanouks legacy in cementing the long-standing friendship with Vietnam. For his part, Party General Secretary Trong stated the growth of Vietnam is closely linked with assistance from international friends, including Cambodia. He took the occasion to invite King Nodorom Sihamoni and the Queen Mother Norodom Monineath Sihanouk to visit Vietnam this year and in following years, which was accepted by the King. Both host and guest pledged their commitments to spare no effort in imbuing the next generations with the Vietnam-Cambodia traditional relationship and comprehensive cooperation. VNA/VNP HCM City, July 19 (VNA) - Recruitment demand is expected to rise for the rest of the year as companies plan to expand their production, labour market reports have revealed. Many Chinese-owned companies and Chinese joint ventures, most of which are partners with European firms, are investing in manufacturing factories, especially in textiles and footwear, according to Navigos Search, the leading provider of executive search services in Vietnam. The factories typically will have only 100-200 workers each in the first year, but will expand later to accommodate 400- 500 workers based on export demand. Chinese companies and joint ventures need candidates who are proficient both in Chinese and English, especially for technical sales positions. Companies that provide hi-tech financial services have high demand for IT engineers with experience in data fields and finance. However, companies often are forced to hire foreigners to fill these positions, especially those requiring high skills, as Vietnams workforce lacks a sufficient number of candidates, according to the report. Many companies must hire new graduates and train employees after they are hired. Data technology is expected to be a fast-growing industry in the next three years. Companies need engineers in data processing and machine learning, which is part of the artificial intelligence (AI) field. But there are only a few universities in Vietnam that offer majors or training in AI. The Republic of Korea (RoK) companies in the second quarter are expected to recruit more mid- and senior-level managers compared to the first quarter, but finding staff is difficult because of the cultural demands of working at RoK companies, according to the report. Candidates with an MA or PhD who can speak Korean have an advantage and are offered better compensation and benefits, particularly at research and development institutes. Many RoK companies are located in the northern region, which has a scarcity of candidates who can speak the language compared to the south. As such, companies often recruit staff in the south. Tran Anh Tuan, deputy head of HCM Citys Human Resources Forecasting and Labour Market Information Centre, said that companies needed staff with high qualifications, a serious attitude toward work, and a desire to learn foreign languages. The centres report released on June 27 said the city would need 139,000 workers for the remaining six months of the year, mostly in textile and garments, logistics, IT and construction. Pham Van Cong, deputy director of Dong Nai provinces Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, said that Vietnamese-owned enterprises needed workers in textiles and garments, the processing industry and rubber. For several years, foreign companies hired 80 percent of around 60,000 workers in the province, according to the department. More workers are needed in the rubber industry as it has recovered recently, according to the province. More than 1,500 new enterprises were established in the first six months, with total registered capital of more than 20 trillion VND (879.39 million USD), an increase of 150 percent compared to the same period last year, according to a report from the provinces Department of Planning and Investment. More than 11,000 manual workers were employed in the first six months of the year, according to the provinces Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs. Cong said that nearly 45,000 manual workers will be needed in the province for the remainder of the year. VNA/VNP CAN THO The Mekong Delta city of Can Tho is calling for Singaporean and Japanese investment for the regional logistics centre in the city. Nguyen Minh Toai, director of the municipal Department of Industry and Trade, said this at a meeting on attracting investment for the centre, held by the Peoples Committee of Can Tho on Wednesday. The centre, spanning over 242.2ha in the Cai Rang Industrial Park, includes ports, container areas, goods uploading, distribution and services areas, Toai said. The city plans to invite capable and experienced investors from Singapore or Japan to invest in the centre to facilitate the transportation of goods from the Mekong Delta region to countries in the region and the world. Vice chairman of the municipal Peoples Committee Truong Quang Hoai Nam urged the department and relevant bodies to build the centre based on regional conditions and potential. It is necessary to identify key products, traffic system and delivery network while planning the logistics centre, Nam said, also proposing measures to lure investors. According to the approved nationwide logistics centre system development plan by 2020 with orientation to 2030, the Mekong Delta region will have one regional logistics centre covering at least 30ha by 2020 and over 70ha by 2030. This logistics centre will serve Can Tho City, Tra Vinh, Hau Giang, Vinh Long and Kien Giang provinces, as well as Ca Mau, Bac Lieu, Soc Trang and An Giang provinces, and will connect with dry and river ports, airports, train and bus stations, as well as industrial parks and border gates. VNS HA NOI A seminar on the economic and trade co-operation between Viet Nam and Guangdong-Hong Kong (China) was held in Ha Noi on Wednesday. The event saw the participation of senior officials from 14 Vietnamese cities and provinces, and nearly 200 businesses from both sides. Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung said China has been Viet Nams largest trade partner for 13 consecutive years. The countries two-way trade touched US$72 billion last year, or one-fifth of Viet Nams total export. Last year, China ranked eighth among the top 10 foreign investors in Viet Nam, with a total registered capital of US$10.5 billion. Two-way trade between Viet Nam and Guangdong and Hong Kong reached $17 billion and $6.09 billion, respectively. As of March, Hong Kong was sixth among the top 10 foreign investors, with a total registered capital of $17 billion. Trung said he was optimistic that bilateral ties would thrive, given that the Vietnamese economy has maintained a growth of over 6 per cent despite the global economic and financial crisis. The minister said Viet Nam was becoming an important link in the global value chain, particularly in the fields of electronics, garments, agriculture and fisheries. And Hong Kong is a significant gateway for Vietnamese goods to enter the Chinese market. Almost all industries and sectors are developing strongly in Viet Nam, from transport infrastructure, urban planning and development and energy to high-tech agriculture, machinery engineering and the support industry, Trung emphasised, adding that the government is working to step up reforms and global integration. Hu Suo Jin, Commercial and Economic Counsellor at the Chinese embassy, hailed Guangdongs high gross domestic product over the past 28 years and described Hong Kong as a major financial, trade and transportation centre for China. The embassy will continue to serve as a bridge connecting the two countries businesses in the future, he added. A senior official from Guangdong Province said Viet Nams farm produce, such as rice and fruits, are popular in Guangdong, while their consumer goods, such as footwear, apparel and electronics, have attracted Vietnamese consumers. In 2016, Guangdong poured around $207 million into Viet Nam. Guangdong authorities are also providing support to the An Duong industrial zone in Hai Phong, and hope it will develop into a model industrial zone. The event helped all participating firms learn more about business opportunities and market demand on both sides. VNS Strengthening tax systems has emerged as a key priority in improving the resilience of the national economy and supporting its growth objectives. Viet Nam News reporter Mai Huong interviews Alex Mourmouras, chief of the ASEAN1 division at the IMFs Asia Pacific Department and the Funds Viet Nam mission chief, about tax reforms. Could you tell us about the latest developments regarding international tax reform in the ASEAN region? Mobilising domestic revenue sources has emerged as an important priority in supporting national efforts to promote inclusive growth. The scope of reforms encompasses direct taxes, which include personal and corporate income taxes; indirect taxes, such as value added and excise taxes, and other revenue sources, including property and land taxes and fees. For Viet Nam and other ASEAN countries in which export-oriented manufacturing is an important growth driver, the tax treatment of international companies with direct inward investments in the region is a key feature of countries attractiveness as investment destinations. The establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in January 2016 has forged greater interdependence in the region and has brought to the fore the importance of coordination among ASEAN tax authorities to limit aggressive tax planning by multinationals and regional enterprises. ASEAN countries have started implementing the recommendations from the G20-OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project that, while not specific to Asia, aims to limit the opportunities for tax avoidance for businesses that operate across borders. Viet Nam recently joined the 2016 BEPS Inclusive Framework that brings together over 100 countries to collaborate on the challenges of international taxation. Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand are also members. Tax reform is a top priority for a developing country like Viet Nam in attracting foreign investment. What specific areas should the Vietnamese government focus on? It is important to place Viet Nams tax reforms in the ASEAN and domestic contexts. Some countries compete with their neighbors in providing generous tax incentives to attract foreign direct investments. When other things are equal, multinational enterprises are naturally more inclined to invest in countries that offer tax incentives. However, the resulting international tax competition risks worsening countries fiscal accounts and undermining their ability to achieve sustainable economic development in the long term. Turning to Viet Nam, the government has a relatively high debt level, which must be reined in. It is important to mobilise more revenue in order for the government to rebuild fiscal space and finance much-needed expenditure. This includes public infrastructure and social spending to improve heath and education and raise the skills of the labour force. Policymakers must also start preparing now for future fiscal needs: while Viet Nams population is young now, it is aging rapidly, which requires work to fortify the countrys pension system. Strengthening Viet Nams public finances will require action on both the revenue and expenditure sides of the budget. Among the priority areas on the revenue side are: unifying VAT rates, raising excise taxes and energy and environmental taxes, and introducing a recurring property tax. Consideration should also be given to taxing land transactions and better capturing revenues from state land sales to fund infrastructure investment. These reforms will help make Viet Nams revenue system more efficient and will help meet the countrys Sustainable Development Goal commitments. Viet Nam is integrating more deeply in the regional/global economies and needs to develop a more sophisticated and internationally integrated tax system. What are the key factors in building an efficient tax system to ensure both goals of State budget collection and facilitation of business activity are met? A countrys tax system is an important factor that businesses consider when deciding where to invest. Fair, simple and stable tax laws are easy to understand and help level the playing field for domestic and international investors. They also help lower compliance and administrative costs and make tax administration more transparent and less discretionary. But non-tax considerations are often equally important in international firms direct investment decisions. Sound public finances that underpin macroeconomic stability, a skilled workforce and good infrastructure are vital for businesses, in particular multinational enterprises, in planning their long-term investment and production location strategies. In todays increasingly digital world, a countrys soft infrastructure matters more for a countrys business climate and international investors. That means property rights that are well defined and properly (and evenly) enforced, including those of the owners of tangible and intangible capital. Viet Nam is developing new regulations to deal with profit shifting among big corporations. What is IMFs suggestion in addressing this issue? The IMF strongly supports Viet Nams tax reforms, including helping address BEPS challenges. As the 2017 host country for APEC, Viet Nam is currently leading the work to advance the BEPS initiative among these countries, and the IMF is an active participant in this process. As of May 2017, Viet Nam implemented a new decree dealing with the prices charged by different units of multinationals in internal transactions (transfer pricing) to bring its tax rules in line with best practices in the BEPS action plan. While it is important to keep Viet Nams rules in line with internationally agreed principles, it is also a prerogative of the Vietnamese authorities to decide how to address profit shifting. At the same time, we believe that a more equal tax treatment of all investors in Viet Nam would help broaden and strengthen the tax base. Could you share the recent cooperation and support between IMF and Viet Nams government in tax building capacity and future programmes? In recent years, the IMF has been supporting the tax reform efforts of the Ministry of Finance and its General Directorate of Taxation. We have discussed options for tax policy reform in support of inclusive economic growth and to compensate for lower oil-related revenues. This year for example, the government and the IMF have worked closely to consider options for reorganising the structure of tax administration and supporting Viet Nams objective to steadily raise tax revenue as a share of GDP. The IMF stands ready to continue this close cooperation and is willing to provide further technical assistance and training in both tax policy and tax administration. HCM CITY Three central Laos provinces, Savannakhet, Khammouane, and Bolikhamxay, sought investment in many sectors at a conference held in HCM City on Wednesday. The three are strategically located along the East-West Economic Corridor. Savannakhet, which lies west of Quang Binh and Quang Tri provinces and east of Thailand, is offering incentives for investments in high-tech, clean and organic agriculture, agricultural and forestry processing, sustainable tourism, education, healthcare, infrastructure, banking and development of modern trading centres among others. Santiphab Phomvihane, Secretary and Governor of Savannakhet, said the province is suitable for infrastructure development, especially in Build- Operate- Transfer (BOT) and Public-Private Partnership (PPP) modes, and export-oriented agriculture. He said firms could also invest in irrigation works to support rice cultivation and establishment of seeds and livestock breeds supply centres. Savannakhet also solicited investment in vocational schools, modern hospitals, hotel and tourism services related to history, culture and protection of the natural environment, he said. Vietnamese companies, with 24 projects there worth over US$170 million, are the third largest foreign investors in the province. There are an increasing number of Vietnamese firms investing in various sectors in the province, contributing significantly to its socio-economic development and to improving peoples lives, he said. The provinces infrastructure is being developed to facilitate faster and more convenient transport of goods by road, boost industry and services, and enable it to become a modern industrial province and a logistics and cross-border transportation hub. The province has consistently worked to improve its investment environment, he added. Khammouane Province listed 13 projects seeking investment in 2017, including construction and development of the Langkhang Economic Zone and development of rice-based products, logistics, modern rice mills, micro-organic fertiliser plants, tourism services and others. Bunmy Phimmasone, deputy secretary and deputy governor of the province, said the 13 projects were identified on the basis of the provinces advantages like energy and mines, agriculture-forestry, services and tourism. Bolikhamxay invited businesses from Viet Nam and other countries to invest in an industrial park in Paksan District, a border economic zone in Khamkot District, the Viengkham-Thasaad Special Economic Zone, a cement plant in Pakkading, a resort, a tourism project in Thaphabath District and several other projects. Le Thanh Liem, deputy chairman of the HCM City Peoples Committee, said being a major economic and cultural centre of Viet Nam, the city considers Laos a strategic and promising market for investment and trade. More than 30 city enterprises have invested over $250 million in Laos, he said. The conference is expected to promote further investment by city firms in Laos, contributing to economic development there, he said. He said relevant departments and industries in the city and the three provinces and businesses should properly discuss areas of mutual concern and co-ordination mechanisms to building effective long-term co-operation. The three Lao provinces should create favourable conditions for foreign investors, including Vietnamese, he added. The conference on promoting tourism, investment and trade in three Laos central provinces was organised by the Investment and Promotion Centre of HCM City. VNS HA NOI The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) can be a major catalyst for national growth, but few Vietnamese businesses have grasped the concept and its importance, officials and experts said at a seminar yesterday. The seminar, titled 50 years of ASEAN: ASEAN Economic Community - Opportunities for Vietnamese enterprises, was jointly organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) and the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA). Discussions focused on the AECs role in facilitating the entry of Vietnamese businesses to enter Southeast Asian markets, and businesses approach to this potential. Le Luong Minh, ASEAN Secretary General, noted that Viet Nam has been an important factor in the regional blocs development throughout. The country has actively co-operated with other members to drive the regional economy towards greater participation in the global value chain, he said. Viet Nam was a regional spearhead for the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and free trade agreements with the Eurasian Economic Union and the European Union, he added. The AEC can maximize the nations competitiveness alongside the blocs collective power, boosting bilateral and international trade, Minh said. Agreeing with Minh, Viet Nams Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung said over the 22 years that it has been an ASEAN member, the countrys economic progress has become increasingly entwined with the blocs growth, more so with the establishment of the AEC in late 2015. Since Viet Nam became a signatory to the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement, the blocs members have collectively become the countrys second biggest trade partner with an average annual growth rate of 14.5 per cent in the last decade, he said. Bilateral trade turnover increased from around US$19 billion in 2006 to $41.36 billion in 2016. ASEAN is now Viet Nams third biggest export market and also the third most prolific supplier of materials for the nations manufacturing industry, said Dung. He also confirmed that ASEAN was one of Viet Nams most important foreign investors, with a total registered capital of $64 billion as of 2016. The bloc also acts as a link between a multitude of investments by multinational companies and the Vietnamese market. Industrial projects initiated by ASEAN countries in Viet Nam are now centred in the manufacturing, processing and assembling industries, he noted. He stated that ASEAN was an important factor in Viet Nam being able to maintain and accelerate stable economic growth over past decade. The realisation of AEC is a key objective for all members and their business communities. Income gap To boost regional co-operation, it is necessary that the income gap among ASEAN countries and other regions be narrowed. Dung also pushed for greater economic integration to enhance the regions competitiveness. He urged Vietnamese entrepreneurs to take the initiative and participate in the AEC by cementing their place in the ASEAN market, help set the rules and anticipate market trends for themselves and the ASEAN community. He pledged that the Vietnamese government would continue economic reforms, paying heed to the concerns of the business community. Deputy Foreign Minister Minh said the seminar was a good opportunity for businesses from all ASEAN countries to meet and share their experiences, ideas and methods towards help the community overcome integration challenges. He said AEC marked a new level of ASEAN co-operation that is people-centred. He asked Vietnamese businesses to broaden their knowledge of the AEC and awareness of its importance. Just 16 per cent of companies in the country seem to have a strong understanding of such concept, he said. Hidetoshi Nishimura, President of ERIA, also affirmed ASEANs importance for Viet Nams growth, saying a common market with a productive basis would bring equal opportunities to all members and their peoples. True appeal Prominent economist Vo Tri Thanh of Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM), said that the AEC needs foster attractive, favourable conditions and political support to truly appeal to businesses from Viet Nam. Local businesses should also have the urge to connect and the professionalism to cooperate. Representatives from the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV) also said that many Vietnamese firms supplying parts to FDI multinational companies did not have enough funding to expand production and take on larger projects, which might be a reason behind their hesitation in actively joining the AEC. Two hundreds representatives from Viet Nam and other countries attended the seminar in preparation for the ASEANs 50th Anniversary Celebration on August 8, 2017. VNS HA NOI Viet Nams export revenue to Algeria rose 37 per cent year-on-year to US$190 million in the first half of the year. The figures were revealed by the Vietnamese Commercial Affairs Office in Algeria under the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Key shipments included nearly 32,000 tonnes of coffee valued at more than $68 million (up 27 per cent), telephones and spare parts at more than $52 million (up 5 per cent) and nearly 26,700 tonnes of rice at $10 million, quadrupling the value in the same period last year. Algeria is Viet Nams second largest importer in Africa, following South Africa. Viet Nam-Algeria economic co-operation prospects are plenty, with Algerian consumers familiar with Vietnamese goods, while Algerian animal feed, medicine and natural minerals are sold in Viet Nam. In terms of investment, the Bir-Seba gas and oil joint venture between PetroVietnam, Sonatrach (Algeria) and PTT (Thailand) became operational in 2015, producing 18,000 barrels per day. VNS HA NOI Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Wednesday took action so that the National Assemblys (NA) new resolution on bad debt settlement could be applied from August 15. The PM issued Directive 32/CT-TTg, stating that all regulations to guide the implementation of the NA resolution on settling non-performing loans must be issued before August 15, the date the resolution takes effect, a move that reflects the Governments determination to settle bad debts. Under the directive issued on Wednesday, Phuc has assigned the Ministry of Justice to direct the enforcement agencies at all levels to rapidly settle lawsuits, which have taken legal effect, related to bad debts of credit institutions and the Viet Nam Asset Management Company (VAMC). The ministry will also be responsible for drafting a decree on collateral transaction, which will be submitted to the Government for approval. The directive orders the Ministry of Public Security to direct its agencies to maintain security and social order when credit institutions and the VAMC exercise their legal right to confiscate and sell collateral assets of bad debts as per the regulations stated in the resolution. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment must direct its property ownership registration agencies to carry out procedures to transfer the property ownership and use rights to legal purchasers and assignees of bad debts, as stipulated in the resolution. The PM has also entrusted the Ministry of Planning and Investment to co-operate with relevant agencies to map out plans to disburse State budget in order to pay arrears for the Governments infrastructure construction projects. Under the directive, Phuc has required the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) to closely supervise and inspect credit institutions and the VAMC in the implementation of the resolution. The central bank must also work out with relevant ministries and agencies a streamlined legal framework proposal for settling bad debts and collateral assets and submit it to the Government before August 15, 2021, based on effects of the enforcement of the resolution. Besides enhancing supervision, the SBV must also take responsibility for streamlining current legal regulations on the governance of credit institutions, especially risky governance, and credit granting for credit so as to minimise bad debts the next time. Last month, NA deputies ratified the resolution on dealing with banks bad debts. Experts have applauded the resolution, saying it is necessary to reduce the bad debt ratio of credit institutions, including the debts sold to VAMC, to below 3 per cent. With the resolution, credit institutions and the VAMC can trade bad debts in an open, transparent manner at market prices, in accordance with the law, they said. Huynh Minh Tuan from VnDirect Securities said the resolution would perform the important job of clearing away congestion in the economy, which agencies have been trying to do for the past five to six years but only with modest success. Now, the resolution will give more rights to credit institutions to liquidate mortgaged assets, thereby helping to avoid prolonged lawsuits related to debt collection and reducing capital costs. According to an SBV report, by the end of 2016, non-performing loans across all credit institutions accounted for 5.8 per cent of the institutions total outstanding loans. If hidden debts are also taken into consideration, the total is 10.08 per cent. VNS HCM City Viet Nam has launched its first energy efficiency network in HCM City. The network is part of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency project implemented by the General Directorate of Energy, Ministry of Trade and Industry and Germany. Markus Bissel, head of the projects energy efficiency component, said on Monday the objective of the network was to provide a platform to connect companies to improve energy efficiency by sharing and learning from each other. "This will be done by structured processes which are moderated by German energy efficiency experts, said the project official. The first ever Energy Efficiency Network globally was established in 1987 in Switzerland. The model has become popular all over the world and proven to be an effective and important initiative to stimulate energy efficiency. In 2009, 30 pilot networks in Germany saved total 12 per cent of energy over five years. In 2014-20 it is estimated 500 new energy efficiency networks will be set up in Germany. The rationale behind the Viet Nam Energy Efficiency Network is that every company has some knowledge in energy efficiency, and collectively it is easier to develop expertise and improve our efficiency overall, Bissel said. Each network comprises only 10-15 enterprises in order to maximise discussion and sharing opportunities. The networks will help companies reduce energy costs, improve productivity and competitiveness, increase transparency in energy use and data, and foster innovation across sectors. The criteria for companies to join the network are they should have high annual energy costs, be based in the same region and not directly compete with any other member. After the first network meeting, energy audits will be conducted at the first eight member companies from the textile, paper, logistics, rubber and plastic sectors. German and local consultants will visit selected companies and provide support for their audit. As one of the most dynamically growing economies in Asia, Viet Nam faces an enormous increase in energy demand that will continue to grow at double-digit rates in the coming years. Industry, transportation and residences are the three biggest electricity consumers. The Government has laid great stress on energy efficiency, which is one of core elements of both Power Development Plan 7 and Green Growth Strategy. VNS HA NOI A newly effective bill, government Decree No.59/2017 on the management of access to genetic resources and the sharing of their benefits (issued on May 12, 2017), was expected to protect the countrys rich genetic resources. In 1992, the World Conservation Monitoring Centre ranked Viet Nam the 16th most biologically diverse country in the world, while the World Bank said the entire country is included within Conservation Internationals Indo-Burma hotspot, one of the earths richest and most threatened biological regions. Nguyen ang Thu Cuc, head of the Division of Genetic Resources and Biosafety Management, under the Viet Nam Environment Bureau, said machinery and human capacity in the country remain limited, therefore genetic samples are usually sent abroad for analysis, and this is a notable source of loss of genetic resources. She cited the recent case of an American universitys 2016 finding what they claimed to be an anti-cancer agent in Cuc Phuong National Park during various trips held with Viet Nams institutions in the 1990s. This is a lucky case, as they credited the source of the agent, whereas there are several other cases, where previously lax legal provisions allowed unscrupulous foreign parties to steal genetic resources discovered in Viet Nam to claim as their own, and make profit from it, is that fair?, Cuc said, during a workshop on Decree 59 yesterday in Ha Noi. The decree, years in the making, aims to remedy this situation by providing a tighter protocol in granting access to national genetic resources to a foreign entity. The creators of the decree admitted that this is Viet Nams first legal document that addresses in detail the countrys compliance to the 2010 Nagoya Protocol on the use of genetic resources, so there might be issues translating the document to reality. These issues can be addressed in later revisions as soon as every two years, instead of the usual five-year-window from experience gained in the implementation period, said Dr Pham Anh Cuong, Director of the Biodiversity Conservation Agency. Associate Proffessor Dr Le Van Hung, from the Environment Department of the Ha Noi-based University of Natural Resources and Environment, said that the current term requiring that 30 per cent of monetary benefits gained from using genetic resources from a provider shall be paid back to the provider is too high. Hung said the international standard of 0.5 3 per cent is appropriate, as long as a solid valuation mechanism is in place, since in many cases, only much later after the genetic sample was collected, could it be utilised in a commercial product. Other participants also voiced concerns over administrative paperwork, however, lawmakers responded that follow-up guiding documents would iron out the wrinkles, including an expedited mechanism for academic institutions working with international parties. A civil society representative said attention should also be focused on the community aspect, namely folk wisdom. The representative cited the example of traditional medicine made from local herbs by ethnic groups in the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang, saying if a pharmaceutical firm wants to commercialise such products, measures should be in place to help the community "strike a fair deal with those companies." Decree 59 defines the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment as the national focal point for the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol. Together with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the two have the power to grant, extend, or revoke access licences to genetic resources. VNS Cities consume 70 per cent of Viet Nams total energy and discharge 70 per cent of the countrys total carbon dioxide emissions, a policy dialogue announced yesterday in Ha Noi. Photo vtv.vn HA NOI Cities consume 70 per cent of Viet Nams total energy and discharge 70 per cent of the countrys total carbon dioxide emissions, a policy dialogue announced yesterday in Ha Noi. The event was co-organised by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, United Nations Human Settlements Development Programme (UN Habitat) and South Koreas Science and Technology Policy Institute, aiming to determine measures to effectively reduce Vietnamese carbon dioxide emissions. Carbon dioxide emission discharged from energy consumption account for 26 per cent of total emissions; vehicles emit 13 per cent. Therefore, reducing carbon dioxide emission in cities will play a very important role in Viet Nams master plan to cut down carbon dioxide emission by 2030 under the National Determined Contribution (NDC). Using low-emission energy sources such as compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), ethanol fuel and bio-diesel, and developing public transport are believed to be the major solutions for the situation in Viet Nam, participants said. Speaking at the event, Nguyen Quang, director of UN Habitat in Viet Nam, said the country have taken initial steps toward implementing low-emission energy sources and investing in improving public transportation. In the meantime, according to the Ha Noi Peoples Committee, the country will invest US$31 billion in improving the capacity of public transport by 2030. Additionally, it also approved a project of private vehicle management in 2017-20, with a vision toward 2030. Lee Woo Sung, from the South Koreas Science and Technology Policy Institute, shared experiences with Viet Nam in reducing greenhouse gas. South Korea has invested in developing climate-technology-policy since 2014. Its 10 key climate technologies encompass solar cells, fuel cells, bio fuel and by-product gas conversion, he said. The research investment was nearly KRW 78 billion (US$ 69 million), he said. Lee also said the South Koreas Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning had planned to become a hub for global climate technology co-operation linking Korean technology holders to the needs of developing countries around the world, including Viet Nam. Pham Van Tan, deputy head of the ministrys Meteorology, Hydrology and Climate Change Department, said Viet Nam plans to develop a low-carbon economy in its updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) for the Paris climate accords. Finding suitable solutions to cut down Viet Nams urban carbon dioxide emissions is very necessary, he added. Under the NDC, Viet Nam targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 8 per cent by 2030. Viet Nam signed the Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework on Climate Change on December 2015 in Paris, and the country ratified the agreement on November 2016. Each party that ratified the Paris agreement was asked to submit an updated NDC every five years, defining their efforts to contribute to holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2C, pursuing efforts to limit the increase to 1.5C and achieving net zero emissions by the second half of this century. VNS HCM CITY Young artists of the HCM City Drama Theatre will stage a historic play about the Mau Than offensive that occurred in the spring of 1968 to celebrate the 70th anniversary of War Invalids and Martyrs Day on July 27. Nguoi Me Thu 2 (The Second Mother) features liberation soldiers and their families who lived in Sai Gon before and after the Mau Than 1968 offensive during the countrys longest war of resistance, which lasted 30 years. Using historic events, the play depicts true stories about soldiers and their sacrifices that can help younger generations make independent evaluations of the conflict. I used information from books and reports by Vietnamese historians and veterans to complete my script, said playwright Nguyen Anh Kiet, who spent many years writing the play. I wanted to tell my story in a lively way that would encourage young audiences to learn about history through art, he added. Directed by Le Dien, Nguoi Me Thu 2 features young talents Anh Tuan, Mai Phuong, Cong Danh and Le Vinh, offering a new style of performance. "The Mau Than offensive is familiar among Vietnamese people. Though were not experienced, we believe we can deliver this drama about the experience to audiences, said actor Tuan, who plays a leading role. Through the play, my colleagues and I gained lessons about love for country and the respect for those who sacrificed their life for the country," said Tuan, a graduate of HCM City University of Theatre and Cinematography. Tuan promised to provide theatre fans "a great show with my strong voice, appealing and powerful stage presence. The play will be performed before the public on July 26 at HCM City Drama Theatre, 30 Tran Hung ao Street, District 1. It will be staged every Saturday night through August. Director Dien and his staff will also offer free performances for students at universities and colleges around the city. VNS On Colombias National Day, July 20, the Colombian embassy presents a development roadmap that the conflict-ravaged South American nation will pursue as a new era of peace dawns on its horizons. A new era has begun for Colombia, one of peace and prosperity thanks to the end of long internal conflict. We can now look to the future and forge a new cycle of economic growth. Exports are expected to grow 12 per cent by 2024, reaching US$61.4 billion. In 10 years, it is expected that tourism will double, reaching 8.8 million tourists, prioritising former conflict zones: Sierra de la Macarena (Meta) Trech to Teyuna (The Lost City) Putumayo Uraba El Darien (Antioquia Choco) Peace will have a positive effect on the countrys economy. Ambitious targets: Colombia plans significant growth in all key sectors. Source ProColombia, 2017 Key factors to grow Colombias economy are: 1. A dynamic and stable economy 2. A growing market located strategically to facilitate business transactions within the region. 3. A trade platform with more than 10 free trade agreements enabling investors to reach third markets. 4. Multiple development centres and regions coupled with a growing middle class securing a greater products and services demand. 5. A growing pool of qualified Colombian companies able to partner with international investors to reach out to regional markets. 6. Diverse opportunities for investment in various sectors. Colombia is the 31st largest economy in the world and the fourth in Latin America. Good standing: Colombia is the 31th largest economy in the world and the 4th in Latin Amercia. Source IMF, 2016 According to the World Banks Doing Business report, within the Latin American and Caribbean region, Colombia is: #1 in getting credit #1 in protecting minority investors #2 in dealing with construction permits #2 in ease of doing business #3 in registering property #5 in starting a business Colombia was officially invited in May 2013 to initiate the process to become a full member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). International tourism in Colombia grew three times more than the global rate, going from 3.4 million of tourists in 2012 to 5 million in 2016. Investment opportunities Infrastructure There are some niches with opportunities. Airports: US$900 million in rehabilitation, expansion and modernisation of 47 airports (2015-18). Airports: US$900 million in rehabilitation, expansion and modernisation of 47 airports (2015-18). Fluvial National Plan, consists of 13 river projects with an investment of $2,660 million. Fluvial National Plan, consists of 13 river projects with an investment of $2,660 million. Roads: By 2021 Colombia will be invested $17 billion in 7,000km of highways, 1,400kms of double lane highways, 141 tunnels and 1,300 viaducts. Roads: By 2021 Colombia will be invested $17 billion in 7,000km of highways, 1,400kms of double lane highways, 141 tunnels and 1,300 viaducts. $ 1.8 billion to improve the navigability of the Magdalena River $ 1.8 billion to improve the navigability of the Magdalena River $53 million to recover more than 990km of railways network. Energy A diversified source base and a pivotal location in the Americas. Colombia ranked first in Latin America and eighth in the world according to the Energy Architecture Performance Index 2016 of the World Economic Forum. More than 200 Power Generation projects registered in different stages, with installed capacity up to 7,000 MW u Open public bids for power transmission projects in Colombia Open public bids for power transmission projects in Colombia u High potential in biofuels and alternative energies High potential in biofuels and alternative energies u Projects focused on renewable energy will have special VAT exemptions, deduction from taxable income and customs exemptions. Other potentialities Aquaculture, cocoa, cereals, fruits and vegetables, meat, processed food, rubber, and forestry. Politburo member and Head of the Party Central Committees Commission for Information and Education Vo Van Thuong (R) receives CPI General Secretary Mauro Alboresi in Ha Noi. VNS/VNS Photo Phuong Hoa HA NOI The communist parties of Viet Nam and Italy (CPV and CPI) on Wednesday expressed a mutual desire to strengthen their relationship towards furthering bilateral relations between the two countries. The common aspiration was expressed in talks held in Ha Noi between Vo Van Thuong, Politburo member and Head of the Party Central Committees Commission for Information and Education, and CPI General Secretary Mauro Alboresi. Thuong said the CPV was determined to build a strong and transparent Party and consistently implement the policy of extending ties with major political parties worldwide. Alboresi said Viet Nams achievements over the past three decades were a source of great inspiration for Italian communists and progressive forces fighting for a better world and ideals of communism. He said the CPI will work to reinforce friendship and co-operation between the two Parties, countries and peoples in the future. He also said that CPI backs Viet Nams stance on the settlement of disputes in the East Sea through peaceful means in line with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), contributing to maintaining peace, stability and security in the region. Earlier, the CPI leader held talks with head of the Party Central Committees Commission for External Relations Hoang Binh Quan, during which both sides discussed several regional and global issues of shared concern, including the East Sea issue. They also agreed on measures to promote ties between the two Parties for the sake of enhancing bilateral strategic partnership. During their stay, Alboresi and his entourage paid tributes to President Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum, held working sessions with leaders of the Central Ideology Council, the Party Central Committees Economic Commission, the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, the Viet Nam Academy of Social Sciences and the Viet Nam-Italy Friendship Association. They also went on a fact-finding trip to the northern province of Ha Giang.VNS HCM CITY Provinces in the Mekong Delta have run out of sand for construction at a time when many key infrastructure works are in progress. The Trung Luong My Thuan Expressway is the worst sufferer after having restarted in 2015 with a new budget of VN14 trillion (US$622 million), the Thoi bao Kinh te Viet Nam (Vietnam Economic Times) reported. Work has ground to a complete halt due to lack of sand. The project investor has asked the two Mekong provinces of An Giang and ong Thap for six million cubic metres of sand, and if it is not delivered, the projects cost will surely increase and it will not finish by 2020 as scheduled. The Lo Te - Rach Soi road with the Vam Cong Bridge is expected to create a western corridor in the delta, linking south-eastern provinces, HCM City and the delta, even Kien Giang and Ca Mau. While the bridge is 90 per cent finished, the road work is tardy because construction sand prices have risen by four or five times. The builder said even though it is willing to accept a loss because of this, there is just not enough sand available, and added the 2018 deadline would be impossible to meet. National Road No 60 and a road from Rach Mieu Bridge in Ben Tre Province to Co Chien Bridge in Vinh Long Province face a similar fate. Every day their construction unit requires more than 700cu.m of sand but only 100cu.m are provided, the Vietnam Economic Times reported. The roads need 1.5 million cu.m of sand, whose cost has now increased to VN100 billion ($4.4 million). The director of the Ben Tre Department of Construction said that all 208 public works in the province would suffer losses and be delayed because of the sand shortage. This year the prices of sand for making concrete have increased from VN350,000 ($15.5) per cubic meter to VN800,000 ($35) in the delta. In HCM City, the price is even higher and it is expected that sand prices will keep rising, especially at the end of this year. Sand prices have increased by two-three times and there is not enough sand for construction, Lam Quang Thi, deputy chairman of the An Giang Province Peoples Committee said as quoted by the Viet Nam Economic Times. Secretary of Soc Trang Provinces Party Committee Nguyen Van The said if the sand shortage and sand price hike were not resolved, State-invested projects would stagnate for years. Solutions At a recent meeting between Deputy Prime Minister Trinh inh Dung and the Southwestern Steering Committee, the sand shortage was discussed to find solutions. Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Nhat said the supply now only meets 20 per cent of the demand and urged the Government to instruct related ministries, industries and localities to open new sand mines or increase mining to meet the demand in the delta. Lam Quang Thi, deputy chairman of the An Giang Peoples Committee, said there is plenty of sand available for mining in An Giang and ong Thap. The reason for the sand shortage in the delta is the Governments crackdown on sand mining, he said. Prof Dr Le Anh Tuan of Can Tho Universitys Climate Change Institute said over-exploitation of sand had created deep holes in the Mekong River and was the reason for land subsidence in the delta. Every year the Mekong Delta loses around 500ha of land due to land subsidence and hundreds of families lose their homes and fields. He also noted that in the near future when all 11 dams on the upper Mekong are completed, there would be no more alluvium coming to the delta. If we continue increasing mining in old places and open more new mines, one third of the Mekong Delta will disappear before 2050. We can buy sand from Cambodia [instead]. There are various alternatives to sand for construction like solid waste like clinker and mud from thermal electric plants and shipyards. It will be great if we can use solid waste from thermal power plants and shipyards to replace sand in construction, Tuan said. The HCM City construction department is investigating the sharp increase in sand prices this year. It said enterprises should use plaster clinker to replace sand for construction. VNS "It's just been amazing that the song came out...and we're already talking about being the Song of the Summer," Luis tells ABC Radio. "If that happens, the song will really be playing in high rotation for seven to eight months non-stop! And nowadays, with so much music and so much going on, and so many amazing artists releasing albums, it's an honor to sort of have that slot." The Song of the Summer chart keeps track of which songs do the best between Memorial Day and Labor Day, and the one that does is named the official 2017 Song of the Summer. Luis says the success of "Despacito" is already so amazing that at this point, anything else is just a bonus. "I don't know what's gonna happen," he tells ABC Radio. "I know that the song has been #1 for a buncha weeks and it's still going strong, and I'm already so blessed and so happy with what's happened, from now on it's just icing on the cake." Luis will launch a North American headlining tour in September. He says that, like, "Despacito," his next single also will be a collaboration with a well-known artist. Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. A dengue fever cases at the National Tropical Diseases Hospital. Dengue fever cases have dramatically increased in the last two weeks in northern Viet Nam. VNA/VNS Photo Duong Ngoc HA NOI Dengue fever cases have dramatically increased in the last two weeks in northern Viet Nam. Notably, many victims suffered dangerous complications such as brain and organ haemorrhages, which can be fatal. The National Hospital for Tropical Diseases has been overcrowded with dengue fever patients, with some patients forced to share beds, according to online newspaper Vietnamplus.vn. Nguyen Van Thang, 26, living in Kham Thien Street of Ha Noi was hospitalised after six days of self-treatment at home. In the first day of the fever, I bought medicine myself at the pharmacy but the fever did not subside, Thang told the newspaper. Then I went to a hospital near my house for treatment for three days but the fever got worse. I decided to go to the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases where I was diagnosed with dengue fever, he said. Dr Nguyen Trung Cap said Thang was lucky because he arrived in hospital in the early stages of infection. Two female patients are in severe condition in the hospital, with one inefected with dengue fever and myocarditis, while the also has the rare blood disorder thrombocytopenic purpura, the doctor said. Four day ago, a man died of a brain haemorrhage brought on by dengue fever. The director of the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Dr Nguyen Van Kinh, said that the dengue fever outbreak has been developing rapidly in Ha Noi and northern provinces. The number of patients has increased rapidly due to weather changes and rains which have been ideal for the development of mosquitoes. For the first half this year, more than 50,000 cases of dengue fever were recorded nationwide, of which 15 resulted in deaths, Kinh said. This year, the number of dengue-infected patients with haemorrhages was higher than in previous years, the doctors warned. Among 15 deaths, there were four or five with brain haemorrhages. This situation was abnormal. Because previous years, dengue-infected patients with brain haemorrhages amounted to only one or two cases cases, the doctor said. The number of dengue-infected patients was four times higher than the same period last year. According to the hospitals statistics, the hospital has received an average of 200 dengue patients daily for the last two weeks. We were worried that by September the patient numbers would be much higher. Health workers will be exhausted and hospital facilities overloaded, the director said. Amidst the dengue outbreak in Ha Noi and northern provinces, doctors advised people with high fever to go to hospitals for tests. Dengue fever is a viral infection transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito. There is no specific vaccine for dengue. VNS HA NOI The family of martyr Luong Khanh in Nha Trang City couldnt hold back the tears when they received a letter from a stranger informing them of the location of Khanhs grave. The martyr had been dead for years but the family couldnt afford to search for his body. The informant was veteran ao Thien Sinh in Vinh Khanh District of the south central coastal province of Khanh Hoa. Since 1976 Sinh has sent about 40,000 letters to martyrs families and relatives, supplying them with information he learned from trips to cemeteries nationwide. Since we heard about my elder brothers death, every day my mother longed for a letter which might inform us of the place he was buried, Sinh recalled. Understanding the mothers pain and martyrs families thirst for news, Sinh decided to start travelling to cemeteries. At 20, Sinh fought in the Quang Tri battle field until Liberation Day on April 30, 1975. Four years later, he re-enlisted to fight in Cambodia. Returning from both battlefields, he began a normal job. Using his free time, first he travelled to cemeteries close to Khanh Hoa Province to search for his brothers grave where he also found many unmarked graves. Then he started collecting information engraved on the graves and began writing letters to martyrs families. My father-in-law is lying down here. Its such a feeling of warmth knowing my father-in-law can finally rest in peace, said Tran Huyen Tran, the daughter-in-law of martyr Luong Khanh, as she visited Khanhs grave. He died when my husband was only three. Years later, my mother-in-law lost hope in finding his grave due to the familys economic hardships," said Tran, a resident of Nha Trang City. I and my husband burst into tears upon receiving Sinhs letter informing us that our father was buried in a cemetery in Tay Ninh Province and then Sinh and my father-in-laws comrades helped bring him home, Tram added, saying that the father enlisted in 1976 and died two years later in Cambodia. It was sad that my mother-in-law was not alive to witness this miracle. Over the past decades, Sinh has gone far and wide to more than 200 martyrs cemeteries including those for unknown soldiers from the central province of Quang Tri to provinces in the southeastern region. Visiting any cemetery, Sinh noted down every name, age, birthplace and any information available on martyrs, searched for more information and decoded them before writing letters to the martyrs families. The trips took place day or night; sometimes he even slept in cemeteries. I do this out of love for my fallen comrades. I always feel something pushing in my mind and my heart, the veteran said. Sinh has also helped carry the martyrs remains home. It is an indescribable joy to bring them home, seeing them rest in peace. Im determined to do this job as long as my health allows, said Sinh. Sinhs mission hasnt gone unnoticed. He has received support from local post offices with more than 10,000 commune-based post offices delivering the letters to martyrs families for free. Many other veterans have also helped him with funds to buy envelopes and papers. My whole family is grateful for Sinh as he let us know the location of my elder brothers grave, martyr Bui Van Phuoc who died in Cambodia aged 22, said Bui Van uoc, at his brothers grave in Khanh Hoa Provinces Ninh Hoa Township. Deputy head of Khanh Hoa Provinces War Veterans Association, Ngo Mau Chien, said Sinh is a person dedicated to work related to veterans, especially writing letters about martyrs graves. Due to his efforts, Sinh has been granted numerous certificates of merit by the Viet Nam War Veterans Association and Khanh Hoa Provinces War Veterans Association. Living relatives of the martyrs call Sinh a perfect connector. And Sinh will continue his journey as he is uncomfortable with so many Vietnamese martyrs resting place still unknown to their families. VNS HUNG YEN Northern Hung Yen Provinces Department of Health has proposed to impose a VN110 million (US$4,400) fine on a local private health clinic. The clinic is responsible for tens of boys developing genital warts after undergoing circumcision last week. The health clinic was found to be providing examination and treatment services without a licence, selling drugs at its clinic and practicing examination and treatment beyond the permitted professional scope. Hoang Thi Hien, owner of the health clinic, will have her professional certificate revoked for between six and 12 months. The proposal was made following a meeting between the department and the National Hospital of Dermatology yesterday. As many as 37 boys from Hung Yen Provinces Khoai Chau District were reportedly hospitalised after developing genital warts between May 1 and July 15. All the boys had previously undergone circumcision at a private clinic in Da Trach Commune. Hoang Thi Hien, owner of the clinic, had been working as a nurse at Me So Communes Health Clinic in Van Giang District and practicing at her unlicensed home clinic. Nguyen uc Loc, deputy head of the department, said the department would work with the hospital to clarify why the boys developed genital warts. Le Huu Doanh, deputy head of the hospital, said the hospital would provide free treatment to these boys and would soon transfer technical treatment related to this disease to local health clinics. Genital warts are caused by some strains of HPV, which can cause vulva, penile and anal cancer. The disease is often but not always transmitted sexually. VNS SYDNEY Hundreds of refugees being held at a remote Papua New Guinea detention camp will be moved by October despite uncertainty over a resettlement deal with the United States, Australias immigration minister said today. Canberra sends asylum-seekers who try to enter the country by boat to camps on Nauru and PNGs Manus Island, with those found to be refugees barred from resettling in Australia. They are instead relocated to third countries, or resettled elsewhere in PNG. But the sudden withdrawal from PNG last week of American officials assessing the refugees sparked fears a deal with Washington to take them would not go ahead, particularly after reports earlier this year that US President Donald Trump had described it as "dumb". The withdrawal of the Department of Homeland Security officials came days after the US passed its annual 50,000-refugee intake cap. "Our desire was obviously to have them off tomorrow, I want Manus Island to close, were still going to maintain Nauru," Immigration Minister Peter Dutton told Sky News Australia. "We have been caught up in the US process, they have a quota each year. It was 110,000 people they were taking in the refugee program under President Obama, but President Trump has reduced that to 50,000. "Their year finishes in September, so we have been pushed into October in terms of when people will move." The October deadline was established after a PNG Supreme Court ruling last year declared that holding people in the Manus camp was unconstitutional. The camps conditions have been widely criticised by refugee advocates and medical professionals, who say some asylum-seekers suffer from mental health problems due to their prolonged detention. Australians took part in numerous vigils on Wednesday in support of those in detention and to mark four years since the offshore processing regime was set up by the previous Labor government. More than 800 men are being held on Manus, and 370 men, women and children are detained on Nauru, according to Australian immigration data ending May 31. The PNG and Nauru offshore detention programme has cost Australia almost A$5 billion (US$4 billion) since 2012 according to figures released in parliamentary figures, The Sydney Morning Herald reported on Tuesday. AFP WASHINGTON The United States and China have agreed to co-operate on reducing the trade deficit in the first round of economic talks under the Trump administration, Washington said at the conclusion of the meeting on Wednesday which produced no major breakthroughs. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had opened the talks between the worlds top two economies with tough demands for a more "fair, equitable and reciprocal" relationship, with more access for American-made goods and services. The US side blamed the unbalanced relationship - marked by a trade deficit with China of US$309 billion last year -- on Beijings policies that impede access to their market. China says Washingtons own rules restricting US high-tech exports are partially to blame. But Ross and Mnuchin took a more measured tone in a statement following the conclusion of the talks with the Chinese delegation, led by Vice Premier Wang Yang. "China acknowledged our shared objective to reduce the trade deficit which both sides will work cooperatively to achieve," the two officials said in a joint statement. "The principles of balance, fairness, and reciprocity on matters of trade will continue to guide the American position so we can give American workers and businesses an opportunity to compete on a level playing field." In his remarks at the one-day meetings opening ceremony, Ross had insisted change was necessary given the more than 200 percent surge in Chinese exports to the United States in the last 15 years. "If this were just the natural product of free market forces, we could understand it, but its not," Ross said. "So it is time to rebalance our trade and investment relationship in a more fair, equitable and reciprocal manner." The tough talk seemed like a return to Trumps message during his campaign, when he attacked Beijing for unfair trade practices. However, a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at his Florida resort in April had prompted a change of rhetoric and the launch of a 100-day economic co-operation plan. That led to specific but narrow achievements, including opening the Chinese market to US beef exports, and pledges to remove barriers to US credit card transactions, credit ratings, and other financial services, including bond underwriting. Fundamental asymmetry The discussion mechanism is a continuation of regular talks undertaken by the previous two administrations, which the Trump administration has rebranded as the US-China Comprehensive Economic Dialogue (CED). Ross said China accounts for half of the US goods trade deficit and Mnuchin said Beijing must address "the imbalances caused by the Chinese intervention in its economy." Mnuchin said the talks with Wang would focus on concrete steps to provide greater access and a "level playing field" for US companies in the worlds second largest market. Improving US-China trade in turn "will create prosperity for our two countries and the world," he said. But China experts were sceptical the talks would make headway in the near term, and cautioned the US goals may be over-ambitious. AFP Glioblastoma, the aggressive cancer discovered in Arizona Sen. John McCain, has long frustrated surgeons, because cancerous cells invade the surrounding brain before diagnosis is possible, making surgical removal of these tumors inefficient, according to Virginia Tech experts studying the disease. These tumors often cause seizures and kill surrounding brain through the release of toxic glutamate, said Professor Harald Sontheimer, who has researched Glioblastoma over 25 years. Sontheimers team developed an experimental drug that showed promising results in a phase clinical trial in over 60 patients. Sontheimer is the I.D. Wilson Chair and professor of neuroscience, executive director of the School of Neuroscience of the Virginia Tech College of Science, and director of the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute Center for Glial Biology in Health, Disease, and Cancer. Sontheimer and several other Virginia Tech scientists are available to discuss the latest research efforts to eradicate the worlds deadliest form of brain cancer. About half of glioblastoma patients die within the 12 to 18 months of diagnosis, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. -- Rob Gourdie, the director of the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institutes Center for Heart and Regenerative Medicine Research, and Samy Lamouille, a research assistant professor at the institute. Gourdie and Lamouille founded a biotech company, Acomhal Research Inc., to develop treatments for cancer patients. Acomhal Research studies a compound that has potential to target cancer stem cells, which are the seeds from which a number of different tumors are thought to grow, Gourdie said. We imagine a drug that might be used for treating glioblastoma, which is a deadly type of brain tumor. In addition, Gourdie said colon and other types of cancer besides brain tumors may be effectively targeted through their cancer stem cell techniques. -- Zhi Sheng, assistant professor at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute In a study in the journal Oncotarget, the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute scientists compared glioblastoma stem cells isolated from cells obtained from freshly dissected tumor tissues. Our discovery shows different patients have different types of cancer stem cells, and those cancer stem cells respond to therapies differently, said Zhi Sheng, senior author of the paper and an assistant professor at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute. If we are going to eradicate these cells and slow down an incurable form of brain cancer, it will be important to use a personalized and precision approach. "It would be great for these patients if we could move the clock just a little bit and give them more time, Sheng said. In a dish, we already know we can kill these aggressive cancer cells and I think it is possible to help patients combat this deadly disease with these methods. Schedule an interview To secure a print or broadcast interview with Harald Sontheimer or Zhi Sheng, contact Bill Foy in the Virginia Tech Media Relations office: fwill55@vt.edu; by phone at 540-231-8719 or 540-998-0288. Our studio Virginia Techs television and radio studios can broadcast live HD audio and video to networks, news agencies, and affiliates interviewing Virginia Tech faculty, students, and staff. The university does not charge for use of its studios. Video is transmitted by LTN Global Communications and fees may apply. WATERLOO -- Richard Charles "Rick" Steveson, 74, of Unionville, Mo., formerly of Waterloo, died at home Monday, July 17, of pancreatic cancer. He was born July 17, 1943, in Marshalltown, son of Donald and Eva Samson Steveson. He married Kathie Mestad in Marshalltown on Feb. 14, 1970. Rick graduated from Sac City Community High School in 1961 and then briefly attended Ellsworth Junior College before entering the U.S. Air Force where he served from 1964-1968, stationed mostly in Panama. He then graduated from Hawkeye Community College in Waterloo with a technical degree in police science. He served as a police officer for the city of Waterloo, holding the positions of patrol, school liaison, detective sergeant and patrol sergeant, from 1970-1999. During this time he also worked many part-time jobs, including security at Sears from 1976-2004. Rick and Kathie lived in Waterloo until 2008 when they built their retirement home on Lake Thunderhead in Unionville. He was a member of Evansdale AMVETS, Unionville Post 34 American Legion, Iowa Chiefs of Police, Iowa State Police Association and Waterloo Police Protective Association. Survived by: his wife; a daughter, Tamica (Kieran) Comito of West Des Moines; a son, Scott (Stacie) of Johnston; his grandchildren, Caiden and Trey Comito and Braxton and Brylie Steveson; two brothers, Ron (Sonnee) of Phoenix and Steve (Steph) of Indianola; a sister, Sandee Hanson of Mesa Ariz.; a brother-in-law, Bruce (Marla) Mestad of Dallas; and five nieces, three nephews, seven great-nephews and three great-nieces. Preceded in death by: his parents; a sister; a brother-in-law; and a niece. Services: 10:30 a.m. Friday, July 21, at Playle and Collins Family Funeral Home, Unionville, with burial in Iowa Veterans Cemetery columbarium in Adel at a later date. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. today, July 20, at the funeral home. Memorials: may be directed to the PC Cafe Resource Center or to the charity of ones choice and may be entrusted with Playle and Collins Family Funeral Home, 709 S. 27th St., Unionville, MO 63565. Rick was a caring, generous, fun loving, happy person who enjoyed his friends, family and extended family and the many acquaintances that were involved in his life. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him. A Comfort Suites near an outlet mall 45 minutes outside Washington is not where youd expect to find Christopher Nolan, the British director whose movies have grossed billions of dollars. And yet here he sits neatly attired in his signature outfit dark blazer, light-blue collared shirt, tan pants, black boots with a hotel cup of Lipton tea at the ready, bright-eyed and prepped to talk about his new movie, Dunkirk. Dunkirk is just as loud and thrilling as his previous hits, Dark Knight, Inception and Interstellar, although its also a stark departure. Not only is it Nolans first historical movie inspired by the famous evacuation of Allied troops from the beaches of northern France in 1940 but it is also his first pure suspense film. I think of any of the films Ive made really since Memento, he says, referring to his 2000 nonlinear mindbender, its my boldest attempt to try to create a very unfamiliar rhythm for the audience. Well, whatever hes doing works. From the first scene, which starts with many literal bangs, to the last image, the film is a taut nail-biter. The tension is bolstered by Hans Zimmers score, which integrates the sound of a ticking pocket watch as a relentless reminder of precious seconds disappearing. Dunkirk was technically a lost battle the British and other Allied soldiers were marooned in France, surrounded by Germans on all sides except the one where the English Channel was lapping at the shore. Meanwhile, destroyers couldnt get close enough to the beach to rescue the men, and German Stuka dive bombers were buzzing overhead, dropping bombs. England was hoping to rescue about 35,000. Instead, more than 300,000 men survived, in part because of hobby cruisers and fishermen with small boats who crossed the Channel to ferry soldiers from the shore to the ships. Nolan knows firsthand how harrowing the trip across the Channel can be. He re-created the journey in the 1990s, along with his wife, producer Emma Thomas, and a friend with a boat. During the day, the weather turned and the Channel became rough; an eight- or nine-hour voyage ended up taking 19. It was the coldest Nolan has ever been, he recalls. It was an extremely intense experience and that was with nobody dropping bombs on us, he says. Nolan tells the story from three distinct perspectives, based on fictionalized characters. The tale of the men on the beach unfolds over the course of a week through the eyes of a young soldier played by Fionn Whitehead. The stories interweave, hopping back and forth in time. Dialogue and backstory are minimal. The movie clocks in at an efficient 106 minutes, which is substantially shorter than nearly all of Nolans features. You save a lot of money on paper, he jokes about his 76-page script, which is roughly half the length of his typical screenplays. Dunkirk relies on visual imagery, not conversation, to propel the story, which can be a gamble. The movie is also short because audiences can only withstand so much stress. Keeping the story taut is almost a formula, according to Nolan. He calls it geometric, because it can be plotted and planned out with carefully drawn diagrams. The language of suspense is pedantic, Nolan says. At times you have to be a little boring. WATERLOO A little more than 35 years ago Sister Nancy Hemesath had a simple question: When were her fellow Catholics going to put the words of the Gospel into action? The answer also was surprisingly simple. Theres no time like the present. Shortly after that meeting of about 60 people, the Catholic Worker House had two facilities and was ready to offer food and shelter to those in need. Of course, we didnt have any money, but God provided, and all of a sudden, we had two houses, volunteers and support, and kind of gone from there, said Rose Quirk, one of those who helped found the St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Worker Houses in Waterloo. Now, 35 years later, there are three houses of hospitality, and the community still supports the facilities. The Rev. George Karnik led Mass on Wednesday night at Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Waterloo. He reminded more than three dozen supporters of the words Jesus spoke as they celebrated another year of the hospitality houses. When you have a reception, invite beggars, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you should be pleased that they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid in the resurrection of the just, Karnik said, reading from chapter 14 of the Gospel of Luke. Karnik repeated those words and added, Who of us has done that lately? Or ever? He sought not to judge. Instead, he illustrated the difficulty of maintaining a place to offer food and shelter on a regular basis, especially as poverty has increased. Karnik and Scott Malven, a staff member at the house, thanked those present and those in the community who have helped Catholic Worker House to keep its doors open, expand and serve meals three times a week. How did this happen? Because of people like you, Karnik said. Though there are no plans to expand beyond the current three houses, Karnik and Malven made clear the need is perhaps greater now than 35 years ago. Malven said this is a busy time of year and the houses are full almost all of the time two houses serve men who need a place to stay and one serves women and it serves about 75 people at its meals. The poor are just growing. Theres more and more poverty. Theres more and more people in desperate need, homeless, and so theres a greater need for it than ever, Karnik said. Quirk added, We would be thrilled if we didnt have to have it, if we didnt need a Catholic Worker House, but we do. She said people can support the facility by volunteering, donating food and household items or simply offering prayers. Those who want to donate are encouraged to call 232-2116 between 7:30 and 9 a.m. or after 4 p.m. Thank God for the community, because theres been great support through the years, Quirk said. WATERLOO A city wastewater collection superintendents job is on the line after he pleaded guilty to allegations in Utah he used a public account for work on a septic tank project at a home he was building. Michael Ryan Broadhead, 38, who had been a wastewater collection manager in Salt Lake City before being hired in Waterloo, was also accused of making more than $5,000 in non-work-related purchases on a Salt Lake City credit card. Broadhead left his Salt Lake City job before he was named as Waterloos collection system superintendent in March with a May 1 start date. The charges were filed in Salt Lake County District Court a few days after he started his new job, and he entered a guilty plea July 14 to misuse of public money, a felony, according to court officials. Broadhead was sentenced to two years of probation. He has paid $11,000 in restitution. Waterloo City Attorney Dave Zellhoefer said Broadhead hadnt been charged at the time the city of Waterloo hired him, and none of the references contacted during the hiring process mentioned the situation. Broadhead cooperated with Waterloo city officials when they learned about the charges, but no final decision has been made regarding his future employment status, Zellhoefer said Wednesday. Hes superb at what he does, Zellhoefer said. He made a mistake, and hes paying for it. Broadhead didnt return a phone call for comment Thursday. Court records allege the misuse of the city card spanned from 2014 to 2016, according to officials. According to media accounts, in November 2016 Broadhead used a city account to rent an excavator and bought a septic tank to be placed at a home he was building in Eagle Mountain, a community south of Salt Lake City. After he rented the equipment, a concerned citizen photographed one of Broadheads employees, who was also charged, using the equipment at the address, officials said. The day after the work, Broadhead had the costs of the excavator and tank moved to his personal account, officials said. Farmers market features zucchini WATERLOO Zucchini will be the featured vegetable at the Kimball Ridge Family Market Saturday at the corner of Kimball and Ridgeway avenues. The market runs 8 a.m. to noon. There will samples of zucchini products and recipes available. Select vendors will accept EBT cards, credit and debit cards, as well as the SNAP coupons. Bible conference starts July 29 CEDAR FALLS The 96th annual Cedar Falls Bible Conference is set for July 29 through Aug. 6 on the Riverview Conference Center grounds at 439 N. Division St. The conference will begin at 7 p.m. July 29 with a concert by the Kings Brass, followed by a week of Bible study and preaching. Then on Aug. 5, the Rick Webb Family will present a concert of gospel music. Dr. Darrell Bock of Dallas Theological Seminary will be the opening speaker beginning July 30. He will be joined throughout the week by Peter Jones of Truth Xchange of Escondido, Calif., the Rev. Steve DeWitt of Crown Point, Ind., the Rev. Phil Waldrep of Phil Waldrep Ministries in Decatur, Ala., the Rev. Bryan Loritts of Mountain View, Calif., and Professor David Glock of Emmaus Bible College in Dubuque. There will be morning and evening general sessions each day. There also will be sessions for children and teens, as well as nursery and preschool. There is no charge; offerings will be taken at each session. The conference is open to all. For more information, go to www.cedarfallsbibleconference.org or call 830-0033. GRUNDY CENTER Traffic was periodically slowed Wednesday as nearly 60 tractors participating in the annual Every Day Tractor Ride traveled between various communities to raise awareness for agriculture. The ride began in the Grundy Center Fairgrounds before heading to Dike, Hawkeye Community College, Reinbeck and back to Grundy Center, totaling about 36 miles. While the ride presents an opportunity for farmers to show off some of their oldest work horses, the events main purpose is to raise money for the Mark Pearson Memorial Scholarship Fund. Pearson, who died in 2012, was the co-host for WHO-AM radios Big Show and host of Iowa Public Televisions Market to Market. The scholarships funds stem from a small fee paid by the farmers for a T-shirt and participation along with donations made by Grundy County banks and co-ops and four major seed companies. They believe in the causes of the program educating ag students and keeping them in Iowa and the community, said Darwin Cannegieter, the rides organizer. We thought if we did a tractor ride from community to community, we could bring attention to the ag world and it turned into a scholarship opportunity. Over the years, the ride has given out $12,000 dollars in scholarships, and this years raised enough money to award $1,000 scholarships to four students who are entering local universities for agriculture-related studies. Its all about the students and the kids of the future generation and feeding the world, Cannegieter, who has farmed all his life, added. We have a passion for what we do. This long-lived passion also led Cannegieter to begin taking Hawkeye Community College students, including some of the scholarship winners, to Haiti for the last few years. There, they learn to grow their own produce and donate all of their earnings towards scholarships for Haitian agriculture students. Giving back to the community is a necessity for Cannegieter and the Every Day Tractor Ride. This years ride featured various makes and models of tractors and even a few special participants, including Bill Northey, Iowa secretary of agriculture, and Craig Hill, president of Iowa Farm Bureau. However, the event also is highly regarded as one of the safest tractor rides. Iowa State Patrol troopers, Black Hawk and Grundy county sheriffs deputies and Grundy Center police escorted the ride and patrolled the intersections. Taking the necessary safety measures is one of few rules for participating in the ride. The only other rule asks that farmers bring their oldest tractors that can travel at least 10 to 12 miles per hour. While Neil Rowes oldest tractor dates back to 1950, it sadly cannot travel at the required speed. Instead, he opted to haul his John Deere 4020 Standard, which he purchased in North Dakota six years ago, to the fairgrounds. I just like these tractor rides and Ive been with this one for two or three years, Rowe said. Theyre relaxing and provide a good break. Newell Drury has been with the ride since the beginning and chose his Massey-Ferguson 135 for this years lineup. When I was a boy, my dad had one just like it and I always wanted one of my own, Drury said. Its just a good time. Donald Trump Jr. visited with a Russian attorney and others to just maybe get some dirt on Hillary Clinton during the campaign season, and thats treason, its said. Its collusion. Its the final curtain for his daddy. Nope, none of the above, but listen: It was powerfully bad judgment. He was meeting with people who wish us drastic ill and seldom do favors for nothing. Although he got no dirt and saw through the pretense, he could have put his father in future blackmail dilemmas if he had. We dont want Russians messing with our elections, theres more than a whiff of patriotic diminishment when you connive with them and the political naivete is writ large. For all that, it wasnt legal collusion and certainly not treason. Legal collusion requires you get something of monetary value from a foreign power helping you politically, as any common-sense reading of the law will inform you. And forget the lawyers who would confuse you with legalistic blather. For instance, some have said information has monetary value, too, because it took resources to come up with. Not only is this contrary to free speech protections, as has been pointed out, but it makes you fear for our system because its a way of redefining a law to mean anything that benefits your cause of the moment. I might add if the Russians had actually had the goods on Clinton, it would have been conceivable they picked it up just hanging around a bar one night. I once knew a political reporter who came up with incredible stories that way. As for treason, the definition is the high crime of assassination, a coup or taking up arms with an enemy in order to betray what resides from sea to shining sea. This wasnt close, and you wonder if the people bringing it up would call it murder if they saw someone punched in the nose. Whats more, please explain to me how much worse the Trump Jr. episode was than news outlets blasting WikiLeaks stories all over the country and playing happy games with U.S. officials feloniously releasing classified information that just could threaten national security. From early on, the WikiLeaks stories were said to come from Russia and, if one was juicy enough, even news outlets with liberal biases would give it the kind of exposure without which it would have meant nothing. I am not against this as long as the information had been verified because the public can thus be served. I am a lot more hesitant on classified information because, even though it may have been classified for political reasons, it may also have been classified to save lives and avoid disruption of legitimate national goals. The thunderstorm of governmental leaks about Trump points to something dramatically amiss. We do not want our own government doing its illegal best to oust a president anymore than we want Russians hacking computers. There have, of course, been all kinds of Democratic scandals worse than this one, such as the Clintons making lots of dough helping the Russians become the worlds foremost uranium power. Or Bill Clinton having a secret meeting with Attorney General Loretta Lynch while his wife was being investigated. Or Hillary Clintons team destroying subpoenaed emails. Its still the case two wrongs dont make a right, and Trump Jr. initially misled the public about what went on with the Russians. As a Wall Street Journal editorial wisely says, President Donald Trump and friends would be better off being wide open about everything than letting others disclose the facts for them. In that direction lies disaster in which the left takes troubling power even if the Trump Jr. incident by itself should produce no such outcome. Editor's Note: This has been corrected to change the headline on the Dennis Harbaughh letter. Big bang theory TIMOTHY SPRENGELER WATERLOO I have been reading with interest The Courier articles and letters concerning the legalization of consumer fireworks in Iowa this year. I have no problem with a few fireworks going off here and a few there; in fact, I shot off a few myself. When they go almost nonstop for two or three hours for several nights, however, I think enough already. As the novelty of legal fireworks wears off, hopefully people will use them in moderation. I thought the five-day period allowed in Waterloo this year was reasonable. Fireworks use, like driving, is a privilege and not a right. I would hate to see our community lose that privilege because of a minority of citizens who choose to abuse it. I applaud the Waterloo Police Department for its decision to attempt to crack down on repeat offenders who are creating a public nuisance. While I support the legalization of fireworks, I feel it is imperative those choosing to use them do so responsibly and follow their jurisdictions rules. If people cooperate, Independence Day will be happier for everyone. Candid cameras JIM CHAPMAN WATERLOO Last night I expressed my opinion that I was not in favor of the red light cameras because of the inconsistencies of the changing of the street lights. I am more in favor of the high-crime area cameras. Just because Cedar Rapids does it doesnt mean we have to do the same. I believe this is just a way to make money and will not help our crime rate in Waterloo. The police department knows where our bad areas are and could put cameras there that would be more beneficial for all citizens. I dont believe the red light cameras will lower our taxes and pay for two more policemen. Medicare for all DENNIS HARBAUGH WATERLOO I was baffled by your recent editorial headline Single-payer plan no panacea (July 10). After repeating that line in the editorial, you proceed to cite three examples of single-payer plans in individual states that were never even implemented. Medicare for all is gaining support around the country because many of us realize such a plan makes sense. Medicare already covers 44 million Americans, and it does so effectively and with low administrative costs. Many of my family members and friends are reaching age 65, and when they shift to Medicare they love it. Why not simply extend Medicare to all Americans at birth? Obviously, such a plan costs money. One idea, which would bring in hundreds of billions of dollars, would apply a small speculation fee on each stock, bond and derivative transaction on Wall Street. Again, simple and effective. Health care for all doesnt have to be rocket science. Your editorial cited a nonpartisan study that ranked U.S. health care dead last out of 11 industrialized countries, and Britains single-payer system ranked No. 1. Perhaps a more fitting headline for your editorial would have been Medicare for all: Give it a try. WEST UNION A West Union man died following a crash with a police SUV on Monday afternoon. According to the Iowa State Patrol, Willys Henry Fritz, 83, pulled away from a stop sign at a grocery store parking lot and collided with a West Union police vehicle that was in emergency status. Fritz was later pronounced dead. The police officer, 23-year-old Bryson Hennigar, was treated and released, according to the state patrol. The accident happened about 3 p.m. on Highway 150 near Highway 18 in West Union. According to a preliminary accident report, the 2013 Chevrolet Tahoe police vehicle was traveling north on Highway 150, and Fritz, driving a 2003 GMC Sonoma, was leaving the Quillins Foods parking lot when the crash occurred. Teen arrested in Waterloo stabbing WATERLOO A Waterloo teen has been arrested for allegedly stabbing another teen during a fight earlier this month. Kamron Maliq Nelson, 17, of 705 Logan Ave., was arrested Monday for willful injury causing serious injury in the July 7 stabbing that sent 16-year-old Tyrese Nickelson to the hospital. Nelson was charged as an adult, and he was released shortly after his arrest. According to court records, Nelson and Nickelson were at a home at 1525 E. Fourth St. around 1:10 p.m. when they became involved in a fight. Nelson allegedly stabbed Nickelson a number of times, and police said Nickelson had wounds to his back and armpit area. Nelson ran from the scene, and Nickelson was flown to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City for treatment. 1 dead, 1 injured in Chelsea crash CHELSEA An Indianola man was killed and a Montour man was injured in a single-vehicle crash in Tama County on Monday. State troopers identified the deceased as 47-year-old Grant L. Forrester, a passenger. Driver Rodney L. Purk, 46, was flown by helicopter to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City for treatment, according to the Iowa State Patrol. His condition wasnt immediately available. The crash happened at about 8:35 p.m. Monday in the 2800 block of 320th Street north of Chelsea. Purk was driving a 2011 Dodge Ram pickup and allegedly failed to negotiate a left curve, according to a preliminary accident report. The pickup ran off the road, struck a utility pole and overturned, trapping both men inside. First responders were able to free Purk shortly after arriving, but Forrester had to be extricated from the vehicle, according to the State Patrol. Teens detained in Toledo gun burglary TOLEDO Three people have been charged in connection with a July 12 burglary where several firearms were stolen. Two male teens were taken into custody for burglary, and 18-year-old Gabriel Louis Garcia of Tama was arrested for fourth-degree possession of stolen property. Garcia allegedly tried to exchange stolen coins at a bank in Tama on July 12, according to court records. Toledo police were called to a break-in at a home in the 1200 block of South Church Street on July 12 and discovered numerous guns, ammo and cash were taken. The investigation led to search warrants for six properties and one vehicle in Toledo, Tama and Marshalltown in the following days, according Toledo police. Police seized 10 firearms, which included some of the stolen weapons, ammo and drug paraphernalia. Email To : Multiple e-mail addresses must be separated with a comma character(maximum 200 characters) Email To is required. Your Full Name: (optional) Your Email Address: Your Email Address is required. Advertisement By West Kentucky Star Staff Jul. 19, 2017 | PADUCAH, KY By West Kentucky Star Staff Jul. 19, 2017 | 04:51 PM | PADUCAH, KY Two employees at a local restaurant are charged with stealing a gun and money from the business. The McCracken County Sheriff's Office says the owner of Bobs Drive-In on Bridge Street reported a theft Wednesday of a handgun and cash from his business. Detectives said two employees at the business, 18-year-old Jonathan T. Johnson and 21-year-old Mark A. Lee, admitted to the theft. Johnson reportedly showed detectives where the stolen items were, and admitted he used some of the money to buy illegal drugs. Detectives searched an apartment on Fisher Boulevard Wednesday and found the stolen gun in a mattress. They also found marijuana and drug paraphernalia on Lee at the time of his arrest. Both suspects were booked into the McCracken County Regional Jail. Lee is charged with theft over $500, theft of a firearm, possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Johnson is charged with theft over $500 and theft of a firearm. Jul 20, 2017 | By Tess Italian eyewear giant Safilo Group has taken a leap into the future of eyewear-making with its new OXYDO SS 2017 sunglasses collection. Manufactured in partnership with Belgian 3D printing company Materialise, the collection features a number of avant-garde (and eye-grabbing!) 3D printed frames. The new OXYDO collection, which consists of four different frame styles, was designed in collaboration with Francis Bitonti, a New York-based artist known for incorporating digital and computer-controlled technologies into his work. Notably, the artist has worked significantly with 3D printing technologies, creating the unforgettable 3D printed Bristle Dress in 2014. By bringing Bitonti on for the project, Safilo hoped to infuse its innovative sunglasses line with his cutting-edge creativity, and to show how 3D printing could shape the future of the eyewear industry. We wanted to walk a line between minimalism and opulence and we focused on leveraging the capabilities of 3D printing to produce very fine ornamentation while keeping a very minimal silhouette, said the designer. We were also interested in how the next generation of ornamentation might look. As we are able to produce finer and finer structures, we started to question on a deeper level, how one might ornament these microstructures and not simply be a rational expression of efficiency. As weve seen, additive manufacturing technologies are being used more and more by the eyewear industry, as the technology opens up possibilities for new and more complex designs, more customization, and even better comfort. The comfort factor is largely due to the ability to create frames with less overall material, making them lighter on the wearers face. From an aesthetic perspective, the OXYDO SS 2017 collection rethinks classic eyewear styles, such as cat-eye and rounded frames, and adds a unique style, from the red winged-tips of one pair to the green lattice frame of another. According to Materialise, the styles could only have been made using 3D printing. The glasses were manufactured at Materialises Certified Additive Manufacturing facility, which has worked extensively in the eyewear field. The frames were each 3D printed from Polyamide 12 and were carefully post-processed using Materialises Luxura treatment, which offers a premium consumer-grade finish for printed products. Alireza Parandian, the head of wearables at Materialise, commented on the partnership, saying: It is always our goal at Materialise to not only meet industry standards but to raise them. With Safilo, and their leadership in the eyewear industry, we have found a partner that values this goal equally. The eyewear industry and Additive Manufacturing have built a symbiotic relationship, where each helps the other raise its standards and challenge expectations constantly. Im looking forward to where this partnership leads next. The OXYDO SS 2017 collection marks the first time Safilo and Materialise have collaborated. Posted in 3D Printing Application Maybe you also like: Roger D. Hodge at The Oxford American: When I was eighteen years old, I packed up my car and left Texas forever. Maybe not forever, but Im still gone. I spend as much time there as I can, and its landscapes inhabit my imagination, but since that bright, sunny day in 1985 when I drove off to college in Tennessee, unconsciously reversing my familys long-ago westward migration, I havent lived in my home state for more than a few months at a time. The Texas that I keep in mind is largely defined by the Rio Grande and from my hometown perspective stretches westward from Del Riowhich sits at a crossroads of Texas geography, on the northern shoulder of that intermittent stream that we insist on calling a big river, where the rolling grasslands of the Edwards Plateau give way to the great Chihuahuan Desertthrough Comstock and beyond the Trans-Pecos creosote flats and the steep draws along the canyons of the Rio Grande and the wide volcanic vistas of the Big Bend to the barren, sandy wastelands of El Paso. But also and especially it includes the rugged canyons of the western Hill Country that drain into the Devils River as it winds its way toward the Rio Grande. Beyond the immediate range of my boyhood domain, that long riverine landscape drops below the Balcones Escarpment to encompass the flat savannas and harsh Tamaulipan thorn brush of South Texas and the fertile lowland vegas of the lower Rio Grande valley. Beyond the Hill Country to our northwest, the Llano Estacado rises up and opens the infinite expanses of the high plains, whence the Comanches came down their raiding trails toward the rivers, where they preyed on their ancient enemies the Apaches as well as the precarious settlements and ranches of Texas and northern Mexico. Above all, I think of Juno, now just a name on a map, a spot on a perilous winding road, no longer a town. The post office and the school, the hotels and the saloons and the old country store are all long vanished, the stones and the lovely old hardwood washed away by floods, carried off by interior decorators and reclaimed, or gone to dust. more here. J.H. Cutter may not have been distilled in SF, but it was imported and bottled in Jackson Square's legendary Hotaling Whiskey buildinghaving survived the 1906 earthquake and fire, the edifice is the subject of the famous quote: "If, as they say, God spanked the town for being over-frisky, why did he burn the churches down and spare Hotaling's Whisky?" J.H. Cutter, in particular, was touted in an old ad as being "medicinally pure," and, in being pure whiskey, the best stimulant and "remedy for overtaxed nerves after severe phisical [sic] exertion." (via WesternWhiskies.com) Today he says he loves the exercise he gets walking around Disney he told Delish, a recipe and trending food news website, that hes shed 40 pounds in the last six months and also enjoys taking pictures and getting to know other guests and cast members. Reitz says he will continue to treat himself to the daily Disneyland visits for as long as he can, according to a Disney press release. Im still having fun with it. Thats the only reason Im still doing this, said the Huntington Beach, Calif., resident. It wasnt about going for records or anything like that. Thats been a bonus. After trying every ride and restaurant, he says his favorite ride is the Matterhorn Bobsleds, which he first rode when he was 2. His favorite place to eat? Pizza Port in Tomorrowland. The food there, he says, is very affordable, with pasta dishes starting at $9.49. He also advises tourists to get the Disneyland app for their smartphone in order to stay on top of wait times and ride closures. To reserve times for the more popular attractions, make use of the FastPass+ system. School board, county commission and zoning meetings are this week Here's a look at who's meeting this week and what's on the agenda. Gopalkrishna Gandhi, a perfect example of an officer and gentleman is the UPA candidate for the post of Vice-President. Gandhi who was the Governor of Bengal in between 2004 and 2009 is still a popular face in Bengal and his name was floated for the post by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Gandhi was an IAS officer of 1968 batch who also served as secretary to the President. He was also the ambassador of India to Norway and Iceland and high commissioner to Sri Lanka and South Africa. On the other side, NDAs Vice-President Candidate is M Venkaiah Naidu who is seasoned politician. Gandhi is an erudite scholar and a sensitive social scientist. But in a clear indication, Naidu is ahead of Gandhi as BJP has an overwhelming majority in the Lok Sabha. Gandhi made it very clear that he is not a candidate for opposing BJP, but he is against certain ideologies, as the country is passing through a hate phase and ill-feeling among communities is increasing. Gopalkrishna Devdas Gandhi is the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi. His paternal grandfather was Mahatma Gandhi and maternal grandfather was C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji). He is the son of Devadas Gandhi and Lakshmi Gandhi. Gopalkrishna Gandhi is the younger brother of Rajmohan Gandhi, and the late Ramchandra Gandhi, and Smt. Tara Bhattacharjee (Gandhi), all of whom are distinguished in their own right. Devdas Mohandas Gandhi was the fourth and youngest son of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. He was born in South Africa and returned to India with his parents as a young man. He became active in his fathers movement, spending many terms in jail. He also became a prominent journalist and served as editor of Hindustan Times. Devdas fell in love with Lakshmi, the daughter of C. Rajagopalachari, Devdass fathers associate in the Indian independence struggle. Due to Lakshmis age at that time she was only fifteen, whereas Devdas was twenty eight years both Devdass father and Rajaji asked the couple to wait for five years without seeing each other. After five years had passed, they were married with their fathers permission in 1933. Devdas and Lakshmi had four children, Rajmohan Gandhi, Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Ramchandra Gandhi and Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee . Gopalkrishna Gandhi is most suitable candidature for Vice president Post but looking at present politics, one can see how NDA is all set to erase and tarnish the names of Gandhi and Nehru and their family members. BJP is trying to deconstruct their image, ideology and thinking. The party always boasted about Ram Rajya but could not make an attempt to actually bring harmony towards the same, for them Lord Ram became political tool. But Mahatma Gandhi used the term; little did he know that one day his idea of a perfect nation will be appropriated without the principles and politics. It was in post-colonial India, when Mahatma Gandhi first projected Ram Rajya, as the ideal state. By Ram Rajya, he meant a divine kingdom where values of justice and equality prevail, where every citizen is treated respectably, irrespective of caste, colour and creed, and even the weakest citizen of the country gets justice, because that was how Lord Rams rajya actually was. Mahatma Gandhi, dreamt of a rajya similar to the one that Lord Ram had createdfounded on virtue and truthfulness. As a matter of fact, being the ardent Hindu that Mahatma Gandhi was always inspired by Lord Rams teachings and included many of them in his daily life. Be it clean Indian, the Non-Cooperation Movement, the Quit India Movement, or the Dandi Marchall these movements led by Gandhi ji had a common groundthey were all padyatras. He was a soul inspired by Lord Rams life so much that he incorporated his teachings even when the nation failed to do so. When Lord Ram and Lord Lakshman accompanied Vishwamitra during their exile in the forest, they left their chariots behind and walked throughout the exile. The very fact that Lord Ram wanted to understand the anguishes of common people and connect with them in a manner that doesnt distinguish between a prince and a pauper is what Gandhiji embraced in his life too. The padyatras or the walks that Mahatma Gandhi undertook and the will that he had to connect with the common man, to know his plights, and to help in putting an end to his sufferingsall expressed his faith in Lord Ram and his teachings. But in the recent past keeping all these good sides aside he is been brutally attacked by right wingers, they tried their level best by assassinating the character of Gandhi and also Nehru. It is a dreadful shame that such a man who had always believed in Lord Ram and his principles, have been tagged an anti-Hindu and Hindu chauvinist by the religious fanatics of today. To top it all, the ruling political party, BJP has even resorted to playing politics on Lord Rams name, claiming its legacy on Lord Ram who is every Indians god, and not just of the right-wing radicals. In 1989, when late Rajiv Gandhi inaugurated Congress partys election campaign, he made a promise to usher in Ram Rajya, a promise that has been long-forgotten by the Congress party today. For some reason, the Congress party has always held back from talking about Lord Ram and Ram Rajya, giving an opportunity to the BJP to capture the term. And, thats something that the BJP actually did, and, played with it soullessly, even as it totally disregarded Mahatma Gandhis idea of Ram Rajya. There is, of course, a political agenda because it is the BJPs mission to make India Congress-mukt and ensure that there is no other national political party on the scene. But the Sanghs exertions in that direction seem overwrought, considering that the Congress itself is doing a fine job of making itself politically irrelevant. No, the BJP doesnt want to just fight the Congress at the hustings; it wants to obliterate the Nehru-Gandhi familys place not just in contemporary India but also in history. With such adversities and propaganda tactics, Gopal Krishna Gandhi would be abused, humiliated and attacked in coming times. There is no surprise if he is not elected to Vice-presidents Post. Still, lets keep faith in democracy and politics of this country. (Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@afternoonvoice.com) China sentiments are rising in India with an upsurge of nationalism ever since the election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said Chinas state-run Global Times in an article. Since Indias defeat in the Sino-Indian War of 1962, some Indians have been stuck in a zero-sum mentality in dealing with China. The war-inflicted lingering pain on India and it became a hard knot to untie, leading to an ingrained suspicion of the Chinese strategy, said the Global Times. Nationalist fervour that demands revenge against China has taken root in India since the border war. The election of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has fuelled the countrys nationalist sentiments, it added. In diplomacy, New Delhi is demanded to act tougher in foreign relations, especially toward countries like Pakistan and China, it said. The (Doklam) border row this time is an action targetted at China that caters to the demand of Indias religious nationalists, it claimed. The Modi Government can do nothing if religious nationalism becomes extreme, as shown in its failure to curb violent incidents against Muslims since he came to power in 2014, it said. The article warned that such a situation will put Indias own interests in jeopardy adding, India should be careful and not let religious nationalism push the two countries into war. Iraqi forces on Thursday regained control over Imam Gharbi, a village south of Mosul, from Islamic State militants who had seized it as their defense of their stronghold in the city crumbled, Iraqi police said. The action formed part of the next phase of the U.S.-backed governments campaign to drive Islamic State from Iraq and dismantle their self-proclaimed caliphate. Police Colonel Kareem Aboud said government forces took full control of Imam Gharbi at dawn. They discovered the bodies of two Iraqi journalists who were killed there shortly after the militants attacked, he said. Troops were now searching the village for remaining militants. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over Islamic State in Mosul on July 10 after a nine-month battle, marking the biggest defeat for the hardline Sunni Muslim group since its lightning sweep through northern Iraq three years ago. But the militants seized most of Imam Gharbi, on the western bank of the Tigris River about 70 km (44 miles) south of Mosul, in the kind of strike they are now expected to make as Iraqi forces regain control over cities the group captured during its 2014 offensive. Stripped of Mosul, Islamic States dominion in Iraq will be reduced to mainly rural, desert areas west and south of the city. Islamic State also faces pressure in its operational base in the Syrian city of Raqqa, where U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish and Arab forces have seized territory on three sides of the city. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close The First Citizens Bank in New Ellenton is set to close Sept. 20. A meeting to discuss its planned closure will be held at noon Thursday. How ISIS Chooses the Ancient Cities it Wants to Destroy ISIS militants strategically target archaeological sites, both of deep antiquity and those more recent. Many who live outside the professional world of archaeology or who have not taken an interest in keeping up with the science through popular outlets like National Geographic or local society journals may find this fact peculiar. Worse yet, some simply don't care or see the relevance of these attacks. Being an archaeologist and heritage professional myself, I'd like to take the time to discuss this and hopefully open up the topic for more general review outside the mainstream news. Material heritage encompasses both fixed and movable items and places of cultural value. Typically, such things carry immeasurable stored value in how a particular culture or people conceive of themselves in the present, in this way exceeding their value in context for examining past cultures (ie. archaeology). With this definition in mind, one should begin to see why an organization like the ISIS (Daesh, or the Islamic State) would target material heritage to ensure evidence corroborates their revisionist ideas of history and Islamic culture. Some sites they've visited irreversible damage upon include Khorsabad (an Assyrian palace of the 8th century BC), Nimrud (an ancient Assyrian city), several locations hosting antiquities in Mosul, the tomb of Jonah or Yunus (the Old Testament figure who was swallowed by a whale), and Hatra (the famous capital of the Parthian Empire that first defied and later joined Rome). These are just a few sites in Iraq, but Syria's own rich material heritage has also come under fire as various parties occupy UNESCO World Heritage Sites and ISIS continues to strategically eliminate thousands of years of material history. While shocking, this has also been a common result of warfare (indeed, the US demolished part of Babylon in 2003 when setting up a military base) -- the difference in this case is how Daesh presents it to the world, according to Margaret Van Ess, head of the German Archaeological Institute's field office in Iraq. The following map, issued by the Institute for the Study of War, is useful for conceptualizing just how encompassing their behaviour is across Iraq and Syria: Daesh early on proclaimed antiquities that didn't fit into their own narrow fanatical (Salafist Sunni) narrative idolatrous, and went to significant effort to bulldoze large portions (est. 60-80%) of UNESCO World Heritage Sites like Nimrud and Nineveh. While this was shocking to the international community and the Iraqi people, the most intense and complete destruction has more ironically been visited upon what ISIS militants call 'the near-enemy', which are bits of material heritage belonging primarily to Muslims of other sects: mosques, tombs, etc. Cultural erasure there has been deep, and affects more than just the distant past. Considering the intense humanitarian crisis the area (and now surrounding regions and even continents) is still experiencing in 2017, some dusty old sites may seem trivial. I would argue that it is exactly the opposite -- the sites themselves represent cornerstones of shared identity. Moreover, the humanitarian crisis and the material heritage crisis are not a zero-sum game. This area was the cradle of civilization, from which some of the first agronomies and permanent settlements emerged, and though it has long been an area rife with conflict outside the near-present (the Crusades, European colonialism, etc.), the evidence is stark that much of today's Western or Middle-Eastern civilizations owe themselves to deep cultural exchange in the region. In fact, the Middle East in general has, for thousands of years, been a primary ventricle for cultural exchange between the West and East, from ancient Iberia to East Asia. To keep it short, I'll only discuss one example here: Hatra. Hatra, located southwest of modern Mosul as our map shows, was established by the successors of Alexander the Great and over time became an Assyro-Babylonian capital that withstood the might of Rome and incorporated many features of Roman, Hellenistic (late Greek), and Assyro-Babylonian civilizations. It also became the site of the very first Arab kingdom, long before the rise of Islam. Hatra is, according to UNESCO, a testament to the antiquity, diversity, and wealth of Arab and Iraqi identity. The evidence for a powerful, rich civilization that blended many cultures is clear. This made it a natural target for ISIS and the cultural cleansing plaguing the region. Luckily, Hatra's liberation has allowed UNESCO to start collaborating to begin assessing the damage and formulating a plan to help. Beyond these sites being a source for national cohesion and unification of Iraq in rebuilding itself in the wake of Saddam Hussein, the U.S. occupation, and now ISIS, sites like Hatra are (and certainly should be) universally valued as objects of world heritage. Mohammad Iqbal Omar, Iraq's Minister of Education, proudly proclaimed these places "pillars of civilization", and called on the international community to help Iraq preserve and restore them. Omar, in doing so, recognized the shared culture and value material heritage can represent as foundational measures of identity and commonality among twenty-first century peoples, even those at odds. I have, most recently in my formal education, dealt with archaeology and its role in modernism, which is a lens for viewing history and culture. In the context of the Middle East (and many other places besides), archaeology has played a significant role in the formation of modern identities, from Egypt to Persia. By that I mean that various countries have used their material heritage resources to formulate cohesive national identities, appropriating deep history for the uses nation-building. One useful author for reviewing this process is Phillip L. Kohl, who influenced me when I was conceptualizing my thesis on the subject as it pertains to Canadian identities. It is a common thing to see this argued as a form of colonialism, and whether this is the case or if this is negative (this isn't the place), we have -- very real -- identities to deal with as a result. More importantly, because of this process we can use archaeology and material heritage as tools in international diplomacy and reconciliation, as UNESCO's many efforts have begun to attest. Legal Limbo of Turkey's Assyrian Christian Properties Still Unresolved Over the past five years, legal ownership of at least 100 ancient Syriac Christian properties in Turkey's southeast has been seized and transferred to the Turkish state treasury, where the title deeds still remain. The government-confiscated properties include two functioning monasteries, including adjacent lands to the 4th century Mor Gabriel Monastery belonging to Turkey's oldest indigenous culture. Monks at the monastery still speak the Aramaic dialect closest to that spoken by Jesus. According to the Turkish government, this systematic expropriation of allegedly "lapsed" title deeds for these dozens of historic Syriac churches, monasteries and village cemeteries began in recent years because of reformed land registry laws and the reorganisation of municipalities within the Mardin province. Reportedly, these new statutes give the state a legal pretext to either force the Syriac community to lease back their own church properties from the government, or, even worse, stand by while the state sells them outright to someone else. As recently as May, the latest appeal from the Mor Gabriel Monastery Foundation against the cancelled ownership of some of its adjacent lands back in 2008 was denied by a local court. But for church leaders of the estimated 2,500 Syriac Christians still living in southeast Turkey, the extent of these newly disclosed expropriations only came to light less than a month ago. In a front-page story on 23 June, the weekly Agos newspaper reported that the state treasury had recently transferred the deeds of many Syriac properties to the Religious Affairs Directorate, which regulates all Muslim religious facilities and practices in Turkey. The official state institution has no jurisdiction over non-Muslim communities. Shocked leaders of the three Syriac church foundations affected by the newly disclosed seizures conferred with their lawyers and Archbishop Samuel Aktas, Metropolitan of the Syriacs' Turabdin homeland lying between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Mardin province. They immediately filed a court appeal to cancel the deed transfers, working to identify all the properties seized and opening lawsuits to reclaim 20 title deeds. "We will do the same for around 30 more," Mor Gabriel Foundation Chairman Kuryakos Ergun told Agos. Kuryakos Ergun, chairman of the Mor Gabriel Monastery Foundation. A media furore over the Agos revelations quickly erupted among the Syriac diaspora in Europe. Queries were filed from the European Parliament about the purpose and extent of the seizures, and questioning this clear-cut violation of the 1923 Lausanne Treaty agreements signed by Turkey to protect its religious minorities. Turkish Rapporteur Renate Sommer from the European People's Party strongly criticised the development, saying, "Maybe the Turkish government does not want to forcibly eject the Syriac minority from the country, but at the same time it wants to completely erase it." Once the news hit the Turkish media, the Religious Affairs Directorate website promptly denounced the Agos report as "asparagus" (yellow journalism) filled with "lies and slander." Directorate President Dr Mehmet Gormez dismissed the report as "dark propaganda" being circulated across Europe to defame Turkey and the Religious Affairs Directorate. He later declared that he had never seen the alleged decision, which he labelled "a rejection of Islamic values". In less than two weeks, the Mardin Governorate had stepped back from its decision to give the Christian properties over to control of the Muslim directorate. Calling together representatives of the three Syriac foundations whose properties had been confiscated, the governorate cancelled the transfer on 3 July; but that left the disputed properties back again under treasury control. The Mardin Governorate's original court order transferring the Syriac deeds to the Religious Affairs Directorate was dated 12 August 2014. The Syriac church had not been informed of this judicial action taken nearly three years ago. The 3 July cancellation order specified that a legal amendment was required "for the problem's exact solution". The Syriac community agreed, with the Syriac foundation chairmen sending a formal petition that same day, requesting Ankara to take a second step: transfer the ownership of all the church property deeds currently held by the treasury over to their respective Syriac foundations. To date, the Syriac community has received no response to their petition from Turkey's central government. Unless Ankara agrees to return the seized properties to official church ownership and amends the law, the Syriac community is left with only one alternative: file 100 or more separate court cases to gain back their centuries-old properties, a very expensive and lengthy option that would take years to complete. "They can give them back to us, or not; it's up to them!" one Syriac leader who wished to withhold his name told World Watch Monitor. "It's out of our hands. We can't do anything unless they reveal the realities!" "But always," he sighed, "they are coming to us with a club! You have taken them away from us. Now are you going to give them back? Or do you just want us to leave?" Over the past few decades, most of the 70,000 Syriacs living in south-eastern Turkey fled to escape the deadly fighting between government and Kurdish rebel forces that erupted in 1984. A number of the Syriac village churches and graveyards existing at that time had been registered in the names of private individuals, so their title deeds were never transferred over to local church foundation ownership. After publicly inviting ethnic Syriacs in 2012 to move back to their lands in south-eastern Turkey, then Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared in September 2013 that the 30 Syriac properties that had been confiscated from the Mor Gabriel Monastery in 2008 would be given back to church foundation ownership. But so far only 12 have been returned, Ergun told World Watch Monitor, with 18 land parcels still not reclaimed. "In the 21st century, this not an appropriate decision for Turkey," Turkish Muslim journalist M. Serif Oter wrote in his Gap News Agency column on 9 July, headlined: "Can't we change this law's statute for our Syriac brothers?" He commented on the lucrative tourism potential in the Mardin province to visit so many Syriac and other historic religious sites, and quoted extensively from Quranic passages requiring just treatment of non-Muslims. "If the needed corrections on this issue are not promptly made," Oter vowed that "as a civilian representative of Mardin society" he was ready to start a campaign to return the Syriac properties to their rightful owners. Two Christian members of the Turkish Parliament demanded an explanation from the government over the issue -- Syriac MP Erol Dora from Mardin and Armenian MP Garo Paylan from Istanbul. "This is absolutely an illegal practice," Armenian Christian MP Selina Dogan told DHA news agency after meeting with Syriac foundation officials at Mor Gabriel Monastery. "There are two dimensions to this issue -- the legal dimension, and the moral dimension. "This is not just one religious community's cultural heritage; at the same time, it is also Turkey's treasure. So it's not to be turned over to the state treasury; it is to be protected by the Culture Ministry like the apple of our eye," she concluded. An ethnic community whose ancestral roots came from the Assyrian civilisation, Syriac Christians numbered several hundred thousand under the Ottoman Empire before the mass murders and deportations in which some 1.5 million Syriac and Armenian Christians died during World War I. July 17, 2017 In the old town of the Zaytoun neighborhood in Gaza City, a 450-year-old house stands out with its unique archaeological design. Built during Ottoman rule in Palestine, the house belongs today to Atef Salameh. Salameh has turned it into a shami, a typical Syrian house like the ones in popular TV series, such as Bab al-Hara ("The Neighborhood's Gate") and Layali al-Salihia ("Salihia Nights"). I turned my home into a traditional Syrian house, or shami, because I take pride in the Arab heritage, which the Israeli occupation strives to erase from our memory. I want to prove wrong the old Israeli saying The old die and the young forget, Salameh told Al-Monitor. With its ancient cut stones, stained glass windows and an inner courtyard with a well, Salamehs house is the result of a major investment, in terms of both planning and funding. The house is built with large, traditional cut stones. (photo by Amjad Arafat) Salameh said the house was built entirely of ancient stones called karkar, collected from abandoned houses that were originally built in the 15th and 16th centuries. He also purchased some cut stones from people whose old homes were demolished. They did not understand why someone would want such outdated stones that weigh over 30 kilos (66 pounds), Salameh said. He said old cut stones are thicker and stronger than ones that can be bought today, keeping the interior of the house cool in summer and warm in winter. He encountered difficulties in obtaining other necessary materials, such as the windows that were made of stained glass, which he brought from Egypt. The iron he needed in the restoration came from Hebron. Salameh said he added a well in the middle of the inner courtyard of the ground floor, such as the ones seen in old Syrian TV series. Nearby, we placed a large clay pot cooler to store water. This can be used for drinking or washing, as all women did in the past. There is also a tunnel opening next to the well that leads to a basement, like a pantry where food is stored for different seasons, he said. The house uses traditional, lower seating units with colorful cushions. (photo by Amjad Arafat) The ground floor consists of two rooms, one of which is a guest room with traditional Arabic style seating; the second is the library with a rare collection of books, some of which are more than 100 years old. The upper floor is made up of two living rooms and a larger one in the middle with a fireplace that resembles old heating stoves that have been practically extinct for centuries. A wooden ladder leads to the roof of the house, set to be used for baking and cooking with an oven made of clay. Salameh said turning his home into a shami took a lot of time, effort and money. He worked on it for over six months but said he is happy that he did. He said that the psychological comfort he felt in seeing his family living in this home, and the satisfaction he feels knowing that he has preserved their heritage as Arabs living in the Palestinian territories, is worth it. The small neighborhood where Salameh lives now has preserved as many aspects of heritage and civilization. This house is now an extension of the nostalgic general atmosphere of the neighborhood, which includes old churches, mosques and an old public bathhouse where the city's residents once gathered to bathe. July 17, 2017 CAIRO On July 2, Gharib Sunbul, head of the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities' central administration for maintenance and restoration, announced that a massive inventory of 5,000 artifacts would soon be completed at Alexandria's seaside warehouses. He said that a team of specialists are studying, documenting and carefully repackaging the items as well as planning for any needed restoration. The plan is part of the campaign announced by the ministry June 23 to document and protect the artifacts found in its archeological warehouses and to protect Egypts archaeological treasures against theft. Mustafa Amin, the secretary-general of the ministrys Supreme Council of Antiquities, told the local Al-Ahram newspaper Jan. 18 that there are 72 archaeological warehouses in Egypt. Of them, 35 are museum warehouses, 20 are expedition warehouses and 17 are smaller on-site warehouses spread across Egypts governorates. Only 14 warehouses out of 72 have ever been inspected. The ministrys inspections include creating an inventory of all the artifacts in these warehouses, in order to facilitate the recovery process in case of theft. The treasures found in these archaeological warehouses were excavated by Egyptian scientists several decades ago. Scientists put the artifacts in the warehouses, where they have waited to be registered and restored. Only a fraction of Egypt's antiquities have made it into museums. Monica Hanna, the head of the archeology and cultural heritage department at the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport in Aswan, told Al-Monitor that the warehouses hold hundreds of thousands of artifacts about which nothing is known. Visitors are not allowed access to them. She said, "The artifacts contained in these warehouses far outnumber those found in museums, but they are neglected and often get stolen under the ministrys neglect." The warehouses were established by the ministry of antiquities, which assigns a guard to protect them. However, the guards are unarmed and often unable to prevent theft. Ahmad Jaber, the director of the Mit Rahina archeological area in Giza governorate, said on Sept. 12, 2013, that the Mit Rahina warehouse had been broken into and 238 items were stolen from it. This has been followed by additional thefts in recent years. On Dec. 31, 2013, the ministry announced the disappearance of 96 small and rare antiquities, dating back to the Pharaonic, Greek and Roman eras, from an archaeological warehouse in Aswan governorate. On May 27, 2015, Ali Ahmad, the director of the Antiquities Department at the ministry, announced the existence of three fake lanterns in the National Museum of Civilization, located in Old Cairo, amid reports that the original lanterns were smuggled into the United Arab Emirates. Later that same year, on Dec. 23, 2015, Egyptian authorities detained an archeological inspector after nine antiquities belonging to the Pharaonic era disappeared from the Tell El-Farain warehouses in the village of Buto. On Feb. 11, 2016, 157 artifacts from the Saqqara area in Giza governorate were reported stolen. And on April 30, 2016, the Mit Rahina warehouse was once again broken into, and the Egyptian authorities prosecuted the security guard for smuggling a limestone statue from the Middle Kingdom abroad and replacing it with a fake one. Hanna said of the recent inventory efforts, This is a good step toward salvaging Egypt's archaeological treasures. But this campaign can only succeed if all obstacles are addressed. This requires making archaeological artifacts available to researchers and academics for scientific publication. When artifacts are documented in international libraries, their recovery becomes easier if stolen. She added, The other crisis is that there are thousands of artifacts not registered with the ministry of antiquities, and there are archaeological warehouses that have never been inspected. So long as [the artifacts] found in these stores are not registered and documented with the ministry of antiquities, the ministry wont be able to recover them if stolen. The third and most important step is for the ministry to change the security system in place. It is unreasonable for the ministry to rely on two security personnel for every archaeological store without any weapons or security resources to deal with criminals. Modern surveillance cameras are needed to monitor robbery attempts. Without these steps, Egyptian antiquities will remain neglected and no attempts to protect them will succeed." Said Hilmi, the head of the Islamic and Coptic Archeology Department at the ministry of antiquities, told Al-Monitor, Khaled Al-Anani, the antiquities minister, ordered the establishment of a committee to inventory antiquities in the official records of the Ministry of Antiquities and preparing a database. The inventory will be completed in the near future as part of [Ananis] campaign to protect the artifacts found in museum warehouses. This step is the first of its kind in decades. Sunbul said in a June 23 press statement that since the ministry started work in Saqqara, three statues as well as decorative wooden coffins that were cracked and missing parts have been restored. Hilmi said, We recognize that there are some Egyptian monuments in the archaeological warehouses that are subject to theft from time to time, and we also recognize that the security system on which the ministry depends needs reconsideration, especially in light of the developments that followed the January 25 Revolution and as thieves are using more advanced weapons and equipment to loot sites. But we at the ministry are now preparing a plan to increase the ministrys security personnel in the framework of this campaign. He added, Providing archaeological stores with surveillance cameras is paramount. But this requires large funds at a time when the ministrys financial resources are very weak amid a decline in tourism activity and difficult economic conditions. July 19, 2017 Several Fatah leaders loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas have been prevented from traveling to the West Bank to attend meetings recently. Hamas' security forces in the Gaza Strip prevented the deputy secretary of Fatah's Revolutionary Council, Fayez Abu Eita, from traveling to the West Bank on July 11 through the Beit Hanoun/Erez checkpoint to attend a Fatah meeting. No justification was given. On June 30, Hamas security prevented Fatah Central Committee member Ahmad Halas from crossing the checkpoint. Member of the PLOs Executive Committee and head of its Department of Refugee Affairs, Zakaria al-Agha, was turned back twice, on May 19 and 30. Abu Eita told Al-Monitor that he went to the Beit Hanoun checkpoint on July 11, but was shocked to find out that he would not be allowed to go to the West Bank. The Hamas security forces at the checkpoint prevented me from passing without giving any justification. This completely violates Palestinian laws, he said. A Fatah official told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that the Hamas political leadership had decided to prevent Fatah leaders from going to the West Bank. He attributed the move to the ongoing bickering between the two movements, explaining, Hamas wants to tighten the noose on the Fatah leadership in the Gaza Strip by continuing to prevent Fatah leaders from traveling to the West Bank, as it did with Halas and Abu Eita. This comes in light of the escalation between the two movements after Hamas rejected Fatahs request to end the administrative committee that Hamas formed in March in the Gaza Strip. He said that such measures can also be credited to Hamas' belief that the problems in Gaza, such as the electricity crisis, will soon subside after the understandings reached in Cairo with dismissed Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan that resulted in Egyptian industrial diesel flowing into the Strip in early July. Hamas has also been harassing close associates of Abbas since he took a series of measures to sanction the rival movement. Al-Monitor tried to contact Hamas' Ministry of Interior and some of the movement's leaders for comment, but to no avail. Akram Atallah, a political writer for the local Al-Ayyam newspaper, concurred with the Fatah source. He told Al-Monitor that Hamas is taking escalatory measures against Fatah and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank because it now feels more powerful after the Hamas-Dahlan understandings. Atallah noted that Palestinians are antagonizing one another in light of the division and chaos as well as the punitive measures taken by each party, all of which violate the Palestinian Basic Law as well as the natural rights of citizens. He said, The whole point of such measures is to pressure the PA to put an end to its own actions, such as the suspension of the salaries of members of the Palestinian Legislative Council for Hamas in the West Bank. In response, Hamas is preventing Fatah leaders from traveling through the crossings. Such actions are undoubtedly inappropriate coming from parties and political forces. Lawyer Bakr Turkmani, the coordinator of investigations and complaints in the Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR) in Gaza, told Al-Monitor that no citizen should be prevented from exercising their right to travel and noted that any action to do so must be made by court order. He called on Hamas to retract its decision and allow Fatah leaders to travel again. He added, According to the ICHRs information, security forces stationed at the Beit Hanoun checkpoint prevented Fatah leader Abu Eita from traveling to Ramallah. Before him, Fatah leaders Agha and Halas were not allowed to attend Fatah meetings. We were told this only regards them [personally], which means there should be a clear court order for the travel ban. Turkmani stressed that the ICHRs position is clear: Freedom of movement is a right guaranteed by domestic and international laws, and travel bans violate fundamental rights. The Palestinian Basic Law clearly stipulates the right of freedom of movement for Palestinians. This right should not be restricted except by a court order, not a political or administrative decision, he noted. It seems that Abbas recent measures against the Gaza Strip, such as cancelling medical travel passes for Palestinians in Gaza, played an important role in straining the atmosphere between Hamas and pro-Abbas Fatah leaders, prompting each party to strong-arm the other. L-R: Master P, Romeo Miller; Mike Pont/WireImageAs Romeo Miller gears up for the third season of his hit series Growing Up Hip Hop, the young music mogul has his sights sets on reminding the world just how influential his father Master P and his label No Limit have been to hip hop. Miller, whose real-life family drama returns to the small screen tonight, says that since his father's No Limit reunion show at the Essence Festival earlier this month, fans have been asking his dad to turn it into a world tour. The show featured Snoop Dogg, Mystikal, Silkk the Shocker and Mia X, among others. "People have been reaching [out] to my dad back and forth to get a No Limit reunion tour going," Miller tells ABC Radio. "And we're going to mix it with old and sprinkle the new -- like, we brought my little sister Cymphonique out there and I performed. So it's a big market for it." In addition to returning No Limit to the spotlight, Romeo is also focused on bringing his dad's story to the big screen. "I want to get my father's biopic out first. That's a passion project for me," he explains. "I think this generation needs to know what this man did for hip-hop, what Master P means to music...Some of these kids in this generation don't really understand what it represents." For fans, Master P was more than just a label CEO and artist: he was the epitome of the American dream. "He is a blueprint to why artists are making hundreds or millions now and they're their own bosses," Romeo says, adding, "Hopefully John Singleton will be shooting that baby." Growing Up Hip Hop, featuring Miller, Angela Simmons, Kristinia DeBarge, Boogie Dash, Egypt Criss and Briana Latrise premieres at 9 p.m. on WeTV. Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. July 20, 2017 Despite reports that the cease-fire agreement reached on July 7 between the United States, Russia and Jordan in southwestern Syria would keep Hezbollah and Iranian forces away from border territories with Israel and Jordan, it is becoming clear that this agreement doesnt appear to constitute a significant setback for Hezbollah. With its deployment of several thousand fighters in Syria, Hezbollah has played a major role as an infantry force. The movements ground forces coordinated closely with Russian warplanes in defeating the rebels in Aleppo in December 2016. And as this Hezbollah-Russian coordination proved effective, it is unlikely that the cease-fire agreement will lead Moscow to get tough on Hezbollah. According to media reports, a high-ranking Russian military official recently met with Hezbollahs leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut to discuss the role Hezbollah would take in the next phase of the Syrian war. A Hezbollah official who spoke to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity to discuss his partys stance toward the cease-fire agreement said that the movement supports any chances for reconciliation or a cease-fire or political solution wherever possible. The official noted that even if Hezbollah were not present near the Golan Heights, it still retains a capability to strike at the Israeli front from Syria if tensions were to flare between the two rivals. Borders do not prevent the launching of attacks, he said, adding that the movement has missiles with a range that could target Israel [from Syrian territory] without Hezbollah having to be physically present near the border area. This Hezbollah stance toward the cease-fire agreement that encompasses the areas of Daraa, Quneitra and Suwayda, stands in sharp contrast to that of its archenemy Israel. Following a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris July 16, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly stated to reporters that Israel opposes the cease-fire agreement on the grounds that it perpetuates Iranian presence in Syria. Meanwhile, the Israeli daily Haaretz quoted a senior Israeli official as saying that the cease-fire agreement in its current form is very bad and doesn't take almost any of Israel's security interests [into account] and creates a disturbing reality in southern Syria. The senior Israeli official, also complained that the agreement "doesnt include a single explicit word about Iran, Hezbollah or the Shiite militias in Syria." This disparity between Hezbollahs somewhat positive stance toward the cease-fire deal on the one hand, and Israels complete negative stance toward it on the other, may very well be summed up in a single factor: Russian reluctance to put pressure on Hezbollah. In an interview with Al-Monitor, Sergey Strokan, a journalist for the Russian daily Kommersant, said that Russia will not put pressure on Hezbollah despite the very good ties between Russia and Israel. Further explaining this point, Strokan added, Hezbollah is of critical importance for Russia when it comes to boots on the ground [in Syria] that the Russian warplanes are supporting from the air. According to Strokan, Russia would also be reluctant to pressure Hezbollah as this could jeopardize the Astana process, which was launched in January between Russia, Turkey and Iran, whereby these countries hold periodic talks in the Kazakh capital, with the aim of reaching a settlement for the Syrian crisis. Losing Hezbollah would mean for Russia also losing Iran in the Astana process, he said, emphasizing that Moscow is keen on continuing this process with Turkey and Iran. At the same time, the Hezbollah official acknowledged that the cease-fire agreement has a drawback for the movement: an American presence on the ground in Syria. Coinciding with the announcement of the cease-fire deal, reports have emerged about the US military establishing new facilities throughout the Middle East, including two new facilities on both sides of the Syrian-Jordanian border. We do not want any American presence on the ground in Syria, the Hezbollah official said, adding that the movement is realistic and knows that the United States as a superpower will have leverage and influence in Syria. However, just how much the US presence in Syria will pose a problem for Hezbollah is a topic open for debate. The US military has in recent months targeted what it referred to as pro-Syrian regime Iranian-backed forces, which it said advanced toward a US base in the area of Tanf near the Syrian border with Jordan. But the US military has also sought to convey a message in no uncertain terms that it does not intend to embark on a broad campaign against the Syrian army or its allies, like Hezbollah. During a testimony to Congress June 13, US Secretary of Defense James Mattis said that the targeting of the Iranian-backed forces near Tanf was simply self-defense aimed at protecting US forces stationed in Syria. The US Central Command also released a statement June 6 in which it said that the US-led coalition against the Islamic State (IS) does not seek to fight Syrian regime or pro-regime forces but remains ready to defend themselves if pro-regime forces refuse to vacate the deconfliction zone, a zone surrounding the Tanf US base. Speaking to Al-Monitor, Joshua Landis, the publisher of the blog Syria Comment, underscored that the US military wants to keep its mission in Syria focused solely on fighting IS. He said, Trump has granted increasing authority to the generals. Further elaborating that the generals are against going into any secondary wars in Syria other than fighting IS. This reluctance to wage secondary wars, however, is also likely to apply to Hezbollah itself and its approach toward the US military presence in Syria. The movement has more than enough on its plate as it continues assisting the Syrian government in taking back territories in Deir ez-Zor and Palmyra, where there is a significant IS presence. At the same time, Hezbollah also faces the ongoing danger of a possible war with Israel on the Lebanese southern front, and may soon be participating in an operation to clear militants from the outskirts of the Lebanese village of Arsal, on the eastern mountain range border area with Syria. With all this on its plate, it is highly unlikely that Hezbollah will broaden its mission in Syria to target the American troops stationed in that country. July 19, 2017 Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, reacting to new US sanctions against Tehran over its missile program and alleged support for terrorism, said Iran should be alert and refrain from acting to the benefit of Washington. On July 18, the US departments of Treasury and State announced that they were targeting 18 Iranian individuals, groups and networks. Mentioning US President Donald Trumps decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement and a deal with Cuba, Rouhani said in a televised Cabinet meeting July 19, This indicates that the US cannot claim advocacy for human rights, rule of law, and security and stability in the world." He added, One who is not stable, does not respect the law and regulations, and does not stand by its own signature cannot invite others to stability, security and peace. Stating that Tehrans commitment to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) which was signed in 2015 between Iran and six world powers will continue, Irans president said, "Iran will always stand by its international commitments, although the Americans are giving with one hand and taking away with the other." He said that on the one hand, the US government has reported that Iran has met its commitments and that therefore US officials "have no choice but to respect the JCPOA and they cannot violate it. On the other hand, they are ... imposing new sanctions, which is not compatible with the letter and spirit of the JCPOA." Implicitly referring to Iran's own opponents of the deal, Rouhani continued, We must be vigilant not to get caught in their trap, not playing on the US side of the pitch and at the same time live up to our commitments, walking on the path of progress." Expressing his content with European and Asian members of the six world powers for not joining Trump, who has vowed to tear up the deal, Rouhani said, "We are happy that our allies in the 5+1 have stood by the JCPOA, protecting it so far, and that Americans have acted equivocally like always. But certainly, if Americans want to impose sanctions against us under any condition and pretext, the great Iranian nation will respond accordingly and Irans parliament will also pass bills." Of note, on July 11, during a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, European Union foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini reacted to talk of the possibility of the United States' abandoning the JCPOA: The nuclear deal doesn't belong to one country; it belongs to the international community," said Mogherini, adding, "We have the responsibility to make sure that this continues to be implemented." Rouhani also said, "We will not pass over US violations of the JCPOA, and we will stand against them. But at the same time, we are alert as to how to make the best use of the atmosphere." Of note, on July 18 Iranian lawmakers passed a bill that designates US military forces and intelligence services as supporters of terrorist groups in the Middle East. In other news, the commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), aerospace force Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, disclosed new details about the IRGCs June 18 missile attack on terrorists in the Syrian town of Deir ez-Zour, which is held by the Islamic State (IS). Hajizadeh said July 18, When we wanted to target Daesh [IS] positions, we asked [Quds Force commander] Gen. [Qasem] Soleimani to present us with the targets. He immediately pinpointed 60 positions and told us to target whichever you want. Hajizadeh added, When the first missile hit the target, I was in the command room, and I saw from the monitor that the first missile hit [the target], but we suddenly saw excessive fire emerging from three points of the target. I told the officer that I ordered the launch of one missile. He said that we fired one missile, but the missile precisely hit the target, and Daeshs underground base was situated under that target, and that base was burned. He also said a number of Chinese members of IS were killed in the IRGC missile attack. Hajizadeh also said the IRGC had conducted a missile attack against IS some four to five years ago, but gave no further details. July 20, 2017 Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas cut a visit to China short and returned to Ramallah on July 19 to be on hand on July 21 for Friday prayers at Jerusalems Al-Aqsa Mosque. Palestinian Authority (PA) officials described the upcoming prayers as critical, given that Palestinians have been protesting and rioting since July 16 against Israel's introduction of metal detectors at the entrance to the Haram al-Sharif (or Temple Mount) following the July 14 terror attack there in which three Israeli Arab gunmen shot dead two Israeli police officers. Abbas has been aware that leading activists in Fatah, the movement he leads, have been inflaming popular sentiment and encouraging an escalation against Israel that could end in an uncontrollable bloodbath. This is not the first time central Fatah activists, especially from the Tanzim, the organizations armed wing, have gone against Abbas' expressed wishes and declared policy as he has gone about trying to resolve crises and ease tensions on the ground. That was the case earlier this year, for example, during the hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails instigated by Marwan Barghouti, the senior Palestinian prisoner held by Israel, in an attempt to bolster his standing within Fatah. With riots ongoing in Jerusalem and several other locations on the West Bank, Fatah declared July 19 a Day of Rage, urging the faithful to protest the new Israeli security measures. That particular declaration was not the only action raising Abbas' ire. In addition, Israel had given him information to the effect that Fatah officials were coordinating activities with the Waqf the Muslim custodian of the site, which strongly opposes the metal detectors and allocating resources to fan the flames. To protest the metal detectors, the Waqf announced that July 21 prayers will not be conducted in Jerusalem mosques. They have called instead for worshipers to gather in the plaza in front of Al-Aqsa and pray there. The weapon that the Waqf is preparing is obvious. Tens of thousands of religious adherents will mass around the Israeli police and soldiers at the site, such that events could spiral out of control and into bloodshed. This is where the Fatah activists come in. Not only did Fatah call for the July 19 Day of Rage to stir up the masses and undermine Abbas' international diplomatic efforts. Information conveyed by Israel to the PA indicates that Fatah also seeks to mobilize the organizations resources to thwart efforts by Abbas and Jordans King Abdullah II to restore calm and prevent violence. Fatah has been logistically mobilizing ahead of Friday prayers: Calls have gone out to worshipers to come en masse to protect the holy mosque, and buses have been put at the disposal of West Bank Palestinians holding permits to travel to Israel to go pray at Al-Aqsa. Fatah plans also to organize large protests around Israeli army roadblocks in Ramallah and Bethlehem for those unable to reach Al-Aqsa and to hold marches in support of the worshipers who set out to Jerusalem to bring down the Zionist magnetometers. Al-Monitor has learned that Israel presented the Palestinians with a list of Fatah members allegedly escalating the situation on the ground and inciting youths to confront the Israeli military. They are headed by Mahmoud al-Aloul, Abbas deputy and former head of the Tanzim, and Abbas adviser Sultan Abu al-Einein. I have written in Al-Monitor in the past about the duplicitous game Aloul is playing in Fatah. On the one hand, Abbas pushed hard for Aloul to be appointed his deputy at the Fatah convention held in February, managing to sideline the better-known and more popular candidates, including senior Fatah officials Jibril Rajoub and Barghouti. Since taking office, the deputy Fatah leader has been operating counter to Abbas policies. The prisoners hunger strike, which Aloul supported, is one such example, and recent events in Jerusalem even more so. A blowup between Israel and the PA involving violence could jeopardize Abbas hold on power. Aloul was the person behind the calls for Wednesdays Day of Rage. He was also behind the call to young residents of the West Bank to clash with Israeli soldiers at roadblocks during the April hunger strike. That was the first time since the end of the second intifada, in 2005, that Fatah had openly called on Palestinian youths to confront Israeli soldiers at roadblocks. The paradox about the hunger strike Day of Rage was that Abbas ordered PA forces to curb demonstrations and disrupt his own movements call for confrontations. Many Tanzim activists are involved in the sedition campaign over the mosque, an Israeli source told Al-Monitor. The source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that Israel has made clear to the Palestinian security forces that unless the PA takes immediate and determined action against those whose names they submitted, Israel would find a way to deal with them. The source added, Such a message will be received loud and clear. There are many elements in the region seeking to gain political capital from the friction over the Temple Mount, he asserted, referring to some members of the two largest Palestinian factions, Fatah and Hamas, which are vying to be Al-Aqsa Champion. These elements are not, however, motivated by concern for the mosques safety. They are motivated by frustration and a desire to improve their political and personal standing within their organizations, the source observed. The beleaguered Hamas is praying for better times, and Abbas opponents are praying for his disappearance, stirring trouble for him at home in the hopes he will go. According to the source, now more than ever, Abbas understands the extent of the threat he is facing, and that is likely the reason he decided to rush back to his headquarters from China. The activists encouraging escalation in the territories are mostly people identified with Marwan Barghouti, he said. They have suffered a defeat over the hunger strike and are presenting Abbas and his people with a direct challenge. The source added that the events on the Temple Mount are a godsend for Barghoutis men, explaining, They will do all they can to encourage as many Palestinians as possible to clash with the Israelis and hope the resulting escalation will restore their control over the rank and file and the respect they have lost among most young Palestinians in the West Bank. Abbas probably understands now that the man he handpicked as his deputy, instead of the other candidates whom he pushed away for fear they would unseat him, is turning out to be a dangerous choice, both for his rule and for his people. July 20, 2017 Forget about the Trump peace initiative, a senior Israeli political figure well versed in the details of the latest diplomatic moves told Al-Monitor on the condition of anonymity. The problem is not about bridging gaps between us and the Palestinians, he said. The solution is well known and familiar to the Trump administration. To push it forward, however, the real sticking point must be overcome. That problem is called the Netanyahu government, he remarked. Sadly, there are no indications for now that the American president is willing to deal with it. Shortly after that conversation, Yaakov Peri, Knesset member for the centrist Yesh Atid and a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's previous government, told Al-Monitor that he came away from the many talks he had had with Netanyahu under the impression that the prime minister fully understood the need to separate from the Palestinians. Nonetheless, Peri too believes that the Israeli government in its current composition is part of the problem, not the solution. The prolonged stalemate in negotiations with the Palestinians along with the governments anti-democratic legislation, religionization of the school system, and the flood of police investigations directly and indirectly involving Netanyahu are not achieving the critical mass in public opinion needed to bring down the government. Netanyahu is still the clear front-runner in public opinion polls. It would not be an overstatement to say that the fate of millions both Israelis and Palestinians lies in the hands of one man: Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit. A decision on his part to indict Netanyahu, if only in relation to one small scandal, could put an end to Israels rightist, settler regime. The governments collapse alone is not sufficient to promote the two-state solution, but it is an essential prerequisite. The police and state attorneys involved in the various corruption investigations are in agreement about the facts. Even Netanyahu himself does not deny receiving gifts from business people. He claims a politician is entitled to accept presents from friends, and these have nothing to do with any activity on his part to promote their financial interests. The prime minister also admits to conducting talks with Arnon Mozes, publisher of the mass circulation Yedioth Ahronoth, on a deal for positive coverage. Netanyahu also claims, however, that he did not intend to follow through on any agreement discussed with Mozes and had only meant to entrap the media mogul. Suspicions of criminal wrongdoing leap from every page of the state comptrollers report on Bezeq Telecom published July 12. Netanyahu claims, of course, that he knew nothing about the attempts by his appointee Shlomo Filber, director of the Ministry of Communications a portfolio Netanyahu also held until ordered by the courts to relinquish it to benefit Shaul Elovitz, owner of the telecom giant and coincidentally a friend of the prime minister. It also just so happens that the Walla news website, which Elovitch also owns, competed with the free daily Yisraeli Hayom in flattering coverage of the Netanyahu family as Elovitch was allegedly enjoying the munificence of the Communications Ministry. The suspected bribery in a deal to sell German submarines and boats to the Israeli navy also stinks to high heaven, but the prime minister, alas, is merely the victim of chronic subversion by the media and the leftists seeking to topple him. He did not know what his cronies were up to in that affair either. If Mandelblit follows in the footsteps of his predecessor, who was faced with decisions on two police investigations into Netanyahu, the prime minister need not worry, whereas the residents of Israel and the occupied territories should be concerned. In 1997, Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein rejected recommendations by police to indict Netanyahu for allegedly colluding with a political crony to appoint attorney Ronnie Bar-On as attorney general. Rubinstein cited insufficient evidence. The Supreme Court rejected petitions against Rubinsteins decision, but wrote that there was credible suspicion that the prime minister had conspired with the head of Shas, Aryeh Deri, to appoint Bar-On as part of an improper political deal. In 2000, Rubinstein rejected the recommendation of State Attorney Edna Arbel to prosecute Netanyahu for allegedly taking bribes from a trucking company owner, Avner Amadi, who had done various jobs for the Netanyahu family free of charge. Arbel wrote that Netanyahu had abused his office to exploit the mover and to indicate that if he kept his mouth shut, he would be rewarded. Once again, Rubinstein cited insufficient evidence to secure a conviction. To nonetheless do something, Rubinstein initiated the practice of releasing public reports on investigations. He wrote, among other things, One cannot rest easy under any circumstances knowing that Mr. Netanyahu, as prime minister and one serving in the most exclusive senior position in the public realm, did not divulge information about a private debt he incurred. The attorney general noted that elected officials and civil servants, not to mention those at the head of the pyramid and alongside it, have to make certain that they not fail in any way involving ugliness, even if its criminality cannot be legally proven. Will Mandelblit follow the same standard as Rubinstein and his successor, Manny Mazuz, who chose to close a case against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon after police investigated him on suspicion of corruption? Knesset member David Bitan revealed on July 17 that he had heard Netanyahu say that even if he is indicted in one of the cases, he has no intention of stepping down. Bitan promised to stand by the prime minister if such a situation comes to pass. Nonetheless, it is hard to believe that another 59 Knesset members the number needed to reject a vote of no-confidence can be persuaded to express trust in a leader who makes decisions on issues of war and peace in between his court dates. Minister Yuval Steinitz, a protege of the Netanyahu family, said in the past that serious suspicions about the prime minister show that it is time for the government to step down and call new elections to put an end to its failures on the diplomatic and security front and flawed public probity. Those were his views and words in 2007, directed at Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who tried to bring about peace but fell when corruption landed him in jail, paving Netanyahu's path back to power. Will corruption charges evict Netanyahu from the Prime Ministers Office and pave the way to peace? Only Mandelblit knows. July 20, 2017 Anyone following Jordanian reaction to Israeli measures imposed at the Haram al-Sharif (which Israel calls The Temple Mount) in the Old City of Jerusalem following the deadly July 14 attack could be forgiven for thinking that Jordan and Israel were still at war. Israel closed the compound that includes Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islams third holiest shrine, preventing prayer there after three Arab-Israelis opened fire on Israeli guards near a gate leading to the shrine. Two policemen were killed before the assailants were shot dead. It was the first time that Israeli authorities had closed the compound since 1969, triggering angry reactions on both sides of the Jordan River. Jordans official reaction was swift. The same day, its communications minister and government spokesman Mohammed al-Momani said that while Amman continues to condemn violence, it will not accept any violation of Muslims' rights to observe their religious rituals at their holy places. He urged Israel to "immediately" reopen Al-Aqsa Mosque to worshippers and cautioned Israel against making any moves to change the existing situation at the site and in Jerusalem in general. Israel was quick to denounce the Jordanian position. An Israeli official said in a July 14 interview, Instead of condemning the attack, Jordan chose to attack Israel, which is protecting worshipers and maintaining freedom of worship at the place. Israel will not tolerate any harm to the holy sites and it maintains the status quo there. It should be expected that all sides involved, including Jordan, exercise restraint and avoid fanning the flames. Jordanians took the streets July 14 and 15 in Amman and across the kingdom declaring support for Al-Aqsa, condemning the occupation and praising the July 14 martyrs. Jordans Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Wael Arabiyyat warned against unprecedented Israeli violations and provocations against Al-Aqsa. In a statement carried by the official news agency July 16, Arabiyyat said Jordan rejects Israeli measures to close the mosque to worshippers under any circumstances. Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi called on Israel in a July 16 press statement to defuse the crisis and warned against further escalation that cannot be contained. According to Israeli press reports, Israel was further outraged by a July 16 statement by Atef al-Tarawneh, the speaker of the lower house, in which he praised the martyrs and blamed the Israeli occupation for the violence, adding that its threats against the Haram al-Sharif will inspire resistance until the oldest occupation in modern times comes to an end. That statement pushed his Israeli counterpart, Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein, to tell Tarawneh to shut up. In a July 17 press release, Edelstein said, It is unthinkable that such a senior figure in a country with which we have a peace agreement would encourage the murder of Israeli citizens. King Abdullah called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on July 15, stating his condemnation of the Jerusalem attack and rejection of violence. He urged the Israeli prime minister to reopen the mosque and reiterated Jordans strong stance against the closure. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called Netanyahu on the day of the attack to condemn it and urged him to reopen the compound. Netanyahu assured Abbas that Israel was not about to change the status quo at the holy site. Netanyahu announced July 16 that Israel would partially reopen the compound, but the crisis was about to get worse. Palestinian worshippers had attempted to break the Israeli siege, resulting in clashes with Israeli security guards July 17 and 18. And when Israel finally lifted the blockade, worshippers discovered that they had to pass through metal detectors in order to reach the compound. The Waqf Directorate, which is administered by Jordan under the 1994 peace treaty, accused Israel of breaching the sovereignty of the Haram al-Sharif. The imam of Al-Aqsa Mosque, Ikrama Sabri, called on worshippers across Jerusalem to head to Al-Aqsa and show their support July 21. With tension rising in the holy city, Jordanians are also expected to march in protest and solidarity the same day following Friday prayers. Jordan has not officially clarified its position on Israels installation of metal detectors at the entrance of the Haram al-Sharif. But on July 19, Safadi told EU ambassadors in Amman that Israel must respect the historical and legal status at Al-Aqsa Mosque" and end attempts to create "new realities on the ground in a direct breach of its commitment as an occupying power. July 18, 2017 CAIRO Egypts National Council for Women launched an initiative in June to end tribal marriages and help couples officially register their marriages by March 2018. The initiative is of key importance for many women in the governorate of South Sinai, who do not have official papers such as birth certificates and marriage documents. Mona Salem, council's South Sinai branch adviser, told Al-Monitor, We have recently discovered that a large number of South Sinai residents have not officially registered their marriages. Many lack national identity cards and birth certificates required to register a marriage. Salem added, The absence of official documents deprives women of having access to basic rights, such as pensions, inheritance and even enrolling their own children in school. They can neither obtain a passport for hajj nor apply for loans for a project. The council's initiative will provide practical aid to those who have not documented their marriage, as well as financial assistance to those who cannot afford marriage fees. It will also be coupled with an ad campaign to educate people, particularly women, about the drawbacks of undocumented marriage. Yet many gender experts and civil society members are concerned that the initiative, which is to last 10 months, will be insufficient to eliminate the deep-rooted practice of tribal weddings that often supplant civil marriage in South Sinai. Some tribes tend to hold onto traditions and customs, while some Bedouin families simply cannot afford to pay the legal commissioner to register their marriages. Moreover, families often do not register girls at birth and the absence of their birth certificates and national identity cards provides a handy excuse not to register the marriage as these documents would be required. Since the project began, the women's council has documented 300 cases of unregistered marriage and then registered them with the help of the South Sinai civil registry; this appears to be only a small portion of unregistered marriages overall. The women's council provides financial assistance to those who are unable to afford 250 [Egyptian] pounds [$13.90] to pay the legal commissioner to register the marriage. This initiative will continue until March 2018, Salem said. She stressed the importance of using places of worship and turning to sheikhs to convince the people that it was important to have civil ceremonies, because it showed a commitment to their duties toward the state. Although undocumented marriages also take place in other governorates, especially in Upper Egypt, Salem believes they are mostly prevalent in South Sinai, attributing this to tribal customs, early marriage and the financial status of Bedouin families. She said the women's council cannot be relied upon to register all unregistered marriages and help with all official papers, especially since the initiative will end in March 2018. Therefore, the council's South Sinai branch is considering pushing for new legislation that would impose sanctions on families that do not document their marriages after March 2018, but it is yet to determine what kind of sanctions could be introduced. Salem said some of the people of South Sinai are well-aware of the importance of registering marriages, especially in light of the economic crisis. A registered marriage brings advantages in terms of government subsidies on housing and school fees. Speaking about the obstacles facing the initiative, Salem referred to the high cost of the legal commissioners services, especially since the prices vary from one area to another, according to every commissioners estimates. She said that some people who were not registered at birth or at marriage felt less of a bond with the homeland, and that by improving their civil rights, their sense of belonging would increase. This is particularly important in South Sinai, which is a border governorate where terrorism prevails, she said. Salem added, To get women to push for civil marriage and the rights it would entail, we need to improve education among the girls and provide them with economic means. The initiative received a broad acclaim from civil society in the governorate. On June 27, the Sons of Sinai (Abnaa Sinai) association cooperated with the the women's council to document tribal marriages. Fatima Talaat, the chairman of the board of directors of Sons of Sinai, told Al-Monitor that the association has been able to document over 2,500 cases where birth certificates and national identity cards needed to be issued. She said, The associations activities also include holding seminars on civil rights, which attract many women and make them aware of their rights, including their right to ask for civil marriage." Talaat stressed that the public was very responsive to the initiative in general, saying, The people are enthusiastic about it and are asking the association to increase its activity. But the association has limited financial resources and there are not enough people to work on this. Poverty tops South Sinais problems.This, in turn, leads to lack of education and a tendency to marry off girls at an early age. The main problems facing Bedouin women are early and customary marriage as well as marriage between cousins; in most cases, the ceremonies involve an agreement between the parents of the bride and groom, in the presence of senior sheikhs and relatives. According to a study conducted by a group of Egyptian researchers in 2012, 3,391 marriages between cousins took place in South Sinai; that is 37.5% of all marriages. The numbers are likely to be higher if undocumented marriages were included in the statistics. Azzah al-Masaid, a feminist and journalist for Egyptian news site EgyFP in South Sinai, told Al-Monitor, Tribal or customary marriages guarantee Bedouin women their full rights more than married women who have no official papers. This is because tribal customs respect marriage and ensure women's rights and the rights of their children. She said that every tribe has leaders and that when those leaders agree on certain rights with families, it becomes the final say, which all parties respect. Many people in the tribal community in South Sinai do not believe in official marriage because it is worthless to them, while other groups find registering marriages with the help of a legal commissioner too expensive, she added. Masaid said, Some people have had their birth certificates registered in one city but ended up getting married in another, which makes it difficult to arrange official papers. Bureaucratic red tape also stands in the way of obtaining legal documents. Masaid also expressed concern that the initiative would not reach many South Sinai residents, saying, I heard about the initiative by chance." She said the women's council "did not promote it through the media, although volunteer and service work in South Sinai should always be advertised. She said the council should make a greater effort to inform people about the initiative [by instructing sheikhs to talk about this topic] in mosques and via loudspeakers to encourage residents to obtain their official documents and register their marriages. July 20, 2017 The crisis between Turkey and Germany over the detention of a German human rights defender and two German journalists is escalating amid signs that Germany is preparing to transition from sharpening rebukes to punitive actions. Germanys Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, who declared a re-orientation of Germany's Turkey policy, told the press in Berlin today that the countrys actions show it's departing from the basis of European values." One cant advise anyone to invest in a country when there is no legal certainty and where companies, completely respectable companies, are presented as terrorists, Gabriel said. I therefore do not see how, as the government, we can still guarantee German company investments in Turkey if, as has happened, arbitrary expropriations for political reasons have not only been threatened but have already taken place. Gabriels comments come as Germanys association of exporters suggested that the threat to economic ties between the two countries were far from empty. In the same report, Bloomberg quoted the lobby group as saying, You certainly cant advise any companies to take on investments in this climate. Germany is Turkeys biggest trading partner and, and with $14 billion in annual sales, its biggest export market. The German tourists who once flocked to Turkey are now staying away. The row between the two NATO allies has been simmering for some time. It was triggered in part by Germanys refusal to extradite Turkish military officers who Turkey alleges were involved in last summer's failed putsch. Germany has offered asylum to some of the men who were previously stationed at NATO facilities in Germany. In reprisal, Turkey refused to let German parliamentarians visit German military personnel stationed at the Incirlik air base as part of the US-led coalition against the Islamic State. Germany is relocating its planes and soldiers to Jordan in protest. Relations were further strained when local administrators denied permission for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to campaign in Germany, which is host to an estimated three million Turks for his executive presidency plans that were approved in a controversial referendum in April. But the biggest blow came with the arrests of Turkish German journalists Deniz Yucel and Mesale Tolu over thinly supported terror charges. And when a Turkish prosecutor arrested German rights activist Peter Steudtner and five other human rights defenders this week, it proved to be the final straw. Gabriel said the case showed that German citizens are no longer safe from arbitrary arrests in Turkey. He went on, We have no other choice because we are responsible for the protection of our citizens of our country but to adapt our travel and safety advisory to Turkey and let German know what can happen to them when they travel to Turkey. Gabriel warned, We cant go on as we have before. We have to be clearer than before so that those in charge in Ankara understand that such a policy wont be without consequences. John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International director of Europe and central Asia, said at a press conference, Too many Western governments have been locked in a fatal embrace with the Turkish government at the moment it slides into an authoritarian direction. These arrests represent a red line, and must be the moment when the terms of engagement with Turkey are reset. But will they be? Many including Al-Monitor columnist Semih Idiz have aired doubt that there is much Germany and Turkeys other Western allies can do, especially for as long Turkey serves as a holding pen for millions of Syrian refugees who given a chance would all head to Europe. The Donald Trump administration has been more vocal about Turkeys accelerating descent into authoritarianism. US Ambassador to Turkey John Bass paid a publicized visit to Amnestys Istanbul offices ahead of the Tuesdays hearing, but to no avail. The London-based watchdogs Turkey director Idil Eser was among those who were remanded in pre-trial detention on outlandish charges of secretly plotting civil unrest in Turkey. State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert later commented, Prosecutions like these with little evidence or transparency undermine Turkeys rule of law and the countrys obligations to respect individual rights. We urge Turkish authorities to drop the charges, release those who have been detained and remove the provisions of the state of emergency that allow indiscriminate prosecution of individuals. So, we will continue to keep an eye on that, she said. Kati Piri is a member of the European Parliament and its Turkey rapporteur. She was among those who helped drive through a vote calling for the European Union to suspend membership talks with Turkey. She told Al-Monitor that Germanys response pointed to a clear hardening against Turkey, which will also have an influence on the EUs position as Berlin was the country opting for a more pragmatic approach. Piri reckons that now, EU options include to seriously cut back on the EU pre-accession funds (700 million euros a year). She added that Germany could also block the opening of negotiations on upgrading Turkeys customs union with the European bloc. A high level political dialogue between ranking EU and Turkish officials is set to be held on July 25, the day after 15 journalists from the left-wing daily Cumhuriyet, including Al-Monitor columnist Kadri Gursel, will appear for the first time in court. Twelve of them including Gursel are in jail. If they are not freed then, Piri suggested this could become a crucial turning point. Remarks by a spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel today indicated that Piri's predictions may prove right. The spokesman alluded to the annual aid provided by the bloc to Turkey that is slated for measures to strengthen democracy, the rule of law and economic growth and competitiveness as part of the countrys longstanding bid for EU membership. We think it would be right to review this [aid] now given the latest developments in Turkey, the spokesman said. It is unclear whether this aid can achieve the desired result given the current situation, he added. Marc Pierini, a former EU ambassador to Ankara and a fellow at Carnegie Europe, told Al-Monitor, In normal circumstances, dialogue at the ministerial level should be the conduit for resolving such a crisis. But this time, circumstances are very different. Ankara seems convinced that foreigners might be supporting civil unrest in Turkey. Berlin for its part hasnt forgotten Erdogans outbursts about Nazis and gas chambers. Pierini warned, The obvious risk now is an escalation of words and possibly further arrests." Turkeys continued defiance was on display today as presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin dismissed Gabriels remarks as electioneering. We believe these are a domestic political investment for the approaching German elections. This has become a kind of fashion in Germany. They are trying to score points, he said. Kalin repeated the accusations that Germany is harboring Turkish traitors and fugitives and disrespects the Turkish justice system. They need to free themselves from this suspension of reason and reflect. July 19, 2017 It's not possible to regulate people's thoughts, but Turkey's president has come up with the next-best thing: controlling their words. Since the April 16 referendum that expanded the authority of the presidency, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been urging Turkey's parliament to make drastic changes to its bylaws and internal regulations. On July 7, two right-wing parties the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) submitted an 18-point plan to back Erdogans proposals to modify bylaws. The draft generated tense arguments in the Constitutional Commission but is expected to pass with ease: The AKP has joined forces with the ultranationalist MHP the smallest party in parliament to guarantee a majority vote. The proposed changes are quite broad: Some are rather arbitrary and petty, while others are well-calculated to have a lasting impact on Turkish politics. Most opposition lawmakers refer to the package as the palace regime, saying it's no longer about the parliament, AKP or even the prime minister and his Cabinet. Rather, it's about serving the presidential palace's interests. What are these changes? First, there are stylistic ones, such as changes to the parliamentary dress code. Parliament Speaker Ismail Kahraman, an outspoken Islamist, has never been happy with the current code, which requires him to wear a black tailcoat and white bow tie. Under the proposed changes, that uniform would no longer be required. There also has been debate about removing ties as a requirement for all male lawmakers. Other changes are more substantial and are expected to have significant consequences. Republican Peoples Party (CHP) lawmaker Muharrem Erkek, a Constitutional Commission member, said in a television interview, Those who drafted this proposal must have specifically singled out the instances [in which] opposition lawmakers speak up and influence public opinion, when they actually alter the course of public discussions, and now [the authors] propose to erase those few opportunities so lawmakers can no longer talk and inform the public. For example, parliamentary bylaws allot 40 minutes for lawmakers to discuss a matter; this would be reduced to 14 minutes. The legislator bringing a matter to parliament's attention would get five minutes, and three other parties couild take three minutes each to respond. Reporting from the parliament floor is so crucial that several CHP and Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) members have been using their own mobile gadgets and apps (such as Periscope video streaming) to reach the public when state-controlled TV fails to air opposition members speeches. The publics interest in these speeches has been overwhelming. The opposition's contributions seen through Periscope become trending topics on social media, particularly during heated constitutional amendment debates. In January, it became clear just how much opposition lawmakers live reporting annoyed AKP members. A profile appeared on Twitter under the name Yeliz Adaley. Adaley started her own Periscope broadcasting from parliament with critical remarks about opposition lawmakers. Yet there are no lawmakers in the Turkish parliament with this name. Opposition parties started to investigate and found out a male AKP lawmaker, Ahmet Hamdi Camli who at one time had been Erdogans driver was responsible. After the discovery, the troll account was shut down, but Camli hasn't been able to shake his female nickname in Ankara. Under the proposed regulations, AKP members would no longer need to create gender-bending troll identities to distract the public. Secret balloting appears to be at risk. If 20 lawmakers agree, open voting would be accepted on almost all votes. This was a particularly thorny issue during voting for constitutional amendments when AKP and MHP members recklessly broke the secret ballot rules. Several procedural rules also would change. For instance, at least one-third of the membership currently must assent to a call for a vote on the floor. With the updates, no roll call would be necessary. The most mind-boggling proposed change addresses words lawmakers may say in parliament. Words and phrases found to be offensive to Turkey's history that are deemed damaging to the publics faith and belief in the future would be sanctioned. This could entail almost anything. For example, anyone could be penalized for using words such as "Amed" (the Kurdish name for Diyarbakir province) or simply for saying "Kurdistan" or "Armenian genocide." Similarly, lawmakers criticizing historic figures or decisions could be required to pay one-third of their monthly salaries as a fine. One-third of the salary is 12,000 Turkish liras, about $3,400. If lawmakers are temporarily suspended from parliament, the fine would be two-thirds of their monthly salary. The AKP has been able to pass every law it has wanted so far, so why the urgency to pass such draconian measures to erase even the symbolic values of the legislative body? One reason is that by November 2019, when the next presidential election is scheduled, parliament needs to pass about 2,000 transition laws and regulations so that the new constitution can go into effect immediately. The voices of those in the opposition, some members of which are in jail, still serve two crucial purposes. First, they raise public awareness about proposed laws' potential consequences and possibly turn public opinion against the government. HDP council member Alp Altinors told Al-Monitor that parliamentary debate has been instrumental in stopping extreme AKP proposals such as the marrying your rapist bill, which was shelved due to strong public reaction. Next, even though they can't stop most of the proposed laws, opposition members can delay them. With thousands of new regulations to be passed in the next 27 months, AKP members complain about a lack of time and say they need legislation to clear the parliament quickly. This would mean no deliberation and would devolve parliament into a merely symbolic venue to unconditionally rubber-stamp the palaces wishes. Altinors said the proposed restrictions on lawmakers are unconstitutional. Focusing on the ban on criticizing historical events, he cited the Dersim Massacre in the 1930s, when the military killed more than 13,000 Kurdish citizens. In 2011, Erdogan issued an official apology. Now, this kind of a statement from the parliament would [draw] a hefty fine," Altinors remarked. Altinors claims the current administration has been diligently working to erase the reality of Kurds and others. In a July 15 speech, Erdogan spoke of the country's "50 million people, though the entire Turkish population surpasses 80 million. Altinors asked, "Is it really possible to deny the reality of Kurdistan by punishing the lawmakers who dare to talk of it, when the Iraqi Kurdish flag went up at Istanbul airport Feb. 26? These arbitrary restrictions would only increase tension inside an already-tense parliament. If the proposals pass, will their effects spill over to the public as well? For example, will regular citizens be prosecuted for uttering words not approved by the palace? This vague, arbitrary and broad set of proposals aims to take away the last legitimate venue available to opposition members to voice their concerns and represent their constituents. Where and how will the political demands of others be represented in Turkey? July 19, 2017 A year after the bloody attempt to overthrow him, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is holding his ground against the West with a tenacious determination he is unlikely to forgo anytime soon. With the memory of the successful Egyptian coup of July 2013 still fresh in his mind, Erdogan clearly believes the United States and Europe are ultimately behind efforts to have him overthrown. The lack of any immediate response by the West to the coup attempt and its condemnations of it only after it was clear the attempt had failed merely increased Erdogans resentment for the West. Instead of expressing solidarity with my countrymen, a number of Western governments and institutions opted to wait and see how the crisis would play out, Erdogan said in an article for The Guardian published July 15, the anniversary of the coup attempt. "Their hypocrisy and double standards deeply disturbed the Turkish people, who risked everything to defend freedom," he added. The failure by the United States to extradite Fethullah Gulen the Islamic preacher accused of masterminding the coup and by European countries to extradite alleged Gulen supporters reportedly due to lack of concrete evidence from Turkey in both cases is also seen as proof of Western support for the coup attempt. Germany, which has decided to consider asylum for all those who say they are fleeing injustice in Turkey, is high on the list of countries in Erdogans crosshairs. I gave [Chancellor Angela] Merkel 4,500 files. You have to extradite these terrorists to Turkey. As long as you don't do so, Turkey will see Germany as a country that protects terrorists, Erdogan told the editor of the German daily Zeit in an interview published before the recent G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. Turkish-German relations have been strained for months not just over this issue, but also other issues including the refusal by German local authorities to give Erdogan and his ministers permission to hold rallies with the 3-million-strong Turkish community in Germany. Turkey retaliated against Berlin by either preventing or restricting visits by German deputies to German soldiers stationed at the Incirlik and Konya air bases, where they are involved in the US-led coalition against the Islamic State (IS). Erdogans anger was also evident in his address over the weekend to mark the first anniversary of the failed coup attempt, commemorated ostentatiously by his Justice and Development Party (AKP). The July 15 coup has shown us that we must be strong as a state and a nation because we have so many enemies waiting to ambush us who would refuse us the right to live for even a day, Erdogan said in his emotional address to parliament. If we started to name them one by one, we would face a very serious international crisis, he added, referring to the greatest betrayal and attempt to invade [Turkey] in recent history. His familiar populism and harsh anti-Western remarks also on display on this occasion go down well with his supporters not just at home but also, ironically, in the West too. The results of the constitutional referendum in April shocked European governments because it starkly revealed how his anti-Western rhetoric enjoys overwhelming support among the millions of Turks scattered across Europe, especially those who feel cast aside in the countries they live in. Erdogan clearly wants to capitalize on this with an eye on the presidential and general elections to be held in November 2019. The constitutional changes adopted by the April referendum which will turn Turkey into an unchecked executive presidency come into force after those elections. Clearly desiring a strong victory, Erdogan will most likely continue to pour vitriol on the United States and Europe to please his constituency. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, who has proven to be just as unsparing in targeting the United States and Europe, retained his post in this weeks Cabinet reshuffle, which also signals Ankaras current angry approach toward the West will continue. In the meantime, Erdogan is also trying to turn the tables on the European Union (EU), which a majority of Turks believe has been toying with Turkey for years by feigning to make it a candidate for membership but never intending to make it a member even if Ankara fulfills all the necessary political and democratic criteria. "If the EU bluntly says, 'We will not be able to accept Turkey into the EU,' this will be comforting for us," Erdogan told the BBC in an exclusive interview broadcast July 14. He added, "The European Union is not indispensable for us. ... We are relaxed." Germany is among the countries that oppose EU membership for Turkey on cultural and religious grounds. Germany, however again, ironically is also the leading EU member that believes ending membership talks with Turkey abruptly, as many across Europe are clamoring for today, will be counterproductive for European interests. On the other hand, an interview between Gulen and the American National Public Radio (NPR), published just prior to the anniversary of the failed coup, has also fueled speculation in Turkey about US involvement in the coup. In his interview, Gulen denied involvement in the attempted coup and accused Erdogan of being a dictator. Any platform provided to Gulen by the West that presents him in a favorable light is considered by Erdogans supporters to be a hostile act against Turkey. Burhanettin Duran, the general coordinator of the government-funded Political, Economic and Social Research Foundation, argues that it is extremely difficult to explain to the West what happened on July 15, 2016, and almost impossible to get its support. Why? Because they dont want Turkey under the Erdogan administration to get stronger and overcome its problems, Duran maintained in an article for daily Sabah. They dont want [Erdogan] to be the leader who carries Turkey to a presidential system in 2019. Duran pointed to the dilemma the West faces regarding Erdogan despite its dislike of him. They also know they have to work with Erdogan closely because they need Turkey, which acts as a wave breaker against threats to European security from the refugee crises and terrorism, Duran argued. Despite Erdogans angry jibes aimed at them, the United States and Europe are not seeking to penalize him due to their overwhelming need to keep Turkey on their side, regardless of how difficult this may appear at times. As was evident during the recent visit to Turkey by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson or in the remarks of Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the EU Commission, they are seeking to appease him instead. Western leaders seem aware, even if this goes against the grain of their public opinion, that they can only challenge Erdogan to a point, beyond which their interests in the most turbulent region of the world will be threatened. In other words, the West which is already handling Erdogan with kid gloves to a great extent will have to live with him for the foreseeable future because their vital interests so require. Erdogan is set to remain the winner in this vicious cycle. If you need a job, there are several events coming up in the next week for job seekers at different locations in Alabama. West Alabama Works is hosting a job preparation and hiring fair in Bellamy in Sumter County Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event will take place at Children of the Village Network, 550 Pine Street in Bellamy across from the Bellamy Fire Department. Among services being offered will be resume assistance, interviewing skills, job readiness and apprenticeship training. For more information, call (205) 391-0331. Also, the Alabama Career Center System is hosting TIC-The Industrial Company at three locations next week to help fill 200 to 300 open construction positions. The employees are needed to work on a new wood fired boiler, steam turbine/generator, and fuel handling equipment in Pennington. Laborers, carpenters, and operators will be hired first, and the company is also looking for pipefitters, riggers, electricians, welders, and ironworkers. The project is scheduled to start in August of this year, and ramp up through mid-2018. Applicants may apply in person at three locations: Tuesday, July 25th: 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., Meridian Community College's Workforce Development Center, 1525 Highway 19 N., Room 171, in Meridian, Miss. Wednesday, July 26th: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Demopolis Career Center, 1074 Bailey Drive, Demopolis. Thursday, July 27th: 12 p.m. to 4 p.m., Livingston Career Center, University of West Alabama, Kelly Land Hall, Student Union Drive,Livingston. Those interested can also visit the website or call 1-800-424-0156. Information on these jobs is also available at the Demopolis Career Center, (334) 289-0202. Applicants should come dressed professionally, prepared to interview and bring copies of their resumes. A 115-year-old statue from Waco, Texas. A 117-year-old public horse trough from New Jersey. A 136-year-old fountain from Bowling Green, Ky. The 158-year-old cupola of the Tennessee State Capitol building in Nashville. All of these projects have a few things in common - they were made with cast metals, and they involve Robinson Iron of Alexander City. Restoration is nothing new for the firm, which has worked on projects as far away as Romania and Singapore. Alabamians know their work well. Robinson has restored fountains in Mobile and Montgomery, but its highest profile project in-state was the cleaning, recasting and coating of the Vulcan atop Red Mountain from 1999 through 2003. But Robinson Iron was also responsible for building the newly dedicated Berczy Park fountain in Toronto, which features 27 different breeds of dogs - and one cat - with a gold-colored bone at the top. The 16-foot, 15,000-pound fountain, designed by landscape architect Claude Cormier, has proved a hit with pets and their owners. An estimated 1,500 people walk their dogs in that park each day. Al Neighbors of Robinson Iron gets a toehold on one of Vulcan's feet as some of the big guy's parts were loaded onto a truck and headed to Alexander City for restoration in this 2001 photo. The feet weigh 8000 lbs. each. "It's fun to work on something like that," said Scott Howell, vice president and manager of Robinson Iron. "What we do is pretty unique. There's not a lot of companies that deal in cast metals. It's a pretty short list of bidders." Take a visit to Robinson Iron's offices in Alexander City and you'll see several projects going on at once. In the warehouse are pieces bound for the U.S. Treasury Building in Washington. Workers were restoring a church fountain as well as the Bowling Green fountain project. "We may have 15 to 25 projects going at any one time," said Luke Robinson, the third generation of his family to be involved in the work. The Robinsons opened a foundry in 1946, then formed the Iron company in 1974. The company has a collection of cast metal patterns built up, some more than 100 years old, Robinson said. That give it an edge in restoration projects. As Howell explained, cast iron was used in many public works from the end of the Civil War through the turn of the previous century. Foundries, used to make weapons during the war, were converted to making decorative fences, fountains, statues and other public items. "Just when we think we're getting to the bottom of the barrel, we're finding new projects all the time," Howell said. "There's an enormous amount of cast iron in the Northeast." Jeff Wrubel of Robinson Iron guides Vulcan's head onto the bed of a truck Oct. 20, 1999, as workers continue tearing down the statue. The statue was brought down in 1999 because of cracks that made it unsafe. The National Historical Preservation Act of 1966, which gave more incentives toward restoration, is one reason why so many iron fences, public buildings and monuments are turning up in Alexander City, Howell said. Luke said he got involved in the family business after working summers. "I just always liked it," he said. "I got to go to places where I never thought I'd go." Robinson Iron two years ago was involved in a project to fabricate the gates at the Philadelphia City Hall. The firm made them based on drawings from 1869 by the city hall architect John McArthur, Jr. The new gates were made from aluminum and stainless steel, which were chosen for their lighter weight compared to cast iron. Projects have also required getting into tight spaces between old buildings in New York, or high places like the Tennessee State Capitol. Robinson Iron is currently restoring the iron work of the cupola. Howell said part of the process is analyzing the metal to find the original color and duplicating it. "A lot of the work is finding out how things were put together," he said. "With a lot of these projects, there's more corrosion than you think, and you have to dig through the layers of paint. It's a little bit something different each time." What's next? Robinson Iron will soon begin work on a 150-foot Pensacola, Fla., lighthouse, which is the tallest along the Gulf Coast. David's Catfish House of Atmore has been selected Bama's Best Catfish Restaurant in a statewide contest sponsored by the Alabama Catfish Producers. "We have employees who have been with us for 25 or 30 years," David's Catfish House owner Rob Faircloth said in a media release from the Alabama Farmers Federation. "They're happy and enjoy what they're doing. They know our customers and want to make them happy. We can't thank our customers enough for nominating us." David's Catfish House of Atmore is a franchise location of the catfish chain that founders David and Sadie Ross began in Waynesboro, Miss., in 1983 and relocated to Monroeville three years later. The Atmore location, which Faircloth opened in 1993, is at 1504 South Main St. The other finalists for Bama's Best Catfish Restaurant were Swamp John's in Red Bay, Catfish 'N' Que in Cullman and the Orrville Farmer's Market in Orrville. Judges in the contest were "Absolutely Alabama" host Fred Hunter of Fox 6/WBRC-TV in Birmingham, Jim Allen of the Alabama Farmers Cooperative and co-host of "Simply Southern TV," and Hale County catfish farmer and Catfish Farmers of America president Townsend Kyser. Alabama Catfish Producers chairman Sid Nelson of Sumter County accompanied the judges. In addition to the judges' pick, David's Catfish House also won the People's Choice Award in an online vote. To read more about the Bama's Best Catfish Restaurant contest, go here. About 500 more 4-year-olds in Jefferson County will attend Pre-K this fall due to state and local efforts. Birmingham City Schools is opening a Pre-K center at Center Street School this fall. The center will offer three state First Class Pre-K classes and two locally funded classrooms, said Arlene Bay Williams, Pre-K coordinator for the school system. A locally funded Pre-K classroom is also opening at Barrett Elementary and Hudson K-8 School this fall, she said. "With the classes we are adding, we are trying to eliminate the waiting lists," Williams said. More than 150 children were on a waiting list before the new classrooms were added. She said students zoned for Bush K-8 are attending school at Center Street. When those students are moved to another school in the next year or so, Pre-K will be expanded at Center Street, she said. Few spots are available this fall at various classrooms around the city, Williams said. Registration is still open. Click here for more information or call 205-231-2409 or 205-314-9875. The Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education previously announced it was adding 17 First Class Pre-K classrooms in Jefferson County. The classrooms are located in various sites across the county, including the YMCA of Greater Birmingham, Canaan Learning Land Enrichment Center, Bessemer City Schools and Jefferson County Schools. Before this fall, Jefferson County had 87 First Class Pre-K programs, with an average of 18 students in each class. Birmingham City Schools house about half of them. Other Pre-K programs are also being added across the county including classes at the James Rushton Early Learning Center in Woodlawn. Alabama's First Class Pre-K program is touted as one of the best in the country. A study by the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama found students that participate in the state's First Class Pre-K program consistently outperform their peers in math and reading on state assessments. Other studies, according to advocates, show that students who have attended Pre-K are more likely to graduate from high school and find success in the workforce. They are also less likely to commit a crime or rely on social welfare programs as adults. Williams said the Pre-K classrooms funded through Birmingham City Schools follow the same curriculum as the First Class Pre-K program. Less than a year on the job and already on the hot seat, Alabama school superintendent Michael Sentance will undergo an evaluation by the state board of education in a special-called meeting next Tuesday. Board Vice President Stephanie Bell, R-Montgomery, said all board members were sent the evaluation document after their July 11 board meeting with a deadline to complete it by 5 p.m. on Fri., July 21. Board member Mary Scott Hunter, R-Huntsville, said she has questions about the evaluation but has been told by Bell that any questions will have to wait until the board meets, four days after the deadline to complete it. "Tuesday is too late," Hunter said. Sentance's contract calls for an evaluation prior to Dec. 31 of this year, but Bell said the evaluation is being done now because he has been on the job nearly a year. Hunter questioned Bell's timing, saying, "We have had no discussion about the timing of the evaluation. It was sprung on us." Board member Cynthia McCarty, R-Jacksonville, said being asked to complete the evaluation at this time was "unexpected." Sentance was appointed state superintendent in a 5-4 vote by board members last August. His contract is dated Sept. 12, and runs through Dec. 31, 2018. Board member Dr. Yvette Richardson, D-Birmingham, said she considered this next evaluation to be a follow up to a March work session, when board members aired concerns they had with Sentance at the time. "For me, this is to see where [Sentance] is at this point," Richardson said. Both Bell and Richardson characterized the March meeting as a mid-year evaluation. The work session lasted more than six hours, and board members were candid about their concerns. In March, board members were mostly concerned about Sentance's lack of communication with the board, an issue that Bell has reiterated at board meetings held since then. Sentance's contract allows for a reasonable period of time to correct any deficiencies identified in the evaluation, but the board has the right to terminate his contract with 60 days' notice at any time, with a majority vote of the board, and he would receive any remaining salary for the balance of his contract for that calendar year. Sentance's contract includes yearly salary of $198,000, a monthly $1,750 housing allowance, use of a state car, and retirement benefits. Bell said Gov. Kay Ivey, who serves as president of the state board of education, was given an evaluation to complete, too. Ivey took office in April of this year after former Gov. Robert Bentley resigned. The evaluation criteria were agreed upon by both the board and Sentance, and approved by the board last December, Bell said. Sentance has had a long time to become familiar with the criteria the board will use to evaluate him, she added. Hunter questioned the fairness of completing an evaluation at this point and instead said the board should give Sentance a full year from when the evaluation was adopted. "Clearly we don't have to wait until Dec. 31 [to do the evaluation]," Hunter said, "but the board needs to talk about [the timing] and decide on a date." As to the evaluation itself, Hunter said, "I've been really wrestling with that because I'm uncomfortable signing my name to it before the board has discussed it fully." McCarty will complete the evaluation, because, she said, "I feel like if I don't, then any of the things I have seen, good or bad, won't be reflected." Bell said board members have been told to send their completed evaluation directly to the board's recently-hired outside legal counsel, Montgomery attorney Lewis Gillis. Gillis will compile the results and will present them to the board at Tuesday's meeting, she said. Bell said she expects Gillis to make a recommendation on how the evaluation will be discussed, whether in a closed meeting or in public, based on the compiled results. The evaluation, presented below, covers six areas of responsibility: board communications and state law, educational leadership of schools, financial management, community relations, communication and interpersonal relations, and professional development leadership. Alabama State Superintendent FINAL EVALUATION - December 8 2016 by Trisha Powell Crain on Scribd Each board member can assign a score of one (needs improvement), two (proficient), or three (exceptional), in multiple areas within each of the six broader categories. Sentance hit the ground running last year and is in the process of changing much of the state's education landscape, including math, science and reading standards, and improving teacher preparation programs. Just last month Sentance recommended, and the board voted unanimously, to do away with the state's standardized test in favor of an as-yet-to-be-created one. The results of a federal audit of Alabama's high school graduation rates, started months before Sentance was appointed, showed Alabama had artificially inflated the federal graduation rate. He initiated the takeover of 27 of Montgomery's 56 schools in February, and has restructured the state department of education organizational chart. Sentance and senior staff are finalizing the state's strategic plan, called Alabama Ascending, as well the state's plan to fulfill federal obligations under the Every Child Succeeds Act. The board will meet at 10 a.m. Tues., July 25, for a work session and hold the special-called meeting immediately following the work session, according to the agenda. Sentance did not respond to AL.com's request for comment. This article was updated at 9:05 p.m. to correct the terms of Sentance's contract. Updated at 9:45 p.m. to clarify Hunter's comments. This story is a part of Ask Alabama, a weekly interaction with our readers, where you ask the questions, you vote to decide which questions we answer, and then we investigate. One reader recently asked "We now have the lowest unemployment rate since 2008, but how many are part-time or hold multiple part-time jobs? How does that compare to other states?" It's true. At 4.9 percent, Alabama is enjoying its lowest rate of unemployment since April 2008 when it sat at 5 percent - low enough that former Gov. Robert Bentley would be able to take a salary had he not been forced to resign. In fact, not since sustained periods of low unemployment in the late-1990s and the mid-2000s, has the state seen such figures, according to Department of Labor records that go back as far 1976. "Our wage and salary employment, which is based on a survey given to Alabama's employers asking them how many positions they are supporting, is currently measuring over two million, which hasn't occurred since June 2008," said Alabama Labor Secretary Fitzgerald Washington in an email to AL.com. "Our numbers are indicating that Alabama is currently doing very well on the jobs front, and we certainly hope to continue that trend." However, the monthly employment figure produced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) does not contain specific data about part-time employment. The employment percentage reported each month just counts every single job regardless if it's part-time of full-time work. To make matters more difficult, states in the Southeast that AL.com contacted do not measure part-time employment. But don't worry. Buried deep within the BLS website there is a dataset that is derived from what's known as the Current Population Survey, a little known questionnaire that asks around 60,000 households across the country every month about the employment situation of each person living in that particular household. The data is then collated into an annual report and published at irregular intervals. Reports currently go from 1997 to 2014, according to a spokesperson at the BLS. A part-time worker is someone that works between 1 and 34 hours, according to the Department of Labor. In 2008, as the effects of the global financial crisis were beginning to show in the labor market, and as the national unemployment rate increased from 5.0 to 7.3 percent in a single year, Alabama had 313,000 part-time workers, according to that year's survey. Taking the state population at the time, Alabama had a part-time employment rate of 6.6 percent for the year. CPS gathers the part-time employment rate each month and an average for the year is calculated and published annually. The average unemployment rate for 2008 was 6.2 percent, but ranged from 4.5 percent in January to 8.3 percent in December, according to BLS statistics. By Comparison, 6.49 percent of residents in Mississippi, 7 percent in Georgia and 7.13 percent in Florida were also in part-time employment, according to census population data and 2008 figures from CPS. The national average at that time was 8.3 percent. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Fast forward to 2014, the most recently available data on part-time labor, Alabama's part-time employment rate increased to 7.06 percent on average for the year. The average unemployment figure for the year was 6.7 percent, ranging from 7.2 percent in January to 6.1 percent in December. Aside from Mississippi, every other state in the Southeast also saw an increase in part-time workers. The U.S. average was 8.57 percent in 2014. So while the rate of unemployment is quickly coming back down to pre-recession levels, the amount of part-time workers is at a record high and not showing signs of retreat. "One reason it's so high is that it's more cost-efficient for businesses to employ part-time workers," said Viktoria Riiman, a socioeconomic analyst at the University of Alabama. "They don't have to pay as many benefits." Riiman also explained that some in part-time work are unwilling to return to full-time employment while salaries in the U.S. are stagnant. Since 1940, for example, worker productivity has increased by 234 percent, whereas hourly wage growth has grown by less than half that, according to data from the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington D.C.-based think tank. Another reason, according to Riiman, was that older people continued to work past retirement, often in part-time roles. A 2016 report from the Population Reference Bureau indicated that in 2014, 23 percent of men and about 15 percent of women aged 65 and older remained in the labor force, and that those levels are projected to rise further by 2022, to 27 percent for men and 20 percent for women. Have a question you want answered? Help us choose the next topic by submitting it below. You can always submit your questions and vote on the next round by visiting al.com/ask. _ Vote here. A former teacher, principal, and human resources director for Jefferson County Schools was sentenced to federal prison today on child pornography charges. Brett Kirkham, 41, pleaded guilty in March to two counts of a four-count federal indictment-- one count of enticing a person under the age of 18 and one count of possessing an image that involved a pornographic image of a minor who had not attained 12 years of age. U.S. District Court Judge Scott Cooler sentenced Kirkham to 365 months in federal prison, or just over 30 years. When released from prison, Kirkham will be put on supervised probation for the rest of his life. Kirkham is the former Hueytown Middle School principal and human resources director for Jefferson County Schools. Tommy Spina, one of Kirkham's attorneys, spoke at Thursday's sentencing hearing. "How does such a highly educated individual... make such poor choices when it comes to sexual relationships?" he said. "Sexually inappropriate choices that are perplexing to me." The defense asked the court for a sentence of 17.5 years, while the prosecution requested the 365 month sentence that was ultimately granted. Kirkham, who is currently in custody of the U.S. Marshals, made a brief statement. He said, "I truly am deeply sorry," to the victims, community, and his family. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Ward also spoke at the hearing and called the situation a "particularly heinous case." "There's no way to explain away his conduct," he said. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacquelyn Mather Hutzell also prosecuted the case. Ward also read a statement submitted by the victim who was a student of Kirkham's at the time they were engaging in sex acts. "He acted as if he was my friend, but he was not my friend. I know that now," it said. "I now live in constant fear... fearing someone will find out it was me." The letter also described how the victim, who was not identified, is slow to trust people and does not have many close friends since the incident. "One day, when all of this is said and done, I will return to who I was before this," it said. During the hearing, another incident was discussed in which Kirkham contacted a 14-year-old in Mississippi and encouraged that teenager to molest and sodomize the teen's 8-year-old brother and another 4-year-old child. Kirkham asked the teen to send him a video of the incident, which was discovered on his computer. Before announcing the sentence, Coogler said he was praying for the victims in the case, but also for Kirkham's family. "They're not going to be happy when they leave today. They're not going to be happy for a long time," he said about Kirkham's parents. He said he considers child pornography as child abuse. "This case calls out for a life sentence, not just a 365 month sentence," he said. When Kirkham is released from prison, he will have to register as a sex offender and follow all guidelines associated with that registration. He is to never have any contact with a child under the age of 18 without supervision, and is not allowed to work with children under 18. Kirkham began his career at Hueytown High School in 2000, where he taught for three years. He later became the principal of Hueytown Middle School, and served as the school leader for eight years. In 2012, Kirkham became the school group director/area superintendent for the board of education. He went on to work as director of assistance and safety for the board, and was named human resources director in 2014. In June 2016, the month before the federal charges were revealed, state charges were filed against Kirkham involving one victim. He was charged in Jefferson County with one count of a school employee engaging in a sex act with a student and in Tuscaloosa County on one count of a school employee engaging in a sex act with a student and with possession of child pornography. The Tuscaloosa County charge has since been dismissed. Court records show Kirkham met with the victim on numerous occasions between Jan. 1, 2014 and Jan. 1, 2016 for the purpose of engaging in sex acts. "The victim said they would meet at various locations throughout Hueytown," Hueytown Sgt. Mark Didcoct wrote in the arrest warrant affidavit. "The suspect was also the victim's former principal at Hueytown Middle School." Court records show Kirkham did "engage in anal sex with minor between the ages of 16 -18" between Jan. 1, 2013 through Jan. 1, 2016. According to the arrest warrant from Tuscaloosa County, Kirkham also possessed obscene matter "containing a visual depiction of a person under the age of 17 years engaged in any act of sad-masochistic abuse, sexual intercourse, sexual excitement, masturbation, genital nudity or other sexual conduct." A search warrant at Kirkham's home resulted in the seizure of his personal computer, which contained thousands of pornographic photos, mostly of young boys, former Jefferson County Bessemer Cutoff District Attorney Bill Veitch said. During the sentencing hearing, defense attorney Joel Sogol said Kirkham lived a public and private life because of his sexuality, and that double life caused him to go down a "dark path." "If you're openly gay, you're not going to get a job in education," Sogol said. Sogol, said he plans to appeal a search warrant that resulted in the seizure of Kirkham's computer, which had the pornography on it. The sentence handed down Thursday cannot be directly appealed. "To think we put a predator of this danger with our children is hard to take," Coogler said Thursday. WASHINGTON -- Arizona Sen. John McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee with a well-known maverick streak that often vexes his GOP colleagues, has been diagnosed with a brain tumor, his office said in a statement Wednesday. The 80-year-old lawmaker has glioblastoma, an aggressive cancer, according to doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, where McCain had a blood clot removed from above his left eye last Friday. The senator and his family are reviewing further treatment, including a combination of chemotherapy and radiation. "Subsequent tissue pathology revealed that a primary brain tumor known as a glioblastoma was associated with the blood clot," his office said in a statement. About 20,000 people in the U.S. each year are diagnosed with a glioblastoma, a particularly aggressive type of brain tumor. The American Cancer Society puts the five-year survival rate for patients over 55 at about 4 percent. The tumor digs tentacle-like roots into normal brain tissue. Patients fare best when surgeons can cut out all the visible tumor, which happened with McCain's tumor, according to his office. That isn't a cure; cancerous cells that aren't visible still tend to lurk, the reason McCain's doctors are considering further treatment, including chemotherapy and radiation. It's the same type of tumor that struck McCain's close Democratic colleague in legislative battles, the late Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts. The senator and chairman of the Armed Services Committee had been recovering at his Arizona home. His absence had forced Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to delay action on health care legislation. McCain had been slated to oversee debate of the sweeping defense policy bill in the coming weeks. As word spread of his diagnosis, President Donald Trump, former rival Barack Obama and McCain's Senate colleagues, Republicans and Democrats, offered their prayers and support. Melania and I send our thoughts and prayers to Senator McCain, Cindy, and their entire family. pic.twitter.com/SO4XYgnyug President Trump (@POTUS) July 20, 2017 Obama, who dashed McCain's dreams of the presidency, said in a tweet: John McCain is an American hero & one of the bravest fighters I've ever known. Cancer doesn't know what it's up against. Give it hell, John. Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 20, 2017 A Navy pilot, McCain was shot down over Vietnam and held as a prisoner of war for 51/2 years. McConnell called McCain a "hero to our conference and a hero to our country. He has never shied from a fight and I know that he will face this challenge with the same extraordinary courage that has characterized his life." Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware said McCain "is a fighter, and I am hopeful he will once again beat the odds." Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey described McCain as "undoubtedly the toughest man in the United States Senate." Politics aside, McCain and Bill Clinton developed a strong friendship, and the former president said: "As he's shown his entire life, don't bet against John McCain. Best wishes to him for a swift recovery." As hes shown his entire life, dont bet against John McCain. Best wishes to him for a swift recovery. Bill Clinton (@BillClinton) July 20, 2017 McCain's office disclosed the removal of the blood clot late Saturday and said the senator was awaiting pathology reports. In the past, McCain had been treated for melanoma, but a primary tumor is unrelated. Doctors said McCain is recovering from his surgery amazingly well and his underlying health is excellent. In a statement on Twitter, his daughter, Meghan McCain, spoke of the shock of the news and the anxiety over what happens next. With his irascible grin and fighter-pilot moxie, McCain was elected to the Senate from Arizona six times, but twice thwarted in seeking the presidency. An upstart presidential bid in 2000 didn't last long. Eight years later, he fought back from the brink of defeat to win the GOP nomination, only to be overpowered by Obama. McCain chose a little-known Alaska governor as his running mate in that race, and helped turn Sarah Palin into a national political figure. After losing to Obama in an electoral landslide, McCain returned to the Senate, determined not to be defined by a failed presidential campaign. And when Republicans took control of the Senate in 2015, McCain embraced his new job as chairman of the powerful Armed Services Committee, eager to play a big role "in defeating the forces of radical Islam that want to destroy America." Throughout his long tenure in Congress, McCain has played his role with trademark verve, at one hearing dismissing a protester by calling out, "Get out of here, you low-life scum." He tangled with McConnell over campaign finance, joined forces with Democrats on immigration and most recently had a very public spat with Sen. Rand Paul. McCain said the Kentucky Republican was working for Russian President Vladimir Putin after he blocked a vote on allowing Montenegro into NATO. Paul said McCain had gotten "unhinged." In 2016, McCain stuck by Trump at times seemingly through gritted teeth -- until the release a month before the election of a lewd audio in which Trump said he could kiss and grab women. Declaring that the breaking point, McCain withdrew his support and said he would write in "some good conservative Republican who's qualified to be president." He had largely held his tongue earlier in the campaign when Trump questioned his status as a war hero by saying: "He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren't captured." President Trump still has confidence in Jeff Sessions, a White House spokesperson said Thursday, even if he is "disappointed" with the Attorney General's decision to recuse himself from an investigation into Russian interference in last year's presidential election. "Clearly, (Trump) has confidence in him or he would not be the attorney general," White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. In an interview with The New York Times, the president said he would not have nominated Sessions to lead the Justice Department if he'd known he would recuse himself from the Russia investigation. That recusal came after Sessions, a former Alabama Senator, said he'd had several meetings with the Russian ambassador during the 2016 presidential campaign. Sessions was the first Senator to endorse Trump's Republican bid and remained a key adviser throughout the campaign. Huckabee-Sanders told reporters that Trump has not spoken with Sessions in the past 24 hours. Sessions said earlier today he plans to serve as AG "as long as appropriate." In her briefing today, Huckabee-Sanders also said Trump has no plans to fire special counsel Robert Mueller "at this time." In the Times interview, Trump said he considered investigations into the Trump family finances to be inappropriate. "The president is making it clear that the special counsel should not move outside the scope of the investigation," Huckabee-Sanders said. President Donald Trump said he would not have named Jeff Sessions to be attorney general if he knew the former senator would step away from the investigation into Russian influence on the 2016 election. "Jeff Sessions takes the job, gets into the job, recuses himself, which frankly I think is very unfair to the president," Trump told The New York Times. "How do you take a job and then recuse yourself? If he would have recused himself before the job, I would have said, 'Thanks, Jeff, but I'm not going to take you.' It's extremely unfair -- and that's a mild word -- to the president." The report continued: "Mr. Trump also faulted Mr. Sessions for his testimony during Senate confirmation hearings when Mr. Sessions said he had not met with any Russians even though he had met at least twice with Ambassador Sergey I. Kislyak. "Jeff Sessions gave some bad answers," the president said. "He gave some answers that were simple questions and should have been simple answers, but they weren't." "A spokesman for Mr. Sessions declined to comment on Wednesday..." "The president also expressed discontent with Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, a former federal prosecutor from Baltimore. When Mr. Sessions recused himself, the president said he was irritated to learn where his deputy was from. "There are very few Republicans in Baltimore, if any," he said of the predominantly Democratic city." AlphaBay, an online criminal marketplace operating on the dark web, has been seized, the Department of Justice announced Thursday. The move, according to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, was aimed at stopping the site's online of illegal drugs, including Fentanyl and heroin linked to overdose deaths. "This is likely one of the most important criminal investigations of the year - taking down the largest dark net marketplace in history," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said. "I believe that because of this operation, the American people are safer - safer from the threat of identity fraud and malware, and safer from deadly drugs." AlphaBay had mysteriously gone offline earlier this month after operating for the last two years. In addition to illegal drugs, the online marketplace also offered stolen and fraudulent identification documents and access devices, counterfeit goods, malware and other computer hacking tools, firearms and toxic chemicals. The operations to seize AlphaBay's infrastructure was led by the U.S. with cooperation from six other countries and the European law enforcement agency Europol. Alexandre Cazes, known online as Alpha02 and Admin, a Canadian citizen living in Thailand, was arrested July 5 on charges of creating the site. He apparently killed himself on July 12 while in custody in Thailand, the Justice Department said. Authorities had filed suit against Cazes and his wife to recover assets alleged to have been obtained via the site, including millions of dollars in cryptocurrency. At the time of the takedown, AlphaBay had more than 250,000 listings for illegal drugs and toxic chemicals and another 100,000 for stolen identification documents and counterfeit goods, making it much larger than the Silk Road dark web marketplace that was seized by law enforcement in November 2013. The site operated on "Tor" network and used cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Monero and Ethereum to hide the location of its servers, administrators and users. Based on law enforcement's investigation of AlphaBay, authorities believe the site was also used to launder hundreds of millions of dollars deriving from illegal transactions on the website. Authorities said 50 percent of a 1-year-old child's body was burned by hot water at a Prichard home on Wednesday night. Prichard Police Detective Sgt. Robert Martin said the child was at a home located on Seminole Drive with the mother and other family members when the incident happened between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. He said the child was in the kitchen with an older sibling. Investigators are trying to figure out how the container of hot water fell on the child. Martin said the child was flown to USA Medical Hospital in Mobile and will be transported to UAB Hospital. The sibling's hand and foot was also burned. She was taken to USA Children's and Women's Hospital with less severe burns, he said. Martin believes the incident was accidental and no criminal charges are pending. The case is still under investigation. Jimmy Lyons, director and chief executive of the Alabama State Port Authority (file photo) The head of Alabama's fast-growing port said Thursday that he sees passenger rail as a "major disruption" to freight operations in and out of downtown Mobile. Jimmy Lyons, CEO of the Alabama State Port Authority and the Port of Mobile, also said that restarting passenger rail from New Orleans to Orlando - with two daily stops in Mobile - doesn't make financial sense. "As a taxpayer, I have a significant issue with it," said Lyons. "To spend money to build railroad stations along the route, and the upfront money and the certain loss the line would encounter, is going to cost a lot of taxpayer dollars. We have a lot of needs for our tax dollars. I just don't see any benefit that would come anywhere close to justifying the taxpayer expenditures." Lyons' comments to AL.com come after the Gulf Coast Working Group released to Congress on Monday its long-awaited report on restarting Amtrak service from New Orleans to Orlando. The recommendation includes two passenger trains stopping in Mobile daily. 'A lot of money' Lyons said that CSX accounts for 65 percent of the "heavily rail" activity that goes through the port, and that the freight company already "struggles to maintain service levels" within the port's crowded rail yard. He said the former Sunset Limited, which once ran through Mobile on a limited schedule before Hurricane Katrina's destruction ended Gulf Coast Amtrak service, caused big headaches for freight activity in Mobile. Lyons' comments may add new heat to a disagreement between CSX and the Southern Rail Commission about the projected cost of restarting passenger rail on the coast. The Gulf Coast Working Group estimates that $117.7 million would be needed to restore the rail line for passenger trains. CSX's estimate is $2.3 billion. The CSX estimate has been criticized by passenger rail proponents who claim the Jacksonville-based freight company hasn't disclosed the methodology in how their consultants, HDR, came up with its figure. Lyons called HRD a "well-respected national company" that is "very knowledgeable on rail issues." But even if the estimated $2.3 billion estimate is too high, Lyons said: "If you split the difference and say $1 billion, that's a lot of money." Lyons also questions how much benefit the Mobile region will see from a passenger rail return. He said he could see coastal Alabama riders traveling by train on weekends to visit New Orleans. But, he said, "I don't see an influx of attracting tourists coming into Mobile. I don't see any real benefit for Mobile." 'Really baffled' Lyons also questioning Mississippi's push to get the route re-started. Mississippi lawmakers, backed by U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker and Gov. Phil Bryant, have welcomed efforts to re-start Amtrak service along the Gulf Coast more than a decade after Katrina ravaged their state. Wicker called the working group's study "encouraging." He said that passenger rail could be "restored along the coast quickly and at a reasonable cost." Wicker joined a group of public officials in February 2016 for an inspection trip to examine the infrastructure and opportunities that intercity rail service could provide to the region. Along the way, large and enthusiastic crowds showed up outside train depots in cities like Bay St. Louis, Gulfport and Biloxi. Said Lyons: "I'm really baffled about why they are so excited about it. If they think people will ride the train to go to the casinos in Mississippi, I wonder, 'Why would you get on the train for an hour and a half to two hours and then drive 10 miles to go to the coast where the casinos are at?'" Lyons said. "I don't think there will be any benefit to Mississippi." The only other port along the route between New Orleans to Mobile is the Port of Pascagoula, which is operated by the Jackson County Port Authority. A spokeswoman with the port declined comment about the Gulf Coast Working Group's Amtrak report. "It wouldn't hurt Pascagoula as it would hurt our port, but it would impact their service," Lyons said. Alabama federal officials have been somewhat muted about the possible Amtrak revival. None of the Alabama congressmen joined the 2016 inspection tour. U.S. Rep. Bradley Bryne, R-Fairhope, said that while he believes the working group's report is "helpful," he'd like to see more analysis on profitability and ridership, and he continued with his stance in opposing federal subsidies for U.S. passenger rail. 'Bit of a challenge' Greg White, chairman of the Southern Rail Commission - a 21-member group formed in 1982 to advocate for passenger rail service and to pursue funding opportunities to support its mission - said he isn't surprised by Lyons' stance. "His mission, obviously, is the movement of freight," said White, a resident of Andalusia. "There are certainly times when passenger rail and freight have conflicting needs that have to be reconciled. So, that is just part of the process. It's not a surprise that his focus is on freight, period." White acknowledged that the Port of Mobile is "extremely busy" with rail cars, but added: "I tend to think that movement of people is a pretty significant priority for our communities that has to be considered along with the movement of freight." The Port of Mobile's activity has soared in recent years, with container traffic increasing by 19 percent last year to a record number. That activity is expected to get busier with the 2018 opening of a massive Walmart distribution center on Interstate 10 west of Mobile. Wiley Blankenship, CEO of the Coastal Alabama Partnership who has served as Mobile's city representative during SRC meetings, said the port's position on passenger rail is important. "One of the things that is a little bit of a challenge right now is the impact potentially it could have on the Port of Mobile," said Blankenship. "Our port is first and foremost in any consideration of anything that impacts it in a negative sense." Blankenship and White said there could be opportunities to improve the existing rail line that could benefit the Port of Mobile and CSX if passenger rail is restored. "The concerns (Lyons) has, we'd like to certainly help address," White said. Added Blankenship: "If improvements are made, it can improve the Port in some way." Elberta Police Department Chief Stan Devane has been hospitalized after he was reportedly injured while riding a horse in Colorado. The Elberta PD held a candlelight prayer vigil for Devane on Wednesday (July 19) night in the Elberta Town Park with community members. Devane had been vacationing in the Midwest for the past several weeks and while out riding a horse he was thrown from the horse and suffered several injuries. If you can, please come show your support for our Chief of Police. Posted by Elberta Police Department on Wednesday, July 19, 2017 He had to be readmitted into a local hospital in Denver, Colorado, on Wednesday afternoon for treatment. Devane retired from the city of Dothan Police Department in 2004 and began working for the Alabama Department of Pardons and Paroles. In January 2012, he was appointed as the police chief of Elberta that serves a community of a little more than 1,500 residents. No additional details about Devane's condition has been given at this time. A Kentucky man wanted for faking his own death in 2016 was arrested in Baldwin County on Monday (July 17) after leading deputies on brief chase. The Baldwin County Sheriff's Office took 27-year-old Spencer Huddleston of Glasgow, Kentucky, into custody in the Fairhope area, according to BCSO spokesman Anthony Lowery. Lowery said on Monday a deputy with the BCSO had to turn around in traffic to stop a 2011 Volkswagen Routan for a traffic infraction. He said the driver of the vehicle, later identified as Huddleston, accelerated and was able to elude the deputy. The deputy located the unoccupied Volkswagen behind a house in the Fairhope area shortly after. Lowery said a records check showed that the Huddleston was a wanted person out of the state of Kentucky. The records check also showed that Huddleston was listed as a missing person from Barren County, Kentucky, in October 2016. In that case he had been reported missing on October 7, 2016. Investigators in Barren County deemed Huddleston's disappearance as an apparent drowning in an area creek. Authorities in Kentucky reported that Huddleston was wanted for arson, persistent felony offender, possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of marijuana. Lowery said during the search for Huddleston on July 17, a perimeter was set up and K-9 units were brought in to track him down. Huddleston was finally located behind an abandoned house near the intersection of Highway 104 and Highway 181. Lowery said he was taken into custody without incident at that time. Huddleston was charged with attempting to elude a police officer and several other traffic offenses by the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office. He is currently being held with no bond at the Baldwin County Detention Center. Court documents revealed that a former State Farm insurance manager allegedly stole more than $20,000 over the course of one year and five months from a branch in west Mobile. The Mobile Police Department arrested 35-year-old Thomas Edward Burns on Tuesday (July 18) afternoon around 12:45 p.m., at his current job as a insurance agent at the Farmers Insurance branch in Grand Bay. The court documents were entered into Burns' case file on Thursday (July 20) afternoon. In the signed warrant for Burns arrest, Mobile Police Department Financial Crimes investigator Mike Maxey stated that Burns committed the crimes from November 20, 2015 until April 22, 2016. The alleged embezzlement scheme occurred at the State Farm branch operated by Judy McKee in the 3000 block of University Boulevard. The warrant alleges that Burns stole $22,250 from the branch during that time period. Burns was charged with first-degree theft by deception in the incident and posted a $7,500 bond on Tuesday evening. Burns is set to appear in front of Mobile District Court Judge George Hardesty on August 1. A former University of Alabama music professor has formally pleaded guilty to federal child pornography charges. Nikos Pappas, 41, entered his plea to U.S. District Judge L. Scott Cooler Thursday morning. He was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals until his sentencing. A date for his sentencing hearing has not been set. The former professor was charged with two counts of receiving and possessing child pornography. Investigators previously said hundreds of images were found on two of Pappas' computer. A laptop from his Tuscaloosa home contained more than 100 videos of child pornography from between January 2014 to September 2016, some showing sex acts with very young children, court records show. Court records show the second computer, located at Pappas' UA office, contained more than 150 images and at least 25 videos of child pornography from between January and September 2016. UA spokesman Chris Bryant said Pappas was placed on leave Sept. 22, 2016, when the school became aware of the situation. Officially, he was fired May 15, 2017, which was the end of the academic year. As government forces clash with ISIL-linked fighters, those who call the city home bear the brunt. Fatima! Fatima! Fatima emerged from her the second-floor veranda of her home. She closed her eyes, ran to the edge and leapt barefoot, with one hand clutching a bag of her meagre belongings and a blue veil wrapped around her tiny head. The rescuer caught her in time, but not before her body hit a steel rod twice. READ MORE: Marawi: A scarred city of Philippines She was carried into the back of the car where I sat. She looked at me and opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out of her mouth. She kept shaking her head as her tears continued to fall. I took both her cold hands between mine. In a whisper, I told her, You are safe now, but that was all I can do. Overwhelmed by her presence in the car, I did not have the courage to hold her. Three other civilians were rescued from that house. 102-year-old begs to stay at home Before long, we were off to our second location in Marawi City to rescue Abdulhalim Lumipao. For eight days, Abdulhalim, 102, was trapped in the house he shared with his family, all of whom eventually left as soon as the conflict took a turn for the worse. He stayed, however; he was too old. He fell back when the rescuers kicked the door of his house open because he was right behind the door as it gave way. But unlike Fatima, Abdulhalim did not want to leave his house. He begged rescuers to leave him alone. My house, my house, he cried as he held his forehead. His own grandson had to carry him out. This is a war that separated fathers and sons, where women weep softly to themselves. Most of the residents have fled and the ones who got out first were those who had the means to escape. Among those who left is Elvira Pakot. She has lived in Marawi since she was 12. I no longer recognise it, she says. It hurts to lose everything but I wont be coming back. Residents of Marawi City have made their exodus down narrow dirt roads, walking for days under the searing heat with their shoes caked in mud and their hearts scarred. They are students, workers, business owners all of them with lives left behind. For many of them, what is left of what they own is only what they could carry, wrapped in malongs or flimsy plastic bags. They had a life before the war started. Now, they are called Bakwits, a term for those who have been displaced. Women, children caught up in fighting At an evacuation centre, I saw a woman lining up for food as she carried her two-month-old baby. How is the situation here? I asked. We are okay, she replied. She said nothing more and looked away. After speaking to a volunteer, I found out that the woman had been separated from her husband. In the silent hours, it was easy to imagine that they are haunted by the ghost of their loved ones. I entered a public health clinic, right next to an evacuation centre in Saguiaran. Nuraisah Untao was there with her sick one-month-old baby, Mishael. He was only three days old when they fled, and he was suffering from diarrhoea brought about by the difficult situation in the camp. We have been poor even before this war started maam, I hope they havent forgotten us, Nuraisah said. I looked at Mishael, and he reminded me of my son. I then stood up and walked out. I had no right to cry in front of them. As a journalist, I have been trained to deal with grief, not of my own but of others. But I have learned to accept in all humility that, in my lifetime, I will never be able to gauge their loss or understand completely the depths of their despair. I walked to another room of the health clinic where a woman was in labour. She was all alone, enduring the pain in a dingy, muddy hallway. No, the husband is not there she says, as he has to look after the kids in the camp. READ MORE: The battle for Marawi Confusion and contradictions And then another woman on a hospital bed, who had just given birth to her tenth child. This baby is my last. I cant take any more uncertainty, she said. She named her baby boy Martial, in keeping with these uncertain times. How many of these children in evacuation centres will be able to finish school? How many of them will be orphaned and will grow up with revenge in their hearts? These children are the perfect recruits for groups like the Maute. In another evacuation centre, this time in Balo-i, Lanao del Sur, 80-year-old Fatima Coro Slaimah lined up for food under the unforgiving heat with her great granddaughter, but there was nothing mendicant about how she behaved. She wore a bejewelled veil and wore red lipstick. She had gold bracelets on her wrists. Her face was full of wrinkles. When I approached her, she smiled. She thought I was a social worker so she proudly handed over to me the blue card that bore her name. Like for so many others here, this blue card may be a matter of life and death. It detailed every single aid they have received, along with the time and the date. The card had become symbolic of their present, but hopefully not of their future. Driving down from Marawi back to Iligan, I saw an old man sitting on the pavement, under a shade. He was dirty and half-naked. From the looks of it, he was barely alive. And yet people milled about him as if he were invisible. I stopped the car and gave him a bag of bread. He barely noticed me. Several days later, my cameraman and I were going through videos from an evacuation centre during the early days of the siege and discovered the man was among those we filmed. Back then, he looked all right. He was clean, sitting on a mat with whom I suspect are his family. I imagined he must have lived a good life before the war, before it all came crumbling down very quickly. I quickly regretted my action. I wish I did something more for that man. Hope and despair I have never been to a place of both hope and despair. Every person I came across spoke of optimism mixed with fear and burden on their shoulders. One of them is Nariman Taha of Lanao del Sur, a doctor. She is also an evacuee, but she continues to fulfil her duty as a medical worker by attending to the needs of other evacuees. What does it mean to lose everything? How does one start over? How does one deal with the daily bombardments, the loss of loved ones, of precious possessions? Of old photographs and mementos carefully passed on from one generation to another? Having attended daily pressers and listened to recycled press releases from the military, it was easy to understand that there was a clear absence of national leadership here. Even other politicians from other parts of Mindanao who advocated for this war, even for martial law, were nowhere to be found. Once, I was at a meeting with a local government official. I worry not much will be left of Marawi after all this, I told her. She looked at me and said, That is not true. We are still here. For the first time in decades, they have been subjected to humiliation, these proud and resilient Maranaos. They are known to be entrepreneurial and clannish, and how many of them have found themselves in evacuations centres, mendicant and dependent. And yet, there was dignity in how they conducted themselves on how they laid out their mats for their children, on how they folded and adjusted their veils and sarongs, on how they lined up in evacuation centres. In every gesture, I sensed an inner upheaval. Maybe even rage. For every single step is deemed an act of defiance. Every single movement an act of refusal, of giving in to despair. A lawyer and his family fled death threats in Pakistan and came to Germany. Now, theyre being forced to go home. This summer marks the 25th anniversary of the Rostock riots the most disturbing resurgence of anti-immigrant violence in Germany since the rise of Nazism. In the quarter-century since, many foreigners arriving in Germany have experienced the warmest of welcomes but a few have experienced chilling acts of hatred. This series explores how a small minority of ultra-xenophobic Germans tarnished their nations reputation as a haven for the worlds displaced masses. These stories are primarily told through the experiences of immigrants and asylum seekers who survived xenophobic harassment or attacks. Their stories are the exception to the norm: incidents of violent xenophobia are rare in Germany compared with in other countries. Indeed, Germany has welcomed more asylum seekers in recent years than any other European nation the United Kingdom, France, Poland, Austria, Hungary, and many more than the far more populous United States. W hen faced with the largest exodus of people since World War II, none of these nations welcomed refugees as unconditionally as Germany did. Its precisely because of this reputation that Al Jazeera is taking a hard look at what happens when that welcome culture goes awry. This is the sixth story in a seven-part series. Salzhemmendorf, Germany Late one summer night in this quiet village, a Molotov cocktail came flying through the window of the apartment where a Zimbabwean refugee and her three young children lived. In the apartment next door, an asylum seeker from Pakistan who calls himself Mr Khan heard nothing. He was sitting at his computer with his headphones on, watching videos on the internet with news from Karachi. He and his family had fled Pakistan for Europe in 2012 after some of his colleagues lawyers who were Shia Muslim had been murdered by Sunni Islamic extremists. (Dozens of religious-minority lawyers have been targeted and killed in Pakistan in recent years.) Using fake passports, the family flew to Belgium, but their asylum application was rejected. So they decided to try their luck in Germany. Khan had seen on the news that tens of thousands of refugees were making their way there, and volunteers had already begun helping asylum seekers to find shelter and food. Maybe Germans see the pain of the refugee system in a way that other countries dont, he thought. Khan who asked that his first name be withheld out of fear that media attention could make him a further target in Pakistan arrived with his family in Cologne on January 8, 2015, the day after the attack on the Charlie Hebdo office in Paris made international news. Germanys refugee agency assigned the Khan family to the house in Salzhemmendorf, in north-central Germany, while they awaited a decision. Molotov cocktail At first, Khan was relieved to live in a village of fewer than 10,000 people. I myself belong to Karachi. Its a cosmopolitan city, the population is very big, said Khan of the city he fled. So when I saw all this area was cultivated [for farming], I thought, we are safer here. The day before the attack, Khan, his wife and two children had spent all day travelling to and from the city of Hanover to renew their asylum seeker ID cards. When they returned after dark they were exhausted. My children and wife also, they were sleeping, but I was awake, Khan recalled. He stayed up watching the news from Pakistan online, as he did every night, waiting for signs that might indicate it was safe to return. When he heard a loud banging on his apartment door, he opened it to find a police officer, who ushered him and his family outside. The building smelled of smoke, and Khan surveyed the wreckage: The Molotov cocktail had destroyed the bedroom it was thrown into. It was the room in which the womans 11-year-old son usually slept on a mattress on the floor. By chance, he was sleeping in his mothers room that night, which may have saved his life. Outside, I heard the sound of the fire brigade, Khan said. If they did not come, this whole building could have been finished. On a rainy day last May, Al Jazeera returned with Khan to visit the scene of the attack. The building was still being used as a shelter for asylum seekers from around the globe. Dark-haired and heavyset with a thick moustache, Khan pointed out the window through which the homemade bomb had been thrown. Upon entering the building, he encountered a Syrian family he knew. They were packing their things to move into a permanent apartment. They are in luck, Khan said. The German nation let them stay. They were Syrians, a category of people for whom Germanys government has carved out exceptions to European asylum law to allow them to stay. Khan and his family, in contrast, were Pakistani. Unlike the millions of people fleeing the well-documented civil war in Syria, to remain in Germany Khan would have to prove that he as an individual too would face threats to his life were he deported back to Pakistan. Tomorrow, I dont know what will happen, Khan said. Maybe Germany will say, Out!' In fact, it would, revealing a major qualification to Germanys label as the refugee welcome capital of Europe: Not everyone would be allowed to stay. Read a related article about German chancellor Angela Merkels trip to Egypt and Tunisia in effort to help reduce irregular migration into the EU in a policy known as Control Garage Swastika Salzhhemmendorf is a village, very beautiful, Lukas Theune, Khans pro bono lawyer, told Al Jazeera one morning in his Berlin office. Typical German, old wooden construction that you can see from the outside. Contrary to the stereotype that anti-immigrant sentiment manifests primarily in the former East Germany, this was West Germany, Theune said. The day after the attack, as dozens of Germans demonstrated outside the scene of the crime in solidarity with the victims and in opposition to right-wing extremism, the prime minister of Lower Saxony called the act an attempted murder. But the towns mayor downplayed the attacks xenophobic nature. We dont have any Nazis in this town, Theune recalled him saying. The mayor was wrong. The perpetrators turned out to be Dennis Lemke, Sascha Dohme, and Saskia Burger, all longtime Salzhhemmendorf residents. They were quickly identified by a witness who was smoking on a nearby balcony when he saw the attack unfold. The three were arrested and confessed to preparing a homemade bomb, then driving to the refugees apartment and throwing it in. Dohme, it turned out, was a volunteer firefighter for the town. After participating in the attack and fleeing the scene, he was called on to help extinguish the flames. According to the prosecutors investigation, before the attack, the trio had exchanged messages in a chat group called Garage Swastika. Dohme referred to himself as The new Adolf. Burger reportedly bragged that shed taught her two-year-old son how to say Heil Hitler! Lemke had SS symbols from Nazi times tattooed on his left breast and right forearm. Read a related article about the rise of Germanys anti-refugee right Prosecuting hate crimes The judge concluded that the attack was xenophobic in nature, which allowed him to sentence the trio more strictly. Each received between four to eight years in prison. It was a rare victory for German authorities, who are struggling to prevent and prosecute thousands of arsons and other attacks on asylum-seeker housing complexes across Germany. In most cases, the perpetrators are never found. Khan was invited to attend the trial. A lawyer himself, he was struck by the informal, approachable conduct of the judge. I was very surprised when in the break the judge was standing in front of me in a queue for coffee. In my country, the judge, you have to salute! Khan said. Their level is so high; they would never shake your hand. Of the Germans on trial for attacking his apartment building, Khan said: Its their right. Yes, they can hate. This is normal. Discrimination is by default in the human being. Racism black, white. The difference, he said, is how a government chooses to react to that racism when it turns violent. He said if Pakistani police had responded this decisively to the dozens of murders of fellow Shia lawyers back home, he would never have had to flee in the first place. Protection? Khan asks. In Pakistan there was no protection. Read more about mistrust of Pakistans justice system in this related article about the forced disappearances of activists Defining persecution One afternoon inside the Hanover apartment to which his family was relocated after the attack, Khan switched the TV channel from the German language cartoons his two children were watching to a Pakistani news broadcast. Its crucial to keep up to date on what is happening, Khan said, in case one day they are deported back there. He watched a segment about a US drone strike which killed a Taliban leader in northern Pakistan. His wife, who has pronounced dimples and a youthful appearance, entered the living room with a large pot of fragrant biriyani. Khan began dishing it out. To buy masala, there is just one shop here, Khan said. Very far. After eating, Khan pulled out a thick folder of documents hed collected to prove to German authorities that his life would be in danger if he were deported back to Pakistan. He took out a copy of a letter written in Urdu that was addressed to an attorney he knew in Karachi. They write in this letter directly: We will kill you. Not only that, we will kill your whole family, Khan explained. All my colleagues received these type of letters. Some of them were later killed, including the recipient of this particular letter. In his folder was a BBC article: Karachi shooting: Gunmen kill three Shia lawyers, the headline read. This is what gave me the motivation to escape from my country, Khan said. They stopped them and shot them in the street, said Khan of the attackers, who fled the scene on motorcycles. If it could happen to them, he reasoned, it could happen to him too. After this killing, we decided to run. Khan speaks eloquently, but urgently. Often, when a Shia lawyer is killed in Pakistan, he sends WhatsApp messages with grisly videos or photos of the carnage. Late last year, he wrote to say that his familys application for asylum the right to remain in Germany as legal residents had been rejected. Pending an appeal, they would be deported back to Pakistan. A successful appeal was unlikely. For a refugee from Pakistan, Its hard to meet the definition of persecution, Theune said. Its a military dictatorship, but its also a democracy. Watch this related video from Al Jazeeras Witness program of one familys journey from war-torn Syria to a new life in Germany (24:59) Deportation This spring, Khans family was informed that their appeal had been rejected. They would have to leave Germany before the end of May. My children now speak Deutsch [German], Khan said during a phone call after hed received the news. They dont want to go back. My wife, she was weeping. Years ago, her father had been murdered in Pakistan, and recently her brother had been attacked, leaving him with a major spinal cord injury and partially paralysed. Europe, they talk about human rights. But nobody helps us, Khan said. We dont believe in human rights. All this is rubbish. Its only on paper, thats all. Rubbish. Khans initial admiration for the way Germanys legal system swiftly identified and convicted the people who had firebombed his apartment building gave way to a feeling of discrimination. We were together in that house that burned in Salzhemmendorf [with] an Arab family from Syria, Khan said. For the Syrian family, Germany suspended the European Dublin Regulation, which states that refugees can only apply for asylum in the EU country in which they first step foot. But for me, because we are Pakistani family, they say no. His family is not alone. Last year, 15,528 Pakistanis applied for asylum in Germany. In the first four months of this year, Germanys Federal Office for Migration and Refugees granted asylum to just 18 of them. Just 280 were allowed to remain in Germany in some capacity; 8,557 were rejected and ordered to leave. By contrast, during that same period, 47,628 asylum seekers from Syria were allowed to stay. Only 62 were rejected. In the first four months of 2017, Germany granted asylum to just 1,161 of all asylum seekers, another 131,057 were allowed to stay temporarily, and 106,232 were rejected. Khan and his family found themselves among a rising population of unsuccessful asylum seekers in Germany at risk of deportation. Last year, Germany deported more than 25,000 and as many as 80,000 rejected asylum seekers. A classified study by McKinsey obtained by Der Spiegel estimated that German authorities could legally deport as many as 195,000 refugees in 2017. Last month, in compliance with the order given to them to leave the country following the rejection of their asylum status, Khan and his family boarded a flight home for Karachi. Khans story illustrates what many say is a major flaw in the global refugee resettlement system: the arbitrariness of it all. To people like Khan, it exposes Germanys so-called welcome culture the narrative that Germany opened its doors indiscriminately to the worlds displaced masses as a myth. True, the vast majority of refugees from Syria and Iraq, and many from Afghanistan, were welcome here, at least for now. But hundreds of thousands of others were not. This reporting was made possible by a McCloy Fellowship from the American Council on Germany. Dozens of families accused of having relatives in ISIL have been forcibly displaced to an open-air prison camp. Shahama camp, Iraq Covered with a painful rash, Nessrine Hamad, six, has tears in her eyes. She has been like that for three days, her mother, Kawzhar Youssif Hamad, tells Al Jazeera. It is because of the dirty water. Most of the children here have sores on their skin. Dozens of families accused of having relatives in the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group (ISIL, also known as ISIS) have been forcibly displaced to Shahama camp by the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), under the control of the Iraqi army. The camp, located north of Tikrit, has been described by Human Rights Watch as akin to an open-air prison. Civilians detained at Shahama are prevented from coming and going freely. They are only allowed to leave via ambulance for medical emergencies, and even then, several told Al Jazeera that they were rejected by the main hospital in Tikrit after staff discovered they had come from Shahama. Raad Kamil Hachim, 43, who hails from Iraqs Baiji district, said his wife was pregnant and close to giving birth. She lay on the ground in the shadow of their tent, moaning in pain. We receive no medication, Hachims wife told Al Jazeera. They tried to ban me at the [hospital] reception, and I had to beg them to let me in. The doctors wouldnt cooperate, either. As Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi congratulates his army for defeating ISIL in Mosul, human rights violations committed during the military campaign continue to raise concerns. The publication in May of disturbing images and video footage from photojournalist Ali Arkady led to fresh allegations of war crimes, including cases of torture and arbitrary executions, against Iraqi security forces. In the final phase of the battle against ISIL in Mosul, numerous cases of torture and executions of men and boys fleeing Mosul were reported. And last week, videos surfaced that allegedly showed Iraqi soldiers beating suspected ISIL members and throwing them off a cliff. In Salah al-Din governorate, south of Mosul, a decree passed in August 2016 ordered the expulsion of any civilians with familial ties or other alleged affiliations to ISIL a kind of guilt by association. Weis Dalli Saeed, 70, from Iraqs Shirqat district, was sent to Shahama in January. He blames his son, who joined ISIL last year. I told him several times that ISIL is s**t, but he met the wrong people and was brainwashed We are suffering greatly because of him, Saeed told Al Jazeera, describing brutal treatment by Iraqi soldiers en route to the camp. Four soldiers hit my forehead with a wooden stick and told me that they would shoot me with a bullet if I did not leave from my home, he said. We killed no one; we stole from no one. Six months here, in this heat this is too much. We have never even met a judge. A few tents away, Jassim Muhammad Shwaish, 72, whose son was an ISIL member, holds a sheet of paper in his hand. This is a document that was issued by a court last month, proving that there are no charges against me, Shwaish told Al Jazeera, noting that his 30-year-old son was killed by an air strike a year and a half ago. Despite the court ruling, he added, members of Iraqs PMF threatened to harm him if he did not relocate to Shahama, Shwaish said. The PMF wanted to take revenge, so they stole our furniture, water tanks and refrigerator, he added. Other Shahama residents told similar stories. Kawzhar Youssif Hamad, 27, said PMF forces blew up her home with dynamite on the day she was arrested in January. Her husband, Ibrahim, joined ISIL when the group took control of Shirqat. I could divorce him and be free from here, she said. But what if he came back? I would be killed. In the village of al-Aithah, near Tikrit, 220 homes were destroyed by explosives and fire between September 23 and October 23, according to Human Rights Watch. Relocating people is entirely against international law, said Belkis Wille, a senior Iraq researcher for Human Rights Watch. Youre only allowed to relocate people for security reasons [such as living in front-line areas]. In addition to being prevented from coming and going freely, civilians detained in Shahama camp said they were barred from having mobile phones. In addition to these restrictions, the lack of clean water, food and medical services make living conditions even harder. Wahida Mohamed al-Jumaily, better known as Um Hanadi, leads a force of around 180 men within the PMF in the Shirqat region. Many international networks have reported on her role as a female commander; she notably told CNN that she beheaded ISIL fighters: I cooked their heads, I burned their bodies. Speaking to Al Jazeera about the situation at Shahama, Jumaily said that families of ISIL fighters were sent to the camp for their own protection. [This is done] to take care of them and to protect them from being targeted by the families of those who died under ISIL rule, Jumaily said. We, as Muslims, always have mercy We could tell them to run away but we took them to an IDP camp, where they can receive medication and access to aid agencies. Jumaily said that Shahama is a temporary thing, noting that a rehabilitation programme will be set up when the entire governorate is fully freed. Then, with sudden hostility, she added: ISIL families are ISIL. They carried out bombings in the USA, in France, everywhere. They are dangerous. So, why is the global press writing of this as a war crime? Activists rally in solidarity with more than 200 protesters charged with felonies over Inauguration Day demonstration. Activists are holding a week of action to raise awareness about the six-month anniversary of the mass arrest of more than 230 protesters who were detained during a demonstration in Washington, DC, against the inauguration of Donald Trump as president of the United States on January 20. Organisers launched the Week of Solidarity on Thursday and are expecting protests in the capital and several cities across the country, including Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New York City, Richmond and others. Throughout the week, activists plan to hold demonstrations, fundraisers and a call-in campaign to the police and DC mayors office to demand an immediate investigation into allegations that police used unlawful force during the inauguration events. They will also screen footage of the protest and altercations with the police during the January protests. On the final day, July 27, protesters are planning to assemble for a rally at a DC court while a hearing inside will consider a motion to dismiss the felony charges issued against the nearly 200 of the Inauguration Day arrestees. The fact that a lot of people are stepping up in the face of repression is a reflection of how bogus the charges are and the broad recognition of the criminalisation of dissent, Sam Menefee-Libey, who is a member of the DC Legal Posse activist group, told Al Jazeera. Defendants and supporters have called for this week of solidarity to shine a light on whats going on and to enlist additional supporters. During the demonstration six months ago, protesters had taken to the streets just blocks away from the venue where Trump was being sworn in. Washington, DC, officials said the city suffered more than $100,000 in property damages by the end of the day as the protesters clashed with police, windows of banks and cafes were shattered and graffiti was left scrawled on walls and cars. During the march, officers fired rubber bullets, pepper spray, tear gas and percussion grenades to disperse the crowds. They surrounded more than 230 demonstrators, including journalists and legal observers. Most of them were then arrested and issued felony rioting charges that carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. In late April, the DC Superior Court returned a superseding indictment that issued a host of new felony charges against 209 people and three new defendants. In addition to hefty fines, most of the charges carry maximum sentences that range between 70 and 80 years in prison. Trial dates have been set for only 198 of the defendants, while the prosecution has dropped 20 cases and at least 16 people reached plea agreements for drastically smaller sentences. OPINION: Why am I facing 75 years in prison? Overwhelming and unlawful force Last month, the DC Mayors Office earmarked $150,000 for the Office of Police Complaints to review the accusations of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) misconduct. A previous investigation (PDF) by the Mayors office accused police of failing to issue requisite dispersal orders and found evidence that police indiscriminately used riot control weapons without justification and not necessarily in response to unlawful action. Last month, the American Civil Liberties Union in the District of Columbia (ACLU-DC) announced that it had filed a lawsuit against the city, MPD and Police Chief Peter Newsham. The suit accuses the MPD of making wrongful arrests, violating protesters constitutional right to free speech, denying detainees access to food and water and carrying out invasive body searches. The ACLU-DC says the MPD used overwhelming and unlawful force on non-violent demonstrators at largely peaceful demonstrations where some law-breaking occurred. Scott Michelman, a senior staff lawyer at the ACLU-DC, says the police decided to round up everyone, pepper spray everyone and, in some cases, subjected them to sexual abuse. Our hope is that success in our lawsuit will send a clear message that the types of actions they engaged in on January 20 were unconstitutional and unacceptable, he told Al Jazeera. READ MORE: Anti-Trump protester Is this my last free birthday? Chilling effect In a statement released at the time, the MPD said officers arrested people engaged in criminal action on January 20. Saying that most demonstrations passed peacefully and without arrests or confrontations, the statement added: Unfortunately, there was another group of individuals who chose to engage in criminal acts, destroying property and hurling projectiles, injuring at least six officers. Among those charged over the Inauguration Day protests is Dylan Petrohilos, a 28-year-old activist and graphic designer who helped plan protests on the Inauguration Day. Petrohilos was one of the three defendants who were charged for the first time in the superseding indictment in late April. Police had already showed up at his home in the capital, kicked in the door and arrested him on the morning of April 3. Court documents show that police had infiltrated organising meetings where Petrohilos was present in the run-up to January 20. The real violence is the violence of the administration and the violence of the police that day. I saw the police literally pepper spraying children and old people that day, he told Al Jazeera. The MPD cant control themselves. Theyre trying to justify that fact by making 200 activists into felons and thats absurd, he added, accusing the US government of using Inauguration Day defendants to instil a chilling effect for potential protesters. The Republican Party is promising violence against marginalised communities and political dissidents. We should stand up against that. Its absurd for us not to. Its a moral obligation to act. READ MORE: ACLU sues DC police over violence at anti-Trump rally Index of fear Since Trump came to office, dozens of bills seeking to hinder the activities of protesters and introduce increased penalties for demonstrators who violate the law have been introduced in state legislatures. One bill introduced in Missouri state would prohibit protesters from wearing masks or other disguises during demonstrations, making it an offence punishable by up to a year in prison. Another bill in North Carolina, which was introduced in early March, would criminalise protests that it says qualify as economic terrorism by impeding traffic or business. It later died in the state legislatures committee. Proposed legislation in Florida, Tennessee, Georgia and Iowa would impose harsher punishment on people who block traffic or trespass on private property, and many of them would protect motorists who run over demonstrators. In March, a United Nations report (PDF) warned that 16 such bills, if passed, would violate international human rights law and silence the voices of the most marginalised, who often find the right to assemble the only alternative to express their opinions. In May, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed into law a statute that can deal a felony charge and $10,000 fine for anyone including protesters who trespasses at critical infrastructure facilities with the intent to vandalise or tamper. Under that statute, successfully tampering or vandalising at such a facility could land the protester with a 10-year prison sentence and a $100,000 fine. Critics say the statute targets protesters who rally against pipelines. Henry Giroux, author of America at War with Itself and dozens of other books, says the ostensible crackdown on protests proves the obvious. The punishing state is now the primary mode of political organisation in the United States, he told Al Jazeera. Thats an index of fear. Its not just an act of repression in the sort of bold sense that one might describe it. He adds: You cant violate all civil liberties and put people in jail and call yourself as a democracy anymore. READ MORE: Reporters face 70 years in prison over anti-Trump march Follow Patrick Strickland: @P_Strickland_ Its time for Israel to accept that as an occupied people, Palestinians have a right to resist in every way possible. Stanley L Cohen is an attorney and human rights activist who has done extensive work in the Middle East and Africa. Long ago, it was settled that resistance and even armed struggle against a colonial occupation force is not just recognised under international law but specifically endorsed. In accordance with international humanitarian law, wars of national liberation have been expressly embraced, through the adoption of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 (pdf), as a protected and essential right of occupied people everywhere. Finding evolving vitality in humanitarian law, for decades the General Assembly of the United Nations (UNGA) once described as the collective conscience of the world has noted the right of peoples to self-determination, independence and human rights. Indeed, as early as 1974, resolution 3314 of the UNGA prohibited states from any military occupation, however temporary. In relevant part, the resolution not only went on to affirm the right to self-determination, freedom and independence [] of peoples forcibly deprived of that right,[] particularly peoples under colonial and racist regimes or other forms of alien domination but noted the right of the occupied to struggle and to seek and receive support in that effort. The term armed struggle was implied without precise definition in that resolution and many other early ones that upheld the right of indigenous persons to evict an occupier. This imprecision was to change on December 3, 1982. At that time UNGA resolution 37/43 removed any doubt or debate over the lawful entitlement of occupied people to resist occupying forces by any and all lawful means. The resolution reaffirmed the legitimacy of the struggle of peoples for independence, territorial integrity, national unity and liberation from colonial and foreign domination and foreign occupation by all available means, including armed struggle. A palpable illusion Though Israel has tried, time and time again, to recast the unambiguous intent of this precise resolution and thus place its now half-century-long occupation in the West Bank and Gaza beyond its application it is an effort worn thin to the point of palpable illusion by the exacting language of the declaration itself. In relevant part, section 21 of the resolution strongly condemned the expansionist activities of Israel in the Middle East and the continual bombing of Palestinian civilians, which constitute a serious obstacle to the realization of the self-determination and independence of the Palestinian people. READ MORE: Palestinians in Gaza reflect on 10 years of siege Never ones to hesitate in rewriting history, long before the establishment of the United Nations, European Zionists deemed themselves to be an occupied people as they emigrated to Palestine a land to which any historical connection they had had long since passed through a largely voluntary transit. Indeed, a full 50 years before the UN spoke of the right of armed struggle as a vehicle of indigenous liberation, European Zionists illegally co-opted the concept as the Irgun, Lehi and other terrorist groups undertook a decades long reign of deadly mayhem. During this time, they slaughtered not only thousands of indigenous Palestinians but targeted British police and military personnel that had long maintained a colonial presence there. A history of Zionist attacks Perhaps, as Israelis sit down to mourn the loss of two of their soldiers who were shot dead this past week in Jerusalem in what many consider to be a lawful act of resistance a visit down memory lane might just place the events in their proper historical context. Self-determination is a difficult, costly march for the occupied. In Palestine, no matter what the weapon of choice - whether voice, pen or gun - there is a steep price to be paid for its use. by Long ago, describing the British as an occupation force in their homeland, Zionists targeted British police and military units with ruthless abandon throughout Palestine and elsewhere. On April 12, 1938, the Irgun murdered two British police officers in a train bombing in Haifa. On August 26, 1939, two British officers were killed by an Irgun landmine in Jerusalem. On February 14, 1944, two British constables were shot dead when they attempted to arrest people for pasting up wall posters in Haifa. On September 27, 1944, more than 100 members of the Irgun attacked four British police stations, injuring hundreds of officers. Two days later a senior British police officer of the Criminal Intelligence Department was assassinated in Jerusalem. On November 1, 1945, another police officer was killed as five trains were bombed. On December 27, 1945, seven British officers lost their lives in a bombing on police headquarters in Jerusalem. Between November 9 and 13, 1946, Jewish underground members launched a series of landmine and suitcase bomb attacks in railway stations, trains, and streetcars, killing 11 British soldiers and policemen and eight Arab constables. Four more officers were murdered in another attack on a police headquarters on January 12, 1947. Nine months later, four British police were murdered in an Irgun bank robbery and, but three days later, on September 26, 1947, an additional 13 officers were killed in yet another terrorist attack on a British police station. These are but a few of many attacks directed by Zionist terrorists at British police who were seen, by mostly European Jews, as legitimate targets of a campaign they described as one of liberation against an occupation force. Throughout this period, Jewish terrorists also undertook countless attacks that spared no part of the British and Palestinian infrastructure. They assaulted British military and police installations, government offices, and ships, often with bombs. They also sabotaged railways, bridges, and oil installations. Dozens of economic targets were attacked, including 20 trains that were damaged or derailed, and five train stations. Numerous attacks were carried out against the oil industry including one, in March 1947, on a Shell oil refinery in Haifa which destroyed some 16,000 tonnes of petroleum. READ MORE: How Israel occupied the whole of Palestine Zionist terrorists killed British soldiers throughout Palestine, using booby traps, ambushes, snipers, and vehicle blasts. One attack, in particular, sums up the terrorism of those who, without any force of international law at the time, saw no limitation to their efforts to liberate a land that they had, largely, only recently emigrated to. In 1947, the Irgun kidnapped two British Army Intelligence Corps non-commissioned officers and threathened to hang them if death sentences of three of their own members were carried out. When these three Irgun members were executed by hanging, the two British sergeants were hanged in retaliation and their booby-trapped bodies were left in an eucalyptus grove. In announcing their execution, the Irgun said that the two British soldiers were hanged following their conviction for criminal anti-Hebrew activities which included: illegal entry into the Hebrew homeland and membership in a British criminal terrorist organisation known as the Army of Occupation which was responsible for the torture, murder, deportation, and denying the Hebrew people the right to live. The soldiers were also charged with illegal possession of arms, anti-Jewish spying in civilian clothes, and premeditated hostile designs against the underground (pdf). Well beyond the territorial confines of Palestine, in late 1946-47 a continuing campaign of terrorism was directed at the British. Acts of sabotage were carried out on British military transportation routes in Germany. The Lehi also tried, unsuccessfully, to drop a bomb on the House of Commons from a chartered plane flown from France and, in October 1946, bombed the British Embassy in Rome. A number of other explosive devices were detonated in and around strategic targets in London. Some 21 letter bombs were addressed, at various times, to senior British political figures. Many were intercepted, while others reached their targets but were discovered before they could go off. The steep price of self-determination Self-determination is a difficult, costly march for the occupied. In Palestine, no matter what the weapon of choice whether voice, pen or gun there is a steep price to be paid for its use. Today, speaking truth to power has become very much a popular mantra of resistance in neoliberal circles and societies. In Palestine, however, for the occupied and oppressed, it is an all-but-certain path to prison or death. Yet, for generations of Palestinians stripped of the very breath that resonates with the feeling of freedom, history teaches there is simply no other choice. Silence is surrender. To be silent is to betray all those who have come before and all those yet to follow. OPINION: Why is Netanyahu trying to disband the UNRWA? For those who have never felt the constant yoke of oppression, or seen it up close, it is a vision beyond comprehension. Occupation sits heavy on the occupied, every day in every way, limiting who you are and what you may dare to become. The constant rub of barricades, guns, orders, prison and death are fellow travellers for the occupied, whether infants, teens in the spring of life, the elderly, or those trapped by the artificial confines of borders over which they have no control. The three young men, cousins, who willingly sacrificed their lives in the attack on the two Israeli officers in Jerusalem, did so not as an empty gesture born of desperation, but rather a personal statement of national pride that follows a long line of others who well understood that the price of freedom can, at times, mean all. by To the families of the two Israeli Druze policemen who lost their lives while trying to control a place that was not theirs to command, I extend my condolences. These young men were, however, not lost to the ring of resistance, but willingly sacrificed by an evil occupation that bears no legitimacy whatsoever. Ultimately, if there is grieving to be done, it must be for the 11 million occupied, whether in Palestine or outside, as so much stateless refugees, stripped of a meaningful voice and opportunity, as the world makes excuses built largely of a political and economic gift box that bears the Star of David. Not a day goes by now without the chilling wail of a nation watching over a Palestinian infant wrapped in a burial shroud, stripped of life because electricity or transit have become a perverse privilege which holds millions hostage to the political whims of the few. Be they Israeli, Egyptian or those who claim to carry the mantle of Palestinian political leadership, the responsibility of infanticide in Gaza is theirs and theirs alone. If there is no struggle, there is no progress The three young men, cousins, who willingly sacrificed their lives in the attack on the two Israeli officers in Jerusalem, did so not as an empty gesture born of desperation, but rather a personal statement of national pride that follows a long line of others who well understood that the price of freedom can, at times, mean all. For 70 years, not a day has passed without the loss of young Palestinian women and men who, tragically, found greater dignity and freedom in martyrdom than they did in obedient, passive living controlled by those who dared to dictate the parameters of their lives. Millions of us worldwide dream of a better time and place for Palestinians free to spread their wings, to soar, to discover who they are and what they wish to become. Until then, I mourn not for the loss of those who stop their flight. Instead, I applaud those who dare to struggle, dare to win by any means necessary. There is no magic to resistance and struggle. They transcend time and place and derive their very meaning and ardour in the natural inclination, indeed, drive, of us all to be free to be free to determine the role of our own lives. INTERACTIVE: Palestine in Motion From exile to resistance In Palestine, no such freedom exists. In Palestine, international law recognises the fundamental rights to self-determination, freedom and independence for the occupied. In Palestine, that includes the right to armed struggle, if necessary. Long ago, the famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass, himself a former slave, wrote of struggle. These words resonate no less so today, in Palestine, than they did some one 150 years ago in the heart of the Antebellum South in the United States: If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Stanley L Cohen is a lawyer and human rights activist who has done extensive work in the Middle East and Africa. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy. Organisers hope for huge turnout, but police take position in coastal city ahead of march against government neglect. Riot police have taken up position as Moroccans prepare to ignore a city ban on marching in the northern city of al-Hoceima against government neglect. Organisers were hoping for a million-man march on Thursday, which was expected to get under way at 13:00 GMT. Al-Hoceima, located on the northern edge of the Rif Mountains adjoining the Mediterranean coast, is the capital of al-Hoceima province. Residents there have long complained of neglect and marginalisation. Local authorities this week barred the march, but organisers responded with fresh calls for mass participation and solidarity marches across the country. Hours before kick off, activists said on Facebook that police had blocked protesters from entering the city, citing high orders. Most shops in the city were closed and there were reports of slow internet connection. Omar Radi, an activist and investigative journalist, said the Place des Martyrs, or place of the martyrs, was full of anti-riot police. The police deployment in this place shows that maybe the demonstration can be prevented, he told Al Jazeera from al-Hoceima. He said foreign protesters from the Netherlands, France, Germany and Spain were expected to join the rally. The daily Akhbar Al Yaoum newspaper headlined its front page with Al-Hoceima day of anger and fear. READ MORE: Morocco: What is fuelling unrest in the Rif? The planned demonstration is part of a steadily growing popular movement known as Hirak in the countrys northern Rif region, which has come to symbolise resentment towards a history of state neglect and violence in the poor coastal area. The Rif-based popular movement was spurred into action after the murder of a fishmonger crushed to death by local security forces in late October. Among Hiraks demands are calls for a serious inquiry into the death of Mohcine Fikri, the fish seller; release of political prisoners; and the construction of universities, hospitals and libraries in Rif. The current Hirak or movement gained further traction in recent months after the arrest of popular leader Nasser Zefzafi, along with 150 of his fellow activists, led to solidarity marches across the country. A solidarity march in the capital city Rabat last month drew more than 100,000 protesters, the most since the 2011 regional uprisings. Group condemns arbitrary arrest of dozens, citing human rights violations at military bases used by US, French troops. Cameroon forces have killed and tortured dozens of people accused of supporting Boko Haram, often without evidence, in the fight against the armed group, Amnesty International said. Most of the torture is happening at a base that has also been used by US and French troops, the international rights organisation said in a new report on Thursday. Amnestys report documented 101 cases of arbitrary arrest and torture by Cameroonian troops between 2013 and 2017 at more than 20 different sites. Some of the victims were tortured to death, it said. Though Boko Haram originated in Nigeria, the group which is affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) has carried out frequent attacks in Cameroon, Chad and Niger. INTERACTIVE: Boko Haram attacks mapped Boko Haram attacks have killed more than 20,000 people and displaced 2.7 million in the region, according to aid agency figures. We have repeatedly and unequivocally condemned the atrocities and war crimes committed by Boko Haram in Cameroon, said Alioune Tine, Amnesty Internationals regional director for West and Central Africa. But, nothing could justify the callous and widespread practice of torture committed by the security forces against ordinary Cameroonians. Tine condemned the horrific violations by the Cameroon forces which amount to war crimes. Of the 101 documented individuals, 32 claimed to have witnessed the death of a fellow prisoner, according to the NGO. Victims included women, the disabled and the mentally ill, the report said. They asked me to tell them if I knew members of Boko Haram, Amnesty cited a prisoner as saying. Thats when the guard tied my hands and feet behind my back and started to beat me with an electric cable while throwing water on me at the same time, They beat me half to death, he added. A Cameroon defence ministry spokesman accused Amnesty International of bad faith and of trying to transform killers into victims. Our army is professional and disciplined, Cameroons army spokesman Colonel Didier Badjeck told Reuters news agency. It has better things to do than to spend time justifying itself against people who have preconceived ideas. US, France should investigate Amnesty said most of the torture was carried out at two intelligence services sites Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) headquarters in Salak and the General Directorate of External Research (DGRE) facility in Yaounde. The group said US and French military personnel were present at the BIR base in Salak It urged the two governments to investigate whether their military personnel knew that torture was taking place on the site, and whether or not their assistance has contributed to the commission of these crimes and violations. The US Africa Command said it had not received any reports of human rights abuses by Cameroonian forces at the base mentioned. To date, US Africa Command has not received any reports of human rights abuses by Cameroonian forces at either of these locations, Robyn Mack, a spokeswoman for the US militarys Africa Command, said in a statement. Any foreign military unit that receives security assistance receives training on the law of armed conflict and human rights law. French Defence Ministry officials did not immediately comment. Communist Partys anti-corruption watchdog says it has punished 210,000 officials for corruption in first half of 2017. Chinese authorities have punished more than 210,000 officials for corruption in the first half of 2017, according to the Communist Partys corruption watchdog. In a statement on Thursday, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said anti-corruption institutions received 1.31 million complaints and opened 260,000 cases this year. Of that number, 210,000 people have been punished for breaking the code of conduct, the CCDI said on its website. They include 38 senior officials from ministries and provincial administrations, and more than 1,000 at the prefecture levels, the CCDI said. READ MORE: Hong Kong-China tension Sheung Shui, a frontline town The watchdog also announced that Yao Gang, the former vice chairman of Chinas securities regulator, will be prosecuted for offences including taking bribes and destroying the order of capital markets. President Xi Jinping has made attacking corruption a central issue since taking leadership of the ruling Communist Party in late 2012. Critics of Xis anti-corruption campaign have long accused it of being an instrument to sideline political rivals. A former top general and a past member of the partys all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee have been imprisoned under the campaign. Discipline violations Sun Zhengcai, a senior official who was considered a contender for promotion at the partys congress in autumn and as a possible future premier, was abruptly removed on Saturday from office and placed under investigation by the CCDI for discipline violations. Wang Qishan, the head of the CCDI, wrote on Monday that party political culture remained unhealthy and governance was weak, even after five years of renewed effort to stamp out corruption. Party concepts are faint, organisation is lax and discipline flabby. The root is in the partys internal political life being not serious and unhealthy, he wrote in the partys official Peoples Daily. Xinhua, Chinas state news agency, reported that 415,000 people were disciplined for violating the partys code of conduct and other offences last year. Firefight in village east of Damascus comes as clashes between two anti-government factions continue in Idlib province. Activists say 28 Syrian government soldiers have been killed in a firefight after a military unit was ambushed near the capital, Damascus. The ambush on Thursday followed days of intense fighting as opposition-held suburbs of Damascus have come under a government offensive. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said the soldiers and allied fighters were ambushed in the village of Rihan, east of Damascus. Anas al-Dimashqi, an opposition activist based in the area, and the SOHR said the ambush killed at least 28 troops and pro-government fighters. Syrian government forces and their allies have been trying to storm the eastern suburbs of Damascus, known as Eastern Ghouta, but have struggled to penetrate opposition defences. More than 330,000 people have been killed in Syria since the ongoing conflict began with anti-government protests in March 2011. Turf wars Elsewhere in Syria, fighters in the northwestern region have gained ground from their Turkey-backed rivals after battling for a second successive day, according to opposition sources. They said clashes persisted in most of Idlibs major towns on Thursday between Hayet Tahrir al-Sham, a faction led by the formerly al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front, and its rival Ahrar al-Sham. Even outside Idlib, Tahrir al-Sham and Ahrar al-Sham who have thousands of fighters spread across Syria were reinforcing their positions and putting their forces on heightened alert, according to an opposition source. Infighting has weakened the opposition since the start of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad in 2011. Their turf wars have helped Assad and his allies recover significant ground in the north and around Damascus. Tensions have been building between Idlib provinces two biggest anti-government factions, mainly over ideological differences. They have also vied for dominance in the only Syrian province that is entirely under opposition control. Recent clashes on the outskirts of Idlib towns that rival factions had promised to local councils would be spared from conflict have raised the risk of fighting spilling into these heavily populated urban areas, opposition sources said. Tahrir al-Sham on Thursday rejected a mediation initiative by prominent religious leaders. It said the only way to end the fighting was to set up a local regional administration for the opposition-held north that would help reconcile factions and deter foreign meddling in the conflict. Human Rights Watch says observers discovered the corpses of 17 men, allegedly executed by Iraqi forces, in west Mosul. An international rights monitor has reported the discovery of an execution site in the Iraqi city of Mosul, and given warning of a resurgence of violence if no one is held to account over the murder and torture of Iraqis in the battle against ISIL. Human Rights Watchs report, published on Wednesday, adds to growing accounts of extrajudicial killings, torture and unlawful detention by Iraqi forces in the final phase of the battle to retake west Mosul from ISIL, or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group. It details the discovery of the corpses of 17 men, executed in an empty building in west Mosul, on July 17. Sarah Leah Whitson, HRWs Middle East director, urged Haider al-Abadi, Iraqs prime minister, to investigate and punish those responsible, warning that his victory over ISIL, also known as ISIS, would be short-lived if abuses go unpunished. READ MORE: Mosul in ruins I see only despair around us Abadi formally declared victory over ISIL in Mosul on July 10. As Prime Minister Abadi enjoys victory in Mosul, he is ignoring the flood of evidence of his soldiers committing vicious war crimes in the very city hes promised to liberate, Whitson said. Abadis victory will collapse unless he takes concrete steps to end the grotesque abuses by his own security forces. Revenge killings The HRW report cited witness accounts from international observers in Mosul, who it said had provided reliable information in the past. In the discovery of the execution site on July 17, observers reported seeing a row of 17 male corpses, barefoot but in civilian dress, surrounded by pools of blood, in an empty building west of Mosuls Old City. A shopkeeper who led the observers there told them he had seen the Iraqi Security Forces 16th division in the neighbourhood four days earlier, and had heard multiple gunshots coming from the area. He found the bodies the next morning when the security forces left. Many appeared to have been blindfolded with their hands tied behind their backs. They lay in positions that suggested they were shot there and had not been moved. The observers shared with the HRW five photos they took of the bodies. Other observers told the HRW of Iraqi soldiers showing them videos of killings and beatings. One observer said a soldier showed them a video on July 11 of himself and other soldiers brutally beating an ISIL suspect, and a second video of the suspect dead, with a bullet to his head. Some Iraqi soldiers seem to have so little fear that they will face any consequence for murdering and torturing suspects in Mosul that they are freely sharing evidence of what look like very cruel exploits in videos and photographs, Whitson said. Excusing such celebratory revenge killings will haunt Iraq for generations to come. The HRW has previously documented Iraqi soldiers beating a detainee, then throwing him off a cliff and shooting at his body as it lay at the bottom of the cliff. OPINION: The battle for Mosul is almost over. What next? The HRW said it has raised concerns about allegations of ill-treatment, torture, and executions in meetings with Iraqi officials in Baghdad as well as with representatives from the US-led coalition. However, the group said it does not know of a single transparent investigation into abuses by Iraqi armed forces, any instances of commanders being held accountable for abuse, or any victims of abuse receiving compensation. It also urged the Iraqi military to allow journalists access to west Mosul, noting the area has been closed to the media since July 10. Amnesty International, in a July 11 report, said all sides in the conflict appear to have committed war crimes, causing a civilian catastrophe in Mosul. Almost one week after attack that set off tensions, Israeli officials deciding whether to keep new security measures. The Palestinian group Hamas has warned Israel against crossing a red line at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, as residents of the Gaza Strip demonstrate for a second day in solidarity with Muslim worshippers protesting against the new security measures at the holy site. To the Zionist enemy I say openly and clearly: al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem are red lines. Truly they are red lines, Ismail Haniya, leader of Hamas, said on Thursday. To the enemy I say, your policy of closure and imposition of collective punishments against the residents of Jerusalem and our places of sanctity will not be tolerated. Marches have been organised throughout the day by Hamas, the Islamic Jihad and other groups, demanding that Israeli remove the metal detectors installed at the entrance of al-Aqsa. The groups are calling them Israeli aggression and are warning of consquences if they are not rolled back. Thursdays protests in Gaza and outside al-Aqsa follow days of clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem over the new security measures. Also on Thursday, Muslim worshippers continue to pray outside the al-Aqsa compound defying warning by Israeli authorities. As tensions mounted on Thursday evening, 22 Palestinians were wounded in clashes with Israeli security forces, two of them seriously after being hit by rubber bullets, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. Metal detectors and turnstiles were installed at the holy site after a deadly shoot-out there on Friday. In that incident, two Israeli security officers were killed in an alleged attack by three Palestinians, who were killed by Israeli police following the violence. Ahead of the Friday prayers, the Israeli government is considering what to do next with the new security measures. On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by phone from Hungary with Israels security chiefs to hear their assessments and recommendations, according to a statement by his office. Israels internal security service, Shin Bet, has recommended that the metal detectors be removed, but Jerusalem police have said that the barriers should stay in place. Al Jazeeras Imran Khan, reporting from occupied East Jerusalem, said Palestinians are incredibly worried about the police stance. They see this as an escalation of Israeli sovereignty over al-Aqsa compound, Khan said. Palestinians are asking what happens next. Netanyahu said on Friday that he did not want to alter the status quo, which gives Muslims religious control over the compound and Jews the right to visit, but not pray there. But Palestinians fear Israel is trying to retake the site by stealth. READ MORE Timeline: Critical events at the al-Aqsa Mosque This by no means is just about physical detectors. It is about who controls the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, our correspondent said. The site houses al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock shrine, Islams third holiest site after Mecca and Medina, as well as the ruins of the Biblical Jewish Temple. Muslims know the site as al-Haram al-Sharif, or the Noble Sanctuary, while Jews refer to the place of worship as Temple Mount. Abbas to mediate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas cut short his trip to China on Wednesday to return to Palestine to deal with the mounting tensions. His office said he had been touch with Arab and international leaders to try to prevent a deterioration of the situation. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Jerusalems top Muslim leader called on all of the citys mosques to close on Friday in protest against the new security measures. READ MORE: Israels closure of al-Aqsa a collective punishment Grand Mufti Muhammad Hussein said Palestinian Muslims should instead gather outside the gates of al-Aqsa Mosque for the weekly Friday prayers. Questions about control of the site frequently lead to outbursts of fighting. After last Fridays alleged attack, Israel closed off the area, preventing Friday prayers at the al-Aqsa Mosque for the first time in decades. Greek authorities register unaccompanied refugee children as adults and leave them vulnerable, says Human Rights Watch. Greek authorities on Lesbos Island have failed to protect unaccompanied children from abuse by placing them in refugee camps with unrelated adults, says Human Rights Watch (HRW). By misidentifying the children and classifying them as adults, Greek authorities have left the children vulnerable to abuse, sexual exploitation and human trafficking, and unable to access the specific services they require, HRW said in a report published on Thursday. Unaccompanied children often live in formal and impromptu camps where they endure poor sanitary conditions, a lack of basic resources and overcrowding and cannot attend school, the report added. The misidentification of unaccompanied migrant kids on Lesbos as adults leads to real problems, including lumping them together with unrelated adults and denying them the care they need, Eva Cosse, Greece researcher at HRW, said in the report. Greek authorities need to take responsibility for properly identifying unaccompanied children and providing them the protection and care every child needs. While some children falsely claim to be adults because they fear being detained, Greek authorities arbitrarily register many children as adults, the report claimed. OPINION: Who is really responsible for deadly refugee journeys? Many of the unaccompanied children have fled war-torn countries like Iraq and Syria, while others have escaped poverty and conflict in places like Pakistan. Hassan, a 16-year-old who spoke to HRW using a pseudonym, said authorities registered him as 19 without conducting standard examinations to determine age. I dont know why they changed my age. I asked them many times and the only thing they told me is to sign some papers, he said in the report. Due to Greeces shortage of spaces at shelters designated for unaccompanied children, more than 1,100 people were on a waiting list for accommodation as of June 20. The Greek Ministry of Migration failed to reply to Al Jazeeras multiple requests for comment. Closed borders More than 60,000 refugees and migrants are bottlenecked in Greece due to closed borders across the Balkans. Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia and others sealed their frontiers after the European Union and Turkey reached a deal to stem the flow of refugees in March 2016. Of the total number of refugees and migrants in Greece, more than 10,000 are confined to a handful of Aegean islands. They are barred from travelling to mainland Greece until their asylum applications have been fully processed. READ MORE: Why some refugees in Greece are being driven to suicide With worsening humanitarian conditions in camps and asylum applications moving at a snails pace, anger has boiled over into clashes on several occasions. Speaking to the Chinese Xinhua agency last month, Greek Migration Minister Yannis Mouzalas insisted that his country has handled the refugee crisis with dignity and acknowledged challenges ahead. The initial difficulty is that we do not know how many people will eventually stay in Greece, he said in the interview. The second difficulty is that these people who will eventually stay in Greece did not start their journey to end up in Greece and they are forced to stay. This makes their integration more difficult. On Tuesday, asylum seekers in the Moria camp, which is located on Lesbos Island, lit fires and clashed with police officers amid growing tensions. More than 30 people were detained. More than 102,000 refugees and migrants have crossed the Mediterranean Sea and arrived in Europe so far this year, according to the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR. During the first four months of 2017, around 16 percent of the 1,146 children who reached Greek shores were unaccompanied or separated from their families. State news says move relates to the 2015 case of a broken up terror cell that authorities said had contacts with Iran. Kuwait is closing the Iranian cultural mission and related offices in the Gulf Arab state and expelling a number of Iranian diplomats stationed in the country, according to the official news agency, KUNA. KUNA said on Thursday the move is related to the case of a terrorist cell broken up in 2015 that authorities allege had contacts with Iran and Hezbollah. The KUNA report said Alireza Enayati, Iranian ambassador to Kuwait, had been notified of the decision. A senior Kuwaiti official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP news agency about 15 Iranian diplomats were expelled. He declined to comment on whether Enayati was among them. A Reuters report said he was among those who were ordered expelled. READ MORE: Kuwait says it busted international ISIL support cell The official said Kuwait had also ordered the closure of the Iranian military, cultural and trade missions. Iran reacted angrily, saying the accusations it was behind a terrorist cell were baseless and threatened to take similar steps. Irans strong objection has been communicated to Kuwaits charge daffaires, Bahram Ghasemi, Irans foreign ministry spokesman, said in a statement on his Telegram channel. It was reiterated that Iran reserves the right to a reciprocal measure. Sensitive situation The Kuwaiti charge daffaires was summoned and told it is regrettable that Kuwaiti officials, in this sensitive situation in the region, instead of making an effort to reduce useless tensions have targeted the Islamic republic with baseless accusations, according to Ghasemi. Last month, the Kuwaits supreme court sentenced the suspected leader of the cell to life in jail and condemned 20 others to various prison terms. Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Al Sabah, Kuwaits state minister for cabinet affairs, who is also acting information minister, confirmed that Kuwait had taken diplomatic action against Iran but declined to specify the measures. Following the supreme court ruling on the case the government of Kuwait has decided to take measures, in accordance with diplomatic norms and the Vienna Convention, towards its relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran, he told AFP news agency. The supreme court, whose rulings are final, overturned the acquittal of the suspects on June 18 and sentenced them to between five and 15 years in prison. Kuwaits interior ministry confirmed on Tuesday that 14 of the cells 26 members were on the run, but said that they had not left the country through official exit points. When the cell was broken up in 2015, large quantities of arms, ammunition and explosives were seized from them, according to Kuwaiti authorities. The row comes as Kuwait attempts to mediate an end to the Gulfs worst diplomatic crisis in years, after Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the UAE cut ties with Qatar over accusations it supports terrorism, an allegation Doha rejects as baseless. Analysts have warned the crisis could break apart the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, whose members are Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the UAE. Kuwait has not imposed sanctions on Qatar and has positioned itself as a neutral party in the crisis. The 24-hour strike was meant as an expression of national disapproval of Maduros plan to reshape the political system. Large swaths of Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, were shuttered and silent on Thursday as opponents of President Nicolas Maduro called the first major national strike since a 2002 stoppage that failed to topple Maduros predecessor Hugo Chavez. A public transport strike appeared to have halted nearly all bus traffic, and thousands of private businesses defied government demands to stay open. State-run firms were open, though many were short on staff after employees failed to appear. Improvised roadblocks closed many streets. Security forces fired tear gas at protesters manning barricades. Youths shot fireworks at them from homemade mortars. Ronney Tejera, 24, and Andres Uzcategui, 23, died after being shot during protests, the state prosecutors office said. More than 170 people were arrested by late afternoon, a local rights group said. The 24-hour strike was meant as an expression of national disapproval of Maduros plan to convene a constitutional assembly that would reshape the Venezuelan system to consolidate the ruling partys power over the few institutions that remain outside its control. The opposition is boycotting a July 30 election to select members of the assembly. Definitively, we need a change, teacher Katherina Alvarez told the Associated Press news agency. The main objective is for people to see how dissatisfied people are. READ MORE: Venezuela has reached the zero hour Whats next? The countrys largest business group, Fedecamaras, has cautiously avoided full endorsement of the strike, but its members have told employees that they wont be punished for coming to work. Fedecamaras played a central role in the months-long 2002-2003 strike that Chavezs political rivals and opponents in Venezuelas private business sector orchestrated in an attempt to topple him. Chavez emerged from the strike and exerted control over the private sector with years of expropriations, strict regulations and imports bought with oil money and meant to replace local production. Business groups estimate that 150,000 Venezuelan businesses have closed over the last 15 years. The opposition called a 12-hour national strike last year that saw little response and was widely seen as a failure. This is a work stoppage by civil society. He who wants to work, work. Who wants to stop, stop, said Francisco Martinez, the president of Fedecamaras. Striking businesses will be punished Government-run industries will remain open, and Labour Minister Nestor Ovalles said the Maduro administration would punish private companies that close in sympathy with the strike. We wont allow, and well be closely watching, any disruption that violates the working class right to work, Ovalles said. Businesses that join the strike will be punished. The business groups incoming president, economist Carlos Larrazabal, said the strike would be of limited duration to avoid worsening Venezuelas already dire shortages of food and other basic products. Inventory levels right are very precarious, Larrazabal said. If the supply chains are affected more than they are right now, we could have a bigger problem. However, the Venezuelan Workers Confederation, a labour coalition with ties to the opposition, said at least 12 of its 20 member organisations across the country had decided to join the strike. Transport workers in Caracas also said they would participate. Theres an appeal to the conscience of the Venezuelan people, said Pedro Jimenez, head of a major transport workers union. There wont be transportation services. Many of those who opted to work said they walked hours to get to their jobs, unable to find a bus or taxi. We urgently need a change in government, because what we are living through is pathetic, said Frangeli Fernandez, 24, an accountant who walked three hours to his job at a bank. READ MORE: Venezuela A country divided Although not entirely in agreement with the strike, Fernandez told AP news agency he agreed with doing something very radical to get out of this. Al Jazeeras John Holman, reporting from Cucuta on Colombias border with Venezuela, said that there were reports that in many states 60 to 80 percent of businesses had shut. So in that way, it does seem to have had quite an impact nationwide and more so than general strikes in the past in Venezuela, said Holman. But at the same time this is a country with large economic problems, with chronic shortages of basic products, raw materials, companies failing already and some people have questioned if a strike is really the best way to go about protesting against this constituent assembly, he said. A lot of pieces on the chessboard Walking through the streets of Venezuelas capital Thursday, opposition leader Henrique Capriles called on people at roadblocks to allow ambulances and other emergency vehicles through. Protesters across Caracas set up roadblocks of tree branches and tires to protest against Maduros plans to change the constitution. Some residents were irritated by the roadblocks, saying the protest was yet another way the countrys political upheaval is disrupting their lives. The government jails the people who protest and those who are protesting are caging the rest of us. Its unfair, said Maria Sandoval, a 27-year-old medical secretary. But those at the roadblocks said they had no plans to stop until Maduro leaves power. The people dont want this government, accountant Wilfredo Villegas said as he manned a roadblock with neighbours on Thursday morning. Were here making them understand that we dont want this government. They have to go, in a non-violent way. They have to call general elections. Al Jazeeras Holman said the strikes could affect ordinary people more than the government, and that the strike alone wont change things. [But] its part of a concerted push by the opposition over the next two weeks and a key part of that is support from the international community and also the military and police. If rifts emerge in the police and military it could have a decisive impact, said Holman. So there are a lot of pieces on the chessboard right now, and the opposition are trying to use them all to put more and more pressure on this government. Venezuela UN diplomat resigns in protest Meanwhile, a Venezuelan diplomat to the United Nations on Thursday called on President Nicolas Maduro to resign immediately. Isaias Medina said in an interview with Al Jazeera on Thursday that he decided to break with the government and resign shortly after a wave of political unrest began in early April citing abuses during the demonstrations. The US and the European Union should act swiftly not even wait if [Maduro] goes ahead or not with this national assembly, Medina told Al Jazeera. They should impose sanctions immediately; arms embargoes to begin with and of course without limit. We have to act together to free our country from this totalitarian regime that is trying to change the constitution illegally, he said. Venezuelas Ambassador Rafael Ramirez said on Twitter that he condemned the conduct of Isaias Medina and that he had been immediately dismissed. Victim identified by local news media as Muhammad Hussein Ahmad Tnouh, who Israeli forces say tried to stab a soldier. Israeli forces have shot and killed a Palestinian man after he allegedly attempted to stab a soldier at a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank, according to the Israeli military. No soldiers were reported wounded in Thursdays incident, which occured in the village of Tuqu, south of Bethlehem. According to Maan news agency, Israeli soldiers fired four shots towards the Palestinian, while eyewitnesses said that an Israeli military vehicle ran over the man. The Israeli military said in a statement that an assailant armed with a knife attempted to stab [Israeli] soldiers at a checkpoint in Tekoa. In response to the immediate threat, forces fired shots towards the assailant. Maan said Palestinian medical sources identified the man as 26-year-old Muhammad Hussein Ahmad Tnouh. READ MORE: Palestinian shot dead in alleged car ramming incident No soldiers were reported wounded. A Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance was prevented from getting to Tnouh by Israeli soldiers who had blocked off the scene, Maan said. Video from the area shows clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians at the scene of the incident. Mounting toll According to Maan, Tnouh is the 46th Palestinian killed by Israeli forces or settlers this year. At least 10 Israelis have been killed in the same time period. Since 2015, there have been more than 250 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire, and 42 Israelis killed by Palestinian assailants. Palestinians say the attacks stem from anger over decades of Israeli occupation in territory they claim for their state. READ MORE: How Israel has failed Palestinian victims Israel blames the violence on incitement by Palestinian political and religious leaders. A number of local and international human rights groups have raised concerns that Israeli security forces have used excessive force when confronting Palestinians who had carried out attacks or been suspected of doing so. The Israeli police relaxed its open-fire regulations in December 2015, permitting officers to open fire with live ammunition on those throwing stones or firebombs as an initial option, without having to use non-lethal weapons first. The US Department of State praised Qatars strong partnership in the fight against terrorism in its annual Country Reports on Terrorism released on Wednesday. The state department said Doha had maintained a strong partnership in the fight against terrorism in 2016 and collaborated to foster closer regional and international cooperation on counterterrorism, law enforcement and rule of law activities. Qatar, it added, has made significant progress in combating terrorist financing but terrorist financiers within the country are still able to exploit Qatars informal financial system. Al Jazeeras Mike Hanna, reporting from Washington, DC, said: However, the report makes very clear too that in 2015 and 2016 Qatar began to successfully prosecute individual financiers who it accused of carrying out these acts. READ MORE: Analysis: Qatar-Gulf crisis Who are the terrorists? Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt cut ties with Qatar on June 5 and imposed a land, air and sea blockade on the country. The quartet accused Qatar of funding terrorism, an accusation Qatar rejects as baseless. The state department also said that individuals and entities in Saudi Arabia had been channelling money out of the country to terrorist organisations and that some of this money may be carried out by pilgrims. The United States said Saudi Arabia is making concerted efforts to stop this illegal outflow of cash funds and that: Saudi Arabia continued to maintain a strong counterterrorism relationship with the United States, stated the report. The report also mentioned that individuals have made use of the UAE as a financial hub to funnel money out of the country or through the financial system to terrorist groups, but that the UAE had increased its counterterrorism prosecutions. Emma Ashford, a Research Fellow at the Cato Institute, told Al Jazeera that the state departments reports tend to talk about Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia in fairly similar language. Obviously the state department report doesnt want to offend countries that are considered US partners or allies. But even within that, all three Gulf states are talked about in the context of their working against terror financing. But theyre also not working perhaps as hard as they could be. Qatar and the US signed an agreement earlier this month to help combat terrorism financing during a visit to Doha by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Its important to note though that of all these Gulf countries Qatar is the only one to have signed a bilateral agreement with the US to combat terror financing, said Al Jazeeras Mike Hanna. Overall attacks falling The report also found that attacks across the globe decreased in 2016 for a second straight year and claimed that Iran is still the worlds leading state sponsor of terrorism. The state department pointed to Tehrans elite extra-territorial Quds Force that continued to play a destabilising role in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. The report also pointed to a common thread in many of the attacks last year, namely adherence to violent extremist ideology put forth by a fundamentalist strain of Sunni Islam that perceives itself to be under attack by the West and in conflict with other branches of Islam, particularly attacks directed or inspired by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group. But it said overall attacks had fallen nine percent last year from 2015, and deaths were down 13 percent. OPINION: What is the Qatar-GCC showdown really about? More than half of the attacks took place in Iraq, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan and the Philippines, said the departments acting coordinator for counterterrorism, Justin Siberell. Attacks and deaths were up notably in Iraq, Somalia and Turkey. Ashford told Al Jazeera that one of the problems with the State Departments list of terror sponsoring nations is that it is a very political assessment. This report bears a fairly strong similarity to previous iterations of this report, which have almost uniformly called out Iran and tried to avoid making accusations against other Gulf states, she said. Decree defining terms such as terrorist acts follows a deal between Qatar and US to fight terrorism financing. Qatars Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has issued a decree amending some provisions of a law on combating terrorism, the state news agency reported. The decree issued on Thursday included definitions for the terms terrorist, crime, terrorist acts, terrorist entities, the freezing of funds and the financing of terrorism, according to the Qatar News Agency. It also identifies procedures related to some terrorist activities. The decree stated that individuals and entities accused of terrorist activities have the right to challenge charges lodged against them before the court. Analysis: Qatar-Gulf crisis: Who are the terrorists? The amendment is effective immediately upon its publication in the government newsletter, the report said. The order follows an agreement between Qatar and the United States that seeks to curb terrorism financing, and which was signed during a visit to Doha by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Qatar was the first state in the Gulf region to sign an agreement with the US on combating terrorism. Tillerson had praised Qatar for signing the deal, and for committing to the effort to track down and disable terror financing. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates accuse Doha of funding what they call terrorism allegations Qatar strongly denies. Baseless accusations The four countries cut ties with Qatar on June 5 and imposed a land, air and sea blockade on the country. On June 22, the Saudi-led group issued a 13-point list of demands, including the shutdown of Al Jazeera, limiting ties with Iran and expelling Turkish troops stationed in the country, as a prerequisite to lifting the blockade. Doha rejected the demands, and the countries now consider the list null and void. The blockading countries later issued a six-point demand. Several Western diplomats have visited the Gulf over the past two weeks in a bid to ease the dispute, yet no breakthrough has been achieved. Meanwhile, at the United Nations, Qatars UN ambassador, Alya Ahmed Saif Al Thani, rejected the baseless accusations made by Egyptian Deputy UN Ambassador Ihab Awad Moustafa against Doha. Earlier on Thursday, Moustafa told the UN Security Council that Qatar is adopting a pro-terrorist policy that violated UN council resolutions, and said it is shameful that the 15-member body had not held Qatar accountable. Al Thani told Reuters after the meeting: Egypt is exploiting their Security Council seat to drag in issues that are not relevant to the councils agenda its just serving their own national agenda. Any push to pass a Security Council resolution against Qatar would likely be difficult as it needs either consensus approval behind closed doors by the council, or a vote on a resolution, which would need nine votes in favour and no vetoes by the US, Britain, France, Russia or China. Yemen rises as Syria tops UK-based rights groups annual Peoples Under Threat index for third consecutive year. Yemen has been named the country where the risk of genocide or mass killing rose the most last year, according to a UK-based rights group. In its annual Peoples Under Threat index released on Thursday, Minority Rights Group International (MRG) placed Syria at the top of the list for the third consecutive year. Highest rated countries (2016) 1. Syria 2. Somalia 3. Iraq 4. Sudan 5. Afghanistan 6. South Sudan 7. Democratic Republic of the Congo 8. Yemen 9. Pakistan 10. Myanmar 11. Libya 12. Nigeria But the MRG index found that risks rose most markedly in Yemen last year as the war raged on, with more than 10,000 people killed and millions driven from their homes. Yemen has been torn apart by conflict since 2014, when Houthi rebels, allied with troops loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, captured large expanses of the country, including the capital, Sanaa. A coalition of Arab countries assembled by Saudi Arabia launched an air campaign against the rebels in March 2015 to try to restore the internationally recognised government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power. Parties on both sides of the conflict have violated international humanitarian law with impunity, the report said. Yemen was listed eighth in a list of 70 countries where people are seen as being at risk, behind Syria, Somalia, Iraq, Sudan, Afghanistan, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. OPINION: The frighteningly high human and financial costs of war The index also said vulnerable people were at risk in a growing number of no-go zones around the world. Last month, UN rights chief Zeid Raad al-Hussein condemned a number of governments for refusing access to UN officials. Mark Lattimer, MRGs executive director, said in a statement that such international isolation is a known risk factor for genocide or mass killing. He added that if governments are increasingly evading international scrutiny, this is a serious concern. READ MORE: Record 65 million people displaced in 2016 According to the report, UN human rights officials have been granted no access to Syria since the crisis began in 2011. In more than six years of war, at least 400,000 people have been killed, and nearly half the countrys population has been displaced, according to UN estimates. African countries top risers list Two-thirds of the countries where the risk of genocide or mass killing has risen are in Africa. Indexs top risers in 2017 1. Yemen 2. Libya 3. Nigeria 4. Burundi 5. Eritrea 6. Angola 7. Uganda 8. Turkey 9. Cameroon 10. Mozambique 11. Bangladesh 12. Papua New Guinea According to the report, officials in Nigeria have failed to respond to at least 14 UN outstanding requests to visit the country. The government has claimed extensive military success in the war against Boko Haram, but both the Nigerian army and local vigilante groups supported by the government have been responsible for widespread abuses, the report said. The report also pointed to Burundi, where protests have turned violent over President Pierre Nkurunzizas bid for a third term, Cameroon, where the government cut off internet services in the English speaking areas in 2017 after demonstrations, and Uganda where dissent is increasingly suppressed. MRG calculates the index based on a number of indicators, including democracy and governance, conflict data, and displacement, among others. US President Donald Trumps son Donald Trump Jr, son-in-law Jared Kushner and former campaign manager Paul Manafort have been asked to appear before US Senate committees next week to answer questions about the campaigns alleged connections to Russia, officials said on Wednesday. The three men are the closest associates of the president to be called to speak to legislators involved in probing Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign. Trump, who came into office in January, has been dogged by allegations that his campaign officials were connected to Russia, who US intelligence agencies have accused of interfering in last years election. Trump has denied any collusion. OPINION: Trump and Putin: An awkward first date The US Senate Judiciary Committee said on Wednesday that it had called Trumps eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, and Manafort to testify on July 26 at a hearing. The presidents son released emails earlier this month that showed him eagerly agreeing to meet last year with a woman he was told was a Russian government lawyer who might have damaging information about Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. The meeting was also attended by Manafort and Kushner, who is now a senior adviser at the White House. Kushner is scheduled to be interviewed by the Senate Intelligence Committee on Monday, July 24, behind closed doors. Working with and being responsive to the schedules of the committees, we have arranged Mr. Kushners interview with the Senate for July 24, Kushners lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said in a statement. He will continue to cooperate and appreciates the opportunity to assist in putting this matter to rest. Alan Futerfas, a lawyer for Trump Jr, did not immediately respond to a request by The Associated Press seeking comment about his scheduled testimony. Manafort spokesman Jason Maloni said Manafort received the request on Wednesday afternoon and is reading it over. Trump rages against Sessions A special counsel, Robert Mueller, is also conducting an investigation of Russian meddling in the US election and any collusion between Moscow and Trumps campaign. The issue has overshadowed Trumps tenure in office and irritated the president, who told the New York Times on Wednesday that he would not have appointed ally and former Senator Jeff Sessions as attorney general if he had known Sessions would recuse himself from oversight of the Russia probe. Sessions should have never recused himself, and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before he took the job and I would have picked somebody else, Trump said in the interview. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democratic member of the Judiciary Committee, said the committees hearing would enable the panel to begin to get testimony under oath. There has been an enormous amount that has been said publicly, but its not under oath, which means that people are free to omit matters or lie with relative impunity, Whitehouse told CNN. The Senate Intelligence Committee is conducting one of the main investigations of Russias meddling in the 2016 US election and possible collusion by Trump associates, but the judiciary committee has been looking into related issues. The public judiciary committee hearing on Wednesday will look into rules governing the registration of agents working for foreign governments in the United States and foreign attempts to influence US elections. Chuck Grassley, the committees Republican chairman, has said he wanted to question the Trump associates but has also raised concerns about why the Obama administration allowed Natalia Veselnitskaya, the Russian lawyer who attended the Trump Tower meeting in June, into the US. He also has called before the committee and threatened to subpoena Glenn Simpson, a cofounder of Fusion GPS, a firm that commissioned former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele to dig up opposition research on Trump, when he was a presidential candidate. US president phasing out agencys programme to arm and train groups in order to get closer to Russia, say US officials. The Trump administration has decided to halt the CIAs covert programme to equip and train certain rebel groups in Syria fighting the government of President Bashar al-Assad, two US officials said, a move sought by Assad ally Russia. The Washington Post was first to report the programmes suspension on Wednesday. The US decision, said one of the officials, is part of an effort by the administration to improve relations with Russia, which, along with Iranian-supported groups, has largely succeeded in preserving Assads government in the six-year civil war. The CIA programme began in 2013 as part of efforts by the administration of then-President Barack Obama to overthrow Assad, but produced little success, said the officials, both of whom are familiar with the programme and spoke on the condition of anonymity. READ MORE: Syrias moderate rebels to form a new alliance White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders declined to comment on the topic at a White House briefing. The CIA also declined to comment. The decision was made nearly a month ago with National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster and CIA Director Mike Pompeo after they consulted with lower ranking officials and before Trumps July 7 meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in Germany. It was not part of US-Russian negotiations on a ceasefire in southwestern Syria, the two officials said. A bid to improve Russia ties One of the officials said the US was not making a major concession, given Assads grip on power, although not on all of Syria, but its a signal to Putin that the administration wants to improve ties to Russia. Al Jazeeras Heidi Zhou-Castro, reporting from Washington, DC, said the efficacy of the CIA programme to support moderate rebels fighting Assad has come under question since Russias intervention in 2015 to support Assad. But even at its inception, this programme was considered to be minuscule it would only arm a few hundred Syrian rebel fighters a month, she said. And then in 2015 when Russia entered the conflict, throwing its oversized military weight behind Assad the CIA programmes perceived impact diminished to nearly inconsequential. But the US held on to it, apparently in an effort to maintain it as a bargaining tool in future negotiations with Russia. Juan Cole, history professor at the University of Michigan, told Al Jazeera that the groups the CIA was training and arming are small and have largely been defeated. So theyre not much of a bargaining chip if thats what they were being held for, he said. Trump under pressure The move to phase out the programme comes as Trump is under intense scrutiny by congress and a special counsel investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Russia has denied US intelligence agencies allegations of Moscow meddling, and Trump has denied collusion between his campaign and the Russians. The bigger picture is that these developments are troubling because theyre indicators of Trumps desire to get closer to Putin, said Al Jazeeras Zhou-Castro. Analysts have called this behaviour bizarre given that they are leaders of two world powers that are so much at odds and of course, lest we forget, there are those investigations in the US, she said. A downside of the CIA programme, one of the officials said, is that some armed and trained rebels defected to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) and other armed groups. Some members of the previous Obama administration favoured abandoning the programme. The decision came as the US and Russia negotiated a ceasefire in southwest Syria, covering some of the areas from which the rebels operated. READ MORE: Syrias civil war explained from the beginning Support for the programme further eroded last year after the rebels lost the areas they held in the Syrian city of Aleppo under a brutal Russian-backed government assault. Before assuming office in January, Trump suggested he could end support for Free Syrian Army groups and give priority to the fight against ISIL. A separate effort by the US military effort to train, arm and support other Syrian rebel groups with air strikes and other actions will continue, the officials said. However, aside from air strikes after the Syrian military launched a chemical weapons attack, the Trump administration has not increased military support from the limits set by the Obama administration. Cole told Al Jazeera the US under Trump has increasingly few interests in Syria its main focus is on defeating ISIL, which includes supporting the Kurdish-led SDF. But I would be very surprised if [Trump] has the stamina or the interest in Syria to put down a marker for a long-term US presence there, said Cole. Al Jazeeras Heidi Zhou-Castro said the decision to cut the CIA programme leaves some unanswered questions. How does phasing out the CIA programme serve US interests in Syria? And how if at all does it serve Trumps personal interest? Tunisia joins Lebanon and Qatar in banning US blockbuster featuring a former soldier with the Israeli army at its helm. A court in Tunisia has banned Wonder Woman, a US film starring a former soldier with the Israeli army, more than a month after it was scheduled to open at cinemas, a legal source said. The film was due to be screened at two venues in Tunis in early June, but the showings were suspended following a complaint from the nationalist al-Chaab party. The court finally decided to impose the ban last Friday, prosecution spokesman Sofiene Sliti said. The verdict was only disclosed to the media this week without a reason given for the judgement. Al-Chaab demanded the film be banned in Tunisia because Gadot had defended Israels 2014 war on the Palestinian enclave of Gaza on Facebook. READ MORE: Lebanon bans Wonder Woman film over Israeli actress The case sparked controversy in the North African country, with supporters of the ban calling for no normalisation of ties with the Jewish state and others criticising censorship. Tunisia has maintained limited ties with Israel since the 1950s. The movie is based on a comic book character introduced in 1941, fighting villains, rescuing victims and unearthing evil plots. It has faced a backlash in the Arab world because an Israeli actress, Gal Gadot, plays the lead role. READ OPINION: Watching Wonder Woman in Gaza Gadot served two years of compulsory military service in the Israeli army and has railed against Hamas, the Gaza-based Palestinian political group, on social media. With the ruling, Tunisia joins Lebanon and Qatar which have also banned the film from its cinemas. Lebanon, which is officially at war with Israel, banned Wonder Woman in May on the grounds of a long-standing boycott of the country. Jordan briefly imposed a ban on the film last month before approving it for screening. Reaction follows German threat to slap sanctions and decision to issue travel advisory amid row over activists arrest. Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkeys foreign minister, has accused Germany of harbouring terrorists after the country stepped up a travel advisory for Turkey and considered slapping sanctions over its arrest of human rights activists. Germany told its citizens on Thursday to exercise caution if travelling to Turkey, with Sigmar Gabriel, foreign minister, warning that his government could no longer guarantee its citizens safety in the face of arbitrary mass arrests. The warning came after Turkey arrested six human-rights activists, including a German national, on accusations of terrorism. READ MORE: Rejected asylum From Karachi to Germany and back again Germany, Turkeys chief export partner, called the allegations absurd. Gabriel said Germany would review state guarantees for foreign investment in Turkey, and reconsider its support for billions in European Union financial flows to Turkey. Germanys Bild newspaper, citing government sources, reported that the country was also putting arms projects involving Turkey on hold. Stance unacceptable Cavusoglu called Germanys stance unacceptable. As a country providing shelter to PKK and FETO terrorists in its own territory, statements by Germany are just double standards and unacceptable, he said on Twitter, referring to the Kurdistan Workers Party and the network of the US-based religious leader Fethullah Gulen, blamed by Turkey for last years failed coup. Germany and Turkey have clashed over numerous issues in recent months, including the pre-trial detention of a Turkish-German journalist, Deniz Yucel, and Germanys refusal to extradite asylum seekers Turkey alleges were involved in the coup attempt. The latest row broke out after a Turkish court on Tuesday ordered six rights activists, including German national Peter Steudtner and Amnesty Internationals Turkey director Idil Eser, to remain in custody for allegedly aiding a terror group. Gabriel broke off his holiday to deal with the crisis. He said Steudtner never wrote about Turkey, he had no contacts in the political establishment and never appeared as a critic. He said any German national travelling to Turkey could suffer the same fate. Gabriel also accused President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of trying to muzzle every critical voice with mass arrests. Erdogan says the crackdown, in which roughly 50,000 people have been detained and 150,000 sacked or suspended from the judiciary and journalism to academia, was essential after the failed coup. Many companies have also been seized on allegations of links to terrorism. Without legal certainty Gabriel said he could not advise companies to invest in a country without legal certainty where even completely innocent companies are judged as being close to terrorists. I cant see how we as the German government can continue to guarantee corporate investments in Turkey if there is the threat of arbitrary expropriation for political reasons. Germany still wanted to rebuild relations with its long-time ally, he said, but added that Erdogans government must first return to European values. Juergen Hardt, a senior member of Chancellor Angela Merkels ruling conservative party, said the EU candidate country had now left the path to Europe. No one invests in a country in which the judiciary has been degraded to be a helper of the ruling AKP party, he said. Cavusoglu hit back at Gabriels remarks, saying threats and blackmail would find no answers in Turkey, and that Germany and Turkey needed to focus on their long-term mutual goals instead. We dont see such threats against Turkey as worthy of a serious country, Cavusoglu said in Cyprus. The foreign ministry in Ankara said Turkey would not make concessions on its judicial independence and struggle against terrorism for financial matters such as loans, funds or the [European] Customs Union. READ MORE: Germany to withdraw troops from Turkish base For his part, Ibrahim Kalin, Turkeys presidential spokesman, accused Germany of great political irresponsibility in stepping up its travel warning. He suggested Gabriels remarks were intended to win votes at national elections in two months. They need to rid themselves of this abdication of reason and think rationally, Kalin said. Gabriels warnings to private as well as business travellers could deal a blow to Turkeys tourism industry. So far this year, bookings from Germany have accounted for about 10 percent of Turkeys tourists. List of companies The German newspaper Die Zeit reported on Wednesday that Turkish authorities had, several weeks ago, handed their German counterparts a list of 68 German companies they accused of having links to Gulen. They included chemicals manufacturer BASF, which confirmed it was on a list that had been passed to it by German police but declined to comment on the allegations. Mehmet Simsek, Turkeys deputy prime minister, said on Thursday the reports were untrue. Germany was Turkeys top export destination in 2016, buying $14bn worth of Turkish goods. It was also the second biggest source of Turkish imports, at $21.5bn. Only China, at $25.4bn, exported more to Turkey. Ned Comm was thrilled when he found out his son Nolan wouldnt have to pay for tuition or fees at UF because of the newest update to the Bright Futures Scholarship Program. The scholarship program will now pay 100 percent of tuition and fees for students who are Florida Academic Scholars, the highest level of Bright Futures, and provide $300 for textbooks. However, this change will only apply for the 2017-18 school year. As a taxpayer and a parent whos affected by this, I was not happy years ago when Bright Futures was reduced from its original intent, which was to provide affordable education to a wide number of people Comm said. Comm, a UF alumnus, said he feels like Bright Futures has done students a disservice over the last few years by making it harder for students to qualify while simultaneously decreasing the amount Bright Futures gives out each year. The recent change, which was announced by UF on July 14, is expected to affect more than 16,000 UF students in the upcoming school year, wrote university spokesperson Steve Orlando in an email. For the 2017-18 award year (Fall/Spring) Bright Futures recipients at the Academic Scholar level will receive a total award of approximately $6,980, Orlando said. This represents a $3,890 increase over the original $3,090. While some are discouraged about the temporary change, Austin Gordon, a UF biology sophomore, said he is excited college is going to be more affordable for him and his family. I was really upset to hear that Rick Scott vetoed the bill that would have made this increase permanent, but Im holding out hope that legislators will opt to include the increase in funding in their future budgets, the 19-year-old said. Samantha Garcia, a UF computer science sophomore, said she would have had to take out a $5,000 loan this year if it werent for the Bright Futures changes. One hundred percent is a lot, and thats how much it should be, because thats what you earned from doing well in school, right? the 18-year-old said. Not just 80 percent. Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now Local lovers of soul have waited three months to welcome back a homegrown band to the stage a band that arrived to the Gainesville music scene in late 2010, but whose aura, sound and je ne sais quoi is nostalgically reminiscent of 1963, even for those who consider themselves 90s kids. On Friday, The Savants of Soul will headline at The Atlantic Nightspot, located at 15 N. Main St., the first time they have performed live since April. Retrolux and Whale Feral will join the 10-piece band as supporting acts starting at 9:30 p.m., one hour after doors open. The Savants of Soul will be performing in Gainesville as part of a three-show hat trick, followed by performances in Jacksonville and Raleigh, North Carolina. The latter performance will be preceded by a trip to New York City to record their next single, Dead Man Running, which has reached its final iteration and is ready for permanence. We are going to Brooklyn to record with members of Charles Bradley and His Extraordinaires, which is crazy. After the death of Sharon Jones, I would be hard pressed to find a name more significant in the world of soul music, so its a great experience for us, said Savants of Soul drummer Alexander Klausner. Klausner said the bands thrill for the opportunity is not without its nerves; the band will be recording in analog, which dates back to the use of the phonograph and does not provide the wiggle room for mistakes that digital recording does. Weve tried to get that analog sound through digital means but its not quite the real thing. We just keep telling ourselves, Dont screw up. If one person messes up, we have to start over, Klausner said. The real challenge for us will be to play perfectly in sync while feeling that pressure. Klausner radiates gratitude when he speaks about the band label Swamp Records excellent launch pad. The label lets UF students run the show with simply the reward of a love for music, but the Brooklyn studio recording will kick off a new wave for The Savants of Soul. Soon after the side-A track is finished, the band plans to film a music video and back it with good publicity to see whos interested and see what kind of media attention we can get with the release, Klausner said. From there, its up to the industry to take The Savants of Soul to the next step. Were always going to be excited and blessed and fortunate to be able to play for the Gainesville crowd and be a part of this scene, Klausner said. All the acts (playing Friday) are really spectacularly good. They set the bar high for Gainesville music. Five years ago, Anna James and Maynard Shaye met on Craigslist when Shaye posted an ad looking to form an indie band. The age difference between the two put a pause on their plans until they met again in 2015 at a party and launched Retrolux, said James, the bands vocalist. Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now Today, the band joins The Savants of Sound at Swamp Records as label mates, and the show will also be their first performance in three months, as they took the summer off to work on their second extended play, which will follow their debut, Real Life. We are so stoked about this show and our upcoming EP. Weve got a lot of plans for these upcoming months, and I cant wait to get back onto the scene, said Shaye, who launches all samples and plays keys for the band. We are also working on enhancing our performances with more visual art. We hope to follow this time with bigger shows and eventually, a tour, James added. Retrolux will play at High Dive, located at 210 SW Second Ave., with the band flipturn on Aug. 24 at 9:30 p.m. There is no shortage of up-and-coming artists in Gainesville, and Whale Feral, the first performance on Fridays set list, is focused on live music as their main feature as they dont identify with any particular genre. We put our focus more on having a cohesive sound than focusing on a genre, but if we have to pick, we are definitely descended from the Grateful Dead and Allman Brothers branch of music, which especially in the Deads case, means a little of everything, said lead guitarist and vocalist Matt Urban. He said the bands main focus is playing live rather than under a label. He said they promise a different experience for every show, which includes different set lists and improvisations. David Havens on drums, Will Bethea on bass and Ricky Cagno on rhythm guitar and vocals join Urban this Friday. The band also plays back-to-back weekly sets at First Magnitude Brewing Company, located at 1220 SE Veitch St., every Sunday from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Doors open Friday at 8:30 p.m. at The Atlantic Nightspot. Tickets can be found at showclix.com for $8 and are $10 at the door. The show is welcome to music fans ages 18 and older. English News Anti-Muslim Trump will achieve nothing, also about terrorism from Pakistan against India Alwihda Info | Par Hem Raj Jain - 20 Juillet 2017 Bengaluru, India Sub:- (i)- Bogus annual 'Country Report on Terrorism', is a proof why thus-far USA has failed to solve the problem of radical-Islamist-global-terrorism (ii)- Trump is also as anti-Muslim as previous US administration (iii)- Trump also does not understand Islam and has anti-Muslim prejudices (iv)- Trump doesnt bother about tens of millions of bleeding and weeping Muslims all over the world (v)- Trump exceptionally harsh on theocratic Pakistan and soft on communal-India about Kashmir struggle (vi)- Trump hopelessly indifferent to Kashmir solution (vii)- If trump really serious about solving the problem of terrorism from Pakistan against India then USA should ask India to retrieve PoK ---- People thought that under Prez Trump, self-styled leader of free world the USA will pursue fresh, honest and effective policies to solve the problem of radical-Islamist-global-terrorism (RIGT) which is inflicting the entire world. But in this regard the annual 'Country Report on Terrorism', by the State Department as mandated by the Congress has disappointed to say the least. This bogus annual 'Country Report on Terrorism', is a proof why thus-far USA has failed to solve the problem of RIGT as explained below:- (1)- From this annual 'Country Report on Terrorism' it is evident that Trump is also as anti-Muslim as previous US administration for the simple reason that Trump also does not understand Islam. Moreover Trump doesnt bother about tens of millions of bleeding and weeping Muslims all over the world especially in NAME region (including in Syria). The solution to problem in Syria etc is not a rocket science and USA can solve it easily by:- (i)- Getting UN Peace Keeping Force (UNPKF) and UN Election Commission (UNEC) constituted in order to bring peace and democracy in Syria (and similarly in other troubled countries of NAME region) even out UN if other veto wielding permanent members do not cooperate in constitution UNPKF and UNEC (ii)- Launching International Political Parties (IPP) registered at UN because if left entirely to the local people then in democracy in Muslim countries ultimately medieval-thinking clergy of Islam gain ascendancy. (iii)- Mandatory Protocol MP-1 instead of Optional Protocol OP-1 of ICCPR along with elaborate mechanism for enforceable human rights in member countries of UN. (2)- But like previous US administration Trump also seems to be indifferent to the sufferings of Muslims. Trump has also preferred to forget that (i)- Syrians were living happily and peacefully (in a country which has ample oil resources) before the West (USA and its European allies) tried to bring democracy through Arab-spring in Syria (ii)- This farce of Arab-spring has brought most gory situation in Syria and (iii)- This is the responsibility of West (led by USA) to rectify this gory situation in Syria (3)- Even the drama done by Trump on May, 21 when Trump asked (in presence of ~ 50 Sunni Muslim countries) from the soil of Saudi Arabia to take-on Iran in order (i)- To engineer regime change in Iran and (ii)- To eliminate terrorism by Shia terrorists from Sunni majority NAME region has also been called-off. USA still is militarily in Syria (where innocent civilians are still being killed and harassed) and USA is doing nothing to ensure, without any further delay, the peaceful transition to democracy in Syria and in rest of NAME. This is a further prove that Trump also nurtures the same anti-Muslim prejudices as is common in Christians from the days of Crusades. (4)- Trump administration is also exceptionally harsh on theocratic Muslim Pakistan about Kashmir struggle. The USA is exceptionally soft on constitutionally secular but in reality (Hindu majority) communal-India and is hopelessly indifferent to Kashmir solution. No doubt the terrorist activities of LeT, JeM etc operating from Pakistan are to be condemned but only when these so-called terrorist organizations kill civilians in India in pursuit for the independence of Muslim Kashmir (if not entire J&K) from India in a war by these Jihadis (patronized by Pakistan). Except July, 10 attack on Amaranath pilgrims (where 8 pilgrims were killed and 18 were injured) which should be condemned, these Jihadis mostly attacked security forces [as noted in this annual 'Country Report on Terrorism' too namely on January 2, attack at Pathankot Air Force Station, on June 25, attack at Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy in Pampore, on September 18, attack at Indian Army brigade headquarters in Uri, on October 3, attack at Indian army camp in the Baramulla District, on November 29, militants attack at army base in Nagrota] and any attack on security forces in a war is a legitimate activity. Trump should not forget that Islam, as per media report, has laid down the lives of ~ one hundred thousand Jihadis for Kashmir. (5)- On the contrary during last 70 years Indian military has not retrieved PoK whereas much smaller Pakistan has tried to snatch Kashmir militarily in 1947, 1948, 1965, 1971, during Kargil, proxy war etc. which as per adverse possession has given better claim / title to Pakistan over entire J&K. The USA should know that India is not interested in retrieving PoK because unlike Hindu Goa the POK is Muslim populated. This communal mindset of India has alienated Muslim Kashmiris and to keep them suppressed Indian military (instead of retrieving PoK militarily) is showing its bravery by training guns on civilians / unarmed-citizens (Muslim Kashmiris) under the protection of AFSPA, SPA etc. (6)- The communal Indians may say that how can India retrieve PoK militarily from Pakistan when (i)- Military standoff between India and China is already going on for over a month near Sikkim border in Doklam region of Bhutan which has potential of all-out war between India and China, both nuclear countries and (ii)- When Pakistan has nuclear weapons. But these arguments are not valid as (A)- If India moves UN to constrain China to constitute UN Judicial Commission (UNJC) for the settlement of Indo-China border then all the problems between India and China will be over because (unlike problem with Pakistan which is a political problem) the problem with China is a legal problem and which can easily be solved by UNJC and (B)- The problem of nuclear WMDs with Pakistan in any case is a white mans burden who are under legal obligation to solve it because they absurdly have given Devine right to some countries to have nukes and not such right to other countries (despite ineffective non-proliferation regime at UN) . In a nutshell without unification of Kashmir there is no Kashmir solution and without Kashmir solution there is no solution to terrorism and so-called terrorism (which rather is a legitimate activity of killing security forces in a proxy war by Jihadis and which is a specialty of Islam) emanating from Pakistan. Therefore if Trump is really serious about solving the problem of terrorism and so-called terrorism from Pakistan against India then USA should (A)- Understand that the last world on Indias partition (which occurred in 1947 on the basis of religion) is yet to be written and (B)- Ask India to retrieve PoK (even militarily if necessary). Regards Hem Raj Jain (Author of Betrayal of Americanism) Bengaluru, India Dans la meme rubrique : < > China accelerates green, low-carbon development World-class astronomical obervation base takes shape in Qinghai province China, Germany should keep to overall direction of bilateral ties from strategic height: Xi Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena) Charlie Gard has, in effect, been medically kidnapped by the socialist National Health Service bureaucracy that has lined up with the British medical establishment to assert the primacy of the states rights over the parents rights to determine the fate of a minor child. In Britain, the state essentially owns the child, and the experience faced by Charlie Gard and his parents has brought that outrageous situation clearly to light. On Monday and Tuesday of this week (July 17 and 18), Michio Hirano, M.D., the noted Columbia University physician, examined 11-month old baby Charlie in a case that has gained worldwide attention. Baby Charlie suffers from a rare genetic disease, mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome, that is considered progressive and terminal. He is being kept alive on life support at a hospital in London. Reportedly ignoring Dr. Hiranos opinion after a five-hour meeting and the physicians examination of the baby, Charlies English doctors, who work for the government under the National Health Service (NHS) the UKs single-payer socialist medical system, continue to maintain that there is no hope for Charlie and that he should immediately be disconnected from life support systems, which would quickly result in his death. Ever since Charlies medical condition was first diagnosed last fall when he was three months old, his parents have sought second opinions, and one has been provided by Dr. Hirano, an esteemed specialist in the United States whose work on children with illnesses like Charlies has shown great promise and has gained international recognition in the mainstream medical and scientific community. Michio Hirano, M.D. The English court system has been enlisted to reinforce the doctors clinical opinions and has taken the additional draconian step of preventing Charlies parents from taking their son to the United States for treatment at Columbia University Medical Center in New York, where Dr. Hirano and his team are engaged in leading edge U.S. government-supported research and experimental treatment of affected children. Connie Yates, Charlies mother, was quoted in the Daily Mail on July 18: As Charlies loving parents, we are doing the right thing for our son in exploring all treatment options. Yates provided the newspaper with a new photo of Charlie that she said proved that he can see. His British physicians claim the child is blind. New photo of Charlie Gard with his eyes open The story of Charlie and his future is an emotionally wrenching one, as ordinary people with common sense on both sides of the Atlantic cannot understand why the British government, or any government in a supposedly free and democratic society for that matter, would work to prevent dedicated and loving parents like Charlies from taking rational steps that might possibly help their baby. Dr. Hirano is not some obscure quack or marginal figure, but one of the most recognized and respected physicians and researchers in the world. That apparently does not register with the socialist hacks who run the UKs medical and political establishment, almost all of whom have lined up in a united front against the parents. Dr. Hirano and his work were initially brought to the attention of Charlies parents, Connie Yates and Chris Gard, by Arthur Estopinan of Baltimore, Maryland, the father of a child who is afflicted with the same condition as Charlies. Estopinans son Arturo was treated with experimental therapies by Dr. Hirano and is alive six years later and steadily improving, according to his father. A recent photo of Arthur and Olga Estopinan and their son Arturo CNN Wire reported in an article on July 18 posted at Oklahoma City NBC affiliate KFORs Web site, Estopinan was initially told by doctors that his son would die a few months after his diagnosis [in 2011] and that there was no medical treatment for his condition. According to Estopinan, the experimental treatments by Dr. Hisano and his team allowed [Arturo] to get stronger by moving his arms, his fingers, his legs. Hes even trying to move his hips. On July 13, prior to examining Charlie in London on July 17 and 18, Dr. Hirano testified to a British court that his therapy offered between an 11 and 56 percent chance for clinically meaningful improvement in Charlies condition. Nonetheless, according to reports published on July 18, the British doctors are holding firm in their judgment that Charlies case is hopeless and that the parents have no right to take him to New York. The final decision on Charlies fate now rests with the British High Court. The judge hearing the case in that venue has promised to render a decision by July 25. It Cant Happen Here Or Can It? Meanwhile, American readers might be wondering, Can this kind of thing happen here? Answer: It already has maybe in not exactly the same kind of case as Charlie Gards but in numerous analogous ones. For example, it has been the practice in the United States since the 1970s for courts to become involved when parents of a minor child want to pursue an alternative, unconventional, or innovative therapy for their sick child counter to the advice of the childs conventional doctors. Typically, at that point when the parents express an interest in an innovative option, the childs original physicians and/or the local hospital enlist child protective services and/or take the case to an American court in an effort to charge the parents with neglect. The purpose is to wrest custody from the parents and place the child in the hands of state officials so that he or she can be treated with conventional therapies. Chad Green, Playas de Tijuana, Mexico July 1979 Photo By Peter Barry Chowka The most famous case of this kind of many that I reported on involved Chad Green, a toddler with leukemia, who was medically kidnapped by the state of Massachusetts in 1978 in order to enforce chemotherapy treatments over the parents preference for nontoxic metabolic therapies. Instances of this kind throughout the United States are common to this day but are seldom reported on by the media. In the 1970s, the U.S. medical establishment gained more power over parents in instances of this kind involving minor children. As William Ginsburg, one of the Greens attorneys, told me in 1979, Its proper for courts to determine if parents are competent. It is not proper for the courts to make medical decisions. Ginsburg should have put his comments in the past tense, as in It was proper. . . because starting in the 1970s, American courts making medical decisions became the status quo. In 1979, commenting on the case of Chad Green and others like it, noted attorney Benedict FitzGerald told me, Its going to be terrible now if every time theres a new medical treatment people have to go down to the courthouse and have some judge who might or might not be competent decide what a persons medical treatment is going to be. There is no unanimity among medical people about the treatment of virtually anything. There are always dissenting opinions. The states actions to compel this or that treatment apparently are something new, FitzGerald commented. Only half jokingly, he added, It looks like the courts will have to move right into the hospitals to decide many of these cases. FitzGerald, who practiced law in Cambridge, Massachusetts for many years, is a figure of considerable historic importance in the history of innovative medicine. He is the author of a seminal investigative report on alternative cancer therapies conducted on behalf of a U.S. Senate committee published in the Congressional Record in 1953. He concluded that a widespread conspiracy existed to suppress innovative alternative cancer treatments. The situation of medical freedom of choice that Ginsburg and FitzGerald were weighing in on four decades ago is even more complicated today in light of the greatly expanded role of the government in paying for, mandating, and regulating health care. The recent accelerated political push for single-payer socialized medicine in the U.S. as it has been practiced in the UK since 1948 makes the outlook for the future of medical freedom of choice for parents and indeed for everyone even more problematic. Update On July 18, the House Appropriations Committee voted to give lawful permanent residence to #CharlieGard so he can come to the US for world class medical care. Permanent resident status was also granted to Charlie's mother and father. The vote was announced in tweets by several committee members, including Rep. Kevin Yoder (R-KS). The action came in an amendment to the Homeland Security Appropriations Bill. According to Fox8 in Washington, D.C. the amendment to grant the family residency was passed unanimously in the House Committee on Appropriations on Tuesday, according to Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler, who introduced the amendment. But it would need a vote from the full House and the Senate to become law. Herrera Beutler whose own daughter was born with a rare and usually fatal disease but survived after treatment said that the committee had an incredible opportunity to help Charlie Gard. This amendment would speed up the process, cut through the bureaucratic red tape, and ease the path for Charlie to be able to receive medical treatment in the US that his parents and medical specialists believe is worth pursuing, Rep. Beutler said in a statement. The British media has been closely following developments in the case of Charlie Gard and is highlighting the story of the actions by the U.S. Congress, for example Charlie Gard is given legal permanent residence in US by Congress so 'he can fly to the States for world class treatment in the Daily Mail. Along with Fox News and some conservative media in the U.S., the British press has been instrumental in publicizing the case of Charlie Gard. The media prominence, coupled with social media, has resulted in contributions from the public to the Gard family totaling, as of July 19, 1,339,160 of the original 1.3M goal at the familys gofundme page, the purpose of which is to raise funds to support Charlies hoped-for medical treatment in the United States. Amendment offering Charlie Gard and his parents permanent alien resident status in the U.S. Peter Barry Chowka is a veteran journalist who writes about national politics, media, popular culture, and health care. His new Web site is AltMedNews.net. His July 13, 2017 one-hour interview on the Hagmann Report can be watched here. Bavarians are considering leaving Germany. What is it with the European nations that their most productive citizens want to leave? [A] new survey looks to bolster the Bavarian Party's hopes for a true Free State of Bavaria (the state's official title). A YouGov poll with Bild tabloid, published online on Sunday, showed that one-third of Bavarian respondents agreed that "my state should be independent from Germany". Bavaria is an anomaly in Germany. Germany was historically chiefly Protestant. Bavaria was mostly Catholic. Most of Germany avoided Roman occupation. Much of Bavaria didn't and was incorporated into the Roman Empire. Germans are...well, Germanic. Bavarians have a large amount of Celtic in them. A Bavarian is half-way between an Austrian and a human being. Otto von Bismarck When one thinks of Germans, one thinks of goose-stepping, orderly Prussians. When one thinks of Bavarians, one thinks of Oktoberfest and beer-swilling, pretzel-eating admirers of Hofbrau Frauleinen. A completely different world image. One should take a minute to listen (click here). Compounding Germany's dilemma is that Bavaria is the second richest region of Germany and is an industrial powerhouse, with a well above average per capita output. Think of BMW or Audi. The region around the state capital, which generates a third of Bavaria's total output, is home to heavyweights such as BMW and MAN, but also hundreds of smaller biotech, IT and environmental technology firms that have sprung up in the past couple of decades, as well as 550 US IT firms. Recent start-ups include Linguatec, which produces automatic translation software and dictionaries, and Greenrobot, which creates mobile apps such as Quick Search and GroovieMovie.TV. Historically, the Bavarians are probably closer to the Austrians. Austria has been majority-Catholic like Bavaria. The Bavarians often sided with Napoleon during the Napoleonic Wars, and with Austria during the Austro-Prussian Wars. Much of Northern Germany looked down on the Bavarians. The Bavarian will not budge before you actually walk on him. German saying When Bavaria was eventually absorbed into Germany, it was given particular local considerations and more autonomy than other states. Basically, the Bavarians do have a legitimate claim on a separate nationality. [I]f you live in Germany, you soon work out that Bavaria is essentially the country's Scotland. Just like Britain's northernmost nation, it is an ancient kingdom full of breath-taking mountain landscapes that held its own for centuries, only joining a larger German state in comparatively modern times once it had become a bankrupt backwater with no other recourse. One of the chief issues for this separatism seems to be the recent migrants. Bavaria seems to have borne the brunt of it. What Bavaria lacks and the separatist Basque and Catalans have is a seaport. If a nation is going to be a manufacturing export giant, a seaport is almost a necessity. Yes, Switzerland gets by without one, but Bavaria does not have Switzerland's history. And Switzerland is a major exporter of not automobiles, but rather watches. Being landlocked may be the deal-breaker. German courts, taking a cue from the stubborn Spanish courts, have frowned on Bavarian nationalism. But if 2016 was year of Brexit, 2017 is unlikely to be the year of "Bayxit" (in German, Bavaria is known as Bayern). On Monday, a German court released a decision saying that the country's constitution does not allow Bavaria to break away. There will be no referendum, the court said, because states are not allowed to leave Germany. However, the separatists have taken a cue from the Catalans. The news was met with a message of defiance from the pro-independence Bavaria Party, which posted on Facebook that the "struggle for Bavarian independence" would be decided not by a court bu "by the will of the Bavarian people." The chairman of the party, Florian Weber, said that he expected the decision: When you want to drain the swamp, Weber reasoned, "you do not ask the frogs!" I do not know how the Bavarians will overcome the seaport problem, though, unless they join Austria and Slovenia which, by the way, have a lot of German genetics in their people to get access to the Adriatic. My first recommendation for the Bavarians would be that they hire a Catalan activist to run the independence campaign, inasmuch as Catalans tend to be peaceable at first, but be wary, since Catalans do not mind fortifying their native numbers with outsiders. If immigration is the chief complaint in Bavaria, however, they should avoid Catalan advice and go immediately for a Basque adviser but that would bring in the added problem of where to hide the weaponry. I do not see this Bavarian separatism going anywhere, except that it highlights just how badly the powers that be are managing Europe. Mike Konrad is the pen name of an American who wishes he had availed himself more fully of the opportunity to learn Spanish in high school, lo those many decades ago. He writes on the Arabs of South America at http://latinarabia.com. He also just started a website about small computers at http://minireplacement.com. When Barack Obama shut down much of NASAs Space Shuttle funding eight years ago, many were disappointed. After all, his predecessor George W. Bush had worked hard to create a program that would put humans back on the moon by 2020. And while nobody could have guessed it at the time, Obamas actions could open a door for President Trump to gain bipartisan support for a revitalized program. Trump Renews Focus on Space Exploration This past March, right in the middle of his First 100 Days, Trump sat down in the Oval Office and met with some of NASAs biggest figures to talk about a mini victory. The president had just signed a bill that authorized giving the agency a current year budget boost to $19.5 billion and restoring the focus on manned space flights. Trump was happy, cutting jokes with his White House visitors, and even charming the members of the press who were there taking pictures and rapidly recording sound bites. It was a rare moment of togetherness. The slimy journalists werent asking leading questions in hopes of grabbing an infamous Trump sound bite and spinning it out of context for a front-page piece. The president appeared relaxed and happy to be entertaining. The NASA guests all had ear-to-ear smiles, probably thinking more about the future than the present. This scene might have just been another day in what could be four to eight years worth of meetings with various groups in the Oval Office, but theres also the potential that it could prove to be one of President Trumps defining moments. The American Fascination With Space People have a fascination with space. Little kids want to grow up to be astronauts. People are fascinated by the idea of naming a star after someone. Hollywoods space-inspired flicks always seize the publics attention. Rich or poor, white or black, lefty or righty people of every background are enthralled by the idea that there are other planets floating around in the galaxy -- some of them perhaps being able to sustain life. While space exploration may not be as pressing an issue as the national debt, immigration, ISIS, healthcare, tax reform, and all of the other topics at the center of America attention right now, its unique in one very important way: its something everyone can get behind. There isnt much to complain about when it comes to funding space exploration. Nobody wants to be the one person in the room that says he doesnt care about exploring the universe and discovering new life-forms. Its an exciting issue -- one that may be directly tied to politics, but doesnt have to be overtly politicized every single day. Obama caused ripples when he pulled the plug on NASAs manned space flights and instead refocused the agencys energy on research and development of robotics. Even though it saved money -- something most conservatives would generally be happy with -- it was a slap in the face to many. Republicans and Democrats alike questioned the move and wondered if it was the right thing to do. Famous astronauts like Neil Armstrong, James Lovell, and Eugene Cernan even penned a letter at the time saying the U.S. was becoming a second or even third-rate spacefaring nation. Some have even suggested that Obama ruined NASA space exploration forever. But thats not entirely accurate. What Obamas poor choices have done is open the door for Trump to come in and get some quick wins within the first few months of his presidency. Trump Can Build Some Safe Equity Space policy has given Trump an opportunity to deploy his signature sweeping praise with little risk of backlash, writes Marina Koren of the Atlantic. Missions take years to develop and execute, usually outlasting presidents and absolving them of any accountability. The space program has historically enjoyed bipartisan support in Washington, so its usually a safe bet for any politician. As Koren notes, the majority of the public views NASA in a positive light. Its not some bureaucratic mess inside the government, but the inspiration machine for future generations. By breathing life back into space exploration programs, Trump can tell people that hes ready to go where no country, person, or space program has ever gone before. These are positive sound bites that are virtually impossible for the media to twist. They drive up ratings, put America first in a manner that even the globalists on the left can agree is good, and give the new president a stake he can put in the ground and say, See, progress is possible even in a partisan environment. As John Logsdon, a professor emeritus at George Washington University, told Koren in her piece, If the presidents lips move and he says positive things about the space program, thats good for the space program. Im not sure Ronald Reagan knew a lot about the space program, but he said the right words. The Trump Administrations current budget will give NASA a chance to be successful with space exploration in the near future. Now, what NASA does with that money is an entirely different story. The good news for Trump is that its nearly impossible for him to come out looking bad. Meet the first (possible) racist. He's an architect by the name of Pawel Uczciwek. This man is accused of having racially abused a woman and then of trying to pull off her hijab in a London Tube station. Yet the accused man (or Islamophobe) also said that his black girlfriend was under a racist attack from three other random females. Pawel Uczciwek also said that the allegation against him is completely false. He continued: I would like to confirm I never hit or attacked anyone I simply defused the situation by separating them. What's more, Uczciwek stressed his own anti-racist case by stating the following: The police is fully cooperating with me and will be able to obtain CCTV footage showing the three women attempting to attack my partner because we are in an interracial relationship. Perhaps the Muslim woman -- Aniso Abdulkadir -- didn't like the idea of a black woman going out with a white man. And that's why she verbally attacked her. That's certainly what Uczciwek hints at. The means that Aniso Abdulkadir bit off more than she could chew. That is, she verbally abused Uczciwek's black girlfriend and then he did indeed physical attack her. Another possibility is that, as a Muslim, Aniso Abdulkadir didn't like the fact that Uczciwek's girlfriend was wearing a short skirt. So here an attack on a Muslim has been classed as racist. Yet even if there was physical contact, that doesn't automatically mean that it was racist simply because the victim (if she is a victim) is a Muslim. It's certainly the case that's there's been a hell of Muslim-on-non-Muslim (or Muslim-on-white) violence in the UK. Some of it has even been featured in our newspapers. In addition, according to many sources, black-on-white violence (as in America) is higher than white-on-black violence. Now meet the second (possible) racist: Aniso Abdulkadir. This Muslim woman wasted no time at all in advertising -- on Twitter -- the alleged attack. Aniso Abdulkadir posted an image of the man who attacked her. She wrote: This man at Baker Street station forcefully attempted to pull my hijab off and when I instinctively grabbed ahold of my scarf he hit me. She continued: He proceeded to verbally abuse my friends and I, pinning one of them against the wall and spitting in her face. Not surprisingly, this tweet earned more than 24,000 retweets by Sunday afternoon. It also seems that she already had a strong political position on racism. Or at least her friend Lux had. The latter also tweeted the following words: Racism is a real thing people choose to ignore, we really do live in a pathetic society where people are all talk and completely useless. A British Transport Police spokesman said the incident is being investigated. It's being investigated as a hate crime rather than a simple fight or physical attack. The spokesman said: Behaviour like this is totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated. This incident has been reported to us and were investigating. One wonders why the British media seems to have taken Aniso Abdulkadir's side. After all, there is equal evidence on both sides. For one, it's hard to class a white man as racist if he has a black girlfriend! And why (as yet) hasn't the media done any research on the Muslim black woman who claims to have been attacked? Judging by her name and photo, I'd say that Aniso Abdulkadir is of an African -- rather than an Asian -- background; possibly Somalian. Not to put too fine a point on it, African-heritage blacks (including Muslim blacks) have a reputation for violence in the United Kingdom; especially in London. (This is particularly true of Somalians.) This reputation also includes black women. However, unlike the case of the architect, the news pieces I've read haven't provided us with any details about Aniso Abdulkadir. Many have said (in various ways) that anti-racism has been demeaned by many anti-racist policies and actions. There's also the omnipresence and overuse of accusations of racism. When people state these things, however, pious and puritanical anti-racists either laugh or foam at the mouth. They claim that the people who say such things are racists anyway therefore such a claim simply must be bogus. This is certainly the reaction to the claim that anti-racism often causes racism. Yet these knee-jerk reactions simply prove the point! One aspect of the eternal war against racism is that any criticism whatsoever of that war (or its anything goes tactics) is also deemed to be racist. Thus, the war will carry on and become more extreme and more puritanical. It will continue in this manner until the endless war against (often-fake) racism implodes in some way. Or it'll continue until anti-racists begin to eat their own children. In fact, this is already happening! In addition to all that, anti-racism is a primary weapon in the armoury of left-wingers. It's also a means to further one's career or to sell one's pure credentials. It is everything to everyone. This story highlights the problem. Both sides claim that the other side is racist. Thus, what we often have is this: I'll place my anti-racism against your anti-racism. Who wins? Both sides? None? We also have the I'm-more-anti-racist-than-thou competition which white left-wingers seem so keen on. As I said, the anti-racism revolution is eating its own children. Paul Austin Murphy is a writer on politics and philosophy. He's had articles published in The Conservative Online, Intellectual Conservative, Human Events, Faith Freedom, Think-Israel, Brenner Brief (Broadside News), New English Review, etc. His philosophy blog can be found here. His blog on politics can be found here. Sometimes the manufactured outrage obsession that exists in our culture is oddly humorous. As exhausting as it can be, sometimes you just cant help but laugh at people who find a reason to be offended in nearly every situation they encounter. But then there are times that it seriously damages our societys ability to function coherently and justly. Take what is happening on college campuses and the so-called Rape Culture that the Obama administration sought to combat with campus tribunals rather than actual courtrooms of justice. Candice Jackson, a woman who survived a rape herself, is the Trump Administrations chief at the Office of Civil Rights under the Department of Education. Recently she addressed her concerns with the Obama-era tribunals and their tendency to tip the scales of justice in favor of the accuser regardless of the truth by pointing out that: 90 percent of cases fall into the category of we were both drunk, we broke up, and six months later I found myself under a Title IX investigation because she just decided that our last sleeping together was not quite right. I dont need to tell you what happened next in our victimhood culture. Jackson was berated and attacked for her comments, with otherwise seemingly rational people deriding her as insensitive to victims of rape. Keep in mind that this is a woman who was raped herself. But simply because she expressed concerns about whether constitutional justice and due process were being properly extended by these tribunals, she is labeled a rape apologist by our jacked-up society. As expected, Jackson was forced to issue an apology. And as expected, that apology simply wasnt good enough for the posers and posturing politicians who pretend to be freedom fighters when theyre fools and frauds. Among them, Democrat Senator Patty Murray, who called for Jackson to either step down or be fired. This is where we are in a social justice society: people expressing concerns that justice be carried out fairly are now subject to firing for not properly paying dues to the victimhood obsession that shackles our nations sense of right and wrong. Jackson wasnt defending rapists; she was expressing concern that the horror of rape is being watered down by instances of consensual, but later regrettable, sexual intercourse. The real enemy to our society here is Patty Murray. To placate the demands of radical feminism and this rape culture narrative, she is willing to throw the Constitutional rights of the accused out the window. Before I go further, let me suggest that I am quite confident I believe in harsher penalties for rapists than Patty does. If left up to me, rape would be a capital crime that once proven in a court of law would result in the execution of the rapist. Im guessing Senator Murray does not believe in such a harsh penalty for rapists. Thus, lets be clear that I am not defending rapists. I am defending the notion that someone must be proven a rapist through Constitutional jurisprudence before being punished as a rapist. If you disagree with that, as Murray apparently does, I think you are a danger to our way of life. Im not alone: [T]ypically the accusee doesnt know the precise charges, doesnt know what the evidence is, and cant confront witnesses, writes Northwestern professor (and card-carrying feminist) Laura Kipnis in her recent book, Unwanted Advances. This is a violation of their rights as U.S. citizens. There can be no excuse or argument for abrogating Americans rights in order to give feminist hatemongers excuses to exploit victims of sex crimes for fundraising and political power. Ensuring due process for all those assaulted and charged of assault is key to prosecuting rapists, not an obstacle to that righteous pursuit. During the presidential campaign many folks poked fun at Hillary Clintons awkward tweet that, Every survivor of sexual assault deserves to be heard, believed, and supported. If there were a more hypocritical statement made during the campaign, it would be tough to pinpoint. After all, Hillary Clintons entire political career has existed on the back of silencing, discrediting, and destroying survivors of her husband Bills sexual assault. But theres something very instructive about that reality. People like Patty Murray would scoff at the notion that Bill committed those assaults or that Hillary helped cover them up. And she dismisses the truth of those allegations because none of them have been proven in a court of law with the full extension of due process to the Clintons. In other words, Pattys own denial of the rape endured by Juanita Broaddrick is predicated upon her belief that it was a false allegation. Therefore, she implicitly acknowledges the truth of what OCR Director Candice Jackson is saying -- that due process of law and the constitutional provision of innocence until proven guilty is critically important to our civilization. Yet she still calls for her firing because, politics. That pretty much confirms that if anyone should step down for the sake of our way of life, its the esteemed Senator from Washington. Peter Heck is a speaker, author and teacher. Follow him @peterheck, email peter@peterheck.com or visit www.peterheck.com. The news concerning Arizona senator John McCain is extremely sad for his family and friends. His glioblastoma is particularly aggressive, but McCain is a fighter, and we can only wish him well during his treatment. As a result, his ability to be present in Washington may be limited dependent upon his treatment schedule. Unfortunately, this adds further complication to the dysfunction in Washington among Republicans. A few hesitant Republican senators hold the future of our health care funding system in the balance. The public has indicated that this issue is the highest-ranking concern for the people. Time is quickly evaporating to repair the damage wrought upon us by the Obama administration when it pushed through the Affordable Care Act. Perhaps a short review of the situation is in order. In a speech to the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) prior to his election in 2008, then-candidate Barack Obama indicated his wish to see a single-payer system but admitted that this nation was not ready for this move at that time. Since the election of Woodrow Wilson in 1912, the Democratic Party has sought a national role for health care. After two world wars, the Veterans Administration system was created and expanded to provide care for soldiers unable to afford care for injuries sustained while serving our nation and for subsequent illnesses. Under Lyndon Johnson, the first steps toward a government-managed system for the public were realized in the Medicaid and Medicare systems. Again, this was intended to provide care for those unable to pay for it. During the Clinton administration, an attempt to ensure coverage for the general public was undertaken. As that attempt was known, Hillarycare, with its many regulatory shortcomings, failed due to the opposition of the health care system lobby, particularly the insurance industry, which ran ads condemning the effort. Obama, a better politician, co-opted the insurance industry by offering its members subsidies. Further, he managed to get the support of the American Medical Association, which publishes and earns substantial income from its medical procedural coding system. Perhaps he threatened to end this monopoly. Obamacare was conceived by Jonathan Gruber and Ezekiel Emanuel as a system likely to fail within twenty years or so. (This would be half the time that occurred in Canada.) Gruber provided the scoring method the CBO still utilizes inaccurately regarding numbers of insured. This would allow the next president (expected to be Hillary) to replace it with a single-payer system. This leap would become acceptable as the private insurance system fails due to the withdrawal of companies from unsustainable regulatory mandates. Loss of subsidies would increase the speed of withdrawal. Republicans, having reduced these during the early years of Obamacare, actually speeded up the timetable to possibly ten years or so. Already, many states have one insurance provider through the exchanges. Forward to 2016 and the election of Trump, victorious as he offered forgotten Middle America a chance to reclaim an economic future. He understood that any replacement of Obamacare with some element of market-centered principles was preferable. Further, the elimination of taxes and regulations would free up monies and energies that could unleash the economic power of American creativity and provide new jobs and industries for those forgotten citizens. Reducing the spending resulting from Obamacare would free up funds allowing a greater tax reform plan. Republicans in the Washington bubble have missed these points as they are swallowed by the swamp. It is possible that the 50 votes for repeal and replacement of Obamacare are less likely with McCain's illness. Now it is time for Senators Susan Collins and Rand Paul to rethink their positions. They seek different aims but will be the authors of the same result. Collins wants greater government support for her state's rural hospitals, while Paul seeks an end to government intrusion into health care decisions and elimination of new spending programs to subsidize insurance companies. Paul has suggested taking the provision to subsidize insurance companies (the pork) to a separate bill, which might help. Their points may be valid, but they miss the issue. The present system is unsustainable. The medical funding system in America is sustained through the private insurance industry and its reimbursements for procedures in offices and hospitals. Medicaid funding does not cover existing costs, while Medicare provides funds as approximately a break-even point. This leaves the private system with its higher payments to providers to make up the loss for uninsured services. In socialized-medicine nations, the federal government covers all people with lower payments but maintains levels to sustain health care. But this comes with a price never mentioned. The Charlie Gard case explicitly demonstrates this cost: loss of freedom to make individual health care decisions for everyone. The costs of the Medicare system have grown beyond any conceived when it was passed during the 1960s. Its future is unsustainable without substantially increased taxes and fees as the proportion of elderly increases. Then we are faced with another painful decision: if a single-payer system results from the failure of Obamacare, what will it be? The end result will likely be a revised Medicaid system that covers all. The source of funding will make the rules, and they will be normalized for all. Perhaps the worst result of this will be lessened monies for providers: hospitals, medical school research facilities, clinics, and medical personnel. This will mean less innovation and research, as these require money. We have been an engine for new procedures and treatment, much like what McCain will be given. Although this change will be less noticeable, in time, our nation will suffer. Germany at the turn of the 20th century was among the greatest scientific researching and cultural countries in the West. But two world wars and government control of daily lives destroyed this tradition, leaving a socially managed society, a shell of its former self. Will we suffer the same fate? Once, people were embarrassed by dependence upon Medicaid. In time, the payments for long-term nursing home care were accepted as normal for the middle class. The insurance for many through the exchanges has been a renamed Medicaid. Obama sought a forced expansion of Medicaid, which Justice Roberts rejected (through states' rights). Yet the government will ultimately control health care payments through such a system. The trajectory toward socialized medicine is hard to reverse once entitlements are given. Liberals seek equity regardless of excellence. The march toward a national health care system is gaining momentum despite Trump's election. The window for a better solution is closing. Thomas Sowell once said, "You can have all the poverty you'd like to pay for." Apparently, the left has a ravenous appetite for that. Out of all the groups that Did Well under the Obama administration, one stands out, according to a new Daily Caller News Foundation investigation: the top officials of anti-poverty groups that take very large amounts of government money. They're up against tough competition: Educational administrators, insurance company executives, welfare cheats, Washington D.C. real estate agents, civil servants, laid off workers who claim to have 'bad backs,' GoogleFacebookAmazon hipsters, Solar and Wind power elites, Obamaphone beneficiaries, health care executives, city pension fund administrators, sudden millionaire legislators, and the occasional cop killer. They've all done well in the Obama years and have little need for a rising economy that can lift all boats. They're doing great under Obama's brand of socialism. But none perhaps as well as those who have been at this game longer and anyone, the poverty pimps. That's people who benefit from the government's largesse to serve the poor - and serve themselves heaping helpings first. Daily Caller found: Top officials with 14 anti-poverty nonprofits were paid as much as $869,900 as their organizations were enriched with $900 million of taxpayer money, The Daily Caller News Foundations (TheDCNF) Investigative Group has found. The activist groups received as much as 85 percent of their revenue from federal, state and local governments and collectively spent millions on lobbying, TheDCNFs analysis found. Also, half of the charities CEOs made political contributions nearly all of which was to Democratic candidates. The report also notes that these groups donate almost exclusively to Democrats, a sweet one-hand-washes-the-other deal as Democrats buttress their campaigns. Poverty for dollars is nothing new, but it seems to have reached new heights under Obama. You can bet it's not just the presidents and CEOs of these companies who are raking in big dollars for their do-nothing jobs. Of what value-added could the president of the Urban League be adding in exchange for his $800,000-something salary? Name some poverty pocket they've "helped" that is no longer a poverty pocket? These things just don't happen because all of these poverty groups have an interest in maintaining the status quo - to ensure the funds keep coming. And does the massive largesse from Uncle Sam serve as a barrier between these pocket-liners and the people they purport to represent, making them fat and lazy and unconcerned with the interests of ordinary people because they're already rolling in bucks and have no need to respond to smalltime donors? This was something noted well in Silvio Canto's American Thinker piece two days ago, describing the shenanigans at La Raza. Protestors in Los Angeles have attempted to make the same point against Rep. Maxine Waters, a California Democrat who lives in a vast mansion in tony Hancock Park while purporting to represent the urban poor. As the swamp gets drained by President Trump, there's a new fat juicy target just waitiing there for new legislation about funds distribution. Legislators can now look at salaries of these so-called poverty officials as well as results - and start yanking dollars and forcing these people to do something productive. How else can you explain them thinking that premiums would go down with Obamacare if the government mandates and taxes were excessive and everyone was required to buy insurance but will double if people can buy at a lower cost and if they are not forced to buy? If the young were allowed low-cost options, they might just choose to buy insurance. When the government subsidizes anything and forces consumption, the price is always higher than if the market is free and not subsidized. Think of the cost of higher education. Something we can count on is that the media will just repeat these numbers with almost no questions, despite how far off CBO predictions have been in the past. After all, their agenda is exactly the same as the Democrats' agenda, and facts haven't mattered for a long time. I thought Democrats were for freedom of choice. On July 18, an editorial in The Wall Street Journal put it this way (emphasis added): "President Trump cannot rely on Republicans in Congress to rally behind him," "and most of the media want him run out of office." Consider the Journal's observation in these terms: pursuant to the Constitution of the United States, the American people, exercising national self-determination, elected Donald J. Trump president, and the media are working to subvert our expression of national will. Should we be surprised that leftists are quick to denounce "nationalism"? Apparently, for leftists, "nationalism" is a means by which the people can thwart those seeking what Madison, in Federalist No. 57, called the "ambitious sacrifice of the many to the aggrandizement of the few." Anyone expect to read a statement from, the New York Times or the Washington Post to this effect? "How dare the Wall Street Journal suggest that we are working to subvert the election of President Trump? Why, that is tantamount to accusing us of undermining American democracy when we know that that is the intention of Putin." Of course not. Working to run President Trump out of office has become the raison d'etre of the left: the media, the Democratic Party, and their #NeverTrump allies in GOP circles, plus, of course, the permanent federal bureaucracy, including key intelligence agencies. Here is a poll question for the American people: do you support the overthrow of the Trump presidency by leftists who demand the power to maintain a veto over the will of the people? Certainly, this question should be addressed to Republican members of the House and Senate, in view of this assertion by Mike Allen at Axios, last month: "Beyond his base voters, Trump has an even bigger potential problem looming with his base in Congress. While Republican lawmakers won't say it publicly, it's widely known if they could pick between President Pence and President Trump, the Vice President would win 90% of the vote among the GOP." The American people need to know: do congressional Republicans join the left in seeking the hijacking of the 2016 presidential election by the overthrow of the duly elected president of the United States? Does this explain the inability of the GOP to end the misery of the Affordable Care Act? Do Republicans who would undermine constitutional process by vetoing the election of President Trump disagree with Vice President Pence's assertion, on July 18, that "Obamacare has failed and Obamacare must go"? Congressional Republicans: Is that a problem for you? The vice president went on to say: "Every day Obamacare survives is another day the American economy and American families struggle[.] ... When Obamacare passed, we were promised that families would save up to $2,500 in premiums every years, but the average Obamacare plan today costs nearly $3,000 more than a plan did in 2013. "While premiums are soaring, choices are plummeting. Next year, nearly 40 percent of Americans counties, including nine entire states, will have only one choice of a health insurance provider meaning they'll have essentially no choice at all." "No choice at all." That is what the totalitarian left demands of the American people, generally: that they should "have no choice at all" in, among other things, the election of their president. Rather, like it or not, they get the "single party" choice determined by Schumer, Pelosi, and their allies in the media-intelligence complex. If congressional Republicans are to honor to their oath to the Constitution thereby serving the cause of American liberty they must rally round our duly elected president. By now, most readers already know that Senator John McCain has been diagnosed with a brain tumor specifically, a glioblastoma. I take no pleasure is suspecting such a diagnosis, as I wrote a few days ago, based on a bit of medical logic and observation rather than what the media reported. This is a devastating diagnosis for the senator and his family, not the blood clot initially described, with a return to the Senate next week to vote on Majority Leader McConnell's latest charade of an ObamaCare repeal. As I weighed in on Senator McCain's recent surgery, I'll do the same based on the breaking news of his diagnosis. A glioblastoma is a primary brain tumor. It's malignant, or cancerous. The cause is unknown, but it is more common in the elderly. The tumor doesn't discriminate. Senator Ted Kennedy was diagnosed with this tumor in 2008 and eventually died. My best friend's mother also succumbed to a glioblastoma. Kennedy suffered a seizure as his presenting sign. Unknown is what led McCain's doctors to suspect a brain tumor. The tumor was in his frontal lobe. Early media reports described "a blood clot above his left eye," which indicates the frontal lobe. This portion of the brain controls higher functions personality, thoughts, social interactions, all intrinsically human behavior features. Perhaps his behavior was off, noted by his staff and family, leading to exams and scans, which eventually identified something in his brain. The Washington Post reported his "bizarre questioning" of James Comey last month. Unexpected changes in behavior are a warning sign prompting further investigation. The prognosis for a glioblastoma is poor, with a median survival of 15 months, the exact survival time for Senator Kennedy. Next for McCain is treatment. There are lots of options. Surgery to debulk the tumor. Chemotherapy. Radiation. Newer treatments such as immunotherapy as well as a host of clinical trials involving novel therapies. Ten percent of patients may live five years or longer. When I was in medical school, a glioblastoma was described as follows. Imagine a bowl of semi-solidified Jell-O. Pour in a cup of thick motor oil. The oil will send black tentacles throughout the Jell-O, not mixing in with it, but eventually reaching all parts of the bowl. This explains the difficulty in removing such a tumor surgically, as it's everywhere. It is impossible to remove completely without taking most of the brain along with it. It is not a well encapsulated tumor that can be removed in one piece not to mention extensive blood vessels growing between healthy brain and tumor. This is a devious force of destruction with tentacles of death, well entrenched by the time the tumor is diagnosed. Fortunately for McCain, he is receiving care at the Mayo Clinic, one of the top institutions for brain tumors. Kennedy received his care at Duke University, another great institution. Senator McCain has excellent health care insurance through Congress and has the means to afford paying out of pocket if necessary. The Mayo Clinic isn't an option for others, as Mayo is in network for only one specific Obamacare plan. Duke is in network for only a couple of Obamacare plans. Sorry to bring politics into Senator McCain's medical situation, but as his fellow senators were unable to repeal or replace Obamacare this week, it's appropriate to illustrate the real-life consequences of the U.S. Senate's inability to legislate or govern. Many Americans with glioblastomas won't have the care options that members of Congress and their families have. Perhaps Senator McCain will attempt to work part-time in the Senate, as Ted Kennedy did, or else enjoy time with his large family or advocate for true health care reform, as Senator Kennedy did for Obamacare, encouraging his fellow senators to fix an insurance system that denies so many the medical care that he, as a United States senator, will receive. Despite disagreeing with Senator McCain politically, I thank him for his service in the military and the Senate and wish him and his family the best in the challenging months ahead. Godspeed. Brian C Joondeph, M.D., MPS is a Denver-based physician and writer. Follow him on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Allysia Finley wrote an article for the Wall Street Journal where she detailed the fallout in California from the explosion of Medicaid costs. Medi-Cal enrollment now boasts 14 million: Obamacare encouraged states to expand Medicaid so that it covers people with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty line in other words, up to $16,400 for an individual. After the Supreme Court struck down ObamaCare's mandated expansion, the federal government induced states to sign up by initially assuming 100% of the cost for these people. That will slip to 90% in 2020, though it's still a bargain for most states. But wait... Last week a group of Medi-Cal beneficiaries sued the state for creating "a separate and unequal system of healthcare, one for the insurance program with the largest proportion of Latinos (Medi-Cal), and one for the other principal insurance plans, whose recipients are disproportionately white." Ms. Finley describes a plaintiff who, after more than a year trying to find a surgeon who would remove her gallbladder, finally had to travel to Mexico and pay for her surgery out of pocket. Racism! Medi-Cal reimburses only between a third and one half of what private insurance will pay for procedures, and Ms. Finley cites a study by the California Health Care Foundation that found that 45% of California's primary care doctors will not accept new Medi-Cal patients. As a result, many patients who should be seeing a primary care physician for minor medical issues are flooding hospital emergency rooms at unprecedented rates, consuming expensive E.R. resources and crowding out hospital beds and medical services for patients who need urgent care. Question: Why should doctors be permitted to pick and choose those for whom they will or will not offer care? When it comes to government-run health care, only the Cuban model is logically airtight, whereby it is illegal for anyone to practice medicine in competition with the state. Now, this solution would obviously cause consternation to more than a few people, but rest assured that in every country where health care is socialized, the political elite and a chosen few star athletes, entertainers, nuclear scientists (there are minor cultural variations among countries) never fail to receive top-notch health care. We may also inconvenience a few Canadians who still like to come here for certain medical treatments, but what is it the communists liked to say about omelets and breaking eggs? The health and welfare of Alaska's Native people is dependent on the responsible development of the resources on their lands and adjacent areas. To escape the reservation mentality of the Natives of the lower 48, in many cases, they have done just that. When former governor Jay Hammond became the part-time manager of the newly formed Bristol Bay Borough in 1965, he found that 97% of the payday from the fish caught within the borough's boundaries went to non-residents, mostly from outside Alaska. As borough mayor, he eventually persuaded the voters to approve a 3% use tax for the harvest of these fish. In his Tales of Alaska's Bush Rat Governor, Hammond describes the result. "In 1965, the borough's budget totaled $35,000. My part time salary was $8,000. My full time secretary got $12,000. By contrast, in 1988 the budget was $4.7 million! The manager's salary was $80,000, there were 21 full-time employees and you guessed it property taxes have gone up!" What's more, this area's Bristol Bay Native Corporation has paid $200 million in dividends to its 10,000 shareholders. Alaska's Eskimo people, the Yupiks of western and southwestern Alaska and the Inupiats of the North Slope, have emphatically proven their ability to oversee responsible resource development. Taking their cue from Hammond's Bristol Bay Borough, the Inupiats established the North Slope Borough in 1972 and have used their taxation of the oil industry to vastly improve the living conditions of its citizens. The Inupiat Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC) is the largest locally owned and operated business in Alaska, with 12,000 employees, almost 4,000 in Alaska. ASRC has paid $915 million in dividends to its 13,000 shareholders and distributed over $1 billion to other Native corporations. Seventy-five percent of its executives are Inupiat. The Yupik NANA Native Corporation selected federal lands with known lead and zinc deposits and, in partnership with Teck Resources, developed the Red Dog mine. In 2014 alone, Teck earned $143 million for NANA, $93.7 million of which was distributed to other Native corporations. Over half of the mine workers are NANA shareholders, many residing in small villages in the region. The Arctic Oil Reserve, also known as Area 1002 of the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR), is the most promising oil prospect in North America. It was the state of Alaska's first choice when selecting federal lands at statehood but was needed by the military for Distant Early Warning Line radar stations. The state took Prudhoe Bay as its second choice. The northern section of ANWR in the Arctic Oil Reserve is indisputably the traditional home of the Inupiat. Its only occupants are the 239 Inupiats of Kaktovik. The Inupiats of the North Slope Borough favor the development of this field. It has the potential to fill the Trans Alaska Pipeline, currently running at 25% of capacity. All Alaskans would benefit from the responsible use of this barren and hostile land. But such development is opposed by the Gwich'in, an Athabaskan tribe that occupies the area far to the south of the Arctic Oil Reserve in tiny Arctic Village, population 152. They live a precarious subsistence lifestyle, aided by welfare and other government programs. They are a caribou people, dependent on the Porcupine Caribou herd for sustenance. They claim this herd could be harmed by development of the Arctic Oil Reserve. This is a familiar argument to Alaskans. Environmentalists initially blocked construction of the pipeline, claiming that it would hurt the caribou herds. But when the pipeline was finally built, the caribou liked it, sometimes congregating around its warmth in winter. Now there are more caribou in the area than there were before the pipeline was built. Thanks to rapidly evolving technology, oil development in Alaska's arctic requires a rather small footprint. The number of acres actually needed to drill and transport oil is miniscule. With careful management, there will be no disruption of the Porcupine herd. It will be a top priority for all involved. The Gwich'in are being used by environmentalists to the detriment of all other Alaskans, Native and non-Native. The Trump administration, and interior secretary Ryan Zinke, want America to be energy dominant, and to use our dominance for foreign policy ends. The natural market for the oil of the Arctic Oil Reserve is energy-starved Japan, our closest ally in the Pacific. The Japanese would pay a premium for a secure and stable source of oil and would buy every barrel available in Valdez. For the people of Alaska, especially its Natives, and in the national security interest of the United States, the Arctic Oil Reserve should be opened up. The American people need to hear the story of the capitalist Inupiat and to listen to them. If it's anybody's oil, it's theirs. Fritz Pettyjohn is a former Alaska state senator and House minority leader. He blogs at ReaganProject.com. The NAACP is wailing to the heavens in response to President Trump's refusal to attend the organization's 108th national convention in Baltimore next weekend. The NAACP is nonpartisan, the spokesmen indignantly cry. It serves the entire community. It has welcomed presidents to the convention for decades, including Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and somebody they call "Bush, Jr." Even Barack Obama, though not raised in the U.S. and who could scarcely be considered an "American black," saw his way to attending the annual convention. The reason, of course, is racism. "The President's decision ... underscores the harsh fact: we have lost we've lost the will of the current Administration to listen to issues facing the Black community." Another paragraph follows, underlining the "racism" accusation without ever quite stating it explicitly: We fight to end racism, hatred and discrimination in the United States. Our branches fight for real issues like access to healthcare, a fair justice system, equal opportunity to education, an end to police brutality and the right to vote. When President Trump is ready to listen to us and the people we serve, we will be here. Until then, the NAACP will continue to strive for an America free from racism and continue to speak truth to power. And of course, it has to be racism. What else could it be? What other reason could Trump possibly have to turn them down? Well, as the record reveals, plenty. A brief examination of Trump-NAACP interaction clearly shows the organization spitting in the president's face at every opportunity. A few examples from the past year: From September of last year: Wendell Anthony, President of the Detroit NAACP, spoke with Roland Martin about Trump's attempt to woo African-American voters and the upcoming meeting, which he equated to "a wolf coming to a sheep farm saying 'let me lead you to greener pastures.'" On voting fraud: President Donald Trump was slapped with a lawsuit on Tuesday by the NAACP, which is seeking to shut down the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity. In the suit, the NAACP Legal Defense & Education Fund alleges that the commission has "an intention to discriminate against African-American and Latino voters, in violation of the United States Constitution." The Philly branch weighs in: The president of the Philadelphia NAACP on Sunday harshly criticized national Republicans including President-elect Donald Trump for creating "an atmosphere of fear, bigotry, and racial intolerance[.]" ... Rodney Muhammad, at a news conference at his East Oak Lane home, condemned Trump and said his campaign rhetoric "did everything to practically set off a racial and class war." From Breitbart: The head of the NCAAP [sic] has come out in stark opposition to President Donald J. Trump's coming investigation into voter fraud, claiming it is "racist." In an interview on CNN, Cornell William Brooks, president and CEO of the NAACP, insisted that his organization would "resist" the president's investigation into fraud during the 2016 election. "The President has claimed millions of fraudulent ballots were cast. The only place you will find millions of fraudulent ballots are right beside that fake birth certificate for Barack Obama, inside the imagination of President Trump. They don't exist," Brooks said on Thursday. More on voter fraud: The chairman of the N.C. NAACP Legal Redress Committee, which successfully fought in federal court to have much of North Carolina's 2013 voter ID law thrown out, is keeping a close eye on President Donald Trump's insistence that there was massive voter fraud in the last election, and warns that GOP state lawmakers may leverage Trump's false claim to institute new voting restrictions in time for the 2018 mid-term elections[.] ... "This claim of voter fraud is being pedaled by right-wing political groups and some Republican operatives as a way to enact legislation to undermine the right to vote of African-Americans and other racial minorities. These consistent and spurious claims must be vigorously challenged because when adopted, and repeated by Donald Trump and his gang, some people will believe that it exists." From an official NAACP statement: Trump Budget a Nightmare for America's Most Vulnerable President Trump's budget proposal in every way possible seeks to cloak a shift of the nation's resources away from America's most vulnerable communities and toward unfair tax breaks for the wealthy and major corporations. His budget compounds its animosity toward vulnerable and communities of color by defunding civil rights enforcement. A preacher speaks: A North Carolina preacher who serves as the state's NAACP chair said the Twitter photo of Evangelical leaders "laying hands" on President Trump in prayer was "theological malpractice." Rev. William Barber II, of the Greenleaf church in Goldsboro said the Evangelical leaders should not have "prayed" with Trump while he is "preying on the most vulnerable." (Barber also attacked Trump several times concerning his immigration policies.) ...and we could go on. Clearly, there is no rational reason for Donald Trump to meet with the NAACP to address its members, to break bread with them, or anything else. This leaves irrational reasons, which, in fact, are exactly what the organization is banking on. Namely, there is the fact that the NAACP is a "sacred organization," one of small number of non-government organizations Greenpeace, Planned Parenthood, the Sierra Club, the ACLU whose goals are so idealistic, whose actions are so pure, whose tactics are so beyond reproach, as to render them immune to any type of criticism. You can only bow down to them in awe and obey when they call. In other words, they're sacred cows. It should be apparent by now that Donald Trump has shown little patience with these in the past, and there is no reason to make an exception now. The NAACP (which fired its current president, the aforementioned Cornell Brooks, only weeks ago) can have its little bash (in Baltimore, a failing black-majority city) without the president's help. President Trump has decided to end a failed Obama-authorized CIA covert program that trained anti-Assad Syrian rebels. Critics are calling it a cave-in to Putin, the quo for the quid. The CIA effort began in 2013 after pressure from U.S. allies and Congress forced President Obama to provide arms and training to rebels fighting to overthrow the regime of President Bashar Assad. But the program was hampered from the start by a time-consuming vetting process that tried to keep out extremist recruits. The quality of arms was also questioned, and it's unclear how effective the program was. Daily Caller: U.S. officials who spoke to WaPo stated that the move is consistent with Trump's desire to seek better relations with Russia, adding that Trump came to a decision on ending the CIA program about a month ago. Jordan, the location where some of the Syrian rebels received training, has backed the move to kill the program. One current official told WaPo that Trump's decision essentially means that "Putin won in Syria." However, to a certain extent, the program was crippled from the start, as the White House during the Obama administration pushed for a stalemate outcome among the warring factions in Syria, in order to induce a political settlement. As such, the CIA was only allowed to provide rebels with enough support, so that they could to fight without winning but also without losing. The program will apparently be eliminated over the course of several months. Trump met with CIA Director Mike Pompeo and National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster before attending the G20 meeting in Germany on July 7, where Trump spoke closely with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on the side. Officials noted that Trump's decision to end the disastrous, costly CIA program was not a condition of the new ceasefire deal in southwest Syria between the U.S., Russia and Jordan, which came out of the G20 meeting. The Washington Post headline demonstrates the line of attack: "Trump ends covert CIA program to arm anti-Assad rebels in Syria, a move sought by Moscow." Obviously, this is more proof that Trump is Putin's puppet because he's doing something "sought by Moscow." Never mind that the program was an abject failure. Never mind that once Russia got involved on Assad's side, there was very little chance for the rebels to be successful. The "current official" who claims that "Putin won in Syria" appears to be blaming Trump for Obama's fiasco. Obama had at least three and probably more "Syria policies" none of which worked, and all of which mostly made the situation worse. The former president's policies were marked by half-measures, timidity, and a curious reluctance to engage the enemy. In short, Putin didn't "win" in Syria as much as Obama lost there. The brutality of the Russian bombing campaign that killed thousands of civilians along with Assad's inhuman gas attacks and Hezb'allah's fighting skills turned the tide of war, making the CIA training program irrelevant. Trump is doing well to get rid of it. Credit: Erik KabikRock guitarist extraordinaire Carlos Santana turns 70 today. The Mexican-born musician moved to San Francisco in the early 1960s, and went on to form one of the most influential and enduring groups to emerge from the Bay Area music scene. Santana's groundbreaking sound fused Latin music and African percussion with rock, blues and jazz. The group came to global prominence after an incendiary performance at the 1969 Woodstock festival that showcased Carlos' blistering and intense playing. The group's self-titled debut came out that same month, featuring the classics like "Evil Ways" and the instrumental "Soul Sacrifice." The band's next two studio albums, Abraxas and Santana III, topped the Billboard 200 and included such hits as "Black Magic Woman," "Oye Como Va" and "Everybody's Everything." From the early 1970s through the '90s, Santana's lineup changed frequently, while the band's popularity waxed and waned. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998, and then experienced a huge career resurgence thanks to the 1999 album Supernatural. The record, which featured Carlos and company collaborating with various guest artists, yielded two #1 hits -- "Smooth" with Matchbox Twenty's Rob Thomas and "Maria Maria" with Wyclef Jean and The Product G&B. The album topped the Billboard 200 for 12 nonconsecutive weeks and went on to win nine Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year. It has sold more than 15 million copies in the U.S. to date. More recently, Carlos was saluted at the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors in 2013; the group put out its first Spanish language album, Corazon, in 2014; and most of the original Santana lineup reunited to release the Santana IV album last year. And next Friday, July 28, Santana will release a collaborative album with The Isley Brothers called Power of Peace. Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. The ASA war on gender means mum gets the power drill and dad goes to Iceland The Advertising Standards Authority once complained about this site. An advert featuring Page 3 stunna Lucy Pinder was sexist, they alleged. Pinder welcomed readers to Old Mr Anoraks throbbing organ, which for filthy lucre had been sheep-dipped in Lynx, the stuff that drives women wild with lust. It was all a lot of nonsense. Pinder was willing. No readers were damaged. And rumours abound of a whole generation of young Anoraks. Now the ASA is going for other gender-stereotypical commercials, seeking to censor inappropriate ads that feature stereotypical gender roles. Therell be no more Pinder presenting her primary sexual characteristics like Saint Agatha in a bikini. No more Oxo mum feeding her family. No more Ronseal man telling us it does exactly what it says on the tin. And no more ads for yoghurts in which a baby-voiced female celebrity talks about her tummy. Such amplification of stereotypical gender roles can cause harm. These ads reinforce assumptions that adversely limit how people see themselves and how others see them. It turns out that Lynda Bellingham is a bigger role model than your actual mum and dad. So mum gets the power drill for Christmas after all, and dad gets a trip to Iceland for own-brand ketchup and other tastes of regret. Hows that for progress? Anorak Posted: 20th, July 2017 | In: Key Posts, News, The Consumer Comment | TrackBack | Permalink (ANSA)- Rome, July 19 - One of the most complete exhibitions ever in Italy on the Secession movement in art will be held from September 23 until January 21 at Rovigo's Palazzo Roverella. The masterpieces exhibited, from some of the most important international museums, will tell not only about the most well-known aspects of the Vienna movement and the triumph of decoratism, it will also showcase the modernist trends that flourished in Munich, the visionary expressionism of the Prague-based Sursum group as well as the Rome crossroads and its continued search for new forms of expression. Entitled 'Secession. Munich, Vienna, Prague, Rome. The Wave of Modernity', the important exhibition was sponsored by the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Padova e Rovigo with collaboration from such prestigious museums as the Albertina, the Klimt Foundation, the Villa Stuck museum and the National Gallery in Prague. Curator was Francesco Parisi, who tried to offer the public a thorough overview of the movement, which developed mainly in four European capitals, highlighting differences, affinities and meeting points between the different languages of expression. Some of the artists whose works are included and who demonstrate how this was a true European cultural exchange are Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele, who exhibited at the Roman Secession shows, and Segantini, who took part in the annual Vienna exhibitions. The Palazzo Roverella exhibition will have several theme-based sections on individual cities of Europe and will open with the Munich Secession. At the very beginning in 1892, the new movement did not have a well-defined structure but soon acquired a modernist bent that was later called 'Jugendstil' and was taken part in by such artists as Franz von Stuck, Anders Zorn, Max Klinger, Max Liebermann and Ludwig von Hofmann. The focus of the entire Munich section will center mainly on the groups of works made between 1898 and 1910. The exhibit then moves on to Vienna, where the Secession began to develop in earnest in 1897 and which represented from its debut the evolution and moving on from all the previous formulas, including symbolism. Backed by the writer Ludwig Hevesi and the painter Gustav Klimt, after a few years the movement moved towards a vision of art that ws different from European Modernism and extended its influence towards the Italian and Slavic spheres. In Prague, the Secession came into being with the Manes group, which arose in the Munich academy, but later set itself the aim of reforming national Czech art. It was only in 1910 that the famous Sursum group arose, able to bring together Nabis and symbolists. The Secession of Rome (1913-1916), far from symbolist aesthetics, encouraged the development of several different languages within it. Different from futurist avantgardes, the Roman movement was more open to international influences. The First International Secession Exhibit, held in the Italian capital, proved an opportunity to see works by Matisse and Post-Impressionists for the first time, while the following year's edition included works by Cezanne and Matisse alongside Klimt and Schiele. BRUSSELS - The European Union has announced it is allocating 10 million euros for humanitarian aid in Libya, the European Commission said in a note on Thursday. The sum is part of the 220-million-euro aid to be granted to the country through various support programs including the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa. The resources are aimed at helping humanitarian organizations respond to urgent needs, in particular emergency healthcare services and essential medicines. ''We are urging all sides in the conflict to ensure immediate, safe and unrestricted humanitarian access'', said Christos Stylianides, the commissioner for humanitarian aid and crisis management. United with Italy on fundamentalism-UNESCO candidate Khattab Egypt's pick says 'Regeni case cannot divide us' (ANSAmed) - CAIRO, JULY 20 - Egypt's candidate for UNESCO director general, Moushira Khattab, has expressed confidence that Italy will support her bid. The former Minister of State for Family and Population told ANSAmed in the Egyptian capital that her achievements and aim to put UNESCO in the front line against terrorism and extremism was sure to win her the country's backing. "Italy is a very precious partner. We worked together to ensure the rights of the most vulnerable people in Egypt and globally. We made great achievements together,'' she said. ''Italy cares very much to make UNESCO a successful organization'' that achieves ''its mission and be focused, transparent and credible. I am not a newcomer'' to Italy, she added. She has been given both the Knight of the Grand Cross Award and Order of Merit of the Italian Republic by the Italian president and said about what ''promises'' she could make to Italy that the country ''knows my credibility, my capability, simply because we worked together. Combatting FGM (female genital mutilation, Ed.) is one of our many joint achievements. All I can say to Italy is that I promise to make UNESCO closer to the people and closer to its mission''. She was asked what sort of effect the Giulio Regeni case would have. Regeni, 28, went missing in the Egyptian capital on January 25, 2016, on the heavily policed fifth anniversary of the uprising that ousted former strongman and president Hosni Mubarak. His severely tortured, mutilated body was found on February 3 in a ditch on the city's outskirts but Egypt has denied speculation its security forces, who are frequently accused of brutally repressing opposition, were involved in the death of the Cambridge doctoral student. Khattab, a former diplomat with a Ph.D in Human Rights Law, said that ''relations between Egypt and Italy are stronger than any incident or accident even though we care very much to find the truth, to bring the perpetrators to justice.'' Khattab, who led one of the most comprehensive human-rights-based legal reforms in Egypt (including against human trafficking, child abuse and FGM), noted that "a delegation from the Italian Senate just finished a visit to Egypt and met with the president of Egypt, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi. He promised to bring the perpetrators to justice, to find out who did it. And I am very confident that we will move forward because the interest of the people of Egypt and Italy is of paramount importance to both. So we need to focus on serving the interest of the people". "UNESCO is facing many challenges right now that are hampering its ability to implement its mandate and Italy,'' she said, which ''has a great civilization, a great culture, cares very much that UNESCO is led by someone with experience'' who ''can make the organization not only overcome its problems but also become the first line of defence against terrorism, extremism and radicalization of youth''. Khattab also previously held the position of Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for International Cultural Relations and Vice Chair of the UN Committee on Rights of the Child. Egyptian foreign ministry sources told ANSAmed that Khattab, who was the country's first ambassador to post-apartheid South Africa, has a very good chance against the other eight candidates. Her toughest rivals are likely to be the French and Chinese ones, they said. (ANSAmed). BERLIN - The German government has decided to take a hardline stance against Turkey after lengthy tension due to Ankara's detention of its citizens and what it sees as serious rule of law violations. The announcement was made on Thursday by Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, who said that Germany had up until now shown a great deal of patience despite all the challenges. This week's flare-up was prompted by the arrest by Turkish authorities of German rights activist Peter Steudtner and five others on the grounds that they were part of a terrorist organization, denounced by Merkel as "absolutely unjustified." The Steudtner case "shows that German citizens are no longer safe from arbitrary arrests in Turkey," Gabriel said. ''We can't go on as we have before," he said. "We have to be clearer than before so that those in charge in Ankara understand that such a policy won't be without consequences.'' Gabriel said that Turkey was trying to ''turn back the clock'' and dismantle the foundations of the rule of law and democracy. He cited the massive purges of state employees, arrests of journalists and activists and land seizure following an attempted coup in July 2016 as proof. Moreover, one ''can't advise anyone to invest in a country when there is no legal certainty and where companies, completely respectable companies, are presented as terrorists,'' Gabriel said. "I therefore do not see how, as the government, we can still guarantee German company investments in Turkey if, as has happened, arbitrary expropriations for political reasons have not only been threatened but have already taken place.'' Germany has also called into question credit guarantees for export to Turkey and halted talks for an extension of the customs union. BOLZANO - Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz on Thursday said Italy should stop transferring illegal migrants from its islands to the mainland during a meeting with his Italian counterpart in Vienna. "We demand that the transfer of illegal migrants from Italian islands like Lampedusa to the mainland stop", Kurz was quoted as saying by Austrian news agency APA after the meeting with Alfano. Kurz also said Austria indents to close its border at the Brenner Pass to secure its border if Italy lets migrants through. Kurz said the meeting with Alfano was "correct" although they did not share "the same position". "If Italy were to continue its timely transfers on the mainland, from which migrants proceed northwards, not only will Central Europe be overwhelmed, but drownings will continue", Kurz said, noting that rescue operations in the Mediterranean "should not be a ticket for Central Europe". Earlier this month, the Italian foreign ministry summoned the Austrian ambassador to Rome after Vienna said it was ready to deploy up to 750 troops at the Brenner Pass "very soon" unless the flow of migrants from Italy diminishes. Libya: media, new Sarraj-Haftar summit being prepared Source Al Wasat, this time 'in a European capital' (ANSAmed) - CAIRO, JULY 20 - A new meeting between Premier Fayez Al Sarrak and the general commander of the Libyan national army, Khalifa Hafter, is in the works, website Al Wasat reported Thursday, citing a ''western diplomatic source''. The talks, after failed negotiations in Cairo in February and a meeting in Abu Dhabi at the beginning of May, should take place in an unspecified ''European capital''. The summit would be part of ''efforts to relaunch the political process'' to solve the Libyan crisis when the new UN envoy for Libya, Lebanon's Ghassan Salame, officially starts his mandate next month, the website reports.(ANSAmed). WASHINGTON - US president Donald Trump has decided to halt a covert program to equip and train certain rebel groups fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The move had long been urged by Russia, according to the Washington Post. The program had been at the center of a line adopted by the Obama administration to put pressure on Assad, but its effectiveness was called into question after Russian forces were deployed in Syria. According to the official sources cited by the Washington Post, Trump's decision to eliminate the covert program reflects the president's intention to find ways to collaborate with Russia on Syria while also showing that Assad's removal is not a priority for Washington at the moment. The daily reported that Trump made the decision to eliminate the program about a month ago after meeting with CIA director Mike Pompeo and National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster, before meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Germany on July 7. Tunisian parliament vote to restore Syria ties fails Severed in 2012, MPs call for 'united Arab world' (ANSAmed) - TUNIS, JULY 20 - The Tunisian parliament has rejected a petition for the restoring of diplomatic relations with Syria, presented in April by a collective of MPs belonging to four parliamentary groups: Al-Horra, the Popular Front, UPL and Afek Tounes. With only 68 votes in favor, 27 abstentions and 6 against, the vote did not reach the 109 quorum to enable it to be considered valid. Tunisia was one of the first countries to break off diplomatic relations with Syria. On February 4, 2012, President Moncef Marzouki decided to deport the Syrian ambassador to Tunis to protest crimes committed by the Assad regime against the Syrian population. According to the signatories of the petition, ''the restoring of relations is in line with the preamble to the Constitution, which reaffirms Tunisia's belonging to the cultural level and the civilisation of the Arab and Islamic world, calling for national unity based on citizenship, brotherhood, solidarity and social justice, and for a Maghreb union as the first step towards Arab unity as well as complementariness with Islamic and African populations.'' The signatories of the petition also reiterated that Tunisia is a member of the Arab League. A delegation of seven Tunisian MPs visited Damascus in March to shed light on networks that recruit young Tunisians to serve as foreign fighters. (ANSAmed) If youre considering a subscription to the Disney Plus streaming service, you may be wondering how much it costs. The service is available on both BarcelonaCatalonias Home Secretary, Joaquim Forn, has stated that it is the polices duty to uphold the law and, like any police force in any country, to make it possible for people to cast their ballot whenever a vote is held. Speaking with reporters following a meeting with the forces top brass, Forn remarked that, on the day of the independence referendum, the Mossos dEsquadra (the 17,000-strong Catalan police force under his command) will act as on previous election days. He also mentioned that he does not anticipate any court injunction to be issued and that, should there be one, they will study it in detail. At the same event, new police head Pere Soler explained that he will strive to ensure that all members of the public are safe and their rights are guaranteed. Soler argued that he is an approachable person who is open to dialogue. Forns get-together with Soler came after the Catalan ministers first official meeting with Enric Millo, the representative of the Spanish government in Catalonia, who voiced concern about the commitment of the new Home Affairs leadership towards law enforcement. The meeting between Millo and Forn, held this morning in the Spanish representatives Barcelona office, was cordial and served to ratify the agreement achieved last week at Catalonias Junta de Seguretat (Security Council). According to EFE, the Spanish news service, they also sanctioned the cooperation protocol between the Mossos dEsquadra and the various Spanish law enforcement agencies. Joaquim Forn, a PDeCat member who is renowned for his openly pro-secession views, became Home Secretary on Friday last week following Jordi Janes resignation, which prompted police head Albert Batlle to step down on Monday, with Pere Soler taking over his job. Both Jane and Batlle who had been criticised by some within ERC and the CUP for their lukewarm stand on independence had publicly stated that, in the context of Catalonias independence process, the Catalan police force would uphold and enforce the law. As for Soler, he was a CiU elected councillor in Terrassa (north of Barcelona city) and was the general manager of Catalonias Penitentiary Department. A staunch separatist, in the last few months Soler has posted messages on social networks stating that Spain will fail to block the referendum on October 1 and that he felt sorry for all Spaniards, for which he has faced flak from the opposition parties. This afternoon Forn and Soler held their first meeting with the police top brass and the anti-terrorist coordination committee after being sworn in. On the 17th and 18th July UAE Nationals aged 18 and above were invited to attend Abu Dhabi Airports recruitment open days to discover more about the job role and apply for the position. The successful applicant will undergo training at Abu Dhabi Airports Gulf Center for Aviation Studies, prior to starting their new roles. The recruitment of Abu Dhabi Airports Happiness Ambassadors is aligned with the UAEs vision of being one of the happiest countries in the world, and its mission to promote a lifestyle of happiness and positivity. Successful candidates will be placed on the front line of passenger engagement and will be responsible for helping travelers passing through Abu Dhabi International Airport with their queries, and making their experience as smooth and hassle free as possible. Acting Chief Executive Officer Abdul Majeed Al Khoori commented: Whether arriving, departing or transiting, the first impression of any passenger is the most important one. We want to ensure that all our passengers are greeted with a smile and warm Arabian hospitality, reflective of the welcome they will receive across the whole of Abu Dhabi. We look forward to having these new Customer Happiness Ambassadors onboard and promoting positivity and happiness across our airport. New Delhi: E-commerce major Flipkart will give 20 select customers a behind-the-scene experience of its operations to give them a feel of how online shopping works after an order has been placed. "Customers are our most important stakeholder... We want to thank customers for being a part of our fabulous journey by giving them an inside track on Flipkart and showing them how we go about fulfilling their wishes," Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy said in a statement. An internal jury at Flipkart will choose 20 such participants, based on their responses on why should they be given access to Flipkart offices. The chosen customers will be given a tour of Flipkart's offices, customer service centre and delivery hubs. They will also get an opportunity to interact with Flipkart's leaders to understand the business and technology of e-commerce. This will give customers a peek into the functioning of some of Flipkart's teams such as technology, customer support and products. The Bengaluru-based firm has already had its top executives, including CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy, meeting customers as part of the company's 10-year celebrations. Flipkart, which is locked in an intense battle in the Indian e-commerce market, has a registered customer base of over 100 million. ONGC to acquire stake in a potential Rs 28,000-crore deal. Prior to the merger, HPCL is likely to take over Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL) to bring all the refining assets of ONGC under one unit. New Delhi: The government on Wednesday gave an in-principle approval to its Rs 28,000-crore stake sale in Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) to the countrys biggest explorer ONGC, sources said. While ONGC buying HPCL will help the government meet as much as 40 per cent of its target for raising Rs 72,500 crore in the current fiscal through stake sales, more deals in the oil sector including one where refiner Indian Oil Corp (IOC) buys out explorer Oil India or Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) merges with gas utility GAIL may be in the offing. The source said the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave in-principal approval for ONGC buying Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL). Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan is likely to make a statement on the deal as well as other potential mergers on Thursday afternoon in Parliament. Prior to the merger, HPCL is likely to take over Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL) to bring all the refining assets of ONGC under one unit. ONGC currently owns 71.63 per cent of MRPL while HPCL has 16.96 per cent stake in it. HPCL buying ONGC stake will give the explorer Rs 16,414 crore at todays closing price. ONGC, which has cash reserves of Rs 13,014 crore, also has an option to sell part or all of its 13.77 per cent stake in IOC which is worth nearly Rs 25,000 crore. The source said ONGC will not have to make an open offer to minority shareholders of HPCL as the government's holding is being transferred to another state-run firm and the ownership isn't changing. The deal will be completed within a year, he said. HPCL will become a subsidiary of ONGC and will remain a listed company post the acquisition, he said adding the board of the refining and marketing company will continue to remain in place. HPCL has a market cap of Rs 58,485.55 crore, based on Wednesdays closing price of Rs 384 a share on the BSE. At Wednesdays rate, ONGC will have to shell out close to `30,000 crore for the governments 51.11 per cent but the actual price may be either of one-year, 26 week or 60 day average scrip price, the source said. ONGC chairman and MD Dinesh K. Sarraf said the funding plans for the acquisition are in place but refused to reveal them citing market sensitivities. Many options have been debated, he said. Meanwhile in another significant decision, the Cabinet cleared a 15 per cent hike in salaries for public sector company employees. The Cabinet approved implementation of the recommendations of the 3rd Pay Commission for central public sector enterprises employees, sources said. Salmans growing interest in Katrinas affairs has Iulia worried. Nine years ago, Salmans infamous brawl with Shah Rukh Khan on Katrinas birthday party made the actress swear off birthday parties for the better part of her life. Then again, time heals all wounds. This time Sallu decided to throw Kat a birthday party on Sunday, in New York, where they were both attending an awards event. We hear that Salman supervised every detail of the bash and invited all of Katrinas friends who were in New York. This has not gone down too well with Salmans current love interest, Iulia Vantur. His closeness with his former flame Katrina Kaif, with whom Salman now shares a very complicated relationship, has got the Romanian beauty under duress. The rapidly-growing triangle between Salman, Iulia and Katrina threatens to spill over into the public domain. Ever since Katrina went through a rather traumatic break-up with Ranbir Kapoor, Salman has come forward to support her emotionally and professionally. A close friend says, There is a reasonable amount of empathy between the two now. Theyve shared a very close and long-lasting relationship, and he has always been there for her whenever she needed him even when she was seeing someone else. Now when shes single, shes rapidly gravitating towards him for emotional and professional support. And he wont flinch in providing her with a helping hand, no matter how insecure it makes anyone else. Presently, Salman has the brewing storm under control and seems to have convinced Ms Vantur that as far as his interest in Ms Kaif goes, he is only being human. The four were arrested for 'killing' the cow which had entered their cattle shed in Maanpur village of Banaskantha district, police said. Ahmedabad: The Gujarat police on Wednesday arrested four Muslim men for allegedly killing a cow and booked them under a newly-enacted law, which provides for life term for slaughtering a cow. The four were arrested for "killing" the cow which had entered their cattle shed in Maanpur village of Banaskantha district, said the police, adding they would be tried under the stringent Gujarat Animal Preservation(Amendment) Act-2017. The police identified the four accused as Aiyub Vagadiya, Jamaluddin Vagadiya, Arif Vagadiya and Israilbhai Vagadiya of Maanpur village. The police arrested the four on a complaint by Kansa village resident Raghabhai Bumadiya, who approached Danta taluka police station on Tuesday and alleged that the accused had killed one of his cows after it entered their cattle shed. "In his complaint, Raghabhai claimed his son had taken their cows and goats for grazing to the neighbouring Maanpur village yesterday. As some of the cows inadvertently entered into a cattle shed, four members of the family confronted Raghabhai's son and scolded him," said Police Sub-Inspector A R Vala. "Though his son tendered an apology, the accused attacked one of the cows in a fit of rage and killed the animal using sticks, choppers and axe. Based on his complaint, we lodged a case yesterday for killing the cattle under section 429 of the Indian Penal Code and the Gujarat Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act-2017," said Vala, adding that the four were arrested on Wednesday. "Since the new Act against cow slaughter has come into force recently, all these accused will be tried under sections 8 and 10 of the Act," said Vala. The Gujarat Animal Preservation (Amendment) Bill, 2017 was passed by the state assembly on March 31. This amended Act provides for not less than 10 years in jail which can extend up to life term for those found to be involved in the slaughter of bovines, including cows, calves, bulls and bullocks. In the previous Act, which was in place since 2011, the maximum jail term for such acts was seven years. Eight people including five members of a family, a 12-year-old boy were, however, rescued. Srinagar: Eight people, including four children and four women, were killed and several other residents went missing as flash floods triggered by cloudburst wreaked havoc in parts of eastern Doda and Kishtwar districts of Jammu and Kashmir early Thursday. Eight people including five members of a family, a 12-year-old boy were, however, rescued. Three women killed in Thathri area of Doda have been identified as 35-year-old Neeru Devi, Patna Devi, 45, and teenager Sareshta Devi. Half a dozen residential houses, shops, a school and several vehicles were damaged as the deadly cloudburst brought massive damage top life and property, the officials said. Also, the resultant flashfloods inundated vast areas along Batote-Doda-Kishtwar highway. Officials said that the water level and silt suddenly rose in Masjid Nullah after the cloudburst around 2:20 am and washed away several structures on both sides of the stream within no time. A police official Iftkhar Ahmed was quoted by local media as saying that the police and the civilian authorities are trying to rescue the people still trapped under the debris. As of now, three female bodies have been recovered from the debris. However several others are still under the debris and more casualties cannot be ruled out," he said. The eight people rescued earlier are being treated at an emergency hospital at Thathri, the officials said. The witnesses said the missing people are believed to have been buried under the layers of mud, silt and stones striven all over in the affected area. The police and the Army have stepped up rescue operation and being helped by local volunteers. The Batote-Doda-Kishtwar road connecting the hilly region with the Srinagar-Jammu highway has been closed for the vehicular traffic. The power supplied to the area remains suspended, reports received here said. A report from neighbouring Kishtwar said a woman identified as 50-year-old Kunji Devi and her five-year-old grandson were washed away in flash floods triggered by a cloudburst in Kishtwars Chichi area on Thursday. The officials said the victims were grazing cattle in Chichis Hydal Mill meadow when the cloudburst struck the area. The body of the woman has been retrieved where the effort to get that of her grandson was on when reports last came in. Governor Acharya had no option but to sack Mr Liezietsu for violating his directive that followed the high courts order. T. R. Zeliang being sworn-in as the new chief minister of Nagaland by Governor PB Acharya at a ceremony in Kohima. (Photo: AP) Guwahati: In a dramatic turn of events, Nagaland governor P.B. Acharya on Wednesday administered the oath of office to T.R. Zeliang as the new chief minister of the state soon after Shurhozelie Liezietsu, the states chief minister till Wednesday morning, failed to turn up in the state Assembly to prove his majority. Governor Acharya had no option but to sack Mr Liezietsu for violating his directive that followed the high courts order. Mr Liezietsu, who became the states chief minister in February by replacing Mr Zeliang, had claimed to have the support of 47 legislators in the House of 59 MLAs. Both leaders are MLAs of Naga Peoples Front. Though, the governor has given Mr Zeliang time till Saturday, sources said that he would prove his majority on the floor of the House by Friday. Earlier, dismissing the government headed by Mr Liezietsu and inviting former chief minister Zeliang to form the new government in the state, the governor said: According to reports received from the Nagaland Legislative Assembly, chief minister Shurhozelie Liezietsu did not attend the emergent Assembly session convened on July 19 at 9.30 am for the purpose of testing majority of the Cabinet led by him. 48 MLAs including Speaker attended the session. Therefore it is obvious that Mr Liezietsu has failed to obtain vote of confidence despite the repeated opportunity given to him... By virtue of powers vested in me by Clause (1) of Article 164 of the Constitution of India, I, Mr P.B. Acharya, Governor of Nagaland hereby withdraw my pleasure from chief minister of Nagaland and the council of ministers headed by Mr Shurhozelie Liezietsu is hereby dismissed with immediate effect. The governor had directed the Speaker Imtiwapang Aieyer to summon a special session of the Assembly at 9.30 am for the chief minister, who is facing a rebellion from MLAs of his party Nagaland Peoples Front (NPF), to seek a confidence vote. Mr Zeliang, leader of the rebel NPF MLAs, who has been chief minister once before, was present in the House along with his followers. The motion to prove the majority of the chief minister could not be taken up as he was not present and the House was adjourned sine die, the Speaker informed the governor. Rahul said the Congress will fight for the farmers and put pressure on the BJP government to waive farm loans in Rajasthan. Banswara: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday hit out at the NDA government alleging that it was not willing to discuss farmers issues in Parliament and that its decision to implement the GST was taken in a haste. Wielding a bow and arrow at Kisaan Aakrosh Rally here he slammed the BJP and the RSS alleging that they do not hear the voices of the weak and the oppressed people. He said the Congress wanted to discuss the issues of farmers at length in the Lok Sabha today but were not allowed to speak. The government can announce GST implementation at midnight but is not willing to discuss issues of farmers in Parliament for a minute, Mr Gandhi alleged. About implementation of the new indirect tax regime in the country, he said the decision was taken in haste. We wanted the government to take three-four more months as the proposed GST reforms had deficiencies and would impact small traders, Mr Gandhi said. He said small traders, farmers, labourers, tribals and Dalits, equally, run the country but the people in the BJP and the RSS did not hear the voices of the oppressed and the weak. Mr Gandhi said the Congress believed that farmers, traders, labourers played an equally important role along side industrialists in taking the country forward. We want to take everybody along and take the country forward. India has made its mark due to its farmers, labourers and traders who have given their blood and sweat to it, he said. Accusing the BJP government of neglecting farmers, labourers, youths and small traders the Congress vice- president said the benefits were reaching only the top 50 industrialists of the country. He said the Congress will fight for the farmers and put pressure on the BJP government to waive farm loans in Rajasthan. It was under pressure from the Congress, that the BJP government waived loans of farmers in Uttar Pradesh. In Punjab and Karnataka, Congress governments did not take time in providing relief measures to farmers by waiving their loans, Gandhi said. We will not let the Rajasthan government sleep till the loans of farmers are waived, he said. Taking a jibe at the Modi government over its promise of providing employment to 2 crore youths, Gandhi said, He had promised jobs through Make In India campaign, but all claims have turned flat. Sources in IndiGo said Mr Reddy expressed regret over his conduct. Following this, Air India and SpiceJet also lifted the ban. New Delhi: In a move that has raised eyebrows and drawn flak from some quarters, aviation market leader IndiGo on Wednesday said it had lifted the flight ban on Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MP J.C. Diwakar Reddy after a three-hour meeting over lunch during which the issue was amicably resolved. Sources in IndiGo said Mr Reddy expressed regret over his conduct. Following this, Air India and SpiceJet also lifted the ban. The TDP MP was banned in mid-June, this year, by all domestic airlines from their flights for alleged misbehaviour at the Visakhapatnam airport before boarding an IndiGo flight. He allegedly pushed an IndiGo staffer at the airport and misbehaved with airline staff. The airline on Wednesday said Mr Reddy too would be withdrawing the court case he had filed. The Hyderabad high court on Tuesday issued urgent notices to several airlines, ministry of civil aviation, aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on a petition filed by the TDP MP challenging the ban imposed by airlines. In a statement, IndiGo said, Senior IndiGo officials today (Wednesday) met honourable member of Parliament Mr Diwakar Reddy, at a lunch hosted by senior MP Y.S. Chaudhary, to resolve the issue of Mr Reddys ban on IndiGo flights. The issue is amicably resolved between the two and IndiGo has decided to lift the said ban with immediate effect and Mr Reddy is withdrawing the case he has filed. The federation of Indian airlines has also been informed about the decision. IndiGo appreciates and thanks the member airlines for their continued support. Air India said, As Indigo has lifted the ban from honourable MP Mr. Reddy to air travel, AI also decided to lift the ban. Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju had said last month that he would get the entire incident at Vizag Airport enquired into to find out the exact details and ensure that lawful outcomes follow. The Minister had also maintained that he had not intervened in the matter, thereby contradicting the MPs claim to a TV channel that he had done so. The Minister had also said CCTV footage available had revealed that the MP had lied to him about when he had reached the airport before the flight. At least 150 grams of the explosive was found in a packet under the seat cushion in the state Assembly. Lucknow: The mystery over the white powder, purportedly the deadly explosive PETN (Pentaerythritol tetranitrate) found in the UP assembly on July 12, is getting increasingly complicated. After the Agra forensic laboratory claimed that no traces of the explosive were found in the powder sent to it for a second examination, the state government said that no sample had been sent to the Agra forensic lab for examination. Principal secretary (Home) Arvind Kumar said, The sample was not sent to Agra as they do not have the technology to conduct the tests. The factual position is that SFSL Lucknow has found the substance to be water insoluble. Different reagents confirm the presence of a nitrate, preliminary tests using explosive detection kit were positive for PETN. The Uttar Pradesh police website, however, says that the Agra lab had an explosives division. An explosive division was sanctioned for undertaking the examination of explosive material. This division started functioning at Agra in 1987. It is expected to cater to the needs of all the districts in the state, the website said. IG ATS, Aseem Arun, on the other hand, said tests were being done by two labs for a reliable report. We have sent the sample to Lucknow Forensic Lab. It is not our concern that in which of their laboratories, they are conducting the tests. The ATS always gets the tests done from two labs, now the sample will be sent to Hyderabad Forensic Lab for the final opinion, he said. According to sources, those who conducted the tests at Lucknow are not experts in dealing with explosives while the Agra laboratory report was prepared by a panel with expertise in examining explosives. Pentaerythritol tetranitrate or PETN can easily dodge metal detectors and its colorless crystals are hard to detect in sealed containers. It was a powerful explosive, 100 grams of which was enough to blow up a car to pieces, said experts. At least 150 grams of the explosive was found in a packet under the seat cushion in the state Assembly. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath informed the state Assembly on Friday about the recovery of the explosive and called for an NIA investigation. The state Assembly has cancelled at least 1500 passes and security has been considerably tightened after the incident. Naresh Agrawal later had to express regret after the treasury benches forced an adjournment. New Delhi: The Opposition parties on Wednesday raised the issue of a spurt in mob-lynching incidents, including cow vigilantism, and demanded that there should be a separate central law banning lynching, even as a Samajwadi Party (SP) members remark sparked a controversy. Earlier, replying to queries during Question Hour, the government ruled out a separate law against mob lynching, saying that the existing laws can deal with it. Raising the issue in the Rajya Sabha, Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said no one has a license to kill and yet, somehow members of the parivar (Sangh Parivar) are found involved in such incidents, which clearly shows that they do not pay heed to Prime Minister Narendra Modis warning on cow vigilantism. The Upper House witnessed angry scenes after SPs Naresh Agrawal made a controversial statement, to which the treasury benches reacted strongly, saying he had hurt the religious sentiments of the majority. Mr Agrawal later had to express regret after the treasury benches forced an adjournment. Parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar said, He (Agrawal) cannot hurt the sentiments of the majority. He cannot hold the House to ransom. The BJP members were on their feet demanding an apology and shouted slogans, including Bhagwan ka apman nahi chalega (disrespect to Gods will not be tolerated). Leader of the House and finance minister Arun Jaitley said, If he had said this outside, he would have been liable to prosecution...You have not realised the gravity of what you have said. Do you have the audacity to say the same about other Gods? When the House re-assembled after two adjournments, Mr Agrawal said he did not intend to hurt anybodys sentiments. If someone has been hurt, I express my regret, the SP member said. Later, Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien ruled that part of Mr Agrawals remarks had been expunged. I have gone through the records. It is per se derogatory and hurting the sentiments of the majority community...I have expunged these remarks...He should not have made the remarks, said Mr Kurien. Earlier, Mr Azad cited lynching incidents, including that of Kashmir police officer Ayub Pandith in Srinagar, and said the issue is beyond religion. He said though lynching incidents took place earlier also but these days somehow members of the parivar (sangh parivar) are found involved. He also questioned why no one gets caught for such incidents. Minister of state, parliamentary affairs, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said these incidents are purely criminal and requested that these should not be given a communal colour. He also informed the members about action taken by state governments after lynching incidents in Haryana, Rajasthan and Maharashtra. CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said a private army is roaming and taking law in its hand. He said nationalism is only equated as Hindu nationalism. When we say Bharat mata ki jai we include every religion. Do not distinguish on patriotic slogans, said Mr Yechury as he demanded a law against lynching. However, the government has ruled out a separate law against mob lynching and said the existing laws can deal with it. Earlier, replying to queries during the Question Hour, on the same issue, minister of state for home affairs Hansraj Gangaram Ahir said that whether a lynching is done by a single person or a group, the existing laws can deal with it. The state governments can take action against person or persons involved in such incidents under the existing laws. I dont think there is a need for a separate law, Mr Ahir said. The argument will continue on Friday and the attorney general is likely to put the governments view across. New Delhi: Right to privacy is not absolute and it cant stop the legislature from imposing reasonable restrictions, the Supreme Court on Wednesday observed orally while taking up a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar scheme and claiming privacy as a fundamental right. A nine-judge Bench, including Chief Justice J.S. Khehar, is revisiting, after 55 years, two earlier judgments which held that right to privacy is not a fundamental right. While senior counsel Arvind P. Datar was making his submission, Justice Chandrachud said right to privacy cant be defined by the court as its contours are amorphous. The court asked the counsel, Can this court define privacy? You cant make a catalogue of what constitutes privacy. Privacy is so amorphous and includes everything from liberty, dignity, religion and free movement. Justice Chandrachud told the counsel that if we make any attempt to catalogue privacy, it will have disastrous consequences. Privacy is a sub-sect of liberty and not necessarily co-exists with data protection. The arguments will continue on Friday. The court said, Every fundamental right can be subject to reasonable restrictions under Article 19 (2) of the Constitution and the State is entitled to regulate the right, he said. Citing examples, Justice Chandrachud said, Right to make a decision will not come under privacy. If I decide to cohabit with my wife, police cant barge into my bedroom. Thats my privacy. The argument will continue on Friday and the attorney general is likely to put the governments view across. Senior counsel Gopal Subramanium argued that privacy is a broader concept and data sharing is only one aspect of it. Privacy is about the freedom of thought, conscience and individual autonomy and none of the fundamental rights can be exercised without assuming certain sense of privacy, he said. The State is under an affirmative obligation to protect the fundamental rights. Liberty is fundamental to democracy and citizens cannot exist without privacy, he said. Former attorney general Soli Sorabjee also said that privacy is not explicitly laid out in the Constitution. But that does not mean the right does not exist as it has be deduced from the Constitution. He argued that the freedom of press has been derived from Article 19, similarly, right to privacy can be derived broadly from Article 21. When counsel Shyam Divan submitted that a person should have the right to informational self-determination, Justice Chandrachud asked, If people have put themselves in the public realm using technology, is that not a surrender of their right to privacy? In the Internet age, a person should have control on how much he should put forward and not be compelled, Mr Divan submitted. He drew the courts attention to the fact that Union finance minister Arun Jaitley, during a discussion in Rajya Sabha on Aadhaar Bill in March 2016, had said that right to privacy was a fundamental right but now the same government is denying it. Attorney general K.K. Venugopal earlier told the court that an eight-judge Bench in 1954 and a six-judge Bench in 1962 had ruled that right to privacy was not a fundamental right. Thereafter, the apex court referred the matter to the nine-judge Constitution Bench which, apart from the CJI, includes Justices Chelameswar, S.A. Bobde, R.K. Agrawal, Rohinton Nariman, A.M. Sapre, Chandrachud, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and S. Abdul Nazeer Party insiders said that deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav is likely to seek legal advice. Patna: The political crisis in Bihar continued on Wednesday with JD-U adamant on seeking a fact-based public clarification from deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav. The JD-U, while sending a clear political signal to its coalition partner RJD, said that the party is committed to the coalition dharma but Nitish Kumars stand on corruption is well-known and he has set an example by taking harsh action against ministers facing criminal charges in the past. JD-U leaders also clarified that the party did not demand the resignation of Tejashwi Yadav but want him to give a detailed public explanation of the charges he has been facing. Meeting between chief minister and Tejashwi Yadav was not political and our opinion on the issue is that he (Tejashwi) must clarify his position in public with proof and facts, JD-U spokesperson Ajay Alok told reporters in Patna on Wednesday. The reaction came in response to Lalu Yadavs political advisor and former RJD MP Shivanand Tiwarys statement in which he had said that situation has returned to normal after Tuesdays meeting. Deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav had met Nitish Kumar in his official chamber on Tuesday where he is believed to have told him that he will not resign from the post and fight a legal battle to clear his name. It was their first meeting since the crisis surfaced. Sources claimed that Mr Tejashwi Yadav also cited the example of Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh, who continues to hold position despite legal cases pending against him. Party insiders said that deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav is likely to seek legal advice and has also agreed to give a detailed public explanation of the corruption charges he has been facing. RJD sources said that the Party has organized a big rally on August 27 where he will give a detailed explanation about the case to prove his innocence. Meanwhile, BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi on Wednesday launched an offensive against Nitish Kumar, calling his zero tolerance on corruption theory eyewash. He said, The JD (U) had asked Tejashwi Yadav to give a detailed public explanation of the corruption charges but now it is being said that in order to save the grand secular alliance government Nitish Kumar has forgotten his zero tolerance on corruption theory. A similar attack was launched by Former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi who said, Nitish Kumar bowed down before Tejashwi Yadav because his party JD (U) is numerically weaker in Bihar. The entire political tussle was a well-planned creation of both Nitish Kumar and Lalu Yadav to divert public attention from the real issue. Nitish Kumar only takes action against weaker people like me. He took action against me earlier because I was a Dalit. With a little over a year left for the state Assembly polls, the BJP president is expected to take stock of the party and the government. Jaipur: BJP chief Amit Shahs three-day visit to Jaipur starting Friday could not have come at a worse time for chief minister Vasundhara Raje as her government has just brokered peace with the Rajput community, following the shootout of gangster Anandpal Singh. Farmers suicide will also be a talking point in Mr Shahs interaction with party cadres as well as a cross-section of the society. With a little over a year left for the state Assembly polls, the BJP president is expected to take stock of the party and the government. He will meet party members, reportedly planning to give a negative feedback about the governments performance, enlisting caste agitations, law and order issues, farmers suicides and demolition of temples in the state capital. The rival camp has already forced the CM to bow down before the Rajput community after Narpat Singh Rajvi, ex-minister and son-in-law of Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, wrote to Mr Shah complaining about the oppression of the community, following Singhs encounter. The anger among the partys core vote bank may not go down well with the party president. There is a possibility that another senior leader Ghanshyam Tiwari, who openly rebelled against Ms Rajes leadership by accusing her of corruption, may also meet the party president to apprise him of his allegations against the CM. The rival camp may also raise the issue of demolition of temples to pave the way for Jaipur Metro. However, the real concern for the CM would be farmers suicides and agitations. Mr Shahs visit is taking place two days after Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhis Kisan Aakrosh Rally in tribal-dominated Banswara. Since, famrers suicides have taken centre stage at national level; Mr. Shah would be keen to know how the CM plans to pacify farmers in the state. Taking no chance, the CM too has made elaborate plans including carefully preparing lists of those scheduled to attend the meetings. The ministers have been categorically told to keep their facts updated so as to be able to respond to the queries. A major presentation is being prepared for the progress of Centres favourite and priority schemes in the state During the three day visit which is second in four years Mr. Shah would spend 50 hours holding as many as 10 formal interactions with different sections. According to sources, just like the previous meeting one and half years ago, he will quiz ministers and senior party functionaries about their work and performance besides taking feedback from the grass roots workers. Earlier in the day, the Congress had accused PM Modi of creating an environment that encouraged mob lynchings in the name of gau raksha. New Delhi: Defending the government in Rajya Sabha during a debate on mob lynchings, Arun Jaitley, finance minister and Leader of the Upper House, said on Thursday that violence can never be a partisan issue and oppression in the name of cow wont be tolerated. In his long speech, Mr Jaitley questioned the duplicity of the Oppositions claims on vigilantism, asked parties not to give political colour to cow related violence, and added that nobody had the right to take the law in their own hands. Sensitivity to the cow could not justify violence, he said. Mr Jaitley was participating in a discussion on the Situation arising out of the reported increase in the incidents of lynching and atrocities on minorities and dalits across the country, which began on Wednesday. Earlier, Congress and Trinamul Congress MPs staged a walkout when HRD minister Prakash Javadekar invoked the lynching of 3,000 Sikhs during the 1984 riots, in a classic case of whataboutery that has become the default reaction of the ruling party every time the spotlight is on them. While pointing out that to kill a human in the name of cow is unequivocally condemned, and that lynchings were the worst crime over mankind and had no place in a democracy, Mr Javadekar added that provoking anyone in a place where cow slaughter is prohibited is equally condemnable. And then the Union minister, training his gun at the Congress, said, There is selective amnesia In 1984, Sikhs were burnt alive. Three thousand Sikhs were lynched Where are the perpetrators of 1984? Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad, promptly responded. It is sad that the education minister has such thoughts. I have to tell you that no matter whose government was there, Congress or yours, members of the Sangh Parivar were found to be behind it (lynching), he said. According to reports, about 20 cow vigilante attacks have been reported in the first six months of 2017, a 75 per cent jump over the total number of such incidents in 2016. Most victims of lynchings and mob violence have been dalits or Muslims. Earlier in the day, the Congress had accused PM Modi of creating an environment that encouraged mob lynchings in the name of gau raksha. Congress leader Kapil Sibal, while speaking in the Rajya Sabha, alleged that the Prime Minister was doing nothing to restrain cow vigilantes who, he said, include elements from VHP and Bajrang Dal. I am shaken and shattered by the images of grotesque violence and heart-wrenching scenes (which) I have seen on social media and Twitter. We did not see it in the last 50 years, he said. What is the sentiment behind it? Why 97 per cent of the violence has taken place after 2014? Mr Sibal said, and added that the year 2017 has witnessed maximum murders and the cattle ban had negatively impacted the leather industry. Attacking PM Modi, Mr Sibal said, Even after Mr Modi spoke thrice against violence in the name of cow, how is it that the attacks are taking place? It is because the Prime Minister has created an environment where such actions are encouraged? Cow vigilantes and those protecting and encouraging them are naqli Hindus, he said. You (BJP leaders) say it isnt related to BJP. But these (cow vigilantes) are your people. VHP has said it will equip gau rakshaks. 2,700 gau senas are operating in states. They are recruited by VHP and trained by the Bajrang Dal. But what is the Prime Minister doing. Quoting Mahatma Gandhi is doublespeak... Your own people are doing this but the PM says these are anti social people, Mr Sibal said. While declaring that the Centre stood against any violence in the name of cow vigilantism, Mr Jaitley said that no sympathy would be shown to the culprits. Rejecting the Opposition charge that no action was being taken, Mr Jaitley said that legal actions were taken and people were arrested and some of them are still in jail. He made it clear that there would be no ifs and buts while acting against the vigilantes. Mr Jaitley said that the cow slaughter ban was brought in by Jawaharlal Nehrus government. Law prohibiting cow slaughter was passed during Jawaharlal Nehrus rule. The law had Ambedkars assent. So how can Congress blame BJP government of Narendra Modi for this? he asked the Rajya Sabha. Mr Jaitley also assured the House that if incidents where police was not acting were brought to the notice of the Centre, We will not think twice of requesting state governments and advising the state governments and even asking for reports as well as states are concerned. China says diplomatic channels with India unimpeded. New Delhi/Beijing: India said on Thursday that it is ready for talks with China but that both sides first have to pull back their armies to end the standoff in the Doklam area of Bhutan which China covets. We are willing to talk, but both sides have to first take back their armies, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj told Parliament. China, meanwhile, said that diplomatic channels with India remained unimpeded to discuss the military standoff in Sikkim sector but is insisting that that the withdrawal of the Indian troops from Doklam area is a precondition for any meaningful dialogue. Ms Swaraj also told Parliament that Chinas attempts to unilaterally change the status of the tri-junction with Bhutan pose a challenge to Indias security. She added that India has the support of all countries as it is legally in the right and that its stand is reasonable. Her ministry later said India would pursue a peaceful resolution of the standoff through diplomatic channels, reiterating its stand that differences should not become disputes. National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval, meanwhile, will visit China on a two-day visit on July 27 and 28 for the BRICS NSAs meet, the MEA confirmed. Mr Doval is likely to discuss possible options with his Chinese counterpart to resolve the issue on the sidelines of the meet. In Parliament, Ms Swaraj on Thursday said, Indias position is not wrong on the tri-junction and all nations are with it. The law is with our country. Ms Swaraj said all countries are supporting India and they understand that the stand taken by India on the issue is not wrong. In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang told reporters, Our diplomatic channel is unimpeded, while confirming talks between Indian and Chinese missions to resolve the standoff. Mr Lu, however, reiterated that the withdrawal of the Indian border personnel is the precondition for any meaningful dialogue and communication between the two countries. Indian and Chinese troops have been locked in a face-off in the Doklam area of Bhutan for over a month after Indian troops stopped the Chinese Army from building a road. China has a maritime dispute with Japan and ties between Beijing and Tokyo are also rocky. New Delhi: Eight months after it was inked, the Indo-Japan agreement on Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy has become operational from Thursday, the MEA has said. This marks a new chapter in Indo-Japanese strategic partnership and comes at a time when tensions between India and China are rising over Chinese military activities in the Doklam area in Bhutan. China has a maritime dispute with Japan and ties between Beijing and Tokyo are also rocky. In a statement, the MEA said, The India-Japan Agreement for Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy entered into force on July 20, 2017 with the exchange of diplomatic notes between Dr S. Jaishankar, foreign secretary and Mr Kenji Hiramatsu, ambassador of Japan to India. The agreement was signed on November 11, 2016 in Tokyo during the visit of the Prime Minister to Japan. It added, This Agreement is a reflection of the strategic partnership between India and Japan and will pave the way for enhanced cooperation in energy security and clean energy. The agreement seeks to promote full cooperation between the two countries in the development and uses of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes on a stable, reliable and predictable basis. In May, NIA told the special court in Mumbai that it doesn't oppose the discharge application filed by accused Sadhvi Pragya. New Delhi: A plea was filed in the Supreme Court on Thursday against the bail granted to accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur in the 2008 Malegaon blast case. In May, the National Investigative Agency (NIA) told the special court in Mumbai that it doesn't oppose the discharge application filed by accused Sadhvi Pragya. The Bombay High Court, earlier in April, granted bail to Sadhvi Pragya in connection with case. Thakur, who will have to furnish a bail amount of Rs. 5 lakh besides two sureties of the same amount, has also been directed to submit its passport to the NIA court and appear on the dates in the trial court. The NIA had informed the court that it had no objection to the court granting bail to Thakur. "Rs. 5 lakh surety has been ordered by the court and she has been asked to deposit her passport with the NIA Court. The court has directed that she (Sadhvi Pragya) will have to be present before the NIA court whenever it issues summon." "There is absolutely no evidence of her involvement," said Thakur's lawyer Shyam Devani. The High Court, however, rejected the bail of Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit. On September 2008, a blast at Malegaon killed six and injured 101 others. (ANI) Heated discussion in Lok Sabha as Opposition corners govt over issue. New Delhi: The Lok Sabha on Wednesday saw a heated discussion on the plight of farmers with the Opposition accusing the government of being insensitive towards farmers issues, even as it sought loan waiver, better minimum support price and criminal cases against those responsible for death of farmers during the agitation in Madhya Pradesh recently. Initiating the discussion, Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia said the plight of farmers has worsened with suicides increasing under the present government. This government is not sensitive towards the issues of farmers. PM Narendra Modi immediately tweets at global disasters but he has not tweeted anything on the killings of farmers in Mandsaur, he said, adding that even the agriculture minister has not visited Mandsaur as he was busy doing yoga with Ramdev baba. Saying that the despondency has set in across the country, the Congress leader said the BJP had promised to double farmers income and implement Swaminathan recommendations in its election manifesto, but is not doing anything. This government came to power with the support of farmers votes but now, they are suppressing them, Mr Scindia said. Intervening in the discussion, parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar said Mr Scindia should authenticate whatever he was alleging before the House. Otherwise, those remarks should be expun-ged, he urged the Chair. BJP MP from Bhadohi (UP) Vijendra Singh demanded for a special session of Parliament to discuss all the issues related with farmers. Intervening, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said: One day, I would organise such a session... We are politicians. We know about the issues of farmers. Suggesting ways to help farmers get better prices of perishable items, Mr Singh said such produce can be supplied to defence and paramilitary forces. Talking about the M.S. Swaminathan report, he said: Swaminathan is not Bramha (God). As a farmer, I too have not agreed to all his recommendations. Farm loan waiver is not a permanent solution. We need to find ways so that farmers can not become indebtors. Kalyan Banerjee (TMC) said that farmer killing and suicides have become a national issue today. Of all suicides in India, 11.2 per cent are farmers suicide, Mr Banerjee said. There is an unrest through out the country... Promises made for farmers should be fulfilled, BJDs Bhartruhari Mahtab said. he said, adding farmers are feeling cheated and betrayed after demonetisation. During the Zero Hour, Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, known for his tough stand on China, said China was ready to attack India in collaboration with Pakistan and asked the government to reverse its stand on the Tibet issue. Yadav said Chinese military personnel have been seen in Pakistani military facilities in Pak-occupied-Kashmir and China was also building roads there. It must be opposed at the diplomatic level, he said. India is today facing a big danger from China. I have been cautioning central governments for many years. None of them paid adequate attention. China has joined hands with Pakistan. It has made full preparation to attack India, he said. China is Indias biggest opponent. What has the government done? In Kashmir, the Chinese army has allied with the Pak army, said Yadav adding that China had buried nuclear weapons in Pakistan to target India, also pointing out that Indian intelligence agencies would know better. Ram Nath Kovind succeeds Pranab Mukherjee whose Presidential term will end on July 24. New Delhi: National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate Ram Nath Kovind bagged 65.65% votes over his rival the UPA's Meira Kumar to become the 14th President of India. Returning office Anoop Mishra announced Kovind got the votes of 522 MPs (3,69,576 vote value), while Kumar managed 225 votes (1,59,300 vote value) of Parliament members. Read: List of achievements of previous Rashtrapati Bhavan occupants He succeeds Pranab Mukherjee whose Presidential term will end on July 24. Kovind becomes the second Dalit to occupy the office after K R Narayanan, who was at the Rashtrapati Bhavan from 1997 to 2002. He will take oath as President on July 25. An emotional Kovind said: "I represent the many Kovinds who work hard for their livelihood." He added: I thank all who supported me from across the country. I feel very emotional. Kovind thanked and congratulated Meira Kumar. It is an emotional moment for me today. Rashtrapati pad par mera chayan Bhartiya loktantra ki mahaanta ka prateek hai (My election is a symbol of democracys greatness). Prime Minister Narendra Modi too congratulated Ram Nath Kovind, saying he was gladdened by the extensive support the NDA nominee got. Modi also congratulated Opposition nominee Meira Kumar for her campaign, stating the contest was in the spirit of democratic ethos and values which "we are all proud of". The presidential poll on Monday saw nearly 99 per cent voting, the highest ever, according to returning officer. 32 polling stations including the one in Parliament House, were set up in various states. A total of 4,895 voters -- 4,120 MLAs and 776 elected MPs -- were eligible to vote. A lawyer by profession, a Dalit leader by caste, a Hindutva ideologue by thinking and a dedicated Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker by political affiliation Kovind was born on October 1, 1945 at Kanpur Dehat, Uttar Pradesh. Kovind belongs to the Dalit community Koli and had worked extensively in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and also has the backing of BJP's ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Kovind, a B.Com, LLB from Kanpur University (Uttar Pradesh) has been a successful lawyer. He was the Central Government Advocate in Delhi High Court from 1977 to 1979 and Central Government Standing Counsel in Supreme Court from 1980 to 1993. He became the Advocate-on-Record of the Supreme Court of India in 1978. He had practiced in Delhi High Court and Supreme Court for about 16 years until 1993. Kovind was enrolled as an advocate in 1971 with the Bar Council of Delhi. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha in April 1994 from Uttar Pradesh and served for two consecutive terms for 12 years till March, 2006. In Parliament, Kovind served as member of several important Parliamentary Committees such as: Parliamentary Committee on Welfare of Scheduled Castes/Tribes, Parliamentary Committee on Home Affairs, Parliamentary Committee on Petroleum and Natural Gas, Parliamentary Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment, Parliamentary Committee on Law and Justice, Chairman of Rajya Sabha House Committee. Kovind had also been BJP Scheduled Caste Morcha chief from 1998 to 2002 and President of the All-India Koli Samaj. He has served as the national spokesperson of the party. BJP even tried to project him as an alternative to Mayawati in Uttar Pradesh. On 8th of August 2015, the President of India appointed him the Governor of Bihar. He was elected to Rajya Sabha from state of Uttar Pradesh during the two terms of 1994-2000 and 2000-2006. Kovind is also known as a pioneer in spreading education. During his parliamentary tenure of 12 years, Kovind emphasized on the development of basic infrastructure for education in rural areas by helping in construction of school buildings in Uttar Pradesh and Uttrakhand under MPLAD scheme. As an advocate, Kovind took a lead in providing free legal aid to weaker sections of society, specially SC/ST women, needy and the poor under the aegis of Free Legal Aid Society in Delhi. Kovind served as member of the board of management of BR Ambedkar University, Lucknow. He also served as member of board of governors of Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata. He also represented India in United Nations (New York) and addressed the UN General Assembly in October, 2002. Kovind is being credited of grooming several leaders for the BJP and the RSS. Ram Nath Kovind is known for his proximity with Home Minister Rajnath Singh, but has also been a hard core supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's demonetisation drive. She had claimed that she was resigning from the House as she was not allowed to speak on the issue of crimes against her community members. New Delhi: Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari on Thursday accepted the resignation of BSP supremo Mayawati, whose current term in the Upper House was ending next year in April. After writing a three page resignation letter, Ms Mayawai, 61, sources said, had submitted a fresh resignation letter as per the prescribed format, tendering a hand-written one-line letter. The format states that the resignation letter should be brief and should not mention the reasons. Angered over not being given more time in the Upper House to complete her speech on rise in atroctities against the Dalits under BJP rule, including in Uttar Pradesh, Ms Mayawati had resigned on Wednesday. She had claimed that she was resigning from the House as she was not allowed to speak on the issue of crimes against her community members. With only 19 MLAs, it was unlikely that she would have been renominated to Rajya Sabha unless supported by any other party. RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav had offered her a seat from Bihar. However, her move was seen as an desperate attempt to give a message to her core vote bank, Dalits, after facing political rout in both the 2014 general elections and the assembly elections in her home state. Shrikant Gaur, who practices at a hospital in east Delhi, was kidnapped on July 6 from Preet Vihar while travelling in a cab One of the accused also suffered bullet injuries in the shootout, said SSP (Meerut) Manzil Saini. (Representational image) New Delhi: A doctor who was abducted from east Delhi's Preet Vihar area was rescued from Meerut by the police after a shootout with the kidnappers. Four men have been nabbed in this connection, the police said. One of the accused also suffered bullet injuries in the shootout, said SSP (Meerut) Manzil Saini. Shrikant Gaur, who practices at a hospital in east Delhi, was kidnapped on July 6 from Preet Vihar while travelling in a cab. After kidnapping him, the abductors demanded a ransom of Rs 5 crore from his family members, who informed the police. The policemen then spoke to the kidnappers posing as representatives of the cab aggregator. They told the kidnappers that they would pay the ransom amount since it was their customer who had been kidnapped. The police managed to track down the location of the accused in Daurala village in Meerut. They also requested for assistance from the Meerut police in the operation. On July 16, they were following a vehicle being driven by the kidnappers. However, after their vehicle got punctured, the accused left their vehicle and fled through some fields there, the police said. The police identified two of the accused as Sushil and his brother Anuj, residents of Dadri village. It also emerged that two others Ombir and Gaurav Sharma were involved in the kidnapping. Sushil is a driver with the cab aggregator firm and he had planned the kidnapping, the police said. After they were identified, the police started questioning their families and their teams also started scanning nearby villages. This evening the Delhi Police team received information that the doctor was being held captive at a house in Partapur village in Meerut. The police team surrounded the place where the doctor was being held captive. Following an exchange of fire between the Meerut and Delhi Police teams and the kidnappers, the doctor was rescued and four accused were nabbed, said the officer. The doctor is being brought to Delhi by a police team. The tribunal had last year, constituted a committee to look into the working of waste-to-energy plants in the national capital. New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal directed the AAP government to convene an immediate meeting to decide a detailed mechanism for dealing with waste lying at various overflowing landfill sites. A bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar, ordered the chief secretary of the Delhi government to hold the meeting and come out with a complete mechanism to reduce the accumulated waste which was over 50 feet at some sites and address issues related to it. We direct the chief secretary, NCT Delhi, to hold a meeting immediately and submit a report in relation to dumped waste at Bhalswa, Okhla and Ghazipur. Complete methodology and process to be adopted in this regard should be specified, the bench said. The issue is fixed for a next hearing on July 25. Noting that Delhi generated over 14,000 tonnes of garbage a day, the tribunal had earlier rapped the Delhi government for lack of infrastructure to deal with mountain dumps of decaying garbage at various landfill sites in the city. It had directed the AAP government to apprise the tribunal of the steps it has taken to lower the height of garbage dumps at Bhalswa, Ghazipur and Okhla landfill sites, saying these were a source of air and water pollution. The tribunal had last year, constituted a committee to look into the working of waste-to-energy plants in the national capital. Salem was nabbed in Lisbon, Portugal, on September 18, 2002, at a time when RCN was pending against him since 1997. Mumbai: While an Interpol red corner notice (RCN) was issued against him in 1997, 1993 blasts case accused, gangster Abu Salem aka Abu Salem Abdul Qayoom Ansari was nabbed in Portugal in 2002, and extradited to India in November 2005 thanks to a counter terror probe by the USs Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), said police sources. Salem was nabbed in Lisbon, Portugal, on September 18, 2002, at a time when RCN was pending against him since 1997. This strengthened Indias claims for his extradition, which Portuguese authorities granted three years later. In the post 9/11 attacks on the US, amid heightened counter-terror vigil by its enforcement agencies, it was a set of monetary transactions between entities/persons with unconfirmed identity located in the US and Portugal that came under the FBI scanner. The FBI began tracking the transactions on suspicions that they were terror funds, leading to the detention of Salem in Lisbon, where he was staying with his then girlfriend under an assumed identity, said an Intelligence Bureau (IB) source familiar with his extradition process. The FBI found the monetary transactions, between persons staying in the US and Portugal, shadowy as they were suspected to be terror funds, said the source. The FBI alerted Portuguese authorities who zeroed in on Salem after keeping him under surveillance for some time, the source added. Salem was brought to Mumbai in 2005, and put on trial in the blasts and eight other cases as per the Indo-Portuguese extradition agreement. His extradition, which was made on the basis of the International Convention for Suppression of Terrorist Bombings, of which India and Portugal are signatories, included a few key conditions if extradited for trial in India, he would neither be conferred death penalty nor be subjected to imprisonment for a term beyond 25 years. Trumps daughter Ivanka was also made an adviser and given an office in the West Wing of the White House. India can rightly claim credit for introducing US politicians at the presidential level to the art of family politics. There have been American political dynasties in the shape of the Bushes and the Clintons, but they have been amateurish. It is only with the advent of the Donald Trump presidency that the virtues of Indian family power are coming into play. Indeed, there have been family dynasties at the federal state levels in India for a considerable time. The Shuklas of Madhya Pradesh come to mind, as does the Abdullah dynasty in Kashmir that has prospered. But the full flavour of family politics was realised with the coming to power of Indira Gandhi after the death of her father Jawaharlal Nehru. Whether the latter intended it to be so is still a matter of conjecture. One has only to recall Indira proudly telling her partymen how her son Sanjay had stolen their (the elders) thunder. No one was surprised because he had by then established himself as a man of substantial power after giving up trying to build a car. He was the gatekeeper and much more to his mother. And then he got killed in an air accident. As night follows day, his brother Rajiv, an airline pilot, succeeded him, and after his assassination, his wife Sonia took over after a period of mourning. Take Mr Trump. It did not take him long to make his son-in-law Jared Kushner, a practising rabbi and construction tycoon, a senior official adviser, giving him such onerous duties as resolving the Israeli-Palestinian imbroglio and other ticklish problems. Mr Trumps daughter Ivanka was also made an adviser and given an office in the West Wing of the White House. The Presidents son, Donald Trump Junior, holding his fathers real estate empire, was a member of his fathers election campaign team, and has distinguished himself recently by revealing emails he had exchanged prior to meeting a Russian lawyer on the promise of her closeness to the Kremlin and revealing dirt on Mr Trumps Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. These revelations will now form part of the inquiry by a special prosecutor probing suspected Russian intervention in influencing the outcome of the US presidential election. One does not know whether the news from Bihar has reached the White House, but Lalu Prasad Yadav has meanwhile climbed new heights in keeping alive family politics. He had previously distinguished himself by nominating his wife Rabri Devi, until then a housewife, as the states chief minister when he was debarred from holding office on corruption charges. Mr Lalu Prasad fought the last Assembly election in league with the Janata Dal (United) as part of a grand coalition and won. Nitish Kumar, the JD(U) leader, was the obvious man to assume chief ministership of the state, but Mr Lalu Prasad extracted his pound of flesh and more by insisting on his sons, political greenhorns, being given ministerial positions, one of them as deputy chief minister. Tejashwi Yadav is now facing charges by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on his wealth. The other son, Tej Pratap, is health minister and, in addition, Mr Lalu Prasads daughter Misa Bharti was given the gift of a seat in the Rajya Sabha. In fact, Mr Lalu Prasad and his children have been asked to clarify where they got the money for buying a string of properties around the country. Mr Trump, therefore, has a long way to go before matching Indian artistry in promoting family in politics. His instincts are sound. Contrary to convention, he has not made his tax returns public nor has he placed his businesses in a blind trust and although his eldest son now runs the realty business, profits will go into the Presidents pocket. Mr Trumps daughter Ivanka, a fashion designer running her own business, startled the world at a session of the Hamburg summit by taking her fathers place at the table, instead of a senior aide, like secretary of state Rex Tillerson substituting for him. As with Sanjay in Indiras time, world leaders are seeking Ivanka to make their number with the father. The Chinese have been courting Ivanka and her husband Kushner for some time. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, after her frigid initial meeting with Mr Trump, invited Ivanka to a conference in Berlin, only to be greeted by boos from the meeting floor. Prime Minister Narendra Modi threw his turban into the ring during his US visit by inviting her to lead the American delegation to a conference in India in the autumn. Mr Trump is still learning the ropes and should accept Mr Modis invitation to visit India at an early date to learn the finer points of promoting family welfare in politics. If he would want to promote son Donald Junior, in addition to favourite daughter Ivanka, he should make a stop in Bihar to learn the art from the master himself, Mr Lalu Prasad. It is suggested by wise observers that unlike civil servants who enjoy fixed tenures, being a politician is a chancy business and he might be out of office in a split second. He has therefore to ensure his future in two ways: secure his financial future and launch his progeny into politics to try their luck. Mr Lalu Prasad has had his ground covered on both counts. In Mr Trumps case, he is a rich man and does not need to make more money although multiplying millions and billions becomes a habit. Rather, his instincts are more narcissistic and, like his Indian counterparts, he wishes to found a Trump dynasty. In any case, he needs an Indian excursion to derive advantage from an old practice honed over generations. It would certainly give him new ideas to launch his eldest sons career in politics. The ability of the President to act independently is severely constrained by the Constitution. Ram Nath Kovind gestures before the media after being elected as the 14th President of India, in New Delhi. (Photo: AP) Presidential elections in India are a ho-hum event for the average citizen. At best, this is a moment when the government signals its political identity or its governance style. The BJP-led NDA government has succeeded in the former but not the latter. Shivshankar Menon, national security adviser in Dr Manmohan Singhs government, uses the minimum cost, maximum benefit strategy as the defining principle of Indias foreign policy. This applies equally to identifying the political incentives behind presidential nominees. The ruling partys biggest nightmare is to nominate a candidate who loses. This is not only egg on its face, but it opens a Pandoras box of future antagonisms between the government and the head of the state. This has never happened thus far. But it is wise to budget for a minimum risk. The ability of the President to act independently is severely constrained by the Constitution. But the potential for being deviously obstructionist exists. James Mason the distinguished political scientist credits Babu Jagjivan Ram with the insight of how to do a Putin in the Indian context and acquire covert, unconstitutional political power. The only redress against a malevolent President is to impeach him in Parliament. Whilst theoretically possible, this needs a two-thirds majority. That is tough if the President is politically savvy and actively conspires to defeat the motion, including by requesting MPs to merely abstain from the vote. In the heady days after Emergency was lifted, the Janata government a loose coalition of political interests, opposed to the authoritarian rule of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi came to power. But it splintered. Prime Minister Morarji Desai lost his majority and resigned. Y.B. Chavan and Charan Singh sequentially failed to build their factions into a majority. President Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (1977-82), instead of giving Babu Jagjivan Ram the original dalit face of Indian politics and leader of the largest rump of the Janata Party a similar opportunity, dissolved the Lok Sabha and ordered fresh elections. This was, at best, presidential over-reach to force an early conclusion to the drift. At worst, it was intentionally muscular, to induce an election, fully expecting an uncertain outcome, which would allow then the President to manoeuvre and put a pocket government in power. Later, President Zail Singh (1982-87), a trusted political follower of Indira Gandhi, used obstruction to demonstrate his petulance at being politically ignored by the debonair, apolitical Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, who stepped into his mothers political legacy, but wanted no part of its earthier political roots. President K.R. Narayanan (1997 to 2002) was a working President. Nothing was further from his intent than subverting the Constitution. In fact, he felt a heightened sense of responsibility to keep the ship of state credible and morally enlightened in the face of unstable minority governments. He possibly felt, unwisely, that the President being indirectly elected by an electoral college much wider than the Lok Sabha, had a stronger, deeper representativeness. He was also decidedly uncomfortable with the BJP holding the reins of power a hangover from the post-Independence demonisation of the Hindu right-wing party. This mutual distrust led to his public speeches and media interviews being interpreted as being critical of government policy. He departed from his prepared and vetted speech at a state banquet in New Delhi and seemed to hector President Clinton of the US, on the proclivity of great powers to play headman, quite contrary to the governments objectives. The electoral college is designed to give a dominant vote share to the Union government. The Lok Sabha has a vote share of 35 per cent. The Rajya Sabha where the ruling party, like the BJP today may not have a majority, has a smaller vote share of 15 per cent. State legislative assemblies have an aggregate vote share of 50 per cent. But the weight for each state Legislative Assembly varies and is indexed to its population. Just 10 of the most populous states out of a total of 31 states together have a 37 per cent vote share in the electoral college. An MLA from Sikkim has vote value of seven versus 208 vote value that an MLA from Uttar Pradesh commands. Union governments have played safe and fielded nominees whose reliability trumps their candour. Political placidity is preferred to ambition. Being of an age close to permanent retirement is a key criterion. Ram Nath Kovind, the BJPs nominee and the 14th President of India, is a perfect fit. He is non-controversial and low-key. His Hindutva beliefs seem to be personal rather than aggressively political. Like President Narayanan, he is a dalit and hence a symbol of continued dalit empowerment. He is the first President from Uttar Pradesh the most populous Indian state with the largest population of Scheduled Castes. His election reiterates that Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modis adopted karam bhumi, remains close to his heart. Thus far the average age of Presidents, at the time of election, has been 71 years. Mr Kovind is right on the button being 71 years of age. The youngest at 64 years was President Neelam Sanjiva Reddy. His subsequent actions reiterated that unrealised ambition is not an asset for this position. But age alone is no assurance of placidity. K.R. Narayanan never a rubber stamp President shares the honour of being the oldest at 77 years, with R. Venkataraman (1987 to 92). Ironically, 81 per cent of Indias population is less than 44 years of age and was born post-Independence. But all our Presidents were born prior to 1947. It doesnt need to be that way. The minimum age to be elected President is 35 years. But till we effectively depoliticise the presidency, by defining a code of conduct with detailed guidelines for presidential action (an Indian Magna Carta), the potential for youthful ambition to seize power covertly will dissuade governments from taking the risk of electing a youthful, erudite President. The government has played the minimum-maximum game to perfection. The irony is it didnt need to do so. This was a low-risk opportunity to reinforce its commitment to cooperative federalism and to broaden the ambit of governance by pulling in apolitical talent. Admittedly, there is no political tradition urging it to do so. But Mr Modi did not start out trying to be a template Prime Minister. One hopes he will resist the institutional incentives to lapse into a transactional, rather than his earlier, transformative mode. Its apparently part of Mohammed bin Salmans 2030 Vision, ostensibly a plan for heaving Saudi Arabia out of its mediaeval mindset. It does not exactly qualify as a giant leap for womankind. The announcement last week by the Saudi education ministry that girls in public schools would be permitted to partake of physical education is, if anything, a stark reminder of how far the kingdom will need to travel before it enters the 20th let alone the 21st century. Its apparently part of Mohammed bin Salmans 2030 Vision, ostensibly a plan for heaving Saudi Arabia out of its mediaeval mindset. But in the shorter term the new crown prince is also passionately keen about extending the Wahhabi kingdoms regional clout. And that project has run into trouble on account of impulsive overreach. The effective passing of the torch to a new generation should, on the face of it, have provided cause for relief, if not rejoicing, with Mohammed bin Salmans ascension from deputy to heir apparent as presaging the end of the gerontocracy that had guided the kingdoms mixed fortunes for far too long. The founder of the kingdom named after his family, Abdulaziz ibn Abdul Rahman Al Saud, born in 1875, was a prolific progenitor. When he died in 1953, he left behind an extraordinarily long line of heirs: thus far ultimate power has passed from one brother to another, the unwritten rule hitherto being that no reigning monarch would name his own son as successor. Salman bin Abdulaziz abided by it upon ascending to the throne in 2015, designating his nephew Mohammed bin Nayef as crown prince. The latter was dismissed from all his posts last month, replaced by the kings son, and reportedly placed under house arrest in his Jeddah palace. The 31-year-old cousin who took his place could be king before long. What would that mean for the kingdom? Given that Mohammed bin Salman has enjoyed considerable leeway in setting both the domestic and foreign policy agendas for the past couple of years, the prognostications are alarming. As defence minister, he masterminded the appalling assault on his nations poorest neighbour, Yemen, presumably expecting success within months. Yet formidable Saudi firepower courtesy the US and Britain has, two years on, failed to resolve anything. Saudi Arabia and its closest partner, the UAE, have been accused of crimes against humanity; their efforts have unleashed famine and cholera in Yemen without substantially weakening the Houthi tribes whose exaggerated complicity with Iran served as an excuse for the aggression. In collusion with Abu Dhabis considerably older, but evidently no wiser, crown prince, Mohammed bin Zayed, the Saudi scion is also believed to be the guiding light behind the ostracisation of Qatar, after the two of them convinced Donald Trump that Doha was somehow exceptional in sponsoring terrorist outfits in West Asia. Even that hasnt gone according to the plan, apart from shattering the image of unity among Sunnis projected for Trumps benefit when the US President made Riyadh his initial port of call on his first overseas journey. Just days after Trump tweeted his unequivocal support for the Saudi initiative, the Pentagon concluded an arms sales deal worth more than $10 billion with Qatar, while secretary of state Rex Tillerson last week conducted a bout of shuttle diplomacy in the Gulf, concluding a memorandum of understanding against terrorist funding with Doha, and making it reasonably clear he sympathises with Qatar. Meanwhile, the Saudi-UAE demand that Al Jazeera be shut down has morphed into a call for greater editorial control, that is, the kind of censorship that is routine in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The latter has this week refuted a Washington Post report, based on US intelligence that it was behind the hacking of media sites that provided an excuse for the assault on Qatari sovereignty. It has also hinted at Qatars exclusion from the Gulf Cooperation Council, which could be a blessing in disguise for Doha. Qatar has fulfilled its basic needs since the blockade with assistance from Turkey and Iran, and even GCC members Oman and Kuwait are not party to the punishment. And its far from clear if Dubai sees eye to eye with Abu Dhabi in this context. Indications that Mohammed bin Salman is spoiling for a direct confrontation with Iran should suffice to curb anyones enthusiasm about the rapidly rising son, but his domestic plans have also been floundering. The idea of trimming state salaries as a part of a leaner, meaner economy has frequently required reappraisal. After all, no one can be too sure that disrupting an ostensibly stable society based on a relatively generous welfare state will not have serious socioeconomic and in turn political repercussions. Theres cause for hope, though, that the brash crown prince could help to sharpen societal contradictions between medievalism and modernity, thereby precipitating an explosion that could remould Saudi Arabia in unexpected ways. By arrangement with Dawn Barot communicated via phone, text and email in furtherance of the criminal scheme with both domestic and India-based associates. Victims who agreed to pay the scammers were instructed how to provide payment, including by purchasing stored value cards or wiring money. (FIle Photo) Washington: An Indian national and an Indian-American have pleaded guilty to charges of their involvement in a massive telephone impersonation fraud and money laundering scheme in the US perpetrated by India-based call centres. Montu Barot, 30, an Indian national who most recently resided in Illinois, and Indian-American Nilesh Pandya, 54, from Texas, have pleaded guilty in the multi-million call centre scam in which as many as 54 individuals and five India-based call centres have been charged, the department of justice said on Wednesday. Co-defendants Bharatkumar Patel, Ashvinbhai Chaudhari, Harsh Patel, Nilam Parikh, Hardik Patel, Rajubhai Patel, Viraj Patel, Dilipkumar A Patel, Fahad Ali, Bhavesh Patel and Asmitaben Patel previously pleaded guilty on various dates between April and July this year. According to admissions made in connection with their respective pleas, Barot, Pandya, and their co-conspirators perpetrated a complex scheme in which individuals from call centres located in Ahmedabad, impersonated officials from the IRS and US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and engaged in other telephone call scams, in a ruse designed to defraud victims located throughout the US. Using information obtained from data brokers and other sources, call centre operators targeted US victims who were threatened with arrest, imprisonment, fines or deportation if they did not pay alleged monies owed to the government. Victims who agreed to pay the scammers were instructed how to provide payment, including by purchasing stored value cards or wiring money. Upon payment, the call centres would immediately turn to a network of runners based in the US to liquidate and launder the fraudulently-obtained funds, federal investigators alleged. According to Barots guilty plea, beginning in or around June 2012, Barot served as a runner and coordinated the liquidation of victim scam funds by other runners as per the instructions of conspirators from both India-based call centres and those within the United States. Barot communicated via phone, text and email in furtherance of the criminal scheme with both domestic and India-based associates, and he and his conspirators used reloadable cards containing funds derived from victims by scam callers to purchase money orders and deposit them into various bank accounts as directed, in return for cash payments or commissions. He also admitted to sending financial ledgers to his conspirators detailing the movement of scam victim funds. The apex court had started hearing the scandal on Monday after the JIT submitted its final report on July 10. Islamabad: Embattled Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday contested the graft charges against him and his family in the Supreme Court, saying the Panama probe panel did not produce any document to prove that he was the owner of the posh London flats, which are at the centre of the high- profile case. The apex court had started hearing the scandal on Monday after the JIT submitted its final report on July 10, recommending that a corruption case be file against Mr Sharif and his family for alleged money laundering in the 1990s, when he twice served as prime minister, to purchase assets in London. Mr Sharifs lawyer Khawaja Harris stressed that the JIT did not level any specific graft charge against Sharif. He also said that the JIT has not produced any document to prove that Mr Sharif, 67, was the owner of the London flats. Mr Harriss arguments were directed at the six-member JIT, two of whom were from the Inter-Services Intelligence and the Military Intelligence. He said the JIT had overstepped its mandate given to it by the court and had based its findings on the documents, which were of no evidentiary value as per the Pakistani laws. If Mr Sharif loses the case in the Supreme Court, it could cost him his premiership. Justice Ejaz Afzal is heading the probe panel comprising Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Justice Ijazul Ahsan. Islamabad: The children of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif could face up to seven years in jail if it was proved that they had submitted fake documents to the Panama panel probing the money laundering allegations against the family, the Supreme Court warned on Thursday. The apex court heard the Panamagate scandal case for the fourth consecutive day since the hearing began on Monday, following submission of a report by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) on July 10, which was tasked by the court to probe allegation of corruption against Sharif and his family. "The punishment for submitting forged documents in the court is seven years in jail," warned the three-member panel of judges. The JIT among other things has observed that some of the documents submitted by the children of Sharif, 67, were tampered with. A trust deed provided by the prime minister's daughter Maryam Nawaz and executed in 2006 was written in Calibri font which was not commercially available till 2007. It was also notarised from an office in London on Saturday which is officially an off day, raising concern about the authenticity of the document. Similarly, Government of Dubai has revealed that the documents of Gulf Steel Mills provided by the prime minister's son Hussian Nawaz were forged as there was no record of those documents. Justice Ejaz Afzal is heading the probe panel comprising Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Justice Ijazul Ahsan. They also warned Salman Akram Raja, the lawyer of Sharif's children, against a media trial in the case after some of the documents presented by him were leaked to media and were discussed in talk shows yesterday. "You have been conducting a trial in the media and the documents (submitted to the court) have already been discussed in the media," said Justice Saeed. "There is a media dais outside, you should give your arguments there as well," he told Raja, who assured the court that he had not released any documents to media. Meanwhile, Raja presented his arguments in details. The arguments were still going on when the court adjourned the proceedings till tomorrow. The judges today again asked the Sharif family to provide the money trail of its various businesses in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UK. by Pierre Balanian Serious fighting is underway in Idleb with Al-Nusra, Ahrar al-Sham and allies. Al-Nusra in Lebanon is totally isolated and time is on the Lebanese armys side. According to Basel El Hugeiri, mayor of Arsal, the Lebanese army urged civilians to leave. Beirut (AsiaNews) The battle to eradicate Al Nusra's Islamic terrorism from the Middle East has moved into an area covering some 350 sq km, 250 in Lebanon and 100 in Syria. For the Lebanese army, it is "finally time to end the Jaroud Arsal affair" in the Bekaa Valley, northeastern Lebanon on the border with Syria. Islamist terrorists who sought to create a continuous zone under Daesh and Al Nusra from Aleppo and Idleb, north of Lebanon, to Tripoli on the Mediterranean have failed due to the resistance of the Lebanese population, the Lebanese army and Hezbollah. Some foreign-funded groups have tried to describe the conflict pitting Daesh and Al Nusra against Hezbollah as a sectarian war. However, the crimes committed by Islamist terrorists, including plundering and kidnapping of soldiers of various religious confessions soon showed their true face. Yesterday the Lebanese army entered Syrian refugee camps to rescue civilians from the upcoming fighting. This has led to a defamatory campaign against Syrians in general with strong racial connotations and the clear intent of provoking clashes in Lebanon between Lebanese and Syrians (who now number around 2 million against a local population of 3.5 million). To defuse the crisis, Lebanese President Michel Aoun yesterday slammed the inacceptable demonisation of the Syrians, calling for an end to anti-Syrian statements. He noted that the real problem is the presence of Islamic extremists involved in smuggling across the border with Syria who, whilst trying to invade northern Lebanon and create a Daesh stronghold in Lebanons second largest city, also tried to encircle the Alawi majority region around Latakia. The Gulf crisis between Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain with Turkey aligned with the former and Egypt with the latter now allows Lebanon to give Al-Nusra a final coup de grace without too many vetoes from Gulf States. Serious fighting is underway in Idleb with Al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham and allies. Al- Nusra is totally isolated in Lebanon and the time is on the Lebanese armys side. According to Basel El Hugeiri, mayor of Arsal, the Lebanese army has urged civilians to leave and farmers to remove their animals and farm equipment within 24 hours from around the town. The end of Al-Nusra in Lebanon seems to be a matter of hours. In Abou Malek, Jihadis can only surrender or die like they did a few months ago in Aleppo. New York is still first, but Abu Dhabi and Hong Kong are second and third for business. The top ten includes Tokyo (fifth), Beijing (seventh), and Shanghai (tenth). The younger generation prefer Abu Dhabi and Tokyo. The data comes from the Ipsos Global survey of the best cities in which to live, work and visit. Paris (AsiaNews) Some cities in the Middle East and Asia have risen to the top as most desirable places in the world in which to live, work and do business, this according to the 2017 City Index by Ipsos Global. Among Asian places of destination, Abu Dhabi moved into second position, gaining two places over the previous year. As a topnotch place for business, Hong Kong is tied third with London, whilst Tokyo, Beijing, and Shanghai place fifth, seventh, and tenth respectively. Ipsos Global is a Paris-based global market research and a consulting firm with offices in 88 countries and more than 5,000 customers. For this study, it interviewed 18,557 adults aged 16-64 in 26 countries between 21 April and May 5 2017. The best destinations were picked from a list of 60 cities. New York is still first, but Abu Dhabi is a close second. In fact, 21 per cent of respondents chose it as the top city for business, 2 per cent less than the Big Apple. Gen(eration) Z (born in and after 1996) chose Los Angeles as best place to live, followed by Abu Dhabi and New York. In the overall ranking with work factored in Tokyo comes in third. Millennials (1980-1995), and Gen(eration) X (1966-1979) also picked New York and Abu Dhabi but prefer Sidney and Paris (or London) to Tokyo and Los Angeles. The story changes with baby boomers (1945-1965) who would like to live in cities like Sidney, Vancouver, Stockholm, Oslo, Vienna and Toronto, and do business in New York, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, Beijing, and Tokyo. In terms of full ranking, the 2017 City Index places Abu Dhabi in second position, followed by Tokyo in fifth, Hong Kong in thirteenth, Singapore in twentieth, Beijing twenty-second, Osaka in twenty-fourth, Shanghai in twenty-sixth, Cairo in thirty-sixth, Seoul in thirty-eight, Delhi in fortieth, Mumbai in forty-first, Makkah in forty-fourth, Kuala Lumpur in forty-fifth, Guangzhou in forty-ninth, Manila and Jakarta in fiftieth, Karachi to in fifty-sixth, and Teheran in sixtieth. China appears to be behind the round-up to get students home where they face long prison sentences on terrorism and extremism charges. Activists and international NGOs slam the "ridiculous" charges and the lack of legal protection for those in custody. Cairo (AsiaNews) Ethnic Uyghur students detained in Egypt are being held by the countrys national intelligence service on Beijings behalf for deportation home. A human rights group cited by Radio Free Asia (RFA) says that Beijing ordered the roundup of more than 200 Uyghurs, many of them religious students at Cairos Al-Azhar Islamic University. The students have been detained since 4 July, picked up in restaurants or at their homes, with others seized at airports as they tried to flee to safer countries. Dozens of Uyghurs are believed to have already been deported home to China, where rights groups say they face a serious risk of arbitrary detention and torture. Egyptian authorities have denied targeting Uyghurs, saying instead that those arrested were brought in for alleged irregularities in their residency papers. However, Uyghur exile groups and students say the detentions were ordered by China on allegations that they had joined extremist organizations. A source told RFA on condition of anonymity that he had discovered around 50 Uyghur students detained at 14 police stations over the weekend, including in several districts in Cairo and Alexandria. For their part, Egypts and Chinas foreign ministries are discussing how to handle this issue, an Egyptian police official said. Uyghurs wouldnt be deported to China, but to a third country in the worst-case scenario, he said. A lawyer who spoke with an officer at a police station was told that the students would be taken to the Chinese embassy to be photographed, and students told the activist by phone that they would be deported after they were handed over to the Chinese embassy. Yesterday, one activist reported that at least 73 Uyghur students were currently being held at the headquarters of Egypts General Intelligence Directorate in Cairo, whilst some reports note that all of the students were being transferred to the capitals notorious Tora Prison complex for interrogation by Chinese officials. Activists and international groups are concerned about the involvement of Egyptian intelligence and the pressures exerted by the Chinese government. In addition to the lack of transparency by Egyptian authorities, the difficulties in reaching the prisoners make it hard to provide them with legal counsel. At present, it is unclear how many and why students are in custody, and whether they will be repatriated. Unofficial sources say that those students who were already repatriated are now serving 15-year sentences for allegedly inciting radicalism, which is a ridiculous charge, an Amnesty International official said. (DS) Officially the police accepted the version of the aspiring model who said that the video was private and posted without her knowledge. The case sparked opposite reactions on Saudi social media. Riyadh (AsiaNews/Agencies) The young Saudi woman arrested on Tuesday for posting a picture of herself wearing a miniskirt and not covering her hair has been released without charges. A statement released by Saudi Arabia's Center for International Communication, which is overseen by the Ministry of Culture and Information, confirmed that the police released the woman after several hours of questioning, adding that the video was published without her knowledge. In the video, no one other than the young woman can be seen in the tape, which was shot by her guardian, either her father, husband, brother, etc. Since the case came to light, Saudi social media has been divided. The debate has centred on the hashtag #___, which translates to "the trial of Khulood the model is a must." Some Saudis posted messages of support for the woman, saying that there was nothing wrong with what she had done, particularly since there was nobody at the site when she visited. Saudi women's rights Twitter activist Fatima al-Issa wrote, "If she were Western, they would have praised her waist and her enchanting eyes, but because she's Saudi they call for her to be tried!" Others took a more conservative view, calling for the woman to be punished for promoting sin, stating that her actions violate the Kingdoms cultural and religious traditions. The decision to release the woman is seen as a victory for progressives, following the nomination of 31-year-old Muhammad ben Salman as heir to the Saudi throne. Hater Map Shows What Single People In Each State Hate The Most Trending News: Here's What People In Your State Hate The Most Long Story Short A dating app for people who hate the same things has released the #1 most hated thing in each state and it's strangely specific (and troubling). Long Story As you might have figured out by now, liking the same things as someone doesn't automatically mean they'll fall for you. But hating the same things as them well that might make things a tad more interesting. That's the premise behind Hater, a dating app that matches couples who hate the same things. Hater has been around for a little while now and has gathered some data on what people love to hate, so it released a map of what people in each state hate the most and I can't stop looking at it. Hater I think we can separate America's hatred into four separate categories: things that are well known to be controversial, random things, stereotype-fulfilling things, and troubling things. To start off, I'd say fidget spinners, people who believe in aliens, jellyfish and NSYNC all make some sort of sense. Nobody really likes those things past 12-years-old anyway. Then there are the head-scratchers, which are honestly the majority. The idea that everyone has a soulmate, friends that ask you to help them move, biting string cheese and hearing the latest gossip are just super random. Like, why? Sand initially sounds like a very bizarre thing to hate coming out of Arizona, but I'd say it's warranted considering the deadly weather they've been having. I probably needn't highlight the stereotypical things but Washington hating Keurig K-Cups is predictable for the tree-huggers out there (nothing wrong with hugging some trees, just saying). Meanwhile, New Hampshire hating God and Rhode Island hating Middle America just sound like things a talk radio host would go on about. Utah hates porn? Surprise of the century. And then there are the troubling things like hating the gym, feminism and Seinfeld. What the hell did Seinfeld ever do to you Kansas?! Could go over this all day, but I'll let you draw your own conclusions. Hate on haters. Own The Conversation Ask The Big Question How is the president not one of these? Drop This Fact Going to the airport is something that everyone hates, so it probably isn't even worth mentioning on a dating app. But in case you're wondering, the most hated airport in the country is New York's LaGuardia airport. ABC News(WASHINGTON) -- The process of wrangling 50 Republican votes both for the Senate's proposed replacement health care plan as well as a straight repeal of Obamacare has so far proved impossible for Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and President Donald Trump. Part of the trouble on healthcare stems from the factions within the Republican caucus of 52 senators, which provides the GOP's razor-thin margin in the chamber. The balancing act comes from the ideological splits within the Republican caucus in the Senate, as at least 10 of the 52 current Republicans are occasionally viewed as moderates on certain issues, while the remaining lawmakers are conservative of varying stripes. An earlier version of the Senate bill was stymied after at least nine senators came out against it. The bill was adjusted to accommodate concerns, but at least four Republican senators said they would not vote in favor of it. Then after that, three moderate senators said that they wouldn't vote in favor of the procedural motion to bring a repeal vote to the floor and set the deadline for a replacement plan for two years. John Hudak, a political scientist and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told ABC News that further tweaks to the replacement plan are not likely to help pull together a group of 50 of the 52 Republicans on the issue. "If you move more to the middle, you lose people on the right," Hudak said. "There's seemingly no combination where you get 50 votes in the middle of the conference where you only lose one person on either side of the party ... you can't move it where you only lose two people on one end," he said. The 50-vote threshold factors in a tie-breaking vote from the vice president and comes under Senate rules that allow the majority to bypass the filibuster. The only option Hudak sees as a mathematical possibility would be to focus on Democrats, but it "would be an all-out assault on Senate Republicans by Republicans." "There probably are 50 votes in the Senate but you'd need 40 Democrats. You'd probably find five to 10 Republicans that could go for a fix of Obamacare ... but the political costs for McConnell are too high for him to enjoy the policy benefits," Hudak said. And while Trump has been having both small and larger groups of senators over to the White House for coalition-building meals, Hudak doesn't think that will help. "Mitch McConnell is 100 times more talented than the president when it comes to legislative coalition-building, so if Mitch McConnell can't do, Donald Trump will never be able to do it," Hudak said. If there is a group that Trump may have more sway with, it's conservatives, says Hans Noel, an associate professor at Georgetown University. "Even though he is not himself very conservative, most of his voters identify as conservative. Conservative elites and commentators dont like him, but voters do," Noel said. "They are also the ones who are most concerned about crossing Trump, because it is their voters who supported Trump and who might support a primary challenge. So conservatives are more likely to go along with him. Moderates are more likely to be from districts where Trump is not as popular, and are less likely to be worried about crossing his voters," he said. But all of the Senate conservatives are currently on board with - or at least have not come out against - the latest version of the Republican Senate health care plan, meaning the only direction McConnell and Trump can turn to try to secure 50 votes is to the center of the party. And for those moderates who oppose the current version of their plan, the possibilities of primary challenges is not unfounded: the Senate Conservatives Fund, a grassroots group that has a history of supporting primary challengers, sent out a release on Tuesday saying that they are seeking challengers for any "Obamacare Republicans" who vote against a repeal. Trump himself didn't shy away from the suggestion of encouraging challengers for people who don't get in line, joking with Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., who was seated next to him at the lunch. Heller opposed the original Senate health care bill, siding with his centrist Republican governor Brian Sandoval over concerns for Nevadans who benefited from the state's acceptance of the Obamacare Medicaid expansion. He has not indicated how he would vote to advance the new GOP plan. "This was the one we were worried about, you weren't there," he said, motioning to Heller. "You're going to be. Look, he wants to remain a senator, doesn't he?" Trump added: "Any senator who votes against starting debate is really telling America that you're fine with Obamacare." Supporters of his efforts during the health care reform process, which include his former rival Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, dismiss the comments. "Listen, the president has his own way of communicating," Cruz said after the lunch meeting. Hudak thinks such veiled threats aren't helpful. "The public side of what the president has been doing has just been a total disaster. His tweeting or his suggestions that he'll [support] primary [challengers against] members of his own party ... he's not making any friends," Hudak said. Burning those bridges, or at least charring them, may be a business tactic that is not helpful for Trump to carry over from his business empire and transfer into Washington, Noel said. "I think a lot of the problem is simply that Trump isnt very experienced with the kind of negotiations that are needed to pass a bill. Even if you believe hes good at making deals in real estate, legislation is something entirely different. You cant walk away from a bad deal and go looking somewhere else. You always have to deal with the same legislators," Noel told ABC News. Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Harold Pierce covers education and health for The Californian. He can be reached at 661-395-7404. Follow him on Twitter @RoldyPierce Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. The city of Inverness is moving forward with a plan to create an ordinance banning medical marijuana dispensaries in the city. Council voted 3-1 in favor of ordinance Concern lies with city's ability to regulate where dispensaries open Currently no medical marijuana dispensaries in Citrus County Currently, people that use medical marijuana have to drive at least an hour outside the city and county to get to the nearest dispensary. Rebecca Childs said medical marijuana has changed her husband's life. He has Crohns Disease, and has seen a drastic improvement since using the medicine. However, Childs said it's a hassle to get the marijuana to their home in Inverness. "It would really make things a lot easier," Childs said about the possibility of dispensaries opening in her city. "I have to take days off to be here for scheduled deliveries, or schedule time to drive an hour and a half to go get the medicine that he needs." She was hopeful after the amendment legalizing medical marijuana in Florida passed last year. She hoped it would have meant more dispensaries would open close to her home. The Inverness city council, however, will not agree to allow them in. The council voted 3 to 1 to move forward with an ordinance banning dispensaries in the city. Those three council members say they have an issue with the current law that limits the regulations city government can place on the dispensaries. "We do not believe one size fits all," said Inverness City Council President Cabot McBride. "We do not believe the Florida legislature telling us how to manage this situation." McBride said the council is not opposed to having medical marijuana within the city limits. Rather, he said the council is concerned about their ability to regulate where the dispensaries are located. McBride did add that if the state changes some of their rules, they'd be willing to take another look at the ordinance. "When we finally see the final product, when somebody is saying, 'Ok, this is what you have to work with,' we can go back and revisit the matter, McBride explained. I think there's value in medical marijuana," McBride continued. "I think it is certainly much more valuable than the abuse of opioids that is taking over our entire country and those are things we're taking into consideration." The council still has to cast a final vote on the ordinance once it is formally presented to them. If formally passed, it would only apply to the city of Inverness. Currently, there are no medical marijuana dispensaries in Citrus County. Childs told us she hopes the council reverses their decision soon. "I think once they change their minds the benefits would be pretty boundless," Childs explained. A community fundraising event is underway to help the victims of the Land OLakes sinkhole. Penny Foote lives just a few miles from the neighborhood where the massive hole opened up Friday. "My heart just dropped and had to do something," Foote said. So, the single mother started a Facebook group, as a way to organize the community to help. As of Wednesday, the page has nearly 2,000 members and Footes living room is now full of donations. Foote said all of the donations are being given to families, based on their proximity to the sinkhole. If you would like to donate, you can contact her on the Facebook page by either leaving a post or sending a message. Sen. John McCain has been diagnosed with a brain tumor. Staff at the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix says surgery McCain underwent to remove a blood clot above his left eye was associated with a tumor known as glioblastoma. McCain is recovering from the surgery well, according to doctors and he and his family are looking at treatment options, including chemotherapy and radiation. Glioblastoma is an aggressive tumor that forms in the tissue of the brain or spinal cord. Doctors discovered the clot during a routine exam last week. The doctors told CNN that McCain, who has a history of skin, gets skin checks every four months as routine. He also complained of feeling foggy, not as sharp as normal, and he also had intermittent double vision. McCain is currently resting at home. McCain, 80, is a legendary politician. A son and grandson of four-star admirals, McCain served in the Vietnam War as a navel pilot. He was shot down over Hanoi in 1967, taken prisoner by the North Vietnamese and tortured in the infamous "Hanoi Hilton." He was released in March 1973. McCain was elected to the U.S. House in 1982, and the Senate in 1986. While he is a conservative Republican, McCain has been known to be a "maverick" who would break with Republicans over policy from time to time. McCain ran for president twice -- in 2000 against President George W. Bush in the Republican primary, and in 2008 as the party's nominee. Best wishes for Sen. McCain from across the political spectrum Concern for McCain has poured in from across the internet and across the aisle. McCain's daughter, conservative Fox News host Meghan McCain, issued this statement: The White House issued this statement on behalf of President Trump Wednesday evening: "Senator John McCain has always been a fighter. Melania and I send our thoughts and prayers to Senator McCain, Cindy, and their entire family. Get well soon." Florida's Republican Sen. Marco Rubio also tweeted for McCain: .@SenJohnMcCain is an American hero. I pray for him and his family. I look forward to seeing him soon. Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) July 20, 2017 Also tweeting support for McCain was Rep. Steve Scalise, the House Majority Whip who is still recovering from being shot last month: Praying for my friend @SenJohnMcCain, one of the toughest people I know. Rep. Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) July 20, 2017 Former President Barack Obama, who ran against McCain in 2008, also tweeted his support: John McCain is an American hero & one of the bravest fighters I've ever known. Cancer doesn't know what it's up against. Give it hell, John. Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 20, 2017 Former Sen. and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also tweeted her support: John McCain is as tough as they come. Thinking of John, Cindy, their wonderful children, & their whole family tonight. Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) July 20, 2017 This is a developing story. Check back for the latest. The body of a missing boater was recovered Thursday morning in Lake Thonotosassa. Body found of missing boater in Lake Thonotosassa Boater ID'd as 44-year-old Juan Luis Linares of Plantation Investigation ongoing According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, the boater has been identified as 44-year-old Juan Luis Linares of Plantation. A witness called 911 Wednesday afternoon after seeing an empty boat on the lake and a person nearby in the water struggling to stay afloat. Dive crews were in the water Wednesday but did not find anything. The search continued Thursday morning. Officials said Linares had recently purchased the boat and was believed to be visiting friends in the Bay area. "We do know the he was the only one on the boat and that he had recently purchased the boat," said Brian Norris with the FWC. "But the circumstances leading up to the accident, and what happened and how he ended up in the water we do not know." An investigation into the death is being conducted. Police can once again take cash and property from people suspected of crimes, with the help of federal officials. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions revived a long-curtailed civil asset forfeiture policy Wednesday, with new safeguards to curb abuse. Dept. of Justice revives civil asset forfeiture policy Allows police to take cash, property from suspects Revived policy includes new safeguards to curtail abuse RELATED: READ the Justice Dept.'s announcement READ the Justice Dept.'s policy directive (.PDF) Under the Obama administration, the practice of asset forfeiture was limited because of complaints of abuse. The Justice Dept. sees this as an important tool to combat crime, particularly drug cases. How does it work? Called adoptive forfeiture, the program lets police skirt more restrictive state laws to seize property under federal law. Under the program, up to 80 percent of the proceeds from a seizure can be shared with local agencies. Some police departments see this money as an important way to shore up funding. More than $6 billion in forfeited funds has been shared with state and local law enforcement since fiscal year 2000, according to the Justice Departments inspector general. The Justice Dept. says the program helps strip suspects of proceeds from their activities, deters crime and can be used to compensate victims. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said the move will help fight drug dealing that has perpetuated the nations opioid epidemic. If we seize and forfeit criminal proceeds from drug dealing, its going to result in less money to reinvest in drugs by that dealer, he said. And its going to have a deterrent effect. What are the changes? The new changes include requiring more details from police agencies on probable cause to justify a seizure, and requiring the Justice Dept. to decide more quickly whether to take on local seizures. The government also has to let property owners know their rights and the status of their belongings within 45 days of the seizure. Another change makes it harder for police to seize less than $10,000 unless they have a state warrant, have made an arrest in the case, have taken other contraband, such as drugs, or the owner has confessed to a crime. The previous policy set the threshold at only $5,000. But critics say the new rules don't fix the larger problem, which is that some police departments still rely on the proceeds to help foot their bills. It creates a profit incentive. Some top-ranking Republicans found the move troubling, especially since a number of states already have their own laws safeguarding abuse. "I'm glad that at least some safeguards will be put in place, but their plan to expand civil forfeiture is, really, just as concerning as it was before," said Rep. Darrell Issa, R-California. "Criminals shouldn't be able to keep the proceeds of their crime, but innocent Americans shouldn't lose their right to due process, or their private property rights, in order to make that happen." Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, had been pushing for tighter regulations with Democrats in the Senate. He says his pleas have been ignored. Instead of revising forfeiture practices in a manner to better protect Americans due process rights, the DOJ seems determined to lose in court before it changes its policies for the better, said Lee. The ACLU called it another step by Sessions to bring back the failed and racist War on Drugs. Information from the Associated Press was used in this report. Beaumont ISD's board of managers on Wednesday cleared the way for potential partnerships with charter schools, considered a threat to public education by some, allowing the district to proceed with discussions with charter school company ResponsiveEd. Five managers voted to approve the resolution and policy on the "public/private partnership." A.B. Bernard opposed it, and Jack Carroll abstained. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A Port Arthur man accused of killing his brother was charged with murder on Thursday. Officers found Ronnie Wayne Jacobs, 34, in a car around 1:30 a.m. in the 1300 block of Joe Louis Avenue, according to a statement from the Port Arthur Police Department. Jacobs was taken to the Medical Center of Southeast Texas, where he later died. Isaiah Jacobs, 28, was arrested for murder around 11 a.m. after meeting with police, the statement said. Justice of the Peace Brad Burnett said Ronnie Jacobs had been shot. Burnett has ordered an autopsy. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A cold case spanning nearly 30 years just north of Houston will be the focus on Oxygen's "Cold Justice" this Saturday. The show will dig into the murder of Mary Jane LeFlore, who was last seen alive on July 19, 1991. Last month, her husband Larry LeFlore was arrested in her murder. THE CASE: After nearly 30 years, an arrest is made in a Huntsville cold case Houstonians who tune in will see a familiar face on the show as former Harris County prosecutor Kelly Siegler is a host. "I think people will be pleased to see we had a lot of cooperation," Siegler told Chron.com about her experience in the LeFlore case. "It's kind of crazy a story like this would happen so close to home to such a nice lady." Detective Sgt. Ken Foulch of the Huntsville Police Department told Chron.com last month that Larry LeFlore found his wife's car in the parking lot of the West Hill Mall the day she went missing. He claims he saw wife leaving the parking lot in a van with someone else. Larry LeFlore said he pursued the van, following it onto Interstate 45 south, heading toward Houston. He told police he went back to the mall after he couldn't keep up. He was convinced his wife was having an affair. MYSTERY SOLVED: Illinois sheriff IDs another victim of John Wayne Gacy Police didn't get a new lead in the case until February 1993, when a perspective land buyer found human remains on a lot near FM 3179, off Highway 30. Police identified the remains as Mary Jane LeFlore through dental records and her jewelry that was left at the scene. Siegler and Foulch didn't say what evidence eventually led to the arrest of Larry LeFlore. Foulch did say investigators with "Cold Justice" helped the case significantly, turning up new leads and getting more people to talk to the police. To find out more information on how police came to arrest Larry LeFlore, tune into Oxygen on Saturday at 7 p.m. Click through the slideshow above to learn more about Mary Jane LeFloreand other Texas cold cases. Lee Birchansky, MD, a Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based ophthalmologist received state approval to open an outpatient eye center on his fifth attempt in more than 10 years, according to The Gazette. Here are five things to know: 1. Iowa requires surgery center owners to obtain a certificate of need before building a center. Dr. Birchansky was denied permission four times by the State Health Facilities Council before finally receiving approval. 2. Dr. Birchansky plans to open the outpatient eye center next to his clinic, Eye Laser & Cosmetic Institute. 3. The CON approval comes one month after Dr. Birchansky joined plaintiffs at the Institute for Justice in Virginia to file a lawsuit against Iowa's CON process, calling it unconstitutional. 4. Dr. Birchansky previously performed his outpatient eye surgeries at a facility he jointly owned with Cedar Rapids-based UnityPoint Health-St. Luke's Hospital; however, the hospital left the partnership in 2004 and Dr. Birchansky filed for the CON. 5. When the outpatient center opens, Dr. Birchansky plans to continue performing cataract surgeries at surrounding critical access hospitals where he currently performs procedures. In 2013, then 22-year-old Kyron Rayshawn Templeton allegedly stabbed four people at Longview, Texas-based Good Shepherd Ambulatory Surgical Center, according to KLTV.com. Here are three notes: 1. Mr. Templeton will stand trial on Oct. 16, nearly four years after the stabbings. 2. The trial concerns Mr. Templeton allegedly stabbing Gail Sandidge, RN, a nurse at the ASC. Ms. Sandidge died from her wounds. He also is accused of stabbing three other people who survived the attack. 3. In March, Mr. Templeton attended a competency hearing where a judge deemed him fit to stand trial. Last month, officials told Tampa Bay Surgery Center an unauthorized third party posted patient data to a public online file-sharing site, according to Health IT Security. Here are five things to know: 1. The site has removed the file. 2. The surgery center is conducting an ongoing investigation into the security incident. 3. The third party possibly accessed information such as patient names, addresses, birth dates and Social Security numbers. The website did not contain any medical or procedure information. 4. The ASC issued letters to those who were potentially exposed and is offering free identity theft protection services to those affected. 5. Health IT Security reports Tampa Bay Surgery Center said it does not have any reason to believe the third party or any other individual misused the information. The following hospitals announced or completed plans in the last week to expand, upgrade or renovate their facilities. 1. Kaiser Permanente affiliate wants to build a $200M medical facility in Virginia Rockville, Md.-based Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States, an affiliate of Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente, is looking to build a medical facility in the Washington, D.C. area. 2. UC San Diego looks to replace Hillcrest medical center UC San Diego plans to construct a new hospital as part of a Hillcrest campus transformation. 3. Methodist Hospitals Northlake finishes $12M ED, ICU renovation Gary, Ind.-based Methodist Hospitals Northlake Campus concluded a 14-month, $12.1 million renovation of its emergency department and intensive care unit. 4. Lehigh Valley Children's Hospital opens cancer center Allentown, Pa.-based Lehigh Valley Children's Hospital unveiled its final addition to the Children's Specialty Center focused on pediatric cancer. 5. Acadia proposes hospital for drug treatment in Pennsylvania Franklin, Tenn.-based Acadia Healthcare proposed building a Pennsylvania hospital with drug treatment services in Bern Township. 6. Shore Medical Center set to open new rehabilitation facility, Alzheimer's center Somers Point, N.J.-based Shore Medical Center will expand its rehabilitation services to a new location and open a new center for Alzheimer's disease and related disorders. 7. Emory seeks CON to update, reopen shuttered Georgia hospital Atlanta-based Emory Healthcare requested a certificate of need to pursue $33 million in renovations and to reopen its closed hospital in Smyrna, Ga. 8. Texoma Medical Center eyes completion of $50M expansion The final beam of Denison, Texas-based Texoma Medical Center's entrance to an expanded emergency department and four-story project was placed July 12. 9. CHI Franciscan Health, Kindred Healthcare break ground on $25M rehab facility Tacoma, Wash.-based CHI Franciscan Health and Louisville, Ky.-based Kindred Healthcare broke ground July 10 on a $25 million rehabilitation hospital in Tacoma. 10. Grady Health System proposes $165M expansion project Atlanta-based Grady Health System is proposing a $165 million expansion project to construct a seven-story surgical center and advance its HIV/AIDS Ponce de Leon Center. 11. Detroit Medical Center completes $155M children's hospital tower Detroit Medical Center completed a six-story, $155 million addition to its Detroit-based Children's Hospital of Michigan. 12. Orlando Regional Medical Center to build $10M trauma center In the wake of the Pulse nightclub shooting in June 2016, officials of Orlando (Fla.) Regional Medical Center, which treated victims, saw the need to expand their trauma unit. An Indiana family claims a hospital in Cancun, Mexico, refused to release their premature baby until a $37,000 medical bill was paid, according to family members' GoFundMe page. Larry Ralph and expecting mother Michaela Smith were vacationing in Cancun when Ms. Smith gave birth to her son 12 weeks early on July 18. For the first day of their son's care, Mr. Ralph and Ms. Smith paid the hospital more than $9,000 and another $4,000 in "fees," according to Fox 59. The bill totaled $37,000 at the time of publication, and "keeps rising the past 35 hours," the family said. The hospital would not release the baby to an air ambulance back to the U.S. until the amount was met, the family claims. Family members paid an air ambulance $30,000 to transport the baby and his parents to a Florida hospital; however, the contacted hospitals would not accept Ms. Smith's Indiana Medicaid plan, the family claims. The couple's family arranged for AirMed to transport the baby and his parents to Indianapolis-based Riley Children's Hospital. As of Thursday afternoon, the child and his family were released from the hospital and flying to Pensacola, Fla., to clear customs, according to an update on the family's GoFundMe page. The baby and family will then fly to Indiana. Indiana Republican Rep. Trey Hollingsworth said, "Indiana's 9th Congressional District office has been working with the family throughout the day seeking a solution to get this newborn home, to the United States, for necessary medical care," the report states. The air ambulance, which cost the family $30,000 upfront, was scheduled for departure to Cancun early Thursday morning. At the time of publication, the family raised $31,173 of its $60,000 goal on GoFundMe. Editor's note: This article was updated July 20, 2017, at 2:44 p.m. Change in the healthcare industry is rapid and continuous. Although it's impossible to predict what healthcare will look like five or 10 years down the road, experts have identified the disrupters and trends causing the industry to change form. This content is sponsored by Conifer Health Solutions Various trends, including the rise of patient consumerism, advanced technology and increased focus on outpatient care, are changing the dynamics in hospital leadership. Hospital and health system CFOs must not only ensure their organizations are financially stable and serve as ambassadors to the financial side of the business, but they must also stay ahead of change and adopt a patient-focused perspective to develop creative and flexible approaches to strategic challenges. Becker's Hospital Review caught up with CFOs from three hospitals and health systems to discuss the healthcare industry disrupters they believe are here to stay, trends they see on the horizon and how their role is changing as the industry shifts toward value-based care. Participants include: Aaron Eichorn, CFO of University Health System (Shreveport, La.) Stephen Forney, CFO of Verity Health (Redwood City, Calif.) Troy Hammet, CFO of CHI Memorial Hospital (Chattanooga, Tenn.) Question: With increased patient liability, what demands do you see being placed on the system from patients, the regulatory environment and/or the market as a whole? Aaron Eichorn: As the burden of paying for healthcare services shifts more to patients, the patients will certainly evaluate the cost/benefit and financial implications of seeking healthcare services. While in many cases this may actually be good for the system, such as patients who will now choose to go to an urgent care center rather than an ED, there may be unintended consequences. Patients with limited financial resources may choose to defer care, which could exacerbate existing health conditions. Not only would this increase costs for the system, but this could have health consequences on the very people who made the financial effort to purchase health insurance plans in the first place. Stephen Forney: The increase in patient liability over the last several years has created a profound shift in what we would have traditionally looked at as bad debt. Bad debt used to be patients who were strictly self pay. It is now made up of patients who have insurance whose deductibles have been increasing and pay less than owed. These individuals by and large have jobs and means to pay. The patients, because they're paying more themselves, want to make sure charges are calculated correctly. This puts more pressure on the organizations to provide that information upfront and to follow up with patients afterward. Troy Hammett: With the increasing number of patients with high-deductible plans, there is greater pressure on healthcare providers to perform financial counseling and collect more during the pre-registration process or at the time of service. To be successful, providers need a process to make timely and accurate estimates of each patient's liability. Regulators and patients are requiring more transparency as it relates to anticipated charges and payments for services rendered. Q: With declining reimbursements, how do you measure and maximize your payer/payment mix? AE: It is critical to consistently measure payer mix by volume and charges. Declining reimbursement from governmental payers will continue to pressure hospital systems to improve their payer mix by attracting more commercially insured patients. While capital investment in new programs, services and infrastructure are viewed by many [as] necessary to attract commercial volume, there are other tactics healthcare systems can utilize to improve their payer mix. By providing a superior patient experience, and high-quality patient care, hospitals can attract a better payer mix, which will support continued growth. SF: We've invested in the necessary software tools to adjudicate payments and make sure we're getting paid correctly. That gives us insight into what the payer mix is and allows us to better understand the profitability of our service lines. In our case, when we see systemic decline, we try to offset it by adding or improving current service lines. TH: From a revenue cycle standpoint, we monitor actual payments by payer against anticipated payments to ensure we are paid according to each participating provider agreement. It is critical that we follow up on any payment variances with the payers. On the front end of the billing process, we can optimize our DRG reimbursement by enhancing our clinical documentation and coding practices. Under our value-based arrangements, we implemented changes to clinical operations and processes that resulted in enhanced quality scores and incentive payments. Q: How do you work with your broader organization to address and manage leakage within the system? AE: Hospital leaders need to compile, monitor and track physician volume by type of service and payer. One of the key management philosophies that I adhere to is that "you can't manage what you can't measure." If leakage is identified, hospital leadership needs to be actively involved in meeting with the physicians to understand why the leakage occurred and what steps, if any, leadership can take in conjunction with the physicians to eliminate the leakage. SF: We try to measure leakage the best that we can to understand who is being diverted out of network. That information can be difficult to get. The most direct way is to look at your own patient population where you have full capitation, at-risk lives. We look at the reasons why they're being diverted and then try to have a customized solution around each of the root causes. There's nothing easy about it, and it requires diligence. TH: Honestly, this is an area of opportunity that we just started to focus on for our health system. The first step in the process is to analyze existing physician referral patterns at a service level to identify where leakage is occurring. While acknowledging it is a challenge to change existing referral patterns, sharing this information with the physicians and identifying the reason for leakage is an important next step. Organizations may succeed in keeping more patients in the system if we can show the physician that we can eliminate any operational barriers, provide them with a more efficient workplace, and provide higher quality and a better patient experience than our competitors. Q: What role does the CFO play in contributing to strategic decisions around broadening integrated delivery networks and/or entering value-based reimbursement models? AE: The role of the CFO has changed over the years; from simply managing and accurately accounting for the financial resources of an organization to more of a strategist involved in proactively identifying growth and new revenue opportunities. Once new opportunities are identified, the CFO is critical in scoring the impact of the new initiatives and more importantly is best positioned within the organization to understand the ripple effect these decisions will have on the organization's finances. I've always felt that the CFO has dual roles. On one hand, the CFO needs to ensure that the finances of the organization run smoothly, [accounts receivable] is collected, employees get paid, vendor payments are processed, etc., yet they also need to constantly think of ways to innovate and be thought leaders in identifying new sources of growth and revenue for their organizations. SF: The CFO needs to focus on what it means to be an integrated delivery network. In the '90s, when risk became a popular topic, many organizations didn't pay attention and were damaged as a result. Now the reimbursement models are more complicated. This requires very sophisticated modeling and the financial aspects of the organization to be tuned into the risk and rewards of the models. TH: While it is still very important for the CFO to have efficient and effective financial operations, the role of today's CFO is evolving as the leader for business operations, performance improvement, and strategic growth. This is particularly important in a healthcare industry experiencing constant regulatory change and consolidation. As the strategic advisor to the CEO, the CFO must be focused on growing market share organically and through M&A activities as well as increasing the number of covered lives managed through its clinically integrated network or accountable care organization. Q: What are the biggest disrupters in the healthcare industry that you feel are here to stay? AE: The increasing role that managed care organizations will have with Medicaid and Medicare cannot be underestimated in terms of the additional requirements imposed on healthcare systems. But, while we are familiar with those requirements, there are other disrupters that many other systems have not yet embraced. For example, the use of technology and smart phones for access, scheduling, follow up, prescription refills and bill paying seems to expand every day. At a recent conference that I attended, I saw a dozen different vendors offering apps that will integrate with EMR systems and allow patients the friendly access they are used to seeing from their banks. This will raise the service level that patients expect to receive from their providers. Healthcare systems will need to find a way to cater to these increased demands to attract customers. SF: I think disrupters continue to be smaller more retail-oriented organizations like ASCs, urgent care centers and radiology centers. Those organizations have for a very long time been able to take away business from larger organizations because of their convenience and ability to provide a quality service quicker and at a lower cost. They're also attractive to insurance companies. Those will continue to be disrupters in the industry. I don't see them going anywhere. TH: The continuous attempts by federal and state governments to reform the healthcare provider and insurance industry segments to improve quality and lower costs. More articles on healthcare finance: CMS releases OPPS proposed rule for 2018: 10 things to know Child's $21M medical bill underscores Medi-Cal challenges Louisiana specialty hospital to close less than 4 years after opening Alphabet, Google's parent company, unveiled the "Enterprise Edition" of its smart glasses, called Glass, according to CNBC. Google began marketing the original Google Glass a wearable headset that displays information in a hands-free format to consumers in 2012. Although the hardware product didn't catch on in the consumer market, professional industries took note. The software company Augmedix, for example, uses Glass assist physicians by streamlining patient note transcription. Alphabet's independent business unit, X, will oversee the new Glass product, which will be available to Google partners. In a July 18 blog post, Glass project leader Jay Kothari highlighted the fact that organizations like San Francisco-based Dignity Health and Sacramento, Calif.-based Sutter Health have used the smart glasses for the past several years. One critique of the original Glass product revolved around privacy concerns, since the eyeglasses-shaped product has the capability to record its surroundings. The updated Glass displays a red light when the camera function is in use. Mr. Kothari also noted the new wearable is lighter to improve comfort and boasts a longer battery life, among other updates. "Now the Glass product team is back at X, and we'll be collaborating with the Google Cloud team and our partners to help customers across a variety of business sectors make the most of Glass," Mr. Kothari wrote. "Together, we're looking forward to seeing more businesses give their workers a way to work faster and in a more focused way, hands-free." icholakov/iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- President Donald Trump told reporters at the Pentagon on Thursday that "ISIS is falling fast." As he and Vice President Mike Pence arrived at the Pentagon for an update on the fight against ISIS, Trump was asked whether more troops would be sent to Afghanistan. "We're going to see, and we're doing very well against ISIS," the president said. "ISIS is falling fast, very fast." Following the meeting, Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Dana White gathered the press for a readout of the meeting. President Trump, Vice President Pence, Secretary of Defense James Mattis were in attendance, as were other members of the Trump cabinet including Rex Tillerson, Steven Mnuchin, Gen. Joseph Dunford, Reince Priebus, Steve Bannon and Gen. Paul Selva. White said that the meeting "was never meant to be a decision meeting," that rather it was called to discuss "where we are, where we're going." When pressed on any changes in the South Asia Strategy -- formerly known as the Afghanistan strategy -- White said that no decisions are expected this week. As for the content of the meeting, White said that "they kind of covered the planet, what are the opportunities, what are the challenges...there was a lot of talk about economic, ways to influence trade." Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Irving, Texas-based Medical City Healthcare named Laura Irvine division executive vice president and chief administrative officer, effective Aug. 1. Ms. Irvine comes to Medical City Healthcare from Dallas-based Methodist Health System, where she served as executive vice president for integration and alignment. She joined Methodist in 1996, and served in numerous leadership roles at the health system. She also played a key role in launching Methodist Mansfield (Texas) Medical Center and developing the Sammons Trauma Tower at Methodist Dallas Medical Center. Ms. Irvine holds a master of science degree in healthcare administration from Trinity University in San Antonio. In her new role at Medical City Healthcare, she will focus on furthering quality, service and growth goals. Medical City Healthcare includes 13 hospitals, more than 7,000 physicians and 14,000 employees. When Om Prakash Jha, MD, saw nurses sporting a "Trolls"-style hairdo as a fun thing for patients, it sparked a campaign idea to benefit preemies in the neonatal intensive care unit. Dr. Jha, a neonatologist who has worked at the Mobile-based University of South Alabama Children's & Women's Hospital for nearly two years, based his idea off the Ice Bucket Challenge, which was designed to promote awareness of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and raise money for disease research. Dr. Jha and others at the hospital created a Facebook message for people to copy and paste on their wall. The message is typically accompanied by a picture and includes links to two donation pages, one for USA Children's and Women's and another for giving through Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. The message reads: "In the absence of medical care, a premature baby born four months early would not survive, and many cultures in the past would leave them on the ground to pass away. NICU teams everywhere 'raise them up' and work day and night to change the destiny for these most fragile forms of human life." The message then asks readers to challenge three friends to "Raise Their Hair Up" and post a picture within 24 hours using the #hairraisingchallenge hashtag or make a donation to USA Children's and Woman's Hospital NICU. Dr. Jha recently answered questions from Becker's Hospital Review about the campaign and what it means to him. Note: Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity. Question: When did the fundraising start and where did the idea come from? OJ: [In] the first week [of] June I was working in the NICU over the weekend where two of my nurses had a "Trolls"-style hairdo. I intuitively took a picture, and when I was looking at that picture, I thought, "There is a deeper meaning to what they're doing." Their subconscious is trying to tell them something where they're not able to verbalize it. They're fighting a force of nature, which is effectively what they do at their day job also, saving babies who nature has destined not to survive and trying to keep them alive. So that's their day job and then they're doing this, they're defying gravity, another force of nature. That's how the whole narrative came to my head. People know babies born three to four months early, around 22 [to] 24 weeks, the nature's default is they will not survive, and ancient cultures put these premature babies on the ground so they would just pass away. And 60 years back when the specialty of neonatology started, people used that analogy to say we are raising them up off the ground. The layperson see[s] the baby has gone through a long struggle and then the [baby] comes out of the NICU. However, [laypeople] don't always know what is happening behind those closed doors of the NICU when these babies get admitted. Their organ systems were not ready for survival outside of mom, so effectively they were born on the wrong end of the nature spectrum of life, and they're struggling each day. Yes, we support them, but the struggle is effectively their own. The babies will have to survive on whatever support we can give them, and that is how they reach that other end of the spectrum to leave the NICU. So the campaign was just another way to have other people recognize or understand that struggle of the babies that they are countering. [The babies are] fighting one force of nature, that's life and death, and for the general population to show their appreciation or their solidarity to the struggles of the baby to conquer another force of nature, the force of gravity. Q: Why did you want to fundraise for this specific cause? OJ: Being a neonatologist, that was my day job, I see this, and people who work in the NICU, they see it, but people outside of the NICU, unfortunately unless they have their own babies who are born premature, they don't see the struggle of these babies. And overall the specialty is still developing, so looking at the bigger picture, there's still a lot of research which can be done regarding the outcomes these babies have. Their brains have a tendency to bleed, their intestines have a tendency to certainly die out, sometimes babies outgrow their lung capacity so they eventually go into lung failure so the lung is not able to provide enough oxygen. So there's a lot of research that can be done to improve or quicken the development of the lungs, which will make the brain a little more resilient so there's no spontaneous bleeding in the brain. Q: What is the ultimate goal with the campaign? Have you reached this goal? OJ: The smaller goal is to have new equipment, which the NICU needs. It's an 80-bed unit [admitting approximately 900 babies each year, with nearly 20 percent of the babies being transported from area referring hospitals]. And here we are saving babies at 22 weeks. What I'm seeing here is people have a lot of passion. They've been doing it for 20, 30 years, saving these babies, and they have had huge success. But with time, new technology is coming in, and we are serving a huge population in Alabama and Mississippi. There is equipment that needs to be updated. So the smaller goal is to get that equipment, including a transport incubator and equipment for ventilation, but the bigger goal and the bigger intention is to have participation as far wide as possible across the whole nation and for some support for the research. Q: Where does the campaign go from here? OJ: There is no specific timeline. My intention personally is to inform and make everyone in the country aware of the sufferings of a premature baby. Until that happens, I would love this to continue. New York City-based NYU Langone Medical Center and its affiliated clinics and outpatient locations will rebrand to unify under the umbrella organization NYU Langone Health, according to Crain's New York Business. Officials told the publication the decision to rebrand came after the health system integrated with Brooklyn, N.Y.-based NYU Lutheran Medical Center in July 2015. As part of the rebranding effort, facilities under the NYU Langone Health umbrella will lose their religious underpinnings. For example, NYU Lutheran Medical Center will be known as NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn. Mineola, N.Y.-based Winthrop University Hospital, which signed an affiliation agreement with NYU Langone Medical Center in September 2016 and completed the first phase of the affiliation process in April, has already rebranded as NYU Winthrop Hospital. Officials expect to finalize the merger by April 2022, according to the report. "Over the years we've grown and evolved into an unparalleled organization in patient care, medical education and scientific collaboration," officials wrote in an internal email, obtained by Becker's Hospital Review. "However multiple names and logos [dilute] the power of our name and reputation." The U.S. House Committee on Appropriations approved an amendment July 19 granting 11-month-old Charlie Gard and his parents permanent U.S. citizenship so that he may receive treatment in the U.S., The Hill reports. In an amendment to the Homeland Security Appropriations Bill, Charlie and his parents would be eligible to receive an immigrant visa or "an adjustment of status to that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence upon filing an application for issuance of an immigrant visa," according to a BBC report. Rep. Kevin Yoder, R-Kan., and Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., both tweeted confirmation of the amendment Wednesday. The news comes after Charlie's parents lost their latest legal attempt July 18 to have Charlie undergo an electroencephalogram scan prior to their meeting with several specialists the same day, the BBC reports. Charlie's parents and physicians at London-based Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children disagreed on the length of time the scan should be administered. While his parents stipulated the scan should be carried out for "no longer than 30 minutes," Charlie's physicians said the scan "would have to be carried out for at least four hours in order to generate useful data," the report states. A judge ruled in favor of the physicians, stating the scan should "be of such duration [as treating clinicians] may advise." U.S. physician Michio Hirano, MD, chief of the division of neuromuscular disorders and director of the H. Houston Merritt Clinical Research Center at New York City-based Columbia University Medical Center, flew to London July 17 to examine Charlie and meet with GOSHC clinicians. He, along with a second physician and Charlie's mother, met with GOSHC experts July 18 in a meeting which lasted more than five hours. The second physician's identity was not disclosed, the BBC reports. Owensboro (Ky.) Health became the seventh hospital to join the Lexington-based University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center Research Network. By joining the network, Owensboro Health patients in western Kentucky and southern Indiana will have access to innovative clinical research studies. University of Kentucky officials said Owensboro Health was invited to participate in the network based on its performance and achievements. Other hospitals belonging to the network include Elizabethtown, Ky.-based Hardin Memorial Hospital and King's Daughters Medical Center in Ashland, Ky., among others. The failure of Senate Republicans' healthcare bill creates greater uncertainty for insurers, especially in regard to the future of cost-sharing reductions that help insurers subsidize the cost of coverage for low-income Americans, according to Fitch Ratings. The Better Care Reconciliation Act, intended to repeal and replace the ACA, collapsed earlier this month due to lack of support. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., subsequently proposed a full ACA repeal strategy that involves repealing major portions of the ACA and initiating a two-year delay to allow for development of a replacement plan. The repeal would come as an amendment to the House-approved American Health Care Act, similar to a measure passed by the Senate in 2015 and vetoed by former President Barack Obama. Fitch said it believes there is greater uncertainty around the ACA's CSR payments, given these developments. "If CSR payments are discontinued before insurers have time to increase premium rates and adjust benefit designs accordingly, financial results of health insurers with individual market concentrations could suffer significantly. This risk is somewhat mitigated by expectations that policymakers would aim to give insurers time to adjust, to help maintain stability in the individual health insurance market," the agency added. Fitch said it also believes the individual and Medicaid markets will feel the effects from proposed healthcare reform more heavily than the employer group market. "Individual and Medicaid business represent fairly small proportions of membership and revenue for most of the U.S. health insurers we rate," Fitch said. "The credit profiles of large, diversified health insurers are unlikely to be significantly affected by the potential legislative outcomes but smaller, less diverse insurers could be materially affected, particularly health insurers that focus on the Medicaid market." The Republican-led House filed a lawsuit in 2014 over the payments, arguing they were not legally funded. Two years later, House Republicans prevailed in the lawsuit, which was followed by an appeal from former President Obama's administration. The current White House has delayed the lawsuit, and CSR payments have continued amid healthcare reform efforts. Five Louisiana-based nurses recently spoke with nola.com about their careers and shared their best pieces of nursing advice. 1. Kimberly Wilson, RN, University Medical Center (New Orleans). Ms. Wilson highlighted the importance of educating chronic disease patients about how to properly take care of themselves to prevent readmissions. She encouraged young nurses to treat returning patients with a smile, instead of growing frustrated they're back in the hospital. "They still need somebody to care, to be able to say 'Hey, don't do this because that's why you're here,'" she told nola.com. "Sometimes they just don't know any better." 2. Kodi Craft, RN, director of critical care services at Touro Infirmary (New Orleans). Mr. Craft said nursing students must not only focus on their academic studies, but prepare themselves emotionally for the job. "Sometimes our hard days are much harder than people working in an office," he said. "You could have worked hard to save a life and you didn't do it and that sticks with you." 3. Monica Bologna, BSN, interim CNO at West Jefferson Medical Center (Marrero, La.). Ms. Bologna highlighted the importance of nurses using soft skills. "We've become a task doer profession. We need to rehumanize it," she told nola.com. "Stop, make eye contact, smile, have a discussion, sit down when you're talking to a patient. That makes all the difference in the world." 4. Brian Hooper, RN, Ochsner Medical CenterJefferson (La.) Highway. Mr. Hooper recalled a nurse mentor he worked with who taught him a valuable lesson in staying calm. "No matter what the situation was she was so calm," he said. "That's the thing, you can't let them see you sweat. You can't freak out." 5. Ahnyel Jones-Burkes, RN, MSN, nurse program coordinator at Ochsner Health System (New Orleans). Ms. Jones-Burkes encouraged nurses to always remember how important their job is. "Every day you wake up and you get out of bed and you know you're going to help at least 10 people today," she said. "You could possibly be what stands between life and death for them. If that's something you want to take on, it's a calling you have to approach with the utmost respect and compassion." More articles on clinical quality: 'Doing the fast things fast and the slow things slow' 7 strategies to improve OR efficiency without compromising safety Adjusting healthcare performance measures for social risk factors proves feasible, NQF finds Epidural steroid side effects: Repeated injections cause diminishing relief Childhood asthma and diabetes rates have risen in recent years, meaning school nurses are taking on an increasingly important role in the healthcare system, according to STAT. However, even as children and adolescents face a growing need for healthcare services, roughly 60 percent of U.S. schools lack a full-time nurse, according to data from the National Association of School Nurses. Some schools are using telemedicine to address the issue, partnering with hospitals, nonprofits or health IT companies to provide comprehensive healthcare services to its students. Here are five things to know about the trend. 1. In a school-based telemedicine program, a student referred to a nurse's office will typically be connected to a physician via videoconferencing technology. A remote physician will proceed to evaluate the patient's ears, throat and heartbeat, among other vital signs, using computer-connected otoscopes and stethoscopes. 2. Advocates in favor of school-based telemedicine say the practice helps nurses treat students with complex or chronic conditions, which will help to keep more students in school, rather than traveling to and from a hospital or urgent care center. A report on the use of a school-based telemedicine program in New York state determined the practice reduced socioeconomic disparities in regional acute care access. 3. One challenge to the program is billing. Typically, a student is billed using their parents' private insurance. For families without private insurance, some schools may bill Medicaid. However, only 23 states have agreed to reimburse for school-based telemedicine. Schools in states that do not cover the technology must apply for local grants or government funding. 4. The fluctuating nature of telemedicine program funding also poses a barrier for schools. Funding sources may change year-to-year, between evolving telemedicine legislation and lack of guarantee for long-term grant funding. "One thing we need is sustainability," Stormee Williams, MD, a pediatrician who sees students via video told STAT. "Waivers and grants aren't going to last forever." 5. Another consideration is that, although telemedicine is often discussed as a way to address the low number of school nurses, this limitation creates its own barrier. A student can only use a school-based telemedicine program if a nurse is there to connect them to a remote physician. "At a school with a part-time nurse, a child who gets sick when the nurse isn't in wouldn't have access," Steve North, MD, an adolescent medicine specialist and medical director for Health-e-Schools, a school-based telemedicine program in North Carolina, told STAT. Five spine surgeons weigh in on the opportunities outpatient procedures afford providers. Ask Spine Surgeons is a weekly series of questions posed to spine surgeons around the country about clinical, business and policy issues affecting spine care. We invite all spine surgeon and specialist responses. Next week's question: What advice do you have for young surgeons who want to attain management roles in their facilities? Please send responses to Anuja Vaidya at avaidya@beckershealthcare.com by Wednesday, Aug. 16, at 5 p.m. CST. Question: What are the biggest opportunities for spine surgeons in the outpatient arena? Payam Farjoodi, MD. Spine Surgeon at Center for Spine Health at Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center (Fountain Valley, Calif.): We need to provide excellent outcomes while containing cost and risk. Monitoring these measures to determine the breadth and number of surgeries that can be safely done in the outpatient setting is vital to helping us achieve these goals. Kern Singh, MD. Co-Director of Minimally Invasive Spine Institute at Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush (Chicago): Minimally invasive surgery is an evolving field of study that has shaped the trajectory of spinal practice. Lumbar decompressions and cervical fusions are common spinal procedures used to treat degenerative spine disease that have moved to the outpatient area more in recent years. A reduction in hospitalization time is cost-effective, but, more importantly, reduces the chances of in-hospital complications. The combination of risk management and faster recovery has addressed concerns for many patients who are considering spinal surgery. Lumbar fusions (which are already being done) will be the next step in the outpatient arena. Currently, I prefer the vast majority of my single-level lumbar fusions in the surgery center environment MIS TLIF and XLIF. Plas T. James, MD. Spine Surgeon at Atlanta Spine Institute: I think that patients can do well with outpatient operations, which could allow the opportunity to have, for instance, a 23-hour stay where patients can stay the night if necessary. It drops the cost of the total bill for patients overall, because they pay less money for the office facilities than they do for a hospital stay. It also gives them the opportunity to come when they want to. Brian R. Gantwerker, MD. Founder of the Craniospinal Center of Los Angeles: With the advent of new outpatient ALIF codes and the active role Medicare has taken in the outpatient spine sector, there are huge opportunities for well-positioned centers to do well with some of these more complex surgeries. We will see who is willing to and able to take the risks. The rewards I think will be adequate but my concern is that unqualified centers will start taking on cases that either should not be done in the outpatient setting at all (i.e. multilevel ALIFs, large deformity corrections or tumor) and set a bad precedent for those that are doing good work. Further, if Medicare decides to start cutting reimbursement for outpatient surgery again, we will see that business dry up as fast as it is set. Richard Kube, MD. Founder and CEO of Prairie Spine & Pain Institute (Peoria, Ill.): I believe there is great opportunity in the bundled payment arena. This holds true especially for cash type models. There are increasing deductibles, and also cash type payers and self-insured businesses that look to cut the cost on large ticket items such as spine surgery. Having the ability to control cost and outcomes without the burdensome bureaucracy of the large hospital systems make small centers highly competitive and able to deliver value. As healthcare costs continue to rise, more patients are seeking value for their dollars and we are seeing inquiries with greater frequency all the time. Here are eight things for spinal surgeons to know for July 20, 2017. Stryker to receive $248.7M in most recent patent infringement decision against Zimmer Biomet U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker in Grand Rapids, Mich., found in favor of Stryker Crop., in a patent infringement case against Zimmer Biomet and awarded the orthopedic device company giant $248.7 million, according to Reuters. Read more about the lawsuit here. CMS proposes 2 new spine codes for the ASC payable list CMS released the 2018 proposed rule for hospital outpatient departments and proposed adding two new spine procedures to the ambulatory surgery center payable list. The two new spine codes include: Cervical artificial disc arthroplasty: 22856 Second-level cervical discectomy: 22828 Cervical Spine Research Society Executive Director Peggy Wlezien retires; Kerri Mink steps in Peggy Wlezien retired from her post as the executive director of the Cervical Spine Research Society. Kerri L. Mink is the organization's new executive director. She has previous experience as the COO of the American Brain Tumor Association. Scoliosis Research Society names Drs. Peter Newton, Sebastien Pesenti Whitecloud Award winners The Scoliosis Research Society honored two surgeons with the 2017 Whitecloud Award at the Scoliosis Research Society's 2017 International Meeting on Advanced Spine Techniques in South Africa. Peter Newton, MD, received the clinical award and Sebastien Pesenti, MD, received the basic science award. Medicrea reports 41% jump in UNiD ASI systems revenue for first half of 2017 The Medicrea Group reported its sales for the first half of 2017. The company saw sales totaling $16.75 million for the first half of the year. In the U.S. Medicrea's UNiD ASI systems technology revenue saw a 41 percent jump in the first half of 2017, compared to the first half of 2016. Jana receives clearance to purchase additional Zimmer Biomet shares The U.S. Federal Trade Commission granted Jana Partners clearance to purchase Zimmer Biomet shares. The decision allows the hedge fund to purchase additional stake in the company, according to Reuters. Zimmer Biomet's longtime CEO David Dvorak stepped down on July 11 and the company's CFO stepped in as interim CEO while the company conducts a nationwide search for Mr. Dvorak's replacement. Implanet reports 19% boost in JAZZ sales in first half of 2017 In the first half of 2017, Implanet saw revenue of about $4.77 million. JAZZ sales spiked 19 percent in the first half of 2017, reaching $2.78 million. The JAZZ sales accounted for 58 percent of the company's total revenue, compared to 49 percent in 2016. 25% of pediatric neurosurgery reoperations planned Researchers investigated reoperations within 48 hours after pediatric neurosurgery procedures, in a study published in Journal of Neurosurgery. Researchers discovered 221 reoperations within 48 hours of the index surgery. This correlated to a 2.78 percent overall incidence of the surgeries. Of the 221 reoperations, 159 represented unplanned reoperations. About one-fourth of the reoperations were planned. Michel Barnier is shown the cross-border road on the N53 road between Co Louth and the A37 road in Co Armagh There will be no flurry of companies relocating to Ireland in the wake of Brexit, the chairman of First Trust parent Allied Irish Bank has said. Richard Pym told the MacGill Summer School that Frankfurt and Paris, rather than Dublin, are best placed to take advantage of the decision by the UK to leave the European Union. Speaking at the five-day event in Glenties, Co Donegal, Mr Pym said there was the real prospect of the Republic ending up with a "car crash Brexit". He said such a scenario would involve customs checks on the border with Northern Ireland and Irish trucks being forced to queue for two days at Dover. "Remember the British Prime Minister said 'no deal is better than a bad deal', which is odd as surely 'no deal' must be the 'worst deal'," Mr Pym said. "Whilst there are a few grown-ups in the British Cabinet like (Chancellor) Philip Hammond, there are also those seemingly determined to continue adolescence beyond previous age boundaries, and for whom 'no deal' would be victory. "These are the people who dream of creating a new British-led world trade order described as Empire 2.0," he added. In relation to investment, Mr Pym said even the arrival of a few thousand jobs to the Republic would have a major impact. But he warned against the idea that Ireland will be the main benefactor of a flight of jobs from the UK. "Do not expect vast numbers of evacuees to arrive in Dublin, as Frankfurt and Paris will be the main job winners," Mr Pym said. "But even a few thousand highly-paid jobs arriving will generate knock-on economic activity. The one downside is that incoming firms will poach their senior staff from the large domestic firms and as they are not subject to the same pay constraints this will weaken our main national financial institutions. "Where Ireland could win serious amounts of new business activity is from inward overseas investment displaced from the UK. Britain will be a less attractive business location for firms seeking access to the EU and if you want an English-style legal system and language, then Ireland must be your destination of choice." It came as the City of London's special envoy to the EU warned that it shouldn't measure its success in the Brexit negotiations in how much it can diminish the UK financial hub. Jeremy Browne said Brexit risked leaving Europe without a global financial centre. He told the Institute of International and European Affairs in Dublin on Tuesday that the City is a pan-European asset. "We encourage the EU side in any negotiations not to think of London as an advantage held by the people on the other side of the table," he said. "In other words, the EU shouldn't measure its success in the negotiations by the degree to which it succeeds in diminishing the City." Revolucion de Cuba is opening up its first cocktail bar and restaurant in Belfast next week. The new nightspot will be located in the former Cafe Vaudeville building on Arthur Street close to Cornmarket and Victoria Square. Ahead of the Latin rum bar and cantina's opening, we're taking a sneak peek at the menu to see what's on offer. Tapas Expand Close Tapas at Revolucion de Cuba / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Tapas at Revolucion de Cuba Described as "little dishes with huge flavour" Revolucion de Cuba's tapas selection is inspired by the classics of Havana. The sharing dishes on offer include beef fillet skewers with chilli jam glaze; grilled lamb chops with herby chimichurri; and lime and chilli King prawns with a sweet mango salsa. Also available are Iberico ham croquetas, albondigas (meatballs) and gambas pil pil (chilli prawns). Tacos Expand Close HyperFocal: 0 / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp HyperFocal: 0 Revolucion de Cuba's taco option are perfect for lunch time visits, allowing those on the go to create their own custom bites to take away with a choice of pulled paprika chicken, shredded pork, and mushroom, bean and spinach as a vegetarian option. The lunch menu also includes salads and sandwiches, which are filled with the likes of chimichurri steak; halloumi and black beans; and fajita-style chicken with homemade Cuban BBQ sauce. Burgers and burritos Revolucion de Cubas spiced burgers come layered with manchengo, spicy rum sauce and orange-infused slow-cooked shredded pork - with a Carribean inspired jerk chicken burger also on offer. Burritos are filled with marinated chicken and cooling guacamole; shredded pork with pineapple salsa; or seven-hour slow-cooked beef with chilli jam. Best of the rest The Latin inspired large plates include fruity chicken enchilada, Cuban paella and Aberdeen Angus sirloin steak with honey roasted vegetables. Cocktails No one does cocktails quite like the Cubans so mojitos come finished with either classic mint or more experimental blends of apricot and pineapple, and lychee. Daiquiris come in an array of flavour combinations whilst iconic classics including Martinis and Iced Teas are given that Revolucion touch with spice infusions. There is also a selection of Latin American beers, as well as eight brews on draught. The 1billion secured by the DUP for the Northern Ireland government is sitting and waiting to be spent, Westminster officials have confirmed. Treasury officials have also said the UK Government will "not sign off projects". There has been confusion over how the money, secured by the DUP for infrastructure, health and eduction and other projects, will be allocated. Northern Ireland Secretary of State James Brokenshire hinted the allocation of the money was subject to the restoration of the devolved institutions. Read More However, the DUP said the condition was not in the confidence and supply deal which they agreed with Theresa May in return for propping up her minority government. DUP MP Sammy Wilson has said that if direct rule was imposed his party would be in a "major position" to determine where the funds went. The Northern Ireland Office has been asked for comment, but did not respond. Prime Minister Theresa May's office also did not respond to the Belfast Telegraph. However, the Treasury said the money was available and ready to be spent by the Northern Ireland Executive. "It is therefore imperative that we focus all our efforts on securing the return of a power-sharing Executive, so that local politicians can decide how best to allocate these resources to serve all people in Northern Ireland," an official said. "The UK Government will work with the Executive on how this is implemented, with the final arrangements agreed between the Treasury and Department of Finance. "Executive spending will be scrutinised by the Assembly in the normal way. The UK Government will not sign off projects." Mr Wilson accused Brokenshire of being unable to "give a straight answer" on how the money would be dished out. "I'd prefer the assembly would have input," he said, "but if that's not going to happen then why can't he just say it rather than trying to speak out of both sides of his mouth?" A spokesman for the Conservative Party added: "Both the Conservative Party and the DUP are committed to getting the Executive re-established because we both believe that decisions about funding for different public services in Northern Ireland should be taken by politicians in Northern Ireland. We want the additional funding identified in this agreement to go to a new Executive. "However, if despite our collective efforts it proves impossible to re-establish the Executive, the Conservative Party, in signing this agreement, has recognised the case for the higher funding Northern Ireland needs." Stephen Nolan was grilled on his salary on his return to his BBC Radio Ulster show this morning for the first time since his mega earnings from the broadcaster were revealed. The tables were turned on the presenter as MLA and former barrister Jim Allister asked the questions of his 400,000 pay packet. He pointed out that while he is paid for seven days a week working on local and network radio as well as television, he said there could be some on the published list that only work the one job. In response to one caller, Mr Nolan said the coverage had been "fair", but the most vitriol he had received was from "failed journalists" trolls on Twitter that had a hidden agenda but it was not from the Northern Ireland media. <<< Read the full list here >>> "There are failed journalists or journalists who don't have the get up and go and they are not declaring their agenda," he said. Tweeting on Thursday ahead of the show, he wondered what the talking point for his legion of followers would be. You can see how the show unfolded in our live blog below. Yesterday Nolan was revealed as receiving between 400,000 and 450,000 a year from the corporation. He was in the top 10 paid stars. He justified his status saying he is a simple working-class man trying to earn as much as he can in a competitive market. The Belfast man works seven days a week on local and network radio and on television. The multi award-winning broadcaster was among a list of 96 BBC stars whose salaries were made public yesterday so licence fee payers can see where their money is being spent. Nolan also revealed he had previously turned down attempts to poach him for "better pay and less work". His revealed pay does not include payments to staff from production companies or BBC Worldwide, which generates commercial revenues. It is well publicised that Nolan has private companies and is worth more than 1.7m, according to the latest Companies House records. But yesterday he focused on his BBC earnings which until now he had refused to discuss when pressed on air to reveal it by politicians and callers. He said: "I feel like the BBC is trying to manage a situation where they've got presenters, and they're paying them what they feel they need to pay them. That is genuinely how I feel." Residents of a 10-storey tower block damaged by an Eleventh Night bonfire were last night assured it will not be allowed to happen again Statutory agencies met with around 30 residents of the apartments at the Victoria Place building in Sandy Row to address the issues surrounding the controversial bonfire. Windows were cracked and scorch damage was caused on Tuesday week ago as fire fighters battled to prevent the blaze from spreading. Those attending the meeting included representatives from Belfast City Council, Northern Ireland Housing Executive, Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service and the PSNI. Alliance councillor Emmet McDonough Brown praised those who attended the meeting. "Residents angry but agencies agreed to do more and try harder," he tweeted. He further stated that a meeting would be arranged in September for an update on how the issues raised were being addressed. "We cannot allow residents to bear the risk of contentious issues alone," he added. It's understood there was no unionist representation at the meeting. SDLP MLA Claire Hanna described it as a "constructive" meeting. "Residents are very frustrated but they are also very reasonable and they put their case to the agencies," she said. "They have been around the block over the years trying to get their property protected. "The agencies left with no doubt they will have to act on this. "It's my view that we need fresh legislation on this as no individual land owner should have to challenge their way through this political mess." Writing in today's Belfast Telegraph, Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill said that the racism and sectarianism surrounding some of the Eleventh Night bonfires were an "ugly reminder" of the difficulties Northern Ireland still faces. One resident told UTV: "Coming out of your home on a ninth or 10th storey, less than a month after Grenfell (Tower tragedy in London) and seeing the Fire Brigade running upstairs with hoses and sandbags is a terrifying experience - and not one residents should have to put up with." Those living there are being forced to pick up the bill. An NIO statement said that the issue of bonfires is "complex", and involves a number of organisations operating within the devolved administration, such as the council and land owner. Appeal: stills of Dean in a shop are released Appeal: stills of Dean in a shop are released Appeal: stills of Dean in a shop are released Superintendent Emma Bond at a police checkpoint in the search for missing Dean McIlwaine. Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 20th July 2017 The PSNI conduct an appeal and search for 22-year-old Dean McIlwaine who was last seen in the Carnmoney Road area of Newtownabbey on the 13th July. PSNI officers search a wooded area close to where Dean was last seen and the family home. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 20th July 2017 The PSNI conduct an appeal and search for 22-year-old Dean McIlwaine who was last seen in the Carnmoney Road area of Newtownabbey on the 13th July. Community search and refuse volunteers search a wooded area close to where Dean was last seen and the family home. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 20th July 2017 The PSNI conduct an appeal and search for 22-year-old Dean McIlwaine who was last seen in the Carnmoney Road area of Newtownabbey on the 13th July. PSNI officers search a wooded area close to where Dean was last seen and the family home. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 20th July 2017 The PSNI conduct an appeal and search for 22-year-old Dean McIlwaine who was last seen in the Carnmoney Road area of Newtownabbey on the 13th July. PSNI officers search a wooded area close to where Dean was last seen and the family home. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 20th July 2017 The PSNI conduct an appeal and search for 22-year-old Dean McIlwaine who was last seen in the Carnmoney Road area of Newtownabbey on the 13th July. PSNI officers search a wooded area close to where Dean was last seen and the family home. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 20th July 2017 The PSNI conduct an appeal and search for 22-year-old Dean McIlwaine who was last seen in the Carnmoney Road area of Newtownabbey on the 13th July. PSNI officers search a wooded area close to where Dean was last seen and the family home. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 20th July 2017 The PSNI conduct an appeal and search for 22-year-old Dean McIlwaine who was last seen in the Carnmoney Road area of Newtownabbey on the 13th July. PSNI officers search a wooded area close to where Dean was last seen and the family home. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Police held a checkpoint in the Newtownabbey area as the search continues for missing man Dean McIlwaine. The 22-year-old barber has been missing since July 13. He was last seen in the Carnmoney Road area at around 1pm. Police stopped cars in the area on Thursday in a bid to try and job the memories of the public in the hope of tracking him down. Searches have been held in Newtowabbey and Belfast for Dean in the past week. Police released CCTV of Dean entering a Spar shop and a team of between 15 and 20 police officers, with four members of a search and rescue team, continued the search of wasteland behind Carnmoney Cemetery near his home. Friends and family are continuing to appeal and posters have been widely distributed. On Monday night, a huge crowd gathered at Belfast City Hall to volunteer to help take part in the search. His brother Glen told the Belfast Telegraph: "We are all distraught - it's totally out of character for him." DUP MLA Edwin Poots has spoken Irish in a speech attacking Sinn Fein's push for a language Act. Mr Poots made his comments last night at the MacGill summer school in Glenties, Co Donegal. Every July the school hosts a week of debates for political, business and Church leaders from both sides of the border. The introduction of an Irish Language Act remains one of Sinn Fein's key demands in talks to restore power-sharing at Stormont. It's one of the sticking points between the party and the DUP. Mr Poots said he believed Sinn Fein wanted to use it to impose an Irish national identity in Northern Ireland. Urging Sinn Fein to adopt a more "realistic" approach, he concluded his speech with the phrase: "Maireann an chraobh ar an bhfal ach ni mhaireann an lamh do chuir." He then said: "Forgive my broken Irish, but for those of you who, like me, are not fluent, it translates to 'The branch lives on the hedge though the hand that planted it be dead'. "It's an old Irish saying reminding us of our mortality and that our actions today will live long after we are gone. "Anyone who speaks and loves the Irish language is as much a part of Northern Ireland life as a collarette-wearing Orangeman." But he called Sinn Fein "reckless" for putting an Act above setting a budget, health reform and Brexit planning. Mr Poots said the republican party's real intention was to develop an Irish identity using bilingual road signs, a public sector quota for Irish language speakers and an Irish language commissioner with powers to sanction public authorities. The DUP's most high-profile brush with the Irish language thus far was Gregory Campbell's "Curry my yoghurt" moment - used during a 2014 Assembly debate to mock the Irish phrase "Go raibh maith agat", meaning "thank you". In April this year DUP leader Arlene Foster also said thank you in Irish during a visit to a school. Earlier this month Sinn Fein MLA John O'Dowd dismissed suggestions his party was seeking cultural supremacy as "absolutely ridiculous", arguing the only agenda was securing equal rights. The York Street Interchange will involve an underpass and bridge and is designed to improve links between the M1, M2 and M3 in Belfast Money from the DUP's Tory deal needs to be quickly translated into construction projects in Northern Ireland, a senior economist said. The building industry suffered a 0.1 percentage point dip in the first three months of this year and with predictions of slowing growth the 1.5 billion package needs to become reality, Ulster Bank's chief economist in Northern Ireland Richard Ramsey added. Projects like the York Street Interchange allowing the free flow of traffic between three Belfast motorways have been given the green light after the UK Government said it will provide 200 million for infrastructure development as part of the DUP agreement. Mr Ramsey said: "Construction seems to be having a dip in the first quarter. "Infrastructure investment has fallen quite significantly and we have heard a lot about the Westminster deal, with the DUP getting their 1.5 billion that goes for infrastructure and investment. "When you look at these figures that is much-needed investment." An economic bulletin said output in the construction sector had fallen over the first three months of this year. Mr Ramsey added: "These figures are highlighting that that (DUP deal) needs to be quickly translated from paper to quickly get that money into the projects and getting moving on the projects." The York Street Interchange will involve an underpass and bridge and is designed to improve links between the M1, M2 and M3. More than 100,000 vehicles pass through it daily. Mr Ramsey said there still were not enough houses available and the construction industry needed a boost. According to the Northern Ireland Composite Economic Index, published on Thursday by the Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency, economic output increased by 0.3% over the quarter to March this year. The increase was driven by the services sector. The production and public sector jobs index have remained relatively static. Construction fell by 0.1 percentage points. Northern Ireland's annual growth rate is similar to the UK as a whole but below the Republic of Ireland. Mr Ramsey said the country's economic output was still less than what it was a decade ago. He linked much of the fallen output to the housing downturn following the bubble between 2005 and 2007. "It was the biggest downturn in UK history so it is still recovering from that. "Our recession was deeper, longer and the recovery was weaker than the rest of the UK and that is due to the type of recession we had which was highly concentrated on the housing bust." The funeral of Helga (Hilda) McAteer, who lost her life in a house fire in Limavady, will be held this afternoon at St Canice's Church of Ireland in Eglinton The funeral of Helga (Hilda) McAteer, who lost her life in a house fire in Limavady, will be held this afternoon at St Canice's Church of Ireland in Eglinton. Ms McAteer, believed to have been aged in her 50s, died in the early hours of Monday morning from the effects of smoke inhalation after the blaze at her home in Grange Park, Limavady. A member of the public alerted the Fire Service after noticing smoke coming from the house, but Ms McAteer was pronounced dead at the scene. The Fire Service has since said the blaze was accidental. Originally from Eglinton, Ms McAteer made Limavady her home for the past 10 years, where her neighbours paid tribute to her. Removal is from her sister's home on Ballygudden Road in Eglinton at 2pm for the service at St Canice's Church at 3pm. Speaking earlier this week Alan Robinson, a DUP councillor for Limavady, said the whole town had been stunned by the death. The family of a man killed in the Hyde Park bombing have welcomed an apparent pledge by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to support their campaign for justice. Mr Corbyn wrote to Mark Tipper from the Hyde Park Justice Campaign, which is taking a private legal action against chief suspect John Downey, saying the government has a duty to ensure families have as much closure "as the law permits". Mr Tipper's brother, Simon, was one of the four Household Cavalry soldiers killed in the July 1982 explosion. Ahead of the 35th anniversary, which falls today, Mr Corbyn sent a letter stating that he "deplore(s) all acts of lethal violence which take innocent lives". He added: "That applies to the IRA bombing campaign in the 1980s as well as acts of terrorism we have witnessed in Manchester and London in recent months..." Mr Corbyn also acknowledged that, while necessary, the Good Friday Agreement did little to bring comfort and closure to the victims of the Troubles and it was now "the duty of government to ensure that they have such closure as the law permits". He went on to say that "the state has a duty to do what it can, however many years have passed, to console and support the families of those who die in its service". Law firm McCue and Partners, which is working with the families, said the letter had left relatives in "shock" given the controversy over Mr Corbyn's links to republicans in the past. The Hyde Park families first wrote to Mr Corbyn in April, asking for Labour's support for their campaign to bring Downey to justice. He later pledged to meet with relatives, and Mr Tipper said he hopes a date can now be set. He said Mr Corbyn still had much to prove. "British veterans and victims of terrorism have been appallingly treated by successive governments. Terrorists being given legal aid, and victims being denied it, are just one tragic example, as veterans are chased through the courts and the perpetrators laugh out loud," Mr Tipper added. "We only welcome Mr Corbyn's words if they are true, and proven by his actions. He has much trust to regain - but his support in our campaign is a starting point." Mr Tipper added that requests for a meeting with Theresa May's government have gone ignored. The 1982 Hyde Park attack killed Squadron Quartermaster Corporal Roy Bright, Lieutenant Anthony Daly, Trooper Simon Tipper and Lance Corporal Jeffrey Young. Downey always denied involvement. In 2013 he was arrested and charged with the murders and bombing. The prosecution collapsed in 2014 after it emerged government officials mistakenly sent him a letter in 2007, as part of a controversial On The Runs scheme, telling him he was no longer a wanted man. Ulster Unionist Danny Kinahan, who served in the Household Cavalry with Lt Daly, said: "I obviously welcome the letter from Jeremy Corbyn to the Hyde Park Justice Campaign, in which he offers a greater degree of support than has thus far been the case." He added, however: "In welcoming his comments I am somewhat puzzled as to why he refers specifically to the IRA campaign of the 1980s, and not in its entirety, given that atrocities were also committed in the 1970s, and 1990s, but this is at least some progress." You can always count on Stephen Nolan to divide opinion. There were mixed views on the presenter's salary on the streets of Belfast yesterday. The gender gap across the published BBC salaries was also a big talking point. Telecoms engineer Matt Cushnahan (54) said: "I don't think any of them are worth the money. "Also, the pay gaps need to be changed, they should be equal." Len Murray (60) said: "I am a fan of Stephen Nolan and other BBC presenters. I feel like it is okay for them to be paid that, if they are giving out class programmes and I think that they are. The programmes are fair and balanced. I appreciate their honesty." One woman who didn't want to be named commented: "I don't think it is anyone's business who gets paid what. Their salary is private business, it is not like you and I go around broadcasting ours. I wouldn't listen to Nolan personally, but obviously someone thinks that he is worth that kind of money. "What does need to be addressed is the huge gap in earnings between men and women, it is an absolute disgrace." Joanne Commins (22) added: "I am not a fan of Stephen Nolan, he doesn't deserve the money he gets." "The revelations are an absolute joke; why is a woman still earning less than a man?" Prime Minister Theresa May has publicly backed the introduction of gay marriage in Northern Ireland. The Conservative leader said that the LGBT community in the province should have the same rights as people across the UK. It is currently the only region within the UK where same sex marriage is banned. Writing for PinkNews - a gay rights website - Mrs May stated she wanted all "British citizens to enjoy the fullest freedoms and protections. That includes equal marriage - because marriage should be for everyone, regardless of their sexuality," she said. "While that is a matter for the devolved government of Northern Ireland, I will continue to make my position clear - that LGBT people in Northern Ireland should have the same rights as people across the rest of the UK." Her comments come weeks after the Tories formed a minority government with the DUP's support. The DUP has used the petition of concern voting mechanism at the Stormont Assembly to prevent a law change, despite a majority of MLAs supporting the move at the last vote. Mrs May added that she will continue to push for LGBT rights, and acknowledged that her party and the DUP differed on the issue. "My vision is of a world, at home and abroad, where there is no discrimination on the grounds of sexuality or gender identity," she said. "We don't agree with them on their approach to same-sex marriage, and I'm very clear that the Conservative Party in government doesn't agree with the DUP on those issues on LGBT rights. "We will continue to push forward, to enhance LGBT rights and we're pleased what we've been able to do so far, and we want to do more. That won't be changed by our relationship with the DUP, which of course isn't a formal coalition. "What I think is important is, if you look back on what happened after the election, we were the only party who could form a government." The DUP's Gregory Campbell said equal marriage was a devolved matter and that the PM's view on it "was not a concern". The MP for East Londonderry said: "She's entitled to her opinion as are others and I'm sure there will be people who disagree with her and some who agree with her. "It's not that often that leaders of national parliaments speak out on moral issues but they are entitled to do it including Angela Merkel who said that marriage is between a man and a woman and I agree with that view. "I'm sure I won't change Theresa May's opinion and she certainly won't change mine." Sinn Fein's Niall O Donnghaile has accused the UK's Immigration and Visa Department of discrimination after an Irish woman was told to renounce her British citizenship in order to secure a family member's residency. Emma De Souza from Magherafelt has been attempting to secure a family member residence card since 2015 for her husband Jake, who is from the United States. It was rejected because she holds an Irish passport and states her nationality as Irish. As a result Mr De Souza's passport has been held by the authorities for the past two years meaning he can't travel abroad causing him to miss family funerals. Speaking to the Irish Times, Ms DeSouza said that the situation had been "beyond a nightmare" and that her husband, who works as a musician, had not been able to travel with his band. He had also been left unable to drive as his year-long licence granted to him as a US national expired. Mr O Donnaghaile, who previously served as Lord Mayor of Belfast, called on the government department to "end its attempt to impose British nationality" describing the situation faced by the couple as "intolerable" and to grant a visa to allow her husband to live and work in Belfast. He said: "In their letter rejecting the application the Immigration and Visa Department said that Ms De Souza, who was born in Magherafelt in south Derry was 'automatically considered a British citizen' and that she would have to renounce her British citizenship and reapply for the residency card. "This created an issue for Ms DeSouza, as to denounce British citizenship would be to acknowledge that it had applied to her to begin with." In his statement, Mr O Donnghaile said that this issue was a matter for the British government as "one of its departments is deliberately or unintentionally misreading the Good Friday Agreement". He called on Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney to intervene. "Under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, individuals in Northern Ireland are able to define themselves as either Irish, British, or both - with this being accepted by both governments as co-guarantors of the agreement," he said. "This is an intolerable situation for the De Souza family and I am calling on the minister for foreign affairs, Simon Coveney to intervene on the familys behalf." The Home Office and the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs has been asked for a comment. The medals of Sergeant Anthony Haw who was a member of the 14th Intelligence Company, which included murdered Captain Robert Nairac among its ranks during the Troubles Seven medals awarded to a uncover soldier - who completed six tours in Northern Ireland - are expected to fetch 20,000 at auction. Among the haul of medals earned by Sergeant Anthony Haw is the Queen's Gallantry Medal (QGM) he received for his exploits here. The Special Ops Northern Ireland QGM was awarded to Sgt Haw "in recognition of service in Northern Ireland during the period November 1, 1977, to January 31, 1978". Sgt Haw received the honour from the Queen at an investiture at Buckingham Palace in November 1978, but the medal was stolen from his car in Liverpool a short time later. He eventually got the medal back in the 1990s. The QGM and six other medals awarded to Mr Haw are now expected to sell for between 18,000 and 22,000 when they are auctioned at Spink in London next Wednesday. His medals are being sold on behalf of a private collector. Marcus Budgen, a medals specialist at Spink, described Sergeant Haw's career as akin to an Ian Fleming novel. "The awards of Tony Haw are truly remarkable, being a special forces group with two gallantry awards is quite exceptional, making this a completely unique group," he said. "His work with 14 Intelligence Company was at the spearhead of the covert surveillance operations missions undertaken at the time and is very much taken from the pages of an Ian Fleming novel at times. "His career later took him over the Iron Curtain into East Berlin as part of the Cold War spy mission, BRIXMIS. "We are confident that the history and importance of his awards will be reflected in the result come auction day." Sgt Haw completed six tours of regular duty in the Green Howards in Northern Ireland between 1970 and 1975. He then joined 14 Intelligence Company, known as '14 Int' and remained employed on undercover duties in Northern Ireland for another four years. His work for 14 Int in Northern Ireland was exceptionally dangerous and several 14 Int operatives were killed by the IRA, including Captain Robert Nairac, who disappeared in May 1977. His body has never been recovered. Author James Rennie wrote a book about 14 Int and described its members as "highly trained in skills, including lock-picking, advanced weapon handling, covert surveillance and infra-red photography, a typical operator has at his or her disposal an arsenal of techniques and weapons unmatched in any other theatre," he wrote. "No other UK Government or military agency is so comprehensively trained, armed and equipped to undertake individually, or in flexible teams, the wide variety of covert intelligence gathering tasks that are required by a democracy in pursuit of the terrorist." Among the other medals won by Sgt Haw to be auctioned is the British Empire Medal for his role in the Cold War spy mission named BRIXMIS. As part of a three-man team Haw penetrated a Soviet tank gunnery range in East Germany on May Day 1981 and secured photographs of the interior of the new T-64 Tank. A woman who claimed she was evicted at an hour's notice from a shelter run by the Methodist Mission has taken part in a protest at the organisation's Clooney Hall HQ. Louise Nash has been living in a Londonderry B&B for three weeks since she was told by management at Clarendon Shelter for women that she had 60 minutes to pack her belongings and go. Ms Nash - a grandmother who had beem at the shelter for 10 months - said she was evicted because she challenged the new management regime. She is being supported by the local branch of trade union Unison, which said staff were also unhappy at the way things were being run. Ms Nash told the Belfast Telegraph the dynamics of Clarendon Shelter changed once the new management came into place. She said: "When I first moved into Clarendon Shelter the staff were fantastic. "However, since then changes have been made which had a bad effect on staff and residents. "We were all told by management that our data was going to be shared with other organisations. I objected to this but we weren't given any choice about it. I was also asked to sign a new code of conduct, which I also object to. "I was then evicted from the shelter, which I believe is because I challenged management." Niall McCarroll from Unison said the protesters were calling on the Methodist Mission to reinstate the ethos of the shelter from 40 years ago. He explained: "Our members are not happy about the ethos of the service, the lack of proper dialogue or consultation with the staff. "We are calling for the workers to be respected, all their years of service to be valued and (to) form part of any decision-making moving forward. "For the women living in Clarendon Shelter, they deserve a service which meets the needs of women. "The people who are running it now think it is just the same as running a men's hostel, but it absolutely is not." A spokesman for the Methodist Mission responded: "All residents at Clarendon Shelter must sign a licence agreement upon entry. Management has consulted with staff and residents and acknowledges that most residents observe acceptable standards of conduct while staying at the shelter. "However, it is important to establish a procedure for dealing with residents who fail to observe and comply with rules and regulations. "We take security and data protection very seriously and in accordance with each individual client's needs "Clarendon Shelter is concerned that Unison has not made any representation to current management despite the operation of an open-door policy." Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson arrives in Japan on Thursday for top-level security and trade talks. The North Korean nuclear crisis is likely to feature in discussions Mr Johnson is having with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida. Mr Johnson will also hold talks on cyber safety and business opportunities. The Foreign Secretary said: I have come to Japan to build on our historic relationship, which is based on common values, support for democracy, human rights and free and open markets. Japanese companies invest more than 40 billion in the UK and our commercial relationship is stronger than ever. We do great work together on everything from defence and security to education, research and innovation. Expand Close Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is heading to Japan (Victoria Jones/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is heading to Japan (Victoria Jones/PA) Mr Johnson said British firms would play a key role in Tokyos hosting of the 2020 Olympics. He added: As London Mayor I had the privilege and honour to see up close how dramatically the Olympic and Paralympic Games unified and lifted our great capital, and I am excited for the people of Tokyo that they will soon experience the magic that the Olympics brings. Im proud that our world-leading expertise in staging major events will help to forge an even stronger UK-Japan partnership ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games. Mr Johnson will head to New Zealand and Australia after he leaves Japan. Spain remains the top destination for UK travellers, with the Balearic and Canary islands leading the way (Lauren Hurley/PA) A record 2.4 million British travellers are expected to head overseas this weekend as schools close their gates for the summer holidays, Abta said. The travel trade association warned holidaymakers to expect busy roads, ports and airports as passenger numbers swell. Spain remains the top destination for UK travellers, with the Balearic and Canary islands leading the way, while bookings to Portugal, Greece, Italy and France are also strong, ABTA said. Expand Close Motorists are being warned to expect delays this weekend as almost nine million vehicles embark on the start of the summer getaway (Gareth Fuller/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Motorists are being warned to expect delays this weekend as almost nine million vehicles embark on the start of the summer getaway (Gareth Fuller/PA) The Mediterranean still dominates the family market, but the associations members reported strong growth for Bulgaria and Croatia for those seeking summer sun. Destinations popular with those travelling further afield include Cuba, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and Mexico, with Florida keeping its spot as the number one long-haul family choice. European cities such as Barcelona, Paris, Rome and Amsterdam are leading the way as city break destinations for families seeking culture and architecture. Expand Close Rome is a popular destination (Claudio Peri/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Rome is a popular destination (Claudio Peri/AP) But Abta said domestic bookings are also healthy, with travel agents and tour operators reporting strong demand to the West Country and seaside resorts. Mark Tanzer, Abta chief executive, said: This weekend is the traditional curtain-raiser for the family summer holidays and I am delighted to report that record numbers will be heading off on holiday this weekend. But he warned: With so many people travelling, the roads, public transport and ports will be exceptionally busy so we would recommend that people factor a little extra time into their travel plans to avoid any stress or disappointment. Expand Close Around half a million passengers are expected to be leaving Heathrow Airport this weekend (Steve Parsons/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Around half a million passengers are expected to be leaving Heathrow Airport this weekend (Steve Parsons/PA) More than 500,000 passengers are expected to jet off from Heathrow, with another 335,000 flying out of Gatwick, 136,000 from Stansted and 85,000 from Luton. Some 150,000 are due to depart from Manchester, 70,000 from Birmingham and 55,000 from Bristol, while more than 100,000 travellers due to fly from Scottish airports, with 70,000 from Glasgow alone. The channel tunnel is also expected to be busy, with 58,000 holidaymakers reported to be heading off to Paris and the South of France on Eurostar over the weekend. The long and sorry saga over the prospect of pensions for victims of the Troubles has taken a new twist. Secretary of State James Brokenshire has decided against including the long-running sore in a public consultation he is planning for later this year. The Wave Trauma Centre which met him this week said the SoS could decide to put the issue, affecting around 500 people, into his intended exercise which arises from the stalled Stormont negotiations to restore devolution. Read More The centre brought its group of people left severely injured - some of them now in their 80s - to meet a SoS face to face for the first time on Wednesday. Mr Brokenshire and his officials insisted the pension issue is a devolved matter but Wave group co-ordinator Alan McBride argued afterwards: I think the Secretary of State would be doing the DUP and Sinn Fein a massive favour if he was to include the pension proposal in the consultation. We recognise it is quite a toxic issue for the DUP if as they see it IRA members injured by their own hands are to be given pensions. By the same token Sinn Fein cannot say it will just leave those people behind, it would suffer then in terms of support from its own community. Around 10 controversial individuals are holding up a resolution of the pensions which would cost around 3m a year. Mr McBride, who lost his wife Sharon and father in law Desmond Frizzell in the IRAs Shankill Road fish shop attack which killed ten people on October 23, 1993. said he had directly challenged Mr Brokenshire during their meeting. I would have thought it he wanted to he could take the necessary legal action to include the pensions issue in the consultation. Surely its a legacy matter more than a devolved matter, he added. The 500 people who form part of what Wave calls its injured group were left so badly harmed that they were unable to work and could not build up pensions so some of them are now having to live on benefits. Since we set this group up, three of them have died and most of them are approaching middle age and old age. Some of them are facing destitution and the aim of our campaign is to see that they will be able to live with a bit of dignity and independence, Mr McBride said. The Wave Centre co-ordinator also added, however: We are not giving up on this. We have people who are facing difficult lives and this is too important. A spokesman for Mr Brokenshire said he was keen to listen to what they have to say and will reflect carefully before considering the next steps for taking forward the legacy consultation. But in relation to the pensions proposal, which has the backing of the Victims Commissioner Judith Thompson, the spokesman only responded: It is a devolved issue. Compensation payments awarded in the 1970s and 1980s have been criticised as derisory. Victims who have faced increasing financial difficulties because they have lived longer than expected included UDR widows who lost their husbands pensions after remarrying. Former First Minister Arlene Foster and the late ex-Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness had said prior to the collapse of Stormont they were considering a pension proposal. The idea was left out of the so-called Fresh Start deal between the DUP and Sinn Fein almost two years ago, although a wider agreement a year earlier than that had pledged to attempt to find a way forward on the problem which was also mentioned a year earlier still in a report by American diplomat Richard Haass - all the way back to the Eames/ Bradley report soon a decade old. Stalling, anyone ? Are all parties ready for rights for all? The Twelfth has passed relatively peacefully and that is a good thing. Hopefully it paves the way for a more constructive atmosphere when the negotiations to restore the Executive resume. But some of the Eleventh Night bonfires - and the racism and sectarianism surrounding them - were an ugly reminder of the kind of difficulties we are still facing. So when the parties do get back round the table, we all face a choice. Do we want the kind of society where such blatant manifestations of hate and prejudice are tolerated and even celebrated? Or do we want a rights-based society where all are welcome. Where all cultures, creeds and allegiances are respected and traditions practised respectfully and responsibly. A society where all citizens are treated equally, regardless of the language they speak or the person they love. No one can be in any doubt as to where Sinn Fein stands on the issue of a rights-based society. We have been abundantly clear from the day that Martin McGuinness resigned that any new Executive needs to be on the basis of equality, respect and integrity because that represents the implementation of what has previously been agreed. Anything less is doomed to failure. I have no reason to doubt that the majority of the other parties also feel the same way. Certainly, throughout the talks the SDLP and Alliance Party have consistently demonstrated their view that rights must be respected by a new Executive if it is to be credible and command public confidence. Both unionist parties, I believe, also know they're on the wrong side of the argument - and history - when it comes to issues like equal marriage. So when the talks resume, the question will be whether all those parties are in a position to embrace the kind of progressive politics which the wider public are demanding. Will the DUP show leadership and stand up to the rejectionists, rather than being cowed by them? Will their partners in the Tory party hold them to account for the failure to implement previous agreements? Will the Irish Government assert itself as a co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement and demand its implementation? Will the SDLP stand firm on key rights issues, because some of the commentary from their spokespeople over recent weeks would suggest they are prepared to get an Executive at any price? They need to ask themselves if an Executive on the DUP's terms is better than no Executive. Are some rights less valuable than others? All these questions remain unanswered but Sinn Fein are certainly hopeful that we can find the right answers when the negotiations resume. None of the obstacles we face are insurmountable. We have faced much greater challenges in the past and it is entirely possible to have an Executive in place that is getting on with the business of delivering public services within a very short space of time. That is what people want to see. It is what Sinn Fein wants to see and it is what is required in the current climate where we are facing the twin challenges of Brexit and unrelenting Tory austerity. And it doesn't take much to make it happen. A commitment to basic rights and the implementation of what has already been agreed is hardly a radical shopping list. We are talking about the kind of things that are taken for granted everywhere else on the islands. They should be taken for granted here also. Someone who lives in Belfast should be no less entitled to rights than someone who lives in Dublin, London, Cardiff or Edinburgh. That shouldn't be a difficult concept for political parties to grasp. And it isn't a difficult thing to implement. We will see in September whether all parties are now prepared to do what needs to be done. A peace memorial to Lord Mountbatten near the spot in Mullaghmore, Co Sligo, where he was killed by the IRA has been vandalised. A photograph of Prince Charles, which is contained in the display in the village, has been defaced ahead of next months 38th anniversary of his great-uncles assassination. The memorial, which was erected last December, contains photographs of the Mountbattens, who regularly holidayed at their summer home in village, 12 miles from the border. Tributes in the display are in both Irish and English, and refer to reconciliation between the royals and Ireland. The memorial includes a photograph of Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall taken during their emotional visit to Mullaghmore two years ago. The vandals were last night condemned by victims campaigner Kenny Donaldson, who claimed they were seeking to poison relationships at a time when there was growing respect in the Republic for the royal family. He said: Those who carried out this act of wanton vandalism stand in glaring contrast to the generous efforts of Prince Charles and his mother in seeking to lead by example and promote a new way forward between the peoples of the UK and nationalist/republican Ireland. Mr Donaldson, of the victims group the South East Fermanagh Foundation (SEFF), claimed the vandals probably thought they were doing their bit to advance Irelands cause. He added: That is the same delusional and bitter logic towards all things perceived to be British that those who were behind the terrorist outrage in Mullaghmore shared. But history is overtaking the mindset of those who deface memorials. Relationships between the UK and the Republic of Ireland have never been stronger. There is substantive and growing respect for the royal family right across the Republic. Lord Mountbatten (79) was killed when a bomb hidden on his boat Shadow V exploded off the coast of the small fishing village in August 1979. His 14-year-old grandson Nicholas Knatchbull and 15-year-old Paul Maxwell from Killynure, Enniskillen, who was in the village for the summer and worked on the royals boat, also died in the explosion. Another passenger Lady Doreen Brabourne, the 83-year-old mother-in-law of the earls daughter died the day after the attack. Despite warnings from the Garda, Lord Mountbatten went lobster-potting and tuna fishing in the vessel. IRA member Thomas McMahon slipped onto the Shadow V in darkness and attached a radio-controlled 50-pound bomb. It was detonated by remote control at 11.39am the next day when the boat was about 200 yards from the harbour. Bangladeshi human rights activist Adilur Rahman Khan is pictured as police arrest him from his home in Dhaka on suspicion of publishing false images and information, Aug. 10, 2013. Malaysian authorities barred a prominent Bangladeshi activist from entering the country on Thursday and put him on a flight back to Dhaka after reportedly holding him for hours, in an incident that outraged human rights advocates. Adilur Rahman Khan, a lawyer and secretary general of the Bangladeshi rights advocacy group Odhikar, was denied entry at Kuala Lumpur International Airport when he disembarked from a Malaysia Airlines flight from Dhaka, according to Malaysian immigration officials. They offered no explanation other than saying he was blacklisted from entering the country. The incident marked the second case in a month of Malaysian immigration officials barring entry to and turning back a foreign human rights activist, according to the local chapter of Amnesty International. In a statement issued late Thursday (local time), the Malaysian immigration department said that officials found Khans name on a list of foreigners banned from entering Malaysia, and he was deported at 8:05 p.m. that evening. Khans name appeared in reference of an enforcement agency, the statement said. Immigration department consulted the enforcement agency and the subject had been recommended to be denied entry. Khan was not arrested but denied entry and had been treated well while waiting for the airline to arrange his flight back to Bangladesh, it added. Khan, a former deputy attorney-general in Bangladesh, was due to speak at a two-day conference organized by the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN) in Malaysia. He landed back in Dhaka safely before midnight on Thursday (local time), said Odhikar coordinator Sajjad Hossain, who met Khan at the airport. Khan declined to make any statement upon his arrival, Hossain said. Embarrassment to Malaysia The human rights group Voice of the Malaysian People better known as Suaram condemned Khans detention at the Kuala Lumpur airport and called on the Malaysian government to stop the persistent harassment against human rights defenders visiting the country. Odhikar officials, who requested anonymity, told BenarNews that Malaysian authorities may have seen Khan as a security threat because of his activities as a human-rights lawyer in Bangladesh. They said Khan, who founded Odhikar in 1994, had carried out extensive fact-finding missions into human rights violations in Bangladesh. In August 2013, Bangladeshi police arrested him on charges of fabricating information about heavy-handed tactics used by government security forces in breaking up a protest carried out in Dhaka by Hefazat-e-Islam, a conservative Muslim group. Khan denied the charges. After that arrest, Human Rights Watch (HRW) Asia Director Brad Adams said Khan had been a strong critic of each of the past governments and has been threatened and followed for a long time. We are concerned for his safety. It appears he is being persecuted for his criticism of the current government. According to other rights groups, Khan and his colleagues have been previously harassed, intimidated and followed closely by Bangladeshi authorities for publicly criticizing alleged police brutality. Khan, a recipient of human rights awards, has campaigned against torture, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and violence against women and minorities in Bangladesh. The Malaysian grassroots movement Bersih, which has organized massive street demonstrations calling for transparent government, described Khans treatment on Thursday as an embarrassment to Malaysia on the world stage. Given his recognized dedication to the promotion of human rights and democracy, such an individual should be welcomed to share his experiences and knowledge, instead of being treated as a threat to national security, Bersih said in a statement. According to Odhikars website, the NGO helps monitor and raise awareness about rights abuses in Bangladesh and has trained more than 500 Bangladeshis to become human rights defenders. A trend Amnesty International Malaysia (AIM) also criticized Khans deportation, saying he was the latest target of a growing trend to impose travel bans on rights activists entering Malaysia. We call for an end to the use of travel bans against human-rights defenders, which further stigmatizes their work, and limits their ties with the global human rights movement, AIM Director K. Shamini Darshni said in a statement. On June 18, immigration officers barred Singaporean human rights defender Han Hui Hui from entering Malaysia. She was held for several hours and deported after she was listed as an undesirable immigrant by the Malaysian Home Ministry. Han was to attend a regional youth-exchange program organized by Suaram. Han had not encountered any problems entering Malaysia in her five previous visits from April 2015 to March this year, officials told BenarNews. Back in her home country, Han had actively campaigned to promote government transparency and accountability. Other activists that Malaysia has previously barred from entering include Hong Kongs Joshua Wong, as well as Indonesian human rights defender Mugiyanto Sipin, in May 2015 and January 2016, respectively. Malaysian authorities had also introduced a policy that bans its citizens who discredit or ridicule the government from traveling abroad, according to a local newspaper, drawing criticism from civil liberty advocates. Maria Chin Abdullah, the chairwoman of Bersih, is among those critics banned from traveling abroad. Anyone who runs down the government or smears the government in any manner will be barred from going abroad, a source in the immigration department told The Star newspaper in May 2016. Former Immigration Director General Sakib Kusmi confirmed the existence of the new policy, saying that owning a passport was a privilege and not a right. Malaysias Court of Appeal, the countrys second-highest tribunal, had ruled earlier this month that the government had the right to bar any citizen from traveling abroad. Hata Wahari in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report. President Rodrigo Duterte (left), the commander-in-chief of the Philippine armed forces, is seen during a visit to troops in the besieged southern city of Marawi, July 20, 2017. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte made a surprise visit to the besieged southern city of Marawi on Thursday, rallying troops fighting to retake the area overrun by militants backed by the Islamic State (IS). Duterte flew into the city and donned fatigues as he was escorted straight to a military base, where he conferred with troops privately and inspected a cache of weapons seized from the enemy. Members of the press were not allowed access for security reasons. Duterte flew out after spending nearly four hours with the soldiers. Our president went to Marawi to visit the troops. It was an intimate engagement with our police and soldiers, local military spokesman Lt. Col. Jo-Ar Herrera said. He said troops appreciated Dutertes strong support for the government forces, which have lost 99 troops since fierce clashes broke out in the city on Mindanao island on May 23. We are very happy with his visit, Herrera said, describing the president as very firm and dedicated. Military chief Gen. Eduardo Ano said Duterte landed in Marawi as troops were trying to retake a key bridge Mapandi Bridge in the downtown section during a fierce gun battle with militants. Duterte was given the latest Situations Update on the 59th day of the siege of the city. Just a minute before the choppers landed, there were a few sniper shots coming from unknown direction that targets the landing zone area, Gen. Ano said. Apart from Ano, Duterte was accompanied by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. and other top officials. Medical clinic, hospital captured from militants Dutertes visit came two days before Congress was to convene a special session to discuss the possibility of extending martial law, which he earlier declared over the entire southern Mindanao region to quell the rebellion. In a letter to Congress, Duterte argued he needed more time to crush the uprising led by Abu Sayyaf Group leader Isnilon Hapilon, the acknowledged regional IS leader, and backed by the local Maute gang and fighters from Southeast Asia and the Middle East. It was a tacit acknowledgement that government forces would not be able to quell the fighting within days as the president said last week. His government already sought the assistance of the United States and Australia, who are providing intelligence help. On Wednesday, Singapore said it was prepared to lend the Philippines long-range drones to assist forces in defeating the enemy. As of Wednesday, according to the military, the fighting has left 421 militants and 45 civilians dead. As many as 852 soldiers were wounded in the ongoing fighting. The military said the militants are entrenched in buildings in a small area in the center of the city, following air raids that have reduced the once scenic lakeside enclave into a landscape of pockmarked structures. Herrera said that the number of enemy fighters had fallen to around 60, who are believed to be holding civilians, including a Catholic priest, hostage. Currently, our troops are still deployed in a vantage position to continue pursuing our enemies defensive positions. We are moving toward the center of the gravity, Herrera said. Soldiers had taken full control of the Salaam and Maranaw Medical Clinic and hospitals in Lilod Madaya, one of the four villages here still under enemy control, he said. While we are closing in to the center of gravity, the more our enemies will be defensive, he said, adding there were many stray bullets from the enemy side in cleared villages. After an 18-year run in Goose Creek and unforeseen challenges presented by COVID-19, Dreamalot Books has gradually but decidedly gained a steady foothold in the Moncks Corner community as a welcoming haven of second-hand books for both area bibliophiles and those traveling in from Myrtle Read moreThe 'happy place' for used books: Dreamalot Books emerging as a go-to hot spot in Moncks Corner ein Google-Unternehmen Google-Dienste anzubieten und zu betreiben Ausfalle zu prufen und Manahmen gegen Spam, Betrug und Missbrauch zu ergreifen Daten zu Zielgruppeninteraktionen und Websitestatistiken zu erheben. Mit den gewonnenen Informationen mochten wir verstehen, wie unsere Dienste verwendet werden, und die Qualitat dieser Dienste verbessern. neue Dienste zu entwickeln und zu verbessern Werbung auszuliefern und ihre Wirkung zu messen personalisierte Inhalte anzuzeigen, abhangig von Ihren Einstellungen personalisierte Werbung anzuzeigen, abhangig von Ihren Einstellungen Wenn Sie Alle ablehnen auswahlen, verwenden wir Cookies nicht fur diese zusatzlichen Zwecke. Nicht personalisierte Inhalte und Werbung werden u. a. von Inhalten, die Sie sich gerade ansehen, und Ihrem Standort beeinflusst (welche Werbung Sie sehen, basiert auf Ihrem ungefahren Standort). Personalisierte Inhalte und Werbung konnen auch Videoempfehlungen, eine individuelle YouTube-Startseite und individuelle Werbung enthalten, die auf fruheren Aktivitaten wie auf YouTube angesehenen Videos und Suchanfragen auf YouTube beruhen. Sofern relevant, verwenden wir Cookies und Daten auerdem, um Inhalte und Werbung altersgerecht zu gestalten. Wir verwenden Cookies und Daten, umWenn Sie Alle akzeptieren auswahlen, verwenden wir Cookies und Daten auch, umWahlen Sie Weitere Optionen aus, um sich zusatzliche Informationen anzusehen, einschlielich Details zum Verwalten Ihrer Datenschutzeinstellungen. Sie konnen auch jederzeit g.co/privacytools besuchen. For Immediate Release, July 19, 2017 Contact: Brett Hartl, (202) 817-8121, bhartl@biologicaldiversity.org Susan Combs Widely Opposed for High-level Interior Department Post Disastrous Nominee Is Longtime Opponent of Protecting Endangered Species WASHINGTON More than 70 conservation organizations sent a letter today to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee opposing President Trump's nomination of Susan Combs as the Department of the Interior's assistant secretary for policy, management and budget. Ms. Combs should not be placed in such a pivotal and important position in a department whose mission she clearly does not believe in, states the letter, which was signed by groups ranging from Public Citizen to the California Native Plant Society. Combs' disturbing record shows she's an anti-wildlife zealot who fundamentally rejects Interior's conservation mission, said Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity, which signed the letter. If confirmed, Combs would likely try to block safeguards for the American wolverine, lesser prairie chicken and hundreds more species that have often been waiting decades for life-saving protections. It seems like the only real job requirement for the Trump administration is to be ideologically opposed to the agency for which you have been selected. As Texas State Comptroller, Combs wrested control of the state's endangered species program from the Department of Parks and Wildlife to her office, which manages state fiscal and tax matters and did not have a single biologist. She then used her authority to fight endangered species protections for numerous species, including the dunes sagebrush lizard, golden-cheeked warbler and lesser prairie chicken, all at the behest of the oil and gas industry and other special interests. Today's letter notes that since leaving the Comptroller's office in 2014, Combs has continued to oppose protections for endangered species. She used her leftover campaign money to help fund a petition to end federal protections for one of Texas' most spectacular endangered species, the golden-cheeked warbler, which requires large, intact stands of ash-juniper trees in order to breed. Combs has been a true enemy of endangered species in Texas, and she'll bring that same philosophy to Washington D.C. and do real damage to endangered species everywhere, said Hartl. Scopen has just finished presenting its 4th edition of Agency Scope in Mexico. More than 40 agencies subscribed to the report and were able to learn and understand the state of the industry in a turbulent period. Fieldwork was completed during the first five months of 2017, probably the worst economic time in recent years of Mexican history. After Trump won the US elections along with all of his rhetoric against Mexico, his plans to build the wall, the drop of the Peso, it was not a good moment for the Mexican economy and therefore a complex occasion for the advertising industry. Because marketers recognised that they didnt have a clear budget for 2017, they were working with a one month or two-month budget and trying to prepare campaigns with small resources. Agencies were preoccupied, while their costs had increased (office space, research, are paid in dollars) their clients had no clear view of their long-term budgets nor for the campaigns they would be running. On top of that situation, it is important to bear in mind that Mexico is a country where in many sectors there is just a duopoly and just two huge companies control more than 80% of that sector. Increased investment in digital Therefore, there are no challengers and new, young companies are trying to win market share with new product offerings, special discounts or aggressive campaigns. This has resulted, for many years, in very conservative communications and dull campaigns from the leading brands in the country. Mexico is one of the four countries among the Mist (Mexico, Indonesia, South Africa and Turkey) economies. Therefore, it is interesting to analyse trends in Mexico and see how they compare to those in South Africa. Marketers have increased their investment in digital, and it now represents 30% of their total communications-marketing budget. This is an increase of nearly eight percentage points since 2015 and we can now see that Mexico is more in line with other emerging markets in terms of digital investment. The increase in digital budgets has come together with a decrease in the investment in traditional conventional media, mainly television. A major complaint of agencies is that the money taken from television budgets is not being re-invested in other media. Because of this digital shift, marketers are saving money and reducing their overall budget in communications. One of the biggest concerns for agencies and media owners is the weak investment by Mexican brands in advertising communications: for every 100 pesos of turnover, they only invest 0.5%. If we compare this with the UK, the ratio goes up to 2.5%, 1.9% in China, 3.4% in Brazil and 2.7% in South Africa. Integrated industries is a global trend All new hires in marketers are digital professionals. This shift in hiring is another problem within the industry. Years ago, the agencies were the only ones trying to hire the best digital talent, then Facebook, Google and similar others came along, also trying to hire that same talent, and now it is the brands. And there is a big lack of this talent, mainly because there are no universities or colleges to train these new roles. Marketers in Mexico are nowadays working with specialist agencies and they use them to solve their communication needs in different disciplines (advertising, activation, sales promotions, digital, PR, media). When we ask CMOs what type of agency they would like to work with in the future, 56% respond they will look for integrated agencies (trying to solve all their communications need under one roof). This is a global trend in emerging markets that we also saw in 2015 in South Africa. Mexican clients define an integrated agency as that one that solves advertising needs (98%), digital (95%), BTL (87%), media (72%), events (62%) and PR (59%). So being perceived as an integrated agency is becoming more and more complex, because more and more clients demand more disciplines to be solved. The number of clients that want media services to be integrated in the offering is dramatically higher than other countries (72% in Mexico against 56% in South Africa). When Mexican CMOs define their ideal creative agency they mention an agency that provides the best creativity and innovation, profound knowledge of the market/category/brand and powerful strategic planning. When thinking of media agencies, their ideal is one that provides knowledge of the market/media/category/brand, good account service and strong negotiation power with media owners. On top of those qualities, not easy to find as a combination, they search for good value for money, mainly influenced by procurement directors getting involved in the negotiation process with agencies. More and more, procurement directors are getting involved in the negotiation process with agencies. In Mexico, nowadays in 47% of the cases (below South Africas 52% and much lower than the UK at 80%, worlds highest). More innovative and effective creativity One of the biggest problems in Mexico, as well as in other emerging markets, is the number of agencies being involved in pitches. We frequently see 8-10 agencies participating in the final presentations to clients for small accounts that sometimes are even small projects. And only 17% of marketers declare that they pay participating agencies in the pitch. The duration of the relationship between clients and their agencies has dramatically dropped in the last two years. From over seven years to slightly over five years! Why? The answer is in the proliferation of independent agencies. Due to the economic crisis, talented professionals are leaving the holding groups and creating their own agencies which has resulted in a new breed of smaller, independent agencies and clients are trying to work with them. Changing agencies is no longer related to the lack of good service but the search for more innovative and effective creativity. The search for new ideas is top of mind for all marketers. Most importantly, because of the difficult economic times, marketers agree in Mexico that agencies contribute by 28% to growth their businesses (slightly lower than 31% in South Africa). This figure has increased from 20% in 2015 and agencies are satisfied when they see that marketers perceive all the effort they are making in attracting talent, reinforcing their offering and providing better service to their clients. Challenges for the future in Mexico are very similar to those that we see in other markets. The biggest concern for Mexican marketers is to better understand the consumer and all the touch points. Digital, new media and new platforms make it much more difficult to get to the consumer and they need their agencies to help them. They also need their agencies to help them understand digital and all new media. They understand that if they want to approach people they wont be sitting in front of the TV set as they used to in the past. And this is happening in Mexico much later than in other markets. GAHARA, Rwanda - Inside a metal shed in southeastern Rwanda, Nicholas Hitimana brandished a plastic container holding a green liquid: geranium essential oil, freshly distilled and ready for export at more than $200 (175 euros) a kilo. monicore via pixabay The pioneer of essential oils in Rwanda, Hitimana said he understood over a decade ago "the need to develop high-value crops" in his hilly nation of just 2.6m hectares (6.4m acres). The great potential of the essential oil sector Agriculture accounts for nearly a third of GDP and employs four-fifths of the population and, as a result, there is "little arable land" remaining. "On a hectare, if we grow beans, we earn about $2,000 a year, whereas on the same land, if we grow geranium, the income can reach $6,000 or even $8,000," Hitimana says. The trained agronomist embodies Rwanda's ambition of diversifying its agriculture and increasing the value of exports by getting into the lucrative global market for essential oils. To this end, Hitimana has been importing geraniums from South Africa since 2004. At the time the flower was virtually unknown in Rwanda, but Hitimana was convinced of the "great potential" of the essential oil sector. "In South Africa, there can only be two harvests a year, but here, as there is no winter, it is possible to get up to four crops a year," says Hitimana, whose company Ikirezi Natural Products has since grown and diversified. With 25 hectares of plantations, it produces 1,000 kilogrammes of essential oils derived from patchouli, lemon grass, and eucalyptus as well as geraniums. The oils are exported to Canada, South Africa, the US and elsewhere for use in the perfume industry. Convincing farmers to abondon subsistence for commercial agriculture The company employs 70 farmers. "At first, it was not easy to convince them to abandon subsistence for commercial agriculture," he says, adding the work is more precise than growing beans. "We need to plant on time, manure on time, hoe, turn the soil, irrigate and harvest on time", or risk a "drastically" reduced yield, Hitimana says, noting that it takes between 600-1,000 kilos of geraniums to produce a single kilo of oil. A few years on, and the employees seem convinced. "Since I've been working here, I've been able to build a house with a tin roof, I can pay for my son's schooling and buy everything I need," says 55-year-old Stephanie Mukamana, busily weeding around a geranium plant. Last year, Rwanda exported around 14 tonnes of essential oils - geranium, moringa, patchouli, and tagetes - bringing in $473,000, according to the National Agricultural Export Development Board. Rwanda is also cultivating pyrethrum, used in natural insecticides. Getting a share of the essential oils cake According to the India-based firm Market Research Future (MRFR), essential oils are increasingly in demand in richer countries for use in cosmetics, food, and pharmaceuticals. The world market is forecast to grow by seven percent between 2017 and 2022, says MRFR. To get its share of the cake, Rwanda opened an essential oil laboratory three years ago, the first of its kind in the region, allowing quality control. "One of the main challenges facing Rwanda is a growing trade deficit and a limited number of competitive companies that can meet regional and international export standards," says Patience Mutesi, Rwanda director for TradeMark East Africa, which promotes regional trade and helped fund the lab project. The laboratory will "enable Rwandan companies to access new and lucrative markets... by strengthening consumer confidence in the quality of Rwandan products," she says. Sitting in front of a brand new chromatogram in the Kigali laboratory, Antoine Mukunzi, a Rwanda Standards Authority official, is satisfied with his small country's progress: "We cannot compete in terms of exported volumes, but we can in terms of quality." Source: AFP The latest iteration of the National Health Insurance (NHI) policy paper is no closer to defining how much the scheme will cost and where the money will come from to pay for it. Meanwhile, SA risks running out of tax payers to finance its social security commitments, said Dr Johann Serfontein, senior healthcare consultant with HealthMan and Jasson Urbach, director & head of the Free Market Foundations Health Policy Unit. The NHI scheme is based on a government administered, centrally controlled, single-payer model. Healthcare decisions will be determined by government from the cradle to the grave. NHI will reduce the number of available services, mean fewer healthcare providers and patients will face long waiting lists. NHI concentrates power in the hands of government and requires it to act as both player and referee, leaving no room for the private sector. Under NHI, whether directly or indirectly, government will control the availability, financing and delivery of healthcare for all, a statement from the FMF says. Politically motivated Given its timing and the absence of the substantial details, we can only assume that the release of the NHI policy document is politically motivated. Critical details such as cost, funding and from where the additional personnel (both medical and administrative) will come, are absent. What is clear is that it will not materially improve the health outcomes of the poorest and most vulnerable members of society, Urbach says. The NHI policy paper states, An NHI Fund must be established through legislation. The sources of revenue for the fund will be through a combination of pre-payment taxes derived from general taxes and complemented by mandatory payroll and surcharge taxes. The Davis Tax Committee confirms that the tax to GDP ratio will need to rise quite substantially. However, high levels of unemployment mean that South Africa suffers from relatively low levels of incomes and, critically, a very narrow tax base: only 3.5m people shoulder 99% of the total personal income tax take. There are too few tax payers in SA to finance NHI, the foundation said. NHI will mean that the 3.6% (of a total of 8.5%) of GDP spent by 16% of the population on their own healthcare should be redistributed to the whole population. This is unconstitutional. Factual inaccuracies Serfontein said that the minister and department of health consistently use factual inaccuracies to justify NHI. It is inaccurate to say that 80% of specialists serve only 20% of the population. HPCSA registration figures show that, at most, 66% of specialists work in the private sector. It is also inaccurate to say the private sector is poaching doctors from the state. Between 2002 and 2010, there were 11,700 medical school graduates in South Africa. The public sector created only 4,403 posts in that same period. Other flaws in the NHI are: The costing models are unrealistic and still based on the 2010 green paper. Simply inflating these costs from 2010 to 2017 values, increases the cost in 2024 to R372bn. The implementation of NHI will reduce, not increase access to services as shortfalls will not be covered by increases in taxes and the predicted low growth. Currently only 33% of government facilities comply with the Office of Health Standards Compliance (OHSC) standards required to contract with the NHI fund. The 30,000 to 70,000 existing private practices would require the OHSC to increase their inspection budget from R34.5m to between R700m and R1.4bn. The NHI fund will be the single largest state owned entity in South Africa and risks being as corrupt and failed as SASSA, Eskom, SABC, Compensation Fund, RAF, SAA, SANRAL, PetroSA and ACSA. Failure to pay providers could collapse service delivery in the entire health system. Only service delivery costs are mentioned, not administration. A single strategic purchaser is not justifiable. If the NHI fund is going to set prices, it does not need monopsony buying power to reduce them. Medical schemes will only be allowed to cover services not in the NHI basket but there is no clarity. Medical scheme options will be reduced and tax credits scrapped. Members will also have to pay full price for the state system charged at current income tax threshold levels. Governments role should be to finance healthcare for the poor and leave the private market alone to provide for those able to fund their own healthcare. This will allow government to concentrate scarce taxpayer resources on the truly destitute, whilst allowing the private sector to grow, innovate and expand. In order to fulfil this task of acting as financier, the government can and should enlist the support and help of the private sector by contracting out those services that can be provided more efficiently by private providers and administrators. In the same way as people have many options to choose from in household insurance, car insurance and myriad other products and services, publicly-funded patients will then have a multiplicity of medical schemes to choose from. Competition between public and private hospitals and clinics to win business from taxpayer-funded public health insurance beneficiaries will ensure the best service for the best price, they said. Accelerate Property Fund's executives are backing themselves to turn the Fourways precinct-focused group around. Chief operating officer Andrew Costa spent R9.98m on 1,865,306 shares on Friday, 14 July, at R5.3488 a share. Director of treasury John Paterson made an identical purchase. Accelerate has disappointed a number of investors recently, with its share price falling 19.66% so far this year. The release in June of a poor set of financial results for the year to March placed pressure on the share price. In the results release, the company said it was forecasting flat distribution growth for the financial year to March 2018. The South African listed property index has gained 2.29% in the year to date. "Distribution growth is expected to be flat for the year ending March 31 2018, mainly due to the expected negative income effects of the Fourways Mall redevelopment, anticipated rental assistance and tenant installations that will be required," the group said. For the year to March 2019 the negative income effects of the development were expected to continue, which "coupled with the dilutive effect of the equalisation at completion of the development, will result in flat to marginal growth". For the year to March 2020, distribution growth would normalise to historical levels. The company grew its dividend 7.3% in the year to March, which was comparable to peer funds but not near double digits. Costa said at the time dividend growth would be flat for the next couple of years. "We will need to digest various development costs over the next couple of years, after which our dividends will gain momentum again," he said. Accelerate's local focus has been on developing the Gauteng suburb of Fourways into a business and lifestyle node that can compete with Waterfall, Sandton and Rosebank. This suburb houses the group's flagship asset, Fourways Mall. Costa said Accelerate's Fourways assets, including the shopping mall and other buildings, would extend to 200,000m2 by the end of 2018. The mall is worth R2.6bn and is being doubled in size from 90,000m2 to 170,000m2 with a new food court anchored by a Bounce exercise store. It will be one of the largest shopping centres in Africa. Accelerate's eastern European expansion has also struggled to gain traction. Late in 2016, the company launched Accelerate Europe, a central and eastern European arm. It bought nine retail warehouses across Austria and Slovakia in a deal worth R1.24bn. According to the property fund's mandate, a maximum of 25% of Accelerate's business can be offshore. The head of listed property at Absa Asset Management, Fayyaz Mottiar, said Accelerate Europe had been disappointing. "Their offshore assets have not impressed so far. Accelerate has been a disappointing business overall for a while," Mottiar said. Accelerate's share price closed at R5.64 on Tuesday. It listed at R4.94 on December 12 2013, meaning it has gained 14% over about three-and-a-half years. Source: BDpro Nedbank has increased its investment in the Cape Winemakers Guild Protege Programme for 2017 with the Nedbank Eyethu Community Trust pledging R700,000 to boost the Guild's Protege Programme. The programme currently supports nine young winemakers and a viticulturist who are completing their internships under the mentorship of some of South Africa's finest winemakers. From left to right: Gynore Fredericks (first year protege under mentorship of Miles Mossop at Tokara), Sydney Mello (second year protege under mentorship of Johan Malan at Simonsig), Tobie Badenhorst (Head of Group Sponsorships and Cause Marketing at Nedbank Ltd), Becky Penumlungu (Sponsorship Manager of Lifestyle Properties at Nedbank Ltd) One of our proudest achievements after the formation of the Nedbank Cape Winemakers Guild Development Trust 18 years ago, is undoubtedly our Oenology and Viticultural Protege Programme. The Guild in partnership with Nedbank is playing a significant role in the transformation of the wine industry, says Miles Mossop, chairman of the Cape Winemakers Guild. Sustaining the health of the industry The Cape Winemakers Guild Protege Programme, a first in the wine industry, was launched in 2006 under the patronage of the Nedbank Cape Winemakers Guild Development Trust with the goal of sustaining the health of the industry by cultivating, nurturing and empowering promising individuals to become winemakers and viticulturists of excellence. At Nedbank, applying our financial expertise to do good takes on many different shapes and forms. Skills development programmes like this deliver far more than just training, they also encourage the students to truly believe in themselves and their abilities, and give them the confidence to build lives for themselves, as they are our countrys future industry leaders, explains Lindiwe Temba, executive head for corporate social investment at Nedbank. Nedbank Cape Winemakers Guild Auction In addition to the generous donation from the Nedbank Eyethu Community Trust, the members of the Guild also raise funds through various silent and charity auctions at events throughout the year. These events include the upcoming Nedbank Cape Winemakers Guild Auction Showcase being held in Cape Town on Thursday, 17 August and in Johannesburg on Wednesday, 23 August 2017. The Showcase offers wine lovers an interactive platform to taste the rare auction wines and engage with the Guilds winemakers. The Nedbank Cape Winemakers Guild Auction will take place on Saturday, 30 September 2017 from 9am at Spier Conference Centre in the Stellenbosch Winelands. The auction is open to the public. Telephonic and proxy bidding options are also available to those unable to attend in person. Registration for the Auction and VIP Lounge will close on Wednesday, 20 September. To find out more and to purchase tickets visit: Cape Winemakers Guild, email moc.dliugsrekameniwepac@ofni or call Tel: +27 (0)21 852 0408. With funding from the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), PP Excel officially opened its Cape Town plant this week, offering woven polypropylene block bottom cement and raffia bags for the African market and beyond. Additional funding was also provided for the setting up of a workers trust, which would facilitate an opportunity for a majority of black employees to take up direct shareholding in the company. This transaction is a prime example of the nature of projects we are keen to support. Not only has it attracted foreign direct investment into South Africa but it has also embraced the element of transformation by giving employees equity in the business, says Hilton Lazarus, acting head for the IDCs Chemicals Products and Pharmaceuticals business unit. The shareholding structure of the company combines a mixture of entities, with industry track record, extensively experienced individuals and a workers trust, thereby ensuring that all involved meaningfully contribute to the success of the organisation. It was a deliberate move on our side to include our employees as an integral part of the ownership structure and the success of PP Excel. We see them as the backbone of the success of this company, they are the ones that ultimately build it and keep our customers happy. It is one of our objectives, to provide our workforce with rewarding career experiences that we can offer and real empowerment by affording each one of them an opportunity to be a shareholder in the company. We are of the view that will go a long way towards generating a meaningful benefit to/for themselves and their families, going forward, says Pieter Nel, MD of PP Excel. Exports beginning PP Excel, which operates on a 24/7 basis, currently manufactures approximately 5 million bags a month using its technologically advanced equipment. The company has close to 100 permanent employees working in its new 5,000 m2 plant in Cape Town. According to Nel, choosing this area as the base seemed like an obvious choice due to easy access to road infrastructure and proximity a world-class port and the airport, enabling them efficiency for them to export their high-quality bags. The company currently supplies bags to three local major clients and already exports to two sub-Saharan countries. The process of starting out was a pleasantly surprising experience for Nel, especially applying for funding and the support they have been receiving from the IDC. I was astounded by the ease with which the application process went. It took approximately three months for our application to get approval. The level of professionalism, the skills and knowledge displayed by the IDCs team was a breath of fresh air. The general attitude of the officials and the level of support we received was amazing, adds Nel. Partnering with the IDC comes with many advantages besides sectors insight, the corporation offers pre- and post-investment business support to ensure applicants are capacitated to build sustainable businesses. We always look at a long-term view when we invest in projects, ensuring their sustainability and growth of the overall countrys economic base in mind, says Lizo Ntloko, IDCs regional manager in the Western Cape. With some of our dedicated funds targeted mainly for youth and black industrialists, as well as other sector specific schemes at very competitive rates, we encourage entrepreneurs to take the opportunity to engage our Cape Town office and see how we can partner to grow the economy creating more entrepreneurs in the chemicals value chain industry, especially among our youth and women, adds Ntloko. While the general retailers' index has sunk 27% from its April 2015 peak, two shares in the sector appear to be proving the so-called "lipstick theory". Clicks's shares closed at R145, a whisker from their record of R145.64, taking gains since the start of the year to 23%. Dis-Chem ended the session at R28.10, just below its 14 June record close of R28.94. Dis-Chem stock has gained 26% year to date even as consumer confidence, according to the latest data from the Bureau for Economic Research, suffers its worst run since 1982. The lipstick effect was coined by Leonard Lauder, chairman of cosmetics empire Estee Lauder, who found that during times of economic stress, sales of his lipsticks rose. The premise is that consumers who aren't able, or confident enough, to splash out on a big ticket item will comfort themselves with smaller luxuries. But there may be a deeper reason behind it, too. A 2015 Psychology Today report cited a series of experiments that found "while tougher economic times decrease desire for most items, they increase women's yearning for products that boost their attractiveness". Humans, apparently, are genetically predisposed to compete "ferociously" for mates when times are difficult in order to pass on their genes. Local analysts may take a dim view of curious psychological studies, however. Of the 13 surveyed by Bloomberg, only two have "Buy" calls on Clicks - Arqaam Capital and Barclays. Six analysts rate it a "Hold" and five think investors should sell. They are similarly split over Dis-Chem, with three 'Buy" calls, three "Holds" and two "Sells". Sentio Capital says Clicks's major shareholders are mostly international, and generally more optimistic. "In SA as a whole, only 26% of pharmacies are corporate owned," said Sentio portfolio manager Imtiaz Suliman. "It's 50% in the US and UK, and just on that basis, foreigners think there's huge potential for growth." One analyst, who wants to remain anonymous, says "Personal care and beauty products only account for 27% and 34% of Dis-chem and Clicks's retail revenues respectively and are not the only drivers behind the earnings growth in these businesses. Both companies benefited from store roll-outs and gaining share in fragmented markets." Sentio is not adding to its 1.15% stake in Dis-Chem, citing the company's forward price to earnings ratio (PE) of 30. Clicks's is similarly lofty, trading on a forward PE of 28.8. In comparison, Shoprite's forward PE is less than 20, while the Woolworths PE is now 14.2. One analyst says, "It is more difficult for Clicks and Dis-Chem to beat already high consensus expectations in an environment like this, but if they can " the shares could rally." Suliman cites both companies' high levels of return on equity as a major draw. "Clicks has been consistently buying back shares which has aided them - doing more with less equity. If you look at Dis-Chem's growth, it's not going to be funded by rights issues, it's a virtuous cycle - they can invest more in the business and be more competitive in pricing." For the six months ended February, Clicks's return on investment stood at 47%. Headline earnings grew 13.5% and the company expects full-year headline earnings growth of between 11% and 16%. Dis-Chem's full-year results to the end of February showed a 22.5% increase in headline earnings per share and the group has maintained its ambition to double its store base over the next five years, from 106 at its listing in November 2016. Suliman describes Dis-Chem as a "category killer" - able to stock its shelves with 30 types of soap, for example, that consumers are not able to purchase elsewhere. Surv says, "Ironically, poor macro-economic conditions should speed up consolidation as the independents will struggle more." Source: Business Day African Fashion International (AFI), owner and operator of the two Fashion Week platforms - Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Joburg (MBFWJ) and Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Cape Town (MBFWCT), has announced Mall of Africa as the new official venue for MBFWJ'17 Spring/Summer. South Africas top designers will showcase their Spring/Summer collections from 17 to 19 August at the retail giants outdoor amphitheatre, with impressive views of Waterfall Country Estate forming the backdrop for this years affair. MBFWJ17 Spring/Summer is a premiere event and we are privileged to be able to partner with some of the most well-respected businesses and companies in the country each year, says Dr Precious Moloi-Motsepe, AFI Founder and CEO. I am thrilled to have Mall of Africa as our new venue host for the 10th anniversary Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Johannesburg event, and we look forward to a truly memorable event at this stunning location. Mall of Africa is one of the largest malls on the African continent and houses over 300 shops from local and international brands. It's also conveniently located for access from Johannesburg, Midrand, and Pretoria. Nicola van Kan, event manager for Mall of Africa, says, We are extremely proud to host such a renowned and extravagant affair, and management looks forward to a long and fruitful relationship with African Fashion International. Designer applications and media accreditation are currently open on the AFI website. BENGHAZI - The head of Libya's National Oil Company (NOC) announced that oil production is expected to reach 1.25m barrels per day by the end of 2017. NOC president Mustafa Sanalla said, however, that "despite a surge of more than one million bpd" oil production would fluctuate "in the absence of a budgetary law". Sanalla, who was in the eastern city of Benghazi for talks with oil company chiefs on reuniting the sector, which like other institutions has been hard hit by divisions in Libya. With estimated oil reserves of 48bn barrels, Libya used to produce 1.6m bpd before the armed uprising that toppled and killed dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011. By the end of 2014, the conflict forced the majority of oil fields and terminals to close as warring parties battled for control of Africa's largest crude reserves. No oil was exported from Libya's main ports until September 2016 with the reopening of the Ras Lanuf terminal in the country's so-called oil crescent. The recovery of oil production and exports is needed to restore Libya's moribund economy. "We are aiming for 1.25m barrels per day by the end of 2017 and 1.5m by the end of 2018," said Sanalla, the NOC president said, hoping that Libya's oil production could top two million bpd in four years. Sanalla is to head a Libyan delegation at a meeting of OPEC and non-cartel members in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg on Saturday. He said that he wants his country to stand united, speak with one voice and "show that we are working together for the national interest". The Coega Development Corporation (CDC) has invested R30m in nine small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) in the Eastern Cape to complete various construction projects in the Coega Special Economic Zone (SEZ). SMMEs benefiting from Coega projects (L-R): Nandi Mpofu, Agnew Cabinets; Nolan Mathura, Ascon Civil Engineering; Laeeq Dolley, Rulasaqa Plumbing; Shaheed Nordien, YKW Projects; Thembisa Doda, Mothiscore; Luleka Ncomanzi, Ingakuhle Trading Enterprise; Nonyameko Maya, Ibhayi Achuma Trading As an empowerment-driven organisation, the CDC is conscious of the important role that the small business sector plays in unlocking economic growth in Nelson Mandela Bay and South Africa. Our dedicated SMME Unit was specifically established to support SMMEs, in line with our vision to be a catalyst for championing socio-economic development, says Dr Ayanda Vilakazi, head of marketing and communications at the Coega Development Corporation. The contracts to SMMEs from the Nelson Mandela Bay metro were awarded over a time period of 12 months and include three projects, namely CCA Fencing, MM Engineering and Custom Control Area - building in zone one. The construction work on these projects includes brickwork, electrical, structural steel, civil works and landscaping, amongst others. Fencing replacement CCA Fencing sees the replacement of fencing in the Coega SEZ, which entails the removal of 11km of existing palisade fencing and its replacement with a more secure and durable system is due to be completed in August 2017. More than R2,000,000 of the project costs has been awarded to SMMEs Magma Civil Engineering Contractors, Construction Solutions and Ngingi Construction. The project compromises of 36% SMME participation. Another project currently being implemented is the construction of South Africas first factory to manufacture liquid petroleum gas cylinders for MM Engineering, with contracts worth R22,246,847 allocated to SMMEs. Work on the factory started in May 2017 and is due to be completed by February 2018. SMMEs contracted to the project to date include Ascon Civil Engineering and Y.K.W. Projects, and they represent a portion of the 39% SMME participation achieved. When it is running at full capacity, MM Engineering will be producing 3,200 metal gas cylinders a day. This is one of the first plants of its type in Africa. It will serve the local market, as well countries within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and international markets, explains Vilakazi. Building Custom Control Area administration block The third project is the building of a CDCs Custom Control Area administration block in zone one (Logistics Cluster) in the Coega SEZ, where the contract value to SMMEs is R5,707,007. Work on the Customs Control Area building started in February 2017, and is due to be completed by October 2017. SMMEs that are involved in the construction include YKW Projects, Mamumde Trading Enterprise, Agnew Cabinets, Mothiscore, Ingakuhle Trading Enterprise, Mpuma Koloni Cooling and Electrical, Rulasaqa Plumbing and Ibhayi Achuma Trading. Vilakazi notes that in the last financial year 2016/17, the CDCs SMME procurement spend was around 38% of the value of contracts managed by the company. This amounted to R776m. All three projects have created over 171 jobs, with local residents as beneficiaries. Technology plays an important role in addressing the critical education challenges in South Africa but equipped educators are needed to guide the process. Despite South Africa having one of the highest budget allocations for education in the world (around 20% of total government expenditure), the South African education system is still chronically over-burdened and under-resourced. All across the world, governments are finding that their education systems lack infrastructure and are not meeting the demands of these exponentially increasing populations, says Alan Goldberg, director of education at Digicape, whose mandate is to assist institutions in offering learners a richer, more personalised learning experience through the use of Apple technology. Technology is being sought to expand the educational curricula at all levels of schooling, and service larger classrooms. However, without the guidance of a skilled educator, technology in itself is redundant. If an engaged teacher facilitates and guides the learning process, the full power of technology can be harnessed to truly transform the education experience. SAMR model infuses technology into learning Goldberg refers to Dr Ruben Puenteduras SAMR model, which is designed to help educators infuse technology into learning. SAMR is an acronym of Substitution, Augmentation, Modification and Redefinition; four fundamental aspects of incorporating technology into education. The first two elements, Substitution and Augmentation, focus on enhancing the learning process, while Modification and Redefinition are concerned with transformation. The model emphasises the need for a continuum of learning. By using technology, learning is no longer restricted to just the classroom all locations become a space of learning, resulting in an immersive learning experience. If you set aside a host of other challenges for a moment, including the lack of amenities and misuse of resources, one of the core challenges identified is that many South African teachers do not have the basic pedagogic and content knowledge required to impart much-needed skills, due to a lack of investment in teacher training. This is where technology can bridge certain gaps. Technology is an equaliser On a practical level, the concept of connected classrooms would allow a privileged school to connect with one in a rural area, through an iPad, and share their learning experiences. In addition, given South Africas history and socio-economic context, the disparity in aptitude among students is vast. Technology is a great equaliser, it allows the learning process to be tailored by the educator to accommodate each students academic strengths and weaknesses, interests and motivations, and pace of learning. Most importantly, technology provides children with greater agency, meaning the self-motivated students are able to process information for themselves and seek their own solutions to problems. It is essential that effective programmes are put in place that facilitate student access and support teacher training. If teachers lack confidence when using technology, this will lead to resistance in its adoption. Many organisations offer teacher training programmes, so that educators can feel more confident utilising new technology and guiding students in its use. In a nutshell, for the potential of technology in South Africa to be fully realised, the state and education system need to formally buy in to its potential and invest in teacher training programmes. Adequate funding for its adoption and advancement in schools starting with those whose students are primarily from previously disadvantaged backgrounds needs to be allocated. It also requires effective safeguarding of devices, particularly in communities prone to crime. We have a strong focus on education, as we believe that it holds the key to levelling the playing field for students from previously disadvantaged backgrounds and across the full socio-economic spectrum, provided there is an equipped educator leading the learning process, concludes Goldberg. We may be halfway through 2017 - the year that was officially named the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNTWO) - but by no means has sustainable tourism become a dying fad. Tour operators globally are reporting a marked increase, especially from millennial travellers, in enquiries about sustainable travel destinations as more people are actively aware of the impact that travel and tourism have on the planet. Millennial travellers are always looking for their next big adventure where they want to see, feel and taste their destination, explore every aspect of the culture, and, of course, give back to the communities they visit, says Jane Davidson, director at Development Promotions which represents G Adventures in the South African market. Here are some top tips for travellers to ensure they enjoy the ultimate sustainable travel adventure: Choose a green destination Many travellers want to visit destinations that involve seeing wildlife and endangered species in their natural habitats. This is leading to more people choosing green destinations. These destinations offer eco-friendly choices like public transport and sustainable initiatives, and do all they can to protect their native wildlife. Uganda is currently one such destination as it offers the ultimate primate experience. Not only are visitors able to experience the countrys culture by trekking through local villages and rainforests, but they will ultimately find themselves in the company of a family of gorillas. One of Africa's major highlights, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, is the home to approximately half of the worlds population of mountain gorillas, the world's most endangered ape. A close encounter with these amazing animals is not soon forgotten. You dont have to volunteer to give back For many travellers, ethical or eco-travel goes hand in hand with volunteering. This does not always have to be the case and you can contribute or give back to the destinations you visit in many other ways. A Jane Goodall Collection with G Adventures trip, such as a Polar Bear experience in Churchill, Canada, for exapmple, offers travellers to observe these giants in the wild alongside a naturalist expert from Polar Bears International, one of the world's leading organisations dedicated to protecting these amazing animals. You can also enjoy a picnic on the tundra or go dog sledding through the region's breathtaking landscapes on a one-of-a-kind wildlife adventure. By booking a Jane Goodall Collection with G Adventures trip, youll support the Jane Goodall Institutes mission to protect wildlife and empower local communities. Go local The best way to travel sustainably? Stay at locally-owned lodges, eat at local restaurants, and get to know the local people. When travelling to Peru, visit Parwa Community restaurant, a G Adventures for Good project. The food is nothing short of delicious, and the restaurant is a great reminder of how travellers can support local communities and make the world a better place. In Caye Caulker, Belize, G Adventures travellers can help with educating local teenagers and assist them in gaining employment skills by taking a guided bike tour around the island. The two-hour Bike with Purpose ride invites visitors to embrace the islands motto of go slow, while supporting the nearby high school and learning about the areas idyllic nature, history and culture. In Madagascar, visit the small village of Fiadanana. You can explore this beautiful village by foot, bicycle, or in a famous "pousse-pousse". Listen to a ghost talker, enjoy a stay at a community guesthouse, and dinner with a local family. US band Alien Ant Farm will perform in Joburg, Pretoria, Durban and Cape Town during October and November 2017 for their Ja Well No Fine South African Tour. In the early 2000s, Alien Ant Farm became the soundtrack to teenage younger years with their Smooth Criminal cover song, a tribute to Michael Jackson. Five albums later, album sales of over 5m units and tours across the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, featuring in movies such as American Pie 2, Spider Man, the video game The Punisher and the soundtrack for WWEs Tough Enough, and four top ten singles across the globe and a Grammy nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance Alien Ant Farm now adds their Ja Well No Fine South African tour to their list of achievements. Middle8 is part of a dream project we are building, it is just a very small piece of a much bigger dream. Our goal for middle8 is to bring at least three international acts a year to South Africa, but rather than push them into large venues, we want to use smaller, lesser-known venues, allowing fans a more intimate experience without tickets exceeding R250. said Dean Roberts, middle8s owner. Ja Well No Fine South African Tour: 27 October GoodLuck Bar, Johannesburg 28 October Arcade Empire Halloween Party, Voortrekker Monument, Pretoria 31 October Virgina Airfield, Durban 3 November Mercury Live, Cape Town Tickets are available from middle8. R100 Super early bird tickets Sold Out R150 Early bird tickets On Sale 19 July 2017 R200 General tickets 1 August 2017 R250 At the door (unless event is sold out) Alien Ant Farm will be supported by a cast of South African artists on all legs of the tour. www.alienantfarm.com Ultra South Africa, Africa's largest electronic music festival returns to Cape Town and Johannesburg in February 2018 for its fifth consecutive year. Boasting state-of-the-art stage setups, the worlds best DJs and an unforgettable festival experience, Ultra South Africa has become a firm favourite of the South African music landscape over the last four years. Now, Ultra South Africa announces their festival info for 2018, with its most competitively priced early bird tickets ever. The registration process must be followed in order to get your hands on these early bird prices, for a limited time only. The Cape Town event will be held earlier in the year, on Friday 9th February 2018, and will once again be held at the Cape Town Stadium. There will be a host of after-parties held around the city that are only a few minutes away from the stadium. The Joburg event will return to the Nasrec Expo Centre on Saturday 10th February 2018. Ticket registration Registration for early bird tickets to the 2018 shows will be done via Ultra Passport on www.ultrasouthafrica.com. Ultra Passport is the global Ultra programme recently launched to reward loyal Ultranauts that attend events around the world. It allows passport holders to earn points that place them in various tiers, and within which they earn various rewards. Benefits include access to early bird tickets, separate festival entrances, access to lounge areas, and more depending on the passport tier. Points are earned for enrolling in the programme and attending events, and points valid for 25 calendar months. Once the early bird tickets have run out the tickets will roll straight over into Tier1. Visit www.ultrasouthafrica.com to register now. Follow Ultra SA on Facebook and Twitter for real-time updates on artists, tickets and festival updates. Best of Zanzibar, the corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative for the Pennyroyal Gibraltar Ltd Zanzibar Amber Resort, is aiming to improve education standards by offering after-hours tutoring to a total of 496 pupils from the 5th grade to form 3 (mid primary to secondary school) to improve their Maths and English capabilities. The short-term aim is to improve the childrens performance and equip them with the abilities to pass their annual exams as Mathematics and English are core subjects. In the long-term, Best of Zanzibar hopes to improve their communication skills for both future employment and higher learning institution opportunities. With 10 dedicated teachers, pupils attend after-hours tutoring classes on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturday mornings for a total of eight hours a week and can be involved in the programme for up to five years, depending on their age when they start. Best of Zanzibar has chosen two schools directly neighbouring Zanzibar Amber Resort - Mbuyu Tende and Kijini Primary School. Learners are tested on their growth regularly, with the first bout of testing set to start this month. Best of Zanzibar works closely with the District North A Educational Officer and head teachers to monitor and evaluate progress effectively with supportive changes being implemented as and when needed. The programmes have been met with positive feedback from both pupils, educators and villagers, with talks of expanding into other subjects in the future. The pupils are eager to learn and we have seen great improvement so far. We hope that by the end of the year, once their national exams are completed, we will really be able to see the benefits and results from the programme, says Tia Egglestone, CSR Programme Manager. To further enable the future job force of Zanzibaris, Best of Zanzibar have engineering scholarships in the pipeline. For more information on Best of Zanzibar, visit: www.best-of-zanzibar.com. LONDON, UK: EasyJet has secured an air operator's certificate in Austria that will enable it to keep flying across the EU after Brexit. The news, which comes one week after the British low-cost airline revealed it had applied to Austrian authorities to establish a new Vienna-based EasyJet Europe division, was contained in a trading update. "Our European AOC (air operator's certificate) has now been awarded and the first flight by an EasyJet Europe aircraft takes place today," said the company's outgoing chief executive Carolyn McCall. "That means our flying rights in Europe will be secure after the UK leaves the EU." Lifted profits outlook The Luton-based airline also lifted its profits outlook for the year on rising third-quarter revenues and passenger numbers, and "strong" cost controls. Profit before taxation is forecast to stand between 380 million and 420 million ($495m-$550m, 430m-474m). The airline's previous consensus guidance, given in May, stood at 367 milllion. "Following a rigorous and comprehensive year-long process, EasyJet is today announcing that it has been awarded an AOC by Austro Control and an airline operating licence by Austria's Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology," the carrier said. "These allow EasyJet to establish a new airline, EasyJet Europe, headquartered in Vienna and will enable it to continue to operate flights both across Europe and domestically within European countries after the UK has left the EU." "Future UK-EU aviation agreement" The airline will continue to operate those flights "regardless of the outcome of talks on a future UK-EU aviation agreement". The announcement came at the end of a year-long "rigorous and comprehensive" process, it added. EasyJet Europe will become the group's third airline division after EasyJet in Luton, north of London, and EasyJet Switzerland in Geneva. Earlier this week, the company announced Monday that McCall will step down at the end of the year to become head of British commercial broadcaster ITV. A search for her successor has already begun. Britain will leave the EU in March 2019 after voting in a referendum last year in favour of its departure. Source: AFP Direct selling is booming amidst South Africa's downgraded economy, if the Direct Selling Association of South Africa's (DSASA's) recent industry results are anything to go by. The direct sales industry is one of the few sectors showing growth over the past 18 months, with an estimated 1.3 million independent business owners having generated R12.9 billion for the national economy in the form of sales directly to customers. The DSASA announced its industry results in Johannesburg this week at a gathering of the Associations 34 direct sales business entities covering sectors such as health, beauty, homeware, financial and investment products, nutritional supplements and weight-loss management. Member companies distribute goods and services directly to consumers, in a face-to-face model, away from fixed retail locations. Key contributor to economy Chairman, Ernest du Toit says direct selling is an important contributor to the economy and also an important skills development and employment provider, at a time when jobs are scarce and disposable income is declining. The direct selling business model is aimed at providing opportunities for all South Africans, regardless of their financial or educational standing, to earn a full-time living or extra income part-time, says Du Toit. The DSA of South Africa is a self-regulating, corporate membership organisation. As a condition of acceptance and continuing membership all DSA member companies pledge to adhere to an industry Code of Conduct and compliance with all legislation is also essential. A very small upfront investment is required of new entrants to whom comprehensive training is provided. During 2016 the number of direct selling business owners had grown by over 122,000 over the previous year an increase of 35%. Financial independence without limitations Direct sales adds value to lives, giving people the opportunity to achieve financial independence, without the limitations of being office bound. This is a very attractive proposition, especially in todays modern society where single-parent families struggle to balance their home and working lives. We have also seen a rise in the number of rural direct sellers. This is encouraging as not only are we able to provide job opportunities to those most in need, but we are also able to supply consumable, financial and lifestyle products to areas without access to modern conveniences such as shopping malls or financial brokers. The direct selling industry is not only thriving in South Africa, but globally too. The USA has over 140 member companies and 20.5 miilion sales agents generating $35.5 billion in sales in 2016. We have seen a positive shift in corporate thinking with many companies starting to include direct selling into their marketing mix. This proven business model is based on utilising personal relationships to promote goods and services, with word-of-mouth still considered to be one of the oldest, yet most effective sales and marketing tools. In fact, research in the health & beauty industry shows that up to 57% of all sales are based on personal endorsement! There is no limit to what you can sell you can sell virtually anything as long as the value-add is clear and evident, says Du Toit. In the United States of America even electricity supply is sold via a direct selling model. Gauteng in the lead While direct selling is well established across South Africa, it is clear that Gauteng remains the engine room delivering 35% of the total sales value, followed by Kwa-Zulu Natal at 17% and Limpopo at 8%. Direct selling has a much greater reach than retail outlets have. Retail outlets have a fixed footprint in specific geographic locations, whereas direct selling can reach as far as any individual can travel or have their product delivered. It offers far better penetration into the distant rural markets, but without the costs evident in the more urban markets, says Du Toit. A very positive development is that the industry as a whole already reflects the population profile of South Africa. This is evident in the mix of independent business owners the 2016 statistics demonstrate that 86% were from the black community, 11% were white, 2% were Indian and Asian and 1% were coloured, whilst at least 72% of all independent business owners are women from the black community. In 2016, independent business owners collectively earned almost R5 billion with 33% of active business owners operating in a full-time capacity and 67% working part-time. Nina Freysen-Pretorius has been included in the US-based Successful Meetings magazine's annual list of 25 outstanding professionals who have had a significant impact on the meetings industry. Freysen-Pretorius is the chief executive officer of The Conference Company, which also has offices in Cape Town and Johannesburg and celebrates 20 years in business this year. Nina Freysen-Pretorius Vince Alonzo, editor-in-chief of Successful Meetings says the 25 individuals have been chosen because they have either contributed to the business of meetings, made it easier for meetings professionals to do their jobs, helped raise awareness of the industry, or, through their actions, have had a significant impact on meetings professionals. Potential honorees were suggested by key members of the meeting industry, recipients from previous years and through open nominations. Top strategist with a vision for the meetings industry Named one of the top strategists in the meetings industry, Freysen-Pretorius is serving a second term as president of the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), the first South African to fill the position. Arnaldo Nardone, immediate past President of ICCA says Freysen-Pretorius has a vision for the international meetings industry. She is a strategist. She is work-focused and is hyper-engaged with the meetings industry community. She is a game-changer and shifts paradigms. Sisa Ntshona, CEO of South African Tourism says this is a huge achievement not only for Freysen-Pretorius as an individual but for the South African meetings industry as a whole. Thank you, Nina, for making a real contribution to the industry on a global level and for being an outstanding ambassador for South Africa at the same time. Congratulations from South African Tourism and the entire industry. Industry achiever In addition to serving as ICCA president, Freysen-Pretorius has also served on the Tourism Grading Council of South Africa and is a former board member of Tourism KwaZulu-Natal. She is a former chairperson of the KwaZulu-Natal branch of the Southern African Association for the Conference Industry, as well as a former national chairperson of the association. Highlights of her career include being project manager for the COP17 climate change conference held in Durban in 2011, professional conference organiser for the International Confederation of Midwives in the same year and being the Zambian Ministry of Tourisms project manager for the UN World Tourism Organisations world congress at the Victoria Falls in 2013. Being included in this list of industry achievers is truly humbling. I believe in the meetings industry and how it can contribute to successful economies across the world, including South Africa, says Freysen-Pretorius. Ten teams comprising 21 African social entrepreneurs have been named winners in the Resolution Social Venture Challenge - a collaboration between the Mastercard Foundation and The Resolution Project - at the Baobab Summit in Johannesburg. The winning teams earned a fellowship including seed funding, mentorship and access to a network of young global change makers to pursue impactful projects in their communities. The 2017 Resolution Social Venture Challenge winners "Giving back to your community is an important part of the Scholars Program, yet few young leaders have the opportunity to make an impact at a young age," explains Ashley Collier, manager of the Scholars Community. "The Social Venture Challenge equips these young leaders with the tools, resources, mentorship, and capital they need to ensure that their venture is successful, and to maximise their impact." Addressing challenges "Winning the challenge is an important milestone that will allow me to address problems faced by tea farmers in my community," explains John Wanjiku, a Mastercard Foundation Scholar at the University of Pretoria. "With my project Ukulima Halisi, I hope to improve the tea collection process, both reducing the costs associated with spoiled tea leaves, and cutting down on the time Kenyan farmers spend waiting for tea collection. By shortening this process, Ukulima Halisi will provide farmers with additional time to engage in other economic activities that could increase their income, as well as preventing illnesses that occur when farmers spend long hours waiting for tea collection." "Winning the Social Venture Challenge will help us achieve our goals, communicating to our community in Baringo County, the huge potential in honey production," says Sylvia Mwangi, a Mastercard Foundation Scholar from the University of Toronto. "With the mentorship offered to winners of the challenge, we will design capacity-building workshops in beekeeping that will change how women spend their days, and we will develop sales channels that will reduce the exploitation by middlemen." In 2016, the Mastercard Foundation first partnered with The Resolution Project, offering 16 Scholars on five competing teams the opportunity to pursue their aspirations and increase their appetite for leadership and impact. Winning projects address a wide range of challenges scholars observed first-hand in their communities, including food security, access to sanitation, and young women's access to reproductive health education. Impact evaluation data reported by The Resolution Project shows that, while type and reach of impact varies, an average of 3,200 community members benefit per fellowship awarded. With over 350 Resolution Fellows active in 65 countries, more than 1.2m people worldwide have been positively impacted by their work. They are driving progress in their communities, making each Resolution Fellow a change agent and a force for good. "We are fortunate to have such an outstanding partner in the Mastercard Foundation," says George M. Tsiatis, CEO and Co-Founder of The Resolution Project. "The Foundation saw the work that we were doing and the ideas that their Scholars had, it was a perfect match, and we are thrilled to be expanding our efforts together to give these young leaders a platform from which to launch lifetimes of impact." The winners The 2017 cohort of Social Venture Challenge winners include projects based in Zimbabwe, Kenya, Ghana Uganda, Rwanda, and the United States: AgriMatters - Clive Matsika - Arizona State University With his AgriMatters initiative, Matsika will partner with local fertiliser companies in Zimbabwe, harnessing nanotechnology to manufacture Greenfert, a rich, environmentally friendly fertiliser that can be sold to farmers at a reduced cost. Baringo Asali - Sylvia Mwangi - University of Toronto By working closely with marginalised communities in Baringo, Kenya, Mwangi aims to increase local revenue generated from honey production. Through partnerships with local and international apiaries, Mwangi will roll out training in advanced beekeeping techniques and local community skills training. Dash for Girls - Frances Aanyu, Agatha Akello and Lisa Anenocan - Makerere University Aanyu, Akello and Anenocan are working to empower the girl child in Karamoja, Uganda, by providing access to correct and accurate information about the dangers of teenage pregnancy so as to help them make informed decisions. ECO Sanitation Services - Kwabena Adu-Darkwa, Abraham Addy and Justice Nyamadi - Ashesi University College Adu-Darkwa, Addy and Nyamadi are working together to tackle the problem of the 2.4bn people worldwide who lack access to safe toilets. Eco Sanitation Services (ECOSaS) provides environmentally friendly and affordable micro-flush toilets to low-income earners, supporting them with a flexible payment system. Prawji-Mama Food Bank - Pauline Nalumansi and Ephrance Kalungi - Arizona State University With Prawji-Mama Food Bank, Nalumansi and Kalungi are working to develop a sustainable food bank system supported by youth entrepreneurship and technology to overcome hunger in rural communities. Rwanda Youth Initiative for Agricultural Transformation - Annet Mukamurenzi, Gerard Ndayishimiye and Yvette Abizeyimana - EARTH University By working with vulnerable farming communities across Rwanda, Mukamurenzi, Ndayishimiye and Abizeyimana are committed to improving food security. They will equip smallholder farmers with modern farming skills, strategies, and technologies to grow sustainable food security solutions and protect the environment. Sparky Thermal Dehydrator - Kayiza Isma and Nsubuga Thomas - Makerere University To address post-harvest losses, a leading cause of food insecurity in Uganda, Isma and Thomas will introduce the Sparky Thermal Dehydrator. Sparky, which operates using biofuels as a source of energy, is a low-cost, efficient device that dries farm produce 10 times faster than the conventional sun drying methods. Strong Women, Strong Love - Ritah Arishaba and Alpha Ngwenya - Arizona State University From Uganda to America, Arishaba and Ngwenya are providing health education and feminine hygiene products to homeless and economically disadvantaged women. In Uganda, the pair will be teaching young women and girls to make their own sanitary products. Ukulima Halisi - John Wanjiku - University of Pretoria Most tea farmers in Kangema, Kenya, spend a lot of time waiting for their tea leaves to be collected. But, Wanjiku believes, if farmers had access to tea leaves collection schedules, farmers would have more time to devote to other farming activities and improve their incomes. ZAZI Growers' Network - Thabu Mugala, Tanyaradzwa Chinyukwi and Martinho Tembo - EARTH University Mugala, Chinyukwi and Tembo are committed to empowering and connecting women farmers in rural Zimuto, Zimbabwe. ZAZI Growers' Network will provide women farmers with technical agricultural training and mentorship to help them improve their crop yields and enhance the community's development. A blueprint for Africa: If national mobilisation of entrepreneurialism across a country is a solid possibility, what's stopping it and who is blocking it? When will a nation start singing the joys of global exportability with super talented entrepreneurial powers and embrace the future? Why not start today? Primarily, entrepreneurs take very little but give in gigantic amounts to the universe; they will not create electricity just for their own private cottage, but for the world. True entrepreneurs are continually seeking solutions to local, national or global problems. They are super-efficient and quick. The biggest national hidden treasure of a country is its hidden entrepreneurial talent; untapped, undiscovered, unmobilised and uncommercialised. Entrepreneurial competency quotient: Todays hyper accelerated new global age is not highest intelligent quotient driven; but rather entrepreneurial competency quotient centric. This is where innovative thinking and global age execution styles engage into collaborative synthesism for superior quality trading. This erases the old classroom knowledge models of sluggish bureaucracies based on fears, insecurities and shared dogmatic confusions. A brand-new world is wide open to smart nations. Fact: In the next 1000 days we will arrive at 2020 where new worldwide processes of a block chained-economy start eliminating some one billion white collar office workers. In a further 3650 days China becomes the worlds largest economy, global shifts of image supremacy start opening brand new doors. Where are those serious national debate on national mobilisation of hidden talents and which countries are awake and which are sleeping? The liberated-work standards: Yesterday, mankind went to work offices turned onto skyscrapers, and office-furniture the status standard. Future work will come to you; it will sniff and find you and play with you, but only if you fit the profile. If you dont fit, it will simply abandon you. Welcome to the world of smart work which is always flying around you and catching smart people for smart execution. It will however expect global age results. The new world is open and sniffing around for trade. Fact: Every night, when we fall asleep, three quarters of the world is wide awake; churning, consuming, producing and dancing in its glory. The new hyper accelerated world is spinning without waiting for any one person or one mighty nation. Busy folks should be pushed aside; as being busy is a last century medical condition of feeling worthy. Smart people are not busy, entrepreneurs are not busy. It would take a deep study to figure all this out. Busy folks still using square wheels, simple. Its not about less holidays and breaks, but rather it is about being in constant holiday style and ten times more productive. Its not about working 24 hours days, but rather about working less than four hours a day, while creating systems so the organisation is awake and responsive with the rhythms and highly tuned with the global age. Top ten most difficult national transformational questions: Why is entrepreneurialism taught in classrooms? Armies are not, they are in tactical combats. Why is a global age connected society of alpha-dreamers being ignored? They are over 2 billion. Why is technocalamity; free overflow of technology so feared? It is altering the business landscape. Why is soft power asset management so foreign over hard asset thinking? A lack of new thinking. Why will population rich nations take over knowledge rich nations? Nations are confused. Why are national innovation and incubation mantras single day photo-ops? But for how long will this continue? Why are super power nations challenged by micro-power-nations? By quadrupling exportability. Why are typical conference models becoming obsolete? Able to push a button to global thought leadership access. Why is global collaborative synthesism so misunderstood? Old thinking lacks global age understanding. Why are diversity, entrepreneurialism and women power considered a threat? Lack of global age wisdom. Questioning mobilisation readiness: Unlimited global markets can absorb unlimited innovative ideas and goods and services. Founders with entrepreneurial talent and energy are anxious for global age expansion. Well-designed, innovative ideas and global age skills can quadruple enterprise performance. Global-age execution styles among enterprises are the most serious missing links in todays world. Advertising Week, the world's largest annual gathering of marketing, media, and technology leaders, makes its long-anticipated debut in Africa on 14-19 February 2023, after the planned launch was delayed by the global pandemic. Subscribe to daily business and company news across 19 industries SUBSCRIBE Got a question or tip? Contact us at bizmojoidaho@gmail.com. According to the DMA (UK), the number of print advertising inserts distributed in the UK fell 12.5% to 3.98 billion last year. A drop in print newspaper inserts accounted for a whopping 70% of the decline while insert volumes in magazines and third-party distribution remained steady. However, the DMA UK says it is not all doom and gloom and predicts that print insert use may rebound once the EU General Data Protection Regulation comes into force in May 2018 as the format does not require too much handling of consumers personal data. As marketers of print media we shouldnt necessarily view this report with gloom, says Ben Briggs, Deputy Chair of the DMA Print Council and Planning & Brand Partnerships Director, Response One. Although we will undoubtedly continue to see print circulations decline as the consumption of press moves online, inserts face a real opportunity to increase their cut-through through innovation, creative thinking and playing to the strengths of the medium making impactful, tangible connections and delivering great ROI. Analysts said on Tuesday they believe a dramatic surge in imports of US petroleum products into China in the current year is a win-win for the world's biggest trading partners. China imported an average of 100,000 barrels of crude per day from the United States during the first five months of 2017, 10 times the level for the same period last year, according to official customs data. The General Administration of Customs figures, released earlier this month, indicate the upward trend is also picking up speed, with imports surging to more than 180,000 barrels per day in April and May. "China has long depended on fuel imports and the cheaper energy price, in addition to the massive amount of US oil, has definitely contributed to the increase in imports," said Li Li, energy research director at ICIS China, a consulting company that provides analysis of the energy market here. "The US' increasing share of China's energy imports will also ensure the country's energy security, as China has been exploring different crude oil import channels," Li added. US Census Bureau data on international trade show that the combined value of US crude oil, gas and refined petroleum exported to China in the first five months of 2017 totaled over $2.76 billion. China purchased $1.6 billion of US crude, representing 21 percent of US global crude oil exports from January through to May. The US lifted a 40-year old ban on oil exports two years ago, as its production levels rose to their highest in decades, boosted by surging new shale oil and gas output. Wang Lu, an Asia-Pacific oil and gas analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, said US oil exports could also lower OPEC's global market share of oil production and could undermine the producer group's willingness to comply with their agreed output reductions. China became the biggest purchase of US crude oil in February, overtaking Canada, against the backdrop of OPEC's scaling back of its production. "While the output-cut deal has been extended to March 2018, whether OPEC will comply with that undertaking is uncertain," Wang said. Crude oil exports from US to China surged to 759,000 metric tons in May, and its market share as a percentage of China's total oil imports rose to 2 percent from 0.1 percent a year ago, while that of the Middle East fell to 41.6 percent from 46.7 percent, Wang said. China's biggest oil and gas producer, China National Petroleum Corp, said earlier it would import more crude oil and natural gas from the US, while also considering involvement in the country's growing liquefied natural gas export industry. CNPC chairman Wang Yilin said his company was setting its sights on having a growing reliance on US energy imports, on the sidelines of the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing. "The US has very rich oil and gas resources, and as China pursues a diversification of its crude supplies the US will of course be one of the sources," he said. "We will (also) consider exploring cooperation in areas such as jointly developing liquefied natural gas facilities and gas transport," he added. Xiamen University energy expert Lin Boqiang, who has advised Beijing on oil policy, said that China should consider buying oil from places other than the Middle East. The glut of US crude also made it cheaper than oil from the Middle East. "If there's an opportunity to buy oil from somewhere else, we should," he said. "The precondition is that it must be economical." US crude prices were currently relatively low, while the move to increase oil exports is also in accordance with Washington's target to reduce the trade deficit between China and the US, Lin said. US Energy Secretary Rick Perry called for more energy cooperation with China during a visit to Beijing in June. Expanding crude exports also means more jobs in the US, said Ray Perryman, president of the consulting firm Perryman Group. He was quoted by the New York Times estimating that the expanded crude exports could add over 480,000 jobs nationally over the next couple of decades, nearly 60 percent of which will be in Texas, even if oil prices remain moderate to low. Xiamen University's Lin said the US currently accounts for a small percentage of China's oil imports, with Russia, Saudi Arabia and Angola still its top crude suppliers. However, as China keeps seeking to diversify its oil and gas supplierswith its own oil fields becoming less productive and geopolitical worries posing a threat to disrupt supplies from the Middle Easthe was optimistic about future US-China oil cooperation. Irrawaddy reporter Lawi Weng said the military was trying to "threaten" journalists into silence as the trio were remanded in custody for another week at an impromptu hearing. "I am now in handcuffs because I am a journalist. Is this democracy?" he told reporters outside the courthouse in the northeastern town of Hsipaw, holding up his chained wrists. "We were detained as an attempt to compromise our beliefs and scare us. But we are not afraid." Aye Naing, a senior reporter for the Democratic Voice of Burma, added: "This is a shame for Myanmar, which is shouting to the world that we are on the path to democracy." Also appearing in court Tuesday was Pyae Phone Aung from the Democratic Voice of Burma. They were among seven men arrested three weeks ago as they left a drugs-burning ceremony organised by the Ta'ang National Liberation Army, one of several rebel groups fighting the state. Five of them have been charged under section one of the draconian Unlawful Associations Act, which carries a sentence of up to three years in prison. The legislation was often used against journalists and activists by the military, which ran the country for half a century and remains a powerful force under the new elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. The democracy icon has faced a growing chorus of international criticism for not doing more to protect journalists, who are facing increasing prosecutions under her leadership. Earlier this month Suu Kyi reportedly told a press conference that the case was a matter for the judiciary. It comes amid a groundswell of activism among local journalists aimed at quashing a controversial online defamation law which has been used to curb criticism of the government and army. Prosecutions under the legislation have surged since Suu Kyi's party came to power last year, with social media satirists, activists and journalists increasingly targeted. The Committee for Shan State Unity (CSSU) led by Lieutenant General Yawd Serk of the Restoration Council of Shan State, was set to meet from July 20 to 22. Brigadier General Khin Zaw, the Myanmar Military Attache for Thailand, requested Thai authorities prohibit the CSSU meeting due to the inclusion of "unofficial" organizations and involvement of foreigners who allegedly could cause confusions in Myanmar's internal affairs, according to the organizer. Thailand complied with the request. This is a bilateral issue. We had to prohibit it since we were asked to do it. I dont understand this issue. There hasnt been any prohibition against the UNFC [United Nationalities Federal Council] which has not signed the nationwide ceasefire agreement, but they didnt want the meeting to be held by Lt Gen Yawd Serk, whose organization has signed the nationwide ceasefire agreement, said a Thai security official, speaking anonymously. U Khun Sai, director of the Pyidaungsu Institute, said he believes the prohibition is due to the attendance of a representative of the Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA), which has not signed the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA), as well as the attendance of Sao Harn Yawnghwe, who was rumored to have been blakclisted by the government. The youngest son of then Burmas first president Sao Shwe Thaike, and was of the Euro Burma Office, was barred from entering Myanmar on multiple-entry visa earlier this year. The CSSU was established with Shan ethnic armed organizations from the northern and southern areas, Shan political parties, and Shan social organizations. Lt Gen Yawd Serk, chair of the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army-Sotuh'd (RCSS/SSA), was reappointed as chair of the CSSU for 2017-2018. 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Interes legitimo en el desarrollo de la relacion comercial Destinatario Empresas del Grupo WEB FINANCIAL GROUP Derechos Acceso, rectificacion, supresion, limitacion, oposicion y portabilidad Informacion adicional Politica de Privacidad de nuestra pagina Web + INFORMACION PR Newswire LONDON, July 19, 2017 LONDON, July 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Waterproofing Admixture Market: Overview Waterproofing admixture is a porous chemical ingredient employed during cement or concrete formulation to resist water penetration and water-borne contaminants. Waterproofing admixture is primarily used in residential, commercial, and infrastructure sector. Concrete being sustainable building material can reduce carbon footprint by 30-40%, but being porous in nature it is susceptible to chemical attack. Thus, waterproofing admixtures if employed during formulation provides excellent resistance to alkali attack during climate and weather changes. It also reduces maintenance cost and enhances the durability of concrete structures. Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4760061/The report estimates and forecasts the waterproofing admixture market on the global, regional, and country levels. The study provides forecast between 2016 and 2024 based on volume (KiloKilo Tons) and revenue (US$ Bn) with 2015 as the base year. The report comprises an exhaustive value chain analysis for each of the product segments. It provides a comprehensive view of the market. Value chain analysis also offers detailed information about value addition at each stage. The study includes drivers and restraints for the waterproofing admixture market along with their impact on demand during the forecast period. The study also provides key market indicators affecting the growth of the market. The report analyzes opportunities in the waterproofing admixture market on the global and regional level. Drivers, restraints, and opportunities mentioned in the report are justified through quantitative and qualitative data. These have been verified through primary and secondary resources. Furthermore, the report analyzes global average price trend analysis of waterproofing admixture. Global Waterproofing Admixture Market: Research MethodologySecondary research sources that were typically referred to include, but were not limited to company websites, financial reports, annual reports, investor presentations, broker reports, and SEC filings. Other sources such as internal and external proprietary databases, statistical databases and market reports, news articles, national government documents, and webcasts specific to companies operating in the market have also been referred for the report. In-depth interviews and discussions with a wide range of key opinion leaders and industry participants were conducted to compile this research report. Primary research represents the bulk of research efforts, supplemented by extensive secondary research. Key players' product literature, annual reports, press releases, and relevant documents were reviewed for competitive analysis and market understanding. This helped in validating and strengthening secondary research findings. Primary research further helped in developing the analysis team's expertise and market understanding. Global Waterproofing Admixture Market: SegmentationThe study provides a comprehensive view of the Waterproofing Admixture market by dividing it into product type, application and geography. The waterproofing admixture market has been segmented into crystalline, pore-blocking, and others. Application segments have been analyzed based on historic, present, and future trends, and the market has been estimated in terms of volume (Kilo Kilo Tons) and revenue (US$ Bn) between 2016 and 2024. Regional segmentation includes the current and forecast demand for activated alumina in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa (MEA). Additionally, the report comprises country-level analysis in terms of volume and revenue for end-user segments. Key countries such as the U.S., Germany, France, the U.K., Spain, Italy, India, China, South Africa, Mexico, and Brazil have been included in the study. Market segmentation includes demand for individual end-users in all the regions and countries. Global Waterproofing Admixture Market: Competitive LandscapeThe report includes Porter's Five Forces Model to determine the degree of competition in the waterproofing admixture market. The report comprises a qualitative write-up on market attractiveness analysis, wherein application and countries have been analyzed based on attractiveness for each region. Growth rate, market size, raw material availability, profit margin, impact strength, technology, competition, and other factors (such as environmental and legal) have been evaluated in order to derive the general attractiveness of the market. The report comprises price trend analysis for Waterproofing Admixture between 2016 and 2024. The report covers detailed competitive outlook that includes market share and profiles of key players operating in the global market. Key players profiled in the report include CEMEX S.A.B. de C.V.,BASF SE, Sika AG, Wacker Chemi AG, Mapei S.P.A. Company profiles include attributes such as company overview, number of employees, brand overview, key competitors, business overview, business strategies, recent/key developments, acquisitions, and financial overview (wherever applicable). The global waterproofing admixture market has been segmented as follows:Waterproofing Admixture Market Product Type AnalysisCrystallinePore-blockingOthersWaterproofing Admixture Market Application Type AnalysisResidentialCommercialInfrastructureWaterproofing Admixture Market Regional AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.CanadaEuropeGermanyFranceU.K.ItalySpainRest of EuropeAsia PacificChinaIndiaJapanASEANRest of Asia PacificMiddle East & AfricaGCCEgyptSouth AfricaRest of Middle East & AfricaLatin AmericaBrazilMexico Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4760061/About ReportbuyerReportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishershttp://www.reportbuyer.com For more information: Sarah Smith Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 208 816 85 48 Website: www.reportbuyer.com View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/waterproofing-admixture-market---global-industry-analysis-size-share-growth-trends-and-forecast-2016---2024-300491275.html SOURCE ReportBuyer The President of the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD), Sydney Tshepiso Pilane is a man ready for combat. He is fighting to protect the movement that elected him to the helm over the weekend. Although he runs short of saying he will seek a court interdict to defuse the other BMD faction led by Ndaba Gaolathe, he nevertheless does not mince any words in his bid to achieve his two priorities - building the movement and concurrently building the UDC. The man is so serious that he does not even want to entertain the fact that two National Executive Committees of the BMD emerged from Bobonong. Every now and then, he talks about the importance of having to follow the constitution and does not recognise the other faction. In his own words Pilane refers to the other faction as renegades. Speaking to BG News Pilane said the reason why the renegades did not come to the congress is that they do not have the numbers. The public needs not to worry, these renegades will fizzle out. I give them no more than six months that might even be too long. As far as I am concerned, Bobonong resolved all the problems that the UDC had, he said in an interview. READ MORE ON THE LATEST PUBLICATION Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 20/07/2017 (1941 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Sherisse McKay never thought shed go to university. Now, after six years of intense course loads through Brandon Universitys Program for the Education of Native Teachers (PENT), shes graduating with not one degree, but two. A member of the Sioux Valley Dakota First Nation, McKay first considered teaching as a career when she took a job as an educational assistant for a special needs student at Sioux Valley Elementary School. It wasnt until an elder suggested she look into the PENT program to further her teaching in Sioux Valley that she considered university as an option. Submitted From left: Rhonda Nemez, Lawrel Budd, Robert Hamilton, Beverley Rhonda Cameron, Melissa Klassen, Jennifer Bercier, Rae Lynn Brook, Margaret Robinson, Sherisse McKay and Marie Henry are graduating from Brandon University's PENT program this month. You get to work as an EA (in the school) from September until the end of March, and then you come to school at BU from April until July, McKay said. You get a lot of classroom experience while youre taking courses. PENT is a community-based teacher education program that allows students from rural or remote communities to earn their bachelor of arts or science degree and their bachelor of education degree while continuing to work in their communitys school. What really drew me to this program is that its a program for native teachers, so the cultural aspect is really integrated into a lot of the classes, McKay said. You can take what you learn about different cultures back to your community Im Dakota, but I can learn from the Ojibwe or Cree, and they can learn from me. We dont really have that when were in our own community and I think thats important to know different cultures. Students from more than 50 communities across Manitoba have participated in the PENT program, with more than 620 graduates to date. McKay is one of 12 students graduating from the PENT program this year, some coming from as far as Gods Lake Narrows, Easterville, Cross Lake, Roseau River First Nation and Swan Lake First Nation. Like many of her fellow graduates, McKay already has a job lined up for September returning to Sioux Valley to teach Grade 6. The numbers have waned and waxed over the years, anywhere from a low of 65 students to a high of 147 students, PENT director Ken Friesen said. With our graduation class, we have 12. That can change from one year to the next. There is some attrition life happens, career changes happen but I have to say that most of the graduation classes that Ive experienced here there is 100 per cent employment. When they leave here, they have a job waiting for them. Although they can teach anywhere theyd like, the majority of the students who graduate tend to go back to their community, Friesen said and when they do, they generally stay. They do go back simply because its home, theyre used to it and theyre comfortable, Friesen said. Also a number of them have been EAs in their community schools for years. McKay is excited to share everything shes learned with her students over the years and inspire them to follow their own education paths, she said. Its my community, its meaningful for me to go back there. I have that relationship with the education out in Sioux Valley, so its just more meaningful to teach there, McKay said. Your family and your ancestors will shape who you are, but youre going to be shaping the future. So its really important to have and share that culture aspect, not only for First Nations but for everyone, so we can all understand each other. edebooy@brandonsun.com Twitter: @erindebooy Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 19/07/2017 (1942 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Health Canada says police officers can call them any time when it comes to confirming whether citizens have legal authority to produce and possess medicinal marijuana. The departments ability to notify police of those who legitimately possess cannabis for that purpose was recently criticized in a lawsuit launched by a Brandon couple whose legal medical grow-op was mistakenly raided by RCMP. Health Canada negligently administered a system of license retention and issuance notification by failing to establish and maintain proper protocols for notice to arresting authorities as to the legitimacy of licenses such as those held by persons such as the plaintiffs, and the plaintiffs in particular, Jerry Pomehichuk and Brenda Wakefield assert in their statement of claim. The lawsuit filed against three RCMP officers, the force itself, Health Canada and others was filed last month. The Brandon Sun wrote about the lawsuit last week, but Health Canada and RCMP have since responded to requests for comment. Police raided the couples grow operation, within their warehouse on the citys edge, on June 21, 2015. They seized 206 marijuana plants and five kilograms of dried marijuana. Pomehichuk was arrested and charged with drug possession offences that were later dropped after it was learned that the couple had valid licences for the production and possession of medical marijuana. The couple asserts they were well within their limit of 292 plants, which would seem to be confirmed by the fact the court later agreed to drop the charges against Pomehichuk. The couple is suing for what they describe as the unlawful search and seizure, Pomehichuks unlawful arrest, damage done to the warehouse during the raid, and because the plants were destroyed before police could return them as the court required when the charges were dropped. According to the lawsuit, RCMP contacted Health Canada to determine if the couple had licences, but were only told there were no business operators. Those authorized to have medicinal marijuana can produce it themselves or have another party produce it on their behalf, Health Canada has clarified. The lawsuit claims that an officer sent the department the names and addresses for Pomehichuk and Wakefield to confirm whether they had valid licences, but Health Canada didnt immediately respond. The claim states that police got a warrant and raided the warehouse anyway. Shortly after the raid, Health Canada informed police that Pomehichuk and Wakefield had valid licences to produce and possess medical marijuana. RCMP has previously told The Brandon Sun that the mistake was due to miscommunication with Health Canada. Health Canada stated police can call them any time to confirm whether someone is authorized to produce and possess marijuana for medical reasons. Health Canada supports law enforcement representatives by providing a dedicated phone line that is accessible 24 hours per day and seven days a week to confirm, when necessary, that specific individuals are authorized to possess or produce a limited amount of cannabis for medical purposes, department spokesperson, Tammy Jarbeau, stated in an email provided on Wednesday. Jarbeau said the phone line was introduced in the early 2000s with the beginning of the medical cannabis program. Otherwise, Jarbeau stated, it would be inappropriate for Health Canada to comment on the case because the matter is before the courts. Manitoba RCMP also responded on Wednesday, stating that the force also couldnt comment on the case for the same reason. However, spokesperson Tara Seel confirmed that in such cases Justice Canada lawyers represent both the force and its individual officers (provided that the actions in question were performed in the course of the officers duties.) The force and its officers dont incur legal expenses. ihitchen@brandonsun.com Brexit is driving more businesses to identify themselves as 'Irish' online. New data from Ireland's 'ie. domain' shows the company experienced a 6% increase in turnover for 2016, with 35,000 new businesses registering for Irish websites and emails. The UK's exit from the EU and growth in economic activity are among the key factors driving demand for the Irish online domain. CEO of IEDR David Curtin has said it is important that businesses secure a strong online presence. "We did see a pick-up from Northern Ireland addresses," he said. "The point is Irish consumers are spending online and if they're going on a 'co.uk' web address then that's business lost for the Irish business owner. "So we would advise to register as '.ie' to make sure that you're selling online and that you're going to retain your Irish customers with a great website." Heroin and cocaine thought to be worth 650,000 have been seized at Dublin Airport. The drugs were found yesterday when a man in his forties was searched after getting off a flight from Malaga. Babies as young as one have presented for treatment at a service for victims of rape and sexual assault in the west of the country. The Child and Adolescent Sexual Assault Treatment service in Ballybrit in Galway reported 73 attendances of children in 2016. A Brazilian woman says she was forced to share a Mountjoy cell with a vomiting woman after arriving in Dublin on holiday. Paloma Carvalho was strip searched when she was brought to jail - after coming to Ireland to visit a family, she'd formerly worked for as an au-pair. by Ann O'Loughlin A High Court action has been launched over alleged damage to houses located beside the site of the new National Children's Hospital in Dublin. The proceedings have been taken by residents of the O'Reilly Avenue, Ceannt Fort, Mount Brown areas and are against the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board and BAM Civil Limited the firm which is building the hospital. Residents claim their homes have been damaged as a result of certain works being carried out by the defendants. The matter was mentioned before Mr Justice Paul Gilligan today who granted lawyers for the resident's permission to serve short notice of the proceedings on the defendants. The case will come back before the court next week. President Xi Jinping presents the PLA flag to Major General Deng Xiaogang, president of the National University of Defense Technology, at a ceremony on Wednesday in the Central Military Commission headquarters building in Beijing. LI GANG / XINHUA Embrace tech, president tells military leaders President Xi Jinping urged Chinese military institutions on Wednesday to recruit and train top-level professionals and to develop world-class theories and technologies. Xi, also chairman of the Central Military Commission, said well-educated personnel, good theories and advanced technologies are essential to building a top-class military. He said science and technology determine military combat capabilities so the Peoples Liberation Army must make more effort in research and development and continue to boost innovation. Xi made the remarks at a ceremony on Wednesday at the Central Military Commission headquarters building in Beijing that marked the establishment of the new PLA Academy of Military Science, PLA National Defense University and PLA National University of Defense Technology. He presented the PLA flag to leaders of the three top military institutions. The president asked the Academy of Military Science to adapt to new situations in research and development and to strengthen interorganizational and interdisciplinary innovation. He ordered the National Defense University and National University of Defense Technology to produce more commanders and professionals who are qualified for modern joint operations. This is the second time this year that Xi has publicly raised the importance of science and technology to the PLA. In a meeting with national legislators from the military in March, he said the PLA should take advantage of Chinas achievements in science and technology to help modernize weapons and equipment. The president told officers to look for, support and make full use of advanced technologies that can serve the militarys modernization and to assist the transfer of defense technologies to the business sector. Wednesdays moves seem to represent the completion of PLAs reshuffling in its research and training system, which started at the beginning of this year. The reshuffling is part of the ongoing massive reform on Chinas national defense and military, guided by Xi. By the end of February, the PLA had 74 schools and an Academy of Military Science. Thirty-one schools were merged with others before the end of June. There are 43 military schools plus a new Academy of Military Science, according to information from the Defense Ministry. The new Academy of Military Science, National Defense University and National University of Defense Technology have new leaders. Lieutenant General Yang Xuejun is president of the Academy of Military Science. He was head of the former National University of Defense Technology since 2011. Yang specializes in supercomputing technology. Lieutenant General Zheng He is president of the National Defense University. He was president of the former Academy of Military Science. Major General Deng Xiaogang is president of the National University of Defense Technology. As an expert in aerodynamics, he served as vice-president at the university before the appointment. The Defence Minister says further terror simulations could take place in the coming months. Paul Kehoe was speaking after the first meeting of the Cabinet's new National Security Committee. The Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney is in London today, to hear from UK business leaders about their response to Brexit. The visit will focus on the potential impact here, and on relations between Ireland and the UK. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said he has no immediate plans to resign a day after President Donald Trump excoriated the nation's top prosecutor for recusing himself from the probe of suspected Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign. "We love this job, we love this department and I plan to continue to do so as long as that is appropriate," he said. A former senator from Alabama, Mr Sessions was one of President Trump's earliest and ardent supporters and became attorney general in February. A month later, he took himself out of a Justice Department-led inquiry into the election following revelations he'd failed to disclose meetings with the Russian ambassador to the US. President Trump on Wednesday told The New York Times he never would have tapped Mr Sessions for the job had he known a recusal was coming. "Jeff Sessions takes the job, gets into the job, recuses himself, which frankly I think is very unfair to the president," Mr Trump told the newspaper. "How do you take a job and then recuse yourself? If he would have recused himself before the job, I would have said, 'Thanks, Jeff, but I'm not going to take you.' It's extremely unfair - and that's a mild word - to the president." President Trump's blistering rebuke underscored his continuing fury with Mr Sessions more than four months after the recusal and came during an interview in which he also lashed out at Robert Mueller, the special counsel now leading the federal probe; James Comey, the FBI director he fired; Andrew McCabe, the acting FBI director who replaced Mr Comey; and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed the special counsel. President Trump's denouncement reflected a long-simmering frustration with one of his staunchest allies, but was not a calculated attempt to force Mr Sessions from the Cabinet, according to two Trump advisers. For weeks, the president has seethed about Mr Sessions' decision to recuse himself from the federal investigation into whether Trump's campaign coordinated with Russia during last year's election. The White House notably made no effort to retract President Trump's comments in the interview or display confidence in the attorney general. Instead, the two Trump advisers acknowledged that the president's public comments largely reflected what they have heard him say about Mr Sessions privately. Mr Sessions, one of President Trump's earliest supporters, stepped away from the Russia probe following revelations that he had failed to disclose meetings with the Kremlin's ambassador to the US. His decision was made without consulting with the president and essentially paved the way for the appointment of Mr Mueller as special counsel. Mr Mueller's investigation, along with separate congressional probes, has overshadowed much of President Trump's agenda and ensnared several of his associates, including son Donald Trump Jr and his son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner. AP The UK "can of course survive" without securing a trade deal with the European Union after Brexit, Cabinet minister Liam Fox said. The International Trade Secretary said that while the Government wanted a deal, Brussels had to know that the UK would be prepared to walk away without an agreement. Dr Fox said Prime Minister Theresa May was "likely" to remain in Number 10 throughout the current parliament and warned that speculation about leadership would distract from the "historic" task of Brexit. Mrs May has repeatedly stated that her approach to Brexit was "no deal is better than a bad deal" and Dr Fox said it was important that the EU recognised that resolve. He told BBC Radio 4's Today: "We don't want to have 'no deal', it is much better that we have a deal than no deal. We can of course survive with no deal and we have to go into a negotiation with those on the other side knowing that's what we think. "But of course we want to come to a full and comprehensive deal with the European Union." Such a deal would benefit both the UK and EU and "the only reason we would not come to a free and open agreement is because politics get in the way of economics". Dr Fox stressed that leaving the EU meant quitting the single market and customs union as he was pressed over whether the UK could stay inside those arrangements as part of a transitional deal. "If we are to have an implementation phase between leaving the European Union and our final settlement, I don't have a problem with that. "But I do think we have to leave the EU first of all to keep faith with the voters who instructed us to do that." He added: "You cannot leave the European Union and be in the single market or the customs union." Mrs May has issued a warning to her Cabinet ministers that none of them is "unsackable" after she was forced to upbraid senior colleagues following an outbreak of vicious briefing against Chancellor Philip Hammond. Asked if he was confident of still being in his position in a year's time, Dr Fox said: "I wouldn't predict anything in the future, in politics you never know what's going to happen next." He added: "In terms of the Prime Minister, I think that the Prime Minister is likely to be there for the rest of this parliament." She has a mandate and the support of colleagues, he said, adding: "I don't think there is anything to be gained by speculation about leadership. We have got a job to do, we have got a very big task, a historic task, and that is what we should concentrate on and to be diverted into personality issues I think doesn't either do the Conservative Party, the Government or the country any good." Dr Fox was using a visit to Geneva to meet World Trade Organisation (WTO) director general Roberto Azevedo to discuss the UK's post-Brexit arrangements and to deliver a speech pushing for a rejection of protectionism. He said methods other than free trade agreements could be used to liberalise global trade and the UK would use its seat on the WTO after Brexit to "shape the debate". The debate around free-trade agreements "is too narrow and we need to think about new ways of getting the global economy moving". The UK is seeking to replicate its current EU trade obligations at the WTO as it takes a seat in its own right after Brexit and Dr Fox said the organisation was "very positive" about the process. Fluffy owners on dual occupancy blocks and other unit-titled properties are not being given the first right to buy back their land once the house is demolished , unlike the other Fluffy owners. The government says this is because dual occupancies are more complicated and take longer, involving negotiations and permission from the neighbours behind. There is no suggestion Mr Barr's brother, as a tenant, not an owner, had anything to gain from the special deal. The twist emerged this week after Fairfax Media revealed that the inner south dual occupancy was treated differently from the other dual occupancy blocks contaminated with Mr Fluffy asbestos, and was also treated differently from other Fluffy homeowners in the scheme to demolish more than 1000 homes. But the owners of the inner south property were given a deal to buy back their land as part of the buyback - in an arrangement that needed ministerial approval and that was described by asbestos taskforce head Andrew Kefford as "genuinely unique". The arrangement required ministerial approval and was signed off by then deputy chief minister Simon Corbell. It has now emerged that while Mr Barr was the minister responsible for the Fluffy buyback at the time, Mr Corbell was given the task of considering the inner south deal because of the involvement of Mr Barr's brother. The government decided that would resolve any perceptions of conflict of interest. The owners were also treated differently from other Fluffy owners in being given the price for re-purchasing their land upfront. Other Fluffy owners must wait until their houses are demolished and the land is ready for sale before it is revalued and offered back to them - leaving a gap of up to three years, possibly more, between the time their house and land was valued for purchase by the government in October 2014 and the time their land is valued for buying back. The asbestos taskforce said it had to make a special deal with the owners because the property was part of a duplex (separate to the backyard dual occupancy property rented by Mr Barr's only brother). The owners of the other side of the duplex wanted to do a private demolition, meaning there was pressure for a resolution - to get one side demolished, they had to get agreement from the other side. Mr Barr's brother moved to the inner south property with his family in mid 2014, renting the house behind the Fluffy duplex. He and his family stayed there until about August 2016 when they bought a new home and moved. The Canberra Greyhound Racing Club has started defamation action against ACT Greens leader Shane Rattenbury after he told a local radio station he had evidence of cruelty within the local industry. Last week the club reported Mr Rattenbury to ACT Policing for allegedly failing to pass on information he claimed to have about specific incidents cruelty within the ACT greyhound racing industry in a 2CC interview with Chris Coleman. ACT Greens leader Shane Rattenbury. Credit:Rohan Thomson At the time, the club said if the police found he had "lied", it would take him to court. Mr Rattenbury confirmed the club had this week begun defamation proceedings against him and he had sought legal advice. At the same time as Margaret Preston was advocating the use of Aboriginal patterns in "civilised" applied arts, an Aboriginal artist appeared "who could paint like a white fella" and for a time he became the most famous living artist in Australia. Elea Namatjira, a Western Arrernte man, was born in 1902 at Ntaria (Hermannsburg) on the Finke River Mission Station and received the name Albert when he was baptised three years later. Namatjira may have experimented with watercolours in about 1935, but it was only in 1936, when he spent two months painting with the commercial artist Rex Battarbee on a field trip in central Australia, that he fully mastered the art of watercolour painting. Albert Namatjira. Credit:Northern Territory Library The field trip was to an area that Namatjira knew well, Palm Valley being his mother's ancestral region, while his father's country stretched towards Mount Sonder and Glen Helen, so in a sense he was painting his own country. In 1938, Namatjira had his first solo exhibition. It was held in Melbourne at the Fine Art Society Gallery where the 41 paintings sold out in three days. Sell-out exhibitions followed in Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth and continued throughout much of his exhibiting career. The ACT's unions are demanding Labor politicians disclose any meetings with the Master Builders' Association, a move believed to have been sparked by a cabinet minister attending an awards' night. A letter from Unions ACT called on all Labor politicians to inform them within the month if they planned to attend events connected with the construction peak body. Unions ACT secretary Alex White. Credit:Elesa Kurtz It is understood to be targeted at minister Rachel Stephen-Smith, a member of the party's left faction, who attended the Master Builders' annual awards night on June 30. A spokesman for Ms Stephen-Smith said she did not receive the letter herself. Right faction Labor backbencher Tara Cheyne also went to the event, as did Greens MLA Caroline Le Couteur. So you're telling me that not even US pop queen Kate Perry can lift Richard Umber's Myer out of the retail doldrums? Maybe it's time for the department store to admit that no amount of lady luck think Jennifer Hawkins spruiking the $4.10 a share float in 2009 can make up for the fact that the entire sector is looking like retail road kill in the current environment. Myer's shares hit a fresh low of 73 on Thursday after announcing the latest profit downgrade. And no one would have been more disappointed than retail billionaire, Solomon Lew, who raided the share register in March, buying an 11 per cent stake for $101 million. A plan by top global liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter Qatar to ramp up output will stall the expected growth of U.S. LNG exports, Woodside Petroleum chief executive Peter Coleman said. Qatar surprised rivals this month when it lifted a self-imposed ban on development of the North Field, the world's biggest natural gas field, saying it would boost LNG output by 30 percent to 100 million tonnes a year in five to seven years. Woodside chief Peter Coleman has played down the risks from Qatar. Credit:Ben Rushton That put it on course to it wrest back the title of the world's top LNG exporter from Australia, which is set to overtake Qatar in the next two years. Woodside, operator of the North West Shelf project, said Qatar's plan showed the emirate shares its outlook for solid demand growth for LNG and gives importers like China, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh the supply certainty they need to lock in gas expansion plans. Big-box retailing is poised for its biggest shake-up in years with the imminent settlement of Woolworths' battle with former joint-venture partner Lowe's and the finalisation of an $830 million deal to offload its Masters stores. US-based Lowe's is understood to have handed over its share of joint-venture company Hydrox Holdings which owned the Masters chain to Woolworths, paving the way for the retail giant to finalise the sale of former stores to Home Consortium. Home Consortium and Woolworths have begun to reposition former Masters buildings, offer others for sale worth more than $100 million, and install new tenants and formats in others. Woolworths this week launched a search for tenants to fill four former Masters stores in Victoria and Queensland where it was unable to break its lease guarantees. Myer chief executive Richard Umbers is vowing he will stick with the department store's five-year transformation strategy despite a massive writedown of key assets and wipe out of its expected full-year profits. On Thursday, Myer said it would take a $45.6 million hit after writing off its 20 per cent stake in the failed Australian arm of UK fast-fashion label Topshop, as well as downgrading the value of its struggling sass & bide brand. The two writedowns, plus a jump in operating costs, will largely negate a forecasted net profit between $66 million to $70 million before exceptional items for the financial year, the company said in an update to the stock exchange. Thursday's announcement also included the news that Mr Umber's second-in-charge, Daniel Bracken, was leaving the business. Myer's strategy of weaning its customers off their addiction to large-scale price discounting was always going to be risky. The profit downgrade it announced on Thursday was evidence it didn't win the roll of that dice. In reducing its reliance on discount-driven revenue, Myer has found itself swimming against the tide with most other retailers that have been relying on big price cuts to attract consumers to the cash registers. The strategic overhaul of Myer is now showing dangerous signs of coming apart at the seams, with one of its major "New Myer" architects, deputy chief executive Daniel Bracken, leaving after 2 years, which is half way through Myer's retail transformation. While it would be hard not to sympathise with Scott Ludlam and Larissa Waters over their forced departures from the Senate for breaching Section 44 of the Constitution, it is also fair to say they, and the Greens, have been the authors of their own misfortunes. The fact a third Greens Senate aspirant, Andrew Bartlett, is now in doubt due to the possibility he was "holding an office of profit under the Crown" at the time of his nomination indicates the party has a lot to learn when it comes to vetting candidates. By apparently relying solely on the word of the individuals concerned, who it now transpires failed to exercise their own due diligence, the party of the moral high ground has made itself a laughing stock. Prospective candidates for both houses of parliament receive information kits spelling out the boxes that need to be ticked to qualify. Olof Isaksson, believed to be the most senior surviving officer from World War II has died in Sydney at a care home in Northbridge where his wife, Margot, still resides. He was aged 100. As a Rat of Tobruk he won the Military Cross at the 2nd Battle of El Alamein in 1942. He made an extraordinary rise through the ranks from private to brigadier. Olof "Zac" Isaksson was born in Port Adelaide, South Australia. His father was Janne Olof Isaksson, a Swedish locomotive engineer who migrated to Australia in 1905 in the footsteps of his older brother. His mother was Ruby Eveline Hansson, from Adelaide, also of Swedish descent. His parents married in 1912. He was the youngest of three children. Olof Isaksson aged 94 in Martin Place. After his birth the family moved to Nauru until 1920 where his father oversaw the rebuilding of the phosphate crushers destroyed in WWI. His father contracted silicosis from phosphate dust and never recovered his health. After returning, his family lived in Gawler on the edge of the Barossa Valley. Being Swedish Lutheran the family gravitated to the Methodist church where the children attended Sunday school. Isaksson's father eventually died of silicosis on the eve of the Depression in 1927 leaving his wife and three young children in real poverty. The family returned to Adelaide where Isaksson's Hansson aunts helped support the young family as best they could. He was grateful for the rest of his life for the kindness shown to them during these particularly unhappy years when, he said, his family, like many others, were "stoney broke". As he prepared for the D-Day landings, General Dwight Eisenhower, who would later become US president, wrote a note for publication should the Allied invasion of German-occupied Europe fail. "If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt, it is mine alone," it said. President Harry Truman had a sign on his desk that read simply, "The buck stops here." US President Donald Trump blasted congressional Democrats and "a few Republicans" over the failure of the GOP effort to rewrite the Obama healthcare law and warned, "we will return". Credit:AP This week, as he marked the end of his first six months in office, Donald Trump accepted that Republican attempts to fulfil his most significant campaign promise the immediate repeal and replacement of Obamacare were doomed despite his party's control of both houses of Congress and the White House. He told reporters, "We're not going to own it. I'm not going to own it. I can tell you the Republicans are not going to own it." The repeal of Obamacare has been the Republican Party's single greatest policy objective for seven years. It has had that long to work on a viable alternative. In the six months since the election, Republicans have hastily drafted two alternative replacement bills, one from the House, another from the Senate. Every day, I get up and walk out my back door to start one of the most satisfying jobs in the world growing food for Australia. But that got a lot harder with news that Chinese mining giant Shenhua plans to proceed with a massive open-cut coal mine right on my doorstep. You might have heard that the NSW government will pay $262 million to buy back part of the Shenhua exploration licence in order to "protect" the black soil plains of the Liverpool Plains. But it's a complete furphy. They've only bought back areas that Shenhua wasn't planning to mine anyway. They've spent almost a quarter of a billion dollars of taxpayer funds without fixing the problem. Shenhua plans to go ahead and destroy some of the best farming country in Australia for a coal mine. Happy Valley: Bewitching. Credit:Ben Blackall HAPPY VALLEY Series return 9.20pm, ABC In a follow-up season teeming with brilliant performances, the standout coupling is of Grantchester's James Norton as convicted rapist Tommy Lee Royce, and his needling, simpering moll, Frances Drummond (Scottish actress Shirley Henderson, who played Gail in Trainspotting). So physical are their interactions as they plot misguided revenge on Sergeant Cawood (Sarah Lancashire) that he simmers with rage while she pulsates with lusty evil. Never have two people up to no good been so bewitching to watch. The return of former Democrats leader Andrew Bartlett to the Senate could be short-lived, with the Greens at risk of losing a third senator to the same section of the constitution that claimed Larissa Waters and Scott Ludlam. Mr Bartlett, whose path back to parliament as a Green opened up after Ms Waters fell foul of section 44 of the constitution, could be blocked by a subsection that forbids candidates from holding an "office of profit", as he was working for a university at the time of his nomination. Ms Waters, born in Canada, and Scott Ludlam, born in New Zealand, both resigned in the past week after discovering they held dual-citizenship, which is not allowed under section 44 of the constitution. There are certain firsts every toddler goes through: first words, first successful trip to the loo. But, if you're a toddler whose life's destiny as a state representative has already been determined by an archaic governance structure based on birth right, there's another first you probably need to master sometime between your terrible twos and thundering threes: first handshake with a member of a foreign delegation. Princess Charlotte, two, got hers out of the way upon arrival in Germany on Wednesday. The royal toddler, who is fourth in line to the British throne, fronted up to Berlin Tegel airport with her parents, Prince William and Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, and older brother, Prince George. A bottle of 1951 Penfolds Grange Hermitage that was originally given away for free has sold at auction for a "staggering" $51,750. The price makes it one of the most expensive bottles ever sold in this country. Nick Stamford holding the bottle of 1951 Grange. Credit:MW Wines / Supplied The 1951 was the first vintage ever made of what is now widely considered Australia's greatest wine. Only about 160 cases were produced, and the number of bottles still in existence is thought to be fewer than 20. At the time of bottling, Grange was little more than an experimental side-project by Penfolds' chief winemaker Max Schubert. It was never sold publicly, and Mr Schubert gave the bottles away to his friends for free. STC Store, 91a Canal Road via Lilyfield Rd, Lilyfield, Saturday 22, 8am-12pm. Pickup on the day or Monday 24 8am-11am. The Outnet is once again having their seasonal clearance sale with up to 80 per cent off street style, casual and going out designs from designer favourites including Chloe, Miu Miu, Isabel Marant, Proenza Schouler, and Giambattista Valli. It's the chance to give your wardrobe a touch of current European trends, including the #inthecart pick of the week: mini shoulder bags. Online Only. Till stocks last. Popular online site The Outnet has discounts up to 80 per cent off international brands. Parisian inspired Australian brand Ellery, which has become renowned for its signature flares and eyelet pieces is bringing the European style vibe closer to home. The three-day sale in their pop-up Westfield Sydney store will feature 70 per cent off resort 17 and spring 17 including popular the Sword Bubble dress and Witch Doctor Sleeve dress. Level 4, Westfield Sydney, Pitt St Mall. July 20-23. Australian brands Saba, Sportscraft and Jag are teaming up to hold a three-day sale in Sydney's cult fashion warehouse sale space, Paddington Town Hall. The sale will have a range of tops, pants, denim and jackets for men, women and children at up to 80 per cent off, with prices starting at $19. Expect large queues vying to add casual, work and formal wear to their wardrobe. Paddington Town Hall 249 Oxford Street Paddington. Friday 21 9am-5pm, Saturday 22 9am-5pm, Sunday 23 10am-4pm. Saba is giving further savings before their relocation. Specialising in pyjamas, nighties, robes and loungewear, Australian sleepwear brand Papinelle is holding their winter sale over three days in their birthplace, Paddington with up to 90 per cent off stock from the women's and children's ranges to feature at the sale.The sale will feature samples, seconds and discontinued stock from $10. Behind the Papinelle store, Hopewell Lane, Paddington. Friday 29 10am-5pm, Saturday 30 10am-4pm, Sunday 11am-3pm. Longina Pant and Cashmere. Mark your diary, Australian designer Rachel Gilbert is holding her second Sydney warehouse sale of the year and it's one of the biggest on the yearly Sydney sale calendar. Renowned for her luxuriously intricate hand-embellished designs, the five-day sale will offer up to 80 per cent off previous seasons including autumn winter 17, resort and spring summer 16, samples, bridal gowns and more. Held at a new Paddington location, the brand is looking to clear out all the stock, making it the perfect time to pick up an outfit for any special events in the second half of the year. Again, be prepared for queues and wear clothes that make it easy to try on clothes in minimal space. 17 Oxford Street, Paddington. Wednesday 26 10am-7pm, Thursday 27 10am-7pm, Friday 28 10am-6pm, Saturday 29 10am-6pm, Sunday 30 11am-5pm. Rachel Gilbert is holding her second Sydney warehouse sale of the year. Just Opened Hands up who had a Ken Done quilt cover, pencil case or pair of sunnies in the 1980s? Everyone? Yep, thought so. The Australian artist who became famous for his colourful scenes of Sydney Harbour has once again collaborated with bedding company Sheridan to celebrate 30 years since their first collection together. Done said the response to the 1987 collection, which made both him and Sheridan into household names in Australia and internationally, had been overwhelming. "Since that time many people have asked if we would again do bed linen, so when we were approached by Sheridan 30 years later, we embraced the opportunity," he told Fairfax Media. Done, who just turned 77, said the advent of the internet and mass communication have been the biggest changes in the art and design world over the past 30 years. "There's no limit to the creativity that can come out of Australia. Digital printing has dramatically changed the reproduction ability on the bed linen we have done for Sheridan. Every brushstroke, every nuance, every slight variation of colour can now be seen. It's art in the time in which we live ... or sleep," he said. The Ken Done collection for Sheridan, which is marking 50 years in 2017, includes quilt covers, cushions and a towel. The designs are all adapted from paintings by Done, including Saturday Sailing (2016). Available online or through Sheridan stores from August 2. Artist Ken Done has collaborated with Sheridan for a collection marking 30 years since their first collection together, and the bedding brand's 50th birthday. Photo: supplied. US footwear brand Skechers already has a strong presence in Australia and New Zealand with 70-company owned retail stores (including 13 in Sydney), but the company will finally be housed on one of Sydney's fashion meccas, Pitt Street. With more than 3000 styles developed each year a year, the store's versatile design and stock means there is something for every personality; whether you are sporty, adventurous or are just looking for a lifestyle sneaker. Operating as one of their largest stores the store's minimalistic design with black walls and light brown floorboards allows the shoes to shine. 239 Pitt Street, Sydney CBD. Monday- Wednesday, 8am-8pm, Thursday 8am-10pm, Friday 8am-8pm, Saturday 9am-7pm, Sunday 10am-7pm. Skechers has just opened their first Sydney CBD store. Public servants took nearly 7000 flights between Australia, Port Moresby and Manus Island in the 2015-16 financial year, part of more than $10m in government travel related to immigration detention. New figures from the whole of government travel bill show the most popular flight route for public servants was Canberra to Sydney, flown 176,916 times while Sydney to Los Angeles topped international travel, flown more than 3150 times in the period. Federal government departments spent $427 million on travel in 2016. Credit:Peter Braig Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon accused the Turnbull government of misusing public money, calling out 6981 flights between Australia and the Papua New Guinea mainland and from Port Moresby and Manus Island. There were nearly 3000 flights from the PNG capital to Manus, currently home to about 800 men in immigration limbo. A backlog of security clearances is heightening staff pressures at Australian intelligence agencies as the authority in charge of vetting employees struggles to keep up with demand. The Australian Government Security Vetting Agency risks having its work stripped away if wait times don't improve next year, after it admitted the queue to clear employees for access to top secret information is unacceptably long. ACT Labor senator Katy Gallagher. Credit:Graham Tidy AGSVA, which vets staff from the Defence and Immigration departments, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, and other intelligence agencies, took as long as 18 months to process top level security clearances at the peak of the logjam - much longer than agencies conducting their own vetting. An independent review of Australia's intelligence work released on Tuesday identified the frustration, recommending more funding for ASIO to step in and reduce the waiting list. NSW Health is urging anyone who visited the Sydney CBD and Leichhardt in the past few days to be aware of the symptoms of measles after an infected tourist visited the areas. The young adult international traveller is believed to have caught the infection in their home country and first developed symptoms in Melbourne on July 15. It is important to be vaccinated against measles, not only to protect oneself but to protect others through "herd immunity", NSW Health says. The person then travelled to Sydney and visited tourist hot spots before being diagnosed with measles and put into isolation. A Goulburn man who had already had his license suspended was speeding and drinking driving outside a school just before classes began for the day, police say. Officers from the Goulburn Highway Patrol say they saw a silver Holden Barina about 8.45 on Thursday morning near St Joseph's Primary on Reynolds Street. Chief Inspector Greg Lynch said police would continue to be visible around school zones. Credit:Cathryn Tremain The 63-year-old man was found to be travelling at 64km/h in the school zone, which has a limit of 40km/h. A NSW Police spokesman said the car was stopped in nearby Union Street, where a breath test returned a positive result. The jeep in Jurassic Park may not have escaped the jaws of the Tyrannosaurus rex according to a Brisbane researcher who says carnivorous dinosaurs may have run faster than we originally thought. Dr Peter Bishop studied fossilised footprints of carnivorous dinosaurs from more than 210 million years ago as part of his Griffith University PhD to determine the walking and running styles of theropods, carnivorous dinosaurs such as the Tyrannosaurus rex and Velociraptor. Carnivorous dinosaurs like the Tyrannosaurus rex and Velociraptor. Credit:Publicity He measured the footprints at a site in Virginia in the United States and compared them with the same measurements taken from two modern-day examples of bipeds - humans and 11 species of birds. "We focused on the one measurement called step width - how wide your feet are spaced apart when you are walking," he said. Significant parts of an Islamic school's proposal for a masterplanned hub in Brisbane's south-west has been rejected by the Brisbane City Council, with the site restricted to educational purposes. The Australian International Islamic College (AIIC) at Durack lodged a development application, with the council in February 2015 proposing a childcare centre, mosque, a multi-storey residential building, medical centre and aged care facility be built on the school's site at 724 Blunder Road. A proposed Islamic hub at Durack has received conditional approval from Brisbane City Council. Credit:Michelle Smith On Thursday afternoon the council issued conditional approval, which did not allow the proposed residential building, aged care or shops on the school grounds. The council permitted boarding facilities for students who lived outside of Brisbane, similar to facilities at many other independent schools, but said no to non-educational residential buildings. Former energy minister Mark Bailey's decision to delete documents on his private email account puts him in "the same situation" as a Sunshine Coast pastor sentenced in 2004 to six months' jail for destroying evidence required in court, according to a prominent Queensland whistleblower. In 2004, Sunshine Coast pastor Doug Ensbey was sentenced to six months' jail for guillotining pages from a schoolgirl's exercise book in which she outlined allegations against a parishioner. The jail time was suspended. Mark Bailey, the former minister for Main Roads, Energy and Water Supply, was stood aside on Wednesday. Pastor Ensbey later mailed the guillotined remains of the "diary" back to the girl's parents between May 1995 and July 1996. Whistleblower Kevin Lindeberg argued for more than two decades that the decision by the Goss government in 1990 to shred different documents requested in a different court was also wrong. Queensland Deputy Premier Jackie Trad has labelled fellow minister Mark Bailey's destruction of work-related emails from his private account an "error in judgement" but defended his ministerial efforts. The comment came after the Main Roads, Energy and Water Supply Minister was stood down pending an investigation, following the corruption watchdog's finding he had raised a "reasonable suspicion of corrupt conduct". Mark Bailey's portfolios have been divided between two ministers. Credit:Glenn Hunt The Crime and Corruption Commission found there was sufficient evidence to refer Mr Bailey to the State Archivist for investigation. Speaking on ABC Radio Brisbane on Thursday morning, Ms Trad defended her colleague as as an "outstanding minister" with a strong parliamentary record. Former Ipswich mayor Paul Pisasale's property lawyer has been granted watch house bail after he was charged with extortion on Thursday. Solicitor Cameron McKenzie, who was named as a "key witness" in Mr Pisasale's extortion charge last month, was granted bail without having to face court after he was charged by the Crime and Corruption Commission on Thursday. The solicitor was released on watchhouse bail Credit:Louie Douvis The Chamber of Commerce junior vice-president's matter is next due in court on August 4. Mr McKenzie's arrest follows that of Mr Pisasale on similar charges on June 20. Melbourne Express: Friday, July 21, 2017 Were sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. Were working to restore it. Please try again later. Dismiss An arrest warrant has been issued for a violent sex offender who was once investigated over the murder of Corryn Rayney, after he failed to show up to court on Wednesday. Allon Mitchell Lacco was due to face Perth Magistrates Court on Wednesday morning on four charges including no authority to drive, obstructing public officers and steal motor vehicle. Allon Lacco was once investigated over the murder of Corryn Rayney. But he failed to appear, so an arrest warrant was issued by Magistrate Tom Hall. Lacco was not represented in court. A WA Police spokesperson said on Thursday afternoon. "We have been advised of the warrant and I'm not aware that he has been located." A Perth mother-of-five charged with murdering her husband and attempting to murder two of her children claims he physically and mentally abused her for years, and repeatedly threatened to kill them all. Cara Lee Hall, 38, killed her 33-year-old husband Glenn Hall in December 2015 by stabbing him at least 16 times in the chest, neck, head and back in an early morning attack at their Leda home that began when he was asleep. Cara Lee Hall is accused of murdering her 33-year-old husband. Credit:Facebook Their eldest son, 11, and youngest son, aged four, suffered knife wounds. Prosecutor Louise O'Connor told Hall's WA Supreme Court trial on Thursday that there had been some previous violence between the couple but neither they nor the children had been seriously injured. Washington: A gunshot wound to the face left a teenager with so much damage that for years doctors knew plastic surgery could only help so much to give her back a regular life. In May, the now 21-year-old woman joined the small but growing ranks of face transplant recipients, doctors announced on Tuesday. Frank Papay performs the Cleveland Clinic's first full-face transplant. Credit:Cleveland Clinic US For the woman, now the youngest to receive the surgery, it was "an incredible gift". "To reach this point of recovery has oftentimes been a difficult road to travel, but I'm thankful there's been a road," the woman said in a statement on the hospital's website. The hospital did not release her identity or the name of the donor. Washington: President Donald Trump's son-in-law, the White House adviser Jared Kushner, has agreed to appear before the Senate intelligence committee on Monday. Mr Kusher is one of several White House insiders who are being asked to testify about the Trump presidential campaign's dealings with Russian operatives. Donald Trump jnr and former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort have also been asked to testify on July 26 in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to the committee's website. The hearing comes after revelations of a previously undisclosed meeting last year in which Mr Trump jnr, Mr Manafort and Mr Kushner met with a Russian lawyer from whom Mr Trump jnr hoped to get incriminating information about Hillary Clinton. The committee is also investigating Mr Manafort's lobbying and business ties. The lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, also said on Wednesday she was ready to testify before the US Senate and "clarify the situation". Online lender Prospa has been recognised as a leading Australian business, winning the 2017 Telstra New South Wales Medium Business Award.The firm is the first fintech to be given the accolade. The win is the culmination of three consecutive years as a finalist in the Telstra Business Awards which have been running for 25 years.Celebrating its fifth birthday on Monday this week (17 July), Prospa has originated more than 12,000 loans to small business owners, injecting over $400m over the past year into the community. It has formed strategic partnerships with Westpac , Reckon and IAG during this time and raised $25m in January from entry ventures and shareholders.Were honoured to be the first fintech company recognised as NSWs top medium-sized business. We believe this win highlights Australias changing attitudes towards startups and confidence it has in the fintech industry, said Beau Bertoli , joint CEO of Prospa.With the firm now going into its sixth year, Bertoli told Australian Broker that it was interesting to watch how the market had evolved during this time.There are a number of things which have changed in relation to the fintech industry. The first one is around customer awareness and a general acceptance from customers that its ok to deal with someone whos not a bank.The second change is around the investor focus. The community was quite small when we started there were only a handful of us in the market. Today there is a very vibrant fintech community. There are a couple of hundred of fintechs operating around Australia who are raising money and getting a lot of support and resources from investors.Both these trends will continue to accelerate in the coming years, Bertoli said.The achievement was also a result of the continued success of Prospas small business clients as well as the unmatched commitment of the firms team members.Its been an amazing year looking back. Our team has grown from around 80 people at the start of the year to 150 weve almost doubled. Were very fortunate to have such an incredible team who are so passionate about what theyre doing in trying to help our small business customers.Prospas finance broker channel partners are also an important part of the business, Bertoli added, with the firm providing support through a dedicated team. Almost 4,500 finance brokers are registered and accredited with the lender, he said. Greg Moshal , Prospas other joint CEO, also expressed his pleasure at winning the award, saying he was proud the firm had been recognised for its work.This week Prospa celebrates its fifth birthday and we are proof you can build a big, high quality, successful business in just five years. We look forward to continuing to solve problems for small business owners and supporting the growth of the two million small businesses across Australia. A second joint industry forum has been held between major players in the broking and banking fields, agreeing to a framework in response to the Australian Securities & Investments Commissions (ASICs) broker remuneration review.Participants included representatives from five major industry associations the Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia ( MFAA ), Finance Brokers Association of Australia ( FBAA ), Australian Bankers Association (ABA), Customer Owned Banking Association (COBA), and Australian Finance Industry Association (AFIA) plus those from select aggregators, lenders and brokers.The meeting, which was held 18 July in Sydney, was chaired by the National Australia Bank ( NAB ) and deputy chaired by Connective Attendees discussed the draft terms of reference for the process, began the design of a cross-industry working group structure, and started to develop an engagement and reporting plan to ensure the forum works closely with all stakeholders.The next important step will be to strengthen partnerships with consumer groups, ASIC and the federal government, ABA executive director of retail policy Diane Tate said.We want to ensure their views are heard and reflected in the industry response. The industry will stay focused on ensuring that how mortgage brokers are paid, and the way this is structured, delivers good outcomes for customers.MFAA CEO Mike Felton said that the forums demonstrated the progress all parties were making in working together as an industry.Now is the time to maintain momentum and work together to ensure we achieve a balance between strong competition across the industry and good consumer outcomes.It is important that the process is broadly consultative and we will soon have cross-industry working groups in place, focused on creating improved quality measures and solutions for the issues raised by ASIC.Felton told Australian Broker that there was still a strong sense of collaboration and common purpose between all parties in tackling the task at hand.FBAA executive director Peter White said the goal of ensuring positive beneficial consumer outcomes was extremely important.At the same time we must also ensure that the broker value proposition to borrowers and the Australian lending landscape is reinforced if not strengthened by this process, and not diminished.COBA director of policy Luke Lawler said the association supported an industry-led approach in responding to ASICs proposals.This forum is making progress on a framework that will help ensure that brokers can continue to deliver for consumers and competition.AFIA CEO Helen Gordon said the association was looking forwards to contributing to the forums proactive engagement with government as well as working with all participants on solutions to effectively address identified key risk areas in a way that protects customers while continuing to give them choice on how they access mortgage lending.The forum will continue to meet monthly to develop responses to ASICs proposals as well as Sedgwicks recommendations for third parties. It will formally present its progress to ASIC, Treasury and the industry by the end of the year. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) has approved an agreement reached between ASIC and Jianyong (Jenny) Mao, of Queensland, to ban her from providing financial services and engaging in credit activity.ASIC had originally permanently banned Mao from providing financial services and from engaging in credit activity after an ASIC investigation found she had created and submitted false documents to support home loan applications for her clients.Following an application for review by Mao to the AAT in November 2015, ASIC and Mao reached an agreement to reduce the term of both bannings to 10 years each, commencing on 23 October 2015 and ceasing on 22 October 2025. This agreement was approved by the AAT on 12 July 2017.Mao, of South Brisbane, Queensland operated a home loan broking company, Diamond Lady Group which held an Australian credit licence from 2010 until 2014. Over 1,200 mail-in votes added to Montco totals; Bucks still in limbo Two of Montgomery County's three commissioners said they did not support disenfranchising more than 1,200 voters because of a handful of rule breakers The upcoming series finale of Teen Wolf might end up being more of a pause button than a proper goodbye to the franchise. According to The Hollywood Reporter, MTV is already looking to reboot Teen Wolf before the finale stretch of episodes have even started to air. Though Scotts story will reportedly wrap up, there could be a new version of Teen Wolf in just a couple of years on MTV. [VIDEO] Teen Wolf Final Season Trailer Shows Off the Return of Stiles, Derek and Jackson>>> While it is certainly strange for a reboot of a series to be discussed while that series is still airing, this news is not that surprising. Teen Wolf has been a very important franchise for MTV in recent years and though the show is ending the ratings have not dwindled that much. The decision to end Teen Wolf seems to be more of a creative one than a business one. These characters and these stories have hit a peak. We are talking with Jeff about how do we actually keep that franchise alive, said MTV president Chris McCarthy. The eventual plan is for Teen Wolf to return to TV, with all new cast though some characters might return. In the more immediate future however, the plan is continue the story that is told in Teen Wolf season 6B in a series of podcasts. The beauty of the evolution of media is you can see the series going on through a series of podcasts and then see a resurrection of a new class in a couple years, McCarthy explained. The podcasts following Teen Wolfs series finales are set to be done in the style of Serial, so that likely means the stories would be audio-only. Any other details were not given. The heart of MTV is around these timeless issues of young people and coming of age, but the timely piece will be the whole new cast, new set of issues and stories to explore through them, McCarthy added. With Teen Wolf, we have such a beautiful gem. And when you have a creator like Jeff that is such an amazing partner and the fan base that is hungry for more, were crazy not to. Which TV Show Has the Best Supporting Cast?>>> It is all very strange but it might end up being a blessing in disguise for Teen Wolf fans. The heart of the show is certainly its characters. Teen Wolf, in its current iteration, is really nothing without the bonds that Scott has formed with his pack but there is a big enough world to Teen Wolf that another show could exist in the same universe. Throughout its six seasons Teen Wolf has constantly added new bits of mythology and different monsters to the world of Beacon Hills. For that to all stop when Scotts story comes to a close would feel strange. At the same time there likely isnt that much more story to be had in another high school setting. It seems clear from McCarthys comments that MTV is planning a reboot (or sequel series) in another high school with another new class of characters. Teen Wolf has explored nearly every angle possible for supernatural teenagers in this particular world. There doesnt need to be another look or take on that particular setting. A more interesting reboot idea would be to take a completely different angle and explore the world that way. A story about human hunters would be more interesting than another werewolf pack. Even a cast of characters who are not in their teens would be better, though this would obviously lead to the dropping of Teen Wolf name. Another high-school setting seems like the wrong way to take things especially this close to the ending of the original series. The most worrying thing is the podcast continuation. While it is all very mysterious for now the plans for a podcast continuation before the series even aired its finale makes it seem like season 6B will end on a cliffhanger. A cliffhanger that will be resolved in a media that exists outside the show would be a terrible mistake for everyone involved. What do you make of the podcast plans? Teen Wolf season 6B will begin on Sunday, July 30 at 8/7c. Want more news? Like our Facebook page! (Image courtesy of MTV) latest news October 31, 2022 Buddy TV In November, there are hundreds of new and returning TV showsit can be overwhelming to try and choose what to watch. That's why we've selected some of the best options... Climate change affects mental and social health as well as physical well-being, says book by UB professor Rising sea levels and increased risk of infectious diseases can create barriers to economic mobility and cause social unrest A huge amount of public health infrastructure needs to be developed and fostered to protect people globally and in the U.S. from the potential of spreading insect- and tick-borne diseases. BUFFALO, N.Y. Rising global temperatures are impacting not just peoples physiological health but also societys health, according to Heat Advisory: Protecting Health on a Warming Planet, a book by a University at Buffalo professor. Coming out in paperback in August, the book provides an alarming but systematic overview of the peer-reviewed medical and scientific research exploring the public health impact of climate change. In addition to obvious effects, such as increased death rates caused by heat waves producing heat stroke and related conditions, the book discusses how agricultural disasters caused either by severe droughts or excessive rainfall damage human health. Author Alan Lockwood, MD, professor emeritus of neurology in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB, notes that the ability to procure food in many regions of the world is already problematic as a result of climate change. People arent the only living beings sensitive to the effects of heat. Plants, particularly corn, soybeans and rice are also vulnerable, he explains. There are critical temperatures above which crop yields fall quite dramatically. Some peer-reviewed studies predict that, in a business as usual scenario, the worldwide yield of corn could drop by 80 percent by the end of this century. The book points out that events that appear to be political often occur as a result of factors related to climate change. Many analysts have pointed to the sustained drought in the Middle East as one important cause behind much of the unrest that led to the Arab Spring in 2011. Lockwood also cites a Scandinavian study that correlated weather information with civil unrest in Africa. They concluded it didnt make much difference if you had too much rain or too little, he says. The problem of civil unrest rose quite dramatically with either one. The book includes the data that demonstrates that correlation. It provides copious research confirming many previous studies demonstrating that the most catastrophic effects will impact the planets poorest populations and that if any of these effects can be mitigated, they will require massive investments. A huge amount of public health infrastructure needs to be developed and fostered to protect people globally and in the U.S. from the potential of spreading insect- and tick-borne diseases. A lot of these things we know how to do. But, we need to mobilize more resources to protect ourselves and future generations against what will be predictably occurring. The book draws connections between the increased incidence of such diseases and obstacles to higher education and economic mobility in populations affected by them. Malaria makes countries poor and keeps them that way, says Lockwood. In countries where there is a high incidence of malaria, hundreds of thousands of children die and if they survive, theyre not as well-educated, theyre likely to be anemic and of low-birth weight, so their intellectual potential isnt as high. For countries like this, its very hard for them to make the economic and social progress to rise from third world status. And while populations in the U.S. may not be the first to experience the worst climate change has to offer, no one can afford to be complacent, according to Lockwood. Look at maps of the range of the mosquito carrying dengue and Zika, he says, It spreads up to the Ohio River Valley. Already the Aedes aegyptii mosquito has been found to spread north from Gulf states during summers and its found all year round in the Gulf coast. At a time when the President of the United States recently pulled the country out of the most important climate change effort in the world, Lockwood knows that unfortunately, one of the most critical factors in fighting the impending disaster strong political leadership is simply missing at governments highest levels. This is where we come in, where we need broad grassroots support for the kinds of policies that we need. In part, thats the purpose of my book, to generate a better-informed public. Lockwood is a senior scientist with Physicians for Social Responsibility. His previous book is The Silent Epidemic: Coal and the Hidden Threat to Health. Flame Heating Spares is set for continued growth and expansion after more than doubling its turnover to record another successful year in business. The North Easts heating and plumbing merchant recorded sales of 14.5 million up from 6.4 million in 2016, and has seen its employee count rise to 42 members of staff. Flame Heating Spares has now reported year-on-year growth since it was established in 2011 by John Savage, with a single branch in Gateshead. The merchant currently operates seven trade counters across the region, having launched outlets in Ashington and Newcastle over the last 12 months, and has invested a further 200,000 to launch three branches in Scotland this summer. The company is also planning to launch further branches in the North East in 2017, with a view to expanding nationally in the medium to long-term future. John Savage, Managing Director of Flame Heating Spares, said: It has been another strong year for Flame, buoyed by investments in new branches and our staff to meet increased demand for our services. Despite the uncertainty surrounding the Brexit vote and uncertain General Election result, we are still continuing to push on with our expansion plans to create even more job opportunities that will support the long-term future of the company. We are now in the process of expanding into Scotland and this is an exciting development for everyone associated with Flame, as these will be our first branches outside of the companys traditional North East roots. This is another large stride forward to helping us realise our national ambitions and the future is looking bright. It has also been a positive year for John Savage, who has been shortlisted in a number of business awards, including the 2017 Institute of Directors (IoD) Yorkshire and North East Director of the Year Awards and the English SME Business Awards 2017. John is also the current IoD North East Young Director of the Year. He added: I have enjoyed a very successful period both in business and on a personal level, which has been a humbling experience, and something I am incredibly proud of. Hopefully the company will celebrate further success in the future as we continue to expand. Teen visits South Jersey in 50-state Flowers and Flags tribute to vets Preston Sharp of Calif. visits veterans graves in Cinnaminson cemetery in South Jersey on 50-state Flowers and Flags tribute to their sacrifices Unlock 30+ premium stories daily hand-picked by our editors, across devices on browser and app. Full access to our intuitive epaper - clip, save, share articles from any device; newspaper archives from 2006. Curated newsletters on markets, personal finance, policy & politics, start-ups, technology, and more. Pick your 5 favourite companies, get a daily email with all news updates on them. 26 years of website archives. The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Thursday gave Jaypee Infratech time till August 4 to respond to a petition of insolvency filed by IDBI Bank after the company said it did not receive a notice from the tribunal on beginning the proceedings. With in the information technology (IT) realigning and reskilling their workforce to address a changing requirement, Nasscom, the apex association of here, has said it would look at bringing norms related to human resource (HR) issues, if needed. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an HR meet organised by Nasscom here, R Chandrashekhar, president, said: "We would not want that anyone should lose their job at all. But, given the circumstances, some of these cases will come up. We believe that have to handle this issue with sensitivity, transparency and with agility." The idea of the HR Summit, he said, was to share experiences in this regard and if changes were needed on HR policy norms, Nassscom would look at these. ALSO READ: Worried by IT layoffs? Open online courses can future-proof your career This year, the IT would be a substantial net employer, hiring overall on a net basis, 130,000 to 150,000 people. The peak in 2013-14 was around 240,000. "It is not a case of jobless growth, much less job shrinking, which a lot of doomsday prophets have been talking about but one of deceleration of the rate of growth of jobs," he said earlier. Reskilling was the only way forward. Nasscom had been working on a collaborative platform in this regard, he said, and would require support from the government, which should not be delayed. It is currently discussing with members on the areas where held is needed, such as content, training, learning modules, assessment services and certification. Automation itself wa creating jobs, said Chandrashekhar. "Besides, there will be new opportunities which get created in other sectors, because the value lies at the junction point of technology and domain." He added that what was happening in IT should be expected to follow in other sectors. India contributes to 56-57 per cent of the global IT services market. Growth for the next financial year was expected to be seven to eight per cent and the growth in employment at four to five per cent. The sector skill council of Nasscom has identified 55 new job roles and 155 new-age skill required for the future. Big data and analytics are two major areas opening up -- the market opportunity in both these is expected to grow eightfold from now to $16 billion by 2025, with a spurt in demand for business analysts, solution architects, data integrators, data architects, data analysts and data scientists. Leading telecom operator Bharti Airtel on Thursday alleged in a hard-hitting statement that the latest entrant aimed to build its business by getting a free ride on the highways made by incumbents, while referring to the tussle over interconnect charges. Ever since Jios launch in September 2016 along with heavily discounted tariffs and free services, the telecom space has witnessed intense competition. Masayoshi Son has had a busy year even by the standards of Japans most prolific investor. On Thursday in Tokyo, he took time to explain how it all fits together. Bajaj Auto's June quarter results were below estimates, especially on the operating profit margin level, as lower volume growth and higher costs dented overall performance. Even so, the stock closed lower by only 0.2 per cent on Thursday, indicating the Street is taking cues from the one-off events of the past three-four months. Hope of better performance in the coming quarters and a good export showing also helped. If Indian troops don't withdraw from Doklam on the disputed border, they should be captured or killed, says a former Chinese diplomat who was once based in India. Liu Youfa, who was the Chinese Consulate General in Mumbai, said the entry of Indian troops into Doklam, which Beijing says is Chinese territory, amounted to "invasion". "According to what I understand of international law, when people in uniform get across the border to move into the territory of the other side, they naturally become enemies who will have to face three consequences: First, they can go out voluntarily, or they may be captured or when the border dispute should escalate, they may be killed," Liu told CGTN, the English channel of broadcaster CCTV. "So, there are three possibilities. So, I think the Chinese side is standing there waiting for the Indian side to make the sensible choice," he added. "This is the best result for both sides to avoid the eventual confrontation. "The Chinese side has so far given so much time for the Indian side, for our Indian friends to take sensitive measures," Liu said. The Chinese and Indian armies have been locked in the stand-off at Doklam in the Sikkim sector of the Sino-Indian border for more than a month. The stand-off began when the Indian Army stopped Chinese soldiers from building a road in Doklam, a tri-junction of India, China and Bhutan. China calls Doklam as its own. Indian and Bhutan say it belongs to Bhutan. India sees the Chinese presence in Doklam as a threat since the region is very close to the Siliguri arterial corridor. "Construction of the road by the Chinese government should not (make you) send your troops across the border," Liu said. "India is building airfields and highway networks along the border and you cannot stop China from doing the same. "China and India are two great neighbours that cannot afford to be hostile to each other. Neither side should take advantages of concessions and the goodwill to move beyond reasonable limits," he added. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Social media's importance can be gauged by the fact that Facebook now has a market capitalisation of $ 472 billion and has more than 2 billion users on the platform. There is Twitter, WhatsApp, Instagram and YouTube which also have a large number of users sharing content and views, discussing, debating or just consuming content every morning. Globally, exercises the highest influence on public discourse. It is this function which makes it important for governments across the world to register their presence on . But do governments restrict themselves to only having a presence on or do they go beyond it? India on Thursday made a renewed pitch for a peaceful resolution of the with China through diplomatic channels, insisting that differences should not become disputes. The assertion by New Delhi came on a day China said diplomatic channels remained unimpeded to discuss the issue provided India withdraws its troops from Doklam. Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Gopal Baglay told reporters that India has been in close contact with the Bhutan government on the unfolding developments, noting that diplomatic channels to resolve the issue with China have not broken off. Responding to supplementaries during Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said China intends to unilaterally change the status of the tri-junction with Bhutan, posing a challenge to Indias security. On the standoff at Doklam, she referred to the written agreement between India, China and Bhutan in 2012 that the three nations will together decide on the boundaries at the tri-junction point. The minister said China had been constructing roads earlier too, but now they have brought in bulldozers and excavators. We are saying that the matter could be resolved through talks, but both sides have to first take back their armies, she said. The minister also said India was not unreasonable on the Doklam border issue and that all nations were with it. Observing that China was demanding the withdrawal of the Indian troops from the tri-junction point, she said India has been saying that both countries would have to withdraw their armies before amicably resolving the dispute through talks. Swaraj said their (Chinas) intention was to reach the tri-junction so that they could unilaterally end the status of the tri-junction. It was only then that India came into the picture. If China unilaterally changes the tri-junction point, then Indias security is challenged, she said, adding Bhutan has protested in writing to China on this issue. Swaraj said all countries are supporting us and they understand that the stand taken by India on the issue is not wrong as they realise that China is getting aggressive with Bhutan. Indias position is not wrong on the tri-junction and all nations are with it. The law is with our country and all are realising this, she said. When asked about China ratcheting up rhetoric against India, Baglay quoted 15th-century saint Kabir, indicating it was not necessary to take note of everything that has been coming from the Chinese side. It is obvious that every responsible power, every responsible person and player in the world, of course, prefers peaceful resolution of matters that are in hand, Baglay said. Earlier in the day, China said diplomatic channels with India remained unimpeded to discuss the but at the same time reiterated that the withdrawal of the Indian troops from the area is a precondition for any meaningful dialogue. The MEA spokesperson also said at least one flag meeting between the two sides had taken place after the face-off, which began on June 16. I am aware of flag meeting taking place after June 16. Now whether there was one or more, I am not aware of. On whether India has briefed other countries on the issue, Baglay said, It is not appropriate for me to comment on diplomatic discussions and interactions that take place as a regular matter and also on sensitive issues of this nature. I would not like to go into the details of how and what and with whom such conversations have taken place, if they have taken place, he said. On whether India can explore going to the UN if diplomacy fails to resolve the standoff, Baglay said he could not reply to hypothetical questions but added, In a sense you have answered your own question. Asked about comments by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Jammu and Kashmir counterpart Mehbooba Mufti that China could be behind troubles in their states, Baglay evaded a reply and only said cross-border terrorism was the root of the problem in J&K. Baglay also confirmed that Security Advisor Ajit Doval will travel to Beijing to attend a meeting of the BRICS multilateral grouping on July 27 and 28. Several opposition parties are advocating a bill to deal with incidents of mob lynching which, they claimed, are on the rise. The draft of Manav Suraksha Kanoon (MASUKA) has been prepared by a group which includes members of the Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party. It has provisions for holding accountable the police station house in-charge under whose jurisdiction the crime has taken place. There has been a rise in the number of mob lynching cases by cow vigilantes across the country, especially in the BJP-ruled states, the leaders alleged. They cited cases of Pehlu Khan, a diary owner in Rajasthan who was allegedly killed by cow vigilantes this year, and Mohammad Akhlaq of Uttar Pradesh, who also met the same fate in 2015, on the suspicion that he was consuming beef. Senior Congress leader and AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh demanded that the MASUKA law should have provisions to book those spreading hate on social media. Emphasising on the need to have a strong law to deal with mob lynching, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor claimed such incidents have been taking place at regular intervals. Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh, who also supported the need for a separate legislation to deal with cases of mob lynching, said the Delhi Assembly had passed a resolution condemning such incidents. Asked whether the states where opposition parties are in power should adopt such a legislation, CPI-M's M B Rajesh responded in affirmative. He also emphasised on the need for all opposition parties to push this bill in Lok Sabha. Former Union minister and Congress leader Salman Khurshid supported the demand to have a legislation to curb the cases of mob lynching, asserting that a special law is needed to deal with a specific type of incidents. Tehseen Poonawalla, a Congress supporter and a member of the group that drafted the bill, said a copy of the proposed MASUKA law has been sent to the Prime Minister's Office. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In the fourth week of May, was called to New Delhi to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The 71-year-old assumed that the meeting had something to do with his gubernatorial assignment in Bihar but was surprised to be told that he was one of the nine names being considered for the Democratic Alliances (NDAs) presidential candidate. Calling the month-long military stand-off between India and China at Doklam part of a mind game, former Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran on Thursday said there was a possibility of a prolonged impasse and even "punitive action" caused by Chinese "frustration" over confrontation with India in a third nation's territory. Saran added that while there have been incursions in the Doklam region in the past, it appeared that the Chinese intention this time was to establish a permanent presence in the region, and unless properly handled there could be more such incidents. "My sense is that the Chinese believed the Bhutanese would protest as they have done in the past, and that there may be some standoff, but they were quite confident that they would be able to continue their activity. "They would have thought, India would be unhappy with the situation but ultimately India would be unlikely to face-off with China in Bhutanese territory - a third country's territory," Saran said at the inaugural lecture of the lecture series jointly organised by Institute of Chinese Studies and India International Centre. He said that this assumption was belied by the reaction from Bhutan and India this time, and what they thought would be a low-risk activity has now been transformed into a potentially high-risk one. "And hence the high decibel and threatening posture designed to compel a stand-down by Indian forces which would from their point of view validate their original assumption with which they began their operation," Saran said. The military tension over the Himalayan tri-junction between the two countries that share a 3,500-km boundary started more than a month ago when Indian troops stopped Chinese soldiers from building a road at the stretch where India and China connect with Bhutan. The stand-off has hit India-China ties with Chinese experts threatening a war if New Delhi did not buckle. Saran said that the Chinese strategy was part of a mind game also seen in the South China Sea where through incremental activity, it slowly changed the facts on the ground and established a permanent presence without encountering any serious opposition, including from the United States. "I certainly believe that much of this is mind game - the very peculiar Chinese brand of psychological warfare - but of course, it would be prudent not to rule out the possibility of frustration driving punitive action. So one should be prepared for that," he said. Saran added that whatever India does to manage the situation, it should take Bhutan's interests into account "which is an independent and a proud nation". "I welcome the fact that the Indian side has been restrained and mature in its reaction. Let China raise the decibel. There is no need for India to respond in the same way but focus on strengthening its own position," he said. The former Foreign Secretary, who also served as India's ambassador to Myanmar, Indonesia and Nepal, said that India's biggest challenge comes from the rise of China which would seek to narrow India's strategic space by penetrating India's own neighbourhood. He said what is happening in Doklam should be seen in this context. "The enhanced Chinese activity would have been directed towards weakening India's close and privileged relations with Bhutan, opening the door to Chinese entry into the country and seek the settlement of the Sino-Bhutan border which would have advanced Chinese security interests vis-a-vis India," Saran said. He added that the limited human and economic resources that India has must be redirected to securing the neighbourhood even if it means a reordering of priorities. "We need to pick and choose what are the really key issues on which we need to confront China. There may be Chinese actions which may cause us annoyance but may not be vital to our interests -- the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is, but UN listing of Pakistan-based terrorist groups is not," he said. The Centre will engage Asian Development Bank (ADB) to for a feasibility study and to prepare a conceptual development plan (CDP) for the (ECEC) to link Kolkata in the east to Tuticorin in the south through Chennai in a phased manner. Britannia Industries and Tata Tea have stopped supplies to distributors in Kerala, who are seeking protection of their margins after the goods and services tax (GST) was imposed. Industry sources said these companies had sales of Rs 500 crore and Rs 200 crore in Kerala, respectively, every month. International pension funds with an appetite for staying invested for several years are expected to be primary suitors for the highway contracts to be auctioned next month by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). The buzz about the Narendra Modi government's reformist credentials has just got a bit louder, but one cannot avoid experiencing a sense of deja vu. Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal. They do not reflect the view/s of Business Standard. Even as small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and traders continue to face transitory challenges and irritants after the rollout of the goods and services tax (GST) regime from July 1, the plywood industry in Uttar Pradesh (UP) is on the verge of a collapse. Weddings have been less lavish this year a trend that can be linked to . Leading hotel brands have seen a dip in business from weddings in the first half of 2017 as families turned cautious about spends after the government withdrew old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes from circulation on November 8, 2016. Commerce and industry minister Nirmala SItharaman has reiterated that there be a solution to the issue of public stockholding of foodgrain and a special safeguard mechanism. The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been apprised of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between India and Netherlands for cooperation on exploration and usage of outer space for peaceful purposes. According to the government's release, both the countries will work on space science, technology and applications. These include remote sensing of Earth, satellite communication and satellite based navigation, space science and planetary exploration, use of spacecraft and space systems and ground system, and application of space technology. While many Indian states have hiked electricity tariffs in the last few years, rates in Delhi were last increased in 2014, distribution companies (discoms) in the national capital have represented to the state regulator, according to an industry source here on Thursday. In its periodic tariff revision process, the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission held a public hearing here with stakeholders, having earlier invited their suggestions in the matter and their tariff petitions. At the meeting, stakeholders noted that while states like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Karnataka and Uttarakhand had raised tariffs by 10-20 per cent, Delhi has effected no hikes since 2014, the source said. Haryana became the latest to raise rates on Wednesday, with the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC) increasing the power tariff for 2017-18 from July 1. He said the revenue gap for Delhi's three discoms has reached over Rs 34,000 crore on account of a "non-cost reflective tariff". The last tariff hike in Delhi was in July 2014. The 5 per cent hike prescribed in this tariff order was for the financial year 2014-15. The source pointed out that since privatisation of distribution in Delhi in 2002, there has been an increase of around 300 per cent in the cost of purchasing power from generators. On the other hand, the retail tariff has increased by only around 90 per cent. He said that while Delhi's bulk power rate -- Rs 5.4 per unit -- is only over 30 per cent higher than the national average of Rs 4.08, the cost of purchasing power from Delhi's state generation plant is astronomically higher than the country average. According to the industry expert, the primary reason behind Delhi getting expensive power is that Delhi discoms are bound by long term power purchase agreements (PPAs) that run for 25-35 years, which were signed with generators well before privatisation and before April 1, 2007. "These PPAs are one-sided and completely in favour of the generators," he said. From the perspective of the generators, with electricity demand growth in India not keeping pace with the excess capacity addition and with tariffs falling, producers are facing offtake issues on power that they have not already tied up for sale through long-term PPAs. JSW Energy Chief Executive Prashant Jain told a channel earlier this week that while the company had tied up for the offtake of about 65 per cent of its power generation through long-term PPAs, it is facing challenges about disposal of its remaining "untied capacity". (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Rukesh Kumar, 22, is running out of patience and finances. He's whiling away time in his 6'x6' abode in the Shivamnagar slum here that he shares with a fellow textile worker. The Rs 5,000-odd he'd saved in June, after sending another Rs 5,000 back home in Patna, is almost over. The Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued a notice to the Finance Ministry and the GST Council on a plea against 12 per cent tax on sanitary napkins under the GST regime. A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C. Hari Shankar sought responses from the Ministry and the Goods and Services Tax Council by November 15 on the public interest litigation and also asked the petitioner to prepare and supply a brief note on the representations made to the Centre. Petitioner Zarmina Israr Khan, PhD scholar in African studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University here, said the discriminatory and illegal treatment was being meted out to women by an "unconstitutional and illegal imposition of 12 per cent tax" on sanitary napkins. The GST, which came into force across the country on July 1, is a unified indirect tax system on various goods and services. Khan's lawyer Amit George told the bench that 12 per cent tax makes no distinction between high- and low-cost sanitary napkins. "This is quite opposed to the differential treatment given to various goods, such as footwear, on the basis of their retail sale price. Sanitary napkins are essential for a woman's right to live with dignity and freedom, and for the protection of her overall health," argued George, seeking that the imposition of 12 per cent tax on sanitary napkins be quashed. The petitioner pleaded for nil tax, or a reduced one, pointing out that there are certain items exempted under the GST system so as not to burden consumers, including "makeup items, plastic and glass bangles, hearing aids, bags, and material used in religious rituals, and contraceptives". Sanitary napkins have been grouped with toys, leather goods, roasted coffee, mobile phones, and processed foods -- all attracting 12 per cent tax. The plea said imposition of high tax, which is prima facie "unconstitutional, illegal and arbitrary", has witnessed strong dissent and invoked calls for corrective action from individuals and organisations across the country. The petitioner said there were an estimated 355 million menstruating women in India, with a vast majority still facing significant barriers to a comfortable and dignified experience with menstrual hygiene management. "It is estimated that approximately 88 per cent of menstruating women in India have no access to sanitary napkins... the root cause of approximately 70 per cent of all reproductive diseases in India is poor menstrual hygiene," the petition noted. "Commercially manufactured sanitary napkins are expensive for low-income users, and low-cost pads vary in reach and quality... various studies and surveys with adolescent girls and women in urban and rural India have indicated high cost as the primary reason for non-use of sanitary pads," the petitioner told the court. Uttar Pradesh (UP) Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday evening announced that his government had been drafting tougher criminal laws. The announcement comes on the back of perception that crime rate has seen a rise under the new dispensation in UP. The Staff Selection Commission (SSC) is set to conduct the examination for the candidates aspiring for the post of Scientific Assistant in the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The examination will be conducted in November 2017 from 22nd to 27th (Wed-Mon). The exam will be followed by recruitment of the suitable candidates. There are total 1102 vacancies in the Department. When asked about the same, the SSC official said the number of vacancies is tentative and subject to variation. Reservation for SC/ST/OBC/PH etc. categories is in accordance with the Govt. Orders. Keep in mind the posts carry All India Service Liability (AISL) i.e. the candidate, on selection, may be asked to serve anywhere in the country. President of India Inaugurates Bicentenary Celebration of Paika Rebellion of Odisha The President of India Shri Pranab Mukharjee inaugurated the Bicentenary celebration of the heroic Paika Rebellion of Odisha, a valiant uprising of Paikas against the British rule organised by the Ministry of Culture here today. Minister of Tribal Affairs Shri Jual Oram, Chief Minister of Odisha Shri Naveen Patnaik, Minister of State (I/C) for Petroleum and Natural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pradhan and Minister of State (I/C) for Culture and Tourism Dr. Mahesh Sharma were present at the inaugural function. Speaking on the occasion, the President said that it was indeed a privilege for him to be present on the occasion of inauguration of year-long celebration of Bi-Centenary of the Paika Bidroha of Odisha. He congratulated the people of the country and especially those of Odisha on the occasion. He stated that 40 years before the revolt of 1857, which was later termed as 1st War of Indian Independence against British Colonialism, a battle was fought under the leadership of Baxi Jagabandhu of Odisha. Many scholars, researchers and historians have opined that the Paika Rebellion of 1817 was Indias first organized armed rebellion against British Raj. He said that completion of two hundred years of this popular uprising was a special event. The legend of the heroics of Buxi Jagabandhu continues to inspire the people of Odisha. It is time, this struggle and sacrifice by a generation of Odia people got its due place in the annals of history. The President said that the Paika uprising was in the nature of a rebellion by people of Odisha. It was aimed at upholding the rights of the Odia people and sovereignty of Odisha. Paika Rebellion was not only the rebellion of Paikas, it was a National War waged by ordinary people at the grassroots level who resented the dispossession of their Sovereign of his rights and the consequential repressive measures that followed. As we celebrate 200 years of the Paika Rebellion, it is time to remember the great history of our country and pay respect to our great heroes. Along with Buxi Jagabandu it is time to pay respects to other great warriors of Paika Bidroha who fought side by side such as Dinabandhu Samantray Mohapatra, Dama Subudhi Manjaraj, Samanta Madhaba Chandra Routray (Dalbehera of Tapanga), Pindiki Bahubalendra, Krutibas Patsani and many more heroes of Paika Bidroha. The President congratulated the Government for recognizing this great event of our cherished history of freedom struggle. He said that the year-long celebrations should be documented for future guidance at the end of the year. He also urged historians to concentrate on indigenous source material available in folk songs and folk stories narrated over the years by one generation to another. Pre-dating what has been popularly regarded as the fist war of independence in 1857, the Paika Bidroha (Paika Rebellion) of 1817 in Odisha briefly shook the foundations of British rule in the eastern part of India. Paikas were essentially the peasant militias of the Gajapati rulers of Odisha who rendered military service to the king during times of war while taking up cultivation during times of peace. They unfurled the banner of rebellion against the British under the leadership of Baxi Jagandhu Bidyadhara as early as 1817 to throw off the British yoke. Rulers of Khurda were traditionally the custodians of Jagannath Temple and ruled as the deputy of Lord Jagannath on earth. They symbolised the political and cultural freedom of the people of Odisha. The British, having established their sway over Bengal Province and Madras Province to thenorth and south of Odisha, occupied it in 1803. The Gajapati King of Odisha Mukunda Deva-ll was a minor then and initial resistance by JaiRajguru, the custodian of Mukunda Deva-II, was put down brutally and Jai Rajguru was torn apart alive. A few years later, it was the Paikas under Baxi Jagabandhu, the hereditary chief of the militia army of the Gajapati King, who rose in rebellion, taking support of tribals and other sections of society. The rebellion started in March 1817 and spread quickly. Though Paikas played a larger role in the rebellion against the British, it was by nomeans a rebellion by a small group of people belonging to a particularclass. The tribals of Ghumusar (part of present day Ganjam and Kandhmal Districts) and other sections of the population actively took part in it. In fact, the Paika Bidroha got the opportune moment to spread when 400 tribals of Ghumsar entered Khurda protesting against the British rule. The Paikas attacked British symbols of power, setting ablaze policestations, administrative offices and the treasury during their march towards Khurda, from where the British fled. The Paikas were supported by the rajas of Kanika, Kujang, Nayagarh and Ghumusar and zamindars, village heads and ordinary peasants. The rebellion quickly spread to Purl, Pipli Cuttack and other parts of the province. The British were initially taken aback and then tried to regain lost groundbut faced stiff resistance from the rebelling Paikas. Many a battle ensuedwith some victories to the rebels, but the British finally managed todefeat them within three months. Widespread suppression followed with many killed and imprisoned. Many morewere tortured. Some rebels fought a guerilla war till 1819 butwere captured and killed. Baxi Jagabandhu was finally arrested in 1825and died in captivity in 1829. Though the Paika Bidroha enjoys a cult status in Odisha with children growing up with stories of the brave fight against the British, it hasunfortunately received less attention at the national level than it should have got. France insisted that the UK pay a bill of as much as $100 billion ($115 billion), underlining the hurdles to substantial progress in negotiations toward a new relationship with the European Union. As the second round of talks wraps up in Brussels, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire used a hearing in the French parliament in Paris on Wednesday evening to take a hard line on what the EU believes the UK owes the bloc in terms of liabilities and obligations. The European Union and Britain offered few compromises at their first full round of talks which ended on Thursday, and the pound fell on worries that British ministers were prepared to walk away without a divorce deal. Two global banks, and Deutsche Bank, are beefing up their presence in Frankfurt to deal with the impact of Britain leaving the European Union (EU). The US intelligence agencies have indicated that defiant is testing components to launch another intercontinental ballistic missile or intermediate range missile test from a submarine within the next 14 days. The US satellites have detected new imagery and satellite-based radar emissions indicating may be testing components and missile control facilities for another ICBM or intermediate launch, CNN reported. The US is watching further testing of North Korean radars and communications that could be used in a launch but the intelligence assessment is that program remains in early stages. Under the supervision of Kim Jong-un, on July 4 conducted its first successful test of a long-range intercontinental ballistic missile Hwasong-14, that it says can "reach anywhere in the world." An intercontinental ballistic missile reached a height of 2,802 kilometres (1741 miles), according to state broadcaster Korea Central Television (KCTV). This another test which Pyongyang will conduct in 14 days would be its first test since the successful launch first test of the ICBM, the Hwasong-14 on July 4 At the same time, a North Korean submarine was spotted in waters engaging in "unusual activity," two defense officials said. After July 4th launch, the US conducted the successful test of its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system by shooting down an intermediate-range ballistic missile over the Pacific Ocean thus increasing tensions between the US and North Korea. Meanwhile, the US President Donald Trump is in talks with China, Japan and South Korea on finding ways to deal with North Korea nuclear and ballistic program. Trump signaled he could use the US-China trading relationship as to pressure China to force North Korea to act, Trump said,"Somebody said, what cards do you have? I said, very simple trade. We are being absolutely devastated by bad trade deals. The UK will lift restrictions on large electronic devices being carried as cabin luggage on direct flights from Turkey, officials said here on Thursday. A source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told state-run Anadolu news agency that British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson had phoned his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu over the issue. The source said Johnson told Cavusoglu the UK authorities had decided to lift the ban, adding that the process to lift the restrictions was ongoing. A ban on carrying such devices aboard US-bound passenger aircraft was ended for Turkish Airlines flights from Istanbul earlier this month. The US had banned devices from 10 airports in eight Muslim-majority countries while the UK had banned them on all direct flights from Turkey, Lebanon, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Tunisia in March. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The rules are a bit of a buzzkill. Drug users must officially register with the government. Machines will scan buyers fingerprints at every purchase, and there are strict quotas to prevent overindulgence. has moved higher by 6.5% to Rs 1,548 on BSE after the company reported 39% year on year (Y-o-Y) growth in net profit at Rs 76 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2017 (Q2CY17). Revenues grew 6% at Rs 2,224 crore on YoY basis. Spot sugar prices rebounded sharply from a recent low to hit the highest in three months, following a global move and traders returning to the market after almost three weeks. 7 gang members convicted; father says he'll tell daughter when visiting her tomb The ringleader of a telecom fraud gang blamed in the death of a promising young student in East China has been sentenced to life in prison. Chen Wenhui, 22, who also illegally obtained personal data, was among seven people sentenced at Linyi Intermediate People's Court in Shandong province on Wednesday. The others received prison terms of three to 15 years. The gang cheated many victims out of a total of more than 560,000 yuan ($83,000) from November 2015 to August 2016. More than 23,000 calls were made in which scammers posed as educational, financial or real estate officials. "Their major targets were college-bound students," the court said in a statement on Wednesday. The case took on national significance in August when one victim, Xu Yuyu, an 18-year-old university candidate from Linyi, died of cardiac arrest after being conned out of 9,900 yuan she had saved for her college tuition. "The scam was devised by Chen, and Xu's death was linked to the anxiety created by his telecom fraud," the court said. Chen and his gang called the student on Aug 19 and told her she would receive about 2,600 yuan in student aid after transferring her tuition into an account they provided. She transferred the money. She had applied for student aid from a local educational authority two days before the scammers' call, according to the court. Her personal information was among more than 10,000 bits of information on people that Chen had illegally obtained online. At a hearing on June 27, expert witnesses testified that Xu's death resulted from the great pressure and sadness she felt after being defrauded. The court said it agreed, given that "Xu was in good health and no problems were found in an earlier checkup". Xu Lianbin, the student's father, said he was satisfied with the verdict. "I was nervous before the announcement. I plan to visit my daughter's tomb later and tell her about the judgment," he said. Under Chinese law, Chen faced a sentence of 10 years to life imprisonment because the number of calls made were deemed to be "extremely large" and the leading role he played was "extremely serious". A judicial interpretation regarding the protection of citizens' information says Chen, of Fujian province, should also face a prison term of up to seven years for the information he illegally purchased. "Considering these factors, as well as our country's requirement of strictly punishing telecom scammers, we sentenced Chen to life in prison," the court said. Hong Daode, a law professor at China University of Political Science and Law, said Chen's sentence is reasonable. "Some losses brought by telecom fraud cannot be recovered, and our judicial system calls for heavy penalties for defrauders whose offenses cause others' deaths." The court also confiscated all of Chen's assets, and the others were fined from 100,000 to 600,000 yuan. None of those convicted, ranging in age from 20 to 30, have stated whether they will appeal the sentence, the court said caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn (China Daily 07/20/2017 page4) Wipro, country's third largest software services firm, is expected to report a marginal sequential drop in constant currency revenue for the June quarter later in the day, while the company will also consider a proposal for buyback of its equity shares. Afghanistan has accused Pakistan for not launching military operations on the sanctuaries of Taliban and Haqqani network, which are located in the key cities of Pakistan i.e. Peshawar and Quetta. Mocking Pakistan army for launching 'Operation Khyber IV' in the tribal regions of Khyber Agency close to the Durand Line, Afghanistan officials said, "the main centres and sanctuaries of the terrorist groups are located in Pakistan's own cities and not in the tribal regions in Khyber Agency. The ministry of defense spokesman Gen. Dawlat Waziri said that "the main centres and sanctuaries of the terrorist groups are located in the key cities of Pakistan and not in the tribal regions close to the Durand Line," as he was responding the launch of the new operations by the Pakistani army in Khyber Agency. However, a Pakistani military spokesman said "Afghan Ministry of Defence's response to 'Operation Khyber IV' is unwarranted and runs counter to Pakistan Army's efforts for better Pak-Afghan coordination and cooperation". The Afghan officials have long been insisting that the leadership councils of the Taliban group and the notorious Haqqani terrorist network are based in Peshawar, Quetta, and other parts of Pakistan from where they plan and coordinate attacks in Afghanistan, Khaama Press reported. Pakistan launched a military operation codenamed 'Operation Khyber IV' to counter the potential threat posed by terrorists groups including Daesh in the tribal areas. Since then the militaries of Pakistan and Afghanistan are engaged in a war of words. The accusations by Afghanistan comes at a time when the U.S. State Department in its annual 'Country Report on Terrorism', as mandated by the Congress, said that Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) continue to operate, train, organise and raise fund inside Islamabad and Pakistani military and security forces undertook operations against groups that conducted attacks within Pakistan such as Tehrik-eTaliban Pakistan. US Department of Defense in its report said last month that "Afghan oriented militant groups, including the Taliban and Haqqani Network, retain freedom of action inside Pakistani territory and benefit from support from elements of the Pakistani Government." . (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hundreds of Boko Haram suspects in Cameroon are being brutally tortured by security forces, London-based human rights organisation Amnesty International said in a new report published on Thursday. The report, which was named, 'Cameroon's secret torture chambers: human rights violations and war crimes in the fight against Boko Haram', uses dozens of testimonies, corroborated with satellite imagery, photographic and video evidences. The report documents 101 cases of incommunicado detention and torture between 2013 and 2017, at over 20 different sites. "We have repeatedly and unequivocally condemned the atrocities and war crimes committed by Boko Haram in Cameroon. But, nothing could justify the callous and widespread practice of torture committed by the security forces against ordinary Cameroonians, who are often arrested without any evidence and forced to endure unimaginable pain," said Alioune Tine, Amnesty International's Regional Director for West and Central Africa. Men and women have reported that they have been beaten up by electric cables, chains, batons and at times, have been permanently tied up. Many of the victims were tortured in the headquarters of the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) in Salak, in the country's north. . (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Janata Dal (United) has accused the government of creating a 'barrier' by not letting the opposition talk about the farmers' issue in the Parliament. Speaking to ANI, JD (U) spokesperson KC Tyagi said it is not acceptable that the government is not letting the opposition talk about farmers' issue. "From Mansur to Pune farmers of India are in great difficulty and when the opposition wants to talk about these issues in Parliament, the government creates a barrier which is not acceptable," he added. Speaking to ANI on the same issue JD (U) leader Sharad Yadav pointed out the irony that in an agrarian nation, the farmers were least thought about by the government. He further said that everyday almost '20 to 25' farmers commit suicide in India and hence a discussion should take place on the issue, in Parliament. "The Government promised 2 crore jobs in one year. It has been three years and by now 6 crore people should have been employed," he added. "We are trying that a discussion takes place on the issue in the Parliament." Yadav said. Yesterday, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi has said that "for Goods and Services Tax (GST) Parliament can be opened at midnight, but on the issue of farmers, we can't even speak for one minute." He also said that during his election campaign in 2014, Prime Minister Modi had promised to help farmers but the promise has not been fulfilled. The farmer crisis shot back into the spotlight after the Tamil Nadu Government on Wednesday hiked the salary of its MLA from Rs. 55,000 to Rs. 1, 05,000 per month. Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami announced the hike in salaries of the Tamil Nadu MLAs in the state assembly. The Opposition voiced out its dissent strongly asking how the MLAs can enjoy such a steep hike, when the very farmers from their own states are dying under the burden of loans. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects passing through the provinces of Balochistan and Sindh in Pakistan have been designed to bring profit to China and not for Pakistan, said experts on Balochistan while participating in a seminar in London earlier this week. Gathering under the banner of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) and the Baloch Organization (WBO), the Baloch leaders and activists took part in the seminar that focused on the theme "Hanging by a Thread: CPEC, Progressive Nationalism and the Growth of Religious Extremism in Balochistan". Athar Hussain, director of the London School of Economics (LSE) Asia Research Centre, said, "CPEC will not necessarily bring benefits to the regions through which it passes, and is likely to bring more development to regions that are already developed, instead of poor areas such as Balochistan." Hussain further added that, "The CPEC is designed to bring profit to China more than to other parts involved." He also said that structural issues in Pakistan such as corruption and tax evasion are also to be taken into consideration when analyzing the prospects of local development. Hussain reminded the audience that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which will give the landlocked western part of China a direct link to the Arabian and Indian Sea, is part of a wider network of Chinese projects, the "One Belt, One Road" (OBOR), composed of six different corridors. He said the project is likely to bring economic benefit to Pakistan in terms of enhancing its energy requirements. Burzine Waghmar, a Senior Teaching Fellow at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) described "Pakistan as a failed state that refuses to fail". Waghmar said that the CPEC-linked infrastructure would not benefit the indigenous Baloch population, as there is no coal, solar or wind projects planned for the area. He focused on the challenges posed by the CPEC in the context of decades of human rights violations inflicted upon the indigenous Baloch population, such as enforced disappearances - and suggested that the USD 46-billion-dollar mega project would only accelerate these violations. Naseer Dashti, an exiled Baloch anthropologist and the author of several books on South Central Asia and Balochistan, opined that the CPEC would most definitely alter the demography of regions such as Balochistan. He said already oppressed groups are bound to become minorities as Han-Chinese workers and Punjabi businessmen are likely to settle in these parts once the corridor is implemented. He pointed Gwadar Port as an example of his premise. Mahvish Ahmad, a doctoral student at the University of Cambridge, spoke about her experience reporting on Balochistan, where she witnessed the state and military violence and oppression against the Baloch people. Ms. Ahmad described the situation as becoming more difficult because of increasing censorship by the military and the fragmentation of not only tribes, but also within Baloch groups. She stressed that the silencing of solidarities among oppressed groups hinders their potential to succeed. Furthermore, Ms. Ahmad shed light on the Pakistan Army's unlawful activities and cases of state violence not being reported in the country. First ever Baloch Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford Rafiullah Kakar underlined how Pakistan was born with tensions regarding the multi-ethnic and multinational character of its territory, and soon started to see this as a potential threat to the state unity. He outlined several changes that needed to occur in Pakistan to solve the Baloch question, such as less power to the Pakistani army, creation of a plural national government and direct elections of senators. He emphatically concluded that "The state's coercive capacity and ability to manipulate consent, even creating fragmentation and hindering solidarity between tribes, is far too strong in Balochistan." Panel moderator Mr Peter Tatchell, director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation, highlighted the importance of raising awareness and concern about the situation in Balochistan, neglected by the international community and even by most human rights organisations. The contributions were then followed by an interactive question and answer session, where the audience got the chance to discuss Baloch progressive nationalism, repercussions of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor on different non-Punjab Pakistani ethnic communities and what concrete measures would be most effective for the direct future of Balochistan - to effectively end the atrocities inflicted upon its people Eminent human rights advocates and academic experts, offering a platform for constructive debates on the struggle of indigenous peoples and minorities and state violence in Pakistan, and the future of Balochistan also took part in the July 18 event held at the London headquarters of Amnesty International. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In an official declaration questioning his Presidency, Democrats in the US House of Representatives have filed a "no confidence" resolution against . Even though the resolution, brought by Rep. Steve Cohen has no chance of successfully passing through the Republican-led chamber, it lists out the President's controversial actions since taking charge at the White House, reports the Independent. It lists 88 reasons why the Democrats believe Trump is not suitable to hold the Presidency and ranges from citing the ruckus over crowd sizes at Trump's inauguration to his current controversy over Russian meddling in the Presidential polls. The list also tears into Trump's war against what he calls the "fake news" media, and his derogatory verbal attacks on women. "It's just a sad day for Americans that we've come to this point. Trump is a President that you wouldn't want your children to look up to. The way he talks about women, the press, the language he uses, the use of Twitter - you don't want him to be a role model. It's injurious to our culture, and it's injurious to our foreign policy," Cohen said at a news conference. In a list of demands, the resolution calls on Trump to release his tax returns, "refrain from using Twitter inappropriately", "unequivocally acknowledge that Russia interfered in the 2016 United States Presidential election", and to support the First Amendment (freedom of speech) by supporting the freedom of the press and refrain from calling reporting ''fake news''. The international community has long regarded Pakistan as a transit point for narcotics trafficking, and this was confirmed on July 13, when the nation's Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) announced the seizure of 365 kilograms of drugs worth 430 million Pakistani rupees in international market. Addressing the media after the seizure, the ANF said the drugs were seized during 12 counter-narcotics operations conducted across the country. News of this huge drug haul has once again confirmed that they are being sold illegally and the revenue acquired from it is used to finance terror activities emanating from its soil. Various reports have suggested that Pakistan's drug syndicate runs a parallel economy in connivance with select elements of the political and military establishments, and the July 13 seizure is being touted as just being the tip of the lethal drugs iceberg whose tentacles are spreading across international markets. In February, the ANF seized narcotics weighing 19.6 tonnes and valued at 34 billion Pakistani rupees. Then, 20 counter-narcotics operations were initiated. A March 2017 confidential report compiled by the Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU), an intelligence service department, active within the Ministry of Finance, said that "Main sources of income of terrorists in Pakistan include foreign funding, drug trafficking, kidnapping for ransom, extortion from business, etcetera." Pakistan is geographically vulnerable to drug trafficking, sharing a 2,430-km-long porous border with Afghanistan, the world's largest producer of illicit opium. Cannabis is also produced in large quantities in the sub-region, most of the cannabis trafficked in the region also originates from Afghanistan, and is processed in the inaccessible areas of Pakistan's FATA region. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates, approximately 43 per cent of the Afghan opiates are trafficked through Pakistan. The UNODC estimates that Pakistan is now the destination and transit country for approximately 40 percent of the opiates produced in Afghanistan. Most processing takes place in small, mobile laboratories in the Afghan-Pakistan border areas. The sub region itself has become a major consumer market for opiates. Opiate processing on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistan border have created a trafficking and, importantly in the case of Pakistan, a drug abuse problem since the early 1980s. The Khunjerab Pass in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region overlooks Pakistan, but the border inspection station here, according to the state mouth piece Global Times, suspiciously sees every traveler coming through as a criminal trying to smuggle drugs or guns into the country. Besides Pakistan, the Khunjerab Pass is also near Afghanistan and Tajikistan. So concerned are the authorities here about the potential spread of narco-terrorism, that the Human Resources and Social Security Bureau of Kashgar recently recruited 3,000 more policemen aged between 18 and 35 as a counter-measure. Ever since the Khunjerab Pass crossing opened in 1982, drug dealers have been trying to flood the Chinese market with their lucrative products. Usually, according to the Global Times, the drugs are grown and manufactured in Afghanistan and are then transported to northern Pakistan, where the bulk product is packaged into smaller bags before being smuggled into China. Over the years, inspectors have seen countless concealment methods. Some put the drugs into condoms and hide the packages inside their body, some dissolve narcotics into cola, while others put them into handicrafts, cosmetic packages and other everyday goods. People who take the drugs along each step of the chain do not know much about the other links. Around the border, drugs are just one part of an intertwined illegal trade. People living on the frontier are familiar with the phrase "using drugs to foster terrorism." Guns and drugs are always near each other. The free-flow of the narcotics has abetted terrorism in Pakistan. There are reports that suggest Pakistan's political class and the powerful military are in cahoots with the drug mafia. Recently, U.S. Army Reserve Col. (Retired) Lawrence Sellin, in an article, said that Pakistan is using the narco-terror network of the Lashkar-e-Khorasan for ethnic cleansing in Balochistan. He said that the Pakistan government has nurtured and deployed home grown terrorists to quell all forms of nationalist and ethnic unrest at home and also incorporated them as an element of its foreign policy to carry out attacks in India and Afghanistan. Col. (Retired) Sellin further added that the designated role of the Lashkar-e-Khorasan in southwest Balochistan has been to kill members of the secular independence movement and cleanse Balochistan of Sufi Zikris, Shia Hazaras, Hindus, Christians, Ahahmadis, Sikhs or anyone else who refuses to convert to the extreme form of Sunni Islam. He said that the leader of Lashkar-e-Khorasan is Mullah Shahmir Bizenjo, resident of Turbat and the son of Aziz Bizenjo, whose cousin is National Party President and Senator Hasil Bizenjo, currently Pakistan's Minister for Ports and Shipping. The role of Pakistan's politicians and military in narcotics trade was accepted by none other than the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. According to a 1994 report in Washington Post; then Opposition leader Sharif claimed that three months after his election as prime minister in November 1990, Gen. Aslam Beg, then army chief of staff, and Gen. Asad Durrani, then head of the military's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), told him the armed forces needed more money for covert foreign operations and wanted to raise it through large-scale drug deals. Though the army mandarins named by Sharif denied allegations, the fact of the matter is that Pakistani army and its intelligence wing- Inter-Services Intelligence- are believed to be still engaged in narco-terrorism with the active support of the government. In the nineties, a consultant hired by the CIA reported that drug kingpins were closely connected to the country's key institutions of power, including the president and military intelligence agencies. Narcotics gives a major fillip to terrorism, which is an expensive affair. The narcotic drugs are the most lucrative commodity that generates quick money without paper work. The business transaction is done in hard cash and no document is left as evidence for legal action. The drug proceeds are laundered through numerous legal and illegal financial institutions and petty business enterprises. For instance, heroin from the Golden Crescent (the clandestine land routes of Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan collectively constitute the Golden Crescent) costs approximately one lakh rupees in South Asia and fetches nearly one crore in the U.S. market. The volume of money these drugs generate in the West is out of proportion, since enormous money has been involved in illegal drug trade, terrorists has successfully established links with drug traffickers to meet expenses for operation terrorism. The ill effects of narcotics have also started showing in Pakistan. According to a 2013 Survey Report, a collaborative research set up by the Narcotics Control Division of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics and the UN, states that there are 7.6 million drug addicts in the country, out of which 78 percent are men and 22 percent are women. A recent report in Dawn said that about eight million people in Pakistan are drug addicts and the number is increasing with every passing day. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Anti-China sentiments are rising in India with an upsurge of nationalism ever since the election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said China's state-run Global Times in an article. "Since India's defeat in the Sino-Indian War of 1962, some Indians have been stuck in a zero-sum mentality in dealing with China. The war-inflicted lingering pain on India and it became a hard knot to untie, leading to an ingrained suspicion of the Chinese strategy," said an op-ed, titled 'Hindu nationalism risks pushing India into war with China', published by the Global Times. "Nationalist fervour that demands revenge against China has taken root in India since the border war. The election of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has fuelled the country's nationalist sentiments," it added. In diplomacy, New Delhi is demanded to act tougher in foreign relations, especially toward countries like Pakistan and China, it said. "The (Doklam) border row this time is an action targetted at China that caters to the demand of India's religious nationalists," it claimed. "The Modi Government can do nothing if religious nationalism becomes extreme, as shown in its failure to curb violent incidents against Muslims since he came to power in 2014," it said. The article warned that such a situation will put India's own interests in jeopardy adding, "India should be careful and not let religious nationalism push the two countries into war. Kanagana Ranaut escaped a near-fatal accident while shooting an intense sword fighting scene for her upcoming film 'Manikarnika- The Queen of Jhansi.' Reportedly, she was engaging in a fierce battle scene with co-star Nihar Pandya, when the latter's sword hit her forehead, leaving her all in blood. Presently, the shooting of the film is taking place in Hyderabad. Though it was a serious injury, according to leading news daily, she was actually happy experiencing Rani Laxmibai's life. "I am a bit embarrassed to be thrilled to have a battle scar on my face. Also, people from my team have been telling me that it's like that Peshwa teeka that Manikarnika wore. It's a bit dramatic but I am excited that my face was covered in blood and I got a genuine and authentic glimpse of the Queen's life," she told Mid-Day. The 'Queen' star was rushed to Apollo hospital, Hyderabad and got 15 stitches on her forehead. She will be kept under observation for some time. Directed by Krish, 'Manikarnika - The Queen Of Jhansi' will reportedly release in April next year. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Vice President and Rajya Sabha (RS) Chairman Hamid Ansari on Thursday accepted Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Supremo Mayawati's resignation from the House after it was submitted in the prescribed format. On Thursday, Mayawati handed over hand-written resignation letter to Ansari, which he accepted. According to the Rajya Sabha's Rules of Procedures and Conduct of Business, a member who intends to resign his seat in the Council shall intimate in writing under his hand addressed to the Chairman, his intention to resign his seat in the Council. If a Member hands over the letter of resignation to the Chairman personally and informs him that the resignation is voluntary and genuine and the Chairman has no information or knowledge to the contrary, the Chairman may accept the resignation immediately. Mayawati, whose RS term was to end in April 2018, had on Tuesday walked out of the Upper House of the Parliament alleging that the she was not allowed to speak on the atrocities against the Dalits in Uttar Pradesh. Maywati was allotted three-minute time to speak and she started speaking on the atrocities against the Dalits in Uttar Pradesh. However, after her allotted time elapsed, Rajya Sabha deputy chairman PJ Kurien stopped Mayawati that angered her to the extent that she walked out of the House and resigned. After submitting her letter of resignation to the Rajya Sabha secretary general Shamsher Shariff's office at around 5 p.m., Mayawati told reporters: "Jab satta paksh mujhe apni baat rakhne ka bhi samay nahi de raha hai toh mera isteefa dena hi theek hai (If the ruling party is not allowing me to speak, then it's better to resign)." However, Mayawati's resignation was not accepted for not being in a prescribed format. In her resignation letter, she detailed the morning's incident as the reason for her decision, which was against the Parliamentary norms. A motive or reason can't be a basis of a Parliamentarian's resignation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Calling the talk of war in the Chinese media as posturing, senior defence and strategic experts believe that India and China may not go for a full-scale war, but skirmishes cannot be ruled out. The heights of the Doklam Plateau are occupied by the tents with both the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the Indian Army soldiers digging in their heels to not clear off the area. The issues at the tri-junction of India, China and Bhutan elevating into a standoff, media reports constantly focussing on the words of war between the two countries have been coming. The Chinese state-backed 'Global Times' wrote, "If India stirs up conflicts in several spots, it must face the consequences of an allout confrontation with China along the entire LAC." Analysing the current situation defence and strategic experts consider it as posturing by China which may not lead to a full fledged war, but ingress by the Chinese Army in areas which they find vulnerable cannot be ruled out. Major General D.K. Mehta (Retd.) said the situation created by the Chinese PLA at the Doklam plateau is a part of psychological operation to pressurise India. Talking of the war scenario, Major General Mehta said it to be highly impossible as both nations have mature methods to handle matters. General Mehta considers if war takes place, then the advantage will lie with India due to its lower heights. In mountain warfare, the ratio to win the war is said to be 1:9, for one soldier, the enemy will have to field nine soldiers to overwhelm the attack. Yes, the Chinese can mobilise troops, add force for which the signature would be available as we now have a reasonably good all-weather systems in terms of satellite and the other surveillance capabilities. I am sure a very close watch would be on by us. While a war is ruled out, transgression can be the other method employed by China to pressurise India. Major General B.K. Sharma cautions that the Chinese may create other trouble spots in order to compel India to withdraw from Doklam. Major General Sharma, Heading the Centre for Strategic Studies and Simulation (CS3) of the United Services Institution says that we should be ready for fabricated ingress in other regions by the Chinese as then they will start the policy of quid-pro-quo. He also sees no possibility of a full-blown war. Reinforcing the analysis of the Generals, sources, well aware with the Chinese border informed ANI that there have not been any significant movement of military forces in the Tibetan region in the last two months. He also added that for India the tipping point will be when there's a significant troop movement across the 11 bridges that join the northern parts of the 1,100 kilometers of Tsangpo with the southern part of Tibet. Line of Actual Control (LAC) is of 3,488 km long. China has deployed about 15-16 divisions along the Line of Actual Control starting from the Karakoram Pass up to the Arunachal Pradesh (LAC 3,488 km). This entire area comes under the Western Theatre Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. In case of the war, China can also move four to five divisions, which are stationed in the Xinjiang province, in the north of the Jammu and Kashmir, to cover the Ladakh sector. But, no unusual movement by the Chinese at the LAC since last two months. Talking to ANI, they explained it as Chinese tactics to pressurise India. Coming to the military infrastructure in Tibet, China has five operational air fields. In addition, there are four-five landing strips, which may not be able to hold operations due to the lack of operational capabilities. In order to increase the weight-carrying capacity of the fighter aircrafts, which comes down due to the heights Tibet being a plateau, the length of the runways of the air bases have been increased in the recent times. Also, the Second Artillery is deployed in the region and also the Chinese have developed a capability to move the troops swiftly by deploying their mechanised regiments, which are equal to the size of the Indian Brigades. Both, India and China, have been taking measures to strengthen the infrastructure and the military presence along the borders. Since 2009 china is doing an annual division level movement, supply and logistics exercise. The exercise continues in Tibet to mobilise the infrastructure. It is a transregional support operation. India is busy constructive strategic roads and is raising an independent mountain strike corps. Hardening the stance as adopted by the Chinese also is seen as face saving exercise so that the plan of the Chinese President Xi Jinping of placing his loyals into the Central Committee, a seven-member Politburo Standing Committee (PBSC) and 25-member Politburo (PB) goes through. In all this, the PLA cannot be seen backing off. Bharat Karnad, Research Professor at the Centre for Policy Research, considers the stance of the Chinese approach into the bluff and bluster mode. "The Chinese believe that India may be deterred and intimidated by their rhetoric, provocative actions and will withdraw from Doklam Plateau. It is not going to happen." Analysing the border positions in military terms, he added that the Chinese cannot do much. India has enough troops in both the Eastern and the Northern sectors facing China. The Central Sector is virtually impassable for both sides; high passes will make it difficult for big build-ups. He is also of the opinion that China will not go nuclear as then India has also enough leeway to even it out. Professor Karnad believes that India has handled the Doklam standoff well and is playing it cool. There is nothing to worry about, not that Chinese do not have their military, as India has sufficient forces and prepositioned supplies to ward off any Chinese threat, Former Army Chief General Bikram Singh sees the Doklam as the potential escalation. He says, "The faceoff at Doklam, given the hardened stance of both sides, has the potential to escalate tensions between the two regional powers. Since hostilities will be detrimental to the long terms interests of both sides, it is imperative that the tensions are diffused through dialogue." He further says that it is equally important that the media continues to exercise maturity and balance in reporting on this incident. It is equally important that both sides scrupulously refrain from Jingoism and muscle flexing. Admitting that North Korea is capable in terms of 'range', the Pentagon, however, has asserted that Pyongyang is not currently able to land a missile on the US mainland with any degree of accuracy. General Paul Selva, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in a testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, said that North Korea has "clearly" demonstrated the capability to land a nuclear warhead on mainland US territory but cannot do it "with any degree of accuracy," reports Sputnik. In an attempt to calm the fears of some lawmakers, Selva added, "I do agree in principle with the assessment that the North Koreans are moving quickly to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile, but Pyongyang has not demonstrated the capacity to strike the United States with any degree of accuracy or reasonable confidence of success." Following the July 4 launch of Pyongyang's first ICBM, Pentagon intelligence services suggest that the new long-range Hwasong-14 missile has inferior guidance controls and lacks the re-entry targeting technology required for weapon accuracy, Sputnik reports quoting American military newspaper Stars and Stripes. The DPRK Hwasong-14 attained an altitude of some 1,550 miles, traveling downrange about 580 miles before plummeting into the sea between Japan and the Korean Peninsula. Weapons experts have put the Hwasong-14's potential range at some 5,000 miles. "On range they clearly have the capability," Selva said during his testimony to lawmakers. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Despite calls from protestors to cancel their show, 'Radiohead' took the stage at Hayarkon Park in Tel Aviv, Israel on Wednesday night. While fellow musicians like Roger Waters, Brian Eno, and Thurston Moore - criticizing Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and comparing the government's policies to 'apartheid,'- called on 'Radiohead' to cancel the gig, the band rejected the notion of a cultural boycott. The band, on the other hand, served up a 27-song set- including hits such as 'No Surprises', 'Creep' and 'Karma Police'- that amounted to their longest performance in 11 years. According to reports from the ground, Yorke spoke sparsely throughout the night, saying at the end of the show, "A lot of stuff has been said about this, but in the end, we played some music." The Tel Aviv show marked a close to 'Radiohead's three-month global tour. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Democratic Alliance's (NDA) candidate Ram Nath Kovind has been declared as the 14th President of India. Kovind won the Presidential election by a margin of 3,34,730 votes, with the Opposition's nominee Meira Kumar having beem limited to 3,67,314 votes. The presidential election on July 17 saw close to 100 percent polling. A total of 771 members of Parliament and 4,109 legislators were eligible to cast votes. The two nominees are from the Dalit community and had canvassed hard by visiting states to seek support of legislators. A lawyer by profession, Kovind has worked extensively in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Kovind has been the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) Scheduled Caste Morcha chief (1998-2002) and the President of the All-India Koli Samaj. He also served as the spokesperson of the party. The saffron party had even tired to project him as an alternative to Mayawati in Uttar Pradesh. Kovind was enrolled as an advocate in 1971 with the Bar Council of Delhi. He became the Advocate-on-Record of the Supreme Court in 1978 and practised in Delhi High Court and Supreme Court for about 16 years till 1993. He was appointed as the Governor of Bihar on August 8, 2015. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh during the two terms of 1994-2000 and 2000-2006. Kovind served as member of the board of management of the BR Ambedkar University, Lucknow. He also served as member of board of governors of Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata. Kovind also represented India in United Nations (New York) and addressed the UN General Assembly in October, 2002. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court will on Thursday hear a case involving Sahara chief Subrato Roy and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) over a dispute of returning money to its investors. In its previous hearing, the apex court gave 15-days time to Roy to deposit Rs. 552 crore in connection with the case. A three-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Dipak Misra, said that if Roy fails to pay the amount within 15 days, the court would direct the commencement of the auction process for Aamby valley property. Earlier on June 19, Roy's parole was extended till July 5. Roy on May 18 did not appear before the SEBI court after filing an exemption application on medical grounds. However, the special SEBI court rejected Roy's plea. The SEBI court was to frame charges in the case against Roy and his three group firms' directors - Ravishankar Dubey, Ashok Roy Choudhary and Vandana Bhargava. On April 21, a SEBI court had cancelled the non-bailable arrest warrants against Roy and three of his group firms' directors after they appeared before it in a case filed by the SEBI against them. The SEBI court cancelled the NBWs against them after they furnished fresh bail bonds of Rs. 2 lakh each and gave undertakings to the court that they would attend its trial proceeding against them regularly. The SEBI had registered a case against Sahara India Real Estate Corporation, Sahara Housing Investment, their promoter Subrata Roy and the three directors in 2012, alleging that these companies had collected a huge sum of money from investors without listing the securities on the stock exchanges. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Himachal Pradesh government has transferred IGP (southern range) Zahur H. Zaidi and Superintendent of Police of Shimla D. W. Negi, who were probing the rape and murder of a school girl. The move comes after huge public outcry and anger over the mishandling of the minor girl's rape and murder case. Hours after one of the accused died in police custody, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh assured a thorough investigation into the matter. "Police is investigating the matter. Guards on duty at that time have been called for interrogation. Action will be taken against them," Singh told the media. Earlier, villagers pelted stones and staged protest outside Kotkhai Police Station after one of the six accused in gang rape and murder of minor girl died in custody. According to the police, the person was murdered by another accused. At least six people were arrested last week in connection with the gang rape and murder of a minor girl in Kotkhai region of Shimla district. The victim, who was a student at Mahasu government school in Kotkhai, was returning back from school when she was kidnapped and raped on July 4. Two days later, police recovered her body from Halaila forests of Kotkhai. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) enquiry in the case. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi has expressed her distress and profound grief at the tragic bus accident near Rampur, Himachal Pradesh, in which 20 people have lost their lives. Conveying her deepest condolences to the families of the victims, Gandhi asked the Himachal Pradesh Government to take immediate relief and rescue measures. She also asked the Pradesh Congress Committee and Congress workers to contribute in providing assistance to the families of the bereaved. The death toll is expected to rise as injuries to some of the passengers are said to be serious. The private bus was proceeding towards Solan from Reckong Peo in Kinnaur district, when it skidded off the road and rolled down into a 300 metre gorge at Khaneri near Rampur in Shimla district on Thursday morning. According to sources, around 40 people were on board the private bus when the accident took place and it's feared that the death toll could rise further. Bus driver and conductor were among the injured. Sources said that bus departed from Reckong Peo early in the morning and when it reached near Khaneri hospital, the driver lost control and the vehicle rolled down into the gorge at 9 a.m. Rescue teams comprising officials from police and district administration reached the spot and started the rescue operations. Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh directed the authorities to undertake necessary rescue and rehabilitation measures. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi High Court today will hear a plea filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy seeking a CBI-led Special Investigation Team enquiry into the death of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor's wife Sunanda Pushkar. The Bench has asked the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the CBI and the Delhi Police to specify the current status of the case. Swamy on July 6 had filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Delhi High Court seeking a court-monitored enquiry into the mysterious death of Sunanda. During the hearing, the Delhi High Court observed that there is delay in the case and asked Swamy as to why he had come at such a later stage. The Delhi HC also stated that during the time of the case, Tharoor may have been in power, but asks what influence he wields now. To this, Swamy submitted a statement that said: "I've come after exhausting all other possibilities. Tharoor is still an MP and belongs to the largest Opposition party." Sunanda Pushkar was found dead at a suite in a five star hotel in South Delhi on the night of January 17, 2014. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed the Delhi Police to give a status report in three days in connection with the death of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor's wife Sunanda Pushkar case. The court has also asked to mention all that the Delhi Police has done till now in 3.5 years. The next date of hearing is August 1. Even the Home Ministry is to file a status report within three days. The petitioner in the case, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy on Thursday categorically said that it is clearly a murder and that Tharoor has been seeking help from a few people of the saffron party as well. "Let me make a charge that Shashi Tharoor is seeking the help of some elements in my own party (the BJP). I have brought this to the attention of the Prime Minister and I am thankful to him to have given me a free hand. He has said nobody will intervene in the investigation," Swamy said. Swamy further said that the Delhi Police has no objection with a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the case. "The Delhi Police said that they have no objection with the CBI inquiry, but they would like to tell what they have done in the case in 3.5 years. There is no status report given by the police yet. What was given is that they said they wanted to give in writing. Both, the Home Ministry and the Delhi Police, will file the status report within three days," he said. "I don't want the Delhi Police to be out of it. I want them to be a part of the SIT. The court needs to monitor so that political interests do not intervene in favour of Shashi Tharoor," Swamy added. Sunanda Pushkar was found dead at a suite in a five-star hotel in South Delhi on the night of January 17, 2014. Swamy on July 6 this year had filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Delhi High Court seeking a court-monitored enquiry into the mysterious death of Sunanda. During the hearing, the Delhi High Court observed that there is a delay in the case and asked Swamy as to why he had come at such a later stage. The Delhi HC also stated that during the time of the case, Tharoor may have been in power, but asks what influence he wields now. To this, Swamy submitted a statement that said: "I've come after exhausting all other possibilities. Tharoor is still an MP and belongs to the largest Opposition party. U.S. President Donald Trump, former president Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have extended their support and wishes to Sen. John McCain, 80, who has been diagnosed with a primary glioblastoma, a type of brain tumour. "Melania and I send our thoughts and prayers to Senator McCain, Cindy, and their entire family," tweetd Trump. Obama calling McCain an 'American hero' said, "John McCain is an American hero & one of the bravest fighters I've ever known. Cancer doesn't know what it's up against. Give it hell, John." Meanwhile, Clinton tweeted, "John McCain is as tough as they come. Thinking of John, Cindy, their wonderful children, & their whole family tonight." Mayo Clinic doctors, directly involved in the senator's care, told CNN that the senator underwent surgery to remove a blood clot on Friday at Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix. The Lab results from that surgery confirmed the presence of glioblastoma associated with the blood clot. The surgery lasted about three to four hours and post-surgical brain scans show the concerned tissue has been completely removed. McCain is now recovering at his Arizona home. He and his family are considering treatment options, which will likely include radiation and chemotherapy. According to a statement from his office, McCain is recovering "amazingly well." His doctors have assured that the senator showed no neurological problems before or after the operation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Comprehensive Economic Dialogue between China and the United States ended in a deadlock after the two sides failed to reach an agreement on trade on Wednesday. Both countries cancelled their press conferences earlier in the day, providing no explanation for the moves, but indicating it was unlikely any concrete results had come out of the talks, according to the South China Morning Post. The U.S. side cancelled its press conference first, the Chinese side followed. This could cast a shadow over their trade relations amid White House's threats to impose steel and aluminium tariffs on Beijing. The U.S. delegation released a short statement late on Wednesday. It said: "China acknowledged our shared objective to reduce the trade deficit, which both sides will work cooperatively to achieve. "The principles of balance, fairness, and reciprocity on matters of trade will continue to guide the American position so we can give American workers and businesses an opportunity to compete on a level playing field," the statement said. "We look to achieving the important goals set forth by President Trump this past April in Mar-a-Lago." A statement issued by the Chinese delegation only said both sides would promote cooperation in the manufacturing sector, improve communication about macroeconomic policies, as well as cooperating in the financial sector and its supervision. On Wednesday, when asked by a reporter if he would impose tariffs on steel imports, President Donald Trump said it "could happen". The two sides had a day of contentious talks at the U.S. Treasury Department to address the United States' US$340 billion trade deficit with China, plus restrictions on access to Chinese markets. The economic dialogue - one of the four mechanisms set up by Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump after their first meeting in Florida in early April - is co-chaired by U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Chinese Vice-Premier Wang Yang. The sides issued no statements about the results of the dialogue as the day progressed. At the opening session on Wednesday morning, Mnuchin said the dialogue's purpose was to pursue a "fair and balanced economic relationship" between the US and China, addressing imbalances caused by Beijing's interventions in the Chinese economy, and communicating to revise existing policies and regulations or to reach new ones. Meanwhile, Wang said at the opening session that the two sides agreed on an approach that would be non-confrontational, mutually respectful and promote win-win results. "Dialogue cannot immediately address all differences, but confrontation will immediately damage the interests of both," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) On 8 August 2017 Amit International will hold a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company on 8 August 2017, for considering un-audited financial results for first quarter ended 30/06/2017. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the Cadre Review of the Indian Defence Accounts Service (IDAS) under the Ministry of Defence. The decision provides for an increase of 23 (twenty three) posts which includes 1 post at Apex Scale, 6 posts at HAG level, 6 posts at SAG level and 10 posts at JAG level and reduction of 1 post at HAG+, 12 posts at STS level and 10 posts at JTS level. The Cadre review of IDAS has come in the wake of the functional requirements, cadre structure and career progression of the officials belonging to the service. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved revision of the Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF) guidelines. ICWF, set up in 2009, is aimed at assisting Overseas Indian nationals in times of distress and emergency in the most deserving cases on a means tested basis. The revised guidelines being made broad-based seek to expand the scope of welfare measures that can be extended through the Fund. The guidelines would cover three key areas namely Assisting Overseas Indian nationals in distress situations, Community Welfare activities and Improvement in Consular services. They are expected to provide Indian Missions and Posts abroad greater flexibility in swiftly addressing to requests for assistance by Overseas Indian nationals. Apart from assisting Indian nationals in distress abroad, ICWF has been a critical support in emergency evacuation of Indian nationals in conflict zones in Libya, Iraq, Yemen, South Sudan and other challenging situations like assistance extended to undocumented Indian workers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the Nitaqat drive in 2013 and the ongoing Amnesty drive in 2017. The scale and speed of these evacuations and assistance rendered through the Fund has been universally appreciated. It has also created a sense of confidence among the migrant workers going overseas about the support they can expect from India during critical times. ICWF stands extended to all Indian Missions and Posts abroad and is primarily funded by levying service charge on various consular services rendered by Indian Missions and Posts abroad. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Total Operating Income decline 0.06% to Rs 10195.59 crore Net profit of Canara Bank rose 9.89% to Rs 251.60 crore in the quarter ended June 2017 as against Rs 228.95 crore during the previous quarter ended June 2016. Total Operating Income declined 0.06% to Rs 10195.59 crore in the quarter ended June 2017 as against Rs 10201.70 crore during the previous quarter ended June 2016.10195.5910201.7055.3465.04268.60325.95268.60325.95251.60228.95 Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) IFB Industries rose 1.21% to Rs 737.90 at 9:50 IST on BSE after the company said that it has entered into an agreement with IFB Automotive towards acquisition of Global Automotive & Appliances. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 19 July 2017. Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 34.93 points or 0.11% at 31,990.28. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 56.58 points or 0.35% at 16,031.15. On the BSE, 473 shares were traded in the counter so far as against average daily volume of 10,960 shares in the past one quarter. The stock had hit a high of Rs 737.95 and a low of Rs 729.80 so far during the day. The stock had hit a record high of Rs 791 on 5 July 2017. The stock had hit a 52-week low of Rs 358.40 on 29 September 2016. The stock had outperformed the market over the past one month till 19 July 2017, gaining 8.99% compared with Sensex's 2.06% rise. The scrip had also outperformed the market in past one quarter, rising 15.85% as against Sensex's 8.93% rise. The scrip had also outperformed the market in past one year, surging 95.47% as against Sensex's 15% rise. The small-cap company has equity capital of Rs 40.52 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10. IFB Industries said that it has entered into an agreement with IFB Automotive towards acquisition of Global Automotive & Appliances (GAAL), Singapore and consideration money of Rs 19.99 crore paid to acquire 100% equity capital of GAAL. The board of directors of IFB Industries on 25 March 2017 had accorded in-principle approval to acquire 100% equity capital of GAAL, Singapore from IFB Automotive Pvt. Ltd., a promoter group company at a consideration of Rs 20 crore. GAAL has a step down subsidiary in Thailand viz. Thai Automotive & Appliances (TAAL), engaged in fine blanking business. The acquisition is in same field of business and will help company in market entry in South East Asia. IFB Industries' net profit fell 46.6% to Rs 2.68 crore on 16.5% rise in net sales to Rs 429.17 crore in Q4 March 2017 over Q4 March 2016. IFB Industries is engaged in the business of manufacturing and trading of home appliances and fine blanking components. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Just Dial rose 3.55% to Rs 367.05 at 9:25 IST on BSE after the company said that its board of directors will meet on 24 July 2017 to consider a proposal for buyback of shares of the company. The announcement of the board meet to consider share buyback was made after market hours yesterday, 19 July 2017. Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 56.09 points, or 0.18% to 32,011.44. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 60.22 points, or 0.38% to 16,034.79. On the BSE, 64,927 shares were traded in the counter so far, compared with average daily volumes of 1.91 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock had hit a high of Rs 372.90 and a low of Rs 364 so far during the day. Before the today's recovery in stock, it had fallen 4.67% in five sessions to settle at Rs 354.45 yesterday, 19 July 2017, from a close of Rs 371.85 on 12 July 2017. Just Dial will also announce its Q1 results on 24 July 2017. Net profit of Just Dial declined 37.1% to Rs 25.35 crore on 5.9% rise in net sales to Rs 181.72 crore in Q4 March 2017 over Q4 March 2016. Just Dial is a leading local search engine in India. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Ministry of Rural Development will launch a new sub-scheme under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) which will be named as Aajeevika Grameen Express Yojana (AGEY). The Minister of State for Rural Development Shri Ram Kripal Yadav said that the main objectives of AGEY are to provide an alternative source of livelihoods to members of Self Help Groups (SHGs) under DAY-NRLM by facilitating them to operate public transport services in backward rural areas. This will provide safe, affordable and community monitored rural transport services like e-rickshaws, 3 and 4 wheeler motorised transport vehicles to connect remote villages with key services and amenities including access to markets, education and health for the overall economic development of the area. The Minister said that the sub-scheme will be implemented in 250 blocks in the country on a pilot basis for a period of 3 years from 2017-18 to 2019-20. The States have been informed about the number of blocks allocated to them to take up this sub-scheme in the pilot phases. One of the options proposed to be given under the sub-scheme is that the Community Based Organisation (CBO) will provide interest free loan from its own corpus to Self Help Group member for purchase of the vehicle. The Government is implementing DAY-NRLM across the country in all States and Union Territories (except Delhi and Chandigarh). Under DAY-NRLM, till date, 34.4 lakh women SHGs have been promoted under the programme. The financial support under the programme is mainly in the form of Revolving Fund and Community Investment Funds, given as grants to the Self Help Groups (SHGs) and their federations. So far, the total amount released to SHGs is Rs. 1815 crore to about 3.96 lakh SHGs. A sum of Rs. 1088 crore has also been disbursed to 7.28 lakh SHGs as revolving Fund. DAY-NRLM also focuses on bank linkage of the institutions to enable their income The Cumulative Bank Credit mobilized for women SHGs and their federations since inception is to the tune of Rs 1.19 lakh crores. The programme has a special focus on women empowerment including a dedicated component for promoting farm and non-farm based livelihoods for women farmers in rural areas. About 34 lakh women farmers have benefited under this programme. In addition, start-up enterprises at village levels are also supported to promote entrepreneurial activities in those areas. Projects have been sanctioned for setting up 79,814 enterprises in 5209 villages in 17 states in the country. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Natco Pharma rose 1.52% to Rs 1,013.65 at 11:50 IST on BSE after the company announced the receipt of successful Establishment Inspection Report from the US drug regulator after inspection for its Kothur facility. The announcement was made during market hours today, 20 July 2017. Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 11.68 points or 0.04% at 31,967.03. On the BSE, 35,047 shares were traded on the counter so far as against the average daily volumes of 55,893 shares in the past one quarter. The stock had hit a high of Rs 1,027.45 and a low of Rs 1,000 so far during the day. The stock had hit a record high of Rs 1,080 on 9 June 2017 and a 52-week low of Rs 495 on 9 November 2016. The stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 19 July 2017, gaining 1.99% compared with Sensex's 2.06% rise. The scrip had also underperformed the market in past one quarter, rising 3.55% as against Sensex's 8.93% rise. The scrip had, however, outperformed the market in past one year, gaining 70.57% as against Sensex's 15% rise. The large-cap company has equity capital of Rs 34.86 crore. Face value per share is Rs 2. Natco Pharma announced the receipt of successful Establishment Inspection Report (EIR) from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for the inspection conducted at its drug formulations facility at Kothur unit, Telangana, India, during the period 16 to 24 January 2017. Kothur formulation facility predominantly caters to regulated international markets, including USA. Natco Pharma's consolidated net profit spurted 181.4% to Rs 176.70 crore on 46.5% increase in net sales to Rs 577.80 crore in Q4 March 2017 over Q4 March 2016. Natco Pharma manufactures generic dosage forms, bulk actives and intermediates for the Indian and international markets. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The ASSOCHAM has approached the Defence Ministry, seeking relaxation for stringent bank guarantee norms required for the private sector shipyards which want to bid for construction of ships for the Indian Navy. As per the latest policy changes brought in June this year, the shipyards to whom the contract is awarded are required to furnish Performance cum Warranty Bank Guarantee (PWBG) of 10% of the value of the Contract. Besides, the shipyards also need to furnish Advance Bank Guarantee (ABG) for all milestone payments and Integrity Pack Bank Guarantee (IPBG). These Bank Guarantees (BGs) remain in force till delivery of the vessels. While this is a measure to safeguard the interest of the Government of India, it puts an unsustainable burden on the shipbuilding companies, which will make the projects unviable, the ASSOCHAM has written to the Defence Secretary Mr Sanjay Mitra. The letter said the Defence Shipbuilding is possibly the only industry wherein Government contracts require all milestone payments to be backed by equivalent amount of ABG as well as PWBG. In all other industries in India such as infrastructure, the BG requirement is restricted to a PWBG of about 5 % and / or an ABG for the first advance. Given the programme size, this is a very challenging task for any shipyard. There are restrictions imposed through RBI guidelines on the maximum credit exposure that a bank can take on a single entity or a single group. The total amount of Bank Guarantees issued by all schedule commercial banks in India across all industries in India and outside India as of March 31, 2016 was Rs. 10,58,116 crore. The Total value of Naval Defence contracts awarded and to be awarded in the next few years is in several lakhs of crores. Hence, the requirement of Bank Guarantees for Defence shipbuilding alone would be a substantial percentage of the total Bank Guarantees issued by the banks in India. Presently, the Defence PSUs in case of orders on a nomination basis from the MoD are allowed to submit indemnity bonds in lieu of BGs. It is recommended that similar provision may be made applicable in case of Private Sector Shipyards. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union calls off strike at paper mill at Chikkayanachatra, Nanjangud South India Paper Mills announced that a long term settlement has been reached between the Management and the Worker's Union including wage settlement. The Worker's Union have agreed to call off the strike at the Company's Paper Mill at Chikkayanachatra, Nanjangud, before the Labour Commissioner, Govt of Karnataka, Bangalore. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sixteen security personnel were killed and seven others injured on Thursday when Taliban militants attacked checkpoints in Afghanistan's Kandahar province, an official said. "A group of Taliban militants attacked the checkpoints in Shah Walikot district at around 2 a.m.," the official told Xinhua news agency. He said some militants were also killed in the attack but did not give an exact number. --IANS ksk/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) If your doctor is monitoring you with unhygienic stethoscopes, chances are that you may contract infections by antibiotic-resistant superbugs, researchers have warned. Infection control guidelines from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention state that re-usable medical equipment, such as stethoscopes, must undergo disinfection. However, the study showed that healthcare providers rarely perform stethoscope hygiene between patient encounters, despite its importance for infection prevention. Potential pathogens cultured from stethoscopes include Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Clostridium difficile, and vancomycin-resistant enterococci -- reponsible for diseases such as pneumonia, urinary tract infections (UTIs), and skin infections, which can also be life threatening, the researchers said. "Stethoscopes are used repeatedly throughout the day and become contaminated after each patient exposure, so they must be treated as potential vectors of transmission," said Linda Greene, President at the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) in Virginia, US. "Failing to disinfect stethoscopes could constitute a serious patient safety issue similar to ignoring hand hygiene," Greene added. In the study, published in the American Journal of Infection Control, the researchers observed stethoscope hygiene at the start of a four-week rotation for medical students, resident physicians, and attending physicians at a tertiary care academic teaching hospital. The results showed zero occurrences of stethoscope sanitation among the staff. "Stethoscope hygiene implementation will need more consistent efforts to change culture and habits. We believe that stethoscope hygiene should be included in all hospital hand hygiene initiatives along with increased accountability." --IANS rt/ksk/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Thursday congratulated Ram Nath Kovind on being elected the next President. "I wish to convey my heartiest congratulations to you on your resounding victory in the election to the post of President of India," he said in a letter. He added: "I wish to convey to you my own felicitations and also those of the people of Tamil Nadu for a historic tenure in Rashtrapati Bhavan." Former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam, the leader of an AIADMK faction, also extended his greetings to Kovind. In a statement issued here, Panneerselvam said "with his talent and service they wish Kovind to gain more fame". National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate Kovind was on Thursday elected the 14th President of India, securing a massive margin over his United Progressive Alliance (UPA) rival Meira Kumar in a straight fight. --IANS vj/him/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has praised Sridevi starrer "Mom" and says her producer-husband Boney Kapoor has done a "good job" with the film. Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday took to Twitter to praise the performances by the film's cast. "Producer Boney Kapoor has done a good job with the film 'Mom'. Good performance by all and Nawazuddin Siddiqui," he wrote. Directed by Ravi Udyawar, "Mom", a thriller drama, also features Akshaye Khanna in a pivotal role. The film, which released earlier this month, is Sridevi's 300th and is about how far a mother can go for the sake of her children. "Mom" has been well-received by audiences and critics and the producer says he feels good about this. --IANS dc/nv/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday met Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and sought from the central government one-time settlement of the Rs 6,000 crore loans taken by the states farmers from national and private banks. "Such a settlement will benefit 4.5 lakh of the state's beleaguered farmers," the Chief Minister told Jaitely. Singh sought the Minister's intervention to convert the Rs 6,000 crore loan into term loan by giving requisite directions to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). "Of the total debt of small and marginal farmers waived by the state, Rs 3,600 crore relates to loan from cooperatives, with the remaining Rs 6,000 crore coming from banks. These banks were giving unethical loans to the farmers, pushing them into a vicious cycle of debt," said the Chief Minister. The Chief Minister also urged the Finance Minister to waive off GST on langar and prasad given out at gurdwaras, temples, churches and mosques. Singh had earlier written to the Jaitley seeking GST exemption on Langar (community kitchen) and the prasad distributed at various religious institutions. Singh also discussed with the finance minister the issue of settlement of Rs. 31,000 crore CCL (Cash Credit Limit) related debt to ease the state's financial burden. The Chief Minister requested Jaitley to set up a committee on the issue, which he had earlier taken up with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Finance Minister directed department officials to look into all the issues and coordinate with the Punjab government to resolve them. Singh also met Union Minister of Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari to discuss the proposed Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway as well as various pending Punjab road and highway projects. --IANS sid/rn (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A young Kashmiri woman who was unable to conceive for the last seven years has got pregnant after receiving medical advices from doctors of Sir Ganga Ram hospital on a smartphone app. The patient, who suffered from Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, despite undergoing treatment at the IVF Centre and Human Reproduction at SRGH, was unable to visit Delhi as per doctor's requirement, the hospital authorities said on Thursday. Treatment for infertility, notably, requires frequent follow-up visits for ovarian follicular scans and review of these scans for treatment interventions. According to the doctors, that is where the "My Follow Up app" was utilised to give her the medical pieces of advice and share the important reports from both the ends of patients and the medical team. "This particular patient required gonadotrophin injections that were to be given with concurrent follicular monitoring. The app provided the perfect platform for the sharing of these images and the tweaking of medical interventions to get the desired results," the doctors said. The doctors added that the happy denouement to this story was that this patient got pregnant within days of starting treatment, entirely as a consequence of treatment advised on "My Follow Up" app, without having to make subsequent trips to Delhi. "This is after seven years of infertility and prolonged and unfruitful treatment in J&K," the hospital authorities said. The app is downloadable free of cost, and available both on Android and IOS. The Union Cabinet was on Wednesday apprised of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and the Netherlands on cooperation in exploration and uses of outer space for peaceful purposes. The MoU was signed on May 11 and 22, 2017 at Bengaluru and The Hague, respectively. An official release said that the MoU would enable cooperation in areas such as space science, satellite communication and satellite-based navigation. The MoU would lead to setting up of a Joint Working Group, drawing members from Department of Space/Indian Space Research Organisation (DOS/ISRO) and the Netherlands Space Office (NSO). The Cabinet meeting was presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. --IANS ps/nir/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Gujarat Congress on Thursday evening issued a warning to veteran party leader not to "play any politics" under the guise of his 77th birthday celebrations with his supporters and legislators on Friday. He was also told that his public utterances would not be tolerated by the party any further. Similar to an event in the Gandhinagar Town Hall last month, which was attended by scores of his supporters minus legislators, the July 21 event promises to be a veritable show of strength where MLAs of the Congress, two of Nationalist Congress Party and one of the Janata Dal-United have been invited. Vaghela, who is the Leader of Opposition in the state assembly, had asserted last month: "If the party wishes to concede defeat even before the fight has begun, I would not commit suicide with it." The Congress high command seems to have finally decided to take a tough position on . A Senior party leader as well as former state president, Siddharth Patel, told reporters here that on June 24, he had called a meeting in Gandhinagar "where Vaghela spoke about the party in public, which he should not have". Patel said: "In view of his seniority, the party leadership kept quiet then. (Now) We wish him for his birthday, but any politics in the guise of birthday celebrations is not proper and not acceptable. The party will not tolerate this at all." Patel, who had just emerged from a meeting of the party's coordination committee chaired by state Congress President Bharatsinh Solanki, said on July 18, all members of the coordination committee had appealed that it was crucial to put up a united front and try to resolve differences within the party forum and not in public. After Vaghela announced his birthday celebrations on Tuesday, Patel and spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil met Vaghela at his residence to placate him as well as to convey him not to hold public events and embarrass the party. The maverick Vaghela, who had snapped ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party in the late nineties to set up his own party that later merged with the Congress, has been asserting before the party high command to hand over reins of the December election battle to him. Although publicly he has been denying that he wanted to be projected as the chief ministerial candidate, Vaghela said at the June 24 meeting and has often asserted before the media and his supporters publicly that there had been no planning for the elections and he had objections to the ad-hocism going on, taking a dig at Bharatsinh Solanki. Rome, July 21 (IANS/AKI) Pino Pelosi, the only person convicted for the murder of controversial Italian intellectual Pier Paolo Pasolini more than 40 years ago has died in a Rome hospital, Andkronos learned on Thursday. Pelosi, had fallen into a coma at Rome's Policlinico Gemelli hospital overnight, the sources said. Pasolini was repeatedly run over with his car in the seaside town of Ostia late on 2 November, 1975, his testicles were crushed with an iron bar and his corpse was partially set alight. Pelosi, who was found driving Pasolini's car after the killing and who was 17 at the time, confessed to the murder and in 1976 was sentenced to nine years in jail for the crime. Pelosi was initially convicted with "unknown others" of Pasolini's murder but this was later removed from the verdict. In 2005, Pelosi withdrew his confession, claiming it had been made under the threat of violence to his family. Three people "with a Southern accent" had committed the murder, insulting Pasolini and calling him a "dirty communist", Pelosi subsequently alleged. Mystery continues to surround Pasolini's murder, which has long been viewed as a mafia-style revenge killing, in all probability carried out by more than one person. Police in Rome reopened the case following Pelosi's retraction. Other evidence uncovered in 2005 pointed to Pasolini having been murdered by an extortionist, but a judge found it insufficient and the new investigation was closed. --IANS qd/ (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The voting results from Maharashtra in the Presidential election suggest cross-voting by some opposition legislators in favour of NDA candidate and winner Ram Nath Kovind. According to the results, of the total 288 legislators, 287 voted. The Bahujan Vikas Aghadi MLA from Palghar was abroad. Of the 287 votes cast, 208 went for Kovind while UPA nominee Meira Kumar secured 77. Two votes were rejected as invalid. The BJP has 122 and Shiv Sena 63 legislators, totalling 185, in the legislature. The Congress has 42 and the Nationalist Congress Party has 41 members, totalling 83 legislators. There are seven independents who had pledged support to Kovind, besides three legislators each of PWP and BVA, AIMIM (2), MNS, CPI-M, RSP and BBM one each. The NDA was hopeful of getting the support of at least 199 legislators - the BJP's 122, Sena's 63 and seven independents -- for Kovind in Maharashtra. But 208 votes were polled for Kovind - a clear indication that some opposition legislators may have voted for the NDA nominee. A couple of days before the election, the group leader of the seven independent legislators, Ravi Rana, elected from Badnera in eastern Maharashtra, had claimed that several Congress-NCP legislators were likely to vote for Kovind. Since the outcome, none of the main opposition parties in the state have officially commented on the voting figures. --IANS qn/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India and Russia have concluded the first stage of negotiations on developing a fifth generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) and would sign the contract documents on the ambitious project "in the near future", an official from Russian state-firm Rostec has said. Sergey Chemezov, CEO of Rostec Corporation, to a question about the negotiations, said the progress was slow as the project and its negotiations are very "complicated". "As for the fifth generation, the work is underway. Stage one of negotiations is over. Now, we are discussing the second stage," Chemezov said, on the sidelines of 13th International Aerospace Show MAKS. "I think that in the near future, all decisions will be made. And the contract documents will be signed," he said. India and Russia had inked an inter-governmental pact for the FGFA project in 2007. In December 2010, India had agreed to pay $295 million towards the preliminary design of the fighter, also referred to as the 'Perspective Multi-role Fighter' (PMF). However, negotiations faced various hurdles in the subsequent years. The two sides hope to sign a detailed agreement on the design and development soon, though a deadline was not given. While the slow pace of progress has been a concern, the discussions have been going in a positive direction, according to officials on both sides. Chemezov, however, said there were delays as the project is "complicated". "The work is going, it is very complicated, so it is not going fast," Chemezov said. "The only country for India, which without any restrictions transfers all technologies, is Russia," he added. Asked about other ongoing projects between India and Russia, he said: "We have an enterprise that has been working for a long time producing cruise missiles BrahMos. They are already completely localised today... This is one of the first projects that we implemented in India, as well as the T90, Su-30MKI. That is a fairly large number of projects -- some have already been implemented, some are being implemented." (Anjali Ojha is in Moscow at the invitation of the organisers of the MAKS-2017 air show. She can be reached at anjali.o@ians.in) --IANS ao/pgh/rn (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Film: "Dunkirk"; Director: Christopher Nolan; Cast: Fionn Whitehead, Tom Glynn-Carney, Jack Lowden, Harry Styles, Aneurin Barnard, James D'Arcy, Barry Keoghan, Kenneth Branagh, Cillian Murphy, Mark Rylance, Tom Hardy; Rating: **** With "Dunkirk", director Christopher Nolan plunges you directly into an impassive war zone. Mounted on an epic scale and presented in a pragmatic manner, the film is well-made. It is a survival film which is dramatic yet natural and it elicits an emotional response from its audience. The treatment of the film is supposed to have been inspired from 11 films -- "All Quiet on the Western Front", "The Wages of Fear", "Alien", "Speed", "Unstoppable", "Greed", "Sunrise", "Ryan's Daughter", "The Battle of Algiers", "Chariots of Fire" and "Foreign Correspondent" and yet the film presented like a montage, vaguely reminds you of the classic Russian film "Battleship Potemkin". Set during the Second World War, this film chronicles the evacuation of British soldiers who were cornered on the beaches of Dunkirk (Dunkerque) in France, in late May to early June 1940 after the Germans had driven nearly four hundred thousand men of the Allied forces, British and French soldiers, to the edge. The narration comprises three stories; "The Mole" which is set over the course of about a week, "The Sea" set over a day and "The Air" set over a period of one hour. These three distinct stories intercut throughout the film giving it a holistic approach to the film. "The Mole" follows three young soldiers Tommy (Fionn Whitehead), Alex (Harry Styles) and Gibson (Aneurin Bannard) as they try to stow away on the evacuation ships leaving the beaches. The narrative begins with Tommy collecting a fluttering propaganda flier meant to remind the Allied forces about how the enemy has surrounded them and escape is impossible. The initial burst of violence is visceral and unnerving. Then, when Tommy reaches the beach, he sees Alex burying a dead soldier in the sand, this reiterates his fate, if he still lingers on the shore. So, all Tommy desires is to go back to his home, away from the deafening noise and the frightening atmosphere. "The Sea" trails a civilian yacht called The Moonstone piloted by Mr. Dawson (Mark Rylance) as they head to France, to pick up as many troops as possible before the Nazis get to them. Accompanying Mr. Dawson is his son Peter (Tom Glynn-Carney) and Peter's friend George (Barry Keoghan). During their journey to Dunkrik they pick up a shell-shocked survivor (Cillian Murphy) who suffers from a PTSD (Post Trauma Stress Disorder). "The Air" marks two Royal Airforce Pilots Farrier (Tom Hardy) and Collins (Jack Lowden) as they try to protect the water front. Told from three perspectives - Land, Sea and Air, the ensemble film does not delineate most of its characters through exposition but seems to take awkward pride in letting them scamper anonymously across the screen, allowing them to mingle in the crowd or merge with smoke or water. Thus after a while, when the stories mesh, it becomes tricky to tell who is who with the troops on the beach and in some of the Royal Navy vessels because they all look and sound so similar. Also, the film deviates from the normal war-film techniques which usually instil some level of hope and comradery and instead chooses to focus on just the mere survival of these individuals. There is no deep explicit connection with the individual characters except that you wish for them not to die. This is possibly the weakest point of the film. The film is paced and structured carefully to emit the desired emotion with a nonlinear plot and it lets you on a path with its carefully lined up imagery. The visuals are absolutely spectacular. Cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytemaas frames are brutal as he captures the strewn bodies, ballistic bombardments and raw emotions adroitly. Also, some symbolic metaphors are aesthetically mounted. The sound design is clever as the ticking sound throughout keeps you on tenterhooks and builds the suspense. Overall, with the enemy not shown, Dunkirk is a cleverly made film that's worth watching in an IMAX or on a 70mm Projection. --IANS troy/nv/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Jharkhand government on Thursday announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the kin of a farmer who committed suicide in Ranchi district. "The Jharkhand Chief Minister has expressed concern over suicide of the farmer. Rs 2 lakh compensation will be given to family member of the farmer," said a press release issued by the state government. "The Chief Minister has directed the district agriculture officials to take feed-back from panchayats and villages," the release added. Sanjay Munda, a resident of Chano -- about 25 km from Ranchi -- committed suicide on Wednesday by hanging himself from the ceiling fan. According to villagers, the 20-year-old farmer was living in distress as he suffered crop losses. His father is physically handicapped and his elder brother left the village last year and works as a labourer outside the state, they said. This is the sixth case of farmer suicide in Jharkhand in the last two months. --IANS ns/amit/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Thursday alleged that friends of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leader K.T. Rama Rao are involved in drug racket busted in Hyderabad. Without naming Rama Rao, the Congress General Secretary, who is in charge of the party affairs in Telangana, tweeted that influential friends of TRS heir apparent were involved. "Huge drug scam in Telangana. Influential friends of TRS heir apparent involved. Let's see if they would be saved or prosecuted. Let's see," Singh tweeted. Rama Rao, a cabinet Minister and son of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, hit back at the Congress leader. "You've completely lost it sir. Time to retire gracefully and do something worth your age. Glad that you've finally learnt to spell 'Telangana'," tweeted Rama Rao. A drug racket was busted in Hyderabad earlier in July. The Prohibition and Excise Department of Telangana arrested 13 drug peddlers, who were selling drugs to students of several schools and colleges in the city. The authorities are currently probing the alleged involvement of some personalities of Telugu film industry in the drug racket. In May, Digvijaya Singh had made an allegation that the Telangana Police set up a bogus Islamic State site to trap Muslim youth. Terming his allegation "irresponsible", Rama Rao had asked him to withdraw the claim or face legal action. The Congress leader, however, said he stood by his statement. --IANS ms/in/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A conservationist group said on Thursday that it has found a globally endangered Masked Finfoot, an aquatic bird, for the first time in four years in Cambodia's Preah Vihear province. This site near the Memay river is the only confirmed breeding location in Cambodia for this very rare species, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) said in a statement. Masked Finfoot is listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List as Globally Endangered because its global population is declining at an alarming rate, Xinhua news agency quoted the statement as saying. This riverine species lives only in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, it said, adding that its global population is less than 1,000 individuals, while little is known about the numbers in Cambodia. "After educating local communities about the Masked Finfoot, the research team worked together with Community Protected Area committee and other local members to search for the species, and we then found a Masked Finfoot on the nest near the Memay river," said Rours Vann, head of the Environment Ministry and WCS research team in KPWS. "I am proud of this finding because it is very rare species. We have not recorded any nests since 2013," he added. --IANS ksk/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) National Award winning filmmaker Tigmanshu Dhulia, who is gearing up for the release of "Raag Desh - Birth of a Nation", hopes the censor board doesn't have any issues with the film's content, as also with the use of the word "Akali", which it has objected to in Madhur Bhandarkar's "Indu Sarkar". "Till now I didn't feel there is any reason to worry because there is no controversial content in this film. It is against the British and I don't think there should be any problem with that but if any problem arises... I don't know," Dhulia told IANS here on Thursday. "But yesterday I noticed that (problems over) certain words like 'Akali' etc. are there in Madhur's film... in my film also there is a reference (to Akali).... though it's not against the Akali...," he explained. The film, set for a July 28 release, is about the contribution of Subhas Chandra Bose's Indian National Army (INA) in India's independence. "Raag Desh" is essentially the story of the famous Red Fort trial of three INA officers (Colonel Prem Sahgal, Shah Nawaz Khan, Gurubaksh Singh Dhillon) that triggered much public outcry and imbued the nation with a patriotic fervour. Expanding on the reference to Akali, Dhulia said it has been used in the context of prominent political parties resisting the trials. "When the trials started, then Congress had formed a defence committee to defend the INA. The other parties... Muslim League pitched in to defend Shah Nawaz... the Akalis pitched in for Dhillon... so there is a scene where Dhillon's father comes in and asks him to apologise to the British... but he refuses... so then the father says that the Akali party will fight for him... but he was against that," he said. Asked on apprehensions on scissoring content, he said: "I don't know... the CBFC is behaving in a weird way... can't say anything." In "Raag Desh", actor Mohit Marwah plays Colonel Prem Sahgal, Kunal Kapoor portrays Shah Nawaz Khan while Gurubaksh Singh Dhillon is essayed by Amit Sadh. --IANS sgh/ssp/vgu/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court on Thursday observed that ignorance of citizens on how personal data furnished by them was being used could not be the basis for not testing the validity of a law -- Aadhaar Act in the instant case. The nine-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar made this observation on the second day of the hearing on the right to privacy case. The court was told that privacy was integral to right to dignity and resided in Article 21. The court asked how far a citizen can say that he has autonomy of identity and claim anonymity. The poser came as petitioners asserted that their right to privacy was fundamental and told the bench that the "contours of right to privacy is multifaceted and thus could not be defined, it would depend on case to case basis". The second day of the hearing saw the bench being taken through various judicial pronouncements - both in India and abroad, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) to contend that right to privacy was an inalienable right and inseparable from dignity. Besides Chief Justice Khehar, the nine-judge bench also comprises Justices J. Chelameswar, S.A. Bobde, R.K. Agrawal, Rohinton Fali Nariman, Abhay Manohar Sapre, D.Y. Chandrachud, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and S. Abdul Nazeer. The senior counsel Arvind Datar, Anand Grover, Sajan Poovayya and Meenakshi Arora appeared for the petitioners seeking pronouncement that privacy was a fundamental right. The matter is being heard by the constitution bench in the wake of challenge to the Aadhaar scheme on the grounds of its being violative of the right to privacy. The hearing saw Justice Chandrachud asking how far the citizens would invoke the autonomy of identity to remain in anonymity and to what extent. Justice Chandrachud asked that at the time of applying for passport, the passport issuing authority asks your father's name, mother's name, spouse's name. Similarly in the case of applying for the passport of an adopted child, the authorities insist upon the identity of biological parents of the child. As Justice Chandrachud asked how far can a citizen say that he has a right to anonymity and refuse information for a cause which is not illegal and illegitimate, Grover responded saying "It has to be a compelling State necessity". At this Justice Nariman said the ultimate test is if the State interest is compelling to call for the information or the information being sought is arbitrary and excessive. Chief Justice Khehar said, "What you are asked to disclose, if it interferes or bothers you, you can invoke privacy. Once it comes to a stage where it bothers you, then State can say that it is not legitimate." On the debate where the right to privacy could be located in the fundamental rights, senior counsel Sajan Poovayya linked the tracing of right to privacy in Article 14, Article 19 and Article 21 and other provisions of the Constitution with the planetary positions in a horoscope for understanding good or bad times. Saying that the "collection of data itself is a breach of right to privacy unless it is covered by law", Poovayya said, "I have a digital identity and it is incumbent upon the State to protect my digital identity. Can the top court permit the government to collect my personal information without an oversight?" Poovayya said the declaration by the court that privacy is a fundamental right would be the first step for ensuring that there is an oversight ensuring protection of the personal information of the citizens. He said that "surrendering of information to someone does not mean surrendering the information to all". "It does not mean that merely because my personal information is in public domain, it takes away my right to privacy or I can't assert right to privacy on that personal information," Poovayya told the bench. Tracing the protection of right to privacy in the Telegraph Act of 1885 and Postal law of 1890, Poovayya said that if the nine-judge bench had sat say 15 years ago and had decided that the right to privacy was fundamental, then the government would not have dared to collect personal information the way it did in the case of Aadhaar. Earlier, Grover had told the court that the Constitution is a living document so "its interpretation must be in accord with the passage of time and developments in law". In the beginning of the hearing on Thursday, senior counsel Arvind Datar told the court that there were three aspects of privacy - physical privacy, informational privacy and decision privacy which involved protections from tangible and intangible invasion of private space. --IANS pk/rn/vsc (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday ordered the trial chamber to review whether former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo should continue to be detained. On March 10 this year, Trial Chamber I of the ICC decided that Gbagbo shall remain behind bars in a UN detention centre until the end of his trial, Xinhua reported. Gbagbo appealed the decision. The trial judges "should have considered the duration of time Mr Gbagbo has spent in detention ... and it should have determined whether, all factors being considered, Mr Gbagbo's detention continues to be reasonable", said the Appeals Chamber in its ruling. The 71-year-old Gbagbo, president of Cote d'Ivoire from 2000 to 2011, was transferred to the ICC's detention unit in The Hague on November 30, 2011, following his arrest warrant on November 23 the same year. In January 2016, the trial opened. Gbagbo denied all charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed against supporters of Alassane Ouattara, current President of Cote d'Ivoire, during the aftermath of the presidential elections in 2010 and 2011. The trial chamber "erred in taking into account the fact that a person denies responsibility for the charges he faces, as a factor favouring detention" and "erred by considering Mr Gbagbo's advanced age as a factor that increased his desire to abscond, rather than one that may potentially mitigate the possibility of absconding", said the Appeals Chamber. Therefore the appeals chamber ordered "the trial chamber to carry out a new review as to whether Mr Gbagbo should continue to be detained or should be released with or without conditions". In its decision, the Appeals Chamber emphasized that it is not suggesting what the outcome of the Trial Chamber's review should be. --IANS qd/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The advancement of ties between Nepal and China calls for a revision and possibly better management of India's ties with Nepal, a recent report has said. The Observer Research Foundation report also highlights China's increasing influence in Nepal's trade, security and domestic policies. "Over the last few years, bilateral ties between China and Nepal have become more strategic. This is evident in two broad ways," said the report titled "India's Connectivity with its Himalayan Neighbours: Possibilities and Challenges." "First, the two countries have signed a number of bilateral agreements and initiatives in the last couple of years; Nepal is almost ready to sign the One Belt, One Road initiative." "Second, China is investing time, energy and resources in nurturing its perception among not only Nepali policy-makers, but among industrialists, bureaucrats, and the general public," it said. While the other neighbouring country, Bhutan, continues to favour India as a more significant partner than China, the report stresses India's concern over Bhutan's temporary withdrawal from the BBIN MVA (Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal Motor Vehicles Agreement). Underscoring the importance of border management for uninterrupted trade and security, the report calls for strengthening joint border patrols along the line of India's open border with Nepal and Bhutan and necessary upgrade of existing facilities and resources in the border areas. "As an example, the establishment of banking facilities at border points is necessary. Banking facilities would not only facilitate trade, it might also help to reduce the volume of informal trade," it said. It also emphasises the importance of legal education and awareness among the border dwellers so as to make them aware of the domestic laws applicable in each other's country. The report advocates going beyond the traditional forms of rail and road connectivity to share critical information between the countries, such as the news of a sudden strike in either part of the border that may halt the movement of trade and people. It suggests timely implementation of existing protocols in various infrastructure projects and other projects of bilateral cooperation in order to decrease the cost and finish the project under stipulated time limit. Terming the bilateral understanding between two neighbouring countries as the rudimentary element of how they would perceive each other, the report says that a strong bilateral relation between India and its neighbours would enhance their ties. "The contact between the India government and the people in the border areas of Nepal and Bhutan is vital as a large part of the cross-border trade and economy is run by the border dwellers," the report adds. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India on Thursday said it was seeking "peaceful resolution" of all boundary matters with China, including an ongoing over month-long military stand-off at Doklam in the Sikkim sector. At his weekly briefing, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay referred to India's June 30 statement to reiterate that "basically India's approach has been to find peaceful resolution of all matters concerning the border with China". He said India's Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval will be visiting Beijing on July 27 and 28 to attend a BRICS meeting but parried questions whether there will be any bilateral meetings with his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi on the sidelines of the meeting of the five-nation grouping. The meeting of NSAs of BRICS nations will be hosted by Yang. Baglay refused to share the details on what kind of diplomatic channels the two countries were using to ease the border tension at Doklam. "I would not like to go into the details of how and between whom and when such conversations have taken place, if they have taken place," he said. The spokesperson said the government of India has been laying stress on the Astana consensus between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived at last month that the two countries must not allow differences to become disputes. "Every responsible power, every responsible person and player in the world, of course, prefers peaceful resolution of matters that are in hand," he said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Israel plans a new field hospital along the demarcation line with Syria in the Golan Heights to treat patients from the war-hit country. The new field hospital would be located on the Syrian side of the fence but on the Israeli side of the demarcation line in the Golan Heights, which it occupied in 1967, Xinhua reported. According to the Israeli military source, it had been involved in operations to deliver humanitarian aid across the line, including hundreds of tonnes of food and clothing, as well as fuel and equipment such as generators. There have been more than 110 such missions since August 2016. The military has worked with aid groups on such missions, it added. Israel has long treated war wounded from Syria as a gesture it hopes will soften attitudes toward the Jewish state on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights. --IANS qd/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Israeli President Reuven Rivlin talked over the phone with Turkish President Recep Erdogan in a rare conversation between the two leaders over the escalating tensions around East Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque. A statement released by Rivlin's spokesperson said that the conversation was held at the request of Erdogan, who wanted to be involved in finding a solution to quell the violence at the holy site, Xinhua reported. Israeli media reported that the talk was held despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Foreign Ministry have objected the talk. The Ministry was concerned that such a talk would give Erdogan a leverage as an important mediator while in the past the Jewish country has accused him of inciting against Israel's position in annexed East Jerusalem, according to Channel 2 news TV. During the conversation, Rivlin told Erdogan that after terror attacks in Turkey, Israel was quick to condemn the acts. He said Israel expects "to hear similar condemnation from Turkey," according to the statement. Rivlin claimed that Israel "was maintaining and would continue to maintain the status quo at the holy sites". He added that the controversial security measures, including new electronic detectors, were intended to ensure that attacks like Friday's deadly shooting assault will not be repeated. "Israel is committed to safeguarding the lives of all the citizens who visited the holy places," Rivlin said. Israel and Turkey renewed their full diplomatic ties in June 2016, following six years of diplomatic strife over the deadly Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound Turkish flotilla in 2010. Tensions around the Al-Aqsa Mosque, has been escalating since Friday attack, in which three Israeli Arabs killed two Israeli policemen. The electronic gates installed in the wake of the attack sparked daily protests in East Jerusalem, with dozens of injuries. The Palestinians maintain that the new measures constitute a violation of the long-held status quo at the site. --IANS ahm/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Brazilian federal judge who found former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva guilty on corruption charges issued an order freezing four bank accounts belonging to the politician. The affected accounts hold a total of 606,727 reais ($192,002), banking regulators said. Judge Sergio Moro on Wednesday said the aim of the move was to ensure Lula's ability to pay any fines that may be imposed on the former head of state if the conviction is upheld, reports Efe news. A week ago, Moro sentenced Lula to nine years and six months in prison in connection with the massive corruption scandal centred on state oil company Petrobras. Moro found Lula guilty of having accepted services valued at 3.7 million reais ($1 million) from a construction company that benefited from contracts with Petrobras. Though he still faces several other corruption trials, Lula will remain eligible to run for President next year until and unless a conviction is upheld on appeal, something unlikely to happen before mid-2018 at the earliest. Brazilian lawmakers are set to vote August 2 on whether to allow a criminal case to proceed against incumbent President Michel Temer, who is accused of accepting bribes from meatpacking giant JBS and of encouraging that company to pay hush money to a former top lawmaker convicted earlier this year in connection with the Petrobras scheme. --IANS ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) National Award-winning actress Kangana Ranaut got a deep cut between her eyebrows while shooting for a sword fighting scene on the set of her upcoming film "Manikarnika - The Queen of Jhansi". Kangana was shooting here on Wednesday with co-star Nihar Pandya. The "Queen" star was rushed to the Apollo Hospital amidst pain and blood loss. She got 15 stitches on the forehead and has been advised rest for four days. "I am a bit embarrassed to be thrilled to have a battle scar on my face. Also, people from my team have been telling me that it's like that 'Peshwa teeka' that 'Manikarnika' wore," Kangana said in a statement. "It's a bit dramatic, but I am excited that my face was covered in blood and I got a genuine and authentic glimpse of the Queen's life," she added. Kangana has been training hard in sword fighting under Hollywood stunt director Nick Powell. She is also taking horse riding lessons. Directed by Krish, "Manikarnika - The Queen of Jhansi" features Kangana as Rani Laxmibai. --IANS sas/nv/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Kerala BJP chief Kummanem Rajasekheran on Thursday denied any links of the party with an alleged medical college scam, even as the issue rocked Parliament. In a statement, Rajasekheran said media reports on the alleged involvement of the BJP in Kerala in taking bribes in lieu of promising Medical Council of India recognition for a private college "has nothing to do with our party". "BJP is a party that deals with corruption in a very strong manner. In this particular issue, the party will discuss it at the appropriate forum and strict action will be taken, if needed. But what's being heard now has got nothing to do with our party," said Rajasekheran. Former state BJP president V. Muraleedharan said the party will be holding a core group meeting on Friday, when the issue is likely to be taken up. State BJP general secretary M.T. Ramesh, whose name figures in the report, denied any involvement in the medical college scam. The lawmakers from Kerala have demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi reply to the allegations that the owner of a medical college in Thiruvananthapuram district had paid Rs 5.60 crore as bribe to Kerala-based BJP leaders for influencing the Medical Council of India (MCI). The revelations came in the wake of an internal BJP two-member committee report which is alleged to have been leaked from the office of the Kerala BJP chief Rajasekheran. Kerala lawmakers from the Left and the Congress angrily protested in the Lok Sabha after being denied permission to take up the report in the House. The motion moved by CPI-M leader M.B. Rajesh and Congress leader K.C. Venugopal, but it was disallowed. Rajesh told the media "This scam involves not just the Kerala BJP leaders but also the national BJP leaders." "This is a case where money was paid as bribe to get favours from the MCI and hence this scam has larger dimensions," said Rajesh. Venugopal said it was strange that while the national BJP leadership speaks against corruption and black money, their own internal committee that went into the allegations found that money has changed hands. He said the money was paid in Delhi through the hawala route. "This report was kept under wraps for a while, which shows that the state's top BJP leadership knew what was going on," said Venugopal. Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala told reporters in north Kerala that only a probe would reveal the truth in the matter. "This is nothing but the tip of the iceberg, and there is no doubt the national BJP leaders are involved in this scam," said Chennithala. In a related development Vellapally Natesan, founding patron of the Bharat Dharma Jana Sena, a key ally of the BJP-led NDA said "What's happening in the Kerala unit of the BJP is a 'fight' between those who got the money and those who didn't." Over the years, the state unit of the BJP has been facing factional feuds, which has led to concern in the national leadership. --IANS sg/rn (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Saying that its Q3 results were negatively impacted by Apple's contract manufacturers not paying royalties, chip giant Qualcomm on Thursday reported its revenue down 11 per cent over the previous year. The third quarter fiscal 2017 revenue stood at $5.37 billion, beating analyst estimates of $5.26 billion. Qualcomm's net income was down 40 per cent (year-on-year) at $866 million. "The third quarter of fiscal 2017 results were negatively impacted by actions taken by Apple's contract manufacturers, who did not fully report and did not pay royalties due on sales of Apple products," Qualcomm said in a statement. The results were also impacted by "previously disclosed dispute with another licensee, who did not report or pay royalties due in the third quarter of fiscal 2017," the statement said. "We expect these licensees will continue to take such actions in the future until the respective disputes are resolved," it added. The global chip maker had filed a new patent infringement lawsuit against Apple a few months back and now expects 'out of court' settlement with the Cupertino-based iPhone maker. Speaking at a US event this week, Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf said "those things tend to get resolved out of court and there's no reason why I wouldn't expect that to be the case here." He was comparing the dispute with Apple to earlier fights Qualcomm has had with other tech companies that were settled out of court. "We believe that we hold the high ground with regard to the dispute with Apple, and we have initiated new actions to protect the well-established value of our technologies," Mollenkopf said in the statement on Thursday. Earlier in July, Qualcomm asked the US authorities to ban imports of some iPhone and iPad models. Qualcomm filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission, accusing Apple's iPhones and iPads of infringing six of its mobile patents. Qualcomm said all iPhones and iPads that contain competing mobile communications chips should be barred from the country. Apple responded to this, saying that the company had tried to negotiate before suing and that Qualcomm is abusing its position. In April, Apple stopped paying royalties to contract manufacturers for phone patents owned by Qualcomm over an "unresolved issue". Apple reportedly stopped paying royalties starting with devices sold during the March quarter. Qualcomm is one of the world's biggest provider of mobile chips and derives revenue majorly from licensing that technology to hundreds of handset manufacturers and others. Apple sued Qualcomm in January for nearly one billion dollars over royalties, with the Cupertino-based tech giant alleging the wireless chipmaker that it did not give fair licensing terms for its processor technology. --IANS na/in (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Opposition parties created a ruckus in the Lok Sabha on Thursday over farmers issues forcing Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to adjourn the House twice during the Question Hour. The Speaker adjourned the House till 12 noon as the opposition leaders continued their sloganeering. Earlier the House was briefly adjourned for 20 minutes till 11.30 a.m. Soon after the House met for the second time on Thursday, the Congress-led Opposition stood up and started shouting slogans. The Congress leaders raised the issue of farmers. They were also seen mentioning some media reports. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar hit out at the opposition parties leaders for their absence from Lok Sabha on Wednesday, when the the agrarian crisis was debated upon. "Congress has nothing to do with the farmers' plight. They are shedding crocodile tears," Kumar said. "Yesterday (Wednesday) we were discussing agrarian crisis. The discussion was held till 10 p.m. But we saw that there were only two Congress members in the House," he said. He also said that the entire Opposition bench was lying vacant. "They have no concern for farmers. Congress and other opposition leaders should not disturb the House. They should let the House function," Kumar added. --IANS bns-aks/in/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Top political leaders from Maharashtra cutting across party lines on Thursday congratulated Ram Nath Kovind on his election as the new President of India. Governor C.V. Rao, congratulating Kovind, wished him "a successful tenure in the service of the people", in a message. Wishing Kovind "a very fruitful tenure", Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that it signals the start of a new era in the country. "With his rich experience in social and political spheres, with his election as the President of the world's largest democracy, he will definitely show a new direction," Fadnavis said in a message. State Bharatiya Janata Party President Raosaheb Patil-Danve congratulated and wished Kovind "a very fruitful tenure" in the top post. Ally Shiv Sena's youth leader Aditya Thackeray congratuted Kovind on his election "with such a thumping majority". Former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Narayan Rane expressed best wishes to Kovind, while Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar heartily congratulated Kovind and expressed his "best wishes for a successful tenure" as President. Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Council Dhananjay Munde (NCP) expressed hope that Kovind's leadership "will make us a strong nation." State Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant offered solace to Kovind's opponent Meira Kumar. "You fought for the national cause like a true warrior. Your efforts will not go in vain. We all will follow you." Other prominent personalities who welcomed Kovind's election include Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, Prakash Javadekar, Piyush Goyal. Earlier, soon after the election outcome was announced in New Delhi, celebrations erupted at the state BJP headquarters in Mumbai. Hundreds of party activists burst fire-crackers, danced and played drums, distributed sweets and hugged each other cheering Kovind's victory. Similar celebrations were witnessed in other parts of the state including Thane, Pune, Nagpur and Kolhapur. Incidentally, Maharashtra was the last port of call for Kovind during the campaigning for the Presidential elections when he visited Mumbai on July 15, two days before the elections. --IANS qn/rn (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The just concluded Malabar Naval exercises involving the US, India and Japan is directed against China and won't serve New Delhi's interests, the CPI-M has said. "What the Malabar exercise symbolizes is India's becoming a full-fledged military partner of the US strategy in Asia which is directed towards containing China," said an editorial in the CPI-M journal People's Democracy. "How this will serve India's national interests is for the Modi government to answer. The military alliance with the US is detrimental to India's sovereignty and strategic autonomy," the Communist Party of India-Marxist said. The 21st edition of the Malabar exercises was one of the largest joint naval exercises in the region involving 16 ships, two submarines and 95 aircraft from the three countries. The joint naval exercise between the US and India began in 1992 and it marked the beginning of the military collaboration between the two countries. It became an annual feature since 2002. "Over the years the Malabar exercises have come to be seen as directed against the growing naval might of China and its increasing role in the India-Pacific region," the editorial said. "This became more evident when India made Japan a permanent member in the Malabar exercises since 2015. The trilateral security alliance between the US, India and Japan is another dimension in the US geopolitical strategy in Asia," it said. "The US would like Australia to join the Malabar exercises... For the Modi government, bringing in the Australians would be the next logical step; this would be the quadrilateral alliance which the US is aiming for." --IANS mr/soni (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Thousands of people gathered to enjoy the beauty of "bloom night", an event in a US desert in which the flowers of hundreds of cacti appear almost in unison at dusk before wilting at sunrise. The Peniocereus greggii species of cactus, commonly known as the "Arizona queen of the night", appears dead nearly the entire year, its long, thin and spiny greyish branches having the look of dry, lifeless trunks. But shoots start appearing in the spring and turn into beautiful, radiant white flowers for one night a year, reports Efe news. The uniqueness of this plant and its singular flowers attract nature lovers every year to Tohono Chul park on Tucson's north side. Experts say the mass annual bloom, which this year began on Tuesday night, stems from the plant's survival instinct. "All of the cacti bloom at the same time because they only live one night and depend on a night-flying butterfly" for pollination, Lee Mason, a representative of Tohono Chul park and expert in this plant, told Efe. Tohono Chul is home to nearly 400 Peniocereus greggii cacti, which also are found in the desert of northern Mexico. The mass flowering usually takes place in June, but "bloom night" in 2017 took longer than usual due to a persistent drought, high temperatures and lack of rainfall in recent months, the expert said. --IANS ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A new batch of Turkish troops has arrived in Qatar for training exercises with local forces as part of an Ankara-Doha deal, according to Turkey's state-run media. The sixth military group, including 28 artillerymen in total, arrived in Doha on Wednesday, state-run Anadolu agency reported. This deployment is in line with the 2015 deal between Ankara and Doha on strengthening military cooperation and approved by Turkish Parliament on June 7, just two days following the diplomatic row between Qatar and several Gulf countries. The Turkish-Qatari joint drills started in Qatar on June 19 when the first group of Turkish troops arrived at the military base. Ankara had been backing Qatar as "a longtime ally," said Anadolu reports. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is planning to visit Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar on July 23-24 in order to help the settlement of diplomatic crisis with Qatar. --IANS soni/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The European Union and Britain failed to bridge their differences on key Brexit issues, including financial settlement and the jurisdiction of overseas citizens, as the second round of negotiations concluded here on Thursday. The negotiations came as 27 EU member states have strengthened their unity over Brexit compared to a more divided British Cabinet led by Prime Minister Theresa May, who is currently under fire both in her Conservative party and British society. During the press conference following the negotiations, David Davis, Britain's Brexit secretary, and his EU counterpart Michel Barnier, carefully chose their words to gauge their differences. But when it came to financial settlements, Barnier's message was stern: "We want -- and we are working towards -- an orderly exit from the United Kingdom... and an orderly exit requires the payment of the accounts," Xinhua reported. He called on London to clarify the nature of its commitments on the issue. Meanwhile, Davis concentrated on the obligations shared by the two sides. Hailing the talks as "robust" but "constructive", Davis said the respective sides recognized the importance of sorting out the obligations that Britain and EU have to one another. "Ultimately, getting to a solution will require flexibility from both sides," said the secretary. As for the issue of citizens' rights, Barnier said: "We are now moving in a common direction. But there remains a fundamental divergence on how to guarantee these rights, and on several other points, such as the rights of future members of the family or the export of certain social benefits." "Citizens must be able to find in the withdrawal agreement itself the legal certainty they need in their daily lives," said Barnier. "And of course, any reference to European rights implies its control by the Court of Justice of the European Union." Davis said: "We agreed on the need for certainty on the part of citizens both the EU and the UK, we obviously have different views on how we achieve that" The highly anticipated second round of Brexit talks kicked off on Monday at the EU Commission headquarters. There were three negotiating groups covering citizens' rights, financial settlement, and other separation issues. The issues related to Northern Ireland and the governance of the withdrawal agreement fell to the coordinators. --IANS ahm/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Saudi Arabia has announced that 83,828 Iranian pilgrims will perform Haj this season after Iran boycotted the religious ritual last year. Minister of Haj, Omra Dr Mohammed Benton, made the announcement when inspecting the headquarters of Haj contractors of Iranian pilgrims, Xinhua news agency cited Okaz local news as saying on Thursday. The visit is part of a series of similar visits to other contractors to ensure the best services for foreign pilgrims. In March, Saudi Arabia announced the finalisation of the required steps for the participation of Iranian pilgrims in the upcoming Haj season. Iran boycotted the last Haj season over rifts between the two countries mainly due to the death of Iranian pilgrims in a stampede in Mina area during 2015 Haj. Saudi Arabia had cut ties with Iran early in 2016 and banned its citizens from travelling there. The country clarified that cutting relations covered commercial ties while Iranian pilgrims would always be welcome in Saudi Arabia. --IANS soni/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian when he tried to stab soldiers at a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, a military spokesperson said. "An assailant, armed with a knife, attempted to stab Israel Defence Forces soldiers at a checkpoint. In response, the forces shot at him. He was severely wounded and died at the scene," the military spokesperson was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency. No Israelis were injured. It was the second time a Palestinian was shot dead by soldiers over the past two days. On Tuesday, troops killed a Palestinian man who perpetrated a car-ramming attack near the city of Hebron in the West Bank, lightly injuring a soldier before he was shot, according to officials. The violence came amidst heightened tensions in the region, sparked by new security measures that Israel has implemented in Al-Aqsa mosque compound, one of East Jerusalem's most sensitive holy sites. The measures, including metal detectors at the gates and CCTVs, were installed in the wake of a shooting attack that killed two policemen. The assailants, three Palestinian Arabs with Israeli citizenship, were subsequently killed by the police. A wave of unrest that erupted in mid-September 2015 has claimed the lives of at least 283 Palestinians, 44 Israelis, two US nationals, two Jordanians, an Eritrean, a Sudanese and a British tourist. --IANS soni/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A new coin featuring the endangered Andean bear has been issued in Peru. The Central Reserve Bank of Peru (BCRP) issued the coin on Wednesday in a bid to raise people's awareness about the threat to the species. The coin is the first in a series called "Peru's Endangered Wild Animals" which will showcase wildlife threatened with extinction, Xinhua news agency reports. "The series on endangered animals that we are presenting today is going to consist of 10 (different) coins," said BCRP President Julio Velarde. "In the first place, we have chosen the Andean bear, the only one of the world's eight types of bears that exists in our region," added Velarde. The coins featuring the Andean bear aim to both draw attention to the plight of wildlife and to promote coin collecting, according to the BCRP. "We are going to mint 10 million coins. It is a limited edition of a sol (Peru's currency), it is legal tender and has special characteristics that make it collectible," it said. The coin is made of alpaca silver, which is an alloy of mainly copper and nickel. It features an image of the bear, also known as the spectacled bear, due to the unique markings around its eyes. The flip side of the coin, which is worth one sol, features Peru's coat of arms. The spectacled bear can reach 2.2 meters in height, weighs up to 180 kilos and inhabits the mountain ranges of South America between 800 and 4,750 meters above the sea level. The bear spends much of its time climbing trees and feeding on fruits and berries. Peru's estimated 18,000 Andean bears are threatened by encroaching agriculture, illegal logging and unregulated hunting, with farmers considering them destructive to their corn fields, said the national park service. --IANS amit/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A day after he was rescued from kidnappers who held him hostage for 13 days, 29-year-old Sreekanth struggled to find words as he faced questions on Thursday evening. Shaking and stammering, the balding 29-year-old Delhi doctor said: "Thanks for saving me to the entire Delhi police team. Mistakes happen... Ola was not..." he failed to complete the sentence. Sreekanth was kidnapped from outside Preet Vihar Metro Station in east Delhi by an Ola cab driver on July 6 and was rescued by Delhi Police after a shootout in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, on Wednesday evening. On Thursday, outside the room in a city police building, his family members told IANS that the kidnappers had assured them of his safety. "On July 16, around 10.30 p.m. I tried his (Sreekanth's) number and one of the kidnappers picked up the call," Sreekanth's uncle, Narayan Goud, 55, told IANS. "They told me 'you don't worry, doctor will be safe, we only want money from Ola'. They clearly told me this," Goud said. The driver of the Ola cab that Sreekanth took on the night of July 6 kidnapped him with the help of his friends who were waiting at a distance. On the morning of July 7, they called up the Bengaluru office of Ola and demanded a ransom of Rs 5 crore for his release and threatened to kill Sreekanth if the money was not paid. Joint Commissioner of Police Ravindra Singh Yadav confirmed that even though the kidnappers talked to the family they didn't ask them for any ransom. Hailing from Gadwal in Telangana, Sreekanth has a medical degree from China and has been working in a city hospital for the past two and a half years. Goud said that Sreekanth was a simple person and was terrified. "He did whatever they said and never tried to escape," he added. Yadav said the kidnappers had slit Sreekanth's wrist once to scare him. "If the cut had been any deeper it would have been fatal." Inside the room, Sreekanth pulled himself together as he tried to put together some words for a second time. "Ola was not responsible. They went to police and shared the information..." He again failed to complete the sentence. The teary-eyed doctor again thanked the police before being escorted out. --IANS nkh/him/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Russia will supply a large batch of tanks to Iraq in 2017, reported TASS on Thursday. "It's a big contract for a big batch. I cannot name the exact sum, the number of tanks is big," Xinhua news agency quoted Russian President Vladimir Putin's aide for military technical cooperation, Vladimir Kozhin, as saying. The contract may exceed $1 billion, a huge sum for Russia's Uralvagonzavod Corporation -- the supplier of the tanks. Uralvagonzavod Corporation planned to supply 73 T-90S/SK tanks to Iraq in 2017, according to an earlier report. The T-90S is the latest version in Russia's T-series tanks. Equipped with powerful weapons, it is an all-weather tank with a modern fire control system, reliable armor and high maneuverability. --IANS amit/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Criminal Investigation Department of West Bengal has summoned four BJP leaders, including Kailash Vijayvargiya and Roopa Ganguly, in connection with a child trafficking case in the state, an official said. The leaders have been asked to be present at state CID headquarters in Bhabani Bhawan on July 27 and 29 for inquiry in the case that came to light on February 19 when a complaint was registered at the Jalpaiguri police station. The names of Bharatiya Janata Party General Secretary Vijayvargiya and Rajya Sabha member Ganguly surfaced in the case after a series of arrests, including those of political leaders and state government officials. Juhi Chowdhury, BJP's women's wing leader form Jalpaiguri, after her arrest in February revealed her connection with actor-turned-politician Roopa Ganguly, while Vihayvargiya's name also came up, triggering a political controversy in the state. The CID sleuths had earlier arrested six people for selling at least 17 children through shady adoption deals. The arrested were Darjeeling former DCPO Mrinal Ghosh, Darjeeling Child Welfare Committee member Debasish Chanda, chairperson of the accused child adoption centre Chandana Chakraborty, Chief Adoption Officer Sonali Mondal and Chakraborty's aide Manas Bhowmik besides Juhi Chowdhury. --IANS mgr/him/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday congratulated Ram Nath Kovind on being elected the President of India and reminded him that the President has been entrusted with the task of upholding the Constitution of India. "The President of India enjoys a unique position as defender and protector of the Constitution, upholder of democratic traditions and as supreme commander of the Indian armed forces," Sonia Gandhi said. "The President is the conscience keeper of the Constitution of India," she added. Rahul Gandhi said: "Congratulations Ram Nath Kovindji. Wishing you a great term as the President of India." Congratulating Kovind Congress MP Sushmita Dev said: "We hope that this battle will be remembered by the nation as a battle that stood for pluralism, inclusiveness, for upholding the principles of democracy." "This is the beginning of many diverse political parties with different political ideologies coming together to stand with the Constitution, to stand for the values and the principles that our Constitution stands for. "I hope that President-elect, who will take over in next few days, will truly act as the protector of the Constitution and will defend this nation and defend the people against any attack on democracy, fundamental rights and everything that our Constitution stands for," she added. Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said: "The Congress party looks forward to working with Kovind for upholding the principles of democracy and for continuously showing the mirror of truth to a government arrogating on account of numbers alone." On the question of cross-voting, he told the media: "I think if you examine the results more minutely, we are happy that the presidential candidate Meira Kumar holds close to 35% votes." "Opposition unity has stayed intact while a government which was drunk with numbers and a union minister who was also the agent of the winning candidate claimed that they will poll 70 per cent votes or more," he added. --IANS sid/nir/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sparks flew in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday during the discussion on and atrocities on Dalits, with the opposition trying to corner the government and a minister raking up the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and the 2002 Godhra incident. As the opposition accused the government of creating an atmosphere of fear in the country, the government in its reply said there was nothing anti-Muslim or anti-Dalit about the incidents, but should not be "eulogised". Speaking on the issue, senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "doublespeak" and giving "gau rakshaks" (cow vigilantes) a free hand. "It (mob violence) has nothing to do with cow vigilantes ... It has something to do with Narendra Modi. It is the Prime Minister who is creating the kind of environment in which this is happening," Sibal said in a bitter attack on the government. "It is better for the Prime Minister to come clean over this rather than indulge in doublespeak," he said, adding that those killing innocent people in the name of cows were not "real Hindus". He also quoted from old speeches of Modi where he spoke of "pink revolution" and called for stopping cow slaughter. "We need to ask ourselves as to why this is happening now. We have not seen such violence in the last 40-50 years. The cow represents 'ahimsa' (non-violence). When you kill in the name of a cow, you kill the cow, you kill ahimsa and you kill humanity," Sibal said. Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said that mob violence must be condemned but it should not be done "selectively". "When I condemn mob lynching, I do not suffer from selective amnesia like some of our opposition colleagues," Javadekar said as he mentioned the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and the killing of "karsevaks" in Godhra in Gujarat in 2002. "In 1984, Sikhs were lynched or burnt alive, at least 3,000 of them. In 2002, Ram 'bhakts' (devotees) returning from Ayodhya were lynched in Godhra. We condemn all such incidents," the HRD Minister said. He said there were 16 mob lynchings in 2012 and 14 in 2013. A visibly angry Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad hit back by saying that notwithstanding who was in power, the "parivaar" (a reference to the Sangh family or Hindutva groups) people were found involved in every communal riot in the country. "Where are the culprits involved in the lynchings in 2012 and 2013? Where are the culprits involved in anti-Sikh riots of 1984?... Very few of them are in jail, rest are roaming free," Javadekar said. Azad retorted: "Let me say that in all the communal riots that occurred in India, people from your 'parivaar' were found involved." He said it was the Congress that fought for the country's freedom and "not you people" before the opposition members walked out of the House. Minister of State for Home Affairs Hansraj Ahir said the Modi government was neither anti-Dalit nor anti-Muslim. In his reply to the discussion, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the government would show no sympathy to those lynching people in the name of cow protection. "Nobody has the right to take law in his hands. And if somebody does, he should be condemned, arrested and prosecuted. The government's stand is very clear -- nobody is allowed to do that," Jaitley said in the Rajya Sabha. "...there is no rationalisation, no argument about hurting of sentiments can be an explanation for the crime," he said, adding that the central government was absolutely committed on the issue and had already sent an advisory to the states. "The law will certainly take its course in these cases. No amount of sympathy will be shown to these people. The Prime Minister has spoken thrice on the issue," Jaitley said. On the atrocities on Dalits, Jaitley said oppression in the name of caste would not be tolerated and that stringent laws were in place to protect the Dalits. "The way we have historically treated one section of our brethren is a black spot in our history. We owe it to ourselves, if not to them, to reverse that process of history," the minister said. However, the senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader said, it was also not proper to "eulogise" cow slaughter in states where there was no prohibition on cow slaughter. BSP leader Satish Chandra Mishra said that his party was not satisfied with the minister's reply and staged a walkout. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday recommended a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the multi-crore Gomti Riverfront Project, one of the dream projects of his predecessor Akhilesh Yadav. A senior official from the state Home Department said that the file recommending a CBI probe into the matter had been sent the Ministry of Personnel and the hopefully, a probe would begin in the right earnest. The project was initially pegged at Rs 656 crore but its cost was revised to Rs 1,513 crore subsequently. At a review of the project, Adityanath had commented on how 90 per cent funds had been spent but work was still far from being completed. He had then rapped the Samajwadi Party government for the mess and said his government would not spare anybody who had plundered the state coffers and blown up people's hard-earned money on such a wasted and ill-executed project. He had also appointed retired Justice Alok Singh of the Allahabad High Court to probe the matter. Justice Singh submitted an exhaustive report to the government in June. Justice Singh found large scale irregularities and financial misappropriation in the project and also questioned the way of functioning of officials involved in the project. A committee was later formed by the Chief Minister, comprising Urban Development Minister Suresh Khanna, Chairman of the Revenue Board Praveer Kumar, Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) Anoop Chandra Pandey and then Principal Secretary (Law) Ranganath Pandey, to fix responsibility of the guilty. If the CBI begins probe into the matter, many senior leaders in the Akhilesh government, including then Irrigation Minister Shivpal Singh Yadav and two Chief Secretaries Alok Ranjan and Deepak Singhal, could find themselves in choppy waters, sources told IANS. --IANS md/ahm/nir (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Counting of the votes cast to decide who will be India's new President will begin on Thursday from 11 am. The result will decide the fate of the two contenders the ruling NDA's candidate Ram Nath Kovind, who has a clear edge, and the combined Opposition nominee Meira Kumar. Red West, best known for his role as Red alongside Patrick Swayze in "Road House", and a longtime friend and songwriting partner of Elvis Presley, has died. He was 81. West died on Tuesday at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis after suffering an aortic aneurysm, his wife, Pat, told The Commercial Appeal newspaper, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The Bolivar, Tennessee native befriended Presley in high school, and went on to appear in small roles in several of Presley's films in the 1960s. As a songwriter, he co-wrote "Separate Ways" for Elvis in 1972. The song was the title of an Elvis album released on RCA's budget album line, Camden, the following year. During the 1960s, West became good friends with actor Nick Adams and worked as a stuntman on Adams' television series, "The Rebel." He later concentrated on acting full-time with TV credits including "The Wild, Wild West", "Baa Baa Black Sheep", along with "Magnum P.I.", "The A-Team", "The Fall Guy", and most recently guest-starred on "Nashville", "Rectify" and "Memphis Beat." On the film side, his most memorable role was as Red Webster in 1989's "Road House" opposite Patrick Swayze. His other feature credits include "The Rainmaker" (1997), "Goodbye Solo" (2008), and most recently, 2013's "Safe Haven. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An assailant tried to stab Israeli soldiers south of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank today and was shot dead, the Israeli army said. "An assailant armed with a knife attempted to stab (Israeli) soldiers at a checkpoint in Tekoa. In response to the immediate threat, forces fired shots towards the assailant," a military statement said, with a spokeswoman confirming the suspect's death to AFP. No soldiers were reported wounded and no immediate details were available on the assailant's identity. The vast majority of such cases have involved Palestinian attackers. Last week, a Palestinian attempted to ram his car at soldiers manning the same checkpoint before exiting the vehicle armed with a knife and trying to stab the troops. He was shot dead. A wave of unrest that broke out in October 2015 has claimed the lives of at least 284 Palestinians or Arab Israelis, 44 Israelis, two Americans, two Jordanians, an Eritrean, a Sudanese and a Briton, according to an AFP toll. Israeli authorities say most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks. Others were shot dead in protests and clashes, while some were killed in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip. The violence has greatly subsided in recent months, though an attack near a sensitive Jerusalem holy site last week that killed two policemen has boosted tensions. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 38-year-old brain dead man's organs have saved four lives after his family decided to donate them, a hospital has said. The man had suffered injuries due to a fall while he was going about his daily routine. He was rushed to the Jupiter Hospital in Thane where he was declared brain dead at 7.30 PM on Tuesday, said a release issued yesterday by Mumbai's Fortis Hospital. Subsequently, the man's organs were retrieved. The deceased's heart was taken out of the Jupiter Hospital at 1.56 AM yesterday and reached the Fortis Hospital at Mulund in Mumbai at 2.05 AM, covering a distance of around 10 kms in about nine minutes, the release said. It was then transplanted into a 56-year-old man, who was recently diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy (a condition in which the heart's ability to pump blood is decreased) and was put on the wait list, it said. The deceased's liver and one kidney were transplanted in two patients in the Jupiter Hospital here while his other kidney was sent to a recipient in Bombay Hospital. His skin and corneas have been sent to the skin and eye banks, the release said. This was the 32nd cadaveric donation in Mumbai this year, it claimed. The donor's family has played an instrumental role and helped the lives of other people. It was a self-motivated approach and it is heartening to see more families come forward at such difficult times, said Dr Anvay Mulay, who led a team of surgeons who performed the heart transplant. "We encourage families to make informed decisions and spread the goodwill amongst others. We as a community must come together to highlight the cause which can save many more lives in the future," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has arrived in Japan for talks on security and trade. Japan's foreign ministry says Johnson will meet with his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida, on Friday to discuss an increased foreign and security cooperation. North Korea's missile threat and Brexit are likely to top the agenda. Britain's Foreign Office says Johnson will visit a robotics center at Tokyo's Waseda University, which collaborates with the University of Birmingham. He is also due to meet with Japanese business leaders for talks on enhanced trade and investment. Johnson, who was mayor of London during the 2012 Olympics, plans to share his expertise with Japanese Olympic Minister Tamayo Marukawa to help Tokyo prepare for the 2020 Games. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A British MP has tabled a motion in the House of Commons calling on the government to stand with India in its fight against terrorism and probe if there are any direct or indirect links to groups or individuals in the UK that may be involved in such cross-border atrocities. Bob Blackman, a Conservative Party MP who regularly speaks out in support of the rights of Kashmiri Hindus in Parliament,tabled theEarlyDayMotion(EDM) titled 'Condemning the attack on Amarnath pilgrims in Kashmir' last week and has attracted support from seven other MPs, including veteran Indian-origin Labour party MP Virendra Sharma. Blackman's latest EDM calls on the UK government to "stand with India" in its fight against terrorism. "That this House condemns the recent killings of innocent Hindu pilgrims in Anantnag, Jammu and Kashmir in India; recognises it as a gruesome attack on innocent pilgrims by Lashkar-e-Taiba, an internationally recognised terrorist group, led by Abu Ismail," it reads. It urges the government to condemn strongly the attack and stand with India in the fight against terrorism; calls on the Government to investigate if there are any direct or indirect links to organisations or individuals in the UK that may be involved in such cross-border atrocities in India. It further calls on the Government to reject all forms of terrorism and support to organisations and individuals propagating such ideology and to take strong action against such organisations and individuals in the UK to ensure peace in the UK as well as India. EDMs are formalmotionstabled in the House of Commons as a means of drawing attention to a particular issue or cause. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China intends to unilaterally change the status of the tri-junction with Bhutan, which poses a challenge to India's security, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said today. Responding to supplementaries during Question Hour, she informed the Rajya Sabha that there was a written agreement between India, China and Bhutan in 2012 that the three nations will together decide on the boundaries at the tri-junction point. The Minister said the boundaries between India and China are yet to be finalised and the two nations will do that bilaterally through discussions, while the same between China and Bhutan too will be done through bilateral talks. She also accused China of building roads using bulldozers and excavators, which has been protested by Bhutan in writing to China. The Minister also said that India was not "unreasonable" on the issue and all nations were with it. "India's position is not wrong on the tri-junction and all nations are with it. The law is with our country," she said. Swaraj said all countries are supporting us and they understand that the stand taken by India on the issue is not wrong. She said the matter can be resolved through talks and "We are willing to talk, but both sides have to first take back their armies." She said the moment India got to know that the OBOR (One border, one road), was part of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), India objected to the move immediately. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The West Bengal CID has freezed bank accounts of top Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) leaders, including its president Bimal Gurung, alleging that the funds were being "misused". The accounts of GJM general secretary Roshan Giri and assistant general secretary Binay Tamang were also freezed, a senior Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officer confirmed to PTI tonight. "Bank accounts of Gurung, Tamang and Roshan Giri have been freezed on July 17 after it was found that the funds were misused for illegal operations such as purchasing arms," the officer said. "All these three accounts were in a private bank in Darjeeling and belonged to the GJM leaders who were using the fund for all sort of illegal activities starting from purchasing arms and weapons. Hence, we decided to freeze the accounts," the officer said, adding around Rs 26 lakh was seized from the three accounts Asked how long the accounts would be freezed, the officer said, "It's still unclear. We have to look into the details of the transactions and a probe has been ongoing." When contacted, Giri said he had no clue that the account, used as the salary account for the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), has been freezed. "I have no clue that my account has been freezed. But my question is what could be the reason behind this. This account was used for my GTA salary account. I used this account to pay my house rent also," he told PTI. "I have all the I-T details and my papers are up to date. I think this is absolutely unnecessary," Giri added. Gurung and Tamang could not be contacted for their reactions. The hills is on he boil since June 8, when GJM supporters clashed with police when they tried to break the barricades following which police restored to lathicharge. The GJM supporters damaged police vehicles and set some of them ablaze as the state government held a Cabinet meeting at the Raj Bhawan. The Army had to be called out to stage flag marches in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong to restore peace. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Flash floods triggered by a cloudburst wreaked havoc in Thathri town of Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir this morning, inundating vast areas along the Batote-Kishtwar National Highway, washing away half a dozen houses and leaving several persons trapped. Six persons, including a 12-year-old boy, were rescued from under the debris. A search is on for the boy's parents. "Flash flood triggered by cloudburst hit Thathri town at 2.20 am resulting in a massive increase in the level of the 'nullah' flowing along the Jamai Masjid locality close to the town" a police officer said. Dy SP (headquarters) Doda, Iftkhar Ahmed, said the water level and silt suddenly rose in the drain after the cloudburst, washing away several structures along its path leading to the main market. The extent of damage could not be immediately ascertained. "We cannot assess the exact loss of life or property immediately as we are in the middle of rescue operations trying to save those still trapped under the debris. As of now, a 12-year-old boy has been rescued," Ahmed said. Several others were still under the debris and causalities could not be ruled out, he said. "The entire district administration along with the police and Army have started rescue operation on a war footing," the police official said. "We have rescued five members of a family and a 12-year- old boy, who was shifted to a hospital in Thathri. Three members of a family are still feared to be under the debris and we are trying to remove the debris to rescue them," said Pervaiz Ahmed, Tehsildar, Thathri. The Batote-Doda-Kishtwar National Highway (NH1B) was closed due to huge boulders at Thathri market triggered by the cloudburst. Water supply pipes and power supply remained snapped in the area. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congratulatory messages poured in for president-elect Ram Nath Kovind from chief ministers and governors with some extending their best wishes on twitter or by calling him up. From his home-state, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, congratulated Kovind, saying the rural people are feeling proud of him and the honour of 'dalits' has increased after a person from their section reached the top position. He said it was a matter of pride for Uttar Pradesh that he hails from the state. Recalling his experiences with Kovind as a fellow parliamentarian and later on as his counterpart in Bihar, UP Governor Ram Naik said he was the first person from the state to occupy the topmost constitutional post. In her congratulatory message to the president-elect, the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said Kovind's victory marked an important milestone in the political history of the country. Her Rajasthan counterpart Vasundhara Raje, described Kovind's victory as "historic" and hoped that his tenure would be an inspiration for all. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who broke the ranks with the opposition and pledged JD(U) support, called up Kovind and extended his greetings and wishes to him. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who had pledged his and his party BJD's support to Kovind, tweeted "Congratulate Shri Ramnath Kovind ji on being elected President of India. We look forward to work under his leadership at @RashtrapatiBhvn." While, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted "Congratulations to Ram Nath Kovind Ji, who will be our next President." The Assam Governor Banwarilal Purohit said Kovind has had an illustrious career and his experience as a member of Rajya Sabha would help him to carry forward the rich legacy of the Rashtrapati Bhavan Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal in a telephonic conversation congratulated Kovind and termed the election as "good news" for the people of Assam. Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao hoped that Kovind would be successful in continuing the federal spirit of the country's democracy. His Andhra Pradesh counterpart N Chandrababu Naidu said "I am very happy that the candidate I proposed has been elected the President. Hailing from a lower class, Kovind rose to the highest post of the country. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami congratulated Kovind for his "resounding victory." The Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh said the Kovind has a vast political and administrative experience. "His election to the coveted office is the realisation of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay's political vision that people from poor family backgrounds in top constitutional offices was a sign of a mature democracy," he said. Uttarakhand Governor K K Paul described his a veteran with a deep knowledge of the law and the Constitution. In Haryana, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar termed Kovind a symbol of the aspirations of the poor and the under- privilege. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh said Kovind is a leader connected with common people while his Jharkhand counterpart Raghubar Das extended his best wishes. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Reversing the Trump administration's move to slash aid to Tibetans to zero, a key congressional committee has approved a bill to maintain the decades-old American policy of providing financial assistance for Tibet and support "democracy and human rights programmes". The administration, in its maiden budget proposal in May, had cut the US aid to Tibet to zero, resulting in a huge disappointment to the large Tibetan community around the world. Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi had then expressed concern over the move. The US State Department, however, had described the decision as one of the "tough choices" it had to make as its budget itself had been slashed by more than 28 per cent. But in a report accompanying the State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill 2018, the House Appropriations Committee said it "continues to support democracy and human rights programmes for Tibet" and that "not less than the amounts provided in fiscal year 2017" be continued for such purposes. The appropriations will be effective for the next fiscal beginning October 1. The committee's recommendation includes USD 1 million for the Office of the Special Coordinator for Tibetan issues. Noting that the Tibetan language services of 'Voice of America' and 'Radio Free Asia' (RFA) provide the only sources of independent information accessible to the people of Tibet, the committee recommendation provides USD 42 million for RFA, including funds to continue the Tibetan language service. It also recommended USD 8 million - same as the 2017 fiscal year - to support activities that preserve cultural traditions and promote sustainable development and environmental conservation among Tibetan communities in the Tibetan Autonomous Region and other Tibetan autonomous areas in China. Noting that Tibetans in South Asia face developmental challenges, it has proposed USD 6 million to continue to support the community in India and Nepal in the areas of education, skills development and entrepreneurship. The House Appropriations Committee in its report supported the continued allocation of funds to assist Tibetan refugees in Nepal and India - commensurate with prior years. The committee expressed concerns over the reports that Nepal has handed over Tibetan refugees to Chinese border authorities, in contravention of Kathmandu's international obligations to protect refugees fleeing persecution. "The committee supports efforts by the Secretary of State to work with the Government of Nepal to provide safe transit for Tibetan refugees and legal protections to Tibetans residing in Nepal," the report said. An 'Economic Support Fund' will be made available for programmes to preserve Tibetan culture, development, and the resilience of Tibetan communities in India and Nepal, and to assist in the education and development of the next generation of Tibetan leaders from such communities, according to the bill. According to a CRS report, the total financial assistance to the Tibetan cause was more than USD 24 million in 2014. Since 2014, there has been a gradual decline in Tibetan funding. The House Appropriations Committee, however, proposes to reverse that trend. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At least six MLAs of the Congress and NCP in the Maharashtra Assembly seem to have voted for the victorious NDA nominee Ram Nath Kovind in the presidential poll. Kovind got the votes of 208 MLAs -- 23 more than the collective tally of MLAs of the BJP and the Shiv Sena. Opposition nominee Meira Kumar bagged votes from 77 MLAs, which is six less than the total strength of the two parties in the House. In the 288-member House, the BJP has 122 members, followed by the Sena with 63, Congress with 42, NCP (41), Peasants and Workers Party of India (PWP-I) (3), Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA) (3), MIM (2), MNS, Samajwadi Party, BBM, CPI-M and RSP with one each and seven independents. Of the total MLAs, Maharashtra Bahujan Vikas Aghadi's Kshitij Patil didn't vote in the presidential poll on July 17 as he was abroad, while votes from two were MLAs invalid, leaving votes from 285 lawmakers valid. Meanwhile, the Peasant's and Workers' party (PWP) leader Jayant Patil claimed that more than six MLAs of the Congress voted for Kovind. "None of my party colleagues voted for Kovind. Same is the case with a CPI (M) member. This means that at least 10 Congress voters have crossed the party line," he claimed. Incidentally, Ravi Rana, an independent MLA from Amravati in east Maharashtra, had ahead of the presidential election claimed that a group of 15 MLAs from independent and small parties would vote for the BJP candidate. He had also claimed at least six MLAs from the Congress and seven from the NCP were in touch with him and they would cross party lines to support Kovind. Meanwhile, the cross-voting has triggered a blame game between the Congress and the NCP. Of the two jailed NCP MLAs -- Chhagan Bhujbal and Ramesh Kadam -- who were allowed to vote by court, Kadam had publicly announced that he had voted for Kovind. NCP state unit president Sunil Tatkare today said 40 out of all 41 MLAs of the party had voted for Kumar. "It is the Congress whose members have voted against their party candidate. Sharad Pawar ji had announced the name of Meira Kumar, how can we then go against the party line?" he questioned. Tatkare's Congress counterpart Ashok Chavan, however, said since there was no whip for the presidential poll, there is a possibility of a vote split. "We will find out who cross-voted though the voting was confidential," he said, adding "it is not possible to say at this stage whether action will be taken against members who had voted against the party candidate." Sena MP Sanjay Raut said it would be "deceptive" to think that the votes to the candidates represent the party position in the house as there is no whip in the election. "Sena was always of the view that the presidential election should have been unopposed. That means we would have been happier if all the 288 MLAs would have voted for Kovind," he said. Interestingly, senior Congress leader Narayan Rane has congratulated Kovind for his victory. "Congratulations to Ram Nath Kovind for getting elected to the country's highest post," he tweeted. Speculation is rife that the entry of Rane -- a former Shiv Sainik sulking in the Congress -- in the BJP is imminent. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The DDA has signed an MoU with the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) for preparation of Master Plan for Delhi 2041, the urban body today said. The DDA informed this to Lt Governor Anil Baijal in an Authority meeting at the Raj Niaws here. The L-G is also the chairman of the Delhi Development Authority. "The DDA has signed an MoU with the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) for preparation of Master Plan for Delhi (MPD) 2041, as an enabling strategic plan and other related policies or plans which would be the guiding framework of the planning and growth of Delhi till 2041," the DDA said. In a statement, it said, NIUA's approach for the project comprises four phases which though distinct from one and the other would "neither be exclusive nor sequential". "It would involve building a base line quantitative understanding of Delhi at local and regional levels with quantitative understanding gathered from historical data, primary data collection and data from the DDA and other city agencies. "This data would be overlaid on a GIS platform to understand linkages across various developmental themes in the city," the urban body said. This quantitative understanding will be complemented by a qualitative understanding of issues through stakeholder consultations with government agencies, academia, sector experts, community groups and civil society organisations. "The enabling phase of the project will look at the roll-out strategy for neighbourhood redevelopment through development control regulations, land use, land pooling, land titling, local area planning and governance and coordination required to enable implementation of the plan," the DDA said. The NIUA would engage national and international experts for developing MPD 2041, it said. During the Authority meeting, it was also decided that for optimum utilisation of vacant DDA lands allotted to various government agencies in public and semi-public (PSP) use zones for establishment of 'State Guest Houses' suitable provisioning has been done in chapter 17 of the development code. "This amendment will also allow 15 per cent of the permissible FAR (floor area ratio) under State Guest Houses to be utilised for staff quarters. Community Halls/barat ghars would also be permitted in Industrial (M) use zones as of part of redevelopment of industrial areas," the DDA said. Among other decisions approved by the Authority today, to facilitate 'ease of doing business' for single-brand retail sector, the maximum ground coverage for commercial centres as per the development controls of Master Plan of Delhi 2021, has been uniformly increased to 50 per cent. In the meeting, it was also decided to change land use for the area under relocated tyre market at Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar. These three proposals now await the issue of final notifications by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, the DDA said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India today made a renewed pitch for a "peaceful resolution" of the Dokalam standoff through diplomatic channels, stressing that "differences" should not become "disputes". Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Gopal Baglay told reporters here that New Delhi has been in "close contact" with the Bhutan government on the unfolding developments. "India's approach is to have a peaceful resolution of issues on border with China," he said underlining the understanding at the Astana meeting that differences between India and China should not be allowed to become disputes. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had met Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit in June in Kazakh capital Astana. "So, it is obvious that every responsible power, person and player in the world prefers peaceful resolution of matters," Baglay said. Asked whether India has briefed other countries on the issue, Baglay said it would not be appropriate for him to comment on diplomatic interactions on sensitive matters. Baglay also confirmed that National Security Advisor Ajit Doval will travel to Beijing on the 27th to attend a meeting of the BRICS multilateral grouping. Chinese and Indian soldiers have been locked in a face- off in Dokalam area of the Sikkim sector for over a month after Indian troops stopped the Chinese army from building a road in the disputed area. New Delhi has expressed concern over the road building, apprehending that it may allow Chinese troops to cut India's access to its northeastern states. China's state-run media has stepped up rhetoric against India in recent weeks. China claimed that it was constructing the road within its territory, and has been demanding immediate pull-out of the Indian troops from the Dokalam plateau. Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Dokalam, while China claims it as part of its Donglang region. Of the 3,488-km-long India-China border from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh, a 220-km section falls in Sikkim. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Fire broke out on the third floor of a multi-storied building which houses mostly offices in the southern part of the city's Pretoria Street this afternoon, police said. No casualty was reported. Ten fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the fire which broke out at 12, Pretoria Street building next to a school at around 12.50 pm, a senior officer of the Fire Department said. Besides fire fighters, a couple of teams from Kolkata Police Disaster Management unit rushed to the rescue of inmates of the building, mostly office workers, breaking glass panes to release smoke from inside, he said. State Fire Minister and city Mayor Sovan Chatterjee, who also reached the spot, said that the building was evacuated and nobody was injured in the mishap. "Our fire department officials worked quite efficiently and brought out everybody from the building. The cause of the fire is yet not known. Everything is under control now," Chatterjee said adding that there will be an investigation into the incident. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Army's director general of military operations Lt Gen A K Bhatt on Thursday strongly took up with his Pakistani counterpart the issue of Pakistani troops "deliberately targeting" civilians and firing at school children along the Line of Control in . During a telephonic conversation, Bhatt asked Pakistani DGMO Maj Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza to exercise "strict control" over his troops and instruct them to refrain from any "nefarious activities", an Army spokesperson said. The Pakistani DGMO was informed about Pakistani troops deliberately targeting civilian villages and also firing at school children in Nowshera sector of Rajouri district when they were being evacuated from the area on Tuesday. "This, he (Mirza) was told, does not behove any army. The Indian Army as professional force takes due care to avoid targeting of civilians and Pakistan Army was expected to do the same," Army spokesman Col. Aman Anand said. Col Anand said the Pakistani DGMO was informed about the spate of ceasefire violations which also included "calibre escalation coupled with incidents of sniping and attempted infiltration". The two DGMOs had spoken on Monday as well, during which Bhatt told Mirza that the Indian Army reserves the right to retaliate appropriately against any incident of ceasefire violation along the LoC in . Anand said the Indian Army has been taking all necessary steps to ensure the safety of life and property of Indian citizens. The telephonic call over the hotline was initiated by Lt. Gen. Bhatt to protest Pakistani troops' firing at school children. A 30-year-old woman from a village in Gujarat has sought the help External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to bring back the body of her husband, who she claimed has died at a jail in Pakistan. Jivuben Chauhan, a resident of Paldi village in Una tehsil of Gir Somnath district, wrote a letter in this connection to Swaraj on Tuesday. The woman said in her letter that her husband Kana Laxman Chauhan (37) and the latter's brother-in-law Kana Govind, both fishermen, were arrested near the port of Jakhau in Kutch district some months back by the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency for allegedly violating the country's water territorial boundary in the Arabian Sea. The woman, who has three daughters and two sons, told PTI yesterday that she recently received a letter from Govind in which he wrote that her husband suddenly died in the Pakistani prison on July 5. She said her husband and Govind were lodged in the same jail in Pakistan. The woman said Govind sent his letter through another fisherman from Gir Somnath district who was also earlier arrested by Pakistani authorities but released on July 9. The released fisherman visited her house on July 12 and handed her Govind's letter informing about her husband's demise, the woman said. After getting the information, Chauhan wrote to Swaraj, saying she has till date not received any communication from the External Affairs Ministry or the Indian High Commission's office in Islamabad about her husband's death. "Due to this reason, I seek your help for doing the needful in the matter," Chauhan said in her letter to Swaraj. "I along with my five children and my mother-in-law have been living in a rented premises in the village. I have been working as a labourer at a site to earn our livelihood since the arrest of my husband several months ago," she said. In the letter, the woman also requested Swaraj for a probe into the sudden death of her husband in the jail, as she claimed that he had never written to her about suffering from any disease while being lodged there. Rajya Sabha MP Parimal Nathwani, who belongs to Dwarka in Gir Somnath district, said has written to the external affairs minister to take up with her Pakistani counterpart the issue of expediting the process of bringing home the body of the fisherman so as to enable the deceased's family to perform his last rites. Gujarat Fishermen Association's senior vice president Veljibhai Masani said he has also written a letter to Swaraj to help in bringing back the fisherman's body. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Haryana minister Sampat Singh has filed a police complaint against the state Assembly speaker for allegedly allowing disbursal of honorarium of around Rs 16 lakh to some of the House employees in demonetised currency notes, three days after the note ban. However, a senior Assembly official today tried to explain that there was no illegality involved, nor was there any such intention. Sampat Singh, who had also served as the state's Finance Minister, has lodged a complaint at Sector-3 police station here on Tuesday seeking a case against the speaker Kanwar Pal Singh Gurjar, and the Assembly's three officers. Singh has alleged that it was illegal for anyone to pay in demonetised currency notes once they were scrapped by the government. He has alleged that an offence has been committed by knowingly and deliberately violating the instructions of demonetisation and circulating the banned currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 even after demonetisation was announced. Subhash Sharma, secretary to the Speaker, said that a state-level function was organised in Panchkula in first week of November last year, as part of golden jubilee celebrations of the Assembly and all MLAs including some former ministers were invited. "As per the scheduled programme, former MLAs were to be given Rs 11,000 each for travel to Panchkula and stay in the town. A sum of Rs 33.22 lakh was drawn from the state exchequer for the purpose. "While over Rs 16 lakh was given to former MLAs, an amount of Rs 16.72 lakh remained unspent because some MLAs did not turn up for the event, while others refused to accept the money. "There was no way the assembly could have deposited the unspent amount in its account and it would have gone back to the government's revenue head. Even if the unspent amount was deposited with the state exchequer, the expenditure from the Vidhan Sabha account would have been deemed to be Rs 33.22 lakh and not just over Rs 16 lakh," he said. "When we gave budget details, there was no way we could have adjusted the unspent amount. Moreover, the ex MLAs and others later willingly accepted to deposit this amount into their bank accounts as there was a window of few weeks available from the government side to do so. "There was no illegality involved nor was there any intention to do so," he said. When asked if had they sought any legal opinion before disbursing the amount, Sharma said it was "verbally sought from concerned quarters". A police official at Sector-3 here said the complaint was being examined. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Following are the top stories from the Eastern Region at 1745 hours. CAL1 WB-GJM-SITUATION Darjeeling: Gorkha Janmukti Morcha activists and other hill parties hold a demonstration outside the district magistrate's office here demanding restoration of Internet services in the hills. CAL2 TR-IPFT AGITATION WITHDRAWN Agartala: The Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) today withdraws its 11-day old blockade of railway lines and NH 8 to press for the creation of a separate tribal state following an ultimatum by the administration. LGC1 WB-HC-DARJEELING Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court today comes down heavily on the CBI for not ensuring presence of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung and 21 other accused in a city court in the Madan Tamang murder case. LGC2 AS-HC-LIEZIETSU Guwahati: The Gauhati High Court today dismisses the petition of former Nagaland Chief Minister Shurhozelie Liezietsu, seeking sufficient time to prove his majority in the state assembly. LGC3 OD-HC-QUOTA Cuttack: The Orissa High Court today asks the state government to restrict the quantum of reservation for SC, ST and OBC or Special Categories in employment and education to 50 per cent. CES4 OD-BONDED LABOUR Bhubaneswar: Odisha government will identify bonded labourers in the state and has decided to spend Rs 4.5 lakh in each of its 30 districts. CES5 WB-LD-FIRE Kolkata: A fire broke out in a multi-storied building which houses mostly offices on Pretoria Street in the southern part of the city. ERG2 WB-FISHERMEN Canning (WB): Fifteen fishermen of a fishing trawler, which had developed mechanical fault in the highseas seas off the coast of Jambudweep in South 24 Parganas district, have been rescued. ERG5 BH-MISHAP Sasaram (Bihar): Three persons have been killed and another injured when a tanker collided with a pick up van in Shivsagar police station area of Rohtas district early today. ERG6 MZ-PROTEST Aizawl: Police today resort to cane charge and lobbed teargas shells to disperse agitating students near the higher and technical education department's technical wing office in Aizawl. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Following are top stories at 1715 hours today: DEL35 2NDLD PREZ New Delhi: Ram Nath Kovind, the NDA candidate, elected as India's 14th president receiving an overwhelming majority of votes from the country's lawmakers. DEL34 DL-MEA-DOKALAM New Delhi: India makes a renewed pitch for a "peaceful resolution" of the Dokalam standoff through diplomatic channels, stressing that "differences" should not become "disputes". DEL37 PREZ-MEIRA-BJP New Delhi: The BJP taks a swipe at the opposition's presidential candidate Meira Kumar's claim of fighting an ideological contest, saying she represented the dynasty culture of the Congress while its candidate Ram Nath Kovind showed its commitment to the marginalised groups. DEL45 PREZ-KOVIND-SHAH New Delhi: BJP chief Amit Shah hails as "historic" the election of NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind as the next president and says it is a "victory for the poor, downtrodden and marginalised and their aspirations". LGD5 HR-COURT-AJL Chandigarh: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) tells the Punjab and Haryana High Court that former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda allegedly misused his official position and illegally re-allotted a plot in 2005 to the Associated Journals Limited (AJL) in Panchkula. DEL9 JK-LD CLOUDBURST Bhadarwah/Jammu: Six persons killed and 11 injured after flash floods triggered by a cloudburst wreak havoc in Thathri town of Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir, inundating vast areas along the Batote-Kishtwar National Highway and washing away half a dozen houses. DEL12 HP-LD ACCIDENT Shimla: Twenty-eight passengers killed and eight other injured when a bus plunges into a 500-feet deep gorge at Khaneri in Rampur on the Hindustan-Tibet National Highway, about 140 km from here. DEL27 AVI-LSQ-AIRINDIA New Delhi: The government says it will take into consideration suggestions and views received from time to time before deciding on the contours of Air India disinvestment. CAL1 WB-GJM-SITUATION Darjeeling (WB): Gorkha Janmukti Morcha activists and other hill parties hold a demonstration outside the district magistrate's office here demanding restoration of Internet services in the hills. CAL2 TR-IPFT AGITATION WITHDRAWN Agartala: The Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) withdraws its 11-day old blockade of railway lines and NH 8 to press for the creation of a separate tribal state following an ultimatum by the administration. FGN19 CHINA-INDIA-SIKKIM Beijing: China says that diplomatic channels with India remains "unimpeded" to discuss the military standoff in Sikkim sector but reiterates that the withdrawal of the Indian troops from Doklam area is a "precondition" for any meaningful dialogue. By K J M Varma FGN23 PAK-SHARIF-PANAMA Islamabad: The children of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif can face up to seven years in jail if it was proved that they had submitted fake documents to the Panama panel probing the money laundering allegations against the family, the Supreme Court warns. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Commander-in-Chief of Britain's defence services Sir Stuart Peach today held extensive talks with Army Chief Gen. Bipin Rawat on boosting defence and security cooperation between the two countries. Gen. Rawat and Sir Peach deliberated on regional security situation and explored ways to deepen bilateral defence cooperation, an Army official said. Vice Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal S B Deo also called on Sir Peach and deliberated on enhancing cooperation between the air forces of the two countries. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Haryana government has issued directions to the midwives in the state to stay away from the practice of delivery at home, failing which stern action would be taken against them. During an investigation by the state health department in Dabwali Block of Sirsa district recently, a case surfaced where normal deliveries were being conducted in Punjab. But the registration of birth was being done in Haryana, said Amneet P Kumar, Mission Director- National Health Mission (NHM). "This continues unabated in the areas adjacent to neighbouring Punjab, in connivance with some midwives, who after conducting the deliveries in Punjab, send the women to the offices of Municipal Council in Haryana for registration. "The concerned Municipal Council has been asked to take stern action against these midwives," she added. Though various facilities like medicine, laboratory testing, ultrasound, blood and transportation are being provided to the pregnant women free of cost in government hospitals in the state, the practice still continues, she further added. Kumar said the state government has set a target to reduce the Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) in the state to less than 70 by the year 2030 as per the sustainable development goals of World Health Organization (WHO). The state government is committed to reduce both the Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) and Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), Kumar said. She said that efforts are being made to promote safe institutional delivery in the state. 'Zero Home Delivery Campaign' has been launched jointly by the health department and National Health Mission (NHM), Haryana to apprise the people about various facilities being given for institutional delivery and also about its benefit. Under the campaign, a series of meetings were held with health officers, employees, and religious preachers in the districts where the number of home-deliveries are quite high. They have been urged to make efforts to bring home deliveries to zero, she said. Apart from this, accredited social health activists, Lady Health Visitor (LHV) and Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) have been asked to make the people aware in their respective areas about various facilities being given by the government for institutional delivery, she stated in an official release. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The first settlers arrived in Australia at least 65,000 years ago, drastically altering the known history of the trek out of Africa by modern humans, a study has found. The world-first finding, which follows years of archaeological digging in an ancient camp-site beneath a sandstone rock shelter within the Jabiluka mining lease in Kakadu, Northern Territory, also found that the settlers were sophisticated tool-makers of their time. Aboriginal people have lived in Australia for a minimum of 65,000 years, a team of archaeologists has established, 18,000 years longer than had been proved previously and at least 5,000 years longer than had been speculated by the most optimistic researchers, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. The findings, which are already causing intense interest in archaeological circles across the world, have been peer reviewed by internationally recognised scientists and are published this week in the world's most prestigious science journal, Nature. Among the trove of discoveries are the world's oldest stone axes with polished and sharpened edges, proving that the earliest Australians were among the most sophisticated tool- makers of their time: no other culture had such axes for another 20,000 years. "The axes were perfectly preserved, tucked up against the back wall of the shelter as we dug further and further," leader of the international team of archaeologists, associate professor Chris Clarkson of the University of Queensland told Fairfax Media. "There was one on the surface, another further down that we dated at 10,000 years. Then there were quite a few further down still which were able to date at 35,000 to 40,000 years, and finally one at 65,000 years, surrounded by a whole bunch of stone flakes," Clarkson said. The team had also found the oldest known seed-grinding tools in Australia, a large buried midden of sea shells and animal bones, and evidence of finely made stone spear tips. Professor Clarkson said one of the most striking finds was the huge quantity of ground ochre, right from the oldest layers. This suggested the first humans to populate Australia were already enthusiastic artists, and had continued to be so through their continuing culture in an area known for its spectacular rock art. One major significance of the discovery is that archaeologists will have to recalibrate previous assumptions about the journey out of Africa by modern humans. Most academics believe the trek began between 80,000 and 100,000 years ago, but until now there was no solid evidence that humans had reached south-east Asia, let alone Australia, for anything beyond 50,000 years. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has begun the process of relocating its regional centres to ease connectivity issues faced by students and learning centres. "IGNOU is ravamping and relocating its regional centres logically and logistically across the country to reduce connectivity issues," the varsity's Vice Chancellor C Ravindra Kumar told PTI. The varsity will be moving on from its traditional approach of having a regional centre in each state to strategically relocating its existing 56 regional centres. "Nine regional centres in northeast region would be untouched. However, centres in southern and northern parts of the country will be relocated to a strategic place," V V Reddy, IGNOU's regional services division director, said. As part of the overhaul, setting up of a new regional centre in Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh is also in the pipeline with the state government giving its nod. The varsity gets around 9 percent of its total applicants every year from the northeastern states, whereas enrolments from the entire south India including Port Blair in Andaman and Nicobar Islands is the same at 9-10 percent. "We thought rationalisation of regional centres would help more aspirants opt IGNOU," Reddy said. The varsity receives 40 percent of its enrolments from northern India and 10 to 11 percent from western region (Maharashtra). A committee, headed by professor Kapil Kumar, has been overseeing the process and the VC will be setting up another committee to analyse its feasibility. "The entire process of rationalisation will be completed in a year's time," Kumar said. Presently, IGNOU has a total of 56 regional centres across the country and over 3,000 learning centres. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) People walk out after the US Supreme Court granted parts of the Trump administration's emergency request to put his travel ban into effect immediately while the legal battle continues, in Washington, US, June 26, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] WASHINGTON The US Supreme Court rejected on Wednesday a bid by President Donald Trump to include grandparents and other relatives of Americans in his travel ban on people from six Muslim-majority countries. But in a partial win for Trump, the court gave the government more leeway to enforce a separate ban on refugees that was included in a March 6 executive order the president said was necessary for national security. A federal judge had ruled against the government on the scope of both bans last Thursday, prompting the administration to seek Supreme Court intervention. The high court's mixed decision means that, for now, grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, and siblings-in-law are not covered by the 90-day travel ban on people from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen who want to enter the United States. The court's action on refugees could block entry of up to 24,000 refugees who have a connection to a US resettlement agency, according to court papers. The Trump administration has said that even if all 24,000 were able to travel, not all of them would have been able to do so during the 120 days the refugee ban is in effect. The brief order said the court's decision is temporary while the San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals considers a separate appeal on the same issue. Three of the conservatives on the court of nine justices noted that they would have granted Trump's request in full. In a statement, the US Department of Justice said it "looks forward to presenting its arguments" to the 9th Circuit. Hawaii Attorney General Douglas Chin, who challenged the bans in court, said in a statement that his office also is preparing arguments for the appeals court on the refugee issue. Chin said the Supreme Court had validated Hawaii's position "that the Trump administration over-reached in trying to unilaterally keep families apart from each other." India has voiced concern over the international community's "less than satisfactory" response to terrorist threats posed by outfits such as Boko Haram and Al Shabaab in the African region, cautioning that the price of this indifference is "immeasurable". "The ever expanding terror networks have endangered the peace and security of African region in unprecedented ways. From Boko Haram to Al Shabaab, these terrorist networks have proved time and again ever more connected to terrorist networks from all around the world," India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin said here. Addressing a Security Council debate on peace and security in Africa yesterday, Akbaruddin said these terror networks pose a threat to the broader international community in many ways. "Our response to these terrorist threats remains less than satisfactory. The price of this indifference is immeasurable. It is time for a strong, effective and coherent response that reflects the international community's collective commitment to defeat the scourge of terrorism," he said. He noted that while in the African Union, the UN has a willing partner, the question that the Council needs to answer is whether it is ready to do what is required to make a difference where it matters most. On peacekeeping in the region, Akbaruddin said that despite large peacekeeping deployments in Africa, their record of success has been a mixed one, reflecting the complexities of geo-politics, political will and the capacities and resources supporting the peacekeeping efforts. "There is a need to analyse various missions and draw important lessons from them," he said. India has participated in most peacekeeping operations on the African continent, he said voicing the country's commitment towards any future peacekeeping operations within its limited capabilities and capacities. He noted that the 125 all women police contingent from India in Liberia was the first such deployment in a UN peacekeeping mission. "The presence of a female police unit has inspired several women to come forward to join the police force and participate in maintaining law and order. We need to make such role models as essential ingredients of every UN peace keeping operation with police deployments," Akbaruddin said. Further, he stressed that the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Agenda 2063 by the African Union is an acceptance of fact that the key factors to achieve sustaining peace are cross-cutting and inter-linked in nature. He however added that there is no agreement on increasing the funding for the Peace Building Commission to even a one per cent level of that for peacekeeping operations annually. As a member of the Peace Building Commission since its inception, India has so far contributed USD 5.5 million to the Peacebuilding Fund. At the Third India-Africa Forum Summit, India within the limits of its capacities and capabilities extended concessional credit worth USD 10 billion and doubled scholarships for African students to 50,000 over a 5-year period. "India's partnership with Africa is based on a model of cooperation which is responsive to the needs of African countries. It is demand-driven, free of conditions and provided in a non-prescriptive manner," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A landmark civil nuclear cooperation deal between India and Japan that provides for collaboration between their industries in the field came into force today, eight months after it was sealed. Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar and Japanese Ambassador Kenji Hiramatsu exchanged diplomatic notes, marking operationalisation of the pact, the External Affairs Ministry said. The civil nuclear cooperation agreement was signed last November during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Tokyo after years of negotiations. "This agreement is a reflection of the strategic partnership between India and Japan and will pave the way for enhanced cooperation in energy security and clean energy. "The agreement seeks to promote full cooperation between the two countries in the development and uses of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes on a stable, reliable and predictable basis," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay told reporters. The deal allows Japan to export nuclear technology to India, making it the first non-NPT signatory to have such a deal with Tokyo. There was political resistance in Japan - the only country to suffer atomic bombings during World War II - against a nuclear deal with India, particularly after the disaster at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in 2011. Japan is a major player in the nuclear energy market and an atomic deal with it will make it easier for US-based nuclear plant makers Westinghouse Electric Corporation and GE Energy Inc to set up atomic plants in India as both these conglomerates have Japanese investments. Other nations who have signed civil nuclear deal with India include the US, Russia, South Korea, Mangolia, France, Namibia, Argentina, Canada, Kazakhstan and Australia. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An Indian-origin Singaporean was today jailed for 18 years for killing the mother of his former employer when she tried to stop him from robbing her, a media report said. P Mageswaran visited a family friend on December 9, 2013, hoping she would lend him money. When she refused, Mageswaran ransacked her apartment and found a box of jewellery worth about SGD 10,000 in the closet. Before he could make off with the loot, 62-year-old Kanne Lactmy caught him and threatened to call her son. Mageswaran pushed Lactmy, snatched a pillow off the bed and smothered her. He also strangled her. Ten minutes later, she died, Channel Asia reported. Mageswaran was convicted of culpable homicide in May, and sentenced to 18 years' jail today. Prosecutors called for a life sentence, pointing to the unemployed man's criminal past. Mageswaran had committed a series of robberies in 2007, for which he was sentenced to six years' jail and given 24 strokes of the cane. "I agree with the prosecution that (his criminal record) is of concern," Judicial Commissioner Hoo Sheau Peng said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President Donald Trump today said the ISIS is failing fast, asserting that the US-led international coalition is doing very well against the terrorist outfit. "We're doing very well against ISIS. ISIS is falling fast. Very fast," Trump said as he arrived at the Pentagon for a military strategy meeting with his commanders. When asked whether he would be sending troops to Afghanistan, Trump said, "we will see." The Trump administration is doing a comprehensive review of its Afghan policy. Top American generals and national security officials have said in recent days that they are looking for a regional approach to the Afghan problem. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Jammu and Kashmir government has "violated the state budget manual" as it failed to surrender around Rs 10,520 crore as budgetary savings, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India said in its report. "At the close of the year 2015-16, there were 22 grants andfive appropriations (state budget) in which savings (Rs 10,520.33crore) occurred. However, during the anticipation of savings, nosurrender was made by the concerned government departments," CAGreport for the year ending March 31, 2016, said. The report was tabled in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly recently during its special session on GST. "Saving in these cases was of the order of Rs 10,520.33 crorein 46 cases (involving 27 budget grants and three appropriations),where savings involved were Rs 1 crore and above." "The non-surrender of the funds deprived the government of theopportunity to transfer these funds to other needy sectors," it said. As per the state budget manual, the spending departments arerequired to surrender grants, appropriations or saving portionto the finance department as and when the savings are anticipated. The outcome of the appropriation audit shows that in 44 cases, savings exceeded Rs 1 crore in each case or by more than 20 per cent of the total provision, he said. Of these, excess expenditure by more than 10 per cent has been observed consistently for the last five years in respect of oneappropriation, it added. The CAG report said that the finance department has failed to surrender Rs 2,189 crore, Rs 2,691.80 crore by planning and development department, Rs 1,347 crore by revenue department, Rs 707.60 crore by PDD, Rs 506.59 crore by public works department, Rs 496.95 crore by health and medical education department, Rs 496.69 crore by rural development department. According to Jammu and Kashmir Financial Code, rush of expenditure in the closing month of the financial year should beavoided and strictly monitored, it said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The delivery of Kamov military helicopters to India will begin within two years of the signing of a contract, according to a top Russian official, who indicated that the number of choppers to be supplied could be increased to more than 200 in the future. Sergei Chemezov, the CEO of Rostec State Corporation, said that after the establishment of the joint venture (JV) in May for the production of Kamov military helicopters, Russia expects an official request from the Indian defence ministry. A contract will then be signed for the delivery of the choppers. "After the contract is signed, within two years, the first deliveries of helicopters will be made. The agreement for that is signed and is being exercised," he told reporters on the sidelines of Russia's premier airshow MAKS 2017. Talking about the 2015 USD 1 billion deal for the supply of the KA-226T helicopters, Chemezov said: "We have to supply a certain amount, most will be localised, in total, in the amount of 200 helicopters. But in the future this can be increased." Chemezov said that under the deal the minimum project volume was for "the procurement of 40 helicopters from Russia and production of 160 helicopters in India with different localisation degrees." Earlier reports said that 60 Kamov-226T helicopters will be supplied to India in fly-away condition, while 140 will be manufactured in India. Chemezov said Russia expects the target location to implement the project will be in Bengaluru on the production capacities of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) that are currently used in the assembly project of Su-30 MKI. The necessary conditions are available there including human resources for successful implementation of the project, he said. The Rostec chief also said that within the joint project, "it is possible to engage other companies, including private ones, depending on the Indian party". "They have to evaluate and affirm the readiness and reliability of private companies for most of which it is a new business domain," Chemezov said. "Rostec sees no problems in collaborating with private companies, but we understand that engagement of other partners in the project could make the project implementation more difficult or increase the implementation deadlines. But we are ready for this," he said. Talking about the project, Rosoboronexport CEO Aleksandr Mikheev told reporters at a separate briefing that it was a cooperation under the 'Make in India' initiative. "We are now coordinating the appearance of these helicopters in order to offer them to the Indian Ministry of Defence in the near future," Mikheev said. While talking about Russia's cooperation with Latin American countries, he made a reference to the Kamov choppers, saying that they were the only coaxial helicopters in the world without a real anti-torque rotor. "Maybe, in the future we will sell it via our joint venture in India too," Mikheev said. Chemezov said that Rostec's strategy is to further expand cooperation with Indian manufacturers in compliance with the 'Make in India' policy. At the Indo-Russia summit in Moscow in December 2015, an inter-governmental agreement was signed for implementation of the project for production of Ka-226T helicopters in India. In October 2016 at the Indo-Russia summit in Goa, the two sides signed the Partner Agreement and ratified the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the new JV, and this was announced at the BRICS summit. HAL has 51 per cent shares and Rostec (Russian Helicopters and Rosoboronexport being parts of the corporation) has 49 per cent, Chemezov said. He hailed the Indo-Russia partnership, saying India was a strategic partner and the cooperation with it was very wide. "The bulk of our exports go to Southeast Asia, India and China. They are our two major partners. Every year we supply products to India for more than USD 2 billion. Sometimes it is more. Therefore, we have about the same volumes last year as before," he said when asked about the changes in the military-technical cooperation with India. "There are changes, but insignificant, somewhere in the range of 10-15 per cent is the fluctuation. Therefore, with regard to cooperation with India, it is aimed not only at selling products, but we are also transferring technology. It began in the late 90s with the sale of licenses for SU- 30MKIs," he said. "Today, these planes are manufactured in India. The T-90 tank, India has already mastered production, we continue to provide assistance, we supply the components, but for the most it is already localised," he added. Chemezov also talked about the fifth generation aircraft the two sides plan to develop, saying the work continues on it. On the supply of the S-400 Triumf systems to India, he said "until the contract is signed I would not be able to answer precisely on this topic. It's not customary for us. When we finalise the deal and sign it, and if our Indian partners agree, we could announce details of this contract. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Kerala Vigilance Director today ordered a probe into a corruption allegation against some state BJP functionaries over the issue of grant of the MCI clearance for a private medical college. As the BJP's Kerala unit came under a cloud, it expelled a party functionary after an internal party report purportedly said he had allegedly taken a bribe of Rs 5.60 crore to facilitate the approval from the Medical Council of India(MCI) for the college in Varkala near here. R S Vinod, Convenor of the BJP's Co-Operative Cell in the state, was expelled from the primary membership, hours after the contents of the report, reportedly submitted to state party chief last month, surfaced in a section of media. According to an official in the chief minister's office (CMO), a probe into the corruption allegation has been ordered by the state Vigilance Director. Announcing the expulsion of Vinod in a statement late this evening, state unit BJP President Kummanam Rajasekharan said the allegation against Vinod was 'extremely serious'. "With the charges, Vinod had tainted the anti-corruption image of the party... The gross indiscipline cannot be pardoned and his action was anti-party," he said and wanted the central leadership to enquire into the bribery allegation. Earlier in the day, Rajasekharan had termed the media reports "exaggerated and based on rumours." Seizing upon the corruption allegations, ruling CPI-M and opposition Congress demanded a CBI probe into the matter. The name of BJP state General Secretary M T Ramesh was also mentioned in some media reports in this connection, but he dismissed allegations against him as "baseless". "I have no role in it", he told reporters in Kochi, asserting that his innocence would be proved. The internal report had stated that the allegations were 'serious' especially at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was taking a strong position against corruption. It had also stated that a New Delhi-based person, against whom also charges regarding the Varkala medical college matter had been made, had misused a photo with the prime minister to portray himself as an influential person at the Centre. Leader of the Opposition in the assembly Ramesh Chennithala alleged, "What has come out is a widespread corruption involving state BJP leaders under the cover of BJP- led NDA government at the Centre'. CPI-M veteran V S Achutanandan said the anti-graft image of the saffron party leaders had "burst like bubble" due to corruption charges. Only a comprehensive CBI probe monitored by court would expose the truth in this regard, he said. Talking to reporters in Kottayam, Left Democratic Front (LDF) Convenor Vaikom Viswam demanded an investigation into the bribe allegations against the BJP leaders. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) President-elect Ram Nath Kovind got the maximum number of votes from Uttar Pradesh while TMC- ruled West Bengal offered him the rawest deal among big states en route to his victory over Meira Kumar in the presidential poll. According to the data provided by the returning officer for the election, in which Kovind garnered 2,930 or 65.35 per cent of the total 4,774 valid votes (of 10,69,358 value) polled, shows the two contenders scored overwhelmingly over each other in some states. Kumar gained a total of 1,844 (having value of 3,67,314) or 34.35 per cent of votes in the election. The former Lok Sabha speaker drew a blank in once-a- Congress bastion Andhra Pradesh, while in Left-ruled Kerala Kovind got just one vote. In Nagaland, Kovind received 56 votes as against one to Kumar. The result was lopsided in Kovind's favour in Sikkim, too. He garnered 28 votes vis-?-vis one of Kumar. In the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh, which has the highest value of votes for the election, Kovind received 335 votes (having value 69,680) against Kumar's 65 (valuing 13,520). Kovind bagged all the 171 valid votes (of 27,189 value) polled in the TDP-BJP combine ruled Andhra Pradesh. In Maharashtra, which carries second highest value of votes at 50,225, Kovind got 208 of the total 285 valid votes. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state Gujarat also gave fillip to Kovind, who won 132 votes (valuing 19404), restricting Kumar at 49. Bihar, where the ruling JD(U) supported Kovind by breaking ranks with its grand alliance partners, the RJD and the Congress during the election, also proffered the NDA nominee edge over Kumar. Of the total 239 valid votes polled there, Kovind gained 130, whereas Kumar scored 109 votes. The bright spot for Kumar in this election was her scores in West Bengal and Kerala. In West Bengal, she bagged 273 of the total valid 284 votes against Kovind's meagre 11. The Left Front-ruled Kerala offered her 138 of the total 139 votes. In another Left-ruled state, Tripura too, she did well to garner 53 votes against Kovind's seven. In AAP-ruled Delhi, she received 55 of the total 61 valid votes, while remaining votes went Kovind's way. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Malaysia has detained a prominent Bangladesh activist, civil groups said today, describing the government action as "harassment" against human rights defenders. Adilur Rahman Khan, secretary of the rights group Odhikar, was detained after arriving at Kuala Lumpur International Airport early today, activists said. He was due to speak at a two-day conference organised by the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network. Rights group Voice of the Malaysian People (Suaram) said Khan was being kept incommunicado at the airport's immigration lock-up and appealed for his release. "Suaram calls for his immediate release and demand that the immigration department stop its persistent harassment against human rights defenders visiting Malaysia," it said in a statement. Immigration authorities could not be reached for comment. Malaysia often denies foreign pro-democracy activists entry into the country without giving explanation. The Asian Human Rights Commission urged the international human rights community "to immediately intervene in this case, and secure Khan's release from arbitrary detention". The commission said it was worried that the detention of Khan, his country's former deputy attorney general, "is the result of collusion between governments in Bangladesh and Malaysia". In the past, Khan's group has been critical of human rights violations allegedly committed by Bangladeshi security forces, including torture and extra judicial killings. Malaysia has also denied Khan a lawyer and the right to speak to anyone, the group said. In 2015, student activist Joshua Wong, who helped organise the 2014 Hong Kong protests, was denied entry by immigration authorities. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders today urged Algerian authorities to release a freelance journalist and fixer who was arrested and accused of spying. Said Chitour, who works for the BBC and the Washington Post among others, has been held "arbitrarily" since intelligence services arrested him at Algiers airport on June 5, RSF said. He appeared before a judge who ordered him detained, but of his arrest only emerged in early July. "There are no grounds for keeping Chitour in pre-trial detention and doing so for more than a month is clearly excessive," the New York-based RSF said. "RSF is also concerned about the conditions in which he is being held because he is diabetic." It said he could face life imprisonment if convicted. Intelligence sources told AFP that Chitour, who had been under surveillance for several months, was accused of passing secret documents to foreign diplomats. His lawyer, Khaled Bourayou, told AFP that no confidential document was listed in the case against Chitour, and he wondered how a journalist and fixer could have had access to such papers. "All that Said acknowledges is that he had meetings with Western diplomats, like many journalists, where he gave his views on the political and economic situation of the country," he said. The US-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said last week that Chitour's arrest "appears to be an attempt to keep information about Algeria out of the international press". "We call on Algerian authorities to release Chitour, drop all charges against him, and to cease harassing and threatening journalists for their work," CPJ's Robert Mahoney said. RSF, which ranks Algeria 134rd out of 180 countries on its press freedom index, last month accused the country of "harassment" and "threats" used to pressure journalists. In December, a British-Algerian journalist died while serving a two-year jail term for "offending" Algeria's president. Mohamed Tamalt's lawyer said he had lapsed into a coma after going on hunger strike. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A delegation of Tamil Nadu ministers today urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other union ministers to step in to exempt the state from the purview of NEET examination. The delegation, headed by Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai, urged them to intervene in getting the President's nod for two bills passed in Tamil Nadu assembly which facilitates the exemption. "NEET examination has pushed students from the state to a disadvantageous position. It is an injustice for aspirants from Tamil Nadu who belong to weaker sections," Thambidurai said. The delegation also underscored the need for such exemption based on proportion of CBSE and state board students in the state. "Around 4,000 from CBSE have better chances of getting seats, whereas around five lakh students of state board are disadvantaged," he claimed. Since the admissions have not begun yet, we have asked the PM to make selection based on marks in plus two exams and not on NEET scores, he said. All parties of Tamil Nadu had yesterday joined hands in the Rajya Sabha to demand complete exemption of the state's students from the combined medical entrance test NEET. Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (DMK) has decided to hold a protest across Tamil Nadu on 27 July seeking Presidential assent for exemption. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Citing strong ties with Asian giants India and China, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched a blistering attack against the European Union (EU) describing its treatment of the Jewish state as "crazy" and "self-defeating". "We have a peculiar situation. The European Union is the only association of countries in the world that conditions the relations with Israel, that produces technology in every area, on political conditions. The only one," Netanyahu told four European leaders yesterday during a closed meeting that was inadvertently caught by an open microphone. The details of the meeting accidentallygot broadcast to journalists in a nearby room because of the open microphone. The feed was cut off as soon as it was discovered. Pointing towards Israel's growing technological collaborations with India and China, without such conditions, Netanyahu emphasised that Chinese President Xi Jinping called Israel an "innovation giant". "We have a special relationship with China and they don't care about the political issues," local media quoted him as saying. The Israeli leader also referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to Israel, saying thatthe Indian leader said he needed to take care of India's interests. "I need more water, clean water. Where will I get it...,"Netanyahu quoted Modi as saying. He made the comments during the closed meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Czech Republic Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo and Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico. "I think it is crazy, I think it is actually crazy," Netanyahu said. "I am not talking about my interests, Israel's interests; I'm talking about Europe's interests." "Europe is endangering its own development by endangering its ties with Israel over this crazy attempt to create conditions" for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, he said, adding that Israel is right there and Europe is disconnecting itself from this massive center of innovation. "If this were only about my interests, I wouldn't have brought it up. Don't undermine the only country in the region that is looking after Europe's interests. Stop attacking Israel, support Israel," the Israeli premier warned. Orban responded to Netanyahu in a conciliatory tone, saying that EU sets similar conditions to its member states as well. "Europe must decide if it wants to live and prosper or wither and disappear. I see you're shocked because I'm not being politically correct," Netanyahu told the EU leaders in an unprecedented tirade. He went on to further talk about his disagreements with former president Barack Obama and even accepted hitting arms transfers to Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in Syria dozens of times, something the international media attributes to Israel but the Jewish state maintains ambiguity around it, neither accepting responsibilitynor denying it. "We had a big problem with US policy. It's different now. There's a stronger stance against Iran. There's a renewed American presence in our region and more bombings, and that's positive," Netanyahu said. "I told (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, when we see (Iran) transferring weapons to Hezbollah, we'll hit them. We've done it dozens of times," he was heard as saying. The hawkish leader was trying to convince his counterparts to communicate to their colleagues the need to push forward the EU-Israel Association agreement that has been frozen since Israel's Operation Cast Lead in Gaza in 2008- 2009. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today greeted Ram Nath Kovind on being elected President of the country. Kumar, also JD(U) president, called up Kovind and extended his greetings and wishes to him, an official statement said here. Nitish Kumar broke ranks with opposition and pledged JD(U) support to him in presidential poll. Kumar cited his role as Governor of Bihar as a reason for supporting him. Kovind, the NDA candidate, was today elected as the country's 14th president defeating opposition's nominee Meira Kumar, a former Lok Sabha speaker. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A high-ranking official of the Delhi government's power department has asked the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) to consider charging domestic rates for lawyer chambers in courts. In a letter written to the DERC Secretary, the power department deputy secretary has requested the power tariff fixing body to consider "lawyers' demand" for being charged at domestic rates on consumption of electricity at their chambers in Tis Hazari and other courts of Delhi jurisdiction. The lawyers had given a representation to the power minister with regard to this demand, said the official. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Opposition today targeted the government over the lynchings, with the Congress accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "creating such an environment" and indulging in "double speak" on the issue. Congress leader Kapil Sibal, while speaking in the Rajya Sabha on lynchings, alleged that the prime minister was doing nothing to restrain cow vigilantes who, he said, include elements from VHP and Bajrang Dal. He was participating in a discussion on the 'situation arising out of the reported increase in the incidents of lynching and arocities on minorities and dalits across the country' which started yesterday. Sibal said the year 2017 has witnessed maximum murders and the cattle ban had negatively impacted leather industry besides industries like soap and shampoo. "I am shaken and shattered by the images of grotesque violence and heart-wrenching scenes (which) I have seen on social media and Twitter. We did not see it in the last 50 years," he said. He went on to question, "What is the sentiment behind it? Why 97 per cent of the violence has taken place after 2017?" Targeting the prime minister, he said it was Modi who had "provoked" such sentiments and quoted his three speeches on October 8, 2015, August 6, 2016 and June 29,2017. Sibal said paradoxically in one of the speeches, the PM had said that some people were involved in the crime during night and during the day they converted into 'gaurakshaks' but no action was taken against such people. "It is the PM whose statement is different during night and different during day...It is PM who is creating such environment. It is better to stop double speak and come clean," the Congress leader said. He said the prime minister should not just quote Mahatma Gandhi but follow him in letter and spirit. Sibal said the VHP has announced creating a "holy army of gaurakshaks" and recruited 2,700 people. "These are recruited by VHP and trained by Bajrang Dal," he said and questioned "Why doesn't he (PM) say that VHP and Bajrang Dal were anti-social? He gets political support for elections. Hindutva ideology has created a reign of terror," Sibal said. He said the fight today is between "fake" and "real" hindu. He said the House needs to rise to stop hooligans who were out to destroy peace and tranquility of the nation. The Congress leader alleged that government was not able to even take care of cows as 50 cows had lost their lives in Haryana as they were not taken care of well. Raising a point of order, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said Sibal should authenticate three statements of the PM which he quoted, else these should be expunged. He also objected to mention of VHP and Bajrang Dal, saying it is the practice not to mention those who are absent from the floor of the House and cannot defend themselves. Naresh Gujral (SAD), while participating in the debate, urged the members to refrain from giving political colour to incidents in a land where Buddha and Mahavir spread the message of tolerance. Asserting that goondaism cannot be tolerated, he said the governemnt could talk to the Chief Justice of India for creating special court for speedy trial of lynching cases, which amounted to acts like "terrorism". He said it was time that this "madness" was brought to an end as people are becoming reluctant to come and invest in India in such an atmosphere. Attacking the government, Sharad Yadav (JDU) said the incidents of lynching were more deadly than killings by Talibans and Afghans. When religion overtakes poltics or vise versa, internal conflicts are created, he said and pointed towards Pakistan, Afghanistan and Syria. Yadav said, "it is unfortunate that such a condition has been created in the country that a student from JNU goes traceless, people are lynched in the name of cow and condition has become so bad that people are afraid of travelling in buses and trains." He said BJP-ruled states were witnessing maximum cases of lynching. Such incidents occurred in 14 districts of Jharkhand, 11 districts of UP, 9 districts of Haryana, 5 districts of Rajasthan and 4 districts each of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat, Yadav said. Alleging that laws were being trampled, he asked the government to take "corrective measures as the minority community of India has chosen the country to live and die here." "Don't provoke him. Stop this drama," he said and alleged that livestock was being destroyed on the one side and 12,000 farmers were committing suicide in the country on the other side. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Opposition on Thursday targeted the government over the lynchings, with the Congress accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of creating such an environment and indulging in double speak on the issue. Congress leader Kapil Sibal, while speaking in the Rajya Sabha on lynchings, alleged that the prime minister was doing nothing to restrain cow vigilantes who, he said, include elements from the Vishva Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal. He was participating in a discussion on the situation arising out of the reported increase in the incidents of and atrocities on minorities and dalits across the country which started on Wednesday. Sibal said the year 2017 had witnessed the maximum murders and the cattle ban had negatively impacted leather industry, besides industries like soap and shampoo. I am shaken and shattered by the images of grotesque violence and heart-wrenching scenes (which) I have seen on social media and Twitter. We did not see it in the last 50 years, he said. He went on to question, What is the sentiment behind it? Why 97 per cent of the violence has taken place after 2017? Targeting the prime minister, he said it was Modi who had provoked such sentiments and quoted his three speeches on October 8, 2015, August 6, 2016 and June 29, 2017. Sibal said paradoxically in one of the speeches, the PM had said some people were involved in the crime during night and during the day they converted into gaurakshaks but no action was taken against such people. It is the PM whose statement is different during night and different during day... It is PM who is creating such environment. It is better to stop double speak and come clean, the Congress leader said. He said the PM should not just quote Mahatma Gandhi but follow him in letter and spirit. Sibal said the VHP has announced creating a "holy army of gaurakshaks" and recruited 2,700 people. "These are recruited by VHP and trained by Bajrang Dal," he said and questioned "Why doesn't he (PM) say that VHP and Bajrang Dal were anti-social? He gets political support for elections. Hindutva ideology has created a reign of terror," Sibal said. He said the fight today is between "fake" and "real" hindu. He said the House needs to rise to stop hooligans who were out to destroy peace and tranquility of the nation. The Congress leader alleged that government was not able to even take care of cows as 50 cows had lost their lives in Haryana as they were not taken care of well. Raising a point of order, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said Sibal should authenticate three statements of the PM which he quoted, else these should be expunged. He also objected to mention of VHP and Bajrang Dal, saying it is the practice not to mention those who are absent from the floor of the House and cannot defend themselves. Naresh Gujral (SAD), while participating in the debate, urged the members to refrain from giving political colour to incidents in a land where Buddha and Mahavir spread the message of tolerance. Asserting that goondaism cannot be tolerated, he said the governemnt could talk to the Chief Justice of India for creating special court for speedy trial of cases, which amounted to acts like "terrorism". He said it was time that this "madness" was brought to an end as people are becoming reluctant to come and invest in India in such an atmosphere. Attacking the government, Sharad Yadav (JDU) said the incidents of were more deadly than killings by Talibans and Afghans. When religion overtakes poltics or vise versa, internal conflicts are created, he said and pointed towards Pakistan, Afghanistan and Syria. Yadav said, "it is unfortunate that such a condition has been created in the country that a student from JNU goes traceless, people are lynched in the name of cow and condition has become so bad that people are afraid of travelling in buses and trains." He said BJP-ruled states were witnessing maximum cases of lynching. Such incidents occurred in 14 districts of Jharkhand, 11 districts of UP, 9 districts of Haryana, 5 districts of Rajasthan and 4 districts each of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat, Yadav said. Alleging that laws were being trampled, he asked the government to take "corrective measures as the minority community of India has chosen the country to live and die here." "Don't provoke him. Stop this drama," he said and alleged that livestock was being destroyed on the one side and 12,000 farmers were committing suicide in the country on the other side. Attacking the Opposition for linking lynching incidents with RSS, Prabhat Jha (BJP) said "this is not fair" as the Sangh has played a key role in the country's development. Referring to Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad's remark against RSS made in the House yesterday, Jha said, "You may not know about Sangh. You might have read about it from papers. We have been part of the Sangh. I am compelled to share what is Sangh all about." He said a group of 3,000-odd RSS members were invited to participate in the 1963 Republic Day parade by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. "Many do not know about this. The RSS was invited for its contribution. You should not level charges against Sangh when you don't know about it," he said and urged them to show "magnanimity" in politics. Urging the Opposition not to do "politics in the name of Sangh," Jha sought to know why Congress was silent on the issue of separate state flag been demanded in Karnataka. He said the country belongs to all and everyone should take equal responsibility. Urging the Opposition not to be selective in mentioning the lynching incidents, Union Minister and senior BJP leader Prakash Javedekar said any such crime should not only be condemned but should be stopped. "We will not tolerate lynching...Don't walk on the path of defaming the nation's image with these incidents. One should not be victim of selective amnesia and see the incidents with political eye," he said. States, be it BJP or non-BJP ruled, should take stringent action against those involved in lynching, he said as he listed out 2012 and 2013 lynching incidents. Targeting the Congress, Javadekar said burning of 3,000- odd Sikhs in the 1984 riots was "one of the biggest lynching incidents in India's history". "Even killing of 59 devotees of Ram in Godhra train burning in 2002 was also lynching," he said. In 2012, 25 people were killed in 16 lynching incidents in eight states, while 18 were killed in 14 such incidents occured in 2013 in six states, the minister added. Reacting to Javedekar's remark, Azad said, "If the education minister has such a thinking, we can very well imagine what kind of education is and will be imparted in the country." He attacked the HRD minister for putting things in a selective manner, saying that it was Congress that had contributed to the making of the country. "We, Congress, have contributed to the making of the country. You were with British. We have given our blood for the nation. Have you taken a contract for making of Bharat?" he said and staged a walkout. JDU, SP, BSP and Left members also staged a walkout on this issue. They all returned after 10 minutes. D Raja (CPI) said lynching is a societal problem and the centre should frame a separate law to prevent such incidents rather than asking states to contain. There is a need to understand that a "dangerous" trend is uprising with 'mob lynching' -- which is part of "Bhramanical fascism" and "part of an ideology and political theory" -- taking over the political structure, he said. No arrests been made and even accused are acquitted in the recent incidents, he said and emphasised the need to put in place a central law to curb such elements. K T S Tusli (Nom) demanded ban of the communal organisations involved in lynchings. No law has been enforced to contain these incidents, which are more in BJP ruled states, he said, quoting a study that found 32 out 63 cases were in BJP ruled states. Rajeev Chandrashekar (Ind) said that sentiments of Hindus are as important as Muslims, Christians and Sikhs. If the sentiments of a large community are hurt then those should be addressed. He also talked about the prevailing "double standard of polity" while highlighting the killings of BJP workers in Karnataka and Kerala, and urged to the Opposition parties to stop the "hypocracy". Congress member Kumari Selja said every Indian feels sad that the country was being described as "Lynchistan" and it was a matter of shame for all. She said an atmosphere of fear was being created on the basis of an ideology and such incidents were taking place on a daily basis. Pointing towards the treasury benches, Ali Anwar Ansari of the JD (U) said the "disease called lynching is an outcome of your party's (BJP) ideology." In an apparent reference to the BJP, K K Ragesh of the CPI (M) said it was dividing people on communal lines and has attained momentum in states like Gujarat by the politics of spitting communal venom which is the basis of mob lynching. He said the BJP was targeting Kerala with the same divisive momentum and spitting communal venom. Hearing this, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman raised an objection saying Ragesh was "insinuating" in the Upper House. Other BJP members including Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi also stood up and objected to the remarks made by Ragesh. TKS Elangovan of the DMK said mob lynching is not acceptable and alleged that the mobs or groups resorting to such acts have the support of some Hindutva group. He further said it was not about the RSS or VHP but about people who claim they are committing violent acts in the name of Hindutva. The children of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif could face up to seven years in jail if it was proved that they had submitted fake documents to the Panama panel probing the money laundering allegations against the family, the Supreme Court warned today. The apex court heard the Panamagate scandal case for the fourth consecutive day since the hearing began on Monday, following submission of a report by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) on July 10, which was tasked by the court to probe allegation of corruption against Sharif and his family. "The punishment for submitting forged documents in the court is seven years in jail," warned the three-member panel of judges. The JIT among other things has observed that some of the documents submitted by the children of Sharif, 67, were tampered with. A trust deed provided by the prime minister's daughter Maryam Nawaz and executed in 2006 was written in Calibri font which was not commercially available till 2007. It was also notarised from an office in London on Saturday which is officially an off day, raising concern about the authenticity of the document. Similarly, Government of Dubai has revealed that the documents of Gulf Steel Mills provided by the prime minister's son Hussian Nawaz were forged as there was no record of those documents. Justice Ejaz Afzal is heading the probe panel comprising Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Justice Ijazul Ahsan. They also warned Salman Akram Raja, the lawyer of Sharif's children, against a media trial in the case after some of the documents presented by him were leaked to media and were discussed in talk shows yesterday. "You have been conducting a trial in the media and the documents (submitted to the court) have already been discussed in the media," said Justice Saeed. "There is a media dais outside, you should give your arguments there as well," he told Raja, who assured the court that he had not released any documents to media. Meanwhile, Raja presented his arguments in details. The arguments were still going on when the court adjourned the proceedings till tomorrow. The judges today again asked the Sharif family to provide the money trail of its various businesses in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UK. "The main question is where did the money for these businesses came," asked the panel. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan treats America like a "limitless ATM" and most of the US aid to the country goes to the military's kitty, a private US defence contractor who was responsible for one the worst bilateral tensions, has said. "For Pakistan, no amount of money ever seemed to be enough. The economic aid it received from the United States became a drug it alternately loathed and could not live without," Raymond Davis said in his book "The Contractor". Davis, 42, was arrested in Lahore in 2011 on charges of killing two Pakistani citizens and thus kicked off a huge diplomatic crisis between the two countries. Having a first-hand experience of how the system works in Pakistan, the CIA contractor wrote that most of the US aid ended up with the Pakistan military and not with the civilians. "As dysfunctional as the relationship between the United States and Pakistan was, it was made worse by the fact that most of the aid typically ended up in the hands of the Pakistani military, while much of its population continued to languish in poverty," Davis said. In his book, Davis writes that the real power in Pakistan lies with the military. "While Pakistan is said to be a parliamentary federal republic witha president who serves as head of state and a Prime minister who runs the government, everyone knows that the real power in that country lies with the military," he wrote. "For more than half of the sixty-four years that had passed since its birth as a nation, Pakistan had been under military rule. It devoted nearly a quarter of its budget to defence spending. As recently as 2007, Pakistan had been under martial law. That same year, President Pervez Musharraf, a former four-star general, suspended the constitution, had the leader of the opposition party arrested, and dismissed the Supreme Courts chief justice," Davis said. "In short, you did not want to cross the military in Pakistan," he said. Between 1954 and 1959, the US gave Pakistan USD 1.28 billion. "By 2011, the total amount of aid doled out by the United States had ballooned to USD 67 billion," he wrote in his book. "After 9/11, the US, using Coalition Support Funds, also reimbursed Pakistan for any money it spent combating terrorism, a policy that was somewhat flawed because, while it was supposed to encourage the Pakistani military to fight local militants, it provided little incentive for it to do the job well," Davis rued. "After all, if all the terrorists disappeared, so too would the seemingly limitless ATM that was the United States," he said in the book which gives graphic details of his arrest in Lahore and his subsequent release. "Having grown dependent upon these annual disbursements of aid from the US and with fewer than two million of its 182 million citizens paying income tax, Pakistan had become the very definition of a "rentier state," a country that receives a disproportionate amount of its revenues from external sources, kind of like the ne'er-do-well child of fabulously wealthy parents," Davis said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Pakistan app-based taxi service has launched an unusual add on, offering passengers the chance to share their ride with a marriage matchmaker. Users in Pakistan woke yesterday to an unexpected notification from Careem -- an Uber-like taxi hailing app popular in Muslim countries: Have a 'rishta aunty' accompany you during your ride. Rishta aunties, as marriage matchmakers are known in South Asia, keep detailed records of eligible men and women -- from education level and salary, to height, weight and even skin tone -- and will set you up with your future spouse, for a fee. Usually portrayed in popular culture as bespectacled women with a clipboard of names and an ancient Nokia mobile, the aunties have had an update thanks to Careem. The "rishta" service -- which has only been rolled out for two days in two cities in Pakistan -- quickly had the country's vocal Twitterati on overdrive. "Careem is the halal Tinder now, except that there's a rishta aunty who'll do the swiping for you," joked Twitter user CrazeeGentleman. But many were speculating that it was just a marketing ploy by the taxi-app service. "Driving with rishta aunty a success for @CareemPAK already, it's 11:33 AM and half the marketers in my list are talking about it," wrote Amnaa Tariq on Twitter. Careem Pakistan was quick defend the move as a legitimate service. "We'd noticed that rishtas are a popular topic of discussion among our more senior users. So we've launched this service in order to help the younger people find a right match," said Careem Pakistan's head of public affairs Sibtain Naqvi, according to local media. "During the ride people can tell the aunty their preferences and the Aunty will later get in touch with them with a suitable rishta (relationship)," Naqvi added. It's not the first time that the taxi app has sought to diversify. In January the firm rolled out "Careem Doctor", offering to bring a medical professional to your doorstep. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a first of its kind in Kerala, leading media group Mathrubhumi has introduced 'period leave' for women employees in its TV channel. "The employees have the option of taking leave either on the first or any other day of their menstrual cycle. This is an additional leave," Joint Managing Director of Mathrubhumi group M V Shremyams Kumar told PTI. About 50 women in the channel's desk and reporting will be among those benefited, sources said. The leave facility came into effect in Mathrubhumi News, a 24-hour Malayalam television channel of the group from yesterday. "This is an additional leave besides the normal leave the employees are entitled to," he said. Two organisations, including 'Culture Machine, a Mumbai- based media company, are said to have already introduced the 'First day of Period' leave policy. But this is the first time it was being introduced in the state, according to Kumar. "Right now, the facility has been implemented in Mathrubhumi News. Considering the nature of their work and since they go through physical problems, such a decision had been taken," he said. "As an organisation, we would like to understand our employees and accordingly frame the HR policies," he added. The goodwill gesture was announced by Kumar during a video conference session with employees yesterday afternoon. While there was a big round of applause from women employees, their male counterparts have also taken the announcement on a 'very positive note,' sources in the channel said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Forty-four Chinese and Malaysian suspects have been detained in the Philippines over the kidnapping and beating of a Singaporean woman abducted at a Manila casino, authorities said today. Police found the victim Wu Yan, 48, at a Manila condominium on Tuesday, a day after her abduction by two Malaysian members of the gang, Justice Undersecretary Erickson Balmes said in a statement. "(She) was held, deprived of her right to liberty and was beaten and threatened by her kidnappers who demanded $180,000 for her release," Balmes added. Two Malaysians, along with 42 Chinese suspects, were arrested after her rescue and would be charged with kidnapping, police said. "The group was believed to be responsible (for) the series of kidnapping incidents perpetrated against foreign nationals who are high roller casino players in recent months," Balmes sa He gave no details of the other supposed abductions nor what had happened to the victims. The Philippines has in recent years been drawing foreign casino players as it builds up its gaming industry, aiming to rival Las Vegas and Macau. However, the reported kidnappings, and an arson attack on another Manila casino that killed 37 people last month, have raised safety concerns. Abelardo Borromeo, spokesman for the Philippine police's anti-kidnapping group, said the gang members were also believed to be part of a loan sharking syndicate operating at a glittering strip housing mega-casinos fronting Manila Bay. The victim was playing baccarat at one of the casinos there when the two Malaysian suspects "befriended" her and invited her to play in another casino in the area, Borromeo said. But the suspects instead brought her to the condominium and demanded a ransom, he added. Today, national police chief General Ronald Dela Rosa vowed a crackdown on kidnappings as he paraded the detained suspects before television cameras. "You are free to come, enjoy gambling, but you are not free to commit crime when (you) are here in the Philippines," he told the suspects. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A constable was found dead near here and police suspect foul play in his death, an official said today. The body of Kishor Shirodkar, attached to the India Reserve Battalion (IRB) of the Goa police, was found in an open space at Porvorim, he said. "We are not ruling out murder in this case. But we can't conclude anything till investigation is completed," the police official said. Shirodkar's scooter was found lying near his body, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) He wasn't the name that newspaper readers were familiar with or the face that television viewers knew. Today, Ram Nath Kovind walked away from that quiet past and into the record books as India's president-elect. The former Bihar governor and old BJP hand, described variously as low profile, unassuming and affable, had an easy win to the country's highest constitutional post, securing more than 65% of the votes in the electoral college. As celebrations broke out in his ancestral home in Paraunkh village in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur Dehat, the 71-year-old Kovind became the first BJP member and only the second Dalit to be elected to Rashtrapati Bhavan. Stepping away from quietude to the spotlight of constant scrutiny that comes with being the country's first citizen, he was picked for the job by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) from Raj Bhavan in Patna, where he had struck an easy working relationship with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. It was perhaps Kovind's non-confrontational approach to politics that led the JD(U) chief to back him for the president's office even though he had been critical of his appointment as the governor, but later it led to the curious situation of the party endorsing the opposition's candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi for the vice-president's post. This easy demeanour has stood the Kanpur-born former lawyer in good stead, say political watchers. He is not just a Dalit leader, but is known for his organisational skills and is a loyal member of the BJP, attributes that not many in the larger NDA family can boast of. Names of several presidential probables from the NDA stable had done the rounds, but Kovind, a former national spokesperson of the party, was not among them. While the choice surprised political watchers, it was seen as an astute move for a party working overtime to expand its social base and win over new constituencies. And one that has delivered dividends. Kovind is married and has a son and a daughter. It was a measure of his public persona that though his wife Savita was by his side during the weeks of campaigning, his children were not seen much or written about. BJP chief Amit Shah said the party's parliamentary board went through a long list of potential candidates before choosing Kovind, who was its MP in Rajya Sabha for two terms and headed its Dalit Morcha. Kovind's links to the party's controversial Hindutva politics are tenuous. Sources say he was drawn more to the politics of social empowerment of Dalits and other weaker sections than the plank of religion. Kovind, a commerce graduate who also studied law at Kanpur University, practised in the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court. He was also the central government's standing counsel in the apex court from 1980-93. His official profile on the Bihar governor's website describes him as a crusader for "rights and cause of weaker sections of society specially Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes/OBC/ minority..." from his student days. The BJP has been seeking to widen its base beyond its traditional constituencies of upper castes and trading classes and has succeeded to a large extent, as seen in the UP assembly polls. Kovind, who headed Dalit Morcha from 1998 to 2002, also led the All-India Koli Samaj. Elected to the Rajya Sabha in April 1994 from Uttar Pradesh, he served two consecutive terms until March 2006. He joined a stir by SC/ST employees in 1997 when Dalits and others protested against orders issued by the Central government, which were rescinded by Atal Bihari Vajpayee when the NDA came to power. As an advocate, Kovind took the lead in providing free legal aid to weaker sections, especially the SC/ST women, and poor and needy girls under the aegis of the Free Legal Aid Society in Delhi. Known for his work in the field of education, he served as a member of the board of management of the Dr B R Ambedkar University, Lucknow, and was a member of the board of governors of the Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata. India's 14th president will take oath on July 25, when he will take over from veteran politician Pranab Mukherjee. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh today met Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and discussed the proposed Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway and other pending road and highway projects in the state. The discussion on Delhi-Amritsar-Katra highway, also attended by Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh, focussed on road alignment and land acquisition costs for the project. Amarinder said the Centre should pay all the acquisition costs for the highway, because of the state's poor fiscal health, according to a statement issued by the Punjab government. He was in favour of aligning the road via Pathankot into Amritsar to Taran Taran to Moga to Barnala and Samana before moving into Haryana, in order to encourage the development of these areas, which were lagging in industrial development. Though the NHAI has invited bids for the appointment of consultant to conduct feasibility study and prepare a detailed project report for the proposed expressway, the process is going on at a slow pace, Amarinder pointed out, urging the ministry may expedite its construction. The Union minister suggested formation of a group of revenue secretaries from the three states as well as the central government to study and recommend the modalities of the acquisition process, the statement said. Amarinder also urged Gadkari to intervene for expediting various pending proposals and projects. These included approval for connecting the remaining four district headquarters with 4/6 lane national highways, besides declaration of Khanna-Malerkotla-Raikot-Jagraon-Nakodar as a new National Highway. Pointing out that 18 of the 22 districts of Punjab were already connected with 4/6 lane national highways, Amarinder said only Ferozepur, Mansa, Sri Muktsar Sahib and Fazilka districts still continue to be connected with 2-lane national highways. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Qatar's foreign minister is visiting Beijing a day after his Chinese counterpart told a top official from the United Arab Emirates that China hoped the rift between the Gulf countries could be repaired. China's foreign ministry says Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani was to meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi today. Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said China supported calls to fight terrorism, maintain stability in the Gulf and shore up unity among members of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain severed relations with Qatar and cut air, sea and land routes with it over a month ago, accusing it of supporting extremist groups. Qatar denies the allegations. There were no immediate reports of talks between the two Gulf officials. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Attacking the Karnataka government for exploring the possibility of having a state flag, the Shiv Sena on Thursday said Congress president Sonia Gandhi should sack the chief minister as the move went against the history and ideals of her party. It also demanded that the Centre dissolve the Karnataka government or immediately stop all assistance to the state. The saffron party termed the Congress government's move in Karnataka as "despicable" and "unconstitutional" which amounts to "treason". It is an insult to the flag and the freedom fighters and the jawans who have sacrificed their lives for the country, an editorial in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' said. "(Congress president) Sonia Gandhi should make CM Siddaramaiah resign and show her love for the nation," the Sena demanded. "The Congress government in Karnataka has indulged in a despicable act by seeking a separate flag for the state," the editorial said. "This is a challenge to the integrity of the nation, an insult to the flag and to the freedom fighters and the jawans sacrificing their lives on the border," it said. The Sena said Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel worked to bring all states under a single flag but Siddaramaiah has gone against his own party's ideology. The Karnataka government recently formed a nine-member committee to submit a report on designing a separate flag for the state and providing a legal standing for it, with the Chief Minister defending the move saying there is no constitutional provision against it. If the flag comes into being, Karnataka will be the second state to have its official flag after Jammu and Kashmir, which enjoys a special status under Article 370 of theConstitution. The Karnataka state elections are due next year. The Sena editorial said, had Siddaramaiah wanted a unique identity for Karnataka, he could have done exceptional work and made his state stand out amongst others. But, there is nothing that he has done and hence making these "outrageous demands". "Since the chief minister has indulged in an unconstitutional act, the Centre should dissolve Siddaramaiah's government or immediately stop all kinds of assistance to the state," it said. "It has to be shown that national integrity is not just about speeches and advertisements," the Sena said. "Tomorrow they (the rulers of Karnataka) may demand a separate Constitution... Even as the country is grappling with the special status accorded to Kashmir, the Congress has back-stabbed the nation (by its move to on separate state flag)," the Sena alleged. The issue has kicked up a storm, with the state government coming under fire from various political parties and organisations. Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut had earlier called it "anti-constitutional" and demanded the imposition of President's rule in Karnataka. The Karnataka government yesterday said the issue of whether a state could have its own flag was a "grey area" as there was no mention of it in any of the Acts in the country. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Christopher Wray, US President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the FBI following the dismissal of the agency's former chief James Comey, today moved one step closer to being confirmed after receiving bipartisan support from a key Senate committee. The US Senate Judiciary Committee approved the nomination of Wray to be FBI director by a vote of 20-0 His nomination now heads to Senate floor for the final decision. If confirmed, he would replace Comey, who was fired by Trump in May. New York-born, Wray clerked for Fourth Circuit Judge J Michael Luttig in Richmond, Virginia, and then began his career as an associate at King & Spalding LLP in Atlanta before becoming an Assistant US Attorney in the Northern District of Georgia from 1997-2001. He next served as an Associate Deputy Attorney General and as the Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General in the Justice Department. He became the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Justice Department's Criminal Division in 2003. He headed the Criminal Division until 2005, and then returned to private practice at King & Spalding where he has remained since. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Six persons were killed and 11 injured after flash floods triggered by a cloudburst wreaked havoc in Thathri town of Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir today, inundating vast areas along the Batote-Kishtwar National Highway and washing away half a dozen houses. While 11 persons have been rescued from the debris, many others are feared trapped and the toll is likely to rise, police said. Four of a family were among those killed in the cloudburst that damaged six houses, two shops and a school. "Flash floods triggered by cloudburst hit Thathri town at 2.20 am resulting in a massive increase in the level of the 'nullah' flowing along the Jamai Masjid locality close to the town" a police officer said. Dy SP (headquarters) Doda, Iftkhar Ahmed, said the water level and silt suddenly rose in the drain after the cloudburst, washing away several structures along its path leading to the main market. "As of now, six persons including five women have died and their bodies recovered from the debris. 11 people have been injured and rescued from the debris. They have been shifted to hospital", a police spokesman said. Dev Raj of Nagni village lost his 40-year-old wife Naru Devi, daughters - 14-year-old Sapna Devi and 7-year-old Priya Devi and 9-year-old son Rahul. Their bodies have been recovered, police said. Apart from them other two deceased persons have been identified as 45-year-old Patna Devi of Balgran and 15-year- old Shrishta Devi of Balgran. The injured have been admitted to the Primary Health Centre (PHC) at Thathri, the spokesman said. "However, several others are still under the debris and more casualties cannot be ruled out," the Dy SP said. "We cannot assess the exact loss of life or property immediately as we are in the middle of rescue operations trying to save those still trapped under the debris," Ahmed said. "The entire district administration, along with the police and army, has started rescue operation on a war footing," the police official said. The Batote-Doda-Kishtwar National Highway (NH1B) was closed due to huge boulders at Thathri market triggered by the cloudburst. Water supply pipes and power supply remained snapped in the area. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Members of the SP, the BSP and the Congress today staged a walkout from the UP Assembly, accusing the state government of threatening the opposition and using unparliamentary language. As soon as the House met for the day, Leader of Opposition Ram Govind Chowdhury, who belongs to the SP, alleged that the government was "threatening opposition and wanted them in jail". "We all are threatened...They are threatening to put our entire family in jail. Members are being humiliated and we are not getting protection from the Speaker. I have never seen such a situation in the House in past 40 years. We all are walking out, now you run it (the House) as you want," Chowdhury said. Supporting him, BSP leader Lalji Verma alleged that when opposition members stand, rules are cited and they are not allowed to speak. "Yesterday, after the finance minister's address, there was no provision of address by the Leader of House. If he was allowed, the Leader of Opposition is also entitled to address. This is against the dignity of the House. Unparliamentary words are also being used. There is no point remaining in the House in such a scenario," Verma said. Congress Legislature Party Leader Ajay Kumar Lallu alleged that when the LoP started his address yesterday, his mike was switched off. "We all have decided to walkout to protest government's attitude towards opposition," he said. Opposition members did not heed to Speaker Hriday Narain Dixit's request and walked out unitedly. Denying opposition charge, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna said it was not correct that the voice of opposition in suppressed and that the government is working with 'Ahankaar' (arrogance) due to its numbers. "What's wrong in announcing a CBI probe in recruitments done by the UP Public Service Commission from 2012. It is a justified move. We have got mandate and message among people should go that we are there for the people. No unparliamentary words were used," Khanna said. "Leaving the House is insulting the people's mandate given to the opposition," he said. "Yogiji (Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath) has presented government's working in argumentative way and it was just annoyance of the opposition and their action is not justified," he said. Khanna said he had talked to the LoP before coming to the House this morning. "Chowdhury appeared normal and did not mention anything that time," he said. Speaker Dixit said he had given due time to the opposition to speak. "LoP presented his views and left the House. They should have heard me before leaving the House. It is unfortunate. I request the opposition to participate in proceedings as 22 crore people have sent them here to raise their voice," he said. The Speaker adjourned the House for 30 minutes till 12 noon while stating that all questions were taken as answered. When asked whether the mike of LoP was stopped during his address yesterday, Dixit told reporters that it was not so "When we move forward to the next matter in the House, it is stopped. I have requested the opposition to return, I think they will (come back)," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Nagaland Assembly Speaker today rejected the appointment of Kuzholuzo Azo Nienu from the Shurhozelie Liezietsu group as the Leader of Naga People's Front (NPF) NPF Legislature Party in the state assembly. A letter signed by the Assembly secretary, N Benjamin Newmai addressed to Khuzoluzo Azo Nienu rejected his appointment as Leader of the NPF Legislature Party. Liezietsu had empowered Azo to function as the NPF Legislature Party leader in the Assembly for floor management till further orders. However, the Assembly secretariat drew the attention of Azo to Rule 3(1) of the Anti-Defection Rules, which states "a legislature party leader is one who is elected by more than one-half of the members of the Legislature Party concerned." Newmai said there is no record with the Assembly Speaker to prove the fact that Azo have been elected by more than one-half of the members of the NPF Legislature Party at a meeting. The Secretary in the same letter pointed out the legal flaws in the election of Liezietsu as leader of NPF Legislature Party in February 20 last stating that the NPF President letter empowering Azo as Leader of NPF Legislature Party, has been referred for legal opinion on the question whether the President of NPF, who is a non-MLA could be elected as Leader of NPF Legislature Party. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An elderly pilot is among three men charged for allegedly plotting to smuggle large amounts of the drug "ice" from the United States to Australia in a light plane, officials said today. Some 255 kilogrammes (562 pounds) of crystal methamphetamine was seized by US authorities in northern California last month, with the Australian Federal Police putting the street value at Aus$255 million (USD 202 million). "This is a small aircraft which we allege was to be flown from the west coast of the US, across the Pacific, to Australia to land in a regional airfield with an extra weight of 255 kg on board," said Superintendent Krissy Barrett, according to The Australian newspaper. "I'm not a good flyer at the best of times but that's certainly not a plane I would have wanted to be on." A 58-year-old from Victoria state was arrested yesterday, a few days after a Sydney man, 52, was detained for links to Aus$2.4 million in cash stashed in a vehicle, police said. A third man, aged 72, was taken into custody at Melbourne Airport in early July for allegedly planning to fly the light aircraft back to Australia with the drugs. The US Drug Enforcement Administration's Sydney representative Eric Baldus said such international cooperation was necessary as the top criminal syndicates were "sophisticated, well-organised, and transnational in scope". Australia made its largest-ever bust of crystal meth in April when police found drugs with a street value of nearly Aus$900 million hidden among planks of wood from China. With its high street prices, Australia is an attractive destination for drug-smugglers. The country also has a growing problem with ice addiction. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A delegation of Tamil Nadu Ministers today called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and some of his cabinet colleagues to press for exempting the State from NEET. A memorandum was submitted to Modi by the delegation seeking Presidential nod for two Bills passed recently by the state assembly and now pending with the Centre. The bills pave the way for continuation of UG medical admissions on the basis of Plus Two marks exempting Tamil Nadu from the ambit of the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET). Senior AIADMK (Amma) leader and Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai led the ministers. An official release here said Health Minister C Vijayabaskar, Finance Minister D Jayakumar, Electricity Minister P Thangamani, Law Minister C Ve Shanmugam and Higher Education Minister K P Anbazhagan met Modi and Union Ministers for Health and HRD JP Nadda and Prakash Javadekar respectively. The delegation also called on Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on the NEET issue, the release said. Both the ruling AIADMK (Amma) and main opposition DMK are opposed to NEET in Tamil Nadu maintaining that it would affect the interests of State students both from villages and the urban poor. DMK and other opposition parties have been targeting the AIADMK (Amma) regime on NEET claiming that the interests of students were compromised by not getting exemption from it. Vijayabaskar had days ago told the Assembly that he would visit Delhi to persuade the Centre to grant nod for the pending Bills. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat today paid a visit to Harish Rawat at his residence here to enquire about his health as the former CM had a narrow escape after being hit by a biker. Accompanied by Cabinet Minister Yashpal Arya, the chief minister arrived at Rawat's residence on old Mussoorie Road in Rajpur to find out how he was doing after the accident. The former CM was hit by a biker while he was taking a walk outside his residence late last evening. However, he escaped nearly unhurt as the speeding vehicle brushed past him and he did not fall. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Turkey's prime minister announced a cabinet reshuffle today, replacing or swapping 11 ministers in the 26-member council of ministers, including the ministers for justice and defense. The announcement came months after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan regained the leadership of Turkey's ruling party following a narrow win in a referendum ushering in a series of constitutional changes. Erdogan had complained of a "fatigue" within the ruling party, speaking of a need for rejuvenation. Binali Yildirim named legislator Abdulhamit Gul as the new justice minister and former deputy prime minister Nurettin Canikli as the defense minister. They replace former minister for justice Bekir Bozdag and for defense Fikri Isik, who were both appointed deputy prime ministers. In all, four out of Turkey's five deputy prime ministers were replaced. Bozdag had largely overseen a major government crackdown following last year's failed military coup that Turkey has blamed on US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen. More than 50,000 people suspected of links to the coup or to Gulen have been arrested. The key ministries for the economy, finance, foreign affairs, the interior and European Union affairs remained unchanged. Yildirim appointed Julide Sarieroglu as the minister for labor and social security, raising the number of women in the Council of Ministers to two. Yildirim made the announcement following a previously unannounced meeting with Erdogan and described the reshuffle as a "change of blood." "I wish my new colleagues success and hope that our (new) Council of Ministers is beneficial to the country," Yildirim said. The referendum approved a series of constitutional changes abolishing the office of the prime minister and concentrating much of the executive powers in the hands of the president. While most of the changes will come into effect after the next general elections in 2019, one amendment came into effect immediately, scrapping laws that require the head of the state to sever ties with political parties. Erdogan was re-elected chairman of the ruling party in an extraordinary congress on May 21. The cabinet reshuffle is seen as a major step toward his cementing his authority and putting his mark on the government ahead of the 2019 elections. Erdogan co-founded the Justice and Development Party in 2001 and led it for more than a decade until he was elected president in 2014. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The governments of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh should work out a water-sharing agreement to take the Ken-Betwa River Link Project (KBLP) forward, Water Resources Minister said on Thursday. Bharti said in Lok Sabha the KBLP will irrigate an area of 6,35,661 hectares annually in three districts of Madhya Pradesh and four districts of Uttar Pradesh. In addition, the project will provide 49 million cubic metres of water for enroute drinking water supply to a population of 13.42 lakh in UP and MP. The project will also generate 78 MW power, she said during Question Hour. The status of the project was reviewed at a high-level meeting on July 4 with top officials of both the state governments where the MP government proposed that the Kotha barrage, Bina complex and Lower Orr Dam be included in the project. While the Lower Orr project is under examination of the Central Water Commission, the Detailed Project Report of Bina Complex is under appraisal of the CWC and the DPR of Kotha barrage has been submitted to the CWC. "This would also affect the initial allocation of water between the two states as per the 2005 agreement. It was therefore decided that both the state governments should work out an agreement on mutual water sharing to take KBLP forward. "The implementation of KBLP would be taken up once the two states have reached an agreement on water sharing," she said. Bharti said the Centre was ready to take up similar river linking projects in other parts of the country. In another blow to Pakistan, a key congressional panel has voted to adopt tougher benchmarks for it to receive US aid and authorised the secretary of state to suspend it if Islamabad fails to act against terror groups carrying out cross-border attacks into neighbouring countries. The House Appropriations Committee yesterday approved by voice vote the 2018 State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill, which seeks certification from Secretary of State Rex Tillerson for disbursement of US aid to Pakistan, making it conditional for Islamabad to take action against terrorist groups. The bill now heads to the House of Representatives for consideration. It provides USD 47 billion in regular discretionary and Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funding. This is USD 10 billion fewer than the amount earmarked for fiscal year 2017, when counting additional funds provided last year in the Security Assistance Appropriations Act. Within this amount, OCO funding totals USD 12 billion, which supports operations and assistance in areas of conflict, such as Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. The bill says that none of the funds appropriated by this Act under the 'Economic Support Fund', the 'International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement', and the 'Foreign Military Financing Programme' for Pakistan may be made available unless the secretary of state certifies to the committees that Islamabad is taking action against terrorist groups. Under the bill, the secretary of state is asked to certify that Pakistan is cooperating with the US in counter- terrorism efforts against the Haqqani network, the Quetta Shura Taliban, Lashkar-e-Tayba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, al-Qaeda, and others, including taking effective steps to prevent such terrorist groups from basing and operating in Pakistan and carrying out cross-border attacks into neighbouring countries. The secretary of state is also required to certify that Pakistan is not supporting terrorist activities against the US or coalition forces in Afghanistan, and Pakistan's military and intelligence agencies are not intervening extra-judicially into political and judicial processes in Pakistan. The certification needs to include that Pakistan is "not financing or supporting schools" linked to the Taliban or any designated terrorist group and that Islamabad is preventing the proliferation of nuclear-related material and expertise. The bill says the secretary of state should "suspend assistance" to Pakistan if it fails to make measurable progress in meeting its benchmarks. While the secretary of state can waive these conditions in the name of national interest, the draft bill says that funds appropriated by this Act under the 'Foreign Military Financing Programme' for Pakistan may be made available only to support counterterrorism and counterinsurgency capabilities in that country. Yesterday, the US had listed Pakistan among the nations providing "safe havens" to terrorists, saying terror groups like the LeT and JeM continued to operate, train, organise and fundraise inside the country. In its annual 'Country Report on Terrorism', the State Department said the Mumbai attack mastermind and UN-designated terrorist Hafiz Saeed continued to address large rallies, although in February 2017 Pakistan proscribed him under relevant provisions of Anti-Terrorism Act. Meanwhile, in an accompanying report, the House Appropriations Committee noted the continued importance of US assistance to secure and stabilise Afghanistan and Pakistan. Understanding that the staffing and programming requirements in these countries will remain under continuous review and, for that reason, the committee said it has not designated specific funding recommendations. The committee urged 'Voice of America' to consider expanding Sindh language broadcasting. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress veteran Shankarsinh Vaghela, said to be unhappy with his party, will make an important announcement and share his "feelings" with his supporters during a mega gathering on his birthday tomorrow in Gandhinagar. "Sulking" for not having been given a free hand for the party's campaign for the state assembly election due later this year, the former chief minister today visited Delhi for some "personal" work. He is expected to make an important announcement about his future course of action at tomorrow's event in the state capital. Vaghela had earlier slammed the state Congress over "lack of homework" for the assembly polls. The Leader of Opposition visited the national capital earlier in the day and on his return in the evening, he claimed that it was purely a "personal" visit and refused to divulge details about whom he met. When asked about the cross voting by Congress MLAs in favour of NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind, Vaghela claimed ignorance. "I voted for UPA nominee Meira Kumar. I don't know about cross voting. My Delhi visit was purely personal. It was not political," he told reporters at the airport. At least eight MLAs of the opposition Congress in BJP-ruled Gujarat appeared to have voted Kovind. On Tuesday, Vaghela had announced that he would hold a mega gathering of his supporters on his 77th birthday (July 21) to share his "feelings" and give a message. The gathering, which is scheduled to be held near Gandhinagar Town Hall, is being seen as his attempt to display his political might ahead of the assembly polls. However, Vaghela has maintained that it was not a "show of strength" against the Congress leadership. As the sudden move by him shook the state Congress, several leaders, including former state party president Siddharth Patel and AICC spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil, met him and urged him not to announce his retirement at the event tomorrow. Speculations are also rife that Vaghela has made his mind to part with Congress, if not retirement. When asked about Vaghela's next possible move, be it retirement or opening a new front by quitting Congress, his son and Congress MLA Mahendrasinh Vaghela said, "Wait and watch." Mahendrasinh, however, asserted that his father, fondly known as 'Bapu', will not announce retirement. "I know him not just as his son, but also as a Congress worker. Therefore, I can say that Bapu will never announce retirement. He will never leave active politics," Mahendrasinh told PTI. When asked if his father has made up his mind to quit Congress, Mahendrasinh said, "You need to wait till tomorrow". Vaghela had earlier said that all the 57 Congress MLAs along with two of NCP and one from JD(U) have been invited for the event in Gandhinagar tomorrow. "This is not a show of strength. I just wanted to respect the feelings of my supporters, especially those from my constituency Kapadvanj," he had said. However, the Congress has asked its party members and MLAs not to attend tomorrow's meeting. "We hope that no Congress MLAs or workers will attend the meeting," Siddarth Patel said. On June 24, while addressing a meeting of his supporters in Gandhinagar, Vaghela had said he would not follow the Congress leadership if it continued on its present suicidal path in Gujarat, where elections are due this year. "My problem with the party is they have done no planning to win Gujarat elections, when we know that it (elections) won't be delayed for even a month. Owners lack the foresight. They do not know what is going to happen tomorrow," he had said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today expressed grief over the loss of lives in a bus accident in Shimla and extended her sympathies to the bereaved families. "Extremely saddened at the of the bus accident in Shimla. My sympathies and condolences with the bereaved families," Banerjee wrote on her Twitter handle today. Fifteen passengers were killed and nine injured as a bus rolled into a 700-metre deep gorge in Rampur area of Shimla on the Hindustan-Tibet National Highway today. The bus carrying about 40 persons was on its way from Reckong Peo in Kinnaur to Nauni in Solan. The NDRF has been rushed to the spot to supervise relief and rescue operations. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Claiming that Congress was in a strong position in Chhattisgarh ahead of next year's Assembly elections, party general secretary P L Punia today said there was "no question of bringing back" those who had quit. Punia, on his first visit to the state after being appointed as Congress' Chhattisgarh in-charge, was speaking to reporters here. To a question about former chief minister Ajit Jogi, who quit Congress last year, he said, "There is no question of bringing back those who have left the party. "I believe that we will strengthen the Congress with those who are in the party with commitment, and form the next government," he said. "Congress is in a strong position in Chhattisgarh which is evident by its performance in the last Assembly elections. The party lost, but margin of defeat was very small. The difference between vote percentages (of BJP and Congress) was about 0.7 per cent," he said. "The top leadership of the state has pledged to work day and night to ensure victory in the next Assembly election. I am fully confident that party will form the government here," he said. Asked whether the Congress will focus on any particular community in the state, he said it would be contrary to the party's policy of taking along all sections. As to BJP president Amit Shah's exhortation to his party workers to win at least 65 out of 90 seats in Chhattisgarh Assembly, Punia said it was arrogance. "Shah thinks as if he will select (65 winning candidates) sitting at his home and then drop them here. It's people who decide (who wins)....Shah is talking about 65 seats but there are 90 seats in Chhattisgarh. So he should also disclose which 25 seats he would be losing," the Congress leader said. Congress has suffered three consecutive defeats in Chhattisgarh Assembly elections since 2003. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The talks between the AITUC and management of Neyveli Lignite Corporation in the presence of Deputy Labour Commissioner failed to find a solution to the ongoing strike by around 5,000 contract workers. The workers commenced indefinite strike from July 12 demanding 26 days work in a month and regularisation of their service. Central Assistant Labour Commissioner V R Ganesan, R Rajan, Deputy General Manager, NLC, and M Sekar, district secretary of AITUC participated in the talks in Puducuerry yesterday. Sekar told reporters reporters that the management of NLC refused to hike the number of working days to 26 from the present 19 days, following which the union decided to continue the agitation. The management told in the meeting that they could give 21 days work to a contract worker, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By Adam Jourdan NANJING, China (Reuters) - While Western drivers like the 'new car' smell fresh off the production line, Chinese would rather their cars didn't smell of anything - a cultural divide that's testing car makers seeking an edge to revive sales in the world's biggest auto market. At Ford Motor Co , for example, 18 smell assessors - dubbed "golden noses" - at its research plant outside the eastern city of Nanjing test the smell of each material that goes inside a Ford car to be sold in China and around Asia. The China smell test isn't unique, but illustrates the lengths automakers go to to attract buyers in markets where consumer attitudes vary widely. "In North America, people want a new car smell and will even buy a 'new car' spray to make older cars feel new and fresh. In China it's the opposite," says Andy Pan, supervisor for material engineering at the Ford facility, which employs around 2,300 people. The smell of a new car in China can have an outsized effect. A J.D. Power report last year showed that unpleasant car smells were the top concern for Chinese drivers, ahead of engine issues, road noise or fuel consumption. The smell assessors at Ford, whose China sales are down 7 percent this year, carry out 300 tests a year, a third more than their counterparts in Europe. They rate the odour of all materials used in a car from "not perceptible" to "extremely disturbing". Pungent materials - from carpets to seat covers and steering wheels - are noted as smelling of anything from "burnt tyre" and "bad meat" to "moth balls" or "dirty socks". Some are sent back to the supplier. Seats for Ford cars in China are stored in perforated cloth bags to keep them ventilated before being installed, as opposed to plastic wrapping in the U.S. market where consumers are less concerned about chemical smells. "The smell inside the car can often be pretty pungent," said Tom Lin, a 24-year-old high-school teacher in Zhejiang province, who bought a local Roewe brand car last October. He said there was still a bit of an odour six months later. "With the next car I buy, I'm going to take more care to check out any odd smells," he said. EXTRA EDGE To be sure, smell is just one factor for automakers to get right in China, where picky buyers are always looking for fresh car models and Beijing is making a big drive towards new energy vehicles. In a slower market - consultancy IHS forecasts vehicle sales will slip slightly this year - firms are looking for an extra edge to appeal to consumers, beyond price discounts, says IHS analyst James Chao. Local rivals Geely Automobile <0175.HK> and BYD Co Ltd <002594.SZ> tout their in-car air filters to protect drivers from China's harmful air pollution, and BMW says it is adding larger touch screens and tweaking colours to appeal to Chinese buyers. Smell is key though, reflecting a wider concern in China about chemicals and pollution. "When I lived in the United States I might look at the suspension or the engine," said Don Yu, China general manager at CGT, which makes materials to cover car seats and dashboards for General Motors , Volkswagen and Ford. "In China, though, people open the car and sit inside, if the smell isn't good enough they think it will jeopardise their health." For Ford's "golden noses" that means a strict routine. Testers undergo a tough selection process, proving themselves on blind smell tests before being chosen. "We have to have very healthy habits; we can't smoke, we can't drink," says one of the team, 33-year-old Amy Han, adding she avoids spicy food and doesn't wear nail polish, strong perfume or even a leather jacket to keep her smell sense sharp. (Reporting by Adam Jourdan, with additional reporting by Norihiko Shirouzu and SHANGHAI newsroom; Editing by Ian Geoghegan) (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) After the Union Cabinet approved the recommendations related to allowance structure under the Seventh Central Pay Commission and officially notified them, orders are being brought out to implement these recommendations. The Ministry of Finance recently released several orders to implement the revised rates of several allowances. Here's a look at the allowances that were talked about in these recent orders: More HRA Under implementation of awards under the 7th Pay Allowance, additional House Rent Allowance will be granted to central government employees posted in North-eastern states, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep Islands and Ladakh and have left their families behind at their old duty stations. These orders will also be applicable to civilian employees paid from Defence Services Estimates. The additional HRA will be paid from July 1, 2017 and will not be applicable to employees who have been transferred out of North-eastern states, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep Islands and Ladakh before this date. Ministries of Defence and Railways will release similar orders on their own for their respective employees to extend the benefits of the 7th Pay Commission. Tough Location Allowance The rates for Special Compensatory Allowances subsumed under Tough Location Allowance were also notified. Revised by the President under implementation of recommendations of 7th Pay Commission regarding allowances, these new rates of Special Compensatory (Remote Locality) Allowance, Bad Climate Allowance, Tribal Area Allowance, and Sunderban Allowance will be effective from July 1, 2017. Moreover, these rates will increase by 25 per cent whenever the Dearness Allowance goes up by 50 per cent. The statement by the government of India also listed the areas in various states where these new rates will be applicable. Conveyance Allowance Another statement by the Ministry of Finance stated that the President of India has also revised the rates of Conveyance Allowance under implementation of 7th Pay Commission recommendations. For central government employees travelling 201 km to 300 km every month by their own vehicle on official duty will be paid Rs 1680, whereas those covering the same distance by other modes of conveyance will be paid Rs 556. For an average monthly distance between 301 km and 450 km the allowances have been pegged at Rs 2520 (own vehicle) and Rs 720 (by other modes), between 451 km and 600 km it will be Rs 2980 (own vehicle) and Rs 960 (by other modes). Central government employees covering between 601 km and 800 km on official duty by their vehicles will receive Rs 3646 and Rs 1126 for travelling by other modes. If the distance exceeds 800 km, then the allowances granted will be Rs 4500 for using own vehicle and Rs 1276 if other modes of conveyance are used. Similar to Tough Location Allowance, the Conveyance Allowance will also be increased by 25 per cent when Dearness Allowance exceeds 50 per cent. Travelling Allowance The new rates of Travelling Allowance revised by the President were also released by the Ministry of Finance recently. The new rates will be put into effect from July 1, 2017 and will apply to reimbursement claims made by central government employees in relation to their travels on or after this date. The statement by the Finance Ministry stated that, "it may be noted that no additional funds will be provided on account of revision in TA/DA entitlements. It may therefore be ensured that permission to official travel is given judiciously and restricted only to absolutely essential official requirements." Deadline to rectify anomalies extended Meanwhile, Department of Personnel and Training has extended the deadline to receive complaints and rectify pay-related anomalies related to the awards of Seventh Central Pay Commission. The new deadline will now be February 15, 2018. This is the second time that the Centre has agreed to extend this deadline. Originally the deadline was August 15, 2016, which was pushed to November 15, 2016. After the Union Cabinet approved the recommendations of 7th Pay Commission regarding salaries on January 1, 2016, the Department of Personnel and Training had directed all central government departments to form committees that would look into pay-related anomalies arising out of the implementation of recommendations by the 7th Pay Commission. Also watch: A New Delhi doctor who was allegedly kidnapped by an Ola driver has been found in Meerut after 14 days, reported NDTV. According to the report, the accused Ola driver, held the doctor captive for 14 days and demanded a ransom of Rs 5 crore from the cab company. The report further stated that the doctor was kidnapped on July 6 on his way home to south Delhi. He was rescued on Wednesday after a major gunfight in Meerut. According to the police, a four member gang was involved in the incident. The gang was earlier tracked down by the teams of Delhi Police and Uttar Pradesh's Special Task Force near Haridwar and in Meerut but they somehow managed to go away. Later, the police traced them again, this time to a village in Meerut. The four kidnappers including the cab driver were arrested after a shootout that injured one of them, the report said. According to the report, the Delhi doctor booked an Ola on July 6 from East Delhi to South Delhi. However, instead of taking him on desired route, the Ola driver drove away near Dadri in Noida, where he was joined by his other gang members. The kidnappers made the first ransom call to Ola's call centre using his phone and demanded 5 crores. Another ransom call was also made to the private hospital. As proof, they also made a video of him on the phone camera and sent the clips to the doctor's family and private cab operator. Muslim women who wear hijab now have an emoji to represent them after a 16-year-old Saudi girl's proposed the idea to developers. Rayouf Alhumedhi had pitched the idea last year to The Unicode Consortium, a non-profit organisation that develops new emojis. Rayouf, who wears a hijab, was surprised that there was no emoji to represent her and other women like her who wear hijab. "The fact that there wasn't an emoji to represent me and the millions of other hijabi women across the world was baffling to me," the CNN quoted her as saying. On Monday July 17, which marked World Emoji Day, Apple Inc announced that had accepted the design along with others that include breast-feeding women of all skin colours and much more. Rayouf, who now lives in Vienna, was overjoyed to see the new emoji. "I'm really happy with what it looks like. I'm just so excited because it's finally came out after all the work, all the writing," she said. She said that she wanted the emoji to be available in different skin tones so that it could also different races. The 16-year-old had come up with the hijab emoji idea in Berlin, where she had first moved with her family from Saudi Arabia. In recent years, the Unicode Consortium has increased the number of official emoji to 2,666. The organisation has also made great efforts to include diverse skin tones, flags and occupations among its emojis. Alhumedhi says that this move will definitely help the Muslim community and will promote further tolerance. "But overall, I think the Muslim community will benefit from it. Even if only in terms of representation. It's only an emoji. It's not a game changer. But it will make people happy. I hope so," she said. Bajaj Auto on Thursday reported a 19.51 per cent decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 836.79 crore for the June quarter of current fiscal, on account of lower sales. It had posted net profit of Rs 1,039.70 crore in the April-June quarter of last fiscal. Bajaj Auto said in a BSE filing its total income from operations during the quarter under review stood at Rs 6,177.66 crore as against Rs 6,355.84 crore in the April-June quarter of 2016-17. The domestic industry, it said, was impacted during the June quarter of 2017-18 due to changeover from BS-III to BS-IV vehicles and transition to the new Goods and Services Tax. Total vehicles sales during the quarter declined 10.68 per cent to 8,88,434 units as against 9,94,733 units in the corresponding period of last fiscal. The company said its total exports, however, went up by 10.48 per cent to 4,09,525 units as against 3,70,649 units in the same quarter last fiscal. With regard to GST, Bajaj Auto said: "For dealers holding stocks as on June 30, estimated loss per motorcycle was around Rs 1,400 as CST, auto cess, entry tax in certain states and LBT would not be eligible for set-off under rules for transition to GST." The company said it provided for Rs 32 crore towards compensation to the dealers for transition to GST. Competition continued to build stocks at the dealerships and hence in June, performance measured on wholesale numbers was negative for the company and reflected a lower market share, it added. Jet Airways, India's second-largest airline by market share, has asked dozens of its junior-ranking pilots to accept 30-50 percent pay cuts, or quit, as it moves to bring down its costs, according to two sources and letters seen by Reuters. Jet Airways has proposed salary and stipend cuts in letters sent to pilots earlier this month, saying it was forced to take such steps as it was "intensely focused on fleet and network rationalisation". The move, to be implemented from Aug. 1, is likely to impact up to 400 pilots, said the two sources, who asked not to be named. A third source close to the development said Jet had to make some work adjustments with pilots, as it has rationalised its network given weakness in the Gulf region and improved fleet utilization. Jet Airways, which has the highest cost structure among all the major private-sector carriers in India, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Jet Airways has struggled to keep a lid on costs in one of the world's fastest-growing aviation markets where competition from low-cost carriers such as InterGlobe Aviation's (INGL.NS) IndiGo and SpiceJet (SPJT.BO) is on the rise and is putting it under pressure. The Indian airline, partly-owned by Etihad Airways of the United Arab Emirates, is also facing headwinds in the international market due to uncertainty in the oil-rich Gulf region which is hurting its revenues. Jet Airways, India's second-largest airline by market share, has asked dozens of its junior-ranking pilots to accept 30-50 percent pay cuts, or quit, as it moves to bring down its costs, according to two sources and letters seen by Reuters. Jet Airways has proposed salary and stipend cuts in letters sent to pilots earlier this month, saying it was forced to take such steps as it was "intensely focused on fleet and network rationalization". The move, to be implemented from Aug. 1, is likely to impact up to 400 pilots, said the two sources, who asked not to be named. A third source close to the development said Jet had to make some work adjustments with pilots, as it has rationalized its network given weakness in the Gulf region and improved fleet utilization. Jet Airways, which has the highest cost structure among all the major private-sector carriers in India, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Jet Airways has struggled to keep a lid on costs in one of the world's fastest-growing aviation markets where competition from low-cost carriers such as InterGlobe Aviation's (INGL.NS) IndiGo and SpiceJet (SPJT.BO) is on the rise and is putting it under pressure. The Indian airline, partly-owned by Etihad Airways of the United Arab Emirates, is also facing headwinds in the international market due to uncertainty in the oil-rich Gulf region which is hurting its revenues. Xiaomi's latest entrant in the smartphone industry, the Mi Max 2 will be going on its first sale on Mi India's official website. The website will also be celebrating Xiaomi's third anniversary in India. Mi Max 2 will be selling at Rs 16,999 and the sale will start at 10 am. Xiaomi has been pretty aggressive in India this year. Starting January, the company has launched three Redmi devices - Redmi Note 4 followed by Redmi 4 and Redmi 4A, and another ecosystem product Router 3C. The company has now announced the launch of the Mi Max 2, a successor to the last year's Mi Max. This new phablet has been priced at Rs 16,999 and will be available in offline as online channel simultaneously. The Mi Max 2 has got a full metal unibody design with rounded edges, that makes it easier to hold. It weighs 211 gram and is 7.6 mm thin. Boasting a massive 6.44inch full HD Display at the front, Xiaomi claims to have designed it to offer a better experience while watching videos, gaming or even while working. It even has a split screen view that can be used to have two apps on screen at the same time. The Mi Max 2 is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor paired with 2GB of RAM and 64GB onboard storage. Running MIUI 8 based on Android Nougat out of the box, Mi Max 2 will receive MIUI 9. It has a 12MP Sony IMX386 sensor with enhanced low light photography at the rear and a 5MP camera at front. Powered by a massive 5300mAh battery, it supports Quick Charge 3, which can charge 68 per cent of the battery in just one hour. As per the company claims, a full charge can last close to two days. The 6inch plus category is becoming popular with offerings from Samsung, Sony, Lenovo, Micromax, Oppo amongst others, available across different price categories. Xiaomi is expanding its service network and had 500 service centres across the country. The brand is also focusing on service and claims to resolve 95 per cent complains in a day and 86 per cent in four hours of receiving them. In addition, the company has three factories and two warehouses for spare parts for speeding repairs. Since the launch in July 2014 in India, Xiaomi has employees over 10,000 people across its production lines, R&D, warehouse and call centres. The company also plans to host its 3rd Anniversary sale on July 21 and July 22, where the Mi Max 2 will also be available. In fact, since coming back to university for my PhD, I've been really excited to find many books about PNG history in the university library. It's interesting to read about pre-colonial PNG, the German and Australian eras, and the road to independence. I'm a PhD student and lecturer at a Bond University in Australia, having spent most of the 1990s attending high school in PNG. I BELIEVE I can shed some light on why the Australian media doesn't properly report on Papua New Guinea. I have learned more about PNG history in the last year than I ever did in high school in PNG (I do wonder what I would have learned had I been in a public high school instead of an international private school). Reading between the foregoing lines, you should be getting an inkling of a problem I'm hinting at. All those books are about PNG history. Almost all the literature ends in 1975. There's just a few books that discuss PNG history and politics since then, along with a few videos documenting Bougainville. These sources don't go into much detail. There aren't any books that try to address pointed and difficult questions about the instability of the political system. PNG is only relevant as a recipient of Australian aid, and even then it's seemingly not relevant enough to investigate in depth. In Bond Universitys well-regarded program of international relations, we do not have on offer any subject that would concentrate on the Pacific, and certainly not on PNG. Now this situation could be dismissed as unrepresentative. Bond is, after all, just one university, and it's a small private university at that. But it is well-regarded, with a well-regarded international relations program, so certainly not completely unrepresentative. I think if we looked at other Australian universities, we would find a similar situation. Some may have a bit more literature on PNG, and some may even offer courses about Australia's Pacific neighbourhood, but for the most part they concentrate on other parts of the world that inexplicably are considered more relevant to Australia's present and future than a growing and unstable nation next door, which happens to have once been a part of the Commonwealth of Australia. People in the Australian media, like the Australian foreign service, in the main come from universities - Australian universities. The ones that provide students with limited opportunity, and even more limited motivations, to learn about PNG. The question remaining at the end of the day is about chicken and egg: is PNG irrelevant to Australia because Australians don't learn about PNG, or do they not learn about it because they don't consider it relevant? And what will it take to change this situation? Just what would induce Australia to consider PNG as sufficiently relevant to become a discussion point again, as it was pre-independence? Even Manus seems not to have achieved anything in this regard. Then, throughout this year and next, the House of Representatives will get individual MPs to declare the status of a number of important issues: weapons disposal, reconciliation and unification; implementation of autonomy; consultation and referendum matters; and public awareness of the process of conducting the referendum. Paragraph 3 highlights that each members obligations (prepare for the referendum, fulfill the requirements of the Bougainville Peace Agreement etc), then report back to the Bougainville Parliament. AN Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) paper entitled, Motion setting out the process to declare Constituency Referendum Ready, dated 7 September 2016 states in Paragraph 1 that the leader of government business wants all members of the House of Representatives to declare their respective constituencies Referendum Ready by the 31 December 2018. As a Bougainvillean, I belong to two constituencies - Ioro in Kieta and Baubake in Buin. My observation of progress on the foregoing tasks is that more commitment is needed by all members of the ABG. Time is running out. In the Ioro constituency of Panguna, the member has been touring with cronies in the name of awareness. But, in reality, the awareness gatherings hardly ever eventuate, although there are boozing sprees. I attending one awareness meeting to discover that it lacked content audience and consideration of the audience. They were speaking to mature, educated adults not illiterates or children. In Baubake, I have seen no such visit by the sitting member to my village of Nakorei. However, the outreach by local radio service New Dawn FM is providing useful information. In my observation, members are also falling short on weapons disposal and containment and good governance. They need to strategise and develop concrete information and arguments because, if Papua New Guinea wants Bougainville to have a free and fair referendum, it has to get rid of the guns and corruption. PNG is breaching the peace agreement by not honouring its funding commitments to Bougainville. PNG is also using delaying tactics to impede the referendum and autonomy processes. PNG was born out of Bougainville money from Panguna. We Bougainvilleans want commitments honoured to give us the capacity to determine the future of Bougainville and its people. | BY Ricki Green | Customer experience firm, Kalido has recruited Simon Dakin (left) as its new strategic account executive where he will be responsible for driving new business in the area of data centric, digital customer experiences. Dakin brings his 15 years of experience to Kalido having previously been head of digital and eCommerce at Thrifty Car Rental, and leading digital transformation projects at Transport for NSW. Says Joel Norton, CEO, Kalido: Kalido is a new breed of customer experience firm, and as we continue to grow we need people on our team who can think strategically in this space. Simon brings strong skills and experience to Kalido, including a great technical ability, an entrepreneurial mindset, together with an understanding of what clients need. Says Dakin: What attracted me to Kalido was the opportunity to work on digital transformation projects with some of the great brands that Kalido has partnered with, as well as leading technology partners such as Salesforce, Sitecore and Acquia. Kalido is evolving rapidly to become a leading force in data driven communications, digital experience platforms and marketing automation. Im looking forward to being part of their continued growth and having the opportunity to help Kalido build the future. Dakin will report into Az Yousaf, general manager of the digital platform team. Kalido has grown considerably in the past 12 months to now have over 60 team members across four offices (Sydney, Melbourne, Singapore and Hong Kong). Kalido is also the only Platinum Salesforce Marketing Cloud Partner in the Asia Pacific region, and is a certified partner for Sitecore and Acquia digital experience platforms. Says Norton: Were continuing to grow our position in the Australian market as a customer experience firm that is both strong in strategy development and delivery, and backed by world class technology. In addition to bringing on board Simon, in the past six months we have also added new team members to our South-East Asia team following new client wins. The firm continues to attract high calibre clients and works with brands such as Myer, Cotton On, Crown Resorts, LOreal, Tigerair, BP, AXA and Luxasia. PHOENIX A judge on Wednesday rejected a bid by Arizona Public Service to let the Arizona Corporation Commission vote on the company's rate hike request before he considers claims by one utility regulator that he has a right to question company executives about their political influence over the panel. Utility attorney Mary O'Grady told Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Daniel Kiley that he cannot consider the legal bid by Bob Burns to subpoena APS officials until the pending rate case is completed. She said only after the commission acts on and presumably approves the deal in place involving 29 different parties can Burns contend he has a right to subpoena top utility officials. But that would undermine Burns' efforts to discover whether the utility, through its political spending on behalf of other commissioners, has improperly influenced them now that they are weighing how much more money to allow APS to collect from its customers. Potentially more significant, it would keep Burns from discovering whether the other commissioners have conflicts of interest because of APS financial support, support that could preclude them from considering higher APS rates in the first place. Bill Richards, who is Burns' attorney, told Capitol Media Services that what O'Grady sought would make what his client is trying to do meaningless. The harm that's being done right now is that commissioner Burns is not being allowed to investigate something he has a right to investigate, the public has a right to know about, all in connection with whether APS improperly influenced sitting commissioners, Richards said. He said putting off that legal question until after the rate case is complete means the harm already has been done. Now people are being charged if there's a rate increase that's been approved, he explained. Now you're sort of battling all that after the fact, Richards continued. It's a little bit difficult to put the genie back in the bottle at that point. Kiley rebuffed O'Grady's bid for delay. The judge said the only reason he put Burns' lawsuit seeking subpoenas on hold in May was to give the full commission a chance to consider his request. Kiley said once the other commissioners voted last month to block those subpoenas, there is no longer any reason to keep Burns from pursuing his lawsuit. Kiley's ruling comes as Burns is seeking to widen the case. His original lawsuit sought only to compel officials from APS and parent company Pinnacle West Capital Corp. to provide documents and answer questions about their political, lobbying and charitable spending. Now Burns wants to add the other four commissioners as defendants and get Kiley to rule that he has the right to call and question witnesses in the pending APS rate case the case O'Grady wants resolved first no matter what the other commissioners say. Central to the issue are questions about who put $3.2 million into the 2014 race to help secure the election of Republicans Tom Forese and Doug Little. The two organizations that did independent expenditures on their behalf contend that their status as social welfare organizations under federal tax law means they need not disclose their donors. APS officials will not confirm nor deny they were behind any of that cash. So Burns wants to question them, under oath, about whether they used ratepayer-generated funds to capture the allegiance or influence the actions or attitudes of commissioners or candidates, with the ultimate goal of the utility to unreasonably and improperly increase the cost of utility services to APS's customers. In his latest pleadings, Burns said his concerns are more than pure speculation. He pointed out that Pinnacle West, in a disclosure to the Securities and Exchange Commission, acknowledged it has received federal grand jury subpoenas which seek information principally pertaining to the 2014 statewide general election races in Arizona for secretary of state and for positions on the ACC. And those subpoenas seek records involving certain Pinnacle West officers and employees including CEO Don Brandt. Richards said Burns is entitled to ask questions, as just the risk of APS being pulled into a criminal investigation creates material risks of economic instability for the utility. Such disruptions can include the devotion of substantial executive time, worry and resources defending against a criminal investigation, or the disruptions that would obviously occur in management should such investigation result in criminal prosecution, and especially conviction, of any shared APS or Pinnacle West executives, Richards wrote. That leaves the legal question for Kiley: Can Burns issue and enforce his subpoenas. Richards wants the judge to rule that the subpoenas are appropriate and lawful. More to the point, he wants the judge to say that Burns is not required to get authorization from any other commissioners or the panel as a whole. Burns is not only seeking information on whether Forese and Little are disqualified from voting on the pending APS rate request. He also has pointed out that APS publicly admitting it spent $4.2 million this year to ensure that neither Bill Mundell nor Tom Chabin, both Democrats, would be elected to the commission. That, he said, benefited Republicans Andy Tobin and Boyd Dunn. And while Burns, also up for election, also was a beneficiary, he contends that was only because there were three seats up for grabs and Brandt feared the election of Democrats who would vote with Burns to enforce the subpoenas. The other commissioners have denied they have any conflict. But even if they did, they argued that Burns has no legal standing to challenge them, saying that right belongs only to those with an interest in the outcome of the rate case. But Richards said that's not a problem, even if that is the case: He said Burns is an APS customer. | BY Ricki Green | Melbourne independent 10 feet tall has launched a new campaign for emerging Chinese car maker Haval. As buying a house becoming increasingly out of reach for young Australians, our appetite for luxury SUVs continues to grow. So you can be forgiven for thinking that sooner or later something has to give. But with the introduction of the new H6, Haval, is set to assure the average Australian that they have nothing to worry about. Its timely new campaign positions the vehicle to as affordable luxury that savvy young families dont have to sell the house for, and light-heartedly challenges the wisdom of buying a more traditional luxury brand in todays world. The integrated campaign has launched via television, digital and social media. Says Joseph Meseha, managing director, 10 feet tall: Housing affordability and quality of life for the average family remain two of the key topics in todays news. Haval is timing their growth in our market beautifully with thoughtfully designed, well-made, great value vehicles. Theyre definitely a feel-good brand. Client: HAVAL Motors Australia Tim Smith: Chief Marketing Officer Bill Soo: Marketing Manager Tessa Spanneberg: Marketing, Digital & Social Media Agency: 10 Feet Tall Murray White: Executive Creative Director Stuart Black: Creative Director/Writer Matt Toebelmann: Art Director George Kalogerakos: Creative Service Director Joseph Meseha: Managing Director Magnus Nilsson Strategy Director Pia Moore: Client Services Director Sam Fletcher: Account Manager Production Company: The Woolshed Company Murray White: Director Brad Francis: DoP Dave Christison: Producer | BY Ricki Green | Jackie Elliott (far right) has been awarded Top Student at the Queensland 2017 AWARD School graduation ceremony, which took place at The Gunshop Cafe in Brisbane last night. Elliott is now in the running for Top Student at the National AWARD School Competition, with the chance to win a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet David Droga in NYC. The national winner will be announced on Monday 7 August in Sydney. Second place was awarded to James Southey (second from left). Before a crowd of industry professionals and supporters, QLD AWARD School Heads Joshua Bartlett and Sam Boyd of Y&R Group Brisbane congratulated the class of 14 graduates on completing the 12 week intensive course. Commenting on the calibre of this years students, Bartlett said: A recurring theme among our QLD students is just how supportive of each other they are throughout the entire course, and this year was no exception. It shows you dont have to be full of bravado and ego to produce killer ideas in this industry, which is indicative of the Brisbane market overall. Says Boyd: We are very proud of this years crop of advertislings and wish them all the best in their future endeavours. Bartlett and Boyd also took the opportunity to thank this years lecturers, tutors and judges for their time and support over the 12 week course. Says Cristian Staal, creative director of Clemenger Brisbane and a judge on this years judging panel: Since Ive been involved with Brisbane Award School there is normally maybe three clear contenders with one to two standouts. This year, we had seriously talented judges in the room arguing over five books on the winners table. While we can only have one winner in Brisbane, some of the students have already landed creative roles before the final placings. So Id say its been a very successful year. This years five state winners from Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane will have their books reviewed by the National Competition Super Jury, comprising leading creatives from around the world. The National Competition coincides with the 30th anniversary of a teenage David Droga, Founder and Creative Chairman of renowned agency Droga5, winning Top Student at AWARD School in 1987. To mark the occasion, AWARD School will fly the national winner to NYC to meet David Droga and to compare their winning portfolios from 1987 and 2017. Dates for all graduation ceremonies are as follows: QLD Wednesday 19 July NSW Tuesday 25 July VIC Wednesday 26 July SA Thursday 27 July WA Friday 28 July National Announcement (in Sydney) Monday 7 August 2017 AWARD School QLD Tutors: Samuel Boyd (Y&R Group) Joshua Bartlettt (Y&R Group) Brendan Greaney (Y&R Group) Jim Mckeown (Y&R Group) Andrew Thompson (Y&R Group) Cristian Staal (Clemenger) Erin Core (Clemenger) Rob Hudson (Clemenger) Mike Lange (Cutting Edge) Ryan Petie (PublicisQ) Piet Human (Brother & Co) Kirsten Twigg (Sapient Nitro) Nancy Hartley (Rumble) James Burchill (Rumble) Phil Nobay (Ogilvy) Kelly wins race for Arizona senator defeating Masters Democratic incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly defeated Republican challenger Blake Masters in the U.S. Senate race in Arizona, a relief to the Democratic Party, which is trying to keep the GOP from retaking the upper chamber of Congress. "I don't think it's in any way, shape or form good enough to turn it over to the community. We need experts to spend a good amount of time finding out what is going on in our schools and trying to find the answers to explain why we're seeing the results that we're seeing." Yes, you can transfer your domain to any registrar or hosting company once you have purchased it. Since domain transfers are a manual process, it can take up to 5 days to transfer the domain. Domains purchased with payment plans are not eligible to transfer until all payments have been made. Please remember that our 30-day money back guarantee is void once a domain has been transferred. For transfer instructions to GoDaddy, please click here. The first freight train from Prague to Yiwu sets of on Wednesday on its 16-day journey. FU JING/ CHINA DAILY The first freight train between Prague and Yiwu, the famous commodity distribution hub in China's Zhejiang province, left the capital of the Czech Republic on Wednesday morning. The inauguration of the freight link has been hailed by both Czech President Milos Zeman and Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka as another important milestone in bilateral cooperation under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative. They hailed the project on Tuesday at the annual China Investment Forum, where Liu Yunshan, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, delivered a keynote speech. Officials from Yiwu say the landlocked Czech Republic has great links to European countries all around it. "The Czech Republic has its special geographic advantage, and within 1,000 kilometers, nearly the whole of Europe is covered," said Lin Yi, the mayor of Yiwu. On Wednesday, Lin introduced a cooperation blueprint between his city and the Czech Republic in the presence of provincial governor Yuan Jiajun and Chinese Ambassador to the Czech Republic Ma Keqing. Lin said his city aims to boost the frequency of the freight trains. "Ideally, we hope everyday there will be a train leaving respectively from Prague and Yiwu for each other," Lin said. Wednesday's train had more than 80 containers of crystal products, auto components, and beer. It will take 16 days to reach its destination."The duration is much shorter compared with shipping at sea, though the cost will be higher," said Lin. "Now, more and more auto producers have started this way of transport, to distribute components in China." With support from the provincial government, Yiwu plans to build a huge logistics center in the Czech Republic. Lin said the project will generate about 3,000 jobs. Zeman, a strong supporter of the Belt and Road Initiative, said he expects the freight express between Prague and Yiwu to boost the export of Czech agricultural products. Since the Belt and Road Initiative was launched in 2013, freight trains have been running between many Chinese and European cities. Before Yiwu explored the geographic importance of the Czech Republic, some cities in Germany and Poland played a bigger role in the increased freight movements. Forest fires are picking up once again in California. The cause this time: rain and snow. Really, rain and snow? OK, perhaps not exclusively, but yes, as counterintuitive as it would seem, the weeks of precipitation that ended the states drought in the spring also laid the groundwork for a surge in fires. What happened is the deluge sparked a greening of bushes, grasses and shrubs like no one has seen in California in years; when the storms then ended and the temperatures started to soar to around 100 degree Fahrenheit for days at a time all of that newly sprouted foliage quickly dried out. And that provided the perfect fuel source to turn a stray spark into a raging fire. We have this abundant grass crop now, and we have not had this type of fuel in many years, said Amy Head, spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, CalFire for short, in Sacramento. It is dry everywhere, it is thick, it is abundant and there is a lot of it. Some 2,905 fires started between Jan. 1 and July 9, burning more than 68,129 acres on state and local lands, more than double the five-year average of 27,390 acres and the 30,574 that burned by the same date last year. When you throw in areas maintained by the U.S. Forest Service, the total acreage aflame or scorched across the state rises to 92,439 acres. Governor Jerry Brown declared an emergency in Santa Barbara County where two fires have forced people from their homes, threatened agriculture and could even sever major power lines and drive up electricity prices. Power Prices Transmission lines are ubiquitous in California, seemingly rising and falling over almost every hill. When one of those lines is cut, the supply is separated from its demand like last Thursday, when 1,000 megawatts of electricity coming in from Oregon were cut off from customers in California by a fire burning near the state line, said David Quinn, a power-market analyst specializing in California at Genscape Inc. in Boston. Or sometimes, Quinn said, power will be traveling from the southern part of the state to customers in the north when a fire interrupts the line. Thatll cause electricity prices at the destination to surge while the south finds itself awash in excess electricity. Summer fires in California arent anything new, of course. Around this time of year the West in general tends to start burning, said Robyn Heffernan, a National Weather Service fire weather science meteorologist in Boise, Idaho. What is new is that the numbers and intensity of fires seem to be rising, a consequence of climate change, Head said. Longer Burning They are much longer-burning, much hotter and much faster-spreading, she said. There are parts of California that dont go out of fire season. In 2008, when lightning touched off more than 1,400 fires across the state in a single night, then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said repeatedly that the state went from seeing many of its fires in the late summer and fall to a year-round fire season. This year, the wet weather has played a big role. California pulled out of a six-year drought when rain and snow fell across the state, setting records in some areas. Snow acts like water in the bank, melting in the spring to help fill reservoirs and help plants grow. Across the West, residents remarked about how green the hillsides were. Now the heat is coming back. Since June 1, the temperature has hit 100 or more at least 11 times in Sacramento, Californias capital, 19 times in Fresno and 14 times in Modesto, National Weather Service records show. A lot of grass and brush has cured out and is available to burn, Heffernan said. Vulnerable Trees These type of plants grow at lower elevations, making the valleys ripe for fire outbreaks. While trees up in the higher altitudes tend to loose moisture slower than grasses, helping defend them from fire, they, too, are vulnerable now because tree-killing bark beetles ran wild during the states drought. Theres 100 million dead trees at last count, Head said. It is dead, standing, dry timber that isnt coming back. Temperatures are rising, the air is drying out and on Monday red-flag warnings the weather services alert for fire danger covered much of Northern California into Nevada. Its only July and we have the potential for a very, very busy fire season, Head said. Copyright 2022 Bloomberg. Nearly 100 traffic stops were made during a period of increased enforcement on Highway 77 in the Cortland area. The Gage County Sheriffs Office was previously awarded a grant from the Nebraska Department of Roads Highway Safety Administration to conduct selective traffic enforcement from June 26 to July 10. The deputies worked various shifts throughout a two week enforcement period, according to a press release from the department. They dedicated 18 hours to traffic enforcement in the area, resulting in 91 traffic stops of vehicles speeding through town. Deputies checked each driver for warrants and driving status and took appropriate enforcement action, including issuing citations, written warnings, equipment repair citations or arrests. Traffic stops during this period resulted in various other offenses as well, from a felony warrant arrest to driving under suspension. The grant was awarded following reports of vehicles not slowing down for the reduced speed limit in town being forwarded to a deputy who resides in the area. The speed limit on Highway 77 drops from 65 mph to 45 mph through the area. The deputy spoke with village board members regarding the complaints he had received and the village board also had received numerous complaints. The 2018 Buick LaCrosse just received a new entry-level model with eAssist but dont expect the Regal to take a similar approach. In an interview with Wards Auto, Buick and GMC Vice President Duncan Aldred revealed the company purposely avoided adding hybrid technology to the Regal in North America. As he explained, I honestly dont see demand for such a system in the United States. Aldred also dismissed the possibility of a diesel engine as he doesnt believe it would be a good fit for Buick. The executive probably has a point but General Motors is one of the few companies to fully embrace diesel engines as they offer diesel versions of the Canyon, Colorado, Cruze, and Equinox. Things could change in the future as Buick is popular in China where the government pushes eco-friendly vehicles. As a result, Aldred said the company could quickly respond with an electrified variant if there was increased demand in the United States and Canada. Nothing is official, but the executive is likely talking about the upcoming Regal 30H which will be launched in China with GMs latest electrification technology. Photo Gallery The Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) non-profit legal center has filed a class action lawsuit against Uber as 99.9 per cent of its fleet is inaccessible to people with mobility disabilities in New York City. Filed in the New York Supreme Court in Manhattan, the lawsuit claims that the ride-hailing service has violated anti-discrimination law as just 100 of Ubers 58,000 vehicle fleet in the city offer the lifts or ramps necessary to transport people with mobility-assistive devices including wheelchairs. The embattled company offers a service for disabled users dubbed UberWAV but the lawsuit claims it is insufficient and is asking for equal access to Uber services for those with disabilities. UberWAV makes up only .1% of the 58,000 vehicle fleet. Its just window dressing designed to skirt anti-discrimination laws. Uber must not be allowed to operate in New York City in a discriminatory manner. It must ensure its convenience and benefits are available to all people equally, said DRAs Michelle Caiola. Speaking to Engadget about the lawsuit, Uber released a statement admitting that there is work to be done. Ubers technology has expanded access to reliable transportation options for all riders, including those with disabilities and has enabled people with disabilities to earn income in new ways. While there is certainly more work to be done, we will continue advocating for a solution that offers affordable, reliable transportation to those who need a wheelchair accessible vehicle. Photo: Facebook - Leah's Fight is Our Fight Over $400,000 was raised to help Leah Wiebe's fight against Leukemia. An entire community has rallied around a sick mother of two, raising over $400,000 for a new treatment trial in Seattle. Leah Wiebe, a 29-year-old Terrace woman, was diagnosed with a particularly aggressive form of leukemia in spring 2016, and has been battling the disease for over a year. After several treatments proved ineffective, doctors determined that Wiebe's only remaining option was to try a new treatment, CAR T-cell therapy, that's offered at the Fred Hutch Cancer Centre in Seattle. Doctors gave Wiebe mere weeks to live, but the Fred Hutch Cancer Centre required a $650,000 deposit to cover anticipated expenses before she could be admitted. Several Terrace businesses rallied around the cause, hosting fundraisers, and thousands of people donated money. A YouCaring crowd funding page has raised over $312,000 while a separate GoFundMe page has raised over $54,000. All combined, total donations reached more than $400,000. While an unbelievable amount, it still wasn't the needed $650,000, but on July 13, the government stepped in to help. The Ministry of Health reviewed Wiebe's case and approved funding for her out-of-country medical expenses. With this announcement, Wiebe will be heading to Seattle to take part in the trial, and will use some of the funds raised to pay for accommodations, travel and the cost of living while in Seattle. Wiebe's future is still very much uncertain. If it turns out that Leah is healed/cured the remaining funds beyond Ryan and Leah's immediate family needs will be given to help other Leukemia patients who find themselves facing the same life threatening financial challenges Ryan and Leah faced, wrote Leah's family on her YouCaring fundraising page Monday. We are very grateful for everything that all of you have done to help save Leah and help her family. Photo: Okanagan Community Watch Puppies rescued from a puppy breeding mill in the Cariboo. The BC SPCA has taken care of 15 malnourished pit bull puppies and is investigating an alleged puppy mill. Senior animal protection officer Kathy Woodward said she was notified about a Facebook post by Okanagan Community Watch alleging animal cruelty and offering the pups for adoption. The SPCA has since seized the animals. I have 30 purebred blue nose pit bull puppies that need homes. They're 10 weeks (old) and need love and good homes, OCW posted on July 17. Five adult dogs and 10 puppies are now in the care of the SPCA, which believes the puppy mill was located in the wildfire evacuation area of 70 Mile and 100 Mile House. There are serious health concerns with the group over all, said Woodward. All of the dogs are malnourished and many have ear infections. Several are in foster care and the remainder at the Salmon Arm shelter. The dogs will be kept in the care of the SPCA as the investigation continues. When they become available for adoption, it will be posted on the SPCA's main adoption web page. Woodward said she would like to speak with the organizers of the Facebook group, but they have not responded. Okanagan Community Watch was previously operated by the controversial Soldiers of Odin. Photo: Prince George Detachment The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. has been called to Prince George after a man died about an hour after he was arrested by RCMP. Prince George RCMP responded to a call Tuesday of a man that was reportedly "casing vehicles" in a parking lot. When police located the suspect he attempted to flee on a bicycle. The lone police officer on scene called for backup because a struggle allegedly ensued between the officer and the man. After the officer put in a distress call, several other members arrived on scene. Pepper spray was used during the course of police's interaction with the man and he was placed inside a police car. Police requested immediate medical assistance after the man they arrested began to have a hard time breathing. When the ambulance arrived, the man collapsed after being taken out of the police car. The man was pronounced dead in hospital, just after midnight. The matter is now under investigation by the IIO to determine if there is a connection between the man's death and the actions of the police. Photo: Contributed The governing Liberals can bank on opposition, at least from this area, over plans for credit unions. In last weeks report, I raised the fact that Ottawa will restrict credit unions from using terms such as bank, banker and banking. The reaction from citizens: an overwhelming opposition and, in many cases, bewilderment. I should also add that the sheer number of responses I heard was also significant. Clearly, this is an issue that many in our region have strong feelings about. What can be done about it? The legislation that allows Ottawa to restrict credit unions from using these words is contained in the Bank Act. I am drafting a Private Members Bill to amend the Bank Act that will remove these language restrictions and allow credit unions to continue to operate as they have for many decades now. Unfortunately, the order that Private Members Bills can be debated in the House of Commons is decided by a lottery style draw that does not allow this bill to be presented in a timely manner. In the interim, a local citizen is insetting up an online petition approved by the House of Commons that people can sign online. If there is strong support for this petition, I am hopeful that the Liberal government will either amend the Bank Act to remove this attack on credit unions or intervene and ask that the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions review this enforcement decision. Almost without exception, I have not heard any support for restricting credit unions from using terms like bank, banker or banking. As one citizen wondered: will food banks be targeted by Ottawa next? My question this week: would you support my Private Members Bill to amend the Bank Act and by extension would you be willing to sign an online petition opposing this attack on our credit unions? I can be reached at [email protected] or call toll free 1-800-665-8711 This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet. Photo: CTV The body of Greg Tiffin was found in Statlu Lake Tuesday, while Sophie Dowsley remains missing. The body of one of the two hikers missing north of Harrison Hot Springs has been found, a week after the search for the couple began. Search and rescue crews discovered the body of 44-year-old Greg Tiffin in Statlu Lake Tuesday, but his girlfriend, 34-year-old Sophie Dowsley, remains missing. All search resources remain engaged as we continue to look for the missing woman, said RCMP Cpl. Mike Rail. RCMP remain in close contact with the victims and missing womans families. The pair set out for a day hike on July 8, but a search for them didn't begin until four days later, when their truck was discovered near a trailhead by Harrison Hot Springs. Dowsley's sunglasses were found on a rock at the top of Statlu Falls and items belonging to Tiffin were found below the waterfall. Officials have said there have been fatalities at the waterfall in the past. Dowsley is from Australia, and her parents have recently flown to Canada. It's the worst possible nightmare that you could imagine, Peter Dowsley, the missing woman's father, told CTV News Sunday. I couldn't dream of anything worse. - with files from CTV Vancouver Photo: transmountain.com The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion remains on track to begin construction in September, Kinder Morgan Canada president Ian Anderson said Wednesday in the face of environmental and political opposition that threatens to derail the project. Anderson, speaking on Kinder Morgan Canada's first quarterly earnings call since it went public in May, said he looks forward to working with the new NDP government of Premier John Horgan. In Horgan, Anderson faces a premier that has vowed to use whatever means he can to stop the $7.4-billion project because of environmental concerns. But for weeks, Horgan has not elaborated on how he would bring the development to a halt. "I'm not going to speculate on what an NDP government might do in British Columbia at this stage in order to advance their views," Anderson said. Experts have said that while the Trans Mountain expansion has secured federal and provincial approvals the previous B.C. Liberal government endorsed the project the New Democrats can disrupt it by delaying or denying permits, which Anderson noted Kinder Morgan is trying to secure. "We continue to need a good number of local permits from British Columbia, and Alberta for that matter, as they relate to crossings, road crossings, utility access, Crown land, etc.," he said. The twinning of the Trans Mountain pipeline would nearly triple the capacity of the 1,150-kilometre line running from Edmonton to Burnaby to 890,000 barrels of oil per day. Anderson said the expansion is expected to be complete in 2019. Photo: The Canadian Press John Horgan has been British Columbia's premier for less than a day and already the requests are flooding in, as various groups compete to get their respective wish lists into the new government. Glen Hansman, head of the B.C. Teachers' Federation, offered his congratulations to the new government Wednesday as he highlighted a shortfall in promised funding needed to hire teachers and organize classes mere weeks before the academic year is scheduled to start. "We're going to have to be patient. Miracles aren't going to happen overnight," Hansman said. "But I'm hopeful that over the summer the incoming government will be able to provide a bit more money to school districts." Various environmental groups applauded the government's commitment to investing in clean economic growth, including Clean Energy Canada, GreenPAC, Ancient Forest Alliance and the Pembina Institute. Horgan's government also received greetings from the Business Council of B.C. and three advocacy groups for the province's mining industry. "We look forward to working with the new government to progress (on) key issues, such as access to land, capital and public geoscience to enable mineral explorers and developers to continue conducting their important work," said Edie Thome, head of the Association for Mineral Exploration. On July 12 the Northeast Wyoming Sage Grouse Working Group toured an area that had been the focus of coalbed methane development. The area toured was near Crazy Woman Creek, off the Tipperary Road, northeast of Buffalo. The coalbed methane industry has faltered and practically disappeared from northeast Wyoming and, in many cases, the land has been reclaimed. A group of researchers from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, have been studying sage grouse in the area for a number of years. The studies have tried to identify sage grouse habitat requirements and to document habitat use over the years. Prior to the present studies the University of Montana had been doing research under the direction of professor Dave Naugle. Naugle's students, Kevin Doherty and Bret Walker, concentrated on the effects of coalbed methane development on sage grouse, as well as West Nile Virus research. The primary investigator now is Brad Fedy, a well-known wildlife biologist with a knack for being able to identify and quantify a large number of variables in a complex habitat equation. Fedy's graduate student, Chris Kirol, has been involved with the project for the past couple of years. Kirol has helped design and implement a study that can pinpoint what makes an area attractive to sage grouse and what factors detract from it. In addition to investigating sage grouse habitat requirements, Fedy is also researching the sagebrush obligate passerine bird species with the help of other University of Waterloo students. Incidentally, an obligate species needs nearly the same habitat as sage grouse. The field trip was well organized and entailed our group hiking a half mile or so along a reclaimed access road to a ridge that overlooked three reclaimed coalbed methane well sites. The hike on the access road revealed quite a variety of grasses green needlegrass, western wheatgrass, Indian ricegrass, and other wheatgrasses as well as prairie coneflower, saltbush, golden aster and cowboy's delight. When we reached the overlook the reclaimed well pads could be identified by the same robust looking plant life that we had just walked through. It was a credit to the energy development company that they went the extra mile when the site was developed and buried their electrical lines and minimized surface disturbance. Later in the day we traveled along a ranch road that was close to a male sage grouse outfitted with a backpack transmitter. Kirol finally located the bird and began to explain his telemetry work. The tagged bird wears a small transmitter with a solar panel. The telemetry unit records the location of the bird every 10 minutes and stores that information. The researchers try to locate the tagged birds every three days or so with a handheld directional antenna. Once the bird is located another antenna is pointed at the bird and the transmitter on the bird relays the information back to the researcher and loads it onto a laptop computer. Kirol pointed out that this method was more cost effective than having the data transmitted to a satellite because it costs thousands of dollars to buy space on one. While we were searching for a tagged sage grouse we stopped at a sage grouse nest site. Kirol had a tagged hen utilize a site in the sagebrush grassland. The location was GPS marked and, after the sage grouse had hatched its young and moved off, Kirol and his team analyzed the area for various factors essentially, what made the site preferable over others nearby? He also analyzed other sites within 100 feet or so. The entire vegetative equation can tell researchers what makes that particular nest site so attractive. One thing that struck me about the nest site was the height of the sagebrush and the crown cover the bush was about 18 inches high and had a crown cover of 24 inches or so. It also had some pretty dense grass growing around it. Kirol and Fedy pointed out that getting sagebrush to grow in a reclaimed site is a pretty dicey situation. For one thing, sagebrush seed more often than not isn't local. It might come from a source a couple hundred miles or more away, so the sagebrush might not survive in a slightly different environment. A second problem is that sagebrush seed has a very short viable life. Kirol and Fedy pointed out that there seems to be a period every four or five years that sagebrush seedlings do well. In that perfect time period it seems that if there is some sagebrush in close proximity to a small disturbed area, the sagebrush will germinate and establish well. We saw an example of that on the field trip an abandoned road had abundant sagebrush seedlings that were 4- to 6-inches high without any help from man. Mature sagebrush was growing just a few yards away. The field trip opened my eyes to the complexity of sage grouse's habitat requirements. It also helped me realize that through diligent research we can better understand those requirements and ensure that sage grouse will thrive in our sagebrush grasslands and reclaimed lands. Photo: Contributed When Kevin, a Toronto-based entrepreneur, travels to San Francisco for work, he often books a flight to Santa Ana, Calif., instead. Then he disembarks the plane during the stopover in San Francisco and skips the last leg of the flight to southern California. Kevin who didn't want his last name used to avoid any repercussions from airlines says the travel hack, often referred to as hidden city ticketing, has saved him thousands of dollars over the past two years. He says he has found flights to Santa Ana that stop in San Francisco for as little as US$190, compared with US$450 for a regular flight to his destination. "It is somewhat infuriating that if an airline can get you from point A to point B for hundreds of dollars less, it does seem unfair," Kevin says. Hidden city ticketing is not new, but its popularity has grown thanks to some travel websites that make it easier to find these sorts of flights. But while the savings may be appealing, experts caution that the practice can be risky. First off, the plane could be rerouted and not stop at the desired destination, leaving you scrambling to arrange another flight or mode of transportation. Passengers using hidden city ticketing are also limited to carry-on luggage, as any checked bags will end up at the final destination. The Canadian Transportation Agency says the federal government does not have a stance on hidden city ticketing as the matter is addressed in most airlines' contracts with their passengers. Air Canada says its terms and conditions require all segments of a trip to be flown as booked. WestJet says it has no policy regarding hidden city ticketing because it is very rarely used on its flights. "Due to how we price our fares, hidden city ticketing would be a very rare occurrence on WestJet as it would usually cost less to fly to A to B than from A, B, to C," spokeswoman Lauren Stewart said in an email. Photo: The Canadian Press The federal housing agency says rebuilding efforts in Fort McMurray, Alta., are going faster than expected, with reconstruction underway on one-third of the homes destroyed in last year's wildfires. In a report released today, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says 844 housing units are being rebuilt and that is expected to rise to close to 1,000 units later this year. It says at the current pace, all home rebuilding activity should be complete in three to four years. The fires that swept through the community of about 70,000 in May of last year caused an estimated $3.8 billion in insured property damage and destroyed nearly 2,600 homes. CMHC says about one per cent of the units in Fort McMurray can't be rebuilt due to flood defence measures. Photo: The Canadian Press Four men found in a shipping container at the Port of Montreal were dehydrated and likely had been in the storage unit for many days, authorities said Thursday. Stephane Smith, a spokesman for the Urgences Sante ambulance service, said two of the men had difficulty breathing. "Many days, the exact number, I don't know, but we're talking many, many days," Smith said in an interview. The four, who are aged between 30 and 40, were transported to a local hospital to receive medical assistance. RCMP Const. Erique Gasse said the four will be under the supervision of the Canada Border Services Agency, while the Mounties will conduct an investigation into the discovery. Border agents found the four while searching a container. "As this is still under review by the CBSA, and for privacy reasons, we cannot give more information," the CBSA said in a statement. Photo: Parks Canada A popular Rocky Mountain resort in Banff National Park is being cleared of guests so that crews can fight a wildfire raging in the nearby backcountry. Sunshine Village, a ski hill on the Alberta-B.C. boundary that offers summer hiking, is about 2 1/2 kilometres from the flames. Sunshine spokeswoman Kendra Scurfield says about 150 people are staying at the resort's hotel and they'll have to leave by midday Friday. Rick Kubian with Parks Canada says firefighters are going to be using the property as a staging area to fight the blaze, which is spreading further into remote and rugged terrain. He says the area will be busy with heavy equipment and helicopters and the air could get more smoky, so it's safer if there are no guests around. The Verdant Creek wildfire has spread over about 25 to 30 square kilometres in Kootenay National Park and Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park in British Columbia on the Alberta boundary. Photo: Twitter A 54-year-old fisherman is safe after his 14-foot boat capsized as he was landing a 230-pound tuna in the ocean off Hawaii. The U.S. Coast Guard rescued Anthony Wichman on Friday after receiving a distress call from his wife. Wichman was fishing about 10 miles southwest of Port Allen on the island of Kauai, Friday morning when he hooked the Ahi tuna. Coast Guard Lt. Jessica Mickelson tells Hawaii News Now, that Wichman was able to use his cellphone to call his wife for help. The Coast Guard dispatched a helicopter to rescue Wichman. Friends arrived on another boat and were able to right Wichman's boat. They towed it, and the fish, back to port. Responders were wrapping up handling a West End crash that sent five injured people to the Billings Clinic on Wednesday morning when they were contacted about a three-vehicle crash just a street over. One person from that crash was taken to a hospital. The crashes, both at intersections on 56th Street West, involved a total of five vehicles and eight people. "There's been a lot of crashes, particularly on the West End at these intersections," said Sgt. Kyle Hayter of the Montana Highway Patrol. In each case Wednesday, drivers were issued citations for failure to yield. The general problem, Hayter said, is not that people don't stop at intersection stop signs or lights. Some drivers just don't seem to be looking closely enough to see where other vehicles are traveling near the intersection, he said. At about 10 a.m. the first crash occurred at 56th Street West and King Avenue West when a pickup hit a minivan on the driver's side. A 39-year-old Colorado woman was driving the minivan, and her four children ages 6 to 16 were also inside. Hayter said it appeared she stopped before entering the intersection, but she either didn't look both ways or did not look closely enough when she did. The force of the collision sent both vehicles into a nearby ditch. The Billings Fire Department had to remove at least one side door from the minivan to get some of the children out. Hayter said the woman, her children and the 71-year-old Billings man in the pickup were all taken to Billings Clinic with injuries that did not appear to be life-threatening. The use of seat belts and the successful deployment of airbags minimized the severity of injuries from the crash, Hayter said. The woman was cited for failure to yield. At 10:50 a.m., a 48-year-old woman driving a GMC Envoy southbound on 56th Street West didn't give the right of way to a Lexus SUV headed east on Central Avenue. The crash sent the GMC into a pickup stopped at a stop sign. The driver of the Lexus was taken to the Billings Clinic with injuries that did not appear to be life-threatening, Hayter said. The driver of the GMC was cited for failure to yield. Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock is bringing on a new chief of staff with experience at the federal level as he is looking to expand his role in the national political picture. Tom Lopach, former executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and chief of staff to U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, will replace Tracy Stone-Manning. Stone-Manning is moving to Missoula to become associate vice president for the National Wildlife Federation, leading the organization's national public lands program. "It is bittersweet to have Tracy's time with my administration come to an end. She has been a skilled administrator, trusted advisor and close friend, and I wish her luck in her next adventure," Bullock wrote in an emailed statement. Lopach was born and raised in Helena. Prior to working as a strategist for Subject Matter, an advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., Lopach was executive director of the DSCC during the 2016 election cycle and chief of staff to Tester from 2010 to 2014. In 2009, he was senior vice president of congressional affairs for the Export-Import Bank of the United States. During the 2008 election cycle, Lopach was the DSCC's national finance director. Lopach started his career as a field representative for then Congressman Pat Williams in Helena, Montana, in 1996. He starts Aug. 7. This service applies to you if your subscription has not yet expired on our old site. You will have continued access until your subscription expires; then you will need to purchase an ongoing subscription through our new system. Please contact The Chanute Tribune office at 620-431-4100 if you have any questions MISSOULA The 19-year-old Missoula wildland firefighter killed by a tree Wednesday while working on a fire north of Seeley Lake was a former captain of his lacrosse team at Hellgate High and member of the National Honor Society who was attending Montana State University. The Missoula County Sheriffs Office said Trenton M. Johnson, who was working for the private Grayback Forestry Inc. ground crew, died after a tree struck him at about 5 p.m. Wednesday afternoon. He was flown to Missoula for treatment, but was pronounced dead at a city hospital Wednesday evening. The 20-person crew was staging an initial attack on the half-acre Florence Fire near Florence Lake, northeast of Seeley Lake along Rice Ridge. Grayback officials were enroute to Missoula to meet with family members and investigators on Thursday morning. The private contractor works with state and federal firefighting services on fire suppression, emergency services, and prescribed fire operations. Its headquarters is in White City, Oregon, with three additional Oregon bases as well as one in Missoula. This is a tragic day for Missoula and all of Montana as we mourn the loss of firefighter Trenton Johnson, Sen. Jon Tester wrote in an email statement Thursday morning. His bravery and sacrifice will not be forgotten. This is a sobering reminder that every day firefighters put their lives on the line to protect ours. Sharla and I send our thoughts to Mr. Johnsons family and friends, and we pray for comfort and healing during this difficult time. Johnson was a 2016 graduate of Hellgate High School and was a dedicated member of the lacrosse team. His team won the state championship all four years, and Johnson earned second-team All State honors his senior year after winning the championship game. He was my favorite player that I ever coached, said Kevin Flynn, a former Hellgate lacrosse coach. He started for us all four years, and we won the state title all four years. He made varsity as a freshman and came to every game of his career, so he played more games than any other player for Hellgate. Flynn said he started working with Johnson in sixth grade. He was one of those goofy, gangly, non-athletic kids that found something he could get good at, Flynn said. He turned into a great player, a great teammate and a captain for us. He was well-liked by everybody. There are always cliques that form on sports teams, Flynn said, but Johnson was a friend to everybody. He was the least divisive player I ever had, Flynn said. He played with everybody. He wasnt in it for the accolades. He was the glue that held everyone together. Current Hellgate lacrosse coach Patrick Small said he didnt know Johnson well, but met him during a firefighting training. I noticed him wearing a Hellgate lacrosse shirt in our training, Small said. We were just talking for a bit. It seemed like from what I knew, he seemed like a great kid. He always had a smile on his face. He was young still. He seemed to have his life together. He was starting a new job and he seemed very happy. He seemed like a mature kid with a good life ahead of him. Johnson was the son of Martin and Dawn Johnson. His senior year, he earned an Academic All-State Award and was a qualifier for the Business Professionals Award. He earned a Premier Scholarship to Montana State University and was a member of the National Honor Society. Flynn said Johnson was attending MSU with a slew of his old high school teammates. Firefighters dedicate their lives each day to ensure the safety of our communities," Gov. Steve Bullock said in an email statement. "Lisa and I send our deepest condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of firefighter Trenton Johnson. He will forever be remembered as a brave man who exemplifies the courage and selflessness of all our first responders. This story will be updated as more information becomes available. A fire burning near the East Entrance of Yellowstone National Park has grown to an estimated 2,000 acres. The June fire spread quickly on Wednesday, boosted by gusting winds, hot and dry conditions and low fuel moisture in dense beetle-killed tree stands. The fire started about 1.5 miles south of Highway 14/16/20 in the North Fork Shoshone River drainage west of Cody, Wyoming and has now spread throughout the June Creek drainage. Firefighting resources battling the blaze included two heavy (Type 1) helicopters, one light helicopter, two single engine air tankers, two fire engines and approximately 100 personnel. Additional hotshot crews and air resources were arriving Thursday to help fight the fire. An unauthorized drone flying over the June fire on Wednesday shut down aircraft operations. The public is reminded that flying drones over a wildfire is dangerous to firefighters and illegal. Ground crews have begun structure protection work at the UXU Ranch and have started assessing the Blackwater Lodge. Due to the increased complexity of the fire, an Incident Management Team will assume management of the fire on Thursday. Hot, dry conditions are forecast to continue with wind gusts increasing by the afternoon. Smoke is expected to be visible in Cody and the surrounding area. The Elk Fork Trail has been closed as a safety precaution. Visitors on the North Fork Highway are reminded to be vigilant of increasing numbers of firefighting personnel and equipment. Fire information bulletins will be at key locations in the North Fork corridor. For more information, visit Inciweb at https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5386, follow the Shoshone National Forest on Twitter (@ShoshoneNF), or like the forest on Facebook (US Forest Service Shoshone National Forest). JACKSON, Wyo. The Teton County emergency manager is concerned about cellphone service during the Aug. 21 solar eclipse because of the thousands of extra visitors expected in the Jackson Hole region in northwest Wyoming. "We already see a lot of stress in the public cellphone network even without a major crowd," county emergency coordinator Rich Ochs said. "With a surge of folks coming to Teton County for what could potentially be one of the most documented events in history, with everybody trying to livestream it and upload pictures online all at the same time, there are major concerns for overloading the system." People unable to connect to the system during an emergency will be able to text 911, Ochs said. "It's always preferred to make a voice call," he said. "There are signals dispatchers can take from the tone of your voice and background noise, and it's easier to go back and forth answering questions. But if you cannot make a voice call, texting 911 is a viable option." Two cell service companies say they are working to expand service before Aug. 21. Ochs said that even without thousands of additional people in town, Jackson's cell service, especially bandwidth for data, lacks. Travis Griffin, a design manager for Verizon Wireless, told the Jackson Town Council that wireless service drops significantly during the summer months. Verizon is erecting a new wireless antenna in Jackson that's expected to be completed before Aug. 21. "Overloading the system during the solar eclipse is a major concern for us," Griffin said. "We're working very hard to get this system online as soon as possible to service that demand and provide a reliable product." AT&T is also taking steps to improve service during the eclipse, though it will not be able to construct a whole new antenna in time. "In advance of the solar eclipse, we're enhancing our cell sites in and around Jackson by adding capacity to handle increased demand on our network," said Suzanne Trantow, AT&T's public relations manager for the Rocky Mountain region. Education should lead to employment, said Georgia Governor Nathan Deal at Georgia Northwestern Technical Colleges Whitfield Murray campus expansion groundbreaking Tuesday. We have accelerated the number of programs whose participants will have a job waiting for them. This is what education should encompass. Were preparing people for the careers that are already available right here at home. And, after the ceremonial shovels moved the first mounds of dirt, the construction of what many believe will help fill the skills gap between Georgia businesses and the workforce of Northwest Georgia is now officially underway. This has been a long time coming, said Joe Yarbrough, chair of the Technical College System of Georgia Board of Directors. For more than a decade, there has been a skills gap between what our companies here in Whitfield and Murray County need and what our workforce was able to provide. Now, Georgia Northwestern will have the facility in place to help bridge the gap. The people of our region can get the skill sets they need for the careers already out here waiting on them. No one is more aware of this need than those who represent the taxpayers of Whitfield County. With the rumors of a possible expansion of the Georgia Northwestern campus beginning to circulate in 2016, the Whitfield County Board of Commissioners voted to put its full support behind the project. Gifts in-kind toward site development and a commitment of $1,054,000 were both approved by commissioners last year. We did this because we want to help our citizens obtain and retain higher paying jobs, said Lynn Laughter, chair of the Whitfield County Board of Commissioners. This highly-anticipated expansion all started with a gift from the Whitfield County Board of Education three years ago. The donation of 21 acres of land from Whitfield Countys school system is the cornerstone of what will soon be an 80,000-square foot facility on the colleges Whitfield Murray Campus on Maddox Chapel Road in Dalton. The new facility expected to offer programs such as chemical technology, engineering technology, machine tool technology, computer information systems, industrial systems, and logistics will be leading the way in helping train the people of Murray and Whitfield counties to fill vacancies in the companies of Northwest Georgia. Now, with Phase II of the Dalton-based campus set to open in either late 2018 or early 2019, the venture of bridging the workforce to the regions companies actually began when the campus first opened in 2010. Whitfield County Schools agreed to share space with the college at its Northwest Georgia College and Career Academy. After the college outgrew the space allotted them by Whitfield County Schools, it wouldnt be long before theyd move into their first new exclusive WMC building. And now, seven years later, the second phase of what will soon be one of the colleges larger campuses has begun. With just one exclusive building in place at the WMC, the 2016-17 academic year saw the campus student body size swell to 1,000 students. With this expansion, the campus will be able to accommodate up to 4,000 students, said Pete McDonald, Georgia Northwestern Technical College president. Handling this growth in this amount of time takes cooperation from all parties. In politics, for whatever reason, it is hard to put partnerships together, said Governor Deal. This has been a partnership. Two months ago, Governor Deal signed legislation approving $18.7 million to pay for the expansion. The funding was part of the State of Georgias 2018 Fiscal Year Budget approved in Atlanta in May. With the flooring industry among those really feeling the gap when it comes to finding skilled workers, Technical College System of Georgia Commissioner Gretchen Corbin feels the region has the right person leading the charge to change all of that. To make a project like this campus expansion happen, you have to have a champion. We have had a champion in Joe Yarbrough, said Ms. Corbin. Mr. Yarbrough, a resident of Dalton for more than 45 years, has served as a chairman, vice president, and president of some of the largest manufacturing names in Northwest Georgia. Administrators and officials are also anticipating more growth among high school students as a result of this latest project. GNTC is among the best in the state of Georgia when it comes to enrolling and educating the areas teenagers by way of the Move On When Ready program. This is a state initiative which allows Georgias high school students to earn college credit at no cost to them or their families, while still attending their high school. Growing the GNTC site, a campus which currently sits next door to the Northwest Georgia College and Career Academy, will help expose more students to the program. Georgia Northwestern Technical Colleges Whitfield Murray Campus is one of six campuses the college offers in Northwest Georgia. The others are located in Catoosa County, Floyd County, Gordon County, Polk County, and Walker County. Currently, GNTC offers more than 200 programs to nearly 6,000 students on-campus and online. Sketch of the Penning trap apparatus for measurement of the protons mass. Different voltages applied to the cylindrical electrodes (yellow) generate the trapping potential indicated by the red line. What is the mass of a proton? Scientists from Germany and Japan successfully did an important step towards the most exact knowledge of this fundamental constant. By means of precision measurements on a single proton, they could improve the precision by a factor of three and also correct the existing value. To determine the mass of a single proton still more accurate a group of physicists led by Klaus Blaum and Sven Sturm of the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg did this not only just for fun or to set a new record. The proton is the nucleus of the hydrogen atom and building block in all other atomic nuclei. Therefore, the protons mass is an important parameter in atomic physics: Among other things it affects how the electrons move around the atomic nucleus. This is reflected in the spectra, i.e., the light colours (wavelengths) atoms can absorb and emit again. By comparing these wavelengths with theoretical predictions, it is possible to test fundamental physical theories. Further, a precise comparison of the masses of the proton and the antiproton may help in the search for the crucial difference besides the reversed sign of the charge between matter and antimatter. This difference is tiny, but it has to exist, since the Universe practically completely consists of matter, although in the Big Bang matter and antimatter must have been created in equal amounts. Penning traps are well-proven as suitable scales for ions. In such a trap, it is possible to confine single charged particles such as a proton nearly forever, by means of electric and magnetic fields. Inside the trap, the snared particle performs a characteristic motion that can be described by three frequencies. These frequencies can be measured and the mass of the particle calculated therefrom. In order to reach the targeted high precision, an elaborate measurement technique was required. The carbon isotope 12C with a mass of 12 atomic mass units is defined as the mass standard for atoms. We directly used it for comparison, tells Sven Sturm. First we stored each one proton and one carbon ion (12C6+) in separate compartments of our Penning trap apparatus, then transported alternately each one of the two ions into the central measurement compartment and measured its motion. From the ratio of the two measured values one obtains the protons mass directly in atomic units. The measurement compartment is equipped with specifically developed purpose-built electronics. Andreas Mooser of RIKEN in Japan explains its function: It allowed us to measure the proton under identical conditions as the carbon ion despite its about 12-fold lower mass and 6-fold smaller charge. The resulting mass of the proton of 1.007276466583(15)(29) atomic mass units is three times more precise than the presently recommended value. The numbers in parentheses refer to the statistical and systematic uncertainties, respectively. However, the new value is significantly smaller than the current standard value. Measurements by other authors yielded discrepancies with respect to the mass of the tritium atom, the heaviest hydrogen isotope (T = 3H), and the mass of light helium (3He) compared to the semiheavy hydrogen molecule HD (D = 2H, deuterium, heavy hydrogen). Our result contributes to solving this puzzle, since it corrects the protons mass in the proper direction, says Klaus Blaum delightedly. Florian Kohler-Langes of MPIK explains how the researchers intend to further improve the precision of their measurement: In the future, we will store a third ion in our trap tower. By measuring simultaneously the motion of this reference ion, we will be able to eliminate the uncertainty originating from fluctuations of the magnetic field. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (2nd L), Visegrad Group (V4) Prime Ministers, Czech Republic's Bohuslav Sobotka (L), Hungary's Viktor Orban (C to R), Slovakia's Robert Fico and Poland's Beata Szydlo attend a news conference in Budapest, Hungary, July 19, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] BUDAPEST - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the prime ministers of the Visegrad Four countries (Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia) signed a joint statement here on Wednesday on global issues such as migration, fight against terrorism and the peace process in the Middle East. The statement was adopted on the occasion of the annual summit of the prime ministers of the Visegrad Four and Netanyahu, who is on an official visit to Hungary, the first by an Israeli prime minister in 30 years. The leaders agreed to exchange views on their efforts aimed at fighting terrorism and countering violent extremism and incitement, and agreed to explore the possibility of further strengthening joint cooperation in the areas of defense and defense industry, cyber security, hybrid threats, non-proliferation and information and know-how sharing. The leaders agreed that tackling the current migration crisis requires addressing its origins and shared the view that close cooperation with the states of origin and transit should be maintained. They emphasized the importance of diplomatic efforts aimed at peaceful resolution of lasting conflict and stabilization. They also discussed the need to foster good governance and sustainable economic growth in states of origin of economic migrants. They strongly and unequivocally condemned recent terrorist attacks, including those in Israel and across the world, stressing that terrorism continues to be a troubling phenomenon of our times and represents a serious threat to international peace and security. About the Middle East Peace Process, the leaders of Visegrad Four countries affirmed their support for a viable two-state solution and the right of Israel to live in security and peaceful co-existence with all its neighbors, including Palestinians. They stressed their opposition to any attempt to undermine Israel's legitimacy. One of the key points of the statement is the goal of developing the relations between the European Union (EU) and Israel. The five leaders reiterated their commitment towards the enhancement of EU-Israel relations in areas of mutual interest, including cooperation on economic, political, strategic, regional, innovation, and people-to-people issues. To this end, they underlined the need to promote an improved relationship between Israel and the EU. The Crazy Mountains soar out of the prairie, suggesting peace and tranquility in this oasis of forest and streams. The idyllic landscape belies longstanding friction over public access to National Forest interspersed with private land. The latest round centers on the removal of District Ranger Alex Sienkiewicz from field work in the Crazies to an office job pending an internal investigation. That action came in response to pressure from U.S. Sen. Steve Daines and Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue. The senator and secretary reacted to complaints about Sienkiewicz from ranchers and outfitters. Montana hunters and public access advocates have stepped up to defend Sienkiewicz, saying he was following long-established Forest Service policy. The simmering controversy heated up last fall when Bozeman hunter Rob Gregoire was cited by a Sweet Grass County deputy sheriff for trespassing on a trail that he and Sienkiewicz believe to be open to the public by prescriptive easement, because it has historically been used by the public to access otherwise inaccessible public land. Landowners Lee and Barbara Langhus disagree and made the trespass complaint. There is no written easement allowing public access across their land, although the trail has long been marked on Forest Service maps and cited in the Gallatin Forest Travel Plan. The Crazy Mountains contain more than 8,000 acres of National Forest that the public has no way of accessing. That forest land is surrounded by private holdings. The Crazies also contain a hunting district, much of which is inaccessible to the public, with 2,000 elk twice the districts maximum target as determined by Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks. Thats the hunting district that Gregoire was trying to reach. The oversupply of elk feast on some neighbors hay supplies, while others profit from exclusive, limited hunts. Land ownership in the Crazies is a checkerboard pattern of public and private sections that dates to the 1860s when the U.S. government gave Northern Pacific Railroad 17 million acres of the Montana Territory up to 80 miles from the rail line. More frequent confrontations are cropping up on land that has recently changed ownership with new owners who want their private property off-limits to the public. In other cases, long-time owners may have a beef with Forest Service personnel or bad experiences with the public. Solutions wont be easy, but resolution efforts need to start now. Theres only one remaining public access to the entire 35-mile-long eastern flank of the Crazies. From facts reported previously in The Gazette, it appears that Sienkiewicz is being penalized for doing his job. Government employees deserve to know that their supervisors even the secretary of the department will stand up for them when they are serving the public. However, the Forest Service and local landowners have some fence mending to do. Custer Gallatin Forest Supervisor Mary Erickson should have authority to devise better ways to build trust between local landowners and Forest Service personnel in the field. The local forest working group should actively engage citizens with differing perspectives. In the long run, landowners, hunters, hikers and other public land users need clarification on access issues. Possible remedies include: Montana legislative action to provide public access while protecting private property rights. Litigation that would result in a Montana Supreme Court ruling. Land swaps to consolidate key public and private holdings. Its not realistic to believe that everyone interested in the Crazies will just sit down and start getting along. But we urge the Forest Service to start a conversation with landowners and the general public. Daines and Perdue must stop micromanaging staff in the Gallatin Forest. Daines should listen to all his constituents, relay their concerns and then let land management professionals do their jobs. Perdue should see that decision making about forest land is led by department professionals in Montana not from his Washington, D.C., office. Eric Zepeda, 38, a former employee at the Kimpton Hotel Palomar, is photographed near his home July 20, 2017, on Chicagos North Side. Zepeda, who worked on the housekeeping staff for seven years, is suing the chain that owns the hotel, alleging it violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act when it required workers to scan their fingers for a timekeeping device. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune ) Punch clocks, key codes and ID-badge swipes they're all so 2010. A new twist on tracking employee hours or providing access to sensitive work areas relies on biometrics. That's technologyspeak for distinguishing physical characteristics such as fingerprints, palm prints, iris scans and DNA. Advertisement But unlike, say, a stolen company ID, which can be replaced, individuals can't order up a new body part, raising concerns about what could happen if scans of their fingertips' arches, loops and whorls fell into the wrong hands. Those concerns are prompting employees and others to push back against company policies that require collection of biometric data. Grocery company Roundy's, Intercontinental Hotels' Kimpton chain and data center operator Zayo Group all have been hauled into Cook County Circuit Court this year, accused in lawsuits of violating the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act. Advertisement With the 2008 law, Illinois became the first state to place restrictions on businesses' collection, storage and use of biometric data. Widely considered the nation's toughest biometrics privacy law, it requires written notification and prior consent, prohibits profiting from the data, and allows individuals to sue over alleged violations, among other provisions. Allegations in the lawsuits against Intercontinental, Roundy's and Zayo, which seek class-action status, include failing to get written approval and provide proper written disclosures about the collection, use and storage of fingerprints and handprints. Under the state law, employers must tell the person in writing that the data will be collected or stored and how and for how long it will be kept and used. Private businesses also must make publicly available written policies, including guidelines for how they plan to permanently destroy the biometric data. The companies, if court proceedings don't go their way, could pay dearly: Roundy's, owner of the Mariano's grocery chain, estimates in a May court filing that damages in one lawsuit could potentially reach $10 million. "This is likely to be a costly lesson to business leaders in Illinois," said Tim Sloane, vice president of payments innovation for payments and banking consultancy Mercator Advisory Group. McGuire Law attorney David Gerbie discusses a lawsuit he filed on behalf of a former hotel employee suing the company over its use of biometrics, namely fingerprints, to keep track of workers' hours Technology is available that would allow businesses to use biometrics to monitor when workers clock in and out, enter a facility, or turn on computers without collecting any of the biometric data, both eliminating the risk of a cybersecurity breach and addressing the law, he said. Upfront costs for such technology are higher, "but it eliminates the central storage of biometric data that would remain a large liability if ever released into the wild," Sloane said. Employers have been shifting to biometric timekeeping devices because they can help keep more accurate hours and are designed to eliminate "buddy punching," such as when a colleague clocks in for an absent co-worker. The technology is readily available: Sam's Club and Costco sell one version online for $390. Meanwhile, Zayo Group touts biometrics as an amenity for the safety-minded tenants it wants to attract to its data centers, including ones in Mount Prospect and Chicago's Printers Row neighborhood. Denis Zhirovetskiy, who worked for a Zayo tenant, sued the company earlier this month, however, over what he said was "an invasive biometric hand-scan." He alleges Zayo, whose data centers house tenants' servers and other gear, has gathered the handprints of hundreds, if not thousands, of Illinois residents without their informed written consent. Zayo declined to comment on the lawsuit. Advertisement Eric Zepeda worked at Kimpton's Hotel Palomar in Chicago for seven years before leaving earlier this year. He worked as a houseman, assisting the housekeeping staff by ensuring it had everything from shower curtains to sheets to notepads to put in the guest rooms. Early on, workers swiped cards to clock in, he said. Later they had to punch in codes. Then, after three or four years, the hotel switched to a system requiring workers to scan their fingers into timekeeping devices, he said. "It's something very personal," Zepeda said. "They were just calling us to put our finger" on a device. "It seemed normal afterwards, but I was still uncomfortable and skeptical about it." He said he doesn't know what Kimpton has done with his biometric data and worries about what would happen to his and his former co-workers' data if the company were to be bought or file for bankruptcy. "To me, a job is like a second home, it's like a family, so I'm concerned about what has happened to our fingerprints," said Zepeda, who currently works as an Uber and Lyft driver. Zepeda, in a lawsuit filed last month, also chides Intercontinental for not making its policy publicly available, including when it planned to destroy the biometric data. His lawsuit estimates that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of current and former workers who could join the class. Advertisement Kimpton did not respond to requests for comment. In March, Norman Baron sued Roundy's, where employees allegedly are asked to swipe an identification card and scan their fingerprints when clocking in and out. A second former Mariano's employee filed a lawsuit last month, also alleging that Mariano's violated the Illinois law. Roundy's declined to comment on the lawsuits. In his lawsuit, Baron, a food server at Mariano's in Hoffman Estates from 2013 until he quit in 2016, says Roundy's, among other alleged violations, didn't get employees' written approval to use biometrics as a condition of employment. Baron's lawsuit alleges he had accepted Roundy's job offer before the grocer started using a biometric timekeeping system. "Roundy's has required, or coerced, employees to comply to receive a paycheck, after they've committed to the job and become dependent on a Roundy's paycheck," his lawsuit says. He's also troubled that, because Roundy's requires that both a fingerprint and an identification card be used to time in and out, his biometrics are inextricably linked to his identity. Roundy's should be ordered to disclose whether, and to whom, it has given employees' fingerprints, the lawsuit says. In May, Baron's suit moved to federal court, which has jurisdiction when civil actions might exceed $5 million. The Illinois law provides for damages of $5,000 for each reckless violation and $1,000 for each negligent violation. Advertisement Roundy's has more than 10,000 Illinois workers who have clocked in and out of shifts using fingerprints, the company says in court filings. If 75 percent join the class action, payments could exceed $7.5 million, Roundy's says. If all workers became part of the class, damages could be $10 million. In a June filing, Roundy's denies its time clock system uses what the Illinois act considers biometric data. It admits that its "system identifies employees using a scan of a portion of an employee's finger" but denies that an entire fingerprint is used. "It's not possible to construct a biometric identifier such as a fingerprint from the data" Roundy's has stored, the company says. The pushback against employers' use of biometric information isn't limited to Illinois. A federal appeals court recently upheld a $587,000 judgment to a West Virginia mining worker who felt forced to quit when he refused to use a hand scanner for religious reasons, saying he feared he'd be branded with the biblical "mark of the beast." And employees aren't alone in the fight. Consumers also have taken companies to court over alleged misuse of biometrics. Advertisement A Cook County judge in December approved a settlement related to the Illinois law. L.A. Tan Enterprises agreed to pay $1.5 million to customers after allegedly sharing fingerprint scans, used to check in, with an out-of-state vendor. Also last year, a lawsuit by an Illinois man who accused photo-sharing website Shutterfly of violating his privacy by using facial recognition software was settled for an undisclosed amount. byerak@chicagotribune.com Twitter @beckyyerak Mikie Larson works as a tutor outside Rockford. Her family can't take it anymore. "My husband and I grew up in Illinois, went to college in Illinois, got married in Illinois and raised four kids in Illinois," she said. Advertisement "The income tax hike for us was the last straw." The Larsons plan to list their home for sale in the fall and move out of state. Advertisement Linda Locke is another lifelong Illinoisan searching for an escape plan. She worked at AT&T for more than 30 years and lives in southern St. Clair County. She feels as though her community is emptying out. She feels the tax hike will worsen that trend. And she fears she won't be able to sell her house, as she plans to move to Florida. As a retiree, her income isn't taxed by the state. But the lack of reform in the new state budget still stings. "My property taxes went up $905 this year and there's no reform (in this budget). What happens next year?" she asked. "We love our home, we love our neighbors, but we're just afraid the property tax is going to continue to go up and we're not going to be able to afford to live here. Immediately after the tax hike vote, the spin started. Illinois Senate Democrats had the audacity to tell residents that, well, it's just not that much. The caucus tweeted: "FACT: THE INCOME TAX INCREASE IS NOT 32% OF YOUR INCOME. IT IS ACTUALLY A LITTLE OVER A PENNY PER DOLLAR." It's just a penny. Stop complaining. Advertisement Most working Illinoisans can take a look at their paystubs and notice the state decided to hike their income tax bill by 32 percent. That's a fact. And it wasn't just Senate Democrats who were trying to warp history. Senate Republicans said they were doing Illinoisans a favor by voting to override Gov. Bruce Rauner's veto. Some said it was the toughest vote they've ever taken. They said they were brave. But constituents would be right to cower. Take Decatur. The former manufacturing titan is home to a sickly economy. Moody's Analytics revealed earlier this year that Decatur was one of four Illinois metro areas where the recession recovery was at risk of "coming undone." As is the case throughout the state, residents there are in dire need of healthier incomes. Even the hope of decent jobs growth would be a vast improvement. Advertisement Instead, the average Decaturite will send $580 more each year to state government, according to the Decatur Herald & Review. That's money that could have been spent locally at struggling small businesses, put toward college savings or spent on household essentials. Instead, it will vanish into a sinkhole of debt that swirls over Springfield. So what did Decatur Democrat Sue Scherer do? She voted for the tax hike, and gave weak words of consolation to struggling residents. "Let me be clear: This budget was not everything I wanted it to be," she wrote in a July 8 editorial. How comforting. Unfortunately, it's not just Scherer. And it's not just Decatur. The Illinois economy is still in shambles and residents are still stuck with sending a bigger chunk of change to the capitol. If that's not sad enough, consider the scale of the spending problem that remains in Springfield. The entirety of the $5 billion in tax increases will be eaten up by this year's pension payment, and that's still not enough to address the growing liability. Advertisement "I was hoping that when the budget came through there would be some reform; there's none. Just more taxes," Larson said "I'm tired of it. I'm tired of being the one lawmakers are after." Austin Berg is a writer for the Illinois Policy Institute. He wrote this column for the Illinois News Network, a project of the Institute. Austin can be reached at aberg@illinoispolicy.org. When you're a biracial kid growing up on 47th Street as Vic Mensa did, chaos and sanity, violence and sanctuary, guns and books, hustlers and educators live side by side, always within view, always within earshot. It led to a young life of promise and faster-than-expected accomplishment, but also to one of drugs, decadence and near self-destruction. Advertisement It might seem slightly premature or even presumptuous for a 24-year-old artist to title his forthcoming album "The Autobiography" (Roc Nation). But for Mensa, the notion of even being alive at the age of 24 was not a given. The story is the same for many young African-Americans, but their voices often go unheard. In his new music, Mensa unpacks his life in sometimes brutally unsettling terms. "We have a society right now where you can count on two things to continue opioid ODs and Chicago violence and I found myself in the middle of both," Mensa says. "I fell deeply into self-medication. It numbed me. I'd be on stage in Ireland performing for thousands of people and just not believing in what I'm doing at all. And it hurt, it hurt badly. I knew every day that I couldn't continue this way. I was depressed and suicidal. I knew this was wrong for me, but I didn't see a way out." Advertisement "The Autobiography" maps out that story, and the sense of clarity and hope that emerged as Mensa pulled himself out of what he calls a "vortex of abuse." The album opens where his life does, on 47th Street, in the house where he grew up with his parents, educators Edward and Betsy Mensah. His home and Hyde Park were safety zones, but just across the street the hustlers worked 24-7. Mensa found himself torn. "It represents a loss of innocence, a crossroads," he says of the song "Memories of 47th Street." "It was on 47th Street where I was simultaneously inside of a sheltered environment in my home with two parents with a steady income and also exposed to the inequities of the ghetto, because it was right there. I was sitting on my porch watching drug deals going down. My way of trying to understand myself, while this world was pushing and pulling me in either direction, was to write about it. I was trying to write my way out of feeling like an outcast." That feeling was amplified when he turned 12. "I felt I was behind a gate in this community, but as I entered adolescence and wandered farther from home, I started to realize that America and the world were categorizing me as being black and all the stigmas attached to that, which would take a lifetime to unpack." Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 10 Rapper Vic Mensa stands outside Lacuna Lofts in Chicago May 30, 2017. (Nuccio DiNuzzo / Chicago Tribune) As Mensa previewed the album at a Near North Side recording studio a few days before turning it in to the record company, he wears a black hoodie bearing a double-edged Jay-Z lyric: "You draw, better be Picasso." His corkscrew braids tumble around large, intense eyes. He measures his words as cigarette smoke curls around him, but he answers even the most seemingly invasive questions thoughtfully, without sparing himself. "This girl right here," he says, staring at his cellphone as a text message buzzes in, "she put herself ahead of me. I was mega-suicidal. She put myself over herself to help me get better, encouraged me to get therapy." The relationship saved him when he hit rock bottom in January 2016. He had been trying and failing to live the rock-star life as he moved up to the first rung of stardom from a wanna-be on the local open-mic scene alongside other then-unknowns such as Chancellor Bennett, aka Chance the Rapper. After releasing some well-received solo recordings in his mid-teens, he joined forces with Kids These Days, a biracial group of musically gifted high school teens that mixed rock, rap and a little bit of everything else. The group rose quickly, even recording an album produced by Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, and then was on the verge of signing a major-label deal in 2013 when it fell apart. Mensa was devastated, then threw himself into a wildly eclectic mixtape, "Innanetape," that led to collaborations with Kanye West and Skrillex and a deal with Jay-Z's Roc Nation label. "Post-Kids, I was disillusioned about who I am," he says. "That record ('Innanetape'), it's funny, I put so much into that. But every single song on the album, I was doing mushrooms. I was dependent on drugs for my creativity. I didn't understand that the things that were making me create the songs weren't really me. I wanted to be a detailed storyteller, I wanted to be an artist, but it was hard for me to do that while I was on drugs." Advertisement When Mensa finally bottomed out and sought help, a door reopened. "I started remembering who I was," he says, "and the writing started to return." He began filtering his experiences into his songs. The 2016 EP, "There's Alot Going On," included "16 Shots," his stunned reaction to a videotape of the Laquan McDonald shooting by police on a Chicago street not far from where Mensa grew up. After a series of riveting, focused live performances that began with "16 Shots" and concluded with the lacerating title track, in which Mensa made explicit the pain and ugliness he inflicted upon himself and others, he turned his attention to "The Autobiography." Among his collaborators during his recent writing renaissance was Malik Yusef, a veteran spoken-word artist, poet, musician and actor who has worked with countless artists, including Chicago luminaries such as Common and Kanye West. He met Mensa when the rapper was 17, but saw that he had lost his way when they started to work on songs for "The Autobiography." "When I was 23, I was out on the streets doing everything wrong, so for this kid to be so introspective and meditative in his lyrics about what he was going through was like meeting a unicorn," Yusef says. "You can't flourish if you are around the wrong people. If you get around the right people, you will get to things you didn't even know you had inside you. Vic knew what was there, but couldn't get it out until he got to a place where he could be more vulnerable." That vulnerability informed the highly personal arc of "The Autobiography." The narrative traced from "Memories on 47th Street" to the darkness that enfolds "Rollin' Like a Stoner" and "Down for Some Ignorance," the mourning of "Heaven on Earth" and the redemption of "We Could Be Free" took shape over a year of intense writing and recording in multiple studios. Mensa brought in No I.D. as executive producer to bring the story and the music into tighter focus. No I.D. has mentored a couple generations of Chicago hip-hop artists, including Common and West, and recently produced Jay-Z's "4:44" album. He chooses his projects carefully, and in Mensa he saw an artist intent on making music of substance rather than chasing instant hits. "I believe he's super-talented, and I wanted to help focus him," No I.D. says. "That's where I think the projects of his that I heard previously were lacking a bit. They were not as focused as I would have wanted. I like to push people, in the spirit of motivation. 'There's more than this in you.' And he would get riled up, but he would dig deeper. We have a lot of music out there where artists are telling you how great they are every day. But most listeners are dealing with things they don't want to talk about or don't know how to talk about, and music helps them. I believe people want to hear the truth, the vulnerability, and that's where Vic needed to get to make the kind of album he wanted to make." As the album neared completion, Mensa's writing and his life arrived at a turning point with "Wings," a track co-written with and produced by Pharrell Williams. Its raging verses contrast with a soaring yet disturbing image in the chorus of "falling to the sky." A "beautiful suicide" is how Mensa describes it when he first plays the track for a visitor. It was written in the aftermath of a harrowing incident, a throwback to the days when he brushed against the 47th Street world of drug dealers and gun-wielding hustlers that claimed the lives of several friends. Last year, Mensa says, he was betrayed by a friend and robbed. A few months later, Mensa was arrested in California for carrying a concealed weapon without the proper permit. Advertisement "The desensitized violence, the constant strain of looking over your shoulder all the time it gets pretty dark in Chicago," he says. "I have this programming from growing up here we can't turn the other cheek. I'm fighting gun charges right now. I'm paranoid about Chicago." Mensa was sentenced recently to two years probation on the gun charges. But he channeled his paranoia and pain into a song that shifts the emotional tone of "The Autobiography." "It was such a fresh wound, so it was tough to remove myself and view the situation objectively," he says. "I was in the studio with Pharrell, dealing with this really trying situation. Here's this old acquaintance basically robbing me for a large sum of money. But I'm all violenced out. I realize I can't keep living like this. I wanted to hurt this person badly, but I'm only hurting myself the more I give in to these self-destructive urges. "Then Pharrell gave me a good piece of wisdom. He told me, 'You're lucky to be in this situation. You're not the person who has to lie and steal from people, and you have the ability to move on.' He played this music that was perfect for me. It brought the story out of me, that internal monologue of self-loathing and doubt. Anyone dealing with depression and anxiety gets these fleeting thoughts that pollute your mind. I'm just tearing myself down in the verse, and in the chorus I'm climbing the tallest building and spreading wings, implying that I would jump off the building. It's not about death of the soul, but of the ego. It was about letting my ego jump off that building, a shadow of me jumping off, and another incarnation flying to the sky. I let my ego commit suicide, and the pain I had been carrying and turning into aggression against myself and others, the reckless drug abuse, the validation through promiscuous women, the crazy lifestyle I was killing that side of myself." The closing songs, "The Fire Next Time" and "We Could Be Free," provide a hint of redemption. It's the place where Mensa finds himself now. "It let a more pure version of myself fly to the end of the album, which is about where we want to go," he says. "We want to be free. Anybody wants that the guy who works at UPS or the Queen of England. 'Wings' was my moment to free myself from everything that was destroying me." Advertisement greg@gregkot.com Twitter @gregkot RELATED STORIES: Roger Waters is, for a change, happy to be on tour Public Enemy almost gets it right on 'Desert' Latest album reviews Watch the latest movie trailers. Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 122 Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, anger management student, in "Dark Phoenix." The film, the latest in the "X-Men" franchise, costars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jessica Chastain. Read the review. (Twentieth Century Fox) At the beginning of an afternoon class at Dewey School of Excellence in Chicagos Englewood neighborhood, an adult wearing a crayon-colored T-shirt emblazoned with a lanky monkey says to a room of students filled with end-of-the-year energy: Every idea is a good idea. Like creating a villain that is a toilet. A pickle and a bat that are friends. A confused boy on the hunt for frozen pancakes who ends up in the desert, only to be eaten by vultures. No bad ideas. Just material for achingly sincere and laugh-out-loud stories, written by students who aren't even in high school, and performed for those students by a theater troupe whose antics are anything but elementary. Advertisement Barrel of Monkeys, founded in 1997 by Erica Rosenfeld Halverson and Halena Kays, has been translating Chicago students' stories, born in creative writing workshops like those at Dewey, into one-of-a-kind sketch shows for two decades. On Thursday, more than 30 cast members will perform 20 plays spanning 20 years of BOM history. Titled "Kids Write It: 20 Years of Intergenerational Storytelling," the one-night-only event at the Athenaeum Theatre will celebrate a vicennial of good ideas. Eschewing BOM tradition, there will be an intermission. And, instead of juice boxes, there will be alcohol. Based on the Griffin's Tale program at Northwestern University, which created shows out of mailed letters from elementary school students, BOM has grown to include a network of public school classrooms, after-school programs at Loyola Park and "That's Weird, Grandma," the Monday night stalwart at the Neo-Futurarium featuring an ever-changing slate of collected stories, traded out depending on audience votes. Advertisement The first mention of "Grandma" in the Tribune, in May 2000, noted some of the shows currently being performed, including "I Can Lick My Own Face Off" and "Jerry Got Hit by a Parked Car." Speaking about the program at the time, Kays told the Tribune, "It encourages kids to go home and write. It has also drawn an almost cultlike following of adults who lose their minds because of how insane some of these stories are." There's a DIY vibe to the meme-able performances, some in English and some in Spanish. The audience is expected to use its imagination. Stage directions are announced and handmade props are pulled out of pockets. At the Dewey performance, performers come out with "Sleep No More" masks and olive green scarfs. Octopuses. Obviously. Taking kids' stories seriously, without turning them into after-school specials or Pixar catharses, is BOM's speciality. And that sense of mutual respect begins in the classroom. Barrel of Monkeys teaching artist Nick Hart conducts a creative writing workshop at Dixon Elementary. (Beth Bullock Photography / HANDOUT) At Dewey, fifth grade students in the second level of BOM programming dance along to a chant about starting the show and it's not even noon. As the students split off into small groups, each led by a BOM member, they tackle character-driven persuasive arguments. As performance time approaches, laughter grows and one of the facilitators says, "Show me your best cyclops." At the end of class, students wind down by journaling and then share their stories. There's one about a chicken opposed to grease and another about a Pokemon-inspired vampire slayer. Another gets right to the point: "I want my dog back. And one of you killed my dog." It's a standardized curriculum but it's structured as a series of games and constant reminders that most things are possible, minus failure. "I think it's had a huge impact," says Dewey Principal Cleophas Rodgers about BOM. "True learning happens when you can apply it and make sense of the work. That's what they're all about." Rodgers says reading scores have jumped every year since Dewey started using the program, but that even in classrooms you can see more kids getting "lost in literature." He also says that with schools having to make difficult decisions, programs like BOM are becoming harder to fund. One of this year's Dewey stories, titled "Monster Under the Bed Monologue," made it into Celebration of Authors, an annual event featuring stories from the past year, where seats are filled with audience members whose heads barely peek over the tops. A young student in an aisle seat is laughing so hard at a story that his high pitched giggling causes him to gulp for air. He relaxes a little during "Butt Potato." Closing out the show is a number called "Dear Alicia Keys," written by Shari Silas, who is part of the after-school program at East Garfield Park's Cather Elementary School, where BOM has worked for five years. Silas wrote a story in response to Keys' publicized choice to not wear makeup. BOM turned it into an empowerment anthem that had the cast of about 25 clapping along with the audience throughout the Logan Center for the Arts in Hyde Park. "She (Keys) was really brave to do that," says a proud Silas after watching the performance of which she very much approved. "And I like her freckles. She didn't try to hide her freckles anymore. So I wrote that." Advertisement "It wasn't until Celebration of Authors where I was like, oh, I'd love to do that," says current artistic director Joseph Schupbach, seated at an Uptown Starbucks next to program director Brandon Cloyd a few weeks after the Celebration of Authors performance in which Silas' story appeared. Schupbach is stepping down Sept. 1 to attend grad school and Cloyd will be the company's new artistic director. Schupbach and Cloyd are both wearing their Monkey shirts, different colors, as they talk about how they got involved with the organization after college and why they stuck around. There's the community of BOM members who come from backgrounds in everything from comedy to clowning. The joy in making theater for young audiences. And the stories. Schupbach and Cloyd say most tales skew toward the fantastical to funny, but realities of students' lives filter in, from everyday family conversations to arguments for immigration reform. They don't censor students but add that they're still sensitive to schools' responses and community events. "If they're capable enough to write it, they're capable enough to see it performed," says Cloyd. "The problem is my top five (stories) probably all make me cry," says Schupbach. He talks about one that will be in the 20th anniversary show, it's called "Women Rampage," a sort of mythos about a room filled with food and men and the women locked outside who decide they've had enough. The story came from a prompt based on a picture in a magazine that stumped the author until he realized who was missing from the frame. Company member Geoff Rice adapted it into a "Les Miz"-esque musical. "I think it shows the sophistication of young voices," says Schupbach. "And it also has a little bit of a wink to it in how it's adapted. So there's a little theatrical irony while it still takes itself seriously." One of Cloyd's favorites was a conflict-free story called "Derek/Deja's Happy Life," about Derek, who wanted to be Deja, and so went to the doctor and the wig store and the dress store and got married and had kids and lived happily ever after. Advertisement "It sort of speaks to when people talk about the queering of childhood ... the idea that kids have a queer vision of the world in ways that are beyond gender or orientation," says Schupbach, about unfettered ways of seeing the world before societal influences take hold. Schupbach's keeping the full lineup of the 20th anniversary under wraps. The goal is to "have it feel glamorous," even though he concedes that they'll all still be wearing T-shirts. Cloyd has seen the secret lineup. "I remember looking at that list and being like, oh, I don't know several of these stories because they're from back in the day, so it's exciting." But they do talk about one story written by now 20-year-old Del Sato, who has his own Barrel of Monkeys archive. Del Sato, a former student in the Barrel of Monkeys, on Thursday, July 6, 2017 at The Neo-Futurarium. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune) Del Sato took his first Barrel of Monkeys class in third grade as part of the Loyola Park after-school program. He was involved with the program through high school, writing a promotional video for the group called "A Story is Born" and working as a peer volunteer. Now, he's an interdisciplinary studies major at Northeastern University, and he's still writing. "This is how much I love these people," says his mom, Aimee Bass, as she pulls out a stuffed folder in the middle of A Taste of Heaven in Andersonville, a few blocks over from the Neo-Futurarium. Inside the file are BOM programs, newspaper clippings, name tags. Advertisement Sato, a self-admitted shy kid who's still shy, looks on quietly. He talks the most when asked about his stories. His first was about a series of pet tadpoles that all died. His final tadpole met its end by flipping on to a spiky plastic plant. "I was very very very very very very very very very very very very sad," the original story partly reads in unsteady letters. "The End." Kays wrote a note next to it: "Thanks for sharing this sad story!" And she drew a frowny face. "They turned it into a musical," says Sato, with a hint of a smile. Conversation turns to Sato's other story that will be appearing in the anniversary show. "It's ..." Sato says, pausing, "It's an embarrassing story about how I uhhh ... " He nudges up his glasses and the next words come out quickly. "Pooped in the tub when I was young." At least the crowd in the restaurant is loud. Advertisement The next story we read is about a medicine that prevents flatulence and has the side effect of the eventual release of built-up gas. "I imagine myself laying on the floor in the Loyola Park theater room, writing it and laughing to myself," says Sato. "Those are good memories. Laying on the floor and writing a story." After lunch we make a stop at the Neo-Futurarium. Schupbach is there and trying to figure out how to get a red carpet for "Kids Write It." Everyone offers up different plans, which turn into jokes, and they all seem like they could make the beginning of a good story. mogreene@chicagotribune.com Twitter @morgreene "When I Went To Wizard World by Lauren H., Dewey Performed by Barrel of Monkeys. (Roger Morales / Chicago Tribune) When a tooth is missing or broken, it can be frustrating to have to wait to see the general dentist, wait to see a specialist and then wait for the lab to make the needed restorative pieces. Many people suffer through this waiting game which can drag on for weeks, but there is another way to receive restorative dental services. EON Clinics offers a more timely option by having all services under one roof so that repairs and replacements can be performed in as little as one day. A professional team Instead of being referred to a restorative specialist by your general dentist, consider trying EON Clinics. As full-service restorative dental practices, professionals on staff can provide all of the services needed to restore your smile. Expert prosthodontists are authorities on tooth restoration and replacement who can provide a plan for cosmetic restoration, as well as functionality and oral health. There are also board-certified oral surgeons who are able to diagnose issues with the hard and soft tissues of your teeth and jaw and then skillfully address them. Other professional staff, including anesthesiologists, are also ready and waiting to offer their services as needed. 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Instead of waiting weeks, patients can have their restorative treatment completed in a single day thanks to the on-site labs. Advertisement Professional results The moment you walk in the door at EON Clinics, there is a team ready to assist you. Consultations for treatment are free and include a complimentary 3D CT Scan. Each patient works with a treatment coordinator who gathers necessary information that is passed along to appropriate professionals. The Clinic's doctors use the latest diagnostic equipment to design a plan to fit your personal situation. Options will be outlined for you so that you can make an informed decision. Staff can also help with financing and payment options for treatment. When the plan is complete, all treatment can be scheduled and performed in one single location. There is no need to go to other locations or labs. Currently, EON Clinics are conveniently located in Illinois in Chicago, Hoffman Estates, Skokie and Downers Grove. There are also clinics in Munster, Indiana, and Waukesha, Wisconsin. To learn more about EON clinics, visit www.eonclinics.com; or call 844-365-SMILE to schedule your free consultation. The son of Cecil the lion - Zimbabwe's beloved big cat, whose death at the hands of an American trophy hunter triggered widespread outrage two summers ago - has been killed as well, according to reports. The Facebook group Lions of Hwange National Park said Thursday that Xanda, who was 6 and had several cubs, was fatally shot several days ago by another trophy hunter in Zimbabwe. Advertisement "We can't believe that now, 2 years since Cecil was killed, that his oldest Cub Xanda has met the same fate," it said. "When will the Lions of Hwange National Park be left to live out their years as wild born free lions should?" The group said Xanda was killed during a hunt organized by Richard Cooke Safaris, which did not respond to a request for comment. Cooke was not the shooter; a client was, according to the post. Advertisement Officials at the Hwange National Park have not yet confirmed the reports. Cecil the lion was killed in nearly the same location in 2015. The Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force said the 13-year-old black-maned lion was lured out of the national park and shot with a compound bow before being finished off with a rifle. His slaying provoked international outrage and intensified calls for bringing an end to trophy hunting in Africa. Cecil was one of hundreds of Hwange National Park lions whose lives have been meticulously monitored by Oxford University's Wildlife Conservation Research Unit. His movements had been followed in "minute detail" from 2008 until his death in 2015, biologist David Macdonald wrote on the unit's website. But Cecil was hardly the first big cat to have been shot by hunters in the area: Two other lions well known to researchers had been killed before him in 2015, and more than 60 others had met the same fate in the preceding 15 years. What made Cecil's death generate global outrage, the researchers later said, was a combination of unusual factors, including his dark and majestic mane, his English nickname and the dubious circumstances of his killing at the hands of a white, wealthy American. They said they hoped the attention would lead to improved conservation science - including the purchase of additional satellite collars. Xanda, Cecil's son, had been wearing one of those collars since October, according to the Telegraph. One of the lion researchers, Andrew Loveridge, told the newspaper that Xanda's pride had in recent months been spending time outside of the national park, where hunting is not illegal. "Richard Cooke is one of the 'good' guys," Loveridge told the Telegraph. "He is ethical and he returned the collar and communicated what happened. His hunt was legal and Xanda was over 6 years old so it is all within the stipulated regulations." Advertisement Luke Hunter, the president and chief conservation officer of the global wild cat organization Panthera, told The Washington Post that Zimbabwe law requires that hunted lions be a minimum of 6 years old - Xanda's age. That allows males the potential to breed, and contribute to the dwindling lion population, for at least a year or two. But the death of a male in his prime, as Xanda was, can have dramatic consequences for the pride and offspring he leaves behind. Typically, related males will form what's known as a coalition to protect a pride of females and their cubs from other males who seek to overtake it. Losing one male makes the coalition far more vulnerable to usurpers, which are biologically driven to pass along their own genes by impregnating the females as soon as possible, Hunter said. "New males come in, they take stock, and the first thing they do almost inevitably is kill all the cubs belonging to the previous males," he said. "They just can't afford to be stepdads . . . by removing the cubs, the females come back into season much, much sooner." It was unclear Thursday who may have shot Xanda, but many trophy hunters in Zimbabwe come from Europe and North America. A Humane Society analysis published last year found that the southern African nation was one of the top sources of trophy imports to the United States between 2005 and 2014. Those imports have gotten more difficult since Cecil's killing, however. Last year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed African lions under the Endangered Species Act and implemented a permitting process for trophy imports. It also banned the import of trophies of captive-bred lions killed during "canned" hunts, where the animal is confined to a small area increase the hunter's chances. Advertisement Some U.S. airlines, including Delta, now also refuse to carry "Big Five" - lion, leopard, elephant, rhinoceros and buffalo - wildlife trophies to the United States. A federal appeals court this spring upheld Delta's ban after several hunting organizations challenged its legality. In July 2015, American dentist Walter Palmer killed Cecil. Authorities in Zimbabwe said Palmer, a big-game hunter from Bloomington, Minnesota, had paid about $50,000 for the African safari. Palmer later apologized, saying he thought the hunt was legal. He was not charged with a crime because authorities said he had gone through the proper channels. However, his hunting guide, Theo Bronkhorst, and a local property owner, Honest Ndlovu, were charged in the hunt. The charges against Bronkhorst were later dropped; it's unclear where Ndlovu's case stands. After Palmer was identified as Cecil's killer, he said his life was threatened. He temporarily shut down his dental practice, River Bluff Dental, where protesters created memorials, leaving stuffed lions to represent the one he'd killed. Following the news Thursday that Cecil's son had met the same fate, animal rights advocates voiced concerns that nothing had been learned from Cecil's death. "Trophy hunters continue their blood sport at a time when lions face a conservation crisis in Africa, with as few as 20,000 lions left in the wild," Masha Kalinina, International Trade Policy Specialist with Humane Society International, said in a statement. "Xanda was a well-studied lion like this father and critical to conservation efforts in Zimbabwe. To stop lions slipping into extinction, it is critical that countries like Zimbabwe focus on keeping as many lions alive as possible and shift away from the trophy hunting industry." Advertisement RELATED STORIES: Commentary: The travesty of Cecil the lion's death Cecil the lion's cubs: Where are they now? Companion to Cecil the lion dies of natural causes In a rare move, a Cook County judge has taken away a south suburb's control over its lucrative water operations after ruling the suburb's leaders "failed to grasp the severity of their years of illegal conduct." Records show the city of Harvey had long taken water from Chicago, resold it and used the cash to keep the financially shaky town afloat. It joined a host of other questionable financial moves by the suburb's leaders that have spurred federal investigations but no criminal charges. Advertisement In a scathing ruling released Wednesday, Circuit Judge Kathleen Pantle noted millions of dollars were missing and another $26 million misspent. It stemmed, she ruled, from years of mismanagement that broke state law on how such money had to be used and broke promises Harvey made in a previous consent decree in court. She set a hearing for a receiver to be appointed by the end of the month to ensure Harvey complies, and will hold a hearing next month to decide if Harvey is in civil contempt for violating court orders. Calling Harvey's behavior "egregious," Pantle said the ruling wasn't meant just to make sure Chicago eventually gets paid, but also to ensure the safety and reliability of the pipes and other infrastructure in Harvey for residents and those who rely on the water flowing from Harvey to the suburbs of Dixmoor, East Hazel Crest, Hazel Crest, Homewood and Posen. Advertisement "The people who live in the downstream municipalities and the city of Harvey depend on Harvey's water system for their supply of clean, potable water," Pantle wrote. "It is undisputed that Harvey's water fund finances are in disarray, and are being unlawfully raided by Harvey's government to pay for non water-related expenses." Tribune investigations over the years have shown how the town has become littered with abandoned homes as residents struggle with high crime, subpar policing and questionable spending by the administration of the suburb's longtime mayor, Eric Kellogg. Kellogg spokesman Sean Howard declined to comment except to say that internal audits showed no misuse of funds and "we respectfully disagree" with the ruling. Chicago draws drinking water out of Lake Michigan, cleans it and sells it to Chicago residents, Chicago businesses, nearby suburbs or water authorities, which, in turn, resell it down the line in a domino effect. State law requires that money collected from water customers be used only on water-related expenses. Harvey gets water directly from Chicago and resells it to its residents and five other suburbs. It's done so for 100 years as the suburb of 25,000 residents grew into a blue-collar powerhouse in the mid-20th century, then faced hard times as factories closed and demographics shifted. Harvey fell behind nearly $22 million on payments and past-due fees owed to Chicago. Harvey eventually cut a deal to pay back the money over time, then repeatedly reneged on that deal, the judge said. It led to a January hearing where Pantle took away Harvey's ability to collect payments from the downstream suburbs and ordered Harvey to send all the payments from its own residents and businesses to a fund that Chicago could directly access to start being paid back. But then Harvey began depositing its collections in other accounts, to keep using the cash for other things some still unclear. Along the way, from what records Chicago could get, it complained of unusual spending such as money paid to Kay Jewelers, Kohl's and to contribute to a college savings account. Chicago also alleged $12,000 in Harvey taxpayer money was sent to a Markham beauty salon. Advertisement Howard denied the suburb made the $12,000 payment and as for the others Harvey has said in court documents that it detected those fraudulent payments and ensured the money was paid back. The suburb has been mired in political infighting for years. One Kellogg critic, Ald. Christopher Clark, said the latest ruling reinforces the need for outside agencies to "take action like we've been begging them to do." The Tribune previously documented how an undercover FBI agent, posing as a strip club manager, funneled $140,000 into a political fund that supported Kellogg in a probe that led to no charges against Kellogg with little explanation from the FBI about its actions. The FBI and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission also probed an insider deal, exposed by the Tribune, that enriched a top Kellogg aide, Joseph Letke, surrounding a dubious and failed taxpayer-funded redevelopment of an old truckers motel near a strip club that the SEC called a "scheme." The mayor is now banned for life from taking part in any bond borrowing deal a common way towns borrow money. Kellogg has repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right to not answer questions under oath about the deal out of fear the answers could be used to prosecute him. Letke did the same, stopped working for Harvey and has since committed suicide. Kellogg's current comptroller, Louis Williams, was not made available for an interview Thursday. In an interview last month, he blamed the suburb's financial problems on Kellogg's previous comptroller, the town's historic budget deficits, and the insurgent council members whose actions caused delays in the town receiving property tax collections. Advertisement Some council members, in turn, have complained the Kellogg administration has failed to show how it's spending the money, and the judge's ruling added credence to those complaints. Pantle wrote that Harvey's current comptroller admitted "over a million dollars of water revenue was not deposited into the water fund in March and February of 2017 and is still unaccounted for." Beyond the past-due water payments, Harvey is millions behind on payments to two pension funds covering some of the suburb's workers and is in the process of having its tax collections garnished by another pension fund for improperly withholding required payments. With bankruptcy normally not an option for cities and villages under state law, experts have told the Tribune that financially strapped towns can begin a slow death spiral. Services drop. More mobile and wealthier residents and businesses move. Those left face even higher tax bills and lower services, as property values sink. "In a case like Harvey, they just kind of limp along," said professor Rebecca Hendrick, of University of Illinois at Chicago. Harvey now has one more expense to juggle: Paying for the receiver. The judge suggested Harvey use the $19,000 a month it pays Williams, whom she said "cannot or will not force Harvey to comply with its obligations." jmahr@chicagotribune.com Advertisement mwalberg@chicagotribune.com Twitter @joemahr Twitter @mattwalberg1 The Cruz-McConnell "Bare Bones" Health Insurance is more honestly termed No Coverage Health Insurance. Does it cover anything that could reasonably befall a policy holder? No. Does it cover pre-existing conditions? Unlikely. Does it have high deductibles? Yes indeed. What does the Bare Bones policy do? Three things: 1. It provides enormous profit potential for health insurance companies. 2. It allows the administration and Congress to claim increased numbers of persons covered by health insurance, without disclosing that the coverage is a sham. 3. It encourages policy buyers to falsely belief they are paying for meaningful coverage, until they make a claim and discover that either the claim isn't covered or that they can't afford to pay the deductible. The proposed Bare Bones health insurance sounds similar to the extended warranty policies offered by auto and appliance dealers. The expensive auto and appliance warranties typically cover nothing likely to need fixing; profits on the extended warranties run from 95 to 98 percent. (See Consumer Reports.) Expect the proposed Bare Bones health insurance to offer similar profits with similar coverage. Sen. Steve Daines, Montana voters and their children and grandchildren deserve better than this. Carol Hardy Billings The home of Marty Evanson sustained extensive damage over the last several days as a result of flooding along West Anchorage Lane in Fox Lake on Thursday, July 20, 2017. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune) Officials are warning residents who've been fighting floodwaters for more than week now that the fight isn't over yet. "If you've sandbagged, don't take those out yet," said Mike Warner, executive director of the Lake County Stormwater Management Commission. "Let's get past the next rainfall and think about taking them out next week." Advertisement The National Weather Service told county officials they could get a range of 1 to 3 inches of rain through this weekend, with some areas hit with strong rains Wednesday night and into Thursday morning. The Des Plaines River could handle 1 inch without a problem, but 3 inches could spell more woes for nearby buildings and streets. The Chain O' Lakes and Fox River are so swollen that it won't take much more rain to push them back up and out, Warner said. He urged people dealing with flooded homes to take advantage of the Multi-Agency Resource Center, or MARC, that has opened at a former grocery store site at 965 E. Rollins Road in Round Lake Beach. Warner likened it to a "free shopping center for flood victims," with cleanup supplies, blankets and other resources. Advertisement Officials have started doing damage assessment to see if areas qualify for federal assistance, with hundreds of homes that were under 2 feet of water or more, Warner said, but some neighborhoods remained inaccessible. Even before Wednesday night's rains, flood warnings were extended in some cases into next week at points along the Fox and Des Plaines rivers. Wednesday, flood warnings continued for the Des Plaines in Lake and Cook counties, and the Fox from Algonquin south to Montgomery. The big question is how much more rain may fall heading into and through the weekend, with some rain forecast for each of the coming days. The weather service forecast the Fox River to slowly fall at Algonquin, but only by about one-tenth of an inch from Wednesday to Thursday mornings, while the Des Plaines was forecast to continue to fall steadily barring any more rain. Along the Fox River in Algonquin, Kris Lindahl was hoping there would be no more rain. He and his wife were called back from out of state to their home Sunday to find that the river was flowing through their backyard and had crept to their front step. Still, the water never reached the level of the 2013 flood that cleared their first porch step. It was about 8 inches below that before it started receding Tuesday, to Lindahl's relief. "So we're doing better," he said, "until the next storm." Advertisement After living in the same house for 50 years, Lindahl, 76, has been through many floods. With 250 feet of riverfront property, it's too big for him to build a sandbag wall, but as usual he got only seepage into his basement. Because he lives on a flood plain, he said he had to get permission from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to build a garage and had to put vents in the walls to let the river flow through. Most of his storage items were up on blocks or shelves or moved beyond the water's reach. His daughter has urged him to move, but like many of their neighbors, Lindahl and his wife love their life on the river. They see egrets, herons, cormorants, deer and fox, and he said they can deal with occasional flooding. Down the street, Curt Wittrock just moved in last year and was experiencing his first flood. His yard was under 3 feet of water flowing strong enough to carry away tree stumps from his fire pit, but he had sandbags keeping water out of his basement. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > "It's a good learning experience," Wittrock laughed. He looked forward to again kayaking down the river when the waters recede, barring any more rain. Downstream in unincorporated Algonquin Shores in Kane County, some homes were surrounded by water, and some residents had left to stay elsewhere. Those remaining helped one another stack sandbags and said one house was surrounded by 900 sandbags and four pumps. Advertisement Because the area is on well and septic systems, when the water covers the ground, the septic can't pump out any more water, so it backs up in sinks and tubs, and toilets won't flush. Still, resident Jennifer Hyde said it wasn't as bad as in 2013, when the water partially submerged her neighbor's house. "Everybody's OK," Hyde said as long as they don't get much more rain. rmccoppin@chicagotribune.com Twitter @RobertMcCoppin Ulysses Green and Elaina Turner recount the 2013 confrontation on their former Back of the Yards block that led to Turner being stunned with a Taser by Chicago police Officer Patrick Kelly. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune) (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune) The city of Chicago is expected to pay $500,000 to settle a police brutality case involving a woman who suffered a miscarriage after being repeatedly shocked with a Taser by a patrol officer with a troubling history, city records show. The amount appears on the agenda for an upcoming City Council Finance Committee meeting. The settlement requires approval from the entire council, which is scheduled to meet next week. Advertisement A spokesman for the city Law Department declined to comment on the settlement before the matter is presented to the Finance Committee on Monday. The deal would be yet another payout for a lawsuit involving Patrick Kelly, a 36-year-old Chicago police patrol officer who has had at least 27 investigations into his on- and off-duty conduct during his career. The payout would bring the total for Kelly-related lawsuits to nearly $1.2 million so far in settlements and jury awards, including a $100,000 payout in a case in which a man accused Kelly of making a false arrest and holding a gun to his head. Two cases in addition to the Taser lawsuit are pending. Advertisement As of mid-March, the city has paid $2.4 million to private attorneys to defend lawsuits involving Kelly, who is still on active duty. Jeffrey Granich, the lawyer for the woman in the case, Elaina Turner, and her fiance, Ulysses Green, said he is happy his clients got a measure of justice and hopes city leadership pays attention to the case. "I hope this case, No. 1, makes the city aware of just how much problem officers like this hurt the department and hurt the city and hurt the taxpayers," Granich said. A 2006 arrest report for Chicago police Officer Patrick Kelly. He was arrested in June 2006 and charged with simple battery after police said he threw a TV remote control at his then-girlfriends brother, leaving a cut above his eye. The charge was later dropped, and the Independent Police Review Authority closed its investigation after the girlfriends brother refused to sign an affidavit against him. (Chicago Police Department) Records obtained by the Tribune show Kelly has been found mentally unfit for duty twice during his turbulent career, arrested two times and accused of beating a girlfriend. Also, his childhood friend Michael LaPorta was shot near the back of the head with Kelly's service weapon in 2010, a case that was initially ruled an attempted suicide before being re-opened recently by both the Chicago Police Department and the Independent Police Review Authority . Turner and Green, however, knew nothing of Kelly's past when they crossed paths with him in July 2013. Kelly had been on patrol when he responded to a call to assist other officers in towing cars from behind the couple's Back of the Yards home. Green and Kelly exchanged angry words, with the officer promising to come back and take every car the family owned, the couple said in an interview. Turner, who was about six weeks pregnant at the time, said she then pretended she was recording the incident on her cellphone and stepped closer to her van. But she dropped her phone and, as she went to pick it up, she said she heard Kelly yell, "Taser! Taser! Taser!" The first Taser shot hit her in the abdomen, though the electrical current was minimized because only one of the cartridge's two prongs hit her, records show. She felt a small prick, however, and froze. Then Kelly deployed the Taser's second cartridge, which hit her in the arm and sent a painful jolt through her body, Turner recalled. Kelly walked over, pressed the Taser to her skin and shocked her again. Turner fell to the ground, she recalled. Advertisement "It's excruciating pain," Turner told the Tribune earlier this year. "It feels as if someone sticks needles in you and then sets them on fire." She miscarried several days later. Green was charged with aggravated assault on a police officer. At the couple's criminal trial, Kelly testified that he deployed his Taser because Turner tried to open the passenger door of the van against his orders and then fled. But the tow truck driver did not corroborate Kelly's account, testifying that he never saw Turner touch the van door. He also said she was not running away from Kelly when she was stunned with the Taser, as police contend, but standing in the middle of the street facing Kelly when it happened. A Cook County judge acquitted Green and Turner. Green filed a complaint with IPRA within days of the Taser incident. Turner followed shortly after. Records show IPRA did nothing with the couple's sworn statements for nearly two years, until their attorney asked for the case file shortly before their criminal trial. IPRA investigators then interviewed Kelly and his partner, exonerating Kelly in June 2016. Advertisement IPRA reopened that investigation last summer, stating that it wanted to review Kelly's mental fitness evaluations and depositions taken in the civil case. The case remains open, officials said. The agency also reopened the LaPorta case, but it's unclear how aggressively it is pursuing its re-examination. The Police Department announced it would take a second look at the case last year but still has not interviewed LaPorta. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > IPRA, which initially ruled that Kelly did not shoot LaPorta, officially reopened the case in March. Its investigators also have not yet spoken to LaPorta. Granich said he believes IPRA shares culpability in its failure to discipline officers. "IPRA is complicit in costing the city money, and they are not doing their job," he said. "When they protect these bad officers they cost everybody." sstclair@chicagotribune.com Advertisement jcoen@chicagotribune.com Twitter @StacyStClair Twitter @JeffCoen After two burglaries in the Bronzeville neighborhood on the South Side, Chicago police are warning business owners to increase security. They happened Monday about 9:15 p.m. and between noon Sunday and 9:30 a.m. Monday in the 200 and 100 block of East 51st street and the assailants entered the businesses through the back door. Advertisement Police suggest keeping the property around the business well lit, keeping doors locked and repairing any broken locks or doors. If you have any information on the robberies, contact Area Central detectives, (312) 747-8380. A line of severe thunderstorms triggered a tornado warning for areas northwest of the Chicago area and a severe thunderstorm warning for the northwest suburbs Wednesday evening, as most of northern Illinois was under a severe thunderstorm watch. A severe thunderstorm warning was in effect until 10:15 p.m. for central Cook County, as well as Kendall, Will, DuPage and northern Grundy counties. Storms with 70 mph winds were moving through the area. Advertisement The severe thunderstorm watch was in effect until midnight. "There is potential to have severe winds with this complex of storms, as well as periods of very heavy rainfall that could bring localized flooding," according to the weather service. Advertisement For more details and updates, check the Tribune's weather page. Moments after getting picked up from a summer camp in the Austin neighborhood Wednesday, 4-year-old Asante Glover III and his sister 6-year-old Keziah Shealy had hoped to find a quick snack before taking a nap, relatives said. When they left Columbus Park on the West Side around 4 p.m., the siblings spotted a vendor selling crushed, flavored ice, known as "snowballs," they thought they'd found the perfect summertime treat. Advertisement But before they could make their way to buy a cup, a black car pulled up in the 5500 block of West Van Buren Street and someone inside fired shots, hitting the children and their 27-year-old father. The snowball vendor rushed to their aid, putting the children and their father in the back seat of her truck and speeding to Mount Sinai Hospital. Advertisement "My grandson was like, 'We stopped to get snowballs, granny, and a man just got out the black car and started shooting at us,'" said Marcella Birth, the children's grandmother. The children's mother, Shajaun Sims, a CTA employee, hurried to the hospital where her son was treated for a graze wound to his left hip and left leg and her daughter was treated for a gunshot wound to the thigh. Meanwhile, their father underwent surgery for eight gunshot wounds, including three to the chest. He was listed in critical condition but was later stabilized, according to police and relatives. "I never would've expected this to happen to my kids," Sims said. "I've seen it many times, but I never would've expected this to happen to me." "My kids have to live with this for life," Sims added, her voice breaking. Though Sims and her children had just moved to Austin about two months ago, the lifelong Chicagoan said she has decided her time in Chicago will be coming to an end, for her children's future. "I'm moving far away," Sims said. "This is it. We are moving. Our kids will no longer be here. We're moving for better." Asante and Keziah are the latest children in Chicago to be hurt in by the city's gun violence. So far this year, 15 children age 12 and under have been shot, four of them fatally. Advertisement Their relatives say they have reason to believe this shooting was targeted, given that their father, who has a lengthy arrest record, had survived a shooting about a week earlier. Birth said he had recently tried to stop associating with former friends. "He did a whole 360 from stunting on the corner," she said. "He did change his life and now they're trying to kill him." Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > Outside the emergency room, the vendor who drove the three to the hospital recounted how fast the scene had turned from an tranquil summer afternoon to a frenzied dash to the hospital. "All I know was I heard shots and I grabbed the kids and threw them in the car," said the vendor, the mother of a 6-year-old, who asked that her name not be used. "They were coming to get snowballs. It happened so fast." "If I wasn't there, he probably would've bled to death, because he was bleeding heavily," she said of the children's father. "I got him here as fast as I could. He was doing good on the way here, so I have faith he'll be fine." En route to Mount Sinai, she continuously talked with the victims in hopes of keeping them calm and "making sure they were still with us." Advertisement "They were scared," she said of the kids. "They were strong, though ... to be shot." Outside of the emergency room, the good Samaritan spoke with police, who took crime scene photos of her bloodstained back seat. Though she didn't meet relatives of the victims, whose name she didn't even have time to get, Sims said she still owes her a debt of gratitude. "I thank her," she said. "It could've been a lot worse." A new Cook County court in the North Lawndale neighborhood on Chicago's West Side aims to bring victims of nonviolent crime face-to-face with the offenders to hash out a resolution, officials said Thursday. The Restorative Justice Community Court, the first of its kind in the state, is slated to begin operations next month. Under the guidance of community members and a judge, defendants, victims and their neighbors will agree on solutions to hold defendants accountable for their crimes. Advertisement "This is truly the people's court," Judge Colleen Sheehan, who will preside over the new court, said at a news conference. "It is the community that has the wisdom and the humanity to do this." "Simply arresting them and prosecuting them and locking them up and putting them away has not solved the problem," Chief Judge Timothy Evans said. "What we intend to do here is have them become accountable in a new way." Advertisement To be eligible, defendants must be 18 to 26 in age, live in the North Lawndale area, be charged with nonviolent crimes and have no violent criminal history. The court will be held once a week on the campus of the UCAN social services organization at 3605 W. Fillmore Ave. The approval of victims is required, and defendants must then agree to accept responsibility for the crime. Restitution agreements will be hashed out in a confidential "peace circle" in which the victim, the defendant and community members will participate. If the defendant follows through on the agreement, the charges can be dropped and the arrest expunged. "The solution to what's happening in our neighborhoods is not solved by institutions, it's by those who are in the neighborhoods, empowering communities to take hold of what happens to them and around them," State's Attorney Kim Foxx said at the news conference. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > If needed, defendants could also be connected with social services such as drug treatment, mental health counseling and parenting classes. The court is expected to hear only about 100 cases in its first year a tiny fraction of the criminal cases that go through the Cook County court system. Evans said he hopes the North Lawndale court will be a model for future programs in other neighborhoods. Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice gave Cook County and nine other jurisdictions each a two-year, $200,000 grant to implement community courts. Evans expressed confidence that the county board would continue the program. Advertisement North Lawndale was chosen because of its long history of active community organizing as well as its high rates of crime and poverty, officials said. mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com Twitter @crepeau A dispatcher for Chicago police allegedly shot an 18-year-old woman during a road rage incident in the 3400 block of South Ashland Avenue on July 19, 2017. (Ariana Figueroa / Chicago Tribune ) Charges are pending in a shooting involving a Chicago police dispatcher who shot someone in the South Side's McKinley Park neighborhood Wednesday afternoon, according to authorities. The 46-year-old dispatcher is still in custody after she shot an 18-year-old woman, police said. Police said a "verbal traffic dispute" escalated and led to the shooting about 1:50 p.m. in the 3500 block of South Ashland Avenue. Advertisement The 18-year-old was taken to Stroger Hospital, where her condition was stabilized. She was shot in the chest. The dispatcher also was taken to Stroger for treatment of a head injury, according to police. The 46-year-old is a city Office of Emergency Management and Communications staffer who had a concealed carry license, according to a law enforcement source. Advertisement The dispatcher handles police calls for service. Records indicate she has been employed by the city as a dispatcher since 1995. The dream to turn a vacant 3-acre peninsula into a public park along the lakefront could be inching toward reality. On Wednesday, the Chicago Park District board awarded a $1.4 million contract to Industrial & Environmental Services to clear, excavate and remove contaminated soil from DuSable Park, a parcel along where the Chicago River meets Lake Michigan. Development of the park has been hindered for years by funding and environmental challenges. Advertisement Operations of the Lindsay Light and Chemical Co., which was located in Streeterville, left the DuSable site contaminated with thorium. Over the years, crews have removed contaminated soil at the surface, but the radioactive material may remain buried, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Under a legal settlement in 2014 with the EPA and the Department of Justice, successors to Lindsay Light are paying $6.8 million that will be allocated by the EPA to the Park District for environmental remediation and cleanup costs at the site. The contract approved Wednesday will be funded using money from the settlement. Advertisement Park advocates have been pushing for the development of DuSable Park for decades, and are hopeful the cleanup signals significant movement on a park that was dedicated in the 1980s by Mayor Harold Washington to honor Chicago's first nonnative settler, Jean Baptiste Point DuSable. "It will be nice of the Park District and the city of Chicago to use this opportunity of doing the cleanup and from there do the revetment of the park and then from there start park construction itself," said Serge Pierre-Louis, president of the DuSable Heritage Association in Chicago. The cleanup of the site, which also will include grading and planting native grasses, is the first phase of the remediation plan expected to be completed by the end of the year. Crews are expected to begin digging out eight to 10 feet of soil in August, said Dan Cooper, environmental engineer for the Park District. The second phase of the plan will involve replacing the existing seawall and cleaning up a perimeter area along the seawall and will be paid for with the balance of the money from the legal settlement, Cooper said. If more money is needed to complete the second phase, an additional funding source would need to be found, he said. The goal is to start the design for the seawall early next year and construction could last up to six months, he said. The third phase will be park development, said Heather Gleason, director of planning and construction for the Park District. Initial design plans may need to be revisited because they did not take into consideration the Navy Pier Flyover, the bike and pedestrian path that is being built near the park site, she said. The restoration has been a long time coming, said Juanita Irizarry, executive director of Friends of the Parks. "We're thrilled to see this as a beginning of the development we've been waiting for," she said. For years, the Park District has said developing the land into a public park was too costly, and said it would look for partners to help fund it. But critics point to other park investments made in recent years including Millennium Park and Maggie Daley Park which were funded using a combination of public and private money, while DuSable Park sat neglected. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > "We think it's appalling that it has taken this long. It clearly has not been a priority to the city to develop this land. That's a real shame when you're trying to honor Chicago's founder, who happens to be a black man," Irizarry said. Advertisement The park had been linked to development of the twisting downtown skyscraper known as the Spire, which would have used the DuSable site as a temporary construction staging area before helping to turn it into a public park. The DuSable land sits across from what is now a gaping hole left when the Spire development died. Neither the building nor the park was ever built. Documents show the Spire developer had a commitment of $4.1 million for DuSable Park to allow for an increase in square footage and number of residential units. The obligation is tied to the land regardless of the owner, which is now Related Midwest, a city planning official said. Changes to the terms of the development would need City Council approval. Related Midwest's development of the site is still in the planning stages. The company has not submitted a proposal for developing the site, a spokeswoman said. The DuSable parkland, which can be seen from Navy Pier and would be visible to the public once the Navy Pier Flyover bike and pedestrian path opens, resurfaced as a hot topic last year. The Friends of the Parks, one of the groups that opposed building the Lucas Museum on the lakefront, included improvements to DuSable Park among its negotiating points for settling the lawsuit to block the museum. "Star Wars" creator George Lucas later abandoned his plans to build the project in Chicago, opting for Los Angeles instead. lvivanco@chicagotribune.com Twitter @lvivanco Chicago Public Schools officials Monday faced a bit of skepticism and a lot of questions from community members curious to learn more about the district's plans for a new $75 million high school that's expected to replace four under-enrolled schools in the Englewood neighborhood. At an initial hearing on the plan for the predominantly African-American area, CPS officials divided attendees into separate rooms at Parker Elementary School to brief them on what Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the district have cast as the most significant educational investment in the area in decades. Advertisement The proposed school would merge four campuses in a new, three-story building on the site of Robeson High School that would open in fall 2019. The building is expected to serve 1,200 students. In addition to Robeson, the Hope, Harper and TEAM Englewood campuses would close. Each of those buildings ranks among the district's most under-enrolled high schools. The city's goal is to create an attractive high school education option that would keep students in the neighborhood. Advertisement The district's rollout of the plan for the school, first announced in June, was criticized by one local alderman. Ald. David Moore, 17th, told a group of audience members that "I'm not happy right now because I felt like there should've been more engagement." "My thing is, I do not feel that has happened," he said. "You all have to stay engaged with your alderman based on what you need them to do as it relates to this issue." Sunni Powell, a business owner in the area who also lives in the neighborhood, also criticized the meeting process. "It's a dog and pony show," he said. "They're not asking questions, they're telling you what they've already done." Instead, Powell said he supported investing the money that would otherwise be spent on the new building into programming and infrastructure at the four existing schools. "To destroy the schools and then just build another building, it's a gentrification flag," Powell said. "It's painful, because these kids do need a high school." Community members received few immediate answers on the school's programming, the new building's leadership structure or how it will be staffed. The school's academic focus hasn't yet been determined, CPS officials said, and would depend in part on community feedback. Advertisement The district also said the school's name would be decided by the community. More details are expected to emerge as the plan for the new school is refined in the coming months, and the district said it would appoint a steering committee for the proposal. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > Officials said they are waiting to know more about the school's enrollment before developing final Safe Passage plans for the building and will eventually determine other security plans for the school including whether metal detectors or hand wands would be employed. A principal for the new school is tentatively expected to be hired next summer, officials said. The plan has been met with opposition from the Chicago Teachers Union and also sparked concerns about how the construction would address chronic crime and poverty in the area. The schools being replaced have had problems attracting local students. About 2,300 students were eligible to attend Robeson in the last school year more than enough to fill the building to capacity levels set by the district. But just 86 students living inside Robeson's attendance boundaries opted to attend the school by the 20th day of classes. Advertisement At Harper, about 2 miles from the Robeson campus, just less than 10 percent of 1,166 eligible students enrolled in classes, according to the district's official head count. Just 8 percent of the nearly 700 students living inside Hope's border attended that building. jjperez@chicagotribune.com Twitter @perez Jr. Facial recognition scanners sit ready inside Terminal 3 before an American Airlines flight to London Heathrow was scheduled to board July 19, 2017, at O'Hare International Airport. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune) (Brian Cassella) Starting this month, passengers on some international flights from O'Hare airport have been getting their pictures taken before boarding as part of a new U.S. security program that utilizes facial-recognition technology. The program, run by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, aims to ensure the right person is getting on an international flight. The technology measures facial features, such as the distances between the eyes, nose and ears. Federal officials say it aids security and could eventually save passengers time, but privacy advocates have expressed concerns about its expanded use. Advertisement The program is part of a year-old, ongoing test of the use of facial-recognition biometric technology, started under the Obama administration, that also has been deployed at Washington Dulles International Airport and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, with future deployments planned for more airports this summer. The airport tests are a way to show airlines and other airport stakeholders how the face-scanning technology works, according to Jennifer Gabris, a spokeswoman for Customs and Border Protection. Advertisement The reason for testing the technology is to aid a U.S. Department of Homeland Security program that tracks non-U.S. citizens. Since 2004, the department has collected fingerprints and photos from non-U.S. citizens before they enter the United States as part of counter-terrorism efforts. It has been more difficult to check on departures of foreign travelers, according to Customs and Border Protection. Face-scanning technology is a quick way to confirm that someone is exiting the country, Gabris said The Department of Homeland Security said the program is a way to better track people who overstay their visas and also to tighten security. U.S. citizens also are scanned, so airlines don't need to haveseparate boarding processes for citizens and noncitizens, Gabris said. Beforegetting on a plane, passengers stop at a small station to have their boarding passes scanned and their pictures taken, Customs and Border Protection agents demonstrated on Wednesday. Travelers over the age of 14 and under the age of 79 are required to participate. The live photos are electronically compared with a photo the government already has, such as from a passport. This process takes a few seconds. Once their identities are confirmed, passengers proceed to their gate, show their boarding pass and passport to an airline employee, and get on their plane. This is currently being done once daily at O'Hare an American Airlines flight departing from Terminal 3 for London. If the person photographed is a U.S. citizen, the photo is discarded within two weeks, Gabris said. She said the face scans confirm what is already being checked manually by airport security officials who compare passengers' passport photos to their faces. At O'Hare on Wednesday, several passengers all U.S. citizens waiting to board the London flight told the Tribune they had no problem with the face scan if it boosts security. "I'd rather be inconvenienced than dead," said Linda Long, 68, of South Whitley, Ind. She was traveling with a church group to England and Ireland. Advertisement Another passenger, the Rev. Dominic Lenk, 57, a Benedictine priest from St. Louis, said: "I have no issue with it. If it makes us safer, it's great." He noted that you go through the same process on return trips to this country. Gabris said the face-scan technology could eventually reduce the amount of times travelers have to present travel documents throughout the airports. Delta and JetBlue airlines have announced that they will be working with Customs and Border Protection to integrate face scans as part of the boarding process. Delta is testing the technology at John F. Kennedy International and Hartsfield-Jackson International airports, while JetBlue is testing it at Boston's Logan International Airport. Using face scans, JetBlue passengers can self-board without scanning a boarding pass at the gate, the airline said in a news release. Privacy advocates have expressed skepticism about the program. Harrison Rudolph, a law fellow with the Center on Privacy & Technology at Georgetown University Law Center, said the system could stop a traveler using a doctored passport, but it comes at the expense of travelers' privacy. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > "By collecting travelers' faces and sharing them across different systems, Homeland Security is creating serious risk for mission creep," said Rudolph. "One future possibility might be sharing information collected by these systems with state and local law enforcement; in fact, Homeland Security has reserved the right to do it." Rudolph said the new scanning pilot is being done without congressional authorization. "That isn't how a democracy is supposed to work," he said. Advertisement Face scans also have practical problems in that they are not always accurate, noted Jay Stanley, a privacy expert for the American Civil Liberties Union. "If you're smiling in one photo and and not smiling in another, it might not work," said Stanley, who said that fingerprints are much more accurate. "There is evidence that it is far less reliable for people with darker skin, which raises a prospect of yet another racial injustice in our society." Chief Ralph Piccirilli, Customs and Border Protection public affairs liaison, said that the process is more than 99 percent accurate. mwisniewski@chicagotribune.com Twitter @marywizchicago A bag of lunar dust collected during the Apollo 11 mission is returned to Nancy Lee Carlson, of Inverness. The bag is considered priceless but was mistakenly sold by the government to an Inverness woman, who was awarded ownership in court last week. (Emma Gutheinz, courtesy of Christopher McHugh) (Emma Gutheinz, Courtesy Of Christopher Mchugh/Chicago Tribune) A bag containing moon dust owned by a suburban Chicago woman has sold at auction for $1.8 million, after a galactic court battle. Used by astronaut Neil Armstrong during the first manned mission to the moon in 1969, the collection bag was featured Thursday at a Sotheby's auction in New York City of items related to space voyages. The pre-sale estimate had been $2 million to $4 million. Advertisement The identity of the buyer wasn't released Thursday, nor was where the moon bag will finally land. The artifact from the Apollo 11 mission had already made quite the journey from the moon to the pocket of Armstrong's space suit, to the garage of a space rock thief, to a government online auction, to the bedroom closet of a northwest suburban Inverness woman, before the government seized it again. Advertisement Nancy Lee Carlson, a baby boomer who told the Tribune in the past she had always been fascinated by the Apollo missions, came across the bag, labeled "lunar sample return," on an online federal auction site. After nobody bid on it during three initial auctions, she snagged it for $995 in February 2015. Initially, she had told the Tribune, she kept the 12-by-81/2-inch bag, made of white Beta cloth and polyester with rubberized nylon and a brass zipper, in her bedroom closet. A collector, Carlson figured the bag had been used in a space flight, but she didn't know which one. So she sent it to NASA to verify its authenticity. NASA officials verified that the bag indeed contained moon dust, a dark-gray fine powder, like graphite, that one astronaut described as smelling like gunpowder. But once officials knew the bag came from the moon, they confiscated it as government property. The bag had been part of a cache of stolen items found in 2003 in the home of Max Ary, who ran a museum called the Kansas Cosmosphere in Hutchinson, Kan., according to court records. Ary was convicted of stealing and selling space objects, and government officials seized his possessions and sold some of them for restitution. But they mistakenly sold this lunar sample bag, which was confused with another bag that did not contain moon dust. Carlson filed a federal lawsuit to get it back. NASA argued against returning the bag to her, saying the artifact "belongs to the American people." A U.S. district judge in Kansas said that while it shouldn't have gone up for auction, he didn't have the authority to reverse the sale. In December, he ordered the government to return it. Following the judge's ruling, Carlson told the Tribune she received hundreds of emails a day about the bag, and people showed up at her door, inquiring about it. Because of the intense interest, Carlson said she kept the bag in a secure location unknown even to her. Advertisement Carlson did not return calls for comment Thursday. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > "I'm thrilled we won," she previously told the Tribune, about the judge's ruling. "This is like the Holy Grail." But, she added, "I'm trying to be as anonymous as possible." Sotheby's said in the past that some of the proceeds of the sale would be used to benefit charities, including the Immune Deficiency Foundation and Bay Cliff Health Camp. Carlson said in the past she planned to set up a scholarship in speech pathology where she went to school, Northern Michigan University. The "Space Exploration" auction was held on the 48th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing and included lunar and space photographs and other artifacts. Sotheby's touted the Apollo 11 Contingency Lunar Sample Return bag as the "star lot." When it comes to moon landings, Thursday's auction is far from the final frontier. A group called For All Moonkind Inc. mentioned the moon bag this week while campaigning for "measures to preserve and protect the six Apollo lunar landing sites." Advertisement It plans to take up the issue next month at the Starship Congress 2017 in California. The Associated Press contributed. Two people fell into the Chicago River late Wednesday, according to the fire department. (Elvia Malagon / Chicago Tribune) Two people who were on a kayak late Wednesday on the Chicago River near Michigan Avenue fell into the water, according to the Chicago Fire Department. Sometime after 10 p.m., the two people fell into the water because of the turbulence caused by a larger boat, according to the fire department. Advertisement By the time firefighters arrived at the scene, the two people had managed to get out of the Chicago River. They were not transported to any area hospitals. The incident happened while the area was under a severe thunderstorm watch. Chicago police are searching for a group that is believed to be behind two armed robberies this month that happened within 15 minutes of each other, according to a police news release. In both incidents, the robbers walked up to people, showed a gun and then demanded the person's belongings, according to the release. Advertisement The most recent incident happened about 5:40 a.m. July 13 in the 100 block North Paulina Street in the West Town neighborhood, police said. The second incident happened minutes earlier, about 5:30 a.m., less than half a mile away in the 1500 block of West Warren Boulevard in the Near West Side neighborhood. There were five robbers who are between 15 to 20 years old. One of the robbers was described as a black man who was 5 foot 8 inches tall to 6 foot tall, according to the release. He was wearing multi-colored pajama pants and he weighed about 140 to 160 pounds. Advertisement Another robber was described as being a black man who is about 20 to 24 years old and was 6 foot tall, according to the release. The man was last seen wearing a black T-shirt and black pants. Anyone with information about the robberies is asked to call Area Central detectives at 312-747-8382. Two women from the Hammond community, Gloria and Faith, who wouldn't give their last names, gathered Thursday outside the home of Chloe Bell, 17, who was shot and killed late Wednesday. (Carrie Napoleon / Post-Tribune) A Hammond teen shot late Wednesday in her home was described by a neighbor as a good kid looking forward to her last year of high school. Chloe Bell, 17, was gunned down late Wednesday in her home in the Saxony Town Homes in the 7400 block of Chestnut Avenue in Hammond, according to a press news release from Lt. Steve Kellogg, public information officer with the Hammond Police Department. Advertisement At least eight bullet holes riddled the front door of the neatly landscaped town home where Bell lived. Cars slowly passed the town home Thursday afternoon, many pausing to take a look. A handful of residents could be seen walking by and looking at the home. Kellogg said when police arrived they found Bell inside the home with multiple gunshot wounds. She was transported to Community Hospital in Munster where she was pronounced dead from her injuries at 12:21 a.m., according to a press release from the Lake County Coroner's office. Advertisement The shooter was on foot, Kellogg said. "(The suspect) knocked on the door of the residence. The young lady came to the door and asked who it was and was shot through the door," Kellogg said. Shavonne Handy, who lives next door, said she was in bed with her 5-year-old son who was sleeping when a bullet ripped through the wall of her room and struck the television. She said she screamed at him to get down and stay down because somebody was shooting. The shooting left the pair reeling, she said. She said her son was terrified and was asking questions. "He didn't want to go to school today," she said. Handy said she does not plan on staying in the town home. She was retrieving items Thursday so she could stay with her sister. She said Bell's family were good neighbors and described the teen as a good girl. "She was smart, energetic and positive. She was looking forward to her senior year of high school and graduating with an associate's degree," Handy said, adding Bell was participating a dual credit program that would give her a jump start on a college education. She said Bell was also looking forward to her first job. "She was just hired at Jimmy John's," Handy said. "She was excited about that." Advertisement Gloria and Faith, two Hammond women who were not Saxony residents and who declined to give their last names, said they came to the town home Thursday to offer support and prayers to the family. The duo formed a circle holding hands with Handy to pray. "This is such a beautiful neighborhood. I always thought it was quiet," Gloria said. Handy said the sound of gunshots recently have been commonplace in the normally quiet neighborhood. "It's been gunshots going off every day," Handy said. She wants to see whoever shot Bell brought to justice and taken off the streets. "I hope they catch him," Handy said. She fears if the crime goes unsolved it will embolden the offenders. Kellogg said there have been a couple incidents that have occurred in the area in the past couple weeks that police are investigating, including a vehicle that was struck by a bullet. At this time the investigation has not linked Wednesday's shooting to any other activity that has occurred. Advertisement "Anything right now is speculation," Kellogg said. Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr., said the Hammond Police Department and its gang unit have been monitoring a recent spike in gang activity. He described the shooting in the town home community as "unusual, for that area especially." Residents are vetted and the housing complex has its own police force. "We feel pretty confident this is gang-motivated," McDermott said, adding officials are also pretty confident Bell was not the intended target. "She was an unfortunate victim," McDermott said, adding concern now shifts to the possibility of retaliatory violence. McDermott said police are actively investigating the case. The mayor said Bell's death is the latest in a series of tragedies in the past few weeks involving Northwest Indiana youths. He cited the death of Noah Inman, 13, who died July 8 after being struck July 1 by what is believed to be a celebratory bullet shot into the air, and the hit-and-run death Tuesday in Michigan City of 5-year-old Delaney Klewer. "It's been a rough summer so far. Unfortunately, in Hammond, we have had two right in our city. It stinks," McDermott said. Advertisement Carrie Napoleon is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune. Mayor Rahm Emanuel's new No. 2 man at City Hall will be a former federal transportation official the administration recently tapped to help with a planned high-speed train to O'Hare Airport. Deputy Mayor Steve Koch will step down in mid-August after five years, Emanuel's office announced Thursday. Advertisement Succeeding him will be Bob Rivkin, hired by Emanuel in February to "provide legal expertise in identifying a clear path forward and working with potential partners" to build and operate the mayor's much-discussed express rail line between downtown and the airport. Rivkin is a onetime general counsel for the federal Transportation Department and the Chicago Transit Authority. He's a former Delta Air Lines vice president and a former vice president of Aon Corp. Advertisement He practices law at Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila, where he advises clients on infrastructure and regulatory issues, including serving as counsel on the CTA's project to modernize the Red and Purple lines. Rivkin's selection reflects Emanuel's focus on the big transportation infrastructure deals he has made a centerpiece of his administration. "Bob has already proven himself to be an asset through his work with the City on transformational projects like the modernization of the Red and Purple CTA lines and O'Hare express rail service; his experiences and relationships with City entities and external partners will allow him to hit the ground running and continue our economic gains," Emanuel said in a statement announcing the change. After serving on Emanuel's transition team in 2011, Koch took over as deputy mayor in September 2012. Koch followed Emanuel's first deputy mayor, Mark Angelson. Emanuel thanked Koch for helping stabilize the city's finances and diversify the economy. Koch played a role in the revitalization of Navy Pier, the construction of the event center at McCormick Square to the completion of the 606 trail, the mayor said in his statement. Koch will spend two months biking along the Mississippi River to raise money for the Greater Chicago Food Depository, according to the mayor's office. The mayor's office did not say what his work plans were after the ride. jebyrne@chicagotribune.com Twitter @_johnbyrne Chicagoans who have winced at the flash of red light cameras while driving through intersections or spit invective upon finding familiar Revenue Department envelopes in their mailboxes might be in line for a bit of payback from the much-loathed automated camera ticket program. Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration has agreed to a $38.75 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit alleging Chicago failed to give adequate notice to red light camera and speed camera violators. Advertisement Under the massive deal, more than 1.2 million people could be in line for payments of half of whatever they paid the city for their tickets. Those who qualify will receive letters in the mail in upcoming months notifying them they were part of the suit and telling them how to collect, according to attorney Jacie Zolna, whose firm brought the legal challenge. The March 2015 suit claimed the city violated its own rules by failing to send a second notice of a violation before guilt was determined, and by doubling the fine for late payment of tickets sooner than allowed. Advertisement A couple of months later, the Emanuel administration responded by changing the city ordinance to eliminate the requirement for a second notice. In September 2016, the city passed an ordinance to give those who hadn't gotten second notices from 2010 to 2015 a do-over, sending notices giving people the right to request an administrative hearing to contest their tickets. Emanuel's lawyers argued that brought them into compliance. Then-city Corporation Counsel Stephen Patton said the change "further bolsters our case" by addressing the argument that people who didn't get a second notice were wronged. John Bills was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Aug. 29, 2016, for taking up to $2 million in bribes and gifts in return for steering tens of millions of dollars in red-light camera contracts to an Arizona company. (Nancy Stone/Chicago Tribune) (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune) But Zolna said the city trying to retroactively meet its own standards didn't cut it. "When they passed that law and did that sneaky move, it just emboldened me," he said Thursday while discussing the settlement. "I decided I wouldn't let them try to do that." In November 2016, a Cook County judge approved class action status for the suit, greatly increasing City Hall's exposure and helping drive a settlement. On Thursday, city Corporation Counsel Ed Siskel said the Law Department is recommending the settlement because the city could be on the hook for more than $250 million if it lost the case. While the city has successfully defended against other ticket camera lawsuits, that type of possible judgment is too risky, Siskel said. The agreement still needs City Council approval. The Finance Committee is slated to consider it Monday, and in the likely event it passes, it would go to the full council Wednesday. Under the settlement, people who got tickets from 2010 to 2015 will be paid out of a $26.75 million pot. The city also will forgive another $12 million in motorists' unpaid tickets. In addition, the city will agree not to count the tickets toward violations that could get drivers' cars booted or their licenses suspended. Advertisement Ald. Anthony Beale talks about the city's $38.75 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit against red light and speed camera tickets. (Videolicious - Chicago Tribune) Zolna said his firm, Myron M. Cherry & Associates, will get a little less than one-third of the settlement. Vishal Aggarwal of Naperville was part of the suit. Under the settlement, he's in line for $50 from the city for a $100 red light ticket he got in September 2014 on Foster Avenue in the Uptown neighborhood. Aggarwal said the money will be nice, but he's mainly happy City Hall is being held accountable for breaking the rules. "Morally, the point is, if something's wrong, it's wrong," he said. The settlement is just the latest problem for the city's troubled red light camera system. Zolna's suit was among half a dozen cases that followed a Chicago Tribune investigation of corruption and mismanagement within the city's $600 million red light program. The series exposed a $2 million City Hall bribery scheme that brought the traffic cameras to Chicago as well as tens of thousands of tickets that were unfairly issued to drivers. The investigation found malfunctioning cameras, inconsistent enforcement and millions of dollars in tickets issued purposely by City Hall even after transportation officials knew that yellow light times were dropping below the federal minimum guidelines. Advertisement Throughout the scandal, the Emanuel administration has been reluctant to issue refunds, in some cases forcing drivers to file paperwork and apply for a rehearing process some critics have called onerous. Last year, former City Hall operative John Bills was sentenced to 10 years in prison for taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to steer tens of millions of dollars in red light camera contracts to an Arizona company, Redflex Traffic Systems Inc. According to testimony at his federal trial, Bills took a cash bribe of up to $2,000 for each of the 384 red light cameras that were installed while he oversaw the program. A Tribune-sponsored study of the red-light program in 2014 found that nearly 40 percent of the intersections equipped with the cameras are likely making the streets more dangerous. The study found that the cameras caused a 22 percent increase in rear-end crashes, yet provided no safety benefit at intersections that never had a problem with right-angle crashes in the first place. The city will use $10 million it will receive by year's end from a settlement with Redflex over the bribery scandal to pay part of the $26.75 million, according to city Budget Department spokeswoman Molly Poppe. The city will tap "available operating dollars first and using bond proceeds where necessary" to pay the balance, Poppe said in an email. Ald. Anthony Beale, 9th, who has railed against the red light and speed cameras, said the huge settlement underscores that the ticket programs are not about safety, but about "trying to balance the books on the backs of the people who can least afford to pay." Advertisement "What I can tell you is, 'I told you so,'" said Beale, City Council Transportation Committee chairman, when told of the settlement Thursday. "If you recall, years ago I said the whole red light camera issue was more about revenue than it was about public safety." Chicago Tribune's Peter Matuszak contributed to this article. jebyrne@chicagotribune.com Twitter @_johnbyrne Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle addresses budget shortfall after the beverage tax was put on hold by a judge. (Hal Dardick/Chicago Tribune) The financial squeeze over a delayed Cook County soda pop tax is leading to a harsh war of words between Board President Toni Preckwinkle and Sheriff Tom Dart. Preckwinkle accused Dart of "making excuses" and embarking on a "media tour" instead of working with her to cut spending in the wake of a judge's ruling on the new tax. Advertisement Dart, in turn, called "insane" Preckwinkle's suggestion that management ranks were swelling at the sheriff's office, and contended he continues to work with the board president to finalize spending trims. The sharp exchange came at dueling news conferences Wednesday: Preckwinkle's to update efforts to trim $68 million before Nov. 30, Dart's to announce identification of a new serial murder victim of John Wayne Gacy. Advertisement Last November, Preckwinkle broke a rare tie vote to enact a 1-cent-an-ounce tax on all sugar- and artificially sweetened beverages. The tax means a case of pop would cost an extra $2.88. But Circuit Judge Daniel Kubasiak put a hold on the tax just before it was to take effect July 1 after merchants and the beverage industry said the measure included too many last-minute changes and didn't pass state constitutional muster. On Wednesday, Preckwinkle said she's been advised not to expect a speedy resolution to the lawsuit even as she predicted the county would prevail over the long haul. Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart and Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle. (Antonio Perez, Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune) The county was expecting the tax to bring in $67.5 million this year and $200.6 million in 2018. So Preckwinkle started making cuts equal to 10 percent of spending planned for the last four months of the budget year in areas she controls, and asked other countywide elected officials to do the same. "Virtually" all have complied, making 300 layoffs and opting not to fill 600 open positions, she said. Chief Judge Timothy Evans is working on a final plan, but Dart is not cooperating, she said. "The sheriff continues to put forward proposals that are either unrealistic or will not result in real reductions," Preckwinkle said. "Instead of working in good faith with the budget office, he's embarked on a media tour, either personally or through surrogates. "These difficult decisions require leadership, not excuses, rationalizations or snide comments," added Preckwinkle, who contended Dart should have done more in recent years to cut staffing at the jail as its population declined and has generally expanded his management ranks. "That's insane," Dart replied, when asked at the Gacy news conference whether his staff was "bloated." The sheriff also took a dig at Preckwinkle, saying he "didn't create this crisis" that "dropped in our lap." Advertisement "Our hope is that we'll be able to work with them to get this done," he said of the cuts. Cara Smith, the sheriff's policy and communications chief, said Dart has submitted a plan to cut $17.9 million and started to implement it, but Preckwinkle thinks $3.2 million more needs to be cut. Dart, however, believes he's already held back on spending even more this year that should count toward the $20.1 million target. Dart cut loose 66 recruits about to start police training, let go an additional 47 still in the academy, and laid off eight correctional deputies, Smith said. The sheriff also laid off four other employees, ordered nonunion workers to take two days off without pay, stopped hiring for vacant posts and cut $4 million in nonpersonnel areas, she said. "We recognize these are very, very difficult times, and have, when called on, have done our part to address the shortfall that the county's facing," Smith said. As for not reducing jail staffing as much as Preckwinkle would like, Smith said Preckwinkle failed to address provisions in the union contract that exacerbate absenteeism issues that make it hard to cut positions. And she said Preckwinkle's count of managerial posts in Dart's office "is mistaken" and based on a faulty interpretation of job classifications made to satisfy a federal court. Joining the fray Wednesday were Democratic county Commissioners Richard Boykin of Oak Park and Jeffrey Tobolski of McCook. Advertisement Boykin compared Preckwinkle to "a drunken sailor with the taxpayers' credit card, who is being dishonest, and everything she sees she wants to tax and spend." Boykin also called the county's budget predicament "a manufactured crisis, all in an effort, I believe, to bully the judge into a favorable decision on the sweetened beverage tax. This is shameful, this is dishonest and it's not being honest with the Cook County taxpayers." Boykin pointed to 700 vacancies at the Cook County Health and Hospitals System, saying those jobs should just be cut, but Dr. Jay Shannon, the system's CEO, said that many vacancies were within the norms of a large health system and eliminating them could harm vital services. Preckwinkle noted that although Boykin and Tobolski voted against the soda pop tax, they voted for this year's county spending plan. "We're in a very difficult circumstance here, and name calling isn't gonna get us where we need to be," she said. Chicago Tribune's Megan Crepeau contributed. Advertisement hdardick@chicagotribune.com Twitter @ReporterHal Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle, seen here on June 15, 2017, announced more than 300 layoffs on July 14, saying each department had to cut 10 percent to make up for a budget shortfall due to the delay of the soda tax. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune) Welcome to Clout Street: Morning Spin, our weekday feature to catch you up with what's going on in government and politics from Chicago to Springfield. Subscribe here. Topspin Timing is everything, in life and especially politics, and so it was that Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle's announcement this week of plans for a new study of the property tax assessment system raised the proverbial eyebrows. Advertisement Preckwinkle had talked about her wish to do another study in late June but didn't release the first details of how that will work until Tuesday afternoon at the end of a grueling hearing that put Assessor Joe Berrios on the hot seat following a Chicago Tribune series that shed light on major problems in the county assessment process. The timing meant commissioners didn't get a chance to ask specific questions about the decision. It also could be viewed as a way to lessen the focus on the testimony of Berrios, the chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party whom Preckwinkle has described as a friend and ally. Advertisement Asked about the timing of her announcement before Wednesday's County Board meeting, Preckwinkle discounted those notions. "We've been talking to the Civic Consulting Alliance for several weeks, and it was only in the last few days that they agreed that they would help us in this way and consented to having it made public that they would be helping in this way," she said. The Civic Consulting Alliance is a nonprofit group that provides free, private sector experts to study government issues, and Preckwinkle said Tuesday it would be used to determine "the scope of work for review" and "tap property tax experts" to do the study of the assessment system. The experts will look "at the entire property tax system, both the assessment process and the appeals process, and tell us what we need to do going forward," she said. The explanation came a day after critics of the current system, run by Assessor Joe Berrios, cited multiple studies that they said have already identified flaws that favor the wealthy at the expense of the rich a problem they said was only exacerbated by the appeals process. Berrios was called before the Finance Committee on Tuesday in response to the Tribune's "The Tax Divide" series that explained the inequities in the system, questioned why a program designed to improve the process had not been fully implemented and noted how much money Berrios accepts in contributions from lawyers who work to get his office to lower assessments. (Hal Dardick) What's on tap * Mayor Rahm Emanuel today announced that Robert Rivkin will succeed Steve Koch as Deputy Mayor for the City of Chicago. * Gov. Bruce Rauner has no public schedule. * The City Council Committee on Transportation and Public Way meets. Advertisement * The City Club of Chicago is holding a lunchtime forum titled "Gang Violence in Chicago." From the notebook * 13th Ward Airbnb restrictions: Another swath of Chicago's Southwest Side soon could ban vacation rentals by online companies like Airbnb as an alderman seeks to address residents' concerns about people turning single-family homes into hotels. Ald. Marty Quinn, 13th, is seeking to outlaw the rentals in 10 more precincts, on top of the four precincts in the ward south of Midway International Airport where the rentals already are prohibited. And Quinn said residents in a dozen more of the 48 precincts in the ward also are looking into taking the step. He began talking to residents about circulating petitions to stop vacation rentals after people complained about two residences owners were renting out. One was an apartment building where a mother said strangers were talking to her young child, and the other was a single-family home where large crowds of people were renting and partying in a quiet residential area, according to Quinn. "I think people are concerned about their quality of life, and this notion that under today's restrictions anyone could turn their house into a hotel is problematic in the eyes of my constituents," he said. Advertisement The 13th Ward isn't the obvious spot for Chicagoans to mount a campaign against Airbnb. It's a quieter bungalow belt part of the city unlike the denser lakefront neighborhoods where aldermen and residents have long complained about landlords turning big buildings into de facto hotels full of partying out-of-towners on weekends and empty ghost towns at other times. But under a compromise plan Mayor Rahm Emanuel shepherded through the City Council last year after months of debate with the deep-pocketed vacation rental industry, only areas zoned for single-family homes have the right to ban the rentals precinct-wide, by getting petitions with signatures from 25 percent of residents. Denser neighborhoods with lots of apartment buildings and condominiums have no such recourse. The 10-precinct package of vacation rental bans passed the License Committee on Wednesday and will head to the full City Council next week. (John Byrne) * Quick spins: Mayor Emanuel announced a partnership between the Illinois Institute of Technology's Institute of Design and Politecnico di Milano University's School of Design in Milan, Italy. ... The post-prison mugshot of former U.S. Speaker Dennis Hastert is out. What we're writing * Preckwinkle, Dart spar over budget cuts driven by judge's delay on soda pop tax. * Five more lobbying violations tied to Emanuel's personal emails. Advertisement * Water Department email scandal spreads to private contactor worker. * New details emerge of former Rauner DCFS head's controversial contracts, hires. * Ex-prosecutor alleges collusion with police in wrongful conviction of Englewood Four. Related: Cook County settles a lawsuit in case for $5.6 million. * Officer Jason Van Dyke's lawyers want to move trial for killing Laquan McDonald outside Cook County. * City settles lawsuit against Chicago cop who struck pregnant woman with Taser. * Alderman's plan to make restaurants open their restrooms to non-customers stalls. Advertisement * Chicago Park District signs contract for oft-delayed cleanup of DuSable Park along the lake. * Metra logs 16 suicides on tracks so far this year, pushes prevention effort. What we're reading * A second long-unknown victim of John Wayne Gacy identified as boy from Minnesota. * Months after resigning, ex-top cop of Hometown was quietly charged with pocketing towing fees. * Hundreds of new Vivian Maier prints donated to U. of C. Advertisement * Kris Bryant sprains itty bitty pinky finger. Follow the money * Track Illinois campaign contributions in real time here and here. Beyond Chicago * President Donald Trump sharply criticizes Attorney General Jeff Sessions in New York Times interview. * SCOTUS: Trump travel ban can be enforced, with more exemptions. * 32 million more uninsured under Obamacare repeal plan, CBO says. Advertisement * Sen. John McCain diagnosed with brain tumor. * U.S. to end program to arm Syrian rebels. * Trump wants voter fraud commission to have an open mind. Members of U.S. Capitol police arrest an activist outside Sen. Ted Cruz's office in the Russell Senate Office Building in a protest against the Republican health care legislation on July 19, 2017. (Alex Wong / Getty Images) U.S. Capitol Police say they've arrested around 155 demonstrators in Senate office buildings as Republicans continue working on legislation to eliminate much of President Barack Obama's health care law. Arrests of demonstrators opposing the GOP effort have been occurring frequently. Wednesday's figure was among the largest since the demonstrations began. Advertisement The police say they responded at 45 different spots in the three Senate office buildings beginning in midafternoon. They say the arrests were made after requests to stop demonstrating were ignored. Under the District of Columbia's laws, it is illegal to demonstrate in the buildings of the Capitol complex. Advertisement Those arrested were charged with obstructing public spaces, a misdemeanor. Police say four people were also charged with resisting arrest. President Donald Trump, former presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush, members of Congress and other Washington officials put aside bickering and partisan gridlock Wednesday night in a show of support for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who announced he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Trump said in a statement on Twitter that "Melania and I send our thoughts and prayers to Senator McCain, Cindy, and their entire family." Advertisement Melania and I send our thoughts and prayers to Senator McCain, Cindy, and their entire family. Get well soon. https://t.co/fONWVlmYyz Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 20, 2017 The Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix said tests revealed a primary brain tumor known as a glioblastoma associated with a blood clot above his left eye that was removed last week. "The Senator and his family are reviewing further treatment options with his Mayo Clinic care team," said the hospital in a statement. "Treatment options may include a combination of chemotherapy and radiation." Advertisement McCain, 80, was treated for the blood clot last week. His office announced last Saturday that he would be away from the Senate all of this week. "The Senator's doctors say he is recovering from his surgery 'amazingly well' and his underlying health is excellent," the hospital said in its statement. The late senator Edward Kennedy survived less than 15 months after he was diagnosed with the same condition. McCain's family, fellow members of Congress, statesmen and supporters immediately took to Twitter to express shock, prayers and many appeals to his tough reputation. His daughter, Meghan McCain, tweeted a statement saying "he is the toughest person I know. . . . Cancer may afflict him in many ways: But it will not make him surrender. Nothing ever has." Obama, who contended with McCain during the 2008 presidential election, called him "an American hero and one off the bravest fighters I've known." Former President Bill Clinton, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton and McCain's former running mate Sarah Palin also lent their support. John McCain is an American hero & one of the bravest fighters I've ever known. Cancer doesn't know what it's up against. Give it hell, John. Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 20, 2017 As hes shown his entire life, dont bet against John McCain. Best wishes to him for a swift recovery. Bill Clinton (@BillClinton) July 20, 2017 John and I have been friends for 40 years. He's gotten through so much difficulty with so much grace. He is strong - and he will beat this. Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 20, 2017 John McCain is as tough as they come. Thinking of John, Cindy, their wonderful children, & their whole family tonight. Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) July 20, 2017 John McCain is one tough fighter - we know he'll face this diagnosis with courage and strength. Our family... https://t.co/XXTUltNGey Sarah Palin (@SarahPalinUSA) July 20, 2017 Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., said he spoke with his fellow senator from Arizona and that it was a "tough diagnosis, but even tougher man." He joined fellow Arizonans former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., in messages of solidarity. "I have been amazed by his energy and vigor for serving his country over the years, and the sacrifices he made for this nation are unmatched," Biggs said. "I hope to see him back on Capitol Hill soon, and I know that he will fight this diagnosis with every ounce of strength he has within him." Advertisement Giffords told McCain to "hang in there." "You're tough! You can beat this. Fight, fight, fight! I am proud to call you my friend." Just spoke to @SenJohnMcCain. Tough diagnosis, but even tougher man. Jeff Flake (@JeffFlake) July 20, 2017 Hang in there @SenJohnMcCain. You're tough! You can beat this. Fight, fight, fight! I am proud to call you my friend. Gabrielle Giffords (@GabbyGiffords) July 20, 2017 Politicians from both sides of the aisle offered their encouragement and prayers. "SenJohnMcCain is a hero, a patriot and a fighter. I am privileged to call him a friend. Paul & I pray for his recovery and his family," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., tweeted. From House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis.: "SenJohnMcCain has always been a warrior. It's who he is. All of us, not as Republicans or Democrats, but as Americans, are behind him." .@SenJohnMcCain is a hero, a patriot and a fighter. I am privileged to call him a friend. Paul & I pray for his recovery and his family. Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) July 20, 2017 .@SenJohnMcCain has always been a warrior. It's who he is. All of us, not as Republicans or Democrats, but as Americans, are behind him. pic.twitter.com/B6iDpPultM Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) July 20, 2017 Other Twitter postings: Just 2 weeks ago, @SenJohnMcCain & I were trekking thru Pakistan & Afghanistan. Trust me, John's in fighting shape & we're rooting for him. pic.twitter.com/82dSJFi58M Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) July 20, 2017 .@SenJohnMcCain is an American hero. I pray for him and his family. I look forward to seeing him soon. Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) July 20, 2017 .@SenJohnMcCain is an American hero. I pray for him and his family. I look forward to seeing him soon. Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) July 20, 2017 .@SenJohnMcCain is a hero to our Conference and a hero to our country. pic.twitter.com/Ld2lQH1mMn Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) July 20, 2017 Prayers for @SenJohnMcCain as he battles cancer. His courage and service in Vietnam humbles all who cherish liberty and freedom Tammy Duckworth (@SenDuckworth) July 20, 2017 My friend @SenJohnMcCain is a dogged ole S.O.B. Sharp as hell and tougher than a $2 steak. I look forward to catching up with him soon. John Dingell (@JohnDingell) July 20, 2017 The Washington Post's Sean Sullivan contributed to this report. President Donald Trump harshly criticized his attorney general and one of his most loyal supporters, Jeff Sessions, for recusing himself from the ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, indicating that he regretted the choice. In an interview with the New York Times on Wednesday, Trump vented about the probe and said that he would not have appointed Sessions - a top campaign supporter - if he had known Sessions would step aside. Advertisement "Sessions should have never recused himself, and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before he took the job and I would have picked somebody else," Trump said. The comments are a dramatic public scolding of one of Trump's closest supporters in Congress during his presidential campaign, and the man currently holding a top Cabinet position. They also suggest that Trump had hoped Sessions could play a role in managing a probe that he has long called a "witch hunt" and suggested is a threat to the legitimacy of his presidency. Advertisement Trump called Sessions's decision to recuse himself "unfair." "Jeff Sessions takes the job, gets into the job, recuses himself, which frankly I think is very unfair to the president," he added. "How do you take a job and then recuse yourself? If he would have recused himself before the job, I would have said, 'Thanks, Jeff, but I'm not going to take you.' It's extremely unfair - and that's a mild word - to the president." Sessions recused himself from the investigation, which will look into possible collusion between Trump campaign associates and Russians, shortly after being confirmed to the post, citing his work on the Trump campaign. The decision placed responsibility for the probe squarely in the hands of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, whom Trump named to that position in January. The investigation has dogged Trump's six-month-old presidency and has been the source of months of public and private venting. The investigation has only expanded, recently drawing Trump's children under the microscope after the New York Times reported that Trump's son Donald Jr. accepted a meeting with people purporting to be representing the Russian government about receiving derogatory information about Hillary Clinton during the 2016 campaign. In the interview, Trump attacked several other figures connected to the probe, including Rosenstein, Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and former FBI Director James Comey. Spokespeople for the Department of Justice and the special counsel declined to comment. Trump also suggested that the special counsel investigation was now rife with conflicts, though he did not specifically name them. Advertisement Mueller, a former FBI director, was appointed to lead the investigation after Trump fired Comey. Trump had also considered Mueller as a candidate to replace Comey. "He was up here, and he wanted the job," Mr. Trump said. After he was named special counsel, "I said, 'What the hell is this all about?' Talk about conflicts. But he was interviewing for the job. There were many other conflicts that I haven't said, but I will at some point." The president has criticized the special counsel investigation in the past. He questioned the political independence of attorneys being hired to work on the probe and indicated that Mueller's friendship with Comey was problematic. "Well, he's very, very good friends with Comey, which is very bothersome," Trump said in an interview with Fox News in June. "I can say that the people that have been hired are all Hillary Clinton supporters, some of them worked for Hillary Clinton. "I mean, the whole thing is ridiculous, if you want to know the truth," he added. But his comments on Wednesday are his strongest to date. Trump criticized Mueller personally and warned that if the investigation veered into the personal finances of the Trump family, it will cross a line. Advertisement "I think that's a violation," Trump said. "Look, this is about Russia." Trump also expressed reservations about Rosenstein, who appointed the special counsel. According to the New York Times, the president expressed annoyance when he learned that Rosenstein was from Baltimore, where he had served as a federal prosecutor. "There are very few Republicans in Baltimore, if any," Trump said. Trump's criticisms left virtually no one in contact with the investigation untouched, providing a glimpse of the visceral anger that the probe often evokes in him. The president also levied new accusations against Comey, whom he has repeatedly accused of lying in his sworn testimony to Congress about his interactions with Trump. Speaking about a meeting before Trump's inauguration in which Comey informed Trump about an unsubstantiated dossier of derogatory information about him, Trump said that he believes Comey intended to use the document as leverage against him. Advertisement "In my opinion, he shared it so that I would think he had it out there," Trump said. Asked by the Times whether he believes Comey intended it to be leverage, Trump replied. "Yeah, I think so. . . . In retrospect." Comey testified that he briefed Trump on the dossier based on the belief in the intelligence community that the incoming president should be informed about the "salacious and unverified" material before it was reported in the press. He was also chosen to provide the briefing alone to prevent further embarrassment to Trump. "When he brought it to me, I said this is really, made-up junk," Trump told the Times. "I didn't think about any of it. I just thought about, man, this is such a phony deal." President Donald Trump, accompanied by Vice President Mike Pence, waves after speaking during the first meeting of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington, Wednesday, July 19, 2017. (Andrew Harnik / AP) WASHINGTON President Donald Trump on Wednesday urged members of his new voter fraud commission to approach their task with "a very open mind," despite having spent months making unfounded claims, without evidence, that millions of fraudulent ballots had been cast against him. Speaking at the first meeting of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, Trump also questioned the motives of states that have refused to comply with the commission's request for extensive personal voter information, suggesting they had something to hide. Advertisement "If any state does not want to share this information, one has to wonder what they're worried about," he said. "There's something. There always is." Meanwhile, Kris Kobach, the vice chair of the commission, said in an interview with MSNBC that "we may never know" whether Trump's 2016 rival Hillary Clinton really won the popular vote. Advertisement "We will probably never know the answer to that question, because even if you could prove that a certain number of votes were cast by ineligible voters, for example, you wouldn't know how they voted," said Kobach, who is also Kansas's Secretary of State. Trump won the Electoral College by a comfortable margin, but Clinton won the popular vote by nearly 2.9 million votes. Even before their first meeting, the commission had drawn outrage over a request to each state for reams of personal voter information, including voter names, voting histories and party affiliations. Aides to Vice President and commission chair Mike Pence said they only asked for information that was already publicly available. But at least 17 states, plus Washington, D.C. have rebuffed the request, citing privacy concerns and a fear that complying would legitimize the unproven idea that voter fraud is widespread. The requests have also sparked multiple lawsuits. Critics see the commission as part of a conservative campaign to strip minority voters and poor people from the voter rolls, and to justify unfounded claims made by a president who was angry about losing the popular vote. They also wonder why the White House appears more concerned over widely-discredited allegations of large-scale voter fraud than the intelligence community's conclusion that Russia meddled in the 2016 campaign. But Trump said the commission would address serious concerns he heard from voters again and again. "Throughout the campaign and even after, people would come up to me and express concerns about voter inconsistencies and voter irregularities which they saw, in some cases having to do with very large numbers of people in certain states," Trump said, adding: "All public officials have a profound responsibility to protect the integrity of the vote." Trump convened the commission after claiming on Twitter and in meetings with lawmakers that voter fraud cost him the 2016 popular vote, despite past studies showing voter fraud is exceedingly rare. Advertisement "In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally," he tweeted in November, several weeks after his electoral victory. He also alleged at the time, without evidence, that there had been "serious voter fraud" in California, New Hampshire and Virginia and complained that the media wasn't covering it. Trump continued to make the debunked claim after his inauguration, telling a group of bipartisan congressional leaders days after he took office that he would have won the popular vote if 3 million to 5 million immigrants living in the country illegally hadn't voted. Nonetheless, Trump urged the commission members gathered in the Executive Office Building next to the White House to approach their task with an open mind. "You will approach this important task with a very open mind and with no conclusions already drawn," he said. "You will fairly and objectively follow the facts wherever they may lead." Pence echoed the message, saying the commission, which includes both Republicans and Democrats, would "perform a truly non-partisan service to the American people." During their remarks, the commissioners repeatedly pointed to polls that show Americans have serious concerns about the integrity of the voting system concerns that have been stoked by Trump and other Republicans for years. Advertisement Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap said the commission would work "to reassure people that there are no goblins under the bed, and if there are," to "deal with them in a way that is balanced." A September 2016 Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found that only 4 in 10 people polled expressed a lot of confidence in votes being counted accurately. Overall, 35 percent of those polled said there's was a great deal of voter fraud in American elections, 39 percent said there's only some and 24 percent said there's hardly any. Concerns about voter fraud were much higher among Republicans. But such fears are largely unfounded. While there have been isolated cases of people voting illegally and voter rolls often contain outdated data, there is no evidence voter fraud is a widespread problem in the United States or has impacted the election results. A study by a Loyola Law School professor found that out of 1 billion votes cast in all American elections between 2000 and 2014, there were only 31 known cases of impersonation fraud. The commissioners only made passing reference to what many see as a far greater threat to the integrity of the U.S. voting system: foreign intervention. Advertisement U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that the Russian government mounted a campaign to help elect Trump, hacking the Democratic National Committee and a Hillary Clinton campaign aide's emails and spreading propaganda through fake news stories and social media bots. But Trump has repeatedly undermined their findings by voicing skepticism about Russia's role. A few days after 10-year-old Gustavo Garcia became the fourth Chicago child this year to be killed by a bullet, about 200 people gathered along East 97th Street to get emotional, to get angry, to rally against gun violence at a vigil organized by police. It was sad to see. It was important to see. Advertisement Shootings and killings gut neighborhoods and destroy lives, most often on the South and West sides. There is no simple answer to the scourge, much of it connected to gang activity that's wormed deep into much of Chicago. But if one response is vital and doable, it's for neighbors to take action to resist the gangs. Residents who endure the violence often know what goes on and who's involved. If these neighbors, friends and family share information with Chicago police, the odds increase that law enforcement will arrive in time to thwart a shooting, apprehend a suspect or at least send bad guys scurrying. Advertisement It's easy for us to make that pronouncement from the safety of Tribune Tower. On many streets relations with the police are tense because of the history of abuse by some officers. Calling in tips also means risking retaliation by gangbangers. It's safer to keep the doors locked and stay away from windows. Something, though, drew those people onto the street Monday night in the Southeast Side when they could have kept silent and invisible. The death of Gustavo, shot while riding in a car with his stepfather after 11 p.m. on July 14, stunned the community. Residents came out to an "Operation Wake Up" anti-violence event organized by police. Rosa Jimenez-Hernandez, who would have been the boy's fifth-grade literacy teacher this fall, told Tribune reporter Peter Nickeas she wished more people had attended. "I don't know what we can do about it. I don't know," she said. Nickeas' reporting captured the conflicting sentiments that encourage some witnesses to defy the gangs yet prevent other witnesses from going to police. Ald. Susan Sadlowski Garza, 10th, told the gathering that community action is crucial to fighting violence. "I'm begging you to take a stand," she said. "Some people say, 'I saw it but I'm not going to say anything.' That's like saying it's OK." Yet a neighbor who asked not to be identified told Nickeas he'd be scared to call the cops. "Gangs, they're very dangerous people. If you make a call, these people catch who does it." One way forward, then, is to harness the courage of bigger crowds at more rallies to convince individuals it's in everyone's interest to safeguard communities. For that to happen, city leaders need to organize this resistance. We've called out aldermen for abdicating this important responsibility. Their voices are loud enough in City Council chambers when issues suit them, but they're conspicuously quiet on the streets. Who among them could we point to as a leader? Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 14 Noel Sanchez, commander of the Police Department's South Chicago District, speaks as neighbors gather with police officers for an Operation Wake-Up rally July 17, 2017, after the slaying of 10-year-old Gustavo Garcia. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune) Some aldermen do speak out. Earlier this year we heard Ald. Ray Lopez, 15th, say the right things about combating gang warfare in Brighton Park and Back of the Yards. "We need the people who live here to stand up and help us stop what's going on," he said. It was good, too, to hear Sadlowski Garza echo that call at the Gustavo Garcia rally. The more aldermen lead, the more likely residents will follow. That's what police Superintendent Eddie Johnson told us in a Wednesday conversation: "It takes everybody to step up. We need the aldermen, elected officials, clergy, community residents, business owners, it doesn't matter who it is. Everybody has a vested interest in reducing crime." Johnson says he knows relations with the police are fractured, while getting too involved as a tipster could risk retaliation. But he also knows cops can't take control of the streets without pressure from impatient, law-abiding citizens. Tips lead to arrests. Community action tells gangs their mayhem won't be tolerated. Advertisement "The more people we get out there, the more information will flow to the police," Johnson said. The goal is a culture in which gang members don't pick up a gun. "Once they know they can't run around in those communities firing weapons with impunity, they'll stop doing it." The alternative? Just keep quiet and let the death toll mount. Join the discussion on Twitter @Trib_Ed_Board and on Facebook. Become a subscriber today to support editorial writing like this. Start getting full access to our signature journalism for just 99 cents for the first four weeks. The governor never wanted a compromise. He just talked a good game and fooled people into believing he was a champion for all. He will benefit from the budget override because he didn't have to support the tax increase he originally proposed. Regrettably, Gov. Bruce Rauner became all-consumed with his personal agenda, an agenda that sounded good but was his way or the highway. Perhaps he forgot he was elected by only 50.3 percent of voters, with many of those votes coming from retirees mad at former governor Pat Quinn for supporting pension reform. Yes, Rauner was elected fair and square, but as governor, not king. His personal agenda caused irreversible harm to many. It's time to put aside the personal politics to do what's best for Illinois. So come 2018, I will remember Reps. Andersson, Fortner and Harris as legislators who didn't allow the governor to drive the state over the financial cliff just to get House Speaker Michael Madigan. They will be supported. Now let's get busy and finish work on workers compensation, pension and school funding reform. Steve Catlin, St. Charles As a prisoner of war for more than five years after his Navy jet was shot down, he endured and suffered unspeakable brutality at the hands of his North Vietnamese captors. His mental toughness and resiliency in the face of the enemy sets this man apart from all others as a true American hero. The senator is all-American. He represents the true spirit of America. Yes, the recent brain tumor diagnosis is challenging. The road ahead will be a tough one. But, seeing this man as I have for years from afar, I will say the senator has just declared war on this glioblastoma. His strategic and tactical forces have been deployed. The scourge will retreat and go into remission. It will be his personal POW. In the totality of these circumstances, the senator will win this war. And one day soon, McCain will return to the U.S. Senate with his usual dynamic vigor and colorful metaphors to again work for the betterment of the American people. Anything but a full recovery from this current setback is not an option. Earl Beal, Terre Haute, Ind. The Aurora Housing Authority is poised for changes to at least two board seats about a month after its executive director left for a job in Alaska. Vice Chairman Scott Voris and Commissioner Rey Cruz both said they received letters via email Friday from Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin thanking them for their service to the housing authority and stating that their terms had expired. Advertisement Irvin this week put forward the names of Shireen Long, a retired Aurora police officer, and John Aguilar, a former human resources manager for Aurora Township and once a member of the city's Human Relations Commission, to replace Voris and Cruz on the board. In a statement provided to the Beacon-News, city officials called Irvin's choices "stalwart community members." "As a child raised in public housing under the Aurora Housing Authority, Mayor Irvin has both a personal and professional desire to see AHA succeed in all areas for the sake of its residents and the city at large," according to the city's statement. "He is committed to appointing board members who have the same goal." Advertisement Terms for Cruz and Voris expired in September 2015, according to information provided by the city. Voris said he learned his term expired Tuesday and that it came as a surprise, because information he'd been told by a former housing authority leader led him to believe his term was longer. Housing Authority Chairman William Powell said he, too, intends to step down from the board in the near future possibly within months though he said he had not received a letter from Irvin. The time is right for someone else to step in and maybe bring new ideas, and he has been wanting to move out of state for unrelated reasons, Powell said. There is "no animosity" between Powell and Irvin, he said, and called Irvin a friend. "It's really that time, you know?" he said. "New mayor, you give him the opportunity to turn around and appoint some people that he's comfortable with. Not to say he's not comfortable with me." Powell's term expires in September 2018, according to the city. Cruz and Voris said they support the mayor and his decisions, though Cruz said he didn't think now was the right time to make big changes on the housing authority board, noting the years of experience among the departing members. "If you replace a whole bunch of people all at one time when we just lost an executive director, it might not serve the agency well," Cruz said. Voris said he didn't know either of Irvin's picks well enough to comment on his choices, but said if the mayor wants to put new people on the board, it makes sense to start by replacing members whose terms were expired. Advertisement Irvin put the names forward during this week's City Council Committee of the Whole meeting, with no comment from aldermen. They are due to be approved at the July 25 City Council meeting. In the statement, city officials noted that since Irvin took office about 70 days ago, he has "consistently appointed qualified people" to vacant and expired positions on various boards and commissions. "During this time of transition at the Aurora Housing Authority, it is important that the roster on its board is updated and accurate," the city stated, noting that the terms of of two members Cruz and Voris were nearly two years outdated. Future appointments would happen when a term expires or a board member voluntarily resigns, according to the city. Powell and Cruz both started their terms on the same date in 2012, while Voris joined the board later that year. Powell said his term was renewed last year. Cruz said Tuesday that while he was surprised to get Irvin's email Friday, the news wasn't entirely unexpected. Cruz offered to stay on a few months to help with the transition, but was told no and that his time on the board ended effective 5 p.m. Monday, he said. Advertisement "This is his city," Cruz said. "His reputation is on the line for everything that happens in the city. I wish his administration and the housing authority both massive amounts of success." Aurora is also Cruz's town, and he wants to make sure things go well there so he plans to be available if needed for anything, he said. While Voris said he's coming to grips with the changes, he also said he has no ill feelings toward the mayor and is willing to help in any way he can. Cruz said he will resign from his position as chairman of Northern Lights Development Corporation, which is affiliated with the housing authority, because he doesn't feel he can do that job while he's not on the housing authority board. It helped to bring knowledge of what was going on at the housing authority over to Northern Lights, and doesn't make sense to stay on if he's out of the loop on the housing authority, he said. The term of another board member, Laquita Haynes, expires at the end of September. hleone@tribpub.com, sfreishtat@tribpub.com, slord@tribpub.com Twitter @hannahmleone @srfriesh This parking lot at Palace Street and Colorado Avenue is one of two the city of Aurora is looking to turn into a park. (Steve Lord/The Beacon-News ) It appears the city of Aurora is ready to close Thursday on the long-awaited purchase of two parking lots west of the Northgate Shopping Center. The Fox Valley Park District will tear up the asphalt pavement on the long-time lots and turn them into a neighborhood park for the Riddle Highlands and Bishop Park neighborhoods. Advertisement "The Park District will start ripping up the asphalt as soon as possible," said Ald. Michael Saville, 6th Ward, who has been working to get this park up since 2004. "We hope to have the groundbreaking later this year." Officials had hoped to have the groundbreaking by now. Last September, the city entered into a contract with McRil LLC, of York, Pa., the parent company of Carson's department stores, to buy the lots for $93,297. The money is coming from Saville's 6th Ward funds. Advertisement The lots were once overflow parking for the Carson's store at Northgate, but had not been used for years and are in disrepair. The closing was set for October, but just days before, the company pulled out of the deal. The city sued McRil LLC for breach of a contract to sell six parcels of land in essence, the two parking lots bounded by Palace Street, and Colorado and Michigan avenues. The city filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, in late April. The case never went to court. The company responded to the city that it would get back to them in June of this year, and by the end of June, told the city it wanted to sell the lots at the original agreed price. "So we had to get our ducks in a row," Saville said. The city already has appropriated the money for the purchase, and the Fox Valley Park District had money in this year's budget for development. Saville said the schedule now is to have the groundbreaking this year, and the ribbon-cutting on the new park sometime next year. The balking by McRil in essence put the project back a year, he said. Advertisement "But I'm just happy its moving forward," he said. "In the end, it will all be worthwhile." While Saville hatched the idea 13 years ago for converting the parking lots into a park, the effort picked up steam several years ago when a number of residents in the Riddle Highlands and Bishop Park neighborhoods got behind it. They presented petitions signed by about 500 people to both the City Council and the Fox Valley Park District Board backing the idea of a park. Neighbors pushed for the park because when the subdivisions were built in the late 1920s and early 1930s, parks were not considered. At one time, before Riddle Highlands was built, the area was the Aurora Driving Park, which hosted horse races and other events. For a while, Riddle Highlands and Bishop Park were filled with longtime, older residents whose children were grown and had left the house. The houses have turned over, and now many younger parents with young children have moved in, city officials said. When residents appeared before the Park Board in late 2014 to push the park idea, they pointed out that out of 3,592 people living in the city's 6th Ward, according to the last census, 1,067 of them were under age 18. Advertisement The student population at nearby Nancy Hill Elementary School is 863. slord@tribpub.com Kane County sheriff's Lt. Pat Gengler leaves after a news conference to discuss the conclusion of a hostage situation at Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital in Geneva on May 13, 2017. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune) The Kane County Sheriff's Office was notified inmate Tywon Salters had been left unshackled at the Geneva hospital where he was receiving medical treatment days before Salters got a corrections officer's gun and took two nurses hostage, according to an amended complaint filed this week. Filed in May, the original lawsuit alleges Shawn Loomis, one of several Kane County corrections deputies assigned to guard Salters around the clock, left him unshackled, then ran and hid after the inmate took the officer's gun. Advertisement Salters, who ultimately was killed when a SWAT team officer shot him, ending the standoff, raped one of the nurses he took hostage, according to the lawsuit filed on behalf of four hospital nurses, including two taken hostage. An amended complaint filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court claims the sheriff's office and private security company, Apex3, were notified at least one of the corrections officers had left Salters unshackled as early as May 8, the day he was admitted, though hospital staff continued to notice similar behaviors in the following days. Salters was unbound when he obtained a 9 mm handgun belonging to a corrections officer assigned to guard him, according to the lawsuit. Advertisement Citing the pending litigation, a spokesman for the sheriff's office declined to comment. Attorneys representing the nurses and security company could not be reached for comment. One officer at a time was assigned to guard Salters during his stay at Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital, where he was admitted May 8 after swallowing both a piece of plastic off his jail sandal as well as cleaning solution, according to the lawsuit. Some time after Loomis started his shift May 13, he removed Salters' leg shackle so the inmate could use the bathroom and failed to replace it, the lawsuit states, adding that Loomis sat on a couch behind the hospital bed, not between Salters and the door. When one nurse entered the room, she saw Salters sitting freely on the side of his bed and asked Loomis why Salters wasn't shackled, but Loomis didn't respond or act, according to the lawsuit. At about 12:30 p.m., Salters "made a move" on Loomis and took his gun. Loomis ran to a room down the hall, shut the door and hid, the lawsuit alleges. Other new details in the complaint filed Wednesday identify Salters as a member of a street gang, with a lengthy juvenile record in addition to his adult record of criminal and violent acts. On March 11, a criminal complaint filed in Kane County Circuit Court accused Salters of receiving, possessing or selling a stolen motor vehicle in Elgin on March 2. He was charged with two counts of the class 2 felony and booked in the Kane County Jail, where his bail was set at $75,000, with 10 percent to apply for bond. Salters asked a judge to lower that amount, but his bond reduction motion was denied March 27, according to court records. The lawsuit states the Kane County State's Attorney argued "vehemently and successfully" against any bond reduction that would have allowed Salters out of custody. Advertisement Salters had been on parole since October 2016, when he was released from the Hill Correctional Center, records show. He was sentenced in May 2013 to six years in prison for charges related to a car theft and robbery, both committed in 2012 when he was 17 years old and automatically tried as an adult. Salters' juvenile records also included a robbery in 2008, firearm theft in 2010, and car theft in 2011, according to the lawsuit. Police were also investigating an armed robbery involving the car Salters was accused of stealing, according to the lawsuit, which stated if he'd been charged with armed robbery, that would have been his fifth violent offense. During his stay at the jail, Salters required medication for mental conditions that correctional officers knew about. They also knew other inmates were harassing and abusing Salters, who "was having a difficult time while in custody," according to the lawsuit. On May 7, he intentionally swallowed hydrogen peroxide and was taken to Delnor's emergency room, where he was combative with staff and nurses and had to be restrained, according to the lawsuit. Salters returned to the jail and was placed on suicide watch, the lawsuit states. Then, on May 8, he ingested the sandal piece and cleaner. He'd been staying in the medical-surgical unit on Delnor's third floor. Advertisement Sean P. Murray announces a lawsuit filed on behalf of two nurses taken hostage by a Kane County jail inmate receiving treatment at Delnor Hospital. May 25, 2017. (Hannah Leone / Beacon-News) hleone@tribpub.com Twitter @hannahmleone A variety of wine will be available for sampling and purchasing at the Festival of the Vine July 28 in Olympia Fields. (Photo courtesy of Olympia Fields Park District) (HANDOUT) An outdoor Friday night event in Olympia Fields will feature wine for sampling and purchasing, an art display and sale, a jazz band, a taco truck and a bit of history. The 10th annual Festival of the Vine will be held July 28 at the 20-acre Sgt. Means Park in Olympia Fields. There, attendees also can check out the newly dedicated Bradford Barn, a restored 1917 structure. Advertisement Festival attendees can expect "to enjoy great music, great local art on display and for sale, as well as great wine and food," said Jesus Vargas, the Olympia Fields Park District's new manager of special events and youth programming. The fest began nine years ago with wine and jazz and expanded over the years to include food and artwork. It typically draws a crowd of 200 to 300. Advertisement "It has been a popular event," he said, "and our community truly enjoys the arts as well great music provided by Prairie State College Faculty Jazz Band." The Bistro on Sterling, a new restaurant and bar in Flossmoor, will provide a variety of wine for tastings, with three samples included in the $20 admission, and for purchase. Food will be available from Chicago Heights-based restaurant El Lienzo Charro's taco truck and Nothing Bundt Cakes from Oak Lawn. The Bradford Barn was dedicated June 16 in honor of longtime park commissioner Tim Bradford. The barn and a new silo are available for private rental. Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday > The Bradford Barn is one of several historical buildings at Sgt. Means Park, which is named after Olympia Fields Police Sgt. Chester Means who died in 1967 from injuries sustained on duty. The park district is located in an 1890s farmhouse. Vickie Snow Jurkowski is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown. Festival of the Vine When: 7 to 11 p.m. July 28 Where: Sgt. Means Park and the Bradford Barn, 20712 Western Ave., Olympia Fields Advertisement Admission: $20, including three wine tastings; Additional wine available for purchase by the glass or bottle Information: 708-481-7313 or ofparks.org Etc.: Open to those 21 and older Club One in Dolton was the scene of a shooting early May 14, 2017, in which five men were wounded, police said. (Frank Vaisvilas / Daily Southtown) A retired Cook County judge will preside over a liquor license hearing involving a nightclub where five people were shot on Mother's Day, Dolton Mayor Riley Rogers said Wednesday. Denying any improper ties to the nightclub, Rogers said he asked retired Judge Michael Stuttley to preside over the hearing to avoid any perception of a conflict. The hearing, which was scheduled for Wednesday, was reset to Aug. 9. Advertisement "I want to avoid any appearance of favoritism," Rogers said. A Daily Southtown review of state records showed Rogers received more than $5,000 in campaign contributions from people with ties to Club One, according to records from the Illinois State Board of Elections. One of the donors, former state lawmaker Robert Terzich, owns the building where Club One is located. According to state records, Terzich gave $1,000 to Rogers' campaign fund. Advertisement The Daily Southtown investigation also found one of Club One's operators was previously denied a liquor license and that one of the operators is prohibited from holding a liquor license because of his criminal history. According to police, four people were shot inside the club and one was shot outside the club shortly before 3 a.m. The shooting happened after an argument inside the club. In an attempt to revoke the club's liquor license, the village has alleged the club did not adequately screen people for firearms, allowed drug use in the club and failed to maintain crowd control. Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday > Stuttley will preside over the public hearing and will make a recommendation to Rogers regarding whether the club's liquor license should be revoked. Rogers will still have final say on the fate of the club's liquor license, said village attorney John Murphy. Rogers described Stuttley as a "notable leader in the south suburbs." He said he chose Stuttley because of his experience on the bench. Stuttley could not be reached for comment. Rogers also rebuffed critics who questioned his ties to the owners and said some of the allegations were untrue. He declined further comment. An attorney representing one of the victims of the shooting declined comment after Wednesday's hearing was postponed. Four people claiming to have been victims of the shooting have filed two civil lawsuits against the club's owners and operators alleging they did not take proper steps to prevent the shooting. Advertisement The criminal investigation into the May 14 shooting is stalled, Dolton Police Chief Robert Collins said. He noted victims of the shooting are not cooperating with police and there is a lack of witnesses. Alicia Fabbre is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown. Evergreen Park Community High School art teacher Sandy Safranek, from left, and graduating seniors Molly Brett, Celia Sanchez, Nicole Baldwin and Jack Nero pose with the class of 2017 legacy wall mural, continuing a tradition started at the school in 2010. Members of the graduating class created the mural as a lasting memory. The mural will be placed in the Leadership Room in the school's cafeteria. (Evergreen Park High School photo) Volunteers needed at Neat Repeats resale stores Neat Repeats Resale is looking for volunteers with an eye for fashion. There are opportunities in areas including fashion merchandising, customer service and processing donations. Volunteer just one five hour shift a week in a fun retail environment. Volunteer applications are being accepted at both locations, Orland Park at 9028 W. 159th St. and Worth at 7026 W. 111th Street. All sales at Neat Repeats Resale benefit the clients served by the Crisis Center for South Suburbia. More information is at 708-364-7605 or 708-361-6860. Advertisement Stagg summer program fights educational regression Stagg High School has continued with its extended school year program this year, and officials there say it has paid off for the special education students it serves. The students take part in one community trip per week as well as one large group field trip per week. The community trip involves students riding public transit, purchasing goods, using their money skills, making lists and cooking. This year, the students have had the opportunity to visit the Field Museum, the Chicago History Museum and go on an architectural boat tour. Advertisement Prof. Moptop to talk Beatles in Evergreen Park June marked the 50th anniversary of the release of the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper" album. Listen to Professor Moptop Gregory Alexander of WXRT's Breakfast with the Beatles talk about this historic album as well as other Beatles topics at 6:30 p.m. July 27 at the library, 9400 S. Troy. Registration is required at evergreenparklibrary.org or 708-422-8522. Veterans employment event set in Orland A free, five-day employment transition seminar is set for August 14 to 18 at the Orland Park Cultural Center, 14760 Park Lane. Co-sponsored by the village of Orland Park and Operation: Job Ready Veterans, the five-day seminar is open to veterans who received any discharge other than dishonorable, members of the National Guard or Reserve, spouses of veterans, Active Duty, National Guard or Reserve spouses, military caregivers, and dependent children of working age. The free seminar includes transition assistance, resume preparation, company research, networking and interviewing skills, and employer introductions. Those who complete the five-day seminar will attend a mini graduation ceremony and hiring fair. Veterans interested in the free, five-day seminar need to register by noon Aug. 11 at www.jobreadyvets.org, 312-636-9777 or 855-456-2732 or email BFitch@jobreadyvets.org. A former Community Unit School District 300 substitute teacher has been charged with sexual abuse, according to a news release from the Kane County State's Attorney. Kane County prosecutors charged 54-year-old Carlos A. Bedoya, of the 100 block of Acorn Lane in Lake in the Hills, with four counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, each a class 2 felony. Advertisement According to the release, between August 2016 and May 2017 Bedoya made sexual contact with a child who is younger than 13 years old. Bedoya was taken into custody by Carpentersville police on July 18. Advertisement Bedoya appeared Wednesday in Kane County bond court. Bail was set at $200,000, with 10 percent to apply for bond. His next court appearance is set for 9 a.m. July 26 at the Kane County Judicial Center in front of Circuit Judge Donald M. Tegeler, Jr. If he posts bond, Bedoya is to have no contact with the victim. If convicted, Bedoya faces a minimum sentence of probation or three years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. In addition, Bedoya would register for life as a sexual offender in accordance with the Illinois Sex Offender Registration Act. The case remains under investigation. Anyone with information should call their local police department or the Kane County Child Advocacy Center at 630-208-5160. Seeing Mary Kay Slowikowski connect with audiences as she confidently takes control of a stage, it's hard to imagine she was once too petrified to leave the house. As a young wife and mother, the Darien resident, who now makes her living as a motivational speaker, suffered from nearly crippling anxiety and agoraphobia. Advertisement She recalls having her first panic attack in the early 1970s after she moved to Milwaukee with her husband, Norb, who worked for McDonald's Corporation, and three of their four children, who were then young. After growing up the daughter of Irish immigrants in a tight knit neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Slowikowski felt at sea in the unfamiliar city. Advertisement "Even though Wisconsin wasn't that far it was the start of me getting anxious and depressed," she said. "I was on a highway when I got my first panic attack. I got so many panic attacks, I started not leaving the house." Her husband was frightened by the change in his wife who, before having children, had been a teacher. "It was devastating. All of a sudden she couldn't leave the house. Her sister, who was a Dominican nun, came to live with us. Otherwise I couldn't have worked," he recalled. Slowikowski found her way out of the darkness, but it took time to evolve into the person who founded Slowikowski & Associates, a company that provides marketing strategies and seminars for clients that include Fortune 500 companies and nonprofits. A priest who had also suffered anxiety referred her to a physician, who gave her the proper medications. Her next door neighbor happened to be involved with Recovery International, an organization that offers self-help and support groups to help people cope with mental health issues. "The biggest thing they told us was to do the thing you're afraid of," she said. "Doing what you're afraid to do is the death of fear. You have to combat fear with action." When her family moved to St. Louis, Slowikowski joined a Recovery group there. Because her own corporate relocation to Milwaukee had been so difficult, she started on an informal basis to help other young families being moved to the city by McDonald's. She chatted with them about what sort of neighborhoods, houses or schools they wanted. McDonald's officials noticed what she was doing and asked her to set up a relocation program. Advertisement "I did everything that wasn't done for me," she said. "I loved it. Just helping people and fulfilling a purpose and I was getting paid for it." After a year, she decided she needed to a job that would provide her with more balance between her career and family life. A business colleague suggested that she would do well as a motivational speaker. In 1975, she launched the business now called Slowikowski & Associates. Her first speech was about notable figures from history to a group of wives from a police chief's association. She said she read the entire talk, never looking at anyone. That colleague suggested she share her personal story. "I did and after that talk there was a long line of people to talk to me," Slowikowski said. "It became easier and easier. I became a story teller." Norb Slowikowski, who was director of manpower development at McDonald's, joined the business in 1979. He advises on such topics as effective management of job sites and reorganizing companies. Today three of their four children are involved in the business. One son, Ed, is also a motivational speaker. He was a top runner who vied for a spot in the Olympics. He speaks on topics of empowerment and leadership. Advertisement Though he was once fearful of what their future held, Norb Slowikowski said his wife has qualities that have fueled her success. "She's very outgoing. She's a good salesperson. She has a knack with people. People really love her," he said. Her son, Ed, recalls bouncing on a bed as a young child as a doctor was called when his mother suffered a panic attack. He has watched her struggle to overcome the illness. "It was like seeing someone at the bottom of a mountain and seeing her climb that mountain and going with her on that ride. It's been pretty inspiring," he said. Besides working with corporations and businesses, Slowikowski appeared on PBS on an Emmy-nominated special. She also does workshops with churches and other organizations about spirituality and other topics. She also formed Encore, a group for people over 50 at old St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Chicago and started a food pantry at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Darien. She also moderates Executives Breakfast Club in Oak Brook where she interviews leading business executives. Advertisement Kate Mulcahy, an instructor at The Well, a spirituality center at The Congregation of St. Joseph in La Grange Park, has hired Slowikowski to hold workshops. Although Mulcahy is aware of Slowikowski's battle with agoraphobia, she said it "is a surprise because the woman I see today is a life-loving youthful spirit. I can't imagine her being in such a dark place." amannion@chicagotribune.com Twitter @Triblocalam Slowikowski & Associates Phone: 630-910-8920 Website: www.making-it-happen.net Advertisement Facebook: www.facebook.com/Slowikowski-Associates-203567539666097/ Two teens who allegedly agreed to smoke marijuana Tuesday with a man they had just met that day on a Chicago Transit Authority train are now charged with robbing him at gunpoint in an Evanston alley, police said in a news release. Police were called to the alley in the 900 block of Davis Street around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday where the 24-year-old Chicago man told police he had a short time before been on a northbound CTA Purple Line train and met and conversed with the two 17-year-old boys, according to the release. Advertisement The three of them allegedly agreed to get off the train in Evanston and smoke marijuana in the alley. But one of the teens said to have been wearing a green hoodie pulled out a gun and threatened to shoot the man, police said in the release issued Wednesday. According to the release, the two boys stole $48.51, a Ventra public transportation payment card and a cell phone from the man who has not been identified by name. Advertisement The boy wearing the green sweatshirt slapped the man in the face and also made him turn over a pack of cigarettes, the release states. Evanston detectives who responded to the scene saw two teenagers in the 1600 block of Sherman Avenue who matched the description of the boys, police said in a release. Then the man positively identified them, police said. Police recovered the man's stolen property and a BB gun from the juveniles, police said. The boys one of whom is from Evanston and the other from Chicago were arrested and charged with aggravated robbery, according to the release. They were taken to the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center, police said. Due to their age, the boys were not identified by name and no further information about them was provided, according to the release. Brian L. Cox is a freelancer. A vending machine was burglarized Monday night in the fourth such incident this week. According to Bismarck Police, an unknown suspect broke into the soda machine at 300 Riverside Park Road in Sertoma Park. The break-in caused $124 damage to the machine. Also, $200 worth of soda and an undisclosed amount of cash was taken. Vending machines in three other locations also were burglarized Saturday night. "More than likely it is the same group of individuals," Officer Pat Renz said, adding it is a possibility there are copy cats. Alexander Muniz is a camp counselor for Veteran's Park District. He said he has big goals for himself after he graduates from East Leyden High School. Q: Where did you grow up and go to school? Advertisement A: I grew up in River Grove. I go to East Leyden High School. I'm going to be a senior. Q: What activities are you involved in at Leyden? Advertisement A: I'm in gymnastics, and I was in wrestling. Q: What's your favorite event in gymnastics? A: My favorite event is the rings. I can do the iron cross. Q: What do you do at St. Cyprian? A: I have been on several mission trips with St. Cyprian. I also play my trombone in the church band. Q: Tell me about your summer job as a counselor with Veteran's Park District. A: This is my first year as a counselor. I work with the kids in the 10-12 age group. It's a pretty nice camp. We do a lot of activities with the kids. Q; Where do the students go for field trips? Advertisement A: They go to Gouin Pool. We go to Brookfield Zoo, too. Q: What do you like the most about being a counselor? A: Most of the kids enjoy when I plan different activities. The kids really respect me. It's a lot of fun playing with them. Q: Besides working, what are your other plans for the summer? A: I want to see the new "Transformers" movie. I'm also going camping and going to Six Flags. Q: What are your plans after you graduate from East Leyden? Advertisement A: After I graduate high school, I'm going into the U.S. Air Force. I am hoping to serve there for five years. Then I want to enter the police academy. I hope to become a police officer. Q: Why do you want to be a police officer? A: I've wanted to be a police officer since I was 5 years old. I want to help my community and give back. Maryann Pisano is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press. The Glenview Board of Trustees recently approved paying $262,500, or half of the cost, for a feasibility study to look into flood protection improvements along the West Fork of the North Branch of the Chicago River. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will conduct the study, which is scheduled to be completed by December 2018, and will pay for the remaining $262,500 for the study, according to a board report. Advertisement The study will look into four options: taking no action; installing a flood wall through residential backyards; installing a flood wall along residential streets and flood-proofing structures near the river; and flood-proofing all impacted homes, according to the report. The board approved the payment in a 5-0 vote as part of the consent agenda. Trustee Deborah Karton was absent. Advertisement The project would benefit about 175 homes in the Tall Trees neighborhood, which is located near the West Fork of the North Branch of the Chicago River, said Deputy Village Manager Don Owen. The neighborhood was previously studied by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, according to the report. The organization found that, over time, the neighborhood could avoid up to $6.6 million in damages if a flood protection project was completed, Owen said. "We've had a fairly recent history of quite a few significant storms," Owen said. "The Tall Trees neighborhood was identified as a project that needed to be done." The MWRD will provide $6.6 million to the project, but the organization estimated that it would could cost between $10.3 to $15.7 million. The village then decided to reach out to the Army Corps of Engineers to receive federal funding for the project, Owen said. The Army Corps of Engineers is estimating that the project will cost $7.7 million, but if the project requires building a water detention structure then the price could increase, Owen said. The prices the MWRD listed include water detention structure construction, he said. In addition to paying for half of the feasibility study, the village or a third party, like MWRD, will have to pay 35 percent of the cost for both the engineering design and construction, Owen said. The project is expected to be completed in August 2021. mailto:akukulka@chicagotribune.com Advertisement Twitter @Akukulka11 Glenview native and Gurnee resident Charlotte Riley has spent almost seven years providing cheerful service to diners at Wilmette's Ridgeview Grill, 827 Ridge Road. ( Kathy Routliffe/Pioneer Press ) For almost seven years, Charlotte Riley has been providing cheerful service for diners at Wilmette's Ridgeview Grill, 827 Ridge Road. The Glenview native, who now lives in Gurnee, spoke to Pioneer Press recently about her love of ice-cream, her cat and more. Q: Summertime is time for ice cream. What is your favorite flavor? Advertisement A: That's a really hard one, because I like them all. I'd have to say moose tracks, because of the little peanut butter cups. You get a little bit of everything. But my doctor has told me I can't eat dairy or gluten anymore, so I'm trying to make my own ice cream. My first try is with peaches and coconut milk we'll see how that turns out. In the meantime, I'll have to save the moose tracks ice cream for special occasions, and then maybe just a little cupful. Q: Are you a cat person, a dog person or something else? Advertisement A: I'm a cat person. For one thing, cats don't need to be walked and they can be left alone without you worrying about them. My cat, Cookie, is a grumpy old grandpa cat that we got from Orphans of the Storm (www.orphansofthestorm.org). Q: Do you have a cause or charity that you'd like people to be aware of? A: I always say the American Diabetes Association (www.diabetes.org). That's because my mom had diabetes. Q: Do you have a restaurant that you can recommend? A: Dandan, in Milwaukee. It's my brother-in-law, Dan Jacobs' and he's the chef there. It's Chinese, American and fusion style. I go up there as often as I can. Q: What chore would you pay someone to do because you dislike it so much? A: I don't even have to think about that one cleaning my kitchen floor. I have my son do it. My kitchen floor is huge, it's white, and it goes on forever. I'll never buy a house with a white kitchen floor again. As far as this one's concerned, I figure it's either the broom or the sledgehammer! Q: Finally, if you could have a superpower, which one would you like? A: If I could have one, I think I would like to fly. Kathy Routliffe, Pioneer Press Advertisement kroutliffe@pioneerlocal.com Twitter @pioneer_kathy Shout Out is a weekly feature in which we get to know and introduce our readers to their fellow community members and local visitors throughout suburban Chicago. Check out more online at ChicagoTribune.com/ShoutOut. North Shore School District 112 will use Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates (HYA) to conduct its upcoming superintendent search despite earlier concerns over ill will lingering from a search that went awry in Township High School District 113. The school board after questioning representatives of the firm on July 11 and July 18 put aside worries over a possible backlash after concluding the firm's experience, reach and stature would produce the strongest pool of applicants for the position. Advertisement "I am persuaded that of the three firms (interviewed), HYA is in a position to bring us a better pool of candidates than the others," said board member Bennett Lasko. "To me that is the most important consideration." Lasko noted the hiring of a school superintendent is viewed as the most important job of any school board. Advertisement The school board is searching for a permanent superintendent to start in mid 2018 following the unexpected resignation of former Superintendent Michael Bregy last December. Two interim superintendents, Ed Rafferty and Jane Westerhold, are sharing the position through next June. Board member Art Kessler asked representatives of HYA July 18 if the district's constellation of challenges would impact their ability to attract high quality candidates. Consultant Ed Tivador acknowledged the district has a lot going on as it wrestles with building issues, school reconfiguration, attendance boundaries and a failed $198 million referendum that soundly failed within the last two years. "Any one of those things is huge," Tivador said. "When you put them all together it is really huge. The good news is you are going to attract really high quality candidates because they are up for that kind of a challenge. You are going to attract people who are really good listeners and strategic problem solvers who want to engage the community." Tivador said in a district like North Shore School District 112, "You learn real fast that your resources are in your people and your community. The superintendent that listens and reveres that kind of advice is the person you are going to want to attract." District 112 initially did not invite HYA to be interviewed out of concern that the District 113 controversy could taint the process in the minds of some constituents. Westerhold also was hesitant to bring in HYA because she has been an associate of the firm since 2005. Her contract with District 112 precludes that work for the time being. Shortly after District 113 hired a California superintendent in early 2015, revelations prompted the school board and the candidate to part ways four months before she was set to start her position. One revelation involved her affiliation with HYA that had not been disclosed by the candidate or the firm. Both explained at the time that she'd been trained to conduct searches in California, but had not actually conducted any searches. "From everything I can see, it seems to be an isolated incident," Lasko said. "We have nothing to suggest that HYA has a pattern of those types of conflict of interest problems." Advertisement In a statement Wednesday, District 112 Board President Eric Ephraim said the board recognizes those concerns. "We were reassured by HYA's accountability and sincerity in addressing these concerns," the statement read. He said the school board will use different consultants than those who were involved in the District 113 search, and the firm has agreed to enhanced terms of disclosure. Leading District 112's search will be Pamela Hollich, a retired superintendent from Brookwood School District 167 in the south suburbs, and Tivador, a retired superintendent from Northbrook-Glenview School District 30. Once a contract with HYA has been finalized, the first steps will include a planning meeting with the school board and decisions about the stakeholders who will participate in developing a leadership profile for the district. The profile identifies the qualities most desired in a candidate. "We keep the sheet of desired characteristics down to one page," Hollich told the school board. "It's hard, but it forces you to hone in on what you think (is most important).". Advertisement kberkowitz@pioneerlocal.com A Chicago woman who worked as a caregiver for a Hinsdale resident last year has been charged with using the resident's identity and bank accounts for her own use. Katricia D Williams, 36, of the 1100 block of West 127th Street, Chicago, was a health care worker for a 68-year old Hinsdale woman from July to September 2016, Hinsdale police said. Advertisement While working in the woman's home on the 700 block of South Garfield Avenue, she gained access to the woman's financial information and allegedly used the patient's name, checking account and credit cards to pay bills, shop online and pay jail commissary accounts for her family members totaling an estimated $3,500, police chief Kevin Simpson said. The crimes were reported Sept. 7. A DuPage County grand jury indicted Williams June 27 for continuing a financial crimes enterprise, financial exploitation of the elderly and 11 counts of aggravated financial identity theft, all felonies. Advertisement Officers from the DuPage County Sheriff's Office took Williams into custody Tuesday and took her to the DuPage County Jail, Simpson said. It was "a long, drawn out case that came to a successful end," the police chief said. kfornek@pioneerlocal.com Twitter @kfDoings The village of La Grange's new village manager will earn a base salary of $155,000 a year, according to an employment contract released by the village. The contract was provided following a Freedom of Information request by The Doings. Advertisement Village manager Andrianna Peterson, who previously was assistant village manager, began her job on July 12. The Village Board approved the contract July 11. The village agrees to increase the manager's base salary annually by the general wage adjustment applicable to and granted to department heads. Advertisement Peterson is entitled to participate in an employee deferred compensation plan. The village will deposit annually, as a bonus, $5,000 into Peterson's deferred compensation plan. The village also agrees to pay the new manager $4,200 a year as a vehicle allowance, according to the contract. If Peterson's employment is terminated for any other reason than deleterious conduct, the village will pay a severance of six months of her base salary. It also agrees to pay the value of accumulated sick leave and any other reimbursable leave. Peterson is entitled to participate in any benefit programs provided by the village. The contract is effective through April 30, 2021. Peterson was selected from 80 candidates from across the country. Peterson had been assistant village manager since August 2006. In that role she was involved in budgeting, personnel, grants administration, risk management and public relations. She also has served as deputy clerk and staff liaison to the Liquor Commission, Board of Fire and Police Commission and Environmental Control Commission. She also coordinated various strategic initiatives of the Village Board. Advertisement Peterson earned a bachelor's degree in political science and a master's degree in public administration from Northern Illinois University. Before joining La Grange, she was an intern in Clarendon Hills, assistant executive director of the West Central Municipal Conference and village administrator in Berkeley. Peterson is replacing village manager Robert Pilipiszyn, who retired in June. He had worked 12 1/2 years as village manager and prior to that was the assistant village manager. Peterson, her husband, Michael, and son live in La Grange Park. amannion@chicagotribune.com Twitter triblocalam Three years ago, when Gunter Gehl moved into The Vi, a senior living community in Glenview, he said he just wanted peace, and to be left alone. "My feeling was, 'I've lived my life, it has been fantastic, and now it's over,'" said the now 88 year-old widower, whose wife of 62 years, Annelene died of cancer a few years ago. Advertisement But we all know life is full of surprises, especially when it comes to love. What Gunter never expected was that in this stage of his life, he'd meet and fall in love with Connie Balfrey. "She moved in here on July 19, 2014, and the first time I saw her, we looked at each other and that was it. I wish someone could explain it to me," said Gunter, a former professor at Northwestern's Prosthetics-Orthotics Center, who before moving to the Vi lived in Edgebrook. "When I met Connie, I became alive again. Neither of us expected this." Advertisement Tall and beautiful Connie is an 84-year-old widow, who moved here from San Francisco to be closer to her daughter's family. Married for 55 years to her husband, Bill, who died a few years ago, Connie said she first saw Gunter at one of the facility's social events. "Everyone had left and it was just the two of us," said Connie, who has two children and six grandchildren. "He said, 'We ought to go to dinner,' and I said, 'You should make a reservation.'" In the three years they've been together, Gunter and Connie have taken trips together to places that include Costa Rica, Virginia and West Virginia. They've also been on a couple of European cruises. When they're in town, they enjoy playing poker together (I actually interrupted their game to do this interview), taking walks, listening to music and going to musicals. They eat all their meals together, they have coffee every afternoon at 2 p.m., and every night after dinner, Gunter insists on walking his girlfriend home. "He has a great memory and is a very good storyteller," said Connie, who told me that neither she nor Gunter has dated anyone else since becoming widowed. "He has a good sense of humor and is the most polite man I have ever been with and the most respectful." Connie said the two act like a married couple, even though they are both very independent and choose to remain living in separate apartments. I have one word to describe this couple: lovebirds. There is a sense of teenager-like giddiness, but this relationship is so much more. I sensed that this love affair is about friendship, a sense of family, companionship and fun. There is so much warmth and comfort, that I think can only be appreciated by those with wisdom and life experience. All that said, me being me, (the hopeless romantic) I couldn't help but ask, "So, how was the first kiss?!" Advertisement I got no response from either for a couple of minutes. They were both smiling and then Gunter said, "It was unexpected, and unbelievable that it was happening." The couple explained that Connie's kids are very happy about her romance, and that one of her grandchildren actually asked if he could call Gunter "Grandpa." Both agreed their love doesn't diminish or take the place of what each had in their marriages. As the two walked me back down to the lobby while holding hands, I asked them if finding love in your 80s is different than finding love as a youngster. Gunter shook his head no. "It's the same. She is so beautiful. Just look at her," he glowed. "I never thought I could be this lucky twice in this lifetime." "We don't even have to talk," Connie said. "We know what the other one is thinking." Advertisement Jackie Pilossoph is a freelance columnist for Chicago Tribune Media Group. She is also the creator of her divorce support website, Divorced Girl Smiling. Pilossoph lives in Chicago with her two children. An attorney with experience negotiating for oil companies with Native American tribes urged attendees at a Bakken oil conference Wednesday to take tribal consultation more seriously or risk costly project delays. Troy Eid, who specializes in Native American law for Greenberg Traurig law firm in Denver, said he expects tribal challenges to pipeline and other infrastructure projects will continue in the aftermath of the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. Weve got to think differently about how we're going to get projects built, Eid said during a panel discussion at the Bakken Conference & Expo in Bismarck. I dont think DAPL was a one-time adventure. Eid, formerly Colorados U.S. attorney, said he worked with one pipeline company that spent five years negotiating with 43 tribes for a natural gas pipeline. The company spent $11 million doing micro-reroutes of the pipeline to address tribal concerns, but later estimated it prevented at least $250 million in construction delays by avoiding litigation. Eid said he intended no criticism of Dakota Access, but pointed out that the pipelines delay due to litigation from Native American tribes cost the company at least $700 million, according to the companys court filings. Companies can look to best practices to minimize risk of lawsuits, including engaging with tribes early and giving consideration to non-tribal lands that may have cultural or religious significance to Native Americans, Eid said. Federal law does not care whether you cross tribal lands, said Eid, adding hes had good experiences working directly with tribes, but sometimes negotiations can become difficult if nonprofit groups and others get involved. Craig Stevens, spokesman for a group called Grow Americas Infrastructure Now, said in the case of Dakota Access, the environmental left partnered with Native Americans to try to stop energy development. To counter the campaign against the pipeline, Stevens and the coalition began speaking out in favor of the project and using social media to counter misinformation. We had to make sure that our messages were there giving context to overall debate, he said. Pipeline developer Energy Transfer Partners did not have a media relations team in place that could handle the magnitude of the protest and, in some cases, was limited by attorneys about what could be said, according to Stevens. For future infrastructure projects, its important for companies to have a game plan including public relations, Stevens said. This is a new cost of business is recognizing these protests are going to happen, he said. Michael Zehr, federal policy adviser for the Consumer Energy Alliance, said anti-development campaigns are swelling with money and targeting pipelines to counter fossil fuel development. Some Dakota Access opponents used troubling tactics, such as posting threatening messages on social media and publishing the home address of the pipeline developers CEO, Zehr said. Theyve pushed the envelope in ways that weve not seen before, he said. On the evening of Oct, 6, 2015, Chelsie Kumm was found slumped over the edge of a bed in the basement of a Marengo home she shared with her boyfriend and his mother. "I tried to pull her up. I started screaming," Laurie Cool said, tearfully describing how she found her son's 20-year-old girlfriend, who fatally overdosed after shooting heroin into her jugular vein. Advertisement Cool shared the painful recollections last week during the trial of Durelle Hall, who was found guilty Thursday of selling Kumm the heroin that killed her. The 26-year-old Woodstock woman was convicted of drug-induced homicide shortly after the case was handed to the jury in McHenry County. Hall's defense attorneys argued that the state couldn't prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Hall was the one who sold Kumm the lethal dose of heroin. They rested their case Wednesday without calling any witnesses. Advertisement Prosecutor Randi Freese told jurors that Hall chose to make a living as a drug dealer, "selling ... poison" and feeding her customers' addictions. Kumm "had her entire life ahead of her when (Hall) gave her a fatal dose of heroin," Freese said. Freese said Kumm woke up that morning "heroin sick." Her boyfriend Brandon Smedley boarded a train in Crystal Lake into Chicago to buy the drug, but Kumm stayed behind because she said she could make the purchase locally, according to testimony. Kumm went to the Crystal Lake apartment of a friend, who gave her $50, which she said she was going to use to buy "medicine," according to the prosecutor and testimony. The friend said he then saw Kumm go outside and make a quick exchange with someone who showed up in a gray vehicle, Freese said. The friend told police he then drove Kumm home because she said she had to "prepare" the drug, Freese said. Kumm went into the basement and never came back upstairs. When he called out to her and she didn't respond, he left, Freese said. Police collected various colored baggies, needles and cooking instruments in the bedroom where Kumm was found. Among the paraphernalia were pink baggies later tested and proved positive for heroin and the powerful painkiller fentanyl. Freese asserted that pink baggies were a signature of Hall's drug-dealing business. Prosecutors also showed jurors text messages that appeared to show Kumm and Hall set up the drug deal that day. Other texts show Kumm telling Smedley she got heroin from Hall. "It is very clear who sold (Kumm) the heroin ... that killed her," Freese said. Advertisement Defense attorney Vanessa Sheehan told jurors that Kumm was ravaged by drug addiction and her death was "very sad." But Sheehan contended that even if Hall was proven to have sold heroin to Kumm that day, that doesn't mean it was the drugs from Hall that killed Kumm. During the trial, jurors saw police photos showing various baggies in the room where Kumm was found, implying the couple had multiple sources of heroin. Sheehan said Kumm's addiction began at age 15 and that she "was living solely to find her next fix." "She connected with a lot of people that day," Sheehan said, adding Kumm was asking "everyone she knew to hook her up." The attorney also noted Kumm was found to have had other drugs in her system when she died. "There is nothing good coming out of this case," Sheehan said. Hall is due to give birth within days, sources have said. In June, while out of jail on bond awaiting trial, she was rearrested after authorities said she sold cocaine to an undercover informant near a middle school. The jury on the current case has not been informed of her new arrest and those charges are still pending. Advertisement Smedley, 33, testified that he has battled a heroin addiction for 17 years and has been in recovery the past year. He said he and Kumm took heroin intravenously several times a day throughout their relationship, using three to seven bags a day. They'd made a pact in 2014 that they would join forces to find and use heroin together. The morning that Kumm died, Smedley said they "ransacked" his mother's home hoping to find heroin to help Kumm feel better. Later, he got a ride into Crystal Lake, where he sold some pain pills he took from his mother for $60. But when he could not score enough heroin for him and Kumm locally, he boarded a train to Chicago. About 40 minutes into the trip, he said he got a text from Kumm saying she had gotten $50 and was waiting to meet with Hall to bring her heroin. Smedley testified that he and Kumm often bought heroin from Hall, including once while her young son was present in her car near his school. He said Hall sold her heroin in pink or purple baggies, then identified the pink baggies in police photos of the room where Kumm overdosed. He said he was on Chicago's West Side when his mother called to tell him Kumm had overdosed. Smedley was not charged in her death. "I didn't want to come home. I didn't want to live anymore," Smedley said. "I was gonna do (my) heroin and commit suicide. I didn't want to go to jail, be drug sick. ... I lost my lover." Advertisement Amanda Marrazzo is a freelance reporter. Indian Prairie School District 204 officials are urging state leaders to figure out a way to get public schools the state funds they're owed before the start of the new school year. Jay Strang, Indian Prairie's chief school business official, presented a draft budget to the school board Monday for the 2017-18 school year that includes nearly $40 million in funding, an estimate on how much the state might pay the district now that the state budget impasse has ended. Advertisement "We're in uncharted territory," Strang said. "Our draft budget is really quite draft because we don't know what we're getting from the state of Illinois at this point in time." The proposed District 204 operating budget calls for Indian Prairie to spend $325.1 million in the coming year while taking in $321.8 million in revenue. Advertisement Indian Prairie would cover the projected $3.4 million deficit with money it has in reserves, a plan authorized by the school board last year so the district could complete summer capital projects, including the installation of air-conditioning units to some elementary schools. With projected revenues of $272.3 million coming from property taxes and $9.9 million from federal sources, Strang said the district depends on money from the state to operate. Of comparable unit districts in Barrington, Geneva, Naperville, St. Charles and Wheaton, Indian Prairie is the least property-wealthy district and thus receives the lowest amount in property taxes, he said. "This speaks to how reliant we are on the state of Illinois," Strang said. The $40 million Strang projects to get from the state is merely a guess, he said. Although school districts know the full amount legislators set aside in the state budget, how the money will be apportioned to individual districts has yet to be determined. That's because the state approved a budget with the caveat that education funding would divided in a way that funnels money to the students and schools most in need based on a series of factors using what is known as an evidence-based model. The plan was approved by Illinois House and Senate in May but has yet to be forwarded to Gov. Bruce Rauner, who has vowed to veto it because he believes it channels too much money to Chicago schools at the expense of other school districts. Board member Lori Price said she's angry public school students are being used as political leverage. Advertisement "I think it's abominable that they would use children in that manner. They need to make some decisions," Price said. "Don't put children in the middle of this." Superintendent Karen Sullivan warned of the urgency. "We again urge our legislators to get an evidence-based funding model to the finish line before the first installments are due to schools in early August. Time is of the essence." Sullivan said. "While we will be able to open our doors in the fall, there are other school districts in the state that cannot open their doors without those August payments, and that should not be acceptable to any of us," she said. Strang said Indian Prairie has enough money in reserves sustain district operations through April 1. In the meantime, the school board is expected to approve a tentative budget next month and a final budget in September. Advertisement Strang said the District 204 board can amend the budget once state leaders adopt a firm funding formula and officials know how much money the district will be receiving. subaker@tribpub.com Twitter @SBakerSun1 Officials from Naperville and Aurora participate in a Homeland Security Training program at the Aurora Emergency Operations Center. (City of Aurora) The cities of Naperville and Aurora will share a $1.4 million federal grant to train police, firefighters and other emergency personnel in how to deal with a terrorist attack. The Federal Emergency Management Agency funding, to be disbursed over a three-year period, will allow emergency teams to coordinate training, planning and exercises to prepare for an attack similar to those that have occurred in Paris, Boston and elsewhere. Advertisement The grant is one of 30 issued nationally by FEMA. "Our goal is to have uniform training for police and (firefighters) across the region," said Dan Nelson, Naperville's emergency management coordinator. Advertisement Naperville firefighters and police already provide what is sometimes called "automatic mutual aid" to nearby communities in times of crisis. Naperville firefighters, for example, assisted the village of Plainfield when a freight train derailed on June 30 and Naperville police stepped in to help Aurora on Dec. 26 when a brawl broke out at the Fox Valley Mall. Similarly, "if we had a (terrorist) attack in Naperville, everybody would come to help us," Nelson said of police, firefighters and others in nearby jurisdictions. "Regional capability sharing between Aurora and Naperville would be essential, in the response to a complex coordinated terror attack," Aurora Emergency Management Coordinator Joseph Jones in a news release on the grant. "Due to the population size and proximity of the two cities, it is likely that any large-scale event would impact both jurisdictions." The training, planning and exercises funded by the grant should enhance the ability of police officers, firefighters and others "to respond to multiple locations and effectively mitigate a complex, coordinated terror attack," the release said. Nelson added the grant money will help emergency service providers "to work with our partners and provide training" for employees of Edward Hospital in Naperville, local colleges and universities, and the area's two public school systems, among others. School administrators, faculty and staff members can be taught "what they can do to safeguard students" during a crisis until police and firefighters can get to the scene, he said. "The vision of the Complex Coordinated Terrorist Attack program is to create a sustainable program for the region," Nelson said. Advertisement "This grant provides us with a tremendous opportunity to enhance the safety of the entire region by developing a system to identify gaps, educate, train, analyze, and implement changes to prepare our area to first prevent and, if needed, respond to a terrorist attack." FEMA officials in February announced their "Prepare Communities for Complex Coordinated Terrorist Attacks" grant program, with municipalities and agencies across the country competing for the funding. Among the plan's goals were adoption of region-wide, common response tactics for first responders; reviewing all valid assessments and critical infrastructure; ensuring that "continuity of operations" plans exist at all levels, and with all responding agencies; and "sharing all approved processes findings and corrective actions with local, regional, state and national partners," according to the release. The grant awarded to Naperville and Aurora was the largest given to any municipality or agency in Illinois, and the 12th largest nationally. wbird@tribpub.com Jeremiah Task, right, 10, of Chicago holds a sign at the end of a march in Chicago on Sunday, June 18, 2017, to protest the acquittal of the police officer who killed Philando Castile in Minnesota. ( Alexandra Wimley / Chicago Tribune ) I grew up in the turbulent 1960s and 1970s when rallies and protest marches that often led to confrontations and sometimes violence were part of the regular social calendar. So naturally I had a healthy skepticism of authority and authority figures, like police. Advertisement I was a kid who liked to write and liked to know what was going on. I liked to be in the middle of important events, but really wanted no responsibility for them. Perfect attributes for a reporter. So I decided to become a journalist, like many of my generation who came of age in the era of Woodward and Bernstein and Watergate. Advertisement Like many young reporters, one of my first jobs was writing obituaries, where I was in for one of my first reality checks. Obituaries are prepared in advance for famous living people. Later on I developed that dark sense of humor that allowed me to joke that celebrities die on deadline, so the prepared bios came in handy. All you had to to was slap on the details of their death and a few quotes and then add the "B copy," which was their life story until that time. From obituaries I graduated to police and fire reports. Every day I would go to the police departments of the suburban towns I covered these were inner-ring Chicago suburbs and write up the crimes that occurred in one or two paragraph reports that were called "dog bites." These were mostly traffic stops, auto break-ins and burglaries. Occasionally I'd get an armed robbery or an arson or a string of burglaries and I would get to write those up in a story. I still remember my first murder stories very clearly. In one, a couple went out one Friday night after work to a bar. Then another bar and another. After all the bars closed, they went home and continued the binge at the kitchen table. At some point, the wife said something to the husband and he took out his gun and shot her. Then he went to an all-night bar where the police found him. In the other one, a man elaborately planned and carried out the murder of his mother-in-law then flew across country to attack his ex-wife and her father in Florida, all with the same hammer. After about six months or so, I noticed something about myself. As I went about my day, I began seeing danger everywhere, even in the most mundane events. There were no routine traffic stops. Each one had potential for danger. When it was over, you could decide whether it was routine or not. I was walking through my town one day and saw a "routine" traffic stop. One officer was putting handcuffs on the driver, a young black man. Racial profiling, I thought, and decided to watch this go down. It was a potential story. Then I saw the second cop come out of the car holding a handgun between the tips of his fingers he had found in the car. Danger was everywhere. I finally realized my heightened awareness of danger wasn't reasonable behavior. I was driving home late one night from a friend's house in Old Town, when I stopped at at a light on Chicago and Wells. A group of young men were standing on the corner outside an all night bar. The looked at me when I stopped. I assessed the situation. I was in danger. Or was I? Advertisement I bring this up in the light of the criticism police are getting lately. Some of it is deserved. Thanks to video we can see obvious abuse of power and wrongdoing. But, in remembering how I became a paranoid nut after only six months or so of regularly covering the police, some instances are not so obvious. Take the case of the Minnesota police officer who shot a black man after a so-called "routine" traffic stop. In watching the video, I could almost see the tragic events happening before they unfolded. The tragedy was put in motion when the cop instructed the driver to show his license. The driver correctly informed the officer he had a weapon. The cop then told the driver not to reach for the gun. What would you do? The subject was given two instructions at one time. To comply with one order could look like he was disobeying the other. I anticipated the outcome as the situation unfolded he's going to reach for his wallet and the cop will think he's going for the gun. Advertisement In an atmosphere of heightened paranoia, where one party sees imminent danger everywhere, such a tragedy is almost unavoidable. To everyone else, it is unreasonable, an unwarranted shooting of an unarmed man. Don't get me wrong. I'm not defending police in these shootings that have been in the headlines. I'm just trying to understand why it happens, because in most of my dealings with police over the years, I've never met one who wants to discharge his or her weapon while on duty. And studies show police shootings have actually decreased over the last 40 years. A Northwestern University study of police shootings by Chicago Police between 1973 to 1978 reported 523 police shootings and 130 people killed. A Chicago Tribune report of police shootings between 2010 and 2015 show 435 police shootings with 92 killed. That's a 30 percent drop in individuals killed by police. Randy Blaser is a freelance columnist. Hamburger University is part of the McDonald's operation moving to Chicago in 2018. (Chicago Tribune ) The wait in planning continues for Oak Brook, as the future of property owned by McDonald's remains unknown. Village officials have been hoping to be involved in the process, as the fast-food giant prepares to sell most of the 150 acres its owns on five sites in Oak Brook. Advertisement Of that, more than 35 acres is open space. The remainder includes various corporate offices and Hamburger University, which is used for training. The company announced in June 2016 that it was moving its headquarters and Hamburger University from Oak Brook to Chicago some time in 2018. Advertisement "They aren't leaving for two years, and that gives us time to think things out and look to future opportunities with whoever comes here when they leave," Village President Gopal Lalmalani said at the time. Now, more than a year later, neither Lalmalani nor other Oak Brook officials know anything more about who may move into the village when McDonald's leaves. Lalmalani said he is in touch with officials from McDonald's every two to three weeks, but hasn't learned anything about the company's plans for its Oak Brook properties. "They are very secretive," he said. "There's a lot of stuff floating around, rumors, but I don't think there's anybody who really knows anything at this point. And if there is, they are not talking." Lalmalani said he spoke Wednesday with someone from JLL, the real estate company working with McDonald's to sell the property. "There is apparently a good amount of buzz and activity going on," he said, adding that the person he spoke with was not at liberty to share information. Scott Miller, managing director of JLL, told The Doings that he was not able to provide any information and directed questions to McDonald's. Terri Hickey, of McDonald's Global Communications, said there is "nothing new to share at this time." Advertisement The Village Board decided in September 2016 to hire the consultant it used for its Commercial Areas Revitalization Plan in 2007, Houseal Lavigne Associates, to update the plan and, specifically, provide some insights into beneficial uses for the McDonald's properties. Houseal Lavigne is scheduled to make a presentation at an 8:30 a.m. Aug. 16 meeting of the village's Community Enhancement Committee. But committee chairman Jeff Kennedy isn't expecting much. "The problem is we don't know much about what McDonald's is doing," he said. "McDonald's doesn't seem to be in any hurry to sell its property in Oak Brook. A year has gone by, and we really don't know any more now." The committee includes about 15 includes residents and representatives of village planning and zoning boards, and commercial, office and retail businesses. While Kennedy doesn't expect any significant insights from Houseal Lavigne at the Aug. 16 meeting, he said he understands why the Village Board hired the firm last fall. "I think everyone, including the board, thought this would move a lot faster," he said. "Everyone expected to know a lot sooner what McDonald's planned to do with the property and didn't want to get caught by surprise." Advertisement Another unknown is whether McDonald's will continue to make an annual $100,000 donation to the village to help cover costs of the July 3 Taste of Oak Brook. Lalmalani said he is hopeful the financial support will continue. "I believe it will continue until they tell us 'no,'" he said. "I'm hopeful they will continue to support the village of Oak Brook any way they can." cfieldman@pioneerlocal.com Twitter @chuckwriting Village of Oak Park trustees approved more than $2 million worth of street resurfacing projects for 2 miles of roadways throughout the village. (Pioneer Press file) The village of Oak Park will repave about two miles of roadways this year, a project that is expected to cost in excess of $2 million. At the July 17 village board meeting, trustees approved a $2,148,341.43 contract with Crowley-Sheppard Asphalt Inc., of Chicago Ridge, to complete the work. Advertisement Public Works Director John Wielebnicki said the project is a continuation of the village's commitment to improving its infrastructure. "This is the second of two resurfacing projects we have this year," Wielebnicki said. "In April, we brought forward a $1 million project for repaving. That was more a grind-and-pave with minimal curb work. This contract is more for a heavy reconstruction, with all new curb and gutter and milling much more pavement, so it costs more." Advertisement According to Wielebnicki, the village rates all the roadways throughout Oak Park on a 0 to 100 scale. The streets being repaved in the newest project were "in the mid 50s" as far as a rating, Wielebnicki said. "We're trying to bring those grades back up," Wielebnicki said. "This contract will cover two miles of roads, or about 13 to 14 blocks." The Village of Oak Park will resurface more than 2 miles of roadways throughout the village, an expense expected to cost more than $2 million. (Village of Oak Park) Among the projects to be completed include patching at the Austin Boulevard and Harrison Street intersection, resurfacing of Lot 25S on Superior Street west of Austin Boulevard and resurfacing of Lot 96 on North Boulevard west of Oak Park Avenue. Among the larger streets to be resurfaced include Superior Street between East and Elmwood avenues, Pleasant Street between Ridgeland and Harvey avenues, Wisconsin Avenue between Madison and Randolph streets, South Boulevard between Harvey Avenue and the Public Works Center, and Humphrey Avenue between Division and Greenfield streets. In all, the village has about 100 miles of streets and alleys, Wielebnicki said. According to village officials, the expedited paving program is in its third year, with the village pledging to borrow $20 million to improve its infrastructure. "Over the last 10 years or so, we've been slowly catching up to where we should be," Wielebnicki said. "This will be brand-new curb and asphalt. In about 20 years, we hope to repave it, and we'll do that again in about 40 years and come back in 60 years for significant curb work." According to Village Manager Cara Pavlicek, 10 bidders were interested in the project, with five submitting qualified bids to complete the work. Bids were opened July 6. Advertisement sschering@pioneerlocal.com Twitter @steveschering MINOT -- A district court judge scolded both the states attorney and the defense for contentiousness last week in his order denying the state's motion to change the judge in the Cynthia Wilder murder conspiracy case. "There was a time, and not too long ago, when lawyers in North Dakota were collegial to one another and respectful towards the bench," wrote Judge Thomas Merrick, who was appointed earlier this year to fill in for Judge Richard Hagar, who is on suspension. "Perhaps that was because they knew, as the 'Seinfeld' characters discovered, that a $20 bill lost may soon be counterbalanced by a $20 bill found. Perhaps they realized that while their present client is holding aces, their next might not. In the small universe of the courthouse, civility and doing the right thing was once as important as winning. No more. Now, any adverse ruling is taken as an affront." Merrick presided over a July 5 hearing on the matter, at which heated words were exchanged between lawyers and each side introduced hearsay statements supposedly said by attorneys from each other's offices, old grievances were aired between the prosecutor and the defense, and the judge admonished the defense not to interrupt. Ward County Deputy State's Attorney Kelly Dillon demanded a change of judge after Judge Stacy Louser was assigned. Dillon argued that the state disagreed with Louser's rulings in past cases, that they lack faith in Louser's ability to control a courtroom and they don't think Louser will give them a fair trial. Defense attorney Patrick Waters argued against the state's bid to change judges. Waters accused the state of "throwing a tantrum" because it didn't get its way in past cases and of "judge shopping" and argued that the demand for a change of judge was not made in good faith. Waters said the state has tried to have Louser removed from up to 11 cases since March, when Lorin Hove was acquitted of sexual abuse of an 11-year-old girl. Louser had ruled against the state regarding discovery motions in that case. "The Ward County State's Attorney's office did not allege bias on the part of Judge Louser in their demand in this case, nor was it required that they do so," wrote Merrick in his decision. "Likewise, at the July 5 hearing, there was no allegation of actual or implied bias. Rather, they admitted they were removing her from certain cases 'because of Judge Louser's evidentiary rulings in several cases,' and 'general concern over Judge Louser's ability to control the courtroom.' Based on these admissions and the frequency of the demands since the Hove acquittal, I find their demand in this case was not made in good faith but for the impermissible motive of 'judge shopping.' I can only conclude that they are not seeking impartiality but favor." Merrick also wrote that he doubts any other judge would fare better in controlling a courtroom "if lawyers continue choosing unrelenting argument over zealous advocacy." The ruling means that Louser will remain the presiding judge in the Cynthia Wilder case. A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for Aug. 15 in district court in Minot. Wilder, 26, a one time kindergarten and second grade teacher for the Minot Public Schools, is accused of helping her husband, Richie Wilder Jr., plan the November 2015 brutal stabbing murder of his first wife and of helping him clean up the evidence afterward. She is also accused of aiding his failed escape from the Ward County Jail in August 2016. She allegedly made a confession to a former partner that she connected with on Facebook in March. Cynthia Wilder has complained to the court that she doesn't know what is going on in her case and wasn't sure why she was in the courtroom at the July 5 hearing. She wrote that her defense lawyer's number is blocked when she tries to call him from the jail. She wants a bond hearing because she said her daughter and her two stepchildren need her at home. She has been held on $1 million bond since May. Richie Wilder Jr. was convicted of Class AA felony murder in December 2016 and was sentenced to life in prison without parole in May 2017. He is appealing his conviction to the North Dakota Supreme Court and wants another trial. What to expect next in the Frisch vs. Boebert CD-3 race Final results in the race won't be known until Friday, Nov. 18, after clerks in all 27 counties upload final counts. So what happens between now and then? DICKINSON As the jail and prison populations across North Dakota continue rise along with the cost of incarceration, state officials are trying to ensure that first-time offenders and those with behavioral health issues stay out of the system. Area leaders in behavioral health, local legislators and state officials gathered at the West River Community Center in Dickinson on Wednesday to discuss the Justice Reinvestment Initiative. The initiative will work with those on pretrial, probation and/or parole in an attempt to identify behavioral health needs that, if not attended to, could result in relapse, violation of conditions of parole, probation or pretrial status. It would also seek to help prevent any new offenses from occurring. State agencies have been reviewing what the needs are, specifically in rural areas where they know there is a shortage of mental and behavioral health resources, said Pamela Sagness, behavioral health division director for the North Dakota Department of Human Services. The pilot program was allocated $7 million in Senate Bill 2015 during the latest legislative session, with proposed implementation sites in Dickinson, Fargo, Devils Lake and Bismarck. It involves the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the Department of Human Services, and probation and parole officers. Sagness said the goal is to reduce the number of 24/7 violations, reduce re-arrest and incarceration rates, and increase days in stable housing and employment for those in the program. Another key are community care coordination agencies. Our state, at times, has criminalized behavioral health, instead of treating behavioral health, she said. Thats really the crux of it. We know that incarcerating individuals actually makes them worse and doesnt necessarily help them find recovery or meaningfully contribute to society. Sen. Kelly Armstrong, R-Dickinson, said there has been a shift in public opinion and culture when it comes to views on addicts. He said for years there was a stance across the country to be hard on drug addicts. The shift has been coming and I think its been coming slowly and then all of the sudden it really caught fire, he said. ... I think whats changed is that jails are full, court systems are seeing revolving-door defendants and youre starting to see prosecutors, judges and sheriffs saying, We cant continue down this path, we have to figure out a different way to deal with these people. The shift in opinions on subjects like drug addiction and recidivism, along with the growth of the corrections budget, helped to launch the idea for the program. This is the part of criminal justice reinvestment that is hard, Armstrong said. Its a lot easier to say, We cant just keep locking people up. The point is, we have to figure out a more dynamic way to deliver treatment and services to those people so they dont get locked up and if they do get out, they dont get locked up a second time. North Dakota is sixth in the nation for drug and alcohol abuse, but 43rd in behavioral health workforce availability, according to Steve Allen with the Council of State Governments. He said in a CSG survey, only 12 percent of probation officers said substance abuse treatment was available and accessible for their clients, and about 70 percent of judges indicated they sentenced people to prison just to get them some treatment. Sagness said one of the main challenges facing the program is finding ways to build crosswalks among behavioral health professionals, city officials, social services programs and private providers. She said the program hopes to bridge those gaps so someone can get the right care they need. Armstrong said dealing with an addicted population is a challenge, whether its to drugs, alcohol or opioids. Another challenge facing the program will be interagency cooperation, as well as finding resources. This isnt a binary choice, he said. Were not taking them out of prison and putting them in a treatment bed. Thats not what were doing. So what were trying to create is a situation where they get the services they need within the community without having to lock them up for extended periods of time. About 6 percent of the state, including western Morton County, is experiencing exceptional drought conditions, the most severe of six categories rated by the U.S. Drought Monitor. The new rating released Thursday is only the second time portions of North Dakota have reached the exceptional drought level since the U.S. Drought Monitor map was created in 2000, said Adnan Akyuz, North Dakotas state climatologist. The last time was in 2006, when 2.4 percent of the state was categorized as exceptional drought, Akyuz said. Other counties with large areas of land falling into exceptional drought include Hettinger, Stark, Mountrail, Ward and Divide. To help counties experiencing drought conditions, the State Water Commission held an emergency meeting Thursday to approve another $500,000 in state funding to help ranchers get water to livestock. The drought disaster livestock water supply program provides matching funds to help livestock producers pay for new wells, hookups to water pipelines and other projects. The commission already had allocated $325,000 to the program, but that wasnt adequate to meet the demand, said Gov. Doug Burgum, who is chairman of the State Water Commission. We went through that rather quickly as this drought unfolded, Burgum said. Even though the program ran out of money, the commission continued accepting applications giving conditional approval for projects with the hope that additional funds would become available, said State Engineer Garland Erbele. About $223,000 of the additional $500,000 already has been committed, leaving about $277,000 in available funding. The water commission meets next on Aug. 23 and could provide additional funding. Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring, who serves on the water commission, said he believes the money will help producers minimize the hardships theyre experiencing. Thirty-six of North Dakotas 53 counties are eligible for the program. For more information, visit swc.nd.gov. Also Thursday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture opened additional Conservation Reserve Program lands for emergency grazing and haying for areas of North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana affected by severe drought. With dry weather and hot temperatures expected to continue, the exceptional drought areas will likely expand to neighboring counties in the coming weeks, Akyuz said. About 40 percent of North Dakota, including most of Burleigh and Morton counties, is considered to be at least in extreme drought. Brief storms have done little to forestall drought conditions as excessive heat and persistent below-normal precipitation continue, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor's weekly report. China introduced the biggest changes to its individual income tax (IIT) system since at least 2011 with the passing of a new IIT law in 2018. The new law... Foreign beer and wine consumption is increasing significantly in China. In 2016, Chinese consumed 567.5 million liters of imported wine, with bottled wine leading the total imports, followed by bulk wines and sparkling wines, according to statistics from the China Association for Imports and Exports of Wine and Spirits. During the same period, beer imports grew by 18.7 percent in volume to 598.5 million liters. The rise of global consumer culture in China and consumers increased desire for premium liquor has largely driven this growth. Rising disposable income, increased exposure to Western lifestyles, and growing distrust of domestic liquor are among other factors that have contributed to the changing trend. In this article, Dezan Shira & Associates and The Silk Initiative introduce considerations for market entry, import, and manufacture of alcoholic beverages in China. Market entry considerations Consumer behavior in China is decidedly different compared to Western markets. To be successful in China, it is therefore necessary for foreign companies to conduct in-depth market research, and understand the objectives and demands of the Chinese consumer, regional differences in consumption, and the internal dynamics of the market structure. Identify the right market The nature and make-up of regional markets varies across China. For instance, first tier cities along the east coast such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen have higher incomes, population, and a more Western lifestyle than western provinces. As a result, these regions occupy the largest share of the imported alcohol market in China. However, with increasing penetration of foreign brands, first tier cities have begun to show signs of saturation and over-service, which has resulted in higher operational costs and stiff market competition amongst foreign brands. With economic expansion and changing lifestyles, entering lower tier markets has now become a more viable alternative for new entrants. Apart from lower setup and operating costs, lower tier markets also offer first-mover advantage that can help gain greater long-term market success. The Danish brewer Carlsberg successfully implemented this strategy by prioritizing lower tier cities in 2002. Their market share in Western China is now more than 60 percent, where beer consumption is growing at 12 percent annually, compared with four to five percent nationally. RELATED: Exporting Food Products to China: A Step by Step Guide Localize to capitalize on changing tastes and preferences China has seen a dramatic change in its social and cultural concept of alcohol consumption in recent times. Traditionally, it was customary to only drink alcohol during formal occasions and celebrations. This is no longer the case. Exposure to Western culture and increasing expendable income means that consumers are drinking more and more for leisure; in fact, it is seen as an indicator of social status. As a result, the demand for premium brands has soared, especially amongst young brand conscious consumers in first tier cities, said Kat Lim, Client Strategist of food and beverage brand consultancy, The Silk Initiative. To capitalize this trend, Jacobs Creek Australias largest wine brand tailored its brand image specifically for the Chinese market. It altered its packaging, which now includes labels with gold embossing, and charged a more premium price point. It has now established itself as a high quality, luxurious wine brand in the Chinese market. Select a suitable distribution channel On-trade channels such as hotels, restaurants, clubs, and bars, and off-trade channels including supermarkets, convenience stores, and grocery shops form key distribution channels for imported alcohol in China. In terms of consumer reach, sales through different distribution channels vary across different regional markets. For instance, the share of on-premises sales is higher in eastern and southern coastal cities than inland regions. Foreign investors can gain information on suitable distribution channels by connecting with local agents and channelling their links in China. e-Commerce is also rapidly emerging as an alternative channel for liquor brands to penetrate deeper into the Chinese market. It represents a cost effective, convenient, and trustworthy platform through which brands can directly connect with millions of users. Reports indicate that online sales of alcohol beverages in China will double by 2020 as more consumers look for product information online before buying. For example, when purchasing wine, consumers like to have information on the grape varieties, the maturity, the makers and their history, and the production process in order to make an informed decision. Import For the import of alcohol into China, exporters must work in collaboration with a local import entity that is in possession of a valid import business license, and personal and company customs and CIQ certificates. Once conditions are agreed upon, a contract can be signed with the Chinese import agent and registered with the General Administration of Quality Supervision (AQSIQ). Then, the beverage for import must be labelled according to Chinas food labelling standards, in this case those for pre-packaged foodstuffs and pre-packaged alcoholic beverages. Both the original and translated labels in Chinese are required, and a digital version of the Chinese label registered with the China Inspection and Quarantine (CIQ) on the first instance of import. After approval, the labels can be printed. At customs, a country of origin certificate, health certificate, product ingredients list, product sales approval registration document, packing list, invoice, contract, and bills of lading will be required. Accuracy of information provided is important as any delay at customs may affect perishable goods. Once customs receives the documents, customs will release the goods to the agent. Imported goods must comply with relevant standards, and once passed, the CIQ will pass a commodity inspection document to customs, which passed to the agent. Once received, the labels can be applied to the products by the importer. Customs will then levy customs duties and other taxes, and will release a customs clearance document. At this point, the importer can collect the goods and proceed to deliver to the distributor. Manufacture Localization of alcohol manufacturing is an effective way to reduce costs and improve competition. This is achieved by circumnavigating import and shipping costs and warehouse rental, and making use of lower labor costs. It can also help to adjust products to the local market and lead to faster response times. As exemplified by Carlsberg, the local production method is especially popular for the beer industry. Chinas beer manufacturing market is regionally fragmented, with local producers dominating smaller markets. In recent years, it has been common for larger beer manufacturers to acquire smaller local manufacturers in order to improve their brand quality. For these reasons, and because of strong support for domestic manufacturers, foreign manufacturers may find it hard to invest in the beer manufacturing segment. Therefore, joint ventures (JVs) and acquisitions are the best way to enter the Chinese market. Pre-Investment and Market Entry Strategy Advisory from Dezan Shira & Associates Case study This case study shows the above procedural aspects for both import and manufacture of alcoholic beverages in China in practice. A foreign company importing wine and producing cider in China formed a JV with a domestic company. It imported its wines in larger cities such as Shanghai and Guangzhou where they are more popular, while conducting its cider production in lower tier cities. From this case, there were many considerations for the companys operations. As the company entered into a JV with a local firm, it needed a dedicated JV agreement governing operation, financial, and legal aspects. It was also essential to make clear the responsibilities of both parties, and the distribution of profits. Because the partners shared every aspect of their business, IP protection, including technology of product, recipe, brand, and other trade secrets, were of high importance. In cases similar to this, some overseas companies choose to keep the core of their key IP overseas, so that the local partner has no access to it. As the company engaged in trading has a greater exposure to stock and inventory, it was imperative to put in place a competent internal controls (IC) system. The company also implemented an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system including financial and operational aspects, and for supply chain management purposes, in addition to a quarterly financial and IC review. For trading for wholesale, both a food circulation license and a liquor license are required. In order to obtain these, a proper warehouse facility with standards kept to properly store the products must be used, and will be subject to inspection. Such considerations explored here are essential for the smooth operation of import and production of alcoholic beverages in China, and should be executed by a professional service provider that understands the Chinese market and manufacturing environment. About Us China Briefing is published by Asia Briefing, a subsidiary of Dezan Shira & Associates. We produce material for foreign investors throughout Asia, including ASEAN, India, Indonesia, Russia, the Silk Road, and Vietnam. For editorial matters please contact us here, and for a complimentary subscription to our products, please click here. This article was co-authored by Dezan Shira & Associates and the Silk Initiative: Dezan Shira is a full service practice in China, providing business intelligence, due diligence, legal, tax, IT, HR, payroll, and advisory services throughout the China and Asian region. For assistance with China business issues or investments into China, please contact them at china@dezshira.com or visit www.dezshira.com. The Silk Initiative is a business strategy and marketing mix innovation consultancy specializing in the food and beverage space. They provide a range of brand strategy, consumer insight, business intelligence and creative execution strategies to clients ranging from global food and beverage giants to SMEs. Need help making sense of the complexities of the China and Asia market? Contact them at info@thesilkinitiative.com or visit www.thesilkinitiative.com. Dezan Shira & Associates Brochure Dezan Shira & Associates is a pan-Asia, multi-disciplinary professional services firm, providing legal, tax and operational advisory to international corporate investors. Operational throughout China, ASEAN and India, our mission is to guide foreign companies through Asias complex regulatory environment and assist them with all aspects of establishing, maintaining and growing their business operations in the region. This brochure provides an overview of the services and expertise Dezan Shira & Associates can provide. An Introduction to Doing Business in China 2017 This Dezan Shira & Associates 2017 China guide provides a comprehensive background and details of all aspects of setting up and operating an American business in China, including due diligence and compliance issues, IP protection, corporate establishment options, calculating tax liabilities, as well as discussing on-going operational issues such as managing bookkeeping, accounts, banking, HR, Payroll, annual license renewals, audit, FCPA compliance and consolidation with US standards and Head Office reporting. Payroll Processing in China: Challenges and Solutions In this issue of China Briefing magazine, we lay out the challenges presented by Chinas payroll landscape, including its peculiar Dang An and Hu Kou systems. We then explore how companies of all sizes are leveraging IT-enabled solutions to meet their HR and payroll needs, and why outsourcing payroll is the answer for certain company structures. Finally, we consider the potential for China to emerge as Asias premier payroll processing center. Dezan Shira & Associates Peru Tuesday issued two new series of stamps and postmarks to celebrate its longstanding ties with China. Photo taken on July 18, 2017 shows the postmarks created for the commemoration of 45 years of diplomatic ties between Peru and China, in Lima. Peru on Tuesday issued two new series of stamps and postmarks to celebrate its longstanding ties with China. (Xinhua/Luis Camacho) The first series features images of Beijing's Temple of Heaven and Peru's Inca city of Machu Picchu, along with the words "Youyi" and "Khumpa," which mean friendship in Chinese and Quechua respectively. "It is the fruit of Peruvian-Chinese friendship, highlighting 45 years of diplomatic ties," Eduardo Yong, president of the Peruvian-Chinese Cultural Institute, said during the presentation of the series at the Peruvian postal service. The other series features Peru's unique Chinese-influenced cuisine, reflecting "the fusion, the sisterhood of Peruvian and Chinese cultures in gastronomy and cooking," said Yong. The two countries established diplomatic relations in 1971, but their relationship dates back to the 17th century, when Chinese traders and workers arrived in Peru aboard ships that sailed between East Asia and what was then known as New Spain. Today, Peruvians of Chinese descent constitute an estimated 4 to 5 percent of the whole population. A man learns how to use Apple Pay at a bank in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province. [Photo/China Daily] Apple Inc is launching a large promotion campaign in China to promote Apple Pay, in a move to expand its presence in the local mobile payment market dominated by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Tencent Holdings Ltd. From July 18 to 24, Chinese consumers who use Apple Pay to buy items in certain retailers and supermarkets can benefit from a range of offers of up to 50 percent off. They can also enjoy as much as 50 times the usual amounts of reward points for credit cards, Apple said on its official Chinese website. Partners for the promotion campaign include a total of 28 offline retail stores, supermarkets and restaurants, such as Starbucks and Costa Coffee, as well as 16 internet merchants including bike-sharing app Mobike, online travel app Ctrip and e-commerce site JD. The event, one of the largest of its kind since Apple Pay was launched in China in February 2016, came as the U.S. tech giant ramps up its resources to appeal to local consumers amid mounting competitions from Alibaba's Alipay and Tencent's WeChat Pay services. Jennifer Bailey, vice-president of Apple Pay, told financial media outlet Caixin that the company aims to encourage every one of its iPhone users to opt for Apple Pay. According to Bailey, 97 percent of Apple Pay users are very satisfied with the service and the promotion is designed to attract more first-time users. In the first quarter of 2017, Alipay and WeChat Pay, respectively, accounted for 53.7 percent and 39.5 percent of China's third-party mobile payment market, data from the Beijing-based research agency Analysys show. Li Chao, an analyst at iResearch Consulting Group, said Chinese consumers have been accustomed to using Alipay and WeChat Pay, whose services can be installed in all kinds of mobile devices and be initiated by scanning quick responsive codes. "Apple Pay, however, is only available on iPhones. It takes huge resources to change consumers' established habits. The promotion campaign may be effective in short term. But in the long term, Apple need to come up with more services to differentiate itself from its rivals," Li said. Liu Chang, a software engineer in Shenzhen, said: "The 50 percent discount offering is attractive, but since WeChat Pay and Alipay are already very convenient, why should I bother to use Apple Pay." The first China-U.S. Comprehensive Economic Dialogue is held in Washington on July 19, 2017. Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang on Wednesday called for cooperation between China and the U.S. instead of confrontation to address their differences. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) China and the United States discussed a one-year action plan of economic cooperation during the first China-U.S. Comprehensive Economic Dialogue (CED) on Wednesday. The dialogue "charted the course for China-U.S. economic cooperation," said a statement from the Chinese delegate who participated in the one-day talks on Wednesday. According to the statement, the two countries agreed to cooperate in areas such as macro economy, finance, trade, investment and global economic governance in the one-year action plan. They also agreed to work constructively together to address the trade imbalance between the two countries. Both sides will further expand cooperation in the service and manufacturing sectors, as well as increase trade in services and high-tech products. In terms of investment, the two countries will expand mutual investment and create a more open, equitable, transparent and convenient investment environment. Both sides will also strengthen macro-economic policy communication and coordination, and deepen practical cooperation in financial regulation and financial market development. With regard to international cooperation, China and the United States will enhance cooperation in the Group of 20 and on other global economic governance platforms, advance the reform of the international economic and financial systems, and promote the strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive development of the world economy. "China and the United States are each other's largest trading partner and major source of investment. Cooperation is the only right choice for the two sides," Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang said in his opening remarks at the CED on Wednesday. China-U.S. cooperation will benefit not only the companies and people of the two countries, but also the whole world, said Wang. The United States also acknowledged the importance of the bilateral economic relationship. "As the world's two largest economies and the major drivers of global growth, the United States and China have strong overlapping interests," said U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in his opening remarks at the CED. The two countries need to work together to maximize the benefits for both sides and develop a fair and balanced economic relationship between the two countries, said Mnuchin. Both China and the United States agreed that the dialogue has served the purpose of deepening mutual understanding, building mutual trust and expanding consensus, and laid a solid foundation for long-term and stable cooperation between the two countries, said the statement. Both China and the United States recognized that steel overcapacity is a global issue that requires a global solution, a senior Chinese official said on Wednesday. At a press briefing after the conclusion of the first China-U.S. Comprehensive Economic Dialogue (CED) in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, Chinese Vice Minister of Finance Zhu Guangyao said the two sides discussed the issue of steel overcapacity during the one-day high-level economic dialogue. China shared the same view with the United States that steel overcapacity is a global issue, which requires a global collective response, Zhu said, adding China also emphasized that the excess steel capacity was a result of sluggish global economic recovery. Meanwhile, the Chinese delegation told the U.S. side that China had actively taken measures to cut steel overcapacity, Zhu said, citing China's plans to reduce steel capacity by 100 million to 150 million tons from 2016 to 2020. As the world's two largest economies and co-chairs of the global forum on steel excess capacity, China and the United States have maintained policy dialogue and communication regarding the steel glut, Zhu said, noting G20 leaders agreed to establish the forum at last year's Hangzhou summit. At the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany earlier this month, G20 leaders called on the forum to fulfill their commitments on enhancing information sharing and cooperation by August, and to rapidly develop concrete policy solutions that reduce steel excess capacity, the official said. The G20's new commitment to address global steel overcapacity comes as the Trump administration is about to release a report on the national security implications of steel imports in the coming weeks. In defense of the U.S. steel industry, the Trump administration in April invoked a decades-old, rarely used trade tool, known as a Section 232 investigation under the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, to look into all foreign steel imports. If the investigation concludes that steel imports would undermine U.S. national security, the trade law would allow the U.S. government to impose tariffs, quotas, or other measures to restrict the imports. Many trade experts and economists have warned that it would hurt millions of U.S. consumers and thousands of U.S. manufacturers if the Trump administration imposes new restrictions on steel imports. Worries about China's local government debt risks are excessive as the country has a resolution as well as the capability to keep the debt level under control, experts said. China still enjoys dynamic economic growth and has recently strengthened management of local government debt, which is mainly invested in productive assets, said Wang Dehua, researcher at the National Academy of Economic Strategy under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. When compared with major economies such as Germany and Japan, China's local debt balance to GDP ratio was lower in 2015, even when taking into account the contingent debts which are likely to be converted into government liabilities, Wang said, citing data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). "The data has fully demonstrated that the allegation of high risk in China's government debt is wholly groundless," Wang said. China's local government debt soared during an investment and construction binge following the global financial crisis in 2008. Well aware of the risks, authorities have rolled out a string of measures to reduce the local debt burden. According to data from the Ministry of Finance (MOF), by the end of 2016, the local government debt balance totaled 15.32 trillion yuan (about 2.3 trillion U.S. dollars) while the central government debt balance reached 12.01 trillion yuan. The total government debt accounted for about 36.7 percent of the country's GDP, well below the warning level by international standards. While the 15.32-trillion-yuan balance was lower than a 17.2-trillion-yuan cap set by central budget for 2016, it was still a 41-percent rise from the local government debt balance in 2013, as disclosed in an overall audit by the National Audit Office (NAO). The jump in debt balance was relatively substantial, but that does not necessarily signal faster expansion in debt levels, Wang said. Rather, it is partly a result of the debt-for-bond swap program, which has encouraged local governments to fully expose their debt risks, he said. The program allows local governments to exchange higher-cost loans with lower-cost bonds, saving them interest costs while also giving lenders higher liquidity on their receivables. According to data from the MOF, by the end of 2016, China had swapped 8.1 trillion yuan of debt under the program. In 2016 alone, the program saved local governments 400 billion yuan in interest by initial estimates. While exposure of hidden debt could reduce risks, the fact that local governments do not have monetary sovereignty makes it harder for them to contain risks compared to the central government, making rigid budget constraints a necessity, said Zhao Quanhou, director of the financial research center at the Chinese Academy of Fiscal Sciences under the MOF. China has put a ceiling on the amount of local government debt and tied the quota that each local government can receive with their financial strength, current debt risks, and management efficiencies. Authorities are also ramping up efforts to correct irregularities in local debt issues such as financing through fake public-private partnerships and illegal borrowing through local government financing vehicles. New items may be gradually added into the "negative list" of local government financing, said Qiao Baoyun, director of the Chinese government debt research center under the Central University of Finance and Economics. According to Qiao, authorities have focused on the development of revenue bond products, such as bonds on land reserves and toll roads, a practice that will increase transparency of local government bonds and protect the legitimate interests of investors. "The 'front door' is open for local government debt, while borrowing in violation of laws and rules through the 'back door' is being prohibited and punished," Qiao said. Latest checks by the NAO have found that debt balances that local governments have committed to repay with public funds in selected provinces, cities and counties have climbed 87 percent compared to the level in mid-2013, but the overall risk is controllable. "There is an old Chinese saying 'caution is the parent of safety.' Although initial local debt monitoring and prevention mechanisms have been established and the relatively rapid local debt growth in some regions is fully controllable, it is necessary to continue to pay attention to these problems," said Jiang Jianghua, head of the audit research institute under the NAO. According to Zhao, to reduce the local debt burden, authorities should also break the confines of the current "jurisdiction-based responsibility" system, in which all the duty related to investment within the jurisdiction is the responsibility of its government. "This will cause local governments to take on too much responsibility compared to their financial resources," said Zhao. While how the duties should be divided can be analyzed on a case-by-case basis, investment and construction responsibilities of some projects designed to provide nationwide or international public services should be moved up, lowering the burden of local governments, Zhao said. "The challenges to local government debt management in China are like growing pains. China has clear reform goals. It is believed that China can continue to identify, understand and solve problems in practice," said Qiao. Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), presents the heads of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Academy of Military Science with the military flag in Beijing, capital of China, July 19, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua] Chinese President Xi Jinping has called on the country's major military research and educational institutions to cultivate more talent for the armed forces, and to build world-class military research and educational institutions. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), made the remarks while addressing heads of major military research and educational institutions Wednesday. After presenting the heads of the three institutions with the military flag at a ceremony that marked the reshuffling of the institutions, Xi called the reshuffling a vital decision made by the CPC Central Committee and the CMC to realize the Chinese Dream and build a stronger army. In order to build a world-leading first-class military research institution, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Academy of Military Science, as the leading force of scientific research in the military, should meet the new demands of military research and further combine military theories and technologies, he continued. Xi further stressed that the National Defense University of the PLA is a significant base to cultivate talent for joint operations as well as PLA officers, and should push forward innovation in its education, research and management to become a top comprehensive college on unified command. As for the National University of Defense Technology, it must follow the worldwide trends of the development of military science, and work harder to make key technological breakthroughs, in order to build a world-class institution of higher education, according to Xi. Also on Wednesday, Xi attended a symposium with the current chief officers of military education, research and training institutions. "It takes first-class military talent, theory, and science and technology to build the PLA into a world-leading military," Xi said. "Science and technology is the core fighting capacity in modern warfare," he noted. China must make greater efforts to build stronger armed forces and boost fighting capability through science and technology innovations to gain a competitive initiative, Xi said, stressing military education, research and training institutions must assume this responsibility. Xi ordered the chief officers to stick to the correct political direction by safeguarding the authority and the centralized and unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee, conforming to the CPC Central Committee, and upholding CPC's absolute leadership over the military. In addition, he stressed efforts to ensure implementation of reform tasks, and improve capability and innovation in fostering military expertise and scientific research. The president also urged the institutions to cultivate good work and fighting styles, be strict with their education and training, and promote the spirit of science and dedication. The Chinese military authority has just reshuffled its military education institutions as part of an ongoing military reform in recent years to build a stronger military and boost real-combat capability. As a result, there are now 43 military education institutions, including two -- the National Defense University of PLA and the National University of Defense Technology -- directly under the CMC, 35 specialized in specific armed services, and six of armed police forces. Technology has changed the way people live their lives, and now it has started to change the way government works in China. [File Photo] Technology has changed the way people live their lives, and now it has started to change the way government works in China. To illustrate this, a vice environment minister used Wechat to communicate with lower-level officials in a group talk seeking solutions to environmental problems. According to The Beijing News, the mayors of 12 cities in Sichuan Province were invited to join a Wechat group chat chaired by China's Vice Environment Minister Zhai Qing and Sichuan Vice Governor Yang Hongbo. The 12 mayors have to report their progress in dealing with certain local environmental issues every week. On July 7, the Ministry of Environmental Protection held a teleconference. It was revealed there are still 107 environmental violation issues concerning the Yangtze River Economic Zone's drinking water reserve area that are yet to be resolved. Among them, Sichuan Province has 30 cases, topping the list. So, Zhai went to Sichuan to resolve the problems and formed a Wechat group to "communicate, investigate and supervise," hoping that, together, they could work out problems one by one. The city governments involved obviously speeded up their efforts to deal with environmental problems after the meeting and Wechat group chat. GRAND FORKS Some of the best distance learning opportunities in higher education might be within arms reach at nearby institutions, according to a recent national ranking. The University of Minnesota-Crookston came in first in a Top 100 Best Online Colleges list compiled by virtual higher ed guide Online College Plan. The University of North Dakota also made a strong showing with the sixth place rank in the national list. An introduction to the list described the ranking methodology as based on comparisons of student rankings as well as technology used for course delivery, flexibility of classes, average cost of attendance and academic offerings. According to the description of UMC included in the list, the university offers more than a dozen online bachelors degree programs, in addition to a handful of certificates and minors. The ranking lists UMC as having, in total, about 30 undergraduate degrees. UND is described in the ranking as having 10 online bachelor degrees and 20 online masters degrees. The ranking states UND also has two doctoral programs in nursing that are available online. UND has seen an increasing number of students enrolled solely as distance learners through the past few years. Lynette Krenelka, UND director of extended learning, said in an email that the fall 2016 semester had almost 3,350 students -- of a total enrollment of more than 14,950 -- enrolled as distance and online only. Nearly 1,970 students were enrolled that semester in a combination schedule of both online and traditional classroom courses. Yao Gang, vice chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, has been expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) and dismissed from public office for various wrongdoings, including graft, it was announced Thursday. Yao, 55, abused his power to seek benefits for others and accepted "a huge amount" of bribes, according to a statement from the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI). Investigators allege that Yao took advantage of his post to help others or companies in order to raise his standing in the eyes of influential political figures; obstructed investigations; and failed to report his personal information in accordance with rules, according to the CCDI. Yao, a senior Party official, has "sabotaged the order of the capital market and the political ecology of securities supervision," it said. Yao's illegal gains will be confiscated and his case will be handed over to prosecutors. The CCDI announced an investigation into Yao in November 2015. Taj Mahal in India [Xinhua] Recently, India has made a string of strategic moves to build up a Great Power status. In quick succession, it held the India-ASEAN Delhi Dialogue on July 4, rolled out the red carpet for Myanmar military chief Min Aung Hlaing on July 7, and kicked off Exercise Malabar with the U.S. and Japan on July 10. India leads South Asia in population, land area and scientific and technological development. It has a long-harbored desire to control the region and throw its weight around in the neighborhood. This is manifested by its eastward engagement, which has taken generations of leaders efforts to implement. Its moves in the Great Power game during recent years have shaped itself into an overweening country which borrows power from the U.S. to achieve its own benefits. Pursuing "Neighborhood First" policy and the Indian version of the "Monroe Doctrine" The Narendra Modi administration established the "Neighborhood First" policy to strengthen "ties" with South Asian neighbors. Out of fear of the influence from major countries outside the region, India tries to prevent its neighbors from forging partnerships with those countries. It uses economic control, political crackdowns and military deterrence to intimidate its neighbors, ignoring their independence and legitimate pursuit of foreign development. After years of preparation, India launched its regional connectivity scheme as a counter to Chinas Belt and Road Initiative, with a plan to invest US$1.04 billion into the Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (or BBIN) road connectivity projects. The scheme requires that the countries involved must gain approval from India before pursuing connectivity with China. According to a Bengal press outlet, India has decided to investigate Chinas direct investment into Bangladesh and other South Asian countries. Such a neighborhood policy featuring control and manipulation will cause estrangement between India and its neighbors rather than creating a sound external environment. Upgrading "Look East" to"Act East" To become a Great Power in South Asia, the Asia-Pacific region and the whole world, India pursues a foreign policy encompassing influence, control and elements of showing-off. In particular, it keeps increasing its influence in Southeast Asia, a region with great geopolitical significance. On July 4, it held the India-ASEAN Delhi Dialogue, which aims to elevate the multilateral relationship to a "new high." The Indian press claimed that amid an "increasing threat" from China, ASEAN countries expect India to have a leading role in enhancing regional security and connectivity. It is understandable that India will strengthen its cooperation with ASEAN, as it is a key pivot connecting the Asia-Pacific and South Asia. It will also improve its neighboring security environment. However, it has deviated from this legitimate intention by supposing China to be an enemy and taking its Asia-Pacific strategy as a means to implement Americas "Rebalancing to Asia and the Pacific." It is very likely that India will impose control over ASEAN once it becomes strong enough, as it has done with South Asia. Borrowing US power to achieve its own benefits India used to take the Indian Ocean as its sphere of influence and resisted the presence of any major country in the region. But now it fails to maintain its domination of the region with more and more countries getting involved amid fast growing globalization and international trade. As a result, it turns to the strategies of "befriending distant countries and attacking neighboring ones" and "uniting with the U.S. to defend against China." Exercise Malabar, once a bilateral exercise between India and the U.S. against terrorism and pirates, has become a trilateral combat exercise involving India, U.S. and Japan which openly targets China. It is justifiable for India, a major country with a 1.3 billion population, to pursue an influential role in the world. However, a Great Power game which features hostility towards neighbors and a reliance on the U.S. at the expense of strategic independence will take the South Asian country nowhere. The author is a researcher at China Institute of Contemporary International Relations. The article was translated by Zhang Liying. Its original version was published in Chinese . Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors only, not necessarily those of China.org.cn. Flash The U.S. State Department said on Wednesday that terrorist attacks and fatalities from terrorism dropped globally in 2016 for the second straight year. According to a State Department report on global terrorism, the total number of terrorist attacks worldwide in 2016 was 11,072, and 25,621 deaths were caused as a result, decreasing by nine percent and 13 percent respectively compared to 2015. "This was largely due to fewer attacks and deaths from terrorist attacks in Afghanistan, Syrian, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Yemen," said Acting Coordinator for Counterterrorism Justin Siberell at a briefing with reporters. Although terrorist attacks took place in 104 countries in 2016, the report said that the attacks were heavily concentrated geographically. Specifically, 55 percent of all attacks took place in Iraq, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan and the Philippines, and 75 percent of all deaths due to terrorist attacks took place in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Nigeria and Pakistan. The report also said that the extremist group Islamic State (IS) remained the top terrorist threat in 2016 and the al-Qaeda also remained a resilient and adaptive threat. You are here: Home Flash The mechanism of the South Syria truce, brokered by the US, Russia and Jordan, is expected to be announced soon, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Wednesday. The arrival of the Russian forces at Al Sanamayn city in southern Syria means that the agreement has been already accomplished, the observatory told Al Arabiya TV channel. Under the ceasefire agreement, Hezbollah and Iranian militias will withdraw from Daraa city in southwestern Syria. You are here: Home Flash Russia will supply a large batch of tanks to Iraq this year, reported TASS on Thursday, citing Vladimir Kozhin, the Russian president's aide for military technical cooperation. "It's a big contract for a big batch. I cannot name the exact sum, the number of tanks is big," confirmed Kozhin. This batch reportedly will be followed by others. The total sum of the contract may exceed one billion U.S. dollars, a big deal for Russia's Uralvagonzavod corporation, the supplier of the tanks. According to the earlier report, Uralvagonzavod planed to supply 73 T-90S/SK tanks to Iraq in 2017. The T-90S is the latest version in Russia's T-series tanks. Equipped with powerful weapons, it is an all-weather tank with a modern fire control system, reliable armor and high maneuverability. Flash As the latest revelation on the alleged collusion of U.S. President Donald Trump with Russia adds to the media fire bedeviling his administration, the ongoing Russia scandal appears to be far from being over. The White House confirmed on Tuesday that Trump had a second, previously undisclosed conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the Group of 20 (G20) major economies summit held on July 7-8 in Hamburg, Germany. "There was a couples-only social dinner at the G20," U.S. National Security Council spokesman Michael Anton told ABC news. "Toward the end, the president spoke to Putin at the dinner." Multiple U.S. media, including the New York Times and CNN, cited a senior White House official as saying that the conversation lasted nearly an hour. Trump said Wednesday it was of a length of 15 minutes. At a press conference during the G20 Hamburg summit, Putin denied Moscow's interference with the U.S. presidential election last year. "There is no reason to believe that Russia interfered in the U.S. election process," he said. Recent fuels to media fire on the Russia scandal were also intensified last week when emails surfaced between Trump's son and a Russian lawyer who allegedly had access to compromising information on then Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Critics said this is an evidence of collusion of the Trump campaign with Russia, although the lawyer denied having worked for the Russian government. Democrats kept on accusing Russia of meddling in the U.S. election. "There's no escaping it: the Trump Campaign's inner circle met with an agent of hostile foreign power to influnce the outcome of an American election," said the House minority leader Nany Pelosi in a written statement after the email release. "The American people face a White House riddled with shadowy Russian connections and desperate to hide the truth." Trump's opponents say it is illegal for campaign officials to receive anything of value from a foreign government or from someone representing a foreign government. Supporters have highlighted the transparency of Trump's son as running against any intention to hide evidence. The ongoing Russia scandal has brought down support for Trump, even from his own party. This week has seen the implosion of the president's plan to repeal and replace the current U.S. healthcare system -- known as Obamacare, former President Barack Obama's signature legislation -- when Senators from his own party refused to support the bill. The failure marks a big blow for Trump six months after he took office. Trump has yet to pass any meaningful legislation on a host of issues to deliver his promises made during the election campaign. Experts have earlier noted that the Russia scandal will lead to his own party to distance itself from White House and derail Trump's legislative agenda. Darrel West, with the well-known Washington-based U.S. think tank Brookings Institution, said Republicans will distance themselves from Trump "in order to avoid fallout in the 2018 elections" for Congress. The expert also said Republican lawmakers are getting tired of what he called the "ineptitude of the Trump operation. Every day spent talking about Russia is a day not devoted to healthcare reform, tax reform, and infrastructure repair." Dan Mahaffee, senior vice president and director of policy at the Center for the Study of Congress and the Presidency, said "this scandal is a major distraction" for Trump administration. Flash A family of five said they were forced to leave a JetBlue Airlines plane without any explanation last month, after their toddler kicked a passenger's seat in front of them, reports said Wednesday. On June 21, Tamir Raanan and Mandy Ifrah were seated on a JetBlue flight from Fort Lauderdale, a city on Florida's southeastern coast, back to their home New York City, with their one-year-old daughter and two other children, five and eight. Prior to departure, the toddler, who was sitting on Ifrah's lap, began to kick the seat in front of them, David Templer, an attorney of the family as quoted by a Washington Post report as saying. Templer said Ifrah apologized to the passenger and then tried to focus on her toddler. He said the other passenger used a derogatory slur and said: "Why don't you tie you baby's feet down?" Templer said although his client found it offensive, she did nothing other than trying to calm her child down. Everything calmed down until it was announced the plane would return to the gate and a JetBlue supervisor told them to gather their things, Templer said. In the first of the two videos posted on YouTube, the couple still seated on the plane repeatedly questioned a JetBlue official about the reason for their removal. He did not give them an answer instead continued to insist the family follow him off the aircraft. Once they exited the aircraft, the second video showed the family again asking the JetBlue official for more details and why they would not be allowed to board again. "We were left stranded," an NBC report quoted Ifrah as saying. "We were thousands of miles away from home. I asked them if they could at least get our luggage off the flight." In a statement released by JetBlue on Wednesday, the airlines said removing the family was because of "a verbal altercation that included physical threats and profanities against a nearby customer." Templer argues that if Ifrah issued "physical threats" then JetBlue would have notified authorities immediately. "It is imbecilic to believe that the incident occurred the way JetBlue wants to suggest." The incident added JetBlue to the list of recent encounters on airlines that has gone viral, including forcing a family of four off a Delta Airlines plane while they refused to give up their 2-year-old son's seat in May, and the forceful removal of a 69-year-old passenger from a United Airlines flight plane to make room for crew members in April. Flash A series of recent extreme weather conditions worldwide, including the long-lasting heat waves across the northern hemisphere, have served as a dreadful warning on climate change and intensified the urgency to tackle the global problem. Since the start of this summer, a number of countries and regions have suffered from scorching temperature, drought, heavy rainfall, flood and snowstorm, which have led to various disasters and incidents that severely impacted the lives of people. Meteorologists are deeply worried, so do the general public. Experts said global warming is the major cause of extreme weather conditions, and warned about further consequences if the current situation doesn't change. Climate change is more real than ever. It's time to walk the talk. GLOBAL WARMING IS MAJOR CULPRIT Deadly flash flood following continuous heat waves in the U.S. State of Arizona, frequent wildfire breakouts in British Columbia of Canada, persistent drought in Italy and Spain, unusual heavy snowfall in the capital of Chile, are among the worrisome weather conditions that have swept across the globe recently. According to the latest study of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), global warming, not El Nino, remains the main reason for the recent extreme weather conditions worldwide. Using the climate assessment models of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the WMO predicted that if greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase, the Earth's average global surface temperature could rise more than 4 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, meaning more intense heat waves and more extremely hot days and nights ahead. The study, which was released this week, warned that many of the assessed cities could see their maximum daily temperatures in summer rise by as much as 6 to 9 degrees Celsius by the year 2100. Paris, for example, will see its average summer daily highs to rise to 29.2 degrees Celsius from 22.7 degrees. Despite speculations that the recent extreme weather conditions had links to El Nino effects, the WMO clarified in early July that it was not. Statistics from the UN agency show that atmospheric patterns in the east-central equatorial Pacific have continued to reflect neutral El Nino-Southern Oscillation conditions. "Even without a strong El Nino in 2017, we are seeing other remarkable changes across the planet that are challenging the limits of our understanding of the climate system. We are now in truly uncharted territory," said World Climate Research Program Director David Carlson. Extreme weather is not the only signal on climate change. One of the biggest recorded iceberg broke off Antarctica's Larsen C ice shelf in recent days, as another reminder of the continent's rapid change. Human-induced climate change has the power to cause a significant rise in sea levels over the next 100 years, said Dr. Valerie Masson-Delmotte, a climate scientist from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. PARIS ACCORD NEEDS INSTANT ACTION Few would deny the imminent danger of climate change nowadays. Unfortunately, concerted efforts from all parties in the international community are still lacking, despite such a precarious situation. The landmark Paris Climate Agreement, signed in late 2015 by 195 economies, used to greatly boost global confidence in cracking the hard nut. The accord aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions in a way to keep the rise in the average temperature by no higher than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The implementation of the high-profile accord has, however, been severely hindered by the inconstancy of some parties, especially reflected in the case of U.S withdrawal from the accord in early June. Even facing mounting criticism, U.S. President Donald Trump hasn't turned around just yet. At the G20 Hamburg Summit earlier this month, major world leaders didn't manage to reach consensus on climate change, with Trump's stance at odds with the other 19. But, there seems to be a silver lining. Last week, Trump hinted a possible change in his position over the Paris climate accord from which he withdrew weeks ago. "Something could happen with respect to the Paris accord, let's see what happens," said Trump. Such uncertainty is not enough. As the world struggles to deal with such a challenging issue, its largest economy, also the second-largest emitter, should play a key role in the center, instead of walking away on its lonely road. Some have turned to the UN global climate conference to be held in Bonn later this year for potential progress on the implementation of the Paris accord, and whether the United States returns to the accord remains to be seen. Anyhow, the world can't wait long. Flash Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort are scheduled to appear before U.S. Senate committees next week. Their hearings are part of the ongoing probes into a possible collusion between the Russian government and the Trump campaign in the 2016 presidential election. Kushner, son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump and a senior White House adviser, intends to testify in a closed-door hearing of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Monday, July 24, his attorney confirmed in a statement on Wednesday. "He has been and is prepared to voluntarily cooperate and provide whatever information he has on the investigations to Congress," said Abbe Lowell representing Kushner. "He appreciates the opportunity to assist in putting this matter to rest," Lowell said. The Senate Judiciary Committee said on Wednesday that it had called Trump's eldest son, Trump Jr., and his then-campaign manager Manafort to testify before a panel on July 26. The requests for their appearance before Senate lawmakers were reportedly received on late Wednesday. Neither Trump Jr. nor Manafort has announced an intention to testify so far. The three men have been repeatedly linked together for attending a meeting with a Russian lawyer in the hope of getting hands on previously-promised "damaging information" about Trump's then-opponent, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. The eight-person meeting, which took place on June 9, 2016 at Trump Tower in New York, also involved a Russian-born American lobbyist, a senior executive of a Russian real estate developer, an interpreter, and a British music publicist who proposed and later arranged the meeting via emails with Trump Jr. The U.S. intelligence community alleged that Russia meddled in the U.S. presidential race last year and there were connections between the Russian government and the Trump campaign. A federal special counsel and several congressional panels are investigating these allegations. MINOT -- Ward County farmers unhappy with a weather modification program have persuaded the Ward County Commission to seek a halt to cloud seeding for the rest of the year. The commission voted 4-0 on Tuesday to ask the Atmospheric Resource Board to suspend operations in the county this season. The board flies the skies of its member counties to deliver chemicals meant to inhibit hail and promote rain. Darin Langerud, director of the board, said the county's request has been turned over to the board's attorney for review. Ward County State's Attorney Rozanna Larson did not have advice for the county commission, saying she would have to investigate the legality of the county's action. "We are not asking for a radical thing here. We are asking to join the other 47 counties in the state who do not try to modify their weather," said Roger Neshem of Berthold, spokesman for a room full of cloud-seeding opponents. "If we were to cease operations today, from a monetary standpoint, it does not hurt their operation because they have already collected the funds for this year." Neshem, who serves by appointment on the county's weather modification authority, said his questions of the authority at a meeting Monday were not well received. "I was asking, 'What are we getting for spending this money?' The only fact in this whole situation is hail insurance rates in Ward County are higher than area counties," he said. "I think there are some people here today who think they may be doing some accomplishing of the negative sort for the weather patterns here." One weather modification opponent at the meeting did suggest cloud seeding has aggravated dry conditions. "We want this thing to be ceased immediately so we have a shot at getting some rainfall," he said. The Atmospheric Resource Board's literature states cloud seeding suppresses hail but does not eliminate it. It cites research showing a reduction in crop-hail damage by 45 percent. It also lists several independent studies finding rainfall increased in the target counties from 4 to 14 percent, an increase of up to an inch of additional growing season moisture. Langerud said cloud conditions have offered fewer opportunities for seeding this summer. He said hail suppression efforts also serve to increase rainfall, and both the reduction of hail and increase in rainfall are goals of the program. Counties participating in the modification program are Bowman, Burke, McKenzie, Mountrail, Ward, Williams and part of Slope. County Commissioner Alan Walter questioned Ward County's ability to leave the program because its weather modification authority was established by a vote of the people. County Commissioner John Fjeldahl said the challenge is not to the authorization of the program in the county but to the funding. "Unless I am wrong, we are not committed to continually fund that. That does not take away their authority to operate, but I doubt they are going to fly without the funding. We are in charge of the funding, as well as the State Water Commission's matching fund," he said. Last fall, Ward County initially eliminated funding for the weather modification program in this year's budget. The decision would have cut $190,000, or .55 mills from the budget, but the commission later reversed itself and restored the money. A man learns how to use Apple Pay at a bank in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province. [Photo by Long Wei/For China Daily] Apple Inc is launching a large promotion campaign in China to promote Apple Pay, in a move to expand its presence in the local mobile payment market dominated by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Tencent Holdings Ltd. From July 18 to 24, Chinese consumers who use Apple Pay to buy items in certain retailers and supermarkets can benefit from a range of offers of up to 50 percent off. They can also enjoy as much as 50 times the usual amounts of reward points for credit cards, Apple said on its official Chinese website. Partners for the promotion campaign include a total of 28 offline retail stores, supermarkets and restaurants, such as Starbucks and Costa Coffee, as well as 16 internet merchants including bike-sharing app Mobike, online travel app Ctrip and e-commerce site JD. The event, one of the largest of its kind since Apple Pay was launched in China in February 2016, came as the US tech giant ramps up its resources to appeal to local consumers amid mounting competitions from Alibaba's Alipay and Tencent's WeChat Pay services. Jennifer Bailey, vice-president of Apple Pay, told financial media outlet Caixin that the company aims to encourage every one of its iPhone users to opt for Apple Pay. According to Bailey, 97 percent of Apple Pay users are very satisfied with the service and the promotion is designed to attract more first-time users. In the first quarter of 2017, Alipay and WeChat Pay, respectively, accounted for 53.7 percent and 39.5 percent of China's third-party mobile payment market, data from the Beijing-based research agency Analysys show. Li Chao, an analyst at iResearch Consulting Group, said Chinese consumers have been accustomed to using Alipay and WeChat Pay, whose services can be installed in all kinds of mobile devices and be initiated by scanning quick responsive codes. "Apple Pay, however, is only available on iPhones. It takes huge resources to change consumers' established habits. The promotion campaign may be effective in short term. But in the long term, Apple need to come up with more services to differentiate itself from its rivals" Li said. Liu Chang, a software engineer in Shenzhen, said: "The 50 percent discount offering is attractive, but since WeChat Pay and Alipay are already very convenient, why should I bother to use Apple Pay." Employees of Shenzhen Customs display seized solid industrial waste which was smuggled into China. [Photo/Xinhua] China notified the World Trade Organization on Tuesday it will ban the import of 24 different types of solid waste shipments by the end of this year, as part of a campaign to tackle environmental pollution, Reuters reported. The import ban, which will go into effect at the end of 2017, includes plastics, slag from steelmaking, vanadium slag, unsorted scrap paper and discarded textile materials. According to China's WTO filing, the list has been adjusted to protect the country's environment and the public's health. "The move shows that the government is stepping up the fight against pollution and environmental degradation as decades of fast growth have caused the country to be saddled with polluted air, and contaminated soil and water," said Xue Rongjiu, deputy director of the Beijing-based China Society for World Trade Organization Studies. China has been importing large amounts of plastic waste as raw materials for industrial production. In 2016, China imported 7.3 million metric tons of plastic waste worth $3.7 billion, accounting for more than half of global imports, according to data from the Ministry of Environmental Protection. He Jingtong, a professor of trade at Nankai University in Tianjin, said China is sending a clear signal to the WTO that the country no longer wishes to import foreign garbage and it is determined to crack down on all types of criminal activities. Even though China's law on the control of solid waste bans imports that cannot be used as raw materials or recycled through harmless means high profits, however, have pushed many people and companies to carry out smuggling activities, and often partner with overseas organizations. The central government approved a reform plan in April to improve management of solid waste imports to protect environmental security and public health. The United States, Japan, Italy, France and Germany were the top exporters of waste, according to a report published in 2016 by the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation. The Ministry of Environmental Protection launched a special campaign to crack down on pollution in imported waste processing this month. The month-long campaign, which started on July 1, came as the country saw serious pollution caused by a number of small companies processing imported waste, the ministry said. A total of 420 inspectors had been selected from 27 provincial regions to form 60 teams to conduct full-scale examinations. They will focus on whether enterprises have passed environmental evaluations, violated rules in pollutant discharge, or illegally transferred waste imports, among other aspects. Ningbo, a coastal city in East China's Zhejiang province, returned a total of 80.23 million tons of foreign garbage between January and June, while Shandong province returned 45 million tons of waste, including 8 million of medical waste. China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corp, the country's biggest food trader by revenue, will accelerate its pace of building warehouses and logistics facilities in the world's major grain-producing regions this year, said a senior executive on Wednesday. The State-owned group plans to build new warehouses and processing facilities in countries including Myanmar, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Indonesia to enhance its ability to acquire global food resources. COFCO has already purchased and built ports, logistics companies and storehouses in the world's main grain-producing areas such as Australia, South America and the Black Sea region. Wan Zaotian, COFCO's vice-president, said China has become the world's largest market for food trade. Supported by the Belt and Road Initiative, food trade between China and its partners is expected to grow rapidly. It is critical for the group to build efficient global supply and logistics networks. "The food industry has gained a growing influence in the country's economy in the past six years. It plays an important role in boosting domestic consumption and accelerating supply-side structural reform," said Wan. COFCO's revenue amounted to 216.12 billion yuan ($32 billion) in the first half of 2017, up 7 percent year-on-year. Its net profit in the same period also reached 5.51 billion yuan, surging 112 percent from the same period a year earlier. "Countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative and China are strongly complementary in agriculture," said Ding Lixin, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Beijing. All of the companies that dominate global grain tradingADM Co, Bunge Ltd and Cargill Inc from the United States, and Netherlands-based Louis Dreyfus SASserve as intermediaries between farmers and buyers. They are proficient in operating bulk ship services or even own a fleet to control the whole industrial chain. In this regard, COFCO has signed a long-term cooperative agreement with China COSCO Shipping Corp Ltd to safeguard its grain shipping operations worldwide. COFCO began to import beef from the United States at the end of last month and has so far purchased 2,200 metric tons from Kazakhstan through a freight train service launched in March. A worker monitors container operation at Zhoushan port in Ningbo, Zhejiang province. [Photo/China Daily] Editor's note: China's gross domestic product expanded at a rate of 6.9 percent in the first half of this year. In a series of interviews, China Daily asked economists, analysts and business leaders about the prospects for economic growth in the country. Below is an interview with Xu Hongcai, an economist with the China Center for International Economic Exchanges. Q: What were the most encouraging signs in the Chinese economy in the first half of 2017? What impressed you most about the macroeconomic data currently available for the first half of this year? A: There are a couple of indicators reflecting economic recovery. For instance, China's industrial output, a significant economic indicator, witnessed gradual recovery since the beginning of this year. Consumption remained a key driver. Retail sales rose 11 percent in June from a year earlier, the fastest growth pace since December 2015. Q: Based on your research or business operations, what are your comments and projections regarding the Chinese economy's growth prospects in the second half of this year? A: We expect the economic growth rate will not be lower than 6.7 percent this year. The domestic economy has passed its toughest moment as a number of recovery signs have appeared. Investment in infrastructure construction will continue to spur the economy, and consumption will continue to support the stabilizing trend. Q: What will be the most supportive factors bolstering China's growth this year? What are the most severe challenges currently facing the Chinese economy? A: Balanced budget fiscal expansion is expected to support the stable trend. In the meantime, efforts to fend off risks involved in interbank activities and shadow banking mean the non-financial sector is expected to benefit from the process, as more liquidity is expected to flow to support economic activities. Q: What are your suggestions regarding how China can achieve stable, balanced, and sustainable economic growth in the years ahead? A: China needs to continue to implement supply-side reform. The liquidity needs to remain at a proper level and should not be too tight in order to sustain growth. China should prudently manage the country's debt deleveraging process. On July 13th, Civilta Cattolica, a Jesuit periodical from Rome, published an article that was largely critical of American culture. The very next day, Samuel Gregg, director of research at the Acton Institute, responded in the Catholic World Report with an article titled On that strange, disturbing, and anti-American Civilta Cattolica article. Gregg states: This brings me to a very odd article that recently appeared in La Civilta Cattolica: the Italian Jesuit periodical published twice a month and which enjoys a quasi-official status inasmuch as the Vaticans Secretariat of State exercises oversight over the articles it publishes. Entitled Evangelical Fundamentalism and Catholic Integralism in the USA: A Surprising Ecumenism, its authors Father Antonio Spadaro SJ (Civilta Cattolicas Editor-in-chief) and Rev. Marcelo Figueroa (a Presbyterian pastor who is Editor-in-chief of LOsservatore Romanos Argentinean edition), make various assertions about specific political and religious trends in the United States: claims which are, at best, tenuous and certainly badly informed. Consider, for instance, the authors analogy between the theological outlook of particular strands of American Evangelicalism and ISIS. As far as I am aware, American self-described fundamentalists are not destroying 2000 year-old architectural treasures, decapitating Muslims, crucifying Middle Eastern Christians, promoting vile anti-Semitic literature, or slaughtering octogenarian French priests. Another questionable contention made in the article is that the Holy Roman Empire was constituted as an effort to realize the Kingdom of God on earth. This particular analysis will come as news to serious historians of that complicated political entity which became, as the saying goes, neither Holy nor Roman nor an Empire. . . . No doubt, Evangelical scholars and others will highlight the many problems characterizing the articles grasp of the history of Evangelical Christianity and fundamentalism in America. One agnostic friend of mine who happens to be a leading historian of American Evangelicalism at a prestigious secular university described the articles take on this subject to me as laughably ignorant. I also suspect Rev. Figueroa and Father Spadaro are oblivious, for instance, to many Evangelicals embrace of natural law thinking in recent decades: something that, by definition, immunizes any serious Christian from fideist tendencies. But two particular claims made by the authors require a more detailed response. . . . Peopleincluding the pope and his advisorsare free to form views of different nations and the conduct of international affairs. No one expects the bishop of Rome to be uncritical of the United States, or any other country. There is plenty to criticize about America, just as there is to criticize about Argentina (such the economic delusions, systematic envy, and personality-cults encouraged by the poison of Peronism) or Italy (such as the corruption and rampant clientelism in its political and economic culture to which Vatican officials and Italian clerics have not, sadly, proved immune). Nevertheless, the development of such views should be informed by careful reflection, a command of detail, and an accurate understanding of the history and development of a country. Regrettably, these are lacking in the Spadaro-Figueroa articleand it shows. The greatest damage, however, is to the Holy Sees credibility as a serious contributor to international affairs. And that benefits no one, least of all Pope Francis China should pay more attention to maintaining a balance between cutting leverage levels and stabilizing economic growth in the second half of this year after it achieved faster-than-expected GDP growth of 6.9 percent in the first half, said a former central bank adviser. "So far, China has done a good job in striking such a balance," said Yu Yongding, an economist at the Institute of World Economics and Politics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. "China's deleveraging move is in the right direction, but it is a long-term process and we should not carry it out too hastily so as to affect the normal financing activities of enterprises, especially small and medium-sized companies," Yu, a former member of monetary policy committee of the People's Bank of China, told China Daily. China put forward the idea of "cutting overcapacity, destocking, deleveraging, reducing corporate costs and shoring up weak spots in the economy" in late 2015 to push forward its supply-side structural reform. In the latest development, President Xi Jinping said at the National Financial Work Conference, which ended on Saturday, that the country will further carry out "economic deleveraging" to contain financial risks. By the end of May, the debt to asset ratio (the measure of leverage levels) of China's major industrial enterprises was 56.1 percent, down by 0.7 percentage point from a year ago, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. As China pushes deleveraging, banks may reduce loans to enterprises, including small and medium-sized firms, which are the main contributor to China's economic growth, jobs, taxes and exports. "The deleveraging move should not affect the financing of small and medium-sized enterprises; without their brisk development, the vitality of the economy would suffer," Yu said. "A vibrant economic growth will in turn help resolve the country's debt problem." China's GDP growth reached 6.9 percent in the second quarter of this year, and it may ease moderately in the second half, but there would not be any "hard landing", he said. "Economists generally agree that the Chinese economy has dropped to the lower band of the L-shaped trajectory; I think it is still possible that growth may continue to fluctuate and even further drop a little bit, but there would not be the danger of an economic hard landing." Such relatively solid growth prospects mean China can have more room to deal with its debt problem, only that the tempo of deleveraging should be properly managed, Yu said. In the short term, at least, the country should be more tolerant toward high-level leverage levels, he said, citing Japan's case. In 1996, Japan's debt-to-GDP ratio exceeded 90 percent. Thinking the ratio may be too high and could incur a fiscal crisis, the panicked Japanese government tightened its fiscal policies, which led to an economic recession. Japan later gave up its tightening fiscal policy stance and now although its debt-GDP ratio has exceeded 250 percent, it is yet to encounter a fiscal crisis, Yu said. Jack Ma (3rd right), executive chairman of Alibaba Group, makes a speech during the US-China Business Leaders Summit on Tuesday at the US Commerce Department in Washington. [Photo provided to China Daily] Jack Ma, founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, has called on a group of prominent business leaders in Washington to help "solve trade issues". The online entrepreneur led a party of 8 leading Chinese business figures at the augural US-China Business Leaders Summit on Tuesday. Stephen Schwarzman, chairman and CEO of the Blackstone Group LP, was part of a group of 12 United States-based business high-fliers at the gathering. "As entrepreneurs, we should utilize our wisdom and capacity to solve trade issues, rather than create trouble," Ma said. "We're here to solve the problems of the future, not the problems of yesterday." Both sides agreed that as business leaders, they have critical interests in, and a responsibility to promote, a steady and positive economic relationship between China and the US. They also agreed to establish an annual dialogue to offer both governments solutions to pressing challenges in their economic relationship, according to a joint statement released after the summit. The first meeting was marked by "constructive and positive" dialogue, it said. Ma first proposed the summit to US President Donald Trump in January, with the purpose of encouraging business leaders from China and the US to get involved more actively in the development of China-US economic relations. "The economic dialogue between China and the US should have a good vision that helps to solve problems rather than fight with each other," Ma told the summit. Earlier this week, Trump celebrated products made in the United States, which was part of his "America First" campaign pledge before he was elected. "We want to build, create and grow more products in our country using American labor, American goods and American grit," Trump said on Monday. Ma tried to put that into perspective when he spoke to Chinese and US businessman. He told them that he felt "President Trump does listen" and pointed out that the "world is all connected". "China is the best market for commodities that are made in America," Ma said. "In the future, there will be less and less 'Made in China' or 'Made in America'. There will be 'Made in internet'," he added. "Everything in the world is connected. We call it e-commerce today; we'll call it e-business in the future." Ma stressed that globalization could not be stopped. "The good thing is that I think President Trump listens," he said. "Initially, President Trump and I had different viewpoints. "After I talked with him, he thought what I said made sense," Ma added. "Then I found out he did change and now follows a path that leads to a better way." BEIJING China's booming digital economy had been serving as a major engine for the country's economic growth. China's digital economy surged 18.9 percent in 2016 to 22.6 trillion yuan ($3.35 trillion), according to a white paper issued by China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). The expansion was much faster than that of China's overall economy, which grew 6.7 percent in 2016. Digital economy accounted for 30.3 percent of China's total gross domestic product (GDP) over the year, said the white paper. Taking its spillover effect into account, digital economy contributed 69.9 percent to the GDP in 2016, it added. Digital economy, also known as the internet economy, is based on digital computing technologies, comprising new business models such as e-commerce, cloud computing and payment services. Technology is functioning as a driver of revenue and enabler of new business models for many Chinese companies, including China e-commerce giants Alibaba and JD.com. China's digital economy grew significantly higher than the overall economy, becoming a major engine of growth, said the paper. CAICT expects China's digital economy to be valued at 32 trillion yuan and account for 35 percent of the whole GDP by 2020, before taking up over half of the country's GDP by 2030, according to the white paper. China has made a point of promoting digital economy as part of its measures to upgrade the economy, and the central and local governments had identified digital economy as "major development strategy." At the G20 Hangzhou Summit in 2016, China put digital economy high on the agenda, making it part of the G20 Blueprint on Innovative Growth for the first time. In March this year, Report on the Work of the Government called for more efforts to deepen the development of "Internet Plus" and accelerate the growth of digital economy. This is the first time that "digital economy" was referred to in such a report. And the central government is to formulate and issue a strategic plan for promoting digital economy, according to the State Council executive meeting held on July 12. Local governments had also geared up for digital economy, with Guizhou, Jiangsu, and Anhui among others, having made provincial-level plans to make their economy more digitalized. For example, southwestern Guizhou aims to make added value created by digital economy grow 20 percent annually and carve up at least 30 percent of the province's GDP by 2020. Digital economy has become an area where China's economic transformation and industrial upgrading can achieve major breakthrough, said MIIT Minister Miao Wei in April. Miao pointed to smart manufacturing, industrial internet, sharing economy, and the digitalization of traditional industries as areas that should be boosted. The development of China's digital economy, however, is imbalanced, with the service sector adopting the digital economy more extensively than the primary and secondary industries, said Lu Chuncong, president of Communications Policy and Economics Research Institute, CAICT. Regulation of market access does not suit the development of digital economy, said Lu, calling for establishing a mechanism of negative list where all market players can enter digital economy on an equal footing. MACAO The efforts by China's Macao Special Administrative Region in cracking down on money laundering and terrorist financing were lauded by international organizations, Macao's Financial Information Office said on Wednesday. The Asia-Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG), an international organization on anti-money laundering and terrorist financing, on Wednesday adopted a report on Macao SAR at its annual meeting which was held in Colombo, capital of Sri Lanka. Macao SAR obtains six substantial ratings among 11 effectiveness outcomes, which ranks it among the higher tier of APG members, according to the evaluation methods stipulated by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the international standard-setting body of anti-money laundering, counter-financing of terrorism and combating of proliferation financing, the report said. According to the report, sound risk-based supervision is undertaken in the two most significant sectors - the gaming sector supervised by Macao's Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau and the financial sector supervised by the Monetary Authority of Macao SAR. The Macao SAR has also enhanced international cooperation in such areas as money laundering, legal assistance and intelligence, the report said. Emefa takes a selfie with her classmates during their graduation ceremony in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, June 22, 2017. [Photo/VCG] China has become Asia's largest destination for overseas students. In 2016, 440,000 international students studied in China, which is four times more than 10 years ago. Emefa, who is not willing to provide her full name, is a Togolish student who has studied Chinese at college for four years in Guangzhou, Guangdong province. After she graduated, she got a job in marketing in the city. The young woman is a talented Chinese speaker who can fluently and accurately pronounce the four tones of the language. Before she graduated, Emefa frequently worked as a part-time translator, also working as a part-time model. Emefa said she likes Guangzhou's prosperity, a city with tall buildings and bright neon lights that offers limitless promise. She also said she loves her Chinese friends. "If I develop well in Guangzhou, I will stay in the city", Emefa said. The GAC Engineering Institute, a subsidiary of the Guangzhou Automobile Group Co, plans to establish its second research and development (R&D) center in the United States by the end of 2017, according to a senior company executive. The planned R&D center, which will be located in Detroit, best known as the center of the US automobile industry, will help facilitate the GAC group's strategy of entering the developed markets, as stated by Wang Qiujing, president of the GAC Engineering Institute. "We are building a global R&D network, as the GAC group has been making great efforts in developing cutting-edge technologies, which will help lead the industrial trend," Wang said. The GAC group has already set up its first R&D center in the Silicon Valley and more research centers will be built in other areas, according to Wang. He added the company's R&D center will focus on the research of advanced technologies of electric power vehicles, as the GAC group has been making great efforts to the development of new energy and intelligent connected automobiles in the near future. "We will focus on development of self-innovated plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles," Wang said. The GAC group has also, so far, developed its EV model GE3, GA3S PHEV and GS4 PHEV, which are installed with power engines of 1.5 ATK and G-MC. "We will develop professional module platforms to reduce production costs and make our new energy vehicles more competitive in the market," he said. The company's newly-launched GS4 PHEV, along with its star models of GS8 and GS7, were used as designated cars in a charity and promotional event, which was launched on Monday. The event will start from Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, and pass major cities related to the Silk Road Economic Belt, according to the company. TIANJIN - German carmaker Volkswagen posted slightly weaker auto sales in China in the first half of 2017, but demand for its luxury cars remained resilient, according to a report released by the company. Volkswagen delivered nearly 1.83 million vehicles to the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong from January to June this year, a decrease of 1.6 percent year on year. In June alone, Volkswagen's year-on-year sales rose by 5.2 percent to more than 315,000 units. Sales of Volkswagen models reached nearly 1.4 million units in China, and the SUV remained the primary force of growth for the group, with sales of the Tiguan model up 39 percent during the period. Audi sales went down 12.2 percent to 254,800 units. Skoda sales fell 8.1 percent to 134,000 units. Demand for Porsche remained strong, with sales up 17.8 percent to 35,900 units. Volkswagen is the largest automotive manufacturing company in Europe, with 12 vehicle brands including Audi, Lamborghini and Bentley delivered to 153 countries and regions worldwide. The group had 120 factories by 2016. Visitors watch live broadcast using the 5G test network at a mobile technology exhibition in Shanghai. [Photo by Long Wei/For China Daily] Editor's note: In the run-up to the 19th CPC National Congress, China Daily is reporting on a number of key projects of national importance that will showcase the country's improvements in crucial fields. These include recent reforms aimed at improving living standards and creating a prosperous society by 2020. Today's report focuses on China's booming telecom sector. Telecom companies are ratcheting up their 5G research and development spending as China scrambles to commercialize high-speed services. China's mobile carriers are likely to invest at least $173 billion into 5G construction from 2019 to 2025 in a move to deliver super-fast services, investment bank Jefferies has predicted. "Compared to the amount being spent on 4G between 2013 to 2020, that will be an increase of 48 percent," the New York-based commercial lender stated. ZTE Corp, the country's second largest telecom equipment maker, will invest 2 billion yuan ($294.8 million) in 5G R&D this year, up from 1 billion yuan in 2016. A large chunk will go into infrastructure construction. "The cash will be spent on a wide range of fields such as devices, chips and, of course, infrastructure construction," said Cui Li, vice-president of ZTE's wireless product operations division. Already 5G technology is eagerly awaited. It will offer super fast internet speed such as downloading an 8-gigabit movie in seconds. It will also help make autonomous driving a reality as it ripples across most industries and sectors in a new internet revolution. Even though international 5G standards have yet to be rolled out, Chinese companies are boosting R&D investment to establish a beachhead for this new era. To illustrate how important it is, 5G was part of China's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20). A report by Beijing's China Academy of Information and Communication Technology predicted that next-generation super fast internet will drive 6.3 trillion yuan of economic output in the country by 2030. The stakes and rewards are so high that China Mobile Communications Corp aims to deploy more than 10,000 5G "base stations" by 2020. Last month, it established the country's first 5G "base station" in Guangzhou, Guangdong province before carrying out high-speed outfield tests. China Mobile launches a UAV-assisted emergency communication high altitude base station during a recent mobile technology exhibition in Shanghai. [Photo by Long Wei/For China Daily] "The telecom industry will need to be deeply linked with other sectors when it comes to 5G," said Huang Yuhong, deputy head of the China Mobile Research Institute. "That is a fundamental difference between 5G and 4G," Huang added. Last year, China Mobile edged ahead of rivals to determine the "structure of 5G networks". China United Network Communications Group Co Ltd plans to catch up fast after it fell behind China Mobile in the construction of 4G system. This time, it is determined not to repeat that mistake. Indeed, China Unicom's plans are underway to start technology tests in four to six cities in the next 18 months. Field tests will begin between 2018 and 2019. "China has already made significant progress in the research and development of 5G, and more efforts will be made to ensure Chinese companies are at the forefront," Chen Zhaoxiong, vice-minister of the industry and information technology, said at a forum last month. In June, the ministry unveiled a draft proposal that low-frequency bandsthe 3,300 to 3,600 MHz spectrum and the 4,800 to 5,000 MHz spectrumwill be used for 5G networks in China. Xiang Ligang, a telecom expert and chief executive officer of telecom industry website cctime.com, stressed that the "frequency band" was as important to telecom carriers as land was to the real estate sector. "Specifying the initial frequency band for 5G tests will motivate enterprises to channel resources into it, and this will promote faster development," Xiang said. China has built the world's largest 4G network within just four years. Overall subscribers surged to nearly 850 million by the end of April from about 380 million in 2015 when it was first widely used. Industry insiders stress that 4G has been the greatest achievement in the national information technology sector during the past five years in rural and urban areas. "The development of 4G has brought about the prosperity of mobile internet and changed people's lives," said Li Zhengmao, vice-president of China Mobile Communications Corp. Along with the other two major players, China United Network Communications Group Co Ltd and China Telecommunications Corp, China Mobile has pumped vast resources into 4G technology. Statistics released from the telecom giant showed it had expanded its 4G base stations from 1.1 million to 1.62 million from 2015 to 2017. This alone accounted for 32 percent of the world's total 4G base stations. As the number continues to rise, users have experienced increased speed when surfing the internet. The China Unicom network, for example, has reached 300 megabits per second. But then the benefits of 4G are not limited to urban areas. Rural regions in China have also been opened up by the service. In Huanggang, Hubei province, farmers can sell their produce online through e-commerce sites, and buy crucial equipment safer and quicker through the network. China Telecom has spent 200 million yuan ($29.46 million) to roll out 1,300 base stations in Huanggang. The decision has increased 4G coverage rates from 35 percent to 93 percent. It has also helped local farmers with vital agricultural information, as well as alleviating poverty through online education. High-speed access has injected new energy into the online mobile market. The country's largest payment platform Alipay, high-speed rail links, bike-sharing businesses and e-commerce are known as China's "Four Great Inventions" of the 21st century. Except for high-speed rail, the other three thrived on the basis of the country's sprawling 4G network. Mobike, China's leading bike-sharing company, launched intelligent 4G cycles this year. Users can unlock the bikes more quickly and the company can monitor cycles in real time. Still, the future is just as bright as networks change. "Future technologies, including 5G, the internet of things and AI (artificial intelligence) will drive society into the era of the internet of everything," Li, vice-president of China Mobile, said. People at a clinic interact with a 4G network-connected intelligent medical service robot in the outpatient lobby of a hospital in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. [Photo by Long Wei/For China Daily] Chinese telecom carriers are rushing to roll out "internet of things" technology for consumers in a wide range of areas from smart homes to smart parking. High-tech solutions run by NB-IoT chips can connect smartphones and mobile devices to an array of household products, as well as other key day-to-day items. The leading three telecom companies have pioneered this technology with manufacturing companies as the internet of things starts to take shape. "The appearance of NB-IoT has opened up a new era," said Zhang Shunmao, president of the Marketing & Solution Department for Products and Solutions at Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, a leading smartphone manufacturer. Indeed, NB-IoT's narrow band radio technology was developed to enable a wide range of low-power devices and products to be connected to the internet. Simply put, this means you can read how much electricity or gas you have used at home on your smartphones or PCs from your offices, or even turn off your cookers. During the past three years, telecom companies have raced to wheel out the service. China Telecommunications Corp started the ball rolling when it became the first carrier to map out NB-IoT technology. Earlier this year, it established its internet of things network in cooperation with companies such as Hisense Co Ltd and Haier Group Corp, two of China's largest home appliance companies. Competition in this new "home sector" is highly competitive. China United Network Communications Group Co Ltd set up more than 50 million NB-IoT connections in more than 10 major cities, including Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Rival China Mobile Communications Corp and NTT DOCOMO, a Japanese telecom company, then announced they would jointly develop the world's first multi-vendor embedded subscriber identity module (eSIM) system. This will mean that certain products manufacturered in Japan will connect up to China Mobile's internet of things network once they are exported here. Closer to home, China Telecom linked up with bike-sharing startup Ofo Inc and Huawei Technologies Co to produce smart locks based on NB-IoT technology. But then, the potential for the internet of things is huge worldwide. "The number of internet of things devices will reach 26 billion globally by 2020, which will bring sales revenue of $300 billion," stated Gartner Inc, the global research and advisory company based in the United States. As for China, the overall market is now worth 750 billion yuan ($110.6 billion) and is expected to exceed 1.5 trillion yuan by 2018. "The internet of everything will promote the transformation of lighting, water services and manufacturing," Zhang at Huawei said. Apple is reportedly considering changing its in-app purchase (IAP) policy. If confirmed, it will put an end to the company's 30 percent cut for each tip given to content providers. [Photo/VCG] Apple is reportedly considering plans to scrap its surcharge on in-app tips. If confirmed, it would put an end to the company's 30 percent cut of each user donation, reports thepaper.cn. Tipping or In-App tax? Tipping has become the main source of revenue for writers, app developers, and others in China who opt to put their content online for free. In May, 2017, Apple updated its regulations, recognizing tips as being the equivalent of an in-app purchase (IAP), considering it similar to buying games, music and videos. As such, Apple, as per its App Store User Agreement, is entitled to a 30 percent cut of every transaction. Content providers who refuse to give Apple the 30 percent cut risk of seeing their content removed from the App Store. This has upset many Internet content providers in China, as not only does it cut into their earnings, but it also postpones their revenues, as Apple normally takes between one to three months to deliver payments to content providers. Reactions of Chinese app-developers In response to Apple's policy, many Chinese companies behind popular apps such as News aggregation app Jinri Toutiao, live-streaming app Yingke, Quora-like Zhihu and Weibo have changed the way customers tip through updates to their apps. However, Tencent's Wechat, one of the most popular messaging and payment platforms in China, failed to reach an agreement with Apple and has disabled its tipping function for iPhone users. Debates continue... Chinese app-developers argue that users are simply showing their appreciation by tipping content or service providers. Apple has argued that tipping is just like buying a song or video. Observers have been accusing Apple of attempting to gouge Chinese users. Apple has yet to respond to the reports that it may be preparing to do away with its surcharge. China is strengthening the Made in China 2025 strategy with new national-level demonstration areas to spur the development of smart-, green- and service-oriented manufacturing. The decision was made at a State Council executive meeting presided over by Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday. One goal is to foster the development of emerging industries and upgrade traditional sectors by furthering the integration of manufacturing and the internet. Support policies for market-oriented reforms will be rolled out to ensure that businesses of all types can receive the same national treatment. "We need to select some cities or city clusters in China's eastern, western and central regions for the demonstration areas. The key is to support their piloting in system and policy innovation, and to develop an innovative atmosphere and industrial clusters for smart manufacturing," Li said. "We must enable the manufacturing sector to become smarter, greener and more service oriented to boost the transition from traditional to new growth engines and to keep the economy climbing upward," he said. Made in China 2025 was first unveiled by the premier in his Government Work Report in 2015. Two years later, the country has seen increasingly stronger industrial capabilities, smart manufacturing, innovation, product quality and branding. Average productivity was up by 38 percent for China's first 109 pilot projects in smart manufacturing, while operating costs dropped by 21 percent, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Wednesday's meeting determined that the government will take advantage of a variety of government and industry funds to spur innovation and entrepreneurship, and to guide more social capital to support advanced manufacturing. In the demonstration areas, the government will offer stock incentives in State-owned enterprises. The government will also further cut red tape and streamline approval procedures, improve the business environment and make bigger efforts to attract foreign investment. The use and protection of intellectual property rights will be strengthened, and government compliance oversight will be reinforced. "Local authorities are highly motivated after the unveiling of the Made in China 2025 strategy. Many countries are also upgrading their manufacturing sectors right now," Li said. "The Chinese economy has shown a buoyant momentum, but the weakness lies in the manufacturing sector, which requires rapid expansion. We need to focus our efforts on strengthening the sector, which is the foundation of the real economy," he said. Li highlighted the importance of opening-up and international cooperation. The meeting also decided to step up the development of innovation centers for manufacturing and technology and to establish a number of public service platforms for entrepreneurship and innovation. The demonstration areas also will receive support in talent development, and encourage researchers and Chinese talent overseas to set up businesses in the demonstration areas. Land supply in the demonstration areas will receive extra support, with pilot measures to transform old business and storage facilities, idle buildings and excessive commercial real estate into incubation centers for entrepreneurship. The premier said funding support to the demonstration areas should be in line with market principles. The government should explore new paths of development, encourage competition, play an enabling role in building platform and drawing talented people, he added. Zhu Sendi, a special consultant for the China Machinery Industry Federation, said the demonstration zones should be in either major cities or city clusters with strong manufacturing sectors. He helped draft guideline for the Made in China 2025 initiative. By setting these zones as examples, the manufacturing sector can further integrate with new technologies, such as cloud-computing, big data and artificial intelligence, to evolve into new models, he said. Traditional manufacturing can develop into smart, green and services-based manufacturing on the way to advanced manufacturing, the consultant said. That should be the way to elevate China's manufacturing industries and achieve the goal of becoming a competitive manufacturing country by 2025, Zhu added. contact the writers at xuwei@chinadaily.com.cn BEIJING - Two night bus tours will soon be available for the first time in Beijing for travelers hoping to discover the night life of the ancient Chinese capital. Three antique-style buses will run two circle routes from Beijing's Qianmen tourist transport center from Sunday, the Beijing Bus Group announced Wednesday. The eastern line will pass through many of Beijing's famous scenic spots including Chang'an Avenue, the Central Business District, Sanlitun and Guijie, a lively gourmet restaurant street, as well as Shichahai, one of Beijing's bar streets. The western line will stop at the Beijing Exhibition Center, the Central TV Tower, West Chang'an Avenue and Ping'an Street. The Central TV Tower is a 405 meter-high tower that provides views over the city. Two buses running eastward will leave Qianmen at 8:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., with tickets costing 30 yuan (4.4 U.S. dollars) per person, while the westbound bus will depart at 7:30 p.m. with a ticket price of 100 yuan. Students, children and seniors over 80 years old receive discounts or free tickets. Educators and security specialists have urged Chinese students overseas to hone their safety awareness after recent tragedies involving Chinese citizens abroad. With suspect Brendt Christensen charged with kidnapping visiting scholar Zhang Yingying, alarm bells have been going off over the safety of students whose native country is the world's largest source of international students. Cultural differences and an unfamiliar environment make it crucial that Chinese students studying overseas stay alert on potential security risks. Those already overseas and those planning to go abroad need to learn to protect themselves properly, consultants said. "Without knowledge about their new surroundings, international students often don't have the same common sense about safety and self-protection that locals do," said He Chugang, general manager of the South China region at Amber Education, an overseas-study consultancy. "Chinese students in particular have their own blind spots growing up in a very different cultural background," He said. "They should remain aware of potential threats such as strangers offering to free rides, or hanging out late in chaotic places and meeting strangers alone." The disappearance of Zhang, a student from Fujian province at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, underlined He's con-cern. She disappeared on June 9 after climbing into a car allegedly driven by Christensen, the FBI said. Over a month later, missing Chinese sisters Chen Baolan and Chen Baoling, graduates of a local vocational school in Yokohama, were confirmed dead by Japanese police. Their bodies, stuffed in suitcases, were found in a remote area. A Japanese man in his 30s is a suspect. He was caught on a surveillance camera at the sisters' apartment in Yokohama before they went missing, police said. Such incidents should prompt families, schools and agencies to strengthen security education for students overseas, said Tian Wang, a consultant at Vision Overseas, part of New Oriental Education and Technology Group. "A vital lesson is to understand the general social environment of their destination countries, surroundings of apartments, colleges and transport hubs as well as the legal system," said Tian Tian also said students should pay closer attention to safety notices issued by their schools through emails and participate in routine security drills. "They might easily neglect those tips if not fully aware of the fact that real risks exist," he said. China had 1.26 million students abroad as of the end of 2015 - 25 percent of the world's total, according to the 2016 Report on the Development of Chinese Students Studying Abroad. Young Chinese should keep a low profile and avoid flaunting wealth abroad, said Wang Dawei, a crime researcher with the People's Public Security University of China. By Chen Weihua in Washington and An Baijie in Beijing | China Daily | Updated: 2017-07-20 07:07 Vice-Premier Wang Yang urged the United States on Tuesday to loosen its "outdated" restrictions on high-tech exports to China so it can tap the vast Chinese market and reduce the bilateral trade imbalance. Wang, who is in Washington for the first round of China-US Comprehensive Economic Dialogue, said that as China upgrades its industries, there is a huge market for US exports of advanced technologies, key equipment and critical parts to China. "Unfortunately, American businesses have not had their fair share of the cake due to outdated US regulations on export control," he told a luncheon attended by US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and hundreds of Chinese and US business leaders. Wang cited China's import of integrated circuits, which hit $227 billion last year, more than the import of crude oil, iron ore and primary plastics combined. But only 4 percent of China's integrated circuit imports came from the US. If the US were to liberalize its export barriers against China to the same level applicable to France, the US trade deficit with China would drop by up to 34 percent, Wang said, citing a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace article. The demand for high-quality US products and services is growing fast, according to Wang. The US-China Business Council predicted that US goods and services exported to China will double to $369 billion in the coming decade and rise to $520 billion by 2050. "China's development and progress is a long-term certainty, which offers the most important external environment for foreign businesses to work with China," Wang said. "I am sure any business with vision would value such a huge market, and any government with ambition would value cooperation with China." He also stressed that cooperation is the only right choice for the two countries, a message expressed by several senior Chinese leaders. "The giant ship of China-US economic and trade relations is sailing on the right course," Wang said. Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a regular news conference on Wednesday in Beijing that Wang's speech has sent three key messages: cooperation is the only right choice for China and the US; China's development has long-term certainties; and the Chinese market has huge potential. Noting that it is natural for the two countries to have economic disagreements and friction, Lu said the two sides could properly handle disputes through dialogue with the principle of equal treatment and mutual trust. Ross, the commerce secretary, described the China-US trade and investment relationship as "the most important in the entire world", saying "that relationship has brought benefits to both nations". He applauded China's resumption of US beef imports after 14 years and described it as just a start, given the huge Chinese market potential. "Even now, (although) we occasionally disagree on individual items, we have fundamentally shared objectives. So I am very hopeful about the opportunities through further success," Ross said. Serious concerns about a trade war between the two large countries based on Trump's tough campaign rhetoric have dissipated dramatically the past few months, especially after the first summit between President Xi Jinping and Trump at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, in early April. At Mar-a-Lago, the two sides established a four-track comprehensive dialogue mechanism and agreed to work on a 100-day action plan, which was due on July 16. Both sides have so far spoken positively of the progress made within a relatively short period of time. Editor's note: "To forge iron, one must be strong." When President and Party chief Xi Jinping first referred to this idiom in 2012, it was highlighted both within the country and around the world. Five years on, what has the Party done to make itself stronger to help the Chinese people lead a better life? Faith as calcium supplement to mind Ideology and faith are like calcium for communists' minds. We must strengthen ideological and political construction, and establish a correct world view, view of life and value set, which can act as a master switch. Xi addressing a videophone conference on plans for the second batch of the 'mass line' campaign on Jan 20, 2014 Huang Danian, a geophysicist who returned to China seven years ago from Britain and contributed greatly to deep earth exploration technology, died of bile duct cancer at the age of 58 in January. [Photo/Xinhua] Huang Danian, a famous scientist who died at 58, is a latest role model that Party members and people look up to for inspiration. Huang, known for his expertise in deep earth exploration technology, studied and worked in the United Kingdom for 18 years before returning to China in 2009. In the ensuing years, he helped China soar in a number of technical fields, transforming the nation into one of the world's leaders in deep earth exploration. Wasting no time, Huang holed up in his office working day and night, with only two to three hours of sleep a day, earning him the deserved title of "workaholic". Overtime working wrecked his health and he died of bile duct cancer on Jan 8. Xi has asked all to learn from Huang's patriotism, professional dedication, indifference to fame and wealth, and fulfilling duties faithfully. Big data technologies will play a greater role in improving the health and nutrition of Chinese people in the next decade, a top health official said on Wednesday. "We will promote the development of health and nutrition industries with the help of cloud computing, big data and the internet to provide customized services that are easy to access," Jin Xiaotao, vice-minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, said at a news conference about a national nutrition plan. "The public will have a brand-new experience of nutrition and health," Jin said. "They will enjoy more precise and customized guidance on nutrition and health in an environment of artificial intelligence. For example, people can get up in the morning and get tips about their health, Jin said - how heavy a workload they can bear on that day and what they should have for lunch. The commission is making plans to carry out the National Nutrition Plan (2017-30), which was released by the central government last week, Jin said. The plan, which emerged amid various health challenges, including unhealthy lifestyles and an increase of nutrition-related diseases, sets targets for improving nutrition by 2020 and 2030. The goals include reducing the incidence of anemia in pregnant women to below 10 percent by 2030 (from the 2015 level of 17 percent) and decreasing the percentage of children under 5 with stunted growth to below 5 percent. The average daily intake of salt will be reduced by 20 percent by 2030 from current levels, under the plan, while growth of the overweight population will be noticeably checked. Authorities will take measures to improve nutrition, including legislation, encouraging scientific research, cultivation of talent, encouraging the development of nutritious foods and promoting upgrades in the food industry, according to the plan. "The plan is based on detailed surveys and pays particular attention to prominent nutrition problems," said Yan Weixing, deputy director of the China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment. "We also borrowed from successful international experience in the formulation of the plan," Yan said. "The goals are achievable with effort." Jin said a national health data platform linking the platforms of all provincial regions in China has been established, paving the way for the mass development of more intelligent and customized health services. The health industry in China, including the nutrition industry, is expected to reach $17 trillion by about 2035, accounting for about half of China's gross domestic product by then, Jin said. wangxiaodong@chinadaily.com.cn Gao Chengyong pleaded guilty to killing 10 women and an 8-year-old girl over a period of 14 years across northern China, his lawyer said on Wednesday after a two-day trial. The hearing was held behind closed doors at Baiyin Intermediate People's Court in Gansu province. The 52-year-old accused serial killer confessed to multiple charges of homicide, rape, robbery and mutilation of corpses, according to attorney Zhu Aimin. "Gao confessed to all 11 murders," Zhu said by phone on Wednesday evening. "He also apologized and gave three bows to the victims' families at the end of the hearing. He said it was his fault." Bowing is a traditional Chinese sign of respect. "For one of the killings, I don't think there was sufficient evidence to prove he committed it, but for the other 10, the facts are clear," Zhu said. The killings were carried out in Gansu and neighboring Inner Mongolia autonomous region between May 1988 and February 2002. Police said Gao followed his victims home and slit their throats. The trial began at 9 am on Tuesday and ended at about 5:30 pm on Wednesday. "My client kept calm and said no more in court than he did during previous interrogations," Zhu said. The court was expected to sentence Gao at a later date. Death is one possible punishment. The case was not open to the public because of privacy concerns over the female victims and the cruel nature of the killings, according to a judicial official speaking at a news conference on Monday. The official also said the hearing was delayed for almost a year after Gao was arrested because the case was complex. The case aroused intense public attention when the Baiyin police discovered evidence, including DNA, that identified Gao as the killer. caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn Senior Chinese political advisers have called for building better relations between the government and businesses to boost the country's private economy. At a symposium organized by the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in Beijing on Tuesday, members of China's top political advisory body and representatives from all sectors of society - 31 altogether - gave their views about how to create a better environment for private companies. China's top political adviser, Yu Zhengsheng, presided at the symposium. Senior officials from central government bodies also attended. An initiative for a new type of government-business relationship was set in motion by President Xi Jinping in March last year. He urged government officials to engage in direct dialogue with private companies and offer services when they are in need of help. Government officials have been instructed to maintain integrity in their relations with private companies and have been warned not to abuse their power for money. Comments at the symposium addressed a number of issues. "Private firms are prohibited from doing businesses in certain fields. They don't enjoy an equal position in the market with State-run companies," said Justin Yifu Lin, a member of the Standing Committee of the CPPCC's National Committee. Lin said many industries in China that are dominated by State-run enterprises have obtained a competitive edge through more than 30 years of rapid growth. He suggested canceling protective subsidies for State-run companies and eliminating limited market access for private ones. Liu Jipeng, a CPPCC member and an economics professor at China University of Political Science and Law, advised setting up a performance system for government to prevent corruption. He suggested reducing the number of mediocre government functionaries, increasing salaries for outstanding officials and stepping up the supervision of public servants. Participants also suggested offering more favorable policies - for example, simplified administrative procedures and lower taxes and fees - for private enterprises. zhang_yi@chinadaily.com.cn Peking University has lowered its admission threshold for a talented teenager, the Beijing-based thepaper.cn reported. Ye Jianing, a high school graduate from Zhuji, Zhejiang province, has received an official admission letter from Peking University. Ye remains calm about the offer from the nation's top university as it had promised him a place in its School of Electronics Engineering and Computer Science three years ago, and had said it would even lower the points required for admission by 200. Born on June 3, 1999, Ye has shown a very high talent in Informatics Olympiad, winning numerous awards at the provincial and municipal levels. He also took gold at the Asia-Pacific Informatics Competition. "Ye Jianing's grades are steady, he always ranks No.1 in class," Ye's mother Yu Jun says. He has been outstanding in Mathematical Olympiad courses since primary school and focused on studying Informatics Olympiad in middle school. He won first prize in the Informatics National League, an influential annual high-level national competition for young people, in his third year of junior high school. Impressed with his achievements, Peking University gave him the offer when he was in his freshman year in senior high school. Ye ranked 14th in the National Olympiad in Informatics in his second year of high school, winning exemption from the national college entrance examination. Ye's mother attributes his excellence to family tradition and his conscientiousness. "I never watch TV. I read and study at home, his father is conscientious and responsible and has been an excellent employee for over 10 years. Nowadays kids are all smart, so only seriousness can make one stand out," Yu says. Ye is clear about his future, hoping to do more research on advanced technology in the university and make contributions in the field of computer science in China. But his mother hopes he will find romance amidst his studies. "I wrote him a message when he reached 18, expressing my hope that he would fall in love for the first time in the university." Ye posted a group photo of his circle of friends when he returned from Japan after taking part in an academic exchange organized by the China Association for Science and Technology. "There's a girl in the picture; my mind is full of pink bubbles," she said. Traffic authorities in Handan, Hebei province, are promoting a special dance to help the public obey traffic rules, Beijing Youth Daily reported. Dozens of uniformed 10-year-old children dance to music with two policewomen on the zebra crossing in front of parked cars when the light turns red in Lianfang Street. Publicity section chief, surnamed Cai, of the Zhuhe Brigade of Handan Public Security Bureau said that the brigade created the "wait for traffic lights dance" in cooperation with a local dance school. "Children dance for 50 seconds on each zebra crossing and will move to another one when the green light is on," Cai said. The police stand beside the children while they dance to protect their safety. Cai said that Handan has launched an initiative to create a national civilized city. The Zhuhe Brigade promotes the dance to cultivate courtesy. Some internet users criticized that it affects traffic and is unsafe for children to dance on the zebra crossings. Cai assures that the traffic police make gestures to cars to get the drivers to pay attention to the children, and the dance does not impact traffic. However, currently the dance is suspended due to the hot weather. The authority will decide whether to continue such activities in the future. Gao Chengyong pleaded guilty to killing 10 women and an 8-year-old girl over a period of 14 years across northern China, his lawyer said on Wednesday after a two-day trial. The hearing was held behind closed doors at Baiyin Intermediate People's Court in Gansu province. The 52-year-old accused serial killer confessed to multiple charges of homicide, rape, robbery and mutilation of corpses, according to attorney Zhu Aimin. "Gao confessed to all 11 murders," Zhu said by phone on Wednesday evening. Expert: Balance borrowing, growth 2017-07-20 08:02:23 China Daily Xing Zhiming Nation should promote idea of 'cutting overcapacity, destocking, deleveraging and reducing corporate costs'. China should pay more attention to maintaining a balance between cutting leverage levels and stabilizing economic growth in the second half of this year after it achieved faster-than-expected GDP growth of 6.9 percent in the first half, said a former central bank adviser. "So far, China has done a good job in striking such a balance," said Yu Yongding, an economist at the Institute of World Economics and Politics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. "China's deleveraging move is in the right direction, but it is a long-term process and we should not carry it out too hastily so as to affect the normal financing activities of enterprises, especially small and medium-sized companies," Yu, a former member of monetary policy committee of the People's Bank of China, told China Daily. China put forward the idea of "cutting overcapacity, destocking, deleveraging, reducing corporate costs and shoring up weak spots in the economy" in late 2015 to push forward its supply-side structural reform. In the latest development, President Xi Jinping said at the National Financial Work Conference, which ended on Saturday, that the country will further carry out "economic deleveraging" to contain financial risks. By the end of May, the debt to asset ratio (the measure of leverage levels) of China's major industrial enterprises was 56.1 percent, down by 0.7 percentage point from a year ago, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. As China pushes deleveraging, banks may reduce loans to enterprises, including small and medium-sized firms, which are the main contributor to China's economic growth, jobs, taxes and exports. "The deleveraging move should not affect the financing of small and medium-sized enterprises; without their brisk development, the vitality of the economy would suffer," Yu said. "A vibrant economic growth will in turn help resolve the country's debt problem." China's GDP growth reached 6.9 percent in the second quarter of this year, and it may ease moderately in the second half, but there would not be any "hard landing", he said. "Economists generally agree that the Chinese economy has dropped to the lower band of the L-shaped trajectory; I think it is still possible that growth may continue to fluctuate and even further drop a little bit, but there would not be the danger of an economic hard landing." Such relatively solid growth prospects mean China can have more room to deal with its debt problem, only that the tempo of deleveraging should be properly managed, Yu said. In the short term, at least, the country should be more tolerant toward high-level leverage levels, he said, citing Japan's case. In 1996, Japan's debt-to-GDP ratio exceeded 90 percent. Thinking the ratio may be too high and could incur a fiscal crisis, the panicked Japanese government tightened its fiscal policies, which led to an economic recession. Japan later gave up its tightening fiscal policy stance and now although its debt-GDP ratio has exceeded 250 percent, it is yet to encounter a fiscal crisis, Yu said. The Guangzhou government recently issued a new plan to accelerate the development of the housing rental market. The plan aims to promote the steady and healthy development of the real estate market in the city and allow tenants to enjoy the same rights as homeowners. For instance, according to the plan, children of qualified tenants will enjoy the same right of enrollment to a nearby school during the compulsory education period as those of homeowners. It also increases the support of the housing accumulation fund to tenants. In the past, the monthly amount that tenants could withdraw from the housing accumulation fund was no more than 30 percent of two times the previous year's average monthly wage in the city, now the percentage has been raised to 40 percent. Qualified tenants must have registered their rental contracts with the local authority and have either a Guangzhou registered permanent residence (hukou) or "green card". In addition, low income families that normally pay into the housing accumulation fund will enjoy priority for public rental housing, which is a new method to enable low income group's housing right. Better protection for rights of juveniles and migrant workers By Tong Lihua | China Daily | Updated: 2017-07-20 07:11 Zhicheng Public Interest Lawyers, part of Beijing Zhicheng Law Firm, has become China's largest public interest legal service provider after nearly 20 years of selfless service, which shows that lawyers attach great importance to safeguarding the legal rights and interests of the vulnerable groups in society. The ZPIL has established separate legal aid-cum-study centers for juveniles and migrant workers in Beijing, with full-time lawyers handling their cases for free. The two centers play an important role in helping juveniles and migrant workers to use the law to safeguard their legal rights and interests. The legal aid-cum-study center for juveniles was established in 1999, and has received more than 50,000 visits for consultation, successfully handled over 500 cases exerting considerable social influence, and organized more than 500 training sessions. All this has directly benefited more than 100,000 juveniles. The legal aid-cum-study center for migrant workers was established at the end of 2005, and has offered a great deal of legal service. By the end of last year, the center had received consultation visits for nearly 80,000 cases from more than 200,000 migrant workers in Beijing, and over 10,000 of these cases have been settled with the migrant workers getting 160 million yuan ($24 million) in compensation. The center for juveniles has published more than 30 books on issues such as medical care for juveniles, assistance for street children, special protection for girls, measures against sexual assault, reformative work-cum-study programs and the juvenile judicial system, and helped draft and amend some laws and rules related to children. The center for migrant workers, on its part, has published research reports on migrant workers' rights and interests, work-related injuries and other subjects, apart from taking part in the drafting and amending of some laws and rules on migrant workers. The ZPIL researches the cases it handles, and also offers practical suggestions to the legislature and judicial authorities, in order to help improve relevant laws, rules and policies. Its lawyers have also shouldered some social responsibilities, providing extended services for the migrant workers and juveniles after the end of court trials. In some cases, the defendants are too poor to pay compensation to the victims, and despite the court orders, the juveniles may still be denied compensation. In such cases, the lawyers use their social connections to raise donations for the victims. By the end of March, the lawyers had provided more than 1,100 juvenile victims with more than 1.4 million yuan in financial aid. The ZPIL launched a Countryside Kindergarten Development Plan in May 2014, offering free training to kindergarten teachers in rural areas and seeking the help of philanthropists to take care of left-behind children. By the end of August last year, teachers from more than 350 kindergartens in over 20 provinces had undergone training to take better care of the left-behind children. The plan has benefited tens of thousands of left-behind kids. In 2006, the ZPIL set up a legal aid center for migrant workers in Shijiazhuang, North China's Hebei province. A year later, it received $500,000 in fund support from the United Nations Development Programme. It should also be noted that China Legal Aid Foundation started receiving monetary support from the national public welfare lottery fund in 2010. After the lottery fund became a stable source of monetary support, an increasing number of lawyers has been offering legal aid service. More than 30 public legal aid agencies for juveniles, migrant workers and senior citizens had been established nationwide by the end of last year. And the number of lawyers who have volunteered to provide free legal aid service for juveniles has crossed 9,000. The author is a council member of China Society for Human Rights Studies and director of Beijing Juvenile Legal Aid and Studies Center. (China Daily 07/20/2017 page9) China's unique urban transportation challenges, high rate of adoption of mobile internet services, and rapid and aggressive introduction of alternative mobility solutions have combined to make the country a fertile ground for mobility innovation. The automotive industry's business model is experiencing disruption. Mobility needs, previously satisfied through product "ownership", are increasingly being served through mobility services "usership" with profound implications not only for traditional businesses within the value chain, but also for new entrants - as they compete to deliver services. Connected mobility, which we define as "technology-enabled on-demand mobility services for moving people and goods from point A to B", has become a disruptive, paradigm-changing development in the automotive industry. It requires a complete rethinking of the way to deliver value to the market. Traditional automakers must widen their focus from the product (the automobile) to the utility derived from the product ("automobility"), and create a business model and digital ecosystem optimized to provide digitally enabled solutions for both car owners and mobility services users. China has far greater potential to lead the "automobility" revolution compared with other markets for several reasons. First, China's rapid urbanization has led to significant mobility challenges, as the increasingly urbanized population creates an explosive demand for personal mobility. Second, China has the world's largest internet population and most Chinese netizens use smartphones to access internet services. Third, the Chinese government plays a key role in encouraging innovation in the internet economy with a focus on digital transformation, new energy vehicles and smart cities. As a result, we are witnessing the onset of what we believe to be a three-phased "automobility revolution" in China, which will rapidly transform the competitive landscape. This landscape can be divided into four quadrants along two axes - "ownership versus usership" along the horizontal axis and "technology" along the vertical axis. The domain of the traditional automotive industry powered by the internal combustion engine includes traditional competitors such as First Automobile Works, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation and Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co. In the second quadrant, on-demand mobility players, including Didi Chuxing and Yidao Yongche, are providing mobility services on a pay-per-use basis. The third and fourth quadrants are where electric and/or autonomous vehicle technologies are incorporated for both individual car owners and autonomous mobility on-demand users. In China, the "automobility 1.0 phase" (from 2012 to 2016) connected traditional cars (driven by humans and powered by an internal combustion engine) to riders using mobile technology. Pay-per-use ride hailing services, including Didi Dache, Kuaidi Dache, Yidao Yongche, Shenzhou Zhuanche and Uber were formed and grew rapidly. Stronger players such as Didi Chuxing (a merger between Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache), backed by technology companies such as Alibaba and Tencent, have become dominant. Other forms of connected mobility services, including bike sharing (Mobike, Ofo and many others) have also emerged and grown rapidly. China recently entered the "automobility 2.0 phase", when we will see cars built specifically for connected mobility services. The defining characteristics of cars used in this manner include high utilization rates and rider-centric features that enable connectivity. We expect such cars to be powered by electricity due to their lower operating cost (especially fuel and maintenance) and include features tailored for riders (more screens, connectivity and content services). In addition, new business models and upgraded/differentiated on-demand mobility services will emerge to address mobility pain points observed in the "automobility 1.0 phase", including increased congestion, surging prices, service inconsistency, safety and security concerns, the lack of personalization and charging infrastructure, and inconvenient parking lots. After 2020, we will enter the "automobility 3.0 phase", when autonomous driving technologies are expected to become commercially viable. An accelerated pull from China's "Internet+Auto" and Smart City investments will result in the initial deployment of professionally managed autonomous mobility service fleets. The future "automobility" business model can be described by a combination of the terms - "personalized, electric, shared and autonomous mobility on-demand". Mass deployment of autonomous mobility on-demand will occur beyond 2025. And "automobility 3.0" will likely be a far more efficient system where instead of owning an under-utilized depreciating asset, people would pay for the utility that is derived from the asset. Transportation innovation has throughout history helped improve human experiences, and China's "automobility" revolution is a disruptive force that will transform the mobility experience not only within China but also in the rest of the world. Bill Russo is the managing director and Chee-Kiang Lim the principal of Gao Feng Advisory Company. There were a number of practical outcomes from the meeting between the US and Chinese presidents in Florida back in April. Among them are a 100-day economic plan for cooperation between the world's two largest economies and the restructuring of their wide-ranging high-level dialogues into four more focused dialogue mechanisms, including one on their economic ties. As the first round of China-US Comprehensive Economic Dialogue commenced in Washington DC on Wednesday, it was encouraging to note that since the two countries initiated their discussions on the 100-day economic plan, they have made headway in narrowing some of the divergences between them. More important, the intensive engagement over the 100 days is said to have helped the respective economic teams build trust. There are expectations, therefore, that the economic dialogue will make more progress in easing trade frictions and bridging the differences that exist between the two sides. There are complaints from the US side that the talks progress too slowly. US companies are eager to gain greater access to the Chinese market, and Washington is urging China to open up more quickly and cut its trade surplus with the United States. Yet to further reduce the trade surplus, China needs to import more from the US, not only beef and beans, but also high technology products. This requires the US to take further steps to clear trade barriers in the form of outdated export controls, a byproduct of the Cold War, rather than unilaterally push China to open its market wider. China's import of integrated circuits reached $227 billion last year, more than that of crude oil, iron ore and primary plastics combined. Yet only 4 percent of the IC import came from the US due to its export curbs, Vice-Premier Wang Yang said at a forum one day before the dialogue. Also, if the US could liberalize its export barriers against China to the same level as those applicable to Brazil, the US trade deficit with China would narrow by up to 24 percent, he added, citing an April article by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. According to the US-China Business Council, US exports of goods and services to China will double to $369 billion in the next decade. With this big picture in mind, political and business leaders of both sides should bear in mind they have a shared stake in putting aside their differences and working together for a brighter future for Sino-US economic exchanges. Whatever the speed of progress in the nitty-gritty details of their to-and-fro, it is essential that the two sides continue to work together to move their cooperation forward in a constructive fashion. Police officers make a list of bank cards seized in a telecommunication fraud case in Xuchang, Henan province, in January. NIU YUAN/CHINA DAILY THIRTEEN EMPLOYEES of a courier service company in North China's Hebei province were arrested recently for selling more than 40,000 pieces of private information of their clients. China Youth Daily comments: Three of those arrested by the police are middle-level executives of the company and the others are delivery personnel. They form a complete industrial chain with the middlemen, and buyers, who are mostly salespeople of health foods companies and real estate agents. The private information they trade is not restricted to telephone numbers and home addresses, but also their clients' e-commerce records, which is of commercial value to the buyers. The judicial authorities issued an interpretation on how laws apply to crimes infringing on citizens' private information in May, specifying the penalties that can be meted out to such "insiders" who make use of their jobs to steal people's private information and seek illegal gains by selling it. If the amount of information or illicit gains made surpasses a certain level, the culprits should be handled according to the Criminal Law, rather than the public security regulations. But the difficulty in obtaining evidence against them and the ease with which they can make money mean there are always those who have access to people's private information and take the risk of stealing it. Apart from legal penalties and cracking down on such crimes, measures are needed to preempt the rampant theft and sale of people's private information. The authorities should not only target the sellers, but also the other parties in the chain. The judicial authorities need to call to account the employers of those caught selling private information. The e-commerce, delivery, telecommunication, banking, transport and healthcare institutions as well as the other agencies in relevant industries also need to strengthen their internal management and supervision to prevent employees from taking advantage of their posts to fatten their own pockets. And last but not the least, the buyers of the information must be held accountable too. A political documentary on China's ongoing reform will remind the Chinese of the country's glorious national achievements, while sending a clear message about the enhanced reform that will happen after the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) to be held later this year. The ten-episode documentary, "Jiang Gaige Jinxing Daodi," which in English translates as "carrying the reform through to the end," summarizes the progress and achievements since the 18th National Congress of the CPC in 2012. It features authoritative theoretical discussions on reform, with examples from the grassroots, covering a number of topics ranging from the Party's self-governance to social management. "The documentary serves as an inspiration to Chinese people and is conducive to uniting all forces of society to carry forward the reform," said Liu Feng, professor of politics with the Chinese Academy of Governance. "It reminds us that the ultimate goal of reform is to bring benefits to the people." About five years ago, against the backdrop of a global economic downturn and a complex international situation, China's new leadership pledged to make continued efforts to carry out reform and opening up and achieve the renewal of the Chinese nation. Over the ensuing years, President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, and his team have developed various reform strategies. In November 2013, the third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee raised the curtain for comprehensively deepening reforms and drew a blueprint for specific reform goals. "Economic reform is key, and the core solution is the proper relationship between the government and the market, leaving the market to play the decisive role in allocation of resources," according to the meeting. Despite a global economic slowdown, China's economy is stable and has seen growth as reform gains momentum. In the first half of 2017, China's economy continued steady expansion with GDP up 6.9 percent year on year to about 38.2 trillion yuan (5.6 trillion U.S. dollars). "Only by practicing comprehensively deepening reform, can our country become more prosperous, people live a happier life, and our great Chinese dream come true sooner," netizen Xiao Yang'er said on Mgtv.com, the official website of Hunan TV station. Now, the country has embarked on a "new normal" economic development path, featuring higher quality, efficiency, equality and sustainability. The CPC Central Committee with Xi at its core has attached great importance to reform. In December 2013, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee decided to set up the Central Leading Group for Deepening Overall Reform and appoint Xi as its head. At a meeting of the leading group last June, Xi and group members said they believed that "reform will cause pain, but without reform the pain will be longer-lasting." "Reform is a revolution that aims to rectify the system and challenge vested interests. There is no way to do it other than using real swords and spears," said a statement after the meeting. Song Shiming, professor of politics with the Chinese Academy of Governance, said that the benefits of the people were always at the heart of President Xi's vision of reform. Currently, as many countries stagnate in state governance amid growing regional conflicts and terrorism, the world wonders how and in what way China will sustain its economic growth. The answer lies in reform. The 19th National Congress of the CPC comes as China is striving to achieve its two centennial goals -- to build a moderately prosperous society by 2020, and building a modern socialist country by the middle of the 21st century. "The documentary demonstrates the Party's confidence and determination to further deepen reform after the 19th National Congress of the CPC," said Sun Xiaoli, professor of politics at the academy. Dancers performance at the booth of Tailand during the fourth China-South Asia Expo in Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan province, June 12. [Photo/VCG] With the initiation of the Belt and Road Initiative (B&R) since September 2013, global political, economic and social landscape is dramatically changing. Even while the issues of populism, protectionism and anti-globalization surround the US and some countries of the Europe, relevancy of B&R and its major principles are getting huge traction in the world. China's mutual trust and win-win policy is doing a good job to create favorable and trust-based environment among many developing and under-developed countries. The Belt and Road Summit 2017 proclaimed by China as "diplomatic highlight of the year" has given new direction to China's 30 years of foreign policy and kick-started new era of globalization. The Belt and Road Initiative is by far the biggest economic project and no wonder why developing countries are attracted by its potential investment in infrastructure they badly need. This is the economic soft power mechanism that the initiative has provided to China. The US political scientist Joseph Nye, on his concept of soft power, accepts that while potential economic investment opportunity is a soft power tool for global outreach, it's merely the resources, rather than the behavior, which induces a countrys soft power potential. Out of the five principles of Belt and Road Initiative, it's the infrastructure investment that has attracted most attention. Its last principle of mutual benefit and peaceful co-existence is considered a soft power mechanism that portrays China as a promoter of peace and shows its desire to cultivate friendly ties from Central Asia to South and Southeast Asia to Africa. Moreover, it calls the initiative an expression of collective action from all countries rather than a strategy. As it calls for mutuality, China has placed an enormous importance on its neighborhood policy for the effective action. China, to quote an opinion piece in Xinhua that says a near neighbor is better than a distant cousin, has shown the importance it attaches to its relationship with its neighbors. South Asia, above all, is one of the complex regions for China. This relationship is best described as "so close, yet so far" because while China and South Asia share one of the earliest civilizations in the history of mankind, there haven't been many exchanges between the two. The initiative thus can bring the region closer via infrastructure development and road and maritime connectivity. However, as an economic soft power, its success rate is heavily depended upon the returns from the investment. It plans to diversify trade prospects in countries such as Afghanistan and Pakistan, but these countries aren't top in the World Bank's ease of doing business league and neither are other nations like Nepal and Sri-Lanka. It is expected that cooperation with China will help this nations to uplift their economic strength. China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is not only an infrastructure-based project. It will also promote China-Pakistan cultural and people-to-people exchanges. China had already signed cultural and educational agreements with all member states of South Asia except Bhutan. Confucius Institutes have opened in seven countries of South Asia. They aim to promote Chinese culture, language social issues in the region. B&R is a multi-faceted way of cooperation. China's soft power in South Asia actually ranges from cultural exchanges to economic partnership. India, its biggest vocal critic, continues to proclaim the initiative as a "colonial exercise" of the "Middle Kingdom". Due to the massive support of the global community to the initiative, it is said by many Indian scholars that India will not have any other choice than to support B&R. They added that India made a mistake by not sending a representative to the Beijing B&R Summit. George Gao of Foreign Policy magazine said, "Today, if people in Eurasia were all fans of Chinese pop music or television dramas, or had a more positive image of China, it might be easier for their governments to partner with Beijing on win-win initiatives like One Belt One Road". As India has dominated cultural soft power in the region, economic soft power of Belt and Road Initiative is now taking the right direction in South Asia. Experts said that India's hegemonic and British-era foreign policy towards the neighbors is forcing them to look at China for cooperation. A huge number of educational and cultural exchanges programs are taking place between China and South Asian nations. More and more people are learning Chinese language due to its future prospects and help in maintaining relations with various circles of Chinese people. China's influence is growing. In Bhutan, the market is full of Chinese goods; the country's tallest statute of Lord Buddha was built by a Chinese businessman. In Nepal, after the May 2015 earthquake Indian media indulged in fake news reporting and then the Indian government announced the economic blockade, which made Nepal redefine its trade terms consequently and joined the OBOR in the hope of reducing its trade and transport dependency on India. In conclusion, the initiative has a positive image in most of the South Asian countries as it has a soft power nature too. The relationship between China and most of the South Asian nation is going smoothly mainly due to two reasons: first, the principle of non-interference and mutuality it entails and second, the turnaround of India's neighborhood policy which caused its neighbors to look toward north for multiple cooperation based on mutual trust and win-win cooperation. No doubt, China's overarching policy towards South Asia is cultural mix of soft and hard postures and with B&R the biggest challenge for Beijing will be to communicate its perspective and vision and build-up its social and cultural rapport on multiple levels. Buddhi Prasad Sharma is PhD Candidate in Communication University of China, yesmanbush@gmail.com. Raunab Singh Khatri, Master's Degree Student in Peking University. raunabsinghkhatri.rk@gmail.com. This article is a summary of their full research paper on "The Politics of Soft Power: Belt and Road Initiative as Charm Influence in South Asia." 3D printing experience center opens in Liangjiang Updated: 2017-07-19 By Sun Hui, chinadaily.com.cn A new 3D printing exhibition and experience center became fully operational on July 18, marking the first one in Chongqing's Liangjiang New Area. Located in Liangjiang's Jintai Intelligent Industrial Park, the center was funded by 3D Focus Group, the biggest 3D printing platform in China. It covers an area of 1,200 square meters and focuses on 3D printing technologies. Wang Jing, general manager of the company's Chongqing branch, introduced that the center exhibits more than 150 3D printing products at present. Visitors can have interactive experiences, including body scans, printer operation presentations and maker course training. Professional technicians will guide visitors to try the center's special projects, such as chocolate printing machines, virtual reality (VR), robots and 3D printing painting. The 3D Focus has signed cooperation agreements with the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Chongqing Medical University and Chongqing Real Estate College to promote local 3D printing innovation and education. Wang Jing said the company will provide teachers and students with a 3D printing course guide book, educational PowerPoint presentations and key knowledge videos to help students gain a greater understanding of 3D printing. Metal 3D printed models of animal heads are exhibited at the Liangjiang 3D Printing Exhibition and Experience Center. [Photo/liangjiang.gov.cn] A 3D printing machine makes a butter pancake at the Liangjiang 3D Pprinting Eexhibition and Eexperience Ccenter. [Photo/liangjiang.gov.cn] A visitor experiences the 3D body scaning machine for a customized cloth. [Photo/liangjiang.gov.cn] Edited by Zachary Dye Tourism on the China-Vietnam border is booming, thanks to government policies and abundant resources. The customs of Dongxing, South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, recorded about 4.66 million people crossing the border in the first half of 2017, up 41.84 percent year on year. Dongxing is located on the China-Vietnam border. It is just across the border from the Vietnamese city of Mong Cai. "This is a record high, thanks to easier access to visas and affordable facilities," said an official with Dongxi's tourism bureau. Dongxing is the third largest land port in China. China has allowed foreigners to apply for visas in Dongxing from 2013, which increased the number of tourists from around the world using the city to enter Southeast Asia, according to Dongxi's tourism bureau. From last year, private-rented cars have been allowed to cross between Dongxing and Mong Cai, further contributing to tourist numbers. The issue of Libya should be addressed through political solutions, and the international community should strengthen cooperation to fight terrorism and prevent the north African country "from becoming the next Syria", Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Wednesday. As the counter-terrorism war in Iraq and Syria are developing, the international community should work together to prevent terrorist forces from fleeing these regions to Libya, Wang said in a joint news conference with his Tunisian counterpart Khemaies Jhinaoui in Beijing. Wang expressed China's position on the Libyan issue, pointing out that while sticking to the United Nations' leadership in mediation efforts, countries should "listen more to Libya's neighbors, including Tunisia, and take care of their reasonable concerns". Also, China insists that the Libya's sovereignty, independence and the integrity of its territory should be respected and safeguarded, and that its future should be decided by its people, Wang said. "The key is to continue urging all groups in Libya to dissolve differences through talks and negotiations, and to find a solution that takes into account interests of all parties through a political approach," Wang added. "Development is the first priority for countries in west Asia and north Africa. Peace and stability is an important prerequisite for achieving development," the minister said. The situation in Libya has worsened since civil war that broke out in 2011. Jhinaoui told reporters in Wednesday's news conference that China and Tunisia, which "shares a long border with Libya", reached a consensus that the Libyan issue should be solved through peaceful ways. Jhinaoui is in China for a five-day official visit that started on Monday. It is his first visit to China since he took office. Wang visited Tunisia in May last year. Wang and Jhinaoui signed an agreement on establishing a consultation mechanism between the two countries' foreign ministries on Wednesday before the joint news conference. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 We're 2.5 million strongmore than 1.7 million girls and 750,000 adults who believe in the power of every G.I.R.L. (Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-taker, Leader) to change the world. Since 1912, weve built girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place. A child holds a placard during a walk to commemorate what would have been Nelson Mandela's 99th birthday in Cape Town, South Africa, July 18, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] CAPE TOWN - The Chinese community in Cape Town joined South Africans on Tuesday in marking the Nelson Mandela International Day by helping the poor. The Chinese Community Police Forum (CCPF) in the Cape West Coast hosted a charity event by donating daily necessities to the elderly at a time when a cold front was raging in the region. Blankets, food parcels and gifts were delivered to the senior people living in desolation in order to help them go through the chilly weather, organizers said. In addition to members of the CCPF, representatives from the South African Border Police and the Saldanha Sea Border Women's League were also attending the event. The event was part of a community outreach program in commemoration of the Nelson Mandela International Day, serving as a reminder for the lifetime of services Mandela had given to South Africa. Captain Helgard Prince, Acting Commander of the West Coast Border Police, expressed his gratitude for the amount of love that the Chinese community has demonstrated for the local community. He stated that the charity deed was admirable and greatly appreciated by the recipients. Prince urged the Chinese community to strengthen the bond they have nurtured with the police and put their trust in South Africa's justice system. "This will immensely help regional police departments to provide improved service delivery to the country in general," he said. Zhiming Wu, Chairman of the CCPF, said the diplomatic relations between China and South Africa have reached historical heights in recent years in the form of comprehensive strategic partnership. "Therefore, it is imperative that the Chinese community living in South Africa establishes a healthy relationship with the local society," he said. By participating in community charity events, the Chinese community can immerse themselves into the local culture and truly become a member of the community they live in, Wu said. Meanwhile, the Soong Ching Ling Foundation South Africa also organized a charity event, making a donation of household items like heaters, blankets and clothes to impoverished children living in the Thornton SOS Village. These children have either been separated from their families because they are abused or they simply do not have a home to go to. The Nelson Mandela International Day, which falls on July 18, is celebrated across the globe in honor of Mandela's birthday. The United Nations launched the day on July 18, 2009 in recognition of the lifelong struggle against injustice of Mandela, South Africa's first democratically elected president. This year's Mandela Day is observed under the theme "Action Against Poverty." On this day, millions of people in South Africa and across the world spend 67 minutes of their time cleaning up the environment and doing community work for the good of others. The 67 minutes symbolize the 67 years that Mandela spent fighting for social justice to make the world a better place. Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem speaks during a meeting with the visiting Iranian Assistant Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Jaberi Ansari in Damascus, Syria, on July 19, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua] DAMASCUS - Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said Wednesday that his government will continue to fight terrorism "relentlessly," according to state news agency SANA. Al-Moallem made the remarks during his meeting with the visiting Iranian Assistant Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Jaberi Ansari, during which the minister expressed Syria's gratitude to Iran's support to Syria in all fields. Ansari stressed that Iran will continue to support Syria on all levels and in the battle on terror in order to reach a solution to the long-standing crisis without foreign intervention. The Iranian official also highlighted the importance of the coordination between Syria, Iran, and Russia to reach the hoped-for political solution in Syria. Iran has emerged as a main regional backer of the Syrian government, with military advisors and Shiite fighters aiding the Syrian army in the fight against the rebels. A combination photo of Donald Trump Jr. from July 11, 2017, Jared Kushner from June 6, 2017 and Paul Manafort from August 17, 2016. [Photo/Agencies] WASHINGTON Members of the Trump campaign's inner circle, including his eldest son and son-in-law, are being called before Senate committees next week to talk about the 2016 election. The week has the potential to deliver the most high-profile congressional testimony involving the Russian meddling probes since former FBI Director James Comey appeared in June. Donald Trump Jr. is scheduled to appear July 26 before the Senate Judiciary Committee along with former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, according to a witness list released by the panel Wednesday. Also, a lawyer for Trump's powerful son-in-law and adviser said Jared Kushner will speak to the Senate intelligence committee Monday. "As Mr. Kushner has been saying since March, he has been and is prepared to voluntarily cooperate and provide whatever information he has on the investigations to Congress," said attorney Abbe Lowell. "He will continue to cooperate and appreciates the opportunity to assist in putting this matter to rest."That meeting will apparently take place behind closed doors. Alan Futerfas, a lawyer for Trump Jr., did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment about his scheduled testimony. Manafort spokesman Jason Maloni said Manafort received the request Wednesday afternoon and is reading it over. The three men will almost certainly be asked about their attendance at a June 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer. That gathering was arranged via emails that advertised it would reveal damaging information about Hillary Clinton. The lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, also said Wednesday she was ready to testify before the US Senate and "clarify the situation."The meeting raised new questions about the Trump campaign's possible ties to Moscow, which are being scrutinized by federal and congressional investigators. These questions have only intensified as the identities of other Russia-connected participants have become known. "I am ready to clarify the situation behind the mass hysteria, but only through lawyers or testifying in the Senate," Veselnitskaya said in an interview broadcast Wednesday on Kremlin-funded RT television. "If the Senate wishes to hear the real story, I will be happy to speak up and share everything I wanted to tell Mr. Trump," she added. That appeared to be a reference to Veselnitskaya's previous statement that the meeting with Trump Jr. focused on US-Russian adoption policies and a US sanctions law. Veselnitskaya has denied working for the Russian government. She has not responded to repeated attempts by The Associated Press to reach her for comment. Congressional investigators in both parties have said they want to hear from those involved in the meeting. The top Democrat on the Senate intelligence panel, Virginia's Mark Warner, said Wednesday afternoon that the panel hasn't yet invited Veselnitskaya to testify, but he wants to hear from her and others who attended. Warner said "it's still being worked out" whether some of his committee's more high-profile witnesses, including Trump Jr. and Manafort, should testify publicly or privately. The Senate and House intelligence panels conduct most of their interviews in private, but occasionally hold open hearings. Warner said Trump Jr. has "no security clearances that I am aware of, so he should be able to testify in public."The GOP chairman of Senate Judiciary panel, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, told Iowa reporters Wednesday that he's been talking to Trump Jr.'s lawyer and "didn't get any pushback" when suggesting he testify this week. But he said "it's kind of rushy" to call him in so quickly, and said Democrats had requested documents and emails that they wanted to see before a hearing. Grassley had said he would subpoena the witnesses if necessary. The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing will review a law that oversees the registration of foreign agents. The panel has been investigating one of the participants at the Trump Jr. meeting, Russian-American lobbyist and former Soviet military officer Rinat Akhmetshin, as part of its probe into the law. The top Democrat on the Judiciary panel, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, said this week that special counsel Robert Mueller has cleared Trump Jr. and Manafort for public testimony. Mueller is conducting the Justice Department's investigation and Grassley has said he wants to avoid conflicts. The House Intelligence Committee is also probing the Russian meddling, and the top Democrat on that panel, California Rep. Adam Schiff, says the committee is contacting participants in the Trump Jr. meeting. Referencing Feinstein's comments about Mueller's clearance, he said his committee may consider public hearings "for particular witnesses" but noted it rarely holds open hearings. The House panel is "reaching out to participants in the meeting with a request for testimony and documents, so that is very much in process at the moment," Schiff said. Associated Press Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. License for publishing multimedia online 0108263 Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Beijing expects stronger coordination and cooperation to promote peace and dialogue in the Middle East as it hosted vists from prominent political figures of four countries in the region, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said. China's recent interactions with the region have come into the limelight as Palestine's president, Tunisia's foreign minister, the United Arab Emirates' minister of state and Qatar's foreign minister traveled to Beijing this week. When meeting with Qatar Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani on Thursday evening, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China will continue promoting peace and dialogue in accordance with the needs of countries in the Middle East to further push for political settlements of the Gulf crisis. In response, Mohammed said Qatar values its friendship with China and China's role in the region, and Qatar appreciates how China has reacted since the crisis began. Currently, the Middle East situation is "at a critical crossroad", and "since there's no stability in the Middle East, the world can hardly enjoy tranquillity", Lu told a regular news conference on Thursday. As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, China has always kept track of the peace, stability and development in the Middle East region, he said. "There are no selfish interests behind China's addressing the Middle East issue, and it completely acts out of the well-being of regional countries and their people," Lu said. A range of new proposals were made by Chinese officials during the recent sequence of visits and talks in Beijing. Niu Xinchun, director of the Institute of Middle East Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said that behind the trips to China are the welcome gestures of the Middle East countries toward China's playing a greater role in the region and the region's leaders' hopes to ease tensions there. Xue Qingguo, a professor of Arab studies at Beijing Foreign Studies University, said the recent China visits showcase China's impartial role in regional issues as well as China's good ties with the Middle Eastern countries. "What China could do is to beef up its mediating efforts and offer its proposals. This does not mean China will get entangled or meddle in the standoffs. Instead, China offers helps within its capacity," Xue said. In his talk on Tuesday with visiting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, President Xi Jinping said China will hold a seminar for people who want peace in Palestine and Israel this year to contribute ideas and solutions to the Palestinian issue. When meeting with visiting UAE Minister of State Sultan Ahmed Al-Jaber on Wednesday, Wang unveiled China's three-point position on the lingering Gulf crisis, including supporting an early start of talks by all parties involved. Wang also proposed a four-point principle on the Libyan issue when meeting with his Tunisian counterpart on Wednesday, calling for reinforced international cooperation in the fight against terror. PASCAGOULA, Mississippi -- Dwanya Hickerson looked directly at Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Robert Krebs and answered clearly. "Yes, sir," he said when Krebs asked if he understood he was pleading guilty to murder. Hickerson entered a plea of guilty Thursday afternoon in the stabbing death of 25-year-old transgender woman Dee Whigham. He also pleaded guilty to robbing Whigham, taking her cellphone and a bag containing her personal items. Whigham, a nurse from Hattiesburg who was visiting the coast with friends, was found dead in a room at the Best Western motel in the St. Martin community last July 23. An autopsy revealed she had been stabbed 119 times, with many of the wounds to her face. Her throat was slashed three times. Surveillance video and other evidence led to Hickerson, who at the time was a Navy seaman studying to be a meteorologist at Keesler Air Force Base (he's since been discharged). A base instructor identified Hickerson as the man seen in surveillance photos circulated in the media. Hickerson was arrested two days later and charged with capital murder. Through a plea agreement with the Jackson County District Attorney's Office, Hickerson pleaded guilty to 2nd-degree murder Thursday, avoiding a possible death sentence. Following the DA's sentencing recommendation, Krebs sentenced Hickerson to 35 years in state prison, without parole, for the murder and another eight years for the robbery. Those sentences will run consecutive, meaning Hickerson will remain in prison for the next 43 years. At 21 years of age, he will be 64 when released, after which he will spent the next 10 years on post-release supervision. He was also ordered to pay $3,000 in fines, court costs and $2,000 to the Victim's Compensation Fund. In order to accept Hickerson's guilty plea, Krebs asked Hickerson to recount the events of last July to which he was pleading guilty. Hickerson said he had met Whigham through an online site and ultimately the two agreed to meet. He said the two went almost immediately to the hotel room and engaged in anal sex, saying Whigham said she preferred sex that way. Afterward, Whigham told Hickerson she had been born a male. Hickerson said at that point, he became enraged. "I lost it. I lost my mind." He said he remembered stabbing Whigham, but little else. Assistant District Attorney Cherie Wade outlined the state's case, laying out the evidence which would have been presented at trial, saying that the crime was "unnecessary. It didn't have to happen." She noted that in this case, both the victim and the suspect were young people with bright futures. After Krebs accepted the guilty plea, Hickerson was given an opportunity to speak. "I'd like to apologize to the Whigham family," he said. "I'm truly sorry for what happened. I wish it had turned out differently. If I could take it back, I would." Both mothers also spoke. "My son never set out to murder anybody," said Kimberly Markin, Hickerson's mother, adding that she was "devastated" for both families. "They have lost a son and today I feel as if I'm losing mine." Vickie Whigham, the victim's mother, said she "didn't agree with" her son's choice of lifestyle, but had accepted him and he was happy with his life. She said "I feel for Dewayna" but that she didn't think the sentence was adequate. District Attorney Tony Lawrence, however, said he was satisfied with the plea agreement. Shortly after court adjourned, he was seen hugging Whigham family members in a room off the courthouse hallway. "I remember when we received the call the night this happened," he said. "We were deeply concerned about who did this, because it was a very violent crime, a vicious attack. I'm glad the family now knows more about why their family member died and how he died. Although we do take issue with some of the statements, we are glad for the result. "This would have been a tough thing for the family to sit through during a trial," Lawrence continued. Thirty-five years, day for day, plus another eight years is a punishment in which justice was served here in Jackson County." Sheriff Mike Ezell, whose department investigated the case, was also satisfied with the outcome. "We're satisfied the way it all came out," he said. "It was a very hard case to work. Things came together with a lot of hard work, plain gumshoe police work. We're very satisfied, but all these families have lost in this particular case." OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi --Thanks to a victim who wasn't willing to play along, some good samaritans, and an alert off-duty police officer, four suspects are in custody following an incident at the Ocean Springs Walmart Thursday afternoon in which one suspect pulled a gun and threatened to open fire. According to Ocean Springs Capt. Chuck Jackson, police received a 911 call from Walmart on U.S. 90 at 5:12 p.m. Thursday. Investigators learned a black male suspect -- later identified as 17-year-old Nicholas Jvante Brothern -- snatched a purse from a female victim inside the story and ran -- a strong-armed robbery given no weapon was brandished at that point. However, the victim and other Walmart customers gave chase throughout the store before following Brothern outside. Once there, Brothern pulled out a handgun and pointed it at the victim and other shoppers, threatening to "shoot them all," according to Jackson. Coincidentally, an off-duty Ocean Springs officer happened to be inside the store at the time of the incident and witnessed the crime. He was among those who followed Brothern out of the store and saw him get into a black Dodge pickup. The truck then attempted to leave the Walmart parking lot via the eastern exit. However, the off-duty officer had called in a description of the vehicle to police dispatch and other police units arrived and stopped the suspect vehicle prior to it exiting the parking lot. Brothern and the three other occupants of the vehicle were taken into custody. Brothern was immediately booked into the Ocean Springs Municipal Jail on one count of armed robbery, while the others were taken to the police station for questioning. Tuesday morning, the other three were also charged with armed robbery for their involvement. Those three suspects have been identified as Y'Maya L. Harris, 16; Albert Morgan III, 18; and Gary Desean Perkins, 20. All of the suspects are from Gulfport. Although minors, Brothern and Harris are being charged as adults. The four suspects remain in the Ocean Springs Municipal Jail awaiting an initial court appearance before Judge Matthew Mestayer. Jackson credited the numerous witnesses aided the investigation by coming forward to provide information to police. I had the privilege or reading a pre-release version of "God Shines Forth: How the Nature of God Shapes and Drives the Mission of the Church." Here are 20 quotes from the book, which you should pick up. Ask an American Christian what type of church they belong to, and youre more likely than ever to hear the label nondenominational. The proportion of Protestants in the United States who dont identify with a specific denomination doubled between 2000 and 2016, according to a Gallup poll released this week. Now, about 1 in 6 Americans are nondenominational Christians. The growing popularity of nondenominational identity is the result of two trends: the decline in the number of Protestants overall, as more Americans eschew any religious affiliation (becoming the nones), and shrinking denominations themselves. Not only are the major mainline churches continuing to see their numbers fall, the countrys largest Protestant denominationthe Southern Baptist Convention (SBC)has lost a million members in the past 15 years. Prior to 2000, half of all Americans belonged to a specific Protestant denomination. Now, just 30 percent do, Gallup reported. Churches ... 1 home World Researchers discover blood of torture victim on Shroud of Turin Researchers have discovered that the Shroud of Turin, which is believed by some to be the burial cloth of Jesus Christ, contains the blood of a torture victim. Elvio Carlino, a researcher at the Institute of Crystallography, noted that very small particles attached to the linen fibers of the shroud "have recorded a scenario of great suffering, whose victim was wrapped up in the funeral cloth." According to Giulio Fanti, a professor at the University of Padua, the particles, called "nanoparticles," had a "peculiar structure, size and distribution" that are not typical of the blood of a healthy person. The nanoparticles reportedly show high levels of substances called creatinine and ferritin, which can be found in patients who have suffered multiple traumas such as torture. "Hence, the presence of these biological nanoparticles found during our experiments point to a violent death for the man wrapped in the Turin Shroud," said Fanti, according to Catholic News Agency. The latest findings have been published in the U.S. open-access peer-reviewed journal PlosOne, in an article titled "New Biological Evidence from Atomic Resolution Studies on the Turin Shroud." Carlino stated that the new findings could only be "revealed by the methods recently developed in the field of electron microscopy." He further noted that the research marked the first study of "the nanoscale properties of a pristine fiber taken from the Turin Shroud." The research was conducted by the Istituto Officina dei Materiali in Trieste and the Institute of Crystallography in Bari, which are both under Italy's National Research Council and the University of Padua's Department of Industrial Engineering. While some have claimed the relic to be a forgery, the researchers maintain that there is no evidence so far to suggest that the shroud is a fake. The 14-foot long, three-and-a-half foot wide cloth features a postmortem image of a man who appeared to be brutally tortured and crucified. Earlier this year, Italy's National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development published a report noting that the image on the cloth cannot be reproduced with the current state of science. According to the report, the total power required to instantly color the surface of the linen that corresponds to the size of an average human body would be "34 thousand billion watts." The document further explained that it would be impractical to reproduce the entire image on the Shroud today, noting that the most powerful light source available on market only goes as high as several billion watts. The Catholic Church has not taken an official position on the authenticity of the shroud, which is currently housed at Turin's St. John the Baptist Cathedral. Charles Dharapak/STF President Donald Trump's pick for Russian ambassador, Jon Huntsman Jr., has ties to Russia through his seat on Chevron's board and his family's Woodlands-based business. While Huntsman, the former Utah governor and ambassador to China, has very limited experience in Russia, Chevron has deep business ties there and specialty chemical company Huntsman Corp. holds a few Russia locations. Craig Cordola, a longtime Memorial Hermann Health System executive, is leaving to head operations at Ascension Texas, a network of hospitals in Austin and Waco, officials with both institutions said Wednesday. Cordola has been with Memorial Hermann for 14 years, most recently as senior vice president of the health system and president of its West Region, which includes its hospitals in Memorial City, Katy and Cypress. In his new position, which begins Sept. 1, he will oversee Seton Healthcare Family in Austin and Providence Healthcare Network in Waco. "I'm looking forward to moving back to Austin and working with the leadership team," Cordola said in a statement released by Ascension, a Catholic health-care system and the largest nonprofit system in the nation with 140 hospitals in 24 states. His departure follows a spate of high-profile executive exits at Memorial Hermann and elsewhere at Houston's marquee hospitals. A Memorial Hermann spokeswoman said Wednesday that Cordola's leaving was not related to the ongoing turmoil that has left the city's medical community reeling. Last month Dr. Benjamin Chu, Memorial Hermann's CEO for one year, left abruptly. Dan Styf, a senior vice president and CEO of Memorial Hermann Health Plans, also left a year after being brought in to run the health-care network's foray into the individual insurance market. The hospital system announced recently it was abandoning that effort and will not sell individual plans for next year. The health system has also laid off 460 employees since spring. Elsewhere, Dr. Ron DePinho was forced out as CEO of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in March. Then, just a week after Chu's resignation, Michael Covert, the CEO of St. Luke's Health, resigned suddenly. A week later, Jenny Barnett-Sarpalius, St. Luke's CFO, also stepped down. Weeks after Sears announced it would close more Houston-area stores, the struggling department store chain has struck a partnership with one of its fiercest competitors. The company announced Thursday that its Kenmore-brand appliances are available on Amazon.com, which for years has eroded department store sales with the promise of convenience and lower prices. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A car chase involving a Department of Public Services state trooper ended late Wednesday when a driver slammed into a mobile home in north Houston. The chase started about 11 p.m. when a DPS state trooper tried to pull over a driver on Richey at Interstate 45 for a traffic violation, said DPS Sgt. Richard Standifer. Instead of stopping, the driver fled down Richey. It's unclear how long the chase lasted, but it ended when the driver slammed into a mobile home on Imperial Valley Drive, Standifer said. The driver was critically injured and was taken to an area hospital. Neither the state trooper nor the occupants of the mobile home were hurt, Standifer said. It was not immediately clear what prompted the driver to flee from the state trooper. An investigation is ongoing. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Every Tuesday at 8 a.m., Houston ISD Trustee Manuel "Manny" Rodriguez, Jr., would roll his maroon mobility scooter up to his favorite table at the Tel-Wink Restaurant & Grill in Southeast Houston. Rodriguez always left the seat across from him empty. Constituents and complete strangers knew those were his office hours the hours he set aside to visit with community members with questions about the school district, parents worried about new policies or those who just wanted to get Rodriguez' opinion on the latest local news. If you were lucky, Rodriguez would buy your breakfast. "That was like his little home away from home," said Carlos Calbillo, a Latino community activist who described Rodriguez as a "dear friend." "He did more work at that breakfast table than he did at his office or the HISD offices. He was a people person, just loved by everyone." Rodriguez, an HISD trustee since 2003 and a voice for the city's Latino community for years before that, died Wednesday morning after suffering a massive heart attack, according to a statement released by the Houston ISD. His unexpected death stunned the HISD community. Funeral arrangements had not been finalized as of Wednesday evening, and the district did not respond immediately to questions about the selection of a possible successor. Trustee Anne Sung said Rodriguez's death was "tremendously sad." "Manny has been such a long-standing servant on the HISD board," said Sung, elected last year to represent District VII. "He is extremely committed to his community and has been a great mentor to me as I've joined the HISD board. I'm very sorry to hear about this great loss." Houston City Council Member Robert Gallegos announced Rodriguez' death at Wednesday's meeting. He, Mayor Sylvester Turner and other council members offered their condolences to Rodriguez' family. Rodriguez had served in various roles including assistant secretary, second vice president, first vice president and president. He was the longest-serving member of the current school board. As District III trustee, Rodriguez advocated dual-credit programs, credit recovery and instituting blended learning with laptop computers for high-school students. He helped establish the maritime academies at Austin and Yates high schools, as well as Liberty High School, an alternative school that caters to students who are recent immigrants. He also was a vocal proponent hiring Superintendent Richard Carranza, the district's second Hispanic leader. "We are heartbroken by the passing of Trustee Rodriguez, who was a pillar in the HISD community," Carranza said in a statement Wednesday. "He was a true advocate for educating all children and a champion for change. He was wise man, a mentor, and a friend to us all. We will forever be indebted to him by his service to public education. His legacy will live on." Rodriguez graduated from Stephen F. Austin High School in 1970 before earning an associate of arts degree in social sciences from Solano Community College and a bachelor's degree in organizational behavior management and marketing at the University of Houston. His wife Virginia and four children all graduated from HISD schools. Family members could not be reached for comment. Rodriguez served as a computer specialist in the U.S. Air Force from 1970 to 1977, in Lubbock, Texas, and at the Lindsey Air Station in Wiesbaden, Germany, before finishing his military career in Fairfield, Calif. During the 1970s, Rodriguez became involved in local schools during Houston ISD's integration fight. Calbillo said Rodriguez and other Latino community advocates were furious over the district's attempts to better integrate schools plans Calbillo said often came at the expense of Latino and black students. Rodriguez continued to keep a keen interest in local schools, becoming a "go-to guy" for such issues, Calbillo said. Trustee Jolanda Jones said she admired that Rodriguez was often willing to stand up for poor and minority students, even if it meant clashing with the HISD administration. But he never let the situation become too serious, she said, often bringing levity to tense school board discussions. "He had the driest sense of humor. Sometimes I didn't know he was even telling a joke he tickled his own self," Jones said. "He'll definitely be missed." Rodriguez also served on the board of directors for the Texas Association of School Boards from 2008 to 2011. In 2010 he was elected president of the Mexican American School Board Members Association and was inducted into the National Hispanic Institute Hall of Fame in 2013. "There is much to be proud of at HISD," Rodriguez said at the 2016 State of the Schools luncheon. "We continue to be recognized as one of the finest urban districts in the nation." But his tenure was not without controversy. He angered many in the LGBT community in 2011 after he released a campaign ad that highlighted his opponent's sexuality and support of gay rights. In a flyer, Rodriguez's campaign noted that his challenger, Ramiro Fonseca, "spent years advocating for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender rights ... not kids." The Houston GLBT Political Caucus condemned Rodriguez's ad. Rodriguez also had been a director since 1990 with the Harrisburg Information Center, a community guidance and clerical office serving the Hispanic community. Although Houston ISD has not yet said how it will fill the District III seat, the board had to fill another vacancy recently. Trustee Greg Meyers abruptly resigned from the board in November, and the remaining board members appointed Holly Flynn Vilaseca to serve out the rest of Meyer's term. Rodriguez was last reelected to the board in 2015. Jacob Carpenter, Margaret Kadifa and Mike Morris contributed to this report. ST. MARTIN, Mississippi -- Angel Barnes doesn't consider what she does for her kids and their schools to be anything special, certainly nothing more than what other parents do. "The work I have done in the schools and in the community is, in my opinion, just what you do when you have kids," Barnes said. It appears, however, not everyone agrees with her. Having already been honored as the Jackson County School District Parent of the Year and the 4th Congressional District Parent of the Year, Barnes learned Wednesday she has been named Mississippi's Parent of the Year for 2017 by the Mississippi Department of Education. Each year, school districts across Mississippi accept nominations and select a winner for the district Parent of the Year award. Those district winners then compete within Mississippi's four Congressional districts, from which four winners are chosen. Those four winners become semifinalists for the state Parent of the Year award. Appropriately, Barnes was at St. Martin High School registering her youngest son for school when she received the call from Ken Stamps at the MDE. She didn't hear the phone ring, so Stamps left a voicemail informing Barnes she had won. "I thought perhaps I had not heard him correctly, so I found a quiet spot and returned his call," Barnes said. "I have to admit I was pretty stunned. It was a little emotional for me, anyway, starting off our final year associated with St. Martin after 24 great years." Barnes and her husband, Ron, have been married for 30 years. Ron Barnes is the President/CEO of Coast Electric Power Association. The two of them are the parents of four chidren: Amy, 29; Haley, 27; Emily, 19; and Taylor, 17 -- who is entering his senior year at SMHS and will be the last of the Barnes clan to finish school there. Barnes' involvement with St. Martin schools began in 1993, when Amy entered kindergarten. Over the years, she has served the various schools in a variety of ways, including serving as a room mother, mentor/tutor, guest reader, team mom, Reading Fair judge and PTO president. In addition, she has served as a chaperone on a number of school strips, including visits to New Orleans, Hattiesburg, Poplarville, Brandon, Gulfport, Ridgeland and Mobile. She served for several years as a parent representative on the St. Martin and Jackson County Vision Teams. Once her children began to reach high school, Barnes' involvement only intensified. Her children had varied interests, including theater, choir and robotics. She counded the SMHS Choir Booster Club and served as its president for two years. She also recruited other parents to help found the SMHS Robotics Booster Club, which she continues to serve as secretary/treasurer. "She has made herself available for everything from hiding Easter Eggs to making copies to heading up a successful fundraiser talent show," her Parent of the Year nomination reads. Barnes' involvement in her children's schools hasn't prevented her from being equally involved in her community. She serves as Children's Ministries Director at Heritage Methodist Church, is on the board of directors for Gulfport Little Theater, and on the board of directors for Noah's Ark Child Care Center. She has been honored before for her efforts in the schools and community. In 2008, she received the Barnabas Award from Heritage United Methodist Church, given annually to someone who displays servant-leadership, generosity of spirit and encouragement of others. Barnes was also recognized by the church for her many years of directing its Vacation Bible School and her dedication to the children of the church and the community. Last year, Gulfport Little Theater named Barnes its recipient of the Bailey-Leggett Award. Named for two of the theater's earliest benefactors, the award is given annually for significant contributions to the theater. Unsurprisingly, however, Barnes remains humble about her contributions. "It's part and parcel of being a good parent," she said. "I know there are a lot of other parents in our state who work very hard and are just as deserving (of recognition), so I have to say I'm a little overwhelmed, and very, very honored." Barnes will be honored as the state's Parent of the Year at next month's MDE board meeting. A school district in Texas approved a measure that would allow paddling as a form of punishment starting in the upcoming academic year. Three Rivers Independent School District in South Texas passed the new system Tuesday. It allows "campus behavior coordinators and/or the principal" to administer corporal punishment with a witness present, according to the text of the policy. The witness must be of the opposite sex of the student. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Atascocita High alums Christopher and Jonathan Petsch are known as the dynamic duo as they both receive a $4,000 scholarship from Tesoro Corp. Christopher is a sophomore at the University of Texas at Austin at the McCombs School of Business studying accounting. Jonathan is a freshman at the University of Texas at Austin at Moody College of Communication studying advertising. As a junior in high school, Christopher spent a year in a foreign exchange program through the Rotary International in Loja, Ecuador. Christian Petsch, Jonathan and Christopher's father, said both his sons are grateful to not only the support they received from Tesoro but also from the connections and relationships they've built from their time at Atascocita High. "They are honored and appreciated being allowed the chance to further improve and pursue their education," Christian Petsch said. Tesoro Corporation, soon to be named Andeavor on Aug. 1, is an independent refiner and marketer of petroleum products with a headquarters in San Antonio. The Tesoro Scholarship program awarded 50 new scholarships and renewed 72 existing scholarships in 2017. The program is now in its fourth year and has awarded a total of 389 scholarships, donating more than $1.5 million to students seeking higher education. "There is no required field of study for the recipients, rather, students are recognized for their dedication to academia and encouraged to pursue their passions," said Tina Contreras, senior benefits analyst. Recipients of scholarships are selected through Scholarship Management Services based on academic achievement, honors and awards, work experience, a statement of goals and aspirations, unusual personal or family circumstances and financial need. "Students are encouraged to pursue their passions and career interests wherever they may lead," Contreras said. Sometimes you want your boss, airline or landlord to know you mean business. Maybe it's because being nice isn't working. Maybe you want to draw a line in the sand. Or you just want what you have coming under the law. Whatever the motivation, the language you use can make all the difference. Deploying the right in-the-know phrase signals that you know your rights and that you've probably got a lawyer on speed dial. Below are four legal phrases to use for common problems, including how to ask for help with your disability at work, what to do if you get unexpectedly stuck at an airport or come home to find your air conditioning broken. With a little practice they should roll off your tongue. Similarly situated employees: It is a fancy way of saying it's not just you. Are you not getting paid overtime and you should? Are men getting raises but the women aren't? If you complain to your boss or file complaints with federal regulators you can say it is affecting you and similarly situated employees. That odd legal phrasing commonly used by employment lawyers but not many otherswill likely cause the folks in human resources to wonder if you're taking to a lawyer. Contract of carriage: This is the document that controls your air travel and determines whether you'll get a free meal if your flight is delayed, what you can check in your baggage and what you're owed if the flight is oversold. Every airline has one. If you are stuck at the airport because your flight has been cancelled and you can't get rebooked for another three days, ask the gate agent for a copy of the airline's contract of carriage. Or pull up a copy on your phone. Then read it carefully to see how it applies to your situation. One time I cited the contract of carriage when I was trying to get a refund for a ticket I had to cancel. The airline had never sent me an email confirmation and I realized from reading the contract of carriage that the airline was required to do so. Up until then, I couldn't get the airline to even consider a refund. But when I cited the specific rule number and passage in the contract of carriage, the manager immediately agreed to give me my money back. Request for a reasonable accommodation: Under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, employees with disabilities can ask their companies for help to do their jobs. It can be providing a device like a bigger computer screen for employees with sight problems, time off to eat lunch every day for diabetics controlling their blood sugar or modifying work hours for employees receiving medical treatment. The key is you have to ask. And the most effective way is to use the exact language of the federal disabilities law. Putting the phrase "Request for reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act" in the subject line of an email will likely get the immediate attention of human resources. The courts have said repeatedly that employees don't have to invoke any "magic words" such as "reasonable accommodation" to assert their rights, said Rudy Sustaita, regional attorney for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Houston. But it helps to use the legal phrasing, he said. "That way, an employer can't say, 'I didn't know what he was talking about.'" RELATED: Disability law becomes profit center for some Implied warranty of habitability: When you are renting a home or apartment, there is a legal doctrine that the unit must be fit to live in. It covers essential services like plumbing and heat that can make a dwelling unlivable. Legal media consultant Mary Flood recalls the hot summer in Houston when her air conditioning broke in her apartment. She called her landlord and said that she doesn't care what the lease says because there is an implied warranty of habitability and that she wanted a hotel room provided at no cost until the air conditioning was fixed. She got a free hotel room for two nights and her air conditioning was repaired. "I wasn't even a lawyer then," said Flood, who went on to get a law degree from Harvard. Are there certain phrases that have helped you? Please send me an email and I'll do a follow up post. Jon Gambrell/Associated Press Exxon Mobil Corp. will fight the Treasury Department in a courtroom over a $2 million fine leveled at the Texas oil company for violating U.S. sanctions against Russia. The largest U.S. oil company filed a lawsuit in Dallas federal court on Thursday against the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control just a few hours after the department said Exxon violated sanctions when its U.S. subsidiaries signed legal documents related to Russian oil and gas projects with Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin, who had been under U.S. sanctions since the month before. Oil climbed above $50 a barrel in London for the first time in six weeks after further declines in U.S. crude and gasoline inventories eased concerns over a global glut. Brent advanced as much as 0.7 percent. U.S. crude inventories slipped 4.73 million barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration reported Wednesday. Gasoline stockpiles dropped by 4.45 million barrels, the most since March. Oil had traded below $50 since the start of June amid concerns rising global supply will offset curbs by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners. OPEC and non-member countries will meet later this month in St. Petersburg to help monitor compliance with the output deal. This is a perfect demonstration that the oil market rebalancing process is actually happening, Jan Edelmann, an analyst at HSH Nordbank AG in Hamburg, said of the inventory declines. U.S. supplies Brent for September settlement traded at $50.03 a barrel, up 33 cents, on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange at 1:12 p.m. local time, climbing above $50 for the first time since June 7. Prices on Wednesday gained 86 cents, or 1.8 percent, to close at $49.70. The global benchmark crude traded at a premium of $2.42 to September West Texas Intermediate. WTI for August delivery, which expires Thursday, was up 24 cents to $47.36 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Total volume traded was about 14 percent below the 100-day average. Prices advanced 72 cents, or 1.6 percent, to settle at $47.12 on Wednesday. The more-active September contract added 26 cents to $47.58. Crude stockpiles at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for WTI and the nations biggest oil-storage hub, fell for a ninth week to 57.5 million barrels last week, the longest run of declines since June 2014, EIA data showed. Still, U.S. production expanded for a third week to 9.43 million barrels a day in the week ended July 14, according to the EIA. Oil-market news: This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate WASHINGTON - The world's largest oil and gas companies are urging Congress to make changes to legislation expanding sanctions against Russia and Iran. A provision within the bill that would prohibit American companies from engaging in energy projects in which Russian firms are also engaged - whether the project is in Russia or not - has oil and gas companies protesting it could affect critical drilling and pipeline projects all over the globe. "The concerns have resonated with some members of Congress and there are efforts underway to change some elements of the bill," Jeffrey Turner, an attorney with the law firm Squire Patton Boggs, said at an event at the Atlantic Council in Washington Wednesday. The legislation, which will expand upon earlier sanctions placed on Russia, was introduced earlier this year in response to U.S. intelligence agencies' reports that the Russian government was behind the hacking of Democratic Party servers ahead of last year's presidential elections. Among the projects that could be effected is the Southern Gas Corridor project, which once completed would move natural gas from the Shah Deniz field in Azerbaijan to southwestern Europe. The 2,200 mile pipeline has been promoted as a means to give Italy, Turkey and other European nations another alternative to the Russian natural gas upon which they have long relied. Only among the 11 energy companies partnered on the project, which includes BP, Statoil and Total, is Russian firm Lukoil. "Even the threat of sanctions could seriously effect the project," said Richard Morningstar, a former U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan and founding director of the Atlantic Council's Global Energy Center. "What a gift to give to the Russians to eliminate a source of competitive gas." And the sanctions have implications for U.S. majors like Exxon Mobil and Chevron as well. Exxon is partnered with Russian giant Rosneft on an exploration project off the coast of Mozambique. And earlier this year the Venezuelan state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA offered Rosnef a 10 percent stake in an oil project there. The question now though is what changes House and Senate Republicans, tied up trying to find a means to repeal Obamacare, are willing to make. And with the House scheduled to leave Washington for August recess at the end of the week, time is running short. President Donald Trump himself is pressing Congress to remove language limiting the White House's ability to adjust existing sanctions. And while that is unlikely, Turner said, the Senate might be willing to back off the language prohibiting partnership with Russian firms. "There is an opportunity to make changes, but I think they will be on the margins," Turner said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Monday night was a rather unusual one for Dayton city council -- they hosted two meetings simultaneously. While it wasn't the first time it's happened, it was a significant one and could be considered historic in nature as it concerns the future of Dayton. The Dayton Community Development Corporation (DCDC) board members were the guests at Monday's joint session and per protocol, both boards had to call their meetings to order since there was a quorum present. The DCDC contingent was present to propose the continuance of a contract with Kendig Keast Collaborative to begin developing a revitalization plan for the downtown area of Dayton. It was one of the most requested topics in the community meetings that drew record numbers for participation. But before the good news proposal could be addressed, council was forced to hear some bad news relating to a water crisis in the city. James "Red" McDaniel, director of water and waste water for the city, announced to council members that the Clayton Street well had failed. "They recently put it all back together again to try and get a flow out of it and it pumped sand," he told concerned council members. "It pumped enough sand that it locked the pump up. Originally, they were unsure what the problem was so they removed the pump, disassembled it and took it back to their shop and discovered it was full of sand," he said. The water director said the city had a few options. The most economical option, he told council, would be to purchase a sand separator. "This is a unit that goes down in the well, into the ground. It's not anything that needs to be maintained as far as I understand. They'll just put it on and that's all it needs," he described. The cost would be approximately $9,528. McDaniel reminded council that over the last three years alone, they have spent more than $300,000 repairing and rehabbing the well to keep it operational. The second option, McDaniel lamented, would be to drill another well at that location. "We're in discussion with engineers to see if that's a possibility because we could run into sanitary easement and other issues," he said. He wasn't familiar with how close it could be to the existing well. McDaniel also reminded council that there was already one capped well on that site. "We may have to update the pumps and perhaps some electrical in the pump house," he said. The third option was one McDaniel said the council would have to consider in the near future anyway. "We need to drill a test well at the SH 146 water tower," he said. "We need a definitive answer whether we could put a well in there," he said. Even if that is a possibility, McDaniel said, and they are able to get a 1,500 to 2,000 gallon-per-minute well there, it could make up the loss at the Clayton Street well. "The problem with putting a well out there," he explained, "we'll need booster pumps, ground storage, chlorination, and all the stuff that goes with it." The entire project would cost an estimated $5 million. "If the development keeps growing out on SH 146 like it is, it's something we'll have to do sooner than later," he explained. "We also have a strong possibility of development on US 90, FM 1960, and SH 686. We'll get caught with our pants down if we don't start planning now." McDaniel told council members that the first option would only be a stop-gap measure until something else could be done. He also reminded council that the well was put in close to the same time as the Rosewood well back in the mid-1960s. While there is still plenty of capacity currently for the city, the state recommends having at least two operating wells that can offset the other if something goes wrong or one goes down. "The Tram Road well was drilled in 1988 and may need repairs as well," he said. "It's continually pumping against the head of the system." McDaniel also recommended it be examined. "Even if we drill a test well today, it would be almost a year before they would know whether it was viable and another year-and-a-half to drill," said Mayor Jeff Lambright. Councilmen approved the purchase of the sand separator with the hope that it will give them the time they need to consider a water well installation in the SH 146 area or at the Clayton Road site if it's viable. Next, council members considered the recommendation by the Dayton Community Development Corporation to hire Kendig Keast Collaborative to begin work immediately on a downtown revitalization plan. The Comprehensive Plan for the city was considered at a 30,000-foot look and focused on generalities that give leaders a guide on what to do next to prepare for the coming growth. The Downtown Revitalization Plan will zoom in much closer and give leaders a more targeted approach, block by block, building by building, on how to make the best of the downtown area. Part of the plan being considered is a Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone that allows the city to capture the increase in value of property taxes as an increment for reinvestment into the area that has been identified as needing a facelift. "This sets the expectation level even if you can't do certain projects now, by communicating to prospective developers, the county or regional organizations like the Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) what the city intends to do so that they can plan accordingly. While you may not be able to finance some of those projects, but maybe they can," Nunez said. The implementation plan could be as few as 5-10 years. "The TIRZ is a self-financing tool for the city to use to reinvest in the specific area designated in the TIRZ," Nunez said. There was a lot of discussion about the redevelopment. "You've got to change the face of downtown to keep it viable or this will be a ghost town like every other little city with the downtown out there [SH 146 area]," the mayor said. Councilman Josh Townsend also spoke up that it was time for the city to commit to paper the plans they want to do and then do it. "It's vital that we do something now and get it written down," he said. "I don't think we have 5-10 years. I think we need to move as soon as possible," he said. Townsend doesn't want to wait. He'd like to see the plans finished in six months or close to it in order to beat the completion of the Grand Parkway and have something already going on in downtown to keep customers. It was also pointed out the having the plan would make it easier for the city to get grants that require a plan before they even consider them. "We've got to move into the 21st century," said Wendell Null, president of the Dayton DCDC. "You can't have a country without a constitution. We need a plan and this is an organized process for moving forward in this town." Within minutes of the discussion, the DCDC voted unanimously to approve the contract for Kendig Keast. The city council followed with no dissenting votes and now a major step forward for the city has been taken. "This gives us a road map and direction for us to go. We're excited," the mayor said following the meeting. "It's nice to have everybody on the same page, wanting Dayton to grow and be successful." The citizens in the public input meetings reaffirmed what council members new they needed. "We have an advantage here," the mayor said, "in that we have three major highways running and ending in Dayton. There's still a viable, commercial corridor." Nunez said the presentation of the final Comprehensive Plan should be ready for council in mid-August. Houstonians have a good cause to treat themselves to some of the best cuisines in town for a fraction of the price. During Houston Restaurant Weeks from now until Sept. 4, local eateries will be serving select menus to customers to raise funds for the Houston Food Bank. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate While red light cameras spur their share controversy, they are also filling the coffers of the city of Sugar Land. Projected net revenue from the cameras totaled nearly $1 million for fiscal year 2017, according to the city's newly proposed budget. That number is expected to rise in fiscal year 2018. The funds -- $977,350, to be exact -- will be split between the city and state, according to the budget. The city earmarks its funds for traffic safety programs. The fine for running a red light is $75. In a prepared statement sent Wednesday, City Manager Allen Bogard called the budget one that "meets the needs of our residents and visitors -- today and in the future." The cameras, of course, are only one small part of those efforts. Story continues below Sugar Land expressly strives to be the safest city in America. Located a 20-mile drive southwest from downtown Houston, it prides itself on being a destination of its own -- one where 88,000 residents can rest assured they are safe. OPPOSITION: Statewide red-light camera ban would end area suburban programs The city began its red light program in 2007. It maintains on his website that installing the technology has led to reduced accidents. The webpage describes them cameras also as a tool for changing behavior. Still, not all residents have gone quietly. One vocal opponent has fought the cameras since at least 2013, when he said he would be presenting a petition to ban photo enforcement of traffic lights. The city has also been the subject of lawsuits related to the matter. BAN: Petition to put Sugar Land red light cameras to a vote headed for City Hall The program, however, continues to expand, as city leaders stand by it. Two new cameras were added to the current ones this fiscal year, according to the budget. The fiscal year 2018 stands to see even more funds drawn in, with budgeted net revenue of $1.1 million, the document said. Cameras are located at the following intersections: -- Westbound and Eastbound West Airport and Eldridge -- Southbound US 59 and Highway 6 -- Westbound Highway 6 and Lexington -- Westbound Highway 6 and US 59 -- Northbound Dairy Ashford and US 90A -- Westbound Dairy Ashford and US 90A, including right hand turn -- Westbound Dairy Ashford and Us 90A at Eldridge/Lombardy/FM1876* -- Westbound South University Boulevard and Elkins Road * * Added this fiscal year This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Humble Elementary teachers traveled to Chimaltengo, Guatemala, to provide professional development to teachers at Mi Especial Tesoro, or My Special Treasure school, this summer. After visiting Mi Especial Tesoro on a previous mission trip, Cathy Whitaker, reading interventionist at Humble Elementary, was determined to help the school in a different way. Mi Especial Tesoro is a school of 130 students with a staff of 13. The students live in poverty and many of them work alongside their parents sifting through trash at the city dump every day. Between the partnership of First Baptist Humble and Humble Elementary, Dee Dee Horn and Whitaker, mission coordinators, were able to offer an educators' mission trip. Whitaker was joined by five Humble Elementary bilingual teachers in Guatemala to share teaching ideas and strategies with the teachers at Mi Especial Tesoro. This trip was the first of its kind for several of the teachers. "The teachers received us with an open heart and were extremely receptive to our help," said Abby Saenz, third-grade dual language teacher. "We worked together with the teachers on strategies, small groups, and differentiation for the classroom." During their time in Guatemala, they visited the city dump, where a majority of the students of Mi Especial Tesoro work and the original site of the school. The local teachers only make about $300 a month and do not have opportunities for continuing education, so it was important for the Humble Elementary teachers to share various teaching techniques to use in the classroom. "Although surrounded by the need and poverty in the school, the teachers were so full of love and patience for their students," said Illeana Cedillo, fifth-grade dual math and science teacher. Before the trip, the Humble Elementary teachers held a school supply drive, collecting six trunks of resources for the teachers and students. After arriving, they used some of those resources to model lessons, small group and behavior options. "I was thrilled to see our teachers have the opportunity to share their teaching expertise with these young teachers," Whitaker said. "We will be better teachers at Humble Elementary because of this trip." The teachers have returned home with a new found passion for missions, and they have plans to stay in communication with the teachers from Mi Especial Tesoro throughout the school year. PRINT | EMAIL | PERMALINK Baked Goods Summer Sessions Watch Rob M. Good ol' Attorney General Jeff Sessions has become the unwitting star of these cannabis news pieces. He's a natural-born villain with those giant wet eyes and that tiny sour face. Word on the Hill is that each night, when the sun goes down, he skitters up the exterior of the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building and takes his place on the roof as a living gargoyle. From his perch he surveys the city and mutters curses against that evil weed marihuana between yellowed teeth and over bloody gums. Sessions is the perfect personification of Old Americadistrustful of facts, driven by paranoia and skating the edge of senilitythe archetypal angry dad. He's the perfect symbol of everything we've left behind in the march of progress. Too bad he's in charge of the Justice Department. But as I've pointed out before, every effort he makes to block the legalization of cannabis only strengthens the opposition. Why? Because we hate Sessions, and anything he says is bullshit. To wit: According to a Quinnipiac University national poll released on April 20, 94 percent of voters support allowing adults to legally use marijuana for medical purposes if their doctor prescribes it. The poll also found that 73 percent of voters were opposed to government enforcement of federal laws against cannabis in states that have legalized medical or recreational use. I'd wonder what Sessions thought about those numbers, but I'm sure he never looked. How could numbers compete with what he feels in his gut? What the Butler Saw Perhaps he was going with his gut when he sent a letter to congressional leaders in May personally asking that they undo the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment, which protects dispensaries in states with legalized medical cannabis from federal prosecution by denying the Justice Department the use of funds to pursue cases in those states. The letter was made public last month by MassRoots.com, who reportedly received it from a congressional staffer, and was verified independently by the Washington Post. In it, Sessions tells Senators Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and Representative Nancy Pelosi that the amendment inhibits the Justice Department's authority to enforce the Controlled Substances Act. He went on to say that it would be unwise for Congress to restrict the discretion of the Department to fund particular prosecutions, particularly in the midst of an historic drug epidemic and potentially long-term uptick in violent crime. Of course the historic drug epidemic he's referring to is the opiate problem we're encountering here in the US. Ironically, even the National Institute on Drug Abuse (which generally holds harsh views on cannabis) has found evidence that deaths caused by prescription opioid overdoses are lower in states where medical cannabis is legalmeaning Sessions' crusade against cannabis could actually worsen the problem he claims to be fighting. Luckily, the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment has bipartisan support in Congress, and despite constant pushes against it from the Justice Department (similar pushback occurred during the Obama administration), it continues to hold. The HSUS works to actively promote the welfare and protection of horses and other equines. We provide care and homes to horses in need, advance the highest operating standards for equine rescue and retirement homes, and promote responsible horse ownership. Above. horses at the Duchess Sanctuary. Photo by Jennifer Kunz/The HSUS 16.9K shares Today, the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee whose members constitute nearly a third of the entire chamber voted with nary a controversy in favor of an amendment to bar any horse slaughter plants from opening in the United States. Sens. Tom Udall, D-N.M., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., led the bipartisan effort, with fellow committee members Sens. Christopher Coons, D-Del., Susan Collins, R-Maine, Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., cosponsoring the amendment in a great display of strength for the anti-slaughter stance. This vote comes just a week after a closely divided House committee voted in favor of horse slaughter. The House and Senate committees are now in disagreement, and key lawmakers will have to settle this item among others in dispute. But well have a leg up in those negotiations because todays vote in the Senate was an emphatic statement against horse slaughter for human consumption. Given the overwhelming support we have among Republicans and Democrats, and the intensity of opposition to horse slaughter among so many Senators, it puts us in a stronger position to prevail. As U.S. Senator Tom Udall stated, Most Americans find the idea of slaughtering horses for human consumption repulsive, and there is no reason the federal government should contribute to it in any way. This amendment is a strong step forward, and I will keep fighting to prohibit horse slaughter in the United States. The idea of slaughtering horses for human consumption will never gain traction here in the United States. Americans have an abiding appreciation for horses, honor their presence as pets and companions in our lives, and owe them a debt for their service. Those values will triumph over the selfish notion advanced by a relative handful of people who size them up, cut them up, and offer them up by the pound for a diminishing base of foreign consumers. Whats more, what kind of businessperson would invest in an enterprise with this sort of regulatory overhang on it? If the worst happened and Congress gave a one-year nod to open horse slaughter plants, why would any savvy businessperson invest major capital in an enterprise that could be nixed in a flash. The vote in the House Committee was the first time the pro-slaughter people have prevailed in any Congressional setting in a long time, and I think it was a fluke. Remember, there is major support for a broader anti-slaughter bill the SAFE Act to ban any horse slaughter for human consumption in the United States and the export of live American horses to Canada or Mexico for that purpose. A businessperson investing in horse slaughter is like someone opening a dog meat restaurant or a cockfighting arena. The mere presence of it would stir the public to act and cause lawmakers and advocates to work to shut down such an operation with speed and authority. We dont round up dogs and cats for slaughter, and it should be unthinkable to do that to a species that helped us settle the nation. Our humane position is grounded on the notion that people who breed and own horses should act responsibly and provide lifetime care or transfer horses to someone who can. Its a remarkable betrayal for people to enjoy and benefit from the physical and behavioral attributes of horses and then sell them off to a kill buyer when theyre done with them. No one disputes that there are some homeless horses. But unlike the horse slaughter crowd that treats homelessness as an economic opportunity rather than a moral responsibility, were doing something about it. With the other members of the Homes for Horses Coalition, The HSUS works to actively promote the welfare and protection of horses and other equines. We provide care and homes to horses in need, advance the highest operating standards for equine rescue and retirement homes, and promote responsible horse ownership. We provide training for equine rescues through our Forever Foundation program, to provide rescued horses with skills that will help them find new homes. To help reduce overbreeding, we formed the Responsible Horse Breeders Council, comprised of horse breeders who work to decrease the number of surplus horses in the United States. More than 1,200 breeders have signed our Responsible Horse Breeders Pledge to help protect horses from neglect, starvation, and slaughter, by reducing the number of surplus horses in the United States. The U.S. Senate sided with animal welfare, fiscal responsibility, and common sense today and we applaud this decision. Its a reminder that on the fights we engage, we must work as hard as we can and also put trust in good people to do the right thing. Tommy Simons had never seen something so unnerving in his 10 years working as a real estate agent in Abilene. About a month ago, Simons took a listing on East North 13th street to sell a home recently vacated by renters. When he walked to the backyard, he saw a shed on the property next door with a collage of more than two dozen photos of women he knew. Several Pasadena City Council members have questioned decisions to fire one city employee while allowing Gerard "Jordy" Tollett, the embattled director of the Pasadena Convention Center, to retire despite multiple DWI convictions in recent years. Tollett, 65, had worked for the city since 2010. He'd previously served as the president and CEO of the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau, resigning in 2006. His last day was Saturday. ARREST: Pasadena Convention Center director arrested after DWI probation revoked At a meeting Tuesday, Councilman Sammy Casados questioned a decision to fire Erik Sweet, a senior communications employee, while Tollett was permitted to retire. "Tollett even crashed a city vehicle while on the job," Casados said. "I don't see how that is fair." Jeff Wagner, the newly installed mayor, said Sweet's May 12 termination and Tollett's car accident last month happened on the watch of his predecessor, Johnny Isbell, who did not seek re-election because of term limits. Referring to Tollett's travails, Wagner, a retired Houston police officer, said that he wouldn't "tolerate nonsense like that" during his administration. Wagner issued a statement Wednesday clarifying his decision. "No action was taken (regarding Tollett) under the previous administration," Wagner wrote. "As mayor, I reviewed the personnel records for department directors and have made decisions accordingly. Based on the information in Mr. Tollett's personnel file, he was asked to resign and retire." Harris County court records show that at the time of Tollett's crash in a city vehicle last month, his driver's license had been suspended in connection with a third DWI conviction in May 2016, when Tollett pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six years of probation. He does not face any alcohol-related charges in connection with the June crash. Tollett, who was paid $90,420 a year in addition to an $800 monthly car allowance, was jailed May 17 when a motion to revoke his probation was filed after he failed to submit to required drug and alcohol testing. A Harris County judge is expected to rule at an Aug. 23 hearing whether to allow Tollett to remain on probation or serve the remainder of his sentence in prison. In contrast, others questioned why "secret recordings" and extensive evidence were gathered by the Isbell administration against Sweet, who had served as director of the Pasadena Channel, a public-access cable channel, for almost 20 years. Ultimately, the council voted Wednesday to overturn the termination and reinstate Sweet. The northwest Houston region continues to experience business and population growth, and an ever-changing workforce. And Lone Star College System campuses, working closely with area industry partners, have become an integral part of ensuring workforce needs are met. "They tell us the kind of people they are going to be hiring and that's the kind we train," said LSC University Park campus President Shah Ardalan. "That's why they come to us." The school's $16 million, 70,000-square-foot Energy and Manufacturing Institute serves as a workforce conduit to the oil and gas, and manufacturing industries, many of which have relocated to northwest Houston. The facility offers customized, hands-on technical training and education. And the partnerships are working. Many of the regional industry partners hire Lone Star College students after they graduate, said Kathy Cecil-Sanchez, vice president of Instruction at LSC-University Park. LSC-University Park, Tomball and Cy-Fair campuses have many hands-on courses to train new employees and often add new certifications to meet the needs of the workforce. LSC-University Park updates equipment in its manufacturing and engineering labs regularly to ensure students are being trained on the most up-to-date technology so they are as marketable as possible for employment, Cecil-Sanchez said. The industry partnerships help fund the new equipment. "We are a strong engine of prosperity and an economic engine for this area and the only way to do it is to produce people the local industry wants," Ardalan said. "So far it has been working very well. Our students have been getting jobs and trained for the places they want to go." As part of this effort, LSC-University Park campus has setup a community advisory council made up of area community and business leaders, Ardalan said. The council includes area business leaders including Mark Potter, senior vice president and chief technology officer at HP Enterprise Group at Hewlett-Packard and Andrea Lee Robison, senior vice president with Noble Energy. The meetings will serve as a brainstorming of new ideas and future plans for the campus, Ardalan said. Enrollment at Lone Star College campuses in northwest Houston continues to spike. At Lone Star College-Tomball, enrollment continues to grow, particularly at its new Creekside campus, said campus President Lee Ann Nutt. Lone Star College-CyFair is working to meet its growing enrollment with a new 130,000-square-foot technology center, which is funded by a 2014 bond. The new center is expected to open in spring 2018. The Tomball campus recently completed the third floor build-out of its health science building, which impacts the campuses programs in surgical technology, occupational therapy assistant, nursing and pharmacy technology. Lone Star College-University Park is building a new $15.4 million Center for Science & Innovation, expected to open in January 2018. The new building will help the campus meet demands of a growing enrollment, now at 12,853 students. In addition, the Lone Star College campuses regularly develop new courses to meet the needs of local industry. Starting this summer, LSC-University Park received thousands of dollars in national science grants to develop new courses. One of the grants will help the campus develop two new courses to meet the needs of the local manufacturing industry. The new courses will incorporate computer networking with programmable controllers and robotics, explained Bruce Caraway, professor of Computer Information Technology at the University Park campus. The campus will be working closely with industry partners to create the courses. In addition, the university will encourage industry partners to evaluate the course to ensure they are on track and meeting their needs. Lone Star College also plans to offer two new bachelor degree programs to fill the local workforce needs, as health care has been booming in northwest Houston. Lone Star College-University Park is making plans to expand its nursing and applied technology programs to offer a bachelor's degree. Lone Star College will also offer a new bachelor's in applied technology. Both the nursing and the applied technology degrees will be important for businesses looking to move to the region, said Barbara Thomason, president of the Houston Northwest Chamber of Commerce. For more information on Lone Star College, visit http://www.lonestar.edu/ President Trumps arguably most polarizing cabinet secretary is speaking to members of an equally controversial group on Thursday. U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is scheduled to address the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, during lunch at its annual meeting being held this year in Denver. ALEC is a conservative group of policymakers and industry leaders that drafts model legislation for Republican lawmakers to take back to their states. As I recently explained in another story , DeVos and ALECs education priorities dovetail almost perfectly. Both are big advocates for school choice, in particular, private school choice such as voucher programs. Why Betsy DeVos and ALEC are Natural Allies on School Choice The last time DeVos spoke to a pro-school choice crowd of this magnitude was at the largest annual gathering of charter school leaders last month. There, she warned attendees that by creating too many accountability hoops to jump throughsuch as 500-page charter school applications"they were in danger of become the new education establishment. So, will she have a similar message for state lawmakers and advocacy groups at ALEC? And will she talk about any education-related issues besides school choice? Here are three things to watch for in DeVos speech: Will DeVos Discuss Accountability for Charter Schools and Private Schools? Theres a big debate going on in the school choice movement right now over accountability. Specifically, whether government should play a bigger role in holding charter and private schools that accept public money accountable for improving student academic outcomes. For a long time, the belief wasand continues to be for many school choice advocatesthat parents alone (or mostly alone) can hold schools accountable through the choices they make. ALEC is on the light-touch side of that debate. Ill be watching to see if she comes out and plants her flag on that side as wellshes given some mixed signals, said Michael Petrilli, the president of the Fordham Institute. When she spoke to the charter conference, it sounded like she sided with the libertarian side. ALEC has been more focused on private school choice than charters. So, what does she say about that? he said. Will DeVos Dump the Schools Are Failing Line? But focusing on bureaucratic bloat in charter schools and private school choice programs could be a good way for DeVos to strike a more conciliatory tone, said Rick Hess, the director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute. I think any time she can talk about choice not in terms of schools stink, schools are failing, weve got to give kids a lifeboat, but anytime shes saying, look, a lot of Americans like their schools, but we ought to give families more opportunities to find the right school for their kids ... that we ought to worry about bureaucracy which gets in the way of families and educators, said Hess. I think when shes talking about that stuff, shes best positioned to connect school choice and her issues to the real lives of parents and educators. Will DeVos Go Beyond School Choice? Unquestionably, school choice is DeVos favorite topic when it comes to education policy. Prior to becoming education secretary, she was an influential advocate and philanthropic backer of school choice . And shes been criticized both before and after her nomination for being too hyper-focused on the issue. It will be interesting to see if she gives a broader policy speech. These people [at ALEC] have a big impact on higher education, said Petrilli. If I were writing this speech, you would want it to be about school choice, but also on accountability and keeping the pressure up on the teachers unions. Petrilli also said the forum will give DeVos an opportunity to speak directly to Republican state lawmakers on implementation of the relatively new federal education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act. The Education Department is in the middle of evaluating states ESSA plans, and so this is a big deal for both federal and state education officials. Some states have felt that the Departments ESSA feedback has been too heavy handed , a criticism shared by Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., the chairman of the Senate education panel. DeVos could also use this chance to broaden her critique of the charter sector over-regulating schools. She might say, look what we need to be concerned about, is not just paperwork, but if these things drive educators and families crazy, just think how much more they frustrate teachers and families in traditional district schools, said Hess. We cant just be about choice, its got to be about doing right for families and educators in every kind of school. Related stories: Photo: U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos addresses the Council of the Great City Schools Annual Legislative Policy Conference in Washington on March 13. Jose Luis Magana/AP Girls participation in AP Computer Science tests boomed last yearlargely thanks to a brand-new, broader course offering with less of an emphasis on programming. All in all, about 29,700 girls took either the AP Computer Science A test or a new exam that debuted this year, AP Computer Science Principles , according to the data released by Code.org, a nonprofit supporting computer science education. More than 111,000 students took the test in all, twice as many as the previous year. That means girls have crossed a key milestone: they make up more than a quarter of the students who sat for one of the computer science tests in 2017, at 27 percent. Thats up from just 18 percent a decade ago. More than half of girls took the new AP Computer Science Principles test. Its the capstone of a more flexible AP course that covers topics such as database analysis and Internet security, as well as permitting teachers to select which coding language to teach. Computer Science A is much more narrowly focused on programming in the Java language. The number of students of color taking the exams also rose to about 22,000, or 20 percent of the tested pool. Their growth, too, was concentrated in the new exam. About 59 percent of students of color took AP Computer Science Principles. The class was created partly with funding from the National Science Foundation; Code.org created a matching curriculum and also trained many of the teachers who rolled the course out this past academic year. The groups chief operating officer, Cameron Wilson, said that the course was specifically designed to engage a broader segment of the population after much hand-wringing over the lack of diversity in programming classes. AP Computer Science Principles is a college level course, he said. Its just a different kind of class [from Computer Science A]. The rigor is still there; its intended to allow students to get college credit, he said. There were gains among girls in AP Computer Science A as well, but much slower ones. We still have a long way to go to get gender balance, Wilson said. Policy Attention on Computer Science Grows Many more states now let coding or computer science count as a math or science class , rather than an elective; some whole districts, like San Francisco and Chicago, have dramatically increased the number of students taking computer science. Thats in no small part to to the efforts of groups like Code.org, which have been enormously successful in building teacher and policymaker interest in coding. The group also generally supports the legislative efforts to expand computer science, though not all of them; the group opposed legislation that would allow coding classes to substitute for foreign language. Its push hasnt come without criticism, though: A New York Times story recently questioned whether such efforts were more self-serving for the tech industry than aimed at strengthening secondary science curricula. Correction: A previous version of this post misstated the programming language taught in Computer Science A. Vocational education is having something of a resurgence these days, after enduring years out in the cold. The idea that seems to be striking the strongest spark is apprenticeship, having students spend a substantial amount of time in real workplaces learning from highly skilled workers how to do the work they do. But, a few days ago, David Leonhardt, the New York Times columnist, wrote a piece in which he says hey, whoa, wait a minute; advocates have not thought through the downsides [of apprenticeship]. Leonhardt had read a piece in the Wall Street Journal by Eric Hanushek, reporting on research he had done with Ludger Woessmann and several other colleagues. The largest problem of skills in the U.S. today isnt a shortage of young workers with specific competencies, Hanushek says in the WSJ article. Instead it is a need for more general cognitive skills that give workers the ability to adapt to new circumstances and new jobs. In a piece in the Brookings Institutions Brown Center Chalkboard , Hanushek and Woessman say, While some countries, particularly in Europe, stress vocational education that develops specific job-related skills, others, like the U.S., emphasize general education that provides students with broad knowledge and basic skills. This, in their view, is enlightened policy. They prove it with data that purports to show that, when students in high school vocational education are compared with students in high school general education, the former are employed in larger numbers earlier in their working careers, but, as they age, begin leaving the labor market earlier than those with general education and over their whole working life, make less money. This, they say, is true, even when the students are matched on tested skills, family background and years of education. Their conclusion: If people receive skills that are finely tuned to current employment opportunities, they might not be particularly prepared to adjust to new technologies. Thus, with higher growth rates and faster technological and structural change, people with vocational training may be more likely to be out of the labor market later in the cycle. But this analysis assumes that policy makers need to choose between general education and apprenticeship. That is an untenable assumption in todays world. A strong academic education and vocational education that equips students with sophisticated skills are not and should not be thought of as mutually exclusive. Indeed, these two kinds of education, combined in a T-shaped curriculum that I have written about in the past , are absolutely vital to assure young people the best chance of life-long, gainful employment in a world of advancing automation and global integration. Hanushek and Woessmann are correct in saying that countries with strong apprenticeship programs provide many young people with good jobs and entry to strong careers much earlier in life than countries without them. Why not couple that advantage to the kind of general education that will makes it possible for the same young people to wiggle and weave later on as technology and work organization change? Until a few years ago, Denmark, by common consent among experts in the field, had one of the best vocational education and training systems in the world. Economists agreed that Denmarks system of business and technical colleges had created one of the most highly skilled middle-level workforces in the world, a workforce that enabled Denmark to run one of the most successful high-value-added niche economies in the world, with a very high standard of living that was more evenly distributed than anywhere on the face of the globe. Denmarks vocational education system won the very prestigious Bertelsmann Prize in 1999 . Later, when the German apprenticeship system ran into mounting problems from which it has not since recovered, the German government turned to Roland Oesterlund, the head of the Danish vocational system, for advice, a good indication of the admiration the Germans had for the Danish accomplishment. But then, just a few years later, a new Danish government was formed. The new Prime Minister, who had a strong personal interest in economic development, formed a task force on the subject that came to the same facile conclusion that Hanushek, Woessmann and their colleagues came to: The future of Denmark lay in high-tech industries that would require broad learning, great creativity, agility and intellectual prowess, of the kind that only a university education could provide. Up to that point, parents had been proud to enroll their children in vocational education, because their world was populated with plenty of graduates of that system who had done very well for themselves. Now they saw it as a dead end. The Danish system has never recovered and no favor was done to the Danish economy. Hanushek and Woessmann tell us that the justification for an apprenticeship system most supporters make is that it provides a smooth transition for young people into the workforce. Yes, it does do that, but that is not the primary reason to support it. Since the Middle Ages, apprenticeship has been an important engine of economic growth and development. No one has yet developed a more powerful and effective way for novices to learn a craft at a high level of skill. Modern economies, especially economies based on high-value-added manufacturing and services, cannot function effectively without a large part of their workforce engaged in highly skilled work that is not done in an office by someone sitting at a desk. That will be true for a long time to come. About three years ago, a friend was kind enough to arrange a side meeting for us at Interlochen, the scene of the annual gathering of the World Economic Forum. The people we met with were very senior executives at some of Switzerlands major global firms, all companies headquartered in Switzerland. I asked them why they were so supportive of Switzerlands vocational education system and, especially, their apprenticeship system. The executives told us that a couple of decades earlier, top Swiss executives had gathered to consider the countrys economic future. They left that meeting in a strong consensus that they wanted Switzerland to be a rich country but they wanted that prosperity to be broadly shared. They were, they said, clear about what it would take to do that. They could not compete on the price of their labor. Doing that would drive wages and the Swiss standard of living down. They would have to capitalize on their reputation for fine craftsmanship and compete on the skills of their people, by offering the world high-value-added goods and services. They would have to be number one, two or three, they said, in every industry in which they chose to compete. They were certain that the key to that would be a primary and secondary education system that was among the best in the world and, at the same time, a vocational education system second to none. The most remarkable thing they said was that they decided to prevail upon the government to limit the growth of the universities in Switzerland and of the academic track in the high schools that prepared students for the universities. The route into most occupations in Switzerland would be through the vocational education system, not the academic track, and the apprenticeship system would be the backbone of the vocational education system. The leaders of these firms prevailed. Seventy percent of high school students are enrolled in the vocational system , and only 30 percent in the academic university prep system. Switzerland is home to two universities that many Europeans call the Harvard of Europe and the MIT of Europe, but many occupations prepared for in our university system are prepared for in the Swiss vocational system. In their most recent reforms, the Swiss decided to open up more universities, but they are not academic universities. They are called Universities of Applied Science and they are part of the vocational education system. So the Swiss have developed a system of vocational education that is built on a strong base of high academic skills and includes routes for students in the vocational education system that allow them to go right to work from high school, or right into an applied university or an academic university from their vocational education program if they take the right courses. Why did the Swiss do this? It was not just because they were interested in producing a smooth transition to work from high school for future chefs, manufacturing workers and carpenters. It is because they saw these measures as an essential tool to build a modern economy that would make Swiss firms among the worlds most successful companies and to grow the income of the Swiss people at every level of their economy. These were very modern leaders. The apprenticeship system might have its roots in medieval guilds, but these executives knew that things were changing. They knew that a narrow training for the jobs that existed two or three decades ago would not be good for Swiss workers or Swiss employers. They knew that if Swiss firms and Swiss workers were going to have a bright future, the education and training of their apprentices would have to do two things very, very well. It would have to give them a high level of skill for their first job and, at the same time, a broad and deep education that would enable them to shape shift with the economy as technology changed jobs and work organization at ever greater speed. I am not making this up. The Swiss executives said this while patiently explaining their great interest in the continued health of their apprenticeship system. Hanushek, Woessmann and their associates framed their study as if nothing had changed in the world of vocational education, apprenticeship and general education in the last 50 years. Fifty years ago, the Europeans had a system of secondary education that was rigidly segregated by social class. Apprentices focused on narrowly defined jobs and the school portion of the training was itself focused on only the skills needed for the first job. One could easily imagine that the people who designed the training assumed that the student would be a journeyman in the same trade for the rest of his life. The Germans only reviewed their occupational standards every 10 years. The wheels of change were expected to turn slowly. The assumption that the typical journeyman would go no further than becoming a master in the field in which he had trained was probably right for most apprentices. And so was the assumption that a university- educated professional would work longer and make more money over a full lifetime. Forty years ago, the typical American worker had more years of education than workers in all of the advanced industrial economies. That high level of general education did in fact make the American worker more agile, more able to adjust quickly to changes in technology and work organization than workers in many other countries. That was 40 years ago. It is not today. Today the average American worker is among the least well-educated in the industrialized world, according to the OECD . The typical high school graduate leaves high school today with only 7th or 8th grade mathematics and English literacy. In the U.S., nearly 6 in 10 young adults fail to secure a college degree or industry-recognized qualification of any kind by the time they are 30. Yet Hanushek and Woessmann would have us believe that these young people are better off than a Swiss high school graduate who is working in advanced manufacturing at ABB, building precision high-speed turbines for ocean-going vessels, using advanced mathematics and strong engineering skills and possessed of a full set of the non-cognitive skills needed to advance up the ranks at one of the worlds leading engineering firms. No service is done to the entire generation of young people in the U.S. with lower levels of education and skill than their international counterparts by claiming that this research proves the superiority of general education over apprenticeship in the modern world. The American model has succeeded in producing a generation of young people who are poorly educated and largely lacking in the kinds of skills they desperately need to succeed in an economy that provides less and less to people with neither strong academics nor strong technical skills. The numbers for the U.S. are reversed in Switzerland, where more than 70 percent of young people have attained either a postsecondary degree or completed vocational education with a credential. There is a world of difference in these numbers and those differences do not favor the United States. They spell the difference between struggling economically ones whole life for those who lack a qualification and living well for those who have one. And they spell the difference between a high-wealth economy with broad participation in economic growth in one case and a dual economy with a growing gulf between the rich and poor in the other. Far from merely providing a smooth school-to-work transition, the case for apprenticeship is that it provides vital skills to individuals in our complex economies and a balanced workforce for employers in advanced economies. That is non-trivial. Hanushek and Woessmann are right in saying that advancing automation, robotics and artificial intelligence, combined with changing work organization will require all of the advanced countries to provide a much better general education for everyone than was necessary in a simpler world. But that is not instead of providing a strong grounding in the technical skills that students will need to land their first job. They need that now more than ever. Thats because the jobs available for graduates with only middle school literacy are disappearing fast, the victims of rapidly advancing automation. Increasingly, the jobs that are left are out of reach for most high school graduates, both because they lack the necessary general education and because they lack the technical skills, are the entry-level jobs that pay above the poverty level. When employers could count on keeping employees for decades, many were willing to invest in their skills. But the loyalty of firms to employees and employees to firms has eroded greatly. Firms are not willing to train young people who will take their skills to a competitor who has made no such investment and is just interested in poaching. The advance of the gig economy, in which many employers contract with their workers so they do not have to pay benefits or social security, amplifies these trends. If the employer does not give a young person the skills that apprenticeship systems provide, and government does not do it, then who will do it? Hanushek and Woessmann ask policy makers to choose between general education and apprenticeship. Thats wrong. We need both now, more than ever. Lawyer on the Lam Spotted in New Mexico Attorney Eric Conn, awaiting his sentence for a $550 million disability fraud scheme, was not about to trade in his pinstripes for prison stripes. Before he got to the courthouse, he cut-off his ankle monitor and kept on driving. He had planned it long before authorities figured out he was cheating the system. "In fairness to the FBI I had a year to plan for this," he said in a fax two weeks later. Con's Plan After Conn was arrested, the FBI had asked the judge not to let him out of custody. They said the attorney told employees at his law firm that he would flee rather than go to jail. But Conn, who pled guilty to submitting false disability claims and bribing a judge, asked for home detention. The court set bail at $1.5 million and ordered an ankle monitor, pending sentencing. When Conn fled, it was no surprise to those who knew him best but a big surprise to those who knew only his public persona. Everybody in Lexington, Kentucky, knew him as that flamboyant lawyer who drove a Rolls Royce and hired sexy models for his television commercials. "He's not one to walk away from a fight," the narrator says in one of Conn's videos. Where's Eric? Conn has been on the run since June 2. He left a trail, but authorities believe it is a fake. The FBI said he started out in a truck, which was abandoned near a Mexico border. He emailed a local newspaper that he flew out of the country using a fake passport. But surveillance videos showed him at two stores in New Mexico the next day. In one photo, he appears to be leaving a Walmart with a bicycle. Meanwhile, the judge sentenced Conn in absentia to the maximum 12 years. According to Scott White, his attorney, Conn faces more serious time now. "If I was Eric, I would not want to be caught," White said. Related Resources: As I wrote about last month, the hotelier who operates the Toronto property bearing Trump's name was desperate enough to get shut of it that they had bid millions for the right to change the name of the hotel. They did it. The hotel is now called The Adelaide Hotel Toronto, and will change its name to "St Regis" once all indications of Trump involvement had been purged. Trump doesn't really build anything: he just licenses his name to go on things that other people build, because those people want to attract the kinds of customers who want to live in a papier-mache version of dynastic Louis XIV wealth, skinned with fake gold leaf. Major news broke earlier this year, when it was announced that the property had been sold for $298 million. Since then, it has been announced that the project will be retrofitted and reopened under Marriott's high-end St. Regis brand, with the project being known as 'The Adelaide Hotel Toronto' until the St. Regis conversion is completed. One of the first steps in the retrofit is the removal of the highly-visible TRUMP logo from the tower's mechanical penthouse level, which is currently underway. MY Trump name is being removed from a building in Toronto!! Terrible News! Another great American city in decline because of Obama. Sad!! pic.twitter.com/QKsAd99wOk Donald J. Trump (@RealDonaldTrFan) July 19, 2017 TRUMP Signage Being Removed from Adelaide Hotel [Jack Landau/Urban Toronto] (Thanks, Damien!) A Houston woman was arrested Thursday on federal charges in what authorities called a "virtual" kidnapping-for-ransom scheme that targeted 39 families across three states, including two families in The Woodlands. Yanette Rodriguez Acosta, 34, also known as Yanette Patino, is accused of picking up ransom payments in the Houston area from parents who believed their daughters had been kidnapped and would be harmed if they didn't send money. No one was actually kidnapped, but the families were told their daughters had witnessed crimes and that their fingers would be cut off if they didn't pay the ransom, according to the indictment. Acosta was charged Tuesday in a sealed federal indictment with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, eight counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to launder money. The indictment was unsealed Thursday when Acosta was arrested. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison, officials said. The indictment accuses Acosta of being part of a scheme in which callers contacted families using Mexican telephone numbers and demanded money for the safe release of a child. The families were then ordered to wire money to Mexico or do a "money drop" in the Houston area. Acosta collected $28,000 in payments that were left at different locations in the Houston area on Sept. 17, 2015 and Sept. 30, 2015 keeping some and wiring the rest to Mexico, the indictment says. She is also accused of recruiting others to send several thousand dollars to Mexico through September and October 2015. In two cases detailed in the indictment, families in The Woodlands received calls in September 2015 from a Mexican phone number. The caller told one family that the girl "saw something she shouldn't have," and demanded $13,000 in ransom. Nearly two weeks later, another family received a similar call telling them their daughter had witnessed a murder and demanding they pay $15,000. In both cases, the family was told the girls' fingers would be cut off if they didn't comply. No lawyer was yet listed in court records for Acosta. The investigation was conducted by the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, the Los Angeles field offices of the FBI and the IRS, and the Los Angeles and Beverly Hills police departments. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigation unit in Los Angeles assisted. Burglars robbed a southeast Houston auto shop two weeks ago and the owner said Thursday that police have yet to collect surveillance footage that would lead them to at least one of the perpetrators. A Houston Police Department spokeswoman said investigators have tried to acquire the video but have been given the runaround. In a news conference called Thursday afternoon by activist Quanell X, Bam Lewis of Bam's Auto Express on Griggs Road said his business was illegally entered and robbed by a fired employee and two others. "They knew exactly what they were doing. They got out of here in less than 60 seconds," Lewis said. "They came straight in knew what they were doing came straight out." The assailants broke into a garage door, raided the cash register in the office and took off with guns one of which was owned by an employee. According to surveillance footage, the burglary happened just after midnight on July 6 when the business was closed. The crime was discovered around 7 a.m. when employees arrived. Lewis said he and workers cleaned up, viewed footage and contacted the former employee before calling HPD around 2 p.m. Two officers showed up around 10 p.m. Employees were still around after business hours because they were "getting the place back together," Lewis said. HPD spokeswoman Jodi Silva said the footage was requested by officers on the scene, but the business owner would not allow officers into the building and declined to offer footage until the video was aired by a local television station. An investigator called the business on July 10 about the footage and had to end the conversation, which had turned "aggressive," Silva said. The owner has an appointment Thursday afternoon to turn over the footage, which was distributed on CD to journalists who covered the noon news conference. "Obviously, we are apologetic about the response time, but the burglary of a building is a low-priority call," Silva said, adding that HPD's burglary and theft division " certainly would like to have" video footage of the incident. Quanell demanded that the Houston Police Department and Chief Art Acevedo take the crime seriously. "This man was witnessed on video tape stealing and robbing guns from this business. And yet we have a known convicted felon, a two-time loser, running around the streets with guns on the streets, but yet HPD doesn't think that's serious enough to protect society and this community from that particular perpetrator," the activist said. The family business was founded in 1989, Lewis said, and previously run by his now-deceased grandmother. "We always complain about not having enough black-owned businesses in our community. Well, when we have one, we just can't rob them blind," Quanell said. "When we have good business owners, we need the Houston Police Department to protect them from those perpetrators that are on camera on tape committing these crimes. Go and arrest them." The ex-worker, a mechanic and auto detailer, and at least one other person visited the business the day before to potentially case the building, another employee said. According to Lewis, the former worker was arrested and incarcerated for a previous break-in at the business. The commercial corner of Griggs and Calhoun has been plagued by recent theft and after-hours robberies, Lewis added. Those businesses include a fast-food chicken restaurant, washateria and hair salon. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The mother and older brother of a slain Houston 14-year-old were charged Thursday morning in connection with an unrelated robbery, according to court documents. Ellen Breaux, 33, and her 17-year-old son, Messiah Breaux, were arrested Wednesday morning for the robbery on June 23, weeks before the 14-year-old was killed, according to court documents. The duo was charged early Thursday with aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon. Both are being held in the Harris County Jail with a $50,000 bail each. They are accused of robbing a man at gunpoint outside of his Cypress Station-area apartment complex, according to court documents. Neither appeared to have a criminal record in Harris County. In court Thursday, a prosecutor said both Breauxs confessed to being involved in the June 23 robbery. The prosecutor accused Ellen Breaux of driving Messiah and one other person in a red SUV about 7:40 a.m. to an apartment complex on Cypress Station Drive. There, Messiah and the other person in the car jumped out and pointed pistols at a man who lived in the complex. A prosecutor said the duo demanded the man's car keys and his money. They then hit him in the head with their pistols, the prosecutor added. Messiah and the other robber are believed to have jumped into the man's pickup truck - a white Dodge - and fled the scene. Police used the Dodge's GPS to track down the trio at the townhome about 10 miles away, in the 100 block of Goodson, where the 14-year-old would be shot three weeks later. Surveillance video shows the Dodge and the red SUV parked in front of the townhome. People believed to be both Breauxs and the third person got out of the trucks and started taking property into the townhome. The Breauxs named the third person involved. That person did not appear to have been arrested by Thursday morning. Juliette Jackson, Breaux's sister, said she was not surprised by both Breauxs' arrests. Another sister, Naomi Breaux, said she'd been struggling to find out specifics as to what happened. "I don't even know what to say because I don't know what's going on," she said. "We keep calling, and they're not giving us any calls back. My main focus right now is putting O'Cyrus in the ground." Story continues below ... Ellen and Messiah Breauxs' charges follow the death on Monday of Aldine ISD middle school student O'Cyrus Breaux, who was killed when he was hit by an apparent stray bullet during his 14th birthday party. The teen was sitting outside in the driveway of the Greenspoint-area home around 2 a.m. when a single shot ripped into his stomach. No one else was injured and none of the witnesses reported seeing the shooter, though police probed the possibility the gunfire could have been connected to a nearby robbery call around the same time. After the boy's death, friends described him as funny and "chill." His family said he was a good student and a bad dancer who loved R&B and sports. "He wanted to be a football player when he grew up," his father Bill Jackson said. Naomi Breaux described the boy as a big kid at heart. "My young kids, they just cling to him," she said. "All the babies just follow him." On Wednesday, the boy's family said they were still working to pull together money for funeral services. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Police are searching for a 22-year-old man who is accused of kidnapping a 14-year-old girl from Dallas and forcing her into prostitution in Houston. According to court documents filed in Harris County District Court, Trevien Thomas of Fresno is charged with traffickings of persons. The documents allege Thomas, also known as "Triggah," met the teenager in a motel room on May 20, 2016 and got her into a car by smoking an unidentified substance with her. HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN HOUSTON: DPS Trooper arrested on prostitution charge Thomas and another man identified as "Bubba" told the teen they were going to Walmart, but instead drove from Dallas to Houston. The documents state the two men were armed with firearms and threatened to kill her if she did not listen to them. Story continues below... The teen told authorities that once they were in Houston, the men took her to four different motels in a week and held her against her will. She also told police that Thomas repeatedly raped her the week he kidnapped her. She said on May 27, 2016, she was forced into a gold four door car in a motel parking lot that drove her to meet a man between the ages of 20 and 30. The teen told officers the man drove her to an inn and told her "you know what to do" before sexually assaulting her. The next day, the teen was able to escape from Thomas, according to the court documents. RESCUED: Harris Co. constable says 14-year-old runaway rescued in human trafficking sting The court documents state police were able to build evidence that Thomas was the kidnapper after checking motel records and making contact with the man who rented the room when the teen was brought there. The man told police he met the teen after calling an advertisement on Backpage.com. Police ran the number the man called through Spotlight, a national database for human trafficking investigations and discovered Thomas' number. The database revealed the Backpage ads. Police claim they were also able to find Thomas' Facebook and Instagram accounts, where he sent multiple messages including the same number listed on Backpage. Thomas is still at large, according to court documents. Anyone with information about Thomas should contact Crime Stoppers at 713-222-8477. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The stepdaughter of a Texas doctor who is accused of contributing to the deaths of at least seven individuals was found dead in a Dallas creek on Sunday. According to the Dallas Police Department blog, Mikayla Mitchell, 17, body was found floating in a creek in south Dallas on Sunday morning. Mitchell's death comes less than a week after her stepfather Dr. Howard Gregg Diamond, 56, was arrested. BAD PARENTING: Texas mom leaves 2-year-old with two intoxicated homeless people, admits to heroine use, police say Police told the Dallas Morning News Mitchell died from homicidal violence, but didn't confirm any other details about her death. Story continues below... The Associated Press reports prosecutors allege Diamond issued prescriptions in 2010 to people who didn't need them. The drugs included fentanyl, hydrocodone and morphine. Diamond is accused of contributing to seven overdoses that resulted in death according to the AP. Diamond worked in Sherman, about 60 miles north of Dallas. He was arrested on July 12 on multiple charges including conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. If convicted, he could serve life in prison. LOOKING FOR A SUSPECT: New details released in Meyerland infant shooting Diamond's attorney Peter Schulte took to Twitter on Tuesday to dispel any theories between his client's arrest and Mitchell's death. "Media is ruthless. There is no connection between my client Dr. Diamonds' charges and his step-daughter's death," Schulte tweeted Tuesday. "Client and family are devastated." Anyone with information about Mitchell's death is encouraged to call Dallas police detective Steven David at 214-671-3627 or email him at steven.david@dpd.dallascityhall.com. Crime Stoppers will pay up to $5,000 for information that leads to the an arrest and indictment for this felony case. Crime Stoppers of Dallas can be reached at 214-373-8477. Someone put together a Google spreadsheet of Trump administration personal finances. It has links to the disclosure forms of nearly 500 people Steve Bannon, Jared Kushner, Betsy DeVos, Trump, etc. Trump owes between $55 million to $75 million to Deutsche Bank, the same bank that was fined $10 billion for its part in a Russian money-laundering scheme. That's a massive nothing burger. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The Apollo 11 moon landing is one of the most momentous achievements in mankind's history, but the government had to be prepared for a fatal calamity. ALTERNATE HISTORY: Astronauts explain why nobody has visited the moon in more than 45 years and the reasons are depressing Now Playing: An astronaut has shared a remarkable shot of our planet's moon from the International Space Station. Video: GeoBeats On July 18, 1969, President Richard Nixon's speechwriter William Safire penned a speech for the president to deliver in the event Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins were not able to make it back to Earth alive. Safire sent the speech to Nixon's Chief of Staff, H. R. Haldeman to have in his pocket in case Nixon needed to tell the world some shattering, sad news. Of course the men made it to the moon and Nixon was even able to speak with Aldrin and Armstrong while they meandered around the lunar surface before coming back home as heroes. BUZZ"S TRIP: Buzz Aldrin tweets travel voucher for trip to moon claiming $33.31 It's important to remember that the Apollo 11 mission was a dangerous one and the success of it was not preordained. Nixon's speech is as follows and you can almost hear Nixon's voice in your head as you read the words. Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace. These brave men, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, know that there is no hope for their recovery. But they also know that there is hope for mankind in their sacrifice. These two men are laying down their lives in mankind's most noble goal: the search for truth and understanding. They will be mourned by their families and friends; they will be mourned by the nation; they will be mourned by the people of the world; they will be mourned by a Mother Earth that dared send two of her sons into the unknown. In their exploration, they stirred the people of the world to feel as one; in their sacrifice, they bind more tightly the brotherhood of man. In ancient days, men looked at the stars and saw their heroes in the constellations. In modern times, we do much the same, but our heroes are epic men of flesh and blood. Others will follow, and surely find their way home. Man's search will not be denied. But these men were the first, and they will remain the foremost in our hearts. For every human being who looks up at the moon in the nights to come will know that there is some corner of another world that is forever mankind. Had things gone badly Nixon planned to telephone each of the widows-to-be first and offer up personal condolences before informing the nation. A clergymen was also to deliver a sort of burial at sea procedure for the men thousands of miles away, "commending their souls to "the deepest of the deep," concluding with the Lord's Prayer" according to Safire's directions. Craig Hlavaty covers Houston history and pop-culture. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, https://www.HoustonChronicle.com. | craig.hlavaty@chron.com This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate As the country still comes to grips with the news that Arizona Sen. John McCain has brain cancer, history-obsessed citizens are digging up archival photos of the former Navy captain. McCain joined the Navy in 1958 and did some of his training in Corpus Christi. McCain, then 23, crashed an AD-6 Skyraider into the bay in 1960 and sheared the skin off the plane's wings, the Los Angeles Times reported. "The engine quit while I was practicing landings," McCain wrote later in his autobiography. READ MORE: Sen. John McCain of Arizona diagnosed with brain tumor The accident in Corpus Christi foreshadowed an event on Oct. 26, 1967, that would change his life. That day, McCain was shot down while flying a mission in North Vietnam. He was taken prisoner and held for 5 years. McCain endured torture resulting in serious injury to his right shoulder, abdomen, and foot, ABC reported. McCain was released on March 14, 1973. One of the first people he met upon being freed was President Richard Nixon. Reddit McCain retired from the Navy in 1981. He was elected to Congress in 1983 and then the Senate in 2001 where he currently serves. On Wednesday, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey said McCain is "undoubtedly the toughest man in the United States Senate. He is an American hero and has served our country like few ever will." McCain is recovering from surgery that removed a blood clot from around his left eye. He and his family are exploring treatment options for the glioblastoma, an aggressive cancer, he was diagnosed with. LEARN MORE: 5 questions about the brain cancer diagnosed in McCain WASHINGTON U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz's "Consumer Freedom" amendment to the stalled Republican health care bill would expand coverage and reduce premiums, though at the cost of steep deductible and out of pocket costs, a government study has found. The Texas Republican touted the study Wednesday as President Donald Trump met over lunch with Republican senators at the White House to revive legislation repealing the Affordable Care Act, known widely as Obamacare. "It was a good and productive meeting," Cruz told Fox News afterwards. "I think we're close. There's a lot of common ground." But the meeting came as a new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis showed that a new Senate GOP health care plan would result in 32 million more people without health insurance. The measure is similar to a 2015 repeal bill passed by the Senate. Republicans were still reeling Wednesday from the collapse of the repeal effort after three Republican senators balked at provisions that would severely curtail planned Medicaid funding in their states. The three holdouts Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia all also said they would oppose Republican Leader Mitch McConnell's alternative plan to vote immediately to repeal Obamacare, but leave the current health care law in place for two years while lawmakers come up with a replacement plan. But it remained far from certain Wednesday that Republican holdouts would agree to repeal Obamacare without certainty about what a replacement plan might look like. The CBO projected that 32 million more people would become uninsured over the next decade under a plan to repeal Obamacare now and replace it later. It also found that 17 million more people would become uninsured next year, compared to current law. Average premiums, the study found, would increase by about 25 percent. The hit to McConnell's late-game strategy also came as it appeared to be at odds with Trump's pronouncement on Wednesday that he prefers to have a replacement plan in place. ''We have no choice," Trump said. "We have to repeal and replace Obamacare...We can repeal it. But the best is repeal and replace, and let's get going.'' Amid the uncertainty, the new analysis by the Trump's Department of Health and Human Services offered a needed day-brightener for Cruz, who saw several conservative allies bail this week on his amendment to allow sales of both Obamacare and non-Obamacare plans. The study showed that his amendment would expand coverage by more than 2 million people, and reduce health insurance premiums by more than $7,000 a year. That projection, however, is based on the assumption that the bare-bones, non-Obamacare plans on the market would come with $12,000 annual deductibles and $12,000 out-of-pocket limits. Cruz, however, focused on the potential upfront savings. "For people who are hurting that's real money and that shows exactly what we've been saying for a long time, which is the way you lower premiums is through competition, through market forces, through giving consumers the freedom to choose their own health care," he said. Critics say those costs would be unaffordable to many Americans who might be tempted to buy more skimpy coverage. Insurance companies also have argued that it would create a two-tiered insurance system, with young and healthy people buying non-Obamacare plans, and sicker, older people lopped into the more expensive and comprehensive Obamacare plans. Cruz revised his proposal to maintain a single risk pool, but that change cost him conservative support, including that of Utah Republican Mike Lee, his strongest Senate ally. The study also estimated by enrollment would rise in the individual market under Cruz's plan. But that does not take into account cuts to Medicaid contemplated in various Republican health care bills. An earlier Congressional Budget Office analysis of the Senate GOP's first draft of the health bill estimated that 22 million Americans could be dropped from the insurance rolls. Senators are still waiting on a new CBO analysis of the Cruz amendment, though it could be moot if Republicans, with a 52-seat Senate majority, cannot muster the 50 votes necessary to either repeal or replace Obamacare. McConnell announced a last-ditch effort to rally support for his new repeal plan, enlisting Vice President Mike Pence, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma and other administration officials to press senators who "so far had some difficulty getting to yes." Texas U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, the Republican Majority White, suggested that leaders still have to work on about a dozen recalcitrant Republicans. "I think it's just the ones who have remaining, unresolved issues," he told reporters. "I would say 40 members of the conference are ready to vote on any agreed upon product." McConnell, however, promise a vote next week on motion to proceed to the House-passed repeal and replace measure. That would allow the Senate to then substitute and then vote on a repeal-only bill. Neither vote is a certainty. And without a motion to proceed, there will be no bill to amend. Nevertheles, McConnell said he wanted to "disabuse" anybody who thought that the Republican repeal effort has halted and that a vote won't take place. WASHINGTON Former Texas U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's confirmation hearing Thursday as ambassador to NATO might have served as her first diplomatic mission for the Trump administration. Basking in bipartisan praise from her former colleagues, Hutchison found herself defending President Donald Trump's tough stance on the North Atlantic military alliance, while at the same time commending the efforts of United States' European allies. She also gave qualified support for a legislative effort to impose new sanctions of Russia, which the Trump administration sees as an erosion of executive branch authority. The sanctions bill also has run afoul of some fellow Texans, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, a former ExxonMobil chief, who worry that the sanctions could hurt U.S. energy companies. "I think Congress is doing the right thing to put sanctions in place," Hutchison told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where she and four other ambassador nominees answered questions for more than two hours. "I know there are disagreements on some of the language, and everyone is working to make sure it doesn't have unintended consequences." The sanctions bill has been stuck in the House in a dispute over technical objections by some Republicans, prompting Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on the panel, to tell Hutchison that "we'll use your endorsement in the House to try and get it passed." But despite some partisan jousting over Trump's past remarks about the relevance of the NATO military alliance, Thursday's hearing cemented the widespread impression that Hutchison could be one of Trump's easiest nominations. Texas Republican Ted Cruz, who won Hutchison's Senate seat when she retired in 2012, introduced her as a "friend and a true Texas legend." Senior Texas U.S. Sen. John Cornyn also spoke on her behalf, saying Hutchison, who served in the Senate for 20 years, "needs no introduction." Cruz contrasted Hutchison's popularity on both sides of the aisle with his own reputation as a Senate gadfly. "All of you I know respect Kay, and a great many I know were grieved when you saw her successor," he said to laughter. Hutchison, 73, was frequently addressed familiarly by her first name. Cardin's opening remarks made clear she will face little if any Democratic opposition, despite widespread skepticism over Trump's professed admiration of Russian President Vladimir Putin. "It's particularly a pleasure to have Kay Bailey Hutchison back before our committee," Cardin said. "It must be a little different experience to be on the other side of the dais, but we thank you very much and I know you're going to do an incredible service to our country and NATO." Despite the good feelings, Democrats on the committee came prepared to use Hutchison's hearing to question Trump's foreign policy agenda, particularly the president's commitment to NATO and its Article 5 pledge to a common defense of its 29 member nations. New Jersey Democrat Bob Menendez recalled Trump's campaign pronouncement that NATO is "obsolete," as well as his subsequent omission of Article 5 during a speech in Europe in May. "Two quick questions," Menendez said. "Do you believe NATO is obsolete? And secondly, do we have an unequivocal commitment to Article 5?" "Absolutely..." Hutchison said. "Which one is 'absolutely'?" Menendez interrupted. "My first question or my second?" "The commitment to Article 5," Hutchison continued. "Well, first of all, NATO is not obsolete, and the president has acknowledged that." She added that after meeting with Tillerson and top Pentagon officials "the president realized immediately that it is an important and successful alliance." Said Menendez: "Your role in reasserting that will be very important." Unprompted in her own testimony, Hutchison also endorsed Trump's call for all NATO countries to meet their commitments to allocating at least 2 percent of their gross domestic product to defense. "Our allies need to meet this commitment," she said. But she also praised Canadian, United Kingdom and European participation in joint efforts to protect the most vulnerable nations in the Balkans, particularly through a U.S.-led program initiated in 2014 in response to Russia's annexation of Crimea. "We are beefing up defenses for an aggressive Russia," she said. She added that "as NATO has said, there's not going to be business as usual with Russia," in regard to Russian aggression in Ukraine. Hutchison, who served on both the Senate Intelligence and Armed Services Committees, pointed to greater NATO cooperation in sharing information about the growing threat of cyberterrorism. Menendez also pressed Hutchison and four other ambassador nominees for their views on whether Russia tried to interfere in the 2016 presidential elections, in which Hutchison started out as a supporter of Jeb Bush. "I think from what our intelligence communities have said and what has been in the newspapers and other media, that there is a good likelihood, yes," she said. "I also think it is important that we know the extent and how it was done. That's what the investigations are meant to do." Hutchison's performance won a full-throated endorsement from Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, the 2016 Democratic vice presidential nominee. "Kay Bailey Hutchison, I'm so glad you're the nominee," Kaine said. "Your nomination sends a signal that the NATO relationship is an important one. I don't think the administration would have asked somebody of your qualifications if they didn't mean to send a signal, that whatever the earlier statements or thoughts about NATO, there's now a commitment... So I'm very, very happy to see you before this committee, and I'm very anxious to get you confirmed as quickly as we can." In an interview, Hutchison dismissed concerns that Trump's equivocations on Russian hacking in the presidential election might undermine the United States' credibility in NATO. "I think the president has been very firm and I think in his speech in Warsaw he was very firm about Russia keeping its commitments, and I think the Congress is of that mind, the secretaries of state and defense have said that, and I think the president has as well," she said. Hutchison, who is widowed, said that if she's confirmed by the Senate this summer she expects to take her 15-year-old son, a French speaker, along with her to Brussels. Her 16-year-old daughter will remain at a boarding school in Virginia, where she is a high school junior. Hutchison said it was Tillerson, a close friend from Dallas, who came to her in February with the idea of joining the State Department as his envoy to NATO. She had been involved in helping Tillerson prepare for his own confirmation hearings. "I'm very excited about the mission," she said. "I'm excited about the opportunity to combine my love for our defense and my love for our country to do something that I think is so important for the future of America." "I never did think of coming back," said Hutchison, who has been practicing law at Bracewell LLP. "I wouldn't have ever thought about it until the Secretary called me." AUSTIN -- Weighing in on the bathroom bill may be a little more difficult for the public this time around. Just after midnight Thursday, the Texas Senate officially set a public hearing for Friday morning at 9 a.m. to hear from people about the newly filed SB 3. The legislation would require people to use the bathroom or changing room -- in public places like schools -- of the sex that is listed on their birth certificates. That would bar people who are transgender from using the bathroom of the sex they better identify with. The Republican-led Senate, over the objection of some Democrats, voted to waive the traditional rules that would give people 48 hours to review the legislation before a hearing of the State Affairs Committee. Instead, by setting a 9 a.m. meeting on Friday, the Senate is giving the public at most 33 hours to plan to get to Austin to testify. In addition, the Senate will only allow witnesses one hour to sign up to be a witness before the meeting and three hours to sign up to speak after the meeting starts. It's all an attempt to make it harder for the public to be heard on the bill and prevent a repeat of a March hearing where over 1,000 people testified against a similar bill, said Sen. Jose Rodriguez, D-El Paso. "This is all clearly and obviously intended to rush these bills through with the least amount of participation possible," Rodriguez said. Not so, Republicans say. Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, said there have been numerous hearings on the topic already dating back to the regular session. He said he still expects hundreds of people to be able to testify at the special session hearing for or against the bill. The bill has become one of the most controversial bills of the 20 ideas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, has ordered lawmakers to take up in the special session that started Tuesday. He and his supporters have declared it a "privacy" bill and some, including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, have argued it will make children safer from child predators pretending to be transgender. Opponents, including some of the biggest businesses in Texas, have warned it could trigger boycotts of the state like a similar bill in North Carolina did and make it harder to recruit employees. Looking at the world through the eyes of the Web The summers final Live on the Waterfront concert was held Wednesday evening at Prince Arthurs Landing. The popular series in Thunder Bay has completed nine weekly shows that began on July 13. Wednesdays concert was unique as it was held one hour later in the evening to mesh with the 10 p. We attempted to send a notification to your email address but we were unable to verify that you provided a valid email address. Please click here to update your email address if you wish to receive notifications. Otherwise, you may click here to disable notifications and hide this message. The impressive concentration of jazz musicians and aficionados in New Mexico owes itself largely to the collective efforts of the Outpost Performance Space in Albuquerque, The Lensic Performing Arts Center in Santa Fe and the Santa Fe Jazz Foundation. These three nonprofit organizations have toiled tirelessly for years to enrich New Mexico by presenting concerts, providing educational opportunities and promoting the arts throughout the state. Above all else in their collective efforts, however, is the New Mexico Jazz Festival, an annual celebration of all things jazz that assembles elite local musicians and eminent jazz masters alike to bask in the glory of community and vibrant music. This years two week long festival is set to highlight the talents of multiple Juno Award-winning Jane Bunnett and her exhilarating all-female group Maqueque. The sextets music is best described by their name itself; Maqueque means the spirit of a young girl when translated into English, and their brilliant improvisational Afro-Cuban jazz is an exploration into the delight and wonder of youth. If you are looking for a way to escape the drone-like predictability of the world, kick-start that journey for $30 this Thursday and Friday, July 20 and 21 , at the Outpost Performance Space, a venue whose intimacy will enhance the deeply personal and enthusiastic performance. (Adam Wood) Multiple Juno Award winner, flutist, saxophonist and pianist, Jane Bunnett and her group comprising some of Cuba's most promising female musicians perform live. Multiple Juno Award winner, flutist, saxophonist and pianist, Jane Bunnett has turned her bands and recordings into showcases for the finest musical talent from Canada, the U.S and Cuba. She has been nominated for several Grammy Awards and received The Order of Canada, The Queens Diamond Jubilee, and The Premiers Award for Excellence. An internationally acclaimed musician, Bunnett is known for her creative integrity, improvisational daring and courageous artistry. Her exploration of Afro-Cuban melodies expresses the universality of music and her ability to embrace and showcase the rhythms and culture of Cuba has been groundbreaking. She has toured the world and as an educator, spokesperson and social activist, she remains unafraid to explore uncharted territory in her quest for excellence. In 2013, Bunnett created her latest group, Maqueque, comprising some of Cuba's most promising female musicians. They have been turning heads internationally since their self titled debut release in 2014, which received a Juno award for Best Group Jazz Album of the Year. "Maqueque" in the Yoruban language translates to "the spirit of a young girl," which Bunnett says captures the vibe of the group and the song that shares its name. They release their second CD, Oddara in fall 2016 of which LatinJazzNet wrote, Oddara fills the air with intoxicating spirit of joy and electricity... their shape-shifting enthusiasm is contagious." Maqueque features Jane Bunnett, saxophone & flute; plus Elizabeth Rodriguez , violin and vocals; Danae Olano, piano; Celia Jimenez, bass; Magdelys Savigne, bata drums and congas; and Yissy Garcia, drums. News / Education by Staff reporter Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa says the right to education for Zimbabweans is not negotiable and is indispensable for the achievement of the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio Economic Transformation (ZIM ASSET).Mnangagwa said this during the Global Action Week for Education commemorations held at Chipindura High School in Bindura.Zimbabwe today joined the rest of the world in commemorating the Global Action Week for Education (GAWE).The 2017 GAWE campaign is aimed at raising awareness on the importance of education."Government will continue to work towards the attainment of the sustainable development goal number 4 of the agenda 2030," noted Mnangagwa.The Vice President encouraged stakeholders to make long term strategic investments in the education sector for the country to realise objectives espoused in the ZIM ASSET vision.While UNESCO regional director, Professor Hubert Gijzen expressed appreciation to government for prioritising the education sector saying his organisation remains committed to lead and coordinate the implementation of sustainable development goal number 4.The belated 2017 GAWE commemorations ran under the theme, "Stand up for Equitable, Quality and Lifelong Education: Everyone's Responsibility".In attendance was Primary and Secondary Education Minister, Dr Lazarus Dokora, his deputy Professor Paul Mavhima and Mashonaland Central Minister of State Advocate Martin Dinha among other dignitaries. Ajith has good craze in Telugu too. So he is releasing films in Tamil and Telugu. His latest 'Vivegam' movie in Tamil is titled 'Vivegam'. The film has sold the rights to Telugu films for Rs 4.5 crore. There is also an unexpected response to the teaser who left for the Telugu version. The teaser cut on the voice over. The film will be released on August 10th. A top Brooklyn, N.Y., politician pressed the state Tuesday to set up a special commission to investigate wrongful convictions and pinpoint the problems and people to blame. Releasing innocent people is not the end. It is only the beginning, said Borough President Eric Adams, who represents a county where more than two dozen murder and other convictions have been scrapped since 2014. He wants an independent panel to examine exactly what went wrong here and whos culpable. A representative for Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the proposal would be looked at. Both he and Adams are Democrats. From mandating law enforcement videotape custodial interrogations to permitting photo identifications as evidence at trial, Gov. Cuomo has led the way in preventing wrongful convictions and ensuring New Yorks criminal justice system works for all, said spokeswoman Abbey Fashouer. The administration continues to work with district attorneys across the state to enact new and creative solutions and any proposal advanced will be reviewed. Former New York Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman established a wrongful commission task force in 2009. The group ultimately recommended ideas the state has approved, including expanding defendants access to DNA testing to fight convictions, videotaping many police interrogations, and conducting photo lineups so that the officers administering them dont know which picture is the suspects. Still, the now-retired Lippman said the state needs to find out what the pattern is in wrongful-conviction cases as he joined Adams to call for a new commission. The officials and civil rights lawyer Norman Siegel suggested any commission should look at wrongful convictions statewide. But the issue is especially ripe in Brooklyn, where the district attorneys office is re-examining about 100 convictions and has already disavowed 23 since the effort ramped up in 2014. Prosecutors have stood by another 58 cases reviewed so far. Adams, a retired police captain, noted that many cases in Brooklyns review are tied to one retired detective, Louis Scarcella. Some people Scarcella helped convict have said he coerced confessions and manipulated witnesses, and prosecutors last week said hed given misleading testimony in a murder case. Scarcella, who retired in 2000, has denied any wrongdoing. Prosecutors have reversed convictions in about a half-dozen of his cases but reaffirmed their confidence in three dozen others to date. Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez noted Tuesday that he and late DA Kenneth Thompson who prioritized the issue while in office from 2014 until his death last October took steps to prevent wrongful convictions, including requiring training on witness identifications and evaluating confessions. Gonzalez, also a Democrat, said hed be happy to lend expertise to a wrongful-convictions commission and would continue this important work irrespective of any politically-motivated attacks. (Associated Press writer David Klepper contributed to this report from Albany, New York.) Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Even though a Florida sinkhole hasnt grown in several days, officials said that the debris-strewn site is still considered dangerous and that residents of five homes remained evacuated Tuesday due to the dangers. The sinkhole is not growing anymore but still dangerous conditions exist out here, said Kevin Guthrie, Pasco Countys assistant administrator for public safety. Its basically moving like into a construction and demolition site. The sinkhole opened up Friday and grew to 225 feet (68 meters) wide and 50 feet (15 meters) deep, taking with it two homes, septic tanks and a boat. No one was injured. Guthrie said there was no toxic release into the air so the main environmental concern is the long-term effects, if any, of debris to the water supply in the neighborhood north of Tampa. Its going to be my goal to have all of that stuff taken out of the hole, Guthrie said at a news conference. However, I know there have been some other practices across the state, and across the country, when you just fill it in and go from there. Health and environmental officials will be conducting testing of to make sure water from wells is safe to drink since many residents in the neighborhood get their water from wells. Local officials were recommending homeowners living within 500 feet of the sinkhole to drink bottled water as a precaution. Results from 20 initial well tests came back negative for E. Coli on Tuesday, health officials said. Where we get concerned is wells that are shallow and the casing isnt far enough to end up protecting the well, said Greg Crumpton, a local health official. Were not sure of the effects the sinkhole can cause. We just know there is a possibility of a health effect and thats what were out here to try gathering information. Cleanup efforts, originally set for midweek, have been pushed back a day or two as county officials still need to contact homeowners insurance companies. County cleanup crews cant do any work on much of the site without the homeowners and insurance companies permission since they are private property, Guthrie said. The water level in the sinkhole has dropped five feet since Friday, officials said. Fencing was erected around the five evacuated homes and power has been shut off to the houses. As far as people moving back in, were still at a point where they cant move back in, Guthrie said. Im still looking at several days before that can even happen. Meanwhile, a small sinkhole opened up this week in the retirement community, The Villages. WFTV in Orlando reports that hole opened up between two homes. No damage to the homes has been reported, but a resident of one of the homes has decided to temporarily move out until engineers can evaluate the structure. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. News / National by Staff reporter THE row over President Robert Mugabe's hotly-contested succession has brought the military into the middle of the battle more than ever before, as the security sector continues to brazenly interfere with politics, signalling how the armed forces are going to be a major factor in the succession race.The military, in particular Zimbabwe Defence Forces commander General Constantino Chiwenga, has been brazenly meddling in politics in support of a Zanu-PF faction aligned to Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa's faction.Chiwenga has been involved in heated exchanges through the state media with Higher Education minister Jonathan Moyo, who is aligned to the G40 Zanu-PF faction, which has coalesced around First Lady Grace Mugabe. Judging from the rate at which the intense exchanges are going, the tension is likely to worsen unless there is self-containment from the two, analysts say.Moyo has been criticising the command agriculture programme, accusing the Mnangagwa faction of being dishonest about the government scheme, while also making it a project to promote the group's succession bid. He has dismissed the programme, derisively calling it "command ugly culture".The programme is being spearheaded by Mnangagwa with the assistance of the military. Mnangagwa has indirectly challenged Moyo to leave Zanu-PF.Chiwenga triggered the current fight, accusing Moyo of being a homosexual, war deserter and a security threat. He has also questioned his loyalty for publicly questioning a government programme.Chiwenga also labelled Moyo as "an enemy of the state" who is intent on destroying Zanu-PF from within. In response, Moyo then took to Twitter, describing Chiwenga as a desperate politician in army uniform. He described the military boss as an "idiot".A trade of insults has been going on between Mnangagwa's allies and Moyo.The exchanges between Moyo and Chiwenga prove that sometimes the military gets into the factional trenches directly despite the fact that it does not openly want to be seen as backing Mnangagwa. The military does so on the pretext of maintaining national security.Although the army is pushing for Mnangagwa's ascendency, it remains loyal to Mugabe and does not want to fight him directly. It has, however, used war veterans, who in any case are part of the reserve army, to push its agenda and fight in Mnangagwa's corner when the heat is on. In April last year, for example, the war veterans' leadership issued a stinging communique accusing Mugabe of abandoning the values and principles of the liberation struggle, condoning corruption and failing to deliver on his 2013 election mandate. The war veterans also announced they would not support Mugabe in next year's general elections.Last February, the late war veteran Francis "Black Jesus" Zimuto, sent tongues wagging when he described Grace as "a young girl", who should concentrate on household chores and stop meddling in Zanu-PF succession politics. His comments came after Grace blasted Mnangagwa, the military and war veterans at a rally in Chiweshe, Mashonaland Central. She accused military bosses of plotting to bomb her dairy while accusing was veterans of meddling in Zanu-PF affairs and Mnangagwa for promoting factionalism.Concern over the military's involvement in Zanu-PF affairs emerged at the Zanu-PF annual congress in Victoria Falls in 2015, when Mugabe complained about their participation in partisan politics."We had come to a point where there were some in the military, the police and the intelligence services joining factions. Let's stop that," Mugabe said. "Let's stop that completely, we are ruining the party that way."In the past, the military has been accused of violating the constitution by openly supporting Zanu-PF while intimidating and attacking opposition supporters during elections. The military assisted Mugabe to win the 2008 presidential election run-off by embarking on a violent campaign after the president had lost the first round of elections to MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai.Section 211 of the constitution states that: "The defence forces must respect the fundamental rights and freedoms of all persons and be non-partisan, national in character, patriotic, professional and subordinate to the civilian authority as established by this constitution."However, the military is showing that it will not shy away from politics and could be a decisive factor on succession. It is using the liberation struggle credentials and state security pretext as justification for delving into politics. This is evidenced by allegations from senior members of the armed forces that Moyo does not have liberation struggle credentials and is a national security threat.Political analysts say the fact that the military is involved in the succession race is a double-edged sword which could either fail or succeed. The analysts said the military's interference in politics could either succeed in pushing back those opposing Mnangangwa or result in the securocrats' aura of invincibility being eroded.Political analyst Maxwell Saungweme said the military's involvement in politics is "a brazen and an unacceptable phenomena" in Zimbabwe."We have made it acceptable that the military can meddle in domains outside their remits and it spells doom for Zimbabwe. Mugabe has militarised all public institutions including parastatals as supposedly independent commissions including the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission," said Saungweme. "Mugabe runs Zanu-PF and quasi-government programmes with the military at the centre. What Chiwenga is doing just confirms that the military want to be king-makers. We need to sanitise Zimbabwe politics and extricate the military from politics and non-military civil roles. With the generals telling us what to do, we are officially a lawless military state run by a junta."Political analyst Eldred Masunungure said the involvement of the military in politics is not a new phenomenon."It is a continuation of a tendency which started in the 1970s in the liberation struggle and that is when it was accepted that the high command is a mixture of the liberation and the politics," said Masunungure. "The only distinct issue now is that the army is now fighting threats from within Zanu-PF whereas in the past it would participate in politics when the ruling party is being threatened by opposition. The threats are intra-party and now the military has to be the vanguard of the party. The implication is that these party politicians in the fights are likely to emerge second best as they have coercive resources. Using the army in politics has always been Zanu-PF's modus operandi from the time of independence." A railroad owner must pay $3.9 million to the family of a movie worker killed on a Georgia railroad trestle in 2014, a jury decided in a civil verdict that found the company shared in the blame for the deadly freight train collision even though the film crew was trespassing. The parents of Sarah Jones sued CSX Transportation in Chatham County State Court, saying the railroad shared blame for their daughters death. The 27-year-old camera assistant died in the crash Feb. 20, 2014, during the first day of shooting Midnight Rider, an ill-fated movie about Gregg Allman of the Allman Brothers Band. This trial disclosed a number of exceptionally poor judgments and ignored opportunities by CSX Transportation to prevent this tragedy, Jones parents, Richard and Elizabeth Jones of Columbia, South Carolina, said in a written statement. CSX plans to appeal the jurys decision made on Monday, said Rob Doolittle, a spokesman for the Jacksonville, Florida-based company. CSX is deeply sympathetic to the terrible loss suffered by the family of Ms. Sarah Jones, but respectfully disagrees with the conclusions reached by the jury today, Doolittle said. The films director, Randall Miller, served a year in jail after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespassing charges. Jones parents said CSX also failed to take precautions that could have averted the crash on a trestle spanning the Altamaha River near Jesup in southeast Georgia. Jones family had also sued Miller, his fellow production managers and several other defendants. All of them except for CSX settled or otherwise resolved their cases out of court. The jury Monday found $11.2 million to be the total value of Jones life as well as her pain and suffering. Jurors decided CSX _ the only defendant on trial _ bore 35 percent of the responsibility for Jones death, making the railroads share $3.9 million. The jury in Savannah heard testimony during the civil trial that two CSX trains rolled through while the movie crew stood on both sides of the tracks within an hour before the crash, but the operators of those trains never called dispatchers to alert them. Jurors also were shown a CSX policy that train operators are expected to immediately report trespassers on its tracks and rights of way. Jeffrey Harris, the Jones familys attorney, also noted that the trains brakes werent applied until after the locomotive struck a hospital bed the filmmakers had placed across the tracks. Actor William Hurt, hired to play Allman, had been lying in the bed before the train came upon the crew at 53 mph (85 kph). Hurt escaped unharmed. Six crew members were injured by flying shrapnel from the bed. Jones was run over. Hurt appeared in Savannah and sat outside the courtroom during the trials first day last week. But the actor was never called to testify in the case. CSX attorneys blamed the crash entirely on the filmmakers. CSX officials had twice sent production managers emails denying them permission to shoot on the bridge. Three of Jones co-workers testified that production managers never told the rest of the crew members, who went onto the railroad trestle unaware they were trespassing. CSX lawyers argued that evidence of failures to follow company policies doesnt prove the railroad was negligent. They said the engineer in the crash didnt brake sooner because he was afraid the train would derail and possibly dump its payload of shipping containers onto people who were huddled on the bridges narrow walkway beside the tracks. The crash ended production on Midnight Rider, which has remained in limbo. Allman went to court to prevent Miller from reviving it before he died in May at age 69. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Fire investigators said Monday the apartment where a deadly fire began in a Honolulu high-rise was near the two units on the 26th floor where the bodies of three victims were found, but theyre still working to determine the cause. The origin of the fire is unit 2602, Honolulu Fire Department Capt. David Jenkins said. Two women and a man died in two different apartments on the same floor of the 36-story high-rise. Investigators will determine exactly where in the unit Fridays fire started and what caused it, Jenkins said. The Marco Polo building was constructed in 1971, before fire sprinklers were required in high-rises. Fire officials say sprinklers would have prevented flames from spreading. Its one of the worst fires in modern Honolulu history, Jenkins said. Some residents told The Associated Press they had trouble hearing sirens and didnt realize there was fire raging until opening their doors. They also said there was no public announcement or flashing alarm lights in the building when the fire began. It didnt sound quite like a normal traditional fire alarm, said Air Force cyber technician Cory La Roe, who didnt know the building had no sprinklers when he moved in in May. LaRoe said there were no announcements or flashing lights when the fire broke out. Gordon Kihune, who has lived in the building for about 12 years, said he didnt hear the alarms going off until he opened his apartment door. Angela Kim, a 30th-floor resident, said she can only hear the sirens if her apartment door is open. A sprinkler system would have confined the blaze to the unit where it started, Honolulu Fire Chief Manuel Neves said. Douglas Hesley, branch president of Associa Hawaii, the management group that runs the Marco Polo building, declined to comment on past fire drills or safety plans that were in place at the time of the fire. The Honolulu Fire Department said fire inspection reports are part of their investigation and cannot be immediately released. Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell said the city needs to look at passing a law requiring that older buildings be retrofitted with sprinklers. I think we need to put this conversation up on the radar and up for legislative discussion, said state Sen. Les Ihara, a Democrat. I support the idea of a tax credit. It would need to be at a point that it would make some difference. In the U.S., between the 1970s and mid-1980s, there were mandates for sprinklers in new construction. But getting sprinklers retrofitted in existing buildings was a taller hurdle, said Robert Solomon, a fire protection engineer with the National Fire Protection Association. This fire will bring a window of opportunity for everybody to come together on that, Solomon said. Sprinklers in high-rise buildings became part of the building code in 1981, after deadly fires in Las Vegas, said Rob Neale, vice president for national fire service activities at the International Code Council. Any high-rise building that was built prior to that addition of the code, as long as it stayed in that use category, the building code would allow it to stay un-sprinklered, Neale said. A number of communities adopted retroactive sprinkler requirements and developed timelines, typically allowing six to eight years for buildings to be retrofitted, he said. (Associated Press writers Marco Garci and Cathy Bussewitz in Honolulu and Michael Balsamo in Los Angeles contributed to this report. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. AKRON, Ohio -- Akron is accepting applications for its inaugural City of Akron Citizens Institute class. The free, 10-week program is designed to educate the public on city government and allow them to engage directly with city leaders. "If residents don't know or understand what is going on in the halls of their government, it can leave them feeling disconnected and disheartened," Mayor Dan Horrigan said in a news release. "It's our responsibility as government officials to engage residents by inviting them to the table, educating them about our rules and processes and empowering them to give feedback." Horrigan asked his staff to design a diverse city-government curriculum and turn City Hall into a "community classroom" where residents can ask city leaders, department directors and front-line staff questions. The Citizens Institute will consist of 25 Akron residents. The class will meet once a week with city departments and learn about Akron's programs and services. Discussions will include the city's charter form of government, its accountability to the public and its responsibilities and duties. "This program won't be city leaders talking at residents, it will be a collaborative dialogue where both groups will learn from each other," Horrigan said in a news release. Applications are available here and are due on or before Aug. 15. Applicants must be 18 years old or older. The Citizens Institute will run from late August through early November 2017. Program dates are listed below. Tuesday evening classes: Aug. 29-Oct. 24 One Saturday class: Sept. 16 One Monday class: Oct.16 Graduation: Thursday, Nov. 2 Individuals with questions about the program or the application process should contact Christine Curry, director of communications, at 330-375-2209 or CCurry@akronohio.gov. Want more Akron news? Sign up for cleveland.com's Rubber City Daily, an email newsletter delivered at 5:30 a.m. Monday through Friday. AKRON, Ohio -- An Akron man was sentenced to jail Wednesday afternoon for abducting and shooting his girlfriend in 2015, officials said. Terrence Robinson-Bey, 54, was sentenced by Summit County Common Pleas Court Judge Christine Croce to 18 years in jail on charges of felonious assault, abduction and having weapons under a disability. He shot his 41-year-old girlfriend in the leg as she tried to jump out of a vehicle following an argument, the Summit County Prosecutor's Office said. Robinson-Bey drove around with the injured woman in the car and refused to take her to the hospital, authorities said. He later drove her to a relative's house where she was able to escape. A Summit County jury found Robinson-Bey guilty on all charges June 22. To comment on this story, please visit Wednesday's crime and courts comments page. AKRON, Ohio - An Akron man charged with murder in the 2015 shooting death of a University of Akron student is already serving a lengthy prison sentence for eight armed robbery convictions, police said. Investigators spent a year and a half investigating the killing of Zakareia Husein before announcing criminal charges Thursday during a news conference at the Akron Police Department. Husein, 21, was shot Dec. 7, 2015 during a robbery at his brother's pizza shop on East Glenwood Avenue. The man charged in the killing, Shaquille Anderson, was arrested last fall in an armed robbery investigation, court records show. A Summit County judge sentenced him to 21 years in prison on Dec. 7, 2016 -- exactly one year after Husein was shot and killed. Anderson remains in custody at the Mansfield Correctional Institution. It's unclear when he will appear in court to face charges in Husein's death. Ammar Husein, who owns the Premium New York Style Pizza shop where his brother was killed, said Thursday that he and his family are relieved that charges have been filed. "This was not an easy process. But it just shows you what the police department has done," he said. "You just never know when things are going to turn." Detectives declined to release details of the evidence that helped them identify Anderson as a suspect in the killing. Capt. Jesse Leeser, the head of the police department's detective bureau, also would not say whether the gun used in the shooting has been linked to any other crimes. Detectives are still investigating the possibility that a second person may have been involved in the robbery that resulted in the fatal shooting, but no arrests have been made, Leeser said. Akron Police Chief James Nice commended the detectives who investigated the case. The police department solves approximately 80 percent of its homicide cases -- much higher than the national average of approximately 50 percent, Nice said. "We work tirelessly until we solve these crimes," Nice said. Husein and his family came to Akron in the 1990s as refugees from Jerusalem, his brother told cleveland.com. The family later moved to Springfield Township, and Husein graduated from Springfield Township High School in 2012. "[Zak] made my dad proud," Ammar Husein said Thursday. "If I were my mom and dad, I would be comfortable saying he was my favorite child." Husein was studying international business at the University of Akron while working at the pizza shop where he was shot and killed. Surveillance video showed a marked, armed man enter the pizza shop just after 11 p.m. and force Husein to hand him money from a cash register. The man shot Husein before he ran from the shop. Husein died after paramedics took him to Summa Akron City Hospital. Anderson was arrested Aug. 17, 2016, after he led police officers on a brief car chase in Akron. He was driving a 2004 Crown Victoria that had been identified as a getaway car in several robberies, police said. A second man arrested in connection with those robberies has not been charged in Husein's death. If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Thursday's crime and courts comments section. AKRON, Ohio -- An all-day festival celebrating Akron classics like Galley Boys, jojos, the Goodyear Blimp and Soap Box Derby will take place at Lock 3 on Saturday, July 29. Signal Tree Fest opens at 8:30 a.m., followed by a yoga brunch at 9 a.m. Throughout the morning, guests and their families can participate in children's activities and an outdoor movie. Oddmart, featuring vendors from Oddmall and Crafty Mart, will provide an outdoor shopping experience at the adjacent Lock 4 starting at noon. Performers will hit the Lock 3 stage throughout the afternoon. Neos Dance Theatre, the Ohio Shakespeare Festival and musicians like Moustache Yourself, Gretchen Pleuss and Theron Brown Trio will provide live music throughout the day. Thirsty Dog's Lock 3 Tap Room will open at 3 p.m. Guests can also purchase cold treats from Stickland's and "adult milkshakes" from Pav's Creamery. Attendees can taste local fare from food trucks like Square Scullery, Stray Dog Cart, Swensons and Wholly Frijoles in the evening while bands including Ghost Slime, STEMS and The Dreemers fill out the evening's live-music lineup. The event will include Akron's first-ever food challenge and "Big Kid Recess," with outdoor activities like volleyball, cornhole and games for adults. The full schedule of events can be viewed at signaltreefest.com/schedule. General admission to the event is free. Akron Access Passes are $75 and include a hand-screened Signal Tree T-shirt from The Social Department, a beer mug, foldable tote and entry to the VIP tent with free food, beer and wine. Family Fun Passes are $12 and come with a children's T-Shirt, all-day entry to Akron Children's Museum, lunch served at Lock 3, skate rental for the "Christmas in July" rink and a outdoor movie. All-access and family package tickets can be purchased at signaltreefest.com/akron-access-pass. Signal Tree Fest is presented by the Devil Strip, the city, Lock 3 and the Knight Foundation. It is a celebration of the people, places and inventions that distinguish Akron from other regions. Want more Akron news? Sign up for cleveland.com's Rubber City Daily, an email newsletter delivered at 5:30 a.m. Monday through Friday. AKRON, Ohio - A Summit County sheriff's deputy was indicted Thursday on rape charges, prosecutors said. Antonio Williamson, 46, is accused of sexually assaulting a 26-year-old woman on or about March 19, according to court records. Williamson is charged with rape, kidnapping, two counts of sexual battery and gross sexual imposition. Williams turned himself in to authorities Thursday morning and is currently in custody at the Stark County Jail. He is scheduled to appear at an arraignment Friday at Summit County Common Pleas Court. Williamson was off-duty but leaving a second job at the time the woman said the incident happened, Summit County Prosecutor's Office spokesman James Pollack said. Williamson was in uniform and driving a sheriff's office cruiser at the time, Pollack said. The woman told investigators that she did not know Williamson, Pollack said. The Akron Police Department investigated the case along with the Summit County Sheriff's Office and Summit County Prosecutor's Office. Summit County Sheriff Steve Barry declined to comment on the arrest, other than to thank detectives for their professionalism during the investigation. Barry also did not release any information on Williamson's career with the sheriff's department, including how long he has been employed there. If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Thursday's crime and courts comments section. News / National by Staff reporter The Movement for Democratic Change party on Wednesday called on President Robert Mugabe to stop politically motivated violence reported in some parts of the country after properties belonging to two of its senior officials were destroyed in savage attacks by unknown assailants.The MDC led by former prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai was quick to point fingers at Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF party, charging Mugabe had "degrees in violence".One of Tsvangirai's deputies, Elias Mudzuri, had his nightclub destroyed by a night fire. An MDC councilor in Harare's Kuwadzana high density suburb, Wilton Njanjasi, had the windows of his house shattered while his dura-wall was also damaged by unidentified assailants.Employees at Mudzuri's business premises said the unknown assailants were found with an undisclosed sum of money, while the fire destroyed television sets and fridges as well as stock valued at $2000.Politically motivated"All the money that was in the bar is missing because the safe is nowhere to be found. We suspect that the assailants burnt the property to destroy evidence," said one of the workers, Tichaona Murevanhema."We think that destruction of the property was politically motivated since the proprietor (Mudzuri) is the vice president of the MDC."When News24 arrived at the scene, detectives were investigating the case. Police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba was not answering her mobile phone.At the same time, Njanjasi said he suspected that the attack on his house was also politically motivated because nothing was destroyed."The assailants were moving in two trucks; they did not steal anything from the house but only destroyed the wall and windows. A security guard who was manning the car park adjacent to my house said he was forced to lie down whilst a gun was being pointed at him and he had some bruises on his body," said Njanjasi.Crushing and humiliating defeatThe attack on Mudzuri and Njanjasi's properties came barely a week after an MDC vehicle was burnt to ashes at a car park in the Kuwadzana suburb in another suspected politically motivated attack.MDC spokesperson Obert Gutu maintained that the attacks pointed to Mugabe's Zanu-PF party."No rocket science is needed to conclude that these savage and thuggish criminal activities are orchestrated by Zanu PF thugs and agents as the country approaches the make or break 2018 elections. The Zanu-PF regime is cornered, deeply fractured, incorrigibly factionalised and crumbling. The regime is facing a crushing and humiliating defeat at next year's elections," said Gutu.More than 200 opposition supporters were killed in politically motivated in the run-up to the 2008 presidential run-off resulting in Tsvangirai pulling out of the second round of voting. The former premier had defeated Mugabe in the first round but lacked adequate votes to be declared the winner in those elections.The lack of Mugabe's legitimacy after the one-man run-off prompted the Southern African Development Community to appoint former South African President Thabo Mbeki to broker a political deal that ushered in a unity government that came to an end in 2013 when Zimbabwe held yet another disputed poll. News / National by Staff reporter The scramble for land has caused heartaches for many Zimbabweans who have sacrificed their hard earned money for pieces of land only to realise later they have fallen prey to land barons.However, the plight of the desperate home seekers and those who have sought to line their pockets has since come to the attention of government which has pledged to end the vice once and for all.Housing is a basic human need and many Zimbabweans, feeling the need to have shelter have in the process thrown caution to the wind and at the end of the day have been done by individuals who preyed on their desperation.Government said a no nonsense approach to the issue of individuals who have sought personal enrichment at the expense of desperate home seekers must now be a thing of the past.The Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, Saviour Kasukuwere who was speaking on the sidelines of a ceremony to celebrate the appointment of Councillor Samuel Chinyowa in the capital said government cannot stand by as individuals bent on fleecing desperate home seekers go scot free.Harare has been the epicentre of such invasions and the city has been left with no option but to sanitise many of the settlements which in many instances are cited in undesignated areas.Efforts at sanitising the chaos that had been caused by land barons is best epitomised through Caledonia which now resembles a planned settlement through the efforts of the Urban Development Corporation. News / National by Staff reporter Detectives from the CID drug section have nabbed a suspected drug kingpin and recovered an assortment of equipment for manufacturing narcotics.They also recovered a few grams of cocaine and a number of ecstasy tablets.Early this Thursday (today) morning detectives from the CID drug section swooped on unsuspecting 39 year old James Francis Joseline who has a dual British and Zimbabwean citizenship at number 7 Marion Close in Glen Lorne where he is a tenant at the cottage.Among those that were recovered include a pill making machine which makes up to a thousand pills per hour, 8.5 grams of cocaine, 43 ecstasy tablets, 133 grams of ecstasy powder and a machine for compressing marijuana or mbanje.Colorants and an array of other medical related ingredients used in the preparation of narcotics and hard drugs were also allegedly recovered in Joseline's possession.The suspect is in police custody assisting with investigations and is expected to appear in court this Friday (tomorrow). A 'Citi' sign is displayed outside Citigroup Center near Citibank headquarters in Manhattan on December 5, 2012 in New York City. But it is unclear whether Britain will be able to retain that access. Other questions affecting banks also remain unanswered, including whether European citizens will be able to continue to live and work in Britain, and if so, under what sort of visa. Britain's membership in the 28-nation bloc has bolstered London's position as a global financial hub in part because European rules allow "passporting," under which a banking license in a single member-state allows a lender to work throughout the European Union. The development is largely symbolic, with a relatively small number of staff members in London expected to move to Germany . But it is another trickle of job losses that some British business and political leaders fear could turn into a flood in the coming months and years, as the full picture of the nation's future trading relationship with the European Union becomes clear. The American banking giant Citigroup is taking a step toward reducing its dependence on London and will open a second trading hub in Frankfurt, said a person familiar with the bank's plans, who was not authorized to speak publicly about them and so spoke anonymously. The bank has had an operation in Frankfurt for decades, but it would expand its business there with this latest decision. With Britain locked in negotiations with the European Union over their post-"Brexit" relationship, the financial companies that dominate London's economy have forged ahead, eager to ensure they can continue to serve clients across the Continent. That has set other European cities scrambling to win a slice of the business that the British capital has long kept for itself. The European Union could also restrict the clearing outside the bloc of complex financial contracts known as derivatives when they are denominated in euros, further sidelining London. While most financial companies have said they would prefer to stay in London home to some of the world's biggest financial markets and a wide variety of support industries like accountants and lawyers they also must ensure they can continue to operate across the European Union. Citi's decision shows how financial services companies are trying to strike that balance. The bank employs about 19,000 people in the European Union, including around 6,000 in London. A vast majority of its investment banking and trading jobs in London will remain in place, according to the person. But the bank will obtain a broker dealer license in Frankfurt so it can continue trading and offering investment banking services across the European Union. The jobs that may shift to Frankfurt form a small percentage of the overall figures. And while other financial companies have announced plans to move employees or to make new hires in Dublin, Frankfurt, Paris and even Luxembourg, most of those plans have also involved relatively few people. Still, that has not stopped cities on the Continent particularly Frankfurt and Paris from making an aggressive sales pitch to business leaders, hoping to eventually lure tens of thousand of workers. More from the New York Times: Theresa May Offers 'Great Repeal Bill,' and Opponents Promise 'Hell' U.K. Plan to Quit European Nuclear Treaty Stirs Alarm Trump Persists on Health Bill, Urging Senators to Revive It Britain has started the clock on leaving the European Union, and will be out of the bloc by March 2019. Here is how "Brexit" has affected business so far. The lobbying group Europlace Paris said this year that it hoped to attract as many as 20,000 financial jobs, and the new president of France, Emmanuel Macron, has pledged to change labor laws to make the country more economically competitive. Frankfurt, despite being viewed by some as a sleepier city, has at least one definite advantage: It is the home to the European Central Bank, the region's chief banking regulator. Stefan Winter, the chairman of the industry group Association of Foreign Banks in Germany, told the newspaper Welt am Sonntag last month that Frankfurt could add 3,000 to 5,000 jobs in the next two years as a result of Britain's leaving the bloc. Frankfurt Main Finance, another lobbying organization, has estimated that as many as 10,000 new jobs could move to the city over the next five years. In a news release after reports that Citigroup was planning to move the jobs to Germany, Frankfurt Main Finance said the city was in the "pole position" to win banking business from London. "Noted for its strong economic and political stability, Frankfurt and the region offer a top infrastructure, competitively priced and plentiful modern office space, a deep talent pool and an extremely high quality of life," Frankfurt Main Finance said. It's that time again! Jim Cramer rang the lightning round bell, which means he gave his take on callers' favorite stocks at rapid speed: GameStop : "No, no. You know what, they keep trying, they keep trying, but they can't put it together. I say no, we don't want to be there, but we do like Activision Blizzard , we do like Electronic Arts , and of course we like Cramer-fave Take Two Interactive ." Pfizer : "You know, it's fine. No one ever got hurt buying Pfizer. I'd like to see some new products out of there or a big acquisition or maybe the split-up that they've been talking about, but it's not going to run away from you, believe me." Amphastar Pharmaceuticals : "Why do we need that? We've got so many high-quality biotechs that are out there right now. I mean, Regeneron had a really nice upgrade today I thought made a lot of sense out of Merrill [Lynch]. I know it's at $500, but if you can only buy maybe 10 shares, it's worth doing." Community Bank System : "I mean, think about it, what we had. We had Citi report an unbelievable quarter and the stock is down a couple of bucks. We had JPMorgan report a darned good quarter, the stock's off 4 [basis points]. You know, I just can't go there. PNC's better. Let's stick with some of the majors that have come down. And by the way, Morgan Stanley , dynamite quarter. Congratulations to [CEO] James Gorman." Nabors Industries : "No. Look, I mean, contract drilling, at this point we saw Helmerich & Payne up a lot. But I really don't like this. I'm going to lump this in with Transocean and with Diamond Offshore . I just don't want to be there. Halliburton's going to report and let's see what they have to say. But no. too speculative." Cypress Semiconductor : "I like Cypress Semi. I like how much it's involved in several new devices this fall. I don't like all that management turmoil. They work that stuff out, it goes to $17." Mazor Robotics : "Remember, the issue with Mazor was not the product. The product sold really well. The last quarter was excellent. It was the fact that the Israeli SEC raided their offices and we still haven't gotten a reason of why that was. But Mazor the product is, yes, a junior [Intuitive Surgical ], which was upgraded again today and continues to go higher." Forterra : "Yeah, it's a pipe company, and the problem with a pipe company is if you go back over the CSX presentation this morning, they said pipe sales, their actual cargo, are way down. I don't want to be involved with that. Too much pipe involved with infrastructure. Let's see what Nucor says when they report to see if there's hope for infrastructure. I'm not clear." Facebook's head of news partnerships, Campbell Brown, said at a industry conference in New York that the social networking giant will launch a subscription-based news product later this year, according to a report from The Street. The Street said the feature is set to be built on top of Facebook's "Instant Articles," which aggregate stories from various publishers, depending on a reader's preferences. It added that Facebook planned to build a paywall that will require readers to become subscribers to the service after accessing 10 free articles. The service will direct readers to news publishers' home pages. Initial tests will begin in October. Facebook's plans, announced Tuesday, come as the news industry is struggling to remain solvent in the face of free distribution of its information through the internet. Online distribution has also blurred the lines between legitimate news and fake news. Earlier this month, the industry for a limited antitrust exemption from the U.S. Congress in a bid to fend off growing competition from large social platforms like Facebook and Google . Brown told CNBC previously Facebook was "committed to helping quality journalism thrive" on its platform. Click here for the full report from The Street on Facebook's planned subscription service. Opinion / Columnist Kelvin Kudenga is a UK based activist. Recent reports of a spike in violent acts by the Robert Mugabe's ZANU PF junta against the opposition in Zimbabwe, as we move closer towards the 2018 elections, requires only one response - counter-violence.Violence has always been Mugabe's modus operandi ever since the liberation struggle, and every election after 'Independence', and have disgracefully 'reaped' the rewards of stolen elections.As such, Mugabe knows no other language to use during elections, and 2018 will not be any different, as we are already witnessing.If what has happened in the past is anything to go by, Mugabe will steal next year's elections through violence.The most disturbing aspect is that, in this election, the violence - which previously dominated the rural areas - will also be widespread in the urban areas.After the 2018 elections have been stolen, we will witness the usual thumbs-up by SADC and the African Union (AU).This will, as usual, be accompanied by toothless protests by the opposition, which will lead to nowhere, as Mugabe will be assured of another 5 years in power.It is, therefore, very clear that this pacified approached has never work, and will never work.We need a paradigm shift in our response to Mugabe's violence, which entails meeting violence with violence.That is the only language he understands.It is about time that Zimbabweans took the bulk by the horns, and showed Mugabe that we have had enough.I know that we are not naturally violent, but there is such a thing as 'self defence', and we all have the right to that.We should be able to arm ourselves to face-off with Mugabe's goonsIf, for example, we go onto the streets for a demonstration, we should be armed enough to defend ourselves should Mugabe's police and military attack us - as would surely happen.We should be able to repel these militia's attacks innocent demonstrators, who are merely exercising their democratic right, by our own arms.The same should happen in the rural areas.We should have armed 'defence units' that should be able to respond immediately should there be reports of an attack by Mugabe's militia on innocent villagers.I believe that Mugabe should be able to take the message that we are not joking, and that Zimbabweans mean to stand up for themselves - and he will, hopefully, pull his militia back.This should also send a strong message to his friends in SADC and the AU, that if they continue paying lip-service to the Zimbabwean crisis, there would be war.Taking the fight to Mugabe will certainly bring some seriousness by the international community to the Zimbabwean issue.However, if no one takes us seriously, then we may as well go all the way and fight Mugabe in a protracted liberation war.If Mugabe himself saw it worthy to fight a war of liberation to dislodge the oppressive Smith regime, why should we not do the same to dislodge an equally oppressive Mugabe regime?Smith and Mugabe have proved to be two sides of the same coin, and as such, they require the same solution.The suffering that we have endured can only get worse, and as such, there is no point in being patient.Patient for what?One can only by patient when waiting for something one knows will eventually come some time.But, as far as Uhuru in Zimbabwe is concerned, there is no way it will just come by patiently waiting.Witness the infighting in ZANU PF - they are already readying themselves for another dictator.Believe me, but the next ZANU PF dictator will be worse than Mugabe, as he or she has to forcefully assert him or herself and consolidate his or her power, as he or she knows that they would not be as popular and acceptable as Mugabe in both party and nation.As such, Zimbabweans need to take action today.Let us start by shocking Mugabe by responding to his violence on the streets to peaceful protestors by our own arms.I can assure the nation that these Mugabe militia are nothing but cowards hiding behind guns - knowing fully well that thy face an unarmed people.Once they realise that the people are also armed, they will run to the hills, and Mugabe will be left on his own.He will then be forced to step down and hold truly free and fair elections.Let us not be afraid of this hornless own, and take up arms against Mugabe, ad test is the only language he will understand. In 2001, Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin brought in CEO Eric Schmidt to help them scale the booming business they had on their hands. Google was then doing more than $100 million in revenue and was three years from going public. Though Schmidt was impressed by Page and Brin's intellectually rigorous interview process, he was not terribly impressed with his first day on the job. Schmidt's title made him part of the C-suite in name only. "My first office at Google was an 8-by-12 office, just enough room for me and my desk and my little chair," says Schmidt, speaking with Linkedin co-founder Reid Hoffman on the podcast, "Masters of Scale." To further confuse things, the then-CEO walked in to find he had a roommate. "I said 'Hello.' He says, 'Hello.' I said, 'Hi, I'm Eric.' And he goes, 'Hi, I'm Amit.'" Schmidt, who is today the Chairman of Google's parent company Alphabet and worth almost $12 billion according to Forbes, didn't expect to have to share. "Now, as a new person coming into the company, it's very important to not create a cultural faux pas," says Schmidt. "Like it would be incorrect to say, 'I'm the CEO. Get the heck out of my office.'" Amazon announcing plans to acquire Whole Foods had everyone buzzing about the immediate impact on the grocery industry. But one also has to wonder what will happen to the nearly 1 million Americans who work in supermarkets, ringing up purchases and bagging groceries, across the country. When more than 900 shoppers were asked what Amazon should add or change at Whole Foods locations, the top response was adding "cashier-free checkout," according to a poll conducted by ChargeItSpot, a leading provider of cell-phone charging stations for retailers, including Nordstrom, Under Armour and Neiman Marcus. Also of interest were "lower prices" and "in-store pickup for Amazon purchases," the survey found. To be sure, Amazon has said it has no current plans to automate the jobs of cashiers in Whole Foods' stores after it finishes acquiring the grocery chain. It also isn't planning any layoffs, according to an Amazon spokesperson. But speculation continues to build. Especially when there are reports claiming that half of all American jobs are at risk from automation. "When Amazon announced they would be expanding into the grocery space, shoppers were interested to see what new features would be implemented in these stores," ChargeItSpot's CEO Doug Baldasare said. "Our survey found that shoppers want the Amazon-Whole Foods merger to upgrade the grocery store experience with additions of useful technology." The deal between Amazon and Whole Foods, should it pan out, will advance the process of replacing people with technology, Ian Siegel, CEO of job marketplace ZipRecruiter, told CNBC. "We already have self-checkout stations, and Amazon has demonstrated that even more advanced 'check-out' technology is possible." The internet giant has even released a video showing what a futuristic store concept, called Amazon Go, looks like no lines, no registers, only "just walk out" technology. Amazon Go is currently open for the company's employees at a test location in Seattle. ZipRecruiter's Siegel said that a gradual shift in supermarkets' employment structure will also open up opportunities in new types of retail jobs, such as consultative sales, distribution and logistics within the grocery chains. So, cashiers shouldn't fear being out of a paycheck altogether, but instead looking to employ their service skills elsewhere. The latest count from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows there were 867,920 grocery cashiers in the U.S. in 2016. Since the start of the year, the U.S. economy has shed roughly 71,000 total retail jobs, the BLS said. "Advances in technology, such as self-service checkout stands in retail stores and increasing online sales, will continue to limit the need for cashiers." ZipRecruiter further found that job postings for grocery positions, which would include cashiers, were down 24 percent in the second quarter of this year compared to last year. Demand is evidently waning. Do you fear that your current salary will dictate how much you'll make in your next job? According to a survey released by Glassdoor, 53 percent of U.S. workers think employers should stop asking about salary history when discussing a job offer. Among those surveyed, 60 percent of working women feel the question should be left out of the hiring process altogether. According to Glassdoor Economic Research, women earn $0.76 for every $1 earned by their male counterparts. For many women who may have been underpaid at their previous job, disclosing their current or past salary can easily lead to being underpaid at their next job. Getty Images "This issue speaks to how we value women's labor, knowledge, time, training and so much more," Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg about the continuing pay gap as part of LeanIn.org's #20PercentCounts campaign in honor of Equal Pay Day. While some employers may plan to keep inquiring about salary history down the road, a few cities are moving towards making the question illegal. In May, Mayor Bill de Blasio signed a bill making it unlawful for New York City employers to ask about an applicant's past pay. "This is about fixing a broken history. This is about overcoming years and years of discrimination that held people back," de Blasio said at a signing ceremony for the bill, according to CNN. Philadelphia and Massachusetts also have in place that ban employers from inquiring about past salary, and according to law firm Fisher and Phillips, at least eight other states are looking to pass similar legislation. Zest Marina | Getty Images The beleaguered transit system in the Northeast may receive a boost from one of the most ambitious entrepreneurs in the world. Elon Musk tweeted Thursday that The Boring Co. received "verbal" government approval to begin building an underground Hyperloop, saying it would take 29 minutes to go from New York to Washington, D.C. "Just received verbal govt approval for The Boring Company to build an underground NY-Phil-Balt-DC Hyperloop," Musk said. @elonmusk tweet. The proposed Hyperloop would connect the city centers of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, as Musk tweeted in a follow-up. @elonmusk tweet. While Musk did not say the source of his verbal approval, a White House spokesperson told CNBC that Musk has spoken to the Trump administration before. "We have had promising conversations to date, are committed to transformative infrastructure projects, and believe our greatest solutions have often come from the ingenuity and drive of the private sector," the White House spokesperson said. Musk cautioned that there is "still a lot of work needed to receive formal approval," even while he is optimistic that a regulatory green light will be given quickly. @elonmusk tweet. An Amtrak ride on the Northeast Regional line from Washington to New York currently takes three hours and 20 minutes, according to the passenger railroad company's website. Deteriorating rail infrastructure in the Northeast has been highlighted recently by emergency repairs at New York's Pennsylvania Station after a series of derailments. Penn Station is owned and operated by Amtrak. At the International Space Station Research and Development Conference in Washington on Wednesday, Musk said another one of his plans, to dig tunnels under Los Angeles, is a "low stress activity" because "everyone expects it to fail." Musk has said previously he has had "promising conversations" with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti about moving forward with the project, but has yet to receive a permit from the city. Musk plans to start digging the New York to Washington route at the same time as the Los Angeles urban congestion project. Asked whether Texas might receive a Hyperloop system, Musk tweeted "for sure" before enumerating on his plans. @elonmusk tweet. A Los Angeles to San Francisco route would be the third Hyperloop project proposed by Musk, as he continues to plot connections between major U.S. cities. Philadelphia city government spokesman Mike Dunn, told CNBC that Musk has not contacted Philadelphia officials about his plan. "We do not know what he means when he says he received 'government approval,'" Dunn said. "There are numerous hurdles for this unproven 'hyperloop' technology before it can become reality." The press secretary for New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio responded to Musk's tweet, saying "this is news to City Hall." @EricFPhillips tweet. Eric Phillips said he has "no clue" what Musk's reference to "verbal approval" means. A New York City community board chairman also denied knowledge of a plan to tunnel on the eastern seaboard. "This is my first time hearing this; none of this has come to the community boards," Anthony Notaro Jr. said, chair of Community Board 1 in Manhattan. Mayor's offices in Washington and Baltimore were not immediately available for comment. Kelly Song contributed to this report. Home security company ADT could become one of the biggest initial public offerings of the year. Apollo Global Management is preparing to file paperwork with the SEC that could value ADT at $15 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported. The IPO would be a quick turnaround for Apollo, the private equity company that bought it last year for around $7 billion. While ADT could be listed by the end of the year, sources familiar with the matter told the WSJ that there is no guarantee a listing will occur. The IPO market, which is often very volatile, could delay the timing of an ADT offering. Apollo acquired ADT after consolidating two other home-security companies in 2015, Protection 1 and ASG Security. The firm said in May it valued the former competitors at around $15 billion. ADT has a strong presence in the "smart home" market and sells products to boost security for businesses and homes. The volume of public offerings is nearly triple what it was in July of last year, The Wall Street Journal reported. So far this year, 94 company IPOs have raised $28.5 billion. Last year at this time, just 48 companies had raised around $10.6 billion, the worst year for IPOs in over 10 years. Preparing teens for their futures with soft skills Businesses of every size and industry continue to identify labor shortages as a top challenge across the country and... Where to find non-partisan ballot information Thank you for your non-biased bullet points explaining the three state ballot proposals in "A look at the three state... House Speaker Paul Ryan said he feels more confident that tax reform can get done this year than a health-care overhaul because Republicans are "wired the same way" on the issue. "Obviously, as you can see in the Senate, there is a difference of opinions on how to do health-care reform. We are so much more unified on tax reform, on what it looks like, and how to do it and the need to do it," the Wisconsin Republican told reporters Thursday. His comments come as the Senate has struggled to push health-care reform through. Support for both a revised Senate bill and a separate bill that would repeal Obamacare without an immediate replacement quickly lost GOP support earlier this week. Ryan said the GOP knows overhauling the tax system "needs to get done" because it is essential to boosting economic growth. Because of this consensus, Ryan said he is "very confident" that his party can get it done this year. When asked about the corporate tax rate, Ryan said 20 percent is "very realistic." He said he's confident that the tax-writing committees will be able to lower rates because there's many ways of achieving those levels. But he deferred to the tax-writing committees when asked about the details of other measures that may end up in a reform package. Traces of fecal bacteria have been found in drinks at three of the world's biggest fast-food chains in the United Kingdom. An investigation has found that , and served ice in drinks contaminated by fecal matter. Investigators from the BBC consumer show "Watchdog" tested 10 samples at each of the chains and tested for traces of "fecal coliform," which carry a number of diseases. Coliforms were found in three samples of McDonald's drinks, six of Burger King's and in seven samples taken at KFC sites. Four of the samples taken at Burger King and five at KFC were described as having "significant" levels. In a response, reported widely by media, a KFC spokesman said: "We are shocked and extremely disappointed by these results." "We have strict procedures for the management and handling of ice, including daily and weekly inspections and cleaning of the ice machine and storage holds, as well as the routine testing of ice quality across our business." Burger King's response has also been widely circulated by media outlets: "Cleanliness and hygiene are a top priority for the Burger King brand." "The strict procedures we have in place are designed to ensure all Guests have a positive experience each time they visit our restaurants," the Burger chain added. Neither KFC or Burger King were immediately available for a response when contacted by CNBC. A McDonald's spokesman told CNBC: "We have robust procedures in place with regard to the production, storage and handling of ice in our U.K. restaurants." "Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and people and we will continue to review our procedures and training, working closely with our restaurant teams to ensure those procedures are adhered to at all times," the spokesperson said. McDonald's also cited comments from Tom Humphrey, professor of bacteriology and food safety: "It is pleasing that Escherichia coli (E. coli), the bacterium that is the most accurate and reliable indicator of fecal contamination, was not found in any ice samples from McDonald's restaurants. "Low levels of two other indicator bacteria, coliforms and enterococci, were found in some ice samples. These can be used as an assessment of water hygiene but, as they are widely distributed in the natural environment, they are not reliable indicators of potential health risks." Find out more on the BBC's website here. T-Mobile shares rose over 4 percent in premarket trading Thursday, a day after the telecommunications company announced quarterly earnings that far surpassed expectations. Later in the morning, T-Mobile shares dipped 0.4 percent lower from Wednesday's close. Second-quarter revenue of $10.21 billion thrashed Reuters estimates of $9.81 billion. Net adds, which are an important measure of the number of customers added during the quarter, hit 1.33 million, exceeding the 807,000 expected by Street Account. The S&P 500 was up about 2 points in premarket trading. T-Mobile has been embroiled in intense competition with other mobile carriers as consumers increasingly demand unlimited data plans ahead of the release of 5G phone chips. "In Q2, we delivered our highest absolute service revenue ever with 8% year-over-year growth and 10% in total revenues where we expect to lead the industry for the 16th time in the last 17 quarters," T-Mobile CEO John Legere said during Wednesday's conference call. "If you're looking for the big news from Q2, you could simply say that T-Mobile's business continues to perform at peak levels." Legere credited the impressive quarter's numbers to investments in the network as well as "good, old-fashioned focus" from engineers. As of Wednesday's close, T-Mobile stock had risen nearly 8 percent this year. Hedge fund managers have to fork over billions of dollars in taxes next year for gains they accumulated on deferred income from offshore funds as a long-standing tax loophole expires. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Steven Cohen, the billionaire founder of SAC Capital Advisors, has $1 billion of deferred offshore income likely subject to the tax, while David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital and Daniel Loeb of Third Point face tax bills of more than $100 million. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimated in 2008 that total payments from hedge fund managers could be at least $25 billion. Hedge fund managers typically get paid a management fee of about 2 percent based on assets under management and then a performance fee that can be 20 percent or more of profits. The IRS had a long-standing policy that allowed managers of offshore funds to defer pay and avoid an immediate tax bill and also to let that deferred pay grow tax-free. But the agency decided to close that loophole a decade ago, with a long lead-up time for managers to pay taxes on money accumulated before the law changed. The deadline is in nine months, the Journal said. Hedge funds are still scrambling to find ways to raise the money to pay their tax bills or soften the blow, the paper reported. Cohen is raising a new fund that will be bigger than the $16 billion SAC, in part to generate returns to pay the taxes on the income he deferred when he managed the firm, the Journal said, citing a person close to him. SAC Capital shut down in 2013 after Cohen pleaded guilty for failing to stop insider trading. He has continued to manage his own money in a family office called Point72 Asset Management. Other managers are moving to states such as Florida that don't have personal income tax, or are examining ways to donate money to charity and get an offsetting deduction. It's been a rough few years for managers trying to beat the markets and make returns that would generate performance fees. Preqin says total industry returns were 4.87 percent for the first half of this year, the best year for funds since the 16.9 percent return notched in 2009. They are still lagging the 8 percent return in the S&P 500 through June. With the GOP health reform effort on life support, many Republicans are eager to move on to another major campaign pledge to cut taxes on corporations and individuals to help spur profit growth and raise wages. But the wide support for those goals has done little to close the political fault lines opened up by the fractious health-care debate. Even without a heightened partisan backdrop, there's a long list of critical, often conflicting issues confronting proponents of tax reform. The ultimate goal, most agree, is to provide balanced tax relief across upper-, middle- and lower-income households and lower the tax rates on corporations to spur hiring and investment, all while making changes that are "revenue neutral" and don't add to the government's budget deficit. But any change will produce winners and losers, most of whom will apply political pressure to any line in the law that hurts. That pressure was brought to bear, for example, on the so-called border adjustment tax, designed to tax some imports and promote use of American-made goods and materials. Retailers, which would bear much of the added cost, were quick to point out that the tax could raise the prices of consumer goods. "I think most people that have looked at this have concluded that it's not the right way to go," said Matthew Shay, CEO of the National Retail Federation, which has lobbied against the measure. "It's very clear there's no appetite for this at all in the Senate. There's no champion for this anywhere." But the money raised from that tax, as much as $1 trillion, was supposed to help offset tax cuts for individuals and companies. So was the anticipated savings of another trillion dollars or so from the GOP health-care reform plan, which proposed deep cuts in Medicaid and subsidies to help lower-income households buy insurance. "We're $2 trillion short," said Rep. David Brat, R-Va. "So we've got to get those big trillion pieces in order and then move. If we get tax relief through, that's the prize. Everyone is happy with that one." The Republican plan to replace, or at least repeal, Obamacare has reached its latest, and potentially final, roadblock. The Senate failed to secure enough votes for its replacement plan and seems out of options for repealing the Affordable Care Act for the foreseeable future. But no matter what plan the GOP came up with repeal and replace, repeal and delay they were destined to fail. That's because the ACA was already a compromise, politically viable in part because it was based on blueprints from one of the Republicans' most visible governors: Mitt Romney. It was a gambit Republicans can't undo, and now the party has to decide whether they want to move forward and use the considerable tools available to improve the ACA, or continue railing at the ghost of Romneycare. Obamacare vs Romneycare A single-payer health insurance system is a Democratic dream. Democratic administrations from Truman to Clinton tried and failed to pass such a program. Faced with reality, though, the Obama administration put forth an exchange-based plan that kept private insurers as its foundation. Many on the left and the right were unhappy about the proposal, but eventually it achieved its goal of reducing the number of uninsured Americans. The blueprint for the ACA? The Massachusetts healthcare reform law passed in 2006 under then-governor Mitt Romney. It was a practical choice to make. A single-payer overhaul of the national health insurance system was unlikely to succeed. Romneycare had already proven this type of free market but government-sponsored healthcare system could get bipartisan support. That may not have played out in the votes for Obamacare (which fell along party lines) but it's important to the present, because it's one of the primary reasons Republicans haven't been able to pass a bill to replace it. Obamacare, nee Romneycare, was the most government involvement the Republican party could stomach and the least Democrats would settle for. There simply aren't more viable compromises out there. Efforts to draft a bill that costs less money, without negatively affecting coverage, have proven that. The only choice Republicans have ever had was to improve the ACA. Republicans have to beat their own boogeyman If Obama's compromise essentially backed Republicans into a corner they couldn't fight their way out of, why are they wasting time and political capital trying to overthrow the ACA? The simple answer is because they have to. They've spent the better part of a decade convincing their voter base that Obamacare is a terrible program. The Republican fight hasn't been with the ACA as much as it has been with Obamacare specifically, the "Obama" in "Obamacare." Obama himself tried to shed light on this by playing up the Romneycare name in the 2012 presidential election, and Romney said in 2015 that Romneycare directly facilitated Obamacare. But a health care plan by any other name is just as good for the people who benefit from it. Recent polls and interviews show that a number of people think there's a difference between Obamacare and the ACA, and this has real consequences in places that rely heavily on the reforms the program brought, like expanded Medicaid. Many Trump voters in places like Kentucky, which benefited greatly from the ACA, didn't realize they were voting to get rid of their own health insurance. When removing that protection became a reality, the public shied away. Then there's the trumping up of Obamacare's faults. "Dying," "failing," and "imploding" are commonly used to describe the current state of health insurance exchanges. But it turns out that death spirals may be as overblown as death panels. The insurance exchanges are beginning to stabilize, the number of counties with no insurer coverage is relatively small (currently just over 1 percent, per the Kaiser Family Foundation), and most issues regarding premium increases are due to insurer uncertainty over how the Trump administration will act. Republicans set up a boogeyman in the derogatorily nicknamed Obamacare. They had no choice but to at least try to replace it. But it's meant a largely unproductive half year that could have been better spent stabilizing health-care markets with the tools available under the current law. The ACA isn't without problems. The issue of rising premiums needs to be addressed, and stability would be welcome so empty shelf counties don't need to be revisited each year. Funds already earmarked for subsidies like cost-sharing reductions and Medicaid expansion can help, if the Trump administration will put them to use. But it's hard to fix a leaky faucet when you've spent years claiming that the whole house needs to be torn down. Over three years after the ACA went into effect, Republicans are starting at square one to put their stamp on the health insurance conversation. If there were a better idea out there than Romneycare, they probably would have thought of it by now. Trump and the Senate face an opportunity to embrace the ACA and start addressing its issues. Not all Republicans will be on board, but moderates can work with Democrats to enact real fixes that maintain coverage and contain costs. President Trump has said that if and when Obamacare fails, his party is "not owning it" and voters will blame Democrats. But polling shows this isn't true, and that Republicans won't be able to pass the buck. Instead, the GOP may be able to take some of the credit for fixing the problems plaguing the current health-care system. It won't be the win they campaigned on, but it's the win most Americans want. And at this point, Republicans should be pushing for any health care win they can get. Commentary by Jennifer Fitzgerald, the CEO and co-founder of PolicyGenius, an independent digital insurance company for consumers. Previously, she was a junior partner at McKinsey & Company where she advised Fortune 100 financial services companies on marketing and strategy. She is a graduate of Columbia Law School and Florida State University. Follow her on Twitter @jenlfitzgerald. For more insight from CNBC contributors, follow @CNBCopinion on Twitter. President Donald Trump speaks during a lunch meeting with Senate Republicans to discuss healthcare at the White House in Washington, July 19, 2017. Kevin Lamarque | Reuters Republicans never tried to write a bipartisan bill And of course it wasn't just Trump. Nobody in Senate Republican leadership met with the Copper Five Mark Warner, Heidi Heitkamp, Tim Kaine, Angus King, and Joe Manchin either. Nor were other electorally vulnerable Democrats like Joe Donnelly or Claire McCaskill who must have been fairly desperate to find an issue or two on which they could say they were working with the Trump administration invited to participate in any way. If the White House decides they want to keep their promises preserve Medicaid, expand coverage, and improve the quality of plans available the only way to do that is through a bipartisan deal. When Mitch McConnell formed his working group on health care legislation, it was despite his pious complaint on the House floor that Democrats "did not want to engage with us seriously" a one-party affair. And he seems to have mostly ignored even that group in favor of a tightly held, leadership-driven process. Trump, meanwhile, has shown zero interest in any of the specific aspects of health care legislation. But despite this, he's also shown zero interest in bipartisan dealmaking simply outsourcing all the work to McConnell and Paul Ryan, who've proceeded in a hyperpartisan manner that fits their role as party caucus leaders rather than broad stakeholders of the national interest. @jeneps: Who's primarily responsible for faliure of health care bill? "I would say Democrats," @SHSanders45 says And yet the Trump administration, absurdly, has decided to cast Democrats as the reason the GOP can't make the math work on a repeal bill. A GOP divided against itself Legislating is fundamentally difficult. The United States has only two big political parties but a wide range of views on important issues. Building consensus inside even one party is inherently hard. But for all that Democrats disagree among themselves about important aspects of health care policy, they were able to make the Affordable Care Act work due to very broad consensus inside the party that getting more Americans enrolled in comprehensive health insurance was a good idea. That consensus made them willing to raise taxes and cut Medicare Advantage spending to obtain the funds needed. It made more left-wing members willing to drop dreams of a big new public program and more centrist members willing to drop hostility to expansion of Medicaid. It made everyone willing to vote for an individual mandate that they knew was unpopular but believed to be technically important. Republicans, by contrast, are fundamentally stuck between two commitments: They promised to repeal Obamacare, a law that polls very poorly with their base and which their major donors hate. They also promised to keep the popular parts of Obamacare, like protections for people with preexisting conditions and gains in the number of people with insurance coverage. On the campaign trail, Republican politicians smoothed out the differences with a lot of whining and hand-waving. Everyone from Trump to McConnell and beyond promised a nonspecific replacement that would scrap taxes and mandates while somehow (magically?) offering more and better coverage. To govern is to choose In governing mode, this doesn't work. Party leaders had to pick what they wanted to do. They decided they wanted to write a one-party bill, which meant they needed a bill that right-wing ideologues from safe seats could get behind. In practice, that's meant gutting regulatory protections for patients and proposing cuts in Medicaid that go well beyond reversing the ACA's Medicaid expansion. These are ideas that are so profoundly unpopular even Republicans campaigned against them to win elections. And because the ideas are unpopular, even red-state Democrats have felt no compunction to pull punches in their opposition. Donald Trump won 68 percent of the vote in West Virginia, but then managed to throw his weight behind health care legislation that would be so devastating to the state's economy that it turned into an easy "no" vote for Joe Manchin and a tough vote for Shelley Moore Capito, who helped kill a repeal-only bill this week. That's a tough blow, but it's also an inevitable result of the choice to resolve the contradictions of GOP health care promises by siding with the far right of the party rather than searching for a bipartisan deal. The art of the deal President Donald Trump made the same mistake as his predecessor by not being more involved in the details of health-care legislation, a former assistant Commerce secretary told CNBC on Thursday. Trump and then-President Barack Obama should have been more engaged in the legislative process, said Mary Jo Jacobi, a former aide to President Ronald Reagan and a member of the George H.W. Bush administration. "He just left it to the House and Senate," she said, referring to Obama. "President Trump has made a similar mistake with what may or may not be 'Trumpcare' leaving it to the House and Senate." Referring to Congress, she said: "They've had 7 years to come up with a replacement once they repeal. Now they haven't repealed, they haven't replaced and it doesn't look like they're going to do either." Obama signed an overly complex bill that was likely to be unworkable in the real world, but at least he got a bill, Jacobi later added. "The lesson is that the executive and legislative branches need to work together on big affairs of state to ensure protection of the public interest and a workable outcome," Jacobi said in an email. Moscow has made it a priority to execute airstrikes on American and British covert facilities in Syria, and Donald Trump has just rewarded those air strikes on U.S. targets. Trump has sacrificed the goodwill he garnered from Sunni-dominated Middle Eastern governments when he executed strikes on Assad's assets and, as recently as June, the U.S. downed a Syrian warplane for attacking anti-ISIS rebels laying siege to the Islamic State capital of Raqqa. I endeavored to demonstrate as thoroughly as I could why American interests in Syria and those of Russia not only do not align but often conflict violently . The president appears convinced, like his predecessor, that his personal political interests are better served by allowing Moscow to be the power broker in Syriaeven if that makes America and its allies less safe. The president made that decision on July 7, within 24 hours of his first face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The sources who spoke to the Washington Post accurately characterize it as a reflection of "Trump's interest in finding ways to work with Russia." That is a fool's errand but, more important, this move demonstrates that the United States is willing to cede ground to adversaries and bad actors as long as they are persistent enough. Until now, the notion that Donald Trump was providing Russia and Vladimir Putin with concessions at the expense of U.S. interests was poorly supported. That all changed on Wednesday afternoon when the Washington Post revealed that Donald Trump ordered his national security advisor and CIA director to scrap a program that provided covert aid to anti-Assad rebels in Syria. This concession to Russia is significant not just because it removes some pressure on Moscow's vassal in Damascus. It sends a series of signals to the world's bad actors, who will inevitably react. America will continue to provide support to indigenous anti-ISIS rebels, despite the fact that those forces are often under assault from both Russian and Syrian forces. It should be noted, however, that the CIA suspended aid to Free Syrian Army elements when it came under attack from Islamist in February. The agency said it didn't want cash and weapons falling into Islamist hands, but this move exposes that claim as a mere pretext. This concession to Russia is significant not just because it removes some pressure on Moscow's vassal in Damascus. It sends a series of signals to the world's bad actors, who will inevitably react. The phasing out of aid for anti-Assad rebels (presumably the indigenous Sunni-dominated factions) gives Russia and Syria the only thing they've ever wanted: the ability to frame the conflict in Syria as one between the regime and a handful of radicals and pariahs. A cessation of aid will squeeze the remaining moderate, secular rebel factions in Syria and compel them to seek whatever assistance they caneven at the risk of augmenting the ranks of Islamist insurgents. How that advances America's interests is entirely unclear. This move will only further embolden not just Russia and Syria but their mutual ally, the Islamic Republic of Iran. It will convince the region's Sunni actors that the United States is not on their sidea matter of increasing urgency in Iraq. The insurgency in Syria is unlikely to end so long as regional fighters have a means of getting into the country. America will simply sacrifice its leverage over those groups. This move will confirm, finally, that the use of weapons of mass destruction in the battlefield is survivable. A truly resolute American administration might fire off a handful of Tomahawk missiles at an abandoned airfield, but regime change is not in the offing. That will only beget other bad actors who will test the parameters of America's willingness to defend the international norms prohibiting the use of WMDs. Because American servicemen and women are stationed around the world in unstable theaters, the likelihood that they will one day be fighting on chemical battlefields just became a lot more likely. American covert involvement in Syria also filled a vacuum that the Obama administration allowed to expand in 2011 and 2012. "One big potential risk of shutting down the CIA program is that the United States may lose its ability to block other countries, such as Turkey and Persian Gulf allies, from funneling more sophisticated weaponsincluding man-portable air-defense systems, or MANPADSto anti-Assad rebels, including more radical groups," the Washington Post speculated. Ironically, American withdrawal from the anti-Assad effort could actually fuel the fire, but in a way that we can neither control nor effectively influence. We've seen that movie before. We know how it ends. And all of this is for what? To garner goodwill with the bloody regime in Damascus? To court Moscow or Tehran? There is nothing to gain from cozying up to these regimes that is not offset by the sacrifice of American national interests and moral authority associated with rapprochement. For all of the Trump administration's criticisms of Barack Obama's policy with regard to those regimes, this decision suggests he's willing to double down on Obama's mistakes. Commentary by Noah Rothman, associate editor at Commentary Magazine. Follow him on Twitter at @NoahCRothman. For more insight from CNBC contributors, follow @CNBCopinion on Twitter. In an interview published Wednesday, President Donald Trump told The New York Times that young people pay $12 a year for health insurance. "Because you are basically saying from the moment the insurance, you're 21 years old, you start working and you're paying $12 a year for insurance, and by the time you're 70, you get a nice plan," he said. It is possible that he may have misspoken and meant to say "$12 a month," since, in an interview this spring with The Economist, Trump made the same argument, only he cited a figure of "$15 a month." Insurance is, you're 20 years old, you just graduated from college, and you start paying $15 a month for the rest of your life and by the time you're 70, and you really need it, you're still paying the same amount and that's really insurance. Regardless, it is not the norm that 21-year-olds pay that little each year, or each month, for insurance on the Obamacare market. Most Americans pay significantly more than that for health insurance, even young people. Twenty-somethings, who generally would benefit from lower premiums should GOP repeal-and-replace efforts succeed, already pay the least. But even their costs can be considerable. An average 21-year-old making $25,000 a year would be charged $282 per month for a silver Obamacare plan, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. However, that person would qualify for federal subsidies that would cut the amount they would personally pay by half to $142. That person could also be responsible for a four-figure deductible, which is the amount each consumer must pay out-of-pocket before coverage kicks in. Even in the most affordable states, most 21-year-olds pay much more than $12 a month simply for their premiums. In Utah, one of the least expensive states in the nation for Obamacare coverage for young people, for example, an average 21-year-old would pay $142 a month, according to Kaiser. The cost without subsidies would be $198. In Alaska, one of the most expensive states, a 21-year-old would pay $104, but only because subsidies would cover most of the actual cost of $707 per month. They could also be responsible for four-figure deductibles as well as, potentially, coinsurance, co-pays and other costs. Some pundits have speculated that perhaps Trump continues to confuse life insurance with health insurance, since premiums for the former can indeed work the way he described. Like this story? Like CNBC Make It on Facebook. Don't miss: Why this MBA quit his high-paying finance job to launch a health-care start-up Special Counsel Robert Mueller is examining a broad range of transactions involving President Donald Trump's businesses and those of his family and associates, a person familiar with the investigation told Bloomberg. On Wednesday, Trump told The New York Times that Mueller would be crossing a red line if he expanded his investigation to look at Trump family finances beyond ties to Russia. Bloomberg reported Thursday that investigators are examining Russian purchases of apartments in Trump buildings, Trump's involvement in a New York development with Russian associates in SoHo, the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow and Trump's 2008 sale of a Florida mansion to a Russian oligarch. They are also looking into the Bank of Cyprus, where Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross served as the bank's vice chairman before taking his current role. Trump's son-in-law and aide, Jared Kushner, secured financing for some of his family's real estate properties through the bank, someone familiar with the inquiry told Bloomberg. Trump attorney John Dowd told NBC "Today" show's Savannah Guthrie that the defense team is cooperating with Mueller. "Bob Mueller is tops," he said. "We have an excellent relationship with him." Earlier, he said he was unaware the special counsel was looking into the transactions mentioned in the Bloomberg report. "Those transactions are in my view well beyond the mandate of the special counsel, are unrelated to the election of 2016 or any alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia and most importantly, are well beyond any statute of limitation imposed by the United States Code," Dowd said. Mueller's investigation is said to have stemmed from a money laundering investigation started by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, whom Trump fired in March, Bloomberg reported. In the Times interview, Trump said an investigation into Trump family finances beyond Russia would be "a violation." "Look, this is about Russia," Trump told the newspaper. The Justice Department appointed Mueller as special counsel in May. That followed Trump's abrupt firing of as FBI director. The president later said he did so while thinking about the "Russia thing." Trump has repeatedly called the Russia investigation a "witch hunt" and denied any collusion with Moscow. WATCH: Trump expresses regret hiring AG Jeff Sessions An UBER application is shown as cars drive by in Washington, DC. Uber has tapped a top ally and major fundraiser for President Donald Trump as the ride-hailing company tries to lobby for friendlier regulation and a bit less scrutiny in a Republican-dominated Washington, D.C. In an ethics disclosure quietly filed to Congress this week, Uber revealed it had hired the firm Ballard Partners and its leading lobbyist, Brian Ballard, to "advise and advocate for [the company] on general government policies and regulations" in the nation's capital. Politically, Uber has plenty at stake whether it's fighting a new federal probe into its privacy and data-security practices or pushing for new rules that might allow it to test more driverless vehicles on U.S. roads. What Uber lacks, however, is much of a Washington, D.C.-focused staff, following the departure of a number of its policy-minded employees including Rachel Whetstone, who shaped the company's political strategy while running communications, and Niki Christoff, the leader of Uber's office in the nation's capital. One of Uber's other Republican lobbyists, Brian Worth, left earlier this year. More from Recode: Senator Cory Booker thinks the U.S. government should keep an eye on the size of Amazon, Google and other tech giants NBC has 30 employees working on a daily news show exclusively for Snapchat The next big corporate trend? Actually having ethics. Uber previously had worked with the Trump-aligned Ballard in Florida, where it for years faced restrictions on its operations. But Uber's decision to hire him again in Washington, D.C., this month still reflects the great degree to which tech companies are trying to forge new ties with a president that many in liberal-leaning Silicon Valley did not support during the 2016 election. Amazon, for example, hired Ballard Partners earlier this year, months after the company's chief executive, Jeff Bezos, sparred with Trump publicly. Others like Google have hired new D.C.-based employees with deep ties to conservative lawmakers. A spokesman for Uber declined to comment for this story. By Tony Romm, Recode.net. CNBC's parent NBCUniversal is an investor in Recode's parent Vox, and the companies have a content-sharing arrangement. The next EnVision Bus Read more [...] PLEASE NOTE! Due to the March 23, 2020 NM DOH Public Health Order, These Event Listings Are Not Accurate! All non-essential businesses are closed, public gatherings are prohibited! (One day some of these events will be rescheduled or will resume, but they are not happening now!) The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency invites the public to attend a meeting to learn about the results of a recent smallmouth bass tagging study performed on South Holston Lake. According to Fisheries Biologist John Hammonds, the study was conducted in January and February 2017. In order to mimic a real world scenario, volunteer anglers caught the fish out of water deeper than 30 feet. Fisheries crews then attached sonic tags to the fish, which transmit an ultrasonic sound signal that can be tracked underwater with specialized equipment. We were trying to determine the effects of catch and release smallmouth bass fishing in water deeper than 30-feet, said Mr. Hammonds. Preliminary results showed little to no long term effects from the angling. We also tracked the fish for about three weeks and found that most of the fish stayed near where they were released. The meeting will be held in the Uncle Buck's Restaurant Meeting Room of Bass Pro Shops in Bristol at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 3. The Missourians Opinion section is a public forum for the discussion of ideas. The views presented in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missourian or the University of Missouri. If you would like to contribute to the Opinion page with a response or an original topic of your own, visit our submission form. the complete review - comic book The Adventures of John Blake by Philip Pullman general information | review summaries | our review | links | about the author Mystery of the Ghost Ship Illustrated by Fred Fordham - Return to top of the page - Our Assessment: C : thin, underdeveloped, all over the place See our review for fuller assessment. Review Summaries Source Rating Date Reviewer The Guardian A 23/5/2017 Rachel Cooke The NY Times Book Rev. . 18/6/2017 George OConnor The Telegraph A 16/6/2017 Tim Martin TLS . 14/6/2017 Philip Womack From the Reviews : "(I)ts fantastic. (...) Fordhams ligne claire style combined with the sheer pull of the story took me straight back to my Bunty -reading days. However, its whizzy and modern, too." - Rachel Cooke, The Guardian -reading days. However, its whizzy and modern, too." - "His dialogue here is sharp and smart and, yes, adult. The story propels along naturalistically, no small feat given the fantastic world we are entering." - George OConnor, The New York Times Book Review "(I)ts a knickerbocker glory of genre influences, with a plot that rockets along as though in direct rebuke to the fusty and unprepossessing title. (...) This is smart and swift-moving stuff, and if it doesnt have the exotic thrill of Pullmans best fantasy work, perhaps it doesnt need to." - Tim Martin, The Telegraph "The different strands are tautly controlled, and Pullman delights in the possibilities of the graphic novel; each frame, in Fred Fordhams atmospheric drawings, is concise and energized. (...) There is also enjoyment in the sophisticated nods to a cinematic structure which builds up to a final showdown." - Philip Womack, Times Literary Supplement Please note that these ratings solely represent the complete review 's biased interpretation and subjective opinion of the actual reviews and do not claim to accurately reflect or represent the views of the reviewers. Similarly the illustrative quotes chosen here are merely those the complete review subjectively believes represent the tenor and judgment of the review as a whole. We acknowledge (and remind and warn you) that they may, in fact, be entirely unrepresentative of the actual reviews by any other measure. - Return to top of the page - The complete review 's Review : The Adventures of John Blake: Mystery of the Ghost Ship features the Mary Alice, a ship that, as the result of an Einsteinian experiment gone wrong, finds itself traveling not only across the high seas but also through time. Young John Blake, the boy in the red shirt. is the son of one of the scientists who was involved in the original 1929 experiment. He was tossed into this time-warped world by the original blast, and along with a crew of seamen from various places and eras -- even ancient Rome -- the ship has, since then, appeared and disappeared in its tell-tale fog in a variety of places and times. Disappointingly, there's little effort to offer much of any (even pseudo-)scientific foundation for this (apparently the solar eclipse helped things along ...), or for how the Mary Alice decides where to go next (and it is, ridiculously, the ship that 'decides': "Mary Alice ... like I said, she has a mind of her own", the ship's Captain Quayle says). The ship's existence has come to the attention of some in the present-day world, including Roger Blake, in the employ of Her Majesty's Government -- John's grand-son (who is now older than the boy ...), as well as young widow and Harvard Law School graduate Danielle Quayle Reid (yes, another crew-relative ...), but also Carlos Dahlberg, the tycoon who is like a Steve Jobs-Bill Gates mash-up and who is all set to unveil the updated version of his 'Apparator', an iPhone-like, world-dominating device (that also makes it easy to track its users ...). Dahlberg's interest in John Blake and the ship is hardly mainly scientific; it's also very personal, with Dahlberg having a very good (i.e. very, very bad) reason for needing to get the jr. Blake out of the way. So there's a race of sorts to find and get to the elusive ship. The final piece of the story has a ridiculously unprepared Australian family set out on a round-the-world trip on an undersized yacht, with the teenage daughter Serena getting swept overboard and out to sea at pretty much the first storm they encounter (ridiculously, neither she nor her brother were even wearing life jackets). Conveniently, the Mary Alice is on the spot, and John Blake fishes the girl out. They go to reunite her with her family in Fiji, but by that time word about the Mary Alice-sighting has gotten around, and parties good and bad converge, hoping to get to John Blake. There's quite a bit of running around and chasing on dry land, too, but other than Serena hopping back on board the ship at the end of it -- hey, her folks know she's alive and she notes: "you didn't finish telling me what this is all about", so ... -- not too much has changed. ("D'you know how infuriating that is ?" Serena says, about not getting the whole story yet; she doesn't know the half of it, as far as what's infuriating about this sort of story-telling goes .....) The final showdown, however, is in San Francisco -- the Mary Alice conveniently remaining in the present-day, but transporting itself halfway around the globe. ("Seems our dear Mary Alice has other plans" is all there is to the (too-)easy 'explanation'.) Will Dahlberg find out the secret behind the ship -- and preserve his own secret ? Will time come to a stop for the Mary Alice or will she drift away again into different times and spaces ? Will Serena become Roger's grandmother -- or maybe she already is ... ? (Hey, everything seems to go here, so why shouldn't that possibility arise ?) The conclusion ties up a bit of the story and is presumably meant to be that combination of satisfying and open-ended (allowing for sequel adventures -- though since this is a time-travel-based story, prequels presumably amount to more or less the same thing ...). What happens is as absurd and more or less without foundation as everything else: The Adventures of John Blake is (very) childish fantasy, where pretty much everything, or at least whatever is convenient for the next scene, goes. Perhaps that would be endurable if the story weren't so paper-thin otherwise, too, but, alas ..... The characters and situations are merely sketched and remain as two dimensional as the drawings (which do not help make more of the characters, either). The book is nicely produced, on glossy paper, and where Fred Fordham's illustrations focus on color the effect is reasonably good: brownish fog, sepia-colored looks back to 1929 and the two-page spread of John Blake losing touch with his reality, and the reds of one of the final confrontations. Otherwise, the illustrations don't do much for the already so limited story -- with Fordham's human figures (and faces) particularly disappointing. Overcrowded, the story far too hurriedly told, and with so little depth to either the characters or the story, The Adventures of John Blake is simply cartoonish, in all the worst ways. - M.A.Orthofer, 20 July 2017 - Return to top of the page - : David Fickling Books publicity page Scholastic publicity page Carlsen publicity page Q&A with Philip Pullman Official site Author page at Guardian Unlimited Profile in The New Yorker See Index of Comic Books See Index of Contemporary British fiction See Index of Children's and Young Adult fiction - Return to top of the page - About the Author : English author Philip Pullman was born in 1946. He has written numerous highly acclaimed and prize-winning books, mainly for younger readers. - Return to top of the page - Applications are now being accepted for the Action Plan for Educational Excellence (or APEX) Project steering committee. The 27 members of the steering committee will serve as organizers, neighborhood leaders, and the voice of the community to develop a policy that ensures an excellent education for every student in Hamilton County, said officials. Committee members representing all nine county commission districts will visit schools, complete training workshops, attend committee meetings, lead community discussions, and drive policy development with input on potential solutions. This committee must represent the diversity of identities in our county to be effective, so all are invited to apply, says Ashley Conrad, UnifiEd director of Policy and Research. Every citizen of Hamilton County is qualified to sit on the committee. Their expertise is their own experience living in this community. The application is available online at www.unifi-ed.org and in print at UnifiEds offices (1609 McCallie Ave.). The application deadline is Aug. 11. Selections will be made the following week, and the committee will serve from September 2017 through February 2018. A stipend will be provided in recognition of committee members time and effort. The APEX Projects goals are to create a community-developed policy that addresses educational inequities and to push for that policy to be adopted by the school system and county elected officials. The Action Plan to accomplish these goals includes gathering diverse input on individuals experiences with inequity in the local school system and their ideas for solutions through facilitated conversations called EdTalks. Themes will be identified from this input to identify which issues are most pressing to address. Those issues will then be matched with best practice research to find potential solutions. To ensure feedback is gathered from all corners of the county, a mobile interactive exhibit will crowdsource which solutions will be included in the final policy late this year. Cllr Barry Lewis is Leader of Derbyshire County Council. Much attention of late has been devoted to the question of what went wrong for the Tories in the recent snap General Election. One particular area has been the view that younger voters and especially students are perceived as a demographic group that is alien to us. It seems that at the critical 14-25 age range you are either born a Tory or you are not. We forget though that these are malleable young minds, receptive to ideology and well-made arguments touched with wit and irony. Something the Left does particularly well and which we do particularly badly. I was asked, albeit some time ago now, to write about what we did right in the county council elections in Derbyshire and this got me thinking about the General Election results. In Derbyshire we had a pretty convincing win over Labour taking 19 seats and being the only County taken from Labour which saw us go from being an opposition of just 18 seats to Labours 43, to a very respectable 37 seats versus 24 giving us a healthy majority of 10. The Lib Dems held three seats. And we came close to winning another three. Indeed, one of which we really should have taken. The Party Chairman, Sir Patrick McLoughlin, will not mind me saying I am sure, that he and the Party thought we wouldnt win. At best they thought we would be in no overall control. Im pleased to prove them both wrong as Im sure they were delighted to be proved wrong. So how did we do it? We were proud to be ideologically different and we embraced social media, particularly Facebook. Today you will find on Facebook politically engaged people of all ages. We were not afraid of using memes and a little humour to stir the hornets nest of rabid Corbynites out there of which there are many. We paid for boosted posts over geographically specific areas and filmed very short 30-40 second videos of candidates with their positive local messages. We used many of the same tricks that Labour and Momentum used to great effect in the General Election but they had not used quite so well in those local elections. Prior to all this though, we planned ahead, selected our candidates early, ran workshops to develop our manifesto, got the candidates involved and asked them to take responsibility for their own campaigns; to be the link between us as the County Conservative Group and their associations and local teams. Our manifesto was short and snappy and everyone was invested in it. We didnt have a single manifesto printed, again favouring social media and our website to disseminate it. It worked. And were still doing it, not being afraid to pitch ourselves as an ideological alternative to the local hard-Left. So coming back to title of this piece: I accept that there were other factors that did not help us in this election. But two areas, conjoined in a way, where we did ourselves no favours, were: not engaging with the young and students; and not using social media effectively. The former is something we have forgotten to do for a long time; if we ever did it well at all. We hide our light under a bushel sometimes, not expressing simple truths like the power of considerate capitalism to do good a highly successful ideological principle with a longer, deeper, more convincing history than socialism and its history of failure and misery. Yes, capitalism is not perfect but we shouldnt shy away from it. And shy away is exactly the right term in the face of the worst sort of socialist rantings we should be shouting more about its success. There is something here we can all do to develop this. Ill give you an example: here in Derbyshire we have the Derwent Valley World Heritage Site, famed as the birthplace of the factory system and the start of the Industrial Revolution and yet throughout the many publications, museum displays and narratives you will struggle to find a mention of capitalism, much less its successes. Youll find many more mentions about workers rights, the development of the unions and similar movements whilst that is appropriate too it has over time become the more dominant narrative. The built heritage and subsequent well-being of society is just something incidental it sometimes seems, arising from industry and technology, not from the key driver of the age, which was the acquisition of wealth and despite the wider societal issues of the age, the good and improvement it did locally. This is not the only example, I am sure many of you can think of similar instances where this oh so subtle intellectual creep of ideas has become mainstream. Schools are a classic case in point and weve stepped away from tackling these issues because they are too difficult. We have let it be so. By accepting, because Conservatives are reasonable thinkers, that capitalism is not perfect we have allowed a contrary narrative to build itself and gain critical mass. This has legitimised a view that capitalism, despite is apparent and obvious successes is bad thing and this has allowed space for a contrary ideology, despite its long history of dangerous failure to take hold. The consequence of not championing our principle cause, ideology, and narrative and letting other perspectives take over has led to the erosion of truth. Perhaps we feel too self-assured that such things will just be known by all and taken for granted. Be assured they are not social media has turned the world on its head and we are only just awakening to that reality and threat. We need to fight our corner more. As councillors, MPs, and members of a great Conservative Party we have much that is good we should be championing. From our museums to our school curriculums the value and good that capitalism, considerate and socially responsible capitalism, has done for humanity needs more space. Engaging the young is critical, and enticing them to the idea that wealth creation, entrepreneurship and capitalism are key components that ensure a happier, wealthier, and more fulfilled society can be built. And Im not talking here about pushing capitalism and money making at any cost but as a means of building a decent society where those that are prepared to work will have good lives and those that cannot or have less through genuine need can be assured that the system will not let them down. This is a good philosophy and ideological platform, we just need to be less reticent about using this narrative lest we lose the social media battle we have ahead. As a consequence we could lose the very people we need to reach the most to ensure our partys future. The alternative is stark; it is frightening; and it cares little for democracy. Corbyn, a toxic socialist ideology promoted by Momentum zealots, the clear potential for a Venezuela-like economy, a debt crippled state, and mass unemployment: all painted over by a glossy veneer of sugar and free cash on a Glastonbury stage. We need to win the hearts and minds of our youth and students with a better alternative, not be afraid to call it ideology and make a pitch that rings clearly across social media and use it as a devastating force for good. Daniel Hannan is an MEP for South-East England, and a journalist, author and broadcaster. His most recent book is What Next: How to Get the Best from Brexit. The best arguments for the free market are practical rather than theoretical. As an abstract concept, the idea that economies flourish when left to themselves does not appear especially persuasive. Why have a hundred competing car factories rather when the government could simply pick the best one and reallocate the others to something else? Why leave things to pile up in a random, higgledy-piggledy fashion when you could marshall the best minds to impose some sort of order? There are, in fact, logical answers to these questions. But by far the most convincing answer is empirical. Other things being equal, free-trading countries always outperform over-regulated countries. History has provided us with some laboratory-condition demonstrations: West Germany versus East Germany, for example, or South Korea versus North Korea. The developing world, too, is full of comparable pairings where the country readier to embrace global markets beats the one that clings to protectionism. Compare growth rates in Vietnam and Burma, or Colombia and Venezuela, or Bangladesh and Pakistan. My new favourite example, though, is Uganda (partly because Ive just been there) versus the Democratic Republic of the Congo (partly because its the only other sub-Saharan African state Ive spent any time in). I could try to convey the difference with economic data Ugandas GDP per capita is nearly three times that of the DRC, it is growing at twice the speed, and one in five Ugandans lives in poverty as against three in five Congolese but statistics cant begin to describe the gulf between the two states. Kinshasa, the capital of the DRC, is by far the worst place I have ever visited: dangerous, destitute and dirty. No visitor dares walk or even use a taxi. Foreign diplomats count the days to the next postings. Ambitious people emigrate, leaving behind a swaggering caste of ruling officials and a sullen and fearful populace. Kampala, the capital of Uganda, might as well belong to a different solar system. Sure, there is poverty there by Western standards. But there is also an irrepressible sense of energy and optimism. Private schools are springing up everywhere, catering for one of the youngest populations on the planet. Everyone seems busily engaged in making things or selling them. The signs of rapid growth and construction are everywhere. Locals agree that the best is yet to come. The two capital cities are not on different planets; they are in neighbouring countries. How are we to account for such a colossal difference? Part of the answer lies in history. British administration in Uganda, as in most of the Empire, was chequered. We removed wealth from the country and, until very late, denied full political rights to its people. At the same time, we built roads, schools and clinics, and tried to give Ugandans some basic civil protections. We came up with a few disastrous policies: one of our last governors, fashionably following the interventionist policies in vogue in the 1950s created a Coffee Marketing Board, a centrally-run body that, by fixing prices, wrecked what had been a successful industry. But we also created a legal system that was run impartially and through which an aggrieved individual might reasonably seek redress. There were, in short, entries on both sides of the ledger, and Uganda was eventually brought to independence without a shot being fired in anger. The same cannot be said, alas, of the resource-rich Belgian Congo, which was treated as the personal property of the King of the Belgians. Under the guise of eradicating slavery, King Leopold in fact extended it, forcing local people to work in hellish conditions on his rubber plantations. When the Belgians pulled out in 1960, they left almost no infrastructure, and chaos ensued. My late mother was working at that time in the British embassy in Brazzaville, capital of what had been the French Congo, immediately across the estuary from Kinshasa. She remembered people trying to escape the Belgian Congo by swimming across the River Congo, their screams a nightly noise as they drowned in the current. The wealth of a nation is not determined by its location, its geology or its soil. It is determined by the rules under which its citizens relate one to another. If a government provides physical security, a fair legal system, and enforceable property rights, people will prosper. As Adam Smith sagely put it in 1755, Little else is requisite to carry a state to the highest degree of opulence from the lowest barbarism, but peace, easy taxes, and a tolerable administration of justice. Uganda meets those conditions far more closely than does the wretched, long-suffering DRC. It has embraced something approximating free trade with other East African states. Indeed, the reason I was in Kampala was to promote closer commercial links between the region and a post-EU Britain. Brussels imposes tariffs on a number of African countries, including Kenya; but its the non-tariff barriers that really hurt. A Ugandan farmer explained that EU regulations on vanilla had been drawn up by French lobbyists who owned plantations in Madagascar, and had been framed in such a way as to disadvantage produce from elsewhere. He hoped that a trade deal between the UK and the region would clear such obstacles away. It will. East Africa is moving toward a market system, with palpable results. One delegate at our trade conference in Kampala, a Nigerian politician visiting the region for the first time, told me earnestly: You see the advantages these guys have? Theyre all common-law, English-speaking countries. They understand each other. They get the concept of private property. Us? Look at our neighbours! We have to go through two French-speaking countries before we get to Ghana! Britain can do only so much to facilitate local trade. The Government is, to its credit, sponsoring an NGO called Trademark East Africa, which ensures that commerce happens on the ground after the accords have been signed by, for example, streamlining customs procedures. That DFID is actively promoting trade, after years of funding NGOs that opposed it, is a welcome sign of how official thinking has progressed. Ultimately, though, the best thing we can do is to open our own market. Doing so will incidentally benefit Africans, but the chief beneficiaries will be us. The reduction of trade barriers is always of greatest advantage to the country doing it. We can reasonably expect that, in its own interest, East Africa will reciprocate. And we can hope, too, that the EU will eventually loosen some of its own agrarian protectionism vis-a-vis that great continent. That, though, is no longer our business. Our business is to ensure that, as we design our own trade policy, we do so on the most open and liberal of principles; that we seek mutual product recognition rather than on the imposition of industry-driven standards. Every country that has dismantled its trade barriers, from Singapore to Australia, has prospered. As prices fall, people have more money and more time to spend other things, and the economy grows. There will also be, as it were, a collateral gain for our African allies, finally free to buy and sell their way to growth. Before I left Uganda, I stopped at a beautifully-tended little CWGC graveyard in Jinja, at the source of the Nile. In it lay men from all over East Africa, black, brown and white, Christian, Muslim and Hindu, united in having given their lives for Britains freedom. Id say free trade with Africa is the least we owe them. The BBC has a durable defence of its salary arrangements. Yes, common sense suggests some of these are outrageously high (should Jeremy Vine really be paid 700,000?), but common sense can be a poor guide to salaries: many of those paid telephone number salaries by the corporation could earn more in other media outlets. Yes, the gender pay gap that the figures reveal challenges any sense of fairness (is John Humphreys really worth three times Mishal Hussain?), but the BBC has a point when it argues that the gap for its top earners is better than the national figure of 18 per cent. And, yes, much of the palaver will be driven as much by a sense of envy as by one of justice. In any event, there is a limit to which justice can apply in a fallen world. It is deeply unfair that Zoe Caring, a paragon of virtue, throws everything she has into caring for teenage girls on suicide watch, but is paid a pittance, while Joe Braggart, an icon of self-regard, does nothing to provide any real help to anyone (other than the accountant who helpfully reduces his tax bill, as he cracks right-on jokes about the effing Tories)and earns oodles. But thats how it goes. Tinker all you like with pay scales to reduce the gap between top and bottom earners, and Oscar Wildes distinction between price and value will still apply when you have finished: the Almighty maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. None the less, the corporation and its stars must take it on the chin. If you are funded by a levy paid on compulsion, those who fork out will naturally be curious to know how their money is spent. So when John Simpson complains about publication of the details, he is displaying the same sense of entitlement, and lack of self-awareness as those politicians who complained of one during the expenses scandal. And the political and cultural stakes are high. It would be unfair to claim that the BBC is biased towards Labour (most of time, anyway), but the corporation necessarily has a worldview, and this turns out not to be all that different from that of taxpayer-funded institutions. The best comparison may be with the arts sector. This matters, given patterns of news consumption. The proverbial visitor from Mars, presented on his arrival only with the Guardian, might assume from reading it that the Daily Mail dominates news consumption. But the best part of 50 per cent of news read online comes from the corporation, and when it comes to TV, radio, and print, it has close to a monopoly: over 70 per cent. The question for the centre-right is not so much whether the licence fee should survive it is clearly unsustainable, given the changing nature of technology, even in the medium-term but whether having a national broadcaster, and funding arrangements that seek to preserve one, make any sense at all. And there is a natural twitch to seek to pull the plug. ConservativeHome is unsentimental when it comes to the role of the left in our public culture. So it is that we advertise some of the main public appointments each fortnight precisely in order to advertise vacancies to our readers. We are particularly unsparing if taxpayer-funded institutions are not providing value for money. For example, it is impossible to believe otherwise, if one looks at drop-out rates, employment prospects and degrees awarded in the round one in four students, we read today, gets a first than that academic education is too big in relation to technical education, and that Britain could lose some universities without the sector being unduly damaged. But the bottom line question, when it comes to the BBC, is not if the licence fee is sustainable; or whether the corporation needs all its present channels and facilities; or whether its online presence, in particular, can be justified, but whether there is a need, in our public space, for a media institution that can draw people together in a polarising culture. Behind the anxiety about fake news is a deeper one about attention span. Social media is doing nothing to widen it. For example, there is a connection between the shrivelling of that span and the capacity for nuance, reflection and a sense of proportion that goes with it and the wave of self-righteous thuggery, intimidation and low-level violence that scarred last months election campaign. An institution that broadcasts the annual service of remembrance at the Cenotaph, which televises the state opening of Parliament, which covers the Proms, and which shows Prime Ministers Questions each week is worth having as is one to which viewers naturally turn if, say, the Olympics comes to town. In short, the BBC is a counterweight to fragmentation, and one that features the World Service as well as Today, offers War and Peace as well as Newsnight, and showcases the best political broadcaster of our age, Andrew Neil. The natural urge to shout at the Today programme in the morning is not the best basis on which to plan the Corporations future. Like tax itself, the BBC is part of the price that we pay for a civilised society. The Joint Operation event in Knoxville The Joint Operation event in Knoxville The Joint Operation event in Knoxville The Joint Operation event in Knoxville The Joint Operation event in Knoxville The Joint Operation event in Knoxville The Joint Operation event in Knoxville The Joint Operation event in Knoxville Previous Next U.S. Senator Bob Corker on Wednesday called Joint Operation, a free event to provide veterans and their families with a one-stop shop to access local resources and services, a huge success and thanked the veterans, organizations and agencies that participated. The goal of Joint Operation was to make it easier for veterans to get the help they need, and I am glad more than 600 veterans and their families took advantage of todays event in Knoxville, said Senator Corker. It was truly inspiring to see the local community come together to help these men and women who have served our country, and we appreciate the congressional offices, the city and county mayors, and all the groups involved for participating. I look forward to hosting additional Joint Operation events across the state in the future. An estimated 600 veterans attended Joint Operation, which featured more than 70 organizations and agencies with information on a number of resources, including: VA claim assistance, vocational rehabilitation, education, employment, mental health, housing, legal assistance and more. The event was the first in a series of Joint Operation events organized by Senator Corkers office and was sponsored by the offices of U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander, U.S. Congressman Jimmy Duncan, Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero, and Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett. Additional Joint Operation events will be held across the state in the future. Click here for more information, including a full list of participating organizations. Veterans who need assistance can contact Senator Corker at any time by visiting corker.senate.gov or calling any of the senators six state offices. The Company Lab (CO.LAB) is seeking applications for its Summer 2017 Accelerator. The program, which surrounds high growth potential startups with mentors and resources to grow, will take place from Aug. 21 to Dec. 1.The deadline for submissions is Aug. 1. Candidates will be accepted into the program on a rolling basis. Prospective participants can apply for the accelerator here The CO.LAB Accelerator is a 100-day program for startups focused on scaling out into larger markets.The experience is designed to help these companies transition an initial business concept into a compelling model fundable by other forms of angel or venture capital. Throughout the process, participants work closely with mentors as they prepare to attract the capital and customers required to get their startups off the ground.Though the CO.LAB Accelerator primarily caters to high growth potential startups, companies with non-scalable business models are welcome to apply. Those that have completed the ideation process and progressed to the customer-testing phase of business development are particularly well suited for the program.In addition to receiving mentorship from local business experts, participants in the CO.LAB Accelerator also enjoy access to free workspace, office resources and meeting rooms, as well as the opportunity to connect with qualified investors, either in arranged meetings or in a group presentation format. Two northern Georgia post offices will host Passport Fairs offering Saturday hours for customer convenience. The Trenton Passport Fair is this Saturday. The Chatsworth Passport Fair is Saturday, July 29. No appointments are necessary. Fairs serve customers on a first-come, first-served basis. If youre planning to travel abroad, be aware: It may take six weeks for first-time passport applicants or for renewals. You can check the Department of State website under Travel for updated information on processing time. Applicants 15 & under must be present with both parents to apply. If only one parent is present, they must provide a notarized DS-3053 from the other parent. Children ages 16 & 17 require only one parent be present. Check the expiration date on your U.S. passport. Many countries require that your passport has as much as six months validity remaining for entry. Information for the Saturday, July 22 Passport Fair: POST OFFICE ADDRESS ZIP PASSPORT FAIR TIME Trenton Post Office 12441 N Main St 30752 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Information for the Saturday, July 29 Passport Fair: POST OFFICE ADDRESS ZIP PASSPORT FAIR TIME Chatsworth Post Office 120 W Fort St 30705 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Customers have the option of applying for a passport book (good for all international travel) or the passport card (good only for land and sea travel between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda). Passport fees: Adults (Age 16 Years and Older) Minors (Under Age 16) Passport Card $30 $15 Passport Book $110 $80 Passport Card and Book $140 $95 These fees must be paid with a personal check or money order. In addition to the costs listed above, there is a $25 processing/acceptance fee and a $15 fee for photos, which can be paid for by cash, personal check, debit and credit cards, or money order. Passport photo services are available at the Trenton and Chatsworth Fairs. Travelers are encouraged to apply for a passport several months before they are scheduled to travel overseas. Again, the average time for passport applications and renewals is six weeks. However, for an additional fee, the State Department will expedite the application and process it within three weeks. To apply for a passport, travelers need to complete Passport Application Form DS-11 (unsigned) and provide one of the following: a U.S. birth certificate from the Department of Vital Statistics (not a certificate of birth) or naturalization papers. Applicants must also show either a valid drivers license, a previous or current U.S. passport book or card, Certificate of Naturalization, Certificate of Citizenship, military I.D. or a federal, state or municipal government employee I.D. card. Applicants 15 & under must be present with both parents unless consent is given; ages 16 & 17 require only one parent be present. For more information about passport application requirements and to download forms, visit the State Departments travel website at www.travel.state.gov. For a profession that mostly involves sitting around looking pretty, acting can sometimes be pretty dangerous. Like when directors go nuts and start choking you, or when your co-stars head butt mirrors when they're only supposed to pretend to, or when the props themselves attack and break your toes. And sometimes it's not even that cool. Sometimes, actors get injured doing the simplest things imaginable. Like when... Chattanooga State Community College plans to hold TN Reconnect Information Sessions at the Kimball and Dayton sites. No reservations are required. "When Governor Haslam signed The Tennessee Reconnect Act, it eliminated barriers experienced by adults who want to attend college, but are unable to due to financial constraints. This Act establishes a last-dollar scholarship for adults to attend a community college tuition-free. With this extension of the Drive to 55, which comes at no additional cost to taxpayers, every Tennessean will have the opportunity to enter or re-enter public higher education institutions with no tuition expenses," officials said. Marion County residents can find out more about TN Reconnect on Wednesday Aug. 2 from 2-4 p.m. (CST) at the Kimball site, 2100 Main St. Call 423-837-1327 with questions. Rhea County residents can find out more about TN Reconnect on Thursday, Aug. 3 from 10 a.m.-noon at the Dayton site, 200 4th Ave. Call 423-365-5010 with questions. Internet of things News ForeScout Snags New Executives From FireEye, Fortinet To Build Up 'Powerhouse' Team Around IoT Lindsey O'Donnell Share this ForeScout has hired three security stalwarts from FireEye and Fortinet as the company aims to build up new growth, sales and educational initiatives around its Internet of Things security practice. "ForeScout is dedicated to delivering solutions that will make a difference for our customers and partners who turn to us for visibility and control of the thousands of devices connecting to their network," CEO Michael DeCesare said in a statement. The security company has tapped former FireEye executive Ryan Brichant to develop its industrial control system (ICS) and operational technology security business as vice president and chief technology officer of global critical infrastructure. [Related: Partners Cheer Microsoft's IoT Partnership With Johnson Controls To Build Connected Thermostat] ForeScout said that Brichant, formerly vice president and chief technology officer of IoT and critical infrastructure protection at FireEye, will help build up a strategic partnership ecosystem around its industrial control system (ICS) business. Brichant, who has also worked as chief cybersecurity officer at Siemens, will also drive market education around the company's ICS capabilities, said ForeScout. The company also hired Julie Cullivan away from FireEye to lead its cross-functional operational initiatives as chief information officer and senior vice president of business operations. At ForeScout, Cullivan will help execute the company's priorities in partnership with the business functions and lead the IT organization. ForeScout snagged former Fortinet executive Michelle Spolver as senior vice president and chief communications officer. In her new position, Spolver will oversee internal and external communications for ForeScout and generate global market awareness for the company. John Van Blaricum, vice president of global marketing at Kudelski Security, a Switzerland-based ForeScout partner, applauded ForeScout's strategy in the IoT space. He said IoT security presents a "huge potential" for the channel. His company, for its part, has looked to invest in IoT Security by launching an IoT Center of Excellence to help secure connected devices. "This is really exciting from an IoT perspective, industrial control systems and other device-level security is where we're seeing the most traction," he said. "ForeScout is expanding to focus on a broader Internet of Things strategy. That's a positive move for them, which aligns with our strategy." ForeScout has tightened its focus around IoT over the past year as more devices become connected to the internet, and consequently, more security issues like October's Dyn distributed denial of service attack begin to occur. In February, the company updated its partner program to help solution providers capitalize on IoT security. "Visibility is the next big thing in security, and maintaining our reputation as a leader in this space is supported through our top-notch leadership team," DeCesare said in the statement. "These latest additions to our powerhouse leadership team help better position us to capture our large market opportunity and help us continue to evolve as a world-class company." Networking News Partners: T-Mobile's Business Customer Growth Fueled By Expanded Business Services, Channel Focus Gina Narcisi Share this Unlike its rivals, T-Mobile, the third largest wireless carrier in the U.S., has steadily posted subscriber gains each quarter and the second quarter of 2017 was no exception. The Bellevue, Wash.-based provider signed 817,000 branded postpaid customers in its second quarter, cruising past Wall Street's estimate of 731,250 new subscribers. But 2017 marks the first time that the consumer-focused company is reporting robust growth within its business customer base as well, according to T-Mobile. T-Mobile CEO John Legere opened up the provider's quarterly earnings call by saying that the business services unit, T-Mobile @Work, contributed its highest share of postpaid customers in the company's history. [Related: T-Mobile Says It's Gaining Business Customers After Carrier Announces Best-Ever Q1 For Business Segment] "We are making great progress towards breaking down [AT&T and Verizon's] stranglehold on business customers," Legere said. "In fact, 181 new logos in the enterprise, federal and public sector were added in Q2 and over 40 percent of Fortune 1000 companies are now T-Mobile customers." PlanetOne is a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based master agent and one of the first T-Mobile Preferred Partners since the provider launched its channel program in 2014. The T-Mobile relationship is growing year over year and continues to exceed the master agent's expectations, said Lauren Shapiro, President of PlanetOne. One of the ways T-Mobile has been able to grow its business services segment is through partners. Today the carrier offers a competitive residual compensation model, and is staying true to its "un-carrier," unlimited business philosophy, Shapiro said. "T-Mobile cracked the code for channel success," she said. "Our T-Mobile sales continue to grow and we expect even greater growth as T-Mobile continues to invest in its infrastructure and channel programs. With a saturated consumer market, focusing on business customers will let T-Mobile continue its subscriber growth pattern, said Rob Chamberlin, co-founder and chief revenue officer of DataXoom, a Walnut Creek, Calif.-based wireless solution provider that partners with T-Mobile. Chamberlin said that T-Mobile has bled into the small-to-midsized business space as a result of their consumer focus, but the provider is making investments in its business services unit to target larger companies. "[T-Mobile] is ramping up the @Work program. Business services went from being the redheaded stepchild of T-Mobile, to being a focus," he said. "We are also seeing T-Mobile be more present in the channel." T-Mobile's Legere also used the earnings call to shed some light on unconfirmed reports that rival wireless carrier and potential merger partner Sprint could be looking elsewhere for a strategic relationship. Sprint's parent company Japan's SoftBank Group revealed in February that it was very interested in courting T-Mobile in an effort to combine the two companies. However, unconfirmed reports published in June suggest that Sprint, the fourth largest wireless provider in the U.S., could be exploring an exclusive wireless partnership with cable giants Charter Communications and Comcast instead. We have the same, but maybe more, opportunities from an inorganic or an expansion standpoint than we had last quarter, Legere said while addressing consolidation rumors during the Q&A portion of the earnings call. I feel equally as strong about all the things I did last time, he added. T-Mobile reported $10.21 billion in revenue during Q2 2017, ended June 30, up 10 percent from $9.29 billion in the year ago quarter and beating Wall Street analyst expectations of $9.81 billion. Net income for the quarter was $582 million compared to $228 million in the same quarter one year earlier. The carrier reported earnings per share of 67 cents for the quarter, up 168 percent from 25 cents per share in Q2 2016 and far exceeding analyst's estimates of 38 cents for Q2 2017. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Business is hot for Greenwich-based Greatest Blaze. Humid summer nights have not stopped customers from ordering the companys staple product kiln-dried pinon firewood that comes mostly from the high-altitude areas of Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico and produced by Alamo Navajo tribe members. Meanwhile, the brands inventory of products relating to its outdoorsy, community-centric mission continues to grow, according to co-founder and owner Paul Borde. In the last year, Greatest Blaze has more than doubled its sales and expanded its presence in the tri-state area dramatically with a new showroom and large product displays in numerous shops, Borde said. This summer, Greatest Blaze has formed partnerships with several shops in Nantucket and Darien Butcher Shop, which began carrying a variety of products in June. The butcher shops display includes mounds of kiln-dried firewood, a Kamado Grill, Blazin Torches and home accessories. I like to source only the best, and their stuff is the best designed. Plus, theyre a local company, said Darien Butcher Shop owner Peter Crawford. People need to get this stuff in their backyard. Carrying the collection of Greatest Blaze items has attracted a whole new crowd of people who come in for wood and then buy meat, Crawford said. Similar collaborations in Nantucket have stemmed from Greatest Blazes growing reputation, Borde said, adding it is important to his team that the values always fit. Chef Peter is only about the greatest. His store is quaint and lends itself perfectly to us, Borde said. In addition to launching the store partnerships, Greatest Blaze has used the summer to gear up for a busier fall and winter, said K.G. Haggerty, the companys head of sales. To prepare for increasing demand in firewood deliveries, Greatest Blaze opened a second distribution center on Long Island this month. Our growth is still organic, Borde said. Its the Revlon effect where one person tells another person about us and so on. That process has led to new customers as well as companies asking Greatest Blaze to carry their products. Most recently, it has resulted in the addition of two popular items: Blaze Monolith Tower and Arteflame grills. Borde said his company pursues these collaborations in a variety of ways, but they typically entail Greatest Blaze putting its flaming logo on the products it agrees to fold into its inventory, and sometimes selling that item exclusively. In September, Greatest Blaze plans to host two booths at Serendipitys Greenwich Wine and Food Festival. Were not planning on taking over the world anytime soon, but were happy with our pace, Borde said. We dont want to grow too quickly, and we know we need to continue to earn our authority on the greatest products. Contact the writer at mbennett@greenwichtime. com; Twitter @Macaela_ President Donald Trump's exclusive interview with the New York Times on Wednesday touched on plenty of weighty topics, including the Republicans' unsuccessful attempts to pass a health-care bill and what would constitute a "red line" in the Russia investigation led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. But one excerpt in particular set afire a corner of the Internet. In it, Trump describes a dinner for Group of 20 leaders that took place in Germany earlier this month and mentions that he had been seated next to Akie Abe, the wife of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. There had been a language barrier, Trump told Times reporter Maggie Haberman: TRUMP: . . . So, I was seated next to the wife of Prime Minister Abe, who I think is a terrific guy, and she's a terrific woman, but doesn't speak English. HABERMAN: Like, nothing, right? Like zero? TRUMP: Like, not "hello." HABERMAN: That must make for an awkward seating. TRUMP: Well, it's hard, because you know, you're sitting there for-- HABERMAN: Hours. TRUMP: So the dinner was probably an hour and 45 minutes. It wasn't long before people cried foul. Motoko Rich, the Times's Tokyo bureau chief, described it as "a false note." Early Thursday, a YouTube video was unearthed that showed Akie Abe giving a 15-minute keynote address - in English - at a 2014 symposium on coastal resilience in New York. Before long, the video was circulating on social media, often juxtaposed with Trump's comments about her language ability. By Thursday afternoon, speculation was running rampant online: Had Abe pretended not to speak English to avoid talking to Trump at the nearly two-hour dinner? "Japan's first lady Akie Abe mysteriously couldn't speak English when she met Donald Trump at G-20," a Newsweek headline pondered. "Trump says Japan's first lady doesn't speak English - but this clip shows otherwise," MarketWatch declared. However, as with so many stories about Trump that go viral online, the reality is more nuanced than the Internet's fast-moving theories. The question of how proficient Abe is at English was a guessing game Thursday among Japanese journalists and diplomats in Washington, as well as some Japan hands in U.S. think tanks. Though no one could say for certain what her fluency level was, most agreed that what had been characterized as a possible political snub had more likely been a convergence of Abe's limited English abilities and a desire not to misspeak. It is, of course, false that Abe speaks "zero" English. (At the very least, it's unthinkable that the Japanese first lady doesn't know the word "hello," even if she may not have said it to Trump at the G-20 dinner.) According to a lengthy profile of Abe by the Japan Times, she attended the English-speaking International School of the Sacred Heart in Tokyo from kindergarten through high school and later worked at Dentsu, Japan's largest international public relations company. But it's clear in the video of her 2014 keynote address that Abe was consulting a script and, even then, occasionally stumbling over a word or two. Abe has regularly accompanied her husband to Washington through his three stints as prime minister, and footage from her past visits shows that she has almost always used a translator when in the United States. In 2015, she and then-first lady Michelle Obama visited Great Falls Elementary in Virginia, where they were welcomed by students who were part of the school's Japanese immersion program. While at the school, Abe used an interpreter and addressed the students in Japanese. In speeches at a 2014 Womenomics forum and a 2015 "Finding Balance" summit, Abe gave her remarks in Japanese and had an interpreter translate them for the audience. She did not speak English during a 2014 interview with with The Washington Post. Abe again visited Washington in February, when her husband met with Trump at the White House. Though she made stops at Gallaudet University and at the Japanese Embassy, Abe did not make public remarks. She and her husband spent the ensuing weekend with the Trumps in Mar-a-Lago, the president's resort near Palm Beach, Florida. Several interviewed by The Washington Post said they had never heard Abe speak English and speculated that she would not feel comfortable having more than a simple conversation. Most people interviewed for this story spoke on the condition of anonymity because they had not spoken to Abe directly or extensively and did not have firsthand knowledge. "I have only heard her speak in Japanese," said one Japan expert at a think tank. "In international meetings, she speaks through an interpreter. I expect she may be able to have a courtesy-type conversation, but you should not assume more than that." A former aide to President Barack Obama said in a text message that he "never heard her speak English with Mrs. Obama." During her 2015 visit to the United States, Abe met with a small group of Americans who had taught English in Japan through a government-sponsored Japan Exchange and Teaching program. Nicole Uehara, an American who helped set up the event and participated in it, said Abe did not speak in English during the meeting and instead made remarks through an interpreter, who was seated behind her. Uehara said she was told that the Japanese first lady does know some English but is not fluent. At formal multilateral events, some foreign officials are concerned about protocol and worried about misspeaking if they are not speaking in their native language, foreign affairs experts said. "I really don't think she understands English very well," one Japanese television reporter in Washington wrote in an email. He said the story has not made a big splash in Japan since Trump's interview was published late Wednesday. "Even the second meeting between Trump and Putin was not a big story in Japan," he said. An American assistant at the Washington bureau of another Japanese television network said the consensus in his office "is that she can't really speak it. She can definitely say 'hello' or greet people in English, but can she hold a conversation beyond pleasantries? We're not so sure." At the Japanese Embassy in Washington, one diplomat called Trump's remarks about Abe a "strange story" and added that - although he has seen the video on social media of Abe reciting the coastal-resilience speech in English - he wasn't sure about her English skills. "Are you asking Spicer about this?" he asked, referring to White House press secretary Sean Spicer. At Thursday's daily briefing, which was handled by Spicer deputy Sarah Huckabee Sanders, no one asked. --- The Washington Post's Anna Fifield contributed to this report. Chattanooga Market will host the finale event to Chattanooga Magazine's Restaurant Week on July 30. The FiveStar Food Fight presented by Springer Mountain Farms. Market patrons will be able to watch five local chefs show off their culinary skills for a live cooking competition. The participating chefs have been carefully selected, and are eager to woo not only a live audience, but a panel of judges as well. It's all part of a week-long celebration ending at the Market with a tribute to some of the best chefs in our area. The chefs will have to be creative, quick-thinking and skillful. And, it's no small feat since they will not be able to plan or prepare ahead of time. They will arrive to the Market armed only with their personal cooking equipment. The chef introductions will be at 11:30 am (Market opens at 11:00) and then the shopping begins. Market patrons will be able to watch the chefs carefully pick out the freshest fruits, vegetables, spices, cheeses and more to make their dish remarkable, right from Chattanooga Market vendors. Springer Mountain Farms, event sponsor, will be providing select cuts of their 100% all-natural chicken for the chefs to use as their protein. After the shopping portion is complete, the chefs will then demonstrate their culinary skills using FiveStar professional cooking ranges. They will cook for one hour while guest emceeDyan Damron, gives a play by play on what the chefs are creating, keeping the audience well informed. From there, the judges will be presented one by one with the chefs' dishes judging them by presentation, taste and creativity. After the judging process is complete, the winner will receive a one of a kind metal trophy designed and crafted by Market artist, Allen Hampton. Additionally, the winning chef will be awarded an automatic entrance into the World Chef Challenge for 2017, held in Orange Beach, Alabama this year. Northwest Georgias largest college is set to offer classes at Dade County High School this fall. Georgia Northwestern Technical College has laid out 10 classes to be taught to students in Trenton during the day and at night. Evening courses available to all students include Principles of Management, Composition and Rhetoric, and Introduction to Computer Literacy. These are core classes which can count towards a certificate, diploma, or degree program at Georgia Northwestern, as well as transfer to many other college and universities. Speak with an advisor in the Student Help Center at Georgia Northwestern by calling the college toll-free at 866-983-4682 or stop by and speak with them in person at any of the colleges six campuses in Catoosa, Floyd, Gordon, Polk, Walker, or Whitfield counties. Dade County High School students will be taking college courses of their own from Georgia Northwestern, as well. They will be earning high school and college credit at the same time through the states Move On When Ready (MOWR) program. MOWR allows high school students to earn college credit while still earning their high school diplomas. Among the college courses Dade County students will have a chance to take this fall are College Success, Intro to Computer Literacy, Composition and Rhetoric, Literature and Composition, and College Algebra. Taking these courses for college credit before graduating high school comes at no financial cost to the student or the family. The deadline for anyone to apply for online or on-campus classes at Georgia Northwestern Technical College is July 24. Great Allegheny Passage improvements coming The bids were opened Nov. 1 and Adam Eidemiller's was the lower of two bids received. The project will take two weeks starting within the next week. 3 Instances You Should Be Using A VPN By Sponsor on Jul 20, 2017 5:00AM They're more common than you think. Thanks to the nature of changing online privacy regulations and the ability of our Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to freely access and sell our personal data to advertisers, there's a whole lot more than just malicious hackers and malware to worry about on the web. Thankfully, there are VPNs to thwart the intentions of scammers, thieves and third parties alike. Using a service like Windscribe VPN helps encrypt your location and data, keeping your online identity anonymous. If you need more reasons to change the way you interact with the internet, here are a few more: 1. You're tired of Google logging all your searches. Your Google search contains a whole lot more than your Drake obsession or interest in hot dog GIFs -- it can include incredibly personal information, including all the media you're ingesting and your location. Your political leanings, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, and more can all be harvested from your Google searches if somebody is savvy enough to look. 2. You're traveling. Want access to geo-restricted content while you're getting your passport stamped this summer? How about voice chatting with friends and family? A VPN helps you do all of that safely and securely, without worrying about security vulnerabilities when you're abroad. 3. You like to work from coffee shops. There's nothing wrong with your local shop, other than an excessive use of foam and really aggressive battles over open outlets. But if you work on a public Wi-Fi connection, it's basically like leaving your wallet or purse on a public table, wide open -- at least in terms of the data that could be stolen from you. VPNs encrypt your connection, even on public networks. So protect yourself online -- for the situations where you know you might need a little extra help, and even the ones where you don't. A lifetime Pro subscription to Windscribe VPN is currently $49.99, reduced 94% from the usual price of $900. Questions about your order? Contact pubsupport@stackcommerce.com. This post is brought to you by StackCommerce. The New Mexico Film & Media Industry Conference will take place Friday, Aug. 25, through Saturday, Aug. 26. This two-day conference features panel discussions, workshops, guest speakers, get-togethers and more for people interested in acting, writing, producing, directing or working crew in New Mexicos professional film industry. Monday, July 24, is the last day you can purchase tickets for this event at the early bird price. You have until then to get full-conference passes for $55 ($35 with student ID). The conference will take place at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Albuquerque. To register in advance, or to lean more about what this years conference will feature, go to nmfilm. com/ film- media- industry- conference. aspx. Jewish Film The fourth annual Albuquerque Jewish Film Festival runs Thursday, July 20, through Tuesday, July 25. Its set to showcase five acclaimed, recently released films from the US, Israel and Italy. The Womens Balcony screens Thursday at 7pm at high Ridge Theater (12921 Indian School NE). Its a comedy-drama about a group of women who try to reform their synagogue after a fundamentalist rabbi takes over. It was Israels no. 1 movie of 2016. Body & Soul: An American Bridge is a documentary detailing how jazz connects African-Americans and American Jews. It screens Saturday at 7:30pm at the Jewish Community Center (5520 Wyoming NE). Welcome to Kutchers is a historical look back at one of the legendary Borscht Belt hotels and shows at the JCC on Sunday at 2pm. Let Yourself Go! will show at High Ridge on Monday at 7pm. This quirky Italian comedy tells the story of a middle-aged Jewish psychoanalyst who lives next door to his ex-wifeand is awakened from his unhealthy lifestyle by an offbeat personal trainer. The fest closes out with Carvalhos Journey, a biographical documentary about 19th century Jewish atist/pioneer Solomon Nunes Carvalho. Catch it at the JCC Tuesday at 7pm. Tickets are $10 in advance or $12 at the door for each film. The Body & Soul screening includes a jazz concert, wine and snacks, and will cost $20 in advance ($25 at the door). A full-festival pass is $50. For more info go to jccabq.org. The period wuxia drama "Brotherhood of Blades 2" advanced its release date by three weeks due to its producers' confidence in its quality. Leading actor Chang Chen and actress Yang Mi interacts on stage at the premiere ceremony in Beijing, July 16, 2017. [Photo / China.org.cn] "Brotherhood of Blades II: The Infernal Battlefield," directed by Lu Yang and starring Chang Chen, Yang Mi, Zhang Yi, Lei Jiayin, Xin Zhilei and Chin Shi-chieh, is actually a prequel to the critically-acclaimed Ming dynasty period martial arts drama "Brotherhood of Blades" (2014). It went through more than 1,000 advanced screenings last weekend and received rave reviews as some described it as a Ming Dynasty version of "House of Cards" plus "Jason Bourne." Its wide release date was also advanced from the original Aug. 11 to July 19, a record change in Chinese film history for a scheduled summer film release, indicating the producers' great confidence during the fiercely competitive summer season as normally many Chinese films would push back the release date to avoid competition with Hollywood or other domestic blockbusters. Audiences can rest assured of a great script, written by the first installment's writer Chen Shu, mixing genres of wuxia, secret agents, detective, political conspiracy and action elements with elaborate props and martial arts choreography, a China.org.cn film critic said. Set in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the story follows Shen Lian (Chang Chen), who is a secret policeman of the corrupt imperial government guard and trapped by a conspiracy while on a mission. To prove his innocence, he seeks the truth with a young female artist and activist called Bei Zhai (Yang Mi) and his colleague Pei Lun (Lei Jiayin). The BBC's highly paid executives and richly remunerated stars (such as Chris Evans, pictured) have forgotten what public service is about, writes STEPHEN GLOVER The tragedy of the BBC is that although it has a public service remit, its highly paid executives and many of its richly remunerated stars have forgotten what public service is supposed to be about. Fifty years ago there was no confusion. People who worked for the Corporation knew they were engaged in a high-minded enterprise to 'educate, inform and entertain' in the immortal words of its first director-general, Lord Reith. There was an almost sacred pledge to the public underwritten by government. The BBC was granted the extraordinary privilege of a monopoly of national radio and huge dominance in television, and given a guaranteed form of funding via the licence fee, so that it was immune to commercial realities. In return, Auntie was called upon to supply the kind of programming which independent, profit-driven broadcasters might not dependably produce. Part of the deal was that the people who worked for the BBC were not in it for the money. The publication yesterday of the BBC's top presenters' salaries shows how well and truly the old ideal of public service has been shattered. Indeed, it has been consigned to history. Although the Corporation is still blessed with the unique advantages conferred by the licence fee, and retains an all-powerful position in British broadcasting, it has reneged on its side of the bargain. Some of its so-called stars are being paid grotesque amounts of cash. Huw Edwards earns up to 600,000 to front News at Ten. Fiona Bruce earns less than 399,000 for presenting News at Six, News at Ten and the Antiques Roadshow One is tempted to say that our privileged public service broadcaster is behaving like any commercial organisation. But, actually, it's not true. No company with its eye on the bottom line would bestow enormous sums on the undeserving and the mediocre. The argument trotted out by Tony Hall, the BBC's director-general, that Auntie is obliged to pay competitive salaries, and is subject to market forces, is utterly bogus. In many areas the BBC is the market because it enjoys no real competition. This is most obvious in radio. Look at Radio 2's Chris Evans, paid 2.2- 2.5million in 2016/17, in large part for his radio work. If this wacky and excitable character were to leave his present perch, he would be hard pushed to find a job at another radio station on a quarter of the salary. There are no remotely comparable national commercial stations. Adam Woodyatt gets up a quarter of a million to star as Ian Beale. Gillian Taylforth earns less than 199,000 to star as his mother Kathy The same point could be made about nearly all of the BBC's radio stars, and many of its reputed heavy-hitters on television. Their salaries could be drastically reduced and they still would not leave because, despite Mr Hall's scare stories about poaching, they aren't wanted elsewhere. Of course, I don't doubt that there are some highly paid BBC stars who warrant their salaries, and could walk into equally well-paid jobs in the private sector. But I suggest they constitute a minority. What has happened is that the BBC has gradually jettisoned its old public service ethos. But instead of conducting itself along the lines of a tightly run body in the private sector, it resembles a lavish Renaissance court in which huge gifts are showered on unworthy hangers-on. The scandal is that these often excessive salaries are being paid by ordinary licence payers who have no choice but to fork out 147 a year to own a television, even if they have no desire to watch the BBC. Bit by bit over recent decades the ideal of public service has withered and almost expired, not just at the BBC but throughout many of our once-cherished institutions. Greed has won out over duty. Matt Baker made up to half a million presenting The One Show and Countryfile. His One Show co-presenter Alex Jones got up to 449,000 to star on the show and Shop Well for Less It has also happened at sometimes third-rate universities where vice-chancellors with no great qualifications pocket vast salaries that would have been unimaginable 30 years ago. They, too, invoke 'market forces', though most would find it difficult to find a comparable job on half the pay. Universities, like the BBC, were once places where people did not seek jobs in order to get rich. The average salary of university heads last year was 280,877. Eleven of them got pay increases of up to 13 per cent, despite falling student numbers. Bath University not, let's face it, a world-famous academic institution boasts the highest paid vice-chancellor in the country in the shape of Dame Glynis Breakwell. Her salary and benefits (which include a Georgian mansion in the city) amount to 451,000. She claims she would, wouldn't she? that she's worth it. The irony is that at Bath and other universities, most lecturers and professors get by on relatively modest pay. It is the new administrative class that has enriched itself. There are 67 staff at Bath (a small university, by the way) earning more than 100,000 a year. Today Programme host Nick Robinson was paid up to 300,000 for his work for the BBC. Co-host Mishal Husain got less than 250,000 for the work she does It's a similar story in the NHS, where the number of managers has exploded in recent years. They, not the medical staff, now set the moral tone of hospitals. The concept of public service has been so forgotten that in the worst cases, such as Mid-Staffordshire, hundreds of deaths were covered up. And in the civil service, standards have so slipped that mandarins are now fixated on landing plum jobs in the private sector when they retire. On Tuesday, the National Audit Office claimed top civil servants are exploiting contacts to take up lucrative new posts, and ignoring rules designed to stop them. At the BBC there are many further down the food chain who are not well remunerated. Unlike many overpaid stars, these foot soldiers might earn more elsewhere. In some of them, the ideal of public service still burns. It's those at the top of the lumbering and anachronistic leviathan that is the BBC who have betrayed the old values. Don't forget, amid all the justified hubbub about overpaid stars, that the Corporation also employs, at the most recent count, 98 senior managers earning more than 150,000. These people, whether on or off the screen, want the advantages of working for an organisation which has a guaranteed income and enjoys an entrenched position in British broadcasting. They seek the greater job security which working for Auntie entails, in comparison with most similar organisations, and the generous index-linked BBC pensions. But they expect, in addition to all these special perks, stratospheric salaries which many of them could not obtain if they were to take the risk of trying their luck in the private sector. There was much wild talk yesterday from the likes of Tory MP Anna Soubry and former BBC honcho Michael Grade about the supposed inadvisability of publishing these salaries. Miss Soubry's claim that it amounts to an invasion of privacy is wrong-headed, while Lord Grade's contention that it will lead to a bidding war for the BBC's stars from other broadcasters is likely to be mistaken for the reasons I have touched on though inside the Corporation there will doubtless be much clamouring for more money among those who think they are underpaid. That is why these figures cast a shaft of light on the BBC. They tell a melancholy story, which is that the people who run the organisation do not possess the values of service and self-denial of those who founded it nearly 100 years ago. Needless to say, the Corporation will go on defending its exceptional privileges. This behemoth not long ago saw off the weak-minded Cameron government and won a renewal of its charter until 2027, without having to concede any significant reforms. But as it becomes clear it has forsaken the qualities that sustained it for so long and differentiated it from those broadcasters which have to survive commercially in the real world the licence-paying public will increasingly ask: What is the point of Auntie? They say the early bird catches the worm - and as far as Ivanka Trump is concerned, that saying couldn't be more accurate. The busy mother-of-three was up bright and early on Wednesday morning, finding time to fit in a workout at her local gym and grab a coffee, before returning home to get glammed up, ready for a day at the office. Ivanka, 35, was seen returning to the Washington, D.C. property she shares with husband Jared and their three children in an all-black outfit, donning a pair of capri leggings, a black tank top, and black sneakers for her session at the gym. Scroll down for video Quick turnaround! Ivanka Trump was seen returning to her home early on Wednesday morning having already completed a workout, before quickly transforming into chic office attire The early bird... The 35-year-old wore a black tank top and black leggings for the early morning gym session, before stopping to pick up a coffee on her way home Ready to take on the day: Ivanka returned to her home shortly after 7am Helping hand: She was accompanied by her watchful Secret Service agents Wearing her hair pulled back in a low bun, Ivanka also added a pair of dark sunglasses to the get-up, and carried a takeaway cup of coffee and her iPhone as she made her way into the home through the side gate, shortly after 7am. Less than two hours later, however, she was back at it, having totally transformed her appearance, changing into a very chic outfit for her day at the office. Making her way into a waiting SUV - which her eldest two children, Arabella and Joseph, had already been escorted into - Ivanka was seen wearing a $1,440 statement pair of wide-legged white trousers from Proenza Schouler, pairing the designer item with a simple navy tee and a pair of nude heels from her own fashion line. She added another glamorous element to the look in the form of some Dior So Real sunglasses and a pair of stud earrings and a matching ring. Her hair was still pulled back, but this time a low ponytail replaced the bun she was modeling when she returned from the gym. She also appeared to have added a touch of natural make-up to her face. And she's off again! Less than two hours later, Ivanka emerged from her Washington, D.C. home looking far more glamorous in her navy-and-white ensemble Chic as can be: Ivanka, who looked incredibly somber, paired her $1,440 Proenza Schouler trousers with a navy T-shirt, nude heels, and a pair of Dior So Real sunglasses Bling bling! She added a pair of large stud earrings, and a matching ring, to complete the look That's better! Jared Kushner looked much more upbeat than his wife as he left their home, despite her security clearance woes coming as a result of his undisclosed Russian contacts Ivanka kept a very straight face on both occasions - a marked difference to her disposition on Tuesday, when she was seen smiling happily and waving at the cameras as she made her way out of her home. Her slightly subdued demeanor may well have been a result of new reports regarding threats to her security clearance in light of her husband Jared's failing to disclose 100 foreign contacts on his government disclosure form. Jared's undisclosed Russian contacts have now put Ivanka in the crosshairs of the House Democrats, who are demanding a probe into her own government disclosures. A group of 22 House Democrats have written to the acting head of the FBI to ask whether the president's daughter disclosed all of her husband's and siblings' foreign contacts, as required under a sworn government disclosure form she filled out when she joined her father's White House. 'We are concerned that Ivanka Trump may have engaged in similar deception,' the letter said,' wrote ranking panel member Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland and other Democrats. What a difference a day makes: On Tuesday, Ivanka's disposition was as bright as the bold yellow dress she wore while heading out for a day of work Keeping things simple: Although she left off her wedding ring, which she is seldom seen wearing, Ivanka did don a silver ring on her right hand Fulfilling her duties: Ivanka attended the FIRST Global Challenge on Tuesday, a robotics competition that played host to children from 160 nations around the world Diplomacy: The First Daughter met with the competing teams, including those from the USA and Afghanistan A real treat: Ivanka said it was an 'honor' to be a part of such a ground-breaking event The new controversy surrounding her husband's actions may well have been responsible for her less-than-upbeat appearance on Wednesday, when she failed to raise so much as a small smile for the waiting photographers as she made her way in and out of her home. It was a very different story on Tuesday, however, when Ivanka attended the inaugural FIRST Global Challenge, a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics event held for high schoolers from 160 nations in D.C. on Tuesday. Sharing a video from the conference on her Twitter page, and her Instagram, Ivanka noted that it was an 'honor' to have been invited to attend the competition, where she was asked to welcome its participants. 'It was an honor to attend the FIRST Robotics Competition, which brings together the brightest minds of our global youth to showcase technology and engineering skills,' she wrote in her Instagram caption. 'With more than 160 countries represented, the FIRST Competition goes beyond robotics. 'It is a game that everyone can play and where everyone can turn pro! I am excited to meet these young men and women, whose work ethic, ingenuity and passion has driven them to achieve tremendous success and granted them the opportunity to represent their home countries at this challenging competition. 'An honor': Sharing a video of herself welcoming this year's participants on her Instagram and Twitter accounts, Ivanka gushed about how excited she was to be involved in the event Exceptional talent: She said of the event that is 'brings together the brightest minds of our global youth' 'Teaching robotics and engineering skills to the next generation of innovators is critical to the future of our economy and the world! #STEM #Robotics' Even her outfit choices spoke volumes about her mood; on Tuesday, the First Daughter stepped out in a bright bold yellow dress, pairing it with some duck-egg blue high heels. Wearing her long blonde hair in lose waves around her shoulders, Ivanka accessorized her colorful outfit with a pair of chunky silver and turquoise earrings, leaving her neck and wrists free from jewelry. Ivanka made sure to smile and wave at the cameras as she made her way out of her house and into a waiting SUV that was ready to whisk her off for another day of duties as an advisor to her father, President Donald Trump. Ivanka's joyful appearance on Tuesday morning was no doubt due to her fun-filled Monday, which saw the family celebrating their eldest child Arabella's sixth birthday with a sweet party for the young girl and her two brothers. Birthday tradition! Ivanka and daughter Arabella shared a plate of spaghetti on the little girl's sixth birthday on Monday evening; in China long noodles represent a long life Birthday girl: The Trump-Kushner household celebrated Arabella's birthday with a fun-filled party for her and her brothers, with 35-year-old Ivanka posting clips of the party on Instagram In a series of videos and images shared on Ivanka's Instagram account, Arabella could be seen opening up a variety of gifts, enjoying a host of sweet treats - including hot dogs topped with marshmallows - and then chowing down on a plate of spaghetti with her mother, something which is something of a birthday tradition in the Trump-Kushner household. The mother-of-three shared an adorable Instagram image of herself and Arabella in a Lady and the Tramp-style pose, with the two sharing the same long strand of spaghetti together. 'Birthday tradition - noodles for a long life!' Ivanka captioned the picture, adding a plate of spaghetti emoji for good measure. The businesswoman's caption made reference to a Chinese belief that long noodles represent a long life; Long Life Noodles - or Yi Mein - are traditionally eaten at all Chinese celebrations, including birthdays and at the New Year. Ivanka and her children - all of whom have studied Mandarin from a young age - have been putting their own spin on the Chinese tradition for many years now, with each of the three siblings sharing a spaghetti dinner with their mother on their birthdays. The Fat Jew has turned the wine world upside down with his brand of White Girl Rose, and now he's taking on fashion with a pink wine-inspired collection featuring sexy one-pieces and comfy sweats that are perfect for any and all parties. The Instagram personality whose real name is Josh Ostrovsky teamed up with Los Angeles-based apparel company Private Party to create the drinking-friendly line that features phrases such as 'Rose Queen' and 'Rose Cleanse'. 'We wanted to make stuff strictly for anyone who is drinking all of the time,' he told Daily Mail Online of the playful collection. One-piece wonder: The Fat Jew (center) stars in a new campaign featuring a bevvy of stunning models to launch his rose-inspired fashion collection Working it: The Instagram personality whose real name is Josh Ostrovsky told Daily Mail Online that he is 'extremely comfortable' in the one-piece swimsuit from the line Good thinking: The Fat Jew, the man behind White Girl Rose, said his company is already providing the beverages for a party, so they might as well provide the attire The Fat Jew is famous for his over-the-top antics, and he didn't hold back when he opted to model a high-cut fuchsia one-piece with 'Rose, B***h.' splashed across the front for the line's new ad campaign. 'I am extremely comfortable in [the one-piece swimsuit]. When we got them in, I was like, that is all me right now,' he said, noting: 'You don't have to have a sick body to pull this off.' 'If I can pull that one-piece off with a Shrek body, anyone can. Wear this thing and feel really hot in it,' he advised. Heeding his own words of wisdom, The Fat Jew proudly showed off his thighs in the body-hugging swimsuit during the party-inspired shoot. Promoting confidence: 'If I can pull that one-piece off with a Shrek body, anyone can,' he said Looking good: The collection of one-piece swimsuits, T-shirts, tanks, and sweats feature phrases such as 'Rose Queen', 'Rose Cleanse', and 'Yaaaaaaasssssss' All about having fun: The social media guru said he wanted the shoot to be a party that everyone would want to attend One image sees him surrounded by models wearing matching one-pieces in white, black, and shades of pink as they sexily pour out bottles of White Girl Rose and cans of Babe Rose into the waterfall pool they are standing in. 'We wanted to make you feel like you wanted to be there in the Jacuzzi, eating snacks with us and wearing all these clothes,' he said of the vibe of the campaign. When choosing the shooting location, he explained he and his team wanted to find a house where they 'might have shot a porno at in the '70s' complete with a pool and grotto to pose for pictures in. Other stand out pieces include tanks, tees, sweatsuits, and prices range from $39 for a water bottle to $99 for a one-piece swimsuit or a hooded sweatshirt. Certain vibe: When choosing the shooting location, he explained he and his team wanted to find a house where they 'might have shot a porno at in the '70s' Catch phrase: The Fat Jew noted that he likes anything that says 'Yaaaaaaasssssss' with 'as many A's and S's you can get' Right to the point: However, he said the phrase 'Rose, B***h.' is the one line in the collection that really speaks to him One campaign image sees a blond model showing off a denim jacket that has 'Rose, B***h.' on the back, which happens to be one of his favorite phrases featured in the collection. 'I can really hear it being said, and it really f**kg speaks to me,' he said, adding that he also likes anything that says 'Yaaaaaaasssssss' with 'as many A's and S's you can get.' Prices range from $39 for a water bottle to $99 for a one-piece or a hooded sweatshirt. Although his new campaign features a wild party, The Fat Jew insists that the pieces are made for any occasion including a party of one. Cheeky: The phrase was splashed across a denim jacket and a white one-piece worn by a blonde model during the shoot Something for everyone: The Fat Jew said the collection is meant to be worn at every type of party, whether you are at a crazy soiree or you are drinking at home with your cat For every occasion: The Fat Jew joked that the rose-inspired tees can be worn at 'tasteful dinner parties at some weird European's house' Kicking back: The line of sweatshirts and sweatpants features phrases such as 'Rose For Breakfast' and 'Rose Cleanse' The social media guru explained that you can be 'lit' at a crazy party rocking the one-piece, or you can be extremely 'unlit', wearing the sweatsuit and drinking wine at home with your cat. 'Whether you have a FOMO [Fear of Missing Out] or FOGO [Fear of Going Out], everybody loves rose. So we should all be able to have outfits that meet our party needs.' The Fat Jew envisions his customers doing everything from throwing on one of his one-pieces 'to go to a weird party at David Spade's house' in Los Angeles to wearing his sweats around their homes for days on end, 'surrounded by empty containers of hummus' after binge-watching a TV series. 'We are basic friendly. No matter what basic b***h activity you want to do, we got you,' he said. 'We were already providing the beverages; we figured we might as well provide the attire.' 'Fashion, ever heard of it?' Prices range from $39 for a water bottle, $52 for a T-shirt, and $99 for a one-piece swimsuit Inclusive: 'We are basic friendly. No matter what basic b***h activity you want to do, we got you,' he said Taking the fashion world by storm: 'I could be the next Karl Lagerfeld,' The Fat Jew said The Fat Jew took to Instagram on Tuesday to share the campaign photos with his 10.1 million followers, and people have been hounding him to find out where they can get the pieces (even though he provided a link to the online store). When his mother saw the campaign on Instagram, she sent him a text message saying she had her eye on a particular sweatshirt. 'It is perfect for because she is a total boozebag. She gets wacky mom drunk,' he said, joking: 'My mom will drink a bottle of my rose and somehow reveal she slept with Shel Silverstein, the children's author, in the '70s. 'I don't want that situation to happen, but at least I now have an outfit for her,' he mused. As for what's next, The Fat Jew said this is 'basically just the beginning', explaining with a laugh that he could design rose-inspired haute couture or host a fashion week for rose-themedF products in a 'really b-level city like Phoenix'. 'I could be the next Karl Lagerfeld,' he said. 'He was really fat and loved McDonald's.' An Australian personal trainer with over seven million Instagram followers has shared how to make healthy choices when grocery shopping. Kayla Itsines, 26, has revealed to followers on her blog that there is a psychology to supermarket layouts. 'In the store, the brightly coloured fruits and vegetables are supposed to put you in a good mood,' she wrote. Kayla Itsines has revealed to followers on her blog that there is a psychology to supermarket layouts 'In the store, the brightly coloured fruits and vegetables are supposed to put you in a good mood,' she wrote 'Food items that smell and look good, such as freshly baked bread or roasted chickens, are often positioned near the door so that you can smell them when you walk in. This is to encourage you to shop with your stomach!' It is often said that the worst time to go grocery shopping is when you're hungry and this is when you're more easily lured into buying food you want to eat in the moment. Ms Itsines said in her post that this feel good feeling is also encouraged with the inclusion of flowers at the entrance. They are meant to help stimulate your senses with their bright colours which puts you in a happy mood before you shop. Ms Itsines has over seven million Instagram followers has shared how to continue to make healthy choices when grocery shopping Ms Itsines has over seven million Instagram followers has shared how to continue to make healthy choices when grocery shopping KAYLA ITSINES TIPS FOR A HEALTHY SUPERMARKET SHOP Shop with your head, not your stomach Shop around the edges Don't give into the impulse buy items at the check out Make fewer shopping trips Buy from fresh fruit and vegetable markets if you can Have a shopping list Advertisement Ms Itsines believes the reason they put necessary products at the back of the store or in more complicated positions is so that you're forced to walk around the shop. This also means there is a higher chance of you being enticed by something not on your shopping list. 'The more time you spend looking for something, the greater the chance youll buy more items,' she wrote. She also said that the placement of complimentary items near each other, such as tea and biscuits, means people are more likely to buy them as we associate them as a pair. Ms Itsines believes the reason they put necessary products at the back of the store or in more complicated positions is so that you're forced to walk around the shop She said in her post that this feel good feeling is also encouraged with the inclusion of flowers at the entrance Another part of the supermarket strategy that Ms Itsines talks about is the placement of chocolate bars and packs of gum when you go to purchase your items. 'I dont think Im alone here, but Ive never met anyone who can resist those impulse buys at the checkout!... Its way too easy to grab them and throw them in your basket while you are waiting,' she wrote. Her suggestion is to try and show as much restraint as possible, or if you can, opt for stores that don't have these items at the check out. 'The more time you spend looking for something, the greater the chance youll buy more items!' she wrote 'I dont think Im alone here, but Ive never met anyone who can resist those impulse buys at the checkout!' she said Ms Itsines said that loyalty cards are a way for supermarkets to track what you're buying to help personalise their marketing to your taste. Although you may not want to give up being a loyalty member she wants to make people aware of the psychological tricks they use so you can try avoid them. 'I recommend following some of my tips for building the best grocery list, or shopping the edges of the store where possible. Try to make less shopping trips if you can, that way you tend to buy more efficiently,' she wrote. Ms Itsines is no stranger to helping people make healthy choices as she sells fitness eBooks 'Personally, Im also a big fan of buying fresh fruit and vegetables from farmers markets. I know that might not be the best option for everyone though.' Ms Itsines is no stranger to helping people make healthy choices as she sells fitness eBooks and has previously written a post about how people can write the perfect grocery list. A popular Melbourne shopping blogger has put the Kmart vacuum cleaner that became the talk of the country to the test. Ever since the $89 1200W Upright Vacuum was dubbed 'better than a Dyson or Kirby', it has been selling out in stores across Australia. And Tracey Cotroneo, who runs the blog Melbourne Mamma, told Daily Mail Australia she was 'blown away' by the cleaner. Shopping blogger Tracey Cotroneo, who runs Melbourne Mamma, recently bought the $89 Kmart vacuum (pictured) that has become the talk of Australia to give it an honest review Tracey (pictured with her children) said she was 'blown away' by the vacuum, and that her husband absolutely loved it Tracey purchased the Kmart vacuum over the weekend, when she was just starting to notice praise for the new machine popping up on social media. Her first local Kmart had already sold out of the cleaner, which an employee remarked was 'really bizarre'. 'He asked what was going on and I said, oh people are starting to comment on social media that this vacuum is really good,' Tracey said. She then called another nearby Kmart and asked them to put one of the cleaners on hold, just in case, as she made her way over. Tracey writes about shopping on a daily basis and had been seeing mixed reports about the vacuum, and wanted to let her readers know what all the fuss was about. And her family was excited to try out the new machine as they had been cleaning with a Dyson stick vacuum that only holds enough charge to clean one room at a time. Tracey cannot vacuum due to injuries sustained from a car accident 15 years ago, so it is her husband who vacuums the carpeted rooms in their house twice a week. And he immediately loved how easy it was to put the Kmart vacuum together and begin to use in their bedroom. Tracey writes about shopping on a daily basis and had been seeing mixed reports about the vacuum, and wanted to let her readers know what all the fuss was about She wrote a list of pros and cons on a Facebook post about the Kmart vacuum, noting that she felt 'sick' after seeing how much dirt the vacuum had cleaned up Tracey noted on a Facebook post that the Kmart vacuum was 'louder than our stick vac,' but not as loud as her husband expected it to be given the cheap price. 'Easy to manoeuvre, awesome suction, good attachments, easy to empty' were all on her husband's pro list, as was - of course - the price. His main critique of the machine was that the handle tube does not extend, which means 'having to bend over when vacuuming skirts, under furniture, etc'. But when they had finished, the couple saw just how much dirt the vacuum had accumulated. 'I felt sick that that was on my floor in my bedroom,' Tracey told Daily Mail Australia. 'My husband's quite pedantic about doing a good job, he doesn't do it in five seconds. I thought, "Oh my goodness, all of that coming out of the floor?!' Now Tracey said her two children, aged five and nine, are fighting over who gets to use the cleaner next and both plan to vacuum their own room by themselves. Positive word of mouth like Tracey's has led to the Kmart vacuum selling out at most stores across the country Tracey, who made it clear to her followers that her post was not sponsored, said she believes the vacuum has stirred up such a frenzy because of its incredible price. 'Everyone wants a Dyson, everyone knows Dyson is a fantastic brand, but not everyone can afford to buy a Dyson,' she said. And Tracey believes the machine has received further credibility by the fact that it is beloved by so many mums. 'Mums love seeing what other mums are saying about products, and when they post something that's good, other mums buy it,' she said. 'I trust the opinions of other mums and other women, and I know I buy products that women I follow on social media say are great as well.' Tracey has hardly been the only Australian taking to social media to talk about the now famous vacuum. Unfortunately that word of mouth has led to the machine selling out at most stores across the country. Tracey believes the machine has received further credibility by the fact that it is beloved by so many mums 'Kmart Noarlunga Downs - sold out. Kmart Geelong - sold out. Checked online - sold out,' one woman posted on social media on Tuesday. 'Ring Kmart to get one of these awesome vacuums everyone's talking about. Sold out!,' another person added. 'I called customer service today to see if there were any and was told that all NSW stores have sold out,' one woman wrote. 'Was told it would be another three weeks before more came in,' she added. Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, Kmart addressed the spike in demand: 'We would like to thank our customers for their reviews on social media around our $89 1200W upright vacuum cleaner, it's always great to see customers loving our everyday low price quality products. 'Due to the high demand of this product some stores may have sold out. We can confirm additional stock is due for delivery over the next fortnight, so we encourage customers to revisit their local Kmart. Others have taken to posting on the Kmart Australia Facebook page to ask when the infamous vacuum will be restocked in stores The store's 1200W Upright Vacuum first received praise earlier this month, when one Australian buyer, Teylor Johnson, took to Facebook to write a glowing review (pictured) 'The 1200W upright vacuum is sold both online at kmart.com.au and in stores for $89.' The store's 1200W Upright Vacuum first received praise earlier this month when one Australian buyer, Teylor Johnson, took to Facebook to write a glowing review. 'Most people were saying its [sic] better than their Dyson or Kirby and yeah I'm sold on this Kmart one,' she posted. Ms Johnson shared a picture of her partner, Jerome, using the vacuum, saying 'holy mac it's a beast' [sic] and explaining they'd purchased it after 10pm the night before from a 24-hour Kmart. 'I would say I love my new toy but I think someone else cough Jerome loves it more after vacuuming the whole house last night,' [sic] Ms Johnson wrote. A Millennial Disney star and social media 'influencer' is rumoured to have been arrested after his neighbours said he made their lives a 'living hell'. An image of Jake Paul, 20, has circulated on social media appearing to show the TV star being handcuffed. Jake, who is based in West Hollywood, is known for his 'crazy pranks', which have included throwing a Harley Davidson in his backyard pool and setting furniture on fire. A picture of him in handcuffs being lead away by a policeman appears to show his arrest, but rumours on social media have speculated it is a fake. MailOnline has approached representatives for Jake Paul and the LA Police Department for comment. This image circulated online and appears to show Jake being handcuffed by a policeman Jake and his 'squad' are known to throw rowdy parties, while he often publicises his address, which allows hoards of his young fans - whom he calls 'Paulers' - to show up outside his home. While his 8.5 million young followers may be impressed with his antics, his neighbors are not. Families in the LA neighborhood have accused Paul of turning their lives into a 'living hell'. Jake Paul, a Millennial Disney star and social media 'influencer', has been accused of making the lives of his West Hollywood neighbors 'hell' The 20-year-old clambered up on top of a KTLA van while he was being interviewed on Tuesday 'It used to be a really nice, quiet street and now [it's] just this, like, war zone,' Maytal Dahan told KTLA. 'We're families here and we're more than happy to have them live here if they're respectful of their neighbors, but they're not.' Neighbors are even considering banding together to file a class-action public nuisance lawsuit against Paul and the homeowner. They say not only is Paul annoying but dangerous. His fire stunt, when he set ablaze furniture in his pool, saw flames reach the height of the home. Meanwhile, Paul seems amused by the misery he is imposing on those around him. 'The neighbors hate me,' he told KTLA, laughing. Neighbors are even considering banding together to file a class-action public nuisance lawsuit against Paul and the homeowner after this fire stunt, when he set ablaze furniture in his pool, saw flames reach the height of the home Neighbors of Paul (pictured is his West Hollywood home) have accused him of turning their lives into a 'living hell' Maytal Dahan said their once 'nice, quiet street' had been turned into a 'war zone' When the reporter told him that locals fear he has turned the neighborhood into a 'circus' with his non-stop parties and dangerous stunts, the millennial replied: 'But, I mean, people like going to circuses.' Paul was then seen running and skipping through the streets before climbing on top of the KTLA van - ignoring the pleas of staffers to stop. Eventually, Paul returned to the interview, where he said : 'It's terrible, it's a bad situation and I feel bad for them, but there's nothing we can do. 'Jake Paulers are the strongest army out there. 'Dab,' he added, pulling the 2016 cliched dance move, before pointing at the reporter's shoes, and screeching, 'What are those?' before running away with his friends. Earlier this year, Paul landed himself in trouble after he hid in the bathroom of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building after attending a Social Media Event at the White House (pictured, left, on July 8 at a charity basketball game). He is also the brother of internet star Logan Paul (seen together, right) He has since taken to taunting his neighbors on Twitter, posting footage of his KTLA interview with a laughing emoji, and the caption, 'I'm dead' He also released 'rap' song, 'It's Everyday Bro,' which became the tenth most disliked video in YouTube history He has since taken to taunting his neighbors on Twitter, posting footage of his KTLA interview with a laughing emoji, and the caption, 'I'm dead.' In Paul's YouTube bio, he described himself as living 'a crazy life' 'making comedy vids, acting, doing action sports, & going on crazy adventures' with his squad 'Team 10'. He also released a bad 'rap' song, It's Everyday Bro,' which became the tenth most disliked video in YouTube history. Earlier this year, Paul landed himself in trouble after he filmed himself hiding in the bathroom of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building after attending a Social Media Event at the White House. Although he claimed he spent several hours there before leaving in the early morning, sources confirm the video was fake and actually just filmed during the event. After he posted footage of the stunt on his blog, he was visited by the Secret Service at home. His older brother, 22-year-old Logan Paul, is also a YouTube star. Logan caused his own commotion in Manhattan on July 15 when his fans shut down an entire street. They had rushed to the area after he set up a pop-up shop for the day. He took to Twitter afterwards to thank the NYPD for 'keeping my fans safe'. Chinese President Xi Jinping Wednesday called for solid moves to advance reforms. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks at the 37th meeting of the Central Leading Group for Deepening Overall Reform, which he heads. All localities should be devoted to delivering reforms, shouldering their due responsibilities and making concrete and pioneering efforts, Xi said. The group called for green and sustainable development of agriculture. Relevant departments should properly deal with the relationship between green development and ecological protection, grain safety, and raising farmers' income, according to a statement released after the meeting. Agricultural development should be compatible with the environment and resources, and should stay coordinated with production and people's livelihoods to achieve sustainable growth. The group urged the establishment of a national technology transfer system, with a focus on strategic industries of far-reaching significance. Technology transfer should play a better role in upgrading technological innovation and boosting economic and social development, the statement said. Reforms should be made to promote corporate governance structures in public cultural institutions to improve management and services, and to inject vitality into these institutions, according to the statement. Boards of directors should be the main form of corporate governance structure in these institutions, such as libraries and museums. Representatives of the industry, professionals and people from all walks of life would also be invited to participate in the management of these institutions, it said. The conference stressed efforts to enhance and improve people-to-people communication with other countries, emphasizing confidence in the path, theories, system and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics. In an effort to raise the professional level of civil servants, the appointment system should be introduced in recruiting personnel to posts with special expertise requirements, according to the statement. To protect consumer interests and ensure good quality is the bottom line, it said. The group called for the establishment of a safety monitoring and quick response system for imports and exports. The meeting highlighted the importance of ensuring good quality drugs and medical equipment. The drug approval system should be improved to enhance innovation and research capabilities of medical businesses. Regarding the national park system, the group urged priority to be given to ecological protection. Legal protection and oversight should be put into place to establish a natural reserve system of which the national parks play a major part. Since the third plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee was held, a package of pilot reforms have been implemented. They are replicable and applicable, as a role model and a breakthrough in the comprehensive reform agenda. Relevant departments should review the progress of the reform and correct the wrongdoing in a timely fashion. To deal with difficult reform agenda, officials should push and track the reform progress in person. Pioneering efforts are needed to break major barriers and well implement the pilot reforms, the statement said. It's the show that's had the nation gripped for weeks and the stars of Love Island look set to become celebrities when they leave Mallorca next week. And despite finding fame and fortune in their own right, the Twittersphere has been quick to notice the striking similarities between some of the cast members and other famous faces. Social media has gone into meltdown as people share their verdicts on who each cast member looks like - and some of them are uncanny. Viewers are convinced that Amber Davies looks just like Cheryl, whilst Kem Cetinay bears more than a passing resemblance to James 'Arg' Argent. Some of the more curious comparisons include Georgia Harrison's similarity to Princess Tiaamii - the daughter of Peter Andre and Katie Price. She's got specs appeal! Love Island fans have gone wild as they spot each cast member's striking similarities to celebrities - including Olivia Attwood's striking resemblance to Nicola Mclean, who was recently on Big Brother Gone but not forgotten: Dom Lever may have been booted out a few weeks ago but eagle-eyed fans noted that he looked just like actor and Cara Delevingne's best friend Will Poulter, right Uncanny! They were also quick to realise that Amber Davies looks remarkably like Cheryl, right. The duo even have strikingly similar style and hair 'dos Right royal lookalikes! Camilla Thurlow and Pippa Middleton have more in common than their plummy accents and links to Prince Harry if the viewers are to be believed I canny believe it! Sam Gowland, who was dumped from the island last night, looks just like X Factor star and musical theatre performer, Ray Quinn, right Looking into the future: In some of the more curious observations, fans realised that Princess Tiaamii - the daughter of Peter Andre and Katie Price - could well grow up to look just like Georgia Harrison Twins? Jonny Mitchell may not have been the viewers' favourite contestant but they were quick to comment on his striking similarity to singer Will Young, right They could be sisters! Danielle Sellers may not have lasted long in the villa but she's bound to get plenty of male attention after fans noted how much she looks like Australian actress and singer Holly Valance, right The Only Way Is Twins: Kem Cetinay isn't just friends with James 'Arg' Argent, he also looks just like his Essex pal, right Her visit to Germany with Prince William has so far been a roaring success, and now Kate has been dubbed the new 'Princess of Hearts' by the media, as royal fever sweeps the nation. German newspapers and TV gave blanket coverage to the the Duke and Duchess's three day visit to the country which began yesterday, and has been nicknamed 'die Charmeoffensive'. The Berliner Zeitung said pictures of the Duchess cuddling children during a visit to a children's charity in Berlin yesterday were 'reminiscent of the warmth of heart which before Kate only William's mother, Diana, could radiate.' In a headline it said, 'Fur die kids ist sie the Prinzessin der Herzen' meaning 'For the kids she is the Princess of the heart.' On a visit to the charity Straenkinder, which supports children from disadvantaged backgrounds, both William and Kate were mobbed by small children as they bestowed hugs and high fives to excitable fans. The Duchess of Cambridge yesterday doled out hugs to children as she paid a visit to a charity that supports youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds Princess Diana embraces ten-year-old Heba Salah during a visit to The Institute For Polio Rehabilitation in Cairo in 1992 The Berliner Zeitung said pictures of the Duchess cuddling children during a visit to a children's charity in Berlin yesterday made her the new Princess of Hearts The Duchess was the centre of attention, with several children throwing themselves into her arms for a cuddle. Embracing one little girl back, the Duchess laughed and told Lilly, six, 'that's nice of you'. Abdallah, nine, also received a hug, after her ambushed her from the side as dozens of children awaited a photocall with the Royal couple. The Duchess, no stranger to glamorous headwear, was also given flower headbands by a group of small girls, during a lively afternoon. Kate's affectionate displays in Berlin have seen her dubbed the new Princess of Hearts by the German media Diana getting a hug from a young girl at the Cook County Hospital in Chicago in 1996, a year before her death in a car crash in Paris Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Princess Diana was famed for breaking down stuffy royal protocol with her tactile displays. The Princess worked to dispel myths surrounding Aids by shaking hands with a patient without wearing gloves, at a time when people still believed the virus could be transmitted by tough. And during her public appearances, she was known for doling out hugs and cuddle, particularly to children. The Duchess received a very enthusiastic welcome from children yesterday at a charity party in Berlin Kate doled out high fives to enthusiastic children who presented her with floral crowns Yesterday, Kate-mania was in full force with the mood among crowds awaiting their arrival described by a German paper as if 'popstars were coming. People were screaming.' Earlier in the afternoon, thousands has braved sweltering temperatures to line the Pariser Platz to catch a glimpse of the royals as they visited the city's historic Brandenburg gate. The couple are today due to take part in a boat race against each other in the historic German town of Heidelberg. One will cox a crew from a Heidelberg, the other a crew from its twinned city of Cambridge. They will also visit the town's traditional market in the centre square. Australian author Jane Caro has opened up about the traumatic moment she was sexually assaulted by a doctor. The social commentator was aged in her 20s when she went to see a male doctor to get an IUD fitted - a contraceptive intrauterine device to prevent pregnancy. 'Any woman who's had one will know it's quite a painful procedure,' she told The Drum on Wednesday. 'So I moaned aloud with how painful it was. And the doctor says "oh, rubbing the clitoris can make that pain go away".' Scroll down for video Australian author Jane Caro (pictured) has opened up about the traumatic moment she was sexually assaulted by a doctor Much to her shock, she claimed the doctor then 'proceeded to do that'. 'I just froze,' she recalled. 'I was in this situation where in my head was this litany of things like, what's he doing? He's the doctor. Is that right? Oh, I'm so humiliated. I don't want him to do this. This is so awful. 'It took me ages to actually move and do anything and then I managed to somehow sit up, brush his hand away and get myself to rights.' But despite the ordeal, the media personality said she simply said 'thank you' to the doctor and paid for the procedure. She remained silent for decades until she went to a book club where women openly shared their horrific stories She remained silent for decades until she went to a book club where women openly shared their horrific stories - all 'attached with shame'. 'Every time I thought about it I went hot with shame,' she said. 'We still attach shame to the victim, not the perpetrator. The trouble with that feeling of shame is it then leads to silence. 'The problem with that silence is what it does is make the abuser safe. Because if no one's going to tell, then you're free to continue.' She may only be two-years-old but Princess Charlotte is already proving to be a pro at royal duties. The little Princess was seen performing an adorable curtsy as she said goodbye in Warsaw yesterday morning with her mother the Duchess of Cambridge. It appeared that Kate, 35, may have reminded her daughter to say thank you before they boarded the plane and the youngster did a mini bob - her first public curtsy on royal duties. The toddler also showed off her impeccable manners when the family landed in Berlin when she politely shook hands with British defence attache Brigadier Rob Rider. Charlotte has also been practicing her royal wave, happily greeting the waiting cameras on the family's official visit to Poland and Germany, while her big brother George has remained much more reticent. The young Prince was looking a little grumpy yesterday as the family disembarked in Berlin. Three-year-old George looked in need of a nap, as he rubbed his eyes sleepily and fidgeted as his father Prince William spoke to the welcoming committee. Meanwhile, happy-go-lucky Charlotte was given her own mini spray of flowers by German gov rep Till Knorn to match a bouquet presented to her mother. The Princess seemed pleased with her flowers and even gave the posy a discerning sniff. Princess Charlotte shook hands with British defence attache Brigadier Rob Rider on arriving in Germany yesterday The adorable bob is believed to be Charlotte's first public curtsy on royal duty The youngster appeared delighted with her posy and even gave it a discerning sniff Kate reminded her daughter to say thank you as the family said their goodbyes yesterday Charlotte isn't the only one who has been making a big impression on the five-day tour of Germany and Poland. Yesterday, the Duchess of Cambridge was mobbed by excited children on a visit to the Strasskinder charity in Berlin, which assists youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds. Kate, 35, was eager to dole out hugs and high fives, and the German press has now dubbed her the new 'Princess of Hearts', saying the scenes were 'reminiscent of the warmth of heart which before Kate only William's mother, Diana, could radiate.' Tired Prince George was a little reluctant to get involved in the formalities yesterday, rubbing his eyes after he got off the plane from Warsaw While her big brother appeared to be feeling shy, Charlotte was busy doling out handshakes Practicing her royal wave! She's only two-years-old but Charlotte is already a pro at royal duties Drugs mule Michaella McCollum - one half of the infamous Peru Two - has been pictured leaving a swanky hotel in a 55,000 Audi where she was penning her upcoming book - just three months after being photographed leaving the job centre. McCollum, 24, who was jailed in Peru in 2013 along with Melissa Reid for trying to smuggle 1.5 million of cocaine, was seen leaving the high-end Malmaison Hotel in Liverpool, which costs over 100 a night, before getting into an Audi S5 on Wednesday. Michaella McCollum was seen leaving the Malmaison Hotel and driving off in a 55,000 Audi S5 on Wednesday She was seen filling up the car at a petrol station and it is unclear if she owns the vehicle A spokesperson for Michaella told MailOnline: 'Michaella has been at university for a year. The pictures at the Job Centre were taken over a year ago. 'Michaella was at the hotel working on her book that is being released next year.' Flashing the flesh in a green bodycon dress teamed with pumps, the blonde was seen driving to a nearby petrol station to fill up. It is unclear if she owns the car. MailOnline has contacted a spokesperson for Michaella McCollum and is awaiting response. Michaella was pictured at the Job Centre in April. One fellow job seeker said at the time: 'Michaella didn't look happy to be joining the dole queue. 'I was surprised to see her there after all the photos of her enjoying herself on holidays abroad.' Over the last few weeks, Michaella was spotted living it up in party centres Ibiza and Marbella enjoying sun, sea and cocktails. Drugs mule Michaella was seen leaving in an Audi just three months after being spotted signing on at the Jobcentre in April McCollum, 24, who was jailed in Peru in 2013 along with Melissa Reid for trying to smuggle 1.5 million of cocaine The blonde was seen leaving the high-end Malmaison Hotel before getting into an Audi S5 on Wednesday The Peru Two mule was spotted at the Job Centre back in April Armed with a suitcase, the drugs mule showed off her summer tan in a skimpy green dress It has been reported that she has been offered a 250,000 tell all book deal detailing her criminal exploits and time behind bars in Lima The blonde appeared in good spirits as she strutted around the town next to the wheels The drugs mule showed off her pert posterior as she filled up her tank Originally from County Tyrone in Northern Ireland, McCollum can expect to receive 69-a-week Jobseeker's Allowance How the former drugs smuggler has funded her holidays is unclear, but she has been linked to a number of potentially lucrative opportunities. It has been reported that she has been offered a 250,000 tell all book deal detailing her criminal exploits and time behind bars in Lima. And rumours suggest she hopes to use her notoriety to kickstart a reality TV career, but claims she was being considered for Celebrity Big Brother were denied by the show's makers. Originally from County Tyrone in Northern Ireland, McCollum can expect to receive 69-a-week Jobseeker's Allowance. Four years ago she and friend Melissa Reid were caught trying to smuggle 1.5million worth of cocaine to Europe and McCollum has certainly been making the most of her newfound freedom. McCollum (left) and Melissa Reid were convicted of attempting to smuggle 1.5million of drugs into Europe How the former drugs smuggler has funded her holidays is unclear, but she has been linked to a number of potentially lucrative opportunities The blonde offset her look with casual black trainers and a white backpack McCollum has been accused of capitalising on her notoriety, and in May it emerged she has signed with a talent agency The beach lover recently signed up for the dole amid claims she is set to appear on Celebrity Big Brother, having spent time on the beach in Ibiza and Marbella, Spain, in recent months. It is a stark contrast to Reid, who has landed a charity job at Citizens Advice. Reid applied for a job at the charity after she was released from the South American jail last June. McCollum, by contrast, has been accused of capitalising on her notoriety, and in May it emerged she has signed with a talent agency. She is rumoured to have been offered a 250,000 book deal. The two were sentenced to spend six years and eight months inside a grim jail in Lima, after they were caught trying to smuggle the huge quantity of cocaine. The ex-convict, from Dungannon, Northern Ireland, was released on parole last March after serving less than half of her sentence but initially had to stay in Peru, where she carried out voluntary work until August when she flew back to Belfast. Michaella has also been seen partying on the island of Ibiza in recent weeks The beach lover recently signed up for the dole amid claims she is set to appear on Celebrity Big Brother Advertisement It wouldn't be a royal tour without a spot of competitive sporting activity, and today Prince William punched the air in delight as he secured an against-the-odds win in a boat race against his wife. Before the start of the clash in the historic German city of Heidelberg, Kate had jokingly told her crew: 'No pressure, but I do want to beat my husband And she was given a huge advantage over William after an Olympic gold medalist was chosen to be in her boat. Filip Adamski, who was in the winning German eight in the London 2012 Games, was selected as her stroke, while the rest of both crews were made up of local amateur crews from Cambridge and Heidelberg. Chivalrous William insisted it was 'fine' when told he was up against an Olympic Champion as he arrived on the banks of the River Neckar. But he admitted to his wife, 'This could be a challenge' before setting off without any advice on how to cox. Kate spent several minutes taking tips from her teammate before setting off, admitting she was 'worried about crashing' and indicating with her hands that she feared zig zagging along the water. But Adamski assured her everything would be fine, saying 'If we crash, we crash together.' Following their visit to a traditional German food market, Kate made a quick change out of her yellow lace Jenny Packahm dress and wedges, slipping into a casual blue and white striped top by Hugo Boss teamed with skinny jeans and her favourite Superga trainers. And William removed his jacket and put on a pair of blue trainers with a luminous yellow Nike swoop. Scroll down for video The Duchess of Cambridge changed out of her yellow lace dress into a blue and white striped top and skinny jeans to take part in a boat race No hard feelings! Kate and William pose for a photo after the Duchess' team was beaten by her husband's, despite having an Olympic rower on her side Cheers! The Duchess raises a glass after the race with the Mayor of Heidelberg, Eckart Wuerzner No hard feelings! She may have been trounced by her husband in the race, but Kate was no sore loser Perfect pair! The Duke and Duchess looked every inch the polished royals as they made their way to the German Cancer Research Institute for a visit (left). It was a rainy morning in Heidelberg, but Kate added a splash of colour to proceedings in a yellow lace dress by Jenny Packham (right) Consolation prize: The Duchess was presented with a stein of beer after the race and after all that hard work she was doubtless in need of a sip! The Duke and Duchess looked as loved-up as ever as they shared a giggle after today's rowing race The Duchess opted for a casual look with her striped Breton top from Hugo Boss, paired with her trusty skinny jeans No hard feelings! The couple shared an affectionate moment after racing each other down the River Neckar in opposing teams The Duke and Duchess raise their beer mugs after a competitive race between the twinned town of Cambridge and Heidelberg The Duchess looked animated as she recounted her racing tale after being beaten by her husband's team Competition! The Duchess of Cambridge settles into a rowing regatta ahead of her race against Prince William Despite their sporting rivalry, the couple were all smiles when they were presented with medals after the race Kate celebrates with a beer after taking part in a boat race on the river Neckar (left). The Duchess had changed out of her lace yellow dress, donning a blue and white striped top for the sporting event (right) The Duke of Cambridge opens the first beer barrel as Kate looks on nervously Making a splash! Prince William was more than prepared for a soaking in his efforts to beat his wife's team Mind how you go! Kate needed a steadying hand to help her out of the boat Prince William hits the tap into the beer barrel so that everyone can enjoy a well-deserved beer after the thrilling boat race Before the race, Adamski admitted to having some nerves, saying: 'It's not as serious as the Olympics, but I have never raced with a princess before so I have butterflies in my stomach.' In the end, however, it was William who edged home victorious, finishing about a length ahead of Kate. But Kate proved that she wasn't a sore loser, flashing a bright smile and waving to onlookers after crossing the finish line and there was a consolatory stein of beer awaiting participants at the end of the race, as well as medals for both teams. Prior to their boat, race the couple enjoyed a tour of a traditional market where they were able to make some sugary treats for their children. William and Kate had a go at rolling and cutting some handmade traditional sweets and took them away to give to George, three, and Charlotte, two, when they see them at the family's temporary base in Berlin this evening. 'The children will love these later,' William, 35, said. But when he was presented with another treat for them a moment later, he laughed and sighed and said: 'George's sugarload is going to be over the top of the scale.' Cheers! Kate may not have won the race but at least there was stein of beer waiting at the end (left). William shows off his winner's medal after steering his team to victory (right) Good luck! Kate shakes hands with one of her team-mates ahead of a race against her husband Kate spent several minutes taking tips from her teammate before setting off. The Duchess admitted she was 'worried about crashing' and indicated with her hands that she feared zig zagging along the water Helping hand! The Duches received assistance from a team mate as she clambered into the rowing regatta boat The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge take part in a rowing race in Heidelberg on the River Neckar Still a winner! The Duchess' team came second but she receive a medal anyway, during a prize giving ceremony after the race Debrief! Prince William chats to his team following their friendly rowing race against his wife's team Kate looked like she didn't have a care in the world as she prepared to cox her team in a race against Prince William The couple were accompanied through the historic centre of Heidelberg, with Baden-Wuerttemberg's State Premier Winfried Kretschmann (second right) his wife Gerlinde (right), Heidelberg's Mayor Eckart Wuerzner (second left) and his wife Janine The Duchess swapped her yellow Jenny Packham dress for a breton top, paired with skinny jeans and her favourite Superga trainers. Kate and William wave to wellwishers after competing in a boat race between the twin cities of Heidelberg and Cambridge (right) The royal chat with Baden-Wuerttemberg's State Premier Winfried Kretschmann (right) and Heidelberg's Mayor Eckart Wuerzner (left), on the Old Bridge in the historic center of Heidelberg Onlookers watched and snapped pictures as Kate coxed a crew of eight on the River Neckar Once again crowds lined the street and waved the Union Jack to greet the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge The Duchess tied her newly cropped locks back in a ponytail and donned a pair of Ray Bans ahead of the race Mayor of Heidelberg Eckart Wurzner in an animated discussion with Kate after the boat race The Duchess braced herself against the inevitable splash back as the race progressed Kate was responsible for acting as cox during the race between the twin cities of Cambridge and Heidelberg William admitted he was up against a challenge after learning there was an Olympic rower on the opposing team The royal couple had a go at making sweets with Jens Meier, owner of Heidelberger Bonbon Manufaktur, and his assistant Melanie Melchior. While William was certainly enthusiastic, he wasn't quite as technically proficient as his wife. 'Yours is better than mine,' he said, laughing, to Kate, who picked it up slightly more quickly after admiring Melanie's technique and telling her: 'You're making it look so easy.' Asked how they had done, Melanie said: 'Not too bad. It's always hard when you get it for the first time. You have to be quick. The royal couple walked around the market square in the centre of the university town of Heidelberg, where a special market had been set up to mark their visit and celebrate the close ties between the town and Cambridge in the UK. The Duchess of Cambridge, is offered flowers by spectators as she visits the historic market town of Heidelberg Prince William donned an apron and took up a wooden mallet to tap the keg so that everyone could enjoy a beer after the race Lucky pair! The couple were both awarded with matching medals after the race Ready for action! A smiling Prince William prepares to cox his crew's boat to victory on a sunny afternoon in Heidelberg Here's to us! Kate and William cheer with rowers after a friendly rowing race between Cambridge and Heidelberg teams William made the brave decision to set off on the race without any instructions on how to cox Kate takes a consoling sip of beer after being beaten in a boat race by her husband Prince William. Despite declaring that she wanted to beat her husband, Kate didn't look too downcast William and Kate also tried their hand at making a tasty treat popular in Germany - pretzels. They were given a lesson by Heidelberg baker Andreas Gobes, who showed them how to roll out the pastry into long sausage shapes and then flick and cross them over in one movement to create the snack's classic shape. Kate managed to get it right first time but William struggled to get the hang of the flick and crossover. 'Can you do that again?' he asked Mr Gobes,but after a further demonstration, the future King still seemed unsure. 'Just like that,' he said, sarcastically. But after two or three more tries, he managed it. Mr Gobes, part of a guild whose members put on the pastry display, said: 'Catherine was a little bit more talented than William but they both did a great job. Celebration! William raises a glass after steering his team to victory in the boat race in Heidelberg William gamely said it was 'fine' after learning he was up against an Olympic rower on the other team Prost! The Duchess of Cambridge celebrates with a beer after participating in a rowing race between the twinned town of Cambridge and Heidelberg and against Prince William 'This type of pretzel is a speciality for the region so we wanted to show them that. 'In this region it has a special shape - thin arms and a thick body - with salt and it's red brown colour.' Located on the riverside and overlooked by the ruins of its famous castle, the central market square boasts a traditional market serving local food and drink. On their gastronomical tour, the couple tasted Heidelberg herbal lemonade, tried some local fruit, and ordered a hot dog to try over lunch in the town hall. 'Is that hot dogs?' William asked and when invited to try one, he said: 'Why not?' When told it was bratwurst, he added: 'We have to have bratwurst.' In the square, kilted locals in a Scottish pipe band, the Heidelberg and District Pipes and Drums, had entertained the crowds before the royal party's arrival. William was reminded of the close cultural ties between the UK and this part of Germany when he met the mother of one of his work colleagues at East Anglian Air Ambulance. Two grinning boys cheekily flicked the V sign at the camera in Heidelberg's traditional market square as they posed for a photo with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Prince William enjoys a playful moment with youngsters, jokingly showing off his muscles Duke of Cambridge, and his wife Kate share a laugh with Andreas Goebes (right) of the bakers guild Heidelberg, as they form pastry into prezels under the eyes of Heidelberg Mayor Eckart Wuerzner Pleased to meet you! Two girls looked a little shy when they encountered royalty in Heidelberg's market square The Duchess has been showing off her new 'Kob' or Kate bob on the tour, after chopping a good six inches off her flowing locks The couple were shown a huge cake during their tour of the market with Heidelberg Mayor Eckart Wuerzner Sweet treat! William admitted that George and Charlotte would be delighted when they brought home the goodies later The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attempt to make sweets during a tour of a traditional German market in the Central Square of Heidelburg Cheers! The couple had the opportunity to taste some of the local beer during their gourmet tour The Duchess examined a very elaborate cake as they feasted their eyes on the gourmet delights the Heidelberg market has to offer The couple were given some sweet treats to take away with them (left), while Kate received a pretty sunflower to match her dress (right) Nice effort! The Duchess examines her handiwork after making a lollipop (left). Kate received a sunflower which matched her yellow lace dress perfectly (right) The couple paused for a chat with a local wine producer during a tour of a traditional German market Kate donned an apron with the slogan 'We're baking for William and Kate', but it was her husband getting stuck into rolling the pretzel dough Kate appears to gently tease her husband as he has a go at making pretzels on a visit to a raditional German market in the Central Square of Heidelberg, but she gave him encouragement with a round of applause Not bad for first attempt! William looked proud of his efforts after a brief lesson in pretzel-making William and his wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, listen to explanations by Andreas Goebes (right) of the Heidelberg Bakers' Guild Next stop, head chef! William shows off his prowess in the kitchen as he gets to grips with pretzel dough Rivals! The couple who share a competitive streak went head-to-head as they rolled the pretzel dough Mine's better than yours! Kate shows her efforts to Prince William (left) as the couple take part in a sweet-making session at the Heidelberg market Tobias Gauss, 42, a doctor with the service in Cambridge, had warned William that he might see his mother, Elona Apple, 67, in Heidelberg so he knew who she was straight away. 'Tobias has told him three or four days ago that he might meet me here so he knew who I was,' she said. Over the past few day's she's proved herself a real pro at so-called diplomatic dressing and earlier today, the Duchess of Cambridge pulled it off again as she channeled the gold of the German flag for a visit to the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg. It was an overcast morning, but Kate brought a ray of sunshine to proceedings in the bespoke lace number by Jenny Packham, which she paired with her trusty nude espadrille wedges from Monsoon, and a small clutch in a matching shade. The visit was a chance for the couple to see the world acclaimed work being carried out at the German Cancer Research Centre, where hundreds of locals had turned out to greet the royal couple on the second day of their tour. Inside, British stem cell biologist Dr. Michael Milsom, 42, originally from Chesterfield, showed the couple around one of the laboratories. Kate, 35, was a real ray of sunshine this morning as she arrived in rainy Heidelberg in a vibrant yellow lace dress to commence her second day of engagements in Germany (left). She later donned a white lab coat for a visit to the German Cancer Research Centre, where she learned about scientific advancements in DNA research The couple wave to wellwishers. Their visit so far has been a roaring success, and Kate has even been dubbed the new 'Princess of Hearts' by the German media The Duchess had an opportunity to find out more about the work of lab researchers and look at cells through the microscope in the lab The Duchess of Cambridge arrives with her husband at the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg, He said, 'It's really helpful to have a visit from the Duke and Duchess as they publicise the importance of work we do here. 'The UK and Germany are leaders in this field of stem cell research,' said the expert who has been based in Heidelberg for seven years. He told William and Kate about the latest developments in stem cell research. The Leeds University graduate, told them how his team focuses on the question whether and how an accumulation of DNA damage in stem cells is the causes for ageing of an organ system. Such damage may cause exhaustion of the stem cell pool and loss of the organ's capacity to regenerate. The work is particularly important in research into leukaemia. William and Kate will spend time with Nobel Prize winner Dr Harald zur Hausen during the visit to the Cancer Centre Popular pair! Spectators positioned themselves in the window to get a good view of the visiting royals The royals were welcomed by Minister-President of Baden-Wuerttemberg, Winfried Kretschmann (right) Prince William also went for a more summery look, ditching his usual dark suits in favour of a grey checked blazer (left). The Duchess let her outfit do the talking and accessorised with a small nude box clutch Prince William gives wellwishers a cheerful wave (left). Later the couple will renew their friendly sporting rivalry during a boat race in Heidelberg (right) The Duchess decided to rely on an old favourite, her trusty wedges from Monsoon for today's engagement William said, 'Ladies first', when he was asked to look at the cells through a microscope. Afterwards Kate said, 'It's in 3D too which is amazing.' Dr Harald zur Hausen Dr Harald zur Hausen was born in Germany in 1936 and received his degree in medicine in 1960 from the University of Dusseldorf. In the late '60s he moved to Philadelphia where his work at the Virus Laboratories of the Children's Hospital contributed to the discovery for the first time that viruses can cause cancer cells to form. He also discovered that human papillomavirus virus (HPV) - a group of viruses that affect the skin and moist membranes lining the body - causes genital warts. In 1983, at the Unviersity of Freiburg's department of virology and hygiene, he identified DNA from a strain of the HPV in cervical cancer tumours. His work revealed that the virus is responsible for 75 per cent of cervical cancer in humans. Initially his work caused controversy with most scientists at the time believing that the herpes simplex virus was responsible for cervical cancer. However, his research led to the development of a vaccine against HPV, which was introduced in 2006. Two years later he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine, along with the two scientists that identified the HIV virus. Advertisement William, who also looked through the microscope, asked how far down the line his stem cell research was and added, 'It's fascinating work!' The British stem cell researcher leads the junior research group 'Experimental Hematology'. He added, 'I had never imagined that I would one day be presenting my research to my future King. This will be a very moving and exciting meeting for me' Dr. Michael Baumann, chairman and scientific chair of the DKFZ said afterwards, 'We are very proud that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge haveldecided to visit the DKFZ. They have made a clear gesture which underlines the great importance of medical research for our society.' His colleague, Prof Dr. Josef Puchta, commercial chairman, added: 'The decision to come to the DKFZ also serves to show that we are recognized internationally as a leading research institution.' The royals will be welcomed by Winfried Kretschmann, governor of the state of Baden-Wurttemberg, and the board of directors of the DKFZ. They also met the Nobel Prize winner and long-time chairman of the DKFZ, Professor Harald zur Hausen, for a brief conversation. Zur Hausen identified the Papillomavirus as the cause of cervical cancer and therefore paved the way for the development of a vaccine against this illness. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2008, and more recently has called for boys to also be vaccinated against HPV. In the evening the Duke and Duchess will attend a Berlin reception in the mirrored hall of Clarchens Ballroom opened in 1913. It is one of the last remaining old ballrooms in Berlin, and will play host to a reception for some of the most creative and innovative names in the world of art, culture, style, fashion and technology. The couple's five-day visit to Germany and Poland has so far being a roaring success, with throngs of royal fans lining the streets to greet them wherever they go. Kate has even been dubbed the new 'Princess of Hearts' by the media, as royal fever sweeps the nation. German newspapers and TV gave blanket coverage to the the Duke and Duchess's three day visit to the country which began yesterday, and has been nicknamed 'die Charmeoffensive'. KATE AND WILLIAM'S VISIT TO GERMANY THURSDAY 20TH JULY German Cancer Research Institute William and Kate will meet Nobel Prize winner prof. Dr. Harald zur Hausen, and visit the stem cell research lab. Traditional German market, Heidlberg The pair will be given a tour of the traditional market by the Mayor of Heidlberg Rowing race Each will cox a boat each in a competitive race between the twinned town of Cambridge and Heidelberg. Reception at Clarchens Ballhaus A reception will be held at the last original dancehall in Berlin for some of the most exciting new names in the world of art, culture, style, fashion and technology. FRIDAY 21ST JULY Maritime Museum The Cambridges will celebrate the joint UK-German year of science which for 2017 is focused on oceans at the Maritime Museum. Elbphilarmonie Concert Hall A special performance given by the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra for the children of Hamburg. Visit to Airbus After a tour of the training facilities, the pair will meet apprentices and view the final assembly line of an A320 aircraft. Official departure from Hamburg Advertisement The Berliner Zeitung said pictures of the Duchess cuddling children during a visit to a children's charity in Berlin yesterday were 'reminiscent of the warmth of heart which before Kate only William's mother, Diana, could radiate.' In a headline it said, 'Fur die kids ist sie the Prinzessin der Herzen' meaning 'For the kids she is the Princess of the heart.' On a visit to the charity Straenkinder, which supports children from disadvantaged backgrounds, both William and Kate were mobbed by small children as they bestowed hugs and high fives to excitable fans. The Duchess was the centre of attention, with several children throwing themselves into her arms for a cuddle. Prince Charles picked up an adorable gift for his grandchildren during his tour of Devon on Thursday. Prince Charles picked up a story book for Prince George and Princess Charlotte called The Goodnight Star by Amy Sparkes. The royal looked enthused by the short story and was seen reading segments aloud to wellwishers who had gathered to meet him and Camilla. They began their annual summer tour of the two western-most counties on Wednesday and will undertake an exhausting 13 engagements in three days, including a tour of a custard factory. Prince Charles picked up a story book for the grandchildren The Goodnight Star by Amy Sparkes during his tour of Devon The royal was seen reading segments aloud to wellwishers who had gathered to meet him The Duchess of Cornwall looked chic in cream as she got caught in a gust of wind at a local market on her tour of Devon with Prince Charles The wind may have been blowing but the Duchess of Cornwall didn't lose her composure as she continued her summer tour on Thursday. The 70-year-old looked chic in cream as she arrived in Devon in blustery conditions alongside her husband, Prince Charles. Her coiffed 'do managed to stay in position despite the strong gails as she arrived at Pannier Market in Barnstaple - and she was even treated to a birthday cake. Charles and Camilla met stallholders at an indoor market in Barnstaple, north Devon, and chatted to representatives from a number of local charities who will be showcasing their work in the area at the Victorian Pannier Market. They then toured the Ambrosia custard factory at Lifton to mark the creamerys centenary year before Charles visited the Devon Federation of Young Farmers Clubs new building in Cheriton Bishop. Charles and Camilla met stallholders at an indoor market in Barnstaple, north Devon Prince Charles watched cheerleaders from the Tarka young farmers during a visit to the Devon Federation of Young Farmers Clubs Prince Charles looked impressed on the second day of the royal visit to Devon and Cornwall o Prince Charles visited Barnstaple North Devon today. They visited the local market traders in the towns Pannier Market. Prince Charles picked up a story book for the grandchildren The Goodnight Star by Amy Sparkes and Camilla a new hat The Duchess was certainly the main attraction as hundreds of wellwishers gathered to meet her at Pannier Market Prince Charles met with Cpl Jamie Thompson and Cpl Will Gingell Royal Marines who are taking part in the 1664 challenge where they are running 16.64 miles every day for 100 days Camilla cut her Birthday Cake with the help of the Mayor Julie Hunt, the cake was made by Emma of Mrs Smudgers Kitchen Camilla had local singer Yazzy Chamberlin sing Happy Birthday with the help of children from Bishops Tawton Primary school Camilla viewed beautifully made hats with a local man The royal couple also chatted to representatives from a number of local charities who will be showcasing their work in the area at the Victorian Pannier Market They visited the local market traders in the towns Pannier Market The Duchess of Cornwall receives a gift during a visit to Pannier Market in Barnstaple The Duchess of Cornwall (centre) greets members of the public during a visit to Pannier Market in Barnstaple, on the second day of the royal visit to Devon and Cornwall A happy little baby seemed excited to meet the Duchess during her tour The Prince of Wales greets members of the public during a visit to Pannier Market The locals displayed their finest artisan food as they welcomed the royal couple The heir to the throne will also visit Okehampton Camp, located on the Ministry of Defences Dartmoor training area. There, he will hear how The Duchy of Cornwall is working with the MoD, the local community and other stakeholders on a variety of conservation projects on Dartmoor. Meanwhile the Duchess will tour First Light, a sexual assault referral centre (SARC) which provides specialist support to victims of sexual violence and domestic abuse in Devon and Cornwall from its centre in Plymouth. The Duchess of Cornwall greets stallholders and members of the public during the visit The Duchess was certainly the main attraction as she posed for snaps with the locals The Prince of Wales paid a visit to a flower stall during a visit to Pannier Market in Barnstaple The heir to the throne will later on visit Okehampton Camp, located on the Ministry of Defences Dartmoor training area Yesterday, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall were given a royal welcome when they touched down in Porthleven to kick off their tour of Devon and Cornwall. Charles and Camilla were greeted by hundreds of well-wishers - and an adorable black Labrador pup named Bella - as they arrived in the flood-stricken county on Wednesday. The couple will meet food producers, charity workers, community volunteers, cancer patients and medical staff during their trip this week. Charles was greeted by Bella, a black Labrador puppy owned by David and Alison Evans from Doncaster, during a walkabout during a visit to Porthleven, Helston on Wednesday On Wednesday they met suppliers and food producers displaying their goods at Porthleven in Cornwall as part of a mini-exhibition showcasing a range of local produce on offer toLondon retailers. It also showcased catering establishments as part of a new partnership which provides a daily rail freight service from Penzance to Paddington. They then visited the Great Cornish Food Store in Truro to see the results of a collaboration between independent grocery store the Duchy of Cornwall and Waitrose before splitting up to carry out engagements separately. Charles visited the Cove Macmillan Support Centre at Royal Cornwall Hospital at Treliske later on Wednesday while Camilla met staff at disaster relief charity ShelterBox in Truro before touring Caterlink in Bodmin, which specialises in making ice-cream cones and toppings. Bella wasn't the only four-legged friend eager to say hello to the royals as Camilla is greeted Sophie, a three-year-old Jack Russell Terrier owned by Peter Hichens, 69 (pictured) When in Rome! The Duke of Cornwall - as he is known in the south-west of England - and his Duchess were baked this giant Cornish pasty in their honour Rockstar welcome! Charles and Camilla were greeted by hundreds of well-wishers waving Union flags and begging for selfies as they arrived in flood-stricken Cornwall today The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall are given a royal welcome as they touch down in Porthleven to kick off their tour of Devon and Cornwall Busy week: The couple will meet food producers, charity workers, community volunteers, cancer patients and medical staff during their trip to Cornwall and Devon No rest for the wicked! The couple began their annual summer tour of the two western-most counties on Wednesday and will undertake an exhausting 13 engagements in three days Camilla, who recently celebrated her landmark 70th birthday, looked far younger than her years in a crisply-tailored coat dress in a flattering pale blue hue today Just the beginning: Today, the couple will meet suppliers and food producers displaying their goods at Porthleven as part of a mini-exhibition showcasing a range of local produce Charles meets Dale Reardon, 54, from Helston a retained firefighter who was in flood-hit Coverack last night and runs Hand Cut Cornish Fudge in Porthleven On Friday, Charles and Camilla will attend a service at St Protus and St Hyacinth Church in Blisland, Cornwall, which dates back to Norman times, to celebrate the Duchesss 70th birthday on Monday. They will then walk through the village to the local shop, post office and tearoom before visiting Tregunnel Hill. During their visit, they will attend a street party on the village green and award prizes to the winners of a hanging basket competition. Camilla, who recently celebrated her 70th birthday, will bring the summer tour to a close with a visit to the Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust, of which she is patron, to celebrate the Newquay-based charitys 30th anniversary. The couple cut lemon and Cornish elderflower sponge cakes, one modelled on Highgrove House and the other a five-tier creation representing the Duchess's wedding outfit The cakes were made by husband and wife Phil and Christine Jenson (pictured) who run local cake makers Peboryonas Camilla giggles as she greeted royal fans. Later, they will visit an exhibition showcasing catering establishments as part of a new partnership which provides a daily rail freight service from Penzance to Paddington Later on in the week, the couple will hear how The Duchy of Cornwall is working with the MoD, the local community and other stakeholders on a variety of conservation projects on Dartmoor Tomorrow, the couple are due to tour the Ambrosia custard factory at Lifton to mark the creamerys centenary year before Charles visits the Devon Federation of Young Farmers Clubs new building in Cheriton Bishop Next, the couple will visit the Great Cornish Food Store in Truro to see the results of a collaboration between independent grocery store the Duchy of Cornwall and Waitrose Non-stop: On Friday, Charles and Camilla will attend a service at St Protus and St Hyacinth Church in Blisland, Cornwall, which dates back to Norman times The couple are beginning their annual summer tour of the two western-most counties on Wednesday and will undertake an exhausting 13 engagements in three days Next the Duchess of Cornwall dropped in on Caterlink, in Bodmin, a Cornish business specialising in ice cream cones, toppings, decorations and accessories The Duchess looked to be enjoying a scoop of ice cream as she chatted to technical demonstrator Anna Menini during her visit to Bodmin today Ivanka Trump put on a very chic show in the face of soaring summer temperatures on Thursday morning, wearing a stylish black-and-white outfit for another day at the office. The 35-year-old was pictured leaving her Washington, D.C. home bright and early, having spent a fun-filled Wednesday evening playing with her children, who were caught on camera having a 'post work dance party' with their mother, after Arabella was given the chance to visit Ivanka in the West Wing earlier in the day - meeting both Vice President Mike Pence and Donald Trump's Chief of Staff, Reince Priebus. After leaving her home on Thursday morning, Ivanka shared an image of her daughter's fun-filled visit on Instagram, writing alongside it: 'Arabella loved visiting me in the West Wing yesterday.' She then added the hashtag #coolmom to the post. Scroll down for video Strutting her stuff: Ivanka Trump was pictured leaving her Washington, D.C. home on Thursday morning, pausing to flash a smile at the photographers Looking sharp: The 35-year-old was wearing a chic monochrome outfit, opting for a floaty white skirt and sleeveless black top Brand ambassador! Ivanka paired her outfit with a $250 handbag and a pair of $120 strappy heels from her eponymous fashion range What an honor: Ivanka's daughter Arabella was given the chance to visit her mom in the West Wing on Wednesday, meeting Vice President Mike Pence and Chief of Staff Reince Priebus She's a cool mom! In the accompany caption, Ivanka added the hashtag #coolmom She also noted that 'meeting the Vice President and Chief of Staff was the highlight of the day' for Arabella, who is seen in the image standing alongside her mother, and the Vice President, wearing a pair of denim overalls, and pink sandals, and carrying a doll. Arabella's visit to the White House took place during her grandfather Donald Trump's explosive interview with the New York Times. While the president was speaking to reporters, a process which took just under an house, the six-year-old and her mother joined him briefly, with Arabella showing off her command of the Chinese language, speaking a few phrases for the reporters. Having filled her Wednesday with a host of fun activities with her children - despite dealing with the ongoing controversy surrounding her government disclosure form - it is no wonder that Ivanka looked relaxed and happy as she left her home on Thursday. Ivanka appeared cool and calm in the face of sweltering heat - which is expected to hit 97F today - wearing a mid-length white skirt and a sleeveless black mock-neck top. Finishing touches: The mother-of-three completed her look with a silver necklace and a pair of dark sunglasses Off to work: Ivanka made her way down the front steps of the house she shares with husband Jared and their three kids, before being whisked away by a waiting SUV Swish swish: Combating the soaring summer temperatures, Ivanka opted for a skirt that was made out of a light, airy material Something on your mind? Ivanka maintained a straight face as she made her way down the steps, before spotting the cameras and flashing a small smile in their direction What's up? At one point, the First Daughter paused to look back up at the front door On guard: As always, Ivanka was accompanied by her Secret Service agents as she made her way into a waiting SUV Ever the dedicated brand ambassador, she accessorized her look with a $250 black handbag, and a pair of $120 strappy black heels - both from her eponymous fashion line. Finishing touches came in the form of a silver necklace and a pair of large black sunglasses. She wore her long blonde hair in a simple straight style around her shoulders, and opted for a very natural make-up look, while her pedicured pink toe nails could be seen peeking out from her open-toe sandals. Making her way down the front stairs of her home, Ivanka looked relatively somber, however she was quick to flash a smile at the waiting photographers as soon as she spotted them. As has become something of a morning tradition for Ivanka, she then made her way into a waiting SUV, which ferried her off for another day of work - but not before she had shared the sweet picture of her daughter visiting the West Wing. Always on duty: Ivanka met with the winners of the FIRST Robotics Competition, Team Hungary, and Team Afghanistan and Team USA, who came second and third That post followed another sweet social media moment, which Ivanka posted on Wednesday evening: a video of her two eldest children, Arabella and Joseph, having a 'post work dance party' to Justin Bieber's hit Despacito. The cute clip - which is likely to have been taken earlier this year, judging by the children's wintry outfits, despite not being posted until Wednesday - shows the two youngsters in the playroom of their Washington, D.C. home dancing around happily, while their mother laughs and watches on. Both Arabella, who turned six on Monday, and her three-year-old brother, look very smartly dressed as they show off their best moves for the camera, with Joseph wearing a pale blue button down and black trousers, while his older sibling is seen in a long-sleeved patterned shift dress and a matching headband. The clip begins with Joseph standing by himself in front of the camera, before his sister appears in the background clapping to the beat of the popular hit. Both children then whirl their way around the room, stomping their feet and clapping as the song plays in the background. Dance it out! On Wednesday evneing, Ivanka shared a fun-filled video of her eldest two children dancing around their D.C. home to Justin Bieber's hit Despacito Showing off their moves: Arabella, who turned six on Monday, and Joseph, three, appeared to be having a whale of a time as they whirled their way around their playroom Pausing his dancing for just a second, Joseph then turns to the camera and says: 'Mommy, the dance party has already started!' Sharing the clip on her social media accounts, Ivanka added the caption: 'Nothing better than a post work dance party!' The fun-filled moment no doubt came as a welcome relief for Ivanka, who spent her Wednesday facing a barrage of controversy around her government disclosure form, after Democrats suggested that she may have engaged in 'deception' by failing to reveal her husband Jared's and her brother Don Jr's foreign contacts. Suspicion surrounding her government disclosure form - which could pose a potential threat to her security clearance - comes as a result of her husband Jared's failing to disclose 100 foreign contacts on his own form. Jared's undisclosed Russian contacts put Ivanka in the crosshairs of the House Democrats, who are demanding a probe into her own government disclosures. Shake it! A smartly-dressed Joseph seemed particularly thrilled to have the opportunity to bust out his best dance moves Feeling free: Both children seemed totally unperturbed by the fact that their mother was filming them, and didn't let the camera stop them from cutting loose Sharing the love: At one point, Joseph seemed to be inviting his mother to join, telling her, 'the dance party has already started!' A group of 22 House Democrats wrote to the acting head of the FBI to ask whether the president's daughter disclosed all of her husband's and siblings' foreign contacts, as required under a sworn government disclosure form she filled out when she joined her father's White House. 'We are concerned that Ivanka Trump may have engaged in similar deception,' the letter said,' wrote ranking panel member Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland and other Democrats. The controversy surrounding her husband's actions may well have been responsible for her less-than-upbeat appearance on Wednesday morning too, when Ivanka failed to raise so much as a small smile for the waiting photographers as she made her way in and out of her home. The businesswoman was up bright and early, finding time to fit in a workout at her local gym and grab a coffee, before returning home to get glammed up, ready for a day at the office. Ivanka, was seen returning from her workout in an all-black outfit, wearing a pair of capri leggings, a black tank top, and black sneakers. Quick turnaround! Ivanka was seen returning to her home early on Wednesday morning having already completed a workout, before quickly transforming into chic office attire Ready to take on the day: She returned to her home shortly after 7am And she's off again! Less than two hours later, Ivanka emerged from her Washington, D.C. home looking far more glamorous in her navy-and-white ensemble Wearing her hair pulled back in a low bun, Ivanka also added a pair of dark sunglasses to the get-up, and carried a takeaway cup of coffee and her iPhone as she made her way into the home through the side gate, shortly after 7am. Less than two hours later, however, she was back at it, having totally transformed her appearance, changing into a very chic outfit for her day at the office. Making her way into a waiting SUV - which her eldest two children, Arabella and Joseph, had already been escorted into - Ivanka was seen wearing a $1,440 statement pair of wide-legged white trousers from Proenza Schouler, pairing the designer item with a simple navy tee and a pair of nude heels from her own fashion line. She added another glamorous element to the look in the form of some Dior So Real sunglasses and a pair of stud earrings and a matching ring. It has been a busy week for Ivanka, who attended the inaugural FIRST Global Challenge, a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics event held for high schoolers from 160 nations in D.C. on Tuesday. Chic as can be: Ivanka, who looked incredibly somber, paired her $1,440 Proenza Schouler trousers with a navy T-shirt, nude heels, and a pair of Dior So Real sunglasses That's better! Jared Kushner looked much more upbeat than his wife as he left their home, despite her security clearance woes coming as a result of his undisclosed Russian contacts Sharing a video from the conference on her Twitter page, and her Instagram, Ivanka noted that it was an 'honor' to have been invited to attend the competition, where she was asked to welcome its participants. 'It was an honor to attend the FIRST Robotics Competition, which brings together the brightest minds of our global youth to showcase technology and engineering skills,' she wrote in her Instagram caption. 'With more than 160 countries represented, the FIRST Competition goes beyond robotics. 'It is a game that everyone can play and where everyone can turn pro! I am excited to meet these young men and women, whose work ethic, ingenuity and passion has driven them to achieve tremendous success and granted them the opportunity to represent their home countries at this challenging competition. 'Teaching robotics and engineering skills to the next generation of innovators is critical to the future of our economy and the world! #STEM #Robotics' What a difference a day makes: On Tuesday, Ivanka's disposition was as bright as the bold yellow dress she wore while heading out for a day of work Fulfilling her duties: Ivanka attended the FIRST Global Challenge on Tuesday, a robotics competition that played host to children from 160 nations around the world Birthday tradition! Ivanka and daughter Arabella shared a plate of spaghetti on the little girl's sixth birthday on Monday evening; in China long noodles represent a long life And on Monday evening, the family celebrated their eldest child Arabella's sixth birthday with a sweet party for the young girl and her two brothers. In a series of videos and images shared on Ivanka's Instagram account, Arabella could be seen opening up a variety of gifts, enjoying a host of sweet treats - including hot dogs topped with marshmallows - and then chowing down on a plate of spaghetti with her mother, something which is something of a birthday tradition in the Trump-Kushner household. She shared an adorable Instagram image of herself and Arabella in a Lady and the Tramp-style pose, with the two sharing the same long strand of spaghetti together. 'Birthday tradition - noodles for a long life!' Ivanka captioned the picture, adding a plate of spaghetti emoji for good measure. The businesswoman's caption made reference to a Chinese belief that long noodles represent a long life; Long Life Noodles - or Yi Mein - are traditionally eaten at all Chinese celebrations, including birthdays and at the New Year. Ivanka and her children - all of whom have studied Mandarin from a young age - have been putting their own spin on the Chinese tradition for many years now, with each of the three siblings sharing a spaghetti dinner with their mother on their birthdays. They've been greeted with rapturous welcomes at every stage of their three-day visit to Germany so far, but the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were treated to something a little different from all the flag waving and cheering today. As the couple posed for a picture with a group of youngsters in Heidelberg's traditional market square, two grinning boys cheekily made a 'V' sign at the camera. William and Kate, who were stood just behind the boisterous pair, appeared unaware of the gesture - which is considered offensive in Britain. As the couple posed for a picture with a group of youngsters in Heidelberg's traditional market square, two grinning boys cheekily made a 'V' sign at the camera (circled) Prince William enjoys a playful moment with youngsters, jokingly showing off his muscles Pleased to meet you! Two girls looked a little shy when they encountered royalty in Heidelberg's market square As it is not a common gesture in Germany, the schoolboys could have been imitating their favourite American and British stars, who often flash the sign in photos. Or they could have been looking to cause a stir, it was suggested. A source said: 'It's not a common gesture, so they would have picked it up from TV and known it is offensive in UK and a cheeky thing to do.' Regardless the children looked delighted to be meeting the royals, who are in the middle of yet another action-packed day on their royal tour. The couple were shown a huge cake during their tour of the market with Heidelberg Mayor Eckart Wuerzner Duke of Cambridge, and his wife Kate share a laugh with Andreas Goebes (right) of the bakers guild Heidelberg, as they form pastry into prezels under the eyes of Heidelberg Mayor Eckart Wuerzner Sweet treat! The couple had the chance to make some sugary goodies after their pretzel-making session The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attempt to make sweets during a tour of a traditional German market in the Central Square of Heidelburg RUDE HISTORY: FLICKING THE 'V' 'Flicking the V' is done by making a 'V' sign with the middle and index finger. Unlike the 'peace' or 'victory' sign, the palm is turned towards the person making the gesture. The gesture is considered offensive in Britain and carries a similar meaning to the middle finger. The history of the gesture is uncertain but is not documented any time before the first decade of the 20th century. According to the Oxford dictionary of English folklore, the gesture could have developed from the much older 'horns' symbol, which has been used to imply someone is a cuckold since at least the 16th century. Another popular theory is that it was first used in the 1415 Battle of Agincourt, where French soldiers allegedly chopped off the fingers of British archers known for their deadly precision. Those who had not been captured took to flicking the 'V' to taunt the enemy. Advertisement In Heidelberg the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge tried their hand at making pretzels. They rolled the pastry into long sausage shapes and were then shown how to flick and cross them over in one movement to create the snack's classic knot shape. Local baker Andreas Gobes, part of a guild whose members put on the pastry display, said: 'Catherine was a little bit more talented than William but they both did a great job. 'This type of pretzel is a speciality for the region so we wanted to show them that. In this region it has a special shape - thin arms and a thick body - with salt and it's red- brown colour.' Kate, who wore a yellow Jenny Packham dress, stopped to chat to some of the residents enjoying the produce, while nearby hundreds lined the square behind barriers. Earlier the couple had donned white coats for a visit to a top cancer research centre in the city. William and Kate were shown the world acclaimed work being carried out at the German Cancer Research Centre, where hundreds of locals had turned out to greet the royal couple on the second day of their tour of Germany. Cheers! The couple had the opportunity to taste some of the local beer during their gourmet tour Queen Mathilde of Belgium not only displayed her stunning figure as she dazzled in a rainbow-coloured dress on Thursday - she also proved that even royalty re-wear their favourite outfits. The 44-year-old royal first wore the multi-coloured, cap-sleeved dress she wore to welcome the German President and his wife to Brussels last month. Accessorising with a statement pair of azure-coloured earrings, the Queen looked thrilled to be attending a preview of the Summer Expositions at the Royal Palace in Brussels, Belgium, with her husband. Queen Mathilde of Belgium, 44, not only displayed her stunning figure as she dazzled in a rainbow-coloured dress on Thursday, but she proved that even royalty re-wear favourite outfits King Philippe, 57, was pictured shooting adoring glances at his wife of nearly 20 years as they strolled through the palace walls and explored the exhibits. And the pair looked appropriately at home as they strolled down the plush, velvet-lined halls of the palace. The royal couple were given a guided tour of the ancient and modern artefacts and displays on show. King Phillippe, who shares four children with the Queen, looked to be deep in conversation over the glass-covered offerings. The coiffed royal opted for the same multi-coloured, cap-sleeved dress she wore to welcome the German President and his wife to Brussels last month Queen Mathilde showed off her sartorial flaire by wearing her eye-catching dress with a pair of deep burgundy pointed-toe heels and matching clutch King Philippe, 57, was pictured shooting adoring glances at his wife of nearly 20 years as they strolled through the palace walls and explored the exhibits Deja vu! The Queen previously wore the dress in June when she welcomed the German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier with a bouquet of flowers as part of an official state welcome The Queen looked radiant, with her blonde hair worn in her signature coiffed bob. She showed off her sartorial flair by wearing her eye-catching dress with a pair of deep burgundy pointed-toe heels and matching clutch. And in-keeping with this season's 'no make-up make-up' look, the royal looked fresh faced and youthful, with just a dash of pink lipstick and mascara. King Phillippe looked handsome as he held his wife's hand, wearing a navy suit, matching tie and creased trousers. The exhibition is an unusual opportunity for members of the public to see the palace interiors, surrounded by artworks. The event opens to all from Saturday until September 3. Today, King Phillippe looked handsome as he held his wife's hand, wearing a navy suit, matching tie and creased trousers It has been a busy few months for the Belgian royals, as they came together in Brussels to celebrate the 80th birthday of King Phillippe's mother, Queen Paola. The royal couple were joined by their children and grandchildren, including Crown Princess Elisabeth, Prince Gabriel, Princess Eleonore and Prince Emmanuel. Prince Amadeo - King Phillippe's nephew - and his wife Archduchess of Austria and Princess of Hungary, Elisabetta, share adorable baby Anna Astrid, who is Queen Paola's first grandchild, who made her first public appearance at the illustrious gathering. The exhibition is an unusual opportunity for members of the public to see the palace interiors, surrounded by artworks And in-keeping with this season's 'no make-up make-up' look, the royal looked fresh faced and youthful, with just a dash of pink lipstick and mascara Amedeo is the eldest grandchild of the abdicated King Albert II and Queen Paola of Belgium and the son of the sister of King Philippe, who ascended the throne following the abdication of King Albert II. The couple, who have been dubbed the William and Kate of Belgium, married in July 2014 in an elegant, intimate ceremony at The Basilica of Our Lady in Trastevere in Rome. A seminar was held in Beijing on July 18 to share the successful experience of an online short video program named "China Mosaic." Jiang Jianguo, vice minister of the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and minister of the State Council Information Office (SCIO), attended and addressed the seminar. Guo Weimin, vice minister of the SCIO, hosted the seminar. Jiang Jianguo, vice minister of the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and minister of the State Council Information Office, addresses the seminar on a China.org.cn program in Beijing on July 18. [Photo/China.org.cn] The serial program "China Mosaic" is an English-language commentary on global news, often offering Chinese perspective. It is produced by China.org.cn, a Beijing-based website offering news and information service in 10 languages. In his speech, Jiang spoke highly of the program, saying that China.org.cn has shouldered the responsibility towards the nation and the people and produced an influential program. He summarized the reasons for the success of the program, saying that China.org.cn has not only equipped itself with innovative capabilities through proactive agenda-setting and condensing the content into three-minute programs, but also cultivated talent to lead and promote the related work. Jiang encouraged China.org.cn to keep improving the program and explore the regular patterns of online international communication. Concerning how to promote international communication, Jiang emphasized proactive agenda-setting, the use of the internet and mobile internet as well as the production of signature programs. Zhang Fuhai, president of China International Publishing Group (CIPG), which is the parent company of China.org.cn, stressed the importance of international communication and CIPG's support of the program. He said that international communication is the blood of CIPG, and while continuing to support the program, CIPG will increase its capability of international communication. Wang Xiaohui, editor-in-chief of China.org.cn and host of the program, introduced the practice and experience in producing the program. Wang said that the achievements of the program can be attributed to the use of English (modern day lingua franca), the effect-oriented principle, the emphasis on facts and opinions, the story-telling pattern, and the serial structure. He pledged that China.org.cn will continue to promote international communication. The program "China Mosaic" was launched by China.org.cn in May 2015, and 116 videos have been produced during the past two years. By far, the program has been watched for 227 million times, the videos have been played for over 16.95 million times, and the interaction among the audience has reached 1.27 million times. While a celebrity's lavish vacation that involves boarding a yacht in Tahiti or lounging by an infinity pool in Mykonos might not be attainable for the masses, their beach beauty looks are. This summer, famous faces like Emily Ratajkowski, Shay Mitchell and Julianne Hough have showed off pared-down yet pretty and polished hair and make-up styles against tropical backgrounds in seaside selfies and snaps. From swipes of firey red lipstick to stand-out hair accessories, get inspired by how A-list jet-setters do vacation beauty. SLEEK BUNS Buns in the sun: Model Joan Smalls, 29, styled her curls in double buns while on a dreamy trip to the Maldives earlier this month That was easy: Hailey Baldwin, 20, and Olivia Culpo, 25, opted for no-fuss knotted styles on their sunny vacations Whether you're concerned about frizz, tangles or stringy strands, a ballerina bun has got you covered. Get funky with a double bun look like Joan Smalls, 29, keep it cool in a top knot like Hailey Baldwin, 20, or go classic with a chignon like Olivia Culpo, 25. Apply a mask or leave-in conditioner (try Pacifica Coconut Pro Strong & Long Creamy Oil Mask) before pulling your hair back to nourish and protect against damage as you soak up the sun. RED LIPSTICK A post shared by Carolyn Murphy (@carolynmurphy) on Jul 9, 2017 at 7:25pm PDT Ladies in red: Shay Mitchell, 30, and Priyanka Chopra, 35, dressed up their beachy looks with red lipstick on recent vacations As model Carolyn Murphy demonstrated after a day of surfing recently, red lipstick is the perfect way to take your look from beach to dinner. The 42-year-old stunner posted a video of herself smudging on Victoria Beckham x Estee Lauder lipstick in the shade Chilean Sunset in the beach parking lot, while her hair dried in a towel. Shay Mitchell, 30, and Priyanka Chopra, 35, have also used similar punchy hues to elevate their fresh-faced looks while on vacation. HEADBANDS No sweat: For a low-maintenance yet sophisticated look, Emily Ratajkowski, 26, accessorized her straight hair with a Missoni headband during her Italian holiday in June All tied up: Gabrielle Union (left), 44, and Karlie Kloss (right), 24, made simple hairstyles look more polished with printed, sweat-wicking headbands during their Mediterranean jaunts Head scarves and headbands are both functional (they keep your hair out of your face) and style-boosting (they give a casual look chic Brigitte Bardot vibes). While in Italy last month, both Emily Ratajkowski, 26, and Gabrielle Union, 44, accessorized their un-styled hair with printed headbands. Karlie Kloss took a break from work obligations in Cannes, France to enjoy a sweet treat wearing a Reformation dress and a head scarf to match. FRESH FACES Waves from the waves: Irina Shayk, 31, let her hair down after a dip in the ocean in Tahiti Swim and bare it: Lily Aldridge (left), 31, and Julianne Hough (right), 29, looked stunning sans make-up in Cannes and the Seychelles, respectively Sea salt and sun are the only beauty products some stars need. While Irina Shayk, 31, was on a star-studded trip to Tahiti this month (her husband Bradley Cooper, Allison Williams, Diane Von Furstenberg and Anderson Cooper were there too), she posted a sultry selfie with beachy waves that definitely didn't come from a bottle. Lily Aldridge, 31, and Julianne Hough, 29, showed off their sun-kissed complexions in their own swimsuit selfies. Just don't forget the sunscreen. For the face we love Drunk Elephant Umbra Tinte. RECOVERY MASKS Mask and you shall receive: Bella Hadid (left), 20, and Shanina Shaik (right), 26, like to treat their skin post-vacation with clay masks Between the sun, the traveling and the margaritas, some major TLC is often necessary after a seaside escape. Bella Hadid, 20, wasted no time in tending to her complexion after a trip to Mykonos. The model posted a picture on her private jet home from the Greek island earlier this week where she's wearing a clay face mask. Shanina Shaik, 26, recovered from her recent travels with a mask as well (her favorite is the Kora Organics Purifying Mask). 'My skin is on the oily side, with travel my skin can become irritated and break out!! ( so annoying) I like to use a CLAY MASK to absorb all the bacteria,' she revealed on Instagram. Advertisement It is the most hotly anticipated calendar of the year, and the latest offering from Pirelli does not disappoint. For 2018, the Italian firm has enlisted a dazzling line-up of all-black stars for an Alice In Wonderland-themed shoot that captures the twisted whimsy and eccentricity of one of the most beloved children's story of all time. In these behind-the-scene images from the set in London, supermodel Naomi Campbell is seen perching on music mogul P Diddy's knee as they prepare for a group shot against a sumptuous backdrop of red velvet, over-sized playing cards and Cheshire cats. Each star takes on a character from the tale, with TV star and drag queen RuPaul playing the Queen of Hearts and actress Lupita Nyong'o playing the Doormouse. The Alice In Wonderland shoot, which also stars Whoopi Goldberg and actor and model Djimon Hounsou, was photographed by Tim Walker and styled by new British Vogue editor Edward Enninful. The eclectic concept sits in stark contrast with the simplicity of photographer Peter Lindbergh's all-female celebrity portraits for the 2017 edition. It marks the 45th edition of the calendar from Pirelli. Star-studded: Model Naomi Campbell and music mogul P Diddy, centre, lead an all-black line-up for the Pirelli Calendar 2018 King of Hearts: Beninese-American actor and model Djimon Hounsou takes on the role of the fairytale king Alice: South Sudanese-Australian model Duckie Thot dons a version of the iconic blue dress for the whimsical shoot Queen of Hearts: Reality TV star and drag queen RuPaul looks breathtaking as the fearsome red queen The Mad Hatter: Taking on one of the best-known roles of the story is American model Slick Woods Creative team: Photographer Tim Walker and new British Vogue editor Edward Enninful, who styled the shoot Setting up for a shot: American actress Sasha Lane, left, as the Mad March Hare and Duckie Tholt as Alice, right Tea party: Duckie Thot, left, Slick Woods and Sasha Lane are photographed by Tim Walker on the London set Queen and King of Hearts: RuPaul, left, and Djimon Hounsou are photographed by Tim Walker for the shoot Playing card gardeners: Senegalese-German model Alpha Dia, left, and British model King Owusu in costume Whimsical: Jaha Dukureh, a Gambian women's right activist, dons an elaborate costume on the London set of the shoot Taking centre stage: Djimon Hounsou, left, RuPaul, centre, and Duckie Tholt are brought together for a rich shot Backstage: Some of the stars are fitted for their elaborate costumes on the set of the shoot in London Twisted fairytale: Crew hard at work on one of the elaborate backdrops, filled with elements from Alice In Wonderland Weird and wonderful: The wardrobe for the shoot was filled with boots, ballgowns and accessories for the cast Picture perfect: One of the sets looked like it was straight out of an Alice In Wonderland film Advertisement The Duchess of Cambridge dazzled in a bottle green gown as she attended a glittering reception at Berlin's Clarchens Ballhaus to round off a whirlwind two days in Germany. Tonight's event in the German capital offers a chance for Kate and William to meet faces from the world of art, culture, style, fashion and technology before they back to the UK tomorrow afternoon, completing their five-day charm offensive in Germany and Poland. Opened in 1913, Clarchens is one of the last remaining old ballrooms in Berlin with tonight's star-studded reception being held in its opulent mirrored hall. Kate, 35, opted for a gown by German designer Markus Lupfer paired with a silver chain belt, pearl bracelets and the same pair of nude Prada stilettos as she rubbed shoulders with stars including Sam Riley and Game Of Thrones actor Thomas Wlaschiha. Scroll down for video The look of love: The couple, who have been married for six years, could be seen gazing into each other's eyes during tonight's reception in Berlin. Tomorrow they will travel to Hamburg before heading back to the UK Green with envy: Kate dazzled in a bottle green number as she attended a glittering reception at Berlin's Clarchens Ballhaus to round off a whirlwind two days in Germany where she has sipped local beer and tried out her pretzel making skills Dressing for the occasion: Tonight's event in the German capital offered a chance for Kate and William to meet fresh faces in the world of art, culture, style, fashion and technology before flying back to the UK tomorrow afternoon The couple are welcomed by Mistress Ford and Mistress Page at a reception with creatives at Claerchens Ballhaus tonight. Opened in 1913, Clarchens is one of the last remaining old ballrooms in Berlin Earlier this afternoon, Prince William punched the air in delight as he secured an against-the-odds win in a boat race against his wife in the town of Heidelberg. Following their visit to a traditional German food market on Thursday morning, Kate made a quick change out of her custom Jenny Packahm dress, slipping into a casual blue and white striped top by Hugo Boss teamed with skinny jeans and her favourite Superga trainers. And William removed his jacket and put on a pair of blue trainers with a luminous yellow Nike swoop. Prior to their boat, race the couple enjoyed a tour of a traditional market where they were able to make some sugary treats for their children. William waves to onlookers as the pair make their way to the venue. The couple's five-day visit to Germany and Poland has so far being a roaring success, with throngs of royal fans lining the streets to greet them wherever they go The pair are greeted by staff before being given a short tour of the ballroom ahead of tonight's reception. It is one of the last remaining old ballrooms in Berlin, and will play host to some of the most creative and innovative names in the world of art, culture, style, fashion and technology tonight Charming the locals: The Berliner Zeitung said pictures of the Duchess cuddling children during a visit to a children's charity in Berlin yesterday were 'reminiscent of the warmth of heart which before Kate only William's mother, Diana, could radiate' Guten abend! The Duke has impressed locals by speaking in Polish and German this week; Kate, by contrast, was forced to apologise to German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday after admitting she did not speak German New style: The Duchess has been showing off her new 'Kob' or 'Kate bob' on the tour, after chopping a good six inches off her flowing locks. Earlier today, the couple had the opportunity to taste some of the local beer in Heidelberg Au naturel: The Duchess, who usuallu favours a subtle makeup look, kept cosmetics to a minimum and let her dress do the talking. She was sporting just a hint of smokey eyeshadow, mascara, blusher and a pink lip for tonight's soiree Guests of honour: The royals have been warmly received on every stop of their five-day tour of Poland and Germany so far and, yesterday, thousands lined the Pariser Platz to catch a glimpse of the royals as they visited Brandenburg gate The new hairstyle, around six inches off the overall length, created a real buzz when it first made an appearance at Wimbledon and was soon dubbed the 'Kob'. The chop revealed last week even seemed to be a few inches shorter than its first outing The royal chats to guests at tonight's reception. Her dress, believed to be by German designer Markus Lupfer, featured an ornate bird print. She paired it with Prada heels, pearl jewellery and a silver chain belt The couple clap as they listen to a speech during tonight's glittering reception. Clearly visible on Kate's left hand was her sapphire engagement ring which once belonged to the Princess of Wales, which she teamed with pearl bracelets Making their mark: Kate has been dubbed the new 'Princess of Hearts' by the German media, as royal fever sweeps the nation. The couple bid goodbye to their host before leaving. German newspapers and TV have given blanket coverage to the the Duke and Duchess's three day visit to the country which began on Wednesday, and has been nicknamed 'die Charmeoffensive' Auf Wiedersehen! The Duchess is seen smiling as she leaves the reception tonight with William. The couple's children George and Charlotte, believed to be back at their Berlin residence with their nanny tonight, have made very few appearances Kate waves goodbye after a short appearance at tonight's reception. Opened in 1913, Clarchens is one of the last remaining old ballrooms in Berlin with Thursday's star-studded reception being held in its opulent mirrored hall William and Kate had a go at rolling and cutting some handmade traditional sweets and took them away to give to George, three, and Charlotte, two, when they see them at the family's temporary base in Berlin this evening. 'The children will love these later,' William, 35, said. But when he was presented with another treat for them a moment later, he laughed and sighed and said: 'George's sugarload is going to be over the top of the scale.' The royal couple had a go at making sweets with Jens Meier, owner of Heidelberger Bonbon Manufaktur, and his assistant Melanie Melchior. While William was certainly enthusiastic, he wasn't quite as technically proficient as his wife. 'Yours is better than mine,' he said, laughing, to Kate, who picked it up slightly more quickly after admiring Melanie's technique and telling her: 'You're making it look so easy.' Earlier today, the Duchess changed out of her yellow lace dress into a blue and white striped top from Hugo Boss and skinny jeans to take part in a boat race - narrowly missing out on a win despite being paired with an Olympic athlete No hard feelings! Kate and William pose for a photo after the Duchess' team was beaten by her husband's, despite having an Olympic rower on her side. The Duchess turned once again to her trusty 55 Superga trainers Cheers! The Duchess raises a stein after the race with the Mayor of Heidelberg, Eckart Wuerzner. She was showcasing a more casual look today after a week of show-stopping bespoke designer pieces from Jenny Packham and Catherine Walker No hard feelings! She may have been trounced by her husband in the race, but Kate was no sore loser. The royal couple also had a go at making sweets with Jens Meier, owner of Heidelberger Bonbon Manufaktur, and his assistant Melanie Melchior The couple looked every inch the polished royals as they made their way to the German Cancer Research Institute for a visit (left). It was a rainy morning, but Kate added a splash of colour to proceedings in a yellow lace dress by Jenny Packham (right) Consolation prize: The Duchess was presented with a stein of beer after the race and after all that hard work she was doubtless in need of a sip! However she seemed happy enough with her medal The Duke and Duchess looked as loved-up as ever as they shared a giggle after today's rowing race. Kate, 35, opted for a casual look with her striped Breton top from Hugo Boss, paired with her trusty skinny jeans No hard feelings! The couple shared an affectionate moment after racing each other down the River Neckar in opposing teams in the competitive race between the twinned town of Cambridge and Heidelberg on Thursday The Duchess looked animated as she recounted her racing tale after being beaten by her husband's team. Despite their sporting rivalry, the couple were all smiles when they were presented with medals after the race Kate spent several minutes taking tips from her teammate before setting off. The Duchess admitted she was 'worried about crashing' and indicated with her hands that she feared zig zagging along the water The couple were accompanied through the historic centre of Heidelberg, with Baden-Wuerttemberg's State Premier Winfried Kretschmann (second right) his wife Gerlinde (right), Heidelberg's Mayor Eckart Wuerzner (second left) and his wife Janine The royal chat with Baden-Wuerttemberg's State Premier Winfried Kretschmann (right) and Heidelberg's Mayor Eckart Wuerzner (left), on the Old Bridge in the historic center of Heidelberg Asked how they had done, Melanie said: 'Not too bad. It's always hard when you get it for the first time. You have to be quick. The royal couple walked around the market square in the centre of the university town of Heidelberg, where a special market had been set up to mark their visit and celebrate the close ties between the town and Cambridge in the UK. William and Kate also tried their hand at making a tasty treat popular in Germany - pretzels. They were given a lesson by Heidelberg baker Andreas Gobes, who showed them how to roll out the pastry into long sausage shapes and then flick and cross them over in one movement to create the snack's classic shape. Kate managed to get it right first time but William struggled to get the hang of the flick and crossover. Once again crowds lined the street and waved the Union Jack to greet the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Kate tied her newly cropped locks back in a ponytail and donned a pair of Ray Bans ahead of the race 'Can you do that again?' he asked Mr Gobes,but after a further demonstration, the future King still seemed unsure. 'Just like that,' he said, sarcastically. But after two or three more tries, he managed it. Mr Gobes, part of a guild whose members put on the pastry display, said: 'Catherine was a little bit more talented than William but they both did a great job. 'This type of pretzel is a speciality for the region so we wanted to show them that. In this region it has a special shape - thin arms and a thick body - with salt and it's a red brown colour.' Located on the riverside and overlooked by the ruins of its famous castle, the central market square boasts a traditional market serving local food and drink. On their gastronomical tour, the couple tasted Heidelberg herbal lemonade, tried some local fruit, and ordered a hot dog to try over lunch in the town hall. Two grinning boys cheekily flicked the V sign at the camera in Heidelberg's traditional market square as they posed for a photo with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge The Duchess has been showing off her new 'Kob' or Kate bob on the tour, after chopping a good six inches off her flowing locks. The couple also had the opportunity to taste some of the local beer during their gourmet tour 'Is that hot dogs?' William asked and when invited to try one, he said: 'Why not?' When told it was bratwurst, he added: 'We have to have bratwurst.' In the square, kilted locals in a Scottish pipe band, the Heidelberg and District Pipes and Drums, had entertained the crowds before the royal party's arrival. William was reminded of the close cultural ties between the UK and this part of Germany when he met the mother of one of his work colleagues at East Anglian Air Ambulance. Tobias Gauss, 42, a doctor with the service in Cambridge, had warned William that he might see his mother, Elona Apple, 67, in Heidelberg so he knew who she was straight away. 'Tobias has told him three or four days ago that he might meet me here so he knew who I was,' she said. Duke of Cambridge, and his wife Kate share a laugh with Andreas Goebes (right) of the bakers guild Heidelberg, as they form pastry into prezels under the eyes of Heidelberg Mayor Eckart Wuerzner Sweet treat! William admitted that George and Charlotte would be delighted when they brought home the goodies later. The couple were also shown a huge cake during their tour of the market with Heidelberg Mayor Eckart Wuerzner Kate appears to gently tease her husband as he has a go at making pretzels on a visit to a raditional German market in the Central Square of Heidelberg, but she gave him encouragement with a round of applause William and his wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, listen to explanations by Andreas Goebes (right) of the Heidelberg Bakers' Guild. William looked proud of his efforts after a brief lesson in pretzel-making Over the past few day's she's proved herself a real pro at so-called diplomatic dressing and earlier today, the Duchess of Cambridge pulled it off again as she channeled the gold of the German flag for a visit to the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg. It was an overcast morning, but Kate brought a ray of sunshine to proceedings in the bespoke lace number by Jenny Packham, which she paired with her trusty nude espadrille wedges from Monsoon, and a small clutch in a matching shade. The visit was a chance for the couple to see the world acclaimed work being carried out at the German Cancer Research Centre, where hundreds of locals had turned out to greet the royal couple on the second day of their tour. Inside, British stem cell biologist Dr. Michael Milsom, 42, originally from Chesterfield, showed the couple around one of the laboratories. The Duchess had an opportunity to find out more about the work of lab researchers and look at cells through the microscope in the lab as she donned a white jacket during their tour of the cancer research center on Thursday William and Kate will spend time with Nobel Prize winner Dr Harald zur Hausen during the visit to the Cancer Centre. Spectators positioned themselves in the window to get a good view of the visiting royals The Duchess decided to rely on an old favourite, her trusty wedges from Monsoon for today's engagement. Her dress was a custom Jenny Packham number which has drawn comparisons to a Lela Rose gown worn by Ivanka Trump this week He said, 'It's really helpful to have a visit from the Duke and Duchess as they publicise the importance of work we do here. 'The UK and Germany are leaders in this field of stem cell research,' said the expert who has been based in Heidelberg for seven years. He told William and Kate about the latest developments in stem cell research. The Leeds University graduate, told them how his team focuses on the question whether and how an accumulation of DNA damage in stem cells is the causes for ageing of an organ system. Such damage may cause exhaustion of the stem cell pool and loss of the organ's capacity to regenerate. The work is particularly important in research into leukaemia. The couple round off their time in Berlin with a gaden party in honour of the Queen's birthday. Today, the Duke and Duchess renewed their sporting rivalry when they took part in a rowing race in the town of Heidelberg, twinned with Cambridge Royal fever! In Berlin on Wednesday, crowds waves and take photos as Kate makes her way to the Brandenburg Gate, accompanied by Private Secretary Rebecca Deacon - echoing the rockstar welcome they received in Gdansk yesterday The couple wave to well-wishers as they visit the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, the most recognisable symbol of Germany, both as a divided nation in the bleak days of the Cold War and as one of the powerhouses of Europe in its post-1990 reunified state Welcome to Germany! As the royals touched down at Tegel Airport in Berlin on Wednesday afternoon, two-year-old Princess Charlotte looked happy with her mini bouquet, but her older brother seemed to be feeling a little grumpy On their last day in Poland, the Duke and Duchess visited the former Stutthof Concentration Camp where they met with Holocaust survivors (pictured). Kate and William described their visit on Tuesday as a 'terrible reminder of the cost of war' Cheers! The couple toast to a successful first day in Poland at a party held in the Queen's honour on Monday night. Kate showcased Polish fashion in a dress by designer Gosia Baczynska at the party in held at the Orangery in Lazienki Park After arriving in Poland on Monday, the Duke and Duchess were treated to a welcoming ceremony at the Polish presidential palace in Warsaw alongside President Andrzej Duda (second right) and his wife Agata Kornhauser-Duda (far right) The couple touched down at Warsaw Airport on Monday, kicking off their Polish royal tour. At one point Prince William could be seen leaning down to say a few words to his son, who looked a little overwhelmed by the occasion The couple's five-day visit to Germany and Poland has so far being a roaring success, with throngs of royal fans lining the streets to greet them wherever they go. Kate has even been dubbed the new 'Princess of Hearts' by the media, as royal fever sweeps the nation. German newspapers and TV gave blanket coverage to the the Duke and Duchess's three day visit to the country which began yesterday, and has been nicknamed 'die Charmeoffensive'. The Berliner Zeitung said pictures of the Duchess cuddling children during a visit to a children's charity in Berlin yesterday were 'reminiscent of the warmth of heart which before Kate only William's mother, Diana, could radiate.' In a headline it said, 'Fur die kids ist sie the Prinzessin der Herzen' meaning 'For the kids she is the Princess of the heart.' On a visit to the charity Straenkinder, which supports children from disadvantaged backgrounds, both William and Kate were mobbed by small children as they bestowed hugs and high fives to excitable fans. The Duchess was the centre of attention, with several children throwing themselves into her arms for a cuddle. Before social media, it used to be that trends had a seasonal, or at least monthly, shelf-life. The advent of Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube, however, has made flash-in-the-pan viral sensations a daily occurrence - especially in the beauty space. Here, we chart the latest hair and make-up fads (as in the ones we've seen in the past few weeks alone), so you'll know which ones are in and which ones are out - at least for now. IN: CEREAL HAIR They're magically delicious: Hairstylists have taken to Instagram to showcase their pastel and jewel-toned creations with cereal-inspired hashtags like #fruitypebbleshair and #trixhair Which kids' breakfast cereal are you? So far, all the references have been for sugary sweet, colorful brands traditionally marketed toward children Just when we thought rainbow hair couldn't get any more specific, this week the social media gods blessed us with cereal-colored strands. Colorists have posted photos of their multi-hued clients with hashtags like #fruitypebbleshair, #trixhair and 'my little lucky charm' to describe their creations. The colors range from washed-out pastels to bold jewel tones, but we've yet to see a good old-fashioned Honey Nut Cheerio blonde or Cocoa Krispie brunette in the mix. Maybe next week? OUT: STARBURST HAIR Candy-colored: One colorist earned attention on Instagram for creating a colorful hair look inspired by Starburst Before we had cereal hair, we had another food-inspired color combo: Starburst hair. Minnesota-based colorist Kayla Boyer achieved the look on a client a while back by creating a pink base and adding in neon orange and yellow shades through some of the lengths and ends. Since posting the delectable creation to Instagram, the comment section has been flooded with heart eyes emojis, but the hashtag seems to have started and stopped with her. IN: LED NAILS It's a nail party! Manicurist Park Eunkyung pierced her nails with LED gems to create flashing, disco nails Don't stop the disco: The nail artist created a similar look on her toes (left), calling it a #pediled, while others have tried their hand at the lit look this week as well (right) We saw nail art in a whole new light this week when manicurist Park Eunkyung showcased flashing fingers and toes on her Instagram account @nail_unistella. The artist, who is known for creating original, 3D-designs using jewels, wires and crystals, called her latest creation #LEDdisconails. She achieved the look by piercing each of her fake nails with a different colored LED gem. Stickers that offer a similar effect, however, are easy to find on eBay if you don't want don't want to put a hole through your actual nail. OUT: LED LASHES Flashing lights: Tien Pham combined his love of beauty and dancing to create Flashes, false lashes with interactive LED lights Tien Pham and Davey Taylor exhibited light-up false lashes at the Maker Faire in June. The innovative falsies, which attendees went crazy for, called Flashes, don't just glow in the dark, they're also interactive. Move your head side to side and the color changes, jump up and down and the lights pulse and put them in 'sparkle mode' and they twinkle. After the fair, the duo launched a Kickstarter campaign asking for $40,000 to launch the product. They've ready received pledges topping $113,200, so it looks like light-up lashes will be a reality. We're declaring them 'out' this week, though, because for now, all we can do is wait for them to hit the market. IN: SNOW WHITE MAKE-UP Who's the fairest of them all? Besame Cosmetics is launching a Snow White collection of make-up to honor of the classic film's 80th anniversary Talk about a fairytale: The 20-shade eyeshadow palette is based on colors used in the original film and is housed in a storybook Mirror, mirror on the wall: Disney fans got to shop select products, which ranges in price from $15 to $68, from the collection early at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California last weekend At the D23 Expo last weekend, Disney fans were treated to a sneak peek of Besame Cosmetics' Snow White make-up collaboration. According to the brand's website, to celebrate the film's 80th anniversary, it conducted 'through extensive and careful research' to 'painstakingly hand select and match the colors from the original color palette provided by Disney's Ink and Paint Department to bring you a beautiful and authentic recreation of the colors from the classic 1937 film.' The collection, which won't be available to the masses until the fall, includes an eyeshadow palette, vanity mirror, cream blushes and lipsticks, ranging in price from $15 to $68. The excitement around the line is so high that some fans have taken to Instagram to make comments like, 'Need.This......#ohmg #snowwhitemakeup #want #need #willingtosellakidney'. OUT: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST MAKE-UP A tale as old as time: To celebrate the live-action release of Beauty and the Beast, make-up brand Lorac launched a limited-edition collection inspired by the film Which one would Belle choose? The products, including this set of lipsticks featured details from the movie, like the enchanted rose, on their packaging Just last month, make-up brand Lorac celebrated Disney's live-action Beauty and the Beast DVD and Blu-ray release by creating an enchanting limited-edition range that included a lipstick set, a lip gloss set and a cheek palette. The piece de resistance in the collaboration was the eyeshadow palette. Like the Snow White tome above, it was designed to resemble a book and had what looked like the enchanted mirror inside. The collection is still available at Ulta, but there's no denying that the buzz about the movie, starring Emma Watson, has died down considerably. IN: PERIOD MANICURES Thinking outside the (tampon) box: Artist Annelies Hofmeyr completed her period manicure with blue strings to represent the feminine hygiene product When artist Annelies Hofmeyr first debuted 'tampon nails' on her Instagram account two years ago, she did so as part of her Period Project, an attempt to 'highlight, and provide an alternative to, the socially accepted one-dimensional representation of womens bodies'. The image, showing a nail painted with white polish and red drips signifying blood - along with an actual string - received just 247 likes. She reposted the manicure earlier this month with the caption, 'I really don't understand why my tampon nails never became a trend.' It has since received three times the amount of likes as the original and been picked up by sites like Allure, Pop Sugar and Bustle. OUT: NIPPLE NAIL ART #Freethenipple? Manicurist Mei Kawajiri created multidimensional pierced nipple nail-art When we first spotted manicurist Mei Kawajiri's nipple nail art on her Instagram account in June, we were intrigued but not ready to declare it a trend. Good thing, too, because while the mani, featuring different skin tones with circles for areolas and raised dots in the center for the actual nipples, caused a controversial stir on social media, it didn't inspire copycats. Still, we've got to hand it to Mei for going so far as to 'pierce' several of the nails with what looked like little silver barbells and gold hoops going through the nipple. IN: BATH BOMB-INSPIRED MAKE-UP Lush for life: Blogger Kimberley Margarita loves Lush Bath Bombs so much that she uses them as inspiration for her colorful make-up looks The fact that bath and body company Lush has a cult following is no secret. Its fans go crazy for any new release, and some of its employees have even gotten tattoos to pay tribute to the company and products. But one make-up artist has taken her affinity for the fizzy bath bombs Lush is known for to a new level. As spotted by Pop Sugar, blogger Kimberley Margarita creates fantastical, sparkly make-up looks inspired by bath bombs of all different shapes, colors and textures. In her breathtaking Instagram posts, Kimberly freely admits that she is not being compensated by Lush to do the looks and is just a true Lushie. While it's obvious that Kimberley has some serious make-up chops in order to bring these looks to life, we have no doubt other Lush lovers will follow in her glittery footsteps. OUT: GLITTER 'BOMBS' FOR YOUR VAGINA Make your sex life sparkle? After a company sells out of vaginal glitter capsules, one doctor weighs in on the adverse side effects that using them can cause We'd argue that inserting glitter-filled capsules into your vagina before sex in an attempt to make your hoo-ha sparkle was never really in. But after one manufacture gained notoriety for its Passion Dust Intimacy Capsules, which it claims sold out in a matter of days, it was a phenomenon we couldn't ignore. If you considered giving it a try, read one gynecologist's warning first: Dr. Jen Gunter, a doctor based in Canada, wrote an entire blog post on the topic. While Pretty Woman Inc., which makes the candy-scented product, claims it's safe, Dr. Gunter worries that it could cause inflammation, 'vaginal sunburn' and an increased risk of contracting an STI. 'Just because something is safe for your lips, for example glitter lip gloss, doesnt mean it is safe for the vagina,' she writes. 'After all one can remove lip gloss and lip bacteria doesnt control your gastrointestinal track or protect you from gonorrhea or HIV. Is it safe to gargle might be a better first step in the quest for vagina glitter, but even then the mucosa and anatomy are so different it is really best to not put an untested substance vaginally.' Sir Andrew Morris, chief executive of Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, was labelled a 'dinosaur' for his controversial comment An NHS boss has sparked outrage after saying men die younger because 'they are nagged to death' by their wives. Sir Andrew Morris, chief executive of Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, was labelled a 'dinosaur' for his controversial comment. The remark was made just days after experts said life expectancy improvements are grinding to a halt because of the ailing NHS. They noted how boys born today can now expect to live for 79.2 years, where as girls will be expected to reach 82.9. He told a think-tank meeting: 'Usually the blokes die off earlier because theyre nagged to death by the other half.' In attendance for the 'shocking' comment were Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England. Overall, more than 150 leading experts in their field attended The King's Fund briefing to discuss money-saving plans. 'Patronising' comments Delegates described the comment made by Sir Morris, who reportedly earns 220,000 a year - as 'patronising'. Sir Morris, knighted in 2015, has previously been named the country's top health chief executive for his leadership qualities, The Sun reports. He is also one of the longest-serving bosses in the health service, taking up the head role at the trust in 1989. Jon Rouse, from the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership, said on Twitter that 'dinosaurs still roam in East Berkshire' 'GRINDING TO A HALT' Life expectancy improvements are grinding to a halt because of our ailing NHS and social care system, experts warned earlier this week. The middle classes are predicted to be hardest hit by the phenomenon as they struggle to afford rising care bills in old age. A team of academics from University College London found that since 2010, historical increases in life expectancy have dramatically stalled. According to Office for National Statistics predictions analysed by UCL, a girl born between 2013 and 2015 can expect to live for 82.9 years. A boy born in the same period will live for an average of 79.2 years. These estimates are based on a complicated series of calculations which take into account current death rates among the elderly and overall standards of living. Advertisement The 61-year-old apologised to the newspaper. He said: 'I made a comment that I realised right away was completely inappropriate. I would like to apologise unreservedly for any offence that it caused.' 'Dinosaurs still roam in East Berkshire' But Jon Rouse, from the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership, said on Twitter that 'dinosaurs still roam in East Berkshire'. Lizzy Dobres, from the UK Council for Psychotherapy, said the comment showed there was still 'such a long way to go'. She added: 'Shocked to hear Andrew Morris say men die younger cause "women nag them".' A 'rubbish' apology Others branded the apology as meaningless. Andrew McCracken, from National Voices, said it was 'rubbish'. Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust serves 900,000 patients across Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey and south Buckinghamshire. The news comes after a Daily Telegraph investigation in 2016 found that Sir Morris was one of a handful of top NHS bosses who had been handed generous pay rises. He was given an extra 35,000 on top of his salary at the time - despite the Government promising to freeze their pay. Campaigners were outraged as nurses have repeatedly been told that there isn't enough money to boost their pay. Scores of B&Q customers have been struck down with headaches after using paint that smells like cat urine. The company's exclusive range of Valspar paints have left hundreds of homes plagued by a bizarre smell, it has emerged. It's believed the substance causing the strange odours is ammonia, which has substantial links to headaches, experts have previously warned. Dozens of customers have flocked to online forums to complain of such symptoms, with one forced to sleep downstairs as their newly painted bedroom is 'practically uninhabitable'. Scores of B&Q customers have been struck down with headaches after using paint that smells like cat urine Posting on Screwfix Community, an online forum used by decorators and the public, one worried customer said: 'We have had headaches and left windows open to try and air it, but it is getting worse.' Another, John Morley, 65, said he painted his lounge in May but it now stinks and is giving him headaches.' He added that there was clearly a problem with the paint. DIY doctor, a 43-year-old man, said it was cheaper for B&Q to act when they did before all the headaches and migraine complaints came 'rolling in'. The problem of the nauseous smell, triggered by an ammonia-like substance, came to light following a BBC Radio 4 You and Yours investigation. Valspar has since said the problem was caused by an additive that had been removed from some of its paint tins. It has since been addressed. However, a quick search on online forums reveals while the issue of the smell has been tackled, there is still a worrying link to headaches, which may need further examination. However, a spokesperson for B&Q told MailOnline there was no known health risks of the product - despite evidence stating the opposite in terms of ammonia. One affected customer Charlotte Quine, from Brighton, said it took her a long time to work out what was making the smell in her spare room, before discovering it to be Valspar paint. She told the BBC: 'I assumed a cat must have got into the room through the window and sprayed everywhere. 'Eventually I moved all the furniture out, washed down all the walls, got some carpet cleaner, but again nothing.' After looking on the company's Facebook page, she later saw that other customers were suffering from the same issue. Posting on Screwfix Community, an online forum used by decorators and the public, one worried customer said: 'We have had headaches open to try and air it, but it is getting worse' Another, John Morley, 65, said he painted his lounge in May but it now stinks and is giving him headaches.' He added that there was clearly a problem with the paint DIY doctor, a 43-year-old man, said it was cheaper for B&Q to act when they did before all the headaches and migraine complaints came 'rolling in' Another said: 'The smell has caused us severe headaches and the bedrooms are practically inhabitable at the moment - so we're having to sleep downstairs' The evidence behind headaches Breathing lower concentrations of ammonia is known to cause coughing, wheezing and headaches, according to the US Department of Health. While much higher exposure can lead to blindness, seizures and even death, the Government agency warns on its website. The colourless gas, which causes sharp and pungent odours, is both manufactured and produced naturally by bacteria. THE DANGERS OF AMMONIA Breathing high concentrations of ammonia can cause fluid in the lungs to build up and possible lung damage. Exposure to high levels of ammonia can burn the eyes, skin, throat, and lungs. Breathing lower concentrations of ammonia can cause coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, laryngitis, headaches, fever, nausea, vomiting, pink frothy phlegm, chest pain, asthma, rapid pulse, and increased blood pressure. If you swallow ammonia, it can burn your mouth, throat, and stomach and cause severe abdominal pain. If concentrated ammonia spills on your skin, it can blister or severely burn your skin or cause dermatitis. Eye exposure may cause conjunctivitis, corneal irritation or damage, and temporary or permanent blindness. Source: National Institutes of Health Advertisement These smells are believed to activate nerve pathways in the nose and may trigger migraines, research suggests. Ammonia-like substances Dr Andrea Sella, from University College London's department of chemistry, told MailOnline of his concern. However, he suggested it was more likely to be ammonia-like substances called amines that were responsible. This was confirmed by B&Q as being the cause. He said: 'It wouldn't surprise me at all if you might get headaches from these things.' What is it caused by? Experts have said the problem is most likely to have been caused by a bacterial contamination in the can. Graham Hill, managing director of ECHA Microbiology, Cardiff, said: 'It's a well known issue in the paint industry. 'The bacteria grow in the can and release hydrogen sulphide gas which is the bad egg small, and ammonia which is the urine smell.' He also claimed that changes in EU laws mean the problem is becoming more common, with tighter restrictions on the preservatives that manufacturers can use. 'Occurs very rarely' Valspar said: 'The ammonia-type odour occurs very rarely and when used on walls that are particularly porous, and where the wall is exposed to excessive heat or direct sunlight. 'The odour naturally wears off over time.' Those affected are warned to never try to drown the smell by using bleach, as this can cause the release of chlorine gas, which can be deadly. B&Q has since announced it will compensate anyone who was affected by the worrying smell to help them redecorate. It said anyone affected should ring their customer service helpline on 0333 014 3098. British parents have revealed their horror after their ten-month-old daughter has been left brain damaged after being struck down with meningitis while on holiday. Marc and Amy Young, from Rishton in Lancashire, took their toddler Eliza Jane to Malta at the end of May. Within hours of arriving, Eliza was rushed to hospital where she was diagnosed with streptococcus pneumococcal meningitis; a serious bacterial form of the infection that can cause death even with treatment. After spending seven weeks in hospital enduring seizures and developing blood poisoning, doctors say Eliza has been left deaf in one ear, partially blind and brain damaged. The family have had their insurance claims refused twice as the company argues the youngster's illness is due to an 'underlying condition'. A ten-month-old has been left brain damaged after getting meningitis while on holiday Eliza Jane was rushed to hospital within hours of arriving in Malta, where she was diagnosed WHAT IS STREPTOCOCCUS PNEUMOCOCCAL MENINGITIS? Streptococcus pneumococcal meningitis is a severe form of the infection. It is caused by a bacteria and affects approximately one-to-two people in every 100,000 each year. One in five cases results in death even with treatment. Brain damage and deafness can also occur. Symptoms include high fever, drowsiness, irritability, severe headache, vomiting and a stiff, painful neck. Treatment involves intravenous antibiotics. The infection is carried by up to 40 percent of people at the back of their throats. It is spread through throat or nasal secretions, most commonly by kissing, coughing or sneezing. Most cases occur in young people, the elderly or those with a suppressed immune system. Source: Meningitis Research Foundation of Canada Advertisement 'Left with significant brain damage' According to the family's friends, Eliza was suffering from high temperatures before they left for their holiday. After their local GP reassured Eliza's parents that she was safe to fly, they decided to go ahead with their plans. Yet, within hours of arriving, Eliza was rushed to the Mater Dei Hospital in Msida. Over the past seven weeks, Eliza has suffered seizures and blood poisoning. She's also had to endure five MRI scans, three CT scans and three operations. Family friends Gill and Garth Wyse said: 'Eliza is now stable. However, she has been left partially blind and deaf in her left ear and unfortunately we've been told Eliza will be left with significant brain damage, the extent of which we won't know until she grows up. 'Our little EJY (Eliza Jane Young) has gone from being the happiest and bubbliest little girl, to having been left with the devastating after effects of meningitis. 'We are currently just waiting for a scan, to see if the shunt she's had fitted in her brain is working, and if so, if there's no air pockets on her brain, they can hopefully start making plans to fly her back to Manchester Children's Hospital.' She has spent seven weeks in hospital enduring seizures and developing blood poisoning Her parents Marc and Amy Young (pictured) took her on holiday despite a high temperature They have had their insurance refused as the company claims the condition was underlying Doctors say Eliza has been left deaf in one ear, partially blind and brain damaged Insurance refused Gill and Garth Wyse add that Eliza's parents have had their insurance claim refused twice, with the company arguing the youngster's illness is due to 'an underlying condition'. They said: 'Eliza's parents are not only having to deal with this nightmare situation, but also have the added financial burden of having to pay for accommodation, car hire, food etc, all not knowing when either of them will be back in work. 'We are also unsure as to the cost of flying Eliza back to the UK, as soon as she is safe to do so, and any aftercare, rehabilitation, or special equipment she may need once she's home.' Gill and Garth Wyse have started a fundraising campaign to raise money to help cover the costs of Eliza's parents stay in Malta and to fly her back to the UK. Donate here. A 40-year-old woman who had been trying to get pregnant for 14 years claims her cancer treatment cured her infertility. The woman, who lives in Florida and has not been named, took a chemotherapy drug as a part of treatment for pancreatic cancer, and says it triggered her ovaries to function properly. She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer after finding a lump on her abdomen. Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest types of cancer with a five year survival rate of five percent. The woman had surgery to remove the tumor, then underwent treatment with the chemotherapy drug gemcitabine. A few weeks after the treatment, the woman noticed that that the drug appeared to restore the her ability to ovulate, according to a case report obtained by Life Science. The woman was diagnosed with an infertility disease called polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) after trying to conceive for multiple years. A 40-year-old Florida woman who had been trying to get pregnant for 14 years claims her cancer treatment cured her infertility (stock image) It is caused by an imbalance of hormones interfering with the growth and release of eggs during monthly ovulation, and causes irregular or nonexistent periods in patients. Most women with the condition grow many small cysts on their ovaries, which are not harmful, but cause a hormone imbalance. It is not clear what causes PCOS, but doctors believe it might be genetic. WHAT IS PANCREATIC CANCER? Pancreatic cancer is caused by the abnormal and uncontrolled growth of cells in the pancreas - a large gland in the digestive system. Around half of all new cases occur in people aged 75 or older, with one in 10 being genetic. Other causes include age, smoking and other health conditions, including diabetes. It is difficult to treat as it rarely causes any symptoms in the early stages, so it's often not detected until the cancer is fairly advanced. Symptoms to look out for include pain in the back or stomach and unexpected weight loss. Additionally, it typically spreads quickly to nearby organs. Treatment may include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or a combination. The most common surgery is a Whipple procedure, which takes around eight hours for a surgeon to do. It is a technically difficult operation to remove the head of the pancreas, part of the small intestine, the gallbladder and part of the bile duct. Occasionally part of the stomach and nearby lymph nodes will be removed. A surgeon then reconnects the remaining parts of the pancreas, stomach and intestines, allowing the individual to digest food. Information provided by the Mayo Clinic Advertisement The woman reportedly tried unsuccessfully to become pregnant for 14 years, using a combination of fertility treatments, weight loss and tracking her ovulation. For an unknown reason, she did not try in vitro fertilization (IVF). When she turned 35, she felt a lump on the left side of her abdomen and reported sharp pains in the area. She went to the emergency room and, after numerous scans, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The cancer is caused by abnormal and uncontrolled growth of cells in the pancreas. Because of where the pancreas is located in the body, and that symptoms normally don't appear in early stages, the cancer is often not caught until it is fairly advanced. Chance of survival five years past being diagnosed with the cancer is just five percent. The woman underwent an eight-hour Whipple procedure to remove the tumor, and eight weeks later underwent four rounds of chemotherapy with the drug gemcitabine. She then received radiation treatments. The Whipple procedure is a technically difficult operation to remove the head of the pancreas, part of the small intestine, the gallbladder and part of the bile duct. Occasionally part of the stomach and nearby lymph nodes will be removed. A surgeon then reconnects the remaining parts of the pancreas, stomach and intestines, allowing the individual to digest food. Following the cancer treatments, her doctor explained that she suddenly started having regular menstrual cycles. And, about 15 months later, she found out she was pregnant. She only carried that child for six-weeks before experiencing a miscarriage, but now, five years later, the 40-year-old has given birth to a healthy child. Doctors believe the gemcitabine drug restored her fertility and allowed her to become pregnant by acting the same way another treatment for PCOS would have. One option for sufferers of PCOS is to have one of their ovaries partially destroyed via 'ovarian drilling.' The procedure kills part of the ovary, but kick starts ovulation in women who previously could not become pregnant. It is not clear why the woman did not undergo the procedure when she was initially trying to conceive. Case authors believe that, although she did not have that surgery, the drug had the same effects and was responsible for her ovulation and pregnancy. 'Gemcitabine was the only new variable that may have changed her hormonal ratios,' Dr Stephen Carlan, one of the case report authors and an OBGYN at Orlando Healthcare in Florida. Oxygen therapy has cured a three-year-old girl of brain damage after she almost drowned in a swimming pool, scientists claim. Eden Carlson was two years old when she pushed her way through the baby gate and a heavy door, then jumped into the family pool in Arkansas last February. When her mother found her, she was lying face-down and motionless. After two hours of CPR and 17 EpiPen shots, her heart started beating again, but doctors warned she would be confined to a vegetative state for the rest of her life. Now, in what is thought to be a world first, Eden is running, talking, and laughing with as much energy as before - after undergoing 40 rounds of oxygen therapy. The results were so stark and Eden's MRI scans so clearly improved that her case has been published in a medical journal, Medical Gas Research. The therapy, which costs $200 per 45-minute session, is not FDA-approved and is not covered by insurance. Scroll down for video Eden Carlson was two years old when she pushed her way through the baby gate and a door to jump into the family pool in Arkansas last February. Now she has no signs of brain damage WHAT IS HYPERBARIC OXYGEN THERAPY? Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is the breathing of pure oxygen in a pressurized tank. It has long been used to treat divers with 'the bends' or decompression sickness. A person sits in the chamber that is increased up to three times the normal air pressure and pure oxygen is pumped in. Lungs are able to absorb more oxygen in this state, which leads to quicker delivery to parts of the body through the blood stream. Studies have linked the treatment to restoring function to damaged cells and organs. Advertisement Speaking to Daily Mail Online, Eden's mother Kristal said she was stunned by the turnaround - and even Eden's doctor Dr Paul Harch said he has never seen such a dramatic improvement. 'This is the first case that I've seen such a huge difference,' Dr Harch, who is based in New Orleans, said. 'I was confident beforehand that the therapy could help her. But yes, it really exceeded my expectations.' Eden is the youngest of five children in Fayetteville, near the Oklahoma border. On the day of the accident, she had been playing around with her older siblings and their mom Kristal, while their salesman dad Chris, 44, was at work. When Kristal, 40, got out the shower, she asked the other kids where Eden was. They thought she was with her. 'I panicked and ran straight to the most dangerous place she could be - the swimming pool. 'I couldn't believe it, she had pushed through the child's gate and this really heavy door. She since told us she was trying to get a ball which was floating in the pool. 'When I saw her there she was face-down. I pulled her out and started doing CPR, trying to remember what I'd learned as a teenager. My oldest daughter was calling 911.' The paramedics arrived within 10 minutes and continued CPR as they got her in an ambulance, and into the emergency room. Kristal, her children, and her husband Chris sat outside the room for more than an hour. 'I kept thinking, "this is taking too long, she's gone, they're going to give up soon",' Kristal recalled. Eventually, after an hour and 40 minutes, a surgeon came to inform them that Eden's heart was beating, but she was severely brain damaged. Eden was air-lifted to Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock, three-and-a-half hours way, where she stayed with her parents for five weeks. 'We took it in turns sleeping by her side,' Kristal said. 'It was completely devastating. It was our absolute worst nightmare come true. She couldn't do anything. She couldn't focus her eyes, she had a feeding tube. 'Before she was so spunky, she was our little wild child, she loved climbing and running around. She was so active.' Eden's doctors told Kristal and Chris no treatment could undo the damage she suffered in the pool. 'We had to be proactive,' Kristal said. 'We had to fight for her, despite what the doctors said. We had to find treatment for her. 'It was hard becayse we had hope that she would recover, but when she came out of the ER and we saw the effects, it was very disheartening.' Regardless, they ploughed on. They found out about oxygen therapy online and decided to contact Dr Harch who, despite being more than nine hours away in New Orleans, was the closest specialist to them. Dr Harch is connected to LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine. He has spent more than 25 years specializing in hyperbaric oxygen therapy, which involves breathing pure oxygen in a pressurized tank. It has long been used to treat divers with 'the bends' or decompression sickness. A person sits in the chamber that is increased up to three times the normal air pressure and pure oxygen is pumped in. Lungs are able to absorb more oxygen in this state, which leads to quicker delivery to parts of the body through the blood stream. Studies have linked the treatment to restoring function to damaged cells and organs. At first, Eden was not able to travel to Dr Harch. So he advised the family to use the oxygen tank they had been given from the hospital, administer a low dose of two liters a minute for 45 minutes, twice a day. 'I told them to film it so I could see what we were dealing with. The results were phenomenal. I knew straight away that she would benefit.' Weeks later, Eden and her parents traveled to Louisiana. They started the therapy 78 days after Eden's accident. After 40 sessions, she seemed 'almost 100 percent the same as before,' Kristal said. Dr Harch published videos on YouTube showing the before-and-after effects. It is difficult to argue with the results. Before, Eden is subdued and cannot focus. After she is bubbly and active. To his surprise, the effects even showed up on an MRI scan. 'Normally, I have to do a functional MRI to see the difference. In this case, they did an MRI and her brain looked completely normal. Unequivocally, she had regrown substantial brain tissue.' He said he believed the key was catching it early. 'I was able to intervene so early before she had permanently lost so much brain tissue. Because she was young and it was early, I thought we had a chance.' The founder of yoghurt producer Rachels Organic whom Prince Charles met in Aberystwyth was Rachel Rowlands, not Rachel Cooper as stated in our report of July 11. An item in the On This Day column on July 6 referred to Richard III as Richard the Lionheart. In fact the Lionheart was Richard I. We apologise for the error. If you wish to report an inaccuracy, please email corrections@dailymail.co.uk. To make a formal complaint under IPSO rules go to www.dailymail.co.uk/ readerseditor. You can also write to Readers Editor, Daily Mail, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT or contact IPSO directly at ipso.co.uk In the past five years, China has developed a series of major innovative projects attracting world attention, including space satellites, large passenger jets, high-speed train network, aircraft carriers, bridges and much more. These ambitious programs ensure China will have a bright future. BeiDou navigation system A model of the BeiDou Satellite Navigation system exhibited in Zhuhai. [File photo/Xinhua] China will have its global GPS network based on the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS). Construction of the global network for the self-developed satellite navigation system will start during the remaining months of 2017 and will begin serving global customers upon completion in 2020. C919 jet The C919 passenger jet was unveiled as it was rolled out from the final assembly line in Shanghai on Nov 2, 2015. [China Daily] The C919 is a narrow-bodied twinjet airliner developed by Chinese aerospace manufacturer COMAC. The program was launched in 2008 and the plane first flew in May 2017. The self-developed aircraft, with completely independent intellectual property rights and 102 key technical breakthroughs, enabled China to break foreign manufacturers' monopoly in the big plane market. "Heavenly Eye" telescope Photo taken on Sept 24, 2016 shows the 500-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) in Pingtang county, Southwest China's Guizhou Province. [Photo/Xinhua] The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), nicknamed Tianyan ("Heavenly Eye"), is a major science project. It is a radio telescope located in a natural basin in Pingtang County of Guizhou Province in southwest China. It surpasses the existing telescopes of foreign countries in key areas, comprising a fixed 500m-diameter dish constructed in a natural depression in the landscape. It is the world's largest filled-aperture radio telescope, which will open people's eyes to the magnificent scenes of the universe. Dark-matter satellite Carrier Long March 2-D rocket blasts off at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu Province, Dec 17, 2015, sending into space the country's first Dark Matter Particle Explorer Satellite.[Photo/Xinhua] The Dark Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) satellite "Wukong", which has been given this moniker after the Monkey King from the Chinese classic fantasy fiction "Journey to the West," will use its relatively large detection area to observe high volumes of cosmic rays, as well as establishing their source. It will survey the sky with sensitivity much greater than existing detectors. THE EXECUTIONER WEEPS by Frederic Dard (Pushkin Vertigo 7.99) THE EXECUTIONER WEEPS by Frederic Dard (Pushkin Vertigo 7.99) It is a defining feature of classic crime that, however scary the plot, in the end all will be well. But then, occasionally, along comes an author who breaks the mould. Frederic Dard is one such. At the height of his powers in the Fifties, this prolific French writer with more than 300 mystery thrillers to his credit took to novels that put added darkness into noir. The Executioner Weeps opens with a young artist on a working visit to the Spanish coast. On a lonely road, a woman throws herself in front of his car. Recovery leaves her with no memory. When the artist follows up clues to her identity, he finds himself an accessory to unspeakable horrors. A tragedy is inevitable, but the form it takes is hidden until the last gasp-inducing pages. With an excellent translation by David Coward, this is a book that calls for tight nerves and a stiff drink. IN THIS GRAVE HOUR by Jacqueline Winspear (Allison & Busby 19.99) IN THIS GRAVE HOUR by Jacqueline Winspear (Allison & Busby 19.99) We first encountered Maisie Dobbs as a young widow from the Great War determined to make her way in a mans world. Now, a string of successes credited to her detective agency has brought her into contact with the intelligence services. With the start of another war bringing an influx of political refugees, Maisie is set the task of tracking down a killer who is targeting Belgian resistance veterans. Little in the case makes sense, until she digs deep into the background of the victims to discover a tragedy that long predates 1939. The appeal of the novel is in Winspears skill in creating a setting that draws on a close knowledge of the period. The build-up of war fervour is frighteningly real. When we leave Maisie, she is preparing to play her part in the unfolding conflict. The forces of oppression are in for a bumpy ride. ADVENTURE ONE MAN AND A MULE By Hugh Thomson (Preface 20) The difficulty of crossing England with a mule has nothing to do with hills, highways and byways. Its more about the challenge of finding a mule in the first place. Hugh Thomson was inspired to make his trip after reading Robert Louis Stevensons 1879 bestseller Travels With A Donkey In The Cevennes. He chose the Coast to Coast trail popularised by celebrated fell-walker Alfred Wainwright, from St Bees Head in Cumbria to Robin Hoods Bay in Yorkshire. But heavens, it was hard to find a four-legged companion. Thomson had travelled extensively in Peru, where you can arrive in a village and book a mule like a taxi. Hugh Thomson and his friend traversed Coast to Coast trail with a rescued mule from the RSPCA called Jethro, who did not like to carry heavy things But here, not even the promisingly named British Mule Society could help. Britain just doesnt contain many mules, which, as everybody knows (although I didnt), are the progeny of male donkeys and female horses. The offspring of a female donkey and a male horse is called a hinny, of which there are even fewer. And mules cannot procreate, so its difficult to breed them. Eventually, at an RSPCA rescue centre, he found Jethro, a charismatic, sometimes truculent, eight-year-old, white-and-beige gelding. And so, the adventure began, albeit not quite true to the books title, for Thomson had a human companion, a free-spirited Irishman called Jasper, who was something of a horse-whisperer. Nonetheless, Jethro did pretty much what he wanted, which, unhelpfully for a pack mule, didnt extend to carrying much. He had the smallest saddlebags Id ever seen on a mule, no bigger than the clutch bags carried by ladies who lunch, writes Thomson. RELATED ARTICLES Previous 1 Next THRILLERS POPULAR FICTION Share this article Share Still, as a conversation piece, he could hardly have been more useful as this unlikely threesome, with Jasper bringing Jethro under control by making noises like Mongolian throat-singing, made their way east through the Lake District. Excuse me, whats in the saddlebags? asked a young girl they passed. Sandwiches. Water. A knife. Chorizo. Cheese. And a map, they told her. It was the biggest load Jethro would tolerate. Their own rucksacks, the girl pointed out, looked a great deal heavier. The presence of this beast of not much burden lends a singular dimension to what is otherwise a straightforward travelogue, though a good one. Jasper brought Jethro under control by making noises like Mongolian throat-singing Near the Cumbrian market town of Sedbergh, where the Quaker movement began, he visited the Cross Keys, which looked like any other pub, but didnt serve alcohol. The cheerful Quaker owner told Thomson that it was once visited by a man from CAMRA (the Campaign for Real Ale), who had seen it in a Sunday magazine feature listing the best pubs in the country, but clearly hadnt read the small print. He had a fit, recalled the owner. Said he wanted to sue us under the Trade Descriptions Act. He was doubtless not mollified by the offer of a free dandelion and burdock. Nearby in Kirkby Stephen, Thomson ventured into a rather different pub, the Black Bull, where pints of beer were going down like water in a field-trough, much of it the appropriately named Black Sheep. It is encounters like that which show it is people, no less than places, that make England what it is On a battered sofa in the Black Bull sat an old man in a three-piece suit with a tartan waistcoat, as if dressed for market day in The Mayor Of Casterbridge, loudly proclaiming his love for the much younger woman alongside him. Happily, it was fully requited. Thomson writes beguilingly about this old boy, who had a spring to his step, like an elderly Fred Astaire and carried a cane, crafted from the tusk of a narwhal whale, that was more than 200 years old. It is encounters like that which show it is people, no less than places, that make England what it is. And animals, too, of course, not least Jethro the mule, who, on arrival in Robins Hood Bay, with his human companions walking at his preferred pace, not theirs, gave every indication of thinking that he had finally trained them to adopt his ways, rather than the other way round. And he probably had. The anti-lynching law 'Masuka' or the 'Manav Suraksha Kanoon' proposed by rights activists has become a focal point of Opposition unity against the BJP. Major Opposition formations, including Congress, have come together to target the BJP-led NDA government over the spate of recent instances of alleged lynching. Apart from the Congress, the SP, BSP, JD (U), RJD, AAP and the CPI (M) have come together to demand the Centre to make the proposal into a law in the Parliament. Congress' Shashi TharoorCongress' Shashi Tharoor (left) and Congress leader and rights activist Shehzad Poonawalla (right) The Opposition seems to embarrass the Union government over recent killings over the question of cow protection, though the farmers of Masuka maintain the law would also bring succor to the BJP and the RSS. Congress' Shashi Tharoor told Mail Today, 'I am sure that you are disturbed by the recent phenomenon of mob lynching where people have taken law into their own hands and have attacked people because they believed that those people have attacked their religious taboos. Cows are revered in the Hindu scriptures as the 'mother' of civilisation and many worshippers equate the slaughter of cows or eating beef as blasphemy 'Nobody has any right to be a judge, jury or executioner of innocent Indians or even of guilty Indians. The law must take its course. Lynching survives because of impunity, because mobs feel they can get away with it. That is why we need a law.' 'I support Masuka or Manav Suraksha Kanoon. On 19th July we MPs will be asking the present government to being this draft law (to Parliament as a government bill) unveiled by Team Masuka,' Tharoor added. Leaders from political parties would be converging at the Constitution Club on Wednesday to demand for the law. Bollywood actress Shabana Azmi, right, joins other to protest against a spate of violent attacks across the country targeting the country's Muslim minority, in Mumbai, India 'I have no words to condemn the public brutality, the barbarity which is being inflicted upon India and Indians. By this public lynching and cow vigilantism, I believe what they are doing is an attack on democracy on rule of law and in every value that needs to be preserved and cherished and strengthen a civilization like ours. 'If I may add, is that these attacks are taking place specially against the vulnerable in the society, against Dalits and against Muslims,' Pawan Verma of the JD (U) told Mail Today. Congress leader and rights activist Shehzad Poonawalla, who is part of the team that has drafted the law, said the BJP should welcome this kind of law as it was not ideologically biased. Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's massive kisan akrosh rally in Banswara district in southern Rajasthan on July 19 will set the party in poll mode in the run-up to the late 2018 Assembly polls in the state. While farming crisis will top the party's agenda in Madhya Pradesh as well as Rajasthan that go to polls around the same time next year, the Rajasthan unit will intensify its agitation against Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on various governance issues. Gandhi's last visit to the poll-bound state was in January for a smaller meeting with the peasant community, but the rally on Wednesday aims at raising the pitch against the Raje government on recent farmer suicides in the state and is expected to draw in a massive crowd of over two lakh peasants and villagers from across seven districts in the southern tribal belt. Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's massive kisan akrosh rally in Banswara district in southern Rajasthan on July 19 will set the party in poll mode in the run-up to the late 2018 Assembly polls in the state 'Farmer suicides were largely reported from other states like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, but in last two years, 61 farmers committed suicide in Rajasthan. 'Six farmers have committed suicide in last fortnight in Rajasthan and the CM is silent on this. If 10 farmer suicides in one month do not ring alarm bells then I do not know what will shake the government out of its slumber,' Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee chief Sachin Pilot told Mail Today. 'Raje has not paid any compensation. On the contrary, BJP leaders in Raje's home turf are threatening the family members of the deceased farmer to keep quiet and asking them not to mention the cause of death as suicide due to farm loans.' 'The UPA raised MSP squarely with an average annual increase of eight per cent to 12 per cent, while the NDA has been passive and there is an average increase of nearly one to five per cent per year only. 'Rajasthan has lately seen a spike in farmer suicides due to crop failure, debt burden and price crash. 'It is an absolute systemic failure and the government has made no effort in either assisting the debt-ridden farmers with loan waivers or in procuring their produce,' Pilot added. Rajasthan has lately seen a spike in farmer suicides due to crop failure (pictured - Congress leaders) 'We will continue agitating till the Raje government is forced to waive off farm loans just like the new Congress government in Punjab did.' With BJP chief Amit Shah's three-day visit lined up later this week, the Congress hopes to corner the ruling party on farmers' issues and will follow up the Banswara rally with a smaller demonstration in Kota division close to Raje's home turf in Jhalawar. Sources in the BJP said the CM is unlikely to make any concession immediately, however, she might want to wait till the next budget to offer sops to the farming community. Devender Singh Sethi (above) had met the con artists through a common friend in 2016 Delhi Police are in search of two con artists who duped a Delhi-based businessman of Rs 2 crore on the pretext of opening a chain of clubs in India. The incident brings to mind the story of 2005 Bollywood film, Bunty Aur Babli, in which a man and his accomplice - played by Abhishek Bachchan and Rani Mukerji respectively - manage to trick rich people into giving away their money. Devender Singh Sethi, a 36-year-old businessman from Sainik Farms, met with similar fate recently. In May 2016, he met the accused - Awinash Sharma and Parul Chaudhary - through a common friend Manoj. According to Sethi, the duo met Manoj at a club and convinced him to put him in touch with people who might be interested in investing in their business plan. 'Manoj got to know about my liking for clubs and asked me to invest in a proposal to open a chain of bars and lounges in Chanakyapuri. I was told that the plan was to later expand the chain to other metropolitans,' Sethi told Mail Today. 'They showed me a presentation of how they planned to replicate the interiors of a famous club in Dubai. The presentation was so genuine that after several meetings, I agreed to invest into their project and transferred Rs 47 lakh to their account,' he added. Sethi owns a business in real estate and supply of ayurvedic and herbal products. The police have registered an FIR for cheating and criminal breach of trust. According to police sources, the accused are yet to be traced and may have even left the city. At various intervals, Sethi continued to transfer money into their accounts. In a span of six months, he paid Rs 1.44 crore through transaction and Rs 70 lakh in cash. 2005 Bollywood film Bunty Aur Babli in which a man and his accomplice - played by Abhishek Bachchan and Rani Mukerji respectively - trick rich people into giving away their money 'The couple kept asking me for money at various intervals. They took their sweet time to make me believe in their plan. They even showed me the site where some work had already started. They came to my residence several times and soon we became really close... just like a part of the family,' alleged Sethi. Sethi's bubble burst when the duo stopped taking his calls. 'After January 2017, Awinash and Parun stopped receiving my calls and responding to my messages and e-mails. Despite my efforts to track the two, I could not reach them. When I visited the construction site, all the work that had begun had stopped. There was no labour working on the project. They seemed to have just vanished from the site leaving pile of bricks and tiles,' he told the police. 'For days I could not come to terms with what had happened. Despite being in the business for so long, their plan looked so genuine and flawless that I could not smell the bad fish,' Sethi said. The victim suspects the duo had duped other people in a similar fashion as their modusoperandi involved meeting people in business class flights, plush clubs and hotels. He alleged that he did come across people who were duped by the couple after the incident. The present standoff at the trijunction between Sikkim, Tibet and Bhutan, on the southern tip of the Chumbi, is a worrying development. While recently addressing the foreign diplomats in Delhi, foreign secretary S Jaishankar rightly stated that China has been 'unusually aggressive and articulate'. Beijing seems to have only one argument, i.e. the 1890 convention between the British and the Manchus, conveniently forgetting several other agreements, particularly the 1893 Trade Regulations (1890 twin accord) which allowed India to open a trade mart in Yatung in the Chumbi Valley. Treasure There is also general amnesia on the fact that the Tibetans never recognised the 1890 Convention as Lhasa and Paro were not consulted by the 'Great Imperial Powers'. The present standoff at the trijunction between Sikkim, Tibet and Bhutan, on the southern tip of the Chumbi, is a worrying development Tsepon WD Shakabpa, the Tibetan historian explained: 'In 1890 a convention was drawn up without consulting the government of Tibet and since (Tibet) was not represented at the Convention, those articles were not allowed to be put into practice by the Tibetans. 'The British were aware that China exercised no real power in Tibet at that time.' To come back to the present day, Jaishankar told a panel of MPs that India has clearly outlined its position on the border though the Chinese have a differing position, 'but they are misinterpreting it and so India was trying to clarify it'. He said that India has been maintaining the same position since 1895 as per an Anglo-Chinese agreement. One can only hope that reason will prevail in Beijing, but a solution is bound to take time. In this context, an anecdote came back to mind. A Chinese soldier stands guard on the Chinese side of the ancient Nathu La border crossing between India and China A few years ago, an acquaintance who, as a young diplomat, was posted in Gangtok in the Political Officer's office told me that in 1975-76, soon after the merger of the Himalayan State with India, he spent months going through all the historical records kept in Gangtok between 1889 to 1975; Delhi's orders were to dispatch them to Delhi for safe custody. Once his work was over; the diplomat sent six truck-loads of old files to Delhi under CRPF escort. Since then, nobody seems to know where these Sikkim Papers are and if this archival treasure still exists. It would have an immense historical value today to show that India and Tibet had a different relation than the one portrayed by China; further Beijing would be unable to bluff its way through with incorrect historical information. Gangtok has seen many remarkable personages serving as Political Officer's (POs). The first was Claude White, a British engineer who was send to Sikkim in 1887 to tackle the tense situation on the SikkimTibet border in the north. A year later, White came back to Sikkim as an Assistant Political Officer of a British Expeditionary Force which defeated the Tibetans a year later; this resulted in the 1890 Convention. In the meantime, a post of Political Officer in Sikkim had been created, making Claude White, the Administrative head of the entire Himalayan region. Tragedy In his book Sikkim and Bhutan: 21 Years on the North East Frontier 1887-1908, the first PO wrote, 'one of the first things to be done after his arrival in Sikkim was to build a house, the site for which was found in the midst of the jungles around Gangtok'; then called the Residency, it is today's the Raj Bhavan. Though South Block probably has copies of some of the Sikkim Papers, the entire set is not traceable (it is at least what I was told). It is a tragedy for researchers and it would undoubtedly help strengthen India's case in the present circumstances. China has been accused of being 'unusually aggressive and articulate' (file pic) History Interesting officers occupied the Residency in Gangtok. Amongst them, Sir Charles Bell who had developed a deep friendship with the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, when the latter was living in exile in Kalimpong, but also Frederick Bailey who was instrumental in mapping the North-East, what became the McMahon Line in 1914.; and Sir Basil Gould, who in the 1930s, travelled to Tibet to establish diplomatic relations with a then Independent Tibet or Arthur Hopkinson, the religious-minded ICS officer, who was asked by the government of India to continue for a year after Independence as the First 'Indian' PO. Harishwar Dayal took over from Hopkinson and was officiating when Tibet was invaded by the Chinese troops in October 1950. Once in a cable to the Prime Minister, Dayal dared quoting a dispatch sent from Hugh Richardson, the Scottish-born 'Indian' representative in Lhasa; on June 15, 1949, he suggested that India might consider occupying Chumbi Valley up to Phari 'in an extreme emergency'. This did not go well with Nehru, but in November 1950, Dayal wrote: 'This suggestion was NOT favoured by government of India at the time. It was however proposed as a purely defensive measure and with NO aggressive intention. 'An attack on Sikkim or Bhutan would call for defensive military operations by the Government of India.' Though it is history now, it is what China's PLA strategists would today call 'active defence'. Let us hope that the Sikkim Papers could soon be traced, they contain the history of Modern Himalaya. India's geopolitical power play is seemingly paying off with countries rethinking and reviewing decisions to invest in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). South Korea's Daelim Industrial Company Limited, which is leading a consortium to develop the 500 MW Chakothi Hattian Hydropower Project on the Jhelum in Muzaffarabad, is reconsidering its investment in the venture. This after financiers such as the Asian Development Bank, International Finance Corporation and Exim Bank of Korea expressed their inability to back a project in a disputed area. South Korea's Daelim Industrial Company Limited, which is leading a consortium to develop the 500 MW Chakothi Hattian Hydropower Project on the Jhelum in Muzaffarabad, is reconsidering its investment in the venture The information minister of PoK Mushtaq Ahmed Minhas has confirmed the development. Further, other Korean-financed ventures in the region, such as the Kohala Hydropower project, may also be stalled. Sources have told India Today TV that Pakistan has been aggressively trying to seek investment from international financial institutions and countries, including China and South Korea, in energy and other infrastructure projects in PoK and Gilgit-Baltistan. Both are parts of undivided Jammu and Kashmir, and claimed by India as its territory. 'I think it's a very favourable development for us,' said Jayadeva Ranade, president of the Centre for China Analysis and Strategy, and a former additional secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat. 'It's a development that we should follow up. In fact, I would say that we should encourage South Korea and its companies to come to India particularly in areas that we are weak like shipbuilding.' Money issues While investments were being considered earlier, lately there has been a general reluctance both by financial institutions and countries towards putting money in these areas. This disinclination is on account of an increased international understanding of the legal status of Gilgit-Baltistan and PoK. 'If it is as a result of diplomatic effort on the part of India, I would say that it is very good and encouraging news that countries are receptive to concerns that we have,' said former foreign secretary Shyam Saran. Following the announcement of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), and India's categorical objection to it on the grounds that Pakistan and China could not construct an economic corridor that passed through Indian territory currently under illegal occupation of Pakistan, the international community has woken up to the disputed nature of the region. Pakistan and Indian regularly exchange mortar fire across the Line of Control, the de facto Kashmir border, despite signing a ceasefire in 2003 Hydropower has been a source of friction between the neighbouring nations, with the two sides over the years objecting to each other's major dam projects. New Delhi has in recent months fast-tracked hydropower projects worth about $15bn in Kashmir, ignoring warnings from Islamabad that power stations on rivers flowing into Pakistan will disrupt water supplies. The CPEC has also brought to the fore the legal position of the two areas in Pakistan. Not only do the regions remain disputed territory, they are also not formally part of Pakistan under the country's constitution. Azad Kashmir (AJK), Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan, are not named in the constitution of Pakistan, thereby leaving a large number of questions unanswered, including the citizenship of people residing in these parts. India's continuous efforts to highlight these facts over the last few years have yielded results where doubts have been raised among investors on the economic feasibility of projects in the disputed area. 'I think this realisation will dawn on commercial entities which have major stakes in India,' said Ashok Kantha, former ambassador to China. 'They will have to take a call sometime on what is more important for them: to get involved in PoK or to look after their commercial interests in India.' China's role Apart from South Korea, sources say China has also been putting pressure on Pakistan to legalise the status of PoK and Gilgit- Baltistan through amendments to its constitution before it pours in huge investments in these areas as a part of the CPEC. China is aware that not only is the region disputed, being claimed by India, but even Pakistani laws do not give it the status of Pakistan's sovereign territory. Chinese pressure has led to the recent move by the Nawaz Sharif government to change the status of Gilgit-Baltistan and declare it the fifth province of the country. Villagers have increasingly protected the rebels by hurling rocks, and abuse, at Indian troops when they enter their areas. At least five civilians have been killed by government forces during such clashes this year 'There must be some technical reason for their pullout,' said Sardar Atiq, former Prime Minister of AJK (PoK). 'One needs to find out. But as far as foreign investment in 'Azad Kashmir' is concerned, this is not for the first time. 'We have 2- 3 projects going on right now and are accommodating a lot of foreign investment.' Earlier, Asian Development Bank also refused to fund the $14 billion Diamer- Bhasha Dam on the Indus river. This project has been facing problems with financiers since its inception with several sponsors backing out in 2012. The following year, it appeared that the project would take off after the Aga Khan Foundation and ADB agreed to be its financiers. However, subsequently the ADB put its decision to bankroll the project on hold. Glaxo will also outsource some antibiotics manufacturing from its Worthing site Over 300 GlaxoSmithKline employees are set to lose their jobs after the group unveiled plans to sell its malt drink Horlicks brand, shut down the plant where it is produced and outsource some of its antibiotics manufacturing. Glaxo said the planned closure of Horlicks manufacturing site in Slough and the decision to outsource production at its site in Worthing will result in the loss of 320 jobs over the next four years. The pharma giant currently employs around 17,000 people in the UK - 5,000 of which are involved in its manufacturing. For sale: Glaxo unveiled plans to sell its malt drink Horlicks brand in the UK but not in India or South East Asia It said the sale of Horlicks was restricted to its operations in Britain and would not affect the brand in India or South East Asia, which currently account for the 'vast majority' of the brand's global revenue. In the first big move by new chief executive Emma Walmsley since she took over from Sir Andrew Witty in April, GSK also announced a big strategic review of its pharmaceutical division. It said it was considering whether to sell off its cephalosporins antibiotics business and the sites where such medicines are manufactured, which include Ulverston in Cumbria, Verona in Italy and part of its Barnard Castle site. Roger Connor, president of GSK global manufacturing and supply said consultations with staff working at its Slough and Worthing sites would begin immediately. He added: We have a substantial manufacturing presence in the UK and continue to support the network with new investment of more than 140million in the next 3 years. At the same time, we have had to make some decisions which we know will cause uncertainty for some of our employees. We will do all we can to support them through this process. GSK also said it was looking to sell its MaxiNutrition brand in the UK and smaller non-core nutrition brands as it continues to shift its focus from consumer products to growing its drugs pipeline. As part of the major overhaul aimed at improving the efficiency and competitiveness of its manufacturing network, GSK said it would invest more than 140million at its sites in Ware, Barnard Castle and Montrose where it produces its respiratory and HIV medicines. This adds to 275million investment announced last year and a total of 1.2billion earmarked for UK manufacturing since 2012, GSK said. The company stressed that none of the announcements were the result of the UK's decision to leave the EU. Shares in Glaxo were 0.9 per cent, or 14p higher at 1,614p near close. Off: Carolyn McCall is leaving for ITV EasyJet has upgraded its annual profit forecast after a strong Easter helped boost third quarter revenues. The budget airline reported a 16 per cent rise in sales to 1.39billion in the three months to June 30, with passenger numbers increasing by 10.8 per cent to 22.3 million. As a result, EasyJet said full-year pre-tax profits are expected to come in between 380million and 420million, up from earlier forecasts. But profits will still come in well below last year's 495million, when the firm was stung by the plunging pound. Meanwhile the first flight by EasyJet Europe takes off today after the budget carrier secured approval for the Austrian-based offshoot to overcome post-Brexit flight concerns. The airline won approval for Air Operator Certificate and airline operating licence from the authorities in Vienna, securing its future operations in Europe. Chief executive Carolyn McCall, who will leave the company to take the top job at ITV in January, said: 'Our purposeful and disciplined growth continues to strengthen our market positions and we are seeing an underlying improving revenue trend. 'Although we expect capacity to continue to put pressure on yields, our progress this year has enabled us to upgrade this year's profit-before-tax forecast and demonstrates that, after a difficult 18 months of external challenges, EasyJet once again has positive momentum.' 'Our European AOC has now been awarded and the first flight by an EasyJet Europe aircraft takes place today. That means our flying rights in Europe will be secure after the UK leaves the EU.' The airline has won approval for Air Operator Certificate and airline operating licence from the authorities in Vienna, securing its future operations in Europe McCall leaves the low-cost carrier at a difficult time for the sector in Britain, with Brexit storm clouds gathering over the travel industry. The pound's collapse has meant fewer people travelling overseas and, more starkly, British airlines are at risk of being grounded unless Tory ministers strike an aviation deal with the EU before March 2019. General concerns over the aviation industry and who will replace McCall have led EasyJet shares lower this session, while ticket pricing has also been highlighted as an issue for the airline among analysts. Nicholas Hyett, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: 'An ever larger number of passengers are flying EasyJet. The problem is that easyJet is struggling to get its new passengers to pay the same as the old ones did. 'Despite an improvement in quarter three, the group still expects revenue per seat to decline by 2 per cent across the second half as a whole and that suggests that the key summer period has been seeing some significant discounting. 'The group has blamed the lower prices on increased competition in key summer holiday markets, such as Spain and Portugal, and unfortunately that's a trend that looks set to continue.' The shares are off 5 per cent, or 77.0p, at 1,341.0p. Consumer giant Unilever has vindicated its recent decision to rebuff a persistent takeover effort by American Kraft Heinz as it posted rising sales and profits for the first half of 2017. The company behind popular brands such as Marmite, Dove soap and Persil laundry detergent said underlying sales rose by 3 per cent in the first half despite volatile market conditions. Sales excluding its spread business - which it is planning to sell or demerge as part of a major shake-up after rejecting Kraft Heinzs 115billion takeover earlier this year - rose by 3.4 per cent. Marmite maker Unilever said underlying sales rose by 3 per cent in the first half Chief executive Paul Polman said the new strategy was delivering ahead of plan and expected sales growth to accelerate in the second half as the group increases its investments in marketing and branding. He expects sales growth of between 3 to 5 per cent in the year ahead and profitability to improve. He said: Our first half results show continued growth well ahead of our markets and a substantial step-up in profitability despite the persisting volatile global trading environment. The transformation of Unilever into a more resilient, more competitive and more profitable business is accelerating. Pre-tax profits climbed 27 per cent to 4.6billion (4.1billion) for the first half of 2017, up from 3.6billion (3.2billion) the year before. Shares rose 1.4 per cent, or 61p, to 4,375p in late afternoon trading. The Anglo-Dutch firm flagged Brazil's economic troubles as a significant headwind, while the rollout of a goods and services tax in India and fewer trading days due to holidays in Indonesia were also dragging on business. Consumer demand across Europe was weak, the company added, with a slowdown in the margarine market across the UK and Germany knocking overall growth. It said the decline of the spreads business had slowed to 3.7 per cent, with growth in emerging markets offsetting sluggish demand in developed countries. Unilever announced the sale of its 6billion Flora and Stork spreads business in April after fending off a takeover attempt by Kraft Heinz. This week, another consumer goods maker, Reckitt Benckiser, agreed to sell the food arm which makes Frenchs mustard to the US food company McCormick in a deal worth $4.2billion (3.2billion). The American company behind Schwartz spices beat off rival bidders for the business, with Unilever said to be one of them. Chief executive Paul Polman said the new strategy was delivering ahead of plan Steve Clayton, fund Manager of the HL Select funds said the results look to be ahead of analysts expectations. Volume growth is still hard to come by, in todays world of lacklustre economic growth, but Unilevers strength in emerging markets is allowing it to push revenues forward through pricing gains. Meanwhile, after coming under intense pressure following the Kraft Heinz bid approach, Unilevers redoubled efforts to raise margins are paying off. Cost savings of over a billion euros were achieved in the half year, with another 5billion planned in the medium term. Unilever look well set to hit their target of a 20 per cent margin by 2020. Shares across Europes biggest carriers plunged yesterday after EasyJet warned of the impact of a price war. EasyJet dropped 5.9 per cent, British Airways owner IAG plunged 3.9 per cent and Lufthansa 8.6 per cent after EasyJet said it expects revenue per seat a measure of fares to fall by 2 per cent in the six months to September. Air France and Air Berlin shares also dropped by 8.3 per cent and 2.2 per cent respectively. Up in the air: Like most airlines, low fuel prices have seen EasyJet raise capacity, driving down fares for passengers Like most airlines, low fuel prices have seen EasyJet raise capacity, driving down fares for passengers. But while the airline raised its profit forecast to a range of 380m to 420m yesterday above the analyst consensus of 375m outgoing chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall, 55, said the extra capacity put pressure on yields. It comes just days after German flag carrier Lufthansa voiced similar concerns over the pricing outlook, despite also upgrading its profit forecast. Despite the warning, EasyJet enjoyed a strong third quarter performance. Sales in the three months to June 30 increased 16 per cent to 1.4bn while passenger numbers jumped 10.8 per cent to 22.3m. Total revenue per seat increased 2.2 per cent to 55.80 per seat. Banking is set for a futuristic innovation later in the year after TSB announced it will introduce iris recognition to its mobile app. This will allow customers to unlock their TSB banking app using an iris scanner, in a move that could come from the movies. It says it is the first bank in Europe to commit to the technology, which will be available to those with a Samsung Galaxy S8 or S8+ smartphone from September 2017. Iris scan: Later in the year, TSB customers will be able to access their mobile banking by scanning their iris It means TSB customers can access their banking using either the fingerprint - an existing feature - or the iris scanner, which it says will result in no need to remember lengthy IDs or passwords. Iris scanning is the most secure form of biometric authentication available today TSB says, with 266 unique characteristics compared with 40 for fingerprints. It is also the most user-friendly one look and the mobile app is ready to use. Carlos Abarca, chief information officer at TSB, says: 'Iris recognition allows you to unlock your TSB mobile app with a simple glance, meaning all of those IDs, passwords and memorable information become a thing of the past. 'As well as a more customer-friendly approach to identification, iris recognition is also the most secure method of authentication available today. 'We want our mobile app customers to continue to have a fast, easy-to-use experience; iris recognition delivers that and, when combined with our other security measures, an unparalleled level of cyber security.' TSB: The bank says its new mobile banking app has liberated it from legacy systems The move by TSB comes after it launched its new mobile banking app earlier in the year, which was built on its new Proteo4UK IT banking platform. It says it's part of plans to build a bank fit for the 21st century, with digital at its heart. TSB says that using Proteo4UK will liberate it from its current legacy systems it was spun out from Lloyds in 2013 - and also allow the bank to become more agile. Spy stuff: Biometric technology is no longer the stuff of spy and sci-films. Pictured, Daniel Craig as James Bond However, one expert believes the new technology is not all that secure. Etienne Greeff, chief technology officer and co-founder of SecureData, said: 'Biometric security is no longer the stuff of sci-fi films. 'Is TSB's use of retina ID as a means of authentication for its customers a step in the right direction for cybersecurity? 'The question on many people's lips will be "is it really that secure?" 'Biometrics is fast becoming the de facto security measure for a wide range of business and consumer applications. 'However, German hackers were recently able to trick a Samsung Galaxy S8's iris scanner with a picture of the device owner's eye and a contact lens (see video below). 'This was the same month that HSBC's voice recognition security system was fooled by a journalist. 'Biometric authentication is not entirely immune to potential attack and therefore should not be relied on as the sole means of verifying a user.' Advertisement Mosul's Old City, which once stood as a neighborhood of densely built alleyways and homes on winding lanes, has been reduced to rubble by a months-long war to root out the Islamic State. The effect of the battle, which ended as jihadists made their last attempt to hold on to the region earlier this month, can be seen in stark before-and after satellite photographs. Much of the city has been leveled, with rubble and dust covering what was once a thriving neighborhood in Iraq. Nearly a third of the Old City - more than 5,000 buildings - was damaged or destroyed in the final three weeks of bombardment up to July 8, according to a survey by UN Habitat using satellite imagery. Across the city, 10,000 buildings were damaged over the course of the war, the large majority in western Mosul, the scene of the most intense artillery, airstrikes and fighting during the past five months. The survey only covers damage visible in satellite photos, meaning the real number is likely higher. Slide me Mosul's Old City has been left in ruins by a months-long war to root out the Islamic State. The effect of the battle, which ended as jihadists made their last attempt to hold on to the region earlier this month, can be seen in stark before-and after satellite photographs. The city is pictured left in 2015 and right in 2017 Slide me Much of the city has been leveled, with rubble and dust covering what was once a thriving neighborhood in Iraq. Nearly a third of the Old City - more than 5,000 buildings - was damaged or destroyed in the final three weeks of bombardment up to July 8, according to a survey by UN Habitat using satellite imagery. The city is pictured left in 2015 and right in 2017 The population, once numbering 3 million, is battered and exhausted, with hundreds of thousands displaced. Without a swift campaign to rebuild Mosul, aid and rights groups warn the current humanitarian crisis will balloon and resentment will likely give way to extremism, undermining the victory. It took Iraq's US-backed forces nearly nine months to wrest Mosul from the Islamic State group, and the cost was enormous destruction, especially in the western part of the city. Mosul was finally liberated on July 10. Iraq's Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi initially said the battle to reclaim Mosul would be over by Christmas. The east side of the city was taken by January, though the West side of the city took far longer. An aerial bombardment on the West, which includes the Old City, started in February and lasted until early July. IS fighters had turned the city into a fortress, holding tens of thousands of civilians as human shields. Iraqi forces often turned to artillery and US-led coalition airstrikes. The Old City was the last battlefield. When al-Abadi declared victory in Mosul on July 10, he pledged reconstruction would begin soon. But his government still struggles to finance day-to-day workings of the state amid low oil prices. Thousands of Mosul families have been left without a home. Schools have been leveled, utility grids wrecked, highways pounded into broken dirt roads. Slide me The population, once numbering 3 million, is battered and exhausted, with hundreds of thousands displaced. Without a swift campaign to rebuild Mosul, aid and rights groups warn the current humanitarian crisis will balloon and resentment will likely give way to extremism, undermining the victory. The city is pictured left in 2015 and right in 2017 Slide me It took Iraq's US-backed forces nearly nine months to wrest Mosul from the Islamic State group, and the cost was enormous destruction, especially in the western part of the city. Mosul was finally liberated on July 10. The city is pictured left in 2015 and right in 2017 All five of the city's bridges spanning the Tigris River have been damaged. The main hospital complex where a battle raged for more than a month is a burned out shell. Mosul's airport looks like a derelict parking lot, booby-trapped with explosives by fleeing IS fighters. In eastern Mosul, the destruction was less intense. More than 160,000 of the 176,000 people who fled the east have returned, according to the UN. Residents have begun rebuilding homes, shops have reopened, and demining is underway. But west of the Tigris, neighborhoods have been rendered into ghost towns. There, coalition strikes killed some 5,805 civilians between February 19 and June 19, according to Airwars, a London-based monitoring group tracking civilian deaths resulting from coalition actions. Fewer than a tenth of the more than 730,000 people who fled western Mosul have filtered back. With the liberation of Mosul declared on July 10 by al-Abadi, the country's coalition-backed forces must now reclaim other IS-controlled territory in parts of Ninawa and Anbar governorates, in Hawija in Kirkuk governorate and in pockets elsewhere, he said. At the same time, Iraq must start demining, stabilizing and rebuilding Mosul so people who fled the fighting can return home, Kubis said, and it must eliminate IS cells, criminal gangs and militias operating outside government control. Slide me In eastern Mosul, the destruction was less intense. More than 160,000 of the 176,000 people who fled the east have returned, according to the UN. But west of the Tigris, neighborhoods have been rendered into ghost towns. The city is pictured left in 2015 and right in 2017 Mosul's Old City once stood as a neighborhood of densely built alleyways and homes on winding lanes, but it has since turned to rubble West of the Tigris, coalition strikes killed some 5,805 civilians between February 19 and June 19. Fewer than a tenth of the more than 730,000 people who fled western Mosul have filtered back.Mosul is pictured above in 2017 In this July 10, 2017 photo, an aerial view of the Tigris river and the Old City of Mosul, Iraq. Iraqis US-backed forces succeeded in wresting Mosul from the Islamic State group but at the cost of enormous destruction Since military operations began in October to retake Mosul from IS extremists, he said approximately one million people have been displaced. The UN envoy for Iraq warned Monday that the road ahead for the Mideast nation is 'extremely challenging' following the liberation of Mosul, stressing that freeing other territory controlled by Islamic State extremists won't be easy. Jan Kubis told the Security Council that supporters of the militant group are also continuing 'their vicious terrorist activities against civilians in Iraq and beyond.' Addressing the issue of civilian casualties, Kubis said that at al-Abadi's direction, the liberation operation was marked by 'an exceptional effort' by Iraqi forces and their international partners to avoid civilian deaths. In stark contact, he said, IS 'terrorists showed absolute disregard for human lives and civilization' by booby-trapping and destroying houses, infrastructure and religious and cultural monuments and deliberately targeting civilians. The extremist group used civilians as human shields, locked people in their homes and used rooftop snipers to kill those attempting to flee to safety, Kubis said. The nearly 9-month fight culminated in a crescendo of devastation - the blasting of the historic Old City to root out the militants' final pockets. Mosul is pictured above on July 3, 2017 An aerial view of the rubble on a destroyed street on the west side of Mosul is pictured on July 13, following the liberation of the city The heavily damaged al-Nuri mosque (center right, with a green roof) sits as smoke from explosions billow from the Old City of Mosul, Iraq, on July 4, 2017 'They butchered them by using suicide bombers who included females and brainwashed children,' even in camps for the displaced, he said. Kubis said it is also 'crucial' for the government to enforce law and order, the rule of law, justice and accountability as well as implement reforms and good governance practices and promoting development. He said this must also be done in southern Iraq, which was far from the battleground. 'To turn the gains of the military victory into stability, security, justice and development, the government will have to do everything possible to give the people back their lives in society and dignity,' the U.N. special representative said. Kubis stressed that Iraq will need substantial regional and international support to accomplish this. He also urged the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government, which has announced plans for a referendum Sept. 25 on independence for Kurdistan, to start negotiations 'without further delay ... to urgently find common ground' and a roadmap to address critical issues. These discussions should focus on oil and revenue sharing, the status of disputed territories including Kirkuk, budget issues and relations between the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government, Kubis said. 'The absence of meaningful political dialogue could turn a conflict of interests into a different kind of conflict,' he warned. Buildings were left completely flattened while others continued to crumble in t he last days of the defensive against ISIS in Mosul. Pictured above, people walk through the destruction on July 11, 2017 Iraqi Forces are seen above on July 9, 2017, walking amidst the destruction of Mosul's Old City. Now that the city is liberated, rebuilding will start The man with 'Devast8' inked on his face is back in the tattoo parlour - this time for a laser removal session. Mark Cropp, 19, was overwhelmed with job offers after his desperate plea for employment went viral on social media. Now the New Zealand man's prayers have been answered by a tattoo removalist who is getting rid of the offending ink for free. Mark Cropp (pictured) is getting his 'Devast8' face tattoo removed for free by a generous tattoo parlour Sacred Laser co-owner Briar Neville (pictured, right) says Cropp's (pictured, left) face tattoo is the biggest she has had to deal with Cropp (pictured) made headlines around the world after his plea for a job went viral on social media Sacred Laser co-owner Briar Neville applied her laser removal skills to the now infamous 'Devast8' tattoo on Tuesday afternoon, the New Zealand Herald reported. The session was the first of 12 required to remove the black lettering, which the parlour is doing free of charge. Ms Neville said she wasn't sure what to expect due to the ink used and the prison tattoo's size. 'The main concern is that the ink he's used is not your regular ink. It's something they've made in prison by melting down plastic utensils,' she said. The first session took place on Tuesday afternoon and will be the first of 12 sessions required to remove the unwanted ink Tuesday afternoon's session left the '8' on Cropp's (pictured) face visibly lighter than before It is also the largest face tattoo she has ever had to deal with. 'This would be the biggest [tattoo] on the face that I've come across.' The 19-year-old was reluctant to get the ink erased, telling Kyle Sandilands on KIIS FM that he was worried people will say, 's*** that fella's got a lot of blackheads.' Cropp got the tattoo in jail after getting drunk on moonshine with his brother. The pair made the ink themselves. Briar Neville (pictured) says her biggest concern is the type of ink used in Cropp's prison tattoo Cropp (pictured) got the tattoo in his jail cell after getting drunk on moonshine with his brother They fashioned a tattoo gun from a pen spring attached to a cassette player and got carried away during what was supposed to be a 'little one along the jawline.' 'I went into jail with four tattoos and I came out with a full body suit,' he said. The 19-year-old struggled to find a job after his release, and turned to social media to ask potential employers to give him a chance. He then turned down 45 job offers after they flooded in from around the country, telling Daily Mail Australia that he is, 'just waiting for the right one to come about.' This image shows Cropp (pictured) before the face tattoo which made him go viral on social media Turkish schools will teach children the concept of jihad under President Tayyip Erdogan's new curriculum, it has emerged. Teachers will also be told to exclude Charles Darwin's theory of evolution when the new syllabus is rolled out. The chairman of a teachers' union described the changes as a huge step in the wrong direction for Turkey's schools and an attempt to avoid raising 'generations who ask questions'. Opponents fear Erdogan is subverting the republic's secular foundations. Turkey's leader, accused by critics of crushing democratic freedoms with tens of thousands of arrests and a clampdown on media since a failed coup last July, has in the past spoken of raising a 'pious generation'. Turkish schools will teach children the concept of jihad under President Tayyip Erdogan's new curriculum, it has emerged. Erdogan is pictured in Ankara on Sunday The curriculum, effective from the start of the 2017-2018 school year, obliges Turkey's growing number of 'Imam Hatip' religious schools to teach the concept of jihad as patriotic in spirit. 'It is also our duty to fix what has been perceived as wrong. This is why the Islamic law class and basic fundamental religion lectures will include (lessons on) jihad,' Yilmaz told reporters. 'The real meaning of jihad is loving your nation.' Jihad is often translated as 'holy war' in the context of fighters waging war against enemies of Islam; but Muslim scholars stress that it also refers to a personal, spiritual struggle against sin. Education Minister Ismet Yilmaz said the main elements of evolution already underpinned the science curriculum, but there would be no mention of Darwin's landmark theory until university. 'Because it is above the students' level and not directly related, the theory of evolution is not part' of the school curriculum, Yilmaz told a news conference. Opposition Republican People's Party lawmaker Mustafa Balbay said any suggestion the theory was beyond their understanding was an insult to high school students. 'You go and give an 18-year old student the right to elect and be elected, but don't give him the right to learn about the theory of evolution...This is being close minded and ignorant.' The theory of evolution is rejected by both Christian and Muslim creationists, who believe God created the world as described in the Bible and the Koran, making the universe and all living things in six days. Teachers will also be told to exclude Charles Darwin's theory of evolution when the new syllabus is rolled out Mehhmet Balik, chairman of the Union of Education and Science Workers (Egitim-Is), condemned the new curriculum. 'The new policies that ban the teaching of evolution and requiring all schools to have a prayer room, these actions destroy the principle of secularism and the scientific principles of education,' he said. Under the AKP, which came to power in 2002, the number of 'Imam Hatip' religious schools has grown exponentially. Erdogan, who has roots in political Islam, attended one such school. He has spent his career fighting to bring religion back into public life in constitutionally secular Turkey and has cast himself as the liberator of millions of pious Turks whose rights and welfare were neglected by a secular elite. Liberal Turks see Erdogan as attempting to roll back the work of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the Western-facing founder of modern Turkey who believed education should be free of religious teachings. Some government critics have said the new curriculum - which was presented for public feedback earlier this year - increased the emphasis on Islamic values at the expense of Ataturk's role. But Yilmaz said on Tuesday nothing about Ataturk or his accomplishments had been removed. Changes only emphasised core values such as justice, friendship, honesty, love and patriotism. He said discussion of the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Islamic State and the network of the U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara blames for last year's attempted coup, would also be added. Balik, the head of the union, said the changes were being made in an attempt to stamp out dissenting ideas. 'The bottom line is: generations who ask questions, that's what the government fears,' he said. Thousands of cockroaches descended onto the streets of a neighborhood in Philadelphia on Sunday. Residents of Bridesburg said they witnessed the creepy crawlers emerge from a manhole and invade their street. 'When I tell you thousands of them, there were thousands of them,' Pat Wall told NBC 10 on Monday. Thousands of cockroaches descended onto the streets of a neighborhood in Philadelphia on Sunday. Residents of Bridesburg said they witnessed the bugs emerge from a manhole and invade their street. Pictured is one of the dead roaches 'When I tell you thousands of them, there were thousands of them,' Pat Wall said. Another resident said the creepy crawlers were 'flying all over' Neighbors said the roaches began crawling out of the manhole (pictured) at the intersection of Salmon and Plum streets in the Bridesburg section of Philadelphia Sunday night and haven't stopped since. Authorities put boric acid powder down to keep more roaches from coming out She said the bugs were so thick residents couldn't see the ground. Wall and other neighbors said the roaches began crawling out of the manhole at the intersection of Salmon and Plum streets in the Bridesburg section of Philadelphia Sunday night and haven't stopped since. 'When I tell you all the neighbors down this end were out here spraying and stomping, it was a horror story that I couldn't believe I was living,' she told NBC. 'And they were flying all over. Never had to duck a flying roach.' The Philadelphia Water Department is now trying to figure out what caused the bugs to swarm the area. Water department spokesman John DiGiulio said crews were sent out to investigate on Tuesday. The Philadelphia Water Department is now trying to figure out what caused the bugs to swarm the area. Water department spokesman John DiGiulio said crews flushed the manhole and vacuumed out debris from the inlets. Pictured is a dead roach near the manhole In the meantime, residents said they're spraying their homes (pictured) and stomping the bugs to keep them away He said a sewer inlet might be clogged with food and trash that can attract the bugs, which are also known to multiply in warmer weather. The water department flushed the manhole and vacuumed out debris from the inlets. 'Behind them came the health department to put an insecticide into the sewer,' Digiulio said. 'To hopefully treat and remediate the situation.' In the meantime, residents said they're spraying their homes and stomping the bugs to keep them away. Michael Denon-Ross, a Briton who travelled to Australia last month, is missing in Alice Springs A Briton who travelled to Australia last month is still missing in Alice Springs. Northern Territory Police said they are concerned for the welfare of Michael Denon-Ross from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, after he failed to return to his hotel. The 57-year-old flew to Perth from London last month on a three-month tourist visa and checked into an Alice Springs hotel on July 8 but has not been seen or heard from since. He was due to check out of his accommodation on July 15 but did not return to the establishment despite leaving his luggage and possessions in the room. Mr Denon-Ross is believed to have previously gone missing in 2013 after Gloucestershire Police appealed for information regarding his whereabouts. He is described as Caucasian with very short dark hair and brown eyes and of a medium build. Senior Sergeant Alex Brennan, from Northern Territory Police, said: 'Michael, who is on holidays from the UK, was last seen at his hotel in Alice Springs on 8 July. 'He has not been seen or heard from since. We ask anyone who sights Michael or who has any information to contact police.' Alluring footage has emerged of a worm-like sea cucumber that appears to be around five feet in length. The clip, taken by diver Vitaly Bazarov captured this video in the Red Sea in Egypt, pans to show a very long version of the Synapta maculate synaptidae feeding on the sea bed. However the enormity of the creature doesn't seem to put off its fellow marine life, when it can be seen being circled by zebra turkeyfish. The clip, taken by diver Vitaly Bazarov captured this video in the Red Sea in Egypt, pans to show a very long version of the Synapta maculate synaptidae The worm-like sea cucumber was filmed feeding on the seabed Vitaly says sea cucumbers are fairly common in the Red Sea although seeing one of this length is unusual. Vitaly said: 'Synapta maculate synaptidae is a family of sea cucumbers - they have elongated bodies and their size varies significantly from small to quite large, they grow to five metres in length. 'They are quite active, moving by means of waves of peristaltic contractions. 'They are easy to find in the Red Sea, which is where I shot the video. 'They feed on decaying organic matter on the seabed, clearing detritus and essentially cleaning the sea.' These are the two Russian lobbyists at the center of the Trump Tower scandal - pictured with an accused mobster who has been linked to the suspicious deaths of at least two whistleblowers. Moscow lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya and former Soviet intelligence officer Rinat Akhmetshin were the two senior figures in the meeting with Donald Trump Jr which has become a running sore for him and for his father's administration. Now it can be disclosed that before meeting Don Jr they were photographed together at a film screening at the European Parliament in Brussels - talking to a man who has been identified as Andrey Pavlov. He is on U.S. and European blacklists for his alleged connection to the 2009 death of dissident Russian attorney Sergei Magnitsky. And he was named in a court in London as a 'candidate for the killing' of Russian whistle-blower Alexander Perepilichnyy, who died in the UK in 2012. The company they keep: Seen together at the European Parliament are: 1: Rinat Akhmetshin - a former Soviet military intelligence officer; 2: Andrey Pavlov - a Russian attorney allegedly linked to two whistleblowers' deaths who was at the DOn Jr meeting; 3 - Natalia Veselnitskaya, the lawyer who went to the Don Jr meeting and who also lobbied the Washington D.C. elite Brussels venue: This was the scene as the Russians tried to show a controversial film in the European Parliament, with the Soviet spy, the alleged killer and the Russian lawyer among those present Meeting: Donald Trump Jr agreed to the meeting with the Russians he thought would give his father's campaign dirt on Hillary Clinton - he then invited Jared Kushner, his brother-in-law, and Paul Manafort, then campaign chairman Questionable company: Rinat Akhmetshin (center) was seen speaking to both Andrey Pavlov and Pavel Karpov at the Brussels event. Karpov Karpov is a Russian interior ministry official who has also been linked to Magnitsky's death Perepilichnyy died in November 2012 close to the exclusive home in Weybridge, Surrey, just outside London, where he lived after fleeing Russian in fear of his life. A British court is currently examining how he came to die, amid allegations he was poisoned with sorrel soup. Federal prosecutors claim Pavlov is the 'consigliere' for the Russian-government-linked crime syndicate known as the Klyuev Group. Pavlov has been described by U.S. prosecutors as a 'key member' of the mob group, which has been linked to the theft of over $200 million from the Russian Treasury. The crime was allegedly facilitated by Russian government officials. The picture of Pavlov standing in the European Parliament with Veselnitskaya and Akhmetshin was taken at the end of April 2016. Six weeks later, the lawyer and the lobbyist met Don Jr in the meeting set up by portly Svengali Rob Goldstone, the British PR who offered dirt on Hillary Clinton to Don Jr who replied: 'I love it.' Two years earlier their companion Pavlov was named as one of 32 Russian officials who were 'involved in the death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, its judicial cover-up and the continuing harassment of his family.' Pavlov has denied the allegations. The parliament called for banning members of the list from entering the European Union and freezing their assets. These penalties have not been enforced, and Pavlov has travelled freely to EU countries over the past few years. Pavlov, an attorney, was accused by Magnitsky of helping members of the Klyuev Group concoct phony lawsuits over failed 'business deals' in order to obtain massive tax reimbursements. Avid networker: Natalia Veselntiskaya was seen in photographs obtained by DailyMail.com lobbying the Washington D.C. elite at the Newseum, the news museum dedicated to defending free speech. It refuses to say who paid for the hire of its facilities The wine's on us: THe Russians screened a controversial movie which claims laws criminalizing money-laundering are based on a lie at the Newseum, booking it for a wine and appetizers reception followed by a Q&A. At the center was Veselnitskaya (circled) who later met Don Jr Lobbyist: Rinat Akmetshin was at the Newseum and was named as trying to influence U.S. policy to abandon sanctions against Russia and the Magnitsky Act Dead: Russian attorneys Sergey Magnistky, (left) and Alexander Perepilichnyy (right) both died after expressing fear for their lives. Both deaths have been linked to Pavlov in court proceedings but he has never been charged with anything. Pavlov would reportedly represent both the plaintiff and defendant companies in the lawsuits, who were actually fellow conspirators linked to the Kyluev Group. The plaintiff would demand exorbitant amounts of money in damages and, with the court's approval, the defendant would claim the money in tax relief. Magnitsky was imprisoned after he exposed the alleged fraud. He died in prison after being denied medical treatment. His supporters say he was also tortured. Perepilichnyy, an accountant, had reportedly worked for members of the Klyuev Group before turning against them and going public with documents implicating them in the fraud exposed by Magnitsky. An investigation found trace toxins from a poisonous exotic plant in Perepilichnyy's stomach after his death at age 44. During a pre-inquest hearing last year, an attorney for Perepilichnyy's insurance company named Pavlov as a possible culprit. Pavlov met with Perepilichnyy at least twice shortly before he died, at Heathrow airport and in Geneva, apparently to pass along messages from individuals linked to the Klyuev Group. WHO'S WHO AT THE DON JR MEETING LAWYER Natalia Veselntiskaya first defended a Russian accused of a massive money laundering fraud. Then she lobbied against the Magnistky laws designed to strangle Russian money laundering. She denies working for the Kremlin but her past links her to Putin. Now says she will testify to the Senate. SVENGALI Portly ex-British journalist Rob Goldstone worked in New York as a music PR before becoming the manager for Emin Agalarov, wannabe pop star son of a Azerbaijani-Russian billionaire construction tycoon. Sent email offering dirt on Hillary and got 'I love it' reply from Don Jr. Quit 'gap year' to see a lawyer in Los Angeles. SPOOK Rinat Akhmetshinwas a Soviet military intelligence officer who U.S. intelligence believe is still a spy. He is a U.S. citizen who has lobbied in D.C. against the Magnitsky money-laundering laws and sanctions. Claims he went to the meeting at the last minute. 'CLEANER' Ike Kaveladze is a senior executive in the Agalorov construction and property empire, Crocus Group. But a 2000 General Accounting Office report stated his firm set up more than 2,000 Delaware corporations for Russians without even knowing who owned the companies. $800 million went through 136 accounts that Kaveladze opened for Russian clients. TRANSLATE Anatoli Samochornov is said to be Natalia Veselnitskaya's regular translator when she is in the U.S. Russian-born, he is a U.S. citizen who in the past worked for the State Department. He has made no comment on his activities. Advertisement He also flew out of Heathrow airport on the day after Perepilichnyy's death. 'Pavlov was in the country at the time of Mr Perepilichnyy's death. He was a prominent member of the Klyuev organised crime group,' Bob Moxon Browne, the for insurance company Legal & General told the hearing. 'He is certainly in any view a candidate for the killing of Mr Perepilichnyy.' Pavlov has not been charged in the case and has denied any involvement. He says Perepilichnyy was the one who requested the meetings with him. Police in Surrey say there is no evidence the dead man was poisoned. An inquest - an English court hearing to determine the cause of death - is continuing at the Old Bailey in London. Veselnitskaya and Akhmetshin have come under international scrutiny after it was revealed they met with Don Trump Jr. and top Trump campaign officials last June. Don Jr. said he agreed to the meeting under the belief that he would be given damaging documents on Hillary Clinton. The lobbyists reportedly handed Don Jr. a file on alleged financial misconduct at the Democratic National Committee. According to Don Jr., Veselnitskaya spent most of the meeting criticizing a U.S. law sanctioning Russia. The images of Veselnitskaya and Akhmetshin with Pavlov were broadcast on Russian television last year but have never been seen in the West. The lobbyists were in Brussels to organize a film screening of The Magnitsky Act, a documentary that objects to Sergei Magnitsky's portrayal as a whistleblower, and suggests the attorney was actually responsible for the financial corruption he blamed on Russian officials. The film is part of a larger lobbying push by the Russian government against U.S. and European sanctions laws, which were passed in response to Magnitsky's death in a Moscow prison at age 37. The movie was supposed to screen at European Parliament last April 27, but it was cancelled amid protests. Veselnitskaya and Akhmetshin are shown on the parliament floor along with Pavlov and the film director Andrei Nekasov. Pavel Karpov, a Russian interior ministry official who has also been linked to Magnitsky's death, was also at the event. While working as an Interior Ministry investigator, Karpov allegedly seized corporate seals and documents that were later used by Klyuev Group conspirators to hijack private companies by registering them under their own names. These stolen companies were then allegedly used to carry out the elaborate fake lawsuit plot. Karpov has denied wrongdoing. After the screening was cancelled, Veselnitskaya and Akhmetshin organized another premier at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. last June, just a few days after their Trump Tower meeting with Don Jr. The Newseum, a journalism museum that says it supports the first amendment, told the DailyMail.com last week that it will not disclose who paid for the movie screening or how much it cost. The event drew several congressional staffers and State Department officials, including two aides to Rep. Dana Rohrabacher. Another aide who worked for Rohrabacher on the House Foreign Affairs Committee sent out the invitation to the movie screening, according to a copy obtained by DailyMail.com. President Trump's critics point to his meeting with Veselnitskaya and Akhmetshin as evidence of 'collusion' between the Trump campaign and the Russian government during the presidential election. Special Counsel Robert Mueller is reportedly looking into the meeting as part of his probe into Russian election tampering. Akhmetshin's background is also raising questions on Capitol Hill. He reportedly worked as a Soviet intelligence agent before moving to the U.S. and becoming a lobbyist in Washington, D.C. He became a naturalized American citizen in 2009. During the five years prior to his naturalization, he traveled to foreign countries nearly sixty times. He spent a total of 'at least 276 days out of the United States' in countries including Russia, Turkey and Kazakhstan, according to Sen. Charles Grassley, who reviewed Akhmetshin's immigration file. Grassley said Akhmetshin also 'notes his service to the military police, with no mention of his alleged time as a former Soviet military counterintelligence officer.' The senator asked Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly to turn over more information on Akhmetshin's background in a letter this week. Grassley also asked for visa information on Veselnitskaya, who was granted a special visa exception by the U.S. government in 2015 and 2016. Veselnitskaya was in the U.S. defending her client Denis Katsyv, a Russian businessman whose company was accused of a $200 million tax evasion scheme involving the stolen Russian Treasury funds. Katsyv struck an unexpected deal with federal prosecutors in May that required his company to pay just under $6 million in fines. A woman who drove her car on a beach found herself in deep trouble when her 4WD got submerged in water. Police were called to Henley Beach in Adelaide about 9:30pm on Wednesday after reports of a car bogged down near the surf lifesaving club. The woman, 72, and her dog were rescued from the Kia Sportage when high tide hit about 2:10am but the car was left to brave the elements overnight. The woman had to be pulled from harm's way when her car became submerged on the beach The driver, a 72-year-old woman from the western suburbs, was detained by police under the Mental Health Act. Council workers are expected to remove the car from the beach from where it is stuck, 100 metres from the shore, later on Thursday. Images taken before the rescue show the car halfway submerged as high tide took hold. The incident failed to amuse SA police, who took to social media to warn other drivers against the ill-advised idea. 'Not such a great idea or night for a drive along the beach!' they wrote on Facebook. 'She drove along the beach and then tried to cross the outlet in her Kia Sportage, which apparently is Korean for submarine!' Police were called about 9:30pm on Wednesday after reports of a car bogged down President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, meet on July 8 to discuss bilateral ties and global hot-spot issues on the sidelines of a Group of 20 (G20) summit. [ Xinhua] Donald Trump might have lowered his anti-China rhetoric after the famed meeting with President Xi Jinping in FlorIda; however, there doesnt seem to be any deep change in his overall long term policy, including continued American ties with China's Taiwan. Trump showed his true intentions by accepting a telephone call of the leader of Taiwan after winning the presidential election last November a first for any U.S. leader. Last month, he displayed his attachment to the old policy by authorizing fresh arms sale to Taiwan. The latest pro-Taiwanese gesture is the enactment of a law to re-establish regular naval portcalls at Kaohsiung or any other suitable island ports. The provision is part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018, passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last week. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said this "seriously violates the one-China policy and the three China-U.S. joint communiques upheld by the U.S., and infringes on China's domestic affairs." It was, as China has made clear, against the spirit of cooperation promised by Trump after initial bravado in pledging to "stand up to China." Beijing is very touchy on Taiwan, which it considers as an integral part of China. It has always opposed any kind of independent military exchanges between other nations and the island. However, the United States continues to have a tendency to ignore such protests by displaying a policy of hugging Taiwan in a variety of ways. In June, the State Department approved the sale of arms worth US$1.4 billion to Taiwan. It is the first arms sale deal since Mr. Trump entered the Oval office and negates the entire spirit of the first Trump-Xi meeting. An angered China called it interference in its domestic affairs while also violating international laws, and urged the Americans to desist. Instead of taking the Chinese protests seriously, Washington followed up with the ports of call law to further deepen defense cooperation. It can be interpreted as a calculated move to put pressure on China. Another similar move was the June decision by the U.S. Treasury Department to impose sanctions on a Chinese bank accused of having dealings with North Korea. Selling arms to Taiwan while showing respect for the one-China policy, and sanctioning a bank while seeking Chinese support to address North Korean issue, shows that the U.S. administration has incorporated purpose-built duplicity in its diplomatic policies. It wants to continue close cooperation with China, attracted by huge trade and other commercial interests. On the security level, it badly needs Chinese help in dealing with North Korea. Yet, it also wants to assert its right to have an independent track of cooperation with Taiwan. Other such actions include frequent assertion of the right of free navigation in the South China Sea. It has been sending jets to fly over ships to pass through waters claimed by China. Such steps not only help raise the temperature but are contrary to the policy of seeking good relations. It shows that there are two strands of U.S. policy towards China. In a short-to- medium timeframe it seeks cooperation, as it cannot afford any kind of tension. We saw how Trump had to moderate his viewsfollowing this approach. However, the long-term policy objectives are different. The U.S. considers China as rival and has always tried to build ties with regional entities and countries known to be anti-Chinese to varying degrees. Hence, having close links with Taiwan is important in this regard. Steps like limited arms sale may not lead to any strategic difference, but helps to create reaction and countermeasures that could be detrimental. It is also part of a larger perspective to use Taiwan as a bargaining chip at a critical juncture. Sajjad Malik is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/SajjadMalik.htm Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn. Two people have died after a truck crashed and caught fire 40km north of Gloucester on Thursday. Emergency services were called to Thunderbolts Way at Giro, on the New South Wales Mid North Coast, when a southbound truck ran off the road and crashed about 4.30am on Thursday. Two people in the truck died at the scene. Emergency services were called to Thunderbolts Way (pictured) at Giro, on the New South Wales Mid North Coast, when a southbound truck ran off the road and crashed about 4.30am on Thursday New South Wales police said the two people were not yet identified. No one else was injured in the crash. Thunderbolts Way remains open but police warned motorists there was a significant emergency response team on-site as forensic officers examined the scene. NSW Police said a salvage operation was underway. The police urged anyone with information in relation to the incident to phone Crime Stoppers. Thunderbolts Way, inland from Newcastle and Port Macquarie, remains open but police warned motorists there was a significant emergency response team on-site as forensic officers examined the scene The double fatality is the most recent of eight crashes on New South Wales roads in the past 24 hours The double fatality is the most recent of eight crashes on New South Wales roads in the past 24 hours. Six people died on the state's roads on Wednesday alone, including a three-year-old boy who was hit by a car in Eastwood, in Sydney's northwest. The boy was crossing the road with his mother when he was hit and killed on Wednesday afternoon. The Greens are promoting a 'standing-room' night with Scott Ludlam as the keynote speaker - even though he quit parliament for being a dual New Zealand citizen. Despite spending nine years as an illegitimate senator on a $200,000-a-year salary, his party is actually hosting a public forum in Sydney's inner west with him as the headline act. The state Greens member for Newtown, Jenny Leong, is co-hosting with Mr Ludlam a forum on stopping toll roads this Sunday afternoon at Petersham Bowling Club, despite the fact he quit parliament on July 14 just days before his colleague Larissa Waters. 'Places are filling very quickly and if you want to come and we're full, you are still very welcome to turn up as there will be some standing room at the venue,' Ms Leong said on her website, which was also posted as a Facebook advertisement. Scroll down for video Scott Ludlam (left) is co-hosting a forum on stopping toll roads with Newtown Greens MP Jenny Leong (right) Former senator Scott Ludlam (right) with Greens Leader Richard Di Natale (centre) and another former senator Larissa Waters (left) Jenny Leong (centre) is from the NSW branch of the Greens who are rallying around maverick senator Lee Rhiannon (left) as she remains expelled from federal party room meetings Mr Ludlam also lives in Perth, 4,000 kilometres away from where Sydney's WestConnex motorway is under construction. To make matters more complicated, he recently voted with his former fellow Greens Senate colleagues to expel maverick New South Wales senator Lee Rhiannon from party room discussions. This was after she contradicted the Greens' position on negotiating an education funding package with the Turnbull Government. Ms Leong also hails from the NSW branch of the Greens, who are at odds with the party's Melbourne-based leader Richard Di Natale. Mr Ludlam last week said it was recently brought to his attention that he holds dual citizenship of Australia and New Zealand. That makes him ineligible to be a senator for Western Australia under section 44 of the constitution. Four days later, on Tuesday this week, Larissa Waters quit as a senator for Queensland after discovering she had dual Canadian citizenship. Both of them were co deputy leaders of the Greens. Scott Ludlam quit parliament after finding out he was improperly elected in 2007 (stock photo) The forum with Scott Ludlam says there may be standing room only for late arrivals Mr Ludlam said he could not afford to pay back the money, but was confident it would not get to that point. 'It's going to be millions of dollars and my total assets amount to a fast computer and some nice shoes,' he told the ABC. Mr Ludlam's Kiwi citizenship, resulting in his shock resignation, was exposed by Perth barrister Dr John Cameron. The highly regarded barrister obtained proof that Mr Ludlam still held New Zealand citizenship and was ineligible to be a federal member of parliament in Australia. It is understood Mr Cameron obtained documents not publicly available from New Zealand authorities. Mr Ludlam labelled it a 'ridiculous oversight'. Larissa Waters quit as the senator for Queensland on Tuesday upon learning she had dual Canadian citizenship The party's co-deputy leader announced on Friday that it was recently brought to his attention that he holds dual citizenship of Australia and New Zealand (stock image) The party's co-deputy leader announced on Friday that it was recently brought to his attention that he holds dual citizenship of Australia and New Zealand (stock image) 'I apologise unreservedly for this mistake,' he said in a statement on Friday. 'This was my error, something I should have checked when I first nominated for preselection in 2006.' Instead of going through drawn-out legal proceedings, he resigned as a senator for Western Australia and co-deputy leader of the Australian Greens. Mr Ludlam was born in Palmerston North in New Zealand and left the country with his family when he was three. He settled in Australia not long before his ninth birthday, before being naturalised when he was in his mid-teens. '(I) assumed that was the end of my New Zealand citizenship.' 'It is entirely my responsibility - it wasn't the way I was hoping to go out.' Mr Ludlam took to Twitter after his announcement to apologize once again. 'Hey everyone. I'm sorry about this, but it's a thing. I'll really miss it, but there are other ways to make trouble. Love and thanks.' Scott Ludlam became the fourth senator to leave the upper house this parliamentary term Ludlam's Kiwi citizenship, resulting in his shock resignation, was exposed by Perth Perth barrister Dr John Cameron (pictured) Greens leader Richard Di Natale said he was devastated at the news, but Senator Ludlam's decision to deal with the issue directly and immediately showed his integrity and character. 'Scott has been an outstanding member of the parliament and of the Greens,' he said in a statement. 'He has been a strong representative for the people of WA and the nation on a range of issues.' He lauded Mr Ludlam's intelligence on issues from digital rights to homelessness. 'He will continue to be a champion of the Greens movement and a dear friend.' The Senate is expected to refer the matter to the Court of Disputed Returns, which the Greens think will call for a countback of votes from the 2016 election. Senator Ludlam took to Twitter after his announcement to apologize once again (pictured) University student Jordan Steele-John, 21, has been touted the frontrunner to take the vacant seat. Mr Steele-John, who has cerebral palsy, had to give up his British citizenship to run for parliament back in 2013. Mr Ludlam is the fourth senator to leave the upper house this parliamentary term. Bob Day and Rod Culleton were both ruled ineligible for constitutional reasons, while Liberal senator Chris Back resigned. In October, Mr Day resigned as a Family First senator for South Australia after it emerged the former company director's building company had gone bust, making him a bankrupt and therefore ineligible to be in parliament. Mr Day's Home Australia group of companies has been placed into liquidation, halting construction on 207 new homes in SA, Western Australia, Queensland, Victoria and NSW. He also had a commercial interest in his Adelaide electorate office, breaching Section 44 (5) of the constitution, which bans federal members of parliament from having a financial contract with the Commonwealth. In January, the High Court ruled that former One Nation senator for Western Australia Rod Culleton's election to parliament was invalid because he had been charged with stealing a $7.50 truck key. Former senator Scott Ludlam announced he was quitting parliament on Friday last week Drugs and mobile phones have been found inside televisions, toilet systems and even sandwiches at a notorious Sydney jail. The New South Wales prison system was sent into crisis mode earlier this month when Parklea inmate Carl Walton shared a now-infamous video from inside his cell. The shocking footage prompted Corrective Services NSW to send its own team into the privately run prison, which has now seen its second raid in as many weeks. Dramatic footage shows officers storming into a cell and gang-tackling an inmate to his bed before conducting a search. Drugs and mobile phones have been found inside televisions, toilet systems and even sandwiches at Sydney's notorious Parklea prison The dramatic raids took place after a former Parklea inmate shared a now-infamous video from inside his cell In another cell, authorities are seen retrieving two mobile phones from a toilet bowl, while drugs were found inside another inmate's tuna and baked bean sandwich. Nine phones, three charges, 60 green and white capsules, 11 heart-shaped capsules, a strip of buprenorphine and 50g of tobacco were uncovered in Monday's raid. Seven inmates were placed in segregation and are expected to face charges relating to the contraband. Minister for Corrections David Elliott warned it was 'only the beginning' of a swift response to Walton's video, which showed him flaunting weapons and bragging about his stash of drugs. A prisoner is seen handcuffed as he is spoken to be an officer at Parklea jail on Monday Dramatic footage shows officers storming into a cell and gang-tackling an inmate to his bed before conducting a search Seven inmates were placed in segregation and are expected to face charges relating to the contraband Nine phones, three charges, 60 green and white capsules, 11 heart-shaped capsules, a strip of buprenorphine and 50g of tobacco were uncovered in Monday's raid Contraband was found found inside another inmate's tuna and baked bean sandwich 'I was appalled when I saw the inmate's video and we immediately advised the operator, GEO Group, that we would be sending in our own team,' Mr Elliott said. 'We conducted an intelligence-based sweep of the centre, seizing mobile phones and tobacco from a number of cells and this is only the beginning.' Walton's video, which quickly went viral, showed him holding a knife, a 'slasher' razor and the drug ice inside his Parklea prison cell. He claimed he was filming himself on a mobile phone given to him by a prison guard. Minister for Corrections David Elliott warned it was 'only the beginning' of a swift response to Walton's video The shocking footage prompted Corrective Services NSW to send its own team into the privately run prison, which has now seen its second raid in as many weeks Officers are seen dismantling televisions and searching belongings during Monday's raid Seven mobile phones and three charges were found in the second raid on the prison since Walton's video emerged Walton said he had 'messed up the system' for some inmates by sharing the video, but revealed he did it to highlight what he claimed to be rampant drug use in prison. 'Jail messes people up. I never used to touch drugs until jail, when I went in I got on this and I got on that. I couldn't escape it,' he told The Daily Telegraph last week. Walton, a former Bandido bikie, said he had no idea the video would cause such a stir. 'I turned on my email account and everyone was messaging me about it... The young ones inside might thank me for it but the ones on long sentences won't,' he said. Walton (pictured right with his girlfriend Laura) shared the shocking footage earlier this month Walton is seen holding a knife as his cellmate watches on in the video, believed to be taken last August Walton's video showed him holding a knife, a 'slasher' razor and the drug ice inside his Parklea prison cell When the footage emerged, Corrective Services Commissioner Peter Severin spoke with GEO Group officials to discuss security and safety concerns. 'I have just met with GEO, and told them I am sending in a public sector Governor to lead a review of the centre. 'The Governor will lead a team that will oversee all major decisions made by GEO management and also review practices there.' Commissioner Severin said at the time the review was expected to take a minimum of four weeks. Walton, a former Bandido bikie, said he had no idea the video would cause such a stir. Officers are pictured preparing for Monday's raid Walton (pictured with his girfreind), a former Bandido bikie, said he had no idea the video would cause such a stir Planned strikes by Southern Rail drivers and guards have been suspended to allow talks with the Transport Secretary in a bid to resolve bitter disputes over staffing and pay. Rail unions, Aslef and the RMT, have been at loggerheads with Southern Rail over staffing levels and plans to cut guards on trains. Already the worst service in the UK, the unions have added to commuter misery by calling more than a dozen strikes. The passengers were bracing themselves for another series of strikes when the Department of Transport finally intervened. Planned strikes by Southern Rail drivers and guards have been suspended to allow talks with the Transport Secretary in a bid to resolve bitter disputes over staffing and pay Transport secretary, Chris Grayling, has stepped in and agreed to speak to both unions and Southern Rail bosses in an attempt to finally find a solution to the 16-month stalemate. The RMT said it had been contacted by Chris Grayling inviting general secretary Mick Cash to a meeting subject to the suspension of the planned industrial action. Industrial action called for Tuesday 1, Wednesday 2, and Friday 4 August will not now go ahead allowing the talks to take place. A statement by the unions executive said: We therefore suspend the industrial action called for Tuesday 1st August, Wednesday 2nd August, and Friday 4th August, and instruct the general secretary to arrange the meeting and to place back before this NEC an update on the progress of the talks by Tuesday 1st August. Chris Grayling has stepped in and agreed to speak to both unions The deadlock was broken after pressure was levied by the Lib Dem backbench MP Stephen Lloyd, who has thousands of commuters in his constituency affected by the service. He said: This breakthrough could not have happened without the continued effort from the Association of British Commuters. Their tenacity at not letting the Dft off the hook, all the support from their members, and crowdfunded Judicial Review were a huge assistance to me and others as we kept trying to resolve this long-running dispute over the last 16 months. We have made real progress with the Secretary of State accepting the offer made by the two union leaders at my meeting in parliament yesterday; to suspend their strike set for early August if Chris Grayling agrees to meet them in seven days. I hope now we can see the beginnings of the end of a rail dispute which has gone on far too long and caused far too much pain and frustration for committees and businesses in my own town of Eastbourne, and across the South East. Emily Yates, campaigner at ABC said: This is a direct result of Stephen Lloyds bold act of peace-making at the House of Commons. Not only did he bring the rail unions, passengers and business together to raise a united call for Chris Graylings intervention; but he set the tone for what a responsible and reasonable dialogue should look like. John McCain has been diagnosed with brain cancer. The 80-year-old Rep. Senator for Arizona underwent surgery last week for what was thought to be a blood clot above his eye. The Senate eagerly awaited his return and postponed voting on Trump's healthcare bill until he had come back to take part. On Wednesday, McCain's family revealed that after the surgery, doctors discovered cancerous tissue in his brain. 'On Friday, July 14, Sen. John McCain underwent a procedure to remove a blood clot from above his left eye at Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix. 'Subsequent tissue pathology revealed that a primary brain tumor known as a glioblastoma was associated with the blood clot,' the family said in a statement. President Trump, who last week joked about his 'crusty' condition when the senator's condition seemed less severe, sent his well wishes after learning of the development late on Wednesday night. McCain's Fox News host daughter Meghan also shared an emotional message in which she described him as a 'warrior at dusk' who would not be defeated by the disease. McCain, a Vietnam veteran who was held as a prisoner of war, has endured previous battles with skin cancer. Scroll down for video Arizona Senator John McCain (pictured on July 13, a day before undergoing surgery for a blood clot) has been diagnosed with brain cancer There was no indication on the severity of his brain cancer on Wednesday but his office said it remained hopeful that treatment would be effective. He told Rep. Rep. Lindsey Graham he planned to stay in hospital to undergo treatment after the news emerged, saying: 'I'm gonna stay here a little bit longer, take some treatments and I'll be back,' according to CNN. Immediately, speculation rose over whether the disease may have impacted his confused questioning of ex-FBI director James Comey before the Senate Intelligence Committee in June. In their statement, the family continued: 'He is in good spirits as he continues to recover at home with his family in Arizona. 'He is grateful to the doctors and staff at Mayo Clinic for their outstanding care, and is confident that any future treatment will be effective. 'Further consultations with Senator McCains Mayo Clinic care team will indicate when he will return to the United States Senate,' it said. President Trump was among the first to offer his good wishes. 'Senator John McCain has always been a fighter. Melania and I send our thoughts and prayers to Senator McCain, Cindy, and their entire family. Get well soon,' he said. It was a marked change in tone from his previous description of him as 'crusty'. Trump earlier said McCain, who spent five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, was not a war hero because he'd been captured. President Trump was among the first to send his well wishes after learning the news on Wednesday Barack Obama shared an emotional message for the 80-year-old after hearing the news himself Clinton shared her own message for the senator who she described as 'as tough as they come' Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tweeted that McCain was 'a hero to our Conference and a hero to our country' 'My thoughts and prayers are with Senator John McCain and his family tonight,' New York Governor Andrew Cuomo tweeted The 80-year-old's daughter, Fox News host Meghan, shared an emotional message after the news emerged on Wednesday night. The pair are pictured at the 2013 White House Correspondents' Dinner Megan posted this photograph on Instagram after news of her father's condition emerged. She said her father was doing 'very, very well' Barack Obama also shared a message for the senator after learning of his health battle on Wednesday night. 'John McCain is an American hero and one of the bravest fighters I've ever known. 'Cancer doesn't know what it's up against. Give it hell John,' he said. McCain is pictured with his wife, Cindy, in Phoenix last year The ordeal began when McCain, who has represented Arizona since 1987, went for his annual checkup, complaining of fatigue and double vision, CNN reported. Doctors then performed a scan of the brain where they found a blood clot and removed it at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona last Friday. Subsequent pathology tests confirmed the blood clot was associated with brain cancer. Meaghan McCain, his Fox News host daughter, responded to the news in an emotional statement which she shared online. In it, she described him as 'the toughest person I know'. 'The cruelest enemy could not break him. The aggressions of political life could not bend him. 'So he is meeting this challenge as he has every other. Cancer may afflict him in many ways: but it will not make him surrender. Nothing ever has,' she said. The statement went on: 'He is a warrior at dusk, one of the greatest Americans of our age, and the worthy heir to his fathers and grandfathers name. But to me he is something more. He is my strength, my example, my refuge, my confidante, my teacher, my rock, my hero my dad.' Last week, McCain's prognosis seemed less frightening. Speculation has risen that Sen. McCain's health may have been behind his confused questioning of ousted FBI Director James Comey in June. At the time, he said he had been up late watching baseball the night before the hearing Doctors said he'd endured a 'minimally invasive' procedure to remove the nearly two-inch clot and that the surgery went 'very well.' POOR HEALTH MAY HAVE IMPACTED COMEY HEARING When McCain announced he was undergoing surgery to remove a blood clot last week, some people questioned whether his health played a role in his confused questioning of ex-FBI director James Comey in June. McCain dismissed initial concerns by ensuring he had just stayed up too late the night before watching baseball. However, his confusion could have been caused if a clot, called a subdural hematoma, was putting too much pressure on that part of his brain. That kind of clot could have been happened after a fall or if the Senator was taking a blood thinner, Dr Cisse said. He also explained that the left side of the brain there is specifically related to tasks such as speaking and relaying messages. 'This type of clot is often found in older people, because they do experience worse falls, and are often on blood thinners for something else,' Dr Cisse explained. 'They can develop slowly, over weeks or even months, and sometimes do not have any symptoms. But, if they grow to a certain size, the pressure on the brain can cause pain and even confusion or difficulty with everyday tasks such as speaking or moving around in patients.' Senator McCain has not previously disclosed whether he takes blood thinners. - Abigail Miller for DailyMail.com Advertisement The surgery forced Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to delay a vote on the Republican health care bill, another setback for the effort to repeal and replace Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act. It did, however, spark speculation that a health condition may have been behind his confused questioning of James Comey in June. McCain appeared to confuse the ousted FBI director for the president and conflated the investigation into Russia - the subject of the hearing - with that of Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server when she was secretary of state. 'In the case of Hillary Clinton, you made the statement that there wasn't sufficient evidence to bring a suit against her, although it had been very careless in their behavior, but you did reach a conclusion, in that case that it was not necessary to further pursue her, yet at the same time in the case of Mr. Comey you said that there was not enough information to make a conclusion,' he said. Later, he said: 'You're going to have to help me out here. In other words, we're complete, the investigation of anything that former secretary Clinton had to do with the campaign is over and we don't have to worry about it anymore?" 'I'm a little confused,' Comey replied. Afterwards, McCain addressed the subject on Twitter after reading concerns about his health. He said he'd stayed up late the night before the hearing to watch baseball and that his confusion was simply down to tiredness. McCain, a former Navy pilot who was shot down over Vietnam and spent five-and-a-half years as a prisoner of war, was the GOP's presidential nominee in 2008. He launched his career into politics in the 1980s after serving in the US Navy Airforce. McCain spent five years as a prisoner of war after crashing his plane in Hanoi. He is pictured being treated by a Vietnamese doctor in 1967 Born into a military family, McCain prided himself on not having been the greatest student to ever walk the halls of the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. He graduated in 1958 and entered the Navy. By 1967, McCain was a veteran pilot aboard the USS Forrestal aircraft carrier off the coast of Vietnam. He was preparing to take off on a bombing run over North Vietnam when disaster struck. McCain is pictured being greeted by President Richard Nixon in 1973 after returning to the US A missile accidentally fired from another plane, hitting the fuel tanks on McCain's aircraft and triggering explosions and fire. McCain escaped from his plane by crawling onto the nose of the aircraft and diving on to the ship's fiery deck. Before he could reach a fellow pilot whose flight suit was on fire, more explosions erupted, blowing McCain back. When the inferno was finally contained 24 hours later, 134 men had been killed and hundreds more injured. It was called the worst non-combat-related accident in US naval history. Three months later McCain was on a bombing mission over Hanoi. A missile struck his plane, shearing off the right wing. McCain ejected, and the force of the maneuver knocked him unconscious and broke both his arms and a leg. He plunged into a Hanoi lake. An angry mob dragged him from the water, broke his shoulder with a rifle butt and bayoneted him. Fellow POWs at the Hanoi Hilton helped him survive, and he was imprisoned for 5-1/2 years. Videotape of his POW ordeal still exists. The haka is an intimidating dance meant to strike fear into the hearts of opposition players before a rugby match. But a group of British Lions supporters had a different take on the famous All Blacks pregame ritual, performing a lighthearted version on an Auckland street. Dressed in bright red Lion jerseys and matching flat caps, the 19 men lined up outside a pub to perform the 'Yorkshire 'aka'. British Lions fans belted out a lighthearted version of the legendary All Blacks pregame ritual they called the 'Yorkshire haka' on an Auckland street They were part of a group of Yorkshiremen touring New Zealand with the combined British and Irish team as it took on clubs around the country. It was performed as they were drinking on July 8 in preparation for the third test against the All Blacks the next day that ended in a 15-15 draw. The leader of the group, in a pronounced Yorkshire accent, began the dance by telling bemused locals they were going to 'show respect to our native hosts'. They started off chanting 'eeeeh by gum' which is Yorkshire slang for 'oh my God' and has the right number of syllables to fit with the song. It substituted Maori lines for popular Yorkshire phrases and slang, including miming looking for something while bellowing 'where's me whippet?' which is dog breed popular in Yorkshire The zany dance then paid tribute to Yorkshire's thrifty reputation with the line 'ow much?' with accompanying hand gestures The group then put their hands on their foreheads to mime looking for something while bellowing 'where's me whippet?' which is dog breed similar to a greyhound that is popular in northern England. The zany dance then paid tribute to Yorkshire's thrifty reputation with the line 'ow much?' with accompanying hand gestures. Finally they advanced several paces shouting 'I'll si thi' (I'll see you) and stamping their feet before pulling wacky faces. One of the men said the dance wasn't meant to be disrespectful and was well received by New Zealanders whenever they performed it. Finally they advanced several paces shouting 'I'll si thi' (I'll see you) and stamping their feet before pulling wacky faces The haka is an intimidating dance performed by the All Blacks meant to strike fear into the hearts of opposition players before a rugby match 'Unfortunately, what you can't see on the video is immediately following us doing the Haka there was a Maori street warden,' he told the Northern Echo. 'He walked across the pavement and straight towards us. He faced all 20 of us and did a haka straight back. It was fantastic to see. 'We did the haka in every bar and the response we got was very positive. They all got it and realised it wasn't at all disrespectful.' A teenager girl has made a 'miracle' recovery after being dead for seven minutes when she suffered a severe asthma attack at her boyfriend's house. Brianna Draheim, 17, from the Sunshine Coast collapsed, stopped breathing and was declared clinically dead while at her boyfriend's house on June 20. Her partner performed CPR on her for 15 painstaking minutes while waiting for an ambulance, reviving her after seven and continuing until paramedics arrived. Brianna Draheim, 17, pictured weeks after she died from a severe asthma attack - after she was revived and made a 'miracle' recovery The 17-year-old was rushed to hospital and placed in a coma, and now - a month on from the near deadly attack - both her doctors and family remain baffled at how she made such an incredibly speedy recovery. 'It is a medical miracle,' her mother, Sharon Stagg, told Daily Mail Australia. 'I still sit here and ask myself if it really happened. 'I never want to go through that again.' Brianna's only memory of the attack and aftermath is not being able to breathe, and being shocked to find out how bad her condition was. 'I died there, right there,' the teenager said. At her daughter's bedside, Ms Stagg said she 'fell into a heap' when she was told Brianna may never wake up. The teen from Queensland was dead for seven minutes before she was brought back to life Sharon with Brianna before the deadly asthma attack in June Brianna has seemingly completely recovered from her medical emergency WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOUR BRAIN HAS NO OXYGEN? One minute - At one minute without oxygen brain cells begin to die. Three minutes - neurons suffer more extensive damage, and lasting brain damage becomes more likely. At five minutes, death becomes imminent. 10 minutes - a coma and lasting brain damage are almost inevitable. Advertisement The devastated mother was told to gather her family together - but just days later she watched as her daughter opened her eyes. 'I gave her a kiss, even though she was still connected up to life support and had tubes down her neck. 'She pulled a sad face and tears started flowing down her face. I cried even more, I thought she must know it's me,' the mother said. Ms Stagg said she 'wouldn't have been able to get through it without her family, especially her children'. 'My daughter Danielle was marvellous. I was a mess and she held us all together. 'Jacob (Brianna's twin brother) was a mess as well, he wasn't coping either. I am just so lucky my family could come together. I wouldn't have been able to get through it otherwise.' Her mother has described the moment she walked into the hospital room and saw her youngest daughter's eyes open for the first time Ms Stagg said her eldest daughter Danielle (right with Brianna) 'kept it together' for the family Brianna has a twin brother, Jacob, who arrived at the hospital with his mother when they were told the young woman may never wake up Brianna has suffered from asthma most of her life, according to her mum, but nothing could prepare Ms Stagg for what she saw when she arrived at her daughter's boyfriend's home to find it lit up by emergency crews. 'Her dad works in Saudi - which was even harder because he couldn't be here,' she said. 'I Facetimed him from the house I just need him after seeing the house and knowing what was going to be inside. 'He got straight on a plane it was so hard for him to be on the other side of the world.' The young woman has been described as a 'medical miracle' with doctors still unsure how she has recovered so well The teenager is 'feeling much better' just weeks after waking up from a coma attached to breathing machines Less than one month after the attack, Brianna was released from hospital - with little sign of the devastating asthma attack which killed her. Medical professionals still can't explain to the family how their daughter was able to wake up from a coma so quickly. When Brianna woke up one of her feet pointed inwards - this was caused by the lack of oxygen flowing through her brain when she was 'clinically dead'. But before she left the hospital her foot had corrected herself. There is no scarring on her lung and the teenager has revealed on social media that she is 'feeling much better'. Doctors are still unsure what triggered the major attack which scares her mother - who is worried it could happen again. A Melbourne Council has proposed every 18-year-old should serve two years in the army to provide them with a sense of direction. Casey Council, in the south-east of Melbourne, passed a motion to lobby to the Federal Government that 18-year-old's should be conscripted for two years to stop street violence, give young adults a purpose and bolster Australia's defences. Councillor Rex Flannery said the move was aimed at fixing the problem of youths causing crime on Melbourne's streets. Scroll down for video Social commentator Jane Caro (pictured) said conscription was not a good idea as it would only delay opportunities for young adults to get ahead in life Casey Councill in Melbourne is proposing 18-year-old's should serve two years in the army when leaving school (Stock Image) But social commentator Jane Caro said making it compulsory would only push back the younger generations stagnated opportunities to get ahead in life. 'We are not at the moment in a situation of war, it is probably not a good idea,' Ms Caro said appearing on Sunrise. 'Look at how young people are dealing with things now. They all have to get post-school qualifications to get any kind of a job these days. That takes a really long time. 'Then they have HECS debts they've got to pay back when they do get a job. We're all very worried about housing affordability for new home buyers, most of whom are young people. The Casey Council said serving two years in the army would curb street crime (Stock Image) 'We just keep pushing back their opportunity to launch themselves.' The Casey Council have made a few controversial moves over the last 12 months after they banned Multicultural Affairs Minister Robin Scott and the Victorian Multicultural Commission Chair Helen Kapalos from briefing the council. Following the Brighton attack, the council voted to build a $50,000 nativity scene with councillor Rosalie Crestani claiming it was a show of strength against terrorism. Ms Caro said the idea would only add to further education pressure (Stock Image) President Trump took aim at Jeff Sessions, fired FBI director James Comey and Robert Mueller in a no-holds barred interview on Wednesday. Speaking to The New York Times, he admonished Sessions, the attorney general, for recusing himself from the Russia investigation and said he never would have given him the position had he known ahead of time. 'Jeff Sessions takes the job, gets into the job, recuses himself, which frankly I think is very unfair to the president. 'How do you take a job and then recuse yourself? If he would have recused himself before the job, I would have said, "Thanks, Jeff, but Im not going to take you." Its extremely unfair and thats a mild word to the president.' Scroll down for video President Trump slammed Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Wednesday as he took part in a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times. The pair are pictured in February He went on to describe Sessions' testimony before a Senate House Committee investigating the issue as 'bad'. 'Jeff Sessions gave some bad answers. He gave some answers that were simple questions and should have been simple answers, but they weren't,' he said. Next in the firing line was ousted FBI director James Comey. Trump said he believed Comey, who he fired unceremoniously in May, of leveraging the now infamous 'dirty dossier' of made-up material that was supposed to incriminate the president and his connections to Russia in order to keep his job. Two weeks before his inauguration in January, Comey attended a meeting at Trump Tower where he warned the president of the dossier's existence. 'In my opinion, he shared it so that I would think he had it out there,' he said. Asked specifically if he believed Comey used it 'as leverage', he replied: 'Yeah I think so, in retrospect.' Among his comments was that he never would have hired Attorney General Jeff Sessions if he had known he would recuse himself from the Russia investigation The dossier contained false information about the president and his alleged connections to Russia. It was compiled by a former British spy. Trump claimed he fired Comey over his poor handling of the Hillary Clinton email scandal last year. After being fired, Comey revealed that he feared the president let him go because after he carried out the investigation into the administration's ties with Russia after a private conversation during which he claimed the president asked him to ease off. Trump insists he never directed Comey on how to conduct the investigation and claims he did not, as it was suggested by the former FBI director, ask him to go easy on disgraced National Security Adviser Michael Flynn who resigned earlier this year. In his interview on Tuesday, however, the president did not shy away from discussing the investigation's new leader, Robert Mueller. While Trump insisted to the Times that he would never instruct the Justice Department to fire Mueller, he did warn that if he turned the investigation towards his family's finances beyond Russia, he would consider it going too far. 'I think thats a violation. Look, this is about Russia,' he said. He also claimed that Mueller's office was rife was conflicts of interest and said confidently: 'I dont think were under investigation. Im not under investigation. For what? I didnt do anything wrong.' Trump said ousted FBI Director James Comey (left) used the dirty dossier of made-up material about him as leverage in an attempt to keep his job back in January, before the president's inauguration. Elsewhere in the interview he warned Robert Mueller, (right) the special prosecutor now leading the Russian investigation, not to go too far with it by looking in to his family's resources The president also addressed his meeting with Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, in July. He claimed their informal meeting lasted just 15 minutes and that they spoke about 'adoptions'. Others say the secret meeting went on for an hour. They are pictured shaking hands at a scheduled sit-down at the same event The president also touched on his meeting with Vladimir Putin after the G20 summit, claiming the pair only spoke for 15 minutes and that the conversation was about Russia's ban on US citizens adopting children from the country. Interestingly, the same subject was given as the reason for an ill-fated meeting which his son Donald Trump Jr. attended last summer during his election campaign. A string of emails - released by Donald Jr. before to preempt it being released by the media - has since proved that the real reason for it was for Trump to be given dirt on his opponent Hillary Clinton. Whether or not that meeting was discussed was not in the Times's report on Wednesday night. The interview took place in the Oval Office and Hope Hicks, Trump's long-serving aide, was present. It marked a change in the president's discourse with The New York Times, a liberal newspaper which he regularly categorizes as 'fake news media'. During the 50-minute conversation, the president's daughter Ivanka appeared with her six-year-old daughter Arabella. Arabella ran to her grandfather to give him a kiss then showcased her command of Chinese for the reporters present. Veteran entrepreneur Dick Smith has declared halal certifying his Australian yeast spread OzEmite would make it too expensive for supermarkets. A jar of OzEmite is already 22 per cent more expensive than Vegemite, which is halal certified under a scheme which funds Islamic schools and mosques. The 73-year-old businessman and philanthropist said paying a third-party certifier to declare his product was fit for Muslims to eat would be a commercial disaster. 'It would probably be some tens of thousands of dollars, a huge amount of money,' he told Daily Mail Australia. Entrepreneur Dick Smith says halal certification of OzEmite would make it too expensive 'It would increase the price of the product even slightly and that could be the difference between Coles or Woolworths stocking our product or dumping it.' With Muslims making up 2.6 per cent of the Australian population, Mr Smith said no one had ever specifically asked for a product that contained no traces of pork or alcohol. 'We want to keep the overheads down and I've never had anyone actually approach us and say we should have halal certification. I've never had anyone requesting that,' he said. The entrepreneur, who founded Dick Smith Foods in 1999, was unable to say exactly how much the halal certification fees his business could have ended up paying. However, a Senate inquiry into the halal certification industry in 2015 found that fees ranged from $500 a year for small farms to more than $300,000 a year for a much larger business. A jar of OzEmite in Coles sells for $2.95 per 100 grams, which is already 22 per cent more expensive than Vegemite at $2.42. That means a 175 gram jar of OzEmite sells for $5.20 compared with $3.65 for a slightly smaller 150 gram jar of Vegemite, even though it pays a halal certification fee to the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils. A jar of OzEmite is already 22 per cent more expensive than a jar of Vegemite per 100 grams Dick with some yeast: Vegemite's key competitor was previously known as DickiMite OzEmite's key competitor Vegemite pays a halal certification fee to the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils which funds the Malek Fahd Islamic School in Sydney's west Dick Smith Foods, which was set up to specifically support Australian jobs with a range of spreads and sauces, lost a patriotic advantage in January when Australian-owned Bega Cheese bought Vegemite from American multinational Mondelez. Mondelez also owns Cadbury chocolates, which is halal certified in Australia. Mr Smith said his refusal to pay halal certification fees meant more Australians could be employed in other companies, that provide a wholesale product marketed by Dick Smith Foods. Dick Smith Foods sells a range of spreads, sauces and cereals to support Australian jobs 'Our price is expensive enough because we're paying Australian wages and we don't want to put the price up even more,' he said. 'That was the only reason that I didn't go with halal certification because that would have put an extra cost on and meant we would get less sales to help Australian producers and farmers. 'We're a small company that pays everyone Australian wages and because Australian wages are so much higher than overseas wages, it means our costs are higher.' Breakfast cereal makers Kellogg's and Sanitarium no longer pay halal certification fees while Nestle has stopped the arrangement for its chocolate bars. Flash Kenya and China are set to sign a Memorandum of Understanding in order to boost cooperation in the media sector, a Kenyan official said on Wednesday. Ministry of Information, Communications and Technology (ICT) Principal Secretary Sammy Itemere told Xinhua in Nairobi that under the agreement Beijing will build a media center for state owned Kenya Broadcasting Corporation. "The centre will provide capacity building for the Kenyan media industry as way to increase Sino-Kenya exchanges," Itemere said during the inauguration of the council members of the Universal Service Advisory Council (USAC). Itemere said the deal with China, will enable Kenyan media practitioners to access the latest media technology. "The end result is that Sino-Kenya cooperation will facilitate local media to play its role in development especially through dissemination of critical information," he added. The PS said that the collaboration will provide a platform for citizens of Kenya and China to learn about the cultural diversity of their respective countries. Itemere said that as a result of the digital migration, Kenya has been able to attract Chinese investments into the media industry. "The Chinese investment has enabled Kenya to reap from the digital dividends as a result of switching from the analogue broadcasting," he said, noting that such media firms as StarTimes has invested heavily in Kenya to develop a digital terrestrial and satellite network that has enabled rural areas to access digital television services. Ulysha Renee Hall, 46, is the new Dallas Police Chief Dallas has hired its first female police chief. Ulysha Renee Hall, 46, has been hired to replace David Brown, the department's beloved chief who won the nation's hearts with his response to the killings of five of his officers at an anti-violence protest in July 2016. Hall will leave her current position as the Deputy Chief of Detroit Police Department. Announcing her new role in a statement on Wednesday, she said: 'I am honored to be chosen to lead the Dallas Police Department at this critical time in its history. 'I look forward to building on the successes of the past, preserving community trust and ensuring the safety of our officers and the entire Dallas community.' Brown announced his retirement last October but it has taken until now for a replacement to be chosen. He decided to step down after inspiring millions with his response to the deadly shooting of five of his officers at a Black Lives Matter protest in July 2016. Brown urged protesters to 'come and work for us,' after the killings which were carried out by sniper Micah Johnson. 'Were hiring. Get off that protest line and put an application in, and well put you in your neighborhood, and we will help you resolve some of the problems youre protesting about,' he said. Scroll down for video She takes over from David Brown, 55. Brown served the department for 33 years. He won the nation's hearts with his head-forward response to the 2016 killings of five of his officers He defended using a robot and bomb to kill Johnson, a move which was criticized afterwards, saying: 'I approved it and I'll do it again if presented with the same circumstances.' Johnson, who had served in the military, opened fire on officers as they policed an anti-violence protest in Dallas last July. The protest came after the deaths of two men at the hands of officers in other states. Brown also defended killing gunman Micah Johnson (above) with a robot-operated bomb After opening fire on the officers, he took shelter in a room in a building and a stand-off with police ensued. The police department sent in a robot equipped with a bomb to kill him. Brown did not give a reason when he announced his decision to retire last year. Friends later said he simply wanted to spend more time 'doing nothing'. At a press conference announcing her new role on Wednesday, Ulysha said she was eager to make the officers within Dallas Police Department her new family. 'The Dallas Police Department that's about to be my family. We are a family in blue already, but as their new leader, we're going to be just like family,' she said. Brown served as the Dallas Police Chief for 33 years before announcing his retirement in October. During his time on the force, his own son was killed by officers in a different department. In 2010, he died in a shootout with officers from Lancaster Police Department. He had suffered mental health troubles. Hall will start work in Dallas on September 5. Brown welcomed the announcement on Wednesday. He stepped down in October last year but did not give a reason The inquest into Melbourne's deadly Bourke Street Mall attack has been put on hold so the man accused of murder is ensured a fair trial. Six people died when a car, allegedly driven by 26-year-old Dimitrious Gargasoulas, ploughed through the shopping strip on January 20. State Coroner Sara Hinchey held a mention hearing on Thursday at the Coroners' Court of Victoria to hear submissions on what the next steps of the investigation should be. The inquest into Melbourne's deadly Bourke Street Mall attack has been put on hold so the man accused of murder is assured a fair trial. Dimitrious Gargasoulas, 26, has been charged with multiple counts of murder The criminal investigation includes scores of witness statements, CCTV footage, concerns about Gargasoulas' mental state and the length of time to trial The court was read an opening statement, detailing the facts leading to the coroner's inquiry, which is running in parallel to a continuing police investigation. The bailing of Gargasoulas a week before the incident will be a focus of the inquest. Counsel assisting the state coroner, Mandy Fox QC, told the hearing that police actions in dealing with Gargasoulas on the day will also be scrutinised. 'It is anticipated that the matters examined in the inquest will include... what information was available to Victorian Police regarding Mr Gargasoulas's conduct prior to 20 January, including information as to his behaviour in the days immediately prior to 20 January,' she said. Schoolgirl Thalia Hakin (pictured left) and Sydney woman Jess Mudie (right) died on January 20 Baby Zachary Bryant was one of the six who died. He is pictured with his his two-year-old sister Zara Ms Fox told the hearing that an inquest into the matter be delayed until the criminal proceedings are finalised. 'We respectfully submit... that the further hearing of this inquest should be adjourned to a date to be fixed, pending the determination of the criminal charges against Mr Gargasoulas,' she said. Baby Zachary Bryant, schoolgirl Thalia Hakin, father Matthew Si, Sydney woman Jess Mudie, finance consultant Bhavita Patel and 25-year-old Japanese man Y. Kanno all died in the rampage. Gargasoulas has been charged with multiple counts of murder and attempted murder. His court matters continue. The criminal investigation includes scores of witness statements, CCTV footage, concerns about Gargasoulas' mental state and the length of time to trial. The matters might not reach trial stage in the Supreme Court until 2019. Police and Emergency services at the scene where Gargasoulas allegedly went on a rampage in a car through busy Bourke St Mall Matthew Si (pictured left), 33, and Bhavita Patel (right) also died when a car ploughed through Bourke Street The lawyer for Australian Justine Damond's family has rubbished US police claims that officers feared an ambush after she was shot dead by a rogue cop. Ms Damond's family in Australia and in Minneapolis hired a high-profile attorney after the 40-year-old was gunned down in her pajamas on Saturday night. The bride-to-be, from Sydney's Northern Beaches, was shot after she phoned 911 to alert police to what she believed was a rape happening in the alley behind her home. Attorney Robert Bennett said Justine's family was in disbelief she was gunned down within minutes of the police call and wanted justice. Justine Damond, also known as Justine Ruszczyk, from Sydney, was gunned down after phoning 911 on Saturday 'This is an unbelievable situation that a person who called 911 is shot in her pajamas,' Mr Bennett told CBS Minnesota. 'She obviously was not armed, she was not a threat to anyone nor could she have reasonably been perceived to be.' Mr Bennett, who successfully represented the family of Philando Castile - a black man shot by a police officer in Minnesota last year, said there was 'disinformation' surrounding Justine's death. He said police claims they feared a possible ambush were absurd. Robert Bennett (pictured), who successfully represented the family of Philando Castile who was shot by a police officer in Minnesota last year, said there was 'disinformation' surrounding Justine's death Don Damond hugs a neighbor after reading a statement about his fiance, Justine Damond who was fatally shot by Minneapolis police Justine's father John Ruszczyk and his wife Maryan pay tribute to their daughter 'I think that is ludicrous, that is disinformation. It doesn't have any basis in fact,' he said. Mr Bennett said Justine's family in Minnesota and Australia were poised to file a massive civil lawsuit in the US courts against the City of Minneapolis, but he said their priority was non-monetary. He said the family wanted change in police protocols concerning body cameras and better training for officers. Mr Bennett said the family also wanted Officer Noor, who fatally shot Justine in the abdomen, to step down from the police force. Killer policeman Mohamed Noor has said he was 'startled' by his victim Justine Damond seconds before he opened fire Killer policeman Mohamed Noor revealed to friends he was 'startled' by his victim Justine Damond seconds before he opened fire. The cop has told friends about why he gunned down the bride-to-be, 40, in his first account of what happened Saturday night. DailyMail.com has spoken to those friends to reveal for the first time his account of what happened that night. The fact Noor has disclosed the events of the evening to friends will raise questions over his conduct. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), which is investigating the shooting, said in a statement Tuesday that he had declined to be interviewed and that his attorney had not said if or when an interview would take place. However, many of the key parts of Noor's narrative gel with the version of events released by the BCA, who had interviewed his partner, Matthew Harrity. He speaks: Mohamed Noor has told friends - but not state investigators - what happened in the alleyway on Saturday night which ended in the death of Justine Damond Aftermath: Cops closed down the area around the shooting but lack crucial bodycam evidence because neither Noor or Harrity activated theirs, in breach of regulations Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a friend of Noor told DailyMail.com that the officer had opened fire when an unidentified figure emerged from the dark and ran towards the vehicle. The officer said he was not sure what the person was carrying and momentarily opened fire through his driver-partner's open window. It was confirmed that Justine's cell phone was found alongside her during the tragedy. Noor told associates it was dark and the situation was already tense as the caller had been 'panicking' when making the 911 call reporting an assault in the alley beyond where Justine lived with her fiance and his son. The squad car, driven by his partner Matthew Harrity traveled hastily down the unlit alley between Washburn and Xerxes avenues south from West 50th Street toward West 51st Street. Crucially, the vehicle did not have its lights on and this may have been so as not to give any suspect notice that police had arrived and buy precious time to apprehend the target. That the car was unlit was disclosed by Harrity to the BCA. Both Noor and the BCA's version of events agree on the car's lights being off. According to Noor's version when they reached the end of the alley, they came across a waiting, panicking figure. It was dark, and the figure was moving around and approached their vehicle. Noor said he did not know whether the figure who rushed towards their vehicle was the 911 caller or even if it was a man or woman. He his weapon through Harrity's open driver's window hitting his victim once in the abdomen. Both he and Harrity gave CPR to the victim before help and back up arrived, but she was pronounced dead at the scene. 'Thrown under the bus': Proud Somali-American Mohamed Noor says his fellow officers are not backing him. A friend tells Daily Mail.com: '... in this situation he has realized he is probably alone with his legal team and Somali police colleagues.' Call for answers: Don Damond, Justine's fiance, fought back tears as he said earlier this week that the cops have failed to provide any explanation The friend said: 'Mohamed believes he acted to protect himself and his colleague, but accepts since that she was not armed. 'It was over in seconds and it was a very tense moment. He is sorry for the woman and her family. 'But he would never have opened fire without genuinely feeling in danger.' The officer, who is now suspended form the Minneapolis P.D., feels he has been 'thrown under the bus' by his Minneapolis police colleagues, the friend said. 'He is aware that they normally come together at times like this and support each other with slogans like 'Blue Lives Matter'. 'But in this situation he has realized he is probably alone with his legal team and Somali police colleagues. 'He feels like he is being thrown under the bus and his colleagues are accusing him of not showing proper police conduct on Saturday night. WHAT HE SAID IN PUBLIC THROUGH HIS ATTORNEY 'Officer Noor extends his condolences to the family and anyone else who has been touched by this event. He takes their loss seriously and keeps them in his daily thoughts and prayers. He came to the United States at a young age and is thankful to have had so many opportunities. He takes these events very seriously because, for him, being a police officer is a calling. He joined the police force to serve the community and to protect the people he serves. Officer Noor is a caring person with a family he loves and he empathizes with the loss others are experiencing. The current environment for police is difficult, but Officer Noor accepts this as part of his calling. We would like to say more, and will in the future. At this time, however, there are several investigations ongoing and Officer Noor wants to respect the privacy to the family and asks the same in return during this difficult period.' Advertisement 'His feeling is 'I am an immigrant, a Muslim and not white... but that is OK as I know the Somalian community and friends will support me.' Friends say they would soon be starting fund raising to help meet his legal bills among the Somali community. They said the reason he had not given an interview to the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which is probing the shooting, was that he had been given legal advice not to. Some of his friends have been shocked at some of the online abuse he has been receiving, however, with remarks claiming Justine would not have been shot by the Somalian-American officer if she had been 'wearing a burka or hijab.' Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodge said: 'We do have more information, though it's frustrating to have some of the picture but not all of it. 'We cannot compel officer Noor to make a statement; I wish we could. I wish that he would make a statement.' Police said Harrity had indicated he heard a loud sound near his car, in the seconds before his partner Noor opened fire. Investigators are searching for a cyclist who may have important information about the shooting. He was white, male and aged between 18-25 and may have stopped and seen the aftermath as medical assistance was applied. Neither Noor or Harrity, who had three years police service between them, had activated their body cams. Noor said this was because they were not yet out of their vehicles and had only been at the scene for a short time. But Noor was in breach of his own police department's strict bodycam rules and now faces severe punishment, even if exonerated and could lose his job for not following the guidelines. The officer knew he was compelled to switch on his body camera and record his interactions when answering a 911 call to reports of a sexual assault. Department policy says it should be switched on for 'any search', and crucially, 'prior to any use of force'. Justine's fiancee Don described her death as a 'homicide' and supporters are calling for a federal investigation into her death. THE FATEFUL 911 CALL WHICH LED TO JUSTINE DAMOND'S DEATH Incident Number: 17-265936 July 15, 2017; 23.27:02 Time: 23:27:02 Operator: 911, what's the address of the emergency? Caller: Hi, I'm, I can hear someone out the back and I, I'm not sure if she's having sex or being raped. Operator: Give me the address. Caller: XXXX Washburn Avenue South. Operator: Washburn Avenue South. You said it's behind (inaudible)? Caller: And there's a (inaudible) out the back, yup, yup. And I think she just yelled out 'help,' but it's difficult the sound has been going on for a while, but I think, I don't think she's enjoying it. I think it's, I don't know. Operator: Okay, already got a call started and help on the way. Uh, you can't see anything, you're just hearing a female screaming then, is that what you're saying? Caller: Yeah. It sounds like sex noises, but it's been going on for a while and I think she tried to say help and it sounds distressed. Operator: Okay, I've already got an officer on the way. What is your name? Caller: JUSTINE. Operator: JUSTINE, what's your last name? Caller: JUSTINE. Operator: JUSTINE. Caller: Yeah. Operator: And a phone number? Caller: REDACTED Operator: Okay, we've already got help on the way. If anything changes before we get there just give us a call right back, but officers should be there soon. Caller: Thanks. Operator: Okay, not a problem. [DAMOND CALLS BACK AT 23.35:23] Operator: 911, what is the address of the emergency? Caller: Hi, I just reported one, but no one's here and was wondering if they got the address wrong. Operator: What's the address? Caller: XXXX Washburn Avenue South. It supposed to be Washburn Avenue South. Operator: Are you JUSTINE? Caller: Yeah, (inaudible). Operator: You're hearing a female screaming? Caller: Yes, along behind the house. Operator: Yup, officers are on the way there. Caller: Thank you. Operator: You're welcome, bye. Advertisement The lawyer for one of the US police officers involved in the shooting death of Australian Justine Damond says it is 'certainly reasonable' his client feared he was the target of an ambush. Minneapolis lawyer Fred Bruno, who represents Officer Matthew Harrity, pointed to the recent execution of a New York police officer gunned down as she sat in her car. 'It's certainly reasonable to assume that any police officer would be concerned about a possible ambush under these circumstances,' Mr Bruno told the Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper. 'It was only a few weeks ago when a female NYPD cop and mother of twins was executed in her car in a very similar scenario.' NYPD Officer Miosotis Familia was shot in the head on July 5 while sitting in her car in the Bronx. Also seeking answers: John Ruszczyk, the heartbroken father of Justine Damond, spoke in Sydney, Australia, to ask for the 'light of justice to shine down' on his daughter's death The 'twin cities' of Minneapolis and St Paul have been rocked in recent years by police shootings, putting the community and law enforcement on edge. Last month a police officer was acquitted after he shot Philando Castile during a traffic stop while Castile's girlfriend live streamed the horrifying incident. Violent protests also erupted after two officers fatally shot 24-year-old Jamar Clark in 2015 and were not charged. It has been rated the second-best surfing destination in the world, sits along a stunning coastline and is called the 'perfect wave' by touring professionals. But aside from its seemingly never-ending surf break, Jeffreys Bay has developed a reputation for danger - thanks to a number of high-profile shark attacks. The beach, on the east coast of South Africa, has played host to a World Surf League event since 1996 and made headlines in 2015 after a shark attack on Mick Fanning. Now after more shark sightings at this week's J-Bay Open, questions have been raised about whether the beach should continue to host the world's best surfers. Scroll down for video Aside from its seemingly never ending surf break, Jeffreys Bay's has developed a reputation for danger - thanks to high-profile shark attacks including one against Mick Fanning (pictured) in 2015 The beach, on South Africa's east coast, has played host to a World Surf League event for more than 20 years and records show the coastline has seen 131 shark attacks since the early 1800s A TIMELINE OF J-BAY'S SHARK ATTACKS: June 1989 - Roniel Jacobs, 16, has his board bitten by a shark but escapes. July 1989 - Edward Razzano, 34, gets bitten in the stomach but survives. May 1988 - Jan-Henrick Oppermann, 16, survives after being bitten on leg. June 1998 - Danny Bravier is attacked but makes it back to shore and lives. August 2003 - Joseph Krone, 16, has his wetsuit torn by aggressive shark. October 2004 - Pro surfer Wayne Monk, 34, suffers minor bite on foot. October 2013 - Burgert Van Der Westhuizen, 74, dies after attack. July 2015 - Mick Fanning escapes with no injury during J-Bay Open. Source: Shark Attack Data Advertisement Dubbed 'the best right-hand ride in the world', surf experts say the famous ride is one to remember, with CNN listing it the second-best in the world. A panel of surfing experts praised it for 'offering long, fast barrels off an intense point break' that can last for up to 300 metres. According to Shark Attack Data records, there have been nine fatal attacks along South Africa's almost 1000 kilometre long east coast since 2000. Since records began in the 1800s there has been 131. One of those, a 2013 attack on 74-year-old surfer Burgert Van Der Westhuizen, was at J-Bay itself. Just seven others have been recorded at the beach since 1989 but all the victims survived. Professional surfer Wayne Monk is among those to be attacked after a shark biting him on the foot during a trip to J-Bay in 2004. By far the most high-profile attack was that on Fanning, with TV cameras at the surfing event capturing the moment he punched the shark in the face to escape. Tamsin Scott (pictured) was victim to an attack while surfing at nearby Mpande Beach, along South Africa's east coast, in 2016 But in eerily similar scenes to two years earlier, Fanning was forced to be pulled from the ocean during his quarter final against Brazilian Gabriel Medina following a shark sighting. Jet skis rushed in to pluck the Australian from the water after a three-metre maneater was spotted swimming along the break in the direction of surfers. The scary moment came a day earlier fellow Australian star Julian Wilson was forced out of the water as a two-metre long appeared among the waves. Wilson had been surfing against his good mate Fanning in the J-Bay Open final when the shark attacked in 2015. According to shark attack records there have been nine fatal attacks along South Africa's 1000 kilometre east coast since 2000. Since records began in the 1800s there has been 131. Seven attacks have been recorded at Jeffreys Bay since 1989 but all victims survived (Pictured is Mick Fanning surfing at J-Bay this week) But despite another run in with a shark at J-Bay, Fanning will seemingly continue to surf at the beach where he is a four-time winner of the event after he called it 'home' earlier this week But despite another run in with a shark at J-Bay, Fanning seemingly plans to continue surfing the beach where he is a four-time winner of the event. Speaking prior to the competition he said the waves along the South African coast felt like 'home'. 'I really feel at home here and so comfortable and relaxed,' Fanning said. 'The people are so nice and the wave is amazing... this is a place that I really look forward to each year.' A 72-year-old man is one of three Australians arrested over an alleged plot to smuggle more than 250kg of crystal meth into the country on a light plane. Police allege the men, including the elderly registered pilot, planned to import $255 million worth of ice on an island-hopping drug run from California to Australia. But the scheme never got off the ground. Last month, DEA agents raided a storage unit in Northern California and discovered the drugs, which were allegedly intended to be smuggled into Australia. A 72-year-old man is one of three Australians to be arrested over an alleged plot to smuggle more than 250kg of crystal meth into the country from the US on a light plane The AFP allege the men, including the elderly registered pilot, tried to import the drug with a street value of $255 million from California The 72-year-old was subsequently arrested at Melbourne Airport on July 5, with police alleging he planned to fly to the US before piloting the light aircraft back to Australia. A 52-year-old man was stopped at Sydney Airport last week after $2.4 million in cash was seized in regional Victoria. Police have linked the discovery to the alleged trafficking plans. The 72-year-old was arrested at Melbourne Airport on July 5, with police alleging he planned to fly to the US before piloting the light aircraft back to Australia Inside the plane that was allegedly going to be used to smuggle the drugs into Austrlia The last man connected to the haul was arrested in Melbourne's west on Wednesday. All three men have been charged with conspiracy to import a commercial quantity of drugs and are due to face court. The charge carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. A 52-year-old man was stopped at Sydney Airport last week after $2.4 million in cash was seized in regional Victoria. Police have linked the discovery to the alleged trafficking plans Refugees held on Manus Island will begin leaving for the US in October, according to the Immigration Minister. Peter Dutton conceded he would have preferred the refugees left sooner, with the detention centre to close that month. Doubts were cast on the deal for the US to resettle the refugees after officials left the island earlier than planned last week. Refugees held on Manus Island (pictured) will begin leaving for the US in October But a US immigration spokesman later confirmed he would return to Manus Island and Nauru, while Turnbull government ministers have insisted the deal is still on. 'Our desire was obviously to have them off tomorrow; I want Manus Island to close. We're still going to maintain Nauru,' Mr Dutton told Sky News on Wednesday night. 'We have been caught up in the US process; they have a quota each year.' Donald Trump slashed the US refugee intake from 110,000 people to 50,000 and the cap was reached last week. 'Their year finishes on September 30, so we've now been pushed into October in terms of when people will move,' Mr Dutton said. More than 1600 refugees have expressed interest in the resettlement deal, which is expected to offer up to 1250 places. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton concedes he would have preferred the refugees left sooner, with the detention centre to close that month Security fences surround buildings inside the Manus Island detention centre, which will shut down at the end of October Questions have been raised over whether the United States will be obliged to accept anywhere near the headline figure of people after subjecting refugees to 'extreme' vetting. But Mr Dutton appears confident the final number of places will be near the top-end of initial estimates. 'We've got an arrangement with the United States and that is to take people - in total probably about 1200 people - from both Manus and Nauru,' he said. The Manus Island refugee processing centre will shut down at the end of October, with building-decommissioning works well underway. The capacity of a nearby Manus Island refugee transit centre is being rapidly expanded ahead of the processing centre's closure. Australia will remove itself from the process on August 31, meaning no more help from then for refugees returning to their home countries voluntarily. Deutsche Bank is being looked into by finance regulators for giving the Trump family hundreds of loans over the past 20 years, it has been claimed. Three people told The New York Times anonymously on Wednesday that the loans, which are worth billions, were being examined. Deutsche Bank has also been contacted informally by members of special prosecutor Robert Mueller's team of investigators in relation to his ongoing probe in to the White House's links with Russia, they said. According to the unnamed sources, there is no connection between Trump's business accounts at the bank and Russia. Deutsche Bank has its own Russian connection. It was previously fined hundreds of millions of dollars by regulators in the US and UK for flouting compliance laws and appearing to allow Russian customers to carry out money laundering. Democrats have previously voiced concern over the fact that the president holds hundreds of millions of dollars of personal debt with the bank despite its murky ties to Russia. Sources close to the issue said there was no connection whatsoever between Trump's accounts and Russian money but the possibility of industry scrutiny adds another dimension to the president's complex history with the German bank. Deutsche Bank is facing scrutiny from industry regulators for giving the Trump family hundreds of loans over the past 20 years, sources from within the bank have claimed President Trump (pictured on Wednesday) borrowed from both the bank's real estate lending division and its personal wealth division to prop up his business empire President Trump has long relied on Deutsche Bank for loans to keep his real estate empire afloat. In the 1990s, he turned to the German institution for support after being turned down by American institutions. Trump fell into a dispute with Deutsche Bank's real estate lending division over a loan he took out to build Trump Tower Chicago in 2008 He borrowed billions to prop up his growing global empire but the relationship hit a stumbling block in 2008. Trump had secured a $640million loan from Deutsche Bank's real estate division to fund the construction of Trump Tower in Chicago. When the bank came calling for a $40million payment, he reneged and instead sued the bank for $3billion, claiming it was partially to blame for the Global Financial Crisis which had rendered him unable to meet the loan requirements. Eventually, the dispute was settled by borrowing from the private wealth division but it's not clear why that branch ever granted him a loan given the ongoing problems. He continued to receive loans from the private wealth division afterwards. Ivanka and Jared Kushner are also customers with the German bank. Kushner secured his own business loan that was worth $285 million. It came just before election day and was granted to Kushner's self-titled real estate firm. He and his mother also have a line of credit with the bank which extends to $25million, The New York Times sources claimed. Jared Kushner is also a customer of the bank. He and his mother Seryl (right) have a $25million line of credit with it, according to the report In May, the U.S. House Financial Services Committee urged the bank to audit Trump's accounts with them at the height of the investigation into whether Deutsche Bank had allowed money laundering. They questioned why the Trumps had been granted so many loans over so many years despite the president's history with the real estate lending division and said the very fact he still had debt with them raised concerns. Investigators from Robert Mueller's Russia investigation have also been in touch with the bank, sources said Joe Crowley, chair of the House Democratic Caucus, said at the time: 'President Trumps web of global financial entanglements are of serious concern. 'When a foreign-owned bank that is under investigation by the Department of Justice holds hundreds of millions in personally-guaranteed debt for the president, that is problematic for ethical, diplomatic, and judicial reasons. Maxine Waters, the House Rep. for California and one of Trump's most vocal critics, said the committee could not be sure that the loans were not propped up by Russian money. The Justice Department launched an investigation in to the bank but it was closed within days of Trump-appointed Attorney General Jeff Sessions taking office in February. Deutsche Bank said it had conducted its own review of Trump's accounts before he took office. In June, it requested more time before returning details of that internal investigation to the U.S. House Financial Services Committee. Dashcam footage has shown the harrowing last moments of 19-year-old Sam Issa before he was struck and killed on James Ruse Drive. A magistrate cleared Timothy Plummer over the death of Sam Issa after the prosecution claimed he was distracted at the time when the 19-year-old was killed on James Ruse Drive in Sydney, according to Seven News. Following the court case dashcam footage from Alex Mitrovic emerged and showed Mr Issa changing his tyre on the right side of the road. Sam Issa, 19, (pictured) died not long after changing his tyre on James Ruse Drive Timothy Plummer (pictured) was cleared by a magistrate over the death of Sam Issa Mr Mitrovic told Seven News that he feared for Mr Issa when he saw him changing the tyre on the busy Sydney road. The defence claimed there was zero evidence Mr Plummer was distracted when driving. The magistrate said he was not convinced without reasonable doubt Mr Plummer drove negligently. Magistrate Jennifer Giles said she was: 'not satisfied beyond any reasonable doubt that he drove negligently.' The ute where the incident occurred on James Ruse Drive A 71-year-old woman who allegedly killed a toddler by running him over with her car has been charged with dangerous driving. The three-year-old boy died in hospital on Wednesday after he was hit about 4pm by the elderly woman's Kia Carnival while walking with his mother. He was stuck under the car after the accident on Abuklea Road in the northwestern Sydney suburb of Eastwood as his horrified mother looked on. A 71-year-old woman who allegedly killed a toddler by running him over with her car has been charged with dangerous driving The three-year-old boy died in hospital on Wednesday after he was hit about 4pm by the elderly woman's Kia Carnival while walking with his mother The boy was rushed to Westmead Children's Hospital in a critical condition having suffered a cardiac arrest, but died after arriving. His mother was uninjured in the accident and investigations were ongoing. Her son was one of eight people to die on NSW roads in 24 hours. 'Police have had enough,' Chief Inspector Phil Brooks said. 'There is never a more sombre moment for a police officer than having to knock on someone's door at 3am and tell them their loved one is dead. 'Drivers need to stop playing on their phones and pay attention.' Officers attended and found the boy in a critical condition, but he later died in hospital His mother was uninjured in the accident and investigations were ongoing The driver of the car, a 71-year-old woman, was treated at the scene by paramedics for shock before being taken to Ryde Hospital for mandatory testing. She was was charged with dangerous driving occasioning death, and negligent driving occasioning death and was released on bail. The woman will face Burwood Local Court on August 15. The driver of the car, a 71-year-old woman, was treated at the scene by paramedics for shock before being taken to Ryde Hospital for mandatory testing A Florida mayoral candidate went on a tirade when he told his rival's supporters to 'go back to Africa'. St Petersburg GOP candidate Paul Congemi made the remarks during a mayoral forum in the town's City Hall on Tuesday. In the midst of a question about opportunities for youth in the city, Congemi veered off-topic in comments directed at supporters of International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement-affiliated candidate Jesse Nevel. St Petersburg GOP mayoral candidate Paul Congemi, 60, received backlash after telling rival candidate Jesse Nevel's supporters to 'go back to Africa' in an off-topic rant on reparations during a forum on Tuesday (seen above) Nevel swiftly dismissed Congemi (pictured on Tuesday) as a 'non-factor'. The 60-year-old then clarified: ''My remark was meant for the group Mr Nevel represents. Not all African Americans. Just those that Nevel represents' 'Mr Nevel, you and your people you talk about reparations. The reparations that you talk about, Mr Nevel, your people already got your reparations. Your reparations came in the form of a man named Barack Obama,' the Republican said. A raucous ensued and a woman in the audience could be heard yelling: 'Get out of here, get out of here,' at Congemi. 'My advice to you if you don't like it here in America, planes leave every hour from from Tampa Airport, go back to Africa,' he told Nevel supporters. 'Go back to Africa. Go back to Africa. Go back!' he said. Nevel, 27, the national chairman of the movement that organizes white support for black-led community social justice, is white himself He dismissed Congemi as a 'non-factor' after the remarks. However, Congemi said his comment was meant towards just a specific group. In January 2017, Congemi was arrested and charged (pictured) with felony elder abuse after his 87-year-old mother ended up in intensive care for bed sores reportedly so neglected that the bone was visible 'I must comment on the remarks I said last night...Yes: I did tell those people to go back to Africa,' Congemi wrote in a statement to The Tampa Bay Times. 'My remark was meant for the group Mr Nevel represents. Not all African Americans. Just those that Nevel represents.' Congemi also attacked current mayor Rick Krisemen for his support of the LGBT community. 'I will never endorse sin,' he said. This is Congemi's third run for mayor. He said he wants to hold the record for the most bids for mayor in St Petersburg history before he dies. He's also had several run-ins with the law. In the most recent, Congemi was charged with felony elder abuse in January after his 87-year-old mother ended up in intensive care for bed sores. The sores on her tailbone were reportedly so neglected that the bone was visible. Charges have since been dropped. A young man has been jailed for more than eight years for taking the lives of two much-loved mothers when he sped through a red light at 140km/h in Melbourne's north. Mohamad Hassan, 21, pleaded guilty to two counts of culpable driving causing the deaths of Bozica Nikolic, 57, and Subha Deumic, 62, in the horror crash at suburban Attwood in June 2016. Victorian County Court Judge Lisa Hannan jailed Hassan on Thursday, ordering that he serve at least six years and two months in prison before being eligible for parole, adding that the sentence could never reflect the value of the lives lost. Scroll down for video Mohamad Hassan has been sentenced to more than eight years in jail for killing two much-loved mothers Subha Deumic (right) and Bozica Nikolic (left) in Attwood, north-west Melbourne last year Hassan faced the Victorian County Court on Wednesday where he pleaded guilty to two counts of culpable driving causing the deaths of the women at Attwood in June 2016 (pictured) Five daughters of Ms Nikolic and Ms Deumic delivered heart-wrenching victim impact statements in court on Wednesday, including one account from a woman who witnessed the collision from a following car. Ms Deumic's daughters were driving in the car behind and watched on in horror as their mother's red Toyota sedan was flung across the road after being t-boned by Mr Hassan's black 1999 Mercedes Benz. Ms Nikolic and Ms Deumic had been best friends for 30 years and were returning home after catching up over dinner. Hassan, a Lebanese national, was said to have been driving the Mercedes with number plates from his uncle's Nissan Triton at the time of the crash. Five daughters of Ms Nikolic (pictured) and Ms Deumic delivered heart-wrenching victim impact statements in court, including one account from a woman who witnessed the collision from a following car Ms Deumic is pictured with her son Ermin, 32, before her tragic death Detective Senior Constable Alexander Osmelak said dashcam footage showed the Mercedes speeding past another car before the crash, and afterwards the speedometer in the Mercedes was frozen at 140km/h. Last year, Ms Nikolic's daughter Marina told 7 News of her heartache. 'Now I've lost my mum. She's not going to be there for when I get married, she's not going to be there to watch my sister grow up. '[I'm] just not going to have a mum and that's going to be really hard.' Meghan McCain has urged a Republican official in Nevada to resign after she retweeted a post calling for the death of her father, Senator John McCain. The Fox News host slammed GOP member Diana Orrock, after she shared a tweet saying the Arizona Senator should 'just f***ing die already', along with the caption 'Amen'. @DianaOrrock you are a godless, horrible monster who should be nowhere near GOP politics let alone society in general, Meghan McCain tweeted on Tuesday. She also retweeted a post calling on Orrock to resign, just hours before her veteran politician dad was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer. Orrock later apologized, saying Today's retweet was disrespectful. Sen. McCain is an American hero. I don't wish anyone harm. She has since deleted her Twitter account. Meghan McCain (left) has urged Diana Orrock (right), a Republican official in Nevada, to resign after she retweeted a post calling for the death of her father, Senator John McCain Meghan McCain (seen left with her father, Senator John McCain) is a co-host of the Fox News show Outnumbered A day earlier, Orrock tweeted Amen in response to another tweet which read: Please Just F***ing Die Already #JohnMcCain #NeoCons #Russia @DianaOrrock you are a godless, horrible monster who should be nowhere near GOP politics let alone society in general, Meghan McCain tweeted on Tuesday At the time this controversy erupted, McCain was in Arizona recuperating from an operation in which doctors removed a two-inch blood clot from above his eye. McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee known for political independence during more than three decades in the Senate, has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer, his office said on Wednesday. The 80-year-old lawmaker and former Navy pilot, who was re-elected to a sixth Senate term in November, has been recovering at home in Arizona since undergoing surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix last Friday to remove a blood clot from above his left eye. Tissue analysis since that procedure revealed that a brain tumor known as a glioblastoma was associated with the clot, his office said. 'The news of my fathers illness has affected every one of us in the McCain family,' Meghan McCain said in a statement on Twitter Before McCain's diagnosis was announced on Wednesday, Meghan McCain shared this photograph of her father's feet on her official Instagram account Glioblastoma is considered a grade IV tumor, the most malignant of gliomas. It can be very aggressive and spread into other parts of the brain quickly, according to the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas. McCain's doctors said he was recovering from his surgery 'amazingly well' and that his underlying health was excellent. His treatment options include a combination of chemotherapy and radiation, his office said. 'The news of my fathers illness has affected every one of us in the McCain family,' Meghan McCain said in a statement on Twitter. 'My grandmother, mother, brothers, sister, and I have all endured the shock of the news, and now we live with the anxiety about what comes next.' She said the family was familiar with the experience of battling cancer since her father had fought it previously, and that through all of this, McCain himself was the 'most confident and calm' of all of them. McCain has had non-invasive melanomas removed at least three times. He also overcame injuries suffered as prisoner of war in Vietnam, where he endured beatings and torture by his North Vietnamese captors. Some questions about McCain's health arose during a recent Senate hearing when the lawmaker, normally a keen interrogator of witnesses, rambled during questioning of former FBI Director James Comey. President Donald Trump on Wednesday tweeted a statement saying that he and his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, 'send our thoughts and prayers to Senator McCain, Cindy, and their entire family' His doctors told CNN on Wednesday, however, that he had no sign of neurological impairment before or during his surgery. His fellow members of Congress rushed to offer tributes to the lawmaker and wishes for his quick recovery. Known for an independent political streak, ready wit and strong opinions, McCain is one of the best-known and most popular US lawmakers among his peers and the media. A group of Republicans meeting to discuss healthcare policy on Wednesday evening prayed together for McCain. Senator Lindsey Graham, McCain's close friend, said McCain had told him he was eager to get back to work, Senator John Hoeven told reporters. While known as a fierce advocate for strong US military action overseas, McCain also has a reputation for working with Democrats on issues from clamping down on campaign finance abuses to immigration reform. This week, McCain called for a bipartisan approach to overhauling the US healthcare system. McCain was one of Congress' most vocal critics of Obama's foreign policy, but he has also raised questions about Trump, a fellow Republican. McCain found himself to be a brief side issue in the race for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination when he criticized then-candidate Trump, who responded by saying McCain was not a war hero because he had been captured by the Vietnamese. McCain's absence this week has complicated efforts by Trump and his fellow Republicans to repeal Obama's Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called McCain, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, a hero and said he looked forward to having him back in Washington. McCain, the son and grandson of admirals, was a U.S. Navy pilot. His plane was shot down over Vietnam in 1967 and he spent 5-1/2 years as a prisoner of war. One of McCain's proudest moments as a US senator was working to pass legislation banning torture in 2015. When he was offered release because of his father's rank, McCain refused to be freed before those who had been held captive longer. He finally returned to the United States in 1973, with other prisoners of war. McCain's absence this week has complicated efforts by Trump and his fellow Republicans to repeal Obama's Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare. McCain's absence from Washington makes it difficult for McConnell to gather the 50 votes he needs in a chamber where the party holds only a 52-48-seat margin. His absence could also complicate progress toward passing the annual National Defense Authorization Act, a $700 billion piece of legislation setting policy for the Department of Defense that must pass every year. President Donald Trump has accused former FBI Director James Comey of trying to leverage a potentially compromising dossier over him in order to keep his job. In an interview with The New York Times published on Wednesday, Trump said he was presented with the dossier by Comey in a meeting held in New York before he took office. The meeting, Trump said, was held about two weeks before the inauguration and he believed it was Comey's attempt to hold the unsubstantiated allegations over his head. Donald Trump accused former FBI Director James Comey of attempting to gain leverage over him in order to keep his job During the meeting, they discussed what information US intelligence agencies had on Russia's potential meddling in the election. Trump said that after the meeting Comey took him aside and told him the FBI was in possession of a 'dirty dossier' accumulated by a former British intelligence officer. The dossier is alleged to contain compromising information on the president, including unsubstantiated claims that Russians possess videos involving Trump and prostitutes. Buzzfeed later published the dossier in full after it was reported that then President Barack Obama and Trump were made aware of its existence during a daily briefing. Buzzfeed said that much of the information in the packet, compiled as opposition research for the Clinton campaign, was unverified and not thoroughly vetted. Trump said that Comey spoke to him two weeks before his inauguration to inform him that the FBI was in possession of a potentially compromising dossier Trump said he thinks Comey told him about the dossier - which Trump dismissed as 'made-up junk' - to suggest he had something to hold over the president. 'In my opinion, he shared it so that I would think he had it out there,' Trump said. Asked if he thought Comey was seeking leverage over him, Trump said, 'Yeah, I think so.' In testimony before lawmakers, Comey said he told Trump about the dossier so that the real estate mogul would not be blindsided when it was reported in the media. Comey's predecessor at the FBI, Robert Mueller, is investigating allegations that Russia interfered in the 2016 election Trump fired Comey in May and later said he had the FBI's Russia investigation in mind when he did it. Trump critics point to the dismissal as evidence of obstruction of justice, a potentially impeachable offense. The Times said the interview with Trump was wide-ranging but dominated by talk of the Russia probe. Trump has denied any suggestion that he or anyone in his campaign colluded with the Russians. Trump also told the New York Times that he did not believe he was under investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller, appointed to investigate the Russia affair. 'I don't think we're under investigation,' the Times quoted Trump as saying. 'I'm not under investigation. For what? I didn't do anything wrong.' The Times said Trump warned that Mueller would be crossing 'a red line' if he looked into Trump family finances not related to the Russia investigation. 'I think that's a violation. Look, this is about Russia,' Trump said. But he did not say what he would do if Mueller did end up looking into non-Russia-related Trump financial dealings. Hoons feel compelled to do burnouts in some bizarre places but none more strange than this Adelaide dirt bike rider. The 19-year-old rider was caught on camera smoking up a train station lift - almost asphyxiating himself in the process. He was seen entering Munno Para train station in Adelaide's north at 5.50pm on July 2, backing the stolen bike into the lift before revving the engine. A 19-year-old unlicenced dirt bike rider was caught on CCTV doing a burnout in an Adelaide train station lift He went down the lift without doing the burnout but then got back into the lift to try again. As the lift moved upwards he put out enough smoke to completely obscure the camera before it arrived and caused damaged to the lift. The green-helmeted hoon then drove out of the lift and charged around a tight corner before speeding away from the station. After weeks of hunting him down, SA Police interviewed the teenager and summoned him to appear in Elizabeth Magistrates Court. He was charged with due care; unregistered, uninsured, and unlicensed driving; misuse of a motor vehicle; and two counts of property damage. The motorcycle was later returned to its owner in a damaged condition. He was seen entering Munno Para train station in Adelaide's north at 5.50pm on July 2, backing the stolen bike into the lift before revving the engine As the lift moved upwards he put out enough smoke to completely obscure the camera before it arrived and caused damaged to the lift Online retail juggernaut Amazon are advertising for manager jobs leading to reports their first operations could be set for Melbourne. The online retailer's highly anticipated introduction into the Australian market has retailers on edge and now it appears Amazon will launch a warehouse in Dandenong South in Melbourne, according to The Leader. Amazon have been advertising for an Area Manager job and a Site Safety Manager in South Dandenong on their careers website. Amazon could launch a warehouse in South Dandenong in south east Melbourne Amazon are advertising jobs for positions in south Dandenong The Site Safety Manager description claims it is a: 'new site, so we'll expect you to drive our Amazon EHS culture with the site leaders'. Other jobs pointed out 'physical warehouse activities' will be a requirement, according to the publication. Amazon is a world leader in selling everything from clothes, books and videos to its new Amazon Fresh service of delivery produce and groceries. The retailer recently announced it would bring plenty of jobs to Australia. 'We are excited to bring thousands of new jobs to Australia, millions of dollars in additional investment, and to empower small Australian businesses through Amazon Marketplace,' a statement read. Daily Mail Australia have reached out to Amazon for comment. Advertisement They're seasoned in luxury travel with more than a few yacht trips under their belts. But not everyone on board the extravagant vessel which Tiffany Trump and her mother Marla Maples are holidaying on seems quite as comfortable at sea. On Wednesday, the crew chef was seen being taken to land on a stretcher after becoming ill. Earlier, Tiffany, 23, looked to be in full vacation mode, taking pictures of the scenery while her mother mingled with others on board the yacht, The drama unfolded in at Porto Azzurro on Isla Elba. The group arrived there Wednesday morning after spending the past week in other Italian hot spots. By Thursday, the chef was feeling better and was back on board the yacht. Maples posted a snap of her with the chef and another passenger, writing: 'So grateful the prayers of all of us were answered as Chef Ellie is happily back on board, feeling well & smiling.' Tiffany Trump snapped pictures on her iPhone before the chef on the luxury yacht she is staying on was carted off on a stretcher in Porto Azzurro on Italy's Isla Elba on Wednesday The man held his hands to his head in agony as he was taken off the luxury vessel in a make-shift stretcher by others The chef was taken away in an ambulance, but by Thursday was feeling better and was back on board Tiffany, who will attend law school in the fall, has been enjoying quite the summer tour of Europe. Last month, she visited Hungary and Germany with her long-term boyfriend Ross Mechanic. There has been no sign of him on the yacht though plenty of others have passed through. The boat, the Mirage IV, is privately owned and sleeps 10. Its owner has never been named but Tiffany and Marla are welcome guests. Before the the chef fell ill, Tiffany was seen on board shunning make-up and wearing her blonde hair loose around her shoulders. She was dressed for a day at sea in a pale pink bikini. Some of the guests on the boat appeared to help carry him off. The men, wearing baseball hats, helped as Italian medics lifte the man onto a stretcher A small crowd gathered around the ambulance as the drama unfolded under the Tuscan sun Twenty-three-year-old Tiffany was earlier pictured snapping pictures of the scenery with another girl who was on board The president's daughter was dressed suitably for a day at sea in a pale pink bikini top and some white crochet shorts Eager to capture the perfect shot, she remained on the deck snapping away as others moved around behind her Tiffany and her friend snapped away, near two moments of the crew Tiffany mingled with other guests on board the 10-sleeper yacht. She animatedly spoke to one man and a child The president's daughter has been on board the yacht for the past week, soaking up the European summer Tiffany went make-up free for the day and kept her blonde hair partly off her face with a small clip She was seen snapping photographs of the scenery at the stunning Italian port, accompanied by another young woman who also seized the opportunity for some holiday snaps. Marla, 53, covered up her enviable figure in a white kahftan. She wore her blonde hair in shaggy waves and perched a pair of sunglasses on her head. She too chatted with other guests before the medical emergency played out. Earlier in the week, the pair were spotted flaunting their figures in bikinis to soak up the sun on the upper deck. Marla and Tiffany's break in the sun comes as other members of the famous family grapple with ongoing political scandal in Washington DC. Marla Maples was dressed glamorously in a white cover-up which she laid over a bright purple bikini The 53-year-old added some beads to her otherwise simple look and wore her blonde hair messily with some sunglasses perched on her head The white cover-up showed off yoga-loving Marla's lithe figure. She ventured out into the sun briefly Marla, the president's second wife, is seen sitting in a couch on the deck of the craft Donald Trump Jr., Tiffany's half-brother, is embedded in an ongoing scandal surrounding his ill-fated meeting with Russian lawyers who promised him dirt on Hillary Clinton last summer. The topic has dominated conversation in the Capitol since the true nature of the meeting was revealed in an incriminating email chain which Donald Jr. posted himself on Twitter to preempt The New York Times doing the same. Tiffany, on the other hand, has been enjoying a relaxing year of travel before she begins classes at Georgetown University in the fall. She has taken a considerably less hands-on role in assisting in the family's Washington DC work since her father's inauguration. Unlike Ivanka, who holds an unpaid position in the White House, Tiffany's duties have been mainly restricted to attending events with the rest of the family. This could change when she settles in to life at Georgetown which is a mere 2.5 miles from the White House. The man was taken away in an ambulance, leaving the holidaymakers free to lap up the luxury of the boat without incident A man has been charged with trying to kidnap a two-year-old girl from a playground at a west Sydney shopping centre. The man, 41, allegedly approached the toddler at Westfield in Penrith around 2.30pm on Wednesday and tried to walk out with her, police claim. The girl's parents quickly stopped the man, who was not known to the girl. A man, 41, has been charged with trying to kidnap a two-year-old girl from a playground at Westfield Penrith, in west Sydney, on Wednesday (stock image) The 41-year-old allegedly fled the shopping complex. Police were called and arrested him at a home in Penrith around 8.30pm. He was taken to the local police station and charged with take/detain child away with intent to remove from parental control, police said. The man was refused bail in Penrith Local Court on Thursday. Just days after Chipotle was forced to close one of its Virginia stores due to food poisoning, the fast food chain suffered another debacle when 'rats' fell from a Texas store's ceiling. Diners at a Chipotle in Dallas said the rodents fell from the ceiling as they ate their lunch on Wednesday. 'If we would have been sitting at the table next to that it definitely would have fell on top of our food because it was literally right there,' Daniela Ornelas told NBC 5. Ornelas said she and her boyfriend were eating during the lunch at the Chipotle on N. Market Street near Elm Street when the incident occurred. Just a day after Chipotle was forced to close one of its Virginia stores due to food poisoning, the beleaguered fast food chain suffered another debacle when rats fell from a Texas store's ceiling. Pictured is one of the three rats that were spotted in the restaurant Diners at a Chipotle in Dallas reported the rodents fell from the ceiling as they ate their lunch on Wednesday. Video showed one rodent climbing the wall (top left) wile another appeared motionless on the floor (left) A third rodent was seen in the video scrambling to its feet before scampering away My friend @BahadirKoseli took this video at lunch today at Chipotle in Dallas (West End) @ChipotleTweets literally explain this please pic.twitter.com/hbHHObpC45 Becca Winn (@beccawinning) July 18, 2017 'I just kept wondering what it was and I kept looking around until I looked at the floor and I saw three rats and I ran,' Ornelas said. One diner caught it all on camera. The video showed one rodent climbing the wall wile another appeared motionless on the floor. 'My friend @BahadirKoseli took this video at lunch today at Chipotle in Dallas (West End) @ChipotleTweets literally explain this please (sic),' journalist Becca Winn tweeted. A third rodent was seen in the video scrambling to its feet before scampering away. Chipotle's Quinn Kelsey confirmed in a statement to DailyMail.com that 'a few mice' did get inside the restaurant. Kelsey said the mice came in from the 'outside due to small structural gap'. 'The mice were immediately removed and the gap has been repaired. Weve been in touch with our customers to offer our sincere apologies,' the statement read. 'This is an extremely isolated incident but of course its not anything wed ever want our guests to encounter. We conduct regular, monthly inspections to best prevent these types of issues,' the statement concluded. Just two days ago, Chipotle faced another fiasco when the company was forced to temporarily close a restaurant near Washington, DC, after customers reported getting ill after eating there. The incident occurred at the Chipotle on N. Market Street near Elm Street (pictured) Chipotle has been forced to temporarily close a restaurant in near Washington DC after customers reported getting ill after eating there At least 13 people reported to the website 'I Was Poisoned', with two of that group saying they had to be hospitalized after eating at the store in Sterling, Virginia. 'After eating Chipotle on Saturday around 12.20pm... I began having multiple extreme diarrhea Sunday night at 10pm and even sh***ed myself,' one person wrote on the website. 'Tried to sleep but woke up at 1am and began vomiting in my bed and on the floor... after taking shower and cleaning mess I went back to bed and woke up at 3.30am with more diarrhea and nausea and had chills and was sweating. 'I went back to bed and woke up at 4.30 and began vomiting more I finally went to bed and when I woke up I went to doctors they said I was their 13th patient to come in from food poisoning from Chipotle Sterling.' Another person wrote on the website: 'Friday 7/14: Daughter and friends went to Chipotle. 'Saturday 7/15: stomach pains and nausea started in morning... violently sick, puking, diarrhea, severe pain, overnight into Sunday. 'Friends ill as well with one friend also in ER. Sunday 7/16: Hospital visit for dehydration, nausea, pain. Monday 7/17: severe pain, trauma pain. This is the worst that I have ever seen.' 'My husband and I shared a burrito bowl last night for dinner around 6:30 PM,' another person wrote on Sunday afternoon. People reported getting sick after eating food from the Chipotle store in Sterling, Virginia (pictured) This chart from Bloomberg shows how Chipotle's stock fell on Tuesday after news of the norovirus incident spread 'At around midnight my husband woke up vomiting violently. Less than an hour later I began vomiting as well. 'We have since continued vomiting in addition to having diarrhea, stomach pains, dizziness upon standing, and low grade fevers. 'Chipotle was the only thing we both ate yesterday. ' The company said it shut down its location in Sterling, Virginia, on Monday after becoming aware of a 'small number' of reported illnesses. The chain added it is working with health authorities to understand the cause, but the reported symptoms are consistent with norovirus that does not come from its food supply, meaning it is safe to eat at other restaurants. WHAT IS NOROVIRUS? Norovirus is the leading cause of illness and outbreaks from contaminated food in the US. Infected employees are frequently the source of the outbreaks, often by touching foods such as raw fruits and vegetables with their bare hands before serving them. Symptoms include nausea, stomach pain and diarrhea. (Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Advertisement A norovirus was also to blame for a spate of illnesses at one of the company's stores in Boston that saw 136 people get sick. Chipotle said the Sterling store reopened Wednesday, after 'multiple teams performed complete sanitizations of all surfaces'. The fast-food chain said the norovirus doesn't come from its food supply, but company shares fell more than 4 per cent on Tuesday. They were down again about 1.2 per cent on Wednesday. Chipotle has been working to bounce back from food scares that included an E coli outbreak in the fall of 2015 and a norovirus case in Boston later that year. Among the changes the company has announced are tweaks to cooking methods and training for employees to prevent such cases. In addition to reassuring customers of the safety measures it has taken, Chipotle had been giving away coupons for free burritos and stepping up marketing to win back customers. For the first three months of this year, sales were up 18 per cent at established locations. That followed a 20 per cent decline for all of 2016. Norovirus is the leading cause of illness and outbreaks from contaminated food in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Infected employees are frequently the source of the outbreaks, the CDC says, often by touching foods such as raw fruits and vegetables with their bare hands before serving them. Symptoms include nausea, stomach pain and diarrhea. An Ohio judge has sentenced the parents of a two-year-old girl fatally shot by her six-year-old brother to probation and community service. Turhan Johnson, 27, and Kayla Johnson, 23, both of Toledo, learned their fate on Wednesday when they were handed sentences of two years of probation each and were ordered to perform 100 hours of community service. Turhan pleaded guilty last month to a misdemeanor charge of negligent homicide for failing to secure the gun. His daughter, Journi Johnson, was shot in the head on December 4, 2016. Parents sentenced: Turhan Johnson (left), 27, and Kayla Johnson (right), 23, have been sentenced to probation and community service in the death of their two-year-old daughter Journi (pictured left and right), at the hands of her six-year-old brother Jouri Johnson was shot in the head by her stepbrother with their father's unsecured gun The gunman was Johnson's six-year-old stepson. Kayla pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of obstruction of official business for lying to police and cleaning up evidence. Authorities say the boy inadvertently fired the gun, striking his sister. Nicole Khoury, an attorney for Turhan, calls the case 'tragic' and says she believes the appropriate penalty was handed down reported Toledo Blade. When given a chance to speak, Kayla described what happened on December 4 as 'an honest mistake' and said the family miss Journi every day. The woman's attorney, Sam Kaplan, added that this case is marked by 'sadness beyond compare.' Turhan did not address the court at Wednesdays sentencing, but his defense lawyer said he will never forgive himself for leaving his loaded gun unsecured and accessible to his son. Kayla Johnson (right) described what happened on December 4 as 'an honest mistake' Journi's brother shot her once in the head after finding his stepfather's gun in his pants pocket 'It is a decision he will pay for the rest of his life,' Khoury said. The case began unfolding shortly after 8am on December 4 when police were called to St Charles Hospital, where staff reported that Journi was brought in suffering from a gunshot wound to the head, reported 13ABC at the time. The toddler was pronounced dead a 8.43am, about an hour after she was found mortally wounded inside her parents home in the 2400 block of Seaman Road in Toledo. Turhan would later reveal that on the morning of the incident, he came home from working a 14-hour shift and took off his clothes, leaving his .38-caliber handgun in the pocket of his pants. He went to sleep in the basement and was awakened before 8am by the sound of a loud boom. Turhan ran upstairs to find his daughter suffering from a bullet wound to the head. He carried Journi to his car and raced to the emergency room. A prosecutor previously said that Journi's death was an accident that occurred because of the fathers negligence and careless handling of a firearm. The manager at an Australian courier company was unfairly sacked after he was accused of breaching an embargo on the new J.K. Rowling novel Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. The depot manager at XL Express Pty Ltd in Brisbane was fired for serious misconduct in November last year when the J.K Rowling book was delivered a day before the embargo was lifted. XL Express, a third generation family owned company, accused the depot manager of damaging the company's reputation. The manager at an Australian courier company was unfairly sacked after he was accused of breaching an embargo on the new J.K. Rowling (pictured) novel Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them The Fair Work Commission this week found the depot manager was unfairly dismissed. The Commission found XL Express did not lose its contract with the book distributor and suffered no financial penalty by the embargo breach. The depot manager was also found to be on leave at the time of the breach in November. He maintained he was not the 'commander in charge' at the time of the breach. He claimed he returned to work on November 16, the day after the breach, totally unaware someone had 'accessed his office, gained access to the box where the embargo labels were kept and also retrieved the con-note from the embargo con-notes and had labelled the freight'. J.K. Rowling's book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was delivered one day before the embargo was lifted The J.K. Rowling book was at the centre of the unfair dismissal decision which was made public this week The manager was dismissed on November 23 on grounds of serious misconduct. He was also accused by his company of workplace bullying. According to the Fair Work Commission decision, the workplace bullying allegation followed the death of an owner/ driver who allegedly named a number of managers in a note left before his death. The death is subject of a coronial investigation. He vehemently denied the bullying accusations and said it was the first time the accusations were put to him. XL Express, a third generation family owned company, accused the depot manager of damaging the company's reputation The Fair Work Commission found XL Express offered no evidence to support the bullying allegations. Fair Work Commission deputy president Ingrid Asbury found the dismissal was unfair, and ordered XL Express to pay the sacked manager $48,432.69 in wages, less tax and $6,555.12 superannuation. The manager in question was employed by XL Express in Brisbane between May 6, 2008 and November 23, 2016 when he was unfairly dismissed. Throughout her courageous four-year long cancer battle and $4 million fundraising efforts, Connie Johnson has shown the strength of Hercules. The 40-year-old was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013, leading her brother and Gold Logie-winning TV star, Samuel, to form the 'Love Your Sister' foundation. And now just days after her brother revealed she was 'actively dying' at a hospice in Canberra, Connie has been paid a visit at her hospital bed by 'Hercules' - an adorable and fluffy white Alpaca. Scroll down for video Connie Johnson has been paid a visit by an adorable fluffy white Alpaca called 'Hercules' at her bedside in a Canberra hospice (pictured) The 40-year-old (left) was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013, leading her brother and Gold Logie-winning TV star, Samuel (right), to form the 'Love Your Sister' cancer foundation The mother-of-two appeared incredibly sick in the photo shared to the 'Love Your Sister' Facebook page and was unable to get up out of bed to greet the animal. Wearing a pink beanie and wrapped in a hospital blanket, a handler leads the animal to her bedside before Connie leans over and gives it a kiss. 'This is Hercules. He is vying for top position as Connie's favourite nurse. Daw [sic],' the photo was captioned. Just two days earlier Samuel again took to the Love Your Sister Facebook page to update their more than 480,000 followers about her condition. He said his sister had put away her phone and turned off social media as she tried to get her head around the 'most difficult thing she's ever had to face'. 'Con's needed a lot of quiet time lately to try and comprehend the total headf***ery that "actively dying" brings,' the post on the Love Your Sister page read. Samuel Johnson was also pictured spending some time with 'Hercules' inside the hospice In the Facebook post, Mr Johnson said Connie had 'needed a lot of quiet time lately to try and comprehend the total headf***ery that "actively dying" brings' Connie's view from the hospice which accompanied the Facebook post on the Love Your Sister page Connie decided to end all treatment for her terminal breast cancer earlier this year The post was accompanied by a photo Connie had captured of the view from inside her hospice. Mr Johnson said when he spoke to his sister she was spending her time colouring-in. 'No phones, no social media - all too overwhelming right now. She just rang from the Hospice... and admitted that this is the most difficult thing she's ever had to face,' it read. 'But in true Connie style she's been colouring-in to keep the nasty thoughts at bay! 'She said to tell you that there's life in the old dog yet.' Mr Johnson, who dedicated his Gold Logie win in April to Connie, said his sister was 'as comfortable as can be and is being cared for superbly'. Thousands of people commented to the Facebook post to let Mr Johnson know the family were in their thoughts. Mr Johnson said his sister (pictured together) had 'rung from the Hospice... and admitted that this is the most difficult thing she's ever had to face' Mr Johnson began the Love Your Sister foundation in 2013 and began cycling around Australia. So far the foundation has raised more than $4 million 'Love and admiration to a truly inspirational family. May you all know peace and love,' one wrote. Earlier this year, Connie, a Canberra mother-of-two, decided to end all treatment for her terminal breast cancer. At the time, Connie said after a double mastectomy and gruelling rounds of chemotherapy and radiation, the side effects had become harsher and harder to ignore. She suffered bone cancer at age 11, a tumour in her womb at 22 and was diagnosed with breast cancer seven years ago. 'So that's 10 to 11 years of cancer treatment in a 40-year lifespan and I guess my organs are just saying, "No more. No more",' Connie had told The Canberra Times. A policeman's skull was split open in two places when he was hit in the head with a samurai sword by a suspected wife-beating thug. The 55-year-old father-of-four suffered the horrific injuries at the scene of a domestic violence incident in Perth about 5.30pm on Wednesday. By the time the senior constable and his partner arrived at the house on Parkin Street in Rockingham the man involved in the dispute was gone. A policeman's skull was split open in two places when he was hit in the head with a samurai sword by an alleged wife-beating thug Milos Radovic, 45, then returned and allegedly slashed the officer on the head with a samurai sword, causing multiple large head wounds and a fractured skull. Other officers were called to attend the scene and had to use a Taser on Radovic to restrain and arrest him. The officer was rushed to Royal Perth Hospital before being released overnight after he was given more than 12 stitches to a gaping, bloody wound to his forehead. A deeper wound to the back of his head was too serious to stitch up and was left open until surgeons work out a plan to treat it. Radovic was charged with intent to maim by unlawful wounding, two counts of being armed in a way to cause fear, and criminal damage. He was also charged with two counts of breaching a violence restraining order. The senior constable suffered the horrific injuries at the scene of a domestic violence incident in Perth about 5.30pm on Wednesday The officer was rushed to Royal Perth Hospital before being released overnight 'This police officer is very luck to be alive. This was a vicious, unprovoked attack,' WA Police Union President George Tilbury said. 'This is so vicious and so cowardly... this officer could have lost his life.' Mr Tilbury said there were an alarming number of people in the state 'armed and who obviously have evil intent'. Radovic appeared in the Rockingham Magistrates Court on Thursday and was remanded in custody to appear in court again on August 2. He faces at least a year in jail, and a maximum of 20 years, under WA's mandatory sentencing laws for assaults on police and emergency officers. Investigators would review the charges and could upgrade the intent to maim charge. A thug who escaped jail time despite showing 'no remorse' for smashing 68 graves spent the first day of the rest of his life dancing, snapping selfies and feasting on a burger with a female friend. Former stone mason Naseem Raad, 23, from Yagoona, was slapped with a suspended nine month sentence and a $63,000 fine by a Sydney magistrate on Tuesday. He was found guilty of desecrating the graves, at Rookwood, one evening in November 2015. The court was shown a Snapchat video of him and a friend making spitting noises as they strode through the necropolis. In the video, one of the men could heard calling the Greek and Russian Orthodox dead 'mutts... these f***ers... dogs'. Scroll down for video Relaxed day out: Nassem Raad was found guilty of smashing 68 graves at Rookwood necropolis on Wednesday - and spent the next day chilling out with a female friend Say selfie! Raad, 23, was dropped off to a friend's house on Thursday morning - snapping selfies together on the deck. Raad even danced The young man chatted and smiled after heading to a mate's house in Sydney's south-west The taste of freedom: A cigarette in his hand, Raad and a female friend headed to the nearby suburb of Greenacre for a burger and a flavoured drink at Genuine Broaster Chicken Asked to explain his side of the story, Raad said: 'F*** off, get the f*** out of my face, you f***ing c***' Raad and his father started the day by popping in briefly to Burwood Local Court. He was understood to be there to sign documents relating to his sentence. He was later dropped off at a friend's house, where he danced and snapped selfies with a pair of young ladies. Raad enjoyed a cigarette and a Gatorade He and a friend then popped out to Broasters in the nearby suburb of Greenacre for a burger and a cigarette. Asked to explain his side of the story, Raad told Daily Mail Australia: 'F*** off, get the f*** out of my face ... f***ing c***s'. His day of freedom came as a Greek Orthodox woman - whose parents' graves he desecrated - revealed her family had to stump up the cost of the damage. Sylvie Tsatsaronis told Daily Mail Australia she 'screamed' when she saw her parents' final resting place desecrated on the TV news. Along with the grave of her late parents, Georgia and Theodore, many of the destroyed memorials belonged to dead babies. Spitting sounds: Nassem Raad (left) and a friend are pictured in the Snapchat video on left. The men can then be heard going around the gravesite making spitting sounds at the graves 'We were very affected by it': The tombstone of Greek Orthodox parents Georgia and Theodore Tsatsaronis was toppled over by Raad 'I screamed': Sylvie Tsatsaronis (pictured) told Daily Mail Australia she learned of what happened to her parents' final resting place on TV 'It was tragic. We were very affected by it. We were very angry,' Ms Tsatsaronis said in an interview. Raad's crime left the grave in tatters for six months - meaning it was in ruins through Christmas and Easter, key religious times for the family. 'The news came up and my parents' grave was on TV,' Ms Tsatsaronis said. 'I screamed and my family came out running and we went straight to the cemetery.' Ms Tsatsaronis was both distressed and bewildered because the graves are made out of marble meaning it would require a lot of effort to destroy. In a social media post recently, Ms Tsatsaronis suggested the thugs had targeted the Orthodox Christian area of the Rookwood necropolis for a reason. 'He would have had to pass the Islamic burial ground to get to the orthodox section. 'This was a calculated hate crime against Christianity as well as disrespect for the departed'. Her family was also lumbered with the $1300 damage bill and a long wait for repairs and for the police investigation to conclude. 'Doing what they did is quite despicable and to do it to the deceased and desecrate peoples' places of rest,' she said. Raad was all smiles outside a Sydney courtroom this week - dressed in a hoodie and white cap Horrific images taken of the cemetery following the attack showed turned over and smashed gravestones, flowers scattered across footpaths and candles turned upside-down Mr Raad desecrated up to 70 graves, including those of children and babies, has escaped jail time despite showing no remorse 'And the amount of damage theyve done was horrendous. 'I was quite shocked when I went to the cemetery to see the amount of damage, the amount of tombstones they desecrated'. She could not fathom why Mr Raad did such a thing. Why did he do it? Burwood Local Court heard Nassem Raad, 21, showed 'no remorse' for his actions But despite the fact he hasn't apologised, Ms Tsatsaronis said in time Raad would understand the gravity of what he had done. 'As a Christian we forgive. He, in time, will learn. 'Someone close to him will die and he will know what it's like to lose a loved one. 'He would have empathy then.' President Donald Trump gushed over his budding bromance on Wednesday with French President Emmanuel Macron, whom he believes 'loves' to hold his hand. 'He's a great guy smart, strong, loves holding my hand,' Trump jokingly told the New York Times. 'People don't realize, he loves holding my hand - that's good!' the president said of Macron. The French president invited Trump to attend Bastille Day festivities in Paris last week that ended with an epic, final 30-second handshake. The epic 30 second handshake battle between Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Friday was a clear power struggle, a body language expert says The pair shook hands as Trump departed a military parade during the Bastille Day celebration. They continued awkwardly clasping hands as they walked along the parade route Trump was trying to show he still had power by taking Macron's wife's hand midway through their embrace, according to the body language expert Their most recent embrace on Friday has been branded the 'most bizarre' handshake yet between the two world leaders. Body language expert Patti Wood told DailyMail.com that Macron had the upper hand as the pair said au revoir at the conclusion of the US leader's visit to France. She also described Trump's awkward embrace with France's First Lady on Thursday as 'violent and rough'. 'It's incredibly different, too bizarre for a greeting between two world leaders,' Wood told DailyMail.com. 'One thing was the length of time the two men held hands - time communicates dramatically. I believe it lasted 30 seconds, they just didn't let go. That was a power struggle.' Wood believes Trump had the lower hand right from the start and tried to grip on to maintain he still had power. The pair shook hands as Trump departed a military parade during the Bastille Day celebration. They continued awkwardly clasping hands as they walked along the parade route. At one point, Trump patted Macron's hand and they jerked their hands back and forth in an arm wrestling motion. Wood said both leaders have shown in the past they typically pull the other person during a handshake. '(Trump) likes to pull the person towards them so the hands are right in front of his chest, right over his heart. In this case Macron was attempting to do that and succeeded several times,' she said. Trump then shook hands with Macron's wife, Brigitte, as he bizarrely continued to shake hands with the French president. 'In the bid to regain power, Trump created a bizarre ring-around-the rosy dance with Macron and Brigitte. 'He patted the president's arm, he reached for the wife - that whole interaction was very hard. He took her outside arm and gripped her so tightly. That was just odd.' And the French president isn't the only one to experience an awkward handshake with Trump. The US president held Macron's wife, Brigitte (left), in a death grip last week when she greeted him. A body expert said Trump's awkward embrace with her was somewhat 'violent and rough' Despite the budding bromance between the US president and Macron, the pair has a history of handshake battles. They are pictured shaking hands at NATO in Brussels on May 25 It followed the awkward lingering embrace between the French First Lady and Trump as she and her husband welcomed him and Melania to Paris on Thursday. Trump kissed Brigitte Macron Parisian-style, once on each cheek, before taking both her hands for a prolonged grip, in which he appeared to jerk her left arm towards him as she appeared to be struggling to get him to let go. But despite the 'power struggle' between the two presidents, Trump told the Times that he has 'a great relationship' with Macron. 'He's a great guy,' Trump said. This year's Bastille Day event coincided with the 100th anniversary of the US entry into the First World War. Macron, in closing the parade, publicly thanked the US for coming to France's aid during the war, saying 'nothing will ever separate us'. 'The presence at my side of the president of the United States, Mr Donald Trump, and of his wife, is the sign of a friendship across the ages,' Macron said. Photos showed Macron and Trump in another aggressive 'tug of war'-style handshake at the G20 summit two weeks ago. Trump and Macron awkwardly shook hands as they chatted with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the start of the G20 meeting in Hamburg At the NATO summit in Brussels in May, the two world leaders (center) locked hands for so long that their knuckles started turning white. Macron later called that handshake a 'moment of truth' to show he's not a pushover Trump returned the kindness of Mr Macron in a statement released as Air Force One flew back to the US. 'America and France will never be defeated or divided,' he said. Despite the budding bromance between the US president and Macron, the pair has a history of handshake battles. When Macron initially greeted Trump upon his arrival to Paris, Macron put his left hand on Trump's back, and Trump patted Macron's arm. That handshake was also a lengthy one as both seemed reluctant to break away, even while Trump turned and appeared to comment on his surroundings. Two weeks ago, Trump and Macron met again at the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany. Photos showed Macron and Trump in another aggressive 'tug of war'-style handshake, reminiscent of the drawn-out grip the two had in Brussels in May. But after a few seconds, Trump pulled Macron's hand toward his chest in more of a hand clasp. At the NATO summit in Brussels in May, the two world leaders locked hands so long their knuckles started turning white. Macron later called that handshake a 'moment of truth' to show he's not a pushover. A 36-year-old lonely, single guy who has never been in a relationship or had sex has set up a website to find a clever girlfriend who is younger than him. Daniel Piechnick, a former Australian Scrabble champion who runs a public relations business, is looking for a woman aged between 20 and 30 who is also inexperienced at love. 'I'm looking for something pretty rare these days,' he says in a three-minute, homemade video. Daniel Piechnick gets a touch on the arm from Sunrise's Samantha Armytage in 2014 Introducing himself as 'single guy from Adelaide', the high achiever said he 'never really had time to have a partner' as he ran his own business. 'It did really well and I figured once that was all done with, which it is now, I would find one of the other people who had sort of waited for the right person,' he said. 'No one really does that anymore. There's very few people around who haven't had a partner before or hooked up with someone.' The catch is Daniel's ideal woman has to be from Australia or New Zealand who is witty, intellectual and educated. The man behind singleguyfromadelaide.com also ran as a federal and state candidate with Pauline Hanson's One Nation party in 2001 and 2002 when he was still in his early twenties. Daniel Piechnick, a 'single guy from Adelaide', has put out a homemade video about his search for love Adelaide single guy Daniel Piechnick was the 2014 Australian National Scrabble champion He has since studied genetics at the University of Adelaide, been a food blogger, chaired a state Mensa group for people with very high IQs and been crowned the 2014 Australian Scrabble Champion. The man with a knack for promotion has even appeared on Sunrise with David Koch and Samantha Armytage to showcase his skills as a Scrabble wordsmith, receiving a tender touch on the arm from the female co-host. For all his talents, there's still something significant missing from his life, which a normal dating website won't solve. 'What I always really wanted when I found myself a partner was to do the whole thing right from the start with,' he said. Daniel Piechnick sits next to Sunrise newsreader Natalie Barr as a special Scrabble guest Daniel's website says that he wants a woman from Australian or New Zealand 'And I always thought I'd find someone like that and I haven't been able to.' For Daniel, that means being able to go to amazing restaurants and travel with a special woman, who likes engaging conversations, instead of doing things alone. 'Now the kind of person that's going to be attracted to me and I'm going to be attracted to is someone with wit, someone with a sense of humour, someone who loves to use their mind, an intellectual or educated kind of person,' he said. 'I love to travel and I've been to a lot of great places, I just didn't have anyone to take with me. 'The next time I go away, I'd love to have someone who'd love to come along with me.' Daniel set up a website last year but has reactivated it in the hope of having better luck this time. The public relations businessman wants a woman who enjoys intellectual conversations Daniel Piechnick even has another website describing his past as a One Nation member Escaping the winter chill for the sun-drenched beaches of Hawaii can be done for under $300 - with Jetstar slashing the cost of overseas flights in its latest sale. The budget airline is offering flights to Honolulu from the bargain price of $269 with the one-way flights costing a little extra for those not living in Sydney or Melbourne. But not to be outdone, Virgin is also cutting prices for flights to the sunny and star-studded U.S. city of Los Angeles - but for a short time only. Escaping the winter chill for the sunbaked beaches of Hawaii (pictured) can be done for under $300 with Jetstar slashing the cost of overseas flights in its latest sale The budget airline is offering flights to Honolulu from the bargain price of $269 with the one-way flights costing a little extra for those not living in Sydney or Melbourne For those keen on taking up Jetstar's deal to picturesque Honolulu, the $269 flights are only on sale until July 24. But residents in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth will also have to buy a domestic ticket from their city to either Sydney or Melbourne. The bargain also does not include extras or checked luggage, with both needing to be added on to the price of the airfare. The news is also great for those keen to visit LA, with Virgin offering a sale on return flights to the popular holiday destination this winter. The news is also great for those keen to visit LA, with Virgin offering a sale on return flights From as little as $834 you can escape the cold and fly from Melbourne to sunbaked LA From as little as $834 you can fly from Melbourne to the city best known as Tinseltown. Flights from Sydney cost $850, Brisbane flights are $852, Perth as low as $961 and Adelaide just $975. In good news for those battling through constant rain and overcast conditions, the flight dates are between August 6 and September 10 this year. The former prison inmate who got 'Devast8' inked over his face has accepted a job offer after his plea for work took the world by storm. Mark Cropp, 19, had been drinking home brew alcohol behind bars in New Zealand when he went under the needle last year. The teenage father grabbed headlines when he turned to social media to complain that his ink was a stain on his job prospects. Now, Cropp has some good news: he's set to be pulling on a hard hat and stepping into a full-time scaffolding job next week. Scroll down for video Mark 'Devast8' Cropp (pictured) has accepted a job offer after his plea for work took the world by storm 'Mark has accepted a local scaffolding job,' his partner, Taneia Ruki, told Daily Mail Australia. 'He could be starting as early as Monday. We are still locking in the starting day.' She said the Cropp was on the receiving end of a torrent of abuse after it was reported he turned down 45 job offers. 'Most of those were outside of New Zealand, so they weren't on the cards,' she said. Earlier, Cropp had told Daily Mail Australia he was overwhelmed with job offers and 'stopped counting when he reached 45'. 'I am just waiting for the right one to come about,' he said. Cropp's partner, Taneia Ruki, told Daily Mail Australia Cropp has accepted a fulltime scaffolding job The teenage father grabbed global headlines after he turned to social media to complain that his face tattoo was a stain on his job prospects In addition to the job offer, Cropp this week underwent a free laser removal session to remove the tattoo. Sacred Laser co-owner Briar Neville applied her laser removal skills to the now infamous 'Devast8' tattoo on Tuesday afternoon. The session was the first of 12 required to remove the black lettering, which the parlour is doing free of charge. The 19-year-old was reluctant to get the ink erased, telling Kyle Sandilands on KIIS FM that he was worried people will say, 's*** that fella's got a lot of blackheads.' Cropp this week underwent a free laser removal session to begin removing the full-face tattoo Sacred Laser co-owner Briar Neville applied her laser removal skills to the now infamous 'Devast8' tattoo on Tuesday afternoon Despite the happy ending, it seems Cropp hasn't won over everyone. As news of his job broke, US actor Michael Rapaport lashed out at him on Twitter in a bizarre and bitter tirade. 'You got 'devastate' tattooed across your face? You got your brother to do it and now you're complaining because you can't get a f...ing job? 'The only thing you devastated was your life, you dumb, dizzy f..., you,' said the Prison Break star. 'You need to beat your brother's arse with reckless abandon. Then go get a job in a tattoo removal parlour, because that's the only f...ing thing you can do to give back to society, because you look f...ing bananas.' US actor Michael Rapaport lashed out at him on social media overnight in a bizarre tirade A 15-year-old girl with terminal cancer had a 'perfect night' when rugby league star Trent Hodkinson to her high school formal, her mother said. Racheal Rye said it was 'like Cinderella and her knight in shining armour' when he picked her daughter Hannah up from their home in the Hunter Valley. 'It was absolutely a magical moment when Trent turned up with a big bunch of flowers at our house. A perfect night,' she told the Daily Telegraph. Rugby league star Trent Hodkinson (R) took 15-year-old Hannah Rye, who has terminal cancer, to her high school formal Her mother Racheal Rye said it was 'like Cinderella and her knight in shining armour' when he picked her up from their home in the Hunter Valley 'No girl could have asked for a better date. He was a perfect gentleman. He stayed for as long as she needed and helped cut the cake.' Hannah was the envy of all her classmates when she arrived at the Kurri Kurri High School winter formal on Wednesday night with the halfback on her arm. Hodkinson also helped cut a two-tiered cake alongside his date at the event that was moved forward because Hannah may not live to the end of the year. The teenager was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a rare form of cancer that caused tumours to grow around her spine, in October 15. Hodkinson also helped cut a two-tiered cake alongside his date at the event that was moved forward because Hannah may not live to the end of the year Hannah was the envy of all her classmates when she arrived at the Kurri Kurri High School winter formal on Wednesday night with the halfback on her arm She endured rigourous chemotherapy treatments but relapsed in May and was told her condition was terminal, which her mother said was devastating. Hodkinson, who is an ambassador for Give Me 5 for Kids, which raises funds for children's hospital wards across Australia, shared a selfie taken on the way to the formal on his Instagram story. Ms Rye said the eight-year NRL veteran, who met Hannah last March, was a 'genuinely gorgeous person' whose actions made a difference. 'Hannah has been incredibly unwell - you wouldn't believe that just a few days ago she couldn't get out of bed. It was a very big deal for her and she's now resting,' she said. Hodkinson shard a selfie with the teenager, taken on the way to the formal, on his Instagram Hodkinson was lauded for his actions after a Facebook post about the night went viral. Luke Morrison, from Newcastle, wrote that seeing the former halfback taking Hannah to her formal made his day. 'She may look perfectly happy in this photo but this poor little girl has Ewing sarcoma terminal cancer,' he wrote. 'Meaning at this very time she has a very high dosage of morphine just to keep all her pain away. The teenager was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a rare form of cancer that caused tumours to grow around her spine, in October 15 Hodkinson shared a picture with Hannah on his Instagram after meeting her in March last year 'It's a credit to this strong, determined and obviously very powerful young woman to put a smile on her face and get on with day to day life. 'I admire Hannah for this and I hope she has the most wonderful night.' Mr Morrison added that Hodkinson donating his time said a lot about his character. 'Trent's in a position to make a difference and make this poor little girl's night unforgettable and take away the pain and suffering for her and her family,' he wrote. 'What a legend.' Michael O'Leary, boss of Ryanair, admitted the system can't seat people together if they don't pay the extra fee Ryanair chief Michael O'Leary yesterday admitted that the airline's controversial booking system will not allow groups of passengers to sit together if they don't pay an extra fee. The admission comes after weeks of denials from Ryanair that it is deliberately splitting families up unless they pay extra to sit together. Yesterday, Mr O'Leary again denied that Ryanair's seating system had been specifically set up to separate families or groups who had not paid the seat surcharge. However, asked by Joe Duffy on Liveline if the booking system would allow groups who haven't reserved seats to sit together, Mr O'Leary replied: 'No the system won't do that.' The Ryanair boss then added: 'But it also isn't told, "do your best to split them up as far as they possibly can".' Nevertheless, the admission that the Ryanair system will not allow groups who booked together to be seated together means that in practice, any group which hasn't paid the seat surcharge will automatically be split up. Mr O'Leary also denied that seating policy had changed. However numerous members of the public have stated that they have, until recently, been seated together by the Ryanair system despite not having paid the seat surcharge. Ryanair only introduced reserved seating in 2014. Until recently, however, most groups who did not pay the seat surcharge were simply allocated seats alongside each other if such seats were available at check-in. Mr O'Leary's admission that the seating system currently in use does not allow this to happen will heighten criticism that families and groups are effectively being forced to pay a surcharge if they want to avoid the near-certainty of being split up around the aircraft. Under intense questioning from Joe Duffy, Mr O'Leary again said people aren't deliberately separated by Ryanair but then admitted that they are 'highly likely to be dispersed' if they do not pay extra for a seat. Mr O'Leary, who last year reportedly became a billionaire, said the booking system's algorithm which allocates seats changes daily. According to Mr O'Leary, the system doesn't intentionally split groups up. It costs between 2 and 11 to choose a seat, allowing passengers to sit next to each other But he denied that Ryanair's policy had changed in recent weeks and argued that people noticed being split up more lately. He said the noticeable difference is because more than 50 per cent of customers are reserving a seat now compared to just 10 per cent a few years ago. He contended that because more people are opting to buy reserved seats, fewer seats are available for random-seat passengers. Asked by the presenter if aisle seats and window seats are kept free as late as possible because 'that's where we will make money,' Mr O'Leary replied: 'Absolutely, perfectly correct, no question about it. That is a customer choice, if you don't want to pay the extra, don't pay the extra.' Mr O'Leary let fly at disgruntled families criticising the policy, telling them live on radio to 'stop complaining and whingeing'. He said that if passengers are not willing to pay for their seat they should not be upset if they fail to be seated beside their travel companions. The issue was the subject of heated discussion on RTe's Liveline, as passengers vented their fury at the airline boss. One caller named Mark Buckley claimed he had taken a flight from Cork to Bordeaux in the last three months with his wife and 13-year-old daughter who were all split up. He said he couldn't find his daughter as she was asked to move from her seat on the flight by another passenger. Mr Buckley described the seating policy as 'ridiculous'. In February 2014, Ryanair introduced fully allocated seating on each of its flights. Its website states standards seats start at 2 (2), priority seats cost from 7 (7) and priority seats with extra legroom start at 11 (11). Separately, Ryanair's family seating policy came into effect in October, making it mandatory for one adult on the booking to purchase a seat so that children under 12 could sit next to them. The cost for this starts at 4 (4). Before his Liveline showdown, Mr O'Leary spoke to RTe's Sean O'Rourke. On that radio show, the colourful businessman added that in incidents where families were separated on Ryanair flights it is 'the responsibility of the adult who booked the flight.' He added: 'We haven't changed our policy. If you're not happy to pay 2 for a seat, stop complaining and whingeing. If you want to select a seat, pay 2. 'People are whining and whingeing but you can't sit where you want. Sorry, you can't.' In a statement, Ryanair said customers who don't wish to purchase a seat are randomly allocated a seat, 'free of charge'. Robin Kiely, Ryanair's head of communications, added: 'We haven't changed the random-seat allocation policy.' A New York City couple has pleaded guilty to enslaving two children from South Korea who were in their care, beginning when they were just eight and 11 years old. Jeong Taek Lee, 54, and his wife, 50-year-old Sook Yeon Park, both pleaded guilty to two counts of labor trafficking Wednesday. Lee was sentenced to five months of probation. Park was sentenced to six months in prison along with five years of probation. Jeong Taek Lee, 54, and his wife, 50-year-old Sook Yeon Park have pleaded guilty to enslaving a brother and sister from South Korea at this home in Flushing, Queens, for six years Prosecutors say parents of the two children, a brother and sister, sent the siblings to live with the couple in 2010, when they were eight and 11 years old. Authorities say the couple forced the children to work as domestic servants for them at their home in the Flushing section of Queens, which entailed giving the wife manicures and hours-long body massages, reported Newsday last year. They also collected the siblings' earnings from outside jobs at a grocery store, nail salon and restaurant, over a six-year period. According to court documents, the couple were also accused of pocketing more than $100,000 which the children's parents wired from South Korea to cover their expenses. They confiscated the siblings' passports shortly after their arrival, according to the indictment, and forced them to sleep on the floor without a mattress. Charges also refer to instances of the brother and sister being beaten. Authorities alleged Park scratched and kicked the girl in the head, and had once cut off her hair, out of anger over sub-par manicures. The allegations in this case are extremely disturbing,' said Queens County District Attorney Richard Brown said last year. Police intervened after the young siblings told school officials about physical abuse, said the district attorney's office. Park and Lee were arraigned in May 2016. Both remained in custody after failing to post bail. Around that time, their defense attorney dismissed the charges outlined in the indictment against the couple as a frightening childhood fairy tale. It did not happen... the allegations will be exposed as pure fiction, attorney Dennis Ring told Reuters. The children, now ages 17 and 15, have since been reunited with their parents in South Korea. A man initially jailed in 1986 for stabbing a romantic rival to death could soon be released on parole for a third time. James Fricker, from South Australia, stabbed his victim in the upper body after vying with the man for more than a year for the affections of a woman. He served less than 17 years of a life sentence before being released on parole and, despite being twice returned to jail, could be released again in about two months after a ruling in the Supreme Court on Thursday. A man initially jailed in 1986 for stabbing a romantic rival to death could soon be released on parole for a third time (stock image) Justice David Peek said both the Crown and the parole board did not oppose Fricker receiving a new date when he can be released on parole and he considered it would be inappropriate for him to refuse to set one. But he said the whole of Fricker's offending 'reflects badly' on him, though he had demonstrated an improvement in recent years in refraining from violence. After his murder conviction, Fricker was first released from jail in 2001, despite offending a number of times while in prison, including an escape, and having his non-parole period extended three times. He remained on parole until 2005 but was returned to jail after committing a range of offences including aggravated serious criminal trespass and endangering life. He was released again in 2012, but after contravening his parole conditions by consuming alcohol and drugs and committing driving offences, was again returned to prison in early 2016. Most recently Fricker applied to have another non-parole period applied to his life sentence, with Justice Peek setting a period of 19 months, backdated to February last year. James Fricker served less than 17 years of a life sentence before being released on parole and, despite being twice returned to jail, could be released again in about two months after a ruling in the Supreme Court (pictured) on Thursday That means he could be released on parole in about two months, should the parole board agree. In a statement supplied to the court in May this year, the board noted that Fricker had failed to take advantage of his two previous paroles. 'Substance abuse remains a problem for him and he will need to work seriously to convince any future parole board that he can, once again, be trusted back into the community,' the board said. Britain paying a huge Brexit bill is 'non negotiable', the French foreign minister has insisted. Bruno Le Maire risked inflaming tensions in negotiations by quoting Margaret Thatcher's famous phrase: 'We want our money back.' He vowed there would be no discussion of trade until the UK accepted it has to meet the demand for cash. The comments came as David Davis meets his EU counterpart Michel Barnier to assess progress on the negotiations. Bruno Le Maire, pictured right with EU commission president Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels last month, risked inflaming tensions in negotiations by quoting Margaret Thatcher's famous phrase: 'We want our money back.' There are fears that the two sides are deadlocked on the issues of reciprocal rights for citizens and the scale of the divorce bill. Asked about the standoff at the French parliament yesterday, Mr Le Maire said: 'I will say what Margaret Thatcher used to say: "We want our money back." 'We can always debate on the amount but on the fact that the United Kingdom must pay what it owes to the budget of the European Union, it is a non-negotiable prerequisite at the start of the (Brexit) discussions.' Mr Le Maire confirmed that the amounts involved could be up to to 100billion euros. 'The payment by the United Kingdom of its remainder ... is a non-negotiable prerequisite for any discussion of the future of our relations,' he added. Mr Barnier has insisted that the UK must provide an initial framework in the autumn as to how much money it is willing to pay before talks about a trade deal can begin. He has repeatedly threatened that the complex negotiations will not proceed unless he determines there is 'sufficient progress' on the size of the UK bill. Michel Barnier, pictured with Brexit Secretary David Davis in Brussels on Monday, has insisted that the UK must provide an initial framework in the autumn as to how much money it is willing to pay before talks about a trade deal can begin But Downing Street is prepared to infuriate EU leaders by offering only a vague agreement in October and refusing to produce a concrete figure. British negotiators have insisted the size of the payment can be determined only when it becomes clear whether the EU is willing to offer a wide-ranging trade deal. Insiders have dismissed the EU's 85 billion demand as 'preposterous' while Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson recently said the bloc could 'go whistle' for such a sum. Brexit Secretary David Davis has described even a settlement of half that as a 'lot of money', while Tory Brexiteers insist nothing should be paid. Talks on the so-called 'substantive' issues such as the bill and the Northern Irish border began on Monday amid claims jibes from Brussels that British officials have been underprepared. Hans-Olaf Henkel said the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier was among those seeking to make an example of the UK A top German politician warned yesterday that Brussels wants to 'punish' Britain for Brexit and is determined to make our departure a 'catastrophe'. Hans-Olaf Henkel said Mr Barnier was among those seeking to make an example of the UK. Senior Eurocrats are focused on making sure that no other country follows Britain's example by leaving the bloc, according to the MEP. Mr Henkel, a former chief executive of IBM and president of the Federation of German Industries, delivered the warning as he ridiculed the idea that Britain should be denied favourable access to EU markets and institutions. He said he viewed Brexit as a 'disaster', reflecting the German view that the UK has been a positive influence on the organisation over the past four decades. Donald Trump downplayed his second, undisclosed meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying the conversation consisted of 'pleasantries more than anything else'. Trump said that his second meeting with Putin lasted about 15 minutes during dinner for world leaders at the G20 summit in Germany earlier this month. The US president acknowledged that adoptions were discussed during the meeting - the same topic his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, says he discussed with a Russian lawyer at a meeting that has drawn intense scrutiny. President Donald Trump downplayed his second meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, saying it lasted only about 15 minutes during dinner for world leaders at the G20 summit in Germany earlier this month Trump said he and Putin discussed adoptions - the same topic his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, says he discussed with a Russian lawyer at a meeting that has drawn intense scrutiny Russia had banned Americans from adopting Russian children in response to the Magnitsky Act, passed by Congress in 2012, which allowed the U.S. to impose sanctions on Russians deemed as human rights violators. 'The meal was going toward dessert,' Trump told The New York Times. 'I went down just to say hello to Melania, and while I was there I said hello to Putin. 'Really, pleasantries more than anything else. It was not a long conversation, but it was, you know, could be 15 minutes. Just talked about things. Actually, it was very interesting, we talked about adoption.' Trump noted that the coincidence that he and his son both spoke about adoption was 'interesting'. 'I actually talked about Russian adoption with him,' he said, referencing Putin. 'Which is interesting because it was a part of the conversation that Don had in that meeting.' Trump repeated that he didn't know of his son's 2016 meeting, saying he didn't need Russians to provide any information on Hillary Clinton. 'There wasn't much I could say about Hillary Clinton that was worse than what I was already saying,' he told the Times. 'Unless somebody said that she shot somebody in the back, there wasn't much I could add to my repertoire.' It was reported on Tuesday that Trump and Putin spoke during a couples dinner in the main room of the G20 summit. The conversation at the dinner came after a brief greeting at the start of the two-day summit and a two-hour bilateral meeting with their foreign ministers (pictured above) on July 7 The conversation came after a brief greeting at the start of the two-day summit and a two-hour bilateral meeting with their foreign ministers on July 7. The White House confirmed the political sensitive sit-down only after it was leaked. At the dinner in Hamburg, Trump was seated between the wife of the prime Minister of Japan the wife of the president of Argentina. US First Lady Melania Trump was seated next to President Putin. That raised questions about what the pair talked about, when only Trump, Putin and a Russian translator were present. According to a US official 'during the course of the dinner, all the leaders circulated throughout the room and spoke with one another freely.' 'President Trump spoke with many leaders during the course of the evening. As the dinner was concluding, President Trump went over to Mrs. Trump, where he spoke briefly with President Putin.' Sanders denied reports that the sit-down lasted an hour, describing it as 'brief.' 'We weren't following him around with a stopwatch,' but 'certainly not an hour,' she said. The White House and Kremlin on Wednesday played down the significance of the additional, previously undisclosed meeting. The two powers united in their condemnation of reports questioning why the meeting was not disclosed. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov (pictured) said the meeting had been 'officially accepted' by diplomatic channels, he added in comments reported by the Russia's TASS news agency 'Once again, the Russia fever has caught up with the media and everybody ran out and tried to create a story that simply didn't exist,' said White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders. That message was echoed by her Kremlin counterpart Dmitry Peskov. 'The use of the terms 'secret' or 'confidential' for this meeting provokes absolute surprise and incomprehension.' The meeting had been 'officially accepted' by diplomatic channels, he added in comments reported by the Russia's TASS news agency. 'There was no secret and confidential meeting,' he said. 'To say so is absolutely absurd.' The Trump administration has been besieged by allegations that the president's closest advisors colluded with Russia to win the 2016 presidential election. Trump's eldest son Donald Jr recently released emails showing he held a meeting during the campaign with Kremlin-connected figures, hoping to get dirt on his father's rival for the White House, Hillary Clinton. Trump took to Twitter to blast the suggestion that there was anything improper about his dinner chat with Putin. 'Fake News story of secret dinner with Putin is 'sick.' All G20 leaders, and spouses, were invited by the Chancellor of Germany. Press knew!' he declared. 'The Fake News is becoming more and more dishonest! Even a dinner arranged for top 20 leaders in Germany is made to look sinister!' A London postman who joined ISIS in Syria has been charged with taking part in the killing of six prisoners after footage showed him wielding a gun as they were shot dead. Harry Sarfo can be seen with other jihadists herding captives into a market square in Palmyra ahead of the sickening public execution. Footage also appears to show the former Royal Mail worker pointing his pistol towards the prisoners. The 28-year-old, already serving three years in a German jail for terror offences, has now been charged with murder over the 2015 mass-killing. Sarfo, who moved to London as a teenager, has previously said he trained with ISIS in Syria and experienced bombings 'nearly every day', while he also heard jihadis talking about plans to attack the UK and Europe. Footage captures London postman Harry Sarfo (top right) wielding a gun during an ISIS execution in Syria He was convicted last year by a Hamburg court of membership in a terrorist organisation. He was given three years in prison, with judges saying his comprehensive testimony had counted in his favor. German prosecutors have now launched a new case after a video published by the Washington Post showed Sarfo appearing to take an active role in executions. Prosecutors say he led one of the captives to the execution site and prevented others from fleeing. The federal public prosecutor's office in Hamburg, Germany, said he was charged with six counts of murder and violating human rights law. According to the Independent, a spokesman said: 'In mid-June 2015 the so-called Islamic State had six prisoners executed on Palmyra's market square,' 'Sarfo belonged to the six-member squad that carried out the execution and he was armed with a pistol. The 28-year-old (pictured), already serving three years in a German jail for terror offences, has now been charged with murder after being accused of participating in the killing of the six ISIS prisoners in 2015 'Together with other members of his group, he guarded the prisoners and prevented them from escaping. 'During the shooting, he stopped at the side of the road so as not to be hit by a bullet himself. From there, he took aim and fired at the bodies lying on the ground.' In January it was reported that the jihadi had been charged with war crimes after footage emerged of him shouting ISIS slogans ahead of the terror group's public executions. He had been lauded by a judge for a 'wholehearted' confession about his time as a member of ISIS, but then faced charges of concealing his true involvement which prosecutors believed extended to killing captives. He was convicted in 2015 by a Hamburg court of membership in a terrorist organisation and breaching weapons export laws but was sentenced to just three years in prison when the judge looked favourably upon his detailed testimony. Video, released by the Washington Post, shows him praying with fellow terrorists in a huddle, attempting to whip the crowd up by chanting ISIS slogans from the back of a truck and appearing to smile and laugh as prisoners are shot dead in the street. At one stage, Sarfo seems to load his gun and point it in the direction of one of the captured men. Sarfo, a former Royal Mail worker who moved to London as a teenager, has previously said he trained with ISIS in Syria and experienced bombings 'nearly every day', while he also heard jihadis talking about plans to attack the UK and Europe Following his conviction last July, Sarfo gave several interviews from prison in which he portrayed himself as disillusioned and disgusted by ISIS. Born to Ghanaian parents in the northern German city of Bremen, Sarfo converted to Islam after moving to London. He became radicalised while in a German prison for taking part in a robbery and claims to have traveled to Syria in April 2015 to join ISIS. He fled the group several weeks later and was arrested in July 2015 upon his return to Germany. In August, he told authorities the terror group sent him away from Syria and back home to Germany telling him they wanted him to be part of a wave of attacks across Europe. He had spent four days straight driving to Syria to join the extremists before spending three months with them in their Raqqa stronghold. However, he was arrested when he left the caliphate and tried to return to Europe. In an interview with the New York Times from his prison cell, Sarfo also revealed how ISIS did not want Europeans to travel to Syria anymore. He told the newspaper that a commander within the terror group told him what they really wanted them to do was return to Europe to unleash a fresh wave of attacks. Sarfo told authorities the terror group sent him away from Syria and back home to Germany telling him they wanted him to be part of a wave of attacks across Europe. File picture shows ISIS fanatics Sarfo explained: 'He was speaking openly about the situation, saying that they have loads of people living in European countries and waiting for commands to attack the European people. And that was before the Brussels attacks, before the Paris attacks. 'They said, "Would you mind to go back to Germany, because that's what we need at the moment". 'And they always said they wanted to have something that is occurring in the same time. 'They want to have loads of attacks at the same time in England and Germany and France.' Sarfo said he was attracted to the group because of its ideology of uniting people under one flag, and that he told its leaders he would not be prepared to take part in terror attacks. He became radicalised after being forced to leave the UK in 2010 when he was jailed for a robbery in Germany. While in prison he spent time with an Al Qaeda-linked recruiter and then joined a radical mosque in Bremen after his release. A 'charming' and 'charismatic' fraudster, who boated he was ex-SAS, stole and swindled 80,000 out of two former girlfriends, a court heard. Mark Fitt is also accused of conning a further 40,000 from a retired senior policeman and an unnamed fourth investor to fund his non-existent security intelligence company, Kingston Crown Court was told. Fitt, 43, convinced them he was Colonel in the British Army, having also served in the French Foreign Legion and had lucrative contracts to work in world trouble-spots, the jury were told. Mark Fitt, 43, pictured, is accused of swindling almost 80,000 from two of his former girlfriends, a court heard Fitt allegedly stole 33,690 from business analyst Hilary Davies, left, and 45,874 from interior designer Tracey Saunders, right Business analyst Hilary Davies, 57, told Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court: 'I thought he was very charming, his voice was quite hypnotic and I trusted him as a nice character.' She met Fitt, who is accused of stealing 33,690 from her, in a pub in Barnes, London, in November 2011 and admitted: 'I was hoping it would be a relationship at one point.' Fitt also denies stealing 45,874 from interior designer Tracey Saunders, 45, who said: 'I was very worried about him, his stress levels and financial situation. I cared about him and wanted to help.' While dating Ms Saunders Fitt was seeing policewoman Zoe Richardson and denies defrauding her housemate, retired Chief Superintendent Mark Veljovic, 59, of 30,000. One witness told the court Fitt sported a regimental tie on Remembrance Sunday and proudly displayed nine service medals, some SAS, for service in Iraq and Afghanistan. Ms Davis said: 'He said he was orphaned and had no family life and it appeared quite hardcore, whatever he had been working in. 'He said he was a specialist with UK special forces and the UK security services. 'He was very persuasive and I felt empathy towards him. I still had funds in my limited company and felt I wanted to help him and felt that he was building up his future.' Prosecutor Mr. Tim Starkey told the jury Fitt convinced his victims he had landed contracts for his company N49 Intelligence as an anti-piracy consultant in Somalia. 'He does have a military background, but it is limited to two years in the Army and a couple of years in the part-time TA.' Another alleged victim is retired Chief Superintendent Mark Veljovic, whom Fitt is accused of defrauding out of 30,000 Work also supposedly took him to Togo and the Middle East as a counter-terrorism advisor for government agencies, the court was told, with Fitt a particular specialist in kidnapping and ransoms. Ms Davies told the court their relationship revolved around meetings and conversations. When asked if it was a sexual relationship she replied: 'Not very actively.' Within weeks Fitt was asking her for cash to tide his business over. Ms Davies said: 'He was a confident person and gave me the impression he had money in the past. I wanted to help him and he was very charismatic.' Ms Davies also paid Fitt's rent and what she believed were flights to overseas business meetings. She funded his non-existent speaking engagement at a London Expo after being impressed by his 'Project Phoebe' business plan. Mr Starkey added: 'The revenue forecasts ran into several millions of pounds. This was dishonest and to persuade her and other people to give money.' They were together around a year and Ms Davies added: 'I believed always that he'd make good and pay me back otherwise it was like having a child always coming to the sweet shop for more sweets. 'He did not want to have any contact with me at all and said: "I don't owe you anything." I got really angered, I wanted my money.' She bumped into Fitt at a local cafe in March, 2013 and said he was 'with another woman and wanted to blank me'. She added: 'I was so angry I just spluttered out: "Where's my money. I want my money back." 'He said I was hassling him and that I was a stalker and he was going to call the police.' Ms Davies, pictured, said she met Fitt in a pub and found him 'charming', claiming his voice was 'hypnotic' The court heard Fitt, pictured, told his alleged victims he needed the money to fund his private security firm and also claimed he was a former SAS and French Foreign Legion veteran Mr Starkey told the jury Fitt dated Ms Saunders from September, 2012 to October, 2013. He said: 'He presented himself as someone in MI6 and a colonel in the Army. 'He said he was involved in operations in Syria to eliminate key people in the Asad regime and had experienced Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of his active service.' Fitt began asking for money after claiming the Foreign Office cancelled one of his contracts, the court heard. Ms Saunders gave him 2,500 for a business trip to Nigeria; 5,000 for a trip to Somalia and also paid his utility bills and financed a three-week Thailand holiday for the couple. In Knightsbridge's Millennium Hotel Fitt told her the Somalia trip was going to be a six-month operation and the court heard 'she felt upset and deceived'. A further 2,200 was taken from Ms Saunders, who told the court she only received 10 in return. She told the court she also first met him in a Barnes pub and 'it was clear he had been very high up in the military, serving in the Middle East and Africa in security work.' Ms Saunders said Fitt also told her he was in the intelligence service and ex-French foreign Legion. She said: 'He said the British government just pulled a contract, leaving him in dire financial circumstances.' The designer also financed one Nigeria business trip only to find Fitt in another Barnes pub. She added: 'I was very upset and confused.' Fitt, pictured outside court, who denies all the charges, is said to have told the alleged victims the Government had pulled out of a contract with his firm leading to him needing the cash Ms Saunders, pictured, said she gave Fitt 2,500 for a business trip to Nigeria; 5,000 for a trip to Somalia and also paid his utility bills and financed a three-week Thailand holiday for the couple Fitt, who the trial heard dated at least three other women at differing times, told Ms Saunders another trip she was financing was suddenly a six-month operation. She said: 'I was completely lived, shocked and confused and ended the relationship and he was concerned because he needed the final part of the money. 'He was begging me to pay the final instalment or the trip would be cancelled and I'd have no chance of getting my money.' The jury were told Fitt produced false business plans to convince retired police officer Mr Veljovic his company would received a retainer of up to 300,000 per quarter from insurance underwriters. He even falsely claimed his company was endorsed by the former head of the Met's kidnap and hostage unit. 'He spent Mr. Veljovic's investment on a year's rent,' added Mr. Starkey. Fitt introduced himself in a local pub as a Colonel to the retired police officer. Mr Starkey said: 'He said he was working on government contracts in the Middle East with other senior military leaders. 'He said he won a contract for kidnap response services and I had no reason to doubt his capabilities, given his links to senior military figures.' Fitt, of Mortlake, denied all the charges and the trial continues. BBC Breakfast was hosted this morning by Naga Munchetty and Charlie Stayt as the gender pay row at the corporation rumbles on. They are one of the rare examples of a female presenter at the corporation earning more than her male co-host, with Munchetty revealed to be earning up to 199,000-a-year - while Stayt did not make the list. One Twitter user wrote: 'So awkward watching Charlie Stayt and Naga Munchetty reporting on #BBCpay when one of them made the list and the other didn't...' BBC Breakfast was hosted this morning by Naga Munchetty and Charlie Stayt as the gender pay row at the corporation rumbles on. She was revealed to be on more money than him Munchetty's higher pay is understood to be linked to her appearance on the most recent series of Strictly Come Dancing. She and Stayt present the show every Thursday and Friday. Fellow BBC Breakfast and BBC Sport presenter Dan Walker gets up to 250,000 a year. Insiders said there was a palpable chill on set yesterday after the revelation that he earns significantly more than his female colleagues. But fellow presenters including Louise Minchin, who has been on the programme for 11 years, and Sally Nugent were not on the list of 96 top-paid stars meaning they earn less than 150,000. Meanwhile, on Radio 4's flagship Today news programme, reaction to the gender pay gap row and newspaper reports were led by an all-female team, consisting of Sarah Montague and Mishal Husain. One Twitter user noted: '#R4Today editor Sarah Sands has Mishal Husain and Sarah Montague leading on #BBCpay gender pay gap. Fortuitous, no?' One Twitter user wrote: 'So awkward watching Charlie Stayt and Naga Munchetty reporting on #BBCpay when one of them made the list and the other didn't...' Others praised the duo's professionalism while reporting on the gap, calling for them both to receive pay rises. One wrote: 'Cannot understand #r4today presenter salaries. Mishal Hussein and Sarah Montague by far the highest quality.' Another said: 'All female team on #bbctoday to report on #BBCpaygap. Sarah Montague must feel particularly undervalued to be so far behind her colleagues.' The Prime Minister yesterday accused the Corporation of 'paying women less for doing the same job as the men'. The top seven earning stars were all men, as were 62 of the 96 on the list, there were no female names in any category above 500,000 and half of all the women in the list were in the lowest band. On the corporations most chaotic day for years: Val Tredget, 51, is concerned she may be left with permanent scarring after the burn A nurse left badly scarred when a Ryanair stewardess spilled hot tea on her leg has criticised the airline for 'shambolic' attempts at first aid. Val Tredget says she was left howling in agony when an inexperienced airline host knocked a cup of tea over her leg as she sat between her sisters on a flight to Budapest. The 51-year-old claims she begged staff to take action and they were clueless, but the Irish airline denies this, and says the nurse was given full treatment. Ms Tredget claims staff were clueless - handing her a pile of dry blue paper towels before getting a sick bag with cubes of ice, in instead of supplying as much cool water as possible. A Ryanair spokesman said: 'These claims are untrue. All hot drinks on board Ryanair flights are served in fully sealed cups with lids securely fixed before being served to customers, and our crew have confirmed this procedure was correctly followed in this case. 'The customer in question received first aid from our cabin crew including ice, healing gels and a dressing, and declined the crew's offer of further medical assistance, or being met on arrival by paramedics in Budapest.' Ms Tredget was left with skin peeling off her leg as it blistered, leaving her badly scarred. The mother-of-two from Chelmsford, Essex, complained to the Irish firm's head office and sent a series of gruesome photos of her injuries. But she was left fuming after Ryanair wrote to her insisting she was responsible for the spill, even sending her a 'patronising' e-mail telling her to take more care with hot drinks. Ms Tredget has now taken advice from a senior solicitor and plans to take legal action against the firm. A stewardess spilled a cup of hot tea on the nurse's leg, leaving her with blisters and causing her skin to peel off Left, Ms Tredget on the holiday to Budapest, and right, at home. She said she couldn't do as much while away, like go to the spas, because of her dressings 'They didn't actually have tea with them on the trolley so the girl went to get it - she passed me one and I gave it to my sister, she gave me a second one and then went to put down the third for the aisle seat but missed the little cut out in the tray and the tea fell over and went all down my leg. 'None of us even touched the cup - she was putting it down. I jumped up and screamed "that's really hot". 'A male flight attendant came down the plane and asked what happened and the stewardess said "it was hot water from the urn". 'She'd just been to the back of the plane and made it. 'I pulled the trouser leg up and said "look it's blistering already, I need water. I am a nurse I know what's needed". 'She just looked at me - I said you need to pour water on it. She ran off to the back of the plane and came back with a handful of blue paper towels and said "here, use them all". 'I am not quite sure what she thought they would be good for - perhaps she wanted me to clean the plane up.' Ms Tredget said her holiday to Budapest was ruined because she had to keep changing her dressings and attending to her injuries According to the airline, Ms Tredget was given ice and healing gels and denied an offer of medical assistance when she got off the plane Ms Tredget looked on in horror as her leg continued to blister with the skin peeling off due, she says to the lack of appropriate action to tackle the scalding. Paediatric nurse Ms Tredget was then taken to the back of the plane as the stewardess applied some cooling gel dressing meant for burns. She said: 'By now a few minutes had passed - you need to treat a burn instantly and the longer you leave it, it carries on burning and just gets worse.' She desperately tried to ease the pain by soaking the blue towels in water from the sink but found the water was warm so could not help. When she returned to her seat the stewardess then brought her some ice - in one of the plane's sick bags. She said: 'I just wanted to cool the burn down but later on when I asked for more ice she said "you will have to wait until I have finished serving". Ms Tredget shared images on Facebook of her injuries when the airline took their time to reply to her letter The letter Ryanair sent the nurse, telling her they believe she caused the spill by taking hold of the cup by the lid 'I think they were more interested in selling their duty free and their scratch cards and not really interested in doing anything about my leg. It was shambolic. 'Finally at the end of the flight the head stewardess came over and said "which one of you was it that was injured?" She then said "I'm really sorry" and walked away and that was it. 'She should have been taking the lead. 'Their first aid training must be rubbish - apparently this is the most common accident you get on planes so they should have better training.' The sisters' weekend away was ruined by the ordeal. 'I was having to change my dressings twice a day and the burns were already oozing a lot. 'Budapest is famous for its spas but of course we could not go and do anything like that. It ruined my weekend,' she added. Ms Tredget, who qualified as a nurse in 1984, has taken specialist advice and hopes the dark red scars will fade during the next couple of years. 'I do wear a lot of dresses so the scarring - which is above my knee - is visible all the time. It's just not nice. She and her sisters flew from London Stansted to Budapest on Friday June 2. She's now called on the company, run by chief executive Michael O'Leary, to overhaul its first aid procedures. 'Accidents happen and I accept that but if that had been a baby on the end of that spill, it would have been catastrophic. 'I just want them to do something so that this does not happen to someone else.' 'They also have to review their first aid - why don't they have a simple thing that if someone wants a hot drink on a plane? They should have cups with a screw-on lids. Ms Tredget claims she was not given proper first aid, but was just handed dry blue paper towels, which she then had to soak in lukewarm water Ryanair were sent all of Ms Tredget's photos but despite two messages of complaint on their website, she was left waiting for weeks for a response. Val is married to engineer husband Kevin, 54, and the couple have two children - Jack, 23, and Abbey, 21. Her sister, Joyce Thorpe, 64, was also covered in the hot tea but did not suffer injuries as she was wearing thick trousers. She said: 'I have a feeling that lid was not properly on really. 'She'd [the stewardess] come from the back of the plane because lots of people round us were not having hot drinks. 'I don't think the lid was on properly at all.' Ms Thorpe, a retired special needs teacher, flies around the world as a volunteer for blind and visually impaired travellers going on holidays. The grandmother-of-one from Altrincham, Greater Manchester, slammed Ryanair for its version of events, and added 'I am just appalled that they are calling Val a liar.' South Korea's president hopes to sign a new treaty with the North that would see the 'complete denuclearisation' of Kim Jong-un's state. Moon Jae-in announced the ambitious plans yesterday in a report outlining his key presidency objectives. If the deal is signed it will be seen as an incredible achievement after decades of tension between the two states and a huge step towards safeguarding the world from nuclear warfare. President Moon Jae-in has announced plans for a treaty with North Korea that would see 'complete denuclearisation' Moon, who was elected in May after the impeachment of his predecessor, Park Geun-hye, said in the report: 'We will come up with a negotiation plan for comprehensive denuclearisation that will lead a nuclear freeze to a complete dismantling. 'The treaty will be signed when denuclearisation is complete and the peace regime will be maintained in a stable way.' The South Korean president has been keen to achieve a diplomatic solution with Pyongyang, which has claimed it is pursuing the development of a nuclear missile capable of hitting the US. The North has conducted two nuclear tests since the beginning of last year and missile-related activities continue at an unprecedented pace. South Korea's defence ministry has already extended offers for talks with Kim Jong-un's administration in the hope of establishing a dialogue between the two states. Pyongyang is yet to respond to the proposal. Kim Jong-un's North Korea has conducted two nuclear tests since the beginning of last year and missile-related activities continue at an unprecedented pace The North's state-run media expressed 'relief' that Moon appears to be moving away from the policies of his conservative predecessors though it was skeptical of a breakthrough. On Saturday, the country's Rodong Sinmun newspaper dismissed Seoul's approach as a 'series of sleep-talking sophistries that create even greater hurdles' to compromise. But analyst and president of the Pacific Forum CSIS in Honolulu, Ralph Cossa, told the Japan Times that the North is likely to agree to military talks. He said: 'There are a few easy carrots for Moon to offer, such as an end to propaganda broadcasts and balloons.' But he added that the North will most likely make demands that the South may find difficult to accept such as an end to the country's joint military drills with the US. This is the astonishing moment a crocodile clutches a missing man in its jaws after a witch doctor claimed he summoned it to return the body. The missing man, identified as Syarifuddin, 41, was bathing in a river with friends when the beast pounced and dragged him beneath the water in Berau, Indonesia, on Tuesday at 6.20pm. Desperate relatives reportedly searched in vain for him and it was assumed that he had been taken into the depths of the Lempake River when police failed to find him. Villagers contacted a local black magic wizard who specialises in 'crocodile witch craft' and it's claimed they cast a spell for Syarifuddin to be brought back alive. Incredibly, his body is said to have emerged yesterday morning. Scroll down for video The crocodile clutching the man identified as Syarifuddin in its jaws in the Lempake River Residents cover up the body of the man after retrieving it from the water in Indonesia After Syarifuddin, pictured left and right, was dragged to his death, residents called a witch doctor in an attempt to get his body back It is claimed that after the crocodile whisperer set out his message, the man was returned to the river bank The predator is purportedly seen floating to the banks with the naked body of Syarifuddin in its jaws as the gathered crowd looks on, in video footage from the scene. It then dropped off the corpse sparking suggestions the saltwater crocodile, which can grow up to 5.2m as an adult, had actually been guarding the victim's body from other predators seeing as it hadn't been eaten. Friend Andi Resmin who was with Syarifuddin when he was captured by the croc said: 'He was just in the water and the crocodile humped at him and took him.' Local resident, Eet, said there was a local myth that anyone bathing with clothes on in the river would be fine - but bathing naked would result in a crocodile attack. Stunned locals gathered to receive their friend from the predatory beast He said: 'If the person bathes naked, they will be definitely be eaten by crocodiles, for sure. If they wear clothes they will not be ambushed.' Syarifuddin was found dead and had injuries to his ribs on the right side of his body. Police chief Inspector Talisayan Faisal Hamid, who is now investigating the incident, said: 'The victim's friends report to the officer he was attacked by a crocodile. That night we did a search.' The officer said nothing was returned that evening and so residents contacted a crocodile charmer and the body appeared the next morning on Wednesday. Hamid said it was 'very weird' that three crocodiles emerged from the river, suggesting the body of the man was being protected so that 'the victim could be delivered'. He said: 'People also bathe in the water, so again, it is unlucky that he was killed by the crocodile.' Police Inspector Hamid said the 'important thing was that the body had been found' and that locals were now 'hunting the crocodile that attacked' the man. A mother-of-four threw herself under the wheels of a Virgin train just hours after she wished her boyfriend a happy 50th birthday, an inquest heard. Charlotte Cash, 35, kissed Andrew Tollitt goodbye as he headed out for work after opening birthday cards. But later that afternoon, Miss Cash left a heart-rending suicide note to him before going to a railway station near her home in Wigan, Greater Manchester. Charlotte Cash, 35, kissed Andrew Tollitt(both pictured left) goodbye as he headed out for work after opening birthday cards As the London-bound train pulled into the platform she emerged suddenly from a crowd of commuters, which included Olympic athlete Jenny Meadows. She jumped into the path of the locomotive - giving the driver no chance of avoiding her. The note, which was addressed to Mr Tollitt, read: 'I'm sorry for this but I have to go. Been feeling this for weeks. 'I love you so much and the kids. Look after them. Love you forever. I feel like scum. Been put down so much.' The Bolton hearing was told Miss Cash had been in a 13 year relationship with divorcee Mr Tollitt but she harboured insecurities about his ex-wife and had attempted suicide on previous occasions. Mr Tollitt said: 'We had an on and off relationship but I still considered her to be my partner at the time. Miss Cash's note, which was addressed to Mr Tollitt, read: 'I'm sorry for this but I have to go. Been feeling this for weeks' 'We had been in a relationship for 13 years and lived together on and off for 10 years. 'I was aware of her mental health issues and that she was taking sleeping tablets and in the year or so coming up to her death she appeared to become more ill. 'She had four children who she had a good relationship with but she kept quite a lot from me. 'She would say that she was popping out to see a friend and then not return home until the early hours. 'She did keep photos of us together and things and she was caring. But we had issues with her feeling insecure about my ex-wife. 'It got quite bad that at one point I wasn't allowed to watch TV programmes with women in them.' He said Miss Cash had previously taken an overdose and also tried to hang herself at home whist he was at work. Recalling the day of the tragedy last February 17, Mr Tollitt added: 'It was my birthday and I got up and opened my birthday cards. 'I went back upstairs to give her a kiss and left around 6.30am. I got a number of texts from her expressing her feelings but not any intent. 'I got home around 6.45pm and tried to call and contact her but at 8pm British Transport Police arrived and informed me that she had been hit by a train. 'She left a note addressed to me and it was suggestive of what she intended to do.' Martin Kemp witnessed the tragedy while waiting to catch the 3.09 to Euston at Wigan North West Station. The Bolton hearing was told Miss Cash had been in a 13 year relationship with divorcee Mr Tollitt but she harboured insecurities about his ex-wife and had attempted suicide He said: 'A number of people came out of the waiting room and among them was a white female wearing sky blue jeans and a camel top. 'It looked to me that she was upset but I didn't pay any further attention to her. I moved towards the platform and there was a group of people also on the platform. 'I couldn't see the woman. The train was approaching the platform when the woman appeared from the group and jumped towards the track and placed herself over the rails.' Train driver John Baker said: 'We were approaching Wigan North West Train station and I began to reduce the speed to 30mph. Miss Cash's GP Dr Majid Hussain said Miss Cash had been diagnosed with depression and Irritable Bowel Syndrome 'As I approached platform 4, I noted that there were a number of people standing waiting at the platform. 'They were all well back and away from the edge but I saw a girl emerging from the group. 'She was crouching down and moving briskly with purpose and she was on her own. 'She jumped without hesitation and at that point I lost sight of her under the front of the train. I did apply the emergency brakes.' The hearing was told Miss Cash had consulted with mental healthcare professionals in the run up to her death. But nurse Lucy Ibbotson said: 'She masked her emotions well. They said that she didn't open up and was difficult to get information from. 'She made reference to her uncle dying whom she was close to as being a factor. 'When she was found by her mum after her suicide attempt she said that her uncle was looking over her and looking out for her and that's why she survived. 'She was discharged from the service at her request because she was feeling much lighter in mood.' Her GP Dr Majid Hussain said Miss Cash had been diagnosed with depression and Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Recording a conclusion of suicide. Coroner John Pollard said: 'She was obviously desperately upset and confused' He said: #She said she had ongoing low mood issues due to some relationship difficulties. She appeared well was laughing and smiling as we had a good rapport. 'She was always well dressed and seemed to take great care in her appearance. She denied having any suicidal thoughts and presented well. 'She was making plans for the future which often doesn't imply intent of suicide.' Recording a conclusion of suicide. Coroner John Pollard said: 'She was obviously desperately upset and confused. 'I would like to give my condolences to the family and also to the train driver. We sometimes forget the devastating effect these incidents have on them.' Something happened when we moved to Albuquerque. And though we gained permanent access to la ciudad, all its plata and all its mierda too, inescapable exposurelike the heat here in July is inescapableto the Northeast Heights changed us. Noticeably, the format my family had previously employed for operating in the citywhich I, as a wholesome 12-year-old had attributed to my parents sense of adventureturned out to be a set of outsider's procedures meant to single out instances of recognizable comfort in an otherwise unrecognizable world. Whenever we cruised into town from the rez, el Burque became our focus. Each part of the city had its charm, its lore, and held within its streets, shops and stations was the possibility for some arch discovery to manifest as mis parentes rolled by in their Chrysler Cordoba with Al Hurricane and The Doors blaring on the stereo. But after we finally set down, lighting upon a sprawling development that hugged the Sandia Mountains the way a rattlesnake will hug your leg if you step on it the wrong way, all of that changed. We stopped cruising, yo. Thats right, my old man parked the car and started taking the bus to the watermelon farm. My mother began an intense period of exhaustive examinations having to do with the retail experience happening so majestically beyond San Mateo and Montgomery. Trips to joints like El Modelo, hell, even Baca's, became holiday-time rarities. And so my folks became ensconced by and absorbed by the thing my brother calls gringolandia, but is still a place much fabled and favored by me. Thats mostly due to the damn fine Nuevo Mexicano cuisine to be had up in those parts of the city where you can actually see the details of the Sandia Mountains, clear and rocky and green with forests. One of those places has got to be Gardunos. Eric Williams Photography There used to be at least five locations scattered through the Duke City, with one location way out by Ranchos de Albuquerque serving as the anchor. There were three up in the Heights. There were dark wood, low-slung tables and private booths with thriving plant life adding a living nuance to the location near Academy and San Pedro. The version up at the top of Montgomery, between Eubank and Juan Tabo, was like some colonial castle reigning over a postmodern pueblo, requerdas? Finally, there is still one location at the edge of Winrock Mall. After we moved up to the Heights, thats where we would go a comer con familia. Even if my German-speaking grandmother Josephine showed up at the door, you can bet my mom and dad wanted to take her to Gardunos for la neta about eating delicious, nourishing soul food whilst in the midst of total suburban nothingness. The thing was, Gardunos was awesome. Back in the before time, they pretty much set the standard for how the cuisine of New Mexico is procured, prepared, presented and profited from. Thats why I was totally excited to check in on them here in the future, when the brand has, like, totally survived tragedy and scandal to be resiliently reborn in locations outside the local orbit while still maintaining a successful local presence. Anywho, I stopped in for lunch at the Winrock Mall location of Gardunos. Inside, above the cantina, there is a big green mural advertising a beer called Moosehead, but otherwise the place is decorated to look like an invitingly rustic industrial interior. That artifice may or may not be part of the romanticized vision of Latin America common in assimilated, bourgeois enclaves. There were comforting reminders of the homelandphotos, big bright signs in Spanisha place now generations away from some of the workers and many of the eaters inhabiting this restaurant. It was afternoon and I was grateful to be out of the heat of the sun. The restaurant seemed remarkably cool and calmingly dark in comparison to the burning bright disaster that was outside. I was immediately seated and then the servera pleasant young man with formal mannersquickly layed a huge grip of chips, a righteously generous portion of salsa and a life-saving 20 ounce glass of water upon my table. Mysteriously, they were out of Moosehead, but I was still astonished. Id heard of service like this in Burque, but here it was. Eric Williams Photography Encouraged, my appetite whetted by this set of circumstances, I briefly glanced at the menu and ordered what I like, a familiar thing known in the business as the combination plate ($16.99) The score here still rests upon the power-hitting duo of enchiladas and rellenos, but at Gardunos, the variety of side dishes says culinary evolution while still evoking tradition. With that conceit planted more firmly than my tongue could in any cheek, I ordered elote and jicama slaw as accompaniments. Roasted, seasoned corn on the cob is a specialty of northern Mexico. I used to dig buying the real deal from the street vendors on Ocampo in Chihuahua city, but I have to admit it was pretty damn good at Gardunos, too. Earthy, salty-sweet with smoky overtones and a scrumptiously crunchy affect, this elote will change your mind about what a proper side dish is, here en el norte. Likewise, the jicama slaw was nearly life changing for my palette. It was possessed of a cool sweetness, combined with a firm, rewarding texture. Those aspects of this wondrously cooling food made it a perfect follow-up to having taken mind-altering, tongue-twisting bites of enchiladas and rellenos covered in a wickedly wise red chile sauce. As for those same chile-soaked entrees: though not remarkably different from those I've sampled and celebrated in this here columna, I gotta say these were tasty because they were prepared with careas if they were cooked up especially for some mythically hungry ranchero taking lonche away from the herdwith no trace of microwavery evident in their alluring presentation. Predictably, the sopaipillas are as fresh and fine now as they were 35 years ago when mis parentes took los abuelos, Josephine and Felipe, to Gardunos despues la futbol game where residents of the city of gold took on los Matadors del Sandia. Back then, we regarded that as progressthat and a good meal in the new world. Boris Johnson fled the Cabinet civil war to embark on security and trade talks in Japan today. The Foreign Secretary flew to the far side of the world and met with a new robot at Waseda University in Tokyo. Mr Johnson has been the target of suspicion after an outbreak of bitter briefings wars in the Cabinet, forcing Theresa May to publicly slap down her top team. The Prime Minister last night warned her squabbling ministers 'there is no such thing as an unsackable minister' in a desperate attempt to draw a line under the infighting. Boris Johnson fled the Cabinet civil war to embark on security and trade talks in Japan today (pictured) The Foreign Secretary flew to the far side of the world and met with a new robot at Waseda University in Tokyo (pictured) Mr Johnson has been the target of suspicion after an outbreak of bitter briefings wars in the Cabinet, forcing Theresa May to publicly slap down her top team Ministers are suspected to be manoeuvring in case Mrs May's fragile government collapses while fighting a tribal battle over how to deliver Brexit. In what appeared to be a coordinated assault on Chancellor Philip Hammond, damaging quotes about his attitude to women and public sector pay were leaked to newspapers. And an unnamed minister was quoted by The Times as saying she should sack testosterone-fuelled 'donkeys' behind the series of hostile leaks. Mr Johnson's talks today with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida are expected to feature the North Korean nuclear crisis. Mr Johnson will also hold talks on cyber safety and business opportunities. The Foreign Secretary said: 'I have come to Japan to build on our historic relationship, which is based on common values, support for democracy, human rights and free and open markets. 'Japanese companies invest more than 40 billion in the UK and our commercial relationship is stronger than ever. 'We do great work together on everything from defence and security to education, research and innovation.' Mr Johnson's talks today with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida are expected to feature the North Korean nuclear crisis. He is pictured viewing a new humanoid robot Mr Johnson (pictured today touring the Research Institute for Science and Engineering in Tokyo) will also hold talks on cyber safety and business opportunities Mr Johnson said British firms would play a key role in Tokyo's hosting of the 2020 Olympics. In a radio interview last night with LBC's Iain Dale Mrs May said this week's extraordinary public rows was 'sadly' not the only instance of Cabinet discussions being leaked. And she warned: 'It should not happen. It is important we accept collective responsibility - it is not for ourselves it is because we have a job to do. 'There is no such thing as an unsackable minister but at the moment the team is together and we are getting on with the job of delivering what we believe the British people want us to do. 'Brexit is a key part of that but there is a lot else we need to deal with too.' In a radio interview last night with LBC's Iain Dale Mrs May said this was 'sadly' not the only instance of Cabinet discussions being leaked (pictured) The Prime Minister said: 'Things that are said at those Cabinet meetings should not be reported publicly in that way and people should accept collective responsibility. 'When decisions are taken, they're government decisions.' She added: 'We've got a job to do.' Sydney has been struck by severe winds with gusts of more than 60km/h blowing in the iconic Harbour as the city braces for another chilly night. The Harbour was the windiest part of the city on Thursday afternoon, but other suburbs also experienced powerful gusts. Kurnell, in Sydney's south, and Camden, west of Sydney, both saw gusts of around 60km/h - while the Blue Mountains recorded gusts of around 70km/h before 6pm. Scroll down for video Sydney has been struck by severe winds with gusts of more than 60km/h blowing in the iconic Harbour. Above, winter in Bondi Beach Weatherzone meterorologist Brett Dutschke told Daily Mail Australia that it is much windier than normal in Sydney at the moment. He said that dry and windy conditions are making the temperature feel much colder than it actually is. 'At the moment, the temperature in Sydney is about 13C and because the wind is as strong as it is, it feels more than 10C,' he said. 'It's much windier than normal. Typically, this time of the year, you'd see wind speeds of about 13km/h.' Forecasters told Daily Mail Australia it is much windier than normal in Sydney at the moment Dry and windy conditions are making the temperature feel much colder than it actually is Mr Dutschke added that the southern coast of Australia is facing even windier conditions, with gusts as strong as 80km/h. Thredbo, an alpine village and ski resort in the Snowy Mountains of southeastern Australia, has seen wind gusts of about 75km/h on Thursday evening. The Bureau of Meteoreology has issued a gale warning for the Illawarra Coast, Batemans Coast and Eden Coast for Thursday. A strong wind warning for the following areas: Sydney Closed Waters, Byron Coast, Coffs Coast, Macquarie Coast, Hunter Coast and Sydney Coast A woman who tricked a friend into having sex with her by pretending to be a man has been jailed for six years and six months. Gayle Newland, 27, sank to the floor in tears and screamed 'No' as she was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court today for the 'subtle, cunning and disturbing' plan, with a judge ordering her to remain on the sex offenders' register for life. She created a 'disturbingly complex' online persona to achieve her own 'bizarre sexual satisfaction' carrying on the deceit for over two years, the court heard. Newland also clung to the glass panels of the dock as security staff tried to lead her to the cells. Judge David Stockdale QC, sentencing, said: 'This was very serious sexual offending committed by means of a planned and sustained deceit which has caused significant harm and distress to the victim.' The court heard Newland had written a letter to her victim, wishing her 'nothing but happiness' in the future. Gayle Newland, left and right,was jailed for six years and six months after being convicted of sexual assault for posing as a man to have sex with a blindfolded friend repeatedly Her father Brian (left) was also pictured outside court today as he arrived for his daughter's (right) sentencing Newland continued to audibly cry as she was led to the cells while her family blew kisses at her from the public gallery. She was handed an extra six months in jail for an offence of fraud committed between March 2014 and September 2015. The judge said: 'You used passwords to authorise false payments to fictional bloggers who you yourself had created. 'You had to create false blogger profiles to commit the fraud. It was a planned and sophisticated deceit over 18 months.' JAILED TWICE FOR THE SAME CRIME Newland's conviction is the second time she was found guilty of sexual assault following an original trial in 2015, which was later quashed on appeal. Here is a timeline of how events unfolded: 2011: Newland and her victim meet at Chester University. Newland then uses her false Facebook profile of Kye Fortune to befriend the victim and they exchange phone numbers. Newland mimics a male voice while speaking on the phone to her. February 2013: The pair agree to meet face to face and Newland asks woman to wear a blindfold because ''he' was insecure about looks following brain surgery'. The pair go on to have sex '15 times' over the next few months, with the victim blindfolded each time. June 2013: The victim pulls off her blindfold after 'noticing Newland's long hair' and discovers the truth. July 2013: Victim reports Newland to the police and she is arrested. November 2015: Newland is found guilty of three counts of sexual assault and jailed for eight years. October 2016: Her conviction is deemed 'unsafe' by Court of Appeal and is quashed, with a retrial ordered. June 2017: She is again found guilty of sexual assault as well as fraud for creating fake client profiles at her former job at internet ad agency. July 2017: Newland is jailed for six years and six months after judge takes into account 'significant mitigating factors' of her Asperger's diagnosis and 'difficult upbringing', but said she showed 'no remorse' to victim. Advertisement The defendant admitted defrauding her former employers, an internet-based advertising agency, of 9,000 by creating fake client profiles. The retrial jury was not told of the fraud conviction until it had returned its verdicts. The court heard Newland was a woman of 'previous good character' who had a 'complex' psychological background, a 'difficult upbringing' and had been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome in 2016, which Judge Stockdale said were 'significant mitigating factors'. But the judge said the problems were 'no excuse' for her actions and said she had shown 'no remorse' by denying the accusations. He added: 'You say in a letter you have no bad feeling to the victim whatsoever and 'wish her nothing but happiness' end quote. There remains no acknowledgement of the wrong you did to her.' Judge Stockdale also told Newland: 'She (the complainant) did not consent to these invasive acts of penetration because her willing compliance with your abusive behaviour was obtained by a deceit. 'This was a deceit of such subtlety and cunning in its planning and was a deceit, from your point of view, so successful in its execution that an outsider unaware of the full history of the case might find it difficult to comprehend. 'But truth can sometimes be stranger than fiction. The truth, the whole truth, here is as surprising as it is profoundly disturbing.' He went on: 'It is difficult to conceive of a deceit so degrading or so damaging for the victim upon its discovery.' Newland had told her victim, also in her 20s, to wear a blindfold at all times when they met at the complainant's flat. She created a fictional Facebook profile, pretending to be a half-Filipino half-Latino man called Kye Fortune, using an American man's photographs and videos. She spent 'hundreds' of hours talking on the telephone to her friend as Kye, telling her 'emotionally vulnerable' victim 'he' was undergoing treatment for cancer and was paranoid about his physical appearance. Judge Stockdale told Newland: 'You went to extraordinary lengths to manipulate (the complainant) and control her. Only when your control was absolute did you put your deceit to the ultimate test and allow a meeting to take place between her and the fictional Kye Fortune. 'Such was the desire for one-to-one contact with him that you had engendered she was willing to go to any lengths to meet him. Willing to wear a blindfold, willing to agree to not to look at him at all. 'She was willing to believe because she wanted to believe that Kye Fortune had a battery of health problems. She was desperate to be with Kye Fortune on your terms.' A further indication of her cynical powers of manipulation, if they were needed, was evidence of her deceit of three other women by her bogus alter ego, said the judge. Newland was also jailed for defrauding her former internet advertising agency employers by creating fake client profiles One of the women, who cannot be named for legal reasons, continued to be deceived by Newland just days after police launched their investigation into the 2013 complaint, which the judge said showed 'a chilling desire' on her part to control and manipulate the lives of others - although no offences took place. Judge Stockdale said the complainants evidence in court made clear her humiliation, sense of shame and degradation and highlighted the deeply damaging and long-lasting trauma she had suffered. He said: 'In her own words, she said the nightmares still remain, the distrust remains and the fear still remains.' NEWLAND ALSO JAILED FOR FRAUD It can be revealed for the first time Newland was handed an extra six months in jail for a fraud committed between March 2014 and September 2015. Reporting restrictions on the fraud matter were lifted on Thursday by the Recorder of Manchester, Judge David Stockdale QC. The defendant admitted defrauding her former employers, an internet-based advertising agency, of 9,000 by creating fake client profiles. The retrial jury was not told of the fraud conviction until it had returned its verdicts. Advertisement In extracts read from her most recent victim impact statement, the complainant said the defendant had 'managed to plague every attempt I have made to make my life positive' and had left her with 'this continuous, ominous, unsettling feeling she has planted in what is left of my life'. 'She has created a prison for the joyful persona I once had,' she said. 'I can only hope I can move on fully and not do the time with her.' The complainant agreed to demands for her to wear a blindfold at all times during up to 15 sexual encounters and while watching television, going on a car journey and even sunbathing. Newland denied concealing her true identity and claimed both women were gay and struggling with their sexuality when they met and had sex, with her as Kye, during role-play. A jury at the court last month found Newland, from Willaston in Cheshire, guilty of committing sexual assault by using a 20 prosthetic penis without her blindfolded victim's consent, following a retrial. Judge Stockdale added the sexual assault was a 'subtle, cunning and disturbing' plan by Newland. Newland received concurrent terms of six years for three counts of sexual assault committed in 2013. Newland was pictured in tears last month (pictured) after being convicted, again, of using a 20 sex toy and blindfold to con a student into believing she was having sex with a man Judge Stockdale added the victim had 'suffered anxiety, stress, sleeplessness, fear of going out and shame' since the offences took place. The victim was also described as having been drinking to excess and 'acting promiscuously' after discovering Newland's true identity. Newland created a fictional Facebook profile, pretending to be a half-Filipino half-Latino man called Kye Fortune, using an American man's photographs and videos. ALTER EGO 'KYE' WAS USED BY GAYLE NEWLAND USED TO CONVINCE WOMEN SHE WAS A MAN From the age of 13, Gayle Newland spent hour upon hour painstakingly creating her online alter ego, Kye Carlos Fortune. It began as a false name used for speaking to girls on internet chatrooms, but with the rise of social media it became an elaborately constructed double life. Creating a Facebook profile under the name was easy, but to give 'him' credibility there had to be pictures. This was accomplished once Newland came across a basketball-loving youth in New York who fitted how she imagined Kye. By copying photographs he had posted on his own social media page, Newland was able to upload them on to Kye's profile, adding caption information to suit his supposed life growing up in England. The victim in the trial was first befriended by Newland in real life before receiving a friend request from Kye. As 'he' was a mutual friend linked to Newland's own Facebook profile, she told police she quickly came to trust the attractive but shy young man. Newland created relatives of Kye including a brother called Reggie who was supposedly going out with her. However, far from fleshing out Kye's life with fictional information, much of it matched Newland's they were born on the same day and both had a dog called Gypsy. The defence said this demonstrated the implausibility that someone could actually be taken in. The victim said when she eventually met Kye, she would have to don her mask before 'he' came into the room. She said Newland spoke in a deeper voice, wore a woolly hat over her long her and bandaged her chest to hide her breasts. Advertisement She was also sentenced for fraud, having breached the terms and conditions of blogging sites by creating fake profiles to support her false identity. The defendant spent 'hundreds' of hours talking on the telephone to her friend as Kye telling her 'emotionally vulnerable' victim 'he' was undergoing treatment for cancer and was paranoid about his physical appearance. She agreed demands for her to wear a blindfold at all times during sexual encounters and while watching television, going on a car journey and even sunbathing. Newland claimed both women were gay and struggling with their sexuality when they met up and had sex, with her as Kye, during role-play. She denied concealing her true identity but was found guilty of three counts of sexual assault and cleared of a fourth count. Newland was jailed for eight years in November 2015 after she was convicted of the same offences by another jury at Chester Crown Court. But the conviction was quashed in the Court of Appeal last December and a retrial ordered after it was ruled the trial judge's summing up of the case was not fair and balanced. Newland, who graduated from the University of Chester with a degree in marketing and creative writing, wailed 'I can't go back to jail,' after being found guilty a second time. It was only after one sex session in 2013 that her victim realised 'Kye' actually had long hair so pulled off her own mask and saw Gayle standing there. The student, who cannot be named, admitted she slept with a man several weeks after she made her initial police complaint in the summer of 2013 and 19 in total 'during that time'. But insisted it was a 'reckless' reaction to learning the 'man' she thought she might spend the rest of her life with was a woman who decieved her. Giving evidence in cross-examination by Newland's barrister during the retrial, she told Manchester Crown Court: 'Part of it is because I felt stupid that I had slept with this fake penis. Part of you wants to be reckless and sleep with men. Part of it is just being reckless. 'I also probably slept with 19 people during that time. I slept with a lot of guys. I got drunk. I did a lot of things when the bottom of your life caved in.' The juries in both Newland's trials were shown a video the complainant posted on social media after she made the allegations. The clip showed her doing sit-ups while being held in the air by a male stranger. Newland, pictured in 2013 with the Sugababes shortly before her arrest, insisted her friend knew she was a woman - the alleged victim said she loved her and her world collapsed when she found out She said: 'There was a challenge, I was drunk off my face. I was trying to have a good time after the crappy last two years. 'I am not going to apologise for having a good time and making the best of a bad situation.' Newland's accuser made a victim personal statement in January 2015 in which she outlined how she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression. Victim's sex life after the attacks were used in failed attempt to discredit her The sexual history of the complainant who accused Gayle Newland (right before her arrest) of duping her into sex by pretending to be a man was focused on in the retrial. Newland's accuser made a victim personal statement in January 2015 in which she outlined how she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression. She stated: 'I feel like a shell of a person that I potentially could be. Relationships with partners and colleagues are non-existent. 'I am no longer the bubbly, fun-loving character I used to be.' She added that she also feared making eye contact with strangers. But she later admitted that she slept with a man several weeks after she made her initial police complaint in the summer of 2013. Giving evidence in cross-examination by Newland's barrister, she told Manchester Crown Court: 'Part of it is because I felt stupid that I had slept with this fake penis. Part of you wants to be reckless and sleep with men. Part of it is just being reckless. 'I also probably slept with 19 people during that time. I slept with a lot of guys. 'I got drunk. I did a lot of things when the bottom of your life caved in.' The juries in both of Newland's trials were shown a video the complainant posted on social media after she made the allegations. The clip showed her doing sit-ups while being held in the air by a male stranger. She said: 'There was a challenge, I was drunk off my face. I was trying to have a good time after the crappy last two years. 'I am not going to apologise for having a good time and making the best of a bad situation.' Advertisement She stated: 'I feel like a shell of a person that I potentially could be. Relationships with partners and colleagues are non-existent. I am no longer the bubbly fun-loving character I used to be.' She added she also feared making eye contact with strangers. Newland is the daughter of a former building firm boss who grew up in a 500,000 house in the Wirral, she had attended 12,400-a-year Queen's School in Chester. At 13 Newland created her online alter ego to pose as a boy and talk to girls on internet forums, later developing 'him' into an elaborate Facebook profile using pictures copied from an American teenager's page. While studying marketing and creative writing at Chester University, she befriended a fellow undergraduate whom she then contacted online as the boy - without revealing that they were the same person. She told the girl it was impossible for them to meet because 'he' spent most of his time in hospital where he was being treated for a brain tumour. After an increasingly intense relationship over two years, during which they communicated online and by phone - with Newland lowering her voice - the girl told 'him' she wanted them to sleep together. Newland told the girl 'he' had been disfigured and was cripplingly shy. She bought a sex toy online then convinced the girl to wear a blindfold while they repeatedly had sex. Newland wore a swimsuit and bandaged her chest to conceal her breasts. Newland had claimed it had been a mutual fantasy and that the victim had known she was posing as a man - her lover said her life crumbled when she discussed her boyfriend was a woman. The victim said she was so in love that she even agreed to keep her blindfold on while they watched TV, ate meals and sunbathed together. At least three other women communicated online with Miss Newland believing she was a half-Filipino half-Latino man named Kye Fortune, her trial heard. One woman engaged in online and telephone conversations over a five-year period before she eventually worked out she had been deceived. Newland also admitted pretending to be Kye with two other women who she never met. She said: 'They didn't know me as Gayle. That was my coping mechanism at the end of the day. I don't expect you to understand. My coping mechanism could have been a lot worse.' Newland said she created the Facebook profile of Kye Fortune - using an American man's photographs and videos - at the age of 15, because she found it difficult to talk to girls in person. An Army veteran learned how to fly and bought his own plane so he could rescue hundreds of cats and dogs from kill shelters. Paul Steklenski, 45, from Schwenksville, Pennsylvania, forked out $65,000 (50,000) for an aircraft which he fills with crates of unloved animals facing euthanasia. The tank operator-turned-IT expert realised he wanted to save animals after adopting a homeless dog, named Tessa, from a rescue centre. Army veteran Paul Steklenski (left) learned how to fly and bought his own plane so he could rescue hundreds of cats and dogs (right) from kill shelters At first, Mr Steklenski considered driving to kill shelters in the US and transporting the canines elsewhere by road to help them find owners. But he knew he would be able to give dozens more abandoned pets new lives if he transported them in another way. He had coincidentally started learning how to fly in 2013 as a hobby, but realised at the same time that he wanted to rescue animals, so went on to get his licence. Then in May 2015 he set up Flying Fur Animal Rescue and says he's single-handedly saved 742 animals since then, many which were neglected or abused. Paul Steklenski, 45, from Schwenksville, Pennsylvania, forked out around $65,000 for an aircraft (pictured) which he fills with crates of unloved animals facing euthanasia At first, Mr Steklenski considered driving to kill shelters in the US and transporting the canines elsewhere by road to help them find owners In February the US Army ex-serviceman of eight years - an SPC who trained troops in Kentucky - even bought his own plane to help with the task. Mr Steklenski said: 'When I first started flying there were times when I wanted to quit because I didn't think I could do it, but I kept going back. 'Once I became certified I thought, "What am I going to do now?" 'A lot of pilots like to fly to restaurants or nice places and that is great, but for me I had to have a different reason to go in the air. 'Seeing the dogs at the shelter was heartbreaking. It was horrible to think that there were so many animals being euthanised because they're stuck in a certain area. But he knew he would be able to give dozens more abandoned pets new lives if he transported them in another way. Pictured, some of the cats he has rescued He had coincidentally started learning how to fly in 2013 as a hobby, but realised at the same time that he wanted to rescue animals, so went on to get his licence In May 2015 he set up Flying Fur Animal Rescue and says he's single-handedly saved 742 animals since then, many which were neglected or abused 'The further south you go the more there is a pet overpopulation problem. It is distressing. 'I realised I could help make a difference by going down there, picking them up and taking them to other shelters. 'The plane is a tool that allows me to do a lot in a day that I couldn't do with a bus. 'It's an extremely emotional job but it's very rewarding.' Mr Steklenski, who lives with his wife, fellow IT expert Michelle, 46, takes off a day or a half day once a month to fly to shelters, where he picks up some cats as well as dogs. Mr Steklenski said: 'Seeing the dogs at the shelter was heartbreaking. It was horrible to think that there were so many animals being euthanised because they're stuck in a certain area' Mr Steklenski, who lives with his wife, fellow IT expert Michelle, 46, takes off a day or a half day once a month to fly to shelters, where he picks up some cats as well as dogs The caring pilot, who went on to adopt a second dog himself, Layla, now loads as many dogs and cats as he can squeeze onboard in one go - sometimes up to 23 in one trip In order to transport the animals, he ripped up the interior of the five-seater Beechcraft Bonanza and bought a host of pet carriers to place in the back In order to transport the animals, he ripped up the interior of the five-seater Beechcraft Bonanza and bought a host of pet carriers to place in the back. The caring pilot, who went on to adopt a second dog himself, Layla, now loads as many dogs and cats as he can squeeze onboard in one go - sometimes up to 23 in one trip. He flies to North Carolina and takes them to shelters in other states where there's a better chance they'll be adopted. But though it's a battle finding the funds, he says actually making the cross-country trip with dozens of dogs is straightforward. Mr Steklenski, who does not have children, said: 'Once the engine starts up they fall asleep or will stay awake and look out of the windows. He flies to North Carolina and takes them to shelters in other states where there's a better chance they'll be adopted But though it's a battle finding the funds, he says actually making the cross-country trip with dozens of dogs is straightforward Mr Steklenski, who does not have children, said: 'Once the engine starts up they fall asleep or will stay awake and look out of the windows' 'It's always very quiet. I have never had an issue. I have a feeling they know better things are going to happen for them.' When the dogs arrive at their destination - various shelters around New Jersey and Pennsylvania - Paul knows they're safe. None of the shelters he delivers to euthanises animals, unlike those he rescues from. He added: 'It is very rewarding. It's not only the animal it makes a difference to - that dog or cat is going to be affecting someone new. When the dogs arrive at their destination - various shelters around New Jersey and Pennsylvania - Paul knows they're safe Now Paul hopes to upgrade his small plane to one with more seats - so he can carry more animals He said: 'It's extremely emotional, but I will do this for as long as I can afford to. 'I hope to inspire other people to get involved' 'There have been a few mistreated dogs. One in particular was so badly abused that it couldn't be around men. 'Seeing him now is incredible. He has been adopted and is looking so much better.' Now Paul hopes to upgrade his small plane to one with more seats - so he can carry more animals. He said: 'It's extremely emotional, but I will do this for as long as I can afford to. 'I hope to inspire other people to get involved.' To find out more about Paul's rescue efforts and donate, visit flyingfuranimalrescue.org Michel Barnier launched a brutal attack on David Davis after the latest round of Brexit talks today, slamming the lack of a 'clear British position'. The EU's chief negotiator said there was a 'fundamental divergence' on the issue of citizen's rights, and demanded that the UK 'clarify' its views on paying a mooted 85billion divorce bill. The tough message came amid fears negotiations are already deadlocked - raising the prospect that the process could collapse. Despite working all week officials have struggled to make progress on key issues of reciprocal rights for citizens and Britain paying a huge divorce settlement. There had even been doubts about whether the two politicians would hold a joint press conference, in an apparent sign of the difficulties. Mr Barnier did not pull his punches as he stood alongside Mr Davis today, saying: 'This week's experience has quite simply shown that we make better progress when our positions are clear.' While the talks were underway in Brussels, Mrs May entertained business leaders at No 10 to update them on the progress of the talks. The British side is understood to believe that progress has been made during four days of talks, despite bleating from EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier (pictured right with David Davis in Brussels today) about a lack of 'clarity' on the UK's position Brexit Secretary David Davis (left) has met Michel Barnier after a week in which officials have struggled to make progress Mr Davis and Mr Barnier struck markedly different tones about the way the negotiations were progressing today The British delegation faced jibes about being unprepared on Monday when they were pictured at talks without any notes, while the EU delegation had huge piles of papers Mr Davis insisted the talks had been 'constructive' and showed the 'differences' where the sides needed to focus. The financial settlement is emerging as the biggest battleground in 'phase one' of the talks - which also covers citizens' rights and the Irish border. Mr Barnier insisted there was no chance of moving on to the second stage of the negotiations - over Britain's future trading relationship with Brussels - until enough progress has been made over the principles. 'A clarification of the UK position is indispensable for us to negotiate and for us to make sufficient progress on this financial dossier, which is inseparable from the other withdrawal dossiers,' he told the press conference. BARNIER'S SWIPES AT DAVID DAVIS On the divorce bill: 'We know that agreement will not be achieved through incremental steps. As soon as the UK is ready to clarify the nature of its commitments, we will be prepared to discuss this with the British negotiators.' On citizen's rights: 'There does remain one fundamental divergence on the way in which such rights would be guaranteed and on several other points, for example, the rights of future family members or the exports of certain social benefits.' On Northern Ireland border: 'We require this clarification on the financial settlement, on citizens' rights, on Ireland - with the two key points of the common travel area and the Good Friday Agreement - and the other separation issues where this week's experience has quite simply shown we make better progress where our respective positions are clear.' Advertisement 'What we want - and we are working on this - is an orderly withdrawal for the United Kingdom, that's decided. An orderly withdrawal means accounts must be settled. 'We know that agreement will not be achieved through incremental steps. As soon as the UK is ready to clarify the nature of its commitments, we will be prepared to discuss this with the British negotiators.' Mr Barnier was similarly pessimistic about the prospects on reciprocal rights for EU nationals already living in the UK. 'There does remain one fundamental divergence on the way in which such rights would be guaranteed and on several other points, for example, the rights of future family members or the exports of certain social benefits,' he said. Mr Barnier said the first round of talks had been about organisation, this week had been about presentation - the 'third round must be about clarification'. He said: 'We require this clarification on the financial settlement, on citizens' rights, on Ireland - with the two key points of the common travel area and the Good Friday Agreement - and the other separation issues where this week's experience has quite simply shown we make better progress where our respective positions are clear.' Paul Polman (left), Chief Executive Officer of Unilever, and Paul Manduca (right), Chairman of Prudential, were among the guests in No 10 today Decoded Co-CEO, Kathryn Parsons (left) and Risk Capital CEO, Luke Johnson (right) were also among the guests for a meeting with Mrs May in Downing Street today National Grid CEO John Pettigrew (left) and Tesco CEO Dave Lewis (right) were also updated by the Prime Minister on the Brexit latest Mr Barnier also made one of his hardest comments yet about the role of the European Court of Justice (ECJ). The EU insists its court must enforce the rights of nationals in the UK, while Britain says that is unacceptable and European judges will not be allowed to meddle after Brexit. 'This is not a political point we are making, it's a legal one,' Mr Barnier said. 'Simply, if there is to be continuity of EU law, that has to be framed by case law of the court. Only the court can interpret EU law. 'It's not a choice, it's an obligation.' Jaguar Land Rover CEO Ralph Speth was also seen walking up Downing Street for today's meeting Director General of the Institute of Directors (IoD) Stephen Martin (left) and BAE Systems Chairman Roger Carr (right) were also today's meeting CBI Director General Carolyn Fairbairn was also invited to hear the latest from Mrs May in Downing Street Mr Davis struck a more optimistic tone, saying: 'Overall I'm encouraged by the progress we have made on understanding each other's positions.' He said the talks had demonstrated the UK had made a 'fair and serious offer' on citizens' rights and there were 'many concrete areas where we agree, as well as areas where there will be further discussion' which will be a priority in the next round. On the financial settlement, Mr Davis said: 'We both recognise the importance of sorting out the obligations we have to one another, both legally and in a spirit of mutual cooperation.' In a sign of the difficulties in reaching agreement he added: 'We have had robust but constructive talks this week. Clearly there's a lot left to talk about and further work before we can resolve this. 'Ultimately getting to a solution will require flexibility from both sides.' The Union Flag was carefully into position ahead of the joint press conference today Mr Davis struck a more optimistic tone, saying: 'Overall I'm encouraged by the progress we have made on understanding each other's positions.' Mr Barnier said the first round of talks had been about organisation, this week had been about presentation - the 'third round must be about clarification' The attack by Mr Barnier seems to be part of a concerted effort by the EU to ratchet up the pressure on the UK, after the government was weakened by the election result. POST-BREXIT TRADE DEAL 'EASIEST IN HUMAN HISTORY' A post Brexit trade deal between Britain and the EU will be 'one of the easiest in human history' to strike, Liam Fox said today. The International Trade Secretary said the benefits were so obvious that it would only not happen if 'politics get in the way of economics'. Dir Fox said that while the Government wanted a deal, Brussels had to know that the UK would be prepared to walk away without an agreement. He told BBC Radio 4's Today: 'We don't want to have 'no deal', it is much better that we have a deal than no deal. We can of course survive with no deal and we have to go into a negotiation with those on the other side knowing that's what we think. 'But of course we want to come to a full and comprehensive deal with the European Union.' Dr Fox stressed that leaving the EU meant quitting the single market and customs union. 'If we are to have an implementation phase between leaving the European Union and our final settlement, I don't have a problem with that,' he said. 'But I do think we have to leave the EU first of all to keep faith with the voters who instructed us to do that.' Dr Fox said Prime Minister Theresa May was 'likely' to remain in Number 10 throughout the current parliament and warned that speculation about leadership would distract from the 'historic' task of Brexit. Mrs May has repeatedly stated that her approach to Brexit was 'no deal is better than a bad deal' and Dr Fox said it was important that the EU recognised that resolve. Advertisement The French foreign minister insisted yesterday that Britain paying a huge Brexit bill is 'non negotiable'. Bruno Le Maire risked inflaming tensions in negotiations by quoting Margaret Thatcher's famous phrase: 'We want our money back.' Asked about the standoff at the French parliament yesterday, Mr Le Maire said: 'I will say what Margaret Thatcher used to say: 'We want our money back.' 'We can always debate on the amount but on the fact that the United Kingdom must pay what it owes to the budget of the European Union, it is a non-negotiable prerequisite at the start of the (Brexit) discussions.' Mr Le Maire confirmed that the amounts involved could be up to to 100billion euros. 'The payment by the United Kingdom of its remainder ... is a non-negotiable prerequisite for any discussion of the future of our relations,' he added. Mr Barnier has insisted that the UK must provide an initial framework in the autumn as to how much money it is willing to pay before talks about a trade deal can begin. He has repeatedly threatened that the complex negotiations will not proceed unless he determines there is 'sufficient progress' on the size of the UK bill. But Downing Street is prepared to infuriate EU leaders by offering only a vague agreement in October and refusing to produce a concrete figure. British negotiators have insisted the size of the payment can be determined only when it becomes clear whether the EU is willing to offer a wide-ranging trade deal. Insiders have dismissed the EU's 85 billion demand as 'preposterous' while Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson recently said the bloc could 'go whistle' for such a sum. Mr Davis has described even a settlement of half that as a 'lot of money', while Tory Brexiteers insist nothing should be paid. The Brussels showdown comes as Theresa May hosts the first meeting of a new business council intended to increase the involvement of leading firms in the Government's Brexit strategy. Bruno Le Maire, pictured right with EU commission president Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels last month, risked inflaming tensions in negotiations by quoting Margaret Thatcher's famous phrase: 'We want our money back.' Boris Johnson, pictured on a visit to Tokyo today, has said that Brussels can 'go whistle' for a big payout from Britain Following the summit, a No 10 spokesman said: 'The Prime Minister emphasised her desire to listen to the views of business, to channel their experience and to share with them the government's vision for a successful Brexit and a country in which growth and opportunity is shared by everyone across the whole of the UK. 'On Brexit, the Prime Minister reiterated that the Government's overarching goal is for a smooth, orderly exit culminating in a comprehensive free trade deal with the EU, with a period of implementation in order to avoid any cliff-edges. 'The Prime Minister welcomed the valuable contributions which have come from discussions with business at various levels of government over the past year, including on the development of a modern industrial strategy, and emphasised the need for this engagement to intensify over the period ahead. 'Beyond Brexit, the Prime Minister committed to using this forum to focus on wider issues of importance to the UK economy.' Chancellor Philip Hammond and Business Secretary Greg Clark will also be at the Downing Street meeting with a number of company bosses, including Tesco's Dave Lewis, Sir Roger Carr from BAE Systems and National Grid chief executive officer John Pettigrew. Meanwhile, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox is using a visit to Switzerland to urge a rejection of post-Brexit protectionism, and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is in Japan for trade talks. President Donald Trump's persistent overtures toward Russia are placing him increasingly at odds with his national security and foreign policy advisers, who have long urged a more cautious approach to dealing with the foreign adversary. The uneasy dynamic between the president and top aides has been exacerbated by the revelation this week of an extended dinner conversation between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the recent summit in Germany. The previously undisclosed conversation, which occurred a few hours after their official meeting, raised red flags with advisers already concerned by the president's tendency to shun protocol and press ahead with outreach toward Russia, according to two U.S. officials and three top foreign officials. President Donald Trump's persistent overtures toward Russia are placing him increasingly at odds with his national security and foreign policy advisers, who have long urged a more cautious approach to dealing with the foreign adversary The uneasy dynamic has been exacerbated by the revelation this week of an extended dinner conversation between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the recent summit in Germany. Trump joined his wife Melania after dessert he says In this photo provided by the German Government Press Office, Trump talks with Putin, and the President of the EU Commission Jean-Claude Juncker (L) during the G20 Summit The officials were not authorized to publicly discuss private conversations and spoke on condition of anonymity. Deep divisions are increasingly apparent within the administration on the best way to approach Moscow in the midst of U.S. investigations into Russian meddling in the American presidential election. Trump has repeatedly cast doubt on the conclusion of U.S. intelligence agencies that the Russian government sought to tip the election in his favor and has dismissed investigations into the possibility of collusion between his campaign and Moscow as a 'witch hunt.' Meanwhile, he has pushed for cooperation between Moscow and Washington on various matters, including the raging conflict in Syria. But some top aides, including National Security Adviser Gen. H.R. McMaster, have been warning that Putin is not to be trusted. An intelligence officer-turned-politician, Putin is known for steering discussions in his own favor. The three foreign officials who have spoken with top Trump advisers described a disconnect, or 'mixed signals,' between Trump and his team over Russia, highlighting a lack of a clear policy. U.S. officials echoed that sentiment, with one saying diplomats and intelligence officials were 'dumbfounded' by the president's approach, particularly given the evidence of Russia's election meddling. McMaster expressed his uneasiness over Trump's course to foreign officials during the lead-up to his trip to Germany. The general specifically said he had reservations about Trump's decision to hold an Oval Office meeting in May with top Russian diplomats and with the president's reluctance to speak out against Russian aggression in Europe, according to the three foreign officials. McMaster and other national security aides also advised the president against holding an official bilateral meeting with Putin. But some top aides, including National Security Adviser Gen. H.R. McMaster, have been warning that Putin is not to be trusted In a highly unusual move, McMaster did not attend the meeting with Putin. Only Trump, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and a translator made up the U.S. side. Meetings with such critical national security implications typically include a broader team, including the national security adviser and a regional specialist from the National Security Council - in this case, the head of the Russia directorate, a position recently filled by Russia expert Fiona Hill. Foreign and U.S. officials said the Russians recommended that a note taker be present in the bare-bones official meeting. But Trump, who has repeatedly expressed concern over leaks, refused, instead relying on Tillerson to document the meeting. The session was scheduled for 30 minutes but stretched to more than two hours. The White House did not respond to questions about Trump's refusal to have a note taker for his meeting with Putin, or about whether McMaster communicated his concerns to the president. The formalities and discipline of diplomacy have been a rough fit for Trump, whose reputation as a businessman was that of a freewheeling, impulsive dealmaker. As for his dinnertime conversation with Putin, unofficial discussions between world leaders over dinner do not violate protocol. But it is unusual and can be risky for a president to speak directly to Putin without a U.S. translator present. He was forced to rely on Russia's interpreter for the discussion, which reportedly went on for nearly an hour. 'The Russian interpreter probably interpreted very clearly, but the problem is there's no record of the discussion on the American side,' said Steven Pifer, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. President Donald Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany. McMaster and other national security aides advised the president against holding an official bilateral meeting with Putin It would have been wise for Trump to have his interpreter take notes so there would be a record, he said. White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders was dismissive of the controversy surrounding the Trump-Putin dinner chat, blaming it on a 'Russia fever' gripping the media. She said other presidents, including Barack Obama, had similar informal conversations. 'To act as if this were some secret is absolutely absurd,' she said. Trump addressed his earlier, official meeting with Putin in an interview with reporters last week onboard Air Force One. The president said he repeatedly confronted Putin on reports of Russia's election meddling - interference that Putin staunchly denies. But Trump would not say whether he believed Putin's denials, as the Russian president claimed. White House officials said the public may never know what was discussed between Putin and Trump over dinner. But advisers past and present said that characterizing any conversation with Putin as casual would be a mistake. 'There are no meaningless conversations between presidents,' said Jeffrey Edmonds, the NSC's former Russia director. 'That's what is so divergent here,' he said. 'Relations have been at an all-time low because of Russian meddling in our elections and so it's hard to see how a meeting with President Putin for an hour during dinner isn't important.' A sheriff's deputy in Utah has been charged with recklessly causing the death of his patrol dog after he left the K-9 in his patrol car in soaring heat. Cache County sheriff's deputy Jason Whittier, 36, accidentally left his K-9, Endy, in his vehicle when he got home from work around noon on July 3. When Whittier returned home at 11.30pm, he realized that Endy was not in his outside kennel and found him instead in his vehicle, dead. Whittier has been charged in First District Court with aggravated cruelty to an animal, a class B misdemeanor that could lead to a $1,000 and up to six months in jail if convicted. Cache County sheriff's deputy Jason Whittier (right), 36, has been charged in First District Court with aggravated cruelty to an animal after accidentally leaving his K-9, Endy (pictured) to die in his patrol car on July 3 Whittie accidentally left Endy in his vehicle when he got home from work around noon on July 3. When Whittier returned home at 11.30pm, he realized that Endy was not in his outside kennel and found him instead in his vehicle, dead 'Deputy Whittier then left his residence to participate in family activities, inexplicably leaving Endy in his patrol truck,' charges from the Cache County Attorney's Office state, according to the Salt Lake City Tribune. Endy died of a heat stroke on July 3, when temperatures reached 95 degrees. Sheriff Chad Jensen said on Tuesday that Whittier was distracted when he went inside his home. The pooch, an 8-year-old Belgian Malinois, had already died by the time Whitter found him. Jensen said Whittier immediately contacted his division commander and was placed on administrative leave as an internal investigation took place. The investigation found the officer violated the department's policies and procedures. Whittier was placed on leave without pay and will be reassigned away from the K-9 unit. Jensen said Whittier immediately contacted his division commander after finding the dog and was placed on administrative leave as an internal investigation took place Whittier accidentally left the dog in the patrol car when he got home from work in the middle of the day and didn't discover that the dog was dead until 11.30pm that night Endy was born in 2008 and purchased by Logan City Police Department in 2010 (above). They sold him to Cache County when Whittier had a traumatic motorcycle accident Whittier will appear in court on August 28 for Cache County Attorney's Office's cruelty charge. 'This tragedy serves as a stark reminder to never leave children or animals alone inside of a car for any amount of time, as temperatures can quickly rise to a deadly level,' Cache County attorney office's chief deputy Tony Baird stated in a news release on Whittier's charges. Sheriff Jensen said Cache County K-9 vehicles are equipped with safety features to protect the dogs if they are left alone in the vehicle while it is still running. The systems do not work if they car is shut off at the end of an officer's shift. The Sheriff said as a result of Endy's death, they will now pursue new technology that will have end of shift warnings. Handlers will be forced to manually shut down the security system, which will give a verbal warning to remove the dog from the vehicle. Whittier has been charged in First District Court with aggravated cruelty to an animal, a class B misdemeanor that could lead to a $1,000 and up to six months in jail if convicted If not manually shut down, the system will activate horns, lights, and sirens until the canine is removed safely, according to Jensen. 'Endy was a great asset to our agency and the citizens of Cache County. He, along with our other canine Rokki, have been actively engaged in protecting the streets and communities throughout the valley,' Jensen said. 'The loss of Endy was unexpected and heartbreaking and our officers mourn his loss. Endy was a beloved member of our organization and our community. 'This is a case attributed to distraction with tragic consequences. Endy's death serves as a devastating reminder to us all about the importance of eliminating distractions, maintaining a routine and being vigilant about never leaving children or pets unattended in hot vehicles.' Endy came to the Sheriff's office last year. He was born in 2008 and purchased by Logan City Police Department in 2010. They sold him to Cache County when Whittier had a traumatic motorcycle accident. The family of a missing Australian woman still believe she is alive and are desperately searching the Canadian wilderness. Jamie Dowsley, brother of Sophie, says there is 'no evidence' to suggest she has fallen to her death at the infamous Statlu Falls. 'We're 12 days into the search, and still there is no evidence that Sophie has fallen into the waterfall. 'We're hoping the fact Sophie wasn't found in the water, as authorities expected they would, this will give a renewed focus on the search,' he told Fairfax. Ms Dowsley, 34, and her boyfriend Greg Tiffin have not been seen since July 8 when they set out for a day hiking trip in Harrison Hot Springs. Mr Tiffin, 44, was found dead on Wednesday, with tributes flowing in for him on Facebook describing him as 'a beloved son, brother, uncle and friend'. Scroll down for video The family of a missing Australian woman still believe she is alive and are desperately searching the Canadian wilderness Jamie Dowsley, brother of Sophie, says there is 'no evidence' to suggest she has fallen to her death at the infamous Statlu Falls Ms Dowsley, 34, and her boyfriend Greg Tiffin have not been seen since July 8 when they set out for a day hiking trip in Harrison Hot Springs Ms Dowsley's family have flown in from Sydney to the area west of Vancouver to help emergency crews locate her. 'Can you imagine what she's going through out there? She's injured, she's starving. She's seen her boyfriend fall to his death,' Jamie Dowsley said. Diving teams, a helicopter and a specialist rescue crew have been extensively searching in and around Statlu Falls, but are yet to find more than a few of Ms Dowsley's belongings. The father of an Australian woman missing and feared dead after going on a hike with her boyfriend in Canada has described the couple's disappearance as his 'worst nightmare.' Ms Dowsley's family have flown from Sydney to Canada to help emergency services search for her body. 'It's the worst possible nightmare that you could imagine. I couldn't dream of anything worse,' Ms Dowsley's father Peter told CTV News. 'They've gone to a very dangerous place and they haven't come out. The terrain is just absolutely stunningly beautiful and rugged and unforgiving,' he said. The only people that can be in there are trained professionals.' 'It's the worst possible nightmare that you could imagine. I couldn't dream of anything worse,' Ms Dowsley's father Peter said (Sophie and Greg are pictured together) Friends of Mr Tiffin have posted tributes to Greg (right) on Facebook describing him as 'a beloved son, brother, uncle and friend' Ms Dowsley posted an image of the area to Instagram a day after she was last seen The couple's SUV has been found near the area and several pieces of Ms Dowsley's belongings were discovered at the base of the waterfall A friend of Mr Tiffin recalled their long friendship on social media Friends of Mr Tiffin have posted tributes to the 44-year-old on Facebook, describing him as 'a beloved son, brother, uncle and friend.' The couple's SUV has been found near the area and several pieces of Ms Dowsley's belongings were discovered at the base of the waterfall. Neil Brewer, a member of the Kent Harrison Search and Rescue team, said the area is infamous for fatalities. '20 years ago we went there three times, three consecutive years, for exactly the same scenario and a fatality each time,' he said. A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs say they are in regular communication with the family to give them any support necessary. 'The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to the family of an Australian woman reported missing in Canada, in accordance with the Consular Services Charter. Owing to our privacy obligations, we will not provide further comment.' A Government minister last night risked sparking fury by declaring that Britain is heading for the 'softest of soft Brexit'. Business Minister Lord Prior reportedly told a private meeting of figures from the insurance industry the UK will still have open borders for skilled EU migrants after Brexit. He said they 'shouldn't be worried' over 'barriers to entry' for skilled migrants who want to come to come to Britain after we quit the Brussels club in March 2019. But his remarks are likely to infuriate Theresa May who has insisted there is no such thing as a 'hard' or 'soft' Brexit. The Prime Minister has stressed that last year's historic referendum means Britain is leaving the single market, customs union and regaining control of our borders. Business Minister Lord Prior, pictured yesterday in the House of Lords, reportedly told a meeting of insurers that Britain is heading for the softest of of Brexit - contradicting Theresa May's insistence that there is no such thing as a hard or soft Brexit But Lord Prior broke with his leader's language as he tried hosted 40 experts at the InsurTech Challenger workshop at the business department. A source told The Sun: 'Lord Prior was asked how we could hire EU citizens after Brexit, and told us we really shouldn't be worried. 'He said with 20 per cent of the academics at Cambridge University being foreign, do you really think we will have barriers to entry for skilled workers?' The revelation comes as Brexit Secretary David Davis travels to Brussels today to wrap up the latest round of talks. He will meet with the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier to assess the progress made in the crunch talks. Meanwhile, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox, said he hopes a 'full and comprehensive' deal can be struck with the EU. He told BBC Radio 4's Today: 'We don't want to have no deal, it is much better that we have a deal than no deal. David Davis, pictured meeting EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier on Monday. The Brexit Secretary is travelling to Brussels this morning to meet with the EU's negotiating team and warp up the latest round of talks on our departure from the European Union 'We can of course survive with no deal and we have to go into a negotiation with those on the other side knowing that's what we think. 'But of course we want to come to a full and comprehensive deal with the European Union.' Dr Fox stressed that leaving the EU meant quitting the single market and customs union as he was pressed over whether the UK could stay inside those arrangements as part of a transitional deal. 'If we are to have an implementation phase between leaving the European Union and our final settlement, I don't have a problem with that. 'But I do think we have to leave the EU first of all to keep faith with the voters who instructed us to do that.' He added: 'You cannot leave the European Union and be in the single market or the customs union.' Responding to questions about Lord Priors comments, a spokesman for the Prime Minister said: I dont comment on private meetings I didnt attend. But the Prime Ministers view is there is only Brexit there is not a hard Brexit or a soft Brexit. A suspected illegal immigrant was detained by police after a passer-by duped him into getting into his car with the false promise of a lift. After allegedly leaping off the back of the HGV near Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire, the migrant was attempting to make the 100-mile journey to Birmingham on foot. But Ashley Mason, 34, connected the dots when he saw the man wandering past the busy flow of traffic half a mile after spotting a lorry which had been pulled over. He told officers he had come from Sudan and had not drunken any water for two days, and police found seven other people in the nearby area who have now been handed over to the Home Office. Ashley Mason was driving along the M40 when he saw this lorry on the hard shoulder which had been pulled over Around half a mile further on, he saw this man walking down the side of the road next to a busy flow of traffic After pulling over and phoning police to confirm that the lorry and the man were related, he promptly pulled up behind him and honked his horn. Mr Mason, an engineer from Wolverhampton, can then be heard saying 'sit in here' as the relieved man gleefully clambers into the back of the car. However, the former special constable had already alerted police to his movements and kept the man busy with conversation and faked problems with his navigation until squad cars arrived to detain him. Mr Mason, an engineer from Wolverhampton, can then be heard saying 'sit in here' as the relieved man gleefully clambers into the back of the car Mr Mason told MailOnline: 'He seemed completely intent on getting to Birmingham, even if it meant walking all the way down the M40. I don't think he realised the dangers he was posing to himself and to the public. 'I pulled over and asked him if he wanted a lift. I asked him to put his seat belt on, so he was at least pinned in the car, and I knew I would be able to get out of the other side if anything happened. 'I sort of bluffed it by asking where he wanted to go and playing around with the route on my maps, I was just stalling until the police arrived. 'Then he was put straight in cuffs and led away.' Thames Valley Police confirmed they found a total of eight people between junctions 4 and 5 of the M40 after being called at around 4pm on July 4. But it was all a ruse, and police arrived to put the man in the back of their squad car before driving away The suspected illegal immigrant was handcuffed before being but in the back of a squad car. He is among eight to have been passed onto the Home Office Mr Mason admitted he had sympathy for the man, particularly after speaking to him inside his car, but was eager from his voluntary police work to ensure they were not breaking the law. He added: 'I overheard his conversations with the police and it turned out he was from Sudan and had not drunk any water for two days. 'You have to just weigh up what the right thing to do is and what the safe thing to do is. 'I do feel sorry for people like this but there are rules and regulations that need to be followed.' The Home Office confirmed that the eight men said they were Sudanese and Eritrean, and their cases are being progressed in line with the immigration rules. A student at a prominent same-sex high school in Victoria has defecated on the floors and sinks of the school's bathrooms in protest at the 's***' teachers. The student was protesting over one male teacher at Mac.Robertson Girls High School in particular, who she says would decline to teach the class and instead wear headphones and watch his device. She claims he would tell the class to 'read the textbook' or do a practice exam instead of teaching, leaving the young girl to learn on her own at home. The random defecation at the Albert Park school began in February, and on Monday the girl posted an open letter around the school, explaining herself. A female high school student has spent the first half of the school year defecating on bathroom floors and sinks in protest of the teaching quality at her Victorian school 'The teachers are s***, so I have left symbolic droppings of what the education is like at this school. Cr**,' she wrote. Other students echoed her concerns to News Corp, noting their academic performance was a positive reflection on the students, not the teachers. 'In general the majority of the teachers are unhelpful,' the anonymous group told the website. 'The teaching methods are really inefficient. The person in the letter is definitely not wrong.' MAC.ROBERTSON HIGH SCHOOL Mac.Robertson High School is one of only four fully selective schools in Victoria. It caters only for girls from Year 9 to Year 12. In 2016, it was the second highest performing school in the state for the VCE exam. In 2015, the school listed its parent contribution as $1520 for Year 9 students to $1720 for Year 12 students. The school also offers a number of overseas camps and study trips, which cost up to $158,589. Advertisement The girl says she is not the first student to complain, and claims her peers had been 'silenced'. 'You can't silence me like you have silenced all my other peers that have come before you,' she continued. At the beginning of the letter, the student acknowledged the bizarre nature of her actions. 'I know I have resorted to the most extreme method to make a symbolic point but you NEVER listen to student voice,' she wrote. 'We all know you're not going to do anything, but at least my behaviour has punished the school for what it has done.' Dr Toni Meath, the principal of the school told News Corp she had 'become aware of a student who was dissatisfied. The woman said the school had reached out to offer the girl support and address her concerns'. 'We listen to our students and their input is valued by the whole school community, and we work with all of our students to help them get a great education,' she said. A Yazidi sex slave kidnapped by ISIS has joined a militia so she can 'take revenge' on the fanatics who tortured her. Heza Shankal has taken up arms with an all-female resistance group and travelled to Raqqa in Syria to fight the terror group. She and her two sisters were among the thousands kidnapped when ISIS swept through Sinjar in northern Iraq area in 2014, slaughtering adult men, forcing boys to train as child soldiers and taking women and girls as sex slaves. ISIS regards Yazidis, who are neither Arab nor Muslim, as being devil-worshippers and have committed a series of terrible atrocities against the minority. Scroll down for video Yazidi sex slave Heza Shankal, who was held captive by ISIS, has joined a militia so she can 'take revenge' on the fanatics who tortured her Heza underwent intensive weapons training, and when the SDF announced its fight for Raqqa in November 2016, she and other YPS fighters were ready Heza Shankal has taken up arms with an all-female resistance group and travelled to Raqqa in Syria to fight the terror group (pictured) In an interview with Arab24, Ms Shankal said: 'When the massacre took place in Shankal [the Kurdish name for Sinjar] and ISIS kidnapped children and women, I was one of those who was taken away.' Dressed in military clothing and carrying a gun, Ms Shankal said she was 'sold and bought' in the terror group's slave markets before she was 'finally liberated'. Eventually she found her way into the 'hands of the comrades' who took her back home. 'I was surprised to see a military force for protecting Shankal, so I decided to join the units and take revenge. 'I am carrying this weapon to take revenge from Abu Hassan, Abu Yusuf and Abu Sa'ad, who tortured me and tortured many mothers. Her thirst for revenge is mirrored by other Yazidi women who have signed up to fight the jihadists - in both Iraq and Syria. Heza revealed she was trafficked into the caliphate's 'capital' Raqqa as a sex slave but managed to escape. Now she is back to avenge the horrors she and thousands of others suffered. Members of the Women's Protection Units (YPJ) rest on the eastern outskirts of Raqqa earlier this week Heza's thirst for revenge is mirrored by other Yazidi women who have signed up to fight the jihadists - in both Iraq and Syria Heza said battling ISIS in its Syrian bastion has helped relieve some of her trauma Heza said battling ISIS in its Syrian bastion has helped relieve some of her trauma. 'When I started fighting, I lifted some of the worries from my heart,' she said, surrounded by fellow Yazidi militia women in Raqqa's eastern Al-Meshleb district. 'But it will be full of revenge until all the women are freed.' She was among thousands of women and girls from the Kurdish-speaking Yazidi minority taken hostage by ISIS as it swept into Iraq's Sinjar region in August 2014. The women were sold and traded across the jihadists' self-proclaimed caliphate in Syria and Iraq. Around 3,000 are believed to remain in captivity, including one of Heza's sisters. 'When the Yazidi genocide happened, Daesh snatched up the women and girls. I was one of them,' Heza recounts, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS. The United Nations has qualified the massacres ISIS carried out against the Yazidis during the Sinjar attack as genocide. ISIS separated Yazidi females from the men in Sinjar, bringing the women and girls into Raqqa. 'They took us like sheep. They chased us and humiliated us in these very streets,' Heza tells AFP, gesturing to a row of heavily damaged homes in Al-Meshleb. Dressed in military clothing and carrying a gun, Ms Shankal said she was 'sold and bought' in the terror group's slave markets before she was 'finally liberated' A number of Yazidi women have signed up to fight the jihadists - in both Iraq and Syria. A member of the Shengal Women's Units is pictured above The eastern district was the first neighbourhood captured from ISIS by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-Arab alliance, in their months-long offensive to seize the jihadist bastion. SDF officials told AFP that their forces had already rescued several female Yazidi captives, including a 10-year-old girl, since they entered Raqqa city in June. Over the course of her 10-month captivity in Raqqa, Heza was bought by five different ISIS fighters. Her voice strained but her brown eyes still sharp, the young fighter says she prefers not to detail the abuses she suffered. But in an indication of the extent of her trauma, Heza - whose name means 'strength' in Kurdish - says she tried to take her own life several times. Finally, in May 2015, she escaped from the home where she was being held to a nearby market, and she found a Syrian Kurdish family who smuggled her out of the city. She travelled around 250 miles across war-ravaged northeast Syria back into Iraq to join the Shengal Women's Units (YPS). The YPS - named after the Kurdish word for Sinjar - is a part of the US-backed SDF. Heza underwent intensive weapons training, and when the SDF announced its fight for Raqqa in November 2016, she and other YPS fighters were ready. The YPS - named after the Kurdish word for Sinjar - is a part of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-Arab alliance The SDF spent months tightening the noose around Raqqa before breaking into the city in June, and the YPS took up their first positions in Al-Meshleb several weeks later. Members of the unit are pictured on the frontline in Raqqa 'When the Raqa offensive began, I wanted to take part in it for all the Yazidi girls who were sold here in these streets,' she says. 'My goal is to free them, to avenge them.' The SDF spent months tightening the noose around Raqqa before breaking into the city in June, and the YPS took up their first positions in Al-Meshleb several weeks later. It was the first time Heza was back in the northern Syrian city since her escape. 'When I entered Raqqa, I had a strange, indescribable feeling. Despite the enormous pain that I carry, I felt joy,' the fighter says. Rifles are lined up in neat rows inside the abandoned home used by the YPS as their base in Al-Meshleb. Yazidi women in brand-new uniforms gather around a crackling walkie-talkie for news from the front. Some of them, like 20-year-old Merkan, have travelled far to join the fight against ISIS. Her family is originally Yazidi Turkish, but Merkan and her 24-year-old sister Arin were raised in Germany. When they heard about ISIS's infamous sweep into Sinjar in 2014, they were outraged. Shankal was among the thousands kidnapped when ISIS swept through the area in 2014, slaughtering adult men, forcing boys to train as child soldiers and taking women and girls as sex slaves. Displaced Yazidis are pictured fleeing across the Syria-Iraq border in 2014 Yazidi women were sold and traded across the jihadists' self-proclaimed caliphate in Syria and Iraq. Around 3,000 are believed to remain in captivity 'I could never have imagined a world like this. I didn't expect things like this could happen,' Merkan says. 'I was in so much pain,' says the tall militiawoman. Her older sister decided to travel to Sinjar in late 2014 to join the YPS, and Merkan followed in early 2015. 'I only had one goal in front of me: liberating the Yazidi women, and all women who were still in Daesh's clutches.' She had scribbled a similar pledge in Kurdish on a wall behind her. 'Through strength and struggle, we Yazidi women fighters came to Raqqa to take revenge for the August 3 massacre,' the graffiti says, referring to when ISIS entered Sinjar. 'We are avenging Yazidi girls,' it adds. 'Yesterday there was Al-Qaeda and today there's Daesh. We don't know who will come next. I want to go anywhere there is injustice,' Merkan said. Fellow fighter Basih is sitting quietly in a neighbouring room, chain-smoking cigarettes in the muggy July afternoon. 'We suffered the ugliest forms of injustice. Our revenge will be proportional to it,' she said. A teenage German schoolgirl who ran away to join ISIS was married to a Chechen Islamic State fighter and 'admitted' to killing Iraqi troops, it has been claimed. Linda Wenzel, 16, was found alone, hurt and screaming for help in a bombed out house in Mosul this week, a year after she vanished from her home near Dresden, Eastern Germany. Now an officer in Iraq's elite counterrorism unit told The Telegraph said she was a sniper for ISIS. Speaking anonymously, he said: 'We found her with a gun in her hand next to her Chechen husband, who was then killed by Iraqi forces in a firefight. She said she had killed a number of our men in the battle.' 'She was a Daesh sniper, but maybe her husband pressured her into it. She looked scared.' The Telegraph said it is thought Linda and the fighter formed a relationship after meeting in a chat room, where he convinced her to join ISIS. Linda was found on her own, injured and screaming as Iraqi soldiers made their way through the bombed out houses of Mosul, Iraq's war-torn second city, according to Iraqi Mohammed Shuraf, (circled) who used an alias when describing the moment they found the 16-year-old Linda is thought to have left eastern Germany last July after the breakdown of her parents' marriage. By the time her mother noticed she was missing, Linda (pictured left after she was found and right before leaving Germany) had already flown to Turkey and vanished Iraqi MP Vian Dakhil backed up the claims, adding that she was found with explosives and was 'ready to attack the advancing troops.' An Iraqi soldier told Germany's Bild newspaper that he and his comrades mistook her at first for a sex slave of Islamic State terrorists. Talking under the alias Mohammed Shuraf for protection, the soldier told the newspaper he and his comrades thought at first she was a Yazidi sex slave. IS warriors routinely kidnapped and abused women of the minority Christian sect. Describing the moment they found her, he said: 'We entered a shattered house, which was previously under fire. There we heard someone screaming for help. It was the girl, she was alone, injured on the left arm and chest, lying on the floor. ' He said her clothes were filthy and around her neck she wore a thick scarf which she could also use as a headscarf. She was found alongside members of the terror group's fearsome all-female police force, some of whom were wearing suicide vests. 'We fought in the old town last Friday and liberated more houses,' he says. 'At that time, there were still a few hundred ISIS fighters in town. He added: 'We were very happy, everyone wanted to take a picture. Only when the commander was there and the girl intensely interviewed did it become clear that she could not speak Kurdish. We asked for other ISIS fighters, but she just looked at the floor.' The commander asked other Iraqis present if they knew the girl. But they didn't want to answer. 'I could see at the glances that they were afraid of her. It was clear to us that she must be an ISIS follower, 'says Shuraf. 'One of our commanders can speak a few words of German. Then she responded immediately.' Linda is now with security personnel in Baghdad and the German foreign office remains in contact with them to try to definitely determine if it is the runaway from the small town of Pulsnitz who fled Germany on a plane on July 1 last year to join ISIS. The teenager, described as 'a brilliant student' is said to have become 'lonely and withdrawn' after her parents' marriage broke down and her mother Katharina began a new relationship with a caretaker at a local school. She is thought to have met a Muslim man online who enticed her to join ISIS after the breakdown of her parents' marriage. She fled the country using her mother's passport and flew from Berlin to Turkey before making her way to Syria. This week her neighbours in the village of Pulsnitz, near Dreseden, south-east Germany, told of their shock and anger that the promising youngster left home to join the extremist group. Linda (pictured, after she was captured) was among 20 ISIS followers seized after Mosul fell following a ten month battle which left 25,000 Jihadists dead Linda (pixilated, before fleeing to Syria) was unhappy at home and turned to Islam and soon began engaging with ISIS followers in the Middle East on Internet chat rooms One former neighbour in the town of Gruenestrasse, where she lived with her parents before they split up last year, said: 'What a b***h for putting her parents through this. 'What sort of a person gives themselves over to a group killing her own people in Germany? I hope a jail cell awaits her when she returns, not yellow ribbons.' School friends have described the quiet teenager as becoming increasingly withdrawn. Another neighbour Angela Ehrenberg, 65, said: 'She was a very quiet, sensitive child. But there was an aura of loneliness about her that I could not understand.' In 2015 she was confirmed into the local church. Female priest Maria Gruener said: 'She was a very placid girl who did not want to take part in confirmation instruction.' But unbeknownst to her, Linda was falsely adopting the faith of the Christian church while secretly giving her heart to Islam. As she attended the church, her parents' marriage broke down and she moved with her mother to Pulsnitz. There, Katharina moved in with Thomas Weiss. Unhappy and insecure, Linda suddenly found herself with a new stepfather - and an older stepsister called Dana. In May last year the troubled teenager made contact on the internet with an Islamist preacher in Hamburg who sent her a copy of the Koran. 'It seemed to offer her answers in a confused life,' said Christina, 16, a fellow pupil at the town's Ernst-Rierscher-Comprehensive school. Linda (pictured before fleeing to Syria) used the counterfeit bank authorisation and her mother's forged identification papers to buy a plane ticket to Istanbul 'Last summer, shortly before we broke up, she began leaving home with a small bag in which she had an Islamic headscarf and long flowing robes which she donned to cover up all her skin. There were some arguments with staff.' She stole her mother's credit card and secretly bought an airline ticket to Istanbul. Until six months before she fled she had never even travelled by train alone, it has been reported. But on Friday July 1 last year she told her mother and father she was going to spend the weekend with a friend called Caroline and would be back in Sunday. She never came home - and was never at her friend's. Instead she travelled to Frankfurt and caught a plane to Istanbul before being smuggled into Syria. Eventually, she ended up in Mosul where she changed her name to Umm Mariam, and was taken as a 'jihadist bride'. Behind her she left baffled friends and parents as well as teachers who said she was in course for impressive A level results. Speaking from the schoolgirl's hometown last July, her mother said she was devastated. Iraqi security forces recently ended three years of ISIS rule in the Iraqi city of Mosul (pictured) and the terror group is under growing pressure in Raqqa Footage reportedly showing ISIS fighters crawling out of their tunnels to surrender to Iraqi counter-terror units after Mosul was reclaimed from jihadists Around 900,000 people fled the fighting in Mosul, with more than a third sheltered in camps outside Iraq's second largest city She said: 'When she did not come back and then I found out she had never even been there, I called the police. In her room they found a print of a plane ticket to Istanbul under the mattress. 'I was shocked, my daughter has never stolen or lied about anything before. 'I am devastated by the fact that she was apparently completely brainwashed and persuaded to leave the country by someone and that she managed to hide it from me.' A search of her room by police unearthed a copy of her airline ticket bought on her mother's credit card and assorted Islamic literature. She was found in Mosul where pockets of the city remain insecure after ten months of heavy fighting. Around 900,000 people fled the conflict, with more than a third sheltered in camps and the rest living with family and friends in other neighbourhoods. A Donald Trump supporter punched a protester in the face after he hit him with a placard during a rally in Hollywood over the weekend. Violence led to two arrests at protests in Hollywood, California, on Saturday as anti-Trump protesters and supporters of the president held rallies in the same location. Shocking footage shows the moment one Trump supporter floored a demonstrator after he was hit in the face by the man's large sign. A Donald Trump supporter punched a protester in the face during dueling rallies in Hollywood on Saturday The incident came after the anti-Trump protester hit the other man over the head with his placard The man who was punched, identified only as 72-year-old Greywolf, suffered minor cuts in the scuffle It came after the two men had a confrontation, in which both could be heard shouting 'f*** you' as several onlookers watched. Several protesters broke up the fight after a 72-year-old, named only as Greywolf, was punched by the other demonstrator. The man who punched him was arrested on suspicion of batter, police spokesman Sgt Neil Wank said. Greywolf suffered minor cuts in the attack but was otherwise left unharmed. He told the LA Times he was attacked by the 'disgruntled Trump supporter' after an altercation over a bullhorn. 'He shoved a bullhorn in my face,' he said. 'I pushed him back and he decided that was enough provocation to hit me in the face. It came after the two men had a confrontation, in which both could be heard shouting 'f*** you' as several onlookers watched Greywolf said he was attacked by the 'disgruntled Trump supporter' after an altercation over a bullhorn In the video of the attack, people can be heard shouting for demonstrators not to engage with the Trump supporters 'He was promptly arrested, and I will be filing charges on this guy.' In the video of the attack, people can be heard shouting for demonstrators not to engage with the Trump supporters. 'This is a peaceful protest,' someone announces over a bullhorn. 'Do not engage.' Police officers on bicycles and horses were forced to shut down part Hollywood Boulevard as the duelling rallies took place on Saturday afternoon. The groups were eventually separated, with officers standing between the two sides. Trump supporters shouted 'America first!' as protesters carried signs reading 'No! The Trump/Pence Regime Must Go!' University of Montana senior Guthrie McLean was arrested on Sunday in China for allegedly beating up a cabbie Police in China have arrested an American college student for allegedly beating up a taxi driver. But the family of University of Montana senior Guthrie McLean say he was only acting in the defense of his mother. A family friend said Thursday that Guthrie, who is about 21 years old, was formally arrested in the city of Zhengzhou on Sunday and that Chinese authorities could hold him for up to a month without formally charging him. Tom Mitchell, the family friend who is also the Beijing bureau chief for the Financial Times, said McLean was trying to protect his mother from a local taxi driver in a dispute that took place last month. In May, after finishing up his junior year, Guthrie flew out to Zhengzhou to visit his mother, who teaches English there. Guthrie has spent most of his life in China, moving there with his mother in 2001. His plan was to volunteer at a panda rescue center for the summer and then return to Montana for his final year of college, where he's an East Asian Studies major, on August 29. But those plans came crashing down on June 10, when his mother, Jennifer McLean, got into an altercation with a cab driver who drove her home, and then refused to give her change. Scroll down for video But the East Asian Studies student's mother, Jennifer McLean (pictured together above), says that her son was defending her The map above shows where Zhengzhou is located in China She says that the ride came to 70 Renminbi, or $10.36 in U.S. dollars. She gave him a 100 Renminbi note, but says he refused to give her change. 'There then was a bit of an argument and the taxi driver started to rough Jennifer up,' Mitchell told KPAX. 'So, she describes him pushing and shoving her, grabbing her bags; she was very scared. She was able to call Guthrie and he saw what was happening. He pulled the taxi driver off her, threw him to the ground, and end of story. Or so it seemed.' Then, five weeks later, police returned looking for Guthrie. The cab driver had gone to the police, alleging that he was seriously injured by Guthrie. The police demanded that Guthrie pay 100,000 Renminbi, or $14,800 U.S. dollars, as a settlement to the cabbie. When Guthrie said he couldn't pay that amount, they lowered it to 60,000 Renminbi and then 50,000 Renminbi. But when Guthrie still couldn't pay it, they took him into custody. Guthrie was practically raised in China, moving there with his English teacher mom in 2001 He returned to China in May for summer break, and about a month later got into the confrontation with a cab driver He was arrested on Sunday, and is being held on 50,000 Renminbi bond - or $7,300 U.S. dollars. His family and friends say Chinese authorities have not allowed them to contact him yet. Mitchell says that Chinese law dictates that Guthrie can be held for up to 30 days without police charging him. If they don't press charges, he will have to be let go at that point. But if they do, he could be waiting around in a Chinese jail for quite some time. 'You could end up actually sitting in the detention center for the better part of a year waiting for the police and prosecutors to finish their investigation, at which time it goes to trial,' Mitchell said. Jennifer has reached out to Montana Senators Jon Tester and Steve Daines for help in the matter. She also contacted the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, but was told that her request had to go through the U.S. consulate in Henan due to where her son is being held. Sen. Tester wrote a letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and U.S. Ambassador to China Terry Branstad on the matter. 'It is my understanding that Guthrie has not yet been able to contact his mother nor has he been able to contact U.S. officials about his detention,' Tester wrote. 'For that reason, I strongly urge you and the U.S. Embassy in Beijing to provide diplomatic intervention to secure his timely release.' Sen. Daines, who lived in China from 1991 to 1997 when he worked for Proctor and Gamble, said he has been in contact with the U.S. Embassy, the Chinese Embassy, and the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing about Guthrie. Jennifer McLean says a cab driver refused to give her change, and when she complained, started roughing her up. She called her son, who came outside and pulled him off of her. Above, an arrest document from Chinese authorities His office says that the Chinese Ministry for Foreign Affairs have relayed to local police that Guthrie's case is 'important to resolve'. The Ministry also assured Daines that Guthrie was safe. Daines' office was told that a representative of the U.S. consulate was on his way to meet with Guthrie behind bars. Guthrie's mother also says she was told she would be allowed to visit her son Thursday morning, but has not heard back on that promise. According to the Missoulian, Jennifer said she feared local police were avoiding calls from the U.S. Embassy. 'The police relayed several messages to me yesterday morning saying my son is in distress and wants me to pay the police,' she wrote. 'If the police admit he is in distress, then the Embassy has a compelling reason to act.' Guthrie's family and friends are still concerned about how he's really faring in a Chinese jail - especially since they haven't been able to talk to him. Five weeks after the June 10 incident, police came searching for Guthrie, saying that the cab driver had alleged that he had been seriously injured Police demanded that Guthrie pay a 100,000 Renminbi settlement, and when he couldn't pay it, they lowered it to 60,000 Renminbi and then 50,000 Renminbi When Guthrie still couldn't pay the settlement, he was arrested on Sunday A family friend says that police can hold Guthrie for up to 30 days without charging him. And if he is charged, he could sit in a Chinese jail for a year before even going to trial Friends back in China have started a YouCaring page to raise money for his bail, in case diplomatic efforts stall 'He is not allowed any contact with anyone so we have no idea what is going on,' Jennifer said in an email to theSouth China Morning Post. 'We do not know his condition. His friends, professors and family are extremely worried.' Jennifer, who is deaf and founded a deaf community development center in Beijing in 2006, described her son as a very sweet, caring person. Meanwhile, friends back in Montana have set up a fund to raise money for Guthrie's bail in case diplomatic efforts are unsuccessful. Friend Zakk Winch and his fiance set up a YouCaring page, which, as of Thursday morning, had raised $120 of its $7,500 goal. 'Even though I have faith in our government, I don't have faith in the Chinese government,' Winch told ABC Fox Montana. He described his friend as 'peaceful' and worried about how he was being treated in jail. 'China is well-known for beating its prisoners, starving them, torturing them in any possible way they possibly can - psychological, physical,' Winch said. A sorry, young driver who killed two Melbourne mothers in a high-speed crash is likely to face deportation after serving an eight-year jail term. Mohamad Hassan, 21, flew through a red light at 140km/h and slammed into a car containing Bozica Nikolic, 57, and Subha Deumic, 62, at suburban Attwood in June 2016. The Lebanese refugee was on Thursday jailed for eight years and eight months after pleading guilty to two counts of culpable driving causing death. Mohamad Hassan has been sentenced to more than eight years in jail for killing two much-loved mothers Subha Deumic (right) and Bozica Nikolic (left) in Attwood, north-west Melbourne last year Hassan faced the Victorian County Court on Wednesday where he pleaded guilty to two counts of culpable driving causing the deaths of the women at Attwood in June 2016 (pictured) Victorian County Court Judge Lisa Hannan said the effects of the crash have been devastating, ripping through the lives of the Nikolic and Deumic families. 'For all, the loss haunts them. The victims have changed forever,' she said. 'It is to be hoped that time can help them heal from that which they should not have to endure.' On the evening of the crash, Ms Nikolic and Ms Deumic were driving together in a red Toyota, and were stopped in an intersection, waiting to turn. Hassan was speeding along Mickleham Road in his family's unregistered Mercedes-Benz at 60km/h above the signposted limit. He flew straight through a red light and ploughed into the front driver's side of the Toyota, killing the two mothers. Five daughters of Ms Nikolic (pictured) and Ms Deumic delivered heart-wrenching victim impact statements in court, including one account from a woman who witnessed the collision from a following car Ms Deumic is pictured with her son Ermin, 32, before her tragic death The judge said the tragedy was compounded by the fact the crash was 'completely avoidable'. The light had been red for four seconds before Hassan, who claimed the windscreen was foggy, drove through it. 'You made choices. They were choices made in seconds, but they were choices,' the judge told Hassan. 'You are a young man who has made a life-altering series of mistakes. 'I accept that you are sorry for what you have done.' Hassan's hard work as a labourer was acknowledged and Judge Hannan said he had been a diligent young man 'full of hope' before the crash. 'In less than a minute, that all changed forever,' she said, jailing him with a non-parole period of six years and two months. Armina Deumic (pictured) had been travelling in the car behind and witnessed the crash which killed her mother and friend Hassan grew up in a village in Lebanon and came to Australia with his family in 2015 on a dependant relative visa. His entire family lives in Australia but the judge said Hassan is likely to fail a character test and be deported once he's served his time. 'The uncertainty of your status, and the likelihood you will be forced to leave your entire family in this country, will no doubt weigh upon you as you serve your sentence,' she said. The many daughters and sons of Ms Nikolic and Ms Deumic read heartbreaking statements about their 'amazing' mothers in court on Wednesday. 'She will never have the chance to watch me grow into the woman she inspired me to become,' 17-year-old Adrijana Nikolic said. The Department of Immigration makes rulings on deportations. A Cabinet minister was today mocked by Waterstones after she described Jane Austen as one of Britain's 'greatest living authors' 200 years after the novelist died. Andrea Leadsom made the slip up in the House of Commons as she was praising the decision to put the face of the much-loved author on the side of the new 10 notes. But her blunder was quickly seized upon by the chain of bookshops who joked that they are trying to book the author now they have been illuminated that she is alive. In a post on Twitter, the shop wrote: 'We are currently moving all our Jane Austen stock from Classics into Greatest Living Authors. Thanks Andrea Leadsom for the heads up.' Leader of the House of Commons, Andrea Leadsom, said Jane Austen is one of Britain's greatest living authors before realising her error as her fellow MPs set about laughing Waterstones joined in the online mocking of Andrea Leadsom over the blunder. The bookshop chain joked that it is scrambling to move all its Austen books to their living author section Twitter users joined in the mockery with one suggesting the Cabinet minister should have dinner with the Elizabethan playwright William Shakespeare Another Twitter user joked that they saw a 242 year-old Jane Austen in the supermarket Another Twitter user joked that Pride and Prejudice has just hit the shelves and is actually about Brexit In another post they added: 'Anyone know who Jane Austen's agent is? We'd love to book her for an event.' The gentle jibe came after Mrs Leadsom made the embarrassing blunder during a question and answer session in Parliament. Mrs Leadsom, leader of the Commons, was rattling through the achievements of women when she came to the Pride and Prejudice author. She told MPs: I would just add one other great lady to that lovely list who I am delighted to join in celebrating, and thats that of Jane Austen, who will feature on the new 10 note which I think is one of our greatest living authors. But MPs were quick to spot her mistake and and burst out laughing at the blunder. Mrs Leadsom - who briefly stood to be Tory Party leader last year before pulling out of the race - quickly tried to backtrack. She said: One of our greatest ever authors, and I think its fantastic that at last we are starting to recognise. I think many of her probably wish she were still living. Austen became the new face of the tenner this month coinciding with the 200th anniversary since the author's death. It followed a high-profile campaign to get her picked amid anger that no women other than the Queen graced our legal tenure. Austen's books include Sense and Sensibility, Emma and Manfield Park, and have become hugely popular classics. Governor of the Bank of England mark Carney unveiled the new 10 note bearing jane Austen's face at an event outside Winchester Cathedral on Tuesday Jane Austen, who has penned many of Britain's most-loved novels including Pride and Prejudice and Emma, was made the new face of the tenner after a high profile campaign But the new 10 note sparked a furore when it was launched earlier this week as it featured a quote about reading from a character in Pride and Prejudice detests books. The words 'I declare after all there is no enjoyment but reading!' feature underneath a portrait of Austen, commissioned by her family. Fans of the famous novelist were quick to point out that they were spoken by Caroline Bingley who has no real interest in reading. Mrs Leadsom had hoped to become Tory Party leader and prime Minister after David Cameron quit Number 10 in the wake of the Brexit vote. But she dramatically quit the race after she gave a controversial newspaper interview in which she suggested she would be a better PM than Theresa May because she has children. Aaron Purvis (pictured) was pictured walking through the mall on January 25 wearing a bulletproof vest with a handgun strapped to his right leg A 27-year-old man who was seen walking through Bourke Street Mall in Melbourne with a gun, five days after dozens of people were hit by a rogue driver in the same area, faces more than 130 charges. Aaron Purvis was pictured walking through the mall on January 25 wearing a bulletproof vest with a handgun strapped to his right leg. He was alleged to be carrying the firearm without a licence, and to have been working as a security guard without a licence. The Berwick man is now facing 67 charges of carrying a handgun without a licence, 67 charges of acting as a security guard without a licence and one charge each of using and trying to use a false document. Purvis was spotted around Bourke Street Mall in Melbourne five days after Dimitrious Gargasoulas, 30, allegedly drove a car into pedestrians on the iconic shopping strip. Purvis (pictured) was alleged to be carrying the firearm without a licence, and to have been working as a security guard without a licence He is now facing 67 charges of carrying a handgun without a licence, 67 charges of acting as a security guard without a licence and one charge each of using and trying to use a false document Video showed the maroon Holden, allegedly being driven by Gargasoulas, mounting the pavement on Swanston Street before accelerating towards stunned shoppers. People can be seen running for their lives as the driver heads towards them, with at least two people appearing to be run down towards the end of the footage. From there, the driver turned left on to Bourke Street where he continued his rampage, leaving the street littered with the bodies of the dead and injured. He was only brought to a stop after police barricaded the end of Bourke Street as it met Elizabeth Street before one officer shot him in the arm. Purvis was spotted just five days after Dimitrious Gargasoulas, 30, allegedly drove a car into pedestrians on the iconic Bourke Street Mall shopping strip Video showed the maroon Holden, allegedly being driven by Gargasoulas, mounting the pavement on Swanston Street before accelerating towards stunned shoppers The violent incident killed six - including a baby - and hospitalised 31 people. Three-month-old Zachary Bryant, 10-year-old schoolgirl Thalia Hakin, father Matthew Si, Sydney woman Jess Mudie, finance consultant Bhavita Patel and 25-year-old Japanese man Yosuke Kanno, all died in the rampage. Aaron Purvis will appear in court for his 136 charges on November 8. For each firearm-related charge, Purvis faces a maximum penalty of four years behind bars or a fine of up to $38,000. The security-related charges can attract a fine of $19,000. Drivers are being urged to wait to fill up as Australian petrol prices are set to plunge well below $1 per litre later this week. Prices have already dipped below the magical number in Perth, and the east coast are set to follow with Sydney drivers tipped to be the biggest winners. NRMA believe the average price will sit around $1.07 per litre at the end of the week, but competition within major cities is sure to see prices much lower. Drivers are being urged to wait to fill up as Australian petrol prices are set to plunge well below $1 per litre later this week Petrol prices rise and fall in regular cycles, with the major east coast cities seeing cycles lasting over a month. NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury told News prices had peaked and already had seen seven cent drops. He says Sydney and Melbourne often follow Perth's trends and could be set for even better savings. 'If you live in New South Wales and especially Sydney, hold off if you can because lower prices are on their way,' Mr Khoury said. 'We have hit the high point of the cycle and they are now starting to fall.' The price lows are a result of an increase in petrol production in Libya and the strengthening Australian dollar. Donald Trump has refused to confirm whether or not he will make a state visit to the UK and revealed he only visited France after President Emmanuel Macron flattered him by saying the French people 'love' him. When questioned about the proposed trip to Britain, the American president demurred: 'Ah, they've asked me.' This revelation comes just days after the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan warned there will be 'no red carpet' should he visit the United Kingdom. And plans for a state visit this Autumn have been scrapped with the trip now expected to take place next year. Donald Trump (pictured) has refused to confirm whether or not he will make a state visit to the UK and revealed he only visited France after President Emmanuel Macron flattered him by saying the French people 'love' him Speaking to the New York Times who asked, 'Are you going to make a state visit to Britain?', Trump replied: 'Ah, they've asked me.' He added: 'What was interesting so, when Macron asked, I said: "Do you think it's a good thing for me to go to Paris? I just ended the Paris Accord last week. Is this a good thing?" He said, "They love you in France." 'I said, "O.K., I just don't want to hurt you."' Theresa May, who Trump suggested has not tried hard enough to encourage a visit, had officially invited the president to the UK in January but the trip was left out of the Queen's Speech last month, ending hopes it would happen this year. The French president (left) invited Trump to attend Bastille Day festivities in Paris that ended with an epic, final 30-second handshake Despite an invite from the UK government, both sides have failed to arrange a date amid reports that Mr Trump has been put off by the threat of large-scale protests. Among the President's main opponents in the UK has been Mr Khan, who opposed Trump's travel ban which targeted people from mainly Muslim countries. Speaking to CNN about the mooted state visit, Mr Khan said he was 'ready to play my role' when it came to challenging people's opinions. He added: 'State visits are different from a normal visit and at a time when the President of the USA has policies that many in our country disagree with, I am not sure it is appropriate for our government to roll out the red carpet. This revelation comes just days after Mayor of London Sadiq Khan (left) warned there will be 'no red carpet' should he visit the United Kingdom. Pictured right, Theresa May holding hands with Donald Trump in Washington in January 'If you somehow think it is not possible to be a Muslim and a proud westerner I am happy to disabuse you of that idea, whether you are a reporter for CNN or Donald Trump.' Mr Trump is said to have told the Prime Minister in a phone call earlier this month that he does not want to go ahead with the trip until the British public supports him coming, and could scrap it entirely. The call is said to have surprised Mrs May. The visit was originally scheduled as part of a trip to Europe, but was then delayed until the autumn. The French president Emmanuel Macron invited Trump to attend Bastille Day festivities in Paris that ended with an epic, final 30-second handshake. This year's Bastille Day event coincided with the 100th anniversary of the US entry into the First World War. Macron, in closing the parade, publicly thanked the US for coming to France's aid during the war, saying 'nothing will ever separate us'. 'The presence at my side of the president of the United States, Mr Donald Trump, and of his wife, is the sign of a friendship across the ages,' Macron said. Advertisement During the Dunkirk evacuation, Captain Ervine-Andrews (above) led a remarkable ten-hour rearguard, while heavily outnumbered, to buy more time for the British troops With mortar bombs and armour-piercing bullets whizzing past him - and heavily outnumbered - one British Army captain was determined to give his fellow soldiers more time to evacuate. And that's exactly what 28-year-old Captain Harold Ervine-Andrews did. On June 1, 1940, he and just eight fellow soldiers held off a ferocious ten-hour German shell and mortar attack just south of Dunkirk. At one point, the fearless captain climbed onto the straw roof of a barn and killed at least 17 Germans with his rifle. Now, heroic acts such as this and the appalling atrocities that took place during the Dunkirk evacuation have been highlighted in a new book. Historian Henry Buckton has spent years researching the remarkable evacuation of 330,000 Allied troops that has been re-told in Christopher Nolan's new blockbuster movie Dunkirk. His book highlights the bravery of Captain Ervine-Andrews, who was awarded a Victoria Cross for leading the remarkable ten-hour rearguard to buy more time for the British troops. And Mr Buckton has also documented the atrocities committed, including Le Paradis massacre where 97 captured British troops were slaughtered by the SS. The 59-year-old from Glastonbury, Somerset, said: 'The word Dunkirk is undoubtedly part of Britain's identity. 'It not only refers to an event in history but is also used to describe perceived traits of the British character, such as defiance, bravery, stoicism: the so-called Dunkirk spirit. 'There were many acts of exceptional bravery and the doggedness that provided a rearguard to keep the Germans back while the British Expeditionary Force were being evacuated. Scroll down for video Historian Henry Buckton has spent years researching the remarkable evacuation of 330,000 Allied troops (pictured) that has been re-told in Christopher Nolan's new blockbuster movie Dunkirk. Described as a 'miracle of deliverance' by wartime prime minister Winston Churchill, it is seen as one of several events in 1940 that determined the eventual outcome of the war Mr Buckton, 59, from Glastonbury, Somerset, said: 'The word Dunkirk... not only refers to an event in history but is also used to describe perceived traits of the British character, such as defiance, bravery, stoicism: the so-called Dunkirk spirit.' Above, a double-barrelled machine gun on a destroyer pointing skywards as British Expeditionary Force troops make their way along the pier at Dunkirk to embark The company Captain Ervine-Andrews commanded held a position on the Canal de Bergues which came under intense German artillery, mortar and machine gun fire for over 10 hours. At one stage, he climbed onto the top of a straw-roofed barn and shot 17 German soldiers with his rifle and 'many others' with his Bren gun before miraculously leading his men back to safety once their rearguard became untenable. Above, fires rage in Dunkirk as seen from aboard a destroyer 'These men did this knowing that once the British had left, they would have no choice but to surrender and become prisoners of war.' One such man was Capt Ervine-Andrews, of the 1st Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment. The company he commanded held a position on the Canal de Bergues which came under intense German artillery, mortar and machine gun fire for over 10 hours. At one stage, Capt Ervine-Andrews climbed onto the top of a straw-roofed barn and shot 17 German soldiers with his rifle and 'many others' with his Bren gun before miraculously leading his men back to safety once their rearguard became untenable. His citation in The London Gazette on July 30, 1940 states: 'Captain Ervine-Andrews took over about a thousand yards of the defences in front of Dunkirk, his line extending along the Canal de Bergues, and the enemy attacked at dawn. 'For over 10 hours, not withstanding intense artillery, mortar, and machine-gun fire, and in the face of vastly superior enemy forces, Captain Ervine-Andrews and his company held their position. 'There being danger of one of his platoons being driven in, he called for volunteers to fill the gap, and then, going forward, climbed onto the top of a straw-roofed barn, from which he engaged the enemy with rifle and light automatic fire, though, at the time, the enemy were sending mortar-bombs and armour-piercing bullets through the roof. British and French troops march through a street in Dunkirk, littered with debris and surrounded by burning buildings, during a lull in the German air bombardment of the town Left, destroyers packed with troops on their arrival at a British port. On June 2, Anthony Eden, the War Minister, praised the defence of the Citadel of Calais (right) by a small Allied garrison On May 14, 1940 the call went out. The BBC made the announcement: 'The Admiralty have made an order requesting all owners of self-propelled pleasure craft between 30ft and 100ft in length to send all particulars to the Admiralty within 14 days from today if they have not already been offered or requisitioned' 'Captain Ervine-Andrews personally accounted for 17 of the enemy with his rifle, and for many more with a Bren gun. 'Later, when the house which he held had been shattered by enemy fire and set alight, and all his ammunition had been expended, he sent back his wounded in the remaining carrier. 'Captain Ervine-Andrews then collected the remaining eight men of his company from this forward position, and, when almost completely surrounded, led them back to the cover afforded by the company in the rear, swimming or wading up to the chin in water for over a mile. In his book, Retreat: Dunkirk And The Evacuation Of Western Europe, Henry Buckton highlights feats of heroism - and some of the atrocities - during the Dunkirk evacuation 'Having brought all that remained of his company safely back, he once again took up position. 'Throughout this action, Captain Ervine-Andrews displayed courage, tenacity, and devotion to duty, worthy of the highest traditions of the British Army and his magnificent example imbued his own troops with the dauntless fighting spirit which he himself displayed.' Capt Ervine-Andrews survived the war and died in Cornwall aged 83 in 1995. In his book, Retreat: Dunkirk And The Evacuation Of Western Europe, Mr Buckton also highlights some of the atrocities which were committed during the Dunkirk evacuation. One such outrage was that inflicted on soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, the Royal Norfolk Regiment. After running out of ammunition, the men surrendered and the Germans led them against the wall of a barn where they were promptly lined up and killed by machine gun fire. Ninety-seven men died, but miraculously two survived their injuries - Private Albert Pooley and Private William O'Callaghan. After the war, the SS office in charge, Fritz Knochlein, was convicted by a war crimes court, with the two survivors acting as witnesses against him. He was executed in 1949. The film Dunkirk, starring Harry Styles, Mark Rylance, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy and Kenneth Branagh, is released tomorrow (July 21). Retreat: Dunkirk and the Evacuation of Western Europe is published by Amberley Books and is available now for 18.99. The film Dunkirk (above), starring Harry Styles, Mark Rylance, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy and Kenneth Branagh, is released tomorrow A mother charged with fatally stabbing her husband and four of her young children said she felt a 'devil-like spirit', according to an interview she gave from jail. Isabel Martinez, who smiled and flashed a thumbs-up in court a day after the killings, also told a welfare caseworker that she thought the waves during a recent beach trip to Savannah, Georgia, were trying to take her children away, according to a welfare report cited by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Her nine-year-old daughter Diana Romero - the sole survivor in the attacks - watched in horror as her father tried and failed to stop Martinez from slashing her siblings in their Loganville, Georgia, home on July 6. Martinez then told her daughter she was 'going to the sky to see Jesus' before turning the knife on her, according to the girl, who spoke to a child services caseworker from the hospital. Scroll down for video Isabel Martinez, 33, smiled and posed for the cameras as she appeared at her first court hearing just one day after police said she stabbed her husband and four of her children Martinez killed Martin Romero, 33, left, and four of the five children they had together, pictured. Diana Romero, nine, in front of Martin, survived. The other children, from left to right are: Axel Romero, two, (in the stroller), Isabela Martinez, 10, Dacota Romero, seven and Dillan Romero, four Diana Romero, who is hospitalized with serious injuries, said Martinez told her she was 'going to the sky to see Jesus' before turning the knife on her Martinez is charged with five counts of malice murder, five counts of murder and six counts of aggravated assault Martinez, who is from Mexico, entered the US illegally, according to US Customs and Immigration Enforcement spokesperson Bryan Cox. The 33-year-old, who is due for a preliminary hearing on Thursday, has been charged with five counts of malice murder, five counts of murder and six counts of aggravated assault. When she appeared in court one day after the stabbings, she exhibited bizarre behavior, which included posing with a double thumbs-up, putting her hands in a prayer position and spreading her arms out wide. She also shook her head 'no' and wagged her finger at Gwinnett County Magistrate Judge Michael Thorpe, who advised her sharply not to perform for the cameras. Diana, who remains hospitalized with serious injuries, said her mother seemed to be acting normally during a family trip to Savannah. She cried while recounting the horrific details of July 6, telling a Division of Family and Children Services caseworker that everyone appeared to be asleep when the attacks began. But she saw her mother take a knife from the kitchen before she cut her siblings and killed Isabela Martinez, 10, Dacota Romero, 7, Dillan Romero, 4, and Axel Romero, 2, one by one, the DFCS report stated. Their father Martin Romero, 33, tried to intervene, but he too was killed. Her mother told her she was going to see Jesus before she attacked her, to which the nine-year-old cried and responded saying she didn't want to, according to the DFCS report. Before the hearing began, Martinez sat with other inmates and struck poses for news cameras As Judge Thorpe listed the charges she faces, Martinez smiled, shook her head 'no' and wagged her finger at him When the judge informed her of her right to have an attorney, she said through a Spanish-language interpreter that she didn't want one Martinez, who was also interviewed by the DFCS from behind bars, said her mother called the police after she started cutting herself. She also said she placed her family members' bodies in the same room so they could be together before police arrived and arrested her. Martinez told a caseworker the killings were the work of a 'family friend' and maintained her innocence. When the judge informed her of her right to have an attorney, she said through a Spanish-language interpreter that she didn't want one. She later added that her attorney will always be the people and her faith. Thorpe strongly advised Martinez to hire a lawyer or to allow one to be appointed for her. Diana said her mother seemed to be acting normally during a recent family trip to Savannah Everyone seemed to be sleeping on July 6, when Diana said she saw her mother take a knife from the kitchen Diana said she watched as her mother attacked her siblings. Their father Martin Romero, 33, tried to intervene, but he too was killed 'What prompts a person to take the life of such innocent children and her spouse is something we may never understand,' Gwinnett County police said in a statement. 'This is a horrendous crime not only for the victims but for the extended family, neighborhood and community.' Authorities haven't said if Martinez was injured or discussed a motive. 'Right now we believe we have everybody involved in this crime,' Gwinnett County Police Cpl Michele Pihera said. Early indications are that a knife was used to attack the five, though a medical examiner will make the final determination about the cause of death, she said. Martinez said she placed her family members' bodies in the same room so they could be together before police arrived and arrested her Pictured, authorities working at the scene where police found multiple people stabbed to death in Loganville, Georgia Some neighbors in the small, largely Hispanic neighborhood said they had no clue anything was amiss in the home until police mobbed the scene Thursday morning Some neighbors in the small, largely Hispanic neighborhood said they had no clue anything was amiss in the home until police mobbed the scene Thursday morning. The neighbors said the Spanish-speaking family had moved to the community recently, and their children seemed happy playing with other neighborhood kids. Victoria Nievs said the children's mother had recently suffered the death of her father. Jim Hollandsworth is spokesman at The Path Project, a nonprofit organization that runs an after-school program that the family's children participated in. He said the family had been in the community for a few months. While the children spoke English as a second language, he said, they were fluent. 'It's awful. It's devastating. Everyone is in complete shock,' he said. 'The kids were engaged in what we're doing. They were happy. They were fantastic kids with a bright future.' Borce Ristevski, husband of murdered Karen Ristevski, has been unable to tell police what he was doing for more than an hour and a half on the day his wife went missing. The pair had been fighting on June 29 last year, and Mrs Ristevski had reportedly left the family home in Victoria. Afterwards, Mr Ristevski claimed he drove her car to fix the fuel gauge, the Herald Sun reports. But for almost 100 minutes of the day, Mr Ristevski was unable to tell police what he had been doing. Karen Ristevski's husband Borce (right) is reportedly unable to account for almost 100 minutes on the day his wife went missing Mr Ristevski (pictured with daughter Sarah) reportedly also cut an interview with police short and refused to answer any more questions He was interviewed by police shortly after his wife was reported missing. But his conversation with officers was cut short when the man declined to answer any more questions. Mrs Ristevski's body was found by a jogger between logs in the Macedon Regional Park on February 20, eight months after she was reported missing. Police pulled information from the phones of Mr and Mrs Ristevski after the woman vanished, and both phones were found to have connected with transmission towers on the Calder Freeway. Mr Ristevski was also seen to be near Diggers Rest, about 20 kilometres north of Avondale Heights, where the family lived. CCTV shows Karen Ristevski's car being driven through Digger's Rest, on the day the woman went missing Mr Ristevski's phone was found to have pinged a transmission tower in the area on the day while Mrs Ristevski's phone said she was near Gisbourne Mrs Ristevski's phone was last pinged near Gisbourne - a further 20 kilometres along the Calder Freeway. The evidence obtained by police also shows Mr Ristevski's phone had been turned off for two hours. Her husband's lawyer, Rob Stary, has named Mr Ristevski as the prime suspect into his wife's disappearance. Last month, Missing Persons Squad Inspector Tim Day refused to say he was the prime suspect, but confirmed police did consider him a suspect. Earlier this week, an acquaintance of Mr Ristevski recalled 'chilling' comments he made when the pair met up in South East Asia. The man, who wanted to remain anonymous, told Seven News that while the pair had been drinking together in South East Asia, Mr Ristevski told him: 'This looks like a good place to get rid of somebody.' Mr Ristevski has continued to deny any involvement in his wife's death. Mrs Ristevski disappeared on June 29 last year. She left the couple's Avondale Heights home that morning. The couple reportedly had money problems prior to her disappearance. Monica Lewinsky has praised Jay-Z for speaking openly about cheating on his wife, Beyonce, on his latest album. Lewinsky, who understands better than anyone the public cost paid for a high-profile affair, spoke about the iconic rapper's transgressions in an essay published by Vanity Fair. In the piece, titled 'Jay-Z, Prince Harry, Brad Pitt, and the New Frontiers of Male Vulnerability,' the former White House intern praised Hov for not ignoring the allegations hurled at him by Beyonce on her 2016 album, Lemonade. 'Jay-Z had a choice,' Lewinsky wrote. 'Having been called out publicly by his wife in her fierce 2016 album and video... (he) knew that his fans wouldnt have blinked if his next album skimmed past the allegations. Scroll down for video Monica Lewinsky has praised Jay-Z for speaking openly about cheating on his wife, Beyonce, on his latest album Jay-Z directly addressed allegations of cheating made against him in songs on his latest album, and also in a video he released on Tidal with it. Jay-Z is pictured on July 13 'Thats not uncommon for men to do. And its not as if we hadnt seen Beyonce and Jay-Z out in the world together since then - not to mention, welcoming their twins to planet Earth. 'Jay-Z could have ignored it all. But, instead, he chose a path of candor that will... move the conversation forward and help others.' The 43-year-old continued: 'It is a refreshing and bracing antidote to see male icons convey vulnerability in an age when Washingtons new power elite and our coarsening culture are busy projecting an outmoded caricature of manhood, 24/7. 'As we wrestle with gender roles and relationships between the sexes - and see issues of sexism running rampant from the tech world to politics - its heartening to see a crack in the implicit contract among men, their emotions, and society at large.' 'Having been called out publicly by his wife in her fierce 2016 album and video... (he) knew that his fans wouldnt have blinked if his next album skimmed past the allegations,' Lewinsky wrote in her piece. Jay-Z and Beyonce are pictured together during the NBA Playoffs on April 30 Lewinsky wrote about Jay-Z's admissions: 'Jay-Z could have ignored it all. But, instead, he chose a path of candor that will... move the conversation forward and help others' Jay-Z references infidelity a number of times on his 4:44, including two lyrics that seem directly in response to facets of the scandal that played out publicly in recent years. We had to get to a point of "OK, tear this down and let's start from the beginning"... It's the hardest thing I've ever done,' Jay-Z on 4:44, speaking about rebuilding his marriage after cheating In a nod to his infamous fight with Beyonce's sister, Solange, in an elevator, he raps in 'Kill Jay-Z': 'You egged Solange on, Knowin' all along, all you had to say you was wrong.' Then on the track Family Feud, he addressed Beyonce's 'Becky with the good hair' line from her hit, Sorry, by writing: 'I'll f*** up a good thing if you let me, Let me alone, Becky.' However, the hip hop mogul discussed his affairs in the most detail during a video released with the album, titled 'Footnotes for 4:44'. Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton are pictured together during a meeting while Clinton was President In it, he said: 'This is my real life... I just ran into this place and we built this big, beautiful mansion of a relationship that wasnt totally built on the 100 per cent truth and it starts cracking. Jay-Z spoke about his infidelity in songs on his new album, 4:44, as well as in a video interview he released with it 'Things start happening that the public can see. 'Then we had to get to a point of "OK, tear this down and let's start from the beginning"... It's the hardest thing I've ever done.' In her essay, Lewinsky also heaped praise on Prince Harry for being part of a movement 'modernizing the British monarchy... for the greater good of the people', repeating a quote from the Prince himself. 'Prince Harry has not just been issuing sound bites,' she continued. 'He has been putting his words into action with his dedication to helping empower those who are often marginalized and stigmatized: from military veterans and people with disabilities in the armed services, to those suffering from mental health issues, to victims of public shaming.' Monica Lewinsky is pictured in this photograph looking at Bill Clinton while the former President addressed a crowd of supporters Speaking about Pitt, she said the actor is 'still gorgeous, but now evolved' - referring to comments he made during a recent GQ interview. Monica Lewinsky pictured during the Vanity Fair Oscar Party on February 26, 2017 In the magazine, Pitt spoke about how he has coped with his divorce from Angelina Jolie, saying: 'For me this period has really been about looking at my weaknesses and failures and owning my side of the street. 'I am those mistakes. For me every misstep has been a step toward epiphany, understanding, some kind of joy. 'Ive got my feelings in my fingertips again. I think thats part of the human challenge: you either deny them all of your life or you answer them and evolve.' Lewinsky wrote about criticism the actor copped for his open self-analysis, including some who told him he needed to 'man up'. 'What (Pitt's critics) failed to acknowledge was the sea change that has occurred over the past generation: to "man up" and to be a "real man," among young males of courage and conviction, now go hand-in-hand with expressing raw emotion, acknowledging flaws, opening up, facing consequences.' Venezuela is on the brink of turning into a bloodbath according to the Organization of American States (OAS) chief as an anti-government protester was burned alive in riots. OAS Secretary-General Luis Almagro issued the stark warning in his latest report, which highlights the plight of the country's citizens amid ongoing political tensions that have resulted in around 100 deaths. President Nicholas Maduro has been accused of trying to become a dictator in his quest of changing Venezuela's constitution. It comes as grim details have been brought to light of one demonstrator who was stoned and set on fire in the city of Lecheria, in the northern Venezuelan state of Anzoategui. A man walks by wearing a mask as the victim identified as Hector Anuel lies dead in the street The body of the man named online as Hector Anuel, who was set on fire and stoned Opposition protesters face members of the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) during a demonstration in Caracas, Venezuela, July 18, 2017 Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (centre) speaks with his ministers during meeting in Caracas on July 17, 2017 Opposition protesters block a road by burning tires during a demonstration in Caracas, Venezuela on July 18, 2017 In his report, Mr Almagro said: 'The actions taken by the security forces under the direction of this regime are a deliberate and systematic attack on the lives and the security of the Venezuelan people. 'They are profiting off the starvation of their population. The violence is getting worse and the actions by the security apparatus are escalating. 'The fear that is on everyones mind, but we are too afraid to speak out loud, is our fear that this will escalate into a bloodbath. 'The one thing that is clear is that this regime has no regard for the human rights of its people, or the lives of its citizens.' A video was taken of the aftermath of one citizen killed in the brutal uprising. The young protester, named online as Hector Anuel, was set upon by an opposition group in the city of Lecheria during violent clashes which have been going on since April. The incident brings the current number of fatalities to 96 and the Venezuelan Public Prosecutor's Office (MP) has confirmed it is currently investigating the death. Tires set alight as more protests in Caracas resulted in the closure of several roads as opposition protesters demonstrated against the National Constituent Assembly convened by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro A truck set ablaze by opposition activists blocking an avenue during a protest burns in Caracas, on July 18, 2017 Members of the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) riding motorcycles chase a group of opposition protesters during a demonstration in Caracas, Venezuela OAS Secretary-General Luis Almagro issued the stark warning that Venezuela would be turned into a bloodbath in his latest report Demonstrators carrying shields walk to take positions during clashes at a rally against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas, Venezuela, July 18 Members of the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) face a group of opposition protesters during a demonstration in Caracas, Venezuela As a result of the clashes, Brazil and Colombia have started to feel the impact as the ripple effect spreads across the borders. Human Rights Watch reports that as of May 2017, tens of thousands of Venezuelans have fled across the border into Brazil to seek protection, work and medical care. 'Hospitals near the border are overflowing with Venezuelan emergency care patients and the backlog of asylum claims is in the thousands, putting a strain on Brazilian support systems,' said Mr Almagro. He said Brazil has received 8,231 asylum claims between January and April 2017, a massive increase from the total of 4,500 that were received between 2010 and 2016. A demonstrator throws back a tear gas canister during clashes at a rally against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government Opposition protesters clash with members of the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) during a demonstration in Caracas Mr Almagro said: 'Many bullets have been shot in the last 100 days of protests. 'Those who pulled the trigger are motivated by and are obeying instructions and messages from their leaders. 'That leadership includes the upper echelons of the military, the police, and the Executive branch, aided and abetted by the Supreme Court, the Ombudsman and other authorities. 'President Maduro, the Vice President of the official party, the Vice President and the cabinet, are all politicians culpable for the state of violent repression. 'Behind every detainee, every political prisoner, every person tortured and every person killed there is someone that is institutionally responsible. 'This regime and its rampant corruption are responsible. Maduros government has blood on its hands.' Two of the teens from the missing East African robotics team have been spotted crossing the border into Canada. Don Ingabire, 16, and 17-year-old Audrey Mwamikazi, were part of the six-strong Burundi robotics team who disappeared after the FIRST Global Challenge competition in Washington DC on Tuesday. A Burundian community leader in the US suggested the teens may be intending to seek asylum from Burundi - which has faced deadly political violence in recent years which has seen tens of thousands refugees flee to other nations. They believe they will have a better chance of asylum in Canada which has a more welcoming stance on refugees than America, he said. Police confirmed there was no foul play in the teen's disappearance. Police are still searching for the other four Burundian teammates, 17-year-old girls, Mwamikazi and Nice Munezero; Richard Irakoze and Aristide Irambona, both 18; Kevin Sabumukiza, 17; and Ingabire, 16. Six members of the Burundi robotics team went missing in Washington DC after the FIRST Global Challenge competition (pictured are the six missing teens before they disappeared) SEEN: Don Charu Ingabire (left) and and 17-year-old Audrey Mwamikazi (right) have been spotted crossing the border into Canada They were last seen on Tuesday at around 5pm in the 1700 block of D Street, police said. The team's mentor alerted FIRST Global President Joe Sestak that the team were missing who made the initial call to the police, according to a FIRST Global Challenge statement. 'Security of the students is of paramount importance to FIRST Global,' organizers said, noting that they ensure students get to their dormitories after the competition by providing safe transportation to students staying at Trinity Washington University. The students 'are always to be under close supervision of their adult mentor and are advised not to leave the premises unaccompanied by the mentor.' All six of the teenagers from Burundi, an East African nation of about 10 million people, have one year visas. The competition's webpage about Team Burundi shows the six team members posing with a flag and says team members were selected from schools in Bujumbura, the capital city. The team's slogan in Kirundi is 'Ugushaka Nugushobora,' meaning 'where there is willing is also the ability,' according to the page. Police are investigating their disappearance and have asked for anyone who recognizes the youngsters to contact them. Authorities have tried to reach out to family members of the teens back in Burundi, but have not been successful. Police are still searching for the other missing teens, including Nice Munezero, 17, (left) and Richard Irakoze (right) The group, whose ages range between 16 and 18, had flown over to the US from Burundi in East Africa to compete in the First Global Challenge robotics competition; Aristide Irambona (left) and Kevin Sabumukiza (right) The teens were last seen on Tuesday at around 5pm in the 1700 block of D Street, Washington (pictured) It is not yet clear whether the other four teenagers will attempt to cross the border. Hassan Ahmad, an immigration lawyer in northern Virginia, said that if the teens make an asylum application, then Immigration and Customs Enforcement could seek to detain the teens pending removal proceedings. However, the teens would be eligible to seek bond and could stay in the country while they await their hearing - which can take years. And even if ICE declines to seek detention, it can take several years for applicants to have their formal interview to determine whether they are eligible for asylum. Oscar Niyiragira, chairman of the United Burundian-American Community Association Inc., was not at all surprised to hear that some of the teens were heading to Canada. While he had no direct knowledge of their situation, but assumed they were seeking asylum, and many in the community feel the odds are better in Canada, especially now that the Trump administration has taken a harsh stance on immigration. However, he said he found the teen's departure disappointing and believes that his country's economic impoverishment, rather than political persecution, is the driving force in most people's decision to seek asylum from Burundi. 'Now I'm not saying the government does not commit some crimes. They do,' said Niyiragira, who lives in Louisville, Kentucky. 'But the situation in Burundi is not nearly as bad as it was in waves of violence in the '70s and the '90s,' he said. The Afghanistan girls team competes in the First Global Robotics Challenge, Monday, July 17, in Washington Team Iran, in green, show off their robot in the challenge- an international robotics event with teams from over 100 countries Students from across the world, from Peru, to Russia, to Slovenia, and from across the African continent, meet during the FIRST Global Robotics Challenge, Tuesday According to the United Nations, hundreds of people have been killed in Burundi, and both the UN and human rights groups accuse its security forces of abuses including killings and disappearances. Burundi's government often dismisses the allegations, saying they are based on false information supplied by the regime's opponents. Burundi's government had no immediate comment Thursday. The competition, designed to encourage youths to pursue careers in math and science, attracted teams of teenagers from more than 150 nations. A squad of girls from Afghanistan drew the most attention after they were twice rejected for U.S. visas and President Donald Trump intervened. First Global, a not-for-profit charity, held the inaugural annual international robotics challenge in hopes of sparking a passion for science and technology among high school students around the world. It is an 'Olympics'-style competition in which one team from every nation is invited to participate. Sixty per cent of the teams participating in the competition were founded, led or organized by women. Of the 830 teens participating, 209 were girls. Ivanka Trump also attended the event, and shared pictures and videos of the Afghan team's robot on Instagram And there were six all-girl teams, including the Afghan squad and teams from the United States, Ghana, Jordan, the Palestinian territories and the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu. Vanuatu's nickname: the 'SMART Sistas.' When the competition wrapped up on Tuesday, the teams of teenagers from more than 150 nations were awarded gold, silver and bronze medals in a variety of categories. The gold medal in the 'courageous' category went to the South Sudan team and bronze to the Oman team, whose students are deaf. Poland got silver and Armenia bronze. Next year's competition will take place in Mexico City. The cop who shot an Australian woman dead is 'jumpy' and 'extremely nervous', a neighbour has claimed. Justine Damond was killed after she called 911 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Saturday night to report a possible sexual assault. Officer Mohamed Noor, who fired the fatal shot into Ms Damond's stomach, is reportedly refusing to be interviewed by investigators and has given no indication he will. Now, a neighbour who has lived next door to Noor's family for two years has told the Daily Telegraph that the Minneapolis cop is known for being quick-tempered and nervous. Scroll down for video Mohamed Noor (right), the cop who shot Justine Damond (left) dead is 'jumpy' and 'extremely nervous', a neighbour has claimed Noor, the eldest of 10 children, regularly visits his parent's home that's just a couple of kilometres from his own apartment. Chris Miller, a forklift driver, also told the Telegraph that Noor 'doesn't really respect women' and that the tiniest things can set him off. 'He is extremely nervous,' Mr Miller said. 'He is a little jumpy he doesn't really respect women.' He also said Noor has had issues with children playing in the playground near where he lives. 'He has an air like you couldn't really be around him,' Mr Miller added. Officer Matthew Harrity was driving a squad car and his partner, Noor, was in the passenger seat as they travelled down an alley at the rear of Ms Damond's home just before midnight on Saturday. Ms Damond was shot after she called 911 after hearing a woman's screams from the area Ms Damond had earlier called 911 after hearing a woman's screams from the area. Harrity told investigators he heard a loud noise just before Ms Damond, dressed in her pyjamas, approached their vehicle. He said Noor, from the passenger seat, shot across him and through the open driver's window, fatally striking Ms Damond in the stomach. A mobile phone was found next to her body. A lawyer representing Harrity said it is 'certainly reasonable' that his client feared he was the target of an ambush. A neighbour who has lived next door to Noor's family for two years has said the Minneapolis cop is known for being quick-tempered and nervous Minneapolis lawyer Fred Bruno, who represents Officer Matthew Harrity, pointed to the recent execution of a New York police officer gunned down as she sat in her car. 'It's certainly reasonable to assume that any police officer would be concerned about a possible ambush under these circumstances,' Mr Bruno told the Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper. 'It was only a few weeks ago when a female NYPD cop and mother of twins was executed in her car in a very similar scenario.' NYPD Officer Miosotis Familia was shot in the head on July 5 while sitting in her car in the Bronx. Ms Damond was killed after she called 911 in Minneapolis on Saturday night to report a possible sexual assault And the 'twin cities' of Minneapolis and St Paul have been rocked in recent years by police shootings, putting the community and law enforcement on edge. Last month, a police officer was acquitted after he shot Philando Castile during a traffic stop while Castile's girlfriend live streamed the horrifying incident on Facebook. Violent protests also erupted after two officers fatally shot 24-year-old Jamar Clark in 2015 and were not charged. Unlike Harrity, Noor has refused to talk to investigators from Minnesota's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the agency charged with conducting the independent probe into the shooting. 'We cannot compel officer Noor to make a statement,' a frustrated Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday. 'I wish we could.' Police are hunting this thug who was caught on CCTV hurling cleaning fluid into face of a drinker outside a pub A yob who yelled 'I've got acid' before squirting fluid into a drinker's face outside a pub is being hunted by police after he was caught on CCTV. The suspect, who wore a man bag, was heard making the threat as he squirted the noxious liquid at a group of people. The substance hit one man in the face before the thug was driven away by an accomplice. The victim splashed water over his face and escaped unhurt. The shocking attack took place outside The Chalice pub in Dickens Heath, near Solihull, West Midlands, at 8pm on Tuesday. PC Dave Spencer, of West Midlands Police, said: 'Given the recent spate of acid attacks in London this was a hugely irresponsible act and very scary for the victim. 'The attacker shouted 'I've got acid' but we believe it was actually an ammonia-based cleaning fluid. 'The victim was wearing glasses which prevented the substance going into his eyes and he reacted quickly by picking up a dog bowl of water and throwing it over his face. 'He didn't report feeling any burning sensation and was thankfully unhurt. 'It's understood the attacker was in a car being driven anti-socially in Main Street and, when the group shouted for them to slow down, the pair jumped out and confronted them.' The attacker was dressed in a blue T-shirt, beige shorts, shoes and with a man bag across his shoulder He has dark hair, a closely cropped beard and is believed to be in his 20s The attacker was dressed in a blue T-shirt, beige shorts, shoes and with a man bag across his shoulder. He has dark hair, a closely cropped beard and is believed to be in his 20s. Police have arrested a man suspected of driving the car, seized a vehicle and also recovered a bottle containing a clear liquid. A 21-year-old man from Solihull has been charged with a public order offence and is due to appear at Birmingham Magistrates Court on August 16. President Trump has nominated Iowa political supporter Sam Clovis, who has called himself 'extremely skeptical' of global warming science, to the top scientific post at the Agriculture Department. Clovis, who ran an Iowa radio show and has long had influence in Iowa politics, served as a co-chair of Trump's presidential campaign. Trump then named him as a a senior advisor in the Agriculture Department. One thing he doesn't have on his resume is a science degree. According to the White House announcement of his nomination, Clovis got a bachelor's degree in political science at the Air Force Academy and and MBA from Golden Gate University and a doctorate in public administration from the University of Alabama. Typically, the person holding the position, which oversees $3 billion in research and education programs, has a science background. President Trump has nominated Iowa political supporter Sam Clovis, who has called himself 'extremely skeptical' of global warming science, to the top scientific post at the Agriculture Department Clovis told Iowa Public Radio in 2014, when he was a Senate candidate, that much of the science on climate change is 'junk science.' The overwhelming scientific consensus is that human activity is causing climate change. 'I am extremely skeptical. I have looked at the science and I have enough of a science background to know when I'm being boofed,' Clovis said. 'And a lot of the science is junk science. It's not proven,' he said. 'I don't think there's any substantive information available to me that doesn't raise as many questions as it does answers. So I'm a skeptic.' Trump began the process of pulling the U.S. out of the multinational Paris climate agreement. Clovis, who taught economics at Morningside College in Sioux City, also did a stint at the Pentagon in the 1980s, where he developed expertise in Soviet military matters. As an early vetter of campaign personnel for Trump, he reportedly brought on Carter Page, who is under scrutiny by investigators for his Moscow ties. Donald Trump appeared with local conservative Sam Clovis at a gathering before he was a declared presidential candidate in Sioux City, Iowa. Clovis became a co-chair of Trump's presidential campaign, and has been nominated to a top scientific post Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (L) listens as Sam Clovis speaks at a press conference at the Grand River Center on August 25, 2015 in Dubuque, Iowa. Clovis had recently quit his position as Iowa campaign chairman for Rick Perry Clovis's statements on Russia have been critical of its invasion of Crimea, but also recognized its historical ties to the area and have been skeptical about sanctions. 'Crimea is mostly Russia speakers. Ukraine has been part of the Russian sphere of influence for centuries and I really think this is just the flexing of muscles and the expansion of the Russian empire back to more traditional, historic borders,' Clovis told Radio Iowa in 2014. He said economic and diplomatic sanctions won't work, according to the report. 'Nothing we've ever done with Russia has ever really worked except out-spending them,' Clovis said. 'And that's really what caused the collapse of the Soviet Union was the notion that they could not keep up with us when we began to develop 'Star Wars.'' Clovis would succeeed Dr. Catherine Woteki as Under Secretary for Research Education and Economic. Predecessors have had advance degrees in science 'Dr. Clovis was one of the first people through the door at USDA in January and has become a trusted advisor and steady hand as we continue to work for the people of agriculture,' Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said in a statement Wednesday evening. 'He looks at every problem with a critical eye, relying on sound science and data, and will be the facilitator and integrator we need. Dr. Clovis has served this nation proudly since he was a very young man, and I am happy he is continuing to serve.' Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue hailed Clovis as a trusted advisor, according to the Washington Post, which reported on his nomination, 'Dr. Clovis was one of the first people through the door at USDA in January and has become a trusted advisor and steady hand as we continue to work for the people of agriculture,' Perdue said. 'He looks at every problem with a critical eye, relying on sound science and data, and will be the facilitator and integrator we need. Dr. Clovis has served this nation proudly since he was a very young man, and I am happy he is continuing to serve.' The White House noted he was originally from rural Kansas. The previous undersecretary for Research, Education, and Economics was Dr. Catherine Woteki, who held a Ph.D in Human Nutrition. She was the dean of Agriculture and Professor of Human Nutrition at Iowa State University, had been deputy associate director for science in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and held positions in the health department. Police have announced Danielle Stislicki (pictured) is believed to be dead as they searched a park in Michigan for her belongings Police have announced a woman who vanished after work in December is believed to be dead as they searched a park in Michigan for her belongings. Danielle Stislicki, 28, disappeared after leaving her job at the MetLife insurance office building in Southfield last year. Her car was found outside her apartment block in the Farmington Hills area at 6pm the next day. Officers were seen searching in Hines Park, Livonia, on Wednesday for the missing woman's body or belongings, according to the Detroit Free Press. Ultimately, the search was unsuccessful but police said it allowed them to tick off a possible search location. Police searched the area because Floyd Galloway Jr. is accused of trying to rape a female jogger at the site last September. Galloway, a former security guard at the MetLife office in Southfield where Stislicki had worked, is considered a person of interest in her disappearance. Danielle's mother Ann Stislicki wrote on Facebook on Thursday: 'Thank you to the many people and agencies involved in yesterday's search for Danielle Ann Stislicki. 'It was amazing to see so many people come together in the community. Danielle Stislicki (left), 28, disappeared after leaving her job at the MetLife insurance office building in Southfield last year. Police searched the area because Floyd Galloway Jr. (right) is accused of trying to rape a female jogger at the site last September Officers were seen searching in Hines Park (pictured), Livonia, on Wednesday for the missing woman's body or belongings 'Yes, our hearts are heavy. This we cannot deny. 'We will lean on each other to continue our next steps in the process. 'Law enforcement has asked us, the public, to look for Danielle and specific items. 'We ask you for your continued support in this matter.' A GoFundMe page for the search effort has so raised $34,400. The son of Cecil the Lion has been shot dead by a big game hunter - two years after his father was killed, it has emerged. Xanda, a six-year-old male, was killed just outside Hwange National Park in north west Zimbabwe - near the spot where Cecil died two years ago. Authorities were able to identify the animal - believed to be Cecil's oldest cub -because it had been fitted with an electronic tag. American trophy-hunter Walter Palmer, from Minnesota, paid 45,000 to hunt and shoot Xanda's majestic father, easily recognisable by his black mane which helped make him Hwange's biggest tourist draw. The son of Cecil the Lion (pictured) has been shot dead by a big game hunter - two years after his father was killed, it has emerged Xanda, a six-year-old male, was killed just outside Hwange National Park in north west Zimbabwe - near the spot where Cecil died two years ago. This image, purportedly showing the animal, was posted along with a message announcing the death American trophy-hunter Walter Palmer (pictured centre in black t-shirt), from Minnesota, paid 45,000 to hunt and shoot the majestic Cecil, easily recognisable by his black mane and Hwange's biggest tourist draw card The 12 year-old cat, which was found beheaded and skinned near Hwange National Park, wore a collar and was a key part of an expensive research project monitored by Oxford University. The dentist was forced into hiding for weeks following his shooting of Cecil which prompted an international outcry. Charges against Dr Palmer were later withdrawn. Last year, pictures emerged showing seven of Cecil's offspring five females and two males by three lioness mates basking in sunshine. But today, it emerged that one of them, Xanda, himself a father to several young cubs, had also been killed by a big game trophy hunter in Zimbabwe. An image purportedly showing the animal, was posted along with a message announcing the death on the Facebook page of the Lions of Hwange National Park group. The group said: 'Xanda is still a young father at 6.2 years old and has several young cubs. We can't believe that now, 2 years since Cecil was killed, that his oldest Cub Xanda has met the same fate. 'When will the Lions of Hwange National Park be left to live out their years as wild born free lions should...?' Cecil (pictured) wore a collar and was a key part of an expensive research project monitored by Oxford University The shamed dentist was forced into hiding for weeks following his shooting of Cecil which prompted an international outcry Cecil is believed to have had seven offspring five females and two males by three lioness mates. Some of them are pictured basking in the sunshine in July 2015 According to the Daily Telegraph, the man leading the shooting expedition, named as Richard Cooke from RC Safaris, found the tag on the lion's collar and handed it to researchers. Andrew Loveridge, from the Oxford University research team is quoted as saying: 'I fitted it last October. It was monitored almost daily and we were aware that Xanda and his pride was spending a lot of time out of the park in the last six months, but there is not much we can do about that. 'Richard Cooke is one of the "good" guys. He is ethical and he returned the collar and communicated what had happened. His hunt was legal and Xanda was over six years old so it is all within the stipulated regulations.' Loveridge said he hoped a three-mile exclusion zone could be set up around the Hwange Park to stop hunters accidentally killing monitored lions that strayed outside its boundaries. MailOnline has attempted to reach Mr Cooke for further comment. Kristen Anderson, 34, was arrested in Phoenix, Arizona on Tuesday after she broke into the home where the girls, aged 12 and 10, were alone by crawling through the doggy door Two young girls have fought off a woman by stabbing her in the chest after she allegedly broke into their home via a doggy door. Kristen Anderson, 34, was arrested in Phoenix after she entered the home where the girls, aged 12 and 10, were alone on Tuesday. Their father told a 911 dispatcher that the girls had called him on FaceTime to say a woman had crawled through the doggy door into their home. Anderson then allegedly grabbed one of the girls by the arm and threw her against the couch. The girl's sister, who had armed herself with a knife, told police she then stabbed Anderson in the chest. Police documents state that Anderson 'started rubbing her hand in her blood then rubbing it onto her face saying "ah blood".' She then rubbed the blood on to the face, legs and hair of one of the victims before both girls fled the house with their two dogs. By the time police arrived on the scene, Anderson was walking down the street yelling 'you can't control me'. Their father told a 911 dispatcher that the girls had called him on FaceTime to say a woman had crawled through the doggy door into their home in Phoenix on Tuesday Anderson faced court (above) following her arrest and is facing second-degree burglary, aggravated assault and kidnapping charges A neighbor also called 911 to report that the woman had been acting erratically by jumping fences and striking walls along the street. She had allegedly knocked on the callers back window, leaving traces of blood. Police suspect she may have been on drugs or is mentally ill. Anderson was taken to the hospital to be treated for her stab wound where she also underwent a psychiatric evaluation. She refused to cooperate with medical staff as they tried to do a CT scan and she kicked a female staffer in the stomach as she tried to give her a sedative, according to court documents. Anderson faced court after she was released from hospital. She is facing second-degree burglary, aggravated assault and kidnapping charges. A pregnant wife who caught her husband cheating punished his mistress by ramming chili peppers into her vagina. Ly Chanel, 23, said she became suspicious when her husband of seven months Chien Keo, 24, kept disappearing for hours on end. The expectant mother and four friends followed Chien to a motel before bursting in on him with her love rival in Thai Nguyen province, northeast Vietnam. Ly Chanel, right, was suspicious about her husband Chien Keo, left, because he kept disappearing for hours upon end from their home in Thai Nguyen province, northeast Vietnam Ly, pictured, discovered her husband with his mistress according to local media reports A group of men held down the alleged mistress while Ly donned latex gloves Furious Ly donned latex gloves while three other women held down the mistress and one took pictures as they removed her underwear on Tuesday afternoon. They then opened a large bag of super-hot 200,000 scoville units red bird's eye chilies and pushed them inside woman's privates - causing agonising pain from the hot spices. Horrifying pictures show the woman being held down by her head, arms and legs as she writhes in agony with red fleshy seeds from inside the peppers smeared across her body and the bedsheets. The group then posted the pictures online boasting of the punishment - but sparked a furious backlash against them for not targeting the philandering husband. Ly, who is around three months pregnant expecting a boy, said: 'Would my husband like me to live happily to welcome his child? Shocking photographs show how Ly allegedly assaulted the mistress with red hot chili peppers Police said they have received no complaints from the alleged victim about any assault 'How can he care for us if he then he cheats with another girl. A woman who destroys the family. 'Women can forgive easily but they can never forget. Jealousy is painful. She will know this. 'There are people who hate me now, but life is like that, you cannot please everyone. 'Whoever does what he or she does is their business. But let's share something that should be shared to see the truth, and do not talk bad about people.' Police said no complaint had been made from the alleged victim but prosecutors said Ly Chanel could be fined if police charge her. Lawyer Giang Hong Thanh from the district attorney's office said: 'First of all, it is necessary to share and sympathize with the wife's psychological state of affairs in this case if it is indeed the case that a woman who has been rubbed has damaged her family's well-being. 'However, rubbing chili in another person's sensitive area and posting the clip on the internet is a sign of humiliating others. 'If chili smears cause injury to another woman's genitalia the wife may be dealt with under Article 104 of the Penal Code may be subject to administrative sanctions and a fine of from 70 to 100.' A Perth mother-of-five charged with murdering her husband and attempting to murder two of her children claims he physically and mentally abused her for years, and repeatedly threatened to kill them all. Cara Lee Hall, 38, killed her 33-year-old husband Glenn Hall in December 2015 by stabbing him at least 16 times in the chest, neck, head and back in an early morning attack at their Leda home that began when he was asleep. Their eldest son, 11, and youngest son, aged four, suffered knife wounds. Prosecutor Louise O'Connor told Hall's WA Supreme Court trial on Thursday that there had been some previous violence between the couple but neither they nor the children had been seriously injured. Cara Lee Hall, 38, killed her 33-year-old husband Glenn Hall (pictured togther) in December 2015 by stabbing him at least 16 times in the chest, neck, head and back Neighbour Donna Moreschi-Andrews, who wept before giving her evidence, told the court the pair had a volatile relationship. 'They were very abusive towards each other, both physically and verbally' she said. Ms Moreschi-Andrews said she heard a lot of yelling and screaming coming from the property, and once saw the victim smashing in the front windows. She also heard him banging on the door and shouting to be let back in, but the accused would swear and tell him to go away. The neighbour said she witnessed the couple hit each other in the front yard of the house on 'quite a few occasions'. And if she heard the children crying or yelling out, she would call police, who attended 90 per cent of the time. Lee, a Perth mother-of-five, is charged with murdering her husband and attempting to murder two of her children Ms Moreschi-Andrews said Hall had come to her house in an agitated state the day before the killing and called half an hour later to say: 'I'm really sorry. I've been off my meds and looping out'. The court heard that when Hall called triple-zero minutes after stabbing her husband, she told the operator he was going to both kill their sons and sell them into the sex trade. 'I just killed my husband. He was trying to kill my kids,' she said. The court also heard she reported hearing a voice in her head before the attack that said: 'One, two, three, go.' Defence counsel Mara Barone said there was no dispute her mentally-ill client inflicted the fatal injuries 'but she did so in defence of herself and her children'. Ms Barone said Hall's actions were violent but necessary after years of physical and mental abuse, and repeated threats to kill them all. 'Even people with mental health issues need to defend themselves,' she said. The trial continues. A 15-year-old NSW girl with terminal cancer was accompanied to her year 10 formal by rugby league star Trent Hodkinson on Wednesday night. Hannah Rye, who has Ewing sarcoma, described the evening as 'one of the most magical nights I've ever had'. She told 7 News she 'loved every second of it, it was amazing'. The former Knights player met the teenager at Kick for Kids - a program where he would dedicate his conversions to a sick child and write their name on his kicking tee. Rugby league star Trent Hodkinson (R) took 15-year-old Hannah Rye, who has terminal cancer, to her high school formal Her mother Racheal Rye said it was 'like Cinderella and her knight in shining armour' when he picked her up from their home in the Hunter Valley When Hodkinson heard Hannah's cancer had returned, he wanted to help out. 'She's so brave. She's such a strong girl, you wouldn't know she was going through this,' he told media. Her mother Racheal Rye said it was 'like Cinderella and her knight in shining armour' when he picked her daughter Hannah up from their home in the Hunter Valley. 'It was absolutely a magical moment when Trent turned up with a big bunch of flowers at our house. A perfect night,' she told the Daily Telegraph. 'No girl could have asked for a better date. He was a perfect gentleman. He stayed for as long as she needed and helped cut the cake.' Hannah was the envy of all her classmates when she arrived at the Kurri Kurri High School winter formal on Wednesday night with the halfback on her arm. Hodkinson also helped cut a two-tiered cake alongside his date at the event that was moved forward because Hannah may not live to the end of the year. The teenager was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a rare form of cancer that caused tumours to grow around her spine, in October 15. Hodkinson also helped cut a two-tiered cake alongside his date at the event that was moved forward because Hannah may not live to the end of the year Hannah was the envy of all her classmates when she arrived at the Kurri Kurri High School winter formal on Wednesday night with the halfback on her arm She endured rigourous chemotherapy treatments but relapsed in May and was told her condition was terminal, which her mother said was devastating. Hodkinson, who is an ambassador for Give Me 5 for Kids, which raises funds for children's hospital wards across Australia, shared a selfie taken on the way to the formal on his Instagram story. Ms Rye said the eight-year NRL veteran, who met Hannah last March, was a 'genuinely gorgeous person' whose actions made a difference. 'Hannah has been incredibly unwell - you wouldn't believe that just a few days ago she couldn't get out of bed. It was a very big deal for her and she's now resting,' she said. Hodkinson shard a selfie with the teenager, taken on the way to the formal, on his Instagram Hodkinson was lauded for his actions after a Facebook post about the night went viral. Luke Morrison, from Newcastle, wrote that seeing the former halfback taking Hannah to her formal made his day. 'She may look perfectly happy in this photo but this poor little girl has Ewing sarcoma terminal cancer,' he wrote. 'Meaning at this very time she has a very high dosage of morphine just to keep all her pain away. The teenager was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a rare form of cancer that caused tumours to grow around her spine, in October 15 Hodkinson shared a picture with Hannah on his Instagram after meeting her in March last year 'It's a credit to this strong, determined and obviously very powerful young woman to put a smile on her face and get on with day to day life. 'I admire Hannah for this and I hope she has the most wonderful night.' Mr Morrison added that Hodkinson donating his time said a lot about his character. 'Trent's in a position to make a difference and make this poor little girl's night unforgettable and take away the pain and suffering for her and her family,' he wrote. 'What a legend.' A teacher from Florida has been accused of having sex with a pupil at the school where he worked. Jon North, 32, was the band director at Lake Minneola High School and was released on bond from jail on Wednesday night after a student there he had been involved in a sexual relationship. The victim told school officials that he had begun texting North he began texting with Jon North, 32, in late 2015 when the relationship suddenly progressed to hugging and kissing. A former school teachers, Jon North, 32, was arrested at his home in Minneola and was charged with unlawful sexual activity with minors. His bond was set at $5,000 North allegedly began taking the boy to the corner of the band room closet, where they would engage in oral sex several times a week In January 2016, North allegedly began taking the boy to the corner of the band room closet, where they would engage in oral sex several times a week. Deputies said the sexual contact was initially daily but then decreased to weekly sessions before it eventually stopped at the end of May 2016. Police say the boy was able to provide them with identifying characteristics of North's body. When confronted by law enforcement, North confessed that he had a sexual relationship with the boy and ended it when he realized it was wrong. North was popular with the students who even set up a Facebook page celebrating him North was arrested on five counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor. North told investigators that he had a 'prior sexual 'situation' with another former student, but only after he turned 18,' the report said. 'We are going to verify that,' Lake County Sgt. Jim Vachon said to WFTV. 'In cases like this, there are sometimes other victims who have not come forward. So, we're going to do our best to find out if there's anybody else out there.' Lake Minneola High School's principal told parents that the music teacher has now resigned A social media post was what sparked the school to investigate North, investigators said, although no information was released on the nature of the post. Lake County Schools confirmed that North resigned soon after he was questioned about his behavior by the school's principal. He had taught at the school since 2011. A message on the school's band website said that North announced on Monday that band practice for Tuesday night would be canceled. A reason for the cancellation was not provided. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., could be testing the presidential waters next week, as she's headed to New Hampshire to give a speech. The Manchester-based TV station WMUR reported that Waters will headline a picnic fundraiser for the Stafford County Democratic Committee on July 23. Future presidential contenders usually try out their message in Iowa, which holds the country's first caucus, and New Hampshire, the site of the first primary so accepting a speaking gig in either of these two states suggests that a politician is seeking higher office. Scroll down for video Rep. Maxine Waters' 'shade' toward the Trump administration has earned her internet fame - which may have compelled her to test the presidential waters Rep. Maxine Waters, seen earlier this month at the Essence Festival, will be heading to New Hampshire in three days to give a speech, an indicator that she might have White House ambitions now that she's beloved by liberal millennials Waters has been in politics for decades. Elected first to represent her Los Angeles-based district in 1991, she was re-elected to her 14th term in the House of Representatives in 2016. But like 'hipster' congresswoman, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., before her, Waters has become a brand name lawmaker now thanks to internet fame. Her tough talk has been turned into memes, as millennials talk about how she's 'throwing shade' at President Trump and his administration. 'I have been adopted by the millennials, and Im enjoying every minute of it!' she recently gushed to the New York Times' Ana Marie Cox. 'I'm learning a new language.' 'You never think about shade, for example, other than, you know, "a tree is providing shade," but when they taught me what shade was, I thought: Now isn't that creative?' Waters added. She's tweeted things like: 'I never ever contemplated attending the inauguration or any activities associated w/ @realdonaldTrump.' 'I wouldn't waste my time,' she wrote. She's kept it up over the first six months of the administration. 'He is not my president. He is not your president. He lies. He cheats, Hes a bully. He disrespects us all,' Waters said at a Resist rally in June. When asked by Cox what she would say to Trump in private conversation, Waters uttered, 'I would not waste my time.' While a number of presidents have served in the House of Representatives before moving into the White House, in recent years it's never been a direct step. Generally candidates serve as senator or governor first, before running for president of the United States. However, with Donald Trump in the White House, who previously held zero elected offices, Democrats can be more creative with who gets on the ballot for their party in 2020. Already, former Attorney General Eric Holder, who also hasn't held elected office, has said he's potentially interested in a presidential bid. 'Up to now, I have been more behind-the-scenes,' Holder told Yahoo News last month. 'But that's about to change.' Waters' age could also be a factor. At 78 now, she would be 82 by the time of the next inauguration, on January 20, 2021. A ten-year-old girl, who is six months pregnant after she was allegedly raped by her uncle, has been told she is 'too young' to get an abortion by an Indian court. The child, who has not been identified, was also told at Chandigarh District Court that an abortion was 'not an option at this stage' as she was too far into her pregnancy. Indian law does not allow women to undergo the procedure beyond 20 weeks unless the foetus is proven to be genetically unviable or if it poses a risk to the mother's life. The girl's parents discovered their child was pregnant after she complained to them about stomach pains. Chandigarh District Court ruled that the girl was too far into her pregnancy to have an abortion She later told her mother that her maternal uncle had raped her six times when he visited the family in their home. The family sought legal permission to have the pregnancy terminated and the uncle was arrested, according to the Indian Express. The court based its final ruling on an opinion by a panel of eight doctors, who were involved in examining the child. They concluded after their examinations that the girl should give birth naturally as 'the foetus is viable and can survive even if delivered now'. One of the doctors told CBS News: 'Abortion is not an option at this stage. The only way to terminate the pregnancy is to deliver the baby.' Medical experts have said that girls at such a young age can experience complications as their pregnancy progresses and that delivery can be dangerous for both the mother and the child. Delhi-based gynecologist Puneet Bedi told Indian news site The Quint that an abortion 'should take place immediately' to protect the child's psychological well being. She added: 'Yes, there are risks and abortion at this stage is tough, but for the girl, who is still developing, the scars will be many.' Another gynecologist, Umesh Jindal, from the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, told the Times of India: 'If legal permission is granted treating it as an exceptional case, its better to terminate the pregnancy.' The girl can still take her case to a higher court to review and potentially overturn the ruling though doctors have said this would most likely take longer than her pregnancy. New Doctor Who Jodie Whittaker will be paid the same salary as current Time Lord Peter Capaldi, the BBC's Director General has claimed. Speaking just one day after the corporation released the salaries of almost 100 high profile employees who earn more than 150,000 - and the subsequent furore sparked when the stark gender pay gap was revealed - Tony Hall said there will be 'parity' between the actors. Whittaker, who told fans 'don't be scared of my gender' after she was announced as the first woman to play the Doctor, is now expected to be given the same pay packet as Capaldi, who has played the Time Lord since 2013. Capaldi was one of those named on the 'rich list', where it was revealed he was paid between 200,000 and 249,999-a-year. Broadchurch star Jodie Whittaker has been confirmed as the new Doctor. The announcement was made on BBC One after the Men's Wimbledon Final today The Prime Minister yesterday accused the Corporation of 'paying women less for doing the same job as the men'. The top seven earning stars were all men, as were 62 of the 96 on the list, there were no female names in any category above 500,000 and half of all the women in the list were in the lowest band. But Hall today told the London Evening Standard he is 'incredibly excited' about Whittaker's appointment, adding: 'And I do think it is time for 13th Time Lord to be a woman.' The Broadchurch actress was revealed as Capaldi's successor on Sunday afternoon following the Men's Wimbledon Final, making her the 13th reincarnation of the much-loved character. Tony Hall (pictured) told the London Evening Standard he is 'incredibly excited' about Whittaker's appointment, adding: 'And I do think it is time for 13th Time Lord to be a woman' However, the decision to cast a female actress in the role, which has previously been played by men, divided fans. While many praised the BBC and the show's writers for choosing a female actress, others slammed the decision as 'political correctness gone mad'. Twitter user David Stephens said: 'Sorry this is so called equality, women's rights, political correctness gone mad-Dr Who was written/created as a man! End of.' Clive Walton agreed, writing on his Twitter page: 'No the character is a man not a woman! As usual the BBC have to muddy the waters through political correctness that's what they do!' The 35-year-old, who was born in Skelmanthorpe, West Yorkshire, trained at the Guidhall School of Music and Drama Responding to the BBC's announcement, former fan Tony Moretta said on the social networking site: 'Well you're one viewer down already.' But Whittaker said: 'It feels completely overwhelming, as a feminist, as a woman, as an actor, as a human, as someone who wants to continually push themselves and challenge themselves, and not be boxed in by what you're told you can and can't be. 'It feels incredible.' She also reassured fans to 'not be scared by my gender'. 'Because this is a really exciting time, and Doctor Who represents everything that's exciting about change,' she said, adding: 'The fans have lived through so many changes, and this is only a new, different one, not a fearful one.' She said: 'I'm beyond excited to begin this epic journey - with Chris and with every Whovian on this planet. It's more than an honour to play the Doctor'. Right, she is pictured with her husband Christian Contreras While some had very strong opinions on Whittaker taking over the role, the casting won the praise of Sixth Doctor Colin Baker, who said: 'As a father of daughters - result!' Whittaker, 35, revealed she had told 'a lot of lies' in order to keep the announcement secret and had used the codename Clooney when discussing the role with her husband and agent. It will see the actress team up with Broadchurch creator Chris Chibnall on the hit sci-fi series as he takes over from Steven Moffat as executive producer. Explaining how she won the part, she said: 'We had a strange chat earlier this year where he tricked me into thinking we were talking about Broadchurch. 'And I started to quiz him about his new job in Wales, and asked him if I could be a baddie. And he quickly diverted the conversation to suggest I should consider auditioning to be the 13th Clooney. 'It was the most incredible chat because I asked every question under the sun, and I said I'd take a few weeks to decide whether I was going to audition. Some fans were unhappy with the decision to cast a woman in the role of Doctor Who 'He got a phone call within 24 hours. He would've got a phone call sooner, but my husband was away and there was a time difference.' She added the freedom the role enjoys was why she wanted to become an actress in the first place. Many fans of the show have expressed their delight over the decision to cast the actress. Georgina Hewitson tweeted: 'I must say I'm pleased we might get a generation of little girls running around with sonic screwdrivers and lightsabers.' Amy Downes wrote: 'So pleased about #doctor13 - a fantastic actor and brave and exciting move from @BBCOne. Thank you Beeb - it's going [to] be amazing.' One person, who tweets under the name Kagekabuki, reminded people of the television show's previous decisions to feature women in other prominent roles in the show. They said: 'Friendly reminder that the TARDIS [the name of the spaceship the Doctor travels in] is female and The Corsair [another Time Lord] had male and female reincarnations.' MP Jess Phillips wrote: 'If I'm honest I'm not fussed who plays Doctor Who but I like to see nice people being delighted and annoying the others' Jess Phillips, MP for Birmingham Yardley, also waded into the debate. She said: 'If I'm honest I'm not fussed who plays Doctor Who but I like to see nice people being delighted and annoying the others.' One mother also filmed the heart-warming moment Ms Whittaker was revealed as the Doctor - much to her daughter's delight. Jenny Trout, from Michigan, filmed her daughter intensely watching the new trailer at their home. In the footage, posted on her Twitter page, the young girl is seen watching the video. As Ms Whittaker is revealed, Ms Trout's daughter then turns to the camera with a huge smile on her face. What we've all been waiting for: Broadchurch star Jodie Whittaker removes her hood to reveal she is the first ever female Doctor Who In a testament to the acclaimed actress, ex-Doctor Peter Capaldi said: 'She has above all the huge heart to play this most special part. She's going to be a fantastic Doctor' 'Making history is what Doctor Who is all about', said Charlotte Moore, Director of BBC Content She then opens her mouth in shock and shouts: 'The new Doctor is a girl!' before the video ends. It has been retweeted nearly 8,600 times and liked nearly 26,000 times. New head writer and executive producer Chris Chibnall, who takes over from Steven Moffat on the next series, made the decision to cast the first ever woman in the iconic role. He said: 'I always knew I wanted the Thirteenth Doctor to be a woman and we're thrilled to have secured our number one choice. 'Her audition for The Doctor simply blew us all away. Jodie is an in-demand, funny, inspiring, super-smart force of nature and will bring loads of wit, strength and warmth to the role. The Thirteenth Doctor is on her way.' Jenny Trout, from Michigan, filmed her daughter intensely watching the new Doctor Who trailer at their home As Ms Whittaker is revealed, Ms Trout's daughter then turns to the camera with a huge smile on her face Capaldi announced plans to step down from the alien role in January, which prompted some fans and critics to call for Mr Moffat to change the Doctor's gender. Moffat, who also co-wrote the BAFTA award-winning Sherlock series with Mark Gatiss, had previously come under fire for choosing another man to play the role after Mr Capaldi was cast. Speaking to BBC Radio 4, he said: 'I didn't not cast a woman... I cast a man. I didn't [cast a woman] because I wanted to cast Matt Smith and I wanted to cast Peter Capaldi. 'I didn't think it was a terrible idea [to cast a woman], I just thought, 'I want to cast those people' that was it.' Whittaker, who was born in Skelmanthorpe, West Yorkshire, trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and made her professional debut in the play The Storm at the Shakespeare's Globe theatre 12 years ago. She starred in the films St Trinian's, Good and Attack the Block and the television shows Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Return to Cranford, Marchlands and Black Mirror. But Whittaker gained notoriety after starring in the thrilling crime drama, Broadchurch, alongside Tenth Doctor, David Tennant. She played Beth Latimer, the mother of 11-year-old Danny, who was found dead on a beach after being murdered. The show became a huge success, winning several BAFTAs, and was praised by critics for its gripping story lines, which the production team went to great lengths to keep secret. Ms Whittaker as Beth and Andrew Buchan as Mark in the ITV hit Broadchurch, which told the story of how their son was murdered She is pictured with Viggo Mortensen in the 2008 movie Good, the story of John Halder Mr Capaldi praised the decision to choose Ms Whittaker and said: 'Anyone who has seen Jodie Whittaker's work will know that she is a wonderful actress of great individuality and charm. 'She has above all the huge heart to play this most special part. She's going to be a fantastic Doctor.' Charlotte Moore, Director of BBC Content said: 'Making history is what Doctor Who is all about and Chris Chibnall's bold new take on the next Time Lord is exactly that. 'The nation is going to fall in love with Jodie Whittaker - and have lots of fun too!' Piers Wenger, Controller BBC Drama added: 'Jodie is not just a talented actor but she has a bold and brilliant vision for her Doctor. 'She aced it in her audition both technically and with the powerful female life force she brings to the role. 'She is destined to be an utterly iconic Doctor.' Matt Strevens, Executive Producer said: 'I'm so thrilled that Jodie Whittaker said yes to playing the Doctor. 'I've been a fan for years and always hoped to work with her. She is an actor of great emotional range and inhabits every role with complete passion and conviction. 'Just thinking about what she will bring to the Doctor makes me as excited as a kid at Christmas. It's going to be a lot of fun.' Exxon Mobil Corp. was fined $2million on Thursday for showing a 'reckless disregard' for sanctions the Obama administration imposed on Russia in 2014, the Treasury Department said. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was CEO when two of the company's subsidiaries signed deals with Russian oil magnate Igor Sechin, the chairman of Russian oil giant Rosneft. In retaliation for Russia's annexation of Crimea, the Obama administration imposed sanctions, which included blacklisting Sechin from doing business with Americans. Exxon countered that it had done nothing wrong and complained that the fine was 'fundamentally unfair' before filing a lawsuit against the U.S. government in an effort to overturn the decision. The State Department declined to comment on Tillerson's role, referring all questions to Exxon. Exxon Mobil Corp. was fined $2million on Thursday for showing a 'reckless disregard' for sanctions the Obama administration imposed on Russia in 2014 Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (left) was CEO when two of the company's subsidiaries signed deals with Russian oil magnate Igor Sechin (right), who was blacklisted under the sanctions Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, said Exxon caused 'significant harm' to the sanctions program by engaging in transactions with a person who is 'an official of the government of the Russian Federation contributing to the crisis in Ukraine.' OFAC said it had considered and rejected Exxon's explanation that it had believed from press accounts of the sanctions that there was a distinction between Sechin acting in a 'professional' rather than a 'personal' capacity. It also determined that Exxon had not voluntarily disclosed the violations, which it said was 'an egregious case.' It leveled the statutory maximum civil penalty of $2 million for the breaches. The OFAC said it considered several aggravating factors when reaching its decision, which included the 'reckless disregard' for considering the 'warning signs' with regards to dealings with a sanctioned person. The OFAC also accused Exxon Mobil's senior-most executives of knowing Sechin's status, and suggested the company should have known better, calling it 'sophisticated and experienced' in dealing with economic sanctions. In its statement, Exxon maintained its innocence, saying that it had 'followed clear guidance' from the White House and Treasury Department when it went ahead with the deals with Rosneft that Sechin then countersigned. Exxon maintained that the OFAC was 'trying to retroactively enforce a new interpretation of an executive order'. It also noted that Rosneft was not subject to sanctions at the time and said it understood transactions with Sechin in his personal capacity as an individual were not covered. Exxon is now suing the Treasury Department and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, said Exxon caused 'significant harm' to the sanctions program Tillerson has taken a tough line with Ukraine-related sanctions as secretary of state, saying earlier this month on a trip to Kiev that the sanctions would not be lifted until Russia met its obligations. But while he was at Exxon, Tillerson opposed the sanctions since they cost his company hundreds of millions of dollars. Tillerson saw Exxon's stake in a lucrative offshore drilling project with Rosneft come under threat after the sanctions were imposed, and he visited the White House numerous times as CEO to protest them. Tillerson (above) has taken a tough line with Ukraine-related sanctions as secretary of state, but he was strongly opposed to them as Exxon CEO since it cost his company hundreds of millions The same year that Exxon is accused of breaching the sanctions, Tillerson was unambiguous about his opposition to the penalties. 'We do not support sanctions, generally, because we don't find them to be effective unless they are very well implemented comprehensibly and that's a very hard thing to do,' Tillerson said at Exxon's 2014 annual meeting. Sechin was Tillerson's main partner in Exxon's bid to drill in the Arctic's Kara Sea, with its vast untapped potential. Tillerson knew both Sechin and Russian President Vladimir Putin for more than a decade before he became secretary of state. Charles K. Dinkins, 48, (above) was convicted of attempted aggravated battery in Delaware County, Indiana This is the moment a man tried to run over two police officers who fired more than a dozen shots as he sped through a postal office parking lot. Charles K. Dinkins, 48, was convicted of attempted aggravated battery in Delaware County, Indiana, for trying to hit two police officers with his car on March 24. In a video captured by one officer's body camera, a woman who jumped out of the car can be seen kneeling on the ground while Dinkins careens through the parking lot and charges at the cops who gave repeated orders to stop. The deputy prosecutor said he was scared watching the video the first time, adding that he feared the officers would be injured, the Indy Star reported. Dinkins was also convicted of criminal recklessness, resisting law enforcement and leaving the scene of the accident. He is scheduled for sentencing on August 23; the felony attempted aggravated battery conviction carries a maximum sentence of 16 years. In the body camera video, officers Sean Dennis and Jonathan Thornton exit the patrol car and order a woman kneeling on the ground to show her hands. She said she jumped out Tires can be heard screeching in the background as the officer yells: 'Stop the car! Stop the car!' The cops pursue Dinkins on foot as he careens around the parking lot. One officer, who said Dinkins 'tried to run us over' testified that he pulled the trigger 18 times Dinkins fled police who tried to pull him over at 2.30am on March 24, and crashed through a gate instead, the court heard. He drove around the U.S. Post Office parking lot and crashed into two vehicles, according to testimonies Deputy Prosecutor Steve Sneed presented to the court. In the body camera video, officers Sean Dennis and Jonathan Thornton exit the patrol car and order a woman kneeling on the ground to show her hands as she wails, 'I jumped out of the car.' Tires can be heard screeching in the background as the officer yells: 'Stop the car! Stop the car!' Just moments later, he yells 'Shots fired, shots fired' as he and another cop run between the parked post office trucks. When Dinkins' Chevrolet Cavalier cruises past, the officer aimed his gun and opened fire. Dennis later testified in court that he pulled the trigger 18 times. The cops continue to pursue Dinkins' car on foot as it speeds past them and eventually exits the parking lot Dinkins was hit by at least one bullet, and he crashed his car into a pickup truck on an adjacent street. Pictured, a general view of the U.S. Post Office The cops continue to pursue Dinkins' car on foot as it speeds past them and eventually exits the parking lot. The officer can then be heard telling a dispatcher, 'Negative, he tried to run us over.' Dinkins was hit by at least one bullet, and he crashed his car into a pickup truck on an adjacent street. The cops were not injured in the incident, but they testified in court that they feared for their lives. An investigation by the state police found no charges would be filed by the cops for using their guns. President Donald Trump said Thursday as he arrived at the Pentagon for a national security briefing that the US and its allies have ISIS on the run. 'We're doing very well against ISIS. ISIS is falling fast. Very fast,' he said. Trump dodged a reporter's question about the Defense Department's consideration of a troop surge in Afghanistan to rescue that country from the grips of the Taliban, shouting, 'We'll see.' Asked again later, as he met with the troops, Trump said: 'You'll be hearing.' Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Joseph Dunford briefed lawmakers yesterday on the conflict that has stretched across three presidencies, the Washington Times reported. The Pentagon is said to be on the verge of announcing its intent to send an additional 3,000 to 5,000 troops to Afghanistan to help stabilize the war-torn country. President Donald Trump said Thursday as he arrived at the Pentagon for a national security briefing that the US and its allies have ISIS on the run. He's seen here shaking hands with his Secretary of Defense James Mattis The Pentagon is said to be on the verge of announcing its intent to send an additional 3,000 to 5,000 troops to Afghanistan to help stabilize the war-torn country Trump dodged a reporter's question about the Defense Department's consideration of a troop surge in Afghanistan to rescue that country from the grips of the Taliban, shouting, 'We'll see' Barack Obama dramatically escalated troop levels in the Middle Eastern nation at the beginning of his presidency then dropped them down to 8,400 before he left. He had to abandon plans to bring the US troop count down to 5,500 with civil war in the country continuing to rage on. 'We have to deal with the realities of the world as it is. We can't forget what's at stake in Afghanistan. This is where al Qaeda is trying to regroup, this is where ISIL continues to try to expand its presence,' he said in remarks last July. Afghan forces control a mere 40 percent of the nation's territory compared to the 60 percent share that's policed by the Taliban. If the Pentagon moves forward with plans to increase the number of US troops in the country, forces will again top the 10,000 cap that Obama was desperately trying to avoid when he left office. With ISIS moving in and the Taliban strengthening its grip, the Pentagon is assessing a new strategy to take on the terrorists and it's reportedly leaning toward an additional troop deployment as a stop gap. 'We are not winning in Afghanistan,' Trump's defense secretary, Mattis, told the Senate panel that oversees Defense spending last month. Today marks Trump's six month anniversary in office. Reflecting on his tenure earlier in the week he said he'd 'had a lot of victories' so far, naming the fight against ISIS as one of them. 'We're doing very well against ISIS. ISIS is falling fast. Very fast,' he said outside the Department of Defense. Vice President Mike Pence is seen entering the building, on the right President Trump participated in a 'Pol-Mil session' and was briefed on national security issues and the fight against ISIS He greeted military personnel afterward. Asked then about Afghanistan Trump said: 'You'll be hearing' 'Weve won and are winning the war, as you know, at the border. We are very much decimating ISIS,' the president said. The comments came during a White House luncheon with veterans of the Afghanistan war that Vice President Mike Pence and National Security Advisor HR McMaster also attended. In short remarks to the press, Trump said he'd be talking to the soldiers about their experiences in Afghanistan. 'These are people on the ground, know it probably better than everybody. You know it pretty well, right?' he said. 'Because weve been there - its our longest war. Weve been there, for many years. Weve been there for now close to 17 years.' Trump said he wants to know why the US has been mired in the conflict for so long and how to resolve it. 'I've heard plenty of ideas from a lot of people, but I want to hear it from people on the ground,' he explained. The president's remarks on his record came in response to a reporter's question about healthcare and whether he was 'disappointed' in the Senate's stumbles. He said that he was, then changed the subject to his administration's successes in other areas such as the rate of illegal border crossings, which were down 76 percent at the last count since he took office. Trump said earlier this week that wants to know why the US has been mired in the Afghanistan conflict for so long Trump also brought up anti-terror operations in Iraq and Syria. Iraqi soldiers backed by US forces recaptured Mosul earlier this month. 'Weve had a lot of victories, but we havent had a victory on health care,' he stated. 'We are disappointed.' On Wednesday the Washington Post learned that the Trump administration was ending a CIA program that arms Syrian rebels in their fight not just against ISIS but dictator Bashar al-Assad. 'If these reports are true, the administration is playing right into the hands of Vladimir Putin. Making any concession to Russia, absent a broader strategy for Syria, is irresponsible and short-sighted,' Sen. John McCain, chairman of the Armed Services Committee said in a statement. McCain is at his home in Arizona recovering from a Friday surgery. Doctors removed a blood clot from his left eye that tests later revealed to be an aggressive form of brain cancer. The Republican senator smacked Trump, who'd called him a 'crusty voice' in Washington earlier in the week, for his administration's failure to 'articulate its vision for Syria beyond the defeat of ISIL, let alone a comprehensive approach to the Middle East.' 'Six months into this administration, there is still no new strategy for victory in Afghanistan either,' he said. 'It is now mid-July, when the administration promised to deliver that strategy to Congress, and we are still waiting.' White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders deferred to the Pentagon when the matter came up Thursday afternoon in the context of McCain's sickbed statement. 'I believe that the president has empowered Secretary Mattis to make decisions,' she said. Huckabee Sanders told reporters earlier in the week 'the President is still reviewing what options he wants to take' in Afghanistan 'and what decisions hell make.' In her Thursday briefing, she was also reminded of the president's promise a month ago that he'd have an ISIS press conference in two weeks that never happened. The Daily Beast claimed in a Tuesday report that a plan, that's not all that different than Obama's, aside from the rhetoric, had been presented to the president, but it's still under wraps. Why, if, the plan is done, has Trump not held his big announcement, Huckabee Sanders wouldn't say today. 'We'll certainly make sure that there's an announcement if there's a presser,' she stated and quickly moved on. China's Jack the Ripper pleaded guilty to raping and murdering 11 women before bowing to their families who were present at the court. Gao Chenyong also pleaded guilty to mutilating the women in attacks that took place between 1988 and 2002. During the trial he said he couldn't afford to compensate the victims and offered to donate his organs. It's thought that he will be handed the death penalty for his crimes. Gao Chenyong bowed to the families of the victims in court yesterday after pleading guilty His lawyer said that Gao told him that if he is unable to compensate the families, he is willing to donate his organs It took three decades for police in China to solve the case in which 11 women were raped and murdered. The killings took place between 1988 and 2002 in which the women were also robbed and disfigured during the ordeals that all took place in Baiyin City, China's Gansu province. On April 25, the 53-year-old was prosecuted for the crimes following his arrest in August last year. He appeared at the trial this week to plead guilty to his crimes. He is set to be sentenced next week, reports iFeng. Yesterday he bowed three times as a sign of apology and respect to the families of the victims. The man said he gained a sense of satisfaction from killing and carried out further murders He appeared at the trial to plead guilty to his crimes. He is set to be sentenced next week The families are each seeking compensation from Gao for the cost of their child's funeral and also for the 'pain caused by their loss'. Some are asking for one million yuan (113,000). His lawyer said that Gao told him that if he is unable to compensate the families, he is willing to donate his organs. Last year, Gao was revealed to be the killer after a relative committed a crime and their DNA was taken. The DNA was incredibly close to that of the serial killer. They tested those family members of the relative and Gao was confirmed to be the 'Chinese Jack the Ripper'. It was then that police found his DNA matched that of the killer they had been looking for. Gao later confessed his actions to police, saying that he committed the first murder by accident in 1988. He tried to steal a radio from a 23-year-old woman while she was sleeping and killed her after she woke up. He pleaded guilty to 11 counts of murder which took place between 1988 and 2002 Last year, Gao was revealed to be the killer after a relative committed a crime and their DNA was taken Chinese 'Jack the Ripper': An online picture shows Chinese serial killer Gao Chengyong The man said he gained a sense of satisfaction from killing and carried out further murders - 10 over 14 years. One victim was just 8-years-old. He said that if he found the victim attractive then he would rape them otherwise he would just cut their throat. For those that tried to resist him, Gao would disfigure them. Some victims also had their reproductive organs removed. A local police officer told CGTN that Gao could remember all of the details of the killings: 'He was way too calm, showing no regrets or guilt.' Gao is married with children making his actions even more bizarre. The family have since cut ties with the man and have refused to meet his lawyer. The man has been dubbed the Chinese 'Jack the Ripper'. The original Jack the Ripper was a serial killer active in east London in the late Victorian era. He is widely believed to have murdered five women, mutilating several of them. Those killings have never been solved. A British woman and Pakistani man have been sentenced to one-year in prison for having an affair while on a trip to Dubai. The pair had met on Facebook and became acquainted with one another for three years before she flew to stay with him for a week in Dubai in 2016, when they had consensual sex. Having sex outside of marriage is strictly prohibited in the UAE, and those who take part in extramarital relationships face prison sentences and deportation. The British woman, who is set to marry another man in London, and the Pakistani man are filing appeals in hopes of getting out of the one-year prison sentence. A British woman and a Pakistani man were sentenced to a year in prison in Dubai for having sex while not married in Dubai The man claimed that when the woman visited in 2016, he picked her up from Dubai International airport and drove to a flat in Sharjah, according to Gulf News. He said that a Pakistani religious scholar married the couple verbally, though the woman denied that this ever happened. In her court statement, the woman said that she was calling off her three-year-relationship with the man because she was getting married to man in London. The Pakistani man then threatened to shame her, post photos of them together on Facebook and reveal to her family that she was already married to him, the woman said. The woman also claimed that the man threatened to kill her if she married someone else. The pair had met on Facebook and became acquainted with one another for three years before she flew to stay with him for a week in Dubai (pictured) in 2016, when they had consensual sex Following the threatening messages, the woman and her father flew to Dubai to file a complaint against the man, who was then arrested by Dubai Police. During an interrogation, he denied the threatening messages, telling police that she told him her family was pressuring her to stay away from him. During the investigation, police found out that the couple had consensual sex while unmarried during their stay in Dubai in 2016. The Dubai Misdemeanours Court sentenced the man and woman to a year in prison each for their crimes followed by deportation. The man and woman pleaded not guilty and have appealed the ruling seeking leniency. A moped gang which dumped a 'stolen' bike in the middle of traffic before driving the wrong way up a busy street as they tried to escape what they thought was a police siren - but was actually an ambulance - has been filmed and shared with the MailOnline. Dashcam footage of a Hatzola ambulance volunteer in Stamford Hill, London captures the moment gang members abandon a moped when they thought they were chased by undercover police but it was actually a Hatzola volunteer on emergency call. In the video, a siren can be heard as the ambulance weaves through traffic. The mopeds pass between cars just ahead, clearly believing that the sirens are following them. Suddenly, one person jumps off a bike and lets it crash to the ground in the middle of traffic. The unnamed rider, a helmet and visor obscuring their face, then jumps onto the back of another bike and they brazenly drive up the road in the wrong direction, towards the siren and past the ambulance. They presumably banked on the fact that the police car could not turn so easily amid traffic and would be unable to follow in the wrong direction up the road. The bikes weaved in between traffic as they tried to escape the siren from the ambulance They dumped one bike before wheeling around and brazenly drove up the road the wrong way A witness who wished to remain anonymous but who supplied the video footage to MailOnline said that the incident illustrates how many moped gangs now operate in north London. 'My mother was almost mugged in the street yesterday near Stamford Hill. She just got out of a car when a three mopeds came up, the drivers were shouting to disorientate her and one tried to grab her handbag. Hatzola North London The Hatzola North London, which filmed the footage of the moped gang in Stamford Hill is a free volunteer ambulance team which responds to medical emergencies and casualty incidents in the community 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It aims to provide medical treatment within minutes of a call, and to save thousands of lives each year. Hatzola also provides specialized medical care and ongoing support for people in the community challenged by ill-health, disability, chronic medical conditions, mental health issues, as well as the elderly population, to enhance the quality of life for vulnerable groups. http://hatzola.org/ Advertisement 'Luckily she was aware that this could happen and she managed to escape but you just have to be so vigilant now. 'I don't even take my phone out on the street anymore because bike gangs sometimes mount the pavement and snatch the phone out of your hand,' he said. These latest examples of moped gangs operating in London are disquieting reminders of the recent crime epidemic caused by bike gangs although there is currently no evidence that the gangs are linked. Just this week, police busted what they say was one of Londons most prolific moped gangs responsible for 103 offences in 18 days. The teenage offenders aged 15, 16 and 17 grabbed phones from pedestrians in Westminster, Camden, Islington, and Kensington and Chelsea during their crime spree. Police said that there had been a palpable decrease in moped gang related crimes since this particular group had been disbanded. Last Thursday, UberEats and Deliveroo drivers were specifically targeted for their mopeds in a spate of horrific acid attacks across north and east London. One rider was attacked and robbed while another man was heard 'screaming in agony' after suffering catastrophic injuries when doused with flesh-burning liquid. Another victim who also had his moped stolen was filmed having litres of water poured over his face by police to wash acid from his eyes by the side of the road in Hackney. The two-man gang went on a rampage across east London as they sprayed five men between 10.25pm and 11.37pm in Stoke Newington, Hackney and Islington. Two teenagers aged 15 and 16 were arrested over the incident. Earlier this month, a car driver was robbed at knifepoint in broad daylight by a gang of thieves on mopeds. The incident took place on Ladywell Road in Lewisham, London, on July 6, and was caught on dashcam from a car behind. An Australian man has been rushed to hospital with severe burns after being set on fire by a flaming drink at a Croatian bar. The man, aged in his 20s, was taken to hospital after a bartender accidentally set fire to him and four other patrons on Tuesday night at Boogie Jungle in Korcula. Two other Australian men, aged between 27 and 29, were also burned by the fiery beverage at the island bar which regularly hosts international DJs and performers. An Australian man has been rushed to hospital with severe burns after being set on fire by a flaming drink at a Croatian bar The man, aged in his 20s, was taken to hospital after a bartender accidentally set fire to him and four other patrons on Tuesday night at Boogie Jungle (pictured) in Korcula The Australian man most severely injured was transported off the island to a regional hospital in Split. The bartender who caused the accident is a 22-year-old local resident. A 23-year-old New Zealand national was also burned in the incident on Tuesday evening. The bar has images posted online of bartenders performing tricks with the flaming drinks, one of venue's main attractions. Boogie Jungle has a capacity of 1,500 people and is located on Korcula island in Croatia's south. Police have attended the bar and are investigating the incident. Theresa May will take three weeks of holiday to help her recover from the election disaster, it emerged today. The Prime Minister will jet out to northern Italy on Monday for a five-day first leg with husband Philip, No 10 said. Mrs May will be briefly back on duty to attend World War I remembrance events in Passchendaele, Belgium, on July 31. But the Mays will then fly straight back out of Britain for a fortnight in the Swiss Alps - making her the first Prime Minister to take three weeks off since Tony Blair. Theresa May and husband Philip (pictured on their summer holiday last year) are keen hikers and are expected to spend much of the three weeks walking The couple are keen hikers and are expected to spend much of the three weeks walking. But No 10 insisted Mrs May would be in charge throughout and kept fully up to date during her trips. The Prime Minister famously changed her mind about holding a general election on her last walking trip, to Snowdonia at Easter. Asked if Mrs May (pictured last August in Switzerland) was 'tired' her official spokeswoman said: 'She is looking forward to her holiday.' The decision set off a chain of events that left her facing the prospect of a humiliating end to her career. Mrs May will use commercial flights for the return journeys to Italy and Switzerland but No 10 would not say in which class the couple would fly. Asked if Mrs May was 'tired' her official spokeswoman said the Premier had just had a 'very busy week'. She said: 'The Government announcements from HS2 to the education announcement to the state pension announcements and others, it's been a productive and busy week. 'The PM has been getting on with the job of government and as you would expect, she will take a holiday. She is looking forward to her holiday.' The break in the trip will see Mrs May join the Prince of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in Passchendaele. She will attend events to mark 100 years since the crucial First World War battle. The Prime Minister (pictured last night in No 10 with Iain Dale) has spent much of the last six weeks battling to shore up her position in Downing Street Mrs May's holiday comes after a bruising few months in which she called a snap election in the hope of a big majority only to suffer the shock loss of her Commons majority. She has spent much of the last six weeks since polling day fighting to shore up her position and draw a halt to Brexit infighting. The Prime Minister insists she will carry on in her job for as long as the Tory Party will have her but is seen as held hostage by the senior members of her Cabinet. When she returns from her holiday, many of her challenges will remain as the clock ticks down on the Brexit talks and she confronts the plotting of conference season. Advertisement A frightened couple stranded on rocks as huge waves battered the British coast were dramatically rescued today as they desperately held on to each other. Tense video footage shows the Swiss couple - who were on holiday - cling on to one another as the fierce and powerful waves came crashing towards them. The man and woman got into difficulty after becoming stuck on a low rock ledge between Porth and Watergate Bay near Newquay in Cornwall this afternoon. Luckily a passerby spotted the couple and raised the alarm and a coastguard helicopter was quick to fly in. The couple desperately held on to each other as the huge waves came crashing towards them off the coast of Cornwall today They had become stranded on a low rock after the tide had cut them off but luckily a passerby spotted the pair were in trouble Dramatic photographs show the couple desperately hold on to each other while the huge waves battered the British coastline The Swiss couple, who have not been named, were treated for shock and mild hypothermia after the incident this afternoon The incoming tide had cut them off but they were later found and winched to safety. It is unclear how the pair ended up on the rocks. Members of the Newquay Coastguard Rescue Team (NCRT) were concerned the pair were 'in danger of being washed off the rocks'. The coastguard tried to get to the couple on the water but the conditions were 'too dangerous' so they were forced to take the aerial route. They were eventually rescued after being winched to safety and were treated for mild hypothermia and shock. A spokesman for the NCRT said: 'Lifeboats from were launched and attended the scene, the casualties were located and in danger of being washed off the rocks. The conditions were too dangerous for the boats to rescue the casualties. 'Lifeguards had also attended and one of them managed to get to the casualties and take them to a safer location to await rescue. 'Newquay Coastguard team maintained an overview whilst preparing for a rope rescue, Maritime and Coastguard Agency Helicopter Rescue 924 from Newquay had been requested and the arrived. 'The helicopter managed to recover both casualties, a Swiss couple holidaying in the area, by winch. 'They were then landed with our team where they were treated for mild hypothermia and shock before being taken to their hotel where they are recovering. 'Great teamwork by all involved, a successful rescue.' It is unclear how the couple (right) ended up on the low rocks (left) but they look relieved after being rescued by the coastguard Thankfully a passerby spotted the couple were in trouble and phoned the coastguard and a helicopter was immediately sent out They were eventually winched to safety after a helicopter plucked the stranded couple from the rocks close to Watergate Bay A Coastguard spokesperson said: 'A male and a female were cut off by the tide at Whipsiderry at about 1pm today. 'The couple were both airlifted by the Coastguard helicopter back to land and safety. Both the people involved are fine and no injuries were sustained.' A spokesman added: 'The Newquay Coastguard Rescue Team and all-weather and inshore RNLI lifeboats were tasked to assist, along with the Coastguard search and rescue helicopter. 'The Coastguard helicopter extracted the casualties and then landed at the top of the cliff, handing them into the care of the Newquay Coastguard Rescue Team.' This is the unnerving moment a police officer knocks a suspect unconscious so badly that he was in a coma for 12 days, a lawsuit alleges. Dashcam footage captured Terry Cantrell in Ellijay, Georgia, fleeing police officers before Trevor McClure tackles him to the ground. Cantrell struck his head against the sidewalk. Cantrell claims to have put his hands up in surrender before the tackle and is now suing the police force. But McClure saw a knife on Cantrell's right hip before the tackle, according to his report. Recalling the moment he and two other officers chased after the suspect, he wrote in his report: 'As I quickly closed distance between myself and Mr.Cantrell, I heard Sergeant Troglin yell, "Watch out for that knife", and observed the knife on Mr Cantrell's right hip. This is the moment Officer McClure tackled suspect, Terry Cantrell, causing his head to bleed 'As he turned to face me, I realized that I was too close to attempt to stop and draw my weapon. 'In order to prevent Mr Cantrell from continuing to flee or attempting to draw his knife, I delivered a shoulder tackle, wrapping my arms around Mr Cantrell's back and took him to the ground.' The incident occurred on June 16 2015. The footage shows an officer chasing Cantrell - who was driving a dark pickup truck - after noticing he was moving in and out of his lane. Cantrell doesn't stop his vehicle even though the officer signalled for him to do so. Instead he speeds up, nearly crashing head on into another vehicle. The police officer also increases his speed as he continues to chase him. Cantrell then leaves his car and continues to flee on foot. Cantrell says he then threw his hands in surrender before the police officers tackled him. 'I noticed that his body was limp and he was bleeding from the back of his head,' McClure's report read. The Georgia native was then airlifted to Atlanta Medical Center, where he claims he stayed in a coma for 12 days and was closely monitored for 22, according to a report from fetchyournews.com. The incident occurred on June 16 2015. Cantrell is seen on dashcam footage leaving his pickup truck and fleeing police on foot Cantrell has filed a lawsuit because he says that he throws his hands up in surrender (as seen on left) before they tackle him (right) McClure says he tackled Cantrell so he wouldn't draw the knife he apparently had on his right hip Cantrell has now sued the City of Ellijay, Ellijay Police Chief Edward Lacey III and Officer Trevor McClure for $ 1.1 million, claiming excessive force. 'As a direct result of Defendants unlawful conduct, Plaintiff has suffered actual physical and emotional injuries, and other damages and losses,' the law suit read. Police say he had beer cans in his pickup truck and his blood alcohol content was 0.139 - almost 50 per cent more than the legal limit in Georgia. Police noted seven citations for striking a fixed object - he allegedly ran into a wooden pole while fleeing - reckless driving, driving while license was suspended/revoked, DUI, failure to stop at a Stop/Yield sign, failure to maintain lane, and fleeing or attempting to elude police, fetchyournews.com reported. Brussels wants to block the government from carrying out criminal record checks on EU nationals during the Brexit process. The EU's negotiators ambushed the UK delegation with the objection during tense talks this week. Ministers are furious at 'judicial imperialism' from the EU side, who are demanding the European Court of Justice (ECJ) enforces the rights of citizens in the UK after Brexit. Brussels also says the EU Commission must be put in charge of overseeing the implementation of any UK-EU agreement on citizen's rights and empowered to take punitive action if it is breached. While the talks were underway in Brussels, Mrs May entertained business leaders at No 10 to update them on the progress of the talks. The British side is understood to believe that progress has been made during four days of talks, despite bleating from EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier (pictured right with David Davis in Brussels today) about a lack of 'clarity' on the UK's position The British side is understood to believe that progress has been made during four days of talks, despite bleating from EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier about a lack of 'clarity' on the UK's position. But the fact that new areas of disagreement have emerged could worry the 3.2 million EU nationals living in the UK and the 1.2 million British expats in Europe who have been promised their rights will be prioritised. The Government's offer on citizens rights would allow EU nationals resident in the UK for five years to apply for 'settled status' - effectively guaranteeing them indefinite leave to remain in the country once Britain is out of the bloc. Others who have been in the country for less than that period will also be allowed to stay and then apply for settled status once they have clocked up the necessary time. Britain is insisting that EU nationals' criminal records should be checked when they apply for settled status because the public expect the Government to be able to carry out at least brief reviews of the police database. Paul Polman (left), Chief Executive Officer of Unilever, and Paul Manduca (right), Chairman of Prudential, were among the guests in No 10 today Decoded Co-CEO, Kathryn Parsons (left) and Risk Capital CEO, Luke Johnson (right) were also among the guests for a meeting with Mrs May in Downing Street today National Grid CEO John Pettigrew (left) and Tesco CEO Dave Lewis (right) were also updated by the Prime Minister on the Brexit latest The UK is understood to be happy for European countries to do the same for expats. However, the EU is adamant that systematic checks are not permitted under the Brussels free movement directive and that they can only be done on the basis of reasonable suspicion. The UK has also offered to use a more relaxed deportation test for EU citizens found to have committed crimes before Brexit, using the Brussels definition that they should only lose residence rights if they present a genuine, serious, present threat to the fundamental interests of society. But if an EU national is found to have committed a crime after Brexit, they will be liable for deportation if they attract a prison sentence for 12 months or longer, as laid down in UK law applying to non-European immigrants. Jaguar Land Rover CEO Ralph Speth was also seen walking up Downing Street for today's meeting Director General of the Institute of Directors (IoD) Stephen Martin (left) and BAE Systems Chairman Roger Carr (right) were also today's meeting CBI Director General Carolyn Fairbairn was also invited to hear the latest from Mrs May in Downing Street British officials hope the position means the goalposts will not be moved for EU nationals in the UK before Brexit but it could anger those who expected the Government to be able to take a tougher line on foreign criminals after quitting the bloc. In another rift, UK negotiators were surprised when their Brussels counterparts insisted British expats would not get an automatic right to move to different countries in the EU under free movement rules and would instead only be guaranteed the right to remain in the country in which they are currently settled, it is understood. The position appears to contradict European Commission chief negotiator Michel Barnier's insistence that rights should not be watered down after Brexit. Vladimir Putin paid a rare visit to one of his biggest critics - a Russian human rights icon who has fought against the Kremlin for decades celebrating her 90th birthday. Lyudmila Alexeyeva is a dissident who challenged the Soviet regime and Russian authorities since the 1950s, advocating for democratic rights and seeking justice for political prisoners. She is still one of Putin's most scathing critics and pro-Kremlin groups have vilified Alexeyeva, calling her a foreign agent who seeks to undermine state interests. But she and the Russian leader shared a bottle of Champagne and talked hand-in-hand during the surprise visit in Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) congratulates the founder and Chairman of the Moscow Helsinki Group Lyudmila Alekseyeva (right) on her 90th birthday in Moscow, Russia, Lyudmila Alexeyeva, Chairwoman of the Moscow Helsinki Group, and one of Vladimir Putin's biggest critics She is still one of Putin's most scathing critics and pro-Kremlin groups have vilified Alexeyeva, calling her a foreign agent who seeks to undermine state interests. But they were able to put their differences aside to enjoy a bottle of Champagne together Alexeyeva co-founded the Moscow Helsinki Group, Russia's oldest human rights organisation, in 1976 and has been one of the fiercest opponents of new repressive laws targeting non-governmental organizations with foreign funding. It was initially formed to scrutinize the compliance of the Soviet Union with the OSCE Helsinki Accords. The human rights activist was born in Yevpatoria, Crimea, on July 20, 1927. Having studied at the Moscow State University in 1950 and the Moscow Institute for Economics and Statistics in 1956, she became an archaeologist. During that period she joined the Communist Party of the USSR and her political stance was hugely affected by the Khrushchev Thaw that lasted from the mid-1950s through the early 1960s. Alexeyeva became a key member of the dissident movement in the USSR in the 60s and signed petitions in defense of other dissidents who were prosecuted by the Soviet authorities towards the end of the decade. It was then that she was expelled from the Communist Party but, undeterred, she continued her activities in defence of human rights. From 1968 to 1972 she worked undercover as a typist for the first underground bulletin The Chronicle of Current Events which was devoted to human rights violations in the USSR. Four years later she co-founded the Moscow Helsinki Group but in 1977 Alexeyeva and her family were forced to leave the USSR and settled in the US. In 1993, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, she returned to Russia and picked up where she left off with the Moscow Helsinki Group. Alexeyeva, who was forced to leave the USSR with her family in 1977 before returning from the US in 1993 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, talks to the Russian leader Putin takes the hand of the woman who regularly organised rallies against his regime in Moscow After the turn of the century, Alexeyeva has been heavily critical of the Kremlins human rights record and accused the government of numerous human rights violations. It landed her in hot water in 2006 when she was accused by the Russian authorities of involvement with British intelligence and received threats from nationalist groups. She has fronted, supported and chaired and since August 31 2009, has been an active participant in Strategy-31 the regular protest rallies of citizens on Moscows Triumphalnaya Square in defense of the 31st Article (On the Freedom of Assembly) of the Russian Constitution. She has regularly organised the rallies and in December of the same year was detained by riot police amid clashes. Four months later she was assaulted on live television in the Park Kultury metro station by a man as she was payed respect to the victims of the 2010 Moscow Metro Bombings. She remains active as one of the last Soviet dissidents still active in modern Russia. A former Alabama educator has been sentenced to more than 30 years in prison on child pornography charges. Brett Kirkham, 40, had the sentence imposed Thursday by U.S. District Judge Scott Coogler after he pleaded guilty in March to possessing a pornographic image of a child and enticing a minor for sex. Kirkham, who is a former principal at Hueytown Middle School in suburban Birmingham and a past human resources director for Jefferson County schools, was arrested following a search of his home in June 2016 and has been in jail since. The former educator was accused of having sex with a student in two counties. Records show Kirkham was once the student's principal at the school. Prosecutors agreed to drop state charges against Kirkhamin a plea deal, but he still has related charges pending in Tuscaloosa and Jefferson Counties. When Kirkham is released from prison, he will be put on supervised probation for the rest of his life, will have to register as a sex offender and follow all guidelines associated with that registration. He is to never have any contact with a child under the age of 18 without supervision, and is not allowed to work with children under 18. Brett Kirkham (left in arrest photo and file right), 40, had the 30-year prison sentence imposed Thursday after he pleaded guilty in March to possessing a pornographic image of a child and enticing a minor for sex. He still has charges pending in two counties During the hearing, he made a brief statement to the victims, community and his family. He said: 'I truly am deeply sorry.' But Assistant U.S. Attorney John Ward called the circumstances a 'particularly heinous case.' 'There's no way to explain away his conduct,' he said. A statement prepared by the victim who was a student of Kirkham's when they engaged in sex acts was read by Ward during the hearing. 'He acted as if he was my friend, but he was not my friend. I know that now,' the statement said. 'I now live in constant fear... fearing someone will find out it was me.' It also described how the victim is now slow to trust people and since the incident, does not have many close friends. 'One day, when all of this is said and done, I will return to who I was before this,' it said. Also during the sentencing hearing, officials discussed how Kirkham contacted a 14-year-old to molest and sodomize the teen's eight-year-old brother and another four-year-old child, Alabama.com reported. Kirkham reportedly asked the teen, who lived in Mississippi, to send him a video of the incident, which was found on his computer by authorities. The educator was accused of having sex with a student in two counties. Records show Kirkham was once the student's principal at the school. Kirkham is a former principal at Hueytown Middle School (file above) The former educator is charged in Jefferson County 'with one count of a school employee engaging in a sex act with a student and in Tuscaloosa County on one count of a school employee engaging in a sex act with a student and with possession of child pornography,' according to Alabama.com. Kirkham used a cellphone and computer to 'persuade, induce and entice' the victims for sexual activity, according to the federal indictment. One of the victims was born in 1997; the other in 1993. The allegations against Kirkham date back to at least 1996, Alabama.com reported. The indictment states that some of the pornographic images found were of 'a prepubescent minor and a minor who had not attained 12 years of age.' The 40-year-old is said to have met with the victim on dozens of occasions between January 1, 2014 and January 1, 2016 to engage in sex acts, according to the state charges in the case. 'The victim said they would meet at various locations throughout Hueytown,' Hueytown police department Sgt. Mark Didcoct wrote in the arrest warrant affidavit. 'The suspect was also the victim's former principal at Hueytown Middle School.' The same victim is involved in the Tuscaloose County case, as that arrest warrant states the former educator did 'engage in anal sex with minor between the ages of 16 -18' from January 1, 2013 through January 1, 2016. Kirkham possessed obscene matter 'containing a visual depiction of a person under the age of 17 years engaged in any act of sad-masochistic abuse, sexual intercourse, sexual excitement, masturbation, genital nudity or other sexual conduct' during those same years, according to the warrant. The former educator also had photos of a male under the age of 17 'completely nude showing his genital area', according to the records. The White House is standing by President Trump's warning to special counsel Robert Mueller not to cross a 'red line' by probing his own personal finances. Speaking from the White House podium at an off-camera briefing, spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders did not dispute the president's claim that it would be a 'violation' if Mueller were to probe alleged Trump financial ties to Russia. 'The president is making clear that the special counsel should not move outside of the scope of the investigation,' Sanders said. She said the president had 'no intention' of firing Mueller, although she said he has the right to do so. She went on to say that the president is frustrated' with the 'witch hunt' of the Russia investigation. Special counsel Robert Mueller is probing an array of Russia-linked Trump business transactions, including the 2013 Miss Universe pageant, according to a report Her comments came hours after Trump told the New York Times it would be a 'violation' if Mueller got into that area, and after a report that Mueller's team of FBI agents and crack investigators is already examining such financial arrangements as the sale of Trump condos to Russians and the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. Mueller's Russia probe is casting a wide net that examines an array ofTrump business transactions exactly the direction the president said in a new interview would be a 'violation.' Mueller began his probe under a mandate from Deputy Attorney Rod Rosenstein to investigate Trump associates' Russia contacts as well as 'any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation.' A new Bloomberg News report states that Mueller is probing a skein of business transactions, from Trump condo sales to large number of wealthy Russians, the 2013 Miss Universe pageant which was held in Moscow, and Trump's sale of a $95 million mansion to a Russian oligarch. Trump made clear he would consider it a violation if Mueller, the former FBI director, went in a direction the president considered far afield, when asked about it in a New York Times interview published Wednesday. President Trump said if Mueller were to probe his business, it would be a 'violation' 'No, I think thats a violation,' Trump said, asked if Mueller were to look at his finances or family finances unrelated to Russia. 'Look, this is about Russia. So I think if he wants to go, my finances are extremely good, my company is an unbelievably successful company. And actually, when I do my filings, people say, Man' Trump responded. After praising his company, he added: 'But I have no income from Russia. I dont do business with Russia.' Trump also agreed that it would be a 'red line' if Mueller ventured into this territory. The financing and marketing of Trump Soho is one avenue reportedly under review Trump doubled his money on the sale of this Palm Beach mansion to a Russian oligarch for $95 million in 2008 'I would say yeah. I would say yes,' Trump responded. 'By the way, I would say, I dont I dont I mean, its possible theres a condo or something, so, you know, I sell a lot of condo units, and somebody from Russia buys a condo, who knows? I dont make money from Russia.' 'They said I own buildings in Russia. I dont,' Trump continued. 'They said I made money from Russia. I dont. Its not my thing. I dont, I dont do that. Over the years, Ive looked at maybe doing a deal in Russia, but I never did one. Other than I held the Miss Universe pageant there eight, nine years' ago, Trump said, in reference to the 2013 pageant four years ago. Trump also mentioned the billionaire Aras Alragov, who reportedly paid $20 million to host the pageant. 'The gentleman that you mentioned, with his son, two nice people. But basically, they brought the Miss Universe pageant to Russia to open up, you know, one of their jobs. Perhaps the convention center where it was held. It was a nice evening, and I left. I left, you know, I left Moscow. It wasnt Moscow, it was outside of Moscow,' Trump said. Trump's acknowledgement that 'it's possible there's a condo or something' could be a reference to an issue, documented by Reuters in March, that Russian elites paid nearly $100 million for Trump condos in south Florida. BROAD MANDATE: The letter appointing Mueller authorizes him to probe 'any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation' of Trump campaign's Russia ties as well as 'other matters' Sixty-three Russian passport holders purchased condos in seven Trump properties totalling $98.4 million, according to the report. Agalarov and his son, Emin, feature prominently in the 2016 email to Donald Trump, Jr. that led to a meeting with a Kremlin-linked lawyer. The email, from a British publicist, stated that the senior Agalarov had received information that would discredit Hillary Clinton from a Russian prosecutor. Another Trump Russia transaction mentioned as being under scrutiny is his sale of a Palm Beach mansion to Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev for $95 million in 2008. Trump purchased the property four years earlier for $41 million. The next most expensive mansion on the market at the time was going for $13 million less. It was a record U.S. home sale price at the time, and was done without benefit of a home inspection, Cox Newspapers reported. Trump's business deals, including the Miss Universe pageant, as well as condo sales to Russians, are under review Yet another project is the development of Trump Soho, where Trump partnered with Russian immigrant Felix Sater, who joined the firm Bayrock along with Tevfik Arif, who was from Kazakhstan. According to a 2016 New York Times report, Sater was implicated in a stock manipulation scheme and went to jail after a bar fight. Condo purchasers sued, claiming the Trump Organization overstated the number of units that had been sold. Another suit raised the issue of the project's financing and charged investors' backgrounds hadn't been disclosed. Asked in the Times interview whether he would fire Mueller for exceeding what he considered a proper mandate of investigation, Trump responded: 'I cant, I cant answer that question because I dont think its going to happen.' The ABC's top 20 presenters are each paid more than $225,000 a year, with the highest paid star raking in $450,000. The corporation revealed its total wage bill tops $437million with the five highest paid presenters making between $375,000 and $450,000, the Herald Sun reports. A further six are on salaries between $300,000 and $375,000 and another nine are earning between $225,000 and $300,000. However, the public broadcaster it is not revealing each individual's salary - despite the BBC doing so for the first time this week. The ABC's top 20 presenters are each paid more than $225,000 a year, with the highest paid star raking in $450,000. Radio presenter Jon Faine (left) and Q&A host, Tony Jones (right) However, it's likely that Insiders presenter Barrie Cassidy, Q&A's Tony Jones and 7.30 host Leigh Sales are likely to be among the corporation's best-paid stars. But the ABC has confirmed that it has 33 employees who earn more than $250,000 including managing director Michelle Guthrie who makes $900,000 a year. She has eight executives who are on pay packets of more than $400,000. The salary for the managing director's role has increased by 50 per cent in 10 years, but the broadcaster says an independent Remuneration Tribunal determined a pay range for it. It is likely that Insiders presenter Barrie Cassidy, Q&A's Tony Jones and 7.30 host Leigh Sales (above) are likely to be among the corporation's best-paid stars The ABC has confirmed that it has 33 employees who earn more than $250,000. Above, Barrie Cassidy It comes after the BBC revealed salaries for its top 96 stars, amounting to $47 million, amid pressure to show how it uses funds provided by a license fee on TV-viewing households. Top Gear host Chris Evans is the corporation's best-compensated star making more than $3.6million. But the revelations sparked a gender pay gap row as it emerged that more than two-thirds of the broadcaster's stars who made more than $245,000 are men. However, the ABC has denied it has any disparity between salaries for men and women. 'The ABC's own gender pay gap analysis shows there is no pay gap that is unfavourable to women at any level,' a spokesman told the Herald Sun. John McCain is fighting for his life. Again. For most of us, confronting the kind of aggressive brain cancer he has would be an insurmountable horror. But for McCain, a man who has waged war with everyone and everything, from the Vietcong to melanoma, it is just another battle to be fought. To understand the kind of man that John McCain is, you need to visit his office in Washington. There is no finer, tougher, more courageous hero in America than John McCain I had that honour five years ago and I will never forget it. The walls are covered with memorabilia from his remarkable and varied career. But as we walked around, I spotted one intriguing framed citation, hidden away in a corner. Whats this? I asked. At first, McCain didnt seem too keen to tell me. He stood silently, his cheekbones tweaking hard, then eventually replied: Somebody sent me this its the original official Navy report on my service in Vietnam. I read it carefully. It detailed how McCain, often held in solitary confinement, had been exposed to extreme mental and physical cruelties in an attempt to obtain military information and false confessions for propaganda purposes. But although crippled from serious and ill-treated injuries, he refused repeated offers of freedom unless prisoners whod been held longer than him were released too. His selfless action served as an example to others, read the citation, and his forthright refusal, by giving emphasis to the insidious nature of such releases, may have prevented possibly chaotic deterioration in prisoner discipline. I turned back to McCain. How on earth did you find the courage to do that? I had no choice, he said, his eyes welling up with tears, these men were my friends. Thats not true, of course. He had a choice. He could have taken his freedom and left his friends behind. But that never crossed McCains mind. McCain endured extreme mental and physical cruelties' in his years of captivity during the Vietnam War, but refused repeated offers of freedom unless prisoners whod been held longer were released too Instead, he opted to stay and subject himself to yet more systematic torture and abuse. I have thought about that citation many times since then, particularly when Donald Trump cruelly and indefensibly mocked McCain during the presidential campaign, saying: Hes not a war hero. Hes a war hero because he was captured? I like people who werent captured. The truth is that John McCain is about as great a war hero as you could possibly imagine. He was awarded 17 military awards and decorations that confirm this, including the Distinguished Flying Cross for his heroism as a pilot in the incident that led to his capture. The citation read: While attacking the thermal power plant at Hanoi, Commanded McCain, despite extremely heavy and accurate anti-aircraft fire and more than fifteen surface-to-air missiles, pursued the attack until his aircraft was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire. Although his aircraft was severely damaged, he continued his bomb delivery pass and released his bombs on the target. When the aircraft would not recover from the dive, Commander McCain was forced to eject over the target. By his exceptional courage, superb airmanship and total devotion to duty, Commander McCain reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. McCain fractured both arms and a leg during the ejection and nearly drowned after parachuting into a lake. He was caught by North Vietnamese soldiers, who crushed his shoulder with a rifle butt and bayoneted him. He was then taken to the infamous Hoa Lo Prison, nicknamed the Hanoi Hilton where he was viciously beaten and interrogated. Somehow, against all the odds, he survived. In all, McCain spent over five years as a prisoner-of-war in Vietnam. He won further honours for his conduct during that time, including the Silver Star, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity. The citation read: By his determination, courage, resourcefulness, and devotion to duty, Commander McCain reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the finest traditions of Naval Service and the United States Armed Forces. McCain won the Legion of Merit too, for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services to the Government of the United States while interned as a Prisoner of War in North Vietnam. That citation stated: Under the most adverse of conditions, he resisted all attempts by the North Vietnamese to use him in causes detrimental to the United States, never wavering in his devotion and loyalty to the United States. McCain spent over five years as a prisoner-of-war. He won further honours for his conduct during that time, including the Silver Star and he won the Legion of Merit too McCains heroic behaviour manifested itself in many ways during his time in captivity. The LoM citation continued: In an outstanding fashion, he served as Chaplain wherein he provided spiritual guidance, instilled constructive rehabilitative thinking and conducted religious services for the benefit of other prisoners during their long internment. In addition, he served as an educator to provide diversion to his fellow prisoners. He devoted long hours toward improving their morale and well-being. His extraordinary skill, resourcefulness and dedication to duty reflected great credit upon himselfand the United States Armed Forces. McCains war experiences made him the man that he is today: indomitable, fearless, determined, pugnacious and ferociously hard-working. To call him a political giant in America is to massively underplay his stature. He may have failed in several attempts to be President, most recently in 2008 against Barack Obama. But for me, McCain is the greatest figure in Washington; a swashbuckling buccaneer who revels in the often cutthroat mayhem of life in Congress. Ive interviewed him many times and its always been a fabulously entertaining experience. He views his encounters with journalists in exactly the same way he viewed North Vietnamese interrogations: as a form of combat, never giving an inch, and refusing to succumb to pressure. McCain the politician doesnt suffer fools, has a deliciously short fuse, punches as hard as he gets punched, and likes nothing better than being right in the thick of the battle, whatever battle that may be. McCain the private man is wonderfully smart, amusing, generous and kind. Several years ago, I attended a small Manhattan dinner party in his honour and he managed to be hilariously funny, tear-jerkingly moving, and brilliantly incisive about America and world affairs all in the space of one 20-minute speech. McCain the politician doesnt suffer fools, has a deliciously short fuse, punches as hard as he gets punched, and likes nothing better than being right in the thick of the battle. McCain the private man is wonderfully smart, amusing, generous and kind Everyone loved him that night. Now, as he faces up to the latest of so many wars in his life, he will doubtless be displaying all those same characteristics to his nursing staff and telling them how hes going to defeat this b*****d brain cancer. I wouldnt bet against him. As President Obama tweeted: John McCain is an American hero & one of the bravest fighters Ive ever known. Cancer doesnt know what its up against. Give it hell, John. Even his old foe President Trump said he hoped McCain gets well soon, saying: We missed him. He is a crusty voice in Washington. Hes certainly that. But hes so much more, too. John McCain is a man who has devoted his entire adult life to serving his country in with quite extraordinary loyalty, passion, dedication and courage. I know no finer American, nor a stronger one. The cruellest enemy could not break him, said his daughter Meghan today. The aggressions of life could not bend him.. cancer may afflict him in many ways but it will not make him surrender. Nothing ever has. Shes so right. Come on Senator, you can beat this. You always do. A woman has been found guilty of murdering her husband in a crime witnessed only by their pet parrot. Glenna Duram, 49, was convicted of first-degree murder in a Michigan courtroom Wednesday over the death of her husband, 46-year-old Martin Duram. The 49-year-old had been accused of shooting her husband five times, before turning the gun on herself in a failed suicide attempt at their home in Newaygo County. The trial lasted a total of 10 days, with defense lawyers having a list of her medications admitted to evidence during its final stages with the hope of convincing the jury the 49-year-old was not in her right mind at the time of the shooting. Scroll down for video Glenna Duram, 49, was convicted of first-degree murder over the death of her husband, 46-year-old Martin Duram. She is pictured in court on Wednesday Duram had been accused of shooting her husband five times in their Michigan home on May 12, 2015, before turning the gun on herself in a failed suicide attempt. They are both pictured Prosecutors had requested to use the testimony of Martin Duram's parrot, Bud (pictured), but were denied. After the shooting, the bird was said to be heard saying repeatedly: 'Don't f***ing shoot' The attempt was unsuccessful, and Duram was found guilty after about eight hours of deliberating by the jury, Fox17 reports. She appeared to make a gesture of some sort and mouthed something after the verdict was given. Martin Durams pet parrot, Bud, was the only witness to the murder, however he was not called upon during the trial. However, Duram's ex-wife, Christina Keller, who took Bud in after the murder, said the parrot overheard Martin begging for his life before being shot. Keller said Bud repeatedly said, 'Dont f***ing shoot' while mimicking his former owner's voice, which the ex-wife said was the bird replaying the final words he heard from Martin Duram on the night he was shot. Glenna Duram appeared annoyed and gestured wildly after the sentence was handed down One of the prosecutors argued for Bud's comments to be admitted into evidence for the trial, but the request was denied. Prior to the trial being decided, Martin's parents said they were sure the bird was revealing what went on. 'That bird picks up everything and anything, and it's got the filthiest mouth around,' Lillian Duram told the BBC. Glenna Duram (left) had been accused of shooting her husband, Martin (right), inside their home more than two years ago Martin's parents believed their son's parrot overhead his final words, with Lillian Duram (left) saying: 'That bird picks up everything and anything' After the verdict was handed down, the still-grieving mother said it offered little consolation. 'It just isn't good; just isn't good. Two years is a long time to wait for justice,' she told Fox17. 'To sit there and watch her be emotionless... kind of hurt too. 'I feel hurt that both families had to go through this, cause we both used to be close and go camping together.' Glenna Duram will be sentenced on August 28 and faces life in prison. The world's obsession with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's physique is well known - but now there's a new contender in town. French counterpart Emmanuel Macron put on an eye-catching display as he made his way around a French air force base on Thursday. At one point the newly-elected Prime Minister donned a tight flight suit as he greeted the troops, which left him rather exposed. Emmanuel Macron donned a rather tight flight suit as he took a tour of Istres air base on Thursday as he sought to see of criticism over his handling of the armed forces Macron wore the suit to take a ride on a C-135 transport plane before meeting those who work at the base, which forms part of the country's nuclear deterrent The visit came a day after the head of the armed forces quit in opposition to hundreds of millions of euros of spending cuts Macron was attempting to impose Macron wore the outfit in order to take a flight on a C-135 military transport plane while visiting Istres air base, near Marseille. There was also a serious aspect to the President's visit, as he seeks to reassure the country over his handling of the armed forces. It comes after the head of the military, General Pierre de Villiers, dramatically quit his post on Wednesday after a row over funding with Macron. In his resignation statement he said he no longer felt able to command the sort of armed forces 'that I think is necessary to guarantee the protection of France and the French people.' In an attempt to head off any rebellion on the issue, Macron promised an 'unprecedented' increase in defense spending next year, before arranging a camera-friendly visit to the air base to visit part of the country's nuclear forces. The French President, his Defence Minister Florence Parly and Army Chief of Military Staff Francois Lecointre (centre) speak outside a transport aircraft Macron was never far from the side of General Francois Lecointre (right) as he made the visit, having recruited him just yesterday after his predecessor quit The President used the visit to announce an 'unprecedented' 2billion euro increase in spending for the military next year, in a year when other budgets will be frozen Macron also promised to 'safeguard' the nuclear deterrent, calling it 'the heart of our defense.' His replacement as chief of staff of the armed forces, General Francois Lecointre, was at his side for much of Thursday's event. Macron promised to boost spending by 1.8 billion euros ($2.1 billion) to 34.2 billion ($39 billion) euros next year. He has also pledged to bring defense spending to 2 per cent of GDP by 2025 to fulfill pledges to the NATO military alliance, from about 1.8 percent of GDP currently. 'This increase in the budget, in a year where no other budget except the army's will see an increase, is unprecedented, and I want to you to understand how important this is,' he told officers gathered at Istres. Macron also vowed to 'safeguard' the country's nuclear arsenal, saying it forms 'the heart of our defense' (pictured meeting troops at the base) The President also pledged to bring military spending up to the NATO target of 2 per cent of GDP by 2025, after being admonished by President Trump for failing to do so already Transport planes taxi on the runway at Istres air base during Macron's visit on Thursday France's youngest-ever President, Macron has sought to establish his authority over the military, notably by touring a nuclear submarine and overseeing last week's military parade for Bastille Day alongside U.S. President Donald Trump. But Macron ran into conflict with former armed forces chief of staff Gen. Pierre de Villiers, who resisted 850 million euros in cuts announced last week to this year's budget. Villiers' departure Wednesday rattled the normally quiet, loyal French military and exposed simmering concerns about neglected facilities and dwindling resources. Villiers notably argued that France's military is being stretched more and more to fight Islamic extremist threats at home and abroad. But the dispute was as much about Macron exerting authority as it was about money, with Macron lecturing military leaders 'I am the boss' and de Villiers cautioning that 'no one deserves to be blindly followed.' A woman was arrested after she climbed into the car of an undercover cop, introduced herself as the 'Million Dollar Ho' and flashed her genitals, police said. Debra Thomes, 49, approached a cop in a Fort Pierce, Florida, parking lot and offered oral and vaginal sex, saying 'I'll give you everything you want' for $40, according to an arrest affidavit cited by the Smoking Gun. Thomes exposed her genitals to the cop before she was arrested on a felony prostitution charge on Wednesday. Debra Thomes, 49, was arrested in a prostitution sting in Fort Pierce, Florida, on Wednesday after she called herself the 'Million Dollar Ho' and offered a cop oral and vaginal sex for $40 Thomes exposed her genitals to the cop before she was arrested on a felony prostitution charge on Wednesday Thomes initially asked the cop if he wanted a date before climbing into his car at around 8.45pm. Once inside, she dubbed herself the 'Million Dollar Ho' even though she went on to offer 'everything you want' for just $40. She also told the man, 'You're the first one today', before lifting up her dress and exposing herself. The cop then alerted his fellow officers, who arrested Thomes in the prostitution sting. She is being held in St. Lucie County Jail on $3,750 bond. Thomes was convicted last month on a felony prostitution charge, and has a criminal history including convictions for criminal mischief, possession of drug paraphernalia, resisting an officer, and exposure of sexual organs. Aspiring model Resham Khan, 21, suffered 'life-changing' injuries in the acid attack A brave model left with horrific face and neck injuries in an acid attack last month has revealed how she was called a 'b****' by a cruel Instagram troll - for not replying to his message. Resham Khan, 21, was injured, along with her cousin Jameel Muhktar, in the June 21 attack in Beckton, East London. In a blog post today, she revealed that many had sent kind messages over social network Instagram. But she said she was shocked to read one of the messages. She wrote: 'Today I opened a dm from a guy that had initially messaged me a few weeks ago wishing me well. 'Long story short, my lack of response or effort to make casual conversation led to him calling me a b**** and telling me to delete him (although I didnt actually follow him). 'Okay so it might sound silly, but it really wound me up. Who says that just because a guy messages a woman it means she MUST reply, and if she doesnt she is a rude, mean person that deserves to be called a b****. Miss Khan has said she wants to ensure 'no one ever goes through the living nightmare I have endured' after being left with horrific face and neck injuries after the incident Miss Khan's cousin Jameel Muhktar also suffered 'life-changing' burns in the attack on June 21 'Dont push your toys out the pram just because a woman isnt entertaining the conversation. The reasons for her reply, or lack of, is not up for discussion. LADIES: We dont have to reply to anyone.' She revealed she is now out of hospital, and had gone for a walk for the first time since the terrifying attack. Miss Khan wrote: 'Although I wasnt going to, I decided I couldnt put a timeline on "when Im ready" to leave my house. 'I did it on my own terms; went with my dad, wore huge shades, went to only one store and went after the shopping rush. But I still did it. More than likely Ill try again, maybe aiming to go out closer to rush hour the more my face begins the heal. 'So overall, Ive been out of hospital for two days, and Ive seen friends, sat in a car (windows closed obviously) and walked to B&M home stores.' It followed a harrowing open letter published last week, in which she said she was 'patiently waiting for the return of my face', and told of her 'unbearable pain'. Now Miss Khan has said she wants to ensure 'no one ever goes through the living nightmare I have endured' after being left with horrific face and neck injuries after the incident on June 21. It comes as a campaign to change the law to make corrosive substances much harder to buy gained momentum as it hit more than 360,000 signatures online. In her letter, Miss Khan wrote: 'I invite you all in once again to reflect upon my 21st birthday. A milestone age for many reasons, we must remember that any opportunity to mark or celebrate the occasion was stolen from me. 'Stolen in one of the most painfully scarring ways I could ever imagine. My plans are in pieces; my pain is unbearable, and I write this letter in hospital whilst I patiently wait for the return of my face. Miss Khan (right) and Jameel Muhktar (left, together) are pictured before the horrific attack 'Currently, I have two main priorities: to make a full recovery and to make sure no one ever goes through the living nightmare I have endured. 'Since the attack and the vast media coverage, the disturbing rise of attacks using corrosive substances as a weapon has been brought to the public's attention.' She said that the number of incidents involving corrosive substances in London has risen from 186 in 2014/2015 to 397 in 2016/2017. Miss Khan added: 'Street gangs are now using these life-changing substances instead of guns and knives. Why are acids the new street weapon? John Tomlin has been charged with two counts of grievous bodily harm with intent 'Because corrosive substances are readily available in-store and online for as little as 6.50 and the laws surrounding possession is loose. 'I cannot sit back whilst others remain indoors in fear of this happening to them. This problem needs to be eliminated. I refuse to allow the country I grew up in to simply get used to corrosive substance attacks. The fear is real. The crime is real.' She has provided a five-point plan, including asking police to take a tougher approach on corrosive substances and retailers to consider regulation changes. She also wants harsher punishments for acid attack perpetrators and the possession of corrosive substances without good reason to be punishable. Finally, Miss Khan wants the Government to impose licensing regulations for the buying of corrosive substances, depending on the concentration levels. John Tomlin appeared at Thames Magistrates' Court yesterday charged with two counts of grievous bodily harm with intent over the alleged attack. The 25-year-old from Canning Town handed himself in to police on Sunday. He was remanded in custody and told to appear at Snaresbrook Crown Court on August 8. President Obama's administration produced a 15-page plan in October to put in place in case of an election day cyber attack, courtesy of the Russians, who had already targeted Hillary Clinton's aides and the Democratic National Committee. Time Magazine obtained a copy of the document, which notes that while 'state, local, tribal, and territorial governments' would have the primary jurisdiction to respond, the federal government would have 'enhanced procedures' in place in case of a heightened incident. Besides having all the FBI and DHS cyber experts at the ready, the document referenced military plans, and also a public relations campaign, in order to keep doubts about the legitimacy of the election at bay. Scroll down for video Behind-the-scenes and before election day, President Obama's administration produced a document outlining plans for what could happen if there was an election day hack, with the Russians already having targeted Hillary Clinton's campaign and the DNC Besides having all the FBI and DHS cyber experts at the ready, the document referenced military plans, and also a public relations campaign For instance, listed under the Department of Defense's response, the document reads: 'Available forces for incident response in a federal status could include the Active and Reserve Components, to include the National Guard.' And while armed federal personnel are prohibited by law to enter a polling place, a cyber attack that shut down voting would scrap that, the document made clear. 'It is important to note that the Department of Justice has concluded that armed federal law enforcement agents may, where otherwise appropriate, respond to a cyber or other incident at a polling place that caused it to cease functioning (i.e. when balloting has entirely ceased at that location),' it read. Additionally, in order to combat any sort of 'fake news' stories planted after an election hack, a special interagency group would stay assembled until Friday, November 11, three days after voting to address 'any post-election cyber incidents.' Public affairs professionals would be on hand to carefully craft messages. 'These public statements should be developed to avoid inadvertently calling into doubt the integrity of the voting process and to avoid negative impacts to voter turnout,' the document read. Time's publication of this document piggybacks on testimony made in June by former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson. Prior to the document being released, former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson testified in June that he wanted to deem election infrastructure 'critical infrastructure' to state and local jurisdictions could get more help. Local officials weren't pleased with the idea The 15-page document points out that the Department of Justice said it would be OK for armed federal agents to come to polling places if a cyber attack were detected, bringing voting to a standstill Johnson told the House Intelligence Committee that he had wanted to deem election infrastructure 'critical infrastructure' giving it various domestic and international cybersecurity protections. State and local officials, however, didn't take kindly to the offer, fearing a 'federal takeover' of elections. 'I convened a conference call with secretaries of state and other chief election officials of every state in the country,' Johnson testified. 'I told state officials that we must ensure the security and resilience of election infrastructure, and offered DHSs assistance to the states in doing that.' 'To my disappointment, the reaction to a critical infrastructure designation, at least from those who spoke up, ranged from neutral to negative,' Johnson continued. 'Those who expressed negative views stated that running elections in this country was the sovereign and exclusive responsibility of the states, and they did not want federal intrusion, a federal takeover, or federal regulation of that process,' he explained. 'This was a profound misunderstanding of what a critical infrastructure designation would mean, which I tried to clarify for them,' he added. But the response was so negative, Johnson said, that he put the idea on the back burner and encouraged state officials to simply ask the DHS for help if they needed it. Thirty-six states eventually asked for DHS help, Johnson testified. Salvador Dali's remains are to be exhumed on Thursday from his Spanish hometown in an effort to test a fortune teller's claim that the renowned surrealist is her father. The artist's body is buried in the elaborate museum of his work Dali designed himself in the northeastern Spanish town of Figueras, where he was born over 110 years ago. Pilar Abel, a 61-year-old who long worked as a psychic in Catalonia, says her mother had a relationship with the artist when she worked in Cadaques, a picturesque port where the painter lived for years. Pilar Abel, 61, a psychic from Catalonia, believes Surrealist artist Salvador Dali is her father, and is having his body exhumed in order to prove it Workers at the Theater-Museum Dali removed the one-tonne stone slab covering his grave after it closed on Thursday, before taking the artist's remains away If Abel is confirmed as Dali's only child, she could be entitled to at least 25 per cent of the estate of one of the most celebrated and prolific painters of the 20th century. Upon his death in 1989 at age 84, Dali's estate was estimated to be worth $136million (118million euros), according to his lawyer at the time. If the results, expected in a few weeks, prove that Abel is Dali's daughter, she could inherit a quarter his multi-million dollar estate It included hundreds of paintings as well as several properties in Catalonia as well as merchandising rights. The Salvador Dali Foundation - which manages the late artist's estate - tried unsuccessfully to fight off the exhumation with a court appeal. Authorities began removing the one-tonne slab covering the tomb of the eccentric artist after visitors left the Dali Theatre-Museum on Thursday evening. Forensic scientists will take DNA samples in the form of bone or tooth fragments directly from the grave and they will then be sent to Madrid to undergo the necessary tests. The museum, a top tourist site that drew over 1.1 million visitors last year, will be covered in some places with cloth to prevent drones from capturing images of the exhumation, which is expected to take several hours. The Salvador Dali Foundation will provide details of the exhumation at a press conference on Friday at 8am. The results of the tests are expected to take several weeks to come back. 'I just want to know the truth. I am very positive, very happy,' Abel told reporters at a Madrid hotel on the eve of Dali's exhumation. Fragments will now be taken from Dali's bones and teeth and compared to a saliva sample taken from Ms Abel to check whether she is related Abel claims her grandmother first told her that Dali was her father when she was around seven or eight, before her mother confirmed the information much later In an interview with AFP last month, just days after a court ordered the exhumation, Abel said her grandmother first told her she was Dali's daughter when she was seven or eight years old, and her mother admitted it much later. Abel is from the city of Figueras, like Dali, and she said she would often see him in the streets. 'We wouldn't say anything, we would just look at each other. But a glance is worth a thousand words,' she said. Spain's Culture Minister Inigo Mendez de Vigo said he was 'saddened' by the exhumation but he stressed that the court order must be obeyed. Dali's life was marked as much by the genius of his work as by his extravagances. A question has always hung over his sexuality, with some claiming he was a closet homosexual who preferred to watch others having sex rather than taking part. Dali's tomb, which sits at the centre of a museum in his hometown and is visited by more than a million people each year, is usually covered with a stone slab But according to Abel's lawyer Blanquez, his affair was 'known in the village, there are people who have testified before a notary'. Born on May 11, 1904 in Figueras to a bourgeois family, Dali developed an interest in painting from an early age. In 1922 he began studying at the Fine Arts Academy in Madrid, where, despite being expelled twice, he developed his first avant-garde artistic ideas in association with poet Federico Garcia Lorca and the filmmaker Luis Bunuel. Soon he left for Paris to join the surrealist movement, giving the school his own personal twist and rocketing to fame with works such as 'The Great Masturbator.' Returning to Catalonia after 12 years, he invited French poet Paul Eluard and his Russian wife Elena Ivanovna Diakonova to Cadaques. She became his muse - he gave her the pet name Gala - and remained at his side for the rest of her life. They never had children and she died in 1982, seven years before Dali's death. Saul Bautista-Vargas, 27, pictured, and 30-year-old Otoniel Bautista-Vargas, both died while on a fishing trip after one of them got into difficulties in the water and the other tried to save him Two brothers who were fishing in New Jersey have died after one got into trouble while swimming and the other tried to save him. Vineland police Lt. Steven Triantos told the Daily Journal that the men drowned in Crystal Lake on Wednesday night. Police identified the two drowning victims as Otoniel Bautista-Vargas, 30, and Saul Bautista-Vargas, 27, of Lakeview Drive in Bridgeton. They were brothers. Cops say no foul play was suspected. Police were called to the lake Wednesday evening after a fisherman in a boat spotted what he thought were two people at the bottom of the water. Police found items on a beach at the lake that included a wallet and ID for one of the men who drowned. Lt. Steven Triantos told The Daily Journal that it appears one of the men decided to go swimming, at which point 'he got in trouble.' When the man's brother then ran into the water to try and save him, he also got into trouble. The park where the lake is located has posted signs saying no swimming, and that there are no lifeguards at the lake. A person who reported eating at a Chipotle in northern Virginia has tested positive for norovirus. But health officials say that's not yet enough to determine the cause of the 60 reported illnesses that have been confirmed. The restaurant in Sterling was temporarily closed this week for cleaning after customers reported symptoms that Chipotle said were consistent with norovirus. That sent shares of the fast food chain down to their lowest since 2015 when an E coli outbreak caused nearly 120 Boston College students to fall sick. One diner who ate at a Sterling, Virginia, Chipotle (pictured above) has tested positive for norovirus after health officials identified 60 sickened people who said they ate at the chain location Norovirus is a leading cause of illnesses from contaminated food, and infected employees are a frequent source of the outbreaks. Symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea and nausea. Overall, one out of six Americans get sick each year by consuming contaminated food or drinks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Eighty-nine reports were made to the website iwaspoisoned.com, indicating that 133 customers fell ill after eating at the Sterling location, according to website founder Patrick Quade. However, the health department says it has only identified about 60 sickened people who said they ate at the Chipotle in question. The Loudoun County Health Department in Virginia says it is still awaiting further test results that should be available early next week. Director David Goodfriend says that having another person test positive for norovirus would be a 'very strong indication' that the virus was behind the illnesses. Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc has stressed the safety measures it has taken to prevent such occurrences or respond quickly when they do happen. But its image is still fragile, and the chain has been dealing with bad publicity since Thursday after three mice fell from the ceiling in a Dallas, Texas, location. Chipotle says it was an 'extremely isolated incident', and that the mice got in the restaurant because of a structural gap in the building, which has since been fixed. Shares in Chipotle fell 4.5 percent to close at $356.05, their lowest point since April 2013. The shares had been above $390 on Tuesday. Embattled developer Mohamed Hadid got away with what angry neighbors called a 'slap on the wrist' from a Los Angeles judge today for building a giant mansion that blatantly flouted building laws and for ignoring numerous city orders to stop construction. On Thursday a judge ruled the billionaire will not serve jail time for the illegal construction of his 30,000 sq ft mansion in Bel Air, causing further outrage among his neighbors. 'He's a criminal and he should have gone to jail, blasted Hadid's neighbor Nicole Behrstock, 81, to DailyMail.com. 'And he should be forced to knock down that monstrosity.' Instead, he was fined $3,000, ordered to pay $14,191 in fees to the city of Los Angeles and is to serve 200 hours of community service. Bye-bye mega mansion: Billionaire real estate mogul Mohamed Hadid has been ordered to reduce the size and complete his controversial mega-mansion and bring it up to code 'Starship enterprise': The celebrity dad had been embroiled in a dispute with Bel-Air residents after he began building the massive home on the hilltop plot he bought in upscale Strada Vecchia in 2011 for just under $2 million Dream team: Attorneys Robert Shapiro and Donald Re represented the billionaire in court on Thursday - but Hadid was a no-show The mogul will only go to jail if he fails to reduce the size and complete the huge house and bring it up to code. Judge Eric Harmon gave him three years to comply. Hadid - father of supermodels Gigi and Bella Hadid - was again a no-show today at Los Angeles Superior Court in Van Nuys where, on May 30, he pleaded 'no contest' to three charges of criminally violating building regulations and ignoring orders to stop construction while building the 30,000-square-foot luxury home in Bel Air. Because it is so huge, the house has been dubbed 'Starship Enterprise' by neighbors who claim that the illegal over-building at the site could cause landslides that could destroy their nearby homes. At today's sentencing hearing - which was packed with neighbors who have been fighting with Hadid for three years over his massive house - LA city attorney Tina Hess - asked for the Palestinian-born builder to be jailed for 180 days, 60 days for each offense. Hess also wanted Hadid to serve 200 hours of community labor. But Judge Harmon stayed the jail time and imposed three years probation during which time he has to rebuild the controversial mansion, bring it into compliance with building codes and complete it. If he doesn't finish the house in that time, then the 180-day jail sentence could kick in. Monster house: The whole building was found to be 31ft higher than it should have been and 9,000 sq ft too big- he allegedly continued working on the monster house despite orders from Los Angeles City Council to stop Crew workers move scaffolding and other structures as they demolish parts of the home in June. Neighbor Joe Horacek said that Hadid had built several illegal rooms in the house that he hid under a tarp during construction Scaffolding and unfinished construction show the true views that neighbors have put up with as issues surrounding the enormous home were disputed Judge Harmon downgraded the 200 hours of community labor to community service. But he imposed the maximum fine - $1,000 - for each offense and ordered Hadid to pay nominal court costs and $14, 191 in restitution fees to the city of LA. Hess expressing fears that Hadid could 'walk away' from the half-finished house, also asked the judge to impose a large financial bond on him to cover the cost of demolishing the building, which she estimated at more than $1million. But after hearing from Hadid's high profile lawyer Robert Shapiro - who questioned the court's authority to order such a bond - Judge Harmon tabled the bond issue till another hearing he scheduled for September 18. Judge Harmon said that his biggest concern was bringing the project into compliance with the law and making the sites safe for concerned neighbors, around 20 of whom were in court today. 'The site is potentially dangerous and an eyesore,' he said. 'This is an important concern for the court court and I need to be kept informed as to the stability of the slope (the hill on Hadids site that neighbors fear could spark a landslide that would threaten their homes.) Mohamed Hadid's lawyers maintained the house will not be demolished and will be brought up to code. Pictured: Hadid's new architect Ignacio Rodriguez 'I dont think it's fair for the people in the community to be living in dangerous conditions' But despite Judge Harmon's assurance that he he would keep a close eye Hadid's controversial project, demanding periodic reports to the court on its progress, neighbors left the hearing feeling let down and expressing feeling ranging from outrage to disappointment. 'Hadid is a career criminal,' added Nicole Behrstock. 'And the judge is letting him get away with his criminal activities. Why has he been allowed to break the law, ignore orders from the city over and over again. 'My daughter bought a house 18 years ago and six months ago a city inspector came by, told her one of her bathrooms wasn't up to code and had to be demolished. 'And like a good citizen who obey the law, she demolished her bathroom. 'This guy Hadid thinks the law doesn't apply to him. This is a slap on the wrist. In fact it's not even that. It's nothing. It's nothing to him, just another delay, just like all his other delays over the past three years. It's going to drag on and on and on. 'What happened in court today is telling other developers, "You can do what you like and get away with it." Neighbor Joseph Horacek, stands for a portrait in the backyard of his home located beneath the mansion of Mohamed Hadid under construction A bird's eye view shows the enormous property being built by Hadid in the hills above Los Angeles. Joe Horacek's home is below, former big band singer Carole Cramer's is above The construction site has been deemed an eyesore and dangerous to the upscale neighborhood Daniel Love, President of the Bel Air Association - which represents about 1,500 local homeowners - told DailyMail.com: 'Mr Hadid played a cat and mouse game with the community and the city for three years and now the judge is playing a cat and mouse game with the court. 'There was no severe penalty. I would ask for the rule of law to be enforced and we have not seen that here today.' Neighbor Joe Horacek, 75, whose house lies directly beneath Hadid's 30,000 sq. ft. home, told DaiyMail.com: 'It's extremely unfortunate that a violation of the building code can only be punished in the same way, no matter how serious it is - with a maximum $1,000 fine.' He thinks Hadid should be forced to post a $10 million bond to ensure he doesn't abandon his mega mansion and leave the city to pick up the pieces. Outrage: Following the judge's decision, Hadid's neighbor Nicole Berhstock called the mogul a 'career criminal' 'He's done it before several times, declared bankruptcy and walked away from other building projects,' Horacek added. 'Without a substantial financial incentive like a bond, what's to stop him from walking away from this one too.' Fred Rosen, President of the Bel Air Homeowners Alliance agreed, adding: 'My experience is that people don't change. How many times has this guy filed for bankruptcy? So why would he comply this time.' Another neighbor, John Bedrosian, said of todays sentence: 'It's very disappointing but we just have to be patient. We have to have faith in the system - the trouble is, we have no faith in Hadid.' After today's hearing, Hadid's lawyer, Robert Shapiro told DailyMail.com: 'We are interested in one thing - bringing this building into compliance. We are going to work hand in hand with the Building and Safety Department to complete this project.' Calling his client, Mohamed Hadid and 'a true artist, a true visionary,' Shapiro scoffed at suggestions that the partially-built super mansion could end up being torn down if Hadid doesnt modify and downsize it. 'This is going to be completed,' he insisted. The long saga of how Hadid set out to build one of the biggest and most expensive luxury homes in LA includes a long list of vitriolic accusations of thievery, bribery, intimidation and other skullduggery. Hadid bought the hilltop plot on upscale Strada Vecchia, Bel Air in 2011 for just under $2million. He knocked down the ranch-style house that was already there and started building a monster mansion. Hadid was previously married to former model Yolanda Foster, with whom he shares daughter Bella (pictured) and Gigi Hadid Hadid is engaged to Iranian-born model Shiva Safai, who is 33 years his junior, and the star of E! Network reality show Second Wives Club Neighbors watched with increasing alarm as the massive house grew bigger and bigger. By 2014, the house was 9,000 square feet bigger - and 31 feet taller - than regulations allowed, they protested. And a 70-seat IMAX movie theater, plus two huge decks included on the property, were also illegal, they insisted. But Hadid - hoping to sell the giant mansion for $50million plus - continued to build, despite orders from Los Angeles City Council to stop, and in December 2015, in an almost-unprecedented move, the city decided to prosecute him criminally. Hadid has vowed that he won't tear down the massive house. 'Demolish this house? Never!' he told Town and Country. 'This house will last forever. Bel Air will fall before this will.' But there is a growing movement in Bel Air for the building to be bulldozed once and for all. Recently, LA City Councilman Paul Koretz - whose 5th District includes Bel Air - jumped into the fray last month on the side of angry neighbors, writing a strongly-worded letter to Frank Bush, general manager of LA's Department of Building and Safety, calling for Hadid's 'infamous' house to be torn down. 'We find ourselves continuing to deal with this matter because of countless misrepresentations and misconduct by the developer,' wrote Koretz. 'The project now looms over the surrounding residential community and presents ongoing risks to neighboring properties. 'Landslides are an ongoing problem and of greatest concern is that just before LADBS issued a stop work order on all construction, the developer sought to build a retaining wall at the side which would measure 17 feet in height and extend 385 feet in length to repair an unsafe of substandard condition. The letter went on to say Hadid destabilized a slope that was not meant to support the major development. Arizona Sen. John McCain, a Russia hawk and occasional Donald Trump critic, blasted a report on the administration's new Syria posture just hours after revealing he had a cancerous brain tumor. McCain's statement faulted the administration for reportedly ending a covert program begun during the Obama administration to provide arms to Syrian rebels battling President Bashar al-Assad. 'If these reports are true, the administration is playing right into the hands of Vladimir Putin,' the Armed Services Committee chairman said in a statement. Senator McCain blasted a report on the administration's new Syria posture just hours after revealing he had a cancerous brain tumor The statement served as a reminder that so long as he is in the Senate, McCain will continue to warn against the administration's proposed move toward Moscow. The former Vietnam POW also thanked the collection of supporters who sent their encouragement after he revealed the life-threatening diagnosis that was discovered. "I greatly appreciate the outpouring of support - unfortunately for my sparring partners in Congress, I'll be back soon, so stand-by!" McCain wrote on Twitter. Close McCain friend Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said McCain called him three times today seeking updates on his work. '"No more woe is me." He is yelling at me to buck up. I'm going to buck up,' said Graham, who said on the initial news of his longtime pal's diagnosis that cancer was in for a real fight from McCain. Senator John McCain was diagnosed with a malignant primary brain tumor after being hospitalized for a blood clot just behind his left eye The 80-year-old Rep. Senator for Arizona underwent surgery last week for what was thought to be a blood clot above his eye. On Wednesday, McCain's family revealed that after the surgery, doctors discovered cancerous tissue in his brain. 'On Friday, July 14, Sen. John McCain underwent a procedure to remove a blood clot from above his left eye at Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix,' according to a statement. 'Subsequent tissue pathology revealed that a primary brain tumor known as a glioblastoma was associated with the blood clot,' the family said in a statement.' The average life span for someone with a glioblastoma is 14 to 16 months after diagnosis. McCain's statement also blasted the Trump administration for failing to put forth a Syria strategy. 'Making any concession to Russia, absent a broader strategy for Syria, is irresponsible and short-sighted,' he said. Glioblastoma is the most aggressive tumor that can form in the brain. Patients have a 10 percent chance of surviving five years after their diagnosis President Donald Trump speaks at a luncheon with GOP leadership, Wednesday, July 19, 2017, in the State Dinning Room of the White House in Washington. He is ending a covert CIA program to arm Syrian rebels 'The administration has yet to articulate its vision for Syria beyond the defeat of ISIL, let alone a comprehensive approach to the Middle East. A key pillar of American strategy must be the removal of Assad from power as part of an end to the brutal conflict in Syria, which has fueled ISILs growth through its cruelty, extended malign Iranian influence, and undermined broader regional stability,' he said. 'Six months into this administration, there is still no new strategy for victory in Afghanistan either. It is now mid-July, when the administration promised to deliver that strategy to Congress, and we are still waiting,' he said. Trump is reportedly ending a covert CIA program that delivered arms to Syrian rebels - a program that was mocked as illegal by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The program sought to identify a moderate opposition, delivering arms as a way to put pressure on Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. It was begun in 2013 during the Obama administration. The president decided to end it a month ago following a meeting with CIA Director Mike Pompeo and national security advisor H.R. McMaster, the Washington Post reported. In doing so, the Trump administration was yielding to a key demand of Moscow, which dispatched troops in 2015 to pro up the Assad regime, which fought back against rebels with a ruthless campaign of attacks using its helicopters and other means. 'If true and I hope its not it would be a complete capitulation to Assad, Russia, and Iran,' wrote South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham on Twitter this week when the news broke Officials said the pull-back was part of Trump's effort to seek improved ties with Moscow, and and acknowledgement that it was unlikely to succeed now that Assad has consolidated power, aided by support from Russia's air force. Putin blasted the U.S. program in 2015 as illegal in advance of a meeting with Obama. 'In my view, providing military aid to illegitimate organizations contravenes the principles of international law and the U.N. Charter,' Putin said. 'We back only legal government entities.' He said the only legitimate army was that controlled by Assad. The 80-year-old's daughter, Fox News host Meghan, shared an emotional message after the news emerged on Wednesday night. The pair are pictured at the 2013 White House Correspondents' Dinner Putin blasted the U.S. program in 2015 as illegal in advance of a meeting with President Obama, who authorized it in 2013 Smoke rises from buildings after Assad Regime's forces hit de-conflict zone of opposition controlled Ein Terma region in Damascus, Syria on July 18, 2017. (Photo by Qusay Nour/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) Smoke rises from the Syrian town of Kobani, seen from near the Mursitpinar border crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province on October 12, 2014 in Sanliurfa, Turkey. Kurdish forces defending Kobani urged a U.S.-led coalition to escalate air strikes on Islamic State fighters who tightened their grip on the Syrian town at the border with Turkey People are silhouetted on the top of a hill close to the border line between Turkey and Syria near Mursitpinar bordergate as they watch the U.S led airstrikes over ther Syrian town of Kobani on October 19, 2014. Kurdish fighters in Syrian city of Kobani pushed back Islamic State militants in a number of locations as U.S. air strikes on ISIS positions continue in and around the city The covert program was intended to weaken Syrian President Bashar al-Assad The decision was made last month after an Oval Office meeting that included CIA Director Mike Pompeo, the Washington Post reported Trump has repeatedly pushed for negotiations and improved relations with Russia. Following a bilateral meeting between the two presidents in Hamburg, Trump touted a recent cease fire over part of Syria that has held for several days. On Tuesday night, the White House confirmed that Trump and Putin held a second, previously undisclosed meeting during a G20 dinner. The New York Times reported that the meeting lasted an hour, but the White House said it was brief. Seline Ayala, 23, has been arrested for carrying $2 million worth of liquid meth A woman has been arrested for carrying $2 million worth of liquid meth in jugs labelled 'Purple Power'. Seline Ayala, 23, was driving in Austin, Texas, when a K-9 dog sniffed out 75 pounds of liquid crystal methamphetamine. Police officers had stopped her for speeding but then proceeded to search her car because she changed her story several times about who she was and where she was going. She became 'verbally aggressive' when the officers questioned her before they found the drugs in her trunk. Ayala had been driving in a 2013 Dodge Avenger with her four-year-old daughter and her babysitter on July 12 at about 11pm when police stopped her. She told the officers she was a doctor and was headed to Dallas for a meeting, police say, although that story changed as police asked for details about who she was meeting and the name of her employer. A K-9 dog sniffed out 75 pounds of liquid crystal methamphetamine found in three large jugs labelled Purple Power (pictured) Ayala then refused to let police officers search her car. They brought in their K-9 dog who sniffed out the drugs which were in three large jugs which once contained cleaning products. She later told investigators she was delivering the drugs for a second time for an unidentified man. Her text messages supported her story, police say. The first time this unidentified liaison had arranged for her to send the drugs to Carrollton, about a half hour drive from Dallas. The young mother has been charged with drug trafficking and is currently being held without bond before her pre-trial detention hearing. Because she was carrying drugs that weighed significantly more than 300g, she could face up to life in prison, according to Texas law. The alley where Justine Damond was shot by police was poorly lit and dark at the time she was gunned down, DailyMail.com has established. The bride-to-be, 40, was killed by a single gunshot fired by Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor, in a killing which has left her family angry and confused. They have reacted angrily to a claim from his partner's attorney that the two officers, both relative rookies, feared being ambushed when they answered the 911 call Damond herself had made. Now DailyMail.com can reveal the dark circumstances Noor and his partner Michael Harrity found themselves in, after examining the alley at the same time as Saturday's shooting. Exactly what the two officers could see will be at the heart of the investigation by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) into the death, and is also likely to be key to the civil suit Damond's family has filed against the city. The two officers will have to explain whether they were following department procedure by having their guns un-holstered and cocked. Dark: This was the view Noor had from the passenger seat of his cruiser as it entered the top of the alley with its lights off to answer the 911 call Proceeding: As the cruiser moved down the alley, Noor and Harrity were helped by only two streetlights. There is also a motion sensor-operated light further down Sharp difference: The alley is initially uphill and has a brow roughly half-way down its length meaning that neither officer could see Damond up ahead if she was still in the alley Dim: This is the view the cops would have had from the front of the cruiser. Noor had his handgun unholstered To the side: This was what Noor would have seen when he leaned across Harrity. Noor has told friends he was 'startled' and a figure came towards him in the dark Left in the dark: The family of Justine Damond are demanding answers after the unarmed bride-to-be, 40, was shot by officer Mohamed Noor, as he answered a 911 call she had made Aftermath: Cops rushed to the scene after Harrity and Noor reported shots fired. The two tried to save Damond with CPR but were unable to They were already in apparent breach of department rules by not having their bodycams switched on when they arrived. They should also have been switched on before the use of deadly force. The investigation into the shooting of the bride-to-be will focus, primarily, on the crucial few seconds that the squad car encountered her before she was shot. DailyMail.com has examined the alley where she met her death and what the conditions were likely to have been at the same time she was shot, 11.30pm at night. One of the things officer Mohamed Noor has told friends is that it was dark and Justin, 40, rushed at the car and 'startled' him. That prompted him to lean across his partner Matthew Harrity, who was in the driving sear, and shoot Damond through the driver's open window. The officers also apparently heard a bang which could have been a firework or even the victim banging on the vehicle with her fist if the officers were unaware of her standing there. Call for answers: Don Damond, Justine's fiance, fought back tears as he said earlier this week that the cops have failed to provide any explanation 'Thrown under the bus': Proud Somali-American Mohamed Noor says his fellow officers are not backing him. A friend tells Daily Mail.com: '... in this situation he has realized he is probably alone with his legal team and Somali police colleagues.' Justin made her emergency call at around 11.27pm saying she had heard a woman yelling 'help' although she wasn't sure whether it was a couple having consensual sex or a woman being attacked. Six minutes later she made another call and was re-assured police were on their way. The killer policeman and Harrity then pulled their squad car up to the alley where Justine had reported hearing somebody being assaulted, but neither turned on their bodycams. Their vehicle, with headlights and blue lights off, entered the alley from the north at 50th Street, in search of the potential rapist. Our examination of the alley at 11.30pm showed there were only two street lamps in it. Both send a glare towards anybody in a vehicle heading down the alley. The drive took us past garages and back yards, some of which have motion sensor lights. WHAT HE SAID IN PUBLIC THROUGH HIS ATTORNEY 'Officer Noor extends his condolences to the family and anyone else who has been touched by this event. He takes their loss seriously and keeps them in his daily thoughts and prayers. He came to the United States at a young age and is thankful to have had so many opportunities. He takes these events very seriously because, for him, being a police officer is a calling. He joined the police force to serve the community and to protect the people he serves. Officer Noor is a caring person with a family he loves and he empathizes with the loss others are experiencing. The current environment for police is difficult, but Officer Noor accepts this as part of his calling. We would like to say more, and will in the future. At this time, however, there are several investigations ongoing and Officer Noor wants to respect the privacy to the family and asks the same in return during this difficult period.' Advertisement Almost in the middle of the alley is a brow which would have obscured, for a few seconds, Harrity and Noor's sight of the end of alley where Justin was apparently standing. Towards the end of the alley is a garage which has a motion-sensor light that automatically turns on when a vehicle passes and stays on for around a minute. The light, however, does not quite reach the spot where Damond died. When our vehicle reached the end of the alley at its junction with 51st, the light was poor with the passenger side almost dark because of a tree towering over it. The place where Damond was believed to have been standing was better lit. Noor had an elevated position from the passenger seat as the nose of the car was sitting on a slope. He is believed to have had his gun on his lap. There appears to be nothing in the operating procedures of the police department preventing from the officer unholstering his gun. Justin was shot in the abdomen and our test showed that only half of Justin's body from stomach up would have been visible to the officer. She was wearing her pajamas when police arrived and she approached the driver's window. Their color has not been disclosed. The bullet tore into her abdomen and despite efforts by the officers to perform CPR, she was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after. The 40-year-old was originally from Sydney but had been living in the US for three years and was due to marry Minneapolis businessman Don Damond, 50, next month. Her fiance, who was happy for Justine to use his last name before they were legally married, has described her death as a 'homicide' increasing pressure on officials to come to a speedy conclusion with their investigation and either charge officer Noor or exonerate him. Noor has, thus far, refused to be interviewed by the investigating team and this is said to be based on legal advice as he is not required to co-operate. Both officers involved in the shooting have been ordered on to paid administrative leave, as is standard procedure following similar incidents. Despite the outcome of the investigation, both men face being punished and possibly losing their jobs. They were in breach of their department's strict bodycam rules and were compelled to switch on body cameras and record their interactions when answering the 911 call. WASHINGTON Battling brain cancer, John McCain on Thursday vowed to return to the Senate, leveling fresh criticism at the Trump administration and aiming a good-natured dig at Republican and Democratic colleagues shaken by news of his diagnosis. "I greatly appreciate the outpouring of support unfortunately for my sparring partners in Congress, I'll be back soon, so stand-by!" McCain said in a tweet. Showing no signs of stepping back from political and national security battles, he issued a statement slamming the Trump administration over its Syria policy. The 80-year-old McCain, the GOP's presidential nominee in 2008 and six-term Arizona lawmaker, was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive type of brain cancer, according to doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, who had removed a blood clot above his left eye last Friday. They also managed to remove all of the tumor that was visible on brain scans. The senator and his family are considering further treatment, including chemotherapy and radiation, as he recuperates at his home in Arizona. In a blistering statement through his office, McCain criticized the administration over reports that it was ending a program to assist Syrian opposition forces fighting the government of Bashar Assad. "If these reports are true, the administration is playing right into the hands of Vladimir Putin," said McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. "Making any concession to Russia, absent a broader strategy for Syria, is irresponsible and short-sighted." More significantly, McCain's absence is forcing Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to delay action on health care legislation. Republicans need his vote in order to move forward on repealing and replacing President Barack Obama's law. McCain's closest friend in the Senate, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said that they had spoken by telephone Wednesday night and that the diagnosis had been a shock to McCain. Graham said "woe is me" is not in McCain's DNA. "One thing John has never been afraid of is death," said Graham, who said he expects McCain to be back at the Capitol. Prior to a Thursday news conference on immigration legislation, Graham said McCain called him three times. "He is yelling at me to buck up, I'm so going to buck up," Graham said. Meantime, prayers and words of encouragement multiplied on Thursday from presidents and Senate colleagues past and present. "I called Senator John McCain this morning to wish him well and encourage him in his fight. Instead, he encouraged me," said former President George W. Bush, who prevailed over McCain for the GOP presidential nomination in 2000. "I was impressed by his spirit and determination." Former Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas said: "Having known John for many decades, I am certain that he is as tough as they come if anyone can defeat this, it's him. John is a true American hero." According to the American Brain Tumor Association, more than 12,000 people a year are diagnosed with glioblastoma, the same type of tumor that struck McCain's Democratic colleague in legislative battles, the late Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts. The American Cancer Society puts the five-year survival rate for patients over 55 at about 4 percent. McCain, a former combat pilot, has a lifetime of near-death experiences surviving a July 1967 fire and explosion on the USS Forrestal that killed 134 sailors, flying into power lines in Spain, being shot down in October 1967 and falling into Truc Bach Lake in Hanoi, and going through 5 1/2 years in a North Vietnamese prison. "The Hanoi Hilton couldn't break John McCain's spirit many years ago, so Barbara and I know with confidence he and his family will meet this latest battle in his singular life of service with courage and determination," said former President George H.W. Bush. Commenting on both McCain and the response, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said, "The outpouring of bipartisan respect and love for John McCain as he faces this cancer battle reminds us that after all the meanness there is a human side to politicians. Count this Democrat in John McCain's corner." In the past, McCain had been treated for melanoma, but this primary tumor is unrelated. Doctors said McCain is recovering from his surgery "amazingly well" and his underlying health is excellent. With his irascible grin and fighter-pilot moxie, McCain was elected to the Senate from Arizona six times, most recently last year, but was twice thwarted in seeking the presidency. An upstart presidential bid in 2000 didn't last long. Eight years later, he fought back from the brink of defeat to win the GOP nomination, only to be overpowered by Obama. McCain chose a little-known Alaska governor as his running mate in that race, and helped turn Sarah Palin into a national political figure. McCain returned to the Senate, determined not to be defined by a failed presidential campaign. An Ohio mother has been arrested on a charge of child endangerment after police say her two-year-old daughter was found crawling on the roof of their filthy, sweltering home. According to the Springfield Police Department, 23-year-old Daun Morrison was taken into custody on Wednesday afternoon and booked into the Clark County Jail pending her arraignment Thursday. Police officers were dispatched to Morrison's home on Shaffer Street at around 3.30pm after getting a report about a child sitting on the roof. Mom charged: Daun Morrison, 23 (pictured left in her mugshot) has been charged with child endangerment after police say her two-year-old daughter (pictured together, right) was found crawling on the roof Horrible conditions: Cops say Morrison's home in Springfield, Ohio (pictured), was filled with urine and feces and swarming with insects Morrison, who is a married stay-at-home mom, told them she had been doing dishes and did not know the whereabouts of her two-year-old daughter. The officers searched the dilapidated property and located the toddler inside a room on the second floor where the windows were open to let the air in, as temperatures climbed into the low 80s indoors, reported Springfield News-Sun. In the officers' assessment, the young girl was sweating and seemed listless. An incident report stated that Morrison's home was awash in urine and strewn with feces, and the officers' boots were sticking to the carpet. The toilet in the house was also clogged with urine and excrement, and Morrison told the cops it had stopped working two days prior. Morrison, who is a married stay-at-home mom, told police she had been doing dishes and did not know where her daughter was Police said the young girl (see right) was sweating and seemed listless. The toddler has since been placed in the care of a grandmother Morrison took to Facebook, posting an angry, expletive- and typo-ridden post, insisting she's 'a Dame good mother' Insects were found swarming throughout the premises, which also housed three cats and a dog. Fox 45 Now reported that one room was furnished with a filthy mattress where the mother slept with her child. When the cops opened the refrigerator, they found cockroaches crawling over a small amount of food that was inside. Following Morrisons arrest, her daughter was placed in the care of a grandmother. On Thursday, Daun Morrison pleaded not guilty and was released from jail. Having regained her freedom, Morrison took to Facebook, posting an angry, expletive- and typo-ridden screed defending her parenting style. I don't give a f*** what u all got say I am a Dame [sic] good mother and u all don't know the true story, the post read. Davi Stretton Mellor was thrown off the plane alongside his wife, Kerry-Anne Millerchip on Monday A British step grandfather thrown off a plane by more than a dozen Spanish police has claimed he was discriminated against because of his facial tattoo. Davi Stretton-Mellor, 33, was with his wife, children and step grandchildren on a flight to Gran Canaria when a row broke out with passengers they claimed were banging on seats. Mr Stretton-Mellor said he was woken by police after the plane diverted to Santiago de Compostella Airport in northern Spain and forced to leave. The indignant step grandfather said: 'They were just being so horrible to us and made us feel like absolute scum. 'I do have a tattoo on my face, a tribal tattoo, and part of me thinks it was discrimination because of that.' He said he, his wife Kerry-Anne Millerchip, their daughter and son-in-law, young children and step grandchildren, aged just two and three, were forcibly removed from the flight from Birmingham to Las Palmas by around 8 police officers. When the drama unfolded Davi said he was asleep and was woken by Spanish police who demanded he leave the plane. He said they grabbed him by his collar and dragged him out of his seat, before hauling him along the aisle and off the aircraft. When his family protested they were told they too would have to leave and the police set about removing them. Mr Stretton-Mellor said police picked his younger step grandson aged two up by his arms before hauling him off the aircraft. Mr Stretton-Mellor, pictured with his wife, believes he was discriminated against because of his distinctive facial tattoo Describing the whole episode as 'terrifying', Davi said it was linked to an incident shortly after they boarded when he spoke to a group of passengers behind them, who were making a lot of noise and banging on their seats. He said: 'We took our seats and within five minutes we had a problem with a group behind us. They were Polish people, a mixture of burly blokes and women, and the blokes were banging on the seats being noisy. 'I turned around and asked them if they could be quiet. I was very pleasant and just said please can you stop banging on the seats. They replied by swearing at me. 'I'm a family man and I was just trying to keep the peace on the plane but you can't do that with a bunch of rowdy intoxicated blokes who have no respect for anyone else.'I went to the toilet and one of them followed me and asked why I was going to the air hostess? I said I wasn't just to keep the noise down. The family was on board a Ryanair flight when the drama unfolded, and the plane diverted to an airport in northern Spain 'Then someone else behind them stood up and had a go at all of us.' Mr Stretton-Mellor said things soon calmed down and that he subsequently fell asleep during the flight. 'I fell asleep and next thing I knew we are at Santiago de Compostella airport and I was being woken up by eight police officers,' he added. 'I was absolutely scared to death. They grabbed me by my collar, lifted me up, dragged me off the plane by the scruff of my neck and threw me out into the arrivals area. I'm a family man and I was just trying to keep the peace on the plane but you can't do that with a bunch of rowdy intoxicated blokes who have no respect for anyone else Davi Stretton-Mellor 'They said 'that's it, you are not getting back on the plane'. Next thing I know I'm seeing police officers dragging my wife and daughters and other family members through some sort of terminal. 'Then they threw us out of the airport and just said 'you are stuck here, be on your way'. 'How we were treated was absolutely disgusting.' The family were told to wait while their luggage was taken off the aircraft, but only some of it was removed with the remaining items, including a rucksack with money and an iPad in it, were left on-board. The shell-shocked family found a friendly taxi driver who told them where they were and that they would need to get to La Coruna Airport 40 miles away if they wanted to get to Las Palmas. He took them to the centre of Santiago de Compostella where they found hostel accommodation for the night and the following day they had to catch four buses to get to La Coruna airport. The family was forced to get off the plane at Santiago de Compostella airport in northern Spain after the flight was diverted They then had to stay there for another night before finally making their way to Las Palmas on Wednesday and that was thanks to a kind-hearted relative who booked new flights with a different airline by credit card. Davi and Kerry-Anne were accompanied by their daughters Skyla and Shelby-Ann, Kerry-Anne's daughter Keeley Millerchip, her partner Andrew Bostock and their sons Kenzie and Jayden. It was Andrew's mum who came to their rescue booking the onward flights, which cost more than 1,000. The family eventually made it to their holiday destination on Wednesday, the Cala Nova Hotel in Puerto Rico, where they holiday every year. Davi said: 'It's like a home from home for our family. The receptionist was almost crying when we arrived and said she had been worried about us as we'd been in touch during our ordeal. 'I'm happy now we're here, we're pretty skint but are just going to make the most of it.' Before arriving Davi said they had another difficult encounter with Ryanair at Las Palmas Airport when they tried to pick up some of their luggage. 'There was an issue with boarding passes in order to get our luggage and it proved very difficult,' said Davi. 'There were four cases they had kept, as well as a rucksack which had been in the overhead locker. It had 500 euros in it and an iPad but they were no longer there.' Davi said he plans to take the matter up with Ryanair 'at the highest level', though their return flights are with another airline. But the family's experience fell on deaf ears with the airline. A Ryanair spokesman said: 'This flight from Birmingham to Gran Canaria diverted to Santiago after a number of passengers became disruptive inflight. 'The aircraft landed normally and the passengers were removed and detained by police upon arrival, before the aircraft continued to Gran Canaria. 'We will not tolerate unruly or disruptive behaviour at any time and the safety and comfort of our customers, crew and aircraft is our number one priority. 'This is now a matter for local police.' Airbnb hosts who rent out their homes to rowdy guests may have to pay their neighbours compensation under a proposed state government plan. The extra fee is one of several proposals aimed at managing the short-term rental market being considered by the NSW government this week, according to The Daily Telegraph. Under the proposed plan, hosts may have to pay a 'nuisance tax' to those living nearby and feed more money into strata funds. Airbnb hosts who rent out their homes to rowdy guests may have to pay their neighbours compensation under a proposed state government plan. Pictured is Vanessa Vartto's apartment in Sydney's North Bond, which has been named the best Airbnb in Australia Neighbours of Airbnb and Stayz listings say their living situations have become 'unbearable' as non-stop party pads move in next door. Pictured: A bucks' party in the Watergate Apartments in Melbourne's Docklands The extra fee is one of several proposals aimed at managing the short-term rental market being considered by the NSW government this week (stock image) The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal could force owners who short term let their home to pay more money into the owners' corporation fund, if proposed strata rule changes are approved. The number of days a property can be let out is also under review, as well as registry for all host properties. The proposals will be released on Friday to the public, who will have three months for consultation. Efforts to monitor the estimated $31 billion company comes after neighbours of homes being listed on Airbnb and Stayz voiced their frustrations at the properties being used as non-stop party pads. About 40,000 properties in NSW are listed on Airbnb and 26,000 in Victoria in an growing industry that remains largely unregulated, News.com.au reported. Complaints are growing that many of the listings are constantly being used to host hens' and bucks' parties that disturb residents with loud music, sex, drinking games and shouting. Head of Public Policy ANZ at Airbnb, Brent Thomas, said the NSW government has taken a 'step in the right direction' but disagreed with some of the possible measures. 'We are now one step closer to having fair and progressive rules for home sharing in NSW. While some of the options are fair and sensible, others would hurt not only our host community, but also millions of travellers and the small businesses who depend on Airbnb. 'These heavy-handed options would unfairly punish everyday people who rely on Airbnb, rob people of their right to share their homes in a respectful way, cost local jobs, and make it more expensive for people and families to travel. 'Ultimately, Airbnb, our host community and the countless people in NSW who support our platform want to see the NSW Government put in place rules that get the balance right. Rules that protect the rights of people who want to share their home if they wish, while preserving the safety and amenity of our community,' he said. There are about 26,000 Airbnb listings in Victoria and about 40,000 in New South Wales that continue to thrive in an unregulated industry (stock image) Christina Metz said she lives next to a house in Portsea on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula south of Melbourne, which used for parties every weekend for at least six months of the year. She said groups of up to 20 people on hens' or bucks' parties drunkenly sing, swear and play loud music, but there is little she can do to stop them. 'The regulations allow them to make as much noise as they like during the day. The only time any law comes into effect is from 10pm to 7am, but I live here,' she was quoted as saying. 'I'm absolutely distraught. I've had to go to the doctor, I can't bear it. I can't live here. If it was a neighbour and they had a party once a year, that's OK, but this is every week.' A neighbour of Australia's 'most lucrative' Airbnb listing - believed to generate $250,000 a year - said the house on Sydney's northern beaches has been used for parties almost every weekend of the past year. 'It's the noise that's the worst part. Some nights I have to sleep with earplugs due to the loud music and the whooping of the hens' parties,' the person, who asked not to be named, told News.com.au. Many of the listings are being constantly used to host hens' and bucks' parties that disturb residents with noisy guests Building manager of Watergate Apartments (pictured) Marshall Delves said the building, dubbed as 'Partygate', was 'out of control' with parties and drug dealers using short-stays to facilitate their distribution Loud music is only restricted after midnight on weekends in NSW, and after 11pm in Victoria. Constant disruptions has sparked the creation of We Live Here, which represents residents living in high-density areas in Melbourne. Co-founder and building manager of Watergate Apartments in Melbourne's Docklands Marshall Delves said the building, dubbed as 'Partygate', was 'out of control' with parties and drug dealers using short-stays to facilitate their distribution. 'I had a call from a lady recently, the house next door was solely used for parties. It's non-stop every weekend, all weekend, the noise, the music, the drinking, the loud voices,' he told the website. He said he was once contacted by a resident who had someone high on ice attempt to break into their apartment. Groups of up to 20 people on hens' or bucks' parties drunkenly sing, swear and play loud music while renting short-stays on Airbnb (stock image) and Stayz A Victorian parliamentary committee made recommendations this year after investigating proposed changes to legislation affecting short-stay accommodation. 'Recent legal cases make it clear the current law is inadequate with owners corporations unable to adequately regulate or manage on behalf of residents in apartment towers,' committee chair David Davis said in a statement. 'There is no doubting the growing importance and in particular the economic significance of the peer to peer accommodation sector and the aim of government regulation must be to ensure this sector thrives within a responsible framework that accords fairness and rights to those with whom it cohabits.' An Airbnb spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia 'negative incidents' with guests are extremely rare. 'We have no tolerance for bad behaviour and on the rare occasion an incident occurs, we immediately ban guests from the platform. We also remove listings that fail to uphold our commitment to being a good neighbour,' the spokesperson said. 'We want to do everything we can to help our hosts be good neighbours in the places they call home. To achieve that, we have a resource for neighbours of Airbnb hosts that allows them to share specific concerns they might have about a listing in their community. 'Airbnb has a strong track record of supporting measures across Australia which strike the right balance between support home sharing, while stamping out antisocial behaviour.' Abbiegail 'Abbie' Smith, 11, was found dead near her family's New Jersey apartment complex last week The older sister of an 11-year-old girl who was stabbed to death last week has been denied a visa to attend the little girl's funeral in New Jersey, as their father fears he won't be allowed into the U.S. from Jamaica for the funeral either. AbbieGail Smith was found dead near the apartment building where she lived in Keansburg with her mother. Authorities arrested and charged her neighbor, Andreas Erazo, 18, with her murder. Now, as her family prepares to say their final goodbyes, her older sister Kenish Smith will not be allowed to travel from Jamaica to the U.S. to attend the funeral next week, WABC reported. Her visa was denied and the State Department does not comment about visa denials. The girl's father, Kenroy Smith, is also unsure if he will be allowed to travel also from the Caribbean nation for her funeral service. He was deported in 2001 from the U.S. following a drug arrest, WABC reported. 'I just want to see my daughter for the last time please,' he tearfully told WABC. 'I want to see her before, before, please I'm asking, I want to see her before they put her underneath. Her sister in Jamaica, Kenish Smith (right), had her visa denied and won't be allowed to travel to the U.S. for the funeral. Their father, Kenroy Smith (left), fears he won't be able to attend either since he was deported from the U.S. in 2001 Kenroy Smith (above with AbbieGail) told WABC: 'I just want to see my daughter for the last time please. I want to see her before, before, please I'm asking, I want to see her before they put her underneath.' 'I want her to rest in peace knowing her dad was there.' The 11-year-old girl moved to the U.S. with her mother, Carol Bennett-Smith, about 10 years ago after she was born in Jamaica. The heartbroken mother broke down during his Erazo's first court appearance and started screaming at him. 'I hope you rot in jail,' Bennett-Smith screamed at him in Monmouth County Superior Court on Friday. 'My one and only daughter, you took her away from me. You need to rot in jail. 'You can't even look at us,' she yelled as Erazo sat hunched and stared at the ground. Andreas Erazo (left), 18, was arrested and charged with AbbieGail's (right) murder. He is pictured above during his first court appearance on Friday at Monmouth County Superior Court Erazo, who is charged with murder and weapons charges, lived in the apartment above Abbie's family. Her mother had reported her missing to police last Wednesday night after she was last seen inside her apartment at 7.45pm. Keansburg police launched a missing person's investigation. The girl's body was found the next morning behind the apartment complex. Prosecutors said police found her body wrapped in a blanket or comforter up on a rear roof. A retired college professor who left his dog to die in a hot car three years ago has been arrested after another dog died the same way this week, police said Thursday. David Beveridge, 79, who works at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, told police in Middletown that he meant to take his Labradoodle, Jennie, to a doggy daycare around noon on Tuesday before going to work. Beveridge said he remembered around 2.30pm that the three-year-old dog was still in the car, which was parked on Lawn Avenue. David Beveridge, 79, who works at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, told police in Middletown that he meant to take his Labradoodle named Jennie to a doggie daycare around noon on Tuesday before going to work He ran outside to check on the dog and found it had died. Temperatures that day were in the 90s. Wesleyan University officials told NBC that Beveridge is a professor of chemistry, emeritus at the school. Beveridge brought the deceased animal to a veterinarian, who became upset because Beveridge had left another pet in a hot car in May 2014, according to police. That dog, a four-year-old poodle mix named Charlie, also died. Beveridge was arrested on a charge of cruelty to animals. He was released on a promise to appear later in court. A phone message left for Beveridge at his home in Middletown was not immediately returned. Beveridge is the co-director of the Susan B. and William K. Wasch Center for Retired Faculty. He retired this year, according Wesleyan's website. The nation's least popular governor could get the chance to make himself the nation's least popular senator. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie could appoint himself to the Senate on a temporary basis, depending on what happens in the federal corruption trial of Sen. Robert Menendez. Menendez goes on trial this fall on bribery charges. He is accused of taking hundreds of thousands of gifts from friend and contributor Dr. Salomon Melgen, who was convicted of insurance fraud in April. If Menendez were to step down within 70 days of an election, the governor 'may make a temporary appointment of a senator of the United States,' according to New Jersey law. SENATOR CHRISTIE? The New Jersey Gov. could get an opportunity to fill a Senate seat, depending on the result of a corruption trial of Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez - and could even appoint himself In addition to appointing a temporary successor, Christie can call a special election. His term ends in January. Christie would get the chance to name a successor to Menendez under scenarios were Menendez to be convicted before then and gets expelled by his colleagues, or if he reaches a plea agreement with the government, Politico reported. If Menendez were to leave after Aug. 30, Christie could name a successor who could serve until 2018, Fox News reported. The state's election is set for November. Having the Democrat seat filled by a Republican, even on a temporary basis, would give the party an assist on health care and other essential matters. Party leaders struggled to get a simple majority to move an Obamacare repeal bill despite having a 52 seat majority. FILE PHOTO - Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) speaks during a Senate Foreign Relations hearing on the conflict in Syria on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S. on March 15, 2017. He goes to trial this fall on corruption charges Chris Christie was photographed on an empty beach closed to the public during a budget crisis The 54-year-old was still sporting a deep tan from his July 4 sunbathing session on a private beach He turned to give the ball to a child sitting in the rows behind him but even that wasn't enough to please the crowd 'The Senator has absolutely no intention of stepping down and nothing will change that. He has done nothing wrong and has always acted within the law,' Menendez Communications Director Patricia Enright said last month. Democrats are hoping Menendez is acquitted, but are not ruling out the possibility of Christie naming himself to the post. He ran President Trump's transition team until being removed, and was under consideration for cabinet posts. Donald Trump speaks to the media at his Mar-A-Lago Club on Super Tuesday, March 1, 2016 in Palm Beach, Florida, flanked by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, after the polls closed in a dozen states nationwide Dr. Salomon Melgen speaks during an interview at his office in Port St. Lucie, Florida, U.S., on Thursday, March 21, 2013. Melgen, 59, spoke in his first interview since a scandal erupted over his relationship with Senator Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat who heads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Melgen said he and Menendez are 'like brothers' who spoke weekly, yet his companies never benefited and he broke no laws His personal popularity tanked following the Bridgegate scandal, and wasn't helped when he took his family to the state governor's mansion and got photographed on a state beach while beaches were closed due to a budget crisis. He was recently booed by a stadium when he caught a foul ball at a Mets game and handed it to a child. Another colorful Jersey politician is hoping to enter the picture: former Democratic Sen. Robert Toricelli, who has said he misses being a senator and wants a 'third act.' The Senate Ethics Committee 'severely admonished' Toricelli in 2002 after a damning ethics committee report found he had accepted gifts. Dashcam footage has emerged of a Hummer repeatedly swerving into the path of an oncoming truck to stop it overtaking on a Texan highway for more than two minutes. The stubborn motorist blocked both lanes of traffic as he stopped the trucker from taking the lead on Interstate 20 between Midland and Odessa in west Texas. The road rage escalated after the truck driver allegedly threw an empty can out of his window which hit the SUV. Police officers spoke to the driver of the Hummer and gave him a warning after footage of the incident was uploaded to social media on Tuesday and later went viral. It shows the white semi veering from lane to lane as it accelerates to move past - but is blocked at every step by the Hummer. The black SUV drives straight down the middle of the road, cutting across both lanes, and reduces its speed, forcing the truck to brake. The stubborn motorist (pictured) blocked both lanes as he stopped the trucker from taking the lead on Interstate 20 between Midland and Odessa in west Texas. The road rage escalated after the truck driver allegedly threw an empty can out of his window which hit the SUV It hogs the fast lane as the trucker tries to come past, then snakes wildly back and forth to prevent him from passing. He then slows right down and forces the huge truck to go bumper-to-bumper until the footage ends. Midland County Sheriff Gary Painter said it was the driver of the Hummer who first contacted the police, complaining the trucker tossed an empty can at his vehicle. He warned that if officers had seen the incident the man could have been slapped with a ticket or taken to jail, KWES reports. Sheriff Painter told CBS7: 'He (the truck driver) could've got fined for litter, up to a $500 fine for littering on a public roadway. But he didn't do anything else wrong, other than try to get away from a crazy guy.' Police officers spoke to the driver of the Hummer and gave him a warning after footage of the incident was uploaded to social media on Tuesday and went viral. It shows the white semi veering from lane to lane as it accelerates to move in front of the Hummer Speaking to NewsWest9, he added: 'There's no reason to be endangering the entire motor public on the interstate just because of the empty can or a can that was thrown out. It didn't cause any damage to a vehicle.' Commenting on the video, Facebook users were critical of both drivers. Pat Gollinger wrote: 'Stupid SUV. He could've killed the semi (driver) and himself.' Tanja Crawford said: 'It takes two, they're both idiots - one for provoking, the other one for reacting to it.' Commenting on the video, Facebook users were critical of both drivers (above) Nancy Sparr commented: 'This is how people get killed. Stupid people.' Eric Elwood added: 'The person in the SUV is dead wrong. What are they thinking? Get out of the way!' It is not known whether either driver has been arrested or faces charges over the incident. The BBC faced a fresh gender pay row last night after it emerged the corporation has drawn up proposals that would cut redundancy payments for working mothers. Staff who have returned to work part time after having children would lose out under changes put forward by bosses to no longer factor in previous hours worked when calculating pay-offs. Unions last night called on the BBC to rethink the plan that would disproportionately affect women who are more likely to reduce their working hours to fit around childcare or looking after parents. BBC bosses have been criticised over plans that would see those returning to work part-time after having children lose out (pictured, Director General Tony Hall) It comes as the corporation faces allegations of sexism after it emerged only a third of its high earners are women. Under a review of its employee terms and conditions, BBC bosses have proposed changing its redundancy policy. At present, part time staff who lose their jobs receive a pay-off that compensates them on the basis of their average hours of work over their continuous period of service. However, under the plan future redundancy payments would only be based on a workers current hours, unless there had been a change in the previous year. It means those who worked full time before reducing their hours would lose out. The BBC is currently consulting with unions Bectu, the NUJ and Unite over the planned changes to staff conditions. Unite last night called on the BBC to drop the proposed amendments to the redundancy policy. A spokesman said: Were currently in negotiations with the BBC over this issue. We believe the BBC should rethink the proposals. Theresa May effectively accused the BBC of sex discrimination on pay after the salaries of its top stars was revealed on Wednesday. She told LBC radio: The BBC is paying women less for doing the same job as the men. I want to see women paid equally with men. The fresh anger comes as Theresa May effectively accused the BBC of sex discrimination after the pay gap between its top-earning male and female staff was revealed The only reason we know about this though is because the Government required the BBC to publish these figures. The Director General, Lord Hall, has said that he wants to abolish this gender pay gap we want to see him doing that too, and I think its important the BBC carries on publishing figures in the future, so that we can see the progress that they are making. The BBC has previously come under fire for its largesse towards former staff. MPs have described losing a job at the BBC as being like winning the lottery because of the sums involved. Its former chief operating officer, Caroline Thomson, left with a 670,000 pay-off - more than twice her 330,000 salary - even though she wanted to quit. Ex-deputy director-general Mark Byford walked away with 949,000, and former director-general George Entwistle was paid 470,000 for just 54 days work, before resigning over his handling of the Jimmy Savile scandal. The public were so angered by the payouts that in 2013 the BBC introduced a cap of 150,000. Earlier this year, the BBC was accused of running a lucrative revolving door for staff after it spent 34.3million making hundreds redundant - only to hire them again. It has handed 725 people redundancy cheques for an average of 47,000 each over the past 15 years, but has then invited them back to work. Many were brought back as freelancers - but 286 have returned on staff contracts. And despite pledges to crack down on so-called golden goodbyes, it has been handing out even bigger pay-offs recently. The corporation spent 1.3million to make 23 staff redundant in the last financial year - the equivalent of 56,500 each - only to rehire them. Google is looking to protect Android users from rogue apps with its new security service. Google Play Protect continuously scans devices to keep them free from potential malware hidden in apps that could attack at any moment. Earlier this year a shocking report found 99.9 per cent of malware targets Android devices over Apple phones. Starting today, the Play Protect service is rolling out to all Android devices running on Google Mobile Services 11 or newer. Scroll down for video More than 50 million apps are scanned every day with Play Protect. The system identifies harmful ones and either keeps them off your device or removes them if they are already on it PLAY PROTECT More than 50 million apps are scanned every day and the system identifies potentially harmful ones and either keeps them off your device or removes them if they are already on it. Using machine learning, the security system can detect if an app is behaving unusually. The service is coming to all Android devices running on Google Mobile Services 11. A report earlier this year found a shocking 99.9 per cent of malware targets Android devices over Apple phones. Advertisement Play Protect will be built into every device with Google Play and automatically update to keep data safe. It can be checked in the Google section of settings under Security. All apps go through rigorous security analysis before being published in the Play Store. More than 50 million apps are scanned every day and the system identifies potentially harmful ones. Using machine learning, the security system can detect if an app is behaving unusually and will remove it if it is raising suspicions. The security system provides 'powerful new protections and greater visibility into your device security', Google said in a blog post. 'Play Protect is built into every device with Google Play, is always updating, and automatically takes action to keep your data and device safe, so you dont have to lift a finger.' Google is also releasing Find My Device as part of the release. This allows users to locate, ring, lock and even erase Android phones, tablets and even watches. The feature is built in and enabled on all devices. Both features will be rolled over over the coming weeks. In May Google banned an army of Android apps that use ultrasonic sounds to spy on users without their knowledge. The moves comes after researchers revealed that hundreds of Android applications are embedded with ultrasonic cross-device tracking technology that pick up inaudible 'beacons' emitted from advertisements. Google is also releasing Find My Device as part of the release. This allows users to locate, ring, lock and even erase Android phones, tablets and even watches This allows marketers to create personalised ads based on your interests, as they are able to determine your location and what activities you may be engaged in. While conducting their investigation, the team found 234 Android apps were made using the publicly available tracking software. And these apps were found to listen 'in the background without the user's knowledge'. Love cheats are in danger of being caught out by the Uber taxi app, family lawyers have warned. They say unexplained journeys, locations and pick-up and drop-off times - which are saved to the app's history - are increasingly being used as proof of affairs. The data cannot be hidden or deleted so can be used as evidence in divorce cases. Scroll down for video Love cheats are in danger of being caught out by the Uber taxi app, family lawyers have warned. They say unexplained journeys, locations and pick-up and drop-off times - which are saved to the app's history - are increasingly being used as proof of affairs (stock image) UBER CHEATS Uber is currently facing a lawsuit after a man's wife was alerted to his location while he was cheating on her with another woman. The Frenchman had requested a car using his wife's phone. But the app continued to send notifications to her phone about his whereabouts - even though he had logged out of the account. The couple have since divorced, but the businessman filed a lawsuit against Uber worth 40 million ($52 million). Advertisement Lyn Ayrton, from Leeds-based law firm Lake Legal, said: 'The fact that the Uber app stores location data and times can make it tough for someone who is cheating to explain their movements. 'The app will log everything from pick-up and drop off destinations to journey times which often corroborates that someone who is having an extramarital affair is lying about their whereabouts.' In light of a string of recent divorce cases, family lawyers say that cheating partners should be aware of tracking technology in smartphone apps. Ms Ayrton added: 'The fact that movements can be tracked and questioned leads to a whole host of issues over personal privacy. 'But cheating partners should be aware that technology is increasingly helping to expose affairs and alert otherwise unsuspecting spouses that something is amiss with their relationship. 'All the data is doing is providing concrete proof that something inappropriate is going on.' Last year, Lake Legal revealed that social media sites such Facebook are being used by lawyers in just over a third of divorce cases exposing relationships. The Uber app will log everything from pick-up and drop off destinations to journey times and the data cannot be hidden or deleted so can be used as evidence in divorce cases (stock image) In 2010, a study by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers reported that one in five divorces in the United States involved Facebook. Similarly to spouses being caught out by the social media platform, Ms Ayrton said, the Uber app is now being used to prove illicit relationships. Uber is currently facing a lawsuit after a man's wife was alerted to his location while he was cheating on her with another woman. The Frenchman had requested a car using his wife's phone. But the app continued to send notifications to her phone about his whereabouts - even though he had logged out of the account. The couple have since divorced, but the businessman filed a lawsuit against Uber worth 40 million ($52 million). The technical fault is believed to only arise on iPhone iOS versions of the app updated after December 15 last year. The glitch means that after users log in to their Uber account on another device, it can store information on them as a user and continue to sent updates to that phone - without having to input a password. When reached out for comment on the matter in February, an Uber spokesperson declined, saying: 'Uber doesn't publicly comment on individual cases, and especially those which concern things such as a divorce procedure'. As lawmakers continue to struggle over how to fund the states transportation budget, drivers are contending with bridges that have deteriorated to their worst condition since 2003, according to Federal Highway Administration data. A snake-like robot that can coil and unravel itself at speeds of 20mph (32 km/h) could be used to save lives during search and rescue missions. The 72-metre-long (236ft) robot can sneak around corners and even turn handles and taps using its bendy body. Researchers hope that the robot could one day slither into cramped spaces to aid rescue workers, or perform odd jobs inside structures such as radio antennae. Scroll down for video The 72-metre-long (236ft) robot can sneak around corners and even turn handles and taps using its bendy body HOW DOES IT MOVE? Researchers created the robot using inspiration from the plant kingdom. Unlike animals, plants move from one place to another by growing in a particular direction. Although this method of getting around is slow, it allows plants to squeeze into tight spaces and around sharp corners. The tube robot moves in a similar way to plants, only a lot faster. It is made up of three air sacs that, when inflated, can force extra material to unravel in a particular direction. Researchers can control the movements of each air chamber, allowing the robot to navigate tight corners in a precise manner. Advertisement The tube robot is able to change direction at whim and navigate complex maze-like scenarios. Researchers created the robot using inspiration from the plant kingdom. Unlike animals, plants move from one place to another by growing in a particular direction. Although this method of getting around is slow, it allows plants to squeeze into tight spaces and around sharp corners. 'Across kingdoms and length scales, certain cells and organisms navigate their environments not through locomotion but through growth,' the scientists from Stanford University in California said in a research paper. 'This pattern of movement is found in fungal hyphae, developing neurons, and trailing plants, and is characterised by extension from the tip of the body, length change of hundreds of percent, and active control of growth direction.' The tube robot moves in a similar way to plants, only a lot faster. It is made up of three air sacs that, when inflated, can force extra material to unravel in a particular direction. Researchers can control the movements of each air chamber, allowing the robot to navigate tight corners in a precise manner. 'This type of robot body can lengthen by thousands of percent from its tip, and its peak rate of extension is comparable to that of animal or robot locomotion,' the researchers said. Researchers said the robot may be used to lift heavy objects, such as a 75kg crate, and could also operate hard-to-reach valves. Pictured is the robot navigating an assault course, with its camera feed shown top right Researchers hope that the robot could one day slither into cramped spaces to aid rescue workers, or perform odd jobs inside structures such as radio antennae The scientists behind the tube robot hope it will one day be used to help with search and rescue missions, or to fix parts inside structures such as radio antennaes. Researchers added it may be used to lift heavy objects, such as a 75kg crate, and could also operate hard-to-reach valves. 'We hope to automate manufacture of the robots so that dozens of them could cost almost nothing,' Elliot Wright Hawkes, who developed the robot at Stanford University in California, told New Scientist. He said the robots may also be used in surgery, including to help guide medical catheters, adding, 'we're hoping to move to testing in the near future'. The new research was published in the journal Science Robotics. The tube robot is able to change direction at whim and navigate complex maze-like scenarios A snake-like robot (pictured) that can coil and unravel itself at speeds of 20mph (32 km/h) could be used to save lives during search and rescue missions The robot is made up of three air sacs that, when inflated, can force extra material to unravel in a particular direction. The machine can fit in very tight spaces (pictured) because it is based around air Researchers can control the movements of each air chamber, allowing the robot to navigate tight corners in a precise manner. Despite relying on air the material the robot is made of is strong and resistant to puncture (pictured) Bluefin tuna fish use a unique hydraulic control system to 'fly' through the ocean like fighter jets, scientists have discovered. The animals pump bodily fluids through their internal channels to subtly change the shape of their fins, which aids manoeuvrability at high speed. In just the same way, fast jets rely on fine adjustments to their control surfaces to remain stable in the air. Scroll down for video Bluefin tuna fish (pictured) use a unique hydraulic control system to 'fly' through the ocean like a fighter jet, scientists have discovered HOW DOES THE HYDRAULIC SYSTEM WORK? The animals pump bodily fluids through their internal channels in order to subtly change the shape of their fins, which aids manoeuvrability at high speed. Tuna fish have specially adapted lymph nodes in order to help them pump pressurised fluids through their body. The pressure system helps to propel the fish to high speeds, which can help them get through tiring migrations. In just the same way, fast jets rely on fine adjustments to their control surfaces to remain stable in the air. Dr Vadim Pavlov, from Stanford University in California, said: 'What we have discovered in these tunas is unlike other animal hydraulic systems. 'It's a musculo-vascular complex that is integrating the lymphatic system, the skeletal muscles and fin bones. 'We've shown that in tunas and their fast-swimming relatives this complex functions to generate hydraulic pressure that provides fine adjustment of the shape of their fins.' Advertisement Experts learned about the hydraulics system, which is driven by the lymph nodes, after studying Pacific bluefin and yellowfin tuna swimming in tanks. Dr Vadim Pavlov, from Stanford University in California, said: 'Animals are exciting sources of elegant engineering solutions in aero and hydrodynamics. 'What we have discovered in these tunas is unlike other animal hydraulic systems. 'It's a musculo-vascular complex that is integrating the lymphatic system, the skeletal muscles and fin bones.' Many other animals use hydraulic systems to move across the ocean. For example, starfish and sea urchins use a specialised water vascular system to stick their sucker-like feet to objects on the ocean floor. But the researchers discovered that the fluid pressure system of the tuna is far more complex than the systems used by other animals, which enables them to fine tune their movements. 'We've shown that in tunas and their fast-swimming relatives this complex functions to generate hydraulic pressure that provides fine adjustment of the shape of their fins,' Dr Pavlov said. 'By expanding or retracting their dorsal and anal fins, they alter the physical forces generated by fins, allowing for manoeuvrability.' The tuna's ability to adjust their fins quickly and precisely using the hydrodynamic mechanism may help them both to capture prey and conserve energy during long migrations, the researchers said. The study built on observations more than a decade ago of Pacific bluefin tuna at Monterey Bay Aquarium in California. Scientists noticed that the fish, some weighing more than 300 pounds (136kg), were making fine adjustments to their pectoral, median and tail fins as they swam. Further research led to the discovery of an unusual cavity filled with liquid beneath the base of both the dorsal and anal median fins, the two unpaired fins extending above and below a fish's body. A large bluefin tuna fish is pictured on the deck of a fishing boat. Tuna fish have specially adapted lymph nodes to help them steer themselves at high speed, researchers have found Muscles pressurising the liquid altered the shape of the fins to provide control while swimming, the team found. The link with the lymphatic system was only confirmed later. Detailed examination revealed a specialised system of large vessels and channels in the median fins through which lymph acted as hydraulic fluid. Increased pressure in the channels appeared to alter the fins' position and stiffness to prevent the fish from rolling during active swimming. It also limited energy loss during long swimming migrations. The primary function of the lymph nodes is to transport infection-fighting white blood cells and maintain fluid balance in the body. Its use as a hydraulic fluid has never been reported before. Co-researcher Professor Barbara Block, also from Stanford University, who led the earlier research, said: 'The primary examples of bio-hydraulics are in invertebrate animals like molluscs, crustaceans and jellyfish. 'It's unusual to observe bio-hydraulic locomotion in vertebrate animals, which involves the integration of muscle, fluid and bone structures. 'To our knowledge, this evolutionary mechanism of fishes has never before been reported and might have remained hidden if it weren't for the ability to see these fish in action in captivity. 'It illuminates how non-transparent our ocean realm is and how much is left to discover.' The tuna discovery could help in the design of 'smart' shape-changing control surfaces for planes and submersibles, researchers believe. Dr Pavlov said: 'This could, for example, enhance the manoeuvrability of the air and underwater unmanned vehicles.' The research was published in the journal Science. Elon Musk says he has 'verbal government approval' to build an underground tunnel to transport passengers between New York and Washington DC in just 29 minutes. Musk tweeted the tunnel will run via Philadelphia and Baltimore, and use his Hyperloop technology. If completed, it would become the world's longest tunnel. Scroll down for video Musk tweeted the tunnel will run via Philadelphia snd Baltimore, and use his Hyperloop technology MUSK'S BORING PLAN Elon Musk has outlined how his Boring Company will work, claiming: Tunnelling costs must be reduced by a factor of more than 10 Key to this is smaller tunnels that can be dug more quickly Will work to increase the speed of the Tunnel Boring Machine Envisions a new breed of smaller, more powerful TBMs with triple the power of current machines that can tunnel continuously Advertisement It would be far longer that the current record holder, the Gotthard Base Tunnel, a railway line that runs through the Swiss Alps and opened in 2016, measuring 35.5 miles. 'Just received verbal govt approval for The Boring Company to build an underground . NY-DC in 29 mins,' he tweeted. 'City center to city center in each case, with up to a dozen or more entry/exit elevators in each city.' While Musk hasn't released any additional details on the proposed East Coast transport system just yet, the plan appears to be a combination of his recent LA tunneling ventures, and Hyperloop technology. The tweets this morning sparked intrigue on social media, with many wondering how concrete the plans are, and what the system will entail. But Musk has so far remained cryptic. 'Verbal? Not on the dotted line?' BBC reporter Dave Lee tweeted at Musk following the announcement. 'Seems premature to announce unless you're drumming up support for the project?' In response, Musk wrote, 'Support would be much appreciated!' Addressing some of the confusion in a vague follow-up tweet hours after the announcement, Musk wrote: 'Still a lot of work needed to receive formal approval, but am optimistic that will occur rapidly.' A White House spokesman confirmed that the administration has had 'promising conversations to date' with Musk and Boring Company executives. However, they would only say the administration is 'committed to transformative infrastructure projects, and believe our greatest solutions have often come from the ingenuity and drive of the private sector.' In a vague follow-up tweet hours after the announcement, Musk explained that there is 'still a lot of work needed' before he can receive formal approval In its own statement, The Boring Co. said feedback on the proposal has been positive and it has 'received verbal support from key government decision-makers for tunneling plans.' The company said it expects to secure the formal approvals necessary to break ground later this year. But some cast doubt on his timeline, pointing out that Musk would have to get approval from dozens of players, including federal, state and local officials. Elon Musk says he has 'verbal government approval' to build an underground tunnel to transport passengers between New York and Washington DC in just 29 minutes 'This is news to City Hall,' tweeted Eric Phillips, a spokesman for New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, in response to Musk's tweets. Mike Dunn, a spokesman for the city of Philadelphia, said Musk also has not contacted officials there. 'There are numerous hurdles for this unproven hyperloop technology before it can become reality,' Dunn said. In the thread, he also revealed the project will coincide with the first set of tunnels set to be built in LA. And other cities, including a 'Texas loop,' could soon follow. Responding to a user who asked if Texas could get a Hyperloop as well, Musk wrote: 'For sure. First set of tunnels are to alleviate greater LA urban congestion. Will start NY-DC in parallel. Then prob LA-SF and a TX loop.' Earlier this month Musk announced the Boring Company's Godot machine has begun its digging operation in the car park of the SpaceX building in LA. The tweets this morning sparked intrigue on social media, with many wondering how concrete the plans are, and what the system will entail. But Musk has so far remained cryptic He also revealed the project will coincide with the first set of tunnels set to be built in LA. And other cities, including a 'Texas loop,' could soon follow 'Just installed steel skeleton of the car/pod elevator. Should be operating next week', the SpaceX founder tweeted today, with a five second video of the site. This marks a major step in Musk's plans to build a transport network beneath the city. At the same time, Hyperloop One, the firm on track to bring the radical transport system to life,revealed it completed its first successful test this spring. In a test that lasted just 5.3 seconds, the vehicle managed to hit 70 miles per hour using just 100 feet of the motor at the DevLoop test track in Nevada. WHAT IS HYPERLOOP? Hyperloop is a proposed method of travel that would transport people at roughly 700mph between distant locations. It was unveiled by Elon Musk in 2013, who at the time said it could take passengers the 380 miles (610km) from LA to San Francisco in 30 minutes - half the time it takes a plane. It is essentially a long tube that has had the air removed to create a vacuum. The tube is suspended off the ground to protect against weather and earthquakes. As several firms vie to create the first operational Hyperloop, Elon Musk's vision of a radical transport system that could ferry passengers above land at 760 miles per hour continues to inch closer to reality Advertisement While it's a far cry from the 760 miles per hour proponents of the Hyperloop boast it will one day achieve, the firm says the test marks an important milestone ahead of the completion of the linear motor, as 'the longer the motor, the faster we can go.' Along with the announcement of the ground-breaking test, the firm has also revealed a look at the XP-1 vehicle the pod that will soon be used for full systems tests. Just weeks earlier, Musk claimed he and the mayor of LA had 'promising talks' about his plans to build an underground transportation network. As well as the news that it would be operating next week, Musk tweeted another video of the site and commented 'Across the road and below the ground'. 'Just installed steel skeleton of the car/pod elevator. Should be operating next week', the SpaceX founder tweeted, with a five second video of the site He also revealed the location of the tunnel with a tweet that included a picture of the SpaceX headquarters and the comment 'perspective'. In a previous tweet, the Tesla founder said his 'Godot' machine had 'begun boring and just completed the first segment of tunnel in LA', while at the same time making bizarre declarations about his love of floors and tunnels. Musk's mention of 'Godot' appears to reference Samuel Beckett's 1949 play, Waiting for Godot, where two melancholy men old men sit on mounds of Earth waiting for 'Godot' to arrive. Along with the announcement of the ground-breaking test, the firm has also revealed a look at the XP-1 vehicle the pod that will soon be used for full systems tests. It has a carbon fiber and aluminium aeroshell with a levitating chassis, for 'suspension, lift, guidance and propulsion' Seemingly excited by the progress of his plans to dig under the city, the billionaire then went on to post a number of other tweets about his love of floors. On the subject of floors, Musk posted: 'They will never let you down. 'They are so underappreciated. 'Just try one. It's way better than you think.' He added: 'I love floors. Not as much as tunnels though.' He also revealed the location of the tunnel with a tweet that included a picture of the SpaceX headquarters and the comment 'perspective' As well as the news that it would be operating next week, Musk tweeted another video (pictured) of the site and commented 'Across the road and below the ground' His posts come weeks after Musk claimed that he had 'promising conversations' with the Mayor of LA about creating a network of tunnels beneath the city. The Tesla founder tweeted a video of Eric Garcetti saying that the Boring Company's tunnel could provide a 'quick and direct route from LAX to Union station.' While this suggests that the Mayor is on board with the tunnelling plans, Musk added that getting permits would be harder than creating the technology itself. Mr Garcetti spoke about the Boring Company's tunnel during an interview on ABC 7. The videos of the car park (pictured) come just weeks after Musk claimed he and the mayor of LA had 'promising talks' about his plans to build an underground bus network Elon Musk has revealed that his controversial Boring Company has started tunnelling underneath LA. His reference of 'Godot' alludes to Samuel Beckett's play Waiting for Godot The Tesla posted a series of cryptic tweets about the benefits of floors. He has previously claimed that an underground network of electric buses will ease congestion in LA Musk tweeted about his love for tunnels on Thursday. The posts come just weeks after Musk said he and the mayor of LA had 'promising talks' on his plans to tunnel beneath the city WAITING FOR GODOT 'Waiting for Godot' is a two act play by Samuel Beckett that was published in 1949. It was originally written in French, with the title 'En attendant Godot'. There are two main characters, Vladimir and Estragon, who wait for the arrival of Godot. Both are old men whose lives have taken a turn for the worst they are both homeless and often suicidal. They sit on mounds of earth near a country road waiting for Godot and talk about a range of topics, from food to memories and their lives. The two men are left waiting. The original French text was composed between 9 October 1948 and 29 January 1949. Advertisement And Elon Musk tweeted a link to this video, saying: 'Promising conversations with @MayorOfLA regarding tunnel network that would carry cars, bikes and pedestrians. Permits harder than technology.' This difficulty in gaining permits could explain why discussions with regulators even at this very early stage are so important. The tweet follows images released last month, showing the Boring Company's own underground electric buses that it plans to use in the tunnels. The vehicles, based on the same 'electric sled' that owners will drive their cars onto, have space for seated and standing passengers. They are mainly glass - even through they are designed to travel underground. Musk has come under fire repeatedly from experts claiming the tunnels are impractical and would be impossible to implement. But last month, the firm published an FAQ on its website outlining how it plans to achieve his vision. 'The key to making this work is increasing tunnelling speed and dropping costs by a factor of 10 or more this is the goal of the Boring Company,' it says. Musk tweeted a video of Eric Garcetti saying that the Boring Company's tunnel could provide a 'quick and direct route from LAX to Union station' 'Unlike flying cars, tunnels are weatherproof, out of sight and won't fall on your head,' it explains. 'A large network of road tunnels many levels deep would fix congestion in any city, no matter how large it grew (just keep adding levels).' It has been just six months since Musk first revealed his radical plan to beat LA's notorious gridlock and now, the entry hole, staging area, and starting tunnel for the first Boring Machine, 'Godot,' is complete, Musk says. THE FIRST TUNNEL The tunnels will all be named according to a 'poems & plays' theme, Musk said. Boring Machine 1 has now officially been dubbed Godot. According to Musk, it will run from LAX to Culver City, Santa Monica, Westwood, and Sherman Oaks. Advertisement Critics have slammed the plan as completely unrealistic as it would require a mass of permits and huge disruption as hundreds of tunnels and access 'lifts' are dug. It is also unclear if the machine has actually been used to dig anything - with images of an electric 'sled' having been filmed in another nearby tunnel SpaceX has been using to test pods for Musk's Hyperloop. However, Musk says the area is ripe for innovation. 'Currently, tunnels are really expensive to dig, with some projects costing as much as $1 billion per mile,' the new FAQ says. Critics have slammed the plan as completely unrealistic as it would require a mass of permits and huge disruption as hundreds of tunnels and access 'lifts' are dug. Pictured is the first image released of the Boring Company's tunnelling machine 'In order to make a tunnel network feasible, tunnelling costs must be reduced by a factor of more than 10.' The key to this is smaller tunnels that can be dug more quickly, the FAQ says. 'To build a one-lane road tunnel, the tunnel diameter must be approximately 28 feet. 'By placing vehicles on a stabilized electric sled, the diameter can be reduced to less than 14 feet. Reducing the diameter in half reduces tunnelling costs by 3-4 times. 'Secondly, increase the speed of the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM). 'TBMs are super slow. 'A snail is effectively 14 times faster than a soft-soil TBM. 'Our goal is to defeat the snail in a race.' Musk envisions a new breed of smaller, more powerful TBMs with triple the power of current machines that can tunnel continuously. 'In the United States, there is virtually no investment in tunnelling Research and Development (and in many other forms of construction). THE CHALLENGES MUSK'S 'BORING' PLAN WILL FACE Musk has an uphill battle ahead if he's serious about tunnelling under LA. Digging under cities takes a lot of time because the densely packed earth and rock underground is poorly mapped. 'Our recent experience with tunnels in the US is that neighbours worry, you run up against various environmental laws, and you just never know what's underneath the Earth,' Michael Manville, who studies urban planning at the University of California, Los Angeles, told Wired. The hole is legal because it has been dug on private property. But extending the tunnel further than SpaceX's headquarters would require more discussion, paperwork, and LA City council approval. 'We're just going to figure out what it takes to improve tunnelling speed by, I think, somewhere between 500 and 1,000 percent,' he said during a recent Hyperloop design competition at SpaceX. 'We have no idea what we're doing - I want to be clear about that.' Advertisement 'Thus, the construction industry is one of the only sectors in our economy that has not improved its productivity in the last 50 years,' it concludes. In a series of posts, Musk revealed a glimpse at the processes that are bringing the first tunnel to life, in the first stages of a network that will 'cover all of greater LA.' Musk also offered a look at a test run of the tunnel's 'electric sleds,' which will ferry cars at 125 miles per hour to bring passengers from Westwood to LAX in just five minutes. Musk recently revealed it has begun work on its first tunnel beneath Los Angeles , which will stretch from LAX to Sherman Oaks when complete Musk solicited help on Twitter to come up with names for his boring machine. And, after a flurry of suggestions ranging from 'Snoop Dug' to 'Tunnely McTunnelface,' Musk settled on a theme of 'poems & plays.' Boring Machine 1 has now officially been dubbed 'Godot.' In several photos and videos shared on social media, Musk revealed that work on Godot is well underway, with the entry hole, staging area, and starting tunnel complete. Musk posted a picture on Instagram, writing 'Cutterhead in operation at standard industry speed. Planning to jack this up by a factor of ten or more' 'First tunnel for The Boring Company begins,' Musk wrote, alongside a photo of the entryway. 'Full length of first tunnel will run from LAX to Culver City, Santa Monica, Westwood, and Sherman Oaks. 'Future tunnels will cover all of greater LA.' 'NANNIE' THE BORING MACHINE The machine Musk bought is believed to be Nannie, a machine is 26 feet in diameter and about 400 feet long, weighing around 1,200 tons. It was used by Washington's water utility to dig a tunnel to prevent sewage from overflowing into the Anacostia River. The machine is named after Nannie Helen Burroughs, nationally prominent Black educator, Church leader, and suffrage supporter who founded the National Training School for Women and Girls in Washington DC. The 1,248 ton machine created a 23-foot diameter tunnel beginning at RFK Stadium that ends at the Poplar Point Pumping station in Southeast, approximately 100 feet underground. It goes underneath the Anacostia River, CSX railroad tracks, and the Green Line. The entire project - which traverses underground 13 miles from Bloomingdale to DC Water's Blue Plains Wastewater Treatment Plant in Southeast - is designed to supplement the existing sewer system by capturing excess storm water and curb area flooding. After phase one, the Anacostia River Tunnel will serve as a storage tank for water until the storms pass - it can hold more than 38 million gallons of combined sewage, according to DC Water. By the end of phase two, expected to occur in 2022 or 2023, storm water will be piped to Blue Plains for treatment before its release through the Northeast Boundary Tunnel. Advertisement In the posts, he also gave a look at the boring machine segments being lowered into the starter tunnel. These are now 'going through final assembly,' according to Musk, and will eventually be 'a few hundred feet long.' And, Musk shared a video of the rotating cutterhead, which is currently operating at standard industry speed but, he says the firm is 'planning to jack this up by a factor of ten or more.' Samsung has sent out invitations for a product launch event for its next major smartphone, the Galaxy Note 8, on August 23 in New York City. The Galaxy Note 8 will be the new version of the ill-fated Galaxy Note 7. Samsung was forced to recall the handset last year after devices overheated and caused fires or started smoking due to battery problems. Scroll down for video The invitations Samsung has sent out for a product launch event for its next major smartphone, the Galaxy Note 8, on August 23 in New York City. The timing of the event is believed to be an attempt to sabotage the launch of the iPhone 8 - which apple is expected to unveil in early September. Many of the Galaxy Note 8 features have already leaked. A photo that claims to show the rear camera from the upcoming GalaxyNote 8 has been leaked online. A number of concept images have already been posted to social media, based on rumours of features expected for the phone. If real this may be the first genuine image of the back of the handset, which Samsung is expected to launch in the autumn to compete with Apple's iPhone 8. A number of concept images have already been posted to social media, based on rumours of features expected for the phone (pictured). The gadget is also expected to come with the same Infinity Display as the S8, as well as the S Pen stylus NOTE 8 RUMOURS Rumours surrounding the Note 8 first came to light in April, which had suggested that the Android could have significantly smaller bezels, an infinity screen and dual cameras. Sources have said its design will mirror that of the Galaxy S8. Sources have suggested that the Note 8 will have an Infinity display, which has an 18.5-to-9 width-to-length ratio. It will have 6GB of RAM and a 12-megapixel sensor for each of the dual cameras on the back. And the new software that will improve split-screen multitasking, give the S Pen more capabilities and enable users to pin handwritten notes to the always-on display. Rumours have said it will be unveiled in September and cost over $900 (999). Advertisement Facebook user Tung Ha, from Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, posted the image on the social network this week. Mr Tung claims that the photo shows the dual lens camera, LED flash and fingerprint ID scanner for the Galaxy Note 8. Some had thought this sensor may be placed under surface of the front screen, as is rumoured for the tenth anniversary edition of the iPhone. But this image suggests it will follow the design of the Galaxy S8, released in April. The gadget is also expected to come with the same Infinity Display as the S8, as well as the S Pen stylus featured in previous models of the Note. It seems Samsung believes its Galaxy Note 8 has what it takes to stand up to Apple's highly anticipated iPhone 8. A rumour brought to light, by an individual briefed on the companys plans, previously claimed the Samsung Note 8 will be unveiled in September, according to reports in VentureBeat. If true, the rivals will have to battle it out for the top spot in the market, but Samsung's handset is believed to boast a new design, cutting-edge software and costs less than the so-called 'iPhone 8'. The firm will be hoping that the new device will help to restore consumer confidence in their products. A photo that claims to show the rear camera from the upcoming GalaxyNote 8 has been leaked online. Vietnamese Facebook user Tung Ha claims that the photo shows the dual lens camera, LED flash and fingerprint ID scanner for the Galaxy Note 8 (pictured) Samsung was forced to scrap its Galaxy Note 7 range last year after repeated reports from users that they were catching fire. Airliners banned the devices over safety fears and the company had to recall three million handsets. Samsung launched a vast inquiry into the issue that is expected to cost the company an estimated 4.3 billion ($5.3 billion). It later claimed a battery fault in the Galaxy Note 7 was to blame. It was announced in March that the South Korean firm will begin to sell refurbished versions of the ill-fated tablet phone, as well as plans to rebrand it. Pictures of the new handset leaked online revealed what it will look like and, unsurprisingly, it's exactly the same. Although Samsung did not plan on building ticking time bombs, they could have avoided this disaster by giving the Note 7 devices a user-removable battery, according to one expert. 'Samsung made some poor design choices with a phone that ended up being a fire hazard,'Gary Cook, senior corporate campaigner and IT sector analyst at Greenpeace told the DailyMail.com. 'Previously, Samsung designed its smartphones to let customers remove the battery themselves, which is great.' 'Now, theyve shifted to using adhesive to put the battery in and it is difficult to remove.' 'That is why they are recalling the entire phone, instead of just being able replace the battery.' Forty-eight years ago today, Neil Armstrong made history as the first human to step foot on the moon, followed minutes later by pilot Buzz Aldrin. As space agencies and private companies around the world once again turn their sights to the moon, experts warn that the precious artifacts they bring back must be protected, or risk setting a dangerous precedent for potential moon scavengers. In a sobering wake-up call, a sample bag containing traces of moon dust from the historic Apollo 11 mission sold today for $1.8 million, despite efforts by NASA to stop it and now, a non-profit is calling on the United Nations to intervene before its too late. Scroll down for video As space agencies and private companies once again turn their sights to the moon, experts warn that the precious artifacts they bring back must be protected, or risk setting a dangerous precedent for potential moon scavengers. Buzz Aldrin is pictured on the moon in 1969 LEGAL ROW OVER MOON SAMPLE BAG The bag of moon dust was owned by Chicago-area lawyer Nancy Lee Carlson, after it was mistakenly sold on a government website for $995 (769). The bag was used to hold rocks and dust from the lunar region known as the Sea of Tranquility. Ownership of both moon rocks or dust and artefacts from lunar missions is generally restricted and upon identifying the bag and finding that it contained remnants of lunar dust, the space agency sought to keep it. But NASA lost a legal fight to keep the bag, and a U.S. District Court judge ordered it returned to Ms Carlson in February. Carlson and Sotheby's sold it on July 20, 2017 - the 48th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing - for $1.8 million. Advertisement The organization, called For All Moonkind, will present its plan at the Starship Congress 2017 in Monterey, California August 7-9. Its hoped that theyll be able to obtain UN protection of the six Apollo Lunar Landing sites, along with the related artifacts. We formed For All Moonkind with a mission to ensure the Apollo landing sites be recognized by the United Nations for their outstanding value to humanity and protected for posterity, said co-founder and space lawyer, Michelle Hanlon. The decision by Nancy Lee Carlson and Sothebys to auction off an Apollo 11 Lunar Sample Return Decontamination Bag is a sobering wake-up call. The bag belongs in a museum, so the entire world can share in and celebrate the universal human achievement it represents. In recent years, several countries have revealed plans to send astronauts back to the moon. Among them, China says its already making the preliminary preparations. The United States expressed similar interests earlier this year, issuing orders for NASAs top staff to assess the feasibility of sending astronauts aboard the first mission of the Orion spacecraft, slated for 2018. But, the experts decided they would be sticking to the plan for an unmanned mission, which has since been pushed back to 2019. Even private companies are hoping to get involved in the moon race. Florida-based Moon Express revealed this month that its developing a fleet of low-cost robotic spacecraft that can be assembled like Legos, according to Reuters. In a sobering wake-up call, a sample bag containing traces of moon dust from the historic Apollo 11 mission sold today for $1.8 million, despite efforts by NASA to stop it and now, a non-profit is calling on the United Nations to intervene before its too late This would allow them to establish a lunar outpost in 2020, and ultimately set up commercial operations on the Moon to mine material and ship it back to Earth to sell. With the heightened interest, the experts warn against straying from the universal human achievement these missions would represent. The Apollo 11 Lunar Sample Return Decontamination Bag is a clear example of the issues that could come. After it was misidentified and sold by the government, NASA fought to get it back. MOON EXPRESS PLANS TO SET UP A LUNAR MINE Last year, Moon Express announced its plans to set up a mine on the moon to bring back precious resources, including metals and moon rocks. And the firm looks to be one step closer to reaching its goal. In January, Moon Express completed a 16.6 million ($20 million) financing round, bringing its total funding to 37 million ($45 million). As well as completing its recent financing round, Moon Express has also entered Googles Lunar Xprize competition, which will give a firm 25 million ($30 million) in reward for landing a rover on the moon. During November and December 2014, Moon Express successfully conducted its lander test vehicle hot fires and initial flight tests. A thermal infrared image of Moon Express' MTV-1X test vehicle shown, undergoing a hotfire engine test at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida Moon Express hopes to mine our satellite for materials like platinum-group metals, rare earth metals, helium-3 and moon rocks. 'Most of the elements that are rare on Earth are believed to have originated from space, and are largely on the surface of the Moon,' the company says. The company has contracted Rocket Lab, which was founded in New Zealand but is now headquartered in Los Angeles, to launch is robotic spacecraft. Rocket Lab will use its Electron rocket system to launch three missions ofMoon Express' MX-1 lunar lander spacecraft, starting in 2017. Advertisement But, the request was denied in December 2016. According to the advocates with For All Moonkind, the federal judge at the time even noted that the importance and desirability of the bag stems solely and directly from the efforts of the men and women of NASA, whose amazing technical achievements, skill, and courage in landing astronauts on the moon and returning them safely have not been replicated in the almost half a century since the Apollo 11 landing. The bag sold at an auction today for $1.8 million, on the 48th anniversary of the first moon landing. Forty-eight years ago today, Neil Armstrong made history as the first human to step foot on the moon, followed minutes later by pilot Buzz Aldrin. Aldrin is pictured, with astronaut Neil Armstrong seen in the reflection As space exploration moves forward, the experts say protections must be established to prevent cases such as this from becoming the norm. Our effort is all about progress, said Hanlon. We applaud Google Lunar XPrize and look forward to humanitys return to the Moon. However, if we allow our past to be sold, especially for personal gain, we set a dangerous precedent for potential Moon scavengers and we lay a very weak foundation for our collective future. Thai authorities are demanding tourists show them proof that they have enough money before letting them enter the country, according to reports. While Thailand has long required tourists to arrive with a minimum of 10,000 Baht (230) per person and 20,000 (460) Baht per family, it was a rule rarely enforced until now. Travellers have been taking to online forums saying that airport officials are demanding to see the sums in cash, with one German traveller claiming he was detained in a cockroach-ridden cell for not carrying any, and denied access to an ATM. Thai authorities are demanding tourists show them proof that they have enough money before letting them enter the country, according to reports (stock image) According to ThaiVisa, the move forms part of a crackdown on the rise of western visitors begging for money or working illegally there. The trend, casually referred to as 'begpacking', sees mainly European and Australian visitors plead or perform for cash on the streets. Numerous videos recently-uploaded to social media depict young travellers trying to generate money with such tactics. According to ThaiVisa's forum, one British national - who had three previous tourist visa entries in his passport - was asked to show the sum after landing at Bangkok's Don Mueang airport. Travellers have been taking to online forums saying that airport officials are demanding to see the sums in cash One German tourist claims on ThaiVisa that he was detained in a squalid immigration centre at the city's Suvarnabhumi Airport for not having enough cash on him Fortunately, he was carrying the cash amount and was granted access. But not everybody has been so fortunate. One German tourist claims he was detained in a squalid immigration centre at the city's Suvarnabhumi Airport, which processes more than 45 million people each year. Writing on the forum, he says he was detained despite offering to show his bank statements. While Thailand has long required tourists to arrive with a minimum of 10,000 Baht (230) per person and 20,000 (460) Baht per family, it was a rule rarely enforced until now 'I was asked to show 20k THB and I only had 8k on me, but I told them I could show them my banking account or go to any ATM and withdraw the money,' he said. 'The guy was power-tripping for whatever reason and didn't let me. Said he doesn't trust me and that I'll go home. I'm in the detention cell right now. Already been here for a good eight hours and it sucks. 'Cockroaches everywhere, no blankets, no pillows. It's a good time.' The scrutiny even stretches as far as Padang Besar in Malaysia, which borders Thailand to the south. A record-breaking 32 million foreign visitors travelled into Thailand in 2016, with even more expected this year. The vast majority of pickpocket victims react with anger. But this tourist in Bali took pity on the young woman she seemingly caught stealing her wallet, and gave her some money so she could buy some petrol for her moped instead. The female Australian tourist told the purported thief, 'I forgive you, but do not do this ever again' and let this be a 'lesson.' It is not known how the thief, who appears to be in her teens or 20s, was apprehended for taking the tourists the wallet, but the footage starts in the immediate aftermath. It was shared to Facebook and has been watched more than 30,000 times since it was uploaded earlier this month. In the video, locals are seen standing around discussing the incident as the pickpocket stands with her head down next to her moped. When asked by the victim why she took her wallet, the thief apparently explains she did it because she couldn't afford petrol. The female Australian tourist handed over the cash (left) then told the purported thief, 'I forgive you, but do not do this ever again' (right) After a tender hug (left) she then gestured to the crowd to move them out of the way as the woman sped off on her moped (right) 'Do you have family here?' the tourist asks, before getting some cash out and handing it to the woman, who bows repeatedly in gratitude. The tourist then says she forgives her, but says sternly: 'Do not do this ever again, let this be a lesson'. She then gestures to the crowd to move them out of the way as the woman speeds off on her moped. Neither of the women involved have been identified. She found fame on The Bachelor last year, and now Tiffany Scanlon is learning how to be a website developer by taking part in a coding course. The former reality TV star, 30, celebrated her acceptance into the 10-day, Bali-based course by Institute of Code by posing for a revealing Instagram snap. In the photo, which she posted on Wednesday, Tiffany flaunted her pert derriere and slender waist wearing just her underwear and colourful body glitter. Scroll down for video Success! The Bachelor's Tiffany Scanlon celebrated her acceptance into a 10-day coding course in Bali by flaunting her pert derriere in body glitter for a revealing Instagram snap Clearly excited to be embarking on the next stage of her professional life, Tiffany wrote in the caption: 'Skies (sic) the limit! 'I'm thrilled to announce that I have been accepted into Institute of Code where I'll be spending 10 days in Bali with a group of fellow entrepreneurs, creatives and aspiring digital nomads learning to code! 'I've wanted to attend since I heard about it from a travel blogger last year. I have BIG plans for my website "The Tiffany Times" and being the independent woman I am, I wanted to learn how to build it myself! Luxury learning: Institute of Code offers participants the opportunity to 'upskill in paradise', and the course includes daily yoga and mindfulness meditation and even an in-house chef 'For less than the cost I was quoted by a web developer, I'll get 10 days all-inclusive in a luxury pool villa while I learn!' She concluded: 'I could not be more excited! Hard work and persistence pays off!' Institute of Code offers participants the opportunity to 'upskill in paradise', and the course includes daily yoga and mindfulness meditation, an in-house chef, and 10 nights of accommodation. Unlikely romance: Tiffany is best known for her relationship with ex-girlfriend Megan Marx (pictured), who she met while they were both filming The Bachelor Australia last year Tiffany is best known for her relationship with ex-girlfriend Megan Marx, who she met while they were both filming The Bachelor Australia last year. But their high-profile romance was plagued with rumours it was a 'publicity stunt', with former co-star Keira Maguire apparently saying so in an Instagram Live video. Megan later told Daily Mail Australia that Keira's comments 'made whilst drunk and loose-tongued' were harmful, false and 'extremely disappointing'. Asher Keddie is a home grown talent who is best known her award winning role on Ten's hit drama Offspring. But she she were lured to Hollywood, the 42-year-old says she would love to emulate the action-comedy career of Robert Downey Jnr, best known for his stint as superhero Ironman. She tells The Daily Telegraph: 'I'm quite a physical, active person and I'd be really keen to see what that would be like, a big action flick'. Off to Hollywood? Asher Keddie says she would love to emulate the action-comedy career of Robert Downey Jnr, best known for his stint as superhero Ironman Asher continued: 'Or something like Robert Downey Jnr does, an action comedy'. The actress did admit that she won't be giving up character Nina Proudman any time soon however. 'I find Nina, and the show, really hard to resist. As long as I can play other characters as well, I don't find it hard walking in Nina's shoes,' she tells the publication. Asher has been going from strength to strength on the comedic drama, and has become a style icon for Australian women, with many designers selling out of her clothing before episodes even air. Fashion designer Andrew Sands dubbed the popular character 'Australia's Carrie Bradshaw' in an interview with The Daily Telegraph on Monday. Like Ironman? She tells The Daily Telegraph : 'I'm quite a physical, active person and I'd be really keen to see what that would be like, a big action flick' Asher continued: 'Or something like Robert Downey Jnr does, an action comedy' Andrew's bag brand, Harlequin Belle, saw a 500 percent increase in sales after being worn by the character numerous times on the show. 'Nina is Australia's Carrie Bradshaw,' he declared, in reference to Sarah Jessica Parker's style icon character in Sex & The City. Melbourne designer Catherine Murphy told the publication that when Nina recently donned her $389 Liberty Dress she quickly sold out of the item. Influential: Asher's character Nina Proudman has grown to be somewhat of a style icon for Australian women Style queen; 'Nina is Australia's Carrie Bradshaw,' he declared, in reference to Sarah Jessica Parker's style icon character in Sex & The City Catherine added she was especially chuffed to see Nina in the dress as Asher had always been a 'muse' of the designer's. 'I had to pinch myself when imagery of Asher in my dress began circulating,' she recounted. 'She's always been a muse of mine,' she continued. Popular: Melbourne designer Catherine Murphy told the publication when Nina recently donned her $389 Liberty Dress, she quickly sold out of the item She's appears on the cover of the latest Cosmopolitan Bride. And on Thursday, The Bachelor's Anna Heinrich revealed she was 'a little nervous' trying on the stunning gowns for her eight-page spread. Although overwhelmed, the 30-year-old lawyer told OK! Magazine she felt lucky to be surrounded by such beautiful dresses. Bride-to-be: On Thursday, The Bachelor's Anna Heinrich told OK! Magazine she was 'a little nervous' trying on stunning wedding gowns for her eight-page Cosmopolitant Bride spread 'All of the dresses were stunning, and I felt so lucky that I got to play dress-ups with those beautiful gowns,' she said. And it was Anna's chiropractor fiance Tim Robards who calmed her nerves on-set. 'Looking at the pics together gave (us) a real sense of excitement,' she said. 'Looking at the pics together gave (us) a real sense of excitement': Anna revealed she and fiance Tim felt butterflies while looking through her bridal photo shoot Anna promoted her cover shoot on Instagram this week, writing: 'I'M A BRIDE... well, almost! ;) To be asked to shoot the cover of was such an amazing honour.' 'I'd never tried on a wedding dress before, so this was such a special moment for me,' she continued. 'If there are any bride-to-be's out there, I hope you love it, and pick up a copy.' 'I'd never tried on a wedding dress before, so this was such a special moment for me': Read more on Anna's wedding gowns in this month's issue of Cosmopolitan Brides, out now Engaged! Tim proposed to Anna during a trip to WA back in May, after four years together Tim proposed to Anna during a trip to WA back in May, after four years together. The Bachelor couple celebrated their engagement by travelling to Europe for a romantic holiday. Read more on Anna's wedding gowns in this month's issue of Cosmopolitan Brides, out now State officials and lawmakers are working on an incentive package to lure giant Taiwanese iPhone manufacturer Foxconn to Wisconsin. If lawmakers settle on an incentive package, it won't be in the 2017-19 state budget, but moves to help fund the package could be part of current budget negotiations, Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette, said in an interview with the Wisconsin State Journal. "Foxconn is part of the long-term conversations about the budget," said Nygren, co-chairman of the Legislature's budget committee. Any incentive package for Foxconn would be contained in separate legislation, he said. Sen. Luther Olsen, R-Ripon, and Nygren said the state could announce it has entered into a memorandum of understanding with Foxconn by the end of the month, according to the Associated Press, which first reported on the incentive package. Foxconn employs about 1 million people to assembly iPhones and smartphones for BlackBerry and Sony. The company is considering building a $7 billion U.S. plant that could employ as many as 10,000 people to build display panels. Foxconn officials also are looking at building in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas. Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, told the AP that lawmakers are talking about "huge, big numbers" to offer to Foxconn officials. Fitzgerald's spokeswoman Myranda Tanck said while Fitzgerald his aware of efforts to bring Foxconn to Wisconsin, "all negotiations with the company are being conducted with the administration and have not significantly included legislators." "He anticipates that any legislative action to help facilitate an agreement with Foxconn would likely come outside of the budget and hopefully garner bipartisan support," she said. Nygren said the potential incentive package is "not directly" affecting passage of a new state budget, which was due July 1. But he said lawmakers are now mulling a proposal from Gov. Scott Walker to eliminate a $203 million income tax cut to lower bonding levels to help pay for road projects and potentially help create incentives for Foxconn. He said lawmakers are considering how this move would affect future budgets. For weeks, lawmakers have been at odds over how to close a nearly $1 billion transportation funding gap. The Senate has proposed $721 million borrowing; the Assembly opposes more borrowing. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has reported in recent weeks that Foxconn officials have held a number of meetings in the state, looking at potential sites in southeastern and central Wisconsin including Dane County. Minus two plus three equals Five-0. CBS has unveiled three new cast regulars to replace Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park, who walked out over wage disparity. Ian Anthony Dale, Meaghan Rath and Beulah Koale will all become part of the main cast when the police procedural returns for its eighth season in September, according to The Hollywood Reporter. New blood: CBS has unveiled three new main cast members for Hawaii Five-0, including Ian Anthony Dale who already has a recurring role on the show Dale has played Park's character's husband Adam Noshimuri since season two, but will be promoted to the Main cast as Alex O'Loughlin's McGarrett recruits him to the team. New Girl and Banshee star Rath will play Tani Rey, who McGarrett also recruits after finding her working as a hotel pool lifeguard, having been kicked out of police academy. Kiwi actor Koale meanwhile, who will appear opposite Miles Teller in this years Thank You For Your Service, will play ex-Navy Seal Junior Reigns, who has just returned from service and joins the team. The network found itself down two leads earlier this month when wage neagotiations with Kim and Park fell apart. Promotion: Dale has played Park's character's husband Adam Noshimuri since season two, but will be promoted to the Main cast as Alex O'Loughlin's McGarrett recruits him to the team New girl: Banshee star Meaghan Rath will play Tani Rey, who McGarrett also recruits after finding her working as a hotel pool lifeguard, having been kicked out of police academy New guy: Kiwi actor Beulah Koale meanwhile, who will appear opposite Miles Teller in this years Thank You For Your Service, will play ex-Navy Seal Junior Reigns, who has just returned from service and joins the team CBS claimed it 'tried very hard' to keep the pair on, who were reportedly seeking the same pay as co-stars O'Loughlin and Scott Caan. 'Daniel and Grace have been important and valued members of Hawaii Five-0 for seven seasons,' it said. 'We did not want to lose them and tried very hard to keep them with offers for large and significant salary increases. 'While we could not reach an agreement, we part ways with tremendous respect for their talents on screen, as well as their roles as ambassadors for the show off screen, and with hopes to work with them again in the near future.' In a lengthy Facebook post, 48-year-old Kim informed fans of the 'sad and difficult' decision. 'I will not be returning to Hawaii Five-0 when production starts next week,' he wrote. Out with the old: CBS 'tried very hard' to stop Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park from leaving Hawaii Five-0, the network claimed earlier this month 'Though I made myself available to come back, CBS and I werent able to agree to terms on a new contract, so I made the difficult choice not to continue.' Kim concluded his statement: 'The path to equality is rarely easy.' That week, showrunner Peter Lenkov weighed in on Twitter, claiming 'we are all saddened' by the exits, but added 'The truth is this: Both actors chose not to extend their contracts.' 'CBS was extremely generous and proactive in their renegotiation talks. So much so, the actors were getting unprecedented raises, but in the end they chose to move on. Offer: 'We did not want to lose them and tried very hard to keep them with offers for large and significant salary increases, CBS claimed 'No one wanted to see them go they are irreplaceable. He said that Grace's decision was understandable since she had been away from her family for seven years.... but made no such mention of Daniel. 'There was an opportunity for her to return for a handful of episodes, but for several reasons that didnt work out. 'In the end, everyone tried their best to keep the ohana intact. So much so, we were holding off from reporting the news, hoping an agreement could still be reached. Yes, its heartbreaking, but this happens on long-running shows. It is a hurdle we all worked hard to overcome.' Bye: On Wednesday the actor confirmed the news in a lengthy Facebook post addressed to fans, telling them of the 'sad and difficult' decision Not bitter: He thanked the crew and writers of the show, and if he felt any bitterness he certainly didn't show it, also thanking as exec producers Peter Lenkov, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and everyone at CBS According to Variety, both Kim and Park were looking to match the salaries of co-stars Alex O'Loughlin and Scott Caan; but CBS would only come to within 10 to 15 per cent. A source told The Hollywood Reporter Kim was actually offered just two per cent less than the other male leads. However O'Loughlin and Caan reportedly also receive lucrative back-end percentage points on the show's profits, on top of their salary. In his statement, Kim thanked the crew and writers of the show, and if he felt any bitterness he certainly didn't show it, also thanking exec producers Peter Lenkov, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and everyone at CBS. He went on to say how appreciative he was at getting cast as such a fully developed character like Chin Ho Kelly on the police procedural reboot. Veterans: Both Park and Kim had been on the show for all seven seasons 'As an Asian American actor, I know first-hand how difficult it is to find opportunities at all, let alone play a well developed, three dimensional character like Chin Ho. I will miss him sincerely. What made him even more special is that he was a representative of a place my family and I so dearly love,' he wrote. When the shock news originally broke last week, Lenkov also released a statement praising both actors for their job on the long-running series. 'I will never forget meeting Daniel while still writing the pilot and being certain there was no other actor who I'd want to play Chin Ho Kelly. Needless to say, Daniel has been an instrumental part of the success of Hawaii Five-0 over the past 7 seasons and it has personally been a privilege to know him. 'We are so appreciative of Daniel and Graces enormous talents, professional excellence and the aloha spirit they brought to each and every one of our 168 episodes. Theyve helped us build an exciting new Hawaii Five-0, and we wish them all the best and much success in their next chapters. Mahalo and a hui hou' Kim also called on fans to check out his production company's new show The Good Doctor, which debuts on ABC in the fall. They are celebrating three years of marriage. And model Behati Prinsloo paid a bizarre tribute to Adam Levine by referring to him as her 'ride or die' on social media on Wednesday. The professional clotheshorse also shared an image of herself sitting next to the Voice judge on a couch on Instagram. Bridal showered with praise: Behati Prinsloo celebrated three years of marriagte to Adam Levine by referring to him as her 'ride or die' on social media on Wednesday The 28-year-old lingerie specialist captioned the image: 'My ride or die, 3 years strong.' The dynamic duo look very casual in the touching image, with the model staring as if transfixed by the Maroon 5 squealer's questionable beard. A 'ride-or-die chick' is a term taken from hip hop culture, which refers to a woman willing to support her partner and his illicit lifestyle despite how this might harm her. However according to some academics, and despite the term often being the subject of male praise or female self-identification, it has been critiqued as being a damaging ideal imposed on black women. Public display of affection: The hipsterish Iron Maiden fan also said she 'can't do life' without her man on Father's Day Adam, 38, started dating the Namibian Victoria's Secret model in May 2012, and they tied the knot in July 2014. They had their first child Dusty Rose last September. And they are wont to enthusiastic public displays of affection, such as when she paid tribute to her man by saying she 'cannot do life' without him on Father's Day. The African beauty even got a tattoo on her ring finger in 2014, explaining at the time exactly it means. Child's play: She brought daughter Dusty Rose along when Adam got his Hollywood star in February She said: 'The three dots meaning being one with the earth. I wanted it on my wedding finger so if I take my rings off I wanted something to (say) I'm taken.' Logic famed Scottish philosopher David Hume himself would be proud of. Meanwhile her doting husband recently got his own permanent etching on his body, with the words 'TRUE LOVE,' in a playful nod to thug culture, scrawled across his fingers. The classy pop star toasted his new etching by sharing an image of his hands grabbing meaty handfuls of his wife's thong-clad behind. A cheeky tribute: He grabbed meaty handfuls of his wife's thong-clad behind as he showed off his 'true love' tattooed knuckles on social media The Sweet Makers: A Tudor Treat Rating: Red Rock Rating: Nigella must be open-mouthed with envy. Gregg will be speechless and Gordon is probably screaming down the phone at his agent right now. Its a rare cookery show that reveals a simple technique for a sensational dish thats completely new to television, but The Sweet Makers: A Tudor Treat (BBC2) delivered a beauty. Take a rose, one that has just bloomed. Cut the stem no longer than a finger. Dust the petals in fine sugar dont roll or crush them, just turn the flower slowly as you sprinkle. When every surface is frosted, stand the rose in a warm place and allow the sugar to harden overnight. If possible, serve on a silver platter. Sensational dish: The Sweet Makers: A Tudor Treat was a rare cookery show that reveals a simple technique for a sensational dish Candied roses should be eaten in a single bite, like a cherry. Do not pull their petals off one by one, because the frosting will go everywhere... and definitely do not lick them like toffee apples. Youll just look common. Historical food shows have become a BBC2 speciality, and this one appeared at first to follow the standard format. Four professional cooks, including a couple of chocolatiers and a cake-maker, were dressed in smocks and wimples, and sent into the kitchens of a stately home to prepare a feast of sweetmeats. Naturally, they almost suffocated on carbon monoxide fumes from the open fires and kept singeing their petticoats, before they finally got the hang of the Renaissance recipes. HOLY TECH OF THE WEEK Joanna Lumley met the Dalai Lama in her travelogue India (ITV) and gave him a camera drone. He was worried it might fly into his head. Perhaps she should have brought a crash helmet too. Advertisement Their sugar banquet, with a centrepiece made from moulded marchpain (or marzipan), and baked medlars with chili chocs for delicacies, was a triumph. But while most shows never cease to sing the praises of their food-glorious-food, this one didnt flinch from examining what dangerous stuff sugar really is addictive, destructive and the root cause of Britains obesity epidemic. We visited the archives of the Museum of London, where ancient bones are apparently filed like historic documents, and saw two human skulls. One, dating from William the Conquerers time, had perfect white gnashers worthy of a modern celeb. The other was more recent, belonging to a Tudor nobleman: the few teeth he had left were black, ravaged by sugar. Then we flew to Barbados, to learn about slavery on the sugar plantations. This wasnt the jolly glimpse into the past we used to get between rounds on Bake Off. The producers over-sweetened the lesson, by letting two of their confectioners have a little weep at the plight of the slaves. Just once, it would be good to see a history doc that doesnt involve sniffles and tissues. Theres been much wailing and gnashing of teeth since Red Rock (BBC1) returned. The afternoon police drama centres on a fictional Irish seaside town ruled by feuding crime families. Police drama Red Rock is not afternoon telly to put a smile on your face The tiny Garda contingent is currently paralysed with grief for their murdered superintendent. Meanwhile, heroin is rife among the local teens: even the desk sergeants son is hooked on the stuff. All of this is about as cheerful as it sounds. Garda Paudge (Patrick Ryan), the amiable idiot of the series, has been blackmailed, stabbed and left for dead. Thats a bit like beating up Benny from Crossroads. Red Rock dreams of being Irish noir, but its written and filmed on an Acorn Antiques budget. Every scene is filmed in huddles, as if the studio floor is about the size of a table-top. A few good characters, including Paudges naive but brave partner, Garda Sharon (Jane McGrath), draw the viewer in, and the stories do belt along. But this is not afternoon telly to put a smile on your face. They've kept relatively under the radar, since relocating to the Big Apple. But Sam and Lara Worthington, made a rare public appearance at the Manhunt: Unabomber world premiere, in New York on Wednesday. The power couple gazed adoringly at one another on the red carpet, with Lara, 30, highlighting her slender figure in a silver peplum-style frock. The look of love! Sam Worthington, 40, and Lara Bingle, 30, gazed adoringly at one another, as they attended the Manhunt: Unabomber world premiere, in New York on Wednesday Lara looked beautiful in a metallic peplum-style frock with floral detailing. A slight plunging neckline showed off her delicate decolletage and just a hint of cleavage, while strategic pleating under the bust accentuated her slender waist. Accessorising with a pair of embellished ankle boots and delicate jewels, the entrepreneur styled her short blonde locks in a sleek fashion. Lara finished off the look with a flawless complexion, defined brows, lashings of mascara and a matte nude lip. Polished: Lara looked beautiful in a metallic peplum-style frock with floral detailing, while Sam cut a smart figure in a black shirt, paired with a tailored suit jacket and coordinating trousers Flawless: The beauty accessorised with a pair of embellished ankle boots and styled her short blonde locks in a sleek fashion Lara's movie star husband Sam Worthington, 40, cut a smart figure in a tailored ensemble. A round-neck black T-shirt was paired with a navy suit jacket and coordinating trousers. Brown suede boots tied in nicely with the red carpet attire. Placing one protective hand on his famous wife's waist, the couple gazed adoringly at one another, looking very much in love. Doting: Sam placed one protective hand on his famous wife's slender waist Glowing: Lara looked radiant, drawing attention to a blemish-free complexion, defined brows, lashings of mascara and a matte nude lip Social: While at the event, Lara and Sam mingled with guests, including co-star Paul Bettany, 46 While at the event, Lara and Sam mingled with guests, including co-stars Paul Bettany, 46, and Jane Lynch, 57. Paul, best known for his roles in Iron Man and The Avengers, looked dapper in a neutral-hued suit, white dress shirt, pocket square and tinted sunglasses. They were later joined on the red carpet by Group President of the Discovery Channel, Rich Ross. Co-star Paul Bettany looked dapper in a grey suit that he paired with brown patent leather loafers In good company: Sam and Paul happily posed for photos with Group President of the Discovery Channel, Rich Ross Another familiar face: Sam and Paul star in the production alongside Glee's Jane Lynch (pictured), 57 Star-studded: Sam also posed with Game of Thrones' star Keisha Castle-Hughes, 27 Keisha Castle-Hughes attends the premiere of Manhunt: Unabomber Just days earlier, Lara took to Instagram congratulating Sam on his latest role. The magazine cover girl shared an image of a promotional poster, in the New York Subway. Lara captioned the snap: 'In the subway today,' alongside the hash-tag #proudwife. Stranger Things actress Natalia Dyer also made an appearance at the premiere Leafy! The 20-year-old opted to wear a green dress with a leaf pattern and gladiator-style sandals The model married Sam in 2014 in a secret wedding in the beachside suburb of Cronulla. Sam and Lara, who confirmed the news a year later, welcomed their first child, Rocket Zot, in March 2015 and their second son, Racer, in October 2016. Supportive: Just days earlier, Lara took to Instagram congratulating Sam on his latest role. The model shared an image of a promotional poster, in the New York Subway, captioned 'In the subway today,' alongside the hash-tag #proudwife Orange is the New Black's Alysia Reiner steps out to support the drama in New York Gorgeou! Trieste Kelly Dunn looks elegant in long blue short-sleeved dress She is known for her shabby-chic sense of style, which she rocks both on and off the red carpet. And Paris Jackson certainly showed no signs of stopping on Wednesday, as she sported another typically trendy ensemble for a day out in NYC. The daughter of the King Of Pop, 19, gave a glimpse of her enviably slender figure in a cropped logo tee and skimpy floral shorts from Cotton On as she treated herself to an iced coffee in the city. Scroll down for video Boho babe: Paris Jackson certainly showed no signs of ditching her trademark style on Wednesday, as she sported another typically trendy ensemble for a day out in NYC The Chanel muse showed off her sensational model physique as well as her trendy sense of style as she enjoyed a low-key day out in Manhattan. She kept things casual in a grey logo T-shirt, which cut off just above her belly button to leave her toned midriff and tiny waist on show. Injecting a hint of colour into the look, the youngster teamed the top with bright turquoise shorts, adorned with delicate orange and yellow flowers. Top of the crops: She kept things casual in a grey logo T-shirt, which cut off just above her belly button to leave her toned midriff and tiny waist on show above her Cotton On shorts The shorts cinched in at her petite waist before cutting off high at her thigh to display her long and slender legs to all. She tied her look together with gladiator sandals and a pair of rounded mirrored Sunday Somewhere sunglasses, complete with quirky rainbow-coloured lenses. Leaving her hair in its every day style and opting for minimal make-up, the starlet proved her striking natural beauty as she stepped out in the Big Apple. Clearly feeling relaxed in the summer sunshine, Paris was seen heading to a coffee shop for an iced drink to fuel her through her day out. Summer chic: Injecting a hint of colour into the look, the youngster teamed the top with thigh-skimming turquoise shorts, gladiator sandals and quirky mirrored Sunday Somewhere shades Paris been enjoying a string of festivals and days out in recent weeks, ever since splitting from her boyfriend Michael Snoddy in February. However an insider hinted to People that the break-up might not be for good, revealing at the time: ''It appears that Paris and Michael have parted ways for now, but their future is uncertain. 'She is doing well, enjoying being on set with Lee Daniels and focusing her energy on the opportunities ahead.' The pair were together for close to a year, and enjoyed trips to likes of Paris, France and even Hawaii prior to their break-up. She's one of the most in-demand models, gracing numerous runways and campaigns. And in InStyle Australia's August issue, Karlie Kloss revealed her coping mechanisms when physically and mentally spent. 'I shut off. I don't post to social media for a couple of days,' the 24-year-old told the publication. 'I shut off and don't post to social media': Model Karlie Kloss, 24, revealed her coping mechanisms when physically and mentally spent, in the August issue of InStyle Australia 'I book myself out. I take time. I shut off. I don't post to social media for a couple of days, and I find that to be really rewarding and healthy,' Karlie shared of times of feeling exhausted. 'It actually re-energises me to be able to turn it (social media) back on and have fun. 'We all have a lot going on. But you also have to protect yourself, physically, mentally and emotionally,' the blonde beauty continued. Coping mechanisms: 'I book myself out. I take time. I shut off. I don't post to social media for a couple of days, and I find that to be really rewarding and healthy,' Karlie shared of times of feeling exhausted Star appeal: Karlie's candid comments feature alongside a stunning shoot for the August issue of InStyle Australia Karlie's candid comments feature alongside a stunning shoot for the August issue of InStyle Australia. The cover sees the statuesque star highlight her slender figure in a red flowing frock, offering just a hint of cleavage. Acessorising with statement jewels, Karlie's long locks fall in relaxed waves, drawing attention to a beauty look consisting of a flawless complexion, defined brows, lashings of mascara and a bold red lip. Appeal: It comes as no surprise to see Karlie grace the cover of the fashion title. The St Louis-raised personality is forging a successful career, not just in modelling, but also the tech world Beauty and brains: The personality founded 'Kode With Klossy', a 10-city and growing program, that inspires young girls to learn coding and enter the technology industry, and is studying feminism at New York University It comes as no surprise to see Karlie grace the cover of the fashion title. The St Louis-raised personality is forging a successful career, not just in modelling, but also the tech world. Karlie founded 'Kode With Klossy', a 10-city and growing program, that inspires young girls to learn coding and enter the technology industry. She is also studying feminism at New York University. Karlie's personal life appears to also be going swimmingly, enjoying a blissful union with venture capitalist and healthcare entrepreneur Joshua Kushner, 32. High-profile: Karlie is friends with a number of notable stars including Taylor Swift and Emily Ratajkowski (pictured), 26 She's the Australian swimwear designer with countless celebrity fans, including Kim Kardashian, Blac Chyna, and Emily Ratajkowski. But on Wednesday, Bianca Elouise proved she is her own best advertisement while showing off her famous curves at Miami Beach, Florida. The Gold Coast-born businesswoman confidently flaunted her figure wearing a high cut two-piece from her popular Myra Swim label. Sizzling! On Wednesday, Australian swimwear designer Bianca Elouise proved she is her own best advertisement while showing off her famous curves at Miami Beach, Florida Bianca looked glamorous as always as she soaked up the sun in a black bikini, which she accessorised with several necklaces. She completed her beach look with tinted sunglasses, hoop earrings, and a designer watch and gold bracelet on her left wrist. Her shoulder-length hair was slicked back from a dip in the ocean, and she certainly gave locals an eyeful while strolling back to the shore. Oh, derriere! Bianca's shoulder-length hair was slicked back from a dip in the ocean, and she certainly gave locals an eyeful while strolling back to the shore Bianca was joined by her friend, model Jazmine Hikaka, who looked flawless in a plunging black swimsuit with a notably high cut. It's not the first time the glamorous pals have holidayed in Florida together, as they were famously pictured at the same beach this time last year. They were in the US for the annual Miami Swim Week, which in July 2016 saw Myra Swim make headlines for its sensational runway show. Here come the girls! Bikini-clad Bianca was joined by her friend, model Jazmine Hikaka (right), who looked flawless in a plunging black swimsuit with a notably high cut Back in April, Bianca spoke to Daily Mail Australia about the burgeoning fashion label she launched three years ago. 'It's quite overwhelming how big it's getting,' she said. 'I started in 2014 with a really small collection aimed at women like me - women with a butt, with cleavage and a small waist.' Bling bling! Bianca accessorised with several necklaces, tinted sunglasses, hoop earrings, and a designer watch and gold bracelet on her left wrist Since the label launched, Myra Swim designs have featured in several music videos, like Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj's Side by Side. The bikinis and one-piece swimsuits have also been worn poolside by famous models Emily Ratajkowski and Karrueche Tran. Bianca added: 'My aim has always been the same - I make bikinis and swimsuits for real women's bodies.' She's suffering from a broken arm, after slipping on a bathroom floor in Italy. And despite the setback, Lisa Wilkinson was all smiles on Thursday at the Art Gallery of NSW, as she celebrated a portrait of her winning a top award in the Archibald Prize. The 57-year-old stunned in a red floral dress, as she posed in front of the painting, which picked up the Packing Room Prize. Scroll down for video Picture perfect! Lisa Wilkinson stuns in a red floral gown as a portrait of the Today star wins an award in the Archibald Prize...after breaking her arm in Italy Lisa's frock featured a high neck and flowing sleeves, and had white and yellow flowers, which she teamed with pointed bronze heels. The journalist wore her short locks out and over her shoulders, neatly straightened. Lisa's makeup included dewy foundation and a nude lip. Looking chic: Lisa's frock featured a high neck and flowing sleeves, and had white and yellow flowers, which she teamed with pointed bronze heels Sweet: She was supported on the day by husband Peter FitzSimons, and their three children, daughter Billi and sons Louis and Jake (L) In good company: Lisa is pictured with the Art Gallery of NSW's Steve Peters (M) and Brett Cuthbertson (L) She was supported on the day by husband Peter FitzSimons, and their three children, daughter Billi and sons Louis and Jake. Lisa's portrait was painted by artist Peter Smeeth, with picked up $1,500 for the award. In the portrait, Lisa relaxes on a white couch as a television is behind her, showing her family and husband Peter FitzSimons. Piece of art! In the portrait, Lisa relaxes on a white couch as a television is behind her, showing her family and husband Peter FitzSimons Recovering: Just five days ago, Lisa revealed that she had broken her arm after falling on a wet bathroom fall while holidaying in Italy Unlucky! Lisa had to cut short her Italian getaway to have surgery She reads a magazine on the couch, with artist Peter saying the magazine and TV are metaphorical. 'Three important things in Lisa's life are her family, television presenting and print journalism so I have placed her between a television and a magazine, while her family members are reflected on the screen,' Peter said, according to the ABC. Peter also painted a portrait of Lisa's husband for the 2010 Archibald Prize. Just five days ago, Lisa revealed that she had broken her arm after falling on a wet bathroom floor while holidaying in Italy. Lisa had to cut short her Italian getaway to have surgery. 'Arrivederci Italy': Earlier this week, she took to Instagram to share a snap of herself sitting near her hotel pool in Italy Earlier this week, she took to Instagram to share a snap of herself sitting near her hotel pool in Italy. Arrivederci #Italy...you were fabulous (except for that whole falling over on the slippery wet marble floor thing),' Lisa wrote. 'Bye-bye pool I never got to swim in. Bye-bye warm weather...Next stop: Sydney and my date with the surgeon's knife. Fun times!!' Ouch! Writing about the ordeal for the Huffington Post , Lisa admitted that she hadn't endured such pain since giving birth Writing about the ordeal for the Huffington Post, Lisa admitted that she hadn't endured such pain since giving birth. 'The pain was like a red hot dagger stabbing into my right wrist,' she explained. More agony than I've ever felt, outside of child-birth. The accident comes after Lisa recently had to have surgery on her wrist after dealing with carpel tunnel syndrome in both arms for about 20 years. She explained on Today that she was forced to have an operation because she often suffered from 'completely dead' arms. Elisabeth Moss 'doesn't really give a s***' about anyone who doesn't believe in women's rights. The 34-year-old actress is a 'staunch believer' in equal rights for women in the movie industry and beyond. The Handmaid's Tale star told the new issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine: 'I'm such a staunch believer in women's rights, I don't really give a s*** about anybody who isn't. TV star: Elisabeth Moss, shown last month in London, discussed women's rights in the latest issue of The Hollywood Reporter 'It's like, I don't need them to watch the show. At a certain point, things are more important than your job,' said Elizabeth who has been nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for work on the Hulu show. Meanwhile, the Mad Men star who also is a producer of The Handmaid's Tale previously revealed she always gets the final say on her nude scenes. She shared: 'I'm very particular about that kind of thing and I don't let anyone decide who's going to do what angles except for myself. Unless they would like to take their clothes off and be shot, then they can decide their angles. 'Everything that involves nudity I have 100 percent approval, otherwise I don't do it. That way is actually better for the filmmaker, because you actually end up getting more than you would if you just ask the actor to take her clothes off. Critically acclaimed: The actress is shown in an October still from The Handmaid's Tale that has been nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series 'Jane [Campion; 'Top Of The Lake' director] said, ''You can have 100 percent approval of every frame and anything you don't like will never be used''. She gave it to me. She really allowed me to have that voice. And I carried it over.' And the blonde beauty knows there is an issue with the gender wage gap as she has been paid less than her male co-stars in the past. She said: 'Have I experienced sexism like Peggy did in the 1960s? Of course not. Hit show: Christina Hendricks, Elisabeth, January Jones, Vincent Kartheiser, John Slattery and Jon Hamm are shown in a 2007 promo for Mad Men 'But have there been times when I haven't made as much as a man? I'm sure. And it's a factual thing, not a matter of opinion. That's sexist.' Elisabeth can be seen on the big screen in the Swedish satirical drama The Square that premiered in May at the Cannes Film Festival and won the Palme dOr. The Square is scheduled for release in Sweden and the UK on August 25, followed by a limited US release October 27. Elisabeth also can be seen later this year in The Seagull based on the play by Anton Chekhov. She spent the day promoting her new movie Atomic Blonde in New York. And on Wednesday night Charlize Theron lived up to the name of her film as she stunned in a plunging black mini dress at a special screening. The statuesque South African in heeled black ankle boots towered over her Scottish co-star James McAvoy as they posed for photos at the event. Joint gig: Charlize Theron, in a daring mini dress and ankle boots, posed for photos with her co-star James McAvoy at a special screening of their film Atomic blonde in NYC Wednesday Charlize's simple yet stylish frock featured spaghetti straps and long tasseled laces that fell down the front of the revealing bodice. She wore her shoulder-length blonde locks in gentle curls and tucked behind one ear. The Oscar-winning actress, 41, completed her look with bright red polish on her finger nails and dark red color on her lips. Bloinde stunner: The South African beauty, 41, was flawless in the simple yet stylish number with a plunging neckline and laces down the front Dapper: X-Men star McAvoy, 38, who sported a shaven head, wore a navy blue two-piece suit with an open-neck white shirt that he paired with shiny black shoes McAvoy, 38, wore a navy blue two-piece suit with an open-neck white shirt. The X-Men star, who sported a shaven head, paired his ensemble with shiny black shoes. Charlize stars in the action-packed thriller as a top-level MI6 spy who is sent to Berlin to investigate the killing of an undercover agent by a ruthless espionage ring. McAvoy plays the Berlin station chief she's ordered to collaborate with in the film set in 1989 just before the collapse of the Berlin Wall. Sexy: Earlier int he day, Charlize was dressed to thrill in a skimpy black tank top that revealed her lacy black bra Stepping out: She added a wraparound tiny mini skirt and went bare-legged in black lace pumps Earlier in the day, she had also chosen black as she did the rounds of interviews required to publicize a movie. She wore a skimpy tank top that revealed her lacy black bra and a tiny wraparound mini skirt that revealed her lovely long legs. Her foot tattoo was on show thanks to a pair of classic lacy black stilettos. Later, she covered her shoulders with a black blazer jacket as she arrived to chat at Sirius XM radio. Free Pizza is Best Pizza Speaking of pizza, Blaze Fast-Fire'd Pizza is opening its first ABQ location this week in the Del Norte Plaza (6400 Holly NE). To celebrate the new digs, the California-based pizzeria will be offering free build-your own artisanal pizzas this Friday, July 21 from 11am to 10pm to customers who follow them on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook. Local Food is Best Food The Santa Fe Farmers Market is hosting a picnic on Friday, August 11. It will feature locally sourced foods as well as music and games. Get your tickets here. Wilbur! A panel in the House of Representatives has voted to lift restrictions on horse slaughter for meat. Yes. You read that right. Horse meat might soon be on the dinner table in America. The funding bill still needs to pass in the House, though, and the ban could be reinserted. So I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Helping Those Who Help Local nonprofit Silver Horizons says they need more donations to help with their mission to deliver nutritious meals to seniors with mobility, transportation or health issues. Perseverance of the Faith-based Community Pushes Investment Pioneer, Timothy Plan, Over $1B ORLANDO, Fla., July 20, 2017 / "I didn't allow myself to dream about reaching milestones like this when we launched in 1994. The purpose of Timothy Plan is to provide Christian and principled investors the opportunity to earn competitive returns, while aligning their investments with the Biblical principles in which they believe," said Arthur Ally, President of Timothy Partners, LTD and founder of Timothy Plan. The first of its kind, Timothy Plan was started in 1994 when Art Ally, then a financial advisor, was tasked with starting a retirement plan for non-denominational pastors. What he experienced, when undertaking that task, shocked the financial veteran. "I couldn't find any funds or investment products that employed Biblical screens of the companies in which they invest. We had pastors preaching on Sundays about how we need to stand against the increasing number of abortions, or the infiltration of pornographic material into our society, but then were funding their retirement plans with the stocks of companies that were directly supporting these two industries. When I showed this to them, they were shocked." Timothy Plan screens all their investments to make certain that the companies in which they invest do not have ties to anything contrary to a traditional, conservative interpretation of Biblical principles. At the time of launch, there were no other funds or investment vehicles that comprehensively screened their investments for religious principles. Now, there are other faith funds, green funds and socially responsible funds. There are even "sin" funds that stand in direct contrast to the purpose of Timothy Plan. While other funds have been quicker to reach the $1 billion watermark, Timothy Plan has weathered the storm of the recession and was built upon its own success, without the backing of a mainline church denomination. "There may be other funds that screen, and I am glad that we started a movement to align investments with belief. But, none of that matters if a person's heart isn't right with God. What I can promise is that Timothy Plan will never compromise on its original mission, and I believe that is what God asks of us. Today is not about Timothy Plan, nor is any other day. Today is about realizing the amazing things that can happen when individuals are willing to change an aspect of their lives to further the Kingdom of God." Arthur Ally, President & Founder, Timothy Partners, LTD, Timothy Plan Share Tweet Contact: Stephen Ally, Timothy Plan , 407-644-1986ORLANDO, Fla., July 20, 2017 / Christian Newswire / -- Timothy Partners, LTD (Orlando, FL), manager and adviser of Timothy Plan, announced on Thursday, July 20th that the family of funds has eclipsed $1 billion in assets under management (AUM). This is a milestone moment for any packaged investment product, but for the family of mutual funds that started an entire movement, it is particularly special."I didn't allow myself to dream about reaching milestones like this when we launched in 1994. The purpose of Timothy Plan is to provide Christian and principled investors the opportunity to earn competitive returns, while aligning their investments with the Biblical principles in which they believe," said Arthur Ally, President of Timothy Partners, LTD and founder of Timothy Plan. The first of its kind, Timothy Plan was started in 1994 when Art Ally, then a financial advisor, was tasked with starting a retirement plan for non-denominational pastors. What he experienced, when undertaking that task, shocked the financial veteran."I couldn't find any funds or investment products that employed Biblical screens of the companies in which they invest. We had pastors preaching on Sundays about how we need to stand against the increasing number of abortions, or the infiltration of pornographic material into our society, but then were funding their retirement plans with the stocks of companies that were directly supporting these two industries. When I showed this to them, they were shocked."Timothy Plan screens all their investments to make certain that the companies in which they invest do not have ties to anything contrary to a traditional, conservative interpretation of Biblical principles. At the time of launch, there were no other funds or investment vehicles that comprehensively screened their investments for religious principles. Now, there are other faith funds, green funds and socially responsible funds. There are even "sin" funds that stand in direct contrast to the purpose of Timothy Plan. While other funds have been quicker to reach the $1 billion watermark, Timothy Plan has weathered the storm of the recession and was built upon its own success, without the backing of a mainline church denomination."There may be other funds that screen, and I am glad that we started a movement to align investments with belief. But, none of that matters if a person's heart isn't right with God. What I can promise is that Timothy Plan will never compromise on its original mission, and I believe that is what God asks of us. Today is not about Timothy Plan, nor is any other day. Today is about realizing the amazing things that can happen when individuals are willing to change an aspect of their lives to further the Kingdom of God." Arthur Ally, President & Founder, Timothy Partners, LTD, Timothy Plan She was scouted at just 14 years of age, and has already graced the Victoria's Secret runway for two years. And in the August issue of InStyle Australia, Bridget Malcolm revealed that 'people really want to believe the stereotypes about models being dumb and b**chy'. The 25-year-old instead insisted to the publication: 'If you get a bad reputation, there are plenty of other models to take your place.' Scroll down for video 'They want to believe the stereotypes': Victoria's Secret model Bridget Malcolm, 25, revealed in the August issue of InStyle Australia, that people often expect her to be 'dumb and b**chy' 'People really want to believe the stereotypes about models, that we're dumb and b**chy,' Bridget told the fashion title. 'At this point in the industry, there's no space for people to be mean. 'If you get a bad reputation, there are plenty of other models to take your place,' the Perth-born star continued. Candid comments: 'At this point in the industry, there's no space for people to be mean. If you get a bad reputation, there are plenty of other models to take your place,' the Perth-born star told the fashion title Revealing: The comments come shortly after Bridget shared her coping mechanisms, when dealing with body insecurities The comments come shortly after Bridget revealed her coping mechanisms, when dealing with body insecurities. On Wednesday's The Morning Show, the Seafolly ambassador told Channel Seven co-hosts Larry Emdur and Kylie Gillies that she often switches off from social media and avoids mirrors. 'I have a lot of coping mechanisms in place and have a lot of experience with it. Strategy: On Wednesday's The Morning Show, the Seafolly ambassador told Channel Seven co-hosts Larry Emdur and Kylie Gillies that she often switches off from social media and avoids mirrors: 'I have a lot of coping mechanisms in place' Same issues: Bridget added: 'Models get insecure too. Everyone has an opinion about your body and it can be hard to separate opinions with what you know to be true' 'But definitely for girls that are just starting out or who are just starting to make their mark in the industry, it takes a lot of getting used to,' the Western Australian beauty continued. Bridget added: 'Models get insecure too. Everyone has an opinion about your body and it can be hard to separate opinions with what you know to be true. 'One of the biggest things for me is what kind of information is being led into my brain,' the David Jones model continued. Star appeal: Bridget was scouted at just 14 years of age, going on to forge a successful modelling career They're comedians who aren't afraid to share personal details for their afternoon radio show. But the revelation of a high school crush has come back to haunt Dave Hughes, with co-host Kate Langbroek inviting the comedian's former teacher on to their KIIS FM radio show on Wednesday. Earlier that day Dave had recounted how he once drunk dialed Miss Dalton aged 20 to profess his love, only to discover 'she wasn't into me'. 'I'm standing here blushing!' Kate Langbroek surprises Dave Hughes with phone call from high school teacher crush On Wednesday morning, Dave told Today Extra he had been in love with single mum teacher Miss Dalton when he was in year 10. 'I thought that my Saturday morning job pushing the trolleys at Woolies would be able to help out financially,' he explained. 'It never happened and I thought it was maybe because I was a student. Puppy love: On Wednesday morning, Dave told Today Extra he had been in love with single mum teacher Miss Dalton when he was in year 10 'I've got your teacher, Miss Dalton': After seeing Dave's interview that morning, Kate planned a surprise guest for their drive show 'So I rang her when I was about 20, drunk one night, and apparently it wasn't the fact that I was a student, it was the fact that she wasn't into me.' After watching Dave's interview that morning, Kate planned a surprise guest for their drive show. 'I've got your teacher, Miss Dalton,' she revealed, much to the shock of Dave. After some polite but awkward hellos, Dave asked his former teacher whether she minded him bringing her up. Blast from the past: After some polite but awkward hellos, Dave asked his former teacher whether she minded him bringing her up 'I'm standing here blushing but otherwise I am OK,' Miss Dalton said. The teacher, who has since married, still remembered the phone call which according to Dave went for 'at least 30 minutes'. 'If I do recall correctly you had just won a grand final or been to a grand final,' Miss Dalton said. 'We discussed that it wasn't quite appropriate for teachers and ex-students to hook up, didn't we?' Despite her rejection of the comedian, Miss Dalton told Kate she had nothing but fond memories of Dave as a student. 'He was lovely Kate - he was a lovely student and very bright,' she said. Bella Hadid flaunted her tiny waist while visiting her big sister Gigi's $3.9M Bond Street abode in Manhattan's Noho neighborhood on Wednesday. The 20-year-old IMG Model - who relies on stylist Elizabeth Sulcer and Gotham Gym trainer Rob Piela - went braless in a long-sleeved ruched knit crop-top, cropped Good American jeans, and nude slingbacks. The Dior Beauty brand ambassador toted a black handbag by the French label, rocked cat-eye shades, and showed off her shorter summer bob courtesy of hairstylist Jen Atkin. Scroll down for video Family matters: Bella Hadid flaunted her tiny waist while visiting her big sister Gigi's $3.9M Bond Street abode in Manhattan's Noho neighborhood on Wednesday Painted-on pants: The 20-year-old IMG Model went braless in a long-sleeved ruched knit crop-top, cropped Good American jeans, and nude slingbacks A rare smile! The Dior Beauty brand ambassador toted a black handbag by the French label, rocked cat-eye shades, and showed off her shorter summer by hairstylist Jen Atkin Taxi! Hadid - whose fronted 10 fashion campaigns in 2017 - recently revealed that she thinks 'it would be fun' to eventually parlay her modeling career into acting Hadid - whose fronted 10 fashion campaigns in 2017 - recently revealed that she thinks 'it would be fun' to eventually parlay her modeling career into acting. 'I think working this much is going to give me a better platform to do bigger things in the world,' the nepotistically-privileged socialite said in the August edition of InStyle. 'I'm not saying I don't love my job, but people think modeling is just a bulls*** thing to become more famous. I was 100 percent independent by the time I was 18, and I paid for my own apartment. 'That wasn't because of my parents [RHOBH alum Yolanda and real estate mogul Mohamed]. I worked my ass off for two years.' Dare to bare: Later in the day, Bella flashed more of her toned torso in a revealing white bralet later in the day Demure: The beauty ensured the look wasn't too eye-popping by layering it beneath a white shirt Retail therapy: The beauty seemingly splashed the cash at Chrome Hearts in New York's Greenwich Village The nepotistically-privileged socialite told InStyle: 'I was 100 percent independent by the time I was 18, and I paid for my own apartment. That wasn't because of my parents [RHOBH alum Yolanda and real estate mogul Mohamed]. I worked my ass off for two years' 'Gotta keep my friends misted!' The ex-girlfriend of The Weeknd put on quite a sideshow in this newly unearthed snap with her BFF, Kendall Jenner Last week, Bella - who boasts 15.2M social media followers - was named the new face of Max Mara accessories in a FW/17 campaign shot by famed lensman Steven Meisel. The half-Jordanian, half-Dutch stunner also currently fronts shoe designer Giuseppe Zanotti's FW/17 campaign shot by noteworthy photographer Mario Sorrenti. On Monday, the Fyre Festival promoter reunited with her 18-year-old brother Anwar, 53-year-old mother Yolanda, and 21-year-old sister for dinner on a 'perfect summer night.' 'Whitney Bag': Last week, Bella was named the new face of Max Mara accessories in a FW/17 campaign shot by famed lensman Steven Meisel 'Wrapped up in the season': The half-Jordanian, half-Dutch stunner also currently fronts shoe designer Giuseppe Zanotti's FW/17 campaign shot by noteworthy photographer Mario Sorrenti On Wednesday morning, the former Ford Model shared a behind-the-scenes video from the Milk Media Hoboken set of her gig in Iris Covet Book shot by lensman Karl Simone. St. Martin's Press will finally publish Hadid's (born van den Herik) 288-page tome detailing her Lyme disease battle Believe Me on September 12. Like Yolanda, Bella and Anwar both suffer from the tick-borne illness, and the former equestrian takes '30 pills and self-administers two shots a day in the keester' to properly function. 'My everything in one place!' On Monday, the Fyre Festival promoter reunited with her 18-year-old brother Anwar, 53-year-old mother Yolanda, and 21-year-old sister for dinner 'Getting back to work life': On Wednesday morning, the former Ford Model shared a behind-the-scenes video from the set of her gig in Iris Covet Book shot by lensman Karl Simone 'The invisible disability': St. Martin's Press will finally publish Hadid's (born van den Herik) 288- page tome Believe Me detailing her Lyme disease battle on September 12 The Australian actors are starring alongside Will Smith in the upcoming Fantasy Sci-Fi flick, Bright. And Joel Edgerton and Lucy Fry were pictured arriving at the California studios of the Conan O'Brien show on Wednesday to promote its release. The stars were spotted greeting fans and signing autographs before their appearance on the late-night talk show. Australian stars Joel Edgerton (pictured) and Lucy Fry arrive at Conan O'Brien Show to promote Sci-Fi flick Bright with co-star Will Smith American actor Will Smith and Swedish actress Noomi Rapace were also promoted by the show as guests. Joel, who has acted in Star Wars, Zero Dark Thirty and The Great Gatsby, cut a casual figure in dark jeans, a T-shirt and a buttoned-up denim jacket. Shielding his eyes in the sunshine, the 43-year-old wore dark-lensed sunglasses as he greeted eager fans with a pen in his hand. Low-key star: Joel, who has acted in Star Wars, Zero Dark Thirty and The Great Gatsby, cut a casual figure in dark jeans, a T-shirt and a buttoned-up denim jacket Summer glow! Actress Lucy Fry arrived looking glamorous in a yellow gown Actress Lucy Fry arrived looking glamorous in a yellow gown. The 25-year-old was all smiles as she flaunted her trim pins in the flirty ensemble, which she elongated with nude heels. Also gripping a black felt-tip pen, she happily signed autographs for the crowd alongside her co-stars. leggy display! The 25-year-old was all smiles as she flaunted her trim pins in the flirty ensemble, which she elongated with nude heels Stylish! She accessorised with gold cross earrings, one ring and a beige shoulder-strap clutch Lucy's short blonde locks were styled in waves, which fell above her exposed decolletage. She accessorised with gold cross earrings, one ring and a beige shoulder-strap clutch. The Vampire Academy star's makeup was flawlessly applied, with a dusting of blush, a neutral eye palette and a pink pout. Natural beauty! The Vampire Academy star's makeup was flawlessly applied, with a dusting of blush, a neutral eye palette and a pink pout Fans were delighted to also rub shoulders with Hollywood megastar Will Smith. Wearing white jeans, a polo and sneakers, Will posed for photos for fans and signed memorabilia. Appearing in high spirits, Will was seen flashing the peace sign as he head inside the studio to begin filming. Hollywood supertstar! Wearing white jeans, a polo and sneakers, fans were overjoyed to greet the American actor See you later! Appearing in high spirits, Will was seen flashing the peace sign as he head inside the studio to begin filming Doing it for the fans: Will posed for photos for fans and signed memorabilia The film's synopsis is described on IMDB as: 'Set in a world where mystical creatures live side by side with humans. A human cop is forced to work with an Orc to find a weapon everyone is prepared to kill for.' The episode of Conan is due to air this week and will also include the stars of Supernatural. Bright is due for cinema release in December Russell Crowe and Terri Irwin have been forced to shut down persistent romance rumours, time and time again. And this week, the 53-year-old Gladiator star made fun of all the speculation, as he wished her a happy birthday on Twitter. In a tweet shared to his millions of followers, Russell wrote to Terri: 'Ah @TerriIrwin, I have loved you in so many different magazines!' Scroll down for video 'Ah Terri, I have loved you in so many different magazines!' Russell Crowe makes fun of persistent romance rumours with Irwin in a hilarious tweet as he wishes her a happy birthday He added: 'Haha...Happy birthday to you!' Terri celebrated her 52nd birthday on Thursday. The pair have denied romance rumours for months, and in June, the friends were again said to be dating by New Idea magazine. Well wishes: Terri celebrated her 52nd birthday on Thursday Speculation: The pair have denied romance rumours for months, and in June, the friends were again said to be dating by New Idea magazine In a bizarre claim, the magazine alleged the pair were 'going public at last,' after Terri 'confirmed her true feelings' for the Hollywood star. The publication used a tweet of Terri's as proof, where she retweeted his post about an album, and wrote: 'Love is not a big enough word.' As pointed out by Terri's management, her social media message was simply the name of a song from Russell's latest music release. 'As per always, Terri and Russell are not in a relationship, which has been confirmed by both Terri and Russell personally in multiple public interviews,' a representative told Daily Mail Australia at the time. In May, Russell offered his take on rumours that he and Terri are getting married. 'The thing is Terri Irwin is quite frankly one of the most fabulous women on the planet. She is a beautiful person, an intelligent woman, so hard working, so honourable,' he told Nova 100's Chrissie, Sam & Browny. 'I haven't dated anyone in ten years': The actor's comments came after Terri (pictured with daughter Bindi) also insisted she isn't dating anyone 'So the thing is I do love Terri Irwin. absolutely she's fabulous. Am I getting married to Terri Irwin no,' the Gladiator star added, shutting down the rumour. The actor's comments came after Terri also insisted she isn't dating anyone. 'I haven't dated anyone in the 10 years since we lost Steve, just because I feel a connection still with Steve,' Terri told Access Hollywood about her late husband, Steve Irwin. Despite saying that 'Russell has been very loyal as a great friend,' the mother-of-two insisted they are just friends. Terri's daughter Bindi also claimed she believes her mother is 'still married to dad'. (Steve died in a freak stingray accident in 2006.) More rumours! Meanwhile Russell was also quick to shut down rumours he was dating Love Child star, Sophia Forrest, 22 (pictured) 'If you've found your soulmate you don't really want to move on, and mum had her soulmate,' the 18-year-old explained. Meanwhile Russell was also quick to shut down rumours he was dating Love Child star, Sophia Forrest, 22. Woman's Day incorrectly claimed they were an item and that Russell was 'smitten.' Russell slammed the publication on Twitter last month, writing: 'Dear @WomansDayAus can you not stuff your s**t filled pages with deliberate lies about relationships I've never been in? Thanks in advance.' Her Sweaty Betty PR office was vandalised on Friday. And it seems as though Roxy Jacenko has hired a new member of staff since the incident. Taking to Instagram on Thursday, the 37-year-old posted an adorable picture of her son Hunter, three, all suited up in an office setting. She starts them young! On Thursday, Roxy Jacenko, 37, posted an adorable picture of her son Hunter, three, all suited up in an office setting 'SHOW ME THE MONEY,' she captioned the photo tagging Hunter. Posing with an animated face, Hunter wore a black suit and tie for the photo. Roxy's little protege accessorised his look with a small stainless steel suitcase for shoot as well. Hunter was seen in the same suit and tie walking around with an inflatable phone Donning dad Oliver Curtis' side swept hair, many commenters said they saw a striking resemblance between the father and son. The picture was taken as part of a collection of sponsored posts for the Boss Baby DVD launch. Yesterday, Hunter was seen in the same outfit walking around with an inflatable phone. Her protege: Showcasing his star quality the tot was seen pulling a face yet again in a behind-the-scenes shot on his Instagram account run by his mum 'Kid works hard for the money,' Roxy captioned adding a money bag emoji. Showcasing his star quality the tot was seen pulling a face yet again in a behind-the-scenes shot on his Instagram account run by his mum. And it's not the first time Hunter has appeared to take on the boss role with Roxy previously sharing a video of her son in a 'board meeting' along with her daughter Pixie, 5. She's the New Zealand model who made her Victoria's Secret runway debut last year, alongside supermodel Bella Hadid. And Georgia Fowler appeared to be enjoying a well-deserved holiday this week, soaking up the sun in Mykonos, Greece. The 25-year-old sizzled in a pineapple print bikini while reading a copy of Vogue in an Instagram photo shared on Wednesday. Wish you were here? Georgia Fowler appeared to be enjoying a well-deserved holiday on Wednesday, soaking up the sun in Mykonos, Greece Georgia, who hails from Auckland but lives in New York, has been making the most of the European summer recently. Last week, she shared holiday snaps from Capri, Italy. Previously, she spent time in Paris with her friend Bambi Northwood-Blyth. While in the French capital, Georgia posed for a photo shoot for Harper's Bazaar. Vacation vibes! Georgia, who hails from Auckland but lives in New York, has been making the most of the European summer recently Georgia has previously been linked to actor Leonardo DiCaprio, 42, and former One Direction star Harry Styles, 23. Her debut at the annual Victoria's Secret Fashion Show last year came after she auditioned five times for the role. 'It's the fifth time lucky I guess,' she told The Daily Telegraph in December. 'It is a fickle industry but I'm glad it finally happened': Georgia's debut at the annual Victoria's Secret Fashion Show last year came after she auditioned five times for the role 'Determination, I guess, paid off but I suppose you just have to wait for your turn and hopefully it will then be an ongoing thing. 'It is a fickle industry but I'm glad it finally happened,' she added. 'You just have to never give up.' Georgia is the younger sister of model Kate Fowler, who is married to Sydney businessman Justin Hemmes. She is famed for her singing voice. But it was her other assets that stole the show as Kelly Rowland stepped out in a tight black T-shirt in Los Angeles on Wednesday. However the busty mother-of-one was clearly being playful, with her top's 'emotionally unavailable' slogan merely underlining the fact. Looking sharp exit: Kelly Rowland looked in great shape as she left an eatery in LA Wednesday The 36-year-old was looking great for her age as she pranced around in a youthful ensemble of tight top, ripped skinny jeans and platform shoes. She was making a sharp exit after filling her, admittedly flat, stomach at the posh eatery Cecconi's in West Hollywood. Kelly is best known for her turn supporting Beyonce Knowles in Destiny's Child and solo hits such as Work. But she has been plying her trade on the television talent contest circuit in recent years, including a turn in the UK's X-Factor. Making waves: The jolly singer was only to happy to salute fans as she got ready to leave Going to Work? No doubt she could hardly wait to get onto her next appointment Drawing the eye: The chesty beauty highlighted her bust due to the slogan on her shirt However she recently experienced disappointment when her protege Fasika was booted from the final two on the Australian version of The Voice. It left her with egg on her face, as she previously said: 'I feel her in my gut. I genuinely think shes special. She gets me excited about music.' However it may not be the end of the road for Fasika, Kelly deigned to make a couple of phone calls to record producers in the US to point out the young talent's abilities. She said: 'Im not an expert, Im not a label and I can only go on what I feel in my gut.' Just one more: She was revelling in the attention as she got ready to hop into her car Food for thought: Kelly's stomach looked remarkably flat as she headed out after lunch Kelly's got talent: She has been working on shows such as X Factor UK in recent years She took an online quiz that begged the question: Are you more Kim Kardashian or Chrissy Teigen? And Kim Kardashian, 36, found out she's more Chrissy Teigen than herself. The Keeping Up With The Kardashian's star posted the hilarious results to twitter after taking the quiz. Whoops! Kim Kardashian, 36, found out she's more like Chrissy Teigen than she is herself when she did a Buzzfeed quiz begging that very question The busty brunette posted the results from the (clearly unreliable) Buzzfeed quiz to Twitter with a screenshot of her results. 'Wait I got @chrissyteigen,' she captioned the image. The results claim Kim is 'exactly like Chrissy' and goes on to explain that she is 'wild, the life of the party, and someone who always says what's on their mind.' The description continued: 'You have a huge heart and are extremely loyal to those you care about.' She's a Chrissy? Kim posted the results from the quiz that showed she's not even herself when it comes to Buzzfeed's perception 'Not to mention your excellent fashion sense and top-notch wit! Everyone loves you and if they don't, who really cares?,' the results finished. It's assumed Kim answered truthfully, so either the quiz is wrong or Kim isn't even like the persona she exudes. For the record, Kim's results were just as flattering: 'You are just like Kim sweet, stylish, and a lover of the ~finer~ things in life. You have a great business sense and are always looking for new opportunities to grow and invest your money,' the description read. 'Your personal style has truly evolved over the years, but that hasn't changed who you are as a person. Sure, people may talk badly about you, but screw 'em! You always take the high road and stay true to yourself. Go Kim!' Kim's description, should she have gotten her during the quiz, were just as flattering as Chrissy's The questions asked users to choose their preferences in a variety of categories, including: favorite snack, type of shoe, kind of pet, nail color, and method of transportation. Depending on the choice, the internal algorithm would decipher if you are more like Kim or Chrissy. The two famous women, who are actually friends in real life, talked about starting a book club together earlier this year. 'So guys.. @chrissyteigen & @jenatkinhair & I are starting a book club!' Kim tweeted to her almost 50 million followers in February. She's so passionate about her new idea, the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star replied to comments from fans who were asking questions about the club. Getting into business: The two famous women, who are actually friends in real life, talked about starting a book club together earlier this year But apparently this isn't a book club about the latest and greatest literary hits. Kim tweeted out her first suggestion, a book from 1992 that helped Kim get through her tough couple of months. 'I'm making them read 'Embraced By The Light' as our first book,' she explained. The famous friends are also partnering with their hairstylist pal Jen Atkins, who ostensibly will also be suggesting books to read for the club. That's friendship! Last year Chrissy even said she would be a surrogate for Kim without a second thought if she wanted to have a third child Last year Chrissy even said she would be a surrogate for Kim without a second thought. 'I would be her surrogate in a second,' she told Access Hollywood. 'I really enjoyed the pregnancy process - I loved it. Yes. In a heartbeat.' Kim and her husband Kanye West welcomed baby son saint in late 2015, two years after the birth of their first child, North. She became one of Australia's most beloved actresses after appearing in Muriel's Wedding in 1994. And on Wednesday, Toni Collette attended the release party for comedy flick Fun Mom Dinner in West Hollywood. The blonde star, 44, looked radiant as she sported an unusual floral and geometric print frock alongside her co-stars. Blooming lovely! Actress Toni Collette dons quirky floral and geometric print frock as she attends release party for comedy flick Fun Mom Dinner in West Hollywood on Wednesday While the movie was only recently launched in Australia during the Sydney Film Festival in June, Toni was celebrating its internet and DVD release in America. The party, which appeared to be hosted within a retail store, saw the actress and musician interacting with special guests, fans and co-stars. The mother-of-two's slender physique was on display, as the garment sat nicely around her waist. Stunning! Toni left her short blonde locks out for the event in waves, adding a pink pout to her neutral makeup application Toni left her short blonde locks out for the event in waves, adding a pink pout to her neutral makeup application. She added to her quirky look with a silver necklace, brown strappy heels and a small black clutch. Joined by co-stars Katie Aselton and Molly Shannon, the trio appeared to be having a ball catching up at the event. All smiles! Joined by co-stars Kate Aselton and Molly Shannon, the trio appeared to be having a ball catching up at the event Promotion? They were pictured laughing as they posed with matching striped handbags, believed to be from the retailer hosting the event Toni happily posed with her co-stars as they celebrated the movie's internet and DVD release They were pictured laughing as they posed with matching striped handbags. Katie Aselton wore a long striped dress with short sleeves, while placing her raven-hued locks into a ballerina bun. Meanwhile, Molly Shannon cut a casual figure in white short shorts and a red floral off-the-shoulder top. Also in attendance was Julie Yaeger in a polkadot number and Aletha Jones in a bright orange skirt. The film currently has a 3.9/10 rating on both IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes. Fun Mom Dinner was released in Australian cinemas in June Party: The party, which appeared to be hosted within a retail store, saw the actresses interacting with special guests, fans and co-stars "No one is more hated than he who speaks the truth." Plato "This country has shed more blood for the freedom of other people than all the other nations in the history of the world combined, and I'm tired of people feeling like they've got to apologize for America." Sen. Fred Thompson (R-TN) In a time of universal deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act. George Orwell, the author of 1984 "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.""Americans are so enamored of equality that they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom.""A return to first principles in a republic is sometimes caused by the simple virtues of one man. His good example has such an influence that the good men strive to imitate him, and the wicked are ashamed to lead a life so contrary to his example."Cowardice asks the question, 'Is it safe?' Expediency asks the question, 'Is it politic?' But conscience asks the question, 'Is it right?' And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but because conscience tells one it is right. Earlier in the evening, she attended a special screening of her film Atomic Blonde in New York City. And hours later, Charlize Theron was spotted arriving back to her hotel while rocking leather. The 41-year-old actress highlighted her long legs in the skintight trousers on Wednesday, adding a graphic T-shirt and booties. Edgy: Charlize Theron was spotted arriving to her hotel while rocking leather on Wednesday night in New York City Charlize looked incredible in the form fitting leather, adding a blue and white T-shirt. The Oscar-winning actress hit the pavement in black pointed heeled boots with layers of jewelry. The mother of two wore glittering rings on each hand with two coordinating bracelets. Charlize showed off her bright red nail polish as she returned back to her hotel. Looking good: The 41-year-old actress highlighted her long legs in skintight trousers, adding a graphic T-shirt and booties Beautiful: Charlize looked incredible in the form fitting leather, adding a blue and white T-shirt She plays the main character - Lorraine Broughton - in the film Atomic Blonde. Actor James McAvoy serves as a co-star in the spy thriller, which is set to be released on July 28. Atomic Blonde, which is based on the 2012 graphic novel The Coldest City by Antony Johnston and Sam Hart, is about a spy on a mission in Berlin. Happy: She plays the main character - Lorraine Broughton - in the film Atomic Blonde; pictured with her co-star James McAvoy on Wednesday at a screening of the movie Fancy: Actor James McAvoy serves as a co-star in the spy thriller, which is set to be released on July 28; pictured at the Atomic Blonde screening For the screening, Charlize wore a plunging black dress with a tasseled string detail along the neckline. Earlier in the day, Charlize flashed her lace bra in a see-through blouse and a ruched mini skirt while at the SiriusXM Studios in the Big Apple. She wore pointed lace heels with her short blonde locks styled in waves, opting for a deep side part. Wow factor: Earlier in the day, Charlize flashed her lace bra in a see-through blouse and a ruched mini skirt while at the SiriusXM Studios in the Big Apple on Wednesday She's been hinting at an upcoming wedding to DJ Ruckus, real name Gregory Andrews, in several Instagram posts. And Shanina Shaik looked to be in phenomenal shape for the impending nuptials, prior to a workout in New York on Wednesday. The 26-year-old highlighted her petite upper frame and lean legs in black activewear. Shredding for the wedding? Shanina Shaik, 26, highlighted her slender figure in activewear in New York on Wednesday, ahead of her upcoming nuptials to DJ Ruckus, real name Gregory Andrews Shanina showed off her enviable figure in a form-fitting ensemble. A plunging jumpsuit in a stretchy fabric skimmed over her petite upper frame, slender waist and lean legs. Accessorising with coordinating slip-on shoes, a Chanel handbag and medium-sized tote, the swimsuit model shielded her eyes behind a pair of stylish round-rimmed Vera Wang sunglasses. Styling her signature brunette locks into a sleek up-do, Shanina appeared to go makeup-free, allowing her natural beauty to shine through. Svelte: A plunging jumpsuit in a stretchy fabric skimmed over the swimsuit model's petite upper frame, slender waist and lean legs Effortlessly chic: Accessorising with coordinating slip-on shoes, a Chanel handbag and medium-sized tote, Shanina shielded her eyes behind a pair of stylish round-rimmed Vera Wang sunglasses Beauty: Styling her signature brunette locks into a sleek up-do, Shanina appeared to go makeup-free, allowing her natural beauty to shine through The sighting comes shortly after Shanina posted several gushing posts to Instagram, tagging fiance Gregory. The music maker proposed to the statuesque beauty at his cousin Lenny Kravitz's Bahamas property, in January last year. Just last week, Shanina took to Instagram, uploading a snap of her embracing Gregory, with the rainy Parisian streets in the background. Her love: The sighting comes shortly after the statuesque personality posted several gushing posts to Instagram, tagging fiance Gregory Packing on the PDA: Just last week, Shanina took to Instagram, uploading a snap of her embracing Gregory, with the rainy Parisian streets in the background She captioned the image: 'You make me H A P P Y when skies are grey #parisiannights #withhim'. And in a previous post, Shanina was seen wrapping one arm around Gregory, including the caption: 'Counting down baby'. The Melbourne-born star previously told Daily Mail Australia the twosome will be having a 'location wedding'. She said: 'We agreed it's going to be a location wedding. We're definitely going to have a long engagement and enjoy our time and then I'm very easy going.' He was lusted after by a whole generation of teenage girls when he played AC Slater on Saved By The Bell. So no wonder Kat Graham looked so excited as she shared a meaty embrace with beefcake Mario Lopez on the set of Extra in Los Angeles on Wednesday. The 27-year-old seemed giddy with glee as she was swept up into the macho show presenter's arms before taking part in a thrilling series of selfies. The Kat's whiskers: Graham looked thrilled to get to grips with Mario Lopez on the set of Extra in Los Angeles on Wednesday That put a smile on her face: She looked delighted to have got a meaty hug from the Saved By The Bell beefcake The Swiss miss, who was raised in Los Angeles, looked in fine form in a tied up white T-shirt, maxi skirt and high heels. Super Mario, 43, meanwhile looked as cool as ever in a polo shirt, jeans and trainers. Meanwhile Kat has said she was stunned by the outraged reaction of the actress she plays in the film All Eyez On Me, Jada Pinkett Smith. The 45-year-old wife of Will Smith had blasted the Tupac Shakur biopic calling it 'deeply hurtful' and full of glaring errors in a social media rant. Selfie obsessed: The narcissism was strong as the dynamic duo too a series of snaps Shady lady: Kat looked in fine form as she modelled a trendy pair of sunglasses Chatting her up: Jolly Mario seemed to enjoy his informal chat with the beauty Kat said last month: 'When I first got the role, I reached out to her a year and a half ago. The point of reaching out to her, as well as the other producers of the film, was to ensure the integrity of the story and the character. I even spoke to her last week and she had nothing but support, so I don't know.' And she claimed to have no idea what Jada's problem is. The Vampire Diaries favourite said: 'You'll have to ask her. I have a lot of love for her. I hope people just see the movie and make the choice for themselves. 'At the end of the day, this is just to honor this man's legacy and incredible life.' Saved By The Bell: Eventually she was able to beat a retreat to take some posed photographs A date for the Vamp-ire Diary: She flashed her midriff by tying up her white T-shirt She's currently appearing in the reboot of murder-mystery of Twin Peaks. But Naomi Watts left her fans with a new mystery to unravel on Wednesday, sharing to Instagram a very bizarre text message exchange between her and Twin Peaks director David Lynch. Littered with references to her character Janey-E Jones, some of her followers were left scratching their heads, with one writing: 'I don't understand!' 'Stop it b***h!' Naomi Watts leaves fans scratching their heads after sharing VERY bizarre text message exchange with Twin Peaks director David Lynch Naomi, who plays the wife of Douglas 'Dougie' Jones, (played by Kyle MacLachlan) appeared to invoke the feistiness of her Twin Peaks character when replying to David's text invitation. 'I'm Janey E and I will come when I want too!!!' Naomi wrote back after David had specified they meet at a certain time. Asking Naomi to 'please don't be mad at me', the actress wasn't done channeling her character, texting back that she was going to 'serve you your a**'. Text buddies: Posting the cheeky exchange to Instagram, Naomi captioned the post: Chatting with my buddy Dave #davidlynch #twinpeaks #dougie #nuffsaid' Just joking: 'Dear sweet Janey-E. I'm trying to meditate now,' David wrote after more tongue-in-cheek slinging between the pair 'Dear sweet Janey-E. I'm trying to meditate now,' David wrote after more tongue-in-cheek slinging between the pair. 'I'm sorry but this is sort of trying my patience - STOP IT B***H!!!' Posting the cheeky text exchange to Instagram, Naomi captioned the post: Chatting with my buddy Dave #davidlynch #twinpeaks #dougie #nuffsaid.' While the post was littered with nods to Twin Peaks, fans who had not seen the series were left scratching their heads. Mixed reaction: While the post was littered with nods to Twin Peaks, fans who had not seen the series were left scratching their heads One fan commented: 'I don't understand!! You both should go back to school to learn proper communication skills!' But others were more admiring, posting that the text exchange was friendship 'goals'. 'Always wondered what form of glorious conversations would take place between you two magical creatures. Today we know,' one fan gushed. Naomi and David are old friends, having first met when Naomi appeared in the David Lynch-directed Mulholland Drive 2001. It was revealed the Italian choreographer earns 50,000 more than his fellow Strictly Come Dancing judges Craig Revel Horwood and Darcey Bussell. And Bruno Tonioli was celebrating in style as he enjoyed a night on the town with socialite Lizzie Cundy on Wednesday. The flamboyant judge, 61, left the Ivy in Chelsea, west London, with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth as he partied late into the night. Out on the town: Bruno Tonioli celebrated earning more than his Strictly co-stars on a night out at the Ivy in Chelsea on Wednesday (pictured with Lizzie Cundy) Bruno dressed for the summer weather in a plunging V-neck white shirt and navy chinos. He tucked his black sunglasses into the neck of his short-sleeved shirt and carried a hot pink bag under his arm. The dancer completed his look with a pair of blue suede Chelsea boots and carried his phone in his left hand. The Strictly star partied into the night with his friends Lizzie Cundy and Julien Macdonald, who was a contestant on the dancing competition in 2013. Flashing flesh: Bruno dressed for the summer weather in a plunging V-neck white shirt and navy chinos Lizzie, 47, cut a demure figure in a bright orange frock, which fell in off the shoulder tiers. The socialite and personality showed off her incredible figure in the thigh-skimming dress, which she paired with a red patent clutch She finished off her look with a pair of strappy black heels with a bow detail, and a lacy choker. Famous friends: The Strictly judge partied with his friends Lizzie Cundy and Julien Macdonald, who competed in the dancing show in 2013 The pair stood in the entrance of the high-class eatery and chatted to designer Julien, 46, who looked chic in a plunging black shirt and tight-fitting trousers. Bruno held a glass of wine as he planted a kiss on Julien's cheek. He was out partying the day the BBC released a list of their highest-earning stars, which was topped by Chris Evans who earns up to 2.25 million. Cheeky peck: The Italian choreographer held a glass of wine in his hand as he leaned over and planted a kiss on Julien's cheek The extensive list revealed Craig Revel Horwood and Darcey Bussell earn less than fellow judges Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli. The pay gap was revealed on Wednesday in figures released by the BBC for the first time. They show head judge Goodman, who has since bid farewell to the UK version of the series, is paid up to 249,000. Tonioli is in the same pay bracket but fellow Strictly Come Dancing judges Revel Horwood and Bussell earn less Tonioli is in the same pay bracket of between 200,000 and 249,000 but fellow Strictly judges Revel Horwood and Bussell earn less. They are both in the pay bracket of between 150,000 and 199,000, it was revealed today. For the first time, the BBC have had to say which of its household names are on more than 150,000 a year. The corporation fought tooth and nail against a government order to publish the figures. It then tried to delay their release. In a sign of further panic, stars were told they could defend their pay on social media breaking with normal BBC protocol. Bosses have warned every staffer on 150,000 or more that their details will be published and in some against the public reaction. Craig Revel Horwood and Darcey Bussell earn less than Strictly judges Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli Top ten male earners 1. Chris Evans, Multi-genre band: 2,200,000 - 2,249,999 2. Gary Lineker, Sport: 1,750,000 - 1,799,999 3. Graham Norton, Multi-genre band: 850,000 - 899,999 4. Jeremy Vine, Multi-genre band: 700,000 - 749,999 5. John Humphrys, Multi-genre band: 600,000 - 649,999 6. Huw Edwards, Multi-genre band: 550,000 - 599,999 7. Steve Wright, Radio: 500,000 - 549,999 8. Matt Baker, Multi-genre band: 450,000 - 499,999 =9. Nicky Campbell, Radio: 400,000 - 449,999 =9. Andrew Marr, Multi-genre band: 400,000 - 449,999 =9. Stephen Nolan, Multi-genre band: 400,000 - 449,999 =9. Alan Shearer, Sport: 400,000 - 449,999 Advertisement She's the Australian model with a body to die for. And on Thursday, Jennifer Hawkins dared to bare her enviable figure as she posed topless in a sexy beach snap. Taking to Instagram, the 33-year-old shared the raunchy photo, in which she covered her modesty with her strategically placed crossed arms. Daring to bare! Model Jennifer Hawkins (pictured) posed topless and showed off her pert posterior in cheekily ripped denim shorts in a photo she shared to Instagram on Thursday The former Miss Universe also showed off her pert derriere and endless legs in a pair of high-waisted denim shorts, which were cheekily ripped to showcase a glimpse of her toned posterior. Covering her face, Jennifer teamed the look with a wide-brimmed straw hat which left her tanned and toned body as the focal attraction. The postcard-perfect image also featured a sun-soaked coastal landscape as the backdrop. Stunner! Thee 33-year-old spent the first half of July holidaying in the Maldives Bikini babe! The star shared a string of photos from her envy-inducing vacation It comes after Jennifer spent the first half of July enjoying an idyllic holiday in the Maldives, before returning home to Australia last week. The Australia's Next Top Model host shared plenty of snaps from her time away on social media. Jennifer induced vacation envy as she posted photos featuring herself amid pristine white sand and glistening blue water. Body to die for! The former Miss Universe is no stranger to flaunting her enviable figure Along with model husband Jake Wall, Jennifer spent two weeks escaping Australia's gloomy winter weather with a five star vacation in the picturesque location. The genetically blessed couple married in a lavish Bali ceremony in 2013 after eight years of dating. In April, the couple moved into their newly renovated $4 million waterfront home located in the exclusive Sydney suburb of Newport. Lauren Brant hasn't been shy about sharing how much she loves family on social media. And the 28-year-old took to her Instagram on Thursday to share that she was jetting off to Sydney for a weekend away with her partner Barry Hall and their three-month-old son Miller. The former Hi-5 star posted a picture and a range of short clips of her former AFL star boyfriend doting on their baby boy, while giving a tour of their hotel room. Family getaway! Lauren Brant 'scoots to Sydney' for a weekend away with partner Barry Hall and son Miller... As the baby 'raids the mini bar' This is the third time the couple, who live on the Gold Coast, have taken their baby son away. In clips from their Sydney jaunt, Barry gives Lauren a tour of their hotel room. At one point he jokes that baby Miller has 'raided the mini bar' and the video showed the baby surrounded by snacks. Since Miller's birth in May, the parents have been taking to social media to document their new experiences and share sweet snaps of their first child. Doting dad: The former Hi-5 star posted a picture and a range of short clips of her former AFL star boyfriend holding their baby boy, while giving a tour of their hotel room 'I told him no mini bar': At one point Barry jokes that baby Miller has 'raided the mini bar' and the video showed the baby surrounded by snacks Lauren and Barry first met on I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! in 2015, but did not start dating until several months later. The pair announced they were expecting last December. Speaking to Daily Mail Australia earlier this year, Barry said that marriage was still 'a long way away' for the couple. Gorgeous! Since Miller's birth in May, the parents have been taking to social media to document their new experiences and share sweet snaps of their first child Holiday snaps: This is the third time the couple, who live on the Gold Coast, have taken their baby son away Kem Cetinay has made no secret of the fact that he's found love since entering the Love Island villa - and has also spoken about a potential wedding in the future. But his girlfriend Amber Davies' sister Jade offered her opinion on his future plans - claiming that he's 'pushing it' due to her age, but revealed she was keen on meeting him as he seems like a 'lovely guy.' Jade was also joined by Chris Hughes' brother Ben on Thursday's episode of Good Morning Britain - who discussed his sibling's tumultuous relationship with Olivia - alongside eliminated contestant Theo Campbell. Scroll down for video 'She's only 20': Love Island star Amber Davies' sister Jade has revealed that her boyfriend Kem Cetinay is 'pushing' with his claims of wanting marriage and kids with the stunning brunette Line-up: Jade was also joined by Chris Hughes' brother Ben (R) on Thursday's episode of Good Morning Britain - who discussed his sibling's tumultuous relationship with Olivia - alongside eliminated contestant Theo Campbell (L) The Essex lad has confessed that he has found love since entering the villa and even asked his best friend Chris to be his 'best man' at his wedding on a recent episode. 'Ive come in here, now Ive got a girlfriend and Ive also got a best friend slash brother. I honestly want you to be the best man at my wedding,' Kem began. Overwhelmed with joy, Chris replies: 'If Im the best man, Id cry I reckon. And just do a speech about our time in Love Island.' And Amber's sister Jade addressed the possible union on Lorraine, stating: 'I love Kem but shes 20, so marriage and kids is pushing it.' Smitten: The Essex lad has confessed that he has found love since entering the villa and even asked his best friend Chris to be his 'best man' at his wedding on a recent episode Amber's sister Jade addressed the possible union on Lorraine, stating: 'I love Kem but shes 20, so marriage and kids is pushing it' Uncanny: Jade bore a striking resemblance to her sister Amber as she appeared on the show to discuss her romance Daytime chic: The brunette put on a busty display in a plunging khaki satin jumpsuit and towering wedge heels However, she revealed that she was a fan of the hunk, as she continued: 'I cant wait to meet him. I think hes a lovely guy.' Reflecting on why her stunning sister went on the ITV2 show, she revealed: 'Amber doesnt have her eyes on the prize. She genuinely went in for love. 100% she told me she went in there for it. With the conversation diverted back to his relationship with Kem, she noted: 'If you find the one, you find the one!' However, she revealed that she was a fan of the hunk, as she continued: 'I cant wait to meet him. I think hes a lovely guy' 'She genuinely went in for love': She reflected on why her stunning sister went on the ITV2 show Meanwhile, Chris's brother Ben was on also on hand to talk about his on/off relationship with Olivia Attwood which has divided the nation. Seeing the brighter side of things, he jokingly revealed: 'It's not difficult to watch. Me and Christopher have had many rows with another one in a lifetime, so this is another one to tick of the list. Taking a more serious turn, Ben continued: 'Money wasnt an issue for him. He went in with the view that he may find someone who he connects too.' 'It's not difficult to watch': Meanwhile, Chris's brother Ben was on also on hand to talk about his on/off relationship with Olivia Attwood which has divided the nation Good time: The blonde seemed in high spirits as he discussed his brother's appearance on Love Island 'He's very good with his nieces': He addressed the hilarious scenario where he doted on a fake baby 'Another fight to tick off his list': Ben revealed that he and his brother always argued so it wan't a big deal for him to watch his fiery relationship with Olivia Addressing the hilarious scenario where he doted on a fake baby, alongside Olivia, Ben admitted: 'He's very good with his nieces!' Theo, who has experience of being in the villa, was asked who he wanted to win during the interview. He pondered the question: 'Its all changed since lie detector test and it is all up in air. 'It was Camilla and Jamie before but now it could be Chris and Olivia. They are two favourite individuals. Kem and amber are also in running,' he concluded. 'Its all changed since lie detector test': Theo, who has experience of being in the villa, was asked who he wanted to win during the interview It's the story-line that has both gripped and horrified Coronation Street viewers this year, as Bethany Platt has been groomed and abused by perverted policeman Neil Clifton. And the actor that plays the unsavory cop, Ben Cartwright, has admitted that he came close to turning down the role, due to the troubling content of the story-line. 'When I first read the breakdown I wasnt drawn to the part,' he admitted to Lorraine Kelly on her ITV chat show. 'Ive got a young family. So I had major concerns about that and also about the impact it would have on me as a person. Scroll down for video 'I had major concerns': Coronation Street actor Ben Cartwright reveals he came close to turning down the role of perverted policeman Neil... thanks to character's troubling sex ring plot-line Ultimately, Ben took the role, which sees his character Neil joining forces with Nathan Curtis (Christopher Harper) to groom Bethany (Lucy Fallon, pictured) 'I sent some texts to actor friends the one that changed my mind - they said you should have a positive reason to turn down a role, not a negative one.' Ultimately, Ben took the role, which sees his character Neil joining forces with Nathan Curtis (Christopher Harper) to groom Bethany (Lucy Fallon). 'I went for it, and I'm glad I did. The response was universal. The response has been universally great,' he admitted. 'I was taken with a fan yesterday. He was a scaffolder and he said he watched it with his daughter and sat down and had a good chat about it. This is the importance of what youre doing.' 'When I first read the breakdown I wasnt drawn to the part!' Ben admitted to Lorraine Kelly on her ITV chat show that his young family lead to 'major concerns about the impact it would have on me as a person' Stepping in: The story involving Nathan and Bethany was going on before Ben's character arrived on the scene The story involving Nathan and Bethany was going on before Ben's character arrived on the scene - and so his eldest daughter was already aware of it on the soap. 'My oldest probably knows the story-line. She's about to turn eight. In fact, to help with her reading I get her to do her lines with me. None of the dodgy stuff!' he said. He added: 'Before that I did a big CBBC show. I'm more known for that in the playground!' Ben shared with Lorraine his own theories on how the plot will unravel going forward. Troubling: Ben admitted that Coronation Street 'wasnt on my radar when I grew up' and that stories like that can upset die-hard fans that cherish the programme Troubling: 'I sent some texts to actor friends the one that changed my mind - they said you should have a positive reason to turn down a role, not a negative one,' he recalled 'Maybe he is undercover and getting together with Bethany to put Nathan down. Who knows?' he teased. Coronation Street's producers have confirmed this week that Nathan and Neil will face trial after the sex ring is exposed. Next week Bethany is set to get a call from the police after giving a new statement following her decision this week to finally report the corrupt policeman who raped her. Outcome? Ben shared with Lorraine his own theories on how the plot will unravel going forward This follows Neil's threats to her, that if she reports he will hurt the people she loves. Ben admitted that Coronation Street 'wasnt on my radar when I grew up' and that stories like that can upset die-hard fans that cherish the programme. 'I think it was beneficial that I didnt grow up watching it because I wouldve had a heart attack on my first day!' he joked. 'But it's the nicest place to work. Everyone is so lively. We are encouraged to go into the green room rather than stay in our dressing rooms.' She's known for her sensational curves that rival those of the Kardashians. And Demi Rose, 22, showcased her spectacular figure on again as she slipped into a flirty summer dress while soaking up the sights of Ibiza alongside her pal on Wednesday. The British beauty highlighted her ample assets in a cleavage-baring garment which featured a plunging neckline and long bow that accentuated her buxom chest furthermore. Relaxed: Demi Rose, 22, showcased her spectacular figure on again as she slipped into a flirty summer dress while soaking up the sights of Ibiza alongside her pal on Wednesday Her thigh-grazing look boasted a frill hemline that highlighted her toned pins as she wandered around the town's streets in her metallic sandals. Cinching in her narrow waist, the skin-flashing look was balanced out with her charming frill sleeve and a gold chain strapped YSL cream bag. Attempting to combat the sweltering heat on the White Isle, she worked her raven-coloured locks into a chic chignon while covering her eye with a pair of oversized sunnies. Cheeky: Despite her covered display, Demi suffered an awkward wardrobe malfunction after a sea breeze caught her skirt and flashed her perky posterior while she got some ice cream Despite her covered display, Demi suffered an awkward wardrobe malfunction after a sea breeze caught her skirt and flashed her perky posterior while she got some ice cream. Although flashing her pert rear in the parlour, she appeared unfazed as she continued picking out her preferred flavours. Her cheeky appearance comes as she has been making the most of her time in Ibiza, recently being spotted with DJ Tom Zanetti. Yet, Demi first got a taste for the limelight when she was chosen to be part of the Taz's Angels at its peak in 2015 after rising to fame through her Instagram account. Rising star: Yet, Demi first got a taste for the limelight when she was chosen to be part of the Taz's Angels at its peak in 2015 after rising to fame through her Instagram account In a previous interview with The Sun, she revealed: 'I've had Instagram since I was 18. Posed for selfies and pictures and it just grew from like 60,000 to 200,000 to a million to 3.2million now. 'In school I was quite popular on MySpace and that kind of followed on to Instagram. It was really weird when people started recognising me and stuff on the street. I just got used to it.' Confident in her sex appeal, the former beauty student claimed her curvaceous figure rivals the Kardashians in a more recent interview with the publication. The model told the publication: 'I have an amazing life travelling the world and showing off curves to rival the Kardashians. I love the best parties, yachts and fast cars but deep down Im just a kid from Sutton Coldfield who got lucky.' In the past: Demi was linked to US rapper - and ex-boyfriend of Kylie - Tyga, after they were spotted out and about in Los Angeles together in May last year Demi was linked to US rapper - and ex-boyfriend of Kylie - Tyga, after they were spotted out and about in Los Angeles together in May last year. However, it seems that Demi is now determined to forge a career away from the famous names she has been linked to in the past as a DJ, and recently embarked on a trip to Ibiza to talk to clubowners about work after releasing her first mix, Ritmos Del Sueno. Demi, who has a plethora of A-list friends including Chris Brown and DJ Khaled after appearing in their music videos, looked sensational as she posed for the shoot. This domain was recently registered at Namecheap.com. Please check back later! Her career has catapulted from strength to strength. And Bella Hadid continued to sizzle as she posed for her latest photoshoot in a hat and bra ensemble. The IMG model, 20, put on a steamy display for cameras as she smouldered for the new Chrome Hearts campaign. Scroll down for video Turning heads! Bella Hadid, 20, put on a steamy display for cameras as she smouldered in a cap and chain bra for the new Chrome Hearts campaign Partially covering her pretty face, her red leather baker boy cap added a dash of dominatrix to her look. Highlighting her chiselled bone structure with a hint of blusher and plum lipstick, she put on a racy display in a skimpy chain bralet. The piece made the most of her slender physique and enviable curves, as she pouted for the cameras. 'I was 100 percent independent by the time I was 18, and I paid for my own apartment. That wasn't because of my parents [RHOBH alum Yolanda and real estate mogul Mohamed]. I worked my ass off for two years': The nepotistically-privileged socialite recently told InStyle Hadid - who has fronted 10 fashion campaigns in 2017 - recently revealed that she thinks it would be fun to transition her modelling career into acting. 'I think working this much is going to give me a better platform to do bigger things in the world,' the nepotistically-privileged socialite said in the August edition of InStyle. 'I'm not saying I don't love my job, but people think modeling is just a bulls*** thing to become more famous. I was 100 percent independent by the time I was 18, and I paid for my own apartment. 'That wasn't because of my parents [RHOBH alum Yolanda and real estate mogul Mohamed]. I worked my ass off for two years.' 'Gotta keep my friends misted!' The ex-girlfriend of The Weeknd put on quite a sideshow in this newly unearthed snap with her BFF, Kendall Jenner Last week, Bella - who boasts 15.2M social media followers - was named the new face of Max Mara accessories in a FW/17 campaign shot by famed lensman Steven Meisel. The half-Jordanian, half-Dutch stunner also currently fronts shoe designer Giuseppe Zanotti's FW/17 campaign shot by noteworthy photographer Mario Sorrenti. On Monday, the Fyre Festival promoter reunited with her 18-year-old brother Anwar, 53-year-old mother Yolanda, and 21-year-old sister for dinner on a 'perfect summer night.' 'Whitney Bag': Last week, Bella was named the new face of Max Mara accessories in a FW/17 campaign shot by famed lensman Steven Meisel 'Wrapped up in the season': The half-Jordanian, half-Dutch stunner also currently fronts shoe designer Giuseppe Zanotti's FW/17 campaign shot by noteworthy photographer Mario Sorrenti The former Ford Model shared a behind-the-scenes video from the Milk Media Hoboken set of her gig in Iris Covet Book shot by lensman Karl Simone. St. Martin's Press will finally publish Hadid's (born van den Herik) 288-page tome Believe Me detailing her Lyme disease battle on September 12. Like Yolanda, Bella and Anwar both suffer from the tick-borne illness, and the former equestrian takes '30 pills and self-administers two shots a day in the keester' to properly function. 'My everything in one place!' On Monday, the Fyre Festival promoter reunited with her 18-year-old brother Anwar, 53-year-old mother Yolanda, and 21-year-old sister for dinner 'Getting back to work life': On Wednesday morning, the former Ford Model shared a behind-the-scenes video from the set of her gig in Iris Covet Book shot by lensman Karl Simone 'The invisible disability': St. Martin's Press will finally publish Hadid's (born van den Herik) 288- page tome Believe Me detailing her Lyme disease battle on September 12 They've picked things up right where they left off after she was booted from the Love Island villa - despite bad-mouthing each other incessantly. And Chloe Crowhurst and Jon Clark appeared to be making up for lost time as they celebrated their rekindled romance with a romantic holiday to Lanzarote. Kissing and canoodling in the pool on Wednesday, the couple couldn't keep their hands off each other. Scroll down for video Bikini babe: Chloe Crowhurst and Jon Clark appeared to be making up for lost time as they celebrated their rekindled romance with a romantic holiday to Lanzarote Chloe was displaying her slender figure in a white bikini with metallic sequin detailing. A statement belly button piercing drew attention to her flat stomach and gym-honed figure. Jon - who found fame on Love Island in 2015 before joining the cast of TOWIE - was clad in navy trunks for his swim. The pair seem to have brushed their very public spat under the rug, amid reports Chloe could be lined-up to join Jon on TOWIE. Back together again: Kissing and canoodling in the pool on Wednesday, the couple couldn't keep their hands off each other The Essex lad previously claimed she dumped him in order to chase fame on TV, while she alleged he had cheated on her countless times. Jon then said that she reached out to him hours after she left the ITV2 reality show, failing to have found love. He took to Twitter to share a cutting message, appearing to suggest that she had been in contact, writing, 'Didn't take long did it? #goaway'. Moving on? The Essex lad previously claimed she dumped him in order to chase fame on TV, while she alleged he had cheated on her countless times But not long afterwards, the pair looked like they had kissed and made up as they shared a passionate smooch outside DSTRKT nightclub in London following a blazing argument in the street - mere hours after Chloe vowed never to get back together with Jon. The blonde bombshell was the picture of fury as she gave TOWIE star Jon a piece of her mind. She then came over all amorous and was seen locking lips with Jon - who she had previously branded a liar and a cheat. It's the summer series fans of Made In Chelsea have been waiting for. And on Thursday, E4 dropped the first official trailer for the upcoming MIC: Ibiza, which starts airing on July 31. And despite the video only showing a few brief moments of the drama, there seems to be plenty of juice in store. Most notably is Sam Thompson's one-on-one with Canadian bombshell Mimi Bouchard. Sam - who notably dropped this information casually into a chat with Rick Edwards during an interview two months - is currently on a Ross & Rachel-style break from his girlfriend Tiff Watson for the summer. As stipulated by both Sam and Tiff, they are allowed to 'hook up with other people' - which it seems Sam might be doing. The trailer shows the pair of them chatting, both looking tanned as they enjoy drinks together one evening. 'There's nothing wrong with a bit of flirting!' Sam Thompson chats up Mimi Bouchard and Harry Baron gets a drink thrown in his face in first sun-kissed, bikini-clad trailer for MIC: Ibiza They're back: Made In Chelsea: Ibiza has promised my drama than ever New man? Mimi is sure to relish the idea of a summer romance, after the disaster she went through in season 13 when she commented that Fredrik Ferrier was 'hot' and consequently blamed for the downfall of his relationship with Liv Bentley 'There's nothing wrong with a bit of flirting!' Sam says, giving Mimi one of his trademark cheeky grins. Mimi is sure to relish the idea of a summer romance, after the disaster she went through in season 13 when she commented that Fredrik Ferrier was 'hot' and consequently blamed for the downfall of his relationship with Liv Bentley. Elsewhere, there's a return from former star Emily Blackwell, who is seen in a furious exchange with Harry Baron. Harry is seen insisting that he is 'not lying' to her after which Frankie Gaff throws a drink in his face. Juicy: Despite the video only showing a few brief moments of the drama, there seems to be plenty of juice in store Back again: There's a return from former star Emily Blackwell [L] Dramatic: Emily is seen in a furious exchange with Harry The trailer also features Alex Mytton claiming that 'it's a bit awkward' about something undisclosed - as he is seen partying with the others. There's no sign of Tiff, nor Jamie Laing, who is Frankie's on/off boyfriend; yet Frankie seems to be having a great time. Could Frankie's drink-throwing mean Harry has somehow double crossed her and Emily? On Wednesday, the show released the official cast photo for the series, with the cast teasing exclusively to MailOnline that this promises to be the most dramatic summer season to date. Token drink chuck: Harry is seen insisting that he is 'not lying' to her after which Frankie throws a drink in his face Tease: New girl Mimi Bouchard also hinted at six weeks of high drama - 'Its an amazing series. You see a new side to everyone!' Harry said of MIC: Ibiza: 'There was drama last season but this time, expect worse! He added: 'Its going to be a fantastic watch. Gripping! MIC stalwart Jamie will indeed appear in the new run of episodes at some point, and is in fact one of the only cast members from the reality show's first year to be appearing. A lot of interesting things happen...' he teased, without giving too much away. On or off? Last season Toff ended her brief fling with new boy Sam Prince New girl Mimi also hinted at six weeks of high drama: 'Its an amazing series. You see a new side to everyone!' The show returns for its fourth summer season, making this the 17th run in MIC's seven-year history. Much like the previous year's MIC: South of France and the year before's MIC: LA, the trip abroad will see the cast hitting the beaches for a summer of partying and, most likely, romance. Last season, various relationships were left strained: things were tense between Harry and Ella Wills, after a turbulent series of run-ins with her and boyfriend Julius Cowdrey (who is not featuring in the current season); and Georgia Toffolo ended her brief fling with new boy Sam Prince. She's back: Former cast member Emily Blackwell also crops back up this season - sure to have her eye on one of the boys [pictured L with Liv Bentley and Harry Baron] Sam's sister Louise Thompson and boyfriend Ryan Libbey are also set to make a guest appearance, as well as Victoria Baker Harber. Not appearing in this summer edition are Binky Felstead and Josh Patterson. This will be the first season Binky hasn't been in, and is sitting it out due to the birth of her baby India, who she and JP welcomed in June. MIC: Ibiza will air on E4 on July 31. She had back surgery just one week ago and is currently recovering. And on Thursday Phoebe Burgess, the wife of South Sydney Rabbitohs star Sam, was looking back at her last holiday. The blonde shared a picture of herself cradling baby Poppy by the pool while on a tropical getaway in Port Douglas. If you've got it, flaunt it! Phoebe Burgess shows off her incredible swimsuit body in throwback shot of her cradling baby Poppy on first family holiday in Port Douglas Looking flawless in a black one piece her long, lithe legs were on full display. The snap is a throwback from Phoebe's June holiday with husband Sam and baby daughter Poppy - the family's first together. The Bondi-based couple welcomed their baby girl in January and have keenly documented their family life on social media. Baby Poppy became a cousin in April, after Sam's brother and fellow Rabbitohs star George Burgess welcomed a son named Boston. Pretty in pink: The Bondi-based couple welcomed their baby girl in January and have keenly documented their family life on social media Phoebe underwent back surgery for a second time in mid July that will hopefully clear the way for a second child. Sam recently revealed on Nova 96.9's Fitzy And Wippa Show that Phoebe has been hinting at trying for a second child. A sibling for Poppy soon? Phoebe underwent back surgery for a second time in mid July that will hopefully clear the way for a second child Host Ryan 'Fitzy' Fitzgerald asked: 'Have you been thinking about your second, Sammy?' 'Well, Phoebe has,' he replied. 'Phoebe wants to go straight away, really. She's got a bit of a sore back though.' 'What, from carrying you in the relationship?' Fitzy joked. She's the lawyer-turned-Instagram model who gets paid to travel the world in revealing swimwear. And Pia Muehlenbeck's scantily-clad snap of the day had her feeling completely exposed on Thursday. Posing in a skimpy black bra and brief's, the 26-year-old captioned the picture: 'It feels like Im not wearing a bra at all.' Scroll down for video 'It feels like Im not wearing a bra at all': 'Social influencer' Pia Muehlenbeck's latest scantily-clad snap of the day had her feeling completely exposed on Thursday The brunette beauty's stunning tanned frame was on full display as she stretched her arms and pouted her very plump lips. Although the model did cut an enviable figure in the outfit, she did reveal later that the post was a paid sponsorship for Bras N Things. 'Its so light and breathable. Highly recommend this one!,' she wrote in her best saleswoman prose. Take a break! The sponsored post saw the 26-year-old Instagram sensation take time out of her latest Eurotrip, where she's been flaunting her assets in a range of skimpy bikinis Complimenting Pia, who is approaching 2 million followers on the platform, one fan wrote: 'Oh my gosh why are you so stunning? Is that bondi sands tan?' The sponsored post saw the personality take time out of her latest Eurotrip, where she's been flaunting her assets in a range of skimpy bikinis. After building a brand on Instagram, the social media 'influencer' now has more than 1.9 million followers and gets paid to travel the world with her boyfriend. Never look back! The qualified lawyer left the corporate world in pursuit of a career in modelling and blogging in 2014 and has never looked back The qualified lawyer left the corporate world in pursuit of a career in modelling and blogging in 2014 and has never looked back. Speaking on Channel Seven's The Morning Show earlier this month, Pia revealed the moment she decided to take the risk. She said: 'I decided a few months in that I really always wanted to start my own business and challenge myself in that way.' Luxury! From the Maldives and Mexico, to Los Angeles, Europe and an $84,000-per-week Bali getaway, Pia and photographer boyfriend Kane Vato appear to live a life of luxury 'Because I was really early on in my legal career, I decided that it was now or never.' From the Maldives and Mexico, to Los Angeles, Europe and an $84,000-per-week Bali getaway, Pia and boyfriend Kane Vato - her brand's creative director - appear to live a life of luxury. However, Pia told hosts Kylie Gillies and Larry Emdur: 'It's not all glitz and glam, you really have to make a business.' She never ceases to amaze the style brigade in her incredible sartorial displays whether it's on the red carpet or out and about with pals. And Vanessa Hudgens, 28, was back to her fashionable ways as she stepped out in a head-turning ensemble, arriving at the Sun Cafe in Los Angeles on Wednesday. The actress - who came to prominence in Disney's High School Musical - slipped into a striking red midi dress that paid tribute to yesteryear with it's vintage silhouette. Scroll down for video Getting chic done! Vanessa Hudgens, 28, was back to her fashionable ways as she stepped out in a head-turning ensemble, arriving at the Sun Cafe in Los Angeles on Wednesday Her knee-skimming look featured flirty ruching across the bust which added an extra dimension of style while she sauntered into the lunchtime venue. Vanessa's - who is currently dating fellow actor Austin Butler, 25 - summer dress was made of an embossed polka dot in red that added a touch of texture to her attire. The spaghetti-strapped look accentuated her gym-honed arms while she carried her darling straw bag with statement fringing and complementing polka dots. Vintage vixen: The actress - who came to prominence in Disney's High School Musical - slipped into a striking red midi dress that paid tribute to yesteryear with it's vintage silhouette Striking: Her knee-skimming look featured flirty ruching across the bust which added an extra dimension of style while she sauntered into the lunchtime venue Spot the difference: Vanessa's - who is currently dating fellow actor Austin Butler, 25 - summer dress was made of an embossed polka dot in red that added a touch of texture to her attire Her chic look displayed her toned pins with's its racy front slit which made her platform cork wedges centre of attention as she made her way into the eatery. Continuing her vintage theme, she worked her raven-coloured locks into a deep parting as she styled her glossy mane into a slight curl. The Hollywood stunner accessorised her attire with a long silver necklace, sprinkling of rings and a pair of cat-eye shades in a vibrant red. Sizzling: The spaghetti-strapped look accentuated her gym-honed arms while she carried her darling straw bag with statement fringing and complementing polka dots Walk this way: Her chic look displayed her toned pins with's its racy front slit which made her platform cork wedges centre of attention as she made her way into the eatery Mane attraction: Continuing her vintage theme, she worked her raven-coloured locks into a deep parting as she styled her glossy mane into a slight curl Red alert: The Hollywood stunner accessorised her attire with a long silver necklace, sprinkling of rings and a pair of cat-eye shades in a vibrant red The Spring Breakers beauty appeared to be taking it easy - she has time on her hands after NBC 'officially' dropped the guillotine last month on Vanessa's fledgling DC Comics sitcom Powerless. According to Deadline, the comedy and superhero hybrid show had been earning 'soft' ratings. The show had been yanked from NBC's schedule near the end of April, back when the first season still had three episodes left to air, as Variety reported at the time. Relaxed: The Spring Breakers beauty appeared to be taking it easy - she has time on her hands after NBC 'officially' dropped the guillotine last month on Vanessa's fledgling DC Comics sitcom Powerless Moving on: According to Deadline , the comedy and superhero hybrid show had been earning 'soft' ratings Vanessa's starred as the Director Of Research And Development at a company selling items to insulate people from superheroes' and supervillains' escapades. Her co-stars on the show - set in the fictional Charm City - include Danny Pudi, Christina Kirk, Ron Funches, Alan Tudyk and Jennie Pearson. The stunner soared to fame in 2006 as Gabriella Montez in the Disney franchise High School Musical before starring in an array of movies and shows, later winning widespread praise in last year's Grease: Live. Yanked: The show had been yanked from NBC's schedule near the end of April, back when the first season still had three episodes left to air, as Variety reported at the time Fame: The stunner soared to fame in 2006 as Gabriella Montez in the Disney franchise High School Musical before starring in an array of movies and shows, later winning widespread praise in last year's Grease: Live Recently, Vanessa expressed her views on feminism, revealing that she once was 'on the fence' about the movement. In a recent interview she explained: 'I used to be on the fence about it just because I feel like it gets to a certain place where it almost has the reverse effect... 'Where it's so overpowering and so aggressive that it's like rather than just standing up for female pride and female rights, it becomes, like, "I am the man."' He's the Australian actor who's doing big things in Hollywood. And on Wednesday Simon Baker managed to look effortless cool as he stepped out in Los Angeles to meet a friend for lunch. Cutting a casual figure, the 47-year-old shielded his face from the sun in straw fedora with a black band. Ruggedly handsome: On Wednesday, Australian actor Simon Baker (pictured) looked casual yet suave as he stepped out in Los Angeles Opting for a casual ensemble, Simon wore a simple grey T-shirt teamed with brown pants and contrasting blue trainers. The Mentalist star pulled off a rugged vibe, favouring facial hair over a clean-shaven look. Accessorising his outfit, the actor added a stylish pair of sunglasses and a silver wristwatch. Hat trick! The Mentalist star drew attention with his headwear which he donned to keep the Los Angeles sun off his face Simon has come a long way since his days as an Australian soap star, when he starred in shows like E Street and Home and Away. Born in Tasmania, Simon made his way to the US to take a crack at the TV and film industry. Among his long list of acting credits are roles in The Mentalist, The Guardian, The Devil Wears Prada and more and he was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2013. Come a long way! Simon has gone from strength to strength when it comes to his international career with his next project, Breathe, reportedly due out this year Jet setters! Simon and his wife Rebecca Rigg (right) split their time between Sydney and LA Simon, who has been married to Rebecca Rigg since 1998, splits his time between Sydney and Los Angeles. The couple have three children together - Stella, 23, Harry, 15, and Claude, nine. The star's next film, Breathe, which he also directs, is expected to be released sometime in 2017. Two of Masterchef's revered judges were tasked with climbing down from their ivory tower on Thursday. Having spent nine seasons critiquing every detail of contestant's dishes, George Calombaris and Gary Mehigan finally went head-to-head in a cook-off. Joined by guest Shannon Bennett, of Melbourne's Vue de monde restaurant, the trio competed in a Mystery Box challenge, with Matt Preston judging their creations. Tables turned! Having spent nine seasons critiquing contestant's dishes, judges George Calombaris and Gary Mehigan went head-to-head in a cook-off on Masterchef Thursday In another twist of fate, this season's three remaining contestants in Ben Ungermann, Karlie Verkerk and Diana Chan got to choose their mentor's main ingredients. 'This is the perfect payback for the three of us... I can't wait to choose the ingredients,' one of the smiling final three quipped. Each contestant picked three ingredients for the judges to work with, with shrimp paste, Japanese tea, pork loin and licorice highlighting the selections. Knowing that he could also use 'under the pantry' ingredients such as pasta, George was the embodiment of confidence early on. Join the party! Joined by guest Shannon Bennett, of Melbourne's Vue de monde restaurant, the trio competed in a Mystery Box challenge, with Matt Preston judging their creations 'This is the perfect payback for the three of us': In another twist of fate, this season's three remaining contestants in Ben, Karlie and Diana got to choose their mentor's main ingredients 'I'm just going to let my cooking do the talking,' he said, keeping eyes trained on the task at hand. In stark contrast, fellow-judge Gary confessed: 'I'm really a bit lost, to be honest... I'm not used to limited ingredients.' He announced his dish: 'The only thing I can think of is doing, a little mince pork, make a roti, maybe a fried egg, and just go kind of a bit street food, to be honest.' Tough! Each contestant picked three ingredients for the judges to work with, with shrimp paste, Japanese tea, pork loin and licorice highlighting the selections But the tables turned when George was sent to six-minutes in a makeshift 'naughty corner' for using contraband cooking equipment. After witnessing his competition's offerings, guest Shannon lost confidence in his poached pork loin with basil mousse, and smoked tomato soup. 'I'm not sure if this dish is enough to save me. I'll tell you what, there's seriously stiff competition,' he confessed. 'I'm not sure if this dish is enough to save me': After witnessing his competition's offerings, Shannon lost confidence in his poached pork loin with basil mousse, and smoked tomato soup Confident: George Calombaris embodied confidence with his basil-tomato ice cream concoction Winner! But in the end, it was Gary's self-confessed 'dirty street food' comprising elements of roti, fried egg and mince pork that one the day And he was right to be concerned, with contestants and Matt Preston noticing that he'd overcooked the pork. And despite the confidence emanating from George for his basil-tomato ice cream concoction, it was Gary's self-confessed 'dirty street food' that won the day. Praising his co-star, Matt gushed: You have done with a little bit of shrimp paste, some tea and some black pepper what most people take 20 ingredients to do.' Intricate plotting, razor sharp characterisation and consistently superb performances from a cast of relative unknowns helped redefine the already rising standards of American television. And the transformative effect Mad Men had on the cultural landscape was not lost on a nostalgic January Jones as she celebrated the shows 10th anniversary on Thursday. Taking to Instagram, the 39-year old, best known for her role as long-suffering housewife Betty Draper, shared a series of images from her introduction to the 60s based drama following its official launch on July 19 2007. Scroll down for video Memories: The transformative effect Mad Men had on the cultural landscape was not lost on a nostalgic January Jones as she celebrated the shows 10th anniversary by sharing a still from her first ever scene on Thursday In the first of three screen shots taken from its first episode, titled Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, January recalled her opening scene with co-star and screen-husband Jon Hamm, a household name thanks to his leading role as Madison Avenue advertising pioneer Don Draper. Captioning the shot, in which a housecoat clad Betty is seen lingering behind her reflective husband, she wrote: I cant believe its been 10! years since Mad Men premiered on AMC and changed tv forever! #myfirstscene Fans were also quick to remember the hugely popular show, which ended in 2015 following seven hugely successful, multi-award winning seasons. Treat: January, best known for her role as long-suffering housewife Betty Draper, shared a series of images from her introduction to the 60s based drama following its official launch in July 2007 Memorable: Fans were also quick to remember the hugely popular show, with one referencing iconic opening episode Smoke Gets In Your Eyes Looking back: One fan remembered the show by posting a shot of Don Draper relaxing in his Manhattan office Iconic: Another fan referenced actress Christina Hendricks' sassy office manager Joann Harris Recalling Betty's surprise introduction during the closing moments of episode one - which follows Don from downtown Manhattan to his home in the suburbs - one wrote: 'We think he's single throughout the pilot - then he opens the Ossining door and he's MARRIED with KIDS in the SUBURBS.' Sharing an image of actress Elisbeth Moss as Peggy Olssen on Twitterm another added: 'Ten. Years. Ago. Today. TV. Got. So. Much. Better.' A third wrote: 'On this date 10 years ago, Mad Men starring Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss and John Slattery debuted on AMC.' Quote of the day: Joan's famously sharp dialogue was also remembered as the show celebrated its 10th anniversary Fun fact: One fan revealing its first episode was developed with the help of crew-members from HBO drama The Sopranos Head hunted: Another recalled how show runner Matthew Weiner landed his writing job on The Sopranos because of his sterling work on Mad Men Remember this: January shared three shots from episode one of the hit show, which ended in 2015 Referencing actress Christina Hendricks' sassy office manager Joann Harris, another nostalgic fan added: 'joan walking across the office in the pilot of mad men remains one of the best ever entrances. EVER.' (sic) Others highlighted fun facts from the making of the show, with one revealing its first episode was developed with the help of crew-members from HBO drama The Sopranos. Another recalled how show runner Matthew Weiner landed his writing job on The Sopranos because of his sterling work on Mad Men, adding: 'Wow fun fact. Matthew Weiner got hired as head writer on The Sopranos because producers read his Mad Men pilot. It's that old.' Success: Running for eight-years before going off air on May 17 2015, Mad Men won numerous accolades and awards, and made international stars of Jon Hamm, January Jones, Christina Hendricks and Elisabeth Moss Summing up the collective mood, another wrote: Happy 10th Mad Men! I miss you so much I want to do a rewatch.' Running for eight-years before going off air on May 17 2015, Mad Men won numerous accolades and awards, and made international stars of Jon Hamm, January Jones, Christina Hendricks and Elisabeth Moss. It's honours include two British Academy Television Awards, 16 Emmy's and five Golden Globes. After Wednesday night's intense 105-step lamington challenge on MasterChef, contestant Ben had been fast-tracked to the final three stage of the competition. Left fighting for their place alongside were remaining competitors Karlie, Diane and Sarah. And on Thursday night the girls were giving it everything they had to continue their MasterChef dream, but it was aspiring chef Tamara who fell short thanks to serving up raw brownie mix. Waving goodbye! On Thursday night, Tamara (pictured) served up raw brownie mix as she took on Karlie and Diana in the elimination round and was forced to hang up her apron In the episode's challenge each contestant was handed a blank canvas by judges Gary Mehigan, George Calombaris and Matt Preston. They were tasked with choosing a hero ingredient, picking a type of cuisine and coming up with a concept. And to add to the pressure of the elimination round, the women then had just 75 minutes to create something that would impress when it came time to plate up. Early struggles! Karlie (pictured) worried that using chilli as her hero ingredient would come back to haunt her when it was time to plate up Flavours of home: Diana chose to make a Thai-style broth with crayfish, which the judges deemed 'perfectly cooked' Victorian accountant Diana decided to invoke the memory of home and made a Thai-style broth with crayfish, which the judges called 'perfectly cooked' with broth that was 'full of complex and delicious flavours'. Struggling during the challenge with her controversial decision to choose chilli as her hero ingredient, Karlie needn't have worried that the flavour would be too overpowering to be palatable. The New South Wales-based amatuer cook served up spicy XO pork belly with rice cakes which made judges' tastebuds tingle. Undercooked: While the judges thought Tamara's flavours were top-notch, her raw brownie mix proved to be her downfall Sadly, 28-year-old Tamara's rustic take on a dessert wasn't up to scratch on the night. She had found inspiration from her camping trips with her family and presented a delicious dish called campfire brownie with Chinese-spiced ice cream. While the judges found the flavours mouthwatering, it all came undone when they discovered the brownie was too sludgey, meaning the mixture was still raw. It was a mistake that was unforgivable at this stage of the competition and Tamara was swiftly sent home. Promotional commitments continued in earnest on Thursday as Natalie Portman attended the Japanese premiere of new film Planetarium in Tokyo. Little more than a day after making a glamorous appearance at a Christian Dior fragrance launch, Natalie was back in front of the cameras at the citys Shinjuku Wald 9 cinema complex. The Academy Award winner, 36, looked surprisingly demure in a simple black evening dress as she posed for photos ahead of her latest films first Japanese screening. Scroll down for video Centre stage: Promotional commitments continued in earnest on Thursday as Natalie Portman attended the Japanese premiere of new film Planetarium in Tokyo With a high turtleneck and long, generously cut sleeves the dress was elegant, if not a little understated for what amounted to a headline appearance at the sprawling Tokyo venue. The actress completed her look with a pair of black sling back heels from Christian Dior, while her make-up was chosen from a subdued colour palette. Joined on the night by director Rebecca Zlotowski, Natalie was in high spirits as she poses with a delicate red parasol. Busy woman: Little more than a day after making a glamorous appearance at a Christian Dior fragrance launch, Natalie was back in front of the cameras at the citys Shinjuku Wald 9 cinema complex Low key: The Academy Award winner, 36, looked surprisingly demure in a simple black evening dress as she posed for photos ahead of her latest films first Japanese screening Subdued style: With a high turtleneck and long, generously cut sleeves the dress was elegant, if not a little understated for what amounted to a headline appearance at the sprawling Tokyo venue Her appearance at the premiere came shortly after a separate outing at an event celebrating the launch of Dior for Love in Tokyo on Wednesday evening. She has long been affiliated with designer Christian Dior and has enjoyed a five year relationship with the fashion house, fronting many of its beauty campaigns and becoming the face for its Miss Dior perfume. Speaking about their association, Natalie told British Vogue last year that she feels 'very lucky' to be connected with the brand. Finishing touches: The actress completed her look with a pair of black sling back heels from Christian Dior, while her make-up was chosen from a subdued colour palette High spirits: Natalie was in a cheerful mood as she took to the stage on Thursday In good company: The actress was joined on the night by director Rebecca Zlotowski She said: 'I've been working with Dior for so long and they have been so incredibly supportive of me and my career. 'I have also been lucky enough to travel to some pretty incredibly places with them, giving me time in foreign countries I may not otherwise get to experience. 'I feel very lucky to have them in my life.' Natalie stars alongside young model Lily Rose Depp in her latest film, a pre-World War drama about two American sisters living in France who believe they can communicate with the dead. Planetarium screened at the London Film Festival in October 2016. It will be released across the United States from 11 August 2017. Under cover: The pair posed for the cameras beneath two delicate red parasols Previously: Her appearance at the premiere came shortly after a separate outing at an event celebrating the launch of Dior for Love in Tokyo on Wednesday evening Jada Pinkett Smith is holding her head high. On Thursday, the actress arrived at Good Morning America in a bright outfit and a dazzling smile to match. The movie star's sunny disposition comes just one day after publicly admitting she used to sell drugs. Not ashamed: Jada Pinkett Smith was all smiles at Good Morning America, the day after she revealed she used to be a drug dealer The 45-year-old turned heads in a neon pink jumpsuit as she arrived at the New York studio. The mother kept her fit physique hidden beneath the long-sleeved, floor-length garment. She kept her accessories to a minimum, donning only turquoise earrings and a swipe of black nail polish on her fingers. Pretty in pink: The 45-year-old sported a neon pink jumpsuit, with silver sandals and turquoise earrings Barley peeking out from beneath her long pants were a pair of strappy, silver sandals adorning her feet. The beauty accentuated her fabulous features with dark eyeliner and pink gloss on her lips. The Gotham alum wore her short, raven locks in a half-up, half-down style, boasting a tight top-knot on her head. Autograph expert: The actress signed magazines and photos for fans outside the Times Square stage entrance Faithful to fans: Will Smith's wife posed for selfies with the excited crowd Will Smith's wife couldn't stop smiling when she greeted excited fans at the Times Square stage door. The nutty professor took the time to pose for pictures with her faithful followers. She even stopped to sign autographs. Big confession: On Wednesday, the Gotham alum revealed on the Sway In The Morning radio show that she used to be a drug dealer Famous friendship: On the show, Jada reflected on her relationship with the late rapper, Tupac Shakur Biopic criticism: The mother bashed the way their friendship was portrayed in the Tupac biopic, All Eyez On Me But the very day before, the celeb publicly revealed a dark secret, admitting on the Sway In The Morning radio show that she used to sell drugs. 'One of the things that is very interesting that I've never really said before is that when I first meet [Tupac]... when we first met... I was a drug dealer,' she said on the Sirius XM program. Jada didn't get too specific because she's writing a book on the subject, but she did say 'something very bad' happened that caused her to leave that lifestyle behind. 'I was coming out of the life, he was going more into the life.' She also touched on her bond with late rapper Tupac Shakur, who was fatally shot in 1996. The actress explained she didn't like the way their friendship was depicted in his recent biopic, All Eyez On Me, saying: 'The reimagining of my relationship to Pac has been deeply hurtful.' Sounding off: The raven-haired beauty told Robin Roberts shes 'come a long way' since her drug dealing days, and that she's 'proud' of herself During her GMA appearance on Thursday, the drug dealing confession was vaguely alluded to, but never specifically stated. 'I've come a long way,' Jada told Robin Roberts. 'I'm proud of myself. I've been reflecting on my past because there was a movie that came out about a very good friend of mine. I really had to look at my life. I made it. Some people that I love didn't,' she continued. Movie moment: Jada was on GMA to promote her new film, Girls Trip Girl squad: She stars in the film alongside Queen Latifah, Regina Hall, and Tiffany Haddish Longtime pals: Jada and Queen Latifah have been friends for 30 years While on the talk show, the Matrix Reloaded alum promoted her new film, Girls Trip. She also reflected on her longtime friendship with co-star Queen Latifah, recalling the moment they met. 'I've known Latifah for 30 years. The first time I met her, I was 15 or 16 years old because she came to a club in Baltimore to perform, and she didn't even have a song out yet,' she said of their first encounter. Jada explained she became intrigued by the artist when she saw a poster of Queen Latifah barefoot, in African garb, with an African drum. 'I went to the club promoter and I was like, "You have got to let me introduce this artist." And that was our first introduction,' she remembered. Men's magazine Maxim chose her to top its Hot 100 list of seriously sexy women last month. And Hailey Baldwin lived up to her title when she was spotted out with gal pal in New York City on Wednesday evening. The 20-year-old model sizzled in an off-the-shoulder mustard yellow mini-dress that showed off her decolletage and slender legs, plus black bootees. She's a hottie: Hailey Baldwin lived up to her title as top of men's magazine Maxim's Hot 100 women when she was spotted out with gal pal in New York City on Wednesday evening The daughter of actor Stephen Baldwin, and niece of his brother Alex, smoothed her blonde tresses up into a high bun, giving a full view of her peachy complexion and perfectly made up face. Hailey accessorized with an unusual choker decorated with pairs of pearls that hung off lions head fastenings, and trendy hoop earrings. Hailey, who began modeling at age 17, made her debut walking for Topshop and French fashion designer Sonia Rykiel in October 2014 despite being a diminuitive 5ft 7.5 inches, rather small for a runway model. Beautiful blonde: The 20-year-old model sizzled in an off-the-shoulder mustard yellow mini-dress that showed off her decolletage and slender legs, plus black bootees But her career has taken off and she has since walked for Tommy Hilfiger, Moschino, Dolce & Gabbana among others. She is also the face of a Karl Lagerfeld's limited-edition clothing line Love From Paris and has graced the pages of Vogue, Elle, and V. Now the rising star is preparing for a transition to TV as a host of James Corden's upcoming reality comedy series, Drop The Mic, that pits celebrities against each other in rap battles, set for TBS this fall. Picture perfect: The daughter of actor Stephen Baldwin, and niece of brother Alex, smoothed her tresses up into a high bun, showing her peachy complexion and perfectly made up face To Hailey, following in her family's footsteps was a natural progression. 'I was always the entertainer in my family,' she told Maxim last month. 'Everyone said, "That's the one you got to watch out for." ' He's been sporting a bald head once again, after shaving off his locks to shoot scenes for the sequel to Split as well as X-Men: Dark Phoenix. And when James McAvoy, 38, made an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Wednesday night, the focus on his shiny dome led to him confessing that he once shaved his private parts with his grandfather's razor. Recounting the moment on the popular US chat show, the Scottish actor revealed that his impromptu grooming session soon prompted an embarrassing conversation with his grandparents after a trail of evidence led them to fear that he's slit his wrists. Scroll down for video Cutting confession: James McAvoy has revealed that he once shaved his privates with his granddad's razor As the screen star settled into his seat, host Stephen Colbert cheekily enquired: 'Does the carpet match the lack of drapes?' Visibly taken aback, James laughed and paused, before answering: 'It's a natural question for you to ask about my nettles! I actually did once try to shave down there when I was young. And I used my granddad's razor... He found out.' After giving the shaving session a go. 'I stopped stopped halfway through and I thought, "Ah, this isn't working for me." And I went upstairs to my bedroom. Big reveal: The actor, currently promoting his new film X-Men: Atomic Blonde with Charlize Theron, made the revelation on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Wednesday 'Then I get this voice from downstairs - it's my granny and granddad and they're both standing at the bottom of the stairs and they're going like, 'James, son... Would you come downstairs and have a wee chat to us, pal? Is something going on?" 'I was like, "What do you mean?" And they were like, "Show us your wrists... We've just seen your granddad's razor and it's got blood on it and there's blood in the toilet! Show us your wrists, son. Show us your wrists!" I was like, "There's nothing wrong with my wrists... I was shaving my b**ls!"' He added: 'It took a while before they gave me that talk about hygiene and how granddad uses that razor on his face.' The mane man: The star, seen in London last month with a full mane, has shaved his head for the sequel to Split as well as X-Men: Dark Phoenix The actor has been busy on the promotional circuit as he makes appearances on behalf of his latest release, X-Men: Atomic Blonde. And while he's altered his appearance somewhat for his projects, the star recently hit out at the lengths some of his contemporaries go to in order to win awards. James revealed that he has been instructed to lie about just how gruelling certain film roles have been in the hope it earns him official recognition. Close shave: The star is required to shave his head for his role in the hit X-Men franchise The father-of-one, who last year split from his actress wife Anne-Marie Duff, told TheTalks.com: Ive been told so many times that if you want to win awards, you need to start making it sound like youre f***ing sweating blood every time you step on set. People want me to say things like, That was the hardest thing Ive done! It consumed me completely! 'For me its just my job and creatively speaking, it didnt leave me shattered but I feel that people are disappointed when I say that.' She enjoys many a bikini-clad holiday - globetrotting and figure-flaunting simultaneously. Yet Lucy Mecklenburgh momentarily came over shy on Thursday during her sun-soaked trip to Ibiza as she embarked a yacht while sporting a flirty white mini complete with coral tie-dye detailing. The 25-year-old former TOWIE star, who has used her incredible figure to build a fitness empire, kept things low-key in her Bardot white mini while showing off her flawless complexion with no make-up. Scroll down for video Dressed down: Lucy Mecklenburgh momentarily came over shy on Thursday during her sun-soaked trip to Ibiza as she embarked a yacht while sporting a flirty white mini complete with coral tie-dye detailing Lucy soared to fame in TOWIE's 2010 inauguration where she was the on-off flame of Mark Wright before becoming engaged to Mario Falcone - a romance that ended in disaster after she was unfaithful with Mark. After leaving the show, Lucy moved away from her reality roots to open an eponymous boutique and later launch Results With Lucy - the health and fitness plan that keeps her stunning figure in shape. Despite her usual bikini-clad antics, she opted to wrap up while heading on to the boat where she sported a chic white and pink mini dress with striped details while the shoulders fell down to give a glimpse of skin. Adding a splash of funky detail to the look, she wore a stunning pom-pom handbag with the word Holiday embroidered across the front. All aboard! The 25-year-old former TOWIE star, who has used her incredible figure to build a fitness empire, kept things low-key in her Bardot white mini while showing off her flawless complexion with no make-up Heading on: Lucy joined her fellow holiday makers in catching a speedboat out to the yacht Catching rays: As ever, Lucy was boasting an Essex worthy tan - with her glittering complexion undoubtedly ready to be topped up further in the Spanish sun Flamenco-no! The stunner was ready to climb atop some floats as they hit the boat Drinking in the views: Lucy moved away from her pals to enjoy a moment's solitude Lucy, who is holidaying with Pixie Lott, went make-up free for the trip proving she was in total relaxation mode given her penchant for heavy cosmetics. She wore her brunette tresses in loose shoulder-tickling waves while concealing her eyes with a huge pair of over-sized sunglasses. As ever, Lucy was boasting an Essex worthy tan - with her glittering complexion undoubtedly ready to be topped up further in the Spanish sun. Struggling? While her pals laughed and giggled under the deck, Lucy appeared to struggle to find her feet on the top deck Heading to the shore: The brunette beauty was chilled out as she hit the shores Lucy recently confirmed her romance with Coronation Street actor Ryan Thomas, 33 - after weeks of swirling rumours. The pair were caught posting holiday photos from the same stunning location on Instagram, but adamantly denied claims they were dating. However, the duo were then pictured kissing at London City Airport, and proceeded to make their first public outing together at the Wimbledon men's semi-finals last week. After their variously holidays together, it was undoubtedly a surprise he missed out on the Ibiza trip, yet the actor was otherwise engaged at his Emmerdale star brother Adam's stag do - ahead of his wedding to Caroline Daly. Bardot: Despite her usual bikini-clad antics, she opted to wrap up while heading on to the boat where she sported a chic white and pink mini dress with striped details while the shoulders fell down to give a glimpse of skin All aboard! Typically-glam Lucy showed off her natural beauty as she went make-up free beneath her oversized sunglasses Photos surfaced this week of Kevin Hart with a mystery woman in a car. The 38-year-old movie star is seen smiling as he appears to be close to the pretty lady in the pictures, which were taken at 5 am in Miami in early July. On Thursday, several outlets such as Power96 claimed the lady is Florida-based singer Monique 'Momo' Gonzalez. The actor has already denied any wrong doing, calling speculation that he was flirting 'BS.' His wife Eniko Parrish, who was not seen in the images, is expecting their first child together. 5am chat: Photos surfaced on Thursday of Kevin Hart with a mystery woman in a car in Miami in early July Laughing it off: The actor has already denied any wrong doing, calling speculation that he was flirting 'BS.' (pictured June 7) The lady in the photos? On Thursday, several outlets claimed the lady is Florida-based singer Monique 'Momo' Gonzalez; seen here in April The pictures show Kevin laughing and getting close to one of the stunners in his company, as they stayed in the car outside his luxury beachfront hotel on July 3. The Ride Along actor responded to the pictures appearing online on Wednesday by sharing a meme of him looking at his phone, which read: 'At the end of the day, you just gotta laugh at the BS. He captioned the Instagram post: '#LiveLoveLaugh .. [Shaking my damn head].' Looks good: The stunner is active on social media, often sharing bikini photos Hit back: The 38-year-old comedian slammed the story as 'BS' on social media Getting close: The 38-year-old movie star is seen smiling as he appears to be close to the pretty lady who has been named by several outlets as singer Monique. The photos were taken at 5 am Spotted: The star must have been feeling tired after a night out as he had his eyes closed during their exchange The diminutive funnyman married Parrish, 32, last August in a lavish ceremony in California. In May, they announced that are expecting their first child - a son. She shared on Wednesday that she had reached the six-month mark of her pregnancy, and was feeling 'GREAT.' Co-ordinated: His pretty friend was in black and yellow as they exited the vehicle in the early hours Who's that girl? Hart kept a gentlemanly eye on his mystery companion Looking happy: He was seen laughing alongside the beauty Listening hard: He cocked his eye to one side as they hung out Easy to spot: Kevin is wearing a yellow and black bomber jacket Spending time: They look pretty close in the vehicle Face to face: The diminutive actor can be seen facing his companion Hanging out: She played with her brunette tresses as they chatted Turned: The beauty appeared to notice something behind the vehicle Smiling: Kevin is clearly seen enjoying her company as he smiled and laughed away The 5 ft 4in star already has two children from his first marriage to Torrei Hart - Heaven, 12, and 9-year-old Hendrix. Hart previously told Entertainment Weekly he always puts his family first and never wants to let fame get in the way. 'Regardless of my level of success, I dont ever want to lose the family feeling of a home,' he told them. He added; 'I dont want to be in a mansion where I have to find my kids on the east wing. I want to sit on the couch and be able to yell into the kitchen, "Hey come on, lets go outside and ride a bike!" I like two dogs, I like a fence. I dont need no dolphins. I dont need a shark in my shark tank.' Expectant parents: He's currently expecting his first child with wife Eniko Parrish She shot to fame last summer, when she wowed judges - and fans alike - with her mouth-watering culinary skills on The Great British Bake Off. And on Thursday, Candice Brown showed that she can also whip up quite the impressive ensemble, when she stepped out for the press night performance of Tanguera in London's West End. The 32-year-old baker looked sensational as she arrived at Sadler's Wells Theatre wearing an orange shift minidress, in which she proudly displayed her lean legs. Scroll down for video Night out on the town: Candice Brown attended the press night performance of Tanguera, at London's Sadler's Wells Theatre on Thursday night The long-sleeved number featured a plunging V-shaped neckline and was teamed with a pair of wedge sandals, giving her eye-catching look an extra summery touch. Carrying a light spearmint green handbag, the TV personality accessorised with a pair of sparkling rings and a delicate short necklace. She topped off her head-turning look by styling her lustrous brown locks in a glamorous updo, while opting to keep her makeup palette light and natural. Turning heads: The Great British Bake Off champ wowed as she arrived in an orange minidress Turning heads: The Great British Bake Off champ wowed as she arrived in an orange minidress Reception: Inside the reception, she posed alongside (L-R) Linzi Stoppard and Lorraine Pascale Candice rubbed shoulders with a host of familiar faces at the unveiling of the musical production - set in turn of the century Argentina. Among the stars in attendance were Dame Esther Rantzen, Frank Skinner, Ainsley Harriott, Lorraine Pascale, Hugh Quarshie, Maureen Lipman and Linzi Stoppard. Candice's night at the theatre came just hours after she made an appearance to sign copies of her debut cookbook Comfort: Delicious Bakes and Family Treats. We like to party: (L-R) Frank Skinner, Dame Esther Rantzen, Jeremy Vine and Baroness Joan Bakewell were also among the special guests on the night Stepping out in style: Esther cut a stylish figure in a black dress, teamed with a white blazer Veteran actress: Maureen Lipman also pulled out all the sartorial stops, wearing a patterned top over a smart navy dress Pose: Inside the gathering, she posed for a snapshot alongside radio personality Clara Amfo Nice to see you: She was also spotted catching up with celebrity chef Ainsley Harriott A series of her more unusual recipes in the book include courgettes in chocolate cakes and flower flavoured biscuits. Candice, whose smashing looks turned as many heads as her patisserie efforts, is set to make carrot cake look old hat with her eclectic ingredient choices. Candice, who won the 2016 series watched by nearly 15million, wrote: '"Courgette in a cake?" I hear you say. 'Yes, it works and it works well - adding moisture and depth without compromising any of the rich chocolate/coffee flavours. Fashionable couple: Neil and Katya Jones's stylish ensembles complemented each other's Taking the plunge: Strictly Come Dancing star Katya commanded the red carpet in a monochrome gingham suit, under which she wore just a bra Clutch: She teamed her ensemble with a pair of black strappy sandals and a white clutch Strike a pose: The Russian beauty posed for a shot with British gymnast Claudia Fragapane Meanwhile hibiscus is one of the ingredients in her Madeleine sponge cakes. The petals from the hibiscus flowers are normally used in tea and are said to be good for lowering cholesterol and a high blood pressure. Candice's book also has a twist on the traditional lemon drizzle cake, which includes gin. This isn't the first time Bake Off stars have courted controversy with off-piste recipes. Sartorial stripes: Linzi Stoppard opted for a flattering multi-coloured striped dress on the night Love and marriage: The violinist posed for snapshots alongside her husband Will Stoppard Making a song and dance of it: Musical Tanguera is set in turn of the century Argentina Shades of summer: Clara looked typically stylish in an orange and denim ensemble, while Claudia Fragapane arrived wearing a pink wrap dress Mary Berry raised eyes eyebrows when she opted for white wine instead of red in a bolognese recipe. Paul Hollywood also shocked when he opted to use lambs blood instead of egg whites in a meringue. Meanwhile, former host Mel Giedroyc has insisted her decision to leave the show following its move to Channel 4 had been a no-brainer. He's got great jeans: Actor Hugh Quarshie added an edgy touch to his suit with a denim shirt A pair of dapper gents: Frank and Jeremy looked smart in their stylish ensembles of choice The TV presenter, 49, has recalled that it took her just 'three seconds' to hang up her boots after being informed it would no longer air on the BBC. Following seven series fronting the show, both Mel and Sue revealed in a statement that they wouldn't be following The Great British Bake Off over to Channel 4. And sharing an insight into the moment the duo decided to walk away, Mel has told the Press Association it took about 'three seconds' for herself and Sue to make up their minds about their Bake Off future. Ainsley was in his usual Hamming it up: The TV personality showed off a few of his moves as he posed for snapshots Screen star: Actor Nigel Harman opted to wear a stone-coloured shirt with dark navy trousers 'I think there was no question where we were heading, but I miss the gang... we were like a big family. 'All the camera guys, the sound guys, home economists behind the scenes, so knowing a lot of them are there filming as we speak, it feels kind of strange,' she confessed. Show judge Mary Berry, 82, had followed suit and her exit from The Great British Bake Off was announced shortly after Mel and Sue's. Paul Hollywood, meanwhile, decided to stick with the baking competition and revealed during an appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show that he wasn't ready to give up the job he loves so much. Cookbook: Earlier in the day, Candice promoted her debut cookbook Comfort: Delicious Bakes and Family Treat at WH Smith in Wood Green, north London It's a sign: The 32-year-old signed copies of the new release for fans gathered at the store Interesting combinations: Some of the recipes in her book include courgettes in chocolate cakes and flower flavoured biscuits Head turner: She topped off her head-turning look by styling her lustrous brown locks in a glamorous updo, while opting to keep her makeup palette light and natural He explained: 'I love doing what I do... I've got a family and I'm just coming to the end of my career I suppose, I'm 50 odd - I haven't got long left. I'm not going to last like Mary... I'll never last, but while it's here, I will carry on doing my job as a judge.' Knowing that Paul will be back in the tent when Bake Off returns on Channel 4, Mel has said she hopes the show's new presenters Noel Fielding, 44, and Sandi Toksvig, 59, will continue the tradition of poking fun at the baker. She claimed: 'I'm fascinated to know whether they're going to give him a bit of gyp. I hope so. They really must, it's part of tradition. Paul will judge the contest alongside chef Prue Leith, 77, who will step in to fill Mary Berry's shoes on the new series. Courgette cake anyone? The baker, whose smashing looks turned as many heads as her patisserie efforts, is set to make carrot cake look old hat with her eclectic ingredient choices She recently dismissed claims that she was expecting. But Halle Berry proved actions speak louder than words as she downed a glass of whiskey in a bid to entertain the crowds at the San Diego Comic Con event in San Diego on Thursday. Promoting her latest flick, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, the 50-year-old actress knocked back the spirit after being egged on by co-star Channing Tatum. Scroll down for video That'll show them! Halle Berry denied pregnancy claims with aplomb as she downed a glass of whiskey during a Comic-Con appearance on Thursday The Catwoman star was joined by a flurry of co-stars as she graced the panel, with Channing Tatum pouring her a very healthy glass of whiskey. Halle even looked a bit shocked by how much the hunky 37-year-old actor was spilling into the glass as it looked to be just slightly more than half a pint. The Monster's Ball star was forced to drink out of the large glass as they had ran out of shot glasses for the cast's celebratory shot. Impressive: The 50-year-old actress shocked the crowds as she downed a glass of whiskey during the panel Taking an unexpected turn! Halle was on the panel to promote her latest movie Kingsman: The Golden Circle Simply stunning: Halle teamed the angrogynous khaki shirt dress with black patent leather Aquatalia stilettos Good spirits: It was co-star Channing Tatum who poured her a hefty amount in a pint glass after they had ran out of shot glasses Wow: Halle seemingly couldn't believe how much her 37-year-old co-star had poured She does it for the fans! The atendees at the event chanted 'chug! chug! chug' Impressive: The Oscar-winner tipped the glass over until the last drop Feeling it? Halle had a funny expression on her face as the crowd cheered for her Balancing act: She then pretended to fall over on co-star Pedro Pascal's lap Hold up! Castmate Channing Tatum kept pouring long after Halle told him to stop Halt! Channing didn't listen to his costars heed to stop pouring Lordy: The Catwoman beauty was shocked by the amount of fire water her castmate poured Berry did not seemed too pleased with the pour as she said: 'Why do I have this much and they have that much? That's what I want to know.' It was then when the the crowd chanted 'chug! chug! chug!' - and being a good sport - Halle downed the liquor at the Hall H panel. The raucous move comes shortly after the Hollywood star denied that she was expecting after she sparked speculation while on the red carpet of a charity ball last month. After tongues started wagging, Halle took to Instagram and seemingly addressed the rumors as she posted a photo of herself on Instagram with the cheeky caption: 'Can a girl have some steak and fries?' Meanwhile, Berry and Tatum are new additions to the franchise as American spies called the Statesman. Pass one round! Castmate Colin Firth also passed around the bottle I said stop! It looked like the Magic Mike star was testing the limits of the actress's patience Bottom's up! Halle threw her hands up and congratulated herself on her sipping prowess Gorgeous: She grinned from ear-to-ear They love her: She waved at several fans in the crowd Beautiful: Halle seemed to be in good spirits at the event They were also joined by the rest of their star-studded cast including Jeff Bridges, Colin Firth, Taron Egerton, and Pedro Pascal. Audiences also saw a few sequences from the film, including one where Egerton faces off against Tatum's Kentucky cowboy and loses. Egerton later admitted that he is nothing compared to Tatum strength-wise. Having a blast: Halle was all smiles during the event Cool guy: Channing looked dapper in a denim vest Playmate: Halle playfully touched Pedro's face Stunning: Halle looked fantastic in a green romper What a treat! Halle signed her name tag for a lucky fan The 20th Century Fox panel was hosted by English presenter Jonathan Ross. The action film brings back the gang from 2014's Kingsman: The Secret Service flick as they must join forces with a spy organization in the US. The two groups must band together in order to defeat a common enemy. Kingsman: The Golden Circle hits theaters in the US on September 22 with a UK release just days earlier on 20 September. Fantastic five: The trio were also joined by Jeff Bridges and Channing Altogether now: Finally Pedro joined the crew for a fun snap in front of the Comic-Con backdrop Coming soon: Kingsman: The Golden Circle hits theaters in the US on September 22 Will Smith also attended the festivities on Thursday for the Bright panel, alongside co-stars Joel Edgerton and Lucy Frye. Noomi Rapace was also in attendance to promote the new Netflix fantasy crime thriller. Will Smith stars as LAPD officer who teams up with an Orc cop, played by Edgerton, in a world that is comprised of both human and mythical creatures. Fun couple: Ruth Negga and Dominic Cooper had some fun on Thursday at Comic Con in San Diego New flick! Will Smith attended to promote the new Netflix fantasy crime thriller Bright Joel Edgerton, who stars alongside Will, dressed up in a white button up and blazer to talk about the new project Co-stars: Lucy Frye looked gorgeous with her dark blonde hair tightly behind her ears Noomi also opted for a severe look with her short blonde hair styled into a spiked do Making each other laugh: The cast appeared to have a great time as they all appeared on stage together Will opted for a casual ensemble, sporting a grey golf shirt for the San Diego panel, while Joel decided to dress it up a bit with a white collared shirt and blazer. Lucy wore her blonde hair in a rigid style parted down the center and tucked behind her ears. She accessorized with large gold earrings. Having fun: The cast, alongside Terry Crews, looked like they were having fun as they introduced Bright Casual: Will opted for a casual ensemble, sporting a grey golf shirt for the San Diego panel Joel Edgerton waved at the crowd as he walked up onto the stage Fashion forward: Noomi wore a white blouse that came up high along her neck with a black tie and black pants Noomi also opted for a severe look with her short blonde hair styled into a spiked do. She wore a white blouse that came high up along her neck with a black ribbon tie around the neckline. Sarah Wayne Callies and Josh Holloway attended the international convention to promote Colony, the USA network sci-fi hit. Co-stars! Sarah Wayne Callies and Josh Holloway attended the international convention to promote Colony, the USA network sci-fi hit Sarah, who plays Katie Bowman on the series, showed off her thin physique in a patterned crop top that she paired with over sized navy blue pants. She wore her naturally curly hair down around her shoulder and opted for natural makeup to show off her pretty face. Josh, who plays her husband Will in the series, decided to go casual in a grey T-shirt and dark pants. Sarah, who plays Katie Bowman on the series, showed off her thin physique in a patterned crop top that she paired with over sized navy blue pants, while Josh, who plays her husband Will in the series, decided to go casual in a grey T-shirt and dark pants Enjoying the convention: The duo decided to stop by the Nintendo lounge to check out the new Nintendo Switch He paired the look with high top converse running shoes. They even stopped in the Nintendo lounge alongside actor Dan Stevens to check out the new Nintendo Switch. The rest of the cast, including Peter Jacobson and Tory Kittles, joined the two main actors for some promotional shots at the convention center. The actors were joined by Dan Stevens who was there to promote his TV series Legion Photo op: The rest of the cast, including Peter Jacobson and Tory Kittles, joined the two main actors for some promotional shots at the convention center Olivia Munn stunned in orange while making an appearance in San Diego. She showed off her toned body in a mini skirt and matching jacket, which she wore open exposing a beige bra. She wore her dark shoulder-length hair in loose waves around her shoulders and opted for very light makeup that highlighted her naturally gorgeous features. Olivia Munn stunned in orange while making an appearance in San Diego Shannon Beador has addressed her weight gain after at one point blaming it on castmate Vicki Gunvalson. The Real Housewives of Orange Country star now says she doesn't blame anyone but herself for packing on around 40 pounds. 'I just went off the wagon a little,' Shannon, 53, told Us Weekly. 'Im the one that put the stuff in my mouth.' Taking responsibility: Shannon Beador has taken responsibility for her weight gain after blaming co-star Vicki Gunvalson for the drama that caused her to stress eat Shannon claimed she gained the weight due to stress Gunvalson caused after she declared during season 11 of the Bravo show that Shannon's husband David Beador had physically abused her. The mother-of-three says she's now working out 30 minutes each day and is calorie counting in an effort to shed the weight she's put on over the past year. 'Slowly but surely getting there.' Shannon told Us while revealing she has already lost 8 pounds so far. However, Shannon said she still hasn't mended her relationship with Vicki, 55. Strained friendship: Gunvalson (pictured) made allegations against Shannon's husband during season 11 of the Bravo show The RHOC star addressed her weight gain on Monday, taking to Instagram with a message hitting back at recent criticism she's received about her weight. 'So let's just get to it. Yes, I have gained weight. A lot of weight. About 40 pounds to be exact. I have not had plastic surgery or fillers, it's just plain and simple weight gain,' Shannon wrote in a lengthy caption. 'There are multiple factors that have contributed to my size and it will be addressed this season on the show,' she added. The mother of three also served warning to her critics. 'To those people who intend to write cruel or derogatory comments to me, I want to let you know you will be blocked and the comment deleted,' she wrote. She also thanked her fans for being supportive. 'Gaining weight and trying to take it off is a struggle that most women will face at some point in their lives. I am hopeful that my fans and viewers of the show will be supportive of my journey. I am very grateful and thankful to those people that have already reached out to me with their kind thoughts,' she wrote. Shannon's body image and relationship issues feature in the current season 12 of the Bravo reality show. Distraught: Shannon said she's 'embarrassed' of her figure after putting on weight following last year's chain of events 'I knew an allegation was put out there about my husband,' Shannon said in a clip from the show. 'That stress caused me to eat more, caused me to drink more and that's a huge part of why I gained my weight.' she confessed. The Corona del Mar, California native explained the tragic trickle-down effect as result of Gunvalson's accusations, which Shannon has denied. 'My weight gain has affected me and how I feel about myself,' she said. 'I'm embarrassed of my body.' Fans have previously deemed the bomb disposal expert from Scotland and Essex-based Calvin Klein model an unlikely match. And the gap between Camilla Thurlow and Jamie Jewitt widened into a veritable gulf on Thursday night, as they differed - quite drastically - over their choice of holiday once they leave the villa. While Jamie suggested the pair party it up in Ibiza, Camilla left viewers 'howling' as she insisted they visit a refugee camp, during a La La Land-themed dinner date. Scroll down for video Right then: The gap between Camilla Thurlow and Jamie Jewitt turned into a veritable gulf on Thursday night, as they differed - quite drastically - over their choice of holiday They had the amusing exchange during a romantic date that mirrored a sweet scene between Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone in La La Land. Discussing their holiday plans, Jamie said: 'So I'm going to Ibiza are you in?' Camilla countered: 'I've never been to Ibiza so that's good. It's a good trade off that we then do work in a refugee camp.' Jamie nodded noncommittally at her suggestion, murmuring: 'There's so much to do, so many places to go. We're gonna warm up in London, then go to Ibiza.' Little bit different: While Jamie suggested the pair party it up in Ibiza, Camilla left viewers 'howling' as she insisted they should visit a refugee camp afterwards Cute: They had the amusing exchange during a romantic dinner date that mirrored a sweet scene between Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone in La La Land Wild: Discussing their holiday plans, Jamie said: 'So I'm going to Ibiza are you in?' Hmmm: Camilla countered: 'I've never been to Ibiza so that's good. It's a good trade off that we then do work in a refugee camp' Viewers flocked to Twitter to express their amusement at the chat, suggesting the two might be a tad 'incompatible'. 'As if Jamie offered to go Ibiza and Camilla offered to work in a refugee camp as a trade,' one wrote. 'Where should we go after this? Camilla: I'm going 2 take u 2 a refugee camp so we can help people Jamie: Yea.. We can go Ibiza,' another added. 'Oh FFS. Since when was a refugee camp a trade off for Ibiza? Camilla is so annoying,' a third fan vented. 'Someone needs to tell Camilla that a week in a refugee camp is in no way a similar trade for a week in Ibiza,' another amused viewer wrote. One fan questioned how well-matched they are, writing: 'Jamie and Camilla so compatible... LETS GO BEEEEEFA, Yes and I'd love for us to go to work in a refugee camp.' Candid: Meanwhile, during the date, Camilla cast aside her previously reserved nature and opened up about her true feelings for Jamie Honest: 'Right now is the happiest I've been in a very long time. The next step will be going back to reality and doing things our way,' she said Amused: Viewers flocked to Twitter to express their amusement at their confused holiday plans, suggesting the two might be a tad 'incompatible' Meanwhile, during the date, Camilla cast aside her previously reserved nature and opened up about her true feelings for Jamie. 'Right now is the happiest I've been in a very long time. The next step will be going back to reality and doing things our way,' she said. Jamie replied: 'I feel so good - we have done things our way. I can't wait to get outside and see more sides of you which I know are in there. 'You show me a little bit more each day and that's exciting.' Camilla added: 'l know when you meet my friends and my family, you'll see what I mean about being happy. That fun mischievous side of me was the biggest side of me, but I went and saw some of these things and that part of me went away. 'I don't feel that overwhelming feeling of guilt anymore. I feel like I'm allowed to be happy now, it's feeling you're not quite as strange as you were.' Naughty: The Scottish beauty dropped a very racy hint about the couple's sexual antics earlier in the show No way: Camilla whispered: 'I've been a bit naughty, if you know what I mean.' Suggesting that she may have performed a steamy act, she then pointed grinning to her lips Getting steamy: Jamie admitted that Camilla 'came out of her shell more' last night Jamie replied: 'I know exactly what you mean. There's nothing you need to hide - unless you're a part-time dominatrix. We've learnt a hell of a lot about each other.' He added about the date: 'It's converted me from a hopeless romantic into a hopeful one.' And perhaps making a reference to the 'different sides' to Camilla, the Scottish beauty dropped a very racy hint about the couple's sexual antics earlier in the show. In a candid chat with Gabby, Camilla whispered: 'I've been a bit naughty, if you know what I mean.' Suggesting that she may have performed a steamy act, she then pointed grinning to her lips. Gabby whooped with laughter and stared open-mouthed at the sky in shock over the confession. Camilla - who had sex with Jamie several nights before - later admitted: 'Jamie and I had a little bit of fun last night. I literally cannot resist him, it's a real problem in my life right now.' Scandalised: Gabby whooped with laughter and stared open-mouthed at the sky in shock over the confession Shock jock Kyle Sandilands has made no secret of the fact he once enjoyed a night of passion with a transsexual woman. In fact, he mentions it often on his top-rating KIIS FM breakfast radio show, even surprising A-list celebrities with the details in interviews. And on Friday, Jackie 'O' Henderson confronted Kyle over his apparent fixation with the tryst, saying: 'He can't help himself! Every opportunity, he likes to mention it'. 'Every opportunity, he likes to mention it': On Friday, Jackie 'O' Henderson (R) confronted Kyle Sandilands (L) over his apparent fixation with his night of passion with a transsexual woman Explaining how her co-host still 'loves' discussing the event, Jackie observed 'no-one else even brought it up' during the segment. 'I reckon you've told that story more than the homeless story,' she said, referencing the fact Kyle has stated he was kicked out by his parents as a teenager. Kyle even admitted himself: 'I don't know why I brought that up...' 'It was the year 2000 and all bets were off. The Olympics were on!' Shock jock Kyle, 46, often mentions the memorable tryst on his KIIS FM radio show Earlier in the segment, listener Richard asked if Kyle, 46, was a little too enthusiastic about the male participant on this week's Naked Dating. Kyle denied the caller's suggestion, but clarified that he did once go 'the whole hog' with a transsexual person many years ago. He apparently had no regrets about the affair, saying: 'Don't forget... it was the year 2000 and all bets were off. The Olympics were on!' Something to tell us? Earlier in the segment, caller Richard asked if Kyle was a little too enthusiastic about the male participant (right) on this week's Naked Dating Kyle added: '(I was) enjoying the fruits of Kings Cross. 'Plus I had a ponytail and I was dressed head-to-toe in Colorado clothing.' On The Kyle And Jackie O Show in March, the radio host referenced his one-night stand during an interview with Waleed Aly and Dannii Minogue. 'I don't know if you've ever done that?' In March, Kyle referenced his one-night stand during an interview with Waleed Aly (pictured) and Dannii Minogue On that occasion, Kyle recalled the fateful night actually took place two years later. '2002? Great year,' he said. 'That was the year I was having sex with a transsexual, remember that Jackie? That was a big year.' He then asked The Project's Waleed: 'I don't know if you've ever done that?' Comic-book writer, editor, and publisher Stan Lee places his hands in cement during his hand and footprint ceremony at TCL Chinese Theatre, on July 18, 2017, in Hollywood, California Stan Lee, whose Marvel superheroes have dominated popular culture for half a century, was honored Tuesday when he plunged his hands and feet into cement at Hollywood's TCL Chinese Theater. In a typically colorful comment, the 94-year-old comic book legend -- whose characters include Spider-Man, the Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America and Thor -- joked that he "would have asked for a raise" if he'd known how good he was. "I've been the luckiest man in the world because I've had friends. And to have the right friends is everything -- people you can depend on, people who tell you the truth if you ask for something," he said. He paid emotional tribute to his "wonderful" wife of nearly 70 years, Joan, who died less than two weeks ago at age 93. It has been a poignant week for Lee, who was honored as a Disney Legend during the D23 Expo in Anaheim on Friday, where he delivered a rousing speech and received a standing ovation. Born Stanley Martin Lieber on December 28, 1922 in New York, he began his career in 1939 as an assistant at Timely Comics with such duties as getting lunch, filling inkwells and proofreading. His first published work was as a text filler for Captain America No. 3, published in 1941. He wrote under the name Stan Lee, which would later become his legal name, revealing in his autobiography that he intended to save his given name for more literary work. Lee was named interim editor of Timely Comics in 1941. He became editor-in-chief for what would evolve into Marvel Comics in 1961, and was named publisher in 1972. More than two million of Lee's comic books have been published in 75 nations and in 25 languages, and he is responsible for creating or co-creating 90 percent of Marvel Comics' characters. They have been featured in 24 animated television series and numerous live-action movies. A lawyer for the eighth person at the meeting with Donald Trump Jr, who is pictured in this December 2016 file photo, says they are cooperating with investigators An eighth person who attended a controversial meeting with President Donald Trump's eldest son has been identified as a top official of a company founded by a Russian billionaire with links to the Trumps, CNN said Tuesday. The confirmation is the latest development in the burgeoning scandal over the Trump campaign's contacts with Russia, after it was revealed that Donald Trump Jr. attended the June 2016 meeting during the campaign hoping to get dirt on his father's rival Hillary Clinton. Trump Jr. had been told over email that a "Russian government attorney" would provide damaging details. Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and son-in-law Jared Kushner also attended. The latest confirmed participant is Ike Kaveladze, a senior vice president of the Crocus Group -- a real estate business headed Aras Agalarov, the Azerbaijani-Russian mogul who has done business with the Trumps -- according to CNN, citing Kaveladze's lawyer for confirmation of his identity. According to the lawyer, Scott Balber, Kaveladze is a US citizen who went to the meeting at Trump Tower under the impression that he would translate for Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, who was thought to have the potentially incriminating information. "The eighth person has been identified by prosecutors and we are cooperating fully with prosecutors as a result of the investigation," Balber told CNN, referring to special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into suspicions that Russia meddled in the 2016 US election. Also at the meeting was Briton Rob Goldstone, a music publicist who arranged the encounter. Goldstone is close to pop star Emin Agalarov, who is Aras Agalarov's son and who performed during the 2013 Miss Universe beauty competition that was organized by the Trumps. Also in attendance was a Russian-American lobbyist and Veselnitskaya's translator. African migrants walk in the middle of the Sahara Desert on October 8, 2005 Twenty-three west African migrants, including a seven-year-old girl, were found alive after being abandoned in the depths of the Sahara, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Tuesday An IOM worker told AFP the migrants were found some 300 kilometres (180 miles) from the Niger city of Agadez, a key hub on the edge of the Sahara for African migrants trying to reach Europe. The group, which included Gambians and Senegalese, told the IOM they had been abandoned by their driver. They waited for him for six days before giving up and walking for two more days in the desert. They were finally spotted near a well by local authorities who called the IOM, the official said. Rescue operations -- and grisly discoveries -- have become routine in the Sahara. "Hundreds of west African migrants have been found dead, or have disappeared or been rescued in dire straits in Niger's part of the Sahara," a group of Agadez officials said in a recent report. In May and June alone, the bodies of 52 migrants including babies were found in the desert, while another 50 or so who went missing are probably dead, according to the IOM. Last week the European Union gave Niger 10 million euros ($11.5 million) in aid to help it stem the flow of illegal migrants seeking to cross into Libya and from there to Europe. The investigation centres on alleged kickbacks from the 2002 sale of French Scorpene-class submarines to Malaysia in a $1.1 billion deal French investigators have indicted two former top executives in a long-running probe into alleged kickbacks from the 2002 sale of submarines to Malaysia, sources close to the inquiry said Tuesday. The two are Philippe Japiot, former chairman of the French naval dockyards unit DCNI, and Jean-Paul Perrier, former chief executive of the French defence and electronics giant Thales, they said. The two, interviewed in May, have both been indicted for corruption, one of the sources said. Japiot has additionally been indicted for "abuse of social assets" and Perrier for "complicity in the abuse of social assets," one of the sources said. The investigation was launched in 2010 in response to a complaint by Malaysian rights group Suaram. It centres on allegations that the French submarine maker paid commission of more than 114 million euros ($132 million) to a purported shell company linked to Abdul Razak Baginda, a former close associate of Prime Minister Najib Razak. Najib was defence minister when the $1.1-billion deal for two Scorpene-class submarines was sealed. From 2001 to 2007, Japiot headed the DCNI, the international branch of France's centuries-old naval shipbuilding operations, which changed its name last month from DCNS to Naval Group. The French state holds just under two-thirds of Naval Group, and Thales slightly more than a third. Two other people are under investigation in France in the same case: Dominique Castellan, also a former DCNI president, and Bernard Baiocco, former president of Thales International Asia. All four deny any wrongdoing and the Malaysian government has said the contract was free of corruption. The affair emerged spectacularly in 2006, when Abdul Razak's Mongolian mistress -- who was said to have demanded a payoff for working as a language translator in the deal -- was shot dead and her body blown up with plastic explosives near Kuala Lumpur. A Malaysian court later cleared Abdul Razak of abetting the murder, sparking an outcry and opposition allegations of a cover-up. Donald Trump Jr has insisted no sensitive information was passed on during a meeting with a Russian lawyer during the 2016 election campaign that led to his father Donald Trump becoming US president The Russian lawyer at the heart of the scandal over a meeting with President Donald Trump's eldest son claimed Wednesday she is ready to testify to the US Congress. Lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya attended a meeting with Donald Trump Jr during the election campaign in June 2016 at which it appears he expected to get incriminating information from the Russian government on his father's rival Hillary Clinton. Trump Jr had been told by email that a "Russian government attorney" would provide damaging details. Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and son-in-law Jared Kushner also attended. Veselnitskaya has rejected claims that she was working on behalf of the Russian government, while Trump Jr insists that no sensitive information was passed on. In an interview with the Kremlin-controlled RT television channel, Veselnitskaya said she was "ready" to speak to the US Congress about the meeting "if my security can be assured". The firestorm around the meeting is the latest chapter in the scandal over possible ties between the Trump campaign and Moscow. US intelligence agencies have accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of approving a hacking and influence campaign to sway the November 2016 vote, allegations rejected by the Kremlin. Trump's administration is currently under investigation by both Congress and the FBI over any possible collusion. This photograph received from the Maldives Presidency on October 25, 2015, shows President Abdulla Yameen The nephew of Maldives president Abdulla Yameen has been arrested for allegedly bribing politicians to challenge the ruling regime, the opposition said Wednesday, warning of further reprisals in the troubled honeymoon islands. Faris Maumoon, an MP and son of former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, was taken into custody after police searched his home in the capital Male on Tuesday. The passport of another key opposition figure Qasim Ibrahim, a former ally of strongman Yameen, was also seized by authorities. Opposition parties aligned against Yameen issued a joint statement condemning the arrests. Ibrahim had helped Yameen win a controversial 2013 run-off election against Mohamed Nasheed, the head of the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP). But after a fallout, Ibrahim joined the growing ranks unifying behind Nasheed and the MDP to topple Yameen. The opposition this month secured enough support from government defectors to begin impeachment proceedings against the speaker, in a bid to wrest control of parliament from Yameen before presidential elections next year. The latest arrests come a week before parliament is due to vote on the impeachment proceedings. "The opposition fears the imminent arrest of more members of parliament who signed the impeachment motion," the opposition said in its statement. The first attempt to impeach the speaker sparked chaos when Yameen ordered troops to enter parliament and remove dissenting opponents by force. That move attracted international condemnation, with the United States urging the Maldives to restore faith in democracy. The political unrest has raised fears over stability in the islands and tarnished its image as a tourist paradise. Nasheed became the Maldives' first democratically-elected president in 2008, but he was narrowly defeated by Yameen five years later in a controversial run-off election. In 2015 Nasheed was sentenced to 13 years in prison on terrorism charges that were widely seen as politically motivated. He lives in exile in Britain after being granted leave to go there for medical treatment. Syrian rebels fighting to oust President Bashar al-Assad have received US support for four years in a program that is now reportedly going to be shut down The Central Intelligence Agency is shutting down its program to support rebels fighting against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the Washington Post reported Wednesday. Citing unnamed US officials, the Post said the four-year-old covert operation has had limited impact, especially since Russian forces stepped in to support Assad in 2015. President Donald Trump made the decision to drop the program nearly a month ago, according to the Post, after meeting with CIA chief Mike Pompeo and National Security Advisor HR McMaster. White House and CIA officials declined to comment on the report. The Post said phasing out the CIA program reflects Trump's "interest in finding ways to work with Russia" as well as "an acknowledgment of Washington's limited leverage and desire to remove Assad from power." The decision came as the US and Russia negotiated a ceasefire in southwest Syria, covering some of the area from which the rebels operated. The ceasefire was announced on July 7 at the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany where Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin held their first face-to-face meeting. President Barack Obama approved the rebel aid program in 2013 as various insurgent groups sought external support in a general uprising against the Assad regime. Thousands of Syrian anti-government fighters were trained and armed. But the US commitment remained ambiguous amid doubts in some quarters that the rebels could actually manage to depose Assad and as attention turned to the rising power of the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq. Support for the program further eroded last year after the rebels lost the areas they held in the Syrian city of Aleppo under a brutal Russian-backed government assault. Facebook in October will begin testing a feature that limits to 10 the number of stories that can be accessed in its "Instant Articles" section and guides readers to publisher home pages to consider buying subscriptions, according to media reports Facebook will test limiting the number of published news stories that can be read for free on its Instant Articles platform for premium publishers, US media reported on Wednesday. The leading social network has become a major source of news for people, triggering complaints by publishers that they lose control and revenue when their stories are shared free at Facebook. A paywall is under construction in Facebook's Instant Articles section where the social network has agreements with select outlets to publish directly to the platform, according to a story initially published online at TheStreet The service was launched two years ago and competes with Google's AMP that also optimizes content from select media for mobile web browsing. Facebook head of news partnerships Campbell Brown said at a digital publishing conference in New York on Tuesday that the social network is responding to publishers' concerns with the move, TheStreet reported. Facebook in October will begin testing a feature that limits to 10 the number of stories that can be accessed in its "Instant Articles" section and guides readers to publisher home pages to consider buying subscriptions, according to media reports. California-based Facebook did not respond to an AFP request for comment. Instant Articles aggregates published stories and quickly loads mobile pages to cater to smartphone or tablet users. "One of the things we heard in our initial meetings from many newspapers and digital publishers is that 'we want a subscription product -- we want to be able to see a paywall in Facebook," TheStreet quoted Brown as saying at the conference. "And that is something we're doing now." Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang and Commerce Secretary Wilber Ross (L to R) open trade talks, with the US officials demanding more 'fair and reciprocal' trade with China The United States and China have agreed to cooperate on reducing the trade deficit in the first round of economic talks under the Trump administration, Washington said at the conclusion of the meeting Wednesday which produced no major breakthroughs. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had opened the talks between the world's top two economies with tough demands for a more "fair, equitable and reciprocal" relationship, with more access for American-made goods and services. The US side blamed the unbalanced relationship -- marked by a trade deficit with China of $309 billion last year -- on Beijing's policies that impede access to their market. China says Washington's own rules restricting US high-tech exports are partially to blame. But Ross and Mnuchin took a more measured tone in a statement following the conclusion of the talks with the Chinese delegation, led by Vice Premier Wang Yang. "China acknowledged our shared objective to reduce the trade deficit which both sides will work cooperatively to achieve," the two officials said in a joint statement. "The principles of balance, fairness, and reciprocity on matters of trade will continue to guide the American position so we can give American workers and businesses an opportunity to compete on a level playing field." In his remarks at the one-day meeting's opening ceremony, Ross had insisted change was necessary given the more than 200 percent surge in Chinese exports to the United States in the last 15 years. "If this were just the natural product of free market forces, we could understand it, but it's not," Ross said. "So it is time to rebalance our trade and investment relationship in a more fair, equitable and reciprocal manner." The tough talk seemed like a return to Trump's message during his campaign, when he attacked Beijing for unfair trade practices. However, a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at his Florida resort in April had prompted a change of rhetoric and the launch of a 100-day economic cooperation plan. That led to specific but narrow achievements, including opening the Chinese market to US beef exports, and pledges to remove barriers to US credit card transactions, credit ratings, and other financial services, including bond underwriting. - 'Fundamental asymmetry' - The discussion mechanism is a continuation of regular talks undertaken by the previous two administrations, which the Trump administration has rebranded as the US-China Comprehensive Economic Dialogue (CED). Ross said China accounts for half of the US goods trade deficit and Mnuchin said Beijing must address "the imbalances caused by the Chinese intervention in its economy." China-US trade balance Mnuchin said the talks with Wang would focus on concrete steps to provide greater access and a "level playing field" for US companies in the world's second largest market. Improving US-China trade in turn "will create prosperity for our two countries and the world," he said. But China experts were skeptical the talks would make headway in the near term, and cautioned the US goals may be over-ambitious. - Dialogue over confrontation - David Dollar, a former US Treasury emissary to China, said, "It takes two sides to make an imbalance." Although China "has various distortions that keep consumption low, and savings high," to reduce the trade deficit the United States will have to "save more through reduced fiscal deficit" and stronger incentives for private savings. Wang seemed to hint at the US to not press too hard, noting the importance of the two countries "having dialogue, not confrontation." Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang called for cooperation, not confrontation over trade issues with the US "We don't need to defeat each other in handling differences," he cautioned, stressing that "confrontation will immediately damage the interests of both" countries. However, in a speech to a business group the day before the talks, Wang said US policies were partly to blame for the high trade deficit. He said "there is huge market potential to tap for US exports of advanced technologies, key equipment and critical parts to China. Unfortunately, American businesses have not had their fair share of the 'cake' due to outdated US regulations on export control." US rules restrict export of certain high-tech goods to China and other countries when there is a potential for military uses. Veteran US Senator John McCain, 80, has been diagnosed with brain cancer, according to his office US Senator John McCain, a former prisoner of war and the maverick 2008 Republican presidential nominee, has been diagnosed with brain cancer, his office announced Wednesday. The 80-year-old lawmaker from Arizona underwent surgery to remove a blood clot from above his left eye last week and tests "revealed that a primary brain tumor known as a glioblastoma was associated with the blood clot," the Mayo Clinic, whose doctors performed the surgery in Phoenix, said in a statement released by McCain's office. "The senator and his family are reviewing further treatment options," the statement added, noting they may include a combination of chemotherapy and radiation. Glioblastoma is a particularly aggressive brain tumor affecting adults. It is of the same category of cancer that led to the death of another icon of the US Senate, Ted Kennedy, who died in 2009 at age 77. This is not McCain's first bout with cancer. Doctors removed several malignant melanomas on McCain's skin in the 1990s and 2000s, including an invasive melanoma in 2000. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and his wife Cindy exit the Mountain View Christian Church polling place after casting their vote on November 8, 2016, in Phoenix, Arizona Experts had said this week that McCain's latest operation suggested the possibility of a return of cancer. McCain's office said the senator "is in good spirits as he continues to recover at home with his family in Arizona," and that he will consult with his care team about when he might be able to return to work in Washington. The news triggered a flood of messages of support from across the political spectrum for McCain, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee and is in his sixth term in the upper chamber of Congress. "Senator John McCain has always been a fighter. Melania and I send our thoughts and prayers to Senator McCain, Cindy, and their entire family," President Donald Trump said in a statement. "Get well soon." - 'American hero' - Trump was accused of crossing the line with his criticism of McCain shortly after the billionaire businessman announced his presidential bid in 2015, disparaging the senator as "not a war hero." Doctors removed several malignant melanomas on John McCain's skin in the 1990s and 2000s, including an invasive melanoma in 2000 "I like people who weren't captured," Trump said, in remarks that foretold the nastiness of the 2016 race. But Trump is well aware of the importance of McCain's vote on health care, with the latest effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act hanging by a thread. "Plus, we need his vote," Trump said Monday after wishing McCain well after his blood clot surgery. "John McCain is an American hero & one of the bravest fighters I've ever known," former president Barack Obama, who defeated McCain after a hard-fought 2008 race, wrote on Twitter. "Cancer doesn't know what it's up against. Give it hell, John." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell quickly issued a statement saying the entire chamber was praying for their colleague and hoped to see him back soon. "He has never shied from a fight and I know that he will face this challenge with the same extraordinary courage that has characterized his life." McCain, a former US Navy aviator, was shot down over Hanoi in 1967 as he conducted a bombing mission during the Vietnam War. He was badly injured when he parachuted out, and was tortured during his five and a half years as a POW. Released in 1973, McCain won a US House seat in 1982 before winning election to the Senate four years later. He emerged as a national security hawk, traveling the world on congressional missions to the Middle East, Asia and Europe where he reassured American allies and pricked its adversaries. He also stood accused of heedlessly backing wars or military interventions, and once suggested US forces should remain in Iraq for 100 years. Early this year, the octogenarian who has advocated for more aggressive US military involvement in Syria made a secret trip to the war-ravaged nation to meet with US forces and discuss the campaign against the Islamic State group. Despite his hawkish positions, McCain has served the peacemaker role, too. His scars from the Vietnam torture are visible, and yet he is the lawmaker who perhaps more than any other has guided the rapprochement between Washington and its former foe in Asia. Opposition activists clash with the police in Caracas during a protest against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro Facing a crisis in Venezuela, US President Donald Trump has threatened to inflict "swift and strong" economic sanctions unless President Nicolas Maduro backs away from a plan to rewrite that nation's constitution. But the American president seems sure to face a backlash from Caracas, where charges of US "imperialism" have been the socialist government's favorite retort to pressure from the North. Trump, like his predecessor Barack Obama, confronts the difficult task of managing the long-toxic relationship between the two countries. The two have not had ambassadors in each other's capitals since 2010. But while Obama's Democratic administration succeeded in at least slightly lowering tensions, the relationship has dramatically soured since billionaire Republican Trump came to office in January. "All options are on the table," senior White House officials said late Tuesday, underscoring the toughly worded warning Trump himself had issued a day before. "The United States will not stand by as Venezuela crumbles," Trump said in a statement Monday. "If the Maduro regime imposes its Constituent Assembly on July 30, the United States will take strong and swift economic actions." - 'Becoming a dictator' - The American president called his Venezuelan counterpart a "bad leader who dreams of becoming a dictator." And senior administration officials who briefed reporters Tuesday denounced what they called the "dictatorial" regime in Caracas and demanded a "re-establishment" of democracy. In the US Congress, Republican Senator Marco Rubio recently demanded "the full restoration of the democratic order and respect of basic rights in Venezuela as the regime of Nicolas Maduro continues its assault on the Venezuelan people and the countrys democratic institutions." Pro- and anti-Maduro demonstrations in Venezuela have left nearly 100 people dead since April 1, amid the near-collapse of the oil-rich nation's economy and steps by Maduro that opponents say amount to a power grab. Both the White House and several American lawmakers expressed support for the symbolic vote last weekend in Venezuela, sponsored by the opposition, that saw 7.6 million people demand an end to plans for a Constituent Assembly -- which Maduro's opponents say would be set up to favor him -- to draw up a new constitution. Moises Rendon, an analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, wrote in a recent paper that "the single most important action for the United States, regional countries and the world is not to recognize the government that comes out from the illegitimate Constituent Assembly," which he described as "Soviet-style." But some analysts warn that too hard a line from the United States could backfire. Geoff Thale, with the lobbying group Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), told AFP he was "very skeptical that unilateral US sanctions (would be) effective. They are more likely to make the government feel they have no option but to resist, and they offer the government a nationalist rallying cry against the US." - 'People will starve' - David Smilde, a Venezuela specialist at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, said, "I believe it is possible that the Venezuelan government will be strengthened by US sanctions. There is no way to apply economic sanctions now in Venezuela without making the humanitarian situation much worse. People will starve to death." US sanctions, he added, "would unleash enormous resentment among the Venezuelans" and would "never be well received by other countries in the region." US involvement in Latin America carries enormous luggage. The United States has long been accused of interventionism -- even "imperialism" -- in what Washington has sometimes viewed as its "backyard." Maduro, for his part, has threatened a "very firm" response to the "imperial threat" from his American counterpart. His foreign minister, Samuel Moncada, denounced what he called "the insolent threat of a xenophobic and racist empire." But even as the diplomatic temperature between the two countries hovers near zero, economic relations have long been close: The United States remains the leading importer of Venezuelan oil, and several American multinationals, including automaking giant General Motors, have invested heavily for decades in what they viewed as a southern El Dorado. The White House officials who briefed reporters on Tuesday seemed aware of the potential impact US economic sanctions could have on American business. In Smilde's view, punitive new US measures -- following sanctions taken in February by the Trump administration against Venezuelan Vice President Tareck El Aissami, accused of trafficking in drugs -- could even push Caracas into the arms of "Russia and China." US President Donald Trump steadfastly denies any suggestion that he or anyone in his campaign colluded with Russia to help him win the presidency President Donald Trump accused fired FBI director James Comey on Wednesday of trying to create leverage with a dossier alleged to contain compromising information about the president. Comey's apparent goal in a pre-inauguration encounter with Trump in which the veteran law enforcement official presented details of the dossier was to pressure the soon-to-be-president into letting him keep his job, Trump alleged an interview with the New York Times. Trump said that about two weeks before his inauguration in January, Comey and other officials briefed him in New York on what US intelligence agencies say was Russian meddling in the election, with the goal of helping Trump defeat Hillary Clinton. According to the president, Comey later pulled him aside and told him about a dossier compiled by a former British spy and alleged to contain embarrassing details about the president, including unsubstantiated claims that Russians possess videos involving Trump and prostitutes. Trump said he thinks Comey told him about the dossier -- which Trump dismissed as "made-up junk" -- to suggest he had something to hold over the president. "In my opinion, he shared it so that I would think he had it out there," Trump said. Asked if he thought Comey was seeking leverage over him, Trump said, "Yeah, I think so." In testimony before lawmakers, Comey said he told Trump about the dossier so that the real estate mogul would not be blindsided when it was reported in the media. Trump fired Comey in May and later said he had the FBI's Russia investigation in mind when he did it. Trump critics point to the dismissal as evidence of obstruction of justice, a potentially impeachable offense. The Times said the interview with Trump was wide-ranging but dominated by talk of the Russia probe. Trump has denied any suggestion that he or anyone in his campaign colluded with the Russians. Trump also told the New York Times that he did not believe he was under investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller, appointed to investigate the Russia affair. "I don't think we're under investigation," the Times quoted Trump as saying. "I'm not under investigation. For what? I didn't do anything wrong." The Times said Trump warned that Mueller would be crossing "a red line" if he looked into Trump family finances not related to the Russia investigation. "I think that's a violation. Look, this is about Russia," Trump said. But he did not say what he would do if Mueller did end up looking into non-Russia-related Trump financial dealings. Cartoons adorn the walls of a themed-cafe in Tunis A steak dubbed the "Grilled Freedom" is just one stand-out dish on the menu of the Tunisian capital's "Le Dictateur" restaurant, which is not exactly to the taste of officialdom. Six years after the North African country's revolution that sparked the Arab Spring, "Le Dictateur" vies for the foodie business in the upmarket Cite Ennasr suburb of Tunis. "We had to make ourselves known, to come up with a name and concept that attracted attention because good cuisine alone is often not enough," said owner Seif Ben Hammouda. "Dictatorship was a taboo subject for decades, and it's still very relevant here as efforts continue to bring about freedom and democracy," said the savvy entrepreneur in his 30s. Against a bricked background, portraits that include Charlie Chaplin aping Adolf Hitler are mounted behind cages on the walls, creating a prison-like atmosphere. The restaurant offers signature dishes like 'Grilled Freedom', 'Anarchy' and 'Opposition' Joseph Stalin and Melania Trump, wife of the US president, compete for space in murals on other walls, as a picture of Russian President Vladimir Putin also looks down on diners. The oppressive theme extends to the menu, with signature dishes such as "Grilled Freedom", "Anarchy", "Opposition" and "Putsch" on offer. "I wanted to take full advantage of the freedom of expression that's been the main achievement of the revolution," said the restaurateur, who returned in 2008 from France where he studied marketing and management. But he still waited for several years after the 2011 fall of Tunisian dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali before beginning his bold culinary venture. - Scrutinised by officials - Only last March did the restaurant open its doors under the daring name and logo of a figure resembling North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un but also sporting a Hitler moustache. The Tunisian authorities were "very much disturbed", Ben Hammouda told AFP, and a wave of municipal and even some state officials descended on "Le Dictateur" to check it out. Controversy around the restaurant has brought in customers The reasons they gave were that his paperwork and the hygienic conditions on the premises had to pass muster. However, Ben Hammouda was also directly asked to change the establishment's name and logo -- "to avoid problems", as he was advised by one minister. The project was all considered "a bit shocking", Ben Hammouda said. But the fuss that was whipped up in the media only served to advertise "Le Dictateur" and bring in a stream of curious punters. "The first time I came was to see what it looked like, this 'culinary dictatorship' that was so upsetting the authorities," said Malek. He spoke as he was about to tuck into a "Citizen" salad and "Salazar" pasta named after Portugal's late dictator, Antonio de Oliveira Salazar. "Le Dictateur" was eventually given permission to keep its bold restaurant sign, after a compromise was struck in which the Kim-lookalike logo was stripped of its toothbrush moustache. "I'm enormously thankful to the authorities for all the free publicity," said Ben Hammouda, who stressed that the quality of the food remained his priority. Hungry first-time visitor Chawki was eager to find out if the fare on offer lived up to the hype. "Thinking about these dictators can put you off your meal. But let's hope the food is good," he said. Cattle herders in Kenya's central Laikipia highlands say they invade private land simply out of the need to graze their cattle. Close by a narrow, rickety bridge in Kenya's central Laikipia highlands two herders sit on blistering hot rock next to the muddy trickle of the Ewaso Nyiro river to explain why they routinely break the law, invading private land to graze their cattle. "The reason we go there is not to grab the land, we go for pasture, nothing else," says Lemerigi Letimalo, a 28-year-old Samburu herder in a Manchester United T-shirt with a mobile phone hanging in a pouch around his neck. "The white settlers are the ones who call the police forces to attack us," he adds. Violence has spiked in Laikipia this year, with smallholder farms and huge ranches alike invaded by armed herders, leaving dozens dead and uprooting hundreds more. A government-ordered security operation has so far failed to quell the unrest, which some blame on drought and others on politics. Accounts of the attacks are widely divergent. The victims of the incursions are mainly black Kenyans living on small patches of farmland as well as white landowners, whose properties often run into the tens of thousands of acres (hectares), dredging up long-festering resentment over land ownership. - Drought, law, violence - The March murder of British rancher and former soldier Tristan Voorspuy and the April shooting of Italian author and conservationist Kuki Gallmann are among the most high-profile acts of violence. Too many people with too much livestock have rendered Laikipia's rangeland unliveable for the growing population, exacerbated by climate change. But the young Samburu "morans" -- the warrior age set that ends with marriage -- sitting by the river at Crocodile Jaw Bridge on a recent Wednesday consider that they are the victims: of weather, of greed and selfishness, and of state violence. They say poor rains have forced them to cut fences in search of grazing land, accusing ranchers, farmers and conservationists of protecting their own livelihoods at the pastoralists' expense. They also accuse security forces of unfairly targeting them. "When we go grazing in there we get attacked by the police. We don't go in there for war or planning to stay, we just go in to graze until there are rains back at home," Letimalo tells AFP, offering a rare insight into the Samburu herders' side of the story. He admits to illegally grazing the 50 cows and 200 goats that he is responsible for on other people's lands and says police have shot dead two of his cows. But Letimalo recognises neither the term "illegal herding" nor the law itself, which he describes as "for the landowners". "When there's drought, a fence means nothing to me," he says, speaking in the local Samburu language. "We blame the whites for bringing the police who attack our cattle and kill our people." - 'No option' - Fellow herder, 30-year-old Lokimaniki Lekaal, agrees: "Despite the law, we have no option. We cannot sit around and watch our animals die of hunger." Violence has spiked in Laikipia this year, with smallholder farms and huge ranches alike invaded by armed herders. A glance at an aerial view of Laikipia shows the stark difference between the green of well-managed, fenced-off private land and the dust bowl free-for-all of the over-grazed rangelands. Too many people with too much livestock have rendered the rangeland unlivable for the growing population, a situation exacerbated by climate change. But in the immediate struggle for survival, talk of long-term planning or better land management is a luxury Lekaal dismisses. "When all the grass is finished we will die. It is up to God," he says. Until then he will keep his cattle wherever grass can be found. - 'We don't fight twice' - The two men insist that drought is the reason they herd livestock onto private land and deny any suggestion their actions are politically motivated as Kenya heads towards a general election on August 8. Two Samburu cattle herders say drought is the reason they herd livestock onto private land and deny any suggestion their actions are politically motivated as Kenya heads towards August 8 elections. "There's no leader who has influenced us to go to graze in someone's land, it is we, ourselves, that decided to go and graze our animals inside the ranches," Lekaal says. Nevertheless, local MP Mathew Lempurkel, a Samburu, has been charged with incitement over the murder of Voorspuy, while a politician in neighbouring Baringo county was similarly charged over arson attacks on Gallmann's estate before his own murder in May. Some invaders in Laikipia have been photographed wearing Lempurkel campaign T-shirts. The MP himself, facing a tight election, has both denied the charges against him and used them to burnish his credentials as the champion of pastoralist interests. - 'Only ones suffering' - Moran culture plays a part too. Young, unmarried and often uneducated -- neither Letimalo nor Lekaal went to school -- the herders revel in aggressive displays of machismo and pride themselves on not backing down from a fight. "We don't fight twice," as Letimalo puts it. Landowners and herders alike complain that a late and half-hearted government security response has made matters worse. The herders also say their acts of retaliatory arson and violence are provoked by the security forces. "There's a time we set property on fire but that was because one of our colleagues was killed," says Letimalo. "We had no option but to burn the property. It's not as bad as killing someone!" "We are the only ones suffering," adds Lekaal. Crew members looking out the cockpit windows of a RNZAF P3 Orion during search operations for wreckage and debris of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean The painstaking search for missing flight MH370 has uncovered a previously unknown undersea world of volcanoes, deep valleys and soaring ridges, according to detailed maps released by Australia. Although no trace of the Malaysia Airlines plane was found during the search in the southern Indian Ocean -- the most expensive ever of its kind -- large volumes of data showing a detailed picture of the sea floor had to be collected to guide the probe. Scientists are hopeful the new maps will give their community greater insight into oceans. "It is estimated that only 10 to 15 percent of the world's oceans have been surveyed with the kind of technology used in the search for MH370," Geoscience Australia's environmental geoscience chief Stuart Minchin said late Wednesday. "(That makes) this remote part of the Indian Ocean among the most thoroughly mapped regions of the deep ocean on the planet. "So this data is unique both because of the remote location of the search area, and because of the sheer scale of the area surveyed." Minchin said the maps would also be useful for future scientific research, such as oceanographic and habitat modelling. Australia, Malaysia and China suspended the deep sea hunt in January, almost three years after the Boeing 777 disappeared with 239 people on board. The hunt -- based on satellite analysis of the jet's likely trajectory after it diverted from its flight path -- covered a 120,000 square-kilometre (46,000 square mile) designated zone, an area slightly smaller than England. Two shipwrecks were discovered during the search but no trace of the plane, deepening one the most enduring mysteries of the aviation age. However, the data revealed ridges six kilometres (3.73 miles) wide and 15 kilometres long that rise 1,500 metres above the sea floor, as well as fault valleys 1,200 metres deep and five kilometres wide. A second set of data will be released in mid-2018. While the search for the missing plane has been called off, Canberra has said it could be restarted if new evidence about the specific location of the aircraft emerges. "We remain hopeful that new information will come to light and that at some point in the future the aircraft will be located," Australia's Transport Minister Darren Chester said. Australia's national science body CSIRO released a report in April confirming that MH370 was "most likely" north of the former search zone. Three fragments from the plane have been recovered washed up on western Indian Ocean shores, including a two-metre wing part known as a flaperon found on La Reunion island. Speculation on the cause of the plane's disappearance has focused primarily on possible hijacking, rogue pilot action or mechanical failure, but nothing has yet been proved. A Cameroonese soldier holds a position near the northern village of Mabass Dozens of Boko Haram suspects have died in Cameroon custody, rights group Amnesty International said Thursday, with security forces brutally torturing them in the fight against the jihadist group. Though Boko Haram originated in Nigeria, the Islamic State-affiliated group has carried out frequent attacks in Cameroon, Chad and Niger. The NGO said it had found 101 people who said they were held in secret and tortured by the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) and the General Directorate of External Research (DGRE), Cameroon's intelligence services, between March 2013 and March 2017. "They asked me to tell them if I knew members of Boko Haram. That's when the guard tied my hands and feet behind my back and started to beat me with an electric cable, while throwing water on me at the same time," Amnesty cited a prisoner as saying. "They beat me half to death," he added. Of the 101 documented individuals, 32 claimed to have witnessed the death of a fellow prisoner, according to the Amnesty report "Cameroons Secret Torture Chambers: Human Rights Violations and War Crimes in the Fight Against Boko Haram". The group said most of the torture was carried out in two sites: the BIR headquarters in Salak and a DGRE facility in Yaounde. Amnesty said US and French military personnel were present at the BIR base in Salak and called on the two governments to investigate whether they were aware that illegal detention and torture was taking place on site. Disgraced ex-Buddhist monk Wiraphon Sukphon speaks to officials in Bangkok, on July 20, 2017 A Thai court charged a disgraced former monk Thursday with the rape of an underage girl, fraud and money laundering, after he was extradited from the United States. Thailand is an overwhelmingly Buddhist nation with around 300,000 men in orange robes, but the clergy are beset by high-profile scandals. Wiraphon Sukphon, 37, was arrested on arrival at Bangkok's main airport late Wednesday from the US where he established an unofficial Buddhist teaching centre after fleeing Thailand in 2013. He faces a total of five charges, including raping a minor under 15 years old, which carries a jail term of up to 20 years. "The Criminal Court has accepted to hear the case against Wiraphon," Worranan Srilum, a spokesman for the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) police unit, told AFP. The monk, who has denied the charges, was taken to Bangkok Remand Prison after the hearing. He did not apply for bail, according to his lawyer. Wiraphon made headlines in 2013 when footage emerged of him with two other monks on a private jet wearing sunglasses and wielding Louis Vuitton designer bags -- earning him the tabloid moniker the 'jet-set monk'. A subsequent probe seized $770,000 of his assets, including a Porsche and a Mercedes Benz car, and multiple bank accounts. He fathered a child with the girl he raped. The scandal-mired cleric went by the name Luang Pu Nen Kham to back-up claims he was the reincarnation of a famous miracle-performing monk. His temple in the rural town of Buriram disrobed him after the allegations surfaced and he fled the kingdom. But he continued to act as a monk, establishing a Buddhist centre in California. In May a US court ordered his extradition after a request from Thai authorities. - Sex, drugs and murder - Buddhism is weaved closely into the social fabric of Thailand. All Thai men are expected by social convention to spend some time in orange robes. It is a stint aimed at bestowing discipline, religious knowledge and good karma on the monk and his family. Yet the clergy is dogged by negative publicity, with recent extortion, sex, drugs, gambling and murder scandals involving monks shocking the Thai public. Buddhist authorities want to clean-up the image of the clergy and keep a tighter check on temple finances. Last week the Thai junta trailed the idea of "smart ID cards" for each monk to record any criminal history and prevent people using orange robes for personal benefit. The junta is also engaged in a long-running feud with the Dhammakaya temple -- a rich and powerful Buddhist sect whose give-to-receive narrative draws the allegiance of many wealthy Thai families. In March this year the junta was left red-faced after it was forced to call off a weeks-long hunt for the sect's former abbot at the 1,000-acre temple site on Bangkok's outskirts. The septuagenarian abbot, who is accused of embezzling $33 million, evaded arrest despite a search of the temple by hundreds of security forces. Trump's anti-illegal immigration project has been stalled by Mexico's refusal to pay for the wall and reluctance in Congress to dedicate funding for the barrier Donald Trump took office trailing a string of promises made during a bruising election campaign. Six months into his presidency, here is where the 45th occupant of the White House stands in fulfilling some of the most notable promises in his ambitious agenda: BUILD A WALL ALONG THE SOUTHERN BORDER, MAKE MEXICO PAY FOR IT Trump issued an executive order on January 25, five days after taking office, directing the Department of Homeland Security to identify and allocate funding for "planning, designing, and constructing" the barrier along the US-Mexico border. The anti-illegal immigration project has been stalled, however, by Mexico's refusal to pay for the wall and reluctance in Congress to dedicate funding for the barrier, which could cost as much as $20 billion according to some estimates. STATUS: INCOMPLETE PULL US OUT OF PARIS CLIMATE CHANGE ACCORD Trump annnounced on June 1 that the United States will withdraw from the 196-nation Paris agreement on climate change and seek to negotiate a new global deal. Protesters rally in support of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), outside the Colorado Capitol building in Denver, Colorado, in January 2017 Declaring that he was "elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris," the US president complained that the accord signed under Barack Obama was giving other countries an unfair advantage over US industry and destroying American jobs. Because of the wording of the agreement, the earliest possible date for an official US withdrawal from the accord is November 4, 2020 -- just one day after the country's next presidential election. STATUS: PROMISE KEPT REPEAL AND REPLACE OBAMACARE Trump pledged to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act -- better known as Obamacare -- within the first 100 days of his presidency. But he was thwarted this week when the Republican-controlled Senate failed to come up with the votes to overturn the health law. The White House insisted, however, that the fight was not over and Trump said he intended to "let Obamacare fail" and come up with a new bill. STATUS: PROMISE BROKEN NAME A CONSERVATIVE SUPREME COURT JUSTICE Trump promised during the campaign to nominate a conservative Supreme Court justice to replace Justice Antonin Scalia, a right-wing icon on the court who died in February 2016. Trump named federal appeals court judge Neil Gorsuch, 49, a Scalia disciple, to the vacant seat and Gorsuch was confimed 54-45 by the Senate. STATUS: PROMISE KEPT BLOCK ENTRY OF MUSLIMS INTO THE US During the campaign, Trump controversially called for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States" until US lawmakers "can figure out what is going on." Since taking office, however, his efforts to temporarily ban entry into the United States of citizens from six Muslim-majority countries have met with repeated challenges from lower courts. But Trump secured a partial victory as the Supreme Court approved a temporary ban on nationals from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen who cannot prove that they have close family relations in the United States. STATUS: PROMISE PARTIALLY KEPT TRADE: PULL OUT OF TPP, RENEGOTIATE NAFTA Trump withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership -- the trade agreement with 11 Pacific nations -- within days of taking office. Formal talks with Canada and Mexico on renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement could begin as early as August, according to The Washington Post. STATUS: PROMISE KEPT RENEGOTIATE THE NUCLEAR DEAL WITH IRAN During the campaign, Trump derided the 2015 agreement aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear ambitions as "the worst deal ever." The United States imposed fresh sanctions on Iran on Tuesday over its ballistic missile program, but Trump has not followed through so far on his threat to force Tehran to renegotiate the accord. STATUS: INCOMPLETE DEFEAT ISIS Trump pledged during the campaign to crush the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, and the Pentagon presented him in February with the outlines of a plan to do so. Since then, IS fighters have been driven out of Mosul and Raqa, the capital of the so-called caliphate, is under seige. STATUS: INCOMPLETE IMPROVE RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA Trump repeatedly praised Vladimir Putin while on the campaign trail and said he would improve US relations with Russia if he was elected president. But Trump's fledgling administration has been dogged by charges that members of his campaign may have colluded with Russia to get him elected. A special prosecutor is looking into the allegations. Trump met face-to-face with Putin at the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg this month and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said they had "clear positive chemistry" during "very constructive" talks. What comes of it remains to be seen. STATUS: UNCERTAIN A mob sets a police station on fire in Kotkhai, around 62 km from Shimla, in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh on July 19, 2017 A man accused of the gang rape and murder of a girl in northern India has been killed in police custody, an official said Thursday, sparking angry riots in the usually tranquil Himalayan region. Hundreds of protesters furious over the police handling of the case chanted "we want justice" in the popular tourist hill resort of Shimla, with businesses remaining closed in some parts of Himachal Pradesh state. There have been vigils and strikes across the region since the 16-year-old victim was found naked and mutilated in a forest, with many accusing police of bungling the investigation. Tensions escalated further after a suspect held for the gruesome crime was killed in his cell by another inmate during a scuffle. Nepalese national Suraj Singh, struck his head against the wall "and was taken to hospital where he was declared dead," said Z.H. Zaidi, the police inspector general. News of his death triggered fury, with rioters torching a police station and vehicles. The brutality of the crime shocked residents in Himachal Pradesh, a Himalayan state with some of India's lowest rates of sexual violence, and prompted calls for a swift investigation. A man accused in the murder and gang rape of a school girl near the hill resort of Shimla has been killed in custody, police said July 20, triggering violent protests across the Himalayan state An autopsy confirmed the girl was gang raped and strangled. She sustained severe injuries in the assault, including a broken leg. Six men were arrested but those calling for swift justice accused police of bungling the case, saying the main culprits were still at large. "The main accused is roaming free. How can anyone die in police custody?" one protester in Shimla told Indian broadcaster NDTV on Thursday. India has a gruesome record on rape. Nearly 40,000 rape cases are reported every year but the real number is thought to be much higher, with victims wary of how their complaints will be handled. Nearly 2,200 rapes were registered in 2015 in the Indian capital New Delhi -- an average of six per day. Himachal Pradesh recorded 244 rapes that same year, among the lowest rates in India. The wreckage of a bus lies in a gorge following an accident near the Indian town of Rampur on July 20, 2017 At least 28 people were killed Thursday after a bus plunged into a deep gorge in a Himalayan region of northern India popular with tourists, police said. The accident occurred around 100 kilometres (62 miles) from the hill resort of Shimla in Himachal Pradesh state, said police superintendent Soumiya Sambasivan. "28 people have died and seven are injured. All the bodies have been identified," she said. The bus was taking around 40 people from Kinnaur district towards Solan when it rolled roughly 200 metres down a gorge to the banks of a river river. Images from the scene showed emergency workers conducting a rescue operation with the help of local volunteers. Last week, 16 pilgrims died in a bus crash in neighbouring Jammu and Kashmir state, while in April 44 people were killed in Himachal Pradesh in a similar accident. India has some of the world's highest traffic fatalities with more than 150,000 deaths annually due to poor roads, badly maintained vehicles and reckless driving. Casamance is a culturally distinct area of Senegal that has experienced more than 30 years of conflict In Senegal's southern Casamance region, new houses dot a landscape once dominated by abandoned ruins full of bullet holes, though the spectre of a 35-year conflict still haunts its villages. Separatist rebels of the Mouvement des Forces Democratiques de Casamance (MFDC) began fighting for independence more than three decades ago but have long ceased once frequent attacks on the Senegalese army, which retains a visible presence in the area. As residents return to previously unsafe areas, many are asking when a conflict that is technically ongoing, if all but invisible, will officially end. "I fled to (regional capital) Ziguinchor in 1991, and came back in 2006. We aren't frightened anymore. Peace has returned," said Yaya Sane, as a new earthen hut covered by palm wood is erected in his village, Toubacouta. Casamance is a culturally distinct area of Senegal, and daily life feels a long way from the conflict's height when thousands were killed, maimed by mine explosions, or displaced by fighting. Driving to Toubacouta from Ziguinchor, one still passes Senegalese army roadblocks along the edge of the area's plentiful rice fields, but the troops have little to do these days. "The last attack on the village was in 2000," noted Lamine Sane, who lives in the same hamlet. Other have stayed on in cities like Ziguinchor, lacking the money to move back to more rural areas and rebuild their lives. - Development, tourism - Those who have long negotiated for peace say there is little stopping the two sides from holding talks, but with a tentative detente, nothing formal progresses. "Today, there aren't any robberies, or clashes between the army and the MFDC," said Moussa Cisse, a community figure involved in efforts for peace. "There's nothing left but to just sit down and negotiate... to come to a definitive peace deal." Dakar's interest in ending the conflict has grown since the election of President Macky Sall in 2012, and with the involvement of Rome's Community of Sant'Egidio, a charity with ties to the Vatican specialising in peace mediation. The Community of Sant'Egidio was founded in Rome in 1968 and became involved in sponsoring peace negotiations in the 1980s after finding that humanitarian action in Mozambique -- then in civil war -- would be largely useless without peace. The outlook for resolving Casamance's situation permanently has also improved with the departure of Gambian strongman Yahya Jammeh in January for a life in exile, experts say. Jammeh -- whose country is surrounded by Senegal -- was long accused of harbouring and funding MFDC rebels, to Dakar's extreme chagrin. But his successor Adama Barrow, despite expressing a willingness to help resolve the conflict on a state visit to Senegal in March, has yet to establish contact with the rebels, according to leader of the MFDC's most radical faction Salif Sadio. MFDC officials travelled via Banjul to attend the last round of negotiations in Rome in 2015, Sadio said. "Certain factions don't see eye to eye," a source close to the rebels told AFP, "but the majority of the MFDC has also shown willingness to bring together all of these factions and negotiate together." Meanwhile, the government is pushing development and tourism as a means of moving the economy forward. - Peace 'irreversible' - France, whose tourists visit other areas of French-speaking Senegal in droves, removed Casamance from its list of danger zones in October 2016. A local official told AFP that road, education and agriculture projects were all underway, with more homes and businesses on the grid than ever before. The momentum of peace, he said, was "irreversible". But despite the changes, rebels are still hiding out in the bush, preventing Casamance from returning to full normality. "Two or three kilometres from here," Lamin Sane said back in Toubacouta, "those who left have not come back." "We don't dare to go in the forest," he added. "That's where the MFDC guys are, all of them armed." Beijing has made virtually daily warnings to its neighbour over the deadlock on a remote Himalayan plateau, where Indian and Chinese troops have been locked in a tense face off India's stand in its border dispute with China is supported by other countries, Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj said Thursday as she praised tiny Bhutan for standing up to China in the row. Swaraj reaffirmed that India's security could be jeopardised if China takes over the zone where the frontiers of India, China and Bhutan meet. The standoff started more than a month ago after Chinese troops started building a road on the remote plateau, which is disputed by China and Bhutan. Indian troops moved in to the flashpoint zone to halt the work. "All the countries are understanding that India's stand is not wrong. Justice is on our side, this is being accepted by all other countries," the minister told the upper house of the Indian parliament. China has also declared that it has international support, with its foreign ministry saying on Tuesday that foreign diplomats were "shocked" by India's "illegal trespass". Swaraj praised Bhutan, one of the world's smallest countries, for taking an "aggressive" stand and not bowing to its giant neighbour. Bhutan has said construction of the road is "a direct violation" of agreements with China. Bhutan and China do not have diplomatic relations. India, which fought a war with China in 1962 over a separate part of the disputed Himalayan border, supports Bhutan's claim. "There is a written agreement signed in 2012 which states that the issue of trijunction (the border where the three countries meet) should be decided by India, China and ... Bhutan," Swaraj said. "All this while China has been building roads... various activities have been going on. This time they brought bulldozers and excavators and their intention is to reach the trijunction. "They want to end the status quo of this trijunction unilaterally," she added. China has said Indian troops should "unconditionally" withdraw to the Indian side before talks can start on the dispute. Swaraj said China must also pull back its troops for any dialogue to happen. India and China have vied for influence in South Asia, with Beijing ploughing large sums into infrastructure projects in Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Bhutan has remained closely allied to India. A visitor looks at a biography of the late Chinese Noble laureate Liu Xiaobo at the International Book Fair in Hong Kong on July 20, 2017 The annual Hong Kong book fair has always been a source of politically sensitive titles banned in China, but this year fewer were on display as the city faces growing pressure under an increasingly assertive Beijing. Several publishing houses were still displaying controversial books at the harbourfront convention centre as part of a fair that attracts more than a million visitors over six days. But the number has shrunk since the disappearance of five city booksellers who worked for a publisher specialising in salacious titles about Chinese political leaders. They vanished almost two years ago and resurfaced on the mainland, where one still remains in custody. Since then, mainstream bookstores in Hong Kong have removed titles likely to offend Chinese authorities and smaller producers have shied away from rocking the boat. It comes as many fear that Beijing is tightening it's grip on semi-autonomous Hong Kong and threatening its cherished freedoms. Greenfield Bookstore has long sold banned works at the book fair and this year displayed titles about late Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo and former Chinese leader Mao Zedong. Visitors browse through books on display at the International Book Fair in Hong Kong But a store manager who identified himself only as Mr Tam estimated the overall number of politically sensitive books on sale across the fair was down as much as 70 percent. "There are less of these books coming out. Some of the smaller and independent companies, they haven't come back," he told AFP. Hong Kong book store owner Paul Tang said that production of gossipy books on Chinese leaders has seen a significant decline since the disappearance of the five booksellers. Mainland customers who used to travel over the border to snap them up have also stayed away, he said. "A lot of publishers are self censoring and afraid to produce more books," Tang told AFP. Flipping through a title about late Nobel laureate Liu at the Greenfield stall, housewife Wincy Chan said she was disappointed the book fair did not address the elephant in the room -- Liu's death last week in Chinese custody. "They are avoiding the topic with the theme of travel," said Chan, in her 50s, referring to the fair's focus this year. Chan said she was worried politically sensitive books would not be available in the future. But some hope a new wave of writers and satirists will keep the political debate alive. At the stall belonging to 100 Most, a lifestyle magazine also known for its irreverent take on Hong Kong and Chinese politics, titles included student protest leader Joshua Wong's memoirs and a book about the 2014 pro-democracy Umbrella Movement. The annual Hong Kong book fair has always been a source of politically sensitive titles banned in China, but this year fewer were on display as the city faces growing pressure under an increasingly assertive Beijing Book-lover Matthew Mok who was browsing the stall said taking a lighthearted approach could be a solution. "You can't directly talk about things that the Communist Party finds sensitive -- you need a funny way of going into the topic to make the books attractive," Mok, 17, said. Nigeria's former oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke is currently on bail in London after being arrested in connection with a British probe into international corruption and money laundering A Nigerian court has ordered the temporary forfeiture a $37.5 million property belonging to the country's ex-oil minister, with prosecutors alleging it was bought with ill-gotten funds. Judge Chuka Obiozor, sitting at the Federal High Court in Lagos, on Wednesday ordered the forfeiture of Diezani Alison-Madueke's apartment complex on the city's ultra-chic Banana Island. Banana Island is a gated community which is home to business tycoons, top politicians and celebrities. The apartment building will be seized along with $2.7 million (23 million euros) and more than 84 million naira ($266,000, 232,000 euro), following an application by Nigeria's anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The Lagos case is one of a series brought by the EFCC against Alison-Madueke, who was oil minister under former president Goodluck Jonathan from 2010 to 2015 and also president of OPEC. She is currently on bail in London after being arrested in connection with a British probe into international corruption and money laundering. Her name has also surfaced in a bribery complaint in the United States and a corruption investigation in Italy concerning an $1.3 billion oil deal with ENI and Shell. President Muhammadu Buhari was elected in 2015 on an anti-corruption platform, promising to stamp out endemic graft and impunity in Nigeria. But the 74-year-old's war on corruption has faltered, particularly since he has been on medical leave overseas on and off for the past year. No caption A Japanese traditional wind-chime festival has opened at a Buddhist temple near Tokyo, just in time for the official arrival of summer. Japanese wind-chimes, called "furin," are one of the items most associated with the hottest season because of their refreshing sound in a country with oppressively high humidity. The Japanese Meteorological Agency on Wednesday announced the end of this year's rainy season in the Tokyo area, officially heralding the start of summer. At Heiken Temple in Kawasaki, south of Tokyo, some 30,000 wind-chimes collected from throughout Japan are exhibited and on sale, Ryuei Hara, a temple monk, told AFP. "Furin are originally from China, where people used to hang bells under the eaves as charms to drive away evil," he said. "In Japan, wind-chimes have become an item enjoyed for their sound and to feel cool during summer." Many of the chimes are made of glass, while others use iron or pottery to produce distinctive high-pitched sounds. About 300,000 visitors are expected over the five-day festival through Sunday, Hara said. A Pakistan app-based taxi service has launched an unusual add on, offering passengers the chance to share their ride with a marriage matchmaker. Users in Pakistan woke on Wednesday to an unexpected notification from Careem -- an Uber-like taxi hailing app popular in Muslim countries: Have a 'rishta aunty' accompany you during your ride. Rishta aunties, as marriage matchmakers are known in South Asia, keep detailed records of eligible men and women -- from education level and salary, to height, weight and even skin tone -- and will set you up with your future spouse, for a fee. Usually portrayed in popular culture as bespectacled women with a clipboard of names and an ancient Nokia mobile, the aunties have had an update thanks to Careem. The "rishta" service -- which has only been rolled out for two days in two cities in Pakistan -- quickly had the country's vocal Twitterati on overdrive. "Careem is the halal Tinder now, except that there's a rishta aunty who'll do the swiping for you," joked Twitter user CrazeeGentleman. But many were speculating that it was just a marketing ploy by the taxi app service. "Driving with rishta aunty a success for @CareemPAK already, it's 11:33 AM and half the marketers in my list are talking about it," wrote Amnaa Tariq on Twitter. Careem Pakistan was quick defend the move as a legitimate service. "We'd noticed that rishtas are a popular topic of discussion among our more senior users. So we've launched this service in order to help the younger people find a right match," said Careem Pakistan's head of public affairs Sibtain Naqvi, according to local media. "During the ride people can tell the aunty their preferences and the Aunty will later get in touch with them with a suitable rishta (relationship)," Naqvi added. It's not the first time that the taxi app has sought to diversify. In January the firm rolled out "Careem Doctor", offering to bring a medical professional to your doorstep. Under the shadow of heavy police surveillance, around 20 close friends of China's late Nobel laureate and dissident Liu Xiaobo have held a defiant private memorial in Beijing. Under the shadow of heavy police surveillance, around 20 close friends of China's late Nobel laureate and dissident Liu Xiaobo have held a defiant private memorial in Beijing. Since the prominent democracy activist died of liver cancer in custody last week, his Chinese supporters say they have been barred from leaving their homes or organising commemorative events, while censors have blocked online tributes. But on the seventh day following Liu's death -- an important milestone for the deceased in traditional Chinese culture -- the group gathered Wednesday evening for a two-and-half-hour ceremony in which they shared memories of the man. "Xiaobo is gone, but we are still alive," Jin Yan, one of the attendees, said at the memorial, according to a statement released by the organisers on Thursday. "During the democracy movement in Eastern Europe, many people were killed or sent to the mental hospital. But they had a saying within the movement: between the living and the dead, there's a moral contract. The living has an obligation to complete what the dead started." Hundreds turned out in Hong Kong on July 19 to pay their respects to late Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo, the pro-democracy Chinese dissident whose death in custody shocked the world. Public gatherings to commemorate the deaths of prominent dissidents are rare. In the past, those who took part in memorials have been subjected to questioning, detention and in some cases even charged with the crime of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble". Liu was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2009 for "subversion" after co-writing Charter 08, a petition calling for democratic reforms in Communist Party-ruled China. The veteran of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010, but he was not allowed to attend the ceremony in Oslo. Two days after his death, officials released a video of Liu's wife and relatives lowering an urn containing his ashes into the sea, an non-traditional form of burial in China which friends saw as a way to deprive his supporters of a pilgrimage site. - 'Too brave' - A photo of the event in Beijing shows around 20 people in a room, holding candles and photos of the bespectacled writer. His portrait was placed on a wall, flanked by flowers. Another image shows the group bowing their heads. An attendee who asked not to be named said state security officers stood guard outside the building, while some mourners were driven to the site in police cars. Still others were prevented by police from participating in the memorial. "(Liu) lived just 60 years, with the last 30 years full of frustrations and suffering," said Xu Xiao, another attendee, according to the statement. The late Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo's wife Liu Xia praying as they bury Liu's ashes at sea off the coast of Dalian, Liaoning Province, on July 15, 2017. "Rather than say that the regime is too cruel, we may say that Liu Xiaobo was too brave." Amnesty International China researcher Patrick Poon told AFP about a dozen of Liu's supporters have been questioned or "invited to have tea by police officers" in recent weeks. - Where is Liu Xia? - Friends are now worried about the fate of the Nobel laureate's widow, the poet Liu Xia, who has been under house arrest since 2010. Authorities have claimed that Liu Xia is "free", but her friends have not been able to contact her since her husband died in a hospital in northeast China on July 13. Authorities have brought Liu and her brother to the southwestern province of Yunnan for "tourism", the Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Hong Kong said in a statement Thursday, citing the widow's relatives. "I also heard from friends that Liu Xia and her brother are in Yunnan under police control. Liu Xiaobo's brothers are back home under police surveillance," activist Ye Du told AFP. At her apartment building in Beijing, plainclothes guards have kept foreign journalists at bay this week. Al-Hoceima in Morocco's neglected north has been hit by months of unrest demanding jobs, development and an end to corruption, as seen in this June picture Police in the northern Moroccan city of Al-Hoceima on Thursday fired tear gas to disperse protesters and stop them marching in defiance of a government ban. Organisers from the Al-Hirak al-Shaabi movement dubbed the demonstration the "million-man march" and said they would go ahead with it despite an injunction. Al-Hoceima, the main port in the Rif region, has been hit by unrest since a fishmonger was crushed to death in a rubbish truck last year as he tried to retrieve swordfish confiscated for being caught out of season. This year has seen waves of protests and bouts of violence in the Rif, where residents have long complained of neglect and marginalisation. Scores of police could be seen around Al-Hoceima since early morning, and by early afternoon they began sealing off access to all the main squares while shops were closed, an AFP journalist said. Al-Hirak has won strong support among the region's diaspora and many former Rif residents living abroad had returned to the city to join the march. By late afternoon hundreds of people began gathering in several meeting points across the city intent on marching as planned, but as they tried to advance the police charged and pushed them back. In the Sidi Abed neighbourhood, police fired tear gas at demonstrators who were chanting "Long live the Rif" and "Long Live Zefzafi" -- in reference to jailed Al-Hirak leader Nasser Zefzafi. Witnesses said demonstrators hurled stones at the police as they charged and knocked some on the ground, and that security forces threw stones back at them. Police arrested around 12 activists, including the head of a news website, Hamid El Mahdaoui, according to local journalists. An AFP cameraman said he saw two people being taken away by the security forces. Seventy-two police officers were wounded from stones being thrown and 11 of the protesters were injured from the tear gas, Moroccos MAP official news agency reported Al-Hoceima authorities as saying. "All the injured have left hospital, with the exception of two officers who are in a serious condition," the agency reported, adding that two police vehicles were torched by protesters. - 'Anger and fear' - Following the death of the fishmonger in October, calls for justice snowballed into a wider social movement demanding jobs, development, and an end to corruption in the mainly Berber region. After months of protests and frequent clashes between protesters and police, authorities cracked down, arresting more than 175 people including the movement's leader Nasser Zefzafi. Police face protesters during a demonstration in the northern Moroccan city of Al-Hoceima in the early hours of June 10 Tensions have eased in recent weeks and earlier this month security forces reduced their presence in Al-Hoceima and another northern city Imzouren, which had been on virtual lockdown. Authorities have promised to do more to help the region and relaunched a 2015 programme to improve its infrastructure, health facilities and education services by 2019. "We are in a country where there is no freedom of expression. We have asked for hospitals, job, public transport. What is wrong with that?," asked one of the protesters on Thursday. The six parties in Morocco's governing coalition this week issued a joint appeal for residents to stay away from Thursday's march. Ali, a political science researcher from Al-Hoceima living in Canada, said he had returned to the city to "show my support for the Hirak movement" and that he had expected "an impressive march". Organisers said the march was to be "peaceful" and aimed also at protesting "against repression". Moroccan newspapers on Thursday raised concerns of a fresh outbreak of unrest, with daily Akhbar Al Yaoum's headlining its front page with "Al-Hoceima... day of anger and fear". Members of the Israeli border guards stand by a mural showing a graffiti image of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat at the Qalandiya checkpoint near the West Bank city of Ramallah on July 19, 2017 A Palestinian tried to stab Israeli soldiers south of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank on Thursday and was shot dead, the Israeli army said. "An assailant armed with a knife attempted to stab (Israeli) soldiers at a checkpoint in Tekoa. In response to the immediate threat, forces fired shots towards the assailant," a military statement said, with a spokeswoman confirming the suspect's death to AFP. No soldiers were reported wounded. The Palestinian health ministry identified the Palestinian as Mohammad Tannuh, 26. Last week, a Palestinian attempted to ram his car at soldiers manning the same checkpoint before exiting the vehicle armed with a knife and trying to stab the troops. He was shot dead. A wave of unrest that broke out in October 2015 has claimed the lives of at least 284 Palestinians or Arab Israelis, 44 Israelis, two Americans, two Jordanians, an Eritrean, a Sudanese and a Briton, according to an AFP toll. Israeli authorities say most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks. Others were shot dead in protests and clashes, while some were killed in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip. The violence has greatly subsided in recent months, though an attack near a sensitive Jerusalem holy site last week that killed two policemen has boosted tensions. A regional military force has been deployed to fight Boko Haram Cameroon's security forces were on Thursday accused of torturing hundreds of Boko Haram suspects, leading to dozens of deaths, in what Amnesty International said was a war crime. The global human rights monitor said US and French military were also seen at one site where the abuses allegedly took place and urged Washington and Paris to investigate. Boko Haram's Islamist insurgency has devastated northeast Nigeria since it began in 2009, and the violence has spread to neighbouring countries, including northern Cameroon. Cameroonian troops are part of a regional military force that has been successful in forcing them out of captured territory in northeast Nigeria since early 2015. Amnesty's regional director for West and Central Africa, Alioune Tine, said Boko Haram had committed atrocities and war crimes in Cameroon. "But nothing could justify the callous and widespread practice of torture committed by the security forces against ordinary Cameroonians, who are often arrested without any evidence and forced to endure unimaginable pain," he said. "These horrific violations amount to war crimes," he added in a statement, calling for an independent investigation. - Crackdown - Amnesty said it had unearthed 101 cases of secret detention and documented at least 24 different types of torture at more than 20 different sites in Cameroon between 2013 and 2017. Four of the locations were military bases, two were run by the intelligence services, one was a private residence and another was a school. But most of the torture happened at the headquarters of the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR), which has led the fight against Boko Haram, and the DGRE intelligence agency. The majority of victims were men aged between 18 and 45 and from the Far North region, which has been repeatedly attacked by suicide and bomb attacks. Women, children and people with physical and mental disabilities were also targeted. All were accused of support for the Islamic State group affiliate, it was alleged. Torture methods included beating suspects with an electric cable while having water thrown on them, beatings to secure confessions and the use of excruciating stress positions. Deprivation of food, water and medical treatment was also used; 32 of the 101 victims said they had seen people die because of the torture and ill-treatment. The allegations -- similar to those made against the militayr in Nigeria -- are not the first against Cameroon, which has been criticised before for its heavy-handed crackdown. Last year, more than 100 people were sentenced to death by a military court, while three students were jailed for 10 years for sharing a joke about Boko Haram by text message. A Radio France Internationale reporter also received a 10-year prison term for allegedly supporting the jihadists. - Abuse probe - The report, "Cameroon's Secret Torture Chambers: Human Rights Violations and War Crimes in the Fight Against Boko Haram", said US and French troops were at one of the torture sites. Washington in 2015 sent some 300 soldiers to northern Cameroon to conduct intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations against Boko Haram. That includes an unnamed drone operation over the restive border region with Nigeria, run from a base in the northern city of Garoua. France, the former colonial power in Cameroon, runs its counter-terrorism operations against jihadist groups in the Sahel region from the Chadian capital, N'Djamena. Amnesty said it had written to the US and French embassies in Cameroon to ask about their military's presence at the BIR base in Salak, near the Far North region capital, Maroua. Tine said Washington and other international partners "should investigate the degree to which their personnel were aware of illegal detention and torture at the Salak base". They should also establish whether troops reported it to their superiors and the Cameroon authorities, he added. The US ambassador to Yaounde, Michael S. Hoza, wrote in response that it took seriously any allegation of human rights abuses by Cameroonian security forces. Some BIR units in Salak and elsewhere were not receiving US assistance "because of credible information implicating those units in the commission of (gross violation of human rights)", he added. Amnesty said they had received no immediate response from the French embassy. Palestinian Muslim worshippers pray next to Lions Gate, a main entrance to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, on July 19, 2017 Israel's army has been boosting its forces ahead of possible unrest over new security measures at a sensitive holy site that have angered Muslims and Palestinian leaders, a military spokeswoman said Thursday. Palestinians have been refusing to enter the Haram al-Sharif compound in annexed east Jerusalem since Sunday, when Israel began installing metal detectors at entrances to the site following an attack that killed two police officers. Palestinian and Muslim religious leaders have called on worshippers not to enter the compound through the metal detectors, and hundreds have been holding prayers outside the site, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, with clashes occasionally breaking out. The weekly Friday prayers draw the largest number of participants, and speculation has intensified over whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will order the removal of the metal detectors. On Thursday, the army said it was leaving five extra battalions on alert, including in the occupied West Bank. A spokeswoman told AFP the army would decide whether to keep them deployed for the entire weekend. Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan told army radio that Netanyahu would decide on the policy for the site but he "hoped" the metal detectors would remain in place over the weekend. Members of Netanyahu's right-wing coalition have been pressuring him to leave the metal detectors in place and "ensure security" at the site. "A few days ago two policemen were murdered because of a security breach," said Naftali Bennett, head of the far-right Jewish Home. "Caving in to Palestinian pressure now will hurt Israel's deterrence and risk the lives of visitors, worshippers and law enforcement officials on Temple Mount," Bennett said. On July 14, three Arab Israelis opened fire on Israeli police, killing two officers, before fleeing to the compound, where security forces shot them dead. Israel sealed off the site in the aftermath of the attack, saying the closure was necessary to carry out security checks. The site reopened on Sunday, but with metal detectors at entrances, prompting the Palestinian boycott over alleged Israeli efforts to expand their control over the sensitive site. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte made a surprise visit to the war-torn city of Marawi on Thursday where troops are still engaged in a brutal fight to crush Islamic State-inspired extremists. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte made a surprise visit to the wartorn city of Marawi on Thursday where troops are still engaged in a brutal fight to crush Islamic State group-inspired militants. Duterte flew by helicopter into the local military headquarters in a show of support for troops who have been engaged in an almost two month-long battle that has claimed over 500 lives. "He really showed his courage, he showed his strong support for our soldiers in their fight in Marawi City," said Lieutenant Colonel Jo-ar Herrera, spokesman of military forces in the warzone. "It boosted morale and the fighting spirit of the men and women of Task Force Marawi," Herrera told local media. Duterte, who was dressed in military camouflage, thanked the soldiers for their efforts and gave out watches and other gifts to cheer the soldiers up, Herrera added. The president, who declared martial law over the southern Philippines as the fighting began on May 23, stayed inside the camp, inspecting firearms seized from the militants, before departing, the spokesman said. The fighting in the southern city of Marawi, the Muslim capital of the largely Catholic Philippines, has become the greatest challenge facing Duterte, the first president to hail from the country's troubled south. The president has asked lawmakers to allow him to extend martial law over the south until the end of the year to deal with the militant threat but critics fear this would edge the country closer to dictatorship. The militants, who fly the black flag of the IS, have occupied large parts of Marawi for almost two months, defying airstrikes and artillery barrages, with parts of the city of 200,000 people left in ruins. The government on Thursday said at least 421 militants had been killed in the fighting which has also claimed the lives of 99 soldiers and police, as well as 45 civilians. The extremists continue to occupy parts of the city with about 300 civilians still trapped or held hostage by the gunmen. A boy looks on as Turkish soldiers march during an army parade in the northern part of Nicosia on July 20, 2017 to mark the 43rd anniversary of the Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus Turkey on Thursday accused Cyprus of taking "dangerous" steps in its search for energy resources in the Mediterranean, two weeks after crunch talks aimed at reunifying the divided island collapsed. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim visited the Turkish-controlled breakaway statelet of northern Cyprus to mark the 43rd anniversary of Turkey's July 20 invasion that led to the island's division. Negotiations between the Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders to reunify the island broke down in Switzerland on July 6 after the United Nations failed to broker a compromise deal. The talks had been given added focus by the growing importance of energy reserves in the eastern Mediterranean, in particular around Cyprus. Turkey argues that breakaway northern Cyprus has rights to any reserves discovered and is anxiously eyeing moves by the Greek Cypriot, internationally-recognised Republic of Cyprus to discover and exploit them. "Turkey believes the energy resources in the eastern Mediterranean are an opportunity but the one-sided steps taken by the Greek Cypriot side are untimely, dangerous and encouraging the lack of a solution," Yildirim said at a ceremony in Nicosia, quoted by state-run Anadolu news agency. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned global companies to stay away from any energy deal with the Greek Cypriots or lose Ankara's friendship. In a written message to mark the anniversary, Erdogan accused the Greek Cypriot side of showing an "uncompromising attitude" in the peace talks, in contrast to the "good intentions" of the Turkish Cypriot side. "Because of this, the (talks) unfortunately ended without results and no solution has been reached in the negotiation process," he said. Erdogan said that Turkey, which has tens of thousands of troops stationed in northern Cyprus, would continue to support the Turkish Cypriots and be a "guarantor" of peace in the region. In response to the gas exploration and drilling, Turkey has dispatched a frigate into international waters to the southwest of Cyprus to monitor operations. Turkish troops on July 20, 1974 invaded Cyprus's northern third in response to an Athens-inspired coup seeking union with Greece. Northern Cyprus declared itself independent in 1983 but the breakaway state is recognised only by Ankara. July 20 is celebrated in the north as the anniversary of the "Cyprus Peace Operation". For the majority Greek Cypriots, the invasion led to the occupation of 37 percent of the island, heavy loss of life and property, and a partition that persists to this day. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (C-L) greets Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah (C-R) upon his arrival in Tehran on June 1, 2014 Kuwait on Thursday expelled Iranian diplomats and closed some embassy missions after the emirate's top court convicted a "terror" cell of links to the Islamic republic, the foreign ministry said. The action was taken after a supreme court ruling last month said "Iranian sides helped and supported the cell members," the ministry said in a statement. A senior government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP around 15 diplomats were ordered to leave. Kuwait also ordered the closure of the Iranian "military, cultural and trade" missions, the official said. It was not immediately known if the Iranian ambassador is among the diplomats ordered to leave. Last month Kuwait's supreme court sentenced the mastermind of the cell to life in jail and condemned 20 others to various prison terms for alleged links with Iran and Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah, and plotting terror attacks in Kuwait. State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Al-Sabah, who is also acting information minister, confirmed Kuwait had taken diplomatic action against Iran. "Following the supreme court ruling on the case... the government of Kuwait has decided to take measures, in accordance with diplomatic norms and the Vienna Convention, towards its relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran," Sheikh Mohammad told AFP. The row comes at a time when Kuwait is trying to mediate an end to the Gulf's worst diplomatic crisis in years, after Saudi Arabia and its allies cut ties with Qatar over accusations it is too close to Iran and funds extremists. The Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Seyassah reported on Monday that 14 of the cell's 26 members had fled to Iran by sea. They were convicted by a lower court early last year but acquitted on appeals several months later and set free. The supreme court, whose rulings are final, overturned their acquittal on June 18 and sentenced them to between five and 15 years in prison. Kuwait's interior ministry confirmed on Tuesday that the 14 men were on the run but it said that they had not left the country through official exit points. The cell was busted in August 2015 and large quantities of arms, ammunition and explosives were seized from them, according to the Kuwaiti authorities. Kuwaiti courts convicted them of working for Iran's Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah. They were also convicted of smuggling explosives from Iran. The only Iranian member of the cell was sentenced to death in absentia by the lower court early last year. Unlike fellow Sunni-ruled Gulf partners Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, Kuwait maintained good relations with its Shiite neighbour Iran. In February, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani visited Kuwait City a month after the emirate launched a dialogue with Iran in a bid to normalise Gulf-Iran relations. In March 2011, a Kuwaiti court condemned four people of forming a spy cell for Iran. That led to the expulsion of ambassadors by the two countries but they returned a few months later. Around a third of Kuwait's native population of 1.35 million is Shiite. Kelly Slater is an 11-times world surfing champion Surf giant Kelly Slater will be out of competition for up to six months after breaking his foot when a wave rammed his surfboard at Jeffreys Bay in South Africa. The 45-year-old American, 11-times world champion, said on his Instagram account the "prognosis is now looking like 4-6 months recovery." On Tuesday Slater posted a harrowing x-ray of the foot asking "You ever folded your entire foot backwards?" "Kinda like smashing my foot with a big hammer as hard as I can. Sorta feels like I'm giving birth out of my foot right now," he said. Having won the first round of the competition in South Africa, the accident happened on Monday. "I pulled into a barrel (rolling wave) this morning and the whitewash bounced the board back into my foot as I hit the closeout, taking all the pressure into the metatarsals." The world surf league said on their site Slater had to be taken from the water after the accident and was rushed to hospital. More than 330,000 people have been killed in Syria since its conflict broke out in March 2011 with anti-government protests At least 28 Syrian government soldiers and pro-regime fighters were killed Wednesday in a rebel ambush in the Eastern Ghouta region near Damascus, a monitor said Thursday. The fighters came under attack by the Army of Islam rebel group as they attempted to advance in the town of Al-Rihan, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The Eastern Ghouta region is a major rebel stronghold near the capital, and it has been the frequent target of government military operations. Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said rebels opened fire on the government troops as they entered an area where the opposition fighters had planted mines. He said the ambush was the deadliest incident for government fighters in Eastern Ghouta since February 2016, when 76 regime troops were killed in Tal Sawane. Eastern Ghouta is in one of the four proposed "de-escalation zones" designated in an agreement reached by government allies Iran and Russia and rebel backer Turkey in May. But the deal has yet to be fully implemented over disagreements on the monitoring mechanism for the safe zones. In recent weeks, government warplanes have bombed the Ain Terma area that links Eastern Ghouta to the rebel-held parts of the Damascus neighbourhood of Jobar. More than 330,000 people have been killed in Syria since its conflict broke out in March 2011 with anti-government protests. Voting in Kenya takes place largely along tribal lines, with tensions fanned by what is seen as a winner-takes-all political scene Kenya's appeals court on Thursday quashed a ruling cancelling a contract to print presidential ballot papers, a victory for the electoral commission less than three weeks before general elections. The decision comes two weeks after the high court ordered the electoral commission to start a tender process from scratch, arguing a lack of transparency in the awarding of the printing contract to a Dubai-based firm. The pending court case raised tensions in the lead-up to what is set to be a close battle between incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga on August 8, with observers on high alert for possible violence. However, the five-judge bench at the appeals court quashed the ruling. It said Odinga's opposition coalition NASA had failed to prove that there were links between the Dubai-based firm and Kenyatta. In addition, "the trial court erred when it imposed requirement for public participation", said the judges. August's elections come a decade after politically-motivated ethnic violence left over 1,100 people dead following a disputed vote in 2007 between Odinga and former president Mwai Kibaki. Kenyatta and Odinga previously went head-to-head in the last election in 2013, with Kenyatta winning with a knife-edge 50.07 percent of the vote in the first round. Heated campaigning has seen Kenyatta accusing Odinga of using all means to create a political crisis and incite Kenyans against each other, often harking back to the violence of 2007. Meanwhile Odinga says he is "poised for an outright win" and insists Kenyatta's Jubilee Party is planning to rig the elections. Voting in Kenya takes place largely along tribal lines, with tensions fanned by what is seen as a winner-takes-all political scene. At least 33 people were killed in clashes between cattle herders and farmers in Nigeria's northern Kaduna state, a police chief said At least 33 people were killed in clashes between cattle herders and farmers in Nigeria's northern Kaduna state, a police chief told AFP Thursday. Two days of violence between herders and farmers erupted on Sunday in Kajuru village, 50 kilometres (30 miles) outside the city of Kaduna, said state police commissioner Agyole Abeh. "A total of 33 people were killed in the violence between Fulani herdsmen and farmers," said Abeh. "The violence started when some villagers attacked a young Fulani man and his father, which led to the death of the young man after he was admitted in hospital." The victim's kinsmen gathered from nearby settlements and launched a reprisal attack on the village, killing six men, said Abeh. In response, the youth from the farming communities "mobilised and went into the bush attacking and burning Fulani settlements they could find", he added. "Our men were contacted but before they could deploy, the attackers had killed 26 people, mostly women and children and injured several others." Security personnel have since been deployed to the area to maintain peace. Nigeria's Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has ordered reinforcements in Kaduna state following the clashes. He condemned what he said were the "needless deaths" and expressed frustration with the security challenges in southern Kaduna. Osinbajo promised to ensure that the "perpetrators of these dastardly acts" were identified and brought to justice, he said in a statement issued on Wednesday evening. Southern Kaduna has seen a spate of deadly clashes between the predominantly Christian farmers and Muslim Fulani herders, a historically nomadic people who graze their cattle on the land. Originally, the clashes were over land and water rights disputes. But ethnicity and religion have been playing a larger role in the conflict after post-election violence in 2011 that saw hundreds of Muslims killed and forced to flee the area. Without a national strategy in place to address the conflict, tensions between herdsmen and farmers have not subsided, and tit-for-tat killings have become common. Experts blame a heavy-handed, militarised response by the government, and incendiary comments from political and religious leaders for fanning the flames of animosity. Citigroup will follow other global banks in moving some operations to Frankfurt from Canary Wharf in London due to Brexit Citigroup has picked Frankfurt as its headquarters for broker-dealer duties for EU countries after Brexit, a Citigroup executive announced Thursday in an email reviewed by AFP. The operations are currently housed in London at Citigroup Global Markets, but is expected to lose passporting rights to the EU after Brexit takes effect in 2019, said James Cowles, Citigroup chief executive for Europe, Middle East and Africa. "We will need to develop a new solution for the EU market," Cowles said in the message to employees. "Frankfurt is our first choice for headquartering our EU broker-dealer based on the existing infrastructure, and the people and expertise we already have on the ground." Cowles did not say how many jobs would be shifted to Frankfurt. The bank also expects that "over time" it will increase its presence in other key EU cities, including Amsterdam, Dublin, Luxembourg, Madrid and Paris. "It is not yet possible to assess the outcome or timing of the Brexit negotiations, but in certain circumstances we may need to create approximately 150 new roles located in the EU," Cowles said. "In all cases, London will remain both our EMEA headquarters and an important global hub for Citi." Citigroup's move makes it the second big US bank to choose Frankfurt for an enhanced role after Morgan Stanley signaled plans to make the German city its temporary hub in the EU due to Brexit. Other banks that have expanded in Frankfurt due to Brexit include Nomura, Standard Chartered, Daiwa Securities and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group. News of Citigroup's pick was praised by Frankfurt Main Finance, an alliance of finance sector and government officials promoting the city, which is home to the European Central Bank. "Citi's decision supports our estimates of an additional 1,000 jobs moving to the Financial Centre Frankfurt this year and 10,000 jobs coming in the next five years," said FMF managing director Hubertus Vath. "The reported decision by Citi also reaffirms our confidence that at least 12 banks and perhaps as many as 20 will decide for Frankfurt this year." Full recovery: Abhishek Prasad had been suffering a neurological disorder that caused his hands to cramp An Indian man who strummed the guitar as surgeons operated on his brain has demonstrated how the unusual procedure has cured the problem hindering his ability to play. Abhishek Prasad had been suffering a neurological disorder that caused his fingers to cramp in one hand, preventing him from strumming his guitar properly. The 37-year-old sought treatment from numerous specialists before doctors at Bangalore's Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain Hospital recommended a bizarre procedure to reverse the condition known as 'musicians dystonia'. Surgeons drilled into his skull under anaesthetic and attached an electrode that allowed them to pinpoint where in the brain needed 'burning' to cure the rare nerve disorder. 'During this entire surgery Abhishek was fully awake and was playing the guitar, since this problem only comes when he tries to play,' Dr Sharan Srinivasan said in a statement Thursday. 'This feedback was very important for the doctors to get the exact location of the target to be lesioned.' Prasad described the surreal experience of being conscious on the operating table during the seven-hour procedure as his fingers slowly became more dexterous. Scroll down for video... Abhishek Prasad points towards his surgical scars while addressing a press conference held at the Mahaveer Jain Hospital in Bangalore Abhishek Prasad plays the guitar during brain surgery in Bangalore 'I was amazed to see my fingers improve magically on the operation table itself. By the end of the surgery, my fingers were 100 percent cured and I could move them like before,' he told the Times of India newspaper. Prasad had stitches removed Thursday in hospital, where he thanked doctors and played a few tunes to demonstrate how well he had recovered. Six members of a robotics team from Burundi -- pictured here in this undated police handout photo -- are reported missing in Washington, and police say two were seen crossing into Canada Two of six teens from Burundi who were reported missing in Washington after taking part in an international robotics competition have been seen crossing into Canada, police said Thursday. Police posted photographs of the six -- four young males and two females -- who participated in the First Global Challenge robotics meet -- on Twitter. "Two of the individuals were seen crossing over into Canada," said Karimah Bilal, a spokeswoman for police in the US capital. "We have no indication of foul play," she said. The Washington Post reported that the other four also were believed to be in safe hands, but Bilal said she had no information about their situation. First Global said it called police after learning that "the adult mentor of Team Burundi was unable to find the group of six students of the team." It said it makes sure that all students get to their dormitory at Trinity Washington University after the daily competition. They "are always to be under close supervision of their adult mentor and are advised not to leave the premises unaccompanied by the mentor," it said. The international competition drew attention after US President Donald Trump intervened to allow an all-girl robotics team from Afghanistan whose members had been denied US visas to compete. Burundi has been in the grip of a crisis since President Pierre Nkurunziza's controversial decision in April 2015 to run for a third term in office. He won elections in July that year which were boycotted by the opposition. Between 500 and 2,000 people have been killed in clashes in the east African country, according to UN and NGO sources. More than 400,000 people have fled and dozens of opposition activists have been forced into exile. "Iran's strong objection has been communicated to Kuwait's charge d'affaires. It was reiterated that Iran reserves the right to a reciprocal measure," said foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi Iran threatened to reciprocate Kuwait's decision to expel most of its diplomats on Thursday, saying the accusations that Tehran was behind a terrorist cell in the country were "baseless". "Iran's strong objection has been communicated to Kuwait's charge d'affaires. It was reiterated that Iran reserves the right to a reciprocal measure," said foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi in a statement on his Telegram channel. A senior Kuwaiti official had earlier told AFP that 15 Iranian diplomats had been asked to leave the country. The move follows a court case in which 21 people were found guilty of belonging to a cell that had been formed and trained by Iran's Revolutionary Guards, which Tehran has denied. "It is regrettable that Kuwaiti officials, in this sensitive situation in the region, instead of making an effort to reduce useless tensions... have targeted the Islamic republic with baseless accusations," an Iranian foreign ministry official told the Kuwaiti charge d'affaires during their meeting, according to Ghasemi. News agency IRNA said there were currently 20 diplomats working at Iran's embassy in Kuwait. It has not been confirmed whether Iran's ambassador Alireza Enayati is among those being expelled. Kuwait greatly reduced its diplomatic presence in Tehran last year after its ally Saudi Arabia completely severed relations with Iran, keeping only a charge d'affaires and two officials, according to IRNA. More than 3.5 million people have been forced to flee their homes in South Sudan where tens of thousands have been killed in a civil war since independence six years ago The United States warned Thursday that a new regional plan to shore up South Sudan's failing peace agreement was the last chance for Juba's leaders to end the war, now in its fourth year. US Deputy Ambassador Michele Sison told the UN Security Council that Washington will reconsider its support for the deal signed two years ago by President Salva Kiir and rival Riek Machar, if the latest effort fails. The remarks highlighted growing impatience by the US administration with leaders in South Sudan, which won independence from Sudan just six years ago with strong backing from the United States. "It is high time for action," Sison told the council. The plan agreed by the regional IGAD group is "the last chance for salvaging the peace agreement," she said. "If South Sudan's leaders do not participate in this high-level forum in good faith, and stick to its deadlines, the United States will need to review our position and priorities on support for the peace agreement and its implementing bodies." The seven-nation IGAD group agreed this month to launch the so-called "revitalization forum" to push for a permanent ceasefire and talks on ending the war, the latest bid by the regional leaders. Ethiopia's Ambassador Tekeda Alemu said the region was now speaking with "one voice" on South Sudan and that there was "no viable alternative" to the regional plan to support a settlement. - Nothing is changing - The United States has repeatedly called for an arms embargo and sanctions on those who are blocking peace efforts in South Sudan. A US bid to impose the tough measures failed to win support at the council in December after Russia, China, Japan, Egypt and four other countries abstained in a vote on a US-drafted sanctions resolutions. "The Security Council waits and waits," Sison deplored. "We wait for things to change in South Sudan, but nothing is changing in South Sudan." "The violence continues. Horrific atrocities are reported so often that they become almost routine." Tens of thousands of people have been killed and more than 3.5 million people have been forced to flee their homes in the conflict that has stirred ethnic rivalries between Dinka, Nuer and other groups. The war began when Kiir accused Machar, his former deputy, of plotting a coup and heavy fighting flared in Juba last year when Machar returned to the capital under the terms of the peace deal. Machar has since been residing in South Africa and regional countries, at the request of the United States, are preventing him from returning to South Sudan. The European Union and the troika -- Britain, US and Norway - separately condemned the ongoing violence in South Sudan and also threw their weight behind the plan by IGAD, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development. The new forum that would bring together South Sudan's leaders and regional players should be convened as soon as possible to agree on a ceasefire and negotiations, they said in a statement. US President Donald Trump (C) marked the six-month point of his president with a visit to the Pentagon, shaking hands with his Defense Secretary James Mattis (L) Donald Trump hit the six-month point of his turbulent presidency Thursday in combative style -- lashing out at his own attorney general over the probe into Russia's alleged election meddling that has dogged him from day one. Since taking office on January 20, Trump has been on a roller coaster ride, and the gut-wrenching twists and turns looked set to continue after Jeff Sessions vowed to stay on at the Justice Department despite a stinging public rebuke from the commander-in-chief. Publicly abandoning an influential early supporter, the 71-year-old Trump suggested Sessions had betrayed him in stepping back from investigations into alleged Kremlin-Trump collusion -- and said he wished he had never hired him. "How do you take a job and then recuse yourself? If he would have recused himself before the job, I would have said, 'Thanks, Jeff, but I'm not going to take you,'" Trump told The New York Times. "I think is very unfair to the president," Trump said. "It's extremely unfair, and that's a mild word, to the president." On Thursday, Sessions said he had no plans to resign in the wake of the blistering criticism. "I have the honor of serving as attorney general. It is something that goes beyond any thought I would have ever had for myself," the Republican former senator said. "I plan to continue to do so as long as that is appropriate," he added. When asked how he could continue to work without the confidence of Trump, Sessions replied: "We are serving right now. The work we are doing today is the kind of work we intend to continue." Despite Trump's comments, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said the president still had confidence in Sessions. "Clearly he has confidence in him or he would not be the attorney general," she said. - 'Brutal process' - Trump's expansive remarks to The New York Times painted a picture of a president preoccupied by allegations against him -- chief among them that his team may have colluded with Moscow to help tilt the election in his favor. In the interview, he warned special counsel and former FBI director Robert Mueller that some Trump family finances should be off-limits to his wide-ranging investigation. Asked if Mueller looking at finances unrelated to Russia would be a red line, Trump responded, "I would say yes." "I have no income from Russia. I don't do business with Russia," he added. Sanders said that Trump had no current plans to fire Mueller -- something that would spark a major political storm -- but refused to rule it out completely. The president "has no intention to do so at this time," she said. President Trump's first six months Trump's first six months in the White House have been as chaotic and contentious as any for a new president in living memory. Making good on a promise to shake up Washington, the Republican billionaire-turned-world leader has shattered norms at every turn, abandoning the usual presidential decorum and caution. But his bold and unambiguous campaign promises remain unrealized, as he has struggled to turn word into legislative deed, most notably in enacting health care reform. "It is tough. It's a very narrow path, winding this way. You think you have it, and then you lose four on the other side because you gave. It is a brutal process," he said. "Smart people, tough people -- couldn't get it done." The White House on Thursday lauded Trump's success in nominating a Supreme Court justice -- conservative Neil Gorsuch -- and overseeing a growing economy. "President Trump's impact on the economy has been immediate, spurring job creation across the country," the White House claimed. "Just six months in office, President Trump has taken historic action to eliminate wasteful and costly regulations that have stood in the way of hardworking Americans." Trump also traveled across Washington to the Pentagon on Thursday to highlight another bright spot in his administration -- military success in rolling back the Islamic State group. "We're doing very well against ISIS. ISIS is falling fast. Very fast," he said. Israeli border police officers install metal detectors outside the Lion's Gate, a main entrance to Al-Aqsa mosque compound, in Jerusalem's Old City, on July 16, 2017 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday urged his Israeli counterpart Reuven Rivlin to swiftly remove metal detectors that have outraged Muslim Palestinian worshippers at a sensitive holy site in annexed east Jerusalem. Palestinians have been refusing to enter the Haram al-Sharif compound since Sunday, when Israel began installing metal detectors at entrances to the site following an attack that killed two police officers. "Within the framework of freedom of religion and worship there can be no impediment for Muslims" entering the holy site, the Anadolu news agency quoted Erdogan as telling Rivlin. "Given the importance that Haram al-Sharif carries for the whole Islamic world, the metal detectors put in place by Israel should be removed in the shortest possible time and an end put to the tension," Erdogan added. The Turkish leader had earlier held telephone talks with Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas, telling him the measures imposed by Israel were "unacceptable". Turkey and Israeli last year ended a rift triggered by Israel's deadly storming in 2010 of a Gaza-bound ship that left 10 Turkish activists dead. But Erdogan, who regards himself a champion of the Palestinian cause, is still often critical of Israeli policy. Palestinian and Muslim religious leaders have urged worshippers not to enter the compound through the metal detectors, and hundreds have been holding prayers outside the site, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, with clashes occasionally breaking out. Erdogan expressed sadness over the "loss of lives" in the incident on July 14 when two Israeli police officers were shot dead by three Arab Israeli attackers who were killed by security forces. Erdogan said such violence could never be approved. A statement by the Israeli presidency said that Rivlin had reminded Erdogan that Israel had shown solidarity with Turkey over terror attacks on Turkish territory last year. "The steps taken on the Temple Mount were intended to ensure that such acts of terror could not be repeated," Rivlin told Erdogan. Erdogan's call came a day ahead of the weekly Friday prayers, with speculation intensifying over whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will order the removal of the metal detectors. The spokesman for Erdogan, Ibrahim Kalin, had earlier expressed concern that the use of the metal detectors was part of a step-by-step change in the status of the entire complex. Republican Senator John McCain, 80, has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer John McCain, the Republican maverick and conservative force in the US Senate, promised Thursday he would "be back soon" after being diagnosed with brain cancer. Since the diagnosis, McCain has been showered with tributes from all sides as an American original whose lifetime of public service included years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam and a 2008 run for the US presidency. "I greatly appreciate the outpouring of support -- unfortunately for my sparring partners in Congress, I'll be back soon, so stand-by!" McCain said on Twitter. McCain, 80, was found to have an aggressive form of brain cancer after undergoing surgery last week for a blood clot over the left eye. A former US Navy aviator, McCain was shot down over Hanoi in 1967 as he conducted a bombing mission during the Vietnam War. He spent five and a half years as a POW. As a sharp-tongued lawmaker from Arizona, McCain emerged as a hawk on foreign policy and a champion of the US military, albeit one who relished raking generals over the coals. He won the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, but lost the election to Barack Obama. He has been a critic of Donald Trump -- particularly the new president's friendly views of Russia's Vladimir Putin and skepticism about NATO. "Senator John McCain has always been a fighter. Melania and I send our thoughts and prayers to Senator McCain, Cindy, and their entire family," Trump said in a statement. "Get well soon." Refugees and migrants disembark from a passenger ferry, with many presenting registration papers stating that Germany or Austria is their final destination, on January 23, 2016 Austria's foreign minister Sebastian Kurz called on Italy Thursday to stop migrants from reaching the mainland by halting the ferry services from the islands where they first land. Kurz said he had told his Italian counterpart Angelino Alfano that "rescue missions in the Mediterranean cannot be seen as a ticket to central Europe", on the sidelines of an OSCE meeting in Vienna. "We hope that ferry services for illegal migrants will be halted between Italian islands like Lampedusa and the Italian mainland," Kurz said. "If people are quickly brought to the mainland from the islands and then continue to trek north, this will not only increasingly put pressure on central Europe but also encourage more migrants to set off" to reach the continent, he added. Italy on Thursday presented its programme for when it takes over the chair of the Organization for Security and Co-operation from Austria next year. Alfano said there will be a strong "focus... on the Mediterranean region", the migration crisis and terror threats, but also on promoting intercultural and inter-religious dialogue. Nearly 90,000 migrants have arrived in Italy so far this year, up over 10 percent compared with the same period in 2016. "The body this year was difficult, you know, lower back and some issues, but when I feel healthy, I feel that I can swing the club and come into links courses and feel like I can compete," said 47-year-old Ernie Els of South Africa Ernie Els fired a warning that he can still make his presence felt at a major as he shot a two-under-par 68 in the opening round of the British Open at Royal Birkdale on Thursday. Els started his day with a birdie at the par-four 1st -- where there have been some ugly scores in the opening round -- and he built on that with three more over the afternoon. There were also two bogeys, including a disappointing dropped shot at the last, but the South African, now 47, is only three shots shy of the clubhouse lead. That means he could have a say heading into the weekend, although he is braced for a challenging day weather-wise on Friday. "You can't take stock now. It's so far away. Today, if you shoot 70 or better today, that was a good opening round because of the weather changing," said Els. "Tomorrow (Friday), 74 might be great. So you've just got to look at where you are in the field, but I feel that I'm competitive. "This morning, I didn't even want to look out of the window. It sounded horrific. If it's like that tomorrow, obviously it's going to be tough." 'The Big Easy' is a two-time Open champion, winning at Muirfield in 2002 and again at Royal Lytham, just up the coast from Birkdale, in 2012. Since then he has gone into decline, not helped by injuries, but older players have often done very well in the Open of late -- Henrik Stenson was 40 when he won last year -- so there is hope for him yet. South Africa's Ernie Els plays his approach shot from the light rough on the 9th hole at Royal Birkdale golf course on July 20, 2017 "The body this year was difficult, you know, lower back and some issues, but when I feel healthy, I feel that I can swing the club and come into links courses and feel like I can compete. "I haven't played very well since Lytham. That's just the bottom line. "I enjoy this course. It plays a little bit like Lytham. There's a lot of iron shots that you have to play. You have to keep it between the bunkers, very much like Lytham. "And I feel you get fairer bounces around here. So you can be a little bit aggressive here and there. And it's kind of soft, which Lytham was, also." Republican Senator John McCain, 80, has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer The outpouring of affection for US Senator John McCain, who was recently diagnosed with brain cancer, highlights the respect the maverick Republican -- symbol of a bygone era of bipartisan cooperation -- has earned over his long career. The former Vietnam prisoner of war and 2008 Republican presidential nominee has been a reliably even-keeled voice in an increasingly partisan chamber, a lawmaker whose quick temper has never prevented him from reaching across the aisle to craft policy with political rivals. Former presidents Bush, Clinton and Obama joined President Donald Trump and hundreds of Republican and Democratic lawmakers in expressing their support since late Wednesday, when McCain's diagnosis was made public. As one, they paid homage to the 80-year-old as a "fighter," a "hero" -- nothing less than a national treasure. "He's in a special category of Americans, and we love him and respect him," the number two Senate Democrat, Dick Durbin, told AFP Thursday as he recounted his months-long work with the Arizona Republican on immigration reform. "He was terrific. One day, he would explode like Mount Vesuvius and the next day, smother you with kindness," Durbin added. "It just shows that beyond the meanness of politics, there is a humanity in politics." - Maverick - It isn't that McCain lacks an ideological compass; his convictions just don't always align with party orthodoxy. Decades ago, Senate alliances were based less on party than on issue or region. Cooperation was a hallmark. McCain entered the Senate in the mid-1980s, and while he brought his military hot temper to Washington, he appreciated the comity and compromise of the upper chamber. While the Senate has grown increasingly ideological, "he's always looking for a bipartisan solution," said Republican colleague John Cornyn. However, for all his engagement in domestic issues, McCain's bailiwick is foreign policy. He is a national security hawk, mocked by isolationist Republicans for never saying no to military conflict -- notably in Syria, where he pressed former president Barack Obama to intervene. As a presidential candidate in 2008, he defiantly said US troops should remain in Iraq for 100 years. McCain can embrace partisanship if need be: he has been a harsh critic of Hillary Clinton's time as secretary of state. In domestic politics, he usually votes with his party. But he has also defied them, as when he teamed up with Democrats to draft an immigration reform plan that would have legalized millions of undocumented workers. And it was through McCain's leadership that Congress passed legislation against torture. - Compromise - John McCain McCain has rarely disguised his contempt for Tea Party colleagues, who flooded into Congress beginning in 2010, intent on upsetting the die-hard habits of forging ties with the other side through quiet backroom drinks or exercise in US Capitol gyms. The impulsive McCain lashed out at the new breed of conservative Republicans, calling them "wacko birds." In a 2013 interview with AFP, he said he believed it was crucial to have "built up the trust of a lot of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle." "I've also, in the tradition of Ronald Reagan and (former longtime House speaker) Tip O'Neil, been willing to compromise without betraying principles," he added. - 'Fighting with passion' - McCain has been described as an iconoclast, or an embittered old man of the Senate. Earlier this week, Trump referred to him as "crusty." But the senator insisted he is "the same guy, fighting with passion, trying to do what he thinks is right." It is that approach that clashes with the degradation of political civility symbolized by Trump's ascent. McCain is the son and grandson of admirals, himself a former fighter pilot who spent more than five years as a POW in Vietnam. So he felt stung when in August 2016, candidate Trump verbally attacked the family of a Muslim-American soldier killed in combat. "It is time for Donald Trump to set the example for our country and the future of the Republican Party," McCain said. The flash of fury led the billionaire businessman's supporters to turn on McCain. But voters in Arizona re-elected him to a sixth term in November. After the election, McCain vowed to talk less about Trump and focus on his work as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. But as administration missteps mounted, McCain spoke out. He has become one of the party's visible critics of Trump's foreign policy, especially on Russia. The senator expressed outrage at Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he has described as a murderer, and the Kremlin's cyber-campaign to influence the US election. Even suffering a new health setback, McCain's feistiness was intact Thursday as he tweeted for the first time since his diagnosis. "Unfortunately for my sparring partners in Congress, I'll be back soon," he wrote, "so stand-by!" Tanzania's newly elected president John Magufuli delivers a speech during the swearing in ceremony in Dar es Salaam, on November 5, 2015 Tanzanian opposition number two Tundu Lissu was arrested on Thursday, three days after having called President John Magufuli a "dictator", party sources said. No reasons were given for the arrest of Lissu, a member of the main opposition party Chadema who serves as the chief whip of the opposition in parliament and also leads Tanzania's bar association. Government spokesman Hassan Abbas reacted to Lissu's comments earlier this week by saying in a statement "the government will not accept that someone, or a group of people, abuse the freedom of expression". Lissu was arrested at Dar es Salaam airport as he attempted to take a plane to Rwanda, Chadema spokesman Tumaini Makene told AFP. On Monday Lissu told reporters that repeated arrests of senior party members, locally and nationally, were intended to muzzle any opposition to Magufuli, in power since late 2015. Addressing his comments to the international community, he called for "the dictator and his government, to be isolated politically, diplomatically and economically." Magufuli, whose nickname "tingatinga" means "bulldozer" in Swahili, swept to power in 2015, presenting himself as a no-nonsense, corruption-busting, man-of-the-people. However, critics see a wide authoritarian streak at the core of his populism. They argue he acts on impulse regardless of due process or political niceties, while being intolerant of any dissent. Lissu spoke of a "climate of fear which reigns everywhere", accusing Magufuli of constructing "a system based on favouritism, nepotism, tribalism and regionalism". Opposition meetings are banned, newspapers have been shut down and journalists and artists have been threatened or received death threats for criticising the administration. Saharawi men hold up a Polisario Front flag in the Al-Mahbes area near Moroccan soldiers guarding the wall separating the Polisario controlled Western Sahara from Morocco on February 3, 2017 The Algerian-backed Polisario Front movement seeking independence for disputed Western Sahara on Thursday denounced as "unjust" a Moroccan court's decision to sentence a group of Sahrawis to prison. On Wednesday a court in Sale near Rabat sentenced 23 Sahrawis to prison terms ranging from two years to life over the killing of 11 members of the Moroccan security forces in Western Sahara. The case had been closely followed by human rights campaigners. Morocco and the Polisario Front have accused each other of provoking deadly clashes between police and Sahrawi protesters at a camp for displaced people in Gdeim Izik in November 2010. "The Moroccan authorities of occupation were not able to prove the accusations against the detainees despite all the means of torture (they used against them) and the threats," the Polisario said in a statement. It said Wednesday's verdict was "unjust" and aimed at "stifling the voice of the Sahrawi people who are demanding their legitimate rights". In 2013 a military court sentenced the defendants to jail terms ranging from 20 years to life imprisonment. International rights groups condemned that trial as "unfair" and in July the Court of Cassation ordered a civilian court to examine the case. The court issued its verdict after 14 hours of deliberations, issuing sentences against 19 defendants ranging from 20 years to life. Four others were given lighter sentences but were not detained as they have already served their time. The defence has 10 days to appeal the ruling, along with a decision to dismiss claims for damages. The killings took place on November 8, 2010 as Moroccan forces moved to dismantle the Gdeim Izik camp where thousands of Sahrawis were living. Eleven security personnel and two Sahrawi civilians were killed in the clashes that followed, which spread to the nearby city of Laayoune where businesses and public buildings were looted and torched. Morocco says Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony mostly controlled by Rabat, is an integral part of the kingdom. The Polisario Front demands a referendum on self-determination for the territory. A Sudanese boy rides a donkey past a UN-African Union mission in Darfur (UNAMID) armoured vehicle in the war-torn town of Golo in the thickly forested mountainous area of Jebel Marra in central Darfur on June 19, 2017 A reduction in fighting in Sudan's Darfur, where a brutal conflict has killed thousands, prompted the UN to downsize the number of peacekeepers deployed there, a top UN official said Thursday. In June, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution that will cut the number of troops and police serving in the joint African Union-UN mission in Darfur, known as UNAMID, by 30 percent despite concerns raised by rights groups and US officials. The United Nations and African Union maintain that the Darfur conflict is winding down and that the mission -- among the costliest with a budget of over $1 billion -- should be trimmed. "The fact is that there is much less fighting in Darfur," Jean-Pierre Lacroix, chief of UN peacekeeping operations, told reporters in Khartoum. He said a trimmed down UNAMID will be redeployed mainly to the mountainous Jebel Marra region which still is "complicated and more tense". Deployed in 2007, UNAMID has about 16,000 blue helmets on the ground who are tasked with protecting civilians in the war that Sudan's government forces and pro-Khartoum militias are waging against rebel groups. The Darfur conflict erupted in 2003 when ethnic minority rebels took up arms against President Omar al-Bashir's Arab-dominated government, accusing it of marginalising the region. Since then, more than 2.5 million people have been displaced and 300,000 killed, the UN says. The Security Council decided to downsize UNAMID after US pressure led to a $600-million cut in the UN budget for peacekeeping operations. Human rights groups warn that the Darfur conflict is still far from over and that the withdrawal of UN peacekeepers will leave many areas of the region without international protection. "As we have seen it is not clear that the government is fully able at this point to do that," Top US envoy to Sudan Steven Koutsis told AFP in June. - Darfur students blocked - In a separate incident, some 1,000 students from Darfur who were trying to enter Khartoum to demand the release of some fellow pupils accused of killing two policemen were prevented by security agents from entering the capital, activists said on Thursday. The students from Bakt al-Rida university in the state of White Nile were stopped at the southern gate of Khartoum two days ago, Abbas al-Khair, a representative of Darfur Students Association told reporters in Khartoum. Two groups of students had clashed in May over the result of an election for the university's student union, Khair said, adding that two policemen were killed when they intervened to break up the clashes. The university had also expelled 14 Darfuri students at that time, Khair said, demanding that they be readmitted into the university. He said nearly 1,000 students from Darfur studying at the university had quit the university in protest at the arrest of the 10 students and expulsion of the other 14 in May. "We want the detained students to be released and those expelled to be taken back in the university," Khair said. Amnesty International criticised Sudan's powerful National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) for preventing the students from entering Khartoum. "Instead of stopping them, the authorities should protect them and ensure that their grievances are heard," said Amnesty's Muthoni Wanyeki in a statement. This handout photo provided by the Shenyang Municipal Information Office shows late Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo's wife Liu Xia praying as they bury Liu's ashes at sea off the coast of Dalian, Liaoning Province, on July 15, 2017 UN rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said Thursday he plans to meet with Chinese officials to push for assurances that the widow of late dissident Liu Xiaobo will be allowed to leave China. Zeid came under fierce criticism from Beijing for his tribute to the Nobel laureate as a "principled champion" who "was jailed for standing up for his beliefs." A veteran of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, Liu died on July 13 of liver cancer while in police custody at a hospital in northeast China. Zeid told reporters that he intends to meet with Chinese officials soon to discuss the fate of his widow, Liu Xia, who has been under house arrest since 2010. "We are now focused on his wife and trying to ensure that she has freedom of movement," Zeid told reporters at UN headquarters in New York. "If she wants to leave China, she should be able to leave China." The UN human rights commissioner rejected Chinese claims that raising human rights concerns amounted to interference in domestic affairs. "We hold up a mirror," he said of his office's statements on human rights violations worldwide. Chinese officials have claimed that Liu Xia's freedom of movement has not been impeded "but the feeling was that she was being restricted," said Zeid. "We want to use this moment to assure ourselves that she is able to leave if she wants to." The United States and the European Union have also called on the government to free Liu Xia, a poet who has stayed out of politics. She has been under police watch since shortly after her husband was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010. Supporters of Dakar mayor Khalifa Sall carry placards during a demonstration for his freedom from detention in May 2017 Senegal's Supreme Court rejected bail for Dakar's popular mayor on Thursday, preventing him from campaigning in upcoming legislative elections and likely sparking further tensions with supporters of his rival, President Macky Sall. Mayor Khalifa Sall (no relation) was arrested more than four months ago on corruption charges and has been serially denied bail, but is at the top of a list of opposition coalition candidates vying for 165 seats in the July 30 vote. The mayor has not exhausted his appeals in the case and another bail request is pending before a Senegalese court. His lawyer told AFP the mayor was being "deprived of his political right to solicit votes from fellow citizens" as well as "his own right to vote" after the Supreme Court decision, which upholds the ruling of the appeal court. Mayor Sall was seen as a strong contender for the presidency before his arrest over the alleged misappropriation of 1.83 billion CFA francs ($2.85 million, 2.7 million euros) in city funds. His supporters say the timing of the allegations is designed to weaken his chances of forging ahead against his arch-rival, President Sall. The opposition candidate said he would accept "neither resignation nor the silence that the powers that be would reduce me to," in a letter written from jail this month, and denies all charges. On Friday rival supporters of President Sall and Mayor Sall clashed in northern Dakar armed with knives, injuring several people, and in April thousands protested against the opposition candidate's ongoing detention. Senegal is widely seen as one of Africa's most stable democracies. SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - Tropical Storm Don began lashing the southeast Caribbean with heavy rain and wind on Tuesday as it approached the region after forming in the Atlantic Ocean. A tropical storm warning was in effect for Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, while a tropical storm watch was lifted for Bonaire late Tuesday. "The shutters are up," said Joan Charles, administrative assistant at Barry's Country Retreat, a hotel in Grenada. "I just hope the whole island is spared as much as possible." The storm weakened as it approached the region, with maximum sustained winds dropping to 40 mph (65 kph), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. It was located about 35 miles (40 kilometers) southeast of Grenada and was moving west at 22 mph (35 kph) late Tuesday afternoon, forecasters said. The government of Grenada closed all businesses on Tuesday afternoon as it prepared to open shelters across the island. The Maurice Bishop International Airport is scheduled to close early Tuesday evening and reopen by late Wednesday morning. Meanwhile, the island's water and sewer authority said it would switch off all water systems until further notice. The storm's center is expected to move through the Windward Islands late Tuesday and drop between 3 to 6 inches (8 to 15 centimeters) of rain across Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and other nearby islands through Wednesday morning. Officials in Grenada said people should expect between two to five inches (5 to 13 centimeters) of rain starting Tuesday afternoon. They also warned of landslides and said waves of up to nine feet (three meters) were expected. Forecasters said Don is expected to further weaken late Tuesday or Wednesday. In the Pacific, meanwhile, Hurricane Fernanda regained strength far out to sea. It was centered about 1,415 miles (2,280 kilometers) east of Hilo, Hawaii, with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph (165 kph) and was moving to the northwest at 8 mph (13 kph). And newly formed Tropical Storm Greg was edging away from the Mexican coast. It was centered about 435 miles (700 kilometers) southwest of the Mexican port of Manzanillo with winds of 40 mph (65 kph). It was moving west at 9 mph (15 kph). AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - A special legislative session in Texas ordered by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott began Tuesday with loud protests over a revived "bathroom bill" targeting transgender people, renewed hostilities about a crackdown on immigration and GOP infighting that could keep demands of influential social conservatives again out of reach. Frustrations ratcheted quickly in a likely sign of things to come over the next 30 days, during which Abbott says he will be "establishing a list" of who's with him and who's not. Conservatives in the state Senate upended decades of precedent by swiftly advancing a regulatory bill that must pass before the Legislature can work on anti-abortion measures, school vouchers and defanging local ordinances in Texas' big and liberal cities. Democrats chafed at the break in protocol but only were able to stall it for about an hour. Later, in the sweltering heat outside the Texas Capitol, many joined protesters in denouncing Abbott's determination to pass 20 measures this summer that would nudge America's biggest red state even further rightward. A young girl holds a sign as protesters gather on the steps of the Texas Capitol while State lawmakers begin a special legislative session called by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in Austin, Texas, Tuesday, July 18, 2017. Immigrant rights groups plan to increase protests of the new law that allows police to inquire about peoples' immigration status, while LGBT activists bitterly oppose "bathroom bill" proposals. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) Most attention is on Texas' version of the "bathroom bill" that's similar to what North Carolina passed last year, only to partially repeal it following economic and political backlash. Corporate behemoths including Apple, Amazon and AT&T are continuing to pressure Abbott to reject a bill that collapsed in May under opposition from the moderate Republican House leader who called it bad for the state's economy. There are no signs of House Speaker Joe Straus budging this time, which means the proposal's second chance is already on shaky ground. That fact has widened a rift with Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the powerful conservative Senate leader, whose escalating criticism of Straus has included comparing an ambitious but previously stalled House school funding measure to a Ponzi scheme. Tom Perez, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, urged protesters in a state that hasn't elected a Democrat statewide since 1994 to spend the next month fighting. "I don't understand your state because I thought a special session meant there were extraordinary circumstances," Perez told a crowd of a few hundred people. Standing nearby was former state Sen. Wendy Davis, who lost the governor's race to Abbott by 20 points in 2014. Abbott launched his re-election campaign Friday with nearly $41 million already on hand and no Democratic opponent in sight. He is taking a more aggressive posture for the special session after facing criticism for staying on the sidelines earlier. Speaking at a conservative think tank in Austin on Monday, Abbott made clear he was watching. "I'm going to be establishing a list. You all, or other organizations, may be establishing a list," Abbott said during the Texas Public Policy Foundation event. "We all need to establish lists that we publish on a daily basis and call people out. Who is for this, who is against this, who has not taken a position. No one gets to hide." His comments were aimed at Republicans, since Democrats are too outnumbered to block any legislation on their own. One Democrat filed a bill to repeal a "sanctuary cities" ban signed in May that lets police ask people during routine stops whether they're in the U.S. legally. The repeal effort has no chance of passing but the ban, known as SB4, continues stirring tensions. On the final day of the regular session in May, Republican state Rep. Matt Rinaldi said he reported protesters in the Capitol holding signs suggesting they were in the country illegally to federal immigration agents. He then was involved in a scuffle in which a Democratic lawmaker admitted he pushed the Republican and Rinaldi responded by saying he would use a gun in self-defense if needed. Things stayed civil Tuesday and both chambers adjourned after less than two hours of work. Lawmakers could as quickly as Wednesday pass the regulatory bill needed to keep some state offices running before taking up more contentious issues. ___ Follow Paul J. Weber on Twitter: www.twitter.com/pauljweber and Will Weissert on Twitter: www.twitter.com/apwillweissert Protesters gather in the Texas Capitol Rotunda as State lawmakers begin a special legislative session called by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in Austin, Texas, Tuesday, July 18, 2017. Immigrant rights groups plan to increase protests of the new law that allows police to inquire about peoples' immigration status, while LGBT activists bitterly oppose "bathroom bill" proposals. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) Peace Washington stands on the Texas seal as protesters enter the Texas Capitol while State lawmakers begin a special legislative session called by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in Austin, Texas, Tuesday, July 18, 2017. Immigrant rights groups plan to increase protests of the new law that allows police to inquire about peoples' immigration status, while LGBT activists bitterly oppose "bathroom bill" proposals. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) Peace Washington joins protesters gathered on the steps of the Texas Capitol while State lawmakers begin a special legislative session called by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in Austin, Texas, Tuesday, July 18, 2017. Immigrant rights groups plan to increase protests of the new law that allows police to inquire about peoples' immigration status, while LGBT activists bitterly oppose "bathroom bill" proposals. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - A Democratic member of the U.S. Senate committee that conducted confirmation hearings for Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt said in a letter Tuesday that Oklahoma's former attorney general presented "inconsistent and contradictory statements" to the panel. Pruitt's "misleading answers, evasiveness, and stonewalling" had stymied the committee's ability to provide oversight of the agency, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island wrote in a letter containing information about an ethics complaint against Pruitt being investigated by the Oklahoma Bar Association. "This conduct is unbecoming of an attorney who is also a public official and who, under law, is required to testify truthfully to Congress," Whitehouse said. FILE - In this Wednesday, May 3, 2017 file photo, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. is pictured on Capitol Hill in Washington. Whitehouse, a Democratic member of the U.S. Senate committee that conducted confirmation hearings for Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, said in a letter Tuesday, July 18, 2017, that Oklahoma's former attorney general presented "inconsistent and contradictory statements" to the panel. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File) The complaint was filed against Pruitt in March by the Center for Biological Diversity, a nonprofit organization that works to protect endangered species, and associate professor Kristen van de Biezenbos of the University of Oklahoma College of Law. Whitehouse is listed as a witness on the complaint. The complaint says Pruitt may have violated the Oklahoma Rules of Professional Conduct when he told the Senate committee in January that he only used his attorney general's email address to conduct official business. But documents released by the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office through an Open Records Act lawsuit in Oklahoma indicate Pruitt also used a personal email address to conduct official business, seeming to contradict Pruitt's sworn testimony, according to the complaint. Personal emails and other documents indicate Pruitt coordinated closely with fossil-fuel companies and special interest groups who worked to undermine federal efforts to curb planet-warming carbon emissions while serving as the state's attorney general. Democrats on the Senate panel have criticized Pruitt's close ties to the oil and gas industry. As Oklahoma's attorney general, Pruitt frequently sued the agency he now leads, including filing a multistate lawsuit against the EPA opposing the Obama administration's plan to limit carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants. In April, Whitehouse accused Pruitt of violating federal law by agreeing to be the keynote speaker at the Oklahoma Republican Party's annual gala dinner. Whitehouse filed an ethics complaint claiming that would violate the Hatch Act, which limits the political activities of executive branch employees. "You do not want to miss Pruitt at this year's OKGOP Gala, as he discusses his plans to slash regulations, bring back jobs to Oklahoma, and decrease the size of EPA!" said a flyer for the event sent out by the state party. Pruitt later withdrew from the event. Gina Hendryx, the bar association's general counsel, didn't immediately return a telephone call from The Associated Press seeking comment. NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - The Latest on a police officer shooting a woman to death in Norfolk, Virginia (all times local): 6:45 p.m. The U.S. Navy says a woman fatally shot by Virginia police after she shot and wounded her husband was an active duty sailor, as is her husband. Navy spokesman Matthew Allen said Tuesday that the husband, who was treated and released by a hospital after Monday night's shooting, is assigned to a unit on Naval Station Norfolk. Police in Virginia have not identified him. Virginia State Police say in a statement that 25-five-year-old India N. Nelson shot her husband after they crashed their cars near the base. Investigators say a Norfolk police officer then "engaged the woman and returned fire." Allen says Nelson was a nuclear technician assigned to the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Aircraft Carrier. ___ 2:55 p.m. Police in Virginia say an officer fatally shot a woman after she shot and wounded her husband at the scene of a car crash involving the couple. Virginia State Police said in a statement Tuesday that 25-year-old India N. Nelson had been in a domestic dispute with her husband on Monday in Norfolk. At about 7 p.m., she and her husband were driving separate cars when they crashed into each other near a gate at Naval Station Norfolk. After Norfolk police responded and began to investigate, state police said Nelson shot her husband. Authorities said a Norfolk police officer then "engaged the woman and returned fire." Nelson was pronounced dead at the scene. Her husband was in critical condition. He has not been identified. ___ 12:15 p.m. Police in Virginia say an officer fatally shot a woman who shot and wounded a man at the scene of a crash near a Naval base. Norfolk police said in a statement that officers responded to a crash near a gate at Norfolk Naval Station on Monday night and while they were there, a woman shot a man. Police say an officer "engaged the woman and returned fire." Police say the woman was pronounced dead at the scene and the man was in critical condition. The officers involved have been placed on administrative duty. Virginia State Police are investigating. Officials haven't released the names of the officers involved or of the woman who was shot. Norfolk police spokeswoman Jo Ann Hughes said the department doesn't release the races of officers or victims. She added that Norfolk patrol officers typically wear body cameras, although it's unknown if they captured the incident. She said such footage would be turned over to state police for their investigation. MOSUL, Iraq (AP) - Hundreds of suspected Islamic State members swept up by Iraqi forces in Mosul are being held in a cramped and stifling prison just outside the city. Associated Press reporters visiting the facility saw more than 100 prisoners packed into a dark room, lined up shoulder to shoulder on the floor. There was no electricity or ventilation, despite daytime temperatures well over 110 degrees F (45 C). The Iraqi officer who oversees the facility said it currently holds some 370 prisoners. He says authorities were overwhelmed with detainees as Iraqi forces cleared the last neighborhoods of the city earlier this month at the end of a grueling nine-month campaign. Suspected Islamic State members sit inside a small room in a prison south of Mosul, Tuesday, July 18, 2017. Hundreds of suspected Islamic State members swept up by Iraqi forces in Mosul are being held in a cramped and stifling prison just outside the city. (AP Photo/Bram Janssen) "Prisoners are infected with diseases, lots of health and skin problems, because they're not exposed to the sun," he said. "The majority can't walk. Their legs are swollen because they can't move." He said a provincial health team checks on the prisoners "occasionally." More than 1,150 detainees have passed through the prison over the past three months, with 540 sent to Baghdad for further investigation, the officer said. Another 2,800 prisoners are being held in the Qayara air base south of Mosul, and hundreds more in a few smaller facilities. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters. The Islamic State group seized Mosul when it swept across northern and central Iraq in the summer of 2014. As U.S.-backed Iraqi forces battled block by block to retake the city, the militants rounded up civilians and used them as human shields. Many fighters also fled the city by hiding among fleeing residents, complicating efforts by Iraqi forces to separate the militants from civilians. Prisoners who were discreetly interviewed by the AP insisted they were innocent. They spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing reprisals. "You won't find 10 real (IS members) among these guys. And all of them have spent more than six months here," one prisoner said out of earshot of the guards. "Since I got here eight months ago, I've only seen the sun once." He said he was a civil servant and had traveled between Baghdad and Mosul on several previous occasions before being detained. "They said my name was in their database. I haven't seen any court or judge. I don't even know what I'm accused of. A lot of names are the same," he said. He said two prisoners had died in the packed holding cell. Some prisoners "have pus coming out of their wounds. Once they go to the hospital, they come back with amputated legs or arms." "We really want to die," another prisoner said. "None of us have received any visitors, relatives, family members. They don't even know where we are." Suspected Islamic State member sit inside a small room in a prison south of Mosul, Tuesday, July 18, 2017. Hundreds of suspected Islamic State members swept up by Iraqi forces in Mosul are being held in a cramped and stifling prison just outside the city. (AP Photo/Bram Janssen) Photo by August March Imagine that as a child you moved to Albuquerque with your parents. You didn't have anything to do with that decision, butbeing the binding thing that family isyou ended up here in, amidst the cottonwoods, the river, the mountains and the accompanying high desert. Now add to that bucolic fantasy a touch of not-so-bucolic reality: your family isn't from here, from the United States of America. They're from the southern lands and they mostly came here so that things would be better for you, their children. But because they are undocumented immigrants who wandered north in search of freedom and opportunity, they're subject to deportation, and their livesand yours, toois burdened by the fear of being removed from what is essentially your home, your world, at the whim of the state. And it doesn't seem to matter whether there is a Democrat or a Republican living in the White House. According to immigration activists, during the Obama administration, key progressives couldn't push through legislation to stop the over-zealous enforcement tactics of federal immigration officials. After much debate and some sustained public pressure from immigrant groups around the USA, an executive order went out. Called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), the edict gave young immigrants some decent options, allowing them to stay in the United States while they worked on stuff like education and citizenship, also making them eligible for work permits. By applying for this deferral, they could avoid la migra altogether, albeit the two-year reenrollment procedure that deferral status also conferred upon particpants. DACA participants became known by the nickname Dreamers in pop culture, the media and in the hearts of citizens and advocacy groups who hope the best for this group, even as immigration enforcement changes radically under a nationalist president whose campaign platform specifically addressed the immigration issue in this country by calling for mass deportations and an exclusionary wall. Recent developments in this saga include a lawsuit by Republican state attorney generals demanding an end to the program, and a recent proclamation by Donald Trump that he understands the gravity of the situationvis-a-vis American cultural and economic developmentand will make the final decision himself about whether the Dreamers shall be allowed to persist and thrive under the aegis of the bald eagle. Throughout our great nation, DACA participants have begun to organize and purposefully make themselves visible, proclaiming on social media outlets this spring that they are here to stay, that this is their home. Recently Weekly Alibi had an opportunity to chat with two successful, politically aware Dreamers who are still looking toward the future despite the uncertainty of these times. Here's part of the conversation August March had with Gabriela Hernandez, executive director of New Mexico Dream Team and Isaac De Luna, communications director for Listo Nuevo Mexico, an immigrant advocacy group. Weekly Alibi: Trying to protect and give credence and support to our immigrant communities has become an important activity for progressive Burquenos. Tell me how we can further those goals. Gabriela Hernandez: I'm was undocumented myself. I was born in Ciudad Juarez. The reason we decided to migrate had to do with domestic violence. My mom was basically running away from my abusive father. But there were no jobs, no opportunities [in Mexico]. I was six years old. We didn't have the resources to get proper documentation for our move north. So, I grew up here. I didn't realize what it meant to be undocumented until much later in my childhood. I have been very privileged however to get a work permit through the deferred action program. So, I've had documentation since 2013, thanks to the DACA program. Now, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly is moving toward phasing out the program, and has said that two year permits granted under DACA may not be renewed. What does that mean for someone like you? For someone like me, that means going back. But I've been involved in the movement for so long fighting against injustice, fighting, not just for immigrants but for all people of color and LGBT rights too, that I feel I must continue, unafraid. With our grass-roots organizing, being involved on a local, state and national level, we were able to make DACA happen through community pressure. It was one of our big victories and we'll continue to work with that in mind. If president Obama's executive order is rescinded, how is that going to affect your life? It's taking away my opportunities here. Having deferred action allowed me to attend New Mexico Highlands University; that gave me the opportunity to have a job, to use my degree here in New Mexico. Most importantly, this all gave me the opportunity to have health care. Previously, I wasn't able to take care of my physical and mental health. I have a sustainable home now; having financial security in my life has relieved much pressure, but stopping the DACA program would be a barrier to me attaining my goals. When I think about the administration attacking DACA, I think about the youth who won't have the opportunities I've had. Issac, how are you involved in this program? Issac De Luna: I was born and raised in Torreon, Mexico, it's a northern city. My family and I moved to the US in 2005 and we were all undocumented immigrants. Now I am a permanent legal resident. But I have been through the experiencehow to navigate the language, the culture, the educational system. Being undocumented causes a lot of limitations for people who are looking for better opportunities for their families, for their children. In 2009, I first started getting involved in the immigration movement through my community college. I did outreach to other students. My job was to reach out to other undocumented students to tell them they didn't have to stop learning. How will changes to the program affect you and your family? It creates a worry and a fear. My brother is a current beneficiary of DACA. He relies on this protection from deportation. He relies on the program to provide better opportunities for his career and education in the United States. The DACA program has had an enormous impact on people across the country. It's allowed people to buy their first home, their first car, to have the physical ability to succeed, which is something undocumented families didn't have prior to DACA's enactment. Is the situation going to get better or worse? We've heard that DHS has stated that they're going to get rid of DACA. We believe we created it through the pressure that we created by mobilizing our people. We made it happen. In that same fashion, we're going to make sure that DACA doesn't go away without a fight. WASHINGTON (AP) - Now what? Senate Republicans were scrambling to pick up the pieces Tuesday after their attempt to repeal and replace the Obama-era health care law collapsed a second time. After working for months on a new health package, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., announced Tuesday that the Senate would vote to move ahead on a straight-up repeal early next week, at the request of President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and other Republicans. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., right, arrives for a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, July 18, 2017. President Donald Trump blasted congressional Democrats and "a few Republicans" over the collapse of the GOP effort to rewrite the Obama health care law. McConnell proposed a vote on a backup plan simply repealing the statute, but that idea was on the brink of rejection, too. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) But even that effort is failing. At least three GOP senators came out against that plan, which would deny McConnell the votes needed to even debate a bill. McConnell noted that a Republican-led Congress voted to repeal the law in 2015. But President Barack Obama was in the White House at the time, so Republicans knew he would he would veto the measure. This time, with Republican President Donald Trump in the White House, the vote would count. "If you voted in 2015 for it and now you're going to vote against it, you've got some explaining to do," said Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. A look at what could come next: ___ ONE MORE TIME If Senate Republicans can't round up the votes to repeal the health care law, they have several options. They can keep talking among themselves in an attempt to come up with another Republican-only plan. This strategy has been unsuccessful so far because, with 52 members, Senate Republicans can only afford to lose two votes. Conservatives and moderates in the House managed to bridge their differences and narrowly pass a bill. Since then, the president has called the House measure "mean" and Senate Republicans have been unable to rally around a replacement. Senators like Rob Portman of Ohio and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia are concerned that too many low-income people in their states would lose coverage, especially as those states fight an opioid epidemic. Conservative Republicans like Paul complained that the most recent Senate package didn't completely repeal the health care law. ___ HELLO, DEMOCRATS Senate Republicans can work with Democrats on ways to improve the program, but this would be a difficult marriage to arrange. Republicans say they are committed to repealing Obama's health care law, which is a nonstarter for Democrats. Democrats say they are open to improving the program, but that would fall well-short of Republican campaign promises. "Rather than repeating the same failed partisan process yet again, Republicans should work with Democrats on a bill that lowers premiums, provides long-term stability to the markets and improves our health care system," Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said. ___ CUT AND RUN TO TAX REFORM Congressional Republicans could drop health care and move on to overhauling the nation's tax code, but they will probably run into many of the same problems. Trump seemed to push this approach Tuesday. "I think we're probably in that position where we'll just let Obamacare fail," the president said. "We're not going to own it. I'm not going to own it. I can tell you that the Republicans are not going to own it." Trump said letting the program fail will encourage Democrats come to the table and negotiate. Republicans might find that they could use help from Democrats in tackling a tax overhaul as well. So far, Republicans are excluding Democrats from tax talks, just like they have on health care. But Republicans' slim majority in the Senate isn't going to get any bigger before the 2018 midterm elections, and it could get smaller after that. Taxes are likely to cause just as many divisions among Republicans as health care, both ideological differences and regional ones. For example, House Republicans and Trump have proposed eliminating the federal deduction for state and local taxes to help pay for lower overall income tax rates for everyone. Eliminating the deduction would raise about $1.3 trillion over the next decade, which could pay for a lot of other tax cuts. But the deduction is very important to high-tax states such as New York, New Jersey, California and Connecticut. All of these states are traditional Democratic strongholds, but some send quite a few Republicans to Congress - votes that GOP leaders will need to overhaul taxes. Rep. Leonard Lance, a five-term Republican from New Jersey, is leading the effort to keep the deduction. He said the White House "knows my position on this issue." ___ Follow Stephen Ohlemacher on Twitter at http://twitter.com/stephenatap MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) - Nobel Peace laureate Malala Yousafzai was greeted with cheers Tuesday by dozens of young women in northeastern Nigeria, where she spoke out for the many girls abducted under Boko Haram's deadly insurgency. The 20-year-old Pakistani activist told The Associated Press she was excited by the courage of the young women who are undaunted as they pursue an education amid one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. "This is part of my girl power trip, visiting many parts of the world," said Yousafzai, who also met with the freed Chibok schoolgirls taken in a mass abduction by Boko Haram more than three years ago. "I am here now because of the Nigerian girls. Fighting for them and speaking up for them." Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai, centre right, speaks with school girls in Maiduguri Nigeria, Tuesday, July. 18, 2017. Nobel Peace laureate Malala Yousafzai was greeted with cheers Tuesday by dozens of young women in northeastern Nigeria, where she spoke out for the many girls abducted under Boko Haram's deadly insurgency. (AP Photo/ Jossy Ola) Yousafzai visited internally displaced camps in and around the city of Maiduguri, where thousands have sheltered from Boko Haram's violence. The extremist group continues to carry out deadly attacks there, often using young female suicide bombers. "They have lived in the period of extremism," Yousafzai said of the young women around her. Many have seen family members killed. Yousafzai was 15 when she shot in the head by Taliban militants in 2012, targeted due to her advocacy for women's education. The Nobel winner said her Nigeria visit was significant because it was the partial fulfillment of what she advocated the last time she was there. In 2014, she pressed then-President Goodluck Jonathan to ensure the rescue of the more than 200 abducted Chibok schoolgirls. On Monday, Yousafzai met with more than 100 who have since been rescued and now stay in the capital, Abuja, for what the government calls rehabilitation. While she told the AP she shared their joy at being freed, she said she was not happy that the girls haven't been allowed to reunite fully with their families. She said she hopes they will "live with their family, live a normal life." Many others remain in Boko Haram captivity, "and the government must unite so that they should make sure that these girls are released," Yousafzai said. "Boko Haram themselves should learn that in Islam, such things are unacceptable," she added. "This is against humanity, this is against Islam." Yousafzai also met Monday with acting President Yemi Osinbajo, speaking up for the more than 10 million children displaced by Boko Haram and pressing for the declaration of a state of emergency for education in Nigeria. She also urged the international community to address the crisis in the country's northeast. Girls at the internally displaced camps said the Nobel winner's story of courage gave them inspiration for a brighter future. "Her story give us hope, that's why we too want to go to school and become something in life," said 15-year-old Fatima Ali. "We have to bear all pains like hunger to go to school. We barely eat once a day here. We have not eaten since morning because government people no longer bring us food for about two months now." Three million children in Nigeria's northeast are in need of support to keep learning, according to the U.N. children's agency. Nearly 1,400 schools have been destroyed during Boko Haram's insurgency, which began in 2009, and more than 2,295 teachers have been killed, the agency says. Ali said she was in school when Boko Haram attacked her town three years ago. "I want to become a soldier so that I could help my community to fight and kill Boko Haram, because they are not good people," she said. Another student, 15-year-old Fatima Grema, said she sees herself in Yousafzai. "Boko Haram abducted me and wanted to marry me," she said. After being taken from the town of Baga to a location near the Cameroon border, "I later managed to escape," she said. "I was not in school until I came to the camp here." Grema said she now wants to become a teacher. UNICEF's country representative Mohamed Malick Fall said Yousafzai's visit is a symbol of hope, and "we will do everything in our power to make sure all children can keep learning." Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai, centre right, stands during a visit to a school in Maiduguri Nigeria, Tuesday, July. 18, 2017. Nobel Peace laureate Malala Yousafzai was greeted with cheers Tuesday by dozens of young women in northeastern Nigeria, where she spoke out for the many girls abducted under Boko Haram's deadly insurgency. (AP Photo/ Jossy Ola) Nigerian activist Amina Yusuf, left, meets Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai, right, during a meeting with Nigeria's Acting President Yemi Osinbajo , at the Presidential villa, in Abuja, Nigeria, Monday, July 17, 2017. (AP Photo/ Azeez Akunleyan) Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai, left, shake hands with Nigeria's Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, right, during a visit at the Presidential villa, in Abuja, Nigeria, Monday, July. 17, 2017. (AP Photo/Azeez Akunleyan) Nigerian activist Amina Yusuf, left, and Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai, arrive for a meeting with Nigeria's Acting President Yemi Osinbajo , during a visit at the Presidential villa, in Abuja, Nigeria, Monday, July. 17, 2017. (AP Photo/Azeez Akunleyan) Nigerian activist Amina Yusuf, left, Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai, centre and Nigeria's Acting President Yemi Osinbajo pose for a photo during a visit at the Presidential villa, in Abuja, Nigeria, Monday, July. 17, 2017. (AP Photo/ Azeez Akunleyan) DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - A young Saudi man who was accepted to college in Michigan and 13 other minority Shiites are facing possible execution in the kingdom in a case that has drawn the attention of a major U.S. teachers' union. The American Federation of Teachers said in a statement that Mujtaba al-Sweikat was detained in 2012 in an airport in Saudi Arabia on his way to the U.S. to attend Western Michigan University. The university did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The teachers' union, which says it represents 1.6 million members nationwide, is urging President Donald Trump to demand that Saudi Arabia halt the execution of al-Sweikat and the others convicted on charges related to violent protests and clashes with police in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, which is heavily populated by minority Shiite Muslims. The Saudi government typically does not comment on such cases. Thousands of Saudi Shiites took to the streets in 2011 and 2012 during an upswell of protests across parts of the Arab world to demand greater rights and better government services. Many Shiites in Saudi Arabia have complained of discrimination, with tensions and violence spiking in recent weeks in the restive town of al-Awamiya. Prominent ultraconservative Sunni Muslim clerics in Saudi Arabia have in the past referred to Shiites as apostates, and Shiite protesters have also been accused of being allied with the kingdom's rival, Iran. The London-based advocacy group Reprieve told The Associated Press on Tuesday that al-Sweikat was 17 at the time of his arrest. Reprieve said al-Sweikat was charged with crimes including throwing makeshift firebombs at police, targeting security patrols in al-Awamiya, withholding information from police about rioters, taking part in organizing protests and disobeying the ruler - charges that can all carry the death penalty under Saudi Arabia's sweeping anti-terror law. Reprieve, which has spoken to a person who saw the charge document, said al-Sweikat and the others convicted of similar offenses now face "imminent execution based on false confessions extracted through torture in a secretive trial." Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch released statements last month calling the men's trial "grossly unfair." They said a court of appeals has upheld the convictions and death sentences. According to Reprieve the 14 were recently moved to the capital, Riyadh, from another prison, suggesting they could be executed soon. Saudi Arabia has one of the world's highest execution rates. On July 11 the kingdom executed four Shiites for protest-related violence and attacks on police. In January 2016 the kingdom executed 47 prisoners convicted of terrorism-related offenses including prominent Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, who had led protests in al-Awamiya against the government and ultraconservative Sunni clerics. He was charged with inciting violence against security forces and using his sermons to sow sedition, allegations he denied and said were politically motivated. GREENWICH, Conn. (AP) - Hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones says his firm plans to relocate to a new office in Connecticut and sell its current property to a prep school. Tudor Investment Corp. spokesman Patrick Clifford says it has been considering a move to a location closer to the commuter rail line to make it easier to travel back and forth to New York City. The firm has agreed to sell its 43-acre property in Greenwich (GREN'-ich) to the private Brunswick School, which is across the street. Tudor Jones said Tuesday the plan "reflects Tudor's high regard for the school and its academic mission" and his firm's "desire to leave this special property in the hands of a thoughtful owner." The firm plans to choose an office building in lower Fairfield County soon. HOUSTON (AP) - A murder charge has been dropped against a homeless man accused of fatally stabbing an 11-year-old Houston boy as the child walked home from school last year, prosecutors announced on Tuesday. DNA tests prosecutors received this week were inconclusive and there wasn't enough evidence to try 28-year-old Andre Timothy Jackson Jr. for murder, said Harris County First Assistant District Attorney Tom Berg. Josue Flores, a sixth-grader, was killed as he walked home from a science club meeting at Marshall Middle School just north of downtown Houston on May 17, 2016. Authorities say the boy was stabbed at least 20 times. Jackson is still a suspect in the slaying but authorities are essentially starting over with their investigation, Berg said. "This was a very difficult decision we had to make... We are not forgetting Josue," he said. Jerome Godinich, Jackson's attorney, said he was not surprised by the decision from prosecutors as he believed his client was not responsible for the boy's killing after reviewing evidence in the case. "I think the DA's office made the right decision," Godinich said. Jackson, who's been jailed on a $100,000 bond since his arrest, was expected to be freed later Tuesday. Jackson, a Marine Corps veteran, had been arrested at the Salvation Army in downtown Houston, where he had lived for a couple of months. Prosecutors had said Jackson admitted he was the man seen on a surveillance video near the crime scene. But none of Josue's DNA was found on Jackson's clothing and no DNA from Jackson was found on the boy's clothing, Berg said. "We are not saying that Andre Jackson is innocent and is excluded as a suspect," said Tiffany Dupree, the prosecutor handling the case. "We're just saying at this point, if we tried this case to a jury, we don't feel we could secure a conviction." Godinich said he is not worried that Jackson will be charged again with the boy's murder. The boy's family was disappointed but they want prosecutors to be able to prove their case and get "justice for Josue," Dupree said. This was the second time prosecutors had dropped charges in the case. A 31-year-old man with a long criminal history was charged days after the killing, but that charge was dropped when detectives found evidence to support his alibi. ___ Follow Juan A. Lozano on Twitter at www.twitter.com/juanlozano70 ATLANTA (AP) - A notorious jewel thief with an illicit career spanning six decades has been caught stealing again, but she wasn't after sparkly gems this time, police near Atlanta say. Doris Payne, 86, was arrested at a Walmart store around 5 p.m. Monday and charged with shoplifting $86.22 worth of merchandise, according to a report from Chamblee police. The charge is a misdemeanor. Payne was the subject of a 2013 documentary film, "The Life and Crimes of Doris Payne," that detailed her feats. In an interview with The Associated Press last year, she casually acknowledged, "I was a thief." She's well-known in fine-jewelry circles, and authorities say she has pocketed expensive jewels from stores around the world. FILE - In this Jan. 11, 2016 file photo, Doris Payne poses for a photo in Atlanta. Police near Atlanta say a notorious jewel thief with an illicit career spanning six decades has been caught stealing again, but she wasn't after sparkly gems this time. A report from Chamblee police says 86-year-old Payne was arrested at a Walmart store around 5 p.m. Monday, July 17, 2017, and charged with misdemeanor theft by shoplifting. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File) Her attorney, Drew Findling, noted that this case is different. "This is a sharp contrast to all the cases in the past. We're not talking about high-end jewelry," he said. "We're talking about what an 86-year-old woman needs to survive on a day-to-day basis, food supplies and medical supplies." The police report doesn't list the items that Payne allegedly tried to steal. Findling said he's reviewed the police report but still needs to watch surveillance video footage to see what happened. Payne's latest arrest came after a Walmart employee notified an off-duty police officer working security at the store that Payne visited the pharmacy, electronics and grocery departments. She put some items in her shopping cart but hid others in her purse and a Walmart shopping bag, the employee said. Payne then went to a register and paid for the items in her shopping cart but not the items in her shopping bag and purse, the employee said. When she tried to exit the store the employee and the off-duty officer stopped her. When Payne was booked into the Chamblee jail, police discovered she was wearing an electronic ankle monitor because she was on probation from a prior arrest in DeKalb County. She pleaded guilty in March to a felony shoplifting charge after authorities said she tried to steal a $2,000 necklace from a Von Maur department store in December. She bonded out of the Chamblee jail and was likely to be booked into the DeKalb County jail for charges of violating her probation, Findling said, adding that he'd like to get things cleared up as quickly as possible. Payne was about 10 days shy of having the ankle monitor removed and had been complying with her probation before this arrest, Findling said. Payne was raised in West Virginia and moved with her family to Ohio when she was a teenager. Authorities have said she has used at least 22 aliases over the years and probably got away more often than she was caught, though she has done several stints in prison. The Jewelers' Security Alliance, an industry trade group, sent out bulletins as early as the 1970s warning about her. Payne told the AP she was a child when a friendly store owner let her try on watches and then forgot she had the jewelry on. She said she realized then that a simple distraction could make it easy to slip out with a fancy trinket in hand. Her career began in her 20s when she got the idea that she could support herself by lifting jewelry. WASHINGTON (AP) - Housing Secretary Ben Carson pledged Tuesday to "work toward a time when no family is without a home" - even as the Trump administration seeks sharp budget cuts that critics say would lead to more people living on the streets. "A man will not beat addiction from a gutter, he will not get psychiatric help underneath a bridge, and he will not find a steady job without a steady address," Carson said, to applause from a packed ballroom at a conference organized by the National Alliance to End Homelessness. Consider the enormous costs of emergency room care, the potential danger and money for extra policing, he said. "It actually saves public resources if we first provide housing, and work with people from there." In this photo taken April 19, 2017, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, left, talks with Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla. in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Carson is pledging to "work toward a time when no family is without a home," even as the Trump administration seeks sharp budget cuts that critics say would lead to more people living on the streets. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki) Spokesman Raffi Williams said Carson will make homelessness a top priority at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Carson, a conservative Republican who challenged President Donald Trump for the GOP nomination last year, spoke as Congress considers Trump's budget for fiscal year 2018 - a plan that calls for cutting about $7 billion from the $48 billion HUD budget. That includes cuts to homeless assistance grants and a reduction of nearly $1 billion to Section 8 rental assistance, which helps about 2.2 million low-income families afford housing. The Trump budget also would eliminate funding for the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. While promising to fight homelessness, Carson drew on his own experience as a doctor to suggest that government assistance shouldn't become a way of life, either - an analogy that drew heckles from one woman in the audience. Carson said doctors don't let people with curable diseases sit in hospitals after months, or years. "They're not doing their job. In the same way, we cannot be satisfied to throw resources at services that merely subsidize homelessness. We need to cure it ... and find a permanent home, and permanent healing," Carson said. "It doesn't work that way," shouted one woman, briefly interrupting Carson. She later declined to be interviewed by the AP. Another woman at the conference, Elaine Williams of Richmond, Virginia, said she was pleased to hear Carson was making homelessness a priority. Williams, 23, grew up poor like Carson, and at times had no permanent roof over her head, living with friends as a teenager. "I believe he said things that he wants to deliver on, but I'll have to see it to believe it," Williams said after Carson's remarks. Williams is a co-policy chair at Advocates for Richmond Youth, a nonprofit that works to end youth homelessness in the Virginia city. Nationally, homelessness has been on the decline in recent years. According to government estimates, there were about 550,000 people who experienced homelessness on a single night in 2016 - a decline of 14 percent since 2010. OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - CSX Corp. delivered a 15 percent improvement in second-quarter profit as the railroad continues to restructure under its new CEO. The Jacksonville, Florida-based company said Tuesday it earned $510 million net income, or 55 cents per share. That's up from $445 million, or 47 cents per, share a year ago. The railroad's results were weighed down by $122 million in restructuring charges related to changes CEO Hunter Harrison has made as he works to streamline operations and impose tighter schedules for trains. Without those charges, the railroad said it would have reported earnings per share of 64 cents. In this Thursday, Jan. 26, 2017, photo, a CSX freight train passes through Homestead, Pa. CSX Corp. reports financial results, Tuesday, July 18, 2017. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) The results topped the adjusted 59 cents per share that the 11 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research expected on average. Harrison said he is pleased with the progress CSX has made so far. "Although there still remains a lot to be done, we are confident that these initiatives will drive improved customer service, greater resource efficiency and superior shareholder value," Harrison said. The freight railroad's revenue grew 8 percent to $2.93 billion as it hauled 2 percent more freight. That beat the $2.85 billion revenue that analysts expected on average. Edward Jones analyst Dan Sherman said the quarterly numbers show Harrison is already getting results. CSX's board approved spending another $500 million on repurchasing its own shares to boost the plan to $1.5 billion. The railroad reiterated its outlook for a 25 percent improvement over last year's earnings per share of $1.81. The analysts surveyed by FactSet had been predicting adjusted annual earnings per share this year of $2.29. The 72-year-old Harrison was hired by CSX after pressure from the Mantle Ridge hedge fund that owns 5 percent of the railroad. Harrison previously led turnarounds of Canadian Pacific and Canadian National railroads. CSX operates more than 21,000 miles of track in 23 Eastern states and two Canadian provinces. Its shares have increased 52 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has increased roughly 10 percent. The stock was down $2.15, or about 4 percent, at $52.49 in extended trading following the release of the earnings report. _____ Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on CSX at https://www.zacks.com/ap/CSX _____ Keywords: CSX, Earnings Report, Priority Earnings DALLAS (AP) - A return to higher fares helped boost United Airlines' second-quarter profit above Wall Street expectations, but the momentum behind rising prices could be fading. United said Tuesday that it expects a key revenue per seat figure to be flat in the June-through-September quarter. That tepid forecast fell far short of Delta Air Lines' outlook for the rest of summer, and United's shares dropped in extended trading. There are particular reasons for United's more cautious outlook, including Delta's greater reliance on the strong U.S. travel market. Still, United's third-quarter forecast is likely to renew investors' concerns that airlines are again growing faster than demand requires, leading to too many seats for sale. In this June 27, 2017, photo, a United Airlines jet taxis to a gate at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. United Continental Holdings, Inc. reports financial results, Tuesday, July 18, 2017. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato) United said that revenue for every seat flown one mile rose 2.1 percent in the second quarter. But it forecast that the same, closely watched measure would be flat - between up 1 percent and down 1 percent - in the third quarter, when the airline expects to grow its passenger-carrying capacity by 4 percent. Chicago-based United, the third-largest U.S. carrier by revenue behind American and Delta, is trying to rebound after mistakes such as using too many small planes on key business-travel routes. More recently, CEO Oscar Munoz has set out to fix the airline's reputation for poor customer service, which hit a low in April when employees called Chicago airport officers to drag a 69-year-old man off an overbooked flight. There have been signs of improvement. In the latest government figures, covering May, United's on-time rating was virtually the same as Delta's and better than American's, and it canceled flights less often than American or Southwest. Its rate of consumer complaints, however, was still higher than average. Munoz said in a statement that United was narrowing the profit-margin gap with rivals, and that improving financial and operating figures show "that United is firmly on the right path." He conceded that the company still has work to do before realizing its potential. Airline executives are scheduled to discuss the results and outlook in a call with analysts and reporters on Wednesday. United Continental Holdings Inc. said second-quarter net income rose to $818 million, a 39 percent increase from a year ago, when profit was hurt by one-time charges related to United's hub airport in Newark, New Jersey. Excluding non-repeating items, United said it would have earned $2.75 per share. That topped the average estimate of $2.72 per share from nine analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research and $2.68 per share from 17 analysts polled by FactSet. Revenue rose 6 percent to $10 billion, also surpassing analysts' forecasts of $9.96 billion to $9.97 billion. United shares fell 88 cents to close Tuesday at $78.90. After the release of financial results and the lackluster forecast of third-quarter revenue per mile, they dropped another $2.86, or 3.6 percent, to $76.04. ___ David Koenig can be reached at http://twitter.com/airlinewriter NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Pharmacies in Tennessee are accusing the state of breaking federal law and endangering people with bleeding disorders such as hemophilia by reducing reimbursements for prescription blood-clotting drugs through its Medicaid program. Hemophilia is very rare, affecting about 20,000 people in the United States, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the drugs used to treat it are among the most expensive on the market, according to the Hemophilia Federation of America. A lawsuit filed last week by specialty pharmacies and their wholesaler accuses TennCare of targeting clotting-factor pharmacies, based on a faulty survey, to save $12 million to $15 million annually. "TennCare's voluntary decision to save money by singling out clotting factor has placed the bleeding disorder community in great danger," the lawsuit says. TennCare spokeswoman Sarah Tanksley declined to comment, citing the pending litigation. If the reimbursement rates that took effect April 1 aren't immediately blocked, at least seven specialty pharmacies that aid about half of TennCare's bleeding disorder patients will have to withdraw from serving them and close their Tennessee operations, the lawsuit says. Many of these patients need preventive doses several times a week, plus daily doses if they experience a bleeding event. And unlike non-specialty outpatient drugs, clotting factor has complex dispensing and medication management requirements that drive up costs, the lawsuit says. Patients who forgo clotting treatments risk deteriorating joints and otherwise avoidable joint and bone replacement surgeries due to microscopic bleeding from normal bodily movement, the lawsuit says. "These pharmacies cannot afford to dispense clotting factor to patients if they are losing significant amounts of money with each dispense," says the lawsuit, filed in Davidson County Chancery Court by Hemophilia Preferred Care of Memphis, Inc., First Choice Home Infusion, LLC, InTouch Pharmacy LLC and Twelvestone Medical, Inc.; and wholesaler National Cornerstone Healthcare Services, Inc. Hemophilia Preferred Care of Memphis, Inc. said it serves 17 TennCare enrollees who need the blood-clotting drugs. Just one of them needed 530,000 units of a particular clotting drug last year; the same amount this year would mean a $160,000 loss per month for the pharmacy, the lawsuit says. PARIS (AP) - The Latest on the departure of France's military chief (all times local): 1:20 p.m. Francois Lecointre, a career military officer who led the EU military training mission in Mali, is to be named France's new military official, after his predecessor quit in a dispute with President Emmanuel Macron. FILE - In this March 5, 2013 file photo, French Gen. Francois Lecointre, speaks during a media conference at EU headquarters in Brussels. Lecointre, who led EU training mission in Mali, is to be new French military chief after predecessor quit in dispute with French President Emmanuel Macron. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File) Government spokesman Christophe Castaner confirmed the appointment Wednesday. Lecointre served in Sarajevo during the Yugoslavia wars in the 1990s and recently led the mission in Mali to help fight Islamic extremists. Earlier in the day, Gen. Pierre de Villiers submitted his resignation after a clash with Macron over budget cuts, a new challenge to Macron's administration and his economic reforms. Macron's office sought to play down tensions over de Villiers departure, but French defense commentators described their public dispute as a serious crisis. ___ 10:30 a.m. France's military chief has quit in a dispute with President Emmanuel Macron over budget cuts, a new challenge to Macron's administration and his economic reforms. The office of Gen. Pierre de Villiers, chief of staff of the armed forces, said he submitted his resignation to Macron at a security council meeting Wednesday. Macron's office did not immediately comment. De Villiers lashed out at new spending curbs during a closed-door parliamentary commission meeting last week, according to leaked reports. Macron then publicly upbraided him, saying, "it is not dignified to air certain debates in the public sphere. I made commitments (to budget cuts). I am your boss." Macron has promised to boost defense spending to 2 percent of GDP by 2025 as part of France's commitments to NATO, but his budget minister last week announced limits on this year's military expenses. FILE - In this July 14, 2017 file photo, French Army Chief of Staff, General Pierre de Villiers, and French President Emmanuel Macron stand in the command car during the annual Bastille Day military parade on the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris. France's military chief has quit over a dispute with Macron over defense spending, in a new challenge to Macron's administration and his economic reforms. (Etienne Laurent/Pool Photo via AP, File) FILE - In this July 14, 2017 file photo, French Army Chief of Staff, General Pierre de Villiers, arrives to attend the annual Bastille Day military parade on the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris. France's military chief has quit over a dispute with President Emmanuel Macron over defense spending, in a new challenge to Macron's administration and his economic reforms. (Etienne Laurent/Pool Photo via AP, File) FILE - In this July 14, 2017 file photo, French President Emmanuel Macron, left, and Chief of the Defense Staff Gen. Pierre de Villiers, right, drive down the Champs Elysees avenue during Bastille Day parade in Paris. France's military chief has quit over a dispute with President Emmanuel Macron over defense spending, in a new challenge to Macron's administration and his economic reforms.(AP/Photo/Markus Schreiber, File) LONDON (AP) - Queen Elizabeth II has visited Canada House in central London to mark Canada's 150th birthday. The queen was joined by her husband Prince Philip at the celebration Wednesday. She was given a sapphire brooch from the Canadian people to mark her sapphire jubilee. Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, sign the visitor's book at Canada House in Trafalgar Square, central London, Wednesday July 19, 2017, marking the 150th anniversary of Canada's Confederation. The queen will meet various dignitaries and guests during her visit to celebrate the establishment of modern Canada 150-years ago. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP) Governor General David Johnston used what is likely to be his final meeting with the queen before his term of office ends to thank Elizabeth for her "65 years as our sovereign." He praised her role in Canada's national life. The queen toured a collection of Canadian artifacts from the royal collection - including many with photographs of her presiding at important events. It was the final public engagement before the queen begins an extensive summer holiday in Scotland. NEW YORK (AP) - Chipotle says a Virginia store that was temporarily closed because of a suspected case of norovirus will reopen Wednesday. The store in Sterling shut Monday after Chipotle became aware of reports of illnesses. The chain said the reported symptoms were consistent with norovirus, which can cause vomiting and diarrhea and is a leading cause of outbreaks from contaminated food. Chipotle noted norovirus doesn't come from its food supply, but company's stock nevertheless fell, underscoring its vulnerability following its food scares in 2015. It said Wednesday that its procedures are designed to provide quick detection in the rare cases where such events occur. The company previously said the store would reopen Tuesday. A local health official says his office recommended keeping the store closed an extra day as a precaution. NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - A Kenyan court on Wednesday sentenced three men to death for stripping naked and abusing a woman during a wave of attacks by mobs claiming that women were inappropriately dressed. The three men were found guilty of robbery with violence, which carries a death sentence. Kenya's death penalty, by hanging, has not been carried out since 1987 and all such sentences are commuted to life imprisonment. Most of the series of attacks in 2014 were captured on cell phone video. They prompted protests in Kenya called #MyDressMyChoice. The victim told the court the three men were among seven on a public bus who tried to rape her but stopped when she said she was HIV-positive. "They subjected her to humiliation and untold degrading, inhuman treatment," Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi said. The three men pleaded for leniency, asking the court to consider that they had spent three years in custody during the trial. Attacks on women who are deemed inappropriately dressed are common in some East African countries. Rights groups have said the attacks illustrate an identity crisis: Men claim that women are inappropriately dressed according to African culture, yet some Kenyans on social media have pointed out that many African tribes traditionally wear few or no clothes. BEAVERCREEK, Ohio (AP) - The white officer who killed a black man carrying an air rifle at an Ohio Wal-Mart that he had picked up from a store shelf has returned to full duty. The Dayton Daily News reports (http://bit.ly/2tpPN7N ) the Beavercreek law director confirmed Tuesday that Officer Sean Williams had returned to normal duties. The Justice Department ruled last week he wouldn't face federal civil rights charges for killing John Crawford III in 2014. He had been assigned to administrative work shortly after the shooting. Williams shot the 22-year-old Crawford twice after officers responded to an emergency call about someone waving a rifle in the store. Police said Crawford didn't obey commands to drop what turned out to be an air rifle. A Greene County special grand jury declined to indict Williams criminally. ___ Information from: Dayton Daily News, http://www.daytondailynews.com NEW YORK (AP) - Chipotle says a Virginia store that was temporarily closed because of a suspected case of norovirus will reopen Wednesday, after "multiple teams performed complete sanitizations of all surfaces." The store outside Washington, D.C. closed Monday after Chipotle became aware of reports of illnesses. The chain said the reported symptoms were consistent with norovirus, which can cause vomiting and diarrhea. Norovirus is a leading cause of outbreaks from contaminated food, and infected employees are a frequent source of the outbreaks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Chipotle said norovirus doesn't come from its food supply, but company shares fell more than 4 percent Tuesday, underscoring its vulnerability following its food scares in 2015. They were down again about 1.2 percent on Wednesday. FILE - This Thursday, Jan. 12, 2017, file photo shows a sign on a Chipotle restaurant. Chipotle says a Virginia store that was temporarily closed because of a suspected case of norovirus will reopen Wednesday, July 19, 2017, after "multiple teams performed complete sanitizations of all surfaces." (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File) The company said Wednesday that its procedures are designed to provide quick detection in the rare cases where such events occur. It outlined a number of steps it has taken since an E. coli outbreak, such as the creation of a food safety council and the implementation of additional food handling and preparation procedures. "We continually strive to find new and innovative ways to ensure that our restaurants are safe," CEO Steve Ells said in a statement. Chipotle had previously said the store in Sterling, Virginia would reopen Tuesday. David Goodfriend, director of the Loudoun County Health Department in Virginia, said his office recommended keeping the store closed an extra day as a precaution. Goodfriend said that would reduce risk if there were any employees who were infectious, and give time for extra cleaning. Goodfriend says a stool sample was collected and sent to a state lab in Richmond for testing of norovirus. DETROIT (AP) - A Detroit-area doctor accused of performing genital mutilation on girls in a Muslim sect will remain in jail while she awaits trial. Federal Judge Bernard Friedman said Wednesday he's concerned that Dr. Jumana Nagarwala might flee the country if granted bond. Nagarwala has been in custody since April in a first-of-its-kind case in the U.S. The judge has granted bond to others, including the owner of a clinic where the alleged acts occurred. Nagarwala is charged with cutting at least six girls at the clinic in suburban Detroit, including two girls from Minnesota. The doctor denies any crimes and says she performed a religious custom that is sacred to her Muslim sect, the Dawoodi Bohra. The courtroom was filled with roughly three dozen members of her mosque. WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) - A North Carolina grand jury has indicted a man after authorities say he hit his young son in the head several times with a hammer. The Winston-Salem Journal reports the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office says 34-year-old Ramel Shabal Daye is jailed under a $1 million bond for attempted first-degree murder. Online jail records don't say if he has an attorney. According to police, Tremel Daye was attacked in October 2016, when he was 9 years old. He was treated at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center for severe head wounds. Court records show a Forsyth Superior Court judge has ordered that Daye to be taken to Central Regional Hospital in Butner, where doctors will determine if he has the mental capacity to stand trial. No trial date has been set. ___ Information from: Winston-Salem Journal, http://www.journalnow.com SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) - Authorities in El Salvador say two police officers have been killed by alleged gang members in separate incidents, and one of them was dismembered. The Attorney General's Office says a National Civil Police agent based in the San Salvador suburb of Soyapango was found hacked up in three bags left alongside a highway outside the capital. The statement Wednesday said the second officer was shot by suspected gang members who boarded a bus he was riding while on leave about 110 miles (177 kilometers) east of San Salvador. At least nine police have been killed by suspected gang members so far this year. In 2016, 47 police were killed, most while on leave. UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Available evidence in the murders of two U.N. experts in Congo leaves open the possibility that members of the government's security services, a militia operating in the area, or other armed groups were responsible, their colleagues on an expert panel said in a new report. The report to the U.N. Security Council, seen by The Associated Press on Wednesday, said Michael Sharp of the United States and Zaida Catalan of Sweden "were assassinated in a premeditated set-up" on March 12 in central Congo's violence-torn Kasai region under circumstances that are still unclear. The expert panel said they retrieved an audiotape dated March 11 in which Sharp and Catalan discussed a field visit the following day with representatives of "the Kamwina Nsapu family" - a militia active in Kasai whose customary chief Jean-Pierre Mponde was killed by Congolese army troops in August 2016. The panel said "the tape confirmed that the investigation aimed at better understanding Kamwina Nsapu's structure, its support networks and the potential recruitment and use of children." On March 12, Sharp, the panel's coordinator and expert on armed groups, and Catalan, a humanitarian expert, embarked on the field visit from Kananga, the provincial capital of Kasai Central, toward the locality of Bunkonde, the report said. The panel said they understand "that around 4 p.m. local time Michael Sharp and Zaida Catalan were executed by a heteroclite group of individuals not yet identified." Heteroclite refers to something "irregular." The bodies of Sharp and Catalan were found in a shallow grave two weeks later. The Congolese government obtained a cellphone video showing them being killed and blamed members of the Kamwina Nsapu militia. The experts said members conducted a preliminary analysis of phone records and a video of the murder as well as interviews. "The preliminary evidence does not yet allow the group to attribute responsibility for the murder," the experts said. "However, the available evidence does not preclude the involvement of different actors such as (pro- or anti-government) Kamwina Nsapu factions, other armed groups as well as members of state security services," they said. The report said the Kamwina Nsapu reacted violently to the Congolese army's killing of Mponde, their chief, including by launching attacks against "state agents and state symbols." This prompted the Congolese army and police to launch offensives against the insurgent movement, "often using disproportionate violence," it said. Dozens of mass graves have been discovered and video footage shows deliberate killings including of unarmed Kamwina Nsapu members, the report said. "Throughout 2017, this conflict moved away from an insurrection of a specific community towards a larger upheaval, spreading the Kamwina Nsapu label far beyond its initial confines," the experts said, adding that violence has now engulfed vast parts of Kasai, Kasai Central, Kasai Oriental, and Haut-Lomami provinces. The United Nations is holding a board of inquiry into the murder of the two experts and its report is due by the end of July. The United States and Sweden are conducting separate investigations. The panel of experts recommended that the U.N. Security Council authorize Secretary-General Antonio Guterres "to establish an independent international investigation" into the murders in order "to gather evidence to identify the perpetrators, their support networks and motives." U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley has also called on Guterres to initiate a special investigation into the killings. WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump told The New York Times in an interview Wednesday that he never would have appointed Jeff Sessions as attorney general had he known Sessions would recuse himself from overseeing the Russia investigation. In an extraordinary denouncement of one of his earliest backers in Washington, Trump said Sessions' decision to recuse himself from all matters related to Russia was "very unfair to the president." "Sessions should have never recused himself," Trump told the paper, "and if he was going to recuse himself he should have told me before he took the job and I would have picked somebody else." FILE - In this July 12, 2017, file photo, Attorney General Jeff Sessions speaks in Las Vegas. President Donald Trump says he never would have appointed Sessions as attorney general had he known Sessions would recuse himself from overseeing the Russia investigation. Trump makes the extraordinary statement about Sessions in an interview with the New York Times Wednesday, July 19. (AP Photo/John Locher, File) Sessions' recusal, announced following revelations that he had failed to disclose meetings with Russia's ambassador to the U.S., effectively paved the way for the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel. Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and potential ties between the Russian government and Trump campaign aides has cast a growing cloud on Trump's administration. A Trump adviser said the president's comments about Sessions reflected his long-running frustration with the attorney general's decision to recuse himself and echoed statements he has made privately. The adviser said the remarks were not intended to signal that Trump plans to fire Sessions. However, the adviser said the unknown factor was whether the public airing of grievances would prompt Sessions to resign, particularly given that the attorney general has previously offered to step down. The adviser insisted on anonymity in order to discuss the president's thinking. In the interview, Trump also appeared to threaten Mueller, suggesting he had damaging information on the former FBI director. Trump said Mueller's selection for the job was a conflict of interest because Trump had interviewed him to serve as the replacement FBI director. "There were many other conflicts that I haven't said, but I will at some point," Trump said. He lobbed similar conflict of interest charges at acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, and accused former FBI Director James Comey of briefing him on a dossier of unverified, incriminating information in an effort to gain leverage over the soon-to-be president. The Justice Department declined to comment on the interview. Trump also addressed the previously undisclosed conversation he had with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a dinner for world leaders at a summit in Germany. Trump said the pair spoke for about 15 minutes at the dinner and said the conversation consisted of "pleasantries more than anything else" - though he said he and Putin also discussed adoption. Russia had banned Americans from adopting Russian children in response to the Magnitsky Act, passed by Congress in 2012, which allowed the U.S. to impose sanctions on Russians deemed as human rights violators. It's the same topic Trump's oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., says he discussed with a Russian lawyer at a meeting that has drawn intense scrutiny - a coincidence Trump described in the interview as "interesting." CHICAGO (AP) - After running away from his Minnesota home in 1976, 16-year-old Jimmy Haakenson called his mother, told her he was in Chicago, then disappeared forever. More than 40 years later, a detective from Illinois arrived at the family's home to tell Haakenson's relatives that at some point after hanging up the phone, the teenager crossed paths with serial killer John Wayne Gacy. Haakenson's body, it turns out, was among dozens found in a crawl space of Gacy's Chicago-area home in 1978. But the remains were only recently identified thanks to DNA technology that wasn't available then, the Cook County Sheriff's Department announced Wednesday. Gacy was convicted of killing 33 young men and was executed in 1994. But the revelation about Haakenson is the latest turn in a yearslong effort to solve the remaining mystery surrounding Gacy's case: Who were the eight victims authorities hadn't been able to identify? Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart speaks at a news conference in Chicago, Wednesday, July 19, 2017, where he announced the identity of James Byron Haakenson, of Minnesota, as one of the victims of serial killer John Wayne Gacy. The teenager had left his home in 1976 and was last heard from in August of that year when he called his mother and told her he was in Chicago. (AP Photo/G-Jun Yam) James "Jimmy" Byron Haakenson's body is only the second person that authorities have identified since Sheriff Tom Dart in 2011 ordered the remains of the eight victims exhumed and asked families of young men who went missing in the 1970s to provide DNA samples. The first was William Bundy, a 19-year-old construction worker from Chicago whose remains were identified weeks after the exhumations. Haakenson's family in Minnesota plans to come to Chicago to mark his grave. "One of the worst people in the world that walked the earth murdered my brother," his sister, Lorie Sisterman, who lives in North St. Paul, said Wednesday. "You hope for something different," but she went on to add, "I'm so glad to know where my brother is." Gacy is remembered as one of history's most bizarre killers, largely because of his work as an amateur clown. The Chicago-area building contractor lured young men to his home by impersonating a police officer or promising them construction work. There, he stabbed one and strangled the others. Most of the victims were buried under his home, but others were dumped in a river. Illinois investigators long referred to Haakenson as simply "Victim #24." Haakenson came to Chicago hoping to strike out on his own in a city far bigger than the community of St. Paul where he lived, Dart said. According to Sisterman, the teenager had finally made good on his angry vows to his mother that he was going to run away. He was a boy, said Sisterman, who kept "trying to find himself." After bodies were found in Gacy's home, Haakenson's mother was suspicious enough that her son was among the victims that she came to Chicago to talk to investigators. But she left without any answers because there was no way to identify the skeletal remains without dental records, Dart said. The mother died a couple of decades later. Dart said a nephew of Haakenson became curious about the uncle he never knew and earlier this year went online to see if he could learn anything. That's when he discovered Dart's efforts to identify the remains of the eight young men. Dart said the nephew went to his father, Haakenson's brother, and his aunt, Lorie Sisterman, and persuaded them to submit the samples for testing. "We got an immediate hit," Dart said. Authorities believe the teen was killed in August 1976, in part because of where he was found in Gacy's house. Because Gacy was killing so many young men, his crawl space was filling up, forcing him to stack the bodies. Haakenson's body was directly underneath Rick Johnston, who was last seen at a concert in Chicago on Aug. 6, 1976, and was on top of a still unidentified young man known as "Victim #26." Over the course of the investigation, the Cook County Sheriff's Department has solved a number of cold cases. According to the department, investigators have located five missing persons who were alive and two missing persons who had died elsewhere in the country. For example, in 2013, Dart announced that one person who submitted DNA had allowed investigators to identify remains found in a wooded area in New Jersey as a teenager who ran away from a nearby orphanage in 1972. ___ Baenen reported from Minneapolis. FILE - This 1978 file photo shows serial killer John Wayne Gacy. Cook County Sheriff Sheriff Tom Dart plans to provide an update on a years long effort to identify unnamed victims of Gacy Wednesday, July 19, 2017 in Chicago. Dart will discuss the investigation that he launched in 2011. His office exhumed the skeletal remains of eight of at least 33 young men Gacy stabbed or strangled in the 1970s. (AP Photo/File) Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, left, speaks at a news conference in Chicago, Wednesday, July 19, 2017, where he announced the identity of James Byron Haakenson, of Minnesota, as one of the victims of serial killer John Wayne Gacy. The teenager had left his home in 1976 and was last heard from in August of that year when he called his mother and told her he was in Chicago. (AP Photo/G-Jun Yam) Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart speaks at a news conference in Chicago, Wednesday, July 19, 2017, where he announced the identity of James Byron Haakenson, of Minnesota, as one of the victims of serial killer John Wayne Gacy. The teenager had left his home in 1976 and was last heard from in August of that year when he called his mother and told her he was in Chicago. (AP Photo/G-Jun Yam) Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart speaks at a news conference in Chicago, Wednesday, July 19, 2017, where he announced the identity of James Byron Haakenson, of Minnesota, as one of the victims of serial killer John Wayne Gacy. The teenager had left his home in 1976 and was last heard from in August of that year when he called his mother and told her he was in Chicago. (AP Photo/G-Jun Yam) Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart speaks at a news conference in Chicago, Wednesday, July 19, 2017, where he announced the identity of James Byron Haakenson, of Minnesota, as one of the victims of serial killer John Wayne Gacy. The teenager had left his home in 1976 and was last heard from in August of that year when he called his mother and told her he was in Chicago. (AP Photo/G-Jun Yam) TOKYO (AP) - Japan's exports rose nearly 10 percent in June from a year earlier, while imports jumped 15.5 percent, biting into its trade surplus. A recovery in exports to China and the rest of Asia is helping sustain growth of the world's third-largest economy. The customs figures reported Thursday showed exports to China surged 20 percent from a year earlier, to 1.25 trillion yen ($11 billion). Exports to the U.S., Japan's biggest single overseas market, climbed 7 percent, to 1.3 trillion yen ($11 billion), while imports from the U.S. climbed 19 percent, to 716.9 billion yen ($6.4 billion). Overall, exports of vehicles and machinery showed the strongest increases, while oil and gas imports jumped 31 percent. The total trade surplus of 439.9 billion yen ($3.9 billion) compared with a 686.5 billion yen surplus in June 2016, down more than a third. MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - The fatal shooting of an Australian woman by a Minneapolis police officer responding to her 911 call "should not have happened," police Chief Janee Harteau said Thursday, adding that the officer's actions "go against who we are in the department." In her first public remarks since the death of Justine Damond, a 40-year-old life coach and bride-to-be, Harteau defended Officer Mohamed Noor's training but criticized his actions. "The actions in question go against who we are in the department, how we train and the expectations we have for our officers," Harteau said. "These were the actions and judgment of one individual." Minneapolis police chief Janee Harteau, center, stands with police inspector Michael Kjos, left, and assistant chief Medaria Arradondo during a news conference Thursday, July 20, 2017, Minneapolis. It was the first time she appeared publicly since the police shooting death of Justine Damond on Saturday. (Maria Alejandra Cardona/Minnesota Public Radio via AP) She added: "This did not have to happen. Justine did not have to die." Damond had called 911 twice late Saturday to report a possible sexual assault in the alley behind her house on Minneapolis' southwest side. Noor, who was in the passenger seat of a squad car, shot at Damond through the driver's side window. Noor has declined to speak with the state's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which is handling the investigation. His partner, Matthew Harrity, told investigators he was startled by a loud sound right before Damond approached the police vehicle. Neither officer had their body cameras turned on, which has drawn widespread criticism. Mayor Betsy Hodges said in a blog post Thursday that officers should turn them on any time they are responding to a call. Harteau also said the cameras should have been on. She said the department is making changes to its policy on the cameras, rolled out citywide eight months ago, including looking at technology that would turn them on automatically. Damond's family has said they want changes in police protocols, including a look at how often officers are required to turn on their cameras. Their Minneapolis attorney, Bob Bennett, said they also "want to see this person not be an officer." "He shouldn't be on the street with a gun making decisions," Bennett said, adding that he wanted to see Noor's training records, including how he did in situations involving when to shoot or not shoot. Harteau said a report on Noor's training showed no problems. "This officer completed that training very well," she said. "He was very suited to be on the street." Harteau faced several questions about her absence in the days following the shooting, which sparked anger and a demand for answers in the city and in Damond's home country. She said she had been backpacking in a remote area, it was "challenging" to return and that she had been in touch with her command staff. The Damond family is just the latest to seek changes in police practices following a shooting. Other police shootings around the U.S. - particularly the killings of black men by officers - led to calls for change that included everything from bias training for officers to upgraded technology. Sometimes those changes have been initiated by police departments. Other times they have been ordered by the federal government or through a lawsuit. Minneapolis police said earlier this week they already were reviewing their body camera policy before Damond's death. Issues being examined include having supervisors work with patrol officers to ensure the cameras are activated more frequently. Minnesota created a $12 million police training fund after the shootings of Philando Castile, a black motorist killed last year in suburban Minneapolis, and Jamar Clark, a black man killed in 2015 in Minneapolis. The Legislature also approved $35 million in programs meant to reduce long-standing economic disparities between black and white residents, which Black Lives Matter and other organizations targeted as a root problem behind tension with police. In Castile's case, Minnesota's governor and family members called for a federal investigation, and residents called for changes during city meetings. In the end, there was no federal civil rights investigation into Jeronimo Yanez, the St. Anthony officer who fatally shot Castile, but the city of St. Anthony requested a voluntary review by the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. That review is looking at traffic stops, recruitment practices and how the department works with the community. In Cleveland, the death of Tamir Rice helped spur a Justice Department investigation and consent decree that led to a revised use-of-force policy. The black 12-year-old was playing outside with a replica gun that shoots nonlethal plastic pellets when a white officer shot him in 2014. The revised policy requires officers to try de-escalation techniques, such as taking cover, to avoid using force. The department's previous policy allowed officers to use force, including firearms, if they determined it was "objectively reasonable," meaning it's something an average officer would do. The new policy says force must be necessary and "proportional" to the threat. It also requires officers to give first aid, something the boy didn't get until other responders arrived about four minutes later. In Milwaukee, the Justice Department's COPS program in 2015 laid out the broad strokes of a plan for the police force as part of a voluntary review that's still underway. That followed the death of Dontre Hamilton, a mentally ill black man who had been sleeping in a downtown park when an officer shot him 14 times in 2014. The review is looking at police use of force, racial disparities, community engagement and mass demonstrations. The COPS program also has agreed to review the policies of North Charleston, South Carolina, after the 2015 fatal shooting of Walter Scott. The review will examine how the department could improve its relationship with residents and its policing strategies. ___ Associated Press writer Doug Glass contributed. ___ Sign up for the AP's weekly newsletter showcasing our best reporting from the Midwest and Texas: http://apne.ws/2u1RMfv . This undated photo provided by Stephen Govel/www.stephengovel.com shows Justine Damond, of Sydney, Australia, who was fatally shot by police in Minneapolis on Saturday, July 15, 2017. Authorities say that officers were responding to a 911 call about a possible assault when the woman was shot. (Stephen Govel/www.stephengovel.com via AP) In this Wednesday, July 19, 2017 photo, a Robyn Traxler, a lifelong resident of the Linden Hills neighborhood, placed flowers at the memorial for Justine Damond on the steps of the Lake Harriet Spiritual Community church in south Minneapolis. The family of Damond, an Australian woman shot to death by a Minneapolis police officer, has hired an attorney who represented the family of black motorist Philando Castile, who was also slain by a Minnesota police officer. (Aaron Lavinsky/Star Tribune via AP) In this Wednesday, July 19, 2017 photo, a woman views a memorial for Justine Damond on the steps of the Lake Harriet Spiritual Community church in south Minneapolis. The family of Damond, an Australian woman shot to death by a Minneapolis police officer, has hired an attorney who represented the family of black motorist Philando Castile, who was also slain by a Minnesota police officer. (Aaron Lavinsky/Star Tribune via AP) In this May 2016 image provided by the City of Minneapolis, police officer Mohamed Noor poses for a photo at a community event welcoming him to the Minneapolis police force. Noor, a Somali-American, has been identified by his attorney as the officer who fatally shot Justine Damond, of Australia, late Saturday, July 15, 2017, after she called 911 to report what she believed to be an active sexual assault. (City of Minneapolis via AP) In this May 2016 photo provided by the City of Minneapolis, police Officer Mohamed Noor, right, is greeted by a well-wisher at a community event welcoming him to the Minneapolis police force. Noor, a Somali-American, has been identified as the officer who fatally shot Justine Damond, of Sydney, Australia, late Saturday, July 15, 2017. Authorities have released no details about what led to the shooting of Damond, a meditation teacher and bride-to-be, who was killed after calling 911 to report what she believed to be an active sexual assault. (City of Minneapolis via AP) JERUSALEM (AP) - Israelis and Palestinians dug in over new security measures at a contested Jerusalem shrine after a deadly attack there, as international efforts were underway to try and stave off a major conflagration after Muslim clerics called for mass protests at the site on Friday. Israel's public security minister insisted Thursday that the metal detectors were essential to maintaining security, while Palestinians and Muslim religious leaders called for mass protests in the city if they are not removed. Gilad Erdan told Israel's Army Radio that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will rule on the issue later in the day after he holds security consultations upon his return from a working visit to Europe. The Israeli security services are reportedly divided over what to do given the rising tensions surrounding the site. But Erdan rejected Arab accusations that new Israeli measures were an attempt to expand control over the site and insisted they were necessary to carry out proper security checks. Palestinian Muslims pray outside the Lion's Gate following an appeal from clerics to pray in the streets instead of the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, in Jerusalem's Old City, Wednesday, July 19, 2017. A dispute over metal detectors has escalated into a new showdown between Israel and the Muslim world over the contested Jerusalem shrine that has been at the center of violent confrontations in the past. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) "The Israeli police needs these metal detectors so the security checks can give a proper response to the security considerations," he said. "I assume there are contacts internationally to try to calm the situation, but in my eyes there is no reason why the situation should not be calm." Israeli security forces are on high alert ahead of Friday, the highlight of the Muslim religious week, when tens of thousands of Muslims typically attend prayers in the walled compound in Jerusalem's Old City. Muslim leaders have called for mass protests if the metal detectors are not moved before then. Conflicts over the holy site - known as the Temple Mount to Jews and Noble Sanctuary to Muslims - have repeatedly triggered Israeli-Palestinian confrontations. Three Arab gunmen launched an attack from there last week, killing two Israeli policemen at a gate to the Muslim-administered compound. In response, Israel began installing metal detectors - a security measure it said is used routinely at holy sites around the world. Hamas called the initial closure a "religious war" and called on followers to attack Israelis. Muslim clerics have been urging the faithful to skip prayers in neighborhood mosques on Friday and converge on the shrine, in an attempt to draw larger crowds. Worshippers have been asked this week to pray in the streets rather than submit to the new security procedures. Netanyahu, who is in Hungary, held a pair of urgent phone conversations with his security chiefs Wednesday and appears to be under intense international pressure to back down. Netanyahu said Israel is in close contact with Jordan, the traditional Muslim custodian of the shrine, to find a peaceful solution to the conflict. Jordan's ruling Hashemite dynasty, with ancestry said to go back to Prophet Muhammad, derives much of its legitimacy from custodianship over the shrine. The White House has also called for tensions to be reduced. The site remained quiet Thursday and Azzam Khatib, the director of the site's Muslim administration, or Waqf, said he was hopeful an arrangement could be found before the Friday prayers. "We will never ever accept any changes in the mosque, and Israel has to put an end to this crisis by removing the metal detectors," he said. Jerusalem resident Ruben Abu Shamsi said the status of the gates posed a "borderline" for tragedy. "I hope the Israeli government will be so wise to avoid the violence," he said at the site. Nationalist Israeli politicians have been pressuring Netanyahu from the opposite direction. Education Minister Naftali Bennett, leader of the pro-settler Jewish Home party, warned of an Israeli "capitulation" that "will damage Israel's power of deterrence and will endanger the lives of the visitors, the worshippers and the police officers." After last week's shooting, Israel closed the site for two days for searches. It was only the third closure since Israel captured the shrine, along with east Jerusalem and other territories, in the 1967 Mideast war. The closure drew wide condemnation from the Muslim world. Israel began opening the site gradually on Sunday. Jews revere the 37-acre (15-hectare) raised platform as the site of their biblical temples. It is the holiest site in Judaism and the nearby Western Wall, a remnant of one of the temples, is the holiest place where Jews can pray. Muslims believe the hilltop marks the spot from which the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven. It is Islam's third-holiest site after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia. Also on Thursday, the Israeli military said it shot and killed a 26-year-old Palestinian attacker who tried to stab soldiers at a checkpoint near the West Bank city of Hebron. In the past two years, Palestinians have killed 45 Israelis, two visiting Americans and a British tourist in stabbings, shootings and car-ramming attacks. During that period, Israeli forces have killed more than 255 Palestinians, most of them said by Israel to be attackers while others were killed in clashes with Israeli forces. Israel blames the violence on incitement by Palestinian political and religious leaders to commit attacks. Palestinians say the attacks stem from anger over decades of Israeli occupation of territories they claim for their future state. ____ Mohammed Daraghmeh contributed from Ramallah, West Bank. A Palestinian man walks towards a metal detector at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, Wednesday, July 19, 2017. A dispute over metal detectors has escalated into a new showdown between Israel and the Muslim world over the contested Jerusalem shrine that has been at the center of violent confrontations in the past. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) Israeli border police officers stop a Palestinian woman for a security check as Palestinians gather for prayer at the Lion's Gate, following an appeal from clerics for Muslims to pray in the streets instead of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, in Jerusalem's Old City, Wednesday, July 19, 2017. A dispute over metal detectors has escalated into a new showdown between Israel and the Muslim world over the contested Jerusalem shrine that has been at the center of violent confrontations in the past. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) KIEV, Ukraine (AP) - In a story July 20, The Associated Press reported erroneously that Ukrainian journalist Volodymyr Volovodyuk was beaten to death in a June 12 attack. He was beaten but survived. A corrected version of the story is below: Year after reporter killed in Ukraine, no progress in probe After a renowned journalist was killed last year in Ukraine's capital by a car bomb, the president promised all-out efforts to solve the case By YURAS KARMANAU and DMYTRO VLASOV Associated Press KIEV, Ukraine (AP) - After renowned journalist Pavel Sheremet was killed in a car bombing in central Kiev last year, Ukraine's president promised all-out efforts to solve the case. But as of Thursday's anniversary of his death, there has been no visible progress. Instead, say Ukrainian journalists, the case is mired in either incompetence or deliberate inaction. In a country where violence against journalists is frequent, reporters feel more in danger than ever. The killing of 44-year-old Sheremet, who was driving in central Kiev to appear on a morning radio show on July 20, 2016, was a shock that resonated far beyond Ukraine. The Belarusian native had received international awards and was widely lauded for bold reporting at home, where he was jailed for three months and then given a two-year prison suspended sentence in 1997. He later moved to Russia, where he worked for a TV station controlled by Putin critic Boris Berezovsky, then went to Ukraine to work at respected internet publication Ukrainska Pravda. Ukrainska Pravda was long a thorn in the side of Ukraine's corruption-ridden elite. Its first editor, Heorhiy Gongadze, was found decapitated in 2000 and audio recordings later emerged that implicated then-President Leonid Kuchma in his killing. The failure to find Sheremet's killer leaves Ukraine's journalists feeling imperiled. "Lack of progress in the Sheremet case is better than any declaration to show how authorities really care about the safety of journalists," National Union of Journalists head Sergei Tomilenko said. Sheremet's friends, colleagues and activists gathered Thursday morning around the time that Sheremet was killed. About 200 people laid flowers and left candles at the intersection where his car blew up before setting off to march to the presidential administration to express their frustration with the investigation. Some of the mourners spray-painted "Who killed Pavel?" on the sidewalk outside the presidential administration and plastered a posted with Sheremet's portrait at the entrance to National Police headquarters. Police say the killing was committed carefully, making identifying suspects harder. "Unfortunately, the criminal offense was committed with good quality, so the investigation has not yet found the person who can be reasonably suspected of involvement in the murder," Interior Ministry spokesman Artem Shevchenko said. In Washington, the State Department said it was regrettable no one had been held accountable. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the U.S. was urging Ukraine "to use all available resources to bring those responsible to justice." Tomilenko's group told an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe freedom-of-speech conference last month that more than 800 journalists have faced violence or threats in Ukraine since 2014. Although about half the incidents were connected to the 2014 mass protests that drove a Moscow-friendly president into exile or with the conflicts in Crimea and eastern Ukraine that followed, about 400 cases have happened in the rest of the country. Most recently, reporter Volodymyr Volovodyuk, who had investigated black-market trading in the central Vinnytsia region, was beaten on July 12. None of these cases have been prosecuted. "Impunity has become the norm," Tomilenko said. "The daily life of journalists is more like reports from the front." After the 2014 uprising, Ukraine has increased its drive to become more integrated with Western Europe and to move out of Russia's sphere of influence. But Europe is often uneasy with Ukraine's disorder and corruption, and the Sheremet case adds to nervousness. "Authorities say Russia is the prime suspect, but the lack of progress in the case, coupled with evidence pointing to possible Ukrainian involvement, weaken Kiev's credibility and suggest the need for an independent probe," the Committee To Protect Journalists international watchdog said in a recent report. The evidence referred to by CPJ centers on a report put together by Sheremet's colleagues and other journalists, assisted by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project. That investigation identified two people observed by security cameras as lurking near Sheremet's car the night before the blast, and identified one of them as a former agent of the national security service, the SBU. The SBU decline comment. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko met with Sheremet's family last week and acknowledged that the probe had brought no results, but confirmed that he was "interested in a transparent investigation." ___ Yuras Karmanau reported from Minsk, Belarus. Nataliya Vasilyeva contributed to this report from Moscow. THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - Unilever, the owner of brands like Hellman's, Lipton, and Knorr, says its net profit rose 22.4 percent in the first half of 2017 compared with the same period last year, to 3.3 billion euros ($3.8 billion) as a company-wide growth program bore fruit. Unilever said Thursday that first-half sales rose 5.5 percent to 27.7 billion euros ($32 billion), calling its earnings a "substantial step-up in profitability despite the persisting volatile global trading environment." The strong results came in a period in which rival consumer products giant Kraft Heinz withdrew a $143 billion takeover offer. In the aftermath of the February takeover bid, Unilever announced plans to sell its spreads division and combine its foods and refreshments units as part of a major review of operations. WASHINGTON (AP) - Attorney General Jeff Sessions, publicly skewered by his boss for stepping clear of the Russia-Trump investigations, declared Thursday he still loves his job and plans to stay on. Yet Donald Trump's airing of his long-simmering frustrations with Sessions raised significant new questions about the future of the nation's top prosecutor. The White House was quick to insist that the president "has confidence" in Sessions. However, the episode underscored how the attorney general's crime-fighting agenda is being overshadowed by his fractured relationship with Trump and the continuing investigations into allegations of Russian ties to the Republican candidate's presidential campaign. The challenges for Sessions were laid bare Thursday when the attorney general, at a Justice Department news conference to announce the takedown of a mammoth internet drug marketplace, faced zero questions about that case and was instead grilled on his reaction to being excoriated by Trump in a New York Times interview a day earlier. The news conference on the drug case was quickly ended once it was clear reporters would only ask about the interview. Attorney General Jeff Sessions accompanied by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, left, speaks at a news conference to announce an international cybercrime enforcement action at the Department of Justice, Thursday, July 20, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) Sessions did not directly address his relationship to Trump except to say he was still carrying out the agenda of the president. "I have the honor of serving as attorney general. It's something that goes beyond any thought I would have ever had for myself," Sessions said. "We love this job, we love this department and I plan to continue to do so as long as that is appropriate." Asked how he could effectively serve if he didn't have Trump's confidence, he responded, "We're serving right now. The work we're doing today is the kind of work we intend to continue." Asked at the White House about Trump's feelings on Sessions, spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, "Clearly, he has confidence in him or he would not be the attorney general." It all followed Trump's statements to the Times that he never would have tapped the former Alabama senator for the job had he known a recusal was coming. Sessions took himself off the Justice Department-led case in March following revelations he'd failed to disclose his own meetings with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. That placed the investigation with his deputy, Rod Rosenstein, who in May appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller to serve as special counsel. Several people close to Trump - including his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, who has also been ensnared in the Russia probe - have told the president that they, too, believe Sessions' decision to recuse himself was a mistake, according to three White House and outside advisers who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. In the same Wednesday interview, Trump lashed out at Mueller, Rosenstein, James Comey, the FBI director Trump fired, and acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, who replaced Comey. "Jeff Sessions takes the job, gets into the job, recuses himself, which frankly I think is very unfair to the president," Trump told the newspaper. "How do you take a job and then recuse yourself? If he would have recused himself before the job, I would have said, 'Thanks, Jeff, but I'm not going to take you.' It's extremely unfair - and that's a mild word - to the president." The broadside against Sessions in the interview was not a calculated ploy to force the attorney general to resign but rather Trump's frustration with his longtime ally bubbling to the surface, the advisers said. For weeks, the president has seethed about Sessions' decision to recuse himself from the federal investigations into whether Trump's campaign coordinated with Russia during last year's election - Probes that have shadowed the administration from the outset. That others agree Sessions' recusal was a mistake has only fueled Trump's frustration with the investigation dogging the White House. Despite his protests to the contrary, Trump continues to closely follow cable TV news coverage, and he frequently interrupts conversations about other topics to complain bitterly about the probe or, on occasion, predict that it will soon be behind him. The advisers said the president viewed Sessions' move as an act of disloyalty - arguably the most grievous offense in the president's mind - and was angry that Sessions did not consult with him ahead of time. Yet the frustration goes both ways. At the Justice Department, there's displeasure that developments on Trump and Russia routinely drown out work that officials are trying to highlight. Much like Thursday, a May rollout of a sentencing policy shift was overshadowed by Trump's firing of Comey that same week. At one point, Sessions privately told Trump he was willing to resign his post, but the president did not accept the offer. And Sessions has given no public hints that he plans to leave, traveling the country for speeches to outline a tough-on-crime approach to violence and immigration. He kept his scheduled appointments Thursday. "I'm totally confident that we can continue to run this office in an effective way," he said. The first U.S. senator to endorse Trump during the presidential run, Sessions bonded with him over shared hard-line immigration views. Some of Sessions' long-serving advisers are now working alongside the president in the West Wing. Defense attorney William Jeffress, who represented former President Richard Nixon, said he's concerned that Trump's rhetoric about Sessions reveals a larger misunderstanding of the attorney general's role. "I really think that the president needs to understand and appreciate the independence of law enforcement," Jeffress said, adding that the president is "just wrong" to look at the attorney general as someone responsible for protecting the Trump's personal interest. A Sessions resignation could throw Mueller's investigation into uncertainty. Trump would nominate a replacement and could seek assurances that his pick would not recuse himself from the investigations. Trump raised the prospect of firing Mueller in his interview with the Times, suggesting he had damaging information on the former FBI director. The president also said Mueller's selection for the job was a conflict of interest because Trump had spoken with him about returning to the FBI after the firing of Comey. "There were many other conflicts that I haven't said, but I will at some point," Trump said. The president has repeatedly told those close to him that he fears there is a movement underway, fueled in part by Comey, Rosenstein and potentially Mueller, to discredit his presidency. He has denied that his campaign had any contacts with Russia during the election, though that assertion has been challenged by his son's acknowledgment that he accepted a meeting that was billed as part of the Russian government's efforts to tar Democrat Hillary Clinton. ___ Associated Press writers Julie Pace, Sadie Gurman and Chad Day contributed to this report. Attorney General Jeff Sessions accompanied by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, left, steps away from the podium at a news conference to announce an international cybercrime enforcement action at the Department of Justice, Thursday, July 20, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) SOUTHPORT, England (AP) - The Latest on the British Open (all times local): 9:50 p.m. Jon Rahm has escaped a penalty for improving the area of his intended swing. As a result, his bogey became a birdie on the 17th hole at Royal Birkdale in the opening round of the British Open, and Rahm shot a 69. Spain's Jon Rahm plays a shot on the 5th hole during the first round of the British Open Golf Championship, at Royal Birkdale, Southport, England Thursday, July 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson) It happened in thick grass left of the fairway. Rahm went to move what he thought was a loose twig to the right of his ball. But it was a vine with thorns growing out of the ground. Lee Westwood noticed it and pointed out the violation (Rule 13-2). The walking official said it would be a two-shot penalty. After the round, Rahm met with R&A rules director David Rickman. He said the vine was not in his intended swing path. Rahm says he moved it only as an instinct to clean up the area around his ball, much like players do with leaves. There was no video evidence of the incident. Rickman says he balanced the facts and rescinded the penalty. As for the shot? It rolled around the edge of the bunker to about 4 feet. ___ 6:45 p.m. Matt Kuchar matched the best front-nine score ever at Royal Birkdale. And even following that with nothing but pars on the back nine, the American still shot his best score in a major. Kuchar saved par from behind the 18th green and shot 5-under 65 to share the lead with Jordan Spieth and U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka in the opening round of the British Open. With three straight birdies and a 29, he tied the record that Ian Baker-Finch set in 1991 when he won the claret jug. Kuchar missed good birdie opportunities on the par-5 15th and 17th holes. Even so, it beats by one shot his previous best - a 66 in the second round at Oak Hill in the 2013 PGA Championship. ___ 5:45 p.m. Charley Hoffman's name on the leaderboard at a major should no longer be a surprise this year. Hoffman led after the first round of the Masters when he opened with a 65. He was only three shots behind going into the final round of the U.S. Open until he faded on the back nine. Here is again, this time at Royal Birkdale. Hoffman wasted no time Thursday. From the right rough on the tough opening hole, his shot bounced onto the green and rolled into the cup for an eagle . Hoffman became the fourth player to reach 5 under when he made birdie on the 15th, only to drop a shot on the next hole. This is Hoffman's seventh British Open. He has broken par just twice. ___ 5:15 p.m. On a day when players made plenty of birdies, no one made more on the front side than Matt Kuchar. Kuchar matched a mark set by Ian Baker-Finch 26 years ago when he shot a 29 on the front nine Thursday at Royal Birkdale. Kuchar can only hope he ends up holding the claret jug, as Baker-Finch did when he shot his 29 on the final day of the British Open in 1991. Kuchar made five birdies against five pars on the par-34 front nine, moving into a tie for the lead at 5 under with Jordan Spieth and Brooks Koepka. After making birdie on No. 9, he made five straight pars on the back nine and remained tied. Kuchar's 29 was 10 shots better than the 39 shot by Rory McIlroy on the front nine. McIlroy was playing several groups behind Kuchar in the afternoon pairings. ___ 4:40 p.m. Rory McIlroy's bad year seems about to get even worse. The four-time major winner stumbled badly to begin his opening round Thursday, bogeying five of his first six holes at Royal Birkdale on a day when there were good scores to be had. McIlroy had talked before the Open about putting together a good round to turn his winless year around. Instead, he went the other way with bad chip that led to a bogey on the first hole and then made four more bogeys over his next five holes. McIlroy's putter continued to be balky, but his driver wasn't that good, either. He also hit it into bunkers on both of the opening par-3s. McIlroy appeared poised to make yet another bogey on the eighth hole, but holed a 15-footer to save par. He was 5 over through eight. McIlroy won the Open in 2014. ___ 3:50 p.m. The homecoming for the local kid didn't exactly go as planned. Tommy Fleetwood had high hopes for the British Open being played in his hometown of Southport, even if he didn't have much experience on Royal Birkdale. Fleetwood said this week that he used to sneak on the course occasionally while growing up but didn't know it well. That showed Thursday in the opening round when he struggled to a 6-over 76 that left Fleetwood 11 shots off the lead held by Jordan Spieth and Brooks Koepka. Fleetwood didn't make a birdie all day, and made 6 on two holes - 9 and 17 - that other players were having no difficulties with. The first was for a double bogey, and the second for bogey. The shaggy-haired Fleetwood, ranked No. 14 in the world and the top player on the European Tour, got some shouts of encouragement from fans as he made his way around the course. He'll need more than that if he is to make the cut and play on the weekend. ___ 3:05 p.m. Brooks Koepka hasn't missed a beat since winning the U.S. Open last month. On Thursday, he barely missed a shot as he used an eagle on the 17th hole to shoot 5-under-65 and move into a tie for the lead with Jordan Spieth in the British Open. Both Americans have major championship pedigree, with Spieth having won a Masters and a U.S. Open. Both are looking for their first British Open title. Spieth posted the first 65, then Koepka followed a short time later, taking advantage of the late eagle and then getting up-and-down from a greenside bunker on 18. It is Koepka's first tournament since he won the U.S. Open at Erin Hills to capture his first major championship. The two were two shots ahead of Ian Poulter and Justin Thomas. ___ 2:35 p.m. Jordan Spieth is off to a smashing start in the British Open. The American star played near flawless golf Thursday, shooting a 5-under-65 to take the clubhouse lead at Royal Birkdale. Displaying a fantastic short game whenever he seemed ready to get in trouble, Spieth didn't make a bogey in the first round of the Open. Spieth, who already owns a Masters and U.S. Open title, made three birdies on the front and two more on the back. He missed an 8-footer for birdie on the final hole. Spieth was two clear of Ian Poulter, who finished with a 67. U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka put himself in contention in the first round, briefly tying Spieth for the lead at 4 under after making three straight birdies beginning at No. 11. Koepka was at 3 under with two holes to play. ___ 1:45 p.m. Justin Thomas added a touch of sartorial splendor to the British Open, sporting a throwback tie and cardigan as he made his way around Royal Birkdale. The American looked somewhat like a golfer of old in the outfit, which was assembled by his clothing sponsor, Polo Golf/Ralph Lauren. "A woven knit skinny tie with a cardigan," Thomas said earlier on Twitter . "Won't be fully buttoned up, no problems swinging at all. Can't wait to rock it." The outfit got some notice from Open golf fans, who commented about it as Thomas walked by. It also drew the attention of a BBC announcer, who wondered why Thomas had his tie loosened instead of properly tied. "It almost looks like he has just come back from the pub," he said. ___ 12:40 p.m. Jordan Spieth is in the early mix at Royal Birkdale as he tries to add a British Open title to his collection of major championships. Ian Poulter also had quite the day, making only one bogey on his way to a 3-under 67 that gave him the clubhouse lead among early finishers. Spieth, who narrowly missed getting in a playoff two years ago at St. Andrews, set the tone for his day when he slashed an iron out of the rough on the second hole to within 10 feet for his first birdie. He added two more to finish off the front nine and was at 3 under on the back nine. Spieth, who did not make a bogey through 12 holes, has won both the Masters and the U.S. Open but has yet to hoist a claret jug. Neither has Poulter, who is winless in major championships and looking to rebound from a long dry spell in his pro career. The Englishman played steady before making birdie on the par-5 17th hole from the bunker, then getting up-and-down from another bunker on the 18th hole to post the lowest score so far at the Open. ___ 11:35 a.m. One of the first players out on the course has the early clubhouse lead in the British Open. Stuart Manley isn't exactly a household name, but the journeyman from Wales used an eagle-birdie finish to shoot a 2-under-68 to climb atop the leaderboard at Royal Birkdale. Manley has been a pro since 2003, bouncing between minor tours and the European Tour. He has missed the cut in his last six tournaments, and is currently ranked No. 520 in the world. England's Ian Poulter is also at 2 under on the back nine, while another half dozen players were at 1 under on a day where birdies were at a premium. ___ 11:05 a.m. Half the field is now out on the course at the British Open, where the umbrellas have been put away - at least for now. The early starters encountered some wet conditions, but showers gave way to clouds and some sunshine on a breezy day at Royal Birkdale. A pair of Englishmen had the early lead in their home tournament. Justin Rose and Ian Poulter were both at 2 under on a day when birdies were hard to come by on one of the toughest courses in the Open rotation. Birkdale is where Rose made his debut in the Open as a 17-year-old amateur in 1998. Though he has won a U.S. Open, Rose has never won one of his own country's national championships. Several players were at 1 under, including Americans Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas. ___ 10:20 a.m. In the space of just one hole, Jordan Spieth showed the trouble he may face in the British Open and his unique way of turning it into his advantage. Spieth hooked his tee shot badly on the second hole, with his ball ending up in the deep wispy rough left of the fairway. He took a mighty swing at the ball, and then watched as it barely cleared a bunker on the right and rolled to about 10 feet away. Spieth, who has been known to hit some tee shots sideways, then rolled in the putt for a birdie that got him under par for the first time in the championship. The former Masters and U.S. Open champion was in form coming into the tournament, after winning the Travelers Championship in his last outing. He showed his escape abilities there, too, holding a shot from the sand in a playoff to win his 10th title as a professional. ___ 9:15 a.m. Royal Birkdale has traditionally been one of the toughest courses in the British Open rotation. And it is living up to its reputation early in the first round of the 146th version of the major championship. With the first wave of players making the turn, there were few red numbers on the board. Only two players were under par, led by Ian Poulter at 2 under through five holes. The good news is the weather - rainy and breezy in the morning - is expected to get better as the day goes on. That should favor players with later tee times on the course on the coast of northwest England. ___ 8:15 a.m. Alex Noren has birdied the first hole at Royal Birkdale in the British Open. Yes, that's big news. Already one of the toughest opening holes on Open courses, a strong breeze off the Irish Sea and a light rain made the 448-yard hole even more of a beast Thursday morning. Mark O'Meara had to hit two tee shots because the first one went into the gorse. He made an 8. Bryson DeChambeau also hit into the gorse. He made a 7. It was a feat just to hit the green in regulation, so consolation prizes to Paul Broadhurst, Ian Poulter and Russell Knox. As the rain and wind eased, Noren hit his approach into 5 feet and hole the putt for a 3. That's something 26 players before him couldn't do. ___ 7 a.m. Mark O'Meara was supposed to hit the first tee shot to start the 146th British Open. He wound up hitting two of them. The British Open began Thursday morning with rain, wind and big numbers. O'Meara's opening drive on the notoriously tough first hole at Royal Birkdale rode the wind into the gorse bushes on the right. He hit another tee shot, this one into a bunker on the left. O'Meara, who won at Royal Birkdale in 1998 and is playing his final British Open, made quadruple-bogey 8. Ryan Moore took a double bogey and Chris Wood had to get up-and-down from 40 yards for a par. It was an ominous start at a links course not known for low scoring. Matt Kuchar of the United States plays a shot off the 5th tee during the first round of the British Open Golf Championship, at Royal Birkdale, Southport, England Thursday, July 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson) Charley Hoffman of the United States plays a shot off the 15th tee during the first round of the British Open Golf Championship, at Royal Birkdale, Southport, England Thursday, July 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant) Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy reacts after hitting a wayward shot on the 5th hole during the first round of the British Open Golf Championship, at Royal Birkdale, Southport, England Thursday, July 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison) Britain's Tommy Fleetwood prepares to putt on the 1st green during the first round of the British Open Golf Championship, at Royal Birkdale, Southport, England Thursday, July 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison) Brooks Koepka of the United States plays out of the rough on the 15th hole during the first round of the British Open Golf Championship, at Royal Birkdale, Southport, England Thursday, July 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison) Jordan Spieth of the United States plays off the 5th tee during the first round of the British Open Golf Championship, at Royal Birkdale, Southport, England Thursday, July 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson) Justin Thomas of the US looks along the 5th fairway during the first round of the British Open Golf Championship, at Royal Birkdale, Southport, England Thursday, July 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson) Jordan Spieth of the United States checks the course map during the first round of the British Open Golf Championship, at Royal Birkdale, Southport, England Thursday, July 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson) England's Ian Poulter chips out of a bunker on the 7th green during the first round of the British Open Golf Championship, at Royal Birkdale, Southport, England Thursday, July 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison) Jordan Spieth of the United States plays a shot on the 18th hole during a practice round ahead of the British Open Golf Championship, at Royal Birkdale, Southport, England Wednesday, July 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant) Korea's Byeong Hun An plays a shot on the 4th hole during the first round of the British Open Golf Championship, at Royal Birkdale, Southport, England Thursday, July 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson) Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee chips out of the bunker onto the 3rd green during the first round of the British Open Golf Championship, at Royal Birkdale, Southport, England Thursday, July 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson) England's Justin Rose walks along the 1st fairway during the first round of the British Open Golf Championship, at Royal Birkdale, Southport, England Thursday, July 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison) Justin Thomas of the US walks off the 5th tee box during the first round of the British Open Golf Championship, at Royal Birkdale, Southport, England Thursday, July 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson) Justin Thomas of the US looks along the 5th fairway during the first round of the British Open Golf Championship, at Royal Birkdale, Southport, England Thursday, July 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson) Britain's Tommy Fleetwood prepares to putt on the 1st green during the first round of the British Open Golf Championship, at Royal Birkdale, Southport, England Thursday, July 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison) England's Tommy Fleetwood plays off the 5th tee during the first round of the British Open Golf Championship, at Royal Birkdale, Southport, England Thursday, July 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson) England's Tommy Fleetwood after putting on the 4th green during the first round of the British Open Golf Championship, at Royal Birkdale, Southport, England Thursday, July 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson) Britain's Tommy Fleetwood prepares to play off the 2nd tee during the first round of the British Open Golf Championship, at Royal Birkdale, Southport, England Thursday, July 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison) Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy plays out of a bunker onto the 4th green during the first round of the British Open Golf Championship, at Royal Birkdale, Southport, England Thursday, July 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison) FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - California's vast San Joaquin Valley, the country's most productive farming region, is engulfed by some of the nation's dirtiest skies, forcing the state's largest air district to spend more than $40 billion in the past quarter-century to enforce hundreds of stringent pollution rules. The investment has steadily driven down the number of days with unhealthy air - but on hot, windless days, a brown haze still hangs overhead, sending wheezing people with tight chests to emergency rooms and hundreds each year to an early grave. The valley's air also still violates federal standards for sooty pollution that comes from industry, businesses and vehicles. In this photo April 4, 2017 photo, Javier Sua demonstrates how he uses an inhaler at his home in Fresno, Calif. He uses it to combat asthma, made worse by air pollution in the San Joaquin Valley. On some days, his mother keeps him inside, when he would rather be rough-housing on the backyard trampoline, but the risks are too high. Hundreds of people each year in the San Joaquin Valley die premature deaths from poor air quality. (AP Photo/Scott Smith) In California, where Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown is an outspoken leader in the global fight against climate change, the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District now is waging a very public campaign against enforcement of the landmark U.S. Clean Air Act. Officials in the relatively conservative region have seized upon the election of Donald Trump, who won the popular vote in half of the district's eight counties in November - a far stronger performance than in most of California. The district's website prominently displays a report titled "Presidential Transition White Paper" that the director provided to the incoming Trump administration in calling for the elimination of the federal Air Act's "costly bureaucratic red tape." District Executive Director Seyed Sadredin also reached out to Bakersfield Republican Kevin McCarthy, the GOP's U.S. House majority leader. And he testified in Washington for a bill co-authored by McCarthy that would limit new air standards under the Air Act to once every 10 years, instead of five. "Regulators in Washington have issued blanket regulations that would unfairly impact the Central Valley's unique air challenges," McCarthy said in a statement. The San Joaquin Valley, with more than 4 million residents, produces nearly half the nation's fruits, nuts and vegetables, annually generating $47 billion. Its bad air is the byproduct of booming farms, oil production, two major highways, a web of rail lines - and the valley's bowl-shaped geography. The Sierra Nevada and two other mountain ranges wall in the 250-mile-long (400-kilometer-long) valley. The pollution is aggravated in winter when residents burn wood in fireplaces. In the blistering summer, an atmospheric lid traps haze, sometimes darkened by mountain forest fires. This summer, the San Joaquin Valley must report how it will meet a federal standard for fine particulate matter - harmful air pollution from dust, soot, smoke or chemical reactions. Sadredin says there's no way the district can meet the deadline. He contends the district could be subject to billions of dollars in annual penalties if it fails to comply within three years. At his request, language was inserted into McCarthy's bill that would protect the district from sanctions for vehicle pollution, which he says is beyond his authority to control. Sadredin said he hopes that with a Republican-dominated Congress and Trump's election, regulators will be more sensitive to his district's plight than during the Obama administration. Already, he said, officials at the Environment Protection Agency, now headed by business-friendly former Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, have shown a "greater willingness to be cooperative." EPA officials said they have never exacted strict penalties on a district and that harsh action would kick in only if a district refused to file an air cleanup plan or submitted a grossly insufficient one. Elizabeth Adams, acting director of the EPA's regional air division, said she'll work with the air district to help meet requirements. "That's the ultimate goal for all our agencies," she said. "It's important for people to breathe clean air." On the worst days, Natalie Sua keeps her six children inside their Fresno home, especially two sons with asthma. They'd rather be roughhousing on their backyard trampoline, but the risks are too high. When her 11-year-old, Javier, was a preschooler, she found him lying on the sofa one night, struggling for breath. Sua rushed the boy to the emergency room, where she says a doctor concluded the bad air and a chest cold triggered an asthma attack that nearly shut down his airway. "Oh, my gosh. If it would have closed up all the way, I don't even know what would have happened," Sua said. Roughly 1,200 people each year die prematurely from the valley's polluted air, the California Air Resources Control Board says. The pollution is strongly linked to increased emergency room visits for asthma, especially in children, according to a 2011 California State University, Fresno study funded by the valley air district. Since 2002, the district has helped drive down the number of unhealthy days by 80 percent, an Associated Press review found. In Fresno County, 25 unhealthy air warnings were issued last year, and 15 were issued in Bakersfield and other parts of Kern County. Fresno, with about 500,000 residents, and Bakersfield, with 370,000, were among the three worst cities nationwide in the American Lung Association's annual report on unhealthy air. Environmentalists accuse the San Joaquin Valley district of giving in to business interests and sounding alarms about looming sanctions, rather than making the air healthier. "If he's unable to clean up the air for the people in the valley with the tools he has, then he ought to be lobbying for more authority to be more strict," said Brent Newell, legal director for the nonprofit Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment. "He's going the other direction." While the district resists federal rules, officials in famously hazy Los Angeles are working to meet the standards for particulate matter and don't anticipate penalties, said Sam Atwood, a South Coast Air Quality Management District spokesman. The valley air district's authority mainly is limited to stationary pollution sources such as oil refineries, power plants and food processors, as well as dispersed sources such as fireplaces, commercial barbecues and road paving. But Sadredin says he has no direct control over mobile sources such as trucks and trains hauling produce. He has asked the EPA to crack down on them with stricter rules . Freight trains can be heard passing day and night near Sua's Fresno home, where her two asthmatic sons stay cooped up inside with their four siblings on bad air days. "I wish I could just get up and relocate, but it's kind of hard," she said. "You just have to deal with it." In this April 3, 2017 photo, dairy cows stand in a pen in Fresno County, Calif. California's vast San Joaquin Valley, the country's most fertile farming region, is engulfed by some of the nation's dirtiest air. Its bad air is the byproduct of booming farms, oil production, two major highways, a web of rail lines - and the valley's bowl-shaped geography. (AP Photo/Scott Smith) In this June 8, 2017 photo, oil derricks are busy pumping as the moon rises near the La Paloma Generating Station in McKittrick, Calif. California's vast San Joaquin Valley, the country's most productive farming region, is engulfed by some of the nation's dirtiest skies, forcing the state's largest air district to spend more than $40 billion in the past quarter-century to enforce hundreds of stringent pollution rules. Its bad air is the byproduct of booming farms, oil production, two major highways, a web of rail lines - and the valley's bowl-shaped geography. (AP Photo/Gary Kazanjian) In this June 23, 2017 photo, cars and trucks roll along a section of Blackstone Ave. during rush hour in Fresno, Calif. California's vast San Joaquin Valley, the country's most fertile farming region, is engulfed by some of the nation's dirtiest air. On hot, windless days, a brown haze hangs overhead, sending wheezing people with tight chests to emergency rooms, and hundreds each year to an early grave. To combat the problem, California's biggest air district has spent more than $40 billion in the last quarter century to enforce hundreds of pollution rules and has driven down the number of unhealthy days by 80 percent, according to an Associated Press analysis. (AP Photo/Gary Kazanjian) In this June 23, 2017 photo, cars and trucks roll along a section of Highway 99 during rush hour that's being worked on for the high speed rail in Fresno, Calif. California's vast San Joaquin Valley, the country's most fertile farming region, is engulfed by some of the nation's dirtiest air. On hot, windless days, a brown haze hangs overhead, sending wheezing people with tight chests to emergency rooms, and hundreds each year to an early grave. To combat the problem, California's biggest air district has spent more than $40 billion in the last quarter century to enforce hundreds of pollution rules and has driven down the number of unhealthy days by 80 percent, according to an Associated Press analysis. (AP Photo/Gary Kazanjian) In this April 4, 2017 photo, Natalie Sua helps two of her children, Javier, left, and Ezekiel who suffer with asthma, do their homework at their home in Fresno, Calif. Both sons use inhalers to combat asthma, made worse by air pollution in the San Joaquin Valley. On the worst days, Sua keeps her children inside, when they would rather be rough-housing on their backyard trampoline, but the risks are too high. Hundreds of people each year in the San Joaquin Valley die premature deaths from poor air quality. (AP Photo/Scott Smith) In this May 3, 2017 photo, equipment operated by the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District checks air quality in Clovis, Calif., at one of several stations used by the district. The vast San Joaquin Valley in California, the country's most fertile farming region, is engulfed by some of the nation's dirtiest air. The poor air quality is the byproduct of booming farms, oil production near Bakersfield, two major highways, a web of rail lines and the valley's bowl-shaped geography. (AP Photo/Scott Smith) In this May 3, 2017 photo, staffers of the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District check equipment in Clovis, Calif., at one of several stations used to monitor the air quality. The vast San Joaquin Valley in California, the country's most fertile farming region, is engulfed by some of the nation's dirtiest air. The poor air quality is the byproduct of booming farms, oil production near Bakersfield, two major highways, a web of rail lines and the valley's bowl-shaped geography. (AP Photo/Scott Smith) PODGORICA, Montenegro (AP) - The trial in Montenegro of two Russians and 12 other people charged with plotting an election day coup to scuttle the country's NATO bid was delayed Thursday until September. Judge Suzana Mugosa postponed the proceedings after defense lawyers filed several motions to the court, including a repeat demand that the special prosecutor in the case be replaced. A similar demand has already led to a one-day delay on Wednesday. The 14 defendants - among them the Russians and two top opposition leaders - are charged with "creating a criminal organization" with an aim to undermine the constitutional order of Montenegro. The Russians - said by the prosecutor to be Kremlin military secret service operatives - are additionally charged with terrorism. They remain at large and are being tried in absentia. The indictment alleges they planned to take over parliament on Oct. 16, election day, assassinate then-prime minister Milo Djukanovic and install a pro-Russian, anti-NATO leadership with the aim of stopping the country from joining the Western military alliance. Russia has denied involvement in the alleged plot. Montenegro joined NATO in June despite strong opposition from Moscow, which considers the country its historic ally. Montenegrin opposition leaders charged in the coup plot have dismissed the accusations as politically staged. Defense lawyers on Thursday said the prosecutor's publishing of WhatsApp chats between lawyers has undermined the proceedings. A lawyer also asked for more time to prepare for the trial, prompting the judge to move the hearing to September. The trial is being broadcast live on Montenegrin state TV. KUWAIT CITY (AP) - Kuwait said on Thursday it is shutting the Iranian cultural mission and calling for a reduction in the number of Iranian diplomats stationed in the country, deepening a rift between the Gulf Arab states and Tehran. The official Kuwait News Agency announced the move in a brief statement, linking the decision to the case of a terror cell broken up in 2015 that authorities allege had contacts with Iran and the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah. The Iranian ambassador to Kuwait has been notified of the decision, the news agency, known as KUNA, reported. FILE - In this Feb. 15, 2017 file photo released by official website of the office of the Iranian Presidency, President Hassan Rouhani, left, is welcomed by Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, center, at the Kuwait International Airport, in Farwaniya, Kuwait, 15.5 kilometers (9.6 mi) south of Kuwait City. The official Kuwait News Agency announced Thursday , July 20, 2017, that it is shutting the Iranian cultural mission and related offices in the Gulf Arab state and reducing the number of Iranian diplomats stationed in the country. (Iranian Presidency Office via AP, File) Embassy staff did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported that the country's foreign ministry summoned the Kuwaiti charge d'affaires in Tehran to explain the move. The ministry is protesting the call to cut the number of diplomats stationed in Kuwait, IRNA said. The 2015 case centers on a group of 26 people known as the al-Abdali cell whose arrests for links to Shiite powerhouse Iran touched on sensitive sectarian issues in Kuwait, a Sunni-majority country. Besides having "furtive contacts" with Hezbollah and Iran, its members were accused of weapons possession and of planning "hostile actions" inside Kuwait, a tiny U.S.-allied Arab state wedged alongside the Persian Gulf between Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Members of the cell have been tried and received sentences ranging from a few years in prison to, in one case, the death penalty. That sentence was later reduced on appeal to life imprisonment. Kuwait's decision to expel the diplomats comes at a time of increased tension among the states lining the Gulf. Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies are deeply mistrustful of Iran and many, though not Kuwait, have severed ties with it. A group of three Gulf states plus Egypt, meanwhile, has severed ties with Qatar, accusing it of a host of misdeeds, including supporting extremist groups and maintaining close ties with Iran, with which it shares a massive underwater gas field. Qatar denies supporting extremists, and says the dispute is politically motivated. ___ Associated Press writer Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report. ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) - Croatian authorities say firefighters are battling a wildfire in the south of the country's Adriatic coast that has spread across the border from neighboring Montenegro. They said Thursday that firefighting planes have been trying to contain the blaze and prevent it from spreading any further. Both Croatia and Montenegro have faced a series of wildfires along the Adriatic coast amid high summer temperatures and dry weather. Burnt trees are pictured in the Castelfusano pine forest, near Rome, Italy, Wednesday, July 19, 2017. Wildfires have been ravaging swaths of Italy, mostly in the south, where the Coldiretti agricultural lobby says July rain levels were down 83 percent while temperatures were around 3 degrees Celsius higher. (Massimo Percossi/ANSA via AP) In Croatia, flames have reached the key port of Split this week, causing panic. In Montenegro, at least 100 people had to evacuate in an affected tourist area. Authorities have expressed fears of more wildfires with a new heat wave expected this weekend. Burnt trees are pictured in the Castelfusano pine forest, near Rome, Italy, Wednesday, July 19, 2017. Wildfires have been ravaging swaths of Italy, mostly in the south, where the Coldiretti agricultural lobby says July rain levels were down 83 percent while temperatures were around 3 degrees Celsius higher. (Massimo Percossi/ANSA via AP) These Tuesday, July 18, 2017, webcam photos provided by the Yosemite Conservancy show the monolith known as Half Dome as smoke from the Ditwiler fire swirls into Yosemite Valley, from late morning to early afternoon, in Yosemite National Park, Calif. The Northern California blaze is also threatening powerlines that provide electricity to the park, officials said. The park remained open Wednesday but several roads frequented by tourists were closed. (Webcam by Yosemite Conservancy at yosemiteconservancy.org via AP) FILE- In this Sunday, June 18, 2017, file photo, Portuguese firefighters work to stop a forest fire from reaching the village of Figueiro dos Vinhos in central Portugal. Portuguese lawmakers agreed Wednesday, July 19, 2017, on new measures to help contain the fires that race through the country's forests each summer, after one wildfire last month that killed 64 people. (AP Photo/Paulo Duarte, file) A canadair firefighter airplane flies at dusk over the Castelfusano pine forest, near Rome, Italy, Tuesday, July 18, 2017. Wildfires have been ravaging swaths of Italy, mostly in the south, where the Coldiretti agricultural lobby says July rain levels were down 83 percent while temperatures were around 3 degrees Celsius higher. (Massimo Percossi/ANSA via AP) ROME (AP) - A Rome court has found 46 defendants guilty in a wide ranging corruption trial that revealed a system of kickbacks and intimidation to gain control of city contracts. But the court did not convict the defendants of mafia-style association, a key element of the prosecutors' case that would have been the first in Italy to unite findings of corruption with the trappings of organized crime. The court gave the highest sentence to the alleged ringleader, Massimo Carminati, who was handed 20 years in jail - shy of the 28 sought by prosecutors. Judges attend a corruption trial in Rome, Thursday, July 20, 2017. An Italian court has found 46 defendants guilty in a wide ranging corruption trial that revealed a system of kick-backs and intimidation to gain control of city contracts. But the court did not convict the defendants of mafia-style association, a key element of prosecutor's case and which would have been the first in Italy to unite findings of corruption with the trappings of organized crime. (Massimo Percossi/ANSA via AP) Prosecutors say rampant corruption, which involved the management and supply of migrant shelters, sanitation agencies, parks maintenance and other municipal services, dates back years. The wrongdoing predates the tenure of Mayor Virginia Raggi, who was present for the verdicts. BERLIN (AP) - German customs authorities say they've seized over 3.8 tons of cocaine that arrived in Hamburg in shipping containers from South America in three operations earlier this year. Customs authorities said Thursday that the seizures were made between March and May. They included Germany's two biggest-ever single seizures of cocaine: 1.5 tons in March and 1.6 tons in April, both hauls found in containers from Paraguay and hidden in charcoal shipments. The third, 788-kilo (1,737-pound) haul was found in May in a shipment of animal feed from Uruguay. Heavily armed customs officials from a special unit guard a record haul of 3.8 tons of cocaine they seized in shipping containers from South America in three operations earlier this year, at a press conference in Hamburg, Germany, Thursday, July 20, 2017. (Christian Charisius/dpa via AP) It's part of a wider trend toward ever-larger quantities of cocaine being smuggled. German customs say that in previous years they found stashes of 50 to 150 kilos (110 to 330 pounds), but they're now finding hauls of a ton or more. Heavily armed customs officials from a special unit guard a record haul of 3.8 tons of cocaine they seized in shipping containers from South America in three operations earlier this year, at a press conference in Hamburg, Germany, Thursday, July 20, 2017. (Christian Charisius/dpa via AP) NEW YORK (AP) - Jada Pinkett Smith says she was a drug dealer when she first met late rapper Tupac Shakur in high school. Smith opened up about her past and her relationship with Shakur on SiriusXM radio Wednesday. She and Shakur were high school classmates in Baltimore. She says she changed her life after "something very bad" happened, but didn't give details. She says God saved her, but for Shakur "that just never happened." FILE - In this June 25, 2017, file photo, Jada Pinkett Smith arrives at the BET Awards at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. Smith told SiriusXM radio in an interview Wednesday, July 19, 2017, that she was a drug dealer when she first met Tupac Shakur in high school in Baltimore in the late 1980s. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File) Smith says their relationship "was about survival" and wasn't romantic. Shakur was fatally shot in Las Vegas in 1996. The killing remains unsolved. Smith says she plans to share more about her friendship with Shakur in an upcoming book. WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on Sen. John McCain being diagnosed with a brain tumor (all times local): 11:40 a.m. Arizona Sen. John McCain says he's grateful for the outpouring of support after his brain cancer diagnosis. He's promising to be back soon. FILE - In this June 22, 2017, file photo Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., arrives for a Senate Republican meeting on a health reform bill on Capitol Hill in Washington. McCain has been diagnosed with a brain tumor after doctors removed a blood clot above his left eye last week, his office said in a statement July 19. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) In a tweet Thursday, McCain says: "I greatly appreciate the outpouring of support - unfortunately for my sparring partners in Congress, I'll be back soon, so stand-by!" McCain's office said late Wednesday that the 80-year-old senator had been diagnosed with cancer. Doctors in Arizona removed a blood clot above his left eye last Friday. Pathology tests revealed a brain tumor associated with the clot. McCain has been recuperating at his home in Arizona. ___ 11:10 a.m. Sen. John McCain's best friend in the Senate says the brain cancer diagnosis was a shock, but that the 80-year-old lawmaker is focused now on getting better. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham says "the-woe-is-me thing isn't part" of McCain's DNA. But Graham said Thursday he expects McCain to return to the Capitol only when he is "fit to fight." McCain has survived several near-death experiences, including being shot down over Vietnam in 1967 and surviving 5 years as a prisoner of war. Graham says, "One thing John has never been afraid of is death." Graham says he spoke to McCain Wednesday evening. The senator is recuperating at his home in Arizona. ___ 10:35 a.m. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says cancer-stricken Sen. John McCain "has never shied away from a fight" and will "confront this challenge with the same extraordinary courage that has characterized his entire life." McConnell says he hopes McCain will be back in the Senate in the very near future. McCain is an Arizona Republican and 2008 GOP presidential nominee. The Kentucky Republican says "we're all in his corner, every one of us." ___ 7:45 a.m. The junior senator from Arizona says Sen. John McCain told him about his brain tumor only at the end of a telephone conversation, saying he was "feeling fine, but I might have some chemotherapy in my future." Sen. Jeff Flake says his colleague is "optimistic, obviously. He's John McCain. That's what we'd expect." The tumor was discovered when doctors removed a blood clot from above McCain's left eye. Speaking Thursday on ABC's "Good Morning America," Flake said it is not yet clear when McCain might be able to return to the Senate. Flake calls him an "elder statesman" and "a steady force, one who stands for the institution and bipartisanship," adding that he cannot "overstate what an impact he has in the Senate." ___ 3:50 a.m. Arizona Sen. John McCain has been diagnosed with an aggressive type of brain tumor. The 80-year-old Arizona lawmaker has glioblastoma, according to doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix. That's where McCain had a blood clot removed from above his left eye last Friday. He and his family are considering further treatment, including chemotherapy and radiation. According to the American Brain Tumor Association, more than 12,000 people a year are diagnosed with glioblastoma. (GLEE'-oh-blas-TOH'-muh). The American Cancer Society puts the five-year survival rate for patients over 55 at about 4 percent. The senator and chairman of the Armed Services Committee had been recovering at his Arizona home. His absence had forced Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to delay action on health care legislation. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky. pauses while speaking to members of the media following a luncheon between GOP Senators and President Donald Trump, Wednesday, July 19, 2017, at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) AIN ISSA, Syria (AP) - Some 250 residents of Syria's Raqqa province Thursday became the latest batch to graduate from a brief U.S. training course, part of an internal security force to hold and secure areas as they are captured from Islamic State group militants. The graduation ceremony in the desert town of Ain Issa, north of Raqqa, was attended by a few American trainers who oversee the force and its preparation. Members will man checkpoints, identify IS sleeper cells and detect explosives. The U.S. has partnered with a Kurdish-dominated coalition fighting force known as the Syrian Democratic Forces in the fight against IS in Syria, but the issue of who would hold and administer predominantly Sunni Arab areas freed from the militants is an uneasy one. Syrian Internal Security Forces dance during their graduation ceremony, at Ain Issa desert base, in Raqqa province, northeast Syria, Thursday, July 20, 2017. Some 250 residents of Syria's Raqqa province are the latest batch to graduate from a brief U.S-training course that is preparing an internal security force to hold and secure areas as they are captured from Islamic State militants.(AP Photo/Hussein Malla) U.S. officials say once Raqqa is liberated, the SDF will hand over local governance to the Raqqa Civilian Council, a local group of primarily Arab locals who will govern and administer essential service. Col. Joseph Scrocca, a spokesman with the U.S.-led anti-IS coalition, told AP in an email last month that security will be provided by the Raqqa Internal Security Forces, a vetted multiethnic force expected to reach approximately 3,500 members. Wissam, a Kurdish resident of Ain Issa who gave only his first name, is one of the trainers. He said so far around 800 forces have been trained and deployed around at least five areas in Raqqa province. One American official at the site said the Internal Security Forces of Raqqa are not a combat or police force, but are trained to be a hold force in the areas as they are liberated from Islamic State militants. He spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to reporters. The training program appears to be accelerating as the campaign to liberate the city of Raqqa enters its seventh week and the need for a security force to secure the city post-IS becomes more pressing. Critics say the Kurdish-led SDF forces and the affiliated Kurdish administration are not apt for holding the majority Arab province. The newly graduated force is comprised mostly of Arab cadets. For Wissam Eid, a 17-year old resident of Raqqa, this is personal. His twin brother was shot in the head by IS after they detained him for seven months in late 2015. At the age of 15, his brother Ayman was accused by the IS militants of collaborating with the Kurdish militias that operate in northern Raqqa and Aleppo. A friend had ratted on him. Eid said he too was detained for three months as they investigated his brother, held in solitary confinement for a month and hung from this arms for over 12 hours. After he was released he went looking for the person who ratted on his brother. It was his mother that urged him to join the new force. "If you arrest a Daesh, just drink his blood, she told me," Eid said, using a variation on an Arabic saying. A Syrian Internal Security Forces soldier stand guards as his comrades attend their graduation ceremony, at Ain Issa desert base, in Raqqa province, northeast Syria, Thursday, July 20, 2017. Some 250 residents of Syria's Raqqa province are the latest batch to graduate from a brief U.S-training course that is preparing an internal security force to hold and secure areas as they are captured from Islamic State militants.(AP Photo/Hussein Malla) Syrian Internal Security Forces receive weapons during their graduation ceremony, at Ain Issa desert base, in Raqqa province, northeast Syria, Thursday, July 20, 2017. Some 250 residents of Syria's Raqqa province are the latest batch to graduate from a brief U.S-training course that is preparing an internal security force to hold and secure areas as they are captured from Islamic State militants.(AP Photo/Hussein Malla) Syrian Internal Security Forces dance in celebration during their graduation ceremony, at Ain Issa desert base, in Raqqa province, northeast Syria, Thursday, July 20, 2017. Some 250 residents of Syria's Raqqa province are the latest batch to graduate from a brief U.S-training course that is preparing an internal security force to hold and secure areas as they are captured from Islamic State militants.(AP Photo/Hussein Malla) Syrian Internal Security Forces dance in celebration during their graduation ceremony, at Ain Issa desert base, in Raqqa province, northeast Syria, Thursday, July 20, 2017. Some 250 residents of Syria's Raqqa province are the latest batch to graduate from a brief U.S-training course that is preparing an internal security force to hold and secure areas as they are captured from Islamic State militants.(AP Photo/Hussein Malla) BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) - The mother of an American college student arrested in central China following an altercation with a taxi driver five weeks earlier said police are demanding the equivalent of a $7,400 "ransom" for his release. Jennifer McLean has not been allowed to see or communicate with her 25-year-old son, Guthrie, since his Sunday arrest on charges of intentional injury to the taxi driver, she said Thursday in an email to The Associated Press. During a June 10 fare dispute in the city of Zhengzhou, Guthrie McLean pushed the driver to the ground because the driver was roughing up his mother, who is hearing impaired, according to family friend Tom Mitchell, the Beijing bureau chief for The Financial Times, and U.S. officials. This undated photo provided by Jennifer McLean shows her son, University of Montana student Guthrie McLean, on the Great Wall of China. Guthrie was arrested Sunday, July 16, 2017, after a June 10 altercation with a taxi driver in the city of Zhengzhou, China, and accused of intentionally injuring the taxi driver. A family friend, Tom Mitchell, says Mclean was trying to protect his mother after the driver attempted to rough her up following a fare dispute. (Jennifer McLean via AP) It's unclear why McLean, 25, a senior majoring in East Asian studies at the University of Montana, was not arrested until weeks later. The Zhengzhou municipal public security bureau, when contacted by The AP, said it does not take inquiries about individual cases. Jennifer McLean told The AP her son's actions were justified because the taxi driver was hurting her. "He would not have ceased had my son not intervened," she said. Offices from the U.S. Consulate in the provincial capital of Wuhan spoke with McLean Thursday at the Zhenghou #3 Detention Center. He reported no physical or mental health concerns, officials said. "Fine is a bit of an overstatement. He is enduring," Jennifer McLean said. Montana's U.S. senators, Democrat Jon Tester and Republican Steve Daines, called for Guthrie McLean's quick release and said they were pressing the matter with U.S. Ambassador Terry Branstad in Beijing. Daines said he also spoke with China's ambassador to the U.S., Cui Tiankai, who pledged to relay the concerns over McLean's fate to the communist nation's leadership. "This was a young man who stepped in to protect his deaf mother," Daines said. "I realize we are subject to the laws of China (as U.S. citizens abroad) and will respect their government, but we want to make sure there is justice here." Tester said in a statement that he was in close contact with members of McLean's family and Chinese officials to make sure he's kept safe. The police in China have seven days from the time of his arrest to file charges, Tester's office said, based on information provided by the U.S. Embassy. A U.S. State Department official confirmed the basic details of the case and said the agency was monitoring the situation, but declined further comment. Jennifer McLean has been teaching in Zhengzhou, where Guthrie visited her this summer. The altercation occurred after a cab driver refused to give her 30 yuan (about $5) in change upon returning to her residence, Mitchell said. After the driver "started to rough up Jennifer," Guthrie came out and pushed the man to the ground, he said. Police arrived at the residence on Sunday, took Guthrie away and demanded he pay 100,000 yuan ($14,800) in compensation for knee injuries sustained by the driver or else he would have to spend three years in prison, Mitchell and Jennifer McLean said. The price has since dropped to 50,000 yuan ($7,400), Jennifer McLean said. Guthrie McLean has been at the University of Montana in Missoula for about two years and worked for the past year in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures, said his boss, Olivia White. He largely grew up in China after living in Missoula as a young child while his mother was studying at the university, said White. "He's very kind, gentle," White said. "His mom is all he has and I do think he defended her. He's not denying that he did it. He's denying the extent of what happened." ___ Associated Press writers Mead Gruver in Cheyenne, Wyoming and Matt Volz in Helena contributed to this story. ___ Follow Matthew Brown on Twitter at www.twitter.com/matthewbrownap LONDON (AP) - London Zoo is welcoming a new star attraction this summer: robotic dinosaurs. Visitors will see robotic replicas of Mesozoic-era dinosaurs, including T. Rex and Triceratops, which lived approximately 65 million years ago, at a "time travel safari" exhibit named Zoorassic Park. The robots make sounds and motions that mimic the real-life dinosaurs. Some even drip water out of their mouths or spray it at passers-by. Information about the dinosaurs' massive extinction is dispersed throughout the display at the zoo in north London. At the end, visitors are "transported" back to modern times with a video on endangered species, recent extinctions and conservation efforts. A tour guide poses with a replica of a T. Rex in London Zoo's new Time Travel Safari exhibit named Zoorassic Park in London, Thursday, July 20, 2017. The six-week exhibit opens Saturday, July 22, 2017, and features robotic dinosaurs from the Mesozoic era. (AP Photo/Caroline Spiezio) The exhibition opens Saturday and runs until Sept. 3. HEIDELBERG, Germany (AP) - The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge joined a rowing regatta, visited a cancer research center and made pretzels in the university city of Heidelberg on the second day of their visit to Germany. Prince William and his wife, Kate, took to the waters of the Neckar river on Thursday afternoon, coxing two opposing boats in a race of rowers from Heidelberg and its twin city Cambridge. With German onlookers cheering the royal couple everywhere they showed up, they also practiced shaping pretzels at a British-German market in downtown Heidelberg, tried a local vintner's wine and made sugar canes, the German news agency dpa reported. Britain's Prince William, 2nd left, and his wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, form pastry to pretzels as they visit the market in the historic center of the southern German town of Heidelberg, Thursday, July 20, 2017. The British Royal couple and their children are on a three-day-visit to Germany. (Thomas Kienzle/Pool Photo via AP) "This visit is an enormous honor for us," Mayor Eckart Wuerzner said. Earlier Thursday, William and Kate also toured the German Cancer Research Center, peering through a microscope for a glimpse of the facility's work. British researcher Michael Milsom, an expert in the development of blood stem cells, said he could never have dreamed of presenting his research to his future king. The Baden-Wuerttemberg state governor, Winfried Kretschmann, gave the couple a specially made cuckoo clock with a British flag. Prince George and Princess Charlotte were given teddy bears with their names embroidered on them. In the evening, the Duke and Duchess were returning to Berlin to attend a reception at the city's famed Claerchens Ballhaus, one of the last remaining Berlin ballrooms, which opened in 1913. Britain's Prince William, 2nd left, and his wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, form pastry to pretzels as they visit the market in the historic center of the southern German town of Heidelberg, Thursday, July 20, 2017. The British Royal couple and their children are on a three-day-visit to Germany. (Thomas Kienzle/Pool Photo via AP) Britain's Prince William, right, and his wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, left, arrive at German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg, Germany, Thursday, July 20, 2017. The British Royal couple and their children are on a three-day-visit to Germany. (Marijan Murat/dpa via AP) Britain's Prince William, right, and his wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, left, arrive at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg, Germany, Thursday, July 20, 2017. The British Royal couple and their children are on a three-day-visit to Germany. (Christoph Schmidt/dpa via AP) Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, looks through a microscope during a visit at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg, Germany, Thursday, July 20, 2017. The British Royal couple and their children are on a three-day-visit to Germany. (Marijan Murat/dpa via AP) Britain's Prince William looks through a microscope during a visit at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg, Germany, Thursday, July 20, 2017. The British Royal couple and their children are on a three-day-visit to Germany. Standing at left, is the Governor of Baden-Wuerttemberg Winfried Kretschmann and at right is Michael Baumann, the scientific director of the center. (Marijan Murat/dpa via AP) Britain's Prince William, right, and his wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, left, visit the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg, Germany, Thursday, July 20, 2017. The British Royal couple and their children are on a three-day-visit to Germany. (Marijan Murat/dpa via AP) Britain's Prince William, right, and his wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, left, arrive at German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg, Germany, Thursday, July 20, 2017. The British Royal couple and their children are on a three-day-visit to Germany. Christoph Schmidt/dpa via AP) Britain's Prince William, center right, and his wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, center left, arrive at German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg, Germany, Thursday, July 20, 2017. The British Royal couple and their children are on a three-day-visit to Germany. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader) Britain's Prince William, left, and his wife Princess Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, pose as they visit the historic center of southern German city of Heidelberg, Thursday, July 20, 2017. The British Royal couple and their children are on a three-day-visit to Germany. (Thomas Kienzle/Pool Photo via AP) Britain's Prince Williamleft, and his wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, 2nd left, take part in a Regatta of the river Neckar in Heidelberg, Germany, Thursday, July 20, 2017. The British Royal couple and their children are on a three-day-visit to Germany. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader) Watched by crowds Britain's Prince William, left, acts as cox for a rowing boat during a visit to visit to Heidelberg, Germany, Thursday July 20, 2017. The British Royal couple and their children are on a three-day-visit to Germany. (Marijan Murat/dpa via AP) Britain's Prince William, left, and his wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, take part in a Regatta of the river Neckar in Heidelberg, Germany, Thursday, July 20, 2017. The British Royal couple and their children are on a three-day-visit to Germany. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader) Britain's Prince William, left, and his wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, take part in a Regatta of the river Neckar in Heidelberg, Germany, Thursday, July 20, 2017. The British Royal couple and their children are on a three-day-visit to Germany. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader) Accompanied by premier of Baden-Wuerttemberg Winfried Kretschmann, left, Britain's Princess Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, right, and husband Prince William, speak to people during a visit to the old town of Heidelberg, Germany, Thursday July 20, 2017. The British Royal couple and their children are on a three-day-visit to Germany. (Arne Dedert/dpa via AP) Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, left, and her husband Prince William take part in a Regatta of the river Neckar in Heidelberg, Germany, Thursday, July 20, 2017. The British Royal couple and their children are on a three-day-visit to Germany. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader) Britain's Prince William and his wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, left, take part in a Regatta of the river Neckar in Heidelberg, Germany, Thursday, July 20, 2017. The British Royal couple and their children are on a three-day-visit to Germany. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader) Britain's Princess Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, wife of Britain's Prince William, acts as cox for a rowing boat during a visit to visit to Heidelberg, Germany, Thursday July 20, 2017. The British Royal couple and their children are on a three-day-visit to Germany. (Marijan Murat/dpa via AP) Britain's Prince William, left, and his wife Princess Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, visit the market place in the historic center of southern German city of Heidelberg, Thursday, July 20, 2017. The British Royal couple and their children are on a three-day-visit to Germany. (Thomas Kienzle/Pool Photo via AP) Britain's Prince William waves to spectators after a Regatta with his wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, onthe river Neckar in Heidelberg, Germany, Thursday, July 20, 2017. The British Royal couple and their children are on a three-day-visit to Germany. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader) Britain's Prince William and his wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, leave after a Regatta on the river Neckar in Heidelberg, Germany, Thursday, July 20, 2017. The British Royal couple and their children are on a three-day-visit to Germany. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader) PINEVILLE, La. (AP) - A Louisiana man who was rushing his wife to the hospital at speeds topping 100 mph (161 kph) missed his child's birth because he was in jail. KALB-TV reports that Zak Evans was arrested Monday and remained in jail as the couple's daughter was born. His wife, Bridget, received an ambulance ride to a hospital. Evans was given a ticket for speeding, flight from an officer and careless operation. Creola police Chief Heath Landry says an officer clocked the couple going 108 mph (174 kph) in a 55 mph (89 kph) speed zone. He says the officer pulled them over in Pineville. The officer who stopped the couple dropped Evans off at the hospital but Evans said he had already missed the birth. ___ Information from: KALB-TV, http://kalb.com PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The Second Bank of the United States might not be Philadelphia's top tourist draw, having to compete with neighbors like Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, but its regal architecture is luring a whole different type of visitor: wedding photographers and soon-to-be brides and grooms. The Greek Revival-style bank is one of the most popular places for wedding photos in the city, so much so that the National Park Service set up a permit office to accommodate wedding photo shoot requests. Kaitlyn Daly, 25, of Vineland, New Jersey, thought the spot was perfect for her February wedding photos. But she had to convince her husband, Michael Daly, 29, who was pushing for pictures atop the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps, which Sylvester Stallone bounded up in the "Rocky" movies. A photographer adjusts Yifat Ayalon's wedding dress as she has photos taken in front of the Second Bank of the United States, Saturday July 15, 2017 in Philadelphia. Independence National Historical Park issued over a dozen wedding shoot permits at the Second Bank of the U.S. in June, the bank's busiest month for wedding photo shoots, and approximately 400 permits in 2016. The number of wedding parties who take photos at the site could be much higher because not all couples apply for a permit. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Larma) "My husband is a huge Rocky fan," Daly said. "He was like 'we have to, we have to get a photo on the Rocky steps,' and I was not sold on the idea." She came upon the bank while researching popular locations for wedding photo shoots, and her husband was persuaded. "It's a beautiful piece of history in Philly," she said. The Second Bank of the U.S. served as the nation's financial hub, beginning in 1816 under a 20-year charter. It was designed by architect William Strickland, who based the design on the Parthenon. Construction finished around 1824. It now houses the "People of Independence" exhibit, a collection of over 150 portraits of 18th and 19th-century leaders, including the country's earliest presidents. It's a staid counterpoint to the bustle and excitement of the portraits being taken outside. Independence National Historical Park issued over a dozen wedding shoot permits at the bank in June, its busiest month for wedding shoots and about 400 permits in 2016, according to park ranger Adam Duncan. But the number is likely much higher because not all couples apply for a permit. "Some people aren't aware that it is a part of the national park here," Duncan said. On a recent Saturday, wedding parties filed onto the lawn of the south facade awaiting their photo op, while colonial re-enactors marched nearby, accompanied by fife and drum, and groups of tourists milled about. Melissa Andresko, 41, in a blush pink Maggie Sottero gown and her husband Ross Mabon, 43, a native of Scotland wearing a traditional kilt, posed on the steps as their photographer snapped away. The couple, who now live in Allentown, Pennsylvania, set out to find a location that matched their vintage Hollywood glam-themed wedding. The bank "just took our breath away," Andresko said. A Revolutionary War re-enactor leads members of the public in a march in front of the Second Bank of the United States, as Melissa Andresko has wedding pictures taken Saturday July 15, 2017 in Philadelphia. Independence National Historical Park issued over a dozen wedding shoot permits at the Second Bank of the U.S. in June, the bank's busiest month for wedding photo shoots, and approximately 400 permits in 2016. The number of wedding parties who take photos at the site could be much higher because not all couples apply for a permit. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Larma) Melissa Andresko and Ross Mabon pose for their wedding photographer at the Second Bank of the United States Saturday July 15, 2017 in Philadelphia. Independence National Historical Park issued over a dozen wedding shoot permits at the Second Bank of the U.S. in June, the bank's busiest month for wedding photo shoots, and approximately 400 permits in 2016. The number of wedding parties who take photos at the site could be much higher because not all couples apply for a permit. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Larma) Yifat Ayalon and Andrew Weinstein Saturday July 15, 2017 in Philadelphia. Independence National Historical Park issued over a dozen wedding shoot permits at the Second Bank of the U.S. in June, the bank's busiest month for wedding photo shoots, and approximately 400 permits in 2016. The number of wedding parties who take photos at the site could be much higher because not all couples apply for a permit. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Larma) Melissa Ihle holds her wedding dress as she leaves an entrance to the Second Bank of the United States Saturday July 15, 2017 in Philadelphia. Independence National Historical Park issued over a dozen wedding shoot permits at the Second Bank of the U.S. in June, the bank's busiest month for wedding photo shoots, and approximately 400 permits in 2016. The number of wedding parties who take photos at the site could be much higher because not all couples apply for a permit. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Larma) CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) - Thousands of people have rallied outside Moldova's Parliament as lawmakers approved a law that would change the electoral system in the former Soviet republic. Lawmakers voted 74-3 on Thursday to adopt the changes, which include lowering the threshold for political alliances to enter Parliament, creating new constituencies and obliging candidates to declare their assets. Communist lawmakers boycotted the vote. As lawmakers debated the legislation, more than 2,000 people massed outside Parliament. Police separated supporters and opponents of the changes. Opponents criticized a lack of public debate and input before the vote and vowed to protest again Friday. Supporters, however, say the new rules will make politicians more accountable, and help women. Moldova holds its next parliamentary elections in 2018. URBANA, Ill. (AP) - A 28-year-old man charged in the abduction of a University of Illinois scholar from China plans to plead not guilty. Defense attorney Tom Bruno tells The (Champaign) News-Gazette (http://bit.ly/2gNnH06 ) that Brendt Christensen will enter the plea during a hearing Thursday afternoon in U.S. District Court, near the school in Urbana. A grand jury returned an indictment last week charging Christensen with kidnapping. Christensen is accused of kidnapping 26-year-old Yingying Zhang on June 9 in Urbana, 140 miles (225 kilometers) southwest of Chicago. He is a recent graduate student in physics at the university. This photo provided by the Macon County Sheriff's Office in Decatur, Ill., shows Brendt Christensen, the suspect in the kidnapping of visiting University of Illinois Chinese scholar Yingying Zhang. At Christensen's first court appearance at federal court in Urbana, Ill., Monday, July 3, 2017, a judge ordered Christensen held without bond. Authorities said facts in the case indicate the Zhang is dead, although her body hasn't been found. (Macon County Sheriff's Office via AP) Investigators say Zhang was abducted after she left campus to sign an apartment lease. They believe Christensen lured her into his car. Investigators have said they believe Zhang is dead, although they haven't found her body. ___ Information from: The News-Gazette, http://www.news-gazette.com This undated photo provided by the University of Illinois Police Department shows Yingying Zhang. Police said the FBI is investigating the disappearance of Zhang, a Chinese woman from a central Illinois university town, as a kidnapping. Zhang was about a month into a yearlong appointment at the University of Illinois' Urbana-Champaign when she disappeared June 9, 2017. (Courtesy of the University of Illinois Police Department via AP) This undated photo provided by the University of Illinois Police Department shows Yingying Zhang. Police said the FBI is investigating the disappearance of Zhang, a Chinese woman from a central Illinois university town, as a kidnapping. Zhang was about a month into a yearlong appointment at the University of Illinois' Urbana-Champaign when she disappeared June 9, 2017. (Courtesy of the University of Illinois Police Department via AP) MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Wisconsin is working on a package of incentives to lure Taiwanese iPhone manufacturer Foxconn to the state as part of a deal that two state lawmakers said Thursday they believe could come as soon as the end of the month. Wisconsin is one of several Midwest states vying for Foxconn as it considers building a $7 billion display panel manufacturing plant that could employ up to 10,000 people. The company was expected to announce its decision by early August. Michigan passed new economic incentives to sweeten its deal for Foxconn last week. Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald told The Associated Press on Thursday that "huge, big numbers" are being talked about to help land Foxconn. And Rep. John Nygren and Sen. Luther Olsen both said the state could announce a deal by the end of the month. None of them said they knew how much in total incentives the state may ultimately offer. FILE - In this Thursday, May 27, 2010, file photo, a worker looks out through the logo at the entrance of the Foxconn complex in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. Two Republican state lawmakers said Thursday, July 20, 2017, that Wisconsin could announce it has landed a deal for Taiwanese iPhone manufacturer Foxconn to locate in the state as soon as the end of the month. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File) "I really don't have a lot of information and any legislator up at the Capitol that tells you they do is not telling the truth," Fitzgerald told WKOW-TV. Fitzgerald said negotiations going on with Gov. Scott Walker's office and state economic development officials have been "kept very close to the vest until they have something." Walker downplayed talk of an imminent deal. "We don't have a specific proposal on the table," Walker told reporters. "Anything that's being talked about right now is purely speculative." Walker and state economic development officials have repeatedly declined to comment about Foxconn, saying they can't discuss ongoing negotiations with potential new businesses. Nygren, who is co-chairman of the Legislature's budget committee, said incentives for Foxconn would not be included in the two-year budget currently being worked on that's already three weeks past due. But he said money being considered for tax cuts now, like $200 million Walker wanted to use to cut income taxes, may instead be needed for incentives later as part of any deal with Foxconn. Nygren was optimistic that Wisconsin would win the high-stakes race to land Foxconn, but he stressed that talks were fluid and the company could just as easily choose another state. He and other lawmakers attended a barbecue at the governor's mansion with Walker and Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou last week. "It was very clear a deal could come as quickly as the end of the month," Nygren said. Olsen said the state could announce it has entered into a memorandum of understanding with Foxconn by the end of the month. Olsen said he wanted to hold off on passing Wisconsin's overdue state budget "until we know what's going on with this." Adding in Foxconn incentives is a new twist. "This is something we have to take seriously if they decide to come to Wisconsin," Olsen said of incentives for Foxconn. "We have to make sure we're in fiscal shape to fulfill the obligations that are being presented to Foxconn to come to Wisconsin." But House Speaker Paul Ryan said earlier this month that he had met with Foxconn officials at the request of Walker and he hoped they would locate a plant in his southeast Wisconsin congressional district near the border with Illinois. And President Donald Trump said in June that his administration was negotiating a U.S. expansion with "a major, major, incredible manufacturer of phones and computers and televisions" and that Walker could be getting a "very happy surprise very soon." Foxconn assembles smartphones and other devices for Apple, Sony, Blackberry and other brands. Most of its operations are based in China, where its plants employ about 1 million people. For the company's U.S. plant, Gou has said it is considering Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana and Texas as manufacturing states with which the company hopes to work. Michigan passed a series of incentives to lure Foxconn last week, a move that Walker said Thursday was "irrelevant to what we're doing." ___ Follow Scott Bauer on Twitter at https://twitter.com/sbauerAP RABAT, Morocco (AP) - Clashes between police and Moroccan protesters Thursday left at least 83 injured in clouds of tear gas and running battles at an unauthorized demonstration over inequality and corruption. Moroccans have in recent days demonstrated in Rabat and as far away as Amsterdam to show their support for the protesters who gathered Thursday in El Hoceima, a city that has become a symbol for rising public anger. Their Hirak protest movement has become the biggest challenge to the kingdom, a key U.S. ally known for its stability, since the Arab Spring in 2011 overthrew longstanding regimes elsewhere in the region. Activists hold a portrait of Silia, an arrested activist from the Moroccan northern town of Al Hoceima and an Amazigh flag, during a protest in support of ongoing anti-government protests taking place in the northern Rif region, in Rabat, Morocco, Monday, July 20, 2017. Protests erupted in the northern town of Hoceima last year after the gruesome death of a fisherman, and have now developed into a social and economic movement. (AP Photo/Abdeljalil Bounhar) Moroccan activist leader Nasser Zefzafi called for a protest in El Hoceima on July 20 - the anniversary of an uprising against Spanish colonizers - before his arrest last month in a dramatic manhunt. Authorities banned Thursday's demonstration for administrative reasons, but crowds gathered anyway. Police ringed the city center and fired tear gas to disperse crowds, then held running battles with protesters who scattered into side streets, according to Moroccan media reports. Internet access in the city was restricted for hours. The government said in a statement that masked protesters hurled projectiles at police. It said 11 protesters were hospitalized and 72 police officers injured. Protesters are demanding government investment in the impoverished northern Rif region, and justice for a fish vendor crushed by a garbage compactor last year while trying to save fish that officials had confiscated. The death unleashed protests that have simmered for months. The government has promised development projects for the region, which has a long history of rebellion against Morocco's leaders. The head of the Tangiers-Tetouan-El Hoceima region, Mohamed El Yaacoubi, called the protest "useless" because the protesters' demands "correspond exactly with the projects launched by His Majesty," according to La Depeche website. Police have rounded up dozens of activists in recent months, accusing some of receiving foreign money and support for protests seen as threatening Morocco's reputation. The arrests only enflamed public anger, as activists in other cities took to the streets in support of the Hoceima movement. Human rights activists are demanding the release of Zefzafi and the other protesters and say authorities are increasingly aggressive against demonstrations. A women holds a portrait of Silia, an arrested activist from the Moroccan northern town of Al Hoceima, during a protest in support of ongoing anti-government protests taking place in the northern Rif region, in Rabat, Morocco, Monday, July 20, 2017. Protests erupted in the northern town of Hoceima last year after the gruesome death of a fisherman, and have now developed into a social and economic movement. (AP Photo/Abdeljalil Bounhar) A men holds a portrait of activist Nasser Zefzafi, right, arrested for protests in Al Hoceima, during a demonstration in support of ongoing anti-government protests taking place in the northern Rif region, in Rabat, Morocco, Monday, July 20, 2017. Protests erupted in the northern town of Hoceima last year after the gruesome death of a fisherman, and have now developed into a social and economic movement. (AP Photo/Abdeljalil Bounhar) A men holds a portrait of Silia, an arrested activist from the Moroccan northern town of Al Hoceima, during a protest in support of ongoing anti-government protests taking place in the northern Rif region, in Rabat, Morocco, Monday, July 20, 2017. Protests erupted in the northern town of Hoceima last year after the gruesome death of a fisherman, and have now developed into a social and economic movement. (AP Photo/Abdeljalil Bounhar) Activists shout as they hold a portrait of Silia, an arrested activist from the Moroccan northern town of Al Hoceima, during a protest in support of ongoing anti-government protests taking place in the northern Rif region, in Rabat, Morocco, Monday, July 20, 2017. Protests erupted in the northern town of Hoceima last year after the gruesome death of a fisherman, and have now developed into a social and economic movement. (AP Photo/Abdeljalil Bounhar) BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) - The Latest on an American student detained in China after a dispute over with a taxi driver (all times local to Montana): 11:15 a.m. A spokeswoman for a U.S. lawmaker says an American college student arrested after an altercation with a taxi driver in China has reported no physical or mental health concerns related to his detention. A spokeswoman for U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, Marnee Banks, said the U.S. Embassy in Beijing provided details Thursday on the status of Guthrie Mclean after the University of Montana student was visited by a consular official. Mclean was arrested in the city of Zhengzhou Sunday and accused of intentionally injuring the taxi driver, according to family friend Tom Mitchell. Mitchell says Mclean was trying to protect his mother after the driver attempted to rough her up following a fare dispute. The Zhengzhou municipal security bureau said it does not discuss individual cases. A U.S. State Department official declined comment citing privacy considerations. __ 4:55 a.m. Police in central China have arrested an American college student on charges of intentional injury following an altercation with a taxi driver. A family friend of Guthrie McLean said Thursday that the University of Montana student was formally arrested in the city of Zhengzhou earlier this week. Tom Mitchell, the family friend who is also Beijing bureau chief for the Financial Times, said McLean was trying to protect his mother from a local taxi driver in a dispute that took place on June 10. Mitchell said he's not aware if any U.S. official has visited McLean in detention. The Zhengzhou municipal public security bureau, when contacted by The Associated Press, said it does not take inquiries about individual cases. The U.S. Embassy in Beijing referred questions to spokesmen in Washington. WASHINGTON (AP) - The House has approved legislation allowing a proposed road through a remote national wildlife refuge in Alaska that was rejected by the Obama administration. A bill approved Thursday would grant a land exchange allowing Alaska to build the long-disputed road between two rural communities, King Cove and Cold Bay, near the tip of the Alaska Peninsula, 600 miles (965 kilometers) southwest of Anchorage. The bill, sponsored by Alaska's sole representative, Republican Don Young, was approved on a vote of 248-179. It now goes to the Senate. FILE - In this Sept. 23, 2013, file photo, a driver passes the small boat harbor in King Cove, Alaska. The House has approved legislation allowing a proposed road through a remote national wildlife refuge in Alaska that was rejected by the Obama administration. A bill approved July 20 would grant a land exchange allowing Alaska to build the long-disputed road between two rural communities, King Cove and Cold Bay, near the tip of the Alaska Peninsula 600 miles (965 kilometers) southwest of Anchorage.(James Brooks/Kodiak Daily Mirror via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT Supporters say the road is needed because strong winds and mountains make air travel in the region unpredictable, creating a life-threatening problem in medical emergencies. Critics counter that the road, located within the sprawling Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, threatens migratory birds and other animals, including caribou, brown bears and sea otters. Congress approved a land exchange for the project in 2009, but then-Interior Secretary Sally Jewell rejected the plan in 2013, saying a road over a narrow isthmus in the refuge could cause irrevocable damage to birds and other wildlife. Alaska Gov. Bill Walker said last month that the Interior Department has granted Alaska permission to survey wilderness within the wildlife refuge for the long-sought road, which would extend about 30 miles (48 kilometers), including about 11 miles (18 kilometers) within the wildlife refuge. Young called the road a matter of life or death for King Cove's 900 residents. "Sadly, this legislation is only necessary because of the heartless actions of the previous administration, which ... placed the interests of environmentalists and wildlife over human life," Young said, calling Jewell's rejection of the road "one of the worst government actions I've seen in all my years." Republicans on the House Natural Resources Committee said in a report this week that at least 19 people have died as a result of plane crashes or waiting to be medically evacuated to Cold Bay, the nearest town with an all-weather airport. At least 55 people have required medical evacuations in the past three years, the report said. Many of the evacuations have required services of the U.S. Coast Guard, costing taxpayers up to $30,000 per trip, the report said. Environmental groups say the rural community has other, better alternatives, such as boats, and for decades have fought an intrusion into the refuge. The National Wildlife Refuge Association, an advocacy group, said the "real reason behind the road" is "economic development, plain and simple." The proposed road could be used to quickly transport seafood from King Cove's large salmon cannery to the Cold Bay airport for distribution around the world, the group said. Young and Alaska's two senators, Republicans Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, have vowed to work with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to approve the road. CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - Supporters of a controversial project that would bring Canadian hydro power to markets in southern New England like to talk about how this would use much cleaner energy than the coal-fired power plants that once dominated the region. But don't tell that to members of a Canadian tribe, whose traditional territory is dotted with some the dams, reservoirs and power stations that would provide the energy. Rather than green energy, they contend the infrastructure built by Hydro Quebec for power that will go through the proposed Northern Pass project has decimated a salmon fishery they depend on and harmed their traditional hunting grounds. The Pessamit Innu took their case Thursday to New Hampshire's Site Evaluation Committee, which is hearing public comment on the project and later this year will vote on whether to approve it. Plans call for building a 192-mile transmission line in New Hampshire - from Pittsburg to Deerfield - carrying enough Hydro-Quebec energy to southern New England markets to power about 1.1 million homes. Eric Canape, right, a member of the Pessamit Innu tribal nation of Quebec, Canada, speaks during a meeting with opponents of a proposed Northern Pass power project Thursday, July 20, 2017, in Concord, N.H. Other tribal members attending include elder Malec Hervieux, fourth from left, Joseph-Louis Vachon, third from right, and Jean-Noel Riverin, second from right. The tribe opposes the U.S. power project, saying it would accommodate a hydro-power company that has decimated a salmon fishery in Quebec that the tribe depends upon. (AP Photo/Bill Sikes) "This salmon is currently on the verge of extinction," said Pessamit Innu Chief Rene Simon in a statement read during the hearing. The tribe contends the annual salmon catch has fallen from more than 1,100 in1948 to less than 100 last year. "Pessamit's right to fish for traditional purposes, although recognized by the Supreme Court of Canada, is simply no longer applicable," said the statement from Simon, who couldn't join other tribal leaders due to illness. Hydro Quebec denies the tribe's allegation, saying the fishery's decline has more to do with climate change and the tribe's fishing practices. Until now, much of the focus of the project has been on the route of the transmission lines through New Hampshire that would be built by the utility Eversource. Supporters say the project would bring much-needed clean energy to the region, which would help alleviate high energy prices and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Opponents say the proposed towers - some as high as 155 feet - would mar scenic views in the northern part of the state, hurt tourism and damage property values in communities in the project's path. Rather than taking a position on the project in New Hampshire, the tribe chose to direct its ire at Hydro-Quebec and the Canadian government. It alleges the government forced the tribe from its traditional territories and onto a reservation in the 1800s. It also alleges Hydro-Quebec has been building its networks of dams, power stations and reservoirs on land, lakes and rivers the tribe uses for hunting and fishing. The Pessamit Innu contends it often was not consulted or compensated over these projects. As a result, hunting grounds were flooded and conditions of the Betsiamites River, where tribe members fish for salmon, have worsened, the tribe claims. The waters have become more turbid, and the tribe blames the two power stations for fluctuating flow rates that sweep away young salmon to their death and destroy their eggs. "Our action outside of Canada's borders aims to change the course of history or, at least, to make New Englanders aware that 29 percent of the electricity that Hydro-Quebec intends to sell was acquired in an immoral and illegal manner, to the detriment of Pessamit," Simon said. A spokeswoman for Hydro-Quebec, Lynn St-Laurent, insists the company has worked with Pessamit Innu on these projects and provided the tribe with $80 million in compensation during the past 20 years. She insisted complaints about the river conditions are not true, and that the fluctuations on the river are strictly controlled and had been agreed upon with the tribe. She said the power comes from the utility's entire grid that reaches well beyond Pessamit land. "If representatives of the Pessimit community have concerns or financial demands, we are always willing to listen," said St.-Laurent, adding that they partner with the tribe on scores of development projects including a salmon restoration effort that almost doubled the number of adult salmon to 1,000 from 2002 to 2007. The tribe, whose trip is being funded in part by the Sierra Club, says it got a lot of support from environmentalists and opponents of the project after holding a series of meeting in New Hampshire and Massachusetts during the past few days. But it remains unclear what impact its concerns will have on the Site Evaluation Committee's decision. In January, the agency denied the Pessamit's request to be a formal party to the state's permit proceeding. Suzanne Steele, right, speaks to Pessamit Innu tribal elder Malec Hervieux, of Quebec, Canada, after tribal representatives met with opponents of a proposed Northern Pass power project Thursday, July 20, 2017, in Concord, N.H. Tribal representatives Eric Canape, center, and elder Edgar St-Onge, left, also attended. The tribe opposes the U.S. powerline project, saying it would accommodate a hydro-power company that has decimated a salmon fishery in Quebec that the tribe depends upon. (AP Photo/Bill Sikes) Edgar St-Onge, center, an elder of the Pessamit Innu tribal nation of Quebec, Canada, speaks during a meeting with opponents of a proposed Northern Pass power project Thursday, July 20, 2017, in Concord, N.H. The tribe opposes the U.S. power project, saying it would accommodate a hydro-power company that has decimated a salmon fishery in Quebec that the tribe depends upon. (AP Photo/Bill Sikes) JOHANNESBURG (AP) - Conservationists in Zimbabwe say the son of a lion named Cecil, whose 2015 killing prompted an international outcry, has also been fatally shot during a hunt. A group named Friends of Hwange Trust said Thursday on Facebook that 6-year-old Xanda, Cecil's son, was shot on a "legal trophy hunt" several days ago. The group says Xanda, who was wearing a GPS collar installed by researchers, was killed outside the boundary of Hwange National Park. Another group named Lions of Hwange National Park says Xanda was killed by a Zimbabwean professional hunter. Minnesota dentist Walter Palmer killed Cecil after the lion was allegedly lured outside Hwange park with an animal carcass used as bait. Zimbabwe described the killing as illegal and said it would charge Palmer, but later dropped that plan. WASHINGTON (AP) - Exxon Mobil Corp. must pay a $2 million fine for showing "reckless disregard" for U.S. sanctions on Russia while Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was the oil giant's CEO, the Treasury Department said Thursday. Exxon sued the U.S. government to stop the fine. Treasury said that Exxon violated sanctions when it signed contracts in May 2014 with Russian oil magnate Igor Sechin, chairman of government-owned energy giant Rosneft. The U.S. blacklisted Sechin, Tillerson's longtime business associate, as part of its response to Moscow's actions in Ukraine and annexation of Crimea. The same month that Exxon signed the deals, Tillerson said the company generally opposes sanctions and finds them "ineffective." FILE - In this Nov. 7, 2016, file photo, ExxonMobil CEO and chairman Rex W. Tillerson gives a speech at the annual Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition & Conference in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The Treasury Department hit Exxon Mobil Corp. with a $2 million fine on July 20, 2017, for violating Russia sanctions while Tillerson was the oil company's CEO. Treasury said in a statement that Exxon under Tillerson's leadership had shown "reckless disregard" for sanctions that the Obama administration imposed on Russian entities in 2014 over Russia's annexation of Crimea. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell, File) Exxon maintained it had done nothing wrong. Hours after the fine was announced, the Texas-based company sued Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and the government, saying the U.S. had clearly told companies that doing business with Rosneft was allowed - just not with Sechin himself. As America's top diplomat, Tillerson has insisted the sanctions will stay in place until Russia reverses course in Ukraine and gives back Crimea. Still, the sanctions breach on his watch raises significant questions about his ability to credibly enforce the sanctions and to persuade European countries to keep doing so. Yet the Treasury Department said that Exxon's "senior-most executives" knew Sechin was blacklisted when two of its subsidiaries signed deals with him. The Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, said Exxon caused "significant harm" to the sanctions program. The dispute between Exxon and the government centers on whether the sanctions differentiated between "professional" and "personal" interactions with Sechin, who had been blacklisted only weeks earlier. Exxon, in its lawsuit, noted that the former Obama administration had said the sanctions strategy was to target individuals like Sechin who were contributing to the Ukraine crisis - not the companies they might manage on Russia's behalf. The company pointed out that a Treasury Department spokesman had even said it would be permissible for an American CEO to attend a Rosneft board meeting with Sechin as long as it wasn't related to Sechin's "personal business." Rosneft itself was not subject to sanctions at the time. "OFAC seeks to retroactively enforce a new interpretation of an executive order that is inconsistent with the explicit and unambiguous guidance from the White House and Treasury," Exxon said in the suit. Not so, said the Treasury Department, arguing that the government never gave Exxon or anyone else a reason to believe there was an exception for professional dealings. The government noted that its website at the time explicitly warned companies not to enter any contracts signed by people on the blacklist. The U.S. said that the presidents of two Exxon's subsidiaries and Sechin had signed eight legal documents in May 2014. That same month, Neil Duffin, president of subsidiary Exxon Mobil Development, signed several deals to continue their work on the massive Sakhalin oil and natural gas project on Russia's eastern coast. A photo posted on Rosneft's website shows Sechin and Duffin smiling broadly and shaking hands at a conference table with documents and a pen in front of them. A few days later, Tillerson was unambiguous about Exxon's opposition to the sanctions during his company's annual meeting. "We do not support sanctions, generally, because we don't find them to be effective unless they are very well implemented comprehensibly and that's a very hard thing to do," Tillerson said. Tillerson had played a central role over the years in developing that multibillion dollar deal. Tillerson knew both Sechin and Russian President Vladimir Putin for more than a decade before he became secretary of state. The Treasury Department called the violation an "egregious case" and noted that Exxon "is a sophisticated and experienced oil and gas company that has global operations" and should know better when it comes to U.S. sanctions. It leveled the statutory maximum civil penal of $2 million for the breaches. Exxon's suit asks the court to set aside the fine. After the Ukraine-related sanctions put in place under President Barack Obama, Tillerson saw Exxon's stake in a lucrative offshore drilling project with Rosneft come under threat. Tillerson visited the White House numerous times as CEO in the immediate aftermath of the sanctions being announced, but they remained in place. Concerns about Tillerson's potential conflict of interest dominated his confirmation hearings in January, and the secretary has recused himself from matters dealing with his former company. The State Department said it wasn't involved in the decision to punish Exxon for violating the sanctions. "The secretary continues to abide by his ethical commitments, including that recusal from Exxon-related commitments," said State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert. As a diplomat, Tillerson has struck a different tone on sanctions and sought to maintain pressure on Russia to stop interfering in eastern Ukraine. "The U.S. and EU sanctions on Russia will remain in place until Moscow reverses the actions that triggered these particular sanctions," Tillerson said earlier this month during a visit to Ukraine. KYAR GAUNG TAUNG, Myanmar (AP) - Myanmar's military has a big public relations problem: It stands accused of committing genocide. Which is why I was among 14 international journalists escorted to a village in northern Rakhine state this past week on a guided press tour - the first time we were allowed into this area since last October, when the army began an aggressive counterinsurgency campaign in the heartland of the country's oppressed Muslim ethnic Rohingya minority. The idea was to show that the army's hands are clean and to display openness, even as the government refuses to allow a human rights fact-finding team from the United Nations to enter the country. A Border Guard Police officer stands at a police post that was previously attacked by a Muslim terrorist group in Kyee Kan Pyin Buthidaung in which Myanmar government and military claim the existence of Muslim terrorists, in Rakhine state Myanmar, on Friday, July 14, 2017. Myanmar's military, accused of committing genocide during an aggressive counterinsurgency campaign in the heartland of the country's oppressed Muslim ethnic Rohingya minority, allowed journalists to previously off-limits areas on a guided press tour. (AP Photo/ Esther Htusan) It was hard to reach many conclusions. Our government handlers placed limits on how much we saw and heard. There were time constraints, guards and informers shadowed us, and official briefings mostly repeated familiar talking points. Reporting also was a challenge because many Rohingya villagers speak only their own language and only a few of the reporters even spoke Burmese. But I learned enough to get at least a dim outline of an ongoing battle for hearts and minds. ___ Our five-day trip ended Sunday. Everywhere we went, I could see fear in people's faces, especially when police were with us. I learned how little access the Rohingya have to even basic services. The school attendance rate is less than one in 10; some schools exist but the transportation infrastructure to get children to them doesn't exist. The five villages we visited in northern Buthidaung township are very remote; we spent much more time traveling to them - by boat and car - than actually in them. Farmers and fishermen live in bamboo houses in settlements bracketed by rice paddies. Many small children don't wear clothes. The only boats visible in the nearby river were dugout canoes, nothing more elaborate. Their lives are simple. Men plow the fields with their draft animals. Women stay home and cook and wash clothes and fetch the water. It all seemed so normal. But when we walked around, people's expressions made it clear they wanted to tell us something. We were on occasion able to get away from our security escorts - ostensibly there for our own protection - and talk to some. The army is accused of carrying gross human rights violations against Rohingya villagers during a counterinsurgency operation launched after October's nighttime attacks by insurgent-led mobs resulted in the deaths of nine border guards and the theft of a cache of weapons. Human rights groups accuse the government's security forces of mass killings, gang rapes and burning down villages. There is evidence to support the allegations. Advocates for the Rohingya, working with a network of activists in Rakhine, circulated many photos and detailed accounts of alleged atrocities, mostly impossible to verify but not refuted either. In Kyar Gaung Taung, one 20-year-old woman told us what happened when soldiers arrived in her village when the counterinsurgency sweeps began last year. Her story was very similar to accounts that circulated at that time but that we heard mostly secondhand. When the troops arrived at her villages, she said, they seized her 60-year-old father and tied his hands behind his back. They then set fire to the family home and tossed her father in, she said. She spoke to journalists at the graveyard where her father's remains were buried. The army was prepared with a response. "There are less than 10 cases involving killings by the Border Guard Police, and we have explanations in each case," Brig. Gen. Thura San Lwin told us later. "Even out of these 10 cases filed to the court involving killings, some of the complaints were fake and lies." ___ The U.N.'s human rights agency collected testimony from hundreds of Rohingya who fled to neighboring Bangladesh, concluding that rape was widely used by the army as a weapon of war and that civilian deaths were in the hundreds. The New York-based group Human Rights Watch used before-and-after satellite photos to demonstrate that more than 1,500 houses and other structures had been burned down as part of the counterinsurgency operation. Less convincingly, the government attributed the arson to the insurgents and their sympathizers. The allegations of abuse are credible not only because the army is historically notorious for mistreatment of other minority groups in the eastern side of the country, but also because there is a well-established pattern of hostility and violence directed by Buddhist ethnic Rakhines at the Rohingya population, estimated at upward of 1 million, most settled in this region. The Rohingya were the targets of inter-communal violence in 2012 that killed hundreds and drove about 140,000 people - predominantly Rohingya - from their homes to camps for the internally displaced, where most remain. Many others have been taken into custody. At one point, a group of women from another village glimpsed us and crossed some paddy fields to talk. The women from War Pait village - I interviewed eight of them - said more than 60 men from their community were arrested for suspected links to the group that carried out the October attacks. Many were under 18, some as young as 13, they said. They've visited Buthidaung Prison a couple of times to see their sons, but none of the women knew exactly what charges their loved ones face or how long they will be held. The violence is not one-sided, although the alleged brutality and scale of last year's army sweep tends to overshadow other ominous developments. The government claims, and the pattern of several dozen similar killings suggests, that these acts - some involving beheadings - have been carried out by the insurgents, targeting suspected informers or government collaborators. It's evident that such activity is blowback from the army's vigorous counterinsurgency campaign, which had the predictable effect of serving as a recruiting tool for the militants. Last year's presumed attackers of the border posts, relatively obscure at the time, have become very active on messaging networks such as WeChat to spread their propaganda. In March, they declared themselves the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army. And as the conflict gains more traction in the public eye, the government is grappling with how to get its message out - all while restricting access to the region. Included in this trip were four journalists from state-owned media. Their only job, it seemed, was to document journalists from the international media - to keep track of us as we tried to tell the stories of others. We were on the front page of the government's English-language mouthpiece, The Global New Light of Myanmar, three mornings in a row. As far as they were concerned, we were the news. ___ Esther Htusan is AP's correspondent in Myanmar, Yangon. Her work on human trafficking in the seafood industry was part of the winning entry for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. In this Thursday July 13, 2017 photo, Myanmar's Border Guard Police officers stand guard at a village street as some residents stand together in Yinmar Chaung Taung village of northern Buthidaung township where the majority Rohingya Muslims and some Rakhine Buddhists live in Rakhine state, Myanmar. Myanmar's military, accused of committing genocide during an aggressive counterinsurgency campaign in the heartland of the country's oppressed Muslim ethnic Rohingya minority, allowed journalists to previously off-limits areas on a guided press tour. (AP Photo/ Esther Htusan) In this Friday, July 14, 2017 photo, a Rohinhya woman with her child walk pass Myanmar Border Guard Police (BGP) officers at Yinmar Chaung Taung village, Buthidaung, Rakhine State, Myanmar. Myanmar's military, accused of committing genocide during an aggressive counterinsurgency campaign in the heartland of the country's oppressed Muslim ethnic Rohingya minority, allowed journalists to previously off-limits areas on a guided press tour. (AP Photo/ Esther Htusan) In this Friday, July 14, 2017 photo, Myanmar's Border Guard Police (BGP) officers walk toward a jetty in Yinmar Chaung Taung village where Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya live, in northern Buthidaung Township, Rakhine State, Myanmar. Myanmar's military, accused of committing genocide during an aggressive counterinsurgency campaign in the heartland of the country's oppressed Muslim ethnic Rohingya minority, allowed journalists to previously off-limits areas on a guided press tour. (AP Photo/ Esther Htusan) In this Friday, July 14, 2017 photo, Myanmar Border Guard Police (BGP) officers travel in a wooden boat operated by Rohingya Muslim men at Tin May village in which Myanmar government and military claim the existence of alleged Muslim terrorists in Buthidaung, Rakhine State, Myanmar. Myanmar's military, accused of committing genocide during an aggressive counterinsurgency campaign in the heartland of the country's oppressed Muslim ethnic Rohingya minority, allowed journalists to previously off-limits areas on a guided press tour. (AP Photo/ Esther Htusan) NEW YORK (AP) - Television networks returned to the scene of an old obsession Thursday with blanket coverage of O.J. Simpson's parole hearing Nevada. The biggest broadcast networks, news networks and even ESPN and CNBC set aside regular programming for the odd spectacle that NBC's Savannah Guthrie dubbed "the parole hearing of the century." It was 22 years after Simpson's trial for the 1994 murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman, became a television soap opera. FILE - In this Sept. 19, 2007 file photo, O.J. Simpson lawyer Yale Galanter talks to the media outside Clark County Justice courtroom after Simpson's arraignment in Las Vegas. On Thursday, July 20, 2017 O.J. Simpson faces a parole board hearing in Nevada. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson, File) Commentators harshly criticized Simpson and his lawyer for their performance at the parole hearing. CNN's Jeffrey Toobin called it "an absolute disgrace." FILE - In this May 15, 2013 file photo, O.J. Simpson returns to the witness stand to testify after a break during an evidentiary hearing in Clark County District Court in Las Vegas. Simpson, the former football star, TV pitchman and now Nevada prison inmate, will have a lot going for him when he appears before state parole board members Thursday, July 20, 2017, seeking his release after more than eight years for an ill-fated bid to retrieve sports memorabilia. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson, Pool, file) FILE - In this June 15, 1995 file photo, O.J. Simpson, left, grimaces as he tries on one of the leather gloves prosecutors say he wore the night his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman were murdered in a Los Angeles courtroom. Simpson, the former football star, TV pitchman and now Nevada prison inmate, will have a lot going for him when he appears before state parole board members Thursday, July 20, 2017, seeking his release after more than eight years for an ill-fated bid to retrieve sports memorabilia. (AP Photo/Sam Mircovich, Pool, file) PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - A Connecticut jeweler has been charged in Rhode Island in what federal authorities say is a $5 million fraud scheme using his store. The U.S. attorney's office says Groton (GRAH'-tuhn), Connecticut, resident Gerald Kent was ordered detained on Thursday on charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Kent owns Kent Jewelry in Johnston, Rhode Island, which sells jewelry online using flash sale websites such as Groupon and Zulily. Prosecutors say Kent struck a deal with a firm that buys unpaid invoices at a discount in return for cash. But they say Kent sold the company fraudulent invoices, netting himself $3.6 million. Kent's lawyer won't comment on the charges. Kent is scheduled to appear back in federal court for a detention hearing on July 26. LAWRENCE, Mass. (AP) - House Speaker Paul Ryan on Thursday pitched Republican plans for overhauling the nation's tax code at a shoe factory, as demonstrators outside protested the GOP agenda of scrapping former President Barack Obama's health care law and tax cuts. Ryan traveled to this heavily Democratic state to promote one of President Donald Trump's top priorities, as congressional Republicans struggle to advance key parts of the president's agenda. Ryan delivered a stinging indictment of the current tax code, calling it inefficient, unfair and too complicated. He said the tax code puts U.S. businesses at a disadvantage against foreign competitors and overwhelms families who can't fill out their own tax forms. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., holds up a sample of a rubber sole used in the production of athletic shoes as he meets with local business leaders and politicians at the top of a roundtable discussion at a New Balance athletic shoe factory Thursday, July 20, 2017, in Lawrence, Mass. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia) "Right now, we've got a tax code that no one really understands enforced by an agency that no one really likes - the IRS," Ryan told a group of workers. "We're going to simplify all of this." Ryan said Republicans are working to eliminate tax exemptions, deductions and credits and use the revenue to lower tax rates. A House Republican plan would lower the top corporate income tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent. Trump's plan would lower it to 15 percent. The White House and congressional Republicans have been privately negotiating their tax package for weeks, with no public sign that they're near a consensus. Democrats have been excluded from the talks. Overhauling the nation's tax system has been a top priority for Republicans, but the stakes have been magnified as lawmakers struggle to repeal Obama's health care law. The last time Congress overhauled the tax system was in 1986, the same year Ryan got his driver's license. Ryan pledged to pass a tax package this year. "This is a once in a generation moment," Ryan said. "It is time to cut taxes and simplify the code. It is time to create jobs and grow our economy. It is time to restore our nation to its full potential. It's time to get this done." Ryan spoke after he toured New Balance's sneaker factory. Outside, more than 100 demonstrators held signs and chanted: "Health care for all" and "No hate. No fear. Paul Ryan is not welcome here." The Massachusetts chapter of the Service Employees International Union, which represents health care workers, organized the rally. The Rev. Laura Hoke of the Andover Unitarian Universalist Church called Ryan's visit to Lawrence "pretty outrageous." "It's baffling. They're continuing to push this mythology that tax cuts for the rich will magically help the poor," she said. Hoke said Lawrence is among the cities that would be the most affected by Republican health care and immigration policies. Lawrence is a mostly blue-collar city where 75 percent of the residents are Latino. It's about 30 miles north of Boston near the New Hampshire state line. "We're proud of New Balance and what it's done in the community, but Paul Ryan doesn't represent our values," said Matt Bausemer, a 39-year-old vocational school teacher who was wearing a pair of the company's sneakers. New Balance executives have been supportive of Republicans. Jim Davis, the company's billionaire owner, gave nearly $2 million during the last election to Republican candidates and political action committees across the country, federal campaign records show. He also has donated to Democrats. New Balance was founded in 1906 in Boston, where it remains headquartered. It employs more than 6,000 workers and operates two factories in Massachusetts, three in Maine and one in the United Kingdom. ___ Associated Press writer Stephen Ohlemacher in Washington contributed to this report. Protestors standing across the street from the New Balance athletic shoe factory protest the visit of House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., Thursday, July 20, 2017, in Lawrence, Mass. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia) NEW YORK (AP) - "Morning Joe" co-host Mika Brzezinski (bruh-ZHIN-skee) has a three-book deal. Weinstein Books told The Associated Press on Thursday that the first release would be a new and expanded edition of the 2011 best-seller "Knowing Your Value: Women, Money, and Getting What You're Worth." The book features commentary from Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sheryl Sandberg, among others, and will come out next spring. Brzezinski also plans two more "Knowing Your Value" publications, scheduled for fall 2018. "Comeback Careers" will be co-authored by sister-in-law Ginny Brzezinski, and "The Millennial Challenge" is a collaboration with "Morning Joe" producer Daniela Pierre-Bravo. Mika Brzezinski's other books include "All Things at Once" and "Obsessed: America's Food Addiction - and My Own." FILE - In this Feb. 25, 2017 file photo, Mika Brzezinski attends FX's "The Americans" season five premiere in New York. "Morning Joe" co-host Mika Brzezinski has a 3-book deal. Weinstein Books said Thursday, July 20, 2017 that the first release would be a new and expanded edition of the 2011 best-seller "Knowing Your Value: Women, Money, and Getting What You're Worth." The book features commentary from Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sheryl Sandberg among others and will come out next spring. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP, File) Weinstein Books is a partnership between the Weinstein Co. and Hachette Book Group. ___ Corrects Daniela Pierre-Bravo's job title to producer from associate producer. NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A former Louisiana sheriff's deputy who was part of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration task force has pleaded guilty to stealing thousands of dollars seized in a drug raid. Karl Emmett Newman, 50, pleaded guilty Thursday to using a firearm during a robbery and to "conversion of property" by a government employee. Prosecutors said in court documents the charges stemmed from his August 2015 raid of a Hammond, Louisiana, home, where he seized drugs and firearms. Prosecutors say Newman and another deputy also seized more than $6,000, but kept about $3,000. Newman was indicted last year on a host of federal counts. The charges were reduced to two as attorneys worked out Thursday's plea deal. Newman could spend five years to life in prison. Another former deputy involved in the 2015 raid, Johnny Domingue, was also indicted in that case and, The New Orleans Advocate reports, has pleaded guilty to state drug charges. Both were once deputies with the sheriff's office in Tangipahoa Parish north of New Orleans. Newman also has been arrested on state charges and a state prosecutor last year said the investigation that led to the arrests of Newman and Domingue could also lead to other arrests at "federal and state levels." UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The United States warned leaders in South Sudan on Thursday that they risk losing U.S. support if they don't participate in a high-level forum and stick to deadlines for a cease-fire and political process to end their civil war. U.S. deputy ambassador Michele Sison said the Revitalization Forum being organized by the regional group IGAD is "the last chance" for salvaging the August 2015 peace agreement. "The United States expects that it will lead to a realistic and meaningful outcome," Sison said. "If South Sudan's leaders do not participate in this high-level forum in good faith and stick to its deadlines, the United States will need to review our position and priorities on support for the peace agreement and its implementing bodies." For the United States, Sison said, "the bottom line is that we want this regional mediation to succeed, and we need to see South Sudan's leaders engaged in it, at long last." There were high hopes that South Sudan would have peace and stability after its independence from neighboring Sudan in 2011. But the country plunged into ethnic violence in December 2013 when forces loyal to President Salva Kiir, a Dinka, started battling those loyal to Riek Machar, his former vice president who is a Nuer. The 2015 peace agreement has not stopped the fighting, and Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping El Ghassim Wane told the council Thursday that "the security environment remains extremely volatile and South Sudan is in need of an effective and credible cease-fire." The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and forced 3.5 million to flee their homes. Sison said the Security Council has listened to promises from South Sudan's leaders "that they will finally get serious about pursuing peace" but nothing has changed and people continue to flee the fighting. "This council needs to hold the parties on the ground accountable for their broken promises," she said. Sison recalled that in March the council demanded an end to fighting, commitment to a political process and unfettered access to millions in need of humanitarian assistance "but virtually none of these steps happened." To pressure the parties to take action, Sison urged the Security Council to impose targeted sanctions on individuals blocking peace and an arms embargo. In late April, U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley also urged the council to impose an arms embargo and additional sanctions on South Sudan to pressure the parties to end the civil war in the world's newest nation - but Russia and China remain opposed. A U.S.-led effort to impose an arms embargo last December failed, with only seven of the 15 council members supporting the resolution. The other eight abstained. Former Botswana President Festus Mogae, who chairs the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission which is overseeing peace efforts in South Sudan, told the council via a video link from Juba that he has engaged local and regional leaders including Machar, who is now living in South Africa. "The message I conveyed to Dr. Riek Machar was to renounce violence, declare a unilateral cease-fire and participate in the national dialogue," Mogae said, referring to President Kiir's initiative to try to reconcile all grievances of South Sudan's political and armed groups. "He declined to do so," Mogae said of Machar. "However, he demanded a new political process by the region outside South Sudan." HELENA, Mont. (AP) - A Montana prosecutor asked a judge Thursday to require U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte to be fingerprinted and photographed after he pleaded guilty to assaulting a reporter. Gallatin County Attorney Marty Lambert asked Justice Court Judge Rick West to reject the Republican congressman's request that he be exempted from the usual booking process for criminal defendants. A mug shot would certainly be used as ammunition against Gianforte in his bid for re-election. Already, national Democrats consider him a potential target as they seek to recapture the U.S. House. FILE - In this June 12, 2017 file photo, Congressman-elect Greg Gianforte, center, sits alongside William Mercer, left, and Todd Whipple during a court hearing in Bozeman, Mont. A Montana prosecutor asked a judge Thursday, July 20 to require Gianforte to be fingerprinted and photographed after he pleaded guilty to assaulting Ben Jacobs, a reporter for The Guardian, on the eve of Montana's May 25 special election. Gianforte was sentenced to community service and ordered to undergo anger management counseling. (Freddy Monares /Bozeman Daily Chronicle via AP, File) Gianforte pleaded guilty in June to a misdemeanor charge of assaulting a reporter for the Guardian newspaper, Ben Jacobs, on the eve of the May 25 special election won by the Bozeman entrepreneur. Audio posted by Jacobs shortly after the attack recorded sounds of a scuffle, followed by Gianforte yelling for the reporter to "get the hell out of here." Jacobs tweeted that Gianforte had "body slammed" him and broke his glasses while he tried to question him about his position on federal health care legislation. West ordered Gianforte to pay $385 in fines and court costs. West sentenced Gianforte to 40 hours of community service and ordered him to undergo 20 hours of anger management counseling. West also ordered Gianforte to be officially booked, but his attorneys objected, saying Gianforte was never actually arrested. Sheriff's deputies said Gianforte was questioned briefly at the scene but was never detained. It's not clear when the judge would issue a ruling. He could schedule a hearing or rule based on the written arguments. A Gianforte spokesman reserved comment until he could consult with the congressman, who he said was en route to Montana from Washington. Gianforte's attorneys challenged West's booking order by asserting that a Justice Court judge "does not ever have authority to issue an order directing a defendant to be fingerprinted or photographed." They also argued that he was exempt from booking because he was charged with a misdemeanor, not a felony. Lambert said Gianforte's attorneys erroneously interpreted the law and that the judge does have the authority to order Gianforte to be booked. Gianforte publicly and privately apologized to Jacobs, and paid more than $4,600 in restitution for medical bills, travel and other expenses. Gianforte also gave $50,000 to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Britain will not agree a final figure for the so-called Brexit divorce bill until the eleventh hour of its withdrawal process from the European Union, it is understood. The financial settlement between Britain and the EU emerged as the major battleground on day two of the second round of formal exit negotiations with Brussels thought to be demanding tens of billions of pounds but unwilling to set out an exact figure. There was frustration on both sides, with the EU irritated that the UK has not set out a clear position on what it believes are its financial obligations that will continue for a limited period of time after leaving the bloc. Meanwhile, Britain wants Brussels to explain in more detail what it believes it is legally entitled to. How do you see the #FutureofEurope? What do you want and expect? Every voice should be heard https://t.co/CEogHblORF #EUdialogues pic.twitter.com/aFjuE6aYLQ European Commission (@EU_Commission) July 17, 2017 The UK last week attempted to defuse a row over the divorce bill, after Boris Johnson said the EU could go whistle if it wanted a hefty sum, by releasing a Government statement acknowledging it had obligations that would continue after Brexit that need to be resolved. The financial settlement is a key issue in Britains separation, on which sufficient, concrete progress must be made before discussions on a future trade deal can begin. Both sides are hoping to reach an agreement on the method of calculating the financial settlement by Octobers European Council summit so European Commission chief negotiator Michel Barnier can recommend to EU leaders that negotiations can enter the next stage. The UK could wait weeks before formally setting out its position in a document but sees last weeks written statement as a significant move and is using this weeks talk to interrogate the EUs position and potentially challenge certain elements, it is believed. Last week, the UK tried to defuse a row after Boris Johnson said the EU could go whistle if it wanted a hefty sum There is unlikely to be any agreement on the final figure until an EU leaders summit close to the end of negotiations, due in March 2019, and the UK will seek to maintain some flexibility until then. Negotiations this week also focused on maintaining a soft Irish border and it is believed both sides agree on a range of issues and are exploring ways to deliver it, given that Britain wants to end the free movement of EU citizens into the country. It is believed that negotiators have found common positions in the talks on citizens rights despite the EUs insistence that Britains offer falls short of expectations and that there must be a role for the European Court of Justice, the jurisdiction of which the Government wants to leave. The two sides used this weeks talks to scope out where their positions align and most sessions on the financial settlement, citizens rights, Northern Ireland and separation issues including Euratom, Europes civil nuclear regulator overran on Tuesday. Brexit secretary David Davis has been in close touch with the UK team ahead of his return to Brussels on Thursday and a potential press conference with Mr Barnier. Princess Charlotte stole the show during the latest leg of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridges European tour scampering up the planes steps and receiving her first official bouquet. When William and Kate said goodbye to Poland, the two-year-old scaled the private jets steep steps using her hands and feet. Kate watched carefully as her daughter made her way up to the cabin of the Embraer Legacy 600 jet, following her brother, Prince George, who had been eager to board the flight to Berlin. When the plane touched down in Berlin, where a small group of officials were waiting to greet the royal visitors, Charlotte was spotted peering out of a window. After clambering up the plane steps in Warsaw, the journey down them in Berlin was slower, with the young princess holding on to a rail with one hand while clasping Kates fingers with the other. Till Knorn, the German governments head of protocol, presented the Duchess and her daughter with a posy each. Princess Charlotte takes her time getting off the plane at Berlin Airport (Jane Barlow/PA) Charlottes floral gift was a miniature version of her mothers and, as she smelt her bouquet, George, who was holding Williams hand, reached out for Kates posy and she lifted it out of his way. Kate, who was wearing a Catherine Walker dress, walked off the red carpet with her daughter, husband and son to start their three-day tour of Germany. Later the Duke and Duchess had extended discussions with Chancellor Angela Merkel, meeting her at the German Chancellery. Princess Charlotte receives her first floral gift Kate and William both wearing blue which is seen as representative of unity and solidarity in the EU have been dubbed Brexit ambassadors, helping to maintain ties with Europe as Britain leaves the EU. Welcoming Kate, Mrs Merkel asked if she spoke German to which a smiling Kate replied: No, no. Sorry. The Duke and Duchess arrive to a wonderful welcome at Strassenkinder, a charity in East Berlin that supports vulnerable young people. pic.twitter.com/62vbY7o76t The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) July 19, 2017 Thousands turned out to see William and Kate walk through the capitals famous Brandenburg Gate, a symbol of German unification, which for many years was trapped in the No-Mans Land between the Berlin Wall. The couple walk through the Field of Stelae. The Memorial contains 2711concrete blocks and represents the enormity of the Holocaust. pic.twitter.com/m852xQDykF The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) July 19, 2017 The couple were cheered as they arrived by around 2,000 people who had stood in sweltering conditions to catch a glimpse of the royal visitors. Some were lucky enough to chat to the Duke and Duchess when they went on a quick walkabout before posing for a picture with the monument in the background. The parents of terminally-ill baby Charlie Gard have lost the latest fight in their legal battle over his treatment. Chris Gard and Connie Yates and doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London had been in disagreement over a brain scan carried out on the 11-month-old prior to a gathering of specialists. The couple said an electroencephalogram (EEG) should be carried out for no longer than 30 minutes. But specialists at Great Ormond Street, where Charlie is being cared for, said a scan would have to be carried out for at least four hours in order to generate useful data. Charlie is being treated at Great Ormond Street Hospital (Matt Dunham/AP/PA) Mr Justice Francis has ruled in favour of Ormond Street doctors. He said the scan should be of such duration as treating clinicians may advise. The judge did not analyse the dispute at a normal court hearing. He had considered competing written arguments on Saturday, prior to experts gathering at Great Ormond Street on Monday and Tuesday. But he has made detail of the out-of-hours dispute available to journalists. A toy monkey in the pocket of Charlie's father Chris Gard (Matt Dunham/AP/PA) Charlies parents want Mr Justice Francis to rule that their son, who suffers from a rare genetic condition and has brain damage, should be allowed to undergo a therapy trial overseen by a specialist in New York. Great Ormond Street specialists say the therapy is experimental and will not help. They say life support treatment should stop. Charlies parents, who are in their 30s and come from Bedfont, west London, have already lost battles in the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court in London. Supporters of Charlie's parents outside court (David Mizoeff/PA) They have also failed to persuade European Court of Human Rights judges to intervene. But the couple say there is new evidence and want Mr Justice Francis, who in April ruled in favour of Great Ormond Street and said Charlie should be allowed to die with dignity, to carry out a fresh analysis of their case. In April, the judge ruled in favour of Great Ormond Street and said Charlie should be allowed to die with dignity. Mr Justice Francis has considered the couples latest claims at preliminary hearings in the Family Division of the High Court in London. Someday Charlie will know how many people loved him and fought for him even though they didn't know him. We will give him that future. R.I.P little fighter (@SaveCharlieG) July 16, 2017 Last week, Mr Justice Francis suggested that the American specialist, Michio Hirano, a professor of neurology at the Columbia University Medical Centre in New York, should travel to London to meet Great Ormond Street doctors and other clinicians. Dr Hirano has examined Charlie and discussed his case while visiting Great Ormond Street on Monday and Tuesday. Mr Justice Francis is due to oversee further court hearings in the next few days. The dispute about the scan arose at the weekend, prior to the expert gathering. Campaigners have rallied to the parents' cause (Brian Farmer/PA) On Wednesday, Mr Justice Francis released the order he made after analysing emailed arguments from rival legal teams on Saturday. The order gives an outline of the dispute and his decision. Mr Justice Francis said Charlies parents had agreed in principle to further imaging being carried out on the little boys brain prior to the expert gathering. He said the disagreement was over how long any scan should last. Princess Charlotte stole the the show during the latest leg of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridges European tour scampering up the planes steps and receiving her first official bouquet. Princess Charlotte arriving at Berlin Airport in Germany When William and Kate said goodbye to Poland, the two-year-old scaled the private jets steep steps using her hands and feet. Princess Charlotte crawls up the plane steps Kate watched carefully as her daughter made her way up to the cabin of the Embraer Legacy 600 jet, following her brother, Prince George, who had been eager to board the flight to Berlin. Princess Charlotte crawls up the plane steps, watched by the Duchess of Cambridge The Duke and Duchess were leaving Warsaw after a two-day visit that saw them celebrate the nations history, culture and ties with the UK. Hallo Berlin! The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince George and Princess Charlotte arrive for #RoyalVisitGermany pic.twitter.com/MbQcALPsqt The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) July 19, 2017 When the family arrived in the Polish capital, Warsaw, on Monday, George, who will turn four on Saturday, looked shy and reluctant to take part in the official welcome staged by the European nation. However for the official departure he strode confidently across the airport runway, holding hands with his mother and father. Prince George tugs at William's hand He even tugged at Williams hand as he was saying goodbye to waiting dignitaries, appearing eager to board the plane. He then went ahead of his father and carefully climbed the steps of the jet, which seats 13 people. When the plane touched down in Berlin, where a small group of officials were waiting to greet the royal visitors, Charlotte was spotted peering out of a window. Princess Charlotte looks out of the plane window After clambering up the plane steps in Warsaw, the journey down them in Berlin was slower, with the young princess holding on to a rail with one hand while clasping Kates fingers with the other. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge with Prince George and Princess Charlotte arrive at Berlin Airport in Germany Till Knorn, the German governments head of protocol, presented the Duchess and her daughter with a posy each. The Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Charlotte arrive at Berlin Airport Charlottes floral gift was a miniature version of her mothers and, as she smelt her bouquet, George, who was holding Williams hand, reached out for Kates posy and she lifted it out of his way. Prince George arriving at Berlin Airport in Germany The three-year-old prince appeared a little bored with the formalities of the official welcome and at one point buried his face in his arm as William chatted to Sir Sebastian Wood, Britains ambassador to Germany. As William and Kate made their way along the line of dignitaries on the runway, Brigadier Rob Rider, the British embassys defence attache, shook hands with the two-year-old princess. Kate, who was wearing a Catherine Walker dress, walked off the red carpet with her daughter, husband and son to start their three-day tour of Germany. Hallo Berlin! The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince George and Princess Charlotte arrive for #RoyalVisitGermany pic.twitter.com/MbQcALPsqt The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) July 19, 2017 Later the Duke and Duchess had extended discussions with Chancellor Angela Merkel, meeting her at the German Chancellery. Flanked by security the beaming royal couple shook hands with Mrs Merkel as a European flag fluttered in the background. The Duke and Duchess are formally welcomed to Germany by Chancellor Merkel #RoyalVisitGermany pic.twitter.com/ivDuzlR0ZW The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) July 19, 2017 Kate and William both wearing blue which is seen as representative of unity and solidarity in the EU have been dubbed Brexit ambassadors, helping to maintain ties with Europe as Britain leaves the EU. Welcoming Kate, Mrs Merkel asked if she spoke German to which a smiling Kate replied: No, no. Sorry. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge with German Chancellor Angela Merkel The trio then stood for pictures on a red carpet before Kate ushered William to stand between herself and Mrs Merkel for a final pose. They then headed inside the building for a private lunch. William and Kate visited Berlins most famous landmark, the Brandenburg Gate, where large crowds were present to greet the royal visitors. The monument used to mark the dividing line between East and West Berlin during the Cold War days. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visit the iconic symbol of German unification: the Brandenburg Gate #RoyalVisitGermany pic.twitter.com/RhhCXmMuA9 The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) July 19, 2017 William and Kate also showed up at the Strassenkinder charity which cares for 200 children on a daily basis. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visit the Strassenkinder charity (Bruce Adams/Daily Mail/PA) A visit to German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the Bellevue Palace saw the royal couple sign in. The Duke and Duchess met with President Steinmeier at Bellevue Palace in Berlin. #RoyalVisitGermany pic.twitter.com/R3ZlkGdKRF The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) July 19, 2017 During the visit to the Bellevue Palace there was also an opportunity for the couple to have a moment in private. These opportunities have been rare on a tour where they have juggled parenthood with official duties. William and Kate at the Bellevue Palace in Berlin (Fabrizio Bensch/AP/PA) The Holocaust Memorial gave the royal pair opportunity to reflect on events when UK-German relations were less cordial than they are today. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson arrives in Japan on Thursday for top-level security and trade talks. The North Korean nuclear crisis is likely to feature in discussions Mr Johnson is having with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida. Mr Johnson will also hold talks on cyber safety and business opportunities. The Foreign Secretary said: I have come to Japan to build on our historic relationship, which is based on common values, support for democracy, human rights and free and open markets. Japanese companies invest more than 40 billion in the UK and our commercial relationship is stronger than ever. We do great work together on everything from defence and security to education, research and innovation. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is heading to Japan Mr Johnson said British firms would play a key role in Tokyos hosting of the 2020 Olympics. He added: As London Mayor I had the privilege and honour to see up close how dramatically the Olympic and Paralympic Games unified and lifted our great capital, and I am excited for the people of Tokyo that they will soon experience the magic that the Olympics brings. Im proud that our world-leading expertise in staging major events will help to forge an even stronger UK-Japan partnership ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games. Mr Johnson will head to New Zealand and Australia after he leaves Japan. Police officer numbers have fallen to the lowest level in more than 30 years, new figures show. The revelation will fuel questions over forces capacity to counter threats including terrorism, knife crime and online fraud. It came as separate data showed that police recorded the largest annual rise in crime in a decade. Official statistics show there were 123,142 officers across all ranks in England and Wales at the end of March this year. This was a fall of 0.7% on 2016, and the lowest number at the end of a financial year since comparable records began in 1996. A Home Office report said: Records earlier than this are not directly comparable; however, they indicate that this is the lowest number of officers since 1985. PCSOs are uniformed civilian member of police support staff (Rui Vieira/PA) When other personnel such as PCSOs and civilian staff are included, the total workforce employed by the 43 forces in England and Wales stood at 198,684 at the end of March. This is the lowest number in the police workforce since March 2003. Police staffing levels have come under the spotlight in recent months as Britain was hit by a flurry of terrorist attacks. Hundreds of officers have been assigned to counter-terror investigations as security services confront an unprecedented threat. Forces around the country have recorded rises in offences including knife crime, and are attempting to combat the activities of fraudsters and cyber criminals. Scotland Yard is mounting a huge investigation into the Grenfell Tower tragedy (Kirsty O'Connor/PA) In addition, Scotland Yard is mounting a huge investigation into the Grenfell Tower tragedy. Earlier this week, it emerged retired Metropolitan Police officers had been asked to consider returning to work as the countrys largest force faces unprecedented demand on its detective capability. The developments have prompted fresh scrutiny of police funding, with a string of warnings that the service cannot absorb further budget squeezes. In March a watchdog delivered a highly critical assessment of the potentially perilous state of British policing and issued an unprecedented warning that a shortage of detectives and investigators amounted to a national crisis. The Government says it has protected overall police funding in real terms since the 2015 spending review. A Cabinet minister prompted laughs from MPs when she mistakenly praised Jane Austen as one of the UKs greatest living authors just days after the 200th anniversary of the writers death. Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom made the error while attempting to praise the Pride And Prejudice author, who will feature on the new 10 note due for issue in September. Oh dear Leader of the House Andrea Leadsome just described Jane Austen as 'one of our greatest living authors' Kevin Brennan MP (@KevinBrennanMP) July 20, 2017 Bank of England Governor Mark Carney unveiled the design of the new plastic banknote earlier this week at Winchester Cathedral, where Austen was buried after her death in 1817 at the age of 41. Andrea Leadsom (Victoria Jones/PA) Ms Leadsom, responding to comments from shadow Commons leader Valerie Vaz praising leading female figures, said: I would just add one other great lady to that lovely list, who I am delighted to join in celebrating, and thats that of Jane Austen, who will feature on the new 10 note, which I think is one of our greatest living authors. Anyone know who Jane Austen's agent is? We'd love to book her for an event. https://t.co/ouhq9UEOp9 Waterstones (@Waterstones) July 20, 2017 Amid laughs from both benches, she corrected herself, adding: Greatest ever authors, and I think its fantastic that at last we are starting to recognise well, I think many of us probably wish she were still living but I absolutely share the sentiment. Book retailer Waterstones mocked Ms Leadsom, tweeting: We are currently moving all our Jane Austen stock from Classics into Greatest Living Authors. Thanks Andrea Leadsom for the heads up. It added: Anyone know who Jane Austens agent is? Wed love to book her for an event. Sir Vince Cable has become the new leader of the Liberal Democrats with a promise to offer voters the possibility of an exit from Brexit through a second referendum on EU membership. The former business secretary took up the role after nominations for the post closed without him facing any challengers, becoming, at 74, the oldest leader in the partys history. He said that he aimed to ensure that the Lib Dems occupy the gigantic space in the middle of British politics left by the two main parties move to the extremes. The vacancy for the leadership came after Tim Farron announced he would stand down because he had been unable to reconcile his Christian faith with the demands of leading a progressive, liberal party. Sir Vince Cable There is a gaping hole in the centre of British politics. We have an opportunity and a duty to occupy it under @vincecables leadership. Liberal Democrats (@LibDems) July 20, 2017 Privileged to be able to take over from @timfarron today. Ambitious for our country, ambitious for our party. Vince Cable (@vincecable) July 20, 2017 .@vincecable A new leader for the Lib Dems: ambitious for our country, ambitious for our party. Join us today: https://t.co/kixQi0fl4s Liberal Democrats (@LibDems) July 20, 2017 A disappointing general election campaign saw the party increase its tally of MPs by just three to stand at 12. Speaking in Westminster shortly after being named leader, Sir Vince said the Governments approach to Brexit was taking Britain towards the disastrous outcome of crashing out of the European Union. Negotiations were being conducted by a dysfunctional, disorganised, disunited administration, whose strategy was drawn up before the full complexity of Brexit was apparent and at a time when Theresa May had serious political authority, which she has now lost, he said. Liberal Democrats would work with like-minded people in other parties to fight to keep UK participation in the single market and customs union and continued collaboration on research with European partners, he said. He said: What we now need is an exit from Brexit. The exit from Brexit comes as a result of the policy that we have adopted, which is that we must consult the British public at the end of the process. Voters should be asked Do you wish to accept what is coming down the track, jumping off the cliff and hoping theres a tree to catch you or do we want to stay within the European Union?, he said. Following last years referendum, Sir Vince set his face against Mr Farrons offer of a second referendum, describing it as seriously disrespectful and politically utterly counterproductive. But he threw his weight behind the idea earlier this week, insisting a new referendum would not be a re-run of the 2016 vote, but a new question in changed circumstances. Sir Vince told activists: We have gigantic space in the middle of British politics. The two major parties have been captured by ideologues, ideologues on the one hand who hate Europe and on the other hand who hate capitalism. He added: As a result, British politics is more polarised and more divided than at any time any of us can remember. What is now badly missing is the basic commonsense and moderation and mutual respect that are what British politics is at its best. My aim is that our party and I will occupy that space in British politics. It's the Matt Hancock show... and Boy George won't like it: LEMBIT OPIK defends ex-health secretary's I'm A Celeb stint and says it's no different from MPs having a holiday COLOMBO, July 19 (Reuters) - Australia announced programmes on Wednesday to help control dengue fever in Sri Lanka, where the mosquito-borne disease killed more around 250 people in the first half of this year. A short-term programme through the World Health Organisation will try to reduce the transmission of the dengue virus, aiming for a reduction of more than 50 percent over a period of four to six weeks. A longer-term programme will use Wolbachia bacteria, a microbe that prevents the dengue virus from replicating inside the mosquitoes that carry it, to halt its transmission to people. Similar campaigns are under way in Brazil and Colombia to fight the spread of dengue and Zika viruses. Both programmes were announced by Julie Bishop, the Australian minister of foreign affairs, during a two-day visit to Colombo. The Sri Lankan government is struggling to control the dengue virus, which causes flu-like symptoms and can develop into the deadly hemorrhagic dengue fever. Around 100,000 people have been infected, and the number of infected has accelerated since floods in mid-May. Some hospitals have run out of beds. (Reporting by Shihar Aneez) By Tim Cocks DAKAR, July 20 (Reuters) - Cameroonian forces have been torturing suspects in their campaign against Islamist group Boko Haram, with much of the torture happening at a base that has also been used by American and French troops, Amnesty International said on Thursday. Amnesty's report documented 101 cases of arbitrary arrest and torture by Cameroonian troops charged with fighting the insurgents between 2013 and 2017. Some of the victims were tortured to death, it said. The Nigerian militant group has been fighting for the past eight years to create a medieval Islamic caliphate around Lake Chad, where Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad meet. Boko Haram attacks have killed more than 20,000 people and displaced 2.7 million in the region, according to aid agency figures. Atrocities such as the kidnapping of more than 200 school girls from the Nigerian village of Chibok in 2014 persuaded Western countries, especially the United States and France, to provide counter-insurgency assistance to some of the countries affected, including intelligence and training. The U.S. Africa Command said it had not received any reports of human rights abuses by Cameroonian forces at the base mentioned. French Defence Ministry officials did not immediately comment. A Cameroon defence ministry spokesman accused Amnesty of "bad faith" and of trying "to transform killers into victims". BEATINGS, SHOCKS The torture techniques, which Amnesty described as "chilling", include a "stress position described as 'the goat': the detainee's arms and legs are tied together behind his back and he is left on the ground and beaten." "In a common suspension technique known as 'the swing', the victim's arms and legs are again tied behind his back, before he is lifted and suspended on a bar fitted between two poles ... and further beaten," Amnesty said. Other torture documented included being tied standing up in stress positions for 24 hours, being subject to simulated drowning, being deprived of food, forced to drink urine, given electric shocks and burned. Victims included women, the disabled and the mentally ill, the report said. "Our army is professional and disciplined," Cameroon's army spokesman Colonel Didier Badjeck said, reacting to questions from Reuters. "It has better things to do than to spend time justifying itself against people who have preconceived ideas." Eighty of the 101 cases of torture took place at the elite Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) headquarters at Salak, in Cameroon's Far North region, the heart of the insurgency, Amnesty reported. Amnesty said its delegates had observed French troops at the base in May 2015. It also said it had still and video images "clearly showing the regular presence of U.S personnel in numerous locations across the base, including making use of a makeshift gym and a trailer converted into an office. It urged the United States and France to investigate whether their military personnel knew that torture was taking place on the site, and whether or not their assistance "has contributed to the commission of these crimes and violations." "To date, U.S. Africa Command has not received any reports of human rights abuses by Cameroonian forces at either of these locations," Robyn Mack, a spokeswoman at the U.S. militarys Africa Command, said in a statement. "Any foreign military unit that receives security assistance receives training on the law of armed conflict and human rights law." (Additional reporting by Phil Stewart in Washington, John Irish in Paris and Sylvain Anzongo in Yaounde; Editing by Toby Chopra) BANGKOK, July 20 (Reuters) - Thailand's state-owned oil and gas giant PTT Plc is considering taking a stake in a natural gas liquefaction plant to be built in Malaysia, a company spokesman said on Thursday. PTT's board will on Friday consider the project, to be built with Malaysia's Petronas, making a decision on the size of any potential stake, the spokesman added. That came after the Bangkok Post on Wednesday cited Wirat Uanarumit, chief operating officer of PTT's upstream petroleum and gas business, as saying that the company was looking to hold a 10-percent stake in the new facility. Petronas did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters. Last month, PTT and PTTEP Exploration and Production , its upstream arm, jointly established PTT Global LNG, which would be expected to hold any stake in the Malaysia terminal. PTT has a growing interest in importing natural gas for power generation as domestic sources begin to dwindle. The company is seen as a potential buyer of the SK316 natural gas block in Malaysia's Sarawak. (Reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng; Editing by Joseph Radford) SOFIA, July 20 (Reuters) - These are some of the main stories in Bulgarian newspapers on Thursday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. -- Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said he is expecting a permission from the European Commission for direct pipeline from Turkish Stream to Bulgaria. Borissov said he is grateful to the EC for their understanding that Bulgaria has to maintain its strategic role for gas transit, abiding by all European rules, which is the case of the proposed Balkan gas hub (Standart, Trud, 24 Chasa, Monitor, Sega) -- Bulgarian deputies postponed legislative amendments on opening up sale of farmland to foreigners. Bulgaria, on becoming a member of the European Union in 2007, was allowed to have a seven-year moratorium on the sale of farmland to foreigners. The parliament, however, legislated after the end of the moratorium a legal requirement that a foreigner wanting to buy farmland should have been resident in the country for five years (Trud, Standart, Sega) -- Bulgarian traffic police want to use unmarked cars to get evidence against aggressive drivers, as a further step after mounting numerous patrols on motorways as the fatal summer driving season gets into full swing. The Balkan country has the highest road death rate in the European Union, and the summer months are the riskiest, as holidaymakers hurtle between inland cities and the Black Sea coastal resorts -- Former Manchester United and Newcastle United winger Gabriel Obertan is set to join Bulgarian side Levski Sofia, the French winger said after arriving in Sofia (Tema Sport, Standart, Trud, 24 Chasa) By Sonali Paul MELBOURNE, July 20 (Reuters) - A plan by top global liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter Qatar to ramp up output will stall the expected growth of U.S. LNG exports, the head of Australia's Woodside Petroleum, operator of the country's biggest LNG plant, said. Qatar surprised rivals this month when it lifted a self-imposed ban on development of the North Field, the world's biggest natural gas field, saying it would boost LNG output by 30 percent to 100 million tonnes a year in five to seven years. That put it on course to it wrest back the title of the world's top LNG exporter from Australia, which is set to overtake Qatar in the next two years. Woodside, operator of the North West Shelf project, said Qatar's plan showed the emirate shares its outlook for solid demand growth for LNG and gives importers like China, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh the supply certainty they need to lock in gas expansion plans. "The Qataris will not take up all of the available market," Woodside Chief Executive Peter Coleman told Reuters in an interview on Thursday. Qatar's expansion plan will compete directly with Woodside, which is looking to develop the Browse and Scarborough fields off Western Australia within the next decade - its so-called Horizon 2 projects - by processing gas through the North West Shelf plant or other existing facilities. "On the challenge side, low cost will get into market, and that's what we're doing with our Horizon 2 projects. We're trying to make sure they're low cost, and they're well positioned, because we're targeting the Asian market," Coleman said. Projects that will find it harder to compete will be those that need billions of dollars in new infrastructure and coal seam gas-to-LNG projects that need continuous capital spending to drill new wells, he said. The International Energy Agency last week forecast the United States would become the world's second largest LNG epxorter by the end of 2022, but Coleman said the Qatari expansion would stymie that growth. "It'll keep a lid on U.S. expansions, because U.S. expansions are transportation-challenged," he said. U.S. LNG flows largely into the Atlantic market, where it competes against pipeline gas from Russia and Norway. Coleman sees limited opportunities for U.S. LNG into Asia due to transportation hurdles, including tight access through the Panama Canal or long distances and higher costs around South America. "Anything outside of the Atlantic market they'll then be competing on transportation costs. And our projects, I'm very confident, can compete with U.S. projects on transportation," he said. Woodside co-owns the North West Shelf with BHP, BP, Chevron, Shell, Japan's Mitsubishi Corp and Mitsui & Co. (Reporting by Sonali Paul; Editing by Richard Pullin) ISTANBUL, July 20 (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on Thursday warned Cyprus its moves to explore for energy around the eastern Mediterranean were "untimely and dangerous", adding that Ankara would continue to protect the rights and interests of Turkish Cypriots. Yildirim was speaking at an event in Nicosia and his comments were broadcast live on Turkish television. Turkey last week sent two ships and a submarine to monitor a drilling vessel in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Ankara has said it will take measures against Cyprus for engaging in gas and oil exploration around the island. It says that hydrocarbon resources in the waters around the divided island should belong to both sides. (Reporting by Tulay Karadeniz; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Daren Butler) By Karen Lema MANILA, July 20 (Reuters) - Philippine police said on Thursday they had arrested 43 foreigners for kidnapping a Singaporean woman at a casino resort in the capital, highlighting security concerns that have scared high-stakes gamblers away from Manila. Police said the gang, including people from China and Southeast Asia, was believed to be a loan-shark syndicate targeting foreign high-rollers, with 11 similar cases reported since 2015. The Philippines is one of the fastest-growing casino hubs in Asia, after Macau and Singapore, with the opening of several resorts over the past two years. But security remains a major concern that has deterred big-spending gamblers from China, wary about kidnapping and extortion. The 48-year-old Singaporean woman was losing heavily when she was approached and befriended by three men and a woman at the Solaire casino on July 17 who lent her money, police said. They later invited the woman to another casino but she was instead taken to a hotel where she was mistreated and video of her was taken which her captors showed to her family with a demand for $180,000 for her release. National police chief Ronald dela Rosa said the woman was rescued the next day. Kidnapping complaints had been filed against two Malaysians and 41 Chinese nationals in connection with the case, de la Rosa said. Solaire, which is owned by Bloomberry Resorts Corp , said it did not tolerate loan sharks and was coordinating with and supporting authorities in the fight against crime. "Solaire continues to closely safeguard all its patrons to ensure their safety from unscrupulous personalities and activities," it said in a statement. Last month, a gunman who police said had gambling debts stormed Manila's Resorts World casino, and set a fire in which 37 people were killed. The kidnapping of the woman from Singapore would likely compound fears about safety in the Philippines, an analyst said. "This incident will make it even harder for the operators to entice the high-rollers to visit," said Shaun McCamley, a partner at Global Market Advisors based in Bangkok. The Philippines targets gross gaming revenue of 155 billion to 160 billion pesos ($3.1 billion to $3.2 billion) this year, up 4 percent to 7 percent from last year, data showed. (Reporting by Karen Lema; Additional reporting by Manuel Mogato in MANILA and Farah Master in HONG KONG; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan, Robert Birsel) MANILA, July 20 (Reuters) - The Philippines has shortlisted six countries and will choose one from them as a partner for its planned $2-billion receiving and distribution facility for imported LNG, an official from the state-run energy firm PNOC said on Thursday. The countries that have been shortlisted are China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates, said Arwin Ardon, head of the team at the Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) that is overseeing the project. The construction of the project, which includes a 5 million tonnes-per-annum storage facility, could be completed by 2020, or four years before the country's Malampaya natural gas field is depleted, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said last month. The Philippines' energy demand is set to triple by 2040, with electricity requirements anticipated to grow four times from 2015. To support this spike, the country needs to step up power generation capacity by 7,000 megawatts over the next five years and wants foreign investors to help. "(The LNG project) is a complete package with storage facility, regasification, a power plant that is scalable up to 1,000 megawatts (MW), and redistribution," Ardon told reporters on the sidelines of a power industry conference. The power plant will initially have a capacity of 200 MW. Philippines aims to start importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) before Malampaya gas, currently used to produce a fifth of the country's power supply, runs out by 2024. Ardon said PNOC was looking to use government-owned banked or unused gas from Malampaya, currently valued at about $640 million, as equity for the LNG project, together with the government land where the facility will be built. On the government-to-government partnership for the project, Ardon said PNOC was pushing for a 60-40 equity arrangement, with the Philippines taking a controlling interest. However, he did not give a timeline on when a partner would be chosen. Ardon named local electricity producer First Gen Corp as a potential LNG buyer. First Gen, which owns four Malampaya gas-powered plants with a total capacity of 2,011 MW, could also invest in the LNG hub, possibly taking a portion of PNOC's 60 percent stake, he added. Several companies, including First Gen and the local unit of Royal Dutch Shell Plc which operates Malampaya, had planned to build LNG storage facilities in the Philippines before the government came up with its own project. Australia-listed Energy World Corp Ltd has built LNG facilities, including a power plant, in eastern Quezon province, but commercial operations are yet to start. (Reporting by Enrico dela Cruz; Editing by Himani Sarkar) By Nigel Hunt LONDON, July 20 (Reuters) - U.S. wheat futures hit a three-week low on Thursday, weighed down by ample global supplies, while corn and soybean prices were higher, buoyed by continued fears of further crop damage. The most active wheat futures on the Chicago Board Of Trade were down 0.55 percent at $5.00-1/4 a bushel by 1017 GMT after touching a low of $4.95 - the weakest since June 29. Prices had risen in late June and early July, boosted partly by diminishing prospects for the U.S. spring wheat crop, but dealers said the focus had begun to shift back to the overall abundance of wheat supplies around the world. "After a number of sizeable supply surpluses in succession, global stocks find themselves at a record level. This is also unlikely to change in 2017/18," Commerzbank said in market note. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) last week forecast that global wheat stocks would climb to a record level at the end of the 2017/18 season despite the U.S. spring wheat crop falling to a 15-year low. "The USDA report last week has reminded everyone that there is a lot of wheat in the world," said Angus Thornton, commodity analyst at Profarmer. Milling wheat futures on Euronext were also lower, with December down 0.4 percent at 177.50 euros a tonne. Dealers said the wheat harvest in top EU producer France had advanced into the north of the country and production was set to rebound from last year's sub-par levels. "Harvest progress is adding pressure on grain prices while qualities and volumes are reassuring buyers that were not active up until now," analysts Agritel said. Corn and soybean futures extended recent gains, boosted by concerns that mostly dry weather could curb production in the U.S. Midwest. The most active CBOT corn futures rose 0.8 percent to $3.99-1/2 a bushel. The recent dry weather has already dented crop quality. Corn crop condition ratings declined earlier this week in top-producing states of Iowa, Illinois and Nebraska, and extended outlooks for limited rainfall were seen as threatening to corn plants during their yield-setting pollination phase. "Both corn and soybean crops are now in significantly worse condition than at the same point last year, as well as below the average for the past 28 years," Commerzbank said. The most active soybean futures rose 0.8 percent to $10.20-1/4 a bushel. The USDA will release weekly U.S. grain and soy export sales later on Thursday that will show whether global importers bought U.S. supplies during a volatile week of futures trading last week. Analysts said the data will help determine the trend for the rest of the session. (Additional reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Richard Pullin and David Evans) MANILA, July 20 (Reuters) - The Philippines halted meat imports from Brazil citing safety concerns on Thursday following a U.S. move to ban fresh Brazilian beef after a high percentage of shipments failed to pass safety checks. Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Pinol said a Philippine "food safety team" will fly to Brazil on July 26 to inspect facilities at meat exporters. Brazil, the world's top exporter of beef and poultry, accounts for 6 percent of Philippine meat imports, according to local media reports. "This involves the health of Filipino consumers and we cannot take the risk," Pinol told Reuters. China's quality watchdog has stepped up inspections of Brazilian meat imports following the U.S. ban. (Reporting by Enrico dela Cruz; editing by Jason Neely) By Sylvia Westall DUBAI, July 20 (Reuters) - Kuwait ordered the expulsion of the Iranian ambassador and 14 other diplomats for alleged links to a "spy and terror" cell, Iranian and Kuwaiti media reported on Thursday, worsening an unusual public dispute between the two countries. Kuwait also told Iran's cultural and military missions to shut down, following a court case that increased tensions between the Gulf Arab state and Tehran. Iran responded to the expulsions by filing a complaint with the Kuwaiti charge d'affaires, the Iranian news agency ISNA said. ISNA also said Kuwait is allowing only four of 19 embassy staff to remain in the country. Some sources said those expelled were given 45 days to leave the country; others said 48 days. The expulsions were an unusual move for Kuwait, which avoids conflict and has worked at keeping good relations with all the countries in the region, and whose ruling emir is a regional diplomatic broker. Analysts said they thought the expulsion of the ambassador was the first ever by Kuwait. "It certainly marks a turnaround from the Emir's outreach to Iran at the start of the year, when he hoped to set the parameters for a strategic dialogue to defuse tensions between the (Gulf Arabs) and Iran," said Gulf expert Kristian Ulrichsen at the U.S.-based Baker Institute. "Under the pressure of Saudi interventionist policies, and the baseless accusation of Iranian interference ... (Kuwait said) Alireza Enayati, the Iranian ambassador, must leave," ISNA said. Kuwait's acting information minister, Sheikh Mohammad al-Mubarak al-Sabah, said in a statement that the move was taken in "accordance with diplomatic norms and in abidance with the Vienna conventions with regards to its relationship with the Islamic Republic of Iran." Saudi Arabia, which severed ties with Tehran last year over attacks by Iranian demonstrators on its missions in the Islamic Republic, welcomed the move. "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia fully supports the measures taken by brotherly state of Kuwait against the Iranian diplomatic mission...," state news agency SPA quoted a foreign ministry statement as saying. Last year, Kuwait convicted 23 men - one Iranian and the rest Kuwaiti - of spying for Iran and Lebanese Shi'ite Muslim group Hezbollah. That trial followed the discovery of guns and explosives in a raid on the so-called "Abdali cell" in 2015, which escalated sectarian tensions. One person was sentenced to death; the rest to prison terms. Last month, Kuwait's highest court overturned the death sentence and reduced some of the prison terms while increasing others. Iran has denied any involvement in the case. Kuwait, which has a large Shi'ite Muslim minority, sits in a difficult geographical position, close to two major regional powers and arch foes - mainly Shi'ite Iran and Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia. Apart from the diplomatic row with Iran, Kuwait has also been trying to mediate in the crisis involving Qatar. Some other Gulf states have imposed sanctions on Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorism and having links to Tehran. (Additional reporting by Sami Aboudi, editing by Larry King) BEIRUT, July 20 (Reuters) - The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that rebels had killed at least 28 members of Syrian government and allied forces east of the capital Damascus on Thursday. The Britain-based war monitor said a large number of fighters, including officers, had been killed or injured as they tried to advance into the rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta. It said the death toll was likely to rise. The Syrian military was not immediately available for comment. (Reporting by Lisa Barrington; Editing by Gareth Jones) MILAN/ZURICH, July 20 (Reuters) - Italy's tax police have asked the Swiss authorities for information regarding Italians that deposited a total of 6.7 billion euros ($8 billion) in the country. The police said in a statement the move, which concerned Italian citizens holding 9,953 financial positions in Switzerland, followed an investigation that last year led to a tax settlement deal between Italy and Credit Suisse AG. The police declined to say whether the people Italy was seeking information on were Credit Suisse's customers and did not provide further details. The statement said that 3,297 people had already been identified through a national voluntary disclosure tax amnesty scheme, used by the Italian government to encourage tax dodgers to declare funds held abroad in return for immunity from prosecution. In December an Italian judge approved a settlement between Credit Suisse and the country's authorities under which the Swiss bank agreed to pay 109.5 million euros. The tax investigation, started in 2015, was over an alleged fraudulent system used by the bank to transfer money offshore, mainly through the use of insurance policies. The bank's local unit Credit Suisse Italy SpA was not involved in that case. "Credit Suisse considers the investigation by the Italian authorities into Credit Suisse's cross-border business as closed," the bank told Reuters in an emailed statement. "The court approval marked the end of the investigation by Italian authorities into Credit Suisse AG's Italian cross-border business for the period from 2008 to 2015," the statement added. Switzerland's Federal Tax Administration declined to comment, pointing to a confidentiality clause that applies to mutual requests for assistance on tax matters. ($1 = 0.8693 euros) (Reporting by Giulia Segreti in Milan and Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi in Zurich; Editing by Greg Mahlich) By Laurie Goering LONDON, July 20 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Climate change-driven extreme weather - from flooding and mudslides to blistering heat - is accelerating migration to Bangladesh's cities, raising the risks of problems such as child marriage, according to UNICEF's head of Bangladesh programmes. "In Bangladesh, climate change is in your face. You can't avoid it. You can see it happening," said Sheema Sen Gupta in an interview in London with the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "Every year you have cyclones, floods, landslides. It's a given. It's now part of everyday living, and the clearest thing you see (from it) is rural to urban migration." But surging migration to cities by rural families no longer able to make a living from farming or fishing brings other threats, from worsening urban overcrowding to child marriage, as families seek to keep girls "safe" in a new environments. "I hesitate to say climate change and urbanisation are the major causes of child marriage. But they do compound it and make it a bit more difficult to intervene," said Sen Gupta, who has been in Bangladesh for seven months and previously worked for UNICEF in India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Ghana and Somalia. However, innovative efforts to curb the threat - particularly training young people to help each other - are paying off, with Bangladesh's government now incorporating programmes started by organisations such as UNICEF and Save the Children, she said. Across Bangladesh, more than 4,000 youth clubs have been set up which gather young people regularly to listen to radio broadcasts on human rights issues, health, nutrition and other topics, and then discuss the issues. YOUTH INITIATIVES Preventing child marriage is one of the main focuses of the groups, Sen Gupta said, with members keeping an eye out in the community for girls at risk, and then, if they see a threat, alerting community leaders, who are able to step in. "The best tool is the adolescents themselves," she said "They intervene - they know who to contact, they have a helpline. They call and say a marriage is planned." Better yet, said Sen Gupta, a psychologist by training, the groups have created a growing conviction among many girls that early marriage is not only bad for their health and prospects, but something they can avoid with community support. "Adolescents themselves are more able to say 'I'm not getting married'" she said. "Girls are able to stand up to their parents." Monitoring of child marriage rates over the last two years suggests that numbers are falling, but Sen Gupta said UNICEF is not yet fully confident of the data. Bangladesh in February passed a Child Marriage Restraint Act, which bans marriage of girls under 18 - a significant change in a country where 18 percent of girls are married before 15 and more than half by 18, according to a 2016 UNICEF study. However, the new ban has a gaping loophole that allows parents to agree to such marriages in "exceptional circumstances" with a magistrate's approval, Sen Gupta said. UNICEF and other partners are now "trying to frame the rules about what the exception is so everything doesn't become an exception", she said. Sen Gupta said that low-lying and densely populated Bangladesh, widely seen as one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, sees the risks and has proved adept at scaling up successful pilot efforts run by non-governmental organisations into broader government-run programmes. "Bangladesh has a good framework of climate adaptation, based on the fact that they need to survive," she said. "Clearly there is an awareness (climate impacts) are increasing and we need to do something." That is an attitude needed more globally, she said. "People need to understand how important this is for kids, for their rights, for their development," she said. "If we don't look at climate change, at addressing these issues, we won't make the progress we're committed to making." (Reporting by Laurie Goering @lauriegoering; editing by Belinda Goldsmith; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, climate change, resilience, women's rights, trafficking and property rights. Visit http://news.trust.org/climate) By Tim Cocks DAKAR, July 20 (Reuters) - Cameroonian forces have been torturing suspects in a campaign against Islamist group Boko Haram, with much of the torture happening at a base used extensively by American troops and visited by French ones, Amnesty International said on Thursday. Amnesty's report documented 101 cases of arbitrary arrest and torture by Cameroonian troops charged with fighting the insurgents between 2013 and 2017. Some of the victims were tortured to death, it said. The Nigerian militant group Boko Haram has been fighting for the past eight years to recreate an Islamic caliphate around Lake Chad, where Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad meet. Boko Haram attacks have killed more than 20,000 people and displaced 2.7 million in the region, according to aid agency figures. Atrocities such as the kidnapping of more than 200 school girls from the Nigerian village of Chibok in 2014 persuaded Western countries, especially the United States and France, to provide counter-insurgency assistance to some of the countries affected, including intelligence and training. The U.S. Africa Command said it had not received any reports of human rights abuses by Cameroonian forces at the base mentioned. France's Defence and Foreign ministries declined to comment. A French diplomat told Reuters that French troops hadn't participated in any abuses but that French forces had used the bases. A Cameroon defence ministry spokesman accused Amnesty of "bad faith" and of trying "to transform killers into victims". BEATINGS, SHOCKS The torture techniques, which Amnesty described as "chilling", include a "stress position described as 'the goat': the detainee's arms and legs are tied together behind his back and he is left on the ground and beaten." "In a common suspension technique known as 'the swing', the victim's arms and legs are again tied behind his back, before he is lifted and suspended on a bar fitted between two poles ... and further beaten," Amnesty said. Other torture documented included being tied standing up in stress positions for 24 hours, being subject to simulated drowning, being deprived of food, forced to drink urine, given electric shocks and burned. Victims included women, the disabled and the mentally ill, the report said. "Our army is professional and disciplined," said Colonel Didier Badjeck, Cameroon's army spokesman, reacting to questions from Reuters. "It has better things to do than to spend time justifying itself against people who have preconceived ideas." Eighty of the 101 cases of torture took place at the elite Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) headquarters at Salak, in Cameroon's Far North region, the heart of the insurgency. Amnesty said it had observed French troops at the base in May 2015. It said it had still and video images "clearly showing the regular presence of U.S personnel in numerous locations across the base, including making use of a makeshift gym and a trailer converted into an office." Amnesty urged both nations to investigate whether or not their assistance "has contributed to the commission of these crimes and violations." "French military personnel have certainly visited ... Salak, but have not been present to the same degree as the Americans, and may not have the same degree of potential knowledge," Steve Cockburn, Amnesty's deputy regional director for West and Central Africa, told Reuters. "However, they remain an important military partner for Cameroon and they should investigate whether their personnel did have any knowledge of torture being carried out," he said. Robyn Mack, a spokeswoman at the U.S. militarys Africa Command, said it had not received any reports of human rights abuses by Cameroonian forces at either of these locations, and that all military assistance included human rights law training. (Additional reporting by Phil Stewart in Washington, John Irish in Paris and Sylvain Anzongo in Yaounde; Editing by Toby Chopra) BUENOS AIRES, July 20 (Reuters) - Argentina will be able to export lemons to Mexico for the first time after sanitary inspection agencies from the two countries reached a deal, Argentina's agriculture ministry said on Thursday. Mexico became the third major export market this year to open to Argentina, the world's largest producer and exporter of lemons. President Mauricio Macri is seeking to reintegrate Latin America's No. 3 economy into world markets after more than a decade of trade barriers and isolation. The United States allowed lemon imports from Argentina's main producing region for the first time in 16 years, beginning last May. In June, Argentina shipped a cargo of lemons to neighboring Brazil for the first time since 2009, the agricultural ministry said. Last year, Argentina exported nearly 280,000 tonnes of lemons worth some $289 million. The opening of export markets could provide a boost to Argentina's largest lemon producer, SA San Miguel, based in the northwestern province of Tucuman. (Reporting by Walter Bianchi and Luc Cohen; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe) By Alexandra Ulmer and Marianna Parraga CARACAS/HOUSTON July 20 (Reuters) - Russia's top oil producer Rosneft is negotiating to swap its collateral in Venezuelan-owned, U.S.-based refiner Citgo for oilfield stakes and a fuel supply deal - a move to avoid complications from U.S. sanctions, two sources with knowledge of the negotiations told Reuters. State-owned Rosneft holds a 49.9 percent stake in Citgo as collateral for a loan last year of about $1.5 billion to the OPEC nation, which is reeling from low oil prices and a severe recession. The arrangement with Venezuela's state-owned oil firm, PDVSA, has drawn fire from U.S. senators who do not want Russia in a position to own a substantial stake of U.S.-based energy assets in potential violation of existing economic sanctions. The negotiations took on more urgency this week, one of the sources told Reuters, when U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose "strong economic actions" on Venezuela unless embattled leftist President Nicolas Maduro aborts plans to establish a new legislature with powers to rewrite the nation's constitution. Such sanctions, which could include a ban on U.S. oil imports from Venezuela, could undermine Citgo's business model and threaten Venezuelan or Russian ownership of the U.S-based firm in the long term. Under a new proposal being discussed this week in Moscow by top executives from Rosneft and PDVSA, the collateral stake in Citgo would be exchanged for a package of eight key deals, one of the sources with knowledge of the talks said. Under the proposed swap, Rosneft would receive: * refined products from Citgo as partial payment for the loan extended last year; * ownership stakes in three crude fields - Rosa Mediano, Tia Juana Lago and Lagunillas Lago - in Venezuela's traditional oil-producing state of Zulia; * stakes in two offshore natural gas fields, Patao and Mejillones, that are part of the large Mariscal Sucre gas project, which has reserves of 14 trillion cubic feet (TCF); * a settlement payment for late dividends that are due to Rosneft by PDVSA from their largest joint venture, the extra heavy oil project Petromonagas; * rights to sell Venezuelan condensate - a mixture of liquid hydrocarbons present in natural gas deposits - from the Rio Caribe field, which is also part of the Mariscal Sucre project; * rights to commercialize Rosneft's share of oil output from all joint ventures with PDVSA, which would allow the Russian firm to export its share of its entire production in Venezuela. Typically, minority partners are required to sell their oil output from joint projects to PDVSA. Under the proposal, Rosneft would also be allowed to preside over its joint ventures with PDVSA on a rotating basis and be in charge of procurement for major purchases. That would give Rosneft more control over operations - something foreign minority partners have craved in Venezuela for years, one of the sources told Reuters. Foreign oil executives frequently complain of delays, inefficiencies, and opaque procurement contracts at joint ventures that are majority owned by cash-strapped PDVSA. Venezuela's Oil Ministry, PDVSA, and Citgo did not respond to requests for comment. Rosneft declined to comment. AVOIDING POLITICAL, LEGAL CHALLENGES Both countries have a strong incentive to end the current collateral agreement. The deal in place now means that Rosneft - which has been under U.S. sanctions since 2014 - would be among the top creditors should the government of Venezuela default on its bondholders. Senators have questioned whether the deal could violate U.S. sanctions - designed to punish Moscow for aggression in Ukraine - if Rosneft ever collected the collateral. It has also drawn objections from foreign companies seeking compensation for nationalizations by the socialist government of Venezuela under the late Hugo Chavez. Canadian miner Crystallex, for instance, has objected to the use of Citgo as collateral for Rosneft's loan, charging that Venezuela is seeking to reduce its exposure to assets in the United States to prevent Crystallex from ever collecting on its award, issued by a World Bank arbitration panel. Extricating itself from a thorny legal dispute could be a boon for Rosneft, provided the proposed package has a similar value as the Citgo collateral. But such an arrangement could further squeeze Venezuela's already troubled state-owned energy company, PDVSA. The firm is laboring under a severe cash shortage and struggling to produce enough oil to cover payments on more than $50 billion in loans from Russia and China that it must pay back with shipments of crude and fuels. Although ending the Citgo collateral arrangement would free up a portion of its equity, the subsidiary would receive less income if it has to deliver barrels of oil to Rosneft, a PDVSA creditor. A new deal with Russia could also intensify criticism of Maduro. His opponents accuse him of selling off prized oil assets to raise the cash he needs to prop up his administration amid violent street protests and shortages of food and medicine. ROSNEFT EYES MORE CRUDE The proposed deal could further strengthen political ally Russia's financial position in Venezuela, where it has emerged as an increasingly important backer of Maduro. Russia stands to gain access to more Venezuela oil and more control over its production operations. The company has lent PDVSA at least $4 billion in recent years while increasing its oil stakes in the country, which has the world's largest crude reserves. Venezuela recently offered the Russian company a stake sale in the large oil project Petropiar, operated by PDVSA and U.S. oil company Chevron Corp, Reuters reported in March. Rosneft currently has a 40-percent stake in the 140,000 barrels per day (bpd) flagship Petromonagas project at the Orinoco belt, Venezuela's most prolific oil region. It gets a commensurate share of the field's upgraded crude. The Russian firm also has a 40-percent stake in the Petrovictoria project and a 32-percent stake in the Petromiranda project in the Orinoco, and in two separate joint ventures in mature fields in the South American country. Receiving more barrels from PDVSA and Citgo would help Rosneft grow its trading arm, Swiss-based Rosneft Trading SA. And Rosneft could use light crude from the three joint ventures in Zulia for blending its extra-heavy crude from the Orinoco - instead of relying on Venezuela's pricey and often delayed imports of diluents. (Reporting by Marianna Parraga in Houston and Alexandra Ulmer in Caracas; Additional reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin in Moscow; Editing by Brian Thevenot) By Todd Melby MINNEAPOLIS, July 19 (Reuters) - Mohamed Noor was celebrated when he became a Minneapolis police officer 21 months ago, joining a handful of other Somalis on the police force in a city with one of the United States' largest Somali communities. Now he is now under investigation in fatal shooting of Justine Damond, an Australian woman who had made Minneapolis her home and who was killed by a single gunshot wound to the abdomen that state law enforcement officials say was fired by Noor. Noor, 31, still has supporters after the shooting of Damond, who had called 911 to report a possible sexual assault in her neighborhood on Saturday. But some are worried about a backlash in the Somali community, while one former politician had only harsh words. The eldest of 10 children, Noor came to the United States as a child and has been held up by the Somali community as an example. He was one of only about 20 Somali police officers in Minnesota. Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges had touted his arrival to the police force in a Facebook post. "I want to take a moment to recognize Officer Mohamed Noor, the newest Somali officer in the Minneapolis Police Department," she said in a May 2016 post, a few months after he joined the department, alongside photos of Noor smiling at a community meet-and-greet. "His arrival has been highly celebrated, particularly by the Somali community." He remains a role model for some. "He is inspiring to young people in the community," Abdikadir Hassan, a candidate for a Minneapolis Park Board seat, told the Star Tribune said this week. Others said the community could suffer. "A lot of people are holding the Somali community accountable," said Abdirizak Bihi, director of the Somali Education and Social Advocacy Center in Minneapolis. "That's absolutely wrong." Among the most vocal critics was Michele Bachmann, a Republican former U.S. representative. On Wednesday she called Noor an "affirmative-action hire by the hijab-wearing mayor of Minneapolis," the Star Tribune reported. Noor has refused to be interviewed by authorities about the shooting, which has sparked outrage in Minneapolis and in Australia. Police are investigating why body cameras on Noor and the second police officer who arrived at the scene and the dashboard camera on their patrolcar were not turned on at the time. His record has not been spotless. In his 21 months on the force, he received three complaints. The police union said that rate is not very unusual. Police records show that one of the complaints closed with no discipline and two remain open. It did not detail the issues involved, and police have not yet released his personnel file. Noor was sued in June along with two other officers in a case now in federal court for a rights violation over their role in transporting a woman to a hospital after a relative reported concern about her mental health. The case is pending. It is not clear when Noor came to the United States, but in 2011 he earned a degree in business administration, management and economics from Augsburg College in Minneapolis, according to a spokeswoman for the school. He worked as a hotel manager in Minnesota and at a real estate business in St. Louis, court documents show. Noor has a 7-year-old son, according to court documents filed as part of a child custody proceeding. At one point, he lived alone in a sparse one-bedroom apartment, where he had a box of Lego blocks for his son, the documents said. It was not clear where the son currently resides. "He joined the police force to serve the community and to protect the people he serves," his lawyer, Tom Plunkett, said in a statement. "Officer Noor is a caring person with a family he loves." (Reporting by Todd Melby in Minneapolis Editing by Leslie Adler) By Crispian Balmer and Rod Nickel ROME/WINNIPEG, Manitoba, July 20 (Reuters) - All packets of pasta and rice sold in Italy will have to include labels of origin showing where the produce was grown, the government ruled on Thursday, in a move it said was aimed at protecting local farmers. The agriculture and industry ministers signed a decree ordering the new labelling policy, saying it would run in an experimental fashion for two years, and criticising the European Union for not introducing the measure across the 28-nation bloc. "We are putting Italy in the vanguard of Europe when it comes to labelling as a competitive tool for the Italian (agriculture) sector," Agriculture Minister Maurizio Martina said in a statement. Canadian exporters and farmers fear the move will depress prices in Canada, the biggest global exporter of durum, the wheat used to make pasta. It would require Italian pasta makers to segregate supplies by country, adding to costs. Annual Canadian sales to Italy are worth an estimated C$248 million ($197 million), based on average export volumes and International Grains Council price data. The government decree said that pasta packaging must reveal where the wheat was grown and milled into semolina for pasta-making. Rice packaging will state where the rice was grown, treated and packaged. Industry Minister Carlo Calenda said most Italian consumers wanted to know the origin of their food, adding that it was important to promote Italian farmers. "We want to emphasise the importance of 'Made in Italy' and the quality of our production in order to compete with greater strength on international markets," he said in a statement. The Canadian government is seeking clarification from Rome and assessing Italy's trade obligations under the World Trade Organization and free trade agreement between Canada and the European Union, a spokesman for Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay said. There is no indication that Italy's move has affected trade yet, he said. Cam Dahl, president of Cereals Canada, whose members include Cargill Inc and Richardson International, said he expected Italy's labels to take effect early next year. "That would unquestionably harm our exports," he said. Italy is Canada's second-biggest durum export market so far in the 2016-17 crop marketing year as of May, importing 676,000 tonnes. The United States is also a significant durum producer. Italy may be subject to infringement proceedings from the European Commission, a process aimed at member states which breach EU law, according to Dahl. ($1 = 1.2587 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by Crispian Balmer in Rome and Rod Nickel in Winnipeg, Manitoba; editing by Mark Heinrich and Jonathan Oatis) By Katy Migiro NAIROBI, July 21 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Samburu herders in Kenya are fighting for control of 17,000 acres of land that a former president sold to become a national park, in a case fraught with tensions over conservation and colonial dispossession. The Samburu, a semi-nomadic people with the same language and culture as the Maasai, claim ownership of the disputed ranch in Kenya's troubled Laikipia County, saying they squatted on it for 25 years before being evicted for wildlife conservation. After an 8-year court battle, judges last month rejected their claim, clearing the way for the land to be turned into Laikipia National Park, managed by government-owned Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS). "The positive ruling is great news," Paul Gathitu, a spokesman for KWS said in emailed comments, adding that the agency can now "take full control of the property" which the Samburu say is home to thousands of their people. The case comes at a time when protected areas around the globe are expanding in a bid to save endangered wildlife and boost tourism revenues, pitting conservationists against marginalised people facing loss of their traditional lands. Laikipia is Kenya's second most important wildlife region after the Maasai Mara, with elephants, lions and rare rhinos roaming its vast plains. Fearing eviction, the Samburu have filed a notice of appeal in Nyeri's environmental and land court, 100 kilometres (62 miles) north of the capital, Nairobi. "We are dissatisfied with the judgment," their lawyer, Lempaa Suyianka, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone. "Here are people with no alternative places to live, people who are born there... They have nowhere else to go." EVICTIONS The case attracted international attention because the disputed land, Eland Downs, was sold for $4 million by Kenya's longest serving president, Daniel arap Moi, in 2008 to the Washington-based African Wildlife Foundation (AWF). Half of the funding came from The Nature Conservancy (TNC), one of the largest U.S. environmental charities. At its heart, the dispute is about whether the Samburu squatted on the land from the early 1980s, as they testified in court, or whether they invaded after AWF bought it. "When we acquired the property it was vacant," Kathleen Fitzgerald, AWF's vice president for East African programmes said in a phone interview. "When there were invasions on the property... we essentially said the landowner needed to sort out the matter." Violent police evictions in 2010 and 2011 prompted an outcry from rights groups and international media, who said an old man was shot dead, women were raped and huts were burned. "Nobody on the AWF/TNC side ever authorised the police action," said Matthew Brown, TNC's Africa conservation director. "That was all done by the seller of the property." A report for TNC by the International Labour Organization said the charities' decision to make a "closed-doors deal" was a "recipe for conflicts". Under international law, indigenous people have a right to be consulted on any decision that can affect them, including on land that they use but do not own, it said. "There does not seem to have been sufficient due diligence and consultations with the community... despite the fact that evictions in Kenya by state security agents are well known to be characterised by violence and high handedness," it said. TNC now ensures that it seeks consent from indigenous people before starting projects that affect them, Brown said. TOOTHLESS The Samburu legal case rests on the principle of adverse possession, whereby someone who has lived continuously on a piece of land for 12 years can gain ownership. They also claim ancestral rights, saying the British forced their Maa-speaking ancestors off the land a century earlier to give it to white settlers. In its June judgment, the court dismissed the adverse possession claim as Moi only owned the land for 11 years prior to the 2009 evictions, after buying it in late 1997 from Ol Pejeta, a cattle ranch. It did not consider the period from 1981 to 1997, when the Samburu said they also lived there, because Ol Pejeta, which received the title to the land in 1962 from the colonial government, was not named as a respondent in the case. The influence of the former president, who retired in 2002 after 24 years in power characterised by endemic corruption, has tainted the case, supporters of the Samburu said. As AWF came under fire over the evictions, it gifted the land in 2011 to KWS, despite a court order for the status quo to be maintained until the case was concluded, in a move described by the TNC report as an "escape strategy". "How can a court be so toothless?" said Gertrude Angote, executive director of Kituo cha Sheria, a legal aid charity which is an interested party in the case. Juma Kiplenge, Moi's lawyer, declined to comment, saying: "The court has ruled on it". The case was also "unfair", Suyianka said, because the judge asked the Samburu, many of whom are poor and illiterate, to pay for helicopters to take the court to see the disputed land. "The rights of the petitioners were violated (by) imposing onerous conditions on the site visit," he said. Human-wildlife conflicts are intensifying amid climate change and population growth, as armed herders often get into deadly shootouts with rangers trying to stop them grazing illegally in conservancies. "You can't wish them away," said Richard Leiyagu, one of the plaintiffs, calling for the government to settle the squatters. "Maybe after another ten years it will be unmanageable... The whole of Laikipia will not be in peace." The TNC report warned that "making Eland Downs a National Park would be another significant mistake and one likely to trigger further conflicts". (Reporting by Katy Migiro @katymigiro; Editing by Lyndsay Griffiths. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, womens rights, trafficking, property rights and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org to see more stories.) Opposed B-C Pact 57- Green Revolution- 77 - Indo-SL Pact 87 It is a lack of courage on my part, a lack of intelligence on my part, a lack of foresight on my part -J R Jayewardene, Executive President of Socialist Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka Sunday Observer of August 16, 1987, reported a distraught Sri Lankan Head of State, who was seated by the side of Indian PM Rajiv Gandhi at the media briefing that followed the signing of Indo-Lanka pact in 1987, making a confession when answering a journalist who queried, why he had not moved earlier on reaching an agreement with Tamil leadership. Lessons from the month of July, Mondays DM editorial prompted me to reflect on how JR Jayewardene responded to July. Unfortunately, as the editorial highlights, we have not learnt dangers of fostering and enhancing differences. JR-Jayewardene Green Revolution July 77 In a state sponsored Tighten-your-belts economy in early 1970s, the privileged enjoyed all the luxuries while the poor masses were searching for eatables in the citys garbage bins. The closed economy, marred by scarcities and undemocratic postponement of elections, nationalization of plantations, acquisition of private properties of opponents and corporate buildings during the seven years under the United Front, was led by SLFP. (The huge three storey new wing at Galle Road, Colpetty owned by Shaw Wallace and Hedges, where the writer was employed, was taken over in 1976 for the Plantations Ministry by pinning on the gate a 30-day notice of acquisition How sensible are the men of Good Governance; they even pay Rs 20 to 25 Million as monthly rental for over 16 months for an unoccupied premises) From 1970 to 75, Marxist LSSP and CP leaders dropped their, revolution round the corner slogan and accepted four key cabinet portfolios including Finance. Sirimavo Bandaranaikes SLFP encouraged hostility and division between racial and religious extremists groups causing national fragmentation, a common feature under Bandaranaike governments prior to Chandrika. The 1970-77 United Front rule dragged the country to devastation without direction or control, a situation similar to the present unity regime. SWRD Bandaranaike JR, let down by his Western friends, especially the US, had little option, but to agree. There was no imminent external help, particularly after the Indian Air Force violated air space and dropped Parippu in Jaffna The untimely death of loved-by-all Dudley Senanayake occurred during this time, crowning relatively unpopular JR Jayewardene to lead the UNP. The veteran politician had a generation of learned young visionary politicians backed by an abundance of smart men in the public service at his disposal. The conditions that prevailed coupled with the admirable organizational skills of JR helped UNP record a comprehensive electoral victory with five-sixth of the seats under the first-past-the-post at General elections held in July 1977. The results were met with jubilation and hope by the public. The governments role in the economy was minimised under a deregulated economy, inviting foreign investments. Gigantic 30-year Mahaweli Diversion Programme was accelerated to six years and it was entrusted to dynamic Gamini Dissanayake. Infrastructure developed and the Free Trade Zones opened, attracting investors and creating jobs for the unemployed youth. The first five years (77-82) saw a speedy economic revival under a stable government led by the political colossus JR. He occupied the Executive Presidency using 5/6 for amending the Constitution. However, as the next national elections approached, fear a psychosis marooned the entire government leadership; popularity of Sirimavo gained momentum in spite of attempted mud-sling campaign. Calling for undated resignation letters; rolling of electoral maps, jailing or withdrawal of civic rights of opposition leaders and, holding referendums in place of general elections, employing thugs and hooligans to thwart demonstrations, depriving Sirimavo of civic rights, splitting the main opposition SLFP and rigging of elections using armed thugs were notable features of the post 1982 Jayewardene rule. Indo-SL Pact 87 inviting Indias direct Intervention in our affairs The Rajiv-Jayewardene Accord or more popularly known, Indo-Sri Lanka Pact was perhaps too pushy in its extent and capacity as it expected to address two controversial issues between India and Sri Lanka; strategic interests and Tamil minority rights. The pact marked the commencement of a process which led to the creation of provincial councils. The pact received secondary importance when leaders who opposed the signing of accord assumed power in both countries around the same time. These unpleasant developments marred the understanding of the positive features of the pact which enabled Tamils to gain some recognition regarding their demands in the Constitution Junius Richard Jayewardene was known as an American sympathizer even during his school days; hence, his leftist anti-American contemporaries [Dr Colvin schoolmate and Dr NM at Ceylon University College] nicknamed him Yankee Dickie, [Dickie being short form for Richard]. The pact was agreed upon after India arm-twisted President JR to sign it. The Agreement represented a calculated move rather than a diplomatic initiative. JR, let down by his Western friends, especially the US, had little option, but to agree. There was no imminent external help, particularly after the Indian Air Force violated air space and dropped Parippu in Jaffna. Indian High Commissioner J N Dixit, warned, Act now, indicating their intentions to use force if Sri Lanka ignored Indian concerns. Black July 1983, another bungling by Jayewardene, burdened India with some 120000 refugees who fled to Tamil Nadu. On that fateful day Jayewardene was addressing a protest meeting in Colombo when hundreds of Mahasangha invaded the PMs residence at Rosemead Place compelling the shaky decision maker to abrogate the pact Hooligans, assisted by sections of the Army and receiving the blessings of a few chauvinistic ministers, engrossed the nation with flames of inferno. Innocent Tamils living in Colombo and other parts suffered while President JR played Nero for four days fearing a military reprisal. His inaction worsened the situation. The killing of 13 soldiers on July 23 in 1983 by LTTE provided the government goons a reason to get on killing, arson and looting. Forgetting that the majority of Tamils, both in Jaffna and in the upcountry voted for him a year before, Jayewardene made the following statement during an interview with a British journalist, I am not worried about the opinion of the Jaffna people nowwe cant think of them. Not about their lives or their opinions of us... The more you put pressure on the North, the happier the Sinhalese people will be hereDaily Telegraph-July 11, 1983- The interview was republished in the Ceylon Observer- on July 17.It is people, not treaties, which make relations between nations meaningful. Unless India makes a difference in the lives of the people of both countries, its relations with Sri Lanka will not address the broader aspects of strategic security. This is the important takeaway as we look at the Rajiv-Jayewardene Accord. -Col. R. Hariharan : Head of intelligence-- IPKF 1987- 1990 Bandaranaike-Chelvanayakam Pact of July 1957 An accord signed between the Prime Minister, SWRD Bandaranaike and the leader of Federal Party, the main Tamil political entity, SJV Chelvanayakam on July 26, 1957, exactly 60 years ago, is known as B-C Pact. It promoted the establishment of several Regional Councils in the island as a means to giving autonomy to the Tamil people living in the North-East of the country. It was anticipated that it would find solutions to the communal difference present at the time. On the very day, the UNP working committee met and issued a statement condemning the pact as a betrayal of the Sinhalese. Earlier, in 1956 February, at its Annual Sessions at Kelaniya, the UNP adopted an unprincipled Sinhala only official language resolution, which the party used as an election promise in 1956. Jayawardene held discussions with extremists groups and well-known racists who broke off with Bandaranaike, to form a common front. [MSS File 317-JRJ Centre carries a paper with his own handwriting, showing that he was in touch with racist, KMP Rajaratne who vowed to wear slippers made out of the skin of the last Tamil in the island, LH Mettananda and Ven Baddegama Wimalawansa- the monk who led the satyagraha at Rosemead Pl.] Jayewardene fashioned policies, planned strategies and tactics to challenge the pact, ignoring disastrous consequences. On August 3, UNP issued a second communique also drafted by him, which said, a step towards the achievement of an Independent Tamil State,this pact recognizes the division of the country into two parts, North and East forming one and the rest another Young Bandaranaike returning from Oxford in 1920s formed a political party and wrote a six piece article to Ceylon Morning Leader in May/June 1926, professing Federalism for Ceylon. He soon realized the political certainties, shed his ideology and religion and formed the Sinhala Maha Sabha. The rest is history. The pact was vehemently opposed by sections of the Sinhalese-Buddhist community and the main opposition UNP, which held Protests island wide ending up with a massive walk- Padayatra- from Colombo to Kandy.A reluctant Dudley Senanayake was invited to inaugurate it on the first day, but he didnt actually participate in it. The march came under attack at Imbulgoda on its third day forcing Jayewardene to return home. Bandaranaike was compelled to abrogate the pact nine months later in April 1958. On that fateful day Jayewardene was addressing a protest meeting in Colombo when hundreds of Mahasangha invaded the PMs residence at Rosemead Place compelling the shaky decision maker to abrogate the pact. The tearing up led to anxiety between the two communities, causing a series of eruptions of racial violence in the country which ultimately led to a 30-year Civil War. Bandaranaikes subsequent attempts to enact legislation parallel to the pact was met with strong resistance, which ultimately led to his assassination by an extremist monk a year later in 1959. Of all the destructive forces that campaigned against the Pact, UNPs was the most effective. It was Tarzie Vittachi, who said, When a government however popular, begins to pander to racial or religious emotionalism merely because it is the loudest of raucous demands made on it, and then meddles in the administration and enforcement of law and order for the benefit of its favourites or to win the plaudits of the crowds, however hysterical it may be, catastrophe is certain Emergency 58- Deutsch: Pge 7 Sri Lanka President JR Jayawardene (right) and Indian Premier RAjiv Gandhi sign the Indo sri Lanka peace Accord Jayewardene, in 1940s, placed a proposal in Parliament to declare Sinhala only as the official language. A resolution in 1944 specifying that Sinhalese and Tamil would become the languages of instruction in schools, and in courts was approved, but with little progress in implementation. In 1956, Bandaranaikes pledge to the voter Sinhala Only in 24 hours followed by language-wise standardization by Sirimavo in 1971 and the district quota system in 1972, which had serious impacts on Tamil students contributing to the conflict even though Tamil had been declared an official language in 1987, by the 13th Amendment. The destruction caused by the politics of language remains unsolved. The first five years (77-82) saw a speedy economic revival under a stable government led by the political colossus JR. He occupied the Executive Presidency using 5/6 for amending the Constitution. SWRD announced abrogation of the B-C pact at Tintegel Rosmead Place to pacify the Buddhist clergy and other racists on that fateful evening of April 9, while Jayewardene addressed a rally at Abeysinharamaya, Maradana to welcome the abrogation, described SWRD as a man, who was prepared to barter away the rights of the Sinhalese, Prof. Howard Wriggins and Prof. K M de Silva, JRs Political Biographers say in Vol II Page-50; that he arrived at Breamar Ward Place and made the following endorsement for the day in his diary- this is disgraceful conduct on the part of a PM, who has signed an agreement. A famous quote says, Hypocrisy is the mother of all evil and racial prejudice is still her favourite child. Members of the African Children's Choir have seen hardships. Each child has lost one or both parents to war, famine or disease in their home country. For the past 33 years, the choir comprised of children ages 7-10 has toured internationally to raise money to improve their communities, construct homes and build literacy schools. This year's tour includes an Aug. 6 stop at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Osceola, where the choir will perform at 9 and 10:30 a.m. for freewill donations. In 1984, human rights activist Ray Barnett was called to help war-stricken Uganda, where children were abandoned, starving and had no way to help themselves. Astounded by the devastation, Barnett decided he needed to change these childrens lives. While traveling through Katanga, one of Ugandas most poverty-stricken areas, Barnett heard a small child singing. Although he couldn't understand the words sung in a native language, Barnett saw the look of joy on the child's face. This inspired him to form the nonprofit African Childrens Choir. The choir's performances fund 35 educational programs in seven African countries. Members are selected through these programs. Choir manager Tina Shipp said working with children is important for the future of Africa. In their homeland we see that they are essentially robbed of basic necessities and that education is their most-desired need. All of the children we see and work with want to have access to an education," she said. "So when they are returned to Uganda after their tour, this would be at grade four, they are able to catch up with their education. The choir pays for each of their educations through college. The choir also instills guidance and leadership skills in the children. Over the past 33 years, the choir has performed for the queen of England and Nelson Mandela. The group is featured on the soundtrack for the movie Blood Diamond starring Leonardo DiCaprio and was nominated for a Grammy in 1992. The performances are filled with traditional African music accompanied by instruments. Well-known childrens songs, traditional spirituals and contemporary tunes are also part of the choirs repertoire. The tour coming to Osceola includes 19 members, all from Uganda and between the ages of 8 and 10. Their 2017 tour started in North Carolina before making its way to the Midwest. The tour continues into Canada this fall before ending in Austin, Texas, where the choir will perform on New Years Eve. What the choir is really doing is investing in real lives, Shipp said. We continue to see a 180 (degree) change in these kids lives. They go from maybe one meal a day to a professional career once they graduate college. Professor Rohana Laxman Piyadasa, a lecturer of mass media, reflected on the SAITM issue, unrest in universities, the forming of a new constitution and the act proposed by the government to control media. Here are excerpts of the interview. If there are obstacles in the path to their education, it becomes a social issue Are there parents in our country who can spend Rs 15 million for their childrens education? I hold the view that Universities should be independent I notice a downfall in the Trade union culture of Sri Lanka There are more than one hundred thousand parents who have lost their children Q At Present there are crucial issues connected with the Universities. The Universities were closed due to student unrest, SAITM, and the spread of epidemics. Now Katubedda University has been closed suddenly. Why is this? The countrys youth student population is categorized as a generation of intellectuals that will one day take over the future of a country. If there are obstacles in the path to their education, it becomes a social issue. In an undeveloped country like ours, students continuing with their higher education face sicknesses, contact viruses, experience epidemics and other economic constraints. When any one of this happens its a pathetic sight. Elders of a society should intervene and manage such a situation. Q Some University students boycott lectures while others carry out protests. Arent these hints there are other issues bothering University students? The central issue concerning students is the presence of SAITM. The core issue of SAITM revolves around equality. There are many who qualify for University admission. Theres no way that everyone can enjoy state sponsored higher education. Given this scenario the affluent have options to continue higher studies and obtain degrees. This has led to frustration among the dejected student community. Every government that came to power kept blaming the media, following a typical political culture. This has been amply proved after the 70s. Every government walks on the back of journalists and once assuming power they keep on attacking them, carry on investigations against them and ill treat them QIsnt the SAITM issue you mentioned connected with a problem regarding a private university more than with the frustration of undergraduates? In a developing country like ours, which is plagued by an anomaly in the distribution of income and problems regarding universities, providing equal education opportunities to the youth can bring a resolve.This solution will help minimise the frustration of students. Since Independence our youth have featured in three mass uprisings. The number of, lives lost, the children who were disabled and the several hundred thousands who left the country is great. They stood up against social injustice and inequality and demanded social consideration. These were their demands. But the political scenario present failed to offer solutions to their political, social, cultural, ethnic and religious issues. As a result they got into positions where they would even risk their lives. Therefore its necessary to address the present situation keeping in mind the past historical background of everything that has led to this. Q Then what is the solution? Policy makers, politicians, political groups, intellectuals, and administrators should join together in finding a solution. Unfortunately this is taking much time. The SAITM issue has dragged on for more than four years, during which time more than 200 students have been banned from attending lectures. There have been protests and demonstrations in Colombo on more than 60 occasions. They resulted in the loss of millions of man hours which were brought about due to the traffic congestion they caused. This type of situation is unbearable to a developing country like ours. Its not correct to subject the entire student community to suffering due to the work of a few hundred undergraduates. QThere is a talk that the Peradeniya and Colombo Universities will be made independent. There have been protests and demonstrations in Colombo on more than 60 occasions. They resulted in the loss of millions of man hours which were brought about due to the traffic congestion they caused. This type of situation is unbearable to a developing country like ours I feel that this is a move towards having a parallel establishment with the state sector where entrance will be by payment. Are there parents in our country who can spend Rs 15 million for their childrens education? With the prevailing tax structure in the country, how can there be a provision to spend so much? black money has been in circulation in very large amounts. During the recent past, black money has been in circulation in very large amounts due to the presence of the free trade economy. When there is an opportunity to obtain a degree from a University at a cost of Rs 3.5 million, how can anyone afford to pay between Rs 15- 20 Million to obtain a degree? Doesnt this show an anomaly in income levels? Q Do you mean to say that a rich person has no right to education? Are we trying to have a repeat of the 1971 insurgency by violating the rights of students (Who missed university by a few marks) have to enjoy social opportunities? Animosity, frustration, despair and stress have become major social trends which are creating social issues. We should look at the issue in this manner. QIn most countries universities are independent. Is it bad for our country to have independent universities? I hold the view that universities should be independent. People should be able to express independent views, carry out independent research, present conflicting views and form ideologies. For all this to happen, independence is necessary. This independence is present in our establishments already. Are they trying to give a new kind of independence to the two universities you mentioned and refrain from offering that to the other Universities? I personally feel that there is some issue here. QThe Doctors were getting ready to strike over the removal of Prof Carlo Fonseka. The doctors are holding patients as hostages whenever there is a slight reason for them to strike. Do you justify it. I notice a downfall in the trade union culture of Sri Lanka. In strikes launched in 1947 and 1950, the most sensitive groups were kept away from joining in these forces who stopped work. They were well organized. The entire Port was at a standstill. Train services were disrupted. Highways were blocked. Distribution of food was severely affected. Offices were completely deserted, but they never disrupted the health services. There were token strikes. I dont condone striking over the removal of Prof Carlo Fonseka from the SLMC. But I say that their demands are justifiable. QThe government seems to be in conflict with the Maha Sangha over the forming of a new Constitution. The government has unnecessarily invited unwanted parties for debates by not acting in a proper manner regarding certain matters. In a religious society like ours, the clergy is a sensitive group. By involving a sensitive group like that severe issues have emerged. A responsible government must move ahead with a clear vision regarding the principles thatll definite the new constitution. Its important for the government to have a dialogue with this sensitive group regarding the new constitution. Without acting in a responsible manner and calling everybody for this debate, will lead to anarchy in the country. QWhat is your opinion on the constitutional changes? Elections lead to sudden fires and shootings. We witnessed unrest among ethnic groups. Refugees have been created. There is an advent of foreign armies. Libraries have been set on fire. There are more than 50,000 mothers who are widows in the North. There are more than one hundred thousand parents who have lost their children. A large number of war heroes are being looked after by us. These are the by-products of our constitution. Therefore its necessary to change it. Decisions taken to restore power must be implemented. A constitution that will remove suspicion and doubt and one that embraces all should be enacted. QThere is much argument about the Missing Persons act. The opposition is vehemently opposing it. Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera says that it will be effective only in future situations and those who oppose it belong to a group that supports the white van culture, killings and abductions. Have The USA and UK, who are advising us on Human rights, or the EU passed this type of act? QJust because they havent adopted this act, can we follow such one? Is it our requirement? Did such a problem surface from among our people? The present laws provide ample opportunities to find a solution when dealing with a death thats associated with doubt. Under such circumstances we can always find some provisions. During the unrest in 88/89 more than 60,000 deaths took place in the South. There was a great demand to investigate in to these deaths. Have they done any justice to these demands? Have they even held any police investigation? I wish that this country has its own agenda when dealing with such matters. QThe Government is preparing a Media authority act. Do you think such an enactment is necessary? Those in the Media believe that this is an attempt by the government to control the media. We as lecturers of Mass Media, presented a set of proposals to President Maithripala Sirisena and Government Information Department on World Mass Media day last year. These proposals specify how the mass media in our country should be reformed. But up to now they have not spoken to us or the other lecturers of mass media regarding these proposals. For whose benefit are they bringing proposal for Mass Media without obtaining the views of the teachers of mass media? In a developing country like ours, which is plagued by an anomaly in the distribution of income and problems regarding universities, providing equal education opportunities to the youth can bring a resolve QThen what are they aiming at by bringing in this new bill? They are trying to pass an act to regulate information. We feel that this shouldnt be done. This is anti democratic. Right now, rules and regulations should be established to resolve the issues connected with ownership of media, salaries of journalists, security of their profession, guidelines on media ethics, training of journalists and several other matters. This proposed bill doesnt cover any of these. Therefore its necessary that the provisions of this bill be studied in detail and steps are taken to rectify these shortcomings. Every government that came to power kept blaming the media, following a typical political culture. This has been amply proved after the 70s. Every government walks on the back of journalists and once assuming power they keep on attacking them, carry on investigations against them and ill treat them. Its a pity that there is no healthy relationship between the cultures practised by the media and politicians. There should be an open debate on this matter. Bound by their MoU, they are not formally separated yet. But they may have to. Now, the indications are, PM Wickremesinghe is out to break the jinx, on his string of Presidential Election defeats. Perhaps he knows his most cherished project of having the Executive Presidency abolished that was outsourced to self-appointed Colombo Civil Society leaders, is not going to work. UNP is told to begin a fast track, high profile image building campaign of the leader. Meanwhile for now, Wickremesinghe wants the Unity Government to continue. President Sirisena, is being lobbied and advised to revisit his cohabitation with the UNP, with more pressure building up within his own SLFP bloc against cohabiting in Government. With his outburst over hindering investigations on alleged mega Rajapaksa corruption, he seems to be buying time to see if Rajapaksa can be erased from the political map. He has thus told his SLFP Parliamentarians to have the safety-catch on in their guns till end December, when something new could happen. Speaking at a business forum thereafter, he had said a unique new party was in the offing. He is probably thinking of an SLFP without Rajapaksas. Meanwhile, the MoU signed between the two parties in this Unity Government comes to an end in September. Will the two leaders want the MoU renewed for the next two years? To have lived together in a Government for almost two years (Counting from August 2015 elections), with no clear political understanding and a mission, by itself is a miracle. The dilapidated governing model put together on a very opportunist political need carries with it an endemic conflict of political party interests. Post-election anti-corruption crusade is fizzling off with heavy corruption in Yahapalanaya and accommodating the corrupt, making Rajapaksa a smaller fry. SLFP compelled to decide the role of Rajapaksa. Both the Maithri bloc and the business community still need Rajapaksa and his vote bloc in forming Governments. That miracle came about on a sheer opportunistic understanding that for them meant, everything else mattered little if holding onto power was possible. Why then cannot this unity continue in Government on the same opportunist understanding? This dilapidated Governing model put together on a very opportunist political need, carries with it an endemic conflict of political party interests. It is, thus a Government of indecision and is inefficient too. It has therefore failed in delivering on all and everything it promised at both the Presidential and Parliamentary elections held within nine months. It has failed miserably from day one in seeking a different path for development to that of Rajapaksa in direction, content and quality. PM Wickremesinghes idea -of replicating the Port City as Megapolis in the Western Province- remains a website story- even after 18 months. In less than one year, the Yahapalana economics was everything Rajapaksa- from the Colombo Port City, the Mattala International Airport to the Hambantota Port and economically dependent on China no less. In a heavily liberated and a wholly corrupt market economy, this Government too has to live with the same business community, who during Rajapaksa era lived with State patronage. With that, more and more names and faces of the Rajapaksa era keep emerging in high posts in the bureaucracy and in political circles glued to the Government high command. The most recent was the appointment of Bogollagama as Governor, Eastern Province. Thus all those anti-corruption forums and platforms that mushroomed immediately after elections have either been muffled or have moved to other funding sources. In short, the post elections anti-corruption crusade is fizzling off with heavy corruption in Yahapalanaya and accommodating the corrupt, making Rajapaksa a smaller fry. So is their track record on peace and reconciliation. Nothing different has gone North-East other than what the Rajapaksas sent. Or rather, what is still being done in the North-East is not what the people are eager to have. President Sirisena is openly against the Governments commitment given to the UNHRC on war crime probes with PM Wickremesinghe endorsing same. The Yahapalana Governments farce over peace and reconciliation is being exposed with mothers and other relatives of persons missing due to enforced disappearances continuing their agitation for almost 150 days, even without the ITAK leadership around. Reconciliation this Government talks of is not what Tamil people understand as reconciliation. UNP MP as Justice Minister rudely refusing to accept UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counter-Terrorism Emmersons explanations says it all in one shameful episode. Far worse is the fate of Muslim people, especially in majority Sinhala South. The Yahapalana Government is certainly promoting extreme Sinhala groups including BBS and the Ravana Balaya. The Justice Minister, who is also the Minister of Buddha Sasana, a strange combination of portfolios for a Yahapalana Government was very conspicuous in patronising these extremist groups. So, is the Minister of Megapolis and Urban Development who still is a Hela Urumaya leader standing for anti-Muslim, Sinhala Buddhist extremism. The Muslim community that voted Yahapalanaya en bloc is now kept guessing how safe? That defines the emerging differences in the Unity Government with President Sirisenas resentful manipulations turning it into a ragdoll that cannot be stitched together once again. Within those overtly Sinhala political assertions, the Police have started intimidating Tamil media while a racist Sinhala writer gains unrestricted freedom to name and accuse Tamil media stations as he pleases. That perhaps is reconciliation this Government is comfortable with and the ITAK leadership blind to reality, still believe they can manage Constitutional reforms in re-addressing Tamil grievances. All round, the Yahapalana Unity Government has failed so badly, even Rajapaksa goes public now, labelling this Government corrupt, repressive and anti people. He is once again the preferred Sinhala leader, whose political positions are borrowed and re iterated even by the Asgiriya and Malwatte Prelates. This Sinhala build up against the Yahapalana Unity Government is what now irks its two partners and disturbs their opportunist co-habitation. Its the Maithri bloc in the SLFP that has felt the heat most. For them, Rajapaksa is a decisive factor with the large majority of SLFP voters still accepting Rajapaksa as their SLFP leader. All elected SLFP members in this Parliament are there, elected on Rajapaksas campaigning and not President Sirisenas. In fact, President Sirisena used his powers to ridicule and belittle Rajapaksa, who led the SLFP campaign against the UNP and collected 42.4 per cent for the SLFP led UPFA as against UNPs 45.6 per cent. Therefore, it is not surprising that SLFP loyalties remain with Rajapaksa and not with President Sirisena. Can President Sirisena therefore push for an anti-Rajapaksa agenda, while claiming to lead the SLFP? This in fact is the conflict. President Sirisenas SLFP bloc in the Government cannot go to their electorates as anti-Rajapaksa men, when they have not delivered anything to the people, who did not vote them to be part of a UNP Government. Worse is their plight when they cannot sell to their rural voter, what Wickremesinghe tries to sell to the urban middle class. President Sirisenas cry to have the Rajapaksas investigated to a finish, perhaps a formula designed by his mentor Kumaratunga, therefore cannot win the race for him. There is growing frustration and anger out there in the electorate. Nor would this corrupt free-market allow the corrupt in the UNP to finish off the Rajapaksa factor. The business community will have to keep their options open, while living with the Government. In the absence of Rajapaksa, where will they find their alternative with a Government that is seen tottering and ineffective in public life? In Sri Lanka, the Sinhala majority do not pin their faith on, nor do they experiment with, a third force. To be an alternative, a third force will have to leave the Sinhala bias of the two main parties. It is written in post-independence history, the SLFP emerged as the alternative to the UNP pushing out the then main Opposition LSSP, by proving they are a Sinhala party for the Sinhala voter. The formation of the SLFP thus gave the Sinhala majority the advantage of keeping a Sinhala option in changing Governments. All efforts thereafter in forging a new alternative have failed. Having failed to elbow out the SLFP, the two main Leftist parties tagged behind the SLFP with breakups and splintering on the way. The popular breakup in the SLFP that led to the formation of the SLMP with Vijaya and Chandrika Kumaratunga, could not make any serious dent on mainstream politics. Not because its charismatic leader Vijaya Kumaratunga was assassinated, but because it was not seen as a Sinhala party. The rest is history with Chandrika Kumaratunga re-entering the SLFP on a mothers sympathy. Thrown out of the party by President Premadasa, the two new leaders groomed by President Jayewardene forming their own DUNF, also was not accepted as an alternative in the mainstream. After the assassination of Lalith Athulathmudali, the DUNF folded up with Gamini Dissanayake trekking back to the UNP once again. The new political party, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna launched by the Rajapaksa loyalists is not projected as an alternative in politics. It is retained as a fall back option for those who may not find accommodation in the SLFP, if the crisis within it now, ends up with serious expulsions. Rajapaksa thus remains in the SLFP and says nothing about leaving it. Nor is he expelled even after his May Day rally that defied all party decisions. As much as the SLFP bloc with President Maithri wants Rajapaksa for his vote bloc, the business community needs him too as their alternative, if and when they have to choose one. The SLFP will thus be compelled to decide the role of Rajapaksa for the future. In other words, both the SLFP Maithri bloc and the business community still need Rajapaksa and his vote bloc in forming Governments. That defines the emerging differences in the Unity Government with President Sirisenas resentful manipulations turning it into a ragdoll that cannot be stitched together once again. Visiting Australian Foreign Minister Julia Bishop said the Australian government will assist Sri Lanka in the eradication of Dengue by providing Rs.116 million for a joint research programme with Monash University. The Monash University research team will trial the introduction of a naturally occurring Wolbachia bacteria to the Sri Lankan mosquito populations which will hopefully prevent the dengue virus from being transmitted to humans. The bacteria was said to have the ability to block other mosquito borne diseases such as Zika and Chikungunya. Addressing the media in Colombo last evening Bishop said the use of the bacteria had been successful in several other countries that it has been piloted in including Brazil, Colombia, Vietnam, India and some pacific nations. We know the virus has taken a heavy toll in Sri Lanka with close to a 100,000 infected and 250 deaths and we are committed to helping Sri Lanka eradicate dengue once and for all, Bishop said. Speaking of short term measures to eradicate the disease, Bishop said the Australian government would also provide a grant of Rs.58 million to the World Health Organization (WHO) to immediately implement intensive dengue prevention and control measures. Working with Sri Lankan health authorities and other partners, the objective will be to the reduce transmission of dengue and thereby the incidence by more than 50 per cent over a period of 4-6 weeks in high risk districts of the country. Thanking Bishop, on the initiatives by the Australian government, Health Minister Rajitha Senarathna said the Health Ministry had already developed a sustainable dengue prevention campaign which would ensure the fever would not be a health issue by 2020. The Minister concluded that this assistance was welcome and would help in eradicating dengue in the country. We have exchanged a letter of intent in participating in the programme and will sign the agreement once discussions are concluded, he said. (Nabeela Hussain) Power failures have been reported in Sri Jayawardenepura and the surrounding areas today due to a protest launched by the CEB trade union employees demanding the arrest of the suspect who allegedly assaulted a CEB employee in Ambatale, Mulleriyawa on Wednesday. CEB sources said power interruptions were reported in Avissawella, Homagama, Horana, Malabe and Jayewardenepura for several hours causing inconvenience to the public as the technical teams had not attended the complaints. Ceylon Electricity Employees Union Convener Ranjan Jayalal said an employee attached to the Mulleriyawa CEB power interruption centre had been assaulted by a suspect when the CEB worker went to disconnect the power in a tyre shop owned by the suspect. According to the CEB divisional sources the employer who was admitted to the Mulleriyawa Base Hospital had later received threatening phone calls asking him to discharge from hospital and to maintain a low profile. However, the CEB trade union members staged protests yesterday and day before seeking justice to its employee and said they would launch an indefinite countrywide strike if the police failed to enforce the law against those responsible. Mr. Jayalal told the Daily Mirror that it appeared the law enforcing authorities were hesitating to arrest the responsible person due to political influences. When contacted, Police Media Spokesman SP Ruwan Gunasekara said he was not aware of the matter. The Media Division also confirmed that they had not received of information about such an assault by the Mulleriyawa Police Station. Meanwhile, the Power and Renewable Energy Ministry had called for discussion with the trade unions to discuss the matter , however the talks was not concluded until the edition went to print. Mr. Jayalal said that they would take a final decision over the matter following the discussion. (Thilanka Kanakarathna) What does Patali know about politics that Harini doesnt know? Sri Lanka is going through great pains to get its economy in order after the Al Aman Groups World Capital Centre (WCC), which gained notoriety this month for its questionable corporate information after entering into a US $ 2.4 billion Board of Investment (BOI) project, failed to establish its bona fides yesterday at a media conference. State media this month exposed the firm for publishing suspicious credentials, corporate information and architectural plans on its website. I can understand. Yeah, if it is wrong, I have to admit. Thats why now we have downed the websites, WCC Deputy Chairman Dr. Senaka De Silva said, but then added we have not lied. The company website is currently offline for maintenance. Dr. De Silva also admitted commenting to the media that the project was worth US $ 1.2 billion, although he said that this was due to him speaking offhand while he was driving. While offering journalists a look at its brochure for what WCC claims will be the fifth tallest building in the world, the company in addition could only furnish its certificate of incorporation and the BOI agreement. Dr. De Silva claimed that while the firm has proper book keeping and documentation, they were not available at that time, despite the conference being held at the firms head office. The company officials presented a broken front when attempting to explain where its parent company was from. WCC Attorney S.P. Sriskantha and WCC Senior Deputy Chairman Vivek Anandarajah insisted that WCCs parent, Al Aman Group, was a foreign company, and that they had no clue about any other details of the company. Al Aman is registered in Sri Lanka, Dr. De Silva said later, puzzling those in attendance. WCCs claims of having an international reputation and footprints in the UK, Malaysia, Dubai and the Maldives were also brought to question, when Dr. De Silva admitted that while the firm has companies set up in these countries, none had started any operations. You cant say that we have done nothing, he retorted to a question, but later added, We havent started yet. No project. Anandarajah said that it is the prerogative of a company to start its businesses when the time is ideal and that WCC is waiting for such time. However, he said that many international financial institutions are showing interest in funding WCCs first property in Sri Lanka, even though one financial institute has already pledged to fund the full US $ 2.4 billion. He said that WCC will look to diversify its funding. And also the staggered funding for five years, we will go with more than one funder for specific reasons to cut down the costs. All are from abroad and theyre from many different countries, the USA, Switzerland. This company is globally known and that is how these international investors have agreed to fund, he said. While earlier stating that all funding for WCC will come from foreign sources, who will be issued shares in WCC once the project is complete, Dr. De Silva later said that anyone, including the journalists could invest in the project and that investments could take place in rupees. Sriskantha said that the latter was allowed under the BOI contract. Despite numerous attempts to get WCC to furnish its funding sources, the officials remained secretive. These are information that we dont have to disclose. This is our confidential information. This is our business enterprise. As I said previously, were in discussions with other funders as well because theyre coming up with competitive offers, Anandarajah said. He asked the journalists to ask questions relevant to WCCs Colombo property development, instead of asking about WCCs past or about its management, which are irrelevant information. We are talking about WCC in Colombo, so lets concentrate on that, he said. The project is proposed to have 117 floors, 1,200 residential units, 3,000 retail outlets, 2,000 hotel rooms in a seven-star hotel with gold-plated presidential suites, the countrys first Michelin-starred restaurant and 20 swimming pools, to name a few of its many features. Anandarajah said that WCC will construct the entire project even if one pre-sale is not made, since the building will be fully funded prior to construction. According to the BOI agreement, WCC has to bring in US $ 200 million in funding before end-December 2017. Anandarajah said that drawings for the project are currently being done and that funds will be brought about two months prior to starting construction. However, he said that the firm has yet to finalize a land to construct the project, among three shortlisted properties. WCC Director Dr. Arosha Fernando said that WCC will take advantage of the proposed Kra Canal in Thailand, which will make Sri Lanka the hub in South Asia, and that the WCC project is developed under this and the governments Megapolis project. The Port City will be completed in 2041. This is scheduled to be completed in 2023, so we have one up on the Port City. And this way we attract all the top business enterprises, financial centres, airlines, you name it, to this centre, which will have all the modern facilities which are required for a business, he said. (Chandeepa Wettasinghe) Though we hear and talk a lot about human rights, responsibility ranks among our noblest virtues. Major religions teach and we need to be aware that we are responsible for the welfare and well-being of all people, specially the oppressed people enslaved in the poverty trap. Beyond that, in this modern era, we are also responsible for all creaturesranging from elephants to ants. We are responsible for the oceans and rivers, trees and plants, the air and the delicate balance in our ecology. It is in this perspective that we need to see the moral issues involved when people or groups - expected by society to act with the virtue of responsibility - abuse the new freedom that Sri Lanka now enjoys. They over-emphasise rights and often resort to strikes which cause more suffering to millions of people who are already suffering more than they can bear. On Wednesday, Ceylon Electricity Board employees or unions put themselves into a dark pit instead of providing light. The unions had some justification for their protest outside the Mulleriyawa police station, but not for the 12-hour work to rule, work stoppage, strike or whatever it may be called. Thousands of innocent families including infants and schoolchildren were the innocent victims. Electricity supplies were cut from about 11 p.m. on Wednesday till 2 p.m. yesterday. Most children in the area did not go to school while adults also said they could not get even a few hours of sleep and their days work commitment might be seriously affected. The CEB union say two employees had been sent to disconnect the electricity supply of a tyre shop at Angoda. The Union say the CEB men were assaulted by the trader who allegedly has some strong political connection. Later on Wednesday the CEB staff held a protest outside the Mulleriyawa police station demanding that the trader be arrested. The Police officer in charge assured he would take action within 24 hours but the trade unions apparently suffered a blackout in their sense of responsibility and as a result tens of thousands of people suffered for it. During the blackout at Himbutana a fire erupted on a high tension post. Residents said that for more than 90 minutes they called the CEBs area office but there was no response. Finally the police came in and with the help of area residents, brought the fire under control. Reports say the CEB unions were planning to call a country-wide general strike from yesterday but a sense of responsibility prevailed and it was averted. Since the era of the industrial revolution, strikes have been recognised as a right of workers. But it has been a last resort specially in essential services such as health and power supply. Tragically during the past few months it is the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) that has been setting a bad example and showing a lack of responsibility by launching wildcat strikes at a time when the country is facing one of its worst dengue epidemics. Last Wednesday Health Minister Rajitha Senaratnewho is virtually at war with the GMOA-- presided at a meeting of a new movement of medical doctors. The GMOA, with a membership of about 20,000, often boasts it is one of the most powerful trade unions in Asia but many patients believe it may be one of the most irresponsible if not ruthless while doctors must surely be aware of the fall that comes with pride. Almost daily we see the GMOA protesting or provoking students to protest against the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM). Last Monday the government took over the controversial Neville Fernando hospital which is attached to SAITM and the President has offered to come more than half way but the GMOA appears to be wanting to cut off its pound of flesh. (L-R) A.H.M. Imtizam, Mushtaq Jabir and Rizan Nazeer The Sri Lanka Gem & Jewelry Association announced the launch of the 27th edition of the FACETS International Gem & Jewelry Exhibition, on the 19th of July at a press conference held at the OZO in Colombo. To be held from the 31st of August to the 3rdof September at the BMICH, FACETS is the premier event of the Gem & Jewelry Industry of Sri Lanka. Following its inception in 1991, FACETS has gradually grown in scale and size to become one of the most popular exhibitions of its kind in the world. The purpose of the exhibition lies in the need to show off the very best of one of Sri Lankas most valuable resources. FACETS 2016 saw the introduction of the Premier Jewelry Pavilion and the Gem & Jewelry Mart, both of which received much admiration and interest from visitors, including His Excellency President Maithripala Sirisena himself. FACETS boasts something for everyone and every budget, from precious gems and priceless jewelry to costume jewelry and exquisite branded watches. Delegations and individual buyers from countries such as Nepal, Myanmar, Hong Kong, China, Russia and France, will feature at the exhibition, and many more individual buyers are expected to attend the event, thereby increasing international exposure for the local industry. Launching the Facets mobile app The exhibition also offers visitors a glimpse into the world of gem and jewelry production. A number of stalls will feature various pieces of machinery and tools used to cut and polish gemstones and craft jewelry. There will also be a number of laboratory stalls where visitors can get a look at the process of examination that a gem is subjected to. They can even test their own gems and receive a certificate proving the stones value and authenticity. An additional presence this year are industry related academic institutes which cater to youngsters who are interested in the field, to gain wide knowledge and learn of opportunities available in the industry. The FACETS organizing committee has also announced the introduction of a special app, designed specially for the exhibition. The FACETS app will provide users with a list of the booth-holders, specific events, a lay out of the booths, information about FACETS, the exhibitions rules and regulations and a list of the members of the SLGJA. The app will also enable those planning to attend the exhibition to register online and thus avoid the hassle of standing in line to gain passes. Organized by the Sri Lanka Gem & Jewelry Association and sponsored by the National Gem & Jewelry Authority and the Export Development Board, the FACETS International Gem & Jewelry Exhibition will be held, as always, under the patronage of His Excellency the President and the Ministry of Mahaweli Development and Environment. A.H.M Imtizam, Chairman,SLGJA Ms. Indira Malwatta - Chairperson, Sri Lanka Export Development Board Mushtaq Jabir - Chairman FACETS Sri Lanka 2017 Ruzwan Kamil - Chairman Web Committee explaining the features of the mobile app Sellakumar Kandasamy - Vice Chairman, Jewellery Segment and Chairman Premier Pavilion Committee Sheriff Rahuman - Hon. Secretary SLGJA Two suspects, including the 17-year-old schoolboy, who were remanded and later released on bail on charges of hacking President Maithirpala Sirisenas official website was today acquitted from the case by the Colombo Chief Magistrates Court. When the case was taken up before Colombo Chief Magistrate Lal Ranasinghe Bandara the CID informed Court that the Attorney General (AG) had instructed to release the suspects from the case. Meanwhile, the Court also directed the CID that several production items seized from the suspects' possession be returned to them forthwith. The 17 year old student had illegally entered the Presidents official website and demanded the President to reconsider the decision to move A/L exams to April from August and find a solution to university students issues. According to the CID B report, the 27 year old other suspect had also illegally entered the Presidents official website and altered data committing offences that fell under the Computer Offences Act.(Yoshitha Perera) Is there anyone who can prevent India and China from going to war? For the past one month, the two countries have been involved in a major military standoff. The latest crisis erupted when India opposed Chinas moves to extend a border road through a plateau known as Doklam in India and Donglang in China. The plateau lies at a junction where the territories of China, Bhutan and Indias north-eastern state of Sikkim meet. The road construction work began in a section disputed by both China and Bhutan. India, supports the claim of Bhutan which is a sovereign state in all but name. It is virtually an extended territory of India. India fears that the new road will give Beijing a strategic advantage over an Indian territory called chickens neck, a corridor that links Indias seven north-eastern states to the mainland. India responded by sending troops and stopping the construction work. This prompted China to rush in troops and smash up Indian bunkers. Chinas Global Times warned India, recalling the humiliating defeat India suffered in the 1962 border war. Indias defence minister shot back, saying India of 2017 is different from what it was in 1962. The military deadlock continues with each side expecting the other to withdraw first, while the media in the two countries whip up nationalist fervor. The rest of the world, meanwhile, has other priorities and making peace between India and China is not one of them. The United Nations has made little noise about the escalating tension between India and China. Some countries such as the United States and Australia have urged both India and China to resolve the dispute through peaceful means. But none has offered to mediate in the dispute or become a facilitator for talks. Peace envoys are largely unheard of in international politics these days. Let the war begins appears to be the norm. Peaceful settlement of conflicts is given little importance in the post-9/11 international order. As a result, many a dispute that could have been resolved without a single bullet being fired has escalated into prolonged conflicts that have made innocent people lose lives, limbs, property, happiness, security and dignity. The situation was much different in the pre-9/11 era. Even Sri Lanka played a key role in solving major international disputes and conflicts by offering its services as a peacemaker. Sri Lankas efforts to solve the Suez war in 1956, the India-China border conflict in 1962 and the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s cannot be underestimated. Third party mediation in disputes that had potential to spark a war offered a face-saving exit for parties embroiled in hostilities to withdraw from the brink of war. When war is open business, no wonder, pre-war peace efforts have become scarce these days. In his farewell speech in January 1961, US President Dwight Eisenhower, a World War II General, no less, called the military industrial complex a threat to democracy. He warned the Americans of the formidable union between defence contractors and the armed forces. The US is today the worlds number one weapons seller making a living out of wars or other peoples misery. It sells weapons to more than one hundred countries. Today, the military industrial complex is a mega business for many developed countries. To hell with human rights and human misery, the arms they sell fan the flames of war. Take for instance, Britains arms sales to Saudi Arabia. Last week, the British arms industry and the British Government were elated over a court ruling in favour of arms sales to Saudi Arabia. The case was filed by the Campaign against Arms Trade. It called for a ruling to block arms sales to Saudi Arabia, claiming that the Gulf country has violated international law by using British weapons to kill civilians in Yemens civil war. The court dismissed the petition. Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Oxfam denounced the ruling, saying the court had ignored evidence that the Saudis have devastated Yemens civilian population with indiscriminate attacks. But Prime Minister Theresa May was happy, because Saudi Arabia accounts for half of Britains weapons exports. With the revenue from killer industry becoming a crucial factor for economic stability, arms selling countries such as Britain and the US turn a blind eye to human rights excesses by big-time buyers such as Saudi Arabia. To cover up this shame, the arms selling countries, projecting themselves as human rights champions, target small-time human rights violators such as Sri Lanka and cry hoarse about the human rights situations. It is a big drama -- and in this all-villains drama, the United Nations plays the clowns role. The less we talk about the UN, the better it is. Last year, the UN blacklisted Saudi Arabia for committing crimes against children caught up in war, but removed the country from the list, after Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies threatened to stop financial contributions to various UN programmes. Worldwide countries spend more than 1.8 trillion dollars on defence expenditure annually. Every year, nations spend more than US$ 100 billion on purchasing weapons. In a report issued in February this year, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) says more weapons were delivered between 2012 and 2016 than any other five-year period since 1990. Saudi Arabia was the worlds second largest weapons importer, increasing its intake by 212%, mainly from the US and Britain. India is the worlds number one weapons importer, according to Sipri. It accounts for 13 percent of the global imports. Its Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a visit to Israel last months inked several deals with the Zionist state to procure 630 million dollars worth of weapons and defence systems. China, according to Sipri, is increasingly able to substitute arms imports with indigenous products and has solidified its position as a top-tier arms supplier. It is no exaggeration to say that India and China, both nuclear power states, are armed to the teeth. Besides, no one can give a guarantee that a war between them will not see the use of nuclear weapons. Thus there is an urgent need to bring the two states to the negotiating table. This is all the more reason why India and China should enhance efforts at confidence-building measures. Certainly Indias recent Malabar military exercise with the United States and Japan in the Indian Ocean was not a confidence-building measure. But India joining Chinas Belt-and-Road initiative, perhaps, is one. Will India do this? Asias prosperity depends on peace between India and China. Dateline: China An umbrella-rental business inspired by bike-sharing services hit a snag when almost 300,000 of the companys umbrellas ended up stolen. Zhao Shuping, founder of Sharing E Umbrella, told the South China Morning Post earlier this year that his Shenzhen-based umbrella rental service would make 300,000 umbrellas available for rental at strategic locations in Shanghai, Nanjing, Guangzhou and Nanchang. The umbrellas could be obtained from vending kiosks for a 20 yuan (about $2.90) deposit and a 7-cent per half-hour rental fee, payable via the phone app WeChat. The deposit was intended to be refunded upon return. Most of the umbrellas, however, went missing within a few weeks. According to UPI the company lost $8.82 on each umbrella that went unreturned. Dateline: Texas According to the Amarillo Globe-News, a local strip club was recently tagged with several violations by the citys health inspector, including one for a breast implant found inside the clubs bar utensil holder. Cassidys Polo Club received nine demerits, which the City of Amarillos Environmental Health Department described as an average number, during the June 23 health inspection. Among standard demerits for failure to have thermometers provided, accurate and calibrated, and non-food contact surfaces clean was an additional comment regarding a breast implant found inside bar utensil holder. According to the Globe-News, there was no word on how the breast implant came to be there. Shaun May, Amarillos Environmental Health Director, assured KVII-TV in Amarillo that the personal item was removed immediately from the kitchen and the issue is resolved. The club has until Aug. 10 to clear up the other listed issues. Dateline: Louisiana A drunk driver was arrested while trying to bail out a friend who had been arrested for drunk driving. The Slidell Police Departmentlocated on the northeast shore of Lake Pontchartrainsaid on its Facebook page that officers pulled over a car full of drunks on the night of Saturday, July 8. The driver of the vehicle was arrested for DWI. The car was safely secured in a parking lot, and the intoxicated passengers were sent home in a cab. Unfortunately, an hour or so later, one of the dunk passengers from the original traffic stop decides to go back and pick up the vehicle. She then drives drunk to the Slidell Police Department in order to bail out her friend. According to the post, the woman was unable to bail the driver out, but she was able to join him inside the jail. Dateline: New Jersey A museum at a New Jersey university knocked down one of its walls and found a stash of wine bottles up to 221 years old. Officials at the Liberty Hall Museum at Kean University in Union said they knew an old wine cellar was located behind the Prohibition Era wall, but they had no idea what they would find when they tore down the plywood and plaster construction as part of a renovation program. What they found were three wooden boxes containing more than 50 unopened bottles of Madeira wine. The wine turned out to be from 1796. It was imported from Portugal and rebottled by Robert Lenox, a millionaire wine importer from New York who died in 1839. One rare wine dealer said the sealed and stamped bottles could be worth up to $20,000 each. Amazingly, the wine could still be drinkable. It is one of the longest-lived wines in the world, Kara Joseph, a certified sommelier at New York Vintners, told UPI. It is almost indestructible because of how they make it, of the fermentation process. Dateline: Texas A company contractor was performing some maintenance work at a Bank of America branch in Corpus Christi, changing the locks on the banks ATM service room, when he became locked inside. Without his phone, the engineer slid an SOS message through the machines receipt slot to customers outside. The note read, Please help, Im stuck in here and I dont have my phone. Please call my boss. The contractor told police that the majority of folks thought the note was simply a practical joke. But eventually, someone took it seriously and called police. Senior Officer Richard Olden told KZTV-10, We come out here, and sure enough we can hear a little voice coming from the machine. So we are thinking this is a joke. This has to be a joke. Police ended up having to kick down the door to the machine to get the contractor out. Police say the man was stuck inside the ATM for about two hours. COLUMBUS When former Columbus resident Jerry Norris heard the Platte County Historical Society was looking for a Kingsmen Automotive Club plaque, he took a drive down memory lane. In 1956, custom car enthusiasts in Columbus formed the local Kingsmen group to promote safe driving and get together to work on their hot rods. Norris said the club was not for miscreants. Contrary to popular belief, we werent renegades, said Norris, who lives in Omaha now. We were all for promoting safe driving and safe cars. Club members used domestic models such as Oldsmobile, Ford and Mercury, with a few Fords and Pontiacs tossed into the mix, to create their racing machines. We had pretty active car shows, but mostly we drag-raced at the Grand Island airport runways, Norris said. We custom-built hot rod exhaust glass-packed mufflers so they were loud. Some of our cars were so low to the ground you could knock a pack of smokes over with the front bumper. One drag race was covered in the Grand Island Independent. The race was in September 1958 and a photo can be viewed at the Platte County Historical Society Museum in Columbus. According to the article, 113 vehicles were part of the race and nearly 2,000 people watched. The Kingsmen continued to grow after the group was formed. Most of the founding Kingsmen here were just out of high school when they asked us to join, Norris said. Us junior Kingsmen were just sophomores or juniors in high school. So we kept the meetings and races going until some of us moved on, got married or found jobs somewhere else. The Columbus club ran for seven years before disbanding in 1963. The Kingsmen Automotive Club had members all over the nation who shared a similar love for building custom cars. Some of the other clubs were affiliated with local churches. However, the Columbus Kingsmen were simply around to promote car and road safety and have fun. Members of the Columbus Kingsmen had custom shirts, jackets and plaques to represent their club and camaraderie. Most of the plaques would hang off the back bumper, Norris said with a smile. In fact, that is why mine is a little beat up. A photograph of Norris' plaque was donated to the museum for the community to view. He couldn't be talked into giving up the prized possession. A response by Professor G.L. Peiris This is a response to the comment by the Government on my interview, published by the on Wednesday 12th July. The comment is entirely inaccurate and misleading. The factual details are far from factual. Facts are ignored, distorted or misrepresented. 1Submission to Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. The Government statement declares that The Bill does not provide for jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC). This is false. The truth is that, once the Bill is enacted into law, a member of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces, or indeed any citizen of Sri Lanka can find himself hauled up before the ICC. The Bill is described in the Gazette of 9th February 2017 as a Bill to give effect to the International Convention for the Protection of all persons from Enforced Disappearance. Article 9(2) of the Convention states in explicit terms: Each State Party shall take such measures as may be necessary to establish its competence to exercise jurisdiction over the offence of enforced disappearance when the alleged offender is present in any territory under its jurisdiction, unless it extradites or surrenders him or her to another state in accordance with its international obligations or surrenders him or her to an international criminal tribunal whose jurisdiction it has recognized. Take the case of a member of the Armed Forces of Sri Lanka, present at any time in the territory of a State which is a party to the convention. Once that person is arrested by the foreign country for the offence of enforced disappearance, that country is specifically given the power to surrender him to an International Criminal Tribunal (the ICC is undoubtedly such a tribunal) when jurisdiction it (that is, the foreign state arresting the Sri Lankan military officer) has recognized. This is the text of the Convention the present Government of Sri Lanka has signed and ratified. A Sri Lankan military officer, against whom there is no evidence but only an allegation, would thus face the ICC. Is the Government speaking the truth when it denies this plain fact? This effect of the convention is further reinforced by Article 11(1) which provides as follows: The State Party in the territory under whose jurisdiction a person alleged to have committed an offence of enforced disappearance is found shall, if it does not extradite that person or surrender him or her to another State in accordance with its international obligations or surrender him or her to an International Criminal Tribunal whose jurisdiction it has recognized, submit the case to its competent authorities for the purpose of prosecution. Why does the Government seek to deceive the public by concealing this provision by which it is bound? A Sri Lankan military officer, against whom there is no evidence but only an allegation, would thus face the ICC Section 8 of the Bill now before Parliament has the effect that, on a mere request by a foreign state, or on behalf of a foreign state, the Government of Sri Lanka may be obliged to extradite a member of the Armed Forces, or any Sri Lankan citizen, accused of the offence of enforced disappearance. The reality that extradition is seriously contemplated is manifested by sections 10 and 12 of the Bill, which purport to modify Sri Lankas Extradition Law, No. 8 of 1977, to the detriment of the Sri Lankan military. For example, significant protection conferred by the existing law on an accused person whose extradition is sought, is removed by section 13 of the new Bill. The position, then, is crystal clear. The foreign country demanding the extradition or having custody of a member of the Sri Lankan military has three options: (i) It can try the accused in its own courts; (ii) It can surrender the accused to a third country for trial; (iii) It can surrender the accused for trial by an International Criminal Tribunal like the ICC. No wonder, then, that the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia have refused to sign the Convention at all. India signed in 2007, but has not yet ratified for 10 years. The Convention is, therefore, not operative in India. The situation is the same in Scandinavian countries including Norway. What do these countries owe their Armed Forces, in comparison with Sri Lankas own debt to its military? Is the Government being candid with our people by refusing to acknowledge the extreme peril to which this Bill exposes our military? Why did the Government feel a compelling need to sign and ratify the Convention within 4 months? Was it not a pay-off for promises made at election time? The position, then, is crystal clear. The foreign country demanding the extradition or having custody of a member of the Sri Lankan military has three options: (i) It can try the accused in its own courts; (ii) It can surrender the accused to a third country for trial; (iii) It can surrender the accused for trial by an International Criminal Tribunal like the ICC. 2 Extradition v. Foreign Judges Resolution 30/1, co-sponsored by Sri Lanka at the Human Rights Council, committed the Sri Lankan Government to Commonwealth and other foreign judges (Operative Paragraph 6). Confronted with the strongest opposition imaginable, the Government sought to renege on this solemn undertaking and declared, in shrill tones within the country, that no foreign judges would be permitted in Sri Lanka under any circumstances. Amazingly, however the Government is now happy to agree to Sri Lankan military personnel being extradited for trial in foreign courts or the ICC, rather than foreign judges coming to Sri Lanka to try them. Does the Government believe for a moment that this is a gentler, and preferable, fate for our military? 3 What kind of Convention has the Government Ratified? The Government statement is a model of obfuscation. It deals with everything except what matters. In the summary it is stated that The objective of the Bill is to ensure that enforced disappearances do not occur. No one denies that enforced disappearance is a heinous offence and if it has occurred, must be visited with deterrent punishment. What we object to, however, with all the vehemence at our command, is the Governments cowardly action in agreeing to hand over our military personnel to foreign courts and International Tribunals for trial. This is to be done under a Convention which unabashedly declares: For the purpose of this Convention, enforced disappearance is considered to be the arrest, detention abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the State or by persons or groups of persons acting with the authorization, support or acquiescence of the State (Article 2). The only parties to be proceeded against are the State, its officials and its organs. There is no corresponding obligation to deal with terrorists. One can hardly conceive of a more one-sided approach; but the Government is obviously happy with it. What is more, the Bill giving effect to this Convention is given a degree of sanctity almost comparable with the Constitution: all Sri Lankan laws that conflict with its provisions, are swept aside to the extent of inconsistency (Section 23). 4 Does the Bill not apply to the war against the LTTE? The Government repeats ad nauseam that this obnoxious Bill applies exclusively to the future, and has no application whatever to the war which ended in 2009. This strains credibility beyond all limits. Resolution 30/1 of 1st October 2015, which was passed unanimously by the Human Rights Council because of Sri Lankas co-sponsorship of it, explicitly deals with the past and imposes on the Government of Sri Lanka strict obligations to take concrete actions with regard to the past. For instance, the preamble emphasizes the importance of a comprehensive approach to dealing with the past, incorporating the full range of judicial and non-judicial measures, including individual prosecutions. Furthermore the preamble specifically calls for mechanisms to redress past abuses and violations. Operative paragraph 4, in terms, Welcomes the commitment of the Government of Sri Lanka to undertake a comprehensive approach to dealing with the past and unequivocally refers to an Office of Missing Persons as one of the initiatives required of the Government of Sri Lanka. Other initiatives include a Commission for Truth, Justice, Reconciliation and non-recurrence. All these obligations obviously relate to the past, not to the future. The preamble to the Bill states that It has become necessary for the Government of Sri Lanka to make legislative provision to give effect to Sri Lankas obligations under the Convention. Legislation is now being brought before Parliament to fulfil, one by one, these obligations which are specifically linked to the past by the terms of the Geneva resolution. In fact Special Rapporteur Ben Emmerson just a few days ago found fault with the Government for doing very little by way of fulfilment of these pledges. Can anyone in his senses be persuaded to believe that this entire sequence of events addresses offences, to be committed hypothetically at some indefinite time in the future by the next generation, rather than the specific allegations directed by Sri Lankas critics against our military personnel during the period spanning the closing phases of the war? Moreover, from a technical standpoint, the Bill makes it clear that it does apply to the past. The wording in Section 8 is that Where a request is made to the Government of Sri Lanka for the extradition of any person accused of the offence of enforced disappearance, the procedures stipulated in the Bill will become operative. The crucial date, then, is the date of making of the request by or on behalf of a foreign government. Since this date will obviously be subsequent to the enactment of the Bill, the circumstance that the disappearance occurred prior to enactment, will make no difference whatever to the applicability of the Bill. I dismiss with contempt the Governments patently insincere and implausible contention against retroactivity. However, to confront them on their own premise, would any self-respecting Government deliberately resolve to submit its Armed Forces to foreign jurisdiction in this way even for the future? Why have other governments steadfastly refused to do so? How does a policy repugnant for the past become acceptable for the future? Claiming it was unlawful to present a no-confidence motion against North Central Provincial Council (NCPC) Chairman T.M.R. Siripala, joint opposition MP Mahindananda Aluthgamage said yesterday said the procedure adopted to elect the new chairman was undemocratic. He said they were utterly disgusted with the tense situation that prevailed in the NCPC and have no hesitation to go to court against those who misbehaved and violated the agenda of the council's constitution. "It is unlawful to present a no-confidence motion against NCPC Chairman T.M.R. Siripala of the UPFA as he had not violated the constitution nor had was he involved in wrongful activities. Therefore, we urge the President to look into this matter and conduct an investigation to see that democracy was upheld in the Council," the MP said. He also claimed that the government was attempting to sell the Hambantota Port to a Chinese company, in the wake of the appointment of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority's new Chairman Parakrama Dissanayake. "Mr. Dissanayake is the chief negotiator in the sale of the Hambantota Port to a Chinese company. He is not an independent figure representing the SLPA. Therefore, action needs to be taken to find a solution to this, as it is a national resource which is being sold to a foreign company," the MP said. Meanwhile, LSSP leader Tissa Vitharana said the government had not taken over the Neville Fernando Teaching Hospital on a policy decision. "Even when the Sri Lanka Medical Council has not approved this hospital, the government tries to provide services to the people. We urge the government to be serious on this issue and ensure the quality standard of the hospital without putting the people into difficulty, " he added. (Sheain Fernandopulle) Over 350 CEOs and senior corporate executives, including chairpersons, managing directors, CEOs and directors representing the Sri Lankan corporate sector, have already signed in to take part in Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2017, which is set to start next week. Apart from the corporate executives, representatives from Colombo-based diplomatic missions, multilateral agencies and also government bodies such as the Central Bank and Colombo Stock Exchange have also registered to take part in the event. The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce has lined up over 50 speakers, both from Sri Lanka and overseas, consisting of high-profile cabinet ministers, policymakers, business leaders and academics to share insights and also make recommendations on how Sri Lanka can transform its economy to realize its true potential by right execution of plans. The summit, which will be held under the title of Execute Transform Realize, will conduct eight thematic sessions. The sessions will focus on economic transformation through policy reforms, domestic and global economic headwinds and also how Sri Lanka can adapt to the changing scenarios and succeed in a competitive environment. The event will take place on July 25 and 26, 2017, at Cinnamon Grand Hotel, Colombo. Sunshine Holdings PLC comes in as the Platinum sponsor of the event, Standard Chartered Bank enters the fray as the Gold sponsor, Fonterra Brands as the Silver sponsor and Dialog Axiata is the telecommunications partner, whilst Janashakthi Insurance, Prima Group and Nestle Lanka join in as the strategic partners. Echo Wave is the digital events platform partner and OMD of OmniCom MediaGroup is the communications partner. Market leader seen losing ground Sri Lankas lubricant sales rose 11.3 percent year-on-year (YoY) in response to the influx of vehicle imports seen during 2015 and 2016 but the market leader continued to lose its market share as the competitors gained ground. According to the latest lubricants market report released by the Public Utilities Commission, the countrys lubricant market regulator, the sales measured by kiloliters (kL) grew 11.4 percent in 2016 or by 6,607 kL to 64,585 kL.This is the second largest growth in a single year after 2010, when the quantity of sales grew by almost 10,000 kL as the post-war economic euphoria stoked vehicle imports. Sri Lanka had a Rs.26.1 billion-worth lubricant market by end-2016, shared between 16 playersout of which, 13 players are authorized to import, export, sell, supply and distribute lubricants and the rest engaged in blending in addition to the said activities. Sri Lankas lubricants market is led by Chevron Lubricants Lanka PLC, the local unit of the US-based multinational, which had a market share of 45.29 percent by 2016, against 47.58 percent in 2015 and 49.3 percent in 2014. But Chevron Lanka has been losing its market share during the last few years as the next biggest player, Lanka Indian Oil Corporation PLC (LIOC) and a couple of other new entrants were seen gaining ground. LIOC increased its market share to 16.4 percent in 2016 from 14.9 percent a year earlier but Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, the third largest player, lost the market share from 9.2 percent to 8.4 percent. Bharath Petroleum Corporation, which sells Mak branded lubricants, and Laugfs accounted for 11 percent of the market. Sri Lankas lubricant market was liberalized last year making the playing field tougher for the existing players. Chevron, LIOC and Laugfs Holdings Limited, which have the authority to blend lubricants in Sri Lanka, blended a total of 47,286 kL of lubricants in 2016 and about 68 percent out of that was blended by Chevron. Although Chevron lost its market share, the firm was able to increase its total sales continuously and by end-2016, Chevron sold a total of 29,251 kL of lubricants, increasing from 27,585 kL in 2015. Over 72 percent of lubricant sales in Sri Lanka go to the automotive sector, while 18 percent goes to the industrial sector. Quarterly Journal of South Asian Literature re-launched Sri Lankan literature may not be well known around the world compared to its counterpart India. But international editors have now begun to take a keen interest in Sri Lankan writing. The latest effort to give prominence to the budding talent in Sri Lanka came from the re-launch of City, a quarterly journal of South Asian literature. The journal features writings of 26 Sri Lankan writers which includes fiction and poetry. The journal also includes prose and poetry of other South Asian writers. Speaking at the launch of the journal at the ICES auditorium, acclaimed writer Ameena Hussein expressed that the stories in the journal offered the reality of life as it is stripping it down from misconceptions. This is a rare opportunity for the diverse voices writing in all three languages to sit side by side representing the country as a holistic voice, rather than the fragments we are used to seeing, she said. From this selection you will see that Sri Lankan writers write with spirit in whatever language they write in. They are modern and old fashioned, and nostalgic, and angry and rebellious and charming all at the same time, she added. She also found the stories written by other South Asian writers to be spunky and feisty. City began as a quarterly journal in 2002. Its Co-Editor, Ajmal Kamal said that it was a journal devoted to civic issues. It is about how city functions and the role played by the city in our lives. The journal presents literature of South Asia in English. We are aware of literature of so many parts of the world, but we are not aware of the literature of our neighbours, Kamal remarked. There are a number of young people who have a better command of English than their predecessors, who are very keen to present their masterpieces of their languages and literature. We want to invite all of them to join in our effort to create this kind of platform which can lead to a better understanding of what we are as South Asians, he said speaking at the launch. This is a rare opportunity for the diverse voices writing in all three languages to sit side by side representing the country as a holistic voice, rather than the fragments we are used to seeing On a critical note of Sri Lankan writing, the publishing industry in the country and the opportunity offered by City Dr. Harshana Rambukwella, a Senior Lecturer at the Postgraduate Institute of English, of the Open University of Sri Lanka, said that while world literature experimented, deconstructed and rebuilt, in Sri Lanka writers wanted to preserve. By doing so we stagnated. Our imaginations were imprisoned by a sense of national and cultural fidelity. We wanted to be filial sons and daughters to the nation and thereby misunderstood and misplaced the role of the liberated writer, he said. He further claimed that the publishing industry was in a crisis. Many novels are published every year. At least over a hundred. All the publishers say that its very difficult to push more than a thousand or two thousand books even in Sinhala. The ones that win awards may sell around five thousand or eight thousand copies, he noted pointing out that in the 1950s and 60s the publishing industry flourished with sales hitting 30 000. That was a time when our population was much much smaller. So what has happened? he quizzed. One possible explanation is the conservativeness of our literary discourse. Speakers at the event Against this backdrop Dr.Rambukwella perceives the journal magazine to be arefreshing departure from the conservative cultural discourse. The very title of the magazine challenges us to think about South Asian realities from a new perspective. South Asia, and in particular Sri Lanka was seen as a rural space and this magazine invites us to consider the urban realities of South Asia, he explained. He invited readers to delve into the collection to discover the city within us as well as the cities that we inhabit. In conversation with the Co-editor of City, Ajmal Kamal Ajmal Kamal hails from Karachi in Pakistan where he runs a publishing house. He is the editor of a literary magazine in Urdu called Aj which translated to today. It was started as a quarterly magazine in 1989 and its hundredth issue was published last month. The magazine contains translations of literary work of different languages. Through contacts developed by working on Aj, and through his colleagues at the South Asian University where Kamal is currently studying for his doctorate, Kamal has been able to collaborate with other writers in South Asia. This has facilitated the re-launch of City which had come to a halt after four issues were published initially. City is also co-edited by Sophia Naz, a poet who also hails from Pakistan and currently resides in the United States. We are more aware of things being written in the West and other places. We dont know what is happening with the languages of our neighbours. Indian literature is better known than that of Sri Lanka, Nepal and Pakistan because of its size and diversity. So we thought that we will start with Sri Lanka. We issued a call for submissions on facebook and through email, and we got a good response, Kamal told Daily Mirror. This issue has a special section on Sri Lankan writings, so that people can have an idea of what themes are being written about in Sri Lanka. Similarly in the next issue we will feature writings from Nepal, he added. Apart from writings originally in English, the issue also contains translations from Sinhala, Bangla. Urdu, Tamil and Nepali. The Sri Lankan writing presented is authentic, poignant, descriptive and is set in a Sri Lankan setting to capture the Sri Lankan experience. The United Nations has said that when selecting soldiers for the UN peacekeeping mission, it would vet Sri Lankan troops similar to soldiers from other countries, to ensure they were not involved in illegal activities in their home country. In response to a question that the UN was still recruiting Sri Lankan troops to serve (the UN Multi-dimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission) in Mali despite some new findings by the UN that Sri Lanka's security forces were engaged in torture, Deputy Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General told a news briefing in New York Well, wherever we recruit soldiers from, in every country, we try to vet the incoming peacekeeping troops, to make sure that they're not involved in any such problems in their home country. And, of course, we will do that sort of vetting for Sri Lankan troops as we do for any other country, he said. The spokesman said that UN Under Secretary General for Political Affairs, Jeffrey Feltman, who arrived in Sri Lanka yesterday, would take up the latest allegation against the Sri Lankan security forces, with the Sri Lankan Government. (Sunil Jayasiri) Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi was hugging US President Donald Trump in Washington earlier this month, a tense standoff was underway between the armies of two of Asia's major powers - China and India. Two units of the Indian Army and the People's Liberation Army have been at loggerheads at the tri-junction between India, China, and Bhutan since June 16 - the longest border standoff between the two nations in decades. It all started when a PLA unit tried to construct a road towards a Bhutanese army camp in Zomplri area of the Doklam Plateau. Protest The Royal Bhutanese Army protested the PLA's construction activities in Doklam, to be supported by the Indian Army two days later. This led to a physical altercation between the two sides, with the Chinese soldiers probably destroying a few temporary bunkers of the Indian Army. Interestingly, unlike in the past, China has taken an unusually aggressive tone in its protests, portraying itself as a victim of Indian aggression. It upped the ante by asking India to recall the 1962 war and learn a lesson to which New Delhi responded by saying that "India of 2017 is different from India of 1962". Expressing deep concern over China's construction of a road in the disputed area, India had conveyed to Beijing that such an action would represent a significant change of status quo with "serious" security implications for India. For its part, Bhutan has issued a demarche to China over the construction of road and asked Beijing to restore status quo by stopping the building activity. China has also conveyed to foreign diplomats in Beijing that PLA troops have been patient but will not wait for an indefinite period. As claims and counterclaims fly between Beijing and New Delhi, it is important to underscore that the issue is primarily about China's bullying of a small South Asian nation - Bhutan - by trying to change the facts on the ground. Bhutan has shown the guts to stand up to a behemoth with Indian help. Bhutan shares a unique relationship with India which is largely responsible for its military security. As per the 2007 India-Bhutan Friendship Treaty, the two nations cooperate "closely with each other on issues relating to their national interests. Neither government shall allow the use of its territory for activities harmful to the national security and interest of the other." For India, it is important to stand up for one of its closest allies. For China, it is about challenging India's primacy in South Asia and to send a message to other smaller countries that it retains the capability to shape the strategic environment decisively in the region. Moreover, Chinese construction of roads at Doklam has a larger military purpose of getting nearer to the Siliguri corridor so as to be able to cut off India's entire north-eastern part from the mainland should the need arise. Media The Chinese media's bellicosity, in this case, has gone overboard. The Global Times is a mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party and more often than not reflects the considered view of the policy-makers in Beijing. Yet it is different from the People's Daily which is more of the official government view, thereby allowing it to maintain deniability. Sections of the Indian media can be equally bellicose but there are always divergences which one can discern. In an authoritarian set up like China, dissident voices will never be part of the dominant narrative, but the Global Times manages to put forth official view using outside "experts". In foreign policy, in particular, to mark external interlocutors as the source of all domestic trouble comes with high risks, especially in the context of an upcoming Communist Party Congress. But it is precisely such a high risk strategy that makes the Global Times popular and influential. The Chinese media has been upping the ante for some time now. It has suggested that "China is trying its best to use historical lessons to reason with India and show sincerity in peacefully solving the problem, but if India refuses to listen, then China would have no other choice than to use a military way of solving the problem". The People's Liberation Army also delivered a strong warning to India, calling on the Indian Army to "learn from historical lessons and stop clamouring for war". Interests Rather than underlining China's rising power, Beijing's bullying behaviour underscores how rattled it has become of the Modi government's pro-active assertion of Indian interests. Most recently India was one of the few major powers that did not attend the Belt and Road Initiative Summit and has repeatedly underscored the hegemonistic design behind the benign rhetoric. Growing bonhomie between Modi and Trump is also an unnerving factor for an insecure China. Many in India continue to argue that New Delhi should not provoke China by tilting too close to the US. But Chinese aggressive behaviour is a function of its own rise and its concomitant desire to shape its strategic environment in line with its expanding interests. Appeasing China won't work. After all, tiny Bhutan has done nothing to challenge China's growing pre-eminence. Its only fault is that it has close ties with India. The Modi government's policy of standing up to China and of working with like-minded countries in the region is the only way for New Delhi to preserve its equities at a time when China's rise is upending a number of assumptions of global politics. The US State Departments July 20 report on terrorism was stark in its assessment of Pakistans role in the fight against terrorism. Pakistan, the report said, provided safe havens for terrorist groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). The annual US "Country Report on Terrorism 2016" articulates mounting US dissatisfaction with a one-time ally. Just five days before the report was released, the US House of Representatives tightened the screws on Pakistan. The legislation passed by the house makes it mandatory for the Pentagon to certify that Pakistan is not providing "military, financial, or logistical support" to individuals designated as terrorists operating in Pakistan or Afghanistan. The harshest indictment of Islamabads duplicity came from former secretary of state Hillary Clinton six years ago. "It's like that old story - you can't keep snakes in your backyard and expect them only to bite your neighbours," she told a press conference during an unannounced October 21, 2011 visit to Islamabad. Eventually those snakes are going to turn on whoever has them in the backyard," Clinton added. Clintons rage was understandable. Her demarche came just five months after US special forces raided a compound in the garrison town of Abbotabad, Pakistan and killed 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden. There was mounting evidence that the Haqqani Network was being sheltered by Pakistan. Bin Laden was not the first terrorist to have been discovered in Pakistan. His lieutenant and 9/11 planner, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, of Pakistani origin, was arrested from Rawalpindi in 2003. Taliban chief Mullah Mansour was killed by a CIA drone strike in May 2016, when he was driving through Pakistan. Is China confident that the corridor it is building through Pakistan will only be unidirectional? Pakistans deep state today shelters more terrorists than many European countries have Syrian refugees, a modern-day version of the ancient Taxila University which flourished there over 1,600 years ago with multi-hued global terrorists - Arabs, Chechens, Afghans, Kashmiris and Sikhs. All of them are "strategic weapons" that the Pakistani deep state can use against its neighbours. Heavy Industries Taxila is now Pakistans largest arms manufacturer. Hows that for irony? This terrorism university is what New Delhi describes as the "infrastructure of terrorism", an ecosystem which recruits, motivates, trains and finally infiltrates terrorists for deadly attacks into India and Afghanistan. Pakistans deep state neatly bifurcated their counter-terrorism drive after the 9/11 attacks and then US President George Bushs either youre with us or against us ultimatum. The deep state in Rawalpindi pretended to act against the Al-Qaeda and Taliban, occasionally serving up their leaders to claim cash bounties from the US. At the same time, it continued to push terrorists, its "strategic assets", against its neighbours. The US was aware of this, but perhaps turned a blind eye because the LeT and JeM were directed only in "Indian-administered Kashmir". Exactly how blurred these boundaries between good and bad terrorists are is revealed in a rigorously researched new book, The Exile. Investigative journalists Cathy Scott-Clark and Adrian Levy reveal how fleeing Al-Qaeda fighters were sheltered by the LeT and JeM. Osama bin Laden, in fact, received a respite when a JeM attack on Indias Parliament on December 13, 2001 triggered off a massive troop deployment along Pakistans western borders. This gave the Pakistan Army an excuse to pull out from the eastern borders where they had cornered Al-Qaeda fighters fleeing Afghanistan. The net result? The core of Al-Qaeda, including bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, spilled over into Pakistan and escaped annihilation. But with decreased US flows, it has brought about a recent rethink within Rawalpindi. Pakistan Army's search for a new benefactor has ended up at the Karakoram Highway and in the wholehearted embrace of a questionable new project offered by Chinas President Xi Jinping in 2013. The $62 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a supersized version of a project first offered by China to then Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf in 2003 proposes to build a network of power projects and industrial projects across the length of the country, providing it with an economic spine that will propel growth. Economic activity cannot go hand-in-hand with terrorism. But as the US State Department report shows, there has been no let up in Pakistans sponsorship of terror. Terrorist groups within Pakistan are something Beijing is entirely comfortable with, judging by its repeated blocking of Indian attempts in the United Nations to get the JeMs Masood Azhar declared a global terrorist. Is Pakistan confident that the snakes it rears in its backyard will not turn on the CPEC? Is China confident that the corridor it is building through Pakistan will only be unidirectional? That is, the poisonous Islamist ideology being propagated by the deep state, the LeT and the JeM, will not flow into Chinas restive Xinjiang province. For nearly a month now, China and Indias border dispute at Doklam in the Sikkim section has been threatening to lead to a full-scale war. The war cry from the Chinese official media is no less virulent than what Pakistan has received from the nationalist Indian media for the last two years. Chinese commentators argue that Indias support to Bhutan provides legitimacy to China to support Pakistan in Kashmir. That position has pleased Pakistan no end and the Kashmir issue threatens to go out of Indias long-preserved strategy of confining it as a bilateral matter. The prolonged military standoff also helps cash-rich China to prioritise infrastructure development on its Indian border region. That raises the distinct possibility of expediting the process of Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh moving closer to China and diminishing Indias influence in its neighborhood further. In spite of Chinas repeated threats, the Indian government is trying to underplay its seriousness. The usual blusters of Indias present Army Chief have disappeared in the last few weeks. Only in the beginning of June, General Bipin Rawat was boasting that India was ready for two-and-a-half front war (Pakistan, China and internal security threats). In the first few days of the standoff, while responding to Chinas warning, Indias part-time defence minister was even cockier: "The situation in 1962 was different and India of 2017 is different." But, Chinas refusal to budge has forced the Modi regime to give up its swagger and desperately look for a face-saving exit. Confident China has not gone for any troop movement yet in spite of the fact that Indian soldiers are present in larger numbers close to the epicentre of the present standoff. What has rattled the Indian side, the media, strategic analysts and the regime itself is that China has been openly aggressive and repeatedly threatening military action. Exactly 30 years ago, a war-like situation had emerged between two neighbours and that was primarily due to the belligerent adventurism of General Krishnaswamy Sundarji. In 2017, the Indian Army is led by a similar chest-thumping General Bipin Rawat, but in the present standoff with China, the role of General Rawat is peripheral. What has now enabled China to openly and humiliatingly threaten India is Narendra Modis disastrous foreign policy. It is true that China is an established superpower now, not just a rising one. After becoming more powerful economically, since 2008, it is not at least anymore hesitant to exert its political and military power. However, since 1962, while China had no doubt ever about its superior military strength vis-a-vis India, what had restrained it before was Indias smart management of bilateral relations not only with Russia and the US, but with China itself. A Chinese government image claiming border trespasses by Indian troops at the Doklam plateau. Photo: India Today Whatever Indias so-called strategic experts claim, China does not need India as much as India needs China for its economic growth, water and energy security and to be a member of various global power clubs. Since Rajiv Gandhis three-minute handshake with Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping in December 1988 in Beijing, Indias policy in general was to develop a mutually beneficial relationship with China through regular high-level dialogues and expanding economic and commercial ties. However, since coming to power in May 2014, Modi has not left any opportunity to irritate China. He invited the PM of the Tibetan government in exile to his inauguration. He even directly criticised China when he went to Japan in September 2014. Inviting the American ambassador and the Dalai Lama to visit Arunachal Pradesh were nothing but narrow-minded steps in that direction. Modis party (BJP) colleagues time to time have been openly calling for boycotting of Chinese goods. The decision to boycott the formal launch of Chinese president Xi Jinpings pet project One Belt One Road (OBOR) in May 2017 in Beijing was the worst of all. It clearly exposed that Modis foreign policy has isolated India in South Asia and in the world. Even usually considered pro-India regimes in the neighbourhood, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka were forced to come out of their strategic ambiguity and openly side with China. With Pakistans friendship in its pocket, China has now virtually surrounded India with its allies. In spite of the Modi regimes series of provocations in 2014 and 2015, China had some hope that he would continue former PM Manmohan Singhs policy of balancing ties between the US and China. But that was not to be. For over a decade, India had been resisting the allure of turning into an American ally due to changing global politics. But Modi ignored the geo-strategic reality and wholeheartedly became a US ally in the assumption that it will put Delhi in a stronger position vis-a-vis Beijing. In April 2016, Modi signed the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) with the US, which destroyed the bedrock of Indias foreign policy of 70 years. It allows American fighter planes and war ships to use Indias facilities, bringing them closer to Chinas southern border. Signing of the LEMOA and increased cooperation with the US Navy in patrolling the Indian Ocean have not made India any stronger, rather it has brought Russia and Pakistan closer to China. Making matters worse, India is not important in the new and volatile Donald Trump administrations scheme of things. By placing all eggs in the American basket, Modi has pushed India into a very difficult situation. While the US shows no sign of siding with India to confront China, India has lost the trust and assured support of an old and reliable friend like Russia. Whether anyone likes it or not, China is already a serious global power. While Indias GDP in 2016 was $2.5 trillion, Chinas GDP has reached $11.4 trillion. Indias hawkish media prefers to forget Chinas overwhelming military superiority - while Indias military spending in 2016 was $55.9 billion, China spent $215 billion. Taking a sweeping adversarial approach, Modi has done whatever it can to infuriate China for long. Doklam has provided the neighbouring country an opportunity to retaliate. COLUMBUS Mayor Jim Bulkley got straight to the point Monday night while explaining a study that shows wastewater rates should be raised by 40 percent over the next four years. Nobody likes to raise rates, but I think all of you like your stool to flush and your water to come to your house, he said. The study completed by Kirkham Michael the same firm that reviewed the citys water and wastewater rates in 1997, 2003, 2008 and 2013 recommends 10 percent increases to wastewater fees for three consecutive years beginning in fiscal year 2018-19. The wastewater rate charged to local businesses and residences is already scheduled to jump by 10 percent next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. If the projections hold true city fees are approved each year as part of the annual budget wastewater rates will increase a cumulative 134 percent over an eight-year span. Hikes of 15, 15, 10, 10 and 10 percent were approved following the last rate study in 2013. The reason for the significant jump was also easy for the mayor to explain. Work continues on a multimillion-dollar expansion at the wastewater treatment plant thats needed to ensure the facility can handle future residential and industrial growth, replace aging equipment and move the entire plant to the protected side of the Loup River levee. The $11.25 million third phase of the project is expected to be completed next year with the fourth and final phase following at an estimated cost of $12 million to $13 million. I think everybody needs to understand the huge investment were making in our wastewater treatment program right now, Bulkley said. This is something thats pretty darn necessary for the city of Columbus to continue to grow and prosper, the mayor added. Because the water and wastewater departments are operated as an enterprise fund meaning theyre supported by user fees without a property tax subsidy rates must be increased to cover the additional debt issued for the treatment plant expansion. Operating expenses are also projected to rise from $2.64 million in 2017-18 to $3.01 million in 2021-22, according to the study. Bulkley said the city is trying to be proactive by expanding the treatment plant, which handles about 1.2 billion gallons of wastewater annually, while ensuring theres enough revenue to maintain the facility in the future. The average residential user (10,000 gallons) currently pays $45.27 per month in wastewater fees, according to the study, with the average commercial customer (65,000 gallons) paying $255.92. Water and wastewater fees are included on the same bill from the city. The study does not recommend increasing water rates, although theyre already scheduled to go up 1 percent next fiscal year as part of the last review. RICHMOND Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe extended an invitation to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to visit a free health clinic for the state's poor later this week, but the Kentucky Republican declined, according to a McAuliffe spokesman. McAuliffe, a Democrat, said the Republican majority leader could have heard firsthand stories from people who struggle to obtain adequate health care. The governor has been critical of Republican efforts to repeal the "Obamacare" health law. McAuliffe's invite is his latest effort to draw attention to the issue. McConnell has said he expects the Senate to begin debate on repealing the health law next week. The Remote Area Medical's annual clinic in Southwest Virginia routinely draws hundreds of people seeking free medical and dental care. In 2014, Dave Brat scored an all-time upset when he defeated Rep. Eric Cantor, R-7th, in a Republican congressional primary. The House majority leader, Cantor was slated to become speaker. He would have become the highest-ranking Virginian in the House of Representatives in modern times. The primary ditched him for a backbencher. Democratic crossovers may have played a role in Cantors defeat. It wasnt the first time the crossover question has come up in Virginia. In 1977, Andrew Miller appeared headed to victory in the Democratic gubernatorial primary. He was favored to win the general election as well. Henry Howell defeated him in the primary and went on to lose to Republican John Dalton in November. Many observers suspect that GOP crossovers explain Howells primary upset as Republicans voted in the Democratic contest to make sure the weakest nominee emerged. Virginia Republicans have decided to pick their 2018 Senate nominee in a primary. Incumbent Democrat Tim Kaine appears in strong shape, but several able Republicans have been mentioned as challengers. The other day, Corey Stewart also threw his hat into the ring. Critics of the primary would prefer a convention; they fear Democrats will cross over to vote for the weakest Republican. Although history offers precedent for concern, a primary remains the preferred option. Both parties just concluded gubernatorial primaries. Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam won the Democratic vote by a wider-than-expected margin. He was the strongest of the Democratic contenders. The Republican primary proved much closer than predicted. Ed Gillespie, the heavy favorite, barely edged Stewart, who was thought to have no chance. Far more citizens participated in the Democratic primary than in the Republican. There is scant evidence of crossovers on either side. Republicans may have taken Gillespies victory for granted. Tom Perriello, the losing Democrat, conceded with grace and urged party unity. Stewart has remained obdurate. A mainstream Republican who ran a smart campaign would be favored next year. Democrats might be tempted to cast ballots in the GOP primary, but a coordinated effort would attract the attention that would doom the mischievous choice. If an extremist won, the results would force Republicans to examine themselves to discover why a fringe candidate boasted enough traction that Democratic crossovers made a difference. A final point: Crossovers strike us as unethical. In all circumstances, citizens ought to vote for the candidate they believe would make the best person in the office at stake. The best advice to voters remains: Let conscience be your guide. Richmond Times-Dispatch As a Monacan tribal member who works in Charlottesville, I must respond to Jason Kesslers press conference, and to the defacement of the Lee statue. Kessler seems woefully uninformed about the beginnings of the United States. He said, "Nothing against any other group of people, against Muslims, against blacks, whomever. But they have entire continents in which they can inhabit where their culture and their blood lines are secure. In the United States we are being replaced." Unless all of Kesslers ancestors are American Indian, they came from another continent. American Indians were brutally replaced by European-Americans our histories were erased; we have nowhere else to call home. In the second instance, defacing the Lee statue by painting it with dripping red paint and the words Native Land was not a Native persons doing. Reminiscent of the Boston Tea Party, at which rebellious colonists dumped British tea into the harbor while dressed as Indians, defacing the statue has nothing to do with Native people or the fact that we no longer control any land in Charlottesville. But it does cast aspersion and appropriates our disenfranchisement to suit someone elses political purpose just another form of colonization. American Indians dont exist in the minds of most Charlottesville residents, perhaps because we are hardly here and there are historical reasons for that. No one is talking at the moment about the two representations that depict Native people in public spaces: the offensive Lewis and Clark statue in which Sacajawea cowers when she was in fact providing directions, and George Rogers Clark threatening Native people with guns and a powder keg as he conquers the Northwest. Ive heard that someone wanted to name the parklet that contains the Lewis and Clark statue Monacan Park. Why? Because theres an Indian in it? Thats a terrible idea. Im not suggesting that two more statues be removed. Im noting that American Indian people are not part of any conversations here, and, in Kesslers view of American history, we werent even here at the beginning. Karenne G. Wood, Fluvanna County What does this all mean? That we cross our fingers and hope Congress knows what it's doing. Everything is quiet on the Hill. Congress will soon be voting on the Rohrabacher- Blumenauer amendment , which denies the Justice Department funds for prosecuting dispensaries in states where medical cannabis is legal. The previous amendment expires in September, and although it seems like the consensus is that it will be passed again, good ol' Attorney General Sessions made everyone clinch up and grind their teeth when he sent a letter to congressional leaders in May, asking that they vote against the amendment's renewal. And only a month earlier, he had written a memo calling for the Justice Department's Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety to review policies in a number of areas, including cannabis. The memo asks for policy recommendations no later than July 27. Anti-Drug Group Sends Cannabis Complaints to Health Officials The Carlsbad Anti-Drug/Gang Coalition, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to create safe, healthy, drug and gang/crime free environment, wrote a letter to the New Mexico Medical Board and New Mexico Board of Pharmacy, in which they listed a number of concerns they had with well cannabis dispensaries. Number One: They object to the use of the label pharmaceutical by cannabis dispensaries in the state. Number Two: The state doesn't require any sort of license to be a budtender. Number Three: Dispensaries aren't listed on the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing's websiteonly the Department of Health's siteand its contents are outdated. Get this: I know you want me to boo and hiss, but they have some pretty strong points that medical cannabis patients should also be concerned with. Yes, the letter does state that the organization has a long history of opposing the use of marijuana as a medical substance, or for recreational use, and it also shows their lack of research skills when they say they cannot think of any other controlled substance that has dual use. (Um. Opioids? Cocaine? Adderall? Come on, people! Learn to use Google, already.) And, yes. I know that if I give them an inch, they'll take ten miles, but the truth is the amount of information available online concerning the state's medical cannabis program is slim and embedded in one of the most confusing sites ever. Good luck finding a list of operating dispensaries. Let's also talk about the licensing of budtenders. I've met some cool 'tenders in this city, and I know going through a licensing process would be hard on them and their companies, but I've heard some crazy things repeated in showrooms across ABQ. I've heard a 'tender tell a patient she could eat raw cannabis to get the effects of edibles (she can't). I've heard a 'tender tell a patient he could get a little head buzz off of a CBD pen (he can't). I once heard a budtender tell the whole room that Trump was going to send the DEA into medical dispensaries within a week, and we should stock up (I didn't). Having even a short, four-hour class about the known science of cannabis could go a long way in developing informed patients. They do exist, but they aren't required. Hell, even McDonald's employees have to go through a hand-washing class before they tell you what's on your burger. And as for the word pharmaceutical, which is used in only one cannabis dispensary in the town of Carlsbad: Let's look to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, which says pharmaceutical means of, relating to, or engaged in pharmacy. And pharmacy means the art, practice, or profession of preparing, preserving, compounding, and dispensing medical drugs. Seems obvious to me. The Union Cabinet has approved the sale of its 51.1 per cent stake in HPCL to ONGC. (Representational Image) New Delhi: The Cabinet on Wednesday approved the sale of government's 51.11 per cent stake in oil refiner HPCL to India's largest oil producer ONGC for a potential Rs 26,000 crore to Rs 30,000 crore, a top source said. While ONGC buying HPCL will help the government meet as much as 40 per cent of its target for raising Rs 72,500 crore in the current fiscal through stake sales, more deals in the oil sector including one where refiner Indian Oil Corp (IOC) buys out explorer Oil India Ltd or Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) merges with gas utility GAIL may be in the offing. The source said the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave in-principal approval for Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) buying Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL). Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan is likely to make a statement on the deal as well as other potential mergers on Thursday afternoon in the Parliament. Prior to the merger, HPCL is likely to take over Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) to bring all the refining assets of ONGC under one unit. ONGC currently owns 71.63 per cent of MRPL while HPCL has 16.96 per cent stake in it. HPCL buying ONGC stake will give the explorer Rs 16,414 crore at Wednesday's closing price. ONGC, which has cash reserves of Rs 13,014 crore, also has an option to sell part or all of its 13.77 per cent stake in IOC which is worth nearly Rs 25,000 crore. The source said ONGC will not have to make an open offer to minority shareholders of HPCL as the government's holding is being transferred to another state-run firm and the ownership isn't changing. The deal will be completed within a year, he said. HPCL will become a subsidiary of ONGC and will remain a listed company post the acquisition, he said adding the board of the refining and marketing company will continue to remain in place. HPCL has a market cap of Rs 58,485.55 crore, based on today's closing price of Rs 384 a share on the BSE. At today's rate, ONGC will have to shell out close to Rs 30,000 crore for government's 51.11 per cent but the actual price may be either of one-year, 26 week or 60 day average scrip price, the source said. ONGC Chairman and Managing Director Dinesh K Sarraf said the funding plans for the acquisition are in place but refused to reveal them citing market sensitivities. "Many options have been debated," he said. Once the government officially notifies the decision, the board of ONGC will consider buying out HPCL and valuations will then be worked out, he said. The source, cited earlier, said a committee -- headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and comprising Pradhan and Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari -- has been constituted to work out the modalities. Sarraf said there was a strong case for merging MRPL, which ONGC had acquired in March 2003 from AV Birla Group, with HPCL but no modalities have been worked out yet. MRPL will be the third refinery of HPCL, which already has units at Mumbai and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. A source in ONGC said the company may not appoint valuation advisers as the job would be done by the seller (the government). Jaitley had in his Budget for 2017-18 fiscal talked about creating an integrated oil behemoth. After that oil companies were asked to give their options. ONGC had evaluated options of acquiring either HPCL or BPCL -- the two downstream oil refining and fuel marketing companies. It found the nation's second-biggest fuel retailer BPCL too expensive and conveyed its choice to the parent oil ministry. Another source said the transaction is likely to be completed within this fiscal year. ONGC has cash reserves of Rs 13,014 crore and to fund the government stake acquisition in HPCL, it will have to borrow at least Rs 10,000 crore, the source said. BPCL has a market cap of Rs 1,01,860.56 crore and buying government's 54.93 per cent would alone have entailed an outgo of about 56,000 crore. HPCL on the other hand has a market cap of Rs 58,485.55 crore and buying government's entire 51.11 per cent stake would entail an outgo of Rs 29,900 crore. Sources said the government was initially looking at creating an integrated oil company through merger of an oil producer with a refiner but the idea was dropped for the fear of repeating the Air India-Indian Airlines kind of a merger which is not considered successful. Similar differences in work culture and ethos prevail in upstream and downstream firms and so the exercise under consideration now is to only help the government mop up resources and HPCL would become a mere subsidiary of ONGC. There are only six major companies in the oil sector -- ONGC and Oil India Ltd being the oil producers, IOC, HPCL and BPCL in refinery business and GAIL in midstream gas transportation business. The rest, such as ONGC Videsh, Chennai Petroleum Corp (CPCL), Numaligarh Refinery Ltd and MRPL, are already subsidiaries of one of these six PSUs. HPCL will add 23.8 million tonnes of annual oil refining capacity to ONGC's portfolio, making it the third-largest refiner in the country after IOC and Reliance Industries. Mumbai: Tata Group that had founded and ran Air India as Tata Airlines before it was nationalised in 1952 has asked a number of questions about the proposed privatisation of the ailing national carrier. A report carried by in the Hindustan Times claims that Tata Group has sought details on planned sale of Air India during informal discussion. Tatas had founded Air India in 1932 as Tata Airlines and first flight took off from Karachi to Mumbai. They have asked us how do you want to do it, what will you do with debt, what will happen to the subsidiaries, HT quoted an unnamed government official as saying. A decade ago, the troubled national carrier had acquired Indian Airlines and since then it has been flying in tough weather. Air India has not registered a net profit since then in its performance results. The Union Cabinet had approved Air India's strategic sale at its June 28 meeting. Since then a few private players have shown their interest in buying the airline. However, a huge debt of Rs 52,000 crore that includes a Rs 30,000 crore bailout package has kept possible buyers at bay. Indian aviation sector has been going through a tough weather due to arrival of a number of no-frills carrier. IndiGo run by InterGlobe Aviation is the only domestic carrier that has registered substantial amount of profits over the past few years. IndiGo has already shown its interest in buying Air India's international business. The Tata Group has been directed by a government official to approach ministries concerned with their queries. According to the report, Finance Ministry, Transport Ministry, Railway Ministry, Power Ministry and finally the Civil Aviation Ministry would take a final call on any decision about Air India's privatisation. New Delhi: India has told UK authorities that all wanted Indians, including liquor baron Vijay Mallya, will get equal treatment like any other prisoner in India and the facilities in its jails are no less than what European nations have, a senior official said. This was conveyed by Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi to his British counterpart Patsy Wilkinson, the second permanent secretary in the British Home Office, during a meeting last week in London. The Indian delegation led by Mehrishi told the British authorities that whoever is extradited from the UK, he or she will be lodged in a proper jail with facilities on par with European jails, said the official, who did not want to be quoted. However, the Indian team made it clear that no extradited persons will be given preferential treatment but would be treated like any other prisoner and asked the British authorities to convey this to the court in London. This bears significance as Mallya has challenged the Indian government's move in the court to get him extradited from the UK saying the conditions in Indian jails are below standard. The Indian delegation told their British counterparts that the cells in Indian jails are bigger than European jails and all jails have medical facilities with a proper hospital, the official said. The home ministry has already written to the Maharashtra government to improve the conditions of its Arthur Road jail, where Mallya would be lodged if extradited from the UK, he said. Mallya, who is wanted in India for Kingfisher Airlines' default on loans worth nearly Rs 9,000 crore, has been in Britain since March, 2016. A court in London is hearing a case regarding his return to India. India has already assured Britain of all assistance in extradition matters to allow the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to present water-tight cases before the courts there against Mallya. Mehrishi visited London in the wake of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's talks with his British counterpart Theresa May in Hamburg, on the sidelines of the G20 meeting there recently. Modi had asked for Britain's cooperation in sending "economic offenders" back to India. A joint team of the ED and the CBI is currently in London to brief UK prosecution, working on the extradition of Mallya, and to submit fresh proof in the case. The visiting officials of the two central probe agencies will also submit the charge-sheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate in the case last month in Mumbai, said a senior official in the probe team. Kerala's Mathrubhumi News has implemented 'First Day of Period Leave' for its female employees. Photo: Twitter @mathrubhuminews. Mumbai: Looks like Culture Machines First Day of Period Leave has sparked the beginning of a transformation with Keralas popular news organisation Mathrubhumi News now implementing the same for its female employees. Mathrubhumi News, the television counterpart of Mathrubhumi Group of media companies has over 70 female employees. There is no use talking about women empowerment. We should understand women and be with them, said M V Shreyams Kumar, MLA and Joint Managing Director of the Mathrubhumi Printing and Publishing Co Ltd, in a report in Indian Express. Kumar admitted that this decision was inspired by Culture Machines announcement. Mathrubhumi plans to implement this decision in its TV channel wing on an experimental basis. We may adopt this in other divisions of the group later, said Kumar. Talking to Deccan Chronicle, Mumbai based company Culture Machines Devleena S Majumder, President People and Culture, had said, It was not just a policy for the company, it was a gesture of support towards all women. Culture Machine also took this initiative forward by starting an online petition urging the Women and Child Development Ministry and the Ministry of Human Resource Development to realise the FOP leave into legislation. Companies revenue was up 26.7 per cent to Rs 90,537 crore for the June quarter of 2017-18. New Delhi: Oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd today reported its highest quarterly consolidated net profit of Rs 9,108 crore in three-months to June 30 on the back of higher petrochemical margins and one- time gain from sale of African asset. Net profit in the April-June quarter of current fiscal at Rs 9,108 crore (Rs 30.8 per share) was 28 per cent higher than Rs 7,113 crore (Rs 24.1 a share) in the same period of the last financial year, RIL said in a statement. "Strong refining and petrochemicals margin environment contributed to higher operating profits for the quarter," it said. RIL, which owns and operates the world's largest refining complex at Jamnagar in Gujarat, earned a nine-year high margin of USD 11.9 on turning every barrel of crude oil into fuel during the quarter under review. The company had reported a gross refining margin of USD 11.5 per barrel in the same period of the previous fiscal. Petrochemicals EBIT margin were at all-time high of 15.8 per cent. "Exceptional item during the quarter was Rs 1,087 crore representing profit from divestment of stake in Gulf Africa Petroleum Corporation (GAPCO)," the statement said. Revenue grew 26.7 per cent to Rs 90,537 crore primarily on account of increase in prices and volumes of refining and petrochemical products, partially offset by lower prices and volumes from oil and gas exploration and production business. Revenue was also boosted by robust growth in retail business which recorded a 73.6 per cent increase to Rs 11,571 crore. Debt grew to Rs 200,674 crore as on June 30, as compared to Rs 196,601 crore as on March 31, while cash in hand fell to Rs 72,107 crore from Rs 77,226 crore. RIL however did not provide much details on its telecom venture Jio, which commenced operations in September last year and has been the cause of most of RIL's debt and drop in cashpile. Jio, it said, has become the fastest growing technology company in the world with more than 100 million subscribers in just 170 days, followed by the largest free-to-paid services migration. "Jio's innovative market approach backed by superior HD quality VoLTE voice and data strong network has unlocked latent demand for data and growth ahead of all industry estimates," it said. More announcements on Jio are expected at the company's annual general meeting in Mumbai tomorrow. Employee cost increased by 16.3 per cent at Rs 2,455 crore while other expenditure rose 20.2 per cent to Rs 10,332 crore due to increase in power and fuel expenses. Pre-tax profit from refining business was up 13.4 per cent at Rs 7,476 crore while petrochemical saw a massive 43.7 per cent jump to Rs 4,031 crore. Loss in oil and gas exploration and production business widened to Rs 373 crore from Rs 312 crore in Q1 of FY17. Organised retail saw pre-tax profit almost doubling to Rs 292 crore. RIL CMD Mukesh Ambani said: "Our industry leading portfolio of assets in the refining and petrochemicals business contributed to considerable improvement in our earnings for the quarter." Retail business, he said, witnessed accelerated growth momentum with 74 per cent revenue growth. Telecom arm "Jio has revolutionised the Indian telecom and data consumption landscape. This digital services business has been built to address the entire value chain across the digital services domain with smart applications to make life simple, beautiful and secure," he said. RIL has over past 3-4 years made significant investments in new plants, creating organic growth platforms for its energy and materials businesses, he said. Ambani said full commissioning of new PX facility at Jamnagar during the quarter will strengthen the integration within polyester chain. Also, ramp-up of ethane import project has helped in diversifying feedstock sources and mitigating risks. Jio had over 112 million users at the end of April 2017. New Delhi: Reliance Jio, the latest entrant in the telecom sector, will raise Rs 20,000 crore through a rights issue to meet funding requirements. "The Board of Directors at its meeting held on July 20, 2017 has decided to make a rights issue of four billion - nine per cent non-cumulative optionally convertible preference shares (OCPS) of Rs 10 each for cash, at a premium of Rs 40 per OCPS, aggregating Rs 20,000 crore," Reliance Jio Infocomm said in a regulatory filing. An aggressive newcomer, the Mukesh Ambani-led firm launched 4G services commercially on September 5, 2016 with free data and voice offerings, and signed up the first 50 million subscribers in just 83 days. The company started charging for mobile services from April 1, but continues to offer disruptive data rates and free voice calls. Earlier this month, Jio rolled out new plans after its Dhan Dhana Dhan offer -- launched on April 11 -- reached the maximum allowed 90-day period. It has lowered validity and data on a revamped Rs 309 plan, but is dishing out a bumper 84GB for Rs 399. Jio had over 112 million users at the end of April 2017. I posted a column this week about Secretariats widespread popularity after 44 years, which elicited a large number of comments, most of them illustrating the reverence in which he is still held. Someone also posted a photo of him working on Facebook that I took, and I noticed a lot of people had never seen it and marveled at what a magnificent physical specimen he was and the power and length of his stride. I have posted photos of Secretariat over the years, including a collection of shots seven years ago, but never all of them in one place. I figured it was time to put all these photos together in a single blog, just to have them archived and easily accessible. So, here then are my Secretariat photos, including a couple with me in the photo. This first photo is the aforementioned shot of Big Red working for the Wood Memorial. You cant help but notice his gargantuan stride and the muscles rippling through his massive neck. The next photo, taken by Ray Woolfe Jr., shows Secretariat going to the track for his pre-Wood Memorial work with Ron Turcotte up, followed by Penny Tweedy, Lucien Laurin, groom Eddie Sweat (far left), and yours truly with that God-awful 1970s look. I dont know who the other two people are. Ray published this photo in his book Secretariat. Also, it was Rays photo of Big Red going by the stands the first time in the Preakness that inspired the famous statue in the Belmont Park paddock. This photo was taken back at the barn following his work. His one-mile drill actually was slower than anticipated, and Secretariats best races were right after blazing works. So perhaps this work was a portent of what was to come, as Big Red ran the dullest race of his career in the Wood, whether it was caused by the abscess in his mouth or not. Well never know for certain. But he sure did look great physically on this day. Incidentally, Ray and I were the only two photographers at the barn. One of my favorite photos of Secretariat is this one I took of him after being saddled in the infield for the Preakness. Big Red stood motionless looking straight ahead. I was the only one standing on this side of him, and after taking a photo of him, he reacted to the clicking of the shutter by turning his head and staring right at me, or I should say through me. Those eyes peering at me through the blue and white blinkers make this one of the most special photos Ive ever taken. The following two photos on a glorious September morning show Secretariat and Riva Ridge, illuminated by the morning sun, on the walking ring prior to their separate works on the grass and then heading to the track, with Big Reds mane standing on end, giving him an even more majestic look. Both colts had just finished first and second in the inaugural Marlboro Cup. In the next two photos you can see the magnificence of Secretariat, his coat gleaming, as he is approaches the track, while the second shot shows the NYRA photographers photo taken seconds after mine, with me walking alongside. The following shot shows Secretariat breaking off into a show horse canter for the photographers during his farewell celebration at Aqueduct. This is probably my favorite shot of Secretariat, because it shows off a playful side not many have seen. As I approached his paddock at Claiborne Farm he picked up a large branch and brought it over to the fence, wanting me to try to pull it out of his mouth. There I was playing tug of war with a legend. This went on for several minutes with me unable to pull it out of his mouth. It was like playing fetch with a big dog. By the way, care to guess Secretariats favorite treat? It was Certs breath mints, which my wife and I fed to him, compliments of his groom, who was well supplied. Big Red looks like the Phoenix rising from the ashes. Secretariat strikes a beautiful pose. Secretariat shows off his powerful frame even as he grazes. My daughter Mandy gets to meet the mighty Secretariat for the only time. I hope this provides a more personal, behind-the-scenes look at Secretariat rather than the often-published race finishes and winners circle shots. Looking back, I am amazed that most of these photos were taken in complete or near solitude. The shots of Big Red and Riva on that September morning were taken with not another person around other than the NYRA photographer stationed at the entrance to track. The reason there are not many photos taken of his races or on race day is because, working for the Daily Racing Form, I had to work Saturdays due to the abundance of big races, and we all gathered in front of the TV in the managing editors office to watch them. On big race days, I would stop at OTB and place everyones bets. This was a far cry from the days at the Morning Telegraph when everyone would bet with Ralph the bookie, who worked in the wire room, and wed all huddle in front of the teletype machine to watch the results come in. The biggest on-site thrill during Secretariats career was watching the Preakness from the roof and looking down directly below me as he made his spectacular and unprecedented move from last to first on the clubhouse turn. I think my jaw literally dropped when he charged to the lead. I took a far off black and white shot of Big Red and Sham turning for home, which I have since lost, and then, caught up in the moment, I just put my camera down to watch the stretch run, showing I was a fan more than I was a photographer. These were wonderful days in racing, especially coming on the heels of Canonero II and my beloved His Majesty and Jim French, and Riva Ridge and his rivalry with Key to the Mint, and before that the magical years of 1968 and 1969 of Arts and Letters, Majestic Prince, Gallant Bloom, Shuvee, and Ta Wee, and of course the legendary Damascus and Dr. Fager, and finally my days practically living at Darby Dan Farm. But racing as we knew it changed in 1973 when hero worshipping took on a whole new meaning, as Thoroughbred racing and a single horse catapulted into public consciousness on a national scale. I hope these photos provide a different look at that magnificent steed and bring him a bit closer to those who never had the opportunity to witness the horse behind the legend. New Delhi: Seeking a follow-up of open house discussions on contentious issue of call connect charges, telecom operators body COAI has alleged that the regulator Trai is "acting in undue haste" to conclude review of the matter and to meet the procedural requirements. In a communication to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, COAI has alleged that Trai is "acting in undue haste to conclude the review of IUC (interconnection usage charges)". Telecom operators levy interconnection charge (IUC) on incoming calls from the network of other operator. These charges are passed on to mobile subscribers by service providers. Trai fixes IUC which has several components. Charges levied for interconnecting mobile calls dominate the IUC issue. A telecom operator charges 14 paise per minute for every incoming mobile calls that it receives from other operator's network. Incumbent operators -- Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular -- on Tuesday sought doubling of mobile termination charge (MTC), a part of IUC, saying that terminating incoming calls on their networks costs 30-35 paise per minute. When contacted, Cellular Operators Association of India Director General Rajan S Mathews said the industry body has asked the regulator to share the model that it used in last consultation process and the one that it plans to use for upcoming review of IUC. In the letter, COAI had requested TRAI to postpone the open house discussion on review of IUC scheduled for July 20,2017 to a date which is at least four weeks after the sharing of cost models. "The letter was written before TRAI's workshop (held on July 18). We were expecting TRAI to share the model that it plans to use to determine IUC but the regulator said that it will finalise model based on all the discussions. We told TRAI that once it takes the decision then share the model with stakeholders so that we can point out shortcoming if any," Mathews said. He said that last time the regulator had missed to include some of elements in IUC like spectrum cost which was added later. Mathews said that COAI will request TRAI to hold another round of discussion after it shares cost model for IUC that it firms up for ongoing review. The COAI in the letter said "it seems that the process is being followed mechanically to comply to the procedural requirements for framing the regulation under the TRAI Act, rather than actually sharing the models with the stakeholders followed by detailed deliberations". Mathews said COAI wants TRAI to complete the review process after listening about all the aspects of IUC. Any change in IUC has a direct impact on mobile call rates as the charge is taken into account while setting telecom tariffs. Mathews, however, said "Some people have wrongly carried the perception that MTC can drive up retail tariffs for the consumer. This is wrong, as the retail tariffs are driven by market dynamics and competition and MTC can be one of the many components in retails prices. The industry body which represents all the leading telecom operators said that Aircel and Reliance Jio have divergent view on the subject and will represent individually before the regulator. New Delhi: Ajay Devgn will now be donning the role of the unsung warrior of glorious Indian history Subedar Taanaji Malusare, who fought alongside Chatrapathi Shivaji Maharaj. The 'Shivaay' star took to Twitter to announce his upcoming film, 'Taanaji - The Unsung Warrior' and even shared the first look poster of his movie. He captioned the post, "He fought for his People, his Soil & his King Chhatrapati Shivaji. The unsung warrior of glorious Indian history, Subedar Taanaji Malusare." He fought for his People, his Soil & his King Chhatrapati Shivaji. The unsung warrior of glorious Indian history, Subedar Taanaji Malusare. pic.twitter.com/3qTWvKdbol Ajay Devgn (@ajaydevgn) July 19, 2017 Ajay revealed in the previous tweet that he has been working on this for a long time. Can't wait to share with you'll something very exciting that we have been working on lately! Out at midnight! Ajay Devgn (@ajaydevgn) July 19, 2017 The 'Drishyam' star is presently gearing up for the release of the Milan Luthria-directorial 'Baadshaho' which is slated to release on September 1. Apart from this, he will also be seen in Rohit Shetty's 'Golmaal Again'. Mumbai: Recently, there were several news suggesting that Sunny Leone was expecting a child with husband Daniel Weber and guess what? The speculations were true. Meet Sunny and Daniel, the proud parents of an adorable baby girl, Nisha, who the couple adopted from Latur, Maharashtra. Sunny and Daniel, who named their daughter Nisha Kaur Weber, fell in love with the cute little girl at first sight. Right now, it's all so brand new because it has just been a few days. The moment we got the picture (of Nisha); I was so excited, happy, emotional and [experienced] so many different feelings. We literally had three weeks to finalise everything. Usually, people get nine months to prepare! Sunny told HT. Daniel added, Our life is always so crazy. There are no nine months for us. For me, it has just been lots of paperwork for two years and then one day, that's it. You get an email that you have been matched with a child. It's so crazy. Sunny went with the adoption as she was physically not ready at this point to have a baby. She said. I dont know about everybody else, but for us, it didnt matter even for a second whether it was our child or she not being our biological child. For us, it was about starting a family and I might not [have a biological child] because of our schedules and so many other things but we both thought, why dont we just adopt? The actress also said that she was not really too sure about surrogacy. "I am not sure about surrogacy. Actually, I don't know. I believe God gives you different moments in life and you have to grab one. Let's see, Sunny added. The superstar shared his liking for a drive through Bandra Worli Sea Link and he stated that he enjoys going to the Queens necklace in Marine Drive and the Worli Sea Face with his children. Mumbai: In a recent promotional strategy, Shah Rukh Khan is working as a 'Guide' for a leading publication just as his role in the new Imtiaz Ali release, 'Jab Harry Met Sejal'. 'Harry' from 'Jab Harry Met Sejal' has jumped off screen, initiating his role of a tourist guide by being a guest editor in the column 'The Guide' of a leading publication. As the editor, SRK would be providing a glimpse of his favourite hang out points and eateries in Mumbai. The superstar shared his liking for a drive through Bandra Worli Sea Link and he stated that he enjoys going to the Queens necklace in Marine Drive and the Worli Sea Face with his children. Being bored at home he prefers paying a visit at 'Arth' a new restaurant designed by Gauri. When working up late with his team, the 'Fan' star usually enjoys eating at the 'Olive', or he prefers grabbing a sada dosa or masala dosa with coconut curry from Manju Dosa Center. Running through his memory lane, SRK recalled his love for 'Lucky' biryani and his usual tandoori chicken pizza dinner, which he used to eat while visiting the Rock Around the Clock on Bandra's Hill Road. He also told that how he used to crave for the roadside bhutta' and SRK's never ending love for tandoori chicken traces back to his Delhi days. It seems like the team of ' Jab Harry Met Sejal' is really working hard with the promotions. Earlier, the unique chatbot strategy was introduced so that the fans could chat with 'Harry' the character played by SRK in his upcoming release and then King Khan was witnessed wearing a Rajasthani turban, when he received an honorary membership from 'The Tourist Guide Association' in Jodhpur as he is playing the role of a tourist guide in the film. Directed by Krish, 'Manikarnika - The Queen Of Jhansi' will reportedly release in April next year. New Delhi: Kanagana Ranaut escaped a near-fatal accident while shooting an intense sword fighting scene for her upcoming film 'Manikarnika- The Queen of Jhansi.' Reportedly, Kangana was engaging in a fierce battle scene with co-star Nihar Pandya, when the latter's sword hit her forehead, leaving her all in blood. Presently, the shooting of the film is taking place in Hyderabad. Though it was a serious injury, according to leading news daily, she was actually happy experiencing Rani Laxmibai's life. "I am a bit embarrassed to be thrilled to have a battle scar on my face. Also, people from my team have been telling me that it's like that Peshwa teeka that Manikarnika wore. It's a bit dramatic but I am excited that my face was covered in blood and I got a genuine and authentic glimpse of the Queen's life," she told Mid-Day. The 'Queen' star was rushed to Apollo hospital, Hyderabad and got 15 stitches on her forehead. She will be kept under observation for some time. Directed by Krish, 'Manikarnika - The Queen Of Jhansi' will reportedly release in April next year. Mumbai: Seems like Milan Luthria, the director of Baadshaho, doesnt want to go through the similar fate as Indu Sarkar, Lipstick Under My Burkha, and basically, every other film in India as CBFC spares no one. We all know how stiff Central Board of Film Certification is when it comes to adult or sexual content in films, and maybe thats why Milan Luthria himself chopped off a crucial but extremely sexual scene from Ajay Devgn starrer film Baadshaho, before the board could raise an object. The scene between Ileana and Ajay, if left as is, lasts for 10 minutes. It's aesthetically shot and is crucial to the film's plot. But Milan decided to shorten it, trimming the kisses and bareback shots. He didn't want to attract the wrath of the Censors. The film is all-out commercial and he wants it to get a U/A certificate. The scene would have resulted in an A certificate, a source told Mid-Day. Milan doesn't want to face controversy ahead of release," added the source. Set in the trying time of Indias emergency period during 1975-77, 6 burglars chalk out a plan to take advantage of the situation and set out on a mission to amass wealth from the royal establishments in Rajasthan. Baadshaho, directed by Milan Luthria, produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar and Milan Luthria releases on September 1, 2017. Ive always loved to draw, is how artist, traveller and self-proclaimed cat lover Maxwell Tilse from London likes defining himself. An artist whose greatest passions are art and travel, 24-year-old Maxwells passion-turned-profession has turned him into an internet sensation. As a little kid I would constantly draw little scenes and comics. Big battles and adventures, inspired by films I would watch or books I would read. I never dreamed that it could become a profession. Paris, France. The artist tends to lay down the base colours and sky first. Then build the city on top of that. (Illustration by Maxwell Tilse) It turns out that art was perhaps not the occupation he had initially chosen for himself. In fact after finishing high school, Maxwell went on to study Law at University, but life had other plans for him. I got disillusioned, he says, before adding, I wished to travel instead. And with art I can have a job that does not ever feel like work. I can work when I want and where I want. Southwalk street traffic (Illustration by Maxwell Tilse) The works of Maxwell are seemingly simple and carefree. They have a jovial tone to them, accentuated by bold nib strokes and clean colours, almost akin to the aesthetics of the old style comic books. Duke Ellington & Dizzy Gillespie, 2015 In February 1959, Duke Ellington assembled an amazing line up of top Jazz musicians for the swinging Jazz Party album. Dizzy being one of them. In 1960 they both collaborated and released A Portrait of Duke Ellington. (Illustration by Maxwell Tilse) Maxwell verifies, I certainly have a comic cartoony style. My greatest inspirations have always been the old French/Belgian style comic artists like Herge or Albert Uderzo. I like my art to not be an exact representation of a place. It is important to add one's own style to their art. Gold Panda Dandy, 2012 Indian Ink & Photo Retouch Dyes The gold panda dandy, strolling through Chinatown. This drawing took inspiration from a variety of places. Primarily from walking through Singapores Chinatown. But also from the big cities of New York and Chicago. (Illustration by Maxwell Tilse) Elaborating further on his preferred medium, he says, I work with ink and nib because I love the richness of the ink. It's very time consuming, but there's really no equal. Maxwell recounts more about his decision to pursue art full time. I left my university in Sydney in 2013. I was studying Law at UTS, which I still very much enjoyed. But I knew that law wasn't my passion. I would draw constantly in lectures. I desired to travel the world. 99 Charing Cross Road on the east end of Old Compton Street, Soho. The neo-Baroque style building, with its unusual green glazed brick and yellow sandstone, was built in 1907. Old Compton Street on the other hand has been around since the 1680s. (Illustration by Maxwell Tilse) He goes on to add, So, like many Australians who are lucky enough to have the chance, I worked hard and saved up enough money to go backpacking solo for 6 months. I intended to come back to my studies after a year of travel, but I found myself able to make some money from my art and have never gone back. An indian ink and pen portrait. 2015 (Illustration by Maxwell Tilse) And what about London and settling down there? It was a big move to London. I met a French girl and she was the main reason that I had decided to leave Australia specifically for the UK. Once here I really loved it and settled in straight away. Like most artists, journeys have always played a key inspirational role in Maxwells works as well. The young artist who has backpacked solo through Europe, North Africa and the US says, Each journey always brings so much inspiration. I love to sketch my journey as I go along. Like a diary with comics. As for his favourite trip Maxwell says that perhaps he has spent some of his best months in Morocco. Fleet Street Shuffle Indian ink and nib, 2016 (Illustration by Maxwell Tilse) The country is full of eccentric travellers and opportunity for adventure. Speaking about the innate sense of simplicity prevalent in his sketches, Maxwell says, Well I love the simple. I love the clear crisp line of a pen, which gives my style a simplistic comic feel. Baghdad Market, 2016 Inspired by some remarkable old photos from Iraq & Syria from the 1930s and 40s. (Illustration by Maxwell Tilse) He goes on to explain, That makes sense when you look at my childhood inspirations, Tintin and Asterix, the old French comic artists, these classic illustrative forms, all had clear crisp line work and a good attention to detail. The artist who loves the works of Guy Delisle, Tintin, Asterix, Shigeru Mizuki's Showa series and Neil Gaiman's Sandman series as well says that if he is not sketching he will be cooking, meeting friends, reading in the park, visiting art galleries and museums or travelling. Whenever I have enough money I go straight to the airport. The Palace of Westminster on the Thames, 2016 Pen and Promarker drawing. A cloudy grey day in old London town. Home of the two houses of the United Kingdoms Parliament. The Palace of Westminster was built in 1840, replacing the original medieval complex that had burnt down in 1834. (Illustration by Maxwell Tilse) And, as far as his passion for art goes, Maxwell concludes, I think artists certainly need to find creativity and interest in many things. Most artists I have met are interesting and fun people and we all use art for expression. Each and every one of us can be an artist, the reserved, the outgoing or the eccentric. Wellington: Two handwritten music manuscripts discovered in a library clearout at an amateur orchestra in New Zealand have been confirmed as the work of British composer Gustav Holst, untraced for more than a century. The North Island's Bay of Plenty Symphonia is mapping the path of the 1906 manuscripts after Britain's Holst Archive last month said they were the authentic and original signed work of a composer best known for his orchestral suite, "The Planets". "The last few weeks we've been trying to piece together how they ended up there and why we have got them," said violaplayer and orchestra member Bronya Dean. One possibility was that Stanley Farnsworth, who conducted a predecessor group in the 1960s, brought them with him from Britain, she added. Some accompanying papers are in the handwriting of Farnsworth, whose wife gave a lot of music to the orchestra after his death, Dean said. Yet pieces of the puzzle remain to be found. "We can't establish any connection between him and Holst yet," said Dean, adding that the orchestra got in touch with the Holst Archive to authenticate the handwriting after research suggested it matched the composer's. One of the two manuscripts found, "Folk Songs from Somerset", is a precursor to a published piece called "Somerset Rhapsody", Dean said, while the other, "Two Songs Without Words", has been published and is often played. For now, the orchestra will retain the manuscripts with the aim of performing the music next year, although it plans to eventually return them to Britain. "We are a charity organization, we are not here to make money, so it would make sense morally to put it where it belongs, and it seems to belong in the United Kingdom," said orchestra music director Justus Rozemond. The manuscripts narrowly escaped being discarded in the library clearout a few years ago, Rozemond added. "At some point this handwritten piece came along and we were fairly close to actually chucking that out as well, but we had another look at it," he said. Vaccination is being given to high-risk age groups, inborn and schools students across the state. Government hospitals are also providing vaccines for free. Chennai: The dreaded H1N1, commonly known as swine flu, has claimed 15 lives in Tamil Nadu so far, with around 2,896 cases accounting for 40 per cent of the total cases reported in the country. Concerned over the sharp increase in swine flu cases this year, the government has directed state-run hospitals to equip themselves with diagnostic and treatment facilities. There have been more swine flu cases and deaths in first four months of 2017 in India than all of 2016, which has rung alarm bells in the health department that is now trying to take strong measures to prevent its outbreak. State health department has directed the government hospitals and public health centers to monitor the H1N1 cases and carry out vaccination at an increased pace. We have intensified surveillance and monitoring of H1N1 flu as a precautionary measure. Though the numbers of cases reported are more, the death rate is comparatively less. Vaccination is being provided at all government hospitals to reduce the risk of the infection, said Dr K. Kolandaisamy, Director, Public Health. It is feared that H1N1 cases may show a rise due to temperature fluctuations in Tamil Nadu as the virus thrives well in such conditions, say doctors. Health department officials say that early diagnosis is being stressed so that swine flu can be checked before it reaches an alarming stage. Vaccination is being given to high-risk age groups, inborn and schools students across the state. Government hospitals are also providing vaccines for free. Though the situation remains under control against H1N1 flu, vaccinations need to be focused to prevent any sort of outbreak. High-risk age groups must get vaccinated before they get affected and develop complications. If fever is suspected, all kinds of fevers must be tested and should not be treated as ordinary viral fever, Dr P Vasanthamani, dean, Kilpauk Medical College. Four-month old infant from Pakistan, Rohaan, who was brought to India for medical treatment, backed by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, successfully underwent a heart surgery at Jaypee Hospital in Noida. (Photo: ANI) New Delhi: Four-month old infant from Pakistan, Rohaan, who was brought to India for medical treatment, backed by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, successfully underwent a heart surgery at Jaypee Hospital in Noida. His father, Kanwal Sadiq, who was elated at the outcome of the surgery, took the opportunity to thank Sushma Swaraj for lending a helping hand to the family for obtaining their visa to fly to India. "India was like home. I want to share my joy with entire world. She (EAM Swaraj) is fantastic. Hope others awaiting their turn are helped too," Kanwal said. The doctor, who performed the surgery, said, the child was perceived like any other patient, with no heed given to his nationality. "He was critical and had multiple VSDs. We were worried before the operation. It was only after a month that we discharged him. He is doing well. His parents had placed their trust in us," he said. After preliminary investigation in Pakistan, it was discovered that there is a hole in Rohaan's heart along with the problem with the heart's nerves. The treatment for such a major disease could not be done in Pakistan or other small hospital without inadequate facility or infrastructure. Therefore, the family was referred to Jaypee Hospital. Owing to this, Rohaan's father approached Sushma Swaraj and made a plea for a medical visa. Upon receiving the request, she immediately directed the authorities to grant medical visa to Rohaan's family, who arrived with him via Wagah Border. To this, the Sushma Swaraj swung into action and replied with a tweet, "No. The child will not suffer. Pls contact Indian High Commission in Pakistan. We will give the medical visa." Rohaan and his parents arrived in India on June 13, following which he was taken to Jaypee Hospital. Billed as a community conversation, an event Wednesday evening at the YWCA Carlisle gave women, and a few men, the opportunity to speak out on the womens health care issues that most concern them. The Community Conversations are an initiative of the Pennsylvania Campaign for Womens Health, a collaboration of more than 55 local, state and national organizations calling for evidence-based policies to support and protect equal access to affordable reproductive health care including abortion, personal safety and workplace equality. Planned Parenthood, American Association of University Women, Cumberland Valley Rising and YWCA of Carlisle collaborated on the event in Carlisle. Lindsey Mauldin, deputy director of Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania, said the event is part of a series of conversations in smaller cities and towns. There are people here who want to be having these conversations regardless, again, of political affiliation. People want to be talking about their own experiences and how theyll be affected by these policies, she said. Mauldin said the information gathered at the event will be used to guide policy recommendations when the Pennsylvania Campaign for Womens Health lobbies at the state Legislature this fall. The campaign will take our ideas and work with various legislators to create policies that work for women, so tonight we are creating Carlisles agenda for womens health, said Dr. Chavone Momon-Nelson of Carlisle Obstetrics and Gynecology, who facilitated the conversation. Robin Scaer, executive director of the YWCA, said the organization chose to host the event because it fits the YWCA mission of eliminating racism and empowering women. Health care is a big part of empowering women who then, in turn, empower their families. Without access to quality care, affordable care, there is a ripple effect that happens and it permeates through our entire society, Scaer said. Scaer said the event also gives people a space locally to share their thoughts and concerns as it relates to both local and national issues. Sometimes people get frustrated because they feel like they dont have a space to share and express what they are feeling and hear what others are going through, so these community conversations offer that opportunity, she said. The event encouraged active participation in small group discussions on the topics of preventative care, contraceptive care and maternity care. Each group then reported its conclusions to the gathering. Discussions on barriers to preventive care, and ways to overcome those barriers, constituted most of the evenings conversation with a number of the groups hitting on similar themes. Transportation issues, lack of child care, lack of awareness about preventive care and financial concerns were repeatedly mentioned as barriers to seeking preventive health care. To overcome those barriers, the groups suggested increased education, flexible hours for medical practices and offering affordable child care. Groups also mentioned keeping the Affordable Care Act and converting to a single-payer system as possible means to overcoming obstacles. The groups overwhelmingly reported that they knew people who were concerned about insurance covering mammograms or other preventive measures. They also shared a belief that people will stop seeking preventive care in the face of cuts to health care coverage. In their discussions on contraceptive care, the groups reported agreement that all forms of contraception should be covered by insurance, including Plan B. One group, however, did point out that doing so may have the side effect of causing price increases. Discussions on access to and education about birth control revealed concerns that both access and education may be dependent on a womans race, socioeconomic status or age. When the discussion switched to maternity care, the groups offered a number of recommendations for maternity and paternity benefits including making leave available to both parents, increasing the time that parents can take off, allowing paid time off to be taken nonconsecutively and adjusting requirements for insurance deductibles to accommodate January due dates for pregnant women. One answer clearly came through to the question of how to ensure women have safe and legal health care options in Pennsylvania. Dont defund Planned Parenthood, said Cate Mellen, who works with the elections and voting committee of Cumberland Valley Rising, who also encouraged more women to run for elected office. Groups also suggested expanding Medicaid and again called for the ACA to be preserved. About 65 people attended the event, and more participated on social media, Mauldin said. I am so thrilled with how this went, she said. Scaer said she would have liked to see a little more diversity than just by age at the event. The YWCA had canvassed area neighborhoods in an effort to bring out more attendees, but Scaer said theres a lot of work to be done to get women of many cultures and backgrounds together to express their frustrations with lack of access or lack of good information on health care issues. New Delhi: The Presidential election on July 17 saw close to 100 percent polling. A total of 771 members of Parliament and 4,109 legislators were eligible to cast votes. The two Presidential nominees - National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) Ram Nath Kovind and Opposition's Meira Kumar - are both from the Dalit community and have canvassed hard by visiting states to seek the support of legislators. As the country gets Ram Nath Kovind as the 14th President, here is a list of achievements of previous Raisina Hill occupants - Rajendra Prasad (1950 - 1962): Prasad was the first President of Independent India and stayed in office for the longest term of around 12 years. Post the completion of his tenure, he quit the Congress and set up new guidelines for parliamentarians which are still followed. Prasad played a major role in forming the Bihari Students Conference in 1906 and served as the president of the Constituent Assembly that drafted the Constitution of India. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1962 - 1967): September 5, the birthday of Radhakrishnan, one of the most learned scholars and statesmen of the nation, is celebrated as 'Teacher's Day' in India. He was one of the first to receive the Bharat Ratna, in 1954, and was also the first to lead the line of five Presidents to receive the Bharat Ratna till now. Shortly before his death in 1975, he was honoured with the Templeton Prize for his work. Dr. Zakir Hussain (1967 - 1969): Dr. Hussain was the country's first Muslim president, who occupied the office for the shortest period. His untimely death two years after being elected made VV Giri the first acting president of India. Dr. Hussain was an avid intellectual educator and the co-founder of Jamia Millia Islamia University. Varahagiri Venkata Giri (1969-1974): Giri resigned two months after being appointed as the acting President of India, following the death of Dr. Zakir Hussaian as he wanted to become an elected President. He was later elected as the fourth President of India in 1969. After India attained Independence from the British, VV Giri had been appointed as the High Commissioner to Ceylon. In 1957, he headed a team of prominent public personalities and academicians to establish The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE) and received the highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna, in 1975, for his contribution in the area of public affairs. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (1974 - 1977): Ahmed served as the President of India during the time of Emergency. He was the second Muslim to be elected as the President of India and also the second to die in state. Ahmed was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Pristina, in Kosovo, in 1975. In his honour, a medical college Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Medical College has been named at Barpeta, Assam. Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (1977 - 1982): Reddy was the sixth President of India and the first to be elected unopposed and the youngest to occupy Rashtrapati Bhavan. One of the incredible feats that Reddy achieved was that he renounced residency at the Rashtrapati Bhavan and took a 70 percent cut in his salary as a gesture toward the poor economic conditions of the masses in 1977. Giani Zail Singh (1982 - 1987): The only Sikh President of India till now, Singh also served as the Chief Minister of Punjab. He came under the scanner during Operation Blue Star, when then prime minister Indira Gandhi ordered the security forces to combat Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his armed followers in the Golden Temple, Amritsar. Since the order to the armed forces has to come directly from the President, questions were raised as to how Gandhi managed to order the army to carry out the mission. Ramaswamy Venkataraman (1987 - 1992): As a President of India, Venkataraman had the distinction of working with four Prime Ministers. Before being elected as the President, Venkataraman served a stint as the Governor of the International Monetary Fund, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the Asian Development Bank. He was also among the delegates of India at the United Nations General Assembly and was also elected the President for life of the United Nations Tribunal. Shankar Dayal Sharma (1992 - 1997): Sharma earlier served as the eighth Vice-President of India and the Chief Minister of Bhopal state. As the member of the Congress, he accompanied the movement against the Nawab of Bengal, who expressed desire to retain the princely state. Sharma was arrested in 1948 for leading a public agitation against the Nawab. During his tenure, Sharma rejected the mercy petitions in all 14 cases placed before him. Kocheril Raman Narayanan (1997 - 2002): Popularly known as KR Narayanan, he was the first Dalit-origin President of India. Narayanan, who formerly served as a diplomat, served as India's ambassador to China and the United States. As a President, he always explained his decisions to the nation, and brought openness and transparency in the functioning of the President. During his tenure, Narayanan dissolved the Lok Sabha twice - firstly he refused to dismiss the Kalyan Singh Government in Uttar Pradesh in 1997 and a year later, the Rabri Devi Government in Bihar in 1998. APJ Abdul Kalam (2002 - 2007): Known for his role in the development of India's ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programmes, APJ Abdul Kalam was the first scientist to become a President in 2002. Kalam was affectionately known as the People's President and also received the Bharat Ratna. During his tenure as the President of India, Kalam rejected one case and commuted a death sentence in another, while he did not decide on 23 other cases. Pratibha Patil (2007 - 2012): Patil was the first woman to become the President of India. During her tenure, she commuted death sentence in 19 cases and rejected petitions of three.She was also criticised for allegedly using government funds for taking trips overseas, often accompanied by relatives. She also made headlines for alleged acquisition of land in Pune, Maharashtra, to construct her retirement home. Pranab Mukherjee (2012 - 2017): The outgoing President Pranab Mukherjee, who served as the 13th President of India, will demit office on July 25. Before entering into politics, Mukherjee worked as a lecturer and journalist. Mukherjee is the only President who served all the major portfolios as the Centre - Foreign, Defence, Commerce and Finance - at different times in his political career. He rejected 30 cases of death sentence and commuted to life the death sentences of four convicts. During his term, he has spent a considerable amount of time promoting the need for improving standards of higher education and holding the compass to the political leadership to remain steadfast in observing Constitutional probity. In 1984, Mukherjee was voted as the Best Finance Minister in the World by the Euromoney magazine and is the only Finance Minister to serve the post both, in the Pre-Liberisation and Post-Liberisation eras. Yuva Morcha's president Prakash Gurung said that the party's decision is to fast unto death as to push for their demands for Gorkhaland. (Photo: PTI0 Darjeeling: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) Yuva Morcha on Thursday announced that they will go on an indefinite hunger strike from Friday. The shutdown in Darjeeling for a separate state on Thursday entered the 36th day. Yuva Morcha's president Prakash Gurung said, "The party's decision is to fast unto death as to push for their demands for Gorkhaland. So, GJM Yuva Morcha will go on an indefinite hunger strike from tomorrow". The GJM had also called for an indefinite hunger strike from July 15. Earlier in the week, amid the ongoing unrest in Darjeeling, a police vehicle was set on fire by unknown assailants. The incident happened during the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) protest rally. Darjeeling is witnessing unrest since June 12 when the GJM announced an indefinite strike to protest against the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's decision to make Bengali compulsory for all schools in the state. The protestors are asking for a separate Gorkhaland, a long pending demand of the people of the hills. Meanwhile, GJM activists demanded restoration of internet services, which the district administration had suspended since June 18 to stop agitators from using the social media to spread "provocative posts". A memorandum was submitted to Modi by the delegation seeking Presidential nod for two Bills passed recently by the state assembly and now pending with the Centre. (Representational Image) Chennai: A delegation of Tamil Nadu Ministers on Thursday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and some of his cabinet colleagues to press for exempting the State from NEET. A memorandum was submitted to Modi by the delegation seeking Presidential nod for two Bills passed recently by the state assembly and now pending with the Centre. The bills pave the way for continuation of UG medical admissions on the basis of Plus Two marks exempting Tamil Nadu from the ambit of the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET). Senior AIADMK (Amma) leader and Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai led the ministers. An official release here said Health Minister C Vijayabaskar, Finance Minister D Jayakumar, Electricity Minister P Thangamani, Law Minister C Ve Shanmugam and Higher Education Minister K P Anbazhagan met Modi and Union Ministers for Health and HRD JP Nadda and Prakash Javadekar respectively. The delegation also called on Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on the NEET issue, the release said. Both the ruling AIADMK (Amma) and main opposition DMK are opposed to NEET in Tamil Nadu maintaining that it would affect the interests of State students both from villages and the urban poor. DMK and other opposition parties have been targeting the AIADMK (Amma) regime on NEET claiming that the interests of students were compromised by not getting exemption from it. Vijayabaskar had days ago told the Assembly that he would visit Delhi to persuade the Centre to grant nod for the pending Bills. New Delhi: The government on Thursday asserted that killings in the name of cow "sentiments" was unacceptable and said the state governments should take stern action against those indulging in such violence. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who was speaking on the issue of lynchings in the Rajya Sabha on behalf of ailing Home Minister Rajnath Singh, made it clear that the central government could not be blamed for violence by "some people". "The government's stand is clear. Nobody is allowed to do that (lynching in the name of cow protection). There is no rationalisation, no arguments of sentiments being hurt can be an explanation for this. And, the government is absolutely committed," he said. Jaitley, who is also the Leader of the House, was replying to a debate on 'situation arising out of the reported increase in the incidents of lynching and atrocities on minorities and dalits across the country', during which the Opposition parties slammed the government and particularly targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over such incidents. Noting that the prime minister had spoken thrice against cow vigilantism, he said "no amount of sympathy" will be shown for those who indulge in lynching and "law will certainly take its own course." He said the government unequivocally condemns the killings of human beings in the name of protecting cows and said "violence can never be a partisan issue and can't be justified." Rejecting the Opposition's allegation that no action was taken in the cases of lynching, Jaitley asserted that "legal action was taken systematically in each incident. People were arrested and they are in jail. They are all going to be chargesheeted against whom evidence is going to be found...This is clear and there is no 'ifs' and 'buts'." In his speech, he emphasised that cow slaughter was banned in most of the states since the time of first prime minister Jawaharalal Nehru, who was "secular and not over-religious" unlike Indira Gandhi who was "more religious". "This (ban on cow slaughter) was not proposed by Modi ji or Rajnath ji. This was said by Ambedkar during Nehru's time," Jaitley said, adding ban on cow slaughter was presribed in the Article 48 of the Constitution framed by the Constituent Assembly. Later, it was made part of 7th Schedule of the Constitution as a result of which the matter fell under the purview of the state governments. "At that time, neither the BJP was in place, nor was any state ruled by the BJP," he said, adding most of the states then were ruled by the Congress, which framed laws prohibiting cow slaughter. "We have laws in place and if any such incident occurs where police is not acting and brought to our notice to this effect, the government will not think twice of requesting state governments and advising the state governments and even asking for reports as well as states are concerned," he said. "There are no 'ifs' and 'buts'. Laws made in the states have provisions to preserve and protect cows. That right is with the state and its police. Nobody has the right to take law into their hands... If anybody does it, they should be arrested and prosecuted," he said. The adjournment for the day was announced by Speaker Sumitra Mahajan soon after the House resumed business at noon for the Zero Hour after two consecutive adjournments forced by the opposition members who stormed the Well and raised slogans. (Photo: File | PTI) New Delhi: The Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day on Thursday after opposition repeatedly disrupted the proceedings by raising slogans on the plight of farmers and related issues. The adjournment for the day was announced by Speaker Sumitra Mahajan soon after the House resumed business at noon for the Zero Hour after two consecutive adjournments forced by the opposition members who stormed the Well and raised slogans. When House assembled for the day and took up the Question Hour, opposition members, mostly from the Congress, trooped into the Well raising slogans saying the Prime Minister should respond to the concerns over farmers' plight and the agrarian crisis. Parliamentary Affairs minister Ananth Kumar said the Lok Sabha had concluded a discussion on the issue by sitting late on Wednesday night. But as the slogan-shouting continued, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan was forced to adjourn the house till 11.30 am, just about ten minutes after it had assembled at 11 am. When the House resumed business at 11.30 am, the opposition members belonging to Congress, Trinamool Congress (TMC), Left and other parties again trooped into the Well and started raising slogans pressing for their demands. As the unruly scenes continued, the Speaker appealed to the protestors to return to their seats and then adjourned the House till noon. However, when the House resumed to take up different issues during the Zero Hour, the opposition members again came into the Well raising slogans. Holding placards, some members, who are part of the AIADMK (Puratchi Thalaivi Amma), trooped into Well demanding a CBI probe into the gutkha (a tobacco product) scam. A minister in the Tamil Nadu government, which is run by AIADMK (Amma) group, and some officials have come under the scanner for alleged bribery to facilitate the sale of banned gutkha in the state. Sensing the opposition mood and as it became difficult to continue the business of the House amidst the noisy scenes, the Speaker called for the listed papers to be tabled and then adjourned the House for the day. Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad urged the ruling party to give up "vote politics" and work towards making the country strong within to fight the external issues. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: The issue of lynchings resonated in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday where the Opposition alleged involvement of "some members" of BJP and Sangh Parivar in these incidents even as the government said communal colour should not be given to such violence. As the House took up a discussion on the issue, Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the government is equally concerned about the criminal incidents and everyone should speak in one voice to fight against "such destructive forces". The Centre condemns such incidents, Naqvi said, adding the states should take stringent legal action against those involved. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also made this clear during the All Party meeting recently, he added during the debate on 'situation arising out of the reported increase in the incidents of lynching and atrocities on minorities and dalits across the country'. He alleged that it's a "conspiracy" that some are trying to "defame" the government and divert its agenda in the name of such incidents as they think they could level corruption charges on the government in the last three years. Initiating the debate, Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad attacked the government, saying the rise in these incidents was spreading the message of fear. "Earlier it was done at individual level. You may not like it, all lynching is done by some members of the ruling party and Sangh Parivar," he alleged. It is done with a basic understanding and hence no arrests been made in the incidents that happened so far. "They should have been jailed. Even I can identify hundreds. They are known to the media," the Congress leader said. Insisting that no Opposition party benefits from these incidents, he said but "one political party, the ruling party is benefiting. This is done for political harvest." Urging the government to take the matter seriously, Azad said, "This nation belongs to all. Your responsibility is more. You have to take the lead. We can help in creating an atmosphere. If you spoil the atmosphere..." He urged the ruling party to give up "vote politics" and work towards making the country strong within to fight the external issues. "This is not a religious battle. This is not Hindu-Muslim fight. This is everyone's fight for humanity. When our home is weak, how can we fight the external forces...Our house has always been strong. Don't break the house for votes," he said. Azad said not a single place is safe, from Jammu and Kashmir to Kanyakumari. "Lynchings are reported from all over. Such incidents are happening for the first time. This used to happen during the medieval age, not even during British times," he said. He expressed sadness over the "disturbing trend" that no one comes forward to save a person being lynched. He, however, praised some sections of the media for continuing to report these incidents fearlessly. Urging the Opposition to unite and speak with one voice in its fight against the destructive forces, Naqvi said: "Please don't give communal angle to these incidents. If you give, you are helping them..." "We should together defeat and isolate the destructive forces. We should speak in one voice. ...Please speak truth on this issue," said Naqvi, who is also Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs. Asserting that the government will not allow any "destructive forces" to dominate the development agenda, Naqvi said, "We do not wish any destructive forces to affect the government's development agenda and the country's culture." He added, "The policy of our government and the party is clear that we will not allow any destructive agenda to dominate on our development agenda." It would be misunderstanding on the part of "destructive forces" to think that by "fabricating the issues", they can divert the attention, Naqvi said. "Then it would be nothing but "Mungeri Lal ke Haseen Sapne (day dreaming)," he said. "This is a conspiracy. Anyone could be doing it. I am not taking any party names. I don't want to get into it." Stating that lynching incidents were reported in the previous government regime too, the Minister said: "Whether lynching incidents happened before or now, strict legal action should be initiated against those involved." Refuting the Opposition charge that no action was taken against those involved in lynching incidents, he gave details of arrests made in Rajasthan, Haryana, Jharkhand and Maharasthra in the last six months. SP leader Naresh Agrawal said the government should bring a "stringent law" to curb the lynching incidents. He added that while the Prime Minister had made a statement that strict action should be taken against those taking lives in the name of 'Gau rakshaks' (cow protection), on the other hand, Goa Chief Minister made a contradictory statement. "You are having God's name on lips and knives in your pockets," he said. He suggested that the Prime Minister should call a meeting of all the Chief Ministers and direct them to take strict action against those indulging in lynching. He said there have been killings in the name of religion and caste which is damaging India's image. The SP leader also attacked the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh over setting up of 'anti-romeo' squads, saying "You are converting the state into Saudi Arabia". He alleged that the UP government had failed in maintaining law and order as there have been several cases of rape in the state. CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury cited the cases of lynchings that took place over the last two years and demanded that the central government ban cow vigilante groups and moral policing groups, which he described as "private armies". The fight against vigilante groups is necessary to maintain constitutional order, he said. During his speech, he referred to Sardar Patel's comments while banning RSS, mentioned Hitler's remarks on nationalism and also invoked Rabindranath Tagore. He also cited Bhagvat Gita, saying it says all humans are equal. The right of equality, granted under the Constitution, is "being questioned and severely trampled upon through these incidents of lynching," he noted. The CPI(M) leader charged that it is "Hindutava nationalism" that is giving sustenance to these groups. He stressed on stopping the cult of violence being spread. "This is not the 'Bharat Mata' I know," he said, adding that his 'Bharat Mata' has place for people of all religions. Yechury questioned why only the slogan 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' is considered patriotic. "Was Bhagat Singh, who gave 'Inquilab zindabad' slogan, not patriotic?" Yechury also referred to articles and editorials in foreign publications criticising these incidents and said "This is your international standing today". He said these lynching incidents are not isolated incidents of law and order but part of ideology that seeks to undermine constitution. "Ban all these cow vigilante groups, ban anti-romeo groups" Yechury said as he rued that beef has become a parameter for religious identification. Highlighting that the country is a major beef exporter, he asked, "Will you tell me what I should eat and not eat...?" Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien referred to the Prime Minister's comment against kiling people in the name of cow-protection and said, "Empty words and generic comments will not work. Name the group. Name the individual. We are deeply suspicious." O'Brien said the real term should be "cow terrorism" and not cow vigilantism. Not only the minorities and dalits are being targeted, but even the powerful media houses and opposition parties are also being targeted, he said. "We will not be cowed down to your political terrorism and political vendetta," said O'Brien while citing various cases like 'Sarada scam' in which some of his party colleagues are facing allegations. The TMC leader charged that the government is also engaged in financial and tax terrorism. O'Brien, whose party is in power in West Bengal, alleged that fake pictures were being circulated on social media by a BJP leader during the recent violence in the state. "But polarisation will never happen in West Bengal," he added. Concluding his speech, he appealed to all Opposition parties to join hands to fight BJP. "We will get GST - "Growing Strong Together". The announcement of a 100 per cent hike in salary of MLAs was made by chief minister Edappadi K Palanisamy in the assembly on Wednesday. (Photo: File) Chennai: After Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisamy announced a 100 per cent salary hike for Tamil Nadu MLAs, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on Thursday called it an "illegal inducement" which smacks of arbitrariness. Also Read: Jackpot for Tamil Nadu MLAs, salary hiked by almost 100 per cent DMK leader A Saravanan said it is very "insensitive" of the Government to do such a thing when the farmers are protesting for their loans to be waived off. "They have alienated the entire country and the entire state by this move which smacks of arbitrariness. I would also call it illegal inducement if you look at the timing of the salary hike....it is an inducement given by the Chief Minister so that the MLAs would remain with him," he added. "Our leader, MK Stalin has raised this issue and he has clearly said that he is not welcoming this decision. When the farmers are protesting that their loans are not waived, if we look back at what has happened earlier, it is on the assurance given by the CM that the farmers withdrew their protest in Delhi which was raising a crescendo and was garnering the eyeball of the entire nation," he added. The Tamil Nadu Government on Wednesday hiked the salary of its MLA to Rs 1.05 lakh per month from Rs 55,000 earlier. The announcement of salary hike was made by the chief minister in the state assembly. Apart from the salary hike, the pension of the MLAs has gone up to Rs 20,000 from Rs 12,000, while the local area development fund to develop the respective constituencies was increased to Rs 2.6 crore from Rs 2 crore. Soon after the announcement, Samajwadi Party MP Naresh Agarwal demanded a pay hike for the members of Parliament as well, citing that the state MLAs are paid more than them. "We are not begging. State MLAs get more salary than us. Why can't MPs ask for salary hikes if judges can? We have demanded what we deserve under the 7th Pay Commission," Agarwal said. The incident took place around 9.15 a.m. when the bus, carrying around 40 passengers, rolled down from the National Highway 5 connecting Simla to Kinnaur. (Photo: ANI | Twitter) Shimla (Himachal Pradesh): 28 people were killed and nine injured after a private bus enroute Solan rolled down a deep gorge near Rampur on Thursday. The incident took place around 9.15 a.m. when the bus, carrying around 40 passengers, rolled down from the National Highway 5 connecting Simla to Kinnaur. The civil and police administration have started the rescue operations and around seven injured have been taken to the nearest hospital till now. Further details are awaited. People hold placards block a road during a protest demanding justice for the school girl who was raped and murdered in Shimla. (Photo: PTI) Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh government on Wednesday transferred three members of the police Special Investigation Team (SIT) which was probing the rape and murder of a school girl, including its chief, IG (southern range) ZH Zaidi. The move comes after a man held in the case was killed by another accused in police custody. The rape and murder has sparked public outcry in the state, with the role of the police coming in for much criticism. The Himachal Pradesh High Court on Wednesday handed over the investigation into the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Zaidi has been now posted as IG (Welfare and Administration), Police Headquarters, Shimla. Ajay Yadav (IG Central Range Mandi), has been given additional charge of the southern range. Sirmaur SP Soumya Sambasivan has been posted as the Shimla SP replacing DW Negi, who has been appointed as SP (Vigilance and anti corruption Bureau). Kinnaur SP Rohit Malpani will be the new Sirmaur SP while Assistant IG (Shimla) Gurdev Sharma has been appointed to his post. Additional SP (Shimla) Bhajan Dev Negi has been told to report at the police headquarters for further posting. The girl, a student of class X, was raped and murdered in the Kotkhai area of Shimla district after she took a lift in a vehicle, according to the police. The victim's body was recovered from the nearby Halila forest two days later. Six persons were arrested in connection with the case. According to the police officials, last night two of the accused -- Nepalese man Suraj and one Rajendra -- had a heated argument. Rajendra allegedly banged Suraj's head against a wall, leading to his death, a police official said. Following the incident, a mob went on a rampage, ransacking a police station and pelting policemen with stones. R.K.M Saratha girls' higher secondary school students given health ambassador cards and saplings during a dengue awareness campaign in the city on Wednesday. (Photo: DC) Chennai: State health department has begun reviewing the spread of contagious diseases across the state and planning mass cleaning drive to ensure hygiene and prevent an outbreak of such diseases. The health minister reviewed the current situation in all districts through video conferencing over the spread and control of infectious diseases on Tuesday. The health department will take initiatives against the spread of infectious diseases, especially against dengue. All districts will carry out a mass awareness programme and a mass cleaning to prevent the outbreak of any infectious disease. Mass cleaning will help to create a public hygiene across the state. With seasonal changes and a rise in the case of infectious diseases, mass cleaning will be an added step to prevent the spread of diseases, says Dr K. Kolandaisamy. He added that video conferencing with all district health workers and directors were aimed at checking on the spread and control of infectious diseases. As part of awareness programme, a new initiative of screening short films to make students in schools and colleges be aware of infectious diseases will also be done. Health education department is ready to take up a massive awareness campaign to sensitise the issues related to the spread of infectious diseases. As the first zika virus case was reported in Tamil Nadu, the health department has been on alert with district administration taking up necessary steps to avoid any further infections. Public health department has begun various practices such as door-to-door testing of all fevers, distribution of oral medication and checking stagnation. In view of 4,845 cases of various vector-borne diseases being reported in Tamil Nadu, the health department has instructed the government hospitals to monitor the patients with different types of fever and laid special on dengue. With around 4,407 cases of dengue reported this year, the government has strengthened the measures to avoid its outbreak. Government hospitals are instructed to treat all cases of severe and suspected fever as dengue unless it is proved not to be a dengue. Patients should also take precautions and take medication and prescription from qualified doctors, preferably government institutions in case of fever to avoid complications, said Dr P. Vasanthamani, dean, Kilpauk Medical College. Corpn conducts awareness programme on dengue Chennai Corporation, in its attempt to sensitize school children on dengue and its prevention, conducted a massive awareness program on dengue prevention across various divisons in 200 schools. All students are asked to volunteer as health ambassador to aware the people on the spread of various diseases. Active participation of students will help to aware the people in their locality as they can propagate the information against the spread of dengue. To prevent dengue, stored drinking water should be covered well and should be cleaned out of junk materials. Waste materials should be removed to prevent mosquito breeding of Aedes mosquito that causes dengue, said health education department official. RTC has requested the state government to direct the GHMC to pay the reimbursement amount for the previous financial year (Representational Image) Hyderabad: Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) has become a burden to Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) in paying reimbursement due to losses incurred by RTC city region. RTC has sent a letter to the state government that its city region has incurred losses to the tune of Rs 400 crore in 2016-17 financial year according to audit report. RTC has requested the state government to direct the GHMC to pay the reimbursement amount for the previous financial year. Accordingly, the state government has asked GHMC to pay the amount. But GHMC informed that it is unable to pay the amount to RTC due to the financial restraints of the corporation. Meanwhile, at state level RTC was slammed with about Rs 700 crore losses including GHMC area in the 2016-17 year. TSRTC Managing Director GV Ramana Rao said that in GHMC limits, RTC got Rs 400 crore losses and in other areas in the state got losses about Rs 300 crore. He said that GHMC did not pay any amount for 2016-17 year. Also that RTC is getting reimbursement from GHMC for the losses incurred in its limit, but the RTC is not getting any funds from the state government towards losses incurred in the state. State bifurcation paying of reimbursement by GHMC to RTC for its losses has started. In 2015-16 financial year, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao asked the GHMC to pay RTC for its losses due to running the buses in GHMC limits. On the direction of the Chief Minister, the GHMC has paid `336 crore in two phases. For the financial year 2016-17, before audit report came, RTC asked the state government to direct GHMC to pay `273 crore as reimbursement. The state government asked the GHMC to pay this amount to RTC. GHMC in its standing committee discussed this issue and decided that it is not possible to pay yearly reimbursement to RTC because of its financial situation. In the meanwhile, a week back RTC has sent another letter to the state government and infor-med according to the audit report that RTC city region suffered with Rs 400 crore losses in 2016-17 year and requested to direct GHMC to pay this amount. The Municipal administration officials said that the file related to reimbursement to RTC is in circulation. They said finally the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has to take a decision on this issue. Loss in Revenue 400cr RTC said according to the audit report in 2016-17, Hyderabad city region faced a loss of about Rs 400 crore. 700cr Total losses for RTC in the state: about Rs 700 crore. (In GHMC limits Rs 400 and in other areas of the state, Rs 300 crore) About 50 women in the channel's news desk and reporting will be among those benefited, sources said. (Photo: Representational/PTI) Thiruvananthapuram: In a first of its kind in Kerala, leading media group Mathrubhumi has introduced 'period leave' for women employees in its TV News channel. "The employees have the option of taking leave either on the first or any other day of their menstrual cycle. This is an additional leave," Joint Managing Director of Mathrubhumi group M V Shremyams Kumar said. About 50 women in the channel's news desk and reporting will be among those benefited, sources said. The leave facility came into effect in Mathrubhumi News, a 24-hour Malayalam television news channel of the group from Wednesday. "This is an additional leave besides the normal leave the employees are entitled to," he said. Two organisations, including 'Culture Machine, a Mumbai-based media company, are said to have already introduced the 'First day of Period' leave policy. But this is the first time it was being introduced in the state, according to Kumar. "Right now, the facility has been implemented in Mathrubhumi News. Considering the nature of their work and since they go through physical problems, such a decision had been taken," he said. "As an organisation, we would like to understand our employees and accordingly frame the HR policies," he added. The goodwill gesture was announced by Kumar during a video conference session with employees yesterday afternoon. While there was a big round of applause from women employees, their male counterparts have also taken the announcement on a 'very positive note,' sources in the channel said. TN ministers along with state health secretary led by Lok Sabha Speaker Thambidurai submit their memorandum on Neet exemption to PM Modi in Delhi on Monday. (Photo: DC) CHENNAI: A delegation of Tamil Nadu Ministers on Thursday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and some of his cabinet colleagues to press for exempting the state from Neet. A memorandum was submitted to Modi by the delegation seeking Presidential nod for two Bills passed recently by the state assembly and now pending with the Centre. The bills pave the way for continuation of UG medical admissions on the basis of Plus Two marks exempting Tamil Nadu from the ambit of the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (Neet). Senior AIADMK (Amma) leader and Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M. Thambidurai led the ministers. An official release here said health minister C. Vijayabaskar, finance minister D. Jayakumar, electricity minister P. Thangamani, law minister C.Ve. Shanmugam and higher education minister K.P. Anbazhagan met Modi and Union ministers for health and HRD JP Nadda and Prakash Javadekar. The delegation also called on Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on the Neet issue, the release said. Both the ruling AIADMK (Amma) and main opposition DMK are opposed to Neet in Tamil Nadu maintaining that it would affect the interests of State students both from villages and the urban poor. DMK and other opposition parties have been targeting the AIADMK (Amma) regime on Neet claiming that the interests of students were compromised by not getting exemption from it. Vijayabaskar had days ago told the Assembly that he would visit Delhi to persuade the Centre to grant nod for the pending Bills. Hyderabad: BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav is likely to attend the two-day Telangana BJP state executive committee meeting on July 22 and 23 in Warangal. The meeting has been convened to chalk out a strategy to strengthen the party in the state. Mr Madhav, a native of Andhra Pradesh, is the in-charge of BJP affairs in northeastern states and Jammu Kashmir. This would be the first time that Mr Madhav would be attending the party executive in Telangana, a state which was dominated by senior BJP leader M. Venkaiah Naidu. I will be coming to Hyderabad to participate in a seminar. So I may take part in the Warangal meeting next day, Mr Madhav told this newspaper. He, however, ruled out any speculation about him getting the charge of party affairs in Telangana and said it is a practice for the party national general secretaries to attend party meetings during their visits to the state. He is known for his strategies that brought the BJP to power in Assam and Manipur. In AP, he was responsible for the induction of former Congress Minister Kanna Laxmi-narayana and others into party. The BJP has three in-charges for Telangana state Union minister Hanjsraj Ahir Ganga-ram, BJP Kerala leader Krishna Das and RSS leader Sowdhan Singh. We will chalk out our future strategy in the state in the Warangal meet. We will take up a review of the organisational matters directed by party national president Amit Shah during his recent visit to the state, said State BJP president K. Laxman. The conclave would also deliberate on Mr Shahs three-day visit in September. He said the BJP would hold its district executive meetings from July 28 to 30 and mandal level meetings from August 5 to 9. It does not exactly qualify as a giant leap for womankind. The announcement last week by the Saudi education ministry that girls in public schools would be permitted to partake of physical education is, if anything, a stark reminder of how far the kingdom will need to travel before it enters the 20th let alone the 21st century. Its apparently part of Mohammed bin Salmans 2030 Vision, ostensibly a plan for heaving Saudi Arabia out of its mediaeval mindset. But in the shorter term the new crown prince is also keen about extending the kingdoms regional clout. And that project has run into trouble on account of impulsive overreach. The effective passing of the torch to a new generation should, on the face of it, have provided cause for relief, if not rejoicing, with Mohammed bin Salmans ascension from deputy to heir apparent as presaging the end of the gerontocracy that had guided the kingdoms mixed fortunes for far too long. The founder of the kingdom named after his family, Abdulaziz ibn Abdul Rahman Al Saud, born in 1875, was a prolific progenitor. When he died in 1953, he left behind an extraordinarily long line of heirs: thus far ultimate power has passed from one brother to another, the unwritten rule hitherto being that no reigning monarch would name his own son as successor. Salman bin Abdulaziz abided by it upon ascending to the throne in 2015, designating his nephew Mohammed bin Nayef as crown prince. The latter was dismissed from all his posts last month, replaced by the kings son, and reportedly placed under house arrest in his Jeddah palace. The 31-year-old cousin who took his place could be king before long. What would that mean for the kingdom? Given that Mohammed bin Salman has enjoyed considerable leeway in setting both the domestic and foreign policy agendas for the past couple of years, the prognostications are alarming. As defence minister, he masterminded the assault on his nations poorest neighbour, Yemen, presumably expecting success within months. Yet formidable Saudi firepower courtesy the US and Britain has, two years on, failed to resolve anything. In collusion with Abu Dhabis crown prince, Mohammed bin Zayed, the Saudi scion is also believed to be the guiding light behind the ostracisation of Qatar, after the two of them convinced Donald Trump that Doha was somehow exceptional in sponsoring terrorist outfits in West Asia. Even that hasnt gone according to the plan, apart from shattering the image of unity among Sunnis projected for Trumps benefit when he made Riyadh his initial port of call on his first overseas journey. News television channel Al Jazeera has this week refuted a Washington Post report, based on US intelligence that it was behind the hacking of media sites that provided an excuse for the assault on Qatari sovereignty. It has also hinted at Qatars exclusion from the Gulf Cooperation Council, which could be a blessing in disguise for Doha. Qatar has fulfilled its basic needs since the blockade with assistance from Turkey and Iran, and even GCC members Oman and Kuwait are not party to the punishment. Indications that Mohammed bin Salman is spoiling for a direct confrontation with Iran should suffice to curb anyones enthusiasm about the rapidly rising son, but his domestic plans have also been floundering. The idea of trimming state salaries as a part of a leaner economy has required reappraisal. After all, no one can be too sure that disrupting an ostensibly stable society based on a relatively generous welfare state will not have serious socioeconomic and in turn political repercussions. Theres cause for hope, though, that the brash crown prince could help to sharpen societal contradictions between medievalism and modernity, thereby precipitating an explosion that could remould Saudi Arabia in unexpected ways. By arrangement with Dawn India has elected a new President who will take office early next week. Ram Nath Kovind, the choice of the BJP-driven NDA, finished clear of the Congress-led Opposition choice of Meira Kumar. Given the numbers in the contest to be decided by proportional representation in the states plus a constant in the vote value of members of Parliament, the verdict was likely to be only this as the ruling NDA was, to begin with, only marginally short of the halfway mark. In garnering nearly two-thirds of the votes in numerical value 65.65 per cent as opposed to 34.35 per cent and 61 per cent of the legislators present and voting, the rulers demonstrated that they had managed the election well. Not only has the Opposition lost the contest of ideologies, but has also shown itself to be in some disarray as most of the cross voting seems to have sprung from its side. Politics does add a dimension to everything in the country, but there can be no complaints on this count as the days of finding a consensus candidate even for the First Citizen were over long ago. Only once in 70 years has India been able to agree universally on a President. However, as we have stressed before, the background and personality of the President can never be as important as the decisions he may have to take while in the Rashtrapati Bhavan in upholding the Constitution of India. While Mr Kovind being the first from Uttar Pradesh to be the President, as well as only the second Dalit, cannot be termed unimportant, it is probably significant that he is a lawyer with High Court and Supreme Court background, which means the written Constitution should not pose too many challenges. If he aims to serve it in letter and spirit, he would have an opportunity to emulate the great Presidents. Ideology is a different matter though and this is the first time that the imprint of Hindutva could become very noticeable as the President and the Prime Minister come from the same RSS stable, and the Vice-President will soon make it a trio. Historically, the forces they represent have been known to be opposed to the spirit of the Constitution. Its only fair to believe that in increasingly contentious times, the guardian will be stretched to uphold all that has been held sacred over decades in a pluralistic society of an inclusive India. As the titular head of state, the President represents all of the people regardless of the divisions the election may have thrown the spotlight on. Both nominees for the post came from gestures to rope in the disadvantaged classes, to further which the President must carry forward the exalted status of the office. It is axiomatic as night follows the day, that wherever the Congress recedes, the terrain will most often be occupied by the BJP. This precisely is what is about to happen in that unique haven of stability in the Northeast Tripura. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has been in power for 32 years with 50 per cent of the vote, but the Congress voteshare has not been negligible: 36 per cent which the BJP will now eye. When Mamata Banerjee went about demolishing the CPM and the Congress in West Bengal, the infection reached Tripura too. President of the Congress in Tripura, Sudip Roy Barman, his eye on the main chance, switched to the Trinamul Congress. If Mr Barman can switch loyalties once for advantage, what prevents him from doing it again this time for greater advantage? Agartala is rife with rumours that Mr Barman, with five of his partymen, is about to join the BJP, which, so far, has not had a solitary BJP member. This development will be welcomed by governor Tathagata Roy whose outbursts against Muslims leaves even BJP cadres in neighbouring West Bengal dumbfounded. The governor believes that Muslims can only be properly integrated if they start eating pork in public. Images associated with swine is something of an obsession with him. For instance, his preferred punishment for Muslim terrorists, takes ones breath away: Wrap them in pigskin and bury them face down in pigs excreta. CPM chief minister Manik Sarkar, who has been in the saddle without a break for 17 years, will not be unsettled by this kind of diatribe, but there is a seven per cent Muslim population which can react. Because of zero media interest in what in my experience is the countrys best governed state, the rest of the country remains ignorant about it. It must be said, to the credit of Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, that he once described Mr Sarkar as a chief minister he admires. At about the same time, Andrew Buncombe, who was then the India correspondent of Londons Independent in New Delhi, returned from Agartala filled with admiration. An orderly, neat, clean state with no-nonsense administration. Most visitors notice it and so did he: The chief minister sometimes walks to office. I have myself been witness to the chief ministers wife, a school teacher, taking a cycle rickshaw to work. Has anyone taken note of Tripuras human development index? True, its population is small 40 lakh. Only Goa and Sikkim have smaller populations. Even so, its 96 per cent literacy rate ranks as the highest. Literacy rate in Gujarat is 83 per cent. (I am leaving out Kerala from this competition because it was once uniquely superior.) Life expectancy of 71 years for men and 73 for women too is a record. In Gujarat, it is 64 and 66. Tripuras Bengali population blots the copy somewhat but gender bias among tribals is the lowest. Even so, the average is 961 as against 918 in Gujarat. The great genius the leadership has demonstrated is in grasping an essential truth like politics, good governance too is essentially the art of the possible. Instead of beating its breast and flailing its arms, the regime picked up all the Central and state schemes, put its head down, called in the officials, party cadres, involved the three-tier panchayati raj system and gave a sense of real participation to the elected autonomous district councils which cover two-thirds of the state and all the tribal areas of Tripura. This should be grasped. The basic conflict in the state, one which exploded as the fiercest insurgency in the Northeast, was on the tribal-non tribal faultline. Under the Maharajas, who figure in mythology, Tripura was overwhelmingly tribal. But after the creation of East Pakistan (later Bangladesh), Hindu Bengalis from contiguous territories that were once managed by the Maharaja, migrated to Tripura. The tribals (a total of 19 tribes), became a minority in the state. The 70:30 ratio in favour of the tribals was exactly inverted. Today 70 per cent of the population is Bengali. The Congress, born for power, fell back on the simple divide and rule strategy, pocketing the Bengali vote bank. Who says only the BJP practices polarisation politics? If ever there was a shortfall in numbers, there was always a tribe to be played against the other. A great tribal, communist leader Dasarath Deb had seen the future. He launched Jana Shiksha Abhiyan for education among tribals in 1945, forcing the Maharaja to recognise 500 primary schools, which mushroomed and today saturate the state a school every kilometre. It was from this base that the tribals gravitated towards communism. Bengalis, meanwhile, turned to the Congress. The Congress was content with the sectarian divide. But a leader like Nripen Chakraborty accurately gauged the difficult social reality: without tribal support all Bengali agenda would be circumscribed. Likewise, tribals would not advance without Bengali help. The call went out tribal-non tribal unity was the absolute imperative. The idea flared up across the state for two reasons. Tribals, who had taken to communism in the 40s and 50s, grasped the idea instantly. In driblets, Bengalis too came into the fold. So, while the Left slowly expanded its platform of unity, the Congress persisted with its Bengali focus, not without some electoral gains. What keeps the electorate, indeed the population, persistently in the Lefts thrall is the universally accepted incorruptibility of the leadership. Congress MLA Gopal Roy shook his head in agreement personal incorruptibility cannot be denied. First Left Front chief minister Nripen Chakraborty (1978-88) entered the official bungalow and left it with the same two tin trunks clothes, books and a shaving kit. Grocery purchases for the CMs household were made on a ration card. Modern capitalism would probably consider him a pariah because he never had a bank account. His disciple, Mr Sarkar, is equally austere. Incredibly, the CM finds time to review all major Central and state schemes. He had completed an implementation review of the National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme when I met him in his spartan office, decorated with a Tagore photograph. In efficient implementation of schemes, the state has no parallels. Clinics, schools, anganwadi, infant and mother care, electricity distribution and, above all, building roads that connect the remotest areas. All of this has created an atmosphere of general tranquility. The then director-general of police K. Nagaraj was quite stunned: There is very little crime in the state negligible. This is a miracle in a state where people were afraid to leave their homes three years ago because of the insurgency. Perfect coordination between the police and the politician is the only explanation. Heaven knows what feedback Prime Minister Narendra Modi has on his Swachh Bharat or Clean India mission, but if he were to send his officers to some of the more remote parts of Tripura, they would rub their eyes with wonder at what has been achieved in such a short period. Scientists are hopeful the new maps will give their community greater insight into oceans. (Photo: screengrab from AFP's YouTube video) The painstaking search for missing flight MH370 has uncovered a previously unknown undersea world of volcanoes, deep valleys and soaring ridges, according to detailed maps released by Australia. Although no trace of the Malaysia Airlines plane was found during the search in the southern Indian Ocean -- the most expensive ever of its kind -- large volumes of data showing a detailed picture of the sea floor had to be collected to guide the probe. Scientists are hopeful the new maps will give their community greater insight into oceans. "It is estimated that only 10 to 15 per cent of the world's oceans have been surveyed with the kind of technology used in the search for MH370," Geoscience Australia's environmental geoscience chief Stuart Minchin said late Wednesday. "(That makes) this remote part of the Indian Ocean among the most thoroughly mapped regions of the deep ocean on the planet. "So this data is unique both because of the remote location of the search area, and because of the sheer scale of the area surveyed." Minchin said the maps would also be useful for future scientific research, such as oceanographic and habitat modelling. Australia, Malaysia and China suspended the deep sea hunt in January, almost three years after the Boeing 777 disappeared with 239 people on board. The hunt -- based on satellite analysis of the jet's likely trajectory after it diverted from its flight path -- covered a 120,000 square-kilometre (46,000 square mile) designated zone, an area slightly smaller than England. Two shipwrecks were discovered during the search but no trace of the plane, deepening one the most enduring mysteries of the aviation age. However, the data revealed ridges six kilometres (3.73 miles) wide and 15 kilometres long that rise 1,500 metres above the sea floor, as well as fault valleys 1,200 metres deep and five kilometres wide. A second set of data will be released in mid-2018. While the search for the missing plane has been called off, Canberra has said it could be restarted if new evidence about the specific location of the aircraft emerges. "We remain hopeful that new information will come to light and that at some point in the future the aircraft will be located," Australia's Transport Minister Darren Chester said. Australia's national science body CSIRO released a report in April confirming that MH370 was "most likely" north of the former search zone. Three fragments from the plane have been recovered washed up on western Indian Ocean shores, including a two-metre wing part known as a flaperon found on La Reunion island. Speculation on the cause of the plane's disappearance has focused primarily on possible hijacking, rogue pilot action or mechanical failure, but nothing has yet been proved. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Samsung currently does not view AI speakers as marketable, as the global market is already dominated by unbeatable Amazon and the Korean market is too small to make profits, a source told The Korean Herald. Samsung is not yet ready to launch its own artificial intelligence speaker due to strong competition from rivals such as Amazon and Google, reported The Investor. Samsung currently does not view AI speakers as marketable, as the global market is already dominated by unbeatable Amazon and the Korean market is too small to make profits, a source told The Korean Herald. The AI speaker is known to be code-named Vega and operated on Samsungs newest digital voice-assistant Bixby. An earlier report by The Wall Street Journal said that the speaker is in early stage of development. The slow works on Bixby-powered smart speaker is also being traced back to delay in Bixbys roll out on the Galaxy S8 smartphone. More importantly, Samsung cannot afford to focus on the uncertain market, as most of its AI specialists -- whose number is much less than that of the US tech giants -- are currently going all out to develop the Bixby version in English, the source said. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. The news about Artos resignation came as a shock at a time when Nokia is making efforts in regaining its grounds in the smartphone market. (Photo: file) Arto Nummela CEO of HMD Global, a Finnish startup which designs and sells Nokia branded smartphones, is resigning from the company with 'immediate effect' and by a mutual agreement, according to reports. The news about Artos resignation came as a shock at a time when Nokia is making efforts in regaining its grounds in the smartphone market, currently ruled by Samsung and Apple. "We want to be one of the key competitive players in the smartphone business," Nummela had once told Reuters. This year, the firm had released three Nokia-branded Android smartphonesNokia 6, Nokia 5 and Nokia 3, and a revamped version iconic Nokia 3310 phone. According to recent rumours, Nokia is also preparing to release another set of Nokia smartphonesNokia 2, Nokia 7, Nokia 8 and Nokia 9, all to be operated on Android. And among all, July 31 has been set as the launch date for Nokia 8 smartphone. "Arto Nummela has played a key role in the creation of the HMD Global operation, building the team and launching our first products. On behalf of the whole Board, I thank Arto for his contribution and wish him well in his future endeavors," said Sam Chin, Chairman of the Board, HMD Global Oy in a statement. HMD President Florian Seiche, who previously worked at Siemens, Orange, HTC and Nokia, has been appointed as acting CEO of the company. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Liz Galt loves to meet people. She is a people-person always looking for a way to make sure people see the ability of each and every individual. Galt, 23, a 2012 Farmington High School graduate, doesnt let her autism diagnosis stand in the way of sharing her story of living with autism and the challenges shes faced and overcome. In November of last year, Galts hard worked paid off as she was crowned Miss Amazing Missouri in the Jr. Division of the Miss Amazing pageant. Now, she is preparing to participate in the National Miss Amazing pageant on Aug. 4-9 in Chicago. I will be competing against 180 girls from 30 different states that have disabilities, said Galt, who turns 24 at the end of the month. Its really exciting Im really nervous. According to the pageant website, missamazing.org, the pageant was started in 2007 in Omaha, Nebraska by Jordan Somer. At that time, Somer was a 13 year old and just another kid who loved volunteering with the Special Olympics. The first pageant was held in November of 2007 and is now held in 30 states. There are five age divisions in the pageant Pre-teen, Teen, Jr. Miss, Miss, and Senior Miss. Galt is representing the state in the Jr. Miss division. The pageant involves a talent and interview portion. Galt found out about the pageant through an online search for events of this type. Its really a great opportunity, (a) really exciting thing to do, she said. I dont know anyone in Farmington thats ever (participated) in a disability pageant. (The pageant) is a really good opportunity for girls with disabilities to be able to do something just like any other girl would enjoy." Participating in the pageant was a natural fit for Galts personality. Im very outgoing and very outspoken and I like to do things other people do, she said. I really like to do stuff other people want to do Im just a normal person just like anybody else except theres a difference in me which there is a difference in everybody. People shouldnt judge by the way you talk or think any of that. She has a special talent prepared for the evening reciting the alphabet in reverse and spelling out complicated sentences in reverse as well. Galt is also getting her wardrobe ready for the big event from picking out her dress and preparing to have her hair and makeup ready. This month is quickly going by fast, she said, adding the preparations make her nervous the closer the date gets to her trip. But there is one area in which Galt feels comfortable thats when she speaks to others about what it is like to live with autism. I like educating people about autism because I just want them to understand about people with autism, she said. They (react) to different things than other people for example, dealing with change. Some people may say thats easy to deal with, but not for us. Once is sticks in our heads it sticks in our heads like a routine, a calendar, like a photo book. When it changes, its like a computer typing in your head all these multiple choice questions in your head and you want to pick the right one like a test in your head. Galt has been raising money for the national competition since begin crowned Junior Miss Amazing. Ive saved money on my own because I really like budgeting, she said. We had to do a fundraiser page online and I was excited because my fundraising page raised about $2,600 and that was really helpful. I want to say thank you to the community, friends, family and anonymous donors for donating to such a great cause, because I didnt think I would be able to do it. Im lucky to have a great support system friends, family and the community. More information on the Miss Amazing pageants can be found at www.missamazing.org. While more such sessions are planned, the initial session was attended by students from NIELIT Centres at Chandigarh, Guwahati, Patna, Ajmer and Srinagar. (Representational image) In its bid to support and encourage entrepreneurship among women, the National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT), a body with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India has launched a unique initiative - Power of She aimed at encouraging entrepreneurship among women under Digital India. In this unique initiative, over 200 female students from NIELIT Centres spread across different geographical locations participated through the Smart Virtual Classrooms that facilitates live interactive session through Video Conference. These NIELIT students who are in the process of acquiring industry relevant skill sets in IT and Electronics were sensitized and encouraged to take up entrepreneurship development by a panel of experts comprising mainly of women entrepreneurs. While more such sessions are planned, the initial session was attended by students from NIELIT Centres at Chandigarh, Guwahati, Patna, Ajmer and Srinagar. Dr. Ashwini Kumar Sharma, Director General, NIELIT unveiling the campaign said that women have an inborn trait towards entrepreneurship as they have to effectively manage a household. This needs to be honed so that they can step out and make a meaningful contribution to Indias economic growth. He further elaborated that with the increase in proliferation of IT and Electronics services, which has touched human lives in every possible manner, the need for entrepreneurship development in the digital space has grown manifold. Thus, these opportunities should be tapped in right earnest as it is said that If you teach a man to fish, hell eat for a lifetime. But you teach a woman to fish, shell feed the whole village. The panel of expert included Ms. Vineeta Dixit, Public Policy & Government Relations at Google, Ms. Ruby Sinha, Founder, Women Entrepreneurs at Work, Shri Sanjeeva Shivesh, Founder & CEO, The Entrepreneurship School and Ms. Prabha Shukla, Founding Director, EasyGov. The event witnessed enthusiastic participation and created the desired vibrancy among the student community. The keenness exhibited by many students to become an entrepreneur provided a meaningful insight into the changing times that is shaping up the New India. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. The iPhone maker sued Qualcomm earlier this year, accusing it of overcharging for chips. Qualcomm forecast fourth-quarter profit below analysts' estimates as the company's escalating patent battle with Apple continues to take a toll on its licensing business. Shares of the company were down 2.3 per cent at $55.40 after the bell on Wednesday. The chipmaker also reported a steep fall in third-quarter profit as Apple's contract manufacturers withheld royalties that they were expected to pay to Qualcomm. The iPhone maker sued Qualcomm earlier this year, accusing it of overcharging for chips, and had asked its contract manufacturers to withhold license payments from the company while the dispute played out. "We believe that we hold the high ground with regard to the dispute with Apple," Qualcomm Chief Executive Steve Mollenkopf said in a statement. Qualcomm forecast adjusted profit of 75 cents to 85 cents per share and revenue of $5.4 billion to 6.2 billion for the current quarter. The company said the forecast excluded licensing revenue related to the sale of Apple products by contract manufacturers as well as the other unnamed licensee in dispute. Analysts were expecting an adjusted profit of 90 cents per share and revenue of $5.48 billion, according to Thomson Reuters. "(Forecast) is pretty strong on the revenue front... the chip business is looking good especially in China, where it is getting pretty good traction with Chinese manufacturers," Edward Jones analyst Dave Heger said. Revenue from its Qualcomm CDMA Technologies unit, which includes its chip business, rose 5 percent to $4.05 billion. In contrast, revenue from its licensing business fell 42.5 pe rcent to $1.17 billion. Qualcomm did not provide any metrics related to device sales due to the dispute with Apple's contract manufacturers and the other licensee. Net income attributable to the company fell to $866 million, or 58 cents per share, in the third quarter ended June 25 from $1.44 billion, or 97 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue fell 11.1 per cent to $5.4 billion. Excluding items, the company earned 83 cents per share. Analysts had expected a profit of 81 cents per share. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Samsung is working hard towards striking a deal with Apple to become the sole producer of next years iPhone chipsets, reported The Investor. According to reports, the South Korean-based technology firm is fighting against Taiwanese foundry rival TSMC, who took over a major part of iPhone processors supply deal from Samsung in 2013. The firm has already purchased a high-tech machinery to produce seven-nanometer mobile processor solely for Apple iPhones. Samsung is hoping high after one of Samsungs three co-CEOs Kwon Oh-hyun, who had visited to Apple headquarters last month for the deal. However, sources cite that the Taiwanese firm has already moved onto a more efficient seven-nanometer technology and Samsung will have to share order with it for 2018 iPhone release. Meanwhile, Samsung is planning to complete tests for the new machinery from their end to seek final approval from Apple on chip production as soon as possible. TSMC took over 50.6 per cent market share in the global chip foundry sector in 2016, while Samsung held a market share of 8.1 percent during the same year, according to The Investors. As of now, Display unit of Samsung is the major supplier of OLED-panels to for iPhone 8, slated to be launched in September this year. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. The four accuse Qatar of supporting terror groups and also of maintaining close relations with Shiite power Iran Saudi Arabia's nemesis. (Photo: AP) Dubai: A government official in Qatar said Wednesday that the four Arab countries isolating the tiny Gulf nation have acted dangerously and in a "disorganized manner" after apparently changing their demands. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain said Tuesday that Qatar should commit to six principles on combatting terrorism and negotiate a plan to implement them. The four countries had initially made 13 sweeping demands, including shuttering the Arabic news network Al-Jazeera, which Qatar dismissed as an infringement on its sovereignty. Sheikh Saif Al Thani, director of Qatar's government communications office, said the four countries have "regularly issued conflicting statements." He said there has been no official communication made to Qatar directly or via the United States or Kuwait, which have tried to mediate the crisis. "These latest comments are another example of the dangerous and disorganized manner in which the illegal blockade has been conducted," he said in an emailed response to questions from The Associated Press. "At first there were no demands, but following pressure from mediating countries, the blockaders leaked a list of demands that was quickly deemed neither reasonable nor actionable," he added. The apparently new list of six demands includes commitments to combatting extremism and terrorism, preventing financing and safe havens for radical groups, and suspending all acts of provocation and speeches inciting hatred or violence. Qatar denies it has ever sponsored or supported terror groups and says the accusations are politically motivated. Not on this list are the more specific demands from the original 13 points that Qatar close down Al-Jazeera, curb ties with Iran, kick out troops from NATO member Turkey, which has a base in Qatar, expel wanted Islamists and pay reparations for damages allegedly caused by its policies. The four countries accuse Qatar of supporting groups like the Muslim Brotherhood, and say Qatar has given citizenship to wanted Brotherhood members and other Islamists. The small Gulf country's foreign policy stances have at times sharply contradicted Saudi and Emirati policy in the Middle East. Qatar has backed Islamist opposition groups across the region, which Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt deem a threat. Kuwait City: Kuwait on Thursday ordered the expulsion of about 15 Iranian diplomats after the emirate's top court convicted a "terror" cell of links to the Islamic republic, a government source said. Kuwait also ordered the closure of the Iranian "military, cultural and trade" missions, said the government official, who asked not to be named. The Gulf state's supreme court last month sentenced the mastermind of the cell to life in jail and condemned 20 others to various prison terms for alleged links with Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah and plotting terror attacks in Kuwait. State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Al-Sabah, who is also acting information minister, confirmed that Kuwait had taken diplomatic action against Iran but declined to specify the measures. "Following the supreme court ruling on the case ... the government of Kuwait has decided to take measures, in accordance with diplomatic norms and the Vienna Convention, towards its relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran," Sheikh Mohammad said. He provided no further details. The row comes at a time when Kuwait is trying to mediate an end to the Gulf's worst diplomatic crisis in years, after Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia and its allies cut ties with Qatar over accusations it is too close to Shiite Iran and funds extremists. The Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Seyassah reported on Monday that 14 of the cell's 26 members had fled to Iran by sea. They were convicted by a lower court early last year but acquitted on appeals several months later and set free. The supreme court, whose rulings are final, overturned their acquittal on June 18 and sentenced them to between five and 15 years in prison. Kuwait's interior ministry confirmed on Tuesday that the 14 men were on the run but it said that they had not left the country through official exit points. The cell was busted in August 2015 and large quantities of arms, ammunition and explosives were seized from them, according to the Kuwaiti authorities. Kuwaiti courts convicted them of working for Iran's Revolutionary Guards and Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah. They were also convicted of smuggling explosives from Iran. A senior police officer said that a similar protest was held at Mysuru Road, KR Market and other Metro stations where KRV members sprayed black paint on the Hindi signageboards. Jayanagar, Rajajinagar, Halasuru, Yeshwantpur, Chickpete, Peenya, Deepanjali Nagar and KR Market were among the stations that got the ink. The protest against imposition of Hindi has been raging over the past few weeks. Activists say the Centre was forcing the language on Kannadigas. They fear that Kannada will be eventually forced out due to the "hegemony" of Hindi , as it has been done in banks, where stationery is now provided only in Hindi and English. According to an eyewitness, Around 2.30 am, about 10 activists approached the MG Road station holding placards and banners. Policemen on duty took them into custody and foiled their attempt. The protest against use of Hindi in Namma Metro intensified on Thursday with Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) members blackening Hindi letters on signboards in several Metro stations in the early morning and staging flash protests.BMRCL staff were taken aback as KRV members formed separate groups and went about 40 different Metro stations at 4 am.They blacked the part of signboards containing Hindi letters and sat on a dharna in front of some Metro stations, holding placards and shouting anti-Hindi slogans.Police detained about 25 KRV members who staged a flash protest at Rajajinagar Metro station. Protesters attempted to enter MG Road station but were taken into police custody. A doctor who was abducted from east Delhi's Preet Vihar area was rescued from Meerut by the police after a shootout with the kidnappers. Four men have been nabbed in this connection, the police said. One of the accused also suffered bullet injuries in the shootout, said SSP (Meerut) Manzil Saini. Shrikant Gaur, who practises at a hospital in east Delhi, was kidnapped on July 6 from Preet Vihar while travelling in a cab. After kidnapping him, the abductors demanded a ransom of Rs 5 crore from his family members, who informed the police. The policemen then spoke to the kidnappers posing as representatives of the cab aggregator. They told the kidnappers that they would pay the ransom amount since it was their customer who had been kidnapped. The police managed to track down the location of the accused in Daurala village in Meerut. They also requested for assistance from the Meerut police in the operation. On July 16, they were following a vehicle being driven by the kidnappers. However, after their vehicle got punctured, the accused left their vehicle and fled through some fields there, the police said. The police identified two of the accused as Sushil and his brother Anuj, residents of Dadri village. It also emerged that two others -- Ombir and Gaurav Sharma -- were involved in the kidnapping. Sushil is a driver with the cab aggregator firm and he had planned the kidnapping, the police said. After they were identified, the police started questioning their families and their teams also started scanning nearby villages. This evening the Delhi Police team received information that the doctor was being held captive at a house in Partapur village in Meerut. The police team surrounded the place where the doctor was being held captive. Following an exchange of fire between the Meerut and Delhi Police teams and the kidnappers, the doctor was rescued and four accused were nabbed, said the officer. The doctor is being brought to Delhi by a police team. DEAR HARRIETTE: This summer, I am directly managing an intern for my operations team. Whenever my intern has some downtime, I encourage her to go check out other departments of the company so she can learn during her time with us. I thought this was a great plan until I realized another colleague was giving her orders and using her for errands. How do I stick up for my intern when other departments are asking her to do work that takes her away from her responsibilities? -- No Funny Business, Cleveland DEAR NO FUNNY BUSINESS: Let's start with assessing how much downtime your intern has. It may be beneficial to her not only to observe what other departments are doing, but also to take part in some of their work. If she is handling a task or two here and there with other departments, that may not be a problem. Before you jump to conclusions, evaluate how your intern is spending her time, what others are asking her to do and whether she feels that she is learning. Next, speak to your colleague and ask the person to clear any tasks to be given to the intern with you before assigning them so that you can manage her time. The way you can stick up for your intern is to oversee her time. You may not need to block other engagement at your job, though. DEAR HARRIETTE: I was recently given three days off because of my overtime hours in the past few weeks. At first, I was happy and grateful that I could have a break, but now I'm beginning to think that my boss just wants me out of the office. My friends tell me I'm crazy, but I don't see other people getting this much time off due to their overtime! Am I losing it, or am I right to be suspicious? -- Something's Brewing, Philadelphia DEAR SOMETHING'S BREWING: Many companies are choosing to give employees time off rather than having to pay them overtime. This is one way that they are managing costs. At face value, your situation sounds like the new norm. That said, if your instinct is telling you that there's something else afoot, pay attention. When you come back to the office, request a meeting with your boss, and ask what you can do to help make your contribution more efficient. Point out that you know that he is very conscientious about the use of overtime. Ask him if he has any strategies to recommend for getting the work completed without the need for additional hours. Let him know you want to be an effective team player. Ask for his guidance on making that happen. Even if your nervousness was all in your head, showing your boss that you want to do what's best for the company is always wise. Harriette Cole is a lifestylist and founder of DREAMLEAPERS, an initiative to help people access and activate their dreams. You can send questions to askharriette@harriettecole.com or c/o Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106 A Hindu family at a remote village in West Bengal's Nadia district had no money to take the body of their father to the creamatorium for the last rites but their Muslim neighbours came to their help. Akali Sardar (80) of Palashipara Dhawapara village near Tehatta in Nadia district had died yesterday. His family had no money to take the body to the burning ghat about 26 km away. Around 210 families reside in Palashipara Dhawapara village, majority of them Muslims. When the villagers heard the Sardar family's problem, an announcement was made over the loud speaker asking the people to help them. The Muslims neighbours of Sardar family rushed to help them. They handed over money his two sons Khakon and Swapan and to his wife Shanti. No only that they carried the body to the burning ghat and waited till all the rituals were completed. A local Golam Hossain Seikh said, "Akali and I had grown up together. The family was in great distress due to lack of money. They were unable to take the body to burning ghat. We helped them. Being neighbour, if we don't stretch our hand, who will do?" Khakon, son of Akali said, "We had no money to take our father's body to the burning ghat. But our Muslim neighbours helped us to take the body to burning ghat at Kaliganj Ramnagar in Nadia, about 26 km away." Shanti, wife to Akali also expressed her gratitude to her Muslim neighbours. She said, "our Muslim neighbours rescued us from our problem. We will never forget the help." Hearing the matter, the Block Development Officer (BDO) of Tehatta 2, Abhijit Chowdhury, congratulated the villagers for helping the family of Akali Sardar. The BDO said, "The Muslims of the area have established an instance of communal harmony." All the nations realised that India had taken the right stand and had not pursued an unreasonable approach (on the face-off with China). Truth is with us, she said. This was the first time that the external affairs minister has spoken on the issue in Parliament. The face-off started on June 18 when the Indian Army went to Doklam Plateau to stop the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) from constructing a motorable road in the disputed areas along the China-Bhutan border. Bhutan and China have been holding bilateral negotiations to settle the boundary disputes. Special representatives of Beijing and New Delhi have also been holding talks to resolve the dispute over the Sino-India boundary. India and China, however, in 2012 had reached an agreement that the tri-junction boundary points among India, China and a third country would be finalised in consultation with the third country concerned. Responding to a series of queries during the Question Hour in the Upper House, Sushma said China had gone against the 2012 agreement. Explaining the reason for the Indian Armys intervention, she said the road the PLA wanted to build would pose a very serious security threat to India. Sushma said New Delhi suggested that India and China withdraw troops from Doklam Plateau before initiating talks on the issue. What we are asking for is not at all unreasonable, she said. India remains very alert about its security and that is why nobody can corner it, the minister said, when asked if China was aiming to encircle India with strategic assets in and around the Indian Ocean. Beijings move to build a road to change the status quo in the China-India-Bhutan boundary tri-junction posed a security threat to India, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told Parliament on Thursday.With the Sino-India military face-off in Doklam Plateau hitting the 33rd day, Sushma told the Rajya Sabha that the international community had taken note of Chinas aggressive stand against Bhutan.All the nations are with us because they all have seen how aggressive it (China) has been on a tiny country like Bhutan. The ambassador of Bhutan (in New Delhi) lodged a written protest (with China against the construction of the road in Doklam Plateau), Sushma said in a reply to questions from the MPs. BJP activists protesting the alleged mishandling of the Kotkhai schoolgirl rape and murder case today blocked several roads and gheraoed the state secretariat even as the shutdown called by the party affected normal life in the district. The party workers blocked roads in the Sanjauli and Victory tunnel areas and took out rallies in Theog and other parts of the district. The shutdown affected the supply of essentials such as bread, milk and vegetables. Most of the shops and other business establishments were closed. Office-goers and schoolchildren had a hard time as their vehicles were stopped at several places, forcing them to go to their destinations on foot. Senior BJP leader Suresh Bhardwaj, who led the protestors, accused the police and the government of trying to protect "the real culprits". He said the mysterious death of an accused in police custody in Kotkhai was a serious matter and "it appears that efforts are being made to destroy evidence". Bhardwaj alleged that the law and order situation has crumbled in Himachal Pradesh and the BJP would submit a memorandum to the Governor demanding imposition of President's rule in the state. The Nagrik Sabha, Shimla, also took out a protest march from the Deputy Commissioner's office to Raj Bhawan. The protestors blocked the Hindustan-Tibet National Highway at Theog, 32 km from here. Police has been deployed in strength to avoid any untoward situation. A Class X student was raped and murdered at the Kotkhai area of Shimla district on July 4 after she took a lift in a vehicle driven by one of the accused Rajender. The body of the victim was recovered from the nearby Halila forest two days later. Six persons were arrested in connection with the case. Pakistan today summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh after two civilians were killed in alleged ceasefire violations across the Line of Control by Indian troops. Director General (SA and SAARC) Mohammad Faisal who summoned the Deputy High Commissioner "condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations". Foreign Office (FO) said in a statement that firing by Indian troops in Nikial and Nezapir sectors yesterday killed two civilians and inured five others. "The deliberate targeting of civilians is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity and international human rights and humanitarian laws," Faisal said. He urged the Indian side to respect the 2003 ceasefire arrangement; investigate this and other incidents of ceasefire violations; instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire, in letter and spirit and maintain peace on the LoC. Faisal said that the Indian side should permit United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to play its mandated role as per the UN Security Council resolutions and alleged that despite calls for restraint, India continues to indulge in ceasefire violations. Indian forces have carried out 594 ceasefire violations along the LoC and the Working Boundary so far in 2017, the Director General claimed. Yesterday, Pakistan summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner Singh after two civilians were killed and six others injured in alleged ceasefire violations along the Line of Control by Indian troops. The Pakistani foreign ministry previously summoned the Indian envoy for two consecutive days on July 8 and 9, over the same issue, claiming that more civilians were killed in firing by Indian troops. Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has congratulated his wife, actress-MP Jaya Bachchan after she was named the Best Woman Parliamentarian of the Year (Rajya Sabha) today. Jaya was felicitated by the Indian government at Delhi's Vigyan Bhavan. "Jaya gets the Best Parliamentarian Award today... A moment of great pride for us all... Our gratitude to them that wish! "Best Parliamentarian Award to Jaya... A proud moment for all of us in the family..." Bachchan wrote in a series of tweets. The "Pink" actor also lauded Jaya for her committed and sincere participation as a member of Parliament. "Quietly and with great dignity Jaya has won the Best Parliamentarian award today... Committed, participatory and with an enviable attendance record, she has proved her worth in the annals of the seat of democracy - the Indian Parliament! "Work done with conviction and honesty, does not require any elaborate fanfare, beating of chests or self complimentary brandishing... The work speaks... And those that value it notice it," Bachchan wrote. The Kerala High Court today reserved its orders on the bail plea of Malayalam actor Dileep, arrested for allegedly plotting the February 17 abduction and assault of a popular South Indian actress. After hearing both sides--the government and accused, Justice Sunil Thomas reserved orders on the plea. Opposing the bail plea, Director General of Prosecution claimed that evidence gathered by the investigation agency has established that Dileep is the "kingpin" of the crime. The prosecution said the actor's judicial custody is required as the investigation agency was still looking for the mobile phone used for taking the video of the criminal act committed by first accused Sunil Kumar, alias 'Pulsar' Suni and his gang. A "quotation" was given to execute a crime and such a case was reported for the first time in the state, the prosecution said. It said investigation in the case was still on and there was possibility of involvement of other accused in the case. The prosecution said police may seek further custody of Dileep. There is clear evidence--mobile phone call records and witnesses--to prove that the prime accused Suni had met the actor at several places to plot the crime, it said. The prosecution also submitted the case diary in a sealed cover. Earlier, Dileep's counsel argued that meeting of two persons will not amount to hatching conspiracy and there was no evidence with the investigation agency to prove that the accused --Pulsar and Dileep--had met and talked. Arguing that sufficient grounds must be indicated by the investigation agency to keep a person in jail, the counsel described as "totally irrelevant" the statements made by the police in its remand report. Pleading for bail to the actor, the counsel pointed out that Dileep's police custody was already granted by the magistrate court for the purpose of the investigation. The intention of the case against him was just to humiliate the actor and destroy his career as a film artiste, he said. Rejecting the contention of police that the actor would influence witnesses in the case, the counsel said it was impossible for him to do so as the first accused in the crime was in custody. Pleading innocence, he argued that the actor was arrested on the basis of the statement by the first accused, who, he said, is a notorious criminal. The actor, arrested on July 10, moved the high court for bail after an Angamaly magisterial court refused to grant him the relief and sent him to judicial custody till July 25. Rejecting the bail plea, the magistrate court had said there is a chance of him tampering with the evidence. Dileep, charged under various sections of the IPC, including the one for hatching criminal conspiracy for abduction and assault of the actress in a moving car on February 17, is currently lodged in a jail in his home town Aluva. The police have claimed that the conspiracy to abduct and assault the actress and film the dastardly act was hatched by Dileep and 'Pulsar' Suni, the prime accused in the case. In their remand application, the police had claimed that Dileep had developed a grudge against the actress for letting his former wife know about his alleged affairs and had hatched a conspiracy to take revenge way back in 2013. The actress, who has worked in Tamil and Telugu films, was abducted and allegedly molested inside her car for two hours by the accused, who had forced their way into the vehicle and later escaped. The children of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif could face up to seven years in jail if it was proved that they had submitted fake documents to the Panama panel probing the money laundering allegations against the family, the Supreme Court warned today. The apex court heard the Panamagate scandal case for the fourth consecutive day since the hearing began on Monday, following submission of a report by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) on July 10, which was tasked by the court to probe allegation of corruption against Sharif and his family. "The punishment for submitting forged documents in the court is seven years in jail," warned the three-member panel of judges. The JIT among other things has observed that some of the documents submitted by the children of Sharif, 67, were tampered with. A trust deed provided by the prime minister's daughter Maryam Nawaz and executed in 2006 was written in Calibri font which was not commercially available till 2007. It was also notarised from an office in London on Saturday which is officially an off day, raising concern about the authenticity of the document. Similarly, Government of Dubai has revealed that the documents of Gulf Steel Mills provided by the prime minister's son Hussian Nawaz were forged as there was no record of those documents. Justice Ejaz Afzal is heading the probe panel comprising Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Justice Ijazul Ahsan. They also warned Salman Akram Raja, the lawyer of Sharif's children, against a media trial in the case after some of the documents presented by him were leaked to media and were discussed in talk shows yesterday. "You have been conducting a trial in the media and the documents (submitted to the court) have already been discussed in the media," said Justice Saeed. "There is a media dais outside, you should give your arguments there as well," he told Raja, who assured the court that he had not released any documents to media. Meanwhile, Raja presented his arguments in details. The arguments were still going on when the court adjourned the proceedings till tomorrow. The judges today again asked the Sharif family to provide the money trail of its various businesses in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UK. "The main question is where did the money for these businesses came," asked the panel. Later, Fawad Chaudhry, member of a legal team representing Imran Khan of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), told media outside the court after the hearing that the hearing might be completed by tomorrow. "For us the case is over. Sharif would have to go home and then jail for corruption. His children would also land in jail for forgery," he said. Minister of State for Information Marriyam Aurangzeb said that the prime minister has been vindicated as there is no proof of any corruption against him. "The prime minister was accused of money laundering and corruption but none of the allegations have been proved," she said. The scandal surfaced when the Panama Papers leaks last year revealed that Sharif's sons -- Hassan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz -- and his daughter Maryam -- owned offshore companies which managed their family's properties. The assets in question include four expensive flats in Park Lane, London. Opposition parties allege that the London flats were purchased through illegal money which Sharif and his family have rejected. However, they have been unable to satisfy the court about the source of money used to purchase these properties. The two warring factions of AIADMK in Tamil Nadu, which pledged support for NDA Presidential candidate, on Thursday congratulated Ram Nath Kovind on his victory in the Presidential election. Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, who is leading the AIADMK "Amma" group, in a message said, "I wish to convey to you my own felicitations and also those of the people of Tamil Nadu for a historic tenure in Rashtrapati Bhavan". The rebel AIADMK leader and former chief minister O Panneerselvam also congratulated Kovind and said that his services to the country will bring him fame. The BJP today took a swipe at the opposition's presidential candidate Meira Kumar's claim of fighting an ideological contest, saying she represented the dynasty culture of the Congress while its candidate Ram Nath Kovind showed its commitment to the marginalised groups. BJP spokesperson GVL Narsimha Rao said there were many to say that it was indeed an ideological contest with the NDA's "merit-based" selection pitted against the dynasty promoted by the Congress-led alliance. The Congress stood for "fake" slogans of Dalit empowerment as it did not field a Dalit when its candidate won the presidential elections in 2007 and 2012, he said. "Our commitment to elect a president from marginalised groups is genuine," he said in a statement. The opposition stood for "vote bank politics" while the BJP for 'sabka saath, sabka vikas", the opposition stood for corruption while the BJP for honest governance and the opposition stood for "insult of the Army", the BJP for "respect for security forces", he said. Kumar had today said that she stood for an "ideology that binds India". Kovind defeated the former Lok Sabha speaker, garnering more than 65 per cent of the votes in the Electoral College, to become the 14th President of India. India today made a renewed pitch for a "peaceful resolution" of the Dokalam standoff through diplomatic channels, stressing that "differences" should not become "disputes". Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Gopal Baglay told reporters here that New Delhi has been in "close contact" with the Bhutan government on the unfolding developments. "India's approach is to have a peaceful resolution of issues on border with China," he said underlining the understanding at the Astana meeting that differences between India and China should not be allowed to become disputes. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had met Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit in June in Kazakh capital Astana. "So, it is obvious that every responsible power, person and player in the world prefers peaceful resolution of matters," Baglay said. Asked whether India has briefed other countries on the issue, Baglay said it would not be appropriate for him to comment on diplomatic interactions on sensitive matters. Baglay also confirmed that National Security Advisor Ajit Doval will travel to Beijing on the 27th to attend a meeting of the BRICS multilateral grouping. Chinese and Indian soldiers have been locked in a face- off in Dokalam area of the Sikkim sector for over a month after Indian troops stopped the Chinese army from building a road in the disputed area. New Delhi has expressed concern over the road building, apprehending that it may allow Chinese troops to cut India's access to its northeastern states. China's state-run media has stepped up rhetoric against India in recent weeks. China claimed that it was constructing the road within its territory, and has been demanding immediate pull-out of the Indian troops from the Dokalam plateau. Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Dokalam, while China claims it as part of its Donglang region. Of the 3,488-km-long India-China border from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh, a 220-km section falls in Sikkim. For him, it was just a photo-op intended to be used for bragging before friends and acquaintances but he had no idea that it would land him in jail. Ajai Tiwari, a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Barabanki district, about 40 kilometers from here, who got himself photographed while sitting on the chair of state minister Sandeep Singh at the latter's office, was arrested on Thursday. Tiwari, who had gone to Bapu Bhavan, the building that houses offices of many ministers, to visit a friend a few days back. While taking a stroll along the corridors of the building, Tiwari reached the office of minister of state Basic Education Sandeep Singh. Tiwari entered the chamber of the minister, who was not in his office then and seated himself on the chair. He asked his friend, who accompanied him, to take a few good snaps. He quietly left the office after the photo shoot. The matter would not have come to light if Tiwari had managed to suppress his desire to use the pictures to create an impression on his friends and acquaintances. Tiwari uploaded the picture showing himself seated on the minister's chair on his Facebook page. The pictures then went viral on social networking sites, triggering alarm bells among officials, who swung into action and lodged a complaint with the police. The police on Thursday arrested Tiwari, a budding politician, from his residence at Haidergarh in Barabanki district. ''I simply wanted to get myself photographed while sitting on the chair...that's all,'' he said. Tiwari, who was planning to contest the local bodies polls in his district, urged the minister to pardon him as he did not have any ''ill intention''. There was all round jubilation at Paronkha, the native village of Ramnath Kovind, in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur Dehat district on Friday after he emerged victorious in the presidential polls with a handsome margin. People in large numbers gathered at his ancestral house in the village and sang songs and danced in joy. A special 'puja' was also performed at the village temple. Special prayers were also held at the mosque in the village. People had started gathering before Kovind's house since the morning after news of his lead over his rival Meira Kumar started trickling in. People also celebrated Kovind's victory at his residence at Indira Nagar locality in Kanpur town. The residents lighted earthen lamps and candles to express their joy. The district administration has dismissed 12 staffers of a residential school where 70 girls were allegedly forced to strip by the principal who wanted "to check if they were menstruating", an official said. The school's 'sardana' (principal-cum-warden) was dismissed soon after the March 29 incident in Khatoli, Basic Shiksha Adhikari Chander Prakash Yadav said here. "The other 12 staffers, including seven teachers and an accountant, were dismissed yesterday. They were found responsible in an inquiry into the forced stripping of the girls to check if they were menstruating ," he said. The inquiry was conducted by a magistrate, the education officer said. The students' parents in a complaint had alleged that the residential school's principal had forced their wards to strip and also threatened them with "consequences" if they disobeyed her, a senior district official said. Many students had also come forward with allegations of harassment against the principal, Yadav said. The Opposition today targeted the government over the lynchings, with the Congress accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "creating such an environment" and indulging in "double speak" on the issue. Congress leader Kapil Sibal, while speaking in the Rajya Sabha on lynchings, alleged that the prime minister was doing nothing to restrain cow vigilantes who, he said, include elements from VHP and Bajrang Dal. He was participating in a discussion on the 'situation arising out of the reported increase in the incidents of lynching and arocities on minorities and dalits across the country' which started yesterday. Sibal said the year 2017 has witnessed maximum murders and the cattle ban had negatively impacted leather industry besides industries like soap and shampoo. "I am shaken and shattered by the images of grotesque violence and heart-wrenching scenes (which) I have seen on social media and Twitter. We did not see it in the last 50 years," he said. He went on to question, "What is the sentiment behind it? Why 97 per cent of the violence has taken place after 2017?" Targeting the prime minister, he said it was Modi who had "provoked" such sentiments and quoted his three speeches on October 8, 2015, August 6, 2016 and June 29, 2017. Sibal said paradoxically in one of the speeches, the PM had said that some people were involved in the crime during night and during the day they converted into 'gaurakshaks' but no action was taken against such people. "It is the PM whose statement is different during night and different during day...It is PM who is creating such environment. It is better to stop double speak and come clean," the Congress leader said. He said the prime minister should not just quote Mahatma Gandhi but follow him in letter and spirit. Sibal said the VHP has announced creating a "holy army of gaurakshaks" and recruited 2,700 people. "These are recruited by VHP and trained by Bajrang Dal," he said and questioned "Why doesn't he (PM) say that VHP and Bajrang Dal were anti-social? He gets political support for elections. Hindutva ideology has created a reign of terror," Sibal said. He said the fight today is between "fake" and "real" hindu. He said the House needs to rise to stop hooligans who were out to destroy peace and tranquility of the nation. The Congress leader alleged that government was not able to even take care of cows as 50 cows had lost their lives in Haryana as they were not taken care of well. Raising a point of order, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said Sibal should authenticate three statements of the PM which he quoted, else these should be expunged. He also objected to mention of VHP and Bajrang Dal, saying it is the practice not to mention those who are absent from the floor of the House and cannot defend themselves. Naresh Gujral (SAD), while participating in the debate, urged the members to refrain from giving political colour to incidents in a land where Buddha and Mahavir spread the message of tolerance. Asserting that goondaism cannot be tolerated, he said the governemnt could talk to the Chief Justice of India for creating special court for speedy trial of lynching cases, which amounted to acts like "terrorism". He said it was time that this "madness" was brought to an end as people are becoming reluctant to come and invest in India in such an atmosphere. Attacking the government, Sharad Yadav (JDU) said the incidents of lynching were more deadly than killings by Talibans and Afghans. When religion overtakes poltics or vise versa, internal conflicts are created, he said and pointed towards Pakistan, Afghanistan and Syria. Yadav said, "it is unfortunate that such a condition has been created in the country that a student from JNU goes traceless, people are lynched in the name of cow and condition has become so bad that people are afraid of travelling in buses and trains." He said BJP-ruled states were witnessing maximum cases of lynching. Such incidents occurred in 14 districts of Jharkhand, 11 districts of UP, 9 districts of Haryana, 5 districts of Rajasthan and 4 districts each of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat, Yadav said. Alleging that laws were being trampled, he asked the government to take "corrective measures as the minority community of India has chosen the country to live and die here." "Don't provoke him. Stop this drama," he said and alleged that livestock was being destroyed on the one side and 12,000 farmers were committing suicide in the country on the other side. The New Mexico Educational Retirement Board is conducting an investigation into whether retired public school employees have been drawing both a salary and a pension at the same time, or double-dipping. According to the rules of the ERB's return-to-work program, a retiree is required to wait a year before returning to half- or full-time employment at a school to avoid double-dipping situations. Some public school employees, however, might have returned to their old jobs immediately after retirement as employees of Cooperative Educational Servicesa group created by the school districts in 1979 to streamline supply purchases from vendorswhich provides specialist staff members for schools. The ERB's investigation will be looking at whether employees actually retired, or continued working in the same positions as CES employees to circumvent the ERB's return-to-work requirements. The cooperative says it has followed all of the guidelines laid out by the ERB, and that they even asked ahead of time if employees could be reassigned to their original schools. Officials in the ERB say they never gave permission for employees to return to the exact positions they held before retiring. Depending on how the investigation goes, hundreds of CES employees could potentially have to repay some of the benefits theyve received, although Jan Goodwin, executive director of the ERB, says she estimates the number to be around 15 or 20 employees. Decades-Old Water Rights Case Closes One of the longest running federal cases in US historyfiled by the state engineer in 1966was finally closed in Santa Fe last week. The lawsuit, known as the Aamodt Casenamed after the first defendant listed in the complaint, R. Lee Aamodtwas filed 51 years ago to settle claims for the water rights between four pueblos, non-Native farmers and well-owners in the Nambe - Pojoaque- Tesuque stream basin. Last Friday, US District Judge William P. Johnson adjudicated water rights among four Native pueblos and non-Native residents in northern Santa Fe County. A settlement was reached and approved by Congress in 2010 which calls for the creation of a regional water system in the area, which will use water diverted from the Rio Grande, and sets out regulations for well owners who wish to tie into the system or continue using their wells. Part of the settlement provides $82 million in immediate funding from the federal government, which was signed into law by President Barack Obama. Congress also authorized $92.5 million in future funding. The state is responsible for nearly $72 million in funding, and Santa Fe County is expected to pay $11.7 million. The Bureau of Reclamation will be in charge of designing the water system. The federal government has set a 2024 deadline for completion of the water system. If the system has not been completed by then, the judge's decree and the 2010 settlement will be voided. The parties involved in the case can still appeal to the US 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy Beijing set withdrawal of Indian Army troops from the scene of a face-off at Doklam Plateau as a pre-condition for meaningful dialogue between the two sides. New Delhi made it clear that Indian Army too would withdraw troops, only if Chinese People's Liberation Army too did the same. Doval, who is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's National Security Advisor, will be in Beijing on July 27 and 28. He will attend a meeting of the top security officials of the BRICS (a bloc comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). Yang, the State Councillor of China, is hosting the multilateral meeting. Though both Doval and Yang are respectively Special Representatives of India and China for negotiations to settle the dispute over the boundary, neither New Delhi nor Beijing has so far confirmed if they will discuss the current face-off between Indian Army and Chinese People's Liberation Army in Doklam Plateau in western Bhutan. Doval's forthcoming visit to Beijing for the BRICS meeting next week was confirmed by the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, Gopal Baglay, on Thursday. Baglay, however, stressed that Doval would be visiting to attend the BRICS national security advisors' meeting a multilateral event. He, however, declined to comment on the possibility of his having a bilateral meeting with Yang or with other officials of Chinese Government in view of the current military face-off. The Press Trust of India on Thursday quoted Lu Kang, a spokesperson for Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Chinese Government, saying in Beijing on that the diplomatic channel between India and China remained unimpeded and the withdrawal of the Indian Army troops were the pre-condition for any meaningful dialogue and the communication between the two sides. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told Parliament that New Delhi had suggested simultaneous withdrawal of Indian and Chinese troops from Doklam Plateau to set the stage for dialogue on the issue. The Special Representatives of India and China have been holding negotiations since 2003 to resolve the long-pending boundary dispute. They reached an agreement in 2005 on the political parameters and guiding principles for the settlement of the dispute. They have since been engaged in talks on a framework, which will be followed by the actual demarcation of the border. India's approach is to have a peaceful resolution of issues on the border with China, Baglay said on Thursday. Prime Minister and Chinese President Xi Jinping had agreed during a meeting in Astana in early June that the differences between India and China should not be allowed to become disputes, he added. So, it is obvious that every responsible power, person and player in the world prefers peaceful resolution of matters, said the MEA spokesperson. Doval and Yang had held the 19th round of the parleys in Beijing in April 2016 and agreed that the 20th round would take place in New Delhi this year. The two Special Representatives for boundary negotiations, however, could meet even between two rounds of dialogues. India's chief interlocutor for boundary talks with China, Ajit Doval, will visit Beijing on an invitation from his counterpart, Yang Jiechi, next week; it is still not clear if they will discuss the current military face-off in Bhutan. Meira Kumar might have lost the Presidential polls but the joint Opposition has something to cheer as she has polled the highest votes by a losing candidate. This is despite the cross voting in favour of Kumar's opponent and winner Ram Nath Kovind, the NDA candidate who polled 7.02 lakh votes. She polled 3.67 lakh votes out of 10.69 valid votes polled. The Opposition had suffered a set back in the run up to the Presidential polls after Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) broke the unity within non-NDA parties to support. The JD(U) had 20,779. Kumar has polled 34.35% votes and this is the "highest ever opposition candidate vote", a senior Opposition leader told DH. However, a Congress spokesperson has made a blooper, saying "this is the second highest vote secured by a runner-up candidate". The figures in Election Commission's booklet on 2017 Presidential elections paints a different picture, as it shows that none of the losing candidates got more votes than Kumar. "Also, if you look at the total result of the 15 Presidential elections, I think six other Presidents who were elected, had secured a cumulative total of the much higher number of votes, and percentages than the current election. So, it is an eye-opener for those who are arrogating only based upon numbers," Surjewala said. The previous highest votes were secured by a runner-up was in 1967 when Kota Subbarao secured 3.63 lakh votes against Dr Zakir Hussain. Another one was in 1992 when G G Swell secured 3.46 lakh votes against Shankar Dayal Sharma. RJD MP and senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani, who had then contested had got just 2,704 votes. In the 2012 election, President Pranab Mukherjee's opponent P A Sangma had garnered 3.15 lakh votes while the then Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, who contested in 2007 for the top post, got 3.31 lakh votes. The highest number of candidates was in 1967 elections when 17 contested. Nine of the got not a single vote then. Similarly, in 1969, there were 14 opponents for eventual winner V V Giri but five of them did not open their account. In the first elections, Dr Rajendra Prasad's opponent K T Shah polled 92,827 votes while Choudhary Hari Ram secured 2,672 and 6,341 votes in the 1957 and 1962 polls. However, if one takes the percentage of votes the runner-up got, the highest was in 1967 when Subbarao polled 43.43% of votes while in 1969, Reddy polled 37.49%. Kumar polled 34.35%). Runner-Ups 1952 -- K T Shah 92,827 (15.33%) 1957 -- Chaudhary Hari Ram 2,672 (0.05%_ 1962 -- Chaudhary Hari Ram 6,341 (1.14%) 1967 -- Kota Subbarao 3,63,971 (43.43%) 1969 -- Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy 3,13,548 (37.49%) 1974 -- Tridib Chaudhuri 1,89,196 (19.81%) 1977 -- No opponents 1982 -- H R Khanna 2,82,685 (27.26%) 1987 -- V R Krishna Iyer 2,81,550 (27.49%) 1992 -- G G Swell 3,46,485 (33.76%) 1997 -- T N Seshan 50,631 (5.02%) 2002 -- Lakshmi Sahgal 1,07,366 (10.42%) 2007 -- Bhairon Singh Shekhawat 3,31,306 (34.17%) 2012 -- P A Sangma 3,15,987 (30.68%) Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday asked the Opposition parties in the Rajya Sabha to stop giving a political colour to cow-related violence, saying it could never be a partisan issue. Replying to a debate on the issue of beef-related violence and lynching, Jaitley said, Violence can never be a partisan issue and oppression in the name of cow will not be tolerated. He held that the protection of cows was not introduced by the BJP. He quoted Article 48 of the Constitution, which calls upon the state to protect cows from slaughter, saying it was written by Dr B R Ambedkar. Then, there was not a state where the BJP was in power. It was during (Jawaharlal) Nehrus rule, he said. Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said his party was not seeking to support the slaughter of cows. Jaitley said, Wherever acts of violence and lynching have erupted, legal proceedings and charge sheets have been filed in a systematic way. Sensitivity to the cow could not justify violence. President-elect Ram Nath Kovind will have a busy schedule from Friday onwards, starting with an official briefing on his swearing ceremony scheduled for July 25. Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha, accompanied by Union Home Secretary Rajiv Maharshi, will give him a presentation about the details of the swearing-in ceremony for the new President in the Central Hall of Parliament. Major General Anil Khosla, the military secretary to the President, will pay a courtesy call on the President-elect. A temporary President's Secretariat will be set up at 10 Akbar Road where Kovind is staying for the present. The President's Bodyguard, an elite household cavalry regiment of the Indian Army, will also take up position there. This is the official bungalow of Union Minister of state for Culture Makesh Sharma, which was converted into Kovind's campaign office. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat will be briefing Kovind on Saturday. As the supreme commander of the armed forces, Kovind will familiarise himself with all aspects of the defence establishment including the nuclear command authority that is headed by the Prime Minister. As for the swearing-in ceremony on July 25, Kovind will first leave for Rashtrapati Bhavan from 10 Akbar Road at 10.15 am. He will be escorted by the military secretary to President to Rashtrapathi Bhavan where he will meet outgoing President Pranab Mukherjee for the first time since his election. Mukherjee and Kovind will have a one-on-one discussion on important files and policies related to defence, external affairs and finance. After which, Mukherjee and Kovind proceed to Parliament building. Both the leaders will be escorted into the Centrall Hall of Parliament by the Chief Justice of India, Prime Minister, Vice President and the Speaker of Lok Sabha. The Chief Justice of India will adminster the oath of office, which is to be completed in 14 minutes. Once the ceremony gets over, Kovind moves into the Rashtrapati Bhavan as India's 14 the President. Mukherjee will move to 10, Rajaji Marg residence that has been allotted to him. The Defence Ministry has issued the much-awaited request for information to six international arms majors to construct six conventional diesel-electric submarines under the Project-75I in an Indian shipyard. Those who received the RFI in sealed envelopes are Rosoboronexport (Russia), Navantia (Spain), Saab (Sweden), ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (German), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (Japan) and Naval Group (formerly French DCNS), sources said. The chosen original equipment manufacturer will have to partner with an Indian company to produce the underwater boat in an Indian shipyard as P-75I is one of the projects selected for execution under the Defence Ministry's new Strategic Partnership model that seeks to encourage the Indian private sector to enter the defence manufacturing business. The acceptance of the necessity for a second assembly line of submarines was approved way back in 2007. But the scheme underwent several twists and turns in the last 10 years with the incumbent NDA government finally deciding that all of these boats would be built in an Indian shipyard. The submarines will be fitted with air independent propulsion technology, which will enable these boats to stay longer under the water. An expert panel under the chairmanship of Vice Admiral A V Subhedar (rtd), former controller of warship production and acquisition in the Indian Navy assessed the capabilities of all Indian shipyards both public and private sectors and submitted a report to the defence ministry, which is to take a decision on the shipyard based on its findings. Way back in 1999, Indian Navy planned to acquire 24 diesel electric submarines over the next 30 years. The plan was modified twice later to incorporate nuclear-powered submarines and the deadlines were modified. But the targets set up even in the 2008-2022 indigenisation plan is way off the mark as Indian Navy currently operates 13 diesel electric and two nuclear-powered boats. The Rs 18,798 crore project to construct six French-origin Scorpene submarines at Mazgaon Dock is running four years behind schedule. The first submarine INS Kalvari is yet to be commissioned even though all the six submarines are to be inducted by 2019-20. Because of the delay, Navy has undertaken costly refit programmes to extend the life of the existing fleet. Today, India and China have mobilised their forces and concentrated troops to dominate Dokola in the Chumbi Valley, opposite Sikkim, over the latest Chinese territorial transgression there. From an Indo-centric security perspective, the Dokola-Tri Junction approach enables China the shortest approach to the Siliguri Corridor in West Bengal. The Corridor is the only landmass within the Indian territorial boundaries and connects the seven sisters of North-East India to the rest of the country. Therefore, the Siliguri Corridor has strategic importance for India. Another aspect is that Indias defence against China in Arunachal Pradesh will be rendered untenable due to denial of a land route for access into the area. Why has China chosen to initiate this brinkmanship with India now? Will this confrontation result in a hot or shooting war? The Chumbi Valley is essentially a low-lying area, in comparison to its surroundings, essentially being a part of the Tibetan plateau. The Chumbi Valley is shaped like the blade of a dagger with its sharp tip pointed towards India, at the point of Dokola and the Tri junction of India, Bhutan and Tibet. Both flanks of the Valley are dominant due to the high and rugged mountainous ranges. On the western flank, the ridge line rises from Dokola and runs in the North-North Western direction where numerical superiority favours the Indian Army. The defences at Batangla, Dongchiula, Jelepla, Nathula and Chola are based on this mountain range. On the eastern flank, the mountain range runs along the international boundary between Tibet and Bhutan in the North-North Eastern direction from the Tri junction. This range has relatively fewer troops as it is part of Bhutan. On the western slope of this mountain range is the Doklam Plateau which overlooks the Chumbi Valley. Today, China plans to develop its road network in the Doklam plateau as the area is more favourable for road construction activity vis- a-vis the Chumbi Valley. It would facilitate the Chinese logistical build up and progress ground operations towards the Siliguri Corridor. The capture of this Corridor will render Bhutan extremely vulnerable to Chinese designs. As a result, China has the potential to exploit this short and safe approach along the international boundary between India and Bhutan. The eastern flank being held by Bhutan has a thin military presence of the 8,000 strong Royal Bhutan Army which would make it vulnerable to hostile Chinese operations. Clearly, climatic considerations are an important issue given the Himalayan high altitudes and with the onset of winter, the mountainous terrain becomes that much more hostile with greater risk to life and limb. The tricky nature of the mountainous Himalayan terrain has invariably resulted in innumerable territorial transgressions between the Asian neighbours time and again, but resolved through military and diplomatic channels without further escalation. In 2014, these two neighbours were engaged in a military stand-off at Chumar in Eastern Ladakh when 1,500 Indian troops were involved against 750 Chinese soldiers that lasted 16 days. Similarly in 2013, the two sides militarily faced off against each other at Depsang 19 km into Indian territory and the Chinese had pitched five tents for almost three weeks there. The latest military stand-off between India and China should be viewed in the backdrop of the international strategic environment over Indias participation in the recently commenced naval exercise along with the US and Japan in the Indian Ocean waters. This loose alliance between these three countries which have had a history of hostility with China, signals an exercise in collective security to thwart Beijings regional political-military dominance. Moreover, Indias relations with several smaller Southeast Asian nations which also perceive a level of military threat from China characterise the regional strategic environment. This refers to Indias ties with Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam which are also political-military in character. At the individual level, it is necessary to look the "great man in history" concept where the personalities of leaders shape their countries national security and foreign policy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not hesitated to emphasise a military approach in foreign policy towards Pakistan with a solitary surgical strike. However, the same policy cannot hold good for China which has a stronger strategic stature in terms of size of its military, territory, population and economy. Military muscle At the state level, whether the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the dominant decision maker in national security and foreign policy formulation, is the question. The fact that China has flexed its military muscle on eight occasions in the post-Second World War period has shaped its strategic culture. Chinese strategic culture comprises two strands of thought namely Confucian thinking which emphasises that Peace is Precious and Realpolitik that highlights how war is integral to inter-state relations. While Confucian thinking is relevant to China as a kingdom, Realpolitik relates to China as a modern nation state. The Chinese leadership likes to engage in offensive military operations as a primary alternative in pursuit of national goals and rationalise these actions as being purely defensive in nature and a last resort. In today's international strategic environment, China would be cautious not to escalate the military confrontation with India into a shooting match. Beijing would like the international community to perceive it as a responsible state and not earn the label of an aggressor nation. Now that both neighbours have deployed force levels and locked horns with each other in a stalemate, the next step forward would have to be diplomacy in order to avoid a hot war. Clearly, any kind of military engagement would not serve either India or Chinas national interests. 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Ireland United States Minor Outlying Islands United States of America Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe India signed a commercial deal with Israel to buy the medium-range surface-to-air missiles. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Israeli Aircraft Industry signed an implementation pact a few days ago to kickstart the purchase deal, Ministry of Defence sources said. The Rs 17,000-crore deal had been cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Security in February. Sealing of the deal has happened weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi became the first Indian leader to visit Israel. The Opposition parties in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday decided to boycott the ongoing Budget session to protest, what they termed, the arrogance of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Members of the SP, BSP, Congress and RLD staged a walkout in the Assembly after lodging a strong protest over the tone and tenor used by Adityanath in the House on Thursday while speaking on the Budget. The chief ministers choice of words for the Opposition is regrettable. His speech was undemocratic and reflected his arrogance... the government wants to suppress the voice of the Opposition, Leader of the Opposition and SP leader Ram Govind Chaudhary said. His views were echoed by BSPs Lalji Verma and Congress leader Ajai Kumar, who also criticised Adityanath and his party members. We have decided to boycott the rest of the Budget session. There is no point staying in the House when you are not allowed to speak, Chaudhary said. He also claimed his microphone was switched off while he was speaking. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna said there was no attempt to suppress the voice of the Opposition. India on Thursday warned Pakistan against targeting civilians living near the disputed boundary between the two countries. In the second unscheduled telephonic conversation in a week, Indian Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Lt Gen A K Bhatt told his Pakistani counterpart Maj Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza how the Pakistan army violated military ethos by targeting the border villages and schoolchildren. Pakistan DGMO was informed of the action by Pakistani troops, wherein they had deliberately targeted civilian villages and fired at schoolchildren while they were being evacuated. This, he was told, does not behove of any army, an Indian Army spokesperson said here in a statement. The Indian Army, acting like a professional force, took due care to avoid targeting civilians and the Pakistan army was expected to do the same, he said. The 15-minute hotline conversation on Thursday was sought by the Indian Army and took place around 3.30 pm. This comes in the backdrop of nearly 200 schoolchildren facing Pakistan fire earlier this week. On July 18, students in at least three schools near the Line of Control in the Nowshera sector of Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir were trapped on campus as Pakistan opened fire and the Indian Army retaliated. The Pakistan army pounded Indian posts and forward villages, prompting India to retaliate in equal measure. The children were caught in the crossfire and had to be evacuated in bulletproof vehicles. Lt Gen Bhatt also blamed Pakistan for calibre escalation, which means increased use of 120 mm mortars instead of 80 mm mortars and small arms. Maj Gen Mirza was also informed about the spate of ceasefire violations. The two military officers had another round of telephonic talks on Monday, in which the Pakistani DGMO raised the issue of Pakistani posts being targeted by the Indian Army, leading to the death of four soldiers and one civilian. Mondays unscheduled conversation was sought by Pakistan. The Opposition DMK on Thursday announced a human chain protest on July 27, demanding Presidential sanction for the bills passed in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, exempting it from NEET. A DMK resolution, which was adopted at a party district secretaries meeting here, blamed the Centre for not responding to and respecting the states democracy by not sending the two bills to the President for approval. The party also charged the Centre for playing a dangerous game with the future of the students, who were forced to take up the Test. Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai-led AIADMK team on Thursday met Prime Minister in Delhi and submitted a memorandum seeking the exemption from NEET. A three-day international conference Quest for Equity: Reclaiming Social Justice, Revisiting Ambedkar commencing here on Friday will come out with a Bengaluru Declaration that will look at policy responses to address issues pertaining to social justice, human rights, freedom and democracy. Organised by the Karnataka government to commemorate the 126th birth anniversary of the architect of the Indian Constitution Dr B R Ambedkar, the conference will be inaugurated by human rights activist Martin Luther King III, the oldest son of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. All India Congress Committee vice president Rahul Gandhi will be the chief guest. The Bengaluru Declaration will come on Day Three of the conference, scheduled to be held at GKVK campus, University of Agricultural Sciences, after several plenary sessions in which 300 speakers including 83 from abroad will participate. According to the concept note on the conference, hatred and violence towards Dalits, tribals and minorities has been on the rise especially during the last three years. The Bengaluru Declaration will be a blueprint that will respect, protect and further the collective aspirations of all Indians. The concept note states that marginalised and vulnerable sections of society are being systematically denied access and opportunities to a better life and it posed a grave threat to Indias inclusive conception of polity and citizenship. The conference will provide a platform for progressive forces to join hands, it states. Some of the international speakers who have confirmed their participation include American philosopher Cornel West, political theorist Bhikhu Parekh, political analyst James Manor, legal scholar Upendra Baxi and others. Speakers from India include Aruna Roy, Nikhil Dey, Shiv Vishvanathan, Shashi Tharoor, Salman Khurshid, Prakash Ambedkar (grandson of B R Ambedkar) and Rajeev Gowda. Themes of some of the sessions at the conference include caste, class and identity, categorising the disadvantaged and public policy, secularism and cultural pluralism, political power and social justice, religion and social justice. The High Court of Karnataka on Thursday acquitted four members of the Dandupalya gang of murder and their death sentence was set aside. These alleged notorious thieves and murderers, involved in a series of cases of theft and murder, were acquitted of the murder of Dr Prabhakar Joshi and his son Neelakanta Joshi in Hubballi in 2000. A division bench comprising Justice Ravi Malimath and Justice John Michael Cunha acquitted the four. The appellants Venkatesh, Munikrishna, Nalla Thimma and Lakshmi were sentenced to death by the special court in Parappana Agrahara jail. Hearing the appeal and criminal referred cases, the division bench acquitted them on the ground that there was lack of evidence against them. The court opined that their fingerprints were created after they were arrested and wrongly accused in the case. State Congress president G Parameshwara on Thursday accused the BJP of shelving a proposal to have a separate state flag when it was in power between 2008 and 2013. The Kannada and Culture department had mooted the proposal in 2012. Govind Karjol was the Kannada and Culture minister at that time. But the then BJP government shelved the proposal, he told reporters, who sought his reaction to the Opposition parties raising objection to the governments move to have a separate flag. He said the government has only formed a committee of officials to look into the possibility of having a separate flag. The government will taken an appropriate decision after the panel submits its report, he added. On discontentment among a section of the state Congress leaders over the appointment of new KPCC office-bearers, Parameshwara said the Congress is a big party and there is nothing unusual about some leaders being unhappy. The party will give responsibility to the able leaders in the coming days, he added. He said AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to take part in the party rally to be organised at Raichur on August 4 this year. He will be attending the inauguration of international conference on Ambedkar at GKVK campus in Bengaluru on Friday evening. Rahul is scheduled to return to Delhi the same day, soon after the inauguration, he added. The Supreme Courts nine-judge bench on Thursday sought to know to what extent the right to privacy could be applied in case of private players when the citizens had surrendered personal data to public space. The bench, presided over by Chief Justice J S Khehar, asked where and how the state should intervene to protect the right to privacy of individuals, when 99% of the people were unconcerned. The court also posed queries on whether the right to identity was a part of privacy; in certain cases like hardened criminals, the state collected data for its own predictive analysis, and in some cases, data was managed by private players. On the question of right to privacy in the case of Aadhaar cards, it said, The state will have to put in place a legislative and regulatory framework. But questions will arise about how one can enforce this right vis-a-vis private players, since fundamental rights are enforceable only against the state. Can an individual assert his right to be anonymous? A fundamental question before us is, to what extent an individual can say he has the right to remain anonymous. To what extent can you assert your right to privacy to suppress your identity, the bench asked. Senior advocate Arvind Datar, arguing for a petitioner, contended that there should be individual control on dissemination of personal information and protection of individual autonomy on personal choices. There could be remedy of personal damages in case of violation by non-state actors and writ jurisdiction in case of violation by the state. Contending that privacy is multi-faceted and complex, Datar said it is for the state to regulate private players as it does in the case of stock market, drug pricing etc. Senior advocate Anand Grover submitted that when the compulsion to disclose was bothersome to ones dignity, it would be violation of privacy. Appearing for Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar, senior advocate Sajan Poovayya submitted that the apex court should lay down the pillar and declare it as a fundamental right. A petition addressed to the central government is seeking menstrual leave for women across the country. Two companies one in Mumbai and another in Kerala are already giving leave to women on the first day of their period. Digital media company Culture Machine, based in Mumbai, was the first to announce additional leave for women to help them cope with the discomfort of menstruation. The leave is granted over and above the other leave employees are entitled to. The petition, seeking a menstrual leave policy to cover women employees in all sectors, is addressed to Prakash Javadekar, Minister for Human Resources Development, and Maneka Gandhi, Minister for Women and Child Welfare. The campaign is garnering wide support. Professionals and HR heads interviewed by DH welcomed the idea. Personally speaking, I have grown resistant to the cramps, but I have seen colleagues who are distracted by the pain, said Apoorva Gowda, manager at a private bank. Ramya, who works in a software company, said the leave would usher in great change. We will not have to take any more sick leaves. We can be open about the reason, she said. Sitara, who works in the human resources department of an IT company, said, Most companies such as ours already provide a work-from-home option. Women can choose this option instead of actually taking a full day off. Being a woman, I understand the pain completely, so if the policy is implemented, it is a definite relief. But she said she could do without it too. Devleena Majumdar, HR head of Culture Machine, said, The thought was triggered when one of our employees was having a really bad day because of the cramps. We thought about taking period pain seriously and speaking up for women experiencing it. The reaction of the male employees at Culture Machine was supportive. As we move towards a more progressive and inclusive work space, it is high time companies started talking about menstruation as a natural process, she said. Ruchir Joshi, head of content, Culture Machine, said, A lot of time I find men complaining she gets a period and gets a day off. If we were to have that kind of discomfort, then we would not be doing any work either. Countries like Taiwan, Indonesia, China, Japan and South Korea already allow female staff leave during their menstrual cycle. At a press conference here on Thursday, Ramesh stated that there is a misuse of Rs 65 crore and he has lodged a complaint against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Bengaluru Development Minister K J George with the Lokayukta and Anti-Corruption Bureau in this regard. According to government estimates, the construction cost of each kitchen and canteen is Rs 39 lakh and Rs 28 lakh respectively. The canteen will be built on 900 sqft. Thus, construction of each 100 sqft will be Rs 2.9 lakh whereas in reality, the cost is only Rs 95,000 per 100 sqft. Food and Civil Supplies Minister U T Khader has pooh-poohed the charges of deflated estimates for setting up the proposed Indira Canteens in Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) limits. Speaking to reporters in Mangaluru, Khader, who is also a member of the Indira Canteen Implementation Committee, said: The BJP has been proving a hurdle in every good deed of the government. Indira Canteens is one of the model concepts in the nation, but the saffron party is pulling all stops to stop the same from becoming a reality. It has become their habit from the past four years, lodging several complaints which have eventually turned out to be a farce, said the minister. BJP leader N R Ramesh has accused the ruling Congress of large-scale irregularities in the proposed Indira Canteens, which will offer tiffin and meals at subsidised rates. The Bengaluru police, in collaboration with various banks, held a workshop for policemen on issues pertaining to cybercrime, especially credit and debit card frauds. Around 80 police officers working in the crime branch and cybercrime police stations in the city attended the one-day workshop on Thursday. Experts from banks shared experiences with the police officers and also gave tips on ways to handle cybercrimes. City Police Commissioner Praveen Sood said that every cybercrime throws up new challenges to the investigating officers. There is a need for an exchange programme between various agencies to enhance quality of investigation. Fraudsters involved in cybercrimes use unique modus operandi and this needs to be understood by the investigating officers, he said. The city police chief also said cases in hand suggested that it took less than 15 minutes for hackers to clone cards and swipe them. Sood also pointed out the negligence on the part of the banks. All these issues have to be tackled effectively and the agencies concerned should meet regularly to update the knowledge, he said. One-day workshops will continue to be held in the coming days, a senior police official said. Dr M Shankar Reddy, Registrar (Evaluation), said that such mistakes occurred as the colleges did not provide the university with correct information about the students internal marks within the stipulated time. He added that this also delayed the announcement of the results. If the registration number is not written correctly, if internal marks are not submitted and if incorrect details about attendance are given, such mistakes occur. We are looking into these matters, Dr Reddy said. He said that to avoid such mistakes, they had held a session for lecturers before the start of the exams, to warn them of the common mistakes made. Even then, several problems have come up. We will take action against colleges which did not follow the procedures. We will also make sure that students dont face any problem with admission to postgraduate courses, he said. Anxious students are turning up at the Bangalore University campus in Jnanabharathi, with complaints about errors in their results. BCom and BCA students got their final-semester results earlier this month. Many students who took the examinations are perplexed as their result indicates that they were absent for certain subjects.My results say that I was absent for an exam when, in fact, I did attend it. When I brought this up with the examinations department, they said that they would correct the mistake. It has been a week now and I am still waiting, Manoj, a student, said.Students from Chikkaballapura, Ramanagaram, Kolar and different parts of Bengaluru were at the university campus on Thursday to get their results corrected. However, owing to staff shortage, only 20 students were able to get their results corrected.The degree results were announced on July 9 but there were many problems with it. Students are worried as the last date to apply for postgraduate courses is July 21. We have not got the corrected result yet and the last date to submit applications is here. We cannot apply without a provisional marks card, Sindhu, a student said.They complained that officials were not being responsive to their problem. An official in the university said, There were several errors in the results of 60 students of a college in Chintamani in Chikkaballapur district. Similarly, many other students have also been affected and they are coming here everyday to get them corrected. The Supreme Court on Thursday expressed concern over vanishing wetlands in the country, including in Bengaluru, and asked the Centre to explain the huge amount of money spent on various works related to preservation of waterbodies. A wetland is a land area that has water, either permanently or seasonally, and takes on the characteristics of a distinct ecosystem. The court cited reports of disappearance of lakes in Bengaluru and the Chennai flood in 2015. So many of these wetlands have vanished. In 2015, there were floods in Chennai. The reports said that there was flooding as wetlands have vanished. In areas like Bhopal and Bengaluru, lakes have disappeared, a bench comprising Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta noted. The government told the court that it had prepared a fresh affidavit giving details of identification and inventorisation of over two lakh wetlands in the country. However, advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for PIL petitioner M K Balakrishnan, said the Centre had not yet complied with the top courts earlier order and had not explained where the money had been spent. There are two to three things. Huge amounts have been spent on it. We do not know where the money has been spent, the bench told the counsel representing the Centre and asked as to what steps have you taken on it? The bench asked the petitioners counsel to go through the Centres affidavit, and posted the matter for further hearing after four weeks. The court earlier sought details of Rs 945.95 crore spent on various works related to wetlands and had said that the activities shown were extremely general in nature. It had asked the Centre to inventorise all 2,01,503 wetlands to protect and notify them in consultation with the state governments. Residents of Chickpet Assembly constituency will get to raise their various problems at Janaspandana Citizens for Change programme being organised by DH and Prajavani on July 22. The event will be held at Huq House, 14, Lalbagh Main Road, Raja Ram Mohan Roy Extension, Sudhama Nagar, at 10 am. Local MLA R V Devaraj, corporators of wards under Chickpet and officials of government agencies such as the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), Bescom and police will listen to peoples problems and address them instantly. The programme is part of the initiative by DH and Prajavani to connect with Bengalureans and help solve their civic problems from waste disposal to streetlights, stray dog menace to roads, water supply and sewerage to electricity, health to public transport, footpaths to parks, and playgrounds to traffic and law and order. The publications have already organised such events in different parts of the city. Participants should reach the venue by 9 am and register at the temporary reception counter. Additionally, they can send their grievances by e-mail (janaspandana@printersmysore.co.in) or phone (94485 28998) between 9 am and 5 pm. What if Kraftwerk had grown up sneaking around Del Mars choicest skate spots instead of fantasizing about the autobahn in 1970s Germany? Aaron M. Olson didnt set out with such lofty aims, but the likeness is clear as the Del Mar native plays composer and frontman to L.A. Takedown, his seven-piece band building a name on the indie rock circuit on the strength of a well-received second album. Olson, a 2003 graduate of San Dieguito High School Academy, studied classical music history and theory at San Francisco State University before settling into the Los Angeles music scene. In 2015 he put out L.A. Takedowns debut album, a single, sprawling 42-minute track that the L.A. Times contemplated as a new soundtrack for the city of angels. Olson then gathered together friends, including his older brother, and turned L.A. Takedown into a fully fleshed band churning out cinematic post-rock that never strays too far from Olsons pop sensibilities. L.A. Takedowns second album II (pronounced dos) dropped on May 10, drawing accolades from the likes of Noisey and NPR, and carried the band into a tour this spring that included an emotional stop at the Casbah in Little Italy. Having now settled back into his L.A. life with an oh-so-apt gig at the Silver Lake Library Olson took time to reminisce about his first awkward shows at Del Mar Hills Elementary School, the subliminal influence of concerts at Powerhouse Park, the Del Mar Fairgrounds surprisingly hip acts, and how an hours-long walk to Blacks Beach became, 15 years later, the namesake inspiration for his bands latest video. The conversation below has been edited for length and clarity. You started L.A. Takedown as a project to score a friends short films. The name comes from a 1989 movie by Michael Mann. Your songs are cinematic, instrumental compositions. Is that cinematic feel the essence of what youre trying to do? Olson: What Im really trying to do is to make music that I would enjoy listening to, and it just so happens that I enjoy film scores. So I guess my goal is to make music with that feeling of a film score but that also infuses elements of a three-minute pop song. Because I really am a big fan of pop music, from the Beatles to things like Tears for Fears. Im trying to do things with instrumental music that can work those elements into it. I just love instrumental music. Growing up in Del Mar in the late 90s and early 2000s, in the circles I ran in, everyone was really into Tortoise and all those Thrill Jockey and Drag City records, so I grew up with that ingrained in me. Did you have formative musical experiences at Del Mar Hills Elementary School? Olson: I had a band in elementary school. We would practice at our drummers house; he lived just north of the Del Mar Plaza. We played at a couple assemblies. It was just whatever songs we happened to be able to figure out. I remember playing some probably pretty bad versions of Jimi Hendrix. I remember playing Hey Mickey I have no idea why. This is 5th and 6th grade, so we were just figuring out our tastes, I guess. You went on to San Dieguito High School Academy. Do you remember your music teachers there? Was there someone who had a big influence on you? Olson: The two things that I did as a kid were music and skateboarding. They would kind of waver on which would be more at the forefront. Once I got to high school, I started meeting more musicians, and all the music classes offered at San Dieguito were a big thing for me. When I started we had Dr. Van Decker. He provided a lot of resources. He brought in a recording arts class; he also started a MIDI class. Those were pretty big for me, to be able to spend two hours a day sitting in recording arts class or working on computer music. With a MIDI I could make impossible music just the fastest, unending runs and scales, polyrhythmic stuff that I couldnt play on my own. I think, in turn, that got me into Philip Glass and Tangerine Dream and things influenced by minimalism. Those were things that werent available at many high schools, for sure. Did you know then that you wanted to make music professionally? Olson: I didnt admit it to myself but I knew that I loved to make music. I had a band in high school. It was instrumental. We really just played at our battle of the bands. This was at the turn of the 2000s; I was just a teenage kid heading down to Che Cafe at UCSD, where underground bands passing through San Diego would play you would see Pinback play there when they were starting out. I was never old enough for Belly Up when I lived there. Same for Casbah. Playing the Casbah [on L.A. Takedowns recent tour] was kind of kind of like a mini-dream come true, because thats where all the cool bands would play that I could never go see. The cover art for the new album is a painting by your dad, of two fingers holding a white pill. The image resurfaces in one of your videos. Whats the story behind that? Olson: He painted it in 1975, before I was born. It just lived in our house forever. It was 4 feet by 4 feet, this huge painting that I never even questioned. It just always made sense. Then when I was thinking of album art, that popped into my head, and it was like Oh yeah thats beautiful. As far as I know thats the only painting he has completed. Were your parents musical? What kind of stuff was in their record collections? Olson: They always listened to music a lot. My mom played piano a bit, casually. I definitely grew up on Bob Dylan, The Beatles. Stop Making Sense [by The Talking Heads] was played quite a bit. And Graceland [by Paul Simon]. Those were the albums in heavy rotation growing up. And because of my mom I listened to a lot of Bonnie Raitt. My brother and I got those records, and I still collect records. The new album has a song called Bad Night at Blacks Beach. Care to elaborate? Olson: I was in junior high and my brother was in high school and he was with some friends. This wouldve been just before everyone had cell phones. I was going to meet them down at Blacks Beach, so I was like Oh yeah Ill grab my Walkman and my backpack, Ill walk down there on the beach, which is kind of far thinking back on it, from 15th Street to Blacks Beach. I finally got down there, exhausted, and there was no sign of my brother or his friends. I remember seeing a fire in the distance, so I walk towards it and as I get closer I can see that there is a guy standing there, he was just standing at the fire with his T-shirt on and nothing else, just fully Porky Pig-style and I was just like What am I doing, where is this night taking me? It was this ongoing trek across the sand for hours finding weird things. When I made the song I was trying to conjure the feeling of endlessly walking dunes or sand and then I remembered that night, thats totally what that was. Its also a reference to an old western called Bad Day at Black Rock, and its also a reference to a Byrds song that I like called Bad Night at the Whiskey. Im a big fan of The Byrds. Chris Hillman, their bassist, went to San Dieguito. Not a lot of people know that. Your music has this if-Kraftwerk-grew-up-on-the-Pacific-Ocean thing going on. Is that what youre going for? Olson: I dont think I had that in mind but I think thats accurate. Im flattered by that description. That is what it is. I cant help it, Im definitely a California person and Ive always lived on the Pacific Ocean and growing up in Del Mar was a huge part of that. I never surfed or anything but my friends and I would go skateboarding around Del Mar all the time. The parking lot down at 15th Street beach, there was a bump off the sidewalk we used to skate a lot. Del Mar folk did not generally take kindly to us skateboarding around. We used to skate this ledge at LAuberge and wed always get in trouble for that. I used to skateboard a lot at the Vons next to where my mom lived. There used to be a video rental store called Video Vault. They had a nice ledge there, by the Jack in the Box. I went to my share of summer concerts at Powerhouse Park. I saw James Brown at the Del Mar Fair. It was right before he died, so getting to see him, that was super rad. And I saw The Flaming Lips there. The Del Mar Fair was surprisingly cool, especially for the fair circuit, they would get really cool bands. It wasnt like they would have Peter Cetera or something. Actually, they did have him this year. Oh really?! [laughs] I would be stoked to see Peter Cetera now but in high school I would have been like Laaame. Right, theres not exactly anger in your music. Im not really setting out to make angst-y music. Ive enjoyed my share of that, but the closest thing now is that sometimes our songs have some metal elements in it. Growing up with the ocean right there, it was kind of paradise. I definitely loved growing up in Del Mar. It was just so pleasant and chill. It afforded me a little Zen to find my creative self. Del Mars policy on vacation rentals is nearing its final shape to allow casual rentals and clamp down on commercial enterprises a policy framework suited for residents looking to rent their homes while theyre out of town rather than property owners who use rentals as their primary livelihood. With the lions share of decisions made last month homes cannot be rented out for fewer than seven days at a time, and not more than four weeks per year the city councils discussion carried over Monday, July 17 into two hours of emotional public testimony and detailed discussion. Many of the details are yet to be decided, but the council did agree that May 2018 is the most logical date to begin enforcing the new policies. But that could change for any number of reasons; we could be entangled in litigation, we could be entangled with the Coastal Commission, said Deputy Mayor Dwight Worden. A group of residents filed suit in June to challenge the citys emerging regime constricting short-term rentals (STRs). Mondays hearing drew more than a dozen homeowners who have watched aghast over the past few months as the citys policies came together. Marla Painter grew up on Klish Way and now uses the property as a home for extended family, while renting it out maybe 40 nights a year. We hope to pass this house on to our grandchildren. But it costs money to keep up a house, and not all of us are as wealthy as some of us in this town are, she said. Now, we could sell it, for a lot of money. I can tell you what would happen to it. Its happened to many of the houses around us, and that is: the house will be torn down. The bluff will be gutted so that a lot more square footage can be built underneath. And itll be another drywall and marble palace for the wealthy. I dont think thats what you want to see for Del Mar. Meanwhile, the group of residents that have mobilized against STRs Save Our Neighborhood Del Mar took umbrage Monday night at the thought that they will have to endure STRs for another year. They believe February 2018 when a city moratorium is set to expire to be a suitable and generous deadline for enforcement. The council also moved forward on requiring homeowners to register with the city before being allowed to rent, but shied away from requiring a business license. They also agreed to look into exempting time shares as well as a handful of properties that fall into unique zoning circumstances. Registration would be as minimal as possible. One-time only registration, light easy breezy. But once theyre registered, thats it, said Councilwoman Sheryl Parks. But Councilman Dave Druker took issue with the requirement. I think youre making a huge mistake, he said. I just see where this is going to bite us back if we sit here and demand that anybody who wants to rent out their place for one week or do a home swap for one week has to come and tell the city that theyre doing that. Its just unimaginable to me. The council found consensus on taking a proactive approach on enforcement and outreach. This is going to take a lot of public education and we have to be proactive about it, Haviland. The city will also look into hiring an outside company to monitor rentals and enforce the citys eventual policies. Theres no way our staff is going to be able to do that, Druker said. If you want people not to rent for more than four weeks a year, youre going to have to have someone outside looking daily at the Internet. Once the full scope of the citys STR policy takes shape, it will head to the city planning commission for approval before facing a major hurdle with the California Coastal Commission. Given the first look at rough plans for an 86-unit retirement home on the vacant 2.9-acre parcel in Solana Beach along Interstate 5s eastern edge, neighbors to the would-be facility made clear last week that they will insist upon extensive and thorough remediation to make the proposal fit into their semi-rural community. After tossing out various ideas over the six years since acquiring the parcel just south of The Timbers office building, Encinitas-based developer John DeWald on July 13 kicked off the public phase of environmental review for a two-story complex. DeWald is leading the project for HFF Investor Relations. The nascent project is so far going by the name Solana Beach Senior Care Project. Two-thirds of the facility will be assisted living; the rest will be for memory care. DeWald envisions a 96-bed facility (with a capacity of 99 beds) for full-time care assisted living with a 50-person staff, 25 of whom would be on site during peak hours. The facility will offer nutrition and medication management but not full-fledged medical or nursing care. Pointing to studies that claim Solana Beachs senior population will balloon from 2,200 to 3,500 over the next 20 years, DeWald said there is far more demand for senior housing than there is supply. The other senior care facilities near us, theyre mostly on waiting lists, he said. Its going to get worse as more and more people in the community get to that age. The July 13 forum with Solana Beach city planners opened the projects Environmental Impact Report, starting the process to field feedback on how to make the project less onerous on its residential surroundings. About 20 residents from the neighborhood made up largely of single-family homes on quarter-acre lots, a throwback to Solana Beachs agricultural past attended the forum. Their concerns centered on traffic to and from the facility, especially the abundance of emergency vehicles and supply vehicles, that will pour through the residential streets. Highland Drive is the neighborhoods main artery, but Marine View Avenue will be the facilitys primary ingress and egress. That route will take the facilitys traffic past two schools and a learning center within a few hundred yards of each other. My concern, more than anything, is for the children, said Carol Thomas. Yes, Im old. Were old. And there are many older people in the neighborhood. But now, in the last few years, [there are] many more younger children, and they are walking to school. Theres no sidewalks. The streets are very narrow. You have young mothers walking their little babies on these streets. The children are on their skateboards. Were seeing at least 15 every morning. I would like to see it be made safe for the children and for the mothers. Perry Sexton, a physician who lives nearby, echoed several requests asking that the traffic studies be done while schools are in session and that they also consider emergency vehicles in addition to regular traffic. I take care of a lot of patients that live in facilities like this, and so I see how many of these patients fall every day. When a patient falls, theyre going to be visited by an ambulance and all of those are going to be coming as though its an emergency, he said. If theyre doing that at a time when there are children who are loading onto school grounds, youre going to be setting yourself up for some pretty significant accident risks. Two more workshops will be held before the development team submits its draft EIR to the city council roughly at the end of this year. The projects specific plan which will include a zoning change to nearly triple its density will require a special mail-in vote, probably in a November-January timeframe, DeWald said. If that passes, the project will then go to the California Coastal Commission for approval. Under that timeline, DeWald said groundbreaking might not come for as much as two years. Comments can be submitted to Bill Chopyk, Solana Beachs community development director, at bchopyk@cosb.org. Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Four teenagers who experienced a "life-changing" trip to Africa to work with children who live in a rubbish dump say the experience made them realise how lucky they are. Nikki Jovanovic and Mauricio Amaro-Barnard, who both have autism, and Shaun Robinson and Leif Smith, who have special needs, spent two weeks at The Walk Centre school, in Nakuruin, Kenya, where they helped with painting, cooking and teaching. They also visited the childrens homes in the nearby rubbish tip, known as The Hilton, and were shocked to find them living in squalor amongst broken glass, needles and festering waste materials. The Derby youngsters, who left all their shoes and clothes for the students, described the trip at "life-changing" and are hoping to return next year to continue their good work. Nikki said: The pupils get fed at the school, otherwise they would only be able to eat scraps they find on the rubbish dump. We all learned a lot from them; they never complained and they never fought over the things we gave out, they were just grateful. We handed out boiled sweets and they tried to eat them with the wrappers on because they had never had sweets before. And we gave one girl a piece of chocolate and then all the other children wanted to smell her breath because they had no idea what chocolate was like. We walked into one classroom and all the children were working hard in silence. Their teacher had gone home, but they were quietly getting on with their work. They appreciate all their opportunities so much and it makes you realise how lucky we are. The pupils who attend Bemrose School, in Uttoxeter New Road, each raised 1,800 to fund the trip by staging sponsored car washes, quiz nights, talent shows, discos and curry nights. The students were accompanied by teachers and teaching assistants from the school, who took 15 bags of donated clothes and toys to hand out to the children. Leif said it was said to see where the children were living. He said: A lot of their parents have drug or alcohol problems and they dont get any physical contact so they just wanted some comfort and love. All the kids wanted to touch us and smell us. They loved having their photographs taken and they all had enormous smiles, even though they had nothing. Teaching assistant Grace Elliott organised the trip alongside Derby County in the Community because she felt the students would benefit from seeing how other children live. She said: We choose pupils who were sensible and mature enough, but also those we felt would benefit from the cultural and emotional aspect of it too. Leif and Shaun had never been abroad before and so it was even more of a culture shock for them. Leif was an absolute star we have never seen him so confident. Nikki had queues of children waiting to be picked up and spun around and Shaun made the school chef very happy with his work effort. One of our favourite things about the trip was seeing the lads react so lovingly towards the children when they were hurt or upset. They were quick to put their arms around them to try to offer comfort and it was a joy to see. Some children in this country live in poverty but, more often than not, they are loved. These children werent even loved, yet they are so warm and happy. We were all in tears including the boys - after saying goodbye. The school intends to return to Kenya next year with a different group of pupils. By Joel Clement 19 July 2017 (The Washington Post) I am not a member of the deep state. I am not big government. I am a scientist, a policy expert, a civil servant and a worried citizen. Reluctantly, as of today, I am also a whistleblower on an administration that chooses silence over science. Im a scientist. Im blowing the whistle on the Trump administration.Nearly seven years ago, I came to work for the Interior Department, where, among other things, Ive helped endangered communities in Alaska prepare for and adapt to a changing climate. But on June 15, I was one of about 50 senior department employees who received letters informing us of involuntary reassignments. Citing a need to improve talent development, mission delivery and collaboration, the letter informed me that I was reassigned to an unrelated job in the accounting office that collects royalty checks from fossil fuel companies.I am not an accountant but you dont have to be one to see that the administrations excuse for a reassignment such as mine doesnt add up. A few days after my reassignment, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke testified before Congress that the department would use reassignments as part of its effort to eliminate employees; the only reasonable inference from that testimony is that he expects people to quit in response to undesirable transfers. Some of my colleagues are being relocated across the country, at taxpayer expense, to serve in equally ill-fitting jobs.I believe I was retaliated against for speaking out publicly about the dangers that climate change poses to Alaska Native communities. During the months preceding my reassignment, I raised the issue with White House officials, senior Interior officials and the international community, most recently at a U.N. conference in June. It is clear to me that the administration was so uncomfortable with this work, and my disclosures, that I was reassigned with the intent to coerce me into leaving the federal government. Privacy Overview This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful. Two major diabetes companies have joined forces to start developing new solutions for people with the condition. Abbott Diabetes Care, which makes blood glucose meters, is joining forces with Bigfoot Biomedical, which specialises in providing insulin delivery solutions. The next generation of Abbotts FreeStyle Libre glucose sensing technology will be given to Bigfoot so it can use the technology to create a pioneering approach to diabetes care and help eliminate much of the daily burden of diabetes management. At the moment Bigfoot is currently developing both injection and infusion pump-based insulin delivery systems. These revolutionary systems combine connectivity, machine learning automation and smartphone technology to adjust insulin delivery. It is thought the first version of the Abbott and Bigfoot device will be available for clinical research sites to trial as early as next year. People with type 1 diabetes and some with type 2 diabetes must regularly inject insulin in a bid to control their blood sugar levels. For somen, this can be a cumbersome task as it must be carried out several times a day. Senior vice president of Abbot Diabetes Care said: Diabetes is increasing at record rates globally. There is a significant demand for tools that are intuitive and easy to use to help people take control of this complicated, challenging condition, but innovation in this area has been slow. Together with Bigfoot, we are challenging conventional methods of diabetes management by bringing together our expertise in superior glucose monitoring technology with a best-in-class insulin delivery system that is designed with the patient in mind. This will fundamentally transform the way diabetes is managed. Jeffrey Brewer, Bigfoot Biomedical president and chief executive officer, said: Both Abbott and Bigfoot understand the real-world use of diabetes devices. A no-calibration glucose sensor is the final piece of the puzzle needed to enable consumer-friendly and accessible integrated insulin delivery systems. Our companies have a shared commitment to developing products that are patient focused simple, convenient, discreet, affordable and provide actionable information. We could not be more excited to be collaborating with Abbotts outstanding team in bringing new innovations to people with diabetes. The new feature will actively scan the apps on your smartphone for malicious activity and will mark apps that have been verified Google is rolling out it Play Protect services, which are aimed at keeping Android users safe from malicious apps. The new feature will scan your smartphone to check the activity of apps. Further, the company notes that while all Android apps undergo security testing before appearing on the Play Store. The company notes that apps that have been scanned will have a card stating that the app has been verified by Google Play Protect. Backed by the strength of Google, Play Protect brings control to your fingertips while giving guidance along the way. Together, we lay out the ideal security blanket for your mobile device. Consider yourself covered, the company stated on its page. Google Play Protect also includes other services that were previously available. This includes the Find My Device features that helps users locate, lock, or display a message on the lockscreen. If the user feels that the device is lost for good, they can even choose to erase all the data on the device. Another feature is the Safe Browsing protection feature in Chrome that warns users when they visit any suspicious websites. Last week, Google had announced that it was looking to curb the spread of malicious apps on its mobile platform by using artificial intelligence. By using a technique called peer grouping, it uses machine learning algorithms to sort out malicious apps and bring them to the notice of a person. This person will then decide whether to remove the app from the Play Store. The idea is to find apps that may be asking for permissions that it should require. For example, a torch app that asks for access to contacts. Arto Nummela's resignation comes at a time when the company is said to announce its flagship smartphone. Florian Seiche, the President of HMD Global will take over additional responsibility as acting CEO. Arto Nummela, HMD Global's Chief Executive Officer has resigned with immediate effect. The announcement comes at a critical juncture when the company is trying to revive the Nokia brand with the launch of Android smartphones. Florian Seiche, the President of HMD Global will take over additional responsibility as acting CEO. Arto Nummela has been the face of HMD Global since it announced the plan to relaunch Nokia-branded smartphones. He has also been a longtime veteran at Nokia before it was acquired by Microsoft in 2014. "Arto Nummela has played a key role in the creation of the HMD Global operation, building the team and launching our first products. On behalf of the whole Board, I thank Arto for his contribution and wish him well in his future endeavours," Sam Chin, Chairman of the Board, HMD Global Oy said in a statement. Arto Nummela announced the launch of HMD Global's first three Nokia-branded Android smartphones at MWC in February. He spoke about Nokia 3, Nokia 5 and Nokia 6 as the first phase of its comeback plan and charted an interesting product lineup coming up in the second half of 2017. Under Nummela's leadership, HMD Global resurrected the Nokia 3310 feature phone and introduced a few more feature phones for the emerging markets. Nummela's exit comes at a time when the company is reportedly planning to debut its first flagship smartphone. The rumour mill suggests that HMD Global will launch flagship the Nokia 8 smartphone on July 31 to take on the likes of Samsung and Apple. Nokia 8 product page went live for a brief period and it is expected to sport a Quad HD display, Zeiss dual camera setup and Snapdragon 835 chipset. The phone was also leaked in all its glory a few days back. HMD Global has not revealed the reason for Nummela's exit but cited that it is a personal matter for both Arto and the board. It needs to be seen whether this executive shakeup hurts the business which has been gaining a lot of traction among consumers and retailers globally. Reliance Industries will be holding its Annual General Meeting tomorrow, July 21, in Mumbai. While the company will announce its Q1 (FY 2017-18) financial results today, post trading hours, details about whats next for one of the companys most ambitious projects - Reliance Jio - will be made public by Chairman Mukesh Ambani at the AGM tomorrow. Heres what you can expect from RILs telecom arm at tomorrows big meeting: Cheapest Jio VoLTE phone: Features, specs, OS, price and more If you have been keeping up with the news, you would know that Jio stands at the cusp of yet another disruption in the telecom market, but this time it wont come from its tariff plans. The company is expected to announce the cheapest ever VoLTE enabled feature phone in India. But get this, the phone is expected to run on a custom operating system (KAI OS). The phone will be able to support features like video calling and even a voice assistant. Jio may make its host of apps such as Jio Money, Jio Music and Jio Movies, available on the handset. The most disruptive part of the entire deal will be the pricing of this Jio phone. Industry sources point out that Reliance will be heavily subsidising the VoLTE feature phone to bring its price down to Rs 500. However, some reports also suggest that the price will remain within the Rs 1000 - Rs 1500 price bracket, which seems more likely. We now know that Intex will be manufacturing the 4G feature phone for Jio in India. Images and specifications of the alleged Lyf-branded Jio phone were leaked a while back. The handset is shown sporting a 2.4-inch colour screen, coupled with a standard T9 keypad and a dedicated flashlight button. The feature phone reportedly offers 512MB RAM, 4GB flash storage, expandable up to 128GB. There is also a front VGA camera and a 2MP rear camera. You can read all about Jio 4G phone leak here. Further, a new PTI report also points out that Reliance Jio will announce its plans to sell 200 million 4G phones priced between Rs 1000 - Rs 1500 in the next two years. Jio Fiber-to-home broadband services: Cities, plans, pricing and more Jios next big service offering will be its GigaFiber roll-out, details of which are expected to be announced at the RIL AGM. Also known as Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH), the broadband service will offer speeds up to 1Gbps and is expected to launch with 100GB free data per month, for three months. We are told that Jio has its fiber infrastructure already in place across several cities in India. A tweet from JioCare had confirmed that the service will be available in six cities of Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Ahmedabad, Jamnagar, Surat and Vadodara at the time of launch. As far as Jios Fiber service in Delhi-NCR is concerned, a source tells us that the same will start rolling out in Noida, before it reaches Delhi and Gurgaon. We have found two users, one from our own team, who lives in Tardeo, Mumbai, and has already subscribed to Jios services. Our team member confirmed that Reliance Jio had wired up his colony since November, last year. Jio is reportedly charging a refundable security deposit of Rs 4,500 for installation. JioFiber users can expect to get 100GB data at 100Mbps for three months, similar to the VoLTE rollout. New Jio tariff plans, insights on Jio services A source tells us that it is unlikely that Reliance Jio will announce any new prepaid or postpaid tariff plans for existing or new customers. As per the source, Jio does not plan to give a big stage to these tariff announcements for now and that the same will be communicated to customers via updates on its website and other platforms as and when any new offers arrive. However, Jio may share some important insights on its services at the AGM. Industry sources tell us that Jio will report advanced revenue liabilities of Rs 19.47 billion for the end of FY-2017 and this is all thanks to its Prime membership programme. In essence, it means that Jio has received the money but has not yet earned it and it has an obligation (a liability) to deliver the related goods or services in the future, in this case, Prime services. Our sources also tell us that Jio made Rs 6.2 billion as overall subscription fee collected from Prime memberships and Rs 13.3 bn as collections from first recharges done by 72 mn Prime customers. So this all that we expect to hear from Reliance Jio at the Reliance Industries AGM tomorrow. Let us know your thoughts on the announcements. Which Jio goodies are you most excited to hear about? Save my User ID and Password Some subscribers prefer to save their log-in information so they do not have to enter their User ID and Password each time they visit the site. To activate this function, check the 'Save my User ID and Password' box in the log-in section. This will save the password on the computer you're using to access the site. Note: If you choose to use the log-out feature, you will lose your saved information. This means you will be required to log-in the next time you visit our site. Advertisements SCAPA FLOW IS A DRAMATIC and windswept expanse of water some 12 miles across that is almost completely encircled by the islands of Orkney. On the land all around there are poignant reminders of Orkneys wartime past deserted barracks, airfields, the remains of PoW camps and gun emplacements all bear silent witness to its military history. For centuries Scapa Flow had been a safe, sheltered anchorage for mariners. Captain Cooks ships Discovery and Resolution called into Stromness in 1780 on their return from the South Seas, where Captain Cook had been murdered. Whaling ships bound for the Davis Strait began calling into the harbour in the 1770s, and Hudson Bay Company whaling ships had a strong presence and permanent agents in Stromness to sign up the capable seafaring Orcadian men, who were ideally suited for life on the whalers. In 1914, at the outbreak of World War One, Scapa Flow became the home base for the Grand Fleet, and in 1917 the Lyness Naval Base was established on Hoy with four oil tanks with a capacity of 12,000 tons. A further 12 tanks holding 15,000 tons each were built from 1936 onwards, and six huge oil tanks were constructed inside Wee Fea hill with a capacity for 100,000 tons of oil. A large quay where ships could dock to refuel was constructed, using the spoil from the tunnels, and acquired the nickname the Golden Wharf. In 1938, as war loomed once again, Scapa Flow was designated the Main War Base for the Home Fleet. It is a naval convention that all naval shore bases are named as ships the Lyness Naval Base was designated HMS Proserpine and by 1940 accommodated over 12,000 military and civilian personnel, and had its own cinema, theatre and churches. A fortified communications centre was established high up on Wee Fea hill that kept the naval base and the fleet in touch with the outside world. IN A SINGLE, momentous event on 21 June, 1919, the 74 interned warships of the Imperial German Navy High Seas Fleet were scuttled at Scapa Flow to avoid them falling into British hands. It was, and still is, the single greatest act of naval suicide the world has ever seen. Seventy-four great warships slowly sank to the bottom of the Flow to litter the seabed. Initially, the Admiralty resolved to leave the sunken fleet to rust on the bottom of Scapa Flow forever. After the end of World War One there was so much scrap-metal about that it was not economically viable to salvage them. By the 1920s, however, the price of scrap had picked up and the attention of salvors turned to the seemingly endless supply of best German scrap-metal lying at the bottom of Scapa Flow. Over the course of the coming decades, the majority of the warships were raised, leaving today eight complete ships of the original High Seas Fleet on the seabed waiting to be explored. They are the 26,000-ton battleships Konig, Markgraf and Kronprinz Wilhelm, the 5000-ton cruisers Dresden, Brummer, Coln and Karlsruhe and the 900-ton destroyer V83. THERE ARE ALSO smaller parts left over from other German ships that were broken up and great depressions in the seabed from where the larger ships were raised. These depressions are known locally as the scrapyards, and are littered with bits and pieces that had rotted off or been cut off those ships before they were lifted to the surface. There is also a WW1 U-boat, unconnected with the scuttling of the fleet the last U-boat sunk in action during WW1. Over the years, many other vessels have come to grief in Scapa Flow both military and civilian. Trawlers, drifters, steamships and a tanker have succumbed to fierce northern gales, or been rammed and sunk by accident. The scale of human loss in Scapa Flow is huge the two largest losses of life both being on RN warships, HMS Vanguard and HMS Royal Oak. The 19,560-ton British battleship Vanguard was destroyed in a cataclysmic magazine explosion on 9 July, 1917, with the loss of more than 700 men. HMS Royal Oak was sunk in the dead of the night of 13/14 October 1939 when, in a daring piece of seamanship, the German submarine U47 successfully slipped through British defences into Scapa Flow and torpedoed the 29,000-ton British battleship at anchor in Scapa Bay. Advertisement Advertisement The torpedo explosions destroyed the power circuits, and the whole of the ship below decks was pitched into darkness. Desperately the crew stumbled around, groping in the darkness for a way out as the ship keeled over while flash fires of burning cordite swept around the corridors like balls of flame. Royal Oak turned turtle within five minutes and sank in just over 30m of water with most of her crew still trapped inside her. In all, 833 officers and men died in that one attack. (These two latter wrecks are war graves, and Orkney Island byelaws prohibit diving on them.) During the World Wars One and Two, blockships were sunk in the eastern and western channels leading into Scapa Flow to place immovable and insurmountable barriers in the way of any enemy vessel trying to get into the Flow to attack British naval vessels. Today this concentrated profusion of wrecks in one relatively small area has made Scapa Flow one of the top wreck-diving locations in the world. Where else can you dive on such a collection of German warships from WW1 within a single hours boat trip from land? Thousands of divers visit Scapa Flow annually from all over the world diving has become big business in Orkney and has contributed significantly to its economy since the 1980s. The local Orcadians still live daily with the consequences of the scuttling of the German Fleet almost 100 years ago. There are around 10 full-time comfortable and well-equipped dive-boats operating in the Flow throughout the year, each able to take 12 divers out to the wrecks. Quite simply, the dive-boats nowadays have everything you will need for a diving trip to Scapa Flow. THE GERMAN HIGH SEAS FLEET The wrecks lie in 30 to 45m of water with average underwater visibility of 10-15m. The main German wrecks are now all permanently buoyed, and once you are in the water, the line that leads down to the wreck from the buoy seems to disappear straight below into infinity in a dark, bottomless pit the wrecks are far below out of sight. The descent to the wrecks seems to take forever and as the distance from the surface increases, so the natural light fades. Slowly the gloom below seems to acquire a form, as the huge shape of the wreck materialises out of the darkness. The German wrecks either lie on their sides or upside-down, so it is usually a flat piece of hull that comes into view first. The cruisers all lie on their side, allowing divers to swim to the side of the hull and look down the now-vertical deck. Because of their size, the wrecks cast a considerable shadow and, on the dark side, the vertical main deck disappears seemingly into pitch-blackness. Summoning up courage and dropping over the side and free-falling down the vertical main deck, eyes become accustomed to the darkness and soon divers can drift spellbound over the colossal German warships. Everywhere there is something to hold your interest: sleek cruiser bows designed to slice through the water; gun-turrets looming up out of the gloom and anchor-chains run out from their chain lockers to steam-driven capstans before dropping down to the seabed. Armoured fire control towers sit in front of bridge superstructures, ringed with viewing slits, some still with their glass in place. Immediately behind bridge superstructures, lifeboat davits hang empty the lifeboats themselves lowered over the side by the German sailors as the vessels scuttled. Rows of portholes line the hulls and the wrecks are festooned with a rich carpet of marine growth. The cruiser wrecks have opened up a lot in recent years, allowing divers to move inside their remains and explore areas of the wreck that were inaccessible in years gone by. The massive upside-down battleships, great man-made mountains, still hold their form and offer many opportunities for serious wreck penetration. Great care must however be exercised, and only properly experienced, trained and equipped divers should consider penetrating the cavernous interiors of these wrecks. Fine silt layers the corridors inside, and careless finning easily stirs it up. Divers can become engulfed in a cloud of silt and the visibility can quickly be reduced to nil. In this situation it may be impossible to find your way out and panic will quickly set in. There have been a number of diving fatalities at Scapa Flow. ALL TOO SOON, it is time to ascend. As you rise slowly upwards, the now familiar lines of the warship blur and then once again merge with the background as you leave this silent, eerie world far below and return to the surface and daylight. Once you have dived Scapa Flow you will always hanker to come back its attraction is mesmerising. The wrecks are so big on average 150 to 180m long that on one dive you may elect to skim round the whole wreck to get an overview. On other days you may elect, particularly on the battleships, to take time to explore a small part of them in detail, such as the big 12in guns that fired at Jutland, or the gun runs of the seven smaller 5.9in casemate guns along each side of the battleships. It takes dozens of dives on any one wreck to really get to know it. With the unequalled profusion of wrecks at Scapa Flow, you will always leave at the end of your dive-trip with many of the wrecks undived. Quite simply, Scapa Flow offers some of the best wreck-diving in the world. ABOUT THE BOOK This completely rewritten and updated centenary edition of Dive Scapa Flow marks the 100th anniversary of the greatest act of maritime suicide the world has ever seen the German High Seas Fleet scuttling. Rod Macdonald is the best-selling author of a string of classic wreck-diving books, including Dive Scotlands Greatest Wrecks, Dive Englands Greatest Wrecks, Into the Abyss, The Darkness Below, Great British Shipwrecks, Dive Truk Lagoon and Dive Palau. In 2015 he was inducted into the prestigious Explorers Club. The book has been fully rewritten from scratch, although it keeps the same basic format as earlier editions but instead of the old 198 pages, were now at more than 360, Rod Macdonald told DIVER. Its the stand-out visuals that are going to blow people away, I hope! The original wreck illustrations were done in 1990 before video cameras etc, so it was hard to record the wrecks easily with an underwater notepad only. Ive had the main wrecks re-illustrated, and to give readers a bit of a dive-brief, Ive added some notes to the illustrations this time round. Professor Chris Rowland is the Director of the 3D VisLab, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design at the University of Dundee, and with ADUS Deepocean they lead the way globally with wreck-scanning work. They were brought in for the Deepwater Horizon disaster, and their work was pivotal in the recent successful raising of Costa Concordia. They have developed new software which has been applied to the Scapa wrecks and the results are stunning, to me at least! The detail is incredible, and Chris has kindly allowed me to reproduce several in respect of each of the main wrecks, the blockships, F2 etc. This is cutting-edge stuff. Bob Anderson, skipper of Scapa dive-boat Halton has also given me a vast number of cracking photos to show what its actually like today. Dive Scapa Flow by Rod Macdonald is published by Whittles Publishing, ISBN 9781849952903, Softback 240 170mm, 368pp, 30 Made-in-USA goods can be pricey, elusive. Ask Trump The gold-plated pens the president uses to sign laws are assembled in Rhode Island but lacquered and engraved in China. By JOSH BOAK and PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writers WASHINGTON President Donald Trump's push this week to get Americans to buy goods made in America is harder than it might seem. Even for Trump. The gold-plated pens the president uses to sign laws are assembled in Rhode Island but lacquered and engraved in China. The Boeing jet he posed with to showcase America's industrial might is 30 percent foreign-made. The firetruck the administration parked at the White House this week to promote U.S.-made goods gets about 10 percent of its parts from abroad. Fact is, in a 21st century global economy, few products are exclusively American-made. U.S. manufacturers rely on global supply chains and many people buy foreign goods for the simple reason that they value lower prices. Even for people who prefer to buy America-only, it is increasingly hard to identify which products qualify as such. Promoting American-made products is catnip to politicians, notes Dan Ikenson, a trade analyst at the libertarian Cato Institute. But it comes at a price: When people feel compelled to buy local, buy American, they generally spend more money, which means they have less to spend on other things or to save, Ikenson says. In his celebration this week of American-made products this week, Trump has yet to acknowledge such nuances. He has argued instead that buying exclusively American will create more national wealth. From Day One, my administration has been fighting to bring back our manufacturing jobs and crack down on foreign countries that cheat a lot of them, Trump said at a White House event Wednesday with manufacturers. We will end the theft of American prosperity. On Monday, Trump also went beyond saying he would protect the U.S. manufacturing sector. He also pledged a crackdown on the predatory online sales of foreign goods that he said are absolutely killing U.S. retail stores. The challenge for Trump is that most Americans put a high premium on saving money, which makes them more likely to choose less expensive goods from abroad. Last year, an Associated Press-GfK poll found that Americans said they preferred to buy foreign-made goods over identical American-made goods if the foreign products were cheaper. Asked to choose between $50 pants made in another country and an identical $85 pair made in the United States 67 percent say they'd buy the cheaper pair from abroad. The survey found that household income made little difference in such preferences. Americans in households earning more than $100,000 a year were no less likely than lower-income people to say they'd go for the lower-priced good from abroad. Research by Amit Khandelwal, an economist at Columbia University, found that inexpensive imports disproportionately benefit poorer Americans who can struggle to afford daily expenses. Lower-paid households devote a greater portion of their earnings to such basic goods as food and clothing, whose prices often reflect inexpensive supplies from overseas, Khandelwal found. By contrast, more affluent households tend to spend more on services insulated from foreign trade, from gym memberships to child care. If Trump were to raise tariffs on some imports, as he has proposed to do to encourage U.S.-made goods, lower-income households would struggle with higher prices, Khandelwal said. It's going to hurt the poor more than it hurts the rich, he said. Companies, under intense competitive pressure to keep prices low, often turn to factories and suppliers in such countries as China and Bangladesh, where wages are much lower and benefits often nonexistent. The famed American outdoors retailer L.L. Bean, which has been endorsed by Trump himself, estimates that it imports about 75 percent of its products, though its signature boots are still American-made. Companies that have tried to move more of their production back to the United States from abroad have often had to shoulder higher costs. The Bollman Hat. Co., which makes the kangaroo-logo Kangol caps worn by celebrities like Samuel L. Jackson and Brad Pitt, moved into a Pennsylvania factory last year from China. It has since struggled to turn a profit. The cost per hat is twice as high as it was in China though the gap is narrowing partly because the Pennsylvania workers don't yet work as fast as the experienced workers at a now-closed plant in southern China. More broadly, the globalization of manufacturing has complicated efforts to identify which products truly are Made-in-America. Consider cars. American University's Kogod School of Business and the website Cars.com conduct separate annual efforts to single out which cars are the most American-made. They sometimes produce conflicting results. This year, the Chevrolet Traverse, Buick Enclave and GMC Acadia stand atop the American University list. Cars.com singles out the Jeep Wrangler, Jeep Cherokee and Ford Taurus. When Cars.com unveiled its list 11 years ago, more than 60 vehicles earned the American-made label. Because of globalization, the number qualifying under the original criteria fell to eight last year. This year? Just three. So the website has changed its rules. Now, more than 30 cars meet the standard. Subscriber content preview Both House and Senate committees are considering bills to revise the 44-year-old law, and limit the litigation associated with it. By MATTHEW DALY Associated Press WASHINGTON Congressional Republicans are moving forward with legislation to roll back the Endangered Species Act, amid complaints that the landmark 44-year-old law hinders drilling, logging and other activities. At simultaneous hearings Wednesday, House and Senate committees considered bills to revise the law and limit lengthy and costly litigation associated with it. . . . The long-in-gestation skate-park project got a major boost forward Tuesday during the Enterprise City Council meeting in City Hall. The Council approved a bid from GenCon Associates Inc. in Dothan for a flat concrete slab and some skate obstacles to be constructed and installed at the parks proposed site, which is the former batting-cage site at the citys recreation park. The bid was $118,541, which was under the budgeted $134,380 for construction, according to Glen Morgan of Poly Inc., an engineering consultant with the city, when he presented the proposal in the Councils work session Tuesday before the regular meeting. Since the skate-park project was announced in November 2015, there have been struggles to get the project going. Last month, the Council rejected bids for obstacles, stating that the only qualified bid exceeded the budget, and no qualified bids came in for the concrete slab. During Tuesday regular Council meeting, Morgan called the a very cumbersome process, a very frustrating process, but I am pleased to be able to be here tonight to do this. City Communications Director Jason Wright said Wednesday that work on the project should start in the 60 days. The project is being paid for with a combination of city funds, grant money from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, and a donation from the E.L. Gibson Foundation. Also during Tuesdays work session, the Council heard a proposal from Coffee County Emergency Management Agency Director James Brown concerning the countys new alert system and the citys role in it. Brown said Enterprise can join the system for $6,000 a year, or 22 cents per citizen, Brown said. The system known as the Integrated Public Alert Warning System, or IPAWS would send out messages to peoples cellphones to alert participants about emergencies, road closures, and wanted individuals, as well as meeting notifications for groups. Citizens would be able to sign up for free to get alerts through the citys website, Brown said. The system does everything we need it to, plus more and is cheaper than other systems, Brown said. The county has no plans to eliminate its siren system for emergencies, Brown added, and in fact have added four sirens as other counties have dropped their systems. The Council did not take action on the proposal on Tuesday. Wright said the matter is expected to be taken up during a meeting of the E911 Board on Tuesday ahead of that days Council work session at noon in City Hall. Last month, the Coffee County Commission approved a contract for the system as part of the countys website redesign. At the start of Tuesdays meeting, five Enterprise Fire Department firefighters received their badges recognizing their promotions. Bryan Turner was promoted to captain, and Kenneth Boone, Brian Beasley, Brian Bowman and Cornelius Bolton each was promoted to lieutenant. In action items during Tuesdays meeting: The Council approved the establishment of Boll Weevil Circle as a route for heavy vehicles and prohibiting large trucks from using other routes. The ordinance includes exemptions such as for certain vehicles owned by the city, school system and churches; vehicles providing specific and immediate goods and services; vehicles delivering or picking up items from people or businesses; heavy vehicles driven by city employees; or vehicles with a farm tag from the state. Council approved an off-premises retail beer and wine license for Stop N Go 1 at 1300 Rucker Boulevard. Students in the Chipola College Chapter of Phi Beta Lambda business fraternity brought home seven Top-10 national awards, including an outstanding First Place win, and four national PBL scholarships at the PBL National Leadership Conference, June 24-27, in Anaheim, California. Chipola winners include: Bethany Horton and Melea Kirk, Social Media, First; Hayden White, Information Management, Fourth; Bradach Carlson and Chase Mason, Network Design, Fourth; Sarah Hall, Financial Services, Sixth; Bonnie NeSmith, Justice Administration, Eighth; Bradach Carlson, Project Management, Eighth; Hayden White, Help Desk, Tenth. Four studentsBradach Carlson, Bethany Horton, Kathryn Meadows and Hayden Whitewon $400 PBL National Scholarships. More than 2,000 of Americas best and brightest college students traveled to Southern California to establish their own Legacy of Leadership as they competed for more than $95,000 in cash awards and an honored spot on stage among the Top-10. Participants from across the U.S. attended the conference to enhance their business skills, expand their networks, and compete in 60 business and business-related events. Students showcased skills and knowledge in competitive events that involved objective tests, skills tests, prepared reports, interviews, speeches, role play scenarios, and presentations. A video of the awards ceremony is available at: http://pdcproductions.com/pbl2017/index.php Chipola PBL adviser, Glenda Bethel, says, Please join me in congratulating these students and all of our PBL members for their outstanding efforts this year. Our national competitors worked hard to prepare for the competition. Our students had the opportunity to attend educational workshops, visit the information-packed exhibit hall, participate in motivational sessions, and explore Anaheim. Chipola PBL is a small but noteworthy chapter at state and national competitions. The DeFuniak Springs Municipal Airport will now be the corporate headquarters of ONVOI Global Services (OGS), a company which provides aviation and administrative support services to various government agencies. Corporate officials anticipate a growth of 20-25 new jobs in the area within the next two years. This is a great day for the City of DeFuniak Springs and Walton County, says Airport Director Ryan Adams. ONVOI Global Services locating to DeFuniak Springs represents the onset of an emerging industry in our City. The outpouring of support from the community, along with the coordinated efforts of City Council and the Mayor, were vital in achieving this success. OGSs aviation services include manned and unmanned aircraft flight operations, maintenance, logistical support, training, range support, aerial surveillance, and repair operations. The company also provides a variety of office administrative support services to include mail room, military transition assistance, training, clerical support for identification processing, etc. In addition to aviation services, OGS has plans to establish a FAA Part 141 flight school during late Spring of 2018. The school will offer private, commercial, instrument, and multiengine training. With over 80 employees spread-out across the United States, DeFuniak Springs will serve as home base for the growing company where project managers will administer the companys 11 U.S. Department of Defense contracts along with the support of human resource and administrative staff. "Our strategy is to grow along with airport over the course of the next 5 years, says Darryl Centanni, president of ONVOI Global Services, Inc. As new facilities are constructed and the runway receives the much-needed extension out to 5,000 ft., we will gradually expand and diversify our range of services," he says. Centanni says the location of DeFuniak Springs was a major factor in deciding to move OGSs corporate headquarters to the municipal airport. We began to look at the Gulf Coast a few years ago as a site to relocate our facilities, he says. Our desire was to be near the Floridas I-10 Corridor. The more we studied the area the more we realized the DeFuniak Springs Airport was an excellent region due to the number of military facilities in the tri-state area and the airport expansion plan developed by the airport advisory committee and approved by the city council. The area has numerous personnel available to meet our employment needs and the airport expansion plans meet our corporate goals to expand our business portfolio to support larger commercial and military aircraft operations. OGS will maintain our office in Mississippi to better service our customers at Columbus Air Force Base, he says The CSO have today published the Small Area Population Statistics (SAPS) from Census 2016. We take our first look here at Louth over a range of topics, including population, background, religion, families, housing, education, commuting and occupation. Looking first or all at the population, what is very interesting here is the ethnic or cultural background of the Louth population. Of the 127,762 usually resident in Louth, 21,731 or 17%, would not describe themselves as White-Irish. 3,570 or 2.8% describe themselves as Black or Black Irish, and 2,406 or 1.9% describe themselves as Asian or Asian-Irish. With regards to religion, it can be seen that the majority of the population, 105,186 people, describe themselves as Catholics. However, this means that 17.7% or almost one-sixth of the population of Louth do not. Looking at the Irish language, 77,770 people in Louth, or 61% of the population, over the age of three say they cannot speak Irish. Of the remaining 42,047% who can speak Irish 9,848 never speak it and only 387 speak it on a daily basis, inside and outside the educational system. More to follow on the Small Area Population Statistics for Louth. A British single-seat Spitfire glides in near silence along the beaches of Dunkirk, France, no more than a hundred feet above the dull-colored sand and the bright, azure waters. The Royal Air Force pilot has run out of fuel, and he has run out of options. Even if he manages to complete a successful landing on the beach, his fate is sealed. This is but one brief moment in Christopher Nolan's "Dunkirk" but the beautiful, mournful, breathtaking visual of that lone plane outlined against the sky and the sand and the water is so powerful and so indelible, if I close my eyes, I can see it as clearly as when it appeared on the big screen. "Dunkirk" is filled with such unforgettable scenes some epic in scope, filmed in deep, long shots, others so intimate and claustrophobic we have to remember to take a breath. It is a great film about one of the most pivotal battles in World War II, in which the ultimate goal of the heroes was not to emerge victorious, but to somehow find a way to retreat in order to regroup and fight another day. The events in "Dunkirk" take place some 18 months before the bombing of Pearl Harbor plunged the United States into World War II, but many historians say if things had gone differently on those beaches in May and June of 1940, Europe would have been overrun by the Nazis. Writer-director Nolan has built his enormously successful career trafficking in the time-bending and the fantastical ("Memento," "Inception," the "Dark Knight" trilogy), but with "Dunkirk" he delivers a faithful and deeply respectful retelling of history albeit while zig-zagging along the timeline and showing the same event from multiple viewpoints. It makes for an enthralling if at times slightly confusing work that demands (and commands) our undivided attention. The opening sequence has the pace and the feel of the third act of many a war film and in fact the entire movie feels like a final act. There's very little exposition, almost no backstory. Everything is focused on the situation at hand. (With a running time of 106 minutes, "Dunkirk" is much shorter than most of Nolan's films.) Nearly 400,000 total Allied troops, most of them French and British, have been penned in by the Germans, but we follow just a small band of troops, and then just one soldier, a callow Brit named Tommy (Fionn Whitehead, in a strong everyman performance), as he scrambles over fences, dashes down abandoned streets and dives for cover while bullets rain all about. When Tommy finally stumbles onto the Mole an extended jetty at the outer harbor of Dunkirk he is met with an overwhelming and almost surreal tableau: thousands of Allied troops standing in long, parallel lines, facing the English Channel. They don't even bother with their weapons because their rifles are useless at this point. The Channel is the only means of escape, but the waters are too shallow for larger British Navy vessels to pick up the men, and Luftwaffe planes are periodically buzzing overhead, dropping bombs on troops who are sitting ducks. It seems to be an untenable situation sure to result in thousands upon thousands of Allied casualties. In England, the call goes out for civilian boats of all manner and size to come to the aid of their countrymen, and literally hundreds of motor boats, steamers, barges, private yachts and fishing boats set out for Dunkirk, to retrieve the troops and bring them all the way home or to Navy ships waiting off the coast. With Hans Zimmer's pounding, electrifying score and some perfectly timed and sometimes jarring editing choices ramping up the tension, "Dunkirk" weaves multiple storylines, as we experience the massive evacuation effort from the perspective of a number of angles, including: A quietly determined, middle-aged civilian boat captain (Mark Rylance, in a brilliant performance) who says men his age create these wars, so the least he can do is try to save some of the young men whose lives are in peril. A noble British Navy commander (Kenneth Branagh, excellent as always) who takes on the nearly impossible mission of evacuating tens of thousands of Allied troops. The commander wistfully notes one can practically see home from Dunkirk, and yet it might as well be a thousand miles away. Two RAF pilots (Jack Lowden and Tom Hardy) engaging in one dogfight after another with the enemy, sometimes just a few hundred feet above the water. A shell-shocked British soldier (Cillian Murphy) whose mere presence on a civilian boat puts the captain and his crew of two teenage boys in peril. A group of soldiers hunkered in the hull of a boat sitting in the sand at the edge of the water, waiting for the tide to come in as they sustain enemy fire and deal with a possible traitor in their midst. Nearly every scene in "Dunkirk" brings about another moment of crisis, another opportunity for heroics, another instance of young soldiers and their commanding officers scrambling to evacuate while facing peril at every turn. This is an intense but not especially violent film. Nolan opted for a PG-13 rating and eschewed graphic scenes of bloodshed in favor of focusing on the emotional, psychological and spiritual challenges facing these young soldiers. In "Dunkirk," Nolan has crafted a tight, gripping, deeply involving and unforgettable film that ranks among the best war movies of the decade. Construction of a 16-bed, nearly $4 million alcohol and drug treatment center in Lebanon has been put on hold until Samaritan Health Services gets a clearer picture of how the states expanded health care tax (House Bill 2391) is going to affect the systems bottom line. Larry Mullins, Samaritans president and CEO, said tax changes and a capping of state reimbursement for current and retired employees medical care could cost Samaritan as much as $24 million annually. We are looking at cutting programs, especially those that might not be profitable, Mullins said. We have always known that alcohol and drug rehabilitation would not be profitable, but we believe it is needed in our communities. We are still prepared to move forward with it, but we need more solid information at this time. Mullins said it would not be fiscally responsible to begin construction of the facility in Lebanon until we know we have enough money to move forward with it. Mullins said all departments throughout the system which employs more than 5,200 people at five hospitals and numerous clinics are being examined for possible cost-cutting measures. New hires have been frozen except in critical areas, Mullins said, adding the system is renegotiating vendor and supplier contracts and delaying non-emergency capital acquisitions. This Legislative session has really created some challenges for hospitals, Mullins said. Mullins said health care systems currently pay a 5.3 percent annual tax on net revenues. Those funds are paid to the state, which then receives matching grants from the federal government. The original assessments are then funneled back to the health care systems. Under the new tax plan, the assessment will increase to 6 percent and the additional seventh-tenths tax increase will not be reimbursed to the hospitals. Mullins said taxing hospital systems on gross receipts could create significant financial issues and in some cases, cause the system to end up losing money. He added that a more fair way of taxing hospitals would be to tax earnings, after the hospitals have paid expenses. Thats the only way to know if there is money available to pay the assessment, he said. According to Mullins, Samaritan Health Services is down about 75 employees in recent months, but will likely have to cut another 150 to 200 positions. Consolidation of programs and clinics is likely. Mullins said Samaritan grosses about $900 million per year with net earnings of about $600 million. The margin on that is 1 to 2 percent. The new tax rate is expected to generate $673 million statewide to fund the Oregon Health Plan, which covers one of every four Oregonians. The tax would be 6 percent for the states largest hospitals and 4 percent for rural hospitals. Insurers and managed-care organizations will also pay a new 1.5 percent tax on their premium incomes. Mullins called the Legislatures actions, a burden to health care systems that require us to do some things that will be harmful to our communities. We are trying to get through this without massive layoffs. This scenario is as dramatic as anything Ive seen in my career. Mullins spoke with Gov. Kate Brown this week and told her this legislation will have damaging effects on health care delivery, programs, people and jobs. The Democrat is undaunted about the prospects of going toe-to-toe with Speaker Ryan and providing healthcare to all Americans. Cathy Myers literally lives across the street from Rep. Paul Ryan in Janesville, Wisconsin, so she knows exactly who shes up against. Not to mention having witnessed his many attempts to wrest healthcare coverage away from millions of Americans just to give the wealthy a tax break. Healthcare is one of the primary reasons Myers decided to run for Ryans seat in Congress, which is up for grabs in 2018. She believes healthcare is a right and that the healthcare plans supported by Ryan arent actually healthcare plans, she says. Why suggest a healthcare plan that isnt one? The healthcare plan Paul Ryan proposed is actually a tax break for the very top, and the number of people that were going to be cut out of healthcare was staggering. The whole point of healthcare is to figure out how to cover people, not how to exclude people. With every Republican proposal threatening to deprive millions of Americans of healthcare coverage, now may be the best possible time for Democrats to lobby hard for what would actually help the most Americans: single-payer healthcare. According to Physicians for a National Health Program, single-payer health insurance, also known as Medicare for all, means a single public or quasi-public agency organizes healthcare financing, but the delivery of care remains largely in private hands. Under a single-payer system, all residents of the U.S. would be covered for medically necessary services, including doctor, hospital, preventive, long-term care, mental health, reproductive health, dental, vision, prescription drug and medical supply costs. I believe healthcare is a right, and the way to provide healthcare for everyone is through single-payer, Myers says. I believe we need to take the profit out of healthcare. A profit incentive means certain decisions are made that arent in the best interests of the patient. With Republicans dead set on dismantling anything having to do with the ACA and, it seems, Medicaid along with it you might think single-payer healthcare would be a non-starter. But Myers disagrees. I think people are more aware of how influential having healthcare and health insurance is to them. Thats what the ACA did: It helped people understand just how important it is and how much it benefits them, by being able to see their doctor early, do preventive care. Now that Republicans are talking about taking it away, people are more willing to listen to the idea of single-payer. I think it is possible now. The latest push by the Senate and the Trump Administration to repeal Obamacare, whether or not they can replace it, proves the fight over healthcare is far from over. But as Americans continue making their voices and stories heard, Republicans face an increasingly uphill battle. People like Myers are driving the opposition to Republican plans. She has been telling the citizens of Wisconsin and their elected officials the stories of people like Jack, a nine-year-old boy with a rare genetic disorder who will literally die without treatment. Jack, whose pre-existing condition would make him uninsurable under any of the Republican plans or subject him to coverage caps that make treatment unaffordable, went with her a couple of weeks ago to deliver a petition bearing 1,600 signatures to Senator Ron Johnsons office, asking him to reject the initial Senate plan. To have this nine-year-old boy be aware that there are people out there playing politics with his life you realize how hard it is on people like Jack, Myers says. His fate is really in their hands, which is another reason to keep the pressure up like crazy on Senator Johnson and Speaker Ryan. Healthcare is a top-three issue for Myers, along with education and the environment, in part because she knows access to affordable healthcare is not just good for peoples health its good for the economy and particularly the middle class, she explains. When people cant take care of themselves because the cost of healthcare is so prohibitive, then they get sick and people who are sick are not productive. That prevents small businesses and companies from being productive. I also think people who might be inclined to start their own small business are less likely if theyre concerned about being able to afford and access healthcare. So I think that by working on healthcare, we can help the middle class. Although Myers says the ACA was a step in the right direction, in terms of getting more people insured, she firmly believes single-payer is the way to go. The ACA led to a lot of good things, including people getting healthcare for the first time, but it left a little too much up to the states and allowed states to deny people healthcare that way, Myers says. I also think it failed in regard to negotiating prices. We are the biggest client. We should be able to go in and set our price. We pay the most and get the least. If every industrialized country in the world can do single-payer, we can too. Myers who was elected to the Janesville School Board in 2013 and 2016 and is actively involved in her community is ready to do more to serve the public. She realizes that going up against an incumbent like Paul Ryan wont be easy, but Myers has a crucial strength: She wants to represent average Americans who wont be helped by any of Speaker Ryans policies. If every one of the 23 million people that Paul Ryan wants to kick off healthcare gave me $1, I would win, Myers says. The money issue is there, but I think if I just tell people who I am, what I stand for and what I care about, people will respond to that. To learn more about Cathy Myers and her platform, visit her website. [Photos courtesy of Cathy Myers for Congress.] Microsoft on Monday unveiled an ambitious plan that would use technology found in the television white space spectrum to develop affordable broadband Internet access for at least 2 million consumers. [*Editors Note July 13, 2017] The aim is to bridge the technology gap between urban and rural American communities. The spectrum is a currently unused portion in the 600 Mhz frequency range designated for UHF television bands, which allows wireless signals to travel over hills and through buildings and trees into rural areas. Microsoft has deployed 20 such projects in 17 countries around the world, including Columbia, Kenya and Jamaica, providing access to a total of 185,000 people. Microsoft President Brad Smith outlined the plan at a high-powered luncheon in Washington, D.C., which was sponsored by the Media Institute. Thirty-four million Americans still lack access to broadband, he pointed out, and although 23 million still live in rural areas, progress for broadband penetration in the country has plateaued. This it not just about watching YouTube videos on tablets, as enjoyable as that may be, Smith told attendees at the luncheon. Its about education. Its about healthcare. Its about agriculture and growing a small business. It is a vital part of modern day life. Business Case Microsoft issued a white paper on the rural broadband gap and how best to approach it, based on research from Boston Consulting Group. Eighty percent of rural areas would benefit from the white spaces spectrum for populations of 2 to 200 people per square mile, according to the paper. Satellite coverage would work best for smaller communities, while fixed wireless would best serve more densely populated areas. Microsoft will work with a group of investment partners through its Rural Airband Initiative to have 12 different projects up and running over the next 12 months in 12 different states, Smith said. The company will make initial investments in capital costs and then work with local operators on a revenue-share plan to recoup investments. Microsoft also has partnered with the National 4-H Council to train people on the latest technology. Deployment of the broadband initiative will improve Internet access for students in local schools, provide telemedicine in rural hospitals, and offer access to greater opportunities to employ precision farming, which uses sensors to estimate the specific needs for water and other resources. It also will aid small businesses and individual consumers. The effort is meant to be a catalyst for a larger industry-wide plan that could expand broadband to the nations rural population at a cost of between US$8 billion and $12 billion over a five-year period. Such a plan would cost 80 percent less than the cost of fiber alone and 50 percent less than using fixed wireless technology like 4G, the company said. Microsoft has not specified a cost attached to its own 12-state plan, but said it planned to reach out to additional partners and that the public sector would need to play a role for expanded broadband coverage with federal and state infrastructure investment. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai was in South Boston, Virginia, on Monday, learning more about Microsofts efforts to provide broadband service to thousands of students in rural parts of the state. The FCC is committed to bridging the digital divide and ensuring that all Americans can enjoy the opportunities provided by high-speed Internet access, said Tina Pelkey, the FCCs new press secretary. We will continue to work in partnership with industry, state and local governments, and the nonprofit community to achieve that goal. Public Knowledge has urged the FCC to make greater use of TV white spaces by managing the public airwaves. Although the technology has been deployed in some rural communities for high-tech precision farming and some wireless ISPs, the cost of equipment has discouraged widespread adoption, said Harold Feld, senior vice president of Public Knowledge. The group has urged the FCC to make the technology more affordable, but resistance from the National Association of Broadcasters has stymied that effort, he told TechNewsWorld. Promise and Pitfalls The plan is a positive step, noted Shirley Bloomfield, president of NTCA, the Rural Broadband Association. However, even the most cutting-edge technology is going to need lots of fiber backhaul to make a compelling broadband product, she told TechNewsWorld. White space spectrum technology is promising, but its very expensive unless you get enough users or participating organizations to make it cost-effective, observed broadband technology consultant Craig Settles. Microsoft is to white space what Google is to fiber, he told TechNewsWorld. Both companies have the money and the market credibility to drive adoption, or at least experimentation with technologies. In order for the plan to work and make money, Microsoft needs to be able to reach critical mass within a certain time frame. Google has run into that problem with deployment of Google Fiber. Every once in a while, Microsoft whose operating system for desktop computers has dominated the industry for years takes on an initiative that is beyond its comfort zone, said independent telecom analyst Jeff Kagan. The future of Microsofts business lies in several different areas, he told TechNewsWorld. They obviously see this as something thats important to their business. It plays towards what Microsoft will be tomorrow. *ECT News Network editors note July 13, 2017: Our original published version of this story indicated that Microsofts plan to provide broadband access for at least 2 million consumers would cost between US$8 billion and $12 billion. However, that amount does not accurately reflect Microsofts investment in the overall rural broadband plan, according to company rep Lindsey Lombardi. The total capital and initial operating cost to eliminate the rural broadband gap falls into a range of $8 to $12 billion, Microsoft President Brad Smith said. However, Microsoft has not attached a dollar amount to its own spending on the initiative it announced. The Online Trust Alliance on Tuesday released its 2017 Online Trust Audit & Honor Roll. Among its findings: Consumer services sites have the best combined security and privacy practices. FDIC 100 banks and U.S. government sites are the least trustworthy, according to the audit. The number of websites that qualified for the Honor Roll reached a nine-year high. However, the audit identified an alarming three-year trend: Increasingly, sites either take privacy and security seriously and do well in the audit, or they lag behind the industry significantly in one or more critical areas. The Online Trust Alliance is an Internet Society initiative to promote best practices for online trust. Its goal is to set standards for recognizing excellence in online consumer protection, data security and responsible privacy practices. Researchers analyzed about 1,000 predominantly consumer-facing websites for site and email security, as well as privacy practices. Fifty-two percent of analyzed websites qualified for the Honor Roll, a 5 percent improvement over 2016. Data is the oil of the Internet economy. It is fueling innovation, growth and revenue. At the same time, if abused there is a risk of data spills, negatively impacting user expectations and ultimately the Internet at large, said OTA Chairman Emeritus Craig Spiezle, founder of the group. The OTA Trust Audit & Honor Roll underscores the urgency to embrace responsible security and privacy practices. Failure risks a long-term impact to the Internet. Consumer Trust Challenges The annual OTA audits provide a valuable service, especially given the growing number and extremity of online threats, noted Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT. However, it is not very likely the report will help fix what hampers e-commerce today, he said. One of the biggest challenges of addressing online threats is the sheer complexity of the markets, organizations and individuals affected. That is more than any single survey or organization can fix, King told LinuxInsider. The report is cautionary but lacks gravity outside of OTA members. The decline in government website rankings could be a fly in the ointment. This years sudden poor showing for U.S. government sites could have a negative impact on consumer trust. Lack of continuity is detrimental to consumers and businesses alike, noted King. An ongoing problem with public sector sites is the radical shift in expectations and processes when power changes from one party to another, he said. Were seeing that now, as the current administration takes apart regulations and best practices put in place by the past administration. Top 3 Performers The audit tallied the percentage of websites making the Honor Roll in six categories: Consumer Services 76 percent. This industry held onto its ranking as the best performing on the Honor Roll. This segment accounted for 26 of the top 50 consumer-facing sites, or 52 percent. Internet Retailers 51 percent. Half of the top 500 Internet retailers made the Honor Roll this year, representing a big improvement over last years score of 44 percent. This segment accounted for 10 of the top 50 consumer-facing sites, or 20 percent. News and Media 48 percent. This marks the most significant improvement over the previous year, across all industries. Last year, media and news sites polled as the worst-performing sector, with only 23 percent making the Honor Roll. This segment accounted for three of the top consumer-facing 50 sites, or 6 percent. OTAs audit continues to drive awareness and recognition about the importance of responsible data security and ethical privacy practices, said Olaf Kolkman, chief internet technology officer of the Internet Society. The increase in sites embracing end-to-end encryption shows it is becoming the norm for site traffic. Bottom 3 Performers Following are the sectors bringing up the rear in the audit: Internet Service Providers, Carriers, Hosters & Email Providers 46 percent. Coming in slightly worse than News and Media, this industry segment debuted as a new category this year. This segment accounted for seven of the top 50 consumer-facing sites, or 14 percent. Government 39 percent. This percentage of audited U.S. federal government sites showed a significant decrease from 46 percent making the Honor Roll last year. Note that 60 percent of government websites received failing grades this year. FDIC Banks 27 percent. This industry segment reflects the biggest drop this year. Last year, 55 percent of this category qualified for the Honor Roll. The FDIC Banks category had showed steady and significant improvement in its Honor Roll score until this year. The plummeting score resulted from increased breaches, low privacy scores, and low levels of email authentication. Sixty-five percent received failing grades, according to OTA. Expanded Methodology An organization needed a composite score of 80 percent or better to qualify for Honor Roll status. Failing any one category automatically caused a company to fail overall. Organizations also needed a score of at least 60 percent in three categories: 1) domain, brand and consumer protection; 2) site security and resiliency; and 3) data protection, privacy and transparency. OTA expanded the 2017 methodology with two new criteria telemetry and data fidelity to address todays security threat and privacy landscape. OTA analyzed websites between mid-April and the end of May. The audit analyzed more than 500 million email headers and approximately 100,000 Web pages. The 2017 report was funded in part by grants from Symantec and Verisign. Data providers included Agari, DigiCert, Disconnect, Distil Networks, Ensighten, High-Tech Bridge, Infoblox, Malwarebytes, Microsoft, Risk Based Security, SecurityScorecard, SiteLock, Qualys SSL Labs, Symantec, ValiMail and Verisign. Top-Scoring Website List Grows OTA expanded its list of top performers from 10 sites to 50 this year, a reflection of the increase in overall Honor Roll recipients. Despite ratcheting up the criteria needed to qualify for the 2017 Honor Roll, it was encouraging to see the highest percentage of recipients since OTA began the Trust Audit nine years ago, said OTAs Spiezle. Many organizations not making the Honor Roll have a long way to go to ensure and embrace acceptable security and privacy practices, he added. The 50 highest-scoring consumer-facing sites cover a wide range of industries that include social media, online services, government and retail. Consumer-facing website owners have an important responsibility, because their customers entrust them with valuable data, said Roxane Divol, Symantec general manager of website security. The OTA Audit recognizes those who go beyond compliance and demonstrate stewardship of their customers online security and privacy. Online Trust: A Growing Problem The story of online threats over the past 12-18 months might be summarized as the hits just keep on coming, said Pund-ITs King. Knowing who is trustworthy is one thing, but another is whether even trustworthy organizations have what it takes to fend off experienced, well financed attackers. It is a continuing, ugly story with an unfortunately unknowable conclusion, he said. For example, just days before the OTA report hit the news, another report disclosed a breach of a server used by a firm that provided consulting services for the Republican Party. That breach exposed the personal information of millions of voters in the last election. Consumer trust or lack thereof is impacted by the collective impact of such incidents, said OTAs Spiezle. This was not a sophisticated breach. This was poor server management which gets to the root of the issues. Security and privacy is not a one-time task. It takes ongoing monitoring review and optimization, he told LinuxInsider. The OTA audit showed the same thing year after year. A well-determined adversary will penetrate nearly any organization, Spiezle said. That is why the OTA is so focused on email authentication. We know that more often than not systems are compromised from malicious and spoofed email. Both outbound and inbound authentication is critical, as well as enforcing DMARC policies, he noted. Congressional Review OTA officials will present briefings to FTC, NTIA, NIST and FCC staff members on the audit results on June 27, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. EDT in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C. In the past, we have had many face-to-face meetings including the White House. Under the previous administrations both Michael Daniels and Howard Schmidt (White House cyber security coordinators) were very engaged. We have not received a response to our offer for this year, Spiezle said. OTA also will present the 2017 Cybersecurity, Privacy & Innovation Public Service Award to members of Congress for their contribution to help spur innovation and online trust. Whether the White House would accept the OTAs offer for a briefing was uncertain, Spiezle said. As you can surmise, there has been lots of churn on staffing. A Department of Homeland Security official on Wednesday told the Senate Intelligence Committee that Russian government-backed hackers targeted as many as 21 states during the 2016 presidential election. Hackers attempted to penetrate Internet-connected systems related to the elections in up to 21 states, but they were successful only in a small number of them, said Samuel Liles, acting director of the cyber division of the DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis. The targeted states were not named, but Arizona and Pennsylvania previously had been identified as states where hackers successfully accessed election systems. The Russians are continuing to probe state and local systems, and there are persistent vulnerabilities that could lead to some of those systems being compromised, DHS and other officials warned. Due to the disparate methods of voting and cybersecurity enforcement in different parts of the U.S., the risk to computer-related systems varies from county-to-county. A variety of devices are used to cast votes, and there is little uniformity of processes across polling stations. Review and Warning The House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday also conducted a hearing focusing on the impact of Russian hacking on the 2016 elections. Members of that committee heard testimony from former DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson (pictured above), who was in charge of the department when the actual hacking took place during the final months of the Obama administration. During that hearing, Johnson reiterated that Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered the hacking with the intent of influencing the outcome of the U.S. elections. However, he said that no hard votes actually were manipulated at the ballot box level. When Ranking Member Adam Schiff, D-Calif., asked why the Obama administration had not put out a more forceful warning about potential Russian hacking of the election, Johnson said there were concerns about revealing sources and methods, and that the administration did not want to appear to be taking sides in the November election. One of then-candidate Donald Trumps constant themes was that the election was rigged, he noted. State officials have serious concerns about the federal governments lack of information-sharing about potential threats to state and local voting systems, said Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson, president-elect of the National Association of Secretaries of State, in testimony before the Senate hearing. Those concerns were heightened by threats referenced in a leaked NSA report, she said. Local Risks DHS failed to share critical information with states about specific threat information that needed to be acted upon, such as the Russian hackers targeting of 21 states, said Kay Stimson, spokesperson for the NASS. The general feedback we received from todays hearing, she told the E-Commerce Times, is that state officials are very interested in receiving documented threat intelligence information from DHS so they can use that to protect their systems. The lesson from the 2016 election is that even though there have been past attempts to hack into election systems, the latest activities are not the work of run of the mill adversaries, said Ken Menzel, general counsel at the Illinois State Board of Elections. Local officials will have to work with the federal government to step up their game, he told the E-Commerce Times. Were certainly concerned with all the attention on this that [Russia] or somebody else is going to want to get in [to U.S. voting systems] in the future, Menzel said. In terms of the mechanics of a democratic voting infrastructure, there is always a balance to be struck between using automation versus manual efforts, according to Mark Nunnikhoven, vice president of cloud research at Trend Micro. The automation is there to speed up the counts and increase accuracy, while manual efforts provide verification against mass manipulation and increase voter confidence in the system, he told the E-Commerce Times. The biggest step that can be taken is to establish national cybersecurity standards for elections and election-related systems, Nunnikhoven argued. That approach is partially in place through the National Institute for Standards and Technology, a physical science lab inside the U.S. Department of Commerce, he said, but theres a need for additional verification and educational efforts at the district level. "This is a weblog that is truly welcome in blogtopia a new blog doesn't seem to be frantically trying to score points for any party. That does NOT mean it's afraid to take a stand or be critical....You really can't predict exactly where The Debate Link will come down on all issues. It's not chanting anyone's mantra." -- The Moderate Voice "[A]n emerging genius in legal scholarship and commentary." -- Jim Chen "It's on my 1st cup of coffee rss feed." -- Hanno Kaiser "I heart this blog.... he referenced Wittgenstein, and it was entirely appropriate and non-pretentious." -- kath.A.rine "[F]unny, thoughtful, acclaimed ...." -- The Core Blog Archive June 2021 (1) May 2021 (77) April 2021 (77) March 2021 (82) February 2021 (68) January 2021 (64) December 2020 (67) November 2020 (66) October 2020 (66) September 2020 (67) August 2020 (74) July 2020 (83) June 2020 (92) May 2020 (86) April 2020 (104) March 2020 (105) February 2020 (74) January 2020 (75) December 2019 (75) November 2019 (70) October 2019 (89) September 2019 (69) August 2019 (81) July 2019 (77) June 2019 (73) May 2019 (110) April 2019 (110) March 2019 (102) February 2019 (85) January 2019 (123) December 2018 (116) November 2018 (112) October 2018 (121) September 2018 (107) August 2018 (150) July 2018 (163) June 2018 (190) May 2018 (145) April 2018 (112) March 2018 (124) February 2018 (113) January 2018 (164) December 2017 (150) November 2017 (144) October 2017 (169) September 2017 (171) August 2017 (135) July 2017 (131) June 2017 (147) May 2017 (160) April 2017 (138) March 2017 (156) February 2017 (143) January 2017 (203) December 2016 (208) November 2016 (185) October 2016 (173) September 2016 (194) August 2016 (232) July 2016 (225) June 2016 (238) May 2016 (231) April 2016 (215) March 2016 (246) February 2016 (226) January 2016 (252) December 2015 (230) November 2015 (250) October 2015 (234) September 2015 (222) August 2015 (253) July 2015 (275) June 2015 (279) May 2015 (223) April 2015 (226) March 2015 (243) February 2015 (258) January 2015 (281) December 2014 (292) November 2014 (296) October 2014 (413) September 2014 (472) August 2014 (506) July 2014 (483) June 2014 (488) May 2014 (512) April 2014 (497) March 2014 (531) February 2014 (482) January 2014 (535) December 2013 (482) November 2013 (441) October 2013 (416) September 2013 (491) August 2013 (521) July 2013 (491) June 2013 (470) May 2013 (457) April 2013 (426) March 2013 (420) February 2013 (414) January 2013 (489) December 2012 (433) November 2012 (504) October 2012 (469) September 2012 (430) August 2012 (427) July 2012 (360) June 2012 (336) May 2012 (362) April 2012 (322) March 2012 (263) February 2012 (224) January 2012 (291) December 2011 (295) November 2011 (325) October 2011 (330) September 2011 (319) August 2011 (333) July 2011 (318) June 2011 (387) May 2011 (373) April 2011 (389) March 2011 (375) February 2011 (335) January 2011 (400) December 2010 (445) November 2010 (395) October 2010 (312) September 2010 (262) August 2010 (277) July 2010 (323) June 2010 (386) May 2010 (360) April 2010 (333) March 2010 (351) February 2010 (336) January 2010 (384) December 2009 (353) November 2009 (300) October 2009 (308) September 2009 (350) August 2009 (298) July 2009 (255) June 2009 (203) May 2009 (193) April 2009 (186) March 2009 (197) February 2009 (173) January 2009 (148) December 2008 (181) November 2008 (197) October 2008 (236) September 2008 (304) August 2008 (314) July 2008 (273) June 2008 (27) May 2008 (1) April 2008 (6) October 2007 (1) May 2007 (1) April 2007 (6) March 2007 (2) February 2007 (1) October 2006 (1) September 2006 (1) August 2006 (4) July 2006 (4) June 2006 (1) July 2005 (1) May 2005 (2) March 2005 (1) June 2004 (2) May 2004 (1) April 2004 (4) March 2004 (2) February 2004 (2) July 2003 (2) June 2003 (5) To build the largest and most complete Amateur Radio community site on the Internet - a "portal" that hams think of as the first place to go for information, to exchange ideas, and be part of whats happening with ham radio on the Internet. eHam.net provides recognition and enjoyment to the people who use, contribute, and build the site. This project involves a management team of volunteers who each take a topic of interest and manage it with passion. The site will stand above all other ham radio sites by employing the latest technology and professional design/programming standards, developed by a team of community programmers who contribute their skills to the effort. The site will be something of which everyone involved can be proud to say they were a part. We welcome your comments. The eHam.net Team, Revision 07/2020. HCM City to host international traffic safety conference More than 600 local and international traffic experts and policy-makers will participate in the 12th International Conference of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies (EASTS) to be held in HCM City and Binh Duong Province from September 18-21. A recent traffic accident on the HCM Highway in the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum killed four people. Speaking at a press conference in HCM City yesterday, Khuat Viet Hung, vice chairman of the National Committee for Road Safety, said that measures to address traffic problems among EASTS-member countries would be discussed. Hung, who is also the head of the conferences organising committee, said the biennial event also aimed to promote transport research cooperation among EASTS-member countries. This year, the National Committee for Road Safety plans to combine the EASTS conference and an annual traffic safety conference in the city and Binh Duong Province. The conference in HCM City is themed Vision and Action Programme for Safe, Green and Integrated Transport. The conference will discuss management of personal vehicles, application of intelligent transport system (ITS), traffic safety for vulnerable commuters like motorbikes drivers and pedestrians, public transport development, and sustainable transport development to adapt to climate change, among others. Meanwhile, the conference in Binh Duong will have the theme Binh Duong: Vision of a Safe Transport System, a Smart City. The conference will focus on various issues, including road safety management, responses after traffic accidents, railway safety and inland waterway safety. Short-term and long-term solutions for sustainable transport development in the province will also be discussed. Participants will take technical tours to the Underground Metro Construction Site (metro Line No. 1) in HCM City, including the Ben Thanh Market underground station and the Centre for an Intelligent Transport System at the HCMTrung Luong Highway, among others. Hung said that traffic safety required solutions from a range of fields, including construction, engineering, health, education, communication, law-making and enforcement. To ensure safety, rapid information collection and processing are needed before making decisions. Scientific research and technological applications especially information technology, has become more urgent than ever. The conferences will help improve traffic situations in Vietnam as an EASTS member state by sharing lessons learned and solutions with other member countries, he said. EASTS seeks to foster and support excellence in transportation research and practice, and to stimulate professional exchange in all aspects and modes of transportation among the members. EASTS was founded in 1994 as a result of a meeting held in Japan with experts in transportation from East Asian countries. They included Vietnam, Australia, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand, among others. In 2001, under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Transport, the Vietnam Road and Bridge Association organised the 4th EASTS conference in Hanoi. Ensuring sustainable traffic safety and order remains a big challenge in Vietnam. The country faces increased traffic congestion and accidents in large cities, overdevelopment of personal vehicles and high transport costs. Nearly 9,600 traffic accidents resulting in 4,134 deaths and 8,000 injuries were reported in Vietnam in the first half of this year, according to the National Committee for Road Safety. As many as 33 traffic jams lasting more than 30 minutes were reported in the last six months nationwide, while 25 were reported in the same period last year. 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secondary schools following the death of a former student. 18-year-old Joe Greene died suddenly while on holiday in Spain earlier this week. The teenager completed his A Levels at St Ninian's High School earlier this year, and had just secured a job in the finance sector before going on holiday. The school's headteacher described him as a young man with a lively and infectious attitude to life who was appreciated by all. The school is planning to pay tribute to Joe in the new school year. Counsellors from CRUSE and the Department of Education and Children will be supporting students and staff at the school, while anyone who feels they need support can contact CRUSE on 668191. The negative repercussions of Russias illegal annexation of Crimea on European security are clear. However, there is a different specter haunting Europe that is unbeknown to most Europeansnamely the security dilemma around the U.S. / NATO anti-missile system. While the members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) maintain that their missile defence system is purely defensive and against ballistic missile attacks from the Middle East, Russia sees it as a threat to its own nuclear deterrent and responds accordinglynotably by threatening the countries hosting the systems components. The whole dynamics of the missile defence dispute remain poorly understood, for a number of reasons. Europeans have from early on adopted the interpretation that deploying missile defences in the region has no implication for strategic stability. When Russia protested against the Bush administration plans to deploy strategic interceptors in Eastern Europe, the then-NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffersaid that the Allies were convinced that there are no implications of the United States [missile defence] system for the strategic balance. This view was enforced after 2009, when the Bush project was scaled down by the Obama administration. Unlike the previous plan, which focused on defending the United States against Irans hypothetical intercontinental missiles, the new planthe so-called European Phased Adaptive Approach (EPAA)was to protect Europe from Irans existing missile capabilities. The key principle guiding EPAA was adaptability to the evolution of Irans nuclear and missile programs: as President Obama assured at the time, there would be no need for the anti-missile system if the threat from Irans nuclear and missile programs were eliminated. If missile defences indeed were limited, Russia would have no reason to be worried. The problem is that there are no guarantees that this will be the case. Largely due to opposition by the U.S. Congress, the United States has repeatedly rebuffed Russian calls for legally binding limits to the anti-missile project. Russian concerns thus boil down to uncertainty about the future. While not threatening in itself, EPAAparticularly the land-based site in Romania and the one under construction in Poland as part of EPAAs Phase IIIprovides a platform for potential quantitative and qualitative expansion of missile defences. Russian suspicions are further enforced because the principle of adaptability is not being applied in practice. Despite the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and the fact that Irans missiles cannot even reach Poland, the construction of the Polish missile defence site continues as scheduled. The site, which is to be completed in 2018, is meant to protect central and northern Europe against intermediate-range missiles. But Iran does not have, nor is it likely to develop, such missiles. And why would Iran attack Europe? While American officials seek to explain the policy with references to Irans continuing missile tests, the Alliance seems to have completely abandoned the association between missile defence and Iran. As stated in NATOs official website in late 2015, NATOs missile defence is not about any one country, but about the threat posed by proliferation more generally. In fact, over 30 countries have obtained, or are trying to obtain, ballistic missile technology. The Iran framework agreement does not change those facts. But neither of these justifications is credible. For the past decade, Irans missile tests have focused on improving the accuracy of its medium-range missiles, not increasing their reach. Indeed, there is no indication that Tehran would be developing either intermediate-range or intercontinental missiles. As for the generic proliferation threat, a closer look at the list of 31 countries with ballistic missile capabilities reveals that there is not a single country that would justify the current missile defence site in Poland: most countries in the list are U.S. allies, including Israel and Saudi-Arabiathe only Middle Eastern states who have missiles that could reach Central Europe. The American definition of the Iranian threat has always been at odds with the reality of European-Iranian relations. That is partly why Europeans have been so uneasy with explicit references to Iran as the main rationale for NATOs missile defence system. This has been the case particularly after the Iran nuclear deal, as both Iran and European countries are looking for ways to re-establish and expand previous trade and investment cooperation. Another reason for the European obliviousness to their missile defence dilemma is that it has become overshadowed by the Ukraine crisis. In effect, Russias response to the anti-missile systemnotably the deployment of Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad in October 2016 has been interpreted as part of President Putins general pattern of aggression. In this context, few recall that Russia has warned of such countermeasures since the Bush anti-missile plan was announced in 2007. For example, in 2011 President Medvedev explained that, if the missile dispute remained unresolved, modern offensive weapon systems, such as Iskander missiles, would be deployed on Russian borders to ensure the ability to take out any part of the U.S. missile defence system in Europe. There is little discussion on European missile defence policy because the United States has covered most of the costs, but also because allies are disinclined to question NATO solidarity in the current political climate. According to a group of experts from the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), NATOs insistence on pushing ahead with a missile defence system does not necessarily imply agreement over its purpose and goal. The lack of a debate can be explained by Washingtons sustained willingness to fund the programme almost entirely itself. For many, the political costs of changing course also appear higher than those of continuing the programme. However, continuing on autopilot is a bad idea. The expansion of the system is worsening tensions with Russia, while adding nothing to European security. As far as some believe that the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptors in Romania and Poland could protect Europe from Russian missiles, they are mistaken. As Frank Rose, the former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control, Verification and Compliance recently stated, I do not believe there is a missile defence solution to the strategic challenge that Russia presents. Indeed, given that it has not been tested in realistic conditions, there is no guarantee that the SM-3 would even work against more limited missile threats. As for the Block II version of the SM-3 that is to be deployed in Poland, it has only gone though two interceptor teststhe second of which failed on 22 June. It is in the interests of regional security that the United States reinstate adaptability to EPAA by suspending Phase III in Poland. But this is unlikely as long as such a move is portrayed as yet another step away from U.S. commitments to NATO. The Trump administration thus needs a push from Europeans. The European Allies should demand an end to the expansion of missile defenses for the sake of consistency with previous NATO policy and the reality that Iran is not a threat, but a potential partner to Europe. The article and map are based on a report Between the Shield and the Sword: NATOs Overlooked Missile Defense Dilemma, published by the Ploughshares Fund in June 2017. The opinions articulated above represent the views of the author(s), and do not necessarily reflect the position of the European Leadership Network or any of its members. The ELNs aim is to encourage debates that will help develop Europes capacity to address the pressing foreign, defence, and security challenges of our time. Am I suppose to add continuing education to my PAR application? I've taken 5 hands on continuing education courses totaling 72 hours plus many on-line ones. seems like it would be a good idea to include it but I'm not sure where. CPS Energy withstands roughly 94,000 attempted cyberattacks a day as hackers in China, Russia and elsewhere scour its network for weaknesses to try to infiltrate the city-owned utility and disrupt power supplies in Texas. We cant take this lightly, and we are not arrogant about this, our protection level, Fred Bonewell, CPS chief safety and security officer, said at the utilitys headquarters Monday. We thwart the vast majority of those. And those that have gotten through, which are very few, we have been able to quarantine and isolate so that it does not impact our systems. The utility is taking every precaution, Bonewell said, and cybercriminals have had little luck actually getting into the system. Since 2015, three hackers were able to infiltrate CPS network, and all were quickly quarantined and removed from the system, he said. The utility has bolstered its IT team over the past 18 months with specialists from the National Security Agency and Secret Service to help head off attacks and identify vulnerabilities. Officials with the Department of Homeland Security, in town for a site visit this week, regularly test and review CPS computer and security systems. The Department of Energy warned in January that new technology like the more than 500,000 smart meters CPS has installed across the city over the past few years are attractive targets for hackers and can be used to cut-off communication, cause physical damage, or more, and disconnect large numbers of customers to disrupt the grid. A June 27 cyberattack called NotPetya hit organizations around the world, including freight shipper Maersk and the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which had to switch to manual radiation monitoring. In most cases opening the door to a cyberattack can come down to a single click of the mouse. Hackers often gain entry by sending emails to an organizations employees with an infected file attached or impersonating someone requesting credentials. Known as a spear fishing attack, it can provide hackers the credentials they need to directly access a system or can deliver malware that can easily infiltrate a network from the inside. If you send it to 1,000 people and only one person clicks, thats all you need to get that initial toehold in, Mark Bristol, deputy division director for the Hunt and Incident Response Team at the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center, said by phone. Hackers can count on that one click. That one click likely led to at least the first of two cyberattacks that hit Ukraines power grid system in 2015 and again in 2016, turning off dozens of power substations and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of customers when hackers infected a control system. In 2016 a more sophisticated and modular malware, dubbed CRASHOVERRIDE by Washington, D.C.-based cybersecurity firm Dragos Inc., took out power to a portion of Kiev, Ukraines capital. In a report on the incident, Dragos described CRASHOVERRIDE as the first ever malware framework designed and deployed to attack electric grids. Dragos senior threat hunter Dan Gunter, whos based in the companys satellite office in San Antonio, said the two Ukraine attacks belong to the same family of actors but said between the 2015 and 2016 attacks there was a big jump. In 2015 a lot of it was human-driven, so it was human intensive, and in 2016 they actually put down a little more technology that potentially allowed them to automate it a bit more and get the human a little farther out of the loop, he said. Rather than having someone sitting at a computer remotely typing in commands and moving a mouse, as was likely done in 2015, CRASHOVERRIDE was able to act more autonomously and wreak havoc on its own when it hit Ukraines power grid in 2016. While the 2016 attack was more sophisticated, the element of surprise had, in a way, been given up in 2015. Gunter said the Ukrainians were ready to jump into manual mode and they had the power back up in an hour, hour fifteen minutes. While a cyberattack of such scale can be dramatic, it can be weeks or months in the making, said Gordon MacKay, chief technology officer for San Antonio network and information security firm Digital Defense. At CPS, Bonewell says, staying ahead of such attacks is about persistent training and simple tools like a program that allows employees to hover their mouse pointer over an email address, revealing whether its a bad email. What were trying to do is to train our people constantly to have the vigilance, the right focus and to not act to click, Bonewell said. That act to click could be the big act to stop things in a moments notice. Bristol, who was part of a U.S. team invited to Ukraine to study the 2015 attack, is careful to not over-hype the risks U.S. firms may face from cyberattacks. But he does say some of the tactics and techniques used in Ukraine particularly with the more modular CRASHOVERRIDE malware may transfer over to Western systems, albeit with some modifications, and could spread beyond utility-scale electricity. Voter Guide: What to know for the midterm election Your guide to the Texas and San Antonio races and candidates on the Nov. 8 ballot. It doesnt have to be power. It could be water utilities or whatever, Bristol said. The lessons that need to be learned from that is were seeing some malware out there deployed that actually can have direct influence on our process control systems. Bristol said this is not a technology problem, it is a people problem, indicating that, with policies like Bonewells and CPS continual training of the utilitys employees, many of the issues can be overcome. Part of my job as an incident responder is to work myself out of a job, Bristol said. I win when you never have to call me. rdruzin@express-news.net @druz_journo This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate When it comes to San Antonios best mobile dining experience, nothing beats a hearty portion of Maine cold water lobster meat stuffed into a New England style roll. Thats the winning combination that paved the way for Cousins Maine Lobster to claim the 2017 Critics Choice crown for the Best Food Truck/Mobile Dining in the city. Co-owners Todd Knief and Neil Werner have two trucks that canvass the area six days per week for lunch and dinner, serving up fresh lobster in traditional rolls (cold and warm) bathed in butter, as well as in tacos, grilled cheese, quesadillas and even tater tots. We rotate throughout the city and area, showing up at breweries, businesses, apartment complexes and wineries, Knief said. And if folks really want us there, well be there. We put a post out on social media asking customers to suggest new locations, and we received close to 500 responses. Cousins was featured on the hit show Shark Tank, and has a presence in 14 cities, including three in Texas (Dallas, Houston and San Antonio). Ownership had no reservations about setting up the franchise locally, citing a void in the bustling food truck scene for seafood on wheels. There wasnt any point in the process where I was skeptical the business concept wouldnt work in San Antonio, Knief said. Cousins was a brand that already had the reputation. All we had to do is replicate the process. Knief said about 200 pounds of fresh lobster meat, flown in fresh off the boat from Maine, go through the truck window on a weekly basis. Lobster dishes range from $14 to $15.75, and soups such as the lobster bisque and New England clam chowder sell for $7 per cup or $10 per bowl. Cousins also offers the venerable black and white Whoopie Pie Maines official state dessert to satisfy any sweet tooth for $4. Without the staff and friends and family, we wouldnt be where we are today, Knief said. The lobster lovers of San Antonio have truly supported us and we want to truly say thank you. To find the latest Cousins locations, go its Facebook page, Cousins Maine Lobster (San Antonio) or call 210-951-8922. Cousins Main Lobster also has an eponymous mobile app for iOS and Android that can take seafood lovers from phone to lobster in a matter of minutes with directions to the nearest truck. cblount@express-news.net Twitter: @chuck_blount Argentina-inspired Dorregos has found its niche in San Antonio, winning the Readers Choice award for Best New Restaurant this year. Dorregos, located inside the renovated Hotel Valencia Riverwalk, offers three separate menus, plus bar bites, all inspired by the cuisine of Argentina. It unveiled its full menu in May. CPS Energy will take over the funding for six air quality monitors that were shut down last month after a budget veto by Gov. Greg Abbott. A contractor working for CPS will begin collecting ozone and weather data at the six stations in Bexar, Comal and Guadalupe counties, the utility announced in a news release late Wednesday. Each and every day, we serve our community by providing electric and gas service, so providing a solution to something as important to our community as air quality makes perfect sense, the city-owned utilitys president and CEO, Paula Gold-Williams, said in a prepared statement. The Alamo Area Council of Governments, a coalition of local governments funded only by grants and work agreements, had previously maintained the monitors with funding from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Abbotts veto of $1.5 million from the TCEQs two-year budget affected 10 urban areas where average ozone levels are close to violating federal health standards. Ozone, the main ingredient in smog, forms when emissions from power plants, industrial facilities, airborne chemicals and vehicle exhaust pipes interact with sunlight. It irritates and damages the lungs and is linked to chronic health problems like asthma. San Antonios longterm ozone averages have been declining but are still at 72 parts per billion, slightly above the federal standard of 70 parts per billion set in 2015. San Antonios Office of Sustainability has been pushing to reduce ozone levels after the City Council decided last year to double down on the issue. The cost of running the six monitors through November and through next years March-to-November ozone season will be $135,000, AACOG executive director Diane Rath said. CPSs decision will help AACOG staff continue their photochemical modeling studies, she said. Their reports help local authorities understand where San Antonios ozone comes from and how it behaves in the atmosphere. That is why Im so grateful for this partnership with CPS, Rath said. Having access to that information is critical. CPS officials said they would add the six monitors to the two they are already maintaining. They also committed to installing another before next summer. Rath said the likely location is Government Canyon State Natural Area. The TCEQ also maintains three air monitors used for regulatory purposes. Despite San Antonios levels not meeting the standard, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt said the EPA will not enforce it for another year. On Tuesday, the U.S. House passed a bill delaying enforcement until October 2026. The bills cosponsors included Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, and Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio. bgibbons@express-news.net Twitter: @bgibbs Councilman John Courage wants to require more disclosure for local candidates and those who fund their campaigns and is also planning to push for deeper vetting of would-be candidates to ensure theyre actually residents of the district they want to represent. Courage on Wednesday secured the requisite support from his council colleagues to start deliberations on requiring City Council candidates to provide the principal occupation and employer of those who make aggregate contributions of $100 or more during a campaign contribution cycle. The people deserve to know whos funding campaigns for their elected officials, Courage said. Sometimes, a name and address isnt enough. State law requires that legislative and statewide candidates in Texas include a contributors occupation and employer for anyone who gives $500 or more. But there isnt a statewide requirement for local candidates to provide such information. It seems common sense to me, said Courage, who had to disclose those details in his races against U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, and state Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels. You want to understand who is really funding the campaigns. Meanwhile, the citys Ethics Review Board is in the midst of crafting several suggested revisions to the citys ethics and municipal campaign finance codes. Among other things, the board is considering whether to recommend that the city adopt these same proposed regulations. Fourth-term Councilman Rey Saldana did not sign onto Courages Council Consideration Request, though he said he welcomes the debate. The senior councilman said hes concerned that the measure could especially impact fundraising for first-time candidates who may receive a bulk of their contributions from outside the typical business givers. When Saldana first ran for office in 2011, he received several contributions from friends whose employers discouraged making political contributions. Requiring such disclosure may deter other everyday people from doing the same, he said. Im open to the discussion, but I worry that the politics of ones employer may dictate who you can and cant support. Councilman Greg Brockhouse, who has been a stalwart supporter of government transparency during his campaign and subsequent election, said he fully supports Courages push for contribution disclosure. I fully support Councilman Courage's attempts to strengthen the campaign finance laws, Brockhouse said. It's important to know where potential areas of influence are and listing employers helps with greater transparency in our local government. Courage is also working on a CCR that would give the City Clerks Office more authority and ability to confirm that a would-be candidate meets the citys residency requirements. Council candidates are required to live in the district they intend to run for at least six months prior to filing for a place on the ballot. In this years elections, there were two candidates whose residency was questioned. In District 8, Councilman Manny Pelaez has maintained that he lived in his parents Dominion home prior to the deadline, though photos on his social media had depicted him and his family apparently living in the District 9 home theyd owned through 2016. Hes denied any wrongdoing. In District 9, one of the original perceived frontrunners was Lynlie Wallace, who owns a house in District 9 and has worked for years in state Rep. Lyle Larsons office. During the election, the San Antonio Express-News determined that Wallace had been leasing out her San Antonio home, which shed used as her address for voter registration, for several years and was actually a resident of Austin. The city simply owes it to the citizens to do a simple check to verify that someone is a resident of the district theyre running in, Courage said. Hes planning to recommend a process that candidates signed ballot applications include a paragraph that gives the city permission to check with various governmental bodies, including the San Antonio Water System, CPS Energy, the Bexar County Clerk and the Bexar Appraisal District to ensure there are public records linking them to the address. That includes ensuring that theyve had utility bills in their names for at least six months which was the ultimate undoing of the Wallace campaign. Simply having the added language, Courage said, would act as a deterrent for people who would otherwise think of the residency rules as suggestions. With regards to residency, Councilman Courage wants to ensure residency requirements are clearly articulated and understood for all citizens attempting to run for office, Brockhouse said. There can be no ambiguity in candidate qualifications. I welcome that conversation and fully support John's efforts with his CCR. jbaugh@express-news.net Twitter: @jbaugh This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate AUSTIN - Gov. Greg Abbott formally added a host of contentious issues to the agenda of the special session after the Texas Senate, in a rare middle-of-the night meeting, approved crucial legislation to keep several state agencies open. Abbott was forced to call the special legislative session that began Tuesday because the must-pass sunset measure on state agencies died in the Senate in the regular session. He promised to add the other measures including a bathroom bill, property tax reform and school vouchers to the special-session agenda after the Senate approved the sunset legislation. Senators approved two sunset bills after midnight, and Abbott quickly followed through with his formal proclamation expanding the agenda. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who presides over the Senate, had put the chamber on the fast track to approving the sunset bill so lawmakers could quickly get to the other proposals. Patrick engineered the failure of the sunset bill in the regular session in order to force the special session. He did so when it became clear the bathroom and tax reform bills he wanted would die in the regular session, and he wanted to give them another chance by forcing Abbott to call a special session. Senators will be working through the weekend on the legislation, but Patrick provided a light moment when he delivered pizza and sodas to sustain them before they convened after midnight. OMG. Apron and all, said Senate Finance Chair Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, noting Patricks attire for his role as pizza delivery man. Senate committee hearings are planned Friday through Sunday. One of the most controversy-stirring is expected to be Fridays hearing on the bathroom proposal, which would restrict the restrooms that transgender people can use in public facilities, or at least in schools. Patrick said he wants all the measures to pass the Senate by the middle to the end of next week. That will send them to the House, where Speaker Joe Straus has given Abbotts agenda a cold reception. Straus, R-San Antonio, has said lawmakers have to approve the bill to keep open state agencies including the Texas Medical Board. But Straus opposes the bathroom bill and has described the agenda overall as a pile of manure. pfikac@express-news.net Twittter: @pfikac This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate AUSTIN Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is pressing to pass all 20 items on the special-session agenda through the Senate by next week, including proposals to restrict transgender peoples use of public restrooms, put new limits on local governments ability to raise property taxes and support private-school tuition for students with special needs. Its a hurry because we have 30 days and 20 bills. And you know I like to work fast. We like to get our work done. Our goal is to have all 20 passed sometime mid-to-the-end of next week, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said Wednesday, the second day of the special session called by Gov. Greg Abbott. Senators on Wednesday gave preliminary approval to must-pass sunset legislation to keep several state agencies in business, with plans to reconvene at one minute past midnight in order to approve the bill at the earliest possible time Thursday. Patrick, who presides over the Senate, is in a rush because Abbott has said he will open the agenda of the special session to other items after senators approve the sunset bill. The aim is to speed the bills to the doorstep of the House, which is working at a much more measured pace under a leader whos much less enthusiastic about the agenda. Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, opposes the bathroom bill and has compared the rest of the agenda to a pile of manure. While not all House members agree, some on both sides of the aisle say his approach accurately reflects the chambers sentiments. While Senate approval of the sunset bill is necessary to get to the other measures, it also will affect Patricks leverage for the rest of the session, which can last up to 30 days. Patrick forced the special session by stalling the sunset bill in the regular session. Now, he will no longer be able to use that issue to put pressure on Abbott or Straus, assuming the House is willing to approve the version of the bill passed by the Senate. The person with the leverage at this point, whether he chooses to use it or not, is Joe Straus, said Southern Methodist University political scientist Cal Jillson. Straus can slow down the sunset legislation and then slow-walk anything else really cherry-pick the other 19 or 20 items for something he and the House can be comfortable with. The House isnt expected to meet this weekend. The House State Affairs Committee on Wednesday approved its version of a sunset bill, which might be considered by the full House on Monday. If items other than the sunset bill dont pass in the special session, Abbott will be the one to decide whether to call lawmakers back. Patrick cant get to the other issues without passing sunset, and so he cant hold that over Abbott for a second special session, Jillson said. He has got to get to as much as Straus will allow in this first special session, and then declare the insufficiency of all of that if he wants a second special session. At some point, I think before Patrick is sated, Abbott will be. Asked about his strategy for dealing with Straus and getting House approval of the measures, Patrick said he was focused on the Senate. All I can say is what Ive always said: My job is to get the peoples work done in the Senate, which we do. Ive been very clear that these are not just the governors priorities or my priorities. These are the peoples priorities, Patrick said. Patrick championed the same priorities in the regular session, which ended May 29. While Republicans control the Legislature, they were divided on some of the issues, with a particular division between the House and the Senate. When it became clear that the bathroom and tax issues werent going to pass in the regular session, Patrick forced the special session by stalling Senate approval of the sunset measure. Patrick figured, correctly, that the bills death would require a special session, and he pressed Abbott to put his pet issues on the agenda. Abbott, the only one who can call a special session and set its agenda, accommodated him but put some anti-Patrick insurance into the call. The governor said he would put a slew of measures before lawmakers including Patricks initiatives, which Abbott also supports. But Abbott said he only would formally add the other items to the agenda after the Senate approved the sunset bill. After approving that bill, senators plan committee hearings on the bathroom bill and other measures Friday, with plans to work through the weekend. Patrick said the goal is to get all the bills approved by committees by Sunday. The full Senate could convene to begin passing them as early as Sunday night, he said. Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, said the Senate might aim to complete the 20-item agenda as early as next Tuesday or Wednesday. Thats about the earliest, I think, and some people would like to see that get done, he said. Sen. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, said that Patrick emphasized to senators that he wanted the measures passed by next Wednesday. Hes totally fixated on Wednesday, she said after senators caucused. Garcia and other Democrats who oppose a number of the measures are appalled at the Senate rush. She said she may tag every bill, which typically would delay their consideration. But such action at this point would be done more as a matter of principle than with the expectation of having a big effect. The Republican majority overruled a tag on the sunset bill Tuesday in order to speed it through the process, and the expectation is that GOP senators will do the same if efforts are made to delay other legislation. Were acting more like Washington every single day, Garcia said. Patrick said that he didnt see any lingering acrimony over the tagging tussle. I understand and respect the rules, being a former senator. You have to give every senator the right to express themselves and to talk and to present their point of view on a bill, and thats what weve always done, he said. pfikac@express-news.net Twitter: @pfikac EAGLE PASS The Supreme Court has left Leonardo Villegas citizenship in limbo. Things might be different if his mother had been born in Texas, like his father, but she was born and gave birth to Villegas in Mexico. The standards Congress has set for derivative citizenship becoming a citizen through a parent are different depending on whether the mother or the father is from the U.S., so for the past two years, the 42-year-old construction contractor from Eagle Pass has been arguing hes a victim of gender discrimination. The Supreme Court agreed with that argument in a ruling last month. The justices found that a law setting a lower citizenship standard for the foreign-born children of unwed U.S. female citizens than the standard set for the children of unwed U.S. male citizens is unconstitutional. However, it remains unclear whether that means Villegas is a citizen, even though a U.S. district judge in San Antonio found that he is. Im an American citizen, said Villegas, who came to the U.S. as an infant. The government says differently, but to me, Ive lived here my whole life. My (father) is an American citizen. My grandfather was an American citizen. The court ruled on a complicated statute governing an obscure corner of immigration law: How to decide the citizenship of someone born outside the country to an unwed parent who is a U.S. citizen. Under a law passed in 1952, the foreign-born child of a single male U.S. citizen needed to prove the father lived in the U.S. for 10 years, five of them after turning 14, before the child was born. The child of a single female U.S. citizen had to show only one year of U.S. residency before the child was born. Further muddying the issue, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who wrote the courts majority opinion in Sessions v. Morales Santana, focused on a more recent law that says the foreign-born child of a male U.S. citizen needs to show only that the father lived in the U.S. for five years, two of them before the age of 14. Because Villegas was born before that law went into effect in 1986, however, the 10-year standard applied when he tried to claim citizenship. In 2015, U.S. District Judge David Ezra ruled that Villegas is a U.S. citizen, the result of a lawsuit he brought after facing revocation of his green card over a criminal conviction. In a similar case decided by the Supreme Court last month, the justices agreed with Ezra that setting disparate standards for men and women amounted to gender discrimination. The law was written at a time when Congress believed the mother was regarded as the childs natural and sole guardian, Ginsburg wrote. Hardly gender neutral that assumption conforms to the long-held view that unwed fathers care little about, indeed are strangers to, their children, Ginsburg wrote. Lump characterization of that kind, however, no longer passes equal protection inspection. The Supreme Court made its decision in the case of Luis Ramon Morales Santana, who like Villegas argued that he was born a U.S. citizen and the discriminatory law should be declared unconstitutional. Morales Santana was born in the Dominican Republic to a male U.S. citizen who was single at the time and who later married Morales Santanas mother. Morales Santanas father left the U.S. only days before his 19th birthday, which prevented him from conveying citizenship to his son. Morales Santana became a lawful permanent resident in the U.S. but was put into deportation proceedings after a number of criminal convictions, including attempted murder. While the court agreed with him that the law setting a higher bar for men was discriminatory, rather than lower the standard the justices simply eliminated the one-year residency requirement for the foreign-born children of unwed U.S. female citizens and replaced it with the standards set in the 1986 law, which is also the rule for the foreign-born children of a U.S. citizen whos married to a noncitizen. Going forward, Congress may address the issue and settle on a uniform prescription that neither favors nor disadvantages any person on the basis of gender, Ginsburg wrote. In the interim (the) now-five-year requirement should apply, prospectively, to children born to unwed U. S.-citizen mothers. The justices didnt say whether Morales Santana is a citizen and sent the case back to a lower court, leaving it unclear whether those born before 1986, who would have had to show 10 years of their fathers residency, now only have to show five years. Villegas is left in the same boat. The father of six children, including a 6-year-old, 12-year-old and 17-year-old by his second wife, Villegas said he grew up going back and forth to Mexico, so that country isnt unknown to him, but he doesnt want to take his family there. Like Morales Santana, his parents were married after he was born. Villegas was convicted of failing to report a felony in the 1990s and lost his legal status after being sent to prison on a felon in possession of a firearm charge in 2012. His wife, Diana Gonzalez, said shes worried about the future, particularly for her children. They ask me, Whats going to happen with my father? she said. I tell them that everything is going to be OK. Me and her, weve been talking, Villegas said. If things dont go as planned, what are we going to do? She says shell go back with me, but I dont want her to. I think if they deport me, theyll be better off here. Ill find a way to start working and sending money back. It wont be the same, but Ill work over there. His lawyer, Lance Curtright, said theres some hope because the Supreme Court ruling may be interpreted as applying the five-year residency period as the new standard for achieving citizenship for those born before 1986. If thats the case, Villegas, whose father lived in the U.S. most of his life and barely missed the residency requirement for his sons citizenship under the older law, easily qualifies. This was a major victory insofar as it found equal protection violations, Curtright said. There was discrimination based on gender. The perplexing thing is what to do about it. The court directed Congress to write a new law, but that seems like a letter to Santa Claus, because Congress doesnt pass any kind of immigration reform at all, Curtright said. Hes asking the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is hearing the governments appeal of Ezras decision, to send the case back to the district judge to decide if Villegas is a citizen under the five-year residency requirement set by the Supreme Court. Kathrin Mautino, a California immigration lawyer whos an expert on derivative citizenship, said she suspects Ginsburg just kind of forgot about the 10-year residency requirement that applies to Villegas and Morales Santana. The vague wording in the Supreme Court opinion makes it unclear what impact the ruling will have, not just on the children of U.S. citizen fathers who were born before 1986 but meet the five-year residency requirement, but also on the children of single U.S. citizen mothers who previously qualified for citizenship under the one-year residency rule. Justice Ginsberg said going forward, this is the rule were applying, Mautino said. What does that mean, going forward? Does that mean people born after the Supreme Court made its decision? That makes sense. What about people born before the decision was made and didnt know or didnt file an application for citizenship? If they file an application now, is it going to be denied? We dont know. John Coffee Jack Hays was in many ways the original Texas Ranger, the one everybody wanted to follow and emulate after he came to San Antonio in 1838. Until he led men in pitched battles armed with the Colt revolving pistol, the Comanche Indians had ruled the southern Plains, routinely butchering settlers who had pushed too far west. Comanches had easily outrun punitive expeditions that had chased them since a group of Spaniards came to a river they called the Rio San Antonio in 1691. But the fearless, resourceful Hays, who stood 5 feet 8 inches or so and had a medium build, auburn hair and a boyish look in his youth, turned the tables on the continents greatest warriors. He was probably the Ranger who made the Ranger name, said retired Texas Ranger Joe Davis, who noted that Hays earned respect by living with his men and sharing their privations. He was like a natural-born leader. He would be the captain to say, Follow me. A book detailing the Comanches, Empire of the Summer Moon, calls Hays the uber-Ranger who was the first great Indian fighter on the plains frontier and the legend that spawned a thousands other legends, dime novels, and Hollywood movies. A synopsis of his life provided by Davis Former Texas Ranger Foundation in Fredericksburg describes Hays as the greatest Indian fighter in Texas history. Hays, who earned widespread fame because of his exploits, was born in Cedar Lick, Tennessee 99 years after the founding of San Antonio in 1718 and came to Texas after Sam Houstons victory at San Jacinto. S.C. Gwynne, author of Empire of the Summer Moon, describes him as one of many adventurous men who came to San Antonio, in those days a land of wonders and a hunters paradise rich in deer, antelope, wild turkey, buffalo and bears. The crystal clear limestone rivers like the Llano, the Guadalupe, the Pedernales, and the San Marcos were jumping with fish, he wrote. A Texas Department of Public Safety history says the Rangers have been around the Lone Star State almost continuously from the year of colonization to the present. They existed even before Hays arrived to fight in the 1836 revolution, in time to bury the victims of the Goliad massacre, according to the Texas State Historical Associations Handbook of Texas Online. Stephen F. Austin, who led a group of 300 settlers to Texas when Spain ruled in 1821, organized a group he called Rangers two years later. They got the name because they rode or ranged over large swaths of Texas. A corps of Texas Rangers was created before Thanksgiving 1835 complete with officers and one-year enlistments. Privates earned $1.25 a day. They became known for fighting Indians after the Texas Revolution and continued in that role until the Civil War, fighting with the Confederate Army, but went by the name State Police during Reconstruction and became the object of widespread resentment because of their enforcement of carpetbagger laws. The Rangers were reborn after Reconstruction ended in 1873. Six companies of 75 Rangers each were formed the next year to combat Indian raids on the Texas frontier, but something else important occurred: They were given the status of law-enforcement officers, setting the stage for the organizations evolution. By the late 19th century, the Rangers were doing detective work, combatting cattle and horse thieves, and fence cutters. These days theyre within the DPS, investigating major crimes, unsolved cases, serial killings, public corruption and public integrity cases, officer-involved shootings and border-security operations. Hays became the prototypical Ranger thanks to Houston, who told him to serve with a group of Rangers led by Erastus Deaf Smith. As they worked from San Antonio to the Rio Grande, Hays rose to sergeant and fought against Mexican cavalry before settling here as a surveyor. That job meant fighting Indians, and Hays was a quick study. He became known for his skill at defeating them and keeping his own men alive. His gift for leadership didnt go unnoticed. A deputy surveyor of Bexar County, he was appointed captain of the Rangers at just 23. Hays learned to fight as the Comanches did from a horse and taught those who rode with him how to use the Colt revolving pistol as they galloped into a fight. He wrote a critical history of the American West after adopting the Colt Paterson, a five-shot, .36-caliber weapon. The Comanches and Mexicans he fought called him Capitan Yak, and Gwynne wrote that he soon rode into battle with a price on his head. Neither that, nor the odds, mattered. In 1844, Hays and 15 Rangers took on a group of Comanches that was five times larger. It was the first time the Rangers used the Colt Paterson, named for the New Jersey city, and they won the day at the Battle of Walkers Creek, near Sisterdale between Boerne and Fredericksburg. It was said, in one of the books, it was like they had found the atomic bomb, referring to those pistols, said Davis. The weapon couldnt be easily loaded while riders sat in their saddles and wasnt powerful enough to take a man down, but it was a major improvement over single-shot pistols and rifles. Moreover, it wasnt just the gun that unnerved those who rode against Hays Rangers. Empire of the Summer Moon details how he turned the tables on the Comanche, whose skill in fighting from their horses was unmatched by anyone. Hays learned the way of the Comanche, imitating how they rode, tracked, made camp and fought. It seems to have been an original idea, at least to the Anglos. Tejanos, who served with Hays along with Indians from various tribes, had fought like the Comanches for decades. Hays and his men traveled by moonlight as they fought during the early 1840s. They used rivers or the stars to navigate. Gwynne said they lived in cold camps, built no fires and even ate the same food as the Indians honey, wild game, corn mixed with sugar, and unleavened bread cut up into wafers called hardtack. They slept in their clothes. Gwynne said learning to do battle on horseback represented an enormous advance in anti-Indian warfare. But the thing that cinched it for the Rangers was the Colt. The revolving pistol, invented by Samuel Colt, went into production in 1836 in Paterson, New Jersey. It initially featured a five-shot chamber firing .28-caliber rounds, but Colt increased it to a .36-caliber weapon the following year. Once Hays and the Rangers began using the .36-caliber handgun with a long barrel, first on the Texas prairie and later during the Mexican War, they shared ideas on improving it with Colt. Their use of the gun and subsequent collaboration transformed the West. The Army adopted the Dragoon revolver, a six-shot, .45-caliber version of the Colt, in 1848, after seeing Hays and his Rangers employ the Paterson during war in Mexico. John Manguso, a retired director of the Fort Sam Houston Museum, said it had an immediate impact. Previously, all they had were single-shot muzzle loaders, which doesnt leave you much after your first shot, especially when the Indians are riding around with a quiver full of arrows and youve shot your pistol and your carbine, he explained. Hays found a simple way to compensate for the Colts shortcomings attack Comanches at night, as they slept. Its just what the Comanches did to their enemies. That kind of war led to brutal endings. As Gwynne and many other historians note, Comanches didnt spare their foes and neither did Hays Rangers. When he led the 2nd Regiment of Texas Volunteers during the Mexican War, the units history was written in blood, terror and defiance of U.S. military authority. In one instance, Hays refused to ride with the U.S. Army commander, Gen. Zachary Taylor, en route to Monterrey. He took another route to track down a bitter enemy, according to the book Zachary Taylor: The American Presidents Series: The 12th President, 1849-50. The Armys West Point veterans also looked askance at the Rangers, seeing them as rough, uncultured and ruthless. Davis said the Rangers, still seething over the loss of their friends in the revolution particularly during Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Annas massacres at the Alamo and Goliad left corpses in the streets after one of their own had been shot down. The Mexicans called them Los Diablos Tejanos the Texas Devils. A 1969 Texas Monthly story details the reason the Rangers so badly wanted revenge. A group of them was captured in Mexico after joining an expedition in 1842 and Rangers were forced to draw from a pot of white and black beans. Those collecting black beans were executed. Reluctant at first to embrace the Rangers, Taylor came to admire their fighting skills and ordered them to occupy nearby hills during the Battle of Monterrey, where he was outnumbered and his advance had ground to a halt. The Rangers fired artillery into the city in a bid to turn the battle in Taylors favor, a tactic that worked. The postwar years took Hays west. He joined a wagon train and followed the 1849 gold rush to California, where histories say he became the first sheriff of San Francisco County the next year. Hays had six children, founded the city of Oakland and built a small fortune in real estate and ranching. On April 21, 1883 San Jacinto Day he died. Many thought Hays was fearless to the end, perhaps because of what a Lipan Apache chief, Flacco, is reported to have said of his old comrade. Me and Red Wing arent afraid to go to hell together, the tale goes. Captain Jack, hes too mucho bravo. Hes not afraid to go to hell all by himself. sigc@express-news.net BRATTLEBORO, Vermont The 2017 National Holstein Convention, held July 1 in Belleuve, Washington, honored two outstanding dairymen for their efforts in the industry. Leader The 2017 Distinguished Leadership Award was presented to Jerry Strandlund, Bellingham, Washington. He grew up milking cows on his familys dairy in Mora, Minnesota and completed a degree in animal husbandry at the University of Minnesota. After college, Strandlund worked for Mor-Ayr Ayrshire Farm, where he mated the highest classified Ayrshire ever at that farm. In 1967, the National Holstein Association hired Strandlund as a fieldman. Strandlund has worked for All West Breeders where he developed a sire directory and other marketing campaigns and worked with Bovagraph, a cattle photography business, before taking over Northwest Holstein News serving as editor for over 40 years. Today, Strandlund publishes an inclusive directory called the Northwest Holstein Annual which covers Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, and Washington, along with one Canadian province, British Columbia. During the past 35 years, he hasnt missed a single Western Spring National Holstein Show in Richmond, Utah, and he regularly attended the Washington, Oregon, and Idaho state shows and sales, volunteering his time to photograph the class winners. Young breeder Craig Carncross, from Lodi, Wisconsin, was named the 2017 Distinguished Young Holstein Breeder. He grew up on his parents Registered Holstein farm in south central Wisconsin. His parents, Worden and Emily, established the Wargo-Acres prefix in the early 1970s. Carncross graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in dairy science. He returned home to work full time on the family farm and has helped expand the herd to over 400 registered Holsteins. Production Fifty-three of their cows have produced 200,000 pounds of lifetime milk and 11 have produced over 300,000 pounds. The herd classifies on a regular basis and has a current BAA of 108.2 with 52 Excellent cows, 165 scored Very Good, and 75 Good Plus. Carncross helped the farm earn Progressive Breeders Registry honors 17 years and earned the Progressive Genetic Herd award seven years. Thirty-nine cows bearing the farm prefix have obtained Gold Medal Dam recognition, as well as 17 Dams of Merit, and nine cows honored as National Elite Performers. His goal is to have cows score at least 87 points and produce over 150,000-lifetime pounds of milk. Details For more information about Holstein Association USA annual awards, including applications, visit holsteinusa.com/awards/individuals. Canadas AgGrowth Coalition expects federal and provincial agricultural ministers across Canada to support the request for a comprehensive review of the Business Risk Management suite of programs for agriculture at the upcoming Federal-Provincial-Territorial (FPT) meeting. We are anticipating the announcement of this review during the FPT meeting on July 20th and 21st, says Rob Scott, a representative of the National Sheep Network, and member of the Canadian Federation of Agricultures board of directors. We expect this review to be meaningful, with agriculture industry stakeholders engaged as full partners to help modernize BRM programs for the 21st century farmer, and help position farmers to capitalize on the immense opportunities facing Canadian agriculture. As a partner in the process, the Coalition looks forward to collaboration between government and the agricultural sector to develop and execute a comprehensive review of business risk management programming and to set appropriate policy outcomes and targets to maximize opportunities in the sector. This will include a policy examination that defines the objectives and principles for business risk management programming, analyzes existing and alternative policies and programs, evaluates those options, and makes recommendations on reform for implementation and ongoing adaptation. Given the opportunities facing the sector and the ambitious targets set for growth in the sector, this review must be approached with urgency and a clear mandate to act immediately upon subsequent recommendations. The Coalition believes that a review reporting back to Ministers in July 2018, followed by an additional year for program design and implementation, would enable a robust discussion while ensuring the sector is best-positioned to meet the growth targets that have been set out. Canadian farmers require risk management programs for more than just disaster relief; effective risk management provides an important contribution foundation, providing farmers with the confidence to invest in the agricultural sector, increasing productivity and mitigating against future risks. Through this review, we commit to determining how to best leverage the value of public and farmer investments through these programs to improve the utility of the programs, and ultimately deliver the economic, social and environmental benefits demanded of primary agriculture in Canada, says Jeff Nielsen, President, Grain Growers of Canada. The objective of this reform is not to obtain new money for business risk management, but rather to better utilize the existing funds to grow our agriculture sector. Source: CFA FCA Only subscribers with PAID Print or E-Edition subscriptions enter here to gain access. If you are not a Current Paid subscriber do not go through this portal. Please return to the subscription page to purchase one of our offers. Thank you! Manassas, VA (20110) Today Partly cloudy skies in the morning will give way to cloudy skies during the afternoon. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 69F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Showers in the evening, then cloudy overnight. Low near 40F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%. ELKO Victims of the Oil Well Fire may get some relief soon as local companies are collecting donations. Grace Baptist Church, the Spring Inn Bar, Ellison Electric and Kid 2 Kid have all started accepting donations of clothing, money, furniture and other daily items those displaced by the fire may need. Michelle Mosley has been helping to gather donations at Ellison Electric and said her family has firsthand experience dealing with the aftermath of natural disasters. We were flood victims and I did not want anyone to feel the panic and loss that my parents and I felt, she said. Ellison Electric is using a donated storage shelter to house all the items they have received and invites those in need to come by and take what they need. Mosley said she was taken aback by the generosity of the community. Weve gotten a lot of donations. Its been amazing, she said. We live in such an amazing community that is so generous and open hearted. One local business is hoping to raise money with a musical benefit. The Spring Inn Bar hosted a benefit concert on Tuesday night with proceeds going to victims of the fire. Tuesday nights event came together quickly but bar manager Kenna Sorenson said she is planning on having a bigger event in the near feature. Usually when we do fundraisers at our bar weve got a lot of good patrons and they even take vacations for good causes to come and support it, she said. When I have more time well raise a lot more. Kid 2 Kid has been receiving such a high number of donations that they are having trouble housing everything they have received so far. The clothing store is at full capacity with the amount of donated clothes, toys and other items. They are running out of room to keep it all and are waiting for fire victims to visit the store. Were just waiting for families to come and get the stuff that they need, said store owner Staci Fuchs. Theyre probably just getting things cleaned up and figuring out what to do. The store is also accepting donations of money to set up an in-store account that will allow victims to hand pick items they want from the stores regular inventory. Taylor Chiropractic has donated $500 to the account with Kid 2 Kid planning to match their donation. Fuchs said it feels good to give back to the community that has been supportive of her business. It just made sense. Were a longtime community member, she said. Its not an obligation, I just feel like its something that you do for others. Fire update The Oil Well fire northeast of Elko was estimated at 90 percent containment Wednesday after burning approximately 7,400 acres and destroying four occupied homes. Three unoccupied homes also burned, along with five outbuildings and 16 vehicles, most of which did not appear to have been used at all, according to the Bureau of Land Management. The cause of the fire, which started Monday near the base of the Adobe Range along Oil Well Road, is still under investigation. Meanwhile, the largest of three fires started by lightning north of Midas on Friday topped 150,000 acres and was within a couple miles of Wilson Reservoir. The Snowstorm Fire has burned 153,651 acres and is 54 percent contained. It grew little Tuesday following a significant run to the northeast Monday afternoon and evening, reaching the South Fork of the Owyhee River. The former general manager of a Miami-based firm pleaded guilty Wednesday to violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by conspiring to pay $3 million in bribes to win a contract from Haitis state-owned telecommunications company. Amadeus Richers, 66, of Brazil, pleaded guilty in federal court in Miami to one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA. Richers is the ninth defendant to plead guilty or be convicted at trial in the case. He admitted that from 2001 until 2004, he and his co-conspirators paid $3 million in bribes to officials at Telecommunications DHaiti (Haiti Teleco). The defendants funneled bribes through relatives or other intermediaries. They also paid some officials directly. Richers was indicted in July 2011. He was a fugitive until his extradition from Panama in February this year. His sentencing is set for September 20. In 2011, Joel Esquenazi was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his role in the Haiti Teleco case. Thats still the longest FCPA-related prison sentence. His co-defendant Carlos Rodriguez was given an 84-month prison sentence. They were also ordered to forfeit $3.09 million. Esquenazi and Rodriguez were convicted by a jury in Miami of one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and wire fraud, seven substantive FCPA counts, one count of money laundering conspiracy, and 12 counts of money laundering. They argued that officers and employees of state-owned enterprises such as Haiti Teleco arent foreign officials under the FCPA. The trial judge denied their challenge, as did the federal appeals court. In 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider their appeal. Six other individuals pleaded guilty and were sentenced for their roles in the Haiti Teleco case. In 2009, Antonio Perez and Juan Diaz pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA and money laundering. Perez was sentenced to 24 months in prison and Diaz to 57 months. In 2010, Jean Fourcand pleaded guilty in the case to one count of money laundering for receiving and transmitting bribes. He was sentenced to six months in prison. Also in 2010, Robert Antoine, a former director of international affairs for Haiti Teleco, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. He admitted taking more than $1 million in bribes from Miami-based telecommunications companies. He was sentenced to 48 months in prison. In 2012, Patrick Joseph, a former executive director of Haiti Teleco, was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison. He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Also in 2012, Jean Rene Duperval, a former director of international relations for Haiti Teleco, was sentenced to nine years in prison A federal jury in Miami convicted him of two counts of conspiracy to commit money laundering and 19 counts of money laundering. ______ Richard L. Cassin is the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog. Michael Stranneys Edinburgh Fringe show Welcome To Ballybeg will be at the Pleasance Courtyard Below for the month of August so we caught up with him to talk about his debut. Michael Stranney Please tell us about your brand of comedy. I'd say my brand of comedy is very silly, surreal and above all light-hearted. It's good old fashioned nonsense story telling, all based around a small close knit fictional village in the north of Ireland, called Ballybeg. A curious Irish backwater, packed with bizarre people and places that haven't really progressed since the 1950s. What can audiences expect from your new show? The premise for the show is that it's a fake tourist board presentation put together by the residents of Ballybeg in an attempt to bring more tourists to the village. I play a character called Daniel Duffy who has taken over from his Grandad to front the presentation. Inevitably the projector breaks down, and Daniel has to fill the audience in on the people and places that make up his hometown. There's video clips, dancing, an unfolding story with a childhood sweet heart and even a raffle! Which comedians have been your biggest influence since you decided this was your path? A lot of the comedian's I admire most are the character comedians, like Nick Mohammed, David Earl, and John Kearns. I love how they create outlandish but believable characters, and worlds that you totally think are real. I'm laughing before they say anything which is a sign that they've totally cracked it. I also love Tim Key and Daniel Kitson for examples of purely being absolute master craftsmen at comedy. Anytime I see them, I almost feel like giving up! They're a real treat to watch. And I'd say Woody Allen as well, who I got into relatively late. His nonsense silly story telling is right up my street and something I've always strived to do with my comedy. What random things make you laugh in everyday life? Anything silly. Particularly anything silly in a situation where people are trying to be serious. I was in a my local corner shop recently and a pigeon flew in and perched itself ontop of the shelves near the back, and the way the shop keeper wearily sighed, stared at the ground and said 'Jesus not again' made me instantly laugh. He then chased it around the shop with a broom, making it so much worse. It flew everywhere and knocked stuff off the shelves. People were throwing themselves to the floor. It was hilarious Please tell us about your best and worst moment on stage so far. Best moment was probably in 2015 when I won the New Act the Year competition. I had about 30 friends and family in the audience and it was in front of about 500 people. I was so nervous, my time on stage is just a blur, but the moment I finished my set, the wall of laughter and applause that hit me, will stay with me forever. It took me a couple of days to come down. It was amazing. Plenty of worst moments on stage, one that springs to mind is performing at a rowdy Friday night at Coventry. It was filled with several stag and hens, all of whom were plastered and just wanted jokes on male genitalia etc. My stuff proved a bit too surreal and innocent for their liking, so people were getting up and heading to the bar in droves, others were just shouting out, others were just ignoring me and talking amongst themselves, then someone stood up, and shouted 'you're not funny mate!' and walked out. It was a lot of fun. Such great memories. Lovely place, Coventry. Do you still get nervous when you do a gig? It depends on the gig. If I have friends or people I know in the audience then yes I will get nervous, because there's a bit more at steak and I'm no longer anonymous it goes badly. but generally as soon as I start I'm fine. Why is Edinburgh Fringe Festival such a great platform for comedians? Probably because the whole industry revolves around the fringe, and anyone who's anyone goes up to watch shows, so the last week of fringe in the build up to the awards is a real who's who of the comedy world. Its such an institution now and almost a rite of passage for anyone who goes on to have a career in comedy. Essentially it's just one massive trade show, and everyone's there, with their little stalls, trying to get people to buy into their 'product'. Comedian's are like those people at food trade shows, standing by their stall, holding a little paper plate with tiny bits of cheese on cocktail sticks saying "Would you like to try my cheese? Please have some of my cheese. It's cost me a lot of money. Please. I need this." Who are you looking forward to seeing at the Fringe? John Kearns, Adam Riches, Tim Key and a lot of my mates who are doing their first hour this year too! What is your advice to aspiring comedians? Don't compare yourself to other people. I know it's incredibly hard not to measure how well you're doing without comparing yourself to your peers, but it'll only stop you enjoying it. As Doris day says; "K Sarah Sarah". Also just keep going. Steve Martin has a great quote that says Thankfully, persistence is a great substitute for talent. Which was easy for him to say because he was insanely talented, but the sentiment is still true. What is the oddest heckle you've ever received? At a gig in Bournemouth student uni, a student near the front about half way through my set asked with a genuine curiosity ' Are you high mate?'. I replied 'Yes....but I probably look higher than I am because you're sat down and I'm on a stage. But I'm only about a metre off the ground' He didn't heckle again but I don't think he felt fully reassured that I didn't snort some Heroin tablets or whatever before going on. What is next for you? Let's just get Edinburgh 2017 done first. One step at a time Female First, one step at a time. You big keeno Michael Stranneys debut Edinburgh Fringe show Welcome To Ballybeg will be at the Pleasance Courtyard Below for the month of August for tickets go to www.edfringe.com July 19 Jacob D. Bebe, 18, of Spring Creek was arrested at 255 N. Glen St. for minor in possession of alcohol in public. Bail: $355 Stanley E. Boone, 35, was arrested at 2001 Errecart Blvd. for possessing, receiving or transferring stolen vehicle; buying, possessing or receiving stolen property; and two counts of fugitive felon from other state. Bail: $21,140 Devin V. Dente, 26, of Elko was arrested at 2944 Mountain City Highway for false statement to obstruct a public officer, failure to appear after bail on a misdemeanor, and Nevada Criminal Justice Information System Detainer. Bail: $4,140 William J. Grow, 29, of Elko was arrested 2110 Pinion Road for burglary, buying, possessing or receiving stolen property; and owning or possessing gun by prohibited person. Bail: $60,000 Mykol A. Hutton, 25, of Wells was arrested at the Elko County Jail for failure to appear after bail on a misdemeanor. Bail: $310 Ryan A. Kyllonen, 27, of Spring Creek was arrested on a warrant at the Elko County Jail for failure to appear after bail on a misdemeanor. Bail: $745 Thomas E. Martinez, 51, of Denver, Colorado was arrested on Lamoille and Sunshine Lane for second offense DUI and domestic battery. Bail: $4,780 James R. Mullins, 31, of Elko was arrested on a warrant at the White Pine County Jail for failure to appear after bail on a misdemeanor. Bail: $695 Zoee B. Pfennig, 20, of Elko was arrested at 345 First St. for failure to appear after bail on a misdemeanor. Bail: $375 Lester W. Thurman Jr., 38, of Elko was arrested at the Elko County Jail on a warrant for Nevada Criminal Justice Information System Detainer. Bail: $500 Kenton B. Withers, 27, of Spring Creek was arrested at 1400 Mountain City Highway for failure to appear after bail on a felony. No bail listed. The charges listed above do not imply guilt. Under the law, everyone is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. Love Island's Gabby Allen has been accused of "constantly bitching" about her boyfriend Marcel Somerville behind his back. Gabby Allen The blonde beauty and the former Blazing Squad star seemed to be the perfect couple after they struck up a relationship just days after they entered the famous abode last month, but it looks like things are set to come crumbling down any day now as Gabby has been accused of using the hunk for his popularity on the outside world. Sam Gowland - who was dumped from the villa this week - said: "Gabby is playing on the fact that she knows Marcel is well liked. She watched the show before going in and knows that the public are on his side. It's the way she acts around him. Marcel will be talking when we're all at dinner and she's sat there pulling faces behind his back - she can be really bitchy towards him so I find her all a bit fake really." Georgia Harrison - who left with her beau Sam - added to the Sun Online: "She has been caught out with Marcel and the girls - if you can be two-faced like that towards the girls then you can't trust that she's sincere about her feelings towards Marcel." Gabby started to raise eyebrows last week when she said she didn't love Marcel as part of a group task and the lie detector machine confirmed she was telling the truth. When the pair spoke about the lie detector later on in the show, she fumed: "You're so stupid, because you're making some point of nothing, you're ridiculous." He replied: "We were having a conversation, I was midway through a sentence about something and I wasn't a priority to you at that current point." To which she hit back: "Sorry if you were midway through a sentence. You know when you're at the dinner table and you ask if you can be excused, that's how it made me feel. It's made me feel like I have to ask if I can leave." In a fight for survival, the Erode District Handloom Weavers and Workers' Union has appealed to the Central government for exemption of handloom products from the ambit of GST. A representation has been made to Prime Minister in this regards. If the handloom sector is not exempted of 5 per cent GST, there will be a rise in unemployment. The union has sought for 30 per cent refund on the selling of handloom items. The stocked items in the godowns will be sold only after the government approves their demand, said a leading daily quoting M Varadarajan, president of the Erode District Handloom Weavers and Workers' Union. With the increasing demand for powerloom products, the survival of handloom industry has become difficult, said Varadarajan. According to the Handlooms (Reservation of Articles for Production), Act 1985, only 11 items are set aside for production in handlooms. GST on handloom items will only worsen the situation, added Varadarajan. In the past, a request was made to finance minister Arun Jaitley by the Erode Handloom Cloth Merchants Association for withdrawal of 5 per cent Goods and Services Tax (GST) on textile goods. The association said that the 5 per cent GST on textile goods would adversely affect the trade. Opposing the implementation of GST on textiles, the wholesale textile shop owners in Erode also observed strike earlier this month. (RR) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India Ethiopia, one of the fastest growing countries of Africa, is seeking India's investment in its textiles industry. For this, a workshop on the investment opportunities in Ethiopian textiles will be held on July 21, 2017. The session will be hosted by Ethiopian Investment Promotion and International Trade Centre and The Southern India Mills' Association. The investment promotion workshop will provide a platform for engagement between Indian textile industries and a high-level Ethiopian delegation to explore partnerships in the sector. It will also raise awareness of existing opportunities for investment in Ethiopia with a particular emphasis on the textile and garments. The session would highlight key factors that serve as Ethiopias comparative advantages in the cotton, textile and apparel sector. Ethiopia is expected to become a sourcing hub for the global textile and garment industry within the next decade. With a workforce of more than forty-seven million, the country offers a large supply of valuable human resources at affordable wages. With electricity tariffs at $0.04 per kWh, industries have been able to achieve greater competitiveness over their counterparts elsewhere. Investors engaged in manufacturing are also able to import capital goods for an indefinite period free of customs duties. (RR) Ethiopia, one of the fastest growing countries of Africa, is seeking India's investment in its textiles industry. For this, a workshop on the investment opportunities in Ethiopian textiles will be held on July 21, 2017. The session will be hosted by Ethiopian Investment Promotion and International Trade Centre and The Southern India Mills' Association.# Fibre2Fashion News Desk India A bipartisan Congressional coalition has called attention of President Donald Trump to the ongoing economic struggles of thousands of American cotton farming families across the country and their need for an effective safety net. The coalition has asked Trump to use his authority to operate on an ongoing basis the Cotton Ginning Cost Share Program. The letter signed by 109 Democrats and Republicans reads, Mr. President, in an effort to help stabilise the entire industry, we strongly urge you to use your authority to operate on an ongoing basis the Cotton Ginning Cost Share Program effective beginning with the 2016 crop year. The cost share program, administered by the department of agriculture, is desperately needed to provide policy stability in the absence of a comprehensive policy for cotton farmers in the existing farm bill to effectively respond to sustained and deep economic losses due to price and revenue declines. This cost share program was operated by the previous Administration for the 2015 crop year and is an effective and efficient means of providing economic relief to Americas cotton farming families, the letter noted. A bipartisan Congressional coalition has called attention of President Donald Trump to the ongoing economic struggles of thousands of American cotton farming families across the country and their need for an effective safety net. The coalition has asked Trump to use his authority to operate on an ongoing basis the Cotton Ginning Cost Share Program.# The Congressmen said that without some action by the Federal government, American cotton farming families will continue to see their equity erode or take on a greater debt load as they hope to keep their family farms in operation. They argued that Americas cotton farming families are struggling to compete on a lopsided global playing field heavily weighted to its competitors in countries like China and India that benefit from sharply rising government subsidies. They cited that over the past decade, the numbers of businesses involved in the ginning and warehousing of cotton have declined by 33 and 21 per cent, respectively. It is imperative that we protect the remaining 20,000 businesses in this industry that employ 126,000 people and generate over $21 billion in revenue or America risks losing this important sector of our economy in the same way we lost much of our textile industry, once the largest part of the US manufacturing sector. (RKS) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India Yash Technologies, a leading application and infrastructure management services organisation, has completed SAP S4 HANA 1610 ERP implementation for Mafatlal Industries. Mafatlal Industries is a leading textile company for a complete range of products consisting of yarn dyed prints, linens, bleached white fabrics, denims, cotton, linen, polyester, and so on.Mafatlal brand is a household name in India seeking to re-architect their information technology landscape and align it with their ambitious goal to be a global textile leader. Collaborating with business and IT teams at Mafatlal, Yash helped harness the power of SAP S4 HANA and deliver a future proof business solution. Yash Technologies, a leading application and infrastructure management services organisation, has completed SAP S4 HANA 1610 ERP implementation for Mafatlal Industries. Mafatlal Industries is a leading textile company for a complete range of products consisting of yarn dyed prints, linens, bleached white fabrics, denims, cotton, linen, polyester, and so on.# Milan Shah, chief financial officer, Mafatlal Industries Limited said, Our rapidly evolving business needed a scalable, flexible yet simple business solution to accelerate our growth. Given the business critical nature of this initiative, we decided to partner with global leaders; SAP, the market leader in enterprise application software and Yash, one of the largest SAP service providers. Yash consultants with their domain and technology proficiency worked closely with our teams to deliver a solution in line with our vision.The business applications that Mafatlal deployed were outdated and difficult to upgrade and scale-up. Some critical functionalities were also lacking. Yash & Mafatlal team identified gaps and bottlenecks in the processes and devised a solution that meets the current and future needs of the business. SAP S4 HANA implementation was carried out, in line with this solution framework.The implementation of the solution has driven significant improvements in business forecasting and asset utilisation with the enhanced operational visibility ensuring better control and optimisation. Mafatlals digital journey continues to be fostered with advanced analytics and mobility being deployed for business leverage, by the Mafatlal and Yash teams working together, Yash team said. (GK) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India STOCKHOLM (dpa-AFX) - Swedish telecom company Telia Co. AB (0H6X.L, TLSNY.PK) reported Thursday that its second-quarter net loss attributable to the owners of the parent was 397 million Swedish kronor, compared to prior year's profit of 1.44 billion kronor. Loss per share was 0.09 krona, compared to profit of 0.33 krona a year ago. The latest results were hurt by loss from discontinued operations of 1.50 billion kronor mainly due to an impairment loss related to Ucell, a write-down related to Rodnik and a capital loss of the divestment of Tcell. As earlier announced, former segment region Eurasia is reported as held for sale and discontinued operations. On a continuing operating basis, net income fell 58.1 percent to 1.19 billion kronor from 2.85 billion kronor last year. Earnings per share from continuing operations fell 58.8 percent to 0.27 krona. Adjusted operating income declined 16.7 percent to 3.70 billion kronor, and adjusted EBITDA declined 4.6 percent to 6.10 billion kronor. The adjusted EBITDA margin improved to 30.8 percent from 30.2 percent a year ago. Net sales fell 6.3 percent to 19.80 billion kronor from prior year's 21.13 billion kronor. In local currencies, excluding acquisitions and disposals, net sales fell 0.4 percent. Looking ahead, for fiscal 2017, the company continues to expect adjusted EBITDA in continuing operations in local currencies, excluding acquisitions and disposals, to be around the 2016 level. Johan Dennelind, President and CEO, said, 'Even if, frankly speaking, EBITDA in the quarter disappoints for Sweden, we reiterate our EBITDA outlook for the full year based on strong performance elsewhere, notably Norway, and the initiated cost activities that are coming through in second half of 2017.' Further, the company said it plans to reduce total external and internal resources by roughly 850, around 3 percent of total resources. Of the resources reduced 650 are related to Sweden, equal to 8 percent of the Swedish resources. The initiatives are expected to impact costs already in the second half of 2017 by a reduction of approximately 5 percent in Sweden year on year. The company has also initiated medium term structural initiatives that will drive further cost reductions supporting EBITDA in 2018 and 2019. This is expected to result in a reduction of the targeted cost base of at least 3 percent 2018. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de PERTH (SCOTLAND) (dpa-AFX) - SSE plc (SSE.L) said it working to keep dividend cover in 2017/18 within the expected range of around 1.2 to 1.4 times, although it is likely to be towards the bottom of it, which means adjusted earnings per share in 2017/18 is likely to be lower than it was 2016/17. In line with its Interim Results Statement in November 2016, SSE intends to use around 500 million pounds of the proceeds from the 16.7% equity stake divestment in Scotia Gas Networks Limited to return value to shareholders by way of an on-market share buy-back. At 14 July 2017, SSE had completed 323 million pounds of the buy-back, including 192 million pounds of shares purchased since 1 April 2017, with the process expected to be concluded by 31 December 2017. SSE continues to expect that its capital and investment expenditure will total around 1.7 billion pounds in 2017/18 and be around 6.0 billion pounds across the four years to March 2020 mainly in electricity networks and renewable energy. SSE continues to fulfil its core purpose of providing the energy people need in a reliable and sustainable way. It operates with a clearly-defined and long-term strategic framework built around a continued focus on efficient operations and disciplined investment. As stated in its Preliminary Results, SSE is working to keep dividend cover in 2017/18 within the expected range of around 1.2 to 1.4 times, although it is likely to be towards the bottom of it, which means adjusted earnings per share in 2017/18 is likely to be lower than it was 2016/17; and as also stated in the Preliminary Results, the level of dividend cover remains subject to the ongoing factors that influence earnings in SSE's market-based businesses. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de Regulatory News: Publicis Groupe (Paris:PUB): 1st half 2017 results (EUR million) H1 2017 2017 vs 2016 Revenue 4,843 +1.9% Organic growth -0.2% Operating margin 638 +3.1% Operating margin rate 13.2% Net income attributable to the Groupe 387 +1.6% Headline EPS, diluted (euro) (1) 1.89 +4.4% Free cash flow before changes in WCR 594 +5.3% (1) After elimination of impairment charges, amortization of intangibles arising from acquisitions, main capital gains (losses) on disposals and revalued earn-out payments Q2 2017 Revenue 2,515 Reported growth +2.2% Growth at constant exchange rates +1.1% Organic growth +0.8% Arthur Sadoun, CEO and Chairman of the Management Board: "Launched 18 months ago, The Power of One has been one of the boldest moves the Groupe has made. Maurice Levy has been the architect and has designed it. We are now moving to the next stage. The first 6 months of 2017 were particularly dense, as we modified our governance, defined our action plan and brought together the teams responsible for taking The Power of One to new heights. Thanks to our capabilities in consulting, creativity, media and technology, Publicis Groupe is in a unique position to help transform and grow our clients' businesses, through big ideas. We have one objective: become the market leader of marketing and business transformation. This means being recognized as the indispensable partner of our clients in their transformation. To achieve this ambition, we need to accelerate in execution and go deeper in integration. We have set 4 priorities for the months to come: make our model a reality for all of our clients, leverage our competitive advantage in technology and consulting, simplify our organizational structures for greater efficiency; design a culture that attracts and retains the best talents. Improving organic growth is our number one imperative. This is because organic growth is the key metric of the industry, it is the demonstration of our attractiveness in the market, it is the demonstration that we are competitive and that our model is both built on our clients' needs and sustainable. Organic growth is required to attract and retain the best talent on the market. And obviously it has to come with greater efficiency. This is vital, as we must remain competitive for our clients and invest in our talents. We have the right strategy. Our first half results are encouraging. Thanks to the good account win momentum over the last 12 months, resulting directly from The Power of One, organic growth exceeded our own expectations in the second quarter at +0.8% with the US returning to positive territory, and margin improved by 20 basis points in a low growth context. When it comes to the outlook for the year, we expect the sequential improvement in organic growth to continue in third quarter. And we should return to a growth rate comparable with peers in the second half of the year. For the longer term, my goals are clear: accelerate growth and increase efficiency. We are at the beginning of implementing an action plan with our new governing bodies and we will come back in an articulate and concrete way in the coming months." Publicis Groupe's Supervisory Board met on July 19, 2017, under the chairmanship of Maurice Levy, to examine the half-yearly accounts at June 30, 2017, presented by Arthur Sadoun, Chairman of the Management Board and Chief Executive Officer. KEY FIGURES EUR million, except percentages and per share date (in euro) H1 2017 H1 2016 2017 vs. 2016 Revenue 4,843 4,753 +1.9% Operating margin before Depreciation Amortization 719 704 % of revenue 14.8% 14.8% Operating margin 638 619 +3.1% % of revenue 13.2% 13.0% Operating income 604 595 +1.5% Net income attributable to the Groupe 387 381 +1.6% Headline EPS, diluted (1) 1.89 1.81 +4,4% Free cash flow before changes in working capital requirements 594 564 +5,3% (1) after elimination of impairment charges, amortization of intangibles arising from acquisitions, main capital gains (losses) on disposals and revalued earn-out payments Q2 2017 REVENUE Publicis Groupe's consolidated revenue for the second quarter of 2017 was 2,515 million euro, up 2.2% from 2,462 million euro in Q2 2016. Exchange rates had a 26-million euro positive impact, i.e. 1.1% of revenue in Q2 2016. Net acquisitions contributed 8 million euro in Q2 2017, i.e. 0.3% of the revenue reported in Q2 2016. Growth at constant exchange rates was +1.1%. Organic growth was +0.8% in Q2, a slight improvement on the -1.2% organic growth recorded in Q1 thanks to the lesser impact of residual difficulties and the good performance registered in North America. In Q2 2017, while organic growth continued to be hampered by the weak FMCG sector, it benefited nonetheless from the growing contributions of account wins since Q2 2016 (particularly Walmart, HPE, USAA, Asda, Motorola and Lowe's). Breakdown of Q2 revenue by region EUR Revenue Organic Reported million Q2 2017 Q2 2016 growth growth Europe 722 718 +3.2% +0.6% North America 1,353 1,319 +0.2% +2.6% Asia Pacific 268 273 -3.3% -1.8% Latin America 97 81 +2.8% +19.8% Middle East Africa 75 71 +0.2% +5.6% Total 2,515 2,462 +0.8% +2.2% H1 2017 REVENUE For the first half-year, Publicis Groupe's consolidated revenue amounted to 4,843 million euro, up 1.9% from 4,753 million for the corresponding period in 2016. Exchange rates had a 76-million euro positive impact, i.e. the equivalent of 1.6% of revenue in H1 2016. Net acquisitions contributed 22 million euro to revenue in H1 2017, i.e. 0.5% of revenue in H1 2016. Growth at constant exchange rates was +0.3%. Organic growth was -0.2% in the first half year 2017, bearing in mind that the impact of previous difficulties was around 300 basis points. Breakdown of H1 2017 revenue by region EUR Revenue Organic Reported million H1 2017 H1 2016 growth growth Europe 1,377 1,349 +4.3% +2.1% North America 2,644 2,620 -2.4% +0.9% Asia Pacific 511 503 -1.4% +1.6% Latin America 174 152 +3.5% +14.5% Middle East Africa 137 129 +0.8% +6.2% Total 4,843 4,753 -0.2% +1.9% Europe grew by 2.1%. When the impact of acquisitions and exchange rates is factored out, organic growth was +4.3%. France performed well at +6.2%, while the UK and Italy posted strong momentum at +7.8% and +10.5% respectively. Germany recorded negative growth of -2.1% against a very difficult comparable basis. Organic growth in North America was back in positive territory in the second quarter (+0.2%) due to the ramp-up of accounts awarded since the summer of 2016. For the first six months of 2017, organic growth remained negative at -2.4% as a result of past issues and at a time when more recent accounts have yet to build up to cruising speed. Revenue was up 0.9% on a reported basis. Asia Pacific reported positive growth of +1.6% despite organic growth of -1.4%. China fell 6.9% as a result of difficulties encountered by certain entities. Singapore was up 6.2% while business is consolidating in India (+0.4% in Q1 followed by +6.4% in Q2). Latin America reported +14.5% and organic growth of +3.5%. Brazil improved by 1.0% and Mexico continued its strong growth trend at +14.7%. The Middle East Africa region reported +6.2% and organic growth of 0.8%. ANALYSIS OF THE KEY FIGURES Income statement The Operating margin before depreciation and amortization was 719 million euro at June 30, 2017, up 2.1% from 704 million euro in 2016, i.e. a percentage margin of 14.8% of revenue, unchanged from the first half of 2016. Personnel costs amounted to 3,095 million euro at June 30, 2017, up 0.8% from 3,071 million euro the previous year. Fixed personnel costs of 2,740 million euro represented 56.6% of total revenue, up from 56.3% in 2016. Freelance costs totaled 199 million euro in H1 2017, down from 219 million in 2016. Restructuring costs stood at 52 million euro in H1 2017 (55 million euro in 2016) as the Groupe reorganizes around The Power of One which increasingly integrates structures and activities. Operational efficiency will be enhanced by the various projects in which the Groupe continues to invest (ERP roll-out, the development of production platforms, on-going regionalization of the Shared Services Centers, as well as a number of technological developments). Other operating costs (excluding Depreciation amortization) amounted to 1,029 million euro versus 978 million euro in H1 2016. These costs represented 21.2% of consolidated revenue (versus 20.6 in H1 2016). Depreciation amortization for the first half-year was 81 million euro, down slightly from 85 million in H1 2016. The Operating margin rose 3.1% to 638 million euro, i.e. a percentage operating margin of 13.2% (up 20 basis points on 2016). This improvement was achieved by cost savings thanks to the implementation of Power of One which were partly offset by investments in new contracts, new IT projects and higher other operating expenses. The operating margin by region was 13.7% in Europe, 14.1% in North America, 11.9% in Asia Pacific, 5.7% in Latin America and 4.4% in the Middle East Africa region. Amortization of intangibles arising from acquisitions totaled 35 million euro at June 30, 2017, after 40 million euro for the corresponding period in 2016. Other non-recurring income (expenses) for the period amounted to income of 1 million euro, compared with income of 16 million euro in H1 2016. Operating income totaled 604 million euro in H1 2017, up 1.5% from 595 million euro in H1 2016. Financial income (expense) not including the revaluation of earn-out costs amounted to an expense of 38 million euro over the first six months of 2017, after an expense of 40 million euro for the corresponding period in 2016. The cost of net debt was 32 million euro at June 30, 2017, down slightly from 39 million euro in 2016. Other financial income and expenses amounted to a net expense of 6 million euro in the first half of 2017, compared with a net expense of 1 million euro in 2016. The revaluation of earn-out costs was an expense of 22 million euro (versus 10 million in 2016). Income tax in H1 2017 was 151 million euro (i.e. an effective tax rate of 27.8%), after 162 million euro in H1 2016 (i.e. an effective tax rate of 29.7%). Over the full year 2016, the effective tax rate was 29.0%. The Associates' share of profit was a negative 2 million euro in H1 2017, compared with a positive 2 million in 2016. Minority interests totaled 4 million euro at June 30, 2017, i.e. at the same level as in H1 2016. Overall, Net income attributable to the Groupe amounted to 387 million euro at June 30, 2017, after 381 million euro at June 30, 2016. Free cash flow The Groupe's free cash flow before working capital requirements increased by 5.3% by comparison with the previous year to reach 594 million euro for the first half of 2017. Net debt Net debt totaled 2,092 million euro at June 30, 2017 (i.e. a debt equity ratio of 0.37), after 1,244 million euro at year-end 2016 (when the gearing ratio was 0.21). At June 30, 2016, the gearing ratio was 0.38. The Groupe's average net debt for the first half-year was 1,993 million euro, compared with an average of 2,380 million euro in H1 2016. HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE FIRST HALF YEAR 2017 Governance and appointments Since June 1, 2017, Arthur Sadoun has been CEO and Chairman of a Management Board reinforced by the arrival of Steve King, the current CEO of Publicis Media, who has teamed up with Jean-Michel Etienne, Executive Vice-President, Group Chief Financial Officer, and Anne-Gabrielle Heilbronner, Secretary General. Veronique Weill has been appointed General Manager of Publicis Groupe. She will take on her position as of September 1, 2017 and will be in charge of Re:Sources, IT, real estate, insurance and M&A. Veronique spent 21 years with J.P. Morgan, mainly in the USA, where she was in charge of operations and IT at global level. She then joined Axa in 2006, where, as a member of the Management Committee, she focused on operations, technology, digital, marketing and innovation. As Axa's Chief Operating Officer and then Chief Customer Officer, she helped make Axa one of the world's leading insurance brands. Carla Serrano, CEO of Publicis New York and Chief Strategy Officer at Publicis Communications, has been promoted to Chief Strategy Officer at Publicis Groupe. Throughout her career, Carla has held strategic management positions in large networks and creative agencies. Before joining Publicis, Carla Serrano was CEO of Naked NA, CSO of TBWA Chiat/DAY NY and Chair at Berlin Cameron and Partners. Publicis Groupe announced the creation of two new management committees in addition to its Management Board (Directoire The first is known as the Executive Committee and is responsible for the Groupe's transformation. It will meet every month and is comprised of the following members, in addition to the members of the Management Board: Chip Register, Co-CEO, Publicis.Sapient Carla Serrano, Chief Strategy Officer, Publicis Groupe Nigel Vaz, President, DigitasLBi Veronique Weill, General Manager, Publicis Groupe Alan Wexler, Co-CEO, Publicis.Sapient The second committee, the Management Committee, will meet every quarter and will oversee Groupe operations and execution of its strategy. It is comprised of the Executive Committee members plus the following: Valerie Beauchamp, EVP Business Development, Publicis Groupe Justin Billingsley, COO Publicis Communications Agathe Bousquet, Presidente France, Publicis Groupe (taking office from September 1) Gerry Boyle, CEO APAC, Publicis Media Andrew Bruce, CEO North America, Publicis Communications Nick Colucci, CEO, Publicis Health Lisa Donohue, Global Brand President, Starcom Tim Jones, CEO North America, Publicis Media Loris Nold, COO Publicis Communications Rishad Tobaccowala, Chief Growth Officer, Publicis Groupe Alexandra Von Plato, Group President, Publicis Health Jarek Ziebinski, CEO, Publicis One As submitted by the Supervisory Board, Maurice Levy has become a member of the Supervisory Board which he now chairs. This proposal was approved by the shareholders at the Shareholders' meeting of May 31, 2017. External growth In January 2017, Publicis Communications acquired two digital agencies, namely The Abundancy and Ardent. These agencies will add to Leo Burnett's arsenal of data, creative and technological capabilities. Ardent provides proprietary technology that uses search data to understand behavior and predict consumer intent, while The Abundancy applies these learnings to inform custom content. Together, these two agencies count 60 professionals who have now joined Leo Burnett under newly appointed CEO Andrew Swinand in the USA. Finance On March 13, 2017, Publicis Groupe entered into a share buyback agreement with an Investment Services Provider under the share buyback program authorized by the Shareholders' meeting of May 25, 2016. The buyback period extended from March 14 to June 30, 2017. This agreement was capped at 5,000,000 shares at an average price not exceeding the limits set by the Shareholders' meeting of May 25, 2016. Shares purchased on the last two days in June were only settled and delivered at the start of July, pursuant to stock market regulations. On June 30, 2017, the 4,878,002 treasury shares effectively delivered, and bought within this agreement for a consideration of 316 million euro, had been purchased at an average of 64.66 euro per share (64.86 euro including tax on financial transactions). OUTLOOK The early part of 2017 has shown encouraging signs. Publicis Groupe returned to positive growth in the second quarter and the operating margin has been improved despite the backdrop of weak growth. The momentum of accounts won has been good, including some prestigious wins such as HSBC, Bel and McDonald's. The Groupe's top priority is to improve its organic growth and there are quite a number of projects still on-going. Our ambition is to post higher growth than our competitors by becoming the leader in marketing and operational transformation. Four concrete measures have been taken for this purpose: make our model a reality for all of our clients, leverage our competitive advantage in technology and consulting, simplify our organizational structures for greater efficiency; design a culture that attracts and retains the best talents. We expect the sequential improvement in organic growth to continue in Q3. And we should return to a growth rate comparable with peers in the second half of the year. For the longer term, goals are identified: accelerate growth and increase efficiency. The Groupe is at the beginning of implementing an action plan with new governing bodies. A concrete and articulate update will be provided in the coming months. Disclaimer Certain information contained in this document, other than historical information, may constitute forward-looking statements or unaudited financial forecasts. These forward-looking statements and forecasts are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. These forward-looking statements and forecasts are presented as at the date of this document and, other than as required by applicable law, Publicis Groupe does not assume any obligation to update them to reflect new information or events or for any other reason. Publicis Groupe urges you carefully to consider the risk factors that may affect its business, as set out in the Registration Documents filed with the French Autorite des Marches Financiers (AMF) and which is available on the website of Publicis Groupe (www.publicisgroupe.com), including an unfavorable economic climate, an extremely competitive market sector, the possibility that our clients could seek to terminate their contracts with us at short notice, the fact that a substantial part of the Group's revenue is derived from certain key clients, conflicts of interest between advertisers active in the same sector, the Group's dependence on its directors and employees, laws and regulations which apply to the Group's business, legal action brought against the Group based on allegations that certain of the Group's commercials are deceptive or misleading or that the products of certain clients are defective, the strategy of growing through acquisitions, the depreciation of goodwill and assets listed on the Group's balance sheet, the Group's presence in emerging markets, exposure to liquidity risk, a drop in the Group's credit rating and exposure to the risks of financial markets. About Publicis Groupe The Power of One Publicis Groupe [Euronext Paris FR0000130577, CAC 40] is a global leader in marketing, communication, and digital transformation, driven through the alchemy of creativity and technology. Publicis Groupe offers its clients seamless access to its tools and expertise through modular offering. Publicis Groupe is organized across four Solutions hubs: Publicis Communications (Publicis Worldwide, Saatchi Saatchi, Leo Burnett, BBH, Marcel, Fallon, MSL, Prodigious), Publicis Media (Starcom, Zenith, Spark Foundry, Blue 449, Performics), Publicis.Sapient (SapientRazorfish, DigitasLBi, Sapient Consulting) and Publicis Health. These 4 Solution hubs operate across principal markets, and are carried across all others by Publicis One, a fully integrated service offering bringing together the Groupe's expertise under one roof. Present in over 100 countries, Publicis Groupe employs nearly 80,000 professionals. www.publicisgroupe.com | Twitter: @PublicisGroupe Facebook: www.facebook.com/publicisgroupe | LinkedIn: Publicis Groupe http://www.youtube.com/user/PublicisGroupe | Viva la Difference ! Appendices Organic growth calculation (in million euro) Q1 Q2 H1 Impact of currencies in H1 2017 (in million euro) 2016 revenue 2,291 2,462 4,753 GBP (2) (41) Currency impact (2) 50 26 76 USD (2) 78 2016 revenue at 2017 exchange rates (a) 2,341 2,488 4,829 Others 39 2017 revenue before impact of acquisitions (1) (b) 2,314 2,507 4,821 Total 76 Revenue from acquisitions (1) 14 8 22 2017 revenue 2,328 2,515 4,843 Organic growth (b/a) -1.2% +0.8% -0.2% (1) Acquisitions (MercerBell, Vertiba, Seven Seconds, Insight Redefini, Venus Communications, Arcade, Digitouch, PT Publicis Metro Indonesia, PT Indonesia Media Exchange, North Notch, Metadesign, Regicom, Ardent, The Abundancy), net of disposals. (2) EUR USD 1.082 at end June 2017 vs. USD 1.116 at end June 2016 EUR GBP 0.860 at end June 2017 vs. GBP 0.779 at end June 2016 New Business: Main wins at end June 2017 PUBLICIS COMMUNICATIONS Bradesco (Brazil), Petrobras (Brazil), eBay (France), Nokia (South Africa), Uber (Singapore), Singtel (Singapore), Marriott (USA), SNHU (USA), Chromebook (USA), Truecaller (Sweden), Match.com (Meetic) (Pan-Europe), Great West Life (Canada), USAA (USA), AkzoNobel (Global), Culligan (water filtration/conditioning systems) (USA) PUBLICIS MEDIA 20th Century Fox (Australia), Aldi Stores Limited (Australia), Coty Luxury (Denmark), Ego (Australia), Expedia (Singapore), KFC (USA), Lowe's (USA), Mattel (USA), Merck (EMEA), Molson Coors (USA UK), NBCF (National Breast Cancer Foundation) (USA), PartyPoker (Norway), Royal Caribbean Cruises (UK), Singapore Tourism (Global), Southern Cross Travel Insurance (Australia), Bel Group (Global), Carpetright (UK), CCU (Compania de las Cervecerias Unidas) (Argentina), Coty Luxury (Norway), Credit Suisse Group (Italy), Danks Hardware (Australia), Dubai Corporation for Tourism Commerce Marketing (Middle East), Euroloan Consumer Finance (Poland), Fondazione Ania (Italy), Grupa Allegro (Poland), H&R Block (USA), JC Jeans Clothes (Sweden), Kolonial.no (Norway), Luminous Power Technologies (India), Materialgruppen AB Kimberly-Clark (Sweden), P&G (UK), PayU India (India), Procter Gamble (UK Ireland), ZTE Mobile (India) PUBLICIS.SAPIENT Mattel (USA), Carnival Corporation (USA), FirstNet AT&T Government Solutions (USA), Lyft (USA), GSK (USA), The Nature Conservancy (USA), Intermarche (France) PUBLICIS ONE OCBC (Malaysia), Reckitt Beckenzier (Malaysia), 20th Fox Century (Malaysia), Ikea (Czech Republic), BEL (Czech Republic), l'Oreal (Czech Republic), Societe Generale (Serbia), P&G (The Nertherlands), FCA (The Nertherlands), Skoda (The Nertherlands), Aldi (Belgium), Informazout (Belgium), ABinBEV (Colombia), Renault (Argentina) PUBLICIS HEALTH Novartis (USA), Genentech (USA), Shire (USA), Adapt (USA), AMAG (USA), Sunovion (USA), Clinigen Group (Global), Purdue (USA), Merck Co (USA), Intarcia Therapeutics (USA), Flexion Therapeutics (USA), AbbVie (USA), Ipsen (USA) 2017 press releases 09-01-2017 Publicis Communications: Appointment at Leo Burnett USA and two acquisitions in digital 11-01-2017 Publicis Communications: Appointment at Saatchi Saatchi; Robert Senior leaves the Groupe 18-01-2017 Publicis One: Appointment in Japan 19-01-2017 Publicis One: Appointment in Turkey 26-01-2017 Governance announcement at Publicis Groupe 01-02-2017 Publicis Communications: Appointment for the Nordics region 03-02-2017 Publicis.Sapient: Appointment at DigitasLBi; Luke Taylor leaves the Groupe 07-02-2017 Appointment of Laurent Carozzi as Publicis Groupe's Chief Performance Officer 09-02-2017 2016 annual results 21-02-2017 Viva Technology: 2nd edition on June 15-17, 2017 13-03-2017 Share Repurchase Agreement 16-03-2017 Publicis.Sapient: launch of SapientRazorfish's integrated offering 22-03-2017 Partnership between Publicis Groupe and Microsoft 18-04-2017 Appointment of Agathe Bousquet as President of the Groupe in France 20-04-2017 Q1 2017 Revenue 09-05-2017 Publicis Groupe announces the appointment of Celine Fronval as Groupe General Counsel 31-05-2017 Combined General Shareholders' Meeting 14-06-2017 Publicis Groupe Boosts Management Structure with Two Senior Nominations and New Governing Bodies 19-06-2017 Publicis Groupe and Alibaba Announce China Uni Marketing Partnership 20-06-2017 Publicis Groupe Builds the First Professional Assistant Platform Powered by AI and Machine Learning Definitions EBITDA: operating margin before depreciation. Operating margin: Revenue after personnel costs, other operating expenses (excl. non-current income and expense) and depreciation (excl. amortization of intangibles arising on acquisitions). Operating margin rate: Operating margin as a percentage of revenue. Headline Group Net Income: Group net income after elimination of impairment charges, amortization of intangibles arising from acquisitions, main capital gains (or losses) on disposals and revaluation of earn-out payments. EPS (Earnings per share): Group net income divided by average number of shares, not diluted. EPS, diluted (Earnings per share, diluted): Group net income divided by average number of shares, diluted. Headline EPS, diluted (Headline Earnings per share, diluted): Group net income after elimination of impairment charges, amortization of intangibles arising from acquisitions, main capital gains (or losses) on disposals and revaluation of earn-out payments, divided by average number of shares, diluted. Capex : Net acquisitions of tangible and intangible assets, excluding financial investments and other financial assets. ROCE (Return On Capital Employed): Operating Margin after Tax (using Effective Tax Rate) Average employed capital. Capital employed include Saatchi Saatchi goodwill which is not recognised in consolidated accounts under IFRS. Free Cash Flow before changes in working capital requirements: Net cash flow from operating activities before changes in WCR linked to operating activities. Net Debt (or financial net debt): Sum of long and short financial debt and associated derivatives, net of treasury and cash equivalents. Average net debt: Average of monthly net debt at end of month. Dividend pay-out: Dividend per share Headline diluted EPS. Consolidated income statement (in millions of euros) Notes June 30, 2017 (6 months) June 30, 2016 (6 months) December 31, 2016 (12 months) Revenue 4,843 4,753 9,733 Personnel expenses Other operating expenses 3 (3,095) (1,029) (3,071) (978) (6,059) (1,992) Operating margin before depreciation and amortization 719 704 1,682 Depreciation and amortization expense (excluding intangibles from acquisitions) 4 (81) (85) (166) Operating Margin 638 619 1,516 Amortization of intangibles from acquisitions 4 (35) (40) (79) Impairment 4 (1,440) Non-current income and expenses 5 1 16 12 Operating income 604 595 9 Financial expenses Financial income Cost of net financial debt Revaluation of earn-out payments on acquisitions Other financial income and expenses 6 6 6 (54) 22 (32) (22) (6) (54) 15 (39) (10) (1) (107) 33 (74) (108) Pre-tax income of consolidated companies 544 545 (173) Income Taxes 7 (151) (162) (342) Net income of consolidated companies 393 383 (515) Share of profit of associates 10 (2) 2 (5) Net income 391 385 (520) Of which: Net income attributable to non-controlling interests 4 4 7 Net income attributable to equity holders of the parent company 387 381 (527) Per share data (in euros) Net income attributable to equity holders of the parent company 8 Number of shares 224,581,868 221,728,433 223,498,871 Earnings per share 1.72 1.72 (2.36) Number of diluted shares 228,808,205 224,617,656 223,498,871 Diluted earnings per share 1.69 1.70 (2.36) Consolidated statement of comprehensive income (in millions of euros) June 30, 2017 (6 months) June 30, 2016 (6 months) December 31, 2016 (12 months) Net income for the period (a) 391 385 (520) Comprehensive income that will not be reclassified to income statement - Actuarial gains (and losses) on defined benefit plans 6 (48) (4) - Deferred taxes on comprehensive income that will not be reclassified to income statement (18) 15 14 Comprehensive income that may be reclassified to income statement - Revaluation of available-for-sale investments and hedging instruments (20) (11) 31 - Consolidation translation adjustments (358) (67) 100 Total other comprehensive income (b) (390) (111) 141 Total comprehensive income for the year (a) (b) 1 274 (379) Of which: - Total comprehensive income attributable to non-controlling interests 2 4 7 - Total comprehensive income attributable to equity holders of the parent company (1) 270 (386) Consolidated balance sheet (in millions of euros) Notes June 30, 2017 December 31, 2016 Assets Goodwill, net 9 8,718 9,150 Intangible assets, net 1,213 1,345 Property, plant and equipment, net 581 640 Deferred tax assets 143 150 Investments in associates 10 77 87 Other financial assets 11 183 182 Non-current assets 10,915 11,554 Inventories and work in progress 429 406 Trade receivables 9,086 10,010 Other current receivables and assets 653 698 Cash and cash equivalents 1,151 2,228 Current assets 11,319 13,342 Total assets 22,234 24,896 Equity and liabilities Share capital 92 90 Additional paid-in capital and retained earnings, Group share 5,526 5,965 Equity attributable to holders of the parent company 12 5,618 6,055 Non-controlling interests 12 10 Total equity 5,630 6,065 Long-term borrowings 14 2,589 3,028 Deferred tax liabilities 589 649 Long-term provisions 13 533 556 Non-current liabilities 3,711 4,233 Trade payables 10,071 11,992 Short-term borrowings 14 555 283 Income taxes payable 123 88 Short-term provisions 13 131 130 Other creditors and current liabilities 2,013 2,105 Current liabilities 12,893 14,598 Total equity and liabilities 22,234 24,896 Consolidated statement of cash flows (in millions of euros) June 30, 2017 (6 months) June 30, 2016 (6 months) December 31, 2016 (12 months) Cash flows from operating activities Net income 391 385 (520) Neutralization of non-cash income and expenses: Income taxes 151 162 342 Cost of net financial debt 32 39 74 Capital (gains) losses on disposals (before tax) (16) (9) Depreciation, amortization and impairment loss on property, plant and equipment and intangible assets 116 125 1,685 Non-cash expenses on stock options and similar items 28 19 55 Other non-cash income and expenses 25 15 115 Share of profit of associates 2 (2) 5 Dividends received from associates 1 3 Taxes paid (115) (79) (257) Interest paid (26) (22) (106) Interest received 26 10 40 Change in working capital requirements(1) (1,013) (1,102) (355) Net cash flows generated by (used in) operating activities (i) (382) (466) 1,072 Cash flows from investing activities Purchases of property, plant and equipment and intangible assets (39) (73) (173) Disposals of property, plant and equipment and intangible assets 2 1 7 Purchases of investments and other financial assets, net (6) (2) (12) Acquisitions of subsidiaries (176) (129) (240) Disposals of subsidiaries 2 11 7 Net cash flows generated by (used in) investing activities (ii) (217) (192) (411) Cash flows from financing activities Dividends paid to holders of the parent company (193) Dividends paid to non-controlling interests (5) (16) (20) Proceeds from borrowings 25 61 513 Repayment of borrowings (22) (1) (517) Net purchases of non-controlling interests (23) (30) (44) Net (purchases)/sales of treasury shares and exercise of equity warrants (287) 8 24 Net cash flows generated by (used in) financing activities (iii) (312) 22 (237) Impact of exchange rate fluctuations (IV) (166) 19 126 Change in consolidated cash and cash equivalents (i ii iii + iv) (1,077) (617) 550 Cash and cash equivalents on January 1 2,228 1,672 1,672 Bank overdrafts on January 1 (25) (19) (19) Net cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year (V) 2,203 1,653 1,653 Cash and cash equivalents at closing date 1,151 1,064 2,228 Bank overdrafts at closing date (25) (28) (25) Net cash and cash equivalents at end of year (VI) 1,126 1,036 2,203 Change in consolidated cash and cash equivalents (vi v) (1,077) (617) 550 (1) Breakdown of change in working capital requirements Change in inventory and work in progress (44) (74) 28 Change in trade receivables and other receivables 424 325 (222) Change in accounts payable, other payables and provisions (1,393) (1,353) (161) Change in working capital requirements (1,013) (1,102) (355) Consolidated statement of changes in equity Number of outstanding shares (in millions of euros) Share capital Additional paid-in capital Reserves and earnings brought forward Translation reserve Fair value reserve Equity attributable to the holders of the parent company Non-controlling interests Total equity 225,367,784 January 1, 2017 90 3,429 2,118 255 163 6,055 10 6,065 Net income 387 387 4 391 Other comprehensive income, net of tax (355) (33) (388) (2) (390) Total income and expenses for the period 387 (355) (33) (1) 2 1 3,992,216 Dividends 2 242 (414) (170) (5) (175) 383,457 Share-based compensation, net of tax 30 30 30 Effect of acquisitions and commitments to buy-out non-controlling interests (9) (9) 5 (4) 298,085 Equity warrant exercise 9 9 9 (3,754,991) Purchases/sales of treasury shares (296) (296) (296) 226,286,551 June 30, 2017 92 3,680 1,816 (100) 130 5,618 12 5,630 Earnings per share (basic and diluted) (in millions of euros, except for share data) June 30, 2017 June 30, 2016 Net income used for the calculation of earnings per share Net income attributable to equity holders of the parent company A 387 381 Impact of dilutive instruments: - Savings in financial expenses linked to the conversion of debt instruments, net of tax Group net income diluted B 387 381 Number of shares used to calculate earnings per share Number of shares at January 1 225,945,387 222,540,740 Shares created over the period 344,728 197,830 Treasury shares to be deducted (average for the year) (1,708,247) (1,010,137) Average number of shares used for the calculation C 224,581,868 221,728,433 Impact of dilutive instruments: Free shares and dilutive stock options(1) 3,588,145 2,093,218 Equity warrants(1) 638,192 796,005 Number of shares diluted D 228,808,205 224,617,656 (in euros) EARNINGS PER SHARE A/C 1.72 1.72 Diluted earnings per share B/D 1.69 1.70 (1) Only stock options and warrants with a dilutive impact, i.e. whose strike price is lower than the average strike price, are included in the calculation. For H1 2017 and 2016, all stock options and warrants not yet exercised at the reporting date had a dilutive impact. Headline earnings per share (basic and diluted) (in millions of euros, except for share data) June 30, 2017 June 30, 2016 Net income used to calculate headline earnings per share(1) Group net income 387 381 Items excluded: Amortization of intangibles from acquisitions, net of tax 23 25 Revaluation of earn-out payments 22 10 Main capital gains (losses) on disposal of assets, net of tax (10) Headline Group net income E 432 406 Impact of dilutive instruments: - Savings in financial expenses linked to the conversion of debt instruments, net of tax Headline Group net income, diluted F 432 406 Number of shares used to calculate earnings per share Number of shares at January 1 225,945,387 222,540,740 Shares created over the period 344,728 197,830 Treasury shares to be deducted (average for the year) (1,708,247) (1,010,137) Average number of shares used for the calculation C 224,581,868 221,728,433 Impact of dilutive instruments: - Free shares and dilutive stock options 3,588,145 2,093,218 - Equity warrants 638,192 796,005 Number of diluted shares (in euros) D 228,808,205 224,617,656 Headline earnings per share(1) E/C 1.92 1.83 Headline earnings per share diluted(1) F/D 1.89 1.81 (1) EPS after elimination of the impairment losses, amortization of intangibles from acquisitions, the main capital gains and losses on disposal of assets and the revaluation of earn-out payments. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170719006477/en/ Contacts: Publicis Groupe Corporate Communications Peggy Nahmany, + 33 (0)1 44 43 72 83 peggy.nahmany@publicisgroupe.com or Investor Relations Jean-Michel Bonamy, 33 (0)1 44 43 77 88 jean-michel.bonamy@publicisgroupe.com or Chi-Chung Lo, 33 (0)1 44 43 66 69 chi-chung.lo@publicisgroupe.com BALLERUP, Denmark, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- LEO Pharma today announced that the European Commission has granted marketing authorisation for Kyntheum (brodalumab), a new biologic for the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis in adults within the European Union who are candidates for systemic therapy.[1] Kyntheum is the first and only biologic that selectively targets the IL-17 receptor subunit A.[2],[3] (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130221/595427 ) Psoriasis is a common, chronic, immune-mediated, inflammatory disease[4] affecting an estimated 125 million people worldwide,[5] including nearly 14 million Europeans.[6] It primarily affects the skin, but carries with it a substantial social and psychological burden, even when a relatively small proportion of body surface is affected.[4] Kyntheum is different from existing therapies. By specifically binding to the receptor on skin cells rather than targeting free floating inflammatory mediators, brodalumab blocks the biological activity of several pro-inflammatory IL-17 cytokines involved in psoriasis plaque formation.[2],[7],[8] "Lasting skin clearance is our ultimate treatment goal for psoriasis patients, as it has such a significant impact on an individual's wider wellbeing, along with their physical health. Experiencing clear skin brings a huge benefit to patients. Results from the AMAGINE trials show that Kyntheum has the potential to virtually clear psoriasis in almost 80% of patients, often within just three months[*], establishing its approval as a major advancement within the field of psoriasis" commented Professor Dr. Ulrich Mrowietz, Psoriasis Centre, University Medical Centre, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The AMAGINE trials - AMAGINE-1-3 - involved 4,373 patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis,[9],[10] the largest study population in the development program of any new biologic treatment in psoriasis to date.[11],[12],[13],[14],[15],[16],[17] All three trials evaluated the efficacy and safety of different doses of Kyntheum compared to placebo[9],[10] and AMAGINE-2 and -3 also compared Kyntheum to ustekinumab.[9] Kyntheum was well tolerated in all trials with an acceptable safety profile.[18] Although cases of suicidal ideation and behaviour were reported, no causal association between treatment with Kyntheum and increased risk of suicidal ideation and behaviour has been established.[19] Its launch in Europe will be supported by post-marketing pharmacovigilance activities to capture and follow up on any reports of safety events. Gitte Pugholm Aabo, President and CEO of LEO Pharma, said: "Those most affected by psoriasis often feel controlled by their condition, the stigma it brings, and the diverse complications associated with it. We hope that the EU approval of Kyntheum will help many more people to regain control, and live lives unrestricted by psoriasis, while our role is to support them throughout their journey to clear skin." Brodalumab is currently approved in the U.S. and Japan for adult patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. In Japan, it is also approved for psoriasis vulgaris, psoriatic arthritis, pustular psoriasis and psoriatic erythroderma. * 76-79% of patients achieved clear or almost clear skin (sPGA scores of 0 or 1) after 3 months of treatment with Kyntheum -ENDS- NOTES TO EDITORS About Kyntheum Kyntheum(brodalumab) is the only fully human monoclonal antibody that selectively targets the IL-17 receptor subunit A.[2],[3] By binding to the receptor with high affinity, Kyntheum effectively blocks the biological activity of several pro-inflammatory IL-17 cytokines, which are important in psoriasis.[3],[20] The psoriasis clinical studies programme for Kyntheum consisted of three clinical trials; AMAGINE-1 (n=661), AMAGINE-2 (n=1831) and AMAGINE-3 (n=1881).[9],[10] Results showed Kyntheum 210mg offered more patients complete skin clearance (PASI 100) at 12 weeks compared to patients treated with ustekinumab [AMAGINE-2: 44% (n=272) versus 22% (n=65), p<0.001; AMAGINE-3: 37% (n=229) versus 19% (n=58), p<0.001].[9] In AMAGINE-1 83% of patients on Kyntheum 210mg achieved PASI 75["] compared to 3% of patients treated with placebo at 12 weeks [83.3% (n=185) versus 2.7% (n=6), p<0.001] and 76% of patients achieved sPGA["] success versus 1% of patients treated with placebo [75.7% (n=168) versus 1.4% (n=3), p<0.001].[10] In the AMAGINE trials more than half (53-56%) of patients on continuous Kyntheum treatment achieved PASI 100 at week 52.[10],[21] Patients also reported experiencing improved health-related quality of life after four weeks of treatment with Kyntheum.[22] After 12 weeks of treatment, seven in ten patients (72%, n=29/40, p<0.0001) reported psoriasis no longer impaired their health-related quality of life, (0/1 DLQI) compared with placebo (5%, n=2/37).[22] Data from the three large randomised, controlled AMAGINE clinical trials, found Kyntheum to be well tolerated, with an acceptable safety profile.[18] The most common adverse events were arthralgia (joint pain), nasopharyngitis (inflammation of the nose and pharynx), headache, and upper respiratory tract infection.[10] In July 2016, LEO Pharma entered into a partnership agreement with AstraZeneca granting LEO Pharma exclusive licence to develop and commercialise Kyntheum in Europe. Outside of Europe, Valeant Pharmaceuticals has global commercial rights for brodalumab except in Japan and certain other Asian countries, where the rights are held by Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co., Ltd. " PASI 75 is defined 75% improvement in Psoriasis Area and Severity Index score " sPGA success is defined as patients who achieved a static Physician's Global Assessment 0 or 1 About psoriasis Psoriasis is a common, chronic, immune-mediated, inflammatory disease that primarily involves the skin.[4] The most frequently reported symptoms include thickening and scaling of the skin, itching and erythema (superficial reddening of the skin, usually in patches).[4] An estimated 125 million people worldwide live with psoriasis,[5] including nearly 14 million Europeans.[6] Psoriasis can be a painful, disabling and stigmatising condition with substantial social and psychological impact on a person's life.[17] People with psoriasis, especially those with more severe symptoms, are also at increased risk of developing other serious associated conditions,[23] including heart disease[24],[25],[26] and metabolic diseases (a combination of diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity).[27] Mental health complications, such as depression and anxiety, are also more common in people with psoriasis.[28] According to the World Health Organization, the burden of living with psoriasis is underestimated and it urges for action to fight stigma and improve treatment.[4] About LEO Pharma LEO Pharma helps people achieve healthy skin. By offering care solutions to patients in more than 100 countries globally, LEO Pharma supports people in managing their skin conditions. LEO Pharma offers a comprehensive range of integrated care solutions for control and relief of psoriasis. By expanding its portfolio into biologics, through the approval of Kyntheum, the company is set to become the world's leading dermatology company. Founded in 1908 and owned by the LEO Foundation, the healthcare company has devoted decades of research and development to delivering products and solutions to people with skin conditions. LEO Pharma is headquartered in Denmark and employs around 5,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.leo-pharma.com Subscribe to our YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/leopharmaglobal Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/leohealthyskin Visit us at LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/leo-pharma Global media contacts Henrik Heskjr Kyndlev Global Communications Manager Email:HDTDK@leo-pharma.com Mobile: +45-3140-6180 References 1.European Commission, Community register of medicinal products for human use, Kyntheum (brodalumab). Available from: http://ec.europa.eu/health/documents/community-register/html/h1155.htm (Accessed July 2017) 2.Campa M, et al. Dermatol Ther. 2016;6:1-12 3.Coimbra S, et al. Core Evidence. 2014;9:89-97 4. World Health Organization (WHO). Global Report on Psoriasis. Available from: http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/204417/1/9789241565189_eng.pdf (Accessed July 2017) 5. The International Federation of Psoriasis Associations. Available at: https://ifpa-pso.com/ (Accessed July 2017) 6. Ortonne J, et al. Eur J Dermatol. 2004;14:41-45 7.Beringer A, et al. Trends Mol Med. 2016; 22: 230-41 8.Russell CB, et al. J Immunol. 2014; 192: 3828-36 9.Lebwohl M, et al. N Engl J Med 2015;373:1318-28 10.Papp K, et al. Br J Dermatol. 2016;175:273-286 11.European Medicines Agency. EPAR summary for the public: Cosentyx. 2015. Available from: http://www.ema.europa.eu/docs/en_GB/document_library/EPAR_-Summary_for_the_public/human/003729/WC500183132.pdf (Accessed July 2017) 12.Taltz. Summary of Product Characteristics 2016. Available from: http://www.ema.europa.eu/docs/en_GB/document_library/EPAR_-Product_Information/human/003943/WC500205804.pdf (Accessed July 2017) 13.Stelara. Summary of Product Characteristics 2009. Available from: https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/medicine/32569 (Accessed July 2017) 14. Enbrel. Summary of Product Characteristics 2000. Available from: http://www.ema.europa.eu/docs/en_GB/document_library/EPAR_-_Product_Information/human/000262/WC500027361.pdf (Accessed July 2017) 15. Humira. Summary of Product Charateristics 2003. Available from: https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/medicine/31860 (Accessed July 2017) 16. Remicade. Summary of Product Characteristics 1999. Available from:http://www.ema.europa.eu/docs/en_GB/document_library/EPAR_-Product_Information/human/000240/WC500050888.pdf (Accessed July 2017) 17. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Psoriasis: assessment and management guidelines. Available at: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg153/chapter/1-Guidancesystemic-therapy (Accessed July 2017) 18.Attia A, et al. Clin Drug Investig. 2017; DOI: 10.1007/s40261-017-0500-9 19.Lebwohl, M. et al. The American Academy of Dermatology annual meeting 2017. Poster 4908 20.Papp K, et al. N Engl J Med. 2012;336:1181-9 21.Supplement to: Lebwohl M, et al. N Engl J Med. 2015;373:1318-28 22.Gordon KB, et al. Br J Dermatol. 2014;170:705-15 23. Reich K. Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2012; 26(2):3-11 24. Gelfand JM, et al. JAMA. 2016;296:1735-41 25. Ahlehoff O, et al. Eur Heart J. 2012;33:2054-64 26. Lowes MA, et al. Immunology of psoriasis. Ann Rev Immunol. 2014;32:227-35 27. Langan SM, et al. J Invest Dermatol. 2012 Mar; 132(3 0 1): 556-562 28. Dalgard F, et al. JID. 2015;135(4), 984-991 VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 07/20/17 -- Sabina Gold & Silver Corp. (TSX: SBB) ("Sabina" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that an expanded second phase program of drilling will commence at the Goose camp on its 100%-owned Back River gold project ("Back River" or the "Project") in Nunavut, Canada. Camp will open on July 27th, 2017. Approximately 7,000 metres of drilling was planned for 2017 in two drill programs, with the first 3,000 metres completed this spring, and the balance planned for a summer drill campaign. Following successful drilling of priority targets, selected for their potential to enhance project economics at both Llama and Umwelt, additional metres have been added to the summer program for a total of 13,000 metres for 2017. "The substantial widths and grades at the Umwelt Vault zone provide considerable opportunity to commence underground mining earlier making the Vault Zone a focus of the summer drilling campaign. Starting underground production at the Vault earlier in the mine life requires bringing a portion of sustaining capital forward into initial capital and offers opportunities to positively impact the project payback period. At Llama we have demonstrated that the mineralized structure continues well below the current resource limits and this extension also warrants further drilling," said Bruce McLeod, President and CEO. "In addition, we believe that there other opportunities for resource expansion at the Goose property that could potentially extend the life at our proposed Goose Mine. These opportunities warrant an expanded program and we look forward to receiving further results later in the third quarter." Summer Drilling Program Vault Zone - Umwelt During the spring campaign, one drill hole tested the Vault zone at approximately 650 metres vertical depth where an interpreted high grade zone at the lower limits of the current Umwelt reserves, merited follow up. This interpreted high grade zone is partly characterized by historic drillhole 12GSE217, which returned 49.24 g/t Au over 17.0 metres, drillhole 11GSE106 which returned 10.91 g/t Au over 29.85 metres and drillhole 11GSE075 which returned 13.43 g/t Au over 24.40 metres. Sabina is highly encouraged by the results of the spring 2017 hole (17GSE511B) returning 16.86 g/t Au over 13.5 m from 734.00 m to 747.5 m, including 27.11 g/t Au over 7.95 m from 736.75 to 744.70 m. This strongly mineralized zone was intersected at a vertical depth of 675 m and is open to the east in the down dip direction (see News Release May 23, 2017). Approximately 4,000 metres are planned at the Vault zone this summer which will continue to test for robust mineralization extensions of the zone through immediate drilling of the target eastward and down dip. High priority focused drilling is also planned for exploration areas both up and down plunge of the zone where the potential for resource optimization and growth is recognized. Increasing confidence through additional drill resolution and updated modelling of the mineralization associated with the Vault is aimed to add significant value through resource growth and increased resource confidence all while strengthening vectoring concepts for exploration applications within other priority target areas of the Back River. Llama Extension At Llama, Drill holes 17GSE512 and 17GSE513 were designed for testing the down plunge extension of the Llama mineralized structure approximately 300 meters down plunge from the current resource limits at a vertical depth of approximately 550 m. Significant assays returned from this drilling included 6.30 g/t Au over 2.65m (Hole 17GSE512) and 6.52 g/t Au over 8.30 m (Hole 17GSE513), (see News Release June 13, 2017). These assays confirm that the Llama mineralized structure continues approximately 300 metres below the existing Llama resource. Approximately 3,000 metres of drilling is planned for the summer campaign which comprises further aggressive step out drilling that will focus on the extension of the Llama deposit in the down plunge direction, as well as the testing of numerous additional high priority target areas that are located within the immediate geologic framework. Significant opportunities for additional discoveries have been identified by Sabina including the Llama Surprise target and the untested iron formation stratigraphy that is located vertically below and/or adjacent to the Umwelt deposit. Successful drilling of the targets is aimed to continue to extend the mineralization trends while highlighting the exceptional continuity and discovery potential of the gold endowment hosted at Back River. Additional Targets Sabina summer drilling exploration is also planned to actively test a series of advanced targets located on the Goose Property that includes Kogoyok, GNS, and Echo. Previously drilling at each of these targets indicates similar geological characteristics representing potential resources for continued growth. Approximately 3,000 metres is planned for this testing. Qualified Persons The Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101 as pertains to the Back River Project, is James Maxwell, Exploration Manager, for the Company. All drill core samples selected within the exploration program are subject to a company standard of internal quality control and quality assurance programs which include the insertion of certified reference materials, blank materials and duplicates analysis. All samples are sent to SGS Canada Inc. located in Burnaby, British Columbia where they are processed for gold analysis by 50 gram fire assay with finish by a combination of atomic absorption and gravimetric methods. Additionally, analysis by screen metallic processes is performed on select samples. SGS quality systems conform to requirements of ISO/IEC Standard 17025 guidelines and meets assay requirements outlined for NI 43-101. Sabina Gold & Silver Corp. Sabina Gold & Silver Corp. is a well-financed, emerging precious metals company with district scale, world class undeveloped assets in one of the world's newest, politically stable mining jurisdictions: Nunavut, Canada. In September, 2015, Sabina released a Feasibility Study on its 100% owned Back River Gold Project which presents a project that has been designed on a fit-for purpose basis, with the potential to produce approx. 200,000 ounces a year for approx. 11 years with a rapid payback of 2.9 years. At a US$1,150 gold price and a 0.80 exchange rate, the Study delivers a potential after tax internal rate of return of approximately 24.2% with an initial CAPEX of $415 million. The Project is advancing through the environmental assessment process with final public hearings with the Nunavut Impact Review Board completed during May 31 - June 3, 2017 in Cambridge Bay. In addition to Back River, Sabina also owns a significant silver royalty on Glencore's Hackett River Project. The silver royalty on Hackett River's silver production is comprised of 22.5% of the first 190 million ounces produced and 12.5% of all silver produced thereafter. The Company had cash and equivalents of C$43m at March 31, 2017. All news releases and further information can be found on the Company's website at www.sabinagoldsilver.com or on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. All technical reports have been filed on www.sedar.com. Forward Looking Information This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws (the "forward-looking statements"), including our belief as to the extent, results and timing of exploration programs and various studies, permitting and environmental assessment outcomes, exploration results, and access to project funding. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the future circumstances, outcomes or results anticipated in or implied by such forward-looking statements will occur or that plans, intentions or expectations upon which the forward-looking statements are based will occur. While we have based these forward-looking statements on our expectations about future events as at the date that such statements were prepared, the statements are not a guarantee that such future events will occur and are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors which could cause events or outcomes to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors and assumptions include, among others, the effects of general economic conditions, commodity prices, changing foreign exchange rates and actions by government and regulatory authorities and misjudgments in the course of preparing forward-looking statements. In addition, there are known and unknown risk factors which could cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Known risk factors include risks associated with exploration and project development; the need for additional financing; the calculation of mineral resources and reserves; operational risks associated with mining and mineral processing; fluctuations in metal prices; title matters; government regulation; obtaining and renewing necessary licenses and permits; environmental liability and insurance; reliance on key personnel; the potential for conflicts of interest among certain of our officers or directors; the absence of dividends; currency fluctuations; labour disputes; competition; dilution; the volatility of the our common share price and volume; future sales of shares by existing shareholders; and other risks and uncertainties, including those relating to the Back River Project and general risks associated with the mineral exploration and development industry described in our Annual Information Form, financial statements and MD&A for the fiscal period ended December 31, 2016 filed with the Canadian Securities Administrators and available at www.sedar.com. Although we have attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. We are under no obligation to update or alter any forward-looking statements except as required under applicable securities laws. This news release has been authorized by the undersigned on behalf of Sabina Gold & Silver Corp. Bruce McLeod, President & CEO Suite 375 - Two Bentall Centre 555 Burrard Street Vancouver, BC V7X 1M7 Tel 604 998-4175 Fax 604 998-1051 http://www.sabinagoldsilver.com To view the map accompanying this press release, click on the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1099446m2.jpg Contacts: Nicole Hoeller Vice-President, Communications 1 888 648-4218 nhoeller@sabinagoldsilver.com BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - At 4.30 am ET Thursday, the Office for National Statistics releases UK retail sales data for September. Retail sales are forecast to fall 0.2 percent on month, reversing a 1 percent rise in August. Ahead of the data, the pound dropped against its major rivals. The pound was worth 1.3171 against the greenback, 148.32 against the yen, 1.2894 against the franc and 0.8947 against the euro as of 4:25 am ET. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. The company also announces new global customers utilizing its best-in-class streaming, monetization and discovery technology including, Channel 5, Laguadere, Webmedia and Spiegel Online NEW YORK, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- JW Player, the world's largest network-independent video platform, today announced the expansion of its global operations with the launch of a European headquarters in London, and the opening of engineering and support operations in the Netherlands. The company also announced new strategic customer partnerships. The headquarters will serve as the central hub for JW Player's business development efforts in the UK and Europe. It will be headed by Ryan Beebe, recently named vice president of Enterprise Sales for EMEA, a senior sales executive who for the past five years has helped grow JW Player's diverse customer portfolio in the Americas. Additionally, to maximize support for JW Player's European customer base, the company added a team of engineering and support professionals in Eindhoven, Netherlands. "Our rapid global growth comes as nearly all companies and brands turn increasingly toward online and mobile video as a strategic imperative," said Beebe. "Our driving mission is helping media organizations and brands across Europe make the most of their video assets by extending reach, increasing engagement and driving revenue growth." JW Player also announced that the U.K's Channel 5 and the European Broadcast Union recently joined thousands of brands, media and broadcast organizations across the region-including Lagardere, Spiegel Online, Deutsche Welle, and Webmedia-that use JW Player technology to deliver video, to increase audience and to drive monetization. Globally, JW Player's clients include many of the world's top content creators and media brands such as Red Bull, BBC America, VICE, WWE, Univision, Hearst and Fox News. These world class organizations benefit from JW Player's unique set of business solutions that integrate with any workflow and prioritize speed, API control, and audience growth across all viewing platforms. "We've established an amazing track record with some of the biggest publishers and brands in the U.S and around the world.As we continue to grow, it is important for JW Player to have a physical presence in Europe, where many of our customers are located," said Jeroen Wijering, cofounder and chief product officer of JW Player. "The company has roots in Europe from our earliest days, so it is very gratifying to be expanding our operations more aggressively into the region at this time. Our driving mission is helping media organizations and brands across the globe make the most of their video assets by extending reach, increasing engagement and driving revenue growth." About JW Player JW Player is the world's largest network-independent video platform. Founded in 2008 as the first open source video player, today JW Player's customers span the globe across 193 countries, and range from Fortune 500 companies to video-centric small businesses. The company's flagship product, JW Player, is live on more than 2 million sites with over 1.3 billion monthly unique viewers across all devices - OTT, mobile and desktop. In addition to the player, the company's services include advertising, analytics, data services, video hosting and streaming. Media Contact Tim Gray Director of Communications & Public Relations tim@jwplayer.com (917) 202-9515 Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/146616/jw_player_logo.jpg ForeScout joins Pentagon's ESI program to accelerate military's use of commercial software, helping defense agencies centralize and expand ForeScout deployments SAN JOSE, Calif., 2018-01-11 12:00 CET (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ForeScout Technologies, Inc., a leading Internet of Things (IoT) security company, today announced that the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) awarded the company and its federal partners an enterprise-wide blanket purchase (BPA) agreement through the U.S. military's Enterprise Software Initiative (ESI) program. ForeScout's partners facilitating ESI purchases are Alamo City Engineering Services, Inc., Carahsoft Technology Inc., DLT Solutions, immixTechnology, Inc. and Patriot Technologies, Inc. Eligible agencies can view full award details here: http://www.esi.mil/contentview.aspx?id=926. This agreement provides the most current commercially available ForeScout products, maintenance and support for DoD, intelligence community and Coast Guard activities worldwide. The products offered through the BPA include ForeScout CounterAct agentless security solutions, Enterprise Manager and Extended Modules for third-party orchestration, as well as ControlFabric Architecture, ForeScout training and ActiveCare support services. "The Department of Defense has been an IoT pioneer since the military's earliest networked sensors, weapons and vehicle platforms and today runs some of the largest connected device portfolios in the world," said Niels Jensen, senior vice president of U.S. Public Sector Sales at ForeScout. "ForeScout's selection for the ESI program underscores the Pentagon's strategic focus on IoT security and helps validate the proven advantages ForeScout professionals are delivering for DoD customers in demanding environments." ForeScout helps both defense and civilian federal agencies discover, classify and manage diverse devices and applications arriving on networks via the IoT's explosive growth. This new enterprise-wide ESI award expands on ForeScout's ongoing work to help defense organizations implement the DoD's "Comply-to-Connect" (C2C) framework, which is responsible for protecting IoT devices and traditional IT systems from evolving security threats. Military agencies and their contractor partners already use CounterACT to maintain visibility and control over connected devices under C2C, keeping IT systems in compliance with DoD Chief Information Officer (CIO) security policies and U.S. Cyber Command operational orders. ForeScout CounterACT offers a powerful, flexible platform that gives comprehensive protection to defense organizations' connected assets - from laptops and ruggedized devices in the field, to IoT gear and networked Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and operational technology (OT) control systems across bases and shared facilities. CounterACT's agentless technology discovers, classifies and assesses devices. After discovering a device, CounterACT uses a combination of passive and active methods to classify the device according to its type and ownership, then assesses the device's security posture and allows an organization to set policies establishing authorized behaviors. In DoD deployments, CounterACT seamlessly meets rigorous C2C requirements, including: -- Network-based discovery and classification of devices -- Redundant manageability and control of devices -- Orchestration with other mandated security technologies, such as the DoD's Host Based Security System (HBSS) and Assured Compliance Assessment Solution (ACAS) - confirming these third-party tools are configured and functioning properly -- Continuous monitoring of connected devices DoD ESI is an official DoD initiative sponsored by the DoD Chief Information Officer (CIO) to lead in the establishment and management of enterprise commercial, off-the-shelf (COTS) IT agreements, assets and policies. DoD ESI lowers the total cost of ownership across the DoD, Coast Guard and Intelligence Communities for commercial software, IT hardware and services. Additional Resources: -- ForeScout's enterprise award details: ESI Web site -- Follow ForeScout online: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | Blog -- ForeScout corporate brochure: https://forescout.com/forescout-company-brochure-pr/ About ForeScout ForeScout Technologies, Inc. helps make the invisible visible. Our company provides Global 2000 enterprises and government agencies with agentless visibility and control of traditional and IoT devices the instant they connect to the network. Our technology integrates with disparate security tools to help organizations accelerate incident response, break down silos, automate workflows and optimize existing investments. Learn more at www.forescout.com. Media Relations Contact: Katie Beck ForeScout Technologies, Inc. 650-314-8705 katie.beck@forescout.com Investor Relations Contact: Michelle Spolver ForeScout Technologies, Inc. 408-721-5884 michelle.spolver@forescout.com 2018. ForeScout Technologies, Inc. is a Delaware corporation. ForeScout, the ForeScout logo, ActiveResponse, ControlFabric, CounterACT, CounterACT Edge and SecureConnector are trademarks or registered trademarks of ForeScout. Other names mentioned may be trademarks of their respective owners. FSCT-O TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 07/28/17 -- African Gold Group, Inc. (TSX VENTURE: AGG) ("AGG" or the "Company") reports that the nominees listed in the management information circular dated June 27, 2017 were elected as directors of the Company at the annual and special meeting of shareholders of the Company (the "Meeting") held on July 27, 2017. At the Meeting, shareholders also approved all of the other resolutions put before them, including approving (i) the Company's rolling stock option plan, and (ii) the appointment of the Company's auditors, BDO Dunwoody LLP. AGG would like to thank its shareholders for their participation and continuing support. Kobada Project Update The Company has initiated an internal scoping study at its flagship asset in Mali, the Kobada Gold Project, to evaluate the development options for the Kobada Gold Project and determine whether the existing mineral reserve and resource estimates can be optimized, relative to a potential phased approach of a larger Phase 1 production profile. The purpose of the Kobada project internal study is to: -- Provide a clear direction for the Company to pursue as well as provide indications of the Kobada Gold Project's future potential upside. -- To highlight particular activities, required for planning purposes, to further highlight the expansion potential of the current resource. -- Use the existing Inferred resource to determine the potential upside to the scale of the current production profile of the Kobada project. -- Determine if a major exploration and drilling program is justified to potentially unlock the significant upside potential of the known Kobada deposit and the surrounding area, which is open in all directions. Madougou Project AGG has commenced it work program at the Madougou Project in an effort to establishing a maiden resource on the concession. The initial program consists of: -- Validation of previous geological data and the construction of a geological database -- Detailed Mapping -- Prioritising of drill targets for resource drilling -- Planning and cost analysis of the drill program -- Trenching, sampling and assay work The Madougou Project is a mid-stage exploration project, located in the north-western region of Burkina Faso. The project has been extensively explored, with both ground and airborne geophysical surveys conducted, and over 20,000m of RC drilling completed on the 182km2 land package. Madougou is in a mining favourable jurisdiction within West Africa, and is contained in a regional mineralised area of the greenstone belt within Burkina Faso, with several gold producing operations. Corporate Update AGG also announces the appointment of Ryan Ptolemy as Chief Financial Officer and Damian Lopez as Corporate Secretary, effective August 1, 2017. Furthermore, Brett Richards has resigned as President and Chief Operating Officer of the Company, effective immediately. The board and management of AGG thank Mr. Richards for his contributions to the Company and wish him well in his future endeavours. Mr. Ptolemy is a CPA, CGA and CFA charter holder and obtained a B.A. from Western University. He serves as CFO to a number of public and private companies in the mining sector, particularly exploration and development stage companies in South America. Mr. Ptolemy formerly served as CFO for an independent investment dealer in Toronto where he was responsible for financial reporting, auditing, budgeting and internal controls. Mr. Lopez is a corporate securities lawyer who works as a legal consultant to various TSX and TSX Venture listed companies. Mr. Lopez previously worked as a securities lawyer at a large Toronto corporate law firm. About African Gold Group African Gold Group is a Canadian exploration and development company with its focus on West Africa. African Gold Group is focused on the development of the Kobada Gold Project in Mali, a low capital and operating cost gold project with potential to produce more than 50,000 ounces of gold per annum. For more information regarding African Gold Group visit our website at www.africangoldgroup.com. Qualified Person The technical and scientific contents of this press release have been prepared under the supervision of and have been reviewed and approved by Cesare Morelli B.Sc. (Pr.Sci.Nat.) who is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. Forward-Looking Statements This press release includes certain "Forward-Looking Statements." All statements, other than statements of historical fact included herein, including without limitation, statements regarding future plans and objectives of African Gold Group; statements regarding the Kobada Gold Project and the Madougou Project, statements regarding the results of scoping studies and work programs; statements regarding the appointment of officers; and statements regarding the ability to develop and achieve production at Kobada are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from African Gold Group's expectations have been disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in African Gold Group's documents filed from time-to-time with the TSX Venture Exchange and other regulatory authorities. African Gold Group disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward looking statements whether resulting from new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Contacts: African Gold Group, Inc. Stephan Theron Chief Executive Officer +1 (416) 722 6744 stheron@trigonmetals.com www.africangoldgroup.com TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 07/20/17 -- Equifax Canada (NYSE: EFX) today announced an investment in its Commercial Solutions business, helping Canadian business owners gain insights into their industry's financial health and identify opportunities to grow their market share. "Better performance year after year is the goal of every company and the fastest way to get there is through a better understanding of existing customers and prospects," said George Staikos, Director of Commercial Markets, Equifax Canada. "Equifax is second to none in terms of data collection and now with our expanded commercial consulting team we can offer deeper insights into a variety of data points to drive business success." COMMERCIAL MARKETS INSIGHTS A recent Equifax Canada analysis of commercial credit trends revealed: -- Trade balances have increased by 31 per cent since Q4 2015, which means that businesses are conducting more transactions with each other at increased values -- Business-to-business trade delinquency decreased by 4 per cent since Q3 2014 -- Business bankruptcy levels have increased by 39 per cent since Q1 2013, meaning that when businesses are severely delinquent (90 days past terms), they have a higher likelihood of never recovering -- Business bankruptcy rates are noticeably higher in Quebec compared to the rest of the country, so extra due diligence is prudent when making higher risk credit decisions in this province -- The number of legal notices has increased by 30 per cent since Q1 2014, which means that Canadian businesses may incur greater legal fees, potentially impacting their bottom line SLICING UP THE DATA Using the country's largest commercial credit database with 3.7 million records covering numerous industry sectors, negative occurrence and delinquency data from 60+ collection agencies, and enhanced accounts receivable information from 41 different industries, Canada's largest financial institutions and thousands of small and medium-sized businesses rely on Equifax's data and insights every day to help find, onboard and manage their clients through the entire credit lifecycle, helping Canadian businesses succeed in this economy. Specifically, Equifax Canada's suite of services helps businesses grow revenue, increase efficiency and protect profit through the entire credit lifecycle: -- Client acquisition -- Risk modeling and scorecard -- Adjudication -- Fraud management -- Account portfolio management -- Debt recovery "Our aim is to help our B2B clients gain the greatest value from our enhanced commercial data and products," said Staikos. "While our clients are focused on the day-to-day requirements of running their business, our commercial team is focused on analytics, risk management, automation, account management and collections solutions." For information on Equifax Canada's solutions for Canadian business owners, visit our content hub. About Equifax Equifax powers the financial future of individuals and organizations around the world. Using the combined strength of unique trusted data, technology and innovative analytics, Equifax has grown from a consumer credit company into a leading provider of insights and knowledge that helps its customers make informed decisions. The company organizes, assimilates and analyzes data on more than 820 million consumers and more than 91 million businesses worldwide, and its databases include employee data contributed from more than 7,100 employers. Headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., Equifax operates or has investments in 24 countries in North America, Central and South America, Europe and the Asia Pacific region. It is a member of Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 Index, and its common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol EFX. Equifax employs approximately 9,500 employees worldwide. Some noteworthy achievements for the company include: Ranked 13 on the American Banker FinTech Forward list (2015); named a Top Technology Provider on the FinTech 100 list (2004-2015); named an InformationWeek Elite 100 Winner (2014-2015); named a Top Workplace by Atlanta Journal Constitution (2013-2015); named one of Fortune's World's Most Admired Companies (2011-2015); named one of Forbes' World's 100 Most Innovative Companies (2015). For more information, visit www.equifax.com. Contacts: Andrew Findlater SELECT Public Relations afindlater@selectpr.ca (416) 659-1197 Tom Carroll Media Relations Equifax Canada MediaRelationsCanada@equifax.com (416) 227-5290 BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The British pound retreated from recent highs against other major currencies in the European session on Thursday. The pound fell to a 6-day low of 1.2955 against the U.S. dollar, from an early high of 1.3017. Against the euro and the Swiss franc, the pound dropped to 2-day lows of 0.8880 and 1.2403 from early highs of 0.8833 and 1.2458, respectively. The pound edged down to 145.52 against the yen, from an early high of 146.27. If the pound extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 1.28 against the greenback, 0.89 against the euro, 1.22 against the franc and 143.00 against the yen. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. Chanel, Estee Lauder, adidas still hold top spots, but for how long against growing Chinese brands? SHANGHAI, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --RTG Consulting Group recently released their "2017 RTG Brand Relevance Report", the result of a survey of 5,000 consumers in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Chengdu, as well as qualitative interviews with 45 China industry experts and select consumers. The RTG Brand Relevance Report covers 9 industries and utilizes a proprietary algorithm from aggregated data from quantitative consumer surveys, brand metrics, and qualitative feedback from both industry experts and consumers. The report sorts brand relevance by age, and highlights generational (Generations X, Y and Z) difference in responses. As an entire generation of digital natives moves into adulthood, age has become paramount amongst traditional demographics. Most Relevant Brands by Industry: 1.Fashion I ADIDAS 2.Food & Beverage I YILI 3.Beauty I ESTEE LAUDER 4.Personal Care I REJOICE 5.Mobile App I WECHAT 6.Hospitality I FOUR SEASONS 7.Automobile I VOLKSWAGEN 8.Electronics & Tech I HUAWEI 9.Luxury I CHANEL "This is an interesting time for brands," says Marc-Oliver Arnold, Chief Strategy Officer at RTG Consulting Group. "Brands are expanding and targeting up-and-coming niche trend markets, capitalizing on emerging trends to quickly head that sector - brands like adidas, WeChat and Huawei are key examples of the effectiveness of this strategy. To succeed, brands need to move at the speed of modern China's cultures and subcultures." "At RTG our mission is to ensure our clients' brands remain relevant to today's consumers, so it's critical to hear from Chinese consumers what brands are most relevant to them. What I find most interesting about this year's report is this trend toward 'Easternisation' with the increasing resonance of many Chinese brands across several industries. The rising influence and relevance these brands have on Chinese consumers cannot be overlooked. This may have a significant impact on the overall brand market landscape in the near future," says Angelito Tan Jr., CEO of RTG Consulting Group. Select Highlights In the Fashion sector, global sportswear brands maintained their dominance, with adidas and Nike winning the top spot for Generations Z and Y, respectively. adidas performed especially well among brands of all categories and respondents of all generations, earning top marks in key metrics like passion, leadership and consistency. The brand has accomplished this by setting up large-scale distribution in lower tier cities while pursuing inventive marketing strategies that endear it to different subcultures, especially amongst Chinese millennials (Gen-Z). While international fashion brands enjoyed strong growth, up-and-coming local brand HLA saw a meteoric rise to number four in the overall fashion rankings, topping the rankings for most relevant fashion brand among China's Generation X. Generation X. In the Mobile App sector, WeChat continues to dominate. Remarkably, only one international mobile app, Amazon, made it in to the top 20. The biggest surprise, however, comes from the fall of Apple in the Electronics & Tech sector. After scoring most relevant in Electronics & Tech in 2016, the brand fell to the 6th spot for 2017 while local brand Huawei tops the ranking thanks to strong momentum with Chinese millennials(Generations Y and Z). In the Food & Beverage sector, the biggest winner is local brand YiLi, who scored very high in regards to authenticity, passion, dynamism, trustworthiness, leadership and social responsibility. YiLi is making an increasingly significant impact both domestically and overseas, which is especially impressive given the melamine scandal of 2008. They've managed to overcome this momentous setback, regain their reputation and proceed with business growth. The only sector where local brands did not experience significant growth is Luxury. Of the top 20 most relevant brands, none are local Chinese. Chanel ranked highest for China's Generations X and Y, and second for Generation Z, who ranked Dior as their favorite for Luxury. For the full report, visit http://www.rtgconsulting.com/brandrelevance/ About the 2017 RTG Brand Relevance Report The 2017 RTG Brand Relevance Report is an annual study that assesses relevance of 300 leading brands through the lens of Chinese consumers. It also sheds light on how brand relevance differs between Gen-X, Gen-Y, and Gen-Z. 5,000 consumers were surveyed for quantitative results (180 of which provided additional qualitative results) between the ages of 15-45 across 4 major metropolises (Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, and Chengdu). 45 industry experts also weighed in with their qualitative insights. The report covers 9 industries, including Hospitality, Luxury, Fashion, Beauty, Personal Care, Food & Beverage, Electronics & Tech, Mobile App, and Automobile. About RTG Consulting Group With offices in Shanghai and Beijing, RTG Consulting Group is a team of over 60 international and local Chinese brand consultants focused on the Mainland China market. As consumer and industry models constantly evolve, our mission is to ensure businesses stay relevant. For more information about the complete 2017 RTG Brand Relevance Report, please contact info@rtgconsulting.com. For all press inquiries, please contact press@rtgconsulting.com. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/537623/RTG_BRR.jpg The largest Lithuanian mobile operators - Bite, Tele2 and Telia Lietuva - received the European Commission's permit to create a common platform for provision of instant payments. The company "Mobilus mokejimai" ("Mobile payments"), a jointly by three operators owned entity, will create a platform required for provision of instant payments. It also will be the main operator and supervisor of this platform. In May 2017, "Mobilus mokejimai" was granted a limited activities electronic money institution licence by the Bank of Lithuania. The licence is required for provision of instant payment activities. Instant payment for the users of mobile communication will allow to use mobile phone at various places for settlements for goods and services as well as instantaneously make a money transfers at any time of a day - even during the public holidays and weekends. Darius Dziaugys, Head of Investor Relations, tel. +370 5 236 7878 Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. PHILADELPHIA, PA -- (Marketwired) -- 07/20/17 -- Dr. Louis P. Bucky, a board-certified plastic surgeon in Philadelphia, has been honored by Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. as one of "America's Top Doctors" in plastic surgery. This year marks his 17th annual selection to the prestigious group of physicians, which is formulated via peer nomination and extensive background screening. "To compile this esteemed list of the country's leading physicians, Castle Connolly surveys thousands of doctors and healthcare professionals each year, asking them to identify other medical practitioners who exemplify excellence in a particular specialty," explains a recent blog post on Dr. Bucky's website. Once all votes are cast, Castle Connolly's physician-directed research team carefully reviews each doctor being considered, conducting a close assessment of the candidate's education, training, board certifications, disciplinary history, and more. After this evaluation is complete, the highest referred doctors who are in good standing are selected to the list of "America's Top Doctors." "I am extremely honored to be acknowledged by other physicians as one of the top plastic surgeons in the country," says Dr. Bucky. "This recognition demonstrates the quality and commitment that our entire practice provides for our patients." About Louis P. Bucky, MD, FACS Dr. Bucky obtained his medical degree from Harvard Medical School and completed his residencies in general and plastic surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital. He then underwent Fellowship training in Breast Cancer Reconstruction and Craniofacial Surgery at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (NYC) and Miami Children's Hospital, respectively. Dr. Bucky is certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and a member of several of the aesthetic field's most esteemed organizations, including both the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. In addition to being named a "Top Doctor" by Castle Connolly for 17 straight years, he has been annually recognized as a "Philadelphia Top Doctor" in Philadelphia Magazine since 2001. At his practice, Dr. Bucky provides a wide array of procedures for the face and body, including breast augmentation, facelift surgery, abdominoplasty, and the comprehensive mommy makeover. He and his team of experienced aestheticians and nurse injectors also offer several non-surgical cosmetic treatments, such as Sculpt360 featuring CoolSculpting, laser resurfacing, dermal fillers, and more. For more information about Dr. Bucky or the aesthetic services he provides, visit drbucky.com and facebook.com/drbucky. He is available for interview upon request. To view the original source of this press release, click here: https://www.drbucky.com/practice-news/philadelphia-plastic-surgeon-named-one-of-americas-top-doctors-for-17th-consecutive-year/ Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3156866 Contact: Dr. Louis P. Bucky Washington Square 230 West Washington Square #101 Philadelphia, PA 19106 (215) 829-6320 Main Line - Ardmore 200 West Montgomery Avenue Ardmore, PA 19003 (610) 649-2433 Rittenhouse Square 1800 Rittenhouse Square Philadelphia, PA 19103 (215) 323-5000 Rosemont Media (858) 200-0044 http://www.rosemontmedia.com/ Group of young people presented the history of Artsakh July 20, vice-president of the parliament Vahram Balayan received members of the Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Association and the Junior Union of New Julfa in the Big Hall of the National Assembly. Welcoming young people, Vahram Balayan presented the history of Artsakh, touched upon the NA activity and structure, current state of economy, army building and culture. Touching upon the role of youth in the development of the country, the vice-president of the parliament noted the importance of their potential and urged them not to remain indifferent in the processes taking place in their homeland. "I think there is a need for joint solution of the issues, in which case everything that we have today will double and triple, and thus we will be able to create the unified Armenia of our dreams," said Vahram Balayan. During the meeting, representatives of the Diaspora asked the NA Vice-President about the airport of Stepanakert, February constitutional reforms in the republic, army construction, the prospects of the educational system of Artsakh and the negotiation process. Summing up the results of the meeting, Vahram Balayan suggested that young people visit Artsakh more often, invite guests here, thus facilitating closer familiarity with the motherland and repatriation. Press Service of the National Assembly Republic of Artsakh The Edinburgh Investment Trust plc HEADLINE: Annual General Meeting Result At the Annual General Meeting of the Company held on 20 July 2017 shareholders approved the following resolutions: Ordinary Business Ordinary Resolutions 1) to receive and consider the Annual Financial Report for the year ended 31 March 2017; 2) to approve the Directors' Remuneration Policy; 3) to approve the Annual Statement and Report on Remuneration for the year ended 31 March 2017; 4) to declare a final dividend on the ordinary shares; 5) to re-elect Jim Pettigrew as a Director of the Company; 6) to re-elect Gordon McQueen as a Director of the Company; 7) to re-elect Maxwell Ward as a Director of the Company; 8) to re-elect Victoria Hastings as a Director of the Company; 9) to re-elect Glen Suarez as a Director of the Company; 10) to re-elect Sir Nigel Wicks as a Director of the Company; 11) to re-appoint KPMG LLP as Auditor; 12) to authorise the Audit Committee to determine the remuneration of the Auditor; Special Business (please refer to the Notice of Meeting for the full text of the resolutions) Ordinary Resolution 13) to authorise the Directors to allot securities; Special Resolutions 14) to authorise the Directors to allot securities for cash, disapplying statutory pre-emption rights; 15) to renew the Directors' authority to purchase shares of the Company in the market for cancellation or for holding in Treasury within the parameters specified; and 16) that the period of notice required for general meetings of the Company (other than AGMs) shall be not less than 14 days' notice; The resolutions were passed on a show of hands. The proxy votes lodged with the Registrar will shortly be available via the Company's website at: www.invescoperpetual.co.uk/edinburgh Invesco Asset Management Limited Corporate Company Secretary 20 July 2017 MUMBAI, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The following release was issued today by Vedanta Limited's subsidiary Hindustan Zinc Limited. Highlights Mined metal production at 233kt; up 84% y-o-y Integrated silver production at 115 MT ; up 30% y-o-y ; up 30% y-o-y Integrated zinc-lead metal production of 228kt; up 81% y-o-y EBITDA at Rs. 2,404 Crore , up 113% y-o-y Hindustan Zinc Limited today announced its results for the first quarter ended June 30, 2017. Mr. Agnivesh Agarwal, Chairman - "I am pleased to see a robust start to the new financial year. Our underground mines delivered their highest ever volumes this quarter, underpinning our smooth transition to an entirely underground mining company. Zinc prices strengthen towards the quarter-end on continued supply deficits and declining inventories of Zinc, we look forward to setting new benchmarks this year." Financial Summary (In Rs. Crore, except as stated) Particulars Q1 Q4 2018 2017 Change 2017 Net Sales/Income from Operations Zinc 3,779 1,920 97% 5,138 Lead 595 340 75% 851 Silver 435 360 21% 563 Others 152 150 1% 118 Total 4,961 2,770 79% 6,671 EBITDA 2,404 1,130 113% 3,770 Profit After Taxes 1,876 1,037 81% 3,057 Earnings per Share (Rs.) 4.44 2.45 81% 7.23 Mined Metal Production ('000 MT) 233 127 84% 312 Refined Metal Production ('000 MT) Integrated Refined Metal Zinc 194 101 91% 215 Saleable Lead1 35 25 42% 45 Zinc & Lead 228 126 81% 260 Saleable Silver2,3 (in MT) 115 89 30% 139 Wind Power (in million units) 156 148 5% 75 Zinc CoP without Royalty (Rs. / MT) 62,698 61,440 2% 53,226 Zinc CoP without Royalty ( $ / MT) 973 918 6% 794 Zinc LME ($ / MT) 2,596 1,918 35% 2,780 Lead LME ($ / MT) 2,161 1,719 26% 2,278 Silver LBMA ($ / oz.) 17.2 16.8 2% 17.4 USD-INR (average) 64.46 66.93 -4% 67.01 (1) Excluding captive consumption of 1,956 MT in Q1 FY2018 as compared with 1,084 MT in Q1 FY 2017 and 1,633 MT in Q4 FY 2017 (2) Excluding captive consumption of 10.25 MT in Q1 FY2018 as compared with 5.5 MT in Q1 FY 2017 and 8.7 MT in Q4 FY 2017 (3) Silver occurs in Lead & Zinc ore and is recovered in the smelting and silver-refining processes Note: Numbers may not add up due to rounding off; historical numbers may have changed due to regrouping Operational Performance Mined metal production of 233kt during the quarter was achieved, up 84% y-o-y. The increase was primarily on account of higher volumes from all mines, higher zinc grade and depletion of opening ore stock. Integrated zinc metal production during the quarter was at 194kt, up 91% y-o-y. Integrated saleable lead metal production during the quarter was at 35kt, up 42% y-o-y. The increase was in line with availability of mined metal, supported by smelter efficiencies. Integrated saleable silver production during the quarter was 115 MT, up 30% y-o-y due to higher grade and volume from Sindesar Khurd mine. Financial Performance Revenues during the quarter were Rs. 4,961 Crore, up 79% y-o-y on account of strong zinc & lead prices and higher volume. The zinc metal cost of production per MT before royalty (COP) during the quarter was at Rs. 62,698 ($973), higher by 2% y-o-y (6% in dollar terms). The increase was due to substantial increase in coal & commodity prices and lower acid realization, offset by higher volumes. The above revenue and cost of production resulted in a 113% increase in EBITDA during the quarter to Rs. 2,404 Crore. During the quarter, net profit increased by 81% y-o-y to Rs. 1,876 Crore. The impact of higher EBITDA was partly offset by lower investment income on a smaller investment corpus post dividend pay-out and interest cost on temporary Commercial Paper. Expansion Projects Capital mine development increased by 82% y-o-y and 28% q-o-q to 8,828 meters during the quarter. At Rampura Agucha during the quarter, the equipping of the main shaft was completed and winder will be commissioned in the current quarter. Order for Ventilation fans was placed with commissioning targeted by end of the financial year, in line with return air drive development. We expect the production from the shaft to start in Q3 FY19. Sindesar Khurd mine main shaft headgear erection was completed and preparatory works for equipping is in progress. We expect commissioning of winder system by Q1 FY 19 and production from the shaft to start in Q2 FY19. During the quarter we awarded order to L&T for a new mill of 1.5 mtpa capacity, to take total capacity to 5.8 mtpa. Excavation work for mill has started in full swing with targeted commissioning by Q2 next year. In Zawar mine raise boring machines were mobilized for ventilation raises at Balaria and Mochia mines and work was commenced. Zawar mill debottlenecking project, now upgraded to 2.7 mtpa, will be completed by this quarter and associated power upgradation project was completed during the quarter. We are now upgrading Zawar to the status of a mega mining complex based on revised R&R potential and have increased focus on our exploration program for Zawar. The fumer project is progressing as per schedule and expected to complete by mid FY 2019. All long lead items are ordered and civil works are in full swing. Outlook The Company maintains its volume guidance given in April with Dollar COP (excluding royalty) to be slightly higher than previous year and are on track to reach mined metal capacity of 1.2 mtpa in FY 2020. Liquidity and investment The Company's net cash and cash equivalents was Rs. 16,998 Crore as at June 30, 2017 which is excluding Rs. 6,959 Crore of short term commercial paper. The gross investments were Rs. 23,957 Crore in high quality debt instruments. Earnings Call on Thursday, July 20, 2017 at 4:00 pm (IST) The Company will hold an earnings conference call on Thursday, July 20, 2017 at 4:00 pm IST, where senior management will discuss the Company's results and performance. The dial in numbers for the call is: Dial In: +91-22-3960-0762 For further information, please contact: Ekta Singh Manager Investor Relations Hindustan Zinc Limited hzl.ir@vedanta.co.in Tel: +91-800-3099676 Pavan Kaushik Associate Vice President Corporate Communications Hindustan Zinc Limited pavan.kaushik@vedanta.co.in Tel: +91-99288-44499 About Hindustan Zinc Hindustan Zinc (NSE & BSE: HINDZINC) is the one of the largest integrated producers of zinc-lead with a capacity of 1.0 million MT per annum and a leading producer of silver. The Company is headquartered in Udaipur, Rajasthan in India and has zinc-lead mines at Rampura Agucha, Sindesar Khurd, Rajpura Dariba, Zawar and Kayad; primary smelter operations at Chanderiya, Dariba and Debari, all in the state of Rajasthan; and finished product facilities in the state of Uttarakhand. Hindustan Zinc has a world-class resource base with total reserve & resource of 404.4 million MT and average zinc-lead reserve grade of 8.9%. The Company has a track record of consistently growing its reserve & resource base since 2003 and currently has a mine life of over 25 years. The Company is self-sufficient in power with an installed base of 474 MW coal-based captive power plants. Additionally, it has green power capacity of 325 MW including 274 MW of wind power and 35 MW of waste heat power and 16 MW of solar power. The Company has an operating workforce of nearly 19,000 including contract workforce. Hindustan Zinc is a subsidiary of the BSE and NSE listed Vedanta Limited (formerly known as Sesa Sterlite Limited; ADRs listed on the NYSE), a part of London listed Vedanta Resources plc, a global diversified natural resources company. Disclaimer This press release contains "forward-looking statements" - that is, statements related to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address our expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "should" or "will." Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. For us, uncertainties arise from the behaviour of financial and metals markets including the London Metal Exchange, fluctuations in interest and or exchange rates and metal prices; from future integration of acquired businesses; and from numerous other matters of national, regional and global scale, including those of a political, economic, business, competitive or regulatory nature. These uncertainties may cause our actual future results to be materially different than those expressed in our forward-looking statements. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements. For further information, please contact: Communications Zarin Amrolia Manager, Group Communications Tel: +91-22-6646-1000 gc@vedanta.co.in Investor Relations Ashwin Bajaj Director - Investor Relations Tel: +91-22-6646-1531 vedantaltd.ir@vedanta.co.in Aarti Raghavan VP - Investor Relations Vishesh Pachnanda Manager - Investor Relations Sneha Tulsyan Associate Manager - Investor Relations About Vedanta Limited Vedanta Limited is a diversified natural resources company, whose business primarily involves producing oil & gas, zinc - lead - silver, copper, iron ore, aluminium and commercial power. The company has a presence across India, South Africa, Namibia, Australia and Ireland. Vedanta Limited is the Indian subsidiary of Vedanta Resources Plc, a London-listed company. Governance and Sustainable Development are at the core of Vedanta's strategy, with a strong focus on health, safety and environment and on enhancing the lives of local communities. The company is conferred with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) 'Sustainable Plus Platinum label', ranking among the top 10 most sustainable companies in India. To access the Vedanta Sustainable Development Report 2016, please visit http://sustainabledevelopment.vedantaresources.com/content/dam/vedanta/corporate/documents/Otherdocuments/SDreport2015-16/Vedanta%20SDR%20FY%2015-16.pdf Vedanta Limited is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange in India and has ADRs listed on the New York Stock Exchange. For more information please visit www.vedantalimited.com Vedanta Limited Vedanta, 75, Nehru Road, Vile Parle (East), Mumbai - 400 099 www.vedantalimited.com Registered Office: Regd. Office: 1st Floor, 'C' wing, Unit 103, Corporate Avenue, Atul Projects, Chakala, Andheri (East), Mumbai - 400 093 CIN: L13209MH1965PLC291394 Disclaimer This press release contains "forward-looking statements" - that is, statements related to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address our expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "should" or "will." Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. For us, uncertainties arise from the behaviour of financial and metals markets including the London Metal Exchange, fluctuations in interest and or exchange rates and metal prices; from future integration of acquired businesses; and from numerous other matters of national, regional and global scale, including those of a political, economic, business, competitive or regulatory nature. These uncertainties may cause our actual future results to be materially different that those expressed in our forward-looking statements. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements. GUILDFORD, UNITED KINGDOM -- (Marketwired) -- 07/20/17 -- ANGLE plc (AIM: AGL) (OTCQX: ANPCY) For immediate release 20 July 2017 ANGLE plc ("the Company") PRECLINICAL STUDY USING PARSORTIX PRESENTED AT TUMOR MODELS BOSTON SUMMIT Parsortix system demonstrates capabilities for use in cancer drug research ANGLE plc (AIM: AGL OTCQX: ANPCY), a world-leading liquid biopsy company, today announced the presentation of independent study data by Western University on circulating tumor cell (CTC) analysis in preclinical models of cancer metastasis at the Tumor Models Summit in Boston on Thursday, July 20. The study will be presented by Alison Allan, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Departments of Anatomy & Cell Biology & Oncology Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University based in Toronto, Canada. The study findings demonstrate the potential use of clinically-relevant CTC technologies such as ANGLE's proprietary Parsortix platform to enhance the translation of cancer biology and highlight the importance of developing cancer drugs using metastasis models, rather than just primary tumor pre-clinical models. Although a number of quantitative tools have been previously developed to study in vivo metastasis, the detection and quantification of rare metastatic events has remained challenging. To reduce the incidence of metastatic disease, drug development should target the metastatic process itself, which is the cause of over 90 percent of cancer deaths. In particular, the use of clinically-relevant CTC technologies such as the Parsortix system will enhance the translation of cancer biology and new cancer therapies from animal models to clinical trials. In the study, Dr. Allan used three approaches -- Flow Cytometry, CellSearch, and Parsortix -- to capture and isolate CTCs of mouse models with breast and prostate cancer. In vivo data showed that Parsortix is best suited for this work for multiple reasons including its ability to analyze CTC clusters (which have been shown to be associated with aggressive disease) as well as the option to isolate and recover cells for further analysis. The Parsortix system's epitope-independence (capturing all types of CTCs) and its automated ease of use are also highlighted. "Of the three types of liquid biopsy technology employed in cancer management, the analysis of CTCs is the most advanced and could potentially revolutionize the treatment of cancer patients," said Dr. Allan. "The presence of CTCs can be detected early in the course of a cancer and is a fundamental prerequisite of metastasis. Their identification offers great potential not only in the diagnosis of patients but also in assessing their progression and likely outcome. When comparing the three methods used, ANGLE's Parsortix system proved to be the most advanced in its ability to harvest viable cells for downstream analysis, which is critical to research and patient care." "The findings from Dr. Allan's study show that ANGLE's Parsortix system continues to be evaluated positively when compared to other CTC technologies, and has demonstrated pre-clinical utility as well as the potential for clinical utility. A key advantage that Parsortix now offers, which is not available with most other approaches, is a low volume adaptor to enable the processing of small volumes of mouse blood," said Peggy Robinson, Vice President, ANGLE North America, Inc. The results of the study demonstrate the utility of CTCs in pre-clinical tumor models. CTCs enable the monitoring of early dissemination and kinetics of the metastatic process in real-time and may lead to an increased understanding of metastatic biology. Further, it could accelerate innovation in metastasis-specific drug development and allow for timely assessment of a patient's response to a therapy. Western University is a customer of ANGLE and its research work is independent of the Company. For more information about the conference, including the full agenda, visit http://tumor-models.com/. For further information: ANGLE plc +44 1483 343434 Andrew Newland, Chief Executive Ian Griffiths, Finance Director Cenkos Securities +44 20 7397 8900 Stephen Keys (Nominated adviser), Steve Cox Russell Kerr (Sales) WG Partners +44 20 3705 9330 David Wilson Claes Spang FTI Consulting Simon Conway, Mo Noonan, Stephanie Cuthbert +44 20 3727 1000 Kimberley Ha (US) +1 212 850 5612 About ANGLE plc ANGLE is a world-leading liquid biopsy company commercialising a disruptive platform technology that can capture cells circulating in blood, such as cancer cells, even when they are as rare in number as one cell in one billion blood cells, and harvest the cells for analysis. ANGLE's cell separation technology is called the Parsortix system and it enables a liquid biopsy (simple blood test) to be used to provide the cells of interest. Parsortix is the subject of granted patents in Europe, the United States, Canada, China, Japan and Australia and three extensive families of patents are being progressed worldwide. The system is based on a microfluidic device that captures live cells based on a combination of their size and compressibility. Parsortix has a CE Mark for Europe and FDA authorisation is in process for the United States. ANGLE has established formal collaborations with world-class cancer centres. These Key Opinion Leaders are working to identify applications with medical utility (clear benefit to patients), and to secure clinical data that demonstrates that utility in patient studies. Details are available here http://www.angleplc.com/the-company/collaborators/ The analysis of the cells that can be harvested from patient blood with ANGLE's Parsortix system has the potential to help deliver personalised cancer care offering profound improvements in clinical and health economic outcomes in the treatment and diagnosis of various forms of cancer. The global increase in cancer to a 1 in 3 lifetime incidence is set to drive a multi-billion dollar clinical market. The Parsortix system is designed to be compatible with existing major medtech analytical platforms and to act as a companion diagnostic for major pharma in helping to identify patients that will benefit from a particular drug and then monitoring the drug's effectiveness. As well as cancer, the Parsortix technology has the potential for deployment with several other important cell types in the future. ANGLE stock trades on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol AGL and in New York on the OTC-QX under the ticker symbol ANPCY. For further information please visit: www.angleplc.com For further information: ANGLE plc Andrew Newland, Chief Executive Ian Griffiths, Finance Director +44 1483 343434 Cenkos Securities Stephen Keys (Nominated adviser), Steve Cox Russell Kerr (Sales) +44 20 7397 8900 WG Partners David Wilson Claes Spang +44 20 3705 9330 FTI Consulting Simon Conway, Mo Noonan, Stephanie Cuthbert +44 20 3727 1000 Kimberley Ha (US) +1 212 850 5612 Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - July 20, 2017) - Eureka Resources Inc. (TSXV: EUK) ("Eureka" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has completed all requirements to earn a 100% interest in the Gold Creek property. The exploration expenditures incurred in Eureka's May 2017 drill program satisfied the work commitment portion of the Gold Creek option. In addition, the Company has issued 150,000 common shares to Bullion Gold Resources Corp. (TSX-V: BGD) to complete the share commitment portion of the option agreement (see news release dated November 15, 2016). The Gold Creek property is located in the historic Cariboo Gold district in central British Columbia. The property consists of 33 claims (9673.26 hectares) and is located 2 kms north of the village of Likely, B.C. and 6 kms northwest of the Spanish Mountain deposit. The Company owns 100% of the Gold Creek property, subject to a 1% NSR royalty in favour of Bullion Gold Resources Corp., half of which can be acquired by Eureka for $1,000,000. Michael Sweatman, Eureka's CEO stated, "Completion of this earn-in is consistent with Eureka's objective of acquiring 100% interests in our properties. This allows us the flexibility to advance the properties directly or through joint ventures, avoiding the obligations that earn-in agreements impose." "Our thoughts are with the Cariboo residents whose lives have been disrupted by the current wildfire situation in BC." ABOUT EUREKA Eureka is an exploration focused company based in Vancouver, British Columbia, whose strategy is to acquire projects in prospective areas that have the potential to deliver important new discoveries and create value for its shareholders. British Columbia, Canada Eureka's 100% owned FG Gold property is an advanced-stage gold project located in the Cariboo Mining Division. Historical exploration has established a Measured and Indicated (376,000 ounces) gold resource at an average grade of 0.776 g/t gold, using a cut-off grade of 0.5 g/t, and an Inferred gold resource (634,900 ounces) at an average grade of 0.718 g/t gold, using a cut-off grade of 0.5 g/t. Details of the gold resource can be found in "NI 43-101 Technical Report, Frasergold Exploration Project, Cariboo Mining Division, dated July 27, 2015" available under the Company's profile on SEDAR or on the Company's website. Eureka has a 100 percent interest in the Gold Creek property located in the Cariboo Mining Division. Gold Creek is a grassroots gold project neighbouring, and with similar geology to the Spanish Mountain deposit owned by Spanish Mountain Gold Ltd. (TSXV: SPA). Eureka has the option to earn a 100 percent interest in the CKN property located in the Cariboo Mining Division. The CKN property is adjacent to Taseko's Gibraltar mine and consists of two mineral claims covering 1,356 hectares. Yukon Territory, Canada Eureka's 100 percent owned Luxor property consists of four non-contiguous claim blocks totalling 384 mining claims. Luxor is located in the Dawson Range Gold Belt, a district of major porphyry, breccia and vein occurrences. Eureka's 100 percent owned TAK property is also located in the Dawson Range Gold Belt and consists of 82 mining claims. Neighbouring projects include Goldcorp's Coffee project and Kinross' Golden Saddle project. Nevada, USA Eureka owns a 50 percent interest in the Gemini lithium brine project located approximately 40 km (26 miles) south of North America's only producing lithium mine at Silver Peak, Nevada. Kristian Whitehead, P.Geo., the Company's designated Qualified Person for this news release within the meaning of NI 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release. Further information on Eureka can be found on the Company's website at www.eurekaresourcesinc.com and at www.sedar.com, or by contacting Michael Sweatman, President and CEO, by email at info@eurekaresourcesinc.com or by telephone at (604) 449-2273. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy of accuracy of this release. Cautionary Statement Regarding Adjacent Properties and Forward-Looking Information This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" under applicable Canadian securities legislation that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results, performance, prospects, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the business and operations of the Company. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: complete exploration programs, general business, economic and social uncertainties; litigation, legislative, environmental and other judicial, regulatory, political and competitive developments; delay or failure to receive board or regulatory approvals; those additional risks set out in the Company's public documents filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com; and other matters discussed in this news release. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on these statements, which only apply as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. Except where required by law, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. FORT WORTH, TX -- (Marketwired) -- 07/20/17 -- RxCOMPASS reports generated gains of more than 1,800 prescription refills and net revenues of $171,000 at six American Pharmacies (APRx) member pharmacies over a 33-week period, while five other APRx pharmacies realized significant gains in refills and increased revenues by $108,000 in just 16 weeks. Those were the findings of two studies on the efficacy of the business intelligence reporting tool powered by myDataMart from FDS, Inc. that were released by the member-owned buying cooperative at its annual shareholder meeting, which took place in June in San Antonio, Texas. "The daily and weekly performance reports generated by RxCOMPASS drive value by identifying key operational opportunities like gross profits, prescription revenues and missed refills," said John Cooper, Vice President, Sourcing & Consulting Services, APRx. "In particular, the Refill-on-Time report that is pushed daily to subscribing pharmacies has proven highly effective at increasing refill volume and improving timeliness." American Pharmacies was established in 2002 to protect the interests of independent community pharmacies and increase members' profitability. In keeping with that commitment, APRx partnered with FDS to provide its member pharmacies with a comprehensive business intelligence tool that provides a deeper look into their pharmacy operations. Powered by FDS's myDataMart, RxCOMPASS identies key dispensing and operational trends and income-driving clinical opportunities by analyzing dispensing data through the pharmacy management system. "RxCOMPASS, powered by myDataMart, offers APRx member pharmacies a robust array of dashboards and graphical reports to help them manage patient adherence, Star performance measures, new and lost patients, dispensing analysis and more," said Rich Bukovinsky, Executive Vice President of Business Development for FDS, Inc. "It is compatible with most pharmacy systems and supports population health management efforts, such as vaccination tracking, to ensure pharmacies can leverage every opportunity to improve patient outcomes, strengthen the pharmacy-patient relationship and maximize revenues." Throughout the 2017 shareholder meeting, one major area of focus was the Refill-on-Time report, which tracks the timeliness of refill activity and allows pharmacies to prioritize patient outreach based on multiple factors, including patients with the largest gap in therapies and the highest gross-margin. From within the report, pharmacists can link to a list of patients who did not refill scheduled prescriptions during the previous week. "Reaching out to just a few of these patients can produce real results that pharmacies can then build upon," said Laird Leavoy, Senior Vice President of Sales & Operations, APRx. "The Refills-on-Time report not only helps improve maintenance medication refills, but has proven to help our stores improve Star ratings through identification, prioritization and determination of optimal candidates for Med Sync or Auto-Refill." He points to the results of a 16-week study of five participating APRx pharmacies, which revealed that RxCOMPASS reporting generated benefits including: Gains of 2 fills per patient Increased revenue-per-script of more than $108 and overall revenues of more than $108,000 Increased profit-per-patient of more than $29 and overall profit of more than $14,000 Member pharmacies were equally enthusiastic about the benefits of RxCOMPASS. These include Benjamin McNabb, Pharmacist/Owner, Love Oak Pharmacy in Eastland, Texas, who says that the calls made to patients on the Refill-on-Time report out-perform the pharmacy's automated reminder messaging. "We track the actual prescription numbers, so we can cost-justify the five hours a week spent on the calls," said McNabb. "You want to prioritize calls based on the best patient opportunities. It's also an ideal time to remind patients of other services like Med Sync and immunizations. You can do some meaningful outreach." Other member pharmacies point to the Daily Performance Report as a key benefit of RxCOMPASS. A snapshot of the pharmacy's previous-day performance, the report summarizes prescription revenues, gross profit, opportunities/low hanging fruit, prescriptions sold at a loss, and claims paid at Usual & Customary (U&C) prices compared to FDS's calculated U&C. A monthly report displays missing and new patients and the pharmacy's Star Ratings Compliance Scorecard for each claim adjudication plan. "One of my most compliant stores was losing money, so I looked at the performance report and discovered they were using a size on a generic that was not covered. It just took one phone call to say 'hey, use a different size,' and they suddenly became profitable," said Alton Kanak, RPh, Vice-Chair of the APRx Board of Directors and Owner of five APRx pharmacies in Texas. Adds Vance Oglesbee, RPh, APRx Board Member and Owner of Hometown Pharmacy in Fairfield, Texas, "I'm amazed at how much extra money we've made just by reviewing the things we do every day to check for inaccuracies. I'm quickly becoming a believer." About FDS, Inc. Fort Worth-based FDS is a pharmacy-centric healthcare technology company dedicated to helping its customers succeed in today's complex and multi-faceted healthcare ecosystem by leveraging the power of data and developing solutions that change the way healthcare is delivered, today and tomorrow. Its industry knowledge, technical expertise, and scalable, cloud-based platforms are utilized by thousands of customers to solve the many challenges pharmacies face each day, while its tools help improve profitability, streamline pharmacy workflow, and enhance clinical care and operational effectiveness. FDS solutions include automated medication synchronization services; business intelligence analytics and reporting; Star Ratings and Population Health Management; DME claims billing; third party reconciliation services and patient communication portals. For additional information or request a demonstration, please visit our website at: www.fdsrx.com or call us at (877) 602-4179. About American Pharmacies Based in Corpus Christi, Texas, American Pharmacies is a multi-state, member-owned buying cooperative for independent pharmacies. Founded in 2002, APRx is a leading political and legal advocate for members in Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma. For more information, please visit www.aprx.org. Liz Goar 813-333-2844 liz@npccs.com LOS ANGELES, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 07/20/17 -- Agritek Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB: AGTK) www.AgritekHoldings.com, a fully integrated, active cannabis real estate investor and branding consultant in the legal cannabis sector today announced the Company's launch and first order for its licensed brand "MicroDose" Oral Strips (www.microdosestrips.com) for the medicinal market of California. Agritek Holdings will provide the licensing and packaging to produce the exclusive line of 10mg and 50 mg oral strips as a medicinal alternative for patients. The Agritek "Microdose" brand will be produced and distributed through its permitted manufacturer and collective to multiple dispensaries throughout California. AGTK will receive a flat fee per single package designed exclusively by Agritek Holdings with the first 10,000 units being delivered by the end of July. The new Microdose Strips (www.microdosestrips.com) are a discreet, dose controlled, evaporating oral strip which offer a unique and smoke-free alternative to patients initially residing and holding medical recommendations in California. The medicated oral strips will be distributed to dispensaries and sold in a single pack. Doses for one oral strip will consist of 10mg and 50mg strips, and are manufactured through a consistent organic sun growth cannabis base. The strip is utilized by placed under the tongue or between the cheek and gum of the mouth with the strip dissolving directly into the bloodstream. The Microdose Strips designed exclusively for Agritek will be available in Indica and Sativa strains and will eventually be launched nationally as a CBD brand through licensed manufacturers. As previously stated, Agritek will receive a flat fee for brand license and package, with distribution and manufacturing being fulfilled through its' licensed manufacturer in California. The product will sell for between $8.00 and $12.00 depending on dose to dispensaries with Agritek receiving a flat fee royalty for packaging and brand name. "I am excited to announce the launch of our newly licensed brand 'MicroDose Strips' as an alternative delivery system for registered patients under the Agritek Holdings product umbrella. Working directly through the patent holder and California based manufacturer we have developed this brand for distribution to all California based patients and dispensaries. We have always prided ourselves on innovative brands and we plan for MicroDose Strips to become an important medical brand and rising trend for a safe, discreet alternative to smoking or vaping as an effective medical application for cannabis in multiple jurisdictions," stated B. Michael Friedman, CEO of Agritek Holdings, Inc. About Agritek Holdings, Inc. Agritek Holdings, Inc., (www.AgritekHoldings.com) a pioneer within the medicinal marijuana space, provides innovative technology, brands and agricultural solutions for both the medicinal and recreational cannabis industry. Agritek Holdings, Inc. presently owns or manages property in Colorado, Puerto Rico and Canada and has licenses with permitted facilities in California approved for cultivation as well as manufacturing capabilities. The company owns several Hemp and cannabis brands for distribution including MD Vapes, MicroDose Strips, "Hemp Pops" and "California Premiums." Agritek Holdings, Inc. does not directly grow, harvest, or distribute or sell cannabis or any substances that violate or contravene United States law or the Controlled Substances Act, nor does it intend to do so in the future. FORWARD-LOOKING DISCLAIMER: This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements and information, as defined within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and is subject to the Safe Harbor created by those sections. This material contains statements about expected future events and/or financial results that are forward-looking in nature and subject to risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements by definition involve risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Agritek Holdings, Inc. to be materially different from the statements made herein. Contact: Agritek Holdings, Inc. www.AgritekHoldings.com 305.721.2727 info@agritekholdings.com VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 07/20/17 -- Taku Gold Corp. (CSE: TAK)(CSE: TAK.CN)(CNSX: TAK) ("Taku" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into a Mineral Purchase and Option Assignment Agreement (the "Agreement"), with Golden Predator Mining Corp. ("GPY") and GPY's wholly owned subsidiary, Golden Predator Exploration Ltd. ("GPEX") whereby Taku will acquire GPY's 100% interests in the Chopin Project, the Korat Project and the Lucky Joe Project, GPEX's 100% interest in the 40 Mile AOI Claims, and Taku will be assigned GPY's option to acquire the 40 Mile claims (collectively the "Properties"). A map of the properties can be viewed with the following link: http://bit.ly/2vjV65K Taku will issue to GPY 3,500,000 shares in the capital of the Company as consideration for the transaction. The securities issued to GPY pursuant to the Agreement will be subject to a statutory four month hold period. GPY will retain Net Smelter Returns royalties on smeltable materials consisting of 1.0% on the Chopin claims, 1.0% on the Korat claims, 1.5% on the Lucky Joe claims and 0.5% on the 40 Mile claims (including the 40 Mile AOI Claims). The Properties are all located in the White Gold district in Western Yukon. This new gold camp has shown a rapid evolution from the initial Golden Saddle discovery in 2009 to the $520 million, all-share acquisition of Kaminak Gold Corp. in May 2016 by Goldcorp Inc. Kaminak's key asset was the Coffee Gold deposit located at the south end of the White Gold district approximately 130 kilometres south of Dawson City. The Coffee Gold deposit currently has total gold mineral resources (Goldcorp press release - May 12, 2016) of 3.0 million ounces indicated (63.7 million tonnes ("Mt") at 1.45 gram per tonne gold ("g/t Au")), and 2.2 million ounces inferred (52.4 Mt at 1.31g/t Au). Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. ("Agnico") entered the district in 2016 with a $14.52 million equity investment in White Gold Corp. (White Gold press release - December 13, 2016). White Gold initially acquired 21 properties covering a large portion of the White Gold district from Shawn Ryan - the prospector credited with both the Golden Saddle and Coffee discoveries (White Gold press release - December 22, 2016). White Gold subsequently acquired all of the properties in the district held by Kinross Gold Corp. ("Kinross") for $10 million cash, 17.5 million White Gold shares, and up to $15 million in deferred payments specifically related to the advancement of the White Gold's properties (White Gold press release - June 14, 2017). As part of that transaction, Agnico invested an additional $8.76 million in White Gold to maintain its pro rata interest in the company. At the close of the transaction, Agnico and Kinross each owned approximately 19.9% of the issued and outstanding common shares of White Gold. Prior to the GPY property purchase, Taku held a portfolio of five properties covering 1,449 claims (29,813 hectares) in the White Gold district. These properties were acquired by Taku in 2010 and have seen integrated exploration work including airborne geophysical surveys, reconnaissance and detailed soil geochemical surveys, focused geophysical surveys, and limited trenching and drilling. Taku holds an enviable database and strong local expertise in the White Gold camp. The GPY Properties add four new properties covering 658 claims (13,034-hectares) increasing Taku's portfolio to nine properties covering 2,107 claims covering (42,847 hectares). The Chopin Project consists of 36 quartz mining claims located approximately 90 kilometres northwest of Carmacks in the Dawson Range of central Yukon. The Korat Project consists of nine quartz mining claims surrounded by Comstock Metals' QV property. The claims are located approximately 8 kilometres north of Comstock's VG deposit and 20 kilometres north of White Gold Corp's Golden Saddle Deposit. The Lucky Joe Project consists of 548 quartz mining claims located 50 kilometers south of Dawson. The Forty Mile Project consists of 65 quartz mining claims and is road accessible via the Top of the World Highway 80 kilometers northwest of Dawson City. The highlight of the Agreement is the Lucky Joe property that bounds Taku's Rosebute property to the north. The combined Lucky Joe-Rosebute property is located in the heart of the White Gold area, approximately 50 kilometres south of Dawson City and roughly 29 kilometres north of White Gold Corp's Golden Saddle Deposit. It is situated in close proximity to the Northern Access Road currently being built by Goldcorp to access the multi-million-ounce Coffee gold deposit. A seasonal road provides direct access to the eastern edge of the combined property. Rosebute property contains two extensive gold-in-soil zones known as the Norwest and Hudbay zones. The Norwest Zone is located on the northern portion of Rosebute and is defined by three individual gold- in-soil anomalies that together form a circular anomaly with a diameter of approximately two kilometres. The Hudbay Zone is located three kilometres southwest of the Norwest Zone and consists of at least three, north trending gold-in-soil anomalies which each measure 1.0 to 1.6 kilometres in length and vary from 150 to 350 metres in width. Historically, Lucky Joe has been explored for its copper potential and has seen only limited gold exploration work. Significant drilling by White Gold in 2017 will focus on the east- trending Lira target which is located directly on the western boundary of the Lucky Joe property (White Gold press release - June 5, 2017). Taku intends to commence work immediately in the White Gold district with a soil geochemical sampling program on the combined Lucky Joe-Rosebute property. Particular focus will be given to detailed grid sampling on the western boundary of Lucky Joe to locate the possible eastward extension of the Lira target described above. Detailed grid sampling will also be done south and west of the presently defined Hudbay zone. Reconnaissance ridge and spur soil sampling will also be done in the western third of the Rosebute property and over the Lucky Joe property. To date these areas have not seen any soil geochemical sampling work. Mark Fekete, P.Geo is the designated "qualified person" as defined in Section 1.2 in and for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 that reviewed and approved the technical content of this release. About Taku Gold Corp. Taku Gold Corp. is a mineral resource company focused on the exploration and development of precious metal properties in Canada with an emphasis on the White Gold district of Yukon and the Tagish Lake region of Northern British Columbia. Follow Taku Gold On: Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/takugold Twitter: http://twitter.com/takugoldcorp YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/TakuGold Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/takugold Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Statements in this release that are forward-looking are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the specific factors identified above and in the corporation's periodic filings with Canadian securities regulators and the Canadian Securities Exchange. Such information contained herein represents management's best judgment as of the date hereof based on information currently available. The corporation does not intend to update this information and disclaims any legal liability to the contrary. Shares Issued: 31,546,515 Contacts: Taku Gold Corp. Zak Dingsdale CEO and President 1-905-269-0797 zak@takugold.com www.takugold.com BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - Ossen Innovation Co., Ltd. (OSN) announced a share exchange agreement with America-Asia Diabetes Research Foundation, a California corporation that owns 90.27% of the equity interests of San MediTech (Huzhou) Co. Ltd., a China-based medical device company, and the shareholders of the Foundation. Ossen Innovation has agreed to acquire all of the issued and outstanding equity interests of the Foundation in exchange for up to 81.243 million of the company's ordinary shares. San MediTech's Dynamic Glucose Monitoring System provides continuous, real-time monitoring of glucose level in diabetes patients. Upon completion of the deal, Ossen Innovation will indirectly own 90.27% of San MediTech. Ossen also entered into an agreement to spin-off its existing pre-stressed steel manufacturing business, including all existing liabilities, immediately following the completion of the acquisition. An entity affiliated with Liang Tang, Chairman of the company, will acquire all of the equity of the company's subsidiary, which indirectly owns all of the company's existing operating subsidiaries, in exchange for the forfeiture and cancellation of all 11.85 million ordinary shares of the company currently held by Tang. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de Statement by the Spokesperson on the conflict resolution and reconciliation efforts Foreign Minister of Armenia to participate in the Fifth Paris Peace Forum Armenia: EU and Armenia Hold annual Dialogue on Human Rights Todays Shushi, Occupied and Cleared of Armenians, is a Real Example of Turkish-Azerbaijani Policy of Ethnic Cleansing of Artsakh Google Ad Ookla, the the global leader in internet testing and analysis has awarded Ucom Sweden will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union Ameriabank: At the Vanguard of Armenia's Banking Sector STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARTSAKH SUBSCRIBERS OF UCOMS ALL TIME BEST OFFER TO ENJOY ADDITIONAL BENEFITS Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General Google Ad I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox UCOMS SPECIAL OFFER OF THE UNLIMITED INTERNET IS NOW TERMLESS There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol Armenia and Azerbaijan to do so without delay An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan". UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022 Largest Corporate Bond Program at the Securities Market of Armenia Completed Successfully The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces LEVEL UP ONLY FOR STUDENTS: UCOM OFFERS X2 AND X3 MORE INTERNET STATEMENT BY SECRETARY ANTONY J. BLINKEN This criminal act is another proof that the Armenophobia policy. Tatoyan Nikol Pashinyan, Nancy Pelosi discuss a number of issues related to the Armenian-American agenda and regional developments DUBLIN, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global UAV Ground Control Station Market 2017-2021" report has been added to Research and Markets' offering. The global UAV ground control station market to grow at a CAGR of 6.35% during the period 2017-2021. The report, Global UAV Ground Control Station (GCS) Market 2017-2021, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the Key vendors operating in this market. One trend in the market is emergence of automated UAV GCS. Though the potential capabilities of UAVs are increasing rapidly, the human-in-the-loop operations tend to limit their effectiveness on the field. Human operators require adequate qualification and training on how to fly UAVs, set up autonomous flight, and inspect and maintain UAV systems. According to the report, one driver in the market is need for lightweight and portable GCS. During field operations, frontline soldiers require lightweight, portable GCSs that can be easily handled and operated amid gunfire or other on-field threats. Earlier, GCSs were either ground-fixed or vehicle-mounted models, and hence, they limited the scope and range of operations on difficult terrains. The development of portable GCSs has given a boost to the capabilities of a UAS and to the missions that a UAV operator can undertake. Further, the report states that one challenge in the market is susceptibility to cyber intrusion. The warfare scenario has transformed to be a network-centric one, where wireless connectivity and coordination plays a pivotal role. Armed forces are increasingly involving in automated systems, which has increased the possibilities of these systems being hacked or breached through cyber networks from the adversary side. UAV and UAS users always apprehend cyber hackers taking control and disengaging the UAV's native GCS during an ongoing mission. Key vendors BAE Systems Boeing General Atomics Lockheed Martin Northrop Grumman Thales Other prominent vendors Bluebird Aero Systems Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) Textron Systems Key Topics Covered: PART 01: Executive summary PART 02: Scope of the report PART 03: Research Methodology PART 04: Introduction PART 05: Market landscape PART 06: Market segmentation by application PART 07: Geographical segmentation PART 08: Decision framework PART 09: Drivers and challenges PART 10: Market trends PART 11: Vendor landscape For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/2kh7rx/global_uav_ground Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - Japan-based Astellas Pharma Inc. (ALPMY, ALPMF) announced Thursday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted orphan-drug designation to gilteritinib in patients with acute myeloid leukemia or AML. Gilteritinib is a receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor of FLT3 and AXL, which are involved in the growth of cancer cells. The company said Gilteritinib has demonstrated inhibitory activity against FLT3 internal tandem duplication as well as tyrosine kinase domain, two common types of FLT3 mutations that are seen in up to one third of patients with AML. The Orphan Drug Designation program assigns status to drugs and biologics intended for the safe and effective treatment, diagnosis or prevention of diseases or disorders that affect fewer than 200,000 people in the United States. Astellas said it is currently investigating gilteritinib in various AML patient populations through several planned and already initiated Phase 3 trials, including the registrational ADMIRAL trial in relapsed/refractory FLT3+ AML. Gilteritinib was discovered through a research collaboration with Kotobuki Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., and Astellas has exclusive global rights to develop, manufacture and potentially commercialize gilteritinib. Steven Benner, senior vice president and global therapeutic area head, oncology development, Astellas, said, 'Fewer than 10,000 Americans will be diagnosed with FLT3 mutation-positive AML this year and while that may be a small percentage of the overall population, it is an important group of patients who are deserving of potential new treatments.' Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. MOSCOW, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- ElcomSoft Co. Ltd. updates Elcomsoft eXplorer for WhatsApp, the company's all-in-one tool for extracting, decrypting and analyzing WhatsApp communication histories. The tool gains the ability to decrypt WhatsApp stand-alone backups produced by the iPhone app and stored in Apple's iCloud Drive. The decryption is possible with access to a verified phone number or SIM card, and requires authenticating into the user's Apple ID account. A WhatsApp encryption key must be only obtained once, and can be used to access all previously created and all future backups for a given combination of Apple ID and phone number. The tool provides automatic download and decryption for WhatsApp backups and comes with a built-in viewer. "WhatsApp remains the most popular instant messaging tool in North America and Europe, and is the one communication tool most frequently picked by the criminals," says Vladimir Katalov, ElcomSoft CEO. "With our tool, investigators can now access iPhone users' encrypted WhatsApp communication histories stored in Apple iCloud Drive - provided that they have access to the user's Apple ID account and can receive a confirmation code sent to their verified phone number." Decrypting iPhone Users' WhatsApp Backups Since December 2016, both manual and daily stand-alone backups produced by WhatsApp iPhone app and stored in the user's iCloud Drive are automatically encrypted with industry-standard AES256 encryption. The encryption key, generated by WhatsApp at the time of the first backup, is unique per each combination of Apple ID and phone number. Different encryption keys are generated for different phone numbers registered on the same Apple ID. These encryption keys are generated and stored server-side by WhatsApp itself; they are never stored in iCloud, and they cannot be extracted from the iOS device. Elcomsoft Explorer for WhatsApp 2.10 gains the ability to retrieve cryptographic keys used to encrypt and decrypt WhatsApp's iCloud backups, successfully bypassing encryption and gaining access to WhatsApp conversation history and underlying messages. In order to generate the encryption key, experts must be able to receive a WhatsApp verification code sent to the phone number for which a given backup was created. In addition, the user's Apple ID and password (or binary authentication token) are required to gain access to the backup itself. The cryptographic key can be used to access all previously created and all future backups for a given combination of Apple ID and phone number. Experts with access to the user's verified phone number of SIM card as well as Apple ID authentication credentials can now use Elcomsoft Explorer for WhatsApp to circumvent encryption and gain access to iCloud-stored encrypted messages. More information as well as the detailed how-to guide available at https://blog.elcomsoft.com/2017/07/extract-and-decrypt-whatsapp-backups-from-icloud/ Current State of WhatsApp Security Despite recent discoveries regarding WhatsApp encryption of the tool's iCloud backups, the app's end-to-end message delivery still remains secure, and the messaging service remains one of the most secure on the market. WhatsApp securely encrypts messages sent and received, and makes use of encryption when producing cloud backups. Decrypting WhatsApp-produced backups requires access to the trusted phone number or SIM card, as well as access to the user's Apple ID account. WhatsApp does not keep communication histories on their servers, making them unavailable to hacker attacks. For the same reason, government requests result in very limited data. As a result, acquisition is only possible from physical devices, iOS system backups or proprietary WhatsApp backups. About Elcomsoft Explorer for WhatsApp Elcomsoft Explorer for WhatsApp is an all-in-one tool for extracting, decrypting and viewing WhatsApp communication histories from iOS and Android devices and cloud services. Supporting a wide range of acquisition options, Elcomsoft Explorer for WhatsApp can extract WhatsApp data from local iTunes backups, retrieve WhatsApp databases from iCloud backups and download stand-alone WhatsApp backups from Apple iCloud Drive. The tool can extract WhatsApp communication histories from most rooted and non-rooted Android devices. Cloud acquisition requires entering the correct authentication credentials (Apple ID and password), while stand-alone WhatsApp backup decryption requires access to a verified phone number or SIM card. Encrypted backups can be decrypted automatically once the correct password is supplied. The built-in viewer offers convenient access to contacts, messages and pictures sent and received during conversations. Multiple WhatsApp databases can be analyzed at the same time. Searching and filtering make it easy locating individual messages or finding communication sessions that occurred over a certain date range. Pricing, availability and system requirements Elcomsoft eXplorer for WhatsApp is immediately available to North American customers for $79. Its test version is available free of charge. Local pricing may vary. Elcomsoft eXplorer for WhatsApp supports Windows 7, 8, 8.1, and Windows 10 as well as Windows 2008, 2012 and 2016 Server. About ElcomSoft Co. Ltd. Founded in 1990, ElcomSoft Co. Ltd. develops state-of-the-art computer forensics tools, provides computer forensics training and computer evidence consulting services. Since 1997, ElcomSoft has been providing support to businesses, law enforcement, military, and intelligence agencies. ElcomSoft tools are used by most of the Fortune 500 corporations, multiple branches of the military all over the world, foreign governments, and all major accounting firms. ElcomSoft is a Microsoft Partner (Gold Application Development), Intel Premier Elite Partner and member of NVIDIA's CUDA/GPU Computing Registered Developer Program. MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 07/20/17 -- Mobi724 Global Solutions Inc. (CSE: MOS)(CSE: MOS.CN)(CNSX: MOS)(OTCQB: MOBIF), a Fintech leader offering integrated EMV payment, card-linked offers and digital marketing, via its subsidiary Mobi724 Asia Inc., announces that its transaction switch host has completed the System Integration Certification ("SIT") with the local debit EMV schemes in the Philippines. This first certification step successfully confirmed the host connectivity, security, EMV transaction capability and settlement of MOBI724's solution. This is the first step of a complete process involving MOBI724's technology. Subsequent steps, which are normally completed in days, are expected to commence next week and will involve a third-party Point-of-Sale ("POS") provider. The certification is on behalf of local clients in the Philippines who will use MOBI724 solutions to roll out a full EMV solution. "Today we are proud to confirm our ability to process EMV transactions via our transaction switch host. This certification also confirms the flexibility of our solutions as they can be adapted so as to process local debit transactions in foreign markets" says Marcel Vienneau, CEO, Mobi724. "The next certification step is expected to commence next week with a POS manufacturer. Once completed, we will deploy our EMV end-to-end hosted solution in the Philippines with existing clients that require this certification." About Mobi724 Global Solutions Mobi724, a leader in the fintech industry based in Montreal (Canada), offers a unique and fully integrated suite of payment & digital marketing solutions with a combined EMV Payment, Card Linked Offers, and Digital Marketing platform that works on any card and any mobile device. Mobi724's solutions add value to all types of transactions benefiting banks, retailers and cardholders by leveraging available user and purchasing data to increase transaction volumes and spend. Mobi724 provides a turnkey solution to its clients to capture card transactions on any mobile device, at any point of sale or from any payment card. Mobi724 provides its customers with full and comprehensive traceability and enriched consumer data through its offering. Its solutions enables card associations, retailers, manufacturers, offer providers, mobile operators and card issuers to create, manage, deliver and "track and measure" incentive campaigns worldwide to any mobile device and allow its redemption at any point of sales. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this document, including those which express management's expectations or estimations with regard to the Company's future performance, constitute "forward-looking statements" as understood by applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are, of necessity, based on a certain number of estimates and hypotheses; while management considers these to be accurate at the time they are expressed, they are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and risks on the commercial, economic and competitive levels. We advise readers that these forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other known and unknown factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements. Investors are advised to not rely unduly on the forward-looking statements. This advisory applies to all forward-looking statements, whether expressed orally or in writing, attributed to the Company or to any individual expressing them in the name of the Company. Unless required by law, the Company is under no obligation to publicly update these forward-looking statements, whether to reflect new information, future events, or other circumstances. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available. The Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) has not reviewed this news release and does not accept responsibility for its adequacy or accuracy. Contacts: MOBI724 Global Solutions Inc. Marcel Vienneau 1-514-394-5200 x 413 www.mobi724.com Public Affairs Division Global Communications Department Toyota Motor Corporation Tel: +81-3-3817-9926 THAILAND, July 20, 2017 - (JCN Newswire) - Toyota Motor Thailand (TMT) eyes positive growth of the Thai automotive market in 2017, the 55th year anniversary of operations in this country, while reaffirming its ongoing commitment to contributing to Thailand's national economic sustainability through the development of its automotive industry.During the company's Mid-Year Press Conference held today, Michinobu Sugata, Managing Officer of Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) and President of Toyota Motor Thailand Company Limited (TMT) highlighted the sales forecast for the entire Thai automotive industry in 2017 to potentially reach 830,000 units, an 8% rise from 2016. Furthermore, Mr. Sugata explained that overall sales in the Thai market during the first half of the year amounted to 409,980 units, reflecting a year-on-year increase of 11.2%. During this period, Toyota sales increased by 3.1% to 112,488 units.Mr. Sugata expressed his gratitude to the Thai government for its support on the measurement to stimulate national economic growth, as well as to the Thai automotive industry. Additionally, he noted that the Thai automotive market has continued its recovery trend from 2016 into the first half of 2017.Mr. Sugata commented that automotive sales in Thailand for the second half of 2017 has become more favorable due to sustained GDP growth, continued government spending to stimulate investments from the private sector, positive consumer confidence, and the introduction of new models by various automakers in the market. These factors are reassuring to Toyota, which will retain its sales forecast for the whole year 2017 at 265,000 units, an 8% increase from last year. Toyota will strengthen its product line-up during the second half of this year to catch up with market growth.Mr. Sugata reiterated Toyota's ongoing commitment to contributing to the development of the Thai automotive industry and national economic sustainability by mentioning the following: "Once again, we would like to express our gratitude to the Thai government for its strong support of the automotive industry. In line with the government's endeavors, we also aim to continue contributing to Thai society and responding to the government's "Thailand 4.0" and Eastern Economic Corridor policies. In the interest of human resource development for upcoming generations of workers in the industry, Toyota will continue to support the professional development of Thai engineers in the area of R&D through Toyota-Daihatsu Engineering & Manufacturing (focusing on compact car development for emerging markets) and will expand industry-academic partnerships. In addition to our efforts to bring happiness to Thai society through our products and services, we will continue developing our products to respond to the demands of customers."About ToyotaSupported by people around the world, Toyota Motor Corporation (TSE: 7203; NYSE: TM), has endeavored since its establishment in 1937 to serve society by creating better products. As of the end of December 2013, Toyota conducts its business worldwide with 52 overseas manufacturing companies in 27 countries and regions. Toyota's vehicles are sold in more than 170 countries and regions. For more information, please visit www.toyota-global.com.Source: ToyotaContact:Copyright 2017 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved. DURHAM, NC and MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- (Marketwired) -- 07/20/17 -- EDRM, the leading standards organization for the eDiscovery market under the auspices of the Duke Law Center for Judicial Studies, and Women in eDiscovery (WiE) today announced a new affiliate agreement. "Our affiliation with Women in eDiscovery is a natural fit," says James Waldron, executive director of EDRM. "A number of active members of Women in eDiscovery are also members of EDRM. Active members are the lifeblood of both organizations. As technology transforms the legal profession, EDRM members are working collaboratively with bench and bar to develop vital frameworks, standards, educational tools, and other resources to guide the adoption and use of eDiscovery technologies." "Women in eDiscovery emphasizes education, networking and leadership development for our members," says Beth Finkle, executive director of Women in eDiscovery. "I imagine that virtually every member of Women in eDiscovery is familiar with the EDRM reference model, a cornerstone in eDiscovery education throughout the industry. The affiliate relationship with EDRM will provide WiE members with opportunities to build practical skills and knowledge that make them more effective in their professional roles, and to contribute their talents to the important initiatives that EDRM is undertaking." EDRM offers several benefits and opportunities for members: Frequent educational programs, both live and webcast, on a variety of eDiscovery topics. A new TAR webinar series is planned during August 2017. Practical eDiscovery tools, calculators, glossaries and test data sets. Security Audit guidelines to help evaluate the security capabilities of cloud providers and third parties offering electronic discovery or managed services. Opportunities to contribute to the active TAR project, developing guidelines for Technology Assisted Review in eDiscovery. Opportunities to participate in the active Cross-border project, focused on cross-border discovery and the EU's new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The Center for Judicial Studies' TAR Best Practices Conference Sept. 7-8. At this invitation-only conference, 15 federal judges and 80-100 lawyers will discuss the development of best practices for using TAR. With the new agreement, EDRM will provide WiE members a 20 percent discount on membership fees. Details about EDRM membership are available at http://www.edrm.net/join/. About Women in eDiscovery Women in eDiscovery (www.womeninediscovery.org) is an organization that brings together women around the world who are interested in technology related to the legal industry. Its goal is to provide opportunities for businesswomen to grow personally and professionally through leadership, education, networking support and recognition. Currently, there are more than 5,000 members and 27 chapters worldwide. About EDRM The Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM) creates practical resources to improve e-discovery and information governance. Since 2005, EDRM has delivered leadership, standards, best practices, tools, guides and test data sets to improve electronic discovery and information governance. Member individuals, law firms, corporations and government organizations actively contribute to the direction of EDRM. In 2016, EDRM became part of the Center for Judicial Studies at Duke Law School. EDRM expands the center's efforts to provide educational and professional resources in electronic discovery and information governance in support of its mission to promote a better understanding of the judicial process and generate ideas for improving the administration of justice. Visit EDRM.net to become a member. To learn more about the Duke Law Center for Judicial Studies, visit https://law.duke.edu/judicialstudies. Media Contact Vicki LaBrosse Edge Legal Marketing Email Contact 651.552.7753 Thunder Bay, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - November 8, 2017) - Benton Resources Inc. (TSXV: BEX) ("Benton" or "the Company") is pleased to announce that it has commenced a second round of diamond drilling on its Bedivere Gold project located in northwestern Ontario. The program will consist of approximately 1,200m and is designed to test the main Traxxin zone at depth and along strike as well as to test multiple targets identified within the main structure corridor over a distance of 7km associated with Induce Polarization, Electro Magnetic, Magnetics and soil geochemistry survey work completed previously. The initial diamond drill holes of this program will test the 800m long conductor on the southern part of the main structure near Sandy Lake where highly anomalous and wide spread copper and zinc values occur in soil and rock geochemistry samples. Highlights from the previously released 14 diamond drill holes include 1.5gpt (grams per tonne) Au (gold) over 14.0m including 6.43gpt over 2.0m in BED-17-001 and 37.3gpt Au over 1.0m in BED-17-003 where visible native gold was noted and 3.09gpt Au over 4.0m and 11.2gpt Au over 1.0m and a second parallel zone of 4.04gpt over 1.0m in BED-17-13 (See Company news releases dated August 17, 2017, August 23, 2017 and August 31, 2017). Results from the current drill program will be released once received and compiled by the Company's technical team. Benton also controls the Cape Ray gold deposits located on the west coast of Newfoundland and is currently working on various ways to advance the project in the best interest of shareholders. The previously announced results of the Cape Ray PEA include a pre-tax net present value ("NPV") at a 7% discount rate of $48.5 million with a pre-tax internal rate of return ("IRR") of 31% and a post-tax NPV at a 7% discount rate of $32.4 million with a post-tax IRR of 25%. The reader should be cautioned that the PEA is preliminary in nature. It contains inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves. Finally, the Company has granted 2,525,000 incentive stock options to directors, officers, employees and consultants of the Company, exercisable at a price of $0.10 per share for a period of five years from the date of grant. About Benton Resources Inc. (TSXV: BEX) Benton Resources Inc is a well-funded Canadian-based junior with a diversified property portfolio in Gold-Silver, Nickel, Copper, and Platinum group elements. Clinton Barr (P.Geo.), V.P. Exploration for Benton Resources Inc., is the qualified person responsible for this release has prepared, supervised the preparation or approved the scientific and technical disclosure in the news release. On behalf of the Board of Directors of Benton Resources Inc., "Stephen Stares" Stephen Stares, President THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements relate to information that is based on assumptions of management, forecasts of future results, and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. Any statements that express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks related to failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis and on acceptable terms; risks related to the outcome of legal proceedings; political and regulatory risks associated with mining and exploration; risks related to the maintenance of stock exchange listings; risks related to environmental regulation and liability; the potential for delays in exploration or development activities or the completion of feasibility studies; the uncertainty of profitability; risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; risks related to the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; results of prefeasibility and feasibility studies, and the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; risks related to gold price and other commodity price fluctuations; and other risks and uncertainties related to the Company's prospects, properties and business detailed elsewhere in the Company's disclosure record. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. These forward looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations or projections For further information contact Stephen Stares @: 684 Squier Street, Thunder Bay, ON P7B 4A8 Phone (807)475-7474 Fax (807)475-7200 www.bentonresources.ca CRESCO, PA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/03/17 -- NSAV Holding, Inc. (OTC: NSAV), today announced a record date of August 22, 2017, for the spin-off of its Hemp Beer Inc. subsidiary, which then will become a separate publicly traded company. The Company will spin-off 20% of Hemp Beer Inc. to its shareholders, who will be awarded with a share dividend based upon their holdings of NSAV on the record date. Shareholders will receive approximately one share of Hemp Beer Inc. common stock for every 17 shares of NSAV common stock that they hold on the record date. The dividend will be payable on or around September 5, 2017. James Tilton, president of NSAV, stated, "The Hemp Beer spin-off caps off a truly monumental week in the annals of NSAV. With our financial statements near completion and the launch the lifesaving cardiology program, http://www.heartrescue.net, I can't think of a better time to be an NSAV shareholder or its CEO. NSAV's vision is the establishment of a fully integrated technology company that provides turnkey technological solutions to the legal medical cannabis and hemp industries, as well as other areas of the medical industry. Over time, the Company plans to provide a wide range of services such as software solutions, e-commerce, advisory services, financial services, patents and trademarks and information technology. For further information please contact NSAV at 1 (570- 595-2432) or info@nsavholdinginc.com The NSAV corporate website can be accessed at http://nsavholdinginc.com The NSAV Twitter account can be accessed at https://twitter.com/NSAV_MJTechCo The NSAV Facebook account can be accessed at https://www.facebook.com/NSAVHolding/ This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which are intended to be covered by the safe harbors created thereby. Investors are cautioned that, all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including without limitation, the ability of NSAV Holding, Inc. to accomplish its stated plan of business. NSAV Holding, Inc. believes that the assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements contained herein are reasonable, any of the assumptions could be inaccurate, and therefore, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking statements included in this press release will prove to be accurate. In light of the significant uncertainties inherent in the forward- looking statements included herein, the inclusion of such information should not be regarded as a representation by NSAV Holding, Inc. or any other person. Contact NSAV 1 (570- 595-2432) info@nsavholdinginc.com HARTFORD (dpa-AFX) - Carrier Corp., the air conditioning company, is laying off 338 employees at a factory in Indianapolis on Thursday, the six-month anniversary of President Donald Trump's inauguration. As president-elect, Trump had boasted of having worked out a deal with the company to prevent jobs at the Carrier factory from moving to Mexico. Carrier said Thursday that approximately 300 employees will leave the company this week as part of a previously announced plan to relocate fan coil manufacturing production lines. The positions will be shifted to Mexico. The employees include more than 30 associates who have chosen to take advantage of the company's Employee Scholar Program and pursue degree programs, according to the company. Carrier noted that the transition will impact approximately 600 Indianapolis jobs over the next several months, but added that the impacted employees will have an opportunity for employment across UTC's manufacturing operations. An additional 290 employees are planned to be terminated on December 22, just three days before Christmas. However, Carrier also said it continues to honor its 2016 commitment to employ approximately 1,100 associates in Indianapolis. 'As announced in November, this includes headquarters and engineering jobs and more than 800 employees supporting our world-class gas furnace manufacturing center.' Carrier previously announced in 2016 that it was planning to shed 2,100 jobs from its Indianapolis factory. But in late November 2016, Carrier said it has negotiated an agreement with the incoming Trump administration. Accordingly, the company added that it will continue to manufacture gas furnaces in Indianapolis, in addition to retaining engineering and headquarters staff, preserving more than 1,000 jobs. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. CHICAGO, IL -- (Marketwired) -- 07/20/17 -- Mobile Marketing & Technology Magazine today announced that McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm that serves leading businesses, governments, non-governmental organizations, and not-for-profits, will host an artificial intelligence (AI) workshop at the 2017 Mobile Payments Conference (MPC), being held August 28 - 30, 2017, at the Swissotel in Chicago, Illinois. The half-day session will provide an end-to-end examination of AI's impact on mobile payments and banking. Presenters will first break down AI as a capability and discipline, and what sets it apart from similar functionality, then explore the potential for AI in both customer experience and business operations. Attendees will learn how AI can drive growth and create tangible value in payments and banking. Program topics will include: AI 101: What it is and what it's not Conversational commerce: Full steam ahead or just hot air From smart to smarter ops: Automation and optimization in banking and payments. Show me the money: How AI and advanced analytics can optimize marketing and customer acquisition. "The discussion of AI in payments and retailing has been around for years but its still not understood very well and people really need to see and hear about practical applications," said Robert Mau of McKinsey & Company. "The mobile device provides a massive amount of information and data that mobile payment providers, banks, and retailers are just beginning to understand and use." Robert continued, "Retailers must capitalize on deep learning to ascertain what buyers find interesting and what offer or deal will make them buy. Banks must use the data to make better product offers and decide who's a better credit risk, wallet providers need to bridge these worlds and deliver more transaction volumes while directing people to the best deals and services. It's a huge challenge!" "McKinsey & Company is universally-recognized among the world's most astute consulting firms, which for years has brought unparalleled expertise and guidance to the industry," said Marla Ellerman, MPC executive director and publisher of Mobile Marketing & Technology. "For conference attendees, this half-day program will provide a unique, unprecedented look into the world of artificial intelligence as it relates to mobile payments, through the eyes of one of the most respected names in global business leadership. We are honored to have McKinsey & Company host this workshop and support the 2017 Mobile Payments Conference in Chicago." Presented with firsthand commentary on trends and other factors affecting mobile commerce, with an emphasis on retail, online and person-to-person payments, consumer privacy and risk mitigation strategies, attendees will leave MPC 2017 with the necessary guidance and insight to navigate a landscape in constant flux. Keynote presentations and breakout sessions will address the many new mobile commerce platforms, services, solutions, and standards that impact every facet of this exploding market. Sponsored by Mobile Marketing & Technology Magazine, the Mobile Payments Conference attracts an executive level audience from all parts of the mobile commerce ecosystem which includes retailers, bankers, merchant services, marketing, customer experience and loyalty, and cybersecurity. MPC '17 marks the tenth Mobile Payments Conference that Mobile Marketing & Technology will produce, with this year's event focusing on, "Mobilizing Retail is the New Buzz." About Mobile Payments Conference The Mobile Payments Conference is more than mobile payments, it is an invitation into a growing elite group of professionals who are holding a conversation that never ends. The conference is the pivotal intersection between end users, operations, marketing, finance and technology where we will discuss and answer all your questions. Where other events just talk and present products, the Mobile Payments Conference is an experience through which you'll emerge with the knowledge, resources and relationships to thrive in a hyper-competitive market. Visit www.mobilepaymentconference.com. Follow @MPCEvent on Twitter for show updates and breaking news! CONTACT Mostafa Razzak JMRConnect 202.904.2048 m.razzak@jmrconnect.net Statement by the Spokesperson on the conflict resolution and reconciliation efforts Foreign Minister of Armenia to participate in the Fifth Paris Peace Forum Armenia: EU and Armenia Hold annual Dialogue on Human Rights Todays Shushi, Occupied and Cleared of Armenians, is a Real Example of Turkish-Azerbaijani Policy of Ethnic Cleansing of Artsakh Ookla, the the global leader in internet testing and analysis has awarded Ucom Sweden will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union Ameriabank: At the Vanguard of Armenia's Banking Sector STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARTSAKH SUBSCRIBERS OF UCOMS ALL TIME BEST OFFER TO ENJOY ADDITIONAL BENEFITS Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General Google Ad I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox UCOMS SPECIAL OFFER OF THE UNLIMITED INTERNET IS NOW TERMLESS There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol Armenia and Azerbaijan to do so without delay An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan". UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022 Largest Corporate Bond Program at the Securities Market of Armenia Completed Successfully The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces LEVEL UP ONLY FOR STUDENTS: UCOM OFFERS X2 AND X3 MORE INTERNET STATEMENT BY SECRETARY ANTONY J. BLINKEN This criminal act is another proof that the Armenophobia policy. Tatoyan Nikol Pashinyan, Nancy Pelosi discuss a number of issues related to the Armenian-American agenda and regional developments BRISTOL, England, November 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Graphcore intelligence processors massively outperform current hardware as industry heads for $12bn market by 2025 Graphcore has today announced a $50 million Series C funding round by Sequoia Capital as the machine intelligence company prepares to ship its first Intelligence Processing Unit (IPU) products to early access customers at the start of 2018. (Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/602270/Graphcore_Logo.jpg ) (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/602269/Graphcore_AI_processors.jpg ) The Series C round enables Graphcore to significantly accelerate growth to meet the expected global demand for its machine intelligence processor. The funding will be dedicated to scaling up production, building a community of developers around the Poplar software platform, driving Graphcore's extended product roadmap, and investing in its Palo Alto-based US team to help support customers. Nigel Toon, CEO at Graphcore said: "Efficient AI processing power is rapidly becoming the most sought-after resource in the technological world. We believe our IPU technology will become the worldwide standard for machine intelligence compute. The performance of Graphcore's processor, compared to other accelerators, is going to be transformative, whether you are a medical researcher, roboticist, online marketplace, social network or building autonomous vehicles. "At Graphcore, we are focused on building a successful, enduring company that can serve the needs of all of those communities, over the long term. Sequoia has a deep understanding of what it takes to scale and build a successful business and we are looking forward to a long partnership with them." Matt Miller, partner at Sequoia, who will join the Graphcore board of directors, said: "Machine intelligence will cause an explosion of new applications and services that will transform every industry. The unique nature of this workload and scale of this opportunity creates an opening where a valuable new chip company can be created. We believe Graphcore's product architecture, team and early market interest make it the best positioned new entrant in this market. We look forward to helping them build a large and enduring company." Last month, Graphcore shared preliminary benchmarks demonstrating that its IPU can improve performance of machine intelligence training and inference workloads by 10x to 100x compared with current hardware. One test showed that a developer could use eight IPU PCIe cards to run a training model in the same amount of time as 128 GPU cards*. Such advances in performance enable developers to run existing machine intelligence models orders of magnitude faster, using orders of magnitude less power. More importantly, the IPU's unique architecture and efficiencies will enable researchers to undertake entirely new types of work, which are simply not possible with current hardware. In turn, these will drive the next great breakthroughs in general machine intelligence. Graphcore's understanding of machine intelligence hardware requirements comes from its close partnerships with the AI community - across academia, institutions and corporations. Graphcore has already attracted investments from many of the biggest names in machine intelligence including Demis Hassabis, co-founder of DeepMind, Zoubin Ghahramani of Cambridge University and Chief Scientist at Uber and Pieter Abbeel, Greg Brockman, Scott Grey and Ilya Sutskever, from OpenAI. The Series C round has full support from existing investors: Amadeus Capital Partners, Atomico, Robert Bosch Venture Capital, C4 Ventures, Dell Technologies Capital, Draper Esprit, Foundation Capital, Pitango Venture Capital and Samsung Catalyst Fund. About Graphcore Graphcore's Intelligence Processing Unit (IPU) products enable innovators to create next generation machine intelligence. The IPU is the first processor to be designed specifically for general AI and will deliver between 10x to 100x acceleration compared to today's hardware. Graphcore is backed by leading venture capital and strategic investors including Amadeus Capital Partners, Atomico, C4 Ventures, Dell Technologies Capital, Draper Esprit, Foundation Capital, Pitango Venture Capital, Robert Bosch Venture Capital, Samsung Catalyst Fund and Sequoia Capital, and is headquartered in Bristol UK. More information can be found at https://www.graphcore.ai *Graphcore IPU Accelerator 300 watt PCIe cards were compared with Nvidia P100 300 watt PCIe cards. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 27, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cypress Development Corp. (TSX-V:CYP) (OTCBB:CYDVF) (Frankfurt:C1Z1) ("Cypress" or the "Company") has completed the first half of its fall 2017 drilling program on its Dean & Glory properties, located in Clayton Valley, Nevada. Cypress Clayton Valley, Nevada Lithium Projects location map: https://www.cypressdevelopmentcorp.com/site/assets/files/3548/cyp-clayton-topo-satalite-small.jpg (https://www.cypressdevelopmentcorp.com/site/assets/files/3548/cyp-clayton-topo-satalite-small.jpg) The fall 2017 program was planned for 12 to 14 drill holes, totaling up to 1500 meters of NQ-size core, to be divided between Cypress' contiguous Dean and Glory properties. The two properties cover an area totaling 4,220 acres and are 100 per cent controlled by Cypress. So far, in the fall program, the Company has completed five holes on the Dean property. These holes were drilled on two east-west fences, about one kilometer apart and with 400 meters between the holes. With this spacing, and another nine holes drilled earlier this year, the Company anticipates establishing several kilometers of continuous lithium mineralization across the property. All the core from these five holes has been logged, split and submitted to an assay laboratory for analysis. The Company expects to receive assay results later this month or in December. Geology and structure seen in all five holes are consistent with the drill results obtained on the Dean property earlier this year. 2017 Dean & Glory Projects, Clayton Valley, Nevada drill hole map: https://www.cypressdevelopmentcorp.com/site/assets/files/3573/cyp-dean-and-glory-drillingsm.jpg (https://www.cypressdevelopmentcorp.com/site/assets/files/3573/cyp-dean-and-glory-drillingsm.jpg) To date, all of Cypress' drilling has been on the Dean property. Assays results from nine holes drilled earlier this year are summarized in the table below. All nine holes encountered significant lithium values within claystone, ranging up to 1,790 parts per million lithium (ppm) and averaging 900 ppm lithium (or 0.48 per cent lithium carbonate equivalent) throughout an average drill depth of 74 meters across all nine holes. This initial drilling on the Dean property covered an area of about four kilometers in length by two kilometers in width. The lateral limits of the area of lithium-bearing claystone are considered open in all directions. TABLE. Summary of Spring 2017 Dean Property Drill Holes Intersection (m) Lithium Values (ppm Li) Drill Hole From To Length Min Max Avg DCH-01 (1 ) 4.5 36 31.5 900 1760 1146 DCH-02 0.5 112.2 111.7 350 1580 847 DCH-03 0.3 76.8 76.5 290 1190 860 DCH-04 (2 ) 1.5 72.5 71.0 660 1640 1051 DCH-05 0.1 79.9 79.8 550 1460 1063 DCH-06 (3 ) 0.6 39.0 38.4 500 1150 903 DCH-07 1.8 78.6 76.8 530 1250 777 DCH-08 0.5 75.6 75.1 430 1220 714 DCH-09 0.0 106.1 106.1 150 1490 903 Average 74 900 *Notes: ppm=parts per million, Avg=Average, M=Meters, From is depth from surface. DCH-1 was lost and ended in 1340 ppm Li DCH-4 ended in 930 ppm Li DCH-6 was lost and ended in 1040 ppm Li Cypress has now moved the drill rig onto the Glory property, immediately south of the Dean. The remainder of the drill program on Glory will consist of six to eight holes. Previous sampling on the Glory property identified lithium values in surface exposures ranging up to 3,800 ppm for over three kilometers south along trend from the adjoining Dean property. Cypress expects to extend the outline of the lithium-rich claystone seen in drilling southward into the Glory property. Cypress believes its claystone deposit in Clayton Valley, which is located due east of Albemarle's Silver Peak lithium brine operation, has the potential to become a significant source of lithium. Cypress is very active in Nevada, with its geological team focused on systematically exploring its properties for lithium. In addition to the drilling in progress, Cypress is continuing with metallurgical studies to determine the exact nature and distribution of the lithium mineralization in the claystone with the goal of identifying a cost-effective means of extraction. Cypress is focused on the development of an economic process for extracting the lithium from its Clayton Valley deposit. Geological Description of the Clayton Valley, Nevada: The geology of the Clayton Valley in Nevada is best summarized as being what is essential to have formed the largest lithium production center in North America. Lithium has been produced from surface and subsurface brines since 1967. Though other important contributions from other geologists have occurred over many years, Cypress is largely responsible for the realization that most of the lithium in the Clayton Valley remains untouched and appears to represent an important, potentially long term supply of lithium. This resource is not contained in brine, but in fact sits exposed at surface along the east margin of the basin. An overview of some important geological features of the Clayton Valley include: The Clayton Valley is a topographically closed basin, not a Valley. No water escapes the Clayton Valley except by evaporation. Evaporation has resulted in the trapping and concentration of lithium within the basin. The Clayton Valley has been undergoing tectonic subsidence for the last one million years. Volcanic ash from active volcanic vents in the region has accumulated to substantial thicknesses as the basin continually sags lower. This ash has settled into a layered sequence that is >1000 meters thick. The upper 100 to 200 meters of the ash rich stratigraphy are highly enriched in lithium, not solely in ground water aquifers, but also pervasively through the basin sediments themselves. The basin fill ash rich sediments are exposed at surface only along the east margin of the basin. The Cypress land position dominates this uplifted, well mineralized exposure. Based on the results of nearly two years of highly focused and efficient exploration of the outcropping, lithium rich stratigraphy, it is now clear that a significant volume of lithium has been discovered in the east Clayton Valley and that the amount of lithium so far discovered in the ash rich rocks is several orders of magnitude larger than the remaining lithium brine resources within the basin. Based on this, Cypress believes the future production of lithium from the basin will be dominated by mining of the uplifted, outcropping ash-rich basin-fill sediments. Robert Marvin, B.Sc., PGeo, VP of Exploration and Director of Cypress Development Corp., is the qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has approved of the technical information in this release. About Cypress Development Corp.: Cypress Development Corp. is a publicly traded lithium and zinc exploration company that continues to acquire and develop potentially viable mineral projects in the State of Nevada, U.S.A. Cypress Development Corp. has approx. 51.8 million shares issued and outstanding. To find out more about Cypress Development Corp. (TSX-V: CYP (http://tmx.quotemedia.com/quote.php?qm_symbol=CYP)), visit our website at www.cypressdevelopmentcorp.com (http://www.cypressdevelopmentcorp.com/). CYPRESS DEVELOPMENT CORP. "Dr. Bill Willoughby" WILLIAM WILLOUGHBY, PhD., PE Chief Executive Officer For further information contact myself or: Don Myers Director, Investor Relations Cypress Development Corp. Telephone: 604-639-3851 Toll Free: 800-567-8181 Facsimile: 604-687-3119 Email: info@cypressdevelopmentcorp.com (mailto:info@cypressdevelopmentcorp.com) NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THE CONTENT OF THIS NEWS RELEASE. This release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that management of the Company expects, are forward-looking statements. Although management believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements, include market prices, exploration and development successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Please see the public filings of the Company at www.sedar.com (http://www.sedar.com/) for further information. This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients. The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein. Source: Cypress Development Corp via Globenewswire A.M. Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of "a-" of Emirates Insurance Company P.S.C. (EIC) (United Arab Emirates). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable. The ratings reflect EIC's excellent business profile within the United Arab Emirates (UAE), its strong risk-adjusted capitalisation and its track record of good technical and operating performance. An offsetting rating factor is the company's concentrated investment portfolio, which is weighted toward domestic equities. EIC has maintained its ranking as the UAE's fourth largest listed insurer, with gross written premium (GWP) growing by 9% during 2016, to reach AED 1.02 billion (USD 278 million). EIC's profile is enhanced by Emirates Insurance Company International (EIC Intl), the company's specialty reinsurance branch. EIC Intl provides EIC with greater product and geographical diversification, and accounts for 23% of the company's total GWP. The remaining 77% of business is derived from EIC's domestic market. EIC's risk-adjusted capitalisation remains very strong, with capital consumption largely driven by investment risk. Whilst A.M. Best recognises the shift in the company's investment portfolio toward fixed-income investments, local equity holdings still constitute a significant portion of the company's total investments at year-end 2016, accounting for 42%. Despite EIC's concentrated investment portfolio, its capital position remains sufficient to absorb volatility driven by these equity holdings. Internal capital generation is expected to remain limited by the company's dividend policy, however, the company has a strong capital buffer to support future strategic initiatives. The company's technical performance is good, demonstrated by a five-year average combined ratio of 87%, however, competitive market pressures, in addition to volatility in EIC Intl's portfolio, has resulted in the combined ratio gradually increasing over the past five years to 92% in 2016. EIC achieved an overall operating profit of AED 87 million (USD 24 million) in 2016, which was equivalent to a sound return on equity of 9%. Lower, albeit still strong, underwriting income has meant the company's profits are weighted slightly in favour of investment income, with net investment income totaling AED 45 million (USD 12 million) during 2016. This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on A.M. Best's website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see A.M. Best's Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Understanding Best's Credit Ratings. For information on the proper media use of Best's Credit Ratings and A.M. Best press releases, please view Guide for Media Proper Use of Best's Credit Ratings and A.M. Best Rating Action Press Releases A.M. Best is the world's oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source. For more information, visit www.ambest.com. Copyright 2017 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170720006019/en/ Contacts: A.M. Best Thomas Bateman, +44 20 7397 0329 Financial Analyst thomas.bateman@ambest.com or Mahesh Mistry, +44 20 7397 0325 Senior Director, Analytics mahesh.mistry@ambest.com or Christopher Sharkey, +1-908-439-2200, ext. 5159 Manager, Public Relations christopher.sharkey@ambest.com or Jim Peavy, +1-908-439-2200, ext. 5644 Director, Public Relations james.peavy@ambest.com ST. JOHN'S, NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR -- (Marketwired) -- 07/20/17 -- Fortis Inc. ("Fortis" or the "Corporation") (TSX: FTS)(NYSE: FTS) will release its second quarter 2017 financial results on Friday, July 28, 2017. A teleconference and webcast will be held the same day at 10:00 a.m. (Eastern). Barry Perry, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Karl Smith, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, will discuss Fortis' second quarter 2017 financial results. Analysts, members of the media and other interested parties in North America are invited to participate by calling 1.877.223.4471. International participants may participate by calling 647.788.4922. Please dial in 10 minutes prior to the start of the call. No pass code is required. A live and archived audio webcast of the teleconference will be available on the Corporation's website, www.fortisinc.com. A replay of the conference will be available two hours after the conclusion of the call until August 28, 2017. Please call 1.800.585.8367 or 416.621.4642 and enter pass code 37869181. About Fortis Fortis is a leader in the North American regulated electric and gas utility industry with total assets of approximately C$48 billion as of March 31, 2017. The Corporation's 8,000 employees serve utility customers in five Canadian provinces, nine U.S. states and three Caribbean countries. Fortis shares are listed on the TSX and NYSE and trade under the symbol FTS. Additional information can be accessed at www.fortisinc.com, www.sedar.com, or www.sec.gov. Contacts: Investor Enquiries Ms. Kealey Martin Manager, Investor Relations Fortis Inc. 709.737.2900 Media Enquiries Ms. Jennifer Lawlor Senior Communications Advisor Fortis Inc. 709.737.2799 According to the Complaint, throughout the Class Period, Tahoe made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose: that consultation obligations relating to the permitting of the Escobal mining license were not met; that the Escobal mining license is subject to suspension; and that as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. On July 5, 2017, Tahoe disclosed that the Supreme Court of Guatemala issued a provisional decision suspending the Escobal mining license of its subsidiary Minera San Rafael, in connection with an action brought by CALAS against Guatemala's Ministry of Energy and Mines ("MEM"). CALAS alleges that MEM violated the Xinca Indigenous people's right of consultation in advance of granting the Escobal mining license. When this news was released, shares of Tahoe fell in value materially, which caused investors harm according to the Complaint. Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. MILAN, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Behind the development of cenegermin are decades of Italian research, stemming from the studies of Rita Levi Montalcini, winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine for the discovery of the nerve growth factor (NGF). In 2015, the product was designated as an orphan drug in Europe for the treatment of neurotrophic keratitis, a rare eye disease that affects less than 5 out of every 10,000 people[1]. Until now, there have been no approved drugs for this condition. Dompe, an Italian biopharmaceutical company, announces that the European Commission has granted the marketing authorisation of cenegermin eye drops for the treatment of moderate to severe neurotrophic keratitis. This makes it the first biotechnological treatment authorized for this specific indication in the Europe Union, which responds to the needs of patients affected by this rare and severely debilitating eye disease that can cause vision loss. Until now, there have been no approved drugs for the treatment of this condition. (Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/531470/Dompe_Logo.jpg ) (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/531471/Dompe.jpg ) Behind the development of cenegermin are decades of "Made in Italy" research, stemming from the studies of Nobel laureate Rita Levi Montalcini, who discovered the nerve growth factor (NGF). This lead to the collaboration between Dompe and world-renowned centres of excellence in ophthalmology. "Neurotrophic keratitis is a rare disease that is particularly debilitating, and until now, has been an unresolved health concern for patients. The authorisation obtained by the European Commission, after positive opinion received from the EMA CHMP, is a milestone for the patients affected by this disease, for the research in this sector and for our Company," affirms Eugenio Aringhieri, Chief Executive Officer of Dompe Pharmaceuticals. "It is our first biotech drug that was obtained thanks to the work of a skilled and passionate team that has believed in this project from the beginning; and thanks to the constant collaboration with an excellent medical community, which has contributed to the development of the product in its various phases in national and international centres. It is a long, complex yet exciting journey that never ends but begins with this important regulatory step. The next steps will definitely be to make the product available in other areas outside of Europe and in other future indications." Cenegermin is the name of the primary active ingredient of the drug, and it is the recombinant version of the human nerve growth factor (NGF), developed and prepared through a biotechnological production process unique to Dompe. Cenegermin is a protein that is almost identical to the one the human body produces naturally, which is involved in the development, maintenance and survival of nerve cells[2]. Administered as eye drops in patients with moderate to severe neurotrophic keratitis, this solution can help restore the normal healing processes of the eye and repair corneal damage. "There are numerous clinical conditions that can lead to subnormal corneal sensitivity and neurotrophic keratitis due to damage to the rich nerve supply provided to the eye via the trigeminal nerve", says Reza Dana, Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School, and Director of the Cornea Service and Senior Scientist at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, USA. "In the more severe cases, neurotrophic keratitis can lead to ulcers, corneal necrosis and perforation, and visual loss. Considering the possible severity of neurotrophic keratitis, and the lack of good response to standard therapies in many cases, having a valid therapeutic option that can directly promote nerve function is a major contribution to the field and to the community of ophthalmologists, not to mention the many patients suffering from this condition." Cenegermin was developed at the Dompe L'Aquila Research and Production Centre, thanks to recombinant DNA technology, with the use of bacteria in which a gene (DNA) is introduced that allows the bacteria to produce the human growth factor on their own. "I think it is a big success to have taken the first nerve growth factor from Rita Levi Montalcini's discovery after so many years of hard work, and turned it into a therapy that is now authorized at the European Union level. It is further confirmation that it is possible to create innovative research in Italy, and that the pharmaceutical sector in our country is globally competitive," explains Sergio Dompe, President of Dompe Pharmaceuticals. "At this time, my thoughts and gratitude go out to all of the Researchers, who have participated in so many countries and in various roles in the project, making an essential contribution to the creation of this new drug, but especially to Professor Rita Levi Montalcini; this research was born out of her brilliant intuition." The process of registering the drug is underway, also in the United States, where cenegermin is still an investigational product, and where Dompe has started the submission to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the first part of the registration application (Biologics License Application) through a procedure called "rolling submission." Finally, in Japan dialogue has begun with the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA) to define a development plan in the same direction. About Dompe Dompe is one of the leading biopharmaceutical companies in Italy. It focuses on the development of innovative therapeutic solutions for diseases with a high social impact for which therapeutic options are lacking. Based in Italy, Dompe has its headquarters in Milan. Its research efforts focus on unmet therapeutic needs such as diabetes, organ transplantation, ophthalmology and oncology. The industrial pole of L'Aquila (Abruzzo) is home to a world class biotechnology plant developing drugs for Primary Care for the markets of about 40 countries worldwide. Dompe has its offices also in Albania, France, Germany, Great Britain, Spain and United States (Boston). For more information: http://www.dompe.com e http://www.dompetrials.com Forward looking statements This press release makes reference to certain information that may not coincide with expected future results. Dompe firmly believes in the soundness and reasonableness of the concepts expressed. However, some of the information is subject to a certain degree of indetermination in relation to its research and development activities and the necessary verifications to be performed by regulatory bodies. Therefore, as of today, Dompe cannot guarantee that the expected results will be consistent with the information provided above. 1. M. Sacchetti, and A. Lambiase, Diagnosis and management of neurotrophic keratitis. Clin Ophthalmol 8 (2014) 571-9. 2. R. Levi Montalcini,The nerve growth factor 35 years later,Science 1987 Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - July 20, 2017) - Valens GroWorks Corp. (CSE: VGW) (the "Company" or "Valens") is pleased to announce that Mr. Saul Katz has joined the Company as its President. Mr. Katz brings to Valens 35 years of entrepreneurship, senior management experience and scientific expertise in functional food product development and commercialization. Over his career he established research collaborations with leading scientific institutions as well as technology licensing agreements with major international firms. As a pioneer in the functional food and nutraceutical industries, he authored articles, presented as guest speaker and chaired agricultural, nutraceutical and functional food symposia. From 1995 to 2016 Mr. Katz founded and was CEO of New Era Nutrition, a leading-edge functional food research and development company which developed and licensed proprietary formulations to food, pharmaceutical and supplement companies. In 2013 Mr. Katz commercialized New Era's low glycemic platform technology, establishing Canada-wide distribution and sale of its SoLo GI Energy Bar line and overseeing its more recent planned expansion into the U.S. Having installed a strong management team and board of directors, Mr. Katz stepped back from operations last year to spend more time with his family in Kelowna, remaining as its Chairman. Mr. Katz obtained his undergraduate degree from McGill University in 1975 and completed a combined Bachelor of Common Law and Civil Law from the University of Ottawa in 1979. Having articled at the Department of Justice in Ottawa, he was called to the Ontario law bar in 1980 and the Alberta law bar in 1981. From 1981 to 1984 Mr. Katz acted as legal counsel for Alberta Energy Company in Calgary and from 1985 to 1995 was Vice President and General Counsel for the Ghermezian family's Triple Five Group, developer of the West Edmonton Mall, Mall of America, and the concept of "retailtainment". Saul Katz commented "I have been fortunate to be at the forefront of the functional food revolution and now to bring that knowledge to advance the cannabis industry. As Canada leads the developed world with a regulatory path towards full adult legalization, the Okanagan Valley and Valens GroWorks are poised to become leading centres for research, development and production of high-quality medical marijuana and cannabis derivatives. The opportunity to position ourselves for the coming recreational market is very timely, but the science, unique-strain-variety, quality control and branding opportunities that tie into the vast international functional foods and natural health products market is particularly inspiring. Canada's regulatory and food inspection systems are already internationally respected, providing us a unique platform to brand our products." Tyler Robson, the Company's CEO commented "As Valens accelerates its expansion strategy and commences the buildout of its production footprint, we are particularly fortunate to be able to attract a proven leader with the science, experience and professionalism Saul brings to the Company. We are currently focused on near term production and cash flow, but the longer-term benefits of product development, quality control, strain differentiation and branding will position us as a reliable, scalable producer of science-backed quality products." Option Grant The Company is granting stock options to acquire an aggregate of 2.49 million common shares in the capital of the Company at an exercise price of $1.00 per common share, expiring on the fifth anniversary of the grant (collectively, the "Stock Option"). The Stock Option vests in stages over the course of two (2) years with 25% to vest immediately and a further 12.5% to vest in each three-month period thereafter. The Stock Options are being granted in accordance with the Company's stock option plan, and are subject to regulatory approval. About Valens GroWorks Corp. Valens GroWorks Corp is a CSE-listed company with an aggressive buildout strategy in progress. The Company seeks to capture a broad spectrum of clinical trial and R&D clients, medical marijuana users, as well as recreational users once legalized, in pursuit of its ambitious seed-to-sale and farm-to-pharma objectives. The Company also provides management, consulting, testing and support services to domestic and international licensees, as well as financing and managing the buildout of fully-licensed 3rd party operations. The Company has two wholly-owned subsidiaries based in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia: 1) Valens Agritech Ltd. ("VAL") which holds a Controlled Drugs and Substances Dealers Licence at its state-of-the-art production facility in Kelowna, British Columbia, and 2) Supra THC Services Inc. ("Supra"), a Health Canada licensed cannabis testing lab providing sector-leading analytical and proprietary services to Licensed Producers and ACMPR patients. On behalf of the Board of Directors, VALENS GROWORKS CORP. (signed) "Tyler Robson" Chief Executive Officer For further information, please contact: Greg Patchell Telephone: +1.250.860.8634 Notice regarding Forward Looking Statements This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of such statements under applicable securities law. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "continue", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "potential", "proposed" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. These statements are only predictions. Various assumptions were used in drawing the conclusions or making the projections contained in the forward-looking statements throughout this news release. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. The Corporation is under no obligation, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable law. The CSE or other regulatory authority has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the contents of this press release. We seek Safe Harbour. Orion Engineered Carbons S.A. ("Orion" or the "Company") (NYSE: OEC), a worldwide supplier of specialty and high-performance Carbon Black, announced that the Company will release its third quarter 2017 results after the market closes on Thursday, November 02, 2017, to be followed by a conference call on Friday, November 03, 2017 at 8:30 a.m. (EDT). The dial-in details for the live conference call are as follow: U.S. Toll Free: 1-877-407-4018 International: 1-201-689-8471 U.K. Toll Free: 0 800 756 3429 Germany Toll Free: 0 800 182 0040 Luxembourg Toll Free: 800 28 522 Luxembourg Local: 352 2786 0689 A replay of the conference call may be accessed by phone at the following numbers through November 10, 2017: U.S. Toll Free: 1-844-512-2921 U.S. Toll/International: 1-412-317-6671 Conference ID: 13669708 Additionally, a live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available on the investor relations section of the Company's website at: www.orioncarbons.com About Orion Engineered Carbons S.A. Orion is a worldwide supplier of Carbon Black. We produce high-performance as well as standard Gas Blacks, Furnace Blacks, Lamp Blacks, Thermal Blacks and other Specialty Carbon Blacks that tint, colorize and enhance the performance of polymers, plastics, paints and coatings, inks and toners, adhesives and sealants, tires, and mechanical rubber goods such as automotive belts and hoses. Orion runs 14 global production sites and four Applied Technology Centers. The group has approximately 1,463 employees worldwide. For more information please visit our website www.orioncarbons.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171019006123/en/ Contacts: Orion Engineered Carbons S.A. Investor Relations Contact Diana Downey Investor-relations@orioncarbons.com HOUSTON, TEXAS -- (Marketwired) -- 10/24/17 -- News Release - TC PipeLines, LP (NYSE: TCP) (the Partnership) today announced that the board of directors of TC PipeLines GP, Inc., its general partner, declared the Partnership's quarterly cash distribution for the third quarter ended September 30, 2017 of $1.00 per common unit. The distribution is unchanged from the second quarter 2017 distribution and represents a 6 percent increase from the $0.94 per common unit paid for third quarter of 2016. This cash distribution is the 74th consecutive quarterly distribution paid by the Partnership and is payable on November 14, 2017 to unitholders of record at the close of business on November 3, 2017. TC PipeLines, LP is a Delaware master limited partnership with interests in eight federally regulated U.S. interstate natural gas pipelines which serve markets in the Western, Midwestern and Northeastern United States. The Partnership is managed by its general partner, TC PipeLines GP, Inc., a subsidiary of TransCanada Corporation (NYSE: TRP). For more information about TC PipeLines, LP, visit the Partnership's website at www.tcpipelineslp.com. This release serves as qualified notice to nominees under Treasury Regulation Section 1.1446-4(b)(4) and (d). Please note that 100 percent of TC PipeLines, LP's distributions to foreign investors are attributable to income that is effectively connected with a United States trade or business. Accordingly, all of the Partnership's distributions to foreign investors are subject to federal income tax withholding at the highest effective tax rate for individuals or corporations, as applicable. Nominees are treated as the withholding agents responsible for withholding distributions received by them on behalf of foreign investors. Contacts: Media Inquiries: Mark Cooper/James Millar 403.920.7859 or 800.608.7859 Unitholder and Analyst Inquiries: Rhonda Amundson 877.290.2772 investor_relations@tcpipelineslp.com Minister: Citizen throwing cigarette on the ground must be fined AMD 16 00 (video) The executive body today approved Clean Armenia action plan and timetable. Minister of Territorial Administration and Development Davit Lokyan noted that in Armenia there isnt culture of not polluting the environment, Rough administrative norms will be established for those, who will not follow the rules; the actions plan till the end of the year will be drafted. The Minister assured that the range of activities was prepared- Saturday cleanings, fencing of current garbage sites. There is a big propaganda block, but there are financial problems, we try to acquire AMD 30-35 million resources from the international structures, which will be directed to those propaganda measures, said Davit Lokyan. After the Government session, the Minister presented details of the project, The bill, which we transferred to the Ministry of Justice, includes very rough mechanisms. The minimum fine is AMD 16 000, for large companies it reaches AMD 300 000. The Minister thinks that a citizen throwing a cigarette on the ground must be fined AMD 16 000, so that the same not be repeated for the second time. As for propaganda means, there will be special cups, hats, which will hold calls like Keep environment clean etc. In reply to the observation of A1+ whether those measures wont be additional expenses, especially when the Minister himself noted that there are financial problems, Davit Lokyan noted, Money isnt allocated from the state budget, for the implementation of those actions, everything is done with private investments. He also stated that such measures will teach people to keep the environment clean. Watch details in the video! TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 07/20/17 -- Routemaster Capital Inc. (TSX VENTURE: RM) ("Routemaster" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that at its special meeting of common shareholders held on July 20, 2017, the common shareholders approved all matters put before them, including (i) the acquisition of a 2.0% net smelter returns royalty (the "Gold Royalty") covering 10,794 hectares in the Val d'Or region of Quebec; and (ii) the acquisition of an option to acquire a 1.5% royalty in respect of the Danakhil potash project in Ethiopia (the "Option"). The acquisition of the Gold Royalty was approved by 99.57% of the votes cast by common shareholders and the acquisition of the Option was approved by 98.81% of the votes cast by common shareholders. Please see Routemaster's press releases of April 6, 2017 and May 16, 2017 for details regarding the proposed acquisitions of the Gold Royalty and the Option. The acquisition of the Gold Royalty is subject to the final approval by the TSX Venture Exchange. The Company expects to close the acquisition of the Gold Royalty by the end of August 2017. The Company is conducting a due diligence review of the royalty on the Danakhil potash project and will apply for final approval by the TSX Venture Exchange if it proposes to exercise the Option. About Routemaster Capital Inc.: Routemaster Capital Inc. is a Canadian investment company that carries on business with the objective of enhancing shareholder value. FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: This news release contains certain forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the Gold Royalty and the Option, ability to complete the proposed transactions and obtaining regulatory approval. These statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from results contemplated by the forward-looking statements. When relying on forward-looking statements to make decisions, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward looking statements, oral or written, made by itself or on its behalf, except as required by applicable law. NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. Contacts: Routemaster Capital Inc. Fred Leigh President and Chief Executive Officer +1 (416) 861-5933 Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - July 20, 2017) - Caza Gold Corp. (TSXV: CZY) (FSE: CZ61) (the "Company") announces that it has transferred all of its assets in Nicaragua to Royal Road Minerals Limited ("Royal Road") as part of an internal reorganization by Royal Road of its corporate structure. Following this transfer, Royal Road announced that it sold an aggregate of 134,886,372 common shares in the capital of Company to an arm's length purchaser, Generic Capital Corporation, in exchange for a small cash payment (the "Share Sale"). Royal Road also announced that it plans to dispose of the remaining common shares of the Company held by it under the terms of the Share Sale. As a result of the reorganization and Share Sale, the Company's business is now focused on analysing the possibility of resuming the Company's exploration of one of its Mexican projects. The Company also announces the directors and officers of the Company previously in office resigned upon the closing of the Share Sale. The Company would like to thank them for their contributions to the Company and wish them every success in their future endeavors. The following individuals have been appointed to fill the vacancies created by these resignations: Lisa McCormack, Chief Executive Officer and Director: Ms. McCormack is currently Corporate Secretary of Barkerville Gold Mines Ltd. Prior thereto, Ms. McCormack served as Corporate Secretary of Kerr Mines Inc. from December 2013 to July 2016, Vice-President, Legal of Northern Gold Mining Inc. from October 2012 to June 2013, Corporate Secretary of Trelawney Mining and Exploration Inc. from January 2011 to June 2012 and Corporate Securities Law Clerk with Irwin Lowy LLP from August 2006 to December 2010 and from September 20, 2013 to present. Arvin Ramos, Chief Financial Officer:Mr. Ramos holds a degree in commerce and is a member of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario. Mr. Ramos has over 15 years of business experience, having supported a broad range of industries, including mining, technology and banking. During the same period, he has served as Chief Financial Officer of several junior mining companies. Riccardo Forno, Director: Mr. Forno is an associate at Irwin Lowy LLP since 2011, a corporate securities firm that represents several junior private and public issuers. Mr. Forno has been practicing as a lawyer since 2009 and has provided guidance on corporate finance, securities and corporate governance matters for several clients which are listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange, TSX Venture Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange. Mr. Forno has assisted several private junior companies with respect to their corporate finance and listing requirements on Canadian public stock exchanges. Jennifer Thor, Director: Ms. Thor has been a Corporate/Securities Law Clerk with Irwin Lowy LLP since August 2011. Prior thereto, Ms. Thor was a Legal Assistant at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP from November 2008 to August 2011, Legal Assistant at Wildeboer Dellelce LLP from May 2004 to September 2007, Legal Assistant at Royal Bank of Canada from September 2001 to May 2004 and Legal Assistant at BHP Billiton (formerly Rio Algom Limited) from June 2000 to September 2001. In addition, Ms. Thor has served as a director of various junior mining companies. Lisa McCormack, Riccardo Forno and Jennifer Thor will act as members of the audit committee of the Company. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Lisa McCormack Chief Executive Officer Tel: (416) 361-2515 Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "would", "potential", "proposed" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. These statements are only predictions. Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the information is provided, and is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information. For a description of the risks and uncertainties facing the Company and its business and affairs, readers should refer to the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change, unless required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Not for distribution to U.S. Newswire Services or for dissemination in the United States. Any failure to comply with this restriction may constitute a violation of U.S. Securities laws. VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 07/20/17 -- Fortress Paper Ltd. (TSX: FTP) ("Fortress Paper" or the "Corporation") announced today that it intends to release its second quarter financial results for the period ended June 30, 2017 after the close of the market on Monday, August 14, 2017. In connection with the release of its results, Fortress Paper will host a conference call on Tuesday, August 15, 2017 at 6:00 a.m. (PDT) to discuss the financial results and provide an update on the Corporation's operations. To participate in the conference call, please dial one of the following numbers: Dial In Numbers: 604-681-8564 Vancouver 403-532-5601 Calgary or International 780-429-5820 Edmonton 416-623-0333 Toronto 613-212-0171 Ottawa 514-687-4017 Montreal Toll Free Dial In Number: 1-855-353-9183 from Canada and USA Participant Pass Code: 15086# Conference Reference 1221180# Number: A replay of the conference call will be available for 30 days. To access the replay, listeners may dial 1-855-201-2300 from Canada or the USA or dial 403-255-0697 from local Calgary or International. The conference reference number is 1221180# and the participant pass code to access the replay is 15086#. About Fortress Paper Fortress Paper operates internationally in two distinct business segments: dissolving pulp and security paper products. The Company operates its dissolving pulp business at the Fortress Specialty Cellulose Mill located in Canada, which has expanded into the renewable energy generation sector with the construction of a cogeneration facility. The Company operates its security paper products business at the Landqart Mill located in Switzerland, where it produces banknote, passport, visa and other brand protection and security papers. Contacts: Fortress Paper Ltd. 604-904-2328 info@fortresspaper.com Gamida Cell, a Jerusalem, Israel-based provider of cellular and immune therapies for the treatment of cancer and orphan genetic diseases, has been awarded a grant of $3.5m from the Israel Innovation Authority (IIA) of the Israeli Ministry of Economy and Industry. The grant follows the recent closing of a $40m financing round by the companys recent establishment of an executive presence in the U.S. The non-dilutive funding, combined with the round, will support Gamida Cells ongoing research and development efforts, including its Phase 3 registration study of NiCord for hematological malignancies, such as leukemia and lymphoma, its clinical trials of CordIn for sickle cell disease and thalassemia, and its NK cell therapy for blood and solid cancers. Led by Dr. Yael Margolin, president and CEO, Gamida Cell is a world leader in cellular and immune therapies for the treatment of cancer and orphan genetic diseases. The companys pipeline of products are in development to treat a wide range of conditions including cancer, genetic hematological diseases such as sickle cell disease and thalassemia, bone marrow failure syndromes such as aplastic anemia, genetic metabolic diseases and refractory autoimmune diseases. Shareholders include Novartis, Clal Biotechnology Industries, Elbit Imaging, Israel Healthcare Ventures, Shavit Capital Fund, VMS Investment Group, Denali Ventures, Auriga Ventures and Israel Biotech Fund. FinSMEs 20/07/2017 New Delhi: Air India can survive disinvestment and emerge stronger, says Chairman and MD Ashwani Lohani in an article published today. He has earlier this week also asked employees to be ready for corporate culture as the government prepares to log out of this ailing airline. Air India has operated under bureaucratic inertia for decades and this impassioned appeal by perhaps the last career bureaucrat at its helm comes straight from the heart. No, no one can fault Lohani for counting out the extra services Air India has performed outside its commercial considerations like evacuations during natural calamities and operating Haj flights. Nor should there be any doubt that this airline is the true representative of Indian ethos. The only trouble with this sort of narrative, though, is that the airline lost track of commercial goalposts while serving its political masters for decades. As a result, it has been continuously piling up losses and has a burgeoning debt pile which has forced the government to consider a sell off after all. Air India reported profits at the operational level in FY16 and FY17 but the numbers are insignificant compared to net loss. MoS Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha had said in Parliament earlier this week that Air India posted a provisional operating profit of Rs 300 crore in FY17, three times the number it claimed in the previous fiscal, as revenue increased to Rs 22,146 crore versus Rs 20,524.56 crore in FY16. Net loss was the lowest in four years at Rs 3,643 crore, 42 percent down from the figure in 2013-14 at Rs 6,279.6 crore. The total accumulated losses of Air India as per the audited accounts on 31 March 2016 were Rs 41,380.45 crore. Lohanis emotional blog castigates Air Indias critics and assures the readers that the airline will survive disinvestment, emerge even stronger. What he forgets to mention is this: without disinvestment, the airline may not survive at all. Ironically, Lohani has extolled Air Indias virtues at a time when the airlines performance parameters continue to be the worst in the industry. Instead of surviving disinvestment, Air India will likely thrive under a private owner who will perhaps take commercial decisions instead of relying purely on emotion or on the sense of entitlement of its political masters! As per data released by safety regulator DGCA, Air India topped the list of passenger complaints, had the worst on-time performance at top four airports and reported the lowest load factor (percentage of occupied seats) in June among all national airlines. Air India did not get 3 in 10 flights on time at these four airports with an OTP of 69.9 percent in June while market leader IndiGo got over 86 percent of its flights on time despite niggling engine issues grounding some of its fleet. Isnt it interesting to then see that IndiGo is the only airline which has gone public about its interest in buying the international operations of Air India? Not just June, Air Indias performance has been far from perfect for the entire first half of this calendar year. In each months between January and June 2017, Air India saw the lowest load factor among all national carriers 81.4 percent in January, 79.8 percent in February, 74.6 percent in March, 78.7 percent in April and 80.1 percent in. It had the highest number of passenger complaints among all airlines between January and June and worst on-time performance at four of Indias busiest airports in four out of these six months. Also, Air India recorded the maximum safety violations in the last three years, The Economic Times report said. Under these circumstances, when the government itself has thrown up its hands on pumping in more money into the ailing Maharajah, disinvestment is the best bet as it may make the portly Maharajah more nimble footed. In his blog, the CMD also terms reactions to his recent decision to offload non-vegetarian meals from all domestic flights as furore beyond understanding. Little does Lohani realise that when he speaks of Air Indias phenomenal global reach and its vast network with pride, he must also cater to the global passenger profile instead of turning the domestic leg on Air India sanskari. Anyway, turning to vegetarian food will save the airline a mere Rs 8-10 crore annually when all of its other costs remain near constant. One of the first decisions that will be overturned if a private player indeed gets to own Air India will most likely be the restoration of meal choices! Air India is a white elephant turning in hundreds of crores in losses and the Rs 8-10 crore it hopes to save every year by not serving non-vegetarian food in economy class on domestic sectors can be compared to, well, a hand of bananas, Indian Express report said. Successful international airlines like Singapore and Qatar also lend their names to their respective national airlines but their global heft has not been earned by flying evacuation missions they have thrived by always putting the customer first. Air India may still tug at the heart-strings of politicians and bureaucrats used to its patronage, but its funders, taxpayers like you and me, have long given up on either expecting comfort or efficiency from the airline. The best thing to come out of it now is probably the museum Lohani talks about to showcase Air Indias art collection. The Maharaja, a relic of the past, must join that collection. A new, more efficient Air India will perhaps emerge only when the private sector is allowed to pilot its future. New Delhi: The government on Wednesday approved an alternative mechanism to divest its stake in CPSE (Central Public Sector Enterprise) through the Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) route. The alternative mechanism through ETF was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), which met here. According to the CCEA, the alternate mechanism will be used to take decisions for divestment through ETF for all listed CPSEs including those which have been listed subsequently, subject to the government retaining a 51 percent stake in them. "To take decision on the divestment in respect of public sector banks, other listed public sector financial institutions and public sector insurance companies (when listed) through ETF or other methods subject to GoI retaining 52 per cent," the CCEA said in a statement. "To take decision on matters related to divestment through ETF like constitution of ETF portfolio; the price, net asset value at which share of listed companies forming the ETF basket will be placed by the government. for divestment at the disposal of the ETF provider (AMC)... and any other aspect of pricing and the mode of disinvestment as required to be taken by the government." An ETF is a traded security that tracks an underlying asset like a group of companies or commodity. In January, the Union Cabinet had approved an "Alternative Mechanism" to decide the quantum of divestment in a particular CPSE on a case-by-case basis subject to government retaining 51 percent equity and management control. Under the mechanism, after the Cabinet approves divestment of a CPSE, then a group of ministers will take charge of the process by deciding the price band and the quantum of stake sale. The Union Cabinet on Wednesday gave its in-principle approval for acquisition of oil marketer Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) by state-run explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), according to media reports citing sources. The move comes months after finance minister Arun Jaitley's announcement in the Union Budget 2017-18 that the government proposes to create an integrated public sector oil major "which will be able to match the performance of international and domestic private sector oil and gas companies". "Through consolidation, mergers and acquisitions, the central public sector enterprises can be integrated across the value chain of an industry. It will give them capacity to bear higher risks, avail economies of scale, take higher investment decisions and create more value for stakeholders. Possibilities of such restructuring are visible in the oil and gas sector," he had said. Here is all the information about the acquisition thus far known: What is the ONGC-HPCL deal all about? The cabinet approved the sale of the government's 51.1 percent stake in HPCL to ONGC, reports say. The deal is estimated to be valued between Rs 26,000 crore and Rs 30,000 crore. According to a PTI report, prior to the merger, HPCL is likely to take over Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) to bring all the refining assets of ONGC under one unit. ONGC currently owns 71.63 percent of MRPL while HPCL has 16.96 percent stake in it. However, in a Reuters report, ONGC Chairman Dinesh Sarraf did not commit to this. "Though the idea (of merging MRPL with HPCL) is meritorious, a decision on this will be taken by the boards of HPCL and MRPL," Sarraf has been quoted as saying in the report. HPCL buying ONGC stake in MRPL will give the explorer Rs 16,414 crore at Wednesday's closing price. ONGC, which has cash reserves of Rs 13,014 crore, also has an option to sell part or all of its 13.77 percent stake in IOC which is worth nearly Rs 25,000 crore. Under the arrangement, the ONGC will not have to make an open offer after buying the stake as the deal is between two state-owned companies and the ownership does not change. The transaction is likely to be completed within this fiscal year. The modalities of the deal will be worked out by a committee headed by finance minister Arun Jaitley and comprising oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan and road and transport minister Nitin Gadkari. So will this create an integrated oil giant? Not really. Because HPCL will remain a listed subsidiary of ONGC and its board will continue to be in place. Sources have told PTI that the government was initially looking at creating an integrated oil company through the merger of an oil producer with a refiner but the idea was dropped for the fear of repeating the Air India-Indian Airlines kind of a merger which is not considered successful. Similarly, differences in work culture and ethos prevail in upstream and downstream firms and so the exercise under consideration now is to only help the government mop up resources and HPCL would become a mere subsidiary of ONGC. What are the companies saying? According to ONGC's Sarraf, the benefits of synergy would be huge. "Today crude prices are down, so ONGC's profitability is down while gross refining margins and marketing margins of refiners are up so it makes a lot of sense for ONGC to make this acquisition," Sarraf told Reuters. HPCL controls India's 11 percent refining capacity through its three plants, which can process 276,000 barrels of oil per day. What is the government saying? According to PTI, the oil minister is likely to make a statement on the deal as well as other potential mergers today in parliament. Pradhan, however, has said the merged oil company would have less risk and give it more leverage to go abroad as low oil prices hit producers' revenue and higher prices hurt fuel refiners. Pradhan had also clarified that the government's intent to merge state-run oil companies into a single entity will actually mean creation of multiple entities. "It will not be one company. It will not be wise to put all eggs in one basket. There will be multiple companies... but all these will be integrated," Pradhan had told reporters following the Budget announcement. He elaborated that each new company would deal with aspects of the entire value chain such as exploration and production, refining and marketing. ONGC financials in Rs crore Year Net sales Net profit Debt Total assets Cash balance FY08 96773 19872 13877 129359 NA FY09 104337 19753 23704 160336 NA FY10 101663 19403 23726 172652 22384 FY11 120111 22456 6704 199706 20816 FY12 146451 26102 15973 230500 27891 FY13 162367 24221 20686 260571 19619 FY14 174477 26343 49113 322076 24480 FY15 161212 18328 53944 348813 16097 FY16 131498 17826 56046 376006 24689 FY17 142149 21069 55682 370206 13014 Source: CapitalinePlus Who gains - HPCL, ONGC or govt? In all probability, the government will reap the big benefit. Analysts have already raised doubts over the potential benefits for companies or shareholders. Ambit analysts Ritesh Gupta and Gaurav Khandelwal said in a recent report that they don't see much synergy benefits for both the sides. As far as ONGC is concerned, its solutions are in sharpening technical competence to improve production and improve the ability to choose the right assets. The Rs 30,000 crore that ONGC shells out for HPCL stake "will reduce the flexibility of ONGC's books to acquire or develop upstream assets", they note. It has to be remembered that ONGC already has Rs 56,000 crore debt on its books. V G Ramakrishnan, managing partner, Aventeum Advisors LLP, echoes this view. He notes that in the last one year, for instance, ONGC's international investments in exploration have not worked well as a strategy due to non-renewal of contracts. Meanwhile, Ambit analysts feel, HPCL will get a parent which may not be worthy to be one. "HPCL, which is a well-run company, may see a cultural weakening as ONGC cross-pollinates key officials," the analysts said in the note put out before Wednesday's reported decision. According to them, even if a full-blown merger of HPCL doesn't happen, ONGC directors will be on its board. The acquisition will erode the operational independence of HPCL. Explaining the rationale behind terming ONGC an unworthy parent, they note that the company has failed to ramp up domestic crude and gas production due to the lack of any major success in exploration and production despite consistent investments. "Very few ONGC discoveries have reached production while capex/opex were increased to sustain production at mature fields," they note. HPCL financials in Rs crore Year Net sales Net profit Debt Total assets Cash balance FY08 109966 1502 17300 43388 NA FY09 129243 739 24061 49711 NA FY10 111128 1512 24336 57468 NA FY11 138742 1887 31124 70500 761 FY12 185284 185 40169 86455 734 FY13 216355 355 45737 93010 865 FY14 234237 1105 47995 99181 2179 FY15 216648 1485 36916 87249 2236 FY16 187079 4965 35432 90657 154 FY17 187108 8236 18032 80319 136 Source: CapitalinePlus Moreover, if HPCL is to buy out ONGC's MRPL stake as is being proposed, the company may need to borrow funds. It just has Rs 136 crore as cash as of 31 March 2017. For HPCL shareholders, there is nothing to look forward to as there is unlikely to be an open offer from ONGC. Reacting to the news, shares of ONGC are currently trading at Rs 165.30, up 1.38 percent, while those of HPCL are down about 5 percent to Rs 365.15 with the market cap eroding by Rs 2,825 crore. The BSE Sensex is down 0.1 percent. All in all, as Ramakrishnan reminds, the government has only disinvested from one of its holdings but both HPCL and ONGC will continue to be government entities. With the deal, the biggest beneficiary seems to be the government, which will pocket a good Rs 30,000 crore. Data contribution by Kishor Kadam (With inputs from agencies) The Narendra Modi governments aggressive disinvestment drive augurs well for the economy to stay on the path of fiscal prudence and recovery. Wednesdays cabinet decision to sell the government's 51.11 percent stake in oil refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) to Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) is a winner in a strategic sense and also to rake in cash to fill up governments coffers. The exercise will fetch anywhere between Rs 26,000 crore and Rs 30,000 crore, according to government estimates. On the disinvestment front, the Modi government has surely got to a good start this fiscal year. It has so far mopped up Rs 3,743 crore through sale of stakes in public sector units (PSUs) like Hindustan Copper Ltd (HCL), National Aluminium Company (NALCO), Housing and Urban Development Corporation (Hudco), Oil India Ltd (OIL), Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers Ltd (RCFL) and another Rs 4,153 crore through strategic disinvestment of 2.5 percent stake in Larsen and Toubro (L&T). That makes the figure so far close to Rs 8,000 crore or about 11 percent of the total disinvestment target of Rs 72,500 crore this year. This isnt a bad figure in the first three months of the fiscal year. If the HPCL stake sale brings in another Rs 30,000 crore, it will help the government meet the almost 52 percent of the annual disinvestment target, including the ones concluded so far. The government, however, needs to continue more aggressively. Its holding in companies like HCL and Hudco continues to be above 80 percent, which means there is enough room to exit further at an appropriate time. The government has done well to hit when the stock markets are on an upswing mode and not wait until the end of the year. In the next stage, the proposed disinvestment in loss-making national carrier Air India (whenever it happens after the cost-cutting exercise) too will be a winning move since the government has already put in a lot of good money after bad in the inefficient air carrier that has so far failed to work out a profit-formula. Air India has always been a white elephant. So far, the airline has received Rs 23,993 crore of the Rs 30,231 crore equity infusion promised by the government under a financial restructuring plan in 2012. In 2015-16, the national carrier reported a loss of about Rs 3,587 crore in 2015-16 as against a loss of Rs 5,859 crore in the preceding year. The target of Rs 72,500 crore from disinvestment is ambitious but not impossible to achieve. The fact that the government has shown the will to fix such a high target and is working aggressively to achieve this itself will send positive signals to foreign private sector investors. At a time when private investment cycle is yet to turn the corner, the government can use this money for higher capital expenditure to kick off economic activities. Once the momentum is generated, the private sector will follow. In 2016-17, the government raised about Rs 45,000 crore as against a target of Rs 56,000 crore that was lowered from the original target of close to Rs 70,000 crore. In the year before, the disinvestment revenue was only about Rs 30,000 crore. PSU banks should be next target Another major challenge the Modi government will face on the disinvestment front is the stake sale in public sector banks. The government owns majority stake in these banks that are dominated by trade unions and hence any attempts to sell its holding will invoke pressure from the unions backed by political parties. But, privatising inefficient state-run banks is a critical component in the disinvestment road map, not just to earn revenues but also to let private money come into these banks which are fund-starved. As pointed out in an earlier article, India Ratings and Research estimates that Indian banks need to provide a bare minimum of Rs 18,000 crore additionally towards the 12 accounts identified by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for reference to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) under the Insolvency and Banking Code (IBC). The additional provisioning, the agency estimates, will eat into banks profits by around 25 percent in FY18. Out of the total Rs 18,000 crore required for provisioning, the iron and steel sector contributes around Rs 10,500 crore and the infrastructure sector Rs 4,100 crore, the agency said. Just like Air India, many of these banks are zombies that have little life left in them and a big drag on government finances. The government should target these white elephants next. Lets get one thing clear: The Indian economy is not yet out of the woods primarily on account of lack of fresh investments and absence of consumer demand. To revive this, the government will have to take the lead and pump in significant money to big infrastructure projects, which will have positive impact on all layers of the economy. An aggressive disinvestment strategy is critical in this context. The Modi government should maintain the disinvestment momentum instead of waiting for perfect market conditions that will never come. Bengaluru: Noting that global political uncertainty weighed on business sentiment, impacting the Information Technology (IT) services industry during the last year, Wipro Chairman Azim Premji on Wednesday said the company continues to see volatile economic environment ahead. However, clients are looking to spend in technology as it is becoming a major differentiator in all businesses, he said. "Over the last fiscal 2016-17, global political uncertainty weighed on business sentiment, impacting the IT services industry. Gross revenues of Wipro grew by 7.4 percent in the fiscal year 2016-17," Premji said. Speaking at Wipro's 71st Annual General Meeting here, he said, "looking ahead, we continue to see volatile economic environment but clients are looking to spend in technology as technology is becoming a major differentiator in all businesses." Stating that digital is the central element driving changes in the expectations and experiences of consumers and business models, Premji said, "At Wipro, we strongly believe that our success will depend on our ability to redefine and align ourselves with the new global paradigms and the disruptive developments in our industry. "In this context, the company has made significant investments, organic and inorganic, in transforming our business offerings to serve the new demand from clients," he added. Pointing out that Wipro continually strives to enhance value for investors, Premji said consistent with this approach, the company completed a bonus issue recently. The Board will also consider a proposal to buyback equity shares of the company in the board meeting, he said. With this, Wipro joins the growing roaster of Indian IT firms like TCS and Infosys that have announced buyback offers to return surplus cash on their books to their shareholders. As on March 2017, Wipro had cash and cash equivalents totalling Rs 5,271 crore (US $813 million) on its books. Highlighting that last year Wipro trained over 39,000 employees in digital technologies, Premji said, "Our investments in emerging technology spaces of Artificial Intelligence, data analytics and digital resulted in 603 patents last year." On the social impact of the company, he said, "We work in the social sphere not just in India, but also in global markets where we operate. For instance, in the US, where locals constitute over 50 percent of our employees, we run The Wipro Science Education Fellowship. The Fellowship for teachers in the US has now expanded to the city of Dallas, while we continue to work closely with teachers in Boston, Chicago, New Jersey and New York," he said. Premji also pointed out that the company was making very satisfactory progress in all its sustainability goals. After the surprising eviction of Harathi, the fourth week has commenced in the house with ten contestants. Sakthi, who enjoys a comfortable majority and goodwill among inmates, has been elected as the new house captain for the week. Housemates gave new nominations for elimination this week and Oviya, who has won the hearts of viewers overwhelmingly, is once again nominated for eviction with six votes. Namitha - with six votes - and Ganesh Venkatraman - with five votes - are the other inmates who are facing elimination this week. Oviya continues to wins hearts; #OviyaArmy defends actress relentlessly There has been a flurry of Oviya Fan accounts on Facebook and Twitter in the last one week. Various groups like 'Oviya Army,' and 'Oviyans' have mushroomed online and attracted massive traction on their pages with highly funny memes and troll videos. When Oviya was nominated for eviction on the first day, #OviyaArmy was a trending topic on Twitter in Chennai within minutes of the announcement on television. Her rapid rise in popularity over the past few days is unquestionably incredible. Ardent fans of Oviya have been urging audiences on a regular basis to vote for her to survive elimination. Several customized meme campaigns have been doing the rounds to ensure Oviya stays in the house for long. Oviya, unlike Ganesh and Namitha, looks completely unfazed by her nomination. Namitha has already started packing her bags saying she has plenty of luggage. But Oviya believes that Ganesh Venkatraman will exit the house this week. "Harathi was not real. Her true character came out sometimes. She was not the same. That's the main reason she was evicted," observed Oviya. Also, Oviya squared her relationship with Aarav saying she doesn't have anything in her mind now and is ready to be good friends with him again. Politely perceiving the tense situation, Aarav too cleared the air and said he too doesn't carry anything in his mind. Gayathri sheds crocodile tears; Aarav mad at Namitha On the opening day of the fourth week, Gayathri shed crocodile tears at the wrong portrayal of her character, before Sakthi and Snehan pacified her. Namitha felt isolated saying she doesn't fit to be in the house. Snehan, Gayathri, and Namitha found fault with Ganesh Venkatraman's over-eating. Meanwhile, Aarav is mad at Namitha since the latter has been calling him names. "She called me 'item boy,' 'watchman' etc. I have respect for her as a senior. But, I can't take this name-calling anymore. Next time, I'm will confront her surely," says a furious Aarav. Namitha tells Raiza that the winner of the Bigg Boss will be either Julie or Oviya. "People don't like true personalities. That's why Julie and Oviya keep winning votes. One is an actor, and the other one is totally fake," Namitha told Raiza, who duly agreed. Raiza directly nominated by Bigg Boss for eviction next week Raiza violated the fundamental rules of Bigg Boss by openly discussing the elimination nominations with Gayathri. Despite repeated warnings from Gayathri, Raiza kept deliberating about it, earning the wrath of Bigg Boss for the second consecutive time in the last one week. Bigg Boss called Raiza to the confession room and informed her that she'd been directly nominated for the eviction next week. "This is so silly. Like some school. It's stupid," said Raiza about her eviction. It must be noted that Raiza received a similar warning last week for her non-stop English conversations in the house. Captain Ganesh had to put a plaster on her mouth as a punishment before Kamal Haasan lifted it citing freedom of speech is important in the Bigg Boss house. Sakthi asked to play thief; breaks down in tears Bigg Boss assigns an exciting task for house mates this week to earn points for the luxury budget. Inmates are asked to live their life for the next three days like real family members, with Vaiyapuri as the head of the house. Ganesh is the eldest son of the household, and Namitha plays his wife. Sakthi becomes the second son, and Gayathri plays his wife. Aarav is the youngest son, and Julie is the teenage daughter of the family. Oviya plays Julie's friend, and Raiza essays the role of a guest in the house. But the hardest job goes to Snehan, who plays a house servant, entrusted with the duties of cooking, cleaning, and washing. Bigg Boss gives the housemates a precious diamond and asks them to secure it for the next three days. Bigg Boss informs that anyone in the family can steal the diamond, and everyone in the household should ensure its safety in the home. If the diamond is stolen before the completion of three days, the luxury budget task will be quashed for the week. Bigg Boss calls each inmate to the confession room and assigns particular personality traits to follow over the next three days. Sakthi is given the role of 'Thiruda' (Thief), and he needs to replace the real diamond with a duplicate one provided by Bigg Boss without the knowledge of others. Despite completing the task, Sakthi, unable to witness the frantic search for the diamond by other inmates, gives up and confesses that he's the thief. Sakthi breaks down in tears. "I don't need to save my elimination at the cost of others. My conscience is important to me. If not Bigg Boss, I would go out and survive as an actor. I would love to be a human being first," said an emotional Sakthi. Serious blow to the image of Nagorno Karabakh Yesterday Nagorno Karabakhs parliament reelected Bako Sahakyan as president of the country for the so-called constitutional transition period. The period will last 3 years, after which there will be national elections in Artsakh. The second term of Bako Sahakyans presidency was approaching the end and according to the previous constitution, he wouldnt have been able to continue to remain in his position anymore. However, constitutional amendments were adopted in February this year, as a result of which Sahakyan was given the opportunity to run for transitional president, and be elected as president two additional times starting from 2020. In other words, the constitutional amendments enabled Bako Sahakyan to become president of Nagorno Karabakh for the third time, and he has also been granted the right to run for that position for two more times. This can lead to duration of 23 years of Bako Sahakyans presidency as he was first elected president in 2007, and will end in 2030 (if there are no new constitutional amendments by then). This is so typical of a classical authoritarian regime. Is There Democracy? In the modern lexicon, this process is called bending the Constitution to the interests of one person. In other words, a constitutional amendment is carried out in order to bypass the constitutional limitation against the rule of the country by one person. We have witnessed this in Belarus, Central Asia countries, Azerbaijan and other states far from civilization. Of course, one can claim that Bako Sahakyan and the new constitution were chosen in a democratic way and that this was the will of the people of Artsakh. But the circumstance that the vote was not rigged still does not mean that we deal with democratic processes. We can state without doubt that elections in North Korea are not rigged either, and Kim Jong-un has more than 99% support. But that country occupies the last place on earth in terms of democracy. In fact, Bako Sahakyans election as president of Nagorno Karabakh for the third term put Artsakh on the same level with Azerbaijan, where Ilham Aliev has also been elected president for three times. But unfortunately, this is not the only anti-democratic tendency in Artsakh during the recent years. In 2015, NKR Police violently beat the representatives of the 100th Anniversary without the Regime initiative in Berdzor. And in 2016, NKR opposition MP Hayk Khanumyan was abducted and brutally beaten. Moreover, though in both cases the names of the perpetrators were known, nobody appeared in jail, which is also characteristic of authoritarian states. International Image But in case of Artsakh the problem does not lie in democracy only. Here the problem is also the international image of Artsakh, which directly affects issues related to security, international support and restraining Azerbaijan. For decades Artsakh was considered to be a relatively democratic unit that had separated from authoritarian Azerbaijan. Naturally, from the perspective of spreading democracy around the world, it would be highly undesirable to annex a democratic country to an authoritarian one. That is what was claimed both by Armenian authorities and members of civil society. Democracy is highly appreciated by European and American officials. It is a much more important argument than calling the lands historically Armenian. For those supporting democratic values, it is obvious that Artsakh should be protected from authoritarian Azerbaijan. This is the reason why no democratic state has ever applied sanctions against Armenia and Artsakh for invading part of Azerbaijans territory. But if Nagorno Karabakh becomes almost as authoritarian as Azerbaijan and a country that does not respect human rights, the motivation to protect it from Azerbaijan will largely decrease. Artsakh will cease to be viewed as a small island of civilization with a desire to get rid of Azerbaijan, and the conflict will be viewed as a territorial dispute between the two countries (and Azerbaijan has the advantage in a territorial dispute). However, the authorities of Artsakh prefer to beat up opposition representatives and have lifelong power rather than ensure the positive international image of the country. Daniel Ioannisyan, Union of Informed Citizens Phantom Films is undoubtedly one of the biggest players in Indian cinema, especially when it comes to films that are not considered 'masala'. Co-founded by Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, Vikas Bahl and Madhu Mantena, the company has made films like Udta Punjab and Masaan in the past. In 2017, so far, they have had only one offering Trapped. In April, amidst rumours of director and Phantom co-founder Vikas Bahl sexually harassing an employee of Phantom, there were also speculations that the production house would disband, following disagreements and a considerable number of flops over the last few years. In an interview to Mumbai Mirror, Motwane cleared the air about this issue, and said that Phantom is still "very much in in the business of making movies". Talking about Phantom's future plans, Motwane said, "Phantom is working on a horror-specific slate with Blumhouse Productions and Ivanhoe Pictures this year and we have already gone into production with the films. Its something we are producing at the moment for sure." This partnership involves roughly 10 films in the horror genre made in local languages. The Lootera director said that while he will serve as the producer of these films, he would like to direct a horror film himself, too. He said that he is drawn to this genre because of the challenges it poses in terms of casting, timing, and creating scares. Motwane also talked about the possibility of a sequel to his debut film Udaan, which released seven years ago. He said that he had an idea in mind which would chronicle the characters' lives 10 years after the original film ended. Vikramaditya Motwane's last project was Trapped, which was praised for its premise but criticised for portraying the subject in a manner that was too matter-of-fact. RJ Malishka, popular for her radio show on 93.5 Red FM, is in legal trouble. She has come under the scanner of Yuva Sena who have alleged that she is defaming Mumbai and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for shortcomings in an area that does not fall under their jurisdiction. Now, the BMC has slapped a notice on her but for a completely different reason. She has been charged under relevant sections of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act for allowing collection of standing or flowing water in her residence in which mosquitoes are breeding or are likely to breed. Free Press Journal reports that Malishka had featured in a video named Mumbai Tula BMC Var Bharso Naye Ka in Marathi, which has got viral on YouTube. This song takes a dig at the ill maintenance of highways, apart from a range of commuting issues, in Mumbai which have resulted in inconvenience to residents. But Hindustan Times reports that Yuva Sena has defended itself by claiming that the two highways, traffic and railways do not fall under the BMC's jurisdiction. The report quotes Samadhan Sarvankar, Sena legislator Sada Sarvankars son, as saying, "The song did not name the Shiv Sena directly, but it hurts us that Mumbais and the BMCs image is unnecessarily taking a hit. The two main highways of Mumbai dont come under the BMC and it is not responsible for Mumbais traffic or the functioning of its railways. Yuva Sena has also requested the legal department of the BMC to file a Rs 500 crore defamation piece against Malishka. The same report quotes Amey Ghole, a BMC corporator, as saying, "The BMCs legal department will decide what action is best suited in this case. The song has hurt the citys efforts at attracting foreign investment and global talent. The civic body can either file a defamation suit or issue a warning. Kochi: Malayalam actor Dileep, arrested for allegedly plotting the abduction and assault of a popular South Indian actress will move the Kerala High Court tomorrow for bail, said his counsel on 19 July. The actor decided to seek bail from the high court a day after an Angamaly magisterial court refused to grant bail to him and sent him to judicial custody till 25 July. "We will move the High Court for his bail tomorrow," Dileep's counsel K Ramkumar told PTI. He asserted that the actor has been framed in the case. The prosecution has said they will oppose the bail plea. Opposing Dileep's bail plea yesterday, the prosecution had told the magisterial court that there was strong evidence against Dileep. The prosecution counsel had also expressed fears that on his release on bail, the accused might hamper the investigation and tamper with evidence, besides trying to influence witnesses. It would also adversely affect the ongoing probe into the conspiracy behind the sensational case, the prosecution had said. The police, meanwhile, have been looking for the actor's manager Appunni and a lawyer allegedly associated with Dileep and the prime accused in the case 'Pulsar' Suni. The police have claimed that the phone used by the prime accused to take a video of assault of the actress reached Dileep through the lawyer. In another development, Kerala Agriculture Minister V S Sunil Kumar said a probe has been ordered into the incident of the alleged land grab by Dileep for building a multiplex at Chalakkudy in Thrissur district. Dileep, lodged in Aluva sub jail, has been charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including the one for hatching the criminal conspiracy for the abduction and assault of the actress in a moving car on 17 February. The police have claimed that the conspiracy to abduct and assault the actress and film the dastardly act was hatched by Dileep and 'Pulsar' Suni, the prime accused in the case. The police, in its remand application, had claimed that Dileep had developed a grudge against the actress for letting his former wife know about his alleged affairs and had hatched a conspiracy to take revenge way back in 2013. The popular actress, who has worked in Tamil and Telugu films, was abducted and allegedly molested inside her car for two hours by the accused, who had forced their way into the vehicle on 17 February, and later escaped in a busy area in Kochi. Six persons, including 'Pulsar' Suni, have been arrested in connection with the incident. Beijing: Has Winnie the Pooh done something to anger China's censors? Some mentions of the lovable but dimwitted bear with a weakness for "hunny" have been blocked on Chinese social networks. Authorities did not explain the clampdown, but the self-described "bear of very little brain" has been used in the past in a meme comparing him to portly Chinese President Xi Jinping. Posts bearing the image and the Chinese characters for Winnie the Pooh were still permitted on the Twitter-like Weibo platform Monday. But comments referencing "Little Bear Winnie" Pooh's Chinese name turned up error messages saying the user could not proceed because "this content is illegal." Winnie the Pooh stickers have also been removed from WeChat's official "sticker gallery," but user-generated gifs of the bear are still available on the popular messaging app. Comparisons between Xi and Pooh first emerged in 2013, after Chinese social media users began circulating a pair of pictures that placed an image of Pooh and his slender tiger friend "Tigger" beside a photograph of Xi walking with then-US President Barack Obama. In 2014, a photographed handshake between Xi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was matched with an image of Pooh gripping the hoof of his gloomy donkey friend Eeyore. And in 2015, the political analysis portal Global Risk Insights called a picture of Xi standing up through the roof of a parade car paired with an image of a Winnie the Pooh toy car "China's most censored photo" of the year. Qiao Mu, an independent media studies scholar and former professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University, said the blocked bear content was unsurprising given the ruling Communist Party's sensitivity to depictions of its leader. It is a particularly sensitive year as Xi is expected to consolidate power at a key party congress this fall. "It's very murky what's allowed and what isn't, because officials never put out statements describing precisely what will be censored," Qiao said, noting that many Winnie the Pooh photos were still proliferating on the Chinese internet. In other contexts, references to the staple Chinese breakfast food "baozi" have been taken down for evoking the president's nickname: "Steamed Bun Xi," Qiao said. On Monday many Chinese social media users were testing the boundaries of the restrictions imposed on the bear who groans "oh, bother" when things don't go his way. "Poor Little Winnie," one Weibo user wrote. "What did this adorable honey-loving bear ever do to provoke anyone?" New Delhi: Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh on Wednesday said as many as 11,400 farmers committed suicide in 2016. "According to National Crime Records Bureau data for 2016, which is yet to be published, 11,400 farmers committed suicide. In 2015, the number was 12,602," he said in his reply after a discussion in the Lok Sabha on the agrarian crisis. He said farmers suicides could be checked only by increasing their income and the government was taking necessary steps, including increase in budgetary allocations to the agriculture sector. Earlier, Congress member Jyotiraditya Scindia criticised the government for failing to ensure remunerative prices to farmers. The minister said the Bharatiya Janata Party had promised Minimum Support Price (MSP) for agricultural produce to be 1.5 times the input cost to farmers before the 2014 general elections. He said a premium of Rs 3,560 crore was paid under the crop insurance scheme and Rs 3,548 crore distributed as insurance claims to farmers. Similarly, the total premium in 2015-16 was Rs 3,760 crore while Rs 4,710 crore was given as insurance claims. Responding to allegations of benefiting private companies under the garb of crop insurance, Radha Mohan Singh said: "We are using space technology to solve the problem. We have written to states that they have to decide crops to be brought under insurance scheme. They have to issue tender and set up their own companies if they do not want to give any benefits to (private) insurance companies. The Punjab and Gujarat governments are going to form such companies." In order to save farmers from clutches of private money lenders, he said, the government had allocated Rs 10 lakh crore for farm credit this year, he said. He said the government had taken up various schemes and initiatives such as integrated farming, agro-forestry, deep fishing, Gokul mission, and organic farming to increase farmers' income. Auto refresh feeds Life as we know is something more than ones mere survival and existence; therefore, the right to privacy is an inherent right to every citizen of the country. As things stand today, where the Government of India is taking a stand that the right to privacy is not a fundamental right and at the same time the government is promoting digitalisation, enacting policies and regulations permitting surveillance in cyberspace, telephones, email, personal messages etc through multiple agencies under the grab of national security, implementing national programmes like Unique Identification Number etc, it is imperative for India to enact stringent privacy laws. "It will impact my right to my body, to what I do at home, my communications, and everything else." Reuters "If the court rules for the government, then it's going to impact all kinds of footprints of citizens, both professionally, and in their private lives," Guruswamy said. "This goes far beyond Aadhaar. The ruling will decide the manner in which constitutional democracy will endure." Right to privacy hearing will impact much more than Aadhaar Justices J Chelameswar says degree of protection higher if it refers to a Constitution Part 3 right. He also further referenced the corresponding acts in American and European law, and its evolution from a common law to a human right. The Privacy Act, 1974, is meant to protect individuals from unauthorised use of their records by a federal agency. It makes agencies accountable for the records they maintain and requires them to protect the accuracy of records. Agencies must also reveal the purpose for which are collecting information. Europe generally is governed by the Data Protection Directive, which restricts how information can be processed and used. It requires that member states "implement technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against accidental or unlawful destruction or accidental loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure or access and to establish judicial remedies for breaches. It also mandates the establishment of a public authority to monitor adherence to the directive. Justice J Chandrachud asked senior advocate Arvind Datar, representing the petitioners, on what privacy entails. Every right to make a decision may not be a part of the right to privacy, the judge said. Shivam Divan, representing the petitioners in the court, on why Right to Privacy is important Chamleshwar adds whether there is an issue of privacy when the State induges in data collection. Povaya: Declaring privacy as a fundamental right is the first step towards ensuring accountability for coordinate branches of government. In case you missed it: Right to privacy not absolute, says Supreme Court during Aadhaar hearing The declaration that privacy is a fundamental right itself is the first step towards fulfilling that obligation of oversight on executive MA: The right to privacy can be drawn from Articles 17, 24, and 25 of the Constitution. With Meenakshi Arora's statement, petitioners have completed their statement in their hearing on Thursday. Meenakshi Arora, the last petitioner, ends by saying, "History teaches us that without privacy, the consequences are unimaginable." Meenakshi Arora, the last counsel for petitioners, takes the Court through the judgement in District Registrar v Canara Bank. She concludes with the privacy of personal information and personal choice. any way and let it develop case by case. Four non-BJP ruled states, including Karnataka and West Bengal moved the Supreme Court seeking to intervene in the ongoing Right to Privacy hearing Thread on the Union of India's arguments in the right to privacy case in the morning session. https://t.co/ZykjIUkhiV Article 21 i.e. protections of life and personal liberty, AK Gopalan 's case and feasibility of the right to privacy being considered a fundamental right discussed. Union of India's arguments in the right to privacy case in the morning session, so far Right to privacy cannot be an absolute right and the State may have some power to put reasonable restriction, the Supreme Court said today while examining the issue whether it can be declared as a fundamental right under the Constitution. A nine-judge Constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar, also asked the Centre and others to assist it about the "contours" and ambit of test on which the width and scope of right to privacy and its infringement, if any, by the State would be tested. The bench then referred to the apex court judgement, criminalising gay sex and said if right to privacy was construed in its widest sense, then the verdict in the Naz Foundation case "would become vulnerable". The NGO, Naz Foundation, has been fighting a legal battle for decriminalising consensual unnatural sex including lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders. During the day-long hearing, the bench, also comprising Justices J Chelameswar, SA Bobde, RK Agrawal, Rohinton Fali Nariman, Abhay Manohar Sapre, DY Chandrachud, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and S Abdul Nazeer, said, "Right to privacy is an amorphous right and not absolute. It is only a small sub-sect of liberty." It then gave illustrations including that giving birth to offsprings might fall under right to privacy and the parents could not say that the government did not have the power to direct sending every child to schools. It also referred to issue of data protection and said that its ambit was "much wider" than right to privacy and "cataloguing the contents of privacy" has the danger of limiting the right itself. "We live in an age of big data and the state is entitled to regulate the data whether it is for the purpose of regulating crime, taxation or other activities... Right to privacy cannot be so absolute that it prevents the State from legislating or regulating it," the bench said. If a bank has sought personal details for disbursing loans then it could not be said to be an infringement of right to privacy, it said, adding that the issues like one's sexual orientation and the bedroom details were covered under right to privacy. Senior advocate Gopal Subramanium, appearing for one of the petitioners, initiated the arguments and said right to privacy was an "inalienable" and "inherent" to the most important fundamental right which the right to liberty. He said the right to liberty, which also included right to privacy, was a pre-existing "natural right" which the Constitution acknowledged and guaranteed to the citizens in case of infringements by the State. "Liberty is the fundamental value of our Constitution. Life and liberty are natural existing rights which our Constitution acknowledges and guarantees. How can liberty be at all experienced without privacy?," he asked. Subramanium, at the outset, referred to apex court verdicts to highlight the process of interpretation of fundamental rights by it and assailed the two judgements delivered in M P Sharma and Kharak Singh cases by an eight-judge and six judge benches in 1954 and 1963 respectively in which it was held that right to privacy was not a fundamental right. The issue of right to privacy as a fundamental right was deliberated upon by the court in the two cases. "It is submitted that the decision in the 1954 and 1963 cases, to the extent they interpret fundamental rights on a distinctive basis (as recognised in the A K Gopalan case of 1950) are no longer good law. "In view of the fact that the A K Gopalan case stands overruled in the R C Cooper case (of 1970), it follows a fortiori (from a stronger argument) that neither of the above decisions are effective." He assailed the M P Sharma verdict which had held that right to privacy was not a fundamental right, saying that the MP Sharma case was not "an authority for the proposition that there is no fundamental right to privacy in the Constitution". He argued that right to privacy is inherent to the right to liberty and the Constitution "mediates" between the citizens and the State and the concept of privacy is "embedded in liberty as well as honour of a person". He then referred to the Preamble and Article 14 (equality before law), 19 (freedom of speech and expression) and 21 (protection of life and liberty) of the Constitution to contend that right to privacy was intrinsic to these "inalienable" fundamental rights also. The counsel assailed the contention of Attorney General KK Venugopal that right to privacy was a "common law right" and not the fundamental one and said it "went much beyond the common law" as it was inherently attached to the basic rights of life and liberty. "Right to privacy invariably means the inviolability of the person. The expression 'person' includes the body as well as the inviolate personality and the privacy really is intended to indicate the realm of inviolable sanctuary that most of us sense in our beings. "It refers to spatial sanctity, freedom in decisional autonomy, informational privacy as well as the ability to freely develop one's personality and exercise discretion and judgement," he said. Former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee, appearing in support of privacy right, went much beyond and said even if the Constitution did not "explicitly" provide this right, it could be deduced as had been done in the case of freedom of press. He referred to Article 19 and said it dealt with the freedom of speech and expression and the apex court deduced the media right from it. Another senior advocate Shyam Divan also said privacy right was a fundamental right according to the "golden triangle" rule that comprised Article 14, 19 and 21. "As recognised by an unbroken line of decisions of this court since 1975, right to privacy is protected under Part III of the Constitution. This court has recognised several unenumerated rights as facets of Article 21. "Similarly, right to privacy has also been recognised as flowing from Article 21," he said. He said that right to privacy extends to several aspects, including body integrity, personal autonomy, right to be left alone, informational self-determination and protection from State surveillance. The bench, at one point, stopped Divan from raising issues relating to Aadhaar that that government could not force citizens to give biometric details and asked him to focus on the privacy issue alone. When the bench asked whether privacy right could be absolute and the government could put some restriction or not, he said that the aspect of privacy might be determined on a case-to-case basis. "In a technologically dynamic society it is imperative to keep dimensions of right to privacy flexible to adapt and adjust with the new scenarios," he said, adding many of the fundamental rights "cannot be enjoyed to the fullest in the absence of right to privacy". He further referred to the fact that India is a signatory to the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and now to say that right to privacy is a common law right only will be a "regressive" step. He said the recognition of "fundamental right to privacy" is consistent with international norms and has been recognised internationally as a human right and is protected in almost all liberal democracies. Another senior advocate Arvind Dutta also submitted that right to privacy should be treated as a fundamental right. The argument will continue tomorrow and that attorney general is likely to put the government's view across. With inputs from PTI On Monday, eight days after Naik Mudassir Ahmad promised his son that he'd spend Eid al-Adha with him at their new home, the family awaits Ahmad's body. After nearly 30 hours, a coffin draped in the tricolour reaches their home at Buchoo Village, Tral. In his sixteen years of service, it was the first time Ahmad was sent to guard the most hostile territory in the world. He'd celebrated his 37th birthday just days earlier and was killed along with a nine-year-old girl in the latest exchange of fire over the Line of Control. The army said that the Pakistanis, without provocation, fired on the Indian posts in the Rajouri sector around 7.30 am and that Ahmad was grievously injured when a mortar shell landed in his bunker. Just a week before his death, Ahmad confided in his friends that he was applying for retirement. His friend Fayaz Ahmad told Firstpost, He'd planned to move into a new home. He wanted to raise his two sons, give them the education he'd always dreamed of. "His family could never support Ahmad's schooling," Fayaz added. "They were poor." Ahmad joined the army straight out of school. He was inspired by his neighbours who also served in the armed forces. "It was the best option he had. Many locals serve in the army. One of the villagers is an officer. In fact, one of his brothers is also in the army," a friend tells Firstpost. Ahmad's father does not stir from his seat. He's surrounded by friends, neighbours and relatives. Tears well up in his eyes. "He came home on 3 July," he says. "We didn't know we'd never see him again." He begins to sob. "Why did it have to be my son?" he asks. Ahmad's sons Burhan and Mehran, unaware of the tragedy that has befallen their family, are playing with their friends from the neighbourhood. "They don't know," their relative Arshid Ahmad says. "They're waiting for their father to return and take them to their new home." Ahmad's wife Hafiza and his mother are inconsolable. You promised me you'd return," his wife Hafiza laments. "That you'd always remain with us. Why did you break your promise? What will I tell the children, who'd only spent a few months with you?" Bashir, another friend of Ahmad says they spent the last month together. "He told me he was content. That he wanted to retire with honour and dignity. He'd served his country for a long time. He wanted to spend time with his family. He was a very good person. He never looked for trouble. Everyone admired him. I've lost a great friend. I'll miss him. Always," Bashir said. Ahmad is survived by his wife, parents and two brothers. He was the only breadwinner. "I don't know how the family will survive," his uncle Farooq says. "God has taken their only source of support." New Delhi: After trying out PAVA shells, security forces have now turned to capsicum gel-based teargas to quell mobs in the Kashmir valley and other places. A senior official of the Border Security Force said the new teargas will be ready for use by security forces in the spray can and shell forms, as early as next month. The non-lethal munition can be used by security forces at any location in the country where there are law and order problems but the largest inventory of the product is expected to be shipped to the valley owing to the number of public protests and incidents of stone pelting, the official said. The shells will be produced by the Tekanpur (Madhya Pradesh)-based Tear Smoke Unit (TSU) of the Border Security Force. Last year, the TSU had launched the PAVA teargas munitions which, the BSF said, was "effectively" used by various police and security forces. However, sources in the security establishment had said that the personnel on the ground in Kashmir had given feedback that PAVA (Pelargonic Acid Vanillyl Amide) was not an effective replacement for the controversial pellet guns and hence some other non-lethal ammunition should be provided to them to counter stone pelters and protestors. The new bio-friendly oleoresin capsicum-based teargas shells will be produced in collaboration with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The official said the chilli ingredient for these new munitions will be sourced from the jungles of the North East and Andhra Pradesh and have two variants. "One will be a teargas shell and the other spray can. The ultimate product will be helpful for police and security forces to combat both close-quarter and distant targets," the official said. In the first go, about 50,000 shells will be produced by the TSU which will be followed by subsequent need-based orders from the forces. An annual general body meeting of the TSU was also held under the chairmanship of BSF Director General KK Sharma at the forces' headquarters in Delhi on Thursday. "The governing body also reviewed the progress of automation and production management of the TSU," a BSF statement later said. PAVA was introduced last year by the Union home ministry after scores of protesters were blinded by the use of pellet guns in the Kashmir valley. The pellet guns have not been discarded and are now used sparingly by the forces there. Kolkata: BJP Rajya Sabha MP Roopa Ganguly, party general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and two other leaders were Thursday summoned by the CID for questioning in connection with the Jalpaiguri child trafficking case. Reacting on the summons to the leaders, West Bengal BJP alleged that it was a conspiracy of ruling Trinamool Congress to tarnish the party's image. "A notice has been sent to Kailash Vijayvargiya and Roopa Ganguly and two others in connection with the case," a senior Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officer told PTI. "Vijayavargiya has been summoned to appear before our officers on July 24 while we will visit Ganguly's residence for questioning on July 29," he said. The CID, a senior officer said, would question Ganguly over her alleged meeting with arrested former BJP women's wing general secretary Juhi Chowdhury, an accused in the case. The nursing home is alleged to have served as a cover for an international child trafficking racket. The agency also summoned BJP leader Samik Bhattacharya to appear before it tomorrow in connection with their probe into the alleged Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana scam that surfaced in the Basirhat area in North 24-Parganas district. West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh alleged that the summon to Vijayavargiya and Ganguly was a conspiracy hatched by the Trinamool Congress to tarnish the image of the BJP. "Though the prime accused has already admitted that she never met Ganguly and Vijayavargiya, the CID still issued the summon to them. This is absolutely unnecessary. It is because the TMC has failed to stop the BJP in the state they are using the CID. This is nothing but harassment of our leaders," Ghosh told PTI. "There is nothing in the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana scam. The CID has no evidence against Bhattacharya and by issuing the summon they are trying to harass him also," he said. The CID had arrested several persons including the head of a child protection agency in Darjeeling and a member of a child welfare committee on charges of selling babies and children through questionable adoption deals. These arrests were part of a widening probe into the adoption racket at the Bimala Shishu Griho, a children's home in Jalpaiguri town. Sacked state BJP women's wing leader, Juhi Chowdhury, and the chief adoption officer of the children's home Sonali Mondal, the home's chairperson Chandana Chakraborty and her brother Manas Bhowmik were arrested earlier. They have been charged with selling about 17 children, aged between one and 14 years, to foreigners by entering into shady adoption deals. The CID had unearthed the child trafficking racket during raids at homes and nursing homes in Baduria area of North 24 Parganas district, in Behala in the southern fringes of Kolkata and some other parts of south Bengal in November last year. Gorkha Janmukti Morcha activists and other hill parties today held a demonstration outside the district magistrate's office here demanding restoration of Internet services in the hills. Darjeeling protest enters 36th day following the proposed Bengali language imposition plans in Darjeeling Hills, Terai and Dooars region by the West Bengal government has led to the resurgence of the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland within India. This in turn has resulted in the predictable, violent and brutal repression of the demand by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee through the state's police. Internet services have been suspended for the last 32 days. There were no incidents of violence or arson since Wednesday night as the indefinite shutdown in the hills entered its 36th day today. Some political party activists dressed in traditional Nepali attire took out rallies on Thursday morning. The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha also has plans to organise rallies in various parts of the hills later in the day in support of their cause. The century-old demand began with the Hillmen's Association that had first raised the need for a separate administrative unit for the Darjeeling-Dooars region way back in 1907. It has been there in the proposed Gorkhaland region since then. The ebb and flow of this demand has remained visible and raw in the Gorkha psyche, led forward by different Gorkhali leaders all these decades, at times reaching its peak, and at other times deflated and compromised. Nonetheless, the Gorkhaland demand has continued to remain in the hearts of each Gorkhali individual, not just in the proposed Gorkhaland region, but across India. Police and security forces patrolled the streets and kept a tight vigil at every entry and exit points.All shops, restaurants, hotels, schools and colleges remained closed except pharmacies. New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday granted bail for 14 days to a former Congress councillor serving life term in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case to enable him to sell his property and arrange funds to pay his lawyers. A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Anu Malhotra released Balwan Khokhar on bail on the condition that he will neither leave the national capital nor try to contact or influence the witnesses in the case. Congress leader Sajjan Kumar had been acquitted in this riots case by the trial court but Khokhar was convicted along with four others. The bench granted Khokhar the relief, subject to his furnishing a bail bond of Rs 25,000 with one surety of the like amount. The court, however, rejected the additional ground medical treatment of the various ailments he is suffering from on which he had sought bail. The bench said there is no need to release him on medical grounds as the jail authorities are taking care of his medical needs. His plea was opposed by the CBI which said complaints have been received that he had tried to pressurise witnesses in the past by contacting their relatives. The agency also said that the bail plea did not give details of the property to be sold. Thereafter, Khokhar's lawyer provided the property details and the bench granted him bail for two weeks. Arguments were also concluded on behalf of Khokhar in his appeal challenging his conviction and sentence. Khokhar, retired naval officer Captain Bhagmal, Girdhari Lal and two others were held guilty in a case relating to the murder of five members of a family in Raj Nagar area of Delhi Cantonment on 1 November, 1984, after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. They had challenged their conviction and the award of life sentence by the trial court in May 2013. The trial court had acquitted Congress leader Sajjan Kumar but awarded life term to Khokhar, Bhagmal and Girdhari Lal and three-year jail term to two others - former MLA Mahender Yadav and Kishan Khokhar. The convicts have filed appeals before the High Court while CBI too has filed an appeal alleging that they were engaged in "a planned communal riot" and "religious cleansing". The agency has also appealed against acquittal of Kumar. The high court had on 29 March issued show cause notices to 11 accused including Khokhar and Yadav in five 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases. The accused, who were acquitted of the charges, were asked why should the court not order re-investigation and retrial against them as they faced allegations of "horrifying crimes against humanity". The bench had issued notices on the complaints filed regarding the violent incidents on 1 and 2 November, 1984 in Delhi Cantonment area. Budget passenger carrier IndiGo on Wednesday said it has decided to revoke the ban on flying TDP MP JC Diwakar Reddy on its flights. "Senior IndiGo officials met honourable Member of Parliament Diwakar Reddy, at a lunch hosted by senior Member of Parliament YS Chaudhary, to resolve the issue of Reddy's ban on IndiGo flights," the airline said in a statement. "The issue is amicably resolved between the two and IndiGo has decided to lift the said ban with immediate effect and Reddy is withdrawing the case he has filed." The airline added that it has informed the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) about its decision. As of 16 June, all the major seven domestic airlines Air India, Jet Airways, IndiGo, SpiceJet, GoAir, Vistara and AirAsia India had barred the TDP MP from their flights. It was alleged that Reddy on 15 June created ruckus at the Visakhapatnam airport after he was denied a boarding pass for an IndiGo flight as he had not showed up in time. The Telugu Desam Party lawmaker from Anantapur was also said to have damaged a printer and misbehaved with IndiGo staff. The MP had apparently reported at the check-in counter 28 minutes before the scheduled departure of the flight against the regulation of 45 minutes. As the airline staff told him they could not issue him a boarding pass, he got angry and entered into a heated argument with them. Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, editor-in-chief of Economic and Political Weekly (EPW), quit his position on Tuesday after lawyers of Adani Power Ltd, a group owned and founded by Gautam Adani, sent a letter to EPW and four authors (Thakurta, Advait Rao Palepu, Shinzani Jain and Abir Dasgupta) for two articles that were published on the EPW website. The letter in question relates to two news items titled, Did the Adani Group Evade Rs 1,000 Crore in Taxes? and Modi Governments Rs 500-Crore Bonanza to the Adani Group, published on 14 January, 2017 and 24 June 2017, respectively, which the lawyers said were defamatory and harmful to the reputation of their client. The Wire, which published links to the two articles, and quoted from the letter, said it has received a similar letter from Adani Power Ltds legal representatives. The Wire reported that Thakurta quit soon after the board met on Tuesday, after which they directed the editorial department to take down both the articles. Thakurta's exit after the letter sent by lawyers of Adani Power Ltd is an example of what is commonly known as SLAPP strategic lawsuits against public participation, which are used by a corporation as a strategic measure against a group or activist opposing certain action taken by the corporation, according to Cornell Law Schools Legal Information Institute, involving burdening the defendant with hefty legal fees and copious amounts of paperwork, amounting from a defamation suit. Several countries, including the United States of America (where it is limited to a few states), have adopted anti-SLAPP statutes to protect free speech. India, however, offers no such relief. Sections 499 and 500 in the Indian Penal Code deal with criminal defamation. While the former defines the offence of defamation, the latter defines the punishment for it. On 16 May, 2016, a Supreme Court bench, comprising Justice Dipak Mishra and Prafulla C Pant ruled that the right to freedom of speech and expression is not an absolute right. Ajay Kumar, an advocate practicing at the Bombay High Court told Firstpost, "In other countries there is a clear costs regime. The losing party pays the costs in a civil action. In India, while we may have a costs regime, the costs awarded often do not add up to the amount spent on the litigation. For example, if someone were to successfully defend a SLAPP action in India, they would find it difficult to recover their actual legal and court costs." Darjeeling (West Bengal): Amid the withdrawal of army from the hills on the state government request, the pro-Gorkhaland agitators continued to run amok Thursday, burning down two government offices at Lamahatta in Darjeeling. The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha supporters threw petrol bombs at a revenue department office and a panchayat office, reducing them to ashes, the police said. The supporters of the GJM and other hill parties also held a demonstration on Thursday outside the district magistrate's office demanding restoration of internet services which remained suspended for the last 32 days. The army, meanwhile, was withdrawn from the restive hills after the state government sought its pull-out on 18 July, a defence official said Thursday. "The army was deployed in the hills on July eight on request from the state government. The army was withdrawn on July 18 as the state government sought its withdrawal," a defence official said on Thursday. Meanwhile, a delegation of various hill parties met West Bengal governor KN Tripathi Thursday and submitted a memorandum regarding the situation in the hills. While talking to reporters later on the sidelines of a programme, Tripathi said, "They came to meet me. I have told them to create an atmosphere so that normalcy could be restored in that area." Some political party activists, dressed in traditional Nepali attire, took out rallies in the morning. The police and security forces patrolled the streets and kept a tight vigil at every entry and exit points. All shops, restaurants, hotels, schools and colleges remained closed except pharmacies. Kolkata: West Bengal Women and Child Development Minister Dr Sashi Panja on Thursday said there should be well-drafted policies to handle situations involving gender violence. "We have been working together with organisations like Shakti Vahini, in challenging and very threatening fields like trafficking. We can speak about it, we can think of policies to handle such situations," Panja said. She was speaking at a discussion "Empowering India's youth to combat gender violence" at the American Center in Kolkata. It was organised by US Consulate Kolkata in collaboration with New Delhi-based NGO 'Shakti Vahini'. "From my department we can't go and catch the culprits. There are police and administration involved," the minister said and stressed on raising awareness among various sections of people to stop such acts. On fighting sexual and non-sexual violences, Panja said, "We celebrate various days child rights day, women's day and when you talk about gender issue, it implies women. Because it is always women and girls who suffer the most." Hailing the presence of boys in the discussion, the minister said, "It is always necessary for the presence of other sex in such talks and I am happy with the way a boy from Jharkhand has pledged to spread the message of the workshop in his native place." There is a perception that a boy would be scoffed at for speaking against gender violence at a boys' school, she said adding that "It is good that this mindset is changing." Greg Pardo, Assistant Public Affairs Officer, US Consulate, said, "The meet was aimed at raising awareness through various media. It is nice to discover ways, to eliminate violence." Sneha Harsh, one of the group leaders chosen from Lady Sriram College said, "How to empower other students and motivate others, that is very important for us." US Consul General Craig Hall said, "Working together to end all forms of gender-based violence is a crux of the partnership between US and India as enduring global partners." "I had been fortunate to attend all three workshops hosted jointly by the US Consulate and Shakti Vahini earlier this year in Guwahati, Kolkata and Ranchi. To me they were great examples of how Indians and Americans can work together to change the world," Hall said. The group leaders from colleges will now go to their respective institutions to spread awareness. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday responded to Opposition's charges on the ongoing Sikkim border dispute with China near the Doka La region and said that India was capable of defending itself. Addressing the Rajya Sabha during the Monsoon Session of Parliament on Thursday, the Union minister tried to dispel "doubts" raised over the ongoing stalemate on the eastern borders of India. Responding to a question on India-China ties, Swaraj said, "It's wrong to say that China is encircling India in the Indian Ocean region. India is vigilant of its security interests, and no one can encircle it." Her response, possibly the first proper government statement, came as China demanded that Indian forces leave Doka La area to avoid an escalation. Swaraj also said that India's stand on South China sea has been very clear. She said that India maintains that free and uninterrupted passage for commercial vessels should be sustained in the region and any disputes should be resolved with mutual cooperation. Swaraj also informed the members of the Parliament in Rajya Sabha that the Sikkim standoff is only about 'just demands' from the Indian side. Jaise hi pata chala ki OBOR ( One Belt One Road) mein CPEC ko dal rahe hain, ussi samay virodh darj kiya gaya tha: EAM Sushma Swaraj in RS pic.twitter.com/66vtC1i4LC ANI (@ANI_news) July 20, 2017 If China unilaterally changes status-quo of tri-junction point between China-India & Bhutan then it poses a challenge to our security: EAM ANI (@ANI_news) July 20, 2017 Saare desh humare saath hain aur sabhi desh samjh rahe hain ki bharat ne jo apna mat rakha hai woh galat nahi hai: EAM Sushma Swaraj in RS ANI (@ANI_news) July 20, 2017 Expounding upon the issue, Swaraj added that the status quo on Sikkim border was not altered by India, but China. "China has unilaterally tried to change the status quo at the tri-junction and that is a threat to our security. We are willing to talk, but both sides should take back their armies to the original position. We are involved in a tri-junction this time and it's directly related to us, if China will change that...that is threat to our security. All countries are supporting us on this issue," Swaraj added. She also said that a 2012 agreement bound China and India to settle the boundary issue with Bhutan. She said that both Bhutan and India are sovereign nations and are working to resolve their respective border disputes with China. The minister, however, added that the current standoff was a result of Chinese action that directly threatened Indian interests. "The tri-junction is a shared border between India, China and Bhutan, but China was unilaterally trying to build a pucca road and unilaterally alter the status-quo in the region," she said. However, a Chinese daily had warned India that China is battle-ready and not afraid to go to war with India which will face "all-out confrontation" along the entire disputed border. The conflict over construction of a road near the Sikkim border has been in a state of limbo for almost a month now after Indian troops stopped Chinese soldiers from building a road in Doka La. An article in the state-run Global Times said China must deploy more troops along the border with India and speed up road construction in Doka La where the two sides have been engaged in a month-long standoff. "China doesn't fear going to war to safeguard sovereignty either, and will make itself ready for a long-term confrontation," a commentary by Duo Mu said. "China must be prepared for future conflicts and confrontation. China can take further countermeasures along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). China, on Wednesday, also said that India should not use "trespass" into the Doka La area in the Sikkim sector as a "policy tool" to achieve its "political targets", asking New Delhi to immediately withdraw its troops to avoid any escalation. The foreign ministry also said it was in "close communication" with foreign missions in Beijing on the standoff with India, but refused to confirm whether it held a special briefing for them on the issue. "Since the illegal trespass by Indian border personnel, many foreign diplomats in China felt shocked about this and (wanted) to confirm whether it was true," the ministry's spokesman Lu Kang said when asked about the reported briefing. "The Chinese side maintains close communication with the foreign diplomatic missions on the issues they are interested," Kang told reporters. The crisis is expected to be discussed when Indian national security adviser Ajit Doval visits Beijing on 27-28 July to take part in a security forum under the BRICS group of large developing nations that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The nuclear-armed neighbours share a 3,500-kilometre border, much of it contested. With inputs from agencies Inward-looking policies of countries is killing multilateralism, India's commerce minister said in Geneva on Thursday, while addressing The Graduate Institute, adding that growing trade protectionism is also a matter of concern. "When inward-looking policies of individual nations jeopardise the spirit of multilateralism, insular economic nationalism cannot be the solution to the challenges of our times be it environmental concerns or humanitarian concerns such as refugees, civil war, terrorism, or international trade," said Nirmala Sitharaman, Indias minister for commerce and industry. "While some countries may view global issues exclusively through the prism of nationalist policies, this approach will not solve global, or for that matter individual countries' problems," she said, taking a dig American president Donald Trump's trade policies. Richard Baldwin, a well-known professor of international economics at the Graduate Institute, Geneva, moderated the talk titled 'Reclaiming Multilateralism'. "Nothing happens in the WTO unless India is on board with it," Baldwin said at the start of the event. This is Sitharaman's first visit to the Swiss city considered to be nucleus for multilateralism and the first time the current government in New Delhi has spelt out India's trade policies vis-a-vis the World Trade Organisation (WTO) clearly to the public. Sitharaman also spoke of India's stand on the contentious Doha Development Agenda (DDA), its image of being an obstructionist at the global trade body, the need for devising a solution for public stockholding for food security purposes, and the need to have duty-free-quota-free-access for Least Developed Countries (LDC), among other issues. "Quite ironically, this rising tide of protectionism is more evident now in countries that have benefited from the global economic order, to become among the most prosperous in the world. These countries would now like their people to somehow believe that they have been unfairly treated at the hands of countries that are significantly poorer," Sitharaman said, in a slanting reference to Trump's stand on multilateralism. For years, the developing world clamoured for fair trade while the developed world urged free trade. Today, there is a virtual reversal of positions. Though India is committed to trade liberalisation its depth of trade liberalisation in the past 25 years has few parallels in history it is cautious about overstepping its commitments. "There can be no question of crossing any lines that would result in sacrificing the livelihoods of millions for the sake of trade liberalisation," the minister said. Asking for a "permanent and lasting solution" for public stockholding for food security purposes, the commerce minister said that this was required so many developing countries have the flexibility to build food reserves to feed their poor without threat of violating international obligations. It will a "send a strong signal that trade openness and addressing hunger need not be in conflict". The tardy progress in completing the Doha round has "undeniably weakened" the negotiating function of the WTO, India emphasised. It was the hope of many developing countries that the Doha round would address many of the inherent imbalances and asymmetries in trade rules, but the narrative that started emerging from developed countries was that the WTOs concern was trade and not development. "These narratives make a mockery of what we agreed to at Doha," Sitharaman said. Failure to conclude the negotiations does not reduce the relevance of the significance of these issues particularly relevant for most developing countries, the Indian minister argued. "Ministerial declarations are an article of faith, and not an exercise in semantics to be ignored if fulfilling these commitments proves inconvenient for some countries," she added, referring to the Doha round and the richer countries' objections to it. Pushing India's initiative on a Trade Facilitation in Services similar to the Trade Facilitation Agreement in goods, India said that trade in services should be seen as an equal pillar as trade in goods putting aside "partisan considerations". Another impediment for the healthy functioning of the WTO is that the trust among the member states seems to have been "severely eroded over the years and dealt a body blow by the developments at the Nairobi Ministerial Conference". Only a few countries are involved in ministerial discussions and that must "immediately" change, India said, though she is "very optimistic" for the next ministerial meet at Buenos Aires in December this year. Speaking for the least developed countries (LDCs), India said that developed countries should "demonstrate their resolve" by providing duty-free and quota-free market access for at least 97 percent of products originating from LDCs. India is often accused of standing in the way of progress of the WTO, but Sitharaman said that nothing could be further from the truth. Discussions on new issues divert attention from priority areas for which mandates exist. "What is the rationale for new issues when agreed issues, well understood, and critical for the world community, are languishing? In contrast, new issues are yet to be fully understood in terms of their scope, definitions and implications," India argued. Citing e-commerce, Sitharaman said that the rationale for this to be a trade-facilitating platform "must not become the back door for securing market access objectives". "It has been a long-standing demand that patents should not be granted for existing traditional knowledge and associated generic resources," Sitharaman said, adding that making medicines available and affordable is "one cause that no one can stand against". As technology advances, "demands for nationalist protectionist policies will become more shrill", she said. "Multilateralism provides the only way to move forward." Sitharaman met the director-general of WTO, Roberto Azevedo; executive-director of the International Trade Centre, Arancha Gonzalez, among other dignitaries, during her visit to Geneva. New Delhi: India on Thursday told Pakistan that its troops were "deliberately" targeting Indian civilian villages and firing at schoolchildren in Jammu and Kashmir which "does not behove of any Army". The matter was raised in telephonic talks between director general of military operations Lieutenant General AK Bhatt and his Pakistani counterpart Major General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, army spokesperson Colonel Aman Anand said in a statement. The Indian commander spoke with Major General Mirza to protest firing by Pakistani troops at school children earlier this week and "unprovoked and coordinated ceasefire violations onto Indian civilians along the Line of Control", the spokesperson said. The Pakistani commander was informed of action by his troops "wherein they had deliberately targeted civilian villages and then fired at schoolchildren while they were being evacuated" from areas close to the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir, the statement said. "This, he (Mirza) was told, does not behove of any Army," he said. Lieutenant General Bhatt told his counterpart that the Indian Army "as a professional force takes due care to avoid targeting of civilians and the Pakistan Army was expected to do the same". "The Indian Army has been taking all necessary steps to ensure the safety of life and property of Indian citizens and avoided targeting Pakistani citizens," Colonel Anand said, quoting Lt.Gen. Bhatt as telling the Pakistani commander. Major General Mirza was "exhorted to exercise strict control on his troops and instruct them to refrain from any nefarious activities". Colonel Anand said the Indian DGMO raised the issue of rising ceasefire violations which included "calibre escalation coupled with incidents of sniping and attempted infiltration" from the Pakistani side of the LoC. The two DGMOs last spoke on Monday when Lieutenant General Bhatt told the Pakistani commander that the Indian Army reserved the right to retaliate appropriately against any incident of ceasefire violation by the Pakistan Army. New Delhi: There are nearly six lakh Indians working and staying in Qatar and there is no need to evacuate them as the situation there is normal, the government Thursday said, amid the boycott imposed by four West Asian nations on the country. There has been no adverse effect on Indians living in Qatar, VK Singh, Union minister of State for External Affairs said in a written response to a question in the Rajya Sabha. Early this month, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic ties with Qatar. Among other terms, they have demanded that Qatar cut ties with Iran. In response to another question, Singh said there has been a decline in the number of Indian workers emigrating to the Gulf countries for employment, attributing it to economic slowdown in those nations. He said 7.75 lakh Indian workers emigrated to the Gulf nations in 2014, followed by 7.58 lakh in 2015. However, the figure dropped drastically to 5.07 lakh in 2016. On Wednesday, members of the pro-Kannada outfit Karantaka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) blackened the signboards of multiple metro stations which were written in Hindi, according to media reports. The hardline outfit was reportedly protesting the "imposition" of Hindi. Bengaluru: Members of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike blackened Hindi on the signboard outside Yeswanthpur metro station, last night. pic.twitter.com/Ca6CYIjrdD ANI (@ANI_news) July 20, 2017 According to a report in Business Standard, KRV members also blackened the Hindi signboards of Jayanagar, Peenya, Deepanjali Nagar and Mysore Road stations. According to News 18, members of KRV split into small groups around 3 am and defaced the boards. The police later detained the activists, The Hindu reported. In the past, the group defaced English and Hindi nameplates of a restaurant in a mall near Bengalurus Eco tech park, Financial Express reported. In the first week of July, Hindi words were concealed on the signboards in Chickpete and Majestic metro stations. KRV demanded that the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) end the practice of using Hindi signboards at metro stations. Opposing the usage of Hindi in railway announcements, KRV said that even railway announcers in the neighbouring states of Kerala and Maharashtra refrained from using Hindi. Planning to intensify the stir, KRV has planned a round table meeting in Delhi towards the end of August, The Times of India reported. The report further states that the meeting will be attended by members of political outfits from non-Hindi speaking states such as Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha and West Bengal, Assam and other northeastern states. There also has been a wave of public anger on social media against the "imposition" of Hindi. In the last week of June, Twitter users started the #NammaMetroHindi Beda campaign to urge state government to banish the use of Hindi. The campaign seeks removal of Hindi signboards from all Namma Metro stations and also stop announcements in Hindi. However, BMRCL defended the usage of Hindi and said it was only implementing the Centre's orders. According to it, non-Hindi speaking states were directed to use three languages, the state's official language, Hindi, and English, for signboards, announcements and public material for public information in all metro stations. The Union Urban Development Ministry had asked BMRCL to ensure Hindi signage is used in the metros new Phase 1 stretch that was inaugurated in June. The Kannada Development Authority had later asked for a reply from BMRCL about the same, News18 reported. The anti-Hindi agitation has found support from Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Business Standard reported. He asked the officials to find out what policy was followed in non-Hindi states such as Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal. Amid this campaign, Union minister Anant Kumar said that priority should be given to use of Kannada language, followed by Hindi and English for the benefit of non-Kannadigas in the Karnataka capital. "All over India, railways are using three languages. In Namma Metro too, the first priority should be Kannada. There should no compromise on that. After that, Hindi Hindi and English should be used," Kumar said. Kerala BJP chief Kummanem Rajasekheran on Thursday denied any links of the party with an alleged medical college scam, even as the issue rocked Parliament. In a statement, Rajasekheran said media reports on the alleged involvement of the BJP in Kerala in taking bribes in lieu of promising Medical Council of India recognition for a private college "has nothing to do with our party". "BJP is a party that deals with corruption in a very strong manner. In this particular issue, the party will discuss it at the appropriate forum and strict action will be taken, if needed. But what's being heard now has got nothing to do with our party," said Rajasekheran. Former state BJP president V. Muraleedharan said the party will be holding a core group meeting on Friday, when the issue is likely to be taken up. State BJP general secretary M.T. Ramesh, whose name figures in the report, denied any involvement in the medical college scam. The lawmakers from Kerala have demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi reply to the allegations that the owner of a medical college in Thiruvananthapuram district had paid Rs 5.60 crore as bribe to Kerala-based BJP leaders for influencing the Medical Council of India (MCI). The revelations came in the wake of an internal BJP two-member committee report which is alleged to have been leaked from the office of the Kerala BJP chief Rajasekheran. Kerala lawmakers from the Left and the Congress angrily protested in the Lok Sabha after being denied permission to take up the report in the House. The motion moved by CPI-M leader M.B. Rajesh and Congress leader K.C. Venugopal, but it was disallowed. Rajesh told the media "This scam involves not just the Kerala BJP leaders but also the national BJP leaders." "This is a case where money was paid as bribe to get favours from the MCI and hence this scam has larger dimensions," said Rajesh. Venugopal said it was strange that while the national BJP leadership speaks against corruption and black money, their own internal committee that went into the allegations found that money has changed hands. He said the money was paid in Delhi through the hawala route. "This report was kept under wraps for a while, which shows that the state's top BJP leadership knew what was going on," said Venugopal. Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala told reporters in north Kerala that only a probe would reveal the truth in the matter. "This is nothing but the tip of the iceberg, and there is no doubt the national BJP leaders are involved in this scam," said Chennithala. In a related development Vellapally Natesan, founding patron of the Bharat Dharma Jana Sena, a key ally of the BJP-led NDA said "What's happening in the Kerala unit of the BJP is a 'fight' between those who got the money and those who didn't." Over the years, the state unit of the BJP has been facing factional feuds, which has led to concern in the national leadership. Eleven families from the Telugu Madelwar Parit community lodged first FIR under Maharashtra's newly enacted Social Boycott Act against council members of the caste in Pune's Kondhwa police station on 17 July. The families lodged FIR against 17 members of the communitys caste council for boycotting them for reasons like inter caste marriages. Maharashtra is the first and only state in India to enact a law preventing social boycott by caste councils. The Social Boycott (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act of 2016 was drafted by the state government in 2015. The bill was sent for the approval of the central government in 2016 and has been waiting for the signature by the president. On 3 July, 2017, the president signed the bill converting it to a law. Under the act, social boycott is a punishable offence which includes fine up to Rs 3 lakh and imprisonment up to seven years. Families, communities as well as individuals can now be punished under the law if they are found guilty. The reasons can be lifestyle, dress or vocation, religious rituals or inter-caste marriages, among others. The law has provision of a speedy trial within six months. The government will have to appoint a social boycott provision officer who will assist the police and the judiciary to track social boycott cases. The first FIR under the Social Boycott Act Eleven families of the Telugu Madelwar Parit community, which has 700 families in Pune and around 120 of them are boycotted by the caste council, lodged FIR against members of their caste council on 17 July. Rekha Indurkar, 40, homemaker and one of the complainant, said, "I belong to the Jain Marwadi community while my husband is from the Telugu Parit community. We married in 1996. But the caste council of the Telugu Parit community boycotted us from the caste. The council made sure that nobody from the caste would invite us for festivals, social programmes and even for the last rites of the community members. We have been going through mental torture for the last 20 years, and dont want our kids to know about it or suffer due to this practice." Fifty-one-year-old Umesh Rudrapa, an auto driver and another complainant in the case, said, "We had requested the council to take us back in the caste as our kids are grown up. They need to be married off, and we have to find matches from the community. But the members did not pay attention. We had no option but to approach the police. But, earlier the police didn't file any complaint due to a lack of law. When we came to know that the act has been forced, we decided to lodge FIR. We want the members to dissolve the council. They should listen instead of getting tried under the law." Satish Govekar, police inspector, Kondhwa police station, Pune, said, We have lodged FIR under Section III, IV and V of the Social Boycott Act. We have started to find out the accused in the case." One more FIR under the act was lodged on 18 July against the Vaidu tribe caste council in Pune's Sangvi police station. Five members of Rambhau Lokhande family lodged FIR against 25 members of the caste council for boycotting them for nearly two years as they were opposed to hold the meeting of the council. Rambhau Lokhande, said, We have been going through the worst situation due to boycott by almost all in the community. The caste council members threaten us that they will not allow marriage of our kids. When it became unbearable we decided to approach the police." Efforts by MANS to bring the Social Boycott Act Contrary to popular beliefs, caste councils exist not just in states like Punjab and Haryana but Maharashtra as well. But many in the state were unaware of their presence till in 2013, the Maharashtra Andhashradha Nirmulan Samiti (MANS), a social organisation founded by social activist Dr Narendra Dabholkar, exposed the existence of caste councils in Maharashtra. "The revelations shook the state," says Krishna Chandgude, chief of Jaat Panchayat Muthmati Abhiyan, a social drive that was launched by Dr Dabholkar to remove social boycott in Maharashtra. A rationalist, Dr Dabholkar was shot dead by two men on 20 August. In one of the cases of social boycott, Chandgude says, a father killed his pregnant daughter on her birthday for marrying a person from another caste. "Later we exposed many cases and launched the drive to remove the social boycott. The goal of Jaat Panchayat Muthmati Abhiyan was to create awareness against the social boycott and ask the government to bring a law to ban boycotts and caste councils," he says. Chandgude informs that the organisation lodged many complains of social boycotts, but the sections of the Indian Penal Code were insufficient to cover the term, and the accused would have to be freed. The state government later issued a resolution banning the boycott and 71 cases were registered under it. MANS continued to put pressure on the state government to bring a law banning social boycott. "We put pressure to get it passed in the state Assembly and by the central government. We also followed up every month asking the state government to get the bill signed by the President," he adds. Chandgude hopes that the law will bring an end to social boycotts and remove the caste council system which acts as a parallel judiciary. New Delhi: A petition was filed on Thursday in the Supreme Court challenging the Bombay High Court's order granting bail to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case. The plea has sought a stay on the high court's 25 April order granting bail to her. The high court had granted her the relief saying there was "no prima facie evidence against her". Petitioner Nisar Ahmed Haji Sayed Bilal, father of one of the blast victims, has alleged that Thakur was a "powerful person" and could influence the witnesses in the case. "The high court failed to appreciate that Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur is an influential person and is likely to wield her power and influence in an illegal and unlawful manner to tamper with evidence and influence witnesses," he has said in the petition. The plea has claimed that there was ample evidence against her, and "her role, involvement and complicity in planning and executing the conspiracy for committing Malegaon blast is writ large on the case record." "Thakur coordinated with a co-accused for providing explosives to her confidantes/absconding accused," it has said. The petition has said that she had been denied bail by a special court in Mumbai several times in the years 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2016 on the ground that "a prima facie case is clearly made out against her." Thakur was granted bail by the high court, which, however, had refused a similar relief to co-accused Lt Col Prasad Purohit. Seven people were killed in a bomb blast on September 29, 2008, at Malegaon, a communally-sensitive textile town in Nasik district of north Maharashtra. A Special MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act) court had earlier ruled that the Anti-Terrorist Squad had wrongly applied the MCOCA in the case against Thakur, Purohit and nine others. The 4,000-page chargesheet had alleged that Malegaon was selected as the blast target because of a sizeable Muslim population there. It named Thakur, Purohit and co-accused, Swami Dayanand Pandey as the key conspirators. The chargesheet had further alleged it was Pandey who had instructed Purohit to arrange explosive RDX, while Thakur owned the motorcycle which was used in the blast. Ajay Rahirkar, another accused, allegedly organised funds for the terror act, while conspiracy meetings were held at Bhonsala Military School in Nasik, it had said. Rakesh Dhawde, Ramesh Upadhyay, Shyamlal Sahu, Shivnarain Kalsangra, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, Jagdish Mhatre and Sameer Kulkarni were the other accused. Lucknow: The resignation of BSP chief Mayawati from Rajya Sabha has evoked mixed response from different political parties in Uttar Pradesh, with BJP terming it as a "political stunt" while Congress and Samajwadi Party held the Centre's attitude responsible for her abrupt decision. "BSP supremo Mayawati is unable to digest the results of 2014 Lok Sabha elections and 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. People of Uttar Pradesh have grossly rejected partisan and communal politics. They are looking forward to progress and development of the state," Uttar Pradesh BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi said. He described her resignation as "political stunt and emotional drama". Apna Dal (Sonelal), an ally of BJP-led NDA, attributed her decision to "massive erosion" in her support base. "BSP chief Mayawati is feeling threatened by the rise of Anupriya Patel, whom the backwards and Dalits are looking up as their leader. Mayawati's votebase has seen a massive erosion, which has apparently upset her," Apna Dal (S) spokesperson Arvind Sharma said. Anupriya, a senior party leader, is a Union minister and represents Mirzapur in Lok Sabha. The Congress said that the Dalit leader took the sudden decision to quit Rajya Sabha as the BJP had unleashed "autocratic rule" throughout the country. Uttar Pradesh Congress spokesperson Ashok Singh alleged that ever since the BJP governmet came to power in the state, there has been an increase in crime and atrocities against Dalits. "Mayawati had to tender resignation only to attract the attention of the government, which is working against the interest of Dalits in the state. If Mayawati wanted to say something about Saharanpur incident, she should have been allowed," Singh said. Chief spokesperson of Samajwadi Party, an ally of Congress in the state, Rajendra Chaudhary alleged that Mayawati's right to speech and expression was violated in the Rajya Sabha. President of Rashtriya Kisan Manch, a local outfit, Shekhar Dixit too backed Mayawati, saying her step was "right". "Mayawati took the right step as she was not allowed to speak and present her point of view," he said. Mayawati's resignation from the Rajya Sabha was accepted on Thursday by Chairman Hamid Ansari. The BSP supremo had resigned from the House in a huff on Wednesday, accusing the BJP and the Chair of not allowing her to raise the issue of anti-Dalit violence in Uttar Pradesh in the Parliament. Debates on a range of issues like mob lynchings across India, the ongoing Sikkim border dispute with China and issues related to the farmers' protests saw the end of the fourth day of the Monsoon Session of Parliament. The BJP-led central government planned 34 bills to be tabled during the Monsoon Session, which would have about 20 sittings. According to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar, apart from 16 new bills, 21 bills are pending in Lok Sabha while 42 bills are pending in Rajya Sabha, many of which would be considered for passing during the session. However, with Tuesday being a near washout and Thursday's proceedings being even more turbulent than Wednesday's session, the government was left hard-pressed to push its agenda. Here are some of the key developments that took place on the fourth day of the Monsoon Session: Lok Sabha prematurely adjourned Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day after the Opposition repeatedly disrupted the proceedings by raising slogans on the plight of farmers. The adjournment for the day was announced by Speaker Sumitra Mahajan soon after the House resumed business at noon for the Zero Hour after two consecutive adjournments forced by the Opposition members who stormed the Well and raised slogans. When House assembled for the day and took up the Question Hour, Opposition members, mostly from the Congress, trooped into the Well, raising slogans saying the prime minister should respond to the concerns over farmers' plight and the agrarian crisis. Kumar said the Lok Sabha had concluded a discussion on the issue on a sitting late Wednesday night. But as the slogan-shouting continued, the Speaker was forced to adjourn the house till 11.30 am, just after it had assembled again at 11 am. When the House resumed business at 11.30 am, members of the Congress, TMC, Left and other parties again trooped into the Well and started raising slogans pressing for their demands. As the unruly scenes continued, the Speaker appealed to the protesters to return to their seats and then adjourned the House till noon. Sensing the Opposition mood and as it became difficult to continue the business of the House amid the noisy scenes, the Speaker called for the listed papers to be tabled and then adjourned the House for the day. India-China border row raised in Rajya Sabha Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj on Thursday responded to Opposition's charges on the ongoing Sikkim border dispute with China near the Doka La region and said that India was capable of defending itself. Observing that China was demanding the withdrawal of the Indian troops from the tri-junction point, Swaraj said India has been saying that both countries would have to withdraw their armies before resolving the dispute through talks. Responding to supplementary questions during Question Hour in Rajya Sabha, Swaraj said, "Their (China's) intention was to reach the tri-junction so that they can unilaterally end the status of the tri-junction. It was only then that India came into the picture. The Union minister also tried to dispel "doubts" raised over the ongoing stalemate on the eastern borders of India. Responding to a question on India-China ties, Swaraj said, "It's wrong to say that China is encircling India in the Indian Ocean region. India is vigilant of its security interests, and no one can encircle it." Opposition targets government over lynchings, stages walkout The Opposition targeted the government over the mob lynching incidents, with the Congress accusing Narendra Modi of "creating such an environment" and indulging in "double speak" on the issue. Congress leader Kapil Sibal, while speaking in the Rajya Sabha, alleged that the prime minister was doing nothing to restrain cow vigilantes who, he said, include elements from the VHP and the Bajrang Dal. He was participating in a discussion on the "situation arising out of the reported increase in the incidents of lynching and atrocities on minorities and Dalits across the country" which started on Wednesday. "Why doesn't he (Modi) say that VHP and Bajrang Dal were anti-social elements? He gets political support for elections. Hindutva ideology has created a reign of terror," Sibal added. Raising a point of order, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi objected to mention of VHP and Bajrang Dal, saying it is the practice not to mention those who are absent from the floor of the House and cannot defend themselves. Shiromani Akali Dal leader Naresh Gujral, while participating in the debate, said the government could talk to the Chief Justice of India for creating a special court for speedy trial of lynching cases, which amounted to acts like "terrorism". Attacking the government, Sharad Yadav (JD-U) said the incidents of lynching were more deadly than killings by Taliban, adding that, When religion overtakes politics or vice versa, internal conflicts are created. He also said that BJP-ruled states were witnessing maximum cases of lynching. Such incidents occurred in 14 districts of Jharkhand, 11 districts of Uttar Pradesh, nine districts of Haryana, five districts of Rajasthan and four districts each of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat, Yadav added. The arguments devolved to a blame game, which culminated to the Opposition walking out of Rajya Sabha. Union minister Prakash Javadekar accused the Opposition of suffering from "selective amnesia" on lynching cases which triggered the walkout. To this heated argument, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the government will show no sympathy to those lynching people in the name of cow protection. "Nobody has the right to take law in his hands. And if somebody does, he should be condemned, arrested, and prosecuted. The government's stand is very clear nobody is allowed to do that," Jaitley said in the Rajya Sabha. Hamid Ansari accepts Mayawati's resignation BSP supremo Mayawati's resignation from the Rajya Sabha was accepted on Thursday by Chairman Hamid Ansari, a senior official of the Upper House said. The 61-year-old had submitted a fresh resignation letter as per the prescribed format, tendering a hand-written one-line letter, he said, wishing not to be named as he was not authorised to comment. Mayawati had, on Wednesday, resigned from the House, accusing the BJP and the Chair of not allowing her to raise the issue of Dalit violence in Uttar Pradesh in the House. Wednesday's recap On Wednesday, several key issues, including the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir, the status of missing Indian citizens in Mosul and the India-China border row in Sikkim were raised in Parliament. Proceedings in both the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha were, once again, disrupted multiple times after MPs protested against the agrarian crisis, cow vigilantism and Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal's comments linking Hindu gods with brands of alcohol. The BJP and Congress also exchanged blows over a dossier prepared by the research department of the All-India Congress Committee. It was leaked on Wednesday morning and listed several issues on which it could corner the government during the Monsoon Session. The 'key issues to raise in Parliament' section put "mob violence and lynching from Akhlaq to Junaid" topmost on the agenda. The Congress raised the issue of lynching on Wednesday. However, proceedings began with the agrarian crisis. The government also said it was "proactively" considering the matter of the country having two separate time zones. The issue was raised in the Lok Sabha by Biju Janata Dal (BJD) member B Mahtab, who stated that there was a gap of nearly two hours in the sunrise timings between the eastern and the western parts of the country. However, amid all the ruckus, the Lok Sabha also cleared the IIIT (Public-Private Partnership) Bill, 2017. The bill seeks to grant statutory status to the institutions. The IIITs will hence be able to grant degrees to their students in the academic courses conducted by them. With inputs from agencies Airlines have no authority to impose flying ban on anybody, including parliamentarians, and the law of the land should take its course, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien said on Thursday. The remarks came after SP member Naresh Agrawal raised the issue of recent flying ban imposed by major domestic airlines, including state-owned Air India. Agrawal wanted to know if the airlines could impose such restrictions. According to him, such an action was a breach of privilege of the Members of Parliament. To this, Kurien said agreed that Agrawal has raised a "valid point" that if any MP has committed a crime or something against the law, the law of the land should take its course. "Airlines are not given the authority to punish anybody. I think the government should take note of it. "MPs are also citizens, if they commit a crime or mistake, the law of the land should take recourse to it," the Deputy Chairman said. He further said "it is a punishment imposed on an MP for some crime. This cannot be done. This is not a thing to be punished by airlines". Congress MP Anand Sharma suggested to the Deputy Chairman that the word 'crime' should be replaced with 'violation'. However, Kurien said if a person beats up someone, it is a crime. Different airlines yesterday lifted the flying ban on TDP MP J C Diwakar Reddy after "urgent" notices from the court to the government and the aviation regulator DGCA on the lawmaker's plea against the action of domestic carriers. On 15 June, Reddy got into a verbal spat with IndiGo ground staff at Visakhapatnam airport and threw a printer kept at the airline counter after he was informed that boarding for his flight to Hyderabad had closed. Reddy was the second MP after Shiv Sena's Ravindra Gaikwad who was banned from flying domestic airlines. A flying ban was imposed on Gaikwad in March this year after he repeatedly hit an Air India officer with slippers for not providing him a business class seat on an all-economy flight. The ban was lifted after a fortnight following an undertaking from him that he would desist from such conduct in future Kohima: Dethroned Nagaland chief minister Shurhozelie Liezietsu on Thursday alleged that the decision of Governor PB Acharya in dismissing his government and installing TR Zeliang as chief minister was illegal and unconstitutional. Interacting with the media at his official residence here tonight, Liezietsu alleged, The governor dismissed my government without following any procedure and rules.It was illegal and unconstitutional." Recalling the sequence of events since 8 June leading to his dethroning on Wednesday, Liezietsu, who is the president of the ruling Naga People's Front (NPF), said that the dissident MLAs had staked claim to form the new government from Kaziranga in Assam. The court had stated that the governor should exercise his mind on the matter, he pointed out, but the governor might not have got time to do so as by 6 pm the same night he wrote to him asking to prove my majority by 9:30 the next morning. He said that he wrote back to the governor requesting that it was not possible as his supporting legislators were not in station due to personal engagements and therefore kindly consider another date for the floor test. Liezietsu also alleged that the governor did not reply back to his request but the next morning without informing him about any further decision, they went ahead with the Assembly proceedings. Terming the present situation as a temporary setback, Liezietsu asserted, We do not have any bad feelings against anybody because we stand for truth and it will win at the end. On the decision to contest the bye-election to become a regular member of the House and continue the chair, Liezietsu clarified that it was because the state cabinet had on 26 May asked him to contest the poll which was also supported by the NPF Central Executive Council. On the floor test on Friday, Liezietsu said, A whip has been issued to all NPF legislators in the Assembly to vote against the motion moved by Zeliang. He said that anybody voting against the whip would be dealt with as per the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution. Chennai: DMK on Thursday decided to hold a human chain protest across Tamil Nadu on 27 July seeking Presidential assent for two Bills adopted by Assembly that envisage exemption from the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for the state. The party at its district secretaries meet held here hit out at both the state and central goverments for "shattering" the dreams of rural aspirants and urban poor to become doctors. Adopting a resolution on NEET at the meet, which was presided over by party working president M K Stalin, the main opposition slammed the BJP regime at the Centre for "shirking" its responsibility by not sending the bills to the President for his approval. The resolution decided to form human chain between 4 pm and 5 pm on 27 July in all district headquarter towns in Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu has been seeking exemption from NEET maintaining that it would affect the students from the state. In February, the assembly had adopted two bills seeking to ensure continuation of the present system of admission to medical courses in the state. New Delhi: National Security Adviser Ajit Doval will be travelling to Beijing to attend a BRICS meeting on 27 and 28 July, the External Affairs Ministry said on Thursday. The visit comes amid deterioration in bilateral ties between the two neighbours due to the Doka La standoff with Beijing ratcheting up its rhetoric against New Delhi on the dispute. "As far as visit of the National Security Adviser to China for the meeting of BRICS NSAs is concerned, I can confirm that he will be visiting. The visit will take place on 27 and 28 July," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said. Asked whether Doval will have any bilateral meeting with any Chinese leader or the Special Representative for boundary talks on the sidelines of the meeting of NSAs from BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), Baglay did not give a direct reply "We will keep you informed as and when there are developments," he said. Chinese and Indian soldiers have been locked in a face-off in Doka La area of the Sikkim sector for over a month after Indian troops stopped the Chinese army from building a road in the disputed area. Opposition in the Rajya Sabha today raised the issue of protests across the country by textile manufacturers and traders against the imposition of the GST, saying the new indirect tax would adversely affect the industry, especially the handloom segment. Several opposition members raised the matter during the Zero Hour with some of them demanding that the textile sector should be exempted from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) net. Highlighting the recent protests in different parts of the country including Surat, Anand Bhaskar Rapolu (Congress) said GST will disburb the handloom sector and demanded that the sector should be removed from the ambit of the tax. He also demanded that GST on the powerloom segement too should be lowered. In a similar vein, TMC members Ahamed Hassan and Sukhendu Shekhar Roy also referred to the strike by readymade garment shopowners in West Bengal. Joining the issue, senior Congress MP Ahmed Patel said the textile traders were protesting on the streets along with the workers of the unorganised sector. He said small and marginal traders were never subjected to tax before. According to him, the imposition of GST on the sector will make it uncompetitive. CPI(M) leader C P Narayanan demanded that items relating to the disabled people should removed from the GST net. Another CPI(M) member Ritabrata Banerjee spoke about the complexities in the new indirect tax regime which came into force from 1 July. Rajeev Shukla of Congress said there was lack of coordination between the Centre and the states on the implementation of GST. Besides the problems facing the textile sector, members also raised issues relating to the floods in Assam and Odisha and farmers' problems. Digvijaya Singh of Congress said the condition of farmers was worsening and farmers' suicides have increased by 42 per cent during the NDA rule. He particularly highlighted the fall in prices of pulses, potato and onion. He has also sought a detailed discussion on the farmers issue. Raising the issue of floods in Assam, Congress member Sanjay Sinh demanded that the government should start relief measures on a war-footing and announce a package after assessing the damage. His party colleague Ripun Bora criticised the BJP-led state government saying it has not prepared any contingency plan for tackling the floods. BJD member Dilip Tirkey demanded special relief package for people affected by floods in certain districts of Odisha, including Kalahandi. Naresh Agrawal (SP) expressed concern over "vulgar" and misleading advertisments being aired on television channels. He said there should be regulations to check such advertisements to protect consumer interest. Veteran Congress leader Motilal Vora asked the government to construct good roads along the Indo-Pak border in Punjab saying these were in very bad condition. Another Congress member Viplove Thakur highlighted the plight of women, allegedly being brought to Haryana from different parts of the country for marriage as the state's sex ratio was bad. She demanded that the government should take steps on the issue seriously. Deputy Chairman P J Kurien asked Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs M A Naqvi to take note of it. Pakistan has summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh after two civilians were killed in alleged ceasefire violations across the Line of Control by Indian troops. Director General (SA and SAARC) Mohammad Faisal who summoned the Deputy High Commissioner "condemned unprovoked ceasefire violations". Foreign Office (FO) said in a statement that firing by Indian troops in Nikial and Nezapir sectors on Wednesday killed two civilians and inured five others. "The deliberate targeting of civilians is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity and international human rights and humanitarian laws," Faisal said. He urged the Indian side to respect the 2003 ceasefire arrangement; investigate this and other incidents of ceasefire violations; instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire, in letter and spirit and maintain peace on the LoC. Faisal said that the Indian side should permit United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to play its mandated role as per the UN Security Council resolutions and alleged that despite calls for restraint, India continues to indulge in ceasefire violations. Indian forces have carried out 594 ceasefire violations along the LoC and the Working Boundary so far in 2017, the Director General claimed. On Wednesday, Pakistan summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner Singh after two civilians were killed and six others injured in alleged ceasefire violations along the Line of Control by Indian troops. The Pakistani foreign ministry previously summoned the Indian envoy for two consecutive days on 8 and 9 July , over the same issue, claiming that more civilians were killed in firing by Indian troops. More than two-and-a-half years after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Nepal, his ambitious bi-national scheme, the Pancheshwar multi-purpose project, which was an integral component of his 4C policy cooperation, culture, connectivity and Constitution meant to strengthen bilateral ties with Kathmandu, has made significant progress in Uttarakhand. The Uttarakhand government has now taken steps to hear out people's sentiments in three critical districts Champawat, Pithoragargh and Almora which are supposed to be affected by the proposed construction of the 5040 MW Pancheshwar dam to be jointly carried out by India and Nepal. The three districts are in danger of being submerged due to the dam's construction. The progress being made over the dam's construction is a clear sign that the two countries enjoy better understanding today. An Eminent Persons Group (EPG) tasked by the Centre to strengthen cultural, historical, trade and political relations between the two countries, has been constantly working to build consensus on important bilateral issues, including the Pancheshwar dam project. The EPG, which has representation from Nepal's prominent personalities, is chaired by former Uttarakhand chief minister and BJP MP from Nainital, Bhagat Singh Koshyari. During his visit to Nepal in August 2014, Modi had placed special focus on this project. The governments of India and Nepal had also signed an MoU regarding the Pancheshwar multi-purpose project's amendment. While campaigning during the 2017 Uttarakhand Assembly polls, Modi highlighted his government's efforts to start the project and to provide jobs for local youth through it. Although the project was proposed way back in 1981, it faced hurdles because of various reasons, including the allegedly anti-India approach of the Nepali Maoists. Modi's special attention has now expedited the process for the construction of this project, and it also falls under the integrated Mahakali river treaty, bordering both Nepal and India. In Uttarakhand's Champawat, Pitoragarh and Almora districts, around 29,000 families from 122 villages are expected to be affected by the project. The task of implementing it had been given to the Pancheshwar Development Authority, part of the ministry of water resources. It is proposed on the Mahakali river, which is also known as the international boundary between India and Nepal. It aims at power generation, besides providing irrigation facilities. The Pancheshwar dam comprises a rockfill measuring about 315 metres in height from the foundation level. It's said to be the largest hydropower project in South Asia. Not only employment, but Uttarakhand will also get 12 percent royalty in India's share in power generation. The Pancheshwar hydro power project is likely to meet the same challenges as the Tehri dam and thousands of edgy villagers fearing displacement and livelihood issues. According to sources, over 30,000 families from 24 villages in India and 11 villages in Nepal will be hit by the project. The two countries had signed a treaty named 'Mahakali Jal Vikas Sandhi' in 1996. It got approval from the Uttarakhand government in 2012. The state government hopes to generate employment for about 6,000 people with the help of this proposed project. Estimated expenditure is around Rs 34,108 crores, and it may take about eight years to shape. This project may help generate 5040 MW of power. It's supposed to provide 2,59,000-hectare of irrigation facilities in India and 1,70,000 hectares in Nepal. The second phase of the dam at Rupaligad will have 240 megawatts of electricity generation capacity. The project would also help regulate and control the free flow of Karnali and Mohana rivers which cause floods in Kheri, Pilibhit districts of Uttar Pradesh and other Tarai districts. Auto refresh feeds A total of 4896 voters 4120 MLAs and 776 elected MPs are eligible to cast their ballot. The electoral college which elects the President through the system of proportional representation, comprises MPs and members of state legislative assemblies. The counting of votes will take place on 20 July in New Delhi where all the ballot boxes will be brought from various state capitals. Election for the next President of India will be held today where NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind is pitted against opposition nominee Meira Kumar. Five MLAs will cast their ballot in Parliament House and four other legislators will vote in state assemblies which they have not been elected to. Usually, MPs vote in Parliament House and MLAs in their respective state assemblies. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his Goa counterpart Manohar Parrikar are among 55 MPs who will vote in their state assemblies instead of Parliament House for the presidential election. 55 MPs to vote in their state assemblies for prez poll: EC This will be the second time India will elect a Dalit President since 1997. KR Narayan was the first, and so far the only person from the Dalit community to hold India's highest constitutional post. Second time since independence, when India will elect a Dalit president The electoral college for the election consists of 790 MPs of the two chambers of Parliament. The ruling bloc enjoys an overwhelming majority in the electoral college and BJP has expressed confidence about garnering anywhere between 500 and 550 votes. The BJP parliamentary board would meet today to pick the ruling NDA's vice presidential candiadate as 18 July is the last date for filing of nominations. All arrangements have been completed for the presidential election, and polling will take place in Parliament House and respective state assemblies between 10 am and 5 pm. Elected members of both houses of Parliament and assemblies in states, including the National Capital Region of Delhi and the Union Territory of Puducherry, are eligible to vote. Opposition parties are expected to raise the military stand-off with China, though in a restrained manner, the law and order situation in Kashmir in the wake of the recent terror attack on Amarnath pilgrims and incidents of lynching over beef controversy and suicide of farmers in some states. The day also marks the beginning of the Monsoon Session which is expected to be stormy with the Opposition parties all set to corner the government over a range of issues concerning national security, foreign policy and other domestic matters while the ruling alliance is gearing up to counter the onslaught on it. Mishra had allegedly filed wrong accounts of election expenditure relating to articles and advertorials in the media in the 2008-2013 Assembly elections. The Election Commission of India has barred Madhya Pradesh minister Narottam Mishra from casting his vote in the presidential elections since the poll panel had disqualified him for three years over paid news charges. A special court in Mumbai has allowed senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal's application seeking permission to vote in the 17 July presidential election. Bhujbal has been in judicial custody since his arrest under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) last year. Since the election is through a secret ballot, the parties cannot round up their members and make sure they vote for a particular candidate. Cross-voting can't be ruled out even as parties claim to have taken up a battle of 'ideologies'. The presidential elections have split open rifts in political parties, with parties fearing that dissidents may indulge in cross-voting. For instance, the Samajwadi Party appears divided with camps led by Mulayam Singh Yadav and party chief Akhilesh Yadav all set to vote for rival candidates, triggering possibility of cross-voting. Mulayam has expressed his support for Kovind while the Akhilesh camp is backing Meira Kumar. Narendra Modi, speaking to the press outside Parliament, said that he hoped that the Monsoon Session will be filled with new vigour and a spirit to promote national interest. He said that the Monsoon Session is important on many counts as not only will the nation choose it's 14th president, but the 75th anniversary of August Kranti. The Election Commission has barred legislators from carrying their own pens and a special serial numbered pen with violet ink will be used for voting. Following the ink controversy in the Rajya Sabha polls in Haryana in 2016, the poll panel has decided to use special pens for the electors to mark their votes in the presidential and vice-presidential polls. Five MLAs will cast their ballot in Parliament House and four other legislators will vote in state assemblies which they have not been elected to. Usually, MPs vote in Parliament House and MLAs in their respective state assemblies. Yogi Adityanath has reached the state Assembly to cast his vote for presidential elections 2017. The Uttar Pradesh chief minister is one of few MPs to cast vote from state Assembly. In all, 55 MPs will vote from state Assemblies. Ram Nath Kovind, who belongs to the BJP, has the backing of all the party's allies besides several regional parties. Here is a list of non-NDA parties supporting the BJP' presidential nominee. The only time a truly apolitical figure gets elected is when a party chooses under coalition compulsions, for instance NDA's move to elect the hugely respected Abdul Kalam. The post of the president is ostensibly apolitical but every party treats it as a ploy to send signals to its political base and BJP, Congress have stayed true to the script. It is amusing that the Congress president is seeking to take the moral high ground and talking of "conscience vote" because it is her party that sent someone like Pratibha Patil to Raisina Hills. Sonia Gandhi's contention that the presidential poll is a "clash of ideas" and a "conflict of values" rings hollow. It is quite clear that Congress is trying to make a virtue out of political helplessness, short as they are of crucial numbers in the polling game. "I hope all political parties, MPs will work for national interest and will engage in high standard of debate and provide value addition," Modi said. The prime minister hoped that the successful "rains" of GST will fill the Monsoon session with pleasant smell like that emanating from dry soil after showers. While a stormy Monsoon Session is expected as the Opposition is prepared to target Centre over key issues like farmer suicides and cow vigilantism, Narendra Modi expressed hope of a fruitful Parliament session. Even as the BJP managed to gain support of as many as 40 parties, including several who arenot NDA allies, for Ram Nath Kovind, Kerala will remain a glaring exception. Kovind is likely to get only one vote that of BJP MLA O Rajagopal, the lone elected BJP MLA in the state. Both the LDF and UDF are supporting Meira Kumar. Officials said that polling in Parliament House will take place in Room Number 62 and MPs will vote according to tables allocated to states they represent. While the Lok Sabha Speaker, an elected member, can vote, the two nominated members in the Lower House from the Anglo-Indian community cannot. Twelve nominated members in Rajya Sabha are also ineligible. The total value of votes of the electoral college is 10,98,903. The value of vote of an MP is 708 while that of an MLA varies from state to state depending on the size of its population. A total of 4,896 voters 4,120 MLAs and 776 elected MPs are eligible to cast their ballot. MLCs of states with legislative council are not part of the Electoral College. Senior leaders and Mulayam loyalists are expected to follow suit. Although the small dissidence will have no effect on the overall result of the presidential polls, but it is interesting to note here that Uttar Pradesh MLAs enjoy the maximum weightage in electoral collage. The value of vote of an MP is 708 while that of an MLA varies from state to state depending on the size of its population. Amid talks of cross-voting from the Opposition camps, the rift in Samajwadi Party is not helping Meira Kumar's cause. SP patrons Mulayam Singh Yadav and Shivpal Yadav have declared that they will support Kovind, while Akhilesh Yadav is with Congress' Meira Kumar. Mulayam, Shivpal to break ranks with Akhilesh, decide to throw weight behind Kovind He also said that the party led by Akhilesh Yadav did not consult him or Mulayam over presidential elections. The rift in Samajwadi Party was out in the open once again as Mulayam camp declared allegiance to Ram Nath Kovind. Shivpal Yadav, speaking to CNN-News18, said that Kovind hails from Uttar Pradesh and is a secular figure. He also said that the presidential polls should ideally be conducted wih unanimity. Kovind is our neighbour hailing from Kanpur; Akhilesh didn't consult us over prez poll: Shivpal Yadav Opposition presidential nominee Meira Kumar will recieve overwhelming support from West Bengal where 288 MLAs of the 299 are supporting Kumar. All legislators, barring three from the BJP and three from Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, an NDA ally, will vote for Kumar. Sonia, on Sunday, called for a "conscience vote" while attacking the Narendra Modi government for trying to impose "narrow-minded, divisive and communal vision" on the country. Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Vice-President Rahul Gandhi cast their votes for the Presidential election on Monday. "It is my firm belief that the Monsoon session will provide an opportunity to all political parties and MPs to enter into high standard of debate and to provide value addition for taking major decisions in larger national interest," he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi hoped the "growing stronger together" spirit of the GST will bring enthusiasm to Parliament proceedings and that political parties will engage in high standard of debate and provide value addition during the Monsoon session. There are 288 MLAs in Maharashtra who are eligible to vote in the election. Besides, there are 48 Lok Sabha MPs and 19 Rajya Sabha members from Maharashtra. Jailed NCP MLAs Chhagan Bhujbal and Ramesh Kadam are also expected to cast their votes in the presidential election, a Vidhan Bhawan official said. The voting for the presidential election started at the Vidhan Bhawan in south Mumbai on Mondya morning with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is an MLA from Nagpur, among the early voters. Poll debate a sad reflection of the immaturity of Indian democracy It says little about the maturity of our democracy when the ongoing debate around presidential polls is around the caste identity of the contesting candidates, not their achievements. Ramnath Kovind distinguished himself as a lawyer and has a long career as an administrator and a Parliamentarian. Ex-speaker of Lok Sabha Meira Kumar, daughter of Babu Jagjivan Ram, has a similar stellar career to boast of. But all the commentaries and debates so far have focused on which candidate is more "Dalit" than the other. The prime minister, yesterday and today, struck a note of harmony and conciliation but he would know that Kovind's selection had as much to do with BJP's need to woo Dalit community. Congress looked outmanouvred in choosing another Dalit candidate to forge opposition unity and then later tried to spin it as a battle of principles. The sad truth is, politics of identity trumps every other parameters during polls in India. Presidential polls are no exception. In the Lok Sabha, the BJP has 10 MPs from Chhattisgarh while the Congress has one. Marwahi MLA Amit Jogi, expelled from the Congress, had said he would support Meira Kumar. The Congress has also suspended Gunderdehi MLA Rajendra Kumar Rai. In the 90-member Chhattisgarh Assembly, BJP has 49 MLAs whereas the Congress has 39. One MLA is from the BSP while another is independent legislator. Voting for the presidential election began at the Chhattisgarh Assembly complex in Raipur on Monday morning. "Because all MPs don't necessarily vote only according to conscience, they also vote according to party lines and party lines are divided somewhat on ideology, principles and political positioning. So, I don't read too much into any other statement, except the fact that this is a clear case of the NDA scoring big in terms of the numbers," he added. There is no rocket science involved in predicting that the ruling NDA's nominee Ram Nath Kovind would win the presidential poll, senior NCP leader Praful said on Monday. The BJP has 47 legislators in the 90-member assembly. In the Haryana Assembly, ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators Kamal Gupta and Latika Sharma were among the first voters. Punjab has a Congress government since March. The party has 77 legislators in the 117-member assembly. The Congress legislators later gathered at the Punjab Bhawan here for a meeting on the issue. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had called all Congress legislators in the state for breakfast before the voting. Voting began in the Punjab and Haryana assemblies here on Monday morning to elect the country's 14th President. Voting for presidential elections will end at 5pm today. After the polling ends, the ballot boxes from the states would be flown to Delhi and stored in Parliament. The votes would be counted and results would be announced on 20 July, and the new President will assume office on 25 July. Polling to end at 5 pm but what's next? Though the outcome of Presidential poll is forgone conclusion but BJP leadership is not taking it easy. It is keen to send out a message that Opposition is disunited and PM Modi's candidate has support from across the party lines. The BJP under Narendra Modi-Amit Shah dispensation has acquired a tendency to punch above its weight. In last year's Rajya Sabha elections, the BJP fetched some extra seats than its strength in state Assemblies because it managed to get additional votes from other parties and Independents. After recent round of assembly elections even as the BJP did not have required numbers to form its government in Goa and Manipur, it outmanoeuvred Congress and formed government in these two states. Ram Nath Kovind is sure to win Presidential election but what is of real interest is his victory margin over Opposition candidate Meira Kumar. The ruling NDA was slightly short of 50 percent of value of votes in the electoral college but now, with the support of several non-NDA parties, its candidate appears all set to get around 65 percent votes. BJP leaders believe that it could reach 70 percent mark or even more. Ram Nath Kovind's win will be BJP's counter to claims of Opposition unity Sonia Gandhi and Meira Kumar's appeal to MPs and MLAs to vote as per their conscience and not vote as per their party's official line may eventually boomerang on them. Kumar has again and again urged legislators to caste their vote according to their conscience in a battle of ideologies. However, in this election, political parties can't issue whip and the voting is secretive. Mark Tejashwi Yadav's words as he expressed his anguish over cross-voting. Although he linked this with ruling NDA's insecurity in the polls but it was not difficult to make an easy reading of voting pattern. While the TMC in West Bengal is backing UPA's Meira Kumar, the Tripura branch of the TMC has come out in the support of NDA's nominee Ram Nath Kovind. While Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party has come out in support of Meira Kumar, there is a threat of 10-12 MLAs voting for Ram Nath Kovind. However Kejriwal told the Delhi Assembly, "We are supporting Meira Kumar (Opposition presidential candidate). All should vote following their conscience." In the Monsoon Session this year, there are 79 bills which are to be passed in both the Houses of Parliament. With Kovind in the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Modi government may look for the speedy passage of the bills. While Kovind's Dalit background may have been a reason for his elevation, the former Bihar Governor can also help the NDA to get his assent on key bills, especially through the ordinances route. Former Haryana Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Congress Legislature Party leader Kiran Choudhary excercised their votes in the designated polling station for Haryana. The Old Committee Room in the Assembly was the designated polling station in Haryana, while in Punjab, the polling was being held in the Assembly complex. The voting began at 10 am and will conclude at 5 pm. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar and senior Akali leader Parkash Singh Badal were among those who cast their votes for the presidential poll on Monday. "The president should be a person pursuing an ideology under which everybody should be equal for him. And when there is a clash of ideologies, I think our candidate (Kumar) is the best," Azad, the Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, said. Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said the fight between Kovind and Kumar was "one of ideologies" and rated the latter as the best choice for the president's post. "Kovind ji will win (the election) with a respectable and comfortable margin," Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu told reporters ahead of the polling. "comfortable" margin, while the opposition said its joint pick Meira Kumar was the best choice in the "clash of ideologies". As lawmakers voted to elect India's next president, the ruling BJP exuded today confidence that NDA nominee Ram Nath Kovind would win with a The NCP dismissed reports that its MPs and MLAs were voting for NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind. The rumours are false. We are voting for our candidate Meira Kumar, NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik told Hindustan Times. The Trinamool Congress had come out in support of Opposition's candidate Meira Kumar. However, the Tripura branch decided to vote against Meira and backed Ram Nath Kovind. Talking to media persons, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said, "We voted for Meira Kumar to register our protest against "present atrocities" in the country." Chief Electoral Officer, Tamil Nadu, Rajesh Lakhoni said the ballot box would be sealed at 5 pm and taken to Delhi by a 9.10 pm flight. Voting for the presidential election in Tamil Nadu was over in just about two hours today with 232 legislators, Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan, and a Kerala MLA casting their votes at the Assembly secretariat conference hall in Chennai. BJP President Amit Shah addresses the media in Delhi on vice presidential polls, announces M Venkaiah Naidu as NDA's Vice Presidential candidate Sonia Gandhi's contention that the presidential poll is a "clash of ideas" and a "conflict of values" is unconvincing. It is evident that Congress is trying to make a virtue out of political helplessness, short as it is of crucial numbers in the polling game. It is also a hollow statement because the Congress clearly doesn't practice what it preaches. Leave alone the race to Raisina, Congress looks out of shape for 2019 as well "A farmers son, Venkaiah Naidu Garu brings years of experience in public life and is admired across the political spectrum," Modi said about the urban development minister. "The years of Parliamentary experience M Venkaiah Naidu Garu has will help him discharge the important role of Rajya Sabha Chairperson," the prime minister added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to go for a Cabinet expansion as senior minister M Venkaiah Naidu's almost certain election as the next vice president will leave two heavyweight portfolios without a Cabinet minister. Naidu, whose candidature as the NDA's vice presidential candidate was announced on Monday, currently holds charge of the ministries of Information and Broadcasting and Urban Development. Read more here . Narendra Modi may go for Cabinet expansion as Venkaiah Naidu's nomination likely to vacate two portfolios Naidu started his political journey as a student leader in 1971. The BJP veteran, who is a key member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet, had cut his political teeth during the Emergency of 1975-77 when he went underground against the government of Indira Gandhi and eventually got jailed. Read the full profile here . Venkaiah Naidu is NDA's vice-presidential candidate: All you need to know about the BJP veteran The former Bihar Governor is also a trained lawyer and a constitutional expert, who is known to have worked on Dalit issues. The 71-year-old BJP politician known to keep a low profile, is now tipped to become the President of India, if speculations by media reports turn out to be trues. A farmer's son hailing from a small village near Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, Kovind's humble origins and simple lifestyle were stressed by BJP leaders. His caste identity further forked a pitched battle, with the NDA claiming to have nominated a member of the Dalit community for the highest constitutional post in India. Kumar is the best thing to have happened to the Opposition since VP Singh won a by-election in Allahabad three decades ago. If the Opposition carries forward its bonhomie, buries the egos of its prima donnas, Kumar could be a readymade candidate to take on Narendra Modi in 2019. From the defeat of the presidential polls could rise the Opposition's prime ministerial candidate for the 2019 elections. Even if Meira Kumar loses the presidential poll, this could be the beginning of her story. "I also believe in the inner voice of conscience," she also said. When asked about cross-voting, she said that such words should not be used for such elections. "This is my commitment. This is why I joined politics," she added. "We just made the voices of many people who believe in a certain set of principles stronger," she said. "Most of the people believe in a certain set of principles. We fought these elections on the basis of those principles," Meira Kumar told reporters. According to Financial Express , Kovind is leading over Kumar from states like Bihar and Assam. Ram Nath Kovind leads over Meira Kumar after first round of counting ends: Reports From Bihar, Kovind got 22,460 votes while Kumar got 18,867. According to News18 , Ram Nath Kovind got 27,189 votes from Andhra Pradesh while Meira Kumar got none. Fron Arunachal Pradesh, Kovind got 448 votes while Kumar got 24. From Assam, Kovind got 10,556 while Kumar got 460. As of now, the total number of votes polled are 6,84,179. There are 37 invalid votes. State-wise break up of votes so far Ram Nath Kovind got six votes in Delhi while Meira Kumar got 55. Six of the votes were rejected. Ram Nath Kovind has crossed the half way mark as the last phase of counting is underway, ANI reported Ram Nath Kovind to be sworn in on 25 July Kovind has a long career in politics behind him. He has headed the BJP's Dalit Morcha and is among one of the few Dalit faces the party could boast of in it's folds in north India. The party has also nominated him as its Rajya Sabha MP from the Hindi heartland twice in the past, where he enjoyed consecutive terms from 1994 for the next 12 year till March, 2006. Ram Nath Kovind is the 14th President of India: All you need to know about him "I want to tell the people that Ram Nath Kovind is going to the Rashtrapati Bhawan as a representative of the poor," said Kovind. He added that protecting the Constitution is his responsibility now. It is a very emotional moment for me: Ram Nath Kovind The Congress stood for "fake" slogans of Dalit empowerment as it did not field a Dalit when its candidate won the presidential elections in 2007 and 2012, he said. BJP spokesperson GVL Narsimha Rao said there were many to say that it was indeed an ideological contest with the NDA's "merit-based" selection pitted against the dynasty promoted by the Congress-led alliance. This easy demeanour has stood the Kanpur-born former lawyer in good stead, say political watchers. He is not just a Dalit leader, but is known for his organisational skills and is a loyal member of the BJP, attributes that not many in the larger NDA family can boast of. It was perhaps Kovind's non-confrontational approach to politics that led the JD(U) chief to back him for the president's office even though he had been critical of his appointment as the governor, but later it led to the curious situation of the party endorsing the opposition's candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi for the vice president's post. Stepping away from quietude to the spotlight of constant scrutiny that comes with being the country's first citizen, Kovind was picked for the job by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) from Raj Bhavan in Patna, where he had struck an easy working relationship with Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar. Ram Nath Kovind is known for his organisational skills and easy demeanor This easy demeanour has stood the Kanpur-born former lawyer in good stead, say political watchers. He is not just a Dalit leader, but is known for his organisational skills and is a loyal member of the BJP, attributes that not many in the larger NDA family can boast of. It was perhaps Kovind's non-confrontational approach to politics that led the JD(U) chief to back him for the president's office even though he had been critical of his appointment as the governor, but later it led to the curious situation of the party endorsing the opposition's candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi for the vice president's post. Stepping away from quietude to the spotlight of constant scrutiny that comes with being the country's first citizen, Kovind was picked for the job by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) from Raj Bhavan in Patna, where he had struck an easy working relationship with Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar. Ram Nath Kovind is known for his organisational skills and easy demeanor From burning lamps using ghee, distributing sweets to welcoming guests with 'gulaal' and flowers, a festive spirit permeated the atmosphere in Jhinjhak, 160 kilometres from Lucknow. Family members of the newly-elected president, who will go to Delhi by train on 23 July, have already started buying clothes for the swearing in ceremony. Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets President Elect #RamNathKovind in Delhi, congratulates him on his victory pic.twitter.com/pAnH0LY7zR In pictures: Modi meets Kovind and congratulates him for the win Heartiest congratulations and best wishes to Shri Ram Nath Kovind on being elected as the 14th President of India #PresidentMukherjee How easy was it for Ram Nath Kovind to win the election? Congratulations to #RamNathKovind for being elected as 14th President of India. The nation has got an honest & dedicated President: Assam CM pic.twitter.com/O3Noq3n9gq #RamNathKovind 's victory marks an important milestone in the political history. It reflects empowerment of weaker sections of society:J&K CM pic.twitter.com/4SWFqLitPY Confident that he (Ram Nath Kovind) will work for all from his position.Had very good experience with Pranab Da: Lok Sabha Speaker S Mahajan pic.twitter.com/4URZdxrXXo Sumitra Mahajan expresses hope that Kovind will work for all The counting for the presidential election held on Monday will start on Thursday and the name of the next occupant of the Rashtrapati Bhawan would be known by 5.00 pm, according to reports. According to Lok Sabha secretary general Anoop Mishra, who is also the returning officer of the election, the counting would begin at 11 am. First, the ballot box of Parliament House would be opened, and then, the ballot boxes received from states would be counted on alphabetical basis. Officials said all preparations have been made for the vote count and that all ballot boxes have already reached Parliament House by Tuesday evening amid tight security, according to IANS. The votes would be counted on four separate tables and there would be eight rounds of counting. An Election Commission official who has witnessed previous two presidential polls said that usually, results are declared at around 5 pm. Close to 99 percent voting was recorded for electing India's next president. The numbers are stacked in favour of the ruling coalition's nominee Ram Nath Kovind over the Opposition's candidate Meira Kumar. Thirty two polling stations including the one in Parliament house, were set up in various states. Officials said the seals of ballot boxes will be opened on Thursday in the presence of representatives of the two candidates former Bihar Governor Kovind and former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar and the observers of the Election Commission. A total of 4,896 voters 4,120 MLAs and 776 elected MPs were eligible to cast their ballot. MLCs of states with legislative council are not part of the electoral college. While the value of an MLA's vote depends on the population of the state he or she belongs to, the value of an MP's vote remains the same at 708. The total value of votes of the presidential electoral college is 10,98,903, and the NDA candidate is slated to get over 63 percent votes. In the last presidential election in 2012, Pranab Mukherjee had defeated PA Sangma and got over 69 percent votes. NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind was on Thursday elected as the 14th President of India after receiving an overwhelming majority of votes from the country's lawmakers. Kovind defeated Opposition candidate Meira Kumar, a former Lok Sabha speaker after garnering 66 percent of the votes in the Electoral College, Returning Officer Anoop Mishra announced. The 71-year-old, who will be the second Dalit to hold the top constitutional position, received 2,930 votes with a value of 7,02,044. Kovind will be the first BJP member to be elected president. He will be sworn in by the Chief Justice of India JS Khehar in the Central Hall of Parliament on 25 July. Meanwhile, Kumar polled in 1,844 votes with a value of 3,67,314. A total of 4,896 voters 4,120 MLAs and 776 elected MPs were eligible to cast their ballot. The polling was marked by cross-voting in various states, namely Gujarat, Assam, Goa, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, where many Opposition members favoured Kovind. Around 116 MPs and MLAs cross-voted, according to CNN-News18. In an address after the official announcement, Kovind thanked all those who supported him in his journey and said that the moment is emotional for him. He vowed to represent all those struggling to make a living. "I never aspired to be the president but my election is an evidence of the greatness of Indian democracy. My win is also a message to those discharging their duties with integrity," he said. Kovind also said that it is his duty to protect the Constitution and uphold its values as the president. "I pay my respects to my countrymen and assure them that I'll serve the nation in the spirit of 'Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah' (May all be happy)," he said. Meira Kumar, despite her defeat, put up a brave face and congratulated Kovind for winning the election. She however, said that as of 20 July, 2017, her fight for ideology has not ended. She vowed to continue her fight for secularism, the oppressed and the marginalised. She also thanked the Opposition parties for fielding her as a candidate and supporting her throughout. Wishes and congratulations poured in from everywhere for Kovind. Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated him and expressed happiness over the extensive support that he got. He also shared an old picture with Kovind, with the caption "always been a privilege to know you." Along with BJP chief Amit Shah, he felicitated the President-elect at 10, Akbar Road, where Kovind has been staying since filing his nomination. The Delhi Police also heightened security at the bunglow. Shah also congratulated Kovind and said that this win is a victory for the poor, downtrodden and the marginalised. BJP veteran LK Advani, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, among others, also sent their wishes to Kovind. Apart from BJP leaders, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee also congratulated Kovind. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, who decided to support Kovind despite ally RJD's insistence, also called up the President-elect and extended his greetings. RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, who had on numerous occasions asked Nitish to withdraw his support for Kovind, too joined in to send wished to the new President-elect. 20 years ago and the presentalways been a privilege to know you, President Elect. pic.twitter.com/IkhnOtYf8N Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 20, 2017 Congratulations to Ram Nath Kovind Ji, who will be our next President Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) July 20, 2017 Meanwhile, people in Kovind's village are also celebrating his win. A festive atmosphere prevailed outside his residence in Maharishi Dayanand Vihar colony of Kalyanpur with people exchanging sweets and embracing each other as the results of the presidential poll were declared. "It gives us immense pleasure and pride that Kovindji, who has been chosen as the country's 14th President, is a resident of ward number 20 of Kanpur Municipal Corporation (KMC), which I have the privilege of representing," Sanjay Batham, the local corporator, said. "For us, it is Diwali, Holi and Dussehra today," he said. "Even before the counting had begun, we had started the celebrations. The day Kovind's name was announced, we were confident of his victory," he said. Kovind has a long career in politics behind him. He has headed the BJP's Dalit Morcha and is among one of the few Dalit faces the party could boast of in it's folds in north India. A lawyer by profession, Kovind is a commerce graduate from Kanpur University. He has been a Central government advocate in the Delhi High Court from 1977 to 1979 and a Central Government Standing Counsel in the Supreme Court from 1980 to 1993. Kovind not only has the experience of sitting on a constitutional post as Bihar governor but he also has enough administrative experience as member of various parliamentary committees. He has been the chairman of the Rajya Sabha House Committee and has served as a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Welfare of Scheduled Castes/Tribes and Social Justice and Empowerment among others. With inputs from PTI New Delhi: Ram Nath Kovind will be the first BJP leader to occupy the hallowed precincts of the Rashtrapati Bhawan, underscoring the saffron party's preeminent political position under prime minister Narendra Modi and its chief Amit Shah. It is our great privilege that 1st time BJP had an opportunity to nominate a President on its own, a member of Dalit community was chosen. pic.twitter.com/QV83OP8Pcg Amit Shah (@AmitShah) July 20, 2017 Shah acknowledged as much in a tweet saying, "It is our great privilege that 1st-time BJP had an opportunity to nominate a President on its own, a member of Dalit community was chosen." The only other BJP-led NDA presidential nominee to get elected to the top constitutional position was APJ Abdul Kalam, who won in 2002, but he had no political background. Such was the appeal of his apolitical personality that even the opposition parties like the Congress supported his bid. As the saffron party did not enjoy in 2002 the kind of numbers it has now, it was virtually forced to go for a face like Kalam who could draw bi-partisan support. In the 2007 election, the BJP backed its stalwart Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, who was then the vice president, against the UPA nominee Pratibha Patil, but he lost in a one-sided contest. In 2012, the BJP supported the candidature of PA Sangma, a former Lok Sabha speaker, against Pranab Mukherjee of the Congress and other UPA partners. Sangma, who headed a regional outfit, lost badly with Mukherjee getting more than twice the number of votes he got. With the BJP never having the assurance of majority in earlier contests, except 2002 when it was in power at the Centre, some of its allies chose to back the winning candidate, notably the Shiv Sena in 2007 and the JD(U) and the Shiv Sena in 2012. This time, its candidate Kovind did not get only the votes of all its allies but also many rivals parties like the BJD and the JD(U). New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday asked searching questions about contours of the right to privacy in the digital age when personal information was randomly shared with all types of government and private entities. The apex court, which has ventured to examine whether the right to privacy can be held as a fundamental right, wanted to know about the tests which could be used to regulate and enforce privacy right when there could be "legitimate or illegitimate" use of data. The top court gave the examples of personal information like thumb impression people voluntarily gave for using mobile phones and iPhones which, it said, in a way amounted to surrender of privacy to both private and government bodies. "So does it amount to surrender of the constitutional or personal rights?" it asked It said a large section of the people gave consent for data for a particular purpose but wanted to know about the section which was unconcerned about the collection of data. A specially constituted nine-judge bench headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar sought to know how and what should be the test if there was uninformed consent for use of data by the majority of internet and mobile users. "How could the State step in to protect or regulate data. The moment you open your iPad by using your thumb impression, your finger print may get into the public domain and you may not know," it said. While asking about contours of right to privacy in the modern digital age, the bench, also comprising Justices J Chelameswar, SA Bobde, RK Agrawal, Rohinton Fali Nariman, Abhay Manohar Sapre, DY Chandrachud, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and S Abdul Nazeer, said that if it could be invoked against the "world at large", then the State would have to make a law to safeguard it. It said contours of this right have expanded in the age of Internet and data protection where private players were also privy to personal information of citizens. "If there is a right to privacy which is horizontal and is actionable against the world at large and not just the State, then the immediate consequence will be an obligation on the State to enact a law to regulate private players also to ensure that this right is protected," the bench said. It asked as to what would be remedies available to the aggrieved persons if their right to privacy was violated by "non-state actors". "The State is then under an obligation to ensure that personal data does not go to private (non-State) parties," it said. The bench also said, "The government cannot say that your right has been violated by private parties and hence, it cannot do anything". The court, which on Wednesday observed that right to privacy could not be absolute and the State might put restrictions, questioned the extent up to which a person could claim the right to privacy and decide to part or not to part with the personal information. Giving an illustration, it said an individual could apply for a passport and refuse to give information about his father or a person could decline details about the biological parents of his adopted son. "In the context of digital age, how far or to which extent, can a person say that he will disclose or he will not disclose...Can you have right to privacy to suppress your identity," the bench asked. The second day of the daylong hearing saw senior advocates like Arvind Datar, Anand Grover, Sajan Poovayya and Meenakshi Arora pressing hard that right to privacy was inherently linked to fundamental right which could not be invaded and that the government had the responsibility to protect it from being violated by both the state and private entities. Datar said in every jurisprudence, contours of the right to privacy differed on a case-to-case basis and assailed the views expressed in the MP Sharma and Kharak Singh cases by the apex court that the right to privacy was not a fundamental right, saying, "Now they do not hold good." Grover also supported the arguments in favour of privacy right and assailed the verdict in the MP Sharma case, saying that the right to privacy was not argued. The senior lawyer said the Constitution was a living document and its interpretation must be done in accordance with the passage of time and developments in the law. "The interpretation of the Constitution must be done in light of the developing law domestically and internationally and India's obligations under various international legal instruments," he said. "This is very important," the bench said, adding that if India was signatory of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, then the subsequent judgement in the MP Sharma case in 1954 was "wrong at its very inception". Another senior advocate Sajan Poovayya referred to the fact that India has more mobile and internet users than the US and the apex court should must consider right to privacy issue in a holistic manner and referred to a US judgement on privacy. "What is your position on consent or informed consent to disseminate data or when there is no consent at all. What should be the contours of right of privacy then," the bench asked. The lawyer then said that in Karnataka a law was brought under which the state government sought data from taxi aggregators, about the people booking taxis and from which location and to which place. "There is no justification for the government to seek such data from taxi aggregators. What will the State do with such data about people, but then it can be misused if the State takes the data to find out that you travelled from one place to such specific place on weekends," he said. The bench then said if a person is involved in terrorist activity, then will it not be an obligation of the State to seek and use the data about a person travelling from one place to another. Poovayya said in the digital world, the collection and analysis of data were being done simultaneously in such a way through artificial intelligence that it was not known to everybody. He said in today's world, digital property is as important as physical property and that's why the need for the right to privacy becomes paramount. The arguments remained inconclusive and would resume on 25 July when Attorney General KK Venugopal would put forth the government's views. By Sharanya Gopinathan In Living a Feminist Life, author Sara Ahmed talks about the idea of having and equipping your feminist toolkit: A set of tools, skills, laws, ideas and habits that women can use to fight the patriarchy and live a happy life. As women living in a patriarchal world, you often get the feeling that you need every single tool available to you to keep surviving and fighting the good fight, and that each of these tools is incredibly valuable. I think thats why it feels extra shocking and scary right now that were on the brink of losing a potential tool, one that has been successfully used to help women in the past. In its relentless march towards universal Aadhaar, the government is currently arguing before the Supreme Court that citizens dont, in fact, have a fundamental right to privacy. While this should scare everyone in the country, women especially should be particularly concerned with the upcoming judgment and what it could potentially mean for us. You see, privacy and the right to privacy has been something thats helped women a lot (one notion of privacy has also hurt us a lot, but more on that later). While the SC hasnt legally recognised a specific right to privacy in the Constitution, it has in the past understood Article 21, which guarantees your fundamental right to life and liberty, in a way that sees privacy as an integral part of what it means to lead a free and good life. This concept of privacy has often been used in India, alongside other rights, to interpret laws and regulations that have helped women in many ways. Take stalking, for example. In the aftermath of the 2012 December Delhi gang-rape, an amendment to the existing rape law made several changes based on the idea of a womens privacy and the need to protect it from being violated. The additions specifically mentioned the offences of physical and cyber stalking, making it clear that privacy was something that the government recognised as important to survivors, and that violations to privacy were violations to a womans safety. That same amendment criminalised some other things too. In an attempt to deal with peeping Toms (almost as cute a phrase as roadside Romeos, and one step away from good old eve-teasers), it laid down that voyeurism, or spying on woman in a situation where she has the expectation of privacy, was a specific offence. The Delhi High Court invoked this law and the right to privacy when sentencing a man in an April 2016 case for spying on a woman as she was using the toilet. The point was not that the woman had come to any physical harm because shed been watched by a creep, but that her security had been threatened because of an invasion of her privacy. The amendment also banished the practice of asking about a rape survivors sexual history in court. This used to be a real practice, by the way, and a factor that judges have actually based their judgments on in rape cases as in the famous Mathura case where a judge ruled that Mathura (a minor Adivasi girl) could not have been raped by two police constables inside a police station because she was "habituated to sexual intercourse", meaning that she had had sex before so how could she have been raped (yeah dont even try to understand it, it makes zero sense). The notion of privacy remains one of the reasons why media houses are not allowed to publish the names of rape survivors. All of these laws were put in place to ensure womens safety, and they show how everyone, including the government, understands that privacy is a huge part of what it means to be safe and secure as a woman. Privacy is also one of the arguments for creating a law that addresses the nasty trend of 'revenge porn', where angry ex-lovers post nude pictures or videos of their former partners online after a break-up or disagreement. In April, a Delhi University student committed suicide after her ex-boyfriend threatened to post 'revenge porn' pictures of her online. 'Revenge porn' has become such a widespread problem in India that the government is trying to find a way to criminalise it, and the idea that the practice violates a womans privacy remains a vital reason to support it. Saying that we dont have a fundamental right to privacy automatically puts a lot of other arguments on shakier ground. For example, a large part of the Naz Foundations arguments against criminalising certain sexual acts under Section 377 rests on the assumption that we have a certain right to privacy, and that the State shouldnt invade the privacy of consenting adults within four walls. However, women still have to invoke the notion of privacy carefully and specifically, since it can also be turned and used against us. Lawyer Gautam Bhatia points out that privacy shouldnt be ascribed to a certain place (the bedroom, within four walls of the home) or a certain social arrangement (the family or marriage), since that allows the State to also conveniently ignore power imbalances and violence within the home or family, and we start slipping down a slippery slope to allowing things like marital rape to be legal, and for the police to casually dismiss domestic violence as family matters. The idea of privacy that were fighting for should be given to the individual, not a space or a relationship, and the line for privacy should be drawn at violence, nothing else. The notion of individual privacy isnt just important as an argument for interpreting our laws, its also a tool to fight creeping State control. The government has always loved (and will always love) regulating women and their bodies and telling us what to do with them. Last month, the Tamil Nadu government suddenly decided that all women must officially break the news of pregnancy to the government and if they want their children to be issued birth certificates. This truly bizarre new regulation is scheduled to roll out this month. If someone had told me six months ago that Ill soon have to compulsorily report my pregnancy to the government, Id probably have laughed them out of town. And this is why its so important to have the right to privacy always available in your feminist toolkit: For situations that you cant even imagine or foresee yet. Ten years ago, we would never have imagined that hackers would find a way of spying on us through our webcams, or that ex-boyfriends could post our nude selfies online, or that Facebook patent technology to record our facial expressions while we watch videos, or that the government would force us to give up our fingerprints and retina scans, or force us to dutifully report all our pregnancies to them. Clearly, we cant imagine today what new tricks people, big corporations or the government will cook up tomorrow but being able to invoke a fundamental right to privacy is an invaluable tool against such attacks on women. Not being able to use this tool not only weakens some of the protections we have now, but leaves us that much weaker in the fights to come. And believe me, the fights are going to keep coming. Its also pretty ironic when you look at who exactly is arguing that Indians should not have an absolute right to privacy. The same government thats headed by a man famous for his refusal to be accessible to the media, and who's issued notices to ministers not to talk to the press, is now claiming that citizens do not have the right to their privacy. If you look around you, youll notice that were living in a country where the government is becoming less and less transparent, while our own lives are being increasingly stripped bare to government monitoring and scrutiny. In a real democracy, which we pretend to live in, dont you think it should be the other way around? The Ladies Finger (TLF) is a leading online womens magazine delivering fresh and witty perspectives on politics, culture, health, sex, work and everything in between. New Delhi: India said Thursday it was ready to hold talks with China with both sides pulling back their forces to end a standoff along a disputed territory high in the Himalayan mountains. Tensions flared in June in the southernmost part of Tibet in an area also claimed by Indian ally Bhutan, after Chinese teams began building a road onto the Doka La plateau. The tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan turned to help from New Delhi, which sent troops across the border from the northeastern state of Sikkim. China retaliated by closing a nearby mountain pass that Indian pilgrims use to reach Mount Kailash, a sacred Hindu and Buddhist site in Tibet. India's external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said that a 2012 agreement bound China and India to settle the boundary issue with Bhutan. Her response came as China demanded that Indian forces leave the area to avoid an escalation. India and China fought a bloody war in 1962. Speaking in Parliament on Thursday, Swaraj said that Chinese forces recently came with bulldozers and excavators with the intent of building infrastructure that would change the status quo. In the past, the Chinese have built temporary roads in the area. "If China unilaterally changes the status quo of the tri-junction, it becomes a matter of security concern for India," she said, referring to the area where the three countries meet. Swaraj said China has been demanding that India withdraw its forces from the area. "If China wants to discuss the matter, both sides should withdraw their forces and talk,'" she said. She also said that China was becoming "aggressive" with Bhutan following its protest of the Chinese move. The crisis is expected to be discussed when Indian national security adviser Ajit Doval visits Beijing on 27-28 July to take part in a security forum under the BRICS group of large developing nations that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The nuclear-armed neighbors share a 3,500-kilometer border, much of it contested. Beijing: China and India should resolve their border dispute in Doka La before the BRICS Summit in September and much of the onus is on New Delhi, a Chinese expert has said. Hu Zhiyong, a research fellow at the Institute of International Relations of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said India must withdraw its soldiers from Doka La to end the row that began more than a month ago. But India might not do so since Doka La was a bargaining chip for New Delhi to deal with China, he said. Hu said it would be "embarrassing" for India to attend the BRICS Summit in China if the issue was not resolved by then. The annual Summit of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will take place in the first week of September. "The ongoing border tension is testing China's patience, and if the border tension remains until September, it would be very embarrassing for Indian leaders to come to China to attend the BRICS summit. This is bad for China and India as well as other BRICS countries," Hu was quoted as saying by the Global Times. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to attend the five-member summit in Xiamen. China was embarrassed when India did not attend the Belt and Road summit in May in Beijing. India opposed the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, the chief component of the Belt and Road because it passes through the disputed Kashmir between New Delhi and Islamabad. "In September, the Doklam plateau may start to experience snow. Weather could force India to withdraw its soldiers though this is unlikely to happen because India wants to have a bargaining chip with China from the border stand-off," Hu said. "Another possibility is that China takes action as soon as possible to force out Indian troops and defuse tensions to provide a good atmosphere for the BRICS summit." Chinese state-run media and experts have repeatedly warned India of military conflict if it didn't withdraw troops from Doka La. Hu said if India did not pull back, neither country will benefit. "China is trying to make it clear to other countries that India is the troublemaker, not China. China didn't start tensions, and it is trying its best to reason with India and seek a peaceful solution. In other words, China is standing on a moral high ground," Hu said. Beijing: China said on Thursday that diplomatic channels with India remained "unimpeded" to discuss the military standoff in Sikkim sector but reiterated that the withdrawal of the Indian troops from Doka La area is a "precondition" for any meaningful dialogue. "Our diplomatic channel is unimpeded," foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters, confirming talks between Indian and Chinese missions to resolve the standoff. Lu, however, reiterated that "the withdrawal of the Indian border personnel is the precondition for any meaningful dialogue and communication between the two countries". "The facts and nature of the incident that has taken place at the Sikkim section of the China-India boundary are very clear, that is, Indian border guards having illegally trespassed the border line into Chinese territory," Kang also said. In New Delhi, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said the matter can be resolved through talks. "We are willing to talk, but both sides have to first take back their armies," she told the Rajya Sabha. The minister said the boundaries between India and China are yet to be finalised and the two countries will do that bilaterally through discussions, while the same between China and Bhutan too will be done through bilateral talks. She accused China of building roads using bulldozers and excavators, which has been protested by Bhutan in writing to China. Chinese and Indian soldiers have been locked in a face-off for over a month after Indian troops stopped the Chinese army from constructing a road near the Doka La plateau, fearing it may allow China to cut India's access to its northeastern states. India has conveyed to China that the construction of the road would represent a significant change of status quo with serious security implications for New Delhi. India and China share a 220-kilometres-long border in Sikkim. Lu claimed that the incident makes it clear that "Indian border personnel illegally trespassed into China's territory." The standoff is expected to figure prominently during the visit of National Security Adviser Ajit Doval to Beijing for the meeting of NSAs from BRICS Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa countries from 26-27 July. Chinese officials say while there may not be a formal meeting between Doval and his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi, there can be informal talks between the two officials, who are also the Special Representatives of their countries for the border talks. Both countries have so far held 19 rounds of talks. Earlier this month, China had refused to acknowledge that Chinese president Xi Jinping even met Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany as the standoff continued. India's Ministry of External Affairs, however, the said that the two leaders met and discussed a "range of issues". Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj gave a strong message to China in the Parliament on Thursday stating that 'India is well equipped to defend itself against China'. This is the first time India appeared firm in its stand vis-a-vis China, unlike in the past when it always conceded. "Saare desh humare saath hain aur sabhi desh samajh rahe hain ki Bharat ne jo apna mat rakha hai woh galat nahi hai (All the nations are with us and all of them are agreeing that the stand India has adopted is not wrong)," Swaraj said in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. Despite not being an ally to any super power, the confidence that the external affairs minister showed on Thursday compels one to think whether Narendra Modis diplomatic initiatives on the world stage, soon after he became the prime minister, are beginning to pay off. Is India comfortable in the knowledge that global powers will support its stand as Swaraj said on Thursday? In the 1970s, India had an alliance with the Soviet Union, but since then it has maintained an independent status unlike Pakistan, which has allied with China. "Despite being independent (and) without any ally at present, India is strong enough to tackle the situation on its own. It has been possible due to the diplomatic engagements that Modi had (undertaken) in the last three years. He has been successful in positioning himself among the top four global leaders, with the other three being Donald Trump, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, observed MD Nalapat, a political analyst and professor of geopolitics at Manipal University. "This status of Modi automatically puts India among the 'Big Four'. In the past, only former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru achieved this status," he said. Probably, it's this confidence that ensured India to take a strong decision and deploy its military , and as a result, Indian troops stopped Chinese soldiers from building the road in the Doka La area. On the issue of the Sikkim stand-off, Swaraj added, "China has unilaterally tried to change the status quo at the tri-junction and that is a threat to our security. We are willing to talk but both sides should take back their armies to the original position. We are involved in a tri-junction this time and its directly related to us. If China changes it by constructing the road up to that point, it is a threat to our security. All countries are supporting us on this issue." The tri-junction is a shared border between India, China and Bhutan and a status quo has been maintained under an agreement on activities like construction of road, etc, at this point. "If China completes construction of this road, it'll be a grave security threat for India. In the past, India conceded in the case of China. But this time, despite informal pressure from other countries, Modi has stood firm on this border issue. In the past, it was only Indira Gandhi, who took a strong stand in the case of Bangladesh, and now its Modi," Nalapat added. On the strategy that India needs to adopt on India-China border dispute, defence analyst Brigadier (retired) Narender Kumar said, "When national interest is under threat, bold application of military power is must. And its better to have capability-based force. China doesnt respect global opinion. It only respects its own interest. As India failed to develop leverages since long, weve to adopt a pragmatic approach and develop leverages to increase our own sphere of influence at regional and global levels." "The options for India at this stage is either to take the threat from China as a challenge and develop capabilities or succumb to the coercion and allow China to encroach upon Indias strategic space. Therefore, wisdom will be in building indigenous capabilities and developing a hedging strategy resolute enough to deal with the exterior manoeuvre of China and Pakistan collectively. This time the government has been successful in taking a strong stand at the border, he added. Sushma Swaraj told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday that once China violated the 2012 agreement and unilaterally changed the status quo at tri-junction, India had no choice but to intervene. This marks the external affairs minister's first comments on the issue and India's first official response since the 30 June MEA press release to the continuing, tense standoff at the Sikkim sector. Swaraj's comments are consistent with India's stated position, that it was China who changed the "facts on the ground" and in so doing, sparked off a chain reaction that has now introduced discord in a stable relationship. India has so far been extremely careful about public posturing over the impasse, preferring to plow ahead with quiet diplomacy, but the minister's comments make it amply clear that New Delhi is in no mood to back off despite China's rigorous efforts to ratchet up the temperature. Even as the minister was making her statements in the Upper House of Parliament, fresh reports from Beijing indicated that China would carry on with its ploy to pile up pressure on India through psy-ops and media-driven proxy war. A former Chinese diplomat, who had been posted in Mumbai before as Consul General, told China's state broadcaster that India has three options at Doklam: "Withdrawal, capture or death." According to a report carried by India Today, Liu Youfa told CCTV that "when people in uniform get across the border and move into territory of another country, they naturally become the enemies who have to face three consequences First they can pull out voluntarily. Or, they can be captured. And should the border dispute escalate, they may be killed. These are the three possibilities", adding that "Chinese side is standing there waiting for India to make a sensible choice." It is unclear at this stage whether China's persistent efforts to bully India into submission would bear fruit. If Swaraj's comments are any indication, India appears determined to stay put unless there is a similar commitment from the Chinese side and resolute in its stand of finding a diplomatic solution to the crisis that is acceptable to both sides. "It's only fair that China should do the same if it wants India to pull out its troops", the minister told MPs in Rajya Sabha, adding: "The truth is on our side". She also attempted to counter China's narrative of portraying itself as the 'victim of Indian aggression', clarifying that it was China who posed a threat to India's security by altering the status quo at a sensitive location in violation of Bhutan's sovereignty and a spate of agreements. Swaraj also stressed that the tri-junction ends at Batang La (China claims it stretches till Mount Gymochen) and said that Beijing has been inching towards the tri-junction through road-building exercises for a long time and India has chosen not to react till it reaches a point where our security is threatened, which it has this time. "Over the years, China has been trying to get closer and closer to the tri-junction point. It has been involved in dirt road-building, making them metal-top, road repairing and things like that This time though, they came with bulldozers and construction equipment with the aim of breaching the point where the tri-junction ends. That is a threat to our security," said the minister. "We had to intervene. We are ready to talk but both sides must agree to de-escalate and pull out troops," she added. If China unilaterally changes status-quo of tri-junction point between China-India & Bhutan then it poses a challenge to our security: EAM ANI (@ANI_news) July 20, 2017 Swaraj's statement leave no space for doubt that India sees itself as acting in self-defence. Since every sovereign nation has the right to protect own security interests, India firmly believes that it has the strategic, political and moral right to remain firm in the standoff. According to the minister, the entire nations is united on this issue and other nations, too, are supportive of India's actions. The last point is debatable, because geopolitical moves are seldom governed by anything other than self-interest. India can, at best, hope for moral support from nations should a military conflict break out against China. We have to fight our own battles. More importantly, though, Swaraj's comments indicate that India is unwavering in questions of national security and won't be bullied by China. This alone sends a message to Beijing that its mind games are not going to work. New Delhi: India said on Thursday that there should be freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. "Our stand is there should be freedom of navigation and unimpeded commerce (in South China Sea)," external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj told the Rajya Sabha. The minister also said that no power can cast a ring around India. "China has been building ports and facilities close to Indian maritime boundaries," she said. "They have built a facility which they call logistic support facility at Djibouti. They have also developed ports at Kyaukpyu in Myanmar, Hambantota in Sri Lanka and Gwadar in Balochistan. "But to say that India is being surrounded is not correct. India is alert towards its security. No power can surround or corner India," she said. New Delhi: In another novel protest, Tamil Nadu farmers rallying in New Delhi to demand loan waiver and drought relief package on Thursday beat themselves with flip-flops to protest the almost two-fold salary hikes state legislators have given themselves. About 80 farmers shouted slogans against the state lawmakers, calling the salary move "shameless" and describing their own condition as "worse than beggars". "Farmers do not have food to eat or money to survive due to prolonged drought in our state. Instead of taking steps to provide them relief, our MLAs chose to increase their own salaries. We have been left speechless by their shameless action. We condemn it in very strong words," farmer leader P Ayyakannu told IANS. The President of the National-South Indian Rivers Linking Farmers Association said the farmers were agitated by the "shameless" decision of the Tamil Nadu legislators to hike their own salaries. The legislators on Wednesday approved a hike in their salaries from Rs 55,000 to Rs 1.05 lakh per month, apart from an increase in MLA Development Fund from Rs 2 crore to Rs 2.5 crore. Nearly 100 farmers from the agrarian crisis-hit state, who had suspended their 41-day long protest following government assurance in April, turned up again at the Jantar Mantar on Sunday to press for their demands. They want Rs 40,000-crore drought relief package, complete loan waiver, compensation for agriculture produce, crop insurance to individual farmers, and linking of rivers to address water crisis in Tamil Nadu. Three months ago, these farmers had grabbed nationwide attention by holding protests while donning garlands of human skulls which they claimed were of dead farmers, holding mock funerals, shaving their heads, holding snakes and mice in their mouths, stripping outside the Prime Minister's Office and threatening to drink their own urine. Agartala: The Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) on Thursday withdrew its 11-day old blockade of railway lines and NH 8 to press for the creation of a separate tribal state following an ultimatum by the administration. West Tripura Superintendent of Police Abhijit Saptarshi said the district had announced that measures would be taken if the blockade was not withdrawn by 9 am this morning. "The blockade was withdrawn within the time frame," he said, adding prohibitory order was promulgated in and around the place where it was being held at 5 am and security was beefed up. District Magistrate, Milind Ramteke said "the blockade has been withdrawn peacefully at 9 am and agitators are going back home with proper security as the administration has arranged buses for them". Addressing party workers before withdrawing the blockade, IPFT president NC Debbarma claimed that the Centre had in-principle accepted the tribal outfit's demand for creation of a separate Twipraland state. "We hope the central government will soon convene a tripartite meeting to discuss the matter." he said There was, however, no official confirmation regarding the Centre's acceptance of the separate state demand. Governor Tathagata Roy had in a statement on Saturday requested the agitators to withdraw the movement and assured that their demands would be sent to the appropriate authority for necessary actions. The Left Front government in Tripura had on several occasions requested IPFT to withdraw its movement considering the inconvenience caused to the people. This is a review of an Indian Islamic scholar's speech on what sort of relationships Muslims should have with non-Muslims in the light of Quranic verses. The speech was published as an essay, titled, "The rights and relations with non-Muslim relatives" by an Islamic journal. Perhaps, the expression "non-Muslim relatives" is used because during early days of Islam, there were many Muslims whose family members hadn't embraced Islam. The speech was delivered by Mufti Mohammad Shakir of the Madrassa Islamia Arabia Baitul Uloom, situated at Sarai Meer in Azamgarh district of Uttar Pradesh, at a seminar on "The foundations of relations and cooperation between Muslims and non-Muslims in the light of the Quran". The seminar was organised by Madrassatul Islah of Sarai Meer on 16-17 November, 2016. Madrassatul Islah is a leading madrassa where students from Tibet and Myanmar used to study till the 1950s. The speech was published in five parts in Faizan-e-Ashraf, an Urdu-language monthly journal published by the Madrassa Islamia Arabia Baitul Uloom, starting from January 2017 through June 2017, except for the month of February. The universalism of Islam Mufti Shakir begins his essay by arguing that to make this world a heaven Islam teaches Muslims the lessons of humanity, brotherhood, unity, equality and moderation, service of humankind, and good manners of speech, and the like. "Only that society fits to be called Islamic society whose foundation is organised on the basis of mutual brotherhood and unity," he notes. Shakir then observes: "Where the Quran announces: 'Indeed, the religion in the sight of Allah is Islam' (Verse 3:19), it also clarifies: 'There shall be no compulsion in (acceptance of) the religion' (Verse 2:256)." Based on these two verses, Shakir concludes that force cannot be used to make non-Muslim accept Islam, and observes: "The pious Quran gives the same basic rights to Muslims as well as non-Muslims such as protection of life and property, safeguard of honour and dignity, peace of personal life, right to freedom of belief, protection of the places of worship, etc." The issue Shakir, however, does not address is this: Islam gives all these rights to non-Muslims only if they live under the Sharia rule. In other words, non-Muslims can enjoy these rights and freedoms only as second-class citizens under an Islamic rule, a fundamental Quranic directive based on which Pakistan legally prohibits non-Muslim Pakistani citizens from becoming the head of the state. There are additional problems with Shakir's argument. He quotes the above two verses only partially. For example, the Verse 3:19 reads in full: "Indeed, the religion in the sight of Allah is Islam. And those who were given the scripture did not differ except after knowledge had come to them out of jealous animosity between themselves. And whoever disbelieves (ie, non-Muslims) in the verses of Allah, then indeed, Allah is swift in (taking) account." Similarly, the full version of Verse 2:256 reads: "There shall be no compulsion in (acceptance of) the religion. The right course has become clear from the wrong. So, whoever disbelieves in Taghut (non-Muslim oppressor) and believes in Allah has grasped the most trustworthy handhold with no break in it. And Allah is hearing and knowing." "Polytheism and kufr (unbelief) are the biggest crimes in the eyes of Islam and its laws, but even those guilty of these are not deprived of human rights," Shakir says, adding that Islam requires Muslims to be on good behaviour with their relatives but, unlike in other religions, in fulfilment of "the happiness of Allah". He cites several Quranic verses and hadiths (traditions of Prophet Mohammad) that require Muslims to adopt an attitude of compassion towards their relatives. Citing Verse 60:8, Mufti Shakir states emphatically that Islam doesn't lay "the condition of being Muslim and non-Muslim" in order to help the poor or those in difficulties. Stating that the Quran is not a book for Muslims only, Shakir cites Verse 2:272 to criticise those Muslims who do not help non-Muslims due to their beliefs in idolatry and polytheism. The problem of Islam "The Quran declares all the national creeds and religions which become a cause of dividing humanity into pieces as accursed," Shakir writes in a sentence which seems to uplift humanity to the highest level. However, the very next part of his sentence declares that the Quran "guides that the true religion of God is the one that is very near/affinitive to God. And affinity to God means that it rises above all factions and nations, encapsulating the entire humanity in its arms and such a religion is only and only Islam". This is where the problem begins. After having discussed that Islam stipulates no condition of religion in having good behaviour and compassion with non-Muslims, Shakir begins to undo this argument. He cites how Hazrat Maymunah, the prophet's wife, freed a female slave; to this, the prophet responded saying you could have got more blessings of God if you had given the slave to one of your maternal uncles. Shakir cites hadiths to argue that simply changing the method, one can get double blessings for a single act, and observes: "Along with all these rights, the ties of a love-by-heart with non-Muslim dear and near ones is not rightful." In justification, he cites the Quranic verse 58:22 partly, which states: " You will not find a people who believe in Allah and the Last Day having affection for those who oppose Allah and His Messenger, even if they were their fathers or their sons or their brothers or their kindred." Further, Shakir quotes the Verse 60:1 partly as saying: "O you who have believed, do not take My enemies and your enemies as allies, extending to them affection while they have disbelieved in what came to you of the truth." Continuing with his argument that Muslims should not have good relationship with kafirs (non-Muslims), he quotes another Verse 3:28: "Let not believers take disbelievers as allies rather than believers. And whoever (of you) does that has nothing with Allah." He quotes the 14th century's celebrated interpreter of the Quran, Ibn Kathir, as saying that in Verse 3:28, Allah has prevented Muslims "from loving kafirs" and "from sharing secrets". He quotes the Verse 3:118 which prevents Muslims from sharing secrets with non-Muslims: "O you who have believed, do not take as intimates those other than yourselves, for they will not spare you (any) ruin. They wish you would have hardship." The Islamic scholar says: "It emerges obviously from these verses that to have business and friendship with kafirs is haram and strictly forbidden." Shakir notes: "But nowadays, the attention of Muslims is not at all towards this (order of) prohibition; friendship with kafirs and discontent with our ones, worldly interest is in front of (of us); we have friendship with kafirs to preserve worldly interests, (but) do not care for friendship with Muslims." He adds: "The enemies of Islam get Muslims to write articles which comprise of the internal situations and matters of Muslims and their intentions and news of their institutions. These people are friends of kafirs. The friendship of Muslims and Islam is not before them." He quotes the Verse 3:28 partly: "And whoever (of you) does that has nothing with Allah." The types of relationships Shakir notes that there are three types of relationships with non-Muslims: religious, social and business. In religious matters, he observes: "there are two types of non-Muslim relatives apostates and zindeeq such as Qadianis; no type of relationship with them is right." Qadiani is a pejorative term for Ahmadi Muslims. Zindeeq, however, has different meanings: it could mean freethinkers but in the popular understanding among South Asian Muslims, it is used for pigs which are considered unpious in Islam. Apostates are those who have left Islam. Shakir also quotes Verse 48:16 to support his argument that any type of relationship with such persons is not possible, presumably because they have left Islam. Also, Shakir observes: "Among others, friendly relationship is not possible with non-Muslims of Jews and Christians" and citing the Verse 60:1, he says "in other words, it is not right for momineen (faithful Muslims) to befriend kafirs, but to have good conduct with them is not only good, but better." He notes that non-Muslims used to eat alongside Prophet Mohammad. Shakir's observation makes it clear that ex-Muslims and Ahmadis are worse than non-Muslims in the imagination of Islamic clerics. In the same breath, Shakir quotes Prophet Mohammad as saying that it is not right to join in the religious rituals and celebrations of non-Muslims. With regard to social relationships, the Islamic scholar observes that Islam wants Muslims to maintain social ties with non-Muslims and be compassionate and loving towards them. To support this argument, he quotes the Verse 5:2 partly: "And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression. And fear Allah; indeed, Allah is severe in penalty." He also notes that the prophet attended meetings in the homes of non-Muslims, notably to reach peace agreements. With regard to economic and trade relationships, Shakir says that such relations are right provided that common Muslims are not hurt as a result. Concerning what kind of relationships Muslims should have with non-Muslim parents who have not converted, as was the case during the early days of Islam, Shakir notes that one must serve parents, whether they are Muslim or non-Muslim. For justification, he quotes the Quranic Verse 46:15 partly: "And We have enjoined upon man, to his parents, good treatment." And then he adds a condition: "It is not at all right to have a relationship of love with non-Muslim parents and to obey them against the order of Allah." He quotes the Verse 31:15 to argue that Allah forbids Muslims to obey parents if they share a God with them, notably if they force them to believe in polytheism. However, Shakir's key argument, citing many hadiths, remains that Muslims must not severe ties with non-Muslim parents. However, in social situations, he advises that after expressing words of greetings, one should move away from such parents. The Islamic scholars quotes many incidents from the life of Prophet Mohammad and many fatwas (Islamic decrees) to argue that Muslims must help non-Muslims. However, he also cites the Verse 11:37 to argue a case that Muslims must not obey non-Muslims in their religious and collective life. As per the verse, Allah says: "And construct the ship under Our observation and Our inspiration and do not address Me concerning those who have wronged (Muslims); indeed, they are (to be) drowned." The concept of equality in Islam, as understood by Muslims, has always been "Islamic equality", or equality between Muslims only. This excludes equality for non-Muslims. Shakir notes that non-Muslims "are not members of Islamic brotherhood" and cites the Verse 49:10 in justification: "The believers are but brothers, so make settlement between your brothers." Perhaps, this is one of the reasons why the Egyptian terrorist group calls itself Muslim Brotherhood, or Ikhwanul Muslimeen. Among Muslims, it is a commonly held belief that Muslim men can marry women of Judaism and Christianity, or people of the book, without converting them to Islam. But, Shakir quotes the Verse 2:221: "And do not marry polytheistic women until they believe (i.e. convert to Islam). And a believing (Muslim) slave woman is better than a polytheist, even though she might please you. And do not marry polytheistic men (to your women) until they believe. And a believing slave is better than a polytheist" The reason Muslims are forbidden from marrying the men and women of infidels, he says, is because "kafir men and women become the cause of leading humans towards jahannam (hell)." With regard to the permission that Muslims can marry women of of the book, Shakir observes that many sahaba (companions of the prophet) such as Abdullah bin Umar were opposed to this practice because they did not see any difference between a polytheist and such a woman. He cites the case of Umar ibn Khattab, the second caliph of Islam, who agreed that Muslim men were permitted to marry women of the books but disliked this practice. Therefore, Umar ibn Khattab ordered a Muslim to divorce a Jewess. Shakir concludes his essay by arguing that good manners are essential to be observed by Muslims in society, insofar as they do not conflict with the tenets of Islam, and argues that exchanging gifts with non-Muslims for better relations and visiting their graveyards is the rightful things to do especially because it can help in the preaching of Islam. The author, a former BBC journalist, is a contributing editor at Firstpost and executive director of the Open Source Institute, New Delhi. He tweets @tufailelif Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumars party Janata Dal (United) made conflicting statements on Thursday about the demand for Tejashwi Yadavs resignation over his alleged involvement in the land graft case. Soon after the closed door meeting between the chief minister and his deputy Tejashwi, which signalled that the ruling mahagathbandhan may survive, the JD(U) leaders sought to make it clear that the charges of corruption against the RJD leader were not discussed at all and his party was still waiting for his explanation. Referring to CBIs FIR against Tejashwi for getting a piece of prized land in Patna, in lieu of awarding licenses of two IRCTC run hotels to a private company when his father and RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav was railway minister, JD(U) spokesman Sanjay Singh said, It has left stains on the face of our government. Who will erase it? Obviously, the onus is on the RJD to come clean. People who voted us owe an answer from them. Other spokesmen, Ajay Alok and Rajeev Ranjan, also lashed out at the RJD for trying to ignore the issue by projecting that Tuesdays meeting between Nitish and Tejashwi had resolved the issue. Meanwhile, Tejashwi, who is in Delhi, said that there was no threat to the mahagathbandhan. On the other hand, JD(U)s general secretary KC Tyagi, contrary to his party colleagues, also echoed Tejashwis statement saying the ruling alliance was unbreakable. He also hinted that Nitish never demanded resignation from Tejashwi and only said that those facing corruption charges must go to peoples court and furnish an explanation. Amid the war of words between the RJD and the JD(U), third alliance partner Congress sought to dispel any friction within the mahagathbandhan. Congress spokesman Dileep Chaudhary expressed confidence that all was now well within the alliance but accused that some JD(U) leaders were still trying to blow the issue out of proportion. New Delhi: Reacting to the BJP charge that its documents on cow vigilantes was aimed at dividing the country, the Congress on Wednesday accused the ruling party of spreading false news and challenged the government to a parliamentary debate on issues of national interest. The BJP earlier said that the 32-page Congress dossier on cow vigilante lynchings and attacks on Dalits and other issues is a "dossier of disruption" aimed at dividing the country on communal lines and disrupting the ongoing Parliament session. "The BJP, by sending fake papers to some editors, is busy spreading false news," Congress spokesperson Randeeep Singh Surjewala hit back and said the Congress document was prepared by the Research Department of the All India Congress Committee. "An internal Congress document has reached the media, about issues facing the nation and it needs to be talked in Parliament to hold the government accountable for its mistakes and misdeeds," AICC Research Department head Rajeev Gowda said. "If the BJP has the guts, let them come to the floor of the house and debate. Let them come and tell us how they are going to defend their sorry record of incompetence and governance failure," he added. "We are not here to disrupt; we are here to hold the government accountable," the Congress leader said. Gowda said issues like inability to roll out the Goods and Services Tax through proper implementation, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act scheme wages, failures in education sector, farmers' distress and their suicides, border stand-off with China, Kashmir, mob lynchings, communal and caste violence, would be raised in Parliament. "These are issues that have been burning the nation between the last session and the present one. That is exactly what we are going to hold up. We are going to hold up a mirror to the government and show their incompetence, their hidden hands which are encouraging mobs to go out and attack the Dalits and minorities and others. This is something we are going to expose on the floor of the house," the Congress leader added. Patna: Janata Dal United (JD(U)) on Thursday dubbed Tuesday's meeting between Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav as "routine," saying that the deputy chief minister should come clean on all accusations against him. The JD(U) sought to dispel the notion that the impasse in the Grand Alliance government, cropping up after the lodging of an FIR by the CBI against Tejashwi Yadav allegedly for amassing huge wealth has ended following the nearly 45-minute meeting between Kumar and Yadav after the Cabinet meeting on Thursday. Yadav is an accused in the land-for-hotels case, allegedly involving the members of his father Lalu Prasad's family. "It was a routine meeting of a Cabinet colleague with the CM over some governmental matters and not a political one ... Our stand remains the same that those facing accusations should reply to them in the public domain," JD(U) spokesman Ajay Alok said, attaching no political significance to the Tuesday's meeting. Another JD(U) spokesman Rajiv Ranjan Prasad termed the meeting as "normal" in connection with governmental works. The RJD, however, rated high the meeting between Kumar and Yadav. "There is no matbhed (difference in opinion) between us. Grand Alliance is strong," RJD leader and minister Vijay Prakash said. His elder brother and RJD MP Jay Prakash Yadav claimed "Everything is fine." Former RJD minister Shivanand Tiwari, who is in constant touch with RJD president Lalu Prasad, said "after the talks, the situation arising out of lack of dialogue has ended and the vehicle is now back on track." The meeting between the two leaders took place on Tuesday away from the media glare. Mediapersons were barred entry into the secretariat, the venue of the Cabinet meeting, following a scuffle between Tejashwi Yadav and his minister Tej Pratap Yadav's securitymen and mediamen after the last one on Wednesday. The press briefing by the Cabinet Coordination Department Secretary Brajesh Mehrotra too was shifted to the Public Relations Department office some distance away instead of at the secretariat as in the past. The BJP and NDA leaders appeared unimpressed over the meeting and attacked Kumar for not taking a call on Yadav. Senior BJP leader Nand Kishore Yadav urged Kumar to break his silence on Tejashwi Yadav. JD(U) has sought "point-by-point" clarification from Tejashwi Yadav over the accusations against him. "A closed door meeting between the chief minister and deputy chief minister is not the proper answer to it," he told PTI. Former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi described the goings on in the Grand Alliance as "noora kushti" (friendly fight) to keep hanging to the power." Chennai: Under attack from the ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu, including Chief Minister E Palaniswamy, for his allegations of corruption in the government, filmstar Kamal Haasan on Wednesday exhorted the public to digitally register instances of graft with the government. In his first response to the dig at him by ministers, including Palaniswamy, that he should take the political plunge to expect a response to his allegations, the 62-year-old actor said the day he expressed his voice against imposition of Hindi in the state, he had become an "amateur politician". Responding to the ministers demanding proof regarding his charges of corruption in the government, Haasan said the entire state was making allegations in this regard, even as various media reports also pointed towards the same. He said his detractors, "dear younger brother D Jayakumar (finance minister)", who wanted Haasan to take the political plunge, or the BJP's H Raja were not aware that he had already entered politics. "The day I expressed my voice against imposition of Hindi, I had become an amateur politician," he said in a statement uploaded on his Twitter page. Without naming anyone, Haasan said "those behind power" and "who forgot their responsibility by accepting money" were threatening action against him for tax evasion. This was angering him and at the same time, he found it laughable, the actor said. On the ministers seeking evidence from him, he said the people were there to remind them of the corruption. "You should write to them if you had come across corruption in this government. Don't do that through letters or postcards as they will just tear them. Record them digitally and with dignity," said Haasan. While the people would voice their concerns with regard to the government departments, he would do the same for his own department, "cinema", he added. The veteran filmstar alleged widespread corruption in giving tax exemption to films, adding, that many, apparently from the film industry, aided such corruption "out of fear". However, he added that there were a few exceptions like him. "People are not herds. Respect their voices. They will be clearly heard soon," said Haasan. He also provided a digital link to a government website for the people to air their grievances. Mumbai: Attacking the Karnataka government for exploring the possibility of having a state flag, the Shiv Sena on Thursday said Congress president Sonia Gandhi should sack the chief minister as the move went against the history and ideals of her party. It also demanded that the Centre dissolve the Karnataka government or immediately stop all assistance to the state. The saffron party termed the Congress government's move in Karnataka as "despicable" and "unconstitutional" which amounts to "treason". It is an insult to the national flag and the freedom fighters and the jawans who have sacrificed their lives for the country, an editorial in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' said. "Congress president Sonia Gandhi should make Siddaramaiah resign and show her love for the nation," the Sena demanded. "The Congress government in Karnataka has indulged in a despicable act by seeking a separate flag for the state," the editorial said. "This is a challenge to the integrity of the nation, an insult to the national flag and to the freedom fighters and the jawans sacrificing their lives on the border," it said. The Sena said Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel worked to bring all states under a single national flag but Siddaramaiah has gone against his own party's ideology. New Delhi: Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Thursday termed the resignation of BSP supremo Mayawati from the Rajya Sabha a "political gimmick", saying she was nervous as Dalits have rejected her leadership. Paswan, a prominent Dalit face of the ruling NDA, said maximum atrocities against Dalits had happened in Uttar Pradesh when she was chief minister as he cited several cases of crimes against the community to wonder why she did not quit then. "Her resignation on the issue of Dalit atrocities is nothing but a political gimmick," he said. Mayawati has claimed that she was resigning from the house as she was not allowed to speak on the issue of crimes against her community members. Raking up the alleged corruption charges against her, Paswan said Mayawati should answer that where from she got Rs 104 crore which was deposited in bank after the demonetisation measure. "She should also tell that whether the money which was deposited in the bank was given to her by Dalits or did big capitalists give her the money?" he asked. The Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief also asked Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath to view the cases of atrocities against Dalits seriously and take action against the culprits. Officers concerned like district magistrates and police chiefs should be held accountable, he said. New Delhi: The Opposition walked out of Rajya Sabha on Thursday after Union Minister Prakash Javadekar accused it of suffering from "selective amnesia" on lynching cases. A visibly angry Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad hit back by saying that notwithstanding who was in power, the "Parivaar" (a reference to the Sangh family or Hindutva groups) people were found involved in every communal riot in the country. "When I condemn mob lynching, I do not suffer from selective amnesia like some of our Opposition colleagues," Javadekar said as he mentioned the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and the killing of 'karsevaks' in Godhra in Gujarat in 2002. "In 1984, Sikhs were lynched or burnt alive, at least 3,000 of them. In 2002, Ram bhakts returning from Ayodhya were lynched in Godhra. We condemn all such incidents," the Human Resource Development Minister said. He said there were 16 mob lynchings in 2012 and 14 in 2013. "Where are the culprits involved in the lynchings in 2012 and 2013? Where are the culprits involved in anti-Sikh riots of 1984?... Very few of them are in jail, rest are roaming free," he said. In response, Azad, a senior Congress leader, stood up and retorted: "Let me say that in all the communal riots that occurred in India, people from your 'parivaar' were found involved." He said it was the Congress that fought for the country's freedom and "not you people". "We are staging a walkout in protest," the former Union Minister said. On the fourth day of Monsoon Session, the Parliament is likely to discuss key education bills, including one related to the right to compulsory and free education for children. However, the Wednesday's stormy session are likely to have aftereffects on Thursday's proceedings. On Wednesday, the opposition took the government to task in the Rajya Sabha over violence against Dalits and minorities, accusing it of entering into a tacit understanding with cow vigilantes who indulged in violence and lynchings. The Narendra Modi government, however, termed such incidents as plain crime, saying such incidents should not be given a communal colour. Opening a discussion on cow vigilantism and atrocities against the Dalits and minorities, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said there is an implicit or explicit hand of the "people from the parivar" (a reference to the Sangh Parivar or Hindutva groups) in mob violence in the last three years. "We suspect this is happening with a tacit understanding between the government and the cow vigilantes. The Prime Minister is giving statements but this is going on and nobody is being caught," Azad, a senior Congress leader, said. Azad urged the Bharatiya Janata Party not to "vitiate" the atmosphere in the country in the name of caste or religion. Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal said the National Democratic Alliance government should declare that mob lynching on any pretext will no longer be tolerated. He said cow vigilantism was hurting the poor as weekly animal fairs/markets had ended and stray cows along with neelgai (blue bull) are becoming a menace in rural areas by destroying standing crops overnight. Earlier, his remarks to link Hindu Gods with alcohol evoked loud protests from BJP members and led to the adjournment of the house for about 20 minutes. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said Agrawal had hurt the sentiments of the majority population in the country. The Samajwadi Party leader later withdrew the remarks and expressed "regret". Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Sitaram Yechury demanded a ban on cow vigilante groups. "Today, when I speak here, my head hangs in shame. What has our republic come to?" Yechury said. He said: "Private armies taking law into their hands can't be stopped by states alone and they must be banned by the Centre." Yechury recalled how the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological parent of the ruling BJP, was banned in 1948 by then Home Minister Vallabbhai Patel on the charge of indulging in disruptive activities. Yechury also drew a parallel with German leader Hitler's idea of nationalism and the Hindutva nationalism and stressed that those indulging in cow vigilantism are not "fringe or anti-social elements", as is claimed by the government. "What is happening is antithetical to all the constitutional values that we have given ourselves," Yechury said as he invoked Swami Vivekananda, the Bhagwad Gita and the Vedas. Trinamool Congress member Derek O'Brien said the government must name the groups and individuals behind mob violence, which he said was not cow vigilantism but "cow terrorism". "Only then we will take you (government) seriously. Otherwise, we will be suspicious," he said. O'Brien said the opposition would not be cowed down by the fear of the Central Bureau of Investigation, Enforcement Directorate or political vendetta by the ruling party. Bahujan Samaj Party leader Satish Chandra Mishra said Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi should either show courage and raise his voice against mob lynchings of members of the minority community or should resign like Mayawati did. He said that people are being killed in mob violence in BJP-ruled states. However, Naqvi said these incidents did not involve any party or the government but individuals. He called for a united fight to isolate and tackle those behind such crimes. "These are purely incidents of crime and one should not turn them into communal ones. If you give a communal colour to such heinous crimes, it will only serve the purpose of criminals who want these incidents to be associated with religion," Naqvi said. The Minister said the opposition had been raising the issue as they could not find any instances of corruption in the Modi government. He said Azad's claim of inaction against the perpetrators of lynchings was untrue as cases were immediately registered and suspects arrested in Rajasthan, Haryana, Jharkhand and Maharashtra. New Delhi: The Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day after opposition repeatedly disrupted the proceedings by raising slogans on the plight of farmers and related issues. The adjournment was announced by speaker Sumitra Mahajan soon after the House resumed business at noon for the Zero Hour after two consecutive adjournments forced by the opposition members who stormed the Well and raised slogans. When House assembled for the day and took up the Question Hour, opposition members, mostly from the Congress, trooped into the Well raising slogans saying the prime minister should respond to the concerns over farmers' plight and the agrarian crisis. Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Ananth Kumar said that the Lok Sabha had concluded a discussion on the issue by sitting late on Wednesday night. But as the slogan-shouting continued, speaker Sumitra Mahajan was forced to adjourn the house till 11.30 AM, just about ten minutes after it had assembled at 11 AM. When the House resumed business at 11.30 AM, the Opposition members belonging to Congress, TMC, Left and other parties again trooped into the Well and started raising slogans pressing for their deamands. As the unruly scenes continued, the Speaker appealed to the protestors to return to their seats and then adjourned the House till noon. However, when the House resumed to take up different issues during the Zero Hour, the Opposition members again came into the Well raising slogans. Holding placards, some members, who are part of the AIADMK (Puratchi Thalaivi Amma), trooped into Well demanding a CBI probe into the gutkha (a tobacco product) scam. A minister in the Tamil Nadu government, which is run by AIADMK (Amma) group, and some officials have come under the scanner for alleged bribery to facilitate the sale of banned gutkha in the state. Sensing the opposition mood and as it became difficult to continue the business of the House amidst the noisy scenes, the Speaker called for the listed papers to be tabled and then adjourned the House for the day. On Wednesday, Samajwadi Party Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha, Naresh Agarwal demanded a hike in salaries of Members of Parliament, adding that MPs earn less than their secretaries. News18 quoted Agarwal as saying, "Please include us in the Seventh Pay Commission. Our salaries are lesser than our secretaries.It looks like we are begging for money. We want an answer from the government. If they want to deny then they can. We want our salaries to be Rs 1,000 more than cabinet secretary." Interestingly, while commotion generally rules both Houses of the Parliament, there is an uncharacteristic unity seen between the Opposition and the ruling party when it comes to deciding on a pay hike. 2016 It was Agarwal who had brought the issue of pay hike last year after a Yogi Adityanath-led parliamentary panel suggested a 100 percent pay hike. The panel recommended that the salaries of the MPs be raised from Rs 50,000 to Rs one lakh. The panel also suggested the Parliament to double the amount in constituency fund from Rs 45,000 to Rs 90,000 and a 75 percent rise in pensions, NDTV reported. Ironically, Agarwal added that MPs deserve the hike given the good conduct of politicians in Parliament.While the Centre has given its approval for the hike in salaries, a formal bill is yet to be tabled in the Parliament to give effect to the recommendations. 2010 The last official rise in the salary took place in 2010, when the Parliament passed a bill to raise the monthly salaries of MPs from Rs 16,000 to Rs 50,000. Back then, there was a huge hue and cry over the MPs gifting themselves a three-fold pay hike. The bill had proposed to raise the daily allowance of members from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 and the constituency and office expense allowances each from Rs 20,000 to Rs 40,000. It also sought to enhance pension of former members from Rs 8,000 to Rs 20,000 with effect from the constitution of the present Lok Sabha on 18 May last year. However, some of the MPs were not happy with the hike too. MPs like Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Prasad Yadav had demanded at least a five-fold rise in the salaries. 2006 In 2006, the Union Cabinet approved the Parliament's demand for a pay hike. As a result ,the salaries of MPs rose from Rs 12,000 to Rs 16,000 a steep rise of 33 percent. The constituency fund was also doubled the constituency fund, from Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000. Perhaps, for the first time in India's parliamentary history, the 2006 committee demanded a provision for mobile phones. 2001 In 2001, the ruling NDA government amended the Salary, Allowance and Pension of Members of Parliament Act, 1954 the law regulates the official salaries of parliamentarians to raise the pay of members of the 13th Lok Sabha from Rs 4,000 to Rs 12,000, which was a 300 percent rise from the last hike in 1998. The constituency fund was also pegged at Rs 10,000. However, it is not just the parliamentarians who have been enjoying the hike in their salaries. Tamil Nadu At a time, when Tamil Nadu is facing an agrarian crisis, the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Wednesday decided to give the state legislators an almost 100 percent pay hike. The monthly salaries of the 234 MLAs in the state Assembly was doubled from Rs 55,000 to Rs 1,05,000. The monthly pensions of the legislators were hiked to Rs 20,000. The Assembly also increased the phone bill allowance from Rs 5,000 to Rs 7,000. The report added that there was a Rs 50 lakh addition to the MLA constituency fund, which now stood at Rs Rs 2.5 crores. The state government had last hiked the salaries of the MLAs in 2011, when the AIADMK government under J Jayalalithaa pegged the monthly salary at Rs 55,000. The constituency fund was also hiked from Rs Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000. Between 2007 and 2017, the total rise in salaries has been a whopping 500 percent . In 2007, the salaries were bumped up from Rs 16,000-Rs 20,000. Maharashtra The case was somewhat similar in distant Maharashtra, which has been reeling under agrarian crisis since many years now. However, that did not deter the MLAs and MLCs from hiking their salaries. In 2016, the Maharashtra Assembly passed a bill to grant MLAs and MLCs a two-fold rise in salaries. Before 2016, a legislator and councillor earned Rs 75,000, as per the 2010 revision, when the salaries were hiked by 75 percent from Rs 29,000. But after the hike, their salaries rose to at least Rs 1,70 lakh. The move had come at a time when the state was facing a Rs 3.5 lakh crore burden of debt. With inputs from agencies The Naga Peoples Front (NPF) on Wednesday accused Nagaland Governor PB Acharya of playing a partisan role in appointing TR Zeliang as the chief minister of the state. In an official statement on Wednesday, NPF alleged that Acharya, who was a "decorated RSS pracharak", acted with haste in favouring the RSS-friendly dispensation of Zeliang. Zeliang had replaced NPF president Shurhozelie Liezietsu, who was sacked by Governor Acharya after he failed to turn up in the Assembly to face the floor test on Wednesday. In retaliation, NPF expelled Zeliang from the party as he was taking oath as the chief minister on Wednesday. In the expulsion order signed by the partys working president duo Huskha Yepthomi and Apong Pongener it is stated, "Shri TR Zeliang, MLA is expelled from the party with effect from 19th July 2017, for a period of six years." The expulsion order, stating the reasons for his expulsion alleged, "He tried to destabilise and instigate the leadership of NPF-led DAN government, demanding the resignation of the party chief minister and its party president." An unfazed Zeliang, however, later said that he would continue to remain the NPF leader in the House. "The expulsion from the party does not affect the membership inside the House," he said to AFP, adding that he would prove his majority in the House on 21 July. Zeliang had spearheaded the rebellion against Liezietsu on 8 July and staked claim to form a new NPF government with the support of majority MLAs. The governor had asked Liezietsu to prove his majority in the House by 15 July but the latter filed a writ petition in the Gauhati High Court, which was dismissed on Tuesday. Subsequently, the governor summoned the special session of the House on Wednesday. NPF in its statement said that the BJP seemed to be buoyed by the Assam and Manipur victories and planned to repeat "another Arunachal experiment in Nagaland". The statement further said that the Nagaland governor owed an explanation to the people and his conscience about what "extenuating circumstances prompted him to support legislators sans party set up this time round when he did exactly the opposite in 2015". "Or has he forgotten that in 2015 he did not entertain the NPF dissidents' plea to dismiss the then so-called 'minority' government of TR Zeliang who then had the sanction and mandate of the party set up?" it asked. It claimed the day after the NPF severed ties with the BJP, the governor dismissed the NPF-led government. In February, Zeliang was forced to step down by mass violent protests by tribal groups against his government's decision to hold urban body polls with 33 percent seats reserved for women. The ruling NPF's Front then turned to party president Liezietsu and pulled him out of retirement to head the government, reported the Times Of India. Zeliang turned the tables on Shurhozelie on 4 July when he and 33 MLAs in a meeting in his residence at Kohima declared the meeting as the NPF legislature party meeting. Zeliang was made the leader of the legislature party. The meeting then authorised him to stake claim before the governor to form a new NPF-led Democratic Alliance of Nagaland government, in which BJP is a partner. Zeliang also had support of seven of the eight Independents, the daily said. With inputs from PTI New Delhi: Counting of the ballots cast in the 17 July presidential election will be taken up in New Delhi on Thursday to decide the fate of two contenders the ruling NDA's candidate Ram Nath Kovind, who has a clear edge, and the combined Opposition nominee Meira Kumar. Officials said all preparations have been made for the vote count and that all ballot boxes have already reached Parliament House by Tuesday evening amid tight security. They said the counting will begin at 11 am simultaneously across four tables. There will be eight rounds of counting, and announcements made after every round. Polling to choose the successor to President Pranab Mukherjee, who demits office on 24 July, was held simultaneously at 32 polling stations one in Parliament House and one each in 29 state assemblies and two union territories with assemblies. Lok Sabha secretary general Anoop Mishra is the returning officer for the election, and will issue the certificate to the winning candidate. Officials said the seals of ballot boxes will be opened on Thursday in the presence of representatives of the two candidates former Bihar Governor Kovind and former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar and the observers of the Election Commission. In Monday's polling, several states registered 100 percent polling. The overall poll percentage was pegged at 99.41 percent. A total of 776 members of Parliament and 4,120 legislators were eligible to cast votes. In the electoral arithmetic, Kovind has a distinct advantage over his rival as parties like the Janata Dal-United and the Biju Janata Dal, otherewise not allied with the Bharatiya Janata Party, had decided to vote for him. The Janata Dal-United has about 1.91 percent of electoral college votes, while the BJD of Odisha has 2.99 percent. In addition, the ruling Telengana Rashtra Samithi in Telangana (two percent), different factions of AIADMK (5.39 percent), and the YSR Congress (1.53 percent) also had announced their backing for Kovind. The value of vote of an MP is 708 while that of an Assembly member varies from state to state depending on the size of its population. The total value of votes of the presidential electoral college is 10,98,903, and the NDA candidate is slated to get over 63 percent votes. In the last presidential election in 2012, Pranab Mukherjee had defeated PA Sangma and got over 69 percent votes. New Delhi: BJP president Amit Shah on Thursday congratulated Ram Nath Kovind for his election as the 14th president of India and dubbed it "truly historic". "Congratulations to Ram Nath Kovind ji for the emphatic victory in the 2017 Presidential election. His victory is truly historic," Shah said in a tweet. Congratulations to Shri Ram Nath Kovind ji for the emphatic victory in the 2017 Presidential elections. His victory is truly historic. Amit Shah (@AmitShah) July 20, 2017 Shah said he hoped Kovind will distinguish himself as an exceptional President. "The election of Ram Nath Kovind ji is a victory for the poor, downtrodden and the marginalised and their aspirations," the Bharatiya Janata Party leader said. The election of Shri Ram Nath Kovind ji is a victory for the poor, downtrodden & marginalised and their aspirations. Amit Shah (@AmitShah) July 20, 2017 The BJP chief also thanked all political parties and members of the electoral college who supported Kovind. "I thank BJP members, the National Democratic Alliance family, other valued parties and leaders who supported Ram Nath Kovind," Shah said. I thank BJP members, NDA family, other valued parties and leaders who supported Shri Ram Nath Kovind ji. Amit Shah (@AmitShah) July 20, 2017 Kovind was elected the new president by securing 65.65 percent of the total valid votes, compared with opposition nominee Meira Kumar who got 34.35 percent. In an electoral college made up of 4,986 voters (members of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and state assemblies, including two union territories with assemblies) with a total vote value of 10,98,903, Kovind secured 2,930 votes with total vote value of 7,00,244, while the former Lok Sabha Speaker secured 1,844 votes with a total vote value of 3,67,314. There are many narratives behind NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind's ascension to the President's post with an overwhelming 66 percent votes from Electoral College. Chief among these is the impression that the BJP traditionally a party of upper castes and trader communities is now in firm control of the Dalit identity struggle and its battle for economic, social, and political emancipation. Not only does this represent a transformative change in BJP, it also holds far reaching implications for India's polity. Axiomatic political notions are being challenged, traditional voter bases are breaking down and a new BJP is emerging from the churning. Expectedly, the party wasted no time in hammering home the point. Soon after Kovind was declared as the winner, BJP president Amit Shah announced on Twitter that Kovind's win is a victory for the "poor, oppressed and the marginalized." The election of Shri Ram Nath Kovind ji is a victory for the poor, downtrodden & marginalised and their aspirations. Amit Shah (@AmitShah) July 20, 2017 Shah knows the significance of this victory. Along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he has been at the forefront of this project. Under the duo the BJP has sought to increase national footprint by transmogrifying its voter base and President-elect Kovind is the first visible signifier of that effort. A more powerful statement of subaltern empowerment is difficult to achieve than seeing a member of the oppressed caste become the first citizen of India. The BJP is also aware of the loaded political symbolism of this move. It is the same narrative that Mayawati had banked on during her rise to power, when her efforts at self-glorification drew condescension from liberal circles and open admiration from the Dalits, who saw in her the embodiment of subaltern power. The newly-elected President, too, harped on this point in his very first speech. Recalling his childhood days of struggle, Kovind said: "It has been raining since morning in Delhi. This weather reminds me of my childhood days when I used to live in my ancestral village We lived in a 'kuchha' house made of mud. The roof couldn't stop the water trickles during the rainy season. I, along with my brothers and sisters, used to stand in a corner and wait for the rain to stop." Kovind, who belongs to the 'Koli' community and has represented Koli samaj as its chief and has been the president of BJP's Dalit Morcha, added: "There could be many such Ram Nath Kovinds who are getting drenched in the rain. Many are working hard to earn their livelihood in this rain. I represent all those hardworking people. This is also a message to those who earn their livelihood with hard work and honesty." While these powerful imageries are sure to reinforce BJP's new identity, the Congress-led Opposition has appeared clueless in front of this political onslaught. Congress must be worried about the impending Assembly polls in Gujarat because there are clear indications of large-scale cross voting in ruling party's favour but more than that, the botched Meira Kumar experiment may further damage its electoral chances. The Congress placed Meira Kumar's candidature as an "ideological battle" against BJP but any battle, be it electoral or ideological, requires firm commitment. The Congress' heart was never in the race and through its actions, that point was made amply clear. Kumar was largely left to fend for herself. This sends all wrong signals at a time when the party is suffering from an existential crisis and surely enough, BJP seized on the moment. Party spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao told CNN-News18 that Congress has "insulted the Dalits by making Meira Kumar the scapegoat. The party wasn't serious and they have insulted the mariginalised community by treating her shabbily". Elections are not won and lost by the strength of campaigning alone. The BJP is giving a lesson in politics to opponents on how to build and sustain a narrative. Indias first Dalit president, KR Narayanan, in his inaugural address had said: That the nation has found a consensus for its highest office in some one who has sprung from the grass-roots of our society and grown up in the dust and heat of this sacred land is symbolic of the fact that the concerns of the common man have now moved to the centrestage of our social and political life. Two decades on, for the second time in the history of India, a Dalit who is also a longstanding BJP leader and former governor of Bihar Ram Nath Kovind, has been elected to the highest office. Is this a sign that the welfare of Dalits is a key government priority? Not quite. Sliding sub-plan allocations to Dalits marked the first two years of the current government. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes sub-plan allocations were cut in 2015-16 and 2016-17, Ashok Tanwar, president of Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee, told Firstpost. On the face of it, the Rs 52,393-crore allocated for Scheduled Castes in the 2017 Union Budget is 35 percent higher than the Rs 38,833-crore allocated last year. This years higher allocation came in a crucial election year, that conveys the intention of this government and its (lack of) seriousness to address Dalit issues, said Tanwar. This year's budget merges the plan and non-plan expenditure, and has replaced the sub-plan policy of a targeted budget with a general allocation for the welfare of the Scheduled Castes, a move Tanwar says, goes against the welfare of the community because funds are no longer directed for the direct benefit of individuals, families and hamlets. Putting up a Dalit as the presidential candidate when the rising atrocities against Dalits across the country have not been addressed, is, according to Tanwar, Mere eyewash, a political gesture aimed at gaining the communitys sympathy and vote. A Dalit president will boost the morale of the community and especially the confidence to participate in governance, Udit Raj, BJP leader and MP from Delhi North-West told Firstpost. However symbolic, this move will instill pride in the Dalit community, said Ravindra Babu Pandula, MP from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). And people will take note that it comes from a political party (the BJP) that has (so far) been seen to be against appointing Dalits to leadership positions. With this leadership position, the BJP, however, has settled for a prestigious but largely figurative role with limited scope to act. Will Kovind take his cues from Narayanan, who openly espoused the cause of Dalits and Adivasis in his speeches and defied the conventional rubber-stamp image of a President, as he put it, "not an executive president but a working president, and working within four corners of the Constitution." Dalit leaders are hopeful of an encore. Good things for our community and for the people at large, is what Ramesh Jigajinagi, Minister of State for Drinking Water and Sanitation anticipates from the new president. We have huge expectations from the new president. The TDP supported his candidature because the cause of the downtrodden is our priority, said Pandula. Like Narayanan, who believed that educational opportunities for Dalits was the foundation of development, Sunil Kumar Mondal, TMC MP would like Kovind to espouse the cause of free residential education till the higher secondary level for the backward classes, with free healthcare. The new president is also expected to speak up against the violence against Dalits. We hope the new President of India sends the right message when Dalits face discrimination and we expect his word to carry weight and pressure the government to act, said Raj. We expect the new President of India to live up to his role as the custodian of the Constitution. Like other Dalits, who have been given an opportunity to lead and outperformed expectations, he will achieve a lot if he exercises his power, said Tanwar. "For the president-elect, this will mean rising above his past political association and expressing the impartiality one expects from someone in his role, observed Pandula. India will be closely watching how the 14th President of India reacts to Dalit atrocities and how the government responds to his words. Kohima: The Naga People's Front (NPF) on Wednesday alleged that Nagaland governor PB Acharya had played a partisan role in installing the TR Zeliang government in the state. "The haste with which he has acted favouring the RSS-friendly dispensation should be a wake up call for the Naga people...," said a release issued by NPF Media and Press Bureau in Kohima. "It was very clear that the governor who was a decorated 'RSS pracharak'...with a single agenda but he could not effectively fulfill his mission so long as the BJP was riding piggy back on the NPF," it alleged. "By aligning with the BJP all these years and playing host to the saffron party, the NPF was successful in containing the agenda of the BJP in Nagaland," it said. They alleged that the BJP seemed to be buoyed by the Assam and Manipur victories and planned to repeat "another Arunachal experiment in Nagaland". It said the Nagaland governor owed an explanation to the people and his conscience about what "extenuating circumstances prompted him to support legislators sans party set up this time round when he did exactly the opposite in 2015". "Or has he forgotten that in 2015 he did not entertain the NPF dissidents' plea to dismiss the then so-called 'minority' government of TR Zeliang who then had the sanction and mandate of the party set up?" it asked. It claimed the day after the NPF severed ties with the BJP, the governor dismissed the NPF-led government. On a day of fast-moving political developments, Zeliang was on Wednesday sworn in as the new chief minister replacing Shurhozelie Liezietsu who was sacked by Acharya. But within hours, the NPF expelled Zeliang for six years for "anti-party activities", indicating the political turmoil was far from over. "He was adamant and has already planned to dismantle the NPF party," NPF working presidents Huska Yepthomi and Apong Pongener said. They claimed the decision was taken to keep peace in the party. Zeliang, however, was unfazed saying he would continue to remain the NPF leader in the House. "The expulsion from the party does not affect the membership inside the House," he said. Chennai: AIADMK (Amma) Deputy General Secretary TTV Dinakaran on Wednesday dismissed allegations of special treatment for his aunt and party chief VK Sasikala in prison, asserting that she was being treated as per rules. In his first reaction since the allegations surfaced, Dinakaran rubbished claims of payment of bribe for the alleged special treatment. Speaking to reporters in Chennai, he said such allegations were false, adding "we have not even met the DGP (Karnataka)." He said the Supreme Court had only awarded simple imprisonment to Sasikala. Hence, permission to wear personal clothing (rather than one meant for convicts) was as per rules and jail manual and similar to treatment accorded to other prison inmates, he claimed. Seeking to explain further, Dinakaran said when he was recently incarcerated in Tihar jail, he had a fan, a television and newspapers and these were given as per norms with the permission of authorities. He said some television channels were making false claims in this regard by airing some visuals, adding that his party would be forced to initiate defamation proceedings against them. "Our enemies" are seeking to politicise allegations made by a Karnataka official and jail inmates are "being unnecessarily dragged" into the controversy, he said. Quoting a Tamil proverb that says people who have nothing to hide have nothing to fear, he said no irregularities happened at the prison. He said he a proper inquiry would be held into the matter, adding that "Congress party is not our coalition partner." On Karnataka BJP staging a protest on the issue, Dinakaran said it was simply state politics with the ruling Congress party. BJP's Karnataka unit on Wednesday slammed the Karnataka government over transfer of DIG (Prisons) D Roopa after she brought to light the alleged special treatment meted out Sasikala. Dhinakaran said, he will meet Sasikala at the Parappana Agrahara Central Jail on Thursday. Yesterday, AIADMK (Amma) Karnataka unit secretary V Pugazhenthi had dismissed allegations of Sasikala being accorded special treatment in the jail. He had said the only thing that she was provided in the prison was a bench to lie down and that too on a written request. The Karnataka government has appointed retired IAS officer Vinay Kumar to probe the alleged special treatment meted out to Sasikala and other "erroneous" practises in the jail. He was appointed after Roopa, shunted out as DIG (Prisons) on Monday, highlighted in a report the alleged special privileges given to Sasikala and others inside the Parapana Agrahara Central Jail. The government had asked DGP (Prisons) HN Sathyanarayana Rao to go on compulsory leave after both officers sparred over the report in public. The government also shifted Bengaluru central jail chief superintendent Krishna Kumar, who had also been blamed in the report by Roopa for alleged illegal activities in the prison. In a report submitted on 12 July to Rao, Roopa had said there was "talk" that Rs two crore had exchanged hands to give preferential treatment to Sasikala and there were allegations against him too. Rao had rubbished the charges as "absolutely false, baseless and wild." Lucknow: Members of the Samajwadi Party (SP), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Congress on Thursday staged a walkout from the Uttar Pradesh (UP) Assembly and created ruckus in the Legislative Council, accusing the state government of threatening the opposition and using unparliamentary language. The opposition forced repeated adjournments in the House. As soon as the Assembly met for the day, Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Ram Govind Chowdhury, who belongs to the SP, alleged that the government was "threatening the opposition and it wanted them (opposition members) in jail". "We all are threatened...They are threatening to put our entire family in jail. Members are being humiliated and we are not getting protection from the Speaker. I have never seen such a situation in the House in past 40 years. We all are walking out, now you run it (the House) as you want," Chowdhury said. Members of the SP, the Congress and the BSP then left the House. The situation was no different in the Upper House of the state legislature where noisy scenes were witnessed as opposition members squatted in the well as soon as the Legislative Council met on Thursday morning. Leader of Opposition in the council Ahmad Hasan alleged that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday threatened opposition in the Assembly and the mike of LoP Chowdhury was switched off and he was not allowed to speak. "As the government has failed to control law and order, it is silencing the opposition," Hasan charged. All the while, SP members chanted slogans "detergent (powder) wali ye sarkar nahi chalegi" (The government of detergent powder will not run)", alleging that the powder found in the Assembly was detergent and not explosive. Soon the SP members were joined by colleagues from the BSP and the Congress. They then moved towards chairman Ramesh Yadav, who adjourned the House thrice, sensing the belligerent mood of the members. In the state Assembly, BSP leader Lalji Verma alleged that when opposition members stand, rules are cited and they are not allowed to speak. "Yesterday (Wednesday), after the finance minister's address, there was no provision of address by the Leader of House. If he was allowed, the Leader of Opposition is also entitled to address. This is against the dignity of the House. Unparliamentary words are also being used. There is no point remaining in the House in such a scenario," Verma charged. Congress Legislature Party Leader Ajay Kumar Lallu alleged that when the LoP started his address on Thursday, his mike was switched off. "We all have decided to walkout to protest government's attitude towards opposition," he said. Opposition members did not heed to Speaker Hriday Narain Dixit's request and walked out unitedly. Denying the opposition charge, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna said it was not correct that the voice of opposition in suppressed and that the government is working with 'ahankaar' (arrogance) due to its numbers. "What's wrong in announcing a CBI probe in recruitments done by the UP Public Service Commission from 2012. It is a justified move. We have got mandate and message among people should go that we are there for the people. No unparliamentary words were used," Khanna said. "Leaving the House is insulting the people's mandate given to the opposition," he said. "Yogi Adityanath has presented the government's working in argumentative way and it was just annoyance of the opposition and their action is not justified," he said. Khanna said he had talked to the LoP before coming to the House on Thursday morning. "Chowdhury appeared normal and did not mention anything that time," he said. Speaker Dixit said he had given due time to the opposition to speak. "LoP presented his views and left the House. They should have heard me before leaving the House. It is unfortunate. I request the opposition to participate in proceedings as 22 crore people have sent them here to raise their voice," he said. The Speaker adjourned the House for 30 minutes till 12 noon while stating that all questions were taken as answered. When asked whether the mike of LoP was stopped during his address on Wednesday, Dixit told reporters that it was not so. "When we move forward to the next matter in the House, it is stopped. I have requested the opposition to return, I think they will (come back)," he said. Lucknow: All appointments made during the Samajwadi Party rule in Uttar Pradesh will be probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and no guilty spared, chief minister Yogi Adityanath announced in the assembly on Wednesday. While 1.5 lakh vacancies exit in the police department, thousands of appointments have been made in 10 years in the state but none is above doubt, he said adding that "all the scams will be unearthed and no one found guilty will be spared". Referring indirectly to former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala, who is lodged in Tihar jail after conviction in a teachers recruitment scam, Adityanath said by burning papers and official files no one will get away from the long arm of the law. Responding to posers by the opposition on the 2017-18 state budget, Adityanath targeted the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party for what he said was the mess the state was in. He patted finance minister Rajesh Agarwal for presenting a "balanced and development- oriented Budget". The chief minister said the state had been dominated by caste and family politics in the past few decades, pushing it down on the ladder of progress and development. Adityanath also took on opposition lawmakers who slammed his government on the law and order, saying that if he started speaking many people in the house will be exposed. He said more than 1.53 lakh cases of land encroachment had come up in four months and said no one will be allowed to take law in their own hands. "Neither will my government patronise criminals like the previous governments," the Bharatiya Janata Party leader added. The chief minister accused the earlier government of patronising the illicit liquor mafia in Azamgarh, because of which 60 persons died last year. Washington: President Donald Trump accused fired FBI director James Comey of trying to create leverage with a dossier alleged to contain compromising information about the president. Comey's apparent goal in a pre-inauguration encounter with Trump in which the veteran law enforcement official presented details of the dossier was to pressure the soon-to-be-president into letting him keep his job, Trump alleged an interview with the New York Times. Trump said that about two weeks before his inauguration in January, Comey and other officials briefed him in New York on what US intelligence agencies say was Russian meddling in the election, with the goal of helping Trump defeat Hillary Clinton. According to the president, Comey later pulled him aside and told him about a dossier compiled by a former British spy and alleged to contain embarrassing details about the president, including unsubstantiated claims that Russians possess videos involving Trump and prostitutes. Trump said he thinks Comey told him about the dossier which Trump dismissed as "made-up junk" to suggest he had something to hold over the president. "In my opinion, he shared it so that I would think he had it out there," Trump said. Asked if he thought Comey was seeking leverage over him, Trump said, "Yeah, I think so." In testimony before lawmakers, Comey said he told Trump about the dossier so that the real estate mogul would not be blindsided when it was reported in the media. Trump fired Comey in May and later said he had the FBI's Russia investigation in mind when he did it. Trump critics point to the dismissal as evidence of obstruction of justice, a potentially impeachable offense. The Times said the interview with Trump was wide-ranging but dominated by talk of the Russia probe. Trump has denied any suggestion that he or anyone in his campaign colluded with the Russians. Trump also told the New York Times that he did not believe he was under investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller, appointed to investigate the Russia affair. "I don't think we're under investigation," the Times quoted Trump as saying. "I'm not under investigation. For what? I didn't do anything wrong." The Times said Trump warned that Mueller would becrossing "a red line" if he looked into Trump family finances not related to the Russia investigation. "I think that's a violation. Look, this is about Russia," Trump said. But he did not say what he would do if Mueller did end up looking into non-Russia-related Trump financial dealings. Washington: The Supreme Court has dealt President Donald Trump's government a fresh setback, saying its controversial travel ban cannot be applied to grandparents and other close relatives of people living in the United States for now. On Wednesday, the court accepted a Hawaii federal judge's ruling last week that the Trump administration had too narrowly defined what constitutes "close family relationships" to determine exceptions to the ban on travellers from six mainly Muslim countries Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. That left in place Judge Derrick Watson's wider definition, which includes grandparents, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and cousins of people living in the United States. But in its brief order, the court backed the Trump administration by staying the part of Watson's ruling that would have expanded exemptions to its 120-day ban on all refugees. The order said the Supreme Court's ruling is temporary, pending a federal appeals court's review of the issues. The Supreme Court itself was partially the source of the dispute, having ruled in late June that the 90-day travel ban, aimed at better screening out potential security risks, can be broadly enforced for travellers from the six countries "who lack any bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States." Days later, the government interpreted that to mean that only "close family" was exempted which it defined as the parents, spouses, children, sons- and daughters-in-law, siblings and step and half-siblings of people in the United States. Hawaii, one of several states fighting the travel ban since Trump first announced it in January, filed a court motion arguing that grandparents and grandchildren were by all measures also "close family". After Watson accepted that argument, the Justice Department appealed the issue to the Supreme Court, asking the court to make its own definition of "bona fide relationship" and "close family." In its Wednesday order, the high court refused. Watson had also ordered the administration to exempt from its 120-day refugee ban any refugee who already has a relationship with a US resettlement agency. But the court overruled that, until a regional federal appeals court rules on the government's appeal. Hawaii Attorney General Doug Chin welcomed the Supreme Court's ruling on travellers. "This confirms we were right to say that the Trump Administration over-reached in trying to unilaterally keep families apart from each other," he said in a statement. Added Omar Jadwat, director of the Immigrants' Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union activist group: "Given an inch, the Trump Administration has tried to take a mile in implementing the ban. That is cruel, unnecessary, and unlawful," he said in a statement. "We look forward to eradicating the entire Muslim ban, which is unconstitutional and repugnant to our most basic values as a country." The White House and Justice Department had no immediate comment on the ruling. Dubai: An Airbus A380 flight of Emirates Airways nearly collided in mid-air with an Air Seychelles passenger jet when the Dubai-based carrier was about to land in Mauritius, local media reported on Thursday. The near-collision was reportedly due to the Emirates crew members' incorrect report of the plane altitude, when the Emirates A380-800 descended to land at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport in Mauritius, according to Dubai daily Gulf News. UAE daily The National reported that the double-decker aircraft which can carry 498 passengers aboard almost crashed into the Air Seychelles Airbus A320-200 plane, which had just taken off from the same airport. The Air Seychelles flight veered "sharply to the right" after it ran directly into the path of the Emirates A380, the world's biggest passenger jet. No passenger was injured on the Emirates flight, said the report, adding that further investigation about the incident was underway. Washington: Terrorist attacks and fatalities from terrorism declined globally in 2016 from levels seen in 2015, the US State Department said on Wednesday in a report. The report also said that the Islamic State remained "the most capable" terror group, directing and inspiring terror cells, networks, and individuals around the world even as it faced increased military pressure in Iraq and Syria and suffered considerable territorial losses throughout the year. "Terrorist attacks and fatalities from terrorism declined globally in 2016 from levels seen in 2015," Justin Siberell, Acting State Department Coordinator for Counter-Terrorism, told reporters after the release of annual 'Country Report on Terrorism'. Islamic State, he said, lost considerable territory it controlled in Iraq and Syria through 2016. Iraqi Security Forces supported by the coalition delivered a series of defeats on Islamic State through 2016, beginning with the liberation of Ramadi in February, the recapture of Fallujah in June, and the seizure of the Qayyarah Air Base in northern Iraq in July, and finally the launch of the broad offensive in Nineveh in October that led to Iraqi Security Force penetration deep into eastern Mosul by the end of the year, he said. Siberell said although terrorist attacks took place in 104 countries in 2016, they were heavily concentrated geographically, as they have been for the past several years. "Fifty-five percent of all attacks took place in Iraq, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, and the Philippines, and 75 percent of all deaths due to terrorist attacks took place in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Nigeria, and Pakistan," he said. The total number of terrorist attacks in 2016 decreased by nine percent, and total deaths due to terrorist attacks decreased by 13 percent compared to 2015. "This was largely due to fewer attacks and deaths from terrorist attacks in Afghanistan, Syria, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Yemen. At the same time, there was an increase in terrorist attacks and total deaths in several countries, including Iraq, Somalia, and Turkey," the State Department official said. The Islamic State was responsible for more attacks and deaths than any other perpetrator group in 2016. In 2015, it was the Taliban that was responsible for more attacks and deaths, he added. Islamabad: Pakistan is committed to resolve all issues with India, including Kashmir, through talks, foreign secretary Tehmina Janjua said on Wednesday. Janjua's remarks came during her meeting with Islamabad-based Heads of Missions of the European Union Member States, according to the Foreign Office. She reaffirmed Pakistan's commitment to dialogue with India for the resolution of all outstanding issues, including Kashmir issue. She also accused India of human rights violations in Kashmir. The Foreign Secretary also briefed the EU representatives on the evolving peace and security situation in the region and also highlighted Pakistans efforts for pursuing the objectives of a peaceful neighbourhood. The statement comes after US listed Pakistan among the nations and regions providing "safe havens" to terrorists, saying terror groups like the LeT and JeM continue to operate, train, organise and fundraise inside the country in 2016. Kuwait City: Kuwait on Thursday expelled Iranian diplomats and closed some embassy missions after the emirate's top court convicted a "terror" cell of links to the Islamic republic, the foreign ministry said. Sunni-ruled Kuwait, which has a sizeable Shiite minority, is trying to mediate an end to the Gulf's worst crisis in years after regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia and its allies cut ties with Qatar in June. They severed relations with energy-rich Qatar over accusations it is too close to Shiite Iran and funds extremists allegations denied by Doha. A Kuwaiti supreme court ruling last month convicted 21 people of belonging to a cell that had been formed and trained by Iran's Revolutionary Guards. "Iranian sides helped and supported the cell members," Kuwait's foreign ministry said in a statement. A senior government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP around 15 Iranian diplomats were expelled. He declined to comment on whether the Iranian ambassador was among those ordered to leave. Kuwait also ordered the closure of the Iranian "military, cultural and trade" missions, the official said. Iranian authorities meanwhile summoned Kuwait's charge d'affaires, state-run IRNA news agency reported. Kuwait's supreme court last month sentenced the mastermind of the cell to life in jail and condemned 20 others to various prison terms for alleged links with Iran and Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah, and plotting terror attacks in Kuwait. Regional tensions rise State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Al-Sabah, who is also acting information minister, confirmed Kuwait had taken diplomatic action against Iran. "Following the supreme court ruling on the case, the government of Kuwait has decided to take measures, in accordance with diplomatic norms and the Vienna Convention, towards its relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran," he told AFP. The latest development comes amid escalating tension in the Gulf, involving Qatar and four Arab countries Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. Analysts have warned the crisis could break apart the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, whose members are Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Kuwait has not imposed sanctions on Qatar and has positioned itself as a neutral party in the crisis. Kuwaiti authorities busted what they said was a "terrorism" cell with ties to Iran in August 2015 and seized large quantities of arms, ammunition and explosives. Cell members were convicted of working for Iran's Revolutionary Guards and Lebanon's Hezbollah. They were also convicted of smuggling explosives from Iran. The only Iranian member of the cell was sentenced to death in absentia by the lower court early last year. Kuwait's interior ministry on Tuesday said 14 convicts were on the run while the newspaper, Al-Seyassah, has said they had fled to Iran by sea. The cell was convicted by a lower court early last year but acquitted on appeals several months later and set free. The supreme court, whose rulings are final, overturned their acquittal on 18 June and sentenced them to between five and 15 years in prison. In March 2011, a Kuwaiti court condemned four people of forming a spy cell for Iran. That led to the expulsion of ambassadors by the two countries but they returned a few months later. Unlike most of its fellow GCC partners, Kuwait has maintained good relations with Iran in recent years. In February, Iranian president Hassan Rouhani visited Kuwait City a month after the emirate launched a dialogue with Iran in a bid to normalise Gulf-Iran relations. Around a third of Kuwait's native population of 1.35 million is Shiite. Seoul: North Korea on Thursday said that it was "nonsense" for South Korea to hope to improve inter-Korean ties while taking a confrontational policy against Pyongyang without giving up its dependence on the US. The remarks came three days after Seoul proposed inter-Korean military talks on 14 July to ease tensions along the border and Red Cross talks on 1 August to resume reunions of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, reports Yonhap News Agency. Rodong Sinmun, North Korea's state-run daily, called on South Korea to make a decision over whether to stick to its sanctions-oriented approach toward Pyongyang and submission to the US. "Ditching confrontation and hostility is a precondition for opening the door for the two Koreas' reconciliation and unity," the daily said. South Korea's dialogue offer came after President Moon Jae-in during his speech in Berlin earlier this month proposed ways to bring permanent peace to the divided peninsula. Moon earlier vowed to seek a dual-track approach of North Korea's denuclearisation and engagement with Pyongyang. On Monday, the government said that it wants North Korea to show a response via the now-suspended communication channels. Seoul's unification ministry said that North Korea did not respond to a South Korean official's call at a liaison office at the truce village of Panmunjom. A ministry official said that President Moon does not see the newspaper's comment as North Korea's official response to Seoul's dialogue offer. He said that it may be difficult for the two Koreas to hold talks on Friday, given the short period for preparation and the disconnected communication lines, even if Pyongyang gives a positive reply later in the day. "But it is important for South and North Korea to take initiative in resolving issues on the Korean Peninsula," the official said, adding, "There is no deadline for Seoul's efforts (to improve ties) via dialogue." Washington: Pakistan treats America like a "limitless ATM" and most of the US aid to the country goes to the military's kitty, a private US defence contractor who was responsible for one the worst bilateral tensions, has said. "For Pakistan, no amount of money ever seemed to be enough. The economic aid it received from the United States became a drug it alternately loathed and could not live without," Raymond Davis said in his book "The Contractor". Davis, 42, was arrested in Lahore in 2011 on charges of killing two Pakistani citizens and thus kicked off a huge diplomatic crisis between the two countries. Having a first-hand experience of how the system works in Pakistan, the CIA contractor wrote that most of the US aid ended up with the Pakistan military and not with the civilians. "As dysfunctional as the relationship between the United States and Pakistan was, it was made worse by the fact that most of the aid typically ended up in the hands of the Pakistani military, while much of its population continued to languish in poverty," Davis said. In his book, Davis writes that the real power in Pakistan lies with the military. "While Pakistan is said to be a parliamentary federal republic with a president who serves as head of state and a prime minister who runs the government, everyone knows that the real power in that country lies with the military," he wrote. "For more than half of the sixty-four years that had passed since its birth as a nation, Pakistan had been under military rule. It devoted nearly a quarter of its budget to defence spending. As recently as 2007, Pakistan had been under martial law. That same year, president Pervez Musharraf, a former four-star general, suspended the constitution, had the leader of the opposition party arrested, and dismissed the Supreme Courts chief justice," Davis said. "In short, you did not want to cross the military in Pakistan," he said. Between 1954 and 1959, the US gave Pakistan $1.28 billion. "By 2011, the total amount of aid doled out by the United States had ballooned to $67 billion," he wrote in his book. "After 9/11, the US, using Coalition Support Funds, also reimbursed Pakistan for any money it spent combating terrorism, a policy that was somewhat flawed because, while it was supposed to encourage the Pakistani military to fight local militants, it provided little incentive for it to do the job well," Davis rued. "After all, if all the terrorists disappeared, so too would the seemingly limitless ATM that was the United States," he said in the book which gives graphic details of his arrest in Lahore and his subsequent release. "Having grown dependent upon these annual disbursements of aid from the US and with fewer than two million of its 182 million citizens paying income tax, Pakistan had become the very definition of a "rentier state," a country that receives a disproportionate amount of its revenues from external sources, kind of like the ne'er-do-well child of fabulously wealthy parents," Davis said. Islamabad: The children of Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif could face up to seven years in jail if it was proved that they had submitted fake documents to the Panama panel probing the money laundering allegations against the family, the Supreme Court warned on Thursday. The apex court heard the Panamagate scandal case for the fourth consecutive day since the hearing began on Monday, following submission of a report by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) on 10 July, which was tasked by the court to probe allegation of corruption against Sharif and his family. "The punishment for submitting forged documents in the court is seven years in jail," warned the three-member panel of judges. The JIT among other things has observed that some of the documents submitted by the children of Sharif, 67, were tampered with. A trust deed provided by the prime minister's daughter Maryam Nawaz and executed in 2006 was written in Calibri font which was not commercially available till 2007. It was also notarised from an office in London on Saturday which is officially an off day, raising concern about the authenticity of the document. Similarly, Government of Dubai has revealed that the documents of Gulf Steel Mills provided by the prime minister's son Hussian Nawaz were forged as there was no record of those documents. Justice Ejaz Afzal is heading the probe panel comprising Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Justice Ijazul Ahsan. They also warned Salman Akram Raja, the lawyer of Sharif's children, against a media trial in the case after some of the documents presented by him were leaked to media and were discussed in talk shows on Wednesday. "You have been conducting a trial in the media and the documents (submitted to the court) have already been discussed in the media," said Justice Saeed. "There is a media dais outside, you should give your arguments there as well," he told Raja, who assured the court that he had not released any documents to media. Meanwhile, Raja presented his arguments in details. The arguments were still going on when the court adjourned the proceedings till Friday. The judges on Thursday again asked the Sharif family to provide the money trail of its various businesses in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UK. "The main question is from where did the money for these businesses come," asked the panel. Later, Fawad Chaudhry, member of a legal team representing Imran Khan of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), told media outside the court after the hearing that the hearing might be completed by Friday. "For us the case is over. Sharif would have to go home and then jail for corruption. His children would also land in jail for forgery," he said. Minister of State for Information Marriyam Aurangzeb said that the prime minister has been vindicated as there is no proof of any corruption against him. "The prime minister was accused of money laundering and corruption but none of the allegations have been proved," she said. The scandal surfaced when the Panama Papers leaks in 2016 revealed that Sharif's sons -- Hassan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz -- and his daughter Maryam -- owned offshore companies which managed their family's properties. The assets in question include four expensive flats in Park Lane, London. Opposition parties allege that the London flats were purchased through illegal money which Sharif and his family have rejected. However, they have been unable to satisfy the court about the source of money used to purchase these properties. Washington: President Donald Trump says he never would have appointed Jeff Sessions as attorney-general had he known Sessions would recuse himself from overseeing the Russia investigation. Trump made the extraordinary statement about Sessions in an interview with the New York Times Wednesday. He told the paper that Sessions' decision to recuse himself from all matters related to Russia was "very unfair to the president." Trump said the brief conversation consisted of "pleasantries more than anything else," but added that the two also discussed adoption. That's the same topic Donald Trump Jr says he discussed with a Russian lawyer at a meeting that has drawn criticism. On Tuesday, the White House said that Trump held a second, previously undisclosed meeting with Russia's Vladimir Putin on 7 July during the G-20 summit in Hamburg. "There was a couples-only social dinner at the G-20. Toward the end, the president spoke to Putin at the dinner," Efe quoted National Security Council spokesman Michael Anton as saying. "No staff or Cabinet were at the dinner at all, for any of the countries." The dinner took place hours after Trump and Putin met formally for more than two hours on the sidelines of the conference in the German city. Secretary of state Rex Tillerson and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov were present for the earlier discussion. Trump and Putin were seated at opposite ends of the table for the dinner, but the American leader left his spot and sat next to the Russian. The two presidents spoke for around an hour, accompanied only by Putin's translator. Ian Bremmer, president of the US-based Eurasia Group, was the first to disclose the second meeting between Trump and Putin. In a newsletter to clients, Bremer said he learned of the discussion from two people who were at the dinner. During the initial session in Hamburg, Trump confronted Putin about allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 election, prompting the Kremlin chief to repeat his previous denials of any interference. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Gopal Bagley on Thursday said that differences between India and China over the Doka La issue should not turn into a dispute while addressing a press conference in New Delhi. He confirmed that National Security Advisor Ajit Doval will visit Beijing for the BRICS summit on 27-28 July but refused to divulge more details. However, Bagley reiterated that India was consistent on its stand to keep all the diplomatic channels open to find a resolution. I can confirm that he (National Security Advisor) will be visiting: MEA on National Security Advisor's visit to China for BRICS NSAs meeting pic.twitter.com/nj14aelBCt ANI (@ANI_news) July 20, 2017 Diplomatic channels and diplomatic communications have never been ceased, they have never broken: MEA Spox Gopal Baglay #China pic.twitter.com/PBRm0Ujboo ANI (@ANI_news) July 20, 2017 He maintained that India would like the nature of the trilateral relations between India, China and Bhutan to be restored as before. Adding to it, he mentioned that previously Bhutan had also asked China to maintain the status quo in the region. This statement comes as external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj accused China of trying to change the status quo in the region on Thursday.While addressing the Rajya Sabha, she said that while China was saying that India should withdraw its troops from Doka La for negotiations to begin, "we are saying that if a dialogue is to be held, then both should withdraw (their troops)". She said that India was not doing anything unreasonable and maintained that foreign countries were supporting India's stand. "Foreign countries are with us. They feel that China is being aggressive with a small country like Bhutan. Bhutan has protested, including in writing. All the countries feel India's stand is right and the law is with us," Sushma Swaraj said. She added that in the past China had tried to repair roads, re-tar them but on 16 June, they came with bulldozers and construction equipment with the aim of breaching security in the region where the tri-junction point ends. India and China have been locked in a standoff in the Doka La area in Sikkim sector near the Bhutan tri-junction for over three weeks. India raised an objection to the Chinese army's attempt to build a road in the disputed narrow stretch of land. With inputs from agencies Washington: Christopher Wray, US president Donald Trumps nominee to lead the FBI following the dismissal of the agency's former chief James Comey, on Thursday moved one step closer to being confirmed after receiving bipartisan support from a key Senate committee. The US Senate Judiciary Committee approved the nomination of Wray to be FBI director by a vote of 20-0. His nomination now heads to Senate floor for the final decision. If confirmed, he would replace Comey, who was fired by Trump in May. New York-born, Wray clerked for Fourth Circuit judge J Michael Luttig in Richmond, Virginia, and then began his career as an associate at King & Spalding LLP in Atlanta before becoming an assistant US attorney in the Northern District of Georgia from 1997-2001. He next served as an associate deputy attorney general and as the principal associate deputy attorney general in the justice department. He became the assistant attorney general in charge of the justice departments criminal Division in 2003. He headed the criminal division until 2005, and then returned to private practice at King & Spalding where he has remained since. Before the re-launch of Nokia, HMD Global last year appointed Arto Nummela, who previously held senior positions at Nokia as the CEO of the company. He launched the new Nokia Android smartphones and the new 3310 at the MWC 2017. Today HMD Global announced that Arto Nummela will leave HMD with immediate effect, through mutual agreement between him and the HMD Global Board of Directors. He has deep roots in Finland and was an intrinsic part of the original Nokia team starting from 1994. Before becoming the CEO of HMD last year, he was the Vice President at Microsoft Mobile Devices Sales group in Greater Asia, Middle East and Africa region. Till the company appoints a new CEO, in addition to his current role as President, Florian Seiche will be the acting CEO, starting immediately. Arto Nummela did not comment anything about his future plans. Commenting on the changes, Sam Chin, Chairman of the Board, HMD Global Oy said: Arto Nummela has played a key role in the creation of the HMD Global operation, building the team and launching our first products. On behalf of the whole Board, I thank Arto for his contribution and wish him well in his future endeavors. Bargain hunters looking to fly for less are in luck with Frontier Airlines new limited-time offer. Passengers flying on eight select routes between August 15 of this year and March 7, 2018 can grab one-way tickets for just $24 on the Denver-based low-cost carrier. The routes include Austin-New Orleans, Las Vegas-San Jose and Orlando-Knoxville, Tenn. Additionally, customers can buy tickets for $25 on nearly 30 routes within the U.S. These include Chicago OHare-San Antonio, Dallas-Denver and Orlando-Pittsburgh. The sale for both ticket prices ends Thursday night. On Tuesday, Frontier announced it was expanding flights to 21 new cities, which would increase the number of destinations by 30 percent. The airline said it would offer low fares to 90 percent of the U.S. population by next spring, as well. We project this will save our customers over a billion dollars annually on their flights, Barry Biffle, Frontier Airlines president and CEO, said in a statement. In March, Frontier Group Holdings Inc., the parent company of Frontier, filed for an initial public offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The offering size is up to $100 million. Frontier serves more than 80 destinations in the United States, Canada, Dominican Republic and Mexico, operating Airbus A319, A320 and A321 aircraft. Campbell Soup Co. Chief Executive Denise Morrison said Wednesday during the company's investor event that the company will withdraw from the Grocery Manufacturer's Association (GMA), a major food association, by the end of the calendar year. The decision, according to Morrison, is "not financial," but rather "driven by purpose and principles." Morrison's remarks focused on the company's goal of being "the leading health and well-being food company," which includes an emphasis on transparency as a means of building trust with consumers, particularly millennials. GMA defended its own efforts at transparency in a comment emailed to MarketWatch. "It was GMA's leadership that helped achieve passage in 2016 of a national standard for GMO disclosure," said Roger Lowe, executive vice president of strategic communications for the GMA. "We supported an option that can provide consumers more information about GMOs than could ever fit on a label." Lowe said the group's transparency tool SmartLabel is expected to be used by 30,000 products by the end of the year, and it's working with the Food Marketing Institute on "common wording" for product dating intended to reduce consumer confusion and waste. Campbell shares closed Wednesday up 3.1%, but are down 13.1% for the year to date. The S&P 500 index is up 10.5% for 2017 so far. Copyright 2017 MarketWatch, Inc. Travelers flying to the U.S. from nearly 300 international airports, including those in Mexico and Canada, are now subject to stepped-up security measures that include stricter screening for electronic devices larger than cellphones. The regulations could include asking passengers to present larger electronic devices for inspection and prove that they can be powered on. The Homeland Security Department demanded last month that airlines around the world step up security measures for international flights bound for the United States or face the possibility of a total electronics ban for planes. The deadline for some of those changes to take affect was Wednesday. Airlines and aviation authorities responded by warning passengers to expect longer security screenings at airports. "Enhanced screening measures are in effect," read an alert on the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority's website. It said that passengers flagged randomly for additional screening will be asked to remove electronic devices from protective cases for inspection, and possibly show they can be powered on. Mexico's aviation authority advised passengers on flights bound for the U.S. to arrive at the airport three hours early to comply with the new screening measures. Toronto-based Porter Airlines, which operates numerous flights a day between the U.S. and Canada, informed frequent travelers of the new security measures in an email Wednesday. "As of July 19, if you're travelling to the U.S., the U.S. Department of Homeland Security requires you to take your personal electronic devices larger than a smartphone, such as your laptop and/or tablet, out of their protective cases and to turn it on, if asked," they advised, adding that devices that failed to comply would not be allows onboard. The new rules apply to roughly 180 foreign and U.S.-based airlines flying from 280 airports in 105 countries. The Department of Homeland Security says more than 2,000 international flights land in the United States each day. Republicans should have no problem repealing and replacing ObamaCare, said Kellyanne Conway, counselor to President Trump. The President held a White House lunch-in for GOP senators, to try and salvage a health care reform bill. What this bill would do under the presidents leadership is increase free market solutions, health savings accounts The president is stabilizing the markets, hes got opioid funding in there, the bill gives more governors more flexibility, this is easy. These guys and gals ran on repealing and replacing ObamaCare. A vote on no on the procedure is a vote on yes for ObamaCare, she told FOX Business Lou Dobbs. Conway also explained how ObamaCare is hurting Americans. This sucker (ObamaCare) is collapsing, you got 83 insurers leaving, you have premiums were supposed to come down by 2500 they are up close to 3000. You have 40 counties right now that have no insurers. Over 1300 counties that have one insurer, which isnt a choice at all, she said. A former Massachusetts sheriff's deputy has been convicted of helping a fishing mogul known as "The Codfather" smuggle profits out of the country. A federal jury in Boston found 47-year-old Antonio Freitas guilty Wednesday of charges of bulk cash smuggling and structuring the export of U.S. currency. The former Bristol County sheriff's deputy will be sentenced in October. Prosecutors say Carlos Rafael, who owns Carlos Seafood, Inc. in New Bedford, lied to federal authorities for years about the quantity and species of fish his boats caught to evade federal quotas. Rafael pleaded guilty in March to federal charges of evading fishing quotas and smuggling money to Portugal. Prosecutors say Freitas helped Rafael smuggle the profits to Portugal while also working as a Department of Homeland Security task force officer. Freitas had denied the charges. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. 2022 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. FAQ - New Privacy Policy The U.S. Treasury Department announced a financial penalty against American oil and gas giant Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) Thursday, for violating Ukraine-related sanctions in 2014. The monetary penalty is worth $2 million and, at the time when the infraction incurred, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was still leading the company around May 14, 2014 and May 23, 2014. According to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the president of Exxons U.S. subsidiaries signed eight legal documents relating to oil and gas projects in Russia with the Rosneft president Igor Sechin, who was a sanctioned individual at the time. The OFAC called this case egregious because Exxon did not voluntarily self-disclose its violations. The Treasury also concluded that not only did Exxon act with reckless disregard for U.S. sanctions requirements, but also its senior-most executives knew of Sechins status as a sanctioned individual. ExxonMobil caused significant harm to the Ukraine-related sanctions program objectives by engaging the services of an SDN designated on the basis that he is an official of the Government of the Russian Federation contributing to the crisis in Ukraine, an OFAC release said. Exxon said it fully complied with sanctions guidelines issued by former President Barack Obama's administration that ongoing business activities with Rosneft were allowed, but not personal dealings with Sechin, according to Reuters. The Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday 17 million additional people will lose health insurance coverage in 2018 if Republicans repeal ObamaCare without replacing it. The number of uninsured would increase to 27 million additional individuals by the year 2020 and 32 million by 2026 were Congress to take no action on implementing a replacement plan. A repeal-only plan would decrease the federal budget deficit by $473 billion over the next decade, however, premium costs would increase 25% next year relative to the current law, the CBO forecasts. More on this... McConnell: ObamaCare repeal vote expected next week Another big issue Republicans will be forced to tackle is coverage levels. The CBO analysis suggests that by 2020 about 50% of the nations population would live in an area where no insurers were participating in the market. That number would swell to 75% over the next decade. The GOP turned to a repeal first, replace later strategy this week after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnells revised bill to repeal and replace former President Obamas signature health care law failed to secure enough votes Monday night. GOP senators met with President Donald Trump for lunch Wednesday to discuss future efforts to revise the health care system. McConnell said he expects lawmakers to vote next week on either a repeal and replace bill, or a repeal-only bill. McConnell said, under the latter, the GOP would provide replacement legislation within two years. One Ohio sheriff is instructing officers not to carry Narcan, a nasal spray designed to counteract the effects of an opioid overdose, while on-duty. Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones said he made the decision in an effort to protect his staff and explained that Narcan users are subject to violent behavior after receiving the treatment. I want my deputies to go home at the end of their shift, Jones told FOX Business Liz MacDonald during an interview on Risk & Reward. They [victims] come out [of the overdose state] fighting, and these people dont want them there. Critics gathered outside the Sheriffs Office Tuesday, protesting Jones policy, though he still hasnt changed his mind. Jones said part of the raging opioid epidemic in America should be blamed on lawmakers. Our politicians are so concerned with the last election, we cant get any help whatsoever, said Jones. The Butler County sheriff added that due to the high volume of calls related to opioid overdoses, response times for other medical emergencies have been delayed. A few thoughts now on secret meetings and the private interactions taking place between important world leaders. I am upset, distressed and dismayed, that for too long, too little is known about what the U.S. president and the Russian leader were talking about. Of course, Im referring to President Barack Obama. It was Mr. Obama who met with Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the 2013 G20 meeting in St. Petersburg. As it turned out, Mr. Obama had a half-hour discussion. The White House confirmed the meeting, but provided no details. Mr. Obama and then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met without an American interpreter during a private meeting at the 2010 NATO summit in PortugalPresident Obama proving that such informal encounters with Russian leaders are too common at these summits. There was certainly nothing secret about President Trumps G20 encounters. In a crowd of world leaders that are a head shorter than him, all eyes were on Mr. Trump and he was never hard to find. Things appear to be heating up between Christina El Moussa and her new boyfriend. The "Flip or Flop" star brought her boyfriend Doug Spedding on a vacation with her little sister to Bali. Her sister's boyfriend also tagged along. El Moussa, who is separated from her co-star Tarek El Moussa, shared pictures of the romantic getaway on Instagram but quickly deleted them. "Had so much fun spending the week in Bali ... some much needed R&R. So nice spending time with my little sis and our BF's," she wrote. In the first picture, El Moussa and Spedding look cozy as they posed with monkeys. The next picture was a group shot of the two couples at the beach with cups in hand. She also shared a shot of her and Spedding by the pool at sunset. The mom-of-two told Fox News in May she was really excited for her trip to Bali. "I am traveling to Bali with my sister and am excited to get real zenyoga and spiritual healers," she told us. She's also planning a big trip to South Africa. "We will be visiting orphanages, wine tasting in Cape Town and going on safari at Ulusaba. Can't wait!" A man who was in the Atlanta area to work on major motion pictures such as "Rampage" and "Godzilla II" was found dead inside his DeKalb County apartment. Police said he was shot multiple times. The body of Joseph Livolsi was found in at the Eastwyck Apartments on Eastwyck Circle in Decatur. Police said they have no suspects or even a motive. He had just wrapped work on Dewayne Johnson movie Rampage and was supposed to start on the next installment of the Godzilla series on Saturday, but he never showed up. His friends knew right away something was not right. "Real stand up guy there's nothing bad you can say about Joe, everybody loved him," Eric Cook said. Livolsi was a movie special effects technician often came to Atlanta to work on films. He has credits on Captain America, The Avengers, and Transformers. Saturday, when he did not show up for work, his friends became concerned. "We started making phone calls, a lot of people got in the loop and no one could reach him. A couple of days went by and it was really at that point we had tried everything and we were running into dead ends, so it was a little alarming at that point," said Cook. Then they got the call they dreaded: Joe was dead. His roommates and a friend of theirs discovered his body Saturday inside his Eastwyck Village apartment. "When they got to the scene, they went upstairs, they noticed the victim was lying on his back with multiple gunshot wounds in the upstairs hallway," said Lt. Lonzy Robertson, DeKalb County Police Department. Police said his roommates claimed they were not home at the time, but also told police they did not call 911 right away. They said they were scared, took their friend home, and then drove over to the nearest police precinct to report the crime. Both roommates were interviewed, and subsequently arrested on unrelated charges "We don't have any motives, any leads, any type of suspects," said Lt. Robertson. Eric said Joe did not know the roommates he was living with, he found them on Craigslist when they first arrived in Atlanta. "Joe was of the mindset to live as cheaply as he could and send as much money home to his family as he could," said Cook. Cook said he does not know who killed his friend he can only speculate and wait while police try to figure out this mystery. "I hope whoever did this gets what's coming to them because this is a guy who did absolutely nothing wrong, was just here trying to provide for his family it's not good," said Cook. Police said according to the roommates, nothing was taken from the home. Livolsi's friends said he did not have anything of value on him. Anyone who knows anything about his murder is asked to call the DeKalb County Police Department. This article originally appeared on FOX 5 Atlanta. Two imminent Hollywood blockbusters have removed any mention of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Red Sparrow, starring Jennifer Lawrence, cut all references to Putin, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The story is based on the 2013 novel written by Jason Matthews. The movie is about a sexy Russian spy [who] falls for a CIA officer and considers becoming a double agent, according to IMDb. FRENCH SINGER BARBARA WELDENS REPORTEDLY COLLAPSES, DIES ON STAGE The movie was reportedly going to be set in the 1970s, but director Frances Lawrence decided to keep the storys premise and change the period to a modern-day setting. Putin has a central role in the book, but all mentions of the Russian president were dropped in the film. Kursk, which follows the 2000 K-141 submarine disaster and the government negligence that followed, according to IMDb, also cut Putin from the story despite the Russian president showing up in the source material. The upcoming flick is based on Robert Moores 2003 book, A Time to Die: The Untold Story of the Kursk Tragedy. "For a studio to release a movie about Putin that makes him look like a fool would be suicide," Ajay Arora, CEO of security firm Vera, told the Hollywood Reporter. "That's a certain way to be targeted [for retaliation]." CHRISTIE BRINKLEY, 63, STUNS IN NEW PHOTO SHOOT But Grandview Management's Jeff Silver said Russia will be the hot topic for the next few years in the movie industry. "We've seen a lot of projects where Russians are portrayed as villains, but I don't think this is '80s redux," Silver said. "The political climate is so much more fluid, nuanced and chaotic, and good screenplays and stories are reflecting that." A family from Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, is having quite the health scare after finding a urinary catheter in their store-bought ice cream. The family members had reportedly gathered to celebrate the arrival of a baby boy, purchasing a sealed container of Coaticook-brand ice cream for the occasion. After digging in, family patriarch and new grandfather Jean Francoeur spit out what appeared to be a small section of catheter, reports La Presse. HOW TO KEEP ICE CREAM SOFT IN THE FREEZER Two other members of the family including Francoeurs son Samuel, who had just welcomed the baby with his wife, and Samuels mother-in-law, Carol-Anne Christofferson had also eaten the chocolate-pecan ice cream. But unlike Francoeur, neither had bit into any foreign objects. "He put it in his mouth and found the tip of syringe," said Christofferson in an interview with the CBCs Radio-Canada. Upon closer inspection, the family also noticed something dark at one end of the catheter, but couldnt confirm what it was. They phoned a nurse, who advised them to seek immediate treatment at a hospital. Christofferson said the three family members gave blood samples, and each received preventative treatment for HIV and hepatitis A, B and C. She also told La Presse they wouldnt have the complete results for six months. In the meantime, Samuel and Christofferson must submit to testing every month, and Francoeur every week. Hes also been taking oral medication. "He's the worst off, the most affected," said Christofferson. "He's not even able to speak about it." FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS Jean Provencher, the owner of Coaticook ice cream, has since told Radio-Canada that their products are safe to consume, despite the incident. "We have so many internal controls here and in food production in general that having something like that show up in a food item, it's not normal," said Provencher. Provencher also confirmed that Coaticook will be conducting an internal investigation. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is also investigating after having visited the production facilities on Tuesday. It was not immediately clear if the Francoeur of Christofferson families plan to sue, though they have filed a complaint against Coaticook. The Francoeur family or a representative for Coaticook was not immediately available for comment. A hunter in southern Alabama bagged and tagged the trophy animal of his life when he discovered an 820-pound wild hog on his front lawn. Wade Seago, a deer hunter and taxidermist in Samson, said he knew something was up outside his house July 11 when his familys dog started barking and wouldnt stop, AL.com reported. His daughter began screaming as he got up to check on his dog, Cruiser. "I jumped up to see what was going on," Seago explained to the news site. "I looked out the back window and saw nothing, so I ran to the front of the house where my daughter was looking out the window. I couldn't believe what I was seeing." He discovered Cruiser barking at the massive wild hog, which was about five yards from his familys front porch. "Cruiser had this huge hog confused with all of the barking and movement," Wade continued. "It was not a good situation." Fearing the worst, Seago grabbed his .38-caliber revolver and went back onto the front porch. Seago told AL.com that it took three shots to take the hog down before it hit the ground. "By the time I got in a position to shoot, the hog was about 12 yards away," he said. "Cruiser was out of my line to the hog so I fired." The next day, the sharpshooter took the hog to a nearby peanut company to use its scales to weigh the wild beast. Seago told the Associated Press on Wednesday that he plans to display the hog's stuffed head and shoulders at his taxidermy shop. He said the rest of the remains were discarded on a friend's property. "It's so humid down here, it had to hang all night. I wouldn't trust the meat," he said. Seago didn't have any regrets about killing the hog, which had tusk-like teeth that were 6 inches (15 centimeters) long. Feral hogs cause millions of dollars in damage annually, and hunters on private land can kill as many of them as they want under Alabama law. "I didn't think twice about taking down this hog," Seago said. "I'd do it again tomorrow." The Associated Press contributed to this story. A Minnesota boy is fighting for his life after he contracted a strain of E. coli the same one that killed his younger sister earlier this week. Kade, 5, and Kallan Maresh, 3, of Wright County, were sickened by an infection called Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) on July 9, Fox 9 reported. The siblings battled symptoms including non-stop bloody stool and vomiting, eventually leading them into acute kidney failure. Last week, Kallan, who would have turned 4 years old next month, died when the Shiga toxin from the bacteria attacked the toddler's kidneys and neurological system. TODDLER ON LIFE SUPPORT AFTER CONTRACTING E. COLI INFECTION "Her brain and heart were being damaged," her parents, Joseph and Tyffani Maresh, wrote on their donation site, CaringBridge. "Our sweet sweet little girl lost the battle." "We got to hold her free of tubes and snuggle and kiss her. She is the most amazing little girl in the world. Our hearts are aching with the deepest sadness," they wrote in the post. The parents said their son "is still fighting" despite the toxins reaching his neurological system. "He has had a blood transfusion [and] is on kidney dialysis and may need platelets," the post read. "He has a long road to recovery and we hope and pray the toxins stay away from his brain and heart and other organ systems." GIRL WHO DIED AFTER CONTRACTING E. COLI WAS CLEANING DIRTY YARD, FAMILY SAYS It's unclear how the Minnesota siblings contracted the strain of E. coli that led to hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a complication caused by the bacterial infection, the Star Tribune reported. The family visited a local petting zoo recently before they became ill, but officials cautioned that the children could have been infected from various sources. The animals at the display were taken away as an "abundance of precaution." State health officials are investigating the source of the Shiga toxin-producing bacteria, according to Star Tribune. Most types of E. coli are generally harmless, but several strains create serious food-borne infections that lead to HUS, according to the Mayo Clinic. Ask any runner why they run and youll rarely get the same answer. Whether its the community it gives, the outlet it provides, or the simple joy of lacing up and getting out, we all have our reasons. But for two New Zealand natives, its a bit more complicated. Their answer? Cancer. Caroline Steer, 47, and Vanessa Oshima, 47, became friends while growing up in Matamata, New Zealand, a small farming town. Caroline and I had been friends because we all went to the same junior high, Oshima said. We were just in the same circle and same classes all the time, and we just got along very well. They remained close until going to different universities. Steer stayed in New Zealand, while Oshima relocated to Tokyo, where she married her husband, Yasu. TODDLER'S BRAIN DAMAGE REVERSED AFTER NEAR-FATAL DROWNING Then someday, kind of out of the blue, a friend of ours passed away from cancer and a small Facebook group of our class was built to get everybody up to speed with what happened, Oshima said. It was 2012, about 25 years since we all had really heard from each other. At the same time, Steer was dealing with some major news of her own. She had been in the shower one day and noticed a lump in her breast. It was everything we didnt want it to be, Steer said. It was pretty early on in my treatment when I reached out to Vanessa and told her. Oshima remembers getting that first Facebook message from Steer. She said, Saw you run today. It was really fantastic, and that kind of got me thinking that maybe I should get going again. She explained she couldnt because she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. I was like Holy s--t. When Oshima, who had been a long-time runner, realized how inspired her daily runs made Steer feel, she made a commitment to run everyday. Using the Streak Running International Incorporation guidelines as inspiration, the two agreed on two rules for Oshimas streak: she had to run a 5K, and she had to run outdoors. FAMILY RACING TO RAISE FUNDS FOR DAUGHTER FACING INCURABLE GENETIC DISEASE Running had to be outdoors, because cancer patients have good days, and really s----y days, and when its a really s----y day, you still have to go and still have to fight it, Oshima said. Regardless of how the weather is, or how Im feeling, I was just going to have to get up and go do it, because Caroline had to get up and go do it too. Over 5,000 miles apart, and still the two women were connected by Oshimas devotion to running while Steer bravely battled cancer, communicating through the phone and social media. While Oshima was hitting goals like Day 100, then 200, then 500, Steer was hitting some of her own milestones as she underwent chemotherapy for ten months. She couldnt run, but that did not keep her from trying to get out and get active as much as she could. I think Id just had the first chemo and that hit me like a ton of bricks, so setting small goals became my focus Steer said. It was exciting for me because she would go and do a full run everyday, and I would give myself a small task each day, Steer said. I started off with just making myself walk 3K. For me, that was a big achievement. I appreciated what Vanessa did so much, and it was such an awesome distraction, Steer said. It allowed me to be able to refocus myself during my treatment and recovery, and help me push my body more. The more days Oshima logged, the more attention she drew from those around her. She posted daily photos of her runs with #outruncancer on Facebook and her Instagram @Vanessa_outruncancer. As more and more people caught onto what she was doing, she inspired many runners to start their own steaks. I was running to support Caroline, and they were running to support me, Oshima said. She continued running, raising $16,000 for the Run for the Cure foundation. The two even met up in Japan when Oshima hit Day 1,000 of her streak to celebrate the milestone. But then the unthinkable happened. Around day 1,600 Oshima received a diagnosis of her own. PASTOR ASKS FOR PRAYERS AS WIFE, PREMATURE NEWBORN BATTLE FOR LIVES I was completely floored when my doctor told me I had breast cancer, Oshima said. She didnt even sugar coat it, she just was like This doesnt look so good. Oshima then called Steer, who had been in remission for about four years but had not been running. It was 11:30 at night when Steer picked up the phone in New Zealand and heard the news, and immediately after, she laced up her running shoes, and went for her first run in the dark. I always told her I would do the same for her in a heartbeat when she was running for me, Steer said. So I started my own streak. As Oshima prepared for surgery, the two continued running daily, 5,000 miles apart, together. Oshima even got up at 4:30 a.m. the day of her mastectomy in late March, ran around the hospital and was back in bed by 5 a.m. She hadnt planned on being able to continue the streak as she recovered, especially her first day after surgery, but her doctor saw how good she was feeling the morning after, and let her do laps around the hospital wing so she wouldnt break her streak. Its 8:30 at night, and I went out, put on my app so I could track a mile, and ran 45 laps in front of the elevator bay, Oshima said. And I cried, I really cried. I dont know if I cried cause I was tired, or I was happy, or I was sad, but I cried. Three months later, the pair are both still streaking. The day of our interview, Oshima was coming from her three-month check up appointment, where the doctor told her everything looked good. MOM SHARES HARROWING ADDICTION PHOTOS Its really great and positive to hear that, Oshima said. As Steer comes close to completing 150 straight days of her running streak, she is also coming on five years of being cancer free. September 11 will mark five years since her diagnosis, and also mark the five full years, about 1,852 days, that Oshima has consistently run. Vanessa has taught us so much about the power of friendship, Steer said. And what we can achieve if we let ourselves! Oshima hopes that more people realize how running can help, in more ways than one. I want to try to open up a little bit of the conversation about how (cancer) is a mental struggle, not just a physical struggle, and how running helped me and the community of runners helped me, Oshima said. I think its a really, really powerful thing. This article first appeared on Runner's World. The man behind the world-famous Ark Encounter has decided to reclaim "God's rainbow" - announcing the massive ark exhibit will be permanently bathed in rainbow lights. Click here for a free subscription to Todd's newsletter - a must-read for patriots! "We now have new permanent rainbow lights at the Ark Encounter so all can see that it is God's rainbow and He determines its meaning in Genesis 6," Answers in Genesis founder Ken Ham announced on Facebook. "The rainbow is a reminder God will never again judge the wickedness of man with a global Floodnext time the world will be judged by fire," he said. Click here to listen to The Todd Starnes Show Podcast! It's free! The 500-foot-long ark is the centerpiece of the biblical theme park based in Williamstown, Kentucky. Hundreds of thousands of visitors have toured the replica of Noah's Ark. "The Ark is lit permanently at night with a rainbow to remind the world that God owns it and He decreed it's a sign of His covenant with man after the FloodChristians need to take back the rainbow as we do at the Ark Encounter," Ham said. To continue reading Todd Starnes' column, click here. Is it racist to not cede space on overcrowded New York City sidewalks? New York Times reporter Greg Howard, writing in the papers Race/Related newsletter, penned an essay singling out white women for not moving out of his way. He writes that in his seven years of living in the city, most people walk courteously but that white women, at least when Im in their path, do not. Howard goes on to note that whether theyre looking at their phones or with a group of friends in conversation, white women almost always continue straight, forcing me to one side without changing their course. Why only and specifically white women? Do they refuse to acknowledge me because theyve been taught that they should fear black men, and that any acknowledgment of black men can invite danger?" Greg Howard, New York Times At times when hes had to step off the sidewalk into the road, the writer turns furious because he feels small. The Times reporter who notes that he has had white women as friends and lovers concludes by pondering the possible reasons why hes had these experiences. Why only and specifically white women? Do they refuse to acknowledge me because theyve been taught that they should fear black men, and that any acknowledgment of black men can invite danger? Do they refuse to acknowledge me because to alter their route would be to show their fear? Do they not see me? Can they not see me? Dan Gainor, vice president for business and culture at the Media Research Center, blasted the Times reporter for bias. Can you imagine The New York Times running an essay where a white woman complains about how African-American men are rude and then blames it on race? The paper and the author would be skewered, Gainor said. The left's new default is that white people are doing wrong at every turn -- even walking down the street. If a conservative had written that Times piece, Gainor added, they would be branded as a racist. The Times promotes the typical liberal standard," he said. "Everything left is right and everything right is wrong. It has been clear for years that the Internal Revenue Service unlawfully targeted dozens of conservative and Tea Party organizations in what amounted to a disturbing scheme to keep them on the sidelines in the runup to the 2012 election. At the American Center for Law and Justice, weve been aggressively battling the IRS in federal court since 2013, representing dozens of these groups that were singled out and effectively punished for their political views. In addition to battling the IRS in court, we have continued to press our case with the agency itself, publicly calling out the corruption and demanding the agency bring an end to its stalling tactics aimed at our clients. The IRS has been dragging its feet for years in responding to applications from our clients for a determination of their tax-exempt status. In one of the most egregious stalling tactics I have ever witnessed, the Albuquerque Tea Party has been in limbo for nearly eight years. The IRS has failed to act no explanation, no information, no nothing. Now, after years of delays, I am delighted to report that our client has finally received its tax-exempt designation as a 501(c) (4) organization. This critical free-speech victory does not represent a change of heart by a still-corrupt IRS. In fact, if the IRS had its way, it likely would never have responded. But thanks to a federal district court judges order last October, the IRS was forced to act on the pending determinations. The lengthy delays by the IRS did not go unnoticed especially by the Albuquerque Journal, which has been following this case since 2010. Noting the wait time for a determination of the groups application should have been much shorter, the newspapers editorial board correctly summarized the problem: Once Barack Obama became president, groups aligned with the Tea Party movement suddenly had difficulty gaining tax-exempt status. In fact, the IRS admitted it did not give the same scrutiny to groups with a liberal or progressive leaning on their applications. At its heart this is not about agreeing with a groups political bent; its about the IRS being a nonpartisan agency that is supposed to enforce the law with integrity and fairness to all. Lets not forget that those responsible for this unlawful targeting scheme have never been held accountable. For years, weve been demanding that former top IRS official Lois Lerner and others be held accountable for their roles in this scandal. At the ACLJ, we expressed our support three months ago when House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady and Tax Policy Subcommittee Chairman Peter Roskam sent a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions asking the Department of Justice to reopen a probe of Lerner, who was at the center of a targeting scandal. As I wrote in April, in this plea for the Justice Department to get involved, the lawmakers contend there is clear evidence that Lerner willfully took part in criminal activity during her tenure as the Exempt Organizations Division director. In the letter, Brady, R-Texas, and Roskam, R-Ill., wrote: On April 9, 2014, the House Committee on Ways and Means voted to send a letter to the Department of Justice referring former IRS Exempt Organizations Division Director Lois G. Lerner for criminal prosecution. As indicated in the attached letter, the Committees nearly three-year investigation uncovered evidence of willful misconduct on the part of Ms. Lerner. Despite this fact and for what many believe were purely partisan reasons, the prior Administration refused to review Ms. Lerners misconduct. One of the best ways to clean-up the scandal-ridden IRS is to hold those responsible for the targeting scheme accountable. Reopening an investigation into the actions of Lois Lerner would be an important first step. The circus is back in town. O.J. Simpson is getting exactly what he loves attention. There's never a pause as to why any news on Orenthal James Simpson is cutting-edge journalism. I got it 23 years ago: "Heisman Trophy winner and star running back kills ex-wife and boyfriend." But the tragedy has been lived, televised, and documented to death. And now O.J. is center stage once more trying to get parole for a two-bit robbery in Las Vegas where 10 years ago he rationalized that property that was once his somehow always remains "O.J.s Stuff." Ten years ago, when O.J. took an entourage of dummies to a Las Vegas hotel to retrieve his "stuff," he once again felt above the law. He walked into that hotel room where the victims knew exactly who was confronting them. Someone was hit, pushed. A gun was waved around. One victim was forced to move ah, a kidnapping! Quite a caper. Somewhere along the way Simpson forgot about a little thing called a civil judgment and even if these disputed items in this Las Vegas hotel weren't legally the victim's property, they surely were not Simpson's they belonged to the Brown and Goldman families. The Simpson gang gets arrested. Now the Las Vegas detectives play the small fish to land the big one. Suspects start rolling over to get a deal. The detectives did exactly what I would have done. A suspect who got away with a double murder was dumb enough to come here and pull this silly robbery. They threw every charge at Simpson they could including the big enchilada kidnapping. Trial goes down and the "Juice" gets 10 to 33 years. Good work guys. Now nine years later O.J. is up for parole. Of course he is. He has done more time for a business dispute robbery where the main suspect knew the victim than any case in my law enforcement experience. Nine years in prison! Thats a big chunk of time for a suspect with a clean rap sheet. The big question: "Will O.J. get paroled?" I would say, "Yes." The legal reasoning for parole is that he did the minimum time without any prison violations. But the behind-the-scenes motivation might be to get Simpson out of the Nevada prison system. Regardless, I predict that on October 1, O.J. Simpson will walk out of Lovelock Prison. Last week, The New York Times revealed that in June 2016, Donald Trump Jr., the presidents eldest son; Jared Kushner, the presidents son-in-law and chief confidant; Paul Manafort, Trumps then-campaign chief executive; and others met secretly at Trump Tower with a former Russian prosecutor and a former Soviet counterintelligence agent to discuss what negative (most likely computer-generated) information the Russians might have to offer them about Hillary Clinton. Within days of the meeting, the elder Trump announced publicly that he would soon release a litany of reasons why Clinton was unqualified to be president and that they would include new allegations about Clinton and Russia. The new allegations did not come. When the Times reporters asked the younger Trump about the meeting last week, he initially claimed it concerned Americans adopting Russian babies. Then he claimed it was about Russian concerns over American economic sanctions on select Russians. When the reporters told him they had his emails, which tell a different story, he released his emails to the public so as to beat the Times to the punch. Then, media hell broke loose about whether the Trump campaign was working with the Russians to acquire information about Clinton, and, particularly, whether any Trump campaign officials engaged in criminal behavior. Here is the backstory: No seasoned campaign official would have met with foreign people, particularly former government officials, in order to discuss any materials they might have about an opponent, because the acquisition of materials from a foreign person or government is illegal under federal law. The inquiry that Donald Jr. received from a friend who served as an intermediary between the Trump campaign and the Russians should have been run past the campaigns legal counsel, who no doubt would have told his colleagues to stay clear of such a proposed meeting, and then reported the overture to the FBI. Donald Jr. claims that the meeting lasted 20 to 30 minutes and produced nothing of value or of interest to the campaign. Yet the emails paint a picture of him as hungry for dirt on Hillary (if its what you say I love it, he wrote), and ready, willing and able to meet with the Russians to see what they had. Was Donald Jr.s meeting a criminal act? Standing alone, the meeting itself was probably not a criminal act. But the varying versions of it that have been given by the president and his son (Were you lying then, or are you lying now?); and the failure of Kushner, who has a national security clearance, to advise the FBI of it in his application for the security clearance (Did you not know they were Russians?); and the presence of an ex-Soviet counterintelligence agent (Did you not know he had been a spy?) at the meeting all give rise to the level of articulable suspicion, which is the constitutional minimum standard to commence a criminal investigation. In this case -- where the Department of Justice has named a special counsel to examine the role of Russian agents in the 2016 presidential election -- the articulable suspicion standard will surely trigger the special counsels involvement. Stated differently, while the Trump Tower meeting alone was probably not a criminal act because speech unaccompanied by behavior or agreement is absolutely protected by the First Amendment, its existence alone is enough to cause the special counsel to commence a criminal investigation of the participants to determine whether a crime was committed then and there, or elsewhere. I have been listening for more than a week to many of my respected colleagues asking, Where is the crime? and I understand their inquiry. Yet the crimes for which the special counsel is looking rarely fit into a neat package. Unlike a bank robber who uses a gun to get cash from a bank teller -- a crime that has a beginning and an end -- white-collar crime often involves nuance and mental state and the behavior of third parties sometimes unknown to the original participants. Thus, an FBI agent or Department of Justice lawyer might compare the Trump Tower meeting to a thief displaying stolen jewelry to a group of potential purchasers, who initially rejected the jewelry. And thus, the feds might want to know whether others decided to view the jewelry, or whether there was a meeting of some of the minds at Trump Tower but perhaps Donald Jr. was excluded from such an assembly. As well, they might inquire as to whether this was an attempt to use foreign people to gather data about Clinton. We know it is a felony for a campaign official to accept something of value from a foreign national or a foreign government; and we know that because campaigns legally pay folks to do opposition research, that research is a thing of value. It is a felony for a campaign official to conspire to acquire a thing of value from a foreign national, even if the thing of value never arrives. It is also a felony for a campaign official to take a material step in furtherance of acquiring a thing of value from a foreign national, even if the thing of value never comes. And it is a felony for anyone without a search warrant to facilitate computer hacking for any purpose. All this brings us back to Donald Jr.s meeting. Was it a crime? We will need to await the outcome of the FBIs investigation and the DOJs presentations to a grand jury. But we do know that the harm to the Trump presidency, much of it caused by those close to the president and the president himself, continues its dark march. Where will it end? A group of senators prayed together Wednesday night after learning that Arizona Sen. John McCain had been diagnosed with a brain tumor, according to one of the lawmakers. Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said he asked Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., who has a master's degree in divinity, to lead the group in prayer. MCCAIN DIAGNOSED WITH BRAIN TUMOR "It was very emotional," Hoeven added. The group of senators was taking part in an evening meeting to discuss health care. McCain, 80, was diagnosed with a brain tumor after doctors removed a blood clot above his left eye last week, his office said in a statement Wednesday. The 80-year-old Republican has glioblastoma, an aggressive cancer, according to doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix. The senator and his family are reviewing further treatment, including a combination of chemotherapy and radiation. Doctors say McCain is recovering from his surgery amazingly well and his underlying health is excellent, according to the statement. Fox News' Chad Pergram and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Meghan McCain, daughter of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and co-host of "Outnumbered" on Fox News Channel, released this statement after her father was diagnosed with a brain tumor. "The news of my fathers illness has affected every one of us in the McCain family. My grandmother, mother, brothers, sister, and I have all endured the shock of the news, and now we live with the anxiety about what comes next. It is an experience familiar to us, given my fathers previous battle with cancer and it is familiar to the countless American families whose loved ones are also stricken with the tragedy of disease and the inevitability of age. If we could ask anything of anyone now it would be the prayers of those of you who understand this all too well. We would be so grateful for them. "It wont surprise you to learn that in all this, the one of us who is most confident and calm is my father. He is the toughest person I know. The cruelest enemy could not break him. The aggressions of political life could not bend him. So he is meeting this challenge as he has had every other. Cancer may afflict him in many ways: but it will not make him surrender. Nothing ever has. "My love for my father is boundless, and like any daughter I cannot and do not wish to be in a world without him. I have faith that those days remain far away. Yet even in this moment, my fears for him are overwhelmed by one thing above all: gratitude for our years together, and the years still to come. He is a warrior at dusk, one of the greatest Americans of our age, and the worthy heir to his fathers and grandfathers name. But to me he is something more. He is my strength, my example, my refuge, my confidante, my teacher, my rock, my hero my dad. -MMM" CNN gave three times more coverage to the alleged secret meeting between President Trump and Vladimir Putin at a G-20 dinner than former President Barack Obama's infamous hot mic gaffe with Russia's former president in 2012, according to a study by the Media Research Center. The study, released on Wednesday by Newsbusters, showed that from the time the news broke late Tuesday afternoon on the previously undisclosed Trump-Putin talk through around midnight, CNN spent over 75 minutes covering the discussion. Trump and his aides pushed back hard on the media's coverage of that meeting, downplaying its significance and suggesting there was nothing 'secret' about it. The MRC study, meanwhile, contrasted CNN's coverage with that of the March 2012 conversation between Obama and then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. CNN COMMENTATOR WON'T CALL TRUMP HER PRESIDENT Obamas microphone was on during the exchange where he told Medvedev that This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility. Medvedev responded: I understand. I will transmit this information to Vladimir [Putin]. According to the MRC study, during the same timeframe on March 26, 2012, CNN spent roughly 25 minutes discussing Obamas misfire. CNN host Wolf Blitzer described the incident in 2012 as awkward, while the networks hosts used the Trump-Putin talk to discuss the presidents credibility and his posture in regard to Russia. The context for Trump's interactions with Putin is different than it was for Obama and Medvedev, given the special counsel probe examining allegations of Russian meddling in the election and possible coordination with Trump associates. This backdrop helped make Trump's separate and official high-profile meeting with Putin an international news event. But Trump later called the intense coverage of the dinner conversation "Fake News." Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway told Fox News' "Hannity" Wednesday night that Republican senators "would be held accountable" if they voted against repealing ObamaCare. "Any Republican Senator who votes against a motion to proceed [on repeal] is basically saying, 'were proceeding with ObamaCare,'" Conway told host Sean Hannity. "If you dont like the bill, do what [Texas Sen.] Ted Cruz did ... He offered an amendment. If you dont like it ... go to the Senate floor and say how to improve it." Conway spoke to Fox News hours after President Trump told senators to stay in session until an ObamaCare repeal bill is sent to his desk. "The presidents done his job. He ran successfully on repealing and replacing ObamaCare," she said. "The House bill got passed and he is waiting right behind me, in his office, pen in hand, ready to sign it." Conway also addressed the controversy over a previously undisclosed conversation between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 summit in Germany earlier this month, calling the reaction "over the top." "Any description of this as an undisclosed, secret, second, furtive meeting is complete nonsense." she said. "This is what leaders do. They talk to each other. They talk to each other in sit downs for two hours and 15 minutes ... And they also talk to each other when their spouses are seated next to the world leaders [at dinner]. So this is just another attempt to bring Russia into the conversation." A former Obama administration official who earlier this year acknowledged urging her D.C. contacts to leak dirt on President Trumps team returned to the spotlight Thursday using an appearance at a security forum to accuse the president of Kremlin tactics and openly question whether he owes the Russians money. Evelyn Farkas, who left the Obama administration in 2015 after serving as a deputy assistant secretary of defense, spoke on a panel Thursday at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado. She took aim at Trump for past remarks that the United States, like Russia, has killed people too. Thats very dangerous, Farkas said, accusing the president of adopting Kremlin tactics with that language of relativism. In February, Bill OReilly told Trump during a Fox News Channel interview that Russian President Vladimir Putin is a killer. Trump replied: There are a lot of killers. We have a lot of killers. Well, you think our country is so innocent? On Thursday, Farkas floated a theory, without citing evidence, that the president may actually owe money to Russia, something that could be influencing his posture toward the government. The influence these Russians have on him could be greater because of these business ties and because he may owe them money and of course the issue of his campaign manager and all the work he was doing and whether he was indebted to Russians or not, she said. During an interview with the New York Times this week, the president denied his company did business with Russia. My finances are extremely good, my company is an unbelievably successful company, he said, according to the transcript. I dont do business with Russia. Farkas got attention after a March interview on MSNBC when she said there had been a rush from Obama-era government officials to share information before President Trump took office. I was urging my former colleagues, and frankly speaking, the people on the Hill get as much information as you can, get as much intelligence as you can before President Obama leaves the administration, because I had a fear that, somehow, that information would disappear with the senior people who left, she said. Farkas added, Thats why you have the leaking, because people were worried. OBAMA OFFICIALS PRESSURED BY FARKAS FOR MONTHS TO SPILL BEANS ON TRUMP-RUSSIA TIES During her appearance at the Aspen Security Forum, Farkas offered criticism of former FBI Director James Comeys recent prediction that the Russians will again try to meddle in an American election. It drives me crazy when former Director Comey says the Russians are coming back, Farkas said. They never left. Theyre still here, they still have all that information, theyre in our cyber and in our information sphere. Fox News Brooke Singman contributed to this report. The FBI has turned over 7,000 new documents from Anthony Weiners private laptop to the State Department as part of a watchdog group's lawsuit related to last year's Hillary Clinton email case. Judicial Watch and State Department representatives appeared in federal court in Washington, D.C., on Thursday over the group's Freedom of Information Act suit seeking Clinton emails from her tenure at the State Department. It emerged during the hearing that the 7,000 new documents were turned over. The trove is expected to contain some emails sent by Weiners estranged wife, Clinton aide Huma Abedin. Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton told Fox News after the hearing that they expect to begin receiving those documents in three months, once the State Department determines whether the Weiner documents are government or personal records. The State Department was ordered in November to turn over 500 pages of Clinton-related documents a month to Judicial Watch. But Fitton is not satisfied with the speed of the process, especially now that another 7,000 documents are being added to the pile. HILLARY CLINTON EMAILS: JUDICIAL WATCH GOING TO COURT FOR NEW EMAILS FROM STATE DEPT. This pushes this out until 2020 and beyond, Fitton told Fox News after the hearing Thursday. Production is slow because the legal counsel is a holdover from the Obama administrationthe folks that are responsible for slow-rolling this are still here. According to Fitton, State Department attorneys blamed the slow drip of documents on a lack of resources due to President Trumps federal hiring freeze and a supposedly diminished public interest in the Clinton email case since November. The State Department told Fox News they do not comment on ongoing litigation. I cant imagine the Trump White House is not interested in Clinton emails, Fitton said. Six months into the Trump administration and their lawyers are defending Hillary Clinton and the misconduct of the Obama administration. Based on the 500-page-per-month rate, Fitton does not expect to receive the Weiner laptop documents in full for more than a year at best. Judicial Watch is seeking emails from Weiner's laptop in order to find out whether Abedin was sharing sensitive government information on another non-government device. The sharing of such information was at the heart of the Clinton email investigation, after it emerged she used a personal server for government business while secretary of state. The discovery of potentially related emails on Weiner's computer led to the brief reopening of the case shortly before the November election. In May, Weiner, a former New York congressman, pleaded guilty in connection with a sexting case. A majority of American voters thinks military force will be required to stop North Korea from continuing work on nuclear weapons -- and half favor the U.S. using such force. Fifty-five percent in the latest Fox News Poll say U.S. military force will be required to stop North Koreas work on nuclear weapons. It was 51 percent in April. Since that time, North Korea has conducted several missile tests, including the successful July 4 launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL POLL RESULTS Three in ten voters think diplomacy alone is the answer (29 percent), down from 36 percent in April. Just over half, 51 percent, favor taking military action, while 37 percent are opposed. Republicans (73 percent) and independents (56 percent) are far more likely than Democrats (39 percent) to think military force will be required. And twice as many Republicans (73 percent) as Democrats (35 percent) favor taking military action. Meanwhile, almost seven in ten voters (68 percent) are concerned about a war with North Korea (29 percent are not). Majorities across the board feel that way: men (60 percent), women (76 percent), voters under age 45 (64 percent), ages 45 and over (71 percent), Democrats (78 percent), Republicans (60 percent) and independents (63 percent). War with North Korea isnt the biggest worry for voters right now, however. Larger numbers are concerned with health care (82 percent concerned), the future of the country (81 percent) and the nations economy (75 percent). How do voters feel the president is doing on North Korea? More (45 percent) disapprove than approve (41 percent) of the job President Donald Trump is doing handling North Korea. Moreover, he has a net negative job rating (approve minus disapprove) on every issue tested: the economy (45 approve-46 disapprove), immigration (42-53), Syria (40-45), Iran (37-44), Russia (33-56), and health care (32-59). The Fox News poll is based on landline and cellphone interviews with 1,020 randomly chosen registered voters nationwide and was conducted under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R) from July 16-18, 2017. The poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points for all registered voters. Sen. John McCain, who has been diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor, told Sen. Lindsey Graham over the phone Wednesday that hes been through worse, and then went on to discuss health care and other policy issues. McCain, R-Ariz., talked about the long road ahead regarding treatments, but said that he has been through wars. Graham said McCain -- who is resting at his home in Arizona -- sounded resolved and determined. The disease has never had a more worthy opponent, Graham said. McCain was a prisoner of war in Vietnam for more than five years. Injuries from being tortured left the longtime Arizona senator unable to lift his arms above his head. McCain, chairman of the Senate's Armed Services Committee, has glioblastoma, an aggressive cancer, according to doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, where McCain had a blood clot removed from above his left eye last Friday. Its the same type of tumor that struck McCains close Democratic colleague in legislative battles, the late Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts. The tumor digs tentacle-like roots into normal brain tissue. Patients fare best when surgeons can cut out all the visible tumor, which happened with McCains tumor, according to his office. That isnt a cure; cancerous cells that arent visible still tend to lurk, the reason McCains doctors are considering further treatment, including chemotherapy and radiation. In a statement on Twitter, the senator's daughter, Meghan McCain, spoke of the shock of the news and the anxiety over what happens next. My love for my father is boundless and like any daughter I cannot and do not wish to be in a world without him. I have faith that those days remain far away, she said. News about the operation to remove a blood clot above his eye took many by surprise. Some theorized that McCain may have showed signs of a health issue during last months Senate questioning of former FBI Director James Comey. The senator appeared to struggle with his line of questioning. At one point, Comey said, Im a little confused, Senator. McCain blamed his vague questions on being tired from staying up late to watch an Arizona Diamondbacks game the night before. A neurosurgeon downplayed the Senate hearing testimony as evidence of the condition, USA Today reported. Dr. Joseph Zabramski, a neurosurgeon, told the paper that McCain was normal after the hearing and does not see a connection. As word spread of his diagnosis, presidents past and present along with McCains current and former Senate colleagues offered support in an outpouring rarely seen in Washington. Senator John McCain has always been a fighter. Melania and I send our thoughts and prayers to Senator McCain, Cindy, and their entire family. Get well soon, President Trump said. A group of senators prayed together Wednesday night after learning that McCain had been diagnosed with a brain tumor, according to one of the lawmakers. Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said he asked Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., who has a master's degree in divinity, to lead the group in prayer. "It was very emotional," Hoeven added. The group of senators was taking part in an evening meeting to discuss health care. The Associated Press contributed to this report Her relentless and no-holds-barred attacks on President Trump have cemented Rep. Maxine Waters as a leader of the left's resistance. But a planned visit to New Hampshire this weekend has some asking whether a longshot 2020 bid might even be in the cards. The California Democrat is scheduled to headline the Strafford County Democratic Partys annual picnic in New Durham on Sunday, according to the partys website. The invitation describes Waters as one of the most powerful women in American politics today. It never being too early to discuss the next presidential race, the appearance in the host state of the first-in-the-nation primary set off a round of media chatter. DEM REPS FILE ARTICLE OF IMPEACHMENT A local news report on the appearance was plastered on top of The Drudge Report Thursday morning, as an article in The Gateway Pundit asked, "Maxine Waters 2020?" Waters office did not respond to Fox News request for comment about the presidential chatter. She'll be joined at the event by Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, D-N.H. According to Grantite State Republicans, the appearance is little more than a boost for a local state Senate candidate. "It is disappointing that [Democratic candidate] Kevin Cavanaugh invited Maxine Waters to NH to fund raise for him. It simply reconfirms that he is out of touch with the voters of New Hampshire," Jeanie Forrester, New Hampshire GOP chairwoman, told Fox News in an email. "NH voters are tired of partisanship and Maxine is the epitome of that with her very public comments about opposing President Trump," she added. Waters, an early adopter in the Trump impeachment push being waged formally by some of her House colleagues, has become one of the more prominent anti-Trump voices in the Democratic Party, a position she relishes. They like the way that I dont camouflage how I feel. They dont see elected officials act that way, she admitted in a recent New York Times Magazine interview. I have been adopted by the millennials, and Im enjoying every minute of it. She also said Trump should have been "convicted" of a crime "numerous" times and again called for impeachment. Waters' gravitas with the grassroots may garner more invitations but her appearance already is being used by political opponents. I am calling on Congresswoman Shea-Porter to definitively refuse to attend the fundraiser with Congresswoman Waters, Eddie Edwards, a Republican challenging Shea-Porter in the state's First District, said in a July 19 press release. Edwards is trying to tag Shea-Porter with the vote Waters took against the Veterans Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act in June. Furthermore, our congresswoman should take immediate action to publicly ask the county committee to recant their invitation for Waters to speak at an event that will assist in raising funds to benefit Shea-Porter and her campaign." Whether Waters can turn her stardom into dollars for the Democratic Party remains in question. Waters campaign committee, Citizens for Waters, raised just $12,600 in individual contributions during the April 1-June 30 period, according to her latest Federal Election Commission (FEC) filing. Sen. John McCain expressed on Thursday his gratitude for the support that he has received since he was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor along with some "unfortunate" news for some of his colleagues. I greatly appreciate the outpouring of support unfortunately for my sparring partners in Congress, Ill be back soon, so stand-by! McCain, R-Ariz., tweeted Thursday morning. McCain, 80, was diagnosed with the tumor after he underwent an earlier craniotomy to remove a blood clot above his left eye, according to the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix. McCain and his family are reportedly reviewing treatment options. His office has said the senator is in good spirits as he continues to recover at home with his family in Arizona. Donald Trump is taking the heat for the implosion of the Senate health care bill, which is what happens when youre president and your party controls both houses of Congress. But there is another Republican who is getting pummeled in the press. His name is Mitch McConnell. Now the Senate majority leader is good at his job. But I doubt that even LBJ, in his Senate arm-twisting days, could have pushed through a bill so unpopular with the public and such anathema to two competing factions. Its easy to blame tactics when everyone does their tick-tocks, and the Kentucky senator may have made some missteps. But the bill ultimately failed because of the substance: it was too weak at changing ObamaCare for the most conservative GOP senators and too draconian in reducing coverage for the most moderate ones. And the majority, with 52 members, could afford to lose just two votes against united Democratic opposition. Still, we live in a winners-and-losers media culture. Had the Senate passed the bill, McConnell would have gotten much of the credit. So its natural that hes taking much of the blame. True, the president isnt giving up, and after a White House lunch with nearly all the GOP senators, McConnell said he still wants a vote next week on a repeal-only bill, with the replacement can kicked down the road. With three Republican senators already saying theyll oppose that move, that may not happen. I suspect McConnell would like to be done with this thorny issue and move on to tax cuts and infrastructure, but he cant buck the president, at least when it comes to playing this out. Politico calls the latest developments a blow to McConnells reputation as a master legislator that raises doubts in the White House about what Senate Republicans can actually deliver for President Donald Trump "Yet McConnell has no one else to blame for the position he put himself in. Even as theories persisted in the Capitol that he might actually want the bill to fail, McConnell gamely tried everything during the past two months to reel in the necessary 50 votes." The New York Times lays out some of McConnells stumbles, saying he "farmed out the remaking of 17 percent of the economy to a small group of senators, all Republican white men. The bad first look did not fade." Erick Erickson, the conservative blogger, says in a FoxNews.com piece: It's time for Senate GOP to ditch Mitch McConnell so that Trump's agenda can succeed. Ben Domenech, editor of the Federalist, minces no words, describing a devastating and embarrassing failure by a leader who had promised the president and his conference that this would get done. Wouldnt a more trusted majority leader, one who didnt need cliffs to govern, have pulled this legislation over the goal line?... "The reality is that the monopartisan backroom approach has utterly failed, and running the Senate like McConnells personal fiefdom isnt working. The conservatives have been frustrated with this for some time. Now, theyre no longer alone." Fox commentators, especially on the right, were more inclined to blame McConnell than Trump, who has the biggest bully pulpit. Sean Hannity told viewers that enough is enough when it comes to congressional Republicans breaking their word and failing to deliver! Its time, the GOPyou either step up and get the job done or get out of Washington. He also took a whack at pampered, overpaid and spoiled lawmakers. McConnell is not the most charismatic guy in Washington. Hes a classic behind-the-scenes player. Now hes getting blamed, as John Boehner once did, for not being able to deliver his caucus. But theres a reason the Republicans dont have the votes, and its not Mitch McConnell. The morning after President Trump publicly warned Special Counsel Robert Mueller to stick to Russia and avoid probing his family finances outside that scope, a new report quoting a single, anonymous source has struck the White House like a bomb. The report, by Bloomberg News, says Muellers investigation has indeed expanded to examine a range of business transactions by the president and his associates. The transactions in question largely involve Russian interests, and its unclear from the report whether the investigation might eye non-Russian dealings which Trump warned in an interview with The New York Times would be crossing a red line. Asked whether an examination of his family finances unrelated to Russia would be a breach, Trump said, I would say yes. But the Bloomberg report portrays an investigation that continues to expand and evolve, as the president openly voices frustration with its scope. SESSIONS SAYS HE'LL STAY ON THE JOB AFTER TRUMP SLAM According to the report, investigators are looking at Trumps involvement with Russian associates on a development in the U.S.; the Russian purchase of apartments in his buildings; Trumps sale of a Florida mansion to a Russian oligarch and even the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. Bloombergs source reportedly said this aspect of the probe is rooted in an investigation launched by former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, among dozens of federal prosecutors canned by the Trump administration earlier this year. In the Times interview, Trump complained about multiple aspects of the Russia controversy and case, including that Attorney General Jeff Sessions had recused himself from the investigation. He turned his attention to Mueller as he griped that the special counsel was hiring lawyers who donated to his general election rival Hillary Clinton. TRUMP SETS RED LINE FOR MUELLER The president also called him out for having interviewed for the job to replace ex-FBI Director James Comey just before his appointment and warned he could start discussing the special counsels conflicts on the job. Trump said after Mueller was named, he said to himself, 'What the hell is this all about?' Talk about conflicts. But he was interviewing for the job. There were many other conflicts that I haven't said, but I will at some point.'' The Times interview eventually delved into what Trump might do if Mueller went too far beyond the Russia lane in looking at his and his familys financial transactions. I think thats a violation, Trump responded. Look, this is about Russia. Trump would not say whether hed consider seeking Muellers ouster in that scenario but defended his transactions. So I think if he wants to go, my finances are extremely good, my company is an unbelievably successful company, he told the Times, according to the transcript. I dont do business with Russia. White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked at Thursdays press briefing whether Trump has plans to fire him, but said, although he has the authority to do so, he doesnt intend to do so. The White House said Thursday that President Trump still has confidence in Jeff Sessions despite his harsh criticism a day earlier, as the attorney general also told reporters he would stay on the job for as long as "appropriate." The president had lashed out at the nation's top law enforcement official in a New York Times interview, faulting him for recusing himself from the Russia probe and suggesting he wouldn't have hired him had he known in advance. As the president's comments reverberated across Washington, White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was peppered with questions about the president's confidence level in the AG. As he said yesterday, he was disappointed in Attorney General Sessions decision to recuse himself, but clearly he has confidence in him or he would not be the attorney general, Sanders said. She said Trump spoke very clearly about Sessions decision to recuse and that the attorney general certainly did not tell him of his recusal plans before taking the job. TRUMP SETS RED LINE FOR MUELLER When asked whether Trump would seek Sessions resignation, she said: I think you know this president well enough to know that if he wanted somebody to take an action, he would make that quite clear. Sanders also was pressed as to whether Trump had confidence in Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. If the president didnt have confidence, he wouldnt be in that position, Sanders said. Hours earlier, Sessions also told reporters, in a press conference scheduled to discuss cybercrime, that he planned to stay at his post. We in this Department of Justice will continue every single day to work hard to serve the national interest, and we whole-heartedly join in priorities of President Trump, Sessions said. I have the honor of serving as attorney general. Its something that goes beyond any thought that Ive ever had for myself. Sessions added: We love this job, and we love this department and I plan to continue to do so as long as that is appropriate. Sessions was pressed as to whether he could run the DOJ after the Times interview raised questions about the president's confidence level. Were serving right nowthe work were doing is the kind of work we intend to continue, Sessions said. Sessions, one of Trumps early Republican supporters, recused himself from overseeing the FBIs Russia probe on March 2, after media reports he had conversations with Russias ambassador to the U.S. that he did not disclose. Last month, the Times reported that Sessions offered the president his resignation, but that Trump did not accept. When asked about the reports during Thursdays briefing, Sanders said she was not aware of that taking place. In his Wednesday interview with the same newspaper, Trump slammed Sessions and said his recusal was very unfair to the president, adding he would never have appointed him attorney general if he had known he would do so. How do you take a job and then recuse yourself? Trump asked. If he would have recused himself before the job, I would have said, Thanks, Jeff, but Im not going to take you. FBI Director Christopher Wray is facing renewed criticism after reports surfaced that the bureau did not act on a recent tip about Florida shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz prior to the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland on Feb. 14. In a statement, the FBI admitted to receiving a call on Jan. 5 from a person close to Cruz who contacted the FBI through its Public Access Line (PAL) tipline to express concerns about his erratic behavior, disturbing social media posts and his desire to kill people. Florida Gov. Rick Scott called for Wrays resignation on Feb. 16, calling the FBIs failure to take action against Cruz unacceptable. Seventeen innocent people are dead and acknowledging a mistake isnt going to cut it, Scott said in a statement. An apology will never bring these 17 Floridians back to life. Officials encourage the public to see something, say something, Scott continued, but in this case, the FBI failed to act. People must have confidence in the follow-through from law enforcement, he added. The FBI Director needs to resign. After learning the FBI had been warned about Cruz, Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered an "immediate review" of both the Department of Justice and FBIs practices. It is now clear that the warning signs were there and tips to the FBI were missed," Sessions said in a statement. "We see the tragic consequences of those failures." Wray said the bureau would also review what had happened. We are still investigating the facts. I am committed to getting to the bottom of what happened in this particular matter, as well as reviewing our processes for responding to information that we receive from the public," Wray said in the statement. "When members of the public contact us with concerns, we must act properly and quickly." Here's what you should know about Wray, who was tapped as FBI director after President Trump fired James Comey. When was Wray installed as FBI Director? Wray was formally installed as the new director of the FBI on Sep. 28, after he was confirmed by the Senate on a 92-5 vote in August. All five nay votes came from Democrats. He was unanimously approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee in July, after he appeared before the committee. President Trump called Wray "an impeccably qualified individual" in a June statement. What did Wray do before he was confirmed by the Senate? Wray worked at the King & Spalding law firm, where he'd been a partner since August 2005, his Senate Judiciary Committee questionnaire said. Wray also represented New Jersey governor Chris Christie during the investigation into the George Washington Bridge lane-closing case, nicknamed "Bridgegate." Two former Christie aides were convicted of plotting to close bridge lanes to punish a Democratic mayor who wouldn't endorse the Republican governor. What about Wray's time at the Department of Justice (DOJ)? Wray worked as an associate deputy attorney general in 2001, before he was principal associate deputy attorney general from 2001 - 2003, his Senate Judiciary Committee questionnaire says. From 2003 to 2005, Wray worked as assistant attorney general for the criminal division under President George W. Bush. What do we know about Wray's career before working for the DOJ? Wray graduated from Yale University in 1989 before graduating from its law school three years later, the DOJ says online. He was an assistant U.S. attorney in Georgia from 1997 to 2001. Before that, Wray was an associate at King and Spalding from 1993 to 1997, according to his Senate Judiciary Committee questionnaire. From 1992 to 1993, he was a clerk for Judge J. Michael Luttig, with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Fox News' Catherine Herridge and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Elon Musk may be focused primarily on Mars, but he'd also like to see a human outpost on a world much closer to home. "To really get the public real fired up, I think we've got to have a base on the moon," the billionaire founder and CEO of SpaceX said today (July 19) at the 2017 International Space Station Research and Development (ISSR&D) conference in Washington, D.C. "Having some permanent presence on another heavenly body, which would be the kind of moon base, and then getting people to Mars and beyond that's the continuance of the dream of Apollo that I think people are really looking for," Musk told NASA ISS program manager Kirk Shireman, who interviewed him onstage at the conference. [Moon Base Visions: How to Build a Lunar Colony (Photos)] Musk and SpaceX are working to make the latter part of that vision a reality within the next 50 years or so. Last September, at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) meeting in Mexico, the entrepreneur unveiled plans for a reusable rocket-spaceship combo called the Interplanetary Transport System. The ITS would help colonize Mars and, potentially, allow humanity to explore more distant worlds, such as the Jupiter moon Europa and the Saturn satellite Enceladus. Musk has been relatively quiet about the ITS since then, but he said he plans to give an update about the architecture at the next IAC conference, which will be held this September in Adelaide, Australia. And he teased an ITS tweak that SpaceX has been working on. Downsizing the ITS spaceship a bit the originally unveiled version would carry at least 100 people and using it for some profit-generating "Earth-orbit activity" could help make Mars colonization economically feasible, Musk said at the ISSR&D conference today. "That's one of the key elements in the new architecture," Musk said. "It's similar to what was [unveiled] at IAC, but it's a little bit smaller still big. I think this one's got a shot at being real on the economic front. You know, that's the trick." Musk also said today that another one of his ventures, The Boring Company, could aid in Mars colonization as well. The Boring Company's main goal is to construct tunnel networks beneath (and, eventually, between) traffic-choked cities such as Los Angeles, enabling speedier travel. But advanced tunneling technology will also be in high demand on Mars, Musk said, citing the likely need to mine large amounts of ice and other natural resources. And Red Planet colonists may want to live underground, at least part of the time, to shield themselves from the relatively high radiation fluxes encountered on the Martian surface, he added. "You can build a tremendous amount underground with the right boring technology on Mars, so I do think there's some overlap in that technology-development arena," Musk said. But Earth-optimized tunneling machines won't do the job on Mars, he stressed. "The Earth ones are really heavy. Like, really heavy," Musk said. "You're not worried about weight for an Earth tunneling machine; actually, you want one that's nice and heavy. But a Mars one, you'd have to redesign it to be superlight that's a tricky one and then just take into account the different conditions on Mars and everything else." Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+ . Follow us @Spacedotcom , Facebook or Google+ . Originally published on Space.com . A photo of Saturn's moon Enceladus looks poised for liftoff as jets fly from its southern hemisphere. While Enceladus can't fly at least outside of its ordinary orbit around the ringed planet its remarkable icy jets intrigue scientists because they hint at a subsurface ocean that could support life. The photo, taken by the Cassini spacecraft, spotlights the moon's Saturn-facing hemisphere, which is 313 miles across (504 km), according to NASA's image caption. The jets are backlit by sunlight, while the front shines with light reflected back from Saturn. Cassini was 502,000 miles (808,000 km) from Enceladus when it captured the visible-light image with its narrow-angle camera on April 13, and the image shows 3 miles (5 km) per pixel. Enceladus' fierce jets emerge from a series of ridges in its southern hemisphere nicknamed "tiger stripes." Cassini first spotted the jets in 2005, and dove through the plumes multiple times; in 2015, it passed within 30 miles (50 km) of the moon's surface while sampling their composition. Data from that flyby suggested that its subsurface ocean might have enough energy, suggested by the existence of molecular hydrogen, to host life similar to microbes on Earth. Besides water ice, the plumes contain traces of methane, ammonia, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, salts and simple organic molecules. More on this... NASA's image caption Cassini is a collaboration among NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency, and it has orbited Saturn since 2004. The probe is in the Grand Finale phase of its mission, as it makes close flybys between Saturn and its rings before plunging down into the planet's atmosphere Sept. 15. That dive is partially motivated by a desire to protect the little icy moon as Cassini ran out of fuel, its orbit could have become unstable and led to it crashing and contaminating moons in Saturn's neighborhood. Email Sarah Lewin at slewin@space.com or follow her @SarahExplains . Follow us @Spacedotcom , Facebook and Google+ . Original article on Space.com . Experts were thrilled to discover the coin on a remote island in the Scottish Orkney archipelago. The coin, which is believed to date from the mid fourth-century A.D., was found during an excavation on the small island of Rousay, which is part of the Orkney islands off Scotlands northeastern coast. A Neolithic chambered tomb, Iron Age roundhouses and buildings from the ancient Pictish civilization are located at Rousays Knowe of Swandro archaeological site. The coin was found at the site of a small roundhouse, according to the University of Bradford, which is participating in the research project with the University of Highlands and Islands. TROVE OF ANCIENT ROMAN LETTERS UNEARTHED NEAR HADRIANS WALL Other finds at the Rowe of Sandro have been dated to around the second and fourth centuries A.D. The find is notable because the Romans did not occupy Orkney at its height, the Roman Empire extended as far as the Antonine Wall on the Scottish mainland, about 200 miles south of Rousay. "It does show some contact in one form or another in the Mid 4th Century AD," explained the projects co-director, Dr. Steve Dockrill of the University of Bradford, in an email to Fox News. ROMAN COINS DISCOVERED IN RUINS OF JAPANESE CASTLE Just seven other Roman coins have been found on the Scottish Islands, as well as a Roman brooch and pieces of pottery. Experts are now trying to learn more about the coin. "The bust on the coin is clearly visible although much of the lettering isn't at present clear, said Dockrill, in a statement. The reverse contains a standing figure, possibly representing the emperor with what might be an image of Victory at the side. This type of coin is similar to issues dating to the mid-4th Century AD." EARLY CHURCH DISCOVERED ON UK HOLY ISLAND, MAY BE LINKED TO MEDIEVAL SAINTS The coin is the latest fascinating Roman artifact to be unearthed in the U.K. Last month researchers found 25 wooden ink documents at the Roman fort of Vindolanda just south of Hadrians Wall in Northern England, offering a fascinating glimpse into everyday life in the Roman Empire. Roman coins have turned up in even more surprising locations than Rousay. Last year archaeologists were stunned to discover Roman coins in the ruins of a Japanese castle, prompting speculation that the coins were brought to Japan via trade routes linking the West to Asia. Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers Forensic linguists say they have likely unraveled the mystery surrounding a famous Civil War-era letter, long believed to have been written by President Abraham Lincoln. Historians have argued for years about the famed 1864 "Bixby letter" that was sent to Lydia Bixby, a mother in Boston grieving the loss of her five sons in the war. The beautifully-written letter was signed A. Lincoln, although it has been suggested that the note was actually written by John Hay, Lincolns secretary. While facsimiles of the letter are in existence, the original has been missing for over 100 years, making it even harder to work out the letters true authorship. TIME CAPSULE FOUND INSIDE CONFEDERATE MONUMENT Now, researchers at the University of Manchester and Aston University in the U.K. have deployed cutting-edge technology in an attempt to find out who actually wrote the letter. Harnessing a technique called N-gram tracing that searches for linguistic sequences, the team developed a series of computer programs to analyze hundreds of texts from Lincoln and Hay. Its a new method to analyze very short texts, which is something that has been a problem in forensic linguistics and linguistics in general, Dr. Andrea Nini, lecturer in English language and linguistics, told Fox News. Nini explained that, for longer texts, data can be compiled on the frequency with which certain words are used. For the Bixby letter, however, the team analyzed the words used and checked for the absence of words found in other writing by Lincoln and Hay. Researchers at Aston Universitys Centre for Forensic Linguistics tested 500 texts by Hay and 500 by Lincoln, before drawing the conclusion that the Bixby letter was written by the Presidents secretary. FROM ROYAL STATUE TO REVOLUTIONARY WAR BATTLE: THE AMAZING JOURNEY OF 'MELTED MAJESTY' MUSKET BALL Most of what we see in the Bixby letter is found in the writing of Hay, but not in Lincoln, Nini said. In nearly 90 percent of the results, Hay was identified as the author of the letter. The remaining 10 percent of results were inconclusive. Hay was an accomplished writer who wrote a biography of Lincoln and later became ambassador to the United Kingdom. The forensic linguists have submitted a paper based on their research to the journal Digital Scholarship in the Humanities. A GLIMPSE INTO HISTORY: PHOTO OF YOUNG HARRIET TUBMAN SURFACES The letter is widely acknowledged as one of the best examples of American presidential prose. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming, the letter noted. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the republic they died to save. There was renewed interest in the Bixby letter after it was read in the 1998 film "Saving Private Ryan." It also sparked a new round of debate centering on Lincoln's authorship and the fate of Bixby's sons. Evidence indicates two of Bixby's sons died, a third was a deserter and a fourth ended up in a prisoner-of-war camp, the Associated Press reported in 2008. A fifth is believed to have received a discharge, but his fate is unknown. SUNKEN REMAINS OF WWII SOLDIERS MAY COME HOME This is not the first time that technology been used to find an authors identity. High-tech forensic linguistics was also used in 2013 to reveal that Robert Galbraith the author of detective story The Cuckoos Calling- was a pseudonym for Harry Potter author JK Rowling. Nini told Fox News that he is using technology to solve another mystery analyzing letters supposedly written by Jack the Ripper. I am applying a similar method to the letters in the Jack the Ripper case, he said, explaining that he is studying more than 200 letters related to the case. This is the first forensic analysis of those letters. The results the research will be released in a couple of months, according to Nini. The Associated Press contributed to this article. Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers On Thursday, Elon Musk announced that he's secured "verbal government approval," whatever that is, to build a Hyperloop linking Washington DC to New York City, stopping in Baltimore and Philadelphia on the way. The Hyperloop system would travel in a tunnel dug by Elon Musk's new Boring Company, and Musk claims that it would do DC to New York in 29 minutes. Hyperloop is Elon Musk's design for a semi-vacuum-tube electromagnetic transportation system. It consists of passenger (or car)-carrying pods that travel in a low-pressure tube. Musk announced the design two years ago, but released the plans for free as he claimed that he was too busy to pursue it. Since then, numerous groups have sprung up to explore the technical challenges of the Hyperloop system. But the biggest obstacle that's been identified is getting the land. Due to the speeds of Hyperloop, it needs to travel in a virtually straight line, and it's impossibly difficult to buy enough land to travel in a straight line through built-up areas. So, for the last year, Musk has been exploring the possibility of digging tunnels. He's been experimenting with tunnel digging in California, and founded the dad-joke-worthy "Boring Company," which was supposed to be solving LA's traffic problems by putting highways underground. But Musk's announcement today is ambitious on a whole new scale. High-speed-rail linking the cities of the northeast has been talked about for decades, but Musk sounds like he wants to make it a reality. Now, a tweet claiming "verbal government approval" is not official by any means, and it could just be the result of a garbled phone call between Musk and Trump. But it's still a major statement of intent to undertake what would be the biggest infrastructure project in a generation. If your heart stops beating, youll keep tweeting. Suggesting you can still communicate through social media once youre dead sounds like an episode of futuristic series Black Mirror, but living forever through our Facebook pages could happen within the decade. Researchers from the University of Melbourne have studied how social media and death relate to each other and discovered the concept of social immortality. Currently Google and Facebook use an algorithm to create a profile of us, to target us with certain marketing campaigns that match up with our interests. This same algorithm could work with other softwares to generate posts from our profiles after we die, allowing us to update our statuses and participate in online conversation. Its a scary thought, but a number of sites have been launched dedicated to maintaining your social presence once you die. We all pass away sooner or later. We only leave behind a few photos, maybe some home videos, or in rare situations, a diary or autobiography, it says on website EterniMe. But eventually, we are all forgotten. People can sign up to the website and it collects your thoughts, stories and memories. Emailfromdeath.com is another website people sign up to so they can write emails to be sent out after they die. You store your emails and the website prompts you to respond with a password. If you fail to respond a number of times it assumes youre dead and sends out the emails youve prepared to the recipients you nominated, University of Melbourne History and Philosophy Science Associate Professor Michael Arnold told news.com.au. It can send emails to relatives or data to business partners or emotional content. Professor Arnold said another website, DeadSocial, also allowed people to manage their social media from beyond the grave. It takes it a step further, he said. Its not simply emails but also social media posts on anything like Twitter, Facebook or blogs. You can nominate when you have a social presence, whether that be immediately after your death or later on. You might prepare media to be sent out on the first anniversary of your death or on the wedding of your young child, 10, 15 years down the track. Not only can you leave posts for websites to publish, but social media will be able to generate its own content. Looking at your social media activity, your sense of humour and language, algorithms could create a social media post so you can continue to participate in discussions online. More advanced technology could even mimic your voice and make phone calls on your behalf and virtual reality could generate images of you. Professor Arnold said there could be issues with social immortality. Theres the problem of trolling from beyond the grave and bullying. How do we control that? Services encrypt everything and they cant determine if its malicious, he said. On a more philosophical level, it makes you question how important our body is to our social life. Many younger people in particular will know a great deal of their social life is online and it is not uncommon for people to be in front of a screen for 16 hours a day. People interact and form communities. Given thats the case and given we have all kinds of social relations entirely online, sometimes we never meet face-to-face with people we communicate with regularly, the question arises, is it important for a body to be there, given its not part of our social lives? Professor Arnold said people would want to use this type of technology to be remembered and leave a legacy, but he believes people should carefully consider and assess what the technology means. Dont blindly fall into it, be prepared to assess it, reject it, or embrace it and do so in a thoughtful and knowing way rather than being sucked in, he said. This story originally appeared in News.com.au A lawsuit filed Thursday in a California federal court blames Google, Facebook and Twitter for helping cause the New Year's Eve terror attack by ISIS at an Istanbul nightclub that left 39 dead. The suit filed in the Northern District of California is on behalf of family members of a Jordanian citizen killed in the attack who currently live in Arizona, and mirrors similar suits filed by the same law firm in cases involving terror attacks in Orlando, Fla. and San Bernardino, Calif. The plaintiffs say the social media giants failed to adequately scrub their online properties of messages from ISIS meant to inspire the terror attacks. For years, Defendants have knowingly and recklessly provided the terrorist group ISIS with accounts to use its social networks as a tool for spreading extremist propaganda, raising funds, and attracting new recruits, reads the complaint, filed by attorney Keith Altman. Without Defendants Twitter, Facebook, and Google (YouTube), the explosive growth of ISIS over the last few years into the most feared terrorist group in the world would not have been possible, the suit alleges. The attorney represents family members of Nawras Alassaf, a Jordanian citizen who was among those killed when a a gunman opened fire with an automatic rifle on a policeman and another man outside the Reina club in the early hours of 2017 before entering and firing at about 600 revelers partying inside. The family members members in the suit say they recieved direct financial support from Alassaf. The suit alleges wrongful death, aiding and abetting terror and providing material support to terrorists, among other charges. "Despite this knowledge, defendants have for years knowingly provided its services to ISIS, its members, organizations owned or controlled by ISIS, and organizations and individuals that provide financing and material support to ISIS, including individuals and organizations that are designated as and SDGTs [Specially Designated Global Terrorist]," the suit alleges. At the heart of the lawsuit and similar ones filed by the same firm representing families of victims of the San Bernardino terror attack, Orlando nightclub masscare and the assassination of five cops in Dallas is the interpretation of a provision tucked deep inside the Communications Decency Act (CDA) of 1996 called Section 230. The language of Section 230 states that No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider." In laymans terms, this basically means that sites like Facebook or YouTube are not liable for what their users post on their sites. Section 230 of the CDA has protected social media sites in the past, but some lawyers and social media experts have begun to argue sites like Facebook may be violating the provision with their heavily-guarded algorithms. Despite these algorithms having come under fire before from how Facebook curated its Trending Topics to accusations that YouTube was censoring people these recent lawsuits allege something much more nefarious behind one of the tech worlds most secretive processes. Representatives from Facebook and Google did not immediately reply to Fox News request for comment. A representative for Twitter told Fox News the company will not comment on the lawsuit. Two of the world's most notorious "darknet" marketplaces have been knocked out in a one-two punch that officials say yielded a trove of new intelligence about drugs and weapons merchants that operate from hidden corners of the internet. AlphaBay, previously the internet's largest darknet site, went offline on July 5 and was already widely assumed to have been taken out by authorities. But on Thursday, European law enforcement revealed that a second darknet site known as Hansa had also been in police hands for the past month, an announcement deliberately designed to sow panic among tech-savvy dealers and buyers. "This is the largest darknet marketplace takedown in history," Attorney General Jeff Sessions told reporters in Washington, according to a prepared version of his statement. He accused online vendors of "pouring fuel on the fire of the national drug epidemic" and warned that "the darknet is not a place to hide." The darknet, a part of the internet accessible only through specialized anonymity-providing tools, is an attractive place for sales of drugs, weapons and other illegal merchandise. Merchants and buyers can operate with relative openness while still keeping their identities secret. A California indictment named AlphaBay's founder as Canadian Alexandre Cazes, saying the 25-year-old had amassed a fortune of $23 million, including a small fortune in digital currency. The indictment said he spent the money on real estate, luxury cars and the pursuit of "economic citizenship" in Liechtenstein, Thailand and Cyprus. Cazes died in police custody just over a week ago, according to Thai police. The chief of Thailand's narcotics police told reporters that Cazes hanged himself in jail just prior to a scheduled court hearing. The law enforcement operation was aimed at gathering as many new leads as possible and maximizing confusion within the darknet drug-buying community, according to Dutch cybercrime prosecutor Martijn Egberts. Egberts told The Associated Press that investigators had taken control of Hansa market and impersonated the administrators for the past month. Drug sales continued as usual as investigators logged each transaction and sent shipment details to local police forces in the relevant area. Over the course of the entire operation, he said that Dutch police were able to scoop up some 10,000 addresses for Hansa buyers outside Holland. One of the most challenging parts of the undercover operation, Egberts said, was mediating the frequent disputes between buyers and sellers. "It turned out to be a lot of work!" he said. "There are so many complaints. There are a lot of tickets to be watched, to be solved. The biggest effort for us was to get the site going on a way that nobody noticed it was us." He noted with satisfaction the online rumors he said were already swirling around about other darknet drug marketplaces. "This is the moment to show the world that you can't trust dark markets anymore, because you never know who is the admin," he said. Nicolas Christin, a darknet expert at Carnegie Mellon University, said the operation was "psychological warfare." "It is definitely going to create a bit of chaos," he said. "There have been takedowns in the past. ... And what we've seen in the past is initially there is quite a bit of turmoil for like a week or two weeks and then things cool down and people move to other marketplaces that haven't been taken down." Darknet sites have thrived following the appearance and subsequent takedown of illegal goods bazaar Silk Road. Experts said Cazes appears to have been caught out by mistakes rather than a weakness in the underlying security technology AlphaBay used. According to the indictment, he accidentally broadcast his personal Hotmail address in welcome messages sent to new users. The success of this operation doesn't mean that darknet drug markets will stay down for long. "Unfortunately, the demand for these kinds of goods and services is large enough that we will always see other dark markets rise in place of those recently busted," said Joseph Lorenzo Hall, chief technologist at the Center for Democracy & Technology, a civil-liberties group in Washington. A 93-year-old Florida woman sustained minor injuries Thursday after she tried to stop two thieves from stealing her car but ended up being dragged 20 feet before a morning Mass in DeLand, Fla., police said. Darius Matthews, 20, and David Leo Perkins III, 21, have been arrested in connection to the carjacking at St. Peters Catholic Church, according to Click Orlando. Woman, 93, dragged 20 feet after carjacking outside DeLand church, cops say https://t.co/UticaHQYwg pic.twitter.com/qzXnGSOylL Orlando Sentinel (@orlandosentinel) July 20, 2017 One of the men reportedly grabbed the womans car keys and ran to the car with his crime partner. The woman attempted to stop the men from taking her car and grabbed the steering wheel but was dragged before she collapsed to the ground. The men got away and drove off. SELF-DESCRIBED FLORIDA DRUG DEALER CALLS 911, REPORTS STOLEN COCAINE The woman sustained some injuries but was not transported to the hospital, DeLand Police Chief Jason D. Umberger said. She sustained some minor injuries cuts and scrapes and bruises, Umberger told Click Orlando. Thankfully, she wasnt seriously injured, but she did sustain a couple of injuries. Volusia County police ended up finding the car and pursued the men briefly before they crashed the sedan into a backyard. The two men fled from the vehicle, but police caught them. I want to commend the Volusia County Sheriffs Office and thank them for their assistance in this incident, and we look forward to continually working in conjunction with Sheriff [Michael] Chitwood and his deputies as we fight crime in the DeLand area, Umberger said. MAYORAL CANDIDATE TELLS AUDIENCE MEMBERS AT FORUM IN FLORIDA TO GO BACK TO AFRICA Umberger said the two men did not have any weapons at the time of their arrest. This was more of a grab-and-go, Umberger said. Umberger said the crime was disturbing because the two men targeted an elderly woman at a holy place but believes residents should be more aware of their surroundings. I think, just as citizens of any area, we cant stop the ill intentions of other people, but we can be as cognizant of our surroundings as we can, and just be aware of our surroundings from just a general safety standpoint," Umberger said. A uniformed police officer in Virginia said he was refused service at a local McDonalds because he was wearing a uniform, Richmond.com reported. Scott Naff, an officer for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, reportedly paid for his food in the drive-thru line, but was allegedly refused the food when he got to the window. Naffs wife, Cathy, told the newspaper that the employee saw the uniform and told her husband: I aint serving no police. She posted the story on her Facebook page to inform her close friends about the incident, and the story went viral, the report said. "He was in uniform and [in] his police vehicle. He paid for his food and drove forward to the next window," she wrote, according to Fox 8. "The young man who was working that window looked at him and backed away from the window mouthing something to my husband." Cathy said her husband could not hear what was said because the drive-thru window was closed. "The guy finally walked to the window and slid it open," she continued. "The guy said, 'I ain't serving no police' and closed the window. The guy proceeded to tell everyone in McDonald's, including the manager, that he was not going to serve the police." Cathy said it was not her husband's intention to cost someone their job, but she wanted to bring to light what police officers go through while interacting with the public. Cathy updated her Facebook status to say a manager at the McDonald's had told her and Scott the employee in question had been let go. My husband is one of the great guys and would have never treated this young man disrespectfully, Cathy said. A public-affairs sergeant must leave the U.S. Army by Aug. 1 after losing his appeal in a dispute over the disclosure of the name of a Navy SEAL unit assigned to kill Usama bin Laden, the Washington Times reported. The Army Board for Correction of Military Records rejected the appeal of Staff Sgt. Ricardo Branch, who said he was floored by the decision, the Times reported. (T)he Army is getting this one wrong, Branch wrote Wednesday in an email to the board. Ironically, Branchs transgression was mentioning the units name in an internal military memo through which the staff sergeant was trying to prevent the units name from being disclosed in an industry newsletter, the report said. Branch reminded his boss that the Pentagon never officially acknowledged the units role in the bin Laden mission, so he recommended that the information be deleted from the Boeing article before its publication. But an Army officer saw Branchs memo and reported Branch to Army intelligence for mentioning the unit in his communication to his boss. In his own defense, Branch argued that the Navy unit in question, the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, was ultimately honored by President Barack Obama for its role in the bin Laden mission. The former al Qaeda leader was killed in May 2011, when Navy SEAL personnel stormed a compound in Pakistan in which bin Laden was hiding, nearly 10 years after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Though the board ruled against Branch, the staff sergeants attorney credited a previous Times story on the case last March with convincing the Army to drop a criminal investigation of Branch and instead issue Branch an honorable discharge. Not a complete satisfaction for Branch but far better than it could have been, said attorney Jeffrey Addicott of San Antonio, Texas. An Arizona woman is facing several charges after she allegedly broke into a home by using the doggy door. Investigators say Kristen Marie Anderson, 34, was stabbed by one of two young girls who were home alone at the time of the break-in Tuesday morning. Court documents allege that Anderson grabbed one of the girls and threw her on the couch before the victim was able to stab her. Neighbors said the girls, ages 10 and 12, ran out of the house and down the street after the incident. Police say the girls were able to contact their father, who called police. "I heard yelling," one person who lives in the area told Fox 10 Phoenix. Other neighbors said they saw Anderson walking down the street, hitting walls and jumping fences just before the break-in. One woman told the station her husband tried to talk to Anderson. "He said, 'Hey, how are you? How ya doing?'" said the woman. "She just turned and looked at him and had a blank stare on her face." Police found Anderson down the street from the girls' house, screaming "you can't control me". Anderson was taken to a local hospital, where investigators said she would not cooperate with staffers who were attempting to give her a CT scan. At one point, the documents claim, Anderson kicked one of the nurses in the stomach as she tried to give her a sedative. Anderson faces multiple charges, including second-degree burglary, kidnapping and aggravated assault. A Maricopa County judge set Anderson's bond at $5,000 and ordered electronic monitoring if she was released. Click for more from Fox10Phoenix.com. A prominent Black Lives Matter activist plans to leave his $165,000-per-year job as chief human capital officer of Baltimore Public Schools after a brief, rocky tenure -- so he can devote more time to demonstrations and his podcast. DeRay McKesson, the man hailed by former President Barack Obama as a social media emperor, announced the decision on Twitter. McKesson, 32, transitioned into the school district role after he finished in sixth place during his 2016 run to be Baltimore mayor. The Baltimore native was responsible for placing educators and administrators, and deciding on layoffs due to a $130 million budget deficit. He was met with some support, but also frustration. President of the Baltimore Teachers Union Marietta English described the layoffs as nothing short of a humiliation for those who were dismissed while in the middle of classroom instruction, The Baltimore Sun reported. LOUISIANA COP SUES BLACK LIVES MATTER AFTER BEING WOUNDED IN DEADLY AMBUSH I hope the new person assigned to this position will help us to turn the page on this chapter," English said, "and work with the Baltimore Teachers Union to fill vacant positions with our teachers and paraprofessionals who were laid off, our educators who have a proven record of being committed and dedicated to the students they teach, the families they serve, and the schools in which they work. Baltimore Schools CEO Dr. Sonja Santelises offered McKesson the job and said she has no regrets about her decision. Santelises praised McKesson's work, saying there is no way we would have made it through this first year without DeRays leadership." LOESCH: BLACK LIVES MATTER NOW FOSTERING MORE VIOLENCE McKesson said he plans to devote more time to organizing and continue his podcast, Pod Save the People, which was ranked No. 2 on iTunes and has featured high-profile guests such as Katy Perry, Edward Snowden and Cory Booker. I look forward to continuing to organize," McKesson told The Sun. "Well be launching projects soon around mass incarceration, capacity building and continuing to create digital tools for people. Two members of an African robotics team who were reported missing from an international robotics competition in Washington, D.C. were spotted crossing into Canada on Thursday morning, authorities said. The D.C. Police Department told Fox News that Don Ingabira, 16, and Audrey Mwamikazi, 17, were seen crossing the northern U.S. border into Canada. Authorities don't suspect any foul play in the disappearance. The two teenagers were part of a six-member team from the small east African country of Burundi who were in the nations capital for the inaugural even of the FIRST Global Challenge robotics competition. They were reported missing late Tuesday night. WLJA reported the other four teens were reportedly found with family members living in the United States. On Wednesday, Police said the missing teenagers -- four males and two females -- were last seen in the area of DAR Constitution Hall around 5 p.m. on Tuesday, the last day of the three-day competition. The other teenagers missing were identified as: Richard Irakoze, 18; Kevin Sabumukiza, 17; Nice Munezero, 17; Aristide Irambona, 18. They are in the U.S. on one-year visas. Officials from the Burundi Embassy in Washington told Fox News on Thursday that they were aware of the situation but did not provide any additional details. Competition organizers learned Tuesday night the team's mentor couldn't find the six students who participated in the competition, and FIRST Global President Joe Sestak, a former congressman, made the initial call to the police, according to a statement from the organization. AFGHAN GIRLS COMPETE IN ROBOTICS CONTEST AFTER FINALLY ARRIVING IN US Security of the students is of paramount importance to FIRST global, FIRST Global said in a statement. FIRST Global ensures that all students get to their dormitories after the daily competition by providing safe transportation to the students staying at Trinity Washington University who are always to be under close supervision of their adult mentor and are advised not to leave the premises unaccompanied by the mentor. In each report, the team's mentor told police the teens went missing after the competition and he does not know where [they] could have went. According to the police reports, authorities attempted to contact an uncle of one of the missing teenagers but received no response. Burundi, bordered by Tanzania, Rwanda and Lake Tanganyika, has been plagued by sporadic violence since April 2015 when President Pierre Nkurunziza's decision to seek a third term led to street protests. Nkurunziza won another term in disputed elections in July 2015 and remains in power, but Burundi has stayed unsettled. At least one armed group has announced a rebellion and sporadic violent attacks have sparked fears of a return to civil war. The U.S. State Department issued a travel warning in late June about the African nation, advising Americans of political tensions, political and criminal violence, and the potential for civil unrest. The warning also stated that rebel forces, ex-combatants and youth gangs from the Democratic Republic of Congo reportedly crossed into Burundi and attacked and kidnapped civilians; armed criminals have ambushed vehicles. The competition in Washington, designed to encourage youths to pursue careers in math and science, attracted teams of teenagers from more than 150 nations. A squad of girls from Afghanistan drew the most attention after they were twice rejected for U.S. visas and President Donald Trump intervened so they could come to America. The competition's webpage about Team Burundi shows the six team members posing with a flag and says team members were selected from schools in Bujumbura, the capital city. The team's slogan in Kirundi is "Ugushaka Nugushobora," meaning "where there is willing is also the ability," according to the page. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Clifford and Gary Koekoek, 84-year-old twins who've survived living under Nazi occupation and fighting in the jungles of Vietnam, are now in "hell" and sleeping in their car after a bank foreclosed on their California home in October. Born in the Netherlands, Clifford and Gary grew up under Nazi rule before coming to the U.S., where the brothers worked in Hollywood and then served their new country at war. But the brothers told FOX 40 Sacramento nothing they've lived through compares to their current predicament. "It's a lot of stress," Clifford said, holding back tears. "Id rather go back to the war and get shot at, than this crap. The Koekoek's recent housing plight started in 2007, when the brothers wanted to fix the roof on a Fair Oaks home they bought from their mother, and which had been in their family since 1984. "We took a loan thinking that we had a conventional loan, Gary said. The loan, however, turned out to be an adjustable rate loan, with payments getting higher over time -- until the two couldn't afford it. After their home was foreclosed, the two were kicked out and began sleeping in one shared car. BRIDE-TO-BE CALLS OFF WEDDING, THROWS PARTY FOR HOMELESS "Right now, I'm broke, Clifford told FOX 40. "Sometimes, we don't eat." The two now spend most of their time just walking the streets and sitting at the Sacramento Public Library in neighboring Orangevale. Gary said he spends most of his time looking over deed records to figure out how the twins can win their home back. "I would almost say it's hell," Gary said. A friend of the family is now trying to help, launching a social media push and a GoFundMe account to help find the two men permanent housing. Aaron Hoerner told FOX 40 the experience has given him a new perspective on homelessness. "It's easy to walk by and not look at their situation. But if you stop and talk to somebody, everybody has a story, he said. A man who tried to kidnap a child at an Atlanta park on Wednesday was taken into custody after the boy fought back, officials said. DeKalb County Police told FOX 5 Atlanta that Sydrick Heard, 61, grabbed a 7-year-old boy as he walked by the port-a-potties at a park off Wilkinson Drive in southeast Atlanta. The boy's mother told cops the child hit Heard, who then ran away. Another person with the boy at the time of the incident was able to snap a photo of a man alleged to be Heard before he fled. Authorities later spotted Heard, who had several injuries, and then arrested him. He's been charged with criminal attempt to kidnap a minor. A forum about opportunities for youth in St. Petersburg, Fla. turned racial when long-shot mayoral candidate Paul Congemi lashed out at an opponents supporters. The Uhuru Solidarity Movement has backed Jesse Nevel as he has expressed support for its effort to create reparations for slavery. Mr. Nevel, you and your people, you talk about reparations. The reparations that you talk about, Mr. Nevel, your people already got your reparations, Congemi said, pointing a finger at the audience. Your reparations came in the form of a man named Barack Obama. My advice to you, if you dont like it here in America, planes leave every hour from Tampa airport, Congemi continued. Go back to Africa. Go back to Africa. Go back! Get out of here! a woman in the audience could be heard repeatedly saying. Congemi wrote in an email to the Tampa Bay Times, My remark was meant for the group Mr. Nevel represents. Not all African Americans. Just those that Nevel represents. Once a lifelong Democrat, Congemi became a Republican after Barack Obama came out in favor of same-sex marriage, he told The Washington Post. Im not politically correct, Congemi said. Current Mayor Rick Kriseman released a statement one day after Congemis rant over reparations: I was reluctant to engage this candidate last night and draw even more attention to his disturbing message. I regret not doing so, though. It is simply unacceptable to spew this kind of bigoted rhetoric. Free speech should not compromise the dignity and respect of any person or community. This candidate spoke hateful words about African-Americans and our LGBT community. He has the right to do so, but nothing about what he said is right. His comments just arent who we are. This isnt the first time Congemi has made headlines. During his failed bid for mayor in 2009, Congemi was banned from a KFC location for aggressively shouting at employees over an eight-piece chicken meal, the Tampa Bay Times reported. Thats not my fking food! Congemi reportedly told the assistant manager. He told the officers responding to the incident, Dont touch me. I am running for mayor, and once I get elected you will be fired! according to a police report. I dont like you, you gave me a ticket, Congemi told an officer. In January, Congemi was charged with felony elder abuse after his 87-year-old mother ended up in intensive care for bed sores. The sores were so neglected, bone was visible, according to an arrest report obtained by the Tampa Bay Times. The charges were eventually dropped. A Michigan woman was convicted of first-degree murder Wednesday in the 2015 shooting death of her husband -- a crime that was apparently only witnessed by a pet parrot. BREAKING: Glenna Duram has just been found GUILTY in murder of her husband Marty Duram @FOX17 https://t.co/iA3qcYoUmC Michael E Martin (@MichaelMartinGR) July 19, 2017 The Newaygo County jury deliberated for about eight hours before finding Glenna Duram, 49, guilty of killing Martin Duram, 46. Duram was shot five times in May 2015. Glenna Duram suffered a head wound in what prosecutors said was a suicide attempt, but survived. MICHIGAN FISHERMAN DISCOVERS 3 HEADSTONES ON SHORE OF LAKE Martin Durams pet African gray parrot, Bud, apparently witnessed the murder but was not utilized during proceedings. Duram's ex-wife, Christina Keller, took ownership of Bud after Durams death. She said that after the slaying, Bud repeated: Dont (expletive) shoot, in her ex-husbands voice. Keller believes Bud was replaying a conversation that occurred the night of the slaying. Durams parents also believe Bud was there at the time of the incident. That bird picks up everything and anything, and its got the filthiest mouth around, Martin's mother, Lillian, told the BBC. MAYORAL CANDIDATE TELLS AUDIENCE MEMBERS AT FORUM IN FLORIDA TO GO BACK TO AFRICA A Michigan prosecutor tried to use Buds phrases as evidence in the trial, but a judge dismissed it. The bird was not asked to testify. Duram is due to be sentenced on Aug. 28 on the murder conviction and a felony firearm charge. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The man who authorities said poured gasoline on his wife, set her on fire and walked to a police station to turn himself in last March pleaded guilty on Wednesday to the gruesome murder. Antonio Bargallo, 69, entered the plea as part of a deal that will sentence him to 21 years to life in prison, the Schenectady County District Attorney's office said. Prosecutors called Bargallo's attack on Elizabeth Gonzales, his wife, incomprehensible. Maria Suero, a neighbor, told the Albany Times Union that on March 4 she heard a woman screaming her name and saw Gonzales engulfed in flames. Suero said her daughter tried to douse the flames. She told the paper, I really tried to save her; I really did. Gonzales, 48, who worked for two decades as a teacher's aide in the Schenectady city schools, was airlifted to a hospital and died the next day from smoke inhalation and burns to more than 50 percent of her body. Gonzales had two grown sons. Bargallo will be sentenced Sept. 20. The Associated Press contributed to this report An Ohio mom is facing a charge of child endangerment after police say her 2-year-old crawled out of a decrepit, feces and urine-covered room and onto the roof of her sweltering home. Daun Morrison, 23, said she was washing dishes and didnt know where her child was when police arrived. The child was found in a second floor room with open windows, located directly over the roof, Springfield News-Sun reported. OREGON MOM ARRESTED FOR TOWING 3 KIDS IN A RED WAGON BEHIND HER CAR, COPS SAY Police said when they went inside the home, it reeked of feces and urine, and their boots stuck to the carpet. Officers said the mattress where Morrison and the child slept was covered in urine and feces. Morrison told police her toilet had been broken for two days, FOX 45 reported. There was little food inside the refrigerator and cockroaches crawled out of the door, officials said. Additionally, a read on the air conditioning unit said that the home was 81 degrees inside. US LAWSUIT: OHIO CITY LET SEWAGE INTO LAKE ERIE TRIBUTARIES Police said the 2- year-old girl appeared lethargic and was sweating. The child is now being cared for by her grandmother. Morrison is now in custody at Clark County Jail and pleaded not guilty in a court appearance on Thursday. Click for more from FOX 45. Investigators on Thursday searched a farm owned by the family of Cosmo DiNardo, the man who confessed last week to killing four teens -- and who has claimed killing others. Police vehicles and K-9 units were seen at the cornfield owned by the family in Solebury Township, located roughly 40 miles outside Philadelphia, FOX 29 reported. The 90-acre property was the scene of a multi-day search for Dean Finocchiaro, 19, Mark Sturgis, 22, Tom Meo, 21, and Jimi Taro Patrick, 19. After killing the four men, DiNardo said he burned the bodies in a metal tank that was converted into a cooker that he labeled a "pig roaster. During DiNardos confession last Thursday, the 20-year-old also said he had killed two people in Philadelphia when he was 15, a person with knowledge of the conversation told The New York Times. A spokesperson for the Philadelphia police told FOX 29 homicide investigators are aware DiNardo made statements regarding killings in the city, and are attempting to determine if there is a link between the claims and any unsolved cases, but have few details. PENNSYLVANIA MURDERS: KILLER USED PIG ROASTER TO BURN BODIES, OFFICIAL SAYS In an interview Tuesday with the Associated Press, Philadelphia's police commissioner called the information "sketchy," and added detectives have not yet had a chance to question DiNardo. "We have to talk to him directly in order to have a starting point," Commissioner Richard Ross told the AP. "Dealing with it third hand is virtually impossible." Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub is vetting all statements made by DiNardo in his confession, FOX 29 reported. DiNardo has been charged with all four homicides and 20 other counts, including abuse of corpse, conspiracy and robbery, according to court documents. His 20-year-old cousin, Sean Kratz, is charged in three of the killings. PENNSYLVANIA MURDERS: COSMO DINARDO'S STRING OF CONFESSIONS UNDER SCRUTINY DiNardo and Kratz are being held in jail without bail. They are set to appear before a judge for a preliminary hearing in the case on Sept. 7, Bucks County prosecutors said. DiNardo's lawyers say he is remorseful, and DiNardo told reporters last week he was "sorry." Attorney Abby Leeds, retained Tuesday to represent Kratz, said on Twitter her client is charged with very grave crimes he and his family take very seriously. She vowed a "vigorous and dedicated defense." "The Kratz family sympathizes with the families of the victims in this case," she said. Read more from FOX 29. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The dismembered body of a 17-year-old Texas girl, who had been tortured prior to her murder, was found floating in a creek -- just days after her stepfather was arrested on federal drug conspiracy charges related to numerous overdose deaths. Police are still searching for suspects in the death of Mikayla Mitchell, who was found Sunday morning at a South Dallas park. Family friend Sunshine Grigg told FOX 4 the teen's killer would eventually be brought to justice. Youre not going to get away with it. Well find you, said Grigg of Mitchells killer. Youre going to get punished. Were coming for you. Mitchell's stepdad, Dr. Howard Gregg Diamond, is accused of running an operation that distributed powerful painkillers to at least seven patients who died of overdoses, and is being investigated in connection to 15 additional overdose deaths. He was arrested July 11 and could face life in prison if convicted. Diamonds lawyer tweeted that there was no connection between his client and Mitchell's death. Diamond is being held in custody at Fannin County Jail in Bonham, 70 miles from the lake Mitchell was found in. TEXAS MAN CHARGED AFTER WIFE'S BODY FOUND IN SUV IN OHIO Grigg said Mikayla had run away last week after she started hanging around with boys Grigg described as being bad news. "Her mom went and picked her up in Abilene, and then she came home for a week, Grigg said. And then she came home again with these boys and left town with them. And now we're never going to see her again. READ MORE FROM FOX 4. Authorities in Florida say that a group of teenagers recorded the drowning of a disabled man last week and did nothing to help as they made fun of his struggles. WARNING: AUDIO CONTAINS GRAPHIC LANGUAGE Jamel Dunn, 32, of Cocoa, drowned in a retention pond July 9. His body was recovered July 14, two days after his fiancee reported him missing. Late last week, a friend of Dunn's family came across the video on social media and forwarded it to authorities in Brevard County. In the video, which was published by the Florida Today newspaper Thursday, the teens can be heard laughing at Dunn as he splashes futilely in the water and screams for help. "Get out the water, you gonna die," yells one, while another yells, "aint nobody fixing to help you, you dumb (expletive)." As Dunn disappears under the water, one of the teens says, "Oh, he just died." Investigators say none of the teens all between 14 and 16 years old called 911 to report Dunn's drowning or tried to help the man. "They just laughed the whole time," Cocoa Police Department spokeswoman Yvonne Martinez told Florida Today. "He was just screaming ... for someone to help him. Police said the teens were identified and questioned by detectives, but it's unlikely they will face charges, since they were not directly involved in Dunn's death. The Brevard County State Attorney's Office called the video a "tragedy" and said the teens had "no moral justification" for not attempting to help Dunn. Click for more from Florida Today. For heroin dealers, the cell phone number is the lifeline of the business, ensuring a continuous flow of customers and cash that can top $10,000 in a single day. Dealers and their associates, intent on preserving their specific phone numbers, often have contingency plans in place to transfer well-known numbers to a new phone as a way to evade law enforcement and keep profits soaring. But a new tactic used by Wisconsin police called a "seize and freeze" order seeks to disrupt this practice, allowing authorities to freeze such numbers and render them useless. Law enforcement sources told Fox News the strategy is an additional tool in fighting the deadly trade in Milwaukee, where heroin dealing is hugely profitable, and could prove useful nationwide. "Identifying and exploiting command-and-control phones, as well as interrupting the availability of street level 'distribution' phones are a couple of techniques that make selling dangerous substances more difficult," said Robert Bell, the agent who oversees U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration operations in Wisconsin. Bell, who was unable to disclose details on specific law enforcement tactics, told Fox News in a statement that authorities will use "any and all effective and legal approaches to disrupt and dismantle violent drug trafficking organizations and their activities." The Milwaukee Police Department declined to comment on the "seize-and-freeze" order as well as specific cases in which the tactic has been used. According to a report by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the first "seize-and-freeze" order in the state was carried out earlier this year. In that case, authorities dismantled a number being used by a group known as Big Money Addicts, or BMA, according to the paper, citing court records. "The BMA relied heavily on the cellular phone as the core means of communications of their business," reads a copy of the warrant, obtained by the paper. "Due to the high profits from selling narcotics, dealers will retain these phone numbers at all costs." Law enforcement sources said the high-rolling dealers use prepaid cellphones and pick numbers that are easy to memorize often printing them on business cards with fictitious business names. If a dealer and cell phone are apprehended, an associate transfers that number to a new phone to ensure the business continues booming. "It's often the No. 2 guy who is still out there or a girlfriend visiting [an inmate]" one law enforcement source told Fox News. "It's someone who still has access to the source of supply." Heroin-related overdose deaths have more than quadrupled since 2010, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. From 2014 to 2015, heroin overdose death rates increased by 20.6 percent, with nearly 13,000 people dying in 2015. In 2015, males ages 25 to 44 had the highest heroin death rate at 13.2 per 100,000, which was an increase of 22.2 percent from 2014. The CDC lists 11 states as having a significant increase in drug overdose death rates involving heroin from 2014 to 2015: New York, Ohio, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Bell said Wisconsin has seen an alarmingly high increase as well. "The substantial increase in the supply of deadly illicit fentanyl substances, in combination with the existing prescription opioid pain killer and heroin crisis, has caused already high overdose death numbers to sky rocket in Wisconsin," he said. "Steps are being taken to reduce availability and to raise the publics awareness of the hazards these toxic substances pose to our communities and families," Bell said. "Fentanyl is an immediate and severe public safety concern. Anyone with an opioid or heroin dependence problem should seek help from medical professionals, rather than buying unknown, deadly substances from street dealers. A woman was arrested last week after cops pulled her over and discovered $2 million worth of liquid methamphetamine hidden in jugs while her 4-year-old daughter sat in the car, police said Wednesday. Seline Lizeth Ayala, 23, was speeding down Interstate 35 in Austin when officers stopped her on July 12, police said. Another passenger and her daughter were also in the vehicle at the time, according to Fox 7 Austin. Officers noticed Ayala was acting in a "suspicious behavior" and was nervous as she was being questioned. Narcotics K-9 did an open air sniff, leading officers to the meth hidden in five jugs of "Purple Power" degreaser in the vehicles interior compartment and trunk. The 75 pounds of liquid meth equaled 34,000 grams a total street value of about $2 million. Ayala later told police an unidentified man asked her to deliver the drugs to the Dallas area, Fox 7 reported. She also admitted to delivering meth in late June to Carrollton, Texas. Ayala was charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to deliver controlled substance. She faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. Click here for more from Fox 7 Austin. German authorities say they have searched the homes of 67 people suspected of using an internet platform to exchange child pornography. The Federal Criminal Police Office said Thursday that the raids were carried out across Germany between July 5 and Wednesday. Computers and other evidence were seized but there was no word of any arrests. The suspects, aged between 18 and 80, are believed to have illegally used the Chatstep platform to share pictures and videos of children being sexually abused. The police office said they were identified with the help of "very good cooperation" with the U.S.-based operators of Chatstep. Kuwait said on Thursday it is shutting the Iranian cultural mission and calling for a reduction in the number of Iranian diplomats stationed in the country, deepening a rift between the Gulf Arab states and Tehran. The official Kuwait News Agency announced the move in a brief statement, linking the decision to the case of a terror cell broken up in 2015 that authorities allege had contacts with Iran and the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah. The Iranian ambassador to Kuwait has been notified of the decision, the news agency, known as KUNA, reported. Embassy staff did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported that the country's foreign ministry summoned the Kuwaiti charge d'affaires in Tehran to explain the move. The ministry is protesting the call to cut the number of diplomats stationed in Kuwait, IRNA said. Later, the ministry's website, mfa.ir, reported that the spokesman, Bahram Ghasemi, rejected all accusations against Iran and said that Tehran will take counteraction. The 2015 case centers on a group of 26 people known as the al-Abdali cell whose arrests for links to Shiite powerhouse Iran touched on sensitive sectarian issues in Kuwait, a Sunni-majority country. Besides having "furtive contacts" with Hezbollah and Iran, its members were accused of weapons possession and of planning "hostile actions" inside Kuwait, a tiny U.S.-allied Arab state wedged alongside the Persian Gulf between Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Members of the cell have been tried and received sentences ranging from a few years in prison to, in one case, the death penalty. That sentence was later reduced on appeal to life imprisonment. Kuwait's decision to expel the diplomats comes at a time of increased tension among the states lining the Gulf. Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies are deeply mistrustful of Iran and many, though not Kuwait, have severed ties with it. A group of three Gulf states plus Egypt, meanwhile, has severed ties with Qatar, accusing it of a host of misdeeds, including supporting extremist groups and maintaining close ties with Iran, with which it shares a massive underwater gas field. Qatar denies supporting extremists, and says the dispute is politically motivated. ___ Associated Press writer Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report. U.S. military efforts in Afghanistan were a key topic of discussion in Washington on Wednesday, as members of President Trumps full national security team gathered for a rare meeting and Pentagon officials briefed members of Congress about plans to raise troop levels in the long conflict. The Washington Times reported that in recent weeks Defense Secretary James Mattis and other Defense Department officials have been working to determine what level of added support -- possibly as many as 5,000 extra troops -- would be needed to stabilize Afghanistans security forces. The Pentagon had been pledging a plan for Afghanistan by the middle of this month. We are not winning in Afghanistan, Mattis told the Senate Armed Services Committee last month, according to the Times. Currently 8,400 U.S. troops are in Afghanistan, training and advising local security forces, the newspaper reported. Earlier this year, NATO leaders also agreed to send additional forces into the country, the Times reported. Pentagon officials were said to be hopeful that Trumps support for military might to achieve U.S. goals, combined with his hands-off management, would help end the Afghan war, the Times reported. The Washington Post reported Wednesday that Trump gave Mattis the go-ahead several weeks ago to raise troop levels in Afghanistan by as many as 3,900, but Mattis has yet to deploy the extra personnel. The Washington Times suggested that the figure was a soft cap imposed by national security adviser H.R. McMaster countering speculation that Mattis has broad authority in setting Afghanistan strategy. Hes clearly being cautious about cashing that check, said a former U.S. official who spoke to the Post. Mattis is either not persuaded that theres a strategic rationale for the troops or hes not persuaded that the decision will ultimately fly with the president -- or both. Meanwhile, the Post also reported that Trump presided Wednesday over a rare meeting of his full national security team inside the White House, with Afghanistan the primary topic. The debate over how to stabilize the country and defeat the Taliban has divided top officials in the White House, Pentagon and State Department, the Post reported. The meeting did not focus on troop levels in Afghanistan, but a broader view of the region and the U.S. strategy regarding Pakistan, which has provided a haven for the Taliban, the Post reported. Earlier this week, Trump met with service members who served in Afghanistan and suggested he was losing patience with the conflict. Its our longest war. Weve been there for many years, Trump told reporters. Weve been there for now close to 17 years, and I want to find out why weve been there for 17 years, how its going, and what we should do in terms of additional ideas. Forensic experts in Spain have successfully extracted DNA samples that could help settle a paternity suit from the remains of artist Salvador Dali, authorities said Thursday. A statement by Catalonia's high court confirming the extractions didn't say which parts of Dali's remains provided the samples. The Justice department for the northeastern Spanish region had previously announced plans to extract four teeth, nails and the marrow of a long bone. Pilar Abel, a 61-year-old tarot card reader, claims she is the offspring of an affair her mother had with Dali considered one of the fathers of surrealist art while she was working as a domestic helper in the northeastern Spanish town of Figueres, where the artist was born and where he had moved back to with his Russian wife Gala. Last month, a Madrid judge granted Abel's request for a DNA test after two decades of court battles. If Abel is found to be Dali's daughter, she could seek one-fourth of Dali's estate in further lawsuits, in accordance with Catalonian inheritance laws. "I am amazed and very happy because justice may be delivered," she told The Associated Press at the time, adding that a desire to honor her mother's memory was motivating her paternity lawsuit. "I have fought a long time for this and I think I have the right to know." Earlier Thursday, technicials removed a heavy stone slab that gave access to the crypt with Dali's tomb. A small committee of five people oversaw the opening of the coffin and the removal of biological samples for genetic study. This process took one hour and 20 minutes, officials said. The samples will now travel to a forensic lab in Madrid, where an analysis could take weeks. Dali and his wife had no children of their own although Gala whose name at birth was Elena Ivanovna Diakonova and who died seven years before the painter had a daughter from an earlier marriage to French poet Paul Eluard. Upon his death in 1989 at the age of 84, Dali bestowed his estate to the Spanish state. His body was buried in his hometown's local theatre, which had been rebuilt to honor the artist in the 1960s. The building now hosts the Dali Theater Museum. The public foundation that manages Dali's estate failed to halt the exhumation but convinced the judge to reschedule it outside visiting hours. Extra measures have been taken to avoid any imagery of the process, including covering the museum's glass dome to avoid any possible photography or video taken by drones. Dali's paternity lawsuit was a topic of discussion Thursday among the lines of visitors at the museum. "I think that the woman has the right to know who her father is," said 33 year-old Miguel Naranjo. "But I think it is surreal that they have to unearth his body after such a long time." The Associated Press contributed to this report. The ceasefire brokered by the Putin and Trump administrations went into effect earlier this month and has for the most part brought peace to a small strip of war-torn southwestern Syria. But the accord is vulnerable. The Syrian people have experienced enough horror and pain. The benefits to them shouldn't be overlooked, Max Abrahms, terrorism expert and professor of political science at Northeastern University, told Fox News. I also think the ceasefire is useful strategically from a U.S. national security perspective because it lowers the odds of regime change, which was such a disaster from a counterterrorism perspective when carried out in Iraq and Libya. The southwestern part of Syria that is covered by the accord encompasses Syrias Daraa and Qatana provinces, and borders Israels Golan Heights. Under terms of the accord, Lebanons Shiite militia, Hezbollah, is banned from the designated area. Some experts are warning that there are glaring flaws percolating just below the surface of the truce, with grave consequences if not addressed. The ceasefire invites Russia to be an interlocutor on matters of national security on two important U.S. allies Israel and Jordan even as Russia is allied directly with Iran in Syria, said Tony Badran, research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. He also said the consequences for violating the arrangement remain ambiguous. While Russia has already sent its own troops in to oversee affairs, a fully functioning monitoring center has yet to be opened as planned in Amman, Jordan. And according to Ayman Abdel Nour, founder of the pro-opposition humanitarian aid organization Syrian Christians for Peace, a lot of what has happened on the ground is smoke and mirrors. On the first day, there were still Hezbollah flags there. Then somebody told them simply just to change to Syrian flags rather than withdrawing to trick everybody, he said, adding that there has been a small amount of bombing in the targeted area. Youssef Sadaki, a media coordinator for the Damascus Media Center, told Fox News that over the past week, around 150 presumably Iranian militia vehicles have exited the ceasefire area. Some of those vehicles were empty and some were filled with soldiers only to be relocated to other parts of the country, intensifying fighting in those places. IRAN FOREIGN MINISTER DISTANCES HIMSELF FROM US CITIZEN'S ESPIONAGE SENTENCING, 'DOUBTS' SYRIA USED CHEMICAL WEAPONS ISIS DEFEATED, BUT NOT DESTROYED, AS TERROR GROUP STILL HOLDS STRATEGIC SWATHS OF IRAQ The ceasefire could prove problematic for the security of Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced his opposition to the pact, insisting that it simply advances Iranian ambitions to establish a long-term presence on Israels northern border by giving them a lull to bolster their networks and slowly seize more land. Iran wants to open a wide corridor to Syria across Iraq. If they achieve this goal they will be able to supply their proxy armies, including Hezbollah, with increased weapons, fighters and training, as well as further tactical and financial support far more easily, said Matthew Degn, professor at American Military University. Iran's true goal is the destruction of Israel and much of Iran's activities in Syria are designed to further this stated goal. The Syrian regime has relieved heavily on help from Tehran-backed militias, including Lebanons Hezbollah, throughout the war. The militias, too, were welcomed by Baghdad in its over three-year war with ISIS. But especially over the past year, those Iran-loyal armed groups have been edging closer to Jordans border with Syria and the wedge where those two countries also meet Iraq. This ceasefire touches more directly on Israeli and Iranian interests than in past deals, and Irans official statements show it is satisfied with this agreement, Sadaki added. To curb their hegemony, a diplomatic battle should first be won. This is the battle to convince the western public that an Iranian proxy militia has effectively become part of the Syrian military entity, and requires a much more robust response. The U.S. should ask Russia to stop providing air cover to Iran in Syria, as they increasingly push into the southeast. Britain's National Archives have released records showing then Prime Minister Winston Churchill's attempts to cover up a Nazi plot to collaborate with members of the British royal family. The elaborate plan to install the Duke of Windsor as king, should the Nazis successfully invade Britain, involved luring the abdicated king out of neutral Portugal to Spain to offer him a deal. Top secret memos, made available on Thursday, showed how Churchill tried to stall the publication of the plot after World War II as he was worried about how the royal couple would be perceived. Churchill even asked President Dwight Eisenhower in 1953 to delay publication of the memos. The Nazi plot failed, and the memos were eventually published in 1957 when Churchill was no longer prime minister. A British woman who pretended to be a man by wearing a prosthetic penis and tricking her blindfolded friend into having sex with her was sentenced Thursday to 6 years in prison. Gayle Newland, 27, was found guilty of three counts of sexual assault in June after a retrial, the BBC reported. She was initially sentenced to eight years in prison on November 2015 when she was found guilty for the same charges, but the conviction was overturned last year when officials declared the judge handling the case was not fair and balanced. TEEN CHARGED IN LONDON ACID ATTACKS AS UK PLANS CRACKDOWN A close friend claimed Newland tricked her by pretending to be a man named Kye Fortune, who she believed was her boyfriend. Newland and the friend met while they were attending he University of Chester in 2011, The Guardian reported. Newland duped her friend by creating a Facebook page when she was 15 years old to take on the male persona, putting photos of an American man on there to make it more believable. The friend said in court she was unaware Newland was Fortune because she was always wearing a blindfold when they met. Newland would then wear a strap-on prosthetic penis when they had sex. "There was no point until the day I took the blindfold off that I thought for one second that a woman was the person behind this, the friend said in court. SURREY POLICE POST SELFIE OF A 'HOT COP' POSING BY HER CAR ON FACEBOOK TO LURE IN NEW RECRUITS - AND IS INUNDATED WITH SAUCY COMMENTS She added that she never would have consented to having sex with Newland if she knew it was her supposed friend. The friend also said she was blindfolded when the pair were hanging out. Newland was sentenced to an additional 6 months in jail for defrauding her former employers when she worked at an Internet advertising agency. Newland allegedly created 10 fake client profiles between 2014 and 2015. One of the best things about going to the American Sportfishing Associations big annual trade show in Orlando is that its usually possible to bookend the trip with a little fishing. Whether its freshwater for big Florida bass, saltwater in the miles of inshore mangrove channels or bigger waters of the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico, fishing opportunities abound. Many families faithfully trek to Floridas theme parks, often neglecting the outdoors abundance in every direction. After this years trade show, I thought itd be interesting to see what outdoors adventures might appeal to families visiting a locale some might think of as wild in other respects: Daytona Beach. My good friend Jennifer Huber, who handles public relations for Charlotte Harbor on the states Gulf Coast and has her own hugely popular Solo Girl Travel brand (solotravelgirl.com), locked in a fishing trip out of Wilbur Bay, near Ponce Inlet, just south of Daytona Beach. She has taken to traveling with her dog Radcliff. Hes laid back, mostly of the mutt persuasion, and she wanted him to experience the joys of fishing. Last Fridays outing, though, wasnt your stereotypical saltwater sportfishing trip. I joined Huber and Barbara Golden, who performs similar communications work for St. Augustine, Fla., aboard Capt. Rachael Reynolds pontoon boat to fish in the Halifax River. This important waterway meanders south and west of Daytona, eventually flowing into Mosquito Lagoon and the ocean. Yes, Radcliff and I were two lucky mongrels. Id never fished in a pontoon boat in saltwater before but quickly came to appreciate how the platform helps fill an ideal niche in the recreational, traveling angler market. If youre an angler who must feel offshore breezes and the muscle-straining tug of tuna, amberjacks or other big game, this isnt the trip for you. But if you still get a rush at the sight of a bobber going down, or watching kids or novices hook up their first fish, this type saltwater adventure is a blast. Ive had some families come out after theyve done the theme park thing and when the parents ask them the favorite part of the trip, they say it was fishing with me. That lets me know Im doing it right, Reynolds said. We fished the outgoing tide, baiting a jig-head hook with live shrimp and casting toward mangrove-choked edges, or into small creek mouths and deep dropoffs where fast-moving, outgoing water funneled through small cuts in jagged oyster bars. Anything from flounder to redfish to speckled trout and more was possible. Reynolds last trip had boated near limits of chunky flounder up to 20 inches in length. Fishing is a Snap This day, however, mangrove snapper was fish of the day. Across three different setups during the nearly five-hour trip, we caught more than 100 of the small, tasty fish with sharp, tiny teeth. Other hook-ups included ladyfish, sometimes called poor mans tarpon, specks, gigantic pinfish, a sea robin and a sheepshead. My personal record is catching 19 different species of fish on one trip, Reynolds said. Catching keeper-sized snapper was another story. Many were just under the threshold. But we had enough fillets for a couple of meals. The little snappers were voracious bait-stealers. Who knew it could be so much fun feeding mangrove snappers? A bonus came when a big manatee surfaced just feet from the boat in Dead-end Creek, grabbed a gulp of air while eyeballing us, then moseyed out of the creek into the main river. Egrets, pelicans, night herons and more feeding nearby made for fun bird watching. Reynolds has been a fishing guide and licensed captain for nearly 20 years, operating both inshore and offshore from Cape Cod Bay, Mass., to Florida. This is her fourth year running R&R Charters from the pontoon boat. She says she wants to give opportunities to laid-back anglers and families with kids not interested in the commitment or expense offshore trips require. Well-behaved pets are welcome and she says one family once brought four dogs aboard. The stable, pontoon platform is also nice for elderly anglers. She spoke of recently having a Vietnam veteran in a wheelchair and his family members aboard, noting, He had a great time. Inshore fishing in Florida is generally successful year-round, Reynolds said, except for times when prolonged cold fronts keep winter temperatures below 40 degrees. For more about this trip, see facebook.com/RandRcharterfishing or call 386/316-8614. Trip tips: For a lower-budget, family-friendly trip offshore, check out the Critter Fleet (critterfleet.com) ships at Ponce Inlet. The large party boat can accommodate big groups. Food and drink is available on board. They do a lot of reef fishing, catching anything from cobia to vermillion snapper. More than 60 artificial reefs have been constructed in the area in recent years. If you want to work a little history and education into the mix, the 175-foot-tall Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse with its related exhibits is just across the street. A Marine Science Center is also nearby. The Daytona Beach Boardwalk brims with activities, from an amusement park, restaurants to a scenic amphitheater built of coquina in 1937 at the north end. The bandshell regular free concerts throughout fair weather months with fireworks on Saturday nights. Parking in Daytona Beach can be a challenge. Staying on the beach alleviates that with nearly everything within walking distance. I stayed at the Fountain Beach Resort (daytonafountainbeach.com). See daytonabeach.com for a full rundown of options. Aug. 11-13: Virginia Outdoor Sportsman Show. Richmond Raceway Complex. Presentations by. Virginia Deer Classic contest. More than 175 exhibitor booths. Loads of seminars. Free parking. $5 on Friday. $10 Saturday and Sunday daily/$15 for 3-day pass. Kids 15 and under free. For full schedules see sportsmanshow.com. Aug. 23: Meeting of the Board of Game and Inland Fisheries. 9 a.m. 7870 Villa Park Dr, Suite 400, Henrico. October 19: Meeting of the Board of Game and Inland Fisheries. 9 a.m. 7870 Villa Park Dr, Suite 400, Henrico. Oct. 21: Virginia Trappers Association seminar. Learn basic trapping skills from certified instructors. Skills include types of traps, trap selection for various species, demonstrations of different sets and techniques (including coyote); and fur handling. Held 8 a.m. 5 p.m. at Meherrin Volunteer Fire Department, 64 Moores Ordinary Rd, Meherrin, VA. Free. Pre-registration required. Call 434/392-9645 by October 15. A Mechanicsville woman is once again facing a first-degree murder charge in a fatal shooting at an Ashland Walmart parking lot this year. A Hanover County grand jury on June 20 indicted Brittany Lashea Wiggins for murder in connection with the killing of Ashley Fricke, 25, of Caroline County. A November jury trial has been set in the case. In May, General District Court Judge Hugh S. Campbell dismissed the original murder charge against Wiggins, finding there wasnt probable cause to support it. Following that ruling, prosecutors decided to seek a first-degree murder indictment directly from a grand jury, said R.E. Trip Chalkley III, the Hanover commonwealths attorney. Wiggins, 25, is also charged with maliciously shooting at a vehicle, using a firearm while committing a felony and firing from a vehicle during the Feb. 18 incident. A jury trial in the case is scheduled to begin Nov. 13. HUMANS have no lock on loneliness. Among all Gods creatures, there is that need to be with others of your own kind. On the way to the mailbox one morning in late May, I heard a bobwhite quail calling. Three decades ago, that would have been no big deal, but these days partridges are all but extinct in my part of the world. No one knows whynot the farmers that leave cover for these game birds or the hunters who long ago put away their shotguns because of the scarcity of quail or the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, which is charged with protecting them. For whatever reason, quail began disappearing about 1970. In the early 1960s, there were two or three coveys of 15-20 birds each on every farm. By 1975, a hunter was hard pressed to find a single small covey in a days search. For the past five or so years, I had not heard a single quail whistle, which is why I was so taken aback when I heard this bobwhite call from a small mulberry tree just down from the end of my driveway. I tried to sneak down and catch a glimpse of the bird, but when I came within 50 feet of the mulberry tree, the calling stopped. Not wanting to frighten the quail, I got the mail and headed back to the house. A week or so later, however, I did see this male bird walking in the same area where I first heard him. Strange for a bird that was so common when I was growing up to be so rare now. I was compelled to stop and watch him until he disappeared into the high weeds. As the weather warmed and I began sitting on my front porch in the evenings, I could hear that bobwhite on a daily basis. It sounded so good, almost transporting me back to another time long ago. After a couple of weeks of listening, I began to realize that there was something unusual about this situation. The bobwhite would call every 30 seconds or so for 30 minutes to an hour, sometimes even at dusk. Then it hit me. This bird was calling in an attempt to locate another of its kind, but was getting no response. It was alone, the only quail for maybe miles. I remembered two movies, The Martian and Castaway. Both stories were about humans marooned far from home and others of their own kind. Like the Tom Hanks character in Castaway, this lone quail may have been talking to himself or some inanimate object. But more likely he was calling out in the desperate hope that another quail on a distant hill would call back. He needed companionship from others of his own kind. In one sense, this quail was not alone. All around there were meadowlarks and cardinals and mockingbirds whose tweeting kept the rural airways alive with sound. Still, despite being surrounded by feathered species of various kinds, this quail felt alone because there no others of his own kind around. How he wound up in the field in front of my house I will never know. Maybe he traveled for miles in search of a mate this spring and finally just gave up. But one day there he was, calling for companionship and getting no answer. The bobwhite still calls several times each day, but especially in the late afternoon just before dark. Now that call is a lonely, melancholy call from a bird that knows he must spend yet another night alone. Coveys of quail huddle to keep warm in cold weather, so, being alone, he likely wont survive the coming winter. He may not even make it that long because his incessant calls provide a beam of sound that could draw predators straight to him. For now, he lives alone, still calling and still hoping for an answer. His calls, however, are met only with silence. As I said, humans have no lock on loneliness or the desire to be with others of our own kind. Thats just natures way. A principal at an Alexandria, Virginia, school has been charged with assault and battery over allegations that he spanked a 12-year-old student after she was asked to pick something up off the cafeteria floor and refused. The alleged incident occurred April 4 when the student was in the cafeteria with a few friends at Carl Sandburg Middle School, according to Fairfax County police. The principal - Terrence Yarborough - purportedly came into the cafeteria and asked her to pick a piece of trash off the floor. She said no. It was not clear whether the student had dropped the item on the floor. Yarborough then asked her again to pick it up and she refused a second time, according to police. Yarborough, 53, then allegedly smacked the girl on her buttocks, police said. The student left the cafeteria and reported the alleged incident to a teacher. A school resource officer was contacted, as were officials from Fairfax County Public Schools and Child Protective Services. Police said Yarborough was "removed from the school" and placed on administrative leave as police and the county school system's internal affairs department carried out investigations. On July 10, police said, a criminal summons was obtained that charged Yarborough with a misdemeanor assault and battery. On Monday, police said Yarborough came to a police station where the summons was served. He was released and is scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 4. Reached Tuesday, Yarborough said the charge was "unexpected." He said the incident involved "a simple playing around" interaction. Yarborough said he asked the student to pick up paper in the cafeteria. She said no and got "smart alecky," Yarborough said. "That was typical of her. We continued to joke. "I said, 'Girl, if you don't pick that up, I'm going to spank you.' " Yarborough said he then "gave her one swat to the rear end with the flick of my wrist." The school system did not respond to a request for a comment. Ray Edward Poorbaugh, 85, of Fredericksburg formerly of Alexandria passed away Tuesday, July 18, 2017 at his home. Mr. Poorbaugh worked for Verizon for 40 years. Survivors include his wife, Wilda Poorbaugh; children Ray (Linda), Susan, Samuel (Kathleen) and Larry (Lori); eight grandchildren; eight great grandchildren; one brother; four sisters; and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. He was preceded in death by his grandson, Chris. The family will receive friends from 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday, July 21 at Covenant Funeral Service, Fredericksburg. A service will follow at 7 p.m. in the funeral home chapel. Interment will be private. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the National Kidney Foundation of Virginia, 1622 E. Parham Rd., Richmond, Va. 23228 or The Lustgarten Foundation, 415 Crossways Park Dr., Suite D, Woodbury, NY 11797. Online guestbook at covenantfuneralservice.com The Virginia budget surplus of $132 million announced by Gov. Terry McAuliffe is welcome news given the woeful predictions that ushered in fiscal 2017. Just seven months ago, state agencies were being warned of draconian budget cuts because of large and unanticipated revenue shortfalls. Raises planned for state workers, down the drain. State colleges and universities, 7.5 percent cuts across the board. As the new year dawned, however, the states fiscal outlook brightened. State income tax revenues were higher than expected and other indicators began to show improvement. Some raises were restored and budget cuts mitigated. The Virginia economy once again showed its resilience. Though the Democratic governor and leaders of the Republican-led General Assembly are competing to claim credit for the budget turnaround, the vagaries of the state economy are to a large degree responsible. Its clear that the states finest crystal-ball jockeys are unable to provide consistently reliable information on which lawmakers can base their budget calculations. Even into January, when the General Assembly convened, lawmakers expressed little hope pay raises could be restored. Granted, those revenue predictions are hampered by the unpredictability of federal spending, which has a greater impact on jobs and tax revenues in Virginia than in other states. In any event, its better to end the year with a surplus, since the Virginia Constitution prohibits an end-of-year deficit. Officials will now decide how much of the surplus will be deposited into the states rainy-day fund. The new budget requires at least half, but some key lawmakers want to put all of it in there. Word of a surplus, however, always raises the question of why, then, must some agencies and services remain underfunded when there is obviously more money available. The cuts predicted last fall for higher education in Virginia turned out to be not as harsh as expected. But the University of Mary Washington, for example, was forced to announce a 4.5 percent tuition increase for the coming school year due to a lack of state support. For the states community colleges, the governors original cut of $22 million was softened to about $16 million. Students at Germanna are still looking at a 2.7 percent increase per credit hour this fall. It is a key mission of the community colleges to serve those who are holding down jobs and scraping by as they look toward a better future for themselves and their families. Germanna President David Anthony Sam summed up the situation well in his final commencement address in May: Community colleges are an investment that is crucial to Americas future at a time we are at a crossroads as a nation. When the costs of higher education are high and too many students leave with high loan debt, community colleges like Germanna are even more vital to our region, our commonwealth and our nation. And, not only did lawmakers once again turn away Gov. McAuliffes push to expand Medicaid, they also hacked $17 million from the Medicaid budget that had been earmarked for overtime payments to personal assistance respite and companion services. Virginia has historically underfunded Medicaid, which subsidizes care for disabled and mentally ill residents as well as health care for the poor. Record state revenues of $2.2 billion for June, bolstered by big gains in state and corporate income tax revenues, helped bring about the year-end surplus. Sales tax revenues were less than expected, however, due largely to the trend toward online shopping and away from bricks-and-mortar stores. Virginia asks taxpayers to voluntarily account for untaxed online purchases in their state tax returns, but relatively few cooperate. We would urge lawmakers to consider their options for collecting sales taxes on Virginians online purchases. Given the continuing lack of political appetite for any sort of tax increase, state officials ought to make sure they get the revenues they are due. Virginians should not be deceived. A budget surplus by no means suggests that they should be satisfied with the job their state leaders are doing. Claims of credit for a surplus ring hollow as long as so many Virginians suffer from inadequate funding of services they need. The recent murders in Fredericksburg prompted me to determine if our historic and harmonious-appearing city is more violent than most of us realize. Statistically, Americas Most Historic City is considered the sixth most violent city in Virginia. From 2001 to 2013, Fredericksburg exceeded the national average for violent crime 10 times, with 2007 being the worst year by far. The 2015 Crime in Virginia uniform crime report by the Virginia State Police recorded four murders, 12 kidnappings, 10 rapes, 19 other forcible sex offenses, 21 robberies and 84 aggravated assaults in Fredericksburg that year. While these statistics are sobering, your chance of becoming a victimif you exercise a modicum of common sense and precautionis probably remote. Fortunately, we have an excellent city police department and very solid county sheriffs offices providing law-enforcement services. Bob Taubert Spotsylvania There were a lot of inspiring projects in the class, Pendergast said. One that particularly stood out for her was how Caraballo framed lessons around cholera to explain diverse scientific concepts such as epidemiology, infectious diseases and protein modeling. Motivated by Caraballos class, Pendergast dove into science as a biology major in college, pursuing research opportunities through her program at Carnegie Mellon University and as a summer intern at ISB in Seattle an opportunity she found through Caraballo, who continued to advise Pendergast on her career aspirations throughout college. When she graduated college in 2016, Pendergast said she "scoured the Fred Hutch job openings for any research technician position possible, because I knew that if I ended up here I would be working with really wonderful people. She landed a job as a technician working with Fred Hutch virologist Dr. Michael Emerman, researching the human proteins that stand in HIVs way or at least try to in the hope that some of these proteins could be exploited to prevent HIV infection. Pendergast soon aims to pursue a doctorate in biology but although her passion is research, she also holds science education near to her heart. So when an email landed in her inbox calling for volunteer mentors for the 2017 crop of SEP teachers, Pendergast flashed back on all of her high school hands-on experiences that had started her on the path to research. I wouldnt have had any of that experience had Tami not shown us that, she said. Mentoring a teacher [who] could go on to do the same thing for their students seemed like a no-brainer. Geeking out on science education This week, Pendergast and her teacher mentee, Kathryn Wallace, are wrapping up a project in the Emerman Lab. Sitting in the lab on a break from their experiments, Pendergast prompted Wallace, a high school biology teacher at Seattles Northwest School, to describe what shed learned so far about the research project. Pendergast is using CRISPR, a recently developed gene-editing technique, to disrupt certain proteins in human cells that they think could be involved in how the cells react to HIV. She and Wallace were in the process of growing some of the cells and testing their DNA to see if they were successful in breaking the genes theyd hoped to disable. Wallace was ecstatic about all of it: the questions Pendergast and her colleagues are trying to answer, the nitty-gritty of how they grow cells in the lab, the machines they use to probe the cells DNA, the real scientist chit-chat she got to overhear at the laboratory bench and the camaraderie with the other biology teachers visiting the Hutch campus. Its really fun to geek out with other biology and teaching geeks, she said. Youre often one of two or three science teachers, so to get a room of 20 of us together, its fun. Wallace majored in marine biology in college and has a masters degree in fisheries science, but she wanted an update on her skills and knowledge. Shes taught 10th grade biology, a general biology course, for several years, but is now gearing up to teach an advanced molecular biology course in the coming year. This past weekend, she started thinking about how to use what shes learning this summer in her classroom this fall. I was out of town over the weekend and I was trying to really be gone, but I kept thinking of all these ideas while Im driving the car, she said. What if I did a whole semester on HIV? You totally could! Pendergast interjected. Yeah, and then taught all the things I want to teach using one central virus to unify the course, Wallace said. For Pendergast, even though she had so many hands-on experiences in school, one of the best parts of becoming a full-time scientist is seeing that many concepts she learned in the abstract have real-life applications in the lab. In classes, students are like, Why am I doing this? And then once you see it in practice its like, Oh. I need it, she said. Earlier that day, Wallace overheard some of Pendergasts lab mates in discussion about the different chemical and physical properties of amino acids (the building blocks of proteins) as one of the scientists was trying to decide how to build a particular mutated protein that would do what he wanted it to in the cell. She couldnt wait to describe that conversation to her students, she said, to explain why what might seem like rote memorization of the different categories of amino acids could actually be useful to practicing scientists. What are the main things you think youre going to bring back to your students to make science graspable? Pendergast asked. In addition to the details of how scientists talk about science, Wallace said, honestly, I hope to bring back this excitement for how cool the science is. Free Freightnet Membership List your company in the Freightnet directory. It's Free, it's Easy and your company can be displayed in front of potential freight buyers within 24 hours. Plans to release wild cats into parts of the British countryside have sparked a row between the National Sheep Association and conservation body, the Lynx UK Trust. The conservation group has applied to Natural England and Scottish Natural Heritage for a licence to release six cats into Kielder Forest, Northumberland. But the NSA initially slammed the plans over potential attacks on lambs and environmental concerns. See also: Wild lynx plan not possible under current law NSA NSA chief executive Phil Stocker said: Clearly NSA is opposed to lynx because of the predatory threat the species pose to sheep. And the NSA does not believe we have enough largescale, suitable habitat to support the minimum population of 250 lynx that is needed for true genetic sustainability. He added: Animal welfare and disease biosecurity, as well as unconsidered changes in ecology if we were to see pastoral farming decline, also present huge problems. We stand to lose the beauty of an area like Kielder if farming, grazing and human activity cannot continue as it has done for centuries in this area. Misleading The NSA has since added claims that the trusts consultation process was flawed and misleading. The NSAs view is [Lynx UK Trust] has made inconsistent efforts to publicise meetings. In my mind, if lynx were to be released in Kielder, the opinions of people living and earning from that area should carry far greater weight than those of someone living 300 miles away. It is the local people that are the real stakeholders, Mr Stocker said. He also slated the method of the planned reintroduction. It is almost inconceivable that once released the lynx would ever be removed and therefore we dont accept this is a pilot project, it is a release. But the Lynx UK Trust has hit back with a robust defence of its plans. Population growth A spokesman for the trust said: Studies show that each lynx will only kill 0.4 lambs per year. That means the six lynx which we hope to release will account for 2.4 lambs across the entire UK flock. The spokesman said that figure was dwarfed by the number of lambs lost through infection and exposure each year. He also rebuffed claims that the lynx population would swell to 250. The release of 20 lynx in Germany in 2000 has resulted in a population of just 100 animals. Using that as a basis for calculation, the six we hope to release would take 40-50 years to reach the same number seen in Germany. It is also important to point out that the lynx would not remain in Kielder but would spread across thousands of square miles of southern Scotland and the north of England. He also firmly rejected the NSA claim that the consultation process was flawed. Consultation Instead he insisted that the trust had followed guidelines on consultation process and had deliberately targeted local villages and businesses. We knocked on every single door in Kielder village and have received 130 questionnaires back from people in the area. We also published plans on social media and in the local press, highlighting meetings with businesses and farmers. The spokesman said that they had pressed home the message that rather than a significant threat, the lynx would increase ecotourism in the area and give a reduction in foxes leading to a net decrease in livestock attacks. We believe the lynx is a potential benefit to farmers and ask people to learn more about the animal before making any judgements, he said. Police and the Health and Safety Executive are investigating after two people were killed in farming-related activities in the run-up to Farm Safety Week. Devon and Cornwall Police say they are investigating the death of a 33-year-old man on Tuesday (18 July). Emergency services were called to the scene in Pitts Cross, Shebbear, following reports of a man trapped under a trailer at a farm. See also: Agriculture has Britains highest fatal accident rate The man, named locally as Todd Riggs, from Holsworthy, was pronounced dead at the scene. A police spokesman said: Enquiries are underway and are being led by the serious collisions investigation unit. A spokesman for South Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust said: We were called to the scene at 1.05pm on Tuesday. We attended with one ambulance and two rapid response vehicles. There was one casualty. An HSE spokeswoman said: HSE is aware of the accident and is liaising with police. Industry tributes Members of the farming community have paid tribute to Mr Riggs on Facebook. Ed Ford, chairman of the National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs, said: My thoughts go to Todds family, friends and all of Devon YFC at this awful time. A huge blow to all involved with promoting farm safety please, please, please be careful in this very busy time. Carry out safety checks, make sure machines are in good working order, dont cut corners and dont rush. How many more lives need to be lost before our industry sorts out its safety record? Claire Bellew, Devon YFC county chairman, said on Wednesday: Yesterday we lost a huge character within our Devon YFC family. Todd Riggs, you were always the life and soul of the party and always made people laugh. So many great memories with you at AGMs and ski trips! You will be missed by so many and this is a devastating reminder that we all need to take a minute and ensure we are safe out on farms during this busy time of year. Mr Riggs is the second Devon YFC member to die in tragic circumstances this year. Lauren Scott, 20, from Kenton, near Exeter, died following a farm machinery accident, near Dawlish, Devon, on 4 March. Essex farmer killed Meanwhile, police in Essex and the HSE are investigating the death of a farmer in Northwycke, Southminster. A HSE spokeswoman said: We have been notified by Essex Police about the death of a man on a farm in Northwycke on Wednesday (19 July). It was a work-related death. HSE is assisting with police on the investigation. NFU vice-president Guy Smith said: The news of deaths involving farms reminds us of the importance of staying safe at this busy time of year. There currently are 93 Fisher Houses in the United States and in Europe with plans for more. Stabbing in Bad Godesberg : Police are looking for witnesses Bad Godesberg At around 11.30 pm, a 30-year-old man was robbed and stabbed near the train station in Bad Godesberg. The police are searching for three culprits and are asking for witnesses to come forward. Teilen Teilen Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Tweeten Tweeten Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Drucken Again, a serious robbery by adolescents is occupying the police: Three young people attacked the 30-year-old man around 11.30pm, who was walking at the rear of the Bad Godesberg train station between the parking lot and the station grounds, and injured him. As the police reports, three young people approached the man and asked him for a cigarette. When the 30-year-old told them, he did not have one, they suddenly began to hit him. One of the unidentified culprits drew a sharp object - possibly a knife - and caused stab wounds to the hands, arms and leg of the 30-year-old. Subsequently they robbed their victim by taking his wallet with approximately 50 Euro in it. Then the trio fled on foot. The empty wallet was thrown away near the incident. The injured man found it when he walked towards the front of the train station and asked a taxi driver for help who then called an ambulance and the police. The 30-year-old was cared for by the medical personnel at the site and was brought to a hospital for further treatment. As the police disclosed, the immediate search and investigation measures have yet to lead to the arrest of the brutal robbers. For this reason, the public is asked for help. The culprits are described as follows: All three had broken German, are approximately 1.75m in height, have normal stature and were dressed in dark clothes. One of them wore a short beard, another one a black and grey jumper. According to GA information the police see no connection to Niklas Pohler who was killed in May 2016, also near the train station. High rise building in Tannenbusch : Seven injured in fire at housing complex Bonn In a fire at a housing complex at the Bunzlauer Weg in Tannenbusch, seven people were injured on Wednesday evening. The fire brigade arrived with a large contingent. Teilen Teilen Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Tweeten Tweeten Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Drucken The blaze started in a cellar, where a motor scooter had caught fire. Seven people were brought to hospitals after breathing in burnt gas. According to Albert Lehmann, squad leader of the fire brigade, a caller had reported a smoke generation in the cellar area around 6pm. Several fire trucks and ambulances were launched to attend in Tannenbusch and lined up at the Oppelner Strae. When we arrived, several people were running towards us in the hall, said Lehmann. While investigating the cellar, the fire brigade searched for any people remaining in the building. In total, nine people were brought outside by the fire brigade. Seven of them needed to be brought to the hospital after being checked by the emergency services. It appeared that a motor scooter and other items were burning in the cellar, said Lehmann. The fire was brought under control quickly. Already at 7pm, the residents were allowed back into their apartments. The police are investigating the cause of the fire. INFO: What to do in case of a fire: The content you are looking for has either been removed or requires you to login to view Please login below or register for an account With Naijapals.com KC-10s display global reach in the Pacific By 2nd Lt. Sarah Johnson, 60th Air Mobility Command / Published July 19, 2017 TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFNS) -- Three KC-10 Extenders flew from Hawaii and Wake Island Airfield to refuel five C-17 Globemaster IIIs carrying over 300 coalition paratroopers across the Pacific Ocean, July 13, 2017. Having received the gas they needed, the C-17s continued to Australia to successfully conduct Exercise Ultimate Reach, a strategic airdrop mission. The airdrop displayed U.S. capabilities throughout the region, reassured allies and improved combat readiness between joint and coalition personnel. The aerial refueling also supported Exercise Talisman Saber, a month long training exercise in Australia between U.S., Canadian and Australian forces that began once paratroopers landed Down Under. The training focused on improving interoperability and relations between the three allies. The KC-10s seamlessly refueled various aircraft over the Pacific Ocean supporting Talisman Saber. Some of those aircraft include Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets and Air Force KC-10s, among others. "This is the bread and butter of what we do in the KC-10 world," said Lt. Col. Stew Welch, the 9th Air Refueling Squadron commander and the Ultimate Reach tanker mission commander. "We're practicing mobility, air refueling and interoperability. This is practice for how we go to war." Though participation in such a large and complex exercise may seem like a unique occurrence for the aircraft and their aircrews, in actuality, this is done every day, all over the world. For members of the 6th and the 9th ARSs at Travis Air Force Base, California, the global mission of the KC-10 is evident each time they step onto the tanker. For the rest of the world, it was on full display at Talisman Saber. Ultimate Reach was the most prominent piece of the KC-10's efforts during Talisman Saber. Despite that demand, the crews continued a full schedule of refueling sorties after landing in Australia, allowing other participating aircraft to complete their missions. While its primary mission is aerial refueling, the KC-10 can also carry up to 75 passengers and nearly 170,000 pounds of cargo. This enables the aircraft to airlift personnel and equipment while refueling supporting aircraft along the way. Though it can go 4,400 miles on its own without refueling, its versatility allows it to mid-air refuel from other KC-10s and extend its range. "With that endurance ability, we can go up first and come home last and give as much gas as everybody else," said Maj. Peter Mallow, a 6th ARS pilot. "That's our role is to go up and bat first and then bat last." The tanker's combined six fuel tanks carry more than 356,000 pounds of fuel in-flight, allowing it to complete missions like Ultimate Reach where over 4,000 pounds of fuel was offloaded in a short time to the five waiting C-17s. The amount is almost twice as much as the KC-135 Stratotanker. "KC-10s are critical to delivering fuel to our partners," said Welch. "Not only can we get gas, but we have a huge cargo compartment capability as well. KC-10's can bring everything mobility represents to the table." "The KC-10 is essential to the Air Force because we can transport any piece of cargo, equipment and personnel to anywhere in the world any continent, any country," said Tech. Sgt. Kenneth Cook, a 6th ARS instructor boom operator. "We're able to refuel those jets who have to go answer the mission whatever it may be, or (engage in) humanitarian response." Additionally, the tanker's ability to switch between using an advanced aerial refueling boom or a hose and drogue centerline refueling system allows it to refuel a variety of U.S. and allied military aircraft interchangeably, as it demonstrated during Talisman Saber. "KC-10s were able to provide force-extending air refueling," said Mallow. "We were able to provide the capability to the C-17s that other platforms can't. Because we can carry so much gas, we have more flexibility simply because we can provide the same amount of gas over multiple receivers. That inherently is the KC-10's duty." "When we refueled the C-17s, it helped them get to their location and drop those paratroopers so the world can see them flying out of the aircraft and see those angels coming down," said Cook. "It's a good feeling, knowing the KC-10 is a part of that." Ultimate Reach and Talisman Saber highlighted the KC-10 fleet as a fighting force, demonstrating the aircraft's unique warfighting capabilities over a wide-array of locations, receivers and flying patterns. "Not only does this kind of exercise demonstrate what we can do, it demonstrates how we do it," said Welch. "Our own interoperability not just with the Air Force and the Army but with our coalition partners as well sends a great message to our allies and those who are not our allies that we can get troops on the ground where and when we please." The tankers' performance during the exercise proved its unwavering support to combatant commanders and allies. It showed versatility in meeting unique mission requirements and reassured people around the world that the Air Force will always have a presence in the sky. "Maybe one of those kids seeing a paratrooper come down will take an interest and maybe become the next Technical Sergeant Cook," mused Cook. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 101st Airborne Soldiers conduct testing for potential weapons, systems in groundbreaking exercise By Sgt. Maricris McLane July 19, 2017 DONA ANA, N.M. -- Facing harsh terrain and high temperatures, Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, tested critical weapons and network systems to provide Army leaders with feedback on equipment that could be fielded to Soldiers in the future. The testing, part of the Network Integration Exercise 17.2, took place at the Dona Ana Range Complex in New Mexico. It is the first time a rotational unit has participated in the NIE. For the Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, also known as the "Blue Spaders," the environment at the range allowed them to condition themselves for the kind of climate and topography they might face at training operations at the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, California or combat operations in the Middle East. The Dona Ana Range falls under the jurisdiction of Fort Bliss, based in Texas. "Fort Bliss offers a unique opportunity to train in a desert environment," said Capt. Robin Swan, commander, C Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division. "It's an opportunity to train platoon attack in an austere environment and specifically in a desert environment which is different from what we have at Fort Campbell," commented Maj. James Vance, battalion operations officer with 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, on the Dona Ana Range. The battalion also utilizes this unique training opportunity to improve the skills of its platoon-level leaders and Soldiers. "For my Soldiers, I want them to be competent and confident in their weapons systems and their ability to maneuver and destroy the enemy," said Swan. "It is a great opportunity for them to go through the platoon, all the way up to the battalion level situational training exercise operations and get after Mission Essential Task Lists (METL), which will define how they achieve success in the battlefield." During the NIE, Soldiers test and familiarize themselves with equipment that they may use in the field on a future training or combat mission. The feedback they provide will help Army leaders to pursue continued advances in weapons and systems technology that can be fielded to Soldiers in the future. "Our number one job is to provide feedback to the Joint Modernization Command and the Army as a whole on different radio systems that the Army can potentially be fielding," said Swan. "So we're excited to be able to train with those radio systems and hopefully provide honest, real feedback to the Army." Along with supporting the primary goals of NIE, the battalion also utilizes their time at the range to execute training that matches their METL. "This is a great opportunity for us to build our live fire proficiency at the platoon level and then that will carry us into company and battalion level proficiencies, as we prepare to go to Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) in January of next year," said Vance. "This exercise fits nicely, as we continue to form the unit as we prepare to assume our assigned missions from the Army in the spring." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Exercise Talisman Saber highlights enduring US and Australia alliance By Russell Goemaere, USARPAC July 19, 2017 FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii -- More than 33,000 U.S. and Australian personnel are participating in the biennial military training exercise Talisman Saber 2017 in Australia, June 23 to July 25, 2017. Talisman Saber, jointly sponsored by the U.S. Pacific Command and Australian Defence Force Headquarters Joint Operations Command, will incorporate U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force and the Australian Defence Force, as well as other government agencies from each country. The realistic and challenging exercise provides an invaluable opportunity to conduct operations in a combined, joint and interagency environment that will increase both countries' ability to plan and execute contingency responses, from combat missions to humanitarian assistance efforts. Featuring 21 ships, including the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), the Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike Group, and more than 200 joint aircraft, this seventh iteration of the exercise will focus on training a Combined Task Force of U.S. and Australian forces in a mid-intensity, high-end warfighting scenario. The exercise also incorporates interagency participation, along with a command post exercise involving a transition between a 3 and 4-star headquarters. U.S. Pacific Command units and Australian forces are conducting live and virtual training exercises in multi-domains on sea, land, air, cyber throughout multiple training areas in and around Australia. The exercise is being conducted from multiple locations in the U.S., including Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Naval Base San Diego, Joint Base Lewis McChord, Naval Station Norfolk Suffolk Joint DOD Complex, Camp Atterbury, Indiana and on the island of Guam. Multiple locations in Australia are also hosting the exercise, including Darwin, Rockhampton, Amberley, Canberra, Enoggera, Fog Bay, the maritime areas of the Coral Sea, and Australian ranges including the Bradshaw, Shoalwater and Townsville Field Training Areas. Along with the opportunity to hone military skills, the significant involvement from international, Australian and United States government agencies make this a truly collaborative whole-of-government effort. Active participation by international organizations includes the World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (UNOCHA) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Australian government entities participating in the exercise include the Department of Defence International Policy, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Australian Federal Police, and the Australian Civil-Military Centre. U.S. participating agencies include the U.S. Departments of State (DoS) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The U.S. and Australia train and work together in a variety of exercises and missions throughout the year, including working together on humanitarian and civic assistance missions in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address All eyes to the sky in Operation Swift Response By Sgt. Tyler Meister, 115th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment July 19, 2017 BEZMER AIR BASE, Bulgaria -- All eyes went to the sky as 500 military paratroopers -- comprised of U.S., Canadian and Italian forces -- dropped from wave after wave of C-130 aircraft during Operation Swift Response, July 18, at the Bezmer Air Base in Bulgaria as part of Exercise Saber Guardian 17. The Bulgarian Air Force also participated in conjunction with their own air operation, where jets and Apaches strafed the area with missiles and other ordinance as a means to "soften up" the landing area. "The confidence you get from watching these young professionals from our nation and our partnered nations training together makes me excited," said Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, U.S. Army Europe's commanding general. Once the landing zone is softened by the initial airstrikes, the paratroopers dropped in with one objective: to clear the airstrip of any threats. While clearing the airstrip, paratroopers established a hasty defense -- the term for a defense that is organized while in contact with the enemy or when contact is imminent and time is limited. In total, 11 active and reserve C-130 Hercules and two C-17 Globemaster III aircraft were used to airdrop and deliver 500 paratroopers, as well as two Strykers and four high mobility multiwheeled vehicles loaded with gear. The paratroopers dropped before sundown and maintained their defensive position until first light, when the support vehicles were dropped into the zone. Strykers and extra gear arrived after a solid defensive position was established. Hodges said these different operations, included under the umbrella of Saber Guardian 17, show how committed the NATO and partner nations are to building a stronger Europe, while enhancing interoperability through training. Saber Guardian is an annual multinational exercise held in the Black Sea region as part of the U.S. European Command Joint Exercise Program. The exercise reinforces deterrence measures agreed to by NATO at the Warsaw Summit in 2016, assures allies and partners of the enduring U.S. commitment to the collective defense and prosperity of the Black Sea region, and enables the alliance's command and control functions. Similar operations will take place in the future all around Europe as the U.S and partnered nations improve their working relationship for the benefit of a stronger Europe. This paratrooper drop was watched by the hundreds of people present, and also by multiple military organizations in the U.S. via live stream. "The Canadians and Italians jumping with our U.S. Soldiers are all using our T-11 parachute, so they go through the same certifications that our troops do," said Command Sgt. Maj. Sheryl Lyon, U.S. Army Europe's senior enlisted adviser. "This joint certification helps ensure maximum safety for the jumpers and the jump masters giving the hand signals." Airborne operations have been used by many nations since the First World War, and even though the need for airborne operations has decreased, training and readiness in this area are a priority for the U.S. and its allies. For anyone who asks why the U.S. still have airborne units, Hodges has a very passionate response. "First, history," Hodges said. "Never say we will never need airborne capabilities, because history has shown us time and time again that this asset is still needed for current warfare operations abroad. "Second, strategic option," he continued. "Never take capabilities off the table so our leaders have the maximum number of viable options. Third, human domain. Everyone knows our airborne organizations are elite formations, and every single noncommissioned officer within raises the talent of our overall NCO corps. Once these elite NCOs join the ranks of different units and formations, they are taking that elite mentality and discipline with them to help mentor other Soldiers." Similar operations will take place in the future all around Europe as the U.S and partnered nations improve their working relationship and fighting forces for a stronger Europe. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 3ABCT combines forces with 6 nations during Getica Saber firepower display By Staff Sgt. Ange Desinor (3rd ABCT, 4th ID)July 19, 2017 CINCU, Romania -- Soldiers of the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, teamed up with counterparts from six nations during a fire support coordination exercise and combined arms live-fire exercises during Getica Saber 17 at the Cincu Joint National Training Center, Romania, July 8-15. "This has been a great opportunity to work with our NATO allies," said Staff Sgt. David Dowsett, a section chief with Bravo Battery, 3rd Battalion, 29th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd ABCT, 4th Inf. Div. "Training as a battalion in one location is rare for me because we have been spread out throughout Europe for various missions in support of Atlantic Resolve." Since February, M109A6 Paladin batteries with 3rd Bn., 29th FA Regt., had been disbursed in Germany, Poland and Romania as they provided a persistent presence as a deterrent to aggression under Operation Atlantic Resolve. But Getica Saber reunited the Paladin crews as they integrated fires with M777 howitzers from 1st Cavalry Division Artillery, and Romanian and U.S. rocket launchers. "We have been able to see the different countries' firepower as well as show them ours," said Dowsett, a Lansing, Michigan, native. "It's awesome to be on the battlefield with our maneuver brothers. I'm glad that we are able to train together and synchronize our capabilities." The artillery rained indirect fire down on targets from two miles away during a massive combined arms live fire exhibition on July 15 before Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, Vice Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. James C. McConville, U.S. Army Europe Commanding General Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges and other dignitaries. The demonstration featured armor, mechanized infantry and aviation assets from the U.S., Romania, Armenia, Croatia, Montenegro and Ukraine. Heading the charge on the "front lines" of the defensive scenario was 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 3rd ABCT, 4th Inf. Div., which integrated the six nations' fighting forces with its own M1A2 Abrams tanks and M2A3 Bradley Fighting Vehicles during the 45-minute exhibition showing how a multinational task force can defend in unison against a near-peer adversary. "We have done a lot of interoperability training with our allies," said Capt. Curtis Ballard, the operations officer for 1st Bn., 66th Armor Regt. "We learned a lot of lessons from Combined Resolve VIII at Hohenfels Training Area, Germany, right before coming to Romania. With every country you work with, they bring a different set of capabilities, unique skills and limitations based on the nature of the fight. "The first week at Getica Saber, we spent time learning about our partners and figuring out how best to leverage their strength and fine tune communication," said Ballard. Dowsett and 3rd Bn., 29th FA Regt. ensured indirect fires went back to the basics during the CALFEX and the preceding fire support coordination exercise. "The Romanians do not have the digital system (Paladin digital fire control system) that we use," said Dowsett. "They have something similar to ours like the Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System. We train our Soldiers to use that system in case our digital capabilities are down." During Getica Saber, artillery men were able to not only certify their skills but enhance the ability to work across different platforms. Pvt. Destani Covington, a native of Charleston, South Carolina, and a field artillery automated tactical data systems specialist with Btry. B, 3rd Bn., 29th FA Regt., earned the position as top cannoneer in her section. "This military occupation was recently opened to females and there are a few of us out here," said Covington, also a Paladin driver. "I appreciate the opportunity to earn my place as the number one cannoneer and to apply my skills for Getica Saber. This has been an awesome experience." Covington demonstrated how she can load a 155 millimeter artillery round into the breaching chamber of a Paladin. "It's pretty heavy, but I can do it," said Covington. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address NATO provides swift forest fire assistance to new Ally Montenegro NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation 19 Jul. 2017 NATO Allies and partners are providing aircraft and helicopters to help Montenegro deal with forest fires in the Lustica peninsula. Montenegro approached NATO's Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC) for assistance on Monday (17 July 2017), and the request was immediately circulated to NATO Allies and partners. A Ukrainian fire-fighting aircraft Antonov 32P has been in Montenegro since Tuesday, and two helicopters contributed by Bulgaria and Switzerland arrived in Montenegro on Wednesday. Two more fire-fighting aircraft will be deployed from Israel in the coming days. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed the assistance today, saying: "I welcome that Allies and partners came forward in a matter of hours to help Montenegro deal with its devastating forest fires. Montenegro is our newest Ally, having joined the NATO family just over a month ago. Our rapid response demonstrates that we stand with our Allies. This is what Euro-Atlantic solidarity is all about." The EADRCC is NATO's principal civil emergency response mechanism in the Euro-Atlantic area. It is active all year round, operational on a 24/7 basis, and involves NATO's 29 Allies and all partner countries. The Centre functions as a clearing-house system for coordinating both requests and offers of assistance mainly in case of natural and man-made disasters. More information is available here: www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_52057.htm. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address USS Carney Departs Odessa, Ukraine Navy News Service Story Number: NNS170719-01 Release Date: 7/19/2017 7:44:00 AM From USS Carney (DDG 64) Public Affairs ODESSA, Ukraine (NNS) -- The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64) departed Odessa, Ukraine, to participate in the second, at-sea phase of exercise Sea Breeze 2017. While in Odessa, Carney hosted a reception for distinguished visitors and gave a tour of the ship to the President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko. Quote: "It's been busy our second time here in Odessa. We've had the privilege of welcoming aboard President Poroshenko of Ukraine; the Ambassador to Ukraine, Ambassador Yovanovitch; and Vice Adm. Grady, commander, U.S. 6th Fleet, amongst many other distinguished guests. It has been a tremendous honor to represent the United States of America and have the opportunity to build our mutual operating capacity with our allies in the Black Sea. We look forward to getting back underway and finishing up Sea Breeze." - Cmdr. Peter Halvorsen, commanding officer, USS Carney Quick Facts: * Sea Breeze is a U.S. and Ukraine co-hosted multi-national maritime exercise held in the Black Sea and is designed to improve training value for participants, enhance flexibility and interoperability, and demonstrate resolve among allied and partner forces in defending the Black Sea region. * Petro Poroshenko is the fifth and current President of Ukraine; he has been in office since 2014. He visited Carney for a tour on July 17, 2017. * Marie Yovanovitch is the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine. She previously served as Ambassador to the Republic of Armenia (2008-2011) and the Kyrgyz Republic (2005-2008). She most recently served as the Dean of the School of Language Studies at the Foreign Service Institute, U.S. Department of State. * Carney Sailors volunteered at the Odessa Regional Eye Hospital for Veterans, conducting landscaping. * USS Carney entered the Black Sea July 8, 2017, to demonstrate the U.S. commitment to the collective defense of our allies and partners in the Black Sea region. All DoD efforts in support of our allies in Eastern Europe fall under Operation Atlantic Resolve. * Carney, forward-deployed to Rota, Spain, is conducting its third patrol in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations. * U.S. 6th Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert with allied, joint, and interagency partners, in order to advance U.S. national interests and security and stability in Europe and Africa. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia sending 2nd humanitarian aid flight to Yemen Iran Press TV Wed Jul 19, 2017 5:41PM Russia says it is sending a new humanitarian aid flight to Yemen, where people have been dealing with famine and an outbreak of cholera following a months-long Saudi-led war. "The Russian Emergencies Ministry has started loading the Il-76 aircraft with more than 23 tons of humanitarian supplies to be delivered to Yemen," the ministry told Russia's TASS news agency on Wednesday. Carrying tents and other necessities for the people of the war-torn country, the cargo plane was slated to arrive in Yemen later in the day. On its way back, the plane would board Russian and CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) citizens willing to leave the war zone and take them back to Moscow, the report noted. This will be the second Russian aid flight to Yemen since Tuesday. The first flight delivered 20 tons of humanitarian supplies after landing in Sana'a International Airport and returned with 62 Russian and CIS citizens on board. Saudi air blockade The capital Sana'a is currently controlled by Houthi Ansarullah fighters, who have been defending the nation against a deadly offensive by Saudi Arabia and its allies since March 2015. On Tuesday, Saudis blocked a United Nations charter flight carrying aid agency staff from landing in Sana'a, on the grounds that it could not guarantee the security of three journalists working for British state-run broadcaster BBC on board. Later on, Saudi officials claimed that all inbound flights to Yemen must land in the country's southern port city of Aden, which is under the control of the former government, headed by former President Abd Rabuuh Mansour Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh. The Houthis took control of state affairs in 2014 after Hadi resigned, despite Ansarullah's calls on him to review the decision. Hadi's resignation created more chaos in a country already grappling with al-Qaeda terror threats. The brutal Saudi aggression, that was launched to reinstate Hadi, has so far killed more than 12,000 people, most of them civilians. The conflict has also left more than 17 million people in the country food-insecure, with some 6.8 million of them in need of immediate aid. The conflict-stricken country has also been grappling with a cholera outbreak, which has so far killed more than 1,700 people according to the UN. The number of suspected cholera cases across Yemen has surpassed 320,000. The US and the UK have been the main purveyors of weapons, training and intelligence to Saudis during the course of the unprovoked war. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian lawyer who met Trump Jr. ready to testify before Congress Iran Press TV Wed Jul 19, 2017 3:23PM The Russian lawyer who met with US President Donald Trump's eldest son during the 2016 presidential election campaign claims she's ready to testify before the US Senate in Congress. Natalia Veselnitskaya attended a meeting with Donald Trump Jr. during the election campaign in June 2016 at which he reportedly received damaging information from the Russian government on his father's rival Hillary Clinton. "I am ready to clarify the situation behind the mass hysteria, but only through lawyers or testifying in the Senate," Veselnitskaya said in an interview with RT on Wednesday. "If the Senate wishes to hear the real story, I will be happy to speak up and share everything I wanted to tell Mr. Trump," she added in reference to her previous statement that the meeting with Donald Trump Jr. focused on US-Russian adoption policies and a US sanctions law. Trump Jr. had been told by email that a "Russian government attorney" would provide damaging details about Clinton, The New York Times reported in July, citing US officials. According to the report, Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also took part in the meeting with the Russian lawyer. Trump Jr. initially denied that he had received any information about the former secretary of state, asserting that the meeting had been held at the request of an acquaintance. The FBI as well as several congressional committees are investigating whether the Russian government coordinated with Trump's associates during the 2016 campaign and transition. The US intelligence community has accused Russia of running a series of high-profile cyber attacks to change the outcome of the November 8 presidential election. Russian President Vladimir Putin has firmly denied the hacking allegations. Trump has repeatedly rejected such reports and has expressed support for improving relations with the US' former Cold War foe. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Duterte threatens to end talks with communist rebels after raid Iran Press TV Wed Jul 19, 2017 8:59AM Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to end peace talks with communist rebels following an ambush attack on his military bodyguards, which killed one and injured five. "The president directed the government panel... not to resume formal peace talks unless the reds (leftist rebels) agree to stop their attacks against government troops in Mindanao," said a statement issued by the presidential palace on Wednesday. It warned that for the formal peace talks to resume, the rebels had to commit to "suspending operations against the military and the police and stopping all their extortion activities on the ground." According to aides, the 72-year-old Duterte was not in the convoy when assailants opened fire on two Presidential Security Group vehicles along a highway on the main southern island of Mindanao, where martial law is in effect, earlier on Wednesday. The government blamed the New People's Army, a 4,000-strong armed wing of the Communist Party in the Philippines. "This is part of their nationwide call for armed groups to oppose martial law by launching intensified offensives against government forces," said a senior Mindanao military official, Brigadier General Gilberto Gapay. The communist party reportedly called on its armed wing on Tuesday to launch offensives in response to Duterte's plan to extend martial law on Mindanao until the end of the year. The assault by the communist rebels came as government forces on Mindanao have been fighting Daesh militants in the southern city of Marawi since May 23. The 60-day martial rule has been in effect on Mindanao as part of the military campaign in Marawi. Duterte called for an extension of the martial law on Tuesday. The communist insurgency in the Philippines began in 1968 and has so far claimed an estimated 30,000 lives. The militants have been in off-and-on peace talks with the government since Duterte rose to power last year. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Blockaders urge Qatar to accept 'six core demands' Iran Press TV Wed Jul 19, 2017 6:53AM The Saudi-led bloc of states boycotting Qatar have called on Doha to accept what they view as core "principles" already mentioned in their list of demands from Qatar, apparently backing down from a number of the terms on the 13-point list dismissed by the emirate. Saudi Arabia's United Nations Ambassador Abdallah al-Mouallimi said during a briefing for a group of UN correspondents on Tuesday that the quartet is committed to the six principles agreed at a meeting in Cairo on July 5, The Associated Press reported. He expressed hope that Qatar would also support the six "essential" demands. The quartet comprising Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain severed diplomatic ties and cut all land, sea, and air routes with Qatar on June 5, accusing it of supporting terrorism -- allegations denied by Doha. They later issued the 13-point list of demands for Doha to meet in order for the relations to be restored. Among them was that Qatar end its support for Egypt's biggest banned opposition party Muslim Brotherhood, close down a Turkish military base on its soil, limit its ties with Iran and "compensate" the sanctioning countries for unspecified harm. The Saudi ambassador further said the initial 13 points comprised some principles and some tools to achieve compliance. Mouallimi went on to explain that an end to incitement to violence is essential, but he said closing Al Jazeera down might not be necessary. "If the only way to achieve that is by closing down Al Jazeera, fine," he said. "If we can achieve that without closing down Al Jazeera, that's also fine. The important thing is the objective and the principle involved." Qatar has dismissed the 13-point list, saying the terms are mere tall orders, and that it will not engage in any crisis resolution talks unless the siege is lifted. Bone of contention The principles include commitment to combating "extremism and terrorism," preventing financing and creation of safe havens for "such groups," and suspending all acts of provocation and speeches that may incite hatred or violence, AP reported. Mouallimi stressed that implementation and monitoring must be "essential components," and "there will be no compromise when it comes to principles." Meanwhile, UAE Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh, who was also present at the briefing, said that Qatar was facing the risk of expulsion from the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in case of failing to comply with the highlighted principles. "If Qatar is unwilling to accept core principles around what defines terrorism or extremism in our region, it will be very difficult" for it to remain in the GCC with Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain. "So it may be a parting of ways for a little while in order to work things out," she said. Also, UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation Reem al-Hashimy said that Qatar had further escalated the situation by encouraging Turkey's military presence. Turkey recently approved sending more troops to its Qatar-based outpost, and started dispatching some of the troops with Doha's approval. Qatar's Defense Minister Khalid bin Mohammad al-Attiyah gave an exclusive interview with Turkey's TRT World network on Tuesday, saying no one could ask Doha to close down the Turkish base. "This is considered relation between two sovereign countries," al-Attiyah said. Mouallimi stressed that Qatar's future lies with its neighbors not with "faraway places," a clear reference to Turkey and Iran, which are supporting Doha. Iran and Turkey have been shipping food supplies to Qatar amid the boycott. The two, however, have also been encouraging dialog to end the dispute. Qatar mulls legal action In another development on Wednesday, Qatar said it was considering taking legal action against the Saudi-led bloc. Qatar's Economy Ministry said the country had contracted a specialized legal team to study the actions taken by the blockading countries, Al Jazeera reported. The potential proceedings would feature the emirate seeking reparations from the foursome for the damage caused by the siege. Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani, Qatar's economy minister, met on Tuesday with the heads of international trade organizations in Geneva to discuss the case for compensation, the report added. The Qatari defense chief also hinted during an interview with TRT World that Doha could refer to the International Court of Justice to seek restitution for the blockade's adverse consequences. And Ali Sharif al-Emadi, the Qatari finance minister, told The Times recently that the state's huge financial reserves, built on the sales of natural gas over decades, meant it could withstand sanctions. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Trump, Putin had second, undisclosed talk at G20 summit: US Iran Press TV Wed Jul 19, 2017 1:6AM US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin had a second and previously undisclosed meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Germany earlier this month, US officials say. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer confirmed on Tuesday that the two held an informal talk during the dinner at the summit in the German city of Hamburg on July 7, hours after their first formal bilateral sit-down. Spicer did not refer to the length or the subject of the conversation. US National Security Council spokesman Michael Anton also acknowledged that a second meeting had taken place at the world leaders' dinner, with Trump leaving his seat to occupy an empty chair next to Putin. "There was a couples-only social dinner at the G20. Toward the end, the President spoke to Putin at the dinner," Anton said in an interview with CNN. "No staff or Cabinet were at the dinner at all, for any of the countries," with the exception of translators. The two leaders did not go to a separate room for their conversation, but remained in the main room where the dinner was being hosted, according to Anton. The official declined to provide further details on the Trump-Putin conversation, citing the fact that no staff were present at the time. During their first formal and face-to-face meeting on that day, the two presidents exchanged viewpoints on a host of international problems and bilateral issues such as the ongoing crises in Syria and Ukraine, anti-terrorism campaign and cyber security. News of the second encounter came as Trump was struggling at home with a deepening scandal over alleged Russian efforts to help him defeat his rival Hillary Clinton in the last year's White House race. The scandal has now entangled his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, who last week released emails purportedly showing he embraced Russia's efforts to support his father's presidential campaign, and admitting he would "love" to get dirt from Moscow on Clinton. Trump later defended his son, praising his "transparency" for releasing the email chain and again condemning the investigation about whether Moscow helped him win the White House last November. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address White House Says Trump Had Second Talk With Putin At G20 Summit RFE/RL July 19, 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a second, previously undisclosed conversation during the Group of 20 summit in Germany earlier this month, the White House said on July 18. The two leaders held their first meeting, a formal bilateral conference that lasted more than two hours on July 7. The White House said that hours afterwards, Trump and Putin had another "brief conversation" after a dinner for world leaders and their spouses hosted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Television coverage of the dinner showed that first lady Melania Trump was seated next to Putin. The U.S. president went over to them at the conclusion of the dinner and visited with Putin, a White House official said, stressing that the conversation did not amount to a second bilateral meeting. National Security Council spokesman Michael Anton would not specify the duration of the conversation. But he said the discussion was casual and should not be characterized as a "meeting" or even a less formal, but official, "pull-aside." "A conversation over dessert should not be characterized as a meeting," he said. Another White House official stressed that "there was no 'second meeting' between President Trump and President Putin, just a brief conversation at the end of a dinner. The insinuation that the White House has tried to 'hide' a second meeting is false, malicious, and absurd." In a tweet late on July 18, Trump said: "Fake News story of secret dinner with Putin is 'sick.' All G20 leaders, and spouses, were invited by the Chancellor of Germany. Press knew!" "The Fake News is becoming more and more dishonest! Even a dinner arranged for top 20 leaders in Germany is made to look sinister!" Ian Bremmer, the president of political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, who said he spoke to two people who attended the dinner, had a different account than the White House. He said Trump got up from his seat halfway through dinner and spent about an hour talking "privately and animatedly" with Putin, "joined only by Putin's own translator." The absence of a U.S. translator raised eyebrows among other leaders at the dinner, said Bremmer, who called it a "breach of national security protocol." The White House said Trump used the Russian translator because the U.S. translator at the dinner did not speak Russian. Trump sat next to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's wife. His translator spoke Japanese. A U.S. official conceded that others at the summit were surprised to see Trump engage with Putin with no one else present. "No one is sure what their discussion was about, and whether it was purely social or touched on bilateral or international issues," this official said. Trump is under intense scrutiny amid allegations his campaign may have cooperated with Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election. Trump has denied any collusion. Based on reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/white-house-says-trump-had-second-talk -putin-dinner-g20-summit-germany/28624952.html Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian Lawyer Who Met Trump Jr. Says 'Ready' To Testify In Congress RFE/RL July 19, 2017 A Russian lawyer whose meeting with President Donald Trump's eldest son has added to questions about Russia's role in the 2016 U.S. election claims she is prepared to testify to Congress to dispel what she called "mass hysteria" over the encounter. Natalya Veselnitskaya met at Trump Tower in New York with Donald Trump Jr., who had been told that she was a Russian government lawyer who might have damaging information about Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Revelations about the June 9, 2016 meeting, which was also attended by several other Russians and associates of Trump, has increased scrutiny on the ties between the U.S. president's campaign and Russia. "I'm ready to clarify the situation behind this mass hysteria -- but only through lawyers or testifying in the Senate," Veselnitskaya said in an interview with state-funded Russian channel RT released on July 18. Veselnitskaya has said she is a private lawyer with no ties to President Vladimir Putin's Kremlin, and that she never obtained damaging information about Clinton. She has said the meeting focused on a U.S. sanctions law and U.S.-Russian adoption policies. The new interview comes amid reports that an executive working for a Russian billionaire and one-time partner of Trump was the eighth person at the meeting at Trump Tower. Previously, seven participants had been identified. Ike Kaveladze, who works for Azerbaijani-Russian developer Aras Agalarov, attended the meeting, The Washington Post, Reuters, AP, and CNN reported, citing an attorney for Agalarov, Scott Balber. Balber told media outlets that Kaveladze was there to represent Agalarov and his son Emin, who partnered with Trump to bring the Miss Universe pageant to Moscow in 2013 and were named in e-mails to Trump Jr. ahead of the meeting. In an online profile, Kaveladze lists himself as a vice president of the Moscow-based Crocus Group, Aras Agalarov's firm, and says in a separate LinkedIn profile that he handled tax preparation for the company. 'Influence Campaign' U.S. media cited Balber as saying that officials from Justice Department Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office had contacted him about Kaveladze and that he and Kaveladze, who also goes by the first name Irakly, were cooperating with the investigation. His comments were the first public indication that Mueller, who was appointed in May 2017 to investigate possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, is looking into Donald Trump Jr.'s meeting with Veselnitskaya. The U.S. intelligence community issued an assessment in January that Putin ordered an "influence campaign" targeting the U.S. election, with goals that included denigrating Clinton and helping Trump. Trump's administration is currently under investigation by both Congress and the FBI over any possible collusion to affect the presidential race. Putin has denied the allegations of interference, and Trump denies there was any collusion between his campaign and Russia. The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, which also is investigating the Russian matter, said it is disturbing how long it took for news that Kaveladze attended the Trump Tower meeting to come out. "The Trump family is not coming clean with information" about the meeting, Senator Mark Warner said on July 18. He noted that Kaveladze has been accused of involvement in money laundering. "I doubt if this individual...was really there to talk about Russian adoptions," Warner said. With reporting by AP, AFP, Reuters, Washington Post, and CNN Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-lawyer-veselnitskaya- trump-junior-testify-congress/28626982.html Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address EU Urges Poland to Suspend Judicial Changes Or Face Unprecedented Sanctions RFE/RL July 19, 2017 BRUSSELS --The European Commission has called on Poland to suspend controversial judicial reforms it said would "have a very significant negative impact" on the Polish judiciary's independence, or face unprecedented sanctions as early as next week. "We will swiftly prepare infringement procedures for breach of EU law ... to be launched next week," The European Commission's First Vice-President Frans Timmermans said on July 19 after a meeting of the Commission in Brussels. Since winning an election in 2015, the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party has sought to step up government influence over courts and prosecutors as well as state media. Last week parliament, which is controlled by the PiS, adopted judicial reforms that the opposition and others see as a threat to the separation of powers. The legislation would give the politically appointed justice minister the power to name the chief justices of Poland's common courts. In addition, parliament would select members of the National Council of the Judiciary, whose role is to protect the independence of courts. The PiS also tabled a separate bill in parliament that would subjugate the Supreme Court -- which supervises lower courts -- to executive power, in a move the opposition criticized as "the announcement of a coup." Timmermans on July 19 warned that the Commission is "coming very close" to triggering article 7 of the EU treaty which could lead to Poland losing its voting right in the council. "These laws considerably increase the systemic threats to the rule of law," Timmermans warned. "Collectively, they would abolish any remaining judicial independence and put the judiciary under full political control of the government," he said. On July 19, Polish lawmakers sent the bill on reorganizing the Supreme Court to a specialized commission. The move came after a heated debate late on July 18 forced the deputy speaker to suspend proceedings overnight amid a protest against the draft legislation staged by thousands of people outside the Polish presidential palace. During the debate, the opposition proposed more than 1,000 amendments to the draft, which, it says, kills judicial independence. With reporting by Rikard Jozwiak, Reuters, and AFP Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/poland-judiciary-reform- eu-sanctions-urges-suspension-/28627006.html Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Venezuelan Opposition Presents Plan of Action in Case Maduro Resigns Sputnik News 23:50 19.07.2017 The Venezuelan opposition party Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) on Wednesday presented its plan of action if it succeeds in securing the resignation of President Nicolas Maduro, local media reported. MEXICO (Sputnik) Among the priorities of the opposition, Ramos noted the creation of a government of national unity, overcoming the humanitarian crisis experienced in connection with the shortage of food and medicine and the development of an economic plan for combating poverty. "The change [of power] is unstoppable and inevitable, the bloc promises to guarantee stability," a statement by Henry Ramos, the former president of the National Assembly of Venezuela, quoted by the Nacional media outlet, read. Venezuela has been experiencing a period of political instability amid the drastic economic situation in the country. Protests have erupted across the country as a result, with the latest breaking out in April after the country's Supreme Court tried to take over legislative powers from the opposition-controlled National Assembly. The top court reversed the ruling but the step did not stop the mass demonstrations. In May, Maduro announced his decision to call the National Constituent Assembly, which was regarded by the opposition as an attempted coup. This resulted in an escalation of the already aggravated tensions and led to the deaths of over 90 people. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia, Malaysia Sign Agreement on Modernization of Malaysian MiG-29 Sputnik News 16:28 19.07.2017 Russia and Malaysia have signed an agreement on the renovation and modernization of the Russia-produced MiG-29 fighter aircraft that form parts of the Royal Malaysian Air Force, a Sputnik correspondent reported from the MAKS International Aviation and Space Salon on Wednesday. ZHUKOVSKIY (Moscow Region) (Sputnik) The document was signed by Russian Aircraft Corporation (RAC) MiG Director General Ilya Tarasenko and Malaysian Air Force representative Mohamed Fadzar bin Sufad on the margins of the MAKS. "The agreement confirms the extension of our contractual obligations for the Malaysian Air Forces on the operation of MiG-29 fighter jets. The RAC MiG will continue its cooperation with the Malaysian Air Forces and will provide technical support for these aircraft," Tarasenko said. The MiG-29 supply contract was signed in Kuala Lumpur on June 7, 1994. The total contract value of 18 Russia-supplied aircraft was estimated at $560 billion. The MiG Corporation assumed the obligation to make the necessary adjustments and adapt the aircraft to Malaysian humid tropical climate. Malaysian MiG aircraft have come to be known as MiG-29N and MJG-29NUB, and formed Squadron 17 and Squadron 19 of the Royal Malaysian Air Force. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia to Finalize MiG-29 Deliveries to Serbia by Year-End Sputnik News 12:42 19.07.2017(updated 12:43 19.07.2017) Russia plans to finalize MiG-29 "Fulcrum" fighter jet deliveries to Serbia by the end of 2017, Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC) Director Dmitry Shugaev said Wednesday. ZHUKOVSKIY (Sputnik) Moscow plans the delivery of six MiG-29, 30 T-72s tanks and 30 BRDM-2 armored reconnaissance vehicles to Belgrade as part of a military aid package. "The completion of MiG-29 aircraft deliveries to the Republic of Serbia is planned by the end of 2017," Shugaev told reporters at the MAKS International Aviation and Space Salon. Russia was set to deliver six MiG-29 to Serbia this May. In November 2016, media reported that Moscow had made a decision to supply Belgrade with six fighter jets. In December, the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC) Deputy Director Anatoly Punchuk said that the aircraft could be delivered in spring 2017 as part of a military and technical cooperation assistance program between the two states. The MiG-29 fighter jets, developed in the Soviet Union in 1980s, are currently used in 29 countries across the world. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia, Serbia Discuss Supplies of S-300 Battalions Sputnik News 10:25 19.07.2017(updated 10:39 19.07.2017) Russia considers possible deliveries of S-300 air defense system battalions with Serbia, FSMTC Director Dmitry Shugaev said Wednesday. ZHUKOVSKIY (Moscow Region) (Sputnik) Russia is discussing the deliveries of S-300 air defense system battalions with Serbia, Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC) Director Dmitry Shugaev said Wednesday. "Serbian partners are currently expressing their interest in the supply of S-300 SAM battalions. This issue is being discussed," Shugaev told reporters at the MAKS International Aviation and Space Salon. The S-300 surface-to-air missile systems are capable of striking short- and medium-range ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, as well as tactical and strategic aircraft. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address More flexibility and mobility for UN peacekeepers in DR Congo - senior official says 19 July 2017 The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is becoming more flexible and mobile, the head of that mission today said, by focusing on rapid deployment of troops and air surveillance. The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in DRC, Maman Sidikou, said the mission, known by its acronym MONUSCO, will close five fixed bases at the end of the month in the North-Kivu province. "MONUSCO changes its mode of operations, as it continues to fulfil its mandate, that is, continuing to back Congolese authorities' efforts for civilians' protection," said Mr. Sidikou. The new operations are already underway in the Kasai province, where some 350 MONUSCO troops have been deployed. The Mission is setting up an early warning system, including to improve its access to people. "To make the device more effective, it would be critical that communities swiftly transmit all security-related information to MONUSCO," the Mission's military authorities said. In March, the UN Security Council extended the mandate of MONUSCO for another year, but lowered the approved number of military personnel and military observers from 19,815 and 760, respectively, to 16,215 and 660. The Council tasked the Mission, with, among other responsibilities, ensuring effective and dynamic protection of civilians under threat of physical violence, including by preventing, deterring, and stopping all armed groups and local militias from inflicting violence on the populations. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address International community needs to 'change narrative' about Africa - UN chief Guterres 19 July 2017 Briefing the Security Council on their strengthened collaboration, top officials from the African Union (AU) and the United Nations today highlighted their joint work on peace and security in the Gambia, Somalia and South Sudan, as well as other African countries, and urged adequate, timely and predictable funding. Addressing an open debate of the Council in New York, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, "the international community needs to change the narrative about Africa and to establish a higher platform of cooperation that recognizes its enormous potential and promise." He noted that the AU and the UN have a shared interest in strengthening mechanisms to defuse conflicts before they escalate, and to manage them effectively when they occur. The organization's shared objective is "to work closely on the basis of the principles of mutual respect and comparative advantage in all stages of the conflict cycle and in a systematic, predictable and strategic manner," he added. Mr. Guterres highlighted a landmark framework signed between the UN and the AU in April to strengthen partnership between the two organizations on peace and security pillars, as well as their organization's commitment to further institutionalize and build on the partnership. The Joint UN-AU Framework for Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security includes four key action areas: preventing and mediating conflict and sustaining peace; responding to conflict; addressing the root causes; and the continuous review and enhancement of the partnership. Financing peace operations in Africa One of the main points raised by Mr. Guterres, as well as Smail Chergui, the Commissioner for Peace and Security of the AU, who also addressed the Council, was the question of financial resources, equipment and technology. Mr. Guterres echoed points from his 26 May report, where he identified four options where UN assessed contributions could be used to help meet AU's operational needs in peace missions. The report was submitted pursuant to Security Council resolution 2320 (2016) on enhancing the relationship between the UN and regional and sub-regional organizations. In his address, Mr. Chergui urged Council members for political leadership and guidance to help the AU and the UN deliver on their mandates. Calling the AU "an indispensable partner in promoting peace and security in Africa," Mr. Chergui noted that the number of AU troops killed in the last decade exceeds the number of UN peacekeeping casualties over the last 70 years. "Despite these sacrifices and commitment, African troops are faced with some of the most challenging situations due to inadequate force enables and multiplies, as well as financial resource gaps," he said. Mr. Chergui said that financing of peace support operations "remains a perennial issue," and given that the AU is not able to fund peace initiatives on its own, looks forward to a possible decision by the Security Council this September on a dedicated mechanism from the UN to support Council-mandated African peace support operations. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and Cambodian King Nodorom Sihamoni in Cambodia hold talks during Trong's visit on July 20th. (Photo: VNA) Welcoming the Vietnamese Party chief and his entourage, the King described the visit of Nguyen Phu Trong as a especially important milestone in the good neighborliness, traditional friendship and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Cambodia in the context of the two countries celebrating 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties (June 24th). The host and guest exchanged news on their respective countries recent affairs and expressed their delight at progress achieved by both sides. The two leaders looked back on bilateral engagement in the past five decades and agreed that the ties, fostered by generations of Vietnamese and Cambodian leaders and people, have overcome obstacles and yielded fruitful outcomes. King Sihamoni expressed his deep gratitude toward Vietnams support for Cambodia during its past struggle for national liberation and against the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime, as well as in the periods of rebuilding and developing the country. Calling Vietnam a great and trustworthy friend of Cambodia, he said his nation will always stand by Vietnams side as a good neighbor. King Nodorom Sihamoni vowed to continue his father King Norodom Sihanouks legacy in cementing the long-standing friendship with Vietnam. For his part, Party General Secretary Trong stated the growth of Vietnam is closely linked with assistance from international friends, including Cambodia. He took the occasion to invite King Nodorom Sihamoni and the Queen Mother Norodom Monineath Sihanouk to visit Vietnam this year and in following years, which was accepted by the King. Both host and guest pledged their commitments to spare no effort in imbuing the next generations with the Vietnam-Cambodia traditional relationship and comprehensive cooperation./. Indonesia Sounds a Soft Warning in Renaming Part of Disputed Sea By Ralph Jennings July 19, 2017 Indonesia's move to rename part of the contested South China Sea appears to be a warning to the most powerful maritime claimant, China, that Jakarta intends to step up protection of its own claim without causing a spat for now. On Friday, a deputy maritime affairs minister in Jakarta said Indonesia would rename a tract of water northwest of the island of Borneo as the "North Natuna Sea," in line with oil and gas exploration projects with similar titles, according to the Indonesian Antara news service. The renamed tract is near the Natuna Islands, an Indonesian chain of 272 maritime features, and overlaps the southernmost part of China's so-called "nine-dash line" claim extending from its south coast. Indonesia exerts authority The name change may be largely cosmetic, analysts say, but it serves as a warning to China normally a friend as well as other countries to keep away. "I don't call it a storm in a teacup, but the reality is that China's fishing boats do come into Indonesian waters on this vague historical claim 'traditional fishing ground,' and Indonesia has been pretty adamant in shooing them away," said Carl Thayer, Southeast Asia-specialized emeritus professor of politics at The University of New South Wales in Australia. "But renaming the waters is not a claim to new territory." China reacts China's foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Friday at a briefing that it was "totally meaningless" for any country to change the sea's name. The name "South China Sea" is "widely accepted" by the United Nations and the "international community," he said. Officials in Beijing say their nine-dash line follows Chinese fishing patterns over the centuries and cite records dating back some 2,000 years. But in July 2016, a world arbitration court ruled that China lacked a legal basis for its claim. Indonesia's move follows name changes by Vietnam and the Philippines involving parts of the same sea, also contested by China, off their own coastlines. Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan have claims, as well, to the 3.5 million-square-kilometer tropical body of water that's prized for fish, fuel exploration and commercial shipping lanes. China says more than 90 percent of it falls under its flag. Debate over impact Name changes seldom make much impact, said Le Hong Hiep, a research fellow with ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore. "Various countries in the region have called the sea differently, but I think it's not something too special, something that will cause objection among other Asian countries," Le said. But Euan Graham, international security director with the Lowy Institute for International Policy in Sydney, said the move does have symbolic value. "I think it is more significant, it's not just a cosmetic, nationalist re-branding," Graham said. "I do think we are seeing a kind of subtle, coordinated implementation, post-award. If you connect the dots, China I think will receive the message that Southeast Asia has not rolled over in the way that it might have hoped and expected." Incidents leading to the name change China has irked Indonesia by passing vessels through waters Jakarta calls its own. Other countries along the sea resent China's landfilling larger islets for construction of military facilities capable of supporting combat aircraft and radar systems. "We can see this effort by Indonesia is also part of the regional response to China's recent assertiveness in the South China Sea, because to some people, especially China, when the sea is called the 'South China Sea,' it naturally entitles China some rights, which is false," Le said. Last year Indonesia said it would step up patrols against foreign vessels in waters near its 13,000 islands. In March 2016, China and Indonesia entered a standoff when Indonesian authorities tried to stop a vessel and a Chinese coast guard vessel intervened. That month Indonesia said China had officially included waters near the Natuna Islands on a Chinese territorial map. In May 2016, the navy arrested a Chinese fishing vessel despite Beijing's coast guard backup. A month later the navy fired on another Chinese boat, possibly injuring a sailor, before impounding it and jailing the seven-person crew. But Indonesia lacks the military might to resist China in a sustained conflict. At the same time, China is Indonesia's top import source and second biggest export destination for items such as minerals and palm oil, muting Jakarta's criticism of Beijing over the years and vice versa. Trade and nationalism Indonesian President Joko Widodo, widely known as Jokowi, has called on the two countries to raise two-way trade to $150 billion by 2020. But Jokowi occasionally plays a "nationalist card" anyway, said Graham, adding the president's view is "very much framed by sovereignty" and he doesn't want another country to use parts of the sea that it claims. "I am sure that Indonesia's move will also be viewed by other Association of Southeast Asian Nation members as 'encouragement' on how to deal with China in this regional dispute," said I Made Andi Arsana, geodetic engineering lecturer at Universitas Gadjah Mada in Yogakarta. "[Jakarta] wanted to bring awareness to the international community that political geography of the world is changing and it invites the world to make a new consensus," he said. Krithika Varagur in Jakarta contributed to this report. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Ex-minister, 2 Others Arrested in Malawi Food Import Scandal By Lameck Masina July 19, 2017 Malawi's Anti-corruption Bureau, or ACB, has arrested a former agriculture minister and two others linked to a corruption scandal involving maize imports. Malawi was importing the grain to avert food shortages after flooding and drought wrecked last year's harvest. ACB officials Wednesday announced the arrests of former agriculture minister George Chaponda, along with businesswoman Grace Mijiga Mhango and Rashid Tayub, an entrepreneur based in Blantyre. They are accused of illegal actions in the procurement of 100,000 tons of maize from Zambia by Malawi's grain marketer ADMARC, the Agriculture Development and Marketing Corporation. Mijiga chairs Malawi's Grain Traders and Processors Association. The arrests come after two commissions of inquiry established by President Peter Mutharika and parliament in January recommended the investigation into Chaponda and others linked to the scandal, dubbed "Maizegate." Reyneck Matemba is the ACB's deputy director. He told reporters the defendants have not yet been formally charged. "We normally charge our suspects towards the end, depending on the information we have received from them. Currently they are being interviewed, Matemba said." The ACB, however, said in a statement Wednesday that Chaponda is likely to be charged with "corruptly performing public functions, misuse of public office and possession of foreign currency" while Mhango "is likely to be charged with forgery." Tayub is expected to answer charges of influencing a public officer to misuse public office. In February, President Mutharika fired Chaponda after investigators found nearly $200,000 in cash in the minister's home. Documents leaked to local media in December point to irregularities. The documents indicate ADMARC bought the consignment of maize for $34.5 million from a private Zambian trader. The records allege the maize could have been purchased from Zambia's government for about two-thirds of that, or $21.5 million. Both Chaponda and Mhango deny wrongdoing. ADMARC has denied the allegations. Charles Kajoloweka is among civil society leaders who have been pushing for justice in the scandal. He told VOA that Chaponda's arrest has come too late. "It's a progressive action but it is coming a little late especially when you consider that these [commission of] inquiry reports were released some six months ago." Kajoloweka says he feels the delay confirms that Chaponda, a senior member of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, had continued to enjoy protection "under the current political leadership." In a statement, however, ACB officials have ruled out any political interference in the matter, saying "The process of investigations is complicated and needs to be conducted with due process and detailed care." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Coalition Strikes Continue Against ISIS in Syria, Iraq From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release SOUTHWEST ASIA, July 20, 2017 U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 26 strikes consisting of 36 engagements, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today. U.S. Central Command continues to work with partner nations to conduct targeted airstrikes in Iraq and Syria as part of the comprehensive strategy to degrade and defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. Officials reported details of yesterday's strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports. Strikes in Syria In Syria, coalition military forces conducted 20 strikes consisting of 24 engagements against ISIS targets: -- Near Abu Kamal, four strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed 14 oil storage tanks, two wellheads, two vehicles and an ISIS-held building. -- Near Dayr Az Zawr, five strikes destroyed five ISIS oil separator tanks, three oil storage tanks, two front-end loaders and two vehicles. -- Near Raqqa, eight strikes engaged seven ISIS tactical units; destroyed six fighting positions, a supply cache and a tunnel; and suppressed a mortar team. -- Near Shadaddi, three strikes destroyed an ISIS mortar system, a mortar position and a front-end loader. Strikes in Iraq In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted six strikes consisting of 12 engagements against ISIS targets: -- Near Huwayjah, a strike destroyed an ISIS supply cache. -- Near Kirkuk, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit. -- Near Qayyarah, four strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units, destroyed a boat, damaged an ISIS-held building; and suppressed an ISIS tactical unit. July 18 Strikes Additionally, 20 strikes were conducted in Syria and Iraq on July 18 that closed within the last 24 hours: -- Near Raqqa, Syria, 18 strikes engaged 12 ISIS tactical units; destroyed 18 fighting positions, an anti-aircraft artillery system, a weapons cache and a sniper position; and damaged a fighting position and a supply route. -- Near Kisik, Iraq, two strikes damaged four ISIS supply routes. Part of Operation Inherent Resolve These strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to destroy ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The destruction of ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria also further limits the group's ability to project terror and conduct external operations throughout the region and the rest of the world, task force officials said. The list above contains all strikes conducted by fighter, attack, bomber, rotary-wing or remotely piloted aircraft; rocket-propelled artillery; and some ground-based tactical artillery when fired on planned targets, officials noted. Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike, they added. A strike, as defined by the coalition, refers to one or more kinetic engagements that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single or cumulative effect. For example, task force officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIS vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against a group of ISIS-held buildings and weapon systems in a compound, having the cumulative effect of making that facility harder or impossible to use. Strike assessments are based on initial reports and may be refined, officials said. The task force does not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China's Trijunction Action a Threat to India, Says Foreign Minister Sputnik News 22:00 20.07.2017 Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told India's Parliament that the Chinese action in the trijunction region of India, Bhutan and China was a threat to India when opposition lawmakers asked her about the ongoing standoff. She claimed that many countries are supporting India's stance. New Delhi (Sputnik) Indian experts hoped the upcoming visit of India's National Security Adviser Ajit Doval to Beijing to attend a BRICS meeting could help bring about a negotiated resolution to the current standoff. A former intelligence officer in India's Research and Analysis Wing, Doval is considered a key official in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government security architecture. "We should wait for Ajit Doval's Beijing visit next week. Although he is going to attend a BRICS-related meeting, there can also be some headway in the Sikkim standoff. Doval is pragmatic and is one of the most trusted officials of the current establishment and his meeting with his Chinese counterpart could see significant progress," Retired Commodore C. Uday Bhaskar, a distinguished fellow of the Society for Policy Studies, told Sputnik. "China intends to unilaterally change the status of the tri-junction with Bhutan, which poses a challenge to India's security. India is not unreasonable on the tri-junction and all nations are with it. The law is with our country," Swaraj said in the Rajya Sabha, the Upper House of Indian Parliament. While responding to supplementary questions, she informed the Rajya Sabha that there was a written agreement between India, China and Bhutan in 2012 that the three nations will decide together the boundaries at the tri-junction point. The Indian minister also said that the boundaries between India and China are yet to be finalized and the two nations will do that bilaterally through discussions. China and Bhutan will also make their border decision through bilateral talks. Swaraj said the matter can be resolved through talks. "We are willing to talk, but both sides have to first take back their armies." China has also said that talks are possible only if the Indian Army moves back. The standoff began when China tried to build a road in the Doklam area, which Bhutan claims as its territory. India became party to the dispute because of the terms of its treaty with Bhutan. India also considers the Doklam tri-junction a strategic point and does not want to give strategic advantage to the Chinese in the region. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Acting Coordinator for Counterterrorism Justin Siberell on the Release of Country Reports on Terrorism 2016 Special Briefing Justin Siberell Acting Coordinator for Counterterrorism Via Teleconference July 19, 2017 MS NAUERT: Thank you so much. Good morning, everyone, and thanks so much for calling in for this. It's an on-the-record briefing with our Acting Coordinator for Counterterrorism Justin Siberell. The call will be embargoed until the conclusion of the call, but we're glad that you're here to join us right now. As you know, today the State Department is releasing its Annual Country Reports on Terrorism. It describes the global counterterrorism landscape in 2016 and fulfills a congressional mandate. The report also allows us to highlight the significant terrorist trends and also take stock of how effective U.S. and international efforts have been in countering these threats. It also helps us to make more informed judgments and plans about our policies, our priorities, and where to place our resources. So with that, I'll turn it over to Acting Coordinator for Counterterrorism Justin Siberell. Justin, go right ahead. MR SIBERELL: Well, thank you very much, Heather, and thanks to everyone for calling in this morning. Hopefully by now you've had a chance to go through portions of the report. I'll offer a few summary remarks about its main findings, and then I'm prepared to take questions. Terrorist attacks and fatalities from terrorism declined globally in 2016 from levels seen in 2015, and at the end of my remarks I will summarize a few of the topline statistics that are included as an appendix to the yearly report. ISIS remained the most capable terrorist organization globally in 2016, directing and inspiring terror cells, networks, and individuals around the world, even as it faced increased military pressure in Iraq and Syria and suffered considerable territorial losses throughout the year through the year. Excuse me. We also faced a resilient al-Qaida and an Iranian regime that remained the leading state sponsor of terrorism. The international community strengthened cooperation in a number of areas, including by expanding information-sharing related to terrorist identities to prevent terrorist travel, strengthening border and aviation security, and putting increased resources into efforts to counter radicalization to violence and terrorist recruitment. As you all are aware, ISIS lost considerable territory it controlled in Iraq and Syria through 2016, and the report provides detailed assessment of that progress. Iraqi Security Forces supported by the coalition delivered a series of defeats on ISIS through 2016, beginning with the liberation of Ramadi in February, the recapture of Fallujah in June, and the seizure of the Qayyarah Air Base in northern Iraq in July, and finally the launch of the broad offensive in Nineveh in October that led to Iraqi Security Force penetration deep into eastern Mosul by the end of the year. As you know, the Iraqi Security Forces completed the liberation of eastern Mosul in January, and earlier this month the Iraqi Government announced the liberation of all of Mosul from ISIS after one of the most complex urban combat operations since World War II. This is a critical milestone in the global fight against ISIS and underscores the success of the international effort led by the Iraqi Security Forces. In Syria, the border between Syria and Turkey was fully cleared of ISIS presence in 2016. Syrian Democratic Forces supported by coalition efforts liberated a number of cities and towns used by ISIS as transit and facilitation hubs for foreign terrorist fighters and ISIS external plotting efforts, including Manbij and Jarabulus. These operations set the stage for the operation to isolate and liberate Raqqa, which, as you know, is currently underway. ISIS has relied heavily upon foreign terrorist fighters but was unable to sustain a sufficient inward flow of new foreign terrorist fighter recruits in 2016 to compensate for battlefield losses. While the sustained military campaign and ISIS' loss of territory and resources are key factors in that, governments around the world enacted a number of reforms and improved border security measures to make it much more difficult for foreign terrorist fighters to transit to and from Iraq and Syria. As a result of its loss of territory and foreign terrorist fighters, attacks outside ISIS territorial strongholds in Iraq and Syria were an increasingly important part of ISIS' 2016 terrorism campaign. ISIS dispatched operatives from Iraq and Syria to conduct attacks but also worked aggressively to inspire and encourage attacks by its followers to demonstrate continued strength and relevance. ISIS directed its followers to attack in their home countries rather than attempt to travel to the conflict zone, which itself is an acknowledgement of the more difficult environment faced by aspiring foreign terrorist fighters to access the conflict area. Another feature of the terrorism landscape in 2016 and this is a continuation of what we saw in 2014 and 2015 is the exploitation by terrorist groups of ungoverned territory and conflict zones to establish safe havens from which to expand their reach. In 2016 ISIS established a presence in the Libyan coastal city of Sirte, from which it was expelled as a result of a concerted ground campaign by Libyan forces with U.S. air support. Somalia, Yemen, northeastern Nigeria, portions of the Sinai Peninsula, the Afghanistan-Pakistan border regions, and portions of the Philippines, among other places, are examples of such safe-haven environments. Turning to al-Qaida, al-Qaida and its regional affiliates exploited the absence of credible and effective state institutions in a number of states and regions to remain a significant worldwide threat despite sustained pressure by the United States and its partners. Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula remained a significant threat to Yemen, the Gulf region, and the United States despite a number of key leadership losses as the ongoing conflict in Yemen hindered U.S. and partnered efforts to counter the group. Al-Nusrah continued to al-Nusrah Front, al-Qaida's affiliate in Syria, continued to exploit ongoing armed conflict to maintain a territorial safe haven in parts of northwestern Syria. And al-Shabaab continued to conduct asymmetric attacks throughout Somalia and parts of Kenya despite weakened leadership and increasing defections. The establishment of a new government in Somalia and its efforts along with the international community to extend governance while maintaining security force pressure on al-Shabaab is an important recent development in Somalia. Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and its affiliates in Mali have shifted their operational emphasis from holding territory to perpetrating attacks against government and civilian targets, including hotels in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Cote d'Ivoire, as well as UN peacekeeping forces in northern Mali. And then finally, al-Qaida in the Indian subcontinent continue to operate in South Asia, which the AQ al-Qaida Core has historically exploited for safe haven, and claim several attacks targeting religious minorities, police, secular bloggers, and publishers in Bangladesh. In Afghanistan, al-Qaida suffered continued losses, including through the death of senior leader Faruq al-Qahtani, who was killed in a U.S. operation in Kunar, Afghanistan in October 2016. Attacks by homegrown lone offenders continued in 2016, particularly in public spaces and other soft targets. Examples of this include the attack in Nice in July, in which a Tunisian national drove a truck into a Bastille Day festivities parade, killing 86; in Germany, an ISIS-claimed truck attack killed 12 in a crowded Christmas market in Berlin in December; and of course, in the United States, Omar Mateen killed 49 in an attack on the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. While ISIS continued to receive most of the headlines and remains a top focus for U.S. and international CT efforts, Iran remained the foremost state sponsor of terrorism globally. As explained in the report, Iran continues to provide support to Hizballah, Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza, and various groups in Syria, Iraq, and throughout the Middle East. Iran employed the Quds Force of its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to implement foreign policy goals, provide cover for intelligence operations, and create instability in the Middle East. The Quds Force is Iran's primary mechanism for cultivating and supporting terrorists outside of Iran. Iran has acknowledged the involvement of the Quds Force in conflicts in Iraq and Syria. In 2016, Iran remained the primary source of funding for Hizballah and coordinated closely with Hizballah in its efforts to create instability in the Middle East. Hizballah is a designated foreign terrorist organization, and Iran has trained thousands of its fighters at camps in Iran. Hizballah has contributed significant numbers of its fighters to support the Assad regime in Syria and carried out several attacks against Israeli Defense Forces in 2016 along the Lebanese border with Israel. Iran continued to support Iraqi militant groups, including designated foreign terrorist organization Kata'ib Hizballah, and it has provided weapons, funding, and training to Bahraini militant groups that have conducted attacks on Bahraini security forces. In January 2016, Bahraini security officials dismantled a terrorist cell linked to the Quds Force that was planning to carry out a series of bombings throughout the country. Iran remained unwilling to bring to justice senior al-Qaida members it continued to detain and has refused to publicly identify the members in its custody. Since at least 2009, Iran has allowed al-Qaida facilitators to operate a core facilitation pipeline through the country, enabling al-Qaida to move funds and fighters to South Asia and Syria. Now that's a rundown of the major trends and findings as contained in the report. You'll find a lot more details in the individual country sections and then the accompanying statistical annex. And just a few words about the statistical annex which is appended to the report, and it is prepared by the University of Maryland's National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, known as START, by the acronym START. As I noted at the top of the briefing, the total number of terrorist attacks in 2016 decreased by 9 percent, and total deaths due to terrorist attacks decreased by 13 percent compared to 2015. This was largely due to fewer attacks and deaths from terrorist attacks in Afghanistan, Syria, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Yemen. At the same time, there was an increase in terrorist attacks and total deaths in several countries, including Iraq, Somalia, and Turkey. ISIS was responsible for more attacks and deaths than any other perpetrator group in 2016. In 2015, it was the Taliban that was responsible for more attacks and deaths. And although terrorist attacks took place in 104 countries in 2016, they were heavily concentrated geographically, as they have been for the past several years. Fifty-five percent of all attacks took place in Iraq, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, and the Philippines, and 75 percent of all deaths due to terrorist attacks took place in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Nigeria, and Pakistan. All of these statistics and more are in the annex, as I said, that is appended to the report. And while I cite these statistics which are compiled by the University of Maryland and they are not a U.S. Government product, I must emphasize that numbers alone do not provide the full context, something that we and a point we make consistently when the numbers fall from fall and rise from year to year in the report. So with that, I'd be happy to take your questions. MS NAUERT: Okay, Justin. Thank you so much. And all of you, just as a reminder, the call is embargoed until the end of the call, and it is on the record. So we'll start with our first question then, please. OPERATOR: Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to ask a question, please press * followed by the 1. You'll hear a tone indicating that you've been placed in queue, and you may remove yourself from queue at any time by pressing the # key. Once again, for questions please press *1 at this time. Our first question today comes from the line of Barbara Usher with the BBC. Please, go ahead. QUESTION: Yeah, just two sort of general questions. You mentioned that the combat against AQAP had been hindered by the conflict in Yemen in 2016. Can you talk a little bit about what that involved and whether that and to what degree that continues or whether that's been changing? And also, in terms of Iran, I know there's been some talk about designating the IGRC as a terrorist group. Is that at all in the works or being discussed seriously? MR SIBERELL: Well, thank you for the questions. With regard to Yemen, what I'm referring to is the fact that the Yemeni Government does not have the ability to extend its own capabilities into areas that are where AQAP is located. So whereas prior to the conflict we had a partner, albeit a generally speaking weak government but a government that did have police forces, intelligence services with whom we and other partners could work to help to dismantle AQAP networks in the country, while the conflict has continued, that presence is really no longer available to us or the Yemeni Government itself. So that's what I mean by the fact that as the conflict continues it's a more difficult environment in which to address the threat posed by AQAP. And that, of course, leads then to the importance of a negotiated political settlement in that conflict which our government is pursuing. On the on Iran, I believe the IRGC is designated under certain Treasury authorities, and that's where that remains currently. QUESTION: Can I just have a follow-up there? Has AQAP strengthened in the last year because of the of the conflict? MR SIBERELL: I don't think we have an assessment that they have strengthened necessarily, because they have had control of certain territory and then lost territory. So it's a very fluid situation in Yemen. It's one that we watch very closely because of AQAP's historical targeting of the United States in particular. So it's something that our military and security agencies watch very, very closely. But it is a fluid environment, and one in which there is a safe haven that's been established and one where we continue to work with partners on the ground to address. MS NAUERT: Next question, please. OPERATOR: Our next question comes from the line of Yeganeh Torbati with Reuters. And as a reminder, for additional questions please press *1. Thank you. QUESTION: Hi. Thanks so much. Just a couple of quick questions. So the language on Sudan in the state sponsors of terrorism section is quite different this year. I know that probably reflects the policy that kind of started late last year. But it seems quite supportive of the Government of Sudan's efforts, but Sudan remains on the state sponsor of terrorism list. I'm just wondering what else would you need to see from from Sudan in order for them to be taken off that list? And then just very quickly, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard said today that the U.S. should move its bases 1,000 kilometers away from Iran if it wants to pursue penalties like sanctions against Tehran. And that seems to be a pretty thinly veiled threat, and I was just wondering how seriously does the United States take that sort of threat from the IRGC? Thank you. MR SIBERELL: With regard to Sudan, the criteria for removal from the SST are identified in the statute, and those include that a government needs to certify that it hasn't provided support to international terrorism in the preceding six-month period; it provides assurances it will not support terrorist acts in the in the future. And so there are there are particular criteria that are necessary for a country to meet in rescinding the state sponsor being removed from the state sponsor of terrorism list from that designation. That said, I will say that the there is some cooperation with the Government of Sudan, and we've been pursuing that as part of the broader discussion with the Sudanese Government. And the Sudanese Government has recognized itself that there is an ISIS threat in particular in the region and has been cooperative in some areas with regard to that threat. But the criteria for removal is stated in the statute. I don't have any comments on the second question with regard to the threat. MS NAUERT: Okay, thank you. Next question, please. OPERATOR: Our next question is from the line of Nick Wadhams with Bloomberg News. Please, go ahead. QUESTION: Hi. Thanks very much. Just two quick questions. One, can you tell us what, in your view, chiefly accounts for the decline in attacks and deaths, the number down by 9 percent and the total death toll down by 13 percent? Is there a particular issue or a particular reason for that? And then second, I'm curious with the travel ban and the six countries mentioned and the concerns about potential terrorist threats to the United States, does the report say anything about the threat posed by those six countries toward the United States? Thank you very much. MR SIBERELL: I tried to at the beginning caveat the on the one hand, the statistics and you can find those, as I said, in the annex, and there are significantly more detail than I provided with regard to the number of attacks, where they took place, and the change in year by year in the annex. The overall number decreased, and that's the result of significant decreases in certain places. So as an example, there were fewer attacks and deaths in Nigeria and Pakistan. Now, there have been years when attacks have increased significantly in those places, so there is a kind of year-by-year fluctuation. The broad trend, however, is a slight decrease from 2015, and that in 2015 had a slight decrease from 2014. 2014, of course, was a year of significant increase really a spike, frankly in global terrorist attacks due largely to the coinciding with the rise of ISIS, vicious attacks in Nigeria conducted by Boko Haram, et cetera. But I think you can look within the statistics as provided in the annex to get more details on the specifics behind the decrease. MS NAUERT: Okay. Thank you. Next question, please. OPERATOR: Next question comes from the line of Joyce Karam with the Al-Hayat. Please, go ahead. QUESTION: Yes, hi. Thanks, Justin. I wanted to ask you, on the Hizballah threat, that seems more highlighted in this report than previous ones. Can you elaborate on it? How serious do you view this threat, and do you think Hizballah has gained actually more capabilities and became a bigger threat from its fighting in Syria? And another question, I'll just throw it in: You mentioned al-Qaida operating at large. Do you see al-Qaida threat today as outliving ISIS based on the facts we see in this report? Thank you. MR SIBERELL: Okay, thank you for the questions. I mean, Hizballah is a extremely sophisticated terrorist group with a network that extends globally, both operational capability and then also support network that resides in a number of regions around the world, and we are working very closely with partners around the world to disrupt that network. They maintain a significant military capability that is being brought to bear to support the Assad regime's fight against its own people in Syria. Many Hizballah soldiers have died in that conflict and been wounded. I think there is sort of a mixed picture as to whether that has strengthened or weakened the group. Certainly they've gone full-in on supporting the Assad regime and its war against the Syrian people, and at the same time has continued to strengthen its capabilities in southern Lebanon. So there's a real concern with regard to Hizballah and the role it plays in the region, in particular its collaboration with Iran to engage in destabilizing activities in the Middle East. With regard to al-Qaida outliving ISIS, al-Qaida has demonstrated that it is a resilient organization. It is quite adaptable, but that said, we see a lot of consensus among partners and governments to continue to put pressure on the group, and we will continue to do so. MS NAUERT: Thank you. OPERATOR: Next we'll go to the line of Felicia Schwartz with The Wall Street Journal. Please, go ahead. Ms. Schwartz, your line is open. QUESTION: Hi, sorry. Can you hear me now? Hello? OPERATOR: We can hear you. QUESTION: Okay. I just wanted to follow up on Nick's question about the six countries mentioned in the travel ban and if the report this year shows any changes from 2015 that would merit the ban, if there's any information about that. MR SIBERELL: No, the report itself is, without reference to I mean, we make an assessment of terrorism trends globally. We do include in the report a section on safe havens, and that some of those safe havens are located in those same countries. I think the concern is that in places where there are conflicts and the presence of terrorist organizations, we want to, as a government, ensure that those governments have the ability to and have in place capabilities to ensure identity management, and that in the issuance of documents, travel documents, and in applying for entry and immigration benefits to the United States, we can be confident with their ability to maintain integrity of those processes. So there is in, of course, in general, a concern on these issues globally, but in those places where there is an active terrorist threat, there's a safe haven environment in which terrorist groups are active, certainly we pay very close attention to those parts those locations. MS NAUERT: Next question, please. OPERATOR: We'll go to the line of Conor Finnegan, representing ABC News. Please, go ahead. QUESTION: Hey, thanks for holding this call. The report mentions that there are terrorist groups based in the Middle East who find support in Latin America. It's something that the Homeland Security Secretary has spoken about as well. Can you talk about how serious the threat is posed by the flow of foreign terrorist fighters not only into the Western Hemisphere, but then throughout the Western Hemisphere possibly into the United States, over our borders here? MR SIBERELL: Well, the foreign terrorist fighter phenomenon with regard to the ISIS conflict is a global one, and there are individuals who have come from more than 100 countries around the world, and those include the United States and those include other countries in the Western Hemisphere. There with regard to groups' presence, I mean, we don't see an active operational presence of groups in Latin America. We work very closely with all of our Latin American partners and in the Caribbean; security agencies are very cooperate very closely in this regard, and it's a matter of close cooperation, I would say, with all of our partners in Latin America. So we are concerned about radicalization, individuals who have gone to the conflict zone and may be coming back, as we are globally on that particular issue. MS NAUERT: Okay. Next question, please. OPERATOR: Question comes from the line of Nicole Gaouette with CNN. Please, go ahead. QUESTION: Hi, thanks for doing the call. My question was asked and answered. NAUERT: Okay. Thank you, Nicole. Somebody else? OPERATOR: We'll go to the line of Matthew Lee with the Associated Press. QUESTION: Hi there. I just wanted to follow up on the question about Sudan, because the language seems almost apologetic in saying that they're still identified as a state sponsor. Are you expecting that there could be possible movement on this before the three-month extension of the suspension of certain sanctions is up? And are you aware that apparently, the Sudanese are trying to work with the Saudis to lobby you guys to get off the list? Thanks. MR SIBERELL: Well, the like I said earlier, the ongoing discussions we have with the Government of Sudan do include ensuring that we have effective cooperation in addressing terrorism threats, and there has been some positive response in that regard. But as I also noted, there are specific criteria that need to be met in order for Sudan to be removed, or at least its designation rescinded as a state sponsor of terrorism. And those issues continue to be a feature of the discussions we have with the Sudanese Government. MS NAUERT: Next question, please. OPERATOR: Our final question today comes from the line of Lucia Leal. Please, go ahead. QUESTION: Hi, good morning. I wanted to ask about Cuba. It was removed from the list of nations that sponsor terrorism in 2015; it is out of the list again well, it's still out of the list. I wanted to know if this was a decision that the Secretary himself made, since back in January he said to Congress that he wanted to examine the criteria under which Cuba was removed from the list. MR SIBERELL: Cuba was removed, and there is no requirement within the report for an individual chapter on every single country around the world. We produce chapters in the Country Reports based upon material, frankly, to include in the report. So it was assessed that there was not sufficient information there to provide a report this year on Cuba, but it was removed from the state sponsor list previously. MS NAUERT: All right. Thank you for joining us, Justin. Thank you for your time and your expertise. The embargo has now been lifted. Have a great day now. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address State Department Releases Country Reports on Terrorism 2016 Media Note Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC July 19, 2017 Today the State Department released its annual report, Country Reports on Terrorism 2016, which provides the Department of State's annual Congressionally-mandated assessment of trends and events in international terrorism that transpired from January 1 to December 31, 2016. The report provides policy-related assessments, country-by-country breakdowns of foreign government counterterrorism cooperation; and contains information on state sponsors of terrorism, terrorist safe havens, foreign terrorist organizations, and the global challenge of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear terrorism. The report is available at www.state.gov/j/ct. The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism at the University of Maryland noted in its Statistic Annex that the total number of terrorist attacks in 2016 decreased by nine percent and total deaths due to terrorist attacks decreased by 13 percent, compared to 2015. This was largely due to fewer attacks and deaths in Afghanistan, Syria, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Yemen. Although terrorist attacks took place in 104 countries in 2016, they were heavily concentrated geographically. Fifty-five percent of all attacks took place in five countries (Iraq, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, and the Philippines), and 75 percent of all deaths due to terrorist attacks took place in five countries (Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Nigeria, and Pakistan). In 2016, terrorist groups continued to exploit ungoverned territory and ongoing conflict to expand their reach. ISIS remained the top terrorist threat in 2016, directing and inspiring terrorist cells, networks, and individuals around the world. ISIS was expelled from a significant amount of territory it had controlled at the beginning of 2016, a trend that has accelerated into the first half of 2017 due to coordinated military operations of the 72-member Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. Al-Qa'ida also remained a resilient and adaptive threat. Iran continued to be the leading state sponsor of terrorism. Terrorist groups supported by Iran most prominently Hizballah continued to threaten U.S. allies and interests even in the face of U.S.-led intensification of financial sanctions and law enforcement. The report also summarizes how U.S.-supported and developed multilateral institutions continued to provide platforms for action. In September, the UN Security Council adopted UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 2309 (2016) the first UNSCR focused exclusively on the terrorist threat to civil aviation. The 30-member Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF), which the United States founded and co-chaired from 2011 to 2015, endorsed good practices in a number of areas relevant to terrorism prevention under its Initiative to Address the Life Cycle of Radicalization to Violence. With support from the United States, the GCTF also launched an ongoing soft-targets initiative to build political will and increase capacity to prevent soft-target attacks and mitigate their effects. Throughout 2016, the United States and its partners pursued new, more robust counter-messaging initiatives designed to degrade the influence of terrorist organizations online and through social media. The report's chapter on terrorist safe havens provides further information on U.S. multilateral and regional cooperation and State Department programs and initiatives that build partner capacity and address the conditions that terrorists exploit for recruitment. With the findings of the 2016 Country Reports on Terrorism, the State Department will continue to devote resources towards improving the counterterrorism capabilities of key partner countries as well as focusing long-term efforts in addressing the drivers of violent extremism. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Chinese navy greeted by NATO in North Sea People's Daily Online (People's Daily Online) 16:06, July 19, 2017 Chinese naval vessels were greeted by NATO's flagship in the North Sea as the Chinese fleet headed for the Baltic region for the first time to carry out joint maritime exercises with Russia. According to the official Twitter account for NATO Maritime Command, Standing NATO Maritime Group One flagship HNoMS Otto Sverdrup greeted the Chinese Navy task group in the North Sea while the SNMG1 flagship was conducting a Maritime Situational Awareness patrol in the North and Baltic seas. It added that NATO ships have previously worked with Chinese task groups in the Gulf of Aden while conducting counter-piracy patrols. The last time Chinese ships paid a visit to the North Sea and Baltic region was in October 2015. China and Russia have held joint drills every year since 2012. The Chinese Ministry of National Defense said that this year's exercises will focus on joint rescue efforts and protecting cargo vessels, Global Times reported. The Chinese fleet is expected to reach the Baltic region on July 21 and the joint exercises will last till July 28. Nearly 10 ships and over 10 aircraft and helicopters from the Russian and Chinese navies will join the first-phase exercises, Russian news agency Sputnik reported. China's most advanced guided-missile destroyer the 052D, which is equipped with phased array radar and a vertical launching system, will also participate in the drills, according to Global Times. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Expert urges China to develop counter technologies after U.S., Australian hypersonic test flights People's Daily Online By Sun Wenyu (People's Daily Online) 16:05, July 19, 2017 A Chinese military expert says China should develop counter technologies after the U.S. and Australia jointly tested at least one flight for their Hypersonic International Flight Research Experimentation (HiFIRE) programme. As a major power, China should carry out research on hypersonic technology and invest sufficient capital and energy in the development of counter technologies, the expert explained. According to the website, Nextbigfuture, the programme had at least one successful hypersonic flight at Woomera testing range in South Australia last week. The experiments were concluded on July 12, confirmed Australian Defense Minister, Marise Payne. The report described HiFIRE 4 as a free-flying hypersonic glider designed to travel at Mach 8. BAE Systems Australia, one of the researchers of the programme, claimed in a statement that "the successful flight trial [was] the most complex of all HIFiRE flights conducted to date." The $54m joint initiative involves the US Air Force, Boeing, the Australian Department of Defence's Defence Science and Technology Group, BAE Systems Australia, and the University of Queensland. As a matter of fact, the flight is just a small part of the whole HiFIRE programme. The University of Queensland is involved in three flights in the programme. These tests will be known as HyShot, V, VI and VII. HiFIRE is just the tip of the iceberg of the huge hypersonic research work by the U.S., said the military expert. The U.S. has conducted many experiments on hypersonic vehicles including unmanned research scramjet aircraft X-51, Advanced Hypersonic Weapon (AHW) and the crewless experimental hypersonic glide vehicle rocket glider, Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2. These projects almost cover all theories, forms and technologies of current hypersonic vehicles. With a high engineering degree, their design parameters are leaders in the world. Though foreign media described the vehicle as hypersonic "missile", the expert explained that HiFIRE 4 is not a missile, and the HiFIRE programme is not conducted for weapons research. However, the expert pointed out that the data acquired in the programme will help the U.S. to develop hypersonic weapons. The expert told Global Times that hypersonic technology is a strategic-level technique crucial for national security, and also one important for the development of aerospace. Thanks to their unpredictable flight routes and low trajectory, hypersonic weapons are very difficult to intercept, thus posing huge challenges for early warning systems. As a result, the expert suggested that China develop its own counter hypersonic technology and invest sufficient capital and energy into it. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China conducts military drill in Tibet amid fermenting border standoff with India People's Daily Online (People's Daily Online) 15:49, July 19, 2017 China's recent military moves along the Sino-Indian border have attracted international attention, with many experts commenting that the actions have sent a strong message to India amid the two nations' standoff in the border area. The live-fire exercises, which were conducted by a fully staffed and fully equipped brigade, used high-tech weaponry and multi-force attacks on the 5,000-meter-high plateau, China Central Television (CCTV) reported over the weekend, without mentioning when the drills took place. PLA Daily, the official newspaper of China's military, reported a drill conducted by the Xining military logistics unit, without specifying purpose or timing, on Tuesday. According to the report, thousands of soldiers and hundreds of military vehicles took part in the drill, transporting a large amount of military and medical equipment to the Kunlun Mountain range in northern Tibet. Chinese state-run newspaper Can Kao Xiao Xi reported on Wednesday that the Indian military is heavily focused on developing its mountain military units in an effort to counterbalance China's military presence along the mountainous border. India currently has 10 mountain divisions, one independent mountain brigade, and three backup mountain brigades, while the country has deployed eight mountain divisions along the Sino-Indian border, three of which are stationed at Sikkim. Chinese experts believe that the actions showcased China's strength and sent a strong signal to India. Though India has more troops scattered along the disputed area, China's rapid deployment of troops, its powerful weaponry, and its advanced logistics support give China the edge over India. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UK warship tails Chinese flotilla headed for Russia Iran Press TV Wed Jul 19, 2017 12:52PM The UK has scrambled one of its warships to shadow a Chinese flotilla passing through the English Channel to join Russian naval forces for a joint military drill in the Baltic Sea. The Royal Navy sent over the HMS Richmond frigate over the weekend to watch a trio of Chinese warships as they steamed through the Strait of Dover, the Telegraph reported Wednesday. The Chinese vessels then sailed across the North Sea, where they were closely watched by Dutch vessels. According to a report by the state-run Chinese daily Global Times, leading the flotilla was the 052D, China's "most advanced guided-missile destroyer," which was commissioned two years ago. Accompanying it were the missile frigate Yuncheng and the Luoma Lake supply ship. The Chinese warships were on their way to the naval base of Baltiysk in Russia's Kaliningrad region, where they would carry out their first ever maneuvers in the strategic waters off Russia's coast. Codenamed Joint Sea 2017, the week-long war game will begin on Friday and feature ten warships and an equal number of fighter jets and aircraft. The Chinese and Russian naval forces held similar drills in St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad last month, continuing a trend that began in 2012. This year's drills revolve around "joint rescue efforts and protecting cargo vessels," according to Chinese military officials. Xinhua reported last month that the main objective was to advance the "Sino-Russian comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination." As close allies, the two veto-holding members of the UN Security Council have usually found themselves at the opposing sides of the argument with the United States and the West on a variety of global issues, including the Syria conflict. Additionally, they both face territorial challenges from the US Navy in the Baltic Sea and the South China Sea. American warships have been regularly sailing close to Chinese and Russian waters to protect what Washington calls "freedom of navigation." UK Navy's knack for flexing muscles The UK Navy has taken every opportunity in the past to flex its muscles in the English Channel, often engaging Russian warships crossing the gateway into the Mediterranean Sea on their way to or back from Syria. London pushed the envelope in January, when it risked serious tensions by sending a number warships and fighter jets to tail the Russian Northern Fleet carrier group led by the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier returning from a Syria mission. Back then, UK Defense Minister Michael Fallon called the Kuznetsov a "ship of shame whose mission has only extended the suffering of the Syrian people." Russia didn't take the insult lightly, advising Fallon to focus on the British Navy's shortcomings instead. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address At the inauguration ceremony (Photo: VGP) Addressing the inauguration ceremony, Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung praised the efforts of the Vietnamese and Cambodian Ministries of Transport, and the authorities of Vietnams Gia Lai province and Cambodias Ratanakiri province, as well as related agencies. According to the Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister, the road aims to facilitate transport for trade, contributing to reducing transport fees, promoting the development of economics, society, tourism and every area of peoples life. The inauguration of the road opens up a new period of socio-economic development and cultural exchange between the two countries, with an aim to build up peaceful and cooperative border areas, and reinforce the solidarity between Vietnam and Cambodia. Mr Dung suggested the two States continue to strictly work together to create favorable conditions for people and vehicles crossing the border, ensuring transport security, further boosting the friendly and cooperative relationship between Vietnam and Cambodia. The inauguration of the road belongs to the Road Transportation Agreement between the two countries, which allows 500 vehicles travelling through their seven pairs of international border gates, including the Le Thanh - Oyadav border gates./. Chinese Army Mobilizes Military Assets to Tibet Following Live Fire Drills Sputnik News 22:00 19.07.2017(updated 00:20 20.07.2017) The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) mobilized thousands of ground vehicles and other military equipment as the standoff between Chinese and Indian troops near the disputed area of Sikkim continues, according to a report from the PLA Daily. PLA Daily is widely considered the main outlet the Chinese army uses for external communications, LiveMint notes. The report did not specify the exact date the military assets were relocated to Tibet but said it occurred at the end of June. The unspecified military "hardware" was transported via rail and conventional roads. It's not entirely clear where in Tibet the chess pieces have been placed. The report also failed to indicate whether the military equipment would be used in tandem with a Chinese battalion that recently completed drills in Tibet, China's second-largest province. Last weekend, the PLA conducted live fire exercises in the province. Video footage of the drills was broadcast over CCTV. Analysts said the move would show the people of China the government is ready to protect them in the event that the standoff becomes more heated and violent. Reinforcing the western front with personnel and hardware makes it much easier for commanders to defend Chinese borders, Wang Dehua of the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies told LiveMint on Wednesday. Offensive and defensive maneuvers are "all about logistics," Wang said, and "now there is much better logistics support to the Tibet region." The dispute in Sikkim originated in mid-June when Indian troops stopped Chinese workers from building a road that Beijing said was on its territory. Bhutan claimed that the particular area where construction took place was actually its territory, and India sided with Bhutan. The area where the road was being built is of significant strategic importance to New Delhi. A finished road could provide Chinese troops with an avenue to sever India's access to its northeastern states. A recent article in the Indian Defense Review argued that further espionage between India and China might actually be key to resolving the crisis. "The two countries are ignorant of each other's strategies," Nicolas Groffman wrote. As a result, suspicion is "taking the place of intelligence just when understanding is critical." Vasily Kashin told Sputnik China, however, that such activities ought to have strict limits if stabilizing effects are to be achieved. Intelligence operations would cross a critical threshold if "active intervention in the internal affairs or acts of sabotage" were used, Kashin emphasized. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pentagon Says Pyongyang Cannot Strike US 'With Any Degree of Accuracy' Sputnik News 21:48 19.07.2017(updated 00:20 20.07.2017) A senior Pentagon official asserted Tuesday that Pyongyang is not currently able to land a missile on the US mainland with any degree of accuracy. In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, General Paul Selva, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has "clearly" demonstrated the capability to land a nuclear warhead on mainland US territory but cannot do it "with any degree of accuracy," Stars and Stripes reported. Selva, speaking on Capitol Hill, attempted to calm the fears of some lawmakers by stating, "I do agree in principle with the assessment that the North Koreans are moving quickly to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile," but added that Pyongyang has not demonstrated "the capacity to strike the United States with any degree of accuracy or reasonable confidence of success." In observational and surveillance data following the July 4 launch of what Washington has claimed was the DPRK's first ICBM, Pentagon intelligence services suggested that the new long-range Hwasong-14 missile has inferior guidance controls and lacks the re-entry targeting technology required for weapon accuracy, according to Stripes.com. The DPRK Hwasong-14 attained an altitude of some 1,550 miles, traveling downrange about 580 miles before plummeting into the sea between Japan and the Korean Peninsula. Weapons experts have put the Hwasong-14's potential range at some 5,000 miles. "On range they clearly have the capability," Selva said during his testimony to lawmakers. The Joint Chiefs of Staff vice chair remarked, however, that his office was "reasonably confident in the ability of our intelligence community to monitor the testing but not the deployment of these missile systems," as DPRK forces "are very good at camouflage, concealment and deception," cited by Stripes.com. Selva, when asked about pre-emptive military attacks against the DPRK by the US and its allies, answered that "I think we have to entertain that potential option," but added, "We need to think seriously about what the consequences of that action might be." Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address French army chief resigns over dispute with Macron Iran Press TV Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:16AM France's military chief has resigned following a public dispute with President Emmanuel Macron over the government's proposed defense budget cuts. The head of the French armed forces, General Pierre de Villiers, said in a statement on Wednesday that he had tendered his resignation to the president and that it had been accepted. Villiers explained that with the financial constraints imposed on the army, he was "no longer able to guarantee the robust defense force I believe is necessary to guarantee the protection of France and the French people, today and tomorrow, and to sustain the aims of our country." A disagreement between the army chief and Macron started last week when the government revealed the details of a plan to make 850-million-euro cuts to the 2017 military spending. The government said the move was aimed at bringing France's deficit to below the European Union's limit of 3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). The general protested the plan the following day at the president's own council of defense and the parliament's defense commission. Macron reacted to his remarks last Friday, saying, "For me, it is undignified to wash dirty linen in public. I am your leader; I need no pressure, no comment." Only two days later, Macron told Journal du Dimanche that if de Villiers "has an issue with the President of the Republic, the chief of staff will be changed." General de Villiers reacted in a Facebook post this week, saying he could resign. His open disagreement with Macron was untypical of French military officials, who are historically silent on government policy. The French army is nicknamed "la grande muette" "the great and silent" because of that tradition. But Macron has come under fire over the cuts from other parties, too, including members of his own party. The chairman of the parliamentary committee on defense, Jean-Jacques Bridey, who is also a Macron ally, said last week that he regretted the proposed cuts "while our men risk their lives every day." Alexis Corbiere, a leftwing member of the National Assembly, also warned that consequences of austerity on the French army would be "intolerable." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address French Armed Forces Chief Quits in Row Over Budget Cuts With Macron Sputnik News 13:12 19.07.2017(updated 13:24 19.07.2017) The head of France's armed forces has resigned after a furious row with his new boss, President Emmanuel Macron, over budget cuts. General Pierre de Villiers said he did not believe he could "guarantee the protection of France and the French people." General de Villiers, 60, was infuriated when Macron, who was elected in May, announced plans to slash military spending by 850 million euros (US$975 million). Most of the cuts will be in equipment for the army, air force and navy. De Villiers was appointed by President Francois Hollande in 2014, and he was in charge of French military strikes against Daesh in Syria and Iraq following the Paris attacks in November 2015. Mr. Macron gave him a vote of confidence when he took over in the Elysee Palace, but the pair were soon arguing about the president's plan to hack defense spending in order to reduce the national deficit and conform with EU targets. De Villiers, who is known for his no-nonsense style, hit out at a parliamentary committee: "Je ne me laisserai pas baiser comme ca [I won't let you screw me like that]." "It is not dignified to hold certain debates in the public arena. I am your boss," Mr. Macron told senior officers in a speech at the Defense Ministry earlier in July. "If the military chief of staff and the president are opposed on something, the military chief of staff goes," Mr. Macron added in an interview with Le Journal du Dimanche on Sunday (July 16). The pair had been scheduled to meet on Friday (July 21) to sort out their differences, but General de Villiers' departure means Mr. Macron will instead be looking for a new chief of staff of the armed forces. "He is a great soldier, one of great integrity and intelligence," the former Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said of de Villiers on Wednesday (July 19). Mr. Macron has said he wants to get the overall French budget deficit below an EU cap of three percent of national income. The Defense Ministry is just one of several departments being asked to make cuts. But perversely Mr. Macron has also said he wants to raise defense spending in 2018 by 1.5 billion euros ($1.73 billion), and has said he will lift it to two percent of GDP by 2025 to fit in with NATO targets. [Tweet: "Resignation of the general #DeVilliers: bad news for the army and the nation. Macron chooses the irresponsible fiscal sacrifice."] That would mean adding two billion euros (US$2.3 billion) a year an unprecedented amount in France. During the election campaign, General Dominique Trinquand, the former head of France's mission to NATO, told Sputnik defense was a key priority for Mr. Macron. France has the seventh highest defense budget in the world, below Britain and India, but way ahead of Germany, which is still constrained by constitutional limits set after the Second World War. The budget includes paying for an independent nuclear deterrent, in the form of submarine-launched missiles, and also a large army which has frequently been deployed in former colonial territories like Mali, Chad and the Central African Republic. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S. Announces New Iran-related Sanctions Press Statement Heather Nauert Department Spokesperson Washington, DC July 18, 2017 The United States remains deeply concerned about Iran's malign activities across the Middle East which undermine regional stability, security, and prosperity. Iran continues to support terrorist groups such as Hizballah, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad that threaten Israel and stability in the Middle East. Iran has maintained its steadfast support for the Assad regime, despite Assad's atrocities against his own people. Iran also continues to provide the Houthi rebels in Yemen with advanced weaponry that threatens freedom of navigation in the Red Sea, has been used to attack Saudi Arabia, and is prolonging the Yemen conflict. Additionally, Iran continues to test and develop ballistic missiles, in direct defiance of UN Security Council Resolution 2231. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) states the anticipation of JCPOA participants that "full implementation of this JCPOA will positively contribute to regional and international peace and security." However, Iran's other malign activities are serving to undercut whatever "positive contributions" to regional and international peace and security were intended to emerge from the JCPOA. In response to these continued Iranian threats, the Administration today announces that it has designated 18 entities and individuals supporting Iran's ballistic missile program and for supporting Iran's military procurement or Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as well as an Iran-based transnational criminal organization and associated persons. Today's actions were taken pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13382, which targets proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery and supporters of such activity, as well as E.O. 13581, which targets transnational criminal organizations. Specifically, the U.S. Department of State designated two entities pursuant to E.O. 13382 for engaging, or attempting to engage, in activities or transactions that have materially contributed to, or pose a risk of materially contributing to, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction or their means of delivery. The State Department designated the IRGC Aerospace Force Self Sufficiency Jihad Organization (ASF SSJO), which is involved in Iranian ballistic missile research and flight test launches. In addition, the State Department designated the IRGC Research and Self Sufficiency Jehad Organization (RSSJO), which is responsible for the research and development of ballistic missiles. Additionally, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), designated seven entities and five individuals for engaging in activities in support of Iran's military procurement or the IRGC, as well as an Iran-based transnational criminal organization and three associated persons. Today's action targets three networks supporting Iran's military procurement or the IRGC through the development of unmanned aerial vehicles and military equipment for the IRGC, the production and maintenance of fast attack boats for the IRGC-Navy, or the procurement of electronic components for entities that support Iran's military. OFAC also designated two Iranian businessmen and associated entities who orchestrated the theft of U.S. and western software programs which, at times, were sold to the Government of Iran. The Iranian regime also continues to detain U.S. citizens and other foreigners on fabricated national-security related charges. We call upon Iran to release U.S. citizens Baquer Namazi, Siamak Namazi, and Xiyue Wang, and all other unjustly detained U.S. citizens, so that they can be reunited with their families. The United States is deeply concerned about reports of the declining health of the Namazis, Wang, and other detained U.S. citizens. Iran should immediately release all of these U.S. citizens on humanitarian grounds. It has also been more than a decade since Robert Levinson disappeared from Iran's Kish Island. Iran committed to cooperating with the United States in bringing Bob home and we call on Iran to fulfill this commitment. The United States remains unwavering in its efforts to return Bob to his family. The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) has offered a $5 million reward for any information that could lead to Bob's safe return. We call on anyone with information about this case to contact the FBI at http://tips.fbi.gov or email the FBI at levinsonfbireward@ic.fbi.gov. Information will be kept confidential and can be provided anonymously. Iran's regime has an egregious human rights record, which includes denial of the freedom of religion or belief as well as other human rights and fundamental freedoms to individuals in Iran. Notably, arbitrary arrest and detention of members of religious minorities and political activists, is common as is the use of torture and other forms of abuse in detention. On June 27, the United States released its annual report on Trafficking in Persons. In the report, Iran is again ranked as a Tier 3 country because it does not take significant steps to address its extensive trafficking problem nor does it fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so. Iran is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor. Notably, Iran also coerces Afghan refugees into participating in combat in Syria, deporting those who refuse to do so, and it supports militias fighting in Iraq that recruited and used child soldiers. These abhorrent abuses only fuel conflict throughout the Middle East. The Administration is continuing to conduct a full review of U.S. policy toward Iran. During the course of this review, the United States will continue to aggressively counter Iran's malign activities in the region. While the review is ongoing, the United States will also continue to expect strict Iranian adherence to Iran's nuclear commitments under the JCPOA and look to the International Atomic Energy Agency to continue to monitor and verify all of Iran's nuclear commitments. In addition, the United States will continue to comply with its commitments under the JCPOA. As a result, we communicated to the U.S. Congress on July 17 that the United States continues to waive sanctions as required to continue implementing U.S. sanctions-lifting commitments in the JCPOA, and is certifying to Congress that, based on available information, the conditions of Section 135(d)(6) of the of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (AEA), as amended, including as amended by the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 (Public Law 114-17), enacted on May 22, 2015, are met as of July 17, 2017. We also note Iran's continued malign activities outside the nuclear issue undermine the positive contributions to regional and international peace and security that the deal was supposed to provide. The United States will continue to use sanctions to target those who lend support to Iran's destabilizing behavior and above all, the United States will never allow the regime in Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address IRGC Comdr: Iran missile power growing rapidly IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, July 19, IRNA -- Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) Major General Mohammad-Ali Jafari says Iran's air, ground and sea missile power is growing rapidly. Jafari made the remarks in a conference attended by commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Ground Forces in Mashad. 'Iran missile power is non-negotiable and we will defend it,' he said. Iranian commander pointed to Iran missile power as important in creating deterrence power. Those precision-guided missiles used in the IRGC's latest strike on Daesh positions in Syria are developing now, he said. If the US attempted to continue imposing sanctions on the IRGC and defense issues, it should remove its regional military bases up to 1000 km far away, said the IRGC top commander. He referred to the enemy's fresh sanctions against the IRGC as attempts to pit people against each other and target national interests. Iranian people have prepared themselves to stand against the US economic pressures, he added. Iranians are now well aware of the US tricks in Iran nuclear deal also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and they are waiting for Iranian diplomats' reaction. The message of the revolutionary and punishing move is totally clear: IRGC is sending a warning to the Takfiri terrorists and their regional and extra-regional sponsors that if the evil and satanic measures against the Iranian nation are repeated, the revolutionary anger and flames of the IRGC's revenge will engulf the perpetrators and lead the criminals to hell. The Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) announced on June 19 that it had carried out a missile attack against the headquarters and logistics of the Takfiri terrorists in Deir Ez-Zor, the largest city in eastern Syria, to punish perpetrators of the recent terror attacks in Tehran. After the Takfiri terrorists' June 7 attacks in Tehran which left 17 killed and dozens more wounded, the IRGC announced that the shedding blood of the innocent will not go unanswered. "During the operation, a number of surface-to-surface mid-range missiles targeted Takfiri terrorists from IRGC's bases in Kermanshah and Kordestan provinces, Western Iran." 9376**1420 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran vows "proper response" to new U.S. sanctions over missile program People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 21:05, July 19, 2017 Iran on Wednesday vowed to "duly respond" to new U.S. sanctions while pledging to remain committed to the international deal on its nuclear program. Iran will reciprocate the recent U.S. sanctions against Iranian individuals and entities under the excuse of Iran's missile program, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said. The United States slapped Tuesday sanctions on 18 entities and individuals linked to Iran's ballistic missile program and other non-nuclear activities. The U.S. officials have said Iran's ballistic missile launches are threats to the U.S. interests in the world. The Iranian officials, however, unanimously call the missile tests the "inalienable right" of the country to boost deterrent power. The U.S. pressures on Iran are the "plots" aimed at pressing Iran to set back from its international commitments, Rouhani said. "The Americans will never succeed in their new plots against the Islamic republic," he added. The U.S. is unhappy about the atmosphere following the nuclear deal which has resulted in the growing relations between Iran and the Europeans as well as the Asians, the president noted. "Iran will never withdraw from its international obligations including the nuclear deal," he said. "However, the U.S. sanctions under different pretexts contradict both the text and the spirit of the nuclear deal." Rouhani lauded the "steadfastness" of other members of the nuclear deal as Iran's partners to "safeguard the JCPOA (or the nuclear deal)." Iran and six world powers, namely Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States, reached an agreement on the Iranian nuclear issue in July 2015, which put it on the path of sanctions relief but with more strict limits on its nuclear program. Also, Iran's Foreign Ministry slammed the new U.S. sanctions over the country's missile program as "hostile." In a statement, the foreign ministry said the move to impose new economic sanctions against Tehran was "useless," and that Iran pledged to show proper response. "Iran will, in turn, impose new sanctions against a number of other American individuals and entities that have taken hostile steps against the Iranian nation and other Muslim nations in the region," the statement read. Besides, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the new U.S. sanctions against Iran "violate the spirit" of Iran's nuclear deal. "It violates the spirit of the deal. We will look at it and see whether it violates the letter of the deal," said Zarif in an interview with CBS. On Wednesday, China called for mutual trust and responsibility from all sides to safeguard and carry out the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, after the United States slapped new sanctions on Iranian entities and individuals over Iran's missile program. "All sides have the responsibility to safeguard and carry out the Iran nuclear deal," Lu Kang, foreign ministry spokesman, said at a daily press briefing. China is resolutely opposed to any form of nuclear proliferation activities and has always opposed so-called "long-arm jurisdiction" by any country based on its domestic law, according to Lu. "Effective international cooperation relies on necessary mutual trust by all sides," he said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Blacklisting Iran's IRGC to cost US dear: Top commander Iran Press TV Wed Jul 19, 2017 4:47PM A top Iranian commander has warned against the repercussions of Washington's possible designation of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization, saying the move would cost the US dear. IRGC Commander Major General Mohammad Ali Ja'afari said in the northeastern city of Mashhad on Wednesday that the US bases in the region would be insecure if Washington blacklisted the IRGC or imposed sanctions on Iran over its defense program. "If the US seeks to pursue sanctions against [Iran's] defense [program] and the IRGC, before that it should move its regional bases 1,000 kilometers away from Iran and it should know that it has to pay a high price for its miscalculation," warned the top commander. Underlining the significance of missile capabilities in promoting the country's deterrence power, Ja'afari said that the IRGC was expanding the production of its missiles that could successfully hit targets with pinpoint precision, just as they did during a recent attack on the positions of Takfiri terrorists in Syria. Last month, the IRGC fired six medium-range surface-to-surface ballistic missiles at Daesh bases in Syria's Dayr al-Zawr, which killed more than 170 Takfiri terrorists, including a number of commanders and senior elements, and inflicted heavy damage on their equipment and systems. The missile attack came after gunmen mounted almost simultaneous assaults on Iran's Parliament and the Mausoleum of the late Founder of the Islamic Republic Imam Khomeini on June 7. The Daesh Takfiri terrorist group claimed responsibility for the assaults, which killed 17 people and injured over 50 others. "Iran's missile power in air, sea and on land is rapidly increasing, and this is an inalienable principle for us," the IRGC commander added, stressing that Iran's missile might is not up for negotiations. Ja'afari said that the enemy regards a new war as harmful to its interests as all military and warmongering acts of the enemies in the region have backfired so far. On Tuesday, the United States slapped new economic sanctions against Iran over its ballistic missile program. Iran has recently made major breakthroughs in its defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in producing important military equipment and hardware. The Islamic Republic says its military power poses no threat to other countries and is merely based on the doctrine of deterrence. US officials have also said that President Donald Trump's administration was considering a proposal that could lead to categorizing the IRGC as a terrorist organization. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iranian president vows due response to US sanctions Iran Press TV Wed Jul 19, 2017 10:28AM President Hassan Rouhani has vowed that Iran will reciprocate the sanctions that are imposed by the United States against the Islamic Republic "under any pretext." "Surely, if the Americans seek to apply sanctions against us under whatever title or pretext, the great nation of Iran would aptly respond to them," President Hassan Rouhani told a government session on Wednesday. The administration of US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that it was imposing new economic sanctions against Iran over its ballistic missile program. The US Departments of Treasury and State said they were targeting 18 Iranian individuals, groups and networks, freezing their assets in the US and preventing Americans from doing business with them. Rouhani further said the Iranian Parliament would ratify reciprocal measures in response to US congressional measures. The nuclear-related sanctions against Iran were lifted under its 2015 nuclear deal with six world powers, including the US. However, since Trump's inauguration, Washington has slapped a series of new sanctions against Iranian individuals and entities over the Islamic Republic's missile work, which is not in breach of the nuclear agreement. On Monday, the Trump administration certified to Congress that Iran was in compliance with the accord. It had also verified Iran's compliance once back in April. Washington, however, alleged that Iran was "in default of the spirit" of the deal. On Friday, Foreign Minister Zarif has said the US was both in violation of the text and the spirit of the deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). While working feverishly across the international community to tarnish Iran's global image, Washington has also prevented the deal from fully yielding the intended results by refusing to offer international financial institutions the guarantees they need in order to restore transactions with the Islamic Republic. Trump has called the agreement "a very bad" deal. During his presidential campaign, he had even threatened to rip it up. The United Nations and the European Union have, however, warned that the US could not unilaterally rescind the multilateral agreement. They regard the deal as a triumph for diplomacy and a major contributing factor to regional and international peace and stability. "We are glad that our partners in the P5+1 have steadfastly employed perseverance to safeguard the JCPOA," President Rouhani said in reference to the group of nations with which Iran signed the deal, namely the US, the UK, France, Russia, and China plus Germany. "As always, Americans resorted to duplicity in their actions," he added. Every country's political position, he said, has to do with how much it can be trusted when it comes to international accords. The US is currently trampling upon many of its obligations, Rouhani said, making a reference to Washington going against the Paris climate deal and the rapprochement with Cuba. "This shows that the US cannot be a promoter of human rights, legal positivism, stability, and security in the world. A party, which is not stable itself, does not respect laws and regulations, and does not honor its own signature, cannot invite others to stability, security, and calm," the Iranian chief executive concluded. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address New US sanctions violate JCPOA spirit: Zarif Iran Press TV Wed Jul 19, 2017 1:26AM Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said that the new sanctions against Tehran by the US are damaging already frayed Tehran-Washington ties. Zarif made the remarks on Tuesday in an interview with CBS after the administration of US President Donald Trump said it was imposing new economic sanctions against Iran over the Islamic Republic's missile program. "It violates the spirit of the deal. We will look at it and see whether it violates the letter of the deal, and we will act accordingly," said Zarif. The US' announcement came just hours after the White House admitted that Tehran was complying with a landmark 2015 nuclear agreement it signed with the P5+1 group of countries. Zarif said that the US is trying to "poison the international atmosphere" with the fresh sanctions. "The international community has read this very loud and clear and continue to deal with Iran without much attention to this theater," he added. Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council - the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia - plus Germany signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on July 14, 2015 and started implementing it on January 16, 2016. Under the agreement, limits were put on Iran's nuclear activities in exchange for, among other things, the removal of all nuclear-related bans against the Islamic Republic. The UN Security Council later unanimously endorsed a resolution that effectively turned the JCPOA into international law. In relation to renegotiating the JCPOA, Iran's top diplomat noted, "This is a multilateral deal, approved by the Security Council, and it's not a bilateral deal to be withdrawn from or to be renegotiated." Zarif also stressed that instead of going after countries which are supporting terrorism in the Middle East Trump continues to insist the JCPOA is a bad deal. "These are the countries that are producing terrorists for you. And the United States is going after Iran. I don't know why," Zarif noted. US travel ban 'really repugnant' Referring to Trump's ban on refugees and travelers from the six Muslim-majority countries, including Iran, Zarif said that "What the United States has done against the Iranian people over the past several months have been really repugnant." Trump issued a revised travel ban on March 6 after his initial directive signed in January was blocked by a federal judge in Seattle, Washington, and upheld by the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco, California. "I certainly think it is up to the US government to stop sending all these hostile signals," Zarif added. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S. State Department: Iran Remains 'Foremost State Sponsor Of Terrorism' RFE/RL July 19, 2017 WASHINGTON -- Iran continued to be the "foremost state sponsor of terrorism" in 2016, with groups supported by the country maintaining their ability to threaten the United States and its allies, a new report by the U.S. State Department says. The report released on July 19 also noted that the Islamic State (IS) militant group, which it blamed for multiple attacks and "atrocities," was rapidly losing ground in Iraq and Syria, but it warned that fighters returning home could pose risks for countries in Central Asia and the Balkans. The Country Reports on Terrorism has been issued annually since 2004 under a mandate that requires the State Department to provide Congress with regular updates on terrorism throughout the world. The report took aim at Iran in a time of heightened tensions between Tehran and the United States, which has long accused Iran of sponsoring international terrorism and destabilizing the region. Iran has also been targeted by U.S. sanctions over its weapons programs and human rights violations. Iran denies it supports terrorism or that it is seeking nuclear weapons. 'Destabilizing Role' The State Department report said that "terrorist groups supported by Iran -- most prominently Hizballah -- continued to threaten U.S. allies and interests even in the face of U.S.-led intensification of financial sanctions and law enforcement." It said the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and Iranian "partners, allies, and proxies" were playing a "destabilizing role in armed conflicts in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen." The report accused Iran of recruiting fighters "from across the region to join Iranian affiliated Shi'a militia forces engaged in conflicts in Syria and Iraq, and has even offered a path to citizenship for those who heed this call." The State Department called Sunni-led IS and its eight recognized branches as the "most potent terrorist threat to global security." It noted, though, that the extremist group had been driven out of a quarter of its territory once held in Iraq and Syria at the beginning of the year by a U.S.-led coalition of differing forces and that the losses have continued in 2017. The report said that, with improved border security, IS has been unable to replenish its forces in the country after its heavy battlefield losses. Still, the report said, IS remained a threat to global security. The extremist group's "attacks outside its territorial strongholds in Iraq, Syria, and Libya were an increasingly important part of its terrorism campaign in 2016, with most of the attacks in Afghanistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen, it said. IS "continued to commit atrocities against groups in areas under its control, including Yazidis, Christians, Shi'a Muslims, Sunni Muslims, Kurds, and other groups," the report said. Homecomings Spark Concern For Central Asia and the Balkans, the report highlighted the danger of "terrorists" returning home after fighting with extremists as territory controlled by the groups in Iraq and Syria rapidly declines. It cited figures showing that about 1,000 Tajik citizens have joined IS and other extremist groups in Iraq and Syria. But it also warned that some countries are facing risks of attack by domestic extremists. In Kazakhstan, "the government has long feared the potential return of foreign terrorist fighters from Iraq and Syria, but attacks [in June and July] refocused government attention on home-grown violent extremists." Highlighting the difficulties in battling extremism, the report cited analysts as saying the government's "repressive approach" to countering the risk "could backfire." It also warned of threats of extremist violence in Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina because of returning fighters and funding by "foreign organizations." Mixed Conclusions On Russia The State Department offered mixed conclusions regarding Russia's efforts against terrorism and cooperation with others in fighting international extremism. It said Russia "continued to disseminate threat information and occasionally responded to requests for information, although its responses were often not substantive or timely." It criticized Russia's adoption of the so-called "Yarovaya" package in 2016, containing a series of legislative amendments which authorities said were designed to combat terrorism. The amendments give "authorities broad additional powers, ostensibly to counter terrorism and extremism" but mainly "targeted the unsanctioned religious activities of minority Christian denominations," the report said. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-u-s-state -deparment/28627315.html Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Rohani Says Tehran Will Respond 'Appropriately' To New U.S. Sanctions RFE/RL July 19, 2017 Iranian President Hassan Rohani says that Tehran would "respond appropriately" to new U.S. sanctions while reiterating that his country remained committed to its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. "The Islamic Republic of Iran will always stick to its international commitments," Rohani said at a July 19 cabinet meeting, according to a text posted on the government's website. Rohani spoke a day after the United States announced sanctions against 18 individuals and entities connected with Iran's ballistic-missile program and other military activities. The new sanctions were imposed a after Washington certified that Iran was complying with the 2015 deal, which imposed limits on Tehran nuclear actitivities in exchange for sanctions relief. The deal does not require the United States to lift sanctions that are not related to Iran's nuclear activities, but Rohani said some of the U.S. actions are against the "spirit" of the accord. "We shall resist these plans and actions," he said. "One of the plots of the Americans is to act in such a way that would make Iran say that it is not following its commitments.... I think the Americans will fail as we will always respect our international commitments," Rohani asserted. On July 18, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif accused U.S. President Donald Trump's administration of trying to "poison the atmosphere" by imposing new sanctions despite the certfcation of Iran's compliance with the deal. The White House contends that it is Iran that is breaching the spirit of the deal through its actions, including tests of missiles that Washington says can carry nuclear warheads. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said on July 18 that the United States "will continue to aggressively target Iran's malign activity, including their ongoing state support of terrorism, ballistic-missile program, and human rights abuses." With reporting by AFP and Reuters Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/rohani-says-tehran-respond- appropriately-new-us-sanctions/28625811.html Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran Accuses U.S. Of Trying To 'Poison Atmosphere' With 'Illegal' Sanctions July 19, 2017 Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif accused U.S. President Donald Trump's administration of trying to "poison the atmosphere" by imposing new sanctions on Tehran despite its adherence to the 2015 nuclear accord. The U.S. administration announced sanctions against 18 individuals and entities connected with Iran's ballistic-missile program and other military activities on July 18, one day after certifying that Iran was complying with its nuclear deal with world powers. "This unfortunately has become a bad habit for this administration," Zarif told reporters at the United Nations in New York. "The international community has read this very loud and clear and continues to deal with Iran without much attention to this theater." While the White House acknowledged Iran is technically in compliance with the deal, it accused Tehran of breaching "the spirit" of the deal because it continues to test missiles that Washington claims can carry nuclear warheads. Zarif called the new sanctions "illegal." In comments to CBS News, he contended that it is the United States that is violating "the spirit" of the 2015 deal, which imposed restrictions on Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. The deal does not require the United States to lift sanctions that are not related to Iran's nuclear activities. "We will look at it and see whether it violates the letter of the deal. And we will act accordingly," Zarif said. Based on reporting by AP, Reuters, and CBS News Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-accuses-us- trying-to-poison-atmosphere-illegal-sanctions- nuclear-deal-zarif/28625012.html Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Rouhani: Iran to 'Stand Up' to US for New Sanctions By VOA News July 19, 2017 Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday his country will stand firm against the United States and respond to any new sanctions the U.S. imposes on the Islamic republic. "We will stand up to the United States," Rouhani said and, without elaborating, said, "The great nation of Iran will have an appropriate answer." Rouhani's remarks, made during a televised Cabinet meeting, came one day after the U.S. imposed new sanctions on 18 individual Iranians and groups it accuses of backing Tehran's ballistic missile program. Rouhani is a political moderate who has been increasingly outspoken about the U.S., describing ties with Washington as "a curvy road." The State Department announced its sanctions against two groups linked to Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, saying they were involved in ballistic missile research and development. It further said that Iranian activities in the Middle East "undermine regional stability, security and prosperity." US Treasury sanctions Meanwhile, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned five people and seven entities for their support of Iranian military purchases, as well as an "Iran-based transnational criminal organization" and three Iranians it said are associated with it. The sanctions freeze any assets the targeted Iranians might have in the U.S. and block Americans from doing business with them. At the United Nations in New York, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif told VOA that sanctions have "unfortunately become a bad habit" with the United States, and that the U.S. can expect reprisals from Iran. "It will involve people who have participated in terrorism and extremism in our region as well as supporting expansionism," Zarif said. He added that an announcement on retaliatory sanctions on the U.S. will come "in due course." Middle East Institute senior scholar Zubair Iqbal says the U.S. sanctions will hurt economic growth in Iran, fueling income inequality and giving the hardline conservatives in the country more reason to continue an anti-American and anti-Western attitude. "Under these circumstances, the forces that will be unleashed will likely be not particularly beneficial for the American longer-term interests," Iqbal told VOA. Washington announced the new sanctions just a day after it recertified Iranian compliance with the nuclear agreement Tehran signed in 2015 with the U.S. and five other world powers. The deal requires Iran to limit its ability to enrich uranium and take other steps to ensure it is not working to develop nuclear weapons, all in exchange for sanctions relief. A senior Trump administration official said that while Iran is technically meeting the terms of the nuclear deal, it is "unquestionably in default of the spirit of the agreement," adding that the U.S. is working with its allies to more strictly enforce it going forward. Review of deal The Trump administration has been conducting a months-long review of the nuclear deal and other aspects of U.S. policy toward Iran. Behnam Ben Taleblu, an Iran analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, says Washington is using the new sanctions to send a message to Tehran about that review. "The sanctions are designed to say that while this interagency [governmental] review is going on, this administration is dedicated to containing, rolling back and deterring Iran's non-nuclear threats to the region," Taleblu said in an interview with VOA's Persian Service. "Those threats include ballistic missile development and transnational crime, and that is why the sanctions that we have seen from the U.S. Treasury and State Department are so important." Also Tuesday, the U.S. renewed its demand that Iran free three Americans held on what the U.S. calls "fabricated national security related charges." It also insisted Iran keep its promise to free former FBI agent Robert Levinson, who has been missing in Iran for more than a decade. Margaret Besheer, Victor Beattie and Hooman Bakhtiar of VOA's Persian Service contributed to this report. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iraq's PM Acknowledges Human Rights Violations in Mosul By VOA News July 19, 2017 Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has acknowledged Iraqi forces committed human rights violations in the battle to retake Mosul from Islamic State, but maintained the crimes were "individual acts" and the perpetrators would be punished. Abadi spoke Tuesday after videos circulated on social media showing troops hurling captured IS suspects off a high wall in Mosul and then shooting their bodies. Some of the most recent evidence surfaced after the prime minister declared victory last week, including a video showing a soldier shooting an unarmed man on his knees. Abadi's acknowledgement came as Human Rights Watch said international observers found an execution site in west Mosul and it has other evidence showing Iraqi forces wantonly killed men as they fled the city at the end of the battle to retake Mosul. The findings were included in a report that calls on the Iraqi government to investigate murder, torture and other war crimes by security forces and to hold them accountable. The rights group said Wednesday Abadi has not investigated the wrongdoing as promised nor has any soldier been held accountable. "He is ignoring the flood of evidence of his soldiers committing vicious war crimes in the very city he's promised to liberate," said Human Rights Middle East Director Sarah Leah Whitson. "Abadi's victory will collapse unless he takes concrete steps to end the grotesque abuses by his own security forces," Whitson added. The rights group also accused Iraqi forces of forcing the relocation of dozens of children and women with alleged ties to IS to a tent camp near the Old City that authorities describe as a "rehabilitation camp." News coverage of developments in west Mosul has been limited since July 10 when the Iraqi military banned media access to the area. Iraqi forces regained control of Mosul after IS dominated the city for three years. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Myanmar Grapples With Legacy of Independence Hero 70 Years After Assassination By Joe Freeman July 19, 2017 Long lines wrapped around the block of downtown Yangon's historic Secretariat building on Wednesday, with schoolchildren, adults and groups of friends waiting to get a rare glimpse of Myanmar's history. Closed to the public most of the year, the sprawling red-brick edifice was built by the British and turned over to the Burmese during independence in 1948. But months before, on July 19, 1947, an act of terrible violence occurred within its walls. Political rivals gunned down nine people, including Aung San, the father of future Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Seventy years later the killings are enmeshed in the national psyche. July 19 is "Martyrs' Day." But as Myanmar emerges from decades of military rule, the legacy of Aung San is coming in for new scrutiny, with some wondering whether the official version of his life fails to capture a far more complex portrait. "For half a century [there was] the sense of like an official hagiography. He's a martyr and then his story is taught even in primary school and everyone knows it by heart and they keep on repeating that," said Khin Zaw Win, director of the Yangon-based think tank the Tampadipa Institute. "But now, well especially now, with the new openness and the new generation and the benefits of things like the internet, of course people are starting to look even deeper." The hagiography casts Aung San as an anti-colonial freedom fighter who founded the army and signed the historic "Panglong" peace agreement with ethnic armed groups. His tragic death in his early 30s scuttled chances of peace and an independent federal union. But the narrative is flawed. Glossed over are inconvenient details such as Aung San's role in founding the Burma Communist Party, his ties to the Japanese who occupied the country during World War II he eventually switched sides to help the Allied forces his less than perfect relations with ethnic groups, and his political influences. "It doesn't mean that Myanmar would have been on a better path if he had been in charge. The rebellions after independence might not have happened, the people after him handled those things very badly. But certain aspects of his life are overlooked," Khin Zaw Win said. "He leaned very much towards a kind of centralized authoritarian state. Of course he borrowed heavily from the Leninist-Stalinist models of that day. And there is really quite a bit of doubt whether he would have really tolerated a real multi-party democracy." His daughter, Aung San Suu Kyi, who came to power after 2015 elections as part of Myanmar's transition to democracy, has helped reinforce the official narrative by naming peace talks, launched last year, the "21st Century Panglong" conference. Her party, the National League for Democracy, has also exposed conflicted opinions about Aung San in clumsy attempts to memorialize him. In March, protests erupted over the party's proposal to name a bridge after Aung San in Mon State, while other memorials in his honor have been met with disapproval. According to reports, Mon State's chief minister said the NLD decided that the "biggest and longest bridges" in the country would be named after Aung San, while the MP who proposed the idea dismissed the protestors as narrow-minded and said the project would honor the leader's sacrifice. The name stayed. But the fact remains that Aung San was an incredibly important figure in Burmese history, and taking an iconoclastic position on his legacy may not be accurate either. Matthew Walton, the Aung San Suu Kyi Senior Research Fellow in Modern Burmese Studies at the University of Oxford, said in an email that he could see Aung San as "the ultimate pragmatist." "He was single-mindedly focused on independence, so would do whatever he thought would get them there the quickest," he said. "He was willing to engage with the non-Burman groups and negotiate, but it wasn't because he saw their cause of autonomy within a wider 'Burma' to be just or particularly appropriate, it was because he knew he needed them (and all of them, traditional leaders and younger groups) in order to get independence." Walton said there have been so few leaders in the country's history that have been sympathetic or willing to engage with non-Burmans that "he's about the best there is." He also remains an esteemed and popular figure, as the lines around the Secretariat prove. The company that leased the property with plans for renovation has opened it to the public on July 19 for four years running. Ma Thandar Win, spokesperson for the Secretariat Conservation Group, said this year visitors can see items preserved after the assassination and stored away at the National Museum. A ring from one of the deceased. Unsmoked cigarettes. "[They have] never been displayed to the public for 70 years." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Ryabkov: Issue of Seized Russian Diplomatic Property in US Not 'Almost' Resolved Sputnik News 23:46 19.07.2017 Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov on Wednesday explained what his answer meant about the "almost" reached agreement with the United States on seized Russian diplomatic property, which the CNN reported as a result of the meeting with US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Shannon. MOSCOW (Sputnik) After the July 17 talks, the CNN journalists met Ryabkov outside the State Department and asked how the meeting went. Later, Jim Sciutto of the CNN reported that Moscow and Washington had "almost" reached an agreement on the return of the Russian diplomatic property seized by the United States. "The word 'almost,' which was said there, was a method of self-defense. Instinctively, it was necessary to find something that journalists are not ready for and that will require at least a few minutes for them to comprehend. This time is just enough to get to the car and leave. But in fact, the next day I said and I want to repeat that this 'almost' does not count. Therefore, we must continue to work and see what can be done and what can not," Ryabkov said during the '60 Minutes' program broadcast by Rossiya-1 television. In December 2016, the administration of then-US President Barack Obama imposed a number of sanctions against Russia over its alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential election. These measures included the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats and the closure of two Russian diplomatic compounds in the states of New York and Maryland. On Tuesday, Ryabkov told Sputnik that Moscow could impose retaliatory measures soon if the United States failed to return the diplomatic property. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian MoD May Get 12 5th Generation PAK FA Fighters Already in 2019 Sputnik News 19:14 19.07.2017(updated 19:20 19.07.2017) The Russian Defense Ministry and the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) are discussing the delivery of first 12 Sukhoi T-50 (PAK FA) fifth-generation fighter aircraft in 2019, UAC President Yury Slyusar said on Wednesday. ZHUKOVSKY (Sputnik) The T-50 is designed by the Russian Sukhoi aircraft manufacturer as part of the PAK FA, a fifth-generation fighter program of the Russian Aerospace Forces. It is a single-seat, twin-engine multirole stealth fighter jet designed for air superiority and attack roles and equipped with advanced avionics system and airborne active phased array radar. The first flight of the aircraft took place in 2010. "We discussed with the Defense Ministry the first delivery of 12 T-50 [jets]," Slyusar said, pointing out out that the pre-series production of the PAK FA fighters was scheduled for 2019. According to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the Armed Forces will get first PAK FA fighters in 2019. Slyusar's remarks were made on the sidelines of the 13th International Aviation and Space Salon MAKS-2017 that kicked off in Zhukovsky on Tuesday and will last through Sunday. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US-Russia Dispute Over Seized Compounds Remains Unresolved By Cindy Saine July 19, 2017 Russia says it reserves the right to retaliate in a dispute with the U.S. over the Obama administration's seizure of two Russian compounds last December. Before leaving office, then-President Barack Obama also expelled 35 Russian diplomats, accusing them of spying. He said the actions were aimed at punishing Moscow for having interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Now, six months later, Russia says it's running out of patience with the Trump administration over the return of the compounds, and the State Department is being tight-lipped about negotiations with Russian officials. Russia says the picturesque Russian compounds in Maryland and New York state are dachas, used strictly for recreation. But U.S. intelligence agencies say they were used for surveillance until they were seized. Session at State Department Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov met Monday at the State Department with U.S. Undersecretary of State Thomas Shannon. Caught by reporters as he was leaving, Ryabkov was asked whether Russia was close to getting its compounds back. He replied, "Almost." Pressed by reporters at Tuesday's State Department briefing, spokeswoman Heather Nauert refused to comment on the status of negotiations or to say whether Secretary of State Rex Tillerson favored giving the compounds back to Russia under certain conditions. "I wouldn't characterize it that way," she said, adding that "the priority here is to get the United States and Russia to a place where they could have a good, decent, solid relationship so we can work together on areas of mutual cooperation. ... One of them is Syria." Nauert said the talks with Moscow would continue. Russian threats After Monday's talks, Russia was still threatening to retaliate in kind. Ambassador John Herbst, a veteran U.S. diplomat now with the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington, told VOA this was standard procedure. "This fits standard Soviet and then Russian diplomatic practice," he said. "When we catch their spies and then expel them, they immediately expel the same number of American diplomats. So they never acknowledge their culpability. When we take steps to deal with egregious actions on their part, they always take countersteps. It is simply the way they do business." Herbst said it was unusual that Russian President Vladimir Putin did not retaliate in kind after the compounds were seized and its diplomats were expelled, saying Putin most likely expected the Trump administration would give the compounds back. Asked how the Kremlin might respond if its patience wore thin, Herbst said there were several options. Closures in Russia "Well, we also have dachas, or at least had a single dacha in Russia," he said. "Conceivably, they could take that away. I remember when Obama took these steps, there was speculation that they were going to close down the major school used by our embassy's children. That would be very nasty indeed. And I would hope and expect that that would prompt a very strong reaction by us if they were to do that." The dispute over the compounds comes at a politically sensitive time as reports emerge of a previously undisclosed high-level meeting between Russians and top members of the Trump campaign last June. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Syrian forces advance near Daesh-held Raqqah Iran Press TV Wed Jul 19, 2017 5:44PM Syrian military forces and allies have made advances near the city of Raqqah as they close in on the Daesh-held territories east of the country. Syria's Defense Ministry said on Wednesday that pro-government forces had captured al-Ramilan, a complex containing residential units and a dam located on the southern outskirts of Raqqah. It said Syrian forces took control over 15 oil and gas wells as well as two water pumping facilities. It added that scores from the ranks of Daesh were killed in the operation while heavy material damage was inflicted on their tanks and military vehicles. Syria has been making back-to-back to advances against terrorists over the past few months. The army and allied forces managed to liberate some key locations from the grip of terrorists in the north of the country last year. The onus is now on the east, where Daesh holds territories. Reports on Wednesday said Syrian forces had managed to impose a siege on the Tal Asfar area in the Syrian Desert in the southeast. They said government forces had advanced from the northeastern countryside of Sweida governorate to areas controlled by Daesh in the desert and blocked roads that terrorist groups could use to advance to the south and to the capital Damascus. The gains came as part of a wider operation dubbed Fajr al-Kubra, which has seen Syrians pushing back militants from key locations. The advances by the Syrian government forces come against the backdrop of incessant infighting among militant groups. Reports on Wednesday said one such insider battle spread through northwestern Syria between terrorists of Ahrar al-Shaam, a group supported by Saudi Arabia, and al-Qaeda-linked militants operating near the Turkish border. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group that advocates anti-government militants, said at least 11 people, among them three civilians, were killed in the infighting, which came over the control of Sarmada, an important border town that controls the trade through the vital Bab al-Hawa crossing with Turkey. More than six years of militancy has gripped Syria. Reports verified by international groups and the United Nations say more than 300,000 people have been killed and over half of the Arab country's pre-war population of 20 million people have been displaced. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Turkey's State-Run News Agency Leaks U.S. Base Locations In Syria RFE/RL July 19, 2017 The Pentagon has voiced concerns to Turkey after the NATO ally's state-run news agency published U.S. base locations in northern Syria, in a move that could deepen distrust between the two NATO allies and endanger U.S. forces in the area. In reports issued in both Turkish and English on July 18, Anadolu disclosed detailed information about 10 U.S. bases in northern Syria, which it said are assisting the People's Protection Units, or YPG, in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) militant group. The reports, which included troop numbers and a map with the location of the U.S. forces in the Turkish version, noted that the military outposts are "usually hidden for security reasons, making it hard to be detected." The YPG is a militia that Ankara says is affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, a group that Turkey, the United States, and the European Union have listed as an extremist organization. Despite a strong military alliance dating back decades, Ankara and Washington have been at odds for years now over the American cooperation with Kurds in Syria who are affiliated with separatist movements inside Turkey. "The release of sensitive military information exposes Coalition forces to unnecessary risk and has the potential to disrupt ongoing operations to defeat ISIS," a Pentagon spokesman told RFE/RL, using an alternative acronym for IS. "ISIS is the greatest threat to regional stability and it is critical that all parties operating in Syria remain focused on what is most important -- the annihilation of ISIS," Major Adrian J.T. Rankine-Galloway said. "While we cannot independently verify the sources that contributed to this story, we would be very concerned if officials from a NATO ally would purposefully endanger our forces by releasing sensitive information." "We have conveyed these concerns to the Government of Turkey," Rankine-Galloway said. Levent Tok, an Anadolu Agency reporter on the story, told the Bloomberg news service that the information about U.S. troop positions wasn't leaked by the Turkish government. He said the story was based on field work by Anadolu's Syria reporters and some of the details on the bases were disclosed on social media by Kurdish fighters. "The U.S. should have thought about this before it cooperated with a terrorist organization," he said. With reporting by newsweek.com, bloomberg.com, and thedailybeast.com Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/turkey-anadolu-leaks-u-s- base-locations/28627340.html Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Turkish Media Reveals 'Sensitive' Info on US Forces in Syria, Pentagon Outraged Sputnik News 20:06 19.07.2017(updated 21:57 19.07.2017) The United States now has as many as 10 military posts in Syria on the territory controlled by the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), the Anadolu news agency reported. MOSCOW (Sputnik) According to the media, two air bases in the area of Rmeilan of the province of Hasakah have been operating since October 2015. In March 2016, a helicopter base was opened in the Harab Isk village near the city of Kobani, which also serves as a staging post on one of the routes for delivering military aid to the Syrian Kurds. In addition, three more military points are mentioned in the province of Hasakah. On one of them hosts some 100 US servicemen and the other about 150. These bases are focused on the struggle with Daesh terrorist group. Two more points of deployment of the US troops are located in the town of Manbij, where operations are conducted against the forces of the Free Syrian Army (FSA). The outlet also reported about three more posts in the north of the province of Raqqa. On two of these hosts French troops alongside US personnel. The third is used for transferring equipment to Kurdish forces, as well as being a communication center of the US-led coalition forces. Anadolu noted that the locations of the US forces are often designated as "closed zones" and are classified. Troops help airstrikes and shelling, train local forces and conduct operational planning. Some units also participate in active combat operations. The bases are equipped with highly maneuverable artillery batteries, rocket launchers, mobile reconnaissance equipment and armored cars, Strykers in particular. The release of sensitive military information by Turkish media could potentially disrupt US-led operations against Daesh, Defense Department spokesman Eric Pahon told Sputnik. "The release of sensitive military information exposes Coalition forces to unnecessary risk and has the potential to disrupt ongoing operations to defeat ISIS [Daesh]," Pahon said. "For operational security reasons, we do not disclose the locations of Coalition forces operating in Syria to defeat ISIS," Pahon said. "While we cannot independently verify the sources that contributed to this story, we would be very concerned if officials from a NATO ally would purposefully endanger our forces by releasing sensitive information. We have conveyed these concerns to the Government of Turkey." Ankara considers the PYD and the YPG to be affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), listed as a terrorist organization in Turkey. However, the PYD and the YPG, as well as the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have been receiving support from the United States in fighting Daesh terrorists in Syria. On May 9, the US Defense Department announced that President Donald Trump had approved a plan to arm Kurdish YPG in order to better fight against terrorism in Syria despite objections from Turkey. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Arab-Kurdish Feud Deepens as Fears Mount Over Battle for Raqqa By Jamie Dettmer July 19, 2017 Syrian rebel militias and Turkey appear to be preparing to intensify their military operations north of Aleppo aimed at taking back mainly Arab towns and villages the Kurdish People's Protection Units, or YPG, seized in 2015. The fighting is a new sign that the United States Turkey, Russia and Iran are plunging deeper into a multifaceted conflict that's carved Syria into unstable zones of influence with no clear lines emerging of how piece it back together. The Syrian Kurdish force is the United States' main ally in northern Syria. More Arab-on-Kurd clashes would complicate plans for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces to assault Raqqa, the Islamic State terror group's self-styled capital. The situation in northern Syria is becoming more complex by the day, with patchwork micro-conflicts featuring a variety of rival militias, as fighting intensifies between Turkish-backed Arab rebels and Kurds.IS has tried to gain a foothold in Idlib province to the west of Aleppo, bringing it into confrontation with rival al-Qaida jihadists. All the feuding groups are vying for territory. Fighting in northern Syria between rebels backed by Turkey, a NATO member, and the Kurds risks undermining the battle against IS. Arabs and Kurds The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based network of activists in Syria, warns there are "continued preparations by Turkish forces and the factions backed by them" to launch an operation to regain control of areas they lost in late 2015 and early 2016. Rebels who've been battling the regime of President Bashar al-Assad for years are still smarting from what they see as a Kurdish land-grab of mainly Arab towns north of Aleppo under cover of, and apparently coordinated with, a Syrian government offensive in December 2015.In some towns the YPG seized, only about 10 percent of the Arab residents who fled have been allowed to return, the rest are housed in camps along the Turkish-Syrian border. This week, Turkish-backed Arab militias clashed with SDF units north of Aleppo despite efforts by Russia and the United States to prevent the conflict. The Turks and Arab rebel militias Ankara backs fear the Kurds want to link up Kurdish cantons along the border with Turkey. The Kurds have made no secret of their determination to establish a self-governing entity in northern Syria. Analysts say Arab skirmishing with Kurds, and Turkish shelling of YPG positions around the Kurdish enclave of Afrin, are forcing the SDF to reduce the forces it could use in the assault on Raqqa.That provides IS with a clear opening to exploit and there are signs the assault on Raqqa is being affected. "The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces appear to be struggling in the campaign for Raqqa, with reliable reports suggesting several hard fought for front-lines were relinquished over the weekend due to heavy IS pressure," says Middle East Institute analyst Charles Lister. Meanwhile, leaders of the Syrian Coalition, the main umbrella organization of the anti-Assad insurgents, warn of a possible fight between Arabs and Kurds over control of Raqqa after IS has been evicted.Syrian rebels are demanding Raqqa be administered by local residents, not a council shaped by the YPG. A 'gift' for IS Speaking with political activists during a teleconference, the president of the Syrian Coalition, Riad Seif, stressed his his position that the Kurds should not participate in Raqqa's governance.He said the SDF, which is commanded largely by YPG officers, should withdraw from the city once it's cleared of Islamic extremists. Disputes over the territory freed from IS in Syria and Iraq are gifts for the group, says Mideast analyst Lister.He says the extremists will "adapt to the new security environ by conducting geographically disparate attacks, exploiting seams between anti-IS forces, and setting conditions to resurge in alternative terrain." Turkey has not reduced its vehement opposition to U.S. support of the YPG, a militia it views as the Syrian affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers Party, a separatist Turkish Kurd group the U.S., European Union and Ankara all consider terrorists. Monday, Turkey's National Security Council accused the United States of allowing weapons it provided to the YPG to be passed on to the PKK."This shows that both are the same organization," the council said. The Turks offered no specifics to support their allegation.But a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, which oversees American military operations in Syria and Iraq, told VOA the weapons the United States has supplied the SDF "will be returned to the coalition on completion of the mission." In further evidence of Turkish anger, the state-run Anadolu news agency published the locations of nearly a dozen U.S. military bases across a 200-kilometer stretch of northern Syria.The bases listed by Anadolu are where American military advisers and Special Forces oversee the assault on Raqqa. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Sixth Group of Turkish Troops Arrives in Qatar Sputnik News 11:23 20.07.2017(updated 11:36 20.07.2017) A sixth group of Turkish troops arrived at a military base in the Qatari capital of Doha to take part in joint military exercises, media reported Wednesday. MOSCOW (Sputnik) Twenty eight artillerymen have arrived in Doha, the Anadolu Agency reported, citing sources in the Turkish Defense Ministry. The deployment is in line with the deal between Ankara and Doha on strengthening military cooperation reached in 2015 and approved by Turkey's parliament on June 7, 2017 against the background of diplomatic row between Qatar and other Gulf states, which included in their demands the closure of a Turkish military base in Qatar. The drills started in Qatar on June 19 when the first group of Turkish troops arrived at the military base. In early June, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates broke off diplomatic relations and communication with Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorism and interfering in their internal affairs. Kuwait acting as a mediator in the crisis, handed over to Doha the ultimatum of the four Arab states with 13 demands, which Doha refused to comply with. Turkey has backed Qatar in the diplomatic row. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is planning a diplomatic tour to the Persian Gulf on July 23-24 in order to enhance the dialogue within the framework of the Qatar diplomatic crisis settlement. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S., Russian Envoy, OSCE Dismiss Ukraine Separatists' 'Little Russia' Declaration July 19, 2017 The U.S. State Department, Russia's envoy to Ukrainian peace talks, and the Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe all voiced concern about the declaration of a "Little Russia" in Ukraine by Russia-backed separatists on July 18. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert called the announcement by Donetsk separatists that they would created a new state called Malorossia an "area of concern to us." But "beyond that, I don't want to dignify it with a response," she said. "I am concerned about the provocative rhetoric we heard from Donetsk," said Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, the OSCE's current chair. Kurz warned all sides against "confrontational statements or actions jeopardizing" the Minsk peace agreement and "challenging the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine." The Minsk agreement is a shaky truce deal which is currently being monitored by OSCE observers and which has never been fully implemented. More than 10,000 people have been killed in the conflict in eastern Ukraine since 2014. Boris Gryzlov, Moscow's chief negotiator on Ukraine, also said "this initiative doesn't fit into the Minsk process. I take it merely as an invitation for discussion. This statement has no legal consequences." Russia's ambassador to the OSCE also dismissed Donetsk separatist leader Aleksandr Zakhachenko's proclamation of a new state, saying his remarks were "incompatible with the parties' commitments" unfer he Minsk accords. The initiaitve "can hardly been seen as real policy related to real political affairs," Russian OSCE enoy Aleksandr Lukashevich said. Based on reporting by AP, dpa, TASS, and Interfax Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ us-russian-envoy-gryzlov-osce-chair -kurz-us-state-spokeswoman-nauert-concern- dismiss-ukrainian-separatist-little-russia-d eclaration-maloross/28625017.html Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address MONTREAL, Jul 19, 2017 - Colt Resources Inc. ("Colt" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:GTP) (FRANKFURT:P01) (OTC PINK:COLTF) announces that a Statement of Claim dated July 14, 2017 has been filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice against the Company and its former CEO and CFO regarding a proposed class action lawsuit. The Statement of Claim seeks permission of the Court to commence a class action proceeding for alleged misrepresentations in the Company's public disclosure in 2016 and other matters.The Company intends to vigorously defend the claim. Colt Resources Inc. (www.coltresources.com) is a Canadian mining exploration and development company engaged in acquiring, exploring, and developing mineral properties with an emphasis on copper and gold.The Company's shares trade on the TSXV, symbol: GTP; the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, symbol: P01; and, the OTC Pink, symbol: COLTF.Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.FORWARDLOOKING STATEMENTS: Certain of the information contained in this news release may contain "forwardlooking information". Forwardlooking information and statements may include, among others, statements regarding the future plans, costs, objectives or performance of Colt Resources Inc. (the "Company"), or the assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. In this news release, words such as "may", "would", "could", "will", "likely", "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "plan", "estimate" and similar words and the negative form thereof are used to identify forwardlooking statements. Forwardlooking statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether, or the times at or by which, such future performance will be achieved. Forwardlooking statements and information are based on information available at the time and/or management's goodfaith belief with respect to future events and are subject to known or unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other unpredictable factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control. These risks, uncertainties and assumptions include, but are not limited to, those described under "Risk Factors" in the Company's annual information form available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in any forwardlooking statements. The Company does not intend, nor does the Company undertake any obligation, to update or revise any forwardlooking information or statements contained in this news release to reflect subsequent information, events or circumstances or otherwise, except if required by applicable laws.John Gravelle, Interim President & CEO+1.416.568.2740john.gravelle@rogers.com VANCOUVER, July 20, 2017 - Alianza Minerals Ltd. (TSX-V:ANZ) (Alianza or the Company) has arranged a financing by way of a private placement of 3,575,000 units at $0.14 per unit to raise $500,500.Under the terms of the financing, each unit is comprised of one common share and a half non-transferable common share purchase warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder to acquire an additional common share for a period of 3 years at a price of $0.20. Securities issued in this offering will have a four month hold period. Certain current shareholders and insiders are participating in this offering. The funds will be used for exploration in Nevada and Peru, and for working capital. A portion of the funds will be used to acquire a permit for the proposed drill program on the Horsethief Gold Project in Nevada. Alianza has a portfolio of gold and base metal properties in Peru, USA (Nevada) and Canada (Yukon Territory). Horsethief Nevada: Horsethief is one of three sediment-hosted gold properties Alianza holds in Nevada. A proposed drill program for the fall of 2017 will target gold-bearing jasperoid exposed at surface and noted in shallow reverse circulation drilling in the 1980s. Results of that drilling include 13.7m @ 1.2 g/t gold and 39.6m @ 0.79 g/t gold. It was reported that four holes in the 1980s drill program ended in mineralization and no follow up drilling took place. Recent geophysical surveys have highlighted large geophysical targets at depth thought to represent the source of this mineralization and highlight the potential for additional mineralization at depth. Yanac Peru: The wholly-owned Yanac property is a copper-molybdenum porphyry target located 60 km from the coast in the Ica Department, Peru. Yanac is drill-ready, with a 1.1 km x 1.25 km surface expression of alteration (chlorite, chlorite ~ epidote pyrite) and local quartz stockwork (up to 10%) with magnetite and secondary biotite. Mineralization consists of chalcopyrite-pyrite ( CuOx) and molybdenite reflected in a 250 x 400 m area of >0.3% copper in rock samples. Geophysical data indicates that mineralization may continue to depth and under cover. Yanac is well-located, near transportation facilities on the coast, easy to access and in proximity to power and port infrastructure. La Estrella Peru: La Estrella is an epithermal gold and silver property in the Huancavelica Department of Peru. The property hosts a large epithermal system with a surface expression of 2,000 by 600 metres. Long gold intersections have been intersected in drilling, including 317 metres averaging 0.30 g/t gold and 34.61 g/t silver (0.80 g/t gold-equivalent) and 215.5 metres averaging 0.40 g/t gold and 30.40 g/t silver (0.84 g/t gold-equivalent). Narrow higher-grade intersections are also noted, such as 11 metres averaging 0.59 g/t gold and 311.2 g/t silver (5.1 g/t gold-equivalent). Geophysical data suggests that additional mineralization may exist at depth and on strike. Yukon Projects: Alianza also holds a suite of base and precious metals properties in Yukon Territory. Base metal projects include the Tim (lead-silver) and Mor (gold-silver-copper-lead-zinc) properties in southern Yukon and the Goz (zinc-silver) project in east-central Yukon. At Tim, trenching results include 3.7 meters assaying 365 g/t silver and 7.54% lead. Results of drilling at MOR include a 1.15 metre intersection grading 6.74% zinc, 0.58 g/t gold and 51 g/t silver from Hole MOR08-06. Goz hosts a non-43-101 compliant zinc resource where drilling in 2008 cut numerous high-grade intersections including 13.55% zinc and 29.88 g/t silver over 40.68 metres. Management continues to work to advance these projects through solely-funded exploration or through partnerships. About Alianza Minerals Ltd. The Company has 33.3 million shares issued and outstanding, and is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX-V:ANZ). Mr. Jason Weber, BSc, P.Geo., Alianzas President and CEO is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Weber supervised the preparation of the technical information contained in this release. For further information, contact: Jason Weber, President and CEO Sandrine Lam, Shareholder Communications Tel: (604) 687-3520 Fax: (888) 889-4874 To learn more visit: www.alianzaminerals.com NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. Statements in this NEWS release, other than purely historical information, including statements relating to the Company's future plans and objectives or expected results, may include forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions and are subject to all of the risks and uncertainties inherent in resource exploration and development. As a result, actual results may vary materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. ENDEAVOUR TO ANNOUNCE ITS Q2 RESULTS AND HOST WEBCAST ON TUESDAY AUGUST 1ST, 2017 View News Release in PDF Fomat George Town, July 20th, 2017 - Endeavour Mining (TSX:EDV) (OTCQX:EDVMF) provides notice that it will release its financial results for the second quarter of 2017 on Tuesday, August 1st before TSX market open. Management invites you to participate in a conference call and live webcast on the same day at 8:00am (EST) to discuss the Company's financial and operational results. The conference call and live webcast are scheduled on Tuesday August 1st, 2017, at: 5:00am in Vancouver 8:00am in Toronto and New York 1:00pm in London 8:00pm in Hong Kong and Perth The live webcast can be accessed through the following link: http://edge.media-server.com/m/p/69jj4pip Analysts and interested investors are also invited to participate and ask questions using the dial-in numbers below: International: +44(0)20 3427 1919 North American toll-free: 1877 280 2296 UK toll-free: 0800 279 4977 Confirmation code: 4152866 The conference call and webcast will be available for playback on Endeavour's website. Click here to add the webcast reminder to Outlook Calendar Access the live and On-Demand version of the webcast from mobile devices running iOS and Android: CONTACT INFORMATION Martino De Ciccio VP - Strategy & Investor Relations +44 203 011 2719 mdeciccio@endeavourmining.com DFH Public Affairs in Toronto John Vincic, Senior Advisor (416) 206-0118 x.224 jvincic@dfhpublicaffairs.com Brunswick Group LLP in London Carole Cable, Partner +44 7974 982 458 ccable@brunswickgroup.com ABOUT ENDEAVOUR MINING CORPORATION Endeavour Mining is a TSX-listed intermediate gold producer, focused on developing a portfolio of high quality mines in the prolific West-African region, where it has established a solid operational and construction track record. Endeavour is ideally positioned as the major pure West-African multi-operation gold mining company, operating 5 mines across Cote d'Ivoire (Agbaou and Ity), Burkina Faso (Karma), Mali (Tabakoto), and Ghana (Nzema). In 2017, it expects to produce between 600koz and 640koz at an AISC of US$860 to US$905/oz. Endeavour is currently building its Hounde project in Burkina Faso, which is expected to commence production in Q4-2017 and to become its flagship low-cost mine with an average annual production of 190koz at an AISC of US$709/oz over an initial 10-year mine life, based on reserves. The development of the Hounde and Ity CIL projects are expected to lift Endeavour's group production to +900kozpa and decrease its average AISC to circa $800/oz by 2019, while exploration aims to extend all mine lives to +10 years. Corporate Office: 5 Young St, Kensington, London W8 5EH, UK This news release contains "forward-looking statements" including but not limited to, statements with respect to Endeavour's plans and operating performance, the estimation of mineral reserves and resources, the timing and amount of estimated future production, costs of future production, future capital expenditures, and the success of exploration activities. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "expects", "expected", "budgeted", "forecasts", and "anticipates". Forward-looking statements, while based on management's best estimates and assumptions, are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: risks related to the successful integration of acquisitions; risks related to international operations; risks related to general economic conditions and credit availability, actual results of current exploration activities, unanticipated reclamation expenses; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; fluctuations in prices of metals including gold; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, increases in market prices of mining consumables, possible variations in ore reserves, grade or recovery rates; failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; accidents, labour disputes, title disputes, claims and limitations on insurance coverage and other risks of the mining industry; delays in the completion of development or construction activities, changes in national and local government regulation of mining operations, tax rules and regulations, and political and economic developments in countries in which Endeavour operates. Although Endeavour has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Please refer to Endeavour's most recent Annual Information Form filed under its profile at www.sedar.com for further information respecting the risks affecting Endeavour and its business. AISC, all-in sustaining costs at the mine level, cash costs, operating EBITDA, all-in sustaining margin, free cash flow, net free cash flow, free cash flow per share, net debt, and adjusted earnings are non-GAAP financial performance measures with no standard meaning under IFRS, further discussed in the section Non-GAAP Measures in the most recently filed Management Discussion and Analysis. Add Webcast to Outlook View News Release in PDF Format This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients. The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein. Source: Endeavour Mining Corporation via Globenewswire If I could change things in cities ... well, the list would be long. But one item in the top 10 would be making community leadership programs better at doing what they set out to do: train people in civic leadership.I come to my criticism with respect for these programs and some knowledge. I've spoken to dozens of civic leadership programs in the last 35 years. I'm an alumnus of two of them myself. I've studied them on behalf of a foundation. And I'm a member of the national Association of Leadership Programs.I'm impressed by the people who participate in the programs and those who run them. The participants are exactly who you'd hope they'd be: people in their 30s and 40s who are ready to step up to civic leadership and eager to learn how. The program managers often do their jobs with the skimpiest of resources.And perhaps it's too much to think people would emerge from these programs ready to lead. We don't expect brand new college graduates to be fully accomplished in their professions. Surely civic leadership demands the same level of on-the-job learning as the law, medicine or city planning.And, yet, I think community leadership programsdo better.Their greatest limitation is their structure. Most programs are nine-month affairs with monthly meetings, starting or closing with a retreat. In these sessions, the programs try to shoehorn two massive courses of study. The first is what is called "community awareness," which is an introduction to the community's issues and processes. So a class of 40 might visit the courts to learn how the criminal-justice system works, a charity hospital to learn about health issues, or the mayor's office to learn about the ins and outs of local government.On top of this, some programs layer a second set of courses dealing with leadership skills. They might include sessions on diversity, team building, group facilitation or conflict resolution -- all things civic leaders need to know to be effective.That's a huge amount of learning for nine sessions. At the end, graduates are given a certificate, a better grasp of the community's issues, a new set of friends and contacts, and an exhortation to get involved. Then it's time for the leadership program to choose the next class of 40.What more could a leadership program do? After all, participants' time is limited (most have demanding jobs). The fees they pay barely cover expenses. Few of these programs have other financial resources.Answer: You could stretch the learning process and take on a third level of leadership training. To do this, you need to create a graduate program that invites alumni to return regularly and deepen their learning.What would they learn in these sessions? They'd learn about strategy. In the community context, this means where you get started with change, how you overcome the obstacles you're sure to face, and how you assemble the team and resources for the journey.Where could a cash-strapped leadership program find people to teach this? All around. In every city, there are veteran leaders who would be delighted to explain how they mounted a successful referendum, raised money for building a museum or took on a major community problem like homelessness. Oddly enough, they're rarely asked about these things.Leadership programs are the natural homes of this transfer of knowledge. And by bringing graduates back on a regular basis for "how-to" seminars, the programs could increase their worth to their communities, deepen alumni support and offer new opportunities for philanthropic and business sponsorships.More important, when you hear enough of these stories of successful change, you notice they have common elements. That's because in every city there is a path to success, a way good ideas become reality. Collect the stories, mark the path, and in no time the leadership program could do more than educate would-be leaders and award them certificates. It could offer them guidebooks. As part of his 30-year career in the private sector, Chris Liu had the opportunity to learn some important lessons from Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart. He taught me that executives had to be accessible; you had to be a visible manager all the time to be successful, says Liu. Walton and his team were famous for visiting and working in a lot of stores. Customers would often discover Walton himself, Liu says, just walking down the aisle.Today, Liu is director of the Washington Department of Enterprise Services, which oversees, among other things, state printing operations as well as statewide master contracts for goods and services. Liu has brought with him the lessons he learned from Walton, including visiting stores, making sure that the CEO has a very visible presence and learning the issues that concern everyday front-line employees.Theres been a great deal written about contrasts between the private sector and the public sector. Over time, weve written repeatedly in this space about a variety of reasons you cant really run a state or local agency like you would a business. While we stand by that, its equally clear that the lessons men and women learn in the private sector can be applied -- successfully -- to their work in government.One such lesson is the idea that asking questions and challenging the status quo can be a valuable attribute in state and local governments. Classically, such questions and challenges bring the response: Its done this way because thats how it has always been done. One of the things that is good about bringing someone in from the private sector is that there isnt anything they are afraid to question, says Teri Takai, who worked at the Ford Motor Company for 30 years before becoming the chief information officer in Michigan, California and at the U.S. Department of Defense. You may not be able to change the service system or the budgeting process, she says. But at least you are pushing the organizations to ask questions about why do things need to be the way they are.That sentiment is echoed by Mark Raymond, who became Connecticuts CIO in 2011 after more than 20 years as a consultant with Accenture, a management firm. In the public sector, you have experts who know how things have been done in the last 15 years, but they often dont know why they were done that way. In the consulting world, people want to know whats going to happen in the future. The primary element is to have the kind of intellectual curiosity that leads you to ask the whys.Another lesson that public organizations can -- and should -- learn from their corporate counterparts is the importance of customer service. Doug McCoy, who is director of administrative services in Yuba County, Calif., spent a number of years working in facilities and services for companies like Dow, Sears and IBM. In the private sector, he says, theres very little tolerance for crappy service. But I think people have lower expectations in the public sector.McCoy explains that this attitude is, in part, a function of the monopolistic nature of cities, counties and states, as opposed to most companies that have competition driving them to treat customers well.A small excursion into reality is appropriate right about now. In the previous examples, we seem to be building the case that all private-sector companies are excellent at things like accessibility, questioning and customer service. This is not universally the case. Just last weekend, we stormed out of an eyeglass store when we were told that a pair of glasses, which the representative from the store admitted had been sold in defective condition, couldnt be fixed or replaced. Take it from us, youd go far to find a city or state that provides customer service thats more inferior than that.Similarly, the learning curve for emigres from the private sector can be steep. Consider the newly hired, high-level public-sector official who recently indicated that he was shocked when he couldnt preselect employees, but had to go through a rigorous process.Well end with a point made by Doug Robinson, executive director of the National Association of State CIOs. Theres a lot more negotiation in the private sector, he says. Often, when it comes to governmental relationships, there is no capacity to negotiate deals.One reason for this can be procurement practices that require highly rigorous competitive bidding processes that diminish the capacity to negotiate. Having held management jobs in both sectors, Liu has this observation about the core of the eternal difference: Investors in business take a risk. But government is more cautious. Were stewards of the taxpayers money. Californias Obamacare exchange scrubbed its annual rate announcement this week, the latest sign of how the ongoing political drama over the Affordable Care Act is roiling insurance markets nationwide.The exchange, Covered California, might not wrap up negotiations with insurers and announce 2018 premiums for its 1.4 million customers until mid-August about a month later than usual. Similar scenarios are playing out across the country as state officials and insurers demand clarity on health care rules and funding, with deadlines fast approaching for the start of open enrollment this fall.Its insane, said John Baackes, CEO of L.A. Care Health Plan, which has about 26,000 customers on the California exchange. Here we are in the middle of July and we dont even know what rules we will be operating under for open enrollment. It is not how you want to run a business.Consumers could face sharply higher premiums and fewer choices if more health insurers leave the insurance marketplaces due to lingering uncertainty. State and industry officials around the United States are concerned that the federal government could stop funding so-called cost-sharing subsidies that reduce out-of-pocket costs for low-income consumers. And they worry the Trump administration wont enforce the individual mandate that requires people to purchase health coverage or pay a penalty.The National Association of Insurance Commissioners has called on the Trump administration and Congress to fully fund the cost-sharing subsidies. And the insurance commissioners of Washington state and California have warned that premiums will rise without enforcement of the ACAs coverage mandate.Amid those concerns, there was a sense of relief Tuesday among many exchange officials and insurers after the U.S. Senates latest attempt to replace the Affordable Care Act failed.Two large insurer trade groups bluntly warned last week that parts of the Senate plan were unworkable and could plunge the market into chaos. In a letter to the Senate, Americas Health Insurance Plans and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association particularly objected to an amendment by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) that would have allowed insurers to sell bare-bones health plans to people who wanted cheaper premiums. That provision, the insurers said, would split the market between the healthy and the sick, driving up costs for people with preexisting conditions.However, the Republicans failure to pass that ACA replacement plan did not resolve questions swirling around the current health law.Tuesday, President Donald Trump expressed disappointment at the outcome in the Senate, telling reporters, Well let Obamacare fail and then the Democrats are going to come to us and theyre going to say, How do we fix it?Some Senate Republicans struck a more conciliatory tone, suggesting that lawmakers should work on a bipartisan measure that would help stabilize the individual insurance markets.Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, said he plans to hold hearings in the coming weeks on ways to shore up the individual insurance market. Lawmakers may look at creating a new stabilization fund that helps compensate insurers for higher-cost patients. Such a fund would be similar to one that existed during the first three years of the ACA exchanges.Some insurance industry executives welcomed the talk of bipartisanship, but they said action must be taken quickly to resolve key issues affecting consumers.We are running out of time and we need a resolution on what we are charging for 2018, said Gary Cohen, vice president of public affairs at Blue Shield of California in San Francisco, the largest Covered California insurer by enrollment.Cohen, who helped launch the exchanges in 2014 as an official in the Obama administration, noted that the Republican bills in both the House and Senate included money for reinsurance that can help lower premiums industrywide. Those provisions are among the immediate steps Congress and the Trump administration need to take in order for markets to provide coverage that is affordable.A federal reinsurance program helps compensate insurers for the high costs incurred by the sickest patients. That, in turn, allows health plans to keep their overall premiums lower and attract healthier customers into the insurance pool.Lawmakers could also appropriate federal funds for the cost-sharing subsidies, which have a price tag of about $7 billion a year. Those payments, made directly to insurers, help reduce deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs for policyholders who earn up to 250 percent of the federal poverty level. This year, thats up to about $29,000 for an individual or around $61,000 for a family of four. More than half of the people enrolled on exchanges nationwide qualify for this financial assistance.Without it, many consumers would face annual deductibles of $2,000 or more when visiting the doctor or undergoing medical tests. That would make people far less likely to sign up with participating insurers.Conservatives in Congress oppose the subsidies, calling them a bailout of the insurance industry and arguing that the Obama administration didnt have the authority to pay them. Trump has repeatedly threatened to cut off those cost-sharing subsidies as well.With their future up in the air, some states, including California and Pennsylvania, allowed insurers to submit two sets of proposed premiums. One filing reflects continued federal funding of those subsidies, and a separate one assumes they are eliminated and their cost is included in health plan premiums.In Pennsylvania, premiums next year without the subsidies would increase by an average of 20 percent, compared with 9 percent if they remained intact.Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Teresa Miller said the market in her state would be in good shape without the uncertainty over federal policy. The only thing right now keeping everyone on edge is whats going to happen in Washington, D.C., Miller said. If things calm down in D.C. and if we dont see further changes, then Pennsylvanias market really is stabilizing.On Tuesday, Covered California said the two different rate filings its health plans submitted will be released Aug. 1. The exchange may announce that same day what the final premiums are, or it could postpone the decision for several more weeks if Congress has begun to pursue fixes to the ACA.This decision is based on the ongoing federal uncertainty around the repeal and replacement attempts of the Affordable Care Act and the dramatic potential impacts such uncertainty has on the rates and on California consumers, the exchange said in a statement.A recent analysis commissioned by Covered California estimated that premiums for silver-tier plans would jump by 16.6 percent if the federal government stopped paying for the cost-sharing subsidies. That would be in addition to normal increases meant to cover rising medical costs. An exchange spokeswoman declined to comment further Tuesday, citing the ongoing developments in Washington.In the Florida exchange market, health insurers have sought an average rate increase of nearly 18 percent. But Florida Blue, the states largest health insurer, said those rates would go even higher if the cost-sharing reduction payments disappeared.Robert Laszewski, an industry consultant in Virginia and a frequent ACA critic, said the exchange markets arent imploding, despite what the Trump administration has often said. But their premiums will continue to rise unless more young and healthy people are persuaded to buy coverage, he said.I think most insurance companies will at least break even, or even make a profit, in 2018, Laszewski said. Coverage will be stable, but it will stabilize at a horrific premium rate level. Trump's Areas of Strength Older Voters Blue-Collar Voters What About Clinton? Heavily Latino Areas The Suburbs Wealthy Resort Areas The Quirkiest Results For the first half of the year, I was writing the state and gubernatorial chapters of the Almanac of American Politics 2018, the once-every-two-years, 2,000-page-plus "Bible of politics" that is being released in early August.As part of that effort, I gave special attention to state- and county-level data on last year's presidential voting patterns, focusing on locations where Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton did well or poorly compared to their party's performance in 2012.I found some interesting results. Let's start by looking at Trump.In a number of states, Trump's candidacy resonated so strongly with voters that these places became even redder across the board than they were in 2012. These states included Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and West Virginia.In others, Trump didn't do well enough to win, but he did do well enough to cut into the Democrats' winning margins.In Rhode Island, for instance, the winning Democratic margin shrank by 13 percentage points between 2012 and 2016. Similarly, Delaware saw its margin shrink by eight points; Minnesota, by about seven points; New Hampshire, by six points; and Nevada, about four points.Two demographic groups, in particular, produced notable results for Trump's candidacy. The first is senior citizens, whose influence was most noticeable in Florida.Trump ran strong in the Interstate 4 corridor that stretches from Tampa past Orlando. He flipped from blue to red such counties as St. Lucie and Pinellas, which includes St. Petersburg. He also saw six-digit raw-vote increases in the counties of Lee, home to Fort Myers; Pasco; Volusia (Daytona Beach); Polk; Manatee (Bradenton); Hernando; Sarasota; and Charlotte.The strong affinity between Trump and non-college educated voters has been extensively explored since the campaign. But a state-by-state look offers stunning evidence of just how large the shifts were in certain counties.One of the best examples of this is Colorado's Pueblo County, a historically Democratic stronghold that is home to many blue-collar, religious, gun-friendly voters. Barack Obama won the county by 14 points. This time, though, Trump won it, albeit narrowly, and even as incumbent Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet won re-election in the county by about 7,000 votes.There were similar shifts in solidly blue states.In Connecticut, the town of Plainfield, near the border with Rhode Island, went for Obama by 10 points but backed Trump by 22. Naugatuck, south of Waterbury, backed Trump by 16. In New York, Trump won 19 counties that had voted for Obama in 2012. Franklin County and Oswego County both saw their margins shift by more than 30 points toward the GOP. Five other counties saw margins shift by between 20 and 29 points, while another nine shifted by between 10 and 19 points.But the more important shifts for Trump -- for his victory in the Electoral College, anyway -- came in competitive states.In Maine, Trump won nine counties in the state, which was eight more than Romney did in 2012. It was enough to secure an electoral vote (Maine allocates a portion of its electoral votes by congressional district). The margin in Oxford County shifted 28 points toward Trump; it shifted 25 points in Aroostook County, 24 in Franklin County, 17 in Kennebec County (Augusta), and 14 in Penobscot County. And it wasn't just the margins that gave him a victory: In these five counties alone, the overall level of voter turnout rose by 6 percent over 2012.In Ohio -- which went from blue to red in 2016 -- Trump's gains were especially strong in the state's blue-collar northern tier. In seven of the Obama counties that Trump was able to flip, the margins shifted toward the GOP by between 12 and 32 points. Even in some of the counties that remained blue, the Democratic margins narrowed significantly, shrinking by 25 points in Mahoning County (Youngstown), by 16 points in Lorain County (west of Cleveland), by 14 points in Lucas County (Toledo) and by seven points in Summit County (Akron). In many places, Trump outperformed Romney robustly, such as Stark County (Canton), where a virtual tie in 2012 became a 17-point Trump romp in 2016.In Pennsylvania, the cumulative Republican improvement over 2012 in just five blue-collar counties in western Pennsylvania -- Beaver, Fayette, Greene, Washington and Westmoreland -- was almost enough by itself to supply Trump's statewide winning margin in this previously blue state. Trump's margin was also in the ballpark of his improvement in Luzerne County (Wilkes-Barre) and Lackawanna (Scranton).In Wisconsin, another blue-to-red state, Clinton won only about one-third of the counties Obama had won four years earlier. The swing in Trump's direction reached 31 points in Forest County, which is located between Green Bay and Lake Superior. A Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel analysis found that in Wisconsin communities of less than 2,000 people, Trump won by 24 points, a margin six times bigger than Romney's. And while Trump lost the state's metro areas by five points, the newspaper calculated, he won non-metro areas by 19 points.Visually, the most striking change on the map might have occurred in Iowa.There, every county touching the Mississippi River voted for Obama in 2012, yet all but one switched to Trump last year. The swing in these counties was frequently huge: Jackson County shifted by 37 points; Lee County, by 32; Clinton County, by 2; and Muscatine County, by 22. Changes of similar magnitude also occurred in counties on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River. For instance, Henderson County, Ill., shifted by 40 points toward Trump.Now, let's turn our attention to how things shook out for Clinton. In several states, she triumphed essentially across the board.In California, for instance, her raw vote total was 11 percent higher than Obama's in 2012, while Trump's total fell by 7 percent from Romney's. In each of California's seven most populous counties, Clinton improved on Obama's 2012 raw vote totals, by between 36,000 (San Bernardino) and 247,000 votes (Los Angeles). And in Massachusetts, Clinton won every county by at least 7 percentage points, and she exceeded Obama's vote tally by almost 73,000, while Trump fell 97,000 votes short of Romney's total.More commonly, however, Clinton's gains -- not always wins, to be sure, but at least improvements over Obama in 2012 -- can be credited to certain demographic characteristics.In Arizona's populous Maricopa County, Clinton came within about 40,000 votes of defeating Trump, down from Romney's winning margin of 148,000 in 2012. Latinos there turned out in droves to vote against Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was also on the ballot. In Florida, Clinton won Hispanic votes by 62 percent to 35 percent, and secured six-digit raw-vote increases in the Democratic bastions of Miami-Dade, Broward (Fort Lauderdale), Palm Beach and Orange counties, all of which have sizable Hispanic populations.In Virginia, such ethnically diverse Democratic jurisdictions as Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties, as well as the city of Alexandria, saw their winning margins shift by between five and 20 points in the Democrats' direction.And in Texas -- now a majority-minority state -- Clinton's tally increased by about 570,000 votes between 2012 and 2016, far more than Trump's increase of 115,000 in the state. Notably, Fort Bend County near Houston -- the state's most racially and ethnically diverse -- shifted sharply toward Clinton. The county backed Romney by a seven-point margin in 2012, but it flipped in 2016 to support Clinton by six points.By contrast, some heavily African-American areas saw support for Clinton decline compared to Obama.For instance, in Maryland, Clinton saw a five-digit raw-vote decline in heavily Democratic and minority Baltimore city. In Ohio, she tallied 49,000 fewer votes in Cuyahoga County (Cleveland). And in Michigan's Wayne County (Detroit), Clinton's raw-vote total dropped by 76,000 and her winning margin shrank by 10 points. In Genesee County, which includes Flint, it shrank by 20 points and Democratic raw votes dropped by one-fifth.Meanwhile, in Mississippi -- the state with the highest percentage of African-Americans in the country -- Clinton saw her statewide votes decline by 78,000 compared to Obama's total from four years earlier.Democratic strength in the suburbs was evident in blue states and red states alike.In California, Orange County -- which hadn't voted Democratic for president since Franklin Roosevelt in 1936 -- swung 15 points in the Democratic direction in 2016. In Connecticut, affluent Darien had backed Romney by 31 points, but Clinton won it by 12 -- a 43-point swing. In neighboring New Canaan, the swing toward Clinton was 42 points, and in Greenwich, it was 29 points.In the Chicago suburbs of Illinois, four of the five collar counties (DuPage, Lake, Will and Kane) saw the margin shift in the Democratic direction by as much as 13 points between 2012 and 2016. And in the three core Oregon counties around Portland -- Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas -- Clinton improved upon Obama's 2012 showing by 42,000 votes.Interestingly, the same pattern also emerged in red states.Metro Atlanta serves as a prime example. Three counties near Atlanta shifted from Romney to Clinton: Gwinnett, with a 17-point swing toward Clinton; Cobb, with a 14-point swing; and Henry, with a seven-point swing. In addition, Clinton carried several metro counties, including Fulton, Douglas, Rockdale and DeKalb by margins that were six to 13 points higher than Obama.Such shifts were detectable even in states redder than Georgia.In Kansas' Johnson County, a populous suburb of Kansas City, Romney won by 17 percentage points, but Trump won by fewer than 3; Trump underperformed Romney in the county by 21,000 votes while Clinton overperformed Obama by 19,000. And in Oklahoma, the GOP margin in Tulsa County dropped from 28 points to 22; in Oklahoma County (Oklahoma City), it fell from 16 to 11; in Canadian County (Oklahoma City suburbs), from 54 to 51; and in Cleveland County (Norman), from 26 to 21.There were exceptions to the Democrats' improved showings in populous areas, but they were rare.For instance, in relatively urban areas of the Dakotas, Trump actually fared better than Romney did. North Dakota's most populous counties -- Cass (Fargo), Burleigh (Bismarck), Ward (Minot), and Grand Forks -- all shifted their margins towards Trump by between seven and 16 percentage points. And in South Dakota, each of the five most populous counties -- Minnehaha County (Sioux Falls), Pennington County (Rapid City), Lincoln County (the southern suburbs of Sioux Falls), Brown County (Aberdeen), and Brookings County (Brookings) -- shifted toward Trump by between four and 19 percentage points.Clinton improved her standing in wealthy enclaves of three of the country's most solidly Republican states.In Utah's Summit County (Park City), Romney, a Utah native, won by about five points, but Clinton won by 14. In Idaho's Blaine County (Sun Valley), Obama won by 20 points but Clinton won by 29. And in Wyoming, Teton County (Jackson) gave Clinton a winning margin 15 points bigger than Obama's in 2012.The oddest pattern we noticed involved voter results that didn't include either Trump or Clinton.In Vermont, Clinton won 57 percent of the vote -- well below Obama's 67 percent four years earlier. But most of the vote share bled by Clinton didn't go to Trump -- he actually won a slightly smaller percentage of the vote statewide than Romney did in 2012.Some went to third-party candidates: 3 percent for Libertarian Gary Johnson and 2 percent for Green Party nominee Jill Stein. A stunning 7 percent of the statewide tally went to write-in votes, including nearly 6 percent for favorite son Bernie Sanders, who had lost the Democratic primary to Clinton. That was up significantly from 2012, when write-in votes accounted for less than half a percent of presidential ballots cast.Another 1.4 percent of Vermonters' presidential ballot lines in 2016 were left blank. Former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray is going to run for governor of Ohio, Ohio Supreme Court Justice Bill O'Neill said he was told last week by a mutual friend.O'Neill said the friend, whom he declined to name, "openly stated" that Cordray is going to enter the 2018 Democratic gubernatorial primary. The friend called to see whether O'Neill would stick to his past statement that he would stay out of the 2018 Democratic gubernatorial primary if Cordray entered the race."The person I was talking to last week was saying that [Cordray] is basically trying to get as many projects done in Washington as he can before he leaves," said O'Neill, the lone Democrat on the state's high court. "But they left me with the clear impression that he is leaving."O'Neill, who has known Cordray since the two worked together in state government in the 1990s, said he will stick to his promise not to run for governor now that Cordray is entering the race.For the last four years, Cordray has served as director of the U.S. Consumer Finance Protection Bureau. During a press call with U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown on Wednesday, Cordray declined comment on whether he intends to run for governor.Talk about such a move has intensified since cleveland.com columnist Brent Larkin wrote Tuesday that he expects Cordray to run.Under federal law, Cordray would have to resign as CFPB director to run or to engage in political activity.Cordray is currently in a legal battle with the Trump administration over whether the president can fire him before his five-year term as director expires next year. (The White House is reportedly leery about firing Cordray anyway, as it could boost his gubernatorial candidacy).Cordray would be a top-tier candidate in a Democratic primary with no clear frontrunner. Four Democrats have already launched gubernatorial campaigns: former lawmaker Connie Pillich, state Sen. Joe Schiavoni, ex-U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton, and Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley.One potential opportunity for Cordray to announce his candidacy is during the Cincinnati's AFL-CIO's annual Labor Day picnic on Sept. 4. Cordray is going to be one of the speakers at the event, according to state Rep. David Leland, a former Ohio Democratic Party chair. Dallas will have its first female police chief.City Manager T.C. Broadnax has hired Detroit's Deputy Police Chief Ulysha Renee Hall, from a pool of seven finalists, three of them internal candidates."Chief Hall is a proven leader with a stellar background and a passion for public service," Broadnax said in a written statement Wednesday. "These are qualities I believe are critical as we tackle crime to make our city safer while addressing organizational and policy issues within the department."Dallas' chief position had been vacant since October, when Chief David Brown retired from the department. Assistant Chief of Police David Pughes ran the department as interim chief while officials searched for a permanent replacement. Pughes didn't apply for the job.The city manager's office initially selected eight people as finalists for the job, but Grand Prairie Police Chief Steve Dye withdrew his application.City officials haven't said when Hall will formally take over.Three women -- Hall, Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez and Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson -- now have some of the most powerful law enforcement jobs in the Dallas area.Hall, who has been on the force in Detroit since 1999, has dealt with several issues paralleling crises in Dallas. These include the increasing homeless population and the loose-dogs issue that has affected low-income neighborhoods.She now oversees officers on the east side of the city.In her cover letter for the Dallas chief job, Hall said she was responsible for managing the patrol staff and training officers on how to respond to terrorism.She seems to subscribe to the community policing approach that Brown advocated for while running the department. She noted in her cover letter that her team in Detroit worked to boost morale and "created a policing environment that is attractive to the millennial generation."She touted double-digit reductions in Detroit's crime for three years as one of her department's accomplishments.Policing, though, is personal to her.She was 6 months old when her father, also an officer, was gunned down in 1971 while working a prostitution case that remains unsolved."Closure is very important for myself and my family," Hall said in an interview with Detroit's WXYZ-TV last year. "We would like to know what happened. I believe I'm finishing what my dad started."Three people from within the Dallas Police Department were among the finalists for the top cop job. Deputy Chief Malik Aziz, who has been a finalist in several other cities, was a favorite among officers to become the chief. He had no comment Wednesday about the chief selection.In a statement released by the city Wednesday, Hall said she looked forward to maintaining the trust of the community and ensuring the safety of officers and residents."I am honored to be chosen to lead the Dallas Police Department at this critical time in its history," she said in the statement.Detroit Police Chief James Craig said last month that losing her would be a "blow, absolutely," but he was quick to point out that he encouraged her to apply for the job. If nothing else, he said, her hiring in Dallas would be a "testament" to the turnaround of the Detroit department in the years after the city's decision to file for bankruptcy."I know her temperament," he said, "and her commitment to the community and the rank and file. We have a saying here: Cops count, but leadership matters. ... Clearly, in my mind, she would be an outstanding chief." The Trump administration's travel ban suffered another legal setback Wednesday when the U.S. Supreme Court sided with a federal judge in Hawaii, temporarily exempting grandparents and other extended family members from the directive.But in a win for President Donald Trump, the high court's 6-3 order also puts on hold U.S. District Court Judge Derrick Watson's other exemption for refugees, pending a decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch said they would have stayed all of the exemptions ordered by Watson.Last month, the Supreme Court reinstated key parts of Trump's revised travel ban while agreeing to hear legal challenges to his executive order in October. In its ruling, the high court partially granted the Trump administration's request to lift preliminary injunctions against the directive and let it block visitors from six Muslim-majority countries for 90 days, freeze the nation's refugee resettlement program for 120 days and limit the number of refugees who may be brought here this fiscal year to 50,000, down from about 85,000 the year before. (The 50,000-cap has already been reached.)But the court said those restrictions cannot be applied to people with a "bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States." The court also used the phrase "close familial relationship." The Trump administration defined such relationships to include a parent _ including a parent-in-law _ spouse, child, adult son or adult daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law or sibling. This includes step relationships. Not included were grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law and any other "extended family members."In a 26-page ruling issued last week, Watson, a President Barack Obama appointee, ordered exemptions for travelers with grandparents, grandchildren, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins in the U.S. Refugees who have been given a "formal assurance" from a resettlement agency in the U.S. were also exempt under Watson's order."Common sense, for instance, dictates that close family members be defined to include grandparents," Watson wrote in his order. "Indeed, grandparents are the epitome of close family members. The government's definition excludes them. That simply cannot be."Watson ruled after the state of Hawaii challenged the Trump administration's travel restrictions. The U.S. Justice Department, which sough clarification from the Supreme Court, had no immediate comment. But U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a statement last week, blasting Watson's ruling."The district court has issued decisions that are entrusted to the executive branch, undermined national security, delayed necessary action, created confusion, and violated a proper respect for separation of powers," he said. "The Supreme Court has had to correct this lower court once, and we will now reluctantly return directly to the Supreme Court to again vindicate the rule of law and the executive branch's duty to protect the nation." Description GIS - 20 July 2017: A half-day workshop on the theme Inclusion: Cooperatives ensure no one is left behind was held today at the Farmers Service Centre Hall in St Pierre in the presence of the Minister of Business, Enterprise and Cooperatives, Mr Soomilduth Bholah, the Minister of Education and Human Resources, Tertiary Education and Scientific Research, Mrs Leela Devi Dookun-Luchoomun, and other eminent personalities. The workshop was organised by the National Co-operative College (NCC) in the context of the International Day of Cooperatives 2017, celebrated on 01 July. In his address, Minister Bholah, emphasised on the need to modernise the cooperative movement through the adoption of an inclusive approach. An inclusive society, he pointed out, is a society for all; a society which recognises the dignity, value and importance of each person. He stated that inclusion can be achieved by making all groups of people within a society feel valued and important. Thus, cooperatives should be encouraged for the socio-economic welfare of those at the lower rung of social ladder, he added. The Business Minister underlined that cooperators and entrepreneurs should be geared up to welcome diversification in various areas such as livestock farming, aqua-culture, hydroponics and handicraft among others. For her part, the Minister of Education and Human Resources, Tertiary Education and Scientific Research, Mrs Leela Devi Dookun-Luchoomun, highlighted that it is high time for traditional cooperative systems to evolve into more inclusive ones so as to achieve greater equity in the society. Addressing youngsters, the Education Minister underscored that education and cooperatives are inter-linked and that the NCC is an institution which provides appropriate training to potential entrepreneurs so as to encourage them to regroup themselves into cooperative societies. On this score, she called on the youth to develop a culture of cooperatives and to actively participate in the field of cooperatives and entrepreneurship. The workshop The objective of the workshop was to mobilise cooperatives to adopt an inclusive approach for the realisation of an equitable society irrespective of ones socio-economic background. Resource persons from the University of Mauritius, Dr Taruna Shalini Ramessur and historian Mr Benjamin Moutou, dwelt on the concept of inclusion in cooperatives. Description GIS - 20 July 2017: Accountants are assigned with the role of supporting and guiding the Government to make decisions at both macro and micro economic levels to achieve balanced economic growth and development. Their functions are inextricably linked to the successful economic development of the country and to propel it to the aspired league of high-income countries. Accountants are assigned with the role of supporting and guiding the Government to make decisions at both macro and micro economic levels to achieve balanced economic growth and development. Their functions are inextricably linked to the successful economic development of the country and to propel it to the aspired league of high-income countries. This statement was made this morning by the Minister of Financial Services, Good Governance and Institutional Reforms, Mr Dharmendar Sesungkur, at the Forum of Accountants held at the Hilton Hotel at Flic en Flac on the theme The Role of Accountants in Economic Development. Minister Sesungkur highlighted that the accounting profession plays an important complementary role towards building a credible, reputable and internationally competitive economy. He recalled that the higher the quality and integrity maintained by the profession, the stronger and more resilient the economy will be. He further underscored that the developing economy of Mauritius will be confronted to challenges on both the local and international landscape. Hence, a younger generation of accountants is needed to serve the public interest and to effectively face the challenges, added the Minister. The Minister concluded by underlining that having the appropriate capacity will help to advance the goal of transparency, accountability and good governance of Government and also make significant contribution to the economic welfare of the country. The Forum The Forum, organised by the Mauritius Institute of Professional Accountants, brings together experts in the field of accounting to share experiences and better understand the role of the profession for promoting financial stability and sustainable economic growth. Discussions focused on: role of accountants in the economic development, cyber security, public financial management, rogue accountants, the future of accounting in the disrupted world and regulating the profession. Speakers include resource persons from Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and lOrdre des Experts Comptables de la Reunion, among others. Ukraine has not been importing Russian gas for 600 days National joint-stock company Naftogaz Ukrainy has not been importing natural gas under a contract with Russia's Gazprom for 600 days since November 26, 2017 (http://utg.ua/still-alive), buying gas only on the western border of the country. According to tentative data from public joint-stock company Ukrtransgaz, as of July 17, 2017 the country imported 36.203 million cubic meters (mcm) of gas daily (Slovakia 23.712 mcm, Hungary 8.239 mcm and Poland 4.252 mcm). As reported, Ukraine increased natural gas imports 2.3-fold in H1 2017 to 6.961 bcm. this includes 5.646 bcm imported from Slovakia in H1 2017, from Hungary - 739.3 million cubic meters and from Poland - 576.3 million cubic meters. (TNS) WASHINGTON Despite criticism from most states about the Trump administrations request for voters personal information, half have said they will deliver some or all of that data to the White House election commission.And that number could grow, President Donald Trump said on Wednesday, with more than 30 states turning over some information, including names, addresses and birth dates, to the group being run by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach.If any state does not want to share this information, one has to wonder what theyre worried about, Trump said, questioning the motives of states that have not complied with requests for information. What are they worried about? Theres something. There always is.Trump created the elections commission after claiming without evidence that millions of people had voted illegally and deprived him of a popular-vote victory. He has argued specifically that fraud denied him a win in three states: California, New Hampshire and Virginia. Independent groups and election officials said there was no evidence of either charge, but Kobach said Wednesday that the public would never know the true results of the election.Kobach and other members acknowledged that they intend to compare the data collected from states against each other as well as federal databases for felons, undiscovered noncitizens and people who vote in more than one state.If you dont have the voter rolls, you really cant even begin to assess the accuracy, Kobach said after the commissions first in-person meeting. You are blind. You dont have the ability to assess the credibility of evidence brought before the commission.The data requests have alarmed some voting rights groups, which say they think the administration will try to kick people off voter rolls.This fishing expedition for voter information is intended to lead to more voter suppression not improving our election process, said League of Women Voters President Chris Carson, who says thousands of voters have canceled their registrations since the requests were made.Republican and Democratic election officials in most states have criticized the commission for asking for public data on the nations 200 million registered voters, including full names, addresses, birth dates, the last four digits of their Social Security numbers, voting history, party affiliations and other personal information.The request spurred legal action. Earlier this month, the commission asked states to delay sending any information pending a court ruling.Four Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to Vice President Mike Pence, who serves as the chairman of the commission and attended the first meeting, asking for Kobach to be removed from the group given his repeated and unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud. They also told Pence the commission should withdraw its information requests.Aides to Pence did not respond to requests to list the 30 states.According to the Brennan Center for Justice, which has collected public statements from all 50 states, 17 states have agreed to provide the commission with data allowable by state law that includes Florida, North Carolina and Washington. Another eight states have indicated they would release the information, if certain conditions are met, primarily paying a fee.Most, if not all, will withhold Social Security numbers. Kansas and Missouri plan to provide the other data, though both states with withhold partial Social Security numbers. Missouri said it will also withhold voting history.The District of Columbia and 21 states have declined to provide any data.Anyone complaining about this process should be asked why they oppose honest elections where only those legally able to vote under the U.S. Constitution participate, said Rick Manning, president of Americans for Limited Government.Myrna Perez, deputy director of the Brennan Centers Democracy Program, said the commission could engage in a never-ending amount of mischief even with partial information, including compiling lists of those who they claim are in the country illegally or who have registered twice.Dale Ho, the director of the ACLUs Voting Rights project, said that the aggregation, transmission and storage of the data pose some privacy and security concerns.Even if were talking about publicly available data theres a big difference between data thats scattered throughout 50 states and data that is centralized in one location, Ho said. It becomes a juicy target.Kobach said he does not anticipate suing any states for the information, but will approach states officials and ask them what it will take to turn over the information.Several other federal groups have looked into voting practices nationwide in the last two decades, but Kobach said this is the first nationwide inquiry to collect this data.The commission will review claims of improper registrations and voting, fraudulent registrations and voter suppression. Members will provide Trump with a report in 2018 and may issue recommendations to the states.At the same time, the Justice Department requested that 44 states subject to the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 explain how they are complying with the law to keep their voter registration lists accurate.Justice spokesperson Devin OMalley said the department had not conducted a review of state and local list-maintenance activities for many years.The Department of Justice is committed to free and fair elections for all Americans, OMalley said. Congress enacted the NVRAs list-maintenance provisions specifically to advance that goal.(Bryan Lowry of the Kansas City Star contributed to this report.) (TNS) - Firetrucks, ambulances and state trooper vehicles gathered outside a Delaware County camp Wednesday.But the emergency workers weren't in any hurry. They were the main attraction of the camp's annual Safety Day, an event that brings local public safety workers together with the campers at Recreation Unlimited, which serves children and adults with physical or cognitive disabilities or chronic health problems.Safety Day, now in its 15th year, has been an annual favorite for both campers and staff, said Paul Huttlin, the camp's executive director and CEO.For Will Holmes, 13, of Columbus, the best part was taking a look inside a state trooper's vehicle. Seeing the ambulances, firetrucks and police vehicles was cool, he said, because they're the ones "coming to the rescue."When Katie Godfrey, 13, of Delaware, got to climb up in the firetruck and try on a fireman's hat, it made her feel powerful, she said.The camp itself is a sprawling, 195-acre, wheelchair-accessible complex that provides sports, recreational and educational programs to more than 3,200 people every year. It's equipped with all the camp essentials: a pool, wooded paths, even a lake with a healthy fish population and frequent appearances from a blue heron or two.Unlike many other camps, though, Recreation Unlimited operates year-round and serves adults as well as children.Huttlin first contacted Delaware County's Emergency Management Agency in 2002 about coordinating a safety event for campers. Bob Lavender, emergency operations manager for the Delaware County EMA, signed on right away and, every year since, looks forward to the event."It's never hard to get these guys to come out," Lavender said, pointing to the emergency vehicles lining the drive near the camp's entrance. "A lot of times, they call me and say, 'Have you heard from them about Safety Day yet?'"The goal of the event is to give kids a chance to interact with emergency response personnel, their vehicles and their equipment in a fun, relaxed way in the hope that, in an emergency situation, the kids feel more comfortable. It also goes hand-in-hand with the county's special-needs registry, said Sandy Mackey, spokeswoman for Delaware County EMS.The registry, which started in Liberty Township in 2005 and later expanded to the entire county, allows residents with disabilities or chronic health conditions to disclose special medical needs to emergency workers. That way, in emergency situations, those individuals can receive more personalized care.Mary Reams, a medic for Delaware County EMS, participated in the very first Safety Day at Recreation Unlimited and has attended most of the events since. It's a fun day for her, too, to get to see the kids in a non-emergency situation."You never want them to be afraid when they see us," Reams said. "We're here to help."To register or learn more about Delaware County's Special Needs Registry, contact Sandy Mackey at (740) 833-2183 or email delcospecialneeds@delcoema.org.ewilliams@dispatch.com@eewilliams_mu2017 The Columbus Dispatch (Columbus, Ohio)Visit The Columbus Dispatch (Columbus, Ohio) at www.dispatch.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. (TNS) - Lake County, Ill., Officials are warning residents who've been fighting floodwaters for more than week now that the fight isn't over yet."If you've sandbagged, don't take those out yet," said Mike Warner, executive director of the Lake County Stormwater Management Commission. "Let's get past the next rainfall and think about taking them out next week."The National Weather Service told county officials they could get a range of 1 to 3 inches of rain through this weekend, with some areas hit with strong rains Wednesday night and into Thursday morning. The Des Plaines River could handle 1 inch without a problem, but 3 inches could spell more woes for nearby buildings and streets.The Chain O' Lakes and Fox River are so swollen that it won't take much more rain to push them back up and out, Warner said.He urged people dealing with flooded homes to take advantage of the Multi-Agency Resource Center, or MARC, that has opened at a former grocery store site at 965 E. Rollins Road in Round Lake Beach. Warner likened it to a "free shopping center for flood victims," with cleanup supplies, blankets and other resources.Officials have started doing damage assessment to see if areas qualify for federal assistance, with hundreds of homes that were under 2 feet of water or more, Warner said, but some neighborhoods remained inaccessible.Even before Wednesday night's rains, flood warnings were extended in some cases into next week at points along the Fox and Des Plaines rivers. Wednesday, flood warnings continued for the Des Plaines in Lake and Cook counties, and the Fox from Algonquin south to Montgomery.The big question is how much more rain may fall heading into and through the weekend, with some rain forecast for each of the coming days.The weather service forecast the Fox River to slowly fall at Algonquin, but only by about one-tenth of an inch from Wednesday to Thursday mornings, while the Des Plaines was forecast to continue to fall steadily barring any more rain.Along the Fox River in Algonquin, Kris Lindahl was hoping there would be no more rain.He and his wife were called back from out of state to their home Sunday to find that the river was flowing through their backyard and had crept to their front step.Still, the water never reached the level of the 2013 flood that cleared their first porch step. It was about 8 inches below that before it started receding Tuesday, to Lindahl's relief."So we're doing better," he said, "until the next storm."After living in the same house for 50 years, Lindahl, 76, has been through many floods. With 250 feet of riverfront property, it's too big for him to build a sandbag wall, but as usual he got only seepage into his basement.Because he lives on a flood plain, he said he had to get permission from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to build a garage and had to put vents in the walls to let the river flow through. Most of his storage items were up on blocks or shelves or moved beyond the water's reach.His daughter has urged him to move, but like many of their neighbors, Lindahl and his wife love their life on the river. They see egrets, herons, cormorants, deer and fox, and he said they can deal with occasional flooding.Down the street, Curt Wittrock just moved in last year and was experiencing his first flood. His yard was under 3 feet of water flowing strong enough to carry away tree stumps from his fire pit, but he had sandbags keeping water out of his basement."It's a good learning experience," Wittrock laughed. He looked forward to again kayaking down the river when the waters recede, barring any more rain.Downstream in unincorporated Algonquin Shores in Kane County, some homes were surrounded by water, and some residents had left to stay elsewhere. Those remaining helped one another stack sandbags and said one house was surrounded by 900 sandbags and four pumps.Because the area is on well and septic systems, when the water covers the ground, the septic can't pump out any more water, so it backs up in sinks and tubs, and toilets won't flush.Still, resident Jennifer Hyde said it wasn't as bad as in 2013, when the water partially submerged her neighbor's house."Everybody's OK," Hyde said as long as they don't get much more rain.rmccoppin@chicagotribune.com2017 the Chicago TribuneVisit the Chicago Tribune at www.chicagotribune.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. (TNS) - Reese Tilton's firefighter uncle is her hero.She's a junior at Greeley West High School, and she's spent a lot of time thinking about her future. She decided firefighting was something she wanted to consider.Tuesday afternoon, Reese and nine other high school-aged girls from northern Colorado practiced suiting up in the protective gear and breathing apparatuses firefighters use on the job at the Aims Community College's inaugural Young Women Xplore Academy. A cadre of female firefighters encouraged them, shared stories of their experiences and helped them learn how to use the equipment.Hosted by Aims' Public Safety Institute in Windsor, this three-day workshop offers high school girls the chance to learn and train public safety and firefighting skills.I want to give them a safe environment to explore a fire career, a fire service academy and to speak with women firefighters who are actively in the fire service. Pat Mialy, Captain of the Loveland Fire RescueWomen aren't common in the firefighting field, said Loveland Fire Rescue Captain Pat Mialy. The college and firefighting officials hope the program encourages more women to at least explore it. In fact, many women don't even get that chance."Many times the fire service isn't something that's put before young women for consideration," Mialy said.As a result, the fire service is still predominately male, said Aims Director of Fire Science Randy Souther. The hope with the academy is to encourage them and let them know they're welcome in the firefighting industry.Throughout the course, which started Tuesday and runs through Thursday, the girls will practice and learn different fire safety skills from female instructors and firefighters. The program includes classroom training, as well, and everyone who completes the program will become CPR certified, Mialy said.It's about more than just the firefighting skills and know-how to her though. Mialy said she feels important traits like confidence and assertiveness aren't encouraged enough in young women. With the fire academy, she hopes she might get a chance to let these young women feel a little more comfortable in their own skin."I want to give them a safe environment to explore a fire career, a fire service academy and to speak with women firefighters who are actively in the fire service," Mialy said. "Our goal as instructors is also to help them build self esteem, assertiveness and teamwork in a safe environment."By the time the program ends, the girls will have participated in ladder operations training, repelling and a live fire demo in Aims' training facility and burn house. Outside of those daring educational opportunities, the girls will learn about fire behavior, search and rescue, nutrition, physical fitness and hose management.Before the course wraps up, the students will get to learn about emergency air transportation through a demo with a Northern Colorado Med Evac helicopter. On the final day, students will compete in a team competition using their new fire safety training.Careers in public service have a positive outlook. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median pay of firefighter in 2016 was approximately $50,000 per year. The median annual wage of all workers was slightly above $37,000. EMTs and paramedics will be in high demand during the next few years with a 24 percent projected growth in employment between 2014 and 2024.Learning from women helped encourage Reese."I see how a lot of the women are smaller (in build)," she said, "but it doesn't stop them."2017 the Greeley Tribune (Greeley, Colo.)Visit the Greeley Tribune (Greeley, Colo.) at www.greeleytribune.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Just received verbal govt approval for The Boring Company to build an underground NY-Phil-Balt-DC Hyperloop. NY-DC in 29 mins. Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 20, 2017 (TNS) Getting from New York City to Washington in under a half hour perhaps got a step closer Thursday.That's if you believe what Elon Musk tweets.Musk, the billionaire behind SpaceX, Tesla and super fast, super smooth transportation via hyperloop technology, tweeted that his Boring Company, which digs tunnels, received verbal government approval to build a hyperloop between the two cities.The hyperloop would cut the nearly three-hour train ride or more than four-hour car ride down to a mere 29 minutes and include stops in Philadelphia and Baltimore.Hyperloop technology works by sending sleek pods through depressurized tubes. The pods levitate, creating near frictionless travel and making incredible speeds, like 700 mph, possible.The technology is still being developed and has not been tested on a large scale yet. A team from Carnegie Mellon University is among the leaders in development a hyperloop pod prototype.Pittsburgh is hoping to be part of a different hyperloop route. Hyperloop Midwest is an entry in the Hyperloop One Global Challenge from the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission that proposes a connecting Pittsburgh to Chicago via a hyperloop with a stop in Columbus, Ohio, William Murdock, the executive director of the planning commission, told the Tribune-Review in April. The Pittsburgh to Chicago trip would take about 45 minutes. Pittsburgh to Columbus would take about 15 minutes.Hyperloop Midwest is a finalist in the Hyperloop One Global Challenge, which would provide funding to the winning project."We're anxious to show that Pittsburgh, Columbus and Chicago is that route," Murdock said when Hyperloop Midwest was named one of the 12 finalists. Misplaced trust? Patients on their own Stem cell offerings proliferate (TNS) -- Potentially dangerous stem cell treatments are being marketed on a website the federal government established to help patients find experimental therapies, according to a prominent professor of bioethics. ClinicalTrials.gov is run by the National Institutes of Health to give a comprehensive list of all registered clinical studies around the world. But the site, mandated by an act of Congress, doesnt properly vet these studies for legitimacy, said Leigh Turner, an associate professor at the University of Minnesota Center for Bioethics.Turner described what he called serious abuses of the site in an article to be published Wednesday in the journal Regenerative Medicine. The paper will be available online at http://bit.ly/2uZl7XR (free registration is required).Among the websites questionable listings are those from companies charging for experimental stem cell treatments including 11 where the fees arent even disclosed, Turner said. Most legitimate clinical trials dont charge patients for experimental treatment, he and other experts have said.In addition, some studies marketed on the website dont follow proper ethical and scientific procedures. Therapies can be hyped beyond what the scientific evidence supports, and some patients selected for participation actually dont qualify for the treatment.To stop such abuses, the NIH needs to perform more extensive checks of the clinical trials it lists, Turner said. And that effort would require money.You probably need human beings putting actual eyeballs on these studies and making sure if they are complying with federal law, Turner said.For example, in some cases cash-poor companies with promising treatments are allowed to charge patients to recover costs, he explained. But they arent allowed to make a profit on it. These exceptions are granted by the Food and Drug Administration, which authorizes clinical trials in the United States.ClinicalTrials.gov is meant to provide a central place of reference for the vast numbers of clinical trials offered. The portal allows users to easily search for clinical trials by the therapy used, disease to be treated, location of treatment and other criteria.The results can be daunting in their abundance, leaving patients with many choices but little to guide them on determining which therapies might be most appropriate for them. A keyword search for active clinical trials involving stem cells turned up more than 1,800 results Tuesday, and on the same day, the site listed nearly 200,000 trials for all medical conditions.Currently, its up to patients and their caregivers to conduct their own research to verify whether a study is legitimate, Turner said.Over the years, stem cell scientists have voiced concerns about ClinicalTrials.gov. Because the website is operated by a federal health agency, its widely viewed as a trusted place for information. Companies that use the site as a marketing tool feed off that trust, Turner said.One such company was recently the subject of considerable news media scrutiny after clinicians independent from the business published a study documenting that three of its patients suffered severe vision loss after paying $5,000 per person for stem cell interventions that were supposed to treat their age-related macular degeneration, his new article said.At least one of the blinded patients reportedly learned of the company from a listing on ClinicalTrials.gov.On Tuesday, the NIH issued a statement saying it agrees that patients should know the risks and benefits before participating in a clinical trial, and that it provides resources to help them do so.We continue to evaluate ways to improve our outreach and engagement with stakeholders, including making our resources more prominently available and easier to digest, the agency said.We added a prominent disclaimer on the (ClinicalTrials.gov) homepage in March 2017 stating that, Listing of a study on this site does not reflect endorsement by the National Institutes of Health. Talk with a trusted healthcare professional before volunteering for a study, the NIH said.Go to j.mp/nihstem for more of the agencys information on stem cell clinical trials.At the University of Southern California, medical researcher Katja Reuter said she hadnt been aware of the extent of the problem, but agreed with Turners messaging after reading his new paper.The success or the usefulness of ClinicalTrials.gov depend on whether investigators and sponsors make a diligent effort to submit complete and accurate information. It was not intended as a system where the NIH and other groups that are involved have full oversight over the information, said Reuter, ???an assistant professor of clinical preventive medicine at USCs Keck School of Medicine.In defense of the NIH, they have no capacity to really look at the information in detail. Its not possible, she said. They dont have the resources. And they make it very clear that its the responsibility of the sponsor and investigator to provide that information.Reuter also said patients interested in any of these therapies should talk them over with a trusted health-care professional.Shes tackling a different problem in clinical trials: recruiting enough patients so they can be conducted. Some clinical trials fail because of a lack of patients, meaning that potentially valuable new treatments never get a chance. Clinicaltrials.gov was created under the 1997 Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act. The law mandates listing of all registered clinical trials, whether conducted by public agencies or private companies. The intent was to give patients and health care professionals a single point to find potential therapies.The need for more oversight is especially great for stem cell therapies because of the great expectations for this relatively new branch of medicine. Stem cell therapy has great potential to cure diseases and injuries not now effectively treated, and this potential is slowly being demonstrated in regulated clinical trials.However, a vast number of unregulated treatments some legitimate and some not are being offered by doctors and clinics around the world. Discerning whats legitimate and whats dubious can be extremely complex for people not familiar with the science.In a study published in June 2016, Turner and UC Davis stem cell researcher Paul Knoepfler documented at least 351 companies that advertise unauthorized stem cell treatments at their clinics . While many of the therapies offered may be beneficial, others can be harmful.California had 113 of these clinics, the most of any state, the study found. And Southern California was the epicenter. Beverly Hills had the most of any city in the country, with 18 such clinics.As an example of this marketing push to patients, Turner linked on Twitter to a job advertisement for a stem cell sales representative. Are you a motivational speaker? the ad began. Are you interested in educating the public about a new and exciting field of medicine? Do you have experience as a sales professional?This job is for a proven salesperson/public speaker/clinic rep who has charisma and charm, who can connect with and educate older clientele, doctors and nurses, the ad continued. The ideal candidate is a quick learner, passionate about helping people and financially driven.This job involves 2 days per week in the clinic, educating and teaching prospective patients about Stem Cell Therapy and then getting them to commit and buy this amazing treatment. (Capitalization style as in the ad). Each sale earns a 1%, 3% or 5% commission.Toward the end, the ad stated that applicants, must have a verifiable history of sales and either public speaking or motivational speaking. For those who've invited any Alexa-enabled devices like the Amazon Echo and Dot into your homes, you may now be part of a new social network that is already enjoyed by some 10 million people How is this even possible? As Gizmodo's Kashmir Hill reports , it is "a unique aspect of being a consumer of the Internet of Things."The things in this case, the Echo and Dot stay connected to the company they were purchased from in this case, Amazon. Which means that Amazon can push out a software update and change the Echo and Dot into, well, something else."Overnight," Hill writes, "the Echo went from being a voice-activated Google search to a device that could be networked to a bunch of other devices."This software update occured in May, when Amazon added features called "Drop in and Alexa calling and messaging, both of which let users connect to other peoples Echo units.While upon release there was no way to block people from calling your Echo, Amazon made updates this month to allow at least a little more privacy. (TNS) -- Weeks after the Howard County government's website was hacked and pro-Islamic State messages were written on the site, County Executive Allan Kittleman announced Tuesday that an industry expert will work with the county to conduct an audit of the breach and of the public website's host, vendor DNN4Less.The audit will include a review of the overall strength of the county's cybersecurity, as well as an assessment of the county's security practices, according to a statement from the county. This will occur as the FBI's investigation into the hack also continues.The hack was detected the afternoon of June 25, and the website was taken offline as the county worked with its site host to remedy the security breach; the site was running normally by 9:45 a.m. the next day.Ohio Gov. John Kasich 's website as well as pages of local governments in Ohio and New York were also hacked and showed similar propaganda messages, though DNN4Less does not host these sites.Several county offices will be part of the audit team, including the Office of Emergency Management and the Departments of Police, Fire and Rescue Services, Finance, Human Resources, Health and Community Resources and Services.Kittleman also reaffirmed in his update that the hack did not breach any data on the public site. Howard County's website can be used to electronically pay personal bills and citations including parking tickets and personal property taxes. Ukraine International Airlines (UIA, Kyiv), the leading Ukrainian airline, has no influence and is not engaged in negotiations on the flights of Europe's largest low cost air carrier Ryanair to Ukraine. Head of the UIA supervisory board Aron Mayberg said this during an online conference on the Liga.net portal. "We are not involved in the negotiations, I do not know at what stage they are. I assess the situation as an ongoing negotiation process," he said. Mayberg also noted that UIA is in solidarity with any air structure, and does not consider anyone its enemy. "If any company wants to fly to Ukraine - it must fly," he added. As reported, Ryanair on July 10 announced the cancellation of its planned flights to Ukraine after Boryspil airport had violated the agreement achieved at the Ministry of Infrastructure with the airport officials and its incumbent CEO Pavlo Riabikin in March this year. Three Ukrainian ice cream producers could obtain right to export goods to EU Three Ukrainian ice cream producers are completing the verification procedure for obtaining the right to export products to the countries of the European Union. "Currently three enterprises from the Ice Cream and Frozen Foods association of Ukrainian producers are completing inspection to get the right to export products to European markets. These are Kharkiv-based Khladprom, Laska (Kirovohrad region) and Lasunka (Ternopil region)," president of the association Ihor Bartkovsky said at a press conference. According to him, starting from 2015 some 44 dairy enterprises has worked on getting the right to gain access to the EU market. "Only 16 enterprises passed verification, and today they have an appropriate permission to supply products," he said. According to the president of the association, Ukraine in 2016 exported 4,500 tonnes of ice cream. "Today, with our capacities and modern technological lines, we can export up to 7,000 tonnes of products to the markets of the EU and other countries," he said. Pension reform, privatization and the fight against corruption are key requirements for the completion of the fourth review of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Fund's spokesman, William Murray, has said. "Consideration by the Executive Board of the forth review will be possible once the policies needed for this review are implemented. The focus of this review is on pension reform and on measures to speed up privatization and ensure concrete results in anti-corruption efforts," he said during a regular briefing in Washington on Thursday. In his words, it is equally important that fiscal and energy sector policies should remain consistent with the program commitments. As for the land reform, it remains an important condition under the program. However, given a need to develop this reform properly and to reach consensus on key steps ahead, there is need to reset its timing to later this year, Murray said. As reported, the four-year EFF program launched by the IMF in March 2015, in the total amount of SDR 12.348 billion (around $17.25 billion), initially involved quarterly reviews of the program, with the first tranche of $5 billion, and the next three, SDR 1.18 billion each (around $1.65 billion), to be paid during 2015, and decreasing quarterly tranches to SDR 0.44 billion ($0.61 billion) in 2016-2018. Ukraine was able to receive, with a slight delay, the second tranche, $1.7 billion, under this program, in early August 2015, followed by a lengthy pause because of the country's failure to meet a number of conditions, political crisis and changes in the government. Since the arrival of a new government led by Volodymyr Groysman in April 2016 talks over continued funding have resumed but it was not until mid-September that the IMF decided to allocate the third tranche, $1 billion. The fourth tranche was received on April 3, 2017. According to the new schedule presented in the materials of the IMF, three reviews are planned for late 2017: fourth review in the middle of May, fifth in the middle of August and sixth in the middle of November. If Ukraine successfully conducts reforms after the fourth review the country could raise $1.907 billion, after the fifth review - $1.28 billion, sixth review - $1.28 billion. In general, some $4.46 billion could be attracted. In 2018, four more reviews will be conducted and Ukraine could raise around $955 million after each review or some $3.82 billion in general. Meanwhile, the National Bank of Ukraine said on July 6 it expects two tranches from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the EFF program this year instead of the previously planned three. Thus, the central bank downgraded the forecast for funds received from the IMF by the end of the year to $3 billion. At the same time, the bank upgraded the forecast for funds received from the IMF in 2018 to $4.5 billion. Ukrainian Finance Minister Oleksandr Danyliuk said on July 5 he expects the IMF will decide on the provision of a new tranche to Ukraine under the EFF arrangement this autumn. The net profit of the 94 largest state companies of Ukraine in January-September 2016 increased by 20 times compared to 2015, to UAH 40 billion. According to a report posted by the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade on the activities of the 94 largest state-owned companies during this period, the structure of the portfolio of these enterprises for January-September 2016 did not change. The largest portfolio assets are concentrated in the oil and gas sector (NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy), transport (PJSC Ukrzaliznytsia) and electric power (Energoatom). The net profit of the largest state-owned companies is due to the growth of profits in the oil and gas sector and energy, the ministry explained. The figure in the oil and gas industry amounted to UAH 25.5 billion, which is 120 times higher than in the same period of the previous year. The growth in net income was shown by all sectors of the portfolio, except for chemical and coal industries, in which this figure fell by 38%, to UAH 7.5 billion, and by 18%, to UAH 3.9 billion, respectively. "This growth can be explained by reforming the price policy of Naftogaz, whose net profit increased by 108 times compared with the same period in 2015," the ministry said. According to the agency, for the first nine months of 2015 Naftogaz posted a net profit of UAH 234 million, while in January-September 2016 some UAH 25.5 billion. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) filed a consent decree for its final settlement with the Volkswagen Group of America (VW). The company will be required to pay an additional $153.8 million to California over the companys use of illegal defeat devices in 2009-2016, 2.0 and 3.0 liter diesel passenger cars. Before today, VW had paid $533 million to California, of which $422 million will flow to the state through a mitigation trust. Volkswagen also is making $800 million in ZEV-related investments in the state. The additional consent decree was negotiated by attorneys and technical experts from CARB and the California Attorney Generals Office, and is subject to court approval. The overall VW settlement is the largest ever for violations of vehicle air quality rules. Its been a long process, Sweetwater County School District No. 2 business manager Pete Brandjord said when introducing the districts 2017-2018 budget Tuesday night. The school board approved the districts budget and mill levy allocations. The district, as a result of action from the Wyoming Legislature earlier this year and decreased capital projects expenditures, suffered a $5.6 million decrease in its budget from last year. In total, the budget will be $58.6 million. Brandjord said the district may receive another 6 percent decrease in revenues for the 2018-2019 budget yea... Militant forces have attacked the Ukrainian army's positions in Donbas 21 times in the past 24 hours, during which four Ukrainian servicemen have been killed and another three injured, the press center of the headquarters of Anti-Terrorist operation (ATO) in south-eastern Ukraine, said. In the Luhansk sector, infantry fighting vehicle weapons were used against positions of the Ukrainian armed forces in Novozvanivka, grenade launchers and large-caliber machineguns were used in Novo-Oleksandrivka, and small arms were fired in Stanytsia Luhanska. Three servicemen were killed and another three were injured when an unknown explosive device went off at around 6:00 p.m. near the village Novotoshkivske, the press center said on its Facebook page. Ukrainian military positions came under grenade launcher fire in Vodiane and Hnutove in the Mariupol sector. In addition to that, Hnutove came under 82mm mortar fire at around 8:00 p.m. Militant forces also fired grenade launchers and small arms on the outskirts of Avdiyivka in the Donetsk region. Ukrainian army positions in Pisky came under 120mm mortar fire at around 11 p.m., and infantry fighting vehicle weapons were used against Ukrainian positions in Luhanske. In addition to that, the militants resumed strikes on residential areas in Mariynka at around 7:00 p.m., using large-caliber machineguns and also fired grenade launchers on the village of Zaitseve, the press center said. For Zach Owens, a respect for emergency responders, including the police, was instilled in him at an early age. While some chose to teach their children that officers are people who cant be trusted, Owens father told him emergency responders are heroes and will help a person. The Green River native has always looked up to paramedics, firefighters and police officers throughout his life, even considering a career as a paramedic while working as a contractor at the local mines. On July 5, Owens was welcomed into a family of his childhood heroes, becoming the citys newest patrol offi... Sweetwater County joined more than 345,000 members in 142 countries in late April when a Toastmasters International club, Rock Springs Raconteurs, was formally recognized as a new club. Interest in forming a club began in the Fall of 2016 when inquiries from two separate people within the community were made to the district office in Denver. Dana Morgan-Barnes, Northern Division Director, began the process of working with community members to charter a club. A Charter Party took place June 1 to recognize this accomplishment. During the party, Morgan-Barnes expressed her appreciation to mem... United Way of Southwest Wyoming hosted its 38th Annual Celebration Event at the Holiday Inn of Rock Springs in May to celebrate 2016 workplace campaign donors and volunteers. The evening began with Kelly Frink, Executive Director thanking the sponsors. Jim Bridger Power Plant and Wyoming Machinery were major sponsors of the event. Other sponsors were Tronox, Solvay, City of Rock Springs and Holiday Inn. Frink announced that the employees of Tronox and United Steelworkers Local 13214 had the largest employee campaign raising more than $125,000. I dont know how you reach almost 900 empl... This is very sad news about Sen. John McCain, an American hero. I wish him the best and hope he'll be able to return to the Senate. McCain's leadership there is very much needed at a time when U.S. foreign policy has spiraled into disarray and confusion. He certainly understands the importance of diplomacy in addressing global challenges, and he casts a very wary eye on the Russians. McCain also was one of the authors of the Magnitsky Act, which his office explains here. Vladimir Putin badly wants this act repealed, and he has a sympathetic listener in President Donald Trump. Get well, Sen. McCain. Your country still needs you. Seniors living on a fixed income sometimes struggle to care for themselves and their furry companions. That can lead to tough choices. Clients were sharing their Mobile Meals with their pets, said Ashlyn Martin, Resnior Resources assistant director of home and community-based services. Thanks to a grant from Banfield Hospitals, Mobile Meals launched Portable Pet Provisions more than three years ago to provide food for the pets of Mobile Meals recipients. The program has now expanded to also include veterinary care as well. We partner with the Humane Societys Planned Pethood program to get spay and neuter services at their clinic, Martin said. Senior Resources, which runs the Mobile Meals program, realizes how important pets are to the clients they serve, Martin said. The volunteer who delivers the noontime meal is often the only visitor some clients see in a day, so pets are vital to their well-being. Now the clients arent sharing their meals with their pets, Martin said, and Portable Pet Provisions provides pets the specific nutrition they need. Once someone applies to the Mobile Meals program and is approved, he or she can get food for their cat or dog. When she came to Senior Resources three years ago, Martin said, there were about 15 clients in the Portable Pet Provisions program. Now the program serves 43 clients and 70 pets. Portable Pet Provisions recently received a $2,500 grant from Meals on Wheels America to help with the program. Senior Resources buys large bags of food in bulk, and volunteers sort it into smaller, more manageable bags to deliver to clients. Dog food gets put into two-gallon bags and cat food in quart bags. When we deliver pet food, all the clients are extremely grateful, Martin said. The vet care helps, too. One client came into the program and her dog was on heartworm medication, Martin said. She was buying it on a monthly basis, but we were able to buy a six-month supply for her, resulting in a substantial savings. Portable Pet Provisions makes separate deliveries, but Senior Resources will soon combine them with Mobile Meals deliveries to streamline the process. Martin said Portable Pet Provisions needs volunteers to help repackage the food and deliver it. A group of parliamentary members proposes to amend the Constitution of Ukraine and revoke the immunity of deputies. Corresponding bill No. 6773 "On Amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine (regarding the abolition of parliamentary immunity)" was registered in the parliament on Wednesday, the website of the Verkhovna Rada said. The authors of the bill are more than 150 Rada members from different factions and non-factional ones. The text of the project has not been made public yet. As reported, on January 16, 2015, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine approved the bill on amending the Constitution of Ukraine to abolish immunity for parliamentary deputies and judges (No.1776). The bill was submitted for consideration by the Constitution Court of Ukraine. On June 19, 2015, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine accepted the constitutionality of the bill on amendments to the Fundamental Law on deputy and judge immunity. Under the court's decision, the bill on amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine on the immunity of people's deputies and judges can be considered as being in line with Articles 157 and 158 of the Constitution of Ukraine. On September 15 of the same year, Poroshenko said he expected the adoption of amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine concerning the abolition of deputy and judicial immunity in the first reading by the Verkhovna Rada at the current session. The president recalled that he initiated amendments to the Constitution in four directions: decentralization, judicial reform, and also the removal of parliamentary and judicial immunity. "I submitted, voted, sent to the Constitutional Court. The Constitutional Court supported these changes, and now this bill is to be considered by the parliament. If they delay it for a long time, then we will stimulate, including through the mechanism of people's support, because today there are people's deputies who are reasonably suspected of committing corruption crimes and, in fact, it is impossible to detain them," the president said. On February 9, 2016, Poroshenko expressed hope that the people's deputies would return to consideration of his bill on the removal of parliamentary immunity (No. 1776). "This bill received the positive conclusion of the Constitutional Court claiming it as constitutional. Today it's the Verkhovna Rada's turn. We need a public request, civil pressure," the president said, recalling that he had previously submitted a relevant bill to the parliament, and the Verkhovna Rada sent it to the Constitutional Court. After the Constitutional Court made its conclusion, the parliament did not consider this issue any more. According to the information on the website of the Verkhovna Rada, as of July 11, 2017, the presidential draft law on amending the Constitution of Ukraine (concerning the immunity of people's deputies of Ukraine and judges) No. 1776, which received the conclusion of the Constitutional Court on June 30, 2015, on July 2, 2015 it was considered by one of the parliamentary committees, and on December 22, 2015 the second committee provided its conclusion. Now it has the status of "Pending consideration." GREENSBORO A Greensboro woman has been sentenced in federal court to nearly three years in prison for tax evasion. According to a news release from Sandra J. Hairston, acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of North Carolina, Cheryl Arrington White, 55, failed to report to the Internal Revenue Service $969,157.91 of income from 2010 to 2014. The total tax loss is $289,172. White worked as an accountant out of her home, according to the news release. She provided bookkeeping and payroll services to multiple clients throughout the district. One client, who operated a restaurant and hospitality facility in Surry County, received information that White had embezzled from another client, and based on this information, started reviewing their bank statements and canceled checks online. The client found that White was also embezzling from their company. White used three separate methods to embezzle funds, according to the release. White would write herself additional payroll check and paid personal expenses in her name and her spouses name using the clients businesses' checking account, forging the business owners signatures on those checks. White also paid her children as employees of the client. White was found to have embezzled from at least two other companies. She cashed and/or deposited these fraudulent checks into her or her childrens personal checking accounts, according to the release. White admitted to investigators committing these embezzlements. She estimated stealing around $1 million from her clients. She said she only calculated her Schedule C income by using figures derived from printing the vendor reports for her accounting business. In addition to her 33-month prison sentence, White will be on three years of supervised probation following release and is ordered to pay the $289,172 in restitution to the IRS. GREENSBORO A McLeansville man has been charged in a July 9 shooting at a gas station. Parris Marquise Stewart, 23, was taken into custody about 7 a.m. Wednesday at a relatives home by detectives with the police Violent Criminal Apprehension Team, according to a police news release. He is charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury and possession of a firearm by a felon. Stewart is accused of shooting Nicholas Darron McGhee, 23, at an Exxon gas station at 801 E. Market St. Stewart is in the Guilford County jail with bail set at $150,000. According to the N.C. Department of Public Safety website, Stewart was released from prison in April after serving more than 3 1/2 years for attempted armed robbery. Some of NASA's brightest minds were invited to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to tell members of Congress about water that once ran across Mars, and the possibility of life on Europa and missions to explore them. "Good questions," the chairman of the space subcommittee said after an hour or so. Then he turned the microphone over to Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, who would save his most important question for the end. "Thank you," the California Republican began. "One of the benefits, I should say, of your activities, is that, well - you have all these robots all over the universe and beyond." A boy seated behind Rohrabacher had been fiddling with his hair, but now looked up at the congressman. "Let me just note," Rohrabacher said by way of disclaimer, "that I've been around for a while." So he had. Elected to his office 14 consecutive times, he has sat on the House Space and Technology Committee for decades and run for the chairmanship at least twice, without success. "I love science," Rohrabacher once told Science Magazine. His passion for the subject is occasionally expressed in puzzling ways. Rohrabacher once told a hearing that "dinosaur flatulence" might have caused global warming - a bad joke, he said later. In a 2014 speech titled "Global Warming as a Power Grab," he railed against the government "putting fluoride into our water." On Tuesday, seated across from NASA officials planning missions to Mars, a moon around Jupiter and an asteroid between them, Rohrabacher shared his thoughts on space with them. The space shuttle and space station programs were inspiring, he said - but also very expensive. NASA had a lot of projects going on, he said. Maybe too many; the agency should prioritize more - though, he said, "I'm certainly not an expert enough to tell you what those priorities should be." He asked about NASA's plan to land a rover on Mars in 2020 - and about Martian rocks and space fuel. He said we should go back to the moon. And then, at the end, "the most important thing." "I ask for permission for one minute for this question," Rohrabacher said. It was granted, and he began. "You have indicated that Mars was totally different thousands of years ago," he told the scientists. Behind him, the boy whispered something to a seat mate. The congressman continued: "Is it possible that there was a civilization on Mars thousands of years ago?" Silence filled the room. A scientist with the Mars 2020 project, Kenneth Farley, leaned toward his microphone and ventured a reply. "So, the evidence is that Mars was different billions of years ago. Not thousands of years ago," Farley said. "Billions, well. Yes," Rohrabacher said. He began to form another word, but Farley cut him off. "There's no evidence that I'm aware of." The scientist did not mention that he had already explained this half an hour earlier, when he told the panel that ancient Mars once had rivers, lakes and hot springs - but that nothing more advanced than microbes was likely to have lived there. And yet, Rohrabacher persisted. "Would you rule that out?" he asked. "See, there's some people, well, anyway . . . " "I would say that is extremely unlikely," Farley said. "Okay. Well." Rohrabacher still had 30 seconds to ask about ancient civilization, but he gave up at that point. "Thank you for the good job you're doing," he told the scientists. "God bless." The next congressman to address the hearing would quote a 19th century poem - "For I dipped into the future, far as human eye could see" - and wonder aloud about the meaning of life. But when reporters wrote about Tuesday's hour-and-a-half discussion, they wrote mostly about Rohrabacher's final minute. "No, Congressman, There's No Evidence of an Ancient Mars Civilization," wrote Science.com, noting for good measure that previous reports of canals and a sculptured face on the Red Planet had also been debunked. Ars Technica accused the congressman of marring an otherwise respectable discussion, and recalled that earlier this month a NASA official had been forced to deny rumors that children were being kidnapped to the planet. Other outlets were even less kind to Rohrabacher, whose office suggested to The Washington Post that - as with the dinosaur farts comment in 2007 - the congressman had not seriously entertained the notion. "Because of his position on the space committee, he not infrequently gets inquiries about this from far and wide," Rohrabacher's spokesman, Ken Grubbs, wrote in an email Wednesday. "He was looking for something definitive. Apparently, many of those who covered the exchange didn't hear the wink in his voice." - - - Video: Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) asked about civilizations on Mars during a July 18 U.S. House Science, Space and Technology Subcommittee hearing. Embed code: Washington Post News Service (DC) 7/19/2017 3:30:21 PM Central Daylight Time President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko will pay an official visit to Ukraine on July 20-21, within the framework of which he will hold a meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. On Friday, July 21, an official meeting of the two presidents will take place on Bankova Street, the website of the Ukrainian president said. After the meeting, Poroshenko and Lukashenko will make a statement for the media. As the press service of the Belarusian president reported earlier, the presidents would discuss the development of political, trade-economic and humanitarian cooperation between Belarus and Ukraine. The settlement of the conflict in eastern Ukraine is in the agenda of the meeting. It is expected that after the talks in the presence of the presidents of the two countries a number of documents will be signed that relate to cooperation in the economy, scientific and technical area, as well as in the spheres of culture and interethnic relations. In addition, on July 21, the Ukrainian-Belarusian Economic Forum will take place in Kyiv with the participation of the presidents of the two countries. Get ready for lots of this. Photo: Elles Rijsdijk/Getty Images/iStockphoto A beacon of hope in a dark, dark world: New York City is about to get its very first dog cafe. To be clear, however, its more of a BYOD situation. Unlike the citys influx of cat-centric options, which come with actual ambient cats, this future East Village hot spot doesnt employ any of its own resident canines. Instead, DNAInfo explains, Boris & Horton named for the owners dogs, obviously is a place where you can hang out with your own dog, or someone elses dog, and also have a cup of coffee or a glass of wine. The East Village cafe is the brainchild of pro-dog father-daughter duo Coppy and Logan Holzman, and will be divided into two sections by a glass wall, as required by the Department of Health. On the cafe side, which is taking over the space where Ost Cafe used to be, you get your pastries, drinks, and sandwiches. On the dog-friendly lounge side, former home of Raclette, you eat and hang out with a bunch of dogs. Staff will be on hand, apparently, to cover in case anyone needs to momentarily leave their schnauzer for a top-up. You dont even have to have a dog of your own. If youre just a rando petophile who likes to chill with other peoples dogs, no judgement (theyre dogs). And if youre currently dogless-but-looking, the cafe can help with that, too: Badass Brooklyn Animal Rescue will take over the space for pup adoption events on weekends. Unsurprisingly, given the incoming doggy clientele, some locals expressed trepidation about the new neighbors rancorous barking and unwanted dog waste are among the concerns but the Holzmans promise that Boris & Horton, slated to open this winter, is a civilized establishment. Were going to have very polite rules of etiquette, said Coppy at a community-board meeting on Monday, noting they wont allow dogs who act inappropriately. Lenovo let its imagination go wild and showed the result at the Lenovo Tech World summit. Note that these are concepts that may never see the light of day, though we do hope some of their functions make it to actual Lenovo products. The Lenovo Cplus concept phone is very flexible, much more so than an LG G Flex, for example. It uses a 4.35 AMOLED screen and a real leather back (with a choice of many colors). The goal is to wear the Android-running Cplus like a bracelet, which will allow it to function like a smartwatch. You can easily transition to smartphone mode (the handset uses ESIM). Lenovo Cplus concept flexible smart phone/watch Theres a new digital assistant CAVA which will use facial recognition and natural language processing. It will be able to make recommendations based on your calendar. CAVA - Context Aware Virtual Assistant Besides your phone, Lenovos smart tech will also live in the SmartCast+, a cross between the Xperia Touch projector and Amazon Alexa (the company already has a classic smart speaker). Lenovo wants the SmartCast+ to be able to recognize objects and sounds, which will enable Augmented Reality functions. Lenovo SmartCast+ is a cross between Alexa and Xperia Touch Speaking of AR, the daystAR is a standalone headset, which will offer a 40 field of view and do all the processing itself (not needing a PC or a phone). A stand-alone AR headset, the Lenovo daystAR Then theres a SmartVest, which will have much more accurate tracking of your exercise routine thanks to ECG sensors. It will also be much more comfortable to wear all day and night. The SmartVest will use ECG to track your health 24/7 Source | Via 1 | Source 2 (in Chinese) Leak after leak, Meizu Pro 7 is inching closer to its launch on July 26. Several days before the official unveiling, the phone appeared on TENAA with most of the specs revealed. The phone will be the first with MediaTek's 10 nm process chipset Helio X30. It is also going to be the first Meizu phone with dual cameras, employing two 12 MP IMX386 sensors by Sony. The listing confirms the secondary screen that can duplicate whatever is played on the 5.2 main display, coming with Full HD resolution. The fingerprint scanner will double as a home button and will be on the front as usual. The camera+screen module on the back is positioned on the left side on the back panel. The volume rocker and the power button are placed on the right side of the Pro 7. Later an exclusive video appeared, revealing how the secondary screen works. The LCD panel will be touchscreen and will provide info like weather, time and pedometer. Meizu Pro 7 will cost CNY2,799/$413 for the 6 GB + 64 GB version, while the mightier 8GB + 128 GB combo is CNY3,299/$486. A Pro 7 Plus version is also coming along with prices from CNY3,299 to CNY3,799 or between $486 and $560. Source 1 (in Chinese) Source 2 (in Chinese) | Via Four Ukrainian servicemen killed, one captured, seven wounded in shelling in Donbas on Thursday Four Ukrainian soldiers were killed in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) zone on Thursday, one was taken prisoner, and another seven were injured as a result of shelling at the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the press center of the ATO headquarters said. "Today, July 20, 2017, as a result of the enemy intensifying its actions, including the massive shelling of the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, four Ukrainian servicemen were killed and one was taken prisoner. Seven of our defenders were injured," the press center of the ATO headquarters said on its Facebook page on Thursday. During the past day, July 19, 2017, four ATO servicemen were killed in Donbas: one military was killed by a bullet of the enemy sniper, three when an explosive device went off. Three more servicemen were injured. "The Armed Forces of Ukraine gave a worthy response to the enemy, who suffered significant losses," the headquarters said. Earlier this morning, Defense Ministry's spokesman Andriy Lysenko said five servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were killed and two injured on Thursday morning, In addition, he said three Ukrainian soldiers were killed, another three injured in a mine blast on Wednesday. That day, another serviceman was killed in shelling in Maryinka. These are the best offers from our affiliate partners. We may get a commission from qualifying sales. Haiti - FLASH : Journalist Guyler C. Delva complains for defamation Following an incident Which took place on Friday 14 July 2017 in the Radio Television Caraibes (RTVC) studios between journalist Guyler C. Delva and the Young President of the Youth Government Faranday Pierre-Louis https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21529-haiti-flash-journalist-guyler-c-delva-assaults-gjh-s-young-president.html and the end of the 24-hour period granted by Delva to Faranday Pierre-Louis to retract his accusations against him https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21529-haiti-flash-journalist-guyler-c-delva-assaults-gjh-s-young-president.html , Joseph Guyler C. Delva filed a complaint for defamation at the Court of First Instance of Port-au-Prince. Text of the complaint : "Me Ocnam Dame Dameus Government Commissioner Near the Court of First Instance of P-au-P In its Offices Commissioner, I presents you my compliments and I have the advantage of explaining to you that a citizen responding to the name of Faraday Pierre-Louis launched an intensive campaign of lies against my person, with the obvious purpose of tarnishing my reputation. Mr. Pierre-Louis appeared at the Radio Caraibes studio on Friday, July 14 to make a statement on the program 'Matin Caraibes', of which I am co-host. During the program, there was a disagreement between the hosts, which remains an internal issue to the show and to the radio, However, followed an incident whose I will spare you the details yet, waiting to be able to expose them at a hearing which I hope will take place in a very short time. Since July 14, Mr. Faranday Pierre-Louis has not ceased to declare that I slapped him. An utterly misleading statement, which is an attack on my reputation. I never slapped him and did not give him any blow. On the basis of all of the foregoing, Mr. Commissioner of the Government, I intend to file a complaint and, as a matter of fact, I have filed a formal complaint against Mr. Faranday Pierre-Louis so that he is prosecuted and punished according to the laws in force, for offense of defamation against my person, and it will be Justice. Joseph Guyler C. Delva Journalist" See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21560-haiti-flash-journalist-guyler-c-delva-responds-to-accusations.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21529-haiti-flash-journalist-guyler-c-delva-assaults-gjh-s-young-president.html HL/ HaitiLibre Accor Hotels group - the global leader in the field of travelling, modern lifestyle and digital technologies, now presents its Mercure brand on the hospitality market of Kiev for the first time ever. The presence on this market starts with Mercure Congress Kyiv opening on the place of the Cosmopolite hotel, as the result of reconstruction. Withsigning the franchise agreement and opening the hotel, the number the Groups managed hotels in Russia, Georgia and the CIS shall be 48. The four-star hotel Mercure Congress Kyiv is conveniently located in the modern business area of Kiev. Our guests will be able to reach major work and exhibition hubs of the city in no time. The road to Zhulyana international airport will take only 5 minutes and the central railway station, as well as the heart of the city is a 20-minute drive away. The guests will enjoy their leisure time while shopping, going to the cinema, playing bowling, visiting our roller-rink or even ice arena everything is possible due to the primary location in the territory of the multi-functional centre.The new hotel with 160 rooms of various categories offers the highest level of service in compliance with international standards of the Mercure network. Our modern stylish rooms, decorated according to the exclusive design-project of Martins Germanson and Robert Valdmanis, have everything for a comfortable rest. The hotel infrastructure also includes Brasserie a restaurant, where you can enjoy daily signature breakfast and delicious French cuisine, and another restaurant Cosmopolite, blending culinary traditions of different countries. The guests are free to take the advantage of our 45-metre outdoor swimming pool, fitness-area and gym with premium PRECOR equipment. Free Wi-Fi is also available in every corner throughout the hotel territory. The Mercure Congress Kyiv complex comprises the biggest congress centre in Kiev. Its total area is 500 sq. m. and it has the most up-to-date equipment. This congress-centre is a perfect place for any business or private event. Our professional hotel managers will be glad to help you with organizational matters.We have been preparing the hotel reconstruction project for two years in cooperation with leading European hospitality specialists. The Wisher Enterprises multidisciplinary group, working with the AccorHotels network under franchise agreements for many years and in many countries, is the partner of the project. Mercure is present in every major capital of Europe: in Berlin, Madrid, Vienna, Prague, Pome. We asked ourselves why Kiev is not in the list. That is how the idea to present the new brand of our longstanding partner emerged. The hotel reconstruction process is far more complicated than construction from scratch. Here we have strict principles and standards to stick to: starting from stringent fire safety requirements to design requirements. I am very happy that this premium hotel of the congress format, most popular in Ukraine, has appeared in Kiev through our joint effort, - said Alexey Abasov, General Director of Wisher Enterprises.Mercure Congress Kyiv is our third hotel in the city and I believe that it perfectly complements the collection of brands, present on the Kiev hospitality market of today. The high quality 4-star hotel, combined with the largest congress centre in Kiev will become a point of attraction for business travelers from all over the world, I am sure, - said Alexis Delaroff, the Regional Director of AccorHotels in Russia, Georgia and the CIS.AccorHotels is a world-leading travel & lifestyle group and digital innovator offering unique experiences in more than 4,100 hotels, resorts and residences, as well as in over 3,000 of the finest private homes around the globe. Benefiting from dual expertise as an investor and operator through its HotelServices and HotelInvest divisions, AccorHotels operates in 95 countries. Its portfolio comprises internationally acclaimed luxury brands including Raffles, Sofitel Legend, SO Sofitel, Sofitel, Fairmont, onefinestay, MGallery by Sofitel, Pullman, and Swissotel; as well as the popular midscale and boutique brands of 25hours, Novotel, Mercure, Mama Shelter and Adagio; the in-demand economy brands includingJO&JOE, ibis, ibis Styles, ibis budget and the regional brands Grand Mercure, The Sebel and hotelF1. AccorHotels provides innovative end-to-end services across the entire traveller experience, notably through the recent acquisition of John Paul, world leader in concierge services. With an unmatched collection of brands and rich history spanning close to five decades, AccorHotels, along with its global team of more than 250,000 dedicated women and men, has a purposeful and heartfelt mission: to make every guest Feel Welcome. Guests enjoy access to one of the worlds most rewarding hotel loyalty programs - Le Club AccorHotels. AccorHotels is active in its local communities and committed to sustainable development and solidarity through PLANET 21, a comprehensive program that brings together employees, guests and partners to drive sustainable growth. Accor SA is publicly listed with shares trading on the Euronext Paris exchange (ISIN code: FR0000120404) and the OTC marketplace (Code: ACRFY) in the United States. For more information and reservations visit accorhotels.group or accorhotels.com. Or become a fan and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.With Mercure, AccorHotels offers hotels that are all different and locally inspired. Mercure is the only midscale hotel brand that combines the strength of an international network with a strong quality commitment and the warm experience of hotels that are rooted in their local community. Mercure hotels are managed by enthusiastic hoteliers and welcome business and leisure travelers across the world. Mercure has over 740 hotels in 55 countries. They are ideally located in city centers, by the sea or in the mountains. AccorHotels is a world-leading travel & lifestyle group and digital innovator offering unique experiences in more than 4,100 hotels, resorts and residences, as well as in over 3,000 of the finest private homes around the globe. mercure.com By Lily Lee | Published on 2017/07/19 | Source Actor Lee Kwang-soo's secretive good deed was revealed and many people are praising the actor's good heart. Advertisement According to the OSEN News, Lee Kwang-soo have been donating a large amount of money for patients with financial difficulties. In 2015 and 2016, he donated 50 thousand dollars each, total nearly 100 thousand dollars to Seoul Asan Medical Center. Lee Kwang-soo's donation is being used for the hospital's children patients who are under 19 years old and have been struggling with their medical bills. The actor have always been the first in line to help out the needy, as he volunteers in many campaigns and volunteer work with Unicef. As his good deed in secrecy comes to the light, we hope to learn from his example. By. Lily Lee Pickerings Gin and Edinburgh Festival Fringe toast 70 years with limited edition By Lisa Riley Craft distiller Pickering's Gin has teamed up with Edinburgh Festival Fringe to celebrate their joint 70th anniversaries with a limited edition bottle of its Bombay spirit. Available now, the one-off run of 650 bottles has been distilled precisely to the original Bombay gin recipe exactly 70 years on from its creation, with the label featuring distinctive Edinburgh Festival Fringe labelling. Pickerings co-founder, Matt Gammell, said the distillery was confident the old recipe, which includes cinnamon, would be a gratefully received by fans of the gin and Fringe alike. We know how important heritage, dedication and time is when it comes to making good gin and the same could be said when explaining the success of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The limited edition Pickering's Original 1947 gin is available to buy (rsp: 29.95/70cl) via the Pickerings Gin website. The old Bombay recipe came into the possession of the distillerys founders Gammell and Marcus Pickering, in 2013. In the years since, the small central Edinburgh distillery the first exclusive gin distillery to be established in the Scottish capital for more than 150 years - has brought Bombay-style gin back to life by modernising, ageing, distilling, bottling, labelling and waxing a range of gins by hand. Tesco launches Copestick Murray collaboration By Jo Gilbert Tesco is launching historic Hungarian wine Talisman Bulls Blood into the UK market via a partnership with distributor Copestick Murray. This week, the UKs largest wine retailer will launch the rich and contemporary wine in stores nationally and online with the hope of widening the wines appeal to a UK audience. Tesco said the launch is a continuation of an 18-month push to develop the breadth of its wine range. Bulls Blood, or Egri Bikaver as it is formally known, is one of Hungarys flagship wines and could date back as far as 1552. The retailer has worked with Copestick Murray, which have established links in Eastern European wines, to develop new range under the Talisman brand in the hopes of elevating the relatively low awareness of this wine in the UK. Tesco wine buyer Jennifer Shaw, said: In line with growing trends, we are excited to be expanding our range of Eastern European wines with Copestick Murray. Im sure the story and quality of Talisman Bulls Blood will be popular with our customers, and were pleased to be able to offer more choice in this category. Robin Copestick, managing director at Copestick Murray added: We are very excited to be working in collaboration with Tesco to launch Talisman Bulls Blood to the UK market. We have given this fantastic wine a mystical and stylish design to make it more appealing and relevant to a wider audience. Copestick Murray worked with Torley, one of Hungarys oldest wineries, to develop the wine, which carries a RRP of 6. Robert Kukla announces UK office By Lisa Riley German freight forwarders Robert Kukla has officially opened a UK subsidiary focused on beverage logistics. The new head office, situated in Brentwood, Essex, marks the companys first UK-based arm and signaled Kuklas largest subsidiary in terms of investment and potential, said the business. The UK subsidiary is headed up by former commercial director of JF Hillebrand, Steve Wood. He is joined by a trio of senior staff a commercial director Lynda Simms, an operations director Martin Jacobs, and a general manager Hannah Webb. Having until recently formed part of one of the industrys leading" wine and beverage logistics providers, the trio brought a wealth of experience to the new company, which has been in the process of being set up since April this year, but was only now in a position to announce itself. Operations commenced with the takeover of the German parent companys existing transport business in the UK, ensuring that the newly established business was not starting from scratch. We have the logistical operations, the knowledge and our contacts across Europe to hit the ground running, said Wood, adding the UK subsidiary would provide a unique service with a real hands-on professional approach. One of our first jobs has been to establish close relationships with Kuklas other local operations so we can offer new clients a strong European network of freight services. Robert Kukla has similar subsidiaries in Stockholm, Breda, Bilbao, Genoa and Moscow. So, in simple terms, what does an employer need to remember? Before stepping into the breach, consider whether there is a valid reason for dismissal. Be able to clearly articulate that reason and ensure that the reason is supported by evidence before making a final decision. It is often the case that the reason relied upon by the employer is undermined by evidence that later comes to light during the legal process. Ensure that the decision-makers are clear on the reason for dismissal and that the reason is proven and supported. The fundamental requirement is one of process. Was there a proper, soundly based performance management process? That involves explaining to the employee the issue with their performance, allowing them an opportunity to improve before revisiting the issue, and assessing whether or not improvements have occurred. If it was an issue of misconduct, was a proper investigation or fact-finding process undertaken and conclusions formed based on sound facts and evidence? Is dismissal fair in all the circumstances? In large part, this often relates back to process. If performance is the issue, the Fair Work Commission will consider whether the employee was afforded a fair go all round. Were they given a genuine chance to improve, and did they clearly understand that failure to improve could lead to dismissa? This is a really important step to be able to verify. Whether or not a policy applied to the issue in question, also relevant to this issue is whether the employee knew about and followed the policy. If an employer has a policy it must follow it. Failure to follow policies is a common mistake made by employers. The issue of whether the dismissal is harsh in all the circumstances needs to be considered. That is, does the punishment fit the crime? This is often an area that employers struggle with. The best way to mitigate risk is to ensure that the decision-maker actually records that he/she has considered issues that may add to the harshness of a decision to dismiss, such as a very lengthy period of service, a previously unblemished record, treatment of other employees in the same circumstances, or some other consideration of the personal circumstances of the employee. Above are the four fundamental dos, so what are the donts? Never construct a reason for dismissal that is not the real reason. Never fail to follow a clear and fair process. Dont ignore factors such as length of service and disciplinary record. COMING OUT IN FRONT There is no way to manage the risk of unfair dismissal claims away entirely. However, by following fair processes and relying upon clearly articulated reasons for dismissal, not only is the chance of a claim reduced but the ability to defend a claim and refuse to settle is greatly increased. Lastly, always conduct dismissals in a dignified, respectful manner. If an employer wants to dismiss an employee, the reason for that decision needs to be genuine and the one communicated to the employee. Very often we see situations where, as a consequence mainly of frustration, a quick decision to terminate is made and performance problems are constructed. This will always unravel in Commission proceedings.Process failings are perhaps the most common reason for successful unfair dismissal claims. Take care with process and seek advice as appropriateWhere the conduct is objectively serious, these factors will be discounted, but they still need to be considered. In general terms, decisions of the Commission tend to allow employees a chance, rather than accept that dismissal is an appropriate outcome. On that issue, be sure to consider alternatives to dismissal and record your consideration of them before making a decision. Would demotion, transfer or counselling be a more appropriate outcome in all the circumstances?In my experience, the more that an employee feels humiliated by the manner of the dismissal, the more likely a claim will arise. Hold meetings and discussions in private areas and in a manner and tone that demonstrates you understand how serious an impact this decision will have on the employees personal life. There is rarely a need to have security escort an employee off the premises, and wherever possible this type of overt, humiliating experience should be avoided. This does reduce the likelihood of a claim. There is no way to manage the risk of unfair dismissal claims away entirely. However, by following fair processes and relying upon clearly articulated reasons for dismissal, not only is the chance of a claim reduced but the ability to defend a claim and refuse to settle is greatly increased. Always remember that you will need evidence to properly manage the risk of claims, so ensure that all of these factors can be supported by notes, forms and other types of evidence. The process itself will always remain a difficult one because of emotion, but the legal risk can be effectively managed. Alice DeBoos is a partner and global practice area leader of the Labour, Employment & Workplace Safety team at K&L Gates. Case strategy In this case, we wanted the FWC to accept the following statements: a) Existing Sunday penalty rates were the key reason retail employers limited available hours, and therefore limited employment opportunities b) People work on Sundays for a variety of reasons, and despite the fact that reducing Sunday penalties would have a negative impact on employees, the existing penalty was over-compensating them for the disabilities associated with Sunday work. c) And finally, at least part of the reduction in Sunday rates would be offset by additional hours offered to existing employees. To make these arguments we needed evidence, and traditionally it has been difficult to find enough employers prepared to step forward to provide it. To counter this challenge we would develop common threads between expert, survey and individual employer evidence to enable us to put our contentions to the FWC in a compelling way. Case conduct We commenced with an expert report on identifying what retail employers were currently doing with Sunday rostering and how this would change if the penalty rate was reduced. Next we collaborated with other parties to present survey evidence to support this report and presented direct evidence from retail employers across a variety of geographical locations, size and retail categories. Armed with this we presented our arguments based on the common threads arising from this evidence, and the FWC accepted them. We also needed to address the issue of employee preferences and the problems employees associated with Sunday work, knowing the unions would present a vast amount of evidence regarding this. In addition, we needed to convince the FWC that reducing the Sunday penalty rate would not cause the industry difficulties in sourcing sufficient employees prepared to work on Sundays at that reduced rate. Abella Travel Pty Ltd and one of its directors are facing court for allegedly requiring an overseas employee to pay back more than $20,000 of her wages. Moreover, the company is accused of proposing to enter into a similar cashback scheme with a second worker. The company, which operates travel agencies in both Melbourne and Korea, and director Joung Hyung Lee are facing action in the Federal Circuit Court in relation to the allegations. It is claimed that the company told the workers, both Korean nationals, that the cashback arrangements were a condition of their 457 visa sponsorship, according to the Fair Work Ombudsman. Further, it is alleged that Abella Travel underpaid the two workers a total of more than $17,000 and provided false and misleading records to the FWO. The FWO investigated the matter after receiving requests for assistance from the two workers. The first employee was allegedly told she had to pay the company back sums ranging from $289 to $387 in cash each week for approximately one year. The employee complied with this demand, allegedly resulting in cashback payments totalling $20,854 during the course of her employment. The second worker was allegedly told by Lee that when her application for a 457 visa was approved, she would be paid a full salary of $59,000 per year but would be required to pay back $19,000 per year. While this arrangement did not eventuate because the employee did not receive 457 visa approval, the FWO claims that the alleged proposed arrangement still constitutes a contravention of the Fair Work Act. It is alleged that in addition to the cashback schemes, the employer failed to pay the workers' applicable wage, penalty and overtime rates as well as leave entitlements. In total, it is alleged that the workers are owed $38,328. The company has back-paid $6,505.94 to the workers, with $31,822.12 outstanding. This matter was not the first time that Abella Travel had come to the agencys attention, according to the Acting Fair Work Ombudsman Mark Scully. In 2014, the company entered into an Enforceable Undertaking (EU) with the Fair Work Ombudsman after being found to have underpaid an employee, also a Korean national, more than $4,200 and failing to meet recordkeeping and payslip requirements. Repeated interactions with my agency mean this employer is aware of their workplace obligations in relation to wage rates, leave entitlements and record keeping requirements, said Scully. Visa holders are entitled to the same minimum rates and conditions as Australian workers. The fact that we have previously put this employer on notice and the vulnerable status of the employees as visa-holders were significant factors in the decision to commence legal action in this case. Scully added that the incident was the latest in a series of cases brought before the courts by the agency that involve alleged cashback schemes. I am concerned that cashback schemes are being utilised by unscrupulous operators in an attempt to get around record keeping laws and disguise serious underpayment of wages, said Scully. A sales employee with a technology vendor encouraged to use their LinkedIn profile to identify and engage prospective clients, who unknowingly reveals commercially sensitive information to a prospect about to join a competitor; A divisional head with a professional services firm encouraged to share internal thought leadership content with their Twitter network, only to provide the wrong response to a question outside their area of expertise that leads to litigation; or An HR manager with a bank actively reviewing and reaching out to candidates on LinkedIn, who receives a deluge of personal abuse from disgruntled applicants when a planned hiring program is shelved. All leverage an employees built network, all could lead to negative consequences to both the individual and organisation, and yet all fall in a grey area around whos responsible. But, really, for any employee from any industry encouraged to share corporate information, news or campaigns via their own personal social media profiles, the same risks exist. In an effort to deliver cost-effective reach for corporate messages, any individual is now exposed to comments, questions, complaints or at worst abuse they are likely ill-equipped to manage. When leveraging staff social media advocacy, are organisations inadvertently putting their people and themselves at risk? Mindset change is required to drive performance and mitigate social media risk This is not a question of if but when. Propel recently worked with a large financial services organisation that, in leveraging staff advocacy and networks, met concern and confusion from staff right up to the board level. In the rush to harness the potential of employees referral networks they overlooked just how much training and support would be required once responses came back. But while technical skills are often the source of blame, they are very rarely the root cause: mindset is. Training should never simply focus on what staff should do in social media, but why. Focusing on what (e.g. Please post this on your own social media channels.) creates problems and reduces the role of social to one of information distribution only. It removes purpose, relevance, context and authenticity all key elements when doing business in the digital age. If staff from the shop floor to the boardroom understand the importance of building community and rapport with people online, the two-way dynamic of value exchange, and the realities of trolling, they will be in a much stronger position to drive performance and mitigate risk. As attempts to harness the potential of networks and channels increase, its worth considering what your own organisational mindset is around social. Are you heading towards risk or return? Case Study: the ABCs Social Media Self-Defence Training Course Rod McGuinness understands first-hand the pressures of working in the shadows of social media abuse. Over the past six-and-a-half years, Rod has worked closely with presenters and producers to manage the real and unavoidable presence of cyberbullying as ABC Radios Social Media Lead. But while acknowledging trolling is sadly a part of broadcast life, several years ago Rod decided to introduce a program to help relevant ABC staff manage its threat and impact on their wellbeing. The ABCs Social Media Self-Defence Training Course is one of the few corporate responses to roll its sleeves up and focus on management, empowerment and practical guidance for staff, rather than policy measures designed to protect corporate reputation. Whilst the benefits of being active on social media are great, there are also serious implications on many platforms where ABC staff receive threatening messages, cyberhate and violent or explicit content in the form of images and/or texts. We have a duty of care to support our staff that experience this in the workplace and it is from that starting point that we developed a Social Media Self-Defence Training Course. It identifies types of abusive and threatening behaviour, legal implications and the ongoing management and self-care of all staff working online. It has been going for more than three years now, it is evolving as the platforms and users do, and its something Im very proud of as part of my role at the ABC, Mr McGuinness said. A lower employment rate, in turn, would erode the tax base and consequently compromise the funding of public services and social security benefits, he argues in a column published on the website of the Ministry of Finance on Tuesday . The introduction of a basic income system would inevitably reduce the rate of employment in Finland, warns Martti Hetemaki, the permanent state secretary at the Ministry of Finance. Hetemaki instead expresses his support for the needs-based social security systems in place in the Nordics. What all the basic income models have in common is that the income recipient would no longer have to be available to the labour markets. They would not have to find a job, even if jobs were available. No one would have to take the cleaning, nursing and restaurant jobs that are currently available in exchange for basic income, writes Hetemaki. [The Social Insurance Institution of Finland] Kela would in the future probably cover the rental costs of those without any earnings up to the municipality-specific limits. Hetemaki calculates that for one-person households the housing benefits and the 488-euro basic social allowance would add up to monthly tax-free earnings of roughly 1,0001,200 euros while imposing no obligations on the recipient. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), he points out, concluded in a recent study that a universal basic income would not only increase total social security costs but also fail to reduce poverty as the basic income would fall short of the total received in needs-based benefits by low-income households today. Nordic social security systems strive to take into account differences in the situations of people. This inevitably makes the systems more complicated. The cost of simplifying them could include increases in costs and poverty, says Hetemaki. He also says he doubts that replacing a handful of the current benefits with a universal basic income would simplify the benefit system significantly. Hetemaki believes it is crucial that the social security system is developed in a way that promotes employment. He is therefore lukewarm also about the notion of a participation income floated recently by a research group headed by Heikki Hiilamo, a professor of social policy at the University of Helsinki. Hiilamos proposal would allow the recipients to participate in third-sector activities in exchange for the income. Hetemaki also points out that all unemployment security systems are inevitably associated with two conflicts of interest: first, at what point are the benefits sufficient to provide livelihood while encouraging employment and, second, at what point does the system allow the recipients sufficient time to find employment while promoting a quick return to the labour force. The optimal unemployment security system seeks to address both of these conflicts of interest; the basic income neither of them. Basic and participation income systems will lead to a lower employment rate when compared to a system that obliges and encourages people to find jobs and use employment services. A lower employment rate will erode the public economy and thereby also public services and benefits. A higher employment rate is needed due to population ageing, summarises Hetemaki. Aleksi Teivainen HT Photo: Martti Kainulainen Lehtikuva Source: Uusi Suomi Minister of the Interior Paula Risikko (NCP) has repeatedly proposed that the annual quota be raised by 300 to 1,050, and she is expected to reiterate her demands in the governments framework session set to take place this autumn. There is no reason to raise the refugee quota in Finland, insists Simon Elo, the chairperson of the New Alternative Parliamentary Group. Both Prime Minister Juha Sipila (Centre) and Minister of Finance Petteri Orpo (NCP) have expressed their tentative support for the proposal. Elo and Sampo Terho (NA), the Minister of European Affairs, Culture and Sports, have contrastively rejected calls for raising the refugee quota. 750 refugees a year Finland has received 750 quota refugees a year since 2001. The country raised its refugee quota to 1,050 for 2014 and 2015 due to the difficult humanitarian situation in Syria. The quota refugees welcomed to the country are selected by the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri). Minister of the Interior Paula Risikko (NCP) believes the quota should be raised by 40% to 1,050. We see no reason for raising the refugee quota, Elo states to Uusi Suomi. Finland has definitely done its part. If you think about the internal resettlements within the EU, weve done our part relative to our population and many other member states. We've got to turn our attention to the other member states that have committed to shouldering the burden, so to speak, but have yet to do so in practice. Elo believes it is time to deliver a clear message to such member states. Timo Soini (NA), the Minister for Foreign Affairs, has similarly suggested that Finland should suspend the resettlements until all other member states have followed through on their commitments. Finland has been one of the most active member states after an agreement on the resettlement scheme was found in 2015, having received more than two thirds of its target number of asylum seekers from Greece and Italy. The EU as a whole, however, has only resettled a fraction of the 160,000 asylum seekers to be resettled under the agreement by the end of September. The Independent in May wrote that no more than 40,000 asylum seekers are to be resettled by the deadline. Elo states that no discussions on raising the refugee quota should be held before the resettlements have been carried out fully. Its no use even talking about it before that, although everything is linked to everything else when it comes to the government. So, its always possible to have discussions within the government, but of course the best way to torpedo such a proposal is to do so in public, he said. Elo and Risikko have both estimated that the quota refugee system of the United Nations is the most straightforward solution to resettle people in need of international protection. Elo reminds that he has previously proposed that the refugee status determination be conducted at the refugee camps operated by the UN in the Middle East and North Africa. Thatd mean that people wouldnt have to make the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean and pay money to human smugglers, he explains. Aleksi Teivainen HT Photo: Martti Kainulainen Lehtikuva Source: Uusi Suomi Country United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Cuba, Republic of Dominican Republic Haiti, Republic of Jamaica Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei 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Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe Former EastEnders actor Paul Nicholls has said he is "lucky to be alive" after breaking his leg falling from a waterfall in Koh Samui in Thailand. The 38-year-old spent three days trapped in a rock pool at the bottom of Khun Si falls on the island before being discovered by rescuers. He fell from the top of the waterfall in the jungle and was found after a local saw his abandoned rental motorbike. Broken Nicholls, best known for playing Joe Wicks in EastEnders in the 1990s, said: "I am lucky to be alive. I had a phone with me, but I fell from such a height into the water it was unretrievable. "It took such a long time to find me. It's an understatement to say it wasn't a great situation. "It wasn't that I was lost. The problem was I couldn't move to get out of there." Nicholls said his leg is broken and that he is "missing a kneecap" which needs "complete reconstruction". According to the report, police managed to trace the rental bike back to Nicholls' real name, Gerrard Paul Greenhalgh. In video footage, Nicholls is seen being carried out on a stretcher by an emergency team as he cries out in pain. A "high-risk" high-kicks manoeuvre by a professional dancer in a Dublin nightclub caused her to fall off a chair and injure her back, a judge decided yesterday when he threw out her 60,000 damages claim. Mother-of-three Jekaterina Bulgakova (33) claimed in the Circuit Civil Court that the uneven placing of mats under the chair on which she performed had made it unstable. Ms Bulgakova, of Swords Road, Malahide, Co Dublin, told her counsel Noel Cosgrove that the mats had been placed on stage to mask an overspill of baby oil used by body builders the night before her accident in August 2014. She sued nightclub owners Wrights Cafe Bar, Airside, Swords, for damages for personal injuries on the grounds staff had been negligent in placing the mats and causing an instability to her stage prop. Barrister Shane English, counsel for the nightclub, told Judge James O'Donohoe that Ms Bulgakova had performed a manoeuvre that had put herself in danger and had been responsible for her own fall. Mr English, who appeared with Gore and Grimes, said the nightclub owners were unaware even today of whether or not a thin mat had been placed on stage under the chair and suggested it would have made practically no difference to its stability. Unstable Ms Bulgakova, who had worked weekends at the club for five years, earning 100 a night, said that with her bottom resting on the seat of the chair she had thrown her legs in the air and had finished up draping them over the back of the chair. She said the chair had become unstable and had wobbled. She had fallen backwards on to the floor, which she had hit feet first although in a backwards bending position. She told Mr English she had not gone back to work at the club following the accident. Judge O'Donohoe said he had viewed "unsatisfactory" video evidence of Ms Bulgakova's fall, but it had shown her coming in contact with the stage floor. "She is clear and I think she has established that there was a matted area underneath her chair following a baby oil spillage on the night before the accident and claims her fall had been caused by the destabilisation of the chair," Judge O'Donohoe said. Dismissing her claim with an order for costs in favour of the nightclub, Judge O'Donohoe said he was satisfied, despite accepting there was an area of matting under the chair, that no negligence could be attached to the club. "I accept she has had an injury to her back and that there was no element of fraud," he told Mr English. "However, her manoeuvres were so high risk the defendant cannot be reasonably expected to have been in a position to prevent such an accident." A tribute left by the daughter of Dermot Byrne Poignant messages of love and devotion adorned a shrine to murder victim Dermot Byrne in Swords yesterday. The stone steps at Fingal Community College, where the battered businessman was discovered in the early hours of Sunday, were covered in candles, flowers and balloons. The victim's daughter Rebecca wrote a message on a red balloon, saying: "Dad, I wish you weren't taken so soon. I love you so much." Remembered Another daughter, Shawna, wrote on a different balloon: "To Dad, You were one in a million. Love you." The father-of-three was also remembered with a third balloon that bore the message: "Dad, you're the best." Mr Byrne (56), a director of Intercontinental, a wholesale bicycle company based in Finglas, is believed to have been the innocent victim of a street assault by a group of individuals. He was beaten, stripped naked, and left to die. Despite the efforts of emergency services and paramedics, he died at the scene. He lived in Swords, and formerly at Glasnevin Avenue in Dublin. Gardai are treating the death of the highly-respected businessman as murder. Up to half-a-dozen men are expected to be arrested in the coming days. "Dermot, you were an absolute gent. The world is a sad place without you," said another message that was left on the stone steps. Another declared: "Lovely neighbour. Taken tragically. Rest in peace." Shawna took to Facebook to appeal for information on her father's death. "I can't even begin to describe the pain and devastation that has hit our family," she wrote. "Please, if anyone has any information please contact the guards." Release A Garda investigation is continuing following the release of a career criminal on Tuesday. While a file on the south Dublin man, who has more than 60 previous convictions, will now be prepared for the DPP, sources say officers have also identified a number of other young men who were allegedly involved in the incident. "This murder is considered a joint enterprise, which would have made it very difficult to charge just one person in relation to it," said a source. Gardai have frozen 60,000 in a bank account and seized a passport for a sulky racing horse valued at around 25,000 in a major operation targeting a west Dublin crime organisation. The Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) is clamping down on the activities of a number of organised drugs mobs including a gang known as 'The Family' and their associates in the Kinahan cartel. The chief target of yesterday's operation was a 33-year-old Cherry Orchard criminal who was heavily involved in a bitter feud in the Ballyfermot area which led to four murders almost a decade ago. Sources say the criminal is one of the most prolific drug traffickers in west Dublin and has linked up with the infamous 'Family' who are understood to have aligned themselves to the Kinahans. Jewellery Local officers are understood to have spent months compiling a dossier on the drug dealer who was centrally involved in the feud that led to the murder of the notorious Corbally brothers in 2010. The carefully compiled dossier led to a special operation yesterday morning in which five locations were searched in the Ballyfermot, Finglas and Ballyboughal areas of Dublin and in Courtown, Co Wexford. A garda spokesman said a horsebox was seized together with assorted items of jewellery and documents. Detectives have yet to locate the valuable horse linked to the gangster at the centre of the raid but the seizure of the animal's passport means it can't be taken out of the country. It is believed that jewellery linked to the gangster's wife was also seized in the raids. The CAB target cannot be named for legal reasons as he is facing serious charges before the courts. Sources said last night that the drug dealer and an older associate, one of Ireland's most feared criminals, had formed an alliance with 'The Family', one of Ireland's longest-standing drug-trafficking gangs. A younger associate of the target was busted last year when the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (DOCB) seized around 100k from the thug in the capital's south inner city. The CAB target is suspected of being involved in a murder attempt against slain crimelord Mark 'Guinea Pig' Desmond at the Memorial Park in Ballyfermot in 2010 with the same criminal who was busted with the cash last year. Desmond escaped injury in that incident but was murdered in Lucan last December as part of a separate west Dublin feud. Yesterday's CAB raids were part of a sustained operation against 'The Family' which included the seizure last month of more than 1m worth of assets, including luxury watches and high-end cars. Feud Although 'The Family' has connections with members of the Kinahan cartel, it is not involved in that outfit's feud with the Hutch gang, which has claimed the lives of 12 people in less than two years. MARION, Va. It was a projection for Smyth County in the 1930s with a name called Southwest Virginia State Park. That would become Hungry Mother State Park by the time facilities opened in 1936. And it would arrive thanks to an army of young boys known as the nations Civilian Conservation Corps. In about two and a half years time, the work on Hungry Mother Lake was done, and the park was open for business, write authors Joe and Patty Elton in a new book, Civilian Conservation Corps in Virginia: Images of America (Arcadia, 2017, $21.99). The Eltons include striking before-and-after photos in their pictorial history, displaying postcards that show how the lake at the park near Marion was once just a field with rolls of hay. This 128-page book also tells how the entire state parks system in Virginia was launched on a single day. The grand opening of the Virginia State Parks System was a big deal, the Eltons write. Hungry Mother was chosen for the event because its development was further along. Officials from the federal and state government had to be impressed with the throng of citizens, estimated to be more than 5,000, who made the trip from all across the state for the momentous occasion. What was impressive: the stonework, dam, beach and cabins built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) during the depths of the Depression. The CCC was the antidote for a nation suffering from the Great Depression, the Eltons write. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt established the CCC within weeks after taking office in 1933. Men of the Civilian Conservation Corps, I think of you as a visible token of encouragement to the whole country, Roosevelt said. You nearly 300,000 strong are evidence that the nation is still strong enough and broad enough to look after its citizens. You are evidence that we are seeking to get away as fast as we can from soup kitchens and free rations, because the government is paying you wages and maintaining you for actual work. And thats what the CCC did: work. Especially when it came to building the substantial dam that would make the lake in Marion, the Eltons write. It would require expert engineering and quality construction if it were to serve generations of users as was hoped. And it has served generations in more ways than one. Hungry Mother State Park is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, as are all CCC-built state parks in Virginia, the Eltons write. Given their historical significance, future developments of these parks must be consistent with the CCC design. UPDATE: The northbound Interstate 81 Exit off-ramp will now close from midnight July 31 to approximately Aug. 14. The date has been pushed back due to Sunday night's weather conditions. ................................................................................................... ABINGDON, Va. The northbound Interstate 81 Exit 14 off-ramp will close from midnight July 27 to approximately Aug. 11 to allow for construction. The near 15-day closure will allow for the development of the new northbound I-81 travel lanes next to the northbound off-ramp and the completion of the northbound Exit 14 off-ramp. Closing off the exit is necessary to perform grading work, guardrail installation, asphalt placement, drainage work, barrier wall installation and application of new pavement markings and markers, according to a news release from the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). Travelers will have access to the Exit 14 and Old Jonesboro Road area via a detour at Exit 13, using Spring Creek Road and Route 11 for an entry way to Old Jonesboro Road. Additionally, the blue logo signs for businesses located at Exit 14 will be moved to Exit 13 to assist travelers in reaching their destinations along Jonesboro Road. This two-week closure runs parallel to the 69th annual Virginia Highlands Festival that will run from July 28 to Aug. 6 in Abingdon, Virginia. The Antiques Market will open on July 29. Becky Caldwell, executive director of the Virginia Highlands Festival, was only made aware of the Exit 14 closure on July 17. Were not really thrilled this is happening. We would have liked to be consulted, Caldwell said. However, Caldwell understands that the construction calendar cannot be planned 100 percent around events. I think people should just embrace that the highway is going to be a disaster and just come to Abingdon, park your car and enjoy the festival, she said. The festival has worked very closely with VDOT to have plenty of signage available to direct people to the various events. There will be plenty of message boards on I-81, specifically for Virginia Highlands Festival-goers to assist with using Exit 13 and Route 11, VDOT Bristol communications manager Michelle Earl said. Caldwell said the highest concern regarding the festival is the Antiques Market. We are really one of the last remaining antique markets of our kind in the nation, she said. So we are very concerned with this highway issue and just hope that everyone will follow the signs and take the scenic route through Exit 13 to the [Southwest Virginia] Higher Education Center. There will be signs to direct people to take Exit 13 for Lee Highway to get to the market. Additionally, the festival is providing a trolley service for visitors. People can park at the Higher Ed Center, Heartwood or Roses (off of Exit 19) and ride on a trolley into downtown Abingdon. While people still might be in traffic on the trolley, at least theyre not driving, Caldwell said. The closure of Exit 14 is a part of the entire construction project. In late 2015, W-L Construction & Paving, of Chilhowie, Virginia, was awarded a $29 million contract to reconstruct the I-81 Exit 14 interchange in Abingdon, Virginia, according to Earl. The contract covers the replacement of the two interstate bridges over Route 674 [Old Jonesboro Road] modification of Dennison Drive, separation of the northbound exit and entrance ramp, adding signals at the ramp intersections and widening Old Jonesboro Road, according to Earl. Construction began in January 2016 and is projected to be completed by the fall of 2018. Questions or concerns regarding the closure can be addressed by emailing bristolinfo@vdot.virginia.gov or calling VDOT Communications at 276-696-3283. BRISTOL, Va. The Supreme Court of Virginia is expected to hear a complaint against Juvenile and Domestic Relations Judge Kurt Pomrenke in October. The improper conduct complaint was submitted to the court July 10 by the state Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission. The following day, the court established a series of filing deadlines in the case, including requiring Pomrenke to file his answer to the complaint by Aug. 1, the court order shows. All parties must agree on the information to be included in the case by mid-August, and both the petitioner and respondent must file all briefs by Oct. 13. The case is set for hearing during the Supreme Courts October session, which is scheduled from Oct. 30 through Nov. 3, the order shows. Pomrenkes attorney, John E. Lichtenstein, said Wednesday: Judge Pomrenke is deeply committed to his work as judge of the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court for the 28th District of Virginia. He has fully cooperated with this process which considers how the canons, that is the rules which apply to judges, are affected by two particular actions, personal to the judge, and not related to cases before him or in his court. Judge Pomrenke looks forward to the opportunity to address this matter before the court. Pomrenke was embroiled in controversy last year during the federal corruption trial of his wife, Stacey Pomrenke, the former chief financial officer of BVU Authority. At that time, federal prosecutors sought to have both found in contempt for contacting prospective trial witnesses in the weeks before her trial began. Last June, following Stacey Pomrenkes conviction on 14 felony counts, federal prosecutors named Kurt Pomrenke a suspect of possible contempt of court, obstruction of justice and witness tampering. Prosecutors sought and received access to Stacey Pomrenkes personal email account, but no charges were ever filed against her husband. At that time, officials released the audio recording of a telephone message Kurt Pomrenke left on the voice mail of a BVU employee who worked for his wife, urging her to say positive things. The woman ultimately wasnt called to testify. When youre testifying in that trial, there might be a couple things you could do that would really help Stacey, Kurt Pomrenke said on the voice message. If you could kind of slip in, when you have a chance, little remarks like how Stacey did a great job or Stacey really took care of the employees or Stacey is just honest. Any kind of little comments you can make to support her. Stacey was the one who really looked out for the employees or just something like that even though its not directly in response to a question if you could figure out a way to do that, I really think that would help and make a huge difference. Sorry youre caught up in this, but we feel real good about the outcome and sure appreciate your help. Thank you. Bye. Last year, prosecutors also produced a note, written by Kurt Pomrenke to current BVU CEO Don Bowman in fall 2015, thanking Bowman for his support. Pomrenke also expressed his belief that his wife would be found innocent. Last August, Judge James P. Jones didnt find Kurt Pomrenke in contempt but did find his wife in contempt and sentenced her to two additional months in prison for sending an email to five potential witnesses a few days before her trial began. Pomrenke serves the 28th Juvenile and Domestic Relations judicial district, which includes the city of Bristol, Smyth and Washington counties. He was appointed to the bench in July 2013. ABINGDON, Va. Employees of the Virginia Highlands Small Business Incubator including Abingdon Mayor Cathy Lowe, who is the incubators director arent eligible to receive benefits from the Virginia Retirement System, so VRS will refund contributions paid to the town on behalf of current and past employees. It will be up to the incubator board to determine what type of retirement program will be established to reinvest employee retirement dollars, Lowe told the Bristol Herald Courier Wednesday night. VRS officials declared that the incubators employees were not eligible to receive retirement benefits in a July 12 letter to Washington County Board Supervisor Vernon Smith, who requested an opinion. Incubator employees arent eligible, the letter states, because the incubator is not considered an employer, as defined in 51.1-124.3 of the Code of Virginia. This definition allows the state, public school boards, and political subdivisions of the Commonwealth to participate in VRS. In order for VHSBI to be a qualifying employer, it would have to be a political subdivision, the letter states. The letter goes on to say that to be considered a political subdivision, an organization must have been created by or under an act of the Virginia General Assembly. A conference call took place at 4 p.m. Wednesday between incubator officials and VRS to determine how to allocate refunds. Incubator Vice President Michael Spiegler, board member Michael McCool and Lowe were joined on the call to VRS by Abingdon Treasurer Chuck Banner and Human Resources Director Stacey Reicher. The call was made to discuss how to proceed to refund the incubator for the past and present employees contributions [to VRS] without employee tax ramification, Lowe said prior to the call. It is to do everything properly, to make sure we unwind this properly for everyone involved. Four incubator employees have been in the VRS system former Executive Director Jason Berry, former employee Randy Berry, current administrative assistant and board secretary Jennifer Davidson, and Lowe and all were under the impression they were eligible to do so, according to Lowe. Berry now serves as the Washington County administrator. When the incubator concept was founded, the Town of Abingdon employed the first person overseeing the grant for the development of the incubator, Lowe said. Thats how it all got started. In 1999, a partnership that started with the city of Bristol, Washington County and Abingdon stated that Abingdon would facilitate the salary and benefits of the incubators employees, Town Manager Greg Kelly said. Bristol is no longer in the partnership. In minutes from the Oct. 30, 2013, incubator board meeting, Town Attorney Deborah Icenhour and Kelly made a presentation to the board to answer legal questions that had been raised regarding VRS benefits for incubator employees. The question: Is it legal for employees of VHSBI a nonprofit corporation to be part of the VRS system. Icenhour and Kelly described the process and explained to the board how and why the incubators employees are eligible, according to the Oct. 30 minutes. Smith became aware of this formality when he was reviewing the Washington County 2017-18 fiscal year budget that started on July 1. During the budget process, we have a lot of nonprofits organizations asking for money. I always do my own investigations; I have to determine if they really need it or if they want it, Smith told the Bristol Herald Courier. The incubator received its requested funding of $88,512, which was approved in a 4-3 vote. Smith discovered that incubator employees are filed as employees with the town. That seemed odd to me, Smith said. A Memorandum of Agreement between Abingdon and the incubator from Nov. 4, 2013, states that incubator employees are not employees of the town. The agreement was made as the incubator was in need of a facility to administer and disperse on behalf of the Incubator the wages and benefits of the Incubators employees, which the town agreed to do, it states. Under number four in the Recitals section of the agreement, it reads: The Parties further agree that the Incubators employees are not employees of the Town and that this MOA and the Services to be provided do not create an employer/employee relationship between the Town and the employees of the Incubator and that this MOA is a mere accommodation to assist the Incubator in administering its payroll and benefits. On April 20, Smith sent VRS a letter stating that two employees of the incubator are enrolled in the retirement system, receiving the same benefits as those received by town employees even though they are not employees of the town, according to the letter. Smith asked whether employees of a nonprofit are entitled to the same benefits as government employees. VRS cannot identify an act of the Virginia General Assembly that created VHSBI or that specified its powers, privileges, or authority. Therefore, VHSBI is not a political subdivision eligible for participation in VRS, and VHSBI employees are not eligible for VRS benefits, the VRS letter states. None of the incubator employees have received any benefits because no one has retired, according to VRS Public Relations Director Jeanne Chenault. A member enrolled in VRS contributes 5 percent from their salary every pay period, according to Chenault. What we will be doing is crediting back the employer [Abingdon] all of the [incubator] money, she said. We will completely unwind them [the VHSBI employees] as if they were never a part of retirement system. When VRS receives the contributions, there is no differentiation between where each person is employed, Chenault said. Every dollar that went into VRS when it came from the town [Abingdon] was reimbursed by the incubator, Kelly said. The funds will ultimately go back to those who paid on their behalf either directly to them or into another retirement fund, Kelly said. KINGSPORT, Tenn. Wellmont Health System and Mountain Empire Community College signed an agreement on Wednesday at Holston Valley Hospital in Kingsport, Tennessee, that could raise the number of nursing students by 20 every year. The initiative between the health system and the Virginia Appalachian Tricollege Nursing Program at MECC in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, will enable students to obtain an associates degree in nursing, qualifying them to take the licensure exam to become Registered Nurses upon their graduation. Dr. Lisa Smithgall, Holston Valleys vice president of patient care services, said the collaborative agreement between the two entities will increase the number of nurses well into the future. In focusing on serving our patients, we want a comprehensive succession plan to replace nurses as they complete their careers, she said. Our agreement with MECC accomplishes our goal nicely. Dr. Kathy Mitchell, dean of the Tricollege nursing program, said the collaboration will benefit the region. For a long time, health care professionals throughout the country have talked about the shortage of registered nurses and the need to strengthen the pipeline of students choosing this field as a career, she said. We are excited to have developed this expansion of the Virginia Appalachian Tricollege Nursing Program at MECC so we can continue to meet patients needs in our area. The 20 new students who will start in the fall semester will be divided into two groups. Half of these students will start and complete their coursework and training in six semesters, while the other half will be licensed practical nurses who will complete their academic requirements and training in four semesters. A written statement from the health system said that MECC will not need to add any full-time faculty members to accommodate these students, but as part of the agreement, Wellmont will provide funds for the college to hire a part-time faculty member who will assist in the colleges simulation lab and have a role in the skills and assessment courses. The statement also said the students will receive priority consideration for nurse technician positions and registered nursing positions at Wellmont facilities. To accommodate those who need an alternative schedule, students will be able to complete their studies at the college and their clinical training at the hospital during the evening and on weekends. Mitchell said the approach will provide schedule flexibility that will allow students to take care of their other work or personal responsibilities. Let us consider the qualifications of President Trumps nominee to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Holy See: one Callista Gingrich of Virginia. She is a former clerk on the House Agriculture Committee. She is the author of childrens books about an elephant named Ellis. She sings in the choir at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. She plays French horn in City of Fairfax Band. And, she testified Tuesday, she has looked at some of Pope Franciss encyclical on climate change. But really, Gingrich was receiving a confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee because of one qualification: She is married to Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House and a major backer of President Trump. And now, for his support of Trump, he is getting the ultimate patronage: the chance to live in Rome on the taxpayers dime while his wife, the president of Gingrich Productions, enjoys a plum posting. Newt, who converted to Catholicism several years ago, set his wife up nicely for the job by co-hosting two videos with her about Pope John Paul II, produced with a Gingrich political ally. But if it is good news for the Gingriches, it is an(other) insult to Francis from Trump, who has sparred with the pope over immigration and climate change. Newt carried on a six-year extramarital affair with Callista in the 1990s when she, 23 years his junior, was a House staffer and he, as speaker, led the impeachment of Bill Clinton over his extramarital affair with an intern. National Catholic Reporters Michael Sean Winters called it astonishing that a party that celebrates family values at every turn has a president who is on his third wife and who has bragged about his extramarital affairs and who is appointing an ambassador to the Vatican who had a six-year affair with her future husband while he was still married to his second wife. The nomination of Callista is also Trumps beatification of Newt, who has done as much as anyone to coarsen American politics and to pave the way for Trump with his name-calling, demonizing and brinkmanship. All presidents reward supporters with patronage. New York Jets owner Woody Johnson will be our man in London. On Gingrichs panel Tuesday was George Glass, a big Trump donor, tapped to be ambassador to Portugal though he doesnt speak Portuguese. But the choice of Callista Gingrich is another category of cronyism for an administration populated by friends and relations rather than appointees of merit. This has fueled the Russia scandal, stalled the agenda in Congress and made the administration seem singularly incompetent yet Republicans in Congress have been unwilling to say that this is unacceptable. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., introduced Gingrich on Tuesday by noting that she was valedictorian of her high school class. Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., who succeeded Newt in the House before moving to the Senate, declared that one of her great, great persuasive talents is to not only convince Newt to marry her, but convert him to Catholicism. Gingrich, an uncomfortable smile fixed on her face, provided, in lieu of actual answers to questions, strung-together snippets of cliches. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., asked about refugee policy, on which Francis and Trump disagree. Gingrich responded with a bromide about a deep commitment in this country to work to forward peace and stability. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., asked how she would work with the Vatican to counter extremism. Gingrich responded with a word salad about looking forward to working on those issues of our shared policy opportunities. Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., asked about the popes climate change encyclical. She responded with boilerplate about how President Trump wants to maintain that we have clean air and clean water. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., asked if she had even read the encyclical. I have looked at some of it, the witness replied. Are there pieces of it that particularly resonate for you? Well, Gingrich replied generically, I think were all called to be stewards of the land. Staffers on both sides of the committee were now grinning at the pained responses. Johnson, attempting to rehabilitate the witness, urged her to talk about her study of John Paul II and what she learned about U.S. and Vatican leadership. Gingrich retreated again to platitude: Its so important that we reach out to places like the Holy See to forward good in this world, she said. That was enough for Johnson, who pronounced her perfectly suited for this position. Perfectly situated, at least. After Parrott's lead disappears, Trone takes 6th District race Republican state Del. Neil Parrott conceded on Friday after close race. Trone to return as congressman for 6th District. HICKORY The Hickory City Council approved an agreement with the North Carolina Department of Transportation for the administration of $11,280,000 intended to go toward the citywalk bond project. The grants come from the Federal Highway Administration and will be facilitated through NCDOT. The two grants included a $2,820,000, along with the $11,280,000 in federal money. One grant, a surface transportation block grant, was $3,600,000 and requires a match of $900,000. The other grant, a transportation alternatives program grant, provides $7,680,000 with a match of $1,920,000. The city will use general obligation bonds from the bond referendum to cover the matching portion. Presenting details about the agreement to the council, Assistant City Manager Andrea Surratt said some of the major factors that helped the city obtain the grant were the pedestrian bridge over 127 and a citywalk extension that will run from Fourth Street NW to Ninth Street NW. The council will have to consider a change order to the contract with Amec Foster Wheeler for that citywalk extension, Surratt said. Following the recommendation of the Hickory Regional Planning Commission, the council also approved the Southside Brownfields Area-wide Plan. The purpose of the plan is to provide information about current conditions and suggest strategies for redevelopment in certain Hickory neighborhoods with several sites known or believed to be brownfields. The Environmental Protection Agency defines brownfields as sites where environmental contamination complicates the process of re-development. In particular, the plan considers the area directly to the north and south of U.S. 70 between South Center Street and U.S. 321, according to a planning department memo to the city manager's office included in the meeting packet. Planning Director Brian Frazier and Amec representative Lee Walton presented details of the plan and its formation to the council. Walton said the firm used market analysis to define the development potential of specific areas within the study group, as well as determining the feasibility of development at four specific sites. The analysis showed differing characteristics for different sides of U.S. Highway 70. The smaller lot sizes found north of U.S. Highway 70 lent themselves more to community-oriented jobs, while the larger spaces south of the highway were more appropriate for producing larger-scale, regionally attractive jobs. Four specific sites were put forward as catalyst sites where re-development could provide a model for future redevelopment in the area: the intersection of South Center Street and N.C. Highway 127, former Joan Fabrics site, former PET Dairy site and former site of Contract Seating. These sites varied in the extent of their feasibility without outside assistance, as well as the potential use for the buildings. Some, like the former Joan Fabrics site, are feasible without much funding through grants or public private partnerships. Others, particularly the site intersection of South Center Street and U.S. Highway 321, would require outside funding opportunities to increase its feasibility. With that assistance, the site could become a complex of 125 mixed-income apartments, Walton said. To increase the feasibility of some sites, the city would have to take a role in building partnerships to see that certain projects with potential could succeed, Walton said. Walton also urged continued collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency. Councilman Hank Guess said after the presentation his ward, Ward 4, had "benefited tremendously" from grants, and he often talked to people who said the grants were critical in their re-development of certain spaces. CGTN photo Inspired by natural organisms that cover significant distances by growing, such as vines, fungi and nerve cells, mechanical engineers at Stanford University have created a new type of robot that can grow across distances without moving its whole body. The vinelike robot is a tube of soft material that grows in one direction. /Photo via Stanford University "Essentially, we're trying to understand the fundamentals of this new approach to getting mobility or movement out of a mechanism," explained Allison Okamura, professor of mechanical engineering and senior author of a paper published on Wednesday in journal Science Robotics. "It's very, very different from the way that animals or people get around the world." The basic idea behind this robot is straightforward. It's a tube of soft material folded inside itself, like an insideout sock, that grows in one direction when the material at the front of the tube everts, as the tube becomes rightsideout. To investigate what their robot can do, the group created prototypes that move through various obstacles, travel toward a designated goal, and grow into a freestanding structure. In the prototypes, the material was a thin, cheap plastic and the robot body everted when the researchers pumped pressurized air into the stationary end. In testings, the research group tried to move the robot from one place to another in several ways. It grew through an obstacle course, where it traveled over flypaper, sticky glue and nails and up an ice wall to deliver a sensor. It completed the course even though it was punctured by the nails because the area that was punctured didn't continue to move and, as a result, self-sealed by staying on top of the nail. A primary advantage of soft robots is that they can be safer than hard, rigid robots not only because they are soft but also because they are often lightweight. Another benefit, in the case of this robot, is that it is flexible and can follow complicated paths. "The body lengthens as the material extends from the end but the rest of the body doesn't move," noted Elliot Hawkes, a visiting assistant professor from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and lead author of the paper. "The body can be stuck to the environment or jammed between rocks, but that doesn't stop the robot because the tip can continue to progress as new material is added to the end." Some iterations of these robots included a control system that differentially inflated the body, which made the robot turn right or left. The researchers developed a software system that based direction decisions on images coming in from a camera at the tip of the robot. Graduate students Joseph Greer (left) and Laura Blumenschein (right) work with Elliot Hawkes, a visiting assistant professor from the University of California, Santa Barbara, on a prototype of the "vinebot". /Photo via Stanford University Joey Greer, a graduate student in the Okamura lab and co-author of the paper, was quoted as saying in a news release that controlling a robot requires a precise model of its motion, which is difficult to establish for a soft robot. "Also, using a camera to guide the robot to a target is a difficult problem because the camera imagery needs to be processed at the rate it is produced. A lot of work went into designing algorithms that both ran fast and produced results that were accurate enough for controlling the soft robot." In the future, the researchers would like to create versions that may also grow using liquid, which could help deliver water to people trapped in tight spaces or to put out fires in closed rooms, and possibly with new, tougher materials, like rip-stop nylon and Kevlar. In addition, they hope to scale the robot much larger and much smaller to see how it performs. (Source: Xinhua) This domain has expired. If you owned this domain, contact your domain registration service provider for further assistance. If you need help identifying your provider, visit https://www.tucowsdomains.com/ Signboards at Bengalurus Metro stations were defaced again on Thursday, with Hindi letters painted over in black. The Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (Forum for protection of Karnataka), a hardline pro-Kannada fringe group, claimed the responsibility for vandalising the boards at eight stations. We are willing to face the law... but we will not stop our movement till the imposition of Hindi stops, KRV leader TA Narayana Gowda said. Earlier this month, Hindi signs were papered over at two stations. Names of stations are written in Kannada, English and Hindi. The KRV defaced some boards earlier this year as well but the row has escalated after the some sharp exchanges between the Congress-ruled state and at the BJP government at the Centre. Chief minister Siddarmaiah said the state has put in more money in the Metro project than the Centre, so it didnt have to follow the three-language policy notified by the Union government. But, union ministers DV Sadananda Gowda and Ananth Kumar, who are both from Karnataka, have spoken in favour of the three-language policy. Earlier this year, the Centre notified recommendations of a parliamentary panel that called for use of Hindi by MPs and ministers. The notification also asked non-Hindi speaking states to use three languages -- the states official language, Hindi, and English for announcements and in signboards at metro and train stations. Today, the people of Karnataka are being called traitors by the national media just because we have demanded that our Kannada flag be made an official flag, KRVs Gowda said. They have twisted this to mean that we have rejected the national flag. The state government recently set up a panel to study legal provisions of having a state flag, a move seen as a gambit by the Congress ahead of next years assembly election. The only Indian state with a separate flag is Jammu and Kashmir that, too, because it enjoys special powers under Article 370 of the Constitution. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Amidst the crisis on personal and political fronts the RJD chief Lalu Prasd Yadav (69) may not remember once his partys face in Madhya Pradesh Shabnam Mausi (57) far away from Patna yet Mausi believes the tragedy befalling Yadav and his son is a result of her curse given his alleged act of betrayal about a decade back. Shabnam won Sohagpur assembly seat by-poll in February 2000 by a margin of over 17800 votes to become the first eunuch MLA in the country and create a history of sorts. Talking to the Hindustan Times Shabnam who lost 2008 assembly elections on a RJD ticket from Kotma assembly constituency while securing a meager 560 votes and getting her security deposit forfeited said she was deeply pained because of Lalus betrayal. She said he had promised a financial support to her and also that he would campaign for her but neither Lalu nor any of the party members campaigned for her resulting in her defeat. She had to spend lakhs of rupees on her campaign from her own savings. Since the constituency has a good number of people from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh Lalu Yadavs presence in the constituency during the elections would have helped her a lot. But despite her requests he didnt visit the constituency, she added. Shabnam said she was deeply pained because of Lalus betrayal but what infuriated her was Lalus act of making mockery of her electoral loss and asking one of his colleagues to give Rs 10000 to her for a fare during her visit to Lalus residence in Patna immediately after 2008 assembly election. Thats why she cursed him that the way he had caused pain and agony to her he and his family would suffer the same fate. However, Lalus loss is his once arch rival and now an ally but supposedly not on cordial terms Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumars gain. Shabnam is full of praise for him and said it was good on Nitish Kumars part to get out of daldal (murshy land). Shabnams reference was Nitish Kumars strained relation with Lalu on the issue of his and his sons alleged controversial land deals. Disappointed with Lalu and regional parties she said she would either join Cong or BJP for the next assembly election depending on which of the two parties is to approach her. Shabnams win in 2000 was a major blow to the then Congress government sending out a strong signal to the then chief minister Digvijaya Singh that people were so upset with his government that they preferred to send a eunuch to the assembly. Congress suffered a major political setback when it got all time low number in the assembly at 38 seats in 2003 assembly elections. However, she couldnt repeat her performance since then having lost 2003 and 2008 assembly elections and 2009 Lok Sabha election in Madhya Pradesh and 2012 assembly election in Uttar Pradesh. Born in the family of a police officer Shabnam had to leave her parents home at the age of 11 as she was handed over to the eunuch community. Shabnam knows about a dozen languages and has had a film on her life- Shabnam Mausi. Bollywood actor Aamir Khan has completed his shooting schedule in Malta for Thugs Of Hindostan. Aamir enjoys an ice cream with his family. The actor has taken off for a quiet holiday in Italy with his wife Kiran Rao and son Azad Rao Khan. Aamir has been spending some quality time with them for the last few weeks and wants to unwind before getting into the promotions of Secret Superstar. Aamir has already visited the Tenuta Casanova Winery and SantAgnese Farm in Chianti, Tuscany. Aamir Khans spokesperson said in a press release, They are currently in Rome. They visited the museums in Florence, including the Accademia Gallery. They also saw the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Follow @htshowbiz for more Alibaba-affiliate, Ant Financial, is seeking a larger market in Eastern European countries by promoting cashless payment. The group will continue to promote cooperation amongst cash-free cities, according to Xu Hao, vice president of Ant Financial. Xu made the remarks at the 2017 China Investment Forum in the Czech capital, Prague, on July 19. He also introduced Ant Financials cash-free services around the globe. Alipay, operated by Ant Financial, is now available to over 20,000 business owners in 13 European countries, including the Czech Republic, Xu disclosed. Ant Financial will continue to offer payment services to Chinese tourists in the Czech Republic and local business owners in order to help them appreciate Chinese visitors. Ayushmann Khurrana, who has usually played sweet boy roles, has spilled the beans on his first-ever grey character that he will be portraying in the upcoming Bollywood flick Bareilly Ki Barfi. While talking to the media, the 32-year-old actor said that in the film, he is playing the role of a Gujarati boy, who bullies people. I really liked the movie as it was written by Nitesh Tiwari sir, the person who also directed the super hit film Dangal, said the Vicky Donor star. This film is different for me because Im playing a bully in the film. Until now, I have always played the role of a simple and sweet boy, but in this film, Im patting on her head, bullying her and making her work, he added. The actor further said that as his character was different, he had to get out of his natural character and portray someone who is not him. While talking about his experience of working with Rajkummar Rao, the Dum Laga Ke Haisha star praised him and said that its always great to work with good actors as there is spark in every good actor. Ayushmann stated that the movie is shot in Uttar Pradesh and was one of an easiest films to work on. On the work front, the Bewakoofiyaan star is currently working for Sriram Raghavans yet-untitled thriller movie. Bareilly Ki Barfi, which is a romantic comedy that revolves around two men vying for one womans attention, also stars Kriti Sanon and is all set to hit the theatres on August 18. Diana Penty follows her heart when it comes to selecting film roles. The actor is clear about one thing she doesnt want to portray similar characters. Therefore after Cocktail (2012), she took a break before signing her next, Happy Bhag Jayegi that released last year. I cant choose my roles half-heartedly. Its very important for me that the character I am playing must be of certain importance and different from my previous one. Meera (Cocktail) is shy and demure, while Happy was loud, outspoken and wears her heart on her sleeve, says Diana, adding that her next roles are different as well. In Lucknow Central, which highlights the story of a prisoner forming a music band, my character helps them reinvent and recognise their own talent. And in Parmanu I will be doing little bit of action, something that I have never done before, she adds. #FirstLook #Parmanu A post shared by Diana Penty (@dianapenty) on Jul 9, 2017 at 5:15am PDT But as they say out of sight means out of mind, so did Diana fear losing out on her audience after the break? Forgetting people who are not there in the limelight is human nature. It never bothered me. Its my life and I prefer choosing my path. I dont follow anyone else. I have my method when it comes to my work. I dont think about who has done what, rather what I am doing is of utmost importance to me, adds the model-turned- actor. #FlashbackFriday #Cocktail #Movie A post shared by Diana Penty (@dianapenty) on Jun 23, 2017 at 4:42am PDT And if she doesnt get offers of her choice after her fourth film, will she again take a break? I dont think that will happen now because at the moment I am getting the kind of work that makes me enthusiastic, she says. Follow @htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Kangana Ranaut was injured after being accidentally struck by a prop sword on the sets of her new film, Manikarnika - The Queen Of Jhansi. A Mid-Day report says that the actor was shooting an action scene in Hyderabad, when she was struck on her forehead. She was immediately taken to a hospital, where she is expected to remain for a week. Kangana was immediately rushed to Apollo hospital nearby, where she was admitted into the ICU. She got 15 stitches on her forehead and will be under observation in the hospital for a few days. The examining doctor said that it was a close shave for her because the cut was too close to her bone, a production hand said. According to producer Kamal Jain, Kangana insisted on shooting the scene herself, and not with the help of stunt doubles. Even though the scene was rehearsed numerous times, something went wrong. Kangana had to duck when Nihar (Pandya) attacked her, but the timing went wrong and Nihars sword hit her forehead instead. It made a deep cut between her eyebrows. The drive to the hospital took a good 30 minutes, but she put up a brave front despite the pain and bleeding. Nihar was apologetic and felt terrible, but Kangana pacified him, he said. Speaking to Pinkvilla, Kangana said, I am a bit embarrassed to be thrilled to have a battle scar on my face. Also, people from my team have been telling me that its like that Peshwa teeka that Manikarnika wore. Its a bit dramatic but I am excited that my face was covered in blood and I got a genuine and authentic glimpse of the Queens life. Manikarnika - The Queen Of Jhansi, is scheduled for release in 2018. It remains to be seen if this delays the production significantly. Follow @htshowbiz for more With an eye on 2G mobile users, Reliance Industries is working on a strategy to sell 200 million 4G feature phones -- likely to be priced Rs 1,000- 1,500 -- in two years, industry sources told PTI. The company is planning to launch it in the second half of August. However, it could not be ascertained if the handsets will be sold by Reliance Retail or Jio. Reliance has not yet finalised actual unit price of the feature phones, but it is likely to be in the range of Rs 1,000-1,500 a unit. It will be smart feature phone with pre- loaded apps of Reliance Jio like Jio TV, Jio Money etc, one of the sources who did not wish to be named said. He said the phone will not have touchscreen facility like smartphones, but will have rest of facilities like wi-fi connectivity and browsing and come with a cable that can connect the handset with television sets to watch Jio TV content. The company is eyeing 2G users who cannot afford expensive smartphones and are paying high call rates. Jios voice calls will be free which will encourage them to buy these handsets, the source said. Reliance Jio has started the process of importing handsets and is in discussion with Foxconn and Intex to make them in India. Around 10 million units are being planned for initial sales and the company has plans to increase inventory to 100 million in the first year and another 100 million next year. Discussions have started with Foxconn and Intex to make these phones in India, the source said. Mobile industry body Indian Cellular Association in a submission to the government has said the total size of Indian mobile phone market was estimated to be around 280 million units in 2016 and is expected to grow to 320 million by 2018. A source privy to discussions said Intex had approached RIL for bundling Jio service for a state government tender. Intex will bid for a state government tender which has huge requirement of low-cost mobile phone, but it wants bidder to come with a service provider. The economy of scale is enough to bring down the cost of phone. The discussion with RIL started for this tender and is now moving in direction for low-cost 4G feature phones, the source said. He said Jio will use Qualcomm chipsets in 4G feature phones. When contacted, Reliance Jio declined to comment. Intex said: ...we are exploring various business opportunities, including those with Reliance Jio, and would keep you updated about the details as they materialise. We also keep participating in various state governments tenders and are always keen to work with them. Early trends show Indias biggest firms have cut back on pay increases for their top executives. A study of 19 of the 30 Sensex firms for which data is available shows the median increase in the top salary was just 2.3% in fiscal 2017 against 19.2% a year ago. This is the slowest pace in at least four years, shows data compiled by Bloomberg. Similarly, for 50 firms from the BSE 500 grouping, the median increase in top pay was 10.4%, down from the 16.3% in fiscal 2016. The study looks at the single highest remuneration paid in the year by the company, irrespective of designations such as chairman, chief executive officer or executive director. Bloomberg data also adds stock options to the total compensation figure wherever it is available. For the blue chip sample set, the top executive remuneration has grown at a slower pace compared to overall employee costs for the first time in two years. Overall employee costs grew 9.73% for this set of firms, albeit at a slower pace compared with 11.14% in FY16. Employee compensation for the BSE 500 companies rose faster at 10.76% in fiscal 2017. Salaries and bonuses of executives in under-performing sectors like information technology, retail and pharmaceutical dropped due to industry-specific woes, which hampered business, said a consultant from KPMG India who wished to remain anonymous as he isnt authorized to talk to the media. Data shows top earners in companies such as Infosys Ltd, Wipro Ltd and Dr. Reddys Laboratories Ltd taking a pay cut. The highest paid corporate executive (from data available so far) was C.P. Gurnani, managing director and chief executive officer of Tech Mahindra Ltd, who took home Rs150 crore, shows Bloomberg data. The payout was 16% lower than the Rs179.5 crore given to vice-chairman Vineet Nayyar in fiscal 2016. Among the Sensex firms, Nikhil Meswani and Hital Meswani, executive directors at Reliance Industries Ltd, drew Rs80.76 crore, higher than chairman Mukesh Ambani, who has capped his pay at Rs 15 crore for some years now. The Meswanis higher payout was owing to Rs64.18 crore of stock options. They were followed by Pawan Munjal, chairman, managing director and chief executive officer of Hero MotoCorp Ltd, who drew Rs59.6 crore, 3.9% higher than a year ago. The Tata group has informally sought details on the planned sale of Air India, a government official said, reflecting the groups interest in the airline it founded in 1932. They have asked us how do you want to do it, what will you do with debt, what will happen to the subsidiaries, the official said, asking not to be identified. Senior Tata group executives posed the questions in informal discussions at different levels of the government after the cabinet approved the disinvestment on 28 June, the official said. IndiGo, the largest airline in India owned by InterGlobe Aviation Pvt Ltd, has already gone public with its interest in Air India. The Tata executives were told that their questions were in the realm of the group of ministers including Arun Jaitley, Nitin Gadkari, Suresh Prabhu, Piyush Goyal and Ashok Gajapathi Raju which is studying the sale of Air India, the official mentioned earlier said. The ministers have been asked to look at hiving off certain Air India assets, a possible demerger, strategic disinvestment of three profit-making subsidiaries, quantum of disinvestment and eligible bidders. The meeting is scheduled to be held soon, the official said. Tatas declined comments. We do not comment on such matters, Tata Sons spokesperson said. Founded by J.R.D. Tata, Air India was born as Tata Airlines. Its name was changed to the current one in 1946. It was nationalised in 1953. In 2000, the Tata group and Singapore Airlines expressed their interest to buy up to 40% in Air India. In 2013, after a meeting with the then aviation minister, Ratan Tata, who was then group chairman, said the Tata group would be interested in buying a stake in Air India if the government were to privatize the airline. This didnt happen. The Tata group and Singapore Airlines launched Vistara in 2015, which will start international flights next year. I dont think the government will break Air India into two because then the domestic arm will not have any value left. The international business is the prized catch and I think they would like to have that, an airline industry executive said. According to a Tata group official who spoke on condition of anonymity, the group is 149 years old and owns brands like Jaguar Land Rover. What would be a perfect addition to the group on its 150th anniversary? he said. The Himachal Pradesh government has transferred seven policemen including an IPS officer who led a controversial probe into the gang rape and murder of a 16-year-old girl, officials said on Thursday. The transfer of IPS officer Zahur Haidar Zaidi, who led the special investigation team, came after widespread violence over the custodial death of one of the six arrested for the crime. Zaidi, who was the inspector general (IG), southern range, has been transferred as IG welfare and administration at the police headquarters in Shimla. The gangrape of the minor girl named Gudiya by activists and people agitating for justice -- has rocked the poll-bound state where such crimes are uncommon. The girl, a Class 10 student, went missing on her way home from school on July 4 and her naked body was found two days later with injury marks. Since then, her photos have gone viral on social media as hundreds of people have come out on the streets to protest in candlelight marches, silent processions and road blockades. The state government bowed to increasing public pressure and transferred the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) after people pointed out alleged loopholes in the SIT findings. Zaidi claimed to have cracked the case on July 13, but went on leave after people raised questions on the police theory. Besides Zaidi, the other officers transferred late on Wednesday include SIT member and Shimla superintendent of police DW Negi and another SIT member Bhajan Dev Negi. One of the accused, Nepalese national Suraj Singh, was allegedly strangled by another suspect, Rajendra Singh, during a scuffle inside the lock-up around 3am on Wednesday, according to police. The incident sparked anger through the Himalayan state as people shouted slogans, clashed with police and set a police station on fire, demanding an overhaul of what protesters deem a shoddy probe. The epicentre of the incident Kotkhai, around 60 kilometres from Shimla resembled a war zone as a mob of around 3,000 surrounded the police station before setting it on fire and injured several personnel. The police fired in the air to disperse the crowd but failed as protesters surrounded the living quarters of personnel. The entire staff of Kotkhai police station, including the station house inspector, were suspended following the custodial death. All accused were allegedly kept in two cells instead of keeping them in separate enclosures. Those arrested were different from the six men whose photos were being circulated on social media, and had also been temporarily posted on the official website of chief minister Virbhadra Singh. This raised further suspicion over the probe. The outrage is also expected to singe the Virbhadra Singh government in elections scheduled for later this year as the opposition BJP is attempting to steer public anger against the government and police for going slow on the probe into the case. Virbhadra, also the states home minister who is facing several cases of corruption, has come under criticism from even his own party men for the slow progress in the investigation. Meanwhile, Shimla shut down on Thursday in response to a bandh called by the BJP to protest against the alleged failure of the government to properly investigate the rape and murder. Most shops on the Mall Road and Lower Bazaar remained closed this morning. Shopkeepers said they feared violence as tempers are running high amongst protesters. All shops, private business establishments were closed in Shimla and other prominent towns in the district. Movement of vehicular traffic was hampered at various points in the state capital. The hill station of Mussoorie woke up to a tense Thursday morning after a day of protests and slogan shouting by BJP and Hindu organisations over a local Kashmiri trader allegedly sharing a Pakistani patriotic song on his Facebook profile. President of the BJP Youth wing Rajesh Rawat lodged a complaint with the police against Kashmiri trader Manzoor Ahmed. Circle Officer Rameshwar Prasad Dimri said police are investigating the matter. We have received a complaint. So far we have confiscated the mobile phone of the trader who allegedly shared the post. We are investigating the matter CO Dimri told HT on Thursday. Members of the BJP and the Hindu Jagran Manch (HJM) protested through the day in Mussoorie against the trader and threatened to not let him open his shop until the investigation was complete. There are five or six shops in Kulri market in central Mussoorie and local residents say they are scared of a further escalation in tensions. This is the second such incident in a month in the Uttarakahand town involving Kashmiris. Last month, local traders asked Kashmiri businessmen to leave the town after few minority youth allegedly celebrated Pakistans victory over India in the finals of the Champions Trophy last month. Mussoorie has no history of communal tensions. On July 9, a Muslim-owned shop was vandalised in Pauri Garhwals Satpuli town after he allegedly superimposed his profile photo with a snap of the Kedarnath shrine. Bajrang Dal activists who went on rampage alleged that the youth insulted Hindu shrine. The minor was later sent to a juvenile home for two weeks. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Ringed by snow-capped mountains and scenic apple orchards, the small village of Hilaila in Himachal Pradeshs Kotkhai is breathtaking in its beauty. But on Thursday, the village of 15 families is shrouded in grief as locals trekked up a hill to the forest hut of 22-year-old Mamata Singh. Mamatas husband, Suraj Singh, was an accused in the gangrape and murder of a 16-year-old local schoolgirl but died in police custody in a scuffle early on Wednesday, sparking violent protests across the hill state where such gory crimes are unheard of. Mamata still doesnt know of Surajs death but is distraught that her 29-year-old husband hasnt returned home. Can you tell me something about my husband? Where is he? No one says anything, a teary Mamata asks. I dont know whether he is dead or alive, our children ask me about his whereabouts every day. Her two children, five-year-old Samir and seven-year-old Asha, hover outside their hut under a thick canopy of deodar trees. But the agony is giving way to a unlikely bonhomie. Sitting next to Mamata and consoling her is Kesari Devi, the 62-year-old mother of Rajender Singh, another accused in the gang-rape who police says killed Suraj inside Kotkhai police station. Kesari Devi, lives in a neighbouring hut and doesnt believe her son killed either the schoolgirl or Suraj. I have said it a million times earlier and will say it again, my son is innocent, the police are indicting him, she cries. The two women are united in fear and they worry every day that the police will come for them. Mamata says Suraj was a hard-working daily wage earner in a nearby orchard and was in mourning over the death of their five-year-old daughter Kaali last Diwali. Mamata, who married Suraj seven years ago, says she visited him in custody soon after his arrest. He did not say anything but I know he was being tortured we are yet to come out of mourning. If my husband doesnt return, how will I fend for my family? The gangrape of the schoolgirl has rocked Himachal Pradesh that has been swept by angry protests by people who say the police did a shoddy job and that the government was trying to shield the real culprits. On Wednesday, a 2,000-people-strong mob set Kotkhai police station on fire and pelted stones at security personnel. The girl went missing on her way home on June 4 and her naked body was found in a ditch near Hilaila two days later. Police say Suraj and others abducted the girl and then raped her, before killing her. But Kesari Devi says the police version of events doesnt add up. Had my son killed the girl, why would he throw her body in a ditch so close to our house? she asks. Suraj was picked up by the police along with five others on June 13 after pressure mounted on police and the state government. The others who were arrested included Ashish Chauhan, son of an apple orchardist, Rajender Singh, a van driver, Deepak, Surat Singh Bisht, a resident of Pauri Garhwal, and two Nepali nationals, Lok Jan and Suraj Singh. Kesari says her son took her to Shimla for a medical checkup a day after the girls body was found in the forest. Waving a bunch of medical reports and prescriptions, she said, I have cancer, I am a heart patient. I had visited Indira Gandhi Medical hospital for a checkup with Raju (Rajender) a day before he was summoned by the police. Mamata says her parents, as well as those of Suraj, live in Nepal and that she hasnt visited them in five years. The owners of the orchard are very kind. If Suraj was a bad man, why didnt he commit any crime all these years? SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The alleged rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl by a 14-year-old boy in the outskirts of Lucknow has sent shockwaves across the state capital. Police said the accused had an accomplice of the same age. The girl, a class II student, had gone out of her house in Banthra to play on Wednesday evening but did not return. When her parents searched for her, they found her half-naked body later in the night barely 500 metres away from her house. Station officer, Banthra, Shiv Shankar Singh said initial probe suggested that the boy took the girl to a secluded place on the pretext of giving her mangoes. He allegedly raped her and smothered her when she started crying. Singh said the boy, who does not go to school, returned to his house after committing the crime and locked himself in a room. The accused is the youngest of three brothers. The girl had an elder brother. He said some villagers who had spotted the boy with the girl, identified him. The boy has confessed to his crime during questioning. He has mentioned the involvement of another boy in the crime. The role of the other boy is yet to be ascertained, he said. The boy has been sent to the counseling cell of the police. Singh said the girls body was sent for post-mortem examination and a probe was on. The families of the victim and the accused are involved in farming. Domestic mobile phone brands are shipped abroad in large quantities, but with small profits to show. The shipment of Chinese mobile phone brands reached 216 million in the first two quarters of 2017, said China's Mobile Phone Domestic Market Operation Analysis Report in June 2017. The report was recently released by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT). On the contrary, the profit margins of Chinese brands in the first quarter are less than 5 per cent, according to data from Strategy Analytics. Chinese brands will continue to suffer supply chain problems as a result of weaknesses in independently developing key mobile phone components, an expert said. For a long time now, key smartphone components, including clip, screen, internal storage, flash memory and camera clip, have been monopolized by some international brands. China still lacks domestic suppliers of key components like Sonny and Samsung, a telecoms expert, Bo Song, said. The cost of key components accounts for 60 percent to 70per cent of the total cost of a smartphone. If there is shortage of components or hike in prices, profit margins of mid-low end phones are further shrunken, said an insider. A supply chain dealer estimates that 15 percent net profits for the mobile phone industry in China are hard to achieve. The development of domestic brands is still limited by supply gap, though the local smartphone industry is striving for self reliance, chinanews.com reported. Bo suggested that upgrading supply chain also plays a role in improving industrial chain. China should urgently improve its supply chain instead of struggling to cope with supply shortage, he added. When a few days ago, Delhi BJP leader Nupur Sharma tweeted pictures of the 2002 Gujarat riots and attempted to pass them off as Bengal 2017, she was only being a loyal party soldier. In the BJPs disinformation campaign, Bengal is now, to borrow a hashtag from one of the rabble-rousing channels, a Hindu hate hub. The graphic imagery of burning shops and vehicles and sword-wielding Islamists is only designed to further the communal divide and consolidate a potential Hindu vote-bank. It isnt just Bengal. The Sangh parivars propaganda blitz claims that the RSS is a victim in Kerala too. While a return to power of the Left Front government in Kerala last year has resulted in increased and condemnable violence against RSS workers in Kannur district in particular, the blood-letting has a long and gory history that dates back to the 1960s. Nor have the killings been one-sided: Official figures given by then Kerala home minister Ramesh Chennithala in 2015 suggest both RSS and Left cadre have been victims. That Bengal and Kerala feature so prominently in the BJPs political narrative should come as no surprise. These are the only two large states left in the country (states with more than 10 Lok Sabha seats) where the BJP is still a marginal political party. A third state Tamil Nadu also has a limited BJP presence but in keeping with the states unique political ethos, the BJP is looking to outsource its leadership to Rajinikanth, the reigning superstar of Tamil cinema. In two other relatively weak states Odisha and Andhra Pradesh the BJP has artfully used local alliances, past and present, to expand its base. Bengal and Kerala have certain similarities that make these states conducive for the lotus to bloom (the BJP doubled its vote share in both states in the 2016 assembly elections). Both states have large minority populations, ideal for the BJP to create a sense of victimhood and position the party as a saviour of the majority community. In both states, the ruling parties have faced the charge of minority appeasement, making it even easier for the BJP to make inroads. In both states, the Congress is facing a steady erosion of its vote base while the rapid decline of the Left in Bengal has expanded the Opposition space considerably. The nature of political Islam has changed in both states too. The syncretic Sufiist traditions in Bengal have been replaced by a more puritanical and radicalised version with Wahhabist influences from across the border in Bangladesh now finding increasing resonance in parts of the state. A similar process has been witnessed in the Muslim-dominated districts of Kerala with money from West Asia being poured into local mosques and madrasas. The rise of the BJP in these two states only exposes the failure of the self-styled secular class to offer a credible challenge to communal politics. A Mamata Banerjee, for example, maybe Bengals unquestioned neta number one, but her political insecurities have made her vulnerable enough to pursue a rather short-sighted agenda where she has wooed the local imams and muezzins with the sole intent of cementing a large 27%-plus Muslim vote-bank. In Kerala too, the Congress and Left have competed to cultivate more extreme Muslim and Christian group leaderships to consolidate their hold over power. That the politics of so-called appeasement has principally benefitted only a creamy layer among the minorities reveals the hollowness of secular politics. In Bengal, for example, per capita incomes of the average Muslim remain well below the national average, statistics which suggest that acute problems of social and economic backwardness have scarcely been addressed. In Kerala, education has helped build a more egalitarian society but without necessarily creating more employable opportunities. By building on local antagonisms, the BJP is playing with fire. Rather than provide a healing touch, the party seems keen to polarise communities further. Expecting the BJP to pull back from Hindutva is improbable; seeking a course correction from the secular leadership remains a last hope. Post-script: Nupur Sharma is not the first BJP leader to put out mistaken riot pictures. During the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots, BJP MLA Sangeet Som allegedly circulated images from Afghanistans conflict to incite violence. Far from being reprimanded, he is now a senior minister in the Uttar Pradesh government. Rajdeep Sardesai is a senior journalist and an author The views expressed are personal SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Mohammad Shafi Khan (41) is perplexed about the developments taking place in the tourist resort. There are more than 15 shops run by Kashmiri migrants in Mussoories Kulri Bazaar neighbourhood and Khans is one among them. Khan came to the town after his elder brother started a business in early the 1990s and over the years, his cousins have joined him and now they run four shops in the town. We are in Mussoorie for a long time as it has a similar climate just like our home state, he says. People are peaceful and there has never been any problem he tells Hindustan Times on Thursday, a day after a fellow Kashmiri shopkeeper landed in trouble owing to his Facebook activity. On Wednesday, a Kashmiri shopkeeper Manzoor Ahmad invited ire of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and right-wing Hindu activists after he allegedly shared a post of a Pakistani patriotic song on his Facebook wall. In the last one month, the town has witnessed growing tensions against Kashmiri businessmen. Some of the local traders have even demanded that Kashmiri traders be ousted from the town. We are already out of our state and now where to go if we are asked to leave the town says Javed Ahmad (28) a cousin of Khan. Most Kashmiri youngsters who now have shops in the town hail from Jammu and Kashmirs Kupwara district. Twenty-three year-old Zahid Khan, who travels to Mussoorie, Nainital and Punjab for his woolen shawls business, says the Indian Constitution provides equal rights to everyone then why the hatred against them. I was 14 when I came here. I am emotionally attached to this place and I am very much an Indian, he says. There can be some black sheep (within the Kashmiri community) but why blame the entire community? Old-timers in the town say there were only three Kashmiri businessmen until the 1990s but later more have migrated and the sudden rise in the number has been witnessed in the last 5-6 years. Wasim Rajas Kashmir Emporium is one the oldest shops in Mussoorie. This is the fourth generation, he says pointing towards his son. Raja is upset over the fact that hardliners are tearing apart the social fabric. The hardliners from whichever community they belong to are making life miserable for everyone, he says. Mussoorie is cold but the people have warmth in their hearts. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Riddhima Bisht, 12, has been to several birthday parties. But, the one she attended on Thursday was unlike any other. Riddhima was among the troupe of 60 school students who took part in the celebrations held at the Delhi zoo to mark the 10th birthday of Vijay, a white tiger. One of the star attractions at the zoo, Vijay had hit the headlines in 2014 when it mauled a youth who had jumped into his enclosure. This was the first time that the zoo celebrated the birthday of an inmate. The zoo authorities had even ordered a cake with Happy Birthday Vijay written on it. School students took part in a walk Walk for Vijay shouting slogans One step towards Vijay. A cardboard cut-out of the tiger, with a garland around his neck, was kept in front of the enclosure where children gathered to sing and cut the cake. School children took part in a Walk for Vijay at the zoo. (Joydeep Thakur / HT Photo) I have never been to such a birthday party before. I want to come back again for his next birthday. Who doesnt want to attend more such birthday parties? said Riddhima, who studies in Class 6 at Ramjas School, RK Puram. Though such programmes to engage visitors are held in zoos across the world, Lucknow zoo was the first to start the trend in India. #Delhi #Zoo celebrates 10th birthday of white #tiger Vijay. More birthday celebrations for other animals in store.. pic.twitter.com/WxmWJnSuXL Joydeep Thakur (@joydeepthakur) July 20, 2017 The zoo officials, meanwhile, said that this was just the beginning and more such parties would be held in the future to mark the birthdays of the animals. Though this time only around 60 students from one school were invited, the authorities plan to throw a bigger party next time. Next in line is Rita. She is a chimpanzee and the oldest member of the zoo. She is 57 years old. We are preparing a list of the animals whose exact date of birth is known, said Renu Singh, director of the National Zoological Park in New Delhi. A cake was cut near the enclosure of the tiger. (Sushil Kumar/HT PHOTO) The birthday cat, however, went about its day nonchalantly. Seemingly unimpressed by buzz outside, he focused on his partner Kalpana and their four cubs kept in an adjacent enclosure. There wont be any special treatment for him as we dont want to disturb his routine and feeding habits. We will just give him some pieces of chicken apart from the daily buffalo meat he takes. It is just a symbolic gesture, said Singh. A cardboard cut-out of the tiger was placed near the animals enclosure. (Joydeep Thakur / HT Photo) Zoo officials said that Vijay is one of the best breeders in the zoo and has fathered more than six cubs. Vijay was born in the zoo in 2007 to Laxman and Yamuna. While Laxman died in 2009, Vijays mother was shifted to the Gwalior zoo around six years back. But as July 21 is a Friday this time we decided to celebrate his birthday a day before, said Raja Ram Singh, joint director of the zoo. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A south Delhi mall allegedly denied entry to a group of children from Maharashtra, whose parents committed suicide in the wake of agrarian crisis, Swaraj India president Yogendra Yadav has claimed. Yadav brought the kids to Delhi from a childrens home in Nashik to participate in a farmers protest at Jantar Mantar. Swaraj India leaders said that on Wednesday evening, around 40 kids were taken to DLF Place, Saket, for an ice-cream treat. The children wanted to visit some place in Delhi. We took them to the mall as it was very hot outside. The guard was staring at them as soon as they entered the check point wearing kurta pyjama or salwar and a Nehru cap, Swaraj India Delhi president Anupam said. Swaraj India volunteer, Rohini, who was accompanying the children, said when she went to get a trolley because one of the kids had an injury in his leg, a security guard said the kids were not allowed inside. The guard said they had not taken any permission. They asked us to take the children out, she said. The children stay at an ashram that houses children whose parents committed suicide owing to the farm crisis. The party alleged that there was a quarrel between its volunteers and the mall management. The children were reportedly allowed inside only after I said journalists would be visiting the place for interviewing these kids and a senior management official intervened, she said. A mall official issued a press statement saying, Yesterday evening, a group of children and adults sought entry to the mall. As it was such a large group, dressed alike, our security guard enquired about their agenda. After ascertaining the purpose of their visit, the senior management provided a conducted tour of the mall and offered refreshments, she said. Understandably we exercise abundant caution to ensure safety and security of all visitors. We always welcome everyone with open arms and happily conduct tours for children from schools and other institutions upon request, she added. Tow which Yadav said it was only after that the senior manager thought it would snowball into a controversy they allowed entry. They then even gave biscuits to children to save them from any embarrassment. Anupam said, The mall officials treated them well later which was more a damage control exercise than genuine concern for the kids. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Delhi government is planning to make it mandatory for new building complexes to install water and sewage treatment plants. We would be floating the proposal in the next meeting of the Delhi Jal Board. It would be made mandatory for all new building complexes, including hospitals, schools, residential, commercial and government buildings, among others, to install micro water and sewage treatment plants. Without these systems, building plans wont be sanctioned in the future, said Rajendra Pal Gautam, Delhi water minister. He was speaking at a program Dilli ka Soch organised by the United Residents Joint Action (URJA) of Delhi on Wednesday. Small sewage treatment plants (STPs) and water treatment plants (WTPs) would not only be effective in treating a portion of the sewage and water at the source, but they will also cost nearly 50% less than the larger treatment plants which are now being installed, he added. Experts said that even though there some large sewage treatment plants in Delhi, the sludge and waste they produce after treating the sewage is not being utilised due to lack of proper technology. The sludge remains there and ultimately when the monsoon comes, the sludge mixes with the rain water and flows into the Yamuna. Due to lack of proper technology, this waste is not being utilised properly at present, said Bhure Lal chairman of the Supreme Court empowered Environment Pollution (Prevention & Control) Authority. The government is also planning to rope in experts and invite suggestions from the citizens on how to improve the quantity and quality of the supplied water. We would be soon giving advertisements in this regard. We want to invite suggestions from the citizens to provide them with clean and sufficient water and also on how to stop depletion of groundwater table, the minister added. Experts claimed that while some parts of Delhi enjoy abundant water supply there are a few pockets that dont receive water for more than two weeks during the peak summer. People living in these areas have to store water for several days, which in turn gives rise to vector-borne diseases, said Sujata Sunil, group leader of vector-borne diseases at International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology. The Delhi Jal Board has made it mandatory for all new buildings, built on an area of more than 100 square metres and above or which discharge above 10,000 litres of water, to install a rainwater harvesting system. Kadipur, a small village in northwest Delhi, has free WiFi facility with 25 servers providing 24-hour internet connectivity. But when it comes to basic civic amenities, the village has nothing to show. The village, with a population of about 800, is battling broken roads, inconsistent water supply and choked drains. Saurav Verma, 18, a student of Delhi University and resident of Kadipur village, has to wake up at 5 in the morning every alternate day, and wait an hour till the water tank is filled up. Verma, and most other residents of the village, say while the WiFi facility may have waited, the government should have first ensured regular water supply, an approach road and improved connectivity. Kadipur was declared a free Wi-Fi village on June 19 by the local councillor Urmila Rana. Villagers access the facility by registering their phone numbers on which they get security code to log in. Delhi BJP chief and Northeast Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari had adopted Kadipur village under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna in 2014. A month after the WiFi facility was launched, Hindustan Times visited the village and found that while the internet facility was working fine, most villagers were disappointed with the civic infrastructure. We get only two hours of water supply that too every alternate day. It would have been better if the government would fixed this instead of spending on improving internet connectivity, Verma said. It takes Verma at least two hours to reach Delhi University (North Campus) as connectivity to different parts of the city from the village is poor. The villagers have to hail shared vans to reach the main road 5 km away from where they get transport. Though the internal roads were fine, the approach roads to the village are dust bowls with waterlogging at some places. Another resident, who did not wish to be identified, said, There are times when we could not sleep whole night because there are warehouses here where movement of trucks continue entire night. We complained to the local councillor but nothing happened. The politicians focus on populist measures while the basic infrastructure is crumbling. He said that the drains are clogged and water overflows at several places. The mobile connectivity is not a big issue. Children in the village anyway had mobile phones with internet facility. We are not dependent on government for WiFi, he said. Anil Kashyap, another resident, said things have improved a bit. There has been some development in the past few years. He said earlier the villagers have to wait five days for getting water supply. He said improved connectivity will create better employment opportunities for the village youth, he said. Area councillor Urmila Rana said she has written to the Delhi government several times for improving the water supply but nothing has happened. I would have got the roads constructed but the corporation is yet to notify the newly drawn municipal zones because of which no development funds could be allocated. Manoj Tiwari told Hindustan Times that it was for the Delhi government to take care of problems related to water and power. I have adopted the village and my funds will be used for the purpose. But I can only suggest or recommend the work but the government will have to do it. The problem persists because of the governments non-cooperative attitude. I am hurt that I cannot do much despite efforts, he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Delhi High Court on Thursday sought status report from Delhi police on BJP leader Subramanian Swamys plea seeking a time-bound court-monitored probe into the death of Sunanda Pushkar, wife of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor. A bench of Justice GS Sistani and Justice Chander Shekhar said it will take a look at what Delhi police has to say before taking any decision on the plea. The bench has given police three days time to submit the status report. During the brief hearing, advocate Rahul Mehra, appearing for Delhi police, said that the police was close to a complete investigation. Mehra said the status report will be filed after he takes a look at it. Pushkar, 52, was found dead in a Delhi hotel on January 17, 2014. Swamy had contended that there has been constant attempt to block the investigation into the death of Pushkar and alleged that the registration of an FIR took almost a year and nothing has happened after that. Swamy claimed a few days before her death, Pushkar had reportedly called for a press conference and claimed she would be exposing a serious corruption case. The petition sought a court-monitored investigation by constituting a multi-disciplinary SIT consisting of Intelligence Bureau, Enforcement Directorate, RAW, Delhi Police and headed by CBI or a time-bound CBI probe. Swamy has sought a time-bound probe in the case, saying very influential people are involved in the case, leading to attempts to protect them, and the matter has faced a lot of unnecessary delay already. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON In what is clearly a case of misplaced priorities and bad timing, on Wednesday legislators in Tamil Nadu decided to congratulate themselves for the work theyve being doing for the past one year. Chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami announced a pay hike for all its 235 members from Rs 55,000 to Rs 1,05,000 with retrospective effect from July 1. Cutting across party lines legislators agreed to a 90.91% increase in their salary and this could not have come at a more inappropriate time. Its not clear how the Palaniswami government justifies the pay hike, but it cannot be on the basis of performance. That is because in the past one year it has done little by way of real governance. Till December the focus of the legislators from the ruling AIADMK was on the health of then chief minister J Jayalalithaa. Since then they have been caught up in an open war between Sasikala Natarajan and O Panneerselvam that has split the party into two camps. The governments response to cyclone Vardah in December, the Jallikattu protests in January, and, more importantly, to the severe drought crisis has been, to put it mildly, wanting. The drought exacerbated after the state received the lowest rainfall in 140 years has led to widespread protests. About 100 farmers from the state are protesting at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, demanding that the governments at the Centre and state take heed of the agrarian crisis and meet their demands. In April, the Supreme Court noted that the States lack of concern for the plight of the farmers was not acceptable and that it had to rise up to the occasion. That said, there is a case for legislators to be well paid. When compared to their counterparts from other states, a pay hike for Tamil Nadu MLAs is not an excessive demand. But it could have been done at a time when the economy and public sentiment was upbeat. At this juncture a pay hike only magnifies the insensitivity towards the plight of many people in Tamil Nadu who are facing trying circumstances. The Panjab Universitys department of education has the highest number of registered scholars, 374, followed by the department of laws, 261, said quality assurance cell (IQAC) report. According to the report, 2,911 research scholars are reported to have been registered at the various departments of the university. The department of education was also awarded UGC special assistance programme in the thrust areas of education technology, education administration and management and education psychology and guidance. However, talking about the supervisors available, the question of quality arises as the department of laws has a most number of researchers, 93, who have two supervisors while in the department of physics, 69 researchers have at least two supervisors, followed by the departments of botany and chemistry. Only seven departments are those in which at least one student is supervised by two supervisors. There are eight departments in which only one student is assigned three supervisors. These include the department of biophysics, centre for systems biology and bioinformatics (UIEAST), the department of anthropology, department of chemistry, department of computer science and applications, department of environment studies, department of microbial biotechnology and the department of statistics. According to the analysis, there are 82 supervisors on the campus, who have been handling a minimum of 8 research scholars and a maximum of 17. Sources said PU has been rated high on the number of research papers and citations and handful of departments can be credited for the same. However, other departments have also been contributing considerably to the research performance of the PU. This becomes evident when we dig into various aspects of research performance of the university. The first stage of research at a university involves a single research student, who works under the supervision of a senior practitioner in that field of knowledge, said Rajiv Lochan, director, Internal Quality Assurance Cell. Lochan added, Recently we inquired into statistical information about research supervision in the university according to the information made public by the various departments of PU. A total of 66 PU departments reported that they had registered research scholars. After the department of education and laws, departments of Chinese and Tibetan studies, and of nano-sciences have one research student each. The departments of botany, chemistry, physics, and physical education have more than 100 registered research scholars. Why department of education has high number of scholars? Professor Rajiv Lochan explained that through this analysis, it has been observed that the departments, which are not even considered for the PU grading are doing well, including the department of education. The figures indicate that a large number of students are taking interest in doing a research in the field of education in the new course of time. There is a strong captive research in this field. Research on schools, students and teachers seems to be a big hit as these research subjects are always and easily available, said Lochan. 5 departments with most scholars Education: 374 Law: 261 Chemistry: 134 Physical Education: 121 Physics: 118 SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON In what might pave way for obtaining degrees online, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has drafted UGC (Online Education) regulations, 2017 and has sought public feedback till August 18. Once the regulations are in place, students and working professionals will be able to obtain a degree online, recognised by the UGC. Institutes will be able to offer online degrees in all fields, except engineering, medicine, dental, pharmacy, nursing, architecture and physiotherapy. At present, the Commission does not recognise any course offered fully online. A student can get a degree by enrolling in a university and attending classes or through distance-education. From this year, the universities were allowed to offer 20% of their course material through Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) platform called Swayam. But a degree obtained through online course is not recognised. A number of private universities offer online degrees but not many students opt for them as they are not recognised by the UGC. HT had reported about the draft regulations in June. Institutions may design, develop and deliver online programmes leading to the award of a degree or diploma via internet, once recognised, draft regulations state. The programmes may be designed for conventional learners, as well as working professionals and other individuals aspiring to acquire knowledge and associated academic credentials. The delivery process shall be conducted online via a suitably designed online technology platform, the regulations state. The regulations will allow universities and higher educational institutes offer degrees by conducting exams online. Students will not have to attend classes physically and to qualify, a university has to be NAAC-accredited with a minimum score of 3.25 on a four-point scale. The regulations point out that examinations should be conducted online, under technological supervision. Online computer-based testing platforms with provisions for integration with Aadhaar and live audio/video monitoring via webcam and screen capture shall be used. Also, wherever possible, proctored examination shall be conducted. Examinations may also be conducted on campus of higher educational institutions, with Aadhaar biometric authentication of each student, screen capture of the systems used for exam, and CCTV recording along with live online supervision. Counselling, application processing and fee payment can also be done online. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The screening-cum-selection-committee formed to select new vice-chancellors of Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar and Punjabi University, Patiala has called 31 applicants for interaction for final selection. The interaction will take place at Chandigarh on August 10 and 11. Talking to HT, Punjabi University V-C-cum-additional chief secretary SK Sandhu said, To ensure that all candidates start on an even footing, the committee has decided to not to carry forward marks awarded in the short-listing process. Chief secretary Karan Avtar Singh, industrialist Chandra Mohan, Punjab Agricultural University V-C Dr BS Dhillon and RS Khandpur, former director general of Pushpa Gujral Science City, are other members of the screening committee. It will not be an interview, but it will be an interaction. The mandate is to select somebody, who has a strong academic background, have nation and international exposure in Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs), credentials of institutional buildings as administrator, and have vision to enable state universities to complete with noted HEIs of India and abroad, he said, adding that due to the mandator 15-day notice to be given to candidates, the date was fixed in August. Dr Satvir Singh Gosal, a plant-breeding scientist, who is a former director of research at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana; BS Ghuman of Panjab University, AS Chawla, Vice Chancellor RIMT University, Dr Rajinder Singh Sidhu, registrar of PAU, Dr Davinder Singh, former Registrar of Punjabi University, Dr Surinder Kumar Ghakar, are vying for post of Punjabi University. Dr Jaspal Singh Sandhu, Secretary University Grants Commission, Dr Narpinder Singh, professor of food science and technology; and MPS Isher, who is at present the V-C of Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Technical University, Bathinda, are among 31, who are in the race for post of GNDU V-C. The selection committee got lists of top 20 candidates from each university, from which a joint list of 31 candidates were made, as some candidates had applied for both universities. In all, 271 candidates had applied and 119 were found eligible after initial scrutiny. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON An eight-hour, slow-motion film with no actors, dialogue or narrative - and branded the dullest movie ever made by one of its own producers - is looking for an audience that wants to count sheep. Or at least watch them. Baa Baa Land consists entirely of slow-motion shots of sheep in a field. The film was shot in Essex, England, and was produced by the founders of a digital meditation app, Calm. We dont expect it to break box-office records but believe there is at least a niche audience for it, Michael Acton Smith, one of the films executive producers and a co-founder of Calm said in a statement. Were in discussion about US and wider distribution and in talks with an American TV channel, he said. Producer Peter Freedman, said in a statement that he believed it could be the dullest film ever, adding: We hope that audiences will, too. Baa Baa Land, is the latest example of the niche genre called slow cinema, which is known for long takes and little or no dialogue or narrative. Whether counting celluloid sheep will appeal to audiences remains to be seen, but British TV viewers have shown some enthusiasm for the genre before. In 2015, the BBC Four television channel broadcast, All Aboard! The Sleigh Ride, a two-hour, dialogue-free film showing reindeer pulling a sleigh used by indigenous peoples in northern Norway, shot from the view of the driver. The film is scheduled to premiere on an as-yet unannounced date in September at Londons Prince Charles Cinema. Follow @htshowbiz for more Disneys upcoming live-action reboot of the 1992 animated classic Aladdin is facing blowback for casting a non-Arab actor to play Jasmine. After a months-long worldwide search Disney roped in Naomi Scott to play Jasmine in the film. Scott is of British and Indian heritage and some critics of the decision see it as a suggestion by Disney that women of Indian and Middle Eastern heritage look the same, reported Fortune. Nothing against #NaomiScott, but someone of Indian "descent" shouldn't replace an Arab actress for an Arab role. But this is not a new issue Chehak (@Chehak96) July 15, 2017 what the actual hell, why did they pick a white girl to play a MIDDLE EASTERN princess?!!! i'm so mad smh #naomiscott #Aladdin rose (@Rose_1o) July 16, 2017 Casting an Indian to play an Arab...that too half Indian. Could they not find a single Arab actress to play Jasmine? #naomiscott #Aladdin (@RishiRughani) July 18, 2017 Mena Massoud, who will play the role of Aladdin in the film, is of Egyptian descent. Aladdin, the story of a rough-and-tumble kid from the streets who enlists a genie to win the love of Princess Jasmine, is set in fictional Agrabah, which is largely seen as representing a Middle Eastern city. A critic of the decision said it was one more instance of Hollywood believing that brown (people) are interchangeable, while another said fans are upset that their representation was taken away, and rightly so. Disney did not return Fortunes request for comment on the story. Follow @htshowbiz for more Security agencies have prepared a list of 149 foreign militants active in Kashmir ahead of a major counter-insurgency offensive to be executed in the coming days. The list, obtained by the Hindustan Times, has been jointly compiled by intelligence agencies, security forces and state police. Sources say the list is based on technical surveillance and human intelligence. Security experts, however, believe that it may not be an exhaustive list as the numbers may vary. According to the list, most of the foreign militants are listed as residents of either Pakistan or Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Security agencies have not been able to determine place of origin of some of the militants in the list, while some have resident of PoK/Pakistan written against their names. Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) tops the list with 109 of their men operating in the valley. Jaish-e-Mohammad is believed to have 30 militants and Hizbul Mujahideen, which is mostly composed of local Kashmiri militants, also has 10 foreigners. According to the list, 34 foreign militants are currently active in Handwara followed by 31 in Kupwara, 27 in Sopore, 21 in Bandipora, seven in Pulwama, six each in Baramulla, Awantipora and Srinagar, five each in Kulgam and Ganderbal and one in Anantnag. South Kashmir has a major presence of LeT militants, while the north has witnessed resurgence of sorts for the JeI headed by Maulana Masood Azhar. There are some in the list who are simply identified by their code name indicating that they have not been identified by the security agencies yet. The list also suggests security establishments willingness to increase the incentives for killing foreign militants. The list, in detail,categories the foreigners as A++, A+, A and B militants. The state government last year increased the reward money for killing A++ militants from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 12.50 lakh, for A+ category militant the amount was increased to Rs 7.50 lakh from Rs 5 lakh and for A and B categories the amount was increased to Rs 5 lakh and Rs 3 lakh from Rs 3 lakh and Rs 2 lakh respectively. In the current list, two foreign militants are classified as A++, eight as A+, 84 as A and two as B category. According to the compilation, Abu Dujana, the LeTs divisional commander in South Kashmir and Aijaz alias Abu Huraira are categorised as A++. While both the central and the state governments seem to be on the same page when it comes to countering militant activities, with Jitendra Singh, minister of state in the PMO, even claiming that militancy in Kashmir was in its last phase, sources in security establishment told Hindustan Times that targeting the militants will be an uphill task. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Amid the withdrawal of Army from the hills on the state government request, the pro- Gorkhaland agitators continued to run amok on Thursday, burning down two government offices at Lamahatta in Darjeeling. The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha supporters threw petrol bombs at a revenue department office and a panchayat office, reducing them to ashes, the police said. The Supporters of the GJM and other hill parties also held a demonstration today outside the district magistrates office demanding restoration of Internet services which remained suspended or the last 32 days. The Army, meanwhile, was withdrawn from the restive hills after the state government sought its pull-out on July 18, a defence official said today. The Army was deployed in the hills on July eight on request from the state government. The Army was withdrawn on July 18 as the state government sought its withdrawal, a defence official today said. Meanwhile, a delegation of various hill parties met West Bengal Governor KN Tripathi today and submitted a memorandum regarding the situation in the hills. While talking to reporters later on the sidelines of a programme, Tripathi said, They came to meet me. I have told them to create an atmosphere so that normalcy could be restored in that area. Some political party activists, dressed in traditional Nepali attire, took out rallies in the morning. The police and security forces patrolled the streets and kept a tight vigil at every entry and exit points. All shops, restaurants, hotels, schools and colleges remained closed except pharmacies. The Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University (TMBU) administration, on Thursday, lodged an FIR at University police station against former Delhi law minister Jitendra Singh Tomar , in a case pertaining to obtaining a fake law degree from the university. The FIR was filed about four months after Tomars fake degree was cancelled by the university, after receiving approval of the TMBUs academic council, syndicate and senate. TMBU proctor Yogendra, who goes by a single name, is the informant in case. Documentary evidence emerging from the findings of a probe initiated by the TMBU administration, establishing the former minister had committed fraud for procuring a fake degree from university, has been attached with petition submitted to police for lodging the FIR, he said. Rajesh Tiwary, TMBUs OSD (legal),said the findings of enquiry related to university papers and residential address submitted by Tomar at the time of his enrolment in law course at Viswanath Singh Institute of legal studies (Munger), which functions under TMBU, had also be referred to in the FIR. The TMBU officials had no clear answer as to why it took the university nearly four months to initiate legal action against former minister after his degree was cancelled. In March this year, the TMBU senate had, by a unanimous voice vote, approved the cancellation of the law degree of Tomar, which was earlier found to be fake in an inquiry held by the university in 2016. The finding was conveyed to a Delhi court hearing a case in connection with Tomars degree, through an affidavit filed on behalf of TMBU. Subsequently, the process for cancelling the tainted degree had been initiated by the TMBU authorities. The senate approval has paved way for the issuance of a formal notification by university for cancellation of his degree, which had allegedly been issued with the connivance of some employees of the university. Earlier, the examination board and disciplinary committee of the university had given their consent for cancellation of Tomars law degree. Even the Delhi police, in its inquiry conducted separately, had found that Tomars law degree was fake. Tomar was arrested by the Delhi police on June 9, 2015 in connection with the fake degree case. He had submitted his resignation to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on the following day, just hours after a Delhi court remanded him to four-day police custody. More than a dozen university employees, who had been indicted in the probe undertaken by university and also in Delhi police probe, for their complicity in issuing a fake degree to the former Delhi minister have, however, been spared legal action, for now. TMBU registrar Mohan Mishra said hearing in the fake degree case was underway in the Delhi high court and the employees indicted in university probe had been also indicted in probe of Delhi Police. The TMBU decided to defer initiation of separate legal action against them till the decision of court on employees is known, he explained. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Centre has again written to the Supreme Court collegium asking it to review the current system of judges appointing judges, a major point of friction between the government and the judiciary. The latest communique from the law ministry cites a July 5 judgment of the SC in which two judges had called for the need to revisit the process of selection and appointment of judges. The Centre wrote to the Supreme Court registrar general last week asking if the SC collegium -- a body of Indias five top judges that clears judicial appointments to the high courts and the SC would like to review its position. In the judgment in the justice (retd) CS Karnan contempt case, justices Jasti Chelameswar and Ranjan Gogoi also wrote on the need for an appropriate legal regime other than impeachment to deal with errant judges. Impeachment is a painfully slow process and no judge has ever been impeached in the country. Parliament had passed the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act (NJAC) in the first year of the BJP-led governments tenure and it came into effect on April 13, 2015. But the law, which effectively aimed to end the two-decade old collegium system, was struck down by a five-judge SC bench headed by justice JS Khehar as unconstitutional in October, 2015. In a separate order on December 16 the same year, the bench asked the government to come up with a fresh memorandum of procedure (MoP), the guiding document for such appointments, in consultation with the CJI. The law ministry sent a draft MOP to the collegium. After several rounds of to and fro between the two sides since January 2016, the collegium sent back the draft to the ministry reiterating its objections in March after which the ministry did not respond. Judicial appointments continue to be based on the old MOP, which both the executive and the judiciary agreed long ago needs drastic improvements. The government appointed 17 judges in the SC and nearly 250 judges in the HCs in the last three years. The Centre believes the July 5 judgment offers a window to break the deadlock. The court itself concurs that this system (of appointments) is not correctWe have to keep trying (to finalise the MoP), a top ranking law ministry official said. The collegium in its March 13 response is learnt to have objected to a clause in the draft that says the government can override a recommendation for appointment on the grounds of national security. It wants to have a final say in the matter and the power to overrule the objection. The collegium wants the government to provide evidence backing its objection rather than allow the executive the power to decide on a judges appointment. The judiciary has also objected to a clause that calls for setting up a secretariat for vetting and clearing names for judges before the collegium takes them up and forming a committee of SC judges who are not part of the collegiums to screen complaints against sitting judges. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A chargesheet has been filed against 23 persons in the Rs 6.33-crore National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) scam that was detected in Bihars Kaimur district, 204 km southwest of Patna. Police said the then Kaimur civil surgeon, then NRHM district programme manager (DPM), then NRHM district account manager (DAM) and seven doctors were among those chargesheeted for alleged financial irregularities between 2008 and 2011. The 7200-page chargesheet, that also named 25 persons as witnesses, was submitted by Kaimur deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Dilip Kumar Jha, who was the investigating officer, in a designated vigilance court in Patna on July 14. Jha said then civil surgeon Dr Uchit Lal Mandal, then DPM Shahid Kamal, then DAM Kamalesh Kumar Verma and other accused had been charged under Indian Penal Code sections 420 (punishment for cheating), 409 (criminal breach of trust), 467 (forgery of valuable security), 468 (forgery for cheating), 471(using forged document), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) and 34 (common intention) and section 13 (2) read with section 13(1)(D) of the Prohibition of Corruption Act. The fraud surfaced after an audit report of the State Health Society, Bihar, showed that payments had been made for fake tubectomy procedures and deliveries under NRHM that seeks to provide equitable, affordable and quality health care to the rural population, especially the vulnerable groups. Some of the doctors were found conducting more than one tubectomy operations and deliveries on a single woman. In the report a woman, Mina Devi, was shown to have given birth to 12 children within four months, besides undergoing tubectomy procedures 14 times during the same period, Jha said. Mina Devi was 36 years of age when tubectomy was performed on November 23, 2009, but her age was shown as 29 when she gave birth to a child after four days, Jha quoted the report as saying. The audit report also pointed out that at least 11 women delivered children five to 12 times in four months, besides undergoing tubectomy seven to 11 times in the same period, he added. One of the doctors, Dr Hira Singh, had performed tubectomy on 413 women at four hospitals, covering a distance of more than 100 km in day, Jha said, quoting the report. Two FIRs were registered in 2011 by then civil surgeon Dr Ras Bihari Singh. In 2016, the Patna high court, while hearing a Mandals petition seeking quashing of the FIRs, by ordered amalgamation of both the cases. Kaimur superintendent of police Harpreet Kaur said during investigation charges were found true against 59 accused, including 12 doctors. While chargesheet has been submitted in the vigilance court against 23 persons, necessary process was underway to initiate similar action against the remaining 36 accused, she said. The Delhi High Court on Thursday asked the Centre why it has not acted on its direction to look into the accounts of political parties, including the Congress and BJP, for traces of foreign funds. Justice AK Chawla gave six weeks time to the home ministry to submit a compliance report on its 2014 judgment, in which the High Court had found both parties flouting the norms of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCR) by accepting donations from Indian subsidiaries of UK-based Vedanta Resources. Section four of the FCR Act prohibits a political party or legislator from accepting foreign contributions. On March 28, 2014, the High Court had ordered the Election Commission (EC) and the home ministry to look into the accounts of the parties and take action within six months. NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) moved a contempt plea before the High Court earlier this year claiming that even after the lapse of three years of the courts verdict, the government had not taken any action. Alleged Contemnor/ Respondent herein is the Government of India has failed to take action against the offenders even after three years of passing of the said judgment of this Court, the contempt petition reads. Despite the fact that there was no interim relief granted by the apex court...the government has remained in non-compliance with the judgment of the Delhi High court, advocate Pranav Sachdeva, appearing for the NGO, said seeking to initiate contempt proceedings in the case. Sachdeva has said that both Congress and BJP had challenged the High Court verdict before the Supreme Court but later chose to withdraw their petitions. The High Court had in its 2014 landmark verdict rejected the governments contention that Vedantas two subsidiaries Sterlite and Sesa were incorporated in India under the Companies Act and their donations could not be construed as foreign contribution. It had also directed that the Centre to also look into the donations made to political parties by not only Sterlite and Sesa but other similarly situated companies or corporations. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A 30-year-old woman from a village in Gujarat has sought the help external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj to bring back the body of her husband, who she claimed has died at a jail in Pakistan. Jivuben Chauhan, a resident of Paldi village in Una tehsil of Gir Somnath district, wrote a letter in this connection to Swaraj on Tuesday. The woman said in her letter that her husband Kana Laxman Chauhan (37) and the latters brother-in-law Kana Govind, both fishermen, were arrested near the port of Jakhau in Kutch district some months back by the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency for allegedly violating the countrys water territorial boundary in the Arabian Sea. The woman, who has three daughters and two sons, told PTI yesterday that she recently received a letter from Govind in which he wrote that her husband suddenly died in the Pakistani prison on July 5. She said her husband and Govind were lodged in the same jail in Pakistan. The woman said Govind sent his letter through another fisherman from Gir Somnath district who was also earlier arrested by Pakistani authorities but released on July 9. The released fisherman visited her house on July 12 and handed her Govinds letter informing about her husbands demise, the woman said. After getting the information, Chauhan wrote to Swaraj, saying she has till date not received any communication from the external affairs ministry or the Indian high commissions office in Islamabad about her husbands death. Due to this reason, I seek your help for doing the needful in the matter, Chauhan said in her letter to Swaraj. I along with my five children and my mother-in-law have been living in a rented premises in the village. I have been working as a labourer at a site to earn our livelihood since the arrest of my husband several months ago, she said. In the letter, the woman also requested Swaraj for a probe into the sudden death of her husband in the jail, as she claimed that he had never written to her about suffering from any disease while being lodged there. Rajya Sabha MP Parimal Nathwani, who belongs to Dwarka in Gir Somnath district, said he has written to the external affairs minister to take up with her Pakistani counterpart the issue of expediting the process of bringing home the body of the fisherman so as to enable the deceaseds family to perform his last rites. Gujarat Fishermen Associations senior vice president Veljibhai Masani said he has also written a letter to Swaraj to help bring back the fishermans body. After two months of medical treatment, a stranded dolphin was released back into the wild where the Pearl River meets the South China Sea in southern Chinas Guangdong province on July 20. It is one of the worlds few rare dolphin rescue and release operations. The male dolphin, nicknamed Jiang Jiang, was found stranded on the beach of Guangdong on May 3, the second stranded dolphin in the province this year. The first dolphin died after ten days care. Jiang Jiang was found in a poor health in May. It was suffering from malnutrition and had severe muscle injuries. It was even unable to breathe by itself above water. It was carefully nursed back to health for two months and then released, according to Chen Xi, an officer with the Pearl River Estuary Chinese White Dolphin National Nature Reserve. As a highly-intelligent animal, captive dolphins can suffer physical and mental health problems. Once captured for a long time, it will also lose its capacity to survive in the wild. Jiang Jiang also received an electronic chip implanted in its body so its motion and health can be monitored. A dolphin can get stranded on a beach when its navigation system is affected by illness. Local authorities suggest that people immediately report a stranded dolphin if they see one, since they can survive for up to nine hours after getting stranded. The government has started consultations with various stakeholders to furnish a digital identification number to be given to air passengers at the time of booking tickets, Lok Sabha was informed on Thursday. Civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said the upgradation of technology for passenger facilitation was a continuous process. Various stakeholders consultations have been conducted and suggestions have been received for air passengers to furnish a digital identification number at the time of purchasing an air ticket to enable seamless air travel, he said during Question Hour. Raju said discussions are held regularly with diverse stakeholders on the usage of technology for the benefit of passengers and adopting common protocols for data-sharing across airlines, airports, travel agents and others. The ministers reply came in response to a question whether the government was planning to make it mandatory for air passengers to furnish a unique identity number at the time of flight booking. Raju said the civil aviation ministry has constituted three committees, including a technical committee, to implement technology-enabled seamless passenger facilities across airports in India. No specific timeline has been fixed because input will be received from the committee periodically regarding appropriate technology standards and inter-operability protocols, he said. A wave of joy swept across Paraunkh village in Uttar Pradeshs Kanpur Dehat district on Thursday evening as local boy Ram Nath Kovind won the election to become the next President of India. Local residents burst firecrackers and a DJ, hired from Kanpur, played loud music as people danced and chanted Jai Shri Ram. Many pulled their neighbours into hugs and distributed sweets. A Bhangra band with dhols led the way. The Dalit community that lives at the farthest corner of the village also made arrangements for celebration. It first organised a special prayer according to Buddhist customs close to the sole statue of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar to celebrate Kovinds sweeping win over opposition candidate Meira Kumar. For many in the village with a population of around 9,000, Kovinds victory was a promise for a brighter future. Now we are going to have the President from our village, our hopes have taken wing, he will for sure think getting the industries around Paraunkh, said Raju Srivastava, a local resident. Through the day, residents were glued to their television sets and radios and erupted in celebrations as soon as reporters announced Kovind, a former Rajya Sabha member, had won with almost two-thirds of the vote. Kovind had visited Paraunkh in July 2016 when he became the governor of Bihar. He had converted his village house into community hall for locals. Late Maikulal, father of the president-elect, ran a small general store in the village and was known to be religious. It is through his faith in Hinduism that Kovind first came in touch with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, residents said. At Jhinjhak, where Kovinds brothers live, residents lit lamps with ghee and distributed sweets, gulaal (colour) and flowers. The small town is around 160 kilometres from Lucknow. People celebrate after Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind was announced as NDA's presidential nominee at his village Paraunkhdera Pur in Kanpur Dehat. (PTI) Family members of the president-elect said they will go to Delhi by train on July 23 and that they had already started buying clothes for the swearing-in ceremony. The president-elects niece Hemlata Kovind said her uncle was aware of ground realities and the first thing she would like seeing him do is generating job opportunities in Jhinjhak and Paraunkh. At times, it becomes very hard to imagine that the uncle in whose lap you spent a significant time during childhood has been elected as the president. Not only our family, but the entire village is celebrating Holi and Diwali, she said. Jhinjhak is also where Kovinds two brothers Pyarelal and Shivbalak lived. Shivbalak, who died a few years ago, was the one who educated Kovind. Shivbalaks widow, Vidyawati, fasted since Wednesday for Kovinds victory. Paraunkh and Jhinjhak in Kanpur Dehat district are all set to celebrate as the village and the town are confident that Ram Nath Kovind will become the next President of India shortly. Villagers are glued to TV sets and radios so that they begin celebrations the moment news flashes the NDA presidential candidates victory. (Live result updates) Paraunk, Kovinds village, comes under Derapur tehsil, 110 kms from Kanpur. Paraunkh has a population of nearly 9,000. Jhinjhak is a very small town (a kasbah) where Kovinds brother Pyarelal lives. Kovinds another brother, late Shivbalak, also lived there. Shivbalak was the one who educated Kovind. Shivbalaks widow, Vidyawati, is fasting in Jhinjhak since Wednesday wishing Kovinds victory. People will play Holi during the day and celebrate Diwali at night. In Paraunkh, villagers have called a Bhangra band with dhols (percussion instrument) for the Holi and dance that they would do once Kovind is declared President. Theres a Pathri Devi temple in Paraunkh, where puja and rituals have been going on since the day Kovinds candidature was announced. At the Jhinjhak house of Pyarelal (Kovinds brother), a marquee has been put up to host all those who will come in to congratulate. Sweets will be distributed among them. Kovind had visited Paraunkh village in July 2016, when he became the governor of Bihar. He had converted his village house into community hall for his village people. Late Maikulal, the father of Kovind, ran a small general store in the village and was known as a religious person. It is through his religious bent of mind that he first came in touch with RSS, in which Kovind later became a member. India wants China to move troops from the Doklam trijunction for the two countries to begin talks on the border standoff, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said on Thursday. If China unilaterally changes status quo of tri-junction point between China, India and Bhutan, then it poses a challenge to our security, the minister told the Rajya Sabha. Indian and Chinese border guards are locked in a standoff in Doklam region, which borders Sikkim on Indias northeast, since June 16. China has accused India of trespass and preventing its soldiers from building a road. Bhutan and India maintain the area is a Bhutanese territory. China brought more construction material to the point where the unilateral status of the border ended, the minister said, adding all countries were with India as they understood New Delhis viewpoint. Swaraj was responding to Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal who asked the government to explain the reasons for the Sikkim standoff. The Chinese have adopted an aggressive stance on the border row, with the state media even warning of a war. China wants India to withdraw troops for the two sides to be able to open talks. China had been unusually aggressive in on the standoff but the two sides were trying to find a solution through diplomatic channels, foreign secretary S Jaishankar had told a parliamentary panel on Tuesday. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has signed a pact with the Army for developing a medium-range surface to air missile (MRSAM) which will be capable of shooting down ballistic missiles and aircraft. The MoU heralds the commencement of development of MRSAM system in the configuration as required by the Army, a senior Army official said. He said the missile will be produced by the DRDO in collaboration with the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). The missile will be capable of engaging multiple aerial targets at a range of more than 50 kms. In April, Israels state-run IAI had said it signed a contract with India worth over $1.6 billion for providing the missile to the Army. The MRSAM system will be capable of shooting down enemy ballistic missiles, aircraft, helicopters,drones, surveillance aircraft and AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control Systems) aircraft, the official said on condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media. He said procurement of the MRSAM will mark a paradigm shift in the Armys strike capability. The Army has been pressing the government for the MRSAM to enhance its strike capability. MRSAMs current version is operational with the Indian Air Force and Navy. An Indian-origin doctor is set to become the UKs youngest physician to start work at a hospital in north-east England. Arpan Doshi graduated with his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree from the University of Sheffield on Monday -- aged 21 and 335 days -- and is due to start work as a junior doctor in York next month. He will beat the previous record for the youngest doctor to start work in the country by 17 days. I didnt realise I was the youngest person to qualify until a friend checked on the internet. I havent even told my parents yet but I know they will be very proud, the Sun quoted India-born Doshi as saying. Arpan originally went to a local school in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, until he was 13. Then his mechanical engineer father, Bharat, got a job in Aix en Provence as part of an international Fusion project and the whole family moved to France. Arpan, who speaks English, Hindi and Gujarati, continued his education at an English-speaking International School. The following year I realised that I already knew a lot of what was being taught so I skipped a year, he recalls. He started applying to universities just weeks after his 17th birthday and despite a rejection from one university, three others offered him places. The University of Sheffield was so impressed with his credentials that they gave him a scholarship worth 13,000 pounds. He received financial support from his parents and also took part-time jobs as a lunch supervisor at a local school and in the careers service to fund his degree. My dream is to become a heart surgeon but it is a very competitive field. It is not really a surprise I have ended up as a doctor, said Doshi. The previous youngest doctor to qualify was Rachael Faye Hill, who received her medical degree from Manchester University when she was 21 and 352 days in 2010. Doshi is now set to overtake that record when he starts his two-year training as a junior doctor at York Teaching Hospital in August. The Kerala BJP on Thursday expelled a party leader for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 5.6 crore from a businessman by promising to help a hospital in Varkala obtain medical college status. The matter came to light when the findings of an internal probe conducted by the partys state unit were leaked to the media. Though state BJP chief Kummanam Rajasekharan had earlier denied the existence of such a report, he was eventually forced to expel the accused state co-operative cell convenor RS Vinod from the party. Vinod has committed a grave mistake. His action has put the party in a lot of trouble and sullied its image, he said in a statement. We have zero tolerance towards corruption, BJPs Kerala in-charge H Raja told Hindustan Times. CPI(M) MPs on Thursday also raised the matter in the Lok Sabha, demanding action against the BJP leaders. The leaked report figured prominently in Lok Sabha proceedings on Thursday, with the Congress as well as the CPI(M) demanding explanations from the ruling party. The embarrassed BJP top brass, in turn, sought a clarification from its state unit. According to the report, a copy of which is with HT, Vinod has admitted to accepting a monetary bribe to facilitate the grant of medical college status to SR Hospital through the Medical Council of India. He allegedly routed the money through Sathish Nair, a middleman in Delhi. The opposition demanded a CBI probe, questioning the Modi governments claim of a corruption-free government.The BJPs tall claims stand exposed now. We want a CBI inquiry into the kickbacks, Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala said. Rajasekharan had set up a two-member panel comprising party members KP Sreesan and AK Nazir after SR Educational and Charitable Trust chairperson R Shaji alleged that the institute failed to acquire recognition from the council even though he had bribed Vinod. We found the charges true. There is a mafia working behind the Medical Council of India, and the Centre had appointed the Lodha Commission to overcome it. But incidents like these still happen, and the party has to take a serious look at them, the concluding part of the report stated. The probe panel also identified other party leaders who allegedly sought kickbacks from a different hospital in Palakkad district. Though party general secretary MT Rameshs name is also said to have cropped up during the investigation, he denied all allegations. Back home, state Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala compared the alleged scam to Madhya Pradeshs Vyapam row and demanded a CBI inquiry. Panel member Nazir wondered how the report was leaked to the media. It is true that we forwarded it to the state president (from a personal email ID). But it was an internal report, not meant for public consumption, he said. Vinod, who allegedly accepted the bribe, claimed internal turmoil in the party was responsible for the report being leaked. Vellapally Natesan, a patron of NDA ally Bharat Dharma Jana Sena, said the Kerala BJPs internal conflict arose from a controversy over who received money and who did not. The partys central leadership is expected to subject its state unit to a complete overhaul in the light of the embarrassing incident. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A BJP probe panel has found that a Kerala party leader accepted Rs 5.60 crore from a businessman on the promise of getting the Medical Council of Indias (MCI) nod for a college, local media reports have said. The BJP has denied that such a report, which was allegedly leaked to the media by a party faction, exists. The opposition has demanded a CBI probe, questioning the Modi governments claim of corruption-free government. The BJPs tall claims stand exposed now. We want a CBI inquiry into the kickbacks, Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala said. The internal report should have first come up before the party leadership, BJPs Kerala general secretary Sobha Surendran on Thursday said. Most of our leaders are not aware of such a report. We have learned about this from media only, she said. The core committee group of the party would inquire how such a report originated and was leaked to press, she said. BJP cooperative cell convener RS Vinod admitted accepting the money for granting medical college status to the SR Hospital in Varkala, media reports quoted the probe panel as saying. Vinod allegedly gave the money to a middleman in Delhi through hawala dealers. State BJP chief Kummanam Rajasekharan had set up a two-member probe panel after R Shaji, chairman of SR Educational and Charitable Trust, alleged he paid Rs 5.60 crore to party functionaries to get the MCI nod for a medical college in Varkala in south Kerala, the reports said. The MCI is the regulator for medical and dental education in India. It is a serious charge. There is a mafia working behind the MCI and to get over the scourge Centre has appointed the Lodha commission. Still such bad precedents are happening and the party has to look into seriously, Malayalam daily Mathrubhumi, the states second largest newspaper, said. Shaji went public in May after he didnt get the MCI permission. He also sent a copy of his complaint to BJP president Amit Shah, who asked Rajasekharan to order a probe, party sources said. The probe panel also found that some party leaders accepted money for another medical college hospital in Palakkad district. Party general secretary MT Rameshs name allegedly cropped up but he has denied the allegations. The Opposition Congress has sought a CBI inquiry into the alleged kickbacks and the ruling Communist Party of India MPs have decided to raise the issue in Parliament. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said that the United States (US) and other countries have requested to list Maulana Masood Azhar as a terrorist under relevant United Nation (UN) sanctions committee. US has made a request along with other countries for Maulana Masood Azhar to be listed under the relevant UN sanctions committee because terrorism are being emanating from this particular source like we saw in the case of Syed Salahuddin. Its a global concern. It contributes the global menace of terrorism very largely and substantially, MEA spokesperson Gopal Baglay told media on Thursday. Masood Azhar is the founder and leader of the UN-designated terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed, which active mainly in the Pakistani administered Azad Kashmir. Pakistani authorities took him into protective custody after last year terror attack in Pathankot, Punjab which was widely reported as an arrest. However, he was seen free in April 2016. India has listed Masood Azhar as one of its most wanted terrorists due to his history of militant activities. Lalrobiaka, a Congress candidate for the 2008 assembly poll in Mizoram, in his affidavit filed before the Election Commission, put the value of his total movable and immovable assets at a little over Rs 5.81 lakh. In 2013, the 53-year-old Congress legislator from Dampa showed his total assets at Rs 1.40 crore an astounding increase of 2,406% in his five-year tenure as a member of the state legislative assembly. Thats the reason Lalrobiakas name is among nine MLAs of the ruling Congress mentioned in a complaint filed by the Mizoram unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party with the state anti-corruption bureau seeking a probe. Lalrobiaka, who has a garment supply business, attributes the sharp rise in his assets to some misunderstanding. Besides Lalrobiaka, the report includes names of chief minister Lal Thanhawla, ministers John Rotluangliana and PC Lalthanliana and parliamentary secretaries H Khiangte and K Rinthanga. Legislators H Zothangliana, KS Thanga and Lalrinmawia Ralte also find mention in the complaint filed on Tuesday. The BJP as well as the Mizo public would like to know how these people became very rich in such a short span, Mizoram BJP unit president JV Hluna told Hindustan Times over phone. Between 2008 and 2013, chief minister Lal Thanhawlas assets increased from Rs 2.22 crore to Rs 9.15 crore an increase of over 411%. I became BJP president in 2016 and came to know these details only recently. Hence we decided to file a case with the ACB, Hluna said about the delay in the BJP demanding an investigation. We are not saying these MLAs are corrupt. But people should know where their wealth came from. We dont have details, but am sure between 2013 and now, their assets have increased manifold, he added. Mizoram is going to the polls next year and the BJP is hoping to dislodge the Congress government in the Christian-majority state to extend the partys footprint in the northeast. Lalrobiaka says there was some misunderstanding regarding the sharp rise of his total assets as shown in his affidavits in 2008 and 2013. Earlier we were not very careful in our assessment. Hence the affidavit in 2008 doesnt include details of my residence which alone is worth nearly Rs 1 crore. But in my 2013 affidavit, that detail is mentioned. Hence it shows an increase in my assets, the legislator told HT. The BJP, however, rubbished the explanation, saying that as an elected representative Lalrobiaka shouldnt have overlooked such an important detail and mentioned all his assets clearly - both in 2008 and 2013. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON An open letter to chief minister Nitish Kumar by former JD (U) Rajya Sabha MP Shivanand Tiwary, and his Facebook post on Thursday, calling Kumars policy of zero-tolerance of corruption a charade, has once again set sparks flying within the ruling Grand Alliance (GA) in Bihar. Tiwarys son, Rahul Tiwary, is a sitting RJD MLA from Shahpur (Bhojpur) in Bihar. The veteran leaders stinging Facebook post, draws its significance from the fact he is now regarded as close to the top RJD leadership. The post comes at a time when GA partners, the RJD and JD (U) are locked in a war of attrition over the latters demand that RJD chief Lalu Prasads son, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, either come clean on the CBIs FIR against him in the land for railway hotels lease scam from his fathers days as railways minister (2004-09). If he fails to do so, the JD (U) wants Tejashwi to resign as deputy CM. The RJD, on the other hand, has firmly ruled out his resignation. Tejashwi had met CM Kumar here earlier this week in a bid to clear the air. Yet, the stalemate does not appear to be resolved. Tiwarys post came close on the heels of a sting operation carried out on senior JD (U) leader Shyam Rajak by a national TV channel, wherein Rajak was seen mocking the the CMs principled stand on corruption .One wants power and the other wants power for family, he quoted as saying about Nitish and Lalu. he sting had left the JD (U) and RJD leadership quite embarrassed. In his post, the former MP said on July 13 he had sought time to meet Nitish Kumar. Failing to get an appointment, he said he wrote a letter to Kumar, which was delivered on July 15. Even after that, he acknowledges, he tried to get an appointment with Kumar twice, but failed. In his FB post, on Thursday, Tiwary, apparently irked with lack of response from Kumar, lashed out at him. Nitishs policy of zero tolerance of corruption is a mere charade. His alliance with Lalu is proof of this. Actually, through this charade, he is looking for a way to go back to the BJP. It seems he feels more at home there, Tiwary wrote. GA sources acknowledged Tiwarys accusations against Nitish had the potential to snowball into a major issue within the alliance and acerbate tensions between the RJD and JD (U), over the latters demand for the resignation of RJDs Tejashwi Prasad Yadav as deputy CM, following the lodging of an FIR against him in a corruption case. In 2008, Tiwary, who was a JD (U) leader at the time, had held a press conference, along with party leader Lalan Singh, to expose the various shady land deals struck by RJD chief Lalu Prasad as railway minister (2004-09). Among them was the land for railways hotels lease deal, in which the CBI has book Tejashwi and his father, Lalu. JD (U) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar,said Tejashwi explanation on the corruption charges against him was vital to the continued good health of the alliance. Another JD (U) spokesperson Sanjay Singh said the delay on the part of Yadav scion to explain his stand on CBI FIR was taking a toll on the clean image of the chief minister Nitish Kumar. Our party may be small but the stature of our leader is big, he said. On Shivanand, the JD (U) leaders said the former MP was a habitual party hopper and had no right to question CM Kumars integrity. He is a man who destroys whichever party he joins. He carries no weight in politics, said JD (U) spokesman Ajay Alok. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Facing attacks over lynching incidents, the government on Thursday asserted that killings in the name of cow sentiments was unacceptable and said the state governments should take stern action against those indulging in such violence. Finance minister Arun Jaitley, who was replying to a debate on lynchings in the Rajya Sabha on behalf of ailing home minister Rajnath Singh, made it clear that the central government could not be blamed for violence by some people as it was the responsibility of the state governments to deal with such issues. The governments stand is clear. Nobody is allowed to do that (lynching in the name of cow protection). There is no rationalisation, no arguments of sentiments being hurt can be an explanation for this. And, the government is absolutely committed, he said. He said no amount of sympathy will be shown for those who indulge in lynching and law will certainly take its own course. Jaitley, who is also the Leader of the House, was replying to the debate on situation arising out of the reported increase in the incidents of lynching and atrocities on minorities and dalits across the country, during which the opposition parties slammed the government and particularly targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over such incidents. Most of the opposition parties blamed RSS-affiliates for the cow vigilantism, with the Congress accusing the prime minister of doing nothing to restrain them and creating such an environment by indulging in double speak. Rejecting the Oppositions allegations, Jaitley said the prime minister had spoken thrice against cow vigilantism. The government unequivocally condemns the killing of human beings in the name of protecting cows, he declared, adding, nobody has the right to take law in his own hands. At the same time, cow slaughter should not be praised or eulogised, he said, referring to an incident in Kerala where a cow was slaughtered on a road by some youth Congress workers and beef festivals were held. The incidents of people saying that they will display in Kerala as to how cow is cut and hold festival is equally damaging to the country as lynching in a train, he said. Violence can never be a partisan issue and cant be justified... One of your (Congress) CMs of the prohibited states has the audacity to say that given a choice he will eat beef, Jaitley added. On the Opposition charge of inaction, Jaitley asserted that legal action was taken systematically in each incident. People were arrested and they are in jail. They are all going to be chargesheeted against whom evidence is going to be found...This is clear and there is no ifs and buts. In his speech, he emphasised that cow slaughter was banned in most of the states during the time of first Prime Minister Jawaharalal Nehru, who was secular and not over- religious unlike Indira Gandhi who was more religious. This (ban on cow slaughter) was not proposed by Modi ji or Rajnath ji. This was said by Ambedkar during Nehrus time, Jaitley said, adding ban on cow slaughter was presribed in the Article 48 of the Constitution framed by the Constituent Assembly. Later, it was made part of 7th Schedule of the Constitution as a result of which the matter fell under the purview of the state governments. At that time, neither the BJP was in place, nor was any state ruled by the BJP, he said, adding most of the states then were ruled by the Congress, which framed laws prohibiting cow slaughter. We have laws in place and if any such incident occurs where police is not acting and brought to our notice to this effect, the government will not think twice of requesting state governments and advising the state governments and even asking for reports as well as states are concerned, he said. There are no ifs and buts. Laws made in the states have provisions to preserve and protect cows. That right is with the state and its police. Nobody has the right to take law into their hands... If anybody does it, they should be arrested and prosecuted, he said. He said selective morality caused problem and cited how there were a series of reports on attack on chruches during elections in Delhi and not even one case was found politically motivated. Jaitley said there was no difference in opinion between the government and the opposition as killing of human beings in the name of cow protection has to be unequivocally condemned. Contending that the definition of secularism has been distorted in 70 years, he said the issue pertains to faith and needs introspection. He urged the opposition to rise above politics. He took a jibe at the BSP saying if the law banning cow slaughter had been framed now, the party would have been the first to object that Baba Saheb Ambedkar was communal. BSP leader Satish Misra said his party welcomes banning of cow slaughter but the question was killing of people in the name of cow. Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said Kashmir, despite having Muslim majority, has a law prohibiting cow slaughter which has not been changed. He, however, decried killing of some people in the state on suspicion of ferrying beef. He said the Oppositions objection was to lynching and it wanted to know whether people of other religions had no right to do businesses like dairy as they were being targeted in the name of merely keeping the cows. Jaitley said people have to be tolerant to each other as the country belongs to all. We have vibrant secularism. At the same time, he said there were more instances of intolerance and violence in liberal societies. During his speech, Jaitley attacked the Left Front, asking, Why is it that incidents of violence increase in Kerala when the Left comes to power there? .. Why were there no incidents (of violence) when Oomen Chandi (of Congress) was there (till 2014). Addressing the opposition benches, he said, If it want to know why it did not happen before 2014, you have chosen an eminent and fair man for Vice President...when you will go through every report that Gopal Krishna Gandhi has sent, you will be enlightened. At this, Azad quipped, please do not divide the opposition. Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma then remarked in a lighter vein that since Jaitley has acknowledged that the opposition candidtate for Vice President was emeinent and fair, the ruling party should withdraw its candidate. Jaitly also stressed the need for uplifting Dalits and weaker sections, saying the way they were treated in history needs to be reversed. He said the issue boils down to effective action by the police in violence against the Dalits. In case of police not acting in a state in crimes against Dalits, the Centre will not hesitate in telling that particular state to act. The Centre can also seek report from the state, he said, adding if needed, the Union Home Ministry may monitor probe in any case. A demand by some opposition members for a separate law for lynching was also set aside by Jaitley, saying the present law was sufficient to ensure justice. Maintaining that the BJP was wrongly blamed for violence against minorities, he mentioned the attacks on churches in Delhi in the run-up to Delhi Assembly polls two years back. He said investigations had subsequently revealed that some drunkard or some urchin had damaged a church. But an impression was given that India had become intolerant, he said, adding New York Times had then written an article about it, damaging Indias image. Over 4000 people, who fled from areas near the Line of Control (LoC) due to five day long Pakistan shelling, have been housed in six different camps by authorities in Jammu and Kashmirs Rajouri district. There has been several instances of ceasefire violations by Pakistan troops since July 15 in which five people including four Army-men have been killed and eight others injured. More than 4000 persons have been housed in six camps in the Rajouri district, Deputy Commissioner, Rajouri, Shahid Iqbal Choudhary said. The district administration established a new relief camp the in wake of fresh migration triggered by repeated shelling in forward areas, he said. The Deputy Commissioner reviewed the amenities being provided in relief camps and arrangements for education of students. A total of 961 families comprised of 3812 persons had been accommodated in five relief camps. Now a sixth relief camp has been established at a government middle school, Gania, around 10 km from Nowshera, he said. Choudhary said that in the Gania relief camp 121 families comprising 427 persons have been accommodated. Meanwhile 45 families comprising 204 persons have been accommodated in private houses, he said. The administration has provided ration, fire wood, bedding, power supply including gen-sets, potable drinking water, sanitation, table fans, first-aid and other basic facilities at all the camps, he said. Officials said that Anganwadi Centres have been opened in camps and alternate classes for students have also been started in view of the closure of schools. A delegation of more than 300 of the displaced persons met the Deputy Commissioner and made demands related to suitable compensation for their losses. Pakistan on Thursday summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh after two civilians were killed in alleged ceasefire violations across the Line of Control by Indian troops. Director General (SA and SAARC) Mohammad Faisal who summoned the Deputy High Commissioner condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations. Foreign Office (FO) said in a statement that firing by Indian troops in Nikial and Nezapir sectors on Wednesday killed two civilians and inured five others. The deliberate targeting of civilians is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity and international human rights and humanitarian laws, Faisal said. He urged the Indian side to respect the 2003 ceasefire arrangement; investigate this and other incidents of ceasefire violations; instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire, in letter and spirit and maintain peace on the LoC. Faisal said that the Indian side should permit United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to play its mandated role as per the UN Security Council resolutions and alleged that despite calls for restraint, India continues to indulge in ceasefire violations. Indian forces have carried out 594 ceasefire violations along the LoC and the Working Boundary so far in 2017, the Director General claimed. On Wednesday, Pakistan summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner Singh after two civilians were killed and six others injured in alleged ceasefire violations along the Line of Control by Indian troops. The Pakistani foreign ministry previously summoned the Indian envoy for two consecutive days on July 8 and 9, over the same issue, claiming that more civilians were killed in firing by Indian troops. The Rajya Sabha continued discussion into the fourth day of the monsoon session of Parliament on Thursday and the debate in the Upper House largely focussed on the issue of H1-B visa, India-China border standoff and mob lynchings. The Opposition led by Congress targeted the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, with former law minister Kapil Sibal denouncing the lynchings over cow slaughter as grotesque violence. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley responded saying that the government is fully committed to protecting Dalits and minorities. While discussing the Sikkim standoff, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said that India wants China to move troops from the Doklam trijunction for the two countries to begin talks on the dispute. Wednesday was mired in noisy scenes and repeated adjournments as the Opposition created an uproar over cattle-related lynchings and anti-Dalit attacks. In the Lok Sabha, however, discussion ran overtime a day before to discuss farmers issues as parliamentarians presented issues facing their states. The monsoon session of parliament will continue till August 11. Live updates: 6:30pm: Rajya Sabha adjourned till 11 am on July 21. 6:29 pm: MV Rajeev Gowda of the Congress asks the government to strengthen ant-discrimination in the Real Estate bill passed by the Rajya Sabha in March 2016. 6:27 pm: V Maitreyan of AIADMK asks the government to respond to the new fisheries bill passed by Sri Lanka targeting Indian fishermen and their livelihood. 6:15 pm: The law will certainly take its course. No sympathy will be shown to perpetrators of such incidents: Jaitley, adding that the government is fully committed to protecting Dalits and minorities. Debate on mob lynching: Govt fields Opposition's allegationshttps://t.co/HMnLugJ3BM Rajya Sabha TV (@rajyasabhatv) July 20, 2017 6:10 pm: Ruckus in Parliament after Jaitleys statement on Kerala violence. 6 pm: To kill a human in the name of cow is unequivocally condemned, but to provoke anyone -- at least in a place where cow slaughter is prohibited -- is equally condemnable. No body has the right to take law in their own hand. It doesnt mean that in prohibited areas, cow slaughter should be encouraged or eulogised, says Jaitley, seemingly referring to beef fests held to protest lynchings. When Oomen Chandy was CM of Kerala, we (BJP) never said there were acts of violence in the state. 5:55 pm: Jaitley recites Article 48 written by Dr Ambedkar on using scientific and modern methods for cattle slaughter. Opposition responds, saying no party has raised objection to the laws prohibiting cow slaughter. Our issue is the crimes committed against minorities in the name of cow: Ghulam Nabi Azad 5:50 pm: Finance and defence minister Arun Jaitley speaks, says the issue of lynchings is crucial and to give it political colours wont be fair. I dont want to explain or rationalise it. The home minister and the PM have in the past spoken against gau rakshaks. Our sensitivity to the cow cannot justify any violence. Violence cannot be a partisan issue... We should remember that we are one of the worlds largest democracies. Our culture is to respect each other and tolerate each other -- called mutual respect of tolerance. We cannot insult any religion. In respect to each incident of violence, the home minister spoke to every CM of the state and kept a track of cases against them. All the perpetrators are in jails, they will be prosecuted and serve their punishments: Jaitley 5:45 pm: Congress Ghulam Nabi Azad accuses the MoS for home affairs Hansraj Gangaram Ahir is steering off the topic of lynchings and instead talking about budget allocation for betterment of minorities. Ahir says the government is working for Dalits and all minorities. 5:40pm: RS chairman PJ Kurien announces the House had accepted Mayawatis resignation. 5:35 pm: Maharashtra MP Ramdas Athawale recites a poem dedicated to crimes against Dalits, earning cheers from parliamentarians. Athawale says Mayawati, who resigned from the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, should have been in the House to be the voice of the minorities. 5:15 pm: Pramod Tiwari of the INC asks who has given vigilantes the right to lynch, keeping up pressure on the BJP on the recent incidents of violence. 4:15 pm: The killers themselves claim they are supported by Hindutva groups, says TKS Elangovan (DMK). 4:10 pm: Congress Anand Sharma hits back at Chandrasekhar after he cites the example of the Karnataka cop who was transferred after she spoke about preferential treatment for AIADMK leader VK Sasikala at the state jail. Sharma says it is BJPs double standard to speak about Karnataka when the a woman police officer was transferred in Uttar Pradesh for taking on BJP activists. 4:05 pm: Rajeev Chandrasekhar takes the stage, says they have to discuss provocations by the Congress and the Left when they slaughter a cow in the streets of Kerala. Chandrasekhar calls it the Oppositions double standard, questions why the Congress is silent when scores of political party leaders are hacked to death in Kannur, Kerala. There is deafening silence when an actress is molested in Kerala. Isnt this stand of hypocrisy signalling that some violent crimes are okay and some are not. All crime should be un-politicised and dealt by law. 4 pm: Opposition members protest in the well of the House after Jhas remarks. 3:45 pm: Will we blame the Himachal Pradesh government over the Shima rape case? Why was Opposition silent on Karnatakas demand for a new flag? : Prabhat Jha turns the charge on Congress and the Left, touting the election victories by the BJP and claiming that the party will win in upcoming polls in Gujarat and Himachal. A 16-year-old girl, who was missing since two days, was found dead near isolated woods at Halaila in Kotkhai, 65 km from Shimla. Reportedly, the girl was found naked, suspecting rape before murder. 3:40 pm: BJP MP from Madhya Pradesh, Prabhat Jha defends Opposition charge that BJP supports cow protection groups. To say that the BJP government is not taking action against perpetrators of violence is not true. 3:30 pm: Congress and TMC stage walkout from Rajya Sabha over the comments made by HRD minister Prakash Javadekar during a debate on lynchings. 3.04pm: You are dictating what to eat, how to eat. Then youll say why eat? says CPIs Raja 3.02pm: Why are Dalits being massacred? Why are Muslims being attacked? asks Raja 3.01pm: How can these lumpen elements (those who are involved in lynchings) take law into their own hands? says Raja 3pm: We have to ensure empowerment for all: Raja 2.59pm: Dalits, women do not want sympathy or empathy from us. We have to ensure constitutional right to all our citizens: Raja 2.59pm: We are discussing lynchings after 70 years of independence. I feel ashamed, says Raja 2.58pm: We have collectively failed our fellow citizens: Raja 2.57pm: CPIs D Raja speaking now 2.55pm: You are in government, do good things. Stop this drama over cows: Sharad Yadav 2.50pm: Freedom enjoyed only by the rich, it is not for poor or adivasi, says Sharad Yadav. 2:45 pm: Sharad Yadav criticises the government on its handling of the agrarian crisis, saying never before have so many farmers committed suicide, adding that demonetisation hit the agriculture industry. The JD(U) MP goes on to slam Centre for crimes against Dalits, giving the Una incident -- in which Dalits were thrashed -- and Rohit Vemulas suicide as examples of caste discrimination. 2:35 pm: Training guns on BJP, Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav cites the examples of Junaid and Pehlu Khan while talking about the lynchings. There is nothing more Talibani than a mob killing a person. JD(U) allied with Congress in the Uttar Pradesh election held earlier this year. 2:20 pm: You (BJP leaders) say it isnt related to BJP. These people are cow vigilantes. But these are your people. VHP has said it will equip gau rakshaks, says Sibal 2700 gau sena is operating in states. They are recruited by VHP and trained by the Bajrang Dal. But what is the Prime Minister doing. (Modi) Quoting Mahatma Gandhi is doublespeak... Your own people are doing this but the PM says these are anti social people. It has nothing to do with (cow) vigilantes. It is the PM. The Prime Minister is creating that kind of an environment (for lynchings, violence): Kapil Sibal amid uproar by BJP leaders. Read | In the name of cow: Lynching, thrashing, condemnation in three years of BJP rule The Congress leaders closing statement: This is an unofficial army of hooligans associated with an ideology which will disturb the peace and tranquillity of the country. 2:15 pm: Continuing his tirade against the Centre, Kapil Sibal invokes Gandhi ji quote -- I would not kill a human to protect a cow. The cow is one of the most peaceful animals. Killing in the name of the cow is the death of humanity: Sibal 2:10pm: On mob lynchings, former law minister Kapil Sibal denounces the incidents calling them grotesque violence. We have to ask why these incidents are happening. Our own people are killing each other. Why? Everyone should ask oneself. Why is this happening after 2014?. So I looked at previous speeches by PM Modi, who said in 2012 that cow meat is being exported and Indians are silent, says Sibal, who goes on to invoke PMs kabristan-shamshaan remark made during UP election campaigning. 2pm: Rajya Sabha resumes. Naresh Gujral, MP from Akali Dal, talks about the significance of tolerance and the rise in incidents against gundaism and violence. He urges the government to speaks to CMs and Chief Justice of India to punish perpetrators of such crimes (lynchings) and atrocities. The issue of lynchings had resonated in the Upper House a day before when the Opposition alleged involvement of some members of BJP and Sangh Parivar in these incidents even as the government said communal colour should not be given to such violence. Why the BJP has no incentive to stop the lynching of Muslims in India | Opinion 1pm: Discussion steers to orphaned children and the number of cradles, introduced in states so parents can leave their babies in safe custody of the government instead of abandoning them. Question Hour ends. Discussion will resume at 2 pm in Rajya Sabha. 12:35pm: SP leader Naresh Agarwal whose statement had sparked controversy a day before asks the government to explain reasons behind the Sikkim standoff between India and China. The issue is due to the tri-junction point that is between India, China and Bhutan. This time, China brought more construction materials till the point where the unilateral status of the border ended, which is a concern for us. India wants that troops are removed from the tri-junction point to discuss the issue together. All countries, including Bhutan, are with us: Swaraj If China unilaterally changes status-quo of tri-junction point between China-India & Bhutan then it poses a challenge to our security. 12:30pm: Congress Chattisgarh MP Chayya Sharma brings up the issue of Chinese presence on the South China Sea, which is allegedly impacting trade. Swaraj claims that although China is increasing its maritime presence, it is not enclosing India and New Delhi is alert about its security. On the One Belt One Road issue, the external affairs minister says India had opposed the CPECs inclusion in OBOR long before. Jaise hi pata chala ki OBOR ( One Belt One Road) mein CPEC ko dal rahe hain, ussi samay virodh darj kiya gaya tha: EAM Sushma Swaraj in RS pic.twitter.com/66vtC1i4LC ANI (@ANI_news) July 20, 2017 12:15 pm: Congress rakes up the issue of H1-B visa again, Anand Sharma says the previous US governments too have lauded Indians contribution to the countrys IT sector. Swaraj will make a detailed statement on the issue. 12:10 pm: CPI leader D Raja questions the government on buying defence equipment from foreign countries. Is this Make in US or Make in Israel and sold in India? Sushma Swaraj says the Modi government is the only government to open 100% FDI in defence sector. No other government has tried to move towards self-reliance. 12:05 pm: Lok Sabha has been adjourned till 11am tomorrow amid protest over agrarian crisis. 12pm: AIADMKs V Maitreyan asks the government to elaborate if US President Donald Trump and PM Narendra Modi spoke about the H1-B visa issue. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj responds, saying PM Modi convinced Trump that Indian professionals are contributing to the US economy, although the word H1B visa wasnt used (in the joint statement). The H-1B visa is an employment-based, non-immigrant visa category for temporary workers. An employer must offer a job and apply for your H-1B visa petition with the US Immigration Department. A view of the Lok Sabha as opposition members protest in the well of the House. (PTI Photo) 11:55 am: Congress Anand Sharma raises the issue of Indian IT professionals in the US. Almost 50% of H1-B visas have been of the Indian IT workers. They (Indians) have contributed to the industry... We had expected that when the Prime Minister visited US, this issue would be taken up. There was no mention of the issue. I request the government of India to be sensitive to the Indian IT professionals issues. 11:50 am: Biju Janata Dal MP Dilip Kumar Tirkey appeals for a special package for Odisha after flood-related damage. 11:30 am: Lok Sabha adjourned till noon A nine-year-old girl was hit by an Army vehicle at Aglar village in Shopian district, South Kashmir, on Thursday. Police have registered an FIR against the driver, a member of the 55 Rashtriya Rifles. Victim Arooba Farooq, a Class 2 student, was rushed to a nearby hospital where she succumbed to her injuries. Arooba was headed to school when she stopped to buy snacks. That was when the vehicle hit her, a relative told mediapersons. Witnesses alleged the driver did not stop immediately after hitting the girl. However, a senior police officer told Hindustan Times that the girl was rushed to the hospital in the same vehicle. The accident happened in the morning and there was Army movement at the time, he said. Violent protests erupted as soon as the news of Aroobas death spread. Scores of people were injured, and army personnel used tear gas shells to disperse the protesters.. Ram Nath Kovind, former Bihar governor and an old BJP hand, will be Indias 14th President after sweeping the election with nearly two-third of the votes on Thursday. The NDA candidate, supported by 40 parties, secured 702044 or 65.65% votes in the poll touted as an ideological battle by the Opposition parties. His rival, former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, ended up with 367314 or 34.35% of the votes of elected MPs and MLAs. Kovind got more votes than Kumar in 21 states including her home state Bihar and in both Houses of Parliament. Minutes after the result was declared, an emotional Kovind recalled his abject poverty-ridden childhood in Uttar Pradeshs Paraunkh village. Today, it rained in Delhi, reminding me of the monsoon of my childhood. We had a kuccha house and its roof couldnt stop water pouring into the room. We, the siblings, stood against the wall and waited for the rains to end. He thanked the nation for enormous love on NDA after his much-anticipated victory. He announced that he will represent all struggling to make a living as the President of India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi with BJP President Amit Shah congratulates Ram Nath Kovind on being elected as the 14th President of India, in New Delhi on Thursday. (PTI) Kovind, 71, the second Dalit president after KR Narayanan is also the first from Indias most populous and politically significant state Uttar Pradesh to come in the countrys highest office. In the run up to the election, Kovind managed to win over parties like Nitish Kumars JD(U), Naveen Patnaiks BJD and AIADMK, making the 15th Presidential election almost a one-sided contest. It was also a stellar moment for the BJP as it finally could elect its own leader ever since its inception in 1980. Before his name was announced by BJP chief Amit Shah a month ago Kovind never figured in speculations on possible NDA candidates. On Thursday, the unassuming BJP leader, who had twice been Rajya Sabha member, won the prestigious battle amid rampant cross voting favouring the ruling dispensation. Kovinds candidature was also seen as a part of the BJPs efforts to widen its support base ahead of the 2019 general election. Kovind will enter Rashtrapati Bhavan on July 25 and on the same day incumbent Pranab Mukherjee leaves for his new address in Rajaji Marg, in the same bungalow where APJ Abdul Kalam lived after retirement. Family members and villagers celebrating the victory of Kovind by dancing. (Manoj Yadav/HT Photo) While the Congress-led Opposition suffered a defeat, Meira Kumar managed to secure the highest share of votes as runner-up in last 48 years of the Presidential election. Only Kota Subbarao in 1962 and Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy in 1969 got higher vote share than Kumar. I want to make it very clear that today on July 20 July, my battle for ideology doesnt end, it will continue, Kumar announced, while congratulating Kovind for his victory. Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted an old photo of Kovind and him to showcase their long connection and expressed happiness for the extensive support for Shri Ram Nath Kovind ji among MPs & across various states. Modi tweeted: Congratulations to Shri Ram Nath Kovind Ji on being elected the President of India! Best wishes for a fruitful & inspiring tenure. He also congratulated Meira Kumar for her campaign which he described was in spirit of the democratic ethos & values we all are proud of. Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul congratulated him. The President of India enjoys a unique position as defender and protector of the Constitution, upholder of democratic traditions and as supreme commander of the Indian Armed Forces, she said. Oppositions Vice-Presidential nominee Gopalkrishna Gandhi sent his good wishes for Kovinds outstanding tenure in Rashtrapati Bhavan. May he exercise, the classical right to be consulted, the right to encourage, the right to warn, Gandhi told HT. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Rising Hindu nationalism has hijacked Prime Minister Narendra Modis China policy and could lead the two countries to war, Chinese state media said on Thursday, adding a warning that it could put Indias own interests in jeopardy. The latest salvo from Chinese state media -- in the backdrop of an ongoing military impasse near the Sikkim border -- reminded New Delhi that it is weaker than China in national strength but Indian politicians have failed to grasp that reality. Sounding a warning, the commentary also reminded the Modi government about its failure to curb Hindu nationalistic violence against Muslims since this government came to power in 2014. The state media article indicated the current standoff was planned and executed to cater to Hindu nationalistic sentiments. Modi rode a wave of rising religious nationalism to power in 2014 and is now pandering to the sentiments through its strong policies against China and Pakistan, said the analysis published in the nationalistic tabloid, Global Times. The election of Indian PM Narendra Modi has fueled the countrys nationalist sentiments. Modi took advantage of rising Hindu nationalism to come to power. This, on one hand, has enhanced his prestige and ability to control the country, but on the other, has made India more subject to the influence of conservatives, thus hampering reform, the analysis said. In diplomacy, New Delhi is demanded to act tougher in foreign relations, especially toward countries like Pakistan and China. The border row this time is an action targeted at China that caters to the demand of Indias religious nationalists, the commentary said. Targetting Muslims has been part of the rising religious nationalism, it said. The Modi government can do nothing if religious nationalism becomes extreme, as shown in its failure to curb violent incidents against Muslims since he came to power in 2014, the GT commentary, written by Yu Ning, said. The source of Indias deep strategic suspicion of course is the 1962 war, the article said. Since Indias defeat in the Sino-Indian War of 1962, some Indians have been stuck in a zero-sum mentality in dealing with China. The war inflicted lingering pain on India and it became a hard knot to untie, leading to an ingrained suspicion of Chinese strategy. Chinas development is seen as a misfortune to India. The faster China grows, the more fearful they are, the commentary said. India harbors deep strategic suspicion toward China. It considers China as a rival and a potential enemy. For a long time, it has hyped that China is pursuing what is called the String of Pearls to encircle India. Despite Chinas goodwill in inviting India to join the Belt and Road initiative, India insists on interpreting the project as a part of Chinas strategic containment and encirclement of it, the commentary added. China has blamed India for the ongoing Donglang (Doklam) impasse, accusing Indian soldiers of trespass and preventing Chinese soldiers from building a road in the region, which is also claimed by Bhutan. Beijing wants India to withdraw its troops from Donglang before the two sides can open talks. New Delhi says the road, if built, will have serious security implications for India. A Delhi court on Thursday granted bail to two Sikh militants, accused of hijacking an Air India plane in 1981 to Lahore, Pakistan. Additional chief metropolitan magistrate Jyoti Kler granted bail to Tajinder Pal Singh and Satnam Singh and asked them to furnish a personal bond of Rs 2 lakh and two sureties of like amount each. The court directed them not to tamper with evidence or influence witnesses in the case. The court earlier on 18 July (Tuesday) granted two-day interim bail to the duo after they appeared before it. Damdami Taksal slams Delhi Police Meanwhile, the Damdami Taksal in a statement isssued in Amritsar slammed the Delhi police for filing a supplementary challan in the court, putting the two hijackers on a fresh trial under different offences in the 36-year-old FIR. Capt directs state legal team to help Sikh hijackers facing double trial Chandigarh: Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh has directed the states Legal Aid Team to extend help to the two Sikhs faced with possibilities of double jeopardy in the hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane to Lahore 36 years ago. While the hijacking was condemnable, any attempt to prosecute the two, who had already done life terms in Pakistan for the same crime, will amount to a serious travesty of justice, the chief minister in a statement on Thursday, adding that this could tantamount to double jeopardy. He added that he has directed the Legal Aid team of the Home Department to extend legal help to the two, in case required. While he said he did not want to go into the merits of the case since it was sub-judice, the CM pointed out 36 years is a long time, considering that life term will not have been more than 14 years. About the case The case against them dates back to September 29, 1981, when they allegedly hijacked an Air India plane from New Delhi en route to Srinagar via Amritsar and forced it to land in Lahore, Pakistan, where they were arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment. Both were deported in 2000 from Pakistan after serving life-term for hijacking. They had later sought their discharge from the case but a sessions court had dismissed their plea. In 2011, the Delhi Police had chargesheeted them under various sections 121 (waging war against the government of India), 121A (conspiring to commit certain offences against the state), 124A (sedition) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The Delhi high court had also dismissed their plea seeking stay on the sessions court order and asked the trial court to proceed with the matter. A former Chinese diplomat who recently served in India has said that Indian troops deployed at the disputed Donglang area could either withdraw voluntarily, be captured or be killed. The comments by Liu Youfa, a former Chinese consulate general in Mumbai, come amid a military stand-off in the Donglang area also called Doklam with Beijing blaming Indian soldiers of trespass and preventing Chinese soldiers from building a road in the region, which is also claimed by Bhutan. According to what I understand of international law, when people in uniform get across the border to move into the territory of the other side, they naturally become enemies who will have to face three consequences: First, they can go out voluntarily, or they may be captured or when the border dispute should escalate, they may be killed, Liu told CGTN, the English channel of national broadcaster CCTV. Liu said the current standoff might be said be part of the border dispute but it is an invasion. Speaking at a program on the standoff, Liu said China has been patient so far. So, there are three possibilities. So, I think the Chinese side is standing there waiting for the Indian side to make the sensitive choice and pull out of the region, Liu argued. This is the best result for both sides to avoid the eventual confrontation. The Chinese side has so far given so much time for the Indian side, for our Indian friends to take sensitive measures, Liu, who is associated with a Chinese think-tank, said. Beijing wants India to withdraw its troops from Donglang before the two sides can open talks. New Delhi says the road, if built, will have serious security implications for India. Liu brushed aside Indias concerns about its security concerns. Indian forces have stepped across the border with no warning. We have a saying: You have stepped into my front yard and when I ask you to move, you say you got to give me something to pull out. Is that logical? he asked. Building roads in borderline areas are sovereign rights for India and China. Construction of the road by the Chinese government should not service the ground to send your troops across the border, Liu said. India is building airfields and highway networks along the border and you cannot stop China from doing the same. China and India are two great neighbours that cannot afford to be hostile to each other. Neither side should take the advantages of the concessions and the goodwill to move beyond reasonable limits, he said. Fifty-nine-year-old Shan Yekuan rides his sanitation tricycle with his 8-year-old grandson on it on a street in the city of Nanjing. The pair have been living together since little Shan's parents got divorced and the grandfather has since been taking care of the little boy. During the summer holiday, when other children were outside having fun, little Shan had to go to work with his grandfather every day, because he couldnt be left alone at home. Despite his situation, little Shan said he is pleased to be living with his grandfather in Nanjing. (Photo/People's Daily Online) Five villages in Rajasthans Hanumangarh district are facing such a serious threat from mosquitoes that villagers have been forced to keep even their cattle under nets even during the day. The problem is spread over 4,378 hectares of three tehsils, affecting more than 25,000 families, said Premraj Jakhar, head of Pilibanga block-level panchayat samiti. He said people of five villages Badopal, Manakthedi, Jakhrawali, Bheusari and Daulatawali are staging a sit-in since July 14 at Chakthakurwala in Badopal to demand permanent solution to the menace of mosquitoes. The sit-in is also under mosquito nets. The villages are surrounded by vast stretches of stagnant waste water making it breeding ground for mosquitoes and other insects. The protest has spurred Hanumangarh district collector Prakash Rajpurohit to form a committee to find a scientific solution to the problem. Villagers have complained that foul smell, mosquitoes and flies have made their lives difficult. We have formed a committee of experts to find out a permanent remedy, he told HT. The panel consisting of agriculture and epidemiology experts along with administrative officers visited the affected areas this week and submitted a report to the district collector. In its report, the panel suggested intensive chemical spray and fogging because the culex mosquitoes which breed in the area serve as vectors of one for deadly diseases of birds, humans and other animals. Buffaloes are herded under a net to protect them from mosquitoes. (HT Photo) Hanumangarh chief medical health officer Dr Arun Kumar said there has been no incidence of mosquito-borne diseases in these villages but on the directions of district collector, the health department has put mosquito larvae oil in the stagnant water to curb breeding. Culex genus of mosquitoes are vector for Japanese encephalitis and filariasis and avian malaria. These diseases have not been reported in the district, he said. In 2014, villagers had staged a protest for 300 days. The problem began around 55 years ago when farmers in Sri Ganganagar and Hanumangarh districts began getting irrigation water from the Indira Gandhi Nahar Pariyojana (IGNP). Over the years, excessive irrigation, seepage from canals and poor drainage turned acres of agricultural land into a waterlogged wetland, said Dropati Meghwal, MLA Pilibanga. While the Indira Gandhi canal was being constructed, excess flow was discharged into the Badopal area. Over the years, the surplus volume of water gets stagnated in the area for a period of eight to nine months in these areas, said Amarjeet Singh Meharda, Chief Engineer (Water Resources) Hanumangarh. Surplus water of the Ghagghar river system is also discharged into these areas and now we are planning a Rs. 298 crore project for this waterlogged area, he added. Ironically, the area facing the mosquito threat was intended to be a bird sanctuary. Chief minister Vasundhara Raje announced a bird sanctuary in her 2013-14 budget speech. The village attracts birds, native and migratory, from all over, making it a site for conservation of bird species. The state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) have summoned BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and Rajya Sabha MP Roopa Ganguly to appear for questioning in connection with the child trafficking case in north Bengal that came to light in February this year. Notices have been sent, asking Ganguly to appear on July 27 and Vijayvargiya on July 29, said a CID officer. Two other BJP leaders from north Bengal are being sent notices as well. This is nothing but politics of vendetta. It is outrageous that people such as Vijayvargiya and Ganguly, who had nothing to do with this case, are being summoned for questioning. The chief minister had earlier said that she would arrest BJP leaders in Bengal. Now we have proof that she is out to harass them, BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha told HT. Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has said on several occasions that if the Centre targets Trinamool leaders the state police will go ahead with investigations against BJP leaders. (HT Photo) The notice from CID came close on the heels of the central investigating agencies, CBI and ED, summoning several Trinamool Congress MPs, Bengal ministers and MLAs in connection with the Narada scam, where a dozen ruling Trinamool Congress leaders were seen accepting cash from a gentleman (Naradanews.com CEO Samuel Mathew who conducted the sting) who wanted help for his company in return. Read: Kailash Vijayvargiya dares Mamata Banerjee to arrest BJP Bengal chief Earlier this year, the CID unearthed a racket that flourished in north Bengal districts and was active in illegally selling babies in the name of adoption. Incidentally, one of the state BJP Mahila Morcha secretaries, Juhi Chowdhury was arrested in February in connection with this case and was sent to judicial custody. BJP removed Chowdhury from all party responsibilities. CID officers claimed that the names of Roopa Ganguly and Kailash Vijayvargiya surfaced during interrogation of the key accused Chandana Chakraborty, who used to run a childcare home in Jalpaiguri. Juhi Chowdhury, a Mahila Morcha secretary till March this year, was removed from all position by the Bengal BJP after her arrest in connection with the baby trafficking racket in north Bengal. (HT Photo) Chakraborty, who was arrested in February, allegedly told CID officers that Juhi Chowdhury had got in touch with Ganguly, who was then the Mahila Morcha chief in the state, and Vijayvargiya, who supervises the BJPs organisation in Bengal, to get the childcare home out of trouble. In a separate development, former BJP MLA and the partys state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya was also summoned by CID in connection with an alleged corruption in an Indira Awas Yojna scheme. Read: FIRs lodged against BJP leaders Roopa Ganguly, Dilip Ghosh over inflammatory remarks Incidentally, chief minister Mamata Banerjee had earlier said that courtesy was important in politics but if the BJP-led Centre continued to harass Trinamool Congress leaders, BJP leaders could be hauled up in Bengal as well. In another child trafficking racket unearthed in south Bengal last year, a BJP leader from the Salt Lake area, Dilip Ghosh, a doctor, was arrested by CID. Kolkata Police cannot subject actor Rituparna Senguptas domestic help to a lie-detector test over a case of jewellery theft, a city court has ruled, after the help alleged that authorities mislead her. The police wanted her to undergo the narcoanalysis test, for which the suspects consent in mandatory. After giving her approval, the help Aloka Naskar changed her mind and filed a petition saying she wanted to withdraw the consent. The magistrate asked Naskar why did she give consent earlier. She told the court she was scared of the police. While challenging her allegation of coercion from the police, the public prosecutor did not object to her prayer withdrawing consent. The appeal was summarily approved, said Asit Manna, one of the three lawyers who appeared for Naskar. Incidentally, all three lawyers argued free-of-cost. Naskar, 54, told HT on Monday that she is an illiterate woman and the police misled her about the process. A person subjected to the test is injected with sodium amytal or sodium pentothal to neutralise the power to imagine that is necessary for hiding truth. As the person becomes semi-conscious, a narco analysis may help the police get crucial clues. Statements made during the test, however, are not admissible in court. Without consent, no one can be subjected to the test. We are happy to have spoiled the polices effort to coerce a helpless woman undergo narco-analysis in a petty case of theft, said Ranjit Sur, vice-president of Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR). Deputy commissioner, south, Kolkata Police told HT on Tuesday that they never coerced Naskar for the test. The magistrate, too, explained the significance of the test to her when she went to the earlier to give her consent. APDR got involved after the word spread about the lie detector test on Naskar. Sur earlier told HT that the police certainly overstepped its limits by planning to put a suspect in a petty theft case to a narco analysis test. Human rights activists alleged it only showed the over zealousness of police to keep in good humour an influential person. Sengupta, however, did not mention any suspect when she filed the complaint. Naskar cannot even sign her name. She had no lawyer representing her when the police first took her to the court to consent to the test. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A gang of thieves sneaked into the house of four brothers in Sector 13, Vikas Nagar and opened fire on them after one of the victims spotted them when he returned home from a late night party on Tuesday. The youngest brother suffered bullet injury while another brother was beaten up with an iron rod. No breakthrough in recent incidents JUL 16: Two sisters, Sandal Srivastava, 60 and Kesar Srivastava alias Juggun, 45, were smothered to death and their bodies were found in two separate rooms in their house in Gudambas Kalyanpur locality. Jul 13: Dacoits struck at the house of a retired engineer of the power department, Girish Pandey, 74, in the posh Vivek Khand - I area of Gomti Nagar. They held him and his family hostage for over 90 minutes, and took away cash and valuables worth several lakhs. Jul 11: Dacoity at the house of senior HAL employee, Devendra Singh Negi, 57. He and his wife were held hostage in South City colony of PGI police area. May 30: Dacoity at the house of a private firm consultant SMA Rizvi in Vipul Khand, Gomti Nagar. May 8: Dacoity at the house of a real estate businessman, Chaman Lal, in Vivek Khand, Gomti Nagar. The brothers, however, fought back and forced the burglars to flee from the house. The thieves left their car and stolen belongings on the spot. The incident took place at retired power department employee, Syed Naseem Haiders house where his four sons Razi, Imran, Farhan and Salman stay together. Razi and Imran are practicing lawyers, Farhan is a doctor and the youngest, Salman is preparing for competitive examinations. He is undergoing treatment at KGMUs Trauma Centre. Razi said the entire family (including wives of three brothers) had gone for a marriage party of his close friend in Old City on Tuesday night. While the others returned around 12 midnight, Razi stayed back at the party venue for some time. The thieves sneaked into the house when the family went to sleep, he added. The family was unaware of the burglars presence until Razi returned home around 2am. When he called his wife on her cell phone, she shouted after spotting the intruders in another room of the house. Razis youngest brother Salman was one of the first ones to respond to her screams. He confronted the thieves but was shot at and suffered bullet injury in the incident. The intruders also attacked Razi with an iron rod when he rushed to rescue Salman. Razi said the assailants scaled the boundary wall and jumped towards the rear side of the house before his two brothers could turn up for help. The burglars left behind the entire booty collected by them. Razi said he initially thought that the burglars were equipped with firearms but later found that they fired with his licenced revolver that was kept in his room. Harendra Kumar, ASP (trans-Gomti) rushed to the spot along with other police personnel. The cops later found that the burglars had also left behind a car parked in front of the brothers house. The vehicles registration number was found to be of a scooty when the police cross-checked the details. Now, the police were trying to find out the owners details on the basis of engine and chassis number of the car. On the third day of Operation Hookah Bar, the Food Safety and Drug Administration (FSDA) on Wednesday raided Smokedine Lounge in Aliganj and Dark Moon Lounge at Purania crossing. These bars were let off after paying a fine of Rs 5,800 under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA). Boys and girls below 18 were found smoking hookah in these bars. Read more: Hookah smoking or tobacco? Find out which is more harmful for your health Hookahs should be served exclusively in designated smoking rooms only to adults who know about the side-effects and hazards of tobacco consumption. Hookahs should not be served in dining areas. We have fined the violators according to the law, said Shashi Pandey, designated officer, FSDA. Restaurants and lounge bars in Lucknow have been serving hookah to minors and in some cases without pictorial warning that hookah is injurious to health. The FSDA has made it clear that it will target such lounges for violation of COTPA. Read more| Hookahs will no longer be served in dining areas: Govt Besides, hotels/lounges advertising such things would also be fined. The FSDA also destroyed the fungus-infected chicken stored in the kitchen of one lounge. The kitchens of both the lounges were dirty and insects were found in food items while the sauces and chutneys used were rotten. One out of every three district magistrates in Uttar Pradesh were not found in their office between 9 am and 11 am during a surprise check ordered by chief minister Yogi Adityanath. Two months back, the CM had asked all DMs and SSPs to remain in office daily from 9 am to 11 am to attend to public complaints. He warned the officials he would periodically check their availability by calling on office landline phone numbers. However, 26 DMs out of 75 were not found in their office during the surprise check. Interestingly, the calls were made from the chief secretarys office and not the CMs secretariat which used to be all powerful during the previous Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party regimes. UP chief secretary Rajive Kumar, who randomly called up the DMs on their office landline numbers, described the officers absence as violation of government order and asked them to explain their conduct. Such calls would be made quite regularly now, a senior official told HT. The DMs of Azamgarh, Ballia, Mau, Kushinagar, Deoria, Maharajganj, Banda, Chitrakoot, Hamirpur, Mahoba, Jhansi, Jalaun, Fatehpur, Gonda, Barabanki, Badaun, Bijnore, Bulandshahr, Agra, Mainpuri, Aligarh, Shahjahanpur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Rae Bareli, Meerut and Kasganj were found to be missing from their office. The DMs would be required to explain why they were not in office during the time set for them to attend to public complaints, a senior official said. In April, Yogi had said only those bureaucrats willing to work for 18-20 hours daily should work with him. On July 6, the CM had asked the DMs and the SSPs to dispose of all public complaints, received till June 30, by July 31. In a video conference with officials, the CM indicated he would hold regular review meetings to check the status of disposal of public complaints. Read more: Leave of DMs in Uttar Pradeshs flood prone districts cancelled I am not asking for the moon. I am only asking you to ensure such complaints like ones relating to land grabbing, non-registration of FIRs are attended to on the spot. If people from far-off places are travelling to Lucknow to get such complaints redressed, it reflects poorly on the system, the CM had said. Yogi has said that bureaucrats would be accountable for timely disposal of public grievances. While the DMs and SSPs have been tasked with holding regular review meetings at district level, commissioners and inspector general of police would review disposal of complaints at divisional level. Monthly state-level review meetings will be held at the level of chief secretary and DGP. After the disposal, the officials at each level would also be required to submit a completion certificate to their superiors. With his governments Hindutva agenda on mind, chief minister Yogi Adityanath launched on Wednesday a counter attack on the opposition charging it with insulting the culture of Uttar Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh has faced insult to its culture. You used to get shivers hearing the name of Ayodhya. We thought you will do something for development of Ayodhya and Vrindavan. But you indulged in destruction (Jawahar Bagh incident) instead of bringing about development there, said Yogi while replying to debate on general budget in the state assembly here on Wednesday. Read more| Uttar Pradesh CM: New law to check organised crime soon Yogi referred to his visit to Ayodhya and said he was informed that staging of Ram Lila had been stopped there. I asked people, will those believing in Ravan Lila stage Ram Lila in Ayodhya. We have started aarti of Saryu the river that has its own importance. Yogi referred to schemes incorporated to promote religious and cultural tourism in the state budget and said the people of state gave a befitting reply to the opposition in 2017 assembly elections. Their reply will be even better in 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he said. God is with us. You should pray that you do not go further away from the God, said Yogi amid slogans of Har Har Mahadev from the treasury benches. Read more| UP Lok Sabha by-poll: Will opposition unite to take on mighty BJP? Yogi said his government proposed to make the Kumbh Mela of Prayag Raj (Allahabad) an event that the people watch globally in a joyous mood. You also must have been going incognito to take a holy dip (at Kumbh) to wash the sins that may have committed knowingly or unknowingly, said Yogi targeting the opposition. His government had earmarked Rs 500 crore for development of facilities for the Ardh Kumbha of Allahabad, he said. Other places like Kapilvastu and Naimisharanya would also be developed, he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad, Allahabad, also known as the UP Board, has rejected applications of over 1,700 schools from across the state, seeking affiliation . The Board is now in the process of asking these institutions to apply afresh for recognition from it, this time under its newly introduced online mode. The move comes close on the heels of the Boards July 12 step, on orders of the state government, inviting fresh applications for affiliation from interested schools through its official websiteupmsp.edu.inwith effect from July 15 for 2020 board exams. At the time of introducing the online affiliation process, the board had over 1700 applications pending with it. These schools had submitted their applications in hardcopy along with required documents as was the norm earlier. Following the orders for online affiliation, the UP Board wrote to chairman and director (secondary education) Amarnath Verma informing him about the pending applications and sought directions in this regard. Verma has asked the board to instruct these schools to apply afresh for recognition as per the set new norms and process. The new norms among other things make it mandatory for the schools to not just have CCTV cameras in all classrooms and offices but also have biometric attendance for staff. The schools need to submit a certificate in this regard duly issued by the district inspectors of school (DOISs) concerned. The schools are required to apply for new class 10 and class 12 subjects online by September 30, 2017. The schools which miss this deadline would be able to apply online till October 31 albeit with a late fee. The DIOSs will submit their recommendations after a spot inspection of the schools concerned by December 31 after which the board will take the final decision. Affiliation process of over 1700 schools was pending when it was made online. We have received the instructions to accept applications of these schools also through the online mode. The decision is now being conveyed to the schools, said Neena Srivastava, secretary, UP Board. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The imminent by-polls to two Lok Sabha seats, currently held by chief minister Yogi Adityanath and deputy chief minister Keshav Maurya, has thrown up the prospect of a united opposition propping up a candidate against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttar Pradesh. Already, for Phulpur two names are in circulation as the likely joint opposition candidate. While Krishna Patel, the Kurmi politician heading a marginalised faction of Apna Dal, has been doing round for long, the Tuesday Rajya Sabha resignation of Mayawati has also spurred talks of BSP chief contesting from the seat. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath, a five-term MP from Gorakhpur and deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, the first-time MP from Phulpur, in keeping with constitutional requirement, are expected to resign as MPs after the voting for new vice president on August 5. The final strategy would be decided after BJP chief Amit Shahs visit to Lucknow by July end. The possibility of opposition testing itself in Phulpur is definitely there though as far as Mayawatiji is concerned I dont think it would make much of a difference to her since she considers herself beyond political contests, said Badri Narain, director of Allahabads GB Pant Institute. But BJP strategists who are aware of the opposition plan say that while Yogi is certain to resign his Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat, the party is still debating whether to let Maurya resign Phulpur, the seat that BJP won for the first time in 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Mauryaji was among the contenders for the CMs post. Now that Yogiji is firmly in, the party could even consider elevating Maurya as a union minister where a cabinet reshuffle is likely after the election of the new President and Vice President, a BJP source told HT. Sending Maurya to the centre would also end two power centres that many believe are at play in UP. It would have the added advantage of puncturing the opposition game plan that would come into play only if Maurya resigns. There is speculation of opposition uniting against the BJP candidate in Gorakhpur as well but unlike Phulpur, Gorakhpur has been a saffron citadel for long. With Yogi at the helm, BJP is confident of thwarting any opposition plan in this crucial east UP seat. Read more| Mayawatis Rajya Sabha resignation: Masterstroke to tighten grip on her Dalit votebank Before Mayawati quit Rajya Sabha, people had approached the top Samajwadi Party leadership with a proposal to consider supporting Apna Dal leader and union minister Anupriya Patels mother Krishna Patel from Phulpur as the constituencys OBC caste matrix supports her. Now, Mayawati, assuming her resignation isnt rejected on technical grounds, is also an option though there is the fear that her being a Dalit might polarise OBC voters into voting for the BJP, a source said. Phulpur could well become a mini opposition laboratory to test its larger mahagathbandhan or grand alliance plan to stop the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, says Athar Siddiqui from the Centre of Objective Research and Development. Its premature to discuss that (Mayawati as joint candidate from Phulpur), says Samajwadi Party leader Rajendra Chowdhary even as Professor MP Dube, the vice chancellor of Uttar Pradesh Rajarshi Tandon Open University felt Mayawati may not gain politically if she decides to contest from Phulpur. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A group of women attacked a police team with chilli powder when the latter had gone to arrest a rape accused in a Bakshi Ka Talab (BKT) village on intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday. The women also beat up the cops and managed to free the accused from their custody. The injured police team later called up for additional police force and arrested three women for attacking them and freeing the accused from the custody after registering an FIR in this connection. Read more| Shimla gangrape-murder: Police station burnt as protests rock Kotkhai after murder of accused in police lock-up The incident took place when a police team led by two sub-inspectors, Nepal Singh and Nripendra Pratap Singh, along with eight police constables raided the house of one Ashish Kumar in Asti village of BKT at around 1.30 am on Wednesday. Ashish is accused in the case of elopement of minor girl, rape and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Udaiveer Singh, inspector of BKT police station said the police team had arrested Ashish and was about to leave the house when they were attacked from behind by a group of at least six women of his family. He said the women first threw chilli powder in the eyes of the cops. Thereafter, the women pulled down the cops on the ground and attacked them with canes and rods. Taking advantage of the situation, Ashish fled from the spot, he added. Read more| Ghaziabad: Engineer held for confinement, rape attempt on 10-year-old girl He said the two sub-inspectors suffered major injuries while other team members saved themselves somehow. He said three women were arrested by other team members while three others escaped along with the rape accused. Singh said villagers were not allowing the police team to take away the arrested accused following which extra police force was sent at the spot. He said the three women were sent to jail after registering a complaint of attacking the police team and freeing the rape accused from their custody. He said those arrested were identified as Savitri, Ruby and Kamla while efforts are on for the arrest of remaining three women and the rape accused. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that his second conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the G20 summit was an exchange of "pleasantries" that lasted 15 minutes. Speaking to the New York Times on Wednesday, Trump said that his wife, Melania, was seated next to Putin at the other end of a table at a couples-only social dinner during the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. When the meal was going toward dessert, he approached Melania to "say hello" and then exchanged "pleasantries" with Putin. "It was not a long conversation, but it was, you know, could be 15 minutes," said Trump, adding that he and Putin talked about the issue of adoptions between Russia and U.S. U.S. adoptions of Russian orphans were banned by Russia in retaliation for U.S. human rights sanctions against Russia. The White House had not confirm the previously undisclosed conversation between Trump and Putin until Tuesday after multiple U.S. media reports cited sources as saying that the private conversation lasted for about an hour and was only attended by Putin's translator. Trump and Putin met face-to-face for the first time on July 7 on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg. Wine lovers, take note. Rajasthan will become the first state in the country to produce wine from date palm. A winery set up near Mount Abu in Sirohi district in southern Rajasthan will later develop wine from pomegranate and citrus fruits also. Agriculture minister Prabhu Lal Saini said the winery has been established as per an MoU signed during Global Rajasthan Agritech Meet (GRAM) in 2016 in Jaipur. We changed the excise policy of the state to set up the winery. We will soon have wineries for pomegranate and citrus fruits, he said. Gujarat date farmer Harpreet Singh (30) has set up the winery in Rajasthan. He said he could not set it up in his native state because Gujarat is a dry state. Harpreet Singh at the date palm winery in Rajasthan. (HT Photo) Date palm farming began in Rajasthan in 2007-08 when the state imported around 21,294 tissue culture raised saplings from the UAE. Cultivation was done on 135 hectares of government farms in Jaisalmer and Bikaner. Next year, the saplings were given at a subsidised rate to farmers in 12 districts across arid desert regions of northwestern Rajasthan, such as Jaisalmer, Barmer, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Hanumangarh, Sri Ganganagar, Nagaur, Pali, Jalore, Jhunjhunu, Sirohi and Churu. Interestingly, date palms take 4 to 8 years to bear fruit. Rajasthan grows seven varieties of dates Barhi, Khunezi, Medjool, Khadrawy, Khalas, Zamli and Saggai on 840 hectares. The yield this year was around 1,600 tonnes. We will make wine from the Barhi variety of date as it has to be consumed as a fresh fruit. The other varieties can be dried and made into pind khajoor, said Singh, adding that the wine will be made through natural fermentation and no spirit will be added. The winery plant is also expected to boost tourism in Rajasthan. Tourists can come and view the process of manufacturing and even do wine tastings. Singh said that the Peasants Food Processing and Winery Pvt Ltd set up its plant at Abu Road with a capacity of 1.20 lakh litres every year. The winery is ready and awaiting a license from the excise department to commence production. While dates are available for only 15-20 days a year, Singh plans to make wine from pomegranates as well. Singh is seeking exemption from the excise duty from the government. States such as Karnataka, Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh have done that for fruit wines, he said, adding that the winery will consume less water as compared to a distillery. The plant will consume about 3,000 litres of water every day as compared to roughly 100,000 litres in distilleries. And the waste from the winery will be used as manure. Follow @htlifeandstyle for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON DUNKIRK Direction: Christopher Nolan Actors: Fionn Whitehead, Tom Hardy Rating: 3 / 5 Having revitalised such genres as neo-noir (Memento), comic book superhero reboot (The Dark Knight trilogy) and sci-fi spectacle (Interstellar), British writer-director Christopher Nolan now takes on the war movie. Juggling a triple-tiered timeline structure, he restages one of the most pivotal, if more-or-less forgotten, events in 20th century military history. During the early days of the Second World War the spring of 1940, to be precise hundreds of thousands of Allied soldiers found themselves stranded on the beaches of the Dunkirk port in northern France. Shell-shocked and overrun by invading enemy forces, the British troops needed to be evacuated. The subsequent rescue mission involved a flotilla of naval and commercial boats sailing across the English Channel to ferry survivors home to safety. The viewer is drawn into the action on land, at sea and in the air as depicted from the vantage points of a footsoldier (up-and-coming star Fionn Whitehead), a yachtsman (Mark Rylance) and an air force pilot (Tom Hardy). Nolan is to be commended for his superior craftsmanship. But Dunkirk falls way short of such genre classics as The Big Red One, The Thin Red Line and Saving Private Ryan. The battle sequences unspool like a fever dream the aerial vistas in particular are spectacular but after a while one becomes inured to the bombardments, explosions and hellish horror of close combat. Overall, the effect is more whimper than bang. Working with a seemingly gazillion-dollar budget, Nolan ensures that every cent is reflected on the super-sized IMAX screens. Credit is also due to the below-the-main-title contributors, chief among them cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema and editor Lee Smith. On the other hand, the intrusive background music score by Hans Zimmer is an ear-sore. The concluding segment treads on familiar inspirational ground, with one of the protagonists reading aloud, from a newspaper clipping, Winston Churchills post-deliverance speech. The ensemble cast, a mix of British newbies and veterans including Kenneth Branagh (wasted in the role of a naval commander), is more or less lost in the melee. Nolan deserves to be commended for his superior craftsmanship. Ultimately, however, Dunkirk falls way short of such contemporary genre classics as The Big Red One, The Thin Red Line or Steven Spielbergs Saving Private Ryan. ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop An 83-year-old man was arrested by the Vakola police on Wednesday for allegedly duping a 50-year-old woman of Rs20 lakh by promising to sell her his flat. The police later found that he had no flat, and the woman should not have made the entire payment in cash. According to the Vakola police, the arrested accused, identified as Shivchandra Chitnis, has another cheating case registered against him in Pimpri, Pune, where he cheated another person of Rs2.5 lakh by promising to get him a tender from a private firm. The complainant in the Vakola case works in the postal and telegram department, and she got in touch with Chitnis through a mutual friend who also works in the same department. Since she trusted her friend, she never doubted Chitnis intentions. Chitnis promised to sell her his flat in Kharghar by telling her that he had plans to move back to his village with the money he got from it. Since the past one year, the woman paid Rs20 lakh to Chitnis in instalments. However, neither did she keep a proof of the money she gave to him, nor did she ever bother to a visit the Kharghar flat that she intended to buy. Chitnis became incognito earlier this year. She tried contacting him with the help of her friend but could not get in touch. She then realised that she had been duped and approached the Vakola police in April this year, where a FIR under relevant sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered. Acting on a tip-off, Chitnis was arrested and the Vakola police have got his custody for two days from a magistrate court for further probe. While a Dadar resident was on Tuesday arrested for breaking and damaging an LCD screen on the Mumbai-Goa Tejas Express last month, tomatoes worth Rs70,000 were stolen from a vegetable market in Mumbai recently. Those heading to Konkan from Dombivli, Kalyan or Diva can soon rejoice, as festive-special Konkan-bound trains and a few express trains may soon halt at Diva railway station. A team of Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials submitted a charge sheet against liquor baron Vijjay Mallya to Britains Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) that will argue the extradition case for India. Also, if youre interested in showcasing your piece of art, you can now contact your local ward officers, as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is allowing local artists to beautify traffic islands across the city. Here are todays top five picks: 1. Tejas Express: Grand launch, theft to arrest, 5 times the Mumbai-Goa train was in the news A Dadar resident was on Tuesday arrested for breaking and damaging an LCD screen on the Mumbai-Goa Tejas Express last month. We look at the five times the semi high speed full AC train was in the news: 2. Vijay Mallya extradition: ED gives details of how he laundered 1,300 crore to Britain A team of Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials submitted a charge sheet against liquor baron Vijjay Mallya to Britains Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) that will argue the extradition case for India.The charge sheet details the case against Mallya. It states Mallya laundered Rs1301.67 crore though various shell companies in India and abroad. 3. Konkan trip for Ganpati? You may be able to board express trains from Mumbais Diva railway station Those heading to Konkan from Dombivli, Kalyan or Diva can soon rejoice. Festive-special Konkan-bound trains and a few express trains may soon halt at Diva railway station. The move, if it goes through, will benefit lakhs of commuters who are currently forced to travel to Thane or Panvel to board Konkan-bound trains. The railway authority will make a feasibility report on the plan in the next few days. 4. Guard the tomatoes you buy, stock worth 70,000 stolen in Mumbai As their prices touch Rs100 a kg, tomatoes worth Rs70,000 were stolen from a vegetable market in Mumbai recently. The Dahisar police sent a team to trace the unidentified thieves. The complainant, Shantilal Shrivastav, is a resident of Shanti Nagar in Dahisar. Every night he gets delivery of vegetables from Navi Mumbais APMC market. He unloads the truck and stores the vegetables in his shop at the Dahisar market, said police. 5. Mumbais got talent: BMC will let you show your paintings, sculptures at traffic islands If you want to showcase your piece of art, you can now contact your local ward officers. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is allowing local artists to beautify traffic islands across the city. Traffic islands include all areas, which are raised created for spreading and directing vehicular traffic. Anyone who is interested in showcasing their work from installations or sculptures can contact the local ward officers who can then provide the list of traffic islands available. A farmer and a bird enthusiast rescued a bleeding flamingo from a farm at Vikramgadh in Palghar late on Tuesday. Forest officials suspected that poachers had partially clipped the birds wings and wanted to sell its meat. A veterinarian, Dr Rina Dev, was treating the bird at her clinic in Bandra, said a forest officer. Gynaeshwar Jadhav had gone to his farm in Oundhe village where he saw the fully-grown flamingo, which was unable to fly and bleeding. He asked Dilip Khutade to come to the farm, added a source. Jadhav said that Narendra Muthe, range forest officer, Vikramgadh, took the bird to SPCA Hospital in Thane. As the bird has received serious injuries, we have referred it to a vet in Bandra, said Shakuntala Mazumdar, president, SPCA,Thane. Dr Dev said that the right wing was severely wounded and poachers might have injured it prevent it from flying. Thanks to Jadhav and Khutade that the bird was rescued. It is dehydrated and is not eating even its favourite food: algae and worms. We will keep it under observation and later hand it over to a animal rescue centre. It will be kept there until it is fit to fly, Dr Dev said. Mazumdar said SPCA Hospital mostly receives flamingos with bullet injuries. Now, poachers have resorted to clipping wings, said Mazumdar. Killing flamingos is an offence under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, he said. READ Two flamingos rescued in Mumbai, one dies Group of friends save flamingo with fractured wing from stray dog at beach near Mumbai To combat the increasing number of malnutrition-related deaths in Palghar district, the Maharashtra government plans to start nine primary health centres along with five nutrition centres for children. The state health minister, Dr Deepak Sawant, made this announcement after visiting the district. Dr Sawant on Wednesday visited remote hamlets of the district where more than four malnutrition deaths are reported every year. He also met the families who are currently being treated for malnutrition under the nutrition program undertaken by the state. The state has started a special drive under which ministers and senior officials have to visit 26 tribal hamlets of the district every weekend to review and monitor the malnutrition programmes being run by the government. They are also supposed to form groups consisting of sarpanch, aanganwadi workers and gramsevaks to provide help and nutritious meals to malnourished children. To ensure the programmes success, the health minister has been visiting the district every week since June 15. Read: Maharashtra government to launch special drive to curb malnutrition deaths in Palghar Dr Sawant also announced that new primary health centres will be coming up at Saaywan, Aaina, Ganjaad, Aashagad, Dhundalwadi, Gholwad, Malwada, Talwada, and Kurje areas of the district. Palghar has remained in the headlines for the high number of child malnutrition deaths despite its proximity to a city like Mumbai. Last year, more than 300 deaths were registered in the district alone due to malnutrition. In the last four months, the state has organised 82 medical camps with the help of private and public hospitals during which 6,481 children were checked. Of these, 2,945 children were diagnosed with moderate malnutrition and 1,493 were severely malnourished. To deal with rising number of malnutrition deaths, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis last year had formed a task force headed by health minister to recommend long term measures for its eradication. Read: Despite malnutrition deaths in Maharashtra, child development budget cut by 31% SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON More than 97% Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) employees who participated in the ballot on Wednesday, voted in favour of a strike to press for various demands, including salary on time. The strike ballot was organised by the joint action committee of the BEST employees unions. The committee is likely to announce its decision by Monday. As per statement issued by the BEST Sanyukta Kamgar Kriti Samiti (BSKKS), a joint action committee formed by all major labour unions including BEST Kamagar Sena, 19,094 BEST employees cast their vote. Of these, 18,537 voted in favour of going on a strike. The committee also said that only 496 employees voted against the strike, while 61 votes were nullified owing to various reasons. After suburban railways, BEST buses are the second largest public transport system and the strike will hit Mumbaiites hard. Though the BEST labour unions have gone on strikes on several occasions in the past, it was for the first time that a strike ballot was conducted for calling a strike. Under provisions of the Maharashtra Recognition of Trade Unions and Prevention of Unfair Labour Practices Act, a ballot is mandatory before calling for a strike. By holding a ballot, the protesters can protect themselves from legal action by the authorities. A few of the demands made the committee are that the civic body should take responsibility of BEST workers salaries, scrap software designed by a Canadian firm to decide their work hours, ban hiring of private buses, replace old Trimex machines and renew wage agreement. Shashank Rao, leader of BEST Workers Union, said that this strike ballot result was a warning for the BEST, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the state government. The authorities should not take us for granted, said Rao. He added that the action committee members will meet to decided the future course of action. According to sources, BEST administration is trying hard to prevent employees going on a strike. Earlier, the administration had said it would disburse salaries before July 20 and released it right before the ballot. Also, the administration is renew the Canada schedule contract. Matters of concern The century-old BEST administration is currently facing its worst financial crisis and has delayed salaries for three months. The BEST undertaking ferries 30 lakh suburban commuters daily and supplies power to 10 lakh consumers in the island city. The undertaking has incurred a loss of more than Rs2100 crore. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A 40-year-old Andheri resident was allegedly cheated of Rs7.8 lakh by a woman who posed as a Canadian on a matrimonial website. According to the police, the man befriended one Jennifer Brown though the site last March. The woman, police said, allegedly lifted a photo from a Russian womans Facebook page for her profile. The two would phone each other and text through Whatsapp, police said. Several months later, the woman told the man she had fallen in love with him and wanted to marry him, police said. According to the police, the man told her that marriage would be difficult as he was not rich and would not be able to travel to Canada. The woman said she could help by getting him to help her father in his business. She then introduced him to a man who posed as her father, George Brown. According to the police, he told the victim there was a huge demand for Tatasha Herbal seeds in the US and that they were available in Bangalore. He gave him a number. When the man phoned, a woman picked up. She said she had three packets that cost Rs7.8 lakh. On March 30 , the victim sent the money through RTGS and two days later, received three packets of seeds by courier. According to the police, when he called Jennifer, he was told that 90 more packets were required. This is when he suspected something was amiss. The man told HT, After repeated calls, the woman said she and an other man, a Nigerian, were cheating him. I have alerted the woman whose Facebook picture they used. Before paying the money, I had also spoken to the an employee of the site, who said the profile was genuine. The website misled me too. The accuseds phones were switched off, police said. An FIR was registered this month. Read: Mumbai: Two held for duping women of Rs 2cr on matrimonial sites Regional transport offices (RTOs) in Mumbai and its neighbouring areas were deserted after touts and unauthorised agents were banned from the premises on Wednesday. The move came after an unauthorised agent at the Tardeo RTO was caught overcharging for a duplicate driving licence on Wednesday. Officials said he had demanded Rs800 for a licence which officially costs Rs264. RTO officials had asked people not to patronise touts or pay them extra. On Thursday, the Tardeo RTO was deserted. The agents tables and chairs, set up at the spot they usually sit, were empty. Few agents ventured into the registration, driving licence and other sections, which are otherwise crowded. A senior official said a big board has been put up outside the RTOs, telling people not to approach unauthorised agents. The Wadala, Andheri and Borivli RTOs also restricted the entry of touts. Only agents with authority letters were permitted to enter. A staffer at the Andheri RTO said his superiors had told them to stay away from agents and touts. For the first time in two-and-a-half years, the Maharashtra motor vehicle department (MMVD) started its crackdown on such touts earlier this week. Transport commissioner Praveen Gedam directed all the RTOs to conduct surprise checks in their offices and ask police to file complaints against such people. RTO officials said they had asked the local police agents to help them evacuate touts from their premises, so as to avoid a law and order situation. They, however, are doubtful how successful the drive will be if the lack of infrastructure and staff crunch are not addressed first. If our department makes e-payment an option, it will automatically reduce footfall at RTOs. Peoples reliance on touts will also decrease, said an official. RTOs have implemented a new Vahan 4.0 system, used to register vehicles, and a new Sarathi 4.0 system, used to issue licences at more than 40 offices across the state. However, these systems are not fully functional. They develop snags repeatedly. Often, residents resort to approaching touts as a time-saving measure. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON If you want to showcase your piece of art, you can now contact your local ward officers. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is allowing local artists to beautify traffic islands across the city. Traffic islands include all areas, which are raised created for spreading and directing vehicular traffic. Anyone who is interested in showcasing their work from installations or sculptures can contact the local ward officers who can then provide the list of traffic islands available. Officials informed that every spot or traffic island will be available for two to three months. The plan to revamp traffic islands in the city was launched last year, after many complaints were raised that traffic islands had turned into garbage dumps. The official said the aim was to provide space for cultural dialogue, beautification and maintenance of public spaces. He said, We are even allowing the artists to share their contact information if they wish to. Several traffic islands in Bandra and Worli have already been given for beautification. The presence of mind of a security guard helped rescue a woman who jumped into Powai lake. The incident took place at 10.25am on Thursday when the security manager of the lake, Imtiyaz Shaikh, was on patrolling duty. Suddenly, they saw a woman jump into the lake. Shaikh jumped into the water and pulled her out. The woman, who was unconscious, was handed over to the police. The woman was alive when I pulled her out, said Shaikh. The police are now finding out the reason why the woman took such an extreme step. Radio jockey Malishka Mendonsa, who is at the centre of a very public battle with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) after featuring in a music video for an FM channel mocking the civic bodys ill-preparedness this monsoon, hit back in a rather cheeky way on Thursday. Malishka tweeted she is ready with six more songs. She further wrote, I am a rapper now. Also a breeder apparently. The breeder comment referred to the BMC sending a notice to the RJs mother on Wednesday for breeding dengue at the Bandra flat, days after Malishkas video went viral. The video, Mumbai, tula BMC var bharavsa nahi ka? (Mumbai, dont you trust BMC?) went viral on social media inviting the BMC and Senas ire. Malishka thanked Mumbaiites on Twitter for their support. She also received support from activists like Shailesh Gandhi. He tweeted, Support Malishka against BMC harassment for singing the truth. Upload your own videos. Another activist from Bandra, Dolphy DSouza, said there should be no punitive action against Malishka. He said, Instead of taking corrective measures, the BMC is shooting the messenger. Hashtags like Mumbai with Malishka, I support RJ Malishka and Pothole rap continued to trend on the social-networking website. The Sambhaji brigade also expressed its support for the RJ along with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Anjali Damania. Damania tweeted, Malishka every word you said comes from Mumbaikars heart. Thanks for having the spine to stand against Shiv Sena and BJP. BMC officials, however, continued to say the notice was a part of a routine exercise. We have surveyed more than 60 lakh houses in the past six months. How will we know it was Malishkas residence?said a civic official. Meanwhile, the radio channel released another video on Thursday stating Delhi and Mumbai face similar problems. The song Sonu, tula RJ var bharavsa nahi ka? is similar to Malishkas video released last week. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Radio jockey Malishka Mendonsas video for a local radio channel, borrowed from a catchy Marathi song, playfully mocks the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporations (BMC) monsoon preparedness and Mumbais infamous potholes. Its funny and hummable and talks about Mumbais age-old problems of water logging and bad roads. It would have been best if the Shiv Sena, the party that rules the BMC, had let this parody video play out its shelf life. After all, the song doesnt directly target the party. Besides, the blame for bad upkeep of the city rests equally, if not more, with the administration led by the municipal commissioner as much as with the elected corporators. And, commissioner Ajoy Mehta is answerable to the states urban development department and the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Read more: RJ Malishka to Kapil Sharma: Celebrities who faced BMCs ire Instead the Shiv Sena has got into overzealous mode with corporators hitting back and demanding a defamation suit against the RJ. The Sena corporators also criticised the RJ saying she was ill-informed and should have known that both the railways and arterial roads in the city are not under the BMCs purview. The Senas song and dance over the video has given the Opposition and even it warring ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party, ammunition to fire at the Sena. The BJP , which itself faces flak for perceived intolerance of criticism, has characterised the Senas attempt to silence Malishka as a hit against personal liberties and freedom of expression. Read more: More trouble for RJ Malishka: Now, BMC sends her notice for mosquito-breeding at Mumbai home The BMC administration also hasnt come out in a good light in this case. The civic body seems to have hit back by using its powers to issue a notice to RJ Malishkas mother saying dengue-causing mosquitoes were breeding in her house in Bandra. The BMC administration, of course, insists that this notice was the result of a routine survey. But, remember comedian Kapil Sharmas case? He got served with a notice for illegal construction only after he complained in a tweet that BMC officials were asking for a bribe to get work done. And, the NGO Praja that audits civic schemes and corporator performances is also at the receiving end over a report released recently on malnutrition in civic schools. The BMC has threatened legal action against the NGO unless it issues a public apology. Read more: RJ Malishka in trouble? Yuva Sena leaders want BMC chief to file 500-crore suit against her While the civic administration has improved over the last two years on a host of parameters, there is little denying that the room for improvement is huge. Instead of hitting back at citizens, artists, and NGOs and accusing them of conspiring against the civic body, it would help if both the political parties and the state-controlled administration took criticism in their stride and helped improve the citys facilities. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Two persons died after falling off moving trains in two separate incidents in Vashi on Wednesday. In the first accident, 19-year-old Yuvraj Rathod, a resident of Babasaheb Ambedkar Nagar in Mankhurd fell off while travelling in a train near the Mankhurd station. He suffered severe injuries on different parts of his body and was rushed to Rajabari Hospital in Mumbai. However, he succumbed to his injuries after a few hours. His father, Neelkanth Rathod, later indentified his body. In the second accident, a 40-year-old man from Shramik Nagar in Kopar Khairane suffered severe injuries while trying to board a crowded train at the Kopar Khairane station. Balaji Rudrar was trying to board a train on platform number 1 around 3pm. He somehow lost his control and fell down on the platform. Initially he was rushed to a nearby hospital by some fellow commuters. However, his condition deteriorated and he was later shifted to JJ Hospital in Mumbai. He died there in the evening, said a GRP official. The police handed over the bodies of the deceased to their respective families after postmortems were conducted in the hospitals. Meanwhile, they have registered two accidental death cases. The city of Navi Mumbai saw an alarming number of 131 train deaths in the first half of this year. According to railway sources, Vashi witnessed 95 deaths between January and June. As far as the area of Panvel is concerned, 36 people died in train accident in the first six months. This apart, around 150 people suffered injuries while travelling in local trains during this period. The railway officials said that over 75% of the accidents in Navi Mumbai took place this year while crossing the tracks. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A team of Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials submitted a charge sheet against liquor baron Vijjay Mallya to Britains Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) that will argue the extradition case for India. The charge sheet details the case against Mallya. It states Mallya laundered Rs1301.67 crore though various shell companies in India and abroad. The agency recently filed the charge sheet before the special court for Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The agency suspects that Mallya has around 13 such shell companies in the United States, Ireland, Mauritius and France. ED sources stated the two officials include a joint director and a legal advisor that will submit the charge sheet to CPS. Sources said the ED along with officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will brief the CPS about money laundering through shell companies and the details of probe into the property and accounts held by Mallya outside India. The agency alleged the loan transaction between the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) and IDBI bank was in contravention of established industry practices. The said corporate loan was sanctioned and disbursed despite weak financials, negative net-worth, negative debt-to-equity ratio and low credit rating of the borrower company. The CPS will be apprised about the documents and the fresh evidences, said an officer requesting anonymity. The agency claimed Mallya had parked around half of the loan amount obtained from IDBI bank outside India in shell companies he set up. Of the 900 crore, Rs417.29 crores have been remitted out of India for payments shown to be made towards aircraft rental lease, maintenance, services and several such purposes. However, no documents were submitted to support such transaction. Thus, it appears to be laundering, the complaint claimed. Moreover, ED alleged the brand valuation of KFA was wrong. KFAs brand valuation was supposed to be used for their internal review, but was presented to IDBI bank, alleged the charge sheet. Last month, the Westminster Magistrates Court extended Mallyas bail till December 4.The fresh set of evidences has been submitted to the CPS to ensure that the extradition case becomes stronger. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The city on Thursday morning received five hours of rain measuring just 3mm, according to the meteorological department. However, it was enough to keep residents either marooned in their homes surrounded by water or stuck for hours in traffic jams on waterlogged roads. The amount of waterlogging seen in the city on Thursday is the result of a lack of a preparedness by the Noida authority. It didnt work on its proposal to prepare a comprehensive drainage and rainwater harvesting master plan and neither did its health department clean drains properly before the monsoon. On June 23, district magistrate BN Singh had inspected the citys drains and expressed surprise at the shoddy work as they were filled with plastic and garbage. On June 24, the authority claimed that 70% of the citys drains were cleaned and the rest would be done by June 30. However, as Thursdays waterlogging showed, the health department did not clean the drains. A majority of the citys important roads, underpasses, and residential and industrial pockets were severely waterlogged. The worst-affected were office goers as they were stuck in three-four-hour long traffic jams at Model Town T-point underpass, Rajnigandha underpass and Sector 37, among other areas. The authoritys Sector 6 building and adjoining areas were themselves waterlogged. This year, the authority also failed to hire around 120 small private contractors who used to clean smaller drains every year. One of the major reasons of waterlogging is that a newly set-up regulator on the irrigation drain at Sector 168 was half closed, thereby choking the drain. We opened the regulator gate and drained the rainwater into the Yamuna, said Rakesh Kumar Mishra, additional CEO, Noida. The main irrigation drain passing through Noida starts in East Delhi and merges into the Yamuna river at Sector 168, taking with it rainwater from Delhi and Noida. The UP irrigation department had this year set up a regulator at Sector 168 to prevent flood water from the river entering Noida. During rain, the regulator gate should be opened so that rainwater drains into river. However, due to poor coordination among Noida authority and irrigation department officials, half of the gate remained closed, leading to waterlogging, said a senior Noida official. The authority keeps resurfacing the roads every year without removing the bitumen layer. Hence, the road level keeps increasing as compared to the surface of the houses. If the houses are at a lower level, naturally the rainwater will enter houses. Some sectors also have gradient-related issues. The authority discusses waterlogging issues during rain and forgets it later, said Atul Gupta, urban town planner and president of the architects association, Noida zone. Amit Mohan Prasad, chief executive officer, Noida authority, said, I conducted inspections in sectors 18, 63 and many other areas and asked my staff to take steps to address waterlogging issues. I have directed officials to prepare a master plan for the drainage system so that such issues do not trouble residents next year. We will also ensure that a rainwater harvesting plan is made. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Film director Madhur Bhandarkar, known for his thesis films on subjects he usually expends his moral outrage on (Fashion, Heroine, Page 3), is asserting his freedom of expression. He even tweeted to Rahul Gandhi. Rightly so. A few days ago, members of the Congress party, otherwise shockingly inarticulate as Opposition in Modis India, stalled a publicity event planned for Bhandarkars forthcoming film Indu Sarkar in Pune. Indu Sarkar is about the Emergency, and the protagonist played by Kriti Kulhari is a housewife who takes on the draconian laws under the Emergency. The Congress workers are offended --- an almost robotic impulse in India. On air a news broadcast, a Congress spokesperson even told a member of Bhandarkars film crew that protests are inevitable if they make such nonsense films. In fact, there have been thwarted attempts at making a biopic on Indira Gandhi since the 1980s. Offence is our historical burden, an inherited right, which constitutionally elected governments over 70 years have protected and encouraged. It does not matter which political party we belong to or which side of the ideological axis we tilt towards. We want to protect legacies, no matter how flawed; let there be no new prism or filter through which we look at heroes, they should be invincible. Non-Indians cant write about our heroes or religion or poverty. So, how dare Wendy Doniger write about Hindus, even though she is the worlds most prolific Sanskrit scholar, how could a Muslim artist paint goddess Saraswati nude, and how could Mira Nair, a woman of Indian origin, make a film called Kama Sutra? How could women be sexual? Usually, these are political battles---one partys moral one-upmanship over the other. Examples of offence, and in turn, censorship, are so many and so frequent, Indians are bound to become thick-skinned about the dire need for the untrammelled voice. On 17 July, Hindustan Times reported on a heartening development in the fight against censorship, specifically against the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). Based on recommendations of a committee which director Shyam Benegal leads, a draft Bill proposes an amendment to the Cinematograph Act, 1952, doing away with the powers of the CBFC to cut portions from a film, ban a film or suspend screenings of a film. The CBFC should only rate films, and qualify them for age-appropriate viewing. It suggests adding newer categories of ratings such as UA 12+, UA 15+ and adult-with-caution. Undoubtedly, filmmakers will be relieved. Under Pahlaj Nihalani, the CBFC, an autonomous body under the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry, has become a national embarrassment. In practice, will censorship then end with making the CBFC powerless? The Hindustan Times report also says that the draft bill will give the central government the power to suspend the screening of a movie instead of leaving it in the states control. How does any government decide why a films screening should be suspended? Censorship, in most cases, is a by-product of offence, and the Indian Constitution lays out far-reaching grounds for offence in Section 295 (A) and Section 153 (A). An artist, author, filmmaker or anybody who speaks her mind can be punished or fined for insulting religious beliefs. Section 153 (A) says the grounds can be race, place of birth, residence, language, caste or community or any other ground whatsoever which may encourage feelings of hatred or animosity. This year we turn 70 as an independent nation. This year, a documentary on Nobel laureate Amartya Sen became a target---cut the words cow, Hindu India, Hindutva view of India and Gujarat from it. The filmmaker Suman Ghosh, unrelenting, released the films trailer online. The first step towards curtailing CBFCs power by amending the Cinematograph Act is uplifting---and lets hope for better under the new I&B minister, Smriti Irani---but it is not necessarily the end of censorship. For free speech to thrive, and to stop any establishment or government machinery from silencing artistic and critical voices, we need to relook at archaic laws in the Constitution itself. The scope of 153 (A) and 295 (A) need to be drastically narrowed. With constitutional sanction, we take any grounds whatsoever for offence way too seriously. Sanjukta Sharma is a Mumbai-based writer and critic, and a former editor of Mint Lounge. The views expressed are personal At the height of the Kargil War, on the evening of July 3, 1999, the Indian Army started the operation to recapture Tiger Hill. However, the very next day during a public rally in Haryana, the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee announced the armys success. This was at a time when Indian soldiers had just got a foothold over the feature. It would have been very embarrassing (if things happened otherwise). However, we won later, said Brig MPS Bajwa (retd), during the third Maj Gen KS Bajwa Memorial-Regiment of Artillery War Experiences Talk, organised by the Centre for Indian Military History, Sector-19, Chandigarh on Wednesday. Brig Bajwa was the brigade commander of the battle to recapture Tiger Hill from Pakistan. On Wednesday, he was narrating his wartime experience in recapturing this important strategic feature that is the highest mountaintop in the vicinity. During the Kargil War, enemy position atop Tiger Hill was dominating parts of the Srinagar-Kargil-Leh highway. The day when Vajpayee made the announcement, Nawaz Sharif was to meet US President Bill Clinton. The issue took a political turn, Brig Bajwa said, adding that it was the turning point of the war. Soon Pakistan decided to withdraw its troops. Intelligence failure, misplaced priorities During the course of his talk, Brig Bajwa accepted that Pakistan was successful to incur upon Indian territory owing to an intelligence failure, as neither the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), the Intelligence Bureau (IB) nor the field formations knew anything about it. RAW had dedicated aircraft (to gather intelligence) but they were diverted for some other purpose related to the Prime Ministers Office, he said. The priorities of Corps Commander Lt Gen Krishan Pal, GOC of 15 Corps, were different. If you dont send regular patrols to the heights but to drains, then this is what happens. On May 3, 1999, he was in New Delhi to supervise his wifes surgery, he said. He also pointed out that the Bajrang Post in Kaksar Sector was never to be vacated. Lt Saurabh Kalia, while leading a surveillance patrol, was abducted from this area. Later, his mutilated body was found. He informed that on May 23, 1999, the then army chief Gen VP Malik asked the ground forces not to cross the Line of Control (LoC). Had we crossed the LoC, we could have had an advantage with additional forces, Brig Bajwa said. Fought hard for 8 Sikhs decoration To recapture Tiger Hill, Brig Bajwa was provided the 18 Grenadiers and the 8 Sikh. In his talk, he narrated how the 52 soldiers of 8 Sikh, along with Lt RK Sehrawat and Major Ravinder Singh, repulsed counter attacks during the battle. He also praised Captain Karnal Sher Khan of the 12 Northern Light Infantry of Pakistan, who was later decorated with the Nishan-e-Haidar for his heroics. However, Brig Bajwa admitted that despite his recommendations, the 8 Sikh did not get its due in terms of military decorations. I fought hard. But I was told why are you making a small manoeuvre a big deal, he said, adding that Subedar Nirmal Singh just awarded a Vir Chakra. Subedar Singh had led the attack platoon and was engaged in a hand-to-hand fight till the end. Brig Bajwa also pointed that evacuations of casualties and replenishments of ammunition were poor. Furthermore, we did not have any mountain gear for the battle to recapture Tiger Hill, he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Four months after the body of Ekam Singh Dhillon, 40, was found stuffed in a suitcase in a BMW car parked outside his rented house in Phase 3B1, a local court on Wednesday charged his wife, Seerat Kaur, for the murder besides tampering with the evidence. The trial in the murder that took place on the intervening night of March 18 and 19 will begin on August 17. The charges were pronounced in presence of the accused, who was brought here from Nabha's modern jail. While Seerats counsel Manjinder Singh Brar pleaded not guilty on her behalf, the court framed charges after public prosecutor Gurdeep Singh said that police had material evidence on record to nail her. The prosecutor said Seerat committed the crime with help of two accomplices. The role of Seerats mother and brother is still under the police scanner, even as they were let off after they joined the investigation in April. The chargesheet filed by the Mohali police put major thrust on recovery of murder weapon, blood-stained clothes, testimony of the auto driver who alerted the cops and Seerat's confession, even as the accused maintained that her husband had committed suicide. Seerat, who is behind bars since March 19, will now face trial under Sections 302 (murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 25 of the Arms Act, said counsel Tarminder Singh, who appeared on behalf of Ekam's family . Auto driver to give testimony As ordered by the court, Ekam's brother Darshan Singh Dhillion, who is the main complainant in the case, and the auto driver will be summoned for their testimony from August 17 to August 19. After the murder and stuffing the body in a suitcase, Seerat allegedly sought the auto drivers help to put the suitcase in the cars boot space. While placing the suitcase, his hands got stained with blood. Sensing foul play, he informed the police. Nearly 50 witnesses, including Seerat's 11-year-old son, will be examined during the trial. Supplementary challan to bring clarity Even as the Mohali police, in the chargesheet filed last month, named Seerat as the accused, there is no clarity on the involvement of her accomplices. Ekams family alleged that Seerats two male friends were involved in the crime besides her mother. Their prime motive was to grab Ekam's properties that were registered in the name of Seerat's mother, they alleged. Sources said the police may file a supplementary chargesheet soon to bring clarity on the matter. The case so far March 19: Ekam Singh Dhillons body found stuffed in a suitcase in the boot space of a BMW car outside his rented accommodation in Phase 3B1. Later in the day, Seerat arrested. March 23: Seerat admits in court that she shot Ekam when police sought her lie-detection test April 11: Seerat backtracks on her earlier statement, claims her husband committed suicide April 12: Seerats mother and brother let off after they join investigation June 15: Police file chargesheet against Seerat in court The Samrala police arrested a Tanzanian woman after finding 300 gm heroin in her possession on Monday night. The accused, identified as Shotal Clement, is a native of Dar Es Salaam city in Tanzania, and is currently residing at Rajpur Road in Chattarpur area of Delhi. Khanna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Navjot Singh Mahal said a patrol team of police stopped the woman for checking at ITI Chowk. While frisking her bag, a woman constable found two packets containing 150 gm heroine each that were seized by the police officials. She told the police that she had come to India to pursue a career in modelling, Mahal said, adding that they were interrogating the accused to know if she was part of a drug cartel. The accused used to purchase drugs from Delhi and sold it to addicts on higher rates in Punjab. She is suspected to be working for drug dealers, the SSP said. A police under Section 21-61-85 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act has been registered. Ever since the deleted nude scene from the new Kannada film Dandupalya 2 featuring actor Sanjjanaa got leaked online on Tuesday, the actor has been hounded with questions. She has now come forward and explained her side of the story. For starters, Sanjjanaa admitted she shot the scene, but insisted she was never nude. Speaking to Times of India, the actor added that she had pictures to prove her point. Yes. I shot for it, but I was not nude. I have pictures that show my body parts covered up with a towel that were clicked in my caravan. What is eventually seen in the film is the result of computer colour grading, which was made to show the scene in that fashion. My character, Chandri, is a victim of sexual abuse in this scene, so this was meant to showcase that. I am appalled at how the scene has been circulated by people and has been shown repeatedly on media platforms. It shocks me that people want to share content like this among themselves. She added, I knew I was shooting a bold scene and that it would be sensational in terms of how the word is used in the industry. As actors, we are fully aware of what is being shot, but we have no control on how it is being picturized. I thought it would be shot aesthetically, but the way it has been picturized is downright vulgar. The fault is in the making. It might have been shot like that keeping the mass audience in mind. Sanjjanaa, like the rest of the team, is worried how the said video would be taken down. The scene is not even in the film, so the question about who leaked it is obviously restricted to the core team. If it was uploaded through a computer, we could have tracked the source. This has gone viral on Whatsapp first, and that is making it difficult to track the source. I have a team working on removing all links and related content that has been appearing online, says Sanjjanaa, adding, My family is in a state of panic, but they are, of course, being supportive and standing by me. The director of the film, however, wasnt willing to talk at all. Ive no comments on that. It is a deleted scene. We will talk once we make headway in the matter. Another report, in India.com, details how the said scene has been shot and produced. The report adds that Sanjjanna was actually wearing a strapless and backless bra and skin-tight nude-coloured shorts while filming the sequence. It was with the help of VFX that the rest (what we actually see) was achieved. Follow @htshowbiz for more ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop Actor Avantika Mishra says she learnt the basics of commercial cinema -- which includes how to present herself on screen in order to appeal to the masses -- via forthcoming Telugu romantic drama Vaishakam. Even though Avantika made her acting debut with the 2014 Telugu thriller Maya, she considers Vaishakam a debut of sorts. I have signed a Telugu film after a gap. I feel like Im finally getting the perfect launch. This project helped me understand the basics of commercial cinema, Avantika, who plays a businesswoman called Bhanumati in the film, said. Directed by B Jaya, Vaishakam is slated for release on Friday. In commercial cinema, it matters a lot how you present yourself. Its not just about your looks, but what you wear, how you perform and how you dance also matters in this format of cinema. This project gave me the platform to learn all this, she said. Asked if it was any different working with a female director, she said: The only advantage I could think of is that I was royally pampered. With a female director, you could be more open about your problems. For instance, if I have an issue with a particular scene, I could openly discuss with Jaya maam. She gave me that space to open up. Avantika points out how a director treats his actors also depend on the rapport they share. Irrespective of the gender of the director, if you share a good relationship, working will be fun, she said, adding that the film will be high on romance and emotional content. Follow @htshowbiz for more ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop Television actor Karan Wahi has expressed his disappointment at the makers of Pehredaar Piya Ki, Sonys new daily soap, for showing a romantic angle between an adult woman and a preteen boy. Wahi took to Facebook to share his concern on the quality of content being shown on television. Dear producer and channel, I understand we cant make shows like How I Met Your Mother and Friends, and honestly I dont expect us to also, but for the love of god and for the reason we all got in this industry please dont sell me stupidity in the name of content which gives TRP because honestly no one is watching this, he wrote in the post. Leave aside other people, I think the fraternity only doesnt (watch the show). I wish and pray well for everyone who is a part of this show also but it would be great if we started enjoying our work and not just working because we dont have an option. Not to sound arrogant but we can be better than this, he added. Pehredaar Piya Ki aired its first episode on Monday. It tells the story of a 9-year-old prince who is put under the care and security of his adult wife. Even the promos, when released about a month ago, got a lot of flak for showing a romantic relationship between a child and an adult. The trailer showed child actor Afaan Khan put vermillion on Tejaswi Prakash, causing a furore among viewers. The shows synopsis on YouTube reads: While Diya takes up her duty of a wife and willfully commits to the relationship, Ratan is enamored by her beauty and considers her to be a pari from the fairy tales he has heard from his Maasa. Though being a miss matched couple, both create a comfortable world for themselves. While 9-year-old husband tries to cheer up his wife Diya with his cute gestures, Diya keeps up the promise to protect him and nurture their relationship. Will Diya and Ratan rewrite the pages of history with their love story? Is age only a number when it comes to finding true love? Watch the unfolding of a beautiful fairytale as Pehredaar Piya Ki presents the most unique Jodi on Indian television. Actor Suyyash Rai, who is a part of the show, made a post on Instagram saying that Karans views are his own and the show doesnt support child marriage. Guys, whatever Karan Wahi said its his point of view. No one can question him neither me nor you guys. But this doesnt change the fact that we, the whole team of #PPK, we love this show and we all have worked really hard for it and we still are and we will. Our motive is to entertain you guys not promote child marriage or anything. This show is different , please dont judge it and jump onto conclusions. If a channel like Sony has approved the show they must have thought something right? Even the producers must have thought a lot before making this and investing so much money. Its my request to all, please watch it first and then decide. Maybe m wrong maybe but lets wait and then decide. Love to all and thank you for such a good response for the first episode. Tejasswi Prakash baby smile please, he wrote with the post. Follow @htshowbiz for more Bollywood actor Richa Chadha is all set to make her small screen debut with an upcoming comedy show. Richa Chaddha during the first Screening of Inside edge web series. (Photo by Prodip Guha/Hindustan Times) Sources have told Hindustan Times that Richa will lead a judges panel for a new English reality show - Queens of Comedy - which will be aired on TLC India. Renowned comedians, Rohan Joshi from AIB and Kaneez Surka will also be part of the judges panel. The show is a talent hunt to find Indias next big female comedian. It will be shot in August and will be telecast later this year. Richa has previously shown her excellent comic timing in Fukrey - a role for which she won several awards. She will be reprising the iconic character of Bholi Punjaban in the sequel which is set to release in December this year. Follow @htshowbiz for more About one in eight people who voted for President Donald Trump said they would not do so again after witnessing Trumps tumultuous first six months in office, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll of 2016 voters. While most of the people who voted for Trump on Nov. 8 said they would back him again, the erosion of support within his winning coalition of older, disaffected, mostly white voters poses a potential challenge for the president. Trump, who won the White House with the slimmest of margins, needs every last supporter behind him to push his agenda through a divided Congress and potentially win a second term in 2020. The poll surveyed voters who had told Reuters/Ipsos on Election Day how they had cast their ballots. While other surveys have measured varying levels of disillusionment among Trump supporters, the Reuters/Ipsos poll shows how many would go as far as changing the way they voted. The survey was carried out first in May and then again in July. In the July survey, 12% of respondents said they would not vote for Trump if the 2016 presidential election were held today - 7% said they dont know what they would do, and the remaining 5% would either support one of the other 2016 presidential candidates or not vote. Eighty-eight percent said they would vote for Trump again, a slight improvement over the May figure of 82%. Taken together, the polls suggest that Trumps standing with his base has improved slightly over the past few months despite his Republican Partys repeated failures to overhaul the healthcare system and multiple congressional and federal investigations into his campaigns ties to Russia. People show their support as Donald Trump speaks in Charleston, West Virginia, US on May 5, 2016. (Reuters) To be sure, most presidents lose support among core supporters the longer they are in the White House. According to the Gallup polling service, former President Barack Obama saw his popularity dip among Democrats and minority voters, though it did not come until later in his first term. But Obama, who won the Electoral College with greater margins than Trump, was not as reliant on retaining his core supporters. The minority of Trump voters who said they would not vote for him again gave varying reasons in interviews for why they had changed their minds. Some were tired of his daily trolling of Democrats, the media and the judiciary. Some were disappointed that the Trump administration has not yet swept illegal immigrants out of their communities. Others said the president has not ended the mistrust and hyper-partisanship in Washington as much as they had hoped. T-SHIRT POLITICS If I had to walk around wearing a T-shirt saying who I voted for, I may have voted differently, said Beverly Guy, 34, a Trump voter who took the poll in July. If the election were held today, Guy said she would vote for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson. Guy said she picked Trump mostly because she did not support Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. She never cared that much for Trump and now finds herself rationalising a decision that has angered many of her friends. I care more about my neighbours than I do about politics, she said. Another poll respondent, Brian Barnes, said he was standing by his choice to vote for Trump. He thinks the media is focusing too much on the Russia investigation and not enough on Trumps accomplishments like his elevation of another conservative justice to the Supreme Court. I think hes doing all he can, Barnes said, even though the Republicans in the House and Senate are creating a lot of problems by not passing a healthcare bill. Experts in American politics said it makes sense that a transformative political figure like Trump would retain a high degree of loyalty from his supporters no matter what negative headlines are swirling around the White House. Political winds do not shift quickly in a strong economy, they said, especially when many of the presidents decisions have yet to take root. People are still invested in the choices they made on Election Day, said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginias Center for Politics. Theyre not about to admit that theyre wrong, at least not yet. Elaine Kamarck, an expert in American electoral politics at the Brookings Institution, said the erosion in Trumps base could certainly hurt his chances of re-election, though it is too early to say so for sure. The most important question is whether he loses support where it counts - in battleground states that he barely won last year. If these disenchanted Trump voters are in California, it doesnt matter, Kamarck said. If they live in Wisconsin or Michigan or Pennsylvania, it matters. The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online in English throughout the United States and has a credibility interval, a measure of accuracy, of about 5 percentage points. The July 11-12 poll gathered its sample from 1,296 people, including 541 Trump voters, while the May 10-15 poll gathered its sample from 1,206 people, including 543 Trump voters. In both cases, Ipsos weighted their responses according to voter profiles gathered from the US Census voting and registration supplement to the Current Population Survey. An early day motion tabled in the House of Commons by Conservative MP Bob Blackman on the recent killing of eight Amarnath pilgrims has attracted seven signatures and only one of Britains 12 Indian-origin MPs has supported it. Tabled by Blackman on July 13, the motion has been signed by Virendra Sharma (Labour), three MPs of the Scottish National Party, one independent and one from the Democratic Unionist Party. Condemning the killings, the motion calls on the Theresa May government to investigate if there are any direct or indirect links between organisations or individuals in the UK and such cross-border atrocities in India. The 12 Indian-origin MPs are Keith Vaz, Valerie Vaz, Seema Malhotra, Virendra Sharma, Lisa Nandy, Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, Preet Kaur Gill (all Labour) and Priti Patel, Shailesh Vara, Alok Sharma, Rishi Sunak and Suella Fernandes (all Conservative). Patel and Sharma are ministers in the Theresa May government. Ministerial responsibilities prevent MPs from signing motions. Under parliamentary rules, early day motions are formal motions submitted for debate in the House of Commons. However, very few are actually debated. They allow MPs to draw attention to an event or cause, and MPs register their support by signing individual motions. Blackmans motion read: That this House condemns the recent killings of innocent Hindu pilgrims in Anantnag, Jammu and Kashmir in India; recognises it as a gruesome attack on innocent pilgrims by Lashkar-e-Toiba, an internationally recognised terrorist group, led by Abu Ismail; urges the Government to condemn strongly the attack and stand with India in the fight against terrorism; calls on the Government to investigate if there are any direct or indirect links to organisations or individuals in the UK that may be involved in such cross-border atrocities in India; and further calls on the Government to reject all forms of terrorism and support to organisations and individuals propagating such ideology and to take strong action against such organisations and individuals in the UK to ensure peace in the UK as well as India. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Donald Trump administration, in its first worldwide assessment of terrorism, has described the Islamic State and its affiliates as the most potent threat to global security, adding that attacks by the group increased last year, even there was an overall drop in the number of terror strikes worldwide. The state departments 2016 Country Reports on Terrorism, released on Wednesday, said that Islamic State committed numerous atrocities against people of different ethnicities and faiths living in areas under the groups control, naming Yezidis, Christians, Shias, Sunnis, and Kurds as some of the communities that have suffered under the groups ruling. As far as India is concerned, the report noted that the Islamic State has specifically threatened the country in propaganda messages and despite New Delhi not joining a Washington-led coalition against the group, it has publicly recognised the serious threat ISIS poses to global security and affirmed efforts to degrade and defeat this threat, using another acronym for the group. It also said that the Indian government is taking the IS threat seriously, adding that it has arrested 68 supporters of the terror group and has raised concern over social media and the internet being used to recruit, radicalise, and foment inter-religious tensions, especially by Islamic State. The report also detailed the physical and sexual abuses faced by women and children at the hands of members of the Islamic State. In 2015 and 2016, ISIS abducted, systematically raped, and abused thousands of women and children, some as young as eight years of age. Women and children were sold and enslaved, distributed to ISIS fighters as spoils of war, forced into marriage and domestic servitude, or subjected to physical and sexual abuse, the report said. ISIS established markets where women and children were sold with price tags attached and has published a list of rules on how to treat female slaves once captured, it said. The report said that the US and its allies, by countering and curtailing the use of internet for terrorist purposes, were responsible for content posted by the Islamic State declining by 75% between 2015 and 2016, while IS-related traffic on Twitter declined by 45% between 2014 and 2016. The state department recognised that IS was able to radicalise people in different countries by various means. According to its report, volunteers from Sunni states in the Middle East joined the group to defend Syrians against President Bashar al-Assad and his Shia backers in Iran. In parts of Africa, the groups ideology resonated among those with direct experience of official corruption and abusive security-service tactics. In what is perhaps a quite sectarian remark, the report also states that Islamic States call for a caliphate resonated in the West with members of predominantly Muslim immigrant communities, converts to Islam, and others searching for identity and purpose. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Pakistans Supreme Court on Thursday warned Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs children may face a jail term of up to seven years if it is proved that they submitted forged documents to the joint investigation team (JIT) probing the ruling familys offshore assets. Sharifs case has weakened considerably over the past few days, with many predicting that he will be disqualified from office in the coming days. Supreme Court judge Ijazul Ahsan said the Dubai government revealed that the Gulf Steel Mills documents provided by the Sharif family were forged. Dubai Customs has no record of transportation of machinery of Gulf Steel Mills from Dubai to Saudi Arabia, he observed. Responding to a query by the bench, additional attorney general Waqar Rana said someone involved in forgery can be sent to jail for seven years. We cannot shut our eyes as the law will take its course because fake documents have been submitted in the Supreme Court, Justice Azmat Saeed Sheikh observed. The bench also noted that Qatari Prince Hammad Bin Jassam neither agreed to record his statement to the JIT via video link, nor was willing to visit the Pakistan embassy in Doha. Justice Ejaz Afzal asked the counsel for Sharifs children, Salman Akram Raja, why the family did not explain how they paid a liability of Pakistani Rs21 million after selling the Al Azizia Mills in Saudi Arabia, and how Pakistani Rs63 million were transferred to Hussain Nawazs account. Meanwhile, Justice Sheikh observed that it has been confirmed that Maryam Nawaz is the beneficial owner of London flats. It is not (an) allegation but a matter of fact that Maryam is the beneficial owner of the flats, the bench observed. To this, Raja said the JIT did not confront his clients on the material collected by the probe team, adding that they could not be prosecuted in this matter. A crisis between Qatar and four Arab countries is straining a Saudi-led coalition backing Yemens government in a two-year war against Iranian-aligned Houthis and slowing the alliances military advances. At the heart of the crisis is the accusation that Qatar supports the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist movement that coalition mainstays Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have designated a terrorist group. But Yemens government is packed with supporters of the Islah party, an affiliate of the Muslim Brotherhood, threatening the unity of the alliance which has already been weakened by the withdrawal of Qatars forces after the row erupted on June 5. The Gulf rift has cast a shadow on the government and could split it as ministers linked to Islah sympathise with Qatar, a senior official in the Yemeni government, who asked not to be named, told Reuters. The coalition is seeking to restore the internationally-recognised government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and backs forces fighting Houthi rebels and troops loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Fighting near the Red Sea port city of al-Mokha, where a UAE-backed offensive was being prepared on the port of Hodeidah which handles most of Yemeni food imports, has slowed. The fighting has been frozen since the start of the dispute with Qatar, which reflects the extent of the UAE concerns over the strength of Islah in the province, a local official told Reuters. UAE officials did not respond to requests for comment. Saudi Arabia currently hosts the exiled Yemeni government which includes five cabinet ministers from the Islah party. The chief of staff also belongs to Islah and Vice President Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar is a close Islah ally. TRIBESMEN, SOLDIERS CRITICAL The party also has thousands of followers fighting against the Houthi forces who control the capital Sanaa with Saleh loyalists. Unusually in Yemens fractured political landscape, Islah has supporters in the north and south of the country. Since the Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015, Islah has tried to distance itself from the Brotherhood, in deference to the government-in-exiles Saudi hosts. The coalition depends heavily on Islah fighters on the ground. Whatever Saudi Arabias current view of the Muslim Brotherhood in other countries, in Yemen they are natural allies against the Houthi-Saleh alliance, April Longley Alley, a senior Arabian Peninsula analyst for the International Crisis Group (ICG) said. In many fighting fronts in the north, tribesmen or soldiers associated with Islah are a critical, if not the most important, part of the anti-Houthi fighting force. Saudi officials were not immediately available for comment. The Brotherhood has posed a big challenge to Arab rulers in the Middle East, where it has built a strong base opposed to the principle of dynastic rule. While Qatar has supported the movement, Gulf monarchies and emirates, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE, have spent billions trying to prevent the Brotherhood holding power in the Arab world since 2011 uprisings swept the region. UAE UNCOMFORTABLE The UAE, a crucial member of the coalition and which is more hostile to the Brotherhood than other members, appears to have been the most uncomfortable about its military fighting alongside Brotherhood-linked Islah forces. The UAE has also built a southern army that remains under the influence of southern Yemeni politicians who are hostile to the Brotherhoods ideology and want to break with the north. On the frontlines in the south, the offensive against the Houthis and Saleh forces has slowed down because of the UAE position on Islah, local officials said. UAE officials were not available to comment. Fighting in the two strategic provinces of Taiz and Marib has halted for more than a month, except for occasional air strikes and naval shelling on the rebels. Cracks in the Yemeni government on the Qatar crisis were highlighted when the quarrel broke out with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates imposing travel and diplomatic sanctions on Qatar. Yemens government rushed to express solidarity with Qatar on the state news agency website. Within two hours that message of support was wiped off. The next day the government cut ties with Doha, falling into line with Saudi and the others. The United States and Russia are waging rival campaigns at the United Nations Security Council over the type of ballistic missile fired by North Korea earlier this month as the US pushes to impose stronger sanctions on Pyongyang over the test. US Ambassador Nikki Haley held an intelligence briefing for her council colleagues on Monday to argue that Pyongyang fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), diplomats said, which was attended by Russia and North Korean ally China. UN diplomats said Russia had suggested that Russian and US military experts exchange information on the launch. The US briefing came after Russia sent a brief letter and diagram on July 8 to the 15-member Security Council, seen by Reuters, asserting that its radars determined that the missile launched by Pyongyang on July 4 was medium-range. Russias contention that North Korea did not fire an ICBM hinders Washingtons push for the Security Council to impose stronger sanctions on North Korea. The United States, Russia, China, Britain and France are veto-wielding council members. Typically the council has condemned medium-range ballistic missiles launches by North Korea with a statement. Diplomats say China and Russia only view a long-range missile test or nuclear weapon test as a trigger for further possible UN sanctions. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has described the missile launch as an ICBM test, which completes his countrys strategic weapons capability that includes atomic and hydrogen bombs, the state KCNA news agency said. North Korea has been under UN sanctions since 2006 over its ballistic missile and nuclear programmes and the Security Council had ratcheted up the measures in response to five nuclear weapons tests and two long-range missile launches. The United States gave China a draft resolution two weeks ago to impose stronger sanctions on North Korea over the July 4 missile launch. Haley had been aiming for a vote within weeks, but a senior UN diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the US negotiations with China as slow-going. Traditionally, the United States and China have negotiated sanctions on North Korea before formally involving other council members. Diplomats said Washington informally keeps Britain and France in the loop, while China was likely talking to Russia. Haley said on July 5 that some options to strengthen UN sanctions were to restrict the flow of oil to North Koreas military and weapons programmes, increasing air and maritime restrictions and imposing sanctions on senior officials. Following a nuclear weapons test by North Korea in September, while US President Barack Obama was still in office, it took the UN Security Council three months to agree to strengthened sanctions. Shortly after North Koreas July 4 missile launch Russia objected to a Security Council condemnation because a US-drafted press statement labeled it an ICBM. Diplomats said negotiations on the statement stalled. Earlier this month, when the Canadian governments New Delhi Immigration Section sent out an acknowledgement letter to an Indian student who had applied for a visa, it began: Thank you for choosing Canada! We know this is a very exciting time in planning an important change in your life. That welcoming note is part of the overt attempt by Canada to attract more Indian students, even as many are chary of the United States, given the anti-immigration climate prevalent there. It relates to whats going on in the US and the culture there. Also, Canada is capitalising on that, said Ravi Jain, partner at the Toronto immigration law firm Green and Spiegel LLP. As Canadas new school year approaches, major universities are witnessing a Trump bump in terms of applications from international students, particularly those from India. In the latter category, the increase is nearly 50% or more compared to the previous year. Holi being celebrated on the campus of the University of British Columbia in Canada. (Courtesy UBC) While this trend surfaced earlier this year, it is now evident it was not a temporary phenomenon as the unusual jump in enrolment numbers has held even as the admissions calendar enters its final phase. We are seeing an increase in the number of new undergraduate students with Indian citizenship registering for the 2017-18 academic year. More than 300 new undergraduate students from India have registered, compared to just over 200 new students in 2016, Karen McKellin, executive director, International Student Initiative at the University of British Columbia (UBC), said in an email. Those numbers arent yet final but a significant rise is certain. Students on the University of British Columbia campus. (Courtesy UBC) McKellin said, What may be driving the increase at the undergraduate level is partially because more Indian students are prepared to study abroad for their undergraduate degree, whereas in the past Indian students more typically travelled abroad for graduate studies. The recent growth in Indian undergraduates at UBC is also the result of UBC recruiting more pro-actively in India. UBCs growing reputation for excellence in India, as well as the breadth and depth of our programmes is successfully attracting outstanding students from good schools across India to our institution. Finally, some Indian families may be looking at sending students to Canada to study because of the opportunity to work in Canada for three years post-graduation, and perceptions that Canada is a safe and culturally diverse society with an exceptionally strong educational system. Jain said, Canada is doing more because of whats going on in the US. Its changing policies so it is even more attractive to international students. A class in progress at the University of British Columbia. (Courtesy UBC) Other than the absence of a hostile environment, a clear pathway to permanent residency and more certainty in the system are helping cement the unprecedented rush, Jain felt. UBC isnt the only beneficiary. At the University of Toronto, the number of students applying from India has increased by 57%. Students accepted from India increased by 45% to 315, compared with 218 last year, according to data provided by the university. The situation is similar at Montreals McGill University, where there has been a 58.3% increase since fall 2016 in applications from Indian visa students coming from schools in India. Canadian universities have seen a gradual increase in the number of India students, but theres never been as sharp a spike as for the forthcoming academic year. And as the letter to a prospective student shows, there is a distinct effort at making the experience better, even the language now is much more friendly, as Jain explained. That approach has gone from proforma to proactive. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON President Donald Trump has decided to end a covert programme run by the CIA since 2013 to train and arm moderate rebel forces fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, according to a report in the Washington Post. Russia had long sought this but it was not clear if Moscow had made a specific request to Trump, who, according to the report, took this decision a month ago, ahead of his meeting with President Vladimir Putin in Hamburg, Germany. The programme, which will be folded up over next few months, was ordered by President Barack Obama in 2013 to force Assad out of office, but that goal has become increasingly tenuous after Russian military intervention in 2015. The decision to scrap the programme falls within a larger plan of the Trump administration to work towards a solution in cooperation with Russia. The first step was taken in that direction after the July 7 meeting of the two leaders. The two countries announced a ceasefire in southwest Syria, where most of the anti-Assad rebels being armed by the CIA were operating, according to the Washington Post. Five days into that ceasefire, Trump said, We are working on the second cease-fire in a very rough part of Syria. If we get that and a few more, all of a sudden we are going to have no bullets being fired in Syria. The report of the decision drew criticism from some that the US had given in to Russia. If true and I hope its not it would be a complete capitulation to Assad, Russia, and Iran, Republican senator Lindsey Graham wrote on Twitter. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Thursday he intends to stay in his job despite blistering criticism from President Donald Trump over the top law enforcement officials decision to recuse himself from the Russia election meddling probe. Asked at a press conference if he plans to resign, Sessions replied: I have the honour of serving as attorney general. It is something that goes beyond any thought I would have ever had for myself. I plan to continue to do so as long as that is appropriate, he added, speaking to reporters at a press conference about the shutdown of two dark web marketplaces. In an interview with The New York Times on Wednesday, Trump said he would never have chosen Sessions for the post if he had known the former senator would recuse himself. How do you take a job and then recuse yourself? If he would have recused himself before the job, I would have said, Thanks, Jeff, but Im not going to take you, Trump said. The US president also criticised Sessionss testimony during his Senate confirmation hearing, when he denied communications with the Russians despite at least two meetings with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the campaign. Jeff Sessions gave some bad answers, the president told the Times. He gave some answers that were simple questions and should have been simple answers, but they werent. When asked how he could continue to work without the confidence of Trump, Sessions replied: We are serving right now. The work we are doing today is the kind of work we intend to continue. US senator John McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee known for political independence during more than three decades in the Senate, has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer, his office said. The 80-year-old lawmaker and former Navy pilot, who was re-elected to a sixth Senate term in November, has been recovering at home in Arizona since undergoing surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix last Friday to remove a blood clot from above his left eye. Tissue analysis since that procedure revealed that a brain tumour known as a glioblastoma was associated with the clot, his office said. Glioblastoma is considered a grade IV tumour, the most malignant of gliomas. It can be very aggressive and spread into other parts of the brain quickly, according to the MD Anderson Cancer Center. McCains doctors said he was recovering from his surgery amazingly well and that his underlying health was excellent. His treatment options include a combination of chemotherapy and radiation, his office said. The news of my fathers illness has affected every one of us in the McCain family, McCains daughter Meghan said in a statement on Twitter. My grandmother, mother, brothers, sister, and I have all endured the shock of the news, and now we live with the anxiety about what comes next. She said the family was familiar with the experience of battling cancer since her father had fought it previously, and that through all of this, McCain himself was the most confident and calm of all of them. His fellow members of Congress rushed to offer tributes to the lawmaker and wishes for his quick recovery. Known for an independent political streak, ready wit and strong opinions, McCain is one of the best-known and most popular US lawmakers among his peers and the media. While known as a fierce advocate for strong US military action overseas, McCain also has a reputation for working with Democrats on issues from clamping down on campaign finance abuses to immigration reform. US President Donald Trump said that Senator John McCain has always been a fighter, adding: Get well soon. Former Democratic President Barack Obama, who defeated McCain for the presidency in 2008, called McCain an American hero and one of the bravest fighters Ive ever known. Cancer doesnt know what its up against. Give it hell, John. Former POW Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called McCain, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, a hero and said he looked forward to having him back in Washington. We all look forward to seeing this American hero again soon, McConnell said in a statement. McCain, the son and grandson of admirals, was a US Navy pilot. His plane was shot down over Vietnam in 1967 and he spent five and half years as a prisoner of war, suffering repeated torture by his Communist captors. One of McCains proudest moments as a US senator was working to pass legislation banning torture in 2015. When he was offered release because of his fathers rank, McCain refused to be freed before those who had been held captive longer. He finally returned to the United States in 1973, with other prisoners of war. Steve Duprey, a Republican National Committee member from New Hampshire who is one of McCains close friends, said it was a tough challenge but that McCain had overcome adversity before. Im sure he will tackle this one the way he has with every other: With grit, determination and his sense of humour. And he has important work to keep doing for the country, and he will, he told Reuters. McCain was already a cancer survivor, having had non-invasive melanomas removed at least three times. Politicians scuffled in Taiwans parliament on Tuesday during a heated debate over how billions of dollar for an infrastructure development plan will be allocated. Members of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and opposition Nationalist party threw water and shoved each other to the floor of the legislature, according to video of the melee shown on Taiwans FTV network. Heres a look: Fighting's broken out in Taiwan's parliament - again. Opposition parties do it to stop legislation they oppose.https://t.co/0PADGmc9bg pic.twitter.com/LQpmm14a20 BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) July 18, 2017 Why? The DPP-backed Infrastructure Development Programme was approved this month and is aimed at bolstering domestic demand and rebalancing the islands economy away from its reliance on exports. The $12.6 billion plan was only half the size of the original stimulus plan announced by the cabinet in March, part of the DPPs political compromise to get it through parliament. Ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Chao Tien-lin (left) scuffles with opposition Kuomintang (KMT) legislators during budget meeting for the infrastructure development program, at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. (Reuters Photo) Opposition lawmakers criticised the original plan as going beyond the four-year term limit of Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and her party. The fracas was fuelled by a disagreement over how the funds should be allocated. Notorious for scuffles Taiwans legislators are notoriously rambunctious and known for brawls that occasionally involve throwing objects such as microphones and water balloons. Last week, the Taiwanese parliament descended into chaos after lawmakers again tackled and threw chairs at each other, NBC news video shows. Chaos in Taiwan Parliament continues as fights break out and members pelt each other with water balloons pic.twitter.com/o7SiZ8hsUc Business Insider (@businessinsider) July 19, 2017 Fights in parliament are seen as one way for the opposition to show voters that it stands tough on issues. Parliamentary debate descending to physical violence is hardly an issue unique to Taiwan, with legislators in many countries including Turkey, Ukraine and South Korea also having come to blows in the past. From the Civil War to Afghanistan, the United States highest valor award has recognized feats of courage and sacrifice. On October 25, 2007, in the Korengal Valley, Afghanistan, a patrol from 2d Battalion, 503d Infantry Regiment, 173d Airborne Brigade Combat Team, was returning to Combat Outpost Vimoto when it ran into a Taliban ambush. In the intense battle that ensued, Sergeant Joshua Brennan, walking point, was hit multiple times. During the firefight, two Taliban began to drag Brennan away from the kill zone. Specialist Salvatore Giunta, one of the fire team leaders, seeing that the enemy intended to capture his comrade, exposed himself to withering enemy fire and sprinted after the Taliban, killing one and wounding the other, after which he provided medical aid to Sergeant Brennan and dragged him back to safety. For this courageous and selfless act under intense enemy fire, Specialist Giunta was nominated for the Medal of Honor. On November 16, 2010, Salvatore Giunta, then staff sergeant, received the Medal of Honor from President Barack Obama in a White House ceremony. Giunta became the first living person to receive the nations highest decoration for valor for actions that have occurred since the Vietnam War. BORN IN BATTLE When the president placed the medal on its distinctive blue ribbon around Staff Sergeant Giuntas neck, the young Soldier became a member of one of the most exclusive fraternities in the world. More than 40 million men and women have served in the armed forces of the United States since the beginning of the Civil War, but fewer than 3,500 men and one woman have been awarded the Medal of Honor. The Medal of Honor is the nations highest award for military valor and it can be awarded to Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen. It is presented by the president of the United States in the name of Congress and thus is often mistakenly referred to as the Congressional Medal of Honor. It is awarded for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty. Given the inherently dangerous nature of its criteria, the Medal of Honor is often awarded posthumously. The Medal of Honor did not exist until the Civil War. However, the idea of recognizing individual acts of bravery dates back to the Revolutionary War. The Badge of Military Merit was established by General George Washington, commander in chief of the Continental Army, on August 7, 1782. The award, which consisted of a purple cloth heart, was designed to recognize any singularly meritorious action, and records indicate that only three persons received it. The Badge of Military Merit fell into disuse after the Revolutionary War, although it would be revived in 1932 as the Purple Heart, which would be awarded to those who had been wounded in World War I and in subsequent conflicts. In the interim, there were several efforts to devise a way to recognize individual valor on the battlefield. In 1847, after the outbreak of the Mexican-American War, a certificate of merit was established for those who distinguished themselves during battle, but it was discontinued after the war. Early in the Civil War, the idea of a medal for bravery on the battlefield was proposed to General Winfield Scott, then Union general in chief, but he rejected the idea because he thought medals smacked of European affectation. However, a similar proposal was presented to Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles, who endorsed the idea of creating a medal for valorous service for enlisted men in the Navy and Marine Corps. Senator James W. Grimes of Iowa introduced a bill in Congress, which President Abraham Lincoln signed in December 1861. The next year, a medal of honor was created for the Army, largely due to the efforts of Edward D. Townsend, assistant adjutant general, and Massachusetts Senator Henry Wilson. The bill creating the Army Medal of Honor was signed into law in July 1862. The medal was to be awarded to such noncommissioned officers and privates as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action, and other soldier like qualities. Although the medal was proposed only for the Civil War, Congress made it permanent in 1863, extending provisions to include officers as well as enlisted men, and making the provisions retroactive to the beginning of the Civil War. The Medal of Honor has remained the highest and most prestigious award that can be presented to members of the U.S. armed forces. CIVIL WAR The first act of valor that would be recognized with the Medal of Honor occurred on February 13, 1861, a year before the medal was proposed. Bernard J.D. Irwin, an Army assistant surgeon, led a group of 14 men into Apache Pass, Ariz., to rescue 60 Soldiers surrounded by a band of Indians. However, Irwin would not actually receive the medal until 1894, over 30 years later. Army Private Francis Edwin Brownell was involved in the first action to merit the Medal of Honor during the Civil War. On May 24, 1861, he killed the murderer of Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth, colonel of the 11th New York Regiment, in Alexandria, Va. However, Brownell would not receive the medal until 1877. John Williams, captain of USS Pawnee, was the first to receive the Navy Medal of Honor, for his bravery in leaving no man behind in a desperate June 1861 battle off Mathias Point, Va. However, Williams would not receive the medal until April 1863. On March 25, 1863, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton made the first-ever presentation of the Medal of Honor, presenting one each to six of the surviving members of the famous Andrews Raiders. The first to receive the medal was Private Jacob Parrott. In April 1862, Parrott had been part of the force of 23 military and civilian volunteers led by civilian James J. Andrews that struck deep into Confederate territory at Marietta, Ga. There, Andrews Raiders captured an entire train pulled by the locomotive General in an effort to disrupt the lines of transportation between Atlanta, Ga., and Chattanooga, Tenn. The Raiders were pursued by locomotive and eventually captured, after which seven of them, including Andrews, were hanged as spies. Four of those hanged also received the Medal of Honor; they were the first to receive the medal posthumously. In all, 19 of the 24 Andrews Raiders were awarded the Medal of Honor, but not Andrews as a civilian, he was deemed ineligible for the award. The first Marine to receive the Medal of Honor was John Freeman Mackie, who, while serving on the Union ironclad Galena during the attack on Fort Darling at Drewrys Bluff, Va., fearlessly maintained his musket fire against the rifle pits on shore, and when ordered to fill vacancies caused by men wounded and killed in action, manned his weapon with skill and courage. During the Civil War, a total of 1,522 Medals of Honor were awarded to Army and Navy personnel, including 17 to enlisted Marines. One of the Civil War recipients was Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, a civilian surgeon with the Union Army. Walker is the only woman to receive the Medal of Honor and one of only eight civilians to receive it. Second Lieutenant Thomas Custer, brother of George Armstrong Custer, became the first to receive two Medals of Honor for two separate actions during the Civil War. Tom Custer later died with his brother at the Battle of Little Bighorn. Only 13 other people have received two distinct Medals of Honor for two separate actions (five others received both the Army and Navy medals for the same action). During this early period, there were no detailed criteria or time limits for presentation of the award. Therefore, many Medals of Honor went to individuals who did nothing particularly heroic. For example, President Lincoln authorized the award of the medal to 864 members of 27th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment simply for re-enlisting. POST-CIVIL WAR Over time, the requirements became stricter and fewer Medals of Honor were awarded. In 1897, Congress passed legislation to insure that the medal could be awarded only for gallantry and intrepidity. Furthermore, nomination for the award had to be made by someone other than the individual being nominated. Additionally, one or more eyewitnesses had to testify under oath about the deed, and the recommendation had to be submitted within one year of the act for which the medal would be awarded. In September 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt issued an executive order outlining the basic policy for the actual presentation of the Medal of Honor. This order directed that award of the medal will always be made with formal and impressive ceremonial occasions and that the recipient will, when practicable, be ordered to Washington, D.C., where the presentation will be made by the president, as commander in chief, or by such representative as the president may designate. If it proved impractical for the recipient to come to Washington, as it eventually would during World Wars I and II, the service chief of staff would designate the time and place for the award ceremony. President Roosevelt presented the first Medal of Honor at the White House to one of his old Rough Rider comrades, U.S. Army Assistant Surgeon James Robb Church, on January 10, 1906, setting the precedent for the White House Medal of Honor ceremonies that continues to this day. During the period between the Civil War and World War I, U.S. forces fought in a number of conflicts, including the Indian Wars, 1871 Korean Campaign, Spanish-American War, Philippine Insurrection, Boxer Rebellion, and several campaigns in Mexico and Central America. A total of 769 Medals of Honor were awarded during these years. Within this period, two Marines joined the select group who received two Medals of Honor for two separate actions. Major General Smedley D. Butler received his medals for Veracruz (1914) and Haiti (1915), and Sergeant Major Daniel Daly received his for Peking (1900) and Haiti (1915). In 1916, intending to redress perceived earlier abuses in awarding the medal, the War Department established a Medal of Honor review board. It consisted of five retired general officers headed by Medal of Honor recipient General Nelson A. Miles. The board was charged to consider all 2,625 medals presented by the Army up to that time. It released its findings in 1917, striking the names of 911 Medal of Honor recipients, most from the Civil War, whom the board considered undeserving of the medal. The deleted names included all several hundred men in the 27th Maine who received the medals for re-enlisting; 29 members of President Lincolns funeral guard; and six civilians, whose courage was not questioned but who were deemed ineligible for the medal as civilians. Among these were five scouts, including Buffalo Bill Cody, who had served in the Indian Campaigns, and Civil War surgeon Mary Edwards Walker. The medals of Dr. Walker, Cody, and the other scouts were later restored in 1977. WORLD WAR I THROUGH WORLD WAR II During World War I, 124 Medals of Honor were awarded (95 Army, 21 Navy, and eight Marine Corps), 33 of them posthumously. Famous Medal of Honor recipients from World War I were Sergeant Alvin York, Army Air Corps ace Eddie Rickenbacker, and Lieutenant Colonel William J. Wild Bill Donovan (later head of the World War II Office of Strategic Services and Father of the Central Intelligence Agency). In 1921-23, the president signed congressional legislation awarding the Medal of Honor to the Unknown Soldiers of the United States, Britain, France, Italy, Belgium, and Romania. Later, the Medal of Honor was awarded to the American Unknown Soldiers of World War II (1948), Korean War (1957), and Vietnam War (1984). During 1920-40, Medal of Honor awards continued to be rare, but regulations then still permitted awarding the medal for peacetime bravery and distinguished acts not involving combat. Commander Richard E. Byrd and Warrant Officer Floyd Bennett each received the Medal of Honor for their 1926 flight over the North Pole. Charles Lindbergh was awarded the medal for his famous 1927 trans-Atlantic solo flight from New York to Paris in the Spirit of St. Louis. Four Sailors were awarded the Medal of Honor for risking their lives to save the crew of the sunken American submarine USS Squalus in May 1939. (The Navy had long awarded the medal for non-combat actions. From 1901-11, 48 Navy Medals of Honor were given for actions involving boiler explosions on board ships, shipboard fires and lifesaving.) With the outbreak of World War II, the award of the Medal of Honor once again focused on recognizing valor above and beyond the call of duty in combat against an armed enemy. The award of the medal remained rare. Even though 16 million Americans served in World War II, fewer than 500 Medals of Honor were awarded (more than half of them posthumously). Among the most famous World War II recipients were Army infantryman Audie Murphy, Marine fighter ace Joe Foss, and Marine John Basilone, whose story was featured in the HBO miniseries The Pacific. Only one member of the U.S. Coast Guard (under the Department of the Navy in wartime) has ever received the Medal of Honor. Coast Guardsman Douglas Munro was awarded the medal posthumously for his actions at Point Cruz during the Battle of Guadalcanal in September 1942. KOREA AND VIETNAM In June 1950, the North Korean Peoples Army crossed the 38th parallel and invaded South Korea. During the Korean Wars three bloody years of fighting that followed, 133 Medals of Honor, including 42 to Marines, were awarded for heroism (95 of them posthumously). Included among the U.S. Army heroes who received the medal during the Korean War were Captain Lewis L. Millett, Corporal Mitchell Red Cloud and Corporal Rodolfo P. Hernandez. In 1947, President Harry S. Truman had created the United States Air Force as a separate branch of the armed forces. However, during the Korean War, members of the Air Force who were awarded the Medal of Honor received the Army medal. In 1956, three years after the wars end, Congress passed legislation establishing the Air Force Medal of Honor, distinct from the Army and Navy medals (Marines continued to receive the Navy medal). In 1963, Congress again tightened regulations governing the award of the Medal of Honor. The heroic act leading to the nomination for the medal had to occur while the potential recipient was engaged in action against an enemy of the United States, engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing force, or serving with friendly forces in armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States was not a belligerent party. The first Medal of Honor awarded during the Vietnam War went to Army Special Forces Captain Roger H.C. Donlon for his actions at Nam Dong in July 1964. During the Vietnam War, nearly 250 Medals of Honor were awarded (about half of them posthumously). Donlon was joined on the list of Vietnam War recipients by Marine Major Jay R. Vargas, Air Force Sergeant John Levitow, Admiral James Stockdale, and Bob Kerrey, a Navy SEAL who became governor of Nebraska and U.S. senator. During the Vietnam War period, there was one exception to the enemy action rule. Commander William McGonagle received the Medal of Honor for his actions while in command of USS Liberty when it was mistakenly attacked by the Israel Defense Forces in the Eastern Mediterranean on June 8, 1967, during the Six Day War. SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT Since the 1980s, a number of Medals of Honor have been belatedly awarded to correct past administrative errors, oversights, or to consider previous recommendations as a result of new evidence. On July 19, 1980, President Jimmy Carter presented the Medal of Honor to Matt Urban 36 years after Urban had performed numerous acts of valor during the fighting in France and Belgium in World War II. On February 24, 1981, President Ronald Reagan presented the Medal of Honor to Army Sergeant Roy Benavidez for his valor during the Vietnam War. On April 24, 1991, President George H.W. Bush presented the Medal of Honor to the family of World War I hero Corporal Freddie Stowers for his extraordinary and inspirational valor during the 1918 Meuse Argonne Campaign. Stowers was an African-American who was mortally wounded while attempting to destroy a machine gun that had pinned down his unit. The paperwork recommending him for the award had been lost for over 70 years. In 1993, a special study was commissioned to investigate racial discrimination in the awarding of medals in World War II; no African-Americans had received the Medal of Honor for action during the war. The study concluded with a recommendation that several African-American Distinguished Service Cross recipients be upgraded to the Medal of Honor. On January 13, 1997, President Bill Clinton presented the Medal of Honor to seven African-Americans. Six were posthumous awards; only former 1st Lieutenant Vernon Baker was present to receive the award for action in Italy in 1945. A similar study was conducted in 1998 to examine the records of Asian-Americans who had served in World War II. On June 21, 2000, President Clinton presented the Medal of Honor to 22 Asian-Americans for their World War II courage, including U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye and 19 Japanese-Americans who had served in the famous 442d Regimental Combat Team in the European Theater of Operations. Periodically, other additions have been made to the Medal of Honor Roll of Heroes to correct past oversights. On January 21, 2001, President Clinton presented the Medal of Honor posthumously to Theodore Roosevelt for his bravery in the Spanish-American War. Roosevelt thus became one of two sets of father-son Medal of Honor recipients; his son, Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt Jr., had received the medal for his June 6, 1944, actions on D-Day. The other father-son recipients were Arthur MacArthur, for his 1863 heroism during the Civil War, and his son, Douglas MacArthur, for leading the defense of the Philippines early in World War II. President Clinton also presented Medals of Honor to James Day for heroism in World War II, Robert Ingram and Alfred Rascon for actions in Vietnam, and Andrew Jackson Smith posthumously for gallantry in the Civil War. President George W. Bush presented Medals of Honor to Ed Freeman, Bruce Crandall, Jon Swanson, and Humbert Versace (the last two posthumously) for Vietnam, to Ed Salomon for World War II, and to Woodrow Keeble (the first full-blooded Sioux to receive the Medal of Honor) and Tibor Rubin for the Korean War. Rubin was a Jewish veteran and Holocaust survivor who some believed was originally overlooked for the medal due to anti-Semitism. On May 2, 2011, President Barack Obama presented posthumous Medals of Honor to the families of Army Privates 1st Class Henry Svehla and Anthony T. Kahoohanohano. Both awards were for valorous acts performed by the men as riflemen in the Korean War. POST-VIETNAM WAR The award of the Medal of Honor has been exceedingly rare for conflicts since the end of the Vietnam War. There were no awards of the medal during Grenada, Panama, Lebanon or Desert Storm. Two Medals of Honor were awarded for action in Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1993: Master Sergeant Gary Gordon and Sergeant 1st Class Randy Shughart received the medal posthumously for their actions during the fighting recounted in the book and movie Blackhawk Down. At present, only four Medals of Honor have been awarded for valor in the Iraq War, all posthumously: Marine Jason Dunham, Army Private Ross McGinnis, Navy SEAL Michael Monsoor and Army Sergeant Paul Smith. Similarly, only seven Medals of Honor have been awarded in the Afghanistan War, three posthumously (Army Sergeants Robert Miller and Jared Monti and Navy SEAL Michael Murphy). After Staff Sergeant Giunta became the first living recipient presented the Medal of Honor for action since the Vietnam War, he has been joined by Army Staff Sergeants Leroy A. Petry and Clinton Romesha and Marine Sergeant Dakota Meyer. Petry and Meyer received their Medals of Honor from President Obama during White House ceremonies in 2011, while Romesha received his in 2013. The Medal of Honor is the ultimate symbol of courage and valor under fire and is awarded to only the bravest of the brave; as such, the medal and its recipients are rightfully objects of awe and veneration. It is such an extraordinary honor that President Harry S. Truman, himself a Soldier in World War I, reportedly said, Id rather wear that medal than be president of the United States. The Medal of Honor is the epitome of valor and selfless service, and many who received the medal made the supreme sacrifice giving their lives in that service. The recipients of the Medal of Honor are officers and enlisted men from all branches of the service. They come from all walks of life and from many different ethnic backgrounds and cultures. They come from all over the country, and even some foreign lands. They come from every armed service and have seen action in Americas wars from the Civil War to Afghanistan. Despite all these differences, the recipients of the Medal of Honor all share one thing in common. At some point in their lives, they selflessly performed extraordinarily courageous acts in the face of almost insurmountable odds deeds that were clearly above and beyond the call of duty. More often than not, those who survived to receive their Medals of Honor accepted them in honor of their comrades who fought and sometimes died in the defense of their nation. Perhaps Canadian-born Vietnam hero and Medal of Honor recipient Peter Lemon summed this up best when he told a group of young students, Whenever you see the medal, you see millions of people out there who have given their service and sacrificed for your freedom. In that sense, the Medal of Honor is not only a tribute to those who received it, but it is also a testament to the dedication and duty to all who have served the nation. James H. Willbanks, PhD, is an ACG advisory board member, the General of the Army George C. Marshall Chair of Military History, and Director of the Department of Military History at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kan. He is the author of several books on the Vietnam War, including Abandoning Vietnam, The Battle of An Loc and The Tet Offensive: A Concise History. He is also the editor of Americas Heroes: Medal of Honor Recipients From the Civil War to Afghanistan. Originally published in the May 2013 issue of Armchair General. Over three millennia before Hitlers lightning warfare, chariot-borne Aryan warriors overran the ancient world. The chariots of Mursilis I, grandson of the Hittite Empires founder, were nearing the end of their raid that had started nearly 1,000 miles away in central Anatolia. They had moved so fast, they outsped the news of their coming. The chariot-borne Hittites burst through the open gates of unsuspecting Babylon, sacked the greatest city in the world, and ended the ancient Mesopotamian dynasty founded by Hammurabi. It was an Aryan blitzkrieg in 1595 B.C. The innovative creation of the light two-wheeled chariot changed the world of the second millennia B.C. as much as the automobile revolutionized the 20th century. Although the horse-drawn chariot had existed previously, this new technologically advanced model was a marvel of construction that far outstripped anything before it. Combined with the more sophisticated training of the horse and the introduction of the powerful recurve bow, the new chariot was a lethal war machine that overran foot-soldier armies of the ancient world from Greece to India much as Adolf Hitlers German panzers employing blitzkrieg would do over 3,500 years later. This ancient blitzkrieg arrived with its creators, an Indo-European people, whom it is more accurate to refer to by the far more ancient name Aryan a term preserved in the name Iran, which the Persians have long called Home of the Aryans. These Aryan people had settled in what is todays Transcaucasus, the wooded and rich lands of modern Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and northeastern Turkey. The regions variety of trees provided wood with the special qualities needed to create the new lightweight, highly mobile chariot. The Aryans appeared first as mercenaries hired by established kingdoms, where they were made important vassals and awarded estates that supported the great expense of chariots, horses and retainers. Aryan names may be among those of the Hyksos conquerors of a weakened Egypt beginning after 1700 B.C. The Hyksos were Semitic Amorites from Canaan, and even if there were no Aryans among them, they had fully absorbed the Aryan chariot technology. As time passed, however, evidence of an Aryan presence in Canaan and Syria became overwhelming, as indicated by the Aryan names of the rulers of the most important cities in these areas. The names invariably evoke the horse, chariot and war. The early Aryans formed a symbiotic relationship with the Hurrians who inhabited eastern Anatolia and northern Mesopotamia. In the power vacuum left by the fall of Babylon, an Aryan warrior elite propelled the Hurrians into a powerful empire known as Mitanni around 1500 B.C. that would last several hundred years. Throughout the ancient Middle East, the Aryans comprised only a small ruling elite that eventually was absorbed by the masses they ruled. Yet even when the Aryan language was no longer spoken, Aryan influence on warfare continued, as evidenced in a preserved ancient handbook on the conditioning of chariot horses written by Kikkuli, master trainer of the land of the Mitanni. Found in the Hittite archives in Hittite and Akkadian translations from Hurrian, the book retains the technical Indo-European terms of the Aryan language. Ironically, the only areas where the Aryans left a lasting linguistic and ethnic mark were those at the geographical extremes of Aryan expansion, Greece and India, where they apparently settled in large numbers. Around 1600 B. C., an estimated 100,000 Proto-Greek speakers crossed the Aegean Sea to overwhelm the small kingdoms of mainland Greece and found the civilization reflected in Homers works and the Greek Bronze Age. There, the Aryans sky gods eventually displaced the natives mother goddesses. One of the few archaeological finds that can be dated to a specific event in Aryan history was the discovery of a collection of lapis lazuli cylinder seals in the ruins of the Greek Bronze Palace in Thebes items considered appropriate royal gifts from one great king to another. The seals were from Babylon, and none were dated later than the Hittite sack of the city. Clearly, the seals were loot, carefully preserved in the Hittite treasury until they were sent as a gift to the powerful ruler of Thebes. A century or so later, another large Aryan group arrived in Indias Indus River valley to begin a long conquest of the native Dravidian population. The event was immortalized in the Rig Vedas sacred texts. These epics mentioned the same Aryan sky gods worshipped in Mitanni as well as specific personal names. They also described the master horse trainer as a man of high prestige, using the same term given to Kikkuli of Mitanni. The conquerors throughout the Middle East and India were identified by the same name: the Marya, meaning the young warriors. In the Middle East these warriors were known by the Hurrian plural, Maryannu. The genetic evidence of the Aryan conquest of India is telling in the Hindu caste system. The higher, more light-skinned castes show the occurrence of European Y-chromosome DNA, while the mitochondrial DNA is native Dravidian. Apparently, Aryan conquerors arrived without their women and took native females as wives, cementing their control by imposing a caste system based on Aryan blood. Four great kingdoms were recognized as the major powers at the height of the Bronze Age in the Middle East: Hatti (Hittites), Egypt, Mitanni, and Ahhiyawa (Achaea) in Greece. Mitanni and Achaea were both Aryan founded, and Hatti was heavily Aryan influenced; but all four kingdoms relied on Aryan chariot warfare as their means of gaining and holding power. The Egyptian 18th dynasty in Thebes under Pharaoh Ahmose I mastered chariot warfare so well that by circa 1535 B.C. it expelled the Hyksos whose chariots had conquered Egypt two centuries earlier. As these four empires competed in the ensuing centuries, battles involving thousands of Aryan-style chariots were recorded. The chariots supremacy in ancient warfare eventually faded with the collapse of the civilization of the Late Bronze Age and the arrival of the Iron Age. Yet massed charging chariots flying behind a rain of arrows were once a marvel of early military technology and a terror to those in their path. Peter Tsouras is the author of 26 books on military history. He served in the Army and Army Reserve and worked for the Defense Intelligence Agency until retiring in 2010 to devote himself to writing, his roses and his grandchildren. Originally published in the May 2013 issue of Armchair General. As Major General Joseph Hooker, can YOU defeat General Robert E. Lee and win a stunning Union victory? It is May 1, 1863, as you assume the role of Major General Joseph Hooker, commander of the Union Army of the Potomac. Known as Fighting Joe, you were appointed army commander on January 26 by President Abraham Lincoln in the wake of the disastrous Battle of Fredericksburg, Va. (December 11-15, 1862), during which Confederate General Robert E. Lee won yet another victory over the army now under your leadership. Lincoln fervently hopes that you the fourth general to command the Army of the Potomac can find a way to beat Lee at last. After reorganizing and training your army for more than three months, you are confident it is now ready to take on Lees outnumbered Confederate Army of Northern Virginia still occupying positions at Fredericksburg. Seeking to avoid the mistake made by previous Union commanders launching costly frontal attacks against strong Rebel defenses you have developed a bold strategy to move the main portion of the Army of the Potomac around Lees left flank while a part of it holds the Confederates in place at Fredericksburg. By midday today, your flanking maneuver appears successful. However, you realize you must not become complacent. The wily Lee has often fought outnumbered, yet he has seldom been outgeneraled. You must be prepared to react immediately to defeat his inevitable countermoves. THE ROAD TO CHANCELLORSVILLE When your Army of the Potomac reached the Rappahannock River April 27, Lees Army of Northern Virginia occupied a 25-mile stretch of the river, with his largest troop concentration entrenched at or near Fredericksburg. Lee has 53,000 Soldiers in six infantry divisions, plus Major General Jeb Stuarts cavalry division. With Lieutenant General James Longstreets I Corps, less two divisions, remaining detached in southeast Virginia, Lieutenant General Thomas J. Stonewall Jackson is Lees principal subordinate commander, leading II Corps and the two divisions Longstreet left behind at Fredericksburg. Your 130,000 men outnumber Lees Soldiers by over 2-to-1, and your strategy seeks to make the most of this advantage. To mask the turning movement of your main force, you ordered 40,000 Soldiers under Major General John Sedgwick (including his VI Corps, Major General John Reynolds I Corps and Major General Daniel Sickles III Corps) into position along the Rappahannock at Fredericksburg to hold the Confederates attention. Meanwhile, on April 27 you ordered the wide turning maneuver on Lees flank by Major General George Meades V Corps, Major General Oliver Howards XI Corps and Major General Henry Slocums XII Corps. During the night of April 28 and the next morning, the three corps crossed the Rappahannock River, divided into two columns to quickly cross the Rapidan River, and then moved on parallel roads toward Chancellorsville. The force reached Chancellorsville on the afternoon of April 30. That night, Major General Darius Couchs II Corps finally arrived to join the other three corps and your Army of the Potomac headquarters in bivouac there. By the night of April 30-May 1, you had successfully positioned 54,000 troops behind the left flank of Lees entire fortified river line. LEE REACTS Chancellorsville is merely a house at a minor crossroads in a densely wooded area known as the Wilderness. The terrain is so thickly covered with trees and underbrush that fields of fire are blocked and any movement off the few available roads is greatly inhibited. Moreover, visibility in the Wilderness is severely limited. Large armies could be only hundreds of yards apart yet remain unaware of each others presence. This morning at 9 a.m., Sickles III Corps, released from Sedgwicks Fredericksburg force, arrived and took up position near your right flank. With its arrival, you had five infantry corps and a cavalry brigade near Chancellorsville. At 11 a.m., you ordered Meades V Corps and Slocums XII Corps to advance east from Chancellorsville while you held in place the remaining three corps and the cavalry brigade. At midday, you began receiving reports that your leading units moving from Chancellorsville were encountering increasingly stiff Confederate resistance. When the sound of cannon fire reached your headquarters, you realized that your forward-most units were meeting much more than merely handfuls of Rebel skirmishers manning outposts. Lee is reacting to your flanking maneuver and moving aggressively in an attempt to counter it. Now, early afternoon on May 1, you face a critical decision: Given Lees aggressive reaction, how should your army respond? Although you do not yet have complete knowledge of the developing tactical situation, you consider three possible courses of action. COURSE OF ACTION ONE: DEFEND IN PLACE. Defending in place puts your units in position to inflict high casualties on the Confederates as they attack your armys superior numbers. This plan allows your army to hold the ground it has already won through its flanking maneuver and forward movements, leaving it in position to continue its advance against Lee once his Rebels are weakened by their costly frontal attacks. COURSE OF ACTION TWO: WITHDRAW AND DEFEND. Pulling back your leading units from their exposed positions to rejoin the corps at Chancellorsville allows your army to concentrate its defenses and prevents the Confederates from massing against these exposed units. This plan facilitates a defense in depth and provides adequate reserves for launching counterattacks against Lees men after they have been weakened by their attacks against strong Union defenses. COURSE OF ACTION THREE: ATTACK. Attacking the Confederate units as they redeploy from Fredericksburg maintains the momentum your army has gained through its flanking maneuver and prevents Lee from seizing the initiative. Striking his men as they move into the open, outside their Fredericksburg fortifications, puts your armys superior numbers in position to win a decisive victory. Lee has reacted to your successful flanking maneuver. Now, you must decide what your countermove will be. What next, Major General Hooker? COURSE OF ACTION ONE: DEFEND IN PLACE Since your leading units have moved through the dense Wilderness and into more open terrain, you decide to defend in place. This will allow Confederate forces to exhaust themselves in costly frontal attacks against Union units possessing good fields of fire for their massed rifles and concentrated artillery. You order Meade to seize Banks Ford, since it provides a much closer crossing point for moving units from Sedgwicks force at Fredericksburg and anchors the armys left flank firmly on the Rappahannock. Meanwhile, Meade and Slocum, commanding the forward units, slightly adjust the positions of their flank units to present a continuous forward defensive line across the armys front. To protect Slocums right flank against a Confederate threat, you direct Sickles to send two divisions to the right rear of XII Corps. To further boost your forward line, you move several artillery batteries to high ground in a central location with good fields of fire. As a hedge against a Confederate breakthrough, you order two of Couchs II Corps divisions into position behind the massed artillery, prepared to reinforce Meade or Slocum if necessary. However, you remain concerned about your rear corps in the Wilderness at Chancellorsville. Since both Lee and Jackson have well-earned reputations for acting boldly, you are worried that the Confederates could use the dense Wilderness to move against your right flank unobserved. In particular, you are anxious about XI Corps, as it is your weakest corps and Howard is an inexperienced commander. Thus you send the cavalry brigade to cover Howards right flank and to provide early warning in the event of an approaching enemy force. As you refine your troop dispositions during the afternoon, Lee as expected launches an attack. Amid Rebel yells, Confederate infantrymen advance across the open terrain toward Slocums units. Although the Confederates tentatively probe Meades portion of the line, it is clear that Lees intent is to turn your forward lines right flank by overrunning Slocums men. If Lee can destroy XII Corps or force it back into the Wilderness, he will have a clear route to move thousands of troops around your flank to strike your corps near Chancellorsville. Yet your massed artillery batteries with their clear fields of fire wreak havoc among the ranks of the attacking Confederates. The slaughter is horrific. Within an hour, Lees attack fails and the survivors retreat. Your right flank line has held but Lee is far from finished. From your position near the artillery batteries, you observe fresh Confederate infantry divisions maneuvering north. Clearly, Lee now intends to attack Meades line on your left. You immediately order Couch to move a division to reinforce Meades position, and you send a galloper via Banks Ford with orders for Sedgwick to send Reynolds corps at once, as well. You hope his I Corps arrives in time. Expecting a Confederate strike at any moment, you are puzzled when nearly two hours pass before Lee launches his attack against your left. Yet when the offensive finally begins, it delivers a powerful blow to Meades line. Hitting beyond the range of your massed artillery batteries, the Confederates break through but are momentarily pushed back by Couchs division. They again attack, this time smashing through Couchs men, only to be met and turned back by the lead units of I Corps. Lees uncharacteristic delay in making his move has allowed Reynolds and his men to arrive. Feeling confident the battle is now won, you are suddenly amazed to see Confederate units, perhaps 15,000 Rebels, again massing to attack. Lee simply refuses to quit. As the Rebels move into position, it is obvious they intend to attack the center of your forward line. After hitting your flanks, Lee apparently assumes you must have weakened your center. However, he has made a fatal mistake. Not only has your center remained strong, you now quickly reinforce it with reserve units from Couchs third division and Sickles III Corps. You are certain that no 15,000 men ever arrayed for battle can take your position. You are proved right. The Confederates frontal attack on your center collapses under a storm of Union fire. Lee has no choice but to pull back his shattered army and attempt to withdraw toward Richmond. But you do not intend to let the broken Army of Northern Virginia escape. Ordering forward all your corps, including Sedgwicks Fredericksburg force, you intend to trap Lee and his men and finish this war now. COURSE OF ACTION TWO: WITHDRAW AND DEFEND With visions of the disastrous Battle of Fredericksburg weighing heavily on your mind, you firmly resolve not to throw away your army in futile attacks against Confederate positions. Thus you order your leading corps to retreat into the Wilderness to concentrate the army around Chancellorsville. You hope the withdrawal encourages Lee to attack. Let the Confederates waste their strength in costly frontal attacks this time. Your corps commanders are reluctant to give up the ground they have gained and are concerned about defending in the tangled Wilderness, yet they obey your orders. In the fading sunlight of May 1, your army digs in and cuts timber to build fortified positions. Your line is more than five miles long and faces east and south, the directions from which you expect Lee to attack. You inform Sedgwick that you are suspending the advance and that he is to attack if he thinks he can succeed. Although you have five corps concentrated around Chancellorsville, you order Reynolds I Corps to march from Fredericksburg and take up position in the armys rear along the Rappahannock. In particular, you want his men to protect U.S. Ford to ensure your armys line of communications and possible route of retreat remains open. At sunrise on May 2, you ride to inspect your armys positions. From north to south, your defensive line consists of Meades V Corps, with its flank anchored on the Rappahannock; Couchs II Corps, deployed in an arc southeast of Chancellorsville; and Slocums XII Corps, with one of Sickles III Corps divisions on its right. Concerned about Howards XI Corps your weakest corps under an inexperienced commander you leave it well back out of harms way, west of Chancellorsville. Although you recognize your right flank could be vulnerable to a Confederate turning maneuver that moves around your flank and attacks your rear, you doubt Lee would take such a risk. His greatly outnumbered troops face strong Union forces on two fronts (your five corps around Chancellorsville and Sedgwicks Fredericksburg force). Not even Lee would be audacious enough to split an inferior force in the face of such formidable odds. At 8 a.m., Sickles forward division reports observing a large body of Confederate troops moving southwest across its front. Sickles assumes the Rebels are retreating, and you agree. There seems to be no other explanation for so many Confederate troops moving in that direction. Nevertheless, you send an order to Howard at 9:30 a.m. directing him to ensure that he posts pickets to provide early warning in the unlikely event of a Confederate flank envelopment. Howard acknowledges your order at 10:30 a.m. At midday, Sickles requests permission to attack the Confederates moving across his front and you approve. He strikes with one division, and the fighting continues for several hours. At 5:15 p.m., you suddenly hear rifle and artillery fire erupt in the direction of XI Corps. You soon discover that a powerful Confederate force concealing its movement behind the dense cover of the Wilderness has swept around your right flank and launched a surprise assault on Howards corps. The Rebel attack scatters XI Corps panicked Soldiers and then surges through your rear toward Chancellorsville. You desperately gather troops from four different corps and try to form a new line to halt the Rebel advance. The dense terrain, however, greatly restricts your mens fields of fire, largely negating your advantage in numbers and artillery. By sunset, the Confederate attack has broken XI Corps and rolled up your right flank to a depth of two miles. Yet your army is now in a more compact defensive position and you hold the ground separating Lees main body from his flank attacking force. Your casualties are heavy, however, and the surprise offensive has battered your troops morale. Taking advantage of Lee splitting his army, that night you order Sedgwick to seize Fredericksburg and advance on the enemys rear at Chancellorsville. The next morning, May 3, Sedgwick attacks, carries the Fredericksburg heights and sends the Confederate covering force in retreat. Meanwhile, midmorning at Chancellorsville a cannonball hits your headquarters, knocking you out. Although you drift in and out of consciousness, you retain command and order a general withdrawal a mile northward to contract your defenses. This decision, likely made due to a concussion impairing your judgment, is a grave mistake. It gives up key terrain to the Confederates and permits Lee to reunite his army. Moreover, the withdrawal frees Confederate troops to oppose Sedgwicks advance from Fredericksburg. Despite most of your corps commanders voting to counterattack, you decide to order your army to retreat across the river. Sedgwick, informed of your withdrawal, heads back over during the night. Your troops safely withdraw across the Rappahannock the following night, conceding the battlefield to Lee. Once again, Lee has defied the odds by out generaling an Army of the Potomac commander. Lincoln is unlikely to leave you in command. Who the embattled president might choose to replace you remains to be seen. COURSE OF ACTION THREE: ATTACK Although you had resolved not to waste your army in futile attacks, your flanking maneuver and subsequent forward movements have created an excellent opportunity to smash Lees army once and for all. Your advance units of Meades and Slocums corps have cleared the dense Wilderness and have moved into more open terrain with good fields of fire. Moreover, with the main part of Lees army out in the open and no longer behind defensive works at Fredericksburg, his men are outnumbered and vulnerable. You decide to attack with everything you have. In past battles your predecessors have wasted your armys numerical advantage by launching piecemeal, uncoordinated attacks that allowed the Confederates to concentrate against and defeat each attack in turn. This time, however, you intend to deliver a powerful blow to split Lees army and destroy it. After ordering Meade to seize Banks Ford, a move that more closely links Sedgwicks force at Fredericksburg with the rest of the army, you direct Sedgwick to send Reynolds I Corps to join Meade as quickly as possible. You also order Sedgwick to attack Confederate defenses at Fredericksburg, ensuring that Lees men there remain fixed in place and unable to join the main Rebel force. Next, you move Couchs II Corps to a position behind Meades right flank. Once joined by Reynolds and Couch, Meade will have a powerful attack force of three corps. Finally, you mass numerous corps artillery batteries at a central location near the juncture of Meades V Corps and Slocums XII Corps. Situated on terrain offering good fields of fire, the massed artillery can support Meades attack or, if necessary, help Slocum repel any Rebel assault on your right. To ensure that your right flank is secure from a Confederate attack or any attempt to maneuver around it to reach your armys rear, you order Sickles III Corps to a position on the right of Slocums XII Corps. Unsure of the fighting ability of Howards XI Corps your weakest corps under your most inexperienced commander you keep it in a reserve position near Chancellorsville. At 2 p.m., as your men prepare to launch their attack, Lee strikes first. Amid a chorus of Rebel yells, thousands of Confederate infantrymen supported by artillery hit the right of your line. Striking Slocums corps, the Confederates surge forward, seemingly oblivious to the storm of cannon fire pounding them from your massed batteries. Clearly, Lees intent is to turn your right flank, sweep around your line and strike your armys rear. The Confederates fiercely press their attack, and XII Corps line wavers. Yet just as leading Rebel units begin to break through Slocums defenses, they are overcome and turned back by a flood of Union troops in a timely counterattack by Sickles III Corps. Lees attack fails and its survivors stream in retreat. With Lees assault on your right beaten back and his force at Fredericksburg engaged by Sedgwicks men, the Confederates are in serious trouble. This seems the perfect moment to launch Meades three corps in an attack to fatally split the Army of Northern Virginia. However, you still have not received word that Reynolds men have arrived. You cannot order Meades attack to proceed piecemeal. To be decisive, it must be delivered by all three corps en masse. All you can do now is await news that Reynolds has arrived and is ready to join the attack. From your position near the massed artillery batteries, you observe Confederate units maneuvering. Lee is obviously up to something, but it is unclear what he plans to do next. Based on his past behavior, however, you judge that he will likely attempt another attack, seeking a weak spot to break your line. It is only a matter of time before more Rebel yells split the air and waves of Confederate infantrymen rush forward. Before the Confederates can strike, however, an officer on a sweat-lathered horse gallops up to you. You recognize him as one of Reynolds aides-de-camp. Out of breath from a hard ride, the officer jumps down, salutes you and reports: General Reynolds compliments, sir. I Corps is in position and ready to advance. You immediately order Meade to launch his attack, and you direct your artillery batteries to begin hammering the enemy ranks. Supported by a storm of artillery fire, waves of blue-clad infantrymen of I, II and V corps rush forward. The attack strikes Lees Confederates while they are still in the process of organizing for their assault, and therefore they are in poor position to defend. Meades attack smashes Lees army, splitting it in two and sending the remnants into a headlong retreat south toward Richmond. Through your brilliant opening strategic maneuver followed by a mass attack, the Army of the Potomac has finally beaten Lees Army of Northern Virginia. HISTORICAL COURSE OF ACTION AND ANALYSIS Hooker chose COURSE OF ACTION TWO: WITHDRAW AND DEFEND, and the fighting unfolded as described in the COA Two narrative. Despite a brilliant opening maneuver that placed his army in position to cut off and destroy Lees army, Hooker surrendered the battlefield initiative to the Confederate leader. By withdrawing into the tangled Wilderness and concentrating at Chancellorsville, Hooker helped Lee turn the tables through a Confederate flanking march and surprise attack by Jacksons men that shattered Howards XI Corps and destroyed Union morale including Hookers. The result was another victory for Lee and another defeat for the Union Army of the Potomac. Yet despite what is considered Lees most stunning triumph of the war, the fatal wounding of Jackson on May 2 might constitute the most decisive result of the Battle of Chancellorsville. But whether killing Stonewall was worth 17,000 Union casualties remains a question for historians to ponder. And although Lees aggressiveness won the battle, his army lost 22 percent of its troops (compared to Union losses of 13 percent) manpower the South was hard-pressed to replace. On June 28, 1863, Lincoln replaced Hooker with Major General George G. Meade, who went on to defeat Lee in the decisive July 1-3 Battle of Gettysburg. Meade remained commander of the Army of the Potomac until the end of the war. Hooker reverted to corps command a position to which he proved better suited and provided solid service in the Civil Wars Western Theater (Chattanooga and Atlanta campaigns, November 1863-August 1864). Hooker ended the war in an administrative post, commanding the Northern Department (October 1864-April 1865). Colonel (Ret.) Richard N. Armstrong, author of Soviet Operational Deception: The Red Cloak, is an adjunct history professor at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. Originally published in the May 2013 issue of Armchair General. This World War II German ace led the Luftwaffe Fighter Force against the massive Allied air armadas. JUNE 21, 1941 OVER THE ENGLISH CHANNEL German Luftwaffe 26th Fighter Wing commander Adolf Galland, in aerial combat with a large British fighter formation over the English Channel, watched as his 70th kill of World War II spiraled to a flaming crash. Suddenly, Royal Air Force (RAF) Spitfires rolled in on the tail of Gallands Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter and began blazing away. Within moments, the right side of the Messerschmitts fuselage was ripped open, the planes fuel tank and radiator were leaking heavily, and Gallands arm and head were bleeding. The gas tank then exploded, engulfing the fuselage in flames and flooding the cockpit with burning petrol. Attempting to escape the doomed aircraft, Galland tried to activate the canopy release but found it jammed. He then shoved against the roof of the plane with his whole body, but air pressure held it down. With flames licking all around him, he desperately made a last effort, finally pushing up the canopy until it was torn away by the airstream. But Galland was not yet out of danger. As he exited the burning deathtrap, his parachute pack snagged on a fixed component of the cockpit. He struggled until he broke loose, and soon he was freefalling. Amid the excitement and relief at being freed, Galland nearly made a fatal mistake he tried to pull his parachute harness quick release instead of the ripcord. Finally, he jerked the ripcord and was soon swinging beneath an open parachute floating to earth. After landing on solid ground, battered but safe on the German-occupied side of the Channel in France, Galland was able to hitch a ride back to his airfield. In the wake of his near-death ordeal, he recalled: After I had drunk an extra large cognac and smoked a cigarette I felt much better. From September 1939 through April 1945, Adolf Galland flew 705 missions and claimed 104 victories in aerial combat against Western Allied aircraft. His June 21, 1941, brush with death was likely the closest he came to being killed in the four times he was shot down during World War II. Yet Galland did not die in the flaming wreckage of his shattered aircraft that day. Five months later, Reichsmarschall Hermann Goring appointed him general der Jagdflieger, commander of the Luftwaffe Fighter Force. But even Gallands exceptional leadership abilities proved insufficient to defeat the massive Allied air armadas that were pummeling Germanys cities and war industries. EYES ON THE SKY Adolf Joseph Ferdinand Galland was born March 19, 1912, to Adolf and Anna Galland near Essen, Germany. From an early age, Adolf showed an interest in mechanical sets and wooden airplane models. He later recalled that he experienced his first desire to fly when he was a teenager in the spring of 1927 and saw glider enthusiasts in a nearby town. He read about aerodynamics and meteorology and then obtained his glider pilot certification after graduating from high school. Galland informed his father that he wanted to become a professional pilot. In 1932, he qualified for a competitive student position in the German Commercial Flying School. The following summer, Galland became certified to fly a single-engine aircraft with three passengers. Sent to aerobatic school, he learned the techniques of inverted flight, rolls, loops, steep dives and complex maneuvers for which his glider background proved invaluable. While visiting the Central Airline Pilot School in Berlin, Galland was told by officials dressed in civilian clothes about Germanys secret training program for military pilots in contravention of the Versailles Treaty. The treaty, which ended World War I, had forbidden Germany to build, own or operate military aircraft, but its protocols allowed the country to develop civil aviation. Invited to volunteer, Galland joined the clandestine military training effort. MILITARY PILOT After the Nazi Party gained increasing strength in Germanys government, Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor in January 1933. Although Galland was little interested in politics, he supported Hitlers plans to create a strong military air force. In April, Hermann Goring became Reich commissioner for aviation. Galland traveled to Italy for training with the Italian Air force to practice inverted flight, air-to-ground strafing and military drills. After the two-month course, he returned to Germany as a Lufthansa airline pilot. But in December 1933, he joined the emerging German air force as a commissioned officer. His military training began at an infantry basic training course, followed by Infantry School for officers and study of air combat theory at the War Academy. In 1934, Galland, along with all members of the German military, swore an oath of unconditional obedience to the fuhrer, Adolf Hitler. In February 1935, Hitler established the Reichsluftwaffe, the German military air arm separate from the army and navy. The fledgling Luftwaffe began equipping itself with modern combat aircraft and cultivating new aircrews, but there was little time to grow experienced aviators for middle and senior leadership positions. The Luftwaffes senior commanders trained for the last war (World War I), promoted officers based on their army experience, and shaped the Luftwaffe to support army tactical operations rather than developing concepts for strategic bombers and independent fighter operations. Assigned to the Luftwaffes first fighter unit, Galland thrived on high-speed maneuvers and low-altitude aerobatics. In October 1935, he crashed a biplane, resulting in a three-day coma and a damaged eye and fractured skull. A year later, a second training crash aggravated his injured eye. But despite having glass fragments in his eye, Galland convinced the doctors who wanted to ground him that he was fit to fly. In July 1936, as civil war broke out between Spains Republican loyalist government and General Francisco Francos Nationalist rebels, the Nationalists appealed to Germany for military support. Luftwaffe volunteers were sent to Spain to fight on Francos side. In April 1937, Galland joined Fighter Group 88 in the Luftwaffe Condor Legion. Arriving after the Condor Legions shocking bombing of Guernica, he became part of a fighter unit escorting bombers and conducting ground-strafing missions against Republican heavy anti-aircraft guns. The new air warfare brought evolving tactics, providing Galland valuable experience to observe and evaluate new methods. He learned to improvise during combat: Encountering difficulty when attacking tenacious defenders in trenches, he substituted his bombs with a tankful of petrol fitted with a detonator. Early on, Galland proved an extremely competent and courageous pilot. He emphasized detail and routinely checked the condition of his aircraft and its armament, heeding the warning of legendary German World War I ace Manfred von Richthofen, who said that no gun jams itself. Galland remained in Spain for a year, flying 280 sorties over enemy territory and receiving the Spanish Gold Cross with Swords and Diamonds. In the summer of 1938, Galland was a staff officer in the Ministry of Aviation working contingency plans for war against Czechoslovakia. Relying on his Spanish experience, he prepared recommendations for close air support of ground troops that left the enemy no respite for recovery. In late 1938, he escaped staff duty with reassignment to a fighter unit before Germanys occupation of Czechoslovakia became a peaceful exercise of the invasion plan. WORLD WAR II Despite British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlains public announcement of Britains military support for Polands independence, Hitler launched the invasion of Poland, precipitating the outbreak of World War II in Europe. On September 1, 1939, Galland flew in support of 10th Army with the mission to cut off Polish armies in the north. His echelon of Henschels bombed troop concentrations and supply dumps and strafed traffic on roads, supporting General Heinz Guderians XVI Panzer Corps race for the Vistula River. Galland flew 87 combat missions, leading close support for fastmoving armored battles. He was a demanding commander who led from the front, and his reputation for maneuvering an airplane beyond its performance standard grew. In recognition of his bravery and outstanding leadership, he was awarded the Iron Cross 2d Class. After the Polish campaign, Galland requested transfer from ground support which he disliked to a fighter pilot role. On February 10, 1940, he was assigned to 27th Fighter Wing (JG-27). While Hitler schemed to close British access to the Baltic Sea and secure Scandinavia, Galland assumed position as the fighter wings operations officer, working pilot and ground crew rosters, logistical support, intelligence reports, communications and operational briefings. On April 9, 1940, German airborne troops flew into airfields in Denmark and Norway, securing them for Luftwaffe use. JG-27 actions became hectic as operational aircraft took off, landed, turned around and launched again. Since Galland had not yet shot down an aircraft, he found a way to join a fighter patrol. Engaging eight British Hurricane fighters with the patrol, he personally shot down two of the enemy planes. In a second patrol, he scored his third victory. With the sector cleared of enemy fighters, the unit switched back to escorting Stuka dive-bombers. Germany next invaded France through the Ardennes in May 1940. The operational demands to move men, materiel and aircraft behind advancing armies while keeping fueled and armed planes in the air prevented Galland from routinely patrolling. Nevertheless, he soon scored his eighth kill and was awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class. The most formidable foes encountered by German fighter pilots were the RAF Spitfires covering the British evacuation of Dunkirk in late May and early June 1940. Galland joined the sorties flying over Dunkirk, where he fought Spitfires for the first time. He was impressed with the planes and greatly respected the skill and bravery of their British pilots. Yet as his number of personal victories rose, he came to believe that Bf 109 fighters had an edge over Spitfires. His hallmark in a Bf 109 was a high-speed dive to escape a dangerous situation or to gain a close combat advantage. Few pilots could stay with him in a dive since the Bf 109 was notorious for stripping off its wings in highspeed dives and maneuvers. Other pilots recalled Gallands unique sequence of several separate maneuvers (based on his glider and aerobatic experience) that gave him the advantage over opponents. After Dunkirk, on June 6, 1940, Galland became commander of III Group, JG-26. He quickly raised the standard of his new command, which had a poor reputation. He led by example, demanding bold, aggressive flying, and his pilots had to be good enough to follow him. They learned to trust him to enter battle at the right time and the right place. Gallands fighters escorted bombers and dive-bombers in the offensive to conquer the remainder of France. Yet Galland was frustrated when the bombers late arrival for rendezvous forced his Bf 109s to burn too much fuel and leave before the end of the missions. His main concern was keeping a high percentage of his group in the air. Pilot losses kept his unit understrength, and the combat tempo drained supplies and spare aircraft, playing havoc with routine servicing, which quickly grounded aircraft. Galland always sought ways to improve operational efficiency, and he proved adept at the task: After the campaign, he brought his group to full strength of 39 aircraft and 39 pilots in two weeks. BATTLE OF BRITAIN During July 1940, the Luftwaffe escalated cross-Channel bomber attacks on shipping, ports and ground installations in preparation for a projected invasion of Britain. The effort sparked the July-December 1940 Battle of Britain the first campaign fought entirely by opposing air forces. Galland, newly promoted to major, moved his units to the Pas de Calais area. On August 1, he received the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross for his 17th confirmed victory. On August 12, Galland was ordered to escort the second of two waves of fighter-bombers sent to hit separate convoys off the Kent coast in southeastern England. The first bomber wave successfully struck its target but also alerted RAF fighter defenses. As the second wave headed for its assigned target, British fighters pounced. Galland had taught his pilots to attack fast and act decisively and they did. His group tore into the enemy fighters, and in the swirling aerial combat that followed he saw a marked improvement in his mens performance. Galland believed that to be most effective in an escort mission, fighters should fly detached escort ahead of bombers and slightly higher than enemy fighters and his tactics worked well. However, heavy Luftwaffe losses in the first phase of the Battle of Britain (350 German aircraft lost in six days compared to the RAFs 250 planes) led Goring to dictate tactics in which he fettered fighters closely to bomber formations. While fighters were now directly allocated to bombers, Galland launched additional escorts to cover returning bombers so that fighters gained more combat freedom. Although the Bf 109 flew faster and higher than the British Spitfire and could dive and fly inverted without its engine cutting out, the Spitfire had a better turning radius at the lower speeds and altitudes flown by bombers. During a front-line briefing on Luftwaffe tactics, Goring asked what his pilots needed to win the Battle of Britain. Gallands sharp-tongued reply: I should like an outfit of Spitfires for my squadron. Despite the two mens tactical differences, Goring awarded Galland the prestigious Pilots Badge in Gold with Diamonds in recognition of his distinguished service. In a private meeting, however, Goring insisted that a lack of fighter aggression accounted for the high number of lost bombers. Nevertheless, he promoted the 28-year-old Galland to command 26th Fighter Wing (JG-26), consisting of nine squadrons and 100 pilots. Galland protested that he would be more useful in his current position, in which he had direct control and led his pilots, but Goring dismissed his objections. Galland rose to the challenge of his new position, reorganizing JG- 26 and promoting talented pilots to command positions. He also visited every airfield and met not only pilots and operations staff but also mechanics, cooks, clerks and truck drivers. An RAF bomber raid on Berlin on the night of August 28-29, 1940, infuriated Hitler and Goring (who had proclaimed German air space secure). Hitler ordered German attacks extended to British cities and increased the production of 2,220-pound high-explosive bombs specifically designed to destroy buildings. On September 7, the Luftwaffe launched its biggest raid, almost 1,000 aircraft, targeting London. Galland never forgot the sight of the sprawling capital burning beneath the evening sky, and he thought of the consequences for German cities. Galland continued to challenge the close escort missions that sapped the capability of his Bf 109s. Goring, however, insisted the duty of fighters was to support bombers closely. He considered the young wing commander impertinent and told Galland that while he admired his flair for combat, his personal victory log was of secondary importance to the overall offensive against Britain. By December 1940, the Battle of Britain had ended and the RAF had defeated the Luftwaffe decisively. Germanys air effort settled into night raids and attacks against shipping. Galland nevertheless sought tactical air combat lessons from the experience, particularly those he would apply to his greatest challenge of the war opposing the Allied strategic bombing of Germany. For bravery during the Battle of Britain and for a 70th victory, Galland received the swords to his oak leaves of the Knights Cross. He was the first of only 159 individuals to receive the honor. FIGHTER FORCE COMMANDER In November 1941, Goring appointed Galland general der Jagdflieger, overall commander of the Luftwaffe Fighter Force. Although Galland was now forbidden to fly combat missions, he violated this restriction in order to familiarize himself with all German fighters and to engage U.S. bombers. He also fought battles with Luftwaffe leadership, struggling against counterproductive group think among the general staff and sparring with arrogant staff officers who stayed out of touch with reality in the safety of rear-area headquarters. Galland quickly realized that aircraft availability was the key issue impacting the Luftwaffes effectiveness. He closely studied reports and data on loss levels and found them appalling: In 1941, the number of aircraft written off by the Luftwaffe was equal to its entire authorized strength for that period. Worse, Galland discovered that 53 percent of the written-off fighters were not lost to enemy action. Supplying the front lines became a logistical nightmare as the Luftwaffe endeavored to provide air support to German forces fighting on multiple fronts. On the Eastern Front, for example, Galland discovered several hundred aircraft in Russia sitting idle while awaiting spare and replacement parts. With a shortfall in fighter production and an ineffective supply chain to maintain existing aircraft, Galland constantly grappled with the Nazi war machines fantasies that were portrayed as reality by out-of-touch higher staffs. Galland grasped that shortages in resources and forces undermined front-line troops and crippled operations. After a trip to North Africa, he wrote a candid assessment of the situation, concluding that without the necessary resources the North African campaign was already lost. Gallands report gained him no friends in the higher command; in fact, Goring ordered him to sanitize the report and rewrite it. In May 1943, the Germans lost North Africa, as Galland had predicted. In 1943, Allied air forces greatly increased their full-scale strategic bombardment of Germany in an offensive that melded RAF night bombing with U.S. Army Air Forces daylight raids. Galland sought to increase the production of German fighter planes and to ensure that the types of aircraft produced matched the threat. He worked out a production pattern with Field Marshal Erhard Milch, Luftwaffe inspector general, for raising fighter production to 1,000 a month by mid-1943. To justify this requirement, Galland cited the growing Allied strategic bombing threat. Milch used the more politically acceptable (but hardly forthright) justification of building more planes to support German offensive operations. In the mean time, Galland continued to improve the organization, logistics and control of the Luftwaffe Fighter Force, which put more aircraft into battle. During August 1944, the Luftwaffe on the Western Front reached its lowest level of operational effectiveness. Finally convinced that only fighters could save the situation, Goring curtailed the production of bombers in favor of fighters. Galland closely watched the Me 262 program for Germanys jet aircraft. He wanted the Me 262 exclusively as a fighter aircraft, but Hitler demanded it become a fighter-bomber. The Me 262 had become operational in June 1944, and over the next 10 months German jet pilots shot down 357 aircraft. Galland, however, recognized that the jets were extremely vulnerable during take-offs and landings and once the Allies inevitably discovered the jet units locations by observing the scorch marks on the concrete runways, they certainly would exploit this vulnerability. On November 1, Galland was promoted to lieutenant general; at the age of 32, he was the youngest general in the German armed forces. Galland believed if Fighter Force could inflict shocking casualties on Allied bombers, Germanys chance for a separate peace with the Western Allies would be enhanced. He therefore argued for a big punch to temporarily halt enemy bomber raids on Germanys oil and steel works. To gather such a force, he reorganized Fighter Force, withdrawing units from the southern front and Austria, and recruited volunteer pilots. On November 12, Galland reported to the Luftwaffe staff that Fighter Force was ready for the big punch. But the following week, he was summoned to a meeting where it was explained to him that his fighters were needed elsewhere. Unknown to Galland, Hitler planned a counterstroke in the Ardennes (the Battle of the Bulge) and dismissed the idea of sending fighters against Allied bomber formations as useless. Galland sensed an increasing loss of influence. Three weeks later, Galland met with the chief of the Luftwaffe general staff, General Karl Koller, who bluntly told him that Goring and Hitler wanted Galland removed. SS head Heinrich Himmler, who also wanted to get rid of the popular fighter general, created trumped-up accusations (including misuse of funds, excessive gambling, disloyalty, defeatism and incompetence) to support formal charges of treason. Gallands phones were tapped and transcripts of his conversations were collected to look for incriminating evidence. Galland, unaware of the full extent of his dangerous position, continued to prepare Fighter Force until he was finally told that there would be no big punch. In January 1945, Goring summoned Galland, lectured him on his failures and insisted that he take leave. Galland was then relieved from his post. News of Gallands dismissal spread among Fighter Force unit leaders, who refused to accept the situation. They made mutinous demands for improvements, which sent Goring into a violent rage. Through February 1945, Galland remained under house arrest in Berlin. However, when Hitler heard of the actions against Galland, he called the SS and Gestapo and ordered them to stop this nonsense at once. Gallands ordeal had all been a power play by Goring. JET PILOT Instead of restoring Galland to Fighter Force command, Goring informed him that Hitler wished for him to organize an elite Me 262 fighter unit composed of expert pilots. Fighter Band Galland was formed February 22, 1945, with a strength of 16 Me 262s and 15 pilots. Galland resolved to fight to the end and told his pilots if they were not prepared to do the same they should leave. On March 18 over Berlin, an American bomber force of 1,200 bombers with an escort of 14 fighter squadrons suffered heavy losses delivered by the Luftwaffe Fighter Force. While German flak guns forced 16 bombers to make emergency landings, the Americans suffered greater losses from Gallands elite jet fighters. The Me 262s repeatedly sped through the American fighter screen, reportedly shooting down 25 bombers and five fighters. Four weeks before Germanys final defeat, the Luftwaffe Fighter Force was still able to send up small units, but landings and take-offs became increasingly difficult as Allied fighters targeted airfields. On April 25, 1945, American Soldiers and Red Army troops met at the Elbe River. The following day, Galland, while flying his Me 262 in his last mission, gained two more kills, earning his 103d and 104th victories. Attacked by a P-47 during the encounter, Galland suffered a splintered kneecap. With his war now over, Galland offered the Americans the use of his elite jet fighters against the Russians, whom he believed would soon be the enemy of both Germany and America. The American commander replied that he had no authority to do anything but accept total surrender. Galland, with his offer rejected, ordered the complete destruction of over 50 Me 262s at Salzburg and Innsbruck. The Americans later found Galland May 5, 1945, in the Tegernsee hospital with a plaster cast on his right leg. He went through a series of interrogations in Germany and Britain for possible indictment at the Nuremberg trials but was not linked to any war crimes. The Allies also held him for technical debriefings, during which he cooperated as a complete professional, impressing his captors. On April 28, 1947, Galland returned to Germany as a private citizen. Within months, however, he slipped out of the country to become a consultant to the Argentine air force in pilot training and fielding jet fighters. A few years later, he returned to Germany and opened a business. In 1954, Galland published his memoir, The First and the Last, which was well received, even by his former enemies (the book was translated into 14 languages and sold millions of copies). Adolf Galland died February 9, 1996, a little more than a month before his 84th birthday. Colonel (Ret.) Richard N. Armstrong, author of Soviet Operational Deception: The Red Cloak, is an adjunct history professor at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. Originally published in the May 2013 issue of Armchair General. Latest reports confirmed that President Donald Trump just announced his intention to nominate former Utah governor Jon Huntsman to become the US ambassador to Russia. This announcement came amidst the ongoing investigations into Russian alleged involvement in the 2016 elections and possible contacts between Trump campaign and Russian officials. If this will push through, CNBC reported that the former 2012 GOP presidential candidate will be taking a very high-profile position despite the current probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and the possible contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian officials. It can be recalled that Trump Jr. is currently in the mile of controversy after it was reported that he received an email coming from a Russian official. In the report involving Trump Jr., it was said that he received an email containing pieces of information which were deemed detrimental to Hillary Clinton. Though it was reported too that the said email would not directly support the candidacy of Donald Trump, most people think that is the case. It can be recalled that at the recently concluded G20 summit held in Hamburg, Germany this month, President Donald Trump had an undisclosed conversation with the Russian President Vladimir Putin. After the said conversation, the White House made the announcement that Trump has the intention to have Huntsman as the US ambassador to Russia. Jon Huntsman has twice served as an ambassador and he was even considered as US top's diplomat to Singapore during the administration of George HW Bush. After that, he also served the same role in China under the administration n of Barack Obama then he returned to the US to try his luck for the presidency. It was also reported that Huntsman was also considered before to be Donald Trump's secretary of state but the position went to Tillerson. But during the campaign last year, Huntsman had an up-and-down relationship with Donald Trump. Jon Huntsman also became very slow to endorse any candidate for the Republican nomination but he supported Trump in the end when the latter became the presumptive nominee. In fact, the two set aside their differences when Trump became the president. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. LOS ANGELES - Five years ago Best Buy Co. looked like a retail dinosaur, another victim of e-commerce juggernaut Amazon.com and other online sellers. The big-box electronics chain was suffering dwindling sales and profits in good part because of "showrooming," when shoppers would come in to a Best Buy store to check out televisions, computers and other items in person, and then buy them at cheaper prices on Amazon or elsewhere online. Best Buy also was struggling with executive turmoil and facing a buyout threat from a major stockholder. The chain in 2012 named a new chief executive, Hubert Joly, but the Frenchman came from the hospitality field and had no retail experience. His appointment stunned analysts, with one saying that fixing Best Buy was "a herculean task even for an accomplished retail executive." But Joly has proved up to the task so far. Under his turnaround plan, Best Buy has rebounded to remain one major U.S. retailer that's holding its own in the face of Amazon's relentless growth and the conventional retail industry's slump. Best Buy "came out the other side successfully to defend itself against Amazon," said Peter Keith, an analyst with the investment firm Piper Jaffray & Co. As more consumers shift to online shopping, other bricks-and-mortar retailers have closed thousands of stores in the last year. A few have filed for bankruptcy protection, including rival electronics chain RadioShack. Best Buy still operates 1,600 outlets, and Joly views the stores as "a great asset" even as Best Buy also moves increasingly to online sales. "We don't see ourselves as a brick-and-mortar retailer, we're a multichannel retailer" that combines the stores, Best Buy's website and its phone app to boost sales, Joly said in an interview. And he's planning to expand Best Buy's services, including its Geek Squad support arm, to generate more product sales. Best Buy's sales and profit have stabilized and its stock price, which closed at $55.79 a share Tuesday, has soared more than fourfold since late 2012, far outpacing the broader market. But Best Buy's overall annual revenue has remained flat because the consumer-electronics industry as a whole is growing less than 3 percent a year, according to some analysts. "While economic conditions are gradually improving and will likely boost consumer spending, individuals are buying fewer of the big-ticket items that sustained rapid growth in the past," the research firm IbisWorld said in a recent report. "Consumer interest in big-ticket items, such as TVs and personal computers, has waned due to market saturation and slowing innovation," the firm said. That's keeping pressure on Best Buy to keep wringing more profit from each dollar of revenue if it hopes to maintain its momentum. Joly (pronounced jo-lee) already has shown it can be done. His first move was to match rivals' prices, especially those at Amazon, so that in-store shoppers no longer needed to buy elsewhere. "We had no choice, we had to take price off the table and match online prices," Joly said. That appeals to customers such as Scott Vellman of Los Angeles, who bought the "Battlefield 1" video game for his Xbox One player at a Best Buy store in LA last week after Best Buy matched its $50 price on Amazon. "I bought it here (instead of online) because I didn't want to wait for it to ship," Vellman said. Best Buy next sped up its delivery times, in part by expanding its national distribution centers, and beefed up its website and phone app so that customers could order online and pick up their products at the stores or have them delivered. Many of the DVDs and CDs that once were a staple of Best Buy stores were cleared out, leaving room for Best Buy to invite such electronics vendors as Samsung, Microsoft and Verizon to set up "stores within the stores" inside Best Buy's outlets. "That enabled Samsung, for instance, to have 1,400 stores in the U.S. in our stores, which would have taken years to build" on its own, Joly said. The inside-store vendors also include Pacific Sales, a seller of appliances, fixtures and other household products that Best Buy bought in 2006, along with Magnolia, a Best Buy unit that sells premium audio and visual gear. Best Buy shed its Chinese and European businesses in 2015. The company also has stripped $1.4 billion from its annual operating costs by renegotiating supply agreements and real estate leases and by closing more than a dozen large stores and 40 smaller ones, among many other steps. The company plowed a chunk of the savings into better training its employees so that they can explain products to shoppers, which Joly believed was crucial because new technology often is confusing to many consumers. --- This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate PECOS - A local water well company, hoping to float sagging revenues and remake itself, is tapping a West Texas aquifer, building miles of pipeline and pioneering a new way to get water to the oil field. Layne Christensen, based in The Woodlands, is completing a six-well, 100,000-barrel-a-day pipeline from Pecos to the heart of the Delaware Basin, one of the busiest and most prolific oil fields in the United States. "It's a really big deal for us," Layne CEO Mike Caliel said. Oil and gas companies are thirsty for water. Hydraulic fracturing, the process of pumping a mixture of water, sand and chemicals into a well under such high pressures the shale rock cracks and releases oil and gas, has revolutionized the industry. But oil companies need at least 500,000 barrels of water to frac a modern well. And much of that water is now trucked rather than piped to the well. Layne says it can provide water more quickly, more reliably and for less money via pipeline. Layne hasn't released specific figures, but some estimate it costs as little as 2 cents per barrel per mile to ship water via a pipeline compared to at least 9 cents - if not far more - for trucking. Technology has dramatically changed the water business in the oil and gas industry. Companies now drill horizontal wells that run 10,000 feet, or longer, and pump them full of even more water to create more pressure in the well and produce longer, wider fractures in the shale. Such ravenous water appetites mean customers need a different method of getting their water, said Michael Anderson, Layne's chief financial officer. "It can't be done with trucks," Anderson said. "A truck can handle 100 barrels of water. We're talking about 650,000 barrels needed to do a completion. It's just a different game." Layne executives now see a new opportunity in the Delaware, the hottest section of the hottest oil and gas basin the country, the Permian. Much of the nation's drilling is concentrated in the Permian, which accounts for about half the oil rigs operating in the United States. The Delaware, meanwhile, is attracting billions of dollars in investment from companies such as Irving-based Exxon Mobil. Could generate millions Historically, oil companies have looked to farmers, ranchers and even cities to buy water. But those sources are usually fresh water, which can be used for drinking or agriculture, and there's a growing backlash against using it for fracking. Layne, instead, is tapping brackish aquifers. With competitors close on its heels, Layne is trying to persuade oil and gas companies that they can more reliably and responsibly buy this nonpotable water. It's more than a conservation mindset. Layne, with 2,500 employees and global operations in water, mining and municipal services, hasn't posted a profit in six years and has watched revenues tumble 40 percent in that time, from $1 billion in 2011 to $600 million last year, due in part to recent troubles in the mining industry. A new management team, including Caliel and Anderson, wants to refocus on water. It has already sold off two of Layne's divisions, including its heavy construction business, which built sewer plants, pipelines and other utility-scale projects, and is considering a sale of its mining unit in the future. The Pecos water facility is one part of that plan. "Yeah, it's a component of Layne 2.0," Caliel said. Layne expects to spend about $18 million into the project, designed by Houston engineering firm Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam, and quickly recover its investment. At current water prices, the project could generate more than $30 million a year in revenues if Layne sells 100,000 barrels a day. Becoming a utility This is new territory for Layne. Over 130 years in business, Layne has drilled more than 50,000 water wells and laid thousands of miles of pipe for customers. And while it has served the oil and gas industry for the last half-dozen years, it's always worked for customers to find water, dig wells and build storage. But with this project, Layne owns its own land, water, pumps and pipeline; it becomes something of a utility, executives said, charging customers for usage. The pipeline, which the company is calling Hermosa, runs 20 miles, from a desert plain just west of this city of 9,200 to oil and gas fields to the north. It taps the Pecos Valley aquifer, which stretches for miles under the city, in the shape of bowl. Most of Layne's 800 acres here used to be a cotton farm. Workers, nearly done with construction, have drilled new wells, refurbished old ones with new valves, pipes, meters and controls, dug two catch basins - each the size of a small lake - and built a pump station with hundreds of horsepower. Each well and pump is fitted with digital sensors and wireless routers, so all parts of the project can communicate with each other. If the catch basins get low, their sensors will tell the wells to start pumping. T-shaped piping rises out of the ground at intervals along the path north, allowing customers to attach flexible hosing, with digital meters that track how much water the customers use. Layne will be able to control everything from an office in Midland or even from its Houston headquarters. Workers were hustling this week to link the last few hundred feet of inch-thick polyethylene pipe in the 20-mile pipeline. The project should deliver water to customers by month's end. United Airlines may have just shown the world that social media rage doesn't always matter. Despite the intense public outcry the carrier suffered following a viral video of a bloodied passenger being dragged from his seat, United reported second-quarter financial results that surpassed Wall Street's expectations. It also beat its competitors in on-time departures and arrivals during the April-to-June quarter. Analysts point to a number of reasons people are sticking with United. Industry consolidation limits the number of options, said Mark Ahasic, founder and president of Connecticut-based consulting firm Ahasic Aviation Advisors. This is particularly true in cities like Houston where airports are dominated by one airline. "There's very little choice in airlines," Ahasic said. Plus, he said, many people remain wedded to United because they don't want to lose the benefits of its frequent-flier program. Customers may not like flying United, added Henry Harteveldt, founder of San Francisco-based Atmosphere Research Group, but they fly it because it has the best schedule for where they live. Or they likely see the spectacles at United as isolated incidents that won't affected them, Houston-based airline consultant Pete Garcia said. So they continue flying on United. The quarterly passenger count rose 5 percent to 38.2 million. United's Chicago-based parent company, United Continental Holdings, said its revenue rose 6.4 percent to $10 billion. Its earnings of $818 million also bested the same period a year ago. To be sure, United faces challenges ahead but not just from public perceptions expressed on social media. Despite reporting solid results, its stock tumbled Wednesday following a weak summer forecast. United president Scott Kirby predicted the passenger revenue United expects to bring in for each seat that flies one mile - a key performance metric - will be essentially flat in the third quarter that began July 1. He cited increased capacity in the industry and other factors. In contrast, rival Delta Air Lines has forecast growth of 2.5 percent to 4.5 percent for the third quarter in the same measure. By day's end, United shares had fallen to $74.24, down 5.9 percent. The price remains 54 percent higher than it was a year ago. Despite the apparent disconnect between online howling and real-world economics, industry experts say companies like United must cope with technology that gives frustrated fliers increasingly powerful tools to air age-old complaints about uncomfortable seats, lousy food and lost luggage. "There is no question that the combination of camera-equipped smartphones, social media and internet connections has transformed customer perception of the airline industry," said former airline executive Rob Britton, an adjunct professor of marketing at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business. "That is a reality that every carrier must learn to deal with." More Information By the numbers $10 billion quarterly revenue, up 6.4% over 2016 38.2 million passengers, up 5% $28 million employee bonuses for operational performance Source: United Airlines See More Collapse CEO Oscar Munoz acknowledged as much in remarks to investors and media on Wednesday. He said United is revamping its social media team to be more agile in responding to events. "The advent of social media in our space is particularly notable," he said. "And I think the best thing that we can do and continue to do is to refine our customer service experience models, training and people." Munoz said policy changes made in response to the forcible removal of passenger Dr. David Dao from a United Express flight on April 9 have cut the number of passengers involuntarily denied boarding by nearly 85 percent. "It really is more of a paradigm shift at our culture," he said, "a mindset of our employees and our management." Still, United remains the object of particular scorn on social media. "Your customer service people are a disgrace to humanity," one flier recently posted on the carrier's Facebook page. "No airlines are good," ranted another. "But United, you are by far the worst." One expert called United, "the airline people love to hate for the moment." "Unfortunately, right now for United, the airline could cure cancer and bring about peace in the Middle East, and it wouldn't get the credit it deserves for that," Harteveldt said. It's unclear to what extent the negative publicity reflects on United's culture or its customer base, experts say. It's likely due to a mix of performance issues, perceptions and opportunism, they say. Ahasic said United has training issues that "are part of a bigger cultural problem that the management there really needs to deal with." In a more recent case that stirred passions - in which United employees gave away the seat Shirley Yamauchi had purchased for her 2-year-old son - Ahasic said employees should have recognized that the child was large enough to have his own seat. Or at least asked about it. The Federal Aviation Administration requires children 2 and older to have a seat because their parents may not be capable of holding them during severe turbulence. He said United needs to update its training and have periodic checks to make sure employees are following the procedures taught during training. Following the Dao incident, United said it would provide agents with additional annual training. On Wednesday, a spokesperson said United is conducting "listening sessions" with employees to better understand their interactions with customers and how the airline can improve. This week, United started new training for frontline employees. Harteveldt said United also should be more discerning about who it hires and who it keeps around. "Are they good enough in terms of evaluating the performance of these frontline employees?" he asked. That extends to management. Munoz needs to ensure the company's leaders share his customer-centric vision. Persistent customer service problems make United vulnerable to losing travelers to other airlines, Harteveldt said. Although he still feels Munoz is the right person to lead United, Harteveldt said large investors' patience may start to wear thin. Compounding the customer-service challenges is industry consolidation, Harteveldt said. Following various mergers, United, Delta, American and Southwest Airlines now control more than 80 percent of U.S. domestic flights. Fewer airlines now share the bad publicity. "United just seems to be the industry's drama queen of the moment," Harteveldt said. It's also the airline that gave a presumably hefty settlement to Dao, consultant Garcia said. Some travelers may simply be waiting for their own payout or moment of notoriety. "Everybody has their phone ready to take a picture, to cash in," he said. To combat being hammered on social media, United needs to be candid and aggressive in its own social media communications, said Bruce Hicks, who spent nearly 40 years involved with airline communications and is now the owner and CEO of public relations consulting firm The Alliant Group/Houston. In the future, United should do a better job monitoring social media and responding as an issue begins to go viral, said Erica Ciszek, assistant professor of integrated strategic communication at the University of Houston's Jack J. Valenti School of Communication. She also recommended empowering employees to make good decisions rather than adhering solely to a playbook. The United spokesperson said the airline's social media and customer care teams are working together more closely than ever to identify and resolve issues. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A state appellate court on Wednesday overturned a $535 million judgment against Houston's Enterprise Products Partners, which had been sued by Energy Transfer Partners in a case with undertones of the landmark Pennzoil v. Texaco court battle of the 1980s. The decision by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Dallas reverses a 2014 ruling that created a Texas legal precedent equating a preliminary business agreement to a common-law marriage between two businesses. The legal fight pitted two of the nation's largest pipeline companies against each other. Enterprise and Dallas-based Energy Transfer planned to partner on an oil pipeline project from Cushing, Okla., to the Houston area. But Enterprise nixed the deal because it couldn't line up enough customers. Instead, Enterprise teamed up up with Calgary, Alberta-based Enbridge on a more profitable deal for a similar pipeline. Energy Transfer Partners sued in 2012, alleging Enterprise violated a binding agreement and won a state district court ruling in 2014. Enterprise argued the agreement was never binding and the signed disclaimer agreements ensured that nothing would be definitive until the boards of directors approved the deal or project documents were made final. Neither happened. The unanimous appellate court ruling determined the 2014 jury decision "wrongly imposed the burden of proof on Enterprise" and that the evidence against Enterprise was "legally and factually" lacking. Energy Transfer contended that Texas law allows binding business partnerships without formal contracts on paper, similar to the argument that Pennzoil used in its suit against Texaco in the 1980s. Pennzoil, which contended a handshake agreement was binding on the parties, won a jury award of $10.5 billion, which was the largest civil verdict in the nation's history at the time and created a chill over deal-making. The court, however, ruled that the state law doesn't apply to this case because Enterprise and Energy Transfer did not decide to "carry on a business for profit." They only agreed to research whether it was possible to build a profitable pipeline together, according to the ruling. "This case needed decisive action because it had the potential to stand as one of the worst for business in Texas since the Texaco v. Pennzoil decision from the 1980s," Enterprise appellate lawyer David Keltner said. "Sophisticated parties need the right to rely on written contracts." "We are disappointed in the ruling and will likely appeal the decision to the Texas Supreme Court," Energy Transfer spokeswoman Vicki Granado said. Back in 2011, Enterprise and Energy Transfer determined that potential customers wanted to be able ship oil from Canada to Houston, and their proposed pipeline couldn't offer that option. Enbridge, however, could because of a pipeline project from Canada to Cushing. Enterprise and Enbridge ended up building the expanded Seaway Pipeline, which runs from Cushing to Freeport. They complected the project in early 2015. The Treasury Department on Thursday leveled a $2 million civil fine against Exxon Mobil Corp. for violating sanctions against Russia three years ago, when Secretary of State Rex Tillerson led the Texas oil company. In May 2014, U.S. subsidiaries of Exxon inked legal papers related to Russian oil and gas projects with Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin, who had been under U.S. sanctions since the month before. The tech industry gets a lot of attention these days for being unfriendly to women, with sexual harassment seemingly running rampant and the small share of women in computer science declining. Well, guess which industry also has a serious and perhaps worse gender gap. That's right: Oil and gas, where women make up only 14.5 percent of the workforce, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, compared to 25.5 percent of computer and mathematical occupations and 47 percent of the workforce overall. The reasons those gender divides exist are different across the two industries. But the remedies, according to a comprehensive study by the consulting firm BCG, are similar: Upper management needs to be dead serious about the problem, and convey it's a priority to people doing the hiring. "It's not going to work its way out," says Andrea Ostby, the head of BCG's Houston office. "Just talking about it is not going to fix the problem. What I think we haven't seen across the board is that rigor and focus." The study, which was conducted in conjunction with the World Petroleum Congress and included all of the major national and international oil companies, found that the already-small proportion of women in oil and gas worldwide are concentrated in non-technical, non-supervisory positions. That's important, because being promoted through the ranks usually requires some field experience, ideally in engineering or operations, and many companies still consider separate facilities for women on well sites a "discretionary expense." RELATED: Occidental finds strategy for growth: Hold the layoffs. Also importantly, BCG's surveys and interviews indicate that women and men see obstacles to advancement totally differently. For example, when asked why women didn't reach upper levels of management, women identified a lack of support and female candidates being overlooked. The top two reasons for men: There simply aren't enough women in the industry to choose from, and women tend to be less flexible than men (which, other survey questions showed, is false). "It indicates that the workforce doesn't even really see that there's an issue," Ostby says. But it's likely to become a bigger and bigger problem, as much of the industry's workforce approaches retirement. Even today, companies are scrambling to find workers for active drilling areas like the Permian Basin in West Texas, and are still drawing on mostly men. The Texas Oil and Gas Association, which represents many oil production and services companies in Texas, declined to comment on the study. One way to convey to middle management that female representation is a priority would be setting baselines for female recruiting, and evaluating people based on whether they meet their targets. Katie Mehnert, who runs an organization for women in the oil and gas industry called Pink Petro, says that's the only way to move the needle. "When you put big targets out there, people have to achieve them," Mehnert says, likening gender balance to safety culture. "Just like when we said 'zero incidents,' people said 'We're human, we make mistakes.' But we got to zero." Here's the catch: Americans tend to react negatively to anything that could be seen as a quota. While Europeans respond well to required gender ratios, according to forthcoming new research from BCG, Americans see them undermining merit-based hiring, worrying about the perception that women could be chosen over better-qualified men. Ostby says that can be dealt with by setting goals that are enforced on a case-by-case basis. "You don't have to use them in a quota-esque way," she says. "But what you can say is, 'Hey, Mr. male manager, you haven't promoted any females in the last five years, why is that and what are you going to do to address that?" READ MORE: Three charts that explain gender disparity at work General Mikhail Kostarakos, Chairman of the European Union Military Committee, congratulated the 90th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army of China at a reception co-hosted by the Chinese Mission to the EU and Chinese embassy in Belgium. The reception on Wednesday evening was attended by more than 600 guests, including Yang Yanyi, ambassador and head of the Chinese Mission to the EU, Prince Laurent of Belgium, Petr Pavel, chairman of the NATO Military Committee, Rear Admiral Robberecht, the Belgian naval component commander, and other senior diplomats and military attaches. "During their 90 years of history, People's Liberation Army have achieved very much for the Chinese people," Kostarakos said in his speech delivered at the reception. "People's Liberation Army contribution is not limited only to Chinese people. It is ... an instrument that often used to make world a better place," he added. Highlighting China's contribution to world peace and stability, Kostarakos hailed that "China is a very active global actor in security building." "As the number one troop contributor to United Nations missions among the five permanent Security Council members, China tangibly demonstrates its support to the international rules-based system. At the same time, it demonstrates China's commitment to contributing to global stability," Kostarakos said. "The initiative announced by President Xi Jinping in September 2015 to create a standby force of 8,000 peacekeepers only underlines this noble and responsible position," Kostarakos added. On China-EU military cooperation, he said "Chinese and European Union troops work in parallel in Mali and in the Horn of Africa, assisting local authorities in building up their own capacities." "China enjoys the highest appreciation in their missions because of your troops' performance and contribution. I strongly believe that there is so much to achieve if we identify ways to work together," he said. "Together, the military of the EU and People's Liberation Army, we can build one more bridge that will bring our nations together. The respect of one soldier towards another provides fertile ground for these efforts to flourish," Kostarakos concluded. Although "Dunkirk" looks at one of the most amazing military/civil operations of World War II, it's not a war movie. It's Christopher Nolan's view of a war movie. Just as he looked at the broader battle of good vs. evil through his "Dark Knight" trilogy, tied the sci-fi genre into creative knots with "Interstellar" or redefined the mystery movie with his mind-twisting "Memento," "Dunkirk" has the trappings of a standard war movie but is structured more to focus on community heroism rather than the single savior and is designed more to build suspense than take a linear look at the particular moment in time. It's an unorthodox style but being different has become the trademark of a Nolan production. The gamble is that with his past works, Nolan had creative flexibility because he was working in fictional worlds, from the pages of comic books to the inner workings of the mind. Now, he's treading on sacred memories bringing events of Dunkirk to the screen. The real world Nolan has selected as his latest project looks at events that happened in 1940, when more than 400,000 British and French soldiers found themselves surrounded by the German army on three sides with the English Channel to their backs. Every attempt to escape was thwarted by the German ships and airplanes that relentlessly attacked and killed thousands. Death or capture appeared the only choices. But a last ditch effort had British civilians piloting their small vessels through the choppy waters as part of a rescue mission. The brave efforts of all involved became one of the biggest moments in World War II history. More Information 'Dunkirk' Rated PG-13: for war violence, language Running time: 107 minutes xxx See More Collapse Nolan tells a truncated version of that story (cutting nine days down to one) but not in the standard style that has worked for films like "The Battle of the Bulge," "The Longest Day" or "Saving Private Ryan." Military movies always have tended to start with an inciting incident, follow the efforts to stop the enemy and see the efforts through the eyes of either one hero or small band of brothers. The result would be an audience-pleasing victory. The direction Nolan uses is to weave three stories - on the land, sea and in the air - together playing with the time elements so that often events happen out of order. Nolan's chief concern is to build tension, making audiences wonder how each of the three storylines will play out and eventually come together. This approach is why Nolan spent more time watching Alfred Hitchcock thrillers than war movies. The director's biggest influence in making "Dunkirk" was Henri-Georges Clouzot's white-knuckle tale of four men transporting unstable materials, "The Wages of Fear." Nolan's drive to build tension and suspense is magnified by composer Hans Zimmer, a regular contributor to Nolan's work, whose soundtrack features a score that is constantly building in sound and fury mixed with a haunting timepiece rhythm that drives home the valuable seconds being lost in each frame. It's the best use of music and the rhythms of a clock to build suspense since the 1952 classic "High Noon." Nolan needed this suspense because when he slips into any familiar war movie territory, the production offers little new. There are several major dogfights but Nolan's versions show little progression from the beautifully presented air battles in so many wars movies since "Wings" in the 1920s. The same goes for the multiple ship sinking sequences that are well staged but offer no surprises. It doesn't matter that almost the entire movie was shot with IMAX cameras to create a true large screen experience. The images look great on a massive screen but size doesn't make up for some standard staging. Nolan's focus on the large-screen format took time away from the kind of detailed character development he has used in his past works. And that hurts the overall product. There are a couple of individual tales, including one brave civilian played with great poise and polish by Mark Rylance, who looks to be the representative of the civilians as a whole. Kenneth Branagh is at the center of the movie's biggest emotional moment. His ability to relate a lifetime of experience through a single glance shows that Nolan's decision to keep the dialogue in the film to a minimum works only with high caliber actors like Branagh. There are a few soldiers (including the feature film debut of pop star Harry Styles from One Direction) who weave their way through more than one of the three storylines, but none are given the kind of long development time that makes an audience care for them as individuals. Nolan needs the viewer to accept that this isn't a standard war movie. He also needs the audience to remember this is not a documentary so the historical accuracy is more of a suggestion than fact. Those who follow Nolan's lead and embrace the movie as a tale of suspense presented through three stories that play out of sequence will find the journey is original and engaging. Anyone looking for a typical war movie should keep in mind that Nolan has never done anything in a typical manner. August might be a sleepy time for restaurants, but it's the most exciting time of year for local foodies: Houston Restaurant Weeks rolls through town with bargain prix fixe menus. More than 250 area restaurants will participate in this year's culinary extravaganza, a fundraiser for the Houston Food Bank. Last year the month-long event raised $2,015,157, making it the largest fundraiser of its kind in the country benefiting the country's largest food bank. Founded in 2003 by food writer Cleverley Stone, the volunteer effort has raised more than $9.6 million, an amount that translates into nearly 29 million meals for the area's food insecure. For those who enjoy dining out, HRW which runs Aug. 1 through Sept. 4 is a delicious way to sample some of the city's newest and most popular restaurants for a set price. Newcomers to the event this year include Coltivare, Xochi, Potente, Osso & Kristalla, Common Bond, Eloise Nichols Grill & Liquors, Izakaya, Brasserie du Parc, Le Colonial and Chez Nous in Humble. They join a strong contingent of returning restautants such as Pappas Bros. Steakhouse, Brennan's of Houston, Cafe Annie, Churrascos, Del Frisco's, Damian's Cucina Italiana, El Tiempo Cantina, Rainbow Lodge, Ragin' Cajun, Vic and Anthony's and Tony's. There are even restaurants offering "experiences" in addition to dining. The General Public in CityCentre is including a gift card for bowling at next door Bowl & Barrel as part of its $35 dinner; at Main Course Cooking School in Spring guests get to prepare dinner then eat it. Lunch at Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Katy comes with a free movie ticket to be used at a later date. Dinners are in two price categories: $45 ($7 donated to Houston Food Bank), and $35 ($5 donation). Lunches are $20 and brunch is $22 ($3 donations). Stone said there are surprises sprinkled throughout the HRW menus, which can be found online at houstonrestaurantweeks.com. Make your culinary plan of attack in advance. Most restaurants accept reservations, but all welcome walk-ins unless specifically noted. Click on the map to see 10 best bets for Houston Restaurant Weeks (list below): The gastronome: If modernist techniques thrill, book a table Eculent in Kemah, where chef David Skinner treats local ingredients to imaginative bursts of molecular gastronomy. The 20-seat restaurant is participating on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, dinner only and considering Eculent's tasting menu normally costs $189 per person, the HRW price of $45 ($20 supplement for wine pairings) is a veritable bargain. On the three-course menu, which starts with an amuse bouche called "floating fire": cauliflower soup, Argentinian red shrimp with corn butter, wild mushroom risotto and pasilla chile chocolate ice cream. 709 Harris, Kemah, 713-429-4311; $45 dinner The fashionista: The new $250 million Galleria VI wing is now open, so if you're already shopping onsite you might as well check into 51Fifteen Cuisine & Cocktails on the second floor of Saks Fifth Avenue. The chic space is serving up brunch, lunch and dinner for HRW dinner options include lobster bisque followed by blackened redfish with dirty rice or a 16-ounce Texas T-bone steak with roasted garlic and porcini butter followed by blackberry bourbon cobbler. 5115 Westheimer, 713-963-8067; $20 lunch, $35 dinner, $22 brunch The Andean adventurer: The flavors of Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador come to life on chef David Guerrero's three-course dinner menu at Andes Cafe think salmon and octopus tiradito with lemongrass soy vinaigrette, confit of pork shoulder with white hominy and sweet plantains, and passion fruit mousse with sugar cookie crust and fruit gelee. During brunch, diners can pair Bolivian beef heart skewers with Peruvian-style fried rice and Colombian churros with chocolate sauce. 2311 Canal, 832-659-0063; $35 dinner, $22 brunch The intrepid foodie: An unsung Asian restaurant in Seabrook managed to snag the top entree award at Rodeo Uncorked's Best Bites Competition in February. Merlion on 4th wowed judges with its curry shrimp, and could impress HRW diners with its Thai dishes and seafood specialties. The HRW dinner offerings include crabmeat-stuffed egg rolls; a salad (chicken or shrimp or vegetarian) with garlic limed fish sauce and crushed peanuts; jumbo shrimp (or steak, salmon or snapper) with Thai curry sauce; lobster in oyster sauce; or Thai-style fried rice. Homemade coconut ice cream with crushed peanuts is one of the dessert choices. 1301 4th St., Seabrook, 281-385-9975; $35 dinner The art lover: What could be better than spending the day at the Menil Collection? Starting or ending the visit with a meal at Bistro Menil, the serene restaurant on the world-renowned museum campus. Chef Greg Martin is offering both lunch and dinner menus dappled with some of his tastiest creations char-grilled octopus with paprika; goat cheese Provencal; roasted sea bass with crispy pork belly; duck confit with pink peppercorn butter; and 12-hour beef short rib with port wine and shallot reduction. For dessert go with a pretty-as-a-picture "triptych" of lemon curt tart, buttermilk blackberry and chocolate mousse cakes. 1513 W. Alabama, 713-904-3537; $20 lunch, $45 dinner The Southern sophisticate: Comfort food goes posh at Lucille's, chef Chris Williams' Museum District restaurant specializing in Southern foodstuffs shot through with contemporary flair. For HRW dinner, guests have a choice of bone marrow with oxtail marmalade or scallops with Applewood smoked bacon and grit cakes to start, followed by hoppin' John with crispy pork belly, or whole fried snapper, or a 44 Farms steak with duck fat gravy and roasted fingerlings. It doesn't get any more Southern than lemon icebox pie, croissant bread pudding or red velvet cake for dessert. 5512 La Branch, 713-568-2505; $45 dinner, $20 lunch, $22 brunch The see-and-be-scenesters: The lounge and dining room of stylish Le Colonial at River Oaks District is packed nightly with head-turning people watching. But not all the visuals are of the boldface-name type. The food at the French-Vietnamese restaurant is as gorgeous as the surroundings. The HRW dinner offerings include Hanoi steamed ravioli with chicken and wood ear mushrooms in chili lime garlic sauce; grilled Atlantic salmon in minted mango sauce; Texas Gulf shrimp with snap peas and zucchini in spicy green coconut curry; and caramelized filet mignon salad with snow peas, roasted garlic and watercress. Don't tell anyone you saw River Oaks' toniest socialites ravaging the chocolate mousse dome or mango sundae. 4444 Westheimer, 713-629-4444; $45 dinner The beef barons: Last year B&B Butchers & Restaurant had the distinction of being the top dollar contributor to the HRW coffers, raising $65,000. "No other restaurant in the history of Houston Restaurant Weeks ever donated that much money to the food bank," Stone said. It's a testament to the popularity of the two-year-old Washington Corridor steakhouse. And the restaurant lays it on thick during HRW: brisket ravioli, steak salad, 10-ounce filet, chicken-fried pork chop, bacon-wrapped shrimp stuffed with crab, and two bone-in steak options for a $25 supplement. Classic desserts, to boot. 1814 Washington, 713-862-1814; $20 lunch, $45 dinner The superstar supper: This is chef Hugo Ortega's year. He started it off by opening his most ambitious restaurant to date: Xochi, a culinary love letter to the foods and flavors of Oaxaca, Mexico, housed in downtown's new Marriott Marquis hotel. Then came a James Beard Award in May, for work at his namesake Hugo's in Montrose. Xochi's dinner offerings during HRW show Ortega's scope and reach. He's created five separate menus: one based on mole sauces, another on masa-centric dishes; two with Mexican mezcal and tequila cocktail pairings (for an additional charge); and a vegetarian option. 1777 Walker, 713-400-3330; $20 lunch, $45 dinner (vegetarian menu is $35) The neighborhood hot spot: Coltivare in the Heights doesn't take reservations, which remains the case during HRW. But the dinner menus here there are two separate lineups are so stuffed with farm-fresh delectables from chef Ryan Pera that you won't mind the wait. On the Italian-leaning menu: focaccia-style pizzas; summer squash crudo; grilled figs with prosciutto and Point Reyes blue cheese; cacio e pepe; rigatoni with eggplant, olives and whipped ricotta; crab ravioli; wood-grilled chicken; chocolate panna cotta; and wood-roasted pear crostada. 3320 White Oak, 713-637-4095; $35 dinner. Original Beaver's takes summer break The owners of the original Beaver's at 2310 Decatur off the Washington Corridor have decided to give the restaurant a summer vacation. The restaurant has temporarily closed and will reopen in the fall, "rejuvenated and ready to celebrate 10 years of serving Houston diners," according to a brief press statement. Local foodies are probably correct in speculating that the restaurant (owned by the same group that operates Beaver's on Westheimer and El Patio/Club No Minor) could reopen as a smokehouse. That's a fair guess given that the Westheimer store has been going gangbusters with its barbecue program, courtesy of chef Arash Kharat. A logo designed for the original Beaver's hiatus says "Gone Fishing: See You in the Fall" followed by #SmokeSomething. Sounds like Beaver's is planning on getting friendlier with smoked meats. Given Kharat's recent efforts, this smoke signal is good news. Ellis Brothers BBQ enters the market A city hog wild for barbecue has a new player in the local smoked-meats arena. Lee Ellis, owner of Cherry Pie Hospitality (Lee's Fried Chicken & Donuts, State Fare Kitchen & Bar, Pi Pizza and Star Fish), has debuted Ellis Brothers BBQ via weekend pop-ups at his Fried Chicken & Donuts store. The longtime restaurateur has hired chef Gilbert Arismendez to head up his new barbecue operations, which soon will have its own dedicated menu at State Fare, 947 Gessner, in Memorial City. Ellis hopes to secure a permanent home for a standalone Ellis Brothers BBQ restaurant. Rice Village ramen shop shutters The nearly year-old restaurant Nao Ramen House, 5510 Morningside, has closed. Owner Piran Esfahani opened the store with chef Rob Frias, who collaborated at the failed Tarakaan lounge in Midtown (now home of the Rose Gold bar). No word on what's to become of the Rice Village space that was once 55 Bar & Restaurant. Boozy snowballs, y'all The newly opened business at 3005 Leeland, East End Hardware, doesn't have an inventory of nails and hammers. Instead, the latest bar to open in the Houston's East End is serving up cocktails, a selection of 20 brews on tap and boozy sno-balls. New Orleans-style sno-balls are different from traditional snow cones because the time-honored confection comprises finely shaved ice that lends a fluffy, almost velvety consistency. The liquor-spiked sno-balls at East End Hardware come in a handful of flavors, including pina colada, screwdriver, a rum-filled fruit punch and "Strawberry Pisco." The space, a former hardware store, was renovated to house a contemporary collection of wall art and decor. There's also a projector wall that will display a variety of shows and a large rolling door that can open up for indoor-outdoor events. It's open 4 p.m. to midnight Mondays through Thursdays, 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Fridays, 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Saturdays and noon to 12 a.m. Sundays. NEW HAVEN, Conn. - For a few quivering moments, time stood still on old Wooster Street. I'm sitting in a rigid, disagreeable wooden booth at Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana yet I'm floating on a coal-fired cloud. There is an imperfectly shaped pizza before me - craggy, blistered in parts to the point of carbon - dotted with pale, orange-hued nibs of freshly shucked chopped cherrystone clams, abundant slivers of garlic, dried oregano and pink curlicues of fatty bacon. It's the very pizza that made me swoon as a young man in the early 1980s; a creation so ideal in all its particulars that it has spoiled me for all other pies. Pepe's was the first place I stopped on a recent visit to Connecticut, eager to get reacquainted with my first (and most lasting) pizza love. I'm wary to touch, afraid it won't live up to the impossible burden of memory I've placed on its oil-slicked countenance. But 30 years later it hasn't changed a bit. I savor every bite of Pepe's famous white clam and bacon pizza. All is right with the world, especially at this hard booth in this little nook of New Haven. Only in New Haven Many foods inspire loyalty. But pizza incites the greatest passions, fueled by devotion to a variety of particular styles - Neapolitan, New York, Cal artisan, Greek, Chicago deep dish, stuffed, Detroit and various other regional leanings. In a world where most people consider even middling pies good pizza (you have to really try hard to mess up the baked union of dough, tomato sauce and cheese), pizza allegiances are fierce. Especially so on Wooster Street in New Haven's Little Italy, a neighborhood surrounding Wooster Square where working class Italian families began to put down roots in the early 1900s. It's here that the two titans of New Haven-style pizza - to my mind, the best pizza anywhere - call home. Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana, founded in 1925 by an Italian immigrant born on the Amalfi coast southwest of Naples, is the original by which all other New Haven pizza is measured. But there are those New Haven pizza aficionados who give the edge to Sally's Apizza, which Frank Pepe's nephew, Salvatore Consiglio, opened 13 years later about a block from the original Pepe's. CLOSER TO HOME: Check out the best Houston pizzerias, only on HoustonCrhonicle.com Pepe's and Sally's share a familial history, sure, but there are many who claim loyalty to one or the other. It's a friendly rivalry, but with substance: both make ridiculously good pizza, and both employ coal-fired brick ovens responsible for pies with a distinctive sooty char. In fact, those unfamiliar with New Haven pizza might think it is burnt. Yes, some areas of the pizza sport blackened spots, but fans love the charred flavors that mark the pizza as a unique regional specialty. A few more things to note about this particular style of New Haven pizza: Mozzarella is a topping (the original Pepe's began with a tomato pie with a judicious sprinkle of grated cheese) so if you don't want a naked tomato sauce pizza be sure to order mozzarella; the dough enjoys long fermentation, giving the resulting crust a pronounced chewiness and fuller flavor; pizzas are brought to the table on large metal trays (often with the silverware piled alongside) which some people eat directly from instead of using plates. And yes, you most likely will be waiting in a line to get inside the best New Haven pizza joints. But the wait is nothing when the reward is glorious pizza - by many accounts, the best in the country. In his documentary, "Pizza, a Love Story," filmmaker Gorman Bechard claims that if you haven't eaten at one of the three most famous New Haven pizzerias, then you really haven't eaten pizza. Pepe's, Sally's and the nearby Modern Apizza, he argues, are such a collective pizza force, they're "the only three pizza places in the world that matter." So I revisited the three that matter - all in one sublime, pizza-fueled afternoon. Modern Apizza Wooster Street gets all the publicity and tourists, but Modern, located at 874 State, is a neighborhood stalwart that enjoys a following every bit as committed as Sally's and Pepe's. Modern's roots go back to 1934 when Antonio Tolli, a first generation American born to Italian immigrants from the outskirts of Naples, opened a pizzeria called Washington Pizzeria with his cousin in the Hill neighborhood, another local Italian enclave. After two years, the partners split and Tolli opened his own shop, Tony's Apizza in 1936. Tony's pies at the time were 25 cents. Tolli went on to open other New Haven pizzerias. The original Tony's changed hands in 1944, and was rechristened Modern Apizza. Today it is owned by William Pustari, who bought the business in 1988 and has dedicated himself to spreading the Modern gospel. The word "apizza" is how New Haven-style pizza is referred to locally. Pronounced "ah-beets," it's an endearing term that locals use for their crisp, chewy, thin-crust pizza. The name also carries nostalgic connotations of a particular place and time when the country's most famous pizza was born. MORE ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: What's new in dining at River Oaks District? Plenty Unlike Pepe's and Sally's, which serve only pizza, Modern offers grinders (stuffed sandwiches made with Italian bread), calzones (a crescent-shaped turnover stuffed with cheese and other ingredients like a pizza), and Italian classics such as baked ziti, chicken parm, manicotti and eggplant rollatini. But it's the pizza that brings in the crowds. At our waitress' suggestion we order the most popular pizza on the menu, the Italian Bomb. It is loaded with bacon, sausage, pepperoni, mushroom, onion, bell pepper and garlic. Pizza purists might groan at the abundance of meat-lover toppings that could weigh down a crust. But the "bomb" doesn't implode this pizza; somehow it doesn't feel heavy. The nicely charred crust is formidable, providing a great textural counterweight to the juicy meats. We also opt for a tomato pie with mozzarella and marvel at its beautiful simplicity. Modern is able to turn out deliciously blistered pies from its brick oven even though it is no longer fired by coke, made from coal, that gave New Haven pizza a smoky distinction. Today Modern's oven is oil fueled but the flavors are true. Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana Pepe's has long worn the title of king of New Haven pizza with dignity since it was founded in 1925 by a poor, illiterate Italian immigrant. But Frank Pepe knew how to bake bread, opening his own bakery at 163 Wooster. It is there that he and his wife, Filomena, started offering "apizza," a simple tomato pizza they knew from their homeland. Today you can still get the original tomato pie made with crushed Italian tomatoes, olive oil and a smattering of grated cheese. Business was good so Pepe moved into a larger building next door, 157 Wooster, in 1937. It has since become the epicenter of New Haven pizza fanaticism. The original Pepe's location is now called Frank Pepe's the Spot, an adjunct to what some consider the "original" Pepe's even though it came first. The first thing you see entering Pepe's is the oven - a fire-breathing mouth fixed to a wall of white subway tiles. Beneath the oven is the bin for coal, the heating source that, cheap and prevalent at the time Pepe's opened, is integral to the pizzeria's fame. Speaking of fame, Pepe's descendants who run the business shrewdly capitalized on the brand by expanding to six locations in Connecticut, and one each in New York and Massachusetts. Expansion may be good for the future of Pepe's, but there are those who don't consider it the most auspicious move; something is lost, some fans concede, in taking the brand beyond New Haven. Luckily, the original experience can be found on Wooster Street. The second thing you notice at Pepe's are the comically long handles on the peels that the pizzaiolos use to position and turn the pies deep within the hotbox and snatch out just seconds before they're burnt to smithereens. It's that distinctive dark blistering I crave. (I'm reminded of a recent visit to a Houston restaurant specializing in Neapolitan pizza. My request for a pie that spent a little more time in the oven was denied and I was served a pale, puffy pizza with a blond-bottom crust that quickly turned into tomato and mozzarella "soup" at the center.) That char on Pepe's formidable, chewy crust is what sets this coal-fired pizza apart. Its roots are definitely Neapolitan, but this is not a pie in the same manner that is in fashion within contemporary Neapolitan pizza parlors in the U.S. No, Pepe's, like Sally's, makes a sturdy, thin-crust pizza with plenty of textural chew. I add bacon to my order of white clam pizza - a specialty pie that Frank Pepe created in the 1960s and since has been widely copied. The dough is slicked with olive oil, scattered with sliced fresh garlic and studded with chopped cherrystones and ribbons of bacon. A smidge of grated cheese and oregano complete the pie. The cooked pizza is an intoxicating landscape: dents in the dough create tiny pools where clam juice collects; the bacon emits its own rivulets of shiny fat; and a surfeit of garlic sends up a heady aroma. We also order an original tomato pie with grated cheese. It's the way Pepe's purists take their red pizza (instead of mozzarella). It's good but my hands keep reaching for the clam pie. Sally's Apizza As much as I revere a Pepe's pizza, Sally's stole my heart. And it's hard to explain why. The service is awkward at best; the decor (cheap wood-paneled walls adorned with old photos, worn brown booths) is non-existent; and a cubbyhole of a bathroom is uncomfortably tucked off the kitchen. But therein lies the charms: Sally's is an unapologetically quirky and untouched by time. Generations of pizza lovers know the wee parlor as a comfortable relic, practically set in amber since it opened at 237 Wooster in 1938. While Pepe's has gone on an expansion spree, Sally's is defiantly unaltered since the days when Frank Sinatra used to visit. The Consiglio family has a history-burnished gem on their hands, and thankfully they know it. As for the pizza - hand-formed oblong beauties smudged dark by the coal-fired oven in the rear of the long, rectangular room - well, it's spectacular. Locals agree that the best Italian tomato sauce pies are made here, edging out Pepe's. When tomatoes are in season, there's a fresh tomato pie with mozzarella and basil that I'm told is sublime. Menu oddities include a potato pie and a pizza topped with tuna. Never had them. I come for the pepperoni, a perfect union of crust, sauce, cheese, and salty salami disks. Some of the meat wheels crisp up like pork chips - singed along with the blistered cheese and bubbles of dough that bravely arched their backs in the inferno. I wish I had a glass of wine for my pizza. Sally's has only a few beers. But it does, like Modern and Pepe's offer Foxon Park White Birch Beer, bottled in nearby East Haven. This is another local custom that marks New Haven pizza - it's washed down by Foxon Park sodas. That sweet sap fizz married to the salty chew of pepperoni pizza? I'm back where I started more than 30 years ago when I first moved to Connecticut and first met the great pizza romance of my life. HUNGRY? Find recipes, food news and restaurant reviews in our weekly Flavor newsletter delivered to your email here. An education technology non-profit at Rice University put out a new tool last week that uses data from online learning software to help students review the lessons they find especially tough. The software also gives professors more information on what their class does and doesnt seem to grasp. The new program, called OpenStax Tutor Beta, comes from Rices OpenStax, which has distributed free textbooks in subjects like biology, U.S. history and chemistry to more than 1 million students in the last five years. Rice says nearly 4,000 colleges, universities and high schools use their books. OpenStax aims to lower cost barriers to higher education pricey textbooks add hundreds of dollars each semester for students. Managing director Daniel Williamson spoke to the Houston Chronicle about the hefty data from online learning that can improve teaching and the future of OpenStax and its program in the nonprofits Silicon Valley-like office. Excerpts of his interview with Chronicle higher education reporter Lindsay Ellis follow: Q: Walk me through this new Tutor Beta software, which you announced last week. A: The whole idea behind OpenStax and its precursor, Connexions, was to really start looking at ways to chip away at access issues and equity issues in higher education. You can give a student a book, but thats still just a book. Our real hope was that through the open licensing we have for our books, students and teachers could take it and personalize it and make it perfect for their course. But also, that new technologies like Tutor could start learning from students. It would start to learn what that student needs to be most successful in their course. Q: What does that look like for the teacher and student? A: You as a teacher, you assign different sections or chapters of the book, and thats then published. Theres interactive reading in the book, with videos and assessment items sprinkled through the reading. Were following all that. Were learning how the students interact with the content. Well then use a two-step assessment questions. We ask a question, and we ask students to write in their own words the answer to that question. They submit that. Theyre then presented with a multiple choice question. Theyre asked to choose the one that best matches the one that they provided in the text. Its much more effective for a student to pull it out of their head rather than recognize the answer. The teacher can prescribe in the system homework or some kind of problem set, a quiz. Students go through and work through all of those. Tutor, the engine behind this system, is learning this student needs to revisit chapter 2.2, because it didnt go too well. We keep track of that over time, and we present the students and teacher with this performance forecast. Its saying, if youre a teacher, you can go in and look at section one and say wow, all my students are missing this concept. Maybe I need to make targeted instruction choices to revisit that. STAGGERING: The cost of college today versus 18 years ago You can imagine it going beyond that. We could give quick warning flags to faculty, saying, hey, we saw that your students are struggling with this. Have you considered looking at it this way? We can point out a master teacher providing a really well thought out, proven way to teach this concept. The connection to Rice is also really important. Our goal here is not to create another product. There are a lot of these education technology products. What we want to do is create a platform upon which really interesting and novel research into the science of learning can be conducted in the classroom. So we can start to learn, publish those results and not just improve our Tutor product but all of the products out on the market. Q: Financially, how reliant are you on revenue from OpenStax and how reliant are you on Rice as an entity? A: All the content we produce does produce earned revenue, so we make sales on different print books. We also make money on our partnerships with (education technology) companies like Macmillan or Expert TA. Based on the print sales and on those partnership mission support fees, the content side of the house is pretty sustainable. The technology side of the house, the Tutor stuff, this is all brand new. Right now were heavily reliant on philanthropic support from Gates Foundation, Ann and John Doerr, and then the in-kind support we get from Rice. Q: Philosophically, how do faculty feel about this software? A: We know theres not a one-size-fits-all solution for faculty. Even when we were just producing textbooks, we said, if this is not the right resource for your course, dont use it. We recognize that you know your students and you know whats going to best for your classroom. That being said, weve tried to build a system thats incredibly flexible. We recognize that most people live on a continuum. Some may want the bare bones: I just need to make it easy for my students to do their homework and me to grade their homework. Others may want something that will provide them with tons and tons of data analytics as to how theyre performing and how their students are struggling. And some of them will fall somewhere between. HoustonChronicle.com: Faculty inch closer to accepting tech Right now we have approximately 13,000 faculty using our resources across the U.S. About 90 percent of the consumption of our content is digital. Only about 10 percent are converting to print. I think a lot of that has to do with price. If you look at the market, at a lot of the digital solutions available, digital subscriptions or rentals are they really great value? Students may be paying $250 for the printed textbook and subscription fee to an online system and publisher. Those are some considerations that might have impeded the move to digital in higher education. In our stuff, the majority of our consumption is coming in a (low-cost) digital format. Q: What are some quick and easy ways for universities to improve technology in the classroom? A: We always ask them to go to faculty who are already champions of innovation. You want to find someone who can be your exemplar: Have you seen so-and-so in the physics department? Students are really excited to go to that course. They dont have to pay for textbooks. Then, look for quick wins. We have 24 college textbooks that you can pick up and use today, rather than start from scratch making your own materials. Professors can recommend that resource for students who cannot afford the traditionally designed textbook. Q: What are the next steps for OpenStax? A: We are continuing to create more content. Were of the opinion that there isnt enough high-quality content available. We want to get Tutor into all the courses. And we want to bring our faculty back in as a community of practice. We have close to 1,000 faculty members teaching physics from our textbook. A lot of them may just take and use that content, but also they have the ability now to contribute back their experiences and what theyve learned when using this content. Wed love for them to share that back so we can continue the cycle of improvement. Were looking at ways to look at a user conference to bring all these faculty together, to look at new ways of improving and innovating the core content thats already there. Q: What are the implications of this work? A: Theres a general impact on all students not having to pay for yet another textbook, but theres an even larger impact on students who may be Pell Grant eligible. It really is creating equity in a market that wasnt equitable. I went to Rice. I dont have a ton of experience with community colleges. But one of the things that shocked me is when we started publishing, we had a faculty member write us and say thank you so much for doing this because you made this textbook many of my students dont have to choose between buying their groceries. I was just like, wow. I had no idea. You think about all of the barriers to education. Do we really want textbook costs or materials costs to be yet another barrier? Its one we can easily solve. The piece: "Free Me" The artist: Kevin Cooper Where: In "Windows on Death Row: Art from Inside and Outside the Prison Walls," through July 31 at O'Kane Gallery, UH-Downtown, 100 Main Why: If you Google Kevin Cooper's name, the first thing that pops up on the right side of the screen is "American mass murderer." He has been on death row in San Quentin for decades. Cooper's case has been in the news lately because his lawyers have asked for new DNA testing that could prove with more certainty than a previous test whether he's innocent. Last month, the New York Time's Nicholas Kristof called Cooper's case "a microcosm of racial injustice in the United States" and "a national embarrassment." I didn't know any of this when I first glanced at "Free Me." I simply thought Cooper's painting was the most passionate and evocative object in a show with an overwhelming amount of reading material to absorb. I liked the intensity of the colors and the clean composition. The painting's screaming subject looks younger than Cooper, and his teeth seem too perfect and white. But the emotion looks real, and gut-wrenching. Of course, good art in a traditional sense isn't really the point of this show. The organizers political cartoonist Patrick Chappatte and journalist-filmmaker Anne-Frederique Widmann wanted to stir up discussion about capital punishment and all the baggage it carries today about morality, racism, politics and social justice. They visited maximum security prisons in four states (including Texas), built relationships with dozens of inmates and set up a death row art workshop to assemble works by inmates. Working with curator Anne Hromadaka, they also gathered editorial work from some of the nation's best political cartoonists, including the Chronicle's Nick Anderson. They compiled copious statistics that appear on graphics and recorded many interviews. It's all accessible on the "Windows on Death Row" website as well as at the gallery. If there's anyone left out there who might be on the fence about capital punishment, this show offers convincing proof that it's not working. But I was also interested in seeing what 21st-century prisoners are making as art, thinking about the drawings by incarcerated people that John and Dominique de Menil collected in the 20th century. They were deeply committed to civil rights but also intrigued by any kind of visionary or outsider artists often obsessive-compulsive types who made good use of bare-bones materials like colored pencils and plain paper or manila file folders. Cooper's not that kind of artist. He's got a website (mainly to defend his case) that includes a gallery of more than 100 of his paintings, some of which are copies or near copies of famous works. He's not a beginner, but he's still learning. Kenneth Reams, who has an eye for abstraction, might be the most sophisticated: His drawing "The Last Mile" turns a prison hallway into a stark, geometric study of bars and lines. Arnold Prieto, who was executed at Huntsville in January 2015, was a heck of a draftsman. A few of the other artists do produce works with the crude charm of visionaries, however, and sometimes they deliver their messages with biting humor. They're big on text and comic book influences. I could see Gary Cone's crudely painted "Visiting Day: LWOP" hanging in a fancy gallery, and his "How to Lose a Year in Four Easy Steps" made me want to cry. (He was punished with a year in solitary confinement when guards found rotten apple juice in his cell, which is considered a kind of hooch alcohol.) Bookmark Gray Matters. It's an obsessive-compulsive type who makes good use of bare-bones materials. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A man is dead after a northeast Houston house caught fire late Wednesday. When firefighters arrived just after 11:50 p.m. at the two-story house, in the 6100 block of Bending Oaks, the home was already enveloped in flames, said Blake White, deputy chief at the Houston Fire Department. Firefighters struggled to enter the residence because of burglar bars on the home's windows. Initially, bystanders said everyone had made it out safely, White said. But, when firefighters got to the second floor of the house, they found a dead man. HFD was investigating early Thursday the cause of the fire. The flames had been particularly heavy on the second floor, White said. The Houston Police Department's homicide division was investigating early Thursday what killed the man found on the second floor. "It doesn't appear that there's any foul play, but we're still in the process of investigating," said detective M. Arroyo with the Houston Police Department. Police did not immediately identify the man. Glioblastoma, the cancer with which Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has been diagnosed, is a highly lethal malignancy that killed Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Beau Biden, the son of former Vice President Joseph Biden. Here is what you need to know: Q: What is glioblastoma? A: Glioblastoma is an aggressive cancer that is the most common of all malignant brain tumors. About 12,400 new cases are expected in 2017, according to the American Brain Tumor Association. The tumors arise from the brain's glial cells, which are cells that are wrapped around neurons throughout the central nervous system. Typically, said Matthias Holdhoff, associate professor of oncology at Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University, "the tumors are considered not curable." About 23,000 adults, more of them men than women, are diagnosed with various types of primary brain cancers a year, according to Cancer.net, a web site of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Unlike most other cancers, brain tumors do not spread to other parts of the body. They kill by interfering with normal body function, depending on their location. Q: What are some symptoms of a glioblastoma? A: Depending on the location of the tumor, a patient can have seizures, headaches, blurred vision and confusion. Q: How is it treated? A: The first step is surgery to remove as much of the tumor as possible. But because the cancer has "extensions" that spread throughout the brain tissue, excising every bit of the malignancy is difficult, Holdhoff said. After surgery, patients typically receive six weeks of oral chemotherapy and radiation. Sometimes that course of treatment is reduced to three weeks for older people. After that, most patients get chemotherapy several days a month for an additional six months. The median survival time following that treatment is about 15 to 16 months, Holdhoff said. But that varies considerably: "It's not just a matter of the cancer but where it is and what it's doing to the patient," agreed Frederick Smith, a Washington, D.C., oncologist. Age can affect how long a person survives; in general, being young is better. Other key factors include how well a person was functioning before being diagnosed and the molecular characteristics of the tumor. Q: What about immunotherapy? A: New treatments that unleash the immune system against malignancies can help patients with several kinds of cancer, including metastatic melanoma and lung and bladder cancers. But while there are many clinical trials testing immunotherapy for glioblastoma, so far the studies haven't shown a meaningful survival benefit, experts say. Q: What happened to Kennedy and Biden? A: Kennedy disclosed his diagnosis in May 2008, three days after suffering a seizure. He underwent more than three hours of surgery shortly after that at Duke University. He died in August 2009. Biden, the former vice president's oldest son and the attorney general for the state of Delaware, was diagnosed in 2013 and had surgery, radiation and chemotherapy before going back to work. He died in May 2015 at the age of 46. --- The Washington Post's Lenny Bernstein and Lena Sun contributed to this report. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The headline wasn't subtle: "Stop Metro from coming to Spring." The article, published July 15 on the website Spring Happenings, warned that bus service would "give criminals an easy way in and out" of the north Harris County suburb. A range of experts I interviewed this week agreed that little evidence supports the "buses lead to crime" idea. (This is also true of its cousin, "Low-income housing leads to crime," the subject of a column I wrote last year.) Yet the perception persists that mass transit is the first step in the ruination of a community. It's an attitude that could complicate the challenge of meeting the mobility needs of the vast, rapidly growing Houston region. The Metropolitan Transit Authority is holding public meetings to gather input on a new regional transit plan. Metro officials say the plan is needed to prioritize options for adding bus and rail service, along with van pools and potentially bus-only lanes or high-occupancy toll lanes. More than 300 people showed up Tuesday night at a Metro meeting in Spring. My colleague Dug Begley, who attended, said many residents expressed the same concerns as those reflected in the Spring Happenings article. Zach Karrenbrock, who runs the website, published the article as an "editor's note." In a phone conversation with me, Karrenbrock pointed to the FM 1960 corridor in northwest Harris County as an example of the detrimental effects of public transportation. "Before Metro came along, it was a great area to live," Karrenbrock said, "but as Metro came in, the area increased in crime." The factors that turned the FM 1960 area into a poster child for suburban blight - community leaders have rebranded the thoroughfare as "Cypress Creek Parkway" to escape the stigma - are complicated. Barbara Thomason, who is leading a revitalization effort in her role as head of the area's chamber of commerce, said it's frustrating that so many people want to blame a single issue, whether it's bus service, large apartment developments or economic downturns. "That's ludicrous," she said. Antipathy toward mass transit isn't limited to suburbs. After 11-year-old Josue Flores was stabbed to death on Houston's near north side in May 2016, some residents said the 2013 extension of Metro's light rail line had increased danger by bringing homeless people and drug users into the community. (Authorities this week dropped murder charges against a man accused of killing Josue, citing insufficient evidence, but police said the man remains a suspect.) 'Like a moat' Metro's president and CEO, Tom Lambert, said the agency's police chief, Vera Bumpers, had met with north side community leaders and taken steps to increase officers' visibility in the neighborhood. Lambert, himself a former Metro police chief, said he had seen no evidence that buses or rail made a neighborhood less safe. On the contrary, he said, increased scrutiny by drivers, security cameras, passengers and transit police can have the opposite effect. Notwithstanding the concern on the near north side, suburbs are where opposition to mass transit seems to find its fullest expression. Transit researcher Todd Litman has an idea about why this is the case. "Automobile dependency has been used for generations as a moat to keep poor people away from certain areas," said Litman, the founder and executive director of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute, an independent research organization. Other options Crimes involving vehicles - car thefts, vandalism, road-rage violence - are far more common than those associated with public transportation, Litman said. Imagine the reception a campaign to keep cars out of a neighborhood would receive in Houston. In a report last November titled "A New Transit Safety Narrative," Litman noted that transit often serves low-income people and communities, and some types of crime tend to increase with poverty. But this doesn't justify a blanket statement that transit makes a place less safe. In reality, Metro isn't likely to introduce new, fixed-rate bus service in a community like Spring; the demand isn't there. Park-and-ride service, commuter rail, or door-to-door service through some form of ride-sharing are more realistic options in some area suburbs, according to Lambert. Exploring these options with the public is a vital part of the process. This conversation will be more useful if it's based on facts rather than myths. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate By now, readers may have seen the news U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is expanding the use civil asset forfeiture. On Wednesday, the Department of Justice issued new guidance to expand the government's use of the practice, a decades-old tool in War on Drugs which allows law enforcement to seize property from people if officers believe it was earned through criminal activity. The use of civil forfeiture has raised serious controversy in Texas , where law enforcement agencies have profited handsomely from the use of asset forfeiture, seizing almost $63 million worth of property, according to the Institute for Justice, a Washington D.C.-based law firm which opposes the practice. This past legislative session, Sen. Konni Burton, (R-Colleville) filed legislation requiring seized property be returned unless law enforcement gained a conviction. Statewide reform efforts made national news after President Donald Trump joked at a meeting with sheriffs in February about "destroying" the career of a Texas state senator trying to curtail state forfeiture laws. Prosecutors, meanwhile, came out against reforms - which died before becoming law - saying curtailing forfeiture would "reward" drug cartels. "Asset forfeiture removes the tools of crime from criminal organizations, deprives wrongdoers of the proceeds of crime, recovers property for compensating victims and deters crime," wrote Joe D. Brown, the Grayson County criminal district attorney in Sherman, in a column in the Fort-Worth Star-Telegram earlier this year. On Wednesday, Darpana Sheth, an attorney with the Institute for Justice, a Washington D.C.-based libertarian organization which opposes civil forfeiture, sharply criticized Sessions' expansion of the practice. "Civil forfeiture is inherently abusive," Sheth said. "No one should lose his or her property without being first convicted of a crime, let alone charged with one." The move is the latest in Sessions' tough-on-crime agenda, bringing back oft-criticized policies that had begun to be phased out in recent years. Like Sessions' decision to bring back harsh sentencing for low-level drug offenders, the revival has drawn criticism from civil rights activists and other law enforcement reformers, saying it is a page from a worn-out and ineffective playbook. Grant Smith, deputy director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance, said the move hands state and local police greater ability to profit from the seizure of property without having to prove any criminal wrongdoing. "This Attorney General is taking this country down a destructive and foolish path by escalating failed drug war tactics like civil forfeiture that disproportionately hurt people of color and individuals who can't afford to fight the forfeiture," he said. Law enforcement, meanwhile, cheer the move, saying it gives officers the tools to do their job. "D.O.J. all but stopped working with local police in this process, and this is a critical tool that we all need," J. Thomas Manger, president of the Major Cities Chiefs Association and the chief of police in Montgomery County, Md. told Sessions, according to the New York Times. The DOJ had curtailed a forfeiture practice in 2015 that allowed local law enforcement to share proceeds with federal authorities. As the Washington Post's Christopher Ingraham notes, "it allowed state and local authorities to sidestep sometimes stricter state laws, processing forfeiture cases under the more permissive federal statute." Law enforcement can seize the property without winning a criminal conviction - or in some cases, without even charging anyone. That has led to cases like one in 2014 where officers in Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport seized a 24-year-old man's college savings, and Oklahoma cops seized money a Christian rock band had raised while on tour. In March, the Justice Department's Inspector General issued a report that found that the Drug Enforcement Agency seized $3.2 billion from people without bringing civil or criminal charges against the owners of the cash. ...... St. John Barned-Smith covers public safety and major breaking news for the Houston Chronicle. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. Send tips to st.john.smith@chron.com. WASHINGTON U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz's "Consumer Freedom" amendment to the stalled Republican health care bill would expand coverage and reduce premiums, though at the cost of steep deductible and out of pocket costs, a government study has found. The Texas Republican touted the study Wednesday as President Donald Trump met over lunch with Republican senators at the White House to revive legislation repealing the Affordable Care Act, known widely as Obamacare. "It was a good and productive meeting," Cruz told Fox News afterwards. "I think we're close. There's a lot of common ground." But the meeting came as a new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis showed that a new Senate GOP health care plan would result in 32 million more people without health insurance. The measure is similar to a 2015 repeal bill passed by the Senate. Republicans were still reeling Wednesday from the collapse of the repeal effort after three Republican senators balked at provisions that would severely curtail planned Medicaid funding in their states. The three holdouts Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia all also said they would oppose Republican Leader Mitch McConnell's alternative plan to vote immediately to repeal Obamacare, but leave the current health care law in place for two years while lawmakers come up with a replacement plan. But it remained far from certain Wednesday that Republican holdouts would agree to repeal Obamacare without certainty about what a replacement plan might look like. The CBO projected that 32 million more people would become uninsured over the next decade under a plan to repeal Obamacare now and replace it later. It also found that 17 million more people would become uninsured next year, compared to current law. Average premiums, the study found, would increase by about 25 percent. Amid the uncertainty, the new analysis by the Trump's Department of Health and Human Services offered a needed day-brightener for Cruz, who saw several conservative allies bail this week on his amendment to allow sales of both Obamacare and non-Obamacare plans. The study showed that his amendment would expand coverage by more than 2 million people, and reduce health insurance premiums by more than $7,000 a year. That projection, however, is based on the assumption that the bare-bones, non-Obamacare plans on the market would come with $12,000 annual deductibles and $12,000 out-of-pocket limits. Cruz, however, focused on the potential upfront savings. "For people who are hurting that's real money and that shows exactly what we've been saying for a long time, which is the way you lower premiums is through competition, through market forces, through giving consumers the freedom to choose their own health care," he said. Critics say those costs would be unaffordable to many Americans who might be tempted to buy more skimpy coverage. Insurance companies also have argued that it would create a two-tiered insurance system, with young and healthy people buying non-Obamacare plans, and sicker, older people lopped into the more expensive and comprehensive Obamacare plans. Cruz revised his proposal to maintain a single risk pool, but that change cost him conservative support. McConnell announced a last-ditch effort to rally support for his new repeal plan, enlisting Vice President Mike Pence, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma and other administration officials to press senators. Texas U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, the Republican Majority Whip, suggested that leaders still have to work on about a dozen recalcitrant Republicans. "I think it's just the ones who have remaining, unresolved issues," he told reporters. "I would say 40 members of the conference are ready to vote on any agreed upon product." AUSTIN - Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick kicked the special session of the Texas Legislature into overdrive Wednesday, rolling out a breakneck schedule that could have the so-called bathroom bill, new abortion restrictions, and restraints on city and county governments all on the floor for a vote as early as Sunday night. To accomplish that, Patrick, a Houston area Republican, pulled senators back to the Capitol for a little midnight madness early Thursday to pass a bill to reauthorize the Texas Medical Board and keep the regulatory agency in business through 2019. That bill, considered the one must-pass bill of the session, cleared the Senate at 12:32 a.m. by a 31-0 vote. Patrick said if everything goes as planned, he will have all 20 ultra-conservative priorities outlined by Abbott for the special session through the Senate by the end of next week. "It's a hurry because we have 30 days and 20 bills," Patrick told reporters. "You know, I like to work fast." That was in stark contrast to the Texas House, which met for just 19 minutes Wednesday and won't bring its first bill for discussion on the floor until Monday at the earliest. Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, has already declared most of the governor's agenda "manure" and has made no promises to pass any of the measures, like the bathroom bill. Since the gathering of lawmakers started Tuesday, the House has spent less than 2 hours in session, much of it on procedural matters or spent discussing parliamentary inquires like whether the House could lock members in the chamber should they try to gum up the works by trying to break quorum. 'These are people's priorities' It has been a vastly different story in the Senate, where Patrick said the goal was to move the one bill that was considered must-pass as fast as possible. That bill is one that reauthorizes five different state boards, including the Texas Medical Board. Once that is done in the Senate, Patrick said that it would trigger the governor to issue his proclamation for the rest of the agenda that is championed by conservative groups. "These are people's priorities," Patrick said. Sen. Jose Rodriguez, D-El Paso, said Democrats will challenge moves to fast-track bills, ask questions and file amendments to try to slow the agenda, but acknowledged their options are limited because they just number 11 in the 31-member Senate. "He's made no secret about it, he wants to get all of these bills out of the Senate, over to the House so the House has, according to his thinking, enough time to act on all of these," Rodriguez said of Patrick's supercharged schedule. The bill reauthorizing the medical board and the others stalled at the end of the regular session that ended in May. But without it passing in the special session, those boards and commissions would cease to exist starting in September, affecting 200,000 Texas jobs said Sen. Van Taylor, R-Plano. After overcoming Democratic objections to speeding up that bill on Tuesday, the Senate voted Wednesday to set up a final vote on reauthorizing those boards just passed midnight. Because of Senate rules, Republicans could not set the final passage of that bill for Wednesday without Democrats agreeing to waive rules that they have already said they would not agree to. Patrick said that necessitated pushing the vote to the earliest point possible on Thursday. That keeps the Senate on track to have hearings as early as Friday on the most controversial items that have drawn national attention. SB4 protesters converge Already, Senate Republicans are set to hold a hearing on the bathroom bill on Friday morning at a committee room that has not yet been set. A new bathroom bill had not been filed as of Wednesday night, but when it does get filed it is expect to be similar to a North Carolina law that place restrictions on what bathroom people who are transgender can use. The North Carolina law brought national scorn from transgender rights groups and boycotts from businesses and groups like the NCAA. Some Texas employers have called on state lawmakers to give up the bathroom proposals fearing similar reactions and difficulty recruiting workers to the state if it passes. Protesters are not waiting for the weekend to show their displeasure with the Legislature. On Tuesday, the Capitol was filled with protesters objecting to much of the upcoming agenda and controversial bills that have already been passed into law, like SB 4, the legislation aimed at ending so-called sanctuary cities. That topic brought more protesters to the Capitol on Wednesday. A group of young women dressed quinceanera-style in colorful, fancy dresses danced and gave impassioned speeches against SB4, even though it is not on the agenda in the special session. "SB4 makes simply being brown a crime," said Magdalena Juarez, a 17-year-old protesting. "We will resist by celebrating our families and our culture. We will resist by standing in unity." Property tax reform bill The Senate is still filing bills that will be taken up over the next several days. For instance, Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, filed new property tax reform legislation on Tuesday that is nearly identical to a measure he promoted during the spring session. His new bill would block cities and counties from raising the effective tax rates above 4 percent in any given year unless voters agree in a referendum - a move Senate leaders are convinced will slow the pace of Texas' skyrocketing property taxes. In the previous bill, Bettencourt proposed capping local governments at 5 percent. Currently, counties and cities can raise their effective tax rate 8 percent, if it goes higher, taxpayers can petition for an election to rollback the rate - something that rarely happens in Texas. Bettencourt said a key to his plan is to make it easier for voters to have a say when local governments raise taxes. But that measure has received a cool reception in the Texas House, where Ways and Means chairman Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, has said he does not have the votes to get the measure passed. Bonnen said he supports the cap on local governments but has questioned its effectiveness in really giving taxpayers much relief. In most of the state's largest counties, only a handful raised their effective tax rates by more than 4 percent, yet tax bills still went up. Peggy Fikac and Andrea Zelinksi contributed to this report. A man and women are injured after they were shot by an acquaintance outside of an apartment complex on Westpark. The couple drove by Sunridge Apartments in the 10000 block of Westpark near S. Gessner when a man opened fire at their car from the complex entrance around 1 a.m. Thursday, according to Houston police officers at the scene. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate An accomplished Texas neurosurgeon's resume may be impressive, but a closer look at her history reveals a series of troubling run-ins with the law. Dr. Melissa Macias of Corpus Christi was recently featured by KRISTV, revealing the health professional's three prior DWI convictions. Macias, who is currently employed by the South Texas Brain & Spine Center, was arrested for drunk driving in Wisconsin in March of last year and again in 2014 and 1991. TEXAS DOCTOR: Stepdaughter of doctor charged in seven overdose deaths found in Texas creek Video footage of Macias's most recent DWI arrest shows her making a phone call from jail the morning she was scheduled to perform two surgeries. "Call the office at 8 a.m. and tell them that I've had...I don't know f***ing what to say," Macias said during the call. Footage also shows Macias interacting with a police officer the moment she was pulled over. "Guys look, I am a neurosurgeon here," Macias said to the lawman while wearing scrubs, struggling to successfully pass a sobriety test. CHARGED: Houston doctor, clinic manager at alleged pill mill among hundreds indicted by strike force Earlier that night, police said Macias visited a hair salon, acted belligerently and knocked over a display. Macias is one of four surgeons employed with the South Texas Brain & Spine Center. One patient told KRISTV she's worried by Macias because she has "people's lives in her hands." Click through above to see the weirdest reasons Texans have been arrested in 2017. WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump has decided to end the CIA's covert program to arm and train moderate Syrian rebels battling the government of Bashar al-Assad, a move long sought by Russia, according to U.S. officials. The program was a central plank of a policy begun by the Obama administration in 2013 to put pressure on Assad to step aside, but even its backers have questioned its efficacy since Russia deployed forces in Syria two years later. Officials said the phasing out of the secret program reflects Trump's interest in finding ways to work with Russia, which saw the anti-Assad program as an assault on its interests. The shuttering of the program is also an acknowledgment of Washington's limited leverage and desire to remove Assad from power. Heavy scrutiny Just three months ago, after the United States accused Assad of using chemical weapons, Trump launched retaliatory airstrikes against a Syrian air base. At the time, U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley said that "in no way do we see peace in that area with Assad at the head of the Syrian government." Officials said Trump made the decision to scrap the CIA program nearly a month ago, after an Oval Office meeting with CIA Director Mike Pompeo and National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster ahead of a July 7 meeting in Germany with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Spokesmen for the National Security Council and the CIA declined to comment. After the Trump-Putin meeting, the U.S. and Russia announced an agreement to back a new cease-fire in southwest Syria, along the Jordanian border, where many of the CIA-backed rebels have long operated. Trump described the limited cease-fire as one of the benefits of a constructive working relationship with Moscow. The move to end the secret program to arm the anti-Assad rebels was not a condition of the cease-fire negotiations, which were already well underway, said U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the secret program. Trump's dealings with Russia have been under heavy scrutiny because of the investigations into the Kremlin's interference in the 2016 election. The decision on the CIA-backed rebels will be welcomed by Moscow, which focused its firepower on those fighters after it intervened in Syria in 2015. 'Putin won' Some current and former officials who support the program cast the move as a major concession. "This is a momentous decision," said a current official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "Putin won in Syria." The decision will not affect a separate Pentagon-led effort to work with U.S.-backed Syrian rebels fighting the Islamic State. Some analysts said the decision was likely to empower more radical groups inside Syria and damage the credibility of the U.S. "We are falling into a Russian trap," said Charles Lister, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, who focuses on the Syrian resistance. "We are making the moderate resistance more and more vulnerable. We are really cutting them off at the neck." Others said it was recognition of Assad's entrenched position in Syria. "It's probably a nod to reality," said Ilan Goldenberg, a former Obama administration official and director of the Middle East Security Program at the Center for a New American Security. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate MOSUL, Iraq - For one Iraqi lieutenant, the fight against the Islamic State group in Mosul has been a slow, methodical quest for revenge. For three years, he has hunted for two ISIS militants from his village who he believes killed his father. Along the way, he has shot to death detained militants after interrogating them, he acknowledges unapologetically. And if he catches either of the men he is searching for, the lieutenant vows he will inflict on him "a slow death" and hang his body from a post in the village after forcing him to reveal where his father's body is buried. That sort of thirst for vengeance in the wake of military victories is fueling extrajudicial killings of suspected ISIS members at the hands of Iraqi security forces in and around Mosul. Videos that emerged last week showed troops in Mosul taking captured ISIS suspects and throwing them one by one off a high wall next to the Tigris River, then shooting their bodies below. Speaking to the Associated Press, four Iraqi officers from three different branches of the military and security forces openly admitted that their troops killed unarmed and captured Islamic State suspects, and they defended the practice. They, like the lieutenant, spoke on condition of anonymity. Cycle of violence However, the killings risk tipping Iraq back into the cycles of violence that have plagued the country for over a decade, according to Belkis Wille, Iraq researcher with Human Rights Watch. The Islamic State group was able to attract recruits in the past because of people's anger over abuses, including arbitrary detentions, torture and extrajudicial killings, she said. The bloodshed reflects the deeply personal nature of the fight against ISIS. When the militants overran Mosul and large parts of northern and western Iraq in 2014, they specifically targeted members of the military and security forces and their families for brutal atrocities. Near Tirkrit, ISIS massacred some 1,700 captured military recruits and buried them in mass graves that have been uncovered since. A Defense Ministry spokesman, Brig. Gen. Tahseen Ibrahim, said that authorities "have not registered any incident of revenge killing, whether carried out by security forces or residents. The situation is under full control and we will not allow such incidents to happen because this issue is very sensitive and leads to violent reactions." But a senior Iraqi officer said his troops regularly killed men who were said to be ISIS among civilians fleeing the city at screening centers in and around Mosul. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the possible legal repercussions. "When an entire group of civilians tells us, 'This man is Daesh,' yes, we shoot him," he said. The lieutenant said the two men who killed his father were well known in his hometown, a small village south of Mosul. The AP is not revealing the names of the men he is pursuing because there is no way to confirm independently they belonged to ISIS. 'Killed on the spot' According to the lieutenant, two men grabbed the lieutenant's father outside his home. The lieutenant said his father was an officer in the security forces who fought al-Qaida, the predecessor to ISIS, in 2007, at the height of Iraq's sectarian violence. After the Islamic State group seized the village in 2014, the tribes that were once kicked out for al-Qaida ties returned. As Iraqi forces advanced toward the lieutenant's village last year, he began interrogating captured ISIS suspects. "Most of them I just asked questions," he said, "but for those who I knew had blood on their hands, I killed them on the spot." He said he has killed more than 40 militants, whether in combat or in interrogations on the sidelines of the battle. He acknowledged most were not directly responsible for his relatives' deaths. "I'm not selfish with my revenge, what I'm doing is for all Iraqis," he said. It has never been a particularly well-kept secret that Israel has conducted clandestine airstrikes in Syrian territory over recent years. But this week, Benjamin Netanyahu seemed to not only admit that these strikes had occurred but that they had occurred "dozens" of times. The Israeli prime minister made this admission accidentally - thanks to a hot mic. WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump ordered senators back to the negotiating table for a last-ditch effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, just one day after angrily accepting the measure's demise and vowing to allow President Barack Obama's signature domestic achievement to crater. Trump, staring down a high-profile defeat on an issue that has confounded him and defied party consensus, told Republican senators they must not leave Washington without acting on a measure to roll back Obama's health law and replace it with something better. Simply repealing the bill without an alternative would increase the number of people without health insurance by 17 million in 2018, a figure that would jump to 32 million in 2026, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. At a White House lunch, Trump warned the senators that any who stood in the way would be telling voters that they backed the current, "failed" program. "I intend to keep my promise, and I know you will too," Trump told them, trying to resurrect a measure that appeared dead Monday night, after a third and fourth Republican senator declared their opposition. That death was followed Tuesday by an eleventh-hour effort to force a vote on repealing the Affordable Care Act without a replacement, but that too failed when three Republican senators came out against it. The budget office report underscored Wednesday why the idea of repealing the Affordable Care Act without a replacement lost traction so quickly. Not only would the number of uninsured jump, but average premiums for people buying individual health insurance policies would increase by about 25 percent next year. By 2026, premiums would double. The president's demands for more negotiations amounted to his fourth position in three days on the health care bill. He began the week supporting a Senate effort to overhaul the law, but when it became clear late Monday that Republicans would fall short of the votes for that measure, he abruptly declared that lawmakers should simply repeal the law and start from a "clean slate" on an effort to replace it. Facing still more opposition for that strategy, he said Tuesday that Republicans should "let Obamacare fail" and blame it on Democrats. But by nightfall, Trump was scheduling a lunch with Republicans at the White House, designed to pressure them to redouble their efforts to find agreement on a full-scale replacement. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate With surveillance cameras in place at 25 sites across the city, Harris County Precinct 1 Constable Alan Rosen had a message at a press conference for anyone thinking about illegally dumping trash. "We're watching you," Rosen said in August 2016. "Don't mess with the city anymore, or you'll go to jail." Evidence gathered from the cameras since has led authorities to 617 instances of illegal activity, 349 of which have led to criminal charges since January 2016, according to data from Rosen's office. On Wednesday, City Council voted to bolster the program, approving $100,000 to install 14 more surveillance cameras in south and northwest Houston. Illegal dumping - an environmental crime that ranges from misdemeanor to felony, depending on the weight of the material dumped - predominantly affects Houston's low income, minority communities, which often lack security and trash pick-up resources. The cameras, funded partially by the city and managed by the environmental crimes unit at Rosen's office, are strategically placed near dumping "hot spots," capturing the license plates of people unloading tires, old furniture, construction debris and other garbage. "Illegal dumping destroys the quality of life in neighborhoods. Who wants to live around all that debris?" Rosen said. "We've had a lot of success with these cameras so far." The city initially provided $250,000 for a set of cameras in 2015, but the county since has expanded the program independently, bringing the total number of cameras currently deployed to around 75, according to Rosen. "Dumping is an injustice, a disservice, to my constituents," said District B Councilman Jerry Davis, whose district, alongside District D, will be the focus of the new cameras. "It's aesthetically unpleasing, and depreciates the value of the homes in these neighborhoods." The dumping sites can also pose health hazards, fostering rodents and mosquitoes, city officials say. Last fall, the city health department cleared more than 35,000 illegally dumped tires to eliminate potential breeding grounds of mosquitoes that could carry the Zika virus. The piles of trash also affect neighborhood infrastructure, clogging up ditches and contributing to flooding. "Dumping ruins communities and damages infrastructure," District D Councilman Dwight Boykins said. "The garbage runs down the city's drains and blocks the flow of water in residential neighborhoods." Robert Bullard, a professor at Texas Southern University sometimes referred to as the "father" of the national environmental justice movement, said that the disproportionately large number of landfills in Houston's poorer, black communities has led to larger amounts of illegal dumping in those areas. "Certain areas being are perceived as compatible with illegal dumping," Bullard said. "The pattern of areas has persisted for at least the past 30 years." Community members in District B already have organized a "hot team" to quickly identify and clean-up trash piles so others are not encouraged to dump. Davis hopes the cameras will assist those communities members in breaking this cycle of trash dumping. "Do you really want kids walking around thinking that its OK to live in a slum, around trash?" Davis said. The cameras, Rosen noted, have recorded more than just dumping. The 24-hour dispatch center monitoring camera footage helped to identify a stolen car and ATM machine, as well as captured a murder and an instance of child abuse, Rosen said. Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang (C) addresses the first China-U.S. Comprehensive Economic Dialogue in Washington July 19, 2017. Wang Yang on Wednesday called for cooperation between China and the U.S. instead of confrontation to address their differences. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) China and the United States discussed a one-year action plan of economic cooperation during the first China-U.S. Comprehensive Economic Dialogue (CED) on Wednesday. The dialogue "charted the course for China-U.S. economic cooperation," said a statement from the Chinese delegate who participated in the one-day talks on Wednesday. According to the statement, the two countries agreed to cooperate in areas such as macro economy, finance, trade, investment and global economic governance in the one-year action plan. They also agreed to work constructively together to address the trade imbalance between the two countries. Both sides will further expand cooperation in the service and manufacturing sectors, as well as increase trade in services and high-tech products. In terms of investment, the two countries will expand mutual investment and create a more open, equitable, transparent and convenient investment environment. Both sides will also strengthen macro-economic policy communication and coordination, and deepen practical cooperation in financial regulation and financial market development. With regard to international cooperation, China and the United States will enhance cooperation in the Group of 20 and on other global economic governance platforms, advance the reform of the international economic and financial systems, and promote the strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive development of the world economy. "China and the United States are each other's largest trading partner and major source of investment. Cooperation is the only right choice for the two sides," Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang said in his opening remarks at the CED on Wednesday. China-U.S. cooperation will benefit not only the companies and people of the two countries, but also the whole world, said Wang. The United States also acknowledged the importance of the bilateral economic relationship. "As the world's two largest economies and the major drivers of global growth, the United States and China have strong overlapping interests," said U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in his opening remarks at the CED. The two countries need to work together to maximize the benefits for both sides and develop a fair and balanced economic relationship between the two countries, said Mnuchin. Both China and the United States agreed that the dialogue has served the purpose of deepening mutual understanding, building mutual trust and expanding consensus, and laid a solid foundation for long-term and stable cooperation between the two countries, said the statement. DAVID MARTINEZ/AFP/Getty Images In an interview with Mexican publication El Blog del Narco, a reporter said a now-deceased Zetas cartel leader used to eat the flesh of victims. The journalist told the publication he had seen former Zetas leader Heriberto Lazcano, or "El Lazca," eat human flesh, according to El Blog del Narco. He said after the cartel leader would have someone killed, the victim would be cleaned and shaved, according to the publication. Epic showdown Regarding "Firefighters' demands will go before voters" (Page A3, Tuesday), in this battle between Mayor Sylvester Turner and the Houston Professional Firefighters Association, it's hard to figure out who to like less. Turner relied wholeheartedly on firefighter support in order to get elected, and it's a pretty safe bet he told them what they wanted to hear in order to garner that support. Then, once elected, he struck a pension deal they obviously despise. For their part, firefighters don't seem to realize that pension funds are crippling cities all across the country and have to be modified. Instead of trying to negotiate a deal they can live with, they just want to take their ball and go home. Because of Turner's perceived betrayal of the firefighters, it's easy to understand their frustration with him. But no one admires selfishness either and the firefighters are demonstrating that. Rob Mattingly, Houston Privatization? As politicians have promised and given more and more pay and benefits to police and firefighters over the past few decades in return for political support, the burden on the city has become unbearable. The latest request from the firefighters - parity in pay with the police - adds flames to this fire. They are totally different jobs. Why should there be parity? I am usually a foe of privatization, but in the case of police and firefighters, it seems the best solution. Then everyone's pay and benefits would reflect the market for those services - as with the rest of us. Dean Costis, Houston A former part-time paramedic at Texas County Memorial Hospital was arrested last week in Camden County on seven felony drug charges as well as endangering the welfare of a child. Vince Ray Loyd, 46, was arrested July 14 after members of the Lake Area Narcotics Enforcement Task Force and Camden County deputies served a search warrant at his Four Seasons home. He was charged with three counts of delivery of a controlled substance, four counts possession of a controlled substance and one count of endangering the welfare of a child. Loyd is being held in the Camden County Jail on a $30,000 cash-only bond. TCMH spokesperson Joleen Senter-Durham said Loyd was employed PRN as needed by the hospital since April. He previously worked for the Pulaski County Ambulance District and was a past employee of the Lake Ozark Fire Protection District. We have spoken with investigators in the case, and there were no issues with Mr. Loyd on any of the shifts he worked, Durham said. Like all employees at TCMH, he was required to pass a drug screening exam to be employed here. According to a probable cause statement, during a search of Loyds home, detectives found a white sock containing a condom full of urine, paperwork for a First Check self drug screen, a drug screening check and clothing, equipment and identifications for his employment as a paramedic in the master bedroom and bathroom closet. A minor son of Loyds was home at the time of the arrest. The Missouri Department of Social Services Childrens Division was contacted as well as the mother of the child. Authorities forced entry into the home at 11:15 p.m. and provided a copy of a search warrant. Seized from the home were: A metal tray containing lines of white powder, a cut straw with visible residue and a card with residue. Three white capsules imprinted with WATSON 853 (Acetaminophen and hydrocone bitartrate 325 mg/10mg. Three blue pills imprinted with A 215 (Oxycodone 30 mg). One orange pull imprinted with b 973 20 (Amphetamine and dextroamphetamine 20 mg). One pink pill imprinted with K 56 (Oxycodone 10 mg). Seven vacuum sealed bags containing marijuana (over 35 grams). One yellow pill imprinted with C 230 (Acetaminophen and oxycodone hydrochloride 325 mg / 10 mg). Seven vacuum sealed bags containing marijuana (over 35 grams). ONe yellow pill imprinted with C 230 (Acetaminophen and oxycodone hydrochloride 325 mg / 10 mg). One-half of a yellow pull imprinted with C 230 (Acetaminophen and oxycodone hydrochloride 325 mg / 10 mg). Ten and one-half gray pills imprinted with K 57 (Oxycodone 20 mg). An actavis Oxycodone Hydrochloride pill bottle containing 41 blue pills imprinted with A 215 (Oxycodone 30 mg). Five yellow pills imprinted with DAN 5619 5 (Diazepam 5 mg). Five pink pills imprinted with TEVA 73 (Zolpidem 5 mg). One green pill imprinted U30 (Amphetamine and dextroamphetamine 30 mg). 11 orange pills imprinted with b 9743 0 (Amphetamine and detroamphetamine 30 mg). Three white capsules imprinted with WATSON 853 (Acetaminophen and hydrocodone bitartrate 325 mg / 10 mg). Two white pulls imprinted with 027R (Alprazolam 0.25 mg). One gold Three Wise Monkeys ecstasy tablet (MDMA). Four vials of Succinylcholine chloride and a syringe. Three round rubber containers containing butane honey oil (marijuana wax). Two jars of marijuana. As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content. When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to. After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code. 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To share with friends and brethren The Gospel of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (the Everlasting Gospel), and to prepare a people to stand when He returns to redeem His remnant. Also, to share relevant information of current events, and to show how they relate to prophecy; By means of articles, editorials, opinions, scripture readings, and poetry. Disclaimer Endrtimes does not necessarily endorse or agree with every opinion expressed in every article/video posted on this site. The information provided here is done so for personal edification; It's up to the reader to separate truth from error, and to examine everything (like the Bereans) from a Biblical perspective. Let the Holy Scriptures be you guide! - - - FAIR USE NOTICE: These pages/videos may contain copyrighted () material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 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Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior general interest in receiving similar information for research and educational purposes. rly two-thirds of Ontario employers may have to lay off workers, or cut employees hours and entitlements, due to planned minimum wage hikes, according to HR professionals at those companies.And nearly half of employers will likely cut their use of casual, part-time and seasonal workers due to the Ontario governments proposed Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act The results from from a member survey by the Human Resources Professionals Association, released on Thursday, about the legislation, which will raise the minimum wage from the current $11.40 an hour to $14 an hour in January 2018, and $15 in January 2019.It will also require employers to pay casual, part-time, seasonal and temp workers the same as full-timers doing the same job, as well as expanding personal emergency leave to give all workers at least two paid days per year.While the survey of 1101 members found support for some of the proposed reforms, there was concern about several aspects of the changes.Overall, 61.2 percent of respondents indicated their employers will need to cut back on employees hours and benefits, or lay off employees completely, in order to comply with the minimum wage increase.And although 75.4 percent of respondents supported equal pay for equal work by casual, part-time and seasonal workers, 48 percent said they would most likely decrease the use of those workers.Eighty-six percent of respondents supported bringing Ontario's vacation time into line with the national average by ensuring at least three weeks' vacation after five years with the same employer, while 88.7 percent supported a change prohibiting employers from misclassifying employees as "independent contractors.Meanwhile, 74.5 percent of respondents did not support the proposed changes to union certification. HRPA said its members were concerned that a number of the policy changes could negatively impact Ontario's ability to compete in the global economy.Want the latest HR news direct to your inbox? Sign up for HRD Canada's daily newsletter Humane Society International has expressed sadness and indignation to reports of the killing of Xanda, the 6-year-old son of Cecil the lion whose own killing at the hands of an American trophy hunter caused international outcry two years ago. According to news reports, a hunter in Zimbabwe killed Xanda who was wearing a research collar, pointing to the hunters blatant disregard of scientific research crucial to the survival ofthis imperiled species. Masha Kalinina, international trade policy specialist for HSI, issued the following statement: The killing of Xanda just goes to show that trophy hunters have learned nothing from the international outcry that followed Cecils death. They continue at a time when lions face a conservation crisis in Africa, with as few as 20,000 lions left in the wild. Xanda was a well-studied lion like this father and critical to conservation efforts in Zimbabwe. To stop lions slipping into extinction, it is critical that countries like Zimbabwe keep as many lions alive as possible and shift away from the trophy hunting industry. They should follow the examples of Botswana and Kenya, which ban trophy hunting. Sign the pledge to end trophy hunting. Earlier this year, HSI commissioned a report conducted by Economists at Large that found that trophy hunting is not economically important in African countries, despite hunters claims. In Botswana, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe, trophy hunting brings in just 0.78 percent or less of the overall tourism spending and has only a marginal impact on employment in those countries, providing approximately 0.76 percent or less of overall tourism jobs. The total economic contribution of trophy hunters is at most an estimated 0.03 percent of gross domestic product. Before Cecil was killed, The Humane Society of the United States, HSI and other NGOs successfully petitioned the U.S. Department of the Interior to list the African lion under the Endangered Species Act. In 2015, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed lions on the Endangered Species Act, which prohibits imports of lion trophies from countries like Zimbabwe that are not sustainably managing lion hunting. Poachers and trophy hunters are driving lions to extinction. Fewer than 30,000 African lionsand possibly as few as 20,000are estimated to remain today. Lions exist in 8 percent of their former range and are suffering from loss of habitat and prey in addition to poorly regulated trophy hunting. The HSUS is also leading the fight to end trophy hunting of thousands of cougars, bobcats and other native carnivores being killed in the U.S. every year. Methods used to kill these animals include steel-jawed leghold traps, snares and packs of dogs who chase the animals. Media contacts: US: Rodi Rosensweig, 203-270-8929, TheRodiCompany@gmail.com UK: Wendy Higgins: whiggins@hsi.org, +44 (0)7989 972 423 Bahrain has slapped terrorism charges on an activist who tweeted criticism of the government's treatment of women, Amnesty International said Wednesday. Ebtisam al-Saegh was accused of "using human rights work as a cover" to communicate with the Geneva-based Al Karama foundation, and of undermining Bahrain's "status abroad", Amnesty reported. She was detained after retweeting a series of posts on July 3 critical of the king and National Security Agency. Representatives of Bahrain's justice ministry were not immediately reachable for comment. A statement carried on the state-run BNA news agency said four people were facing "terrorism charges", without naming them. A group of UN special rapporteurs on Tuesday warned Saegh may be subjected to "acts of torture" in detention. The activist had previously been arrested and released in May and has accused Bahraini security services of torture and assault during her detention. "Saegh is a prisoner of conscience who must be immediately and unconditionally released," said Amnesty's Samah Hadid. "By charging her with terrorism for her work on human rights, the Bahraini government is itself attempting to intimidate and silence civil society in Bahrain." Sunni-ruled Bahrain has been gripped by unrest since 2011, when a wave of protests erupted in the Shia-majority kingdom to demand an elected government. Authorities have since cracked down on all dissent, jailing hundreds of protestors and stripping clerics and high-profile activists of citizenship. The government has accused neighbouring Tehran of provoking unrest in the tiny kingdom, which lies across the Gulf from Shia Iran. Bahrain, an ally of the United States and home to its Fifth Fleet, has come under frequent criticism from international human rights groups for its crackdown on protestors. Search Keywords: Short link: Darrin Klimek via Getty Images I spent 36 months in prison. I met hundreds of vulnerable women suffering from mental, physical and emotional abuse - abuse that continues in the prison system. More specifically, my experience demonstrated to me that if you are poor and black you are more likely to be sent to prison and to continue to be treated unfairly by the system. Double Disadvantage, a report by Agenda, the alliance for women and girls at risk, and Women in Prison, focuses on the experiences of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) women in the criminal justice system and will help inform the Lammy Review into racial bias in the criminal justice system. Advertisement Double Disadvantage finds that they felt discriminated against throughout the process, from the courts to prison. This must change. As a black woman who has been through it, the report draws attention to many issues that are familiar to me - and the government must listen to our experiences so that we can stop this injustice. The court system In the courts, many of the women who spoke to the researchers for the report felt they were treated unfairly by judges and juries, who they said were often made up of white men. I identify with this because I too was treated badly. At the beginning of my trial, the white male judge asked my lawyer where I was from. She replied that I was from the Caribbean to which the judge said he would need to stop the case until an interpreter was found as "people from the Caribbean don't speak proper English". Throughout the trial the judge made derogatory comments. In addition, a member of the jury made faces at me and mouthed that she was going to "send me down". I felt helpless. I asked my barrister to take up the issue of discrimination but she advised me that it wouldn't do me any favours especially as the judge and I hadn't had the best start. Women in the Double Disadvantage report also said they were not listened to or kept informed about what was going on in court. Most were unaware of whether they had a pre-sentence report. I was refused one. I was also not allowed to produce any character references although it was my first experience of the criminal justice system. Advertisement It was then that I realised I was alone and that there would be no justice for me as a black woman. Prison This became even more apparent once I was in prison when I met white women, with similar convictions, but who received shorter sentences. Many of these women expressed surprise at the sentence I received. The evidence shows that black women are more likely to be given custodial sentences than white women for the same offences. Then there is racism in the prison itself. Black, Asian and ethnic minority women in the report talked about how they experienced racism from both staff and other prisoners. My experience of treatment varied in different prisons. The now closed HMP Holloway prison, for example, was a more diverse environment and some staff worked hard to promote equality and diversity. There was also good support for women for drug and alcohol addiction and lots of other services including addressing women's spiritual wellbeing. The system in another prison was very different. The building and physical structure might have been better than at Holloway but that doesn't matter when there is little support, cultural understanding and few positive relationships with staff, particularly in their attitude to black and ethnic minority women - something several women reported in Double Disadvantage. To give one example, the canteen had fourteen tables where we would meet for lunch and dinner, the one time we could all get together. Officers complained that they were intimidated by the "black table" and they separated us. We were not alone, this was something other women told Agenda and Women in Prison had happened to black and Asian groups. Advertisement Afraid to speak out In prison, women seek support from each other particularly from women of similar background who understand each other and share the same values. Officers didn't understand this and would break up groups and friendships to exercise control. Women were even moved to other prisons overnight, so, you would wake up in the morning and your friend was gone. Women are afraid to speak out about being badly treated for fear of being moved to other prisons or in case reprisals are exacted by officers. I witnessed a black girl, who dared to stand up for herself. She was dragged out of her cell, unclothed. Another issue is that little provision is made for cultural differences. Food and items available in the canteen were very limited - I and others managed to introduce some of the more basic items such as rice and peas on the menu and jerk chicken. It took a lot of meetings but by the time I left there were some changes. We had to work hard to ensure basic items for hair and hygiene for the black minority community. All of which is so important for well-being and self-esteem and motivation. Like me, women in Double Disadvantage suggested they had to work harder to get privileges because of racism too. Even when you did acquire items the over-punishing Incentives and Earned Privileges system meant you didn't keep them for long. Barriers At first, after release from prison, it was frightening. I was placed in temporary accommodation with three women who suffered from addiction and mental ill-health. They received inadequate support and within weeks they relapsed and were recalled to prison. All they needed was some help. Advertisement I've tried to be strong and confident but sometimes as a woman, it really hurts when you are trying to move forward and there are so many barriers to overcome to achieve basic human rights such as a safe place to live in which to rebuild your life. Even months later the struggle continues and I'm still in temporary accommodation and battling ill-health. It's no wonder women with no-one to turn to go back. I wonder if society knows the true human and financial cost of prison? How long are we going to keep covering up our failings to support those with mental illness and the most vulnerable by housing them in prison? As Double Disadvantage recommends, there needs to be much more focus on community support rather than custody if we want to improve the lives of the most vulnerable women. I wish that I, and all women that have had similar experiences, can stop being afraid and are able to express themselves freely and openly to raise awareness of the truth of what is happening in prisons. I hope the government will listen to what we have to say. Since Pokemon Go brought augmented reality to mainstream attention in the summer of 2016, AR has been one of the technologies spoken about with most potential. I think I have lost count of the many, many promises made and the many, many attempts by companies to bring this to the end-user. The problem with so many augmented reality plans, is that they seem to think Pokemon GO was some worldwide phenomena, that monetised augmented reality for the first time just because of the technology. Pokemon GO succeeded, where others have since failed, by tapping into an established user base and presenting the technology via the most accessible means available - the smart phone already in people's pockets. The truth is that AR is being held back from large-scale adoption for two reasons. The first is the lack of accessibility. Every suggested AR idea comes with a new piece of kit. From the 3,000 HoloLens, to the still officially alive Google Glass, to even potentially-useful products such as Hear One, every company is looking for end-users to purchase a new item. Advertisement The second, equally important, factor that holds augmented reality back is, quite simply, the lack of potential applications. The tech is there, not just in sight but across multiple senses, augmented reality has spread to what we hear and is even moving into what we touch. But the issue remains - what are we actually going to use it for? This presents a slight chicken and egg problem: AR has few applications because few people are using it; few people are using it because it has few applications. Enter that one company with a track record known across the world for taking existing technology and presenting it in a way people actually want to use. Come on down, Apple. With the launch of their ARKit, as part of the new iOS, Apple is coming to the AR party in a big way, and the huge beast that it is could end it all for everyone else. With access to a user base in the region of 1 billion people, and augmented reality presented in a way people already use, their phones, this is the next and the best chance yet for AR to really enter mainstream. Apple is about to simultaneously put augmented reality into the hands of everyone with an iPhone or iPad. With just the download of an app, the end-user will have access to AR on a device they carry with them everyday. The sheer reach of Apple's ARKit will lead to developers launching new applications for this technology in time for launch and quickly after it. Done correctly, the chicken and egg can come at the same time. Advertisement While this may be another AR flop, the Google Glass of today, Apple has a real chance to turn augmented reality into its next big success. The company that gave us the smartphone as we know it may even become the first company to extend AR beyond sight, for the mass market. With the new airpods, the internet of things enabled HomeKit and the upcoming smart speaker HomePod, Apple can build augmented reality into a true ecosystem. It is plausible, or even likely, that in very short order, sound will be augmented by airpods, sight by phones and with the smart speaker aware of your surroundings and IoT enabled devices controlled by HomeKit, a true augmented reality will be brought to market by Apple. This represents the next, best chance for AR to get beyond the 13-15% of market penetration any technology requires to become accepted. If done right, Apple can answer the question 'what am I going to use this for' and by placing AR in the palm of your hand, end the need for new kit. iOS 11 launches this September, with ARKit predicted to be a core part of the update. For the end-user AR could, by the end of the year, become a fact of life. For companies developing AR devices; time to work out how not to become the next Nokia or share their fate. Advertisement We've all had a great time playing around at the AR party. The teenagers of funky tech have been having it large on the possibilities of augmented reality. From September, the parents are back in town and the party is over. Or it will flop again. But does anyone really want to bet against Apple taking existing technology and packaging it in a way its evangelicals love and the rest use because it is easy and better? Kevork Djansezian / Reuters I was trying to write a show for The Edinburgh Festival Fringe. I had writer's block and started flipping through Netflix. I came across Amy Schumer's The Leather Special. It had a one star rating, which intrigued me. I was curious to see how bad it was. Instead, I was blown away by how good it was. I watched in amazement as Amy performed with a new level of freedom, confidence and physicality. She had broken through to a new dimension as a comedian. It was truly awe inspiring. The content was honest, relatable and fucking hilarious. How the fuck did it only have one star? I couldn't figure it out. I assumed it might have something to do with her saying she would push a man off a mountain if he told her performing oral sex on women wasn't his thing. It was misogynistic men who'd given her special a shit rating. Advertisement I stuck with that conclusion until I talked to a girlfriend who told me she didn't like The Leather Special because it'd made her feel uncomfortable. She found it to be crude and icky. "I mean, she was talking about how her vagina smells. How gross can you get?" I wondered if my girlfriend's vagina had never smelled and thus she found the prospect of that one day coming to pass a terrifying one. I found Amy's admission that her vagina smells like "a small barnyard animal" on its best day, comforting and more than that, freeing. Because vaginas do not smell like flowers, or peaches or other allegorical terms used to describe them. They do often smell more bestial than floral, and I imagine taste more sour than sweet. But despite that fact, Amy Schumer will push a man off Red Rocks if that man says performing oral sex on women "isn't his thing." Thank God! I will help her push him. How many women have performed oral sex on men without having those men do the same for them? I have. And I have encountered some pungent penises in my day, but that hasn't stopped me from wanting to give my partners pleasure. However, when those men didn't do the same for me, or worse, only devoted a half-hearted minute or two to the endeavor, I invariably would wonder, "Oh, God, does it smell bad?", instead of thinking, "what an asshole" and getting the hell out of dodge as soon as possible. But, as Amy states, women have been taught to hate themselves. I have been taught to hate myself. Advertisement I felt liberated and inspired by Amy's honesty. Why did my friend feel so irritated by it? Probably for the same reason people felt compelled to tell Amy that posing semi-nude for a Pirelli Calendar pic was "brave" (something she covers hilariously in her special). Because women have been shamed for years, hell, probably since the beginning of time. We are shamed for talking openly and honestly about sex, we are shamed for having sex, we are shamed for not having sex, we are shamed for being too fat, we are shamed for being too thin, we are shamed for not wanting to show off our bodies, we are shamed for showing off our bodies, we are shamed for performing fellatio, we are shamed for not performing fellatio, we are shamed for orgasming too loudly, we are shamed for not being able to orgasm, we are shamed for having careers, we are shamed for not having careers, we are shamed for having children, we are shamed for not having children, and worst of all, we are shamed for aging. How dare we demand that a man do the same for us sexually as we do for him? How dare we admit that we don't love the taste of semen? And how dare we pose nude if we don't have six pack abs? We are all human beings in these amazing bodies that allow us to go on this incredible journey known as life. Why shouldn't all women feel comfortable posing nude for a photo? Why shouldn't all humans feel comfortable posing nude for a photo? I asked a male friend of mine to watch The Leather Special to get his thoughts. His conclusion: it worked because she wasn't playing the fat girl, but instead saying, "I might be overweight but I am still a sexual being". Huh? That was what he had gleaned? The problem with that conclusion is that Amy Schumer is not fat. She is probably an American size six or maybe an eight. Not fat. But, my friend sees her as a fat girl who is doing something "bold" by claiming her sexuality. Just as her fans feel it is "brave" that she'd posed semi-nude. Why is it bold for a woman to claim her sexuality or brave for her to pose semi-nude for a photo? Why aren't those things normal? The answer to that question is the same answer to this question: Why did my mother used to tell me, "clothes look better on the hanger, honey. The thinner you are, the better clothes will look on you. That's why models are so thin." Because we have been sold a ridiculous standard of female beauty which is extremely far off from what an average healthy body looks like, so we can all be driven to hate ourselves and then buy products that might help us look like the people we see in magazines. In the meantime, we should all shut up and hope we can find a man who will go down on us. Maybe there is a product we should buy to make that more pleasant for him? Amy Schumer is not fat. Vaginas smell. Men need to go down on women and talking about all of that is what makes Amy Schumer brave; not her posing semi-nude for a photo. And expressing what it truly feels like to be a woman in a man's world is not crude, it's liberating. Maybe watching The Leather Special makes you feel icky now, but it might free your daughter from feeling ashamed later. Thank God I had watched it. I was ready to write my show. And I was going to start with how I became a bulimic teenage model. Emotional Terrorism is at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe from 3rd - 26th August at 9pm at Just The Tonic at The Caves. Tickets can be bought here: Just The Tonic Ellyn Daniels will be performing Emotional Terrorism in London on the below dates: Wednesday 26th & Thursday 27th July - The Courtyard Theatre, Hoxton, 7.30pm Tickets Friday 28th & Saturday 29th July - Hen and Chickens Theatre, Islington, 7.30pm Tickets Sunday 30th July - The Rosemary Branch Theatre, Shoreditch, 2.30pm and 7.30pm Tickets Gettyimage/ "We would not want to be accused of incentivizing inappropriate use, and provoking complaints, by significantly reducing the price of this product." So wrote Boots chief pharmacist Marc Donovan in a letter to bpas. To what dangerous, immoral drug could he possibly be referring? Advertisement Emergency contraception, of course! That is, a safe and essential medicine, which gives women a second chance of avoiding unwanted pregnancy. Today, if a woman at a Boots pharmacy needs emergency contraception she will pay up to double what she would've had she been at a Tesco or a Superdrug, who have both cut their prices over the last month after bpas wrote to them to ask them to review their pricing and offer woman a more affordable product. But Boots refuses to follow their example, keeping their cost at 28.25 for Levonelle (the name-brand pill) and 26.75 for their own generic brand. Why? For fear of those with an ideological opposition to emergency contraception. The idea that a leading high-street pharmacy would base their policies on the views of a tiny minority who do not believe women should be able to control their fertility is simply absurd. It's also difficult to believe that in 2017 anyone would think that lowering the cost of emergency contraception would encourage women to use it "inappropriately." Women across Europe, where emergency contraception is up to five times cheaper, are apparently capable of "appropriate" use. Boots' assumption that UK women are incapable of making decisions about their own bodies is, quite frankly, sexist and offensive. Women do not need anyone to make their reproductive decisions for them. This attitude is especially disappointing coming from a company which has purported to be a champion of women in the past. They have enlisted celebrated feminist names, such as the author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, in recent advertising campaigns. Yet when it comes to making a change that would actually help women access vital reproductive health care, Boots is resolute in its refusal. Advertisement Boots isn't owning up to the storm of criticism it's now facing, instead emphasising the importance of the pharmacist consultation required to purchase the morning after pill. This is, indeed, beside the point - Superdrug and Tesco are of course still implementing the same requisite pharmacist consultation. Making the pill more affordable to women seems not to inhibit their ability to do so, despite what Boots might state. The move by Superdrug and Tesco to make emergency contraception more accessible is an important step forward, and they should be applauded. Women can obtain emergency contraception free on the NHS, but for a medication which is crucially time-sensitive, that often is not a feasible option. And for many, the high cost of emergency contraception at high street retailers is prohibitive. Superdrug and Tesco have now made a change to remedy this reproductive injustice. Peter Nicholls / Reuters In the run-up to this year's general election, the Labour leader had some fine words for students and graduates. He claimed that university tuition fees had put the poorest young people off attending university, and so he would abolish tuition fees. And when asked about the debt of those had already been to university, he said confidently that he would "deal with it". But since the election, these messages have unravelled like an old jumper. It's hard to avoid the conclusion that students and graduates have been the victim of a cynical bait-and-switch. Advertisement Let's begin with the claim that "fewer working class young people are applying to university". It is simply false. Not only are application rates among 18-year-olds in England at a record high, but so are those from disadvantaged and black and minority ethnic backgrounds. Students from disadvantaged backgrounds are in fact now an astonishing 43% more likely to go than in 2009/10. Drop-out rates for young, mature, disadvantaged and BME students are lower now than they were when the coalition Government came to power in 2010. Our system is delivering on its three core objectives. First, to make university education accessible to people from disadvantaged backgrounds, not just a moneyed elite; second, to fund our institutions so they can provide world-class teaching and research; and third, to share the cost fairly between the individual benefiting from a higher lifetime earnings and taxpayers in general, most of whom will not have attended university. Removing fees, and making the taxpayer bear the full cost of our higher education system, would have calamitous consequences for social mobility, it would be disastrous for teaching and research and it would be a hammer blow to taxpayers. Advertisement Why? The immediate effect would be the reintroduction of strict student number controls, which would disproportionately reduce attendance by poorer young people with potential but without the grades. We have seen this play out in Scotland, where the Government's policy of avoiding tuition fees meant that it was obliged to cap university places, with particularly negative consequences for less advantaged students. The most disadvantaged 18-year-olds in England are 2.4 times less likely to go to university than those from the most - a statistic we are working hard to improve. But in Scotland, with no fees and student number caps, the difference is greater than four times. The second effect would be to starve universities of resources by making them compete head-on with all the other pressing claims on government spending, including our schools and our NHS. The experience of direct grant-funded HE systems, from Scotland to Continental Europe, is that they struggle to sustain per student funding. In Scotland, the average Scottish-domiciled university place was underfunded by 6% in 2014/15, according to Audit Scotland. In Germany, which is debating reintroducing fees, per-student funding levels have fallen 10% since 2008. And we have our own experience of what can go wrong: in the two decades before England introduced fees, resource per student fell by over 40%. We could expect a similar fall over time if we abolished fees today. Let's not turn the clock back. The OECD said that since we introduced fees, England was "one of the few countries to have figured out a sustainable approach to higher education finance". The students of the future deserve our world-class university system, not the mediocrity that would result from sharp falls in per student funding. Advertisement The third effect would be to hammer tax payers. That's because abolishing fees and reintroducing grants would cost taxpayers 12billion a year, which means the equivalent of an extra 2p on the basic rate of income tax. And dealing with historic and outstanding student debt would cause an increase in our national debt of roughly 100billion, or some 3,500 debt per household. It is no wonder that Labour has begun to backtrack on its commitment. Barely a month after the election, the Shadow Education Secretary said they were actually trying to work the policy out on "a big abacus". The Shadow Health Secretary said it was "just an ambition". John McDonnell even said: "it wasn't a promise". We all know what that means. It means it is never ever going to happen. It means a banner commitment to young people has been abandoned just a few weeks after the General Election. It is the oldest trick in the book: saying one thing before polling day and another afterwards. The clarity of "I will deal with it" is suddenly and cynically being obscured by spin and bluster. Over five million people have student debt. Jeremy Corbyn told each of those people he would get rid of it. That was a deception, calculated to win people's votes and trust - a promise thrown out as soon as the ballot boxes were opened. Everyone should remember that next time Corbyn tries to claim he represents 'straight-talking honest politics'. It happened one night in 2014. Boko Haram stormed a boarding school in the town of Chibok and kidnapped nearly 300 female students. For the sake of simplicity, let us focus on the two narratives that then went viral worldwide and in Nigeria, where the crime happened. One told the facts behind the incident and asked a global audience to keep pressuring the government to rescue the captives, more popularly known as the #BringBackOurGirls campaign. Another claimed the Chibok girls kidnapping was a hoax. In a TED Talk entitled "How fake news does real harm," CNN journalist Stephanie Busari returns to her encounters while reporting from the field. Since the kidnapping, she has also met with some of the captive girls' families, as well as the girls who escaped by jumping off the truck that carried them that night. Despite their firsthand stories, the alternative fact that the crime did not happen continues to persist in the country. Busari believes the hoax narrative significantly delayed rescue operations. But while it is the job of journalists like her -- as well as people from places like Google and Facebook -- to ensure fake news does not spread, ordinary citizens like you and me also have a role to play. Advertisement "We are the ones who share the content. We are the ones who share the stories online. In this day and age, we're all publishers, and we have responsibility," says Busari. Since we are stakeholders in this information exchange, we have to treat it like a process in which we are not only reactors but also actors. As actors, it matters that we remain sceptical. Being sceptical, in the sense of extending our suspension of judgment, is a virtue. We exhibit this virtue through asking tough questions, just as Busari encourages. Take this comparison for instance. No loan provider is supposed to approve an application without due diligence. The assumption that credentials can be faked overrides the lending procedures of banks and other financial institutions. But how do we translate due diligence or enact scepticism in our daily lives? Are we not supposed to just "click and go," particularly on Facebook and Twitter? Advertisement While it is indeed not required to spare mental space for things that we are supposed to scan on our feeds, it is precisely this act of instant gratification that begs the question on why we should filter what goes in our heads. There are already studies that support the negative impact of online reading on our brains. Consuming digital content may be great for gathering information faster, but it does not promote deep, analytical thinking. In other words, we can be piling up mostly junk information while browsing content materials on our social accounts. Sharing useless data with another person is just the inevitable consequence of this unguarded participation in the communication cycle. This is not to say that we stop posting and talking about stories we resonate with (from feline photos to Donald Trump). But this is a reminder that we should open our minds to the possibility of endangering other people when we do not think before we click. Further, our brains deserve some challenge -- the challenge of asking tough questions. Perhaps we can borrow Busari's line of questioning. In her talk, she shares three things to ask when discovering stories in whatever form online: Why is this person telling me this story? What do they have to gain by sharing this information? Do they have a hidden agenda? It is important that we ask these questions. Countering misinformation is not only the responsibility of a selected few -- like journalists and technocrats -- but of every citizen, or netizen if you will. The fabric of social media is made up of individual threads, of individual minds. About time we also treat the digital realm as an extension of our society, not just a virtual place for escape. We have functions to fulfils here as we have ones in the physical world. Because the fact of the matter is there are real, and potentially dangerous, consequences if we ignore it further. Los Angeles can be an intimidating beast to tackle when you first visit, but its gems can be easily uncovered if you know where to look. The regeneration of Downtown has brought a surge of new energy and blood to LA's centre, and tourists are rightly making time to explore it. If you don't have a car, it's still accessible by Metro, bus or Uber. Head to Pershing Square and walk from there. A concentration of some of the finest Art Deco buildings in America can be found here, invoking the spirit of Old Hollywood and the Jazz Age. Some lie in disrepair, some renovated, and it's now possible to take a walking tour of them with the LA Conservancy. Advertisement Downtown is a very different scene from Hollywood and the beaches. The Ace Hotel, housed in the 1927 United Artists Building, is well worth a visit, if only to catch sunset from its rooftop bar. So is the LA Public Library and the stunning Biltmore, where the Academy Awards used to be held. Try and sneak a peek into the stunning ballroom. Alongside Art Deco are some more modern, avant-garde creations. The futuristic-looking Broad museum showcases contemporary art from famous names such as Jeff Koons and Cindy Sherman, and, unlike many galleries in America, is free (though go early to avoid queuing). Next to that is the silver wave-form, Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall - home to the LA Philharmonic. And across the road from that, the MACMA. All very accessible from Grand Central Market, open since 1917 and serving everything from vegan ramen to craft ales. It also contains one of my favourite coffee shops in the city - G&B. The market's open until 10pm, so you can easily tag it on to your day. LA's Fashion District is around the corner from the Ace hotel, and a visit to FIDM museum is a great way to get up close to some of the incredible costumes worn movies including La La Land, Captain Fantastic, Batman and Zoolander. Advertisement Fans of good food and cocktails should book tables at Cecconi's in West Hollywood, Gjelina's on Abbot Kinney, SmokeHouse near Warner Bros Studios, and the Chateau Marmont - all of which are must-visits. I also rate Farmshop in Santa Monica for Sunday brunch. Old Hollywood glamour abounds in LA's famous hotels. One of my favourites is the Hollywood Roosevelt, which saw the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Marilyn Monroe grace its doors. But also the Bel-Air, whose hillside setting makes for a great base, almost like a retreat. And as LA's traffic is famously terrible, a great way of seeing everything is to book a helicopter tour. There are a few operators, but I went with Group 3 Aviation, based out of Van Nues airport. They'll take you on an unforgettable ride, flying over Topanga Canyon, along Santa Monica and Venice, then over Downtown, the Hollywood Sign and Griffith Observatory, which look even more impressive from the sky. It's a truly memorable experience. To visit the Observatory on foot, I recommend using the Dash bus (which costs 50 cents) or hiking up from the Greek Theatre. You can also take a guided tour from Bikes & Hikes, who will tell you all about the history of the park and Griffith J. Griffith, after whom the park is named. And if you go late afternoon, you can then catch sunset from one of the Observatory's balconies - a classic end to a day in LA. For more LA tips, visit www.DiscoverLosAngeles.com. Or visit Katie's blog, FoodieWeekender. Advertisement Advertisement oversnap via Getty Images There is cause for alarm. Something has happened to slow health improvement in the UK. It is entirely reasonable to think that health just gets better and better. Indeed, over the last century, in the UK, life expectancy showed a steady increase: about one year every 3.5 years in men; about one year every five years in women. As you think about it, such improvement is quite remarkable: every 24 hours male life expectancy increased nearly seven hours. Since 2010, this rate of increase has halved. Indeed, the increase has more or less ground to a halt. What's going on? The first thing to say is that we have not reached peak life expectancy. A levelling off is not inevitable. In the Nordic countries, in Japan, in Hong Kong, life expectancy is greater than ours and continues to increase. There must, inevitably, come a point where levelling off occurs, but we are not there yet Advertisement In considering reasons for this stalling, there is another part of the picture that claims attention: inequality. Since we published Fair Society Healthy Lives, the Marmot Review, in 2010 we have been monitoring health inequalities and their social determinants. In our July 2017 publication, we showed the longest life expectancy in the country was in the richest borough, Kensington and Chelsea: 83 for men and 86 for women. By contrast, the lowest life expectancy was in the North: Blackpool, 74 for men; Manchester, 79 for women. Even more dramatic than these regional inequalities are the inequalities within local areas. In Kensington and Chelsea, life expectancy was 14 years shorter among the most disadvantaged compared to the best off. Alarming, but perhaps not surprising. Kensington and Chelsea may be the richest local area in the country, it is also the most unequal economically. The average salary in Kensington and Chelsea is 123,000. But the median is 32,700; i.e half the earners have 32,700 or less. There are some very high earners in the borough. Parenthetically, no prize for guessing correctly that Grenfell Tower, the tower block that went up in flames, is in the poor part of the borough. In the Marmot Review, we identified six domains that cause health inequalities and where action is required to reduce them: early child development, education, employment and working conditions, minimum income for healthy living, healthy and sustainable places to live and work, and taking a social determinants approach to prevention. Each of these raises cause for concern. To illustrate, our fourth recommendation was that in a rich country such as Britain everyone should have at least the minimum income necessary for a healthy life. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation monitors the minimum income standard - akin to our minimum income for healthy living. In 2008/9 about 25% of people lived in households with incomes below the minimum income standard. By 2014/15 this had risen to 30%. Not just the very poor, but the just about managing simply do not have sufficient income to lead a healthy life. Advertisement Inequalities in these social determinants provide potential explanations for a slowing of improvement. It is worth, though, thinking about the elderly, specifically. The majority of deaths occur after age 75. Here, as well as effects from earlier in life, it is possible that spending on social care and health care could have much more immediate effects. Spending on adult social care has been reduced by more than 6%, since 2009/10 at a time when the population aged 65 and over increased by a sixth. Given that we show a big increase in deaths with dementia written on the certificate, and given the growth in the number of people aged 85+, there will be an increase in the need for social care. With cuts in funding, it is likely that there are unmet needs. Similarly, funding of the NHS, which historically increased at about 3.8% a year since the late '70s, has, since 2010 been increasing at about 1.1%. And the spending per person is projected to go down. It is tempting to link policies of austerity since 2010 to the slowing in increase in life expectancy since 2010. So far, I have resisted that temptation. What I would conclude, though, is that less generous spending on social care and health will have adverse impacts on quality of life of the elderly. It is urgent to determine whether austerity also shortens lives. The news stories around disruptive tech companies and bogus self-employment are one side of the Gig Economy story. But beyond the cabs and couriers, flexibility is becoming the preferred working model for employees and entrepreneurs alike. Every job, to some extent - even the apocryphal 40 years of service ending in cake and a gold-plated watch - is a gig. The word 'gig' started out, in 1920s jazz parlance, as a truncation of 'engagement'. Matthew Taylor's Modern Employment Review this month battled with the problems of the Gig Economy - specifically the emerging workforce springing up around more successful digital 'disruptor' companies like Uber, Deliveroo and TaskRabbit. There are undeniable downsides to this mechanised, job-by-job approach to engaging staff, particularly when workers feel pressurised into long hours on the clock - or worse, on unpaid standby - without the holiday, sick-pay and pension benefits afforded by full time work. Zero hours contracts have the same bad rep, with their unpredictable shift patterns, lack of notice and no minimum hours guaranteed. Advertisement Of course, any trend in working culture that leaves the door open to stealth feudalism and bogus self-employment must be taken seriously. Many of Taylor's findings and suggestions for improving the conditions for the disparate workforce in the Gig Economy have been cautiously welcomed, although many commentators and politicians felt he didn't go far enough. But there's another story here beyond legislating against exploitation of this emerging workforce. It's less sensational right now, but it's potentially revolutionary... The world of work has been changing for a while - more people than ever before are seeking out flexibility in their working lives. We have an ageing population expected to stay in work longer but unable to commit to regular work, whilst increasing living costs with stagnating wages means more people taking on second jobs to supplement their income. Some people are parents and carers, people pursuing their own business or creative goals, and some just can't face the weekly grind anymore. More of us each year are choosing self-employment, freelancing and causal work over job security - 15% of us are now our own boss. According to a recent survey, seven out of ten workers in London would prefer more flexible hours, but don't feel they can ask their current employers without risking disapproval. And along with the growing number of people who want and need flexible working there are new, small-to-medium sized businesses - in the traditional as well as the digital sectors - who can't yet afford to take on full time staff, and who rely on gig workers and zero hours contracts. Many small-to-medium size businesses are dependent on their casual workforce; it's not in their interest to exploit them when their business growth model depends on flexibility. Professionals, creatives, skilled manual, personal services and admin make up 80% of the Gig Economy, but these everyday fair-exchange-is-no-robbery stories don't make headlines. We're still playing catch up with the implications of this shift. Legislating for employment rights and simplification of taxation is a good start, but we need to put our insurers, banks and pension providers under pressure to provide products that can service this new community of flexible workers and also give employers wanting to embrace this new culture a range of services to support their temporary employees. One of the big concerns for workers on zero hours contracts is institutional bias around perceived financial insecurity. Even getting mobile phone contracts can be problematic, never mind a mortgage. Advertisement Anyone who seriously believes that a government dictat obliging the BBC to reveal salaries of its top talent was genuinely driven by concerns about accountability should look carefully at those who champion the cause. The report which details the salaries of those high profile presenters, newsreaders and journalists who earn over 150,000 will prompt wholly predictable denunciations in the columns of the right wing press about overpaid luvvies being subsidised by licence payers. They will be illustrated with choice quotes from the usual political suspects whose loathing for the BBC is just about exceeded by their contempt for supporters of the European Union. Advertisement They are the same publishers, politicians and critics who for decades have used any excuse to rail against an institution held in deep affection by the vast majority of licence payers and commanding huge admiration around the world. For newspapers like The Sun, Daily Mail and Telegraph, there is barely disguised commercial self-interest in wanting the most trusted and popular purveyor of free journalism scaled back to insignificance. For the right wing of the Conservative Party, there is a deep ideological conviction that private is always better than public, and only the market can deliver value - not to mention a passionate belief in the BBC's left-wing bias, despite clear evidence to the contrary. For politicians across the spectrum, there is the discomfort of being interrogated by the likes of Eddie Mair and John Humphrys. This is a measure foisted on the BBC by its enemies, and has nothing whatsoever to do with holding the corporation to account for public expenditure. Advertisement Consider for a moment the real argument about transparency and accountability. It is eminently reasonable that licence fee payers should have information about high earners, escalating costs, and gender, age or minority inequalities. But it is perfectly possible to achieve all of those objectives with anonymous data which do not identify specific individuals. Yes, there is a gender pay gap - which Tony Hall has pledged to eradicate. He and the BBC will rightly be held accountable for that commitment, as they will for ensuring that overall top earners' pay goes down rather than up. But we really do not need to know how much Laura Kuenssberg earns to make sure the BBC exercises proper stewardship over our money. Now consider the real damage that these disclosures could inflict. Competitors will be gleefully scouring BBC salaries for precise information on how they might lure away top talent. That in turn will inflate talent salaries across the board. Meanwhile, the BBC becomes a less attractive place for star presenters who may not enjoy having details of their pay plastered all over the tabloid press. So the BBC starts to lose some of its popular presenters, which is then reflected in ratings, which is then used by BBC detractors to attack a universal payment. The BBC becomes diminished. Meanwhile, BBC journalists interrogating politicians on, say, their expenses or austerity policies, will be challenged about their own salaries. That would be fine if all journalistic salaries were published - without discrimination between commercial and public sector, print or broadcast. But this puts the BBC at a significant disadvantage when compared to their colleagues at ITV, Channel 4, Sky or in the printed press. Advertisement BBC trust The rest of the world looks to the BBC as a trusted, independent source of information, when investment in journalism is being undermined by the major tech companies. Yet one of the BBC's most cherished characteristics - its independence - is being undermined by a government determined to do the bidding of the corporation's longstanding enemies. If any more evidence is needed of how we got here, just consider the history of the new BBC Charter which brought today's disclosures. The former culture secretary, John Whittingdale - long wedded to the notion of a smaller, market-gap BBC - pushed for a disclosure threshold of 150,000. But after personal intervention by then prime minister David Cameron, the BBC White Paper published last year set the minimum at 450,000. Then came the referendum, Cameron's demise and Theresa May's elevation. In September last year, just before May visited Rupert Murdoch in New York, her new culture secretary Karen Bradley announced that the threshold would, after all, be 150,000. Cue much rejoicing among those newspapers and columnists who had done so much to assist Mrs May's rapid rise to the top. At last year's Edinburgh TV festival, ITV's programmes chief Kevin Lygo called the proposal "mean-spirited". Tony Hall has said that it will "not make it easier for the BBC to retain the talent the public love". Conservative peer and one of the most experienced broadcasters and talent impresarios in the country, Michael Grade, has called it "disgraceful". Advertisement The BBC, the talent and licence payers will all lose out. It is a wholly unnecessary and spiteful idea born simply out of political expedience. Related 100,000 electronic subsidy cards to be distributed in Egypt following bread crisis Majority bloc in Egyptian parliament supports pound flotation and fuel subsidy cuts The Illicit Gains Authority has referred two employees from the Smart Cards Applications Company to criminal court on charges of graft allegedly worth EGP 60 million. They are alleged to have squandered public funds, committed a dereliction of their professional duties, and laundered money. The company is one of three responsible for printing subsidy cards that track beneficiaries allocations of subsidised food. The two employees are accused of fraudulently creating one million cards by duplicating existing cards, activating cancelled cards, and issuing cards to those who were not eligible. Egypt introduced an electronic smart card system in 2014, replacing an old paper card system, to distribute bread and other food products to 71 million registered beneficiaries. The new system aimed at curbing waste. Egypt is the world's biggest wheat importer at an estimated 11 million tonnes per year, in part due to its large-scale bread subsidy system. Search Keywords: Short link: syolacan via Getty Images "Art A-level, yeh that's cool but it isn't a proper A-level is it?" - something I heard a lot growing up. Sure, I laughed this off, trying to take it in the light-hearted jest it was meant. But it's no laughing matter, the arts are integral to society with boundless benefits that encourage diversity, add to the economic climate and can even ease mental illness. Cuts to funding may seem like surface wounds but they could have deep consequences. Instagram has democratised photography; the addictive app is a perfect example of how our appetite for the arts and visual stimuli is only growing. Yet the arts are often viewed as a devalued, side-lined subject in the education sector or an elitist hobby for the wealthy in adult life. It's one thing for my school friends to imply creative subjects are in someway 'inferior' to other seemingly traditional subjects, however it's another to have society affirm the prejudice in monetary value. Cuts are hitting the arts in a big way with a funding restrictions made on Arts Council funding, local government and most frighteningly for me, the education sector. Advertisement Being dyslexic, I know first-hand the huge relief that studying art and music brought to me at school. The subjects offered a balance between academic studies and challenging my creativity, providing a sanctuary from the constant mental struggle I felt when trying to keep up in other classes. It also helped me with my personal development; my performance in other subjects started to improve and I'm not alone on this. Research from multiple professors including James S. Cattrall shows that in order to achieve the full working potential of the mind and brain, it is vital to stimulate both the right hemisphere of the brain (emotional perception, intuition and creativity) as well as the left hemisphere (logical thinking and analytical processes) - balancing the book heavy subjects with a creative challenge. Both work together and complement one another and are essential to enable children to excel across the curriculum. It has also been ascertained that the majority of children who have been exposed to a wide variety of arts are more likely to think 'outside the box', come up with inventive, ground-breaking ideas and be more successful in later life. These qualities are well sought after in the UK. Silicon Valley for example is a hub of creativity, built and thriving on the minds of those that think outside of the box every day. The same goes for the engineering and communications industries. Cutting back on the arts will have huge implications on the future of the UK's next 'big ideas'. In wider society, mental health is a hot topic in the media at the moment, and rightly so. There is evidence that Art can actually help people's wellbeing. Take the psychiatric unit in Springfield University Hospital in Tooting which was recently renovated to drape the once bare walls in art donated by Turner Prize winning artists, as well as by patients themselves. The art on the walls has had an incredible impact on the patients. With mounting evidence that young people are feeling the pressure more than ever, we really should look towards the arts to contribute to the solution. The trend in adult colouring books is a good example that as well as looking at art, participating is also a therapeutic past time. Advertisement I'm fortunate enough that I pursued my passion for art and achieved my lifelong ambition to work in the arts industry full time. I work for Rise Art, a platform which aims to make great art accessible to all. I curate the works featured on the site and nurture the artists looking to sell their work but also speak to a range of people every day to teach and excite them about art, matching them to pieces they fall in love with. Kevin Towle has served as Cariddi's top legislative aide for the last year or so and is now running to fill out the representative's term. Cariddi's Top Legislative Aide Seeks to Fill Out Rep's Term LANESBOROUGH, Mass. Kevin Towle knew that the Monday after Gailanne Cariddi had died, she'd want her staff reporting to work. And they did. The top legislative aide for the late Cariddi pulled the staff together, hung a white board and listed every piece of legislation, local projects, and budget priorities on it and the group began planning for the next steps. For days, Towle reported to work and looked at that white board with fear that everything the staff has worked on for the last year would all be for naught. "If the next person who comes in doesn't share the priorities, there is a chance these project wouldn't get accomplished," he said. After staring at that wall for weeks, he's now decided that he'll try to become that next person so that doesn't happen. Towle has joined the race in the special election to fill out Cariddi's term. Towle said he knows the issues facing the district and had crafted much of Cariddi's legislation already. Now he doesn't just want to make sure her work is accomplished, but also that the office continues to place an emphasis on economic development, education, the environment, and family. "It is also important that new ideas come forward," Towle said when asked about his focus on finishing Cariddi's work. Specifically, Towle is looking to shift Massachusetts to 100 percent renewable energy, create green banks, change the foundation formula for rural school districts, implement paid family leave, address transportation issues, and push for single-payer health care. "In addition to being state representative, I want to be an ambassador for the Berkshires. At a time when young people are moving away, my wife and I chose to move here and start a family. We came here to be near family, to be near work, and for the high-quality schools. I want this to be a more frequent narrative," Towle said. "Demographically, the Berkshires are aging. It is important that we provide critical services for older residents who gave so much to their communities.This is by no means a one-or-the-other scenario. We can provide services for our friends and neighbors as they age, but we can also reach out to young people to bring them here we have a big tent here in the Berkshires." The Lanesborough Democrat has been involved in politics for a decade and has a bachelor's degree in political science from the College of St. Rose. He is just weeks away from finishing his master's degree in government from John Hopkins University. For the last year, Towle has been Cariddi's top aide and at one point oversaw both the local office and the Boston office. "I was researching and drafting legislation the representative would later file," Towle said. The job entails first responding to concerns constituents have and then secondly helping form the agenda to address the needs of the district. Towle would handle issues for constituents as well as review thousands of pieces of legislation to help determine which ones Cariddi would co-sponsor. "It was very dynamic and we accomplished a lot," Towle said. Towle had an interest in eventually running for public office, and had even discussed with Cariddi the idea of succeeding her. But, he didn't expect that his time would come so quickly. Cariddi's unexpected death pushed him to weigh a campaign. Ultimately, he determined that he was the most qualified to finish out Cariddi's term. "I feel I have the most experience dealing with the issues we are currently facing," Towle said. "I would like to see the most qualified person take over that position from Day 1." As Towle feels he can hit the ground running if elected, he's already hit the ground running when it comes to campaigning. It was only a week ago that he fully committed to running for the seat and he has already crafted an agenda spanning a dozen pages outlining his priorities and how he plans to accomplish them. He's putting the final touches on that document now and in the coming days, he plans to push it out for public consumption. "Within the next day or so, I will have a comprehensive agenda for addressing the issues in the district," Towle said. The Southwick native moved to the Berkshires after college with his wife, who has family in the area. He got involved in local politics, including recently being a member of state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier's re-election campaign. Towle becomes the third to publicly announce a campaign for the seat. Democrats Stephanie Bosley and Lisa Blackmer have both launched campaigns. The preliminary election is on Oct. 10. Republican Christine Canning-Wilson has indicated that she, too, plans to run for the seat. The general election is on Nov. 7. MCLA President James Birge and BCC President Ellen Kennedy shake hands after signing the agreement. MCLA Dean of Graduate and Continuing Education Jake Eberwein. Assistant Professor of Childhood Education at BCC Patricia Kay. MCLA's Director of Graduate and Continuing Education Barbara Emanuel. BCC President Ellen Kennedy. MCLA President James Birge. PreviousNext MCLA, BCC Agreement Bolsters Early Ed Degree Programs The cohort program at MCLA helped Heather Thompson balance work, raising a child, and continuing her education. She praised the agreement making it easier for others to follow her path to higher education. PITTSFIELD, Mass. Heather Thompson started going to college in 1998. And then found out she was expecting a child. She returned home to the Berkshires and six months after giving birth, enrolled at Berkshire Community College. She got a job at the Boys and Girls Club but knew if she wanted to further her career she needed to get a bachelor's degree. "Fourteen years went by and I knew I had to go back to school, I was a single mom essentially, I was juggling two, sometimes three jobs, my son was involved in sports. There was just no way possible I could fit school into my schedule," Thompson said. "Or so I thought." She then got in touch with the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, which had recently launched a cohort program for early childhood education. There a group of students took classes together, one night a week, spanning slightly over two years to finish their degrees. Now, she's moving up in her career path. "They really, truly supported us," Thompson said. "We wouldn't be who we are today if it weren't for a program like this." The two colleges want to replicate that success story. On Wednesday, MCLA President James Birge and BCC President Ellen Kennedy signed an articulation agreement to make a seamless transition from BCC's associate program to MCLA's bachelors. "By going to class one night a week, these adult learners are able to balance their full-time employment, sometimes part-time jobs added onto that, their family demands, along with their studies," MCLA's Director of Graduate and Continuing Education Barbara Emanuel said. The program will run out of the Conte Federal Building in Pittsfield, where the two colleges already have a presence. The focus is on getting adult learners in the early education field more education to deepen their impact. "It targets possibly the most important work that any community commits to - that is the care and development of its youngest residents, our early learners," MCLA Dean of Graduate and Continuing Education Howard "Jake" Eberwein said. The push for early childhood education has been growing both locally and nationally. The statistics behind the push show that quality early childhood education paves the way for a more successful student. The Pittsfield Promise through the Berkshire United Way and the Berkshire Compact for Education have both placed an emphasis on improving early childhood care. "I have seen the transformation of students. People come in very unsure of themselves, not really knowing what they are getting themselves into. They walked through our doors, in the case of early childhood community, we often think of them as early childhood care workers. But they truly are early childhood educators and they walk out of our doors as leaders in our communities," Emanuel said. MCLA has graduated 42 students through its cohort program and BCC followed suit by developing its own. Patricia Kay, assistant professor of childhood education at BCC, said the cohort program was designed to help people currently working into the field broaden their expertise. "We know our youngest learners need people with expertise in the area," Kay said. Many from BCC's cohort program went on to go through MCLA's program, so the natural progression would be to combine those efforts. Birge and Kennedy signed the agreement on Wednesday. "This articulation will mean a smooth transition for students who graduate from BCC to MCLA. It will let them bring with them all of the credits they earned at BCC and they will seamlessly be able to obtain their bachelor's degree," Kay said. "This is what we are all working for. We are all working together." The two colleges have signed numerous articulation agreements over the years, with this being the most recent. The agreements help students find a smooth transition into furthering their education once they graduate BCC. "In an era when colleges and universities compete for students, for faculty, and for funding in a lot of cases, I think MCLA and BCC stand out as icons of partnerships. I think the work we do together, not just in this program though this program is what we are celebrating today, but in lots of different ways we work well together," Birge said. Eberwein emphasized the importance of collaboration in the Berkshires in helping address needs in the community. "Our two higher education anchor institutions, MCLA and BCC, are once again leading by example in creating new, impactful programs for our residents which provide seamless opportunities to respond to local need and create affordable, high quality, degree completion programs that empower individuals to advance their education, achieve their personal and professional aspiration, and, most importantly, position each to have a positive and lasting impact in our region," Eberwein said. And while all of that is important to Kennedy, what is most important for her are the stories like Thompson's. "Their individual stories is what is really exciting," Kennedy said. The BCC president added that MCLA, founded as a teacher training college, has had a long history in education and that she is glad to be working alongside such an institution. "Education is near and dear to all of our hearts. That was really the Normal School, North Adams Normal School, so much of its history was primarily focused on education," Kennedy said. The city is seeking to sell the Windsor Mill and five other properties it owns. Mass MoCA Architects Propose Redevelopment of Windsor Mill NORTH ADAMS, Mass. The chief architect of Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art is looking to develop the Windsor Mill into art studios, galleries and live/work spaces. Simeon Bruner of Cambridge Development Corp., and principal of Bruner/Cott Architects, has offered $465,000 for the historic mill with the pledge to invest a minimum of $400,000 on facade and capital improvements within the next three years. "Resonating with the attraction of Mass MoCA, the proposal plans a phased transition of the Mill to a space that supports small businesses, artists and art-related activities," Bruner writes in the proposal. "We view this $865,000 in venture capital as just the beginning of our investment in the Windsor Mill and in the history and future of North Adams." He said the company would work with any current tenants of the property. "They've done quite a bit of this type of work," Mayor Richard Alcombright said. "We're pretty excited to have him the mix." Alcombright said Bruner was one of two who submitted proposals for the building, the other being the group that recently purchased the Dowlin Block and Porter & Tower Building . Both had offered somewhat similar plans for use, with the second bid being a bit higher by $35,000. But it was Bruner's portfolio including his work on Mass MoCA over the decades that came out on top. "From my perspective, it was just the amount of experience and the number of builds they have done," the mayor said on the choice of Bruner. "It's the depth and breadth of what they've done over the years." Bruner's proposal pointed to the redevelopment of the Chickering Piano Factory in Boston into the Piano Craft Guild, which he said was the first mill-to-housing conversion in the country. Cambridge Development and Bruner/Cott renovated the property in 1972 and have since added more amenities. It's also done nearly a dozen more similar revitalizations, offering a track record on its work that the mayor said swayed him and the committee formed to score the proposals. "His connectivity to the MoCA campus over 20 years ... It's a great visual of what we can hope for at the Windsor Mill," the mayor said. The mill was put up for sale along with five other city-owned properties earlier this year. It was valued at $1.1 million in 2015 by an independent appraiser who set its value based in part on its income generation and a land value of nearly $300,000. There are a number of companies situated in the building, along with the School Department's E3 Academy. The most recent tenant is a tiny house manufacturer. The four-story mill has 157,807 square feet of space and dates in parts to 1829. The former Windsor Print Works manufactured textiles for more than 120 years before closing in 1956. The building was purchased and used for storage by the late Stanley Shapiro, who operated a car dealership adjacent to it for many years. The defunct Economic Development Corp. acquired it in the 1970s for use as a business incubator and the city took it over in the 1980s. Bruner, whose award-winning firm designed both Building 7 (Sol Le Witt) and the expansive Building 6, wrote in his proposal that the company has a "deep connection with North Adams through our extensive work on all phases of Mass MoCA." The development company, he said, was designed for the reuse of outdated industrial buildings and that firm has converted "millions of square feet of antiquated industrial buildings" into residential, commercial and institutional needs. "I am president of the Shoreline Corporation, an arm of the firm that manages only our properties," Burner writes. "We believe that this is the only way to maximize a building's use and maintain it to the high standard we require." Cambridge Development said it will invest $200,000 in facade and landscaping work within 24 months and another $200,000 on capital improvements focused on interior upgrades and incubator space in 30 months. "Much more" will be invested in the longer term, with the possibility of rental lofts for visitors or tourists. The sale would make the Windsor Mill the latest in the redevelopment of the city's older industrial buildings. The Greylock Mill is undergoing a $15 million overhaul focused on food, hospitality and residential; the Norad Mill (Excelsior) was recently purchased for development for smaller manufacturing, industrial and office operations. The Eclipse Mill and Beaver Street Mill have already been developed as residential, art/work spaces. Cambridge Development has posted a $25,000 down payment, which it would forfeit if it backs out of the deal. The City Council is expected to take up the matter on Tuesday. iciHaiti - Security : Nearly 4,000 Haitian illegal security agents in DR The Senator of the Province of Elias Pina, Adriano Sanchez Roa, denounces the results of investigations which reveal that nearly 4,000 Haitians without a document in good standing, work illegally in security agencies on the Dominican territory and carry weapons. Which for him is a danger to the country. Judging that the Ministry of Defense has control of the border with Haiti, he says that the problem is not the entry but the large number of Haitian nationals already irregular on Dominican territory. He calls for their evictions including all illegal Haitians who work in security agencies and sanctions against these employers. SL/ iciHaiti Diplomats from the Gulf state will also have to obtain visas in advance from Egyptian missions abroad. Exceptions to the new procedures include wives, husbands and children of Egyptian nationals, as well as Qatari nationals who are studying at Egyptian public universities. Those in the exempted groups will be given three-month tourist visas and will be asked to legalise their status inside the country with the Passports Authority. Qataris wishing to enter Egypt were previously able to obtain an on-arrival visa at their port of entry. However, a recent spike in tensions between Egypt and Qatar has led to a change in visa rules. On 5 June, four Arab states Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic relations and transportation links with Qatar, accusing it of supporting Islamist militants and Iran, charges that Doha has denied. A number of other Arab and Muslim countries have followed suit. Egypt has delegated the the Greek embassy in Doha to take on the diplomatic representation of Egypt in Qatar. Search Keywords: Short link: The kiosks, which opened on Wednesday on a trial basis, are located within Shohada metro station and are open from 9am to 8pm daily. Commuters are invited to bring their questions on religious issues to the Azhar clerics manning the booth, who will then provide them with the necessary answers. The initiative aims to counter the extremist ideologies and misguided fatwas provided by extremist groups," said Mohi El-Din Afifi, the secretary-general of the academy, in press statements. The project is the result of a protocol signed by the Egypt Metro Company and the Islamic Research Academy. In a related initiative, Al-Azhar began broadcasting content on the metros radio station in May, which was also the beginning of the month of Ramadan. Search Keywords: Short link: Egypt's Al-Azhar considered the worlds highest seat of Sunni Islamic learning issued a statement on Thursday expressing its extreme concern over the provocative measures by Israeli forces at Jerusalems Al-Aqsa Mosque. Al-Azhar called on the international community to take action after Tel Aviv escalated security measures at Al-Aqsa Mosque, which has left many Palestinians injured in clashes with Israeli forces. The statement also denounced attacks by Israeli occupation forces on Palestinians trying to pray at the mosque, including the injuring of former Mufti of Jerusalem Akrama Sabri in clashes earlier this week. Al-Azhar also expressed its support for the Palestinian people in facing Israeli occupation forces, calling on international community to save Al-Aqsa Mosque from the arrogance of Israeli occupation and to stop the attempt to "Judaize" Jerusalem and siege Al-Aqsa Mosque. Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is located inside Al-Haram Al-Sharif compound, is considered the third holiest site in Islam. The mosque is also located at what Jews believe to be the site of the Temple Mount. Earlier this week, Israel closed the mosque to Palestinians for Friday prayers for the second time since Israel occupied Jerusalem in 1967, installing metal detectors and cameras at the entrance to the Haram Al-Sharif Compound following the killing of two policemen at the site. Palestinians then boycotted the Muslim holy compound in condemnation of the new security measures at the gates, preferring to pray outside the mosque in order not to pass through the metal detectors. Confrontations and scuffles have erupted between Israeli occupation forces and Palestinians camping outside the holy site, leaving dozens of Palestinians injured by rubber bullets and tear gas. Egypt has repeatedly called for a fair and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict that guarantees the rights of Palestinians to have their own independent state with its capital based in East Jerusalem. Search Keywords: Short link: Turkey says Germany's demand for the release of a German human rights trainer is "unacceptable" and an attempt to interfere with the Turkish judiciary. In a statement published Thursday, Turkey's foreign ministry said they have kept Germany's charge d'affaires in Ankara informed of Peter Steudtner's case, adding "the independent Turkish judiciary must be trusted." The ministry said statements by the spokesmen for the German chancellor and foreign ministry constituted "diplomatic rudeness" and said the judiciary cannot be instructed or counseled by anyone. A Turkish court on Tuesday ordered the pre-trial arrest of four leading human rights activists, including Amnesty International's country director, Steudtner and a Swedish trainer, for alleged links to terror groups. The foreign ministry accused Germany of a "double standard," saying it harbors members of terror groups and prevents their trial. Search Keywords: Short link: Kuwait says it is shutting the Iranian cultural mission and related offices in the Gulf Arab state and reducing the number of Iranian diplomats stationed in the country. The official Kuwait News Agency announced the move in a brief statement Thursday. It says the move is related to the case of a terrorist cell broken up in 2015 that authorities allege had contacts with Iran and the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah. The KUNA report says the Iranian ambassador to Kuwait has been notified. Embassy staff did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Search Keywords: Short link: Hamas Calls for Large Friday Protests The Fellowship | July 20, 2017 Hamas Calls for Large Friday Protests Tensions in the Holy Land have heated up in the past week, with Israel deploying IDF troops and additional security measures to the Temple Mount after last Fridays terror attack on Israeli police. Now, Ynet News Liad Osmo reports that Hamas is looking to incite further violence, calling for large-scale protests at the holy site: Hamas has distributed a video on social media urging Palestinians to march toward friction points against the IDF in the West Bank and on the Gaza border. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh called on Palestinians leaving Friday prayers to join in widespread protests against security forces in support of the Al Aqsa Mosque. Speaking Thursday night, Haniyeh said, Tomorrow is an important turning point in the defense of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and we will leave the victors. The Israeli plans for Al-Aqsa will not be carried out. This is a red line, you are stoking the fire. We are calling for a day of rage and general mobilization of the Palestinian society and the entire Arab nation in the framework of the campaign to defend Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum published a photo statement in which he claimed that Al Aqsa was under Israeli attack and that worshippers were being prevented from praying there Imperial Valley News Center Governor Brown to Attend Caltrain Electrification Groundbreaking Ceremony on Friday Millbrae, California - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. will join local, state and national transportation, business and government leaders on Friday in Millbrae at a ceremony to commemorate the start of the Peninsula Corridor Electrification Project, which will convert Caltrain service from diesel equipment to high-performance electric trains. This shovel-ready project will help expand service on an already congested corridor, improve air quality and put thousands of people to work, said Governor Brown in May following the Federal Transit Administration's approval of the project's Full Funding Grant Agreement. Secretary Chao did the right thing on Caltrain. This is not only good for California, its good for America. The administration lobbied the U.S. Department of Transportation, White House and Congress extensively on Caltrain electrification project funding and in March, Governor Brown met with both Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy in Washington, D.C. to push for the approval of the grant agreement. Administration officials also held numerous meetings with local leaders, business groups and members of the California Congressional delegation. Additionally, Governor Brown penned two letters to Secretary Chao on the project: one in February ahead of his March meeting and another in May. The Caltrain Peninsula Corridor Electrification Project is among the key infrastructure projects submitted to the federal government in February. The project is expected to reduce freeway congestion and travel times for the 65,000 weekday commuters, improve regional air quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on Thursday accused Cyprus of taking "dangerous" and one-sided steps in its search for energy in the Mediterranean, during a visit to the divided island. "Turkey believes the energy resources in the eastern Mediterranean are an opportunity but the one-sided steps taken by the Greek Cypriot side are untimely, dangerous and encouraging the lack of a solution," he said at a ceremony in Nicosia, quoted by the state-run Anadolu news agency. Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops invaded its northern third in response to an Athens-inspired coup seeking union with Greece. Negotiations between the Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders to reunify the island broke down in Switzerland on July 6 after the United Nations failed to broker a compromise deal. Turkey argues that breakaway northern Cyprus, where Ankara has stationed tens of thousands of troops, has rights to any reserves discovered. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned global companies to stay away from any energy deal with the Greek Cypriots or lose Turkey's friendship. Search Keywords: Short link: Imperial Valley News Center John McCain, Obamacare and Call 911 To Be Murdered Washington, DC - A Minnesota police office murdered Justin Damond this past week. According to reports she called 911 to report a possible sexual assault nearby her apartment where she lived. According to reports two police officers arrived after she called for help a second time. One of the police officers riding in the passenger side of the police car was reported to have been spooked and shot past the driving police officer and killed the woman approaching the car in her pajamas. We don't know the full story yet as the police officer has yet to make comments about what happened. In Damond's case calling the police ended her life. I am a fan of the police and applaud their work 95% of the time but this was a horrendous mistake in judgment that cost this woman her life. Police must keep their body cameras on and face repercussions when they don't. A policewoman Miosotis Familia sitting in an R.V. command style vehicle two miles from Yankee Stadium was recently murdered in the Bronx. She was targeted because she was wearing a police uniform. She was loved and highly regarded by all who knew her and thus her murder was heinous. Police officers are walking on eggshells and so are most Americans. Many Americans are afraid of the police. Wearing cameras and equipping all police cars with bulletproof glass are steps in the right direction. While everything is yet to be revealed it seems the Minnesota police officer murdered this lady who was simply trying to help someone who was being assaulted. Wearing a badge isn't a license for murder. Most everyone knows there is nothing affordable about Obamacare. If you have relatively low premiums then you probably can't afford to go to the hospital. Your deductible might be as high as $10,000 or $15,000 plus you may be expected to pay 20% of a $50,000 bill. Most Americans don't have $20,000 to $25,000 extra cash lying around and thus they end up in huge debt to the doctors and hospitals. Even people with higher premiums still have big deductibles. My wife and I pay about $2,000 a month and we each have a $6,000 deductible. We still pay $35 copays and pay quite a bit on prescriptions. Thus, there is currently not much good happening for Americans in the realm of medical insurance and paying for health care. Medicare is touted to be "pretty good" by many Americans. So, I suppose you can wish your life away so you can hurry up and get on Medicare. Americans need medical care more than ever before. Every two years we elect people who supposedly want to go to Washington and help us. Every day we are disappointed in them. Put the very poor on Medicaid. Allow those with pre-existing conditions to buy into Medicare. Allow Americans to buy insurance across states. Shore up Americas county health departments with nurse practitioners who can write prescriptions. Make these places very cheap to visit. When my wife and I were in Paris, France she went to see a doctor at a clinic that was around the corner from our hotel. My wife was there about forty minutes. The visit was about $23. She was given two prescriptions. We walked down the street and filled both of them for less than $6. These were not copays but what we were charged for the services. In America we know it would have cost between $100 and $150 or more. John McCain is a great man and we wish him health and recovery. His diagnosis of brain cancer is serious and he will now be in for the fight for his life. He will experience first hand what Americans go through in a life threatening illness plus all the medical costs involved in trying to survive cancer. I heard Rand Paul say on the morning news that Congress has Obamacare just like average America. If this is true then this is more bad news for McCain. Our prayers are surely with him and his health. Glenn Mollette is a syndicated columnist and author of twelve books. He is read in all fifty states. Governor Brown Declares State of Emergency in Mariposa County Due to Detwiler Fire Sacramento, California - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today issued an emergency proclamation for Mariposa County due to the effects of the Detwiler Fire, which has burned thousands of acres, damaged power, water and communication infrastructure, threatened homes and caused the evacuation of residents. An attested copy of today's proclamation can be found here and the full text is below: PROCLAMATION OF A STATE OF EMERGENCY WHEREAS on July 16, 2017, the Detwiler Fire started in Mariposa County and has rapidly burned thousands of acres of land and continues to burn; and WHEREAS this fire has destroyed structures and continues to threaten homes, necessitating the evacuation of thousands of residents; and WHEREAS the fire has damaged power, water, and communication infrastructure, and has forced the closure of major highways and local roads; and WHEREAS extreme weather conditions and high temperatures have further increased the risk of fires; and WHEREAS the Federal Emergency Management Agency has granted a Fire Management Assistance Grant to assist with the mitigation, management, and control of the Detwiler Fire; and WHEREAS the circumstances of this fire by reason of its magnitude, are or are likely to be beyond the control of the services, personnel, equipment, and facilities of any single local government and require the combined forces of a mutual aid region or regions to combat; and WHEREAS under the provisions of section 8558(b) of the Government Code, I find that conditions of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property exists in Mariposa County due to the Detwiler Fire; and WHEREAS under the provisions of section 8571 of the Government Code, I find that strict compliance with the various statutes and regulations specified in this order would prevent, hinder, or delay the mitigation of the effects of the Detwiler Fire. NOW, THEREFORE, I, EDMUND G. BROWN JR., Governor of the State of California, in accordance with the authority vested in me by the State Constitution and statutes, including the California Emergency Services Act, and in particular, section 8625 of the Government Code, HEREBY PROCLAIM A STATE OF EMERGENCY to exist in Mariposa County. IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT: 1. All agencies of the state government utilize and employ state personnel, equipment, and facilities for the performance of any and all activities consistent with the direction of the Office of Emergency Services and the State Emergency Plan. Also, all citizens are to heed the advice of emergency officials with regard to this emergency in order to protect their safety. 2. The California National Guard shall mobilize as necessary under Military and Veterans Code section 146 (mobilization in case of catastrophic fires) to support disaster response and relief efforts and shall coordinate with all relevant state agencies, including the Office of Emergency Services, and all relevant state and local emergency responders and law enforcement within the impacted areas. 3. The Office of Emergency Services shall provide local government assistance to Mariposa County, if appropriate, under the authority of the California Disaster Assistance Act, Government Code section 8680 et seq., and California Code of Regulations, Title 19, section 2900 et seq. 4. The provisions of Unemployment Insurance Code section 1253 imposing a one-week waiting period for unemployment insurance applicants are suspended as to all applicants who are unemployed as a direct result of the Detwiler Fire who applied for unemployment insurance benefits during the time period beginning July 17, 2017 and ending on the close of business on January 17, 2018, and who are otherwise eligible for unemployment insurance benefits. 5. Vehicle Code sections 9265(a), 9867, 14901, 14902, and 15255.2, requiring the imposition of fees, are suspended with regard to any request for replacement of a driver's identification card, vehicle registration certificate, or certificate of title, by any individual who lost such records as a result of the Detwiler Fire. Such records shall be replaced without charge. 6. The provisions of Vehicle Code sections 4602 and 5902, requiring the timely registration or transfer of title are suspended with regard to any registration or transfer of title by any resident of Mariposa County who is unable to comply with those requirements as a result of the Detwiler Fire. The time covered by this suspension shall not be included in calculating any late penalty pursuant to Vehicle Code section 9554. 7. Health and Safety Code sections 103525.5 and 103625, and Penal Code section 14251, requiring the imposition of fees, are hereby suspended with regard to any request for copies of certificates of birth, death, marriage, and dissolution of marriage records, by any individual who lost such records as a result of the Detwiler Fire. Such copies shall be provided without charge. I FURTHER DIRECT that as soon as hereafter possible, this Proclamation be filed in the Office of the Secretary of State and that widespread publicity and notice be given of this Proclamation. IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed this 18th day of July 2017. _____________________________ EDMUND G. BROWN JR. Governor of California ATTEST: _____________________________ ALEX PADILLA Secretary of State Purdue researchers combining data and technology to make agriculture more sustainable West Lafayette, Indiana - Due to the large usage of water in agriculture, many California communities no longer have running water, and collapsing aquifers have caused roads and buildings to sink several feet. Purdue University electrical and computer engineering professor David Ebert is using data collected from agricultural sites to respond to these problems. With this data, researchers are working to create a software that would simplify the complex relationships between agriculture and resource scarcity. This software will be on a desktop or mobile device for in-field use and would make it easier for farmers to make decisions that foster long term solutions to problems of water scarcity in agriculture; it is called a human-computer collaborative decision-making system. Were trying to help growers get usable information to improve their practices for both economic and ecological sustainability, Ebert says. Were trying to take a sea of data and turn it into decisions that people have to make so they can make better, more effective decisions. The team hopes to accomplish their goals by collaborating with growers of crops that live year-round, known as perennial crops. Common perennial crops include grapes, apples, bananas, asparagus and almonds. The researchers will discuss with growers what problems they are having with water scarcity then address the problems with various business practices and commercialization models. Lastly, the team will take present and pending data from these growers and other partners and transform it into usable information for agricultural producers and other decision makers. Discovery Park, a research park at Purdue that specializes in interdisciplinary research, is funding the project through the Big Idea Challenge, a program that provides resources to interdisciplinary teams with innovative research. When it comes to optimizing resources in agriculture, a lack of water was a natural place to start for Ebert and his team. According to Ebert, 80 percent of Californias water usage goes to agriculture, and just a 0.6 percent reduction of this agricultural usage would supply Los Angeles water needs for a year. Its really a competition of resources, says Jao Surakitbanharn, a Purdue research analyst working on the project. Even the smallest amount of water savings has tremendous impacts. The research focuses on perennial crops such as grapes and nuts because those crops are even more complicated decision-making environments. You dont start with a blank slate each year, says Ebert Additionally, Ebert notes that nut, wine and grape crops contribute more than $250 billion final market value to the United States economy. Therefore, a reduction in available water could have adverse economic impacts regarding the production of these products, including job loss and community destruction. By going after nuts, grapes and wine grapes, these are crops where the value of the crop is very high, so the impact that we can have can easily be turned into an increase in profit, Ebert says. Eberts approach stems from understanding how data and tech can be turned into information that helps people make better decisions. To do this, his team will need to combine plant science, soil, hydrology as well as the market drivers for the crops. They will then combine data, models and business practices to get a solution to address all of it. Ebert then plans on applying the findings from a small scale to a large scale. The team will explain their findings and approach to local growers, enabling them to change their practices and come up with policies to support these practices. The team is focusing most of its research on the western United States because that area has the most problems with drought. One of the teams partners is Robert Biale Vineyards in Napa, California. Bob Biale, one of the founders of the vineyard, says that the teams work has taken vineyard management to another level. Because of David and his teams knowledge of a working vineyard, this system has made the difference for us and is a great tool as it gives us the extra confidence that we need to meet our production goals, he says. The researchers are also collaborating with Hubers Orchard, Winery and Vineyards in Borden, Indiana. Wineries and orchards in areas such as Indiana often have the problem of too much water, but the decision-making technology could still be applicable. Collaborating with growers is essential for this project; being able to collect data from the source and understanding problems at the operational level is very helpful for researchers. Therefore, the teams partners include grape farmers, the Almond Board of California and vineyard owners. Were there to listen to them about their problem and help them address it, says Surakitbanharn. Ebert and his team have also been able to meet with various California state universities that have connections or experience in irrigation, crop growing and wine business management. Interdisciplinary research is a key component of the research, so the team is made up of experts in policy, soil science, plant science, food science, sensing technology, environmental engineering, data analytics and agricultural business. The teams overarching goal is to optimize resources. They want long term solutions to the problems caused by scarcity, emphasizing the importance of not wasting any resources. The less you waste things because you know what the impact is going to be, the better it is both ecologically and economically, says Ebert. Through the Big Idea Challenges funding, the team has already been able to visit California to talk to growers about issues facing agricultural production as well as look at existing sensor data. Without the Big Ideas funding, we wouldnt have been able to make these connections in order to expand our research says Surakitbanharn. The end goal for the researchers is to develop a human computer collaborative decision-making system for growers to help them make better decisions regarding their farming practices. The decision-making system will be a graphical interface that will enable users to easily see and analyze information. The system will be a fluid and natural way to give growers the information they need and also put their feedback into the system, which will refine the analysis for further use. Under Secretary Shannon Travel to Vienna, Austria Washington, DC - Under Secretary Thomas A. Shannon will travel to Vienna, Austria, July 20-22, to lead the U.S. delegation to the Joint Commission meeting of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) regarding Irans nuclear program. Under Secretary Shannon will be accompanied by experts and officials from relevant U.S. government agencies. JCPOA participants attending the Joint Commission meeting will include all the members of the P5+1 (China, France, Germany, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States), the European Union, and Iran. Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The British Board of Film Classification might have graded Deadpool as only being suitable for over 15s but this has not stopped the film from being a firm favourite of Daniel Downing. The five-year-old, who was recently told he had just months to live after doctors discovered an inoperable brain tumour, is a loyal fan of both the American superhero film and its protagonist Ryan Reynolds. For this reason, Daniel was overcome with joy after Reynolds decided to ring him up and show him around the Vancouver set of Deadpool 2 via video. Hows it going, little buddy? the 40-year-old actor said over the phone as the young boy told him he has been poorly. The phone call rapidly metamorphosed into a FaceTime conversation when Daniel, who is from Plympton in Devon, asked if he could show off his Deadpool T-shirt. Ah, thats awesome, what an awesome T-shirt! You know, Im the only guy who doesnt have one of those T-shirts. I need to get one of those, Reynolds exclaimed. Daniel got even more excited after Reynolds explained he was in the midst of filming the sequel to his favourite film, saying: Yeah I am outside, you know what I am doing right now? Im filming Deadpool 2. Im about to walk into the set and shoot Deadpool 2. Daniel left the 15-minute phone conversation visibly more cheerful. On 13 July, his mother was told patients with his diagnosis have just nine months to live at most. A crowdfunding page has been set up to help raise 6,000 for Daniels family - the young boy is said to be 200 miles from home receiving palliative treatment for a terminal brain tumour. Access unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows with Amazon Prime Video Sign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign up Daniel is the most amazing five-year-old 'young man' you could ever wish to meet. Full of life, mischievous, polite, intelligent, innocent, and above all, loving, the page reads. He is adored and cherished by his mum Steph, his dad Robbie, his brother Jack (eight-years-old), and Steph's partner, Ady. Daniel has such an adorable character that he really fits the phrase 'once met, never forgotten'". It adds: Sadly and oh so very suddenly, Daniel has been diagnosed with a very aggressive cancer called pontine glioma. Survival is averaged at nine months from diagnosis. Deadpool stars attend fan event in New York City Show all 23 1 /23 Deadpool stars attend fan event in New York City Deadpool stars attend fan event in New York City NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 08: Actor Ryan Reynolds attends the "Deadpool" fan event at AMC Empire Theatre on February 8, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images) Deadpool stars attend fan event in New York City NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 08: (Back row L-R) Simon Kinberg, Paul Wernick, Morena Baccarin, Leslie Ugghams, Ryan Reynolds, Brianna Hildebrand, Ed Skrein, Stefan Kapicic, (front row L-R) Tim Miller, Rhett Reese, Rob Liefeld and Greg LaSalle attend the "Deadpool" fan event at AMC Empire Theatre on February 8, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images) Deadpool stars attend fan event in New York City NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 08: (L-R) Rhett Reese, Ryan Reynolds, and Paul Wernick attend the 'Deadpool' fan event at AMC Empire Theatre on February 8, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images) Deadpool stars attend fan event in New York City NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 08: Actor Ryan Reynolds attends the "Deadpool" fan event at AMC Empire Theatre on February 8, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images) Deadpool stars attend fan event in New York City NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 08: Actress Blake Lively attends the "Deadpool" fan event at AMC Empire Theatre on February 8, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images) Deadpool stars attend fan event in New York City NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 08: Actors Blake Lively (L) and Ryan Reynolds attend the "Deadpool" fan event at AMC Empire Theatre on February 8, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images) Deadpool stars attend fan event in New York City NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 08: Director Tim Miller attends the "Deadpool" fan event at AMC Empire Theatre on February 8, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images) Deadpool stars attend fan event in New York City NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 08: Actor Stefan Kapicic attends the "Deadpool" fan event at AMC Empire Theatre on February 8, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images) Deadpool stars attend fan event in New York City NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 08: Actress Molly Ringwald attends the "Deadpool" fan event at AMC Empire Theatre on February 8, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images) Deadpool stars attend fan event in New York City NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 08: Actress Molly Ringwald attends the "Deadpool" fan event at AMC Empire Theatre on February 8, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images) Deadpool stars attend fan event in New York City NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 08: Director Tim Miller attends the "Deadpool" fan event at AMC Empire Theatre on February 8, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images) Deadpool stars attend fan event in New York City NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 08: Actress Brianna Hildebrand attends the "Deadpool" fan event at AMC Empire Theatre on February 8, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images) Deadpool stars attend fan event in New York City NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 08: Sandra Denton (L) and Cheryl James of rap group Salt-N-Pepa attend the "Deadpool" fan event at AMC Empire Theatre on February 8, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images) Deadpool stars attend fan event in New York City NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 08: Actor Ed Skrein attends the "Deadpool" fan event at AMC Empire Theatre on February 8, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images) Deadpool stars attend fan event in New York City NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 08: Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld attends the "Deadpool" fan event at AMC Empire Theatre on February 8, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images) Deadpool stars attend fan event in New York City NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 08: Sandra Denton (L) and Cheryl James of rap group Salt-N-Pepa attend the "Deadpool" fan event at AMC Empire Theatre on February 8, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images) Deadpool stars attend fan event in New York City NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 08: Actress Chelsey Crisp attends the 'Deadpool' fan event at AMC Empire Theatre on February 8, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images) Deadpool stars attend fan event in New York City NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 08: Actor Hugh Scott attends the "Deadpool" fan event at AMC Empire Theatre on February 8, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images) Deadpool stars attend fan event in New York City NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 08: Actors Blake Lively (L) and Ryan Reynolds attend the "Deadpool" fan event at AMC Empire Theatre on February 8, 2016 in New York City. Getty Deadpool stars attend fan event in New York City NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 08: Actors Blake Lively (L) and Ryan Reynolds attend the "Deadpool" fan event at AMC Empire Theatre on February 8, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images) Deadpool stars attend fan event in New York City NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 08: Actress Brianna Hildebrand attends the "Deadpool" fan event at AMC Empire Theatre on February 8, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images) Deadpool stars attend fan event in New York City NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 08: Actress Leslie Uggams attends the "Deadpool" fan event at AMC Empire Theatre on February 8, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images) Deadpool stars attend fan event in New York City Actress Morena Baccarin attends the 'Deadpool' fan event at AMC Empire Theatre on February 8, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images) To make this terrible situation even harder for the family, the treatment to give him the longest life possible, and to allow time for some extra special memories to be made, has to be administered in Bristol, some 200 miles away from the family home and almost 300 miles away from his dad. The first course of treatment is daily for the next six weeks. Further treatment plans will be dependent on how Daniel responds. The page explains it has been set up to alleviate the practical concerns which the family are currently facing given the cost of being at Daniels side, saying: It is going to be very expensive for them to set up a temporary home and life in Bristol for the next six weeks, at a time when their heads are simply trying to understand the devastating news that no parent should ever hear. Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The Dark Tower has had a tumultuous journey to the big screen, leaving many Stephen Kings fans a tad concerned. Now, the film's confirmed running time has generated fresh worry. The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) confirms that the running time of the long-awaited adaptation of King's sweeping fantasy epic is... 95 minutes. It seems the film - directed by Nikolaj Arcel and starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey in lead roles as Gunslinger Roland Deschain and the Man in Black, respectively - will merely be an introduction to the world created by King rather than a deep dive into the series' mythology. Films to get excited about in 2017 Show all 13 1 /13 Films to get excited about in 2017 Films to get excited about in 2017 Star Wars: The Last Jedi Director: Rian Johnson Rian Johnson Cast: Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, and Lupita Nyong'o Plot: No details yet, but it will continue directly on from Rey coming face-to-face with Luke at the end of The Force Awakens. Release Date: 15 December 2017 Films to get excited about in 2017 Thor: Ragnarok Director: Taika Waititi Taika Waititi Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Tessa Thompson, Jeff Goldblum, Karl Urban, and Mark Ruffalo Plot: Story details are minimal as of now, but Thor's third return to screen has already been teased to feature a loose adaptation of the famous 'Planet Hulk' storyline. Release Date: 27 October 2017 Films to get excited about in 2017 You Were Never Really Here Director: Lynne Ramsay Lynne Ramsay Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Alessandro Nivola Plot: A war veteran's attempt to save a young girl from a sex trafficking ring goes horribly wrong. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 Annihilation Director: Alex Garland Alex Garland Cast: Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tessa Thompson, and Oscar Isaac Plot: A biologist's husband disappears. She thus puts her name forward for an expedition into an environmental disaster zone, but does not quite find what she's expecting. The expedition team is made up of the biologist, an anthropologist, a psychologist, and a surveyor. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 Wonderstruck (image from Far From Heaven) Director: Todd Haynes Cast: Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams, and Amy Hargreaves Plot: The story of a young boy in the Midwest is told simultaneously with a tale about a young girl in New York from fifty years ago as they both seek the same mysterious connection. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 Mother (image of Darren Aronofsky) Director: Darren Aronofsky Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Michelle Pfeiffer, Domhnall Gleeson, and Ed Harris Plot: A couple's relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 The Killing of a Sacred Deer (image from The Lobster) Director: Yorgos Lanthimos Cast: Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, and Alicia Silverstone Plot: A surgeon forms a familial bond with a sinister teenage boy, with disastrous results. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 Blade Runner 2049 Director: Denis Villeneuve Denis Villeneuve Cast: Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Robin Wright, and Jared Leto Plot: Thirty years after the events of the first film, a new blade runner, LAPD Officer K, unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what's left of society into chaos. K's discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard, a former LAPD blade runner who has been missing for 30 years. Release Date: 6 October 2017 Films to get excited about in 2017 Lady Bird (image of director Greta Gerwig) Director: Greta Gerwig Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, and Lucas Hedges Plot: The adventures of a young woman living in Northern California for a year. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara (image of director Steven Spielberg and star Mark Rylance) Director: Steven Spielberg Cast: Mark Rylance, Oscar Isaac Plot: The Kidnapping Of Edgardo Mortara recounts the story of a young Jewish boy in Bologna, Italy in 1858 who, having been secretly baptized, is forcibly taken from his family to be raised as a Christian. His parents' struggle to free their son becomes part of a larger political battle that pits the Papacy against forces of democracy and Italian unification. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 How to Talk to Girls at Parties Director: John Cameron Mitchell John Cameron Mitchell Cast: Elle Fanning, Ruth Wilson, and Nicole Kidman Plot: An alien touring the galaxy breaks away from her group and meets two young inhabitants of the most dangerous place in the universe: the London suburb of Croydon. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 The Dark Tower Director: Nikolaj Arcel Nikolaj Arcel Cast: Idris Elba, Matthew McConaughey, and Tom Taylor Plot: Gunslinger Roland Deschain roams an Old West-like landscape in search of the dark tower, in the hopes that reaching it will preserve his dying world. Release Date: 28 July 2017 Films to get excited about in 2017 Suburbicon Director: George Clooney George Clooney Cast: Matt Damon, Julianne Moore, Josh Brolin, and Oscar Isaac Plot: A crime mystery set in the quiet family town of Suburbicon during the 1950s, where the best and worst of humanity is hilariously reflected through the deeds of seemingly ordinary people. When a home invasion turns deadly, a picture-perfect family turns to blackmail, revenge and betrayal. Release Date: 24 November Fans expressed their concerns on social media. Others are relieved that the announcement, coupled with the unexpectedly short duration of Christopher Nolan's WWII thriller Dunkirk - is the start of a new trend which sees usually-bloated blockbusters clock in at under two hours. King himself doesn't seem too worried - he assured fans that, like the first book in the series - which boasts 224 pages - is all killer and no filler. The Dark Tower is released 18 August Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Hollywood's nerves are shredded. The era of hacking is here. The memory may have faded, but movie studios can still feel the sharp barb left behind by 2014's release of The Interview, the James Franco and Seth Rogen-starring slapstick comedy that saw the duo assassinate Kim Jong-un; hundreds of Sony's e-mails were leaked by hackers in the aftermath, causing their own controversies, while even the brief threat of all-out war seemed to hang strangely in the air. A baffling time for movies and a controversy no studio is keen to replicate in the near future, which may explain their current extreme caution towards Vladimir Putin. The Hollywood Reporter has stated that the Russian leader has been excised from two major upcoming releases. First is Fox's Red Sparrow, which sees Jennifer Lawrence play a Russian spy turned double agent for the CIA, an adaptation of former CIA officer Jason Matthews' novel. Though Putin was a key figure in the original book, he's been quietly cut out of the film adaptation. A similar case to EuropaCorp's Kursk, the true story of a Russian submarine that sank in the Barents Sea in 2000 and killed everyone on board; though Putin had a significant role in the events, appears in the source material of Robert Moore's best-seller A Time to Die, and even featured in early versions of the screenplay, he's nowhere to be found in the finished film. What's ironic, however, is that Hollywood's nervousness over showing Putin on film seems at odds with its current Russian obsession, with studios searching high and low for scripts that can best capture the current political climate in all its fraught intrigue. A writer has even reportedly taken meetings with Mikhail Gorbachev about the potential for a biopic. This is more than the Cold War's simple fixation on Russian villains, however, with StudioCanal producing, for example, The Tracking of a Russian Spy, which sees Logan Lerman play a journalist who travels to Russia and becomes a tool of the Kremlin, in a film which sets out to tackle ideas of fake news and disinformation campaigns. Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} War for the Planet of the Apes was an almost perfect blockbuster according to the critics, many of whom praised Andy Serkiss central performance. As with all movies this size, multiple scenes were left on the cutting room floor. One concerned a major face-off between Gabriel Chavarrias character Preacher and the leading Ape, Caesar. "Basically, Caesar is locked up and we could take him out at any time, and I'm telling him, 'The Colonel is my guy and you're the enemy,'" Chavarria told The Hollywood Reporter. "I'm reminding him we're not friends, even though we recognised this humanity each other. Preacher was so conflicted because Caesar had let him live." Chavarria said that, during one take, Serkis shed a single tear, leading to himself forgetting his lines. Fortunately, there was also a camera glitch during the scene, rendering that version unusable. The scene was likely cut because "it felt too forced, and the audience knew already how to feel about these two. Films to get excited about in 2017 Show all 13 1 /13 Films to get excited about in 2017 Films to get excited about in 2017 Star Wars: The Last Jedi Director: Rian Johnson Rian Johnson Cast: Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, and Lupita Nyong'o Plot: No details yet, but it will continue directly on from Rey coming face-to-face with Luke at the end of The Force Awakens. Release Date: 15 December 2017 Films to get excited about in 2017 Thor: Ragnarok Director: Taika Waititi Taika Waititi Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Tessa Thompson, Jeff Goldblum, Karl Urban, and Mark Ruffalo Plot: Story details are minimal as of now, but Thor's third return to screen has already been teased to feature a loose adaptation of the famous 'Planet Hulk' storyline. Release Date: 27 October 2017 Films to get excited about in 2017 You Were Never Really Here Director: Lynne Ramsay Lynne Ramsay Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Alessandro Nivola Plot: A war veteran's attempt to save a young girl from a sex trafficking ring goes horribly wrong. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 Annihilation Director: Alex Garland Alex Garland Cast: Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tessa Thompson, and Oscar Isaac Plot: A biologist's husband disappears. She thus puts her name forward for an expedition into an environmental disaster zone, but does not quite find what she's expecting. The expedition team is made up of the biologist, an anthropologist, a psychologist, and a surveyor. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 Wonderstruck (image from Far From Heaven) Director: Todd Haynes Cast: Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams, and Amy Hargreaves Plot: The story of a young boy in the Midwest is told simultaneously with a tale about a young girl in New York from fifty years ago as they both seek the same mysterious connection. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 Mother (image of Darren Aronofsky) Director: Darren Aronofsky Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Michelle Pfeiffer, Domhnall Gleeson, and Ed Harris Plot: A couple's relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 The Killing of a Sacred Deer (image from The Lobster) Director: Yorgos Lanthimos Cast: Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, and Alicia Silverstone Plot: A surgeon forms a familial bond with a sinister teenage boy, with disastrous results. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 Blade Runner 2049 Director: Denis Villeneuve Denis Villeneuve Cast: Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Robin Wright, and Jared Leto Plot: Thirty years after the events of the first film, a new blade runner, LAPD Officer K, unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what's left of society into chaos. K's discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard, a former LAPD blade runner who has been missing for 30 years. Release Date: 6 October 2017 Films to get excited about in 2017 Lady Bird (image of director Greta Gerwig) Director: Greta Gerwig Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, and Lucas Hedges Plot: The adventures of a young woman living in Northern California for a year. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara (image of director Steven Spielberg and star Mark Rylance) Director: Steven Spielberg Cast: Mark Rylance, Oscar Isaac Plot: The Kidnapping Of Edgardo Mortara recounts the story of a young Jewish boy in Bologna, Italy in 1858 who, having been secretly baptized, is forcibly taken from his family to be raised as a Christian. His parents' struggle to free their son becomes part of a larger political battle that pits the Papacy against forces of democracy and Italian unification. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 How to Talk to Girls at Parties Director: John Cameron Mitchell John Cameron Mitchell Cast: Elle Fanning, Ruth Wilson, and Nicole Kidman Plot: An alien touring the galaxy breaks away from her group and meets two young inhabitants of the most dangerous place in the universe: the London suburb of Croydon. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 The Dark Tower Director: Nikolaj Arcel Nikolaj Arcel Cast: Idris Elba, Matthew McConaughey, and Tom Taylor Plot: Gunslinger Roland Deschain roams an Old West-like landscape in search of the dark tower, in the hopes that reaching it will preserve his dying world. Release Date: 28 July 2017 Films to get excited about in 2017 Suburbicon Director: George Clooney George Clooney Cast: Matt Damon, Julianne Moore, Josh Brolin, and Oscar Isaac Plot: A crime mystery set in the quiet family town of Suburbicon during the 1950s, where the best and worst of humanity is hilariously reflected through the deeds of seemingly ordinary people. When a home invasion turns deadly, a picture-perfect family turns to blackmail, revenge and betrayal. Release Date: 24 November Director Matt Reeves had previously said of Preacher that the character was intended to be undecided on whether the humans were right to destroy the Apes, meaning the audience are constantly on their toes. War for the Planet of the Apes is currently in cinemas. Sign up to Roisin OConnors free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Roisin OConnors email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Radiohead went ahead with their controversial gig in Israel and performed a show at Hayarkon Park in Tel Aviv on 19 July. The band had come under an enormous amount of criticism over the show and had received pleas from campaigners and several of their peers to cancel, as part of a widespread cultural boycott in the country. Artists such as Roger Waters, Ken Loach and Brian Eno signed an open letter by Artists for Palestine urging the band to reconsider. They said that the band would be displaying double standards by performing in a country where "a system of aparthied is opposed on the Palestinian people". Director Loach also wrote a second open letter, published in The Independent, which asked frontman Thom Yorke to meet with him to discuss the situation. Rather than agree to a meeting, however, Yorke responded with an open letter of his own on Twitter, where he argued that "playing in a country isn't the same as endorsing its government". "We've played in Israel for over 20 years through a succession of governments," he wrote, "some more liberal than others. As we have in America. We don't endorse Netanyahu any more than Trump, but we still play in America." Ex-Pink Floyd member Roger Waters accused Yorke of "whining" and slammed him for his lack of communication with critics. "I look forward to - if you feel like it, when you finish your trip to Israel, because you probably still will go - write me a letter and tell me how much good you did and how much change to managed to affect by chatting with musicians," he said. Enjoy unlimited access to 70 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign up According to Richard Ferrer, editor of the London-based Jewish News, there was a "melting pot" of fans in attendance. He tweeted a photo of the band onstage and quoted Yorke telling the crowd: "A lot was said about this, but in the end we played some music." According to reports, Radiohead performed a 27-song set and two encores, including some of their rarely-played tracks "Creep", "Karma Police" and "No Surprises". The BBC also reports that the show was the band's longest set since 2006, with 27 songs in a performance that included two encores. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Theres little thats more Spanish than the afternoon siesta. As the mid-day sun goes up, businesses in small-town Spain pull down their shutters for a traditional nap. In big urban centres, modern business trends have ended that habit, leaving many Spaniards who work long hours exhausted. Now, Maria Estrella Jorro de Inza has found a way to bring back the siesta, making money while her countrymen nap. Bankers, lawyers and consultants catch up on their sleep at Siesta and Go - Madrids first nap-bar located in Azca, in the heart of the citys financial district thats home to firms like HSBC, Google and Deloitte. The concept is simple: for just 14 (12.32) an hour, you get to unwind and take a power nap in a private bedroom before heading back to work. Its funny that were known for the siesta, but we havent been professional about it, said Ms De Inza, the nap-bars 32-year-old founder. We get a lot of men in suits who just want to relax and women wanting to take their heels off. Lunch break is the busiest time. Recommended The air pollution startup with the purifying power of 275 trees Tokyo Connection The idea is, of course, not original. Ms De Inza came upon it while on a trip to Tokyo. The Japanese capital, famous for its short-stay options for space-starved citizens like capsule hotels, also has what are called nap cafes. The cafes offer clients the option of a short snooze during the day - a practice some Japanese claim has enormous health benefits. It struck Ms De Inza that the Japanese offer fit nicely with her own countrys traditions. The Spanish workday is often divided into blocks, with lunch breaks that can drag on for over two hours, meetings that run into the late afternoon and days that end late into the night. Spaniards racked up 1,695 hours at work last year, beating neighboring Germany and France, according to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Only Italy and Portugal pulled longer hours out of the main euro-area economies. Thats left Spaniards who like to stay out late stuck in a form of permanent jet-lag, a feeling that hasnt been helped by dictator Francisco Francos decision to the move the clock forward an hour in 1940 in line with allies Germany and Italy. The daily grind of Spaniards trails the sun, which often translates into late dinners and less sleep. Too Long When Europe sleeps, Spain is still awake; were in the wrong time zone, the whole country runs late and the corporate culture is rigid, said Nuria Chinchilla, professor of Peoples Management in Organizations at the IESE Business School in Barcelona. Workers are exhausted because shifts are too long, she said. Its about putting long hours and not leaving until your boss has left the office, Ms Chinchilla said. It makes workers less productive and can be linked to the countrys low birth rate. she said, because Spaniards simply dont have the time or energy once the workday is done. Ms Chinchilla, who wants Spain to turn the clock back by an hour to be on the same time zone as Portugal and the UK, came up with research in 2012 that showed how following the sun would boost Spanish productivity. Business news: In pictures Show all 13 1 /13 Business news: In pictures Business news: In pictures Flybe collapses Airline Flybe has collapsed. All future flights on the Exeter-based airline have been cancelled leaving more than 2,300 staff facing an uncertain future, and wrecking the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers. The chief executive, Mark Anderson, said: Europes largest independent regional airline has been unable to overcome significant funding challenges to its business. AFP via Getty Business news: In pictures Future product placement will be 'tailored to individual viewers' Marketing executives say that product placement in films and televison shows on streaming services such as Netflix may be tailored to individuals in future. For instance, if data shows that a viewer is a fan of pepsi, a billboard in the background of a shot would host an advert for pepsi, while for a viewer known to have different tastes it could be for Coca-Cola Paramount Business news: In pictures Corbyn wishes Amazon a happy birthday In a card sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the company's 25th birthday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes: "You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share" Business news: In pictures No deal, no tariffs The government has announced that it would slash almost all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Notable exceptions include cars and meat, which will see tariffs in place to protect British farmers Getty Business news: In pictures Fingerprint payment NatWest is trialling a new bank card that will allow people to touch their hand to the card when paying rather than typing in a PIN number. The card will work by recognising the user's fingerprint NatWest/PA Wire Business news: In pictures Mahabis bust High-end slipper retailer Mahabis has gone into administration. 2 Jan 2019 Mahabis Business news: In pictures Costa Cola Coca-Cola has paid 3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new venture for the global soft drinks giant PA Business news: In pictures RIP Payday Loans A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September 2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain's biggest, went into administration on August 30 PA Business news: In pictures Musk irks investors and directors Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a tumble in the following weeks Getty Business news: In pictures Jaguar warning Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that a "bad" Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than $100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into crucial talks AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures Spotif-IPO Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn't issuing shares, but rather, shares held by Spotify's private investors will be sold AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures French blue passports The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rues contract ends in July. The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process. Business news: In pictures Beast from the east economic impact The Beast from the East wiped 4m off of Flybes revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airlines estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year. The issue became so acute, it landed on the steps of the Spanish parliament with the major parties promising measures to get Spaniards to cut work hours. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy pledged to end the working day by 6pm during last years election campaign, while centrist party Ciudadanos suggested moving the clock back. Neither proposal has progressed much. For tired Spaniards, Ms De Inzas siesta bar offers a sanctuary. Her nap-bar has 19 beds, and guests are provided with fresh sheets, earplugs, slippers and a coffee area to freshen up. She gets about 30 people daily for her 19 beds, mostly junior employees in their 20s and 30s, and men in their 50s. The centre, which opened in May, is still something of a novelty and Ms De Inza expects business to really pick up in autumn. While shes keeping an eye open for other locations for similar ventures, for now she may just keep the current centre open later. Weve been asked to extend our hours, we close at 7pm, she said. If we see an appetite for more late-night naps, well consider it. Bloomberg Iraqi forces on Thursday regained control over Imam Gharbi, a village south of Mosul, from Islamic State militant group who had seized it as their defence of their stronghold in the city crumbled, Iraqi police said. The action formed part of the next phase of the US-backed government's campaign to drive Islamic State group from Iraq and dismantle their self-proclaimed caliphate. Police Colonel Kareem Aboud said government forces took full control of Imam Gharbi at dawn. They discovered the bodies of two Iraqi journalists who were killed there shortly after the militants attacked, he said. Troops were now searching the village for remaining militants. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over Islamic State group in Mosul on July 10 after a nine-month battle, marking the biggest defeat for the hardline Sunni Muslim group since its lightning sweep through northern Iraq three years ago. But the militants seized most of Imam Gharbi, on the western bank of the Tigris River about 70 km (44 miles) south of Mosul, in the kind of strike they are now expected to make as Iraqi forces regain control over cities the group captured during its 2014 offensive. Stripped of Mosul, Islamic State group's dominion in Iraq will be reduced to mainly rural, desert areas west and south of the city. Islamic State group also faces pressure in its operational base in the Syrian city of Raqqa, where U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish and Arab forces have seized territory on three sides of the city. Search Keywords: Short link: Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Independent Climate email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Aardvarks living in the Kalahari face extinction by starvation as deadly droughts become worse because of climate change, scientists have warned. Researchers fitted monitors to six of the ant bears, as they are also known, in the Tswalu Kalahari Reserve in South Africa to study what happened to them over the hot and dry summer of 2012 and 2013. Five of the animals died and the bodies of 11 others all severely emaciated were found during the course of the study. Aardvarks are usually nocturnal and build large burrows where they sleep during the day. The researchers said these burrows provided a refuge from the heat for at least 27 vertebrate species and if the species was wiped out, this would have dire consequences for other wildlife. While the study was carried out in one part of the Kalahari, the scientists, from Witwatersrand University in South Africa, warned: With climate change predicted to increase the frequency and duration of droughts, aardvarks may be extirpated from much of their current range. Their survival may be threatened by climate change via direct and indirect effects of increasing heat and aridity. Aardvarks, found in much of sub-Saharan Africa apart from the driest deserts, are listed as of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. But the study found a bleak picture in the reserve. We implanted biologgers into six adult aardvarks resident in the semi-arid Kalahari. Following a particularly dry and hot summer, five of the study aardvarks and 11 other aardvarks at the study site died, the researchers wrote in the journal Biology Letters. Visual observations indicated a decline in the aardvarks body condition as the summer progressed. Poor body condition was evidenced by prominent ribs, spine and pelvic bones. Animals in decline Show all 8 1 /8 Animals in decline Animals in decline Harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) Where: Orkney Islands. What: Between 2001-2006, numbers in Orkney declined by 40 per cent. Why: epidemics of the phocine distemper virus are thought to have caused major declines, but the killing of seals in the Moray Firth to protect salmon farms may have an impact. Alamy Animals in decline African lion (Panthera leo) Where: Ghana. What: In Ghanas Mole National Park, lion numbers have declined by more than 90 per cent in 40 years. Why: local conflicts are thought to have contributed to the slaughter of lions and are a worrying example of the status of the animal in Western and Central Africa. Animals in decline Leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) Where: Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Costa Rica. What: Numbers are down in both the Atlantic and Pacific. It declined by 95 per cent between 1989-2002 in Costa Rica. Why: mainly due to them being caught as bycatch, but theyve also been affected by local developments. Alamy Animals in decline Wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans) Where: South Atlantic. What: A rapid decline. One population, from Bird Island, South Georgia, declined by 50 per cent between 1972-2010, according to the British Antarctic Survey. Why: being caught in various commercial longline fisheries. Alamy Animals in decline Saiga Antelope (Saiga tatarica) Where: Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan. What: fall in populations has been dramatic. In the early 1990s numbers were over a million, but are now estimated to be around 50,000. Why: the break up of the former USSR led to uncontrolled hunting. Increased rural poverty means the species is hunted for its meat Animals in decline Swordfish (Xiphias gladius) Where: found worldwide in tropical, subtropical and temperate seas. Why: at risk from overfishing and as a target in recreational fishing. A significant number of swordfish are also caught by illegal driftnet fisheries in the Mediterranean Animals in decline Argali Sheep (Ovis mammon) Where: Central and Southern Asian mountains,usually at 3,000-5,000 metres altitude. Why: domesticated herds of sheep competing for grazing grounds. Over-hunting and poaching. Animals in decline Humphead Wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus) Where: the Indo-Pacific, from the Red Sea to South Africa and to the Tuamoto Islands (Polynesia), north to the Ryukyu Islands (south-west Japan), and south to New Caledonia. Why: Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing and trading of the species The severe drought was likely to have reduced aardvark prey availability. Soil moisture directly affects activity, development and survival of subterranean insects such as ants and termites [13,14], on which aardvarks depend. Our results do not bode well for the future of aardvarks facing climate change. Despite the heat, the aardvarks body temperatures, normally about the same as a humans, reached about 25 degrees Celsius because they were not able to find enough food to keep their bodies warm. The researchers said aardvarks played a key role as ecosystem engineers and so their loss might cause problems for many other animals. Their prodigious excavation of burrows provides shelters to multiple species; a decline of aardvark populations may thus have dire consequences for African ecosystems, they wrote. The semi-arid zones, which aardvarks inhabit, are likely to become hotter and drier with climate change, with increased frequency and duration of droughts. Hotter and drier habitats will have direct effects on aardvarks through greater heat gain from the environment and increased water requirements. There also may be indirect effects, through changes in resource quality and availability, altered habitats and other ecosystem changes. Alterations in trophic interactions may be more pervasive than direct effects of climate change. The extraordinary impact that a single species can have on an ecosystem was seen in reverse in Yellowstone National Park after wolves were reintroduced in the 1990s. Local elk suddenly started to avoid certain areas where they feared they were vulnerable to attack, which allowed tree saplings that would otherwise have been eaten to grow. A thick undergrowth developed, providing a rich habitat for insects, birds and other species. Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Independent Climate email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} In France in the summer of 2003, so many people died that the mortuaries over-flowed with bodies and refrigerated lorries had to be used instead. The cause was the countrys worst-ever heatwave, which saw temperatures hit a record 44.1C in Conqueyrac, near Montpellier in southern France. Some 15,000 deaths were attributed to the searing heat, which also killed another 9,000 across Europe. However, according to a new study, the heatwaves of the future in the worlds most popular tourist destination could be much, much worse. Trying to predict what would happen if there was a similar hot spell towards the end of this century after decades of global warming the researchers concluded that temperatures could easily exceed 50C. But they seemed to struggle to believe that such extreme temperatures could be reached in France, given such conditions today are associated with desert areas like Death Valley in the United States. Writing in the journal Environmental Research Letters, the scientists said the highest summer temperatures could rise by anything from 6C to 13C by 2100 compared to the historic records. Recent decades have seen the repeated occurrence of hot summers in France characterised by intense heatwaves and daily record temperatures, they said. In France and Western Europe, the 2003 summer is the warmest on record, with seasonal mean temperature anomalies of about plus 3.2C on average across France. The August heatwave of 2003 is the most intense heatwave observed during the instrumental period over France and Central Europe and has therefore been called a mega-heatwave because of its exceptional characteristics. Using computer models, the researchers tried to work out what would happen if a similar mega-heatwave hit in 2100, when average temperatures are predicted to be significantly higher, depending on greenhouse gas emissions. Results indicate that record maximum value in France could easily exceed 50C by the end of the 21st century, they concluded. However, they added that their results might be affected by the type of plants that grow in France, seemingly doubting their own figures. These extreme temperatures are experienced in desert regions, which question how realistic such projected extreme temperatures could be in France, the researchers said. Apart from the potential limitations associated with [climate model] physics, the vegetation could be further investigated as it also controls the heatwave magnitude and will experience changes with global warming. They divided France into five regions, with the East and North seeing the largest increases to top temperatures of 12.9C and 12.2C respectively. 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Show all 10 1 /10 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A group of emperor penguins face a crack in the sea ice, near McMurdo Station, Antarctica Kira Morris 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Floods destroyed eight bridges and ruined crops such as wheat, maize and peas in the Karimabad valley in northern Pakistan, a mountainous region with many glaciers. In many parts of the world, glaciers have been in retreat, creating dangerously large lakes that can cause devastating flooding when the banks break. Climate change can also increase rainfall in some areas, while bringing drought to others. Hira Ali 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Smoke filled with the carbon that is driving climate change drifts across a field in Colombia. Sandra Rondon 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Amid a flood in Islampur, Jamalpur, Bangladesh, a woman on a raft searches for somewhere dry to take shelter. Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable places in the world to sea level rise, which is expected to make tens of millions of people homeless by 2050. Probal Rashid 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Sindh province in Pakistan has experienced a grim mix of two consequences of climate change. Because of climate change either we have floods or not enough water to irrigate our crop and feed our animals, says the photographer. Picture clearly indicates that the extreme drought makes wide cracks in clay. Crops are very difficult to grow. Rizwan Dharejo 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Hanna Petursdottir examines a cave inside the Svinafellsjokull glacier in Iceland, which she said had been growing rapidly. Since 2000, the size of glaciers on Iceland has reduced by 12 per cent. Tom Schifanella 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A river once flowed along the depression in the dry earth of this part of Bangladesh, but it has disappeared amid rising temperatures. Abrar Hossain 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A shepherd moves his herd as he looks for green pasture near the village of Sirohi in Rajasthan, northern India. The region has been badly affected by heatwaves and drought, making local people nervous about further predicted increases in temperature. Riddhima Singh Bhati 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A factory in China is shrouded by a haze of air pollution. The World Health Organisation has warned such pollution, much of which is from the fossil fuels that cause climate change, is a public health emergency. Leung Ka Wa 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Water levels in reservoirs, like this one in Gers, France, have been getting perilously low in areas across the world affected by drought, forcing authorities to introduce water restrictions. Mahtuf Ikhsan Brittany saw the lowest rise of 6.6C, while the south-west and Mediterranean regions saw respective rises of 9.6C and 7.7C. The UK Met Offices description of the 2003 heatwave makes clear just how bad things got, making the prospect of significantly hotter weather somewhat daunting. More than 20,000 people died after a record-breaking heatwave left Europe sweltering in August 2003, the Met Office said. The period of extreme heat is thought to be the warmest for up to 500 years, and many European countries experienced their highest temperatures on record. The lack of rainfall meant very dry conditions occurred over much of Europe. Forest fires broke out in many countries. In Portugal, 215,000 hectares area of forest were destroyed. This is an area the same size as Luxembourg. It is estimated millions of tons of topsoil were eroded in the year after the fires as the protection of the forest cover was removed. This made river water quality poor when the ash and soil washed into rivers. About 15,000 people died due to the heat in France, which led to a shortage of space to store dead bodies in mortuaries. Temporary mortuaries were set up in refrigeration lorries. There were also heat-related deaths in the UK (2,000), Portugal (2,100), Italy (3,100), Holland (1,500) and Germany (300). France requested aid from the European Union to deal with the effects. Many parts of Europe saw their temperature records broken during this summer, including the UK. A sweltering 38.5C was recorded in Brogdale in Kent on 10 August 2003, a record high which still stands today. Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Independent Climate email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The Government is planning to give some of the UKs most polluting industries a 130m exemption from helping to fund new renewable technologies, which will heap costs onto small companies and households, environmentalists have warned. Subsidies for the two cheapest forms of green electricity, onshore wind and solar, have been respectively scrapped and slashed to the bone, but financial support is still available for offshore wind and other emerging technologies to a large degree because of the potential benefits to the economy. This is funded by electricity bill payers and the Government has expressed concern about the effect on energy intensive industries. According to the new plan, these companies would be given an exemption because having to pay extra can undermine competitiveness. However Gareth Redmond-King, head of climate and energy policy at WWF-UK, pointed out that this disappointing decision would mean other bill payers would end up paying more and reward firms that are contributing more than most to global warming. It's bad for businesses and bad for hardworking families. It will add money to household bills and heap costs onto small businesses, he said. These costs would otherwise have been borne by large businesses, but now will be redistributed to be paid for by those who may already be struggling with high energy costs. Whilst energy intensive industries are important to our economy, they also contribute huge amounts of greenhouse gases to UK emissions. It is only right that they pay their fair share to support the building of the cleaner, greener energy infrastructure that we need for our future. A policy document produced by the Department of Business, Energy and Industry Strategy (BEIS) explained the reasoning behind the exemption plan, which would replace retrospective compensation. For energy-intensive industries (EIIs), this can undermine competitiveness, as competing businesses in other countries may not be subject to similar energy and climate change policy costs, it said. The Government has sought to lessen the cost disadvantage faced by EIIs as a result of energy and climate change policy costs, relative to their EU and international competitors, through a compensation scheme. A move to an exemption scheme is proposed in order to increase the certainty and effectiveness of support to EIIs. 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Show all 10 1 /10 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A group of emperor penguins face a crack in the sea ice, near McMurdo Station, Antarctica Kira Morris 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Floods destroyed eight bridges and ruined crops such as wheat, maize and peas in the Karimabad valley in northern Pakistan, a mountainous region with many glaciers. In many parts of the world, glaciers have been in retreat, creating dangerously large lakes that can cause devastating flooding when the banks break. Climate change can also increase rainfall in some areas, while bringing drought to others. Hira Ali 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Smoke filled with the carbon that is driving climate change drifts across a field in Colombia. Sandra Rondon 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Amid a flood in Islampur, Jamalpur, Bangladesh, a woman on a raft searches for somewhere dry to take shelter. Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable places in the world to sea level rise, which is expected to make tens of millions of people homeless by 2050. Probal Rashid 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Sindh province in Pakistan has experienced a grim mix of two consequences of climate change. Because of climate change either we have floods or not enough water to irrigate our crop and feed our animals, says the photographer. Picture clearly indicates that the extreme drought makes wide cracks in clay. Crops are very difficult to grow. Rizwan Dharejo 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Hanna Petursdottir examines a cave inside the Svinafellsjokull glacier in Iceland, which she said had been growing rapidly. Since 2000, the size of glaciers on Iceland has reduced by 12 per cent. Tom Schifanella 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A river once flowed along the depression in the dry earth of this part of Bangladesh, but it has disappeared amid rising temperatures. Abrar Hossain 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A shepherd moves his herd as he looks for green pasture near the village of Sirohi in Rajasthan, northern India. The region has been badly affected by heatwaves and drought, making local people nervous about further predicted increases in temperature. Riddhima Singh Bhati 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A factory in China is shrouded by a haze of air pollution. The World Health Organisation has warned such pollution, much of which is from the fossil fuels that cause climate change, is a public health emergency. Leung Ka Wa 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Water levels in reservoirs, like this one in Gers, France, have been getting perilously low in areas across the world affected by drought, forcing authorities to introduce water restrictions. Mahtuf Ikhsan It said the preferred option was to move to such a scheme from 1 January next years, subject to parliaments approval. The cost of the policy was said to be 132.5m. This provides an exemption from a proportion of the indirect costs of the Renewables Obligation [subsidy] scheme in respect of up to 85 per cent of electricity supplied to eligible EIIs, the document added. Sign up to our free WhatsApp news alerts and daily briefing updates Sign up to our free daily WhatsApp news alerts Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the WhatsApp news alerts email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Elon Musk has said he has received permission to build an underground east coast "hyperloop" that will connect New York and Washington DC in just 29 minutes. Mr Musk, best known for his electric car company and for his space venture Space X, said he had received verbal permission for his infrastructure and tunnelling firm, the Boring Company, to build a subterranean transportation system. Mr Musk, who has previously made claims that many have considered wild, did not say who he had received permission from, or the nature of the verbal agreement. Just received verbal govt approval for The Boring Company to build an underground NY-Phil-Balt-DC Hyperloop. NY-DC in 29 mins, he said on Twitter. Elon Musk says we're only 2 years from being able to nap in self-driving cars City centre to city centre in each case, with up to a dozen or more entry/exit elevators in each city. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty Earlier this month Mr Musk announced the Boring Companys Godot machine has begun its digging operation in the car park of the SpaceX building in LA. Mr Musk first proposed the electromagnetic tube system in 2013. Earlier this year the California tech company Hyperloop One unveiled a plan for a NY-to-DC system. Many people on social media asked Mr Musk who had given him permission for the project but he refused to answer. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Deutsche Bank is preparing for a hard Brexit and will probably book the vast majority of its assets in Frankfurt, chief executive John Cryan has told employees in a videotaped message. Theres an awful lot of detail to be ironed out and agreed; depending on what the rules and regulations turn out to be, we will try to minimise disruption for our clients and for our own people, Mr Cryan said in the video. But inevitably roles will need to be either moved or at least added in Frankfurt. A year after Britons voted to pull out of the European Union, the worlds biggest banks are eyeing other potential locations for some London operations. The turmoil around Brexit dovetails with Mr Cryans desire to concentrate more business at its base in Frankfurt, Germanys financial hub. Mr Cryan said that the bank cant afford to postpone decisions on Brexit pending the outcome of negotiations on Britains future relationship with the EU. Although Deutsche Bank will not need to set up a new subsidiary on the continent unlike some non-EU rivals it is likely Brexit will impact us significantly, he added. Those familiar with the film said it was recently posted on the banks intranet and shows Mr Cryan being interviewed by the chief of communications, Jorg Eigendorf. They declined, however, to be identified discussing internal communications. A spokeswoman for the bank, Monika Schaller, declined to comment. Deutsche Bank plans to move chunks of trading and investment-banking assets currently booked in London to Frankfurt, other people told Bloomberg this month. The jobs of several hundred traders and as many as 20,000 client accounts will likely be shifted, another person said. Frankfurt has emerged as a winner of the Brexit vote, with Standard Chartered, Nomura Holdings, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Daiwa Securities Group all picking the city as their EU hub in recent weeks. Morgan Stanley also has settled on Frankfurt for its European trading headquarters, those briefed on the decision have said, and Citigroup is weighing a similar move. Business news: In pictures Show all 13 1 /13 Business news: In pictures Business news: In pictures Flybe collapses Airline Flybe has collapsed. All future flights on the Exeter-based airline have been cancelled leaving more than 2,300 staff facing an uncertain future, and wrecking the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers. The chief executive, Mark Anderson, said: Europes largest independent regional airline has been unable to overcome significant funding challenges to its business. AFP via Getty Business news: In pictures Future product placement will be 'tailored to individual viewers' Marketing executives say that product placement in films and televison shows on streaming services such as Netflix may be tailored to individuals in future. For instance, if data shows that a viewer is a fan of pepsi, a billboard in the background of a shot would host an advert for pepsi, while for a viewer known to have different tastes it could be for Coca-Cola Paramount Business news: In pictures Corbyn wishes Amazon a happy birthday In a card sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the company's 25th birthday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes: "You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share" Business news: In pictures No deal, no tariffs The government has announced that it would slash almost all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Notable exceptions include cars and meat, which will see tariffs in place to protect British farmers Getty Business news: In pictures Fingerprint payment NatWest is trialling a new bank card that will allow people to touch their hand to the card when paying rather than typing in a PIN number. The card will work by recognising the user's fingerprint NatWest/PA Wire Business news: In pictures Mahabis bust High-end slipper retailer Mahabis has gone into administration. 2 Jan 2019 Mahabis Business news: In pictures Costa Cola Coca-Cola has paid 3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new venture for the global soft drinks giant PA Business news: In pictures RIP Payday Loans A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September 2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain's biggest, went into administration on August 30 PA Business news: In pictures Musk irks investors and directors Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a tumble in the following weeks Getty Business news: In pictures Jaguar warning Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that a "bad" Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than $100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into crucial talks AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures Spotif-IPO Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn't issuing shares, but rather, shares held by Spotify's private investors will be sold AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures French blue passports The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rues contract ends in July. The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process. Business news: In pictures Beast from the east economic impact The Beast from the East wiped 4m off of Flybes revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airlines estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year. Banks have struggled to quantify Brexit risks to their business because so many unknowns surround Britains future relationship with the EU. At stake is the right of companies based in Britain, home to Europes biggest financial centre, to sell products and services in the rest of the EU, the loss of which has come to be known as a hard Brexit. We will assume a reasonable worst outcome, Mr Cryan said. The worst is always likely to be worse than people can imagine. Bloomberg For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Low-cost airline easyJet upgraded its profit outlook on Thursday, after posting strong results for the third quarter of its financial year thanks to keeping a tight grip on costs. The company said that it now expects profit before tax for the full year to be in the range of 380m to 420m. Analysts had previously on average estimated the figure to be 380m. easyJet has delivered a strong performance in the quarter right across the business, said outgoing CEO Carolyn McCall. Recommended easyJet launching separate European airline in Vienna ready for Brexit Our purposeful and disciplined growth continues to strengthen our market positions and we are seeing an underlying improving revenue trend, she added. She said that the groups continuing product and digital innovation is generating revenue growth and that underlying cost control is strong. The number of passengers carried increased by 10.8 per cent to 22.3 million in the quarter to the end of June. Load factor a measure used to determine how full each place is increased by 1.1 percentage points to 93.1 per cent. Total revenue for the period increased by 16 per cent to 1.4bn, helped by the timing of Easter, a higher load factor, and what the company described as an improving underlying trend in the trading environment. The airline also said that it had received approval for an airline operating licence from authorities in Austria. Earlier this month, easyJet said it would set up a new airline headquartered in Vienna to protect its flying rights after Brexit. On Monday, ITV announced that it had appointed Ms McCall as its new chief executive, taking over from Adam Crozier, who announced in May that he was stepping down. Ms McCall has been CEO of easyJet for seven years, helping to grow the business into one of the worlds biggest and most competitive low-cost carriers that services more than 800 routes across 30 countries. Before that, she was chief executive of Guardian Media Group. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} UK households could pay 50bn for the new Hinkley Point C nuclear plant in Somerset, new government figures reveal. That number is more than eight times greater than the National Audit Offices initial 2013 estimate that a public investment of 6bn would be required. The spiralling costs are due to the terms of the Governments agreement with EDF, the French state-owned electricity company, which is building the plant in conjunction with China General Nuclear Power. That deal guarantees EDF a 92.50 strike price for every megawatt hour of electricity that the new plant generates, a figure that critics have said is far too high. Recommended EDF becomes latest supplier to raise energy prices Electricity prices have tumbled since the terms of the deal were negotiated in 2013, leaving a yawning gap between what consumers will pay and the price that could be available on the free market. Part of this decrease is due to falling oil prices, but it also reflects the fact that the cost of renewables, such as solar, has decreased rapidly. The Governments Infrastructure and Projects Authority said that wholesale prices are volatile and sensitive to a diverse range of uncertain factors. The news comes just two weeks after a review by EDF said construction cost for the nuclear plant had increased by 1.5bn to 19.6bn, following its own review of the project. The company said it meant its predicted rate of return on investment will fall to 8.5 per cent from 9 per cent previously. The review, carried out after the final investment decision was made, looked into design and engineering plans, the amount of work that has to be carried out and further discussions with suppliers, EDF said. EDF also said there was a risk of delayed delivery of the project of 15 months for Unit 1 and nine months for Unit 2, which would add a further 700m to costs. Business news: In pictures Show all 13 1 /13 Business news: In pictures Business news: In pictures Flybe collapses Airline Flybe has collapsed. All future flights on the Exeter-based airline have been cancelled leaving more than 2,300 staff facing an uncertain future, and wrecking the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers. The chief executive, Mark Anderson, said: Europes largest independent regional airline has been unable to overcome significant funding challenges to its business. AFP via Getty Business news: In pictures Future product placement will be 'tailored to individual viewers' Marketing executives say that product placement in films and televison shows on streaming services such as Netflix may be tailored to individuals in future. For instance, if data shows that a viewer is a fan of pepsi, a billboard in the background of a shot would host an advert for pepsi, while for a viewer known to have different tastes it could be for Coca-Cola Paramount Business news: In pictures Corbyn wishes Amazon a happy birthday In a card sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the company's 25th birthday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes: "You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share" Business news: In pictures No deal, no tariffs The government has announced that it would slash almost all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Notable exceptions include cars and meat, which will see tariffs in place to protect British farmers Getty Business news: In pictures Fingerprint payment NatWest is trialling a new bank card that will allow people to touch their hand to the card when paying rather than typing in a PIN number. The card will work by recognising the user's fingerprint NatWest/PA Wire Business news: In pictures Mahabis bust High-end slipper retailer Mahabis has gone into administration. 2 Jan 2019 Mahabis Business news: In pictures Costa Cola Coca-Cola has paid 3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new venture for the global soft drinks giant PA Business news: In pictures RIP Payday Loans A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September 2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain's biggest, went into administration on August 30 PA Business news: In pictures Musk irks investors and directors Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a tumble in the following weeks Getty Business news: In pictures Jaguar warning Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that a "bad" Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than $100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into crucial talks AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures Spotif-IPO Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn't issuing shares, but rather, shares held by Spotify's private investors will be sold AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures French blue passports The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rues contract ends in July. The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process. Business news: In pictures Beast from the east economic impact The Beast from the East wiped 4m off of Flybes revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airlines estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year. A spokesperson from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said: Hinkley Point C will be the first new nuclear plant in a generation. This was an important strategic decision to ensure that nuclear is part of a diverse energy mix. Consumers wont pay a penny until Hinkley is built; it will provide clean, reliable electricity powering 6 million homes and creating more than 26,000 jobs and apprenticeships in the process. An EDF spokesperson said Hinkley will be good value for consumers compared with alternative choices available in the 2020s. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A letter from Rupert Murdochs sons, James and Lachlan, failed to persuade the Culture Secretary, Karen Bradley, to change her decision to refer 21st Century Foxs proposed 11.7bn takeover of Sky to the competition watchdog. Further representations were provided by both Fox and Sky, but neither of the parties have taken any additional undertakings in lieu, the Culture Secretary told the House of Commons on Thursday. Ms Bradley underlined the fact that she cannot make a decision until all representations provided by the parties had been considered. Since the deadline for providing those representations was last Friday, she has not had time to do so. However, she said that none of the representations that she had so far considered had persuaded her to change her position, and that she was still minded to refer the bid to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on grounds of media plurality. The Culture Secretary did not rule out referring the decision on the other matter of broadcasting standards. She said a decision could be made in the coming weeks, potentially during Parliaments summer recess, and that she would write to interested parties when she had made up her mind on the issue. If the issue is referred, the CMA will conduct a thorough phase-two investigation into the bid, looking at whether the combined company, which is controlled by the Murdoch family, would have too much power over the UK media. Rupert Murdochs 21st Century Fox is trying to buy the remaining 61 per cent of Sky that it does not already own. The UK is the final country required to grant approval for the deal after regulators in the other territories in which Sky operates Ireland, Austria, Germany and Italy all gave the green light. Shadow Culture Secretary Tom Watson welcomed the Governments indecision on the bid, and called on Ms Bradley to demonstrate she is in charge, rather than 21st Century Fox. Business news: In pictures Show all 13 1 /13 Business news: In pictures Business news: In pictures Flybe collapses Airline Flybe has collapsed. All future flights on the Exeter-based airline have been cancelled leaving more than 2,300 staff facing an uncertain future, and wrecking the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers. The chief executive, Mark Anderson, said: Europes largest independent regional airline has been unable to overcome significant funding challenges to its business. AFP via Getty Business news: In pictures Future product placement will be 'tailored to individual viewers' Marketing executives say that product placement in films and televison shows on streaming services such as Netflix may be tailored to individuals in future. For instance, if data shows that a viewer is a fan of pepsi, a billboard in the background of a shot would host an advert for pepsi, while for a viewer known to have different tastes it could be for Coca-Cola Paramount Business news: In pictures Corbyn wishes Amazon a happy birthday In a card sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the company's 25th birthday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes: "You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share" Business news: In pictures No deal, no tariffs The government has announced that it would slash almost all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Notable exceptions include cars and meat, which will see tariffs in place to protect British farmers Getty Business news: In pictures Fingerprint payment NatWest is trialling a new bank card that will allow people to touch their hand to the card when paying rather than typing in a PIN number. The card will work by recognising the user's fingerprint NatWest/PA Wire Business news: In pictures Mahabis bust High-end slipper retailer Mahabis has gone into administration. 2 Jan 2019 Mahabis Business news: In pictures Costa Cola Coca-Cola has paid 3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new venture for the global soft drinks giant PA Business news: In pictures RIP Payday Loans A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September 2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain's biggest, went into administration on August 30 PA Business news: In pictures Musk irks investors and directors Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a tumble in the following weeks Getty Business news: In pictures Jaguar warning Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that a "bad" Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than $100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into crucial talks AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures Spotif-IPO Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn't issuing shares, but rather, shares held by Spotify's private investors will be sold AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures French blue passports The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rues contract ends in July. The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process. Business news: In pictures Beast from the east economic impact The Beast from the East wiped 4m off of Flybes revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airlines estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year. Mr Watson told the Commons he respected her for taking her quasi-judicial responsibilities seriously, and said: She will be aware that, whatever decision she makes, there is a strong possibility of judicial review by one side or the other. 21st Century Foxs lawyers have already written a somewhat intimidating letter to the Secretary of State trying to bounce her into a decision. We know that aggression is the Murdochs modus operandi. Weve been on the receiving end of it in this House and we urge the Secretary of State to keep standing firm. Mr Watson added: There is absolutely no need for the Secretary of State to announce a decision during the summer recess Parliament must have the opportunity to scrutinise any decision she makes. It is not her job to operate to 21st Century Foxs corporate timetable they have to abide by the parliamentary timetable. And she should demonstrate to them that she, as an elected representative of the people, is in charge, not them. Mr Watson asked Ms Bradley to get on and just do part two of the Leveson inquiry. Media regulator Ofcom raised concerns last month over the influence the Murdochs would have on the political process in the UK, should the takeover go ahead. Mr Murdoch has separated his newspapers from his TV assets in recent years, but his family still has significant control over both. Mr Murdoch is co-chairman of Fox and executive chairman of News Corporation, which owns The Times, The Sunday Times and The Sun. His son, James, is chief executive of Fox and chairman of Sky. The current bid comes six years after the media tycoons last attempt at taking the business over through News Corp in 2011. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} TSB customers will soon be able to access their mobile banking app by scanning their eye using a smartphone camera, as the lender becomes the first in Europe to introduce the biometric technology. Iris recognition is the most secure form of identification currently available and the human eye is far more unique to each individual than a fingerprint, according to the lender. It also means customers will be able to access accounts simply by looking at their phones, with no need to enter an ID or password. The new feature will initially only be available to customers with a Samsung Galaxy S8 or S8+, both of which are equipped with the technology. Iris scanners are expected to become common features in the next generation of smartphones but have yet to have much success. The Galaxy Note 7 was the first to incorporate an iris scanner but dozens of the phones caught fire, eventually forcing Samsung to recall the product completely. Its replacement, the S8, launched earlier this year. Cyber security experts have warned that while the biometric features are a positive step, they can still be compromised. German hackers were recently able to trick a Samsung Galaxy S8's iris scanner with a picture of the device owner's eye and a contact lens. Etienne Greeff, co-founder of cyber security firm SecureData, told the Press Association that the implications for consumers, should their account be hacked, could be long-lasting. Business news: In pictures Show all 13 1 /13 Business news: In pictures Business news: In pictures Flybe collapses Airline Flybe has collapsed. All future flights on the Exeter-based airline have been cancelled leaving more than 2,300 staff facing an uncertain future, and wrecking the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers. The chief executive, Mark Anderson, said: Europes largest independent regional airline has been unable to overcome significant funding challenges to its business. AFP via Getty Business news: In pictures Future product placement will be 'tailored to individual viewers' Marketing executives say that product placement in films and televison shows on streaming services such as Netflix may be tailored to individuals in future. For instance, if data shows that a viewer is a fan of pepsi, a billboard in the background of a shot would host an advert for pepsi, while for a viewer known to have different tastes it could be for Coca-Cola Paramount Business news: In pictures Corbyn wishes Amazon a happy birthday In a card sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the company's 25th birthday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes: "You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share" Business news: In pictures No deal, no tariffs The government has announced that it would slash almost all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Notable exceptions include cars and meat, which will see tariffs in place to protect British farmers Getty Business news: In pictures Fingerprint payment NatWest is trialling a new bank card that will allow people to touch their hand to the card when paying rather than typing in a PIN number. The card will work by recognising the user's fingerprint NatWest/PA Wire Business news: In pictures Mahabis bust High-end slipper retailer Mahabis has gone into administration. 2 Jan 2019 Mahabis Business news: In pictures Costa Cola Coca-Cola has paid 3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new venture for the global soft drinks giant PA Business news: In pictures RIP Payday Loans A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September 2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain's biggest, went into administration on August 30 PA Business news: In pictures Musk irks investors and directors Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a tumble in the following weeks Getty Business news: In pictures Jaguar warning Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that a "bad" Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than $100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into crucial talks AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures Spotif-IPO Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn't issuing shares, but rather, shares held by Spotify's private investors will be sold AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures French blue passports The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rues contract ends in July. The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process. Business news: In pictures Beast from the east economic impact The Beast from the East wiped 4m off of Flybes revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airlines estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year. What happens when your biometric security settings are hacked? You can't change your voice, you can't replace your eyes, you can't reset your fingerprints, he said. It's good to see businesses like TSB looking to replace passwords, which are flimsy and easily breached, but hackers are wise to biometrics and it won't stop them from trying to get their hands on your data. TSB's chief information officer Carlos Abarca said: Iris recognition allows you to unlock your TSB mobile app with a simple glance, meaning all of those IDs, passwords and memorable information become a thing of the past. Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Health Check email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Jeremy Hunt has suggested the NHS could intervene to remove damp from council homes in an effort to improve peoples health. The Health Secretary said there are very strong links between poor health and poor-quality housing and any new policy would be part of a holistic approach from the health service. It is about providing green spaces in cities to help improve our mental health, providing cycle routes, a whole range of things, and housing is critical, he told an audience at the Kings Fund in London. I can see a world, not immediately but in perhaps five years' time, where the NHS pays to sort out the damp in someone's council house. He quipped that NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens, sitting next to him at the briefing, was looking very worried by his comments. With our growing budgets, Mr Stevens joked in response. The comments came after a spat on Twitter between the Health Secretary and health expert Sir Michael Marmot over life expectancy statistics. Sir Michael, a professor who previously chaired a government-commissioned review into health inequalities, said improvements in life expectancy in Britain have almost ground to a halt since 2010, citing figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Mr Hunt challenged these claims on social media, saying that life expectancy was continuing to rise significantly and citing the same statistics quoted by Sir Michael. Health news in pictures Show all 40 1 /40 Health news in pictures Health news in pictures Coronavirus outbreak The coronavirus Covid-19 has hit the UK leading to the deaths of two people so far and prompting warnings from the Department of Health AFP via Getty Health news in pictures Thousands of emergency patients told to take taxi to hospital Thousands of 999 patients in England are being told to get a taxi to hospital, figures have showed. The number of patients outside London who were refused an ambulance rose by 83 per cent in the past year as demand for services grows Getty Health news in pictures Vape related deaths spike A vaping-related lung disease has claimed the lives of 11 people in the US in recent weeks. The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has more than 100 officials investigating the cause of the mystery illness, and has warned citizens against smoking e-cigarette products until more is known, particularly if modified or bought off the street Getty Health news in pictures Baldness cure looks to be a step closer Researchers in the US claim to have overcome one of the major hurdles to cultivating human follicles from stem cells. The new system allows cells to grow in a structured tuft and emerge from the skin Sanford Burnham Preybs Health news in pictures Two hours a week spent in nature can improve health A study in the journal Scientific Reports suggests that a dose of nature of just two hours a week is associated with better health and psychological wellbeing Shutterstock Health news in pictures Air pollution linked to fertility issues in women Exposure to air from traffic-clogged streets could leave women with fewer years to have children, a study has found. Italian researchers found women living in the most polluted areas were three times more likely to show signs they were running low on eggs than those who lived in cleaner surroundings, potentially triggering an earlier menopause Getty/iStock Health news in pictures Junk food ads could be banned before watershed Junk food adverts on TV and online could be banned before 9pm as part of Government plans to fight the "epidemic" of childhood obesity. Plans for the new watershed have been put out for public consultation in a bid to combat the growing crisis, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said PA Health news in pictures Breeding with neanderthals helped humans fight diseases On migrating from Africa around 70,000 years ago, humans bumped into the neanderthals of Eurasia. While humans were weak to the diseases of the new lands, breeding with the resident neanderthals made for a better equipped immune system PA Health news in pictures Cancer breath test to be trialled in Britain The breath biopsy device is designed to detect cancer hallmarks in molecules exhaled by patients Getty Health news in pictures Average 10 year old has consumed the recommended amount of sugar for an adult By their 10th birthdy, children have on average already eaten more sugar than the recommended amount for an 18 year old. The average 10 year old consumes the equivalent to 13 sugar cubes a day, 8 more than is recommended PA Health news in pictures Child health experts advise switching off screens an hour before bed While there is not enough evidence of harm to recommend UK-wide limits on screen use, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health have advised that children should avoid screens for an hour before bed time to avoid disrupting their sleep Getty Health news in pictures Daily aspirin is unnecessary for older people in good health, study finds A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has found that many elderly people are taking daily aspirin to little or no avail Getty Health news in pictures Vaping could lead to cancer, US study finds A study by the University of Minnesota's Masonic Cancer Centre has found that the carcinogenic chemicals formaldehyde, acrolein, and methylglyoxal are present in the saliva of E-cigarette users Reuters Health news in pictures More children are obese and diabetic There has been a 41% increase in children with type 2 diabetes since 2014, the National Paediatric Diabetes Audit has found. Obesity is a leading cause Reuters Health news in pictures Most child antidepressants are ineffective and can lead to suicidal thoughts The majority of antidepressants are ineffective and may be unsafe, for children and teenager with major depression, experts have warned. In what is the most comprehensive comparison of 14 commonly prescribed antidepressant drugs to date, researchers found that only one brand was more effective at relieving symptoms of depression than a placebo. Another popular drug, venlafaxine, was shown increase the risk users engaging in suicidal thoughts and attempts at suicide Getty Health news in pictures Gay, lesbian and bisexual adults at higher risk of heart disease, study claims Researchers at the Baptist Health South Florida Clinic in Miami focused on seven areas of controllable heart health and found these minority groups were particularly likely to be smokers and to have poorly controlled blood sugar iStock Health news in pictures Breakfast cereals targeted at children contain 'steadily high' sugar levels since 1992 despite producer claims A major pressure group has issued a fresh warning about perilously high amounts of sugar in breakfast cereals, specifically those designed for children, and has said that levels have barely been cut at all in the last two and a half decades Getty Health news in pictures Potholes are making us fat, NHS watchdog warns New guidance by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the body which determines what treatment the NHS should fund, said lax road repairs and car-dominated streets were contributing to the obesity epidemic by preventing members of the public from keeping active PA Health news in pictures New menopause drugs offer women relief from 'debilitating' hot flushes A new class of treatments for women going through the menopause is able to reduce numbers of debilitating hot flushes by as much as three quarters in a matter of days, a trial has found. The drug used in the trial belongs to a group known as NKB antagonists (blockers), which were developed as a treatment for schizophrenia but have been sitting on a shelf unused, according to Professor Waljit Dhillo, a professor of endocrinology and metabolism REX Health news in pictures Doctors should prescribe more antidepressants for people with mental health problems, study finds Research from Oxford University found that more than one million extra people suffering from mental health problems would benefit from being prescribed drugs and criticised ideological reasons doctors use to avoid doing so. Getty Health news in pictures Student dies of flu after NHS advice to stay at home and avoid A&E The family of a teenager who died from flu has urged people not to delay going to A&E if they are worried about their symptoms. Melissa Whiteley, an 18-year-old engineering student from Hanford in Stoke-on-Trent, fell ill at Christmas and died in hospital a month later. Just Giving Health news in pictures Government to review thousands of harmful vaginal mesh implants The Government has pledged to review tens of thousands of cases where women have been given harmful vaginal mesh implants. Getty Health news in pictures Jeremy Hunt announces 'zero suicides ambition' for the NHS The NHS will be asked to go further to prevent the deaths of patients in its care as part of a zero suicide ambition being launched today Getty Health news in pictures Human trials start with cancer treatment that primes immune system to kill off tumours Human trials have begun with a new cancer therapy that can prime the immune system to eradicate tumours. The treatment, that works similarly to a vaccine, is a combination of two existing drugs, of which tiny amounts are injected into the solid bulk of a tumour. Nephron Health news in pictures Babies' health suffers from being born near fracking sites, finds major study Mothers living within a kilometre of a fracking site were 25 per cent more likely to have a child born at low birth weight, which increase their chances of asthma, ADHD and other issues Getty Health news in pictures NHS reviewing thousands of cervical cancer smear tests after women wrongly given all-clear Thousands of cervical cancer screening results are under review after failings at a laboratory meant some women were incorrectly given the all-clear. A number of women have already been told to contact their doctors following the identification of procedural issues in the service provided by Pathology First Laboratory. Rex Health news in pictures Potential key to halting breast cancer's spread discovered by scientists Most breast cancer patients do not die from their initial tumour, but from secondary malignant growths (metastases), where cancer cells are able to enter the blood and survive to invade new sites. Asparagine, a molecule named after asparagus where it was first identified in high quantities, has now been shown to be an essential ingredient for tumour cells to gain these migratory properties. Getty Health news in pictures NHS nursing vacancies at record high with more than 34,000 roles advertised A record number of nursing and midwifery positions are currently being advertised by the NHS, with more than 34,000 positions currently vacant, according to the latest data. Demand for nurses was 19 per cent higher between July and September 2017 than the same period two years ago. REX Health news in pictures Cannabis extract could provide new class of treatment for psychosis CBD has a broadly opposite effect to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main active component in cannabis and the substance that causes paranoia and anxiety. Getty Health news in pictures Over 75,000 sign petition calling for Richard Branson's Virgin Care to hand settlement money back to NHS Mr Bransons company sued the NHS last year after it lost out on an 82m contract to provide childrens health services across Surrey, citing concerns over serious flaws in the way the contract was awarded PA Health news in pictures More than 700 fewer nurses training in England in first year after NHS bursary scrapped The numbers of people accepted to study nursing in England fell 3 per cent in 2017, while the numbers accepted in Wales and Scotland, where the bursaries were kept, increased 8.4 per cent and 8 per cent respectively Getty Health news in pictures Landmark study links Tory austerity to 120,000 deaths The paper found that there were 45,000 more deaths in the first four years of Tory-led efficiencies than would have been expected if funding had stayed at pre-election levels. On this trajectory that could rise to nearly 200,000 excess deaths by the end of 2020, even with the extra funding that has been earmarked for public sector services this year. Reuters Health news in pictures Long commutes carry health risks Hours of commuting may be mind-numbingly dull, but new research shows that it might also be having an adverse effect on both your health and performance at work. Longer commutes also appear to have a significant impact on mental wellbeing, with those commuting longer 33 per cent more likely to suffer from depression Shutterstock Health news in pictures You cannot be fit and fat It is not possible to be overweight and healthy, a major new study has concluded. The study of 3.5 million Britons found that even metabolically healthy obese people are still at a higher risk of heart disease or a stroke than those with a normal weight range Getty Health news in pictures Sleep deprivation When you feel particularly exhausted, it can definitely feel like you are also lacking in brain capacity. Now, a new study has suggested this could be because chronic sleep deprivation can actually cause the brain to eat itself Shutterstock Health news in pictures Exercise classes offering 45 minute naps launch David Lloyd Gyms have launched a new health and fitness class which is essentially a bunch of people taking a nap for 45 minutes. The fitness group was spurred to launch the napercise class after research revealed 86 per cent of parents said they were fatigued. The class is therefore predominantly aimed at parents but you actually do not have to have children to take part Getty Health news in pictures 'Fundamental right to health' to be axed after Brexit, lawyers warn Tobacco and alcohol companies could win more easily in court cases such as the recent battle over plain cigarette packaging if the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights is abandoned, a barrister and public health professor have said Getty Health news in pictures 'Thousands dying' due to fear over non-existent statin side-effects A major new study into the side effects of the cholesterol-lowering medicine suggests common symptoms such as muscle pain and weakness are not caused by the drugs themselves Getty Health news in pictures Babies born to fathers aged under 25 have higher risk of autism New research has found that babies born to fathers under the age of 25 or over 51 are at higher risk of developing autism and other social disorders. The study, conducted by the Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment at Mount Sinai, found that these children are actually more advanced than their peers as infants, but then fall behind by the time they hit their teenage years Getty Health news in pictures Cycling to work could halve risk of cancer and heart disease Commuters who swap their car or bus pass for a bike could cut their risk of developing heart disease and cancer by almost half, new research suggests but campaigners have warned there is still an urgent need to improve road conditions for cyclists. Cycling to work is linked to a lower risk of developing cancer by 45 per cent and cardiovascular disease by 46 per cent, according to a study of a quarter of a million people. Walking to work also brought health benefits, the University of Glasgow researchers found, but not to the same degree as cycling. Getty Respect Marmot but his graph shows life expectancy for newborn boy is already 61 minutes longer than it was at time of his Today prog interview, wrote the Health Secretary alongside a diagram from UCLs Institute of Health Equity, led by the professor. Sir Michael responded angrily to the tweet, writing: What are you saying? That ONS got its figures wrong and rise of life expectancy has NOT slowed since 2010? If ONS is correct, lets discuss. Mr Hunt and Mr Stevens have announced 325m of investment for local projects known as 'Sustainability and Transformation Plans' (STPs) in 15 regions of England, which includes beefing up urgent care in Dorset and creating a new cancer centre in Cumbria. But Dr Chaand Nagpaul, council chair of the British Medical Association (BMA), said the new funding was "unlikely to go far enough to address the overwhelming pressures and estate needs of the NHS". He said projects to reform the health service "need at least 9.5bn of total capital funding to be delivered successfully" and warned the plans would affect millions of patients through hospital and bed closures. Chris Ham, chief executive of health think tank The King's Fund, said the announcement was "very welcome" as for STPs to be successful, capital funding is needed to support the transformation of health and care services. Todays announcement is very welcome, and should be seen as a first installment of the much larger capital investment promised in the Budget and by the Prime Minister in the election campaign. Britain has told Turkish authorities it will lift the ban on electronics in aircraft cabins in flights from Turkey, the state run Anadolu news agency said on Thursday, citing diplomatic sources. The sources said that Alan Duncan, Britain's minister for Europe and Foreign Minister Boris Johnson both called Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to tell him the ban was being lifted, Anadolu reported. Major airlines flying from Turkey to Britain include Turkish Airlines and British Airways, which is owned by International Consolidated Airlines Group Search Keywords: Short link: Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Health Check email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Ultrasound images that appear to show a male foetus masturbating in the womb have sparked a heated debate between scientists who cant agree if one shape is an index finger or the tip of a penis. According to two Spanish researchers, the scan of the foetus at 32 weeks shows very clear sexual behaviour, with its fingers wrapped tightly around its genitals. The foetus is grasping his tumescent penis using an evident force, wrote Vanesa Rodriguez Fernandez and Carlos Lopez Ramon y Cajal in the medical journal Prenatal Diagnosis. The series of images picture the foetus pulling back its foreskin to reveal the urethral opening also known as the meatus then using its hand to return it into place, they said. But an Israeli ultrasound expert said the researchers had made a huge error by misidentifying the foetuss index finger as its foreskin, reported Discover Magazine. What the authors mark as foreskin is the normal index finger, wrote Israel Meizner in a comment on the study, asserting that the first image represents a grasped normal hand with five fingers. The second image shows the flexed hand with five fingers, he wrote. What the authors mark as meatus is the flexed index finger, a bit drawn backwards. Professor Meizner said the penis and scrotum were visible in the first image to the left of the hand a claim refuted by the Spanish obstetricians, who said the bulge he was referring to was the umbilical cord. Responding to the criticism, the scientists said they disagreed with Professor Meizners analysis of the imagery, as they had observed the professed act take place over a period of half an hour. The behavior reported in our study was observed and confirmed by several doctors over a period of time, they said. The image is a snapshot of an exploration that was performed over a period of 30 minutes." Typically, I work using two ultrasound machines and seven transducers (three-dimensional mechanical and electronic transducers), added the doctors. I would be happy for you to visit my hospital and ultrasound lab to witness this. A report on the spat was published by a writer using the alias Neuroskeptic, who wrote on Twitter: I used to dream of my posts being picked up by New Scientist. Didn't think it would be a post about a wanking foetus. In 1996, two Italian doctors described their observation of a female foetus at 32 weeks touching the vulva with fingers of [her] right hand, focused primarily on the region of the clitoris, according to The Week. Their letter, published in The American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, said the foetus had carried out this action for 20 minutes before experiencing rapid muscle contractions and then appearing relaxed and rested. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Jeff Sessions has said he plans to continue serving as Attorney General, even after appearing to have lost the confidence of Donald Trump. "I have the honour of serving as Attorney General," Mr Sessions said at a news conference on Thursday. "It is something that goes beyond any thought I would have ever had for myself. We love this job. We love this department. I plan to continue to do so as long as that is appropriate." During an interview with The New York Times on Wednesday, the President said he would not have chosen Mr Sessions as Attorney General if he knew that the former senator would recuse himself over matters related to the 2016 presidential campaign. Recommended Donald Trump expresses regret over appointing Jeff Sessions Federal and congressional investigators are currently probing whether Trump campaign advisers colluded with the Russian government to influence the US election. Mr Trump's rebuke of Mr Sessions' decision underscores the President's anger with the nation's top law enforcement official, who was one of his earliest political allies. Mr Sessions announced in March that he would recuse himself from the Justice Department's investigation, being headed by the FBI, after it was revealed that he had previously undisclosed interactions with a Russian offiicial during the presidential campaign. Mr Trump has in the months since complained that Mr Sessions' recusal led to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller to lead the Russia inquiry. "Jeff Sessions takes the job, gets into the job, recuses himself, which frankly I think is very unfair to the President," Mr Trump said to The Times, referring to himself. "How do you take a job and then recuse yourself? If he would have recused himself before the job, I would have said, 'Thanks, Jeff, but I'm not going to take you.' It's extremely unfair and that's a mild word to the President." The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Show all 17 1 /17 The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Muellers team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Getty The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rick Gates Mr Gates joined the Trump team in spring 2016, and served as a top aide until he left to work at the Republican National Committee after the departure of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Gates' had previously worked on several presidential campaigns, on international political campaigns in Europe and Africa, and had 15 years of political or financial experience with multinational firms, according to his bio. Mr Gates was indicted alongside Mr Manafort by special counsel Robert Mueller's team on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. AP The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. The meeting was set up by an intermediary, Rob Goldstone. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also at the same meeting. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jared Kushner Mr Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a key adviser to the White House. He met with a Russian banker appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Mr Kushner has said he did so in his role as an adviser to Mr Trump while the bank says he did so as a private developer. Mr Kushner has also volunteered to testify in the Senate about his role helping to arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rob Goldstone Former tabloid journalist and now music publicist Rob Goldstone is a contact of the Trump family through the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Moscow. In June 2016, he wrote to Donald Trump Jr offering a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who had information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Goldstone was the intermediary for Russian pop star Emin Agalaraov and his father, real estate magnate Aras, who played a role in putting on the 2013 pageant. In an email chain released by Mr Trump Jr, Mr Goldstone seemed to indicate Russian government's support of Donald Trump's campaign. AP images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Aras and Emin Agalarov Aras Agalarov (R) is a wealthy Moscow-based real estate magnate and son Emin (L) is a pop star. Both played a role in putting on the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. They allegedly had information about Hillary Clinton and offered that information to the Trump campaign through a lawyer with whom they had worked with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and music publicist Rob Goldstone. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Natalia Veselnitskaya Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. She has worked on real estate issues and reportedly counted the FSB as a client in the past. She has ties to a Trump family connection, real estate magnate Aras Agalarov, who had helped set up the Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant which took place in Moscow. Ms Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016 but denies the allegation that she went there promising information on Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. She contends that the meeting was about the US adoptions of Russian children being stopped by Moscow as a reaction to the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Mike Flynn Mr Flynn was named as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to resign from his post for inappropriate communication with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. He had misrepresented a conversation he had with Mr Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence, telling him wrongly that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sergey Kislyak Mr Kislyak, the former longtime Russian ambassador to the US, is at the centre of the web said to connect President Donald Trump's campaign with Russia. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Roger Stone Mr Stone is a former Trump adviser who worked on the political campaigns of Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Mr Stone claimed repeatedly in the final months of the campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew the group was going to dump damaging documents to the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton - which did happen. Mr Stone also had contacts with the hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter, who claimed to have hacked the DNC and is linked to Russian intelligence services. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeff Sessions The US attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation after it was learned that he had lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Carter Page Mr Page is a former advisor to the Trump campaign and has a background working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr Page met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr Page had invested in oil companies connected to Russia and had admitted that US Russia sanctions had hurt his bottom line. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeffrey "JD" Gorden Mr Gordon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republian National Convention to discuss how the US and Russia could work together to combat Islamist extremism should then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election. The meeting came days before a massive leak of DNC emails that has been connected to Russia. Creative Commons The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation James Comey Mr Comey was fired from his post as head of the FBI by President Donald Trump. The timing of Mr Comey's firing raised questions around whether or not the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign may have played a role in the decision. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Preet Bharara Mr Bahara refused, alongside 46 other US district attorney's across the country, to resign once President Donald Trump took office after previous assurances from Mr Trump that he would keep his job. Mr Bahara had been heading up several investigations including one into one of President Donald Trump's favorite cable television channels Fox News. Several investigations would lead back to that district, too, including those into Mr Trump's campaign ties to Russia, and Mr Trump's assertion that Trump Tower was wiretapped on orders from his predecessor. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images "I have done nothing wrong," he later added. "A special counsel should never have been appointed in this case." Since Mr Mueller was appointed, it has been reported that Mr Trump is being investigated for possible obstruction of justice, and that the probe has been expanded to look at transactions involving Trump businesses. Former FBI Director James Comey, who the President fired in May, has said he believes that Mr Trump directed him to drop an investigation into ex-National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. Mr Sessions testified before a Senate committee last month that he removed himself from the current Russia investigation only because of a regulation that required it because of his involvement in the Trump campaign. When asked on Thursday how we can effectively serve as Attorney General if he doesn't have the confidence of Mr Trump, Mr Sessions responded: "We are serving right now." "The work we are doing is the kind of work that we intend to continue," he said alongside Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe and other officials. The law enforcers were announcing the takedown of AlphaBay, the largest dark web marketplace for drugs, counterfeit goods, weapons, hacking tools and other illicit items. "Just last week we announced the largest healthcare takedown ever in the United States," Mr Sessions continued, referring to the Justice Department's fraud-related charges against 412 physicians, nurses, pharmacists and other medical professionals. "We had all the major law enforcement leaders in my office yesterday to talk about unified efforts to improve crime-fights with state and local officials. I am totally confident we can continue to run this office in an effective way." For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A pouch of real moon dust could be yours. But it comes with a whole lot of baggage. The rocks from the moon's planet are going on sale in an auction. But anyone who buys them is risking the wrath of Nasa, which says that the rocks should belong to it. The collection bag was used by Neil Armstrong during the first manned mission to the moon in 1969. Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Show all 30 1 /30 Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Solar Flare An image from Nasa's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) shows a 200,000 mile long solar filament ripping through the Sun's corona in September 2013 Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Nasa Celebrates 50 Years of Spacewalking For 50 years, NASA has been "suiting up" for spacewalking. In this 1984 photograph of the first untethered spacewalk, NASA astronaut Bruce McCandless is in the midst of the first "field" tryout of a nitrogen-propelled backpack device called the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space A Hubble Cosmic Couple The spectacular cosmic pairing of the star Hen 2-427 more commonly known as WR 124 and the nebula M1-67 which surrounds it ESA/Hubble & NASA Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Veil Nebula Supernova Remnant Nasa's Hubble Space Telescope has unveiled in stunning detail a small section of the Veil Nebula - expanding remains of a massive star that exploded about 8,000 years ago Nasa's most stunning pictures of space The Soyuz TMA-15M rocket launch The Soyuz TMA-15M rocket launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Monday, Nov. 24, 2014, carrying three new astronauts to the International Space Station. It also took caviar, ready for the satellite's inhabitants to celebrate the holidays Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Earth from the ISS From the International Space Station, Expedition 42 Flight Engineer Terry W. Virts took this photograph of the Gulf of Mexico and U.S. Gulf Coast at sunset Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Black Hole Friday Nasa celebrated Black Friday by looking into space instead sharing pictures of black holes Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space NuSTAR X-rays stream off the sun in this image showing observations from by NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, overlaid on a picture taken by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Cassiopeia A c A false colour image of Cassiopeia A comprised with data from the Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes and the Chandra X-Ray observatory Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Orion Capsule splashes down The Orion capsule jetted off into space before heading back a few hours later having proved that it can be used, one day, to carry humans to Mars Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Earth Observations From Gemini IV in 1965 This photograph of the Florida Straits and Grand Bahama Bank was taken during the Gemini IV mission during orbit no. 19 in 1965. The Gemini IV crew conducted scientific experiments, including photography of Earth's weather and terrain, for the remainder of their four-day mission following Ed White's historic spacewalk on June 3 Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Frosty slopes of Mars This image of an area on the surface of Mars, approximately 1.5 by 3 kilometers in size, shows frosted gullies on a south-facing slope within a crater. The image was taken by Nasa's HiRISE camera, which is mounted on its Mars Reconaissance Orbiter Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Yellowstone from space NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman shared this image of Yellowstone via his twitter account Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Saturn This near-infrared color image shows a specular reflection, or sunglint, off of a hydrocarbon lake named Kivu Lacus on Saturn's moon Titan Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Worlds Apart Although Mimas and Pandora, shown here, both orbit Saturn, they are very different moons. Pandora, "small" by moon standards (50 miles or 81 kilometers across) is elongated and irregular in shape. Mimas (246 miles or 396 kilometers across), a "medium-sized" moon, formed into a sphere due to self-gravity imposed by its higher mass Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Solar Flare An X1.6 class solar flare flashes in the middle of the sun in this image taken 10 September, captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy An image of the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy seen in infrared light by the Herschel Space Observatory. Regions of space such as this are where new stars are born from a mixture of elements and cosmic dust Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Mars Rover Spirit Nasa's Mars Rover Spirit took the first picture from Spirit since problems with communications began a week earlier. The image shows the robotic arm extended to the rock called Adirondack Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Morning Aurora From the Space Station Nasa astronaut Scott Kelly captured this photograph of the green lights of the aurora from the International Space Station Nasa/Scott Kelly Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Launch of History - Making STS-41G Mission in 1984 The Space Shuttle Challenger launches from Florida at dawn. On this mission, Kathryn Sullivan became the first U.S. woman to perform a spacewalk and Marc Garneau became the first Canadian in space. The crew of seven was the largest to fly on a spacecraft at that time, and STS-41G was the first flight to include two female astronauts Nasa's most stunning pictures of space A Fresh Perspective on an Extraordinary Cluster of Galaxies Galaxy clusters are often described by superlatives. After all, they are huge conglomerations of galaxies, hot gas, and dark matter and represent the largest structures in the Universe held together by gravity Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Hubble Sees a Galactic Sunflower The arrangement of the spiral arms in the galaxy Messier 63, seen here in an image from the Nasa Hubble Space Telescope, recall the pattern at the center of a sunflower ESA/Hubble & NASA Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Pluto image Four images from New Horizons Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) were combined with colour data from the Ralph instrument to create this enhanced colour global view of Pluto Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Fresh Crater Near Sirenum Fossae Region of Mars The HiRISE camera aboard Nasa's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter acquired this closeup image of a "fresh" (on a geological scale, though quite old on a human scale) impact crater in the Sirenum Fossae region of Mars. This impact crater appears relatively recent as it has a sharp rim and well-preserved ejecta Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Hubble Peers into the Most Crowded Place in the Milky Way This Nasa Hubble Space Telescope image presents the Arches Cluster, the densest known star cluster in the Milky Way NASA & ESA Nasa's most stunning pictures of space An Astronaut's View from Space Nasa astronaut Reid Wiseman tweeted this photo from the International Space Station on 2 September 2014 Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Giant Landform on Mars On Mars, we can observe four classes of sandy landforms formed by the wind, or aeolian bedforms: ripples, transverse aeolian ridges, dunes, and what are called draa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Expedition 39 Landing A sokol suit helmet can be seen against the window of the Soyuz TMA-11M capsule shortly after the spacecraft landed with Expedition 39 Commander Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos, and Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan (NASA/Bill Ingalls) Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Jupiter's Great Red Spot Viewed by Voyager I Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system and perhaps the most majestic. Vibrant bands of clouds carried by winds that can exceed 400 mph continuously circle the planet's atmosphere Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Chandra Observatory Sees a Heart in the Darkness This Chandra X-Ray Observatory image of the young star cluster NGC 346 highlights a heart-shaped cloud of 8 million-degree Celsius gas in the central region It will go on sale at New York's Sotheby's as part of a collection of space-related memorabilia. Estimates of how much it could fetch range of from $2 million to $4 million. That means that it could lead to a healthy profit for its current owner who bought it for less than $1,000 and did so apparently by accident. Recommended China and Europe to build a base on the moon The important artefact was accidentally sold in an online government auction after it was misidentified. Nasa says that since it was sold by mistake it should be returned to the US government but has lost that argument. In December, a federal judge ruled that it legally belonged to a Chicago-area woman who bought it in 2015 for $995. Sotheby's declined to identify the seller. However, details of the 2015 purchase were made public during the court case. Investigators unknowingly hit the moon mother lode in 2003 while searching the garage of a man later convicted of stealing and selling museum artifacts, including some that were on loan from NASA. The 30-by-20-centimeter bag was misidentified and sold at an online government auction. Nancy Carlson, of Inverness, Illinois, got an ordinary-looking bag made of white Beta cloth and polyester with rubberized nylon and a brass zipper. Carlson, a collector, knew the bag had been used in a space flight, but she didn't know which one. She sent it to NASA for testing, and the government agency, discovering its importance, fought to keep it. The artifact "belongs to the American people," NASA said then. U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten in Wichita, Kansas said that while it shouldn't have gone up for auction, he didn't have the authority to reverse the sale. He ordered the government to return it. The judge said the importance and desirability of the bag stemmed solely from the efforts of NASA employees whose "amazing technical achievements, skill and courage in landing astronauts on the moon and returning them safely have not been replicated in the almost half a century since the Apollo 11 landing." When it comes to moon landings, Thursday's auction is far from the final frontier. A group called For All Moonkind, Inc. mentioned the moon bag this week while campaigning for "measures to preserve and protect the six Apollo lunar landing sites." It plans to take up the issue next month at the Starship Congress 2017 in California. Additional reporting by Associated Press Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Three members of the same family were among the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire and many more to come, a coroner has said. The bodies of Bassem Choukair, 40, Mierna Choukair, 13, and Nadia Choukair, 33, were all recovered from the 22nd floor of the tower. Gary Maunders, 57, was also recovered from the 23rd floor. A total of 39 victims have been identified and an inquest into their deaths was opened at Westminster Coroners Court. However, Dr Fiona Wilcox suspended the hearings while a public inquiry and criminal investigation are carried out. She told the short hearing that there are "of course still many more identifications" of those who died in the inferno during the early hours of 14 June yet to take place. At least 80 people are thought to have died in the devastating fire at the 24-storey block last month. The provisional cause of death for all four victims was given as "consistent with the effects of fire", with all of them identified through their dental records. The coroner opened and adjourned all four of the inquests and said in each case: "I formally open and immediately adjourned the inquest ... to allow the public inquiry and criminal investigations and prosecutions to take place." In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Show all 51 1 /51 In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Police have released images from inside the tower where at least 58 people have died Metropolitan Police In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A still from a video shared by polices what appears to be a stationary bicycle sitting among the ashes In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A still from a video shared by police shows the remnants of a burnt-out bathroom In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Picture showing the lifts on an unknown floor Metropolitan Police In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Emergency crews outside the front entrance to the tower Metropolitan Police In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Fire crews inspecting flats in the burnt out tower London Metropolitan Police In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Grenfell Tower is seen in the distance PA In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A drone flies near the scene of the fire which destroyed the Grenfell Tower block REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire 'Theresa May Stay Away' message written on the messages of support at Latymer Community Church for those affected by the fire Ray Tang/REX In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire An aerial view of the area surrounding Grenfall tower Getty In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Donated shoes sit in the Westway Sports Centre near to the site of the Grenfell Tower fire Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Messages of support for those affected by the massive fire in Grenfell Tower are displayed on a well near the tower in London AP In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A local resident stands on her balcony by the gutted Grenfell Tower in Latimer Road Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Messages of condolence are left at a relief centre close to the scene of the fire that broke out at Grenfell Tower, EPA In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A police officer stands by a security cordon outside Latimer Road station Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Firemen examine the scorched facade of the Grenfell Tower in London on a huge ladder AP In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A search dog is led through the rubble of the Grenfell Tower in London as firefighting continue to damp-down the deadly fire AP In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn comforts a local resident (name not given) at St Clement's Church in west London where volunteers have provided shelter and support for people affected by the fire at Grenfell Tower David Mirzoeff/PA In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn hugs councillor Mushtaq Lasharie as he arrives at St Clement's Church in Latimer Road, where volunteers have provided shelter and support for people affected by the fire at Grenfell Tower Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn meeting staff and volunteers at St Clementis Church in Latimer Road David Mirzoeff/PA In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Firefighters with a dog walk around the base of the Grenfell Tower REUTERS/Peter Nicholls In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Emotions run high as people attend a candle lit vigil outside Notting Hill Methodist Church near the 24 storey residential Grenfell Tower block in Latimer Road, West London Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Debris hangs from the blackened exterior of Grenfell Tower Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A woman speaks to Mayor of London Sadiq Khan outside Notting Hill Methodist Church near Grenfell Tower in west London after a fire engulfed the 24-storey building Yui Mok/PA Wire In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A woman holds a missing person posters near the Grenfell Tower block REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Sadiq Khan speaking with a resident James Gourley/REX In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Ken Livingstone walks near the scene of the Grenfell Tower fire Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Mayor of London Sadiq Khan is confronted by Kai Ramos, 7, near Grenfell Tower in west London after a fire engulfed the 24-storey building Yui Mok/PA Wire In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Mayor of London Sadiq Khan speaks to a woman outside Notting Hill Methodist Church near Grenfell Tower Yui Mok/PA Wire In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Volunteers distribute aid near Grenfell Tower Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Family and friends of missing Jessica Urbano, 12, wearing photographs of Jessica pinned to their t-shirts gather near Grenfell Tower EPA In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Family and friends of missing Jessica Urbano, 12, wearing photographs of Jessica pinned to their t-shirts gather near Grenfell Tower EPA In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Family and friends of missing Jessica Urbano, 12, wearing photographs of Jessica pinned to their t-shirts gather near Grenfell Tower EPA In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire People attend a vigil at Notting Hill Methodist Church near Grenfell Tower Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire People gather to observe a vigil outside St Clement's Church following the blaze at Grenfell Tower Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire People light candles as they observe a vigil outside St Clement's Church following the blaze at Grenfell Tower Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire People attend a vigil at Notting Hill Methodist Church near Grenfell Tower Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A man distributes food from the back of a van near the scene of the fire which destroyed the Grenfell Tower block REUTERS/Paul Hackett In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A firefighter is cheered near the scene of the fire which destroyed the Grenfell Tower block REUTERS/Paul Hackett In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A T-shirt with a written message from the London Fire Brigade hangs from a fence near The Grenfell Tower block REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A young girl on her way to lay flowers near Grenfell Tower Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire The remains of residential tower block Grenfell Tower are seen from Dixon House a nearby tower block Getty In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Volunteers prepare supplies for people affected by the Grenfell Tower block which was destroyed in a fire REUTERS/Neil Hall In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Volunteers move a car to make space for a lorry picking up supplies for people affected by the Grenfell Tower block REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire People distribute boxes of food near the scene of the fire which destroyed the Grenfell Tower bloc REUTERS/Paul Hackett In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A woman touches a missing poster for 12-year-old Jessica Urbano on a tribute wall after laying flowers on the side of Latymer Community Church next to the fire-gutted Grenfell Tower AP In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A man looks at messages written on a wall near the scene of the fire which destroyed the Grenfell Tower block REUTERS/Paul Hackett In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Candles and messages of condolence near where the fire broke out at Grenfell Tower EPA In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Police carry a stretcher towards Grenfell Tower Rick Findler/PA Wire In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Emergency services at Grenfell Tower Rick Findler/PA Wire In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Police carry out a body from Grenfell Tower in west London after a fire engulfed the 24-storey building Rick Findler/PA Wire She also offered her "sincere condolences" to all of those touched by the deaths. The news comes as a fresh protest took place outside Kensington Town Hall ahead of the councils first full meeting since the disaster last month. Hundreds of protesters, including masked demonstrators, blocked the street outside the building while chants of murderers and no justice, no peace could be heard, London's Evening Standard reported. The meeting will see new council leader Elizabeth Campbell being formally elected after her predecessor, Nicholas Paget-Brown, was forced to resign after it was revealed the council had opted to use cheaper, more flammable, cladding on the tower. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Since it was claimed the first same-sex Muslim marriage had taken place in Britain last week, the question of gay marriages within the community has dominated headlines. Asifa Lahore, the countrys first Muslim drag performer, openly rebuffed the assertion, saying the UKs gay Muslim community is thriving with countless same-sex marriages having taken place in recent years. Suki Sandhu, who married his male partner, echoed the sentiments expressed by Lahore. The 36-year-old LGBT business leader, who is sikh, said he knew a number of people within both the Muslim and wider south Asian community who had either been married or were on the brink of tying the knot. I agree with Asifa and she definitely knows what she is talking about because I would say she is quite connected to that community, he told The Independent. ( But Mr Sandhu insisted it was important not to overlook the deeply-entrenched prejudices faced by LGBT Muslims. He condemned those who argued that it was not possible to reconcile the Muslim faith with being LGBT. Last week, LBC presenter, Maajid Nawaz, was left shocked after a caller told him one could not be both gay and a Muslim while discussing the case of the UKs so-called first same-sex marriage involving a Muslim partner. Korum, a practising Muslim who insisted he was pro gay rights, said: If youre gay, you cant call yourself Muslim! Its like saying Im a vegetarian but then say Im going to eat piri-piri chicken. Mr Sandhu, who had a civil partnership with his partner in 2010 and married him in 2016, condemned the deeply ignorant suggestion that being Muslim and gay was mutually exclusive. London Pride 2017 Show all 14 1 /14 London Pride 2017 London Pride 2017 Revellers in Trafalgar Square in front of the National Portrait gallery take part in London Pride, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) parade in London EPA London Pride 2017 A man wearing two hats attends the Pride in London Festival Getty London Pride 2017 Protesters demonstrate during the Pride in London Festival in London. This year's London Pride event marks 50 years since homosexuality was decriminalised in England and Wales under the 1967 Sexual Offences Getty London Pride 2017 The parade passes Nelson's Column as revellers take part in London Pride, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) parade in London, EPA London Pride 2017 Members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community take part in the annual Pride Parade in London on July 8 AFP London Pride 2017 Revelers enjoy the Pride London Parade in London. The Parade attracts an estimated crowd of 1 million onlookers, while around 26,500 people are taking part in the annual Parade making this the city's biggest one-day event and one of the world's biggest LGBT+ celebrations. AP London Pride 2017 Revellers take part in London Pride, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) parade in London EPA London Pride 2017 A participant sits on a rainbow coloured flag during the Pride in London Parade in central London PA London Pride 2017 Two men sit on a rainbow flag painted on the pavement at Oxford Circus as revellers take part in London Pride, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) parade in London, Britain EPA London Pride 2017 Revellers take part in London Pride, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) parade in London EPA London Pride 2017 A woman from the homeless charity 'Crisis' takes part in London Pride, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) parade in London EPA London Pride 2017 Revellers wave their flags as they take part in London Pride, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) parade in London EPA London Pride 2017 A woman walks past a shop front decorated with the Pride flag colours Getty London Pride 2017 People ride a tube escalator decorated with the Pride flag colours Getty Its incredibly ignorant. As a Muslim man you are always trying to reconcile your faith with your sexuality so having people reinforce this prejudice is pushing people further into the closet and not allowing people to be authentic or themselves, he said. Its hateful. Its not framing the conversation in the right way. I dont know why anyone cant be religious and be true to their sexuality. Theyre not mutually exclusive." Mr Sandhu, who is the founder of the OUTstanding, which champion's the worlds most prominent LGBT leaders, came out to his mother almost a decade ago. Recommended Gay Muslim marriages are much more common than people think It was petrifying because this was like eight or nine years ago, he recalled. I dont think she quite got what I was trying to say her because her only real reference point of gay people would have been characters on Eastenders. Her first reaction was well you could still get married. I was like I can but its not going to be to a woman. It did make me think there must be other people she knows that are in sham marriages. My extended family is about 50 and even now nine years later Im still the only one who is openly gay. It shows you there is a lot to be done. In the wake of discussion surrounding same-sex marriages in the Asian community, police have warned that hundreds of gay and lesbian Britons of Asian descent are being pressured into arranged marriages. West Midlands Police said it dealt with at least 30 LGBT people last year who were forced to enter into a heterosexual marriage. After suggesting he could marry a woman, his mother suggested he see a doctor to cure him of his sexuality instead. She called me and said Im sure you can see a doctor, Im sure can can get some tablets, Im sure you will be cured, she didnt understand it, he said. It took four or five years to come to terms with it before she met my husband. She didnt even want to see a photo of us. Mr Sandhu said that while his mother was tearful and distraught by his sexuality, she managed to come to terms with it once she met his German partner. They were at our wedding party, they gave a speech at the wedding. They call my husband son they love him like a member of the family, he said. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Winston Churchill sought to block the release of secret Second World War documents revealing Nazi plans to install the Duke of Windsor as king in the event of a successful German invasion, according to newly-released government files. Captured German telegrams showed foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop hoped to lure the Duke to Spain, where he would be offered the throne as part of an elaborate plan to persuade Britain to make peace. After the war, historians sought to publish the exchanges as part of an official academic programme by the victorious Allies to release key Nazi documents. However, files released by the National Archives in Kew, west London, show how Churchill tried to delay their release for up to 20 years amid concerns they would cast doubt on the true loyalties of the the former king. The telegrams revealed a convoluted plot to entrap the Duke who had visited Hitler following his abdication in 1936 so as to marry the American divorcee Wallis Simpson and who Ribbentrop believed strongly favoured peace with Germany. In the summer of 1940, following the fall of France, the Duke and Duchess had taken refuge in Lisbon, the capital of neutral Portugal. Ribbentrop wanted to entice them across the border to Spain, where, with the help of General Francos regime, he hoped they could be persuaded to co-operate. He told the German ambassador in Madrid: Germany is determined to compel England to make peace by the use of all methods and would be prepared in such an event to pave the way to the granting of any wish expressed by the Duke, in particular with respect to ascension of the English throne by the Duke and Duchess. The plot included an elaborate charade to convince the couple that Churchill who had appointed the Duke governor of the Bahamas in an attempt to keep him out of trouble would order their assassination if they left Europe. The telegrams also recorded a series of reported conversations with German agents in which they expressed their increasing unhappiness with the King the Dukes younger brother George VI and the government in London. One agent reported the Duke was toying with the idea of publicly disassociating him from the present tendency of British policy, adding: Duke and Duchess do not fear the King, who is altogether stupid, as much as the clever Queen, who is said to be constantly against Duke and in particular against Duchess. Another agent reported how the couples ears pricked up when he suggested the British constitution could be changed to enable the Duke to return to the throne, noting the Duchess in particular became very thoughtful. In the event, Ribbentrops scheming came to nothing. After the war, however, Churchill realised the release of the telegrams would be highly damaging to the Duke, raising fresh doubts about his true loyalties. In 1953, he even wrote to former US president Dwight Eisenhower, appealing to his sense of justice and chivalry to delay their publication for another 10 or 20 years. World War II year by year: conflict sweeps the earth Show all 10 1 /10 World War II year by year: conflict sweeps the earth World War II year by year: conflict sweeps the earth 238491.bin GETTY IMAGES World War II year by year: conflict sweeps the earth 238495.bin GETTY IMAGES World War II year by year: conflict sweeps the earth 238494.bin GETTY IMAGES World War II year by year: conflict sweeps the earth 238492.bin GETTY IMAGES World War II year by year: conflict sweeps the earth 238493.bin GETTY IMAGES World War II year by year: conflict sweeps the earth 238490.bin GETTY IMAGES World War II year by year: conflict sweeps the earth 238483.bin World War II year by year: conflict sweeps the earth 238489.bin PA World War II year by year: conflict sweeps the earth 238481.bin GETTY IMAGES World War II year by year: conflict sweeps the earth 238482.bin PA If they were to be included in an official publication they might leave the impression that the Duke was in close touch with German agents and was listening to suggestions that were disloyal, he wrote. Despite Churchills misgivings, the telegrams were finally published in 1957 after the historians in charge of the release programme threatened to resign. Press Association Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The EU will refuse to sign any trade deal with the UK unless Theresa May guarantees that she will not use Brexit to rip up workers rights, its chief negotiator has warned. Brussels has toughened the tests for a deal, as the exit talks broke up in acrimony after four days with no breakthrough on the key disputes of citizens rights and the divorce bill. Michel Barnier, the chief negotiator, said Britain must give assurances it will not seek unfair competition after Brexit by watering down environmental and social protections. He also laid bare his frustration over the Governments failure to agree it must meet its financial obligations, warning of an explosion across Europe if Britain refuses to pay up. Mr Barnier underlined the urgent need for Britain to change its approach, saying: If we do not find that trust, and if we cannot find an agreement on settling the accounts, there will be no trust later. The comments were revealed after the chief negotiator told a Brussels press conference there was still a fundamental divergence between the EU and the UK on both citizens and money. In a further sign of worsening relations, the EU has threatened that British people living in the EU face losing their automatic right to move to another member state. That stance would not change unless Britain agreed to allow EU nationals living in this country to move to another EU country and then return to the UK, Brussels sources said. The EU is also seeking to block the Government from carrying out criminal record checks on EU nationals who apply to remain in Britain after Brexit. Liam Fox thinks the deal should be one of the 'easiest in human history' (EPA) This development came as a House of Lords committee warns that the information the Government relies on to set immigration policy is woefully inadequate. In a report released on Thursday, Lords warn that immigration policy will be made in the dark if ministers do not have reliable statistics. Mr Barniers comments coincided with second round of Article 50 talks breaking up after yet again failing to make a significant breakthrough, despite high hopes on the British side. The commissions chief negotiator warned there was a fundamental divergence between the UK and EU as Brexit Secretary David Davis again returned from Brussels empty handed. Brussels sources say the commission is frustrated that the UK is refusing to engage at all on the issue of Britain settling its Brexit divorce bill but despite having little to show for the talks, British ministers are striking a far more positive tone. Mr Davis told journalists at the same press conference that he believed the two sides had come to better understand one anothers positions, while trade secretary Liam Fox also stepped up the hubris, telling BBC News that the free trade agreement that we will have to do with the European Union should be one of the easiest in human history. Theresa May has suggested the UK stands ready to launch a deregulation drive after Brexit if there is no deal in Article 50 negotiations, a position also backed by her Chancellor Philip Hammond. Brexit Concerns Show all 26 1 /26 Brexit Concerns Brexit Concerns Brexit will put British patients at 'back of the queue' for new drugs Brexit will put British patients at the back of the queue for vital new drugs, the Government has been warned forcing them to wait up to two years longer A medicines regulator has raised the alarm over a likely decision to pull out of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), as well as the EU itself. ealth Secretary Jeremy Hunt dropped the bombshell , when he said he expected the UK would quit the EMA because it is subject to rulings by the European Court of Justice. Getty Images Brexit Concerns London to lose status as 'gateway to Europe' for banks One of Germanys top banking regulators has warned that London could lose its status as gateway to Europe for the banking sector after Britain quits the European trading bloc. Andreas Dombret, who is an executive board member for the BundesbankGermanys central banktold a private meeting of German businesses and banks earlier this week in Frankfurt that even if banking rules were equivalent between the UK and the rest of the EU, that was still miles away from [Britain having] access to the single market, the BBC reports. Jason Hawkes Brexit Concerns Exodus The number of financial sector professionals in Britain and continental Europe looking for jobs in Ireland rocketed in the months after the UK voted to leave the European Union Shutterstock Brexit Concerns Brexit is making FTSE 100 executives richer Pay packages of many FTSE 100 chief executive officers are partly tied to how well share prices are doing rather than the CEOs performance -- and some stocks are soaring. ritish equities got a boost since the June vote because the likes of Rio Tinto, Smiths Group and WPP generate most sales abroad and earn a fortune when they convert these revenues back into the weakened pound. Sterlings fall also made UK stocks more affordable for overseas investors. Rex Brexit Concerns Theresa May: UK to leave single market Theresa May has said the UK "cannot possibly" remain within the European single market, as staying in it would mean "not leaving the EU at all". Getty Brexit Concerns Lead campaigner Gina Miller and her team outside the High Court Getty Brexit Concerns Raymond McCord holds up his newly issued Irish passport alongside his British passport outside the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit PA wire Brexit Concerns SDLP leader Colum Eastwood leaving the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit PA wire Brexit Concerns Migrants with luggage walk past a graffiti on a wall as they leave the 'Jungle' migrant camp, as part of a major three-day operation planned to clear the camp in Calais Getty Brexit Concerns Migrants leave messages on their tents in the Jungle migrant camp Getty Brexit Concerns The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (Adra) which distributes approximately 700 meals daily in the northern Paris camp states that it is noticing a spike in new migrant arrivals this week, potentially linked the the Calais 'jungle' camp closure - with around 1000 meals distributed today EPA Brexit Concerns Migrant workers pick apples at Stocks Farm in Suckley, Britain Reuters Brexit Concerns Many farmers across the country are voicing concerns that Brexit could be a dangerous step into the unknown for the farming industry Getty Brexit Concerns Bank of England governor Mark Carney who said the long-term outlook for the UK economy is positive, but growth was slowing in the wake of the Brexit vote PA Brexit Concerns The Dow Jones industrial average closed down over 600 points on the news with markets around the globe pluninging Getty Brexit Concerns Immigration officers deal with each member of the public seeking entry into the United Kingdom but on average, 10 a day are refused entry at this London airport and between 2008 and 2009, 33,100 people were detained at the airport for mainly passport irregularities Getty Brexit Concerns A number of global investment giants have threatened to move their European operations out of London if Brexit proves to have a negative impact on their businesses Getty Brexit Concerns Following the possibility of a Brexit the UK would be released from its renewable energy targets under the EU Renewable Energy Directive and from EU state aid restrictions, potentially giving the government more freedom both in the design and phasing out of renewable energy support regimes Getty Brexit Concerns A woman looking at a chart showing the drop in the pound (Sterling) against the US Dollar in London after Britain voted to leave the EU Getty Brexit Concerns Young protesters outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, to protest against the United Kingdom's decision to leave the EU following the referendum Getty Brexit Concerns Applications from Northern Ireland citizens for Irish Passports has soared to a record high after the UK Voted in favour of Leaving the EU Getty Brexit Concerns NFU Vice President Minette Batters with Secretary of State, Andrea Leadsome at the National Farmers Union (NFU) took machinery, produce, farmers and staff to Westminster to encourage Members of Parliament to back British farming, post Brexit Getty Brexit Concerns The latest reports released by the UK Cabinet Office warn that expats would lose a range of specific rights to live, to work and to access pensions, healthcare and public services. The same reports added that UK citizens abroad would not be able to assume that these rights will be guaranteed in the future Getty Brexit Concerns A British resident living in Spain asks questions during an informative Brexit talk by the "Brexpats in Spain" group, about Spanish legal issues to become Spanish citizens, at the town hall in Benalmadena, Spain Reuters Brexit Concerns The collapse of Great Britain appears to have been greatly exaggerated given the late summer crowds visiting city museums, hotels, and other important tourist attractions Getty Brexit Concerns The U.K. should maintain European Union regulations covering everything from working hours to chemicals until after the government sets out its plans for Brexit, said British manufacturers anxious to avoid a policy vacuum and safeguard access to their biggest export market Getty The pair are under pressure from their own party to take this position, as some right-wing Conservatives believe that the UK could find a new competitive edge after Brexit by scrapping workers' rights and environmental legislation. Mr Barnier made his comments about unfair competition in a meeting with the House of Lords European Union committee last week, the transcript of which was released on Thursday. The mechanics of this divergence should not lead to unfair competition, because if we do not answer this question I can tell you that there will be major difficulties in obtaining ratification of any future agreement in all countries, because there will be campaigns against the negotiations, he said. It will be said that Brussels is conducting negotiations with the UK to downgrade environmental and social standards, for example, which will lead to more tax competition. If that happens, everything is over. I do not want that. I want us to make progress. He continued, warning that some ministers in the UK debate that it would be better to say no deal in some instances. I think we really need to explain what no deal would mean. So perhaps the House of Lords could explain exactly that. We really have to weigh up the consequences. It is certainly not the option I would choose. Opposition parties said the lack of progress on the talks was worrying. Sir Keir Starmer, Labours Shadow Brexit Secretary, said: The lack of progress in these negotiations is deeply concerning and does not bode well for the future. Warning the talks might not move onto trade in October, as hoped, he added: That will trigger deep concern for businesses and communities across the UK who need much greater certainty and reassurance than they are getting from this Government. And the Liberal Democrat Brexit spokesman, Tom Brake, said: It's now been 113 days since Article 50 was triggered and we have seen almost zero progress on even the most basic issues. With each day that passes, the likelihood of a catastrophic, disorderly Brexit increases. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} British people living in the EU face losing their automatic right to move to another member state after Brexit, as the exit talks turn increasingly sour. It emerged that Brussels has threatened to, for example, make it harder for someone currently living in Germany from relocating to France or Italy, once Britain leaves the EU. The EU said its stance would not change unless Britain agreed to allow its nationals living in Britain to move to another EU country and then return to the UK. Under the Governments plans, the 3m EU citizens in the UK will be stripped of their right to return if they leave for more than two years, unless they have strong ties here. EU officials said they would be pushing to resolve the fresh disagreement when the negotiations resume in August and then September. We would start from the assumption that, in order to maintain the right of EU citizens to move around the EU27, this would require the UK to reciprocate by allowing EU citizens to continue to move around freely, one said. Other points of disagreement emerged after the talks ended, including: * Brussels seeking to block the Government from carrying out criminal record checks on EU nationals who apply to remain in Britain after Brexit. * An apparent rejection of Britains hope for holidaymakers to continue using the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), to claim free or subsidised treatment. The clashes over future citizens rights have come despite both sides insisting they want removing the uncertainty facing millions of people to be a priority. Furthermore, Michel Barnier, the EUs chief negotiator, has previously insisted that existing rights must not be watered down in any way. However, at a press conference, Mr Barnier criticised the UK for a lack of clarity and warned there was still a fundamental divergence between the two parties. The EU would not give way on its insistence that the rights of citizens must be guaranteed by the European Court of Justice, he said a red line for the UK. Citizens must be able to identify the legal certainty that they need for their day-to-day lives, Mr Barnier told the press conference. The talks would not move onto future trade Britains priority until the UK had provided the clarification needed, he made clear. The disagreement over citizens could be the biggest immediate stumbling block, as the EU is demanding a precise guarantee while not setting out a precise figure for the so-called divorce bill. British officials raised the issue of ex-pats moving to a different EU country with their European counterparts, during the three-and-a-half days of intense technical talks. On criminal records, Britain is insisting they should be checked when EU nationals' apply for the new category of settled status and is understood to be happy for EU countries to do the same for its expats. But the EU is adamant that systematic checks are not permitted under the Brussels free movement directive and that they can only be done on the basis of reasonable suspicion. On the EHIC, it appears the UK may be forced to set up its own healthcare insurance scheme, rather than being allowed to piggy-back on the existing scheme. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The new Liberal Democrat leader has called on pro-EU Conservative MPs to show courage and fight a hard Brexit, saying: This process can be stopped. Sir Vince Cable told The Independent he believed many Tories were holding their fire and could be persuaded to join a cross-party campaign to force Theresa May to change course. The question is how many will be sufficiently courageous and forthright to come out, he said, just moments after being crowned leader. Recommended Vince Cable will strengthen the Liberal Democrats We will give leadership on this issue. We will reach out to them [MPs], left and right. But its up to them as to whether they are willing to stand up and fight. If they are willing to, then this process can be stopped and the damage can be massively reduced. The aim would be to to keep the UK in the EU single market and customs union, as well as preserve collaboration on research with European partners, he said. He gave credit to the 50-odd Labour MPs who backed single market membership recently, despite Jeremy Corbyns refusal to do so. The 74-year-old also promised to offer voters the chance of an exit from Brexit, through a second referendum on EU membership, after any deal is agreed. Voters should be asked Do you wish to accept what is coming down the track, jumping off the cliff and hoping theres a tree to catch you or do we want to stay within the European Union? he said. And he pointed to the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, as a potential ally arguing for a softer Brexit against the hardline Brexiteers in the Cabinet. He is a political adult, youve got Boris Johnson in short trousers, and Dr Fox in nappies. In that company he deserves some qualified support, Sir Vince said. The former Business Secretary became leader after no other Lib Dem MP chose to challenge him becoming the oldest leader in the partys history. The vacancy arose after Tim Farron quit, arguing he could not reconcile his Christian faith with the demands of leading a progressive, liberal party. A disappointing general election campaign saw the party increase its tally of MPs by just three to stand at 12, despite its staunch opposition to Brexit. At a press conference, Sir Vince said the Lib Dems had a real opportunity to occupy the gigantic space in the middle of British politics left by the two main parties move to the extremes. The Brexit negotiations were being conducted by a dysfunctional, disorganised, disunited administration, led by a Prime Minister who had lost her political authority. The new leaders age has led to speculation at Westminster that Sir Vince will effectively be a caretaker leader, handing over to new deputy Jo Swinson as the next general election approaches. But Ms Swinson told the BBC: Theres been no kind of discussion like that. We will obviously work very closely together as we have before. Sir Vince also insisted he was not a stop-gap leader, saying: I will serve for as long as I need to. Im not here for the short term, Im not here as a caretaker. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The second round of the Brexit talks have failed to produce a breakthrough on key disputes with the UK, the EUs chief negotiator has said. Michel Barnier said the British Government was still failing to provide sufficient convergence on either the UKs exit bill or the future rights of citizens. Mr Barnier said the EU would not give way on its insistence that the rights of citizens should be guaranteed by the European Court of Justice an apparent red line for the UK. Warning there was a fundamental divergence, he told a Brussels press conference: Citizens must be able to identify the legal certainty that they need for their day-to-day lives. The talks would not move onto future trade Britains priority until the UK had provided the clarification needed on both citizens and the so-called divorce bill, he made clear. Mr Barnier also said the UK must clarify, in the next session, how it intends to maintain the Common Travel Area with the Republic of Ireland after leaving the EU. Laying bare his frustration that the UK was not accepting its accounts must be settled, he added: As soon as the UK is ready to clarify the nature of its commitments, we will be prepared to discuss this with the British negotiators. And, making clear the EU would not give way in the negotiations until the UK accepted its financial obligations, he said: I know one has to compromise in negotiations but we are not there yet. That's the financial settlement, let's be very clear. We want clarity on that because we need to be able work more until we come to areas of compromise. Alongside him, David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, sent out a conciliatory message on the exit bill, insisting both the UK and EU recognise the importance of sorting out responsibilities we have to each other. And he denied there was any dispute in the Cabinet over whether crashing out of the EU with no deal in 2019 would be a disaster for Britain. Today, Trade Secretary Liam Fox argued Britain could survive outside the EU with no deal but Philip Hammond, the Chancellor, has warned it would be a very, very bad outcome. He is not saying anything different from what the Chancellor said, Mr Davis said, of Dr Foxs comments arguing the Chancellor had also warned a punishment deal would be worse. Nobody expects a punishment deal Michel and I are both going for a good deal, Mr Davis said. On the talks, Mr Davis struck a more optimistic tone, saying: Overall I'm encouraged by the progress we have made on understanding each other's positions. He insisted the UK had made a fair and serious offer on citizens' rights and there were many concrete areas where we agree, as well as areas where there will be further discussion. We have had robust but constructive talks this week. Clearly there's a lot left to talk about and further work before we can resolve this, Mr Davis said. Ultimately getting to a solution will require flexibility from both sides. Keir Starmer, Labours Shadow Brexit Secretary, said: The lack of progress in these negotiations is deeply concerning and does not bode well for the future. Warning the talks might not move onto trade in October, as hoped, he added: That will trigger deep concern for businesses and communities across the U.K, who need much greater certainty and reassurance than they are getting from this Government. And the Liberal Democrat Brexit spokesman, Tom Brake, said: It's now been 113 days since Article 50 was triggered and we have seen almost zero progress on even the most basic issues. With each day that passes, the likelihood of a catastrophic, disorderly Brexit increases. Israel's army boosted security Thursday and braced for possible unrest on the eve of the main weekly Muslim prayers after security measures imposed at a sensitive Jerusalem site angered Palestinians. Officials were reportedly in talks to defuse the crisis, which followed a deadly attack on police last Friday near the site that includes the Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock. As tensions mounted on Thursday evening, 22 Palestinians were wounded in clashes with Israeli security forces, two of them seriously after being hit by rubber bullets, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. An Israeli police spokesman said officers had responded after Palestinians leaving prayers pelted the security forces with stones and bottles at the Old City's Lion Gate. The controversy over the clampdown including the use of metal detectors at entrances to the Haram al-Sharif compound has also resonated beyond Israel and the Palestinian territories. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged his Israeli counterpart Reuven Rivlin to swiftly remove the detectors "within the framework of freedom of religion and worship". "Given the importance that Haram al-Sharif carries for the whole Islamic world, the metal detectors put in place by Israel should be removed in the shortest possible time and an end put to the tension," said Erdogan. Rivlin told Erdogan that "the steps taken on the Temple Mount were intended to ensure that such acts of terror could not be repeated," according to the Israeli presidency. Their remarks came after Erdogan spoke on the phone to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. In the Gaza Strip, Islamist movement Hamas, Abbas's rivals, called for a day of "rage" on Friday. The United States and United Nations expressed concern, with the White House calling on Israel and Jordan, the holy site's custodian, to work toward a solution. The new security measures were put in place following the gun and knife attack on Friday last week near the site that killed two Israeli policemen. Three Arab Israeli assailants fled to the compound after the attack, where they were shot dead by security forces. Israel initially closed the site for two days following the attack in a highly unusual move, shutting it for last Friday's prayers. It said the closure was necessary for security checks, adding the three attackers had come from the direction of the site. Israel began reopening it on Sunday, but with metal detectors in place to prevent the smuggling of weapons into the compound. The move angered Palestinians and Muslims who saw it as Israel asserting further control over the site. Palestinians have been refusing to enter the compound since then. Hundreds have been holding prayers outside the site, with clashes occasionally breaking out with Israeli police. The weekly Friday prayers draw the largest number of participants, and speculation has intensified over whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will order the removal of the metal detectors. The army said it was leaving five extra battalions on alert, including in the occupied West Bank. It would decide whether to keep them deployed for the entire weekend. Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan told army radio that Netanyahu would decide on the policy for the site but he "hoped" the detectors would remain in place for the weekend. Members of Netanyahu's right-wing coalition have been pressuring him to leave the detectors in place and "ensure security" at the site. "Caving in to Palestinian pressure now will hurt Israel's deterrence and risk the lives of visitors, worshippers and law enforcement officials on Temple Mount," said Education Minister Naftali Bennett, head of the far-right Jewish Home. Israel was taking other precautions to avoid further increasing tensions. Members of the Israeli parliament were informed by Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein they were still not permitted to visit the site, as has been the case since October 2015. Yehuda Glick, a lawmaker from Netanyahu's Likud party, had in March petitioned the Supreme Court against the ban, and in response the justice ministry said this month the state would allow a five-day pilot to see whether the ban could be relaxed. The trial was set to begin on Sunday, and Edelstein's letter to the lawmakers was understood as meaning it would be delayed. The compound is the third-holiest in Islam, and it is central to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is located in the occupied east Jerusalem, occupied by Israel in 1967 and later annexed in a move never recognised by the international community. Jews are allowed to visit the compound but not pray there to avoid provoking tensions. Netanyahu has stressed in recent days that he remains committed to the current rules. *This story was edited by Ahram Online. Search Keywords: Short link: Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The deadly Grenfell fire sent "a terrible message" to the world about the UK's levels of social inequality, Jeremy Corbyn has said. The Labour leader also said the deadly blaze would prove to be "a turning point in the national consciousness". At a supporters' rally, Mr Corbyn said people had "lost faith and trust" in what he called the "deeply-divided" Tories' ability to deliver social justice. Mr Corbyn, who is on a whirlwind tour of 73 key marginal seats across the country, was speaking in Telford in Shropshire on Thursday where the Conservatives have a majority of 720. He told the crowd of about 400 he was planning to visit 40 seats before the party's conference in Brighton in September. In a stump speech Mr Corbyn said a Labour government would be "ready to go from day one", and would work "for the many, not the few" - in a repeat of the party's snap General Election message. Speaking for half an hour, without notes, Mr Corbyn claimed the Tories were now beset by problems, while Labour stood ready to govern. He said: "They're losing support - they've got a problem because they're deeply divided within their own party. "They've got a problem because people have lost faith and trust in them to deliver any kind of social justice or decency within our society." In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Show all 51 1 /51 In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Police have released images from inside the tower where at least 58 people have died Metropolitan Police In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A still from a video shared by polices what appears to be a stationary bicycle sitting among the ashes In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A still from a video shared by police shows the remnants of a burnt-out bathroom In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Picture showing the lifts on an unknown floor Metropolitan Police In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Emergency crews outside the front entrance to the tower Metropolitan Police In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Fire crews inspecting flats in the burnt out tower London Metropolitan Police In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Grenfell Tower is seen in the distance PA In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A drone flies near the scene of the fire which destroyed the Grenfell Tower block REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire 'Theresa May Stay Away' message written on the messages of support at Latymer Community Church for those affected by the fire Ray Tang/REX In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire An aerial view of the area surrounding Grenfall tower Getty In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Donated shoes sit in the Westway Sports Centre near to the site of the Grenfell Tower fire Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Messages of support for those affected by the massive fire in Grenfell Tower are displayed on a well near the tower in London AP In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A local resident stands on her balcony by the gutted Grenfell Tower in Latimer Road Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Messages of condolence are left at a relief centre close to the scene of the fire that broke out at Grenfell Tower, EPA In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A police officer stands by a security cordon outside Latimer Road station Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Firemen examine the scorched facade of the Grenfell Tower in London on a huge ladder AP In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A search dog is led through the rubble of the Grenfell Tower in London as firefighting continue to damp-down the deadly fire AP In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn comforts a local resident (name not given) at St Clement's Church in west London where volunteers have provided shelter and support for people affected by the fire at Grenfell Tower David Mirzoeff/PA In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn hugs councillor Mushtaq Lasharie as he arrives at St Clement's Church in Latimer Road, where volunteers have provided shelter and support for people affected by the fire at Grenfell Tower Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn meeting staff and volunteers at St Clementis Church in Latimer Road David Mirzoeff/PA In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Firefighters with a dog walk around the base of the Grenfell Tower REUTERS/Peter Nicholls In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Emotions run high as people attend a candle lit vigil outside Notting Hill Methodist Church near the 24 storey residential Grenfell Tower block in Latimer Road, West London Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Debris hangs from the blackened exterior of Grenfell Tower Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A woman speaks to Mayor of London Sadiq Khan outside Notting Hill Methodist Church near Grenfell Tower in west London after a fire engulfed the 24-storey building Yui Mok/PA Wire In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A woman holds a missing person posters near the Grenfell Tower block REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Sadiq Khan speaking with a resident James Gourley/REX In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Ken Livingstone walks near the scene of the Grenfell Tower fire Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Mayor of London Sadiq Khan is confronted by Kai Ramos, 7, near Grenfell Tower in west London after a fire engulfed the 24-storey building Yui Mok/PA Wire In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Mayor of London Sadiq Khan speaks to a woman outside Notting Hill Methodist Church near Grenfell Tower Yui Mok/PA Wire In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Volunteers distribute aid near Grenfell Tower Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Family and friends of missing Jessica Urbano, 12, wearing photographs of Jessica pinned to their t-shirts gather near Grenfell Tower EPA In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Family and friends of missing Jessica Urbano, 12, wearing photographs of Jessica pinned to their t-shirts gather near Grenfell Tower EPA In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Family and friends of missing Jessica Urbano, 12, wearing photographs of Jessica pinned to their t-shirts gather near Grenfell Tower EPA In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire People attend a vigil at Notting Hill Methodist Church near Grenfell Tower Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire People gather to observe a vigil outside St Clement's Church following the blaze at Grenfell Tower Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire People light candles as they observe a vigil outside St Clement's Church following the blaze at Grenfell Tower Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire People attend a vigil at Notting Hill Methodist Church near Grenfell Tower Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A man distributes food from the back of a van near the scene of the fire which destroyed the Grenfell Tower block REUTERS/Paul Hackett In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A firefighter is cheered near the scene of the fire which destroyed the Grenfell Tower block REUTERS/Paul Hackett In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A T-shirt with a written message from the London Fire Brigade hangs from a fence near The Grenfell Tower block REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A young girl on her way to lay flowers near Grenfell Tower Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire The remains of residential tower block Grenfell Tower are seen from Dixon House a nearby tower block Getty In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Volunteers prepare supplies for people affected by the Grenfell Tower block which was destroyed in a fire REUTERS/Neil Hall In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Volunteers move a car to make space for a lorry picking up supplies for people affected by the Grenfell Tower block REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire People distribute boxes of food near the scene of the fire which destroyed the Grenfell Tower bloc REUTERS/Paul Hackett In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A woman touches a missing poster for 12-year-old Jessica Urbano on a tribute wall after laying flowers on the side of Latymer Community Church next to the fire-gutted Grenfell Tower AP In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A man looks at messages written on a wall near the scene of the fire which destroyed the Grenfell Tower block REUTERS/Paul Hackett In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Candles and messages of condolence near where the fire broke out at Grenfell Tower EPA In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Police carry a stretcher towards Grenfell Tower Rick Findler/PA Wire In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Emergency services at Grenfell Tower Rick Findler/PA Wire In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Police carry out a body from Grenfell Tower in west London after a fire engulfed the 24-storey building Rick Findler/PA Wire Setting out Labour's vision, he said "we could, should and must do things differently", pointing to issues exposed by the Grenfell fire. He said the blaze had been "a towering inferno of people, many of whom were living in poverty, in the richest borough in the United Kingdom". Recommended Corbyn calls for apology for all gay men convicted under historic laws "Isn't that a terrible message to give to the rest of the world," he added. "That somehow or other, that terrible fire took place because of lack of regulation, lack of inspection, whatever is going to come out of the inquiry. "I've written to the Prime Minister to say we want an inquiry immediately into the causes of that fire. "But we also want a second inquiry into housing; housing provision, housing safety, and housing opportunities, all across the whole of this country. "This is a turning point in our national consciousness." PA Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A senior government minister has denied that announcing the state pension age increase on the same day BBC salaries were revealed was an attempt to bury bad news. Wednesdays news agenda was dominated by the much anticipated publication of the highest earning stars at the BBC. But in the afternoon, Work and Pensions Secretary David Gauke announced the state pension age will rise from 67 to 68 in 2037 seven years earlier than planned. Recommended Government extends retirement age to 68 Questioned on the timing of the announcement, Mr Gauke said it didnt feature in our thinking. BBC journalist Simon McCoy asked: This is not a bad day to bury bad news given the fuss there is going to be in the papers tomorrow about BBC salaries, is that part of the process that led to this decision this afternoon? But Mr Gauke responded: No. This was planned in our grid before I was even aware the BBC presenter story was going to be put out there. It didnt feature in our thinking. He said increases in life expectancy meant those affected could still expect to receive more over their lifetimes than earlier generations. But charity Age UK pointed out that his announcement came just days after former government adviser Sir Michael Marmot warned that the trend towards longer lives was pretty close to having ground to a halt since 2010, after rising constantly since the Second World War. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 11 November 2022 City workers attend a Remembrance Day ceremony at Lloyd's of London, in the City of London, to mark Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of the First World War PA UK news in pictures 10 November 2022 A grey heron lands on the river Dodder in Dublin on a sunny autumn morning PA UK news in pictures 9 November 2022 Australia and Spain play during the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup group A match at the Copper Box Arena, London PA UK news in pictures 8 November 2022 A migrant attempting to communicate with journalists is pinned against a fence by members of staff, before being taken out of view, at the Manston immigration short-term holding facility, located at the former Defence Fire Training and Development Centre in Thanet, Kent PA UK news in pictures 7 November 2022 Handout photo issued by Just Stop Oil of a protester who has climbed a gantry on the M25 between junctions six and seven in Surrey, leading to the closure of the motorway PA UK news in pictures 6 November 2022 A grey seal with its pup, at the Donna Nook National Nature Reserve in north Lincolnshire, where they come every year in late October, November and December to give birth to their pups near the sand dunes, the wildlife spectacle attracts visitors from across the UK PA UK news in pictures 5 November 2022 Demonstrators with placards calling for a General Election march near the Houses of Parliament AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 Florence Kasumba, Letitia Wright, Tenoch Huerta and Lupita Nyongo attend the European Premiere of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in London Getty UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA Labour said the change in line with the recommendations of this years Cridland Report would mean 34 million people working longer than they would under its plan to hold the retirement age at 66. Under current plans, the state pension age for men and women will be equalised at 65 at the end of 2018, before rising to 66 in 2020 and 67 in 2028. The new change affects anyone born between 6 April 1970 and 5 April 1978. Additional reporting by agencies Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Jeremy Corbyn has called for a formal Government apology to every gay person who was convicted under historic laws on homosexuality, saying pardoning them has not gone far enough. The Labour leader was speaking at an event to mark the 50th anniversary of homosexuality being legalised in the UK. This year, the Government posthumously pardoned thousands of men convicted of offences that once criminalised homosexuality, he said. I welcome it in a sense, but why should we seek a pardon for something that should never have been a crime in the first place? They deserve an apology, an apology for everything that went on. A love of one person for another should never be considered a crime. Referring to Turings Law, under which the pardons were issued, he said: I think the case of Alan Turing has been instructive for many people. He saved millions of lives by deciphering Nazi codes, a gay man who served this country and helped bring about the end of the World War, criminalised for his sexuality and then chemically castrated at the hands of the state. Immense physical and psychological harm which led to his suicide. A pardon for a man so unimaginably wronged seems insufficient to say the least. I think we should welcome an apology to every gay person who was ever persecuted. The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe Show all 15 1 /15 The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 15. Italy Getty Images The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 14. Macedonia The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 13. Poland Getty Images The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 12. Liechtenstein The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 11. Lithuania The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 10. Latvia This content is subject to copyright. The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 9. San Marino The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 8. Moldova The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 7. Belarus Getty Images The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 6. Ukraine Getty Images The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 5. Monaco The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 4. Turkey Getty Images The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 3. Armenia The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 2. Russia Getty Images The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 1. Azerbaijan Getty/AFP Mr Corbyn paid tribute to George Montague, who attended the event, for his long-running campaign on the issue after he was convicted of homosexual offences as a young man. And he recalled the passage of the 1967 sexual offences act, which partially decriminalised homosexuality. This month is the 50th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality, and I remember that time very well. I was at school, in fact I was just leaving school in 1967, and the headteacher advised me, Corbyn, youll never make anything of your life! Referring to his own voting record, which shows he has been in favour of equal rights ever since he entered Parliament in 1983, he said: I was proud to vote for the equalisation of gay consent, and the equalisation of adoption law, and I was proud to vote for the repeal of section 28 but very angry I had to vote against the introduction of section 28 in the first place. Im glad that I was here to vote for civil partnerships for same-sex couples, which was a brilliant step forward. Gay marriage was finally legalised by David Camerons administration in 2014, and Speaker of the House John Bercow used the event to call for the law to be extended to allow gay couples to marry in church. We dont want to behave like its all over, everythings been done and nothing remains because that isnt true, Mr Bercow said. I still feel well only have proper equal marriage when you can bloody well get married in a church if you want to do so, without having to fight the church for the equality that should be your right. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} In a letter to Prime Minster Theresa May, survivors of the 9/11 attacks have urged her to release a suppressed report on Saudi Arabia, saying we are not safe from terrorism unless we can cut off its lifeblood. The report into the significance of the funding of foreign extremism in Britain was commissioned by David Cameron. But Ms Mays government said it was unable to publish the document for national security reasons. Both Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott and Green Party co-founder Caroline Lucas, have thrown their support behind the demands from the survivors and relatives of some of those who died in the 2001 attacks that killed almost 3,000 people. Saudi Arabia has always denied any formal role in the attacks, even though 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi citizens. May denies suppressing report into Saudi Arabia's funding of extremism to protect arms deals The letter says, delivered by Fedex to 10 Downing St on Wednesday morning, adds: The UK now has the unique historic opportunity to stop this killing spree of Wahhabist-inspired terrorists by releasing the UKs Government report on terrorism financing in the UK which, according to media reports, places Saudi Arabia at its centre of culpability. Read the full letter below. Sharon Premoli Vermont USA The Honourable Prime Minister Theresa May Office of the Prime Minister 10 Downing Street London SW1A 2AA United Kingdom July 17, 2017 Dear Madam Prime Minister With each terrorist attack in the UK and elsewhere in Europe, we, families and survivors of the September 11 attacks in the United States, painfully relive the horror others, just like us, experience. Their losses, at the hands of those whose ideology adheres to Saudi sponsored Wahhabism, will endure for the rest of their lives. We know that. We live it every day. It is with heartfelt sympathy for the victims and their families that we watch this unfold over and over again in the UK, in Europe, in Yemen, and in the Middle East. Over the past 15 years, our quest for justice has led us down the money trail in search of who financed the brutal murder of almost 3,000 loved ones, the injuries of 6,000, and the sicknesses and deaths of many thousands more from 9/11 exposure. Let us not forget the members of our militaries who have sacrificed so much. We are always led to the source Saudi Arabia, who even our former U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton has disclosed was and is at the centre of terrorism funding now spreading all over the world. The unforgiving form of Islam propagated by Saudi Arabia, with its abysmal human rights record, is the mother of al-Qaeda and ISIS. Both have sprung from the deep well of extremism and intolerance disseminated throughout the Muslim world via Saudi financing, recruiting, and inspiring hateful violence. Almost 16 years after 9/11, the extreme, virulent, intolerant brand of Islam disseminated by the Saudis continues to be the heart and soul of terrorism, and money is its lifeblood. We are not safe from terrorism unless we can cut off its lifeblood and show the British and American people that Saudi Arabia can no longer escape accountability for the violence it sows. The UK now has the unique historic opportunity to stop this killing spree of Wahhabist-inspired terrorists by releasing the UKs Government report on terrorism financing in the UK which, according to media reports, places Saudi Arabia at its centre of culpability. The longer Saudi Arabias complicity is hidden from sunlight, the longer terrorism will continue. They must be stopped; but who will stop them? We submit that you are uniquely situated to shine the cleansing light of public consciousness. We respectfully urge you to release the report now, finished or unfinished. We ask you to consider all the victims of state-sponsored, Saudi-financed terrorism, their families and the survivors in the UK and all over the world. Additionally, our democratic freedoms continue to be compromised. How can the UK public have confidence in their safety if nothing changes? How many more people must die before Government decides to use its power to protect its people? You have the power to alter the course of history, stem the growth of terrorism and ultimately, secure our safety. Please release the report and let truth and justice finally prevail. We would be very grateful for your response in this most important and urgent matter. Thank you Sincerely Sharon Premoli, Survivor, 80th Floor, North Tower Brett Eagleson, Son of John Bruce Eagleson, 17th floor, South Tower Gail Eagleson, Widow of John Bruce Eagleson, 17th floor, South Tower Kathy Owens, Widow of Peter Owens, 104th Floor, North Tower Tim Frolich, Survivor, South Tower collapse Ellen Saracini, Widow of UA pilot Victor Saracini, UA Flight 175 Loreen and Matt Sellitto, parents of Mathew Sellitto, Jr. 104th floor, North Tower Rosemary Dillard, Widow of passenger Eddie Dillard, AA Flight 77 Abraham Scott, Widower of Janice M. Scott, Pentagon Sally Regenhard, Mother of Christian Regenhard, New York City Firefighter CC: Sir Kim Darroch British Ambassador to the United States of America 31 Massachusetts Avenue Washington, DC 20008 CC: Jeremy Corbyn, MP, Leader of the Opposition Diane Abbott, MP, Shadow Home Secretary Rt.Honorary Boris Johnson,MP, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Amber Rudd, MP, Home Secretary Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Theresa May will take a three week walking holiday to northern Italy and Switzerland, starting on Monday. The Prime Minister will travel first to Northern Italy for five days, then return briefly to the UK before travelling to Belgium on the 31st July to attend the centenary commemorations of the Battle of Passchendale. She will then fly to Switzerland for a two week walking holiday, as she did last year. A No 10 spokesperson said she will "remain in charge" throughout her absence. Previous Prime Ministers have placed other senior cabinet ministers nominally in charge during their summer holidays. Theresa May will not be doing so. The spokesperson said: "The Prime Minister will be fully briefed from Downing Street in the usual way." Ms May and her husband Philip have been taking walking holidays in Switzerland for more than twenty years. On their most recent walking holiday, in Snowdonia at Easter, the Prime Minister decided to call a snap general election. Mrs May will represent the UK alongside the Prince of Wales and Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at the ceremony marking the First World War battle of Passchendaele on July 31. Downing Street gave no details of the exact venues in Switzerland and Italy which the Mays will visit, but said they would be travelling by commercial airlines for their holiday trips. The spokeswoman said Mrs May was "looking forward to her holiday" after a "productive and busy" week of Government business, including announcements on the extension of the HS2 railway and reforms of the state pension age. Mr and Mrs May are regular summer visitors to the Alps, and the Prime Minister has named the Swiss regions of Zermatt and the Bernese Oberland as two of her favourite destinations because they are both "fantastic for walking". Their choice of mountain resorts make a strong contrast with the beach breaks favoured by her predecessor David Cameron and his wife Samantha. She joked on Wednesday that fellow Conservatives may be relieved that she is not returning to Wales, where she made the fateful decision to call a snap election while walking in Snowdonia with husband Philip at Easter. "I think there are many people who are grateful I'm going to the Alps and not to Wales again," she told LBC radio. Unlike some of her predecessors, Mrs May has not named a minister who will take charge of the business of government while she is away. The Number 10 spokeswoman said that "various ministers will be on duty over the period", while Mrs May will be "constantly updated" by Downing Street on developments in her absence. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The devolved administrations of Scotland and Wales have launched a formal dispute against Theresa Mays pact with the Democratic Unionist Party. In a letter to the Treasury, the devolved nations argue it is unacceptable for the UK to inject extra cash into the Northern Ireland economy without applying the Barnett formula the mechanism used by ministers to distribute funds to devolved nations. It comes after the DUP agreed a deal with the Conservatives last month to prop up Ms Mays minority Government in the aftermath of the inconclusive general election result. But in order to secure the supply and confidence agreement the Prime Minister handed over 1bn in financial support for Northern Ireland. However, the devolved administrations of Scotland and Wales now claim that, if the Barnett formula is applied, it would result in an additional 1.67bn for Wales and an additional 2.9bn for Scotland. In the letter, Derek Mackay, the Scottish Finance Secretary, said the Scottish Government fundamentally disagrees with the way in which the funding was allocated for Northern Ireland. He continued: We have repeatedly made the point that all areas to which the 1bn funding package has been allocated are devolved matters and therefore the Barnett formula should apply. Despite this, the UK Government argues that there should be no Barnett consequentials from this deal and refuses to acknowledge that Scotland, Wales and England will be short-changed by billions of pounds. That cannot be right and the deal goes against the principles of the UK Treasurys own statement of funding policy. Mark Drakeford, the Welsh Finance Secretary, added he had been clear with the UK Government that additional funding for Northern Ireland must respect the established funding principles and rules around the Barnett formula. He continued: The UK Government has abandoned these well-established arrangements to the detriment of Wales and other parts of the UK. At a time when public services in Wales are under pressure as a result of the UK Governments damaging and ongoing policy of austerity, it is only right that Wales gets its fair share of funding through the established rules of the Barnett formula. For all its faults the Barnett formula is supposed to be clear and rules-based. It is simply inexcusable that the UK Government is willing to bypass those rules. But responding to the letter from the devolved administrations, a HM Government spokesperson told The Independent: As we have made clear, this agreement is part of the Governments commitment to support growth across all parts of the UK. Like previous Northern Ireland support packages, and the funding of over 1bn for City Deals in Scotland and Wales, this funding is a targeted intervention to address a specific set of unique challenges. And as was the case for those previous interventions, the exceptional funding will be made outside the Barnett funding system. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump and Theresa May are being urged to intervene in the case of a Saudi Arabian student who won a place at a US university but faces beheading for protesting against the government in the gulf state. Mujtabaa al-Sweikat was due to start studying at Western Michigan University but was arrested in 2012 at a Saudi airport as he was about to fly to the US, aged just 17. He was part of a group of 14 young men arrested for attending pro-democracy protests in the ultra-conservative kingdom, which has one of the worst human rights records in the world and is believed to have executed 57 people so far this year. According to Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, the men confessed to crimes under torture and were put on death row after more than two and a half years of pre-trial detention. Many have since retracted their confessions. The UK charity Reprieve understands that one of the condemned men is half-deaf and partially blind. Mr Al-Sweikat was tried in June 2016 and sentenced to death by beheading, with the verdict upheld on 25 May this year, according to the US teachers union the American Federation of Teachers. The student has been locked up for the past five years in the eastern city of Dammam, but was recently moved to the capital Riyadh where executions are carried out, along with the other 13 men. Saudi Arabia uses methods including beheading, stoning and crucifixion to execute its citizens for crimes, including adultery, in the strict Islamic country. Beheadings often take place in public squares where the headless corpses are later put on display. 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Show all 10 1 /10 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses In October 2014, three lawyers, Dr Abdulrahman al-Subaihi, Bander al-Nogaithan and Abdulrahman al-Rumaih , were sentenced to up to eight years in prison for using Twitter to criticize the Ministry of Justice. AFP/Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses In March 2015, Yemens Sunni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi was forced into exile after a Shia-led insurgency. A Saudi Arabia-led coalition has responded with air strikes in order to reinstate Mr Hadi. It has since been accused of committing war crimes in the country. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Women who supported the Women2Drive campaign, launched in 2011 to challenge the ban on women driving vehicles, faced harassment and intimidation by the authorities. The government warned that women drivers would face arrest. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Members of the Kingdoms Shia minority, most of whom live in the oil-rich Eastern Province, continue to face discrimination that limits their access to government services and employment. Activists have received death sentences or long prison terms for their alleged participation in protests in 2011 and 2012. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses All public gatherings are prohibited under an order issued by the Interior Ministry in 2011. Those defy the ban face arrest, prosecution and imprisonment on charges such as inciting people against the authorities. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses In March 2014, the Interior Ministry stated that authorities had deported over 370,000 foreign migrants and that 18,000 others were in detention. Thousands of workers were returned to Somalia and other states where they were at risk of human rights abuses, with large numbers also returned to Yemen, in order to open more jobs to Saudi Arabians. Many migrants reported that prior to their deportation they had been packed into overcrowded makeshift detention facilities where they received little food and water and were abused by guards. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses The Saudi Arabian authorities continue to deny access to independent human rights organisations like Amnesty International, and they have been known to take punitive action, including through the courts, against activists and family members of victims who contact Amnesty. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Raif Badawi was sentenced to 1000 lashes and 10 years in prison for using his liberal blog to criticise Saudi Arabias clerics. He has already received 50 lashes, which have reportedly left him in poor health. Carsten Koall/Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Dawood al-Marhoon was arrested aged 17 for participating in an anti-government protest. After refusing to spy on his fellow protestors, he was tortured and forced to sign a blank document that would later contain his confession. At Dawoods trial, the prosecution requested death by crucifixion while refusing him a lawyer. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Ali Mohammed al-Nimr was arrested in 2012 aged either 16 or 17 for participating in protests during the Arab spring. His sentence includes beheading and crucifixion. The international community has spoken out against the punishment and has called on Saudi Arabia to stop. He is the nephew of a prominent government dissident. Getty Saudi Arabias threat to behead its own citizens for attending an anti-government protest is an unthinkable and despicable violation of international law and basic humanity, said AFT President Randi Weingarten in a statement. We implore President Trump, as the standard-bearer for our great nation, to do everything in his power to stop the atrocities that may otherwise take place in Saudi Arabia. The US President was accused of shying away from the countrys record on human rights when he visited Saudi Arabia in May this year, where he is believed to have signed an arms deal worth $110bn (85bn). The kingdom is accused of having committed multiple international human rights violations, particularly over its role in the Yemeni conflict in which thousands of men, women and children have died. Mr al-Sweikat was involved in the waves of protest which engulfed Saudi in 2011-12, beginning when a man set himself on fire and coming on the back of the Arab spring - a series of uprisings in the Middle East. Saudi security forces swiftly cracked down on the protesters, killing several of the demonstrators and arresting many others. Forty-six of those arrested were executed in January 2016. Recommended May denies suppressing Saudi Arabia report to protect arms deals Mr Trump has not yet commented on the case of Mr al-Sweikat. In his speech to the Saudis in May, he said: America is a sovereign nation and our first priority is always the safety and security of our citizens. We are not here to lecture, we are not here to tell other people how to live, what to do, who to be, or how to worship. "Instead, we are here to offer partnership, based on shared interests and valuesto pursue a better future for us all. Ms May has come under similar criticism for the UKs continued arms deals with Saudi Arabia, which she visited in April this year. This week, she was forced to deny suppressing a report into the kingdoms funding of Islamist extremism in Britain to protect the lucrative arms contracts. Ms May claimed the report had been kept confidential on national security grounds. May denies suppressing report into Saudi Arabia's funding of extremism to protect arms deals During an urgent question in the House of Commons, Tom Brake, the Liberal Democrat international trade spokesman, called on Ms May to use her influence with the Saudis urgently. He said: Mr Speaker, our Prime Minister is promoting the UK as a global nation. How we respond to the threat of summary executions by a close partner and ally will determine exactly what kind of global nation she intends the UK to be; a global champion of human rights or an apologist for human rights abusers. But Foreign Minister Alistair Burt said: The UK government opposes the death penalty in all circumstances and in every country including Saudi Arabia especially for crimes other than the most serious and for juveniles. He said assurances had been obtained from the kingdom that anyone who remains a minor would not be executed. Recommended Outcry as Saudi Arabia executes six people in single day Western Michigan University said it had not known there was such a troubling reason behind Mr al-Sweikats failure to take up his place at the institution. The AFT information makes it clear that the critical national political figures with influence in such a situation are informed, said a university statement. We join the AFT in urging them to use that influence to ask the Saudi government to exhibit compassion. Maya Foa, director of UK-based human rights organisation Reprieve, accused Ms May of a "deafening silence" of the 14 imminent executions. This is an extremely worrying move from the increasingly brutal regime in Saudi Arabia. Minister Alistair Burt is right to make clear the UKs opposition to the brutal death penalty in Saudi Arabia, but his words stand in stark contrast to the deafening silence from Theresa May on this issue. "When 14 young men face imminent beheading for protest-related offences, including a disabled man and at least two who were juveniles children when they were arrested, simply raising the cases in private doesnt cut it. "The Prime Minister needs to use her visits to the kingdom and deepening ties with its leaders to promote reform, not just tout for trade. "Theresa May must now pick up the phone to King Salman and the new Crown Prince, make clear that the UK opposes the beheading of children and protesters like Mujtaba and Munir, and call for an immediate halt to the 14 imminent executions. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} US Senator John McCain has been diagnosed with brain cancer, his office has confirmed. The tumour was discovered after the former presidential candidate underwent a minor procedure last week to remove a blood clot from above his left eye, the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix said in a statement. "Subsequent tissue pathology revealed that a primary brain tumor known as a glioblastoma was associated with the blood clot," it added. The Senator and his family are reviewing further treatment options with his Mayo Clinic care team. Treatment options may include a combination of chemotherapy and radiation." About 20,000 people in the U.S. each year are diagnosed with a glioblastoma, a particularly aggressive type of brain tumor. The American Cancer Society puts the five-year survival rate for patients over 55 at about four per cent. Mr McCain, the Republican nominee for president in 2008, who has served six terms as Arizona senator since 1987, had surgery last week to remove a blood clot from above his eye. Doctors described the surgery as a "minimally invasive" procedure that removed the nearly 2-inch (5-centimeter) clot. Pathology reports on the clot were expected in several days. In a statement on Twitter, his daughter, Meghan McCain, said: "My love for my father is boundless and like any daughter I cannot and do not wish to be in a world without him. I have faith that those days remain far away." Calling him "my rock, my hero, my dad," she added that her whole family "have all endured the shock of the news". President Donald Trump said: "Senator John McCain has always been a fighter. Melania and I send our thoughts and prayers to Senator McCain, Cindy, and their entire family. Get well soon." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called McCain, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War, a hero and said he looked forward to having him back in Washington. "We all look forward to seeing this American hero again soon," McConnell said in a statement. A political maverick, Mr McCain has repeatedly criticised Donald Trump since he entered the White House, on a number of issues, calling for a probe into the firing of former FBI director James Comey and questioning Russian meddling in the presidential election. He was particularly vocal in his condemnation of Mr Trump for remarks about the family of Captain Humayun Khan, a US Muslim soldier killed in Iraq. Mr McCain said Mr Trump did not have an "unfettered licence to defame those who are the best among us". More recently he criticised Mr Trump's meeting with Russian leader Vladmir Putin at the G20 Summit in Hamburg. A Vietnam veteran who survived five years as a prisoner of war, he rose through America's political ranks to become a vocal force on foreign policy and military affairs. But the self styled common-sense-conservative has never been afraid to adopt a controversial position. A foreign policy hawk, he was one of the Iraq war's strongest supporters and backed the troop increase there known as the "surge". World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty But he described former Bush administration stalwart Donald Rumsfeld as "one of the worst secretaries of defence in history" and he repeatedly criticised his government's handling of the conflict. He also opposed the use of torture and extraordinary rendition - the transporting of terror suspects to secret prisons in countries with less stringent interrogation rules. Unlike some of his Republican Party colleagues, he is also known to hold relatively moderate views on civil unions, abortion and immigration reform In 2008, he beat off much younger rivals to secure the Republican party's nomination for president in early 2008, choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate. But he eventually lost out to Barack Obama. Since then he has served as senator and sat on a number of committees in the US senate. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump has declared that he wants to let Obamacare fail or implode in order to be able to replace it more easily as Republicans continue their party-internal debate on a suitable replacement. Itll be a lot easier to replace it if it fails, Mr Trump said at a White House lunch with 52 Republican Senators. Were not going to own it. Im not going to own it. I can tell you the Republicans are not going to own it. Well let Obamacare fail, and then the Democrats are going to come to us. But the Congressional Budget Office has said the act's repeal would result in 27m more people without insurance, and 32m by 2026. Recommended Republicans may be forced to scrap effort to repeal Obamacare Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has scheduled a vote to repeal Obamacare, with a two year period to allow Republicans to craft a bill that would pass. But, can Obamacare collapse as the President thinks it can? Robert Laszewski, President of consultancy Health Policy and Strategy Associates, told CNN Money he is convinced "the individual health insurance market will not collapse." Most insurance providers will stay [in marketplaces] and likely be in good shape financially in 2018," he said. He cited Medicaid, the programme designed to provide government subsidised free care to low-income Americans, as one reason that he does not think Obamacare will implode the way Mr Trump is describing. Obamacare has worked well in the 31 states that opted for the Medicaid expansion. Approximately 11 million more people have access to healthcare as a result of the Obamacare expansion. G. William Hoagland, Vice President of the Washington DC-based Bipartisan Center, told The Independent it all really depends on what the President meant by fail. If the definition means that coverage in the individual market is not achieved and premiums increase dramatically, the answer is yes, Mr Hoagland said. However, Mr Hoagland also explains a failure is dependent on what actions the President himself takes without Congressional action and where families and individuals live in the country. For instance in California, there is a broad network of insurers and competition among them due to the size of the population. In places like Alaska, West Virginia, or other specific counties within states where the populations are small and/or sparse - access to care will be limited, insurance premiums in the individual market could increase at unaffordable rates and that would probably be defined as failure. As CNN Money reported, there are roughly 25,000 people in 38 counties in Nevada, Ohio and Indiana at risk of suffering from an Obamacare failure next year. So, the Trump administration could paint a picture of failure based on evidence from these areas, even if they are in populous states. For instance, Mr Hoagland explained that he is from Indiana and in that state there are about three or four bare counties in the state primarily outside the metropolitan areas, the state overall would probably not be as impacted as those three or four counties. Mostly those in primarily rural, low population or low density states would be most affected, he said. These also happen to be the areas where Mr Trump did well in the 2016 election among white populations. There is also argument that Obamacares failure will not be something that happens automatically the way Mr Trump seems to be describing, but as a result of his and Republicans actions. This debate over repeal-and-replace has been going on for seven years, since Obamacare passed into law. However, Mr Trumps repeated campaign rhetoric and making the administrations huge push to make it the first legislative win has made for uncertain ground for many insurance companies. Faces of Obamacare: The health scheme at the centre of the shutdown Show all 3 1 /3 Faces of Obamacare: The health scheme at the centre of the shutdown Faces of Obamacare: The health scheme at the centre of the shutdown obama.jpg Faces of Obamacare: The health scheme at the centre of the shutdown obama2.jpg Faces of Obamacare: The health scheme at the centre of the shutdown obama3.jpg With open enrollment for 2018 only three months away, our members and all Americans need the certainty and security of knowing coverage will be available and affordable for them, said Justine Handelman, a senior executive at the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association told the New York Times. Mr Trump and Republicans has also threatened for months to withhold billions of dollars insurance companies are owed in "cost-sharing reduction" payments for reducing low-income customers deductibles, as NBC News reported. It has made insurers raise 2018 premiums in response in addition to pulling out of lower populated or high-risk countries around the country where costs cannot be offset with a big pool of insured Americans. Another major issue for insurers is the mandate built in to Obamacare that requires people to have insurance or pay a tax penalty. If Mr Trump refuses to have a mandate in the Republican replacement, it will increase costs to insurers, again because of a reduced pool. All these factors could lead to being described as an implosion of Obamacare in certain states. If Mr Trump and Republicans allow this trajectory to continue, they could lose the support of several of their base voters. A survey by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation in April 2017 found that 75 per cent of respondents want them to make Obamacare work by fixing it. Only 19 per cent want to allow Obamacare to fail to force an easier replacement politically. The Center for American Progress estimated that the Senate bills replacement version released last month would result in 18,100 to 27,700 additional deaths in 2026. A straight repeal and slow failure of Obamacare could make those numbers increase. The Congressional Budget Office released its estimate that a repeal of Obamacare would result in 27 million uninsured in 2020 and 32 million by 2026, but again that does not take into account how many people would be uninsured as a result of a failure of Obamacare so the numbers vary but would be similar. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A Republican congressman has been accused of taking direction from the Kremlin after receiving information from the Russian government to use against a prominent critic of Vladimir Putin. Representative Dana Rohrabacher possibly the most Russia-friendly Republican member of Congress was reportedly set to confront anti-Putin businessman Bill Browder months after leading a congressional delegation to Moscow. While meeting with Viktor Grin, the Prosecutor General of Russia, Mr Rohrabacher was handed materials critical of the Magnitsky Act, the 2012 bill imposing sanctions on Russian officials. Mr Grin had been one those sanctioned by the US as part of the law. Mr Rohrabachers trip to Russia has been revisited in recent days following revelations that Donald Trump Jrs meeting with Russians in June 2016 may have been part of an anti-Magnitsky campaign potentially set into motion by the Russian government. At a congressional hearing, Mr Rohrabacher was apparently going to confront Mr Browder with a feature-length film that viciously attacks him and the Magnitsky Act. The hearing was scheduled for mid-June 2016 by the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, which Mr Rohrabacher is the chair of, but was cancelled when senior Republicans intervened and agreed to hold a full committee hearing with a Moscow-sympathetic witness, The Daily Beast has reported. An email reviewed by news outlet showed that before the 14 June hearing,US Policy Toward Putins Russia, Mr Rohrabachers staff received pro-Kremlin briefings against Mr Browder and Mr Browders tax attorney Sergei Magnitsky from a lawyer who was working with Natalia Veselnitskaya. Ms Veselnitskaya has been central in the efforts to overturn the Magnitsky Act, which blacklists suspected Russian human rights abusers. The law was passed in 2012 as a result of Mr Browders efforts to get the US to hold a group of Russians responsible for the mysterious 2009 death in jail of Mr Magnitsky. In 2006, after ten years doing business in Russia, Mr Browder the chief executive and co-founder of Hermitage Capital Management had been blacklisted by the Russian government as a threat to national security. Mr Browder claims that he and those he employed were targeted by Russian President Vladimir Putin once they began crusading against the corruption of the Russian government. In the days after Congress passed the Magnitsky Act, Russia retaliated by banning American citizens from adopting Russian orphans. The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Show all 17 1 /17 The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Muellers team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Getty The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rick Gates Mr Gates joined the Trump team in spring 2016, and served as a top aide until he left to work at the Republican National Committee after the departure of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Gates' had previously worked on several presidential campaigns, on international political campaigns in Europe and Africa, and had 15 years of political or financial experience with multinational firms, according to his bio. Mr Gates was indicted alongside Mr Manafort by special counsel Robert Mueller's team on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. AP The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. The meeting was set up by an intermediary, Rob Goldstone. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also at the same meeting. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jared Kushner Mr Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a key adviser to the White House. He met with a Russian banker appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Mr Kushner has said he did so in his role as an adviser to Mr Trump while the bank says he did so as a private developer. Mr Kushner has also volunteered to testify in the Senate about his role helping to arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rob Goldstone Former tabloid journalist and now music publicist Rob Goldstone is a contact of the Trump family through the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Moscow. In June 2016, he wrote to Donald Trump Jr offering a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who had information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Goldstone was the intermediary for Russian pop star Emin Agalaraov and his father, real estate magnate Aras, who played a role in putting on the 2013 pageant. In an email chain released by Mr Trump Jr, Mr Goldstone seemed to indicate Russian government's support of Donald Trump's campaign. AP images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Aras and Emin Agalarov Aras Agalarov (R) is a wealthy Moscow-based real estate magnate and son Emin (L) is a pop star. Both played a role in putting on the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. They allegedly had information about Hillary Clinton and offered that information to the Trump campaign through a lawyer with whom they had worked with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and music publicist Rob Goldstone. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Natalia Veselnitskaya Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. She has worked on real estate issues and reportedly counted the FSB as a client in the past. She has ties to a Trump family connection, real estate magnate Aras Agalarov, who had helped set up the Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant which took place in Moscow. Ms Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016 but denies the allegation that she went there promising information on Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. She contends that the meeting was about the US adoptions of Russian children being stopped by Moscow as a reaction to the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Mike Flynn Mr Flynn was named as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to resign from his post for inappropriate communication with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. He had misrepresented a conversation he had with Mr Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence, telling him wrongly that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sergey Kislyak Mr Kislyak, the former longtime Russian ambassador to the US, is at the centre of the web said to connect President Donald Trump's campaign with Russia. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Roger Stone Mr Stone is a former Trump adviser who worked on the political campaigns of Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Mr Stone claimed repeatedly in the final months of the campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew the group was going to dump damaging documents to the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton - which did happen. Mr Stone also had contacts with the hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter, who claimed to have hacked the DNC and is linked to Russian intelligence services. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeff Sessions The US attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation after it was learned that he had lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Carter Page Mr Page is a former advisor to the Trump campaign and has a background working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr Page met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr Page had invested in oil companies connected to Russia and had admitted that US Russia sanctions had hurt his bottom line. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeffrey "JD" Gorden Mr Gordon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republian National Convention to discuss how the US and Russia could work together to combat Islamist extremism should then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election. The meeting came days before a massive leak of DNC emails that has been connected to Russia. Creative Commons The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation James Comey Mr Comey was fired from his post as head of the FBI by President Donald Trump. The timing of Mr Comey's firing raised questions around whether or not the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign may have played a role in the decision. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Preet Bharara Mr Bahara refused, alongside 46 other US district attorney's across the country, to resign once President Donald Trump took office after previous assurances from Mr Trump that he would keep his job. Mr Bahara had been heading up several investigations including one into one of President Donald Trump's favorite cable television channels Fox News. Several investigations would lead back to that district, too, including those into Mr Trump's campaign ties to Russia, and Mr Trump's assertion that Trump Tower was wiretapped on orders from his predecessor. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images Ms Veselnitskayas name was thrown into the spotlight last week when it came to light that she was the Kremlin-connected lawyer Mr Trump Jr met with during the presidential campaign. According to emails released by the Presidents son, Mr Trump Jr was told that she would provide him with incriminating material on his fathers opponent Hillary Clinton an offer to which he responded by saying I love it. Donald Trumps son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and the Trump campaigns then-charmain, Paul Manafort, also attended the meeting. Despite the claim that we would be given damaging information about Ms Clinton, Mr Trump Jr said Ms Veselnitskaya spoke during their 9 June meeting mostly about Russian adoptions and the Magnitsky Act. The following week, Ms Veselnitskaya attended a screening of the film, which she had helped promote, that criticised Mr Browder and US sanctions on Russians. Mr Rohrabachers office is reported to have also actively promoted the screen of the movie at the Newseum in Washington, DC, even after House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Ed Royce had prohibited the congressman from showing the film in Congress. Invitations to attend the movie screening were sent from the subcommittee office by Catharine ONeill, a Republican intern on Mr Rohrabachers committee. Her email promised that the movie would convince viewers that Magnitsky, who was murdered in a Russian prison cell, was no hero, The Daily Beast said. Mr Rohrabacher press secretary, Ken Grubbs, told the news outlet: That invitation was not from our office. ONeill was an unpaid intern on the committee staff. Paul denies asking her to send the invitations, he added, referring to the congressmans staff director, Paul Behrends. Mr Rohrabachers office was given the film by the Prosecutor Generals office in Moscow. News outlets have also reported that Rinat Akhmetshin, a former Soviet military counterintelligence officer, also attended the meeting between Mr Trump Jr and Ms Veselnitskaya. Mr Akhmetshin, now a lobbyist in Washington, has met with Mr Rohrabacher at least twice about US relations with Russia. He reportedly lobbied the congressman to help remove Mr Magnitskys name from a global anti-corruption law. Mr Rohrabachers office did not respond to The Independents request for comment. Police in Uganda announced the arrests of opposition activists this week amid speculation that longtime President Yoweri Museveni is planning to change the constitution so he can stand for re-election. No official move has been made to lift the bar on Museveni running due to his age, but Ingrid Turinawe, senior organiser for the main opposition Forum for Democratic Change, said he believes the arrests of 56 party members on Wednesday were linked to the speculation. "The government gets suspicious that whoever is meeting is discussing the age limit. These activists weren't discussing the age limit, but even if it was true what's wrong with that?" Turinawe told AFP. Currently, the constitution prohibits citizens over the age of 75 from running for president. Museveni -- who has ruled the east African nation for 31 years -- will be 77 when elections are next due to be held in 2021. Separately, police spokesman Emilian Kayima said the leader of a smaller opposition party and 13 members were arrested on Thursday for illegal assembly. Local media reported those detentions came after the party members were found collecting signatures for a petition opposing the rumoured constitutional change. For weeks, Ugandan media has speculated that moves are afoot to amend the age limit in Uganda's charter so that Museveni can run for office again. On Wednesday, the president publicly acknowledged the constitutional rumours for the first time when he urged journalists at a press conference not to "waste your time" on the issue. "I have heard about that talk going around but I have not bothered to ask," said Museveni. Search Keywords: Short link: Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trumps eldest son isnt enjoying being the son of a US president. Donald Trump Jr who has been at the centre of a scandal stemming from a meeting he had to get dirt on Hillary Clinton from Russian sources during the 2016 election wants the next four years to be over, a source in the Trump familys inner circle told People magazine. Mr Trump Jr is currently running the Trump business empire. Don cant do any deals, because hell be overly scrutinised. He just goes to work every day and is miserable, that source said. Mr Trump Jr has been under scrutiny after it was revealed that he had a meeting in Trump Tower with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, and a Russian-American lobbyist who was previously a Soviet military officer. The meeting was set up by a British publicist, who indicated in the emails that the Russian government was keen on helping the Trump campaign. In addition to that drama, the presidents decision to put his children in charge of the family business instead of putting it in a blind trust has attracted scrutiny from detractors who are concerned that the President may use his public office to enrich himself and his business. The White House has defended Mr Trump Jrs decision to take that meeting, which also included Mr Trumps son-in-law Jared Kushner and former campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Trump Jr has also pushed back on any allegations of wrongdoing, saying that the meeting didnt end up providing any real damaging information, and that most people in a political campaign would have taken similar meetings. The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Show all 17 1 /17 The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Muellers team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Getty The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rick Gates Mr Gates joined the Trump team in spring 2016, and served as a top aide until he left to work at the Republican National Committee after the departure of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Gates' had previously worked on several presidential campaigns, on international political campaigns in Europe and Africa, and had 15 years of political or financial experience with multinational firms, according to his bio. Mr Gates was indicted alongside Mr Manafort by special counsel Robert Mueller's team on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. AP The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. The meeting was set up by an intermediary, Rob Goldstone. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also at the same meeting. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jared Kushner Mr Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a key adviser to the White House. He met with a Russian banker appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Mr Kushner has said he did so in his role as an adviser to Mr Trump while the bank says he did so as a private developer. Mr Kushner has also volunteered to testify in the Senate about his role helping to arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rob Goldstone Former tabloid journalist and now music publicist Rob Goldstone is a contact of the Trump family through the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Moscow. In June 2016, he wrote to Donald Trump Jr offering a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who had information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Goldstone was the intermediary for Russian pop star Emin Agalaraov and his father, real estate magnate Aras, who played a role in putting on the 2013 pageant. In an email chain released by Mr Trump Jr, Mr Goldstone seemed to indicate Russian government's support of Donald Trump's campaign. AP images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Aras and Emin Agalarov Aras Agalarov (R) is a wealthy Moscow-based real estate magnate and son Emin (L) is a pop star. Both played a role in putting on the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. They allegedly had information about Hillary Clinton and offered that information to the Trump campaign through a lawyer with whom they had worked with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and music publicist Rob Goldstone. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Natalia Veselnitskaya Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. She has worked on real estate issues and reportedly counted the FSB as a client in the past. She has ties to a Trump family connection, real estate magnate Aras Agalarov, who had helped set up the Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant which took place in Moscow. Ms Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016 but denies the allegation that she went there promising information on Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. She contends that the meeting was about the US adoptions of Russian children being stopped by Moscow as a reaction to the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Mike Flynn Mr Flynn was named as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to resign from his post for inappropriate communication with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. He had misrepresented a conversation he had with Mr Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence, telling him wrongly that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sergey Kislyak Mr Kislyak, the former longtime Russian ambassador to the US, is at the centre of the web said to connect President Donald Trump's campaign with Russia. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Roger Stone Mr Stone is a former Trump adviser who worked on the political campaigns of Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Mr Stone claimed repeatedly in the final months of the campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew the group was going to dump damaging documents to the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton - which did happen. Mr Stone also had contacts with the hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter, who claimed to have hacked the DNC and is linked to Russian intelligence services. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeff Sessions The US attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation after it was learned that he had lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Carter Page Mr Page is a former advisor to the Trump campaign and has a background working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr Page met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr Page had invested in oil companies connected to Russia and had admitted that US Russia sanctions had hurt his bottom line. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeffrey "JD" Gorden Mr Gordon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republian National Convention to discuss how the US and Russia could work together to combat Islamist extremism should then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election. The meeting came days before a massive leak of DNC emails that has been connected to Russia. Creative Commons The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation James Comey Mr Comey was fired from his post as head of the FBI by President Donald Trump. The timing of Mr Comey's firing raised questions around whether or not the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign may have played a role in the decision. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Preet Bharara Mr Bahara refused, alongside 46 other US district attorney's across the country, to resign once President Donald Trump took office after previous assurances from Mr Trump that he would keep his job. Mr Bahara had been heading up several investigations including one into one of President Donald Trump's favorite cable television channels Fox News. Several investigations would lead back to that district, too, including those into Mr Trump's campaign ties to Russia, and Mr Trump's assertion that Trump Tower was wiretapped on orders from his predecessor. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images Critics of the Trump Jr meeting say that it is proof that members of Mr Trumps inner circle including his son worked to collude with Russia in its attempt to influence the 2016 election. Mr Trumps predecessor Barack Obama placed sanctions on Russia for meddling in the election, and alleged that Russia was responsible for cyber attacks on the American election apparatus. The 2016 election did see frequent attacks from outside sources, and most of those seemed to target or hurt Ms Clintons campaign and Democrats. That included the hacking of Ms Clintons campaign chairmans private email, and the hacking of Democratic National Committee email servers. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Cecil the lions oldest cub has been shot dead by trophy hunters. Xanda was killed outside the Hwange National Park in north west Zimbabwe, according to lion guardians at the national park. He was just over six years old and had several young cubs. Xandas pride of lions on the hunt for buffalo in Hwange National Park (Bert Duplessis/Fisheaglesafaris.com) (Bert Duplessis) Two years ago, Walter Palmer sparked international outrage by shooting Cecil, one of Zimbabwes most cherished lions. Recommended Court drops charges against professional hunter over Cecil the lion Richard Cooke, the professional hunter accused of killing Xanda, also reportedly killed the cubs brother in 2015. Mr Cooke handed Xandas electronic collar back to researchers. Andrew Loveridge, from the Department of Zoology at Oxford University, told The Daily Telegraph: I fitted it last October. It was monitored almost daily and we were aware that Xanda and his pride was spending a lot of time out of the park in the last six months, but there is not much we can do about that. Cecil the lion's cubs He added: Richard Cooke is one of the good guys. He is ethical and he returned the collar and communicated what had happened. His hunt was legal and Xanda was over 6 years old so it is all within the stipulated regulations. Lions of Hwange National Park wrote on Facebook: Today we heard that a few days ago, Xanda, the son of Cecil the lion has been shot on a trophy hunt by Zimbabwe PH Richard Cooke. Cooke also killed Xandas brother in 2015, he was only about four years old then. Xanda is still a young father at 6.2 years old and has several young cubs. We cant believe that now, two years since Cecil was killed, that his oldest Cub Xanda has met the same fate. When will the lions of Hwange National Park be left to live out their years as wild born free lions should...? The most controversial animal killings Show all 6 1 /6 The most controversial animal killings The most controversial animal killings Cincinnati Zoo worker shots and kills Harambe, the 17-year-old gorilla Harambe, a 17-year-old gorilla was shot and killed by a Cincinnati Zoo worker after a three-year-old boy climbed into a gorilla enclosure and was grabbed and dragged by Harambe. The incident was recorded on video and received broad international coverage and commentary, including controversy over the choice to kill Harambe. A number of primatologists and conservationists wrote later that the zoo had no other choice under the circumstances, and that it highlighted the danger of zoo animals in close proximity to humans and the need for better standards of care Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden The most controversial animal killings Walt Palmer (left), from Minnesota, who killed Cecil, the Zimbabwean lion (pictured here with another lion shot in Africa) Walter James Palmer has been named by Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force as the shooter of Cecil, a 13-year-old prized lion. He is now wanted by Zimbabwe officials on poaching charges. The lion was protected and the subject of a decade long study by the Wildlife Unit of Oxford University in the UK. He was outfitted with a GPS collar and was killed in Hwange National Park. The Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Authority and the Safari Operators Association said that two men were charged with poaching in connection to Mr Palmer The most controversial animal killings Kendall Jones hunting images Kendall Jones, a 19-year-old Texas Tech university student, has provoked worldwide fury after posting pictures of herself smiling next to animals she hunted, including a lion, rhinoceros, antelope, leopard, elephant, zebra and hippopotamus The most controversial animal killings Rebecca Francis hunting images Rebecca Francis, a huntress who has killed dozens of wild animals has been sent death wishes by furious social media users after a picture showing her lying down next to a dead giraffe was circulated. Rebecca Francis has a website and Facebook page dedicated to the animals she has killed in hunts across Africa and America. Francis, a prolific hunter who has also co-hosted the television show Eye of the Hunter, regularly posts pictures of herself posing next to dead bears, giraffes, buffaloes and zebras, among other animals. She uses a bow and arrow to kill her prey The most controversial animal killings The slaughter of Marius, an 18-month-old healthy giraffe in Copenhagen Zoo Copenhagen Zoo made the controversial decision to euthanise a healthy giraffe named Marius, which was later dissected and fed to lions as visitors watched. The slaughter sparked a furious backlash from social media users and zoo staff have received death threats by phone and email. Soon after the incident, Copenhagen Zoo faced an international outcry once again after four healthy lions were put down The most controversial animal killings Swiss Dahlholzli zoo kills healthy brown bear cub A Switzerland zoo faced heavy criticism from animal rights groups, after keepers put down a healthy brown bear cub to spare it from being bullied by its dominant male father. The 360 kg male bear Misha had already killed one of his 11-week old cubs in public and was bullying the second, staff at the zoo said, because he was jealous of the attention the cubs were receiving from their mother, Masha. Both adult brown bears had been donated to Berns Dahlholzli zoo in 2009. Campaigners condemned staff there for not separating the cubs, who are being referred to as Baby Bear Two and Baby Bear Three, and their mother from Misha after their birth in January Facebook Cecil was found beheaded and skinned near Hwange National Park in 2015 and authorities said Walter Palmer, a dentist from Minneapolis, paid a $55,000 (35,000) bribe to wildlife guides to allow him to shoot the lion with a crossbow. He was forced to abandon his dental practice for weeks amid the outcry over the killing. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The Baltimore Police Department (BPD) has opened an investigation into allegations that officers planted evidence in a case that lead to one man's arrest The allegations surfaced after the state public defender's office released body camera footage showing officers placing drugs in a trash heap, leaving the scene, and then returning to discover the drugs seconds later. At a press conference on Wednesday, BPD Commissioner Kevin Davis said the video shows the officers handling evidence in a way that is inconsistent with the way we do business. When allegations of police misconduct surface, were not going to shy away from them, he added. ...Theres nothing that deteriorates the trust of any community more than thinking for one second that uniformed police officers, or police officers in general, would plant evidence of crimes on citizens." Mr Davis said the department is investigating the incident. It has suspended one officer and put two others on administrative duty. A spokesperson for the public defenders office told The Independent that they had represented at least one person charged on allegations stemming from the video. The man had been in jail since January, unable to pay his $50,000 bail, the Baltimore Sun reports. Prosecutors dropped the charges after the video surfaced. In an email obtained by Fox Baltimore, a prosecutor said the office was "appalled" by the footage. "Something is going to happen because of this revelation," the prosecutor said. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty Police have now released additional body camera footage of the man's arrest and the resulting search for drugs. Deputy Police Commissioner Jason Johnson narrated the footage at a press conference on Wednesday, explaining that the officers were on routine surveillance when they noticed two men behaving suspiciously. When the two men left the scene, the officers pursued and stopped both of them. Heroin was discovered on both men, Mr Johnson claimed. After making their arrests, officers returned to the scene to look for any drugs left behind. Body camera footage shows the officers discovering one bag of what appears to be drugs, then continuing to look for more. The video does not show the discovery of the second bag of drugs, which is depicted in the final, controversial video. Mr Davis said the department has not formed on opinion on as to whether the video depicts officers planting the drugs, re-creating the discovery of the drugs, or something else entirely. We have not reached any conclusions, Mr Davis said. ...But to let the at initial video that was released by the public defender's office stand by its lonesome does not paint as clear of a picture as we would like to offer to the community right now. In an email to The Independent, a public defender's office spokesperson said several cases involving the officers in the video remain open. We have long supported the use of police body cameras to help identify police misconduct, but such footage is meaningless if prosecutors continue to rely on these officers, especially if they do so without disclosing their bad acts, said Debbie Katz Levi, head of the public defenders special litigation section, in a statement. She added: Officers should not be able to decide when to turn the cameras on and off, and footage like what was presented here needs to result in immediate action by the States Attorney and the Police Department. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump has said he would not have appointed Jeff Sessions as Attorney General if he had known Mr Sessions would remove himself from the Russia investigation, according to a New York Times interview. Sessions should have never recused [removed] himself and if he was going to recuse himself he should have told me before he took the job and I would have picked somebody else, the Times quoted the US President as saying. Mr Sessions excused himself in March from the probe into allegations of Russias meddling in the 2016 US presidential election and possible ties between Russia and the Trump campaign. He did so after failing to disclose at his confirmation hearing that he had held meetings last year with Russias ambassador. A spokesman for the Attorney General declined a request for comment. There were media reports last month that Mr Sessions, a former US senator who was an early supporter of the Trump campaign, had offered to resign because of tensions with Mr Trump. Mr Trump also told The New York Times that a conversation he had with Vladimir Putin during a dinner at the G20 summit in Germany earlier this month lasted about 15 minutes and was mostly about pleasantries. The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Show all 17 1 /17 The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Muellers team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Getty The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rick Gates Mr Gates joined the Trump team in spring 2016, and served as a top aide until he left to work at the Republican National Committee after the departure of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Gates' had previously worked on several presidential campaigns, on international political campaigns in Europe and Africa, and had 15 years of political or financial experience with multinational firms, according to his bio. Mr Gates was indicted alongside Mr Manafort by special counsel Robert Mueller's team on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. AP The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. The meeting was set up by an intermediary, Rob Goldstone. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also at the same meeting. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jared Kushner Mr Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a key adviser to the White House. He met with a Russian banker appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Mr Kushner has said he did so in his role as an adviser to Mr Trump while the bank says he did so as a private developer. Mr Kushner has also volunteered to testify in the Senate about his role helping to arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rob Goldstone Former tabloid journalist and now music publicist Rob Goldstone is a contact of the Trump family through the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Moscow. In June 2016, he wrote to Donald Trump Jr offering a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who had information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Goldstone was the intermediary for Russian pop star Emin Agalaraov and his father, real estate magnate Aras, who played a role in putting on the 2013 pageant. In an email chain released by Mr Trump Jr, Mr Goldstone seemed to indicate Russian government's support of Donald Trump's campaign. AP images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Aras and Emin Agalarov Aras Agalarov (R) is a wealthy Moscow-based real estate magnate and son Emin (L) is a pop star. Both played a role in putting on the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. They allegedly had information about Hillary Clinton and offered that information to the Trump campaign through a lawyer with whom they had worked with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and music publicist Rob Goldstone. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Natalia Veselnitskaya Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. She has worked on real estate issues and reportedly counted the FSB as a client in the past. She has ties to a Trump family connection, real estate magnate Aras Agalarov, who had helped set up the Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant which took place in Moscow. Ms Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016 but denies the allegation that she went there promising information on Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. She contends that the meeting was about the US adoptions of Russian children being stopped by Moscow as a reaction to the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Mike Flynn Mr Flynn was named as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to resign from his post for inappropriate communication with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. He had misrepresented a conversation he had with Mr Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence, telling him wrongly that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sergey Kislyak Mr Kislyak, the former longtime Russian ambassador to the US, is at the centre of the web said to connect President Donald Trump's campaign with Russia. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Roger Stone Mr Stone is a former Trump adviser who worked on the political campaigns of Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Mr Stone claimed repeatedly in the final months of the campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew the group was going to dump damaging documents to the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton - which did happen. Mr Stone also had contacts with the hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter, who claimed to have hacked the DNC and is linked to Russian intelligence services. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeff Sessions The US attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation after it was learned that he had lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Carter Page Mr Page is a former advisor to the Trump campaign and has a background working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr Page met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr Page had invested in oil companies connected to Russia and had admitted that US Russia sanctions had hurt his bottom line. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeffrey "JD" Gorden Mr Gordon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republian National Convention to discuss how the US and Russia could work together to combat Islamist extremism should then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election. The meeting came days before a massive leak of DNC emails that has been connected to Russia. Creative Commons The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation James Comey Mr Comey was fired from his post as head of the FBI by President Donald Trump. The timing of Mr Comey's firing raised questions around whether or not the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign may have played a role in the decision. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Preet Bharara Mr Bahara refused, alongside 46 other US district attorney's across the country, to resign once President Donald Trump took office after previous assurances from Mr Trump that he would keep his job. Mr Bahara had been heading up several investigations including one into one of President Donald Trump's favorite cable television channels Fox News. Several investigations would lead back to that district, too, including those into Mr Trump's campaign ties to Russia, and Mr Trump's assertion that Trump Tower was wiretapped on orders from his predecessor. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images That conversation has sparked controversy because it was only disclosed on Tuesday. Ian Bremmer, the president of political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, who said he was told of the meeting by other world leaders present at the summit, said the meeting lasted about an hour. Reuters Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A self-proclaimed drug dealer has been arrested after he called police to say his cocaine stash had been stolen in a burglary. David Blackmon, 35, reportedly told officers a thief had broken into his car and stolen not only $50 (39) in cash, but also a quarter of an ounce of cocaine. He described himself as a drug dealer, police said in a Facebook post, and officers from Okaloosa County sheriff's office, in Florida, found another bag of cocaine and a rock of crack inside his car. They also found a crack pipe, the post said. According to one officer's report, "Blackmon asked [that] if I knew the cocaine was there, why did I let him keep talking". Following his arrest on Sunday, Mr Blackmon, of Carson Drive, Walton Beach, was charged with resisting arrest without violence, cocaine possession and possessing drug paraphernalia. He is awaiting a court hearing, according to the website of the Okaloosa Department of Corrections. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A member of the Republican National Committee in Nevada apologised after retweeting an article that begged for Senator John McCain, Republican-Arizona, to die. Diana Orrock, a national committeewoman for the Nevada GOP, shared a story headlined Please Just F- - - -ing Die Already. In retweeting the piece, which was published on Medium, Orrock wrote Amen. Several hours after posting the now-deleted tweet, Orrock apologised to McCain and to the Nevada and national GOP, calling the ailing senator an American hero - and her own post disrespectful. The article was published on Medium - and shared by Orrock on Twitter - as McCain was recovering from eye surgery. Recommended John McCain diagnosed with brain cancer The Washington Post was unable to reach Orrock, but she told CNN on Monday, before she tweeted her apology, that she wasn't calling for the 80-year-old senator's death - just agreeing with the sentiments in the article. In the article, writer Caitlin Johnstone said McCain can die a proud, happy man. And he should, Johnstone added. Like, yesterday. Throughout the article, Johnstone did not mince words. At all. She described McCain as a murderous warmongering neocon and an evil man who has supported every US military bloodbath in his obscenely long lifetime. She wrote: If you're waiting for the part where I say I'm just kidding and would never wish death on anybody, please allow me to make myself clear: I sincerely, genuinely hope that Arizona Senator John McCain's heart stops beating, and that he is subsequently declared dead by qualified medical professionals very soon. I don't wish him a painful death, I don't wish him a slow death, I don't wish him an unnatural or violent death; I only wish that he becomes incapable of facilitating the merciless slaughter of any more human beings. Orrock emphasised that she only wants McCain out of the Senate, not harmed or dead. People are going to read things into things, she told CNN. Republican National Committee spokesman Ryan Mahoney called Orrock's tweet extremely inappropriate. Senator McCain is a hero who made countless sacrifices on behalf of all Americans, Mahoney said, according to The Associated Press. We look forward to his speedy recovery so he can return to the Senate and the work of the American people. Efforts to reach the Nevada GOP on Tuesday morning were unsuccessful. McCain's office announced Saturday that he'd undergone a procedure at the Mayo Clinic to remove a blood clot above his left eye. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced on the same day that he would delay the vote on the Republican health-care bill as McCain recovers. Two nights later, the effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as Obamacare, suffered a major blow after two more Senate Republicans declared their opposition to the latest version of the bill. Thanks to @MayoClinic for its excellent care - I appreciate your support & look forward to getting back to work! McCain tweeted. Orrock, who told CNN that she doesn't agree with McCain on foreign policy, has been a committeewoman for the Nevada GOP since 2012. She ran for the 9th District of the Nevada General Assembly in 2016, but lost to the incumbent, David Gardner, in the primary election. Gardner was later defeated by Democratic candidate Steve Yeager. Orrock told the Las Vegas Review Journal last year that she decided to run against Gardner after he voted for a $1.5 billion tax package to bolster education funding. I think a lot of politicians have lost sight of what they're supposed to be doing. They're supposed to be representative of the people who elected them, not the lobbyists, she said then, adding: If that wasn't a slap in the face of the voters in Nevada I don't know what. She has also been a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump. In October, after The Post broke the story about an Access Hollywood tape in which Trump could be heard making vulgar remarks about women, Orrock said she wasn't offended by Trump's goofy comments. We understand the context of that conversation from 11 years ago for exactly what it was, two guys talking, trying to outdo each other as to who caught the bigger fish, she told the Boston Globe. And to think men don't talk that way about women and women don't talk that way about men, I tell you what, you're living in a very protected world of unreality. She also denounced a US Senate candidate from Nevada who decided to not support Trump because of the Access Hollywood tape. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty I am no longer endorsing Joe Heck in the Senate race, Orrock said in October, according to CNBC. How hypocritical of him to denounce Trump on comments that were 12 years old and locker room banter? By not endorsing Trump, he is supporting Hillary. That same month, she tweeted a list of Republican politicians who opposed Trump, calling for her social media followers to vote them out of office. The Washington Post Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Barack Obama has issued a supportive message to John McCain in the wake of news the US Senator has been diagnosed with brain cancer. The Mayo Clinic Hospital said the tumour was found after the former presidential candidate, who Obama defeated in the 2008 election, underwent a minor procedure last week to remove a blood clot from above his left eye. The 80-year-old has now been diagnosed with glioblastoma - a particularly aggressive type of brain tumour which around 20,000 Americans are diagnosed with each year. The American Cancer Society considers the five-year survival rate for patients over 55 to be around four per cent. McCain and his family are considering further treatment options including a combination of chemotherapy and radiation. Heaping praise on the Republican Senator of Arizona who is a Vietnam War veteran, former President Obama hailed him as one of the most courageous fighters he had ever met. John McCain is an American hero and one of the bravest fighters I've ever known. Cancer doesn't know what it's up against. Give it hell, John, he said. There has been a public outpouring of grief since McCains illness was announced on Wednesday. President Donald Trump, Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush have put their political tensions behind them to express their support and condolences for McCain. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Senator John McCain speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Senator John McCain has always been a fighter, President Trump said of the politican he once blasted for having been captured in Vietnam. Melania and I send our thoughts and prayers to Senator McCain, Cindy, and their entire family. Get well soon. Hillary Clinton said: John McCain is as tough as they come. Thinking of John, Cindy, their wonderful children, and their whole family tonight. Bill Clinton added: As hes shown his entire life, dont bet against John McCain. Best wishes to him for a swift recovery. Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Show all 11 1 /11 Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Barack Obama's best moments in the White House May 19, 2009 The President was leaving the State Floor after an event and found Sasha in the elevator ready to head upstairs to the private residence. He decided to ride upstairs with her before returning to the Oval Office, Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Oct. 26, 2012 President Barack Obama pretends to be caught in Spider-Man's web as he greets the son of a White House staffer in the Outer Oval Office Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House A National Security staffer, Carlton Philadelphia, brought his family to the Oval Office for a farewell photo with President Obama. Carltons son, Jacob, softly told the President he had just gotten a haircut like President Obama, and asked if he could feel the Presidents head to see if it felt the same as his. Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House March 21, 2010 The President, Vice President and senior staff applaud after watching on television the House vote on H.R. 4872 for health care reform, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Dec. 3, 2009 President Barack Obama fist-bumps custodian Lawrence Lipscomb in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building following the opening session of the White House Forum on Jobs and Economic Growth Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Sept. 22, 2015 "The Obama family and Biden family greet Pope Francis as he arrives in the United States for the first time at Joint Base Andrews," Sept. 22, 2015. Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Feb. 21, 2014 President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden participate in a "Let's Move!" video taping on the Colonnade of the White House, Feb. 21, 2014 Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Feb. 18, 2016 President Barack Obama watches First Lady Michelle Obama dance with 106-Year-Old Virginia McLaurin in the Blue Room of the White House prior to a reception celebrating African American History Month, Feb. 18, 2016 Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Jan. 21, 2013 "The President and First Lady wave to supporters as they ride in the inaugural parade. I had asked the President if I could ride in the presidential limousine and the President joked, 'But Michelle and I were planning to make out," Jan. 21, 2013. Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama share a private moment in a freight elevator at an Inaugural Ball, January 2009 all pics: Pete Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Barack Obama rests his hand on the bible that President Lincoln used for his swear-in, being held by his wife Michelle Obama as he is sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America Rex McCain is famed for his independent spirit and has carved out a reputation for bridging political gulfs and working closely with Democrats on issues. But he is also a strong supporter of US military action overseas and was an outspoken and vociferous critic of Obamas foreign policy. However, Obama is by no means the only President he has criticised. He has also been repeatedly critical of President Trump since his inauguration. McCain's daughter Meghan McCain expressed her sadness in a statement on Twitter, saying: "The news of my fathers illness has affected every one of us in the McCain family. My grandmother, mother, brothers, sister, and I have all endured the shock of the news, and now we live with the anxiety about what comes next. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Al Gore has reemerged on the US national scene to once again try and educate Americans about the dangers of climate change, and the timing is raising the question of a potential 2020 challenge to Donald Trump. Mr Gore has been drumming up publicity for his latest movie, An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, and recently spoke with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders the most liked politician in America at the moment about the clean energy economy, and the difficult task the world faces to save the world from dire potential consequences of a warming planet. But, when it comes to taking on Mr Trump in 2020, the former vice president notably hasnt ruled out a run. Im a recovering politician, Mr Gore says in the film, an indicator that he may be leaning toward not running, but also a statement that doesnt rule out the possibility. Mr Gore has spent the past 17 years rebuilding his public image after a devastating and messy election loss in 2000 in which he won the national popular vote but lost in the electoral college to George W Bush. During that post-election period, hes focused on climate change as an existential crisis for the world to grapple with. Mr Gore, climate change activists and scientists say, has been one of the most prominent and effective American leaders spreading the word about the issue. Although it has been over 10 years since he released his widely praised first movie on the subject, which ended up winning an Academy Award, his network of connexions to people in the environmental movement, the business world, and in government still makes him a force to contend with. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty Hes still a very important figure in climate change and sustainable communities broadly. he has a big audience and also is of course extremely widely connected to both decision makers and funders throughout the philanthropy community and so on, Andrew Rosenberg, the director for science and democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists, told The Independent. Its unclear if Mr Gore would actually consider a 2020 run, however. Presidential campaigns are long, gruelling affairs that last nearly two years. Theres constant scrutiny from the press, and hed have to face off against Mr Trump in a general election a man who is well known for vicious attacks and name-calling as a campaigner. He may not publicly announce for quite a long time as well, since he waited until the proverbial last minute to announce in 2004 that he wasn't going to pursue a rematch in 2004 against Mr Bush. Plus, hed enter what is likely to be a crowded Democratic field. While his elder statesman status as a former vice president would surely get him a lot of attention, the Democratic Party appears to lack a clear front-runner for the next election. Hillary Clintons loss has left the field wide open. Still, the same qualities that make Mr Gore a strong climate change advocate could serve him well in a presidential run if he decides to go for it. David Hawkins, the director of climate programs at the Natural Resources Defense Council, says that he doesnt comment on political matters, but noted the qualities that have allowed him to remain a leading voice in the climate debate, and contrasted Mr Gore on the issue with Mr Trump. Having someone remind people of the fact that the issue remains important indeed, its more important and to be out there as a voice from national leadership who can command an audience isnt phony, Mr Kawkins told The Independent. Whatever the case, Mr Hawkins says that whether Mr Gore decides to reenter politics is beside the point. The film, out in the United States July 28, has an important message of its own, he said. Its important regardless of what Gore may or may not decide to do about running for president, he said. I dont think its any reason to dismiss the movie. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} After taking part in an international robotics competition in Washington DC, six Burundi teenagers have been reported missing. Two of the students were seen leaving the US for Canada. A police spokesperson said authorities "do not have any indication of foul play" as the investigation continues into what happened after the group attended the FIRST Global Challenge robotics competition with students from 157 nations. Four of the teenagers seem to be in a safe place, but police are not reporting any details as yet, according to the Washington Post. Police reports provided to Buzzfeed indicated that the four boys and two girls were last seen in the early evening of 18 July in northwest DC after which their adult mentor was unable to locate them. FIRST Global informed the police later that day. Audrey Mwamikazi, 17, Nice Munezero, 17, Don Charu Ingabire, 16, Kevin Sabumukiza, 17, Richard Irakoze, 18, and Aristide Irambona, 18 reportedly have one-year US visas. However, the Burundi Embassy in Washington said by email that it did not know about the robotics contest or if a Burundian team was attending. The DC police have said that Ms Mwamikazi and Mr Ingabire are the two in Canada, but no details have been released about how they got there or why. Canada's Border Services Agency said it could neither confirm nor deny that the pair entered Canada. During the competition, the students were staying in a dormitory on the Trinity Washington University campus, but a Univeristy spokesperson said FIRST Global had full responsibility for the students. The keys to the students' rooms were left in the mentor's bag and their clothes had been taken from the rooms, the organisation said. This was the first international robotics competition FIRST Global has held. Burundi, for which the US State Department has issued a travel warning, has been experiencing civil unrest after a failed coup in 2015. There have also been reports of human rights abuses as well. According to the UN, over 300,000 people fled the country since 2014 due to violent gangs from Congo and disappearances and killings allegedly committed by Burundian security forces. An all-girl squad from Afghanistan drew worldwide media attention to the competition when President Donald Trump intervened after they were denied US visas. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump has warned his special counsel from looking into his family's finances beyond the scope of his investigation into Russian interference in last year's election. In an interview with The New York Times, the US President was asked if Robert Mueller would be crossing a red line by investigating his family finances. "I would say yes," Mr Trump replied. However, the President would not be drawn on what he would do about it. I think thats a violation. Look, this is about Russia," he said. Trump and Putin shared second undisclosed meeting at G20 Mr Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and potential ties between the Russian government and Trump campaign aides has cast a growing cloud on the Trump administration. But Mr Trump went on to say he didn't think he was under investigation. I dont think were under investigation, he said. Im not under investigation. For what? I didnt do anything wrong. Mr Trump appeared to threaten Mr Mueller, suggesting he had damaging information on the former FBI director. He said Mr Mueller's selection for the job was a conflict of interest because he had interviewed him to serve as the replacement FBI director. "There were many other conflicts that I haven't said, but I will at some point," Mr Trump said. Donald Trump's international Presidential trips Show all 22 1 /22 Donald Trump's international Presidential trips Donald Trump's international Presidential trips French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Donald Trump AFP/Getty Images Donald Trump's international Presidential trips French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Donald Trump talk as they leave the Army Museum at Les Invalides in Paris AFP/Getty Images Donald Trump's international Presidential trips German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Donald Trump arrive for the group photo at the G7 Taormina summit on the island of Sicily in May 2017 Getty Images Donald Trump's international Presidential trips Mr Trump was pressed on the subject at the G7 summit in Italy Getty Donald Trump's international Presidential trips US President Donald Trump gives a speeech at the Warsaw Uprising Monument on Krasinski Square Getty Donald Trump's international Presidential trips US President Donald Trump and Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May during a ceremony at the NATO headquarters before the start of a summit in Brussels, Belgium Reuters Donald Trump's international Presidential trips Montenegro's Prime Minister Dusko Markovic is seen to the right of Donald Trump at a Nato summit in Brussels REUTERS Donald Trump's international Presidential trips Pope Francis meeting with US President Donald J. Trump EPA Donald Trump's international Presidential trips Pope Francis poses with US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump AFP/Getty Images Donald Trump's international Presidential trips US President Donald Trump arrives at Palazzo del Quirinale ahead of the meeting with Italian President Sergio Mattarella Ufficio Stampa Presidenza della via Getty Donald Trump's international Presidential trips US President Donald Trump is seen during a joint press conference with the Palestinian leader at the presidential palace in the West Bank city of Bethlehem AFP/Getty Images Donald Trump's international Presidential trips Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas meets US President Donald Trump PPO via Getty Donald Trump's international Presidential trips Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with US President Donald Trump prior to the President's departure GPO via Getty Images Donald Trump's international Presidential trips US President Donald Trump and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands after delivering a speech at the Israel Museum AFP/Getty Images Donald Trump's international Presidential trips US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump lay a wreath in the Hall of Remembrance as White House senior advisor Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump watch on during a visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial museum AFP/Getty Images Donald Trump's international Presidential trips US President Donald Trump visit to Yad Vashem Holocaust museum in Jerusalem accompanied by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu GPO via Getty Images Donald Trump's international Presidential trips US President Donald Trump takes his seat before his speech to the Arab Islamic American Summit in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia Reuters Donald Trump's international Presidential trips Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, US President Donald Trump and US First Lady Melania Trump look at a display of Saudi modern art at the Saudi Royal Court in Riyadh AFP/Getty Images Donald Trump's international Presidential trips US President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud take part in a signing ceremony at the Saudi Royal Court in Riyadh AFP/Getty Images Donald Trump's international Presidential trips King Salman presents Donald Trump with The Collar of Abdulaziz al-Saud Medal at the Royal Court Palace on 20 May AP Donald Trump's international Presidential trips US President Donald Trump is welcomed by Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud upon arrival at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh AFP/Getty Images Donald Trump's international Presidential trips U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump walk on the South Lawn prior to their first foreign trip Getty Images The President also said he would never have appointed Jeff Sessions as attorney general had he known Mr Sessions would recuse himself from overseeing the Russia investigation. In an extraordinary denouncement of one of his earliest backers in Washington, Mr Trump said Mr Sessions' decision to recuse himself from all matters related to Russia was "very unfair to the president." "Sessions should have never recused himself," he told the paper, "and if he was going to recuse himself he should have told me before he took the job and I would have picked somebody else." Mr Sessions' recusal, announced following revelations that he had failed to disclose meetings with Russia's ambassador to the US, effectively paved the way for the appointment of Mr Mueller as special counsel. Egypt's oil minister Tarek El-Mullah said on Thursday that the recently implemented Egyptian-Saudi maritime border demarcation deal will allow Egypt to start oil and gas exploration in the area for the first time, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported. "This region of the Red Sea has not witnessed any petroleum activity, with the exception of the Suez Gulf, it is an untouched area," El-Mullah said during the signing of two contracts between Egypt's South Valley Egyptian Petroleum Holding Company (Ganope) and two foreign geophysics companies tasked with gathering seismic data. The minister also stressed that the project should be completed within one year, so the ministry will be receiving bids for oil and gas exploration in Egyptian territorial waters in the Red Sea and southern Egypt. Ganope signed the two contracts with the British TGC and the US Schlumberger with investments of more than $750 million in the Red Sea and southern Egypt regions. In mid-June, the Egyptian House of Representatives approved by a majority vote after heated discussions the Egyptian-Saudi deal, which hands the Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir to Saudi Arabia. President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi ratified the deal soon after. The deal was first signed by the Egyptian government and Saudi Arabia in April 2016. Search Keywords: Short link: Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Moscow and Washington are in talks to create a joint cyber security working group, a Russian news agency has reported. In its report, RIA news agency cited Russias special envoy on cyber security, Andrey Krutskikh. Different proposals are being exchanged and are being studied, nobody is avoiding the need for negotiations and contacts, Mr Krutskikh said, according to the agency. There is no need to overdramatise the working process, it is underway without doubts, it is difficult taking into account the US realities, but this is more of the issue of the US administration, not ours. Last week, Russia said Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin had discussed forming a group on cyber security. After their meeting at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Mr Trump tweeted: Putin and I discussed forming an impenetrable cyber security unit so that election hacking, and many other negative things, will be guarded and safe. But faced with widespread criticism from both the Democrats and some Republicans, he appeared to row back on his claim. He tweeted: The fact that President Putin and I discussed a cyber security unit doesnt mean I think it can happen. Referring to the Syrian civil war, he added: It cant but a ceasefire can, and did! Trump meets Putin for first time since winning presidency During the two-and-a-half-hour conversation between the two presidents at the G20 summit, Mr Trump reportedly took Mr Putins word that Russian operatives had not carried out what multiple US intelligence agencies described as a campaign of influence last year. Mr Trump said: He vehemently denied it. After the meeting, Mr Putin said Mr Trump seemed satisfied with the answers about meddling in the election. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Senator John McCain has responded to the outpouring of good wishes he has received after it was announced he was suffering from brain cancer, saying "I'll be back soon, so stand-by!" The Senator's office had announced the day before that he had been diagnosed with a glioblastoma, one of the most common but also one of the most malignant types of brain tumours. The news was met with a flood of support for the feisty 80-year-old Senator, who has worked in public service since graduating the US Naval Academy in 1958. Mr McCain thanked his well-wishers on Thursday, tweeting: "I greatly appreciate the outpouring of support - unfortunately for my sparring partners in Congress, I'll be back soon, so stand-by!" The 30-year Senate veteran is known for taking a principled stance on issues, even if it means disagreeing with his party and his president. Shortly before his diagnosis was revealed, Mr McCain had issued a statement urging his fellow Republicans delay their long-awaited vote on Obamacare in order to receive feedback from citizens, governors, and members of both parties. 13 ways to help prevent cancer Show all 13 1 /13 13 ways to help prevent cancer 13 ways to help prevent cancer Stopping smoking. This notoriously difficult habit to break sees tar build-up in the lungs and DNA alteration and causes 15,558 cancer deaths a year 13 ways to help prevent cancer Avoiding the sun, and the melanoma that comes with overexposure to harmful UV rays, could help conscientious shade-lovers dodge being one of the 7,220 people who die from it 13 ways to help prevent cancer A diet that is low in red meat can help to prevent bowel cancer, according to the research - with 30 grams a day recommended for men, and 25 a day recommended for women 13 ways to help prevent cancer Foods high in fibre, meanwhile, can further make for healthier bowels. Processed foods in developed countries appear to be causing higher rates of colon cancer than diets in continents such as Africa, which have high bean and pulse intakes 13 ways to help prevent cancer Two servings of fruit and three servings of vegetables a day were given as the magic number for good diet in the research. Overall, diet causes only slightly fewer cancer deaths than sun exposure in Australia, at 7,000 a year 13 ways to help prevent cancer Obesity and being overweight, linked to poor diet and lack of exercise, causes 3,917 deaths by cancer a year on its own Getty 13 ways to help prevent cancer Dying of a cancer caused by infection also comes in highly, linked to 3,421 cancer deaths a year. Infections such as human papilloma virus - which can cause cervical cancer in women - and hepatitis - can be prevented by vaccinations and having regular check-ups 13 ways to help prevent cancer Cutting back on drinks could reduce the risk of cancers caused by alcohol - such as liver cancer, bowel cancer, breast cancer and mouth cancer - that are leading to 3,208 deaths a year 2014 Getty Images 13 ways to help prevent cancer Sitting around and not getting the heart pumping - less than one hour's exercise a day - is directly leading to about 1,800 people having lower immune functions and higher hormone levels, among other factors, that cause cancers 2011 Getty Images 13 ways to help prevent cancer Hormone replacement therapy, which is used to relieve symptoms of the menopause in women, caused 539 deaths from (mainly breast) cancer in Australia last year. It did, however, prevent 52 cases of colorectal cancers 2003 Getty Images 13 ways to help prevent cancer Insufficient breastfeeding, bizarrely, makes the top 10. Breastfeeding for 12 months could prevent 235 cancer cases a year, said the research AFP/Getty Images 13 ways to help prevent cancer Oral contraceptives, like the Pill, caused about 105 breast cancers and 52 cervical cancers - but it also prevented about 1,440 ovarian and uterine (womb) cases of cancer last year 2006 Getty Images 13 ways to help prevent cancer Taking aspirin also prevented 232 cases in the Queensland research of colorectal and oesophagal cancers - but as it can also cause strokes, is not yet recommended as a formal treatment against the risk of cancer The Senator has also been an outspoken critic of the President, first vowing not to vote for him over the Access Hollywood tapes, and later pushing for a thorough investigation of Mr Trump's ties to Russia. The President in a statement on Wednesday called Mr McCain a "fighter". "Melania and I send our thoughts and prayers to Senator McCain, Cindy, and their entire family," he said. "Get well soon." Experts have said Mr McCain's tumour which doctors discovered during a surgery to remove a blood clot over his left eye is a particularly aggressive variety. Treatment will likely include surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Even with treatment, median survival for glioblastoma is 12 to 18 months. In their statement, Mr McCain's office said the Senator is "confident that any future treatment will be effective". Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} An American university has rejected $3m (2.3m) funding from a Christian organisation that demanded it shut down an LGBT students' group. Samford University, a Christian institution founded by Alabama Baptists, declined a donation offered by state churches on the condition the group was stopped from forming. Earlier this year, students applied for permission to form Samford Together to provide "a forum for students who want to discuss topics relating to sexual orientation and gender identity...[in] an open-minded and accepting environment". The university's faculty approved the group in April, although it has yet to be formally recognised by Samford's board of trustees. Following the faculty's vote, Alabama Baptist Convention - an association of the state's churches - said it was "saddened" that the university had "voted to affirm the recognition of a student group that identifies with values contrary to biblical teachings on sexuality". "We strongly believe that the Old Testament and New Testament each speak unequivocally against homosexuality. When addressing same-gender sexual relationships, the Bible without exception never affirms such behaviour as an approved lifestyle," said John Thweatt, the convention's president, and Rick Lance, executive director of its board of missions, in a joint statement. They later warned they would withdraw the $3m funding offered if the board of trustees approved Samford Together. In response, the university has voluntarily waived the donation, which it had been due to receive on 1 January. The decision to reject the money was approved by the university's executive committee, it said in statement. I believe the action taken by our trustees is something that both parties have been anticipating for some time and will serve the best interests of both Samford and the Alabama Baptist State Convention, said university president Andrew Westmoreland. "Our longstanding educational and ministry relationships with Alabama Baptists have always been more significant than money, and these relationships will continue and flourish. Dr Westmoreland added he wanted the university to address topics related to human sexuality and "other important issues at the intersection of Christian understanding and cultural reality". He stopped short of offering formal recognition to Samford Together, but said the university would "work to accomplish each of the groups worthy goals". Thousands march against Donald Trump in LGBT rights parade Show all 8 1 /8 Thousands march against Donald Trump in LGBT rights parade Thousands march against Donald Trump in LGBT rights parade AP Thousands march against Donald Trump in LGBT rights parade AP Thousands march against Donald Trump in LGBT rights parade AP Thousands march against Donald Trump in LGBT rights parade AP Thousands march against Donald Trump in LGBT rights parade AFP/Getty Images Thousands march against Donald Trump in LGBT rights parade AP Thousands march against Donald Trump in LGBT rights parade AFP/Getty Images Thousands march against Donald Trump in LGBT rights parade AP Following the announcement, the convention reiterated its opposition to the student group. "The matter of recognition of the student organisation is in the hands of the leadership of Samford University. They know our concerns about the organisation as expressed in person and in print," said Mr Thweatt. Samford University was founded in 1841 and describes itself as "deeply rooted in its Christian mission". For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A ship chartered by activists to hamper the rescue of refugees in the Mediterranean has reportedly been arrested in the Suez Canal after the its captain failed to produce a satisfactory crew list. The Defend Europe ship set sail from the east African nation of Djibouti where it was chartered last week. Called the C-Star, it was predominantly funded with donations on a crowdfunding website. The crew had intended to sail the ship through Egypt's Suez Canal before heading towards the Italian city of Cantania where many rescue boats run by charities and non government organisations (NGOs) are based. A lot of them then set sail from the city to rescue migrants who capsize in the Mediterranean. More than 85,000 refugees and migrants, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, have been pulled from the sea while trying to make the perilous crossing. This year at least 2,000 have drowned, after paying smugglers and setting sail in rickety boats which are unsuited to the choppy waters of the Mediterranean. The Suez Canal Authority told campaign group Hope Not Hate that the ship had been arrested by Egyptian security services and the navy due to the lack of documentation and papers. The ships AIS signal, which is part of an international marine system which helps ships avoid collisions, has reportedly shown the ship halted just off a peninsula at the bottom of the Gulf of Suez since Sunday. According to its tracking information, it was supposed to reach Port Suez by 17 July. It is currently unclear where the crew are following the ships seizure as the social media accounts of the group remain active. They boast that they are en route to pick up the leaders of the movement, including Canadian alt-right YouTube star Lauren Southern, who are currently in Cantania doing interviews with the international media. The group has vowed to assist the Libyan coast guard in pushing back the refugee boats when they leave the countrys shores and say they want to monitor the actions of NGOs such as Save the Children who are operating in the region. They claim these charities are facilitating human trafficking into Europe. Refugee crisis - in pictures Show all 27 1 /27 Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugee crisis - in pictures A child looks through the fence at the Moria detention camp for migrants and refugees at the island of Lesbos on May 24, 2016. AFP/Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Ahmad Zarour, 32, from Syria, reacts after his rescue by MOAS (Migrant Offshore Aid Station) while attempting to reach the Greek island of Agathonisi, Dodecanese, southeastern Agean Sea Refugee crisis - in pictures Syrian migrants holding life vests gather onto a pebble beach in the Yesil liman district of Canakkale, northwestern Turkey, after being stopped by Turkish police in their attempt to reach the Greek island of Lesbos on 29 January 2016. Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees flash the 'V for victory' sign during a demonstration as they block the Greek-Macedonian border Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants have been braving sub zero temperatures as they cross the border from Macedonia into Serbia. Refugee crisis - in pictures A sinking boat is seen behind a Turkish gendarme off the coast of Canakkale's Bademli district on January 30, 2016. At least 33 migrants drowned on January 30 when their boat sank in the Aegean Sea while trying to cross from Turkey to Greece. Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A general view of a shelter for migrants inside a hangar of the former Tempelhof airport in Berlin, Germany Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees protest behind a fence against restrictions limiting passage at the Greek-Macedonian border, near Gevgelija. Since last week, Macedonia has restricted passage to northern Europe to only Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans who are considered war refugees. All other nationalities are deemed economic migrants and told to turn back. Macedonia has finished building a fence on its frontier with Greece becoming the latest country in Europe to build a border barrier aimed at checking the flow of refugees Refugee crisis - in pictures A father and his child wait after being caught by Turkish gendarme on 27 January 2016 at Canakkale's Kucukkuyu district Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants make hand signals as they arrive into the southern Spanish port of Malaga on 27 January, 2016 after an inflatable boat carrying 55 Africans, seven of them women and six chidren, was rescued by the Spanish coast guard off the Spanish coast. Refugee crisis - in pictures A refugee holds two children as dozens arrive on an overcrowded boat on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugee crisis - in pictures A child, covered by emergency blankets, reacts as she arrives, with other refugees and migrants, on the Greek island of Lesbos, At least five migrants including three children, died after four boats sank between Turkey and Greece, as rescue workers searched the sea for dozens more, the Greek coastguard said Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants wait under outside the Moria registration camp on the Lesbos. Over 400,000 people have landed on Greek islands from neighbouring Turkey since the beginning of the year Refugee crisis - in pictures The bodies of Christian refugees are buried separately from Muslim refugees at the Agios Panteleimonas cemetery in Mytilene, Lesbos Refugee crisis - in pictures Macedonian police officers control a crowd of refugees as they prepare to enter a camp after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A refugee tries to force the entry to a camp as Macedonian police officers control a crowd after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees are seen aboard a Turkish fishing boat as they arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea from the Turkish coast to Lesbos Reuters Refugee crisis - in pictures An elderly woman sings a lullaby to baby on a beach after arriving with other refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A man collapses as refugees make land from an overloaded rubber dinghy after crossing the Aegean see from Turkey, at the island of Lesbos EPA Refugee crisis - in pictures A girl reacts as refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees make a show of hands as they queue after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures People help a wheelchair user board a train with others, heading towards Serbia, at the transit camp for refugees near the southern Macedonian town of Gevgelija AP Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees board a train, after crossing the Greek-Macedonian border, near Gevgelija. Macedonia is a key transit country in the Balkans migration route into the EU, with thousands of asylum seekers - many of them from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia - entering the country every day Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures An aerial picture shows the "New Jungle" refugee camp where some 3,500 people live while they attempt to enter Britain, near the port of Calais, northern France Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A Syrian girl reacts as she helped by a volunteer upon her arrival from Turkey on the Greek island of Lesbos, after having crossed the Aegean Sea EPA Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Beds ready for use for migrants and refugees are prepared at a processing center on January 27, 2016 in Passau, Germany. The flow of migrants arriving in Passau has dropped to between 500 and 1,000 per day, down significantly from last November, when in the same region up to 6,000 migrants were arriving daily. But fears have been raised about the intentions of the crew after Daniel Fi, the leader of the German branch of the movement behind Defend Europe, told a German news website that they had taken guards to take action against potentially armed human traffickers and protect the six crew. The Independent has contacted Defend Europe and the Suez Canal Authority for comment but none had arrived at the time of publication. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Prisoners in Dutch jails are to be issued calendars for their cells featuring details of unsolved murders in a bid by police to crack cold cases. All 30,000 detainees in the Netherlands will be handed one of the calendars after a trial in five prisons resulted in detectives receiving 160 tip-offs. The so-called cold case calendars feature a different murder or missing person for each week and have been printed in Dutch, English, Arabic, Spanish and Russian. It is hoped that prisoners will then come forward information they have heard about crimes while behind bars. "Of course there are people who dont want a calendar because they dont want to be seen as a snitch, said its inventor, Jereon Hammer. "But our trial shows that almost two-thirds of prisoners think the calendar is a good idea." The five-month trial period led to police receiving as many tip-offs on cold cases as they usually get in a year. Nearly half of them related to 11-year-old Nicky Verstappen, who was killed at a summer camp in the south of the Netherlands in August 1998. Police have subsequently reopened an investigation into his murder, along with another case detailed in the calendar. The calendars, which also contain details on how to make tip-offs, were being distributed to prisons across the Netherlands this week. They are part of a broader police campaign - also featuring social media and a TV series - to highlight cold cases. Specialist detectives in the Netherlands are currently investigating 130 cold cases. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The European Union has given Warsaw a week to halt judicial reforms it said would put courts under direct government control, or face punishment for undermining democracy in the largest ex-communist member of the bloc. Since being elected in 2015, the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party has tightened government control over courts and prosecutors, as well as state media. Political opponents, rights groups and the EU say it undermines separation of power between the executive and the judiciary. While PiS remains broadly popular among Poles, thousands have been protesting daily against the plans. These laws considerably increase the systemic threats to the rule of law, the EU executive arm's deputy head, Frans Timmermans, told a briefing in Brussels. They would abolish any remaining judicial independence and put the judiciary under full political control of the government. Jaroslaw Kaczynski, chairman of PiS and Poland's paramount leader, said the warning from the European Commission was political and the EU should not be meddling in the matter. Those matters that we are dealing with right now belong exclusively to the jurisdiction of the country, so what we have here is an abuse (of their powers), Kaczynski told the state television TVP. It's simply an action that has a political character. Konrad Szymanski, Poland's deputy foreign minister in charge of European affairs, said Warsaw would defend its position, including before Europe's highest court, if necessary. The separation of powers between executive and judiciary is a fundamental democratic principle in the EU, though in many member states the effectiveness of separation can be as much a matter of political culture as of formal structures. PiS says the reforms are needed to make the courts accountable and ensure that state institutions serve all Poles, not just the elites it says are the support base for the opposition. Poland's parliament held a second day of debate on Wednesday on a proposed law to give the government more direct control over the Supreme Court, whose tasks include validating elections in the ex-communist state. That bill follows a law passed last week which ends the terms of current members of the National Council of the Judiciary, one of the main judicial bodies, and gives parliament powers to choose 15 of its 25 members. The chairman of the largest faction in the European Parliament, Germany's Manfred Weber, said on Wednesday: It goes beyond doubt now: PiS government is trying to abolish rule of law in Poland. This has to be stopped. Increasingly worried with how PiS - which combines a staunchly conservative world view with a left-wing economic agenda - is centralising power, the European Commission has opened a raft of proceedings against Warsaw, including an unprecedented probe into threats to the rule of law. Timmermans said Brussels would open a fresh legal case next week over the court laws, as well as giving Warsaw more recommendations on how to rein in the changes. He mentioned the nuclear option of triggering a punishment procedure that could theoretically lead to suspending Poland's voting rights in the bloc. We are coming very close to triggering Article 7, Timmermans said, although he signalled this was less likely to happen next week. It would mean that, while the Commission has long said PiS government policies put the rule of law in the country of 38 million people under systemic threat, it would now ask member states to officially confirm that assessment. A majority of EU states would have to agree and then tell Poland how they think it should act to address the concerns. Only if they decide Warsaw did not heed their calls could they move to imposing sanctions. This would need the unanimity of all other EU states. Warsaw's eurosceptic, nationalist ally Hungary has made clear it would block such a move. Legal cases could eventually lead to hefty fines, although they are usually a lengthy and slow-brewing process. The bloc's EU affairs ministers are due to discuss the matter at their next meeting, now scheduled on 19 September. Despite the pressure, PiS has offered no concessions, instead presenting the criticism as unacceptable foreign meddling in domestic affairs of the country, which overthrew communism in 1989 and joined the EU in 2004. Its popularity also stems from record-low unemployment, a robust economy and increased social spending. Its eurosceptic backers revel in clashes with Brussels. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty This is a very serious problem for Europe in terms of how it handles internal deviation from what had seemed to be a very strong consensus and agreement on respect for the rule of law, Saman Zia-Zarifi, the head of International Commission of Jurists, a Geneva-based body which defends the rule of law. But Timmermans, when asked if Brussels risked pushing Poland towards leaving the EU, like Britain, said: No. I will do everything I can... to make sure that Poland sticks to a development that fosters the rule of law, democracy... This is the clear choice made by the Polish people when they freed themselves from the communist oppression. Reuters For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The President of Poland has been urged to veto a bill passed by lawmakers in the country that would give parliament the power to appoint Supreme Court judges. Guy Verhofstadt, the President of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe in the European Parliament, has called on President Andrzej Duda to take action and said the European Commission should trigger the EUs Article 7 if the issue is not resolved. The Article has been often described as a nuclear option and can lead to the suspension of a member countrys voting rights. The European Parliament made it clear earlier this week that these new laws are incompatible with EU Membership and would irredeemably weaken Polands future place in the West, Mr Verhofstadt said. He also took to Twitter to claim the "blitz against Polish judiciary [was] completed". European Council President Donald Tusk, who is also a former Polish prime minister, called for an urgent meeting with President Duda to discuss the "political crisis" in the country. Mr Tusk described the move as backwards backward and said it went "against European standards and values. "The European Union is not only money and procedures. It is first and foremost values and high standards of public life. That is why a wave of criticism of the government is rising in Europe and in the whole West," Mr Tusk said. The bill was passed despite objections from lawyers and opposition politicians after critcisms it undermines democracy and the rule of law. The move would put courts under direct government control and Poland's human rights ombudsman, Adam Bodnar, told parliament that the legislation, would "deprive citizens of the right to an independent court". "We are planting an explosive under our judiciary," he said. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty Since being elected in 2015, the Law and Justice party (PiS) has tightened its control over courts and prosecutors, as well as state media, and introduced restrictions on public gatherings. Parliament has already passed a bill which ends the terms of current members of the National Council of the Judiciary, one of the main judicial bodies, and gives parliament powers to choose 15 of its 25 members. Agencies contributed to this report. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The Shroud of Turin is stained with the blood of a torture victim, scientists have claimed. Analysis of the linen cloth, purportedly used to bury Jesus after his crucifixion, contains "nanoparticles" of blood which are not typical of that of a healthy person, according to researchers. Institute of Crystallography researcher Elvio Carlino, one of the authors of the report, said the particles are conducive with someone having been through "great suffering". "Our results point out that at the nanoscale a scenario of violence is recorded in the funeral fabric," authors wrote in the scientific article, published in PLOS One. "The consistent bound of ferritin iron to creatinine occurs in human organism in case of a severe polytrauma." Researchers believe the particles show a "peculiar structure, size and distribution", which corroborates the theory that it was used as a burial cloth. They also believe it contradicts previous theories that the shroud was made in medieval times. Professor Giulio Fanti, one of the authors of the research, said: "The presence of these biological nanoparticles found during our experiments point to a violent death for the man wrapped in the Turin Shroud." World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty The cloths authenticity is highly contentious and divides religious opinion. Some Christians believe the fabric which is kept in the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin is the burial shroud of Jesus of Nazereth, dating back over 2,000 years. But previous scientific studies have suggested the cloth, which appears to be imprinted with the face of a man, may in fact be from the 13th or 14th century - centuries after Jesus is believed to have died. One study found the cloth had been manufactured in India. The research was published in US scientific journal PlosOne and is titled: "New Biological Evidence from Atomic Resolution Studies on the Turin Shroud." For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Israels Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has been left red-faced after his scathing comments about the European Union were broadcast to journalists outside what he thought was a private meeting room. I think Europe has to decide if it wants to live and thrive or if it wants to shrivel and disappear, Mr Netanyahu told leaders from the central European Visegrad Group at what he thought was a closed-door meeting in Budapest on Wednesday. The Prime Minister went on to criticise the blocs policy towards Israel, urging Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the Czech Republics Bohuslav Sobotka, Polands Beata Szydlo and Slovakias Robert Fico to encourage the rest of Europe to stop attacking and start supporting Israel. Israeli minister attempts selfie with Trump to Netanyahu's dismay I am not very politically correct. I know thats a shock to some of you. Its a joke. But the truth is the truth both about Europes security and Europes economic future. Both of these concerns mandate a different policy towards Israel. The European Union is the only association of countries in the world that conditions the relations with Israel, that produces technology and every area, on political conditions. The only ones! Nobody does it, he said. Its absolutely may I say I think its crazy. I think its actually crazy, he added. Mr Netanyahu was referring in particular to a 1995 agreement between the EU and Israel which subjects trade to the condition that Israel shows respect for human rights and democratic principles over the populations in its control, including the millions of Palestinians living in the occupied Territories. Unbeknownst to the Prime Minister, his microphone was actually being piped through to journalists in an adjacent room, Israeli media reported, before an aide realised and stopped the transmission. Israel: From independence to intifada Show all 7 1 /7 Israel: From independence to intifada Israel: From independence to intifada 26973.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26974.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26975.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26976.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26977.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26985.bin Robert Capa/Magnum Israel: From independence to intifada 26986.bin Robert Capa/Magnum Mr Netanyahu also spoke positively of his relationship with the new US administration of Donald Trump, and admitted that Israeli air strikes inside Syria have targeted Hezbollah arms convoys dozens of times a position the Israeli army usually does not publicly comment on. The candid and harsh comments about European policy come as Mr Netanyahu faces criticism both at home and abroad for the trip to Hungary to meet with authoritarian leader Mr Orban, whose flirtation with the far right has alarmed Hungarys ethnic minorities, including Jews. During a joint media conference on Tuesday, Mr Orban pledged to fight growing anti-Semitism in his country, words which were welcomed by his Israeli counterpart. Mr Netanyahu is the first sitting Israeli Prime Minister to visit Hungary since the collapse of the Soviet Union. He is seeking better relations with countries which have voting rights in forums such as the EU and UN, which it is hoped can help defend Israeli interests. On Wednesday, after the closed-door meeting, the five Prime Ministers addressed reporters in remarks Mr Netanyahu joked would be short, since the press had already been briefed. We believe its in the objective interest of Europe to cooperate with Israel in the fight against terrorism, and technology for the future, Mr Netanyahu said. Theres an anomaly. I dont hide it. Were often criticised by Western Europe, often more than any other place in the world, despite the fact the Jewish state is a democratic beacon of tolerance in the region, he said. I think that if I can suggest that what comes out of this meeting is your ability perhaps to communicate to your colleagues in other parts of Europe: Help Europe dont undermine the one western country that defends European values and European interests and prevents another mass migration to Europe, Mr Netanyahu added. The EUs delegation to Israel responded with a statement after the Prime Ministers comments were made public that it still expects his government to show respect for international humanitarian law as well as make progress towards a two-state solution in the Middle Eastern conflict. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A Yazidi woman who was held prisoner by Isis for nearly three years has returned to her hometown to "take revenge" on the militants. Heiza Shankal was kidnapped along with thousands of other Yazidi women and children when Isis swept across Iraq in a brutal campaign in August 2014. Around 50,000 members of the long-persecuted religious and ethnic group were trapped when Isis besieged Mount Sinjar. Yazidi women speak of rape and beatings at the hands of Isis Adult men were murdered, boys were captured and separated to be trained as child soldiers, and the women and girls were sold into sexual slavery. "When the massacre took place in Shankal [the Kurdish name for Sinjar] and Isis kidnapped children and women, I was one of those who was taken away," Ms Shankal said in an interview with Arab24. Her account suggests she was one of thousands of Yazidi women taken as sex slaves, who were bought and sold at several markets in the so-called caliphate. "I was sold and bought," she said. Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Show all 15 1 /15 Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Displaced people from the minority Yazidi sect, fleeing violence from forces loyal to the Isis in Sinjar town, walk towards the Syrian border, on the outskirts of Sinjar mountain, near the Syrian border town of Elierbeh of Al-Hasakah Governorate Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Displaced people from the minority Yazidi sect, fleeing violence from forces loyal to the Isis in Sinjar town, walk towards the Syrian border, on the outskirts of Sinjar mountain, near the Syrian border town of Elierbeh of Al-Hasakah Governorate Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Displaced Iraqis from the Yazidi community settle at a camp at Derike, Syria. In the camps here, Iraqi refugees have new heroes: Syrian Kurdish fighters who battled militants to carve an escape route to tens of thousands trapped on a mountaintop Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis A pilot based at RAF Marham entering a Tornado GR4 prior to taking off for the reconnaissance mission over Iraq. Several RAF Tornado jets set off from RAF Marham in Norfolk this afternoon to travel to a "pre-position", from where they will fly to northern Iraq to provide improved surveillance of the situation on the ground. The jets, fitted with Litening III targeting and surveillance pods, will be able to fly over the crisis area to provide intelligence and help with the delivery of humanitarian aid Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis A British Royal Air Force (RAF) Tornado GR4 aircraft equipped with the Litening III pod from RAF Marham, eastern England, on their arrival at RAF Akrotiri Cyprus for their reconnaissance mission over Iraq Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Aid inside a Royal Air Force (RAF) Hercules C130 J aircraft before being airdropped to civilians in Iraq Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis A Royal Air Force (RAF) Hercules C130 J military transport plane at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. Britain made a third round of airdrops of supplies to aid refugees stranded on a mountain in northern Iraq, officials said, as Tornado fighters arrived at an RAF base in Cyprus preparing to provide surveillance support for the humanitarian effort Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Royal Air Force (RAF) Tornado GR4 aircraft, flown in from Britain, stand on the tarmac at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis A displaced man helps a woman, both from the minority Yazidi sect fleeing violence from forces loyal to the Isis in Sinjar town, as they make their way towards the Syrian border, on the outskirts of Sinjar mountain, near the Syrian border town of Elierbeh of Al-Hasakah Governorate Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Iraqis including Turkmen, Shabaks, Kurds, Yezidis and Christians, fleeing from assaults of army groups led by Isis, take shelter at Bahirka Camp in Arbil Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Displaced Iraqis from the Yazidi community look for clothes to wear among items provided by a charity organization at the Nowruz camp in Derike, Syria Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Displaced Iraqis from the Yazidi community gather for food at the Nowruz camp in Derike, Syria Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Displaced Iraqis from the Yazidi community gather for food at the Nowruz camp in Derike, Syria Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Syrian Kurdish Peshmerga fighters take a sick Iraqi Yazidi woman to the clinic at Nowruz camp in Derike, Syria Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Sick displaced Iraqis from the Yazidi community wait for treatment at a clinic at Nowruz camp in Derike, Syria When she was finally freed, she "arrived at the hands of the comrades" and they brought her back to Sinjar, her hometown. There, she joined a women's resistance unit to fight Isis. "I was surprised to see a military force for protecting Shankal, so I decided to join the unit and take revenge," she said. "I am carrying this weapon to take revenge from Abu Hassan, Abu Yusuf and Abu Sa'ad, who tortured me and tortured many mothers." An estimated 9,900 Yazidis were killed or captured when Isis took over Mount Sinjar in the summer of 2014. Of those, 3,100 were murdered, often in brutal ways such as beheading or being burned alive. Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for weekly expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Men here are often born already in debt, says Ansel Mus Rangga as we stand next to a monolithic tomb that makes Stonehenge look like a row of dominoes. If their fathers or grandfathers couldnt afford to build tombs for deceased family members, then the debt is passed on to the next in line. Sumba, an island in eastern Indonesia, is home to the unique Marapu religion. The people here one of the poorest islands in the archipelago worship a combination of ancestors, natural spirits and an all-seeing, all-hearing god whose name must not be pronounced. Ansel, a local guide with Backyard Travel, explains that in English, you could only call him Bigger Eyes, Bigger Ears, Never to Say the Name. Whoever he is, hes a pricey god to follow. Sumba island's Marapu religion Show all 13 1 /13 Sumba island's Marapu religion Sumba island's Marapu religion Tombs in the centre of Tarung village serve as handy laundry driers on a sunny Sumba morning. Mark Eveleigh Sumba island's Marapu religion Each tomb in Waihola village (near Nihiwatu) represents massive expense in terms of ritual sacrifices for local families who observe the ancestral Marapu religion Mark Eveleigh Sumba island's Marapu religion Catholic imagery on a tomb in Waihola village (near Nihiwatu) shows how imported religions seem often to have blended almost seamlessly with the ancient Marapu religion. Mark Eveleigh Sumba island's Marapu religion In an effort to minimise economic strain the law stipulates that only 5 buffalo can be sacrificed at funerals - in reality many more are often killed and a big buffalo with a wide horn spread will often fetch close to $4,000. Mark Eveleigh Sumba island's Marapu religion A royal tomb in Pasunga village is flanked by the smaller tombs where servants were buried (sometimes buried alive!) alongside their master. Mark Eveleigh Sumba island's Marapu religion Village dogs - currently guardians but, more than likely, part of some future feast - on tombs in Pasunga village. Mark Eveleigh Sumba island's Marapu religion A horse - another part of Sumba's ancestral warrior heritage - grazes among the tombs in Pasunga village. Mark Eveleigh Sumba island's Marapu religion A more humble modern style tomb stands next to the kings burial place in Galu Bakul, Anakalang. Mark Eveleigh Sumba island's Marapu religion Prai Ijing village. Sumba island's Marapu religion A village dog relaxes on a tomb in Prai Ijing village. Mark Eveleigh Sumba island's Marapu religion While still considered sacred the tombs very quickly become part of normal village life. The is nothing sacrilegious about drying your wellies on one. Mark Eveleigh Sumba island's Marapu religion Tombs in the centre of Tarung village serve as handy domestic surfaces. Mark Eveleigh Sumba island's Marapu religion The monumental tombs of Sumba. Mark Eveleigh Paradoxically, its more expensive to build a house out of relatively cheap local materials than it is to build a modern cement house because during the building of traditional houses, known as rumah adat, its compulsory to sacrifice large quantities of animals. In Sumbas villages such as Prai Ijing, where I visited the centre of the community is reserved for the dwelling places of the dead. And they cost even more. Throwing a funeral on Sumba can be crippling for lower castes and royal families alike. Tombstones weigh up to 70 tons and hundreds of men must be fed and entertained during the months it might take to drag them by hand from the quarries. Mechanical transport is an option these days but its rarely employed by the Sumbanese who say that the old ways are the best. To a Western way of thinking the tombs are treated in a slightly cavalier fashion: used as tables for drying wet clothes or rice, as a resting place for dogs, a playground for children even as a convenient place to mount a satellite dish. The tombs are an integral part of Sumbas villages (Mark Eveleigh) Because the tombs are such an integral part of the village, the dead continue to play a part in daily village life. In this highly feudal island, it has always been important to protect the tombs. We bury our dead with their prized possessions, says Tiger, a guide at Nihi Sumba, a luxury resort on the island whose name is often synonymous with Sumba. When theyre not inside the villages, sometimes tomb raiders steal from them. The graves of the royals are often accompanied by those of their staff, too. In the old days a king might have his servants locked up alive in the tomb to serve him, says Tiger, pointing at a small tomb next to the 70-ton Umba Sawola tomb in Anakalang district, central Sumba. Not that those old days are so long ago. In 1971, the year in which this tomb was being carved and transported across Sumbas Anakalang heartlands, the ruling family sacrificed 350 buffalo to feed the thousand men who dragged it for almost a year from the quarry 3km away. Buffalo are still the major status symbol for Sumbanese Marapu worshippers of all castes, and today a buffalo might be worth 3000 more if the horns are particularly spectacular. A new law says that people can only kill a maximum of five animals per funeral, says Dato Daku, a manager at the Sumba Foundation, which supports local communities by building wells, schools and clinics. Its designed to limit financial damage on families. But not everyone is playing by the rules. People will always try to kill more animals, he says. Big tombs might take more than 100 men to move and unless the family feeds those workers there will be no more tombs like that. For many Sumbanese its a sacred obligation to build the biggest tombs they can for their dead. In recent years, however, cheaper tombs made of cement and tiles have become popular. Although Sumba is part of the worlds biggest Muslim country, many Sumbanese are nominally Christian. Even while Christians might choose to adapt the traditional tomb design, the expense is vastly reduced, since they can ignore the expensive sacrifices. Today many islanders are Christians (Mark Eveleigh) Sumbas other claim to fame is the annual Pasola festival a ritual horseback battle between several hundred riders. Although these days the spears have been replaced by blunt sticks, serious injury is common. But the ritual spilling of blood is said to benefit the rice harvest. Three years ago a man was killed in the pasola, says Tiger, whos Christian. The harvest that year was one of the best ever. It was because of the blood on the ground. Travel essentials Getting there Flights from London to Sumba with Emirates and Garuda Indonesia start from 784, via Dubai and Bali. Backyard Travel can tailor a 4-day guided tour, with B&B three-star accommodation for 525 per person, based on two people travelling together. Staying there Nihi Sumba Island has rooms from 576pppn with a three-night minimum stay. More information The Pasola festival changes dates every year, and is announced a few days in advance. Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for weekly expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} On the eve of the busiest departure day for record numbers of British holidaymakers, The Independent can reveal that unprecedented travel deals are available due to a ferocious fares war during the peak month of August. From Leeds/Bradford to Ibiza, return fares of 40 are available on Ryanair for a wide range of dates in August, such as 1-4 August or 8-17 August. For a round-trip journey of over 2,000 miles, such a fare would normally only be available at times of lowest demand not the summer peak. Between Southend and Milan Malpensa, Flybe is offering the same return fare 40 for departures on 8 August for a fortnight. Further afield, Thomson Airways is selling flights to Preveza in western Greece for a week, departing 2 August, for only 69 return from Gatwick. The same airline has flights from Manchester to Pula in Croatia for 69, travelling out on 1 August for a fortnight. While most budget airlines would rather fly with a few empty seats rather than cut fares to lower than the cost of a cab to the airport, Ryanair has long had a yield passive/load factor active model which means it will sell seats at whatever level is necessary to fill the plane. At Leeds/Bradford, Ryanair is engaged in a turf war with Jet2, the home airline, which competes on the same route. The Ryanair fare includes Air Passenger Duty of 13 and airport charges; passengers can carry one piece of cabin baggage on board weighing 10kg, and a second, smaller item. Jet2s expansion to South East England means that fares from the London area to many Mediterranean destinations are extraordinarily low for August. Between the capital and Menorca, fares of 63 return are available flying out on Jet2 from Stansted, and back to Gatwick on Monarch. The dates tested include 6-11 August. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 11 November 2022 City workers attend a Remembrance Day ceremony at Lloyd's of London, in the City of London, to mark Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of the First World War PA UK news in pictures 10 November 2022 A grey heron lands on the river Dodder in Dublin on a sunny autumn morning PA UK news in pictures 9 November 2022 Australia and Spain play during the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup group A match at the Copper Box Arena, London PA UK news in pictures 8 November 2022 A migrant attempting to communicate with journalists is pinned against a fence by members of staff, before being taken out of view, at the Manston immigration short-term holding facility, located at the former Defence Fire Training and Development Centre in Thanet, Kent PA UK news in pictures 7 November 2022 Handout photo issued by Just Stop Oil of a protester who has climbed a gantry on the M25 between junctions six and seven in Surrey, leading to the closure of the motorway PA UK news in pictures 6 November 2022 A grey seal with its pup, at the Donna Nook National Nature Reserve in north Lincolnshire, where they come every year in late October, November and December to give birth to their pups near the sand dunes, the wildlife spectacle attracts visitors from across the UK PA UK news in pictures 5 November 2022 Demonstrators with placards calling for a General Election march near the Houses of Parliament AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 Florence Kasumba, Letitia Wright, Tenoch Huerta and Lupita Nyongo attend the European Premiere of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in London Getty UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA Between Bristol and Treviso in Italy (Ryanairs version of Venice), a weeks trip leaving on 8 August costs 71; during the peak month for travel, airlines would normally expect to collect at least 250. To other destinations, fares are even more absurd. Between Stansted and Toulouse, Ryanair is offering return fares of 32 on a range of dates in August. The Irish airline also has a deal from Belfast to Milan for 44 return, though this is specifically out on 5 August and back on 23 August. Package holidays are also being sold off cheaply, with Thomas Cook offering a week in Rhodes, including flights from Newcastle, transfers and breakfast, for 352 on 2 August. The Independent has found that most of the leading British airports will have their busiest day for departure on Friday 21 July. All air fares researched using Skyscanner, then double-checked direct with airlines, between 8pm and midnight on Wednesday 19 July. Holiday price checked with Thomas Cook. Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for weekly expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Ryanair hit headlines recently after a passenger was burnt by scalding tea on one of its flights and the incident has cast doubt over whether cabin crew are getting the right first aid training. Val Tredget, 51, suffered burns on her legs after her tea spilt on a flight to Budapest. While accidents happen, the first aid care she then received from a flight attendant appeared to be incorrect. Ms Tredget, who is a nurse, claims she asked for cold water but was instead given paper towels. She told the Daily Mail: I pulled the trouser leg up and said, Look, it's blistering already, I need water. I am a nurse, I know what's needed. She just looked at me. I said, You need to pour water on it. She ran off to the back of the plane and came back with a handful of blue paper towels and said, Here, use them all. I am not quite sure what she thought they would be good for. She said she was then offered ice and cooling gels, which was backed up by a Ryanair spokesperson. They said: The customer in question received first aid from our cabin crew including ice, healing gels and a dressing, and declined the crew's offer of further medical assistance, or being met on arrival by paramedics in Budapest. This assertion was reinforced in a letter from Ryanair to Ms Tredget in response to her complaint about the incident. It read: We sincerely regret this accident but this was not caused by our crew. You were then provided with all of the first aid facilities we carry on board including towels, ice, cooling first aid gels and dressings. The Ryanair letter concluded by saying: May we respectively [sic] suggest that you take more care when handling hot drinks on board an aircraft. However, as Ms Tredget had already identified, the "first aid" offered to her totally contradicts the St John Ambulance advice for burns. The organisation recommends the following: Start cooling the burn as quickly as possible. Run it under cool water for at least ten minutes or until the pain feels better (whichever is longer). If there is no water available, you could use cold milk or canned drinks. Ryanair refused to comment on why first aid best practice wasn't followed (AFP/Getty) "Don't use ice, creams or gels they can damage tissues and increase risk of infection. Ms Tredget had peeling skin and blisters on her legs; the incident has now left her badly scarred. In my opinion their first aid training must be rubbish, she said. Apparently this is the most common accident you get on planes so they should have better training. A Ryanair spokesperson told The Independent: All Ryanair aircraft carry first aid equipment, in full compliance with EU safety regulations, and all crew are trained in first aid procedures. Should an incident occur in flight which requires further medical intervention, our crew divert to the nearest suitable airport and request medical assistance to be on standby before landing. However, the airline did not respond when asked why Ms Tredget was given first aid that does not fit with accepted best practice. "Cabin crew are trained in emergency and standard operating procedures and of course first aid," Isobel Kearl, national training officer for St John Ambulance, told The Independent. "According to the Civil Aviation Authority, all personnel must receive appropriate regular training in first aid to enable them to provide immediate assistance in the event of an accident. We cannot comment specifically on what content they teach however, burns and scalds are covered in all St John Ambulance first aid at work courses." Independent consumer travel expert and former MD of Holiday Travel Watch, Frank Brehany, told The Independent: "Hot drink spills are a common feature of commercial flights. Sometimes these incidents will occur because of the cramped conditions of an aircraft and sudden turbulence experienced in flight. "Apart from European and National Regulations, each airline will be further guided by their chief medical officer who will input into how staff are trained and the type of first aid materials that can be carried on aircraft. "It is clear that there is a dispute between the parties in [the Ryanair] case, but it would ordinarily be expected that swift and appropriate action be provided to an injured passenger." He added: "If the allegations are correct, it would tend to suggest that a review of first aid training, either for this crew, or more generally, should be considered urgently." Recommended Ryanair threatens to cancel flights between UK and EU after Brexit In addition to the question of training, airlines have come under scrutiny with regards to life-saving equipment. In June 2015, coroner Alan Walsh urged European airlines to carry defibrillators which they are currently not required to do after a woman died of an undiagnosed heart condition onboard a Ryanair flight. A defibrillator can shock the heart back into action after cardiac arrest, but there wasnt one on board when Davina Tavener, 47, collapsed. Walsh said: I dont believe there is any difference between short-haul flights and long-haul flights. It takes a second to have a cardiac event and, sadly, cardiac events dont choose whether they are 10 minutes into a flight or 10 hours into a flight. If you are, by the nature of air travel, trapped in aircraft without access to any other facility, the authorities need to consider the equipment to be carried on those airlines, whether its short haul or long haul. He said he would be writing to the European Aviation Safety Agency, the Civil Aviation Authority and the Irish Aviation Authority about the possibility of installing defibrillators on board. Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for weekly expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A family has accused US airline JetBlue of kicking them off a flight because of their toddlers behaviour. Parents Tamir Raanan and Mandy Ifrah from Brooklyn were travelling from Fort Lauderdale to New York JFK with their three children on 21 June when they were kicked off the flight. Recommended Family kicked off JetBlue flight over a birthday cake Ifrah told the NY Post that her one-year-old kicked the seat in front of them leading to an altercation while the plane was preparing to take off. Ifrah claims the passenger in front told her to hold your babys feet, and that she apologised. The passenger then moved to another seat, but the pilot turned the plane back to the gate, where the family was asked to leave. Ifrah recorded a video of a member of cabin crew asking them to disembark. She tells the man, "This is ridiculous." But JetBlue told a different story, saying that the parents made physical threats and profanities to the other passenger before the decision was made to kick them off. A spokesperson told the Post: The aircraft door was reopened and our airports team politely asked the customers to step off to discuss the situation. The customers refused repeated requests, and our crewmembers deplaned the entire aircraft. Law enforcement escorted [the family] out of the gate area, and we provided a refund. The family say they were refunded $500 (385) but spent $2,000 (1540) on new tickets to fly the following day. Their luggage continued to New York while they were stranded in Florida overnight, and they say that by the time they reached New York, their bags had been sent back to Florida. Raanan has been barred from flying JetBlue again. They are now considering a lawsuit against the airline for defamation of character and infliction of emotional distress, their lawyer told the Post. In May, a family were thrown off a JetBlue flight when a row erupted over their stowage of a birthday cake in an overhead locker. Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for weekly expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Holidaymakers were evacuated from a UK-bound flight in Egypt after crew reported smelling burning and smoke was spotted in the cabin just before take-off. Emergency slides were deployed from the Thomas Cook flight from Hurghada on the Red Sea to London Gatwick, at around 11.30pm on Tuesday. It is understood one passenger was taken to hospital with a suspected shoulder injury following the flight's evacuation, and two others were treated at the airport clinic - one for a minor injury and the other due to a pre-existing condition. Thomas Cook said it was a controlled evacuation of the 251 passengers and nine crew members from the aircraft. A spokesman for the travel company said: Flight MT519 to London Gatwick carried out a controlled evacuation before take-off at Hurghada airport after the crew reported a smell of burning and smoke at the rear of the cabin. All 251 passengers and 9 crew members evacuated the aircraft using the emergency slides and were transported back to the terminal building. Our customers' safety is always our top priority and we are very sorry for the delay. Last week, two German tourists were killed and four others wounded in a knife attack at Hurghada. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Waking up in a chilly canvass tent in Sua Pan was a painful albeit soothing experience. Agonising in that sleeping in a tent during Winter season especially in far-flung places is not usually my cup of tea. However, it was also comforting in the sense that theres always a first time for everything. As I undid the zip to check out the weird and wonderful view, the cold wintry air smacked my chubby cheeks, as I stretched and yawned my way out of the wobbly slumber. My eyes could not believe the omnipresent beauty of Botswana. There was water everywhere, vast amounts of water, and it was extremely cold. It was my first time attending this epic show dubbed #RaceForRhinos organised by Botswana Tourism Organisation (BTO), Matsieng Flying Club and Chris Briers, with the full support of His Excellency the President of Botswana, Seretse Khama Ian Khama and Tourism Minister, Tshekedi Khama. As I showered, I could still feel my body moaning due to the travel toll it endured and the previous rhino capture exercise which took place at Khama Rhino Sanctuary (KRS) yesterday. The hot water from the shower did wonders to appease my sore body. I was done within minutes and headed back to my tent as the sun began emerging from the Sua Pan horizons. I quickly dressed, took my camera and headed out to the nearby shore for some orgasmic picture moments. As I clicked away, looking for that specific fine shot, I couldnt help but drool at the serenity and beauty of our beautiful Botswana. I was at this moment convinced that, To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries, as vividly spelled out by Aldous Huxley; an English writer, novelist, philosopher, and prominent member of the Huxley family. Botswana is indeed a beautiful paradise and the sooner we all realise that the better for all of us. Philanthropist Danny Kaye once said, To travel is to take a journey into yourself, and for me visiting Sua Pan for the Race for Rhinos showdown recently was an epic realisation of self. Recommended Botswana to host the second Giants Club Summit Lets just say, Sua Pan in the Makgadikgadi district offered us, first-timers an eclectic mix of topics. Popularly known as Sua Pan, or Sowa Pan, this majestic place is a large natural topographic depression within the Makgadikgadi region and is located near the village of Sowa, whose name means salt in the language of the San. The Sua salt pan is one of three large pans within the Makgadikgadi, the other two being Nxai Pan and Ntwetwe Pan. Currently, Sua Pan is a lake; it fills with water during summer rainy season and retains water until April-May. However, this time around due to the recent heavy rainfall generated by Tropical Cyclone Dineo, the lake was still filled to the brim giving the area a striking and picturesque view all around. Add to that the buzzing of light aircrafts, animated spectators and wildlife conservation, and youd just be amazed how much Botswana has to offer. Among the more successful wildlife conservation projects in Botswana was the community-initiated Nata Bird Sanctuary in the northeast of this area, opened in 1993, which was awarded that year the Tourism for Tomorrow Award for the Southern Hemisphere. Sua Pan is also the site of sodium carbonate (soda ash) mining company Botash; half owned by government and produces over 300, 000 tonnes of soda ash and 450, 000 tonnes of salt per year. The event was bigger and better this year with seventy one aircraft, including two entries all the way from Alaska, starting the race on day one. I have never in my entire life seen so many aircrafts in one place. It was truly a colourful marvel seeing light aircrafts taking off and landing as part of Botswanas dedication to conservation. The Race for Rhinos has aligned itself with destinations that are home to some of Botswanas rhino population, including Serowe and the Khama Rhino Sanctuary and Orapas Game Park. The national endangered wildlife trust, Tlhokomela Trust, supports this event as it brings awareness of the good work that the Botswana government is doing towards promoting the country as a safe haven for these critically endangered species. The trust also raises funds through an auction at the event in support of the Central Operations Unit. Through a generous sponsorship, with the support of the Minister of Wildlife and Tourism Tshekedi Khama, and the Botswana Civil Aviation Authority, the organizers were able to host a successful event in the Botswana skies. Botswana being centrally situated and a conservation hub for Southern Africa is just the right place to host this prestigious event and also touching a subject that has become an international concern for everybody that loves nature and aim to preserve the Rhinos for generations to come. With the guidance, support and commitment from the Matsieng Flying Club and Chris Briers, the air race has proven to be a unique and successful event and continues to grow from strength to strength Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} I am not a member of the deep state. I am not big government. I am a scientist, a policy expert, a civil servant and a worried citizen. Reluctantly, as of today, I am also a whistleblower on an administration that chooses silence over science. Nearly seven years ago, I came to work for the Interior Department, where, among other things, I've helped endangered communities in Alaska prepare for and adapt to a changing climate. But on 15 June, I was one of about 50 senior department employees who received letters informing us of involuntary reassignments. Citing a need to improve talent development, mission delivery and collaboration, the letter informed me that I was reassigned to an unrelated job in the accounting office that collects royalty cheques from fossil fuel companies. I am not an accountant - but you don't have to be one to see that the administration's excuse for a reassignment such as mine doesn't add up. A few days after my reassignment, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke testified before Congress that the department would use reassignments as part of its effort to eliminate employees; the only reasonable inference from that testimony is that he expects people to quit in response to undesirable transfers. Some of my colleagues are being relocated across the country, at taxpayer expense, to serve in equally ill-fitting jobs. I believe I was retaliated against for speaking out publicly about the dangers that climate change poses to Alaska Native communities. During the months preceding my reassignment, I raised the issue with White House officials, senior Interior officials and the international community, most recently at a UN conference in June. It is clear to me that the administration was so uncomfortable with this work, and my disclosures, that I was reassigned with the intent to coerce me into leaving the federal government. On Wednesday, I filed two forms - a complaint and a disclosure of information - with the US Office of Special Counsel. I filed the disclosure because eliminating my role coordinating federal engagement and leaving my former position empty exacerbate the already significant threat to the health and the safety of certain Alaska Native communities. I filed the complaint because the Trump administration clearly retaliated against me for raising awareness of this danger. Our country values the safety of our citizens, and federal employees who disclose threats to health and safety are protected from reprisal by the Whistleblower Protection Act and Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act. Removing a civil servant from his area of expertise and putting him in a job where he's not needed and his experience is not relevant is a colossal waste of taxpayer dollars. Much more distressing, though, is what this charade means for American livelihoods. The AlaskaNative villages of Kivalina, Shishmaref and Shaktoolik are perilously close to melting into the Arctic Ocean. In a region that is warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet, the land upon which citizens' homes and schools stand is newly vulnerable to storms, floods and waves. As permafrost melts and protective sea ice recedes, these Alaska Native villages are one superstorm from being washed away, displacing hundreds of Americans and potentially costing lives. The members of these communities could soon become refugees in their own country. Alaska's elected officials know climate change presents a real risk to these communities. Governor Bill Walker (I) and Senator Lisa Murkowski (R) have been sounding the alarm and scrambling for resources to help these villages. But to stave off a life-threatening situation, Alaska needs the help of a fully engaged federal government. Washington cannot turn its back. While I have given small amounts to Democratic candidates in the past, I have no problem whatsoever working for a Republican administration. I believe that every president, regardless of party, has the right and responsibility to implement his policies. But that is not what is happening here. Putting citizens in harm's way isn't the president's right. Silencing civil servants, stifling science, squandering taxpayer money and spurning communities in the face of imminent danger have never made America great. 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Show all 10 1 /10 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A group of emperor penguins face a crack in the sea ice, near McMurdo Station, Antarctica Kira Morris 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Floods destroyed eight bridges and ruined crops such as wheat, maize and peas in the Karimabad valley in northern Pakistan, a mountainous region with many glaciers. In many parts of the world, glaciers have been in retreat, creating dangerously large lakes that can cause devastating flooding when the banks break. Climate change can also increase rainfall in some areas, while bringing drought to others. Hira Ali 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Smoke filled with the carbon that is driving climate change drifts across a field in Colombia. Sandra Rondon 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Amid a flood in Islampur, Jamalpur, Bangladesh, a woman on a raft searches for somewhere dry to take shelter. Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable places in the world to sea level rise, which is expected to make tens of millions of people homeless by 2050. Probal Rashid 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Sindh province in Pakistan has experienced a grim mix of two consequences of climate change. Because of climate change either we have floods or not enough water to irrigate our crop and feed our animals, says the photographer. Picture clearly indicates that the extreme drought makes wide cracks in clay. Crops are very difficult to grow. Rizwan Dharejo 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Hanna Petursdottir examines a cave inside the Svinafellsjokull glacier in Iceland, which she said had been growing rapidly. Since 2000, the size of glaciers on Iceland has reduced by 12 per cent. Tom Schifanella 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A river once flowed along the depression in the dry earth of this part of Bangladesh, but it has disappeared amid rising temperatures. Abrar Hossain 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A shepherd moves his herd as he looks for green pasture near the village of Sirohi in Rajasthan, northern India. The region has been badly affected by heatwaves and drought, making local people nervous about further predicted increases in temperature. Riddhima Singh Bhati 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A factory in China is shrouded by a haze of air pollution. The World Health Organisation has warned such pollution, much of which is from the fossil fuels that cause climate change, is a public health emergency. Leung Ka Wa 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Water levels in reservoirs, like this one in Gers, France, have been getting perilously low in areas across the world affected by drought, forcing authorities to introduce water restrictions. Mahtuf Ikhsan Now that I have filed with the Office of Special Counsel, it is my hope that it will do a thorough investigation into the Interior Department's actions. Our country protects those who seek to inform others about dangers to American lives. The threat to these AlaskaNative communities is not theoretical. This is not a policy debate. Retaliation against me for those disclosures is unlawful. Let's be honest: The Trump administration didn't think my years of science and policy experience were better suited to accounts receivable. It sidelined me in the hope that I would be quiet or quit. Born and raised in Maine, I was taught to work hard and speak truth to power. Trump and Zinke might kick me out of my office, but they can't keep me from speaking out. They might refuse to respond to the reality of climate change, but their abuse of power cannot go unanswered. The Washington Post The model was attacked by a Staffordshire-pit bull terrier cross breed (not pictured). Stock photo At least four stray or unwanted dogs were put down every day last year, official figures have revealed. Records from council pounds showed that 1,522 former pets were euthanised in 2016 - about 300 fewer than the previous year. The highest euthanasia numbers were in Limerick City and County, where 243 dogs and 31 greyhounds were put to sleep last year. According to figures released by the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, the regions with the best records for keeping dogs alive included Leitrim, where only one out of 155 strays were put down. In Meath only four out of 339 dogs in the pound were euthanised while in Kilkenny it was six of 240 strays taken to the pound and in Monaghan it was eight out of 411. Gillian Bird, of the Dublin Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA), called for a ban on the online trade in dogs. She said: "We need more of a clampdown on how people sell animals. "Dogs should only be available through registered kennel club breeders or rescue centres." Ms Bird also raised concerns over the number of dogs not being neutered in Ireland and how strong the links are between pounds and rescue centres. "The reason the figures are so high at the end of the day is because it is easy to access a dog," she added. "The solution: we start by banning the online trade and then move to regulation. That would reduce the number of backyard breeders and puppy farms." Some 9,244 stray pets were sent to the pound last year, the report showed. It also stated 6,065 of them were moved on to animal welfare groups and charities while another 1,921 were reclaimed and another 3,013 were rehomed. Another 64 dogs died of natural causes in the pound and 152 greyhounds were put down by authorities. Other areas with high levels of euthanasia were Wexford, where 171 dogs were put down; Tipperary - 158 dogs and 37 greyhounds; Kerry - 143 dogs and 44 greyhounds; and Clare with 129 dogs. The report also revealed 2,821 on-the-spot fines for breaches of the Control of Dogs Act for offences such as not muzzling a restricted breed or having no licence or identity tags. The region with the most actions was South Dublin, where 1,029 fines were issued, while 59 prosecutions were taken in Co Cork. More than 589,000 patients are in queues for some form of treatment in public hospitals Hospital waiting lists are out of control, consultants have claimed. More than 589,000 patients are in queues for some form of treatment in public hospitals, the country's top doctors have warned, with some people waiting up to nine years to be seen. In a submission to Government ahead of the budget, the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA), said the number of surgical appointments has dropped by more than 100,000 in four years. President of the association Dr Tom Ryan claimed that acute hospitals are being privatised by stealth. He said: "Public hospitals urgently need additional acute beds, intensive care beds, theatre operating time, consultants and other frontline staff. "This is essential to reduce the unacceptable waiting lists, the overcrowding of emergency departments and the increasing number of patients being treated on trolleys. "Currently our health care system appears to be more focused on balancing budgets and rationing care than treating patients." The consultants claimed that acute hospitals are attempting to treat patients with equipment that is increasingly obsolete. Dr Ryan said: "The current levels of funding do not even meet the cost of maintaining and replacing existing equipment never mind providing for much needed additional capacity. And the organisation claimed that there will be no money in budgets to replace obsolete equipment or develop additional capacity to provide care when funding for the new Children's Hospital and the relocation of maternity centres is spent. He added: "Throughout the past decade the State has severely rationed healthcare, and with an increasing number of patients becoming reliant on private hospitals, in effect acute hospital services are being privatised by stealth. "Notably the private hospitals understand the increase in existing and future demand for health care services and have expanded their bed capacity, unlike the public hospitals." The consultants claimed that there were cuts of almost 1.9 billion euro to health budgets from 2016 to 2021, compared to 2008 and 15% less being spent on mental health services than 10 years ago. They also hit out at the low numbers of senior doctors being recruited and retained in the Irish healthcare system. "It is unacceptable that over 400 approved hospital consultant posts are either vacant or filled on a temporary/agency basis," Dr Ryan said. The consultants described it as a false economy with medical agency costs topping 115 million euro a year while it also claimed 70 non-specialist doctors have been appointed to consultant posts since 2008. A no-deal Brexit scenario would see Northern Ireland be collateral damage in a political conflict between the UK and EU, with a severe and negative impact for people and businesses across the island, a UK think tank has warned. Amid repeated claims from the British Government that 'no deal is a better than a bad deal' in the Brexit talks, the London-based think tank UK in a Changing Europe said that in such a situation, the outcome for Northern Ireland would be "truly chaotic". "The suggestion - even in the form of political rhetoric or as a negotiating tactic- that there might be no deal destabilises further an already unsettled situation," the body said, in a report released today. "Northern Ireland would risk becoming collateral damage in a political conflict between the UK and the EU; the impact would be negative and severe for people, communities and businesses in Northern Ireland and on the island of Ireland." A major concern, it said, is the agricultural sector, where much economic activity and service provision is very closely linked with the Republic, with some farms even straddling the border. "If a hard border is to return and if different tariff arrangements were to operate on either side of the border, this would be likely to disrupt their highly integrated agri-food supply chains and could encourage the illegal movement of animals and other goods," the report said. The think tank argued that although London and Dublin both want to see the common travel area protected, a no deal scenario would see Northern Ireland leave both the single market and customs union. "As a result, there will be a return to some form of hard border; the very thing that everyone seems so keen to avoid," the report added. The report came as UK trade minister Liam Fox said that a bespoke trade deal between Britain and the European Union should be "one of the easiest in human history" to reach - although Britain could manage without one if necessary. Mr Fox, a Eurosceptic who campaigned for Britain to leave the EU, said a trade deal should be simple because the two sides already have similar regulatory rules and no tariffs. "The only reason that we wouldn't come to a free and open agreement is because politics gets in the way of economics," he told the BBC in a radio interview. But he added that Britain could "survive" without a deal, in comments that contrast sharply with the view of Chancellor Philip Hammond, who has said that no deal with the EU would be a "very, very bad outcome." Developer Michael Cotter has become the first house builder to avail of the Government's heavily-anticipated introduction of a temporary 'fast-track' planning application system for large-scale housing schemes. Viscount Securities, a company owned and controlled by Mr Cotter and his family, has submitted a pre-application proposal to An Bord Pleanala for a total of 934 new homes at Clay Farm in Leopardstown in south county Dublin. Should it be approved, the scheme would see the delivery of 363 houses and 571 apartments on the site which is being developed by Mr Cotter's Park Developments. While the introduction of the fast-track planning system was first announced last November by the then housing minister, Simon Coveney, as part of the 'Rebuilding Ireland'programme, it was only recently signed into law by his successor, Eoghan Murphy. Mr Cotter's decision to wait for the new legislation rather than submit a planning application for Clay Farm to Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council would appear to be an astute move. With ordinary planning applications for large housing developments to local authorities typically appealed to An Bord Pleanala, ultimate approval can, in certain circumstances, take up to 18 months to secure. The fast-track planning regulation, signed into law by housing minister Eoghan Murphy on June 23 last, will see the period for such determinations reduced to a maximum of 6 months. Taking that into account, Mr Cotter can expect a decision on his company's proposals for Clay Farm by next January at the very latest. Under the terms of the scheme, developers seeking permission for strategic housing developments (SHDs) of 100 units or more are no longer required to apply to their respective local authorities in the first instance, but can instead apply directly to An Bord Pleanala. The new fast-track planning regulation came into effect formally on July 3 last and will apply initially until December 2019. Depending on its success, the scheme will then be subject to review with the possibility that it could be extended until December 2021 (the end date of the Rebuilding Ireland programme). Outside of plans for the provision of new homes, UCD has submitted its own pre-application proposal to An Bord Pleanala, seeking a 10-year planning permission for 512 student accommodation units, with the capacity for 3,006 bed spaces. The proposed development of seven apartment blocks includes the provision of a student facility centre and 994 car parking spaces. UCD lodged its pre-application with An Bord Pleanala on July 3 last - the date on which the fast-track planning system came into effect. Housing minister Eoghan Murphy has also brought revisions on the Part 8 process for local authority own development proposals (i.e. social housing, and infrastructure servicing both public and private developments, libraries, fire stations, swimming pools etc.) into operation. The revisions set a maximum timeframe of 20 weeks for local authorities to make determinations of such development proposals. Farmers are bad employers. Not in the sense that they are difficult or exploit employees - it's more to do with their unrealistic expectations. All the time I hear about the struggle to get 'good lads' to work on farms. I've been there myself. Every spring I need to get over 30 staff to pick daffodils. All through the depths of the recession, when the country was burdened with unemployment hitting 15pc, I received ONE call from an Irish person looking for a job. This was despite the fact that I had a 26 acre field of daffodils blooming beside a road that over 20,000 cars drove past every day. It was effectively a 26 acre billboard that said 'work available here'. People queued up, but not to look for work - they were looking to take photographs. Rather than agonise over the reality that Irish people have higher expectations than picking flowers all day for the minimum wage, I focused my search in Lithuania, Slovakia and Romania. Almost all of my staff now hail from these regions. Many have little or no English, but they make up for it by being willing workers. Most are from farms or farming areas and some know more about livestock and crops than I do myself. The Romanian Cure About a year ago one of my sheep was on her side with severe bloat. I initially thought that she was a goner in the sense that a sick sheep invariably ends up being a dead one. But one of the Romanian lads - who hasn't a word of English - gestured to me what looked like a suggestion to slit her neck. After reassuring me that he wasn't about to kill the sheep there and then, he produced a knife and cut a nick in the ewe's ear. I rolled my eyes at what I was sure was a hopeless Romanian 'cure'. But he persisted, cupping some of the blood from the ewe's ear and rubbing it into the sheep's mouth. Within minutes she was licking her lips, and suddenly struggling to stand again. Setting her upright, he then made a small incision just under her nose. Licking furiously, the blood seemed to act as some kind of internal anti-foamer, and she was as right as rain within the hour. He simply nodded at me with satisfaction and headed back to whatever job he had been previously doing. I know farmers are frustrated that they can't get skilled English-speaking help because the EU doesn't rate agriculture as a sector with a skills shortage within the EU. I'm inclined to agree with the authorities on this one. Out of a total population of 500 million, there must be a good 50 million people in countries such as Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania that have experience working on farms and would be only delighted with our basic rate of 9.25 per hour. Bear in mind that even in Slovakia, which is considered one of the wealthier accession states in the EU, the typical wage for a farm labourer is rarely more than 400 per month. Farmers counter that there's no point in employing somebody that they cannot communicate with. People Adapt But go into any restaurant or deli in any city in the world, and you'll hear a mix of accents and plenty of broken English. People adapt, and language skills develop. Of course, there is the alternative route, which the dairy partnership that I'm involved in is about to embark on. Invest in your facilities to make it more attractive to staff, regardless of where they are from. Work on a brand new 54-unit rotary parlour is due to start in November. The existing herringbone parlour, even with 40 units and two milking at any time, was beginning to creak, with the milking of 520 cows taking up on three hours. The logic for the new rotary is pretty clear-cut. A net cost of about 250,000 will knock over an hour off milking time, with one man less in the parlour. By this measure alone it will pay for itself in less than 10 years. With a capacity to milk 350 cows per hour, it also opens up the possibility of expanding the herd further without compromising the amount of time that cows would have to stand around in the collecting yard. That's the thing about getting highly qualified labour. First of all you need a set-up that's big enough to carry the cost of employing the best. But the best will also have their pick of places to work, so conditions and lifestyle become crucial. So that's the choice - either get comfortable employing people who may have very limited English and, sometimes, limited skills, or invest in building facilities that are attractive to the cream of the crop. Unfortunately for most farmers, they are stuck somewhere in between these - still adamant that a 'foreigner' won't do, but unwilling or unable to invest to the level that makes the farm work attractive to Irish candidates who currently have a world of opportunity. Farmers are also hampered by the fact that many have never worked full-time for somebody else. So it's hard for them to get into the mindset of the employee. Unless you've been there, it's very difficult to appreciate just how unappealing it is to continually put in 'a few extra hours', give up weekends, and work in dirty conditions, all for somebody else's gain. Teagasc is making a big push to promote the job opportunities in Irish farming. But it will ultimately be down to farmers to make the running on this issue. That's where the realism comes in. No amount of glossy ads or catchy tweets are going to encourage Irish people to take up jobs on farms if they think that there are better paid jobs with better conditions just down the road. A further 2,500 farmers have signed up to vets for the Knowledge Transfer (KT)scheme, but farm leaders have warned of growing disillusionment with the programme. Conor Geraghty of Veterinary Ireland urged farmers to sign up this week to complete their herd health plan, with just 12,500 linked to a vet ahead of the July 31 deadline. "If they leave it too late it will be very difficult to get it done," he said. Some 20,000 farmers are due a yearly payment of 750 for participation in the scheme over a three-year period. ICMSA spokesman Patrick Rohan said it was clear the terms and conditions of the scheme along with the paperwork were proving a disincentive."It is very hard to envisage the required work being completed within that timeframe," he said, adding a further extension should be considered as the KT scheme had been hit by computer difficulties. The IFA's Joe Brady said farmers were seeing other professionals getting a big percentage of the monies under the KT scheme. He said the overall payback to farmers should be increased. The ICSA's John Brooks also felt many were getting disillusioned with the scheme and said it may be time to rethink the complexity of rural schemes. He said the KT scheme promises 750 but the net financial gain for farmers is closer to 210 when Teagasc costs of 290 and 200-250 for the herd health plan are factored in. Mr Brooks said a similar scheme in Northern Ireland saw consultancy fees covered, no cost for a herd health plan and soil sampling is also covered free of charge. "The payment for the scheme is 60 sterling per meeting attended, with a minimum of six meetings and maximum of eight," he said. Northern farmers get between 360-480 sterling (410-550) in net payments. He added that it was "most notable" that Northern farmers are paid 600 (684) to host a meeting on his farm. It's unlikely EU governments will be able to agree on whether to renew the licence for controversial weedkiller glyphosate until after German elections in September. National envoys held inconclusive talks this week on whether to reauthorise the chemical - which a World Health Organization (WHO) body said in 2015 "probably" causes cancer - for a further 10 years. The Irish government supports the reauthorisation, which was proposed by the bloc's health commissioner in May. The talks took place just days after scientists at the bloc's chemicals and food safety agencies hit back at accusations they had not taken all the science into account in their assessment. This had conlcuded that there was not enough evidence to show the substance causes cancer. Both agencies have said there is not enough evidence to support the 2015 finding by the WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) that it is carcinogenic. In a letter to US scientist Dr Christopher J Portier, who has worked with IARC and defended its 2015 claim, the two agencies said they had "adequately considered" all studies in their assessment of glyphosate. Dr Portier had said that the scientists failed to take into account eight instances where rats had "significant increases" in tumours after being exposed to glyphosate. Protests A decision on the renewal of glyphosate's EU licence is due by December, with the EU nervous of calling a vote before German elections are over. Glyphosate, which is marketed in the EU as Roundup by agro-chemical giant Monsanto, has caused political upheaval and mass protests across Europe, particularly in Germany and France. It is the subject of an EU citizens' petition to ban its use, which has already garnered over 1.3 million signatures. If there are over a million signatures from more than seven countries, the petitioners can force the Commission to act. Not being allowed to sell loans back to the borrowers who originally took them out hamstrung Nama and hampered the recovery in house building, one of the agency's most senior figures has admitted. And he explained how the 2013 liquidation of IBRC prompted Nama to accelerate sales. In an exclusive interview with the Irish Independent, Brian McEnery, a Nama director as well as a partner at accountancy firm BDO Ireland, said Section 171 of the Nama Act was its "biggest impediment." Under Section 172 Nama is barred from selling loans to debtors at anything other than full price, while other buyers can buy at market rates. "I mean I have to say I can understand why the section was put in but it became our biggest impediment, we couldn't do the deal with the person," Mr McEnery said. "So, to give you the example, if their par debt was a euro and say the value of the asset was 50 cent, we couldn't take 80 cents off them, couldn't do it." With Nama effectively blocked from selling development land to the Irish construction sector, there were few options but to target US private equity firms, he said. Criticism of Nama for failing to maintain housing supply ignores those factors, he said, as well as the fact that building wasn't part of the agency's original mandate. "Many of the builders and developers are the harshest critics of Nama and Section 172 is very much at the heart of that but that's the mandate we were given and I understand it," he added. "Remember that the mandate of Nama was in the first instance to become a effectively to realise the value of that assets which were being transferred into it. It wasn't necessarily to be a house builder," he argued. The Limerick-based accountant also explained how the appointment of a special liquidator, and consequent flow of big loan sales, forced Nama to sell loans faster than anticipated to avoid missing capital as it flowed into Europe from the US. "You'll remember there was special liquidator appointed to Anglo-Irish Bank and all of a sudden, he had a couple of billion of assets to get out into the market place. "All of a sudden, we thought 'f**k, we're here with our billions and then he's here' and then we could see other deleveraging going on and we said, 'you know, we better be careful here'." Read the interview in full Syracuse Hancock International Airport has lobbied the Department of Transport to look at establishing flights between Ireland and upstate New York. The airport, which is represented by New York-headquartered international law firm K&L Gates, is looking at the possibility of regular scheduled flights between it and Shannon and/or Dublin. The person primarily responsible for lobbying on the issue is K&L's Government Affairs Counsellor James T Walsh, who, according to K&L's website, is based at the firm's Washington DC office. Mr Walsh is a former congressman who served in the House of Representatives for 20 years. A meeting was held at the Department of Transport on March 20 involving the Secretary General of the Department, Graham Doyle, and Fine Gael TD John Deasy, according to the lobbying register. Mr Deasy served as a legislative assistant in the House of Representatives, handling trade, foreign affairs, energy, environment, banking, economic development, immigration and human rights issues in the mid-1990s. Aer Lingus launched its route to Hartford, Connecticut, last October. Norwegian Air International (NAI), a subsidiary of Scandinavian carrier Norwegian Air Shuttle, launched flights to the US from Ireland at the start of the month. The airline serves locations in the northeast of the US, including upstate New York as well as Providence, Rhode Island, which it bills as a gateway to New England and Boston. In an interview with the Irish Independent last month, NAI chief executive Tore Jenssen said the airline was considering direct flights between Dublin and Asia if it can secure permission for overflights across Russia. A likely destination would be Beijing. And Mr Jenssen said that even if Chinese carrier Hainan soon launches, as expected, an indirect service between Dublin and Beijing, it would not deter NAI from also serving the route. The hotel arm of Pat Doherty's Harcourt Developments group last year recorded revenues of 60m and said that its experience of Brexit to date has been positive. The Harcourt Hospitality Collection owns eight hotels resorts spread across Ireland, the UK and the Caribbean along with Titanic Belfast and a spokesman said yesterday that it is "very pleased with the performance of the hotels". The hotels and iconic tourist attraction collection is expanding and September sees the opening of the Titanic Hotel Belfast. The hotels have 300,000 rooms to sell per year and the hotel side of the Harcourt group account for 25pc of the overall group activities. The spokesman said: "In 2016 the Irish properties performed most strongly and were profitable. Room revenue and average spend increased. UK number also increased in occupancy and rate by 7pc." The group employs 450 in Ireland, 352 in the UK and 257 in the Caribbean. On the impact of Brexit on the business, the spokesman said: "Our experience so far is positive. Effective marketing of Ireland by Tourism Ireland and Tourism NI are maintaining healthy numbers and we do not detect a downturn." He added: "For Harcourt, the group's spread across various jurisdictions helps absorb any fluctuations. Also, our occupancy rates remain high and stable." The group employs 1,100 staff. This figure has grown by 7pc year-on-year. The group's hotels are the Aspect Hotel in Dublin; Lough Eske Castle in Donegal; the Royal Oasis in the Bahamas; the Carlisle Bay in Antigua; and hotels in London, Manchester and Jersey. The hotel group has recruited rugby player Robbie Henshaw as a brand ambassador and chairman, Pat Doherty said: "He epitomises the principles of hard work, determination and exceeding expectations which we have at Harcourt." It was originally suggested this (Nama) would be a f***-up of all proportions, Brian McEnery recalls If Nama is famously mysterious in terms of its inner workings, Brian McEnery, a long-time director of the agency, is in dire needed of reprogramming. In the flesh the genial Limerick accountant is chatty and generous with his time - as we chat in the foyer of Dublin's Gresham Hotel McEnery leans in over his tea and scone to enthuse over a point, and at one stage grabs a scrap over paper from his bag to sketch out an investment schedule I'm struggling to take in without visual aids. I've tied McEnery down as he bounces between assignments at home in Limerick, where the BDO partner is based; Dublin, where he spends a lot of his time; and Sri Lanka, where he's heading to evangelise for accountancy as a profession as president of the global Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (AACA). We'll come back to that last point. Brian McEnery is best known for his role at Nama, he's been on the agency's board since he was appointed initially by the late Brian Lenihan, and reappointed by his fellow county man, Michael Noonan. Its widely reported that McEnery was Noonan's director of elections - suggesting a degree of closeness between the then finance minister and the agency. It's not true, McEnery says. His home in Adare wasn't in Michael Noonan's East Limerick constituency when the accountant was active in politics. "I was never Michael Noonan's director of elections, but I was (former Fine Gael TD) Michael Finucane's director of elections, in the neighbouring constituency." His background is steeped in Fine Gael all the same - his mother's sister was married to the late John Boland, a senior Fine Gael minister through the 1980s, and former Limerick mayor Pat Kennedy is an uncle. There's Fianna Fail on his father's side, he points out. Ultimately, it was accountancy, not politics, that landed him the Nama gig, he explains. "The funny thing was I was ACCA Ireland president in 2009 and three nights in a row, because you do these dinners, I was sitting down beside the then Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan, and on the third evening, it wasn't a dinner it was in Trinity College, he said to me - he was actually a very nice man, I have to say, a really exceptionally bright man - he said to me, 'oh we meet again' and I said yes, minister. And he so that evening we just had a greater time to talk. "He said 'there's a board coming up, now I can't tell you the details of it' but he said keep your eyes and ears open and he said, it 'might be worth your while'." A few weeks later McEnery's wife heard an item on Morning Ireland about the establishment of what would become Nama, and that there'd be a call for expertise in insolvency and restructuring. McEnery applied online and got the role. In his own accounting practice he'd long specialised in insolvency work, along with the healthcare sector. At Nama the scale of what had to be done was of a dramatically bigger order. "There were only a few employees then, there was nothing. And it was, I have to say, it was overwhelmingly daunting almost. The idea of Nama was highly controversial - seen by many at the time as a bailout for builders, and by others as doomed to make a massive loss. "It was originally suggested this would be a f***-up of all proportions," he recalls. Neither of those original criticisms has been borne out, and McEnery, in the round, is happy to stand over the agency, as it approaches its last years. "I do believe that the model was a good model. It was a decisive model." Often accused of a fire sale, McEnery says that if Nama had refused to sell, the market could never have recovered, because investors would have always been waiting for the flood of assets that had to come sooner or later. "Because the market would say what the hell, there's this huge overhang, you know, thousands and thousands and thousands (of property loans), and, you know, once they start opening the dam, it's going to collapse..." Selling in the UK before Ireland was the right thing, he says, and has meant Nama didn't get stung when sterling plunged last year. "I genuinely think Nama has been very, very successful." The timing has worked, because tougher banking rules, due from the end of this year, mean that if Nama hadn't acted the consequences for Ireland could have been dire, he says. "There's two things going to happen in the accounting profession and the banking profession that are going to be very tumultuous in the coming 12 months and I believe that if Nama hadn't been, hadn't largely been done and dusted, it would have been very bad for Ireland." He's talking about IFRS9 and full implementation of Basel III, tougher banking and accounting standards that will force banks to be more upfront about valuing loans at risk of losses. "When you add IFRS9 with Basel III, I think the banking sector generally is going to be in for a difficult period while those adjustments are going to be and if they had stuff lurking, at this point they'd be in real trouble." Nama, he says, is a big reason there should be less "stuff lurking" in Ireland. Pre-crash his own accountancy profession was found wanting when it came to ignoring financial risks, he admits. If he isn't defensive about accountancy, there's a definite whiff of it when it comes to Nama. On scandals like the leaking of debtor information he makes no attempt to justify or diminish what happened, but on the broader strategy he insists the agency got it right. "I wouldn't even try to say that there weren't days that were bad because there were ... but on balance, I think they're, you know, if they're there in terms of size, they're important, and process and procedures are important, particularly where you're dealing with sensitive financial matters of parties, but I have to say in terms of the bigger picture, has Nama been doing a good job? I absolutely believe it has." Some of Nama's critics are those whose loans ended up with the agency, he points out. The agency, he says, didn't sell to the "bottom feeders" who came in early, but needed to balance that by meeting Troika targets for debt repayment. "These funds were coming in in 2010 and 2011 and going into government and saying isn't it terrible Nama won't deal with us. But we wouldn't deal with them, we were right not to deal with." Later, Nama started to accelerate sales partially out of fear that Spain and Italy would hoover up the capital if Irish deals weren't available. If it hadn't, and opted to hold loans long term as some critics now say it should, Ireland and the banks here, would be in a different position today, he says. "I think they'd be in real trouble. Because I think there'll be a requirement for more capital into banks generally around the world, in the coming 12 months. And many regulators and governments realise. If we had that allied to a big huge property overhang, if Nama hadn't deleveraged ... so there's a lot of complex factors to be considered when you're saying should Nama have held on." Nama has been a big, contentious, commitment, but the board isn't involved in day-to-day operations, which has saved him from getting ensnared in the minutia of deals - or from being lobbied by debtors or buyers, he says. "Part of my role was around strategy around the governance, around the oversight of Nama and I genuinely, if there was a field down the road from me, my home, that was in Nama, I wouldn't know it. That's the truth. On one or two occasions, I was approached by community groups, or not community but maybe public bodies, and in those instances, I would have said to them there's a process around which Nama deals with public bodies, but again I wouldn't have got involved in it myself but I would have put them in the direction of somebody within Nama maybe." Didn't he ever have anyone sidle up to him at an event, I ask? "No, I didn't, because in actual fact there was a huge amount of coverage in the early days about the act and there was an awful lot of coverage where it was not just an offence to lobby but it was an offence for the person who was lobbied not to report it." Nama has never been McEnery's day job. He's a chartered accountant, and a partner at accountancy firm BDO Ireland. As well as dealing with bad debt cases, McEnery built much of his career advising investors in the health sector. If he talks about Nama in broad strokes, on health policy and funding of care, his gears shift to something much more intense and detailed, even joyful - the pen and paper come out when he talks me through the old capital model for nursing homes. Tax breaks in place before the crash became politically indefensible afterwards, but they built badly needed nursing homes and too few are being built now, he says. He appears to know every trick in the book, and a few besides, when it comes to getting the best tax deal for investors buying into Irish healthcare. He's intensely interested in policy, funding and the investment side. Right now, declining margins are putting international investors off Ireland despite the growing need for nursing homes beds, while many Irish operators must wait for old tax schemes to expire before they can go out an raise fresh capital. Surprisingly, for a man I assume has a direct line to Government, McEnery says his ideas to unlock health investment, including unlocking tax-based investors early from old schemes, are falling on deaf ears. "As a firm, we've made a number of submissions to Government. I've put in, BDO have put in I'd say two on my behalf, not on behalf of anybody (client) but just saying this is a problem. And, you know, government have decided not to do it. That's their prerogative of course but I see this as a funding constraint now." Trying to juggle a role in the looming health crisis with Nama and BDO doesn't seem to phase McEnery, who comes across as a ball of energy. Much of his energy at the moment is in fact focused outside Ireland, in his capacity as ACCA president. He's been involved in the organisation at all levels since he joined the local chapter in Limerick two decades ago. He was elected Irish president in 2009 and is now coming to the end of a stint as global president, an elected, unpaid role that makes him essentially an ambassador for professionalization - especially in emerging markets. The ACCA, he says, was founded in 1904 by accountants, who like himself didn't necessarily have a university degree or have served a (then) expensive articled apprenticeship. ACCA's exam-based structures opened up the profession. The exams are rigorous, but anyone can sit them, he explains. "The real growth is in China, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, I've been to Pakistan a few times. Huge growth, huge need in their economies. I used this figure when I was out in Pakistan recently. There's 200 million people in Pakistan and they have about 15,000 qualified accountants. We have six million people in Ireland and about 50,000 accountants." Training young accountants for work in those developing economies is a huge opportunity and failing to do so will have dire consequences, he reckons. "When I go there I can see that, you know. People with very high levels of youth unemployment, what are they going to do? You know we always used to say the devil makes work for idle hands. Well, they're idle, you know." As he travels around being Irish helps, he says. "Once you say you're from Ireland, I think there's a huge level of acceptability right around the world. The Irish personal resonates much more broadly than we think. I genuinely think we have great currency around the world, it's fantastic." Turnover at ie Domain Registry (IEDR), the company responsible for managing and maintaining Irelands country domain name, increased to 3.03m, up 6pc on 2015, according to the companys annual report. Deferred income on the IEDR balance sheet also increased by 4pc in 2016 to 2.05m, up from 1.97m in 2015. However, operating losses after tax at the company, despite having more than halved in 12 months, remained high, at 126,519, down from 389,311 at year-end 2015. The company said that continued investment in its Strategic Development Fund had created the loss. The Strategic Development Fund, which IEDR established in 2015, finances promotional, marketing and customer service initiatives for the .ie namespace. Commenting on the Fund, David Curtin, chief executive of IEDR, said that continued strong investment in the fund would consolidate IEDRs position in the domain market. Read more: New Dublin voice recognition startup raises 7.6m in funding round The company ended 2016 with 3.6m in members funds and 6.3m in liquid funds and investments. "2016 was a solid year for IEDR, despite macroeconomic uncertainty, new domain choices and new global trends in domain ownership, such as shorter domain life-cycles," Mr Curtin said. During the year the company introduced new rules to allow one- and two-letter domains and domain names with fadas on vowels, as well as introducing a secondary market to allow the private resale of .ie domains. IEDRs Optimise Fund continued during the year, supporting 15 Irish SMEs with over 120,000 worth of services to develop a modern, e-commerce-enabled website. The company said that they would continue to work with Irelands SME community to bring them online and introduce them to the benefits of e-commerce which IEDR said was a "priority". "Irelands e-commerce market is set to grow to 14bn by 2021, but with less than a third of our SMEs trading online, businesses risk losing out to online international competition," Mr Curtin said. Dublin-based aircraft financing firm Stellwagen Capital intends to complete "at least" $1bn (867m) a year of deals and will raise an additional $250m (217m) in capital later this year as it "disrupts" the aircraft financing market for commercial jets. Its CEO, former Ryanair finance boss Howard Millar told the Irish Independent Stellwagen Capital, a unit of Stellwagen Group, will also likely raise at least $250m each year for the next few years. It has previously raised $200m and Mr Millar said he'll likely target investors such as pension funds and insurance companies to secure fresh capital. Stellwagen Capital revealed yesterday that it has finalised a loan to China Aircraft Leasing Company (CALC) using a new senior loan investment vehicle, with a 10-year financing solution. Mr Millar said that the loan structure - unlike leasing - enables an aircraft operator to own the jet. Loan repayments on the product remain relatively low over the course of the loan, reducing cash outflows to service it. A balloon payment is due at the end of the loan period, at which time the borrower can refinance or sell the asset and clear the loan. Mr Millar said CALC has financed a new Airbus A321 with Stellwagen Capital, as well as another aircraft. He said that Stellwagen will complete two other aircraft financing deals with another client in coming weeks. "We are now going to be competing with the big aviation banks, so I would see this as a big disruptor," he said. "They won't like this. It's a new form of competition and is filling a gap that has arisen in the market." Mr Millar said he will be "disappointed" if Stellwagen Capital doesn't have at least $2.5bn of assets under management by the end of this year. It currently has $1.6bn. Mr Millar, who is also the chief operating officer of Stellwagen Group, added that some big aviation banks are exiting the aircraft financing sector, in some cases in response to new accounting rules. "What they've operated was a high-cost, inefficient and inflexible solution," he said. "So if you're a mid-tier airline or mid-tier operating lease company, you'll find it very hard to source financing from those guys. "If you take a $50m aircraft, I'll advance $40m on that asset, but give a balloon of $10m which is paid at the end of the loan, so there's only $30m in capital being paid off (until the end of the loan). "If you're a chief financial officer, that's pretty good because your cash outflows are going to be lower. We're creating a disruptive force in aviation financing." Stellwagen Capital will target financing of new and used single-aisle aircraft such as Airbus A321s and Boeing 737s. However, Mr Millar, who's still a Ryanair non-executive director, said he will also consider financing of new-technology jets such as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and the Airbus A350. "I'm going for aircraft that have a big, liquid market," he said. Stellwagen Group was acquired last year by Canada's Acasta Enterprises for $270m. As part of that deal, Acasta also committed $100m to Stellwagen Capital's senior loan investment vehicle. About 55pc of the world's commercial aircraft fleet is financed via debt and equity, and 45pc by leasing companies. RTE has said it will publish the pay of its biggest stars for 2015 by the end of this year. The national broadcaster's director general, Dee Forbes, recently called for a hike in the licence fee - but the issue of presenters' salaries is back in the spotlight after the BBC revealed its top earners. RTE has never released the salary of Ray D'Arcy, which is rumoured to be in the region of 500,000. However, Mr D'Arcy previously denied that his earnings were as high as was reported and said he is earning less than he was in the commercial sector. This week has seen a widespread backlash over the gender gap between the BBC's top earners. The UK's national broadcaster came under sharp criticism after releasing its talent list of presenters who earn more than 150,000 (169,500) a year. Expand Close Dee Forbes Director General of RTE. Photo: David Conachy / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Dee Forbes Director General of RTE. Photo: David Conachy The figures showed former 'Top Gear' host Chris Evans is the station's top earner, with a salary of 2.2m (2.5m) while its highest paid female host Claudia Winkleman earns between 450,000-499,000 (508,00-564,000). While Winkleman and 'One Show' host Alex Jones were the only females in the BBC's top 10 earners, RTE pointed out it also had two women in its highest earners for 2014. "Salaries and earnings at RTE are not based on gender. The latest available figures, for 2014 which RTE published in 2016, feature two female presenters in the top 10 earners, Miriam O'Callaghan and Marian Finucane. Claire Byrne, who was in the top 10 in 2012, returned to RTE in late 2014, following maternity leave," it said. RTE will announce figures for its top 10 earners in 2015 later this year, a spokesperson told the Irish Independent. The figures for 2015 are likely to reveal the earnings of Ray D'Arcy, who re-joined the station at the end of 2014 and whose chat show debuted the following September. Following the BBC's pledge to have its presenting roles equally divided among men and women by 2020, RTE said diversity will be a "factor" in its decision making. "Salaries and earnings at RTE are not based on gender. "However, diversity within the organisation is being considered as part of RTE's five-year strategy," the broadcaster said. It comes after director general Dee Forbes called for an increase in the TV licence fee from 160 to 175. Speaking in front of the Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Ms Forbes said the fee accounts for over 50pc of the station's funding and said the current fee, which equates to 44c a day, is good value for money. Read more: BBC talent salary gender gap highlighted as only one third of top earners are women Ireland has one of the highest licence fee evasion rates in Europe and Ms Forbes said it is a shame the State broadcaster does not have sufficient funding to compete with other countries with higher licence fees. Former TV3 host Aisling O'Loughlin believes the gender gap comes down to how much male and female employees work is valued. "There is still a long way to go. Money equals value whether we like it or not. What value are you putting on a person's work? It's disappointing," she said. "I wasn't surprised. You just go, what's going on? How can this be? "Especially in an institution as politically correct as the BBC. "It's a very strong indication of what's going on." Consumers will no longer have to pay surcharges for using credit cards from the start of next year. Stock Image Consumers will no longer have to pay surcharges for using credit cards from the start of next year. New European Union rules will ban the charge that can add 2pc to the cost of goods or services. The worst offenders currently are airlines and ticket sellers, and small businesses which typically add a fee for cards. But the revised EU Payment Services Directive will ban surcharging on all payment cards covered by the EU Interchange Fee Regulation. It comes into force on January 13, according to a spokeswoman for the Department of Finance. This means a merchant will no longer be able to charge extra for accepting a consumer card covered by that regulation. This will ban surcharges on Visa and Mastercard credit card payments. The spokeswoman said this would lead to the end of surcharging on the vast majority of consumer cards. However, some cards not covered by EU rules will still be able to impose surcharges. These are understood to include Diners Club and American Express cards. If a merchant imposes surcharges on those cards, the surcharge must not exceed the direct costs borne by the merchant to accept the card. Read more - Charlie Weston: The smart way of dealing with the curse of credit card debt The department added that this country opted to reduce some of the charges that processors of card payments can impose, in a move that made it cheaper for retailers to accept electronic payments. Known as interchange rates, Ireland now has some of the lowest rates of interchange fees on debit cards in the EU, the spokeswoman said. Dermott Jewell, of the Consumers' Association, said the move to ban surcharges was long overdue. He said the Government had promised in the past to get rid of the charges, but deadlines for their abolition had been constantly missed. "There was no political will to tackle this," he said. He said charging customers for using credit cards is discriminatory and anti-consumer. Mr Jewell said when consumers pay by card the companies save on cash handling, security provision, human resources and insurance costs. Airlines are some of the worst offenders. Ryanair imposes a 2pc surcharge on the value of transactions for those who pay by credit card. A Ryanair spokesman said: "If there are any changes to the law in this area, then we will comply with it as we always do. "Our credit card charge reflects the cost of processing credit card payments, including bank charges." Consumer groups said the change in the law is likely to mean some companies will simply put up their prices, to make up for the loss of charges they impose on card payments. It's good news for house hunters as 550 units have been given the green light by planners in North Dublin. The development will see the construction of 379 apartments and 171 houses off the coast in Baldoyle. The site is located on the grounds of the former Baldoyle Racecourse and Stapolin House, approximately 8km to the north-east of the city centre. The proposed village will comprise of 13 commercial housing blocks with some apartment units reaching a height of six stories. The development also provides for a commercial ground floor area including convenience outlets, a creche with outdoor play area, a cafe, four retail units and communal courtyard areas. On offer for house hunters are a range of options from one-bed apartments to four-bed semi-detached houses. Ground level and basement car parks will offer almost 900 car parking spots, with more than 500 spots being provided for bicycles. There is also a range of own-door duplex apartments and two-to-three storey terraced houses. All apartments and duplex apartments have private terraces or balconies and private communal amenity areas. The site is being developed as part of the local area plan at Baldoyle-Stapolin and is zoned under the Fingal Development Plan 2011 to 2017. The site is bound to the west by the main Dublin-Belfast railway and the new development will also have access to Clongriffin Train Station. There are existing residential projects at Red Arches to the east of the site and Myrtle to the south. The development is being undertaken by receivers to a company called Helsingor. Helsingor is currently controlled by the National Asset Management Agency and the receivers, Simon Coyle and Tom O'Brien of Mazars, were appointed in 2014. The 53 acres of land at the site have an estimated value of 13.5m. The company also owns 92 residential units and four commercial units at Coast development beside the site, which are valued at 14.2m. In the shrinking camera world, companies are starting to specialise in niches with their flagship models. For Canon, it's the all-round professional stills camera. For Fuji, it's the trendy, metal retro look. And for Panasonic, it's video. The company's most recent high-end camera, the GH5, now stands alone as the absolute best model you can get if taking video is a significant part of what you use your camera for. From amateur vloggers to professional production companies, it is to this small camera that many now turn. I had it for six weeks and used it mainly as a stills camera, with only a bit of video thrown in. In doing so, I am probably a little off the GH5's principal intended market. Nevertheless, the output of the camera was good to excellent most of the time. (This was helped by the superb Leica 12-60mm f2.8 lens, which comes with the camera at a heavy discount.) The GH5 is a 20-megapixel mirrorless camera using the Micro Four Thirds sensor system. This is a little smaller than an APS-C sensor (such as that on a Fuji 'X' camera or a mid-range Canon) and only about half the size of a 'full frame' sensor (such as on the Sony A7, Canon 6Dii or Nikon D610). But it is still big enough to deliver fairly outstanding image quality, especially with some of the lenses that Panasonic now has in its arsenal. I relished some of its top-end features, such as a dual card slot (essential to professionals) and a focusing joystick. I also enjoyed playing with some of the effects of its souped-up engine specifications, such as its '6K photo mode'. This effectively lets you shoot video at 30 frames per second and, later, extract any one of those frames as an 18-megapixel still image. There are obviously some limitations to this, but if you have the basic lighting right to start off, it's a pretty amazing feature to have when you're trying to capture a perfect moment. I'll also say that the GH5 was absolutely superb in 'quick photo' situations where I didn't have time to manually adjust settings and had to rely on its automatic mode. Here, its light metering and dynamic range were matched any other camera I've ever used. In low light, the camera held up relatively well too, although it doesn't match the Canon 6D in this regard. Panasonic has absolutely nailed autofocus speed on this device. This camera's 225-point system is a big step up to what most machines at this level offer. As a mirrorless camera, the GH5 can shoot completely silently. This is one of my favourite features of mirrorless snappers. In particular, it makes it a far more appealing device to bring to functions. That said, the GH5 is much chunkier and heavier than any other Panasonic camera. This is partially to make room for some of the professional features it has, such as dual card slots and audio ports and a good-sized battery. But it's partially also to give the camera a more solid 'feel' for those who are planning to use this as a tool in video-making. The upside to this bigger form is more space between buttons and dials (hitting the wrong one is an occasional problem on the likes of the GX80 or GX8). The downside is extra weight: the GH5's extra heft made it less likely to go in my bag 'in case I needed a camera'. (I currently use an older Panasonic GX7, which is wonderful in this regard - it's about two thirds of the weight and size. As a result, I often bring it around on spec.) A quick word about buying into Panasonic's lens system. In my experience, the Micro Four Thirds system is very underrated. Also supported by a well of good Olympus glass, Panasonic is now way ahead of rivals such as Fuji in the number of lenses available. It is arguably a solid third behind Canon and Nikon (although Sony would say that it has more top-end professional lenses for stills shooting). I had the Leica 12-60 f2.8 with this camera. I would highly recommend getting it if you buy the GH5, especially as it's half its normal price (500 compared to 1,000) when purchased at the same time. There is a cheaper Panasonic kit lens that costs 200 if you buy it with the GH5, a discount of 250. As I said before, the GH5 is mainly about video. In terms of what it records and how it records it, there's little to compare at this price point. It shoots 4K at 60 frames per second, way above any other camera it's competing with. It also shoots 1080p 'full HD' at 180 frames per second, which effectively allows for slow motion video. For videographers, there are 3.5mm mics in and out, with external recording via USB-C and HDMI. There is also a host of other professional-level features from time stamps to focus peaking. Honestly, I just didn't use these features: I'm not a videographer. And therein lies the rub for me. The GH5 is an excellent piece of kit and one of the best-performing cameras you can buy for under 2,000. However, its clear advantage lies in its video prowess. If you were mainly interested in taking still photos, there are many other cameras that are at least as impressive. In particular, Fuji's (cheaper) X-T2 is hard to beat in this field. Canon's new 6D Mark ii may edge the GH5 as a stills camera (although bear in mind that it costs almost 300 more and is a bit chunkier and heavier). If video is a growing part of your repertoire, this beats all comers for the money. But if it isn't, this may not be the right standalone camera to get, as capable as it is. There are few professional still photographers I know using a GH5. For landscape purists, a bigger 'full frame' sensor on a Canon, Nikon or Sony is almost always the preferred option. The same goes for portrait photographers (even though Panasonic's 85mm-equivalent Nocticron Leica lens is one of the best portrait lenses I have ever used on any camera, matching Canon's prized 85mm f1.2 model). So for a still photographer, I can't help thinking that one of Panasonic's slimmer, cheaper (but equally impressive for image output) models such as the GX8 wouldn't be better. Twitter has released an update as regards a number of safety measures which the social giant has been rolling out since the beginning of the year. The firm said that users of the platform are experiencing significantly less abuse on Twitter today than they were six months ago as a result of these measures. Research to understand the issues "at a deeper level" was undertaken, according to Twitter, who made a number of product updates and consulted with their Trust and Safety Council for guidance. Increasing action on abusive accounts and driving change in online behaviour were included in the drive towards online safety. "Were now taking action on 10x the number of abusive accounts every day compared to the same time last year. We also now limit account functionality or place suspensions on thousands more abusive accounts each day," read the company statement. "There are repeat offenders who create new accounts after being suspended for violations. Our new systems, in the last four months alone, have removed twice the number of these types of accounts". Read More Beyond the technology, Twitter maintains its teams are continuing to review content daily and improve how they enforce their policies. "Accounts that demonstrate abusive behaviour are now limited for a time, and told why. Accounts that we put into this period of limited functionality generate 25pc fewer abuse reports, and approximately 65pc of these accounts are in this state just once," said Twitter. Notification filters and muting keywords are features that have been introduced to the platform which "has led to fewer unwanted interactions". "We have consistent harassment definitions and policies that apply to everyone. However, people define abuse differently, so using these new tools, every person has control of what they see and experience on Twitter." Ian Power, Executive Director of SpunOut.ie, a safety partner of Twitter Ireland said, "We're really happy to see the significant progress in Twitter's safety work. It's clear Twitter is working hard to take more action against abusive accounts, and we're particularly encouraged by their success in transforming behaviour through communicating with offending users." A DOCTOR charged with the murder of her three-year-old son in Dublin was too sick to attend a court hearing today. GP Maha Al-Adheem, 42, was due to face her second hearing at Dublin District Court having been remanded in custody last week. When the case was called today, Judge Michael Walsh was told by defence solicitor Richard Young that she is not going to be produced today. Det Sergeant Brendan OHalloran also told the court, She is not going to be produced today she is sick, judge. Expand Close An emotional Khalid Omran (far right), the father of three-year-old Omar Omran who died in a stabbing tragedy in Dublin last week, helps carry his sons remains outside the mosque in Clonskeagh. Photo: Steve Humphreys / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp An emotional Khalid Omran (far right), the father of three-year-old Omar Omran who died in a stabbing tragedy in Dublin last week, helps carry his sons remains outside the mosque in Clonskeagh. Photo: Steve Humphreys Judge Walsh adjourned the case in her absence for one week and said the accused should be in court on the next date. The body of Omar Omran, who was stabbed to death, was found when gardai and an ambulance crew were called to his home at Riverside Apartments in Kimmage, at about seven oclock on July 10 last. Entry was forced and the infant child was found in his bedroom. Expand Close Neighbour Michael Fitzgerald Hayden (8) and his mother Jane place flowers at the entrance to the Riverside Apartments, Kimmage. Photo: Colin Keegan/ Collins / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Neighbour Michael Fitzgerald Hayden (8) and his mother Jane place flowers at the entrance to the Riverside Apartments, Kimmage. Photo: Colin Keegan/ Collins Read More The toddler was laid to rest earlier this week after he was brought to the Islamic section of Newcastle Cemetery, in Co Dublin, following prayers at Clonskeagh mosque. Following the discovery of her sons body, Ms Al-Adheem, a doctor from Iraq who had been living in Ireland since 2010, was detained at Crumlin Garda Station under Section Four of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984. At her first hearing last week, Det Sergeant Brendan OHalloran had told Judge Walsh that Ms Al-Adheem was arrested at 12.30am on July 13 for the offence of murder contrary to common law. He said she made no reply. Det Sgt OHalloran had said he cautioned her about 45 minutes later and charged her. He had told the court she was given a true copy of the charge and in reply to the charge she said, Yes it was my knife, yes it was my hand, it was not me, it was the power. Read More The district court cannot grant bail in murder cases. The defendant sat motionless during the brief hearing and did not address court. Due to the nature of the charge a bail application can only be made in the High Court. AN ESTONIAN man charged with conspiracy to murder a friend of the Hutch family has been further remanded in custody. Gardai from the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau supported by members of the Special Crime Task Force, Emergency Response Unit and Armed Support Unit raided a premises in west Dublin on the morning of April 4. Three men were arrested as part of an investigation into the Hutch-Kinahan feud. Imre Arakas, 58, with an address at Sopruse, Tallinn, Estonia, was charged on April 6 last and then remanded in custody. He is accused of conspiring with others not before the courts to murder James Gately in Northern Ireland between April 3 and April 4. The offence is under Section 71 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006. He faced his ninth hearing when he appeared again at Cloverhill District Court. He was further remanded in custody by Judge Victor Blake to appear again on August 2 next. At his first hearing, on April 6, a court was told he made no reply to the charge and due to the nature of the charge a bail application could only be made in the High Court. He has not yet indicated how he will plead to the charge. Legal aid was granted following submissions that he was unemployed and unable to pay for a lawyer. The other two other men arrested in connection with this investigation have been released from Garda custody without charge. A file is being prepared for the DPP. A 32-YEAR-OLD man accused of murdering Dublin grandmother Patricia OConnor, whose remains were found scattered across the Wicklow mountains, has been further remanded in custody. Kieran Green, with an address at Mountain View Park in Rathfarnham, Dublin, faced his third hearing when he appeared again before Judge Victor Blake at Cloverhill District Court on Thursday. Judge Blake remanded Mr Green in continuing custody to appear again at the same court on August 17 next. He is charged with the murder of Patricia O'Connor. The killing allegedly took place at Mountain View Park between May 29 and May 30 last. Directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions have been sought. Expand Close The remains of Patricia O'Connor were recovered over several days / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The remains of Patricia O'Connor were recovered over several days At his first court hearing, on June 15, Det Gda Connolly had said at 11.28 that morning, Mr Green was arrested at Bray Garda station. He replied it was self-defence to the charge after caution. Read More He must apply to the High Court for bail on a murder charge and at his first hearing in June he had been remanded in custody to appear with an order for him to get medical attention. He was also granted legal aid after the district court was told he was on social welfare and has an adult and four children as dependants. Ms O'Connor (61) was first reported missing on June 2 last. Later, human remains were discovered scattered in a 30km area across the Wicklow mountains including a human head and arms in a plastic bag. A man accused of shooting dead a biker told gardai that "tensions were running high" after members of the Road Tramps motorcycle club threatened to burn his house down with his family inside. Alan 'Cookie' McNamara (51), from Mountfune, Murroe, Co Limerick has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Andrew 'AOD' O'Donoghue on Saturday June 20, 2015 at Mountfune. Also on trial is Mr McNamara's stepson Robert Cusack (28), of Abington, Murroe who has pleaded not guilty to impeding Mr McNamara's apprehension knowing or believing him to have committed a serious offence. Sergeant Brian O'Connor and Detective Garda Niall Fitzgerald told prosecuting counsel John O'Sullivan BL that they interviewed Mr McNamara at Roxboro Garda Station in Limerick on June 21 2015. Sgt O'Connor agreed that Mr McNamara told them that members of the Road Tramps motorcycle group had "tried to beat the shit out of me" on the Friday night. When asked about the shooting, he said he felt sorry for Mr O'Donoghue's child and added: "I didn't look for no trouble. I just want to live my life and get on with it." Expand Close Robert Cusack has pleaded not guilty / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Robert Cusack has pleaded not guilty Describing events that weekend he said the bikers attacked him outside Kelly's pub in Doon, Co Limerick, struck him on the head, beat him to the ground and took his waistcoat from him. The waistcoat had a Caballeros "patch" sewn into it. He said his wife was also attacked. He told gardai he did not know how the men knew he was in Doon and thought they might be watching him. On his way home, after the attack, he said he passed the Road Tramps clubhouse and was followed by men in a maroon car, one of whom was carrying a gun. He told interviewing gardai that CCTV outside the club would show his car going past, followed by the maroon car. The men stopped outside Mr McNamara's home and, in front of his wife and young child, he said they threatened to burn down his house with his family in it. "They would kill us," he said. He got his children out of the house and spent that Friday night in fear of what was going to happen next. "Were they going to burn down my house?" he said. Expand Close Victim: Andrew O'Donoghue was a member of the Road Tramps / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Victim: Andrew O'Donoghue was a member of the Road Tramps He said he feared for his life and his family's life and he took the threat seriously. At one point he considered contacting the Road Tramps club but feared that might make things worse. Read More The following day, the day of the shooting, Mr McNamara said "tensions were running high" and his wife gave him four Valium that morning to calm him down. In a later interview he said he was sorry that Mr O'Donoghue was dead and added: "I know AOD [Mr O'Donoghue] is dead. I'm dead. My family is going to suffer." In an interview on June 22, he described the situation as "a disaster", and said he wouldn't be in this mess if they hadn't called to his house. He said he loves life and loves people and added: "Times were just starting to be good, and now this." The jury also heard from Detective Garda Ursula Cummins of the ballistics section at Garda HQ who said she examined shotgun cartridges found at the scene of Mr O'Donoghue's shooting and compared them with cartridges fired from a gun found in a wooded area behind the accused man's home. She said she looked at marks left on the cartridges by the firing pin under a microscope and was satisfied that one of the cartridges, a 12-gauge shotgun cartridge, was fired by that gun. The other was inconclusive. Analyzing the gun, she said it was sawn to a barrel length of 37cm and therefore could not be a legally held firearm in Ireland. The minimum legal length for a shotgun barrel in Ireland is 60cm. The witness also used the gun to successfully discharge cartridges seized by gardai at Mr McNamara's home following the shooting. The trial continues tomorrow before Justice Paul McDermott and a jury of seven men and four women. Colm O'Hara (49), of no fixed abode, leaves the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court this afternoon. Pic Collins Courts. Colm O'Hara (49), of no fixed abode, and his sister Miriam OHara leave the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court this afternoon. Pic Collins Courts. Colm O'Hara (49), of no fixed abode, and his sister Miriam OHara leave the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court this afternoon. Pic Collins Courts. A man who stabbed his sister has avoided going to prison after the victim told a court she forgave her brother and had no animosity towards him. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Colm O'Hara (49) had mental health issues and had stopped taking his medication on the day he attacked his older sister. O'Hara, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to assault of Miriam O'Hara causing her harm at her home on Edenmore Green, Raheny, Dublin on June 23, 2016. The court heard that O'Hara was in an agitated state when he went to the house. He was giving out about a lot of issues including historical references to his childhood. Expand Close Colm O'Hara (49), of no fixed abode, and his sister Miriam OHara leave the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court this afternoon. Pic Collins Courts. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Colm O'Hara (49), of no fixed abode, and his sister Miriam OHara leave the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court this afternoon. Pic Collins Courts. He was behaving irrationally and suddenly grabbed a peeling knife from a knife block on the kitchen counter and lunged towards her and tried to stab her. The victim wrestled with her brother but was stabbed in the back. She got the knife off him but O'Hara got a longer knife and attacked her again, cutting her arm and wrist. The victim told gardai later that she was in fear of her life at the time. She was screaming sorry repeatedly in an attempt to calm him down. He calmed down almost immediately and suggested his sister call the police. Expand Close Colm O'Hara (49), of no fixed abode, leaves the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court this afternoon. Pic Collins Courts. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Colm O'Hara (49), of no fixed abode, leaves the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court this afternoon. Pic Collins Courts. In her victim impact statement Ms O'Hara described her wounds as small and has returned to her normal day to day life. She said she does not feel intimidated in her home and feels no animosity towards her brother. Judge Karen O'Connor suspended a sentence of two years on condition that O'Hara keep the peace and continue to take his medication. She told him: It is clear you are not a bad person but you have to take your medication. She said Ms O'Hara was a kind and understanding lady and praised the manner in which she had forgiven her brother and accepted his expressions of remorse. Judge O'Connor also praised the work of Garda Liam Wright, who entered the house after the attack and dealt with O'Hara in a very sensitive and very compassionate way. The senior garda who investigated an allegation of sexual assault against Sgt Maurice McCabe said the whistleblower later became a thorn in his side. Supt Noel Cunningham told the Disclosures Tribunal he believed Sgt McCabe "had an input" into a series of complaints against him in subsequent years. But he denied these complaints prompted him not to respond to an August 2013 letter from Tusla official Keara McGlone seeking clarification about an incorrect allegation of sexual abuse included on a Tusla file. Counsel for the tribunal, Pat Marrinan, said there was an implication Supt Cunningham did not respond to the letter as he wanted it to "fester" in the Tusla file where it would ultimately cause difficulty for Sgt McCabe. But the superintendent rejected this and insisted the reason he had not responded was that he had been on leave when it arrived and was busy with more pressing issues when he returned to work. Supt Cunningham said he put the letter in a file he had kept, for sensitivity reasons, in a locked cabinet, but subsequently forgot about it. He described this as "very unfortunate" and said Tusla never followed up with him. Incorrect Ms McGlone has previously told the tribunal that had Supt Cunningham responded to her, an incorrect allegation against Sgt McCabe of digital rape would not have ended up being referred to gardai in 2014. The allegation was included in a Tusla file after a counsellor made a major error in a report she forwarded to the child and family agency after giving counselling to a woman known as Ms D in 2013. Ms D, the daughter of a garda, alleged in 2006 she was "dry humped" by Sgt McCabe years earlier when she was aged six or seven. The complaint was investigated by Supt Cunningham, who was then an inspector, and resulted in no prosecution. Supt Cunningham said that despite knowing Sgt McCabe and Ms D's father well, he was "completely neutral" in his investigation. Read more - Charleton Tribunal: Journalist says he was not given file on Ms D allegation against Maurice McCabe The tribunal heard he told Rhona Murphy, a HSE social worker, it would be a difficult investigation because Ms D was "spinning different stories". In a report to Rory Hayden, State solicitor for Cavan, Supt Cunningham made reference to an incident involving Sgt McCabe and Ms D's father. Mr D had been at a funeral and was drinking with colleagues afterwards when a young man from the area committed suicide. They arrived at the scene and were described as being "highly emotional and intoxicated". Sgt McCabe was the sergeant in charge of the scene and had to remove Mr D and his colleagues. Sgt McCabe subsequently made a complaint about the incident, resulting in Mr D being removed from a crime unit and put on uniformed duties. Ms D made a complaint to the Garda Ombudsman (Gsoc) in 2014 about the conduct of the sexual assault investigation. It was not upheld. The tribunal heard that in a statement to Gsoc, Supt Cunningham said he had been subject to several complaints and investigations, emanating from the Bailieborough area in Co Cavan, none of which had been upheld. "There were complaints which I believe Maurice McCabe had an input into," he said. Supt Cunningham insisted he had "no axe to grind" with Sgt McCabe and had never fallen out with him. SERGEANT Maurice McCabe was confronted twice by members of Ms Ds family after a garda investigation cleared him of a sexual assault allegation she had made. The Disclosures Tribunal heard that on one occasion he was confronted Sgt McCabe retreated upstairs in his garda station to avoid any trouble. In a letter dated February 25, 2008 to Superintendent Michael Clancy, who was the district officer for Bailieborough, Co Cavan, Sgt McCabe referred to the incidents. An investigation was subsequently launched. The tribunal heard the letter contained serious allegations against Ms Ds father, who was a garda colleague of Sgt McCabe. Supt Noel Cunningham, who was then an inspector, was instructed to investigate the issues raised in Sgt McCabes letter. He told the tribunal he did not believe it was appropriate to appoint him, as he knew both Sgt McCabe and Mr D well, but said he didnt raise an objection. Supt Cunningham had also been the officer who investigated the sexual assault allegation made by Ms D against Sgt McCabe in 2006. Michael McDowell SC told the tribunal Sgt McCabe had been asked to write the letter by Supt Clancy. At the time he was concerned that Ms Ds family may not have been given a full account of the DPPs directions in 2007, following the sexual assault investigation, which were that no criminal offence had been described. Mr McDowell said Sgt McCabe had not wanted an investigation launched against Mr D. However, Supt Cunningham said the allegations made were quasi criminal. The organisation couldnt ignore such serious allegations, he said. The tribunal was told that when Supt Cunningham met him to deal with the allegations that Sgt McCabe talked about anything but the claims. Mr McDowell said Sgt McCabe was experiencing interpersonal difficulties in the garda station at the time. The purpose of his letter to Supt Clancy was to secure the release of the DPPs directions to him and the D family in the hope that while the difficulties might not disappear, they would at least be reduced, Mr McDowell said. Supt Cunningham agreed that Sgt McCabe wanted the directions released to the D family, but said that in doing so he raised the spectre of very serious allegations against Mr D. The tribunal heard that Sgt McCabe went on sick leave around this time and was subsequently transferred to Mullingar Garda Station soon afterwards. Mr McDowell said the tribunal had previously heard evidence Ms D had told a counsellor, Laura Brophy, that Sgt McCabe had been forced out of the garda station. Supt Cunningham said Sgt McCabe had made complaints against a number of members still serving in the Bailieborough District. He said he believed Sgt McCabe took the transfer to accommodate the investigation of these complaints. He also said Sgt McCabe had stepped down as sergeant in charge of the garda station of his own volition. Supt Cunningham said he had tried to change Sgt McCabes mind about this. While conducting the investigation arising from the letter to Supt Clancy, Supt Cunningham said he was in contact with Sgt McCabe in Mullingar and found him to be under a lot of stress and pressure. He said he offered him advice on garda welfare supports available to members of the force. On Wednesday the tribunal heard Supt Cunningham believed Sgt McCabe had an input into a series of complaints against him in the years which followed the sexual assault investigation. But he denied these complaints prompted him not to respond to an August 2013 letter from HSE/Tusla official Keara McGlone seeking clarification about an incorrect allegation of sexual abuse included on a Tusla file. He insisted he had been on leave when the letter arrived and had been very busy with other matters when he eventually read it. He said he had intended to give it attention but forgot to do so. Asked by Micheal P OHiggins SC, counsel for the Garda Commissioner and other senior gardai, if he had made a deliberate decision not to respond to the letter so it would cause an earthquake in the HSE, he replied: Absolutely not. In response to further questions, he said he was not instructed by then Commissioner Martin Callinan, then Deputy Commissioner Noirin OSullivan, then Garda press officer Supt Dave Taylor, or any senior garda to omit responding to the letter. He also said he had absolutely not taken part in any smear campaign against Sgt McCabe. Prospective jurors in the murder trial over the death of an Irish businessman and father-of-two were warned they will have to examine "gory pictures" of the blood-spattered North Carolina home where Jason Corbett (39) sustained his fatal injuries. The potential jurors were told the photographs taken after Mr Corbett was found fatally injured on August 2, 2015, might make them feel "queasy". Photographs to be submitted during the trial before Davidson County Superior Court, in North Carolina, will include images of blood-spattered rooms within the luxury home in the gated residential complex at Meadowlands, in the northern part of the US state. The warning came as the prospective jury of nine women and three men began an examination by the defence teams representing Molly Martens-Corbett (35) and her father, Thomas Michael Martens (67). Both deny the second degree murder of Limerick-born Mr Corbett, who died from severe head injuries sustained at the Panther Creek home in North Carolina he shared with his second wife, Ms Martens-Corbett. David Freedman, lawyer for Mr Martens, told the prospective jurors they will have to examine some potentially distressing images. "There are going to be gory pictures - there is no getting around that," he said. "There was a lot of blood in that bedroom on August 2." Mr Freedman indicated some of the photos may also depict Mr Corbett's loose scalp. Expand Close Jason Corbett and Molly Martens pictured at a function in Ireland in 2009 / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Jason Corbett and Molly Martens pictured at a function in Ireland in 2009 Post-mortem examination photographs will also be submitted, indicating the fatal injuries sustained to Mr Corbett's skull. "It is not going to be easy - some people might get queasy," he said. Mr Freedman said he simply wanted to ensure that all the jurors will be able to operate in a fair and impartial way. He pointed out that the prosecution is not suggesting in any way that the events of that night were premeditated. "Mr Martens was not indicted with first degree murder. It (premeditation) is not an issue in this case. The state is not alleging premeditation. "He is charged with second degree murder, which is a killing without malice." Mr Freedman also indicated that there will be evidence that the parties involved were drinking. The jurors were previously asked by Alan Martin, for the Davidson County District Attorney's Office, whether they have any personal bias against Ireland or Irish people. "Mr Corbett was a resident of the Meadowlands but he was a citizen of the Republic of Ireland. Do any of you have any bias towards Ireland or Irish people?" he asked. "Do you have any bias towards Irish folks?" All prospective jurors indicated they did not. Of the 12 original prospective jurors called from a panel of 143, eight were eventually discharged. One of those discharged had referred to Ms Martens-Corbett as "Miss Molly" and had been questioned on whether she had closely followed all the local media coverage of the case in 2015. All prospective jurors were asked to complete a 16-page questionnaire which was then submitted to both the prosecution and two defence teams. A 71-year-old woman who had difficulty staying wide awake during High Court proceedings is to be surrendered to the UK where she faces charges of allegedly assisting in the rape of her daughter 40 years ago. The UK citizen, with an address in Co Roscommon but who cannot be identified for legal reasons, is accused of indecently assaulting her daughter and jointly raping her with her then husband at addresses in West Sussex and Devon on dates in the late 1970s. The complainant was aged between 10 and 15 at the time of the alleged offences, which were first reported in 2013. Authorities in the UK issued a European Arrest Warrant in respect of the woman last March which was subsequently endorsed by the High Court in Ireland. Her barrister, Liam Dockery BL, opposed her surrender on grounds of antiquity and her medical issues. Ordering her surrender in the High Court today, Ms Justice Aileen Donnelly said the woman came to Ireland in 1991 where she operated a small farm in the north-west of the country. Ms Justice Donnelly said there was no doubt the woman had health problems beyond the usual problems for a 71-year-old. She has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, extreme obesity, a 50 per cent chance of dying from a chest infection, has to wear a pressure mask, appeared in court in a wheelchair and, as Ms Justice Donnelly noted, appeared to have some difficulty staying wide awake for the case. A report from her doctor found her to be unfit to be tried and unfit to be imprisoned. However, although the doctor's report set out a sorry picture of health, Ms Justice Donnelly said she did not find the doctor's report to be cogent evidence. Ms Justice Donnelly said there was no foundational basis for the doctor's opinion. She said the doctor did not really base his opinion on anything other than a statement around her state of health and had not set out his knowledge of trials here or in the UK. She said it was unclear as to why it was stated that the woman was unfit to be imprisoned where prisons can and have dealt with people who have significant health issues. It was also true the woman has been able to travel to Dublin, swear affidavits and attend the High Court hearing. Furthermore, the judge said offences of similar antiquity and respondents older than the woman have been tried before and there was no doubt allowances could be made. Ms Justice Donnelly said the public interest in the prosecution of crime and the fulfillment of Ireland's international obligations required her surrender. Ms Justice Donnelly said she would postpone surrender on humanitarian grounds. She said the woman would need time to gather her medical records for transmission to the UK, to attend a doctor's appointment here in September and to make enquiries with regards to bail in the UK. The woman was remanded on continuing bail to appear before Ms Justice Donnelly again in the High Court on October 2 next. The old Irish Glass Bottle Site, which gardai have searched after an alleged rape took place in the area. Photo: Damien Eagers Gardai released an alleged rapist with a violent past from custody without charge - despite the suspect already being out on bail for a string of offences. Detectives arrested the 24-year-old man after a Spanish student (18) reported she had been raped repeatedly by him after being held against her will. The alleged rapist was already out on bail and facing charges for a wide variety of offences, including criminal damage, possession of drugs, trespassing and public order offences. The student met the man on the Liffey boardwalk in Dublin's city centre on Saturday night. Expand Close The old irish glass bottle site which the garda have searched after an allegedly rape took place. Picture credit; Damien Eagers 19/7/2016 / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The old irish glass bottle site which the garda have searched after an allegedly rape took place. Picture credit; Damien Eagers 19/7/2016 It is understood the student is interested in photography and the man offered to take her to the beach, a nature reserve. They then took the Luas to The Point in the capital's docklands and walked across the East Link bridge to Pigeon House Road on the southside. The student alleged the man brought her to a tent in a location nearby and sexually assaulted her repeatedly. She said the man eventually fell asleep and she managed to escape on Sunday morning, making her way to a house where the alarm was raised and gardai called. Sources said the woman presented with physical injuries. Investigating officers from Irishtown station arrested the suspect in Ringsend on Monday morning and brought him to the station for questioning in connection with alleged rape and false imprisonment. He was detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act and his period of detention later extended. But he was released without charge on Tuesday night. Gardai have sought CCTV footage from different areas of the city including the Dart line as part of their investigations. A large area of the former Irish Glass Bottle site was also searched. Traders in the area have been interviewed to see if they can shed any light on the movements of the victim or the attacker. Local sources said the glass bottle site has had sections of its security fences cut over the years, allowing people access to the massive site earmarked for future development. "There was several people living rough down there in tents and things. Then I saw the gardai in there on Tuesday carrying out searches. It's terrible news," said one man. Local councillor Chris Andrews said residents are "horrified and very concerned". He said he has requested Irishtown gardai to increase their presence in the area through supervision. "It is scary and it is shocking for residents and people with children. "It is understandable but it isn't a call for a mass panic," he added. Read More Investigating officers will now prepare a file for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) who will determine if charges should be brought against him in relation to the incident. Meanwhile, the student was taken to the sexual assault unit at the Rotunda hospital for a medical examination. Details of that examination as well as the outcome of forensic inquiries currently being completed will be included in the file to the DPP. Officers made contact with the student's family in Spain and relatives flew to Dublin to be with her. In one already charge facing the suspect, the 24-year-old man is currently on District Court bail after being charged following a garda investigation into an unrelated incident in the city. Gulls, as carriers of salmonella, constitute little health hazard to human health, according to Health Minister Simon Harris. Photo: PA Dive-bombing seagulls with their piercing cries may be upsetting residents of north Dublin - but the public should remain unruffled about their risk of infection. A look back for the past 10 years shows there were 25,000 reported cases of campylobacter and 3,500 cases of salmonella nationally. However, there have been just three cases of salmonella and two of campylobacter that could be explained by bird contact - two of which were pets. "This means an association, but does not mean that birds caused the disease," said Health Minister Simon Harris. His colleague Heather Humphreys, who has responsibility for regional affairs, ordered a pilot scheme to remove nests of gulls in Balbriggan after being lobbied by local TDs. This was justified on the grounds of "threat to public safety". Complaints from residents have included seagulls diver-bombing and swooping on food being eaten by children outdoors. However, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, the country's disease watchdog, could find little cause for concern in the 10-year look-back. Mr Harris said a number of studies had looked at the specific issue of human disease and gulls from the early 1980s onwards, the most recent in 2005. "While there is some evidence that wild birds - including gulls - may transmit salmonella to animal feed and drinking water, and by this mechanism potentially lead to human infection, the evidence for this in each instance was considered weak," he said. The conclusion is that gulls, as carriers of salmonella, constitute little health hazard to human health, he said. THE Master of the National Maternity Hospital has warned that frontline workers in the health service are becoming scared to practice medicine The stark warning from the the outspoken Dr Rhona Mahony was made during a debate on the health service at the MacGill Summer School in Glenties. In off script remarks, Dr Mahony said the idea that improving salaries for health professionals will not address core problems facing the health service. And she added; "I believe people on the front line are becoming scared to practice medicine in this country." Dr Mahony hit out at the difficulties she faces getting sanction to hire more doctors and other front line staff while the numbers of HSE managers escalate. And she warned that hospitals are struggling to respond to the rise in patient demand - despite it being reported that the number of senior managers in the wider health service has jumped by 40 per cent. But Dr Mahony went off script as she described poignantly what she and other doctors are facing on a daily basis. "We work really long hours and when you are on call and you are in and out of a hospital wondering what on earth is going to happen?" "If you have an adverse outcome how is that going to be treated in the media? How is it going to be treated in the negligence system and we are losing doctors because I believe people on the front line are becoming scared to practice medicine in this country. "This is something we really have to grapple with as we will find it hard to recruit people. If we do not support front line staff we do in turn not support our patients. "We must consider broader issues other than remuneration. It is a very easy argument but it misses many of the important points that are driving recruitment in this country." She said it remains extremely difficult to this day to attract front line staff, citing the lasting impact on the recently lifted moratorium in the health service. "The blunt moratorium on staff recruitment was deeply damaging and to this day it remains extremely difficult to gain approval for medical consultant appointments and other front line staff," Dr Mahony told the summer school. Dr Mahony said that the layers of bureaucracy in the health service are slowing down the ability to allow hospital groups the power to make decisions to improve patient care. There is a high degree of managers appointing in an acting capacity or in rotating roles and this is proving costly, the high profile doctor added. Dr Mahony defended the treatment of private patients in public hospitals, which has been the subject of controversy and debate in recent months. "Every year almost 700 million euro is generated in income from private patients in public hospitals and in a highly expensive mechanism, the National Treatment Purchase Fund provides private care to public patients to relieve waiting lists," she said. "One third of the income at NMH is generated by the treatment of private patients and this income funds care for all patients whether private or public. The hospital would not function without this income." Meanwhile, HSE chief Tony O Brien told the gathering he hopes to bring in a system which would end the cycle of people at the very top of the health service always being targets when it comes to demands for accountability after things go wrong. The Minister for Health, himself or a national director can be in the firing line as the public demands accountability, he added. He said currently the officials whose action or inaction led to the controversy often get to hide in the shadows and are rarely held accountable. "That is why I am so committed to the creation of local accountable service delivery structures," he added. Mr OBrien said he disagreed with the notion that the HSE as a whole is dysfunctional. "A much lesser minority of services could justifiably fall into the dysfunctional category as - I would be the first to admit - it is not of a sufficiently high standard and in some instances quite poor - and there are many reasons for this. Unfortunately, in the rush to focus on the negative outcomes, the great work undertaken by clinicians, allied health professionals administrators, managers and many others rarely gets a mention." Also speaking at the event, former junior health minister and Social Democrats Co-leader, Roisin Shortall, said an "ungovernable twilight zone" has been created as a result of the mix of private and public interests in our hospitals. The Dublin North West TD said the most basic level of care is not being met as a result of the dysfunctionality in the system. A new website is urging men to take as much care of their body as they would their car. Malehealth.ie, is an initiative of the Irish Men's Shed's Association (ISMA) which has more than 400 sheds nationwide and 10,000 weekly members. TP O' Gorman, who is a member of the Men's Shed in Kilbeggan, Co Westmeath, told Independent.ie that he hopes the site will help men to speak up about any health worries. He said: "It's based on the analogy of the car . "The human body is a bit like a car and we love our cars and if there's a problem with the car, we'll get it looked at and go to the mechanic but we're not so inclined to do the same with our own body. "The analogy encourages you to get advice, go to an expert and put the problem to bed." Expand Close Pictured at the launch of the Male Health Website were Edel Byrne, Health and Wellbeing Co ordinator with Mens Sheds Association, Barry Sheridan, CEO Irish Mens Sheds Assoc, Minister of State for Disability Issues Finian McGrath.and Fergal Fox Health Promotion and Improvement, HSE / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Pictured at the launch of the Male Health Website were Edel Byrne, Health and Wellbeing Co ordinator with Mens Sheds Association, Barry Sheridan, CEO Irish Mens Sheds Assoc, Minister of State for Disability Issues Finian McGrath.and Fergal Fox Health Promotion and Improvement, HSE T.P has been a member of the shed since 2014 and has seen its membership increase from six members to 20. He believes the website may be a "slow-burner at first" as many of the shed members are not interested in technology but can see how it will evolve and grow. He said: "It'll be a slow-burner for some of the men as they wouldnt be majorly into technology but their sons and daughters and family members would be into technology, so we'd be trying to push that side of it and get their sons or daughters to show them how to use it. "We'll show the members at the shed how to use it too." Read More Disability Minister Finian McGrath launched the new service and said it's vital that we encourage men to look after themselves. Speaking at the launch, he said: "Men in Ireland die younger than women, we as a government have to accept that fact. "Men present later to GPs for illnesses and that mindset has to change. "Today is a key milestone in journey of men's sheds, it encourages men to go online and signposts them to the necessary resources." RTE Sport broadcaster Marty Morrissey admitted that in the past he too has been hesitant when it comes to getting himself checked out and he hopes the website will encourage men to avoid the dangers of Googling health conditions. He said: "Even though I studied medicine for three years in UCC, like most men I'm not concerned with my health. "I had a bad cough back in March and couldn't shake it off, so I went to the doctor even though I was hesitant. "It all went fine anyway but when I was waiting for the results of the blood tests over the next few days I became an expert on Google and had the living daylights scared out of me. I thought I was a goner." Read More Mr Morrissey also praised the work that ISMA has done all over Ireland to bring men together since it was set up in 2011. He said: "Loneliness in Ireland is a big thing, we've lost that sense of touch that we used to have. "People don't call in to see each other as much as they used to but the men's sheds have brought that back. "It doesn't matter if you're 65 or 25, you need that sense of community." Malehealth.ie's virtual male skeleton, called 'Spanner' allows users to click on any part of the body which they may be seeking health advice on. ISMA Health and Wellbeing Coordinator, Edel Byrne said this helps men feel in control. She said: "From working with men, we know what works best for them and what doesn't and they respond best when they are in control of their own health. "So if they click on a part of the body, they can get information on conditions that affect that part of the body and are directed to other health websites which can guide and advise them. "For example if type 2 diabetes comes up, a link to Diabetes Ireland's website pops up and brings you to their site." Malehealth.ie currently has more than 40 Irish health organisations linked to their site but hopes to expand and include more resources in 2018. For more information please visit here. A young Brazilian woman has told of her distressing 48-hour ordeal of being detained in prison by immigration officers who believed she was entering the country to work illegally. Paloma Aparezida Silva-Carvalho (24) from Sao Paulo was travelling from Basel, Switzerland to visit friends in Ireland. Speaking on RTE Radio One's Liveline, Paloma said she had previously worked in Ireland for 18 months as an au pair to the Muller-Wieland family in Moycullen, Co Galway. She was travelling to visit the Muller-Wieland family and friends. The young woman was arrested by immigration officers in Dublin Airport at around 4pm on Tuesday. She was subsequently transported to Dochas prison where she was subjected to a strip search and detained in a cell. Karin Muller-Wielands husband was contacted by immigration officers to confirm Palomas story that she would be staying with their family, but immigration officers ultimately decided to send her to the prison. "It took a long time to get in touch with a superior at the immigration offices but I was told Paloma was being denied access to the country," Karin told RTEs Liveline. Karin discovered Paloma was being transported to Dochas Prison, where she arrived at 6pm. Paloma said she was told she was being transported to accommodation but realised she was in prison when they told her to leave everything behind and take off her clothes to make sure she wasnt concealing anything inside her body. "A woman told me dont be so upset but it was impossible. I was somewhere I did not belong," she said. She was told she would be sent back to Brazil at 3pm on Thursday and that she was allowed to make one six-minute phone call to her fiance in Switzerland who then contacted Karin. Paloma said she shared a room with another female inmate who was continuously vomiting, making the bathroom sink unusable. "The smell was horrible. It was awful," she said. Karin said she was distraught and terrified that she was not able to contact Paloma or keep her safe. "Paloma is like a family member, were very close, shes like a sister to me," Karin said, "I was so distraught, the children were crying. We had spent all day getting her room ready picking flowers and wrapping presents." Karin said Palomas mother was 'hysterical' on the flight to her. "She was hysterical on the phone, she was sobbing and having a panic attack and I could give her no assurance," she said. The next day Karin managed to contact a solicitor in Dublin to argue Palomas case at the Four Courts, but she still needed Paloma to sign documents. The family travelled from Galway to get documents from the solicitor before meeting Paloma in prison. "Paloma was visibly distressed and it was obvious she hadnt slept and had cried all night," she said. Although they were able to get the necessary documents returned to the solicitor before 4pm, he was unsuccessful in arguing her case. "She was not given a due right for a course of justice at all. He battled until 6 oclock but failed on the basis of insufficient time to gather evidence. This type of appeal can take up to eight months. I thought we had lost her," she said. A major concern for Paloma was that once she was deported she would have difficulty in attempting to enter any other country in Europe. "At that point I broke down, felt so ashamed and saddened that Im representing a country where I cant keep my guest safe and that a 24-year-old woman is twice asked to strip down like a criminal. Its appalling," Karin said. However, Paloma was then suddenly released at around 10pm at Dublin Airport and given permission to stay in the country for two weeks. "I am deeply grateful to community and politicians who ultimately affected this release," said Karin. Criminal defence lawyer Tony Collier said he was not an immigration specialist but had experience with people who were detained on immigration issues. Mr Collier also told Liveline said the Garda National Immigration Bureau will deny calls from solicitors to detainees because they werent specifically requested by the detainee, even though the solicitor is often arranged by a concerned family member or friend. "If she had been given access to legal advice in the beginning all of the indignities that went with detainment and prison could have been avoided," Mr Collier said. He said these people are often a significant disadvantage and there is no entitlement to a solicitor if you are detained on immigration matters. Paloma said she is having difficulty sleeping and is having flashbacks of her ordeal. "I am trying to feel better now with the family who are supporting me a lot," she said Sinn Fein's deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald has hit out at what she described as "deeply malicious" comments made about her by Social Protection Minister Regina Doherty. A bitter war of words erupted between the pair last night over claims made by Ms Doherty in an interview with 'Hot Press' magazine. The Fine Gael minister told the magazine that Ms McDonald "sneered" at former senator and IRA rape victim Mairia Cahill, during an encounter in the smoking area of Leinster House. She said: "The day we had statements (in the Dail), Mairia was in that day with her cousin Eilis O'Hanlon, sitting up in the gallery. Afterwards, I brought her to the smoking area and Mary Lou happened to be there and sneered at her and slagged her. Only I witnessed it myself, I don't think I would've thought it would've been possible for it to come out of her mouth." Speaking to reporters at the MacGill Summer School in Glenties, Ms McDonald categorically denied the claims. The Dublin Central TD strongly criticised Ms Doherty for making allegations that she said were entirely false. "I am a very staunch person in my politics. I do not sneer at people. I do not slag people off. If I have a difference with someone, I have it honestly and respectfully and openly. That event simply did not happen," she said. "It strikes me as deeply malicious. "I can tell you categorically that I neither sneered nor jeered anybody, much less Mairia Cahill. That's entirely untrue." IRELANDS planning strategy is being influenced by the issues of GAA jerseys and All Ireland medals, according to the former Secretary General of the Department of Finance. John Moran, who resigned unexpectedly from the department in 2014, said the Government needs a rethink of how it approaches the issue of planning. He cited the recent submissions for the countrys boundaries changes - and said the largest number was received in relation to the potential changes to the border between Waterford and Kilkenny. I think there was no submissions on the national planning framework based on a piece of land in Kilkenny becoming part of Waterford than there were on any of the big issues facing the country. That was based on GAA jerseys and All Ireland medals, he told the MacGill Summer School in Glenties. Mr Moran , who was a close associate of former Finance Minister Michael Noonan following the crash, hit out at what he described as an unproductive parliament. He said there is no sense of direction for our young people and the type of country we want to live in in 40-50 years. But he said Irish voters need to do more to keep tabs on their politicians. More often than not as a people, we often accept it is good enough, its grand, Mr Moran said. Is this what we are worth as an island, as a nation, he added. Mr Moran said the biggest problem in terms of housing is the over-emphasis on on one-off housing. Revenue officers report that the man was in possession of 4.5kg of heroin and 0.25kg of cocaine. Revenue officers report that the man was in possession of 4.5kg of heroin and 0.25kg of cocaine. A UK national was arrested for possession of drugs worth 650,000 at Dublin Airport yesterday. Revenue officers arrested the man who had travelled to Dublin from Malaga, Spain. They report that the man was in possession of 4.5kg of heroin and 0.25kg of cocaine. He was arrested and brought to Ballymun Garda Station, where he remains in custody. A mother of nine was treated to a fantastic shock after her daughter flew thousands of miles across America to see her. Grainne flew over 1500 miles to surprise her mother Bernie, with the heart-warming results captured on camera. The family from Gorey in Wexford were reunited after Grainnes brother Niall flew their beloved mother over for a holiday. She was there minding her own business enjoying her holiday she got the fright of her life when my sister who lives in Vancouver thousands of miles away unexpectedly walks in the door, Sarah Lawlor told Independent.ie She got the shock of her life but gave the cutest reaction. Sarah also took a moment to praise her mother, describing her as the best mammy is a hard-working mammy of nine of us. The eldest in the family, Niall, treated mother of nine to the holiday as a reward for getting the youngest, Meabh through the Leaving cert. Ending 34 years of school-books and homework for this hard-working mammy. While there are no firm projections for Ireland yet, it is reported that nearly all Mercedes diesel vehicles bought in the UK over the past six years will be involved. Photo: PA The number of Irish Mercedes owners affected by a recall of three million diesel vehicles across Europe for an emissions software update could run into thousands. While there are no firm projections for Ireland yet, it is reported that nearly all Mercedes diesel vehicles bought in the UK over the past six years will be involved. If that scale of recall turns out to be accurate, then the numbers involved for Ireland would likely be of the same proportion, making it one of the largest recalls in recent times. Irish Mercedes sales for the past six years were 1,868 in 2012, 1,465 in 2013, 2,076 in 2014, 2,634 in 2015, 3,791 last year and 4,085 so far in 2017, according to official figures. A spokesman for the Irish distributors of the brand said it will be some time before it is known for certain what, and how many, vehicles are affected. The spokesman said they are still awaiting word from German headquarters on the volumes and models involved - and the likely time scale for the operation. A spokesman for Daimler, who own Mercedes, emphasised the recall, which he described as a "voluntary service measure" was to cut nitrogen oxide (NOx) pollution and bolster confidence in diesel engines amid growing controversy around the fuel. The spokesman said they expected implementation of the measures will be starting in the coming weeks. Like the all of the three million Mercedes diesel owners across Europe, Irish drivers will not incur any cost associated with the software fix which is expected to take about an hour. It is also anticipated that the work will cost 70 for each car, leaving the luxury car maker with a bill of around 220m. Emissions Authorities in Germany have been investigating the possible manipulation of diesel exhaust emissions in its cars for some time, however there has been no concrete evidence that Mercedes has breached regulations. And the car-maker has vigorously denied any suggestion of cheating. The Mercedes recall decision comes after its executives were last week questioned by politicians about emissions. In May, German police searched 11 offices of the auto maker as part of a special investigation into emissions data. Heres a face you may want to commit to memory. Gilbert Ott is a travel blogger from New York. His site, God Save the Points, specialises in showing travellers how to fly in style by using air miles and booking the best value fares. He also flies business class a lot. Now hes willing to share his lifestyle with mere economy-class civilians by swapping his business-class seat with anyone he happens to share a flight with. And hes flying from Heathrow this weekend. The best thing about business class is the bed, Ott told The Independent. I think that business class allows people to get the closest thing to real sleep on a plane, and when you're on the go, and or need to be fresh right off the flight, it's huge. I can't lie though, I love the champagne far more than I should. The Catch me if you can deal which he freely admits is a method of attracting more people to his work is simple. Spot Ott on a flight this year, tell him you know who he is, and hell swap seats with you, even if youre in a middle seat at the back of the plane. His upcoming flights include domestic US routes like New York to Washington DC and LA, as well as longhaul flights such as the 12-hour Tokyo to Doha. Airlines include Etihad, Thai Airways, Swiss and Cathay Pacific. And now, British Airways have joined in the deal, offering 10 free upgrades (or, rather, double upgrades, since it has a premium economy cabin) to its Club World seats for anyone recognising Ott on one of their flights. His first with BA takes place on Sunday afternoon from Heathrow T5. After that, hell be flying with them roughly every month. Ott told The Independent that hes not entirely a business-class snob. It's been quite a while since I've spent more than eight hours in economy but some trips are all about scheduling, so I'll take what I can get, he said. I don't mind flying economy on newer planes where the air pressure is more natural, windows are bigger and you don't feel the jet lag as much. The Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 are magic for that stuff. Interested in an upgrade? Ott is leaving hints about his routes on Twitter and Instagram. Premium Dan O'Brien Opinion While we catastrophise about Covid, we ignore risk of running out of cash We Irish view the world in an increasingly strange and unhealthy way. We catastrophise about Covid in a way other European countries do not. We focus on how bad the effects of the virus could get, on how many more restrictions might be imposed by Government and how helpless we are in the face of the virus. Mercedes' decision to recall three million diesel vehicles for an emissions software update is being regarded in some circles as an attempt to take the heat out of a sustained investigation by authorities. The company strongly denies any link between the two, though it has been under intense scrutiny in Germany over diesel emissions for a while. The brand has significantly increased sales in Ireland over the past few years. The motor giant has aggressively cut prices by 10pc and 6pc respectively in recent times to hold or gain market share. The application of a new fix will leave the luxury car maker with a bill of around 220m. But that could be small change and money well spent if it helps dampen deepening doubts about diesel emissions and heads off anything even remotely resembling a minor repeat of the infamous Volkswagen saga. This recall brings into sharp focus the whole area of emissions, especially for diesel cars in the wake of that Volkswagen scandal. And it shows the extent of pressure and probing being applied to carmakers as health concerns over nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions especially continue to increase. A number of studies have linked NOx emissions - predominantly from diesel engines - to health concerns especially in built-up urban areas. And with regulators tightening the level of both NOx and C02 emissions for all cars, one thing is for certain. We haven't heard the end of this yet. Nine-year-old Jude Sparks had been hiking in the desert, playing with his brothers, when he stumbled upon a 1.2 million-year old fossil. The young boy came to a stop when he tripped in the Las Cruces wilderness in New Mexico last November, only to find out that he fell on a rare stegomastodon skull. I was running farther up and I tripped on part of the tusk, Sparks, now 10, said. My face landed next to the bottom jaw. I looked farther up and there was another tusk. After researching their find at home, the family decided to contact Peter Houde, a biology professor at New Mexico State University (NMSU) who was familiar with similar types of rare fossil. The academic explained that the long-extinct, primitive stegomastodon, which lived at least 1.2 million years ago, resembled an elephant. For the several types of elephants that we have in the area, this is probably one of the more common of them. But theyre still very rare. This may be only the second complete skull found in New Mexico. Expand Close Peter Houde with the tusk of a stegomastodon (Andres Leighton/NMSU) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Peter Houde with the tusk of a stegomastodon (Andres Leighton/NMSU) The intact skull, although delicate and eggshell thin, is estimated to weigh a ton the jaw alone clocked up 120lbs on the scales. In May, the Sparks family, along with a team of a dozen NMSU students and professors, excavated the skull within the space of a week, after securing funding and chemicals to preserve the finding. Jude told the New York Times that the discovery reignited his interest in fossils, a passion which was initially sparked at five years old. Im not really an expert, but I know a lot about it, I guess. He said that when he came across the skull, he just knew it was something unusual. Houde praised the familys response in reaching out to him, and encouraged others who were fortunate enough to make such a discovery, to approach an expert as fossils found in similar areas are radioactive. Expand Close Partially uncovered skull of the stegomastodon (Peter Houde) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Partially uncovered skull of the stegomastodon (Peter Houde) He said: As you can imagine, when people find out about these things, they might be tempted to go out there and see what they might find themselves and tear up the land or they might hurt themselves. To be quite honest, all these fossils from this area are radioactive and especially for children, not something you would want in your home. The fossil currently lives at the university and will be restored for display. However, the process is expected to take years. Houde said: I have every hope and expectation that this specimen will ultimately end up on exhibit and this little boy will be able to show his friends and even his own children, look what I found right here in Las Cruces. A startled driver caught the moment a plane landed on a highway in front of his moving car. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Thomas Lupski, a real estate agent from New Yorks Long Island, was driving on Sunrise Highway in Yaphank, around 60 miles east of New York city, when he noticed the small craft swooping down a few yards in front of him. The pilot made a miraculous landing, using the dual carriageway as a makeshift runway and safely bringing the plane to a halt on the hard shoulder. Lupski posted the video to his YouTube channel and Facebook page, where it quickly racked up nearly 60,000 views in a matter of hours. Expand Close The plane safely pulled over to the hard shoulder (Thomas Lupski/YouTube) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The plane safely pulled over to the hard shoulder (Thomas Lupski/YouTube) He said: This just happened in front of me on Sunrise Highway in Yaphank. Excuse the language, not every day you almost get hit by a plane. American news reports said the aircraft had made an emergency landing but were unable to confirm how many people were on board at the time. Jeff Sessions would not have been appointed as attorney general by Donald Trump if the president had known he would recuse himself from overseeing the Russia investigation (AP Photo/John Locher, File) Attorney General Jeff Sessions said he has no immediate plans to resign a day after President Donald Trump excoriated the nation's top prosecutor for recusing himself from the probe of suspected Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign. "We love this job, we love this department and I plan to continue to do so as long as that is appropriate," he said. A former senator from Alabama, Mr Sessions was one of President Trump's earliest and ardent supporters and became attorney general in February. A month later, he took himself out of a Justice Department-led inquiry into the election following revelations he'd failed to disclose meetings with the Russian ambassador to the US. President Trump on Wednesday told The New York Times he never would have tapped Mr Sessions for the job had he known a recusal was coming. "Jeff Sessions takes the job, gets into the job, recuses himself, which frankly I think is very unfair to the president," Mr Trump told the newspaper. "How do you take a job and then recuse yourself? If he would have recused himself before the job, I would have said, 'Thanks, Jeff, but I'm not going to take you.' It's extremely unfair - and that's a mild word - to the president." President Trump's blistering rebuke underscored his continuing fury with Mr Sessions more than four months after the recusal and came during an interview in which he also lashed out at Robert Mueller, the special counsel now leading the federal probe; James Comey, the FBI director he fired; Andrew McCabe, the acting FBI director who replaced Mr Comey; and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed the special counsel. President Trump's denouncement reflected a long-simmering frustration with one of his staunchest allies, but was not a calculated attempt to force Mr Sessions from the Cabinet, according to two Trump advisers. For weeks, the president has seethed about Mr Sessions' decision to recuse himself from the federal investigation into whether Trump's campaign coordinated with Russia during last year's election. The White House notably made no effort to retract President Trump's comments in the interview or display confidence in the attorney general. Instead, the two Trump advisers acknowledged that the president's public comments largely reflected what they have heard him say about Mr Sessions privately. Mr Sessions, one of President Trump's earliest supporters, stepped away from the Russia probe following revelations that he had failed to disclose meetings with the Kremlin's ambassador to the US. His decision was made without consulting with the president and essentially paved the way for the appointment of Mr Mueller as special counsel. Mr Mueller's investigation, along with separate congressional probes, has overshadowed much of President Trump's agenda and ensnared several of his associates, including son Donald Trump Jr and his son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner. AP France's head of the armed forces has resigned days after President Emmanuel Macron publicly rebuked him in a bitter clash over plans to slash the military's budget by 850m in the first major test of the young presidency. General Pierre de Villiers said if the budget cuts went through it would leave him in charge of an army "no longer able to guarantee the robust defence force I believe is necessary to guarantee the protection of France and the French people, today and tomorrow". As a result, the five-star general tendered his resignation to the newly elected centrist president and it had been accepted, he said in a statement. The resignation is the first sign of fierce opposition the government is likely to face as it tries to cut 4.5bn in spending by the end of the year to honour its pledge to bring its overall deficit under 3pc of GDP as required under EU budget rules. The row between Mr Macron (39) and General de Villiers (60) erupted late last week when the furious chief-of-staff told a parliamentary defence committee he would not sit idly by while the armed forces were "screwed" by the drastic cuts ordered by the finance ministry. The planned cuts, predominantly by saving money on equipment, total around 850m. Livid, Mr Macron chose to respond publicly while addressing troops on the eve of the annual Bastille Day military parade that was attended by US President Donald Trump. Reminding them he was constitutionally the supreme commander of France's armed forces, he said: "I am your chief. I don't need any pressure or commentary." To ram home his point, Mr Macron then said in a newspaper interview at the weekend that if there was a difference of opinion, "it is the chief of the defence staff who will change his position". The clash sparked a heated political debate over whether the president had overstepped the mark and humiliated his military chief or had little choice but to assert his authority after taking a difficult decision on cuts across the board. The president later announced a 1.5bn rise in military spending for next year - in line with his campaign promise to boost defence spending to 2pc of GDP by 2025 as part of France's commitments to Nato. But that apparently failed to mollify the straight-talking General de Villiers, who served in Kosovo and Afghanistan and is widely liked by the rank and file. The head of the French military since 2014, Gen de Villiers insisted that it was his "duty" to express his concerns about military resources amid the threat of extremist attacks. "I have always taken care... to maintain a military model that guarantees the coherence between the threats that weigh on France and Europe, the missions of our armies that don't stop growing, and the necessary budget means to fulfil them," he said in his statement. The row has brought to a head an early test of the newly elected president's mettle. Yesterday, Mr Macron moved quickly to replace him after his resignation, appointing General Francois Lecointre (55) to fill the role. "It is clear today that the executive cannot bear a situation where its top public servants have a view of things that is different from the political view put together by the Elysee," said General Vincent Desportes, former head of France's top military school. "It's not Erdoganism, but it is not far off," he added in a reference to the Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who faces accusations from opposition leaders of being a dictator in the aftermath of last year's failed military coup. Those remarks were echoed by opposition politicians such as Damien Abad, a member of Les Republicains party, who sits on the parliamentary defence committee. He tweeted that Mr Macron's "excessive authoritarianism led to the resignation." Marine Le Pen, the far-right leader whom Mr Macron beat in the presidential run-off, said the French military had lost "a man of huge value" and claimed the resignation showed "the very serious abuses and worrying limits" of the president's leadership. The deep cuts to the defence budget have angered the military because Mr Macron has made a point of showing support for the military since coming to power in May. In his first foreign visit after taking office, he visited French troops engaged in counter-terrorism operations in Mali. ( Daily Telegraph London) Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] Tens of thousands of Poles protested on Thursday against a new law that allows parliament to appoint Supreme Court judges, defying a European Union warning that the move undermines democracy and the rule of law. The bill, sponsored by the ruling Law and Justice party (PiS), was passed by parliament's lower house earlier in the day after tumultuous debate. That triggered one of the biggest protests since the PiS came to power in late 2015. The vote came a day after the EU gave its largest formerly communist member state a week to shelve judicial reforms that Brussels says would put courts under direct government control. If Warsaw's nationalist-minded PiS does not back down, the government could face fines and even a suspension of voting rights, although other eurosceptics in the EU, notably Hungary, will likely veto strict punishment. Expand Close People protest against supreme court legislation in Wroclaw, Poland, July 20, 2017. Agencja Gazeta/Mieczyslaw Michalak/via REUTERS / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp People protest against supreme court legislation in Wroclaw, Poland, July 20, 2017. Agencja Gazeta/Mieczyslaw Michalak/via REUTERS In the best-case scenario, Poland will see its clout in Brussels wane further, damaged by mounting frustration among its EU peers arising from bitter disputes over issues such as migrant quotas and nature conservation. "We will ... not allow them to trample European values," Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, leader of the Polish People's Party (PSL), told a crowd in Warsaw. "We will not allow ourselves to be pushed out of the European Union." Expand Close People protest against supreme court legislation in Wroclaw, Poland, July 20, 2017. Agencja Gazeta/Mieczyslaw Michalak/via REUTERS / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp People protest against supreme court legislation in Wroclaw, Poland, July 20, 2017. Agencja Gazeta/Mieczyslaw Michalak/via REUTERS A crowd in front of the Presidential Palace, carrying Polish and EU flags responded with chants, "Free Poland, European!" "Free Poland, European!" Sources close to the Presidential Palace told Reuters that President Andrzej Duda was on vacation on the Baltic seacoast. Warsaw City Hall estimated the crowd at more than 50,000, while police put it at 14,000. Tens of thousands demonstrated in other Polish cities. "I wanted to be here on this historic day when our freedoms for which we fought for more than 25 years are being taken away," said Piotr, 48, who came to the protests in Warsaw with his five-year-old son. The government says the changes are needed to make courts accountable and to ensure state institutions serve all Poles, not just the "elites" it says are the support base for the centrist opposition. PiS has offered no concessions, instead presenting the criticism as unacceptable foreign meddling in the domestic affairs of the country, which overthrew communism in 1989 and joined the EU in 2004. Expand Close People protest against the Supreme Court legislation in Czestochowa, Poland, July 20, 2017. Agencja Gazeta/ Grzegorz Skowronek/via REUTERS / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp People protest against the Supreme Court legislation in Czestochowa, Poland, July 20, 2017. Agencja Gazeta/ Grzegorz Skowronek/via REUTERS "We will not give into pressure," Prime Minister Beata Szydlo said on Thursday evening in a special state television address defending the bill. "We will not be intimidated by Polish and foreign defenders of the interests of the elite." The bill will go to parliament's upper house on Friday, where PiS has absolute majority. Duda, a PiS ally, will have to sign it before it can become law. Critics at home and abroad say the legislation is part of a drift towards authoritarianism by the government, which espouses nationalist rhetoric coupled with left-leaning economic policy. Since being elected in 2015, PiS has tightened government control over courts and prosecutors, as well as state media, and introduced restrictions on public gatherings and the activity of non-governmental organisations. Expand Close People protest against Supreme Court legislation in Wroclaw, Poland, July 20, 2017. The text reads "Free courts". Agencja Gazeta/ Kornelia Glowacka-Wolf/via REUTERS / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp People protest against Supreme Court legislation in Wroclaw, Poland, July 20, 2017. The text reads "Free courts". Agencja Gazeta/ Kornelia Glowacka-Wolf/via REUTERS Last week, parliament passed another bill that ends the terms of current members of the National Council of the Judiciary, one of the main judicial bodies, and gives parliament powers to choose 15 of its 25 members. Political opponents, rights groups and the EU say the changes undermine the separation of powers between the executive and the judiciary, a fundamental democratic principle. While PiS remains broadly popular among many Poles, particularly poorer and older voters from the countryside, there have been widespread protests against the plans. European Council President Donald Tusk, a former Polish centrist prime minister and arch-adversary of PiS, said on Thursday he had asked Duda for an urgent meeting about the "political crisis" in the country. Tusk said in a statement that PiS moves on courts were backward, went "against European standards and values", harmed Poland's reputation and risked marginalising the country. "The European Union is not only money and procedures. It is first and foremost values and high standards of public life. That is why a wave of criticism of the government is rising in Europe and in the whole West," Tusk said. A senior aide to Duda, Krzysztof Szczerski, said Tusk should instead focus on explaining Poland's stance in Brussels. "The president is surprised that there has been such increased engagement in this matter by European institutions because everything is in accordance with the Polish legal order," Szczerski told Reuters in an emailed statement. In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban, another nationalist critic of Brussels, wrote a letter to his Polish counterpart to express Budapest's support. "We stand by Poland, and we call on the European Commission not to overstep its authority," Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said. The bill passed on Thursday calls for replacing all Supreme Court judges except those elected by a judicial panel that is to be chosen by the parliament. The Supreme Court's tasks include validating elections. Germany's foreign minister says his country will revise its travel advice for Turkey. Germany has told all citizens travelling to Turkey to exercise caution following the jailing of a human rights activist who had no previous links to the country. Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said the move shows that "every German citizen in Turkey" could suffer the same fate. Mr Gabriel said he also cannot see how the German government can continue to guarantee German companies' investments in Turkey in light of the threat of "arbitrary expropriations for political reasons". He added that Berlin will talk with its European Union partners about the future of pre-accession financial aid for Ankara, which is in slow-moving talks to join the bloc. The German government will consider those questions and "further measures" over the coming weeks, Mr Gabriel said. Mr Gabriel said the jailing of Peter Steudtner, who along with five others including Amnesty International's Turkey director is accused of links to terror groups, showed it was time to shed previous diplomatic restraint toward Ankara. Mr Steudtner's arrest added to a growing list of issues that have weighed on German-Turkish relations for over a year, but particularly since the coup attempt in Turkey a year ago. German authorities say 22 German citizens were held in Turkey in the subsequent crackdown, nine of whom remain in custody. Alongside Mr Steudtner, they include two journalists, Deniz Yucel and Mesale Tolu, who have been accused of aiding terror groups. Mr Steudtner and the other activists were detained in a July 5 police raid on a hotel on the island of Buyukada, off Istanbul, where they were attending a digital security workshop. A court jailed the six, who also include a Swedish IT trainer, on Tuesday. Amnesty International says Mr Steudtner was providing training on non-violence and wellbeing. It is unclear which terror group the six are accused of aiding. "The case of Peter Steudtner shows that German citizens are no longer safe from arbitrary arrests," said Mr Gabriel, who interrupted his holiday for consultations on policy toward Turkey with Chancellor Angela Merkel and other leaders. Mr Steudtner "is not a Turkey expert, he may even have been in Turkey for the first time ... he has neither written, spoken or published about Turkey nor does he have close contacts to Turkish politicians, the opposition or society," Mr Gabriel said. "The cases of Peter Steudtner, Deniz Yucel and Ms. Tolu are examples of the absurd accusations of terror propaganda that obviously are only meant to serve to silence every critical voice in Turkey ... and also voices from Germany," he said. The new German travel advice stopped well short of a formal warning, but stated that "people travelling for private or business reasons to Turkey are advised to exercise elevated caution" and to register with the German embassy or consulate even for short stays. Germany's foreign ministry summoned the Turkish ambassador Wednesday to demand Mr Steudtner's immediate release. Turkey's Foreign Ministry on Thursday slammed "unacceptable" German statements that it described as an attempt to interfere with the Turkish judiciary. In a statement, the ministry said that "the independent Turkish judiciary must be trusted." There were no impediments to consular access, it said. Mr Gabriel, however, said that Germany has consistently had to fight for consular access to Germans arrested over the past year. The foreign ministry accused Germany of applying a "double standard," saying it harbours members of terror groups and prevents their trial. Following the failed coup attempt, more than 50,000 people have been arrested and 110,000 dismissed from their jobs for alleged links to US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen and other terror groups. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly said the rights activists now arrested were involved in a meeting that had the "nature of a continuation" of the coup attempt. "We are still interested in good and trusting relations with the Turkish government," Mr Gabriel said. "But it takes two to tango." AP Later, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman branded as "unfortunate" comments by the German foreign minister. Ibrahim Kalin told reporters that the German comments were "internal political investments" geared toward increasing votes at upcoming elections in the country, and urged German politicians to act in a more "rational manner". "Those who see that animosity ... against our president helps them score points have jumped on the bandwagon," Mr Kalin said. Mr Kalin also condemned German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel's suggestions that German companies' investments in Turkey may not continue to be guaranteed. "We strongly condemn statements that German citizens who travel to Turkey are not safe and that German companies in Turkey have hesitations and concerns," he said. "There is no such thing." Mr Kalin also urged Germany to respect Turkish judicial decisions, saying the group who were detained in Turkey were not ordinary visitors but "as far as the judiciary could establish (they are) people who engaged in illegal or suspicious activities". AP The White House has threatened Venezuela with "strong and swift" action unless President Nicolas Maduro calls off a July 30 "constitutional congress", which the US believes will push the South American country further towards a dictatorship. Mr Maduro, who has now faced more than 100 days of protests, killing around 100 people, insists that getting congress to rewrite the constitution is the only way to restore calm to the troubled country - which has the largest oil reserves in the world, and was once a stable, middle class nation. But his opponents say that the congress will cement his "dictatorship". A senior White House official said that "all options are on the table" if Venezuela goes ahead with the vote. "The president is very concerned about the well being of the Venezuelan people, the incredible erosion of democracy right before our eyes," the official said. "And he has instructed us to do everything we can to support democracy there." The Trump administration was preparing sanctions against Diosdado Cabello, Mr Maduro's second-in-command, and Vladimir Padrino Lopez, the defence minister, Reuters reported. The sanctions would freeze the officials' US assets and prohibit anyone in the United States from doing business with them. Mr Cabello responded on Twitter with an 1826 quote from Simon Bolivar, the independence hero idolised by Hugo Chavez and his allies. He tweeted: "Our liberator is watching over us today: 'The United States seems destined by providence to plague America with misery in the name of liberty.'" He then re-tweeted a message of support from Evo Morales, president of Bolivia, who described the threat as "shameful". There was also a suggestion that the US could be preparing sanctions against PDVSA, the state oil company. Venezuela is the third largest foreign oil supplier to the United States, after Canada and Saudi Arabia, exporting about 780,000 barrels per day of crude. While sanctions against the PDVSA could bankrupt the Maduro administration and worsen already grave food shortages, hitting Venezuela's energy sector could also raise US domestic fuel prices, which would be unpopular with Americans. The White House would not confirm who or what would be sanctioned, but only promised "strong and swift economic actions". "The president views Venezuela as a disaster, and a man-made disaster," the official said.( Daily Telegraph London) Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] (L-R) Vanessa Trump and her husband Donald Trump, Jr. and Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner watch U.S. President Donald Trump cut a cake during the inaugural Armed Services Ball at the National Building Museum January 20, 2017 in Washington, DC Jared Kushner, Donald Trump Jr and former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort are to testify before the US Senate Judiciary Committee in relation to a meeting with a Russian lawyer who promised to provide incriminating information about Hillary Clinton. The meeting has come under intense scrutiny as part of investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 US election and possible collusion on the part of the Trump campaign. Mr Trump Jr and Mr Manafort are to appear in front of the committee on July 26, but Mr Kushner is due to appear on July 24 in a closed session. Mr Kushners lawyer Abbe Lowell said his client is voluntarily cooperating with the congressional probes into the now notorious meeting. In addition, Natalia Veselnitskaya, the Russian lawyer who organised the meeting with Mr Trump Jr, has also said she would be happy to testify. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democratic member of the Judiciary Committee, said the hearing would enable the panel to begin to get testimony under oath. There has been an enormous amount that has been said publicly but it's not under oath, which means that people are free to omit matters or lie with relative impunity, Mr Whitehouse told CNN. California Representative Adam Schiff says the committee will be asking asking those who attended the meeting for testimony and documents. He said he wants to hear from everyone in the meeting, including Ms Veselnitskaya. She earlier told Kremlin-funded RT television outlet that she is ready to testify before the Senate. Both the House and Senate intelligence panels are investigating Russian meddling in the US election. After his much-publicised two-and-a-quarter-hour meeting early this month with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in Germany, US President Donald Trump chatted informally with the Russian leader for up to an additional hour later the same day. The second meeting, undisclosed at the time, took place at a dinner for G20 leaders, a senior administration official said. At some point during the meal, Mr Trump left his own seat to occupy a chair next to Mr Putin. Mr Trump approached alone, and Mr Putin was attended only by his official interpreter. In a statement issued after published reports of the conversation, the White House said that "there was no 'second meeting' between Mr Trump and Mr Putin, just a brief conversation at the end of a dinner. The insinuation that the White House has tried to 'hide' a second meeting," it said, "is false, malicious and absurd." "All the leaders" circulated around the room throughout the dinner, and "President Trump spoke with many leaders," the statement said. "As the dinner was concluding," it said, Mr Trump spoke "briefly" with Mr Putin, who was seated next to first lady Melania Trump. The dinner conversation with Mr Putin was first reported by Ian Bremmer, president of the New York-based Eurasia Group, in a newsletter to group clients. He said the meeting began "halfway in" to the meal and lasted "roughly an hour". The senior official said it began with the dessert course, but did not comment on its length. Pool reporters covering Mr Trump noted that his and Mr Putin's motorcades were among the last to leave the event, departing within minutes of each other just before midnight. The encounter appeared to underscore the extent to which Mr Trump was eager throughout the summit to cultivate a friendship with Mr Putin. During last year's campaign, he spoke admiringly of the Russian leader and at times seemed captivated by him. Meeting each other face-to-face for the first time at the Hamburg summit, the two presidents seemed to have a chemistry in their more formal bilateral session, evidenced by the fact that, despite being scheduled for 35 minutes, it continued for more than two hours. But Mr Trump's newly revealed conversation with Mr Putin at the G20 dinner is likely to stoke criticism, including perhaps from some fellow Republicans in Congress, that he is too cosy with the leader of a major US adversary. Mr Putin's aide provided the only Russian-English interpretation, the White House statement said, because the president was seated next to the wife of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. "Each couple was allowed one translator," it said. "The American translator accompanying President Trump spoke Japanese." The only version of the conversation provided to White House aides was that given by Mr Trump himself, said the administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity before the White House statement was issued. Reporters traveling with the White House were not informed during the trip, and there was no formal readout of the chat. The official Trump-Putin meeting, earlier in the day, led to confusion over whether Mr Trump agreed, as Mr Putin later implied, to accept the Kremlin's denial of any wrongdoing regarding interference in last year's election. That meeting was attended by the leaders and their two interpreters, along with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Mr Tillerson later said Mr Trump twice asked Mr Putin if the conclusions of the US intelligence community that Russia had meddled in the race were true, and Mr Putin twice denied it, so they moved on to other subjects of importance to the bilateral relationship, including Syria. Russia's activities during the election, along with allegations that members of Mr Trump's campaign may have co-ordinated with Kremlin attempts to tilt the race in Mr Trump's direction, are the subject of investigations in Congress and by a special counsel. In Mr Trump's own account of the formal meeting, he repeated earlier comments that another country might have been responsible for cyber-interference in the election. "I'm not saying it wasn't Russia. What I'm saying is that we have to protect ourselves no matter who it is," he told reporters on Air Force One as he returned from a visit to France last week. ( The Washington Post) A real estate sign is surrounded by flames as the Detwiler fire rages on near the town of Mariposa, California on July 18, 2017.AFP PHOTO / JOSH EDELSONJOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images A firefighter (at top) douses flames on a tree as the Detwiler fire rages on near the town of Mariposa, California on July 18, 2017.AFP PHOTO / JOSH EDELSONJOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images A firefighter sprays down flames as the Detwiler fire rages on near the town of Mariposa, California on July 18, 2017. AFP PHOTO / JOSH EDELSONJOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images Firefighters monitor flames on the side of a road as the Detwiler fire rages on near the town of Mariposa, California on July 18, 2017. AFP PHOTO / JOSH EDELSONJOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images Merced and Mariposa County Sheriff's Office members attend a briefing during a wildfire in Mariposa County, Calif., Tuesday, July 18, 2017.. (Merced County Sheriff's Office via AP) Merced and Mariposa County Sheriff's Office members gather during a wildfire in Mariposa County, Calif., Tuesday, July 18, 2017. (Merced County Sheriff's Office via AP) Melted lawn chairs rest outside a residence leveled by the Detwiler fire near Mariposa, Calif., on Wednesday, July 19, 2017. A surging wildfire raced through California mountains and foothills west of Yosemite National Park on Wednesday, forcing thousands to flee tiny, Gold Rush-era towns. (AP Photo/Noah Berger) A scorched car rests next to a residence leveled by the Detwiler fire near Mariposa, Calif., on Wednesday, July 19, 2017. A surging wildfire raced through California mountains and foothills west of Yosemite National Park on Wednesday, forcing thousands to flee tiny, Gold Rush-era towns. (AP Photo/Noah Berger) Flames rise behind a vacant house as a firefighter works to halt the Detwiler wildfire near Mariposa, Calif., on Wednesday, July 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Noah Berger) A raging wildfire in central California that has forced thousands from their homes spread rapidly on Thursday, threatening a town outside Yosemite National Park, fire officials said. The so-called Detwiler Fire, which is menacing Mariposa and other communities in the Sierra Nevada foothills, is only 10 percent contained, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, said on its website. More than 3,000 firefighters battled that fire that has advanced over 70,096 acres (28,366 hectares), Cal Fire said, an increase of more than 22,000 acres since early Thursday morning. The Detwiler Fire was threatening some 1,500 structures and power lines supplying electricity to Yosemite National Park, according to Cal Fire. The park remained open to visitors on Thursday. Expand Close Melted lawn chairs rest outside a residence leveled by the Detwiler fire near Mariposa, Calif., on Wednesday, July 19, 2017. A surging wildfire raced through California mountains and foothills west of Yosemite National Park on Wednesday, forcing thousands to flee tiny, Gold Rush-era towns. (AP Photo/Noah Berger) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Melted lawn chairs rest outside a residence leveled by the Detwiler fire near Mariposa, Calif., on Wednesday, July 19, 2017. A surging wildfire raced through California mountains and foothills west of Yosemite National Park on Wednesday, forcing thousands to flee tiny, Gold Rush-era towns. (AP Photo/Noah Berger) Mariposa is 50 miles from Yosemite National Park, Cal Fire spokeswoman Shanelle Saunders said, adding that the biggest concern with the park right now was air quality due to heavy smoke. Mariposa's 2,000 residents were told to leave town on Tuesday after its power and water links were damaged. Nearly 5,000 people have been ordered to leave their homes, officials said. Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency for Mariposa County on Tuesday. The town's hospital and its 14 patients were not evacuated, the facility's interim Chief Executive Matthew Matthiessen said. Expand Close Firefighters monitor flames on the side of a road as the Detwiler fire rages on near the town of Mariposa, California on July 18, 2017. AFP PHOTO / JOSH EDELSONJOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Firefighters monitor flames on the side of a road as the Detwiler fire rages on near the town of Mariposa, California on July 18, 2017. AFP PHOTO / JOSH EDELSONJOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images Low humidity overnight allowed the fire to quickly consume drought-stricken dense areas of shrubs and small trees, Cal Fire said. The cause of the fire is under investigation. The small communities of Coulterville and Greeley Hill were evacuated on Wednesday. The Detwiler Fire was among 37 large fires across 12 western states as of Wednesday, according to the National Interagency Fire Center's website. Expand Close A firefighter sprays down flames as the Detwiler fire rages on near the town of Mariposa, California on July 18, 2017. AFP PHOTO / JOSH EDELSONJOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A firefighter sprays down flames as the Detwiler fire rages on near the town of Mariposa, California on July 18, 2017. AFP PHOTO / JOSH EDELSONJOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images The last big wildfire to affect Yosemite National Park was the Rim Fire in August 2013, which became the third-largest wildfire in California's history at the time. The 257,314 acre (104,131 hectares) Rim Fire scorched parts of the park and surrounding areas for nearly three months before being contained. Doctors say Senator John McCain has been diagnosed with a brain tumour after a blood clot was removed (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File) Former US presidential candidate Senator John McCain has promised to beat the brain cancer he has been diagnosed with after having a blood clot removed. Doctors said the Arizona senator has glioblastoma, an aggressive cancer. The 80-year-old war hero and his family are considering further treatment, including a combination of chemotherapy and radiation. The senator has been recuperating at his Arizona home after doctors at the Mayo Clinic removed a blood clot above his left eye. The doctors said Mr McCain is recovering from his surgery amazingly well and his underlying health is excellent. Mr McCain is a long-term survivor of melanoma, a deadly skin cancer. But doctors classified this new cancer as a "primary tumour," meaning it is not related to his former malignancies. South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said he spoke to Mr McCain by phone on Wednesday evening. He said his close friend told him: "Yeah, I'm going to have to stay here a little bit longer, take some treatments. I'll be back." Mr McCain was the Republican Party's presidential nominee in 2008, when he was defeated by Barack Obama. Mr Obama tweeted: "John McCain is an American hero & one of the bravest fighters I've ever known. Cancer doesn't know what it's up against. Give it hell, John." President Donald Trump said: "Senator John McCain has always been a fighter. Melania and I send our thoughts and prayers to Senator McCain, Cindy, and their entire family. Get well soon." Mr McCain's absence from Washington had forced Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to delay action on health care legislation. Mr McConnell said: "John McCain is a hero to our conference and a hero to our country. He has never shied from a fight and I know that he will face this challenge with the same extraordinary courage that has characterised his life. "The entire Senate family's prayers are with John, Cindy and his family, his staff, and the people of Arizona he represents so well." Mr McCain's daughter Meghan said: "My love for my father is boundless and like any daughter I cannot and do not wish to be in a world without him. I have faith that those days remain far away." Mr McCain, who served in Vietnam, has a lifetime of near-death experiences, including surviving the July 1967 fire and explosion on the USS Forrestal that killed 134 sailors. In October 1967 his navy aircraft was shot down into Truc Bach Lake in Hanoi, and he spent more than five years in a North Vietnamese prison. "The Hanoi Hilton couldn't break John McCain's spirit many years ago, so Barbara and I know - with confidence - he and his family will meet this latest battle in his singular life of service with courage and determination," said former President George HW Bush. Mr McCain was elected to the Senate from Arizona six times, but twice thwarted in seeking the presidency. A presidential bid in 2000 did not last long, but eight years later, he fought back from the brink of defeat to win the Republican nomination, only to be overpowered by Mr Obama. Read More Mr McCain chose a little-known Alaska governor as his running mate in that race, and helped turn Sarah Palin into a national political figure. After losing to Mr Obama in an electoral landslide, Mr McCain returned to the Senate, determined not to be defined by a failed presidential campaign. And when Republicans took control of the Senate in 2015, he embraced his new job as chairman of the powerful Armed Services Committee, eager to play a big role "in defeating the forces of radical Islam that want to destroy America". Early in the 2016 campaign, Mr McCain largely held his tongue when Mr Trump said: "He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren't captured." He stuck by Mr Trump at times seemingly through gritted teeth - until the release a month before the election of a lewd audio tape in which the tycoon said he could kiss and grab women. Declaring that the breaking point, Mr McCain withdrew his support and said he would back "some good conservative Republican who's qualified to be president". Polish politicians from the ruling Law and Justice party approve a law on court control in Warsaw. (AP) Polish politicians have voted to approve a contentious law that gives control of the nation's Supreme Court to the president instead of to judges, sparking new protests outside parliament in Warsaw. The bill on the Supreme Court has drawn condemnation from the European Union and has led to street protests. Critics say it kills judicial independence and violates the rule of law. The new law, proposed by the ruling populist Law and Justice party, gives the nation's president the power to influence the court's work and to appoint its judges. It calls for the dismissal of the court's current judges, except for those chosen by the president. The vote was 235-192 with 23 abstentions. It came after a parliamentary commission summarily rejected 1,300 opposition amendments to it. It still needs to win approval from the Senate, which is expected to be granted at a session on Friday, and by President Andrzej Duda, who has so far followed the ruling party line. Protesters kicked out at the metal barriers that separated them from the parliament and chanted "Shame". Some carried banners urging Mr Duda to veto the bill. The new law is part of the ruling party's drive to reorganise all levels of Poland's judiciary. The party leader, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, insists the justice system needs radical reform and new people because, he says, it still works along communist-era lines and is based on people from that previous political system. Judges dispute his claims. But many observers say the justice system is inefficient and needs reform. Opposition politician and former justice minister Borys Budka says the bill makes the judges dependent on one party and denies citizens the right to independent courts. He also condemned the speed with which the bill was passed, saying it was done without proper public consultation. Supreme Court chief Malgorzata Gersdorf says, on average, the court takes seven months to rule on a case, which she calls a good result, given that the court handles the most difficult and complicated matters. The European Commission has warned it could strip Poland of its European Union voting rights over the changes the government is making to the judiciary. Mr Duda has rejected a request for a meeting from EU leader Donald Tusk, according to one of his top aides. AP Doctors say Senator John McCain has been diagnosed with a brain tumour after a blood clot was removed (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File) John McCain has promised to return to work while making a good-natured dig at his Republican and Democratic colleagues who were jolted by news of the senator's brain cancer diagnosis. "I greatly appreciate the outpouring of support - unfortunately for my sparring partners in Congress, I'll be back soon, so stand-by!" Mr McCain said in a tweet. The 80-year-old, the GOP's presidential nominee in 2008, was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive type of brain cancer, according to doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, who had removed a blood clot above his left eye last Friday. "Subsequent tissue pathology revealed that a primary brain tumour known as a glioblastoma was associated with the blood clot," his office said in a statement late on Wednesday. The senator and his family are considering further treatment, including chemotherapy and radiation, as he recuperates at his home in Arizona. Prayers and words of encouragement multiplied on Thursday from presidents and Senate colleagues past and present. "I called Senator John McCain this morning to wish him well and encourage him in his fight. Instead, he encouraged me," said former President George W Bush, who prevailed over Mr McCain for the GOP presidential nomination in 2000. "I was impressed by his spirit and determination." Former Sen Bob Dole of Kansas said: "Having known John for many decades, I am certain that he is as tough as they come - if anyone can defeat this, it's him. John is a true American hero." Mr McCain's closest friend in the Senate, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said he spoke to the senator on Wednesday night and that the diagnosis was a shock. He said Mr McCain is fighting the illness, and "woe is me" is not in his DNA. "One thing John has never been afraid of is death," said Mr Graham, who said he expects Mr McCain to be back. According to the American Brain Tumour Association, more than 12,000 people a year are diagnosed with glioblastoma, the same type of tumour that struck Mr McCain's close Democratic colleague in legislative battles, the late Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts. The American Cancer Society puts the five-year survival rate for patients over 55 at about 4%. Mr McCain has a lifetime of near-death experiences - surviving the July 1967 fire and explosion on the USS Forrestal that killed 134 sailors; flying into power lines in Spain; the October 1967 shoot-down of his Navy aircraft and fall into Truc Bach Lake in Hanoi; and five-and-a-half years in a North Vietnamese prison. "The Hanoi Hilton couldn't break John McCain's spirit many years ago, so Barbara and I know - with confidence - he and his family will meet this latest battle in his singular life of service with courage and determination," said former President George HW Bush. Politics aside, Mr McCain and Bill Clinton developed a strong friendship, and the former president said: "As he's shown his entire life, don't bet against John McCain. Best wishes to him for a swift recovery." In the past, Mr McCain had been treated for melanoma, but a primary tumour is unrelated. Doctors said Mr McCain is recovering from his surgery "amazingly well" and his underlying health is excellent. AP A nationwide strike against plans to rewrite the constitution shut down much of Venezuelan's capital before erupting into sporadic violence when protesters clashed with riot police and burned a post office near the headquarters of the main state-run broadcaster. Wealthier, pro-opposition neighbourhoods of eastern Caracas were shuttered and silent until early afternoon, when improvised blockades left them almost entirely cut off from the rest of the city. Groups of masked young men set fire to a handful of blockades and threw stones at riot police, who fired back tear gas. A public transport strike appeared to have halted nearly all bus traffic and thousands of private businesses defied government demands to stay open as opponents of President Nicolas Maduro called the first major national strike since a 2002 stoppage that failed to topple Mr Maduro's predecessor Hugo Chavez. Mr Maduro said on national television that he will press ahead with plans to rewrite the nation's constitution and said that hundreds of Venezuela's largest companies are functioning "at 100%" despite the strike. The claim could not be immediately confirmed. In neighbourhoods of western Caracas traditionally loyal to the ruling party, some stores were closed but bakeries, fruit stands and other shops were open and hundreds of people were in the streets, although foot and vehicle traffic were about half of what they would be on a normal weekday. In the rest of the city, residents commented that the streets were emptier than on a typical Sunday. The 24-hour strike was meant as an expression of national disapproval of Mr Maduro's plan to convene a constitutional assembly that would reshape the Venezuelan system to consolidate the ruling party's power over the few institutions that remain outside its control. The opposition is boycotting a July 30 election to select members of the assembly. "Definitively, we need a change," said teacher Katherina Alvarez. "The main objective is for people to see how dissatisfied people are." The country's largest business group, Fedecamaras, has cautiously avoided full endorsement of the strike, but its members have told employees that they will not be punished for coming to work. Fedecamaras played a central role in the months-long 2002-2003 strike that Mr Chavez's political rivals and opponents in Venezuela's private business sector orchestrated in an attempt to topple him. Mr Chavez emerged from the strike and exerted control over the private sector with years of expropriations, strict regulations and imports bought with oil money and meant to replace local production. Business groups estimate that 150,000 Venezuelan businesses have closed over the last 15 years. The opposition called a 12-hour national strike last year that saw little response and was widely seen as a failure. The Venezuelan Workers' Confederation, a labour coalition with ties to the opposition, said at least 12 of its 20 member organisations across the country had decided to join the strike. Transportation workers in the capital Caracas also said they would participate. Many of those who opted to work said they walked hours to get to their jobs, unable to find a bus or taxi. "We urgently need a change in government, because what we are living through is pathetic," said Frangeli Fernandez, 24, an accountant who walked three hours to his job at a bank. Although not entirely in agreement with the strike, Mr Fernandez said he agreed with doing something "very radical to get out of this". Walking through the streets of Venezuela's capital on Thursday, opposition leader Henrique Capriles called on people at roadblocks to allow ambulances and other emergency vehicles through. Protesters across Caracas set up roadblocks of tree branches and tyres to protest against Mr Maduro's plans to change the constitution. Some residents were irritated by the roadblocks, saying the protest was yet another way the country's political upheaval is disrupting their lives. "The government jails the people who protest and those who are protesting are caging the rest of us. It's unfair," said Maria Sandoval, a 27-year-old medical secretary. But those at the roadblocks said they had no plans to stop until Mr Maduro leaves power. "The people don't want this government," accountant Wilfredo Villegas said as he manned a roadblock with neighbours. "We're here making them understand that we don't want this government. They have to go, in a non-violent way. They have to call general elections." AP The NorthEast Foundation, whose mission is to provide financial and community support for Carolinas HealthCare System NorthEast, announced the recipient of the 2017 Ann Cannon Spirit of Volunteerism Scholarship Award. This years Scholarship Award winner is 18-year-old local resident James K. Hoover. Hoover graduated from Mallard Creek High School in Charlotte and plans to attend the University of North CarolinaCharlotte in the fall. Hoover has been a volunteer with Carolinas HealthCare System NorthEast since 2015 for the Faith Community Health Ministry Department. In addition, he was a National Youth Advisor for the Alliance for a Healthier Generation and designed and maintains a website for the Charlotte Food Policy Council. The Ann Cannon Spirit of Volunteerism Scholarship Award was established in 2004 and is endowed through the NorthEast Foundation as a gift from William Cannon in honor of his wife, Ann Cannon. William Cannon endowed this award as recognition of his wifes volunteer contributions as a member and past chairman of the NorthEast Foundation and her passion for Carolinas HealthCare System NorthEast. It is truly an honor to gift this scholarship each year to a worthy young individual, Ann Cannon said. It is my philosophy that volunteerism is a priceless commodity that cannot be bought, only earned. James has certainly exemplified the true meaning of this statement at CHS NorthEast. As a recipient, I know he will continue to demonstrate this philosophy in his future path toward higher education in the healthcare profession. The award is used to recognize and support volunteer service among members of the Junior Volunteer Program. The recipients use this scholarship to assist them as they further their educational pursuits following high school graduation. Twenty-five young professionals will become more effective community leaders as they learn about the needs and issues facing central Indiana as members of Class XLII of the Stanley K. Lacy Executive Leadership Series (SKL). Each year the SKL Series selects 25 individuals to participate in this highly competitive program, which seeks to expand the ranks of community leaders by teaching and motivating members to address the needs of central Indiana. Class members are chosen because of their significant community involvement and professional achievement; their demonstrated interest in community issues; a record of participation and achievement in voluntary community activities; and their willingness to expand their leadership role in the community. Through their participation in this SKL class, these young professionals are investing in themselves as a new generation of leaders, said Rebecca King, vice president of programs and alumni relations and SKL program director at Leadership Indianapolis. They are making a public commitment to playing a key role in central Indianas future, and our community will be strengthened by their passion, insight and leadership. Carolene Mays-Medley has been named the moderator for SKL Class XLII. Mays-Medley is executive director of the White River State Park Development Commission. To ensure that the series is timely and topical, each classs moderator identifies aspects of broad economic and societal issues that are specific to central Indiana for the class to study. It is a distinct honor for me to serve as moderator of this upcoming SKL class of emerging leaders, said Mays-Medley. SKL is a distinguished, impactful leadership series. Through it, this impressive group of young professionals is taking the initiative to grow more effective in community leadership. I look forward to engaging with them over the next year as we explore, discuss and work to understand more fully, major issues impacting our community; and they deepen their passion to make a difference in strengthening and building our future society. Class XLII will meet monthly from September through June. Participants will interact with local leaders, professional experts and community decision makers to discuss a range of community issues. For more details, visit SKL Indy.com. Class XLII Roster Carolene Mays-Medley Moderator Joshua Anderson Principal Anderson + Bohlander LLC Jennifer Bartenbach Chief financial officer Central Indiana Community Foundation Mark Beebe Partner Lancer+Beebe LLC Elyssa Campodonico- Barr Chief of staff The Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles Daniel Cornpropst Network director of patient experience Community Health Network Jason Dudich State budget director State of Indiana /State Budget Agency Manny Herceg Associate Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP Dawn Howard Regional sales and marketing manager BKD LLP Andrea Hunley Principal Center for Inquiry School 2 Dustin Jones Senior client advisor Ginovus Clark P. Kirkman Attorney, Office of Legal Counsel Indiana Department of Environmental Management Ronni Kloth Program director, community development Lilly Endowment Inc. Amy Levander Executive director of government affairs Krieg DeVault LLP Kristian Little Stricklen Public information director Indianapolis Public Schools Sarah Sullivan Program officer Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation Ryan McKeown Executive director J.P. Morgan Chase Bank N.A. Geoffrey J. McDonald Manager, business development Indiana Sports Corp Chris Morehead Manager of volunteer services Indianapolis Museum of Art Sarah Myer Director of marketing Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Johnny Pryor Assistant dean for student affairs Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law Libby Stickle Senior director, integrated marketing communications Angies List Taryn Stone Partner Ice Miller LLP Melissa Thompson Project manager Hathaway Strategies Rebecca Thompson Boyle Business development manager CID Capital Justin Wade Executive artistic director Young Actors Theatre The crabs in a bucket mentality is often attributed to people who climb over and pull down those around them in an attempt to make it to the top. It is frequently used in relation to Black people who act selfishly and maliciously toward other Blacks. For years, when Id hear elders use this analogy, I felt that it was steeped in some sort of anti-Black rhetoric. I feel similarly about the notion of Black on Black crime. I thought, We are not the only racial group who has these problems, so why the need to associate ourselves with such poor behavior? In some ways, thats true. Yes, Black people are not the only ones who backbite and backstab one another to get ahead, but the caveat is, we feel the pain a little deeper. When we dont work together, we suffer. The other day, a friend of mine who is a member of a Black Greek-Letter Organization (BGLO) shared with me a video clip from the Roland Martin show, featuring a panel of three BGLO members and one non-member. The conversation, taped live during Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc.s 94th General Convention in Baltimore last week, focused on Greek organizations and their activism or lack thereof. Martin, who is himself an Alpha, began by stating, though the organizations collectively known as the National Pan-Hellenic Council have millions of members and strong organizational leadership, the group has not sufficiently maximized its power. Jeff Johnson, journalist and fellow fraternity member, concurred, adding that he believes the organizations waste money and leave conventions with no legitimate strategies. Toward the end of the conversation, he noted that these issues affect not only BGLOs, but also other national predominantly Black organizations. The challenge that were having is broad. We have incredibly weak national leadership by and large when it comes to creating consistent and focused agendas, he said. He added that those involved in these institutions must challenge who we have on our boards and make it a mandate to say, image means nothing without impact. Now, I am not a member of a BGLO and have not dealt with any of those organizations closely enough to add my two cents, but I feel that what Martin and Johnson shared can be applied in other instances. For example, the panel discussed the fact that many Black organizations, rather than working together on key initiatives that affect the Black community, opt to recreate the work in their own likeness. Why? I believe it comes down to intention. Right here in Indianapolis, I have been involved with groups where the intention was pure. There was a need, and without any fanfare or extra-ness, folks got together and addressed it. On the flipside, Ive been around when the intention was impure, when people had hidden allegiances, whether to politics or pocketbooks, that surfaced in the work. This is what is most damaging to us. In doing the work of the people, political alliances and current (or potential) funding shouldnt even enter the conversation. I do understand that money and political clout can be leveraged to make change, but theres a limit to which we should allow ourselves to be governed by their influence. There have also been times when, instead of focusing on the work, a person had to make sure their logo, their messaging or their name was front and center. Ive watched as one group planned an event, purportedly to bring awareness to a major community issue, even though there was a demonstration already planned in the same week for the same purpose! These people were more concerned with notoriety and appeasing power structures. They put image over impact, which resulted in piss-poor execution. We have what seems like an innumerable list of groups going after the same coins, targeting the same communities and essentially doing the same work. The need to survive and exist independently, like those crabs in the bucket, often leads to shoving, pulling and clawing matches. And in the end, that mentality leads us to destruction. Its been almost a year, but there are some wounds time just cant heal. On Sept. 21, 2016, Charlese Zinnerman was shot in the head while driving near 10th Street and Belleview Place on Indianapolis west side. Later at the hospital, Zinnerman was pronounced dead, and her organs were distributed among six transplant recipients. She was 22 years old. Zinnermans death is just one of the more than 80 homicides that happened in Indianapolis last year and remained unsolved by years end. So far this year, at least three dozen of the citys homicide investigations carry the same weighty designation: Disposition: Unsolved. Some of the women in Zinnermans life spoke with the Recorder recently about their loss, the harrowing search for answers and their hope that, some day, justice will be served. Shots fired Wendy Jenkins, Charleses stepmother: She was over in the Haughville area. Earlier in the day, there had been a driveby at this particular house. I guess they were all sitting there posted up. When she turns the block, somebody I guess thought, Theyre back, and they came outside and started firing. I dont know what made her look their way, but she was shot in the forehead. Her car crashed, her 5-year-old daughter (Skye) jumped out and went up to a house and told them she needed help, that her mommy was dead. Since then, were just trying to pick up the pieces. Her daughter goes to my childcare; were just trying to stay strong for her. Tamu Coleman, Charleses mother: When I got the call, I was told she had been in an accident. On my way to the hospital I received a call from one of her friends who said she had been shot. When I got to the hospital, I found out what happened. She went over to a friends house a street over from where she was shot. When she left there and turned the corner, thats when somebody started shooting. And she caught a bullet. She was dead when I got to the hospital. It makes me angry that I wasnt there to help my granddaughter. Im just at home, in the bed asleep. Sandy Zinnerman, Charleses grandmother: We were home in bed, and my daughter came in and woke me up, she said, Mama, we dont know if someones acting silly or what, but we just got a call that Charlese got shot in the head. I said, Give me the phone, somebodys probably acting silly. And then something just came over me. And I said lets get up and see whats going on. I went (to the hospital) and they kept saying she was gone. And I didnt want to believe it. I asked her aunt how she was doing, and she said, I think shes already gone. And I lost it. They were all trying to hold me down. I said I just want to see her. This lady kept trying to comfort me and I said, Take the bullet out of her head, and I was seeing all these tubes everywhere on her. I just couldnt take it. I just kept telling her, I want you to get on up. Quit playing with me. And she just laid there. I still hear her in my mind. Wendy: I was just thankful that Skye knocked on the right door, because she couldve knocked on the wrong door, and the situation could have been even worse. Tamu: She could have even caught one of the bullets, you know? Thats why (investigators, media) should make it a big deal; there was a child in the car. The aftermath Tamu: I have my good days and my bad days. Im just angry, because the people who (I suspect) did the shooting, they knew my daughter very well. They didnt know it was her at the time, but when they found out it was her, they shouldve stepped up and owned up to their mistake. Sometimes I dont even know how I feel. Im angry. Im hurt. I try to stay busy so it wont be on my brain a lot. A lot of things I dont do, because I still have my daughters child to take care of. I have to think about her before I do something crazy myself. I want to go knock on doors and confront people, but people are so quick to pull out guns, its ridiculous. When I heard the story about the lady who got shot up by Longs Bakery, it just opened up old wounds for me. Wendy: The hurt is real, and its just sad that you try to steer your kids the right way, and even with them not out in the world doing crazy stuff themselves, harm still comes. Tamu: (Skye is) OK. Wendy: Shes alright now, but she was afraid to be riding out in the car. Tamu: I think its really going to affect her when shes older. Right now, all shes worried about is birthdays and, you know, what 6-year-olds do. She talks about her mother all the time. She knows her mothers gone, and she knows her mothers never coming back. She does understand that part. I dont think its really hit her yet; itll probably hit her when she gets older. I used to try to talk to her about it to see if she remembers anything, but I let her bring it up. I dont just bring it up. (I see Charlese in Skye) all the time! She and my son, they act just like how he and Charlese used to act. Its crazy; when they get to arguing, I call her Charlese. I forget thats not Charlese; thats Skye. Its OK though; thats going to happen. Sandy: (My grief) is not as bad now as it used to be, but I still keep hearing her in my mind. Did you cook? Im on my way over there, me and Skye. The familys changed. Everybodys just, not close at all. I dont know why really. Wendy: I think everybody grieves differently, and some people shut down. Cold case Tamu: I dont know too much about the investigation anymore, because any time I call, they never answer the phone. When I found out the people were moving out of the house, I called them. I left a message to let them know. Wendy: Is anybody else following along with them? I dont think the family (of the victim) should have to follow up and do the detectives job. Tamu: I try not to watch the news, but its hard to avoid on Facebook. But when certain people get killed, they make it a big deal. Im not trying to sound racist, but with those two little Delphi girls, theyre constantly talking about it. My daughter got killed and it was talked about for maybe a week, and now its nothing. But Im on social media, and the people that killed her are on social media, so I constantly bring her up, post pictures, because I want them to not forget about what theyve done. Wendy: Hopefully one day somebody will step up and say something. From what I understand, detectives know which house the bullets came from, they just dont have any hard evidence, and anybody who lives at the house is saying they were not home at the time. Tamu: Evidently they know the gunfire came from a certain porch, but theyre not able to prove who was shooting the gun. The people that lived in that house, they just moved like two weeks ago. Its still unsolved. They dont have anybody to say it was them shooting, so they havent locked anybody up yet. Sandy: I keep saying, as long as its been, theyre going to come forward and tell the truth by now. But nobody wants to tell on themselves. Somebody knows something. I keep praying that itll come to pass. We just want justice. That would put a lot of peoples minds at ease. Tamu: Even if theyre locked up, Im still going to be angry, because its not fair. She was at work all day for 12 hours, came and picked her daughter up, got her hair done and never made it home. Wendy: Its just crazy that, like Tamu said, Charlie was not the target. I know nobody wants to go to prison, but at some point, when do you wake up and say, I know these people are hurting. They want justice. I did the wrong thing, and I need to confess and get this off of my conscience. Anyone with information about this or another crime is encouraged to call Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at (317) 262-TIPS. Callers can remain anonymous. Tips can also be submitted online at crimetips.org. Charlese Zinnerman Black Churches are more than places of worship. They are the vibrant hearts of the African-American community that bring the Gospel into our lives; inspire faith, grace, love and mercy; and foster a deep commitment to service. For centuries, Black Churches and faith leaders have been at the forefront of the struggle for civil rights, including voting rights and the right to a quality education. And we need the Black Churchs leadership for another adversary: HIV. Make no mistake: Our nation is facing an epidemic that is ravaging our community from coast to coast. Today, HIV affects African-Americans more than any other racial or ethnic group in the country. While we represent just 12 percent of the population, we account for 41 percent of people living with HIV in the United States. This is truly unacceptable. As part of The Black Church & HIV: The Social Justice Imperative initiative, the NAACP is asking churches across the nation to observe Day of Unity on Sunday, July 23, and preach from the pulpit about HIV as a social justice issue. African-Americans must fully acknowledge the scope of this epidemic and recognize the hundreds of thousands of brothers and sisters it has taken from us. In fact, we account for more than half of deaths attributed to HIV/AIDS according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Like many who grew up in the Black Church, I look to my pastor for guidance in my faith and all paths of life. It is vital that faith leaders take the lead in this fight, committing to educate, engage and motivate their congregations to take positive action to end the HIV epidemic, especially in our communities. Overall, about one in 20 African-American men and one in 48 African-American women will be diagnosed with HIV during their lifetimes; and 44 percent of all new HIV infections are among African-Americans. This crisis is not just about public and community health: Its about social justice and institutionalized racism. The numbers are deeply disturbing but not surprising. Such is the scale of the epidemic that nearly all African-Americans have a friend, family member, colleague or acquaintance that is impacted by HIV. I am no exception. Thats why in 2011 the NAACP partnered with Gilead Sciences to create The Black Church & HIV initiative to develop a national network of African-American faith leaders who will address the disproportionate impact of HIV on Black Americans. The NAACP is committed to helping enlist faith leaders from around the country to break the stigma surrounding this disease, engage in meaningful conversation and education with their congregants, provide compassionate support and spiritual guidance to those living with HIV, and encourage Black Churches to take action through a social justice lens. In 2013, we took an additional step to further the impact and reach of our efforts by making a Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Commitment to Action. By 2018, our goal is to conduct 45 faith leader trainings in the 30 cities most highly impacted by HIV, obtain proactive resolutions from historically Black mainline denominations and integrate HIV as a social justice issue into required curricula in predominantly African-American theological seminaries. Thus far, weve reached more than 1,500 pastors. But we need hundreds more before we can have the kind of transformative impact necessary to save us from continued, but avoidable, devastation and advance us closer to better health and true justice for our community. As the NAACP gathers in Baltimore from July 2226 for its 108th National Convention, the importance of joining us in the fight against HIV must be a message that participants will organize around in their own communities and churches. As someone whose faith is central to her life, I ask our shepherds our faith leaders in the African-American community to grasp this unique opportunity to have a significant, positive impact in the fight against HIV. We must break the silence about the dangers of HIV and the scope of the epidemic, educate our communities about prevention and advocacy and stop the growth of this disease once and for all. With the commitment of our faith leaders, I believe this is a fight we can win. Dr. Marjorie Innocent serves as the senior director of health programs at the NAACP and is responsible for the management of the NAACPs policy and programmatic agenda to reduce health disparities and improve health outcomes for African-Americans and other communities of color. Marijuana aficionados lined up at pharmacies across Uruguay on Wednesday to become the first to legally buy pot from pharmacies as a law regulating its sale took full effect. The South American nation had become the first country to fully legalise the cultivation and sale of the recreational marijuana in 2013, but the implementation has been slow. thecannabist.co Any citizen over the age of 18 can register to buy the drug. Authorities say nearly 5,000 people have registered as consumers allowing them to buy up to 40 grams per month using fingerprint recognition. About two-thirds of them live in Montevideo. The price is set at the equivalent of $1.30 per gram, with 90 cents of that going to the two businesses chosen to cultivate marijuana. The rest is split between the pharmacies and the government, which will use its share to fund prevention programs. The marijuana comes in packages emblazoned with a seal of authenticity and warnings about the drug's effects. mystatesman.com They will have a choice between two strains: Alfa 1 and Beta 1both varieties that have a relatively low amount of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) (2 percent) comparatively to the weed found in U.S. Colorado (18 .7 percent), according to VICE. THC is the ingredient that is responsible for giving you a high. "I hope Im wrong, but all the indications are that the effect will be weak, given the content," said Raquel Peyraube, president of the Uruguayan Society for the Study of Cannabis, a collective of health professionals that promotes the investigation of marijuana for medical use, reports the GUARDIAN. businessinsider.com Customers sniffed pungent green buds and grinned as they showed off blue-and-white envelopes containing the plant, which is now available as part a 2013 measure that made Uruguay the first nation to legalise a pot market covering the entire chain from plants to purchase. Santiago Pinatares, a 35-year-old construction worker, braved freezing temperatures in the capital, Montevideo, as he waited outside one of the 16 pharmacies authorised to sell marijuana. He said he has been smoking pot since age 14 but had no choice but to buy on the black market until now. nommagazine.com "To be able to buy it legally is a huge breakthrough," he told The Associated Press. "Uruguay is at the forefront of the world on this." Some customers declined to comment saying they didn't want their families or employers to know they were buying marijuana. Uruguay became the first country to regulate a national marijuana marketplace in an effort to fight rising homicide and crime rates associated with drug trafficking. The law also lets licensed individuals grow marijuana plants and form clubs. legaliseitcyprus.com The country's marijuana plan was widely applauded globally and seen as going beyond marijuana legislation in the U.S. states of Colorado and Washington, but polls showed that most Uruguayans opposed it. Most of the country's estimated 1,200 pharmacies also decided not to register to sell, stoking a debate over how the drug should be distributed. Experts attributed delays in the implementation of the pioneering plan to the fact that no other country had attempted such an ambitious endeavour. esquire.com "There was a lot of hard work to finally come to this day," Drug czar Diego Olivera said. "It is a challenging and complex project, and today we have taken a step forward." Over half of the terror attacks in the world in 2016 took place in five countries including India and Pakistan. Justin Siberell, a US counter-terror official, in its report, said that the total number of terror attacks in 2016 were lower than in 2015. bccl "And although terrorist attacks took place in 104 countries in 2016, they were heavily concentrated geographically, as they have been for the past several years." "Fifty-five per cent of all attacks took place in Iraq, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, and the Philippines, and 75 per cent of all deaths due to terrorist attacks took place in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Nigeria, and Pakistan," Siberell said. bccl He added that the total number of terrorist attacks in 2016 decreased by 9 per cent, and total deaths due to terrorist attacks decreased by 13 per cent compared to 2015. "This was largely due to fewer attacks and deaths from terrorist attacks in Afghanistan, Syria, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Yemen. At the same time, there was an increase in terrorist attacks and total deaths in several countries, including Iraq, Somalia, and Turkey." The report stated that ISIS was responsible for more attacks than any other group in 2016. In 2015, Taliban was responsible for more attacks and deaths. Heiza Shankal was among hundreds of unfortunate Yazidi women and girls who were seized by ISIS and taken as slaves in August 2014. She was held as a captive by the militants for three years but has now returned home, in northern Iraq, to take revenge on her oppressors. Arab24 While men were killed and boys were tortured, women and girls were being owned as sexual slaves. Shankal was one of those women who was "sold and bought". When she was finally released from captivity, she was brought back to her hometown in Sinjar by her "comrades" where she joined a women's resistance group, reports The Independent. REUTERS "I am carrying this weapon to take revenge from Abu Hassan, Abu Yusuf and Abu Sa'ad, who tortured me and tortured many mothers," she said in an interview with Arab24. Were excited to announce that indmin.com is now part of fastmarkets.com. A new look and an improved experience means you can still stay ahead of this fast-moving market with price data, news and market intelligence right here on Fastmarkets. Discover more than 2000 prices, news and analysis in primary and secondary metals markets. We cover base metals, industrial minerals, ores and alloys, steel, scrap and steel raw materials. If you already have a Fastmarkets account, youll still have uninterrupted access to your markets by logging in with your current details. It was a lucky day for 200 inmates at a Ilesha Prison, Osun State, as the Chairman, Springtime Development Foundation, Dr. Deji Adeleke, secured their release. The Vice-Chairman of the foundation, Mr. Banji Adesuyi, said this at the Ilesa Prison on Tuesday when the group was donating 700 mattresses and the same number of pillows to the inmates. Adesuyi said Adeleke became aware that inmates of the prison were sleeping on the bare floor when he went to pay a visit to an embattled chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Alhaji Diekola Oyedele, who was detained at the prison. He explained that the foundation paid for the release of inmates, who were incarcerated because they could not pay fines as low as N5,000, stressing that the foundation did not secure the release of any inmate convicted because of crime. Adesuyi said Adeleke was not prompted to secure the release of the inmates because of political reason but purely on humanitarian ground. According to him, the foundation will not limit the gesture to Ilesa Prison, stating that it will soon extend the same gesture to Ile-Ife Prison before moving outside the state. The foundations chairman said that the organisation would ensure that inmates were introduced to computer literacy, tailoring and woodwork in order to make them useful members of the society even after completing their jail terms. Adesuyi said, Dr. Deji Adeleke paid for the release of over 200 inmates last week when he came to visit a prominent politician, who was detained at the prison. A woman was detained with her baby because she could not pay a debt of N65,000, he ( Adeleke) paid the debt, the woman was released and he also gave her another N100,000 to start another trade. The Managing Director of the foundation, Samuel Oyalabu, said Adelekes gesture should spur other Nigerians to do the little they could to alleviate the suffering of the poor. One of the inmates, Ekene Madunagwu, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, expressed appreciation to Adeleke, saying he had not seen anybody demonstrate the kind of gesture shown by the businessman. Source: ( Premium Times ) The National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has been told by a Lagos High Court to mandate the Nigeria Bottling Company (NBC) to include on all bottles of Fanta and Sprite soft drinks manufactured by the company a written warning that the content in such bottles of Fanta and Sprite cannot be taken with Vitamin C as same becomes poisonous if taken with Vitamin C. The court dismissed an application filed by the Nigeria Bottling Company Plc seeking an order of the court staying execution of the order. However, the court ordered conditional stay of execution of the N2 million cost awarded against NAFDAC, but ordered the agency to pay the money into an interest yielding account in the name of the Chief Registrar of the court, pending the determination of the appeal filed by NAFDAC. The ruling delivered by Justice Adedayo Oyebanji was sequel to an application filed before the court by a Lagos lawyer, T.A. Busari SAN on behalf of NBC urging the court to stay the execution of the judgment of the court on the ground that the order made by the court will adversely affect the operations of the company, if the execution of same is not stayed, pending the outcome of the appeal filed by the company. In a related development Professor Taiwo Osipitan SAN, also filed an application for stay of execution of the judgment of the court on behalf NAFDAC. He contended that NAFDAC has appealed against the judgment of the court at the Court of Appeal. In opposition, Barrister Abiodun Onidare, who is the counsel to the claimants, Dr Emmanuel FIJABI Adebo and his company, Fijabi Adebo Holding, argued that the paramount interest of the public was what mattered most and not the business policy and reputation of the Nigeria Bottling Company. Mr Onidare further argued that the application for stay must fail because the defendant has failed to put before the court, materials which will necessitate the grant of same . In her ruling justice Oyebanji said: It seems to the court evidence that in the event of a refusal of the application for stay of execution, if the business interest of the Nigeria Bottling company is consequently adversely affected, a return to status quo can be achieved if Nigeria Bottling Companys appeal at the Court of Appeal succeeds. It is beyond argument that if the application for stay is granted and human health is consequently adversely affected, it is most unlikely that there can indeed be a return to status quo. It is imperative to add the resultant effect of the order sought to be stayed is the preservation of human life, the business interest of Nigeria Bottling Company cannot in my respected view take precedent over public health. The importance of public health is clearly demonstrated and underscored by the constitutional provision in section 45 thereof. For the reasons herein adumbrated, it seems to me manifest that Nigeria Bottling Company has failed to disclose any special circumstances which would warrant the grant of this application. Accordingly, Nigeria bottling company s application for stay of execution fails and it is hereby dismissed. Upon a consideration of the fact that the kernel of the complaint of NAFDAC as contained in its notice of appeal is premised on an alleged lack of jurisdiction of the court to adjudicate upon this case in relation to NAFDAC, the court has come to the conclusion that in the circumstances of this case it is expedient to grant a conditional stay. Accordingly, a conditional stay of execution of the judgment is hereby granted in relation to the N2 million cost awarded in favour of the claimants against NAFDAC. The N2 million cost shall be paid into an interest yielding account in the name of the Chief Registrar of the high court of Lagos state pending the hearing and determination of the appeal filed by the learned silk to NAFDAC. It will be recalled that in a judgment delivered by Justice Oyebanji on 15 February 2017, the court ordered the NAFDAC to forthwith mandate NBC to include on all bottles of Fanta and Sprite soft drinks manufactured by the company a written warning that the content of the said bottles of Fanta and Sprite soft drinks cannot be taken with Vitamin C as same becomes poisonous if taken with vitamin C. The court also declared that NAFDAC has failed the citizens of this great nation by its certification as satisfactory for human consumption, products in which in the United Kingdom failed sample test for human consumption and which become poisonous in the presence of Ascorbic Acid ordinarily known as Vitamin C,which can be freely taken by the unsuspecting public with the Fanta and Sprite. The court also awarded a cost of N2million against NAFDAC. The judgment of the court was as a result of a suit filed by a Lagos businessman, Dr Emmanuel Fijabi Adebo and his company, Fijabi Adebo Holdings Limited, against NBC Plc and NAFDAC, urging the court to declare that NBC was negligent and breached the duty of care owed to their valued customers and consumers in the production of contaminated Fanta and Sprite soft drinks with excessive benzoic acid and sunset addictive. Dr Fijabi also urged the court to direct NAFDAC to conduct and carry out routine laboratory tests of all the soft drinks and allied products of the company to ensure and guarantee the safety of the consumable products, produced from the Nigeria Bottling Company factory. In an amended statement of claim, a Lagos lawyer, Barrister Abiodun Onidare, on behalf of the claimants, alleged that sometime in March, 2007 Fijabi Adebo Holdings company purchased from Nigeria Bottling Company large quantities of Coca-Cola, Fanta Orange, Sprite, Fanta Lemon, Fanta Pineapple and soda water for export to the United Kingdom for retail purposes and supply to their customers in United Kingdom. When the consignment of the soft drinks arrived in United Kingdom, fundamental health related matters were raised on the contents and composition of the Fanta and Sprite products by the United Kingdom Health Authorities, specifically the Stockport Metropolitan Borough Councils Trading Standard Department of Environment and Economy Directorate. The findings of the United Kingdom were also corroborated by the Coca-Cola European Union and products were found to have excessive levels of Sunset Yellow and Benzoic Acid which are unsafe for human consumption. Due to the irregularities and harmful content of the soft drinks which can cause cancer to the consumer, the claimants could not sell the Fanta and Sprite products resulting in appreciable losses, as they were certified unsuitable for consumption and were seized and destroyed by the United Kingdom health authorities. The claimants alleged further that NAFDAC failed to carry out necessary tests to determine if the soft drinks were safe for human consumption. The claimants averred that as a registered exporter with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, they could lawfully export the products of Nigeria Bottling Company to any part of the world, in fact Nigeria bottling company was aware that their products they purchased were meant for export. Consequently, apart from other reliefs, the claimants were demanding for the sum of N15,119,619.37 as special damages and N1,622,000 being the money NBC admitted receiving from the claimants. Nigeria Bottling Company in its amended statement of defence filed before the court by Mr. T. O.Busari SAN, admitted supplying the products but contended that the products manufactured by the company were meant for local distribution and consumption as the company does not manufacture its products for export, as Coca-Cola brand of soft drinks is manufactured and bottled by various Coca-Cola franchise holders in most countries of the world, including the United Kingdom. The company denied that it was negligent in the manufacturing of its products as alleged as stringent quality control procedures were adopted in its production process to ensure that its products are safe for consumption of the final user. The company denied that the damages alleged by the claimants was occasioned by its negligence or any fault from the company as the level of the chemical components in its soft drinks is safe for consumption in Nigeria. Consequently, the claimants cannot recover any damages from the company occasioned by their unlawful exportation of products, which are meant for local distribution within Nigeria. Nigeria Bottling Company contended that the claimants claims were speculative, frivolous and vexatious and should be dismissed with substantial cost NAFDAC did not filed any defence. In proving his case, Dr Fijabi Adebo testified for himself while being led in evidence by Mr Abiodun Onidare and tendered 12 exhibits, while the Sales Operation Manager Micheal Nwosu China and the Head of Central Laboratory Abiodun Adeola Falana, both of Nigeria Bottling Company testified on behalf of the company and also tendered 12 exhibits. In her judgement, justice Oyebanji said: It is imperative to state that the knowledge of the Nigeria bottling company that the products were to be exported is immaterial to its being fit for human consumption. The court is in absolute agreement with the learned counsel for the claimants that soft drinks manufactured by Nigeria bottling company ought to be fit for human consumption irrespective of color or creed. It is manifest that NAFDAC has been grossly irresponsible in its regulatory duties to the consumers of Fanta and Sprite manufactured by Nigeria bottling company. In my respective view, NAFDAC has failed the citizens of this great nation by its certification as satisfactory for human consumption, products which in the United Kingdom failed sample test for human consumption and which become poisonous in the presence of Ascorbic Acid ordinarily known as Vitamin C, which can be freely taken by the unsuspecting public with the companys Fanta or Sprite. As earlier stated, the court is in absolute agreement with the learned counsel for the Claimants that consumable products ought to be fit for human consumption irrespective of race, colour or creed. By its certification as satisfactory, Fanta and Sprite products manufactured by Nigeria Bottling Company without any written warning on the products that it cannot be taken with Vitamin C, NAFDAC would have by its grossly irresponsible and unacceptable action caused great harm to the health of unsuspecting public. The court in the light of the damming evidence before it showing that NAFDAC has failed to live up to expectation, cannot close its eyes to the grievous implication of allowing the status quo to continue as it is. For the reasons herein adumbrated in this judgement, the court hereby orders as follows: That NAFDAC shall forthwith mandate Nigeria Bottling Company to, within 90 days hereof,include on all the bottles of Fanta and Sprite soft drinks manufactured by the company, a written warning that the content of the said bottles of Fanta and Sprite soft drinks cannot be taken with Vitamin C as same becomes poisonous if taken with Vitamin C. In consideration of the fact that this case was filed in 2008 and that it has been in court for 9 years, costs of N2 million is awarded against NAFDAC. Interest shall be paid on the costs awarded at the rate of 10% per annum until liquidation of the said sum. Source: ( PM News ) The Operation Safe Haven (OPSH) military task force has apprehended a 19-year-old gun manufacturer, identified Eric Labari, in Plateau and Southern Kaduna. This was made known by Maj. Gen. Nicholas Rojas, Commander of the task force, made the disclosure when he briefed newsmen in Jos on Wednesday. He said that Labari was arrested when OPSH personnel apprehended one of his customers, Bensahak Nandom. He said that Nandom was caught on his way to Jos from Mangu where he was going to resell the gun he bought from Labari. Somebody was arrested with a pistol and some ammunition and after investigation, he said that he bought it from somebody. He led us to the person he bought it from, he led us to the young man who has a warehouse where he fabricates different brands of weapons. He has his fabricating machine, his cutters, sharpers and so many other things used in fabrication, Rojas explained. Labari, who was allowed to speak to newsmen, said that he dropped out of Government Technical College, Bukuru near Jos, when his parents could no longer afford his school fees. He said that he went into the business without the knowledge of his parents to raise some money. The gun manufacturer said he designs and manufactures the guns singlehandedly. I learn the manufacturing of arms from Government Technical College, Bukuru, and I have been in the business for about a year now. I manufactured the first single barrel with six shoot sprayers and sold it N11,000 to the person that was arrested and I also sold single barrel at the cost N3,500, Labari said. Nandom on his part said that he bought the gun to resell to somebody in Jos who needed it for protection. The suspect said that he was caught on his way to deliver the gun. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the taskforce displayed different weapons and materials for fabrication recovered from Labaris warehouse. Meanwhile, the OPSH commander has warned that the taskforce would not condone any act of lawlessness from any group in the state. Rojas gave the warning on the background of the faceoff between members of the taskforce and motorcycle riders on Tuesday in Mangu Local Government. He said that a soldier and policeman were injured while one of the riders was shot while trying to escape. The commander said that some arrest has been made in connection with the incident and that investigation was still ongoing. Source: ( NAN ) A 70-year-old widow, Mrs. Maria Okoh, caught having sex with a 30-year-old man in Amauzu Nkpoghoro village in Afikpo North Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, was fined three goats after being paraded round the village to appease the land. It was gathered that the septuagenarian was caught in the act by one of her grandchildren, who had gone to give her food in her late husbands house. The granddaughter reportedly went straight to her grandmothers room with the food items only to meet her on the bed stack naked making love with a young man in his early 30s. According to Vanguard, the grand-daughter reportedly raised the alarm seeing what is described as an abominable act in the community; a source added that she immediately reported the matter to the elders, who in turn alerted youths of the village. The source said the villagers immediately dragged the widow and her lover out of the house, where they were hiding, and paraded round the community, chanting disgraceful songs behind them as punishment for their atrocious act. The source, who pleaded anonymity, added that the punishment meted out to the two lovers was the worst punishment anyone could go through in Afikpo land. He said the woman would have faced a greater punishment if her husband was still alive. The source, however, revealed that the act has brought shame to the widows family, adding that she was among the most respected women in the community before the incident. It was gathered that according to the communitys custom, the woman will give three goats as fine after being paraded round the village to appease the land. A Federal High Court Lagos State South West Nigeria has ordered that the properties of former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke at Banana Island, Lagos bought for $37.5m in 2013 be forfeited. The property, designated as Building 3, Block B, Bella Vista Plot 1, Zone N, Federal Government Layout, Banana Island Foreshore Estate, has 24 apartments, 18 flats and six penthouses, according to the court process filed before the court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC). Apart from the property, the court also ordered temporary forfeiture of the sums of $2,740,197.96 and N84,537,840.70, said to be part of the rent collected on the property. The money were alleged to have been kept in a commercial bank in Lagos. The temporary forfeiture orders were made sequel to an ex parte application brought before the court by the EFCC counsel, Mr. Anselem Ozioko. Ozioko told the court that the EFCC reasonably suspected that the property was acquired with proceeds of alleged unlawful activities of Diezani. The lawyer said investigation by the EFCC revealed that Diezani made the $37.5m payment for the purchase of the property in cash, adding that the money was moved straight from her house in Abuja and paid into the selllers First Bank account in Abuja. Nothing could be more suspicious than someone keeping such huge amounts in her apartment. Why was she doing that? To avoid attention. We are convinced beyond reasonable doubt because as of the time this happened, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke was still in public service as the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Ozioko told the court. Joined as co-respondents in the suit are Diezani, a legal practitioner, Afamefuna Nwokedi SAN, and a limited liability company, Rusimpex Limited. In an affidavit sworn to by an EFCC investigation officer, Abdulrasheed Bawa, it was alleged that Nwokedi, in connivance with Diezani, purposely incorporated the company, Rusimpex Limited, on September 11, 2013 to facilitate the alleged fraud. Bawa alleged further that when Nwokedi was questioned by the EFCC, the lawyer explained that he had approached Diezani for opportunities in the oil and gas industry but the ex-minister told him that being a lawyer, she did not have any such opportunity for him and asked him whether he could in the alternative manage landed properties, an offer which Nwokedi accepted. Bawa said Nwokedi later registered Rusimpex Limited at the Corporate Affairs Commission, wherein a lawyer in his law firm, Adetula Ayokunle, and a Russian, Vladmir Jourauleu, were listed as the directors of the company, while the address of Nwokedis law firm in Ikoyi, Lagos was registered as the business address of Rusimpex Limited. The investigator added that when Ayokunle was questioned by the EFCC, he explained that he only appended his signature on the CAC documents at his boss instruction, while Jourauleu denied knowledge of the company. The investigator also explained that Sometime in 2013, the former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, invited Barrister Afamefuna Nwokedi, the Principal Counsel of Stillwaters Law Firm, to her house in Abuja for a meeting where she told him to incorporate a company and use same as a front to manage landed properties on her behalf without using her name in any of the incorporation documents. She further directed Mr. Afamefuna Nwokedi to meet with Mr. Bisi Onasanya, the then Group Managing Director of First Bank of Nigeria Plc for that purpose. Mr. Stephen Onasanya was invited by the commission and he volunteered an extrajudicial statement wherein he stated that he marketed a property at Bella Vista, Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos, belonging to Mr. Youseff Fattau of Ibatex Nigeria Limited to Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke and Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke later bought the property from Mr. Youseff Fattau, through her lawyer, Mr. Afamefuna Nwokedi (who she introduced to him) and that payment for the said property was made through the Abuja office of First Bank of Nigeria Plc. First Bank of Nigeria Plc, through Mr. Barau Muazu, wrote to the commission and also volunteered an extrajudicial statement in writing that they made the payments totalling US37,500,000 to Ibatex Nigeria Limited & YF Construction Development and Real Estate Limited on behalf of Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke and that they collected the entire cash from Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke at her residence of No. 10, Fredrick Chiluba Close of Jose Marti Street, Asokoro, Abuja and paid into the First Bank of Nigeria Plc accounts of Ibatex and YF Construction Development and Real Estate Limited on her instruction. After listening to the submission of EFCC lawyer, Mr Anslem Ozioko, the presiding judge, Justice Chuka Obiozor acceded to the request of the anti-graft agency and made an order temporarily forfeiting the property and the funds to the Federal Government of Nigeria. In addition, Justice Obiozor while adjoining the matter till 7 August 2017 for anyone interested in the property and funds to appear before him, directed EFCC to publish the order in a national daily. Source: ( PM News ) Former chairman of the Motorcycles Association of Lagos State, (MOALS) of the Lagos State National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Ifako/Iju/Ojokoro Branch A, Ijaiye, Lagos, Kazeem Olufodun, 52 has been remanded in Ikoyi prison for the murder of a member of the union, Ibrahim Tajudeen and attempted murder of Salaubiu Adeleke. The accused was ordered to be remanded in prison by Chief Magistrate W.B Balogun of Igbosere Magistrate Court 7, Lagos. Olufoduns arrest was ordered by the Assistant Inspector General of Police, AIG, in charge of Zone 2 Command, Onikan, Lagos, Adamu Ibrahim following a petition by members of Ifako/Iju/Ojokoro MOALS and arraigned before an Igbosere Magistrate Court, Lagos on 3-count charge of felony to wit murder and attempted murder. Police prosecutor, DSP Eshiet Eshiet informed the court in charge No G/37/2017 that the accused committed the alleged offence in 2006 at Ifako/Iju/Ojokoro Area of Lagos. Eshiet told the court that problem started for the accused when he conspired with others still at large to kill Ibrahim Tajudeen and attempted to kill Salabiu Adeleke for insisting that he should vacate his seat after serving as chairman of MOALS for the mandatory four years. Eshiet said the constitution of the Ifako/Iju/Ojokoro MOALS stipulated two years term for elected chairman which is renewable for another two years. He said the MOALS members elected Olufodun as their chairman in 2000 to serve for two years and that he was re-elected to serve for another two years. Eshiet said that after Olufodun served the mandatory four years term, he refused to vacate office and that when the victims and others confronted him while he refused to vacate office to enable them elect a new chairman, he allegedly recruited thugs to attack them and in the process killed Tajudeen and attempted to also kill Adeleke. Eshiet said the offences the accused committed were punishable under sections 410, 213 on 230 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2015. The plea of the accused was not taken and Chief Magistrate W.B Balogun ordered that the accused be remanded in Ikoyi Prison, Lagos pending advice from DPPs office on the matter. Balogun adjourn the case till 15 August, 2017. Source: ( PM News ) It seems Kemi Olunloyo is done with Seyi Law, she has now moved fresh shots to Nollywood Actress Eniola Badmus. Check out her message below: FLASHBACK ON ENIOLA BADMUS HEALTH. No such thing as fat shaming when given health advise. @Regrann from @hnnafrica #HNNWomen The pretty fat lady in black is definitely #EniolaBadmus relative as seen at her dads funeral Fidau. Many of the people attacking my social criticism of her weight will be crying #RIP if she were to die of high blood pressure, diabetes or heart disease. Nigerians need to eat less, work out and maintain a healthy weight and drink 8 glasses of water daily. Fat does not run in any family, it is accumulated from eating too much. #hnnhealth A 40-year-old man, identified as Kayode Adedeji was sentenced to death by hanging for robbing a woman of N3,420 by an Osun State High Court in Osogbo. The sentence was handed down to Mr. Adedeji on Wednesday although the crime was committed on April 25, 2009. The prosecuting counsel from the state ministry of justice, Elisabeth Alabi, had told the court that Mr. Adedeji robbed one Omowumi Adebayo at Bolorunduro area in Ilesa of the money armed with a knife at midnight. The prosecution also claimed that the robber also had other dangerous weapons during his attack on Mrs. Adebayos residence. Mr. Adedeji was said to have fled the scene of the robbery but was trailed and arrested by some members of the Oodua Peoples Congress in the area. He pleaded not guilty to the one count charge of armed robbery when he was arraigned about eight years ago and was granted bail. According to Mrs. Alabi, the convcict abused the bail privilege by committing another offence which led to his remand in Ilesa prison. She ruled that the offence ran foul of the law and punishable under Section 11(2)(A) CAPR II, Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004. The presiding judge, Kudirat Akano, found Mr. Adedeji guilty of the crime and convicted him. The defence counsel, Tunde Adedokun, prayed the court to be lenient and merciful in her judgment, but she ordered that Mr. Adedeji be put to death by hanging. Source: ( Premium Times ) According to Facebook user, Chibulu Austin, a student of Shalom Academy, Nsukka, Enugu state, Cynthia made all As in the just released West African Examination Council (WAEC) results. Sharing the good news on Facebook, Austin wrote; Last year was someone from Kaduna state with nine A1s. Today we have produced, and I am very much proud teaching this lovely and wonderful lady in a great citadel of learning Let the result talk for itself. UNN wait and take #AllTheBestCynthia The members of the 8th national assembly have advised the Nigerian government to set a special foreign exchange rate for pilgrims in the country. The Senate on Thursday urged the Federal Government to give N200 to dollar concession to the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) and the Nigeria Christian Pilgrims Commission (NCPC) once in every year. It said that it was for pilgrimages to the respective holy lands for Muslims and Christians. This was part of the recommendations by the Committee on Foreign Affairs on The Extortion of Pilgrims by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria presented by the Chairman, Sen. Monsurat Sunmonu, at plenary. The committee recommended the concession to bring down the cost of the pilgrimages to bearable level. The Senate had in a motion on June 7, urged the Federal Government to review downwards, the 2017 Hajj fare. Part of the 10-point recommendation by the committee was that the Federal Government should hold discussions with Saudi Arabia authorities. Sunmonu said that the consultation with the Saudi government was to review the 50-50 carriage of pilgrims between Nigeria and Saudi Arabian airlines. This is with a view to providing opportunities for more indigenous Nigerian airlines to participate in the Hajj operations. This will give Nigeria varieties in choosing the air carrier. The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria should expedite action on the establishment of Hajj Savings Schemes in compliance with Section 7(1 and 2) of the NAHCON Act. The Nigeria Government and its economic team must do everything possible to improve on the Nigerian monetary policy which would expectedly guarantee a long-time stable relationship of the Naira with other currencies, she said. Sunmonu noted that 98 per cent of the entire Hajj operations were dollars-denominated with only two per cent as naira content. In his contribution, Sen. Ali Wakil (APC-Bauchi) said that there was need for an ad hoc committee to look into the matter of feeding and transportation of the pilgrims. He called for the restoration of Amirul Hajj to serve as checks and balance between Nigeria and Saudi. In his remarks, the President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, said we passed the 2017-2019 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and based on it, we have passed what should be the exchange rate which is N305 to a dollar. We should make laws that are truly going to guide our people because we have MTEF which says the exchange is N305. If with passing MTEF nobody should be given N200, but businessmen are getting N200, then, definitely pilgrims deserve N200 as well, he said. Saraki said that the Senate must put an end to the money-making venture, because pilgrimage was a religious activity and should not be for money-making. We will put an end to these leakages, he stated. Saraki said. The Senate accepted the recommendations but rejected the one requesting NAHCON to ensure improved feeding for Nigerian contingents to all designated points, insisting that feeding should be left to the pilgrims. The Osun state Court sitted in Osogbo has pronounced a man the judgement of death sentence by hanging for stealing a sum of three thousand, four hundred and twenty naira. Report states that the 40-year old Kayode Adedeji stole the money of one Omowumi Adebayo in the midnight of April 25, 2009 at Bolorunduro area of Ilesha using armed weapons like knife and others. Some members of the Oodua Peoples Congress in the area, apprehended the thief before he was later granted bail. However, he was said to have abused the bail privilege by committing another offence which led to his remand in Ilesa prison. Although, the defence counsel, Tunde Adedokun, pleaded for courts leniency but the presiding judge, Kudirat Akano didnt grant this, sentencing Mr. Adedeji to death by hanging. The Lagos State members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members in the House of Representatives, on Wednesday gave tie full support to the party. They pledged commitment to the Sen. Ahmed Makarfi-led National Caretaker Committee of the party and debunked rumours that they had defected to another political party. In a statement in Abuja, one of them, Rep. Oghene Egoh, said himself and other PDP lower chamber members, including Rita Orji, Tony Nwosu and Tajudeen Obasa, remained loyal to the party. He, therefore, urged the partys members and supporters in Lagos and the country to ignore the people parading themselves as Labour PDP in places like Amuwo Odofin and Ajeromi Ifelodun areas of the state. Egoh revealed that the crisis rocking the party in the state was not Makarfi or Ali Modu Sheriffs issue, but between Chief Bode Georges group and another group. I want to emphasise for the purpose of clarification that Lagos PDP is Makarfi. PDP Lagos is loyal to Makarfi and the Supreme Court ruling is victory for us all. Explaining further, he said that Georges group consisted of his loyalists in the party, while Independent Group was made up of elected members of PDP at the state and federal levels. According to him, the Bode George group chose to defect to Labour party after losing in the primaries to the Independent group, who chose to remain and fly the partys flag. This information is important because some people are parading themselves as Labour PDP in places like Amuwo Odofin and Ajeromi Ifelodun, deceiving Ndigbos and the general public that Labour party is PDP. It is obvious for everyone to see that Labour Party is in deep crisis at the moment because money was not remitted to their national treasury. The lawmaker urged the PDP members to vote for the party and not Labour Party in Saturdays council polls in the state. He added that he and his colleagues, did not only attend the partys Caucus meeting on Tuesday in Abuja, but remained an integral part of the Makarfi PDP in the National Assembly. We want to warn dishonest politicians seeking cheap votes to desist from peddling fake news. We will not allow our people to be deceived by those who want to encourage fraud with lies. We implore the party faithful to come out en masse to vote in the Makarfi-led group in the upcoming local government elections in Lagos. Source: ( PM News ) The Lagos State Police Command has confirmed that arrest of a policeman who allegedly shot a tanker driver dead along Burma Road, Apapa, 18 other suspected hoodlums who allegedly caused mayhem in the area following the killing have also been apprehended. According to the commands spokesperson, ASP Olarinde Famous-Cole, police received a distress call from the Chief Security Officer of a new generation bank located in the area which they responded to. The caller said hoodlums were trying to take laws into their hands by setting the bank ablaze following the shooting of a tanker driver by a policeman attached to the bank during an altercation. Operatives of the command including the Area Commander, Apapa, the Rapid Response Squad, and other security agents quickly rushed to the scene to take charge of the situation. The State Commissioner of Police, Mr Fatai Owoseni, was also present at the scene of the incident. If not for the quick intervention of the Police, the hoodlums would have wrecked more havoc as they destroyed private properties and valuables. A mob had gathered in front of the bank demanding that the trigger-happy policeman be released to them, but the bank refused, leading to the arson and further attack on another banks branch located on Wharf Road. The fire at the banks was put out by the police and other security agencies as the tanker driver, identified as Azeez was rushed immediately to the hospital for treatment, he said. Famous-Cole, however, said the driver was confirmed dead on arrival at the hospital. He said: Contrary to reports making the rounds, only one tanker driver was shot. The policeman has been arrested and will be charged to court immediately, the 18 suspected hoodlums also arrested are undergoing investigations. The command would like to address the members of the public on impunity and jungle justice in the state. We are no longer going to tolerate the act of lawlessness and impunity by members of the public. The police spokesman said normalcy had been restored to the area. Source: ( PM News ) The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has said it will come up with measures to protect students in the North-East especially students in the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID). NANS President, Mr. Chinonso Obasi, who made disclosure on Wednesday during a briefing to mark his one year in office, said the students were worried by the incessant attacks on UNIMAID. He said that the association had set up a committee on safety of students in the North-East as they had been on receiving end of attacks. Obasi called on the security agencies to adopt `drastic measures to forestall further attacks on UNIMAID in order to ensure academic stability in the institution. It is very unfortunate that our constituency has been the major recipient of attacks ranging from insurgency to kidnapping. The government on its part should go beyond condolences and take practical steps to stem the tide of attacks, protect students and make the environment conducive for learning. We have constituted a committee for Nigerian students in the North-East and we will soon unveil safety tips, he said. On trespass by cattle rearers into institutions of learning, Obasi said that the only solution was the implementation of the 2014 National Conference report which recommended grazing reserves. Obasi, who recounted some of his achievements within one year as NANS president, said he declined many offers by politicians to compromise. He said that the students body, under his leadership, championed anti-corruption campaign in higher institutions and exposed some chief executives who had either been suspended or under investigation. The NANS president said that it was the appealed made by the association that led to the inclusion of National Youth Service Corps in the National Health Insurance Scheme. He said: We contributed to the pressure that led to the passage of the bill allowing law graduates of the National Open University of Nigeria to be accepted into the Nigerian Law School. NANS, under my watch, has resisted many attempts to be used by politicians for selfish gains. NANS, in the past one year has not paid visit to any politician, despite distractions There are many instances where politicians have approached us and we turned them down but they always have where to fall back, Obasi said that NANS, in the past one year, had not done anything to compromise the interest of Nigerian students. He listed some demands of the association as the implementation of UNESCO standard for education budget, reduction in fees charged by public tertiary institutions, return of efficient scholarship scheme. Others are the provision of adequate and decent halls of residence on campuses and introduction of feeding subsidy for students. He said that his tenure had come to an end having served for one year, adding the transition process had started. Obasi said he would remain NANS president until a new person was elected. In his remark, the immediate past President of NANS, Mr Tijani Yusuf, said that Obasi was the duly elected president who succeeded him. He added that any other person parading himself as NANS president should be disregarded. The highlight of the event was the presentation of a mini compendium of Nigerian students demands titled The Irreducible Minimum which was compiled by Obasi. Source: ( PM News ) The U.S. Justice department has released details of the mega-swindle of Nigeria by Messrs. Olajide Omokore and Akanni Aluko have emerged. The details are contained in the assets forfeiture proceedings filed against Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke and Messrs. Omokore by the United States Department of Justice in Houston. According to the US court processes, both men engaged in money laundering and bribery of a government official. They were found to have bribed Mrs. Alison-Madueke with high-end homes in the United Kingdom, renovated to her taste at dizzying costs; pricey furniture items and other indices of other-worldly lifestyle. Court document obtained by SaharaReporters shows that between Televeras, Arcadia and Glencore, Alukos account in Switzerland received at least $1.2billion in funds that found its way to funding Ms. Diezanis tasty lifestyle. The immodest luxuries provided Mrs. Alison Madueke who, as Petroleum Resources Minister between 2010 and 2015, used her influence to facilitate inappropriate business opportunities for Messrs. Aluko and Omokore by assigning to their companies, Atlantic Energy Drilling Concepts (AEDC) Limited and Atlantic Energy Brass Development (AEBD) Limited, eight oil mining leases (OMLs). The OMLs were assigned under Strategic Alliance Agreements (SAAs) with the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Despite lacking the technical expertise and financial capacity to operate the OMLs, as noted in a February 2014 report of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mrs. Alison-Madueke greenlighted the process for her cronies. What followed, said US prosecutors, was the sale by AEDC and AEBD of the oil-lifting allocations they were assigned under the Forcados and Brass SAAs to third-party oil trading companies. They made tonnes of money, by not fulfilling the obligations stated in the agreements, using some of it to bribe Mrs. Alison-Madueke. Court papers show that Talaveras Group, one of the third-party oil trading companies, paid copious sums into Mr. Alukos personal accounts. Talaveras Group, registered in Nigeria, is controlled by one of Nigerias youngest billionaires, Igho Sanomi. The stream of payments, prosecutors observed, began shortly after the award of the Forcados SAAs. Over a period of six months, Mr. Aluko received the sum of $15million in his personal account domiciled at LGT Bank (Schweiz) AG in Switzerland (the LGT -090038 Account), from which various purchases for Mrs. Alison-Madueke were funded. The money came from Taleveras Group and its affiliates, including Taleveras Trading Limited and and Taleveras Petroleum Trading BV. On July 12, 2011, prosecutors found that the sum of $1.5million was wired from Taleveras to Mr. Alukos account. Two days later, the sum of $1million also arrived the account from RFB Lengard JVA in which Mr. Igho Sanomi, founder and chairman of Taleveras, owns 30 per cent stake. Another $1million arrived on July 20, 2011, from Taleveras Trading Limited. This was followed on 15 August 2011 by $1million wired by Taleveras to Mr. Alukos account in Switzerland as payment for a Joint Venture contract with RFB Lengard. The same day, he received $650,000 from the same source. On September 12, 2011, Taleveras Trading Limited paid $1million and $1.6million four days later. On 5 October of the same year, Mr. Alukos account was credited with $1.5million by Taleveras Petroleum Trading BV and $500,000 six days later. The next lashing of cash arrived on 14 November 2011, when his account received $2million wired by Taleveras Group. On January 3 and 10 2012, $600,000 and $1million respectively were paid by Taleveras Petroleum Trading BV. Prosecutors reckoned that the payments were made to Mr. Aluko in return for assigning the AEDCs rights to Taleveras and RFB Lengard to lift oil under the corruptly acquired SAAs. They discovered that each of the transactions was subsequently transferred into and out of correspondent bank accounts at a financial institution, which processes its U.S. dollar wire transactions through Newark, New Jersey. According to prosecutors, AEDC entered into an agreement with the Arcadia Group and its subsidiaries, from which AEDC purportedly took loans. In return, Arcadia was repaid with assignments of AEDCs crude oil liftings under the dodgy SAAs. The company describes itself as a global commodity trading firm covering oil, agricultural, gas and power markets. In particular, two months after the last payment from Taleveras, Arcadia Energy (Suisse) SA and Arcadia Petroleum Limited began making payments to an account held in the name of AEH at LGT Bank (Schweiz) AG ending in -108031 (the LGT -108031 Account), said prosecutors. On April 18, 2012, Acardia paid $10million into the above stated account. On May 14 of the same year, it paid $1.3million and on July 23, $2.4million. On July 24, 2012, the company paid $1.3million into the same account. Less than a month later, it paid $2.9million into the same account and followed it up with a whopping $25million September 17, 2012. The next day, it paid $2.091million into the same account. This preceded a hefty transfer of $23.4million on January 8, 2013. A couple of days later, Acardia paid $1.6million and on February 4, 2013, wired $2million to the account. This was followed by the payment of $1.1million, $6million and $1.7million respectively. The stunt continued with payments to a company, Glencore, by AEBD, which sold to Glencore over 7million barrels of crude oil acquired through the Brass SAA. Glencores payments for these allotments, said prosecutors, were made to an account in the name of AEBD ending in 184001 at Deutsche Bank (Suisse) SA and an account ending in -630350 in the name of AEBD at Standard Chartered Bank, London. They were also made into accounts in the name of AEBD ending in 677644 at Standard Chartered Bank, London; and 9941 at Stanbic IBTC, Nigeria. Glencore, for example, paid $83.6million to AEBD on April 5, 2013; $80.5million, $79.4million on July 4, $19.8million July 17, $19.5million on July 19 and $83.4million on July 21. iner details of the mega-swindle of Nigeria by Messrs. Olajide Omokore and Akanni Aluko have emerged. The details are contained in the assets forfeiture proceedings filed against Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke and Messrs. Omokore by the United States Department of Justice in Houston. According to the US court processes, both men engaged in money laundering and bribery of a government official. They were found to have bribed Mrs. Alison-Madueke with high-end homes in the United Kingdom, renovated to her taste at dizzying costs; pricey furniture items and other indices of other-worldly lifestyle. Court document obtained by SaharaReporters shows that between Televeras, Arcadia and Glencore, Alukos account in Switzerland received at least $1.2billion in funds that found its way to funding Ms. Diezanis tasty lifestyle. The immodest luxuries provided Mrs. Alison Madueke who, as Petroleum Resources Minister between 2010 and 2015, used her influence to facilitate inappropriate business opportunities for Messrs. Aluko and Omokore by assigning to their companies, Atlantic Energy Drilling Concepts (AEDC) Limited and Atlantic Energy Brass Development (AEBD) Limited, eight oil mining leases (OMLs). The OMLs were assigned under Strategic Alliance Agreements (SAAs) with the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Despite lacking the technical expertise and financial capacity to operate the OMLs, as noted in a February 2014 report of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mrs. Alison-Madueke greenlighted the process for her cronies. What followed, said US prosecutors, was the sale by AEDC and AEBD of the oil-lifting allocations they were assigned under the Forcados and Brass SAAs to third-party oil trading companies. They made tonnes of money, by not fulfilling the obligations stated in the agreements, using some of it to bribe Mrs. Alison-Madueke. Court papers show that Talaveras Group, one of the third-party oil trading companies, paid copious sums into Mr. Alukos personal accounts. Talaveras Group, registered in Nigeria, is controlled by one of Nigerias youngest billionaires, Igho Sanomi. The stream of payments, prosecutors observed, began shortly after the award of the Forcados SAAs. Over a period of six months, Mr. Aluko received the sum of $15million in his personal account domiciled at LGT Bank (Schweiz) AG in Switzerland (the LGT -090038 Account), from which various purchases for Mrs. Alison-Madueke were funded. The money came from Taleveras Group and its affiliates, including Taleveras Trading Limited and and Taleveras Petroleum Trading BV. On July 12, 2011, prosecutors found that the sum of $1.5million was wired from Taleveras to Mr. Alukos account. Two days later, the sum of $1million also arrived the account from RFB Lengard JVA in which Mr. Igho Sanomi, founder and chairman of Taleveras, owns 30 per cent stake. Another $1million arrived on July 20, 2011, from Taleveras Trading Limited. This was followed on 15 August 2011 by $1million wired by Taleveras to Mr. Alukos account in Switzerland as payment for a Joint Venture contract with RFB Lengard. The same day, he received $650,000 from the same source. On September 12, 2011, Taleveras Trading Limited paid $1million and $1.6million four days later. On 5 October of the same year, Mr. Alukos account was credited with $1.5million by Taleveras Petroleum Trading BV and $500,000 six days later. The next lashing of cash arrived on 14 November 2011, when his account received $2million wired by Taleveras Group. On January 3 and 10 2012, $600,000 and $1million respectively were paid by Taleveras Petroleum Trading BV. Prosecutors reckoned that the payments were made to Mr. Aluko in return for assigning the AEDCs rights to Taleveras and RFB Lengard to lift oil under the corruptly acquired SAAs. They discovered that each of the transactions was subsequently transferred into and out of correspondent bank accounts at a financial institution, which processes its U.S. dollar wire transactions through Newark, New Jersey. According to prosecutors, AEDC entered into an agreement with the Arcadia Group and its subsidiaries, from which AEDC purportedly took loans. In return, Arcadia was repaid with assignments of AEDCs crude oil liftings under the dodgy SAAs. The company describes itself as a global commodity trading firm covering oil, agricultural, gas and power markets. In particular, two months after the last payment from Taleveras, Arcadia Energy (Suisse) SA and Arcadia Petroleum Limited began making payments to an account held in the name of AEH at LGT Bank (Schweiz) AG ending in -108031 (the LGT -108031 Account), said prosecutors. On April 18, 2012, Acardia paid $10million into the above stated account. On May 14 of the same year, it paid $1.3million and on July 23, $2.4million. On July 24, 2012, the company paid $1.3million into the same account. Less than a month later, it paid $2.9million into the same account and followed it up with a whopping $25million September 17, 2012. The next day, it paid $2.091million into the same account. This preceded a hefty transfer of $23.4million on January 8, 2013. A couple of days later, Acardia paid $1.6million and on February 4, 2013, wired $2million to the account. This was followed by the payment of $1.1million, $6million and $1.7million respectively. The stunt continued with payments to a company, Glencore, by AEBD, which sold to Glencore over 7million barrels of crude oil acquired through the Brass SAA. Glencores payments for these allotments, said prosecutors, were made to an account in the name of AEBD ending in 184001 at Deutsche Bank (Suisse) SA and an account ending in -630350 in the name of AEBD at Standard Chartered Bank, London. They were also made into accounts in the name of AEBD ending in 677644 at Standard Chartered Bank, London; and 9941 at Stanbic IBTC, Nigeria. Glencore, for example, paid $83.6million to AEBD on April 5, 2013; $80.5million, $79.4million on July 4, $19.8million July 17, $19.5million on July 19 and $83.4million on July 21. Source: (Sahara Reporters ) Concerned Nigerians, a pro-democracy group committed to accountability, rule of law, good governance and the fight against corruption, has announced plans to commence a daily sit-out at the National Assembly in 18 days if the legislature fails to respond to the health conundrum of President Muhammadu Buhari as prescribed by the constitution. In a statement released on Wednesday by its convener, Deji Adeyanju, and Secretary, Dr. John Danfulani, the group noted that Buhari has now been absent from office and from Nigeria for 72 days, and if the situation remains unchanged, it would commence the sit-outs on the 90th day of his absence. It regretted the failure of the leadership of the National Assembly to launch an investigation or set up a panel to look into the true status of the Presidents health, adding the group believes the legislators have been compromised and are working with an infamous cabal in the executive branch against the Nigerian people. The Leadership of the National Assembly must choose between the Nigerian people and the cabal, Concerned Nigerians declared. 72 days is too long for a Commander-in-Chief to be away from his country without any explanation to the people that voted him. The group affirmed that if Mr. Buhari has become incapacitated, he should do the honorable thing and resign, because he cannot continue to hold the country to ransom. We hereby demand that the National Assembly invoke Section 144 sub Section 4 of the Nigerian Constitution and direct the setting up of a medical panel in conjunction with the Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo to ascertain whether the President is incapacitated, the statement continued. If the President is found with any infirmity that renders him incapable of discharging his duties, the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall officially declare him incapable of discharging his duties and declare his office vacant as prescribed in subsection 2 of section 143, Concerned Nigerians declared. Apache Solr is a subproject of Apache Lucene, which is the indexing technology behind most recently created search and index technology. Solr is a search engine at heart, but it is much more than that. It is a NoSQL database with transactional support. It is a document database that offers SQL support and executes it in a distributed manner. Sound interesting? Join me for a closer look. (Full disclosure: I work for Lucidworks, which employs many of the key contributors to the Solr project.) [ NoSQL grudge match: MongoDB and Couchbase Server go nose to nose. | Keep up with hot topics in programming with InfoWorlds Application Development newsletter. ] You need a decent machine (or just use an AWS instance) with ideally 8GB or more RAM. You can find Solr at http://lucene.apache.org/solr. You also need the Java Virtual Machine version 8. Unzip/untar Solr into a directory, make sure JAVA_HOME is set, and that the java binary is in your path. Change to the directory Solr is in and type bin/solr start -e cloud -noprompt . This starts a two node cluster on your laptop with a sample collection called gettingstarted already loaded. A normal startup would just be bin/solr start -c to start Solr in cloud mode. But if youre going to kick the tires you really want to see a multi-node install even if it is on your own laptop. Solr Cloud is the way you want to run a modern Solr install. If you start without the -c youll start in legacy mode. That is a bad thing. Documents and collections Solr is a document structured database. Entities like Person are composed of fields like name, address, and email. Those documents are stored in collections. Collections are the closest analog to tables in a relational database. However, unlike in a relational database, Person can completely contain the entity, meaning if a person has multiple addresses those addresses can be stored in one Person document. In a relational database youd need a separate addresses table. Person { "Id": "1333425", first_name: Francis, middle_name: J., last_name: Underwood, address: [1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500, 1609 Far St. NW, Washington, D.C., 20036], phone: [202-456-1111, 202-456-1414] } Shards, replicas, and cores Unlike in most relational databases, data is automatically sharded and replicated via Solr Cloud. This means that when you write a document to a properly configured collection it is distributed to one of the Solr instances. Thats sharding. It is done to improve read performance. Each document is also replicated or copied at least once (configurable) for redundancy. This means you can lose a Solr instance and suffer only reduced performance across your cluster, but no data loss. A cluster is a set of nodes, which are Java Virtual Machine (JVM) instances running Solr. A node can contain multiple cores. Each core is a replica of a logical shard. Generally cores are identified by the collection, shard number, and replica number concatenated together as a string. Creating a collection Although there are REST-like HTTP interfaces, you can just use the bin/solr (or bin/solr.cmd ) command to create and control collections. Lets use a non-controversial topic and find a public dataset. Grab a copy of healthcare cost data from Data.gov. For simplicitys sake grab it as a CSV. Assuming you started Solr as directed, use this command to create a collection called ipps: bin/solr create_collection -d basic_configs -c ipps Next lets load data into the collection. First we need to fix a few things in the CSV file. Remove all of the $ characters. Also, in the top row of field names, change the fields from spaces to underscores. Make it read like this: DRG_Definition,Provider_Id,Provider_Name,Provider_Street_Address,Provider_City,Provider_State,Provider_Zip_Code,Hospital_Referral_Region_Description,Total_Discharges,Average_Covered_Charges,Average_Total_Payments,Average_Medicare_Payments There are more powerful tools for ETL than what are built in to Solr (such as the one built into the product my company sells), but overall this wasnt a complicated fix! Before we load any data though we need to create a schema which is similar to what you have in a relational database. We can do that with the curl command on Linux/Mac or you can use a GUI tool like Postman. curl -X POST -H Content-type:application/json data-binary { add-field:{ name:DRG_Definition, type:text_general, indexed:true, stored:true }, add-field:{ name:Provider_Id, type:plong, docValues:true, indexed:true, stored:true }, add-field:{ name:Provider_Name, type:text_general, indexed:true, stored:true }, add-field:{ name:Provider_Street_Address, type:string, indexed:false, stored:true }, add-field:{ name:Provider_City, type:string, indexed:true, stored:true }, add-field:{ name:Provider_State, type:string, indexed:true, stored:true }, add-field:{ name:Provider_Zip_Code, type:string, indexed:true, stored:true }, add-field:{ name:Hospital_Referral_Region_Description, type:text_general, indexed:true, stored:true }, add-field:{ name:Total_Discharges, type:pint, docValues:true, indexed:true, stored:true }, add-field:{ name:Average_Covered_Charges, type:pdouble, docValues:true, indexed:true, stored:true }, add-field:{ name:Average_Total_Payments, type:pdouble, docValues:true, indexed:true, stored:true }, add-field:{ name:Average_Medicare_Payments, type:pdouble, docValues:true, indexed:true, stored:true } }' http://localhost:8983/solr/ipps/schema These are field names, field types, and whether or not to index and store the field. You can find out more about Solrs data types and overall schema in the reference guide. Now that weve got a schema we can post the data into Solr. There are many routes to do this. You could use curl or Postman, but Solr includes a command line tool, bin/post, which will be available out of the box on Linux and MacOS. bin/post -c ipps -params "rowid=id" -type "text/csv" /home/acoliver/Downloads/Inpatient_Prospective_Payment_System__IPPS__Provider_Summary_for_the_Top_100_Diagnosis-Related_Groups__DRG__-_FY2011.csv On Windows: java -Dtype=text/csv -Dc=ipps -Dparams="rowid=id" -jar example\exampledocs\post.jar \Users\acoliver\Downloads\Inpatient_Prospective_Payment_System__IPPS__Provider_Summary_for_the_Top_100_Diagnosis-Related_Groups__DRG__-_FY2011.csv W00t you have data! Querying your data There are language bindings for Solr that you can use for Java or Python, or if youre more of a power developer you can use the one for PHP. Or you could just use curl or Postman or your browser. Paste this into an address bar: http://localhost:8983/solr/ipps/select?indent=on&q=*:*&wt=json This URL is a simple query that returns the 10 most relevant results. You can change the pagination and find out more about Solrs Solrs query language and even alternative query parsers in the reference guide. If you want to see the same thing in XML you can configure that. Maybe you want to do something a bit more advanced. Below finds procedures in the town I live in: http://localhost:8983/solr/ipps/select?indent=on&q=Provider_State:NC%20AND%20Hospital_Referral_Region_Description:%22*Durham%22&wt=json You can go much further and do more summaries and calculations and fuzzy matches. Solr administration Some of you are like Good gosh, the command line scares me! So thats fine, Solr has a GUI. Got to http://localhost:8983/solr and see this beauty: IDG If you select your collection on the side, you can even go to a screen that will let you fill in query parameters: IDG If that screen gives you a headache, you can just go to http://localhost:8983/solr/ipps/browse. Weve done simple text queries. You can also do ranges and spatial searches. If the relevance sorting isnt working for you, you can do more advanced expressions and have Solr return things as they are found much like an RDBMS does it. You can sort on various fields and filter by categories. You can even have it learn to ranka machine learning capability that lets Solr learn what users think is the most relevant result. Weve really only scratched the surface. Why Solr? So clearly you might choose to use Solr if you need a search engine. However, it is also a redundant, distributed document database that offers SQL (out of the box) for those who want to connect tools like Tableau. It is extensible in Java (and other JVM languages), and yet with the REST-like interface you can easily speak JSON or XML to it. Solr might not be your best choice if you have simple data that youre looking up by key and doing mostly writes on. Solr has too much plumbing for doing bigger things to be as efficient for that as a key-value store. Solr is a clear choice if your search is very text-centric. However, there are other not-so-obvious cases where it might be a good choice like for spatial searches on all those people whose cell phones youve hacked to track their location. Im just saying that you, Mr. Putin, might want to choose Solr too. Hedge fund pioneer George Hall appears to be on one of his nine lives. His firm, Clinton Group, survived regulatory probes in 2004 and a mortgage-backed securities meltdown in 2008, but now a quantitative fund it manages looks to be one of the first such funds to suffer a big drawdown this year, at a time when many once-hot quants have had lackluster returns at best. In recent years, Clinton has developed a well-regarded quant strategy, which breathed new life into the long-beleaguered firm. But its European-domiciled stat arb fund, which is a UCITS (Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferrable Securities, a type of mutual fund for European investors), is down to about $138 million, after performance losses of 22 percent over the past 12 months, according to a Deutsche Asset Management report. That contrasts with a high of about $633 million in gross assets at year-end, according to the firms latest Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The UCITS strategy is similar to Clinton Groups equity strategies hedge fund, which had $964 million at yearend, making it the firms largest fund. It, too, has also suffered sizeable performance losses. Clinton Group declined to comment for this story. Last year Clinton Groups assets which once stood at more than $5.5 billion had reached their highest level in a decade, as the firm sought to come back from an earlier valuation scandal and problems associated with the financial crisis. At the end of 2016, it reported $2.79 billion in regulatory assets under management, though that number also includes leverage. The recent decline is a combination of redemptions and performance losses. Investors say a big chunk of these redemptions occurred in May, when the UCITS fund lost more than 5.17 percent, bringing its year to date loss to 7.2 percent, according to the Deutsche report. Last year it lost 11.9 percent. Its only winning year was in 2015, when it was launched. The UCITS fund was launched in May of 2015 and gained 8.66 percent that year. Most of its holdings are European stocks. Its unclear how much leverage compounded the woes, but the UCITS gross leverage was not expected to exceed 1000 percent of the value of the fund, according to Deutsche Bank. While the U.S quant funds composition is similar to the UCITS, investors cant sell their shares as easily as in the UCITS, which has daily liquidity. The U.S. quant fund, which has been around much longer, has produced annualized returns of 16 percent since inception in 2006, according to the Deutsche report. Still, that is down from about 20 percent last September. Even before the latest troubles, Clinton was a shadow of its former self. Hall was one of the more flamboyant figures in the hedge fund world more than a decade ago. He even merited a mention in a 2004 New York magazine story about hedge funds that wrote about his 115-foot yacht anchored for a time in Chelsea Piers. Clinton, which opened its doors in 1991, was once one of the biggest hedge fund firms in the business, focusing on convertible bonds and mortgage-backed securities. By 2004 it was running about $5.5 billion. Then an ex-employee sued the firm, charging it with mismarking its asset-backed securities. Both the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission investigated but declined to bring any action against Clinton, but assets fell to about $1 billion despite the clean bill of health. In early 2008, Clintons assets fell to a new low of $600 million, after its multistrategy fund fell 45 percent due to bad bets on mortgage-backed securities, according to a Bloomberg report. Total assets in that fund declined by almost 80 percent, due to redemptions. Since the financial crisis Clinton fashioned a comeback with its move into quants, a strategy run by Yong Lu, a physics Ph.D. who joined Clinton as senior portfolio manager in 2006 from Citadel. Separately, in June the 57-year-old Hall put his Manhattan townhouse on the market, asking $37.5 million for his 6 East 69th Street pad, according to city records reported by real estate website Luxury Living NYC. He paid $11.5 million for the home, which has seven bedrooms and more than five bathrooms. Hall bought the house in 2002, when he was one of the top hedge fund moguls in the U.S. Powers Insurance and sister company Valley Insurance Agency Alliance (VIAA) have relocated their headquarters from Clayton, Mo., to St. Louis.Powers and VIAA had been located in Clayton since 1991. The companies new St. Louis headquarters occupies the second and third floors of a 17,000-square-foot building they have developed and own, according to a news release. The first floor is occupied by the Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis. The project cost about $3 million.The project is one way our family can contribute to the entire region and the historic Hi Pointe/DeMun neighborhood, said Powers CEO Pierce Powers Jr. We razed a building that had been vacant for over 13 years, replaced it with a meaningful edifice, and, in concert with the Scholarship Foundation, have brought over 30 employees to the city.Powers Insurance is one of the regions largest family-owned and operated independent insurance agencies. VIAA, founded in 2006, generates more than $165 million in written premium. Millennials want a lot of things instant gratification, memes, avocado toast but jobs in insurance are not typically on the list of desirables.The problem, mostly, is that they dont think about insurance as a career option, just like most generations before them. Its only once you describe the industry and the opportunities within it that Millennials begin to get interested.And thats the task of the Spencer Educational Foundation: finding the ear of receptive youngsters, explaining to them the positives of the industry, and encouraging them down the insurance path.The insurance industry with young people has a particular challenge because, when you think about yourself when you were young, or any of us, insurance is not a top-of-mind kind of subject, said Ron Davis, executive vice president and global head of customer management at Zurich , and chairman of the board of directors of the Spencer Educational Foundation.Insurance just doesnt have that much appeal. Its basically underappreciated and under recognized and undervalued.The Spencer Educational Foundation, affiliated with the Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS), is tasked with funding the education of tomorrows risk management and insurance leaders, through grants, scholarships, and funding for risk management and insurance courses at universities.Since its founding in 1980, the foundation has awarded 980 scholarships. It has also given 353 internship grants since 1999. The foundation is supported by dozens of the top insurance companies.Often it takes education to generate education in that young students need to be educated on the importance of insurance before theyre willing to buy in to formal insurance education.What we do is try in a very practical, pragmatic, and hopefully effective way to bring forward a lot of the attributes of the industry, a lot of the upside, and just create a lot more color around something that can look a little grey, Davis said.For a young person, when they think insurance it doesnt have a lot of pizzazz to it. But the insurance industry absolutely deserves the reputation of being a dynamic, fascinating, fulfilling, meaningful, society-contributing industry that presents some of the greatest opportunities there are in the business world.When you explain to people they go, you know what, that makes a lot of sense. They get it.The challenge is that its really not in scope for young people. So how do you get to those people and how do you communicate it? What were really trying to do is create awareness and attract young people to take a serious look at this.To people in the industry, it may not seem a hard sell. But to kids going through university, insurance doesnt always appeal. Thats where the Spencer Educational Foundation comes in.And the foundation must be doing something right: about 80% of its scholarship recipients have reportedly remained in the industry. A Philadelphia Fire Department captain has been arrested and charged with insurance fraud. Court records show 43-year-old Yolanda Stallings, of Philadelphia, Penn., was arrested June 27 and charged with various offenses including forgery and false reports. A department spokeswoman says Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel declined to discuss the case, saying it was a personal matter. Stallings and her lawyer could not be reached for comment. The spokeswoman says Stallings formerly served as an executive chief of strategic services before being moved to paramedic captain after internal restructuring earlier this year. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Fraud The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled in favor of a woman who was fired by her employer for testing positive for her prescribed use of marijuana to treat a medical condition. The court found that because medical marijuana was legally prescribed to her under state law, the woman can sue her employer for handicap discrimination. This comes after the employee, plaintiff Cristina Barbuto, accepted an offer for an entry-level position with defendant Advantage Sales and Marketing (ASM) in the summer of 2014. Barbuto was required to take a mandatory drug test, and she told her supervisor she would test positive for marijuana as a result of her Crohns Disease. Because her physician prescribed marijuana for medical purposes, she was considered a qualifying medical marijuana patient under Massachusetts law. She informed her supervisor that she did not use marijuana daily and would not consume it before or at work, according to the court document. Barbutos supervisor confirmed with others at ASM that her medicinal use of marijuana would not be a problem, the court document stated. After Barbuto submitted a urine sample for the mandatory drug test, the court document said she attended an ASM training program and completed her first day of work without using marijuana at the workplace or reporting to work intoxicated. That evening, however, defendant Joanna Meredith Villaruz, ASMs human resources representative, told Barbuto she was terminated for testing positive for marijuana. Villaruz informed Barbuto this is because ASM follows federal rather than state law. Following her termination, Barbuto filed a verified charge of discrimination against ASM and Villaruz with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD), which she later withdrew in order to file a complaint in the Superior Court. The complaint included six claims for handicap discrimination, interference with her right to be protected from handicap discrimination, aiding and abetting ASM in committing handicap discrimination, invasion of privacy, denial of the right to use marijuana lawfully as a registered patient to treat a debilitating medical condition, and violation of public policy by terminating her for lawfully using marijuana for medicinal purposes. The second and third claims were brought against Villaruz alone, while the rest were brought against both ASM and Villaruz. After unsuccessfully trying to remove the case to United States District Court, the defendants filed a motion to dismiss the complaint in the Superior Court. The judge allowed the motion to dismiss for all counts except the invasion of privacy claim. At the request of Barbuto, the judge entered a separate and final judgment on the dismissed claims and stayed the invasion of privacy claim pending appeal. Barbuto then filed a notice of appeal regarding the dismissed claims, according to the court document. In her complaint, Barbuto alleged she is a qualified handicapped person because she is capable of performing the essential functions of her job with a reasonable accommodation to her handicap. In this case, the requested accommodation was a waiver of ASMs policy barring anyone from employment who tests positive for marijuana. This way, Barbuto could continue using prescribed medical marijuana without violating ASMs policy. Under Massachusetts law, a plaintiff can allege a claim of handicap discrimination only if the necessary accommodation requested is facially reasonable, the court document said. The defendants argued Barbutos requested accommodation was not facially reasonable because the only accommodation she sought her continued use of medical marijuana is a federal crime, the court document said. Additionally, they stated that even if she were a qualified handicapped person, she was terminated because she failed a drug test that all employees are required to pass, not because of her handicap. Under federal law, marijuana is still considered a Schedule I controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act, and possession of it is considered a crime regardless of whether it is prescribed by a physician for medical use. In 2012, however, Massachusetts voters approved the initiative petition, An Act for the humanitarian medical use of marijuana, stating that there shouldnt be punishment under state law for qualifying patients using medical marijuana. Like Massachusetts, nearly ninety per cent of states in the U.S., as well as Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, allow the limited possession of marijuana for medical treatment, the court document said. The court found that as a result of the act under Massachusetts law, the use and possession of medically prescribed marijuana by a qualifying patient is as lawful as the use and possession of any other prescribed medication. It also found that if medical marijuana is the most effective medication for the employees condition, an exception to an employers drug policy to permit its use is a facially reasonable accommodation. Additionally, the court found that Barbutos possession of medical marijuana violating federal law does not make it unreasonable as an accommodation and would not put ASM at risk for joint possession or aiding and abetting its possession. To declare an accommodation for medical marijuana to be per se unreasonable out of respect for federal law would not be respectful of the recognition of Massachusetts voters, shared by the legislatures or voters in the vast majority of states, that marijuana has an accepted medical use for some patients suffering from debilitating medical conditions, the court document said. The court decided to reverse the dismissal of the counts in the complaint alleging handicap discrimination, but it stated this decision does not necessarily mean Barbuto will succeed in proving handicap discrimination. The defendants at summary judgment or trial may offer evidence to meet their burden to show that the plaintiffs use of medical marijuana is not a reasonable accommodation because it would impose an undue hardship on the defendants business, the court document said. That said, the Massachusetts Supreme Court reversed the dismissal of count 1 in the complaint, which alleged handicap discrimination, and counts 2 and 3 against Villaruz, alleging that she aided and abetted ASMs handicap discrimination and interfered with the plaintiffs exercise of her right to be free from handicap discrimination. The court concluded that Barbuto can seek a remedy through claims of handicap discrimination in violation of Massachusetts law. It also decided there was no implied statutory private cause of action under the medical marijuana act and that Barbuto failed to state a claim for wrongful termination in violation of public policy. As a result, the court affirmed the dismissal of those claims. The case was remanded to the Superior Court for further proceedings consistent with the Supreme Courts opinion. Topics Cannabis Massachusetts Drugs Talanx has acquired Generali Colombia Seguros Generales S.A. and its life insurance subsidiary, Generali Colombia Vida Compania de Seguros S.A., for approximately 30 million (US$34.6 million) Generali explained that Talanx is acquiring 91.3 percent of Generali Seguros and 93.3 percent of Generali Vida. Subject to approval by the Colombian regulatory authority, the transaction is expected to close by the end of the year. In a separate transaction, Generali announced it has completed the sale of its property and casualty business in Guatemala, Aseguradora General S.A., to the Neutze family, Generalis long-term local partner. (The amount of this transaction was not disclosed). Frederic de Courtois, Generalis CEO of Global Business Lines & International, commented: These transactions are another step forward in the rebalancing of Generali Groups geographical presence across the world. We are making good progress in the rationalization of our geographical footprint pursuing our strategy to make Generali a simpler and smarter company. Generali said it will remain active in Guatemala with its international business lines, namely, Generali Employee Benefits, Generali Global Corporate & Commercial and Europ Assistance. For Talanx, the acquisition of Generali Colombia is a strategic step to open up the fifth largest Latin American market, said Torsten Leue, a member and chairman of the board of management at Hannover, Germany-based Talanx International AG. For us, this means further strengthening our position in the target region, Leue added. The companies are well positioned and have strong management, which will contribute to the Talanx Groups continued growth and success. Headquartered in Bogota, Colombia, the companies have eight branch offices in the country, Talanx said, noting that they have been operating successfully in the Colombian market since 1952. Generali Colombia Seguros Generales S.A. and its life subsidiary, Generali Colombia Vida Compania de Seguros S.A., jointly achieved gross premium volumes of around 59 million (IFRS) and earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of around 2 million (US$ 2.3 million) in 2016, Talanx affirmed. Approximately 70 percent of the portfolio relates to the property insurance business and around 30 percent to life insurance. Talanx said it expects the companies will provide a positive contribution to earnings over the next few years. With a young population and a growing middle class, the country is an interesting emerging market, particularly for the retail division, the company said. Talanx already operates in six Latin American countries through the HDI brand. Source: Talanx International/Generali Topics Mergers & Acquisitions USA Generali Life Assurance (Thailand) Plc. Recent flooding destroyed all the cash in the vault of a southeastern Wisconsin bank. Fox River State Bank president Keith Polleck refused to disclose how much money was ruined, but said the Federal Reserve will have to replace every dollar. Polleck told WISN-TV that the vault at the bank in Burlington, 35 miles (55 kilometers) southwest of Milwaukee, is water resistant but not waterproof. As the Fox River rose above flood stage, water flooded the bank, rising up to 21 inches (53 centimeters) deep inside the facility. Now that the river is back below flood stage, restoration crews have started to clean up. Carpets have been ripped out. Drywall is being replaced. The banks documents are drying, though most are backed up electronically. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Flood Wisconsin Missouri became the final state to create a prescription drug-monitoring program on July 17 when Republican Gov. Eric Greitens signed an executive order aimed at combatting a scourge that killed more than 900 residents last year. The announcement surprised lawmakers, many of whom were unaware such a program was under consideration. Almost immediately, Democrats questioned whether the order goes far enough while some Republicans expressed concerns about privacy. The monitoring program could be operating within a month, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services director Randall Williams said. Greitens signed the order following a news conference at Express Scripts, the St. Louis-based online pharmacy benefits manager that will help provide data analytics as part of the effort. For many years, Missouri has been the lone holdout without a statewide program that tracks prescription drug scripts as part of the effort to combat doctor shopping and prescription opioid addiction. State lawmakers have considered drug monitoring programs repeatedly but legislation has failed, largely because of privacy concerns about keeping medical information in a database. The new program will focus on analyzing prescription and dispensing data and will not use private medical information of patients, according to Greitens, who said penalties for doctors intentionally overprescribing opioids could range up to criminal charges or loss of a medical license. We have to look at this problem straight in the eye, and the fact is opioids are a modern plague, the governor said. Greitens introduced parents who lost a son to an overdose just a month ago, then paused several seconds before speaking. His voice breaking, he said he lost a cousin to an opioid overdose last year. Towns are being hollowed out, Greitens said. Families are being ripped apart. He said that since lawmakers for years have failed to approve a program, his office looked at statutes and determined an executive order was legal. He noted that some other state PDMPs also were established through executive order. Frustrated by a lack of a statewide monitoring program, St. Louis County started its own. Several other counties and St. Louis city joined in to a program that began earlier this year and now represents nearly 60 percent of Missouris population, Democratic St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger said. Stenger said in a statement that the program will continue with the hope that whatever the governor proposes does nothing to hinder our progress. Democratic U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill said in a statement she has serious questions about the value of the Greitens program if doctors and pharmacists dont have access to the database. The welcome mat is still out for drug dealers to shop for prescriptions in our state, McCaskill said. The real solution here is for our elected officials in Jefferson City to get off the sidelines, and pass a robust statewide program into law that gives law enforcement, pharmacies, and doctors the tools they need. Greitens executive order caught state lawmakers off-guard. Democratic state Rep. Lauren Arthur of Kansas City, a supporter of a statewide PDMP, said she didnt have enough information to know if the new program will be good or bad. Most of the lawmakers didnt even have an idea this was going to happen today or happen at all, Arthur said. We all believe in our separate but equal branches of government. There is a role for the Legislature to play in developing this policy. Meanwhile, reaction from Republican lawmakers who have opposed PDMPs largely over privacy concerns was mixed. State Rep. Kurt Bahr of St. Charles said his initial reaction is to question whether or not (Greitens) has the legal authority for such an executive order, as well as if hes not violating some sort of separation of powers because we did not appropriate any funds for the PDMP. So I dont know if he can legally spend money thats not appropriated. State Sen. Will Kraus of Lees Summit said hell be closely watching implementation of the new program. As long as its not tracking honest, law-abiding citizens, I probably will not have a problem with this, Kraus said. When it goes to the point where it says, `somebody who hasnt done anything wrong is going to have their information in a database, thats where I have concerns. AP reporter Summer Ballentine in Jefferson City, Missouri, contributed to this report. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Legislation Missouri Drugs A federal jury in New York on Wednesday found General Motors was not to blame for a crash of an Arizona man who alleged that his accident was caused by an updated version of the carmakers ignition switch that did not adequately fix the flaws of a previous model. An earlier version of the switch had been linked to nearly 400 injuries and deaths, but GM settled the last case involving that switch in September last year. The company so far has paid roughly $2.5 billion in criminal and civil penalties, settlements and legal fees in connection with that switch. The plaintiff, Dennis Ward, said in this lawsuit that an updated model of that defective switch was to blame for the 2014 accident in which he hurt his knee. He alleged the switch suddenly rotated out of place, cutting off his cars power and leaving him unable to steer and brake the vehicle. There are some 230 individual cases pending with the Manhattan court over the new switch model, six of which have been selected as test trials. In this case, the jury carefully considered the evidence and found that the ignition switch in this car was not defective and played no role in the accident, GM said in a statement after the verdict. Wards car had been outfitted with the so-called 190 switch, an updated version of the previous 423 switch model. GM conceded the 423 switch was defective, leading to the 2014 recall of 2.6 million vehicles. But the company insisted that the flaws were solved in the updated model, which was equipped with a stronger spring to improve resistance. During the trial, the carmakers defense lawyers had said the accident was Wards own fault for not paying attention to traffic conditions and the road ahead. (Reporting by Tina Bellon; Editing by Anthony Lin and David Gregorio) A U.S. rule years in the making that was intended to restore consumers ability to band together to sue financial companies could unravel in just a few months as the heads of two federal agencies clash over it and critics gear up for battle. On Wednesday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureaus rule abolishing mandatory arbitration clauses was published in a directory of regulatory actions called the Federal Register, starting the timer for two possible ways of undoing it. The rule bans companies from requiring customers to sign agreements when opening new accounts that they will not join a group lawsuit, or class action, in the event of a dispute. Critics say such lawsuits only benefit lawyers and that arbitration is a quick, cost-effective alternative to the courts. Once the rule is published, anyone sitting on the council of the countrys top financial regulators can petition for a stay within 10 days by showing it significantly risks injuring the banking system. One member, Acting Comptroller of the Currency Keith Noreika, started moving toward that step after the rules final version was released last week. The rule will also be open to possible nullification under the Congressional Review Act. Already powerful Senate Republicans, including Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, are drafting a resolution to kill the rule. Under the Congressional Review Act, Congress could take up to six months to consider the resolution. However, both attempts to stymie the rule could fail. Noreika contends his office has not been able to review data used to write the rule. He and CFPB Director Richard Cordray have exchanged slightly hostile letters over the last week, and on Tuesday Cordray wrote that the CFPB is assembling the data your staff has requested. Noreika replied in a statement that he would conduct an independent review of the data and analysis in a timely manner. But Cordray says his agency released a thorough analysis two years ago and a rulemaking proposal more than a year ago that was accompanied by extensive research. Cordray also points out that Congress banned the arbitration clauses from mortgages and did not injure that market, casting doubt on Noreikas safety and soundness concerns. In the Senate, a nullification resolution could be crowded out by other, more pressing business. A third line of attack is less bound by time. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is currently looking into its options, including litigation, but has not decided its response, a spokeswoman for the lobbying group told Reuters. It could announce one as soon as Wednesday, when it holds an event on arbitration. (Reporting by Lisa Lambert; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Diane Craft) A Kentucky attorney is facing charges in federal court that he defrauded clients out of their insurance settlements for $550,000. The U.S. Attorneys office in Louisville says James Grant King allegedly committed aggravated identity theft and wire fraud from 2007 to this year. Prosecutors say Kings clients in western Kentucky sought his help in recovering money from insurance companies. King was keeping all or most of the settlement money for himself, according to a U.S. Attorney release. King, 43, is also charged with obtaining a $97,500 personal loan from a person in McCracken County. King used a boat for collateral, then got a duplicate title for the boat and sold it without repaying the loan, the release said. If convicted, King could face 42 years in prison. Topics Fraud Kentucky A railroad owner plans to appeal a jurys decision that it must pay $3.9 million to the family of a movie worker killed on a Georgia railroad trestle in 2014, a spokesman for the company said. The jury in Savannah decided in a civil verdict Monday that CSX Transportation shared in the blame for the deadly freight train collision even though the film crew was trespassing. The parents of Sarah Jones sued CSX in Chatham County State Court, saying the railroad shared blame for their daughters death. The 27-year-old camera assistant died in the crash Feb. 20, 2014, during the first day of shooting Midnight Rider, an ill-fated movie about Gregg Allman of the Allman Brothers Band. This trial disclosed a number of exceptionally poor judgments and ignored opportunities by CSX Transportation to prevent this tragedy, Jones parents, Richard and Elizabeth Jones of Columbia, South Carolina, said in a written statement. A spokesman for the Jacksonville, Florida-based company, Rob Doolittle, said CSX plans to appeal the jurys decision. CSX is deeply sympathetic to the terrible loss suffered by the family of Ms. Sarah Jones, but respectfully disagrees with the conclusions reached by the jury today, Doolittle said. The films director, Randall Miller, served a year in jail after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespassing charges. Jones parents said CSX also failed to take precautions that could have averted the crash on a trestle spanning the Altamaha River near Jesup in southeast Georgia. Jones family also had sued Miller, his fellow production managers and several other defendants. All of them except for CSX settled or otherwise resolved their cases out of court. The jury Monday found $11.2 million to be the total value of Jones life as well as her pain and suffering. Jurors decided CSX the only defendant on trial bore 35 percent of the responsibility for Jones death, making the railroads share $3.9 million. The jury in Savannah heard testimony during the civil trial that two CSX trains rolled through while the movie crew stood on both sides of the tracks within an hour before the crash, but the operators of those trains never called dispatchers to alert them. Jurors also were shown a CSX policy that train operators are expected to immediately report trespassers on its tracks and rights of way. Jeffrey Harris, the Jones familys attorney, also noted that the trains brakes werent applied until after the locomotive struck a hospital bed the filmmakers had placed across the tracks. Actor William Hurt, hired to play Allman, had been lying in the bed before the train came upon the crew at 53 mph (85 kph). Hurt escaped unharmed. Six crew members were injured by flying shrapnel from the bed. Jones was run over. Hurt appeared in Savannah and sat outside the courtroom during the trials first day last week. But the actor was never called to testify in the case. CSX attorneys blamed the crash entirely on the filmmakers. CSX officials had twice sent production managers emails denying them permission to shoot on the bridge. Three of Jones co-workers testified that production managers never told the rest of the crew members, who went onto the railroad trestle unaware they were trespassing. CSX lawyers argued that evidence of failures to follow company policies doesnt prove the railroad was negligent. They said the engineer in the crash didnt brake sooner because he was afraid the train would derail and possibly dump its payload of shipping containers onto people who were huddled on the bridges narrow walkway beside the tracks. The crash ended production on Midnight Rider, which has remained in limbo. Allman went to court to prevent Miller from reviving it before he died in May at age 69. Related: Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Georgia A California blaze in the rugged mountains outside of Yosemite National Park has destroyed eight structures and forced thousands of nearby residents to flee their homes. As of Tuesday evening, the fire had scorched 39 square miles, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The blaze burning since Sunday was making its way to the hills on the edge of Mariposa. The town of about 2,000 people is under a mandatory evacuation order. Record rain and snowfall in the mountains last winter were celebrated for bringing Californias five-year drought to its knees, but it has turned into a challenge for firefighters battling flames feeding on dense vegetation, officials said. Theres ample fuel and steep terrain, said California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokeswoman DeeDee Garcia. It makes firefighting difficult. The Northern California blaze is threatening at least 1,500 homes as well as powerlines that provide electricity to the park, officials said. The park remained open Tuesday but several roads frequented by tourists were closed. The wildfire near Lake McClure, a reservoir about 50 miles east of Modesto, was 5 percent contained Tuesday evening as at least 1,400 firefighters battled it on the ground and from the air. Its burning near Highway 49, a historical route winding its way up California foothills of the western Sierra Nevada dotted with communities and landmarks that sprouted up during the states Gold Rush. Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday declared an emergency, bolstering the states resources to battle the fire that he said has forced thousands of residents to flee and is expected to continue burning. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics California Catastrophe Natural Disasters Wildfire Homeowners The Wal-Mart greeter who took the retail giant all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court in the largest gender bias class-action lawsuit in U.S. history has died. A niece, Rita Roland, says Betty Dukes died July 10 at her home in Antioch, Calif. She was 67. The San Francisco Bay Area woman was the lead plaintiff in Dukes v. Wal-Mart. The 2001 lawsuit alleged the company violated the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which made it illegal for employers to discriminate on the basis of race, creed or gender. Dukes claimed Wal-Mart systemically paid women less than male counterparts and promoted men to higher positions at faster rates than women. The case reached the U.S. Supreme Court in 2011, where it was dismissed. Dukes worked for Wal-Mart until last year. Related: Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Lawsuits California USA A fire southeast of Eugene, Ore., destroyed three mobile homes and sent a man to a Portland hospital. Residents of the mobile home park tell The Register-Guard that two dogs and four cats died. The fire happened Monday at the Bella Casa Mobile Home Park in Pleasant Hill. Officials estimated the damage at $175,000. Two of the owners of the three burned mobile homes did not have insurance. Fire marshals have not determined the cause of the blaze, but believe it was possibly because of an electrical problem. Some residents of the fire-destroyed homes said it was caused by faulty wiring in an air conditioning unit. Information about the injured mans condition was not immediately available. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Homeowners Oregon Yes, you can start to collect Social Security retirement benefits even if you're still working. But it isn't always a good idea. There are major pros and cons to consider if you want to keep your job and accept your benefits. Drawing a salary could reduce the amount of benefit you can claim before you hit full retirement age. According to the Social Security Administration (SAA), the full retirement age in the U.S. is 66 years and four months (if born in 1956) and the age goes up from there to 67 years, for those born in 1960 and beyond. Your full retirement age is when you can qualify to collect 100% of your benefit based on your earnings history. However, before you hit full retirement, earning income will reduce a portion of your benefits if you exceed the earnings cap, and you want to withdraw funds. For example, In 2022, the earnings cap is $19,560, and the SSA will deduct $1 in benefits for every $2 earned, which can add up. When you turn your full retirement age, you can work and receive benefits without any deductions from your social security check. Key Takeaways You can take Social Security benefits while you're still working. If you're under your full retirement age, however, your benefits will be temporarily reduced. Once you reach full retirement age, there's no limit on how much you can earn while collecting full benefits. You can start receiving your social security benefits at the age of 62. If you wait until full-retirement age or older, you will receive more money in benefits. Retirement Age and Social Security If you're eligible for Social Security, you can start collecting your benefits as early as age 62, and you can also continue to work. Before you do so, it's important to note that unless you've reached your full retirement age (such as 66 or 67), you'll be doubly penalized: By taking Social Security early, you'll be accepting a benefit that is permanently reduced. If you earn over a certain amount, your benefits will be temporarily reduced. By contrast, if you wait until full retirement age 66 or 67, depending on when you were born, to collect, you'll get your full benefit regardless of whether you're working at the time or how much you're earning. If you can wait even longer to collect, you'll also avoid being penalizedplus your benefit will increase another 8% for each year you delay, up to age 70. At that point, your benefit maxes out and there is no further incentive to delay. The reduction in Social Security benefits for people who earn over a certain amount is based only on earned income. Unearned income, such as from pensions or investments, doesn't count. Advantages of Collecting Social Security While Working There are a few benefits to collecting your social security benefits. If you are working a lower-wage job, collecting your social security benefits can help to supplement your income, even with the deductions. If you are able to work at your full-retirement age, you will be able to earn your full retirement benefits in addition to your salary, which may be useful. Disadvantages of Collecting Social Security While Working If you work and collect social security benefits before hitting your full retirement age, you will receive a reduced payment. In addition, if you earn too much, some of your social security may be withheld until you reach age 66 or 67, depending on your birth year. If you take social security payments plus a salary, you may pay higher taxes than if you pulled an annual salary. If you take your benefits early, you miss out on earning more in social security if you wait until you are age 70, when your benefit amount will increase. How Social Security Calculates Your Benefit The amount you receive in Social Security benefits is based on an average of your 35 highest-earning years. So if you're earning more now than ever before, your best bet is to keep working, if that's possible, and delay receiving benefits until age 70. You'll then be eligible for your maximum benefit. On the other hand, if you keep working but start taking benefits early, you may run up against the Social Security income limits. For 2022, Social Security will deduct $1 of every $2 you earn over $19,560 if you are under your full retirement age. During the year you reach full retirement age, it will deduct $1 for every $3 you earn over $51,960 until the month you reach full retirement age. After that, you'll receive your entire benefit. Note that any money Social Security withholds from your benefit isn't lost forever. After you reach full retirement age, Social Security will recalculate your benefit and increase it to account for the benefits that were withheld earlier. Can You Collect Social Security at 66 and Still Work Full Time? Yes. You can still collect social security at age 66 and work full-time. If you are not at full retirement at age 66, however, your benefits will be reduced. However, if your full retirement age begins at age 66, you can earn your full benefits and continue to work. How Many Hours Can You Work on Social Security? If you are at full retirement age, you can work as much as possible and still receive your social security benefits. However, if you are younger than age 66 or 67, there is a cap on how much you can earn and receive in social security benefits. As of 2022, the Social Security Administration will deduct $1 from your benefits for each $2 you earn above $19,560. At What Age Should You Start Collecting Social Security? You may start collecting social security when you turn age 62, but, if you wait until you reach full retirement age, you will earn your full retirement benefits. If you put off receiving benefits when you reach your full retirement age, benefits will increase a certain percentage for each month you delay starting your benefits, up until age 70. Can You Collect a Pension While Working Full Time? Under most circumstances, you can collect a pension while working full time, as long as it is not for the company that issued you the pension. You don't even have to wait a certain amount of time between starting your pension and taking a new job. The Bottom Line You can begin collecting Social Security benefits while you're still working, but your benefits will be reduced if you're younger than your full retirement age. If you're in that situation, it's worth estimating how much you expect to earn and how much that will reduce your benefit. Once you know how much you're likely to receive from Social Security, you can decide whether having that extra money now outweighs the advantages of waiting to claim benefits until later. Top News - Investor Idea Breaking AI Stock News: GBT's (OTCPK: GTCH) Facial and Body Recognition Patent Application Received a Notice of Allowance San Diego, CA - November 9, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) GBT Technologies Inc. (OTC PINK: GTCH) with GBT Tokenize Corp. ("GBT/Tokenize") received a notice of allowance for its facial and body recognition non-provisional patent application. Top EV Stock News - Investor Idea Breaking EV Stock News: Mullen (NASDAQ: MULN) Enters into Agreement with Newgate Motor Group, one of Ireland's most Recognized Auto Groups, to Distribute the Mullen I-GOTM in Ireland and United Kingdom BREA, Calif. - November 9, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Mullen Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ: MULN), an emerging electric vehicle manufacturer, announces today that it has entered into an agreement to appoint Newgate Motor Group, one of Ireland's most recognized dealership groups, as marketing, sales, distribution and servicing agent for the Mullen I-GO in Ireland and the United Kingdom. Top AI Stock News - Investor Idea Breaking AI Stock News: GBT's (OTCPK: GTCH) AI Driven Financial Technology Patent Application Received a Notice of Publication San Diego, CA - November 3, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) GBT Technologies Inc. (OTC PINK: GTCH) received a notice of publication for its financial software patent application. Top AI Stock News - Investor Idea Breaking AI Stock News: Intellagents, a FatBrain AI (OTCQB: LZGI) Company, Announces Hiring of Insurtech Industry Veteran as Chief Revenue Officer NEW YORK, NY - November 2, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) FatBrain AI (LZG International, Inc.) (OTCQB: LZGI), the leader in powerful and easy-to-use artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for star enterprises of tomorrow, announces the hiring of Euan King, an experienced and respected Insurtech industry leader as Chief Revenue Officer for insurance technology-focused subsidiary Intellagents. Check out our Podcasts for great investor ideas: Get new posts by email: Subscribe Powered by Investorideas.com Newswire: Subscribe to Investor Ideas Newswire There is strategic competition between the great powers of the US and China. As Chinese power and influence continue to rise and as the US global and Asia policy in general and China policy in particular enter a highly uncertain and unpredictable phase under President Donald Trump, every country in Asia including Cambodia has been forced to recalibrate their strategies for protecting and promoting their economic and national security interests. Their strategic adjustments to meet the challenges they face will depend on their individual domestic political situations and national concerns. It will also depend on how they anticipate the policies of the two superpowers to evolve going forward. The current uncertain and unpredictable international environment places Cambodias foreign policy in the context of the challenging environment than it has already been in for decade, being caught between the two superpowers and between China and ASEAN. Cambodia has recently become much closer to China in almost every respect, leading some scholars to label Cambodia-China relations as a client-patron relationship. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has described China as a most trustworthy friend while Xi Jinping reciprocated with his description of Hun Sen as the ironclad friend. Such a phenomenon is not coincidental but rather has been brought about by actions. Since 1992, approximately USS 3 billion in Chinese congressional loans and aid has been offered to Cambodia, positioning China to be the largest development assistance provider and the biggest investor in the kingdom. Chinese investments have covered almost all lucrative and backbone sectors in Cambodia. For example, Chinese companies have invested in the garment and textile sector, accounting for 80 percent of total exports and employing about half a million Cambodians. In addition, China is also building the USD 800 million Lower Sesan 2 dam project. Some scholars believe that Cambodias excessive dependence on China has placed Cambodias foreign policy under Chinas influence. As Evelyn Goh points out: Downstream states do not feel that they are in a position to challenge China directly, partly because of its relative power, but also because of growing Chinese influence in the region. For example, increasing Chinese aid and investment in Cambodia in recent years especially in the form of infrastructural investment in roads, bridges, sewerage systems, the Sambor hydropower station, and the Senate and National Assembly buildings obliges Phnom Penh to tread carefully when expressing concerns about the impacts it might suffer from Lancang Jiang developments. This influence, while serving Chinas national interests, has provided an opportunity for Cambodia to enjoy a free ride on the efforts of the international community, in particular the US, to get Cambodia on the right track for democracy, good governance, and human rights. According to Carlyle Thayer, Cambodian reliance on China for development assistance will mean that CPP officials will not have to fear external pressures to act on corruption.1 Moreover, as Sophal Ear argues, When Cambodia falls under pressure from international bodies to reform its human rights abuses, corruption, oppression of its people, or misuse of power, it turns to China for financial support.2 For instance, when the World Bank suspended its financial support in response to the mass forced eviction of villagers from the Boueng Kak Lake development area in Phnom Penh, Cambodia simply turned to China for financial support.3 Since 2012, the South China Sea has re-emerged as the most significant and challenging foreign policy dilemma for Cambodia. As a non-claimant state, the Sea is not of direct concern for Cambodia, but it holds great relevance to Cambodia as a member of ASEAN. Cambodia has been accused of siding with China at the expense of ASEAN and therefore, the South China Sea disputes are damaging the unity of ASEAN. This accusation is primarily based on the fact that China has become Cambodias largest foreign investor and economic benefactor. The giant is also the biggest military assistance provider to Cambodia. Thus, it has led some analysts and commentators to portray Cambodia as a Chinese client state. The level of Chinese influence was evident the second time Cambodia held the ASEAN Chairmanship. Cambodia supported Chinas core interests on South China Sea disputes which resulted in ASEANs failure to produce a Joint Communique following its 45th Annual Ministerial Meeting in Phnom Penh in July 2012. Cambodia refused to play the customary role of seeking agreement among the ten ASEAN members, and this resulted in the first time in the history of ASEAN there was no communique. As a result, Cambodia was criticized by its closest ally, Vietnam, other ASEAN members, and the international community for lacking an independent foreign policy. The failure seemed to disgrace Prime Minister Hun Sens commitment to play a neutral leadership role in setting regional issues: Cambodia would fulfil its leadership role responsibly and would work to neutrally moderate and mediate all regional and international issues. Cambodia, however, insists the failure to issue the communique was caused not by intransigence on its part nor for any lack of effort to find common ground among all parties concerned. Responding to the criticism, the Cambodian government claimed that Cambodia has, again and again, become a victim of the South China Sea issue because of unjust accusations. Prime Minister Hun Sen asserted that the failure of the bloc to have a unified communique, also known as the Phnom Penh Fiasco, was not due to Cambodia but rather the claimant states, referring to pressure from the Philippines and Vietnam to incorporate their strong wording in the joint communique. He also blamed some ASEAN claimant states for trying to drag Cambodia into the dispute, stating that they have a dispute, but they get Cambodia to be responsible. In early September 2016, the kingdom faced a similar challenge at the ASEAN Summit in Vientiane, Laos, when Cambodia was again portrayed as a thorn in the regional bloc. The critics assailed Chinas assertive behavior in the South China Sea and the Chinese rejection of The Hague ruling, and connected these to the Chinese influence on Cambodia. Such claims are extant because during Chinese President Xi Jinpings visit to Cambodia last year, several deals seen as Chinese carrots to reward Cambodia for its compliance were offered. In addition, President Xi offered USD 148 million in aid for economic cooperation, canceled USD 89 million of Cambodias debt, and pledged an additional USD 14 million in military aid. As a small state, Cambodia should consider wisely adopting the hedging strategy. Moreover, Cambodia has acted to underpin the one-China policy soon after receiving these loans and aid. As noted in South China Morning Post, Prime Minister Hun Sen stated: We should not do anything that affects Chinas sovereignty. To reinforce his statement, Hun Sen called for the complete ban of the Taiwanese flag from being hoisted in the kingdom. While countries across the globe have acknowledged the one-China policy, Cambodia has been extra careful to do so. Cambodias soft power may be seen to erode along these fault lines. Cambodias bilateral relations with the US have been getting worse. The US has repeatedly lectured Cambodia on its human right abuses, political repression, and its backward democracy, frustrating long-serving incumbent Prime Minister Hun Sen to the extent that he had to resist. In response, Cambodia under Hun Sen has recently released a lengthy report, titled To Tell the Truth, to describe the allegations of abuses and repression as a campaign of misinformation spread by a conspiracy of foreign powers led by the United States: Cambodia has been submerged, month after month, year after year, by reports from opposition media, biased NGOs and misinformed institutions, which twisted the historical facts and events in an attempt to portray a negative image of Cambodia and to lay the blame on the government. Moreover, to fight back against the US accusations, Cambodia has decided to delay the Angkor Sentinel, a joint military exercise with the US, and to end the Seabees. The cancellation of the Seabees, known as the US Navy Mobile Construction Battalion, means that the 20 planned projects like building schools and hospitals have put to an end. The reason Cambodia dares to challenge the US is because Cambodia has the support of China. Another factor contributing to the deteriorating bilateral relations was when Cambodia requested the US to cancel its USD 500 million debt because this debt is viewed by the Cambodian government as odious debt, but the US has refused to do so. Cambodia currently is seen as moving into a challenging foreign policy trajectory and needs to redesign its foreign policy. Cambodias current foreign policy has been seen as a soft alignment or bandwagoning for profits, and the problem with these approaches is that Cambodia has limited room to maneuver. As a small state, Cambodia should consider wisely adopting the hedging strategy. According to Evelyn Goh, the hedging approach is a set of strategies aimed at avoiding (or planning for contingencies in) a situation in which states cannot decide upon more straightforward alternatives such as balancing, bandwagoning, or neutrality, and instead cultivate a middle position that forestalls or avoids having to choose one side [or a straightforward policy stance] at the obvious expense of another. This approach will enable Cambodia to remain friends with all relevant stakeholders. With reference to Cambodias close relations with China, during her visit to Cambodia in November 2010, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton advised the Cambodian people during a public meeting on the independence of the Cambodians foreign policy to not depend only on China: you dont want to get too dependent on any one country. In addition, there are problems when it comes to Chinese aid, loans, and investment. First, Cambodia must be aware that Chinas influence in the country will grow as its loans increase. The problem with the Chinese loans is that if Cambodia is not able to pay off the debt, state property is likely to be converted into equity, lending the rights to China to take charge. This can be seen in the case of Sri Lanka. Its Hambantota and Columbo ports have been converted into equity as a payment to the USD 8 billion in Chinese loans and Chinese firms have taken control of these ports. Second, when it comes to Chinese aid, Cambodia should be more cautious. The reason is that while receiving more aid, Cambodia has to agree to Chinese requests such as access to the natural resources and investments that are detrimental to the environment. Chinese investment in the construction of a number of dams on the upper Mekong River (known as the Lancang in China) and on the Lower Mekong such as in Cambodia will cause considerable negative environmental effects on millions of people who depend on the water for drinking, irrigation, fishing, and the sediments that naturally fertilize the land in short for their food, sanitation, water and, in many instances, their income. Downstream countries such as Cambodia and Vietnam will be the worst affected as a result of dam construction. Cambodias core national interests include maintaining sovereignty and territorial integrity, security and political stability, as well as sustaining economic development, reducing poverty and image-building. Cambodias long-term interests will be best served through engaging in regional initiatives such as ASEAN and with other major powers such as China and the US simultaneously and harmonizing its relations with all stakeholders. Cambodia should contribute to strengthening ASEAN to achieve its centrality because a strong and cohesive ASEAN is vital for a rule-based regional order and for Cambodias future autonomy and prosperity. When it comes to the South China Sea dispute, Cambodia should play a leading role in pushing for the finalization of the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, and once finalized, Cambodia, which has been accused of being a Chinese puppet, will be able to present itself as a neutral entity. To achieve this end, it is necessary for Cambodia to prove to the other ASEAN member states and the international community that Cambodias foreign policy with China does not come at the expense of ASEAN unity. Notes 1. Thayer, C. (2009). Cambodia: The Cambodia Peoples Party consolidates power. In Southeast Asian Affairs, ed. Daljit Singh. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asia Studies, p. 97. 2. Ear, S. (3013). Aid Dependent in Cambodia: How Foreign Assistance Undermines Democracy. New York: Columbia University Press, pp. 29-30. 3. Ciorciari, J. (2013). China and Cambodia: Patron and client? International Policy Center Working Paper no. 121, p. 7. An elderly woman who had difficulty staying wide awake during High Court proceedings is to be surrendered to the UK where she faces charges of allegedly assisting in the rape of her daughter 40 years ago. The UK citizen cannot be identified for legal reasons, is accused of indecently assaulting her daughter and jointly raping her with her then husband at addresses in West Sussex and Devon on dates in the late 1970s. The complainant was aged between 10 and 15 at the time of the alleged offences, which were first reported in 2013. Authorities in the UK issued a European Arrest Warrant in respect of the woman last March which was subsequently endorsed by the High Court in Ireland. Her barrister, Liam Dockery BL, opposed her surrender on grounds of antiquity and her medical issues. Ordering her surrender in the High Court today Ms Justice Aileen Donnelly said the woman came to Ireland in the 1990s. Ms Justice Donnelly said there was no doubt the woman had health problems beyond the usual problems for a woman in her 70s. She has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, extreme obesity, a 50% chance of dying from a chest infection, has to wear a pressure mask, appeared in court in a wheelchair and, as Ms Justice Donnelly noted, appeared to have some difficulty staying wide awake for the case. A report from her doctor found her to be unfit to be tried and unfit to be imprisoned. However, although the doctors report set out a sorry picture of health, Ms Justice Donnelly said she did not find the doctors report to be cogent evidence. Ms Justice Donnelly said there was no foundational basis for the doctors opinion. She said the doctor did not really base his opinion on anything other than a statement around her state of health and had not set out his knowledge of trials here or in the UK. She said it was unclear as to why it was stated that the woman was unfit to be imprisoned where prisons can and have dealt with people who have significant health issues. It was also true the woman has been able to travel to Dublin, swear affidavits and attend the High Court hearing. Furthermore, the judge said offences of similar antiquity and respondents older than the woman have been tried before and there was no doubt allowances could be made. Ms Justice Donnelly said the public interest in the prosecution of crime and the fulfillment of Irelands international obligations required her surrender. Ms Justice Donnelly said she would postpone surrender on humanitarian grounds. She said the woman would need time to gather her medical records for transmission to the UK, to attend a doctors appointment here in September and to make enquiries with regards to bail in the UK. The woman was remanded on continuing bail to appear before Ms Justice Donnelly again in the High Court on October 2 next. An Irish Naval Service crewman who fell ill while on humanitarian duty in the Mediterranean has thanked the Spanish coast guard for saving his life. Ordinary Seaman Craig Clear, from Co Laois, was airlifted from the deck of the LE WB Yeats on Tuesday with a suspected collapsed lung just days after the vessel sailed from the Irish Naval Service Base in Haulbowline, Co Cork. A father-of-two who threatened to chop off a customers head while he was trying to rob a post office has been sentenced to four and half years with the final 18 months suspended, reports Sonya McLean. George Simpson (30), who was armed with both an air pistol and a hatchet, told gardai in interview Im sorry I had to do it. I owe 14,000. I would be killed. His counsel said he was referring to a drug debt he owed due to his cocaine habit. Simpson previously of Millwood Villas, Edenmore, Raheny, Dublin pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to attempted robbery, possession of an imitation firearm with intent to rob, production of a weapon, threat to kill or cause serious harm and criminal damage at Rush Post Office, Main Street, Rush, Co Dublin on November 28, 2016. Garda Ross Rowan told Diarmuid Collins BL, prosecuting at a sentence hearing earlier this month, that the staff member behind the desk ran into the back office for safety after Simpson threatened to chop the head off a male customer if she didnt hand over cash. He then used the hatchet to smash a glass panel in front of the tills before he was heard shouting fuck this and running out of the post office. Simpson has since moved out of the home he shared with his wife and two sons. Dominic McGinn SC defending said he believed the threat still hangs over him and he wanted to distance himself from his family. Simpson had been living in his car before he was remanded in custody after evidence was heard on July 11, last. Counsel said the nature of the crime was such a huge shock to his wife because although Simpson has 15 previous convictions, they are for more minor offences that have been dealt with in the District Court. Judge Karen OConnor, who viewed CCTV footage of the raid said a child was in the queue at the post office that day and she could also see a man lying on the ground covering his eyes. It is clear that it was was most frightening for those present, the judge said but accepted that Simpson had been motivated by fear to raid the post office. She said the fact that his behaviour on the day was out of character would have little impact on the staff and customers there. Garda Rowan said the female member of staff was afraid for her life while she hid in the back office. She had pressed the panic alarm and didnt come back out until a customer told her Simpson had left. Simpson was arrested a short time later after witnesses told gardai he ran off in the direction of nearby Lusk. He had a balaclava, an air pistol, a magazine of plastic pellets for the gun and a hatchet with him when he was stopped. He apologised during interview to the staff and customers and admitted that he had threatened the man. Mr McGinn said Simpson recognised his difficulties in life and had started attending a psychologist. He accepts what he has done and knows there will be further punishment, Mr McGinn said. Chilean politicians have taken a major step toward legalising abortion in some cases, a dramatic development in one of Latin America's most traditionally conservative countries. The Senate voted early on Wednesday to allow abortions when a mother's life is in danger, when the foetus is not viable and in cases of rape. The Treasury Department has fined Exxon Mobil $2m for violating Russia sanctions while Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was the oil company's CEO. The Treasury said in a statement that Exxon under Mr Tillerson's leadership had shown "reckless disregard" for sanctions that the Obama administration imposed on Russian entities in 2014 over Russia's annexation of Crimea. And, it said the company's "senior-most executives" were aware of the sanctions when two of its subsidiaries signed deals with Russian oil magnate Igor Sechin. Mr Sechin is the chairman of Russian oil giant Rosneft and is on a US blacklist that bars Americans from doing business with him. In a statement, Exxon countered that it had done nothing wrong and complained that the fine was "fundamentally unfair". The State Department declined to comment on Mr Tillerson's role, referring all questions to Exxon. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, or Ofac, said Exxon caused "significant harm" to the sanctions programme by engaging in transactions with a person who is "an official of the government of the Russian Federation contributing to the crisis in Ukraine". Ofac said it had considered and rejected Exxon's explanation that it had believed from press accounts of the sanctions that there was a distinction between Mr Sechin acting in a "professional" rather than a "personal" capacity. It also determined that Exxon had not voluntarily disclosed the violations, which it said was "an egregious case". It levelled the statutory maximum civil penalty of two million US dollars for the breaches. In its statement, Exxon maintained its innocence, saying that it had "followed clear guidance" from the White House and Treasury Department when it went ahead with the deals with Rosneft that Mr Sechin then countersigned. It noted that Rosneft was not subject to sanctions at the time and maintained it understood transactions with Mr Sechin in his personal capacity as an individual were not covered. "Based on the enforcement information published today, Ofac is trying to retroactively enforce a new interpretation of an executive order that is inconsistent with the explicit and unambiguous guidance from the White House and Treasury issued before the relevant conduct and still publicly available today," it said. "Ofac's action is fundamentally unfair." Ofac said it considered several aggravating factors when reaching its decision. Those included "reckless disregard for US sanctions requirements when it failed to consider warning signs associated with dealing in the blocked services of (a sanctioned person); that "Exxon Mobil's senior-most executives knew of Mr Sechin' s status ... when they dealt in the blocked services of Sechin"; that the deals "caused significant harm to the Ukraine-related sanctions programme objectives"; and that the company "is a sophisticated and experienced oil and gas company that has global operations and routinely deals in goods, services and technology subject to US economic sanctions and U.S. export controls". Mr Tillerson has taken a tough line with Ukraine-related sanctions as secretary of state, saying earlier this month on a trip to Kiev that the sanctions would not be lifted until Russia met its obligations. But while he was at Exxon, Mr Tillerson opposed the sanctions levied on Moscow for its annexation of Crimea. Those sanctions cost his company hundreds of millions of dollars. The same year that Exxon is accused of breaching the sanctions, Mr Tillerson was unambiguous about his opposition to the penalties. "We do not support sanctions, generally, because we don't find them to be effective unless they are very well implemented comprehensibly and that's a very hard thing to do," Mr Tillerson said at Exxon's 2014 annual meeting. Mr Sechin was Mr Tillerson's main partner in Exxon's bid to drill in the Arctic's Kara Sea, with its vast untapped potential. Mr Tillerson knew both Mr Sechin and Russian President Vladimir Putin for more than a decade before he became secretary of state. AP The deal comes as speculation swirls about the next round of consolidation in the packaged-food business. In February, Kraft Heinz was spurned in a blockbuster bid to take over Unilever, the British-Dutch maker of Hellmanns mayonnaise and Knorr soup. In the aftermath, Unilever was cited by analysts as a possible bidder for the Reckitt business. Nestle, the worlds largest food company, is also shaking up its portfolio. Under activist pressure to improve results, its considering selling its US candy operations. Investor Nelson Peltzs Trian Fund Management this week set its sights on Procter & Gamble, the US giant that competes with Unilever in personal care. On any conventional yardstick, Reckitt has secured a supersized price: Seven times the units estimated sales and 25 times its forecast operating profit for 2017. That compares with less than one times sales and 16 times operating profit for food sector acquisitions in the last three years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The transaction price equates to 20 times the divisions earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, which feels to us like a very high price for a US-oriented ambient food business, James Edwardes Jones, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said in a note. Concerns McCormick may have overpaid weighed on its shares. The stock dropped as much as 7.1%, its biggest intraday decline in more than three years. Reckitt Benckiser stock rose 1.4% in London, extending its increase for the year to about 15%. However, this was a scarce asset a collection of high-margin brands delivering good organic growth. When such rare morsels come up for sale, buyers are willing to stretch. This one came along only because Reckitts strategy had shifted to infant nutrition. Hence an auction that also attracted Unilever and at least one other US food group. The flipside is that McCormick will need to take a very long-term view on the payback. Fortunately, the firm has a huge US distribution network and can plausibly distribute more of the acquired brands than Reckitt ever could. Unilever will be upset to have let this one go. But at least it hasnt overpaid. Theres one more consolation. It already owns the Maille French mustard brand that dates back to 1747, whereas Frenchs Mustard isnt French. To some palates it isnt mustard either. A total of over 400 bedrooms would be incorporated into the extension, refurbishment and also the development of new hotel facilities at the adjacent former garage site on St Patricks Quay. The latter element is to be a seven-storey boutique Hotel M building with 228 bedrooms on the former PJ OHea garage site on the quay and running up Harley Street, which joins the quay and MacCurtain Street. The two hotel facilities would be joined by pedestrian link bridges across Harley Street, at first and sixth-floor levels. The main hotel frontage would remain on MacCurtain Street, but Trigon Hotels is seeking permission to demolish existing elements to the rear which currently back onto St Patricks Quay. This would involve the knocking of modern extensions, including the Leeside Leisure facility, and also No 25 St Patricks Quay but retaining the facade of that address. On the site of the demolished buildings, it is planned to erect a seven-storey structure with 140 bedrooms, bar and restaurant facilities, and four ground-floor retail/cafe units, all over 92 parking spaces in two basement levels. The applicants also propose to renovate and refurbish existing hotel accommodation with 43 bedroom suites and meeting rooms. The reinstatement of ground floor frontage and the historic MacCurtain Street entrance also feature in the plans, moving the main entrance one bay to the east, removing the existing Met bar and restoring the original Edwardian shopfront configuration. Cork City Council will also have a Natura Impact Statement and Environmental Impact Statement to consider when it deals with the application. A decision is expected within weeks on the proposed redevelopment of a former telephone depot to a residential site. Cork City Council had asked Colsaerts Ltd to increase the density of its planned scheme of 73 houses and duplex units at the former Telecom Eireann/Eircom depot at Churchyard Lane in Ballinlough. In its further information request in April, the council said the number of units was considered too low for the five-acre site. However, the company has said it could only provide one additional unit and only if it must on the site. The requirement to provide a childcare facility if the scheme was 75 units or more would have a significant impact on the entire development due to associated play area and parking requirements, it stated. The further information response also dealt with other issues raised by the council, such as drainage, traffic and relationships with nearby sites. The location near the Cork Constitution rugby ground at Temple Hill was the subject of an application that resulted in permission in 2009 for a different company for around 200 houses. Plans have been lodged for a scheme of 40 new houses in Glounthaune, Co Cork. Cork County Council has received the application from Bluescape Ltd for a site at Lackenroe, to the north of the village a few miles east of Cork city. The works would see the development of 20 four-bedroom detached houses, and 20 semi-detached homes in three-bedroom and four-bedroom sizes. The application proposes providing an upgrade of the Knockraha road, with access for the development through a proposed signalised junction with the Cois Chuain estate. The completion of a previously-approved housing scheme elsewhere in east Cork is proposed in another recent application. Ingram Homes Ltd is seeking permission for the works at Clashdermot East and Killeagh Gardens estate in the village of Killeagh. The development would see the completion of a scheme first permitted after a 2003 application, and involves 92 dwellings. It is a mix of 20 semi-detached and 72 terraced units, with changes proposed to the layout and design of the original scheme. Permission has been granted for a floating hotel on Corks city quays in a recent decision by the local planning authority. Sick and Sore Limited has got approval to operate the service for three years, at the end of which further permission would have to be sought. It proposed last December to locate a luxury river cruise ship on Penrose Quay in the north inner city, to operate it as a moored hotel and restaurant. Although the planned acquisition of the vessel identified in the application had not been completed last month, the council granted conditional permission. Among the requirements of planners is that details be provided of the ship to be used, in the event that an alternative vessel is located at the site. In order for the permission to stand, the ship to be berthed at the site should not differ materially from the one first proposed in either scale or capacity. Cork City Council has also included conditions relating to the traffic arrangements around the planned boatel and for set-down arrangements. An application for inner city apartments in Cork has been supplemented by further information after previous changes were already submitted. Cork City Council may decide on the plans to build 28 units in a proposed six-storey development off Grenville Place, near the rear of the Mercy University Hospitals modern extension overlooking the River Lees north channel. The site at Francis Street and Millerd Street is currently occupied by warehouses, which are proposed for demolition. MacAodha Investment Holdings had provided further information already to planners in May, including the removal of two of the 30 apartments originally proposed for the site. Those details included issues around overshadowing and design, but after more correspondence in response from the council, the firm has this month supplied more revised drawings and clarifications. Based on those submissions, a decision could issue by the end of the first week of August. Permission is being sought for more than a dozen new houses near Blarney, Co Cork. An application was submitted to Cork County Council earlier this month for the works at Courtbrack. OLeary & OSullivan Developments Ltd is proposing to build 11 detached and two semi-detached two-storey houses. The Low Pay Commission recommended the minimum wage would rise by 30c per hour. That will mean the lowest paid will receive 9.55, or an extra 12 for a 40-hour week, according to advisory group Peninsula Ireland. But Isme said that despite the dissenting votes of the employers, the Low Pay Commission could cite no objective evidence in its arguments for a 3.2% increase. The bill on family reunification, spearheaded by Independent Senator Colette Kelleher, proposes allowing refugees to bring over their parents, grandparents, siblings or cousins. Such reunification is restricted under existing laws where those aged 18 or over with loved ones cannot be united with members outside their nuclear family. Senators with the Civil Engagement Group have campaigned on the bill with Oxfam Ireland, Nasc and the Refugee Council which last night received support of other parties in the Seanad. Ms Kelleher said there had been 288 applications recently for family reunification but some were restricted by the International Protection Act 2015 which political parties want to overturn. Under the current refugee programme, the Government has promised to welcome 4,000 refugees to Ireland and less than a third have, so far, arrived. Ms Kelleher said she believed the current regime for family reunification would shortly face a Constitutional challenge and the Seanad Bill would allow Ireland lead the way. Members of the Civil Engagement Group (from left) Lynn Ruane, Colette Kelleher and Frances Black. The new bill is supported by Oxfam Ireland, Nasc and the Irish Refugee Council. Senator Alice Mary Higgins said previous legislation was rushed and refugees also had a limited window of 12 months to apply for unification with loved ones. Meanwhile, Ms Kelleher in a report this week criticising the treatment of refugee children in centres, claimed the lack of compassion in reuniting families was causing long-term damage. We are creating mentally ill children for the future, said the Cork senator, a former CEO of the Alzheimer Society of Ireland. Africa Solidarity Ireland said orphans displaced by disease, famine or war were taking refuge in foreign countries but could not bring their extended family with them. There had been several cases here where families could not be reunited because of restrictions, the group said. Muhammad, a Syrian refugee who has lived in Ireland for nine years, described how he was attempting to help his sisters and brothers to leave a war zone and come to Ireland. The security guard, who lives and works in Dublin, said his parents had been reunited with him here recently and could not believe they had access to running water and electricity. There are other Syrians here trying to be reunited with their family, he said yesterday. He was speaking in Dublin yesterday where the Irish Postmasters Union held a demonstration outside the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment saying that the Government was overseeing the demise of the national postal network. Im in Aghada in East Cork. Ive a middle-sized office and its in a small village and obviously, we give great service but it [business] is dropping all the time, Mr OShea told the Irish Examiner. We can only look forward about three or four years, five years at the most because the way it is going I expect it to drop a lot now the next time. I have a woman working for me three days a week, if I get another drop, I wont be able to employ her. His post office serves the community in terms of social welfare payments and general postal services as well as providing social work. People are looking for the local thing, he said. They want to come in. We do an awful lot of social work. People coming in, elderly people, a lot of them come into us, and we do everything for them and theyre mad to come in. Someone came into me yesterday and said I was the only human being she met for the week. She goes to the bank, theres a machine. She comes to me Ill talk to her. Ill do anything she wants. So its very important for any community, for anywhere, in the country more than the city. He believes his post office will see a drop of about 10,000 in business next year and cited several reasons for the falloff, including younger people organising things like car tax online. Well, basically the banks [are causing the business to drop] and the Government is giving us no business. People under 40, they come in now and then, he said. However, despite speculation that the introduction of the 1 stamp would put people off sending cards, Mr OShea says this has not been his experience. A lot of that [sending cards] is still going on and last Christmas I think it went up a bit. The only one that cribbed about the 1 stamp was a doctor. He came in for 200 stamps and he said: How much? And I said 200 and he said: My god, it went up. Ill do a lot online in future. But he was the only one that cribbed, Mr OShea. Irish Postmasters Union general secretary Ned OHara said the protest was as a result of Government inaction and its continued refusal to invest in its own network. When asked how long some struggling post offices would last, he said he expected an avalanche of closures. I think some postmasters will be making a decision. Theyre just waiting, waiting, waiting in the hope that somebody will do something otherwise I think there will be an avalanche of post offices closing. The postmasters also announced yesterday that they were withdrawing the current talks with An Post, on the future of the network. The union said they were doing this because of no prospect of agreement. The talks had been underway since May. The union will also not co-operate with the introduction of the planned An Post smart account. The product is described by An Post as a gamechanger in the current account market, allowing people to save up to 660 a year on their household spending. Youth Defence will bring its Save the 8th event to the city, and activist Becky Kealy said it is all about emphasising the lives saved by our pro-life laws, and bringing people to understand that we can help women and their babies without legalising something as barbaric as abortion. Well be answering peoples questions about the 8th, about best medical practice, about supporting women with unexpected pregnancies, explaining why children with a disability have a right to life, why the British model of abortion is not the path for Ireland to follow, and much more, Ms Kealy said. The HSE has also written to the countys elected representatives to reassure them about standards of care at St Josephs Hospital which was the subject of a legal wrangle last month between the health executive and the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa). Hiqa had published, last Friday, an inspection report on St Josephs highlighting areas of non-compliance with recognised standards and referring to aspects of the facility as institutional and hospital-like. The inspection was conducted in August 2016. Just last month, the matter came before the district court in Ennis after the HSE had appealed against a Hiqa notice that would have stopped new admissions to the facility. Both parties agreed on a way forward and the matter was adjourned until later in the year. The HSE did not comment on the report issued last Friday by Hiqa but, yesterday, the chief officer of HSE Mid-West community healthcare, Bernard Gloster, confirmed a memorandum had been issued to all local council members following a request to do so by its chairman Cllr Tom McNamara. In that memorandum, Mr Gloster said of the Hiqa inspection report: Some aspects of the coverage of the report were out of context and in some respects inaccurate. He said the HSE had issued Hiqa with two action plans following the inspection, before earlier this year Hiqa issued a notice of its proposal to attach a condition to the facilitys registration that would have meant no admissions to the main parts of the facility. Within the 28 days allowed we appealed to Hiqa their proposal and, at this point, submitted a third, more detailed and intensely resourced, action plan, said Mr Gloster. However, Hiqa rejected this, resulting in the HSEs appeal to the district court which led to an agreement between both parties that admissions could continue while improvements would continue. The matter is due before court on September 22. During the adjourned proceedings, Hiqa as is their right published the report of the August inspection, Mr Gloster wrote in the memo to councillors. In that context, they appear to have relied on the first action plan, excluded parts of same from the publication as they were not acceptable to them and have not published the third action plan which is the one being worked to. The HSE did express concern about this to Hiqa, however, ultimately we have no function in what they choose to publish or when. Reassuring public representatives, he said: There is not now nor has there been an allegation or reference to abuse, wilful neglect or mistreatment of our residents in St Josephs. There is an issue with the limitation of the building which we have a plan and approved funding to deal with by 2021. There are some issues with practice in what you might have heard referenced as institutional or hospital like in St Josephs. Setting aside the limitations of the building these are being dealt with and continue to be so and again I give you full assurance on that. He added: Our appeal to the court was to ensure that those challenges were not taken as justifying the closing of the facility to new admissions. Data compiled by the HEA shows that as few as one-in-eight senior academic posts are held by women in some colleges. At NUI Galway, where a number of equality cases have highlighted problems, half of all lecturers, but just eight out of 64, or 12%, of professors, were women. Only two (13%) of 15 senior lecturers at Athlone Institute of Technology are female, even though women account for half of staff at the lowest lecturing grade. The academic-post comparisons were based on three-year averages at colleges, between the end of 2014 and December, 2016. In a letter to the presidents of more than 20 publicly-funded colleges, the HEA chief executive, Graham Love, said gender equality will be a key objective of a higher-education performance framework being developed with the Department of Education. Compared to last year, there are marginal improvements in the right direction, but we still have a significant problem to address, he wrote. There were only improvements of 1% to 2% last year in addressing under-representation of women at senior status in third-level decision-making bodies. Only four of the seven universities have reached the 40% target for each gender on governing bodies, two have done so on their academic councils, and none has passed 40% in their senior management ranks. The situation is better among the 14 institutes of technology, as the 40% benchmark has been reached on 10 of their governing bodies, but on just six (43%) academic councils and three executive management teams. Three women are institute-of-technology presidents, but no university has ever had a female president. While the average number of professorships, across the universities, held by women is 21%, the figure is as high as 31% at University of Limerick, and 26% at Maynooth University. The highest representation in senior academic posts, at institutes of technology, is in Letterkenny, where half the 14 senior lecturers at women, with a similar proportion at Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology, and a 44% female figure at Institute of Technology Blanchardstown. Dublin City University said significant changes at senior level, since the beginning of this year, have seen even numbers of women serving on its 12-strong management team, one of a number of advances in recent months. It and University College Dublin have achieved a bronze award this year, under the Athena SWAN Charter, signifying that problem areas around gender equality have been identified and a plan is in place to address them. From the end of 2019, only publicly-funded colleges which have achieved this status will be eligible for funding from the Irish Research Council, Science Foundation Ireland, and the Health Research Board. Athena SWAN bronze awards were previously attained by University of Limerick and Trinity College Dublin in 2015, and last year by University College Cork. A silver award, which recognises progress on gender issues, will be required for research funding eligibility by the end of 2023. Frank Buttimer, solicitor, said the accused, Derek Budden, was taken by surprise by the Christianity of the victim in expressing this view through the investigating officer, Det Sgt Tim Murphy yesterday. Judge Olann Kelleher said that, despite the wishes of the injured party for Budden not to be jailed as he has a young daughter, there had to be a jail term because of the vicious nature of the crime. Judge Kelleher jailed Budden for five months. He set cash recognisances at 500. The judge also said Budden had been given a suspended jail term for another offence in the past and had failed to take advantage of that opportunity. Budden, aged 34, pleaded guilty yesterday to a charge of attempting to rob a man after meeting him through the fabguys.com website. Mr Buttimer said the accused was prepared to plead guilty to attempted robbery. He said the outline of what happened, as presented by Insp Brian ODonovan, was accepted except the part where it was said a sexual act took place. Budden claimed he led the victim to believe it would happen but that it did not take place. Det Sgt Tim Murphy said yesterday: They met up and went to the county council car park on Carrigrohane Road in Derek Buddens car where a consensual sexual act took place. Derek Budden allegedly went to the boot of his car and took out a screwdriver and demanded money. It is alleged that a struggle took place inside and outside the car and the injured party managed to get to a nearby service station. When the injured party was trying to run, he fell and dropped his phone damaging it. A bag over his shoulder was also damaged. The injured party was at a loss of 150 for those repairs. It was stated previously that Budden caught up with him. Money was demanded on a countdown from 10 to one or he would stick a screw driver in the victims face. Mr Buttimer said: Everything is accepted, save and except the act, to which reference is made. There was a deception that an act might occur. The accused deeply appreciates the Christianity and kindness of the injured party from that point of view. There is no doubt this would attract a custodial penalty for obvious reasons. He has addiction issues. He has identified heroin, cocaine and alcohol as addictions. He made comprehensive admissions to engaging in this scheme. The solicitor said the defendant had been active in addressing his addictions. Fifty years ago this month a major legal change heralded the beginning of the end of a shameful chapter in Irish cultural history when Irelands notorious publications censorship law was reformed. The worst excesses of a vicious and stupid regime that had blighted Irelands reputation since independence were undone, and the subsequent trajectory was one of increasing liberalisation and progress. Today, thankfully, Irish writers are celebrated and supported rather than ostracised and denigrated. Film censorship had been introduced in 1923 and was exercised until 1940 by a censor who admitted that while he knew nothing about films, he knew the Ten Commandments! His successors until the 1980s were little better, banning and cutting films according to zealous Catholic standards. Catholic campaigners in the 1920s wanted a similar shutdown on the evil literature that was seen to be contaminating holy Ireland. In relation to censorship, as well as a range of other issues, independent Irelands early governments were keen to satisfy the extremely conservative demands of a highly organised Catholic Action movement, supported by the hierarchy. The 1929 Censorship of Publications Act empowered a board of five, appointed by the justice minister, to permanently ban a book or periodical if they considered it to be in its general tendency indecent or obscene, if it advocated or advertised contraception or abortion, or if it devoted excessive attention to crime. All boards until at least the 1960s were dominated by Catholic activists, mainly members of the Catholic Truth Society of Ireland and the Knights of Columbanus. The British popular press was a key target. Publications with low circulations in Ireland simply withdrew from the market, while large-selling titles like the News of the World were forced to produce special Irish editions, shorn of birth-control advertisements as well as the salacious court reports that underpinned their popularity. The requirement to take the general tendency and overall merit of a book into account was ignored from the outset as the censors waged war on modern literature, prohibiting books that alluded to sex or sexuality in even the most innocuous or non-explicit way. The mere suggestion of homosexuality, promiscuity, or prostitution was enough to ban a book. Most of the leading writers of modern fiction fell victim, leading cynics to dub the Irish Register of Prohibited Publications The Everymans Guide to the Modern Classics. The register included ten Nobel laureates in literature: Anatole France, Sinclair Lewis, George Bernard Shaw, Thomas Mann, William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, Mikhail Sholokhov, Henrich Boll, and Samuel Beckett. Shaw and Beckett were part of a long list of Irish writers who were especially targeted; it included James Joyce, Sean OCasey, Liam OFlaherty, Sean O Faolain, Frank OConnor, Francis Stuart, Austin Clarke, George Moore, Kate OBrien, Maura Laverty, Walter Macken, Edna OBrien, Brendan Behan, Benedict Kiely, Brian Moore, and John McGahern. They were the best banned in the land, as Brendan Behan joked after he joined the list in 1958 following the prohibition on Borstal Boy. But behind the jokes and ridicule, writers felt persecution, were denied a place in their countrys cultural life, and were in many cases denied a living here also. While no Irish-language book was banned, this had less to do with the intrinsic purity of writing in the native language, and more to do with the pre-publication censorship exercised on such books by their main publisher, the semi-state An Gum. Ronnie Drew of The Dubliners suggested in the 1960s that all banned books should be published as Gaeilge a perfect incentive for the Irish people to learn their own language! Eventually, Irish writers began to see a ban as an inverted badge of honour. Brian Moore remembered thinking it meant I was OK when he joined the list with Wreath for a Redhead in 1952. According to Ben Kiely, a prohibition was the only laurel wreath that Ireland was offering to writers in that particular period. By the 1960s, as Ireland was opening itself up to the wider world, culturally as well as economically, the censorship net became more porous banned books began to be sold openly and reviewed and serialised in the press while the system was increasingly subjected to ridicule and scorn. The banning of Edna OBriens first five novels and John McGaherns The Dark, followed by his sacking from his teaching job, increased the pressure. In 1967 justice minister Brian Lenihan brought forward a new Censorship of Publications Act. The permanent prohibition on books banned for indecency and obscenity was replaced by a 12-year ban, applied retrospectively. This immediately released over 5,000 titles, and about 400 a year up to 1979. In the latter year also, coincidentally, the partial legalisation of contraception led to the lifting on the ban on birth-control information, followed by that on abortion information in 1992. Dr Donal O Drisceoil is a senior lecturer in history at UCC. He is joint editor of the Atlas of the Irish Revolution, which is published on September 1. Thursday, July 20th, 2017 (1:44 pm) - Score 1,654 Alternative network ISP Call Flow Solutions has signed a new deal that will see it deploying ADTRANs next generation 10Gbps (Gigabits per second) symmetric Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH/P) broadband solution, which is based off the latest XGS-PON (ITU-T G.9807.1) standard. The announcement almost makes it sound as if Call Flow intends to upgrade their entire customer base with 10Gbps FTTH services, which would include their existing FTTP, FTTC and Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) deployments. However this is not the case and the XGS-PON upgrade is focused on their core network and new FTTH roll-outs (further details expected towards the end of summer). The broadband ISP, which serves various locations around Kent, East Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire (Southern England), is known to be planning a strategic expansion over the next 5-10 years and so it makes sense for them to prepare their network for demands that might surface over the longer term. Ronan Kelly, CTO for EMEA & APAC at ADTRAN, said: Call Flow has a leading vision for multi-Gigabit broadband services to better enable their communities for the global marketplace and to improve individual customers lives. Its strategic choice of XGS-PON is foundational to its ambition to be a prominent FTTH player in the UK market. This deployment adds to the global momentum building around 10 Gigabit PON as the primary access technology of choice for operators in developed broadband markets. Rapidly and cost-effectively satisfying subscriber demand and government targets, XGS-PON is the breakthrough the FTTH industry has been waiting for. Andy Conibere, CEO at Call Flow, said: ADTRANs global leadership in Gigabit broadband solutions made it the ideal choice to address the rising bandwidth demands we anticipate for the next 510 years and beyond. Its commitment to modern software-based, open architectures reinforced our view that it was the right partner for us. As Call Flow expands to answer more of the pent-up demand for Gigabit broadband services throughout the UK, XGS-PON will be essential to future-proofing our competitive advantage and delivering maximum value to our residential and business customers, as well as our investors. Anybody who wants to know more about Call Flow should check out the interview that we conducted with their CEO last year (here). As part of that Andy did confirm that [We are] planning to deploy proportionally more FTTP in the future, which is supported by todays announcement. Its worth pointing out that Openreach (BT) has also been playing around with implementations of XGS-PON since last year (here) and this year theyve gone even further by testing a 100Gbps FTTP/H service (here). Not that any homes actually NEED or could make full use of Gigabit speeds today but its nice to know that operators are thinking about the future. Speaking of multi-Gigabit speeds, Gigaclear has already tested a live 5Gbps service and a lot of modern FTTP/H providers in the UK could potentially also do 10Gbps if / when the demand for that exists. I spent last weekend at the Formula E races in New York. It is an interesting series for many reasons, not the least of which is the fact that the cars are electric. But this type of race really doesnt showcase electrics in the best light. For instance, as anybody who has ever tracked a Tesla will tell you, electrics suck on a track course (they overheat) but they kick butt as dragsters. So, a typical road course, as opposed to something that showcases straight-line performance or massive torque, just isnt the best option for the technology. Tesla is the current electric car leader, and Volvo just positioned itself to be second. Neither are in this race, which may be related to the problem I just explained. There are also no Japanese car companies, although Panasonic, a storied Japanese firm, is showcased as a battery supplier (it also does Teslas batteries). No U.S. auto companies compete, either. The most interesting cars were the pace and safety cars, both BMW i8s that had been modified to be decent cars, a far better technology showcase for Qualcomm, and even a better automotive showcase for BMW. Formula E Just to get this out of the way first, Formula E is like Formula 1, but with electric rather than gas-powered cars. It is fascinating to watch because you dont need earplugs to survive the race; the cars sound a bit like they would if they had small turbine engines. They are far quieter than gas but far from silent. The race is 42 laps and, instead of changing tires and adding gas, they change cars every eight to 10 laps. The track is short with sharp turns, keeping speeds down a bit, and the race is tight and interesting. Itd likely be better with gas and that is at the core of the problem. You see, when you watch the race, they also show the battery life of each car and how hard the drivers must work to make sure that they dont run out of electricity. If a car does run out, it is basically dead. They must bring a crane out to haul it off the track. One of the big problems with buyers thinking about moving to an all-electric is the fear of running out of battery power. You cant just hike down the road or call AAA for a can of electricity and, to my knowledge, 20-mile extension cords are expensive and problematic. So, the race constantly reinforces and builds on the perception that electric cars arent practical. This looks, particularly for Panasonic, which Im assuming wants to sell more car batteries, like someone missed a planning meeting. Qualcomm Pace Car Strangely, if you look at the i8 pace and safety cars, they are a far better showcase of what could be. First, they are plug-in hybrids, which gets to the heart of battery anxiety by removing it. Second, they have been modified with bigger engines and better suspension, taking BMWs joke of a supercar (the i8 must be the slowest supercar on the market by a significant margin) and making it competitive. The car uses Qualcomms Halo resonance charging technology so it never needs to be plugged in (you just roll the car over a charging plate). On the track, surprisingly enough, it turned in times close to the Formula E racers (according to the driver that drove me around the track in an i8). Given BMWs racing background, Im kind of surprised at the i8. While it is a tech showcase, it really isnt a great car. The coming Jaguar iPace seems to be a far better showcase of both Jaguar as a car company and core technology. The i8 pace car showcased that BMW could have built a car that was both a good technology showcase and a competitive supercar; it just chose not to. Im reading an interesting book, Black Box Thinking, that may explain this. It suggests that decision makers often get tunnel vision, completely miss critical facts that would suggest a different path, dont learn from their mistakes, and then make a habit of repeating them. Future of Formula E Now given that Formula 1 already has gone to a hybrid engine design, going that way with Formula E would be a tad redundant. But you could put charging coils into the tracks. Qualcomms solution has been tested to around 70 MPH, so the cars could charge as they raced and move to a hybrid battery design that used ultracapacitors to eliminate much of the battery heating and performance problems. A new technology was just announced that could eliminate lithium-ion batteries in everything if it pans out and virtually eliminate batteries as a problem in cars, but it is at least five years out right now. Going forward, the racing teams will eventually be able to modify their cars more aggressively. Then, I expect, theyll become a better technology showcase. But I was left wondering if they should have been racing the modified i8s and not electrically driven Formula 1 knock-offs that made electric cars look bad. I also wonder if they shouldnt replace the batteries in those cars with ultracapacitors so they were used more effectively during the race. In the Box Thinking With any new technology, Ive observed that the tendency is to start off trying to shoehorn it into existing forms and functions. For instance, the first cars basically looked like buggies with engines, and clearly the first autonomous cars are going to look just like every other car. Eventually, theyll evolve. With racing cars, part of the effort should be to advance this evolution massively and, at the very least, not present electric cars in a bad light unless the objective is to scare people away from the technology. Also at the track was Roborace, a firm attempting to bring to market autonomous racing cars. But given that we have seemingly far more advanced systems coming to market this year from Audi than it showcased, and that the interesting race would be between human and robotic drivers, even this company seemed like it had missed a meeting. Wrapping Up: The Evolution of Formula E I think Formula E should evolve into a showcase of man/machine integration, where we take elements of Roborace and Formula E and combine them into a race in which the drivers are augmented, much like Toyota imagines with its Guardian Angel AI technology. This is consistent with IBMs AI strategy and might help address Elon Musks concerns of hostile AIs wiping out humans. Right now, we are on an either-or path with robots, which seems suicidal even to me. It suggests that, for our own sakes, we should be more focused on augmenting rather than replacing people with AIs. Cars would be a great way to drive home that argument. Of the two technology vendors that support this race, Qualcomm and Panasonic, Qualcomm had a good showcase but in the pace cars rather than the race cars (it is interesting to note that its wireless technology is actually used heavily in Formula 1). Panasonic, on the other hand, was effectively working against itself because with all the car changing, battery life driver distractions, and stalled dead battery cars, the race process reflected badly on the batteries. Changing that process to reflect positively on the companys products or aggressively moving to ultracapacitor hybrid technology would make so much more sense. Rob Enderle is President and Principal Analyst of the Enderle Group, a forward-looking emerging technology advisory firm. With over 30 years experience in emerging technologies, he has provided regional and global companies with guidance in how to better target customer needs; create new business opportunities; anticipate technology changes; select vendors and products; and present their products in the best possible light. Rob covers the technology industry broadly. Before founding the Enderle Group, Rob was the Senior Research Fellow for Forrester Research and the Giga Information Group, and held senior positions at IBM and ROLM. Follow Rob on Twitter @enderle, on Facebook and on Google+ Just how forgetful must Google be when applying the "right to be forgotten" created by a 2014 European Union court ruling? That's the question the court that made the original decision must now answer, in a case pitting Google against a French privacy watchdog. Its answer will have worldwide consequences for search engines and the people whose private lives they index. The French National Commission on Informatics and Liberty (CNIL) is concerned that Google does not go far enough in removing entries from its search results under the right to be forgotten. It wants Google to remove such results from its properties worldwide, and in March 2016 fined the company 100,000 (US$116,000) for not doing so. Google said that CNIL should not be able to order it to remove search results viewed by residents of non-EU countries, and took its appeal all the way to France's highest court, the Conseil d'Etat, which has now referred three questions of law to the Court of Justice of the EU. The CJEU should be familiar with the matter: It was its ruling in a Spanish case in May 2014 that first introduced the notion of a right to be forgotten. Within weeks of that ruling, Google was inundated with tens of thousands of requests from other people wanting to hide search results about their past, and to this day still receives over 2,000 such requests each week. The company has agreed to around 43 percent of all URL removals requested, according to its own figures. The original case involved a Spaniard who wanted to erase online traces of a 1998 newspaper announcement of a court-ordered auction of his real estate to recover debts. The Spanish court referred the matter to the CJEU, which ruled that the newspaper announcement should remain online, but ordered Google to hide links to it in the results of searches for the person's name. The idea was that references to embarrassing events or minor misdeeds could be made harder to find, but not completely erased. Critically, though, the court did not specify to what extent such links should be hidden. Google has a number of websites targeted at users in particular countries -- google.fr for France or google.co.uk for the U.K., for example. All the sites are accessible to users in any country, although Google attempts to automatically redirects visitors to google.com to what it deems to be the most appropriate country site. The company initially chose to respond to right-to-be-forgotten complaints by removing search listings only from its site for the country of residence of the complainant. That might have been enough to keep a complainant's family, friends and business acquaintances from stumbling across the search results they had complained about if they allowed themselves to be redirected to the local site. The Conseil d'Etat wants the court to rule on which of three methods search engines should use to determine when they should delist search results. The first option it asks about is that favored by the French privacy watchdog: hiding the search results on all domain names, no matter where in the world the search is made. The second covers the option initially adopted by Google, hiding search results only on the domain that serves the country where the demand was made, and a broader option, hiding them on all domains that target EU member states (but not, for example, on dot-com domains). The third is the option now adopted by Google: hide search results on any of its domains, but only in response to requests made from IP addresses it believes relate to users within the EU. Whatever the CJEU decides, EU privacy laws could well have changed by the time it makes a decision in this case. When the General Data Protection Regulation enters effect in May 2018 it will extend the right to be forgotten, turning it into a right to have personal data deleted rather than merely hidden. This Week in Review A weekly review of the best and most popular stories published in the Imperial Valley Press. Also, featured upcoming events, new movies at local theaters, the week in photos and much more. No injuries have been reported, but the fire has destroyed eight structures. It is unclear what type of structures were destroyed. As of Wednesday morning, the fire had scorched 71 square miles (183 square kilometers), according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The blaze burning since Sunday was making its way to the hills on the edge of Mariposa, a town of about 2,000 people under a mandatory evacuation order. About 5,000 people from a half-dozen communities are under evacuation order. It's burning near Highway 49, a historical route winding its way up California foothills of the western Sierra Nevada dotted with communities and landmarks that sprouted up during the state's Gold Rush. A blaze in the rugged mountains outside of Yosemite National Park is threatening 1,500 structures and forcing thousands of nearby residents to flee their homes as it rages toward a historic Gold Rush era town. Record rain and snowfall in the mountains this winter was celebrated for bringing California's five-year drought to its knees, but it has turned into a challenge for firefighters battling flames feeding on dense vegetation, officials said. "There's ample fuel and steep terrain,'' said California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokeswoman DeeDee Garcia. "It makes firefighting difficult.'' The Northern California blaze is also threatening powerlines that provide electricity to the park, officials said. The park remained open Wednesday but several roads frequented by tourists were closed. The wildfire near Lake McClure, a reservoir about 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of Modesto, was 7 percent contained Wednesday as at least 1,400 firefighters battled it on the ground and from the air. Joey Street, 49, a tree trimmer who's lived in Mariposa for about 25 years, was among the people who were first evacuated to a Red Cross makeshift shelter set up at Mariposa Elementary School, which was later closed. "[Firefighters] don't have control of it now, so they'd better be safe than sorry," street told the Fresno Bee while waiting to be bused to an evacuation center in nearby Oakhurst. Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday declared an emergency, bolstering the state's resources to battle the fire that he said has forced thousands of residents to flee and is expected to continue burning. The cause of the blaze remains under investigation. Smoke from the fire in Mariposa County drifted more than 150 miles away to Reno. In a remote northeastern corner of Nevada, roughly 14 homes were damaged or destroyed by a wildfire that started Monday. Officials have lifted an evacuation advisory, allowing hundreds of people to return home and assess damage, authorities said. Wind is driving the flames through invasive cheat grass -- growing twice the norm, U.S. Bureau of Land Management spokesman Greg Deimel said. "It is very thick, very dense,'' he said. "You get the winds and the density of the grass, the fire just goes.'' U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a second, previously undisclosed meeting at the G20 Summit earlier this month in Germany, White House officials confirmed Tuesday night. The two presidents met face-to-face for the first time in Hamburg on July 7, for more than two hours of talks that were extensively covered at the time. But it has now emerged that Trump and Putin had a second discussion during a dinner that same evening for the heads of state from the Group of 20 and their spouses. Trump took to Twitter quickly to repudiate the media reports: "Fake News story of secret dinner with Putin is 'sick.'" There was no immediate word on what was discussed at the meeting, which lasted roughly an hour, according to Ian Bremmer, president of the political risk consultancy Eurasia Group. 'Just a Brief Conversation' The White House had a sharply different account of what happened. Officials speaking on background, which meant they could not be identified, said: There was no second meeting between President Trump and President Putin, just a brief conversation at the end of a dinner. Bremmer first reported the Trump-Putin meeting Tuesday in a newsletter sent to his clients. Appearing on U.S. networks as the news spread, Bremmer said he had been told about the Trump-Putin exchange by others attending the formal dinner. The press was barred from the proceedings. The two presidents were joined only by Putin's translator as they spoke in a conference hall on the banks of the Elbe River. Others dinner guests were seated nearby, but the spacious table setting made it possible to keep the conversation private. Local Dems sweep; town rejects pot Every Democrat on the local ballot won their race Tuesday, including Jamestown resident Peter Neronhas re-election as the states top prosecutor, and local voters followed suit with the statewide trend... Voters rebuff allowing retail pot sales in shops By a margin of 157 votes, the electorate decided Tuesday not to allow local businesses to cultivate, manufacture, test or sell recreational marijuana in Jamestown. The referendum to allow the... School board agrees to contract with North Kingstown Jamestown students entering high school can continue to choose North Kingstown as their destination for grades 9-12. We are pleased to continue this historic partnership, said Ken Duva, superintendent of... Despite Israels 5th election in four years, it remains a beacon of democracy and freedom The Israeli elections are fast approaching. On November 1, Israelis go back to the polls for the fifth round of elections in less than four... What is a Jew? Israeli museum attempts an answer JERUSALEMI was on a short visit to Israel and spent time with a friend with whom I have been engaged in a 30-year argument. Elli... Seven in every 10 American adults worry that a full-scale war with North Korea is imminent, a poll suggests. In the Washington Post-ABC News poll published Tuesday, 74 percent said they are more concerned about the possibility of a full-scale war with the North. Thirty-nine percent are very concerned and 35 percent somewhat concerned. Some 13 percent are not so concerned and 12 percent not concerned at all. Sixty-six percent said the North poses a serious threat, up from 54 percent in a similar poll in 2005, before the North conducted its first nuclear test. Many are critical of the way the current U.S. administration handles the situation. Sixty-three percent said they have "just some or less confidence" in President Donald Trump to handle the situation, and 40 percent none at all. The poll was conducted by mobile and landline phones among 1,001 voters on July 10-13 after the North's test of an intercontinental ballistic missile on July 4. By continuing to browse or by clicking "Accept," you agree to our site's privacy policy. DuraFiber Technologies filed Monday with the N.C. Commerce Department temporary plans to eliminate 373 jobs at its Salisbury production plant and 89 at its Grover plant if it cannot find a buyer for the facilities by Sept. 11. DuraFiber issued a warning July 13 that it has taken steps to close the Salisbury and Grover plant, as well as one in Winnsboro, S.C. It has 800 employees combined at the three plants, and 1,800 employees overall. In a WARN Act notice with the N.C. Commerce Department, it said it would require 14 days to eliminate the Salisbury workforce if required. The company is a global supplier of high-tenacity polyester fibers, engineered fabrics, sewing threads and advanced materials. "Today's actions follow a series of initiatives to lower production costs in response to increased competition in the textile industry, as well as a thorough review of strategic alternatives, including potential asset sales," the company said in a statement. The company said its plants in France, Germany and Mexico are unaffected by the announcement. Miracles In Sight promotes executive to innovation role Miracles In Sight, a Winston-Salem supplier of corneas for transplant, said Thursday it has promoted Isaac Perry to director of research and development. The eye-bank agency said Perrys promotion is part of a strategy shift toward developing new products and services for a wider base of potential patients who have other sight impairment issues. The eye banking industry is maturing, and we are looking forward to ways we can contribute to advancement in our field, Perry said. Richard Craver Insteel reports steep decline in profit for 3rd quarter Insteel Industries Inc. reported Thursday having a 47.9 percent decrease in third-quarter net income to $6.87 million. Diluted earnings declined from 71 cents to 36 cents. Sales dropped 16.2 percent to $96.9 million. The Mount Airy company said it experienced lower shipment and production volumes during the quarter as well as a squeezing of raw material costs and product selling prices. Shipments for the quarter were adversely affected by the excessive rainfall in many regions of the country, a reduction in new project activity, and competitive pricing pressures, the company said. H.O. Woltz III, the companys president and chief executive, said leading indicators for nonresidential construction remain positive, and our customers are optimistic that business conditions will improve over the remainder of the year. We believe the recent increases in infrastructure funding that have been authorized at the state and local level will begin to favorably impact demand for our products later in the year. Bassett Furniture focuses on motion products Bassett Furniture Industries Inc. said Thursday it has created a division focused on its motion product line. The Club Level Motion division will be led by Bruce Cohenour, senior vice president of sales and merchandising. The goal is expanding sales of the product with independent retailers. The division will feature 17 leather options, powered headrests, extended footrests and lay flat motion. The company said it will add sales representatives and expand its High Point Market showroom spaces to accommodate the motion division. Richard Craver Oakland eyes ban on flavored tobacco products The city council in Oakland, Calif., voted unanimously Wednesday to begin the process of banning the sale of flavored tobacco products, including menthol, within its city limits next summer. The council will take a final vote on the ban in September. Menthol styles, which are mint-flavored, have proven controversial for decades because they are considered a smoother way to smoke traditional cigarettes, and because of their specific appeal to minority consumers. The Oakland councils vote comes about a month after the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved banning menthol products beginning in April. Although the sales ban would go into effect in April, it does not prohibit consumer use of flavored tobacco products within the city. The San Francisco Examiner has estimated a $50.5 million impact on just ending the sale of menthol cigarettes. The San Francisco ban is opposed by small businesses, particularly convenience stores, which depend on tobacco product sales for a sizable portion of their revenue as well as other purchases made by smokers. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Philip Morris USA are trying to put the San Francisco ban up for a voter referendum. Richard Craver Dynamic International Airways LLC, a low-cost international charter airline based in High Point, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Wednesday. According to Dynamic, the filing was prompted by recent arbitration judgments against the company. The bare-bones filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of North Carolina comes about seven weeks after Dynamic lost a legal fight in U.S. District Court for the Middle District. In its bankruptcy protection filing, Dynamic lists between 200 and 999 creditors; assets between $10 million and $50 million; and liabilities between $50 million and $100 million. The company projects that money will be available for distribution to unsecured creditors. The airline plans to continue normal operations and has arranged for a credit facility to fund its operations while it attempts to reorganize out of bankruptcy. It is not clear how many employees Dynamic has. Paul Kraus, the companys chief executive, said in a statement that bankruptcy protection will enable us to continue to serve our customers, keep our team employed and work with our vendors while we navigate through the challenges presented. Among its top-20 unsecured creditors are B.K.P. Enterprises & Expim International of Greensboro, awarded a combined $3.49 million arbitration judgment in December that the company is disputing; and PMC Aviation LLC of Greensboro, awarded a $1.2 million arbitration judgment in April that also is being disputed. While debtor has filed a notice of appeal and intends to challenge the judgment and award, Dynamic has no immediate recourse to stay the judgment and has determined the commencement of the Chapter 11 case is necessary, the company said in its statement. Dynamic is arguing in federal court that the judgments have not been fully approved legally. It is challenging the judgments under the International Commercial Arbitration Act. However, a federal judge dismissed that claim in a May 31 ruling. The court agrees with plaintiffs that the very filing that Dynamic offers as one of the reasons that this court should dismiss plaintiffs petition or stay these proceeding appears itself to be in direct violation of the rules the parties agreed would govern the arbitration, according to the May 31 ruling. Tony Plath, a finance professor at UNC Charlotte, said Dynamic likely opted for bankruptcy protection "to delay the creditor's ability to collect on the judgment and the manner in which collection is achieved." How successfully the strategy may be, Plath said, "depends on how receptive the bankruptcy judge is to their argument, and how willing the creditor is to agree to Dynamic's proposal to change the remittance of payment against the judgment." "Based on the circumstances, I'm betting the creditor isn't going to be receptive to a renegotiation of the payment terms associated with the judgment at all. "Dynamic will simply argue that they currently lack the means to satisfy the judgment, hence the bankruptcy filing in the first place, and petition the bankruptcy court to modify the payment terms of the judgment accordingly. "So it's up to the bankruptcy court to step in and decide," Plath said. Dynamics largest unsecured creditor is Air India Inc. at $10.5 million from another arbitration award that Dynamic continues to dispute. Dynamic said the bankruptcy filing was related primarily to chartered flights it made for Air India in 2014 to Saudi Arabia for hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca by Muslims. In April, the Canadian Arbitration Association determined that Dynamic was in breach of contract by failing to pay commissions to B.K.P. Enterprises in connection with the hajj flights. Dynamics fleet includes six Boeing 767s serving routes that include New York and Ontario, Calif., domestically. International service includes Guyana; Guayaquil, Ecuador; Saipan in Northern Mariana Islands; and Changchun and Nanchang, China. The aircraft can carry 235 passengers using 21 lie-flat business-class seats and 214 economy-class seats. WASHINGTON President Donald Trump's push this week to get Americans to buy goods "made in America" is harder than it might seem. Even for Trump. The gold-plated pens the president uses to sign laws are assembled in Rhode Island but lacquered and engraved in China. The Boeing jet he posed with to showcase America's industrial might is 30 percent foreign-made. The firetruck the administration parked at the White House this week to promote U.S.-made goods gets about 10 percent of its parts from abroad. Fact is, in a 21st century global economy, few products are exclusively American-made. U.S. manufacturers rely on global supply chains and many people buy foreign goods for the simple reason that they value lower prices. Even for people who prefer to buy America-only, it is increasingly hard to identify which products qualify as such. Promoting American-made products is "catnip" to politicians, notes Dan Ikenson, a trade analyst at the libertarian Cato Institute. But it comes at a price: "When people feel compelled to buy local, buy American, they generally spend more money, which means they have less to spend on other things or to save," Ikenson says. In his celebration this week of American-made products this week, Trump has yet to acknowledge such nuances. He has argued instead that buying exclusively American will create more national wealth. "When we purchase products made in the USA," Trump said Monday, "the profits stay here, the revenue stays here, and the jobs maybe most importantly of all they stay right here in the USA.' Trump went beyond saying he would protect the U.S. manufacturing sector. He also pledged a crackdown on "the predatory online sales of foreign goods" that he said are "absolutely killing" U.S. retail stores. The challenge for Trump is that most Americans put a high premium on saving money, which makes them more likely to choose less expensive goods from abroad. Last year, an Associated Press-GfK poll found that Americans said they preferred to buy foreign-made goods over identical American-made goods if the foreign products were cheaper. Asked to choose between $50 pants made in another country and an identical $85 pair made in the United States 67 percent say they'd buy the cheaper pair from abroad. The survey found that household income made little difference in such preferences. Americans in households earning more than $100,000 a year were no less likely than lower-income people to say they'd go for the lower-priced good from abroad. Research by Amit Khandelwal, an economist at Columbia University, found that inexpensive imports disproportionately benefit poorer Americans who can struggle to afford daily expenses. Lower-paid households devote a greater portion of their earnings to such basic goods as food and clothing, whose prices often reflect inexpensive supplies from overseas, Khandelwal found. By contrast, more affluent households tend to spend more on services insulated from foreign trade, from gym memberships to child care. If Trump were to raise tariffs on some imports, as he has proposed to do to encourage U.S.-made goods, lower-income households would struggle with higher prices, Khandelwal said. "It's going to hurt the poor more than it hurts the rich," he said. Companies, under intense competitive pressure to keep prices low, often turn to factories and suppliers in such countries as China and Bangladesh, where wages are much lower and benefits often nonexistent. The famed American outdoors retailer L.L. Bean, which has been endorsed by Trump himself, estimates that it imports about 75 percent of its products, though its signature boots are still American-made. Companies that have tried to move more of their production back to the United States from abroad have often had to shoulder higher costs. The Bollman Hat. Co., which makes the kangaroo-logo Kangol caps worn by celebrities like Samuel L. Jackson and Brad Pitt, moved into a Pennsylvania factory last year from China. It has since struggled to turn a profit. The cost per hat is twice as high as it was in China though the gap is narrowing partly because the Pennsylvania workers don't yet work as fast as the experienced workers at a now-closed plant in southern China. More broadly, the globalization of manufacturing has complicated efforts to identify which products truly are Made-in-America. Consider cars. American University's Kogod School of Business and the website Cars.com conduct separate annual efforts to single out which cars are the most American-made. They sometimes produce conflicting results. This year, the Chevrolet Traverse, Buick Enclave and GMC Acadia stand atop the American University list. Cars.com singles out the Jeep Wrangler, Jeep Cherokee and Ford Taurus. When Cars.com unveiled its list 11 years ago, more than 60 vehicles earned the American-made label. Because of globalization, the number qualifying under the original criteria fell to eight last year. This year? Just three. So the website has changed its rules. Now, more than 30 cars meet the standard. President Moon Jae-in has backed off some way from his campaign pledge to stop the construction of two new nuclear power plants. In a meeting with the heads of the four major parties on Wednesday, Moon promised to ask the public whether they want him to revise or maintain his promise. Cheong Wa Dae announced its top 100 policy objectives on Wednesday, including the shuttering of all nuclear plants, but it is a good sign that that Moon has decided not to bulldoze through his campaign pledge and marks a promising shift from the frantic leadership style he has shown so far. But Moon pledged to listen to the decision of a citizens jury that will discuss the pros and cons of the proposed closures, and no responsible government would be doing that. It took Germany 20 years of debating and discussions to finally decide to scrap nuclear power, but the Moon administration intends to give the citizens jury that may include many non-experts just three months to decide. This looks like a blatant attempt to pass the buck. Suppose the citizens jury decides to stop construction of new nuclear power plants, the government stands to shoulder W2.6 trillion in losses (US$1=W1,124). Who will take responsibility for that? It would cost many jobs and deal a blow to regional economies, but the members of the citizens jury could not be held to account and the government would be able to say that was what the people wanted. It is also uncertain by what kind of majority that jury would decide the issue. Over 50 percent? Some important decisions might require the support of two-thirds, especially when a W1.6 trillion construction project is at stake. There have to be clear rules and principles in place before making such a crucial decision. Korea is a model country when it comes to operating nuclear power plants, and it is not prone to massive earthquakes on the scale of neighboring Japan. Nuclear power plants meet 30 percent of the resource-poor country's energy needs, and its nuclear technology is a lucrative export item. At this time and given Korea's geographical situation, it is unrealistic to replace nuclear energy with renewable power sources. This is not a matter the Moon administration can conclude during its single five-year term. It should be content with proposing the agenda and starting a gradual process. WENTWORTH Sobbing. Shrieking. Shouting. You can hear the terror and despair in the voice of Whitley French (now Whitley French Alvarez) as she called police for help in the early hours of Feb. 4, 2012. Her parents lay bleeding after being shot. Are they almost here? she asks a dispatcher. Im really scared. It would take 20 minutes for the first responder to reach the familys house in rural Rockingham County time that seems like an eternity during Alvarezs 911 call. It was a call that had been sealed by a judge for more than a year in a story that has played out like a TV movie, with its cast of characters, controversy and conspiracy theories as the case grew cold over time. It transfixed Rockingham County and ultimately drew national attention. But now that Jose Silvano Alvarez Jr. Whitleys brother-in-law has been found guilty in the killings of Douglas Troy and LaDonna Moseley French, a judge has allowed the release of that call to the public at the request of the News & Record. Its the latest chapter in the saga. And what a chilling chapter it is. My mom ... shes not making any noises. Shes laying near the door and I dont want to go over there, the 19-year-old Alvarez says, her voice trembling. On July 12, 2017 more than a year after Alvarezs conviction Superior Court Judge Jerry Cash Martin signed an order releasing the recorded call to the public. Martin did so after learning from Rockingham County District Attorney Tom Keith that he and Alvarezs attorney, Vincent Rabil, agreed that there was no reason to withhold the recording anymore. The state objected to their release for fear of prejudicial pretrial publicity, Keith wrote in his motion. The state no longer has any reason for the tapes to remain sealed since the defendant has been found guilty and there is no appeal pending. Oddly enough, the News & Record obtained a copy of the call just hours after the shooting. But the recording was inadvertently destroyed during a change in computer systems. And the Rockingham County District Attorneys Office refused to provide another one. Later, in early 2016, Superior Court Judge Stan Allen ordered the tape sealed at the request of then-Rockingham County District Attorney Craig Blitzer. At the time, Blitzer argued that the release of the 911 call could taint the jury pool. The case never went to trial because Alvarez pleaded guilty and is now serving two life sentences at Central Prison in Raleigh. He admitted to his attorney that he liked the smell of the French house, particularly the scent of the dryer, and would break in while they slept. Alvarez told Rabil he found Troy Frenchs 9 mm handgun one evening and took it. He used that gun to kill his sister-in-laws parents. The night of the shooting, Whitley Alvarez woke up to a man climbing on top of her but didnt recognize the intruder. She screamed for help, sending her parents running towards her upstairs bedroom. On the way up, they were met by Jose Alvarez, who shot them both. The 911 tape reveals the tense moments before sheriffs deputies reached the familys house. Throughout the call, a hysteric Alvarez struggles to keep her father alive as she tries to explain to investigators how her parents were shot. Hes not breathing anymore, she says. His eyes are closed. He doesnt have a pulse. ... Im giving him CPR. Near the end of the call, a law enforcement officer can be heard taking the phone away from Alvarez and telling the dispatcher to save the recording because it would be important. The case grew cold over the years until 2014 when investigators sent blood found on the familys stairs to Parabon Nanolabs in Reston, Va. The company uses a new technology called Snapshot DNA Phenotyping that creates an image of a person based on their genetic makeup. Investigators received an image that looked strikingly similar to John Alvarez, Whitleys husband. But other lab reports had already cleared him of being a suspect, as well as his immediate family members. After viewing the rendering in 2015, investigators decided to collect DNA from both John Alvarezs oldest brother and father. What investigators and family didnt know until those DNA tests was that Jose Alvarez was not who people believed him to be. He was John Alvarezs maternal half-brother and a match to the DNA found at the crime scene. CHARLOTTE North Carolina inmates who break prison rules will spend significantly less time in solitary confinement under a new policy that state leaders hope will help make prisons safer. Under the states new disciplinary policy, which took effect Monday, inmates who commit offenses generally cant be sent to solitary for longer than 30 days. The old policy allowed prison officials to hold rule-breakers in solitary for twice that long. As of March, about 2,300 North Carolina prisoners were in solitary, meaning they spent 22 to 23 hours alone each day in cells smaller than parking spaces. Research has found that solitary can cause and worsen mental illness. As the global outcry against the practice grows, state prison leaders have worked to reduce their use of segregation. Since 2015, the number of inmates in solitary has dropped by more than 33 percent. But according to news reports, some prisoners still remain in solitary for extraordinarily long periods. Last year, The Charlotte Observer found, seven North Carolina inmates had been in solitary for more than 10 years. One of them, Jason Swain, suffers from bipolar depression and spent more than 13 straight years in solitary confinement. Human rights experts called that torture. Swain has repeatedly swallowed razors, ripped open his surgical incisions and plunged sharp objects into his open wounds. Even under the new policy, some inmates can still be put in solitary for long periods. Among them: prisoners who are repeatedly disruptive and those who threaten the safety of staff or other inmates. Swain is still doing time for aiding and abetting a murder, but he is no longer in solitary, his mother, Shirley Swain, said Tuesday. Still, she said, the damage has already been done. Prison spokesman Keith Acree wrote that the new disciplinary policy is part of an effort to use evidence-based practices for managing inmate behavior, thereby creating a safer prison environment. But some prison officers worry that the policy could leave dangerous inmates with less to fear. Jared Davis, a former officer at Lanesboro Correctional Institution in Anson County for three years, said he doesnt believe 30 days is sufficient punishment for inmates who assault officers. I think thats asking for trouble, Davis said. I think theyre going to lose a lot more officers over that policy. Double-edged sword The new disciplinary policy incorporates recommendations from the Vera Institute of Justice, which recently teamed up with the state to study ways to reduce the use of solitary. A study by the institute found that North Carolina routinely puts inmates in solitary confinement for minor offenses. The study also found that the state too often keeps prisoners in solitary for years and that it too frequently releases them directly into the community with little preparation for society. State prison leaders say theyre trying to change all of that. In the past two years, North Carolina eliminated the use of segregation for inmates under 18. It also opened therapeutic diversion units intended to give inmates with mental illness an alternative to solitary. And it opened a separate unit to help inmates transition out of segregation. North Carolinas new disciplinary policy reduces the maximum penalties for virtually all offenses. For instance, it: Limits time in solitary to 30 days for inmates who commit Class A offenses, the most serious kind. Among them: assaulting an officer and fighting with weapons. Reduces time in isolation for those who commit Class B offenses, the second-most serious class. The old policy allowed such prisoners to be put in solitary for up to 45 days, but the new policy limits the time to 20 days. Those offenses include committing sexual acts and fighting without weapons. Eliminates solitary altogether for those who commit Class C offenses. The old policy allowed prison officials to isolate such inmates for up to 30 days. Those offenses include disobeying a prison officials orders and paying bribes. The new policy also stipulates that special consideration must be given to those offenders whose mental illness contributed significantly to their behavior. For instance, the policy states, inmates will not be cited for any violations that occur as a result of them being put in mental health restraints. Robert Webster, a former state prison captain, said that while he has not yet read the new disciplinary policy, it sounds like a double-edged sword. Webster is concerned that the policy may send inmates the message that they will face few consequence if they refuse to obey orders. But he is pleased that prisoners who break the rules will spend less time in solitary. Its a proven fact that the longer they spend in segregation, the worse they get, he said. FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AP) Police in North Carolina are trying to find a woman who disappeared after she was shot multiple times, and her ex-husband is facing a number of charges in the incident. The Fayetteville Observer reports 28-year-old Jimmy Lee Proffitt II of Hope Mills faces charges ranging from first-degree kidnapping to attempted first-degree murder. Police told a news conference on Wednesday that Proffitt kidnapped 28-year-old Heather Carter after she was shot on July 12. She hasn't been seen or heard from since. Authorities said 29-year-old Ashley Davila also was shot, but managed to drive away. Investigators said Carter wasn't able to get into the car. Sgt. Pedro Orellano said detectives have evidence that Carter was seriously injured, specifically a significant amount of her blood at the crime scene and in Proffitt's car. ___ Information from: The Fayetteville Observer, http://www.fayobserver.com WASHINGTON -- Let us consider the qualifications of President Trump's nominee to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Holy See: one Callista Gingrich of Virginia. She is a former clerk on the House Agriculture Committee. She is the author of children's books about an elephant named Ellis. She sings in the choir at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. She plays French horn in City of Fairfax Band. And, she testified Tuesday, she has "looked at some of" Pope Francis's encyclical on climate change. But really, Gingrich was receiving a confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee because of one qualification: She is married to Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House and a major backer of President Trump. And now, for his support of Trump, he is getting the ultimate patronage: the chance to live in Rome on the taxpayer's dime while his wife, the president of Gingrich Productions, enjoys a plum posting. Newt, who converted to Catholicism several years ago, set his wife up nicely for the job by co-hosting two videos with her about Pope John Paul II, produced with a Gingrich political ally. But if it is good news for the Gingriches, it is an(other) insult to Francis from Trump, who has sparred with the pope over immigration and climate change. Newt carried on a six-year extramarital affair with Callista in the 1990s when she, 23 years his junior, was a House staffer and he, as speaker, led the impeachment of Bill Clinton over his extramarital affair with an intern. National Catholic Reporter's Michael Sean Winters called it "astonishing that a party that celebrates family values at every turn has a president who is on his third wife and who has bragged about his extramarital affairs and who is appointing an ambassador to the Vatican who had a six-year affair with her future husband while he was still married to his second wife." The nomination of Callista is also Trump's beatification of Newt, who has done as much as anyone to coarsen American politics -- and to pave the way for Trump -- with his name-calling, demonizing and brinkmanship. All presidents reward supporters with patronage. New York Jets owner Woody Johnson will be our man in London. On Gingrich's panel Tuesday was George Glass, a big Trump donor, tapped to be ambassador to Portugal though he doesn't speak Portuguese. But the choice of Callista Gingrich is another category of cronyism for an administration populated by friends and relations rather than appointees of merit. This has fueled the Russia scandal, stalled the agenda in Congress and made the administration seem singularly incompetent -- yet Republicans in Congress have been unwilling to say that this is unacceptable. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., introduced Gingrich on Tuesday by noting that she was valedictorian of her high school class. Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., who succeeded Newt in the House before moving to the Senate, declared that "one of her great, great persuasive talents is to not only convince Newt to marry her, but convert him to Catholicism." Gingrich, an uncomfortable smile fixed on her face, provided, in lieu of actual answers to questions, strung-together snippets of cliches. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., asked about refugee policy, on which Francis and Trump disagree. Gingrich responded with a bromide about "a deep commitment in this country to work to forward peace and stability." Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., asked how she would work with the Vatican to counter extremism. Gingrich responded with a word salad about looking "forward to working on those issues of our shared policy opportunities." Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., asked about the pope's climate change encyclical. She responded with boilerplate about how "President Trump wants to maintain that we have clean air and clean water." Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., asked if she had even read the encyclical. "I have looked at some of it," the witness replied. "Are there pieces of it that particularly resonate for you?" "Well," Gingrich replied generically, "I think we're all called to be stewards of the land." Staffers on both sides of the committee were now grinning at the pained responses. Johnson, attempting to rehabilitate the witness, urged her to talk about her "study" of John Paul II and what she learned about U.S. and Vatican leadership. Gingrich retreated again to platitude: "It's so important that we reach out to places like the Holy See to forward good in this world," she said. That was enough for Johnson, who pronounced her "perfectly suited for this position." Perfectly situated, at least. Follow Dana Milbank on Twitter, @Milbank. (c) 2017, Washington Post Writers Group WASHINGTON -- The Chinese government, subtle masters of propaganda, seem to have discovered a Sun Tzu formula for taming dissent on the internet: The best strategy may not be to confront critics directly, but to lull or distract them with a tide of good news. This intriguing argument is suggested by a recent article in the American Political Science Review titled "How the Chinese Government Fabricates Social Media Posts for Strategic Distraction, Not Engaged Argument." With complex data, it supports a simple thesis about life in the internet age: Arguing the facts often doesn't work; frequently, confrontation just makes people resist harder. The study analyzes China, but its implications are relevant for America in the age of Donald Trump. As I noted in a column last August, Trump's supporters sometimes seem impervious to fact-based argument. Trump's base has mostly stayed loyal since his inauguration, despite his lack of legislative achievements and his impulsive, arguably unethical, actions. Why is this so? Read on. The Chinese case examines the same conundrum explored by Christopher Graves, an Ogilvy public-relations executive turned behavioral scientist. He summed up the limitations of factual argument in an October 2016 article in Harvard Business Review, "When Saying Something Nice Is the Only Way to Change Someone's Mind." That's a lesson Trump critics haven't learned. Trump makes inflammatory statements, opponents howl in outrage, and his core supporters applaud. The impasse continues. Let's get back to China. That country presents an internet puzzle that was examined by Gary King of Harvard, Jennifer Pan of Stanford, and Margaret Roberts of the University of California, San Diego (their work was highlighted for me by Eileen Donahoe of Stanford). The paradox is that China probably has the most prolific social-media activity in the world, but its authoritarian government also fears opposition. So how does Beijing maintain control? The three American researchers wanted to test the widely held theory that the Chinese government mobilizes an army of more than a million internet commentators to combat criticism of the regime. This supposed cadre of thought police is often described as "Fifty Cent," because analysts thought they were paid a small amount for every post that endorsed the party line and rebutted foreign critics. To test how the system actually worked, the researchers studied a cache of 43,757 Fifty Cent posts that was hacked in 2014 from the internet Propaganda Office of Zhanggong District in Jiangxi Province in southeast China. Nearly all were from people who worked at government agencies (and there was no evidence they were paid anything, let alone 50 cents a post). Their missives spiked sharply on anniversaries of protests or other days when there might be public dissent, making clear they were well-organized. The surprise was that the posts weren't argumentative. Instead, they were bland party pablum. About 80 percent of the posts were "cheerleading" about government activities, 14 percent were non-argumentative praise or suggestions, and almost none were outright attacks. Other internet samples yielded similar findings. The Chinese precept, concluded the American researchers, was "do not engage on controversial issues." Only when there was a danger of collective action would the government intervene directly. It was as if the party propagandists were adapting the famous admonition of Sun Tzu, the revered sixth century, B.C. strategist: "The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting." The researchers offered a concluding thought that's relevant in this era when information operations have become a domain of covert action (as demonstrated by the Russian government's hacking of the 2016 election) as well as domestic control: "Letting an argument die, or changing the subject, usually works much better than picking an argument and getting someone's back up." What happens when we ignore this precept and attack our political adversaries head on? The 2016 election and its aftermath may be an object lesson. Evidence of wrongdoing may seem overwhelming if it confirms your pre-existing beliefs, but not if it challenges those core biases. Graves cited this "backfire effect," as explained in a 2011 essay by journalist David McRaney: "When your deepest convictions are challenged by contradictory evidence, your beliefs get stronger." The lesson of this social-science research? If a political narrative is repeated often enough, backed by a chorus of cheerleaders, it's very hard to rebut directly. Quiet persuasion may be more effective than shouting; the gradual accretion of facts may have more impact than a barrage. To quote Sun Tzu again: "The rule is, not to besiege walled cities if it can possibly be avoided." The Washington Post Gov. Roy Cooper has rightly been criticized in recent days for not enacting better protection against hexavalent chromium, a carcinogen that can be found in well water. There are signs his administration is now headed in the right direction. We hope thats the case. As a Democratic gubernatorial candidate last fall, Roy Cooper blasted his Republican opponent for adopting a more lenient standard than whats recommended by North Carolinas health agency for cancer-causing hexavalent chromium in well water, The Associated Press reported last week. Now that hes governor, Coopers environmental agency has decided to keep that same standard, infuriating people who say their well water is contaminated and enabling former Gov. Pat McCrory to call Cooper a hypocrite. As that news broke, state Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Michael Regan issued a press release saying that he is directing a state panel to provide science-based guidance that can be used to address the recently announced performance standard for chromium in groundwater. A spokesman said that effort had been in the works for months. We hope the panel works quickly to reach what should be the obvious conclusion: The standard should be raised. And time is of the essence. The AP reported last week: The state Department of Environmental Qualitys guidelines for the well-water filtering systems Duke Energy will be required by law to install for some neighbors of its North Carolina coal-ash storage pits were announced last week. They match the standard for protecting against hexavalent chromium that McCrorys administration adopted, which is about 140 times higher than the amount the states health agency says could harm human health if exceeded. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says hexavalent chromium is likely to be carcinogenic when ingested. Duke has denied that its pits are the source of the hexavalent chromium found in the wells. Lawyers for neighbors have sharply criticized the current standard, the AP reported. Families will have to rely on these systems for safe tap water, the lawyers said in a statement. The much higher DEQ standard does not adequately protect the families who live near the coal ash. Better protection must come fast. RICHARD MERLO, Elkin Long waiting lists The Liberal Left has convinced many Americans that free health care is a right, and that some rich guy will pay for it. But even in California, where there are lots of rich guys, hefty increases in sales and payroll taxes will be needed for single-payer care; there will almost certainly be rationing and long waiting lists. In Britain, many wait over a week to see a family doctor, and four months for surgery. Recruiting physicians in UK for National Health Service is increasingly difficult, since they are better paid in private practice. (I personally have given up on free health care, and am now hoping for free cars.) *** CHRISSY L. GALLAHER, Winston-Salem A defenseless dog I cannot believe someone would do such a thing to a defenseless dog (Dog with chain embedded in neck rescued, July 13). Whoever did this needs to be punished. *** WILLIAM PATTERSON JR., Winston-Salem No alternative In reference to the July 14 story County OKs jail contract, it appears that the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners was stuck between the proverbial rock and a hard place when it made the decision to renew the contract with Correct Care Solutions, the current health-care provider for the county jail. With Correct Care Solutions being the only bidder in the process, it was awarded the contract by default and certainly not because of the excellent health care it has been recently providing. The commissioners under these circumstances made the best decision they could by choosing Correct Care Solutions. The alternative would have been no health care at all. Of course, money was a huge factor in the decision and will always be. The commissioners worked within the budget restraints they were given. *** MONTY OWEN, Winston-Salem Busy Im getting a little tired of all this complaining about how Republicans in Congress arent standing up to President Trump. Dont you understand? Theyre busy trying to kick millions of Americans off health care. *** DOROTHY MATHEWS, Rural Hall Caring for the inmates Kudos to our Forsyth County commissioners for getting improved care for stray animals. Condemnation to our county commissioners for not doing the same for human beings (County OKs jail contract, July 14). Correct Care Solutions has provided health care for Forsyth County inmates for five years, during which five inmates have died. The company is currently being sued for the level of care it has provided in Forsyth. Its representative could not answer the commissioners questions in a July meeting. But the commissioners awarded the company another three-year contract because Correct Care promised to add an on-site pharmacist. I agree with Commissioner Don Martin: The county is not prepared to take on managing the medical care of inmates. What I want to know is, why isnt it? The commissioners have known since the first death that there is a problem. Theyve had all that time to figure out and prepare a solution. Why havent they? They were elected for the job of preparing our county for the future. How many more people have to die because the commissioners dont do their homework? Please submit letters online to Letters@wsjournal.com or mail letters to: The Readers Forum, P.O. Box 3159, Winston-Salem, NC 27102. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] announced on Wednesday that it is reviving a provision of the federal civil asset forfeiture program, which was suspended [JURIST report] in September 2015. The DOJ is reviving a portion of this program in response to President Donald Trumps order to reduce crime because asset forfeiture diminishes organized crime. Attorney General Jeff Sessions outlined the changes to the program that will help better protect law-abiding citizens. Any state or local law enforcement agency must provide sufficient evidence of criminal activity before asset seizure is permitted. One safeguard to ensure the evidence standard is met is the Request for Adoption of State and Local Seizure form, which requires the law enforcement agency to provide additional evidence supporting probable cause before seizure is permitted. The policy directive [text] notes that additional safeguards may also be placed on the adoption of cash amounts equal to or less than $10,000, stating: Those adoptions will be permissible where the seizure was conducted: (1) pursuant to a state warrant, (2) incident to arrest for an offense relevant to the forfeiture, (3) at the same time as a seizure of contraband relevant to the forfeiture, or (4) where the owner or person from whom the property is seized makes admissions regarding the criminally derived nature of the property. The forfeiture program was highly controversial when it was discontinued in 2015, but has since been altered to better protect innocent citizens. The US Supreme Court ruled [opinion, PDF] in June in Honeycutt v. United States [JURIST report] that forfeiture is limited to property the defendant actually obtained as a result of the crime or tainted property. The court held that the Comprehensive Forfeiture Act of 1984 [text] limits property to the definitions within the act and rejected the governments argument that the standard should be the background principle of conspiracy liability that the conspirators be responsible for each others foreseeable actions within the common plan. The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] on Wednesday reversed [holding, PDF] the Trial Chambers Decision on Laurent Gbagbo Detention, thereby ordering continued detention until the Trial Chamber carries out a new review of his release. As the former Ivory Coast president, Gbagbo [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] has been detained since 2011 and currently faces charges for crimes against humanity. Gbagbo appealed the Trial Chambers decision to deny his request for release. The Appeals Chamber said the lower court failed to consider several factors before refusing to release Gbagbo: The Trial Chamber erroneously considered that Mr Gbagbos age militated in favour of maintaining his detention. Furthermore, despite the presumption of innocence and Mr Gbagbos right not to be compelled to testify or to confess guilt, the Trial Chamber erroneously relied on the fact that he has denied responsibility for the crimes with which he is charged. It also failed to consider the duration of Mr Gbagbos detention and his state of health. The courts decision emphasized that it is not suggesting the Trial Chamber make a certain determination upon review, only that the Trial Chamber consider all factors before rendering a decision. Gbagbos detention and turmoil [JURIST report] facing the Ivory Coast, stems from Gbagbos acts following defeat in his second presidential race to former prime minister Alassane Ouattara [BBC profile] . The EU recognized that Ouattara defeated Gbagbo, but Gbagbo refused to concede victory [JURIST report]. Gbagbo has been accused [JURIST report] of starting a civil war after losing the presidency, which resulted in 3,000 deaths and the displacement of one million people. Voters in the Ivory Coast successfully approved [JURIST report] a new constitution last year. In November, Oattara signed the constitution into law. Nagappan stated that he had denied having seen the letter from the Mayor in his statement to Crime Branch officers. KEARNEY With 827 applicants in need of homes, the Kearney Housing Agency is planning an Aug. 10 awareness-building event about the need for more affordable housing in Kearney. Many people are only one rent or mortgage payment away from losing their homes. These are our neighbors, co-workers, and friends, and often they suffer in silence, said Carrie Hardage, executive director of the Kearney Housing Agency, which is organizing the Aug. 10 event. With this event, we hope to start a conversation and encourage investment in housing for families and individuals of all income levels, Hardage said. Kearneys event will follow next weeks national Day of Action: Our Homes, Our Voices, which aims to increase awareness of housing shortages and other related issues across the United States. Kearneys free event on Aug. 10 will take place at Kearney Cinema 8 Theatre at 300 Third Ave. and will include guest speakers and a showing of the 2014 film, 99 Homes. Doors will open at 6 p.m. There will be a cash bar and hors doeuvres. Patrons are encouraged to visit the concession stand. The movie begins at 7 p.m. Guest speaker will be Assistant City Manager Paul Briseno. Major sponsors for the Kearney event are Habitat for Humanity, Marlatt Machine Shop and Cinema 8. The film to be shown on Aug. 10, 99 Homes, is a 2014 American drama about a single father and his family who are evicted from their home. To keep his home, the father agrees to help evict other families from their homes. The film stars Andrew Garfield, Michael Shannon and Laura Dern. In Kearney and across the nation, said the Kearney Housing Agency press release, far too many families including seniors, people with disabilities, veterans and families with children struggle to keep roofs over their heads or are experiencing homelessness. According to the release, our nations investments in affordable housing have not kept pace. As a result, rents are increasing everywhere. But, because of underfunding, three out of every four families in need of housing assistance are turned away. KHAs waiting list has 827 applicants. Many wait from two to three years before obtaining KHA housing. Local advocates, said the KHA release, are coordinating their event with others across the country to call for a greater federal investment in affordable homes and community development because all people deserve an affordable home, and no one should be forced to give up food and basic health care to keep a roof over their heads. President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris climate agreement. Reactions, both within and outside the United States, have been forceful. At the recent G-20 summit, world powers showed they are committed to international efforts to reduce greenhouse gases. Countries such as France and Germany are emerging as leaders in combating climate change. Now is the time for the U.S. Congress to introduce bipartisan legislation to address climate change. We need a market-based solution that creates jobs, but does not burden low- and middle-income families or grow the government. Proposals have been made to place a tax on carbon emissions at the source (mines, wells, borders) and return the money collected to all households. Both the conservative Climate Leadership Council (composed of past Republican leaders, such as James Baker and George Shultz) and the nonpartisan Citizens Climate Lobby (CCL) agree the carbon dividends approach will strengthen the U.S. economy and simultaneously accelerate global efforts to mitigate effects of climate change. Where do Nebraskas representatives in Congress stand on these proposals? They know about them; CCL members meet with our representatives periodically, provide educational materials, and write letters in an effort to persuade them to be at the table when legislation is proposed. Please join me in asking Sens. Deb Fischer and Ben Sasse and Rep. Adrian Smith what actions they will take to promote solutions to this global challenge. Marjorie Willeke, Lincoln We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form 321 Shares Share From the wrong diagnosis to the incorrect medication, medical mistakes kill as many as 250,000 people annually in the United States and injure thousands more. This figure could be much higher, considering theres never been an actual count of how many patients experience preventable harm. We only have an approximate figure, which may indeed be very far off from the truth, considering the inaccuracies in medical records and the unwillingness of some providers to report medical errors. Regardless, the number is staggering enough as-is, making medical errors the third-leading cause of death in America, after heart disease, which is considered to be the number one cause, and cancer, which comes in second. But the purpose of this article is not to shame doctors or nurses, but rather to alert for the need of more research to prevent medical errors from occurring in the first place. Researchers at John Hopkins School of Medicine caution that the majority of medical errors arent a result of inherently bad doctors, and that reporting these errors should not be addressed by punishment or legal action. Rather, the researchers affirm that: most errors represent systemic problems, including poorly coordinated care, fragmented insurance networks, the absence or underuse of safety nets, and other protocols, in addition to unwarranted variation in physician practice patterns that lack accountability. The medical system needs a more comprehensive approach to investigating medical mistakes, support systems that aid doctors admit and learn from their mistakes and better methods of implementing proven solutions. In the meantime, people will continue to die needlessly. As I write this, my mind keeps drifting to a close family member who died from sepsis, which wasnt diagnosed until a few hours before her death certificate was issued. She immediately sought medical help and no one detected sepsis. Her story alone would make for an entire article, but I digress. Because she was my mother-in-law, I was there alongside my husband and realize now how poorly treated she was. We never pursued medical malpractice, because we had no strength for a legal battle as we tried to recover from a sudden loss, but maybe we should have if not for us, then to possibly save someone else in the future. But if we dont talk about the problem of medical errors, theres no way to fix it. As a matter of fact, medical errors are so common, I just found out I was administered a medication against recommendations. I read a few days ago about certain conditions, including a particular one that caught my attention. The article read that when the mother has placenta previa, Pitocin should not be used because it can cause hemorrhaging and other adverse health outcomes. And yet, I was administered Pitocin to induce my labor despite having a low-lying placenta. Luckily for me, just like it happens to many others whether they realize it or not, I was fortunate to walk away without even knowing of this until now, four years later. And medical errors can occur beyond hospital walls, too. Many individuals may not realize that pharmacy technicians, for example, are responsible for filling approximately 96 percent of prescriptions dispensed in pharmacies. This figure comes from the National Pharmacy Technician Association (NPTA), yet 92 percent of us live in states that do not mandate techs to have any formal training. All the estimates, even on the low end, expose a crisis. We already pay an elevated price for medical and hospital care, and these are the people we are supposed to turn to when we are sick or worse in critical condition. So who can we turn to if we dont expose the need for significant changes? Its time for physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and others involved to come together to admit their mistakes, clear their consciences, be supported, and, most imperative, work together to make the system safer. Vania Silva is a patient advocate. Image credit: Shutterstock.com 691 Shares Share A guest column by the American College of Physicians, exclusive to KevinMD.com. Recently, Ive been thinking about how physicians express condolences. This weekend, I attended calling hours to visit with the family of a recently deceased patient. As I drove back from the funeral home, I tried to recall when I started to attend my patients wakes, funerals, and Shiva observances, and why I began this practice. It wasnt something that I was taught in medical school or residency. Perhaps things have changed by now, but back then, there was very little formal teaching on how physicians should interact with families after a patients death. I did a quick review of the literature on this topic to learn how frequently physicians contact families after a patients death and how they make those contacts. I couldnt find very much, but a 2015 study in the Journal of Palliative Medicine provided an overview of how providers on staff at the University of Washington Medical Center expressed condolences. Using an online survey, the authors found that 55 percent of those who responded to the survey often or always expressed condolences to the family after the death of a patient. Outpatient physicians were slightly more likely to do so than their inpatient counterparts. The most common methods were phone calls and condolence notes; 4 to 5 percent of respondents did it in person. Providers in practice for 20 or more years were more likely to express condolences than those with less experience. While I dont remember how I got started, I know why I continue to try to attend my patients wakes, and if I cant be there, send a note or make a phone call to the family. The primary reason is that this is part of my taking care of my patients. That sounds straightforward, but that doesnt always make it easy. Patients final days can be complicated, if not tumultuous hospitalized patients under the care of physicians they just met, family members disagreeing on treatment plans, or unexpected outcomes can make a patients death more uncomfortable than it would otherwise be. At times, Ive made phone calls to family members or shown up at calling hours with butterflies in my stomach because I didnt believe that things went all that well, not knowing how my presence would be received. Those concerns turned out to be unfounded, as Ive always been made to feel welcome and my taking the time to be there appreciated by the family. Appreciation may be an understatement, as not only do families thank me for coming, but they also thank me for being their loved ones physician. Its been gratifying to hear relatives that I met for the first time on the receiving line at a wake tell me how their departed relative talked about how they liked, even loved, their doctor. Sometimes, Ive even felt like a celebrity or a long-lost relative, getting introduced to other family members as this was Moms Doctor. When a patient dies, its not uncommon to feel bad and wonder if you could have done anything differently. When a grateful family thanks you for all that you did and you realize how much you meant to that patient, those doubts are cast aside, at least for the moment. I think that it is ironic that a situation that at first glance could decrease a physicians morale can actually make a physician feel better. Another reason why this outreach is important is that its impact extends beyond the patients immediate family, especially for those of us who practice in a community. When were expressing condolences on the death of a patient, were also supporting other patients who may have been neighbors, former students, or colleagues of the deceased. Your being there means something to them as well. Lastly, my attending a wake helps me to achieve what many refer to as closure. Were told as trainees that we should maintain a level of detachment from our patients, but when you visit with them a few times every year for, in some cases, over 25 years, experiencing their medical and personal adventures, that person becomes more than a name on your schedule. They share their joys and sorrows with you, and you become a part of their life. As much as we are trained to deal with our patients deaths, losing a patient, whether its expected and planned, untimely and resisted, or sudden and catastrophic, leaves me with an emptiness that visiting with family members fills. Whether it is reminiscing over something important to the deceased, or sharing a laugh over something he or she said or did, it helps me to move on. And, as I noted above, it makes me feel better about what I do. This is the time of year when the wise and weathered offer advice to the new physicians who are beginning their training. A great example of this is A Letter to New Interns in the July 4 Annals of Internal Medicine. My pearl to my new colleagues is to make expressing condolences a routine part of your practice. Whether its writing letters, making phone calls, or expressing it in person, show your patients survivors that you care. Show yourself that you care. Yul Ejnes is an internal medicine physician and a past chair, board of regents, American College of Physicians. His statements do not necessarily reflect official policies of ACP. Image credit: Shutterstock.com 86 Shares Share Entering the dimly light room, I could hear soft music playing in the background. The laboring room was so peaceful, it was hard to believe the patient in the bed was in active labor. But once up close, you could hear her breathing become deeper and louder every three or four minutes as she rode the wave of another contraction. Her husband was by her side, breathing with her, toweling off her face, giving her ice chips. Her pregnancy had been uneventful. The couple had opted for minimal testing during the pregnancy and didnt want to know the sex of their baby at her five-month ultrasound. As a second-year resident, I was meeting this couple for the first time when she arrived in labor. I was wooed into their warm, peaceful laboring room and made sure, despite a busy labor and delivery unit, I was present for the delivery. As a resident, we couldnt attend every delivery since we covered the entire labor and delivery unit. She was as calm and focused when she started pushing as she was in labor. Even though this was her first baby, she pushed like she had done it before and the baby moved rapidly down the birth canal. As the head started crowning, we all excitedly started guessing the sex of the baby. The patient had dreamt several times it was a boy, the husband just knew it was a girl. The rest of us were wildly guessing, with no justification for our prediction. With one last big push, the head delivered, and after suctioning the mouth and nose, the rest of the baby followed quickly. We had to untangle the cord wrapped around the baby before we could see between the wildly kicking legs. Her doctor started to say Its a , then silence. We looked at each other in shock. We couldnt tell if it was a boy or a girl. The genitalia were ambiguous either the penis was unusually small or the clitoris unusually large. Her doctor finally spoke, slowly explaining the problem. I had all but forgotten about this patient when gender issues landed on my doorstep in my own teenage child. My oldest, at 14, was questioning her gender as well as the gender norms society had chosen. She wanted to be able to choose whether she was male or female, not necessarily accept what her genetics gave her or what social norms dictated. And thus, I began the journey with my child about the complexities of gender. In 9th grade, my violinist daughter joined a community orchestra that met on Thursday nights. It was a 30-minute drive each way, and in the dark car, sitting side by side, my daughter was talkative. I looked forward to these drives alone with her and our new intimacy. On one of these nights, she began talking about her friends discussion of gender and sexuality. When I was 14, I couldnt even fathom a discussion like this, so I was surprised and intrigued. Abby thinks she is gay and may be a boy. She wants us to call her Ace. Karen thinks she likes boys, but she isnt sure. She went on and on, describing each person in her group of friends. What about you? I asked after she was quiet for a moment. Im aromantic, she responded matter of factly. And Im thinking, Great, I dont have to worry about birth control for a while. As the year went by though, she was struggling in many ways. Her weight, always having been on the healthy size, was now increasing rapidly. I tried many interventions which just resulted in more weight gain. Then her straight As were trending to Bs and even a C. It was the first year of high school, but still, I was alarmed. I tried to be patient with her and then I became impatient with her. Neither approach worked. She became more withdrawn and sullen, and I became more scared the less she seemed to care. Talking to her was difficult she would shut down as soon as I questioned her about school or her weight. Then one day, I found a large ACE bandage in her room it hit me hard because then I remembered a brief conversation we had that I should not have blown off. It was in the morning, I was getting ready for work, she for school and it was the usual morning rush. Mom, I want to bind my breasts. What? No! You want to talk about this now? And, unfortunately, I never got back to her about the topic so she took it into her own hands. I knew I needed some outside help for support and guidance and so did my daughter. The school year ended, and with summer, the immediacy of finding that help waned. My old light-hearted daughter seemed to be back without the pressures of school. That is until she went up north with a friend and her family. It started with Im agender. I want you to use they or them pronouns for me. And thus began a three-hour long texting conversation about her gender and her feelings of not fitting in the binary system of male and female. This seemed like an odd way to have such a serious discussion, but I realized she felt texting was a safe way to confide in me. Now her struggles with weight, school and isolating herself of late made more sense. And so we began the gender journey. When she returned from her trip, we had some awkward but honest talks. The car always lent itself to the most revealing discussions. Admittedly, I was confused and unsure about what her gender issues were. Just be the gender you are, I thought, simple. When my daughter was preparing for her bat mitzvah, a time when a Jew is considered an adult, she would repeatedly say I just want to be a kid and never grow up. So my sense was more that she didnt want to be a woman, not that she wasnt a woman. And I saw her weight gain as trying to mask her bodys womanly changes. I finally found a therapist who had experience with teens and LGBT issues. My daughter had no reservations about seeing a therapist and was immediately swept in with the therapists beautiful British accent and warm demeanor. Over time, she taught my daughter a vocabulary for her emotions so she could express herself more clearly and taught her how to not shut down in the heat of emotions. In the midst of one of our arguments, my daughter walked out of the room, paused, turned around and said, I didnt like what you said, and I dont know how to respond at the moment. The therapy was working! The journey down the yellow brick road included many bumps and detours, but I held her hand through it all. Along the way, she had all her lovely, thick hair cut off, started wearing mens clothes and a breast binder. Incredulously, I stood outside the mens dressing room at Kohls, praying no one else would walk in, all the while knowing I had to let her figure this out for herself. When she didnt feel comfortable using either gender bathroom at school, she took the initiative to speak to the principal about unisex bathrooms. And then finally, on her 16th birthday, just before we got together with some of her friends, she said, They all call me Eli now. She had made the decision she wanted to be a he, that he felt more male than female. I knew now, to fully respect who he was, I also had to transition and start using male pronouns. He is now 17 and soon will be moving away to attend college. With this transition, he has recently brought up the idea of T, testosterone. To me, this is the biggest and scariest step of all. I find it even more invasive than surgery. But doesnt he have to take this step to know for sure? As I see him light up talking about starting T, developing a deeper voice and facial hair, looking in the mirror and seeing a man reflecting back, I grapple with accepting the finality of these decisions and irreversible changes testosterone will bring. But I continue to ride the waves with him as he becomes more and more outspoken about gender issues, LGBT rights, and trying to right himself in school to improve his grades. Andrea Eisenberg is a obstetrician-gynecologist who blogs at Secret Life of an OB/GYN. Image credit: Shutterstock.com BEIJING, July 20 (Reuters) - China's commercial banks sold a net $20.9 billion of foreign exchange in June, compared with a net sale of $17.1 billion in May, the foreign exchange regulator said on Thursday. For the January to June period, net forex sales stood at $93.8 billion, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said in a statement given to reporters ahead of a briefing in Beijing. (Reporting by Elias Glenn and Beijing Monitoring Desk; Editing by Sam Holmes) Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication. PARIS, July 20 (Reuters) - France, widely seen as a country synonymous with good food, will launch on Thursday a wide set of debates on the sector ranging from field to fork and aimed at improving farm incomes and the industry's environmental record. The debates, promised by President Emmanuel Macron during his campaign, come as farmers of the European Union's largest farm producer grapple with low prices and animal health crises while food manufacturers complain about taxes and red tape. Several hundred participants including company and industry representatives, unions, non-governmental organisations and ministry officials, will gather in 14 thematic workshops between end-August and end-November, officials said. Issues to be discussed will range from food quality to farm income, the fight against food waste, sustainable production and export strategy. The convention will be chaired by Agriculture Minister Stephane Travert but will involve another 10 ministries including ecology, finance and health. Three workshops will tackle added value throughout the food chain, a subject at the heart of farmer accusations that price pressures from retailers are killing their profit margins. More than half of French farmers earned less than 350 euros ($403) a month last year, the Agricultural Mutual Assistance Association (MSA) said, a figure that is less than a third of the net minimum wage. Discussions on the pricing issue are set to be completed by October - traditionally the time when price negotiations between suppliers and retailers usually start, an official said. The list of participants to the workshops was still to be decided but several companies including retailers Carrefour and Auchan have said they had offered to take part in several of them. The outcome will not necessarily mean a change in legislation, officials said. The government is due to give a feedback of the outcome of the debates around mid-December. A public consultation on the future of food is also due to be launched on Thursday. ($1 = 0.8682 euros) (Reporting by Sybille de La Hamaide; Editing by Andrew Callus) WASHINGTON, July 19 (Reuters) - China acknowledged a shared goal of reducing the trade deficit with the United States during day-long talks, the U.S. Treasury said on Wednesday. In a brief statement after the U.S.-China Comprehensive Economic Dialogue, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross offered few details of the talks. There was no sign of agreement on major issues involving trade and U.S. demands that China open its markets more to American companies. "China acknowledged our shared objective to reduce the trade deficit which both sides will work cooperatively to achieve," the statement said. (Reporting by Lesley Wroughton and David Lawder; Editing by James Dalgleish) (Adds analyst comment, details) By Pallavi Dewan and Nikhil Subba July 19 (Reuters) - American Express Co's profit declined 33 percent in the second quarter, hurt partly by higher expenses, as the card company spent heavily on rewards to woo customers amid intense competition from big U.S. banks. Shares of the company, up 16 percent so far this year, dipped 1.2 percent to $84.87 in after-market trading. New York-based AmEx has increased spending on rewards to prevent its generally affluent clientele from switching to JPMorgan Chase & Co and Citigroup Inc , which have rolled out lucrative rewards in an effort to boost their own credit card businesses. For JPMorgan and Citi, post-financial crisis regulations have made the credit card business more profitable than businesses such as mortgages and capital markets trading. Both the major banks reported upbeat results at their card businesses in their earnings last week. AmEx said it spent $1.93 billion on card member rewards in the second quarter ended June 30, up 9 percent from a year earlier. That increase was the highest since late 2014. As a result, total expenses soared 21 percent to $5.77 billion, denting profit, which declined but beat analysts' forecasts. Net income attributable to shareholders plunged 33 percent to $1.31 billion, or $1.47 per share, partly reflecting the loss of a longtime partnership with warehouse club retailer Costco Wholesale Corp as well as a $1 billion gain in the year-ago quarter on the sale of a related loan portfolio. Analysts on average had expected a profit of $1.43 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Total revenue, net of interest expense, inched up 0.8 percent to $8.31 billion, beating analysts' estimates of $8.20 billion. The better-than-expected results came as adjusted card member spending rose 8 percent and AmEx added 2.7 million proprietary card members globally. "The work is not complete, but we're now moving forward with a stronger foundation," Chief Executive Kenneth Chenault said in a statement. Discount revenue, which makes up the bulk of AmEx's total revenue and represents fees paid by merchants to the company, was flat at $4.82 billion. AmEx also backed its forecast for full-year earnings of $5.60 to $5.80 per share and said it was on track to remove $1 billion from its expenses this year. The company's shares slipped in after-hours trading as investors were probably disappointed that AmEx did not lift its earnings forecast after reporting a better-than-expected profit, KBW Inc analyst Sanjay Sakhrani said. (Reporting by Pallavi Dewan and Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar) (Adds analyst comment) By Anjali Athavaley and Aishwarya Venugopal July 19 (Reuters) - T-Mobile US Inc's quarterly results topped analysts' estimates as the No. 3 U.S. wireless carrier on Wednesday reported record low customer attrition and said it was considering a quarterly dividend. T-Mobile has been gaining share from larger competitors AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications Inc in a saturated U.S. wireless market through network improvements and lower prices. Shares rose 3 percent to $63.90 in after-hours trading. The company had said it was open to considering various strategic options and has acknowledged interest in talking with rival Sprint Corp about a merger. But such discussions appear to be on hold as Sprint explores other partnerships. Sources told Reuters in June that Sprint, controlled by Japan's SoftBank Group Corp , had entered into a two-month period of exclusive negotiations with cable companies Charter Communications Inc and Comcast Corp until the end of July. Sources also told Reuters that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc and John Malone's Liberty Media Corp were exploring an investment of $10 billion to $20 billion in Sprint. "I would say we have the same but maybe more opportunities from an inorganic or an expansion standpoint than we had last quarter," Chief Executive John Legere said on the company's post-earnings conference call. In April, Legere said satellite TV provider Dish Network Corp had access to content and spectrum and noted Sprint had "an awful lot of scale." Amazon.com Inc and internet companies should be considered because "they drive great value for shareholders," he added. As for Sprint, "investors may begin to rethink whether they want a merger, or at least, whether they want one now," Craig Moffett, an analyst at MoffettNathanson, said in a note. Shares of T-Mobile and Sprint trade at similar multiples of earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) despite T-Mobile's stronger performance, he said. T-Mobile added 786,000 phone subscribers who pay a monthly bill in the second quarter ended June 30, up from 646,000 in the year-ago period. Analysts on average had expected net additions of 607,000, according to research firm FactSet. Churn, or customer defections, was 1.1 percent, a record low. "We're actually starting to have conversations about instituting a small quarterly dividend that we can grow in the future," Chief Financial Officer Braxton Carter said on the call. Net income rose to $581 million, or 67 cents per share, from $225 million, or 25 cents per share, a year earlier. Total revenue grew to $10.21 billion from $9.29 billion. Analysts on average had expected earnings of 38 cents per share on revenue of $9.81 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. (Reporting by Anjali Athavaley in New York and Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Richard Chang) By Patpicha Tanakasempipat and Ruma Paul BANGKOK/DHAKA, July 20 (Reuters) - Bangladesh could suspend a plan to import rice from India due to high prices, the country's food ministry said on Thursday, while a deal with Thailand edged closer. Bangladesh, the world's fourth-biggest rice producer, has emerged as a major importer of rice this year due to depleted stocks and record local prices following flash floods. It could import as much as 1.2 million tonnes this year, and has so far struck deals with Vietnam and expressed interest in Thai and Indian rice. But it now said deals with the world's biggest rice exporter, India, might not happen. "Chances are very thin as their offer seems high," Badrul Hasan, the head of Bangladesh's state grain buyer told Reuters. India's 5 percent broken parboiled rice prices fell by $6 to $405-$408 per tonne this week on sluggish demand. Hasan said Bangladesh could reconsider if India could assure an immediate delivery, but it is already looking to Cambodia to replenish stocks. A Bangladeshi delegation, led by Food Minister Kamrul Islam, will visit Cambodia early next month to sign a memorandum to import rice, two food ministry officials said. Its deal with Thailand is also making progress. A Thai delegation is due to visit Dhaka next week to finalise a government-to-government rice deal of up to 200,000 tonnes, Hasan said. The Thai Rice Exporters Association told Reuters last week the process could take a month and a half. Thai private traders also hoped to secure deals with Bangladesh, saying weak demand from abroad has led to a constant decline in rice prices since they reached the highest level in almost four years at a market average of $455 per tonne on June 22. Thailand's benchmark 5-percent broken rice was quoted at $395-$405, free-on-board (FOB) Bangkok, on Thursday. Thailand's commerce ministry said there was a significant interest from Sri Lanka, but it has yet to strike anything with the would-be first-time buyer of Thai rice. Vietnam, the world's third biggest rice exporter, is observing a slow trade. The country's benchmark 5-percent broken rice dipped to $400-$405 a tonne, FOB Saigon, from $405-$410 last week. Vietnamese traders are currently eyeing deals with the Philippines, one of the world's biggest rice importers. On July 25, the country will open a tender for 250,000 tonnes of rice to boost its thinning stockpile ahead of the typhoon season later this year. Traders from Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore are expected to submit bids. Bangladesh will also open its fifth tender since May to buy 50,000 tonnes of rice on July 27. (Reporting by Patpicha Tanakasempipat in BANGKOK and Ruma Paul in DHAKA; Additional reporting by My Pham in HANOI, Rajendra Jadhav in MUMBAI and Panu Wongcha-um in BANGKOK; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle) Keywords: ASIA RICE/ VIENNA, July 20 (Reuters) - Austria's Heta Asset Resolution said on Thursday it started to pay out 5.8 billion euros ($6.7 billion) to bondholders. Heta is the "bad bank" of failed lender Hypo Alpe Adria, which was nationalised by Austria in 2009 after a headlong expansion into the Balkans, financed by its home province of Carinthia, pushed it to the brink of bankruptcy. In October, Heta creditors, holding bonds with an original face value of 11 billion euros, accepted a Carinthian buyback offer. ($1 = 0.8695 euros) (Reporting by Kirsti Knolle; Editing by Shadia Nasralla) Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication. SHANGHAI, July 20 (Reuters) - China's major stock indexes rose for a third straight day on Thursday, led by the blue-chip index reaching a fresh 18-month high, with sentiment lifted by expectations of robust first-half corporate earnings. The blue-chip CSI300 index rose 0.5 percent, to 3,747.88 points, while the Shanghai Composite Index added 0.4 percent to 3,244.86 points. With the gains, the main indexes have erased losses early this week when investors panicked amid a sell-off in start-ups. In contrast, the tech heavy start-up ChiNext is down 3.3 percent this week as investors shun small-cap firms that feature dim performances and higher valuations. On Thursday, the index edged up 0.2 percent. Ma Wenyu, strategist at Shanxi Securities, said earnings of cyclical sectors such as mining and steel will keep improving as Beijing steps up "supply-side reforms" to reduce excess capacity. "State-sector restructuring is expected to provide an additional market catalyst," Ma said. Construction companies Guangxi Liugong Machinery Co , XXMG Construction Machinery and Zoomlion Heavy Industry have forecast robust earnings growth, helped by government infrastructure investment. China will announce a new batch of "mixed-ownership reforms" in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in the third quarter, the official Shanghai Securities News reported on Thursday. Most sectors gained, led by real estate and consumers stocks , as investors expanded their search for blue-chips still attractively priced. (Reporting by Luoyan Liu and John Ruwitch; Editing by Richard Borsuk) BRASILIA, July 20 (Reuters) - Brazil's lower house aims to put a landmark pension overhaul to vote by the end of August, speaker Rodrigo Maia told a newspaper in an interview published on Thursday. The unpopular overhaul, the government's top priority to revive a recession-hit economy, has remained stuck in Congress since President Michel Temer was implicated in a major corruption scandal in May. "My strategy is to resume negotiations when August comes," Maia was quoted as saying by the O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper. "We need to start voting it in August. If we don't send it to a floor vote by the end of August, we won't vote it anymore." Congress returns from a two-week recess on Aug. 1. With general elections scheduled for October 2018, legislators have warned that unpopular measures such as the pension overhaul face diminishing chances of success as time passes. Maia opposes the idea of staggering the changes proposed to the social security system to speed up their approval. "Considering that before the House resumes work would give a signal that we will have less than we need and than we could have approved," Maia said. "It will be more comfortable for Brazil if we don't need to propose another reform within two, three years." Maia, the scion of a storied political clan in Rio de Janeiro, could become Brazil's third president in just over a year if Temer is suspended in the coming months to face a corruption trial. A first lower house vote on whether to request Temer's suspension is scheduled for Aug. 2. Unions oppose the pension reform as it will set a minimum age of retirement and will cut social security benefits. Economists say the proposal is crucial to balancing Brazil's budget in the long run and avoiding a potential debt crisis. The overhaul needs three-fifths of the votes in the senate and the lower house to pass as a constitutional amendment. With such a high bar for approval, Temer is considering to quickly push through a mini tax reform to show his allies that he is still advancing on a promised reform agenda, a presidential aide told Reuters on Tuesday. (Writing by Silvio Cascione) BERLIN, July 20 (Reuters) - Germany's BGA trade association said on Thursday a lack of transparency about the process of Britain's departure from the European Union was economically damaging for both the EU and Britain. "It is time for more clarity in the Brexit process," Anton Boerner, president of the BGA trade and wholesale association, said in a statement. "This uncertainty impedes economic activity and damages both the EU and Britain." (Writing by Paul Carrel, editing by Thomas Escritt) Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication. Following are news stories, press reports and events to watch that may affect Poland's financial markets on Thursday. ALL TIMES GMT (Poland: GMT + 2 hours): SUPREME COURT The Polish parliament is expected to continue work on the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party's bill reforming the Supreme Court, ignoring opposition assertions that the move would politicize the judiciary. PGNIG Poland's dominant gas firm PGNiG said late on Wednesday it produced 1.04 billion cubic meters of natural gas in the second quarter, 4 percent less than 1.08 billion a year earlier. JSW Energy ministry wants state coal company JSW to buy back some of it's assets sold a year ago, including cocking plant Victoria, Rzeczpospolita daily said without naming its source. T-MOBILE The Polish unit of T-Mobile plans to hire "hundreds of people" to increase the number of its clients, Puls Biznesu daily said, quoting the company's head. ALIOR BANK Alior Bank is not conducting merger talks with fellow state-controlled bank Pekao, Alior's acting chief executive officer told Parkiet daily, after Puls Biznesu daily said last month such a merger was an option. ****Reuters has not verified stories reported by Polish media and does not vouch for their accuracy.**** For other related news, double click on: Polish equities E.Europe equities Polish money Polish debt Eastern Europe All emerging markets Hot stocks Stock markets Market debt news Forex news For real-time index quotes, double click on: Warsaw WIG20 Budapest BUX Prague PX (Reporting by Warsaw Bureau) BRATISLAVA, July 20 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press reports and events to watch which may affect Slovak financial markets on Thursday. ALL TIMES GMT (Slovak Republic: GMT + 2 hours) =========================ECONOMIC DATA======================== Real-time economic data releases.................. Summary of economic data and forecasts......... Recently released economic data................ Previous stories on Slovak data.......... **For a schedule of corporate and economic events: ========================PRESS DIGEST============================ KIA: Kia Motors's Slovak unit made 180,000 cars in the first six months of the year, slightly less than a year ago. The company said in January it expected to make at least 335,000 cars this year. Hospodarske Noviny, page 1 (Reuters has not verified the stories, nor does it vouch for their accuracy.) For real-time stock market index quotes click in brackets: Warsaw WIG20 Budapest BUX Prague PX Main currency report TOP NEWS -- Emerging markets News editor of the day: Jason Hovet on +420 224 190 476 E-mail: prague.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (Reporting by Prague Newsroom) HANOI, July 20 (Reuters) - Here's a snapshot of Vietnamese dong exchange rates in the official and unofficial markets, indicative SJC gold prices in Hanoi and interbank offered rates at 0407 GMT. July 20 USD/VND mid-point 22,433 USD/VND interbank 22,734/22,736 USD/VND unofficial 22,770/22,790 SJC gold (mln dong/tael) 36.17/36.39 Interbank offered rates Overnight 0.7-1.2 1 week 0.9-1.2 1 month 2.0-2.6 3 months 3.3-4.0 NOTES: As of Jan. 4, 2016 the State Bank of Vietnam has begun setting the mid-point rate on daily basis, allowing dollar/dong transactions to move in a band of +/- 3 percent around the mid point. The dong's exchange rate against other currencies is not restricted by a band. Interbank offered rates are the latest indicative bid/ask prices, quoted from market sources. One tael is equivalent to 37.5 grams or 1.21 troy ounces. SJC gold prices are quoted by state-owned Saigon Jewelry Co. For more interbank rate fixings released at 0400 GMT, click on . For Vietnam market overview click on: Vietnam's bonds market auctions: Bonds auction results: (Compiled by Hanoi Newsroom) JOHANNESBURG, July 20 (Reuters) - South Africa's Chamber of Mines said on Thursday it was writing to the mines minister to withdraw a threat to suspend new mining and exploration rights, saying it believed such action was "unlawful." The chamber, which represents South Africa's major mining companies, said if the minister did not back down it would challenge the move in court. Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane said earlier that South Africa intends to suspend the granting of applications for prospecting and mining rights as well as any renewals pending a court case to review new mining laws. (Reporting by Ed Stoddard; Editing by James Macharia) ISTANBUL, July 20 (Reuters) - Here are news, reports and events that may affect Turkish financial markets on Thursday. The lira stood at 3.5300 against the U.S. dollar at 0457 GMT, weakening from 3.5225 at Wednesday's close. The yield on the benchmark 10-year bond was at 10.53 percent in spot trade on Wednesday and was at 10.50 percent in Thursday-dated trade. The main BIST 100 share index rose 1.61 percent to 107,417.52 points on Wednesday. GLOBAL MARKETS Asian shares scaled a near-decade peak on Thursday, bolstered by a surge in global stocks to new records on strong U.S. corporate earnings, while the yen eased slightly after the Bank of Japan reinforced expectations it will lag other central banks in dialling back stimulus. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.15 percent, hovering near its highest level since December 2007. CONSUMER CONFIDENCE The Turkish Statistics Institute will announce consumer confidence data for July (0700 GMT). DEBT STOCK The Treasury will announce central government debt stock data for end-June (1430 GMT). CABINET RESHUFFLE Ceremonies will be held to hand over power to new ministers appointed under the limited cabinet reshuffle announced by Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on Wednesday. He kept the government's economic team largely in place, with 15 ministers keeping their posts and 11 ministers either added or reshuffled. RELATIONS WITH GERMANY Germany raised the possibility on Wednesday of suspending European Union aid payments to Turkey after summoning Ankara's ambassador to Berlin to protest over the arrest of six human rights activists including a German citizen. U.S. RELATIONS The publication by Turkey's state-run news agency of the locations of what appeared to be U.S. military posts in Syria puts American forces in danger, and the United States has complained to Turkey, a NATO ally, the Pentagon said on Wednesday. QATAR CRISIS A senior Turkish official in an interview broadcast on Wednesday called on Saudi Arabia to drop 13 demands it and other Arab states had made of Qatar, saying they represent an infringement on its sovereignty. PRESIDENTIAL SPOKESMAN Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin will hold a news conference at the presidential palace (1100 GMT). ERDOGAN President Tayyip Erdogan will hold regular meetings at the presidential palace with the armed forces chief General Hulusi Akar (1400 GMT) and the head of the MIT national intelligence agency Hakan Fidan (1500 GMT). CYPRUS Prime Minister Binali Yildirim visits northern Cyprus for the 43rd anniversary of the military operation on July 20, 1974 when Turkish troops invaded the north of the Mediterranean island in response to a brief Greece-inspired coup. For other related news, double click on: Turkish politics Turkish equities Turkish money Turkish debt Turkish hot stocks Forex news All emerging market news All Turkish news For real-time quotes, double click on: Istanbul National-100 stock index , interbank lira trading , lira bond trading (Writing by Daren Butler) WASHINGTON, July 20 (Reuters) - The Republican-led U.S. Senate Finance Committee unanimously approved President Donald Trump's pick for the Treasury Department's top tax policy job on Thursday, sending the nomination on to consideration by the full Senate. David Kautter, a former Senate legislative aide and long-time tax policy expert, would play a key roll in the Republican push to overhaul the U.S. tax code this year, if confirmed by the 100-seat chamber as assistant Treasury secretary for tax policy. No floor vote has yet been scheduled. (Reporting by David Morgan) Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication. NEW YORK, July 20 (Reuters) - U.S. fund investors pumped $7.6 billion into taxable bonds during the most recent week, Lipper data showed on Thursday, generating the best inflows for those funds since March. Stock funds posted $2.6 billion in outflows, led by another rotation from domestic to international equities, data for the week ended July 19 showed. (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Leslie Adler) Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication. (Adds details, comments) * June export orders +13.0 pct vs 7.55 pct Reuters poll f'cast * Orders from China +17.3 pct y/y, from U.S. +13.1 pct y/y * Ministry sees July order value decreasing from June TAIPEI, July 20 (Reuters) - Taiwan's export orders rose faster than expected in June helped by strong global growth and robust demand for electronic components, a positive sign for high-tech manufacturers heading into the traditionally busier second half of the year. The island's export orders rose for the 11th successive month in June and returned to double-digits, with strong exports of chips and other tech devices setting the export-economy up for a strong second half, analysts said. June orders rose 13.0 percent from a year earlier, widely beating the median growth forecast of 7.55 percent in a Reuters poll and better than the most optimistic forecast. Orders rose 9.1 percent in May and 7.4 percent in April. The data is an indication of the strength of Asian exports and of global demand for technology. June's export order growth was driven more by a rise in supply chain component orders than smartphone-related orders, Taiwan's economics ministry said. "The momentum for future export orders will be driven by the electronics industry entering its peak season, and along with good economic activity. The forecast is that the orders will maintain a good degree of growth," said analyst Kevin Wang of Taishin investment advisory company. "We expect that third quarter export orders may reach double-digit figures on average compared to a year ago," he added. Orders from China and the United States - its two biggest markets - rose 17.3 and 13.1 percent. In May, they climbed 14.5 percent and 10.2 percent, respectively. Europe orders jumped 13.8 percent and from Japan, 19.7 percent. The ministry said July export orders were expected to reach $38 billion to $39 billion, and grow between 8.5 percent and 11.3 percent from a year earlier. Some companies in Taiwan expect their own orders to pick up in the next quarter. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co , the world's largest contract chipmaker and a key Apple supplier, posted an 8.6 percent fall in second-quarter net profit but sees revenue in the third quarter rising from the second quarter. New gadget launches in the second half, particularly smartphones, will help boost revenue for the third quarter by at least 15 percent versus the second quarter that ended in June, TSMC said. (Reporting by Liang-sa Loh, Jeanny Kao and Jess Macy Yu; Editing by Jacqueline Wong) * Counter-terror, domestic intel removed from Interior Ministry * Changes seen as boosting power of king and his powerful son * Official says move aims to improve government efficiency (Adds official, analyst, details, context) By Hadeel Al Sayegh DUBAI, July 20 (Reuters) - Saudi King Salman on Thursday decreed the consolidation of counter-terrorism and domestic intelligence under a new body, in a major overhaul of the security apparatus weeks after the interior minister was ousted from the royal succession. The string of late night royal decrees also ordered a shakeup of senior personnel, replacing the head of the elite royal guard and elevating the head of the newly created Presidency of State Security, Abdulaziz bin Mohammed al-Howairini, and his deputy to the rank of ministers. The moves inside the world's biggest oil exporting nation centralises authority in security matters to the king and his young son, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has made a rapid rise to the pinnacle of power at the expense of his cousin, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef. The decrees published by the state news agency said the changes were made in order "to face all security challenges with a high degree of flexibility and readiness and the ability to move quickly to face any emergency". The move removes important authorities from the Interior Ministry, which was run by Mohammed bin Nayef, also known as MbN, until last month when he was stripped of his positions and removed as crown prince. MbN has long been considered a steady partner for security cooperation with the West as the kingdom sought to quell Islamist militant groups al Qaeda and Islamic State both domestically and abroad. Thursday's orders also raised the head of Mohammed bin Salman's personal office to the rank of minister. A Saudi analyst described the move as a long-overdue reform that would benefit the state but said it "clips the wings of the Interior Ministry and bolsters the powers of the king". The elevation of 32-year-old Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MbS, ended two years of speculation about a behind-the-scenes rivalry with MbN over who will eventually take over from King Salman, 81. Reuters reported on Wednesday that the king had asked MbN to step down citing an addiction to painkilling drugs that were clouding the latter's judgment. A senior Saudi official denied the account, calling it "a complete fantasy worthy of Hollywood". The high-stakes power grab has placed sweeping powers in the hands of MbS and appears designed to speed his accession to the throne, though he still has to win over powerful relatives, clerics and tribesmen. HOMELAND SECURITY A Saudi official compared the new agency to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and said the move was aimed at streamlining security services and making counter-terrorism efforts directly accountable to the king. "The Ministry of Interior is such a massive bureaucracy," he said. "The purpose is that you want to create new efficiencies for both entities and elevate the work especially in counter-terrorism." Saudi Arabia crushed a campaign of al Qaeda attacks in 2003-06 but has been hit by Islamic State bombings in the past two years. Saudi security police closely monitor Saudis with suspected connections to militants and have detained more than 15,000 suspects in the years since al Qaeda's campaign. The official said Howairini was a "known quantity" who had worked in the Interior Ministry for 30 years including on the U.S.-Saudi counter-terrorism partnership. MbN's removal had unnerved some officials in Washington who saw him as a steady hand that had put down the al Qaeda bombing campaign and kept close ties to the U.S. intelligence community where he had a reputation as safe and reliable. As part of Thursday's decrees, the king also appointed Mohammed el Kuwaiz head of the Saudi Arabian Capital Markets Authority (CMA), which regulates investments in the kingdom. (Additional reporting by Sami Aboudi and Yara Bayoumy; Writing by Stephen Kalin and Noah Browning; Editing by Alison Williams) * 2016 budget deficit hits $1.4 billion, 10 percent of GDP * Chinamasa says $134 million paid to white former farmers * State firms and farmers' subsidies contribute to deficit (Adds compensation to farmers, farmers union) By MacDonald Dzirutwe HARARE, July 20 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's budget deficit rose to $1.4 billion, or 10 percent of national output, in 2016, worse than previously revised estimates, the country's finance minister said. The shortfall arose from unbudgeted subsidies to farmers, food imports following a devastating drought, compensation to white former farmers and support for loss-making state-owned firms, Patrick Chinamasa told parliament on Thursday. The increase far exceeded an initial projection of $150 million, Chinamasa said. In his annual budget address last December, he said the deficit had risen to $1.18 billion. Chinamasa said the government paid white former farmers $134 million last year as compensation for land seized by President Robert Mugabe's government since 2000. The amount had not been set aside in the initial budget. The IMF has said compensating the farmers is among the requirements for Zimbabwe to access new foreign funding. Ben Gilpin, acting director at Commercial Farmers Union of Zimbabwe, a grouping of less than 200 members from 4,500 at the start of Mugabe's land seizure drive in 2000, said he was not aware of who had been compensated by the government. "We haven't seen or heard of those payments from people whom we have been in contact with. We would need to check where those payments have gone," Gilpin told Reuters. OUTLOOK POSITIVE Chinamasa said the government had initially set aside $66 million to finance farmers last year but ended up spending $615 million. Most of the money was borrowed from domestic banks and the central bank, he said. This year's deficit, previously forecast at $400 million, is also expected to increase by nearly $120 million due to a maize subsidy, Reuters calculations show - a scheme that Mugabe's critics say will be open to abuse and saddle a troubled economy with more debt. Chinamasa reiterated that a rebound in agriculture would propel growth of 3.7 percent in 2017. Revenues, at $3.7 billion, are expected to be in line with official forecasts. "The outlook for 2017 is very positive," he said in a half-year budget review statement to parliament. The IMF has urged Zimbabwe to slash public sector wages, now at more than 90 percent of the national budget, reduce farm subsidies and improve transparency in the mining sector, reforms that can win the country new funding from foreign lenders. (Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; editing by Mark Heinrich and Alexander Smith) By Nam Hyun-woo The government announced a five-year policy roadmap that costs 178 trillion won, but concerns are lingering over how to finance it. The State Affairs Planning Advisory Committee, the de facto transition team for the Moon Jae-in administration, released the 100-task roadmap aimed at political reform, a fair economic system, expanded welfare and balanced regional development. Representing President Moon's determination, almost half of those 100 tasks are tuned to supporting welfare, medical services, the labor market and small- and medium-sized enterprises. The committee said the government can finance the policies through cutting expenses by 95.4 trillion won and lifting tax revenue by 82.6 trillion won. This raises questions about the increase of tax revenue. The government estimated 60.5 trillion won can be secured through increasing surpluses in revenue, 17.1 trillion won through reducing tax exemptions and 5 trillion won from non-tax revenue. A surplus means revenue greater than the government's initial estimation without changing tax rates or other tax rules. This surplus takes place when the economy booms if the economy improves, companies and people pay more taxes. Trade will also be expanded resulting in more tariff income. As the Korean economy shows signs of rebounding, the government seems to have come up with a rosy outlook on its future tax revenue. According to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, Korea's tax income stood at 123.8 trillion won during the first five months of this year, up 11.2 trillion won from a year ago. In particular, corporate taxes amounted to 31.4 trillion won, up 4.3 trillion won. Not all experts agree with the positive outlook they ask what if the economy goes down. To see a surplus over 60 trillion won over the next five years, observers point out the country's economy must grow faster than it is now. They warn the government may end up raising tax rates or launching tougher tax probes on companies. Otherwise, the government's debt would increase to burden future taxpayers. The Park Geun-hye administration also tried to carry out various state projects without increasing tax rates. It also targeted the underground economy but failed. The move increased government debt. "The government's plan is based on its assumption that Korea's underground economy is huge," Prof. Lee Phil-sang at Seoul National University said. "If the government can collect taxes from the underground economy, its plan to finance the roadmap will be viable. As the Korean economy recovers slowly, however, such moves will face strong opposition and setbacks." Against this backdrop, watchers worry that the government will eventually step back from its current push for "improved welfare without a tax increase." "The Moon administration has signaled that the country will take care of individual livelihoods via expanded fiscal spending," Lee said. "However, it is uncertain that doing this without raising taxes is possible." US Chamber VP warns against amending bilateral pact By Kang Seung-woo Myron Brilliant, executive vice president at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce A ranking official of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce believes that U.S. President Donald Trump should drop his bid to renegotiate the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (KORUS FTA). Myron Brilliant, executive vice president of the biggest U.S. business lobby, said Washington needs to focus more on full and faithful implementation of the bilateral deal, as the two sides are about to hold talks to amend it. He also noted the trade pact has been "incorrectly" blamed by Trump who has repeatedly bashed the five-year-old agreement for hurting American economic interests and jobs. President Trump has described the KORUS FTA as "horrible and unacceptable," vowing to renegotiate or terminate it. The U.S. government officially requested a revision last week, though no date for a special joint committee to discuss any amendments has been set. "In our view, major revisions of the agreement are not necessary," Brilliant said in a written interview with The Korea Times. "The KORUS FTA is a strong agreement that establishes many of the highest standards and rules found in any trade agreement, and it has opened new markets and created new opportunities for both American and Korean businesses." Korea is the United States' sixth-largest trading partner, with bilateral trade of $112.2 billion (126 trillion won) in 2016. Washington suffered a goods trade deficit of $27.7 billion with Seoul last year, down 2.3 percent from 2015, according to the U.S. Trade Representative. The U.S. government is expected to seek to address this significant trade imbalance, while Korea will focus on contradicting Trump's unfair trade allegations, suggesting the U.S. may be actually gaining more than Korea from the trade deal. Brilliant echoed the Korean government's view. "The KORUS FTA has helped U.S. exports stay competitive in Korea against those from other countries while Korea's overall imports declined by more than 20 percent since the KORUS FTA went into effect. That U.S. exports didn't decline much at all speaks to the importance of the KORUS FTA," he said. Implementation over renegotiation However, the executive vice president said the two nations need to step up efforts to address any remaining implementation problems through the special joint committee meeting. "We do think that reemphasizing full and faithful implementation and enforcement of the existing agreement is the best path forward to ensure that the KORUS FTA can fulfill its potential to stimulate trade, growth and jobs in the United States and Korea," he said. "Problems have come because some provisions were not quickly or fully implemented after the agreement entered into force, and some of these issues must still be resolved." Brilliant also did not buy into Trump's allegations that the bilateral trade agreement has served as a U.S. jobs killer. "Trade has been blamed, incorrectly, for job losses in the United States, mainly in manufacturing. However, U.S. manufacturers are doing well, expanding their output and hiring. It's true that the sector has shed jobs since 1979 even as factory output has continued to rise. This is due to automation, use of robots, increasingly sophisticated capital goods, and productivity growth generally allowing firms to raise production with fewer workers," he said. "We are in a transition phase in our economy, and it's important to understand this fact as we seek to improve trade agreements and address the issues surrounding a small segment of workers and some communities that are not benefiting from trade as much as others." A state inspector checks beef imported from the United States at a refrigerated warehouse in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul Lawyers request ban on imports By Yoon Ja-young The government said Thursday it has strengthened inspections on U.S. beef imports following the detection of mad cow disease in the United States. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs held a quarantine committee meeting to share information on the outbreak of mad cow disease in the U.S. and gather expert opinion. The ministry has boosted quarantine measures, increasing the ratio of the U.S. beef going through inspections to 30 percent from the current 3 percent. The step follows the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announcing that an 11-year-old cow in Alabama was found to have an "atypical" variety of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease. The USDA said that it is not the classic variety that is linked to Creutzfeldt Jakob disease in people. Cattle are known to be infected with "typical" BSE through feed contaminated with infectious prion agents, such as meat-and-bone meal containing protein derived from rendered infected cattle. Atypical BSE, meanwhile, generally occurs in older cattle, usually over eight years old, and is known to arise rarely and spontaneously in all cattle populations. The USDA emphasized that atypical BSE cases do not impact official BSE risk status recognition. "Therefore, this finding of an atypical case will not change the negligible risk status of the United States, and should not lead to any trade issues," it noted, making clear that it has no plan to stop beef exports. Korea, however, has experienced trauma over mad cow disease. Back in 2008, former President Lee Myung-bak decided to import U.S. beef after meeting with then U.S. President George W. Bush, despite public concern over mad cow disease. It led to severe protests by consumers who held candlelit rallies that shook the new administration at the time. The last time atypical BSE was detected in the United States was April 2012. There was a demand from consumer groups for the government to stop imports, but it just strengthened quarantine measures, pulling up the ratio of beef inspections to 50 percent from 3 percent. Call for an import ban Lawyers for a Democratic Society, an NGO, claimed that the government should stop U.S. beef imports "to protect the people's health." Korea can suspend imports under U.S. beef "import requirements" which the two countries agreed upon if it is necessary for public health and safety. Experts generally agree that chances are slim for the beef of infected cattle to enter Korea. The country imports beef from young cattle aged up to 30 months, which are less likely to be infected with BSE. Specified risk materials, which include skulls, brains, spinal cords, tonsils and parts of the small intestine, are removed from the cattle as well. The Korean Federation of Medical Activist Groups for Health Rights, however, said that the atypical type is as risky as classic BSE, demanding an immediate suspension until imports are proven to be safe. Korea is the fourth largest importer of U.S. beef, and is a market bigger than Japan for the U.S. cattle farmers. It imported 156,000 tons of beef from America last year, up 46.5 percent from the previous year. By Yoon Sung-won The Trump administration should conduct a thorough check of the country's quarantine system for mad cow disease to avoid escalation of negative public sentiment against U.S. beef in Korea, a legal expert here said Thursday. Concerns are rising over the safety of imported U.S. beef after an outbreak of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), in Alabama. Despite the announcement by the U.S. government that the latest case of BSE is of a less harmful type, civic groups in Korea are requesting the country stop exporting beef to Korea. "The government should continue provisional import suspension of U.S. beef until we reach a conclusion it is safe," said Song Ki-ho, the head attorney of Lawyers for a Democratic Society's committee for international trade issues. Song also argued the outbreak of BSE exposes flaws in the U.S. system. "The U.S. Department of Agriculture determined and confirmed the cow was positive for BSE," he said. "Whatever they say, BSE has broken out in the country. If they say that atypical case of BSE can appear in old cows, it means all cows naturally face the disease. It doesn't make sense and is not a responsible way of addressing the matter." In a statement on Wednesday, the non-governmental organization of liberal lawyers requested the Korean government provisionally suspend U.S. beef imports to protect public health. "After the import suspension, the Korean government should look into the reliability of the U.S. government's BSE quarantine system such as its control of the use of animal feed," Song said. "The government should also check the infection route and make sure if the latest case of mad cow disease is atypical BSE." Import of U.S. beef was first suspended in 2003 amid an outbreak of BSE in the United States. After repeated requests from the U.S. government to reopen imports of U.S. beef, the Lee Myung-bak administration decided to bring U.S. beef coming from cows younger than 30 months in April 2008. But this decision ignited massive candlelit rallies here based on fears of mad cow disease. Song stressed Korea has the right to request its trade partner conduct proper inspections. "Korea has secured the right for proper inspection of the safety of U.S. beef thanks to the people's power through the candlelit rallies during the Lee administration," he said. "It is also guaranteed by the World Trade Organization. Korea should hold fast to principles to be able to demand the Trump administration stick to principles." Song added the Trump administration's clear investigation and explanation of its BSE quarantine system will make Korean consumers even more assured about U.S. beef. "Once Korean consumers are able to confirm from the U.S. government's inspection and explanation that the system has been reasonably under control and everything is without unacceptable errors, they will feel more assured about U.S. beef," he said. Pyongyang relies on Southeast Asian nations to evade sanctions By Kim Jae-kyoung SINGAPORE ASEAN should play a bigger role in reining in North Korea by cracking down on its illicit trade and activities in their countries, experts said Thursday. They said beyond China and Russia, some ASEAN nations provide a lifeline to North Korea as they are becoming a source for the isolated state to evade sanctions and earn hard currency. "All ASEAN countries, except for Malaysia after the Kim Jong-nam assassination, still maintain friendly relations with North Korea to varying degrees," Hoang Thi Ha, lead researcher at the ASEAN Studies Center at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, told The Korea Times. She called on ASEAN countries to seriously implement the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions, especially on sanctions against the North, particularly in terms of cracking down on illicit trade. In particular, she urged them to be more careful vetting North Koreans' entry into their countries and to have greater caution in providing "flags of convenience" as in the case of Cambodia. A ship registered under Cambodia's flag but with a North Korean crew was found carrying a huge amount of munitions in 2016. "I do not call for extreme measures such as cutting off bilateral ties, but obviously ASEAN governments can do more on their part in the implementation of U.N. sanctions," she said. ASEAN refers to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, consisting of 10 members Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. Of late, there are growing calls for ASEAN to increase pressure on North Korea as some member countries are emerging as hubs for Pyongyang's illegal trade in the wake of China's tightening of sanctions against the totalitarian regime led by young leader Kim Jong-un. "North Korea has become more sophisticated and operates in not only China, but also Southeast Asian countries and beyond to thwart the sanctions and earn hard currency," said Tara O, adjunct fellow at the Pacific Forum CSIS. "I think Southeast Asian and other countries can make more concerted and proactive efforts to implement sanctions and comply with U.N. resolutions." Park Yong-maan, chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), speaks during a press briefing at the Shilla Hotel Jeju, Wednesday. Park said a 16.4 percent hike in the minimum wage planned for 2018 will place a heavy financial burden on businesses, regardless of their size. / Courtesy of KCCI By Lee Hyo-sik A 16.4 percent minimum wage hike planned for 2018 will place a heavy financial burden on companies, large or small, the head of the country's biggest business association said Wednesday. Park Yong-maan, chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), is urging the government to change the criteria for calculating the minimum wage so that the wage reflects more accurately how much workers actually receive. "The minimum wage includes only a base salary and other fixed allowances. It doesn't take bonuses or other benefits into account. This means that in reality workers who appear to receive only the minimum wage actually get paid much more," Park said. Korea's minimum wage appears to be lower than those of other advanced countries. But it is not when bonuses and other monetary benefits are included, he said. "Each company has a different salary structure. Some pay a relatively low base salary but instead offer more in special bonuses and incentives. The bad news is that they will face greater pressure from workers to increase the salary when the minimum wage goes up sharply," the chairman said. Korea should look at the actual amount of money that workers receive, not the minimum wage, when management and labor unions are engaged in collective bargaining, he said. Many small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and those who run small businesses, such as coffee shops and conveniences stores, have been protesting against a 16.4 percent increase in an hourly minimum wage to 7,530 won ($6.7). They argue that they will be unable to stay afloat because of higher labor costs. Some say they will reduce the number of employees, while others even say they will close their businesses. By contrast, Samsung, Hyundai Motor and other large businesses appear to be unaffected by the hike because their employees receive much more than the minimum wage. But companies are expected to face pressure to raise salaries by larger margins. Touching on the Moon Jae-in administration's campaign to reduce the number of working hours, the KCCI chairman said workers should make greater efforts to boost productivity. "Because of workers' protests, it will be difficult for management to slash wages in line with the reduced working hours. Employers will have to hire additional workers to maintain the production," Park said. "To solve this problem, I believe employees should accept lower wages in return for working less, while the government provides more support to businesses that add new workers to their payrolls." NongHyup Financial Group Chairman Kim Yong-hwan, right, poses with Bank Mandiri President Director Kartika Wirjoatmodjo after signing a memorandum of understanding at Bank Mandiri's head office in Jakarta, Monday. / Courtesy of NongHyup Financial Group By Nam Hyun-woo NongHyup Financial Group has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Indonesia's PT Bank Mandiri Tbk for business cooperation, leading a proactive expansion in the country, the Korean bank said Tuesday. At Bank Mandiri's head office in Jakarta, NongHyup Financial Group Chairman Kim Yong-hwan and Bank Mandiri President Director Kartika Wirjoatmodjo agreed to enhance their partnership in eight segments, including corporate financing, trade financing and human resources. They also agreed to set up a committee overseeing the two financial firms' collaborative projects. Bank Mandiri is Indonesia's largest bank by assets at $83.5 billion. Eleven subsidiaries are under its wing, with 3,626 branches and offices run by 39,000 employees. "Through multi-pronged cooperation in banking, insurance, securities, capital, asset management and other fields, the two lenders should seek growth together," Kim said. Wirjoatmodjo echoed that idea: "The MOU will be a model case for cooperation between financial groups representing Indonesia and Korea." Market watchers say Kim's trip to Indonesia is aimed at increasing the banks presence in the Southeast Asian country more aggressively. NH Capital CEO Go Tae-soon accompanied Kim. Go met with the senior management of PT Mandiri Tunas Finance, Mandiri's microfinancing subsidiary, and talked about mutual cooperation and NH Capital's operations in Indonesia. Another domain that NongHyup Financial seeks to expand in Indonesia is securities. NH Investment & Securities has a subsidiary, NH Korindo Securities in Indonesia, and NongHyup plans to use NH Korindo to strengthen its partnership with Bank Mandiri in the brokerage business. NH Korindo recently launched its mobile trading system Win Pro, which is tailor-made for the Indonesian mobile environment. During the launching ceremony, Kim said he plans to set up an investment banking desk and expand the workforce for initial public offerings (IPOs) to draw more IPO deals from Indonesian companies. "Since Kim became chairman, NongHyup Financial Group has been expanding its overseas networks, including new NongHyup Bank branches and offices in Vietnam and India," a group official said. "The group will continue its efforts to expand its global businesses in countries with rich financial demands." An exterior view of Ansan Media Library / Courtesy of Ansan Media Library By Baek Byung-yeul ANSAN -- A woman in her 30s surnamed Kim visits a nearby library three times a week with her two daughters, ages five and six. At the library, located in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, she spends time reading English books with her children. "In this hot weather, I feel lucky to have this library near my home. Outside it's hot, but we can stay cool here and I can narrate stories from English books to my children," Kim said. The new Ansan Media Library, first opened in June 2016, is becoming a primary gathering place for people in this city. What makes this public library special to nearby residents is 90 percent of its collection is books written in English. "Since we have the city's biggest library, Ansan Joongang (central) Library, near here, we decided to build an English-focused library," an assistant guide at the library said, Tuesday. "As we want to emphasize that this library is specialized in English, we came up with the name Ansan Media Library through a public contest," she said, adding it doesn't have any different title in Korean. Ansan Media Library is also specialized in media-related facilities. Visitors can enjoy movies in small theaters in the library and also use video and audio recording studios to produce multimedia content. "Since this library is only a year old, we have about 200 visitors every day," the library official said. Computers are installed at the English reading level testing room at Ansan Media Library. / Courtesy of Ansan Media Library The three-story building is comprised of a communal place selling drinks and snacks and an auditorium on the first floor; reading rooms providing content written in English on the second floor; and audio and video recording studios on the third floor. In the first reading room on the second floor the shelves are stocked with books for toddlers and children, mainly fairy tales. There are also books in English for children and books translated into Korean. Inside the first reading room, there is a separate Kids Zone space so children can read books comfortably lying on mats. The shelves in the room are filled with pop-up books and sound books helping children find joy and pleasure in reading and learning. There are nursing rooms and restrooms for visitors inside the Kids Zone as well. In the second reading room on the second floor, visitors can self-evaluate their reading skill levels using Lexile measures. Developed by U.S.-based company MetaMetrics, the Lexile scale measures a person's reading ability. There are six computers for the reading test which can be conducted free of charge for residents of Ansan and other cities in Gyeonggi Province. Not only students but also adults come here to take the test, which requires a reservation. "Though the test has no official use, we have five tests takers a day on average," said Bang Eun-hee, a librarian at the reading room. "Even if they receive a lower Lexile level, they can take the test again for better results." The books in the reading rooms are classified into five levels based on the Lexile scale and visitors can choose English-written books depending on their reading levels. The second reading room has books in levels three to five while the first reading room has first- and second-level books. "We have 15,000 books and more than 90 percent of them are in the English language while less than 10 percent are translations. For students who don't know what to read first, we have a collection of books that won the Newbery Medal. And for people who want to improve their English listening skills, we provide audio books as well," Bang said. Visitors can produce their own recordings at the recording studio of Ansan Media Library. / Courtesy of Ansan Media Library On the third floor, visitors can make their own video or audio productions in the recording studios. "Once you make a reservation through the library's website, you can use the studio for free," a worker at the studio said. "It is not well known that this library has recording studios. But we have some visitors using the facilities to record their podcasts or make their own records." The Ansan Media Library is located in Danwon-gu, Ansan. For more information, visit lib.iansan.net or call 031-481-2702. Visitors can check out "useful" information for tours, state festivals and events, and local news. The information is offered in Korean, English, Chinese, Russian and Japanese and is illustrated by photos and videos. The site says the state, also known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, founded the Korea International Travel Company in August 1953, less than a month after the Korean War ceasefire. Since then, the state has "pursued an active policy for the development of tourism under the ideal of independence, peace and friendship." Its tourist industry would "promote mutual understanding and cultural bonds between peoples around the world and develop the national economy." "The site appears to share the same vein of the state's recent efforts to use South Korean President Moon Jae-in's friendly gestures to make peace accords with the U.S.," Kim Jae-chun, an international relations professor at Sogang University, told The Korea Times. Kim was referring to Moon's proposal of inter-Korean military talks on July 21 and Red Cross talks on Aug. 1 to resume the reunion of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War. "The state has long demanded the South extradite 12 defectors who had worked at a state restaurant in China, and resume Mt. Kumgang tours," Kim said. "The site may help the state reignite the tour program, which can lead to the family reunions, and earn foreign currency." Kim Yon-ho, a senior researcher at the U.S.-Korea Institute in the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, was quoted by American media outlet Radio Free Asia on Wednesday as saying the site reflects the state's "intent to avoid its responsibility for Warmbier's death." Following the site's launch, the U.S. Department of State reiterated its warning to American citizens not to visit the North, according to RFA. The U.S. government has reportedly said that the North's tourism profits could "support the state's nuclear weapons and other weapons programs." By Yi Whan-woo North Korea remained silent as of 10 p.m. Thursday on South Korea's offer to hold joint military talks at the border today, according to government officials. "We have not heard from the North yet concerning the military talks. We're still waiting (for its reply)," Ministry of National Defense spokesman Moon Sang-gyun told reporters. This suggests that North Korean decision-makers may be in a heated debate over whether to accept the South's proposal. Some officials here said Seoul should be patient in resuming dialogue with Pyongyang in a follow-up to President Moon Jae-in's peace overture made in his speech in Berlin early in July. The government offered to hold a military dialogue Monday, as a first step to lay the groundwork for Moon's peace initiative. Seoul is also awaiting Pyongyang's response on its proposal to hold joint Red Cross talks Aug. 1 for a possible reunion of family members separated by the 1950-53 Korean War. Spokesman Moon said the defense ministry has been consulting with relevant ministries on whether the military talks can be rescheduled if the North gives a response. "We're making sure to prepare for the talks without any setbacks at the working-level," he said. "The military communication line on our side is open and we're ready to respond at any time." In a separate press briefing, a Ministry of Unification official urged North Korea to respond, saying there will be "no deadline" in receiving an answer from Pyongyang. The official explained that a South Korean officer at the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjeom called the North Korean side at 9 a.m. but there was no answer. / Yonhap A monument was unveiled in New Jersey Wednesday to commemorate the Korean women who were forced into sexual slavery for Japanese troops during World War II. The marble tablet was erected by the local Korean community in front of Trinity Episcopal Church near Cliffside Park during a ceremony attended by members of the Korean community, American veterans of the Korean War, and local officials. It marked the fourth such monument in New Jersey and the eighth in the United States. Historians estimate that up to 200,000 women, mostly from Korea, were mobilized by the Japanese military to work in front-line brothels during the war. Korea was a colony of Japan from 1910-45. The issue of the "comfort women," a euphemistic term for the victims, has long been a thorn in South Korea-Japan ties. The two sides reached a deal in 2015 to resolve the issue, but many of the victims have rejected it, saying it fails to address their grievances. The tablet is engraved with a picture of a girl crouching with her face in her hands, as well as a description of the atrocity that took place. Kim Jin-sook, a leader of the Korean community, said she hopes the monument will serve as a reminder of the painful history of the comfort women and of the fact that it should not be repeated. (Yonhap) By Choi Ha-young Rep. Song Young-gil Rep. Song Young-gil, who was President Moon Jae-in's special envoy to Russia, called for the resumption of a three-way logistics project between the two Koreas and Russia, Thursday. Lashing out at former President Park Geun-hye's decision to withdraw from the so-called Rajin-Khassan project, the four-term lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea said the country should resume the project as early as possible. "We should resume the project first before discussing whether to reopen the Gaeseong Industrial Complex with North Korea," he said in a seminar hosted by the Korea Logistics Forum. The Najin-Khassan project refers to transporting Russian coal to South Korea through a Russian port in Hassan and a North Korean port in Rajin. Since Seoul's direct investment in the North is blocked by the May 24 Measure, the government let three South Korean companies Korail, POSCO and Hyundai Merchant Marine take over Russia's stake. The investment was aimed at refurbishing the ports and railroads in the area. Park and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to push for it in their 2013 summit and reaffirmed it in 2015, but she later nullified it following Pyongyang's fourth nuclear test in January 2016. Russia made an effort in the United Nations to rescue the project from international sanctions adopted against the North in March last year. In line with the resumption of the project, Song proposed to build a joint economic complex in the region, saying the two Koreas and Russia can bear fruits by inviting 50,000 North Korean workers. "The border area between Russia and North Korea is vital for potential future projects like building gas pipes and railroads that connect Seoul and Moscow," Lee Chang-ju, a researcher specializing in the Northeast Asian region, told The Korea Times. "The Rajin-Hassan Project could spur multilateral talks involving the three countries, and China would be interested in it as well." In May, Moon dispatched Song to Russia right after taking office. The envoy delivered the President's will to encourage the North to open its doors through trilateral economic cooperation, while remaining stern on its continuous provocations. In a meeting with President Putin during the trip, the lawmaker reportedly discussed delivering Russian gas and electricity to South Korea, which may draw infrastructure investments into the North. / Courtesy of Rachel Stine By Jon Dunbar An ironic image ended up embodying this year's Korea Queer Culture Festival (KQCF). Standing in front of a line of Christian protesters bearing a banner reading "Homosexuality is sin! Return to Jesus!" was a bearded white male in robes, clearly dressed as "Jesus," holding a rainbow-colored sign reading "I'm cool with it." The image went viral, making the front page of Reddit Tuesday morning. "It's been a wild ride these last few days. I thoroughly enjoy reading the comments everywhere though," said Robert Evans, 27, the American seen in the picture. He recalls the picture was taken right before the pride parade departed Seoul Square. The festivalgoers were corralled by riot police, protecting them from Christian protesters. The protesters were gathered in front of the Hwangudan gate right next to the gate leading to the street where the parade would start. "There were thousands and thousands of people just outside the frame of this photo but I guess nobody wanted to get too close to the protesters," Evans said. "I took the opportunity to fill that space and present my message. I was aware of the banner behind me but I did not craft my sign with the specific intent of standing in front of that banner." Several photographers captured the scene, juxtaposing Evans' Jesus with the Christians behind him. Rachel Stine snapped the picture that went viral, while waiting for the parade to start. She did not know Evans at the time, and didn't help pose him. By Jun Ji-hye Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) President and CEO Ha Sung-yong resigned Thursday amid ongoing investigations by the prosecution targeting the company and himself over corruption allegations in a number of major defense projects. Ha's stepping down followed the resignation of Chang Myoung-jin, the head of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), Wednesday, over allegations that he neglected his duty of supervising KAI, the nation's sole aircraft maker. Ha Sung-yong Chang Myoung-jin These are the latest resignations of figures appointed by former President Park Geun-hye who was removed from office in March over a massive corruption scandal. Ha was close to members of Park's inner circle, while Chang was her classmate and laboratory partner at the Electronic Engineering Department of Sogang University. Ha's resignation came after state prosecutors searched KAI headquarters in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, and its office in Seoul last week to gather evidence related to the corruption allegations. He is suspected of reaping billions of won in illicit gains after the company inflated the costs of developing military aircraft such as the Surion utility helicopter and the T-50 supersonic trainer. "I decided to step down as I feel deeply responsible for everything that has recently occurred," Ha said in a statement. "I will sincerely answer questions from prosecutors regarding all the suspicions." Ha claimed the ongoing situation should not cause any setbacks in projects pushed for by KAI such as efforts to export T-50s to the United States. The company said it will arrange an extraordinary shareholders' meeting as soon as possible to select his successor. Earlier, prosecutors placed travel bans on Ha and several KAI officials. A key executive, who was one of the closest aides to Ha at the company, was summoned to the prosecution, Thursday, indicating Ha could soon be questioned. Chang and two more DAPA working-level officials also face grilling by the prosecution for dereliction of duty after the state auditor accused them, Sunday, of pushing for the deployment of the Surion helicopters despite a series of defects including engine and windshield problems. DAPA allowed KAI to resume delivery in December 2016, citing the need to maintain DAPA personnel and replace aging helicopters, although the flaws had not been resolved, according to the state auditor. Chang's farewell ceremony took place at DAPA headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province. At the ceremony that was closed to media, Chang asked officials to keep making efforts for renovation, according to officials. Kim Byeong-uk, a North Korean defector and president of the Seoul-based think tank North Korea Development Institute, poses at a cafe in Seoul on Tuesday after a Korea Times interview. He has been wrestling with the question on the credibility of information about the reclusive state since he returned to Seoul on Sunday after a three-week trip to the United States. / Korea Times Expert proposes solution to inaccurate information about repressive regime By Kang Hyun-kyung How do we know that what we know about North Korea is true? Kim Byeong-uk, a North Korean defector and president of the Seoul-based think tank North Korea Development Institute, has been wrestling with the question on the credibility of information about the reclusive state since he returned to Seoul on Sunday from a three-week trip to the United States. During the trip organized by the U.S. Department of State, Kim and eight South Korean delegates met with think tank experts and activists working on North Korean human rights and democracy in Washington D.C. and Los Angeles, as well as with advocates helping Cuban refugees in Miami. Kim, who escaped from North Korea with his wife and children in 2002, said his first U.S. trip was "constructive, informative and useful" and prompted him to think about conducting joint research projects with U.S. experts to narrow the information divide between the Hermit Kingdom and the rest of the world. "While exchanging my views with the American experts, I felt regret because they had a sort of misunderstanding about North Korea caused by factual errors," he said. As a good example of those experts' incomplete understanding of North Korea, Kim cited their suggestion of cutting off China's crude oil shipments to North Korea, a punitive measure that has been floated again as a way to push the North to play by the rules, following its test-firing of the Hwasong-4 missile on July 4. The rationale behind their proposed oil embargo on North Korea is that it would further hurt the already crippled North Korean economy. According to the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, North Korea imported 525,000 tons of crude oil from China in 2015. But Kim, 55, is skeptical of the effectiveness of the suggested sanction. "Contrary to popular belief, an oil embargo is not something that can destabilize North Korea because its economy is not structured to be dependent on oil," he said. "The energy that can make or break the North is electricity, not oil. North Korea has been struggling with chronic electricity shortages because the economy heavily relies on electricity." According to a Korea Energy Economics Institute (KEEI) report released in 2015, oil accounts for only 8 percent of the energy consumed in the North, while electricity, which comes from hydropower and thermal coal, accounts for the rest of its energy mix. This KEEI report was based on Statistics Korea data, which the state-run think tank said are not perfect but still credible and can provide researchers a sneak peek into North Korea's energy situation. The KEEI said Statistics Korea projected North Korea's energy mix based on related information and stressed that such data are the only one available and are widely cited by foreign governments and think tanks in their energy reports. Several factors trigger the spread of misinformation about North Korea. For one, the reclusive state provides no official data about its economy and industries, and it remains uncertain whether it even has any accurate information about them. The lack of credible data prompts researchers to do guess work or rely on inaccurate data from various sources with questionable credibility. Strict regulations also prohibit scholars from traveling to and researching the repressive regime, and thus, are another factor that makes North Korea largely unknown to the outside world. Amid these frustrations with learning more about North Korea, in the past decade, there has been a meaningful, technologically driven progress in the study of the regime. Satellite imagery has helped experts gather some credible, albeit limited, data about North Korea. The images of the signs of nuclear tests, for example, have informed government officials and experts of forthcoming provocations. However, despite such progress, Kim said technology alone is not enough to gather complete information about what's going on inside the North and what will happen there in the future. He cited data about North Korea's crop production as an example of a discrepancy between reality and information collected from satellite images. "We're told that crop production in the North has been stagnant or has made little progress over the past decades. I heard that experts came to that conclusion after they analyzed satellite images of crop fields," he said. He said testimonies from North Korean defectors, however, contradict such a claim. "In the past, North Koreans ate two meals per day because of the crop shortages. But many North Korean defectors who are now in South Korea testify they didn't skip meals and had three meals when they were in the North," he said. "This means there has been an increase of crop production in the North, whether it was imported or home grown, and shows that information obtained from satellite images doesn't explain every detail of the issue. I think such a gap exists because crops are also produced on lands that are not registered as official crop fields, and thus, are not captured by satellite imagery." Kim claims that the drawback of the use of technology to produce more reliable data can be fixed when and if advanced U.S. technology is married with North Korean defectors' deep knowledge of and hands-on experience in their homeland. "During our trip to the United States, we met with people working on commercial satellite imagery. They showed us images of the North Korean city of Musan, specifically images before and after floods hit the region, and they showed some buildings that were swept away," he said. "Those images only show what happened there after the flood. But we defectors who had lived in the North know what those buildings are for. "Knowing such additional information will help experts draw more accurate implications of the natural disasters of the North Korean city." Kim said he feels a need to build a network of North Korea experts in South Korea, including North Korean defectors, and in the United States. "I think young, open-minded experts can work together in a multinational environment to produce more reliable, accurate data that are close to the reality North Korea faces. Such data would be useful for the U.S. and South Korean governments when they chart tailor-made, realistic policies to cope with North Korea," he said. Credible data, once produced, will also help policymakers of the two countries in their search for a realistic approach to the North Korean nuclear weapons program. He likened the nuclear program to "a lifeline" for North Korea. As long as the North Korean regime continues, he said chances of the North giving up its nuclear ambitions are bleak, no matter other countries' economic largesse toward the North. "There are two aspects of the nuclear program. One is nuclear tests, and the other is nuclear armament," he said. "North Korea may stop conducting a nuclear test if conditions are met. But the development of its nuclear arsenal is a different story. "They'll never ever give up the nuclear program because they take it as something that can protect the regime and the country from security threats from other countries." By Kim Se-jeong Lee Boo-jin, left, and Lim Woo-jae Seoul Family Court ruled on the divorce case between the Samsung owner family's first daughter Lee Boo-jin and her husband Lim Woo-jae, Thursday, ordering Lee to pay her husband 8.6 billion won ($7.6 million) in distribution of property. The court granted Lee, CEO of Hotel Shilla, custody of their son, while giving the father monthly visitation rights. The two married in 1999 and began divorce proceedings in 2015. They have one son together. Lee's lawyers welcomed the court's decision, while Lim's lawyers said he would appeal for more money. He requested 1.2 trillion won ($1 billion). We're not sure the figure reflected Lee's stock assets," his lawyer was quoted as saying by Yonhap. In April, business magazine Forbes estimated her wealth at 1.9 billion dollars (1.8 trillion won). The couple's divorce proceedings were prolonged due to jurisdiction complications. The case was initially filed with a district court in Suwon, south of Seoul. In early 2016, Lim filed the case separately with the Seoul Family Court, while appealing the district court's ruling. Last November, the Suwon appeals court officially handed the case over to the family court. Cheong Wa Dae unveils newly-discovered dossier produced in Park era By Kim Rahn Political strife is brewing over documents the former Park Geun-hye government left behind at Cheong Wa Dae because they contain sensitive information about the former administration, including "unlawful orders" made by top aides to Park. The main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP), which was the ruling party under the Park government, claims the document disclosure by the Moon Jae-in administration is political retaliation, as the papers can influence the ongoing trials of Park and other figures involved in the presidential corruption scandal that removed her from office. The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and Cheong Wa Dae deny the allegation. It is also controversial whether making public the information violates the law on presidential records. Presidential spokesman Park Soo-hyun said Thursday they found more than 500 documents, produced between March 2014 and October 2016, in unused cabinets in the Government Situation Room of Cheong Wa Dae. They earlier found 1,600 documents at the offices of the civil affairs and political affairs secretaries. The newly found documents contained methods to support right-wing civic groups financially, as well as discussions on how to deal with the National Pension Service's vote on the merger of two Samsung Group affiliates, a vote that helped Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong take control of the group. Lee is on trial for allegedly providing bribes to Park Geun-hye and her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil. The earlier-found documents included orders on issues including the blacklist of artists critical of the Park government, the Sewol ferry tragedy, the comfort women deal with Japan, the state-authored history textbook and elections. The LKP claims the document disclosure is targeting ranking officials under the Park administration. Calling the move "political retaliation" by the new government, LKP Chairman Hong Joon-pyo said, "The Moon government, which took power thanks to the Park administration's corruption scandal, is holding a propaganda campaign with a bundle of unidentified documents." DPK Chairwoman Choo Mi-ae rejected the LKP claim. "People have the right to know the truth about the corruption scandal," she said at a party meeting. "The documents are key evidence of the Park administration's unlawful directions." Minor opposition Justice Party floor leader Roh Hoe-chan said in a radio interview, "If Cheong Wa Dae shows documents which were actually not left, it would be a fabrication and political retaliation. But the Park administration itself left the documents behind, so it is not political retaliation, but self-harming by the previous government." The LKP also claims that making public the documents is illegal because they may be confidential presidential records subject to sealing. According to the relevant law, presidential documents worthy of being preserved as historical records should sorted and moved to the Presidential Archives before a president's term ends. As Park was impeached, Park's aides did the sorting hastily under the direction of then acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn, and they designated many of the records to be sealed for 30 years. The LKP asked the prosecution to investigate spokesman Park and other Cheong Wa Dae officials for making public the documents without consulting Park's former aides and officials at the Presidential Archives about whether the documents would be categorized as confidential presidential records. Cheong Wa Dae said the disclosure was not illegal because the documents were not marked as presidential records. It handed copies of them to the independent counsel team that is acting as the prosecution in the trials of Park and other figures involved in the corruption scandal. Choo also said, "If the documents were that confidential and important to be designated as presidential records as the LKP claims, those who left them at Cheong Wa Dae should be punished first." By Kim Bo-eun The government will convert irregular workers in the public sector into regular employees this year, the Ministry of Employment and Labor said Thursday. They are part of 310,000 such workers at 852 public sector companies and organizations. The irregular workers gaining regular status this year are those who are expected to work for at least two more years at their workplace. The rest will also eventually be made regular employees. The ministry said the government has yet to make an estimate of the scale of workers who will receive regular status. "Following the Asian Financial Crisis, companies increased irregular workers to save costs, and the surge in these workers has widened social polarization through low wages and job instability," Labor Vice Minister Yi Sung-ki said in a briefing at the Seoul Government Complex. "We will make an effort to treat workers with respect to end the vicious cycle in the public sector of increasing irregular positions to save costs." Irregular workers who are set to work at least two more years at their workplace and who work at least nine months a year will receive regular status by the end of the year. The government has eased the current qualification, which requires employees to have worked at least two years with plans to work at least another two years, while being on duty 10 to 11 months a year. Workers dealing with people's lives and safety will be hired directly as regular workers. Those hired as substitutes for workers on leave, for temporary projects or for short-term teaching positions will be excluded. The government will conduct a study into the circumstances of workers in the public sector to draw up more detailed conversion plans, as well as the budget needed to carry out the project. "While providing irregular workers regular status, we will help workplaces innovate management to save costs that can be put into improving the wages and welfare of workers," Yi said. The government will draw up teams of consultants and dispatch them to workplaces to assist them with the task. It will present a more detailed roadmap in September. While the government will initiate the move, it will encourage companies in the private sector to follow suit. Doug Bandow stands in front of a missile mock-up that dominates the interior of Pyongyang's Mangyeongdae Children's Palace. / Courtesy of Doug Bandow By Doug Bandow Traveling to NK: brave or crazy? PYONGYANG, NORTH KOREA In the popular mind, there may be no more forbidding destination on earth. I've never had as many people ask if I was serious when I mentioned I was heading to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea last month. In fact, I had no worries. I was going as a guest of the Institute for American Studies of the Foreign Ministry. I also understood what not to do. Failing at the latter has proved to be the undoing of a number of Americans, most spectacularly collegian Otto Warmbier, who died after being released by North Korea in a coma. Three other Americans remain in custody, along with several South Koreans and other foreign nationals. But their plight, though tragic, is not a good reason to ban travel to the DPRK. Some attributed Warmbier's release to the Trump administration's efforts, though it had no more leverage than its predecessor. While in the North I asked if the government sent Warmbier home as a conciliatory gesture to Washington. The unequivocal response was that it was strictly a humanitarian matter. Otto Warmbier's family blamed the Obama administration for failing to win his release, but the decision always was Pyongyang's. Why the DPRK released him was impossible to know for sure: perhaps Kim Jong-un decided that holding a comatose prisoner was a political liability. The cases of Warmbier and other Americans, some going back years, are uniformly awful: people punished for actions that should not be considered criminal. But the DPRK is not alone in penalizing foreigners for dubious offenses. The main difference may be that Pyongyang, more than most other "hostile" states, sees potential political value in jailed Americans. Still, a thousand Americans visit annually and don't get arrested. Young Pioneer Tours, which organized the trip on which Warmbier traveled, pointed out that it had brought in more than 8000 other travelers without incident. On my plane entering North Korea I sat next to a British citizen who was making his third tourist visit. The worst trouble he had was being told to delete photos deemed inappropriate. A number of humanitarian groups, some explicitly religious, work in the officially atheist nation. I met several NGO staffers and volunteers in the midst of a lengthy sojourn providing medical care. None had ever ended up in jail. In fact, arrests aren't random but, in North Korea's view, for cause. DPRK officials say they punish intentional, not accidental, rules violations. I chatted with the head of a Western NGO active in the North who said her group had looked into the cases of those jailed: all had committed some illegal act. Obviously that doesn't mean their conduct warranted punishment. But they put themselves under the DPRK's authority, to ill effect. Warmbier's case looks extreme even by North Korean standards. Some knowledgeable Westerners suggested that there was more to his case, perhaps involving an insult to the North Korean system and Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. The poster incident merely became the cover story. Some in Congress want to ban travel to the North. But a free society should protect the liberty to travel and explore. This right shouldn't be limited without compelling justification. Visiting the DPRK has educational value. Those who spend time in North Korea are more likely to understand it. Since the U.S. government lacks a diplomatic presence; American visitors are the best alternative. Going to the North also causes those living in free societies to better appreciate their systems. I left thankful that I lived in a society which, however imperfectly, protected individual liberty. Watching, meeting, and especially working with people who don't fit the official stereotype provide North Koreans with an education as well. Knowledge is transmitted, curiosity is aroused. Engagement is no panacea, but is more likely than isolation to encourage Pyongyang's positive evolution. Banning Americans from visiting the North would be especially perverse when the rest of the world remained free to go. Congress should think how best to transform the North's people as well as government over the long-term. We may never know what happened to Otto Warmbier. His tragic case reminds us that visiting North Korea requires special caution. But that's no reason to block outsiders from going. They have much both to learn and teach. Until the DPRK changes, individual travelers may end up being most important and perhaps only ambassadors to North Korea from democratic countries around the world. Doug Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and a former Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan. He is the author of "Tripwire: Korea and U.S. Foreign Policy in a Changed World" and co-author of "The Korean Conundrum: America's Troubled Relations with North and South Korea. The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has announced a set of measures aimed at uprooting predatory business practices by franchise companies. The measures are intended to level the playing field that has been against franchisees unilaterally. Unfair practices in the franchise industry are so commonplace that the measures appear to have come belatedly. Franchise headquarters often levy fees without a contract and don't hesitate to pass renewal expenses onto franchisees. Franchise stores are also forced to buy side items through companies chosen by the headquarters, usually at higher-than-normal prices. And their executives' frequent aberrations have exacerbated the financial woes of marginal stores. To prevent franchise headquarters from inflating prices of ''essential'' items shops must purchase, the antitrust agency said Tuesday it will strengthen their obligations to disclose information. This will oblige franchisers to publicize the margins they make from supplying essential items. Franchise headquarters also must compensate franchisees for financial losses incurred from any immoral or illegal actions of their executives. So far, franchise stores have had no way to seek compensation from headquarters, although they suffered the consequences of the franchise owner's actions. With the change, however, the founder and owner of Hosigi Chicken, who faced sexual harassment charges last month, might have to spend his entire fortune on compensating franchisees that suffered heavy losses. Cutthroat competition in the franchise industry is hardly surprising. This is the natural consequence of retirees rushing to start their own business. Against this backdrop, franchisers' predatory practices never fail to doom franchisees. That is why the FTC should act resolutely to protect weak merchants. On Wednesday, the Korea Franchise Association, an organization of franchise headquarters, reacted angrily to the regulator's latest measures, saying they need time to purify themselves. But given their high-handed behavior toward franchisees to date, there is no reason for the FTC to withdraw its measures. The importance of its role as the guardian of small business operators cannot be overemphasized. The antitrust agency should do whatever it can to help franchisees amid rising disputes in accordance with the expanding franchise market. Last but not least, the FTC needs to talk with the opposition parties actively to translate its measures into law. By Yoon Sung-won Coupang won the lawsuit against logistics firms regarding its express delivery service, according to the court, Thursday. The Seoul Central District Court ruled this week that Coupang's express delivery service, dubbed "Rocket Delivery," does not violate any laws because it is only a part of the business selling products. "A seller delivering products is not part of the trucking transport business,' as stipulated in the relevant law," the court said. In May last year, 10 logistics firms including CJ Korea Express, which are members of Korea Integrated Logistics Association, filed a lawsuit against the e-commerce company alleging that Rocket Delivery is illegal. Under the law, only licensed enterprises can run trucking transport businesses. The association and its members argued that Coupang is providing a paid delivery service business using privately-owned cars, not business-use vehicles, without permission to run the trucking transport business. The logistics firms also requested a court order for Coupang to stop the express delivery service. The logistics firms claimed Coupang pretends to sell products but actually is only a broker for online merchants, running a business of express trucking transportation. But the court ruled in favor of Coupang. "Considering the terms and conditions between Coupang and its partners, they are hardly just pro forma purchase contracts," the court said. "It seems that Coupang is actually purchasing products from its partners to resell to the customers." An industry source said the court ruling may bring a change of landscape in the retail and logistics businesses. "Many e-commerce businesses, except for Coupang, have assigned delivery tasks to their respective logistics partners," the industry source said. "But this may change from now on because directly delivering the product can cost less." / Captured from Daily Mail By Chyung Eun-ju Can an MRI scan damage your brain? Apparently it can. British woman Michaela Armer, 47, found herself speaking in several "un-British" accents after she had an MRI scan two years ago, according to the Daily Mail and other media. She reportedly speaks in six accents -- Chinese, Filipino, South African, Italian, Polish or French. A video clip posted by the British newspaper showed her counting from one to 10, with each number spoken in a different accent. More surprising is that she doesn't know which accent she will start her day with and when it will change to another. According to reports, this is a rare disorder called Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS). It's characterized by the emergence of a perceived foreign accent following brain damage. "I've suffered from racism all the time over the last couple of years," she told the newspaper. Not only did she lose her British accent overnight, but the MRI triggered chronic migraines. Michaela plans to seek help from a specialist in Scotland to restore her original accent. There are only about 100 documented cases of FAS and there is no cure. In recent news, Song Joong Ki was attending the premiere of his latest film "The Battleship Island" and had invited Song Hye Kyo to the event. Song Joong Ki, and fans alike were expecting Song Hye Kyo's appearance, which would also be their first public appearance together as a couple, but Song Hye Kyo couldn't attend for this reason. Song Hye Kyo's agency, UAA, told reporters, "Song Hye-kyo is currently digesting the previously scheduled overseas schedule." Song Hye Kyo further commented herself, "I will not be able to attend the VIP premiere on the 20th, because I will return to Korea next week." It is a pity for many as fans were hoping to see the two and their loving interactions in support of Song Joong Ki's new role. It was reported that Song Joong Ki's film, "The Battleship Island," has one of the highest budgets used for a Korean film. Song Joong Ki was also honored with an invitation from the liaison officer of the production company "Naval Ship." The film is receiving lots of attention due to its jaw-dropping concept. The action movie is a film depicting the story of Koreans attempting to escape with their lives after being forced into slavery and hardship to the Japanese during the colonial period under the Japanese warship Hashima. What do you think of the upcoming film? Lately, there has been a wild amount of sasaeng fan related news floating around in the media. Unfortunately, these deranged fans make things worse for everyone with their uncontrollable antics and wild misbehavior. Check out the top 5 worst fan meeting moments in K-Pop history and see if you won't cringe or become angered yourself after reading about these disasters. IU This video has the right reaction, indeed! While at a fan meeting in Shanghai, a deranged fan thought it would be nice to throw a water bottle at the poor, innocent IU. It hit her directly in the face but IU, fortunately, was not hurt and simply laughed it off and assured the crowd she was alright. B1A4 B1A4's fan meeting was all lovey dovey until the aftermath turned into a complete disaster. The media was outraged that the K-Pop would disrespect the countries' strict Muslim religion by hugging the girls which they deemed as inappropriate physical engagement. News spread that the girls were even going to be sentenced to jail and B1A4 were no longer allowed to perform in Malaysia. Luckily, none of that happened. Sonamoo Sonamoo member Minjae tried her best to impress with her quick mini cover of "Oppa-ya," however, she failed quite miserably. When commenting that the note was hard, one fan commented, "Maybe you should stop smoking?" which caused her to uncomfortably reply, "I don't like jokes like that, please don't say that again." Talk about awkward. INFINITE You have GOT to be obsessed if you are willing to practically drag an idol off stage. One fan was crazy enough to do it, as she can be seen pulling INFINITE's Dongwoo's leg and causing him to fall off the stage, almost hurting the idol while he was dancing. Seventeen Seventeen couldn't believe just how angry one fan would react when they wouldn't get their way at a fan meeting. While the fan was trying to get autographs from the members, Joshua had allegedly done something to upset her, which caused her to throw her album and move over to the next member. She sat there in anger until she was escorted away. Is there an even worse moment in K-Pop history you can think of? Share these scary videos and stories in the comments below. The Song-Song Couple (Song Hye Kyo and Song Joong Ki) have been the talk of the town ever since their recent engagement announcement. Now, Song Joong Ki recently spoke about how proud he is for Song Hye Kyo's recent decision regarding work. Song Hye Kyo was offered a modeling endorsement with Mitsubishi, a popular Japanese car brand, back in 2016. Song Joong Ki expressed his pride because of the relation the company has with his current film's, "The Battleship Island," plot. The Japanese brand was involved in lawsuits over the alleged use of forced labor during the Japanese colonial era. Song Joong Ki stated, "I found out through the news. The first thing I thought after seeing the news was that I really wanted to applaud her. I think I would've done the same thing if I was given the offer." Check out the video of Song Joong Ki further expressing his opinions of Song Hye Kyo down below! Song Joong Ki further stated, "Now, she has become a person who I love and I really think she made a good decision." The couple are just too cute with their words, aren't they? In other news, the couple are set to be married on October 31st! Stay tuned for more news regarding the lovely Song-Song couple. After a long and endless trial, Korean rapper IRON, who made waves during his appearance on "Unpretty Rapstar" with AOA's Jimin for their sassy track "Puss Puss," has finally received his final sentence in regards to a physical assault against his girlfriend. The trial was held on July 20th and IRON has been sentenced to two years of probation and 80 hours of community service, with 8 months of prison time if probation is broken. Media outlets reported that the Seoul Central Police released the following statement: "IRON beat his girlfriend because she wasn't listening to him, causing fractures. IRON and his girlfriend 'A' were having sex, 'A' refused IRON's demands. He beat her face with his fists in anger. About fifteen days afterward, 'A' decided to break up with IRON. He then choked and beat her, causing injuries and fracturing her left pinky." It was also revealed he had threatened her if she approached the authorities with the situation. Back in March, IRON came forward to the media about the subject saying, "I want to tell you my side of the story accurately because only what the other side alleged, which is untrue, made headlines." Seoul Central Police reported that IRON assaulted his girlfriend multiple times, including at least one incident during sex, and stabbed himself in the right thigh when she threatened to call the authorities. IRON had commented on the assault case charges back in March saying, "The first time we met was for an album jacket photo shoot. She was the model for my album. Her biggest problem was that she was a masochist in sexual sadomasochism. In the beginning, I was really shocked. She always asked me to be violent. She said that's the only way she was satisfied. It was never physical assault. It was self-defense against her ruthless violence." He continued, "I was so afraid of her in that state, and I found out she had a boyfriend so we broke up. She was my girlfriend once, so I know the kind of warped mentality she can have. As I got to know her, the more I felt extreme dread. I did not harshly assault the woman nor did I threaten her. I'm a person with a lot of flaws, but I have not caused harm to others or hurt them because of my wants." But the violent history hasn't started here. Fans were surprised to hear that the rapper had admitted to stabbing one of his friends with a knife in the past as a child. He also lashed out at fellow rappers on Instagram, cursing on their personal posts, and has been charged with marijuana usage in the past. It seems that the rapper, sadly, has a history of violence and rebel-like behavior. Nevertheless, it was quite the violent situation and IRON is on the losing end of this matter. What are your thoughts on this whole scandal? Was IRON completely out of place and found in the wrong, or is his side of the story something the police she be a lot more concerned about? Let us know down in the comments. #football Injured star Son Heung-min named to S. Korean World Cup squad The injured South Korean football star Son Heung-min was named to the country's World Cup squad Saturday, as the football-crazed nation waits with bated breath to see if the belove... Historic ties of north Meck span throughout region Though the north Mecklenburg area didnt see significant population growth until a few decades ago, its rich history dates back to the Revolutionary War. That was the basis of... An easier-than-expected first mammogram experience HUNTERSVILLE Scheduling a cancer screening probably ranks somewhere on your to-do list between "clean out the garage" and "donate those clothes that don't fit." Sure, you'll get to it at... This editorial is in the July 21, 2017 issue of Executive Intelligence Review. New, Worse Banking Crisis by the End of the Year? [Print version of this editorial] July 13Marco Zanni, an independent Member of the European Parliament from Italy, was interviewed yesterday on the anti-establishment, U.S.-based website, Rogue Money, by site founder V, the Guerrilla Economist, along with EIRs Harley Schlanger. Zanni focused on two points: the overall weakness of the EU banks and economy, which requires bank reform, beginning with Glass-Steagall, and the significance of U.S. President Trumps G-20 summit with Russias President Vladimir Putin. On the EU and the euro, Zanni reviewed the collapsing economy of Italy to highlight the overall problem. He said it is false to speak of economic recovery in the Eurozoneyou cannot trust the statements coming from the European Commission (EC) or the European Central Bank (ECB). While the ECB pumping of liquidity may have temporarily saved some big banks from failure, it did so at the expense of the real economy, while doing nothing to address the systemic problems of Europes Too-Big-to-Fail banks. In Italy and Spain, the real rate of unemployment is over 20%, and real income is at 1999 levels. The recent bail-out/bail-in of two Venetian banks and the Monte dei Paschi bank showed the fraudulent nature of ECB policy, highlighting the reality that many banks are carrying unsupportable levels of debt, in the form of non-performing loans and derivative obligations. There is growing anger in the population against the EC and the ECB, as well as against the Italian government for submitting to them. Zanni said there are moves in the European Parliament, and especially in the Italian Parliament, to enact a banking reform policy, which includes Glass-Steagall banking separation, which his group is supporting. If this does not happen, he forecasts a new, more serious banking crisis by the end of this year or in early 2018, saying that this might lead to an Italian exit from the euro. Asked about his view of the Putin-Trump summit, Zanni said he has been watching Trump with great interest. He has a very positive view of the Trump-Putin meeting. Not all of Europe is against Trump, as the media tries to make it sound. He said Europe needs strong economic relations with Russia and China, and Trump is pushing in that direction. There is now a great opportunity to create cooperation between Europe and Russia, driven by Trump, and to extend this to Asia. Zanni concluded by saying Europe needs to have functioning sovereign states, otherwise it will fail. The Rogue Money website has a strong following of anti-establishment networks, and its interviews are often re-posted by others. It carries a weekly, twenty-minute interview with Schlanger, and is now frequently posting material from LaRouche PAC, with links to the site. PRESS RELEASE 9/11 Survivors Demand Theresa May Release Report on Saudi Financing of U.K. Extremists July 19, 2017 (EIRNS)A group of 15 survivors and family members of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., has written a letter to British Prime Minister Theresa May strongly urging her to make public a United Kingdom Home Office report on Saudi financing of Islamist extremism in the United Kingdom. The report was originally commissioned by former Prime Minister David Cameron, as part of a deal he struck with Parliament, and was completed six months ago. But last week, the Independent reported today, Home Secretary Amber Rudd announced that the report cannot be made public "because of the volume of personal information it contains, and for national security reasons." This has provoked widespread anger, among the political opposition, but more broadly, in light of recent terrorist attacks in London. Among the 15 signers of the letter is Sharon Premoli, national co-chair of the 9/11 Families United for Justice Against Terrorism, which was instrumental in forcing the Obama administration to release of the 28 pages of the Congressional Joint Inquiry into the 9/11 Attacks. Both the British Labour Party and the Green Party have expressed support for the survivors letter, charging that May is suppressing the report because of her governments relationship with the Saudis. The letter warns that the U.K. "now has the unique historic opportunity to stop the killing spree of Wahhabism-inspired terrorists by releasing the U.K. governments report on terrorism financing in the U.K. which, according to media reports, places Saudi Arabia at its center of culpability. The longer Saudi Arabias complicity is hidden from sunlight, the longer terrorism will continue. They must be stopped; but who will stop them? We submit that you are uniquely situated to shine the cleansing light of public consciousness. We respectfully urge you to release the report now, finished or unfinished. We ask you to consider all the victims of state-sponsored, Saudi-financed terrorism, their families and their survivors in the U.K. and all over the world." Premoli told the Independent, that for 16 years, she and others have "pursued the money trail... We are always led to the source: Saudi Arabia." She also pointed out that United States and United Kingdom weapons sold to Riyadh, are now being used in the war against Yemen "to devastating effect." PRESS RELEASE China-U.S. Economic Dialogue Talks Begin; China Strikes Theme of Working Together July 19, 2017 (EIRNS)The talks are underway in Washington, D.C., today, between China and the United States, for the Comprehensive Economic Dialogue (CED) following the end of the 100-day period of negotiations mandated by President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump at their Mar-a-Lago meeting in April. Various trade initiatives came out of that 100-day process, including China importing U.S. beef for the first time since 2003, and pledging U.S. liquid natural gas imports. The United States is to accept imports of Chinese canned chicken, among other measures. The expectation now, according to widespread media reports, is that a one-year China-U.S. plan for economic talks will be agreed upon. In todays meeting, Vice Premier Wang Yang represents China, and the U.S. leaders are Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Both in the preliminaries, and in the earliest reports today, Chinese spokesmen are striking the theme of measuring success in terms of starting an ongoing dialogue, that is, proceeding to identify common ground, no matter the many frictions. Vice Premier Wang spoke of this yesterday, in a keynote speech to the U.S.-China Business Leaders Summit in Washington. At a reception for him, hosted by Ross and Mnuchin, Wang made reference to a 2009 book by Trump, in which Trump quoted Henry Ford. Wang repeated Fords words, "Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success." Secretary Ross yesterday likewise struck that theme, stressing, according to todays Global Times, "the importance of Sino-U.S. trade ties and the bilateral relationship on the whole." It is to be expected that Mnuchin will push for Wall Street demandsregardless of Chinas stancefor more unrestricted "financial services" access in China. This is in line with Mnuchins attempted domestic decree that Glass-Steagall cannot be reinstated, nor any other sound banking reorganization taken. Joining Mnuchin at todays CED discussions will be Jamie Dimon, of JP Morgan Chase, among many other bank and business leaders. Yesterdays summit was hosted by Jack Ma of Alibaba, and Stephen Schwarzman of Blackstone. Participating firms today include Caterpillar, General Motors, and Wal-Mart. The Bank of China and other Chinese firms are represented. PRESS RELEASE Former NASA Administrator Advises Trump: Return to the Moon, Cooperate with China, and Fund NASA To Do It July 19, 2017 (EIRNS)Following a speech in Huntsville, Alabama, on July 14, former NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden was interviewed by Lee Roop from al.com. A most interesting point was made regarding the Moon, where Bolden tossed aside his years of having to defend the Obama space program, which had removed manned lunar missions from the future, and instead proposed that such a mission should be carried out, and in cooperation with China: "We dont need them to go to Mars right now," he said. "We do need them to help get humans back on the surface of the Moon in this 10-year decade of time, the 20s, when we really need to be making sure that the technology to take us to Mars is going to work." By the end of his years at NASA, which stretched through both of Obamas terms in office, Bolden saw every other space-faring nation in the world start planning manned lunar exploration missions. On cooperation with China, over the years, he became increasingly frustrated with the Congressional ban on cooperation, which he expressed in public, with no way to do anything about it. Boldens advice to the President was blunt. "Everybody likes space," he said, but "put your money where your mouth is. If you want to know whats important to you, look at the budget." He also advised that former Huntsville Marshall Space Flight Center Director, Robert Lightfoot, who has been Acting Administrator, be appointed to the position, so that NASA has the leadership it needs to accomplish the task. The day before her first book tour, Zinzi Clemmons almost locked herself out. It was, I admit, partially my fault: she left the building to meet me and the door shut behind her. Her husband, the poet and translator Andre Naffis-Sahely, was in London touring his own first collection, so she buzzed a guard to let her back into the complex in Culver City, shaded by sycamores, eucalyptus and pines. Luckily, shed left her own front door open. Clemmons exhaled with relief as we walked inside. Her debut novel, What We Lose, is about a young woman enduring the loss of her mother. Structured innovatively in precise vignettes, it stares down questions of emotional inheritance, belonging, grief and race. To be as sharp and critical as possible and rigorous that is extremely important to me, in everything I do, she said, and then laughed, except, like, getting locked out of my apartment. Advertisement Clemmons moved to Los Angeles with her husband two years ago, after a six-month stint in the Catskills. (He had previously lived in London, Clemmons in New York.) The apartment had belonged to her paternal grandfather, a skycap at LAX. When Andre and I moved in here we found some of his books, and its a great snapshot James Baldwin, The Autobiography of Malcolm X and the Marquis de Sade, she said, amused all over again by the trifecta. Clemmons opened a sliding patio door to let the breeze in and settled into a chair; she listens with intense focus to questions, ready to meet you halfway there, but expecting the half you provide to be worthwhile. I try not to leave anything uninterrogated, she said. Clemmons spent a year ordering the pieces of the collage-like novel. I was working from these little kernels of really intense experience. Like her protagonist, Thandi, a second-generation, mixed-race South African American who straddles cultures, identities and worlds, Clemmons grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia and spent summers in South Africa with family, where her mother was born and raised. Thats something that I wanted to be part of the book, to represent that experience specifically of being outside and being an observer, she said. Thats been a natural state of being for me from the beginning. Its also a question of audience. Often this conversation about diversity reverts to what will be better for the white populace and how theyll be enlightened by learning about all these different brown people. Thats never been part of the question for me. Its about people like me who are reading my books. Readers who have experienced loss are another important audience for What We Lose, which takes its name from a grief manual. After grad school at Columbia, Clemmons returned home to help care for her mother, who was dying of cancer. Things kinda bottomed out for me at that point, she said, although despite the painful circumstances, Clemmons kept a journal at the time of her mothers illness and passing. I needed to just externalize, and so I wrote it down. A novel shed been working on took a back seat to recording her present experience. When I started this book about my Mom, because I realized I couldnt not write it, I started looking at some of those things. Those things include the healthcare system, motherhood and apartheid. Clemmons spent a year ordering the pieces of the collage-like novel. I was working from these little kernels of really intense experience while compiling the book, she said. There is a fearless chapter on treatment centers I never told my mother that, until then, I had thought of cancer as a disease of privilege as well as frank depictions of sex. Her prose is stripped to its most affecting: Ive often thought that being a light-skinned black woman is like being a well-dressed person who is also homeless. Its very hard for [people] to say this person writes as a black woman, writes about identity and is also experimental. Clemmons, a founder of Apogee Journal, an online literary magazine dedicated to art that engages with identity, published a widely discussed piece, Where Is Our Black Avant Garde?, at another online journal, LitHub. Im not the most out there, avant-garde person, thats not who I want to be either, but I do write in that tradition and I did want people to recognize that I was being experimental. I felt the need to put it out there in a polemic, she said. Its very hard for [people] to say this person writes as a black woman, writes about identity and is also experimental. This, she says, is part of the unnuanced thought that people bring to race. It has to be one or the other, but not both. The sense of experimentation in What We Lose includes excerpts from other writers and a number of illustrations: I started making a name for myself writing essays for the Internet, and its a very different form than writing for print, and so that visual language was always a part of how I wrote, she explained. The nontraditional structure of the book, which is not chronological but thematic, mimics loss itself the fragmentation and persistence of memory in the face of what comes next, like having a child or falling in love. (In the novel, a wedding ceremony is kept brief so that theres no time to cry for who isnt there, one of many passages that inflict a sting of recognition.) I asked if, as her book is about to debut, Clemmons had been thinking of her mother. The sound of cars rushing past on Jefferson Boulevard grew louder as a new space entered our conversation; it was unspoken, but that space contained people we miss and the parts of our lives that theyre missing. I dont know, said Clemmons. The more complicated and fraught the relationship is in life, she offered, the more complicated it will be after they die. For women especially, with their mothers its really important to acknowledge that. Things were maybe not perfect and thats OK. It is OK. That next night marked the launch of Clemmons book tour. At Eso Won Books, before the reading began, owner James Fugate had already sold seven copies of What We Lose, whose poster hung in the window. I noticed a copy of A Jean Toomer Reader, one of the authors cited in Clemmons essay about the black avant-garde, on a shelf display to her right. Eso Won was the first bookstore that Clemmons visited after moving to L.A., and she told the small crowd how proud she was to be launching at a black community bookstore. Shed arrived with her grandparents that night, who beamed from the front row. Clemmons read, and when she turned it over to the audience for questions, a hand shot up. Are you working on another novel? the woman asked. Grandma, Clemmons laughed, thats supposed to be the last question, the hardest question. agatha.french@latimes.com @agathafrenchy Cable television mogul John Malone for years predicted rapid consolidation in media, adding that there was an opportunity for small independent companies so-called free radicals to be swept together to create a more formidable media company. Charter Communications, which is backed by Malones Liberty Media, then acquired Time Warner Cable to become the nations third-largest pay-TV company and the largest TV provider in Los Angeles. Malone invested in the Santa Monica movie and television studio Lionsgate, which last year bought Malones Starz premium movie channel. Now, Malone may be about to further expand his empire. Discovery Communications, whose largest individual voting shareholder is Malone, is in talks to acquire another jewel of cable television: Scripps Networks Interactive, which owns such prominent channels as HGTV, Food Network and Travel Channel, according to two people familiar with the talks. Advertisement The talks come amid dramatic changes in consumer behavior that have rattled the cable television industry. For years, programmers consistently have hiked the programming fees that they charge distributors, such as Charter and AT&Ts DirecTV, for the rights to carry their channels. But consolidation among the TV operators, and a growing trend of cord-cutting, have given the distributors more leverage in carriage fee negotiations. That imbalance has put the squeeze on programmers, such as Discovery and Scripps, which also are experiencing ratings declines. Combining would give them more clout with distributors. Whenever there is one merger, another one follows, said Ben Gomes-Casseres, a Brandeis International Business School professor who wrote the 2015 book Remix Strategy: The Three Laws of Business Combinations. All of these cable company mergers have given them more power in dealing with the programming companies, he said. Now it makes sense for the programming companies to realign. Everybody is looking at everyone else and going around the dance chairs before the music stops. The media world was abuzz Wednesday, trying to figure out just what Malones game plan might be. The 76-year-old billionaire, who lives on a sprawling ranch in Colorado, loves doing mergers and acquisitions. Maybe he has a grander scheme in mind that involves combining Discovery with other networks groups, Todd Juenger, senior analyst with the investment bank Sanford C. Bernstein, wrote in a research report. Maybe he just wanted to stir the pot and see what happened. Together, Discoverys and Scripps channels would represent about 20% of cable television viewership, putting the combined entity on more equal footing with larger cable channel groups owned by the likes of Walt Disney Co., NBCUniversal, Viacom Inc. and Time Warner Inc.s Turner. News of the Discovery-Scripps merger talks, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, sent Scripps shares soaring 14.7% to close Wednesday at $76.89. Discoverys stock had a more modest gain, up 4.3% to $27.18. Discovery, based in Silver Spring, Md., owns Discovery channel, TLC, Animal Planet and a stake in the Oprah Winfrey Network. The company was riding high three years ago, but then its stock plummeted amid investor fears that smaller companies, such as Discovery and Viacom, were more vulnerable as major pay-TV companies began weeding out weaker channels to put together lower cost bundles as a way to retain consumers who could not afford or did not want to pay for hundreds of channels. The underlying logic of the combination makes some sense on the surface Discovery is focused on men, Scripps on women, Barclays Capital media analyst Kannan Venkateshwar wrote in a report titled Free Radicals Joining Forces? He noted that Discovery would have the ability to distribute Scripps networks internationally, and there would be cost synergies, but networks owned by both companies are having trouble being part of so-called skinny bundles. A Discovery-Scripps deal could easily collapse, according to the knowledgeable people. And it was not the only potential tie-up being discussed. Just last week, Malone and his chief deputy, Greg Maffei, chief executive of Liberty Media, met with Univision Communications Chairman Haim Saban and Jonathan Nelson, head of private firm Providence Equity, at the media mogul conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, according to two people familiar with the meeting. Liberty expressed interest in buying a stake in Univision, which is the nations largest Spanish-language media company. Sabans investment firm and Providence both own stakes in Univision. It was unclear how serious the talks were between the Univision owners and Malone. No deal was reached, and price is expected to be a stumbling block in the talks, which were first reported by the Wall Street Journal. Univision is continuing to press forward with its plans for a public stock offering early next year to allow private equity owners to begin their exit after 10 years of ownership. Univisions minority owner and programming supplier, Grupo Televisa of Mexico, has sought to forge relationships with executives close to Malone. Three of Televisas board members have ties to Malone: Jon Feltheimer, chief executive of Lionsgate; Michael Fries, chief executive of Liberty Global; and David Zaslav, who is chief executive of Discovery. Both Univision and Scripps, which is based in Knoxville, Tenn., have been shopped around before. Discovery and Scripps were involved in merger talks three years ago, but those collapsed over price and an unwillingness of the family behind Scripps to sell. Thats why several analysts remained skeptical that a merger between Discovery and Scripps would occur. The two companies combined wont have any more content/intellectual property with long-term value than they do currently as separate entities, said Doug Creutz, media analyst with Cowen & Co. Skinny bundles that are willing to exclude both companies separately will be just as willing to exclude both companies if combined. Whats more, Creutz said, competition for audiences with lower-margin content providers such as Netflix wont be any easier. meg.james@latimes.com @MegJamesLAT ALSO When will the other shoe drop in U.S.-China economic relations Disneyland resort launches digital version of Fastpass, but it will cost you Plan calls for L.A., Long Beach ports to go to zero-emissions technology; cost could hit $14 billion Suspense is building in Britain over whether the Murdoch family will be able to pull off its long-held dream of owning a jewel of European broadcasting, the satellite television service Sky. Britains secretary of state for culture, media and sport, Karen Bradley, on Thursday told members of Parliament that she needed more time to consider whether to approve the deal. She said she still leans toward requiring that 21st Century Foxs proposed takeover of Sky undergo a more rigorous regulatory review. At issue is whether the Murdoch family would have too much influence over the flow of news and information in Britain. The New York company, controlled by Rupert Murdoch, owns several newspapers in London and online news operations. Sky has a prominent television news unit, which also provides dispatches to hundreds of radio stations around Britain, making it the third-largest source for news in Britain, behind the BBC and ITV. Advertisement Fox had been hoping that Bradley, a member of the Conservative Party, would quickly approve the $15-billion deal, particularly after Britains media watchdog indicated that conditions could be placed on the deal to ensure editorial independence at Sky. Nonetheless, opponents including members of Britains Labor Party have mobilized and expressed concern that the Murdoch family will turn Sky News into the European equivalent of Fox News. The activist group Avaaz has threatened to sue the government if it allows the Murdochs to consolidate Sky without looking more closely into ethical breaches at Fox, including the sexual harassment scandal that has engulfed Fox News for the past year. The problems at Fox News, including a federal investigation in the U.S., have troubled Britains media watchdog, the Office of Communications, which completed the first phase of the regulatory review of the Sky deal last month. Unless new evidence changes my mind in the coming weeks, the bid will therefore be referred to a Phase 2 review on at least one ground media plurality, Bradley wrote in Thursdays letter to Parliament. Fox is seeking to buy the 61% of Skys shares that it currently does not own. Rupert Murdoch helped launch Sky more than 25 years ago, and the family has long wanted to fully control the service that has more than 20 million customers in Britain, Ireland, Germany, Italy and Austria. Fox unveiled the Sky deal in December. It was the second time in the last decade that the company has tried to acquire Sky, but its earlier bid was scuttled when Fox was grappling with the fallout from a phone hacking scandal at its London tabloids. Fox on Thursday said it was disappointed that Bradley might refer the deal to the Competition and Markets Authority for additional review. We respect the importance of regulatory scrutiny, and we continue in our commitment to work constructively with authorities as we have done since this process began, Fox said in a statement. In light of the transactions benefits to the UK creative economy, we would urge the secretary of state to complete the regulatory process expeditiously. Bradley has not ruled out eventually approving Foxs proposed takeover of Sky. She said she needed a few weeks to weigh the matter. meg.james@latimes.com @MegJamesLAT New security measures added at international airports now allow laptop computers, tablets and other large electronic devices in the cabins of flights to the United States, the Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday. The federal agency that oversees airline security declined to detail the new security measures but confirmed that the precautions came in response to threats that terrorists were working on ways to hide explosives in laptops or other electronic devices. This quick and decisive action taken by airlines, nations and stakeholders are a testament to our shared commitment to raising the bar on global aviation security, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said in a statement. Advertisement In March, the U.S. imposed a restriction on all electronic devices larger than a smartphone in passenger cabins of flights from eight Middle Eastern and African countries. Kelly hinted later than he was considering expanding that restriction so it would apply to all flights into the U.S. Kelly said during a speech at a security conference last month that terrorists are still working to take down a commercial airline 16 years after the 9/11 terror attacks involving four commercial jets. But as of Thursday morning, the Homeland Security Department announced, all 180 airlines and 280-plus airports with direct flights to the U.S. have adopted enhanced security measures instead of having to implement a laptop ban. The announcement was cheered by airlines and travel trade groups that had predicted that a laptop ban would discourage trips to the U.S. and thereby hurt the airline and hospitality industries. This is obviously welcome news, from both a security and an economic standpoint, said Roger Dow, chief executive of the U.S. Travel Assn., a trade group for the nations travel industry. We are glad that all passengers on these flights will be able to travel as safely and conveniently as possible. hugo.martin@latimes.com To read more about the travel and tourism industries, follow @hugomartin on Twitter. Elon Musk said Thursday that he has received verbal government approval but not a formal go-ahead for his newest, tunnel-digging venture to build an underground, high-speed transportation system connecting New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Less than two hours after his first tweets announcing the verbal approval, the billionaire entrepreneur qualified his statements, tweeting: Still a lot of work needed to receive formal approval, but am optimistic that will occur rapidly. A Boring Co. spokesman later said in a statement that the company expected to secure the formal approvals necessary to break ground later this year. Advertisement A White House spokesman said there have been promising conversations with Musk/Boring Co. executives and that it was committed to transformative infrastructure projects. When asked whether those conversations or the White Houses commitment to infrastructure projects amounted to a verbal government approval, the spokesman said the White House had nothing more to add to the statement. A Boring Co. spokesman said in the statement that the company has had a number of promising conversations with local, state and federal government officials and that with a few exceptions, feedback has been very positive. We have received verbal support from key government decision-makers for tunneling plans, including a hyperloop route from New York to Washington, D.C., the spokesman said. But officials from New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington said they have had no contact with Musk about his hyperloop plans. Nobody in City Hall, or any of our city agencies, has heard from Mr. Musk or any representatives of his company, Ben Sarle, deputy press secretary for New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, said in an emailed statement. He said it would be premature to speculate on a regulatory process for this project since the mayors office knew nothing about the proposal, saying it would take more than a quick verbal approval to green light such a project. This is news to City Hall. https://t.co/GmEm0b5C4i Eric Phillips (@EricFPhillips) July 20, 2017 This is the first weve heard of it too, said LaToya Foster, spokeswoman for Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser. But we cant wait to hear more. Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh said in a statement that she was excited to hear more about Musks hyperloop plans. Mike Dunn, spokesman for the city of Philadelphia, said Musk has had no contact with city officials on this matter. We do not know what he means when he says he received verbal government approval, Dunn said in an email. There are numerous hurdles for this unproven hyperloop technology before it can become reality. Such a project would go through complex environmental reviews from localities, states and on a national level, said Elliott Sclar, professor emeritus of urban planning at Columbia University and director of the Center for Sustainable Urban Development at Columbias Earth Institute. Until you understand what the technology is, you dont even know what the scope of the issues youre going to look at are going to be about, he said. The extensive tunneling project would also face challenges in different terrain, as well as complexities in acquiring all of the rights of way, Sclar said. The longest tunnel in the world is the Gotthard base tunnel in Switzerland, which extends for about 35 miles. Musks tunnel system is likely to be more than 200 miles. Kaan Ozbay, professor in the civil and urban engineering department at New York University, said the process of obtaining the proper permits, clearing safety regulations and other issues would take a very long time. Musk, who also serves as chief executive of SpaceX and Tesla Inc., tweeted that the transportation system, known as the hyperloop, would connect each city center with up to a dozen or more entry/exit elevators in each city. He added that travelers on the hyperloop could get from New York to Washington, D.C., in 29 minutes. Musk first publicly mused about the hyperloop low-friction tubes through which passengers would speed in pods in 2012, then released a blog post a year later that gave more details on the design. At the time, he said the transportation system would move passengers from Los Angeles to San Francisco in 30 minutes at speeds of up to 760 mph. But, so far, Musk has let other entrepreneurs run with the idea. Two Los Angeles start-ups focused on hyperloop technology have emerged, and Hawthorne-based SpaceX hosted a student hyperloop pod competition last year. In December, Musk said he would build a tunnel-boring machine because traffic was driving me nuts. He called the project Boring Co. and has since periodically tweeted updates about a tunnel-digging machine he called Godot and the tunnel it has been digging near the SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne. Later Thursday afternoon, Musk called for his Twitter followers to let their local and federal elected representatives know if you want this to happen fast. Makes a big difference if they hear from you, he tweeted. Still a lot of work needed to receive formal approval, but am optimistic that will occur rapidly Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 20, 2017 samantha.masunaga@latimes.com Twitter: @smasunaga UPDATES: 2:20 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from Boring Co. and urban planning and engineering experts. 11:45 a.m.: This article was updated with comments from officials from the White House, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington. This article was originally published at 10:55 a.m. As home improvement projects to increase energy efficiency have exploded in California, so has the controversy over a property tax-based financing program thats helped spur the growth. So-called PACE loans which pay for solar panels, efficient appliances and other improvements have been blamed by real estate agents for gumming up home sales, while some consumers have accused contractors of misrepresenting the financing and saddling them with loans they dont understand and cant afford. For the record: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the Bakersfield Assn. of Realtors sought funds from the California Assn. of Realtors to fight local PACE programs. In fact, it was the National Assn. of Realtors. Now, amid concerns that have prompted proposed reforms in Sacramento, some municipalities are taking a second look at their participation in the program. Advertisement On Wednesday, the City Council of Bakersfield the states ninth-largest city voted to end its program, making it the second government agency this month to do so in Kern County. This is a program that needs fixing, and if it cant be fixed then it doesnt belong in this community, said Councilman Willie Rivera, who joined his colleagues in a unanimous decision to end the program. Formally known as Property Assessed Clean Energy, PACE programs are typically established by local governments, which allow the privately financed loans to be repaid as line items on property tax bills. Started in 2008 in California, residential PACE programs are also running in Florida and Missouri. The programs can be a moneymaker for governments, which take fees for collecting the loan payments and turning them over to the lenders, which pay and manage contractors that do the work and act as salespeople. Eligibility is largely based on home equity, with income not being a factor. If PACE bills go unpaid, a homeowner could lose the house to foreclosure. Programs have also been established in other California counties, including Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego. And the three major lenders are based in the state Renovate America of San Diego, Renew Financial of Oakland and Ygrene Energy Fund of Petaluma. The lenders and contractors say most of their customers come away happy and point to low loan default and delinquency rates as evidence the programs are fulfilling a public policy goal of reducing energy consumption and providing jobs. Its created a ton of jobs for our company. We went from eight to 30 [employees] in the short time that PACE has been here, Don Lanier of contractor Northwest Exteriors said at the council meeting Wednesday. Renovate America, the largest PACE lender, also noted that, despite recent votes in Kern County to end the program, other municipalities are choosing to expand PACE, including in Tulare County just to the north. Critics counter that PACE causes too many problems, including killing or delaying home sales. Thats because the loans are usually a first-lien item on a house. That means sellers often have to pay them off in full for a deal to go through, real estate agents say, because a buyer may not want to assume the loan or a lender wont want to be second in line in the case of a foreclosure. The Federal Housing Finance Agency has even barred mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae from purchasing loans on homes with PACE liens, cutting out a key source of financing for people trying to buy a home with an attached PACE loan. Because of issues revolving home sales, the California Assn. of Realtors has emerged as one of the biggest critics of PACE and has pushed for reforms, including a bill that Gov. Jerry Brown signed last year that improved and standardized disclosure requirements. The PACE industry has supported those changes as well. The Bakersfield Assn. of Realtors went further and asked local officials to kill their programs. The effort drew allegations from a clean-energy-backed group that the Realtors engaged in improper lobbying. An attorney for the group, the Checks and Balances Project, said he suspects the Kern County Board of Supervisors violated the states open-meeting law, the Brown Act, when it voted last week to kill its PACE program in unincorporated areas. The attorney, Karl Olson, said he believes the supervisors did so by meeting with the Realtors privately before the vote and agreeing to vote no. As evidence, Olson cited a grant application that the Bakersfield Realtor group wrote to the national Realtors organization seeking funds to fight PACE. We have held preliminary meetings with local elected officials that are willing to lead the charge on a moratorium of local PACE financing and commit the necessary votes, but are asking for political cover via a grassroots mobilization, media and arguments, Kim Schaefer, the government affairs director for the Bakersfield Assn. of Realtors, wrote last year. Schaefer denied any violation and said she met with members of the Kern County Board of Supervisors and Bakersfield City Council individually to share the Realtors concerns. She said PACE supporters did the same to offer a competing view. The elected officials, she said, did not commit their votes and the wording in the grant application was only her analysis based on positive conversations. The interim county counsel for Kern County, Mark Nations, said Checks and Balances was taking a line in a grant application and converting it into something its not. He said theres no evidence of a Brown Act violation and, for one to occur, the supervisors wouldve had to communicate their positions to each other privately before a public hearing. Olson disputed that characterization of the law. And Scott Peterson, executive director of the Checks and Balances Project, said the document provides fresh evidence that PACE has faced a coordinated attack by the Realtors and others to undermine if not stop the programs. Peterson said his group aims to expose lobbyists who block the growth of the sustainable economy and has received funding from clean-energy donors. He declined to say if PACE companies provided funding. Renovate America said it did not. Schaefer said Realtors simply want to ensure fewer people have the same experience as Steve and Stacey Baker, who said they want to sell their house in Bakersfield so Steve Baker can take a job in another city. The 31-year-old heavy-equipment mechanic said two deals for their house have fallen through, because no one will assume the roughly $26,000 PACE loan they took out in 2015 through Renovate Americas PACE loan program, known as HERO. The loan salesman told me when you sell the house, the buyer will just end up picking up the loan, Baker recalled the contractor telling him. Well thats not true. Baker said the windows the PACE loan paid for also havent resulted in the energy savings that the contractor, Northwest Exteriors, promised. Lanier of Northwest Exteriors said the company doesnt guarantee a specific dollar amount in savings and salespeople are instructed to tell clients a PACE loan may need to be paid off in the event of a sale or refinance. Greg Frost, a spokesman with Renovate America, said the Bakers signed a document informing them of that fact and said Northwest Exteriors is in good standing with Renovate. He predicted reforms either federally or in Sacramento will eventually address the concerns of the Bakersfield council. This is the middle of the story and not the end, he said in an email. We believe PACE will be back in Bakersfield. andrew.khouri@latimes.com Follow me @khouriandrew on Twitter UPDATES: 4:05 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from PACE borrowers, Renovate America and the Kern County counsel, in addition to more details. This article was originally published at 12:15 p.m. In 2008, a small, Mojave, Calif., aerospace start-up called Xcor Aerospace burst onto the commercial space scene with plans to develop a vehicle that would rocket tourists into suborbital space. Xcor won a few government and commercial contracts and, for a time, was seen as a rival to British billionaire Richard Bransons space tourism venture, Virgin Galactic. But then the financial reality of the space business that its much more capital intensive than other start-up ventures, such as building a smartphone app caught up. Advertisement Last year, Xcor announced it would suspend construction of its Lynx suborbital space plane and lay off about half of the companys workforce, which at the time numbered 50 to 60 employees. In June, the company said adverse financial conditions forced Xcor to terminate its remaining employees 11 in Mojave and 10 in Midland, Texas, where the company had relocated its headquarters in 2015. As companies such as SpaceX, Blue Origin and small-satellite maker Planet are notching successes and have fueled interest in commercial space, Xcor must now weigh the options for its future. Those include being acquired by a larger company, finding a financial investor that wants to take on either the companys engine development business or the Lynx, or securing a joint venture partner, especially to resume construction of the space plane. Space always has been and will continue to be a deep-pocket game, said Luigi Peluso, a managing director in the aerospace, defense and airlines practice at New York consulting firm AlixPartners. Its a pretty short list of people that have both the technical chops and the financial depth to succeed. Dick Rutan, who was Xcor Aerospaces chief test pilot at the time, gives a thumbs up after a successful test of the companys EZ Rocket in 2001. Xcor was seen as a rival to space tourism firm Virgin Galactic. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) Xcor had been a subcontractor on a propulsion project and thought it had a commitment for funding through the year and beyond, Xcors former chief executive, John H. Gibson II, told a Senate committee hearing Tuesday. The hearing was to confirm Gibson, who left Xcor in June, as President Trumps nominee to be deputy chief management officer of the Defense Department. The technology we had, NASA and the Air Force were very, very high on it, he said. They felt like it was a long-term solution to upper-stage propulsion in a low-cost, high-reusability environment. But with less than 30 days notice, Xcor was told the funding was terminated, Gibson said. He did not name the prime contractor, but Xcor had been working with United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp., on an upper-stage engine for the ventures next-generation launch system. You do your best in a small business, Gibson told the committee. Sometimes external factors are beyond your control. Founded in Mojave in 1999, Xcor had raised at least $19.2 million over the years. But companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin are backed by billionaires who havent been shy about pouring in their own money. In the case of SpaceX, the Hawthorne firm has also lined up several multimillion dollar contracts to launch national security satellites for the Air Force. Xcor planned to slowly and incrementally develop the building blocks of cheaper access to space. The company started out by building rocket engines that could be easily reused, then performed flight tests by incorporating them into airplanes. A prototype of Xcors X-Racer at Mojave Air and Space Port in 2007. The financially strapped firm has laid off all its workers. (Annie Wells / Los Angeles Times) One of those was the X-Racer prototype, which flew dozens of times, including one instance when it flew seven times in one day. By 2008, the company unveiled plans for the Lynx, a two-seat, reusable space plane with a composite body that would take off from a spaceport runway. It would eventually carry a single pilot and paying passenger into suborbital space, possibly as frequently as four times a day. The plane was to use piston pumps in its engines, utilizing a simpler manufacturing process that Xcor said would make them easier to reuse than the more complex turbopumps employed in other rocket engines. The company said tickets would cost at least $100,000 each. It had the promise of reusability, significantly reduced cost than anyone else had ever thought of, said Chad Anderson, chief executive of Space Angels, a network of angel investors focused on early-stage space investments. The network didnt itself provide backing to Xcor, though some of its members were early investors. All of this combined to build a lot of buzz, Anderson said. In 2011, Xcor won a contract from NASA that did not provide funds, but indicated the agencys intent to purchase flights from the company to take experiments into suborbital space once it had built the necessary vehicle. Over time, though, the company found it had underestimated the complexity of the project and the finances needed to develop the Lynx. Xcor failed to raise further funding. The space tourism market has taken longer to develop than originally thought, said Peluso of AlixPartners. As a result, players such as Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin have expanded their portfolios to include other, non-tourism revenue streams such as launching commercial satellites. Xcor had an engine business, but did not have a diverse customer base, he said. Xcor Aerospace spokesman Mike Massee shows off the full-sized model of a Lynx cockpit in 2007. Last year, Xcor suspended construction on the Lynx. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times) Last year, the company suspended construction on the Lynx at its facility in Mojave, and chose to focus on the contract with ULA to develop an upper-stage engine for the ventures next-generation rocket. Executives saw that as the most promising source of near-term revenue. The ULA contract ended in April. Xcor has suspended development work on that engine. ULA declined to comment. Xcor executives and co-founders began to trickle out of the firm two years ago. The most recent exit came last month when Gibson left. During his Senate committee hearing, Gibson said that although he knew Xcor was high-risk he thought it had a tremendous opportunity in the market for unique propulsion and launch capabilities. I was very happy to take the challenge on, Gibson said. Many of my friends asked me what the thinking was behind that. They said this thing may not make it six months, but I felt it was certainly worth the effort. We did good things in the company. A handful of senior Xcor employees and executives have stayed on to create a road map of possible next steps. Getting the Lynx to flight and into operation would take tens of millions of dollars, said Michael Blum, acting chief executive and a Xcor board member since April. He said the company is still committed to the rocket ship, and early investors and the board of directors are intent on helping Xcor survive. The company is engaged in five to seven serious conversations with possible investors, venture partners or buyers both in the U.S. and abroad, he said. Were hopeful that thats going to lead to a success story here, Blum said. But we have our work cut out for us. Peluso of AlixPartners said the space industry is in a renaissance, with many great ideas and a tremendous amount of innovation emerging. But unfortunately, he said, not everybodys going to make it. samantha.masunaga@latimes.com Twitter: @smasunaga ALSO A new generation of giant rockets is about to blast off Elon Musk downplays expectations for giant rockets first flight The United Arab Emirates launches a plan to colonize Mars by 2117 These 12 Americans had the right stuff to be picked for NASAs new class of astronaut trainees National Theatres acclaimed revival of Tony Kushners Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Angels in America, starring Andrew Garfield and Nathan Lane, will be broadcast live to theaters in the U.S. and internationally in late July. The eight-hour, two-part play unpacks the complexities and sociopolitical climate of life in 1980s America during the height of the AIDS epidemic. Part one, Millennium Approaches, was commissioned by the Center Theatre Group and was first performed as a workshop in 1990 at the Mark Taper Forum. It premiered in 1991 in San Francisco in a production by the Eureka Theatre Company. Part two, titled, Perestroika, premiered in November 1992 in a production by the Mark Taper Forum, directed by Oskar Eustis and Tony Taccone. Advertisement The entire play made its Broadway debut at the Walter Kerr Theatre in 1993 directed by George C. Wolfe. That same year it won the Tony Award for best play, and the following year a Drama Desk Award for outstanding play. The latest National Theatre revival is directed by Marianne Elliott, and opened in April to raves, including a recent review from. The Times Charles McNulty, who wrote: The superb ensemble (featuring Andrew Garfield, Nathan Lane and Russell Tovey, all in top form) is one reason this revival quickly became one of the toughest tickets in London. The staging by Marianne Elliott (a Tony winner for her direction of War Horse) enhances the pace, rhythm and variety of the drama with the novelty of the spare yet ever-shifting production design. But its Kushners prodigious political thinking that makes the experience feel so startlingly fresh. National Theatre Live broadcasts, of which the play will be a part, launched in 2009 and since then have been seen in 2,500 venues by more than 6.5 million people in 60 countries. Angeles in America: Millennium Approaches will be broadcast live on Thursday, July 20; and Angels in America: Perestroika, will air on Thursday, July 27. To find a theater near you that is playing the broadcast go to https://ntlive.nationaltheatre.org.uk jessica.gelt@latimes.com @jessicagelt ALSO: Q&A with the artistic director of Deaf West Theatre Timeline: 200 years of authenticity, or lackthereof Perspective: A call for change #Protest: How the debate has played out in social media Barely five weeks ago, the J. Paul Getty Museum secured the purchase of Parmigianinos Virgin with Child, St. John the Baptist and Mary Magdalene, painted around 1535-40. Late Renaissance masterpieces being hard to find, acquisition of the pristine painting, which had hung quietly in a British castle for more than 250 years, ranked as a major coup. Now, the Getty is announcing that it is adding an extraordinary group of 16 Old Master and 19th century drawings to its collection. This purchase, topped by a superlative Michelangelo rendering of a mourning woman in pen and brown ink, is the most important drawing acquisition since the museum opened on a Brentwood hilltop 20 years ago. Transformative is the fitting adjective being used by Getty Museum director Timothy Potts. As if drawings in pen and ink, pastel, chalk and oil on paper by Michelangelo, Andrea del Sarto, Parmigianino (again), Rubens, Goya, Degas and 10 more were not enough, the museum is tossing in news of the simultaneous purchase of another major painting. Jean-Antoine Watteaus The Surprise, a small but widely celebrated panel painted three years before the artists untimely death at 36 in 1721, had gone missing for more than 150 years. Long presumed destroyed, it resurfaced to great fanfare in 2007. Surprise, indeed. Jean-Antoine Watteau, The Surprise, circa 1718, oil on panel (Getty Museum) The museum does not disclose acquisition prices. But todays announcement, all totaled, would significantly exceed the $31.5 million believed to have been paid for the Parmigianino. The Watteau alone was on offer for more than $22 million in 2011, while the Michelangelo sold at auction in 2001 for $7.7 million and Andrea del Sartos Head of Saint Joseph for $8.5 million in 2005. Apparently, the ongoing Wall Street rally has been good to the Getty, where the endowment currently stands at roughly $6.5 billion. The Getty is acquiring all the works, drawings and painting from a single, unidentified British collection. According to a museum spokesman, export licenses have so far been arranged for all but four drawings. Great Britain has the unfortunate habit of trying to block significant works of art from leaving its shores. An export license can be temporarily refused while a local buyer is sought to match an agreed-upon price. The Surprise was temporarily denied a license six years ago. (Apparently that sale was withdrawn and the block was lifted.) The recently acquired Parmigianino painting was similarly blocked, but no British buyer was found and the Getty prevailed. According to a museum spokesman, the Watteau does not now face a hold. The Surprise joins Watteaus The Italian Comedians, circa 1720, at the Getty, acquired in 2012. Some have doubted the attribution of the latter unsigned painting yet its so good, who but Watteau could have painted it? No reservations, however, accompany The Surprise. Previously known only through a copy in the Royal Collection at Buckingham Palace, plus a contemporary black-and-white engraving, the much-admired work was spotted languishing in a country house by a Christies auction expert. Set in a sunset landscape, the exquisitely painted composition shows a couple embracing while Mezzetin, a stock character from Italian commedia dell'arte, tunes his guitar nearby. Watteau invented the popular motif of the fete galante, or courtship party, but this is a strange, even somewhat disquieting example. The amorous couple was adapted from a pair of dancers in an exuberant Rubens painting of a country wedding although here their legs have been truncated so that the figures are seated on the ground. The aggressive aristocratic man leans in to land an almost violent kiss on the rather unreceptive lips of a woman dressed in peasant clothes, who turns her head aside. Mezzetin, wearing a rose-colored jacket and breeches slashed with yellow, is painted in a flickering style derived from Anthony van Dyck. He is not yet serenading the couple, but instead stares at them as he idly tunes his instrument. At the lower right, a dog symbol of fidelity, an animal borrowed (in reverse) from an extravagant Rubens painting of the proxy marriage of Marie de Medici witnesses the event, his body twisting as if in a double-take. A loaded scene of insistent affection and weighty anticipation, this particular fete seems rather less than galante. It was one of two panels originally painted for the discerning Parisian collector Nicolas Henin. (In a happy coincidence, the pendant, an aristocratic scene of musical languor called The Perfect Accord, is in the collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art , a 1993 gift of the Ahmanson Foundation.) Watteau scholar Colin Bailey, who borrowed the picture for New Yorks Frick Museum when he was chief curator there, hailed it as the most important Watteau to come to market during his career. Alan Wintermute, head of sales for Old Master Paintings for Christie's New York, deconstructs the evidence proving Watteau's "The Surprise," found in 2007, is authentic. The pictures rediscovery is something of a theme for the Getty acquisition. Several works have only come into public view since the start of the new millennium. Michelangelo Buonarroti, Study of a Mourning Woman, circa 1500-05, ink (Getty Museum) The magnificent Michelangelo drawing of a grieving woman who hides her face behind the heavy folds of her cloak was famously found tucked into a rare book in the library at Castle Howard, just north of York, England, in 2000. It joins a double-sided sheet of Michelangelo sketches, most prominently a Holy Family, acquired by the museum in 1993. Parmigianino, Head of a Young Man, circa 1539-40, ink (Getty Museum) Parmigianinos Head of a Young Man (circa 1539-40) turned up out of the blue in a Philadelphia collection in 2001. The stately if youthful head, rendered in hatched brown ink shaded with a flurry of dots, is fully frontal; but the boys disconcerting eyes are not. They are looking up, as if hes scanning some unseen object hovering above the viewers own head. Andrea del Sarto, Head of St. Joseph, circa 1526-27, black and red chalk (Getty Museum) . The Head of St. Joseph, a study for Andrea del Sartos painting The Holy Family in Florences Pitti Palace, surfaced in a Swiss collection only in 2005. A vibrant mix of red and black chalk, the drawing was shown in a recent Getty exhibition about Sarto and Renaissance workshops. It once belonged to Sartos famous student, Giorgio Vasari, the first modern drawing collector and author of the landmark Lives of the Artists. Francisco Jose de Goya y Lucientes, The Eagle Hunter, circa 1812-20, ink (Getty Museum) Ten of the 16 drawings are Italian, including works by Lorenzo di Credi, Fra Bartolommeo, Sebastiano del Piombo, Domenico Beccafumi and three more. They vastly improve the Gettys Renaissance holdings. Others are by Aelbert Cuyp (Dutch) and John Martin (British), as well as Rubens (Flemish) and Goya (Spanish); and two are by Degas (French), including a large pastel of a bather, the theme of a major Degas painting in the museums collection. Edgar Degas, After the Bath, circa 1886, pastel (Getty Museum) The Getty plans to publicly unveil the new acquisitions together at an as-yet undetermined date. SIGN UP for the free Essential Arts & Culture newsletter christopher.knight@latimes.com Twitter: @KnightLAT ALSO Nazarian family donates $17 million to CSUN's Valley Performing Arts Center Review: Marisa Merz retrospective at the Hammer gives an overlooked female artist her due Review: The clever conceptual riddles of Tatsuo Kawaguchi Everything you want to know about Black Lightning, Supergirl, Arrow, Flash and the rest of the CW lineup Cress Williams, Christine Adams, Nafessa Williams and China Anne McClain from the television series Black Lightning. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) The traditional CW block of Comic-Con panels added a new show this year. Black Lightning joined Supergirl, DCs Legends of Tomorrow, The Flash and Arrow for a three-plus-hour extravaganza touting the networks super-heroic TV slate. The new kid on the block, Black Lightning brought a level of social awareness to the proceedings that most of the fantastical other shows didnt particularly touch on (this year, at least). The show is grounded in family and community, specifically black families and black communities, and according to the showrunners it will not shy away from addressing the concerns that are current. Yes theres a problem with police brutality and we will get into that. Theres also a problem with us killing each other, said Salim Akil, one of the executive producers of the series alongside Mara Brock Akil. They were joined on the panel by lead actor Cress Williams, who plays the titular character, and his TV daughters China Anne McClain (playing Jennifer Pierce) and Nafessa Williams (Anissa Pierce), and his TV ex-wife Christine Adams (Lynn Pierce). Black Lightning follows Jefferson Pierce (Black Lightnings real-life persona), who is a man wrestling with a secret. He has the superhuman power to control electricity but gave it up for his family and others. But when his family is threatened hell have to don the suit and use his powers again. Fun side note, his daughter (McClain) exhibits special powers as well. Whats going to make this so fun for the writers and others is that this is going to come from an authentic black male voice, Salim said. I think this character will give back to the culture. Black culture specifically, but American culture. The biggest challenge was accepting that this black man was running around town in this suit. Thats the easiest way to get shot, Salim said as the audience laughed. "[The show] is about balancing out when he uses his powers [and] how he uses his powers and why. Another Black Lightning surprise was the announcement that James Remar and Damon Gupton would be joining the cast. Salims closing remarks circled back to representation, and the desire to give little kids the opportunity to choose between being Batman or Black Lightning for Halloween -- highlighting the fact there should be a choice. Heres a breakdown for the rest of the CW panel: Supergirl (Jevon Phillips / Los Angeles Times) - Katie McGrath (Lena Luthor) is now a series regular, and her character immediately makes an enemy of a powerful person. - We will get to see Martian Manhunters father. - Supergirls sister Alex popped the question to her girlfriend at the end of last season. Exec Jessica Queller is happy that they get to portray a relationship that is emotional, modern and honors the love between these two women. - Melissa Benoist wants a puppy on the show. David Harewood wants the Martian to get drunk and sing karaoke. DCs Legends of Tomorrow - Last season the Legends were the only game in time, so to speak, but now Rip Hunter will head a group that can help fix time alongside the heroes.. - Neal McDonoughs Damien Darkh will return. - A new character, Zari, joins the cast. Shes a hacker from the future played by Tala Ashe who will butt heads with the positivity of Ray (Brandon Routh). - There will be a character called Fireshine. Its a Freaky Friday situation for the Firestorm duo where Victor Gabler will most likely be the physical manifestation of the hero instead of Franz Drameh. - There have been conversations with Matt Ryan about Constantine coming on the show. - They are having an 80s episode in which they investigate Ray Palmers childhood. The Flash Tom Cavanagh, Grant Gustin and Candice Patton on the Flash panel. (Jevon Phillips / Los Angeles times) There was a sneak peek of exclusive footage from Season 4. The whole cast was once again present for the panel. Exec Todd Helbing, Keiynan Lonsdale, Jessie L. Martin, Candice Patton, Grant Gustin, Tom Cavanaugh, Danielle Panabaker and the always-popular Carlos Valdes. - Jesse L. Martin was happy he got to work with Victor Garber on the musical episode. As a New York kid, that means a lot. - The Thinker is the new big bad for this season, and will be played by Neil Sanderlands from The 100. - Gypsys (Jessica Camacho) father will be showing up, and hell be played by Danny Trejo. Arrow - Responding to the inquiry of why the island was blown up, producer Wendy Mericle said: Were good at blowing things up. Thats what we do. - Exec producer Marc Guggenheim: We are going to see a different Oliver Queen. The last five years have really changed him. - Stephen Amell on his characters changes: To start on episode 116 and be able to do fun, new stuff has been great. - Katie Cassidy, who played Black Canary, on returning: So excited to be back. It feels like I never left. Its been pretty easy getting back in the swing of things. - There will be a super group of villains, including one played by Michael Emerson, though we dont know who he is or who theyll be. - Amell has apparently mentioned that hed like to see a Supernatural"-"Arrow crossover, so a member of the audience asked him how that could possibly happen. - The character Richard Dragon will be among the villains this year as well. - One of the first questions from the audience centered on the identity of the mysterious vigilante from last season. The only reveal from Guggenheim was that the character is someone we already know. CBS S.W.A.T. reboot will take on the Trump years, #BlackLivesMatter, says Shemar Moore By Meredith Blake Stephanie Sigman and Shemar Moore (Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP) Dont let the funky theme song or the 70s origins fool you. While technically a remake of both the original series and the subsequent 2003 film based on it CBS upcoming cop drama S.W.A.T. is very plugged into the current moment, according to its cast and creators. In the series, former Criminal Minds star Shemar Moore plays a native Angeleno who runs a tactical unit for the LAPD and finds his loyalty torn between his fellow officers and the community in which he was raised. As co-creator Aaron Rahsaan Thomas told reporters Tuesday at the Television Critics Assn. press tour, the series was inspired by his experiences growing up in Kansas City, which have helped him understand both sides of the raging debate over police violence. I grew up in a neighborhood that had a very complicated view towards police officers, said Thomas, who created the series with veteran showrunner Shawn Ryan. On one hand, a 12-year-old kid who was a neighbor of mine was shot and killed by a police officer. On the other hand, another neighbor of mine was an actual police officer. Moore, best known for his long run on the CBS procedural Criminal Minds, noted the diversity of the cast and creative team and added that, while the show is primarily designed to entertain, it will also resonate politically. Were taking on the Trump years, he said. I dont care who you voted for. Its just whats happening today. Its Black Lives Matter. As much as some people dont want to hear it, its All Lives Matter. Its not just black versus blue or black versus white. Its every ethnicity. Its fear. Its racism. Its terrorism. Its subject matter of today. Ryan, who created the groundbreaking drama The Shield, about corrupt Los Angeles police officers, said he was excited about the chance to examine the often charged relationship between law enforcement and the communities they serve. Los Angeles is such a diverse, amazing community, and seeing an officer who kind of lives in the city and sort of sees the people that are being policed as humans and as neighbors and as friends was really important to me. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Netflix getting A Little Help from Carol Burnett By Libby Hill What do you get when you pair up a living legend with a bunch of little kids? Comedy gold, if Netflix has its way. The online streaming service announced Monday that comedy icon Carol Burnett will be returning to television with A Little Help With Carol Burnett, an original unscripted series that pairs Burnett with children to tackle lifes dilemmas. Someone once asked me how old I am inside, Burnett said in a statement Monday. I thought about it and came up with, Im about 8. So its going to be a lot of fun playing with kids my age. Kids ages 4 to 8 will join Burnett as celebrities and everyday folks bring their real-life problems to the show to get advice in front of a live studio audience. Were thrilled Carol is bringing her unique sensibilities to Netflix, Bela Bajaria, the services vice president of content acquisition, said in Mondays announcement. Carol is truly a legend in the entertainment industry with unprecedented success and fandom across TV, film and the stage, and we are both honored and excited to work with her. A Little Help With Carol Burnett will be produced by Dick Clark Productions and is the companys first Netflix project. This is the second television project announced this year for Burnett, 84. In February, ABC ordered a pilot for the multi-camera comedy Household Name, starring Burnett, though the series has not been picked up in its current iteration. Debuting in 2018, A Little Help With Carol Burnett will feature 12 half-hour episodes. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Ken Burns explains why his Vietnam War documentary is more relevant than ever By Libby Hill Ken Burns in Beverly Hilton on Sunday. (Richard Shotwell / Invision) History doesnt repeat itself, Ken Burns told a room of journalists gathered Sunday at the Television Critics Assn. summer press tour in Beverly Hills Were not condemned to repeat what we dont remember, Burns explained. Its that human nature never changes. Its a curious statement from the storied documentarian, particularly given his latest project, the 18-hour, 10-part documentary series The Vietnam War, directed with Lynn Novick. But just because humanity isnt trapped in a constantly repeating cycle doesnt mean that the echoes of modern strife arent plentiful throughout the upcoming PBS series. This is a story about mass demonstrations all across the country against the current administration, Burns said in response to a question about what the youth of America will find relevant in The Vietnam War. About a White House obsessed with leaks and in disarray because of those leaks, about a president railing against you, the news media, for making up news. Its about asymmetrical warfare, which even the mighty might of the United States Army cant figure out the correct strategy to take, and its about big document drops of classified material thats been hacked, that suddenly is dumped into the public sphere, destabilizing the conventional wisdom about really important topics and accusations that a political campaign reached out to a foreign power at the time of a national election to influence that election. This is the film we started in 2006, and every single one of those points are points about the Vietnam War having nothing to do with today, Burns concluded. By creating a fully-formed picture of Vietnam, Burns hopes to shed light on the rancor and alienation defining this present moment, he explained. For Novick, the thematic relevance only serves to help teachers who have long struggled in tackling the Vietnam War. Weve had great response from teachers already that the Vietnam War is difficult to teach because its controversial and unsettled history and theyre looking forward to using the film in the classroom, Novick said. Those resonances that Ken is talking about, those will be assignments for students. Were not going to have to work very hard with teachers to come up with those themes, and students are curious about whats happening now. The Vietnam War premieres Sept. 17 at 8 p.m. PDT Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Goodbye, MTV Moonman trophy. Hello, Moon Person By Emily Mae Czachor MTVs token space cadet just scored an identity revamp and gender didnt make the cut. In a recent interview with the New York Times, MTV President Chris McCarthy said the networks iconic Moonman trophy has been discontinued. From now on, the metallic figurine whose impenetrably opaque helmet has become the unofficial face of MTVs Video Music Awards will go by Moon Person instead. Because who knows whats really going on beneath that lacquered astronaut getup, anyway. Why should it be a man? McCarthy told the Times. It could be a man, it could be a woman, it could be transgender, it could be nonconformist. This new development is just the latest installment in MTVs string of efforts to do away with gender norms during its awards proceedings. The network eliminated gender-specific categories at its MTV Movie & TV Awards earlier this year, where all nominees were placed in neutral categories (i.e. best actor in a show, best actor in a movie). And the network isnt going to stop there. McCarthy also announced a new MTV reality series still in development called We Are They about a group of gender-nonconforming young adults coming of age. With Katy Perry hosting, the VMAs will broadcast from the Forum in Inglewood on Aug. 27. Heres the full list of nominees. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Sam Shepard: Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, actor and ... avant-garde drummer? By Randall Roberts Sam Shepard in 2014. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) Sam Shepard, whose death at 73 was announced on Monday, will be remembered for his cross-discipline versatility. As a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, he penned classic off-Broadway plays including True West, Buried Child and Fool for Love. An Oscar-nominated actor, he starred in films including Days of Heaven, The Right Stuff, Crimes of the Heart and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. To fans of underground music, however, Shepard served a lesser-known role as the drummer for seminal New York avant-garde folk band the Holy Modal Rounders, with whom he performed on the crucial late 1960s albums Indian War Whoop and The Moray Eels Eat the Holy Modal Rounders. The band is best known for its song If You Want to Be a Bird, which plays during the classic scene in Easy Rider in which Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda and Jack Nicholson roar down the highway on their motorcycles. Thats Shepard playing drums as Rounders founders Peter Stampfel and Steve Weber whoop and yowl. It was in his capacity as a percussionist, in fact, that he drew the attention of a young Patti Smith, who, in her 2010 memoir Just Kids, recounted their first early 70s meeting at seminal music club the Village Gate. Escorted to the club by Todd Rundgren, who had just issued his album Runt, Smith described the Holy Modal Rounders set as like being at an Arabian hoedown with a band of psychedelic hillbillies. I was fixed on the drummer, who seemed as if he was on the lam and had slid behind the drums while cops looked elsewhere. Smith, who at the time was freelancing for Crawdaddy magazine, introduced herself to this drummer, who said his name was Slim Shadow. The two started hanging out, wrote Smith, describing his tales as being even taller than mine. He had an infectious laugh and was rugged, smart, and intuitive. In my mind, he was the fellow with the cowboy mouth. Only later did she learn Slims real identity when a friend pulled her aside after seeing them at a restaurant together. As recounted in Just Kids, Smith wrote that her friend asked, What are you doing with Sam Shepard? Sam Shepard? I said. Oh, no, this guys name is Slim. Honey, dont you know who he is? Hes the drummer for the Holy Modal Rounders. No, corrected her friend, Hes the biggest playwright off-Broadway. He had a play at Lincoln Center. He won five Obies! Once she learned of his reputation and acclaim, Smith and Shepard continued to see each other -- despite his being married at the time -- and eventually collaborated on a play called Cowboy Mouth. Smith described telling him of nervousness at writing for the stage, which she had never done. But Shepard urged her on, Smith wrote, telling her that you cant make a mistake when you improvise. Replied Smith: What if I screw up the rhythm? You cant, Shepard explained. Its like drumming. If you miss a beat, you create another. 7:15 a.m. Updated to correct the title of Smiths memoir, Just Kids, and to identify the Holy Modal Rounders co-founders, Stampfel and Weber. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Lady Gaga subpoenaed in producer Dr. Lukes lawsuit against pop singer Kesha By Randall Roberts The ongoing offstage drama between the pop singer Kesha and her former producer Dr. Luke has entangled another platinum superstar: Lady Gaga. On Saturday, attorneys for Dr. Luke, whose real name is Lukasz Gottwald, issued a statement regarding their attempt to depose Lady Gaga about relevant conversations she may have had with Kesha. The artist, who was born Kesha Sebert, is the subject of a defamation suit filed in New York by Dr. Luke stemming from allegations of sexual misconduct, which the producer vigorously denies. The statement reads: Dr. Lukes counsel served a subpoena on Lady Gaga because she has relevant information regarding, among other things, false statements about Dr. Luke made to her by Kesha. This motion has become necessary because Dr. Lukes counsel has not been able to obtain, despite repeated request [sic], a deposition date from Lady Gaga. The protracted legal battle between Dr. Luke, left, and Kesha has brought Lady Gaga into the fray. (Kevin Winter / Getty Images) Representatives for Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, said in a statement issued to The Times on Monday morning: As Lady Gagas legal team will present to the court, she has provided all of the relevant information in her possession and is at most an ancillary witness in this process. Dr. Lukes team is attempting to manipulate the truth and draw press attention to their case by exaggerating Lady Gagas role and falsely accusing her of dodging reasonable requests. Among the information Lady Gaga has provided are copies of text messages that were, according to a report on TMZ, heavily redacted. Lady Gaga has been a vocal Kesha supporter. Last year, Gaga wrote about her peers plight in an Instagram post: The very reason women dont speak up for years is the fear that no one will believe them or their abuser has threatened their life or life of their loved ones/livelihood in order to keep their victim quiet and under control. What happened to Kesha has happened to many female artists, including myself, and it will affect her for the rest of her life. The news comes at a particularly crucial moment for Keshas career. On Aug. 11, she will release her highly anticipated new album, Rainbow. The record, featuring songs such as Learn to Let Go, will arrive via Dr. Lukes imprint, Kemosabe, a situation Kesha sought to avoid in a 2014 lawsuit of her own, which she later dropped. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Ride on, genius: Celebrities mourn the loss of Sam Shepard By Emily Mae Czachor Acclaimed actor and playwright Sam Shepard died July 27 at age 73. (Charles Sykes / Associated Press) Sam Shepard Oscar-nominated actor and critically acclaimed playwright, author, screenwriter and director died on July 27 after suffering complications from ALS (Lou Gehrigs Disease). When news of his death broke Monday morning, Twitter erupted with posts to mourn, honor and remember one of show business beloved renaissance men. View Instagram post This story was updated with additional reactions. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Macaulay Culkin got his first tattoo with goddaughter Paris Jackson, and its a match By Emily Mae Czachor For Paris Jackson, getting inked is nothing out of the ordinary. With more than 50 tattoos already under her belt, the 19-year-old daughter of late pop king Michael Jackson collects body art like postage stamps. According to E! News, the budding actress got her latest over the weekend: an understated sketch of a red spoon, just below the crook of her left arm. A new tattoo might be old-hat for Jackson, but it wasnt for Macaulay Culkin, Jacksons 36-year-old godfather -- and first-time tattoo patron -- who emerged from West Hollywoods Tattoo Mania with a matching spoon on his own forearm. Though neither Jackson nor Culkin spoke to the meaning of the double-inking, the design is supposedly meant to represent a kind of chronic struggle. And thats not the only news that Culkin made recently. The Internet nearly lost its collective mind last week when a new photo emerged of the Home Alone actor looking healthy and happy. E! News even declared that Culkin definitely just won 2017s greatest makeover. Your eyes aren't deceiving you. Macaulay Culkin definitely just won 2017's greatest makeover (thus far, at least). https://t.co/IdKjxii5KZ pic.twitter.com/SOAuSx57oU E! News (@enews) July 27, 2017 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Alex Jones products are almost as bad as his conspiracy theories, says John Oliver By Meredith Blake Over the last year, conspiracy theorist and influential radio host Alex Jones has come under intense scrutiny for his fringe beliefs, most notably his claim that the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School was a hoax perpetrated by the government. On Sundays Last Week Tonight, John Oliver noted that Jones status as a Sandy Hook truther qualified him for an Easy Pass to hells version of the champagne room. But he spent most of his time on a relatively overlooked aspect of Jones conspiracy empire -- the wide range of products that he sells in order to fund it. According to Oliver, Jones spends nearly a quarter of his airtime plugging InfoWars-branded merchandise, including Wake Up America Patriot coffee to Combat One Tactical Bath Wipes and a powder called Caveman True Paleo (made from chocolate and domesticated bird corpses, Oliver joked). As the comedian pointed out, it just so happens that many of the products Jones sells, often at a significant markup, purport to address the conspiracy theories with equally wild-eyed zeal. Think: water filters to remove chemicals that supposedly turn frogs gay or vitamins to boost your immunity and ward off germs from allegedly disease-ridden refugees. Jones even has his own in-house expert, Dr. Edward Group, with dubious qualifications (and equally questionable hair) to back up his various outlandish claims. InfoWars is essentially a QVC for conspiracy, Oliver argued. So in the spirit of InfoWars, Oliver decided to introduce his own personal care product, John Oliver Moisture-Armored Tactical Assault Wipes, available via Infowipes.com. The price? A mere $1 million. Worth every penny, were sure. You can watch the complete segment here. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Vintage Casablanca poster sells for $478,000 By Trevell Anderson How much would someone pay for a vintage movie poster? Well, if that film is Casablanca, one persons answer is $478,000. Thats how much a bidder coughed up Saturday for the only known surviving Italian-issue poster for the 1942 film starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. The poster sold through Heritage Auctions of Dallas. The buyer has just set a world record and acquired what we in the poster collecting world would equate to a masterpiece, said Grey Smith, Heritages director of vintage posters. The stunning artistry put into this poster makes it stand head and shoulders above any paper produced for the film. The poster, measuring 55.5 inches by 78.25 inches, was produced in 1946. The film opened in Italy on Nov. 21 that year, almost four years after its U.S. premiere. Featuring artwork by Luigi Martinati, the poster is considered the best of the pictures numerous advertisements, Smith said. Previous Italian-issue posters for the film have sold for as much as $203,000. A U.S.-issue of the poster has fetched $191,200. The auction featured other rare posters for the film, with a half-sheet going for $65,725, and a postwar Spanish-release poster selling for $35,850. ---------- For the Record An earlier version of this article misstated the purchase price of the Casablanca poster sold Saturday as $487,000. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement There is no Plan B for public broadcasting without federal funding, PBS president says By Libby Hill Paula Kerger, chief executive of PBS (Frederick M. Brown / Getty Images) PBS President and Chief Executive Paula Kerger wasnt pulling any punches Sunday at the Television Critics Assn. summer press tour in Beverly Hills. When people say, What is the Plan B for [loss of federal funding]? There is no Plan B for that, Kerger said of the potential budget crisis public broadcasting faces under the Trump administration. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has been under fire for months, with President Trumps proposed budget axing the institutions $450-million budget. Though its easy to suggest that budget cuts would threaten Big Birds livelihood, the true victims of defunding would be far more human. Kerger explained that of PBS $450-million budget, one-third goes to radio. Of the television budget, most goes to community service grants that local stations use for up to 50% of their operating budgets. PBS itself will not go away. But a number of our stations will. If you are a station for whom 30 or 40 or 50% of your funding is suddenly pulled away, theres no way you can make up that money, Kerger said. You will find big parts of the country that will suddenly be without public broadcasting. The fate of public broadcasting is currently in flux, waiting for the end of Congress August recess for resolution. Currently, the House Appropriations Committee has approved the bulk of the PBS budget, while the House Budget Committee recommended doing away with funding altogether. Budget concerns aside, Kerger also addressed other unresolved PBS matters. The second seat of PBS NewsHour has been vacant since the untimely death of co-host Gwen Ifill in November 2016, leaving Judy Woodruff as the shows sole anchor. We have encouraged [executive producer] Sara Just and Judy Woodruff and the team at NewsHour to take their time and think very carefully about who that right person [to replace Ifill] is, Kerger said. Im hopeful that they will be making an announcement sometime over the next few months of a new anchor. Kerger also announced an upcoming project aimed at inspiring the country to come together in celebration of literature. The Great American Read is an eight-part series launching in spring 2018 that explores the nations 100 best-loved books, chosen by the American people and culminating in the first-ever national vote to choose Americas Best-Loved Book. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print AMC Visionaries adds Eli Roth, Roots, Gibney for new docu-series By Meredith Woerner Robert Kirkman, left, and Eli Roth at the Television Critics Assn. summer press tour in Beverly Hills. ( Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for AMC) AMC announced several additions to its upcoming Visionaries docu-series Saturday at the Television Critics Assn. summer press tour in Beverly Hills. Writer-director-actor Eli Roth (Cabin Fever, Hostel) will be offering a deeper look into his signature style of genre filmmaking with Eli Roths History of Horror (working title) and Ahmir Questlove Thompson, Tariq Black Thought Trotter (founding members of The Roots) and Alex Gibney (Going Clear, History of the Eagles) will executive produce a series called Rap Yearbook (another working title). The cable network also has three other installments in development: History of Video Games, Outlaws of the Internet, and History of Martial Arts. The new Visionaries members join the previously announced programs Robert Kirkmans Secret History of Comics and James Camerons Story of Science Fiction. Kirkman and Roth were present at the AMC panel with Cameron appearing via satellite to show sneak peeks from the comics and sci-fi iterations of the series. A sizzle reel for the Secret History of Comics utilized plenty of classic panel pages and a sort of motion comic-like animation to illustrate the early days of Marvel Comics, going all the way back to the Stan Lee and Jack Kirby days. But the real treat was a collection of cameos, famous faces opining about their love of the form including Lee himself, J.K. Simmons, Kevin Smith, and Method Man, who earnestly revealed, You have to be born a comic book fan, I think. And there are plenty more talking heads to come, the AMC press release promised Patty Jenkins, Lynda Carter, Famke Janssen, Michelle Rodriguez, and Todd McFarlane. The second clip shared a look at Camerons love letter to science fiction. Today, science fiction is mainstream but it didnt used to be that way, the director explained. When I was a kid science fiction wasnt cool, but I thought it was cool. Cameron wants to focus on closing the gap between current fans knowledge of modern day sci-fi to the pioneering works of literature that inspired the blockbuster offerings of today. The Terminator and Avatar director noted that without Jules Verne and H.G. Wells there would be no Avengers, Star Wars or his own works. The series will be divided by theme -- space travel, time travel etc.-- and include appearances from Paul W. Anderson, Roland Emmerich, Paul Verhoeven, Bryan Singer, Keanu Reeves, Jonathan Nolan, David Gerrold and D.C. Fontana. When asked how their respective series would showcase diversity -- the footage screened was very male-centric -- Kirkman responded that History of Comics would have two episodes devoted to diversity. One will focus on the women who helped Wonder Woman creator William Moulton Marston steer the course of the hugely famous female superhero, and another highlighting people of color titled The Color of Comics. The episode explores the history of black characters, and the lack of black characters in the comic book industry, said Kirkman. which touches on the creation of Black Panther the Marvel character and does a really cool focus on this company called Milestone Comics that was founded by a group of African American comic book creators to create characters that appealed to them and represented them, because there was a huge lack of representation in comics even in the 90s. You wouldnt have horror without Mary Shelley and Frankenstein, Roth added. He cited the late George Romero as an example of how he wants to break down the themes within the horror genre. At the height of the civil rights movement [Romero] puts an African American as the lead of Night of the Living Dead and at the end of the movie hes shot by a bunch of rednecks. Not because of the color of his skin, but because they think hes a zombie. But you can read into the implications of that. What [Romero] was doing with using genre to explore racism was so ahead of its time. its just as potent today as it was 50 years ago. Its absolutely something were going to be discussing. Roths urgency to document the horror masters was apparent. It was the death of Scream moviemaker Wes Craven that inspired Roth to get involved in Visionaries. The panel then took a turn for the analytical when the creators were asked how their series would reflect the world today. The fact that dystopian science fiction has come back, especially in television and in movies, is very important, said Cameron. It means that in the age that we live in right now the challenges that face us are technological. Theyre science challenges: climate change, genetics, artificial intelligence, things like that. These are really on our horizon as major, existential threats. The best horror reflects whats going on in our times, said Roth. He used Jordan Peeles Get Out which addressed modern day racial tensions as a reference. Its no accident that movie coming out right now is making over $200 million at the box office. You can tell its really resonating with people. Bouncing off Camerons dystopia revelation, Roth then turned his lens onto the current political climate, I dont think weve ever seen a cast of characters like this in our White House thats straight out of WWF wrestling in the 80s. When [Anthony Scaramucci] is coming out with things that would make Rowdy Roddy Piper in his heyday blush. This is a farce, is this actually happening? When will we start seeing this dystopian outlook on the current political climate in the movies? Possibly before Roths series, which will air sometime in 2018, after History of Comics and the Story of Science Fiction in 2017. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement President Trump got a fan letter from a young boy this week. Stephen Colbert introduced another young fan Friday By Greg Braxton Stephen Colbert, host of CBS The Late Show. (Michael Loccisano / Getty Images) White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders took time during a White House briefing this week to read a fan letter to President Trump from a 9-year-old boy named Dylan who has the nickname of Pickle. Sanders read part of the letter to reporters: Youre my favorite President ... I dont know why people dont like you. Sanders interjected, Neither do I, Dylan. The letter continued, You seem really nice. Can we be friends? Sanders assured Pickle that she had spoken directly to Trump about him, and the president would be more than happy to be your friend. Stephen Colbert on Friday brought another young fan of Trumps onstage Friday night to read her own letter during his CBS Late Show. Dear President, my name is Norah, but everybody calls me Mustard, the little girl recited. She continued, Youre my favorite current president. Norah then presented some probing questions to Trump: I was wondering, does the attorney general enjoy your full support? And how do you plan to implement the ban on transgender people currently serving in the military? Will those on active duty be called home? Sounds like a logistical nightmare. She continued, One more thing: Are you a puppet of Vladimir Putin? I love puppets! I made one at camp! Love, Mustard. The Late Show audience cheered. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Broadways Great Comet producer apologizes for controversial Mandy Patinkin casting By Nardine Saad (Jeff Schear / Getty Images) The producer behind Broadways struggling musical Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812" has joined the apologetic refrain for the diversity uproar that followed the decision to bring in Mandy Patinkin to replace departing star Okieriete Oak Onaodowan, who is black. The production came under fire this week following its move to replace Onaodowan, who was in the original cast of Hamilton, with Tony Award winner Patinkin in a titular role. As part of our sincere efforts to keep Comet running for the benefit of its cast, creative team, crew, investors and everyone else involved, we arranged for Mandy Patinkin to play Pierre, co-producer Howard Kagan said in an official statement posted Friday on Twitter. Kagan said they had the wrong impression of how Onaodowan felt about Patinkins casting and how it would be received by members of the theater community, which we appreciate is deeply invested in the success of actors of color as are we and to whom we are grateful for bringing this to our attention. We regret our mistake deeply, and wish to express our apologies to everyone who felt hurt and betrayed by these actions, he said. The legendary Broadway star dropped out of the musical on Friday after the announcement that he would be replacing the African American star was met with disdain. Patinkin was to join the cast for a limited run from Aug. 15 through Sept. 3, but declined the part because he would never accept a role knowing it would harm another actor. I hear what members of the community have said and I agree with them. I am a huge fan of Oak and I will, therefore, not be appearing in the show, the Homeland alum tweeted. Another tweet on the shows account included an apology to Patinkin for any misunderstanding and said they understood his decision to withdraw from the show. Our deepest apologies. pic.twitter.com/Mks7XLGxbq The Great Comet (@GreatCometBway) July 28, 2017 pic.twitter.com/vSZk6K2KOV The Great Comet (@GreatCometBway) July 28, 2017 Onaodowan, who had replaced recording artist Josh Groban in the role of Pierre earlier this month, is scheduled to continue to perform through Aug. 13, after which, he stated Friday on Twitter, he will not return to the show. It is unclear if his decision to leave the production was his own or prompted by other factors. Show creator Dave Malloy, whose musical was inspired by a portion of Leo Tolstoys War and Peace, also apologized Friday on Twitter for how everything went down and missing the racial optics of their casting decision. They had previously asked actress Brittain Ashford to step aside for the casting of better-known singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson during the summer months and they didnt anticipate that Patinkins casting would be viewed differently, Malloy said. Despite 12 Tony Award nominations, Comet only received two wins -- for set and lighting -- at the June ceremony and ticket sales ebbed when Groban departed. Malloy said that sales for shows after Aug. 13, when Michaelsons run would also end, were catastrophically low. So they decided to cast Patinkin, hoping that his star power would help boost sales, because the weird show was in desperate shape and on the brink of closing. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Eagles, Doobie Brothers will play Classic Northwest show Sept. 30 in Seattle By Randy Lewis The reconfigured Eagles, shown during a July 15 performance at Dodger Stadium, will continue with a Sept. 30 Classic Northwest concert with the Doobie Brothers in Seattle. (Kevin Mazur / Getty Images) The EaglesClassic music festival series will continue with at least one more stop, this time in Seattle. But unlike the inaugural Classic West bill July 15-16 at Dodger Stadium, which is having a Classic East encore this weekend in New York, the added Classic Northwest show on Sept. 30 will be just a single day and feature the Eagles and Doobie Brothers only. The Classic West and East shows teamed the Eagles, Steely Dan and Doobie Brothers on one day, with Fleetwood Mac, Journey and Earth, Wind & Fire on the second day of each. Tickets for the Classic Northwest bill go on sale Aug. 5 at 10 a.m. at Ticketmaster. At the outset of the Eagles portion of Classic West on July 15, co-founder Don Henley indicated it was still uncertain how much of a future his long-running band might have absent co-founder Glenn Frey, who died last year at 67. To make the Classic West and East shows possible, the group tapped Freys son, singer-guitarist Deacon Frey, and country music star Vince Gill to handle the lead vocals on the many Eagles songs that were originally sung by Glenn Frey. In case this is our last dance, Henley told the crowd at Dodger Stadium, where he was joined by longtime bandmates Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmit, we want to thank all of you in Southern California for all your support. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement In her new Hulu series, Sarah Silverman wants to love America -- seriously By Greg Braxton Executive producers Amy Zvi, left, and Adam McKay, star/executive producer Sarah Silverman and executive producer Gavin Purcell at Hulus I Love You, America panel at the TCA summer press tour. (Willy Sanjuan / Invision/Associated Press) From her stand-up act to her Comedy Central series to her Twitter account, comic-actress Sarah Silverman has a long history of courting laughs and controversy. Her outspokenness and sometimes absurd, sometimes acerbic views on everything from celebrity to culture to politics, particularly President Trump and his administration, have raised eyebrows. On her upcoming Hulu series, I Love You, America, Silverman is focused more on forming bonds than being provocative. In surveying the current political landscape and the comedy shows that skewer it, Silverman says she wants to reach out to all on the political spectrum. For me, [those shows are] great, but they really connect with more like-minded people. Theyre brilliant. Theyre funny. But Im hoping to, with this show, connect with un-like-minded people, Silverman said Thursday during a panel at the Television Critics Assn.'s summer press tour in Beverly Hills. The mission of the show is that were all the same. But whats important is that its funny. Although the exact format of the show is still being refined, Silverman did reveal some elements, including a monologue, a focus group in the studio and field pieces in which she travels around the country talking to people. For example, Silverman says she plans to go to Slidell, La., to meet a family that says they have never met a Jewish person. I cant help but have preconceived notions. They cant help but have preconceived notions, said Silverman. All I can do is just try to be open and brave and go into the situation. And same for them. Although Silverman and executive producer Adam McKay didnt make any sharp criticisms about Trump at Thursdays session, they did take exception to his attacks against so-called entertainment liberals or the Hollywood elite. What is he talking about? said Silverman. Im from ... New Hampshire. Everybody out here is from somewhere else. The goal of the show will be to seek common ground and understanding, she said: Ultimately were all the same. The thesis of the show is that everybody just wants to be loved. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Jerry Seinfeld is Forbes highest-paid comedian; Amy Schumer still only woman to crack the top 10 By Nardine Saad If Jerry Seinfeld is this years king of comedy, then Amy Schumer is the queen. The Comedy Central star once again landed on Forbes list of highest-paid comedians, the financial magazine announced Thursday. She was the first woman comic to crack the top 10 last year and remains the only woman on the list this year. The Trainwreck and Snatched star made an estimated $37.5 million between June 2016 and June 2017 thanks to her Netflix show The Leather Special, her memoir The Girl With the Lower Back Tattoo and endorsement deals with Bud Light and Old Navy. That ranked the raunchy comic No. 5 on the list filled with veteran comedy heavyweights. Meanwhile, the Seinfeld and Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee star shot back to the top of the list this year, earning an estimated $69 million. Seinfeld was eclipsed last year by Kevin Hart, who this year dropped to the No. 6 spot with $32.5 million. Chris Rock trailed Seinfeld for the second spot on Forbes list, earning $57 million. His record-breaking $20 million-per-special contract with Netflix paved the way for several comics, including Seinfeld, to cut lucrative deals with the streaming service, which is poised to become the go-to-destination for comedy specials. In addition to touring, those deals significantly padded the incomes of several stars on Forbes list. In the third and fourth spots, funnymen Louis C.K. and Dave Chappelle, who earned $52 million and $47 million, respectively, also made expensive deals with the streaming service to make their millions. To see Forbes complete list, click here. For the record, 10:40 a.m.: A previous headline and version of this story said that Schumer was the first woman to make the top 10 list this year. Schumer was the first woman to make the top 10 last year. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print American Horror Story: Cult gets sickeningly sweet in official poster By Libby Hill We're just beneath the surface... #AHSCult pic.twitter.com/GvnMD1KieQ AmericanHorrorStory (@AHSFX) July 27, 2017 What exactly is beneath the surface in American Horror Story: Cult? Bees, apparently. The seventh season of FXs hit horror anthology series is slowly revealing itself via its official Twitter account. On Thursday, the series shared the official poster for the series, and it is super messed up. The poster features a deathly pale woman who happens to be missing the top of her head and, for that matter, her brain. Instead, the inside of her head is a honeycomb, replete with bees and, of course, honey. This is creepy for so many reasons. Here are a few: This poor woman has had the top of her skull removed, bringing to mind that particularly gruesome dinner scene featuring Anthony Hopkins and Ray Liotta in the 2001 film Hannibal. Even more horrifying is that this poor, sweet woman is definitely dressed like a clown. The white makeup, lines through the eyes and exaggerated ruby red lips suggest that AHS: Cult is drawing inspiration from traditional grotesque whiteface clown makeup. Think more Pennywise, less juggalo. (And if none of that is enough to scare you, please enjoy this clown dating site I stumbled across while researching all of this.) FXs American Horror Story: Cult premieres on Sept. 5. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Stephen Colbert had some [bleeped] thoughts on Anthony Scaramuccis NSFW rant By Yvonne Villarreal (Richard Boeth / Associated Press) Stephen Colbert took a cue from incoming White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci -- or the Mooch, as hes called -- by giving Thursdays episode of The Late Show a decidedly NSFW vibe. We got an incredible taste of unfiltered Mooch today, Colbert said during his monologue. He was, of course, referring to Scaramuccis disapproving -- and often vulgar -- comments about White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and chief strategist Steve Bannon in a New Yorker article that sent social media tongues wagging Thursday. But to even discuss the matter, Colbert had to issue a warning to CBS censors: Youre going to want to break out the extra bleeps for this one, he said before diving in. (If only we could get our ellipses to put in some overtime!) In his colorful conversation with New Yorker correspondent Ryan Lizza, which took place Wednesday night,Scaramucci was trying to get to the bottom of who leaked that he had dinner at the White House with President Trump, the first lady, Sean Hannity and the former Fox News executive Bill Shine. Scaramucci described Priebus as a ... paranoid schizophrenic who had blocked him from the White House for six months -- prompting Colbert to break out an impression of Scaramucci. Yes, the guys paranoid, OK? He thinks his own communications director is gonna stab him in the back again, Colbert said with an exaggerated Italian accent. Front stab! he added with a knifing gesture. The New Yorker article also detailed how Scaramucci accused Bannon of seeking to build [his] own brand off the strength of the president and made some other inflammatory remarks that we cant fully detail. So well let Colbert take it from here. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Longtime Disney imagineer Martin Sklar dies at 83 By Richard Verrier (Jae C Hong / Associated Press) Martin Marty Sklar, the pioneering Walt Disney Co. imagineer who played an instrumental role in the design of Disney theme parks, has died, the company announced Thursday night. He was 83. During his 54 years at Disney, Sklar worked closely with Walt Disney and led the creative development of the Burbank companys theme parks, attractions and resorts around the world, including the companys ventures in the cruise business, housing development and the redesign of Times Square in New York. Everything about Marty was legendary his achievements, his spirit, his career, Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger said in a statement. He embodied the very best of Disney, from his bold originality to his joyful optimism and relentless drive for excellence. He was also a powerful connection to Walt himself. No one was more passionate about Disney than Marty and well miss his enthusiasm, his grace, and his indomitable spirit. Sklar was born in New Brunswick, N.J., and attended UCLA, where he was editor of the Daily Bruin newspaper when he was recruited to create the Disneyland News for Walt Disneys new Anaheim theme park in 1955. After graduating in 1956, he joined Disney full-time and would become Disneys lieutenant. He wrote speeches, marketing materials and a film showcasing Walts vision for Walt Disney World and the Epcot theme park in Florida. READ MORE> Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Is a happily ever after coming to The Mindy Project? By Yvonne Villarreal The Mindy Project creator/executive producer/star Mindy Kaling with executive producers Matt Warburton, left, and Ike Barinholtz at the shows Television Critics Assn. press tour panel. (Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP) Is there a happily ever after written in the stars for the final season of The Mindy Project? Series creator Mindy Kaling, who also plays the titular heroine at the center of the Hulu comedy, took the stage Thursday at the Television Critics Assn. press tour in Beverly Hills to discuss the shows swan song season. And when asked if Kalings rom-com-obsessed character, Mindy Lahiri, would get her storybook ending, the 38-year-old actress suggested it wouldnt necessarily be in the way viewers expect. I think that all of us would agree that we do have happily ever after, the connotations of it, said Kaling, who was joined onstage by executive producer and showrunner, Matt Warburton, and producer and star Ike Barinholtz (sporting a neck brace from a recent stunt gone wrong). But happily ever after isnt the same as no loose ends, she said. That everything is tied up neatly in a bow is something we arent super interested in. That side of it I think were trying to avoid, Kaling added, while also leaving the audience with the sense of feeling that it was about something and that it really was a project and that she had some growth in the end. And for fans wondering whether or how Danny Castellano (played by Chris Messina) would factor into all that, the season promises to shed some light on that. For the unitiated, Messinas Danny is Mindys former fiance and the father of her child. Messina, who hasnt been a series regular since Season 4, is set to return for multiple episodes. And while the Season 5 finale ended with Mindy marrying boyfriend Ben (Bryan Greenberg), hints were thrown that the new episodes would bring some clarity to the Mindy-Danny relationship. The one thing we can promise the audience is a little bit of clarity about where they stand, Warburton said. Its so great to see him back because weve always known theyre always going to be in each others lives but its great to actually see what that means this season. Its complicated, added Kaling. Theyre both married to other people, so we went into that season with all of that, which makes things sort of fun and delicious. Other familiar faces set to return for the final season are Mark and Jay Duplass, Adam Pally and Glenn Howerton. Kaling, in discussing the decision to end the series, promised a good finale. The decision to end the show was our decision, and I think thats always very hard, Kaling said. It was like, God, should this be the end? ... I think right now the idea of doing a prequel or something like that just felt we just have such a good finale. We have such a good finale that weve known about for awhile. The final season of The Mindy Project will start its rollout on Hulu in September. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Tiffany Haddish clarifies controversial Bill Cosby remarks: Im not afraid of the Big Bad Wolf By James Reed Actress Tiffany Haddish has clarified her remarks about wanting to work with Bill Cosby. (Christina House / For The Times) A joke that Tiffany Haddish recently told The Los Angeles Times has backfired on the breakout star of the new film Girls Night. Talking to The Times Trevell Anderson, Haddish credited Bill Cosby as a comedy inspiration, seemingly unfazed by the multiple sexual-abuse allegations levied against the beleaguered, 80-year-old TV legend. I still want to work with Bill Cosby, I dont care, she told The Times earlier this month. Ill drink the juice. Ill take a nap. I dont give a damn. But seriously, I would love for him to play my grandfather in something. Her remarks raised eyebrows and ire on social media, with some fans questioning her intentions and a New York magazine story noting that the actress seems to have wandered into problematic fave territory. I've been rooting hard for Tiffany Haddish but I find nothing funny about her making light of Bill Cosby drugging women Stephanie. (@qsteph) July 26, 2017 Twitter: "We loved Tiffany Haddish in #GirlsTrip. Sweetie is doing amazing!" Tiffany Haddish: "I'd love to work with Bill Cosby." Twitter: pic.twitter.com/X23DQWb2wi hellresidentNY (@hellresidentNY) July 27, 2017 On Thursday, Haddish attempted to clarify those comments while speaking on a panel at the Television Critics Assn.'s summer press tour in Beverly Hills. What I said was a joke, she said, noting that when youre expected to be funny in promotional interviews, there are risks. Youre going to say some bad jokes. Haddish said her point had been that Im not afraid to do anything. Im not afraid of any kind of job. Im not afraid to play any kind of girl as long as it doesnt compromise my morals.... Ive been through things. Ive been victimized, she added. I dont agree with what he did or anything, but, at the end of the day, Im not afraid of the Big Bad Wolf. Thats what I was trying to say, and I was trying to do it in a humorous way. Times staff writer Sarah Rodman contributed to this report. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Tracy Morgan thanks God, and Tiffany Haddish reflects on her success at Last O.G. panel at TCA By Sarah Rodman Tracy Morgan, left, Tiffany Haddish and Ryan Gaul of the new TBS comedy The Last O.G. at the TCA press tour in Beverly Hills on Thursday. (Frederick M. Brown / Getty Images) Thank God. Thats what Tracy Morgan had to say about what it means for the 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live alum to be returning to TV three years after the devastating accident that put him in a coma and resulted in the death of his friend James Jimmy Mack McNair. The stand-up comic and actor, whose new TBS comedy, The Last O.G. premieres Oct. 24, was full of gratitude and thoughts on starting over during the presentation for the show at the Television Critics Assn. summer press tour Thursday in Beverly Hills. Executive produced by Morgan, Jordan Peele and John Carcieri, The Last O.G. chronicles the adventures of Tray (Morgan). Newly sprung from prison after serving 15 years, he has to acclimate to the changed times, his gentrified Brooklyn neighborhood and his former girlfriend (Tiffany Haddish of Girls Trip) raising the children he didnt know existed with another man. This is a show about humanity, this is a show about second chances, this is a show about redemption, said Morgan, answering a question about whether it would explicitly explore African American issues. I wanted to transcend that... I wanted to deal with humanity. Haddish, naturally, fielded several questions about Girls Trip, the new comedy film that has minted her as a star. I feel like a foster kid whos been in the system for a long time and then turned 16 and somebody adopted them and said, You can go to college and you aint got to pay no school loans or nothing, she said of how shes been feeling in the wake of the films superb box office. Im happy! Ive been accepted finally after all these years of hard work, blood, sweat and tears. Haddish said she was looking forward to her role in The Last O.G. since its a character who has gone through a transition in her life, just as she herself has. Her fellow cast mates, including Cedric the Entertainer, good-naturedly ribbed her about becoming a diva since shes now a movie star. But Morgan noted seriously that Haddish has been nothing but a pro: She comes to work. Haddish joked: My bank account, it dont show movie star yet. Im waiting on it. They say nine months; its like a baby. Im waiting for the delivery. Morgan said it was important to surround himself with scene stealers such as Haddish and Cedric and was clearly earnest in his appreciation of his collaborators and their sensitivity to his physical needs. They make sure I sit down... they dont ask me, they [say] sit down for a little while. So Im good. Im taken care of by my people, and I love them with my heart. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print It can be TGIF every day on Hulu: The service lands popular ABC programming block in SVOD deal By Yvonne Villarreal Every day can be Friday in the 90s with help from Hulu. The streaming service announced Thursday it has signed a deal with Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution for the exclusive streaming rights to programs that were part of the popular ABC programming block known as TGIF. The announcement was made during the streaming services day of panels at the Television Critics Assn. press tour in Beverly Hills. The shows under the deal include Full House, Family Matters, Perfect Strangers, Step by Step and Hangin With Mr. Cooper. Nabbing the rights to Full House is particularly noteworthy considering Hulus rival Netflixs success with reviving the comedy, which is returning for a third season in September. With the Hulu deal, more than 800 episodes of the five sitcoms from the bygone family friendly lineup will be available beginning Friday, Sept. 29. These shows are more than just beloved hits, they were part of a cultural tradition to tune in every Friday night, said Craig Erwich, Hulus senior vice president of content in a statement. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print TV Academy announces which awards will be handed out during Primetime, Creative Arts Emmys By Nardine Saad Get your Emmys ballot ready the Television Academy has announced which categories will be awarded during this years 69th Primetime Emmy Awards and the separate Creative Arts Emmy Awards. The main event will take place at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Sept. 17 and will be hosted by The Late Show star Stephen Colbert. Prizes will be awarded to comedy and drama series, limited series, reality competition, variety talk and sketch, television movie, acting, directing, and writing during the live telecast on CBS. HBOs Westworld and NBCs Saturday Night Live lead the nominees with 22 nods apiece, a total that includes several below-the-line categories to be doled out at the two Creative Arts Emmys ceremonies the week before. Honoring artistic and technical achievements that could make or break your play-at-home ballot, the Creative Arts Emmys will be held in the same venue on two consecutive nights on Sept. 9 and 10. Theyll be put together for one show, produced by Bob Bain, that will air on FXX on Sept. 16. The first night will cover categories that include animation, choreography, cinematography, costuming, make-up, hairstyling, documentary and nonfiction awards, editing, lighting, sound-mixing, technical direction, variety special and some writing awards. The second night will lean more heavily on front-of-the camera talent, awarding the likes of guest actors and actresses and stunt work, in addition to childrens programs, commercials, main title designs and theme music, music composition and supervision, prosthetic makeup and additional sound and editing categories. For a complete list of this years nominees, click here. Heres the complete list of the awards being handed out during the Primetime Emmys telecast: COMEDY SERIES DIRECTING FOR A COMEDY SERIES DIRECTING FOR A DRAMA SERIES DIRECTING FOR A LIMITED SERIES, MOVIE OR DRAMATIC SPECIAL DIRECTING FOR A VARIETY SERIES DRAMA SERIES LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES LEAD ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES LEAD ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE LIMITED SERIES REALITY-COMPETITION PROGRAM SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE TELEVISION MOVIE VARIETY SKETCH SERIES VARIETY TALK SERIES WRITING FOR A COMEDY SERIES WRITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES WRITING FOR A LIMITED SERIES, MOVIE OR DRAMATIC SPECIAL WRITING FOR A VARIETY SERIES Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Kesha finds redemption in new song: The past cant haunt me if I dont let it By Emily Mae Czachor For Kesha, Learn to Let Go is not just an aptly titled track off her upcoming Rainbow LP. Its become one of my mantras over the last few years, she said in a remarkably uplifting letter that the singer published Thursday to accompany a new video for the song. (This is her new M.O., it would seem.) Learn to Let Go, which Kesha co-wrote alongside her mother, Pebe Sebert, is a heartrending chronicle of redemption. Had a boogeyman under my bed/ Putting crazy thoughts inside my head, she sings, while real home-video footage of a whimsical young Kesha cuts between clips of a grown Kesha frolicking through the forest. The chorus rings like a self-empowered anthem: The past cant haunt me if I dont let it. My mom is always telling me how you have to learn to accept that you cant try to control everything, she wrote in the letter. When you realize that you are not the one in control and you stop holding onto regrets its liberating. Your past only has as much effect on your future as you want it to, Kesha continued. Its about embracing your past, but not letting it define you. Her new album, Rainbow, will be released Aug. 11. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Stephen Colbert to bring animated Trump series to Showtime By Meredith Blake Stephen Colbert has ridden anti-Trump sentiment to the top of the late-night ratings. Now hes riding it all the way to premium cable. On Thursday, Showtime announced it had ordered 10 episodes of an as-yet-untitled animated series featuring cartoon renderings of the president, his family and inner circle. The satirical half-hour series, executive produced by Colbert and The Late Shows show runner Chris Licht, will debut on Showtime this fall. According to the network, turnaround on the series will be quick in order to incorporate current events. Stephen and Chris have an uncanny genius for deconstructing the world of President Trump, and this series opens a new realm for them, Showtime President David Nevins said in a press statement. Tim Luecke, who co-created the animated version of Trump who frequently appears in Late Show bits including a recent segment from the notorious presidential suite of the Moscow Ritz-Carlton will serve as lead animator. The announcement caps off a period of good news for Colbert, who racked up six Emmy nominations this month and will be hosting the awards in September. The recently concluded Russia Week, in which the comedian traveled to Moscow and St. Petersburg, brought The Late Show its biggest margin over The Tonight Show since its premiere in 2015. While The Late Show airs on CBS, Colbert has also developed ties with his corporate cousins at Showtime. Many point to his riveting election night special Stephen Colberts Live Election Night Democracys Series Finale, which aired on the premium network, as a turning point after an uneven transition from The Colbert Report. For its part, Showtime has invested heavily in political content over the last 18 months, most notably the documentary series The Circus, from journalists Mark Halperin and John Heilemann. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Matt Damon gets punched right in the face in George Clooneys Suburbicon trailer By Nardine Saad Matt Damon, Oscar Isaac and Julianne Moore star in the trailer for George Clooneys Suburbicon. In George Clooneys latest directorial effort, Suburbicon, the pleasantries of a 1950s town are undone when a home invasion exposes the communitys criminal subculture and racial tensions. And Matt Damons Gardner Lodge gets stuck in the thick of it -- defending his young son, making death threats, killing mobsters and getting popped square in his bespectacled face at the office -- as seen in the first trailer that Paramount unveiled Thursday. Did we mention this is a comedy? The dark, screwball kind from the minds of screenwriters Clooney and frequent collaborators Ethan and Joel Coen and Grant Heslov? Well, it is, in case that wasnt clear from the previous description. These animals took everything from us, a blood-splattered Gardner tells his son Nicky (Noah Jupe) at the dinner table. I have to make decisions like whats best for the family. After Gardners wife is murdered, he invites Auntie Margaret (Julianne Moore) to come live in the manicured suburban community to help with his son. Meanwhile, he gets mixed up with a loan shark that sets him on the warpath of a formidable, coffee-swilling collector named Roger (Oscar Isaac). The film is based on a script that the Coen brothers wrote years ago that Clooney found, and they agreed to have him direct it, according to Moore. Paramount acquired the U.S. rights to the film, billed as a comedy, crime and mystery, at the Berlin Film Festival last year. It will be shown at the Toronto International Film Festival in September and hits theaters on Oct. 27. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Woody Allens Wonder Wheel to complete Amazons turn to full-service distribution By Mark Olsen Woody Allen at the American Film Institutes Life Achievement Award tribute to Diane Keaton on June 8, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Christopher Polk / Getty Images for Turner) Thursday it was announced that Woody Allens latest film, Wonder Wheel, will have its world premiere as the closing-night film at this years New York Film Festival. The film stars Kate Winslet, Justin Timberlake, Juno Temple and James Belushi in a story set around Coney Island in the 1950s. But that wasnt the only Allen item of the day. Variety reported that Wonder Wheel will also be the first film fully distributed by Amazon when it opens in theaters on Dec. 1. The company has already made fast inroads to the movie business, winning Academy Awards this year for Manchester by the Sea and The Salesman, but has up to now worked with established distribution partners such as Roadside Attractions or Bleecker Street to help get those movies into theaters. Amazon released Allens 2016 film, Cafe Society, starring Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart and Steve Carell, in partnership with Lionsgate. The online giant also released Allens six-part Crisis in Six Scenes, in which he starred alongside Elaine May and Miley Cyrus, late last year via the Amazon Prime Video streaming service. The move by Amazon is yet another way the company is distinguishing itself in relation to streaming rival Netflix. Where Netflix has been seen as pulling back from theatrical distribution, opting for either extremely limited or no theatrical release at all of its titles to drive viewers to its own platform, this latest push by Amazon renews its commitment to traditional theatrical releases. The New York Film Festival slot for Wonder Wheel gives Amazon the three marquee spots at the showcase. Previously announced, Richard Linklaters Last Flag Flying will open the festival, and Todd Haynes Wonderstruck, which premiered at this years Cannes Film Festival, will show in the centerpiece slot. Other upcoming Amazon titles include Mike Whites Brads Status, starring Ben Stiller, and Luca Guadagninos remake of Suspiria, starring Dakota Johnson. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Mick Jagger releases two new, politically charged singles By August Brown (Dave Gatley / Los Angeles Times) Mick Jagger has been looking to the past on recent albums and festival dates. But a pair of urgent new singles are firmly set in the present. On Thursday, the Rolling Stones frontman released two tracks, Gotta Get A Grip and England Lost, that describe, as he put it in a statement, the anxiety, unknowability of the changing political situation in a post-Brexit U.K. The production is resolutely modern, built on programmed drums and clanging guitar noise. The London grime artist Skepta even joins him for a verse on England Lost. Ostensibly, its about seeing an England football team lose, but when I wrote the title I knew it would be about more than just that. Its about a feeling that we are in a difficult moment in our history. Its about the unknowability about where you are and the feeling of insecurity, Jagger said in a statement. Its obviously got a fair amount of humour because I dont like anything too on the nose but its also got a sense of vulnerability of where we are as a country. The Girls actress Jemima Kirke also stars in a new clip for Gotta Get A Grip. The songs are Jaggers first new solo material since 2001s Goddess In the Doorway. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Katy Perry to host 2017 MTV Video Music Awards By Libby Hill The MTV Video Music Awards are returning to California and getting a certified California Gurl to host. Katy Perry took to her Twitter feed Thursday to announce her upcoming gig hosting -- and performing -- at the VMAs in August. Ive been training with MTV in zero gravity, eating astronaut ice cream, and Im on a group text with Buzz Aldrin and Neil deGrasse Tyson, Perry said in a statement. Come August 27th, Ill be ready to be your MOONWOMAN! Brace for impact, kids. Perry will kick off the evening as the first announced performer for the ceremony. On Tuesday, Perry earned five VMA nominations for her video contributions over the last year, tying with the Weeknd, with only Kendrick Lamar earning more. Were thrilled to have global phenomenon Katy Perry as the host and a performer at the 2017 VMAs, said Bruce Gillmer, head of music and music talent for Global Entertainment Group, Viacom, in a statement from MTV. She is at the forefront of music culture and the perfect person to anchor this years show, which promises to be one of the most diverse and music-filled in VMA history. The 2017 MTV Video Music Awards will air from the Forum in Inglewood on Aug. 27. Find a full list of nominees here. Introducing your MOONWOMAN. Brace for impact! August 27th on @MTV @VMAs pic.twitter.com/WJsIYq7WiM KATY PERRY (@katyperry) July 27, 2017 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Turns out Larry David and Bernie Sanders are related! By Yvonne Villarreal Turns out Saturday Night Live was on to something when it cast Larry David to play Sen. Bernie Sanders. During his freewheeling appearance Wednesday at the Television Critics Assn. press tour in Beverly Hills to promote the upcoming ninth season of HBOs Curb Your Enthusiasm, David revealed that the resemblance is rooted in reality: Sanders is a distant relative. Hes in the line ... like a third cousin, or something, he said. The genealogical discovery comes courtesy of Davids appearance in an upcoming episode of the PBS series Finding Your Roots. I was very happy about that, David said. I figured there was some connection. David played Sanders on Saturday Night Live through the 2015-16 election cycle and also appeared alongside the senator on the late-night sketch show. Its the kind of family secret that David isnt ashamed to admit. I love Bernie, yes, David said. I love Bernie. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trumps proposed transgender military ban turns late-night into hostile territory By Libby Hill If theres one upside to the Trump administrations early-morning Twitter proclamations, its that it gives late-night shows all day to craft their reactions. Wednesday began with President Trump announcing a ban on transgender individuals serving in the United States military and ended with late-night hosts uniformly blasting the policy decision in hilarious fashion. On The Late Show, Stephen Colbert had plenty to say about Trumps tweets, which ended with an uncharacteristic thank you. Thank you? Colbert responded, shocked, before offering his own profane two-word response to the president. Colbert went on to discuss what he saw as the greatest fallacy of the presidents reasons for banning transgender soldiers: increased medical costs. Though a 2016 study funded by the Pentagon found that military medical spending on transgender soldiers would increase anywhere from $2.4 million to $8.4 million, Colbert wanted to reframe those figures. To put that number in perspective, the military spends five times as much on Viagra, Colbert explained, And if your erection lasts for more than four hours, thats too bad, because youre stuck on a submarine for the next six months. On The Daily Show Trevor Noah had similar concerns about the presidents cost-related excuse, pointing out that taxpayers are paying $60 million for Trump to travel to his various properties throughout his presidency. Noah also pondered which of Trumps generals hed consulted with, given that the Pentagon was unaware of his proclamation, suggesting that perhaps hed spoken with The General Online. Late Night With Seth Meyers also invoked the cartoon general from the car insurance commercials, when Meyers opted to turn discussion of Trumps tweets over to four of his female writers. Today it might be trans people, but tomorrow its gay people, and then the next day its black people, and after that its women, and then its immigrants, the writers pointed out, all of those groups represented between them. On The Tonight Show Jimmy Fallon had the good sense to turn over a portion of his monologue to transgender comedian Patti Harrison, who had plenty to say about Trumps Wednesday announcement. When I saw the headline this morning, at first I just read, Donald Trump bans transgender people, and I was like, Yeah, that sounds like him, Harrison deadpanned. But then I realized it was just in the military and I was shocked, because I assumed he already did that. But it was James Corden who took a completely different take on the transgender military ban, opting for a stylish and heartfelt song and dance, expressing his love and appreciation for the LGBT community. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr are on the road again in new song collaboration By August Brown Ringo Starrs new LP includes a collaboration with fellow former Beatle Paul McCartney. (Ethan Miller / Getty Images) Any time the surviving Beatles reunite on record is a historic occasion. But a new single from Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr packs in even more classic-rock star power. Starrs new song Were on the Road Again is one of several collaborations with his former bandmate on his new LP, Give More Love. The song also has guest appearances from Joe Walsh, Edgar Winter and Steve Lukather. Its a slightly goofy ode to life on the road, as Starr boasts that, We play really tight; we play really loud and cheekily references his own song Photograph. The two Beatles last recorded together on Starrs 2010 album, Y Not, and performed McCartneys Queenie Eye at the 2014 Grammys. Starr announced the McCartney studio collaboration back in February, thanking the fellow Beatle in a Twitter post. Thanks for coming over man and playing Great bass. I love you man peace and love. pic.twitter.com/Z5kpyLLlkO #RingoStarr (@ringostarrmusic) February 20, 2017 Set for release on Sept. 15, Give More Love will also feature cameos from Peter Frampton, Don Was, Richard Marx and Dave Stewart, among others. You can hear Starrs new track with Paul McCartney via Rolling Stone. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Curb Your Enthusiasm returns this fall -- and you can expect a Pirates of the Caribbean vibe? By Yvonne Villarreal Actor-creator-executive producer Larry David speaks at the Curb Your Enthusiasm panel during the Television Critics Assn. summer press tour at the Beverly Hilton. (Chris Pizzello / Invision/AP) Larry David revealed the real reason Curb Your Enthusiasm is at last returning after a six-year hiatus: People wouldnt stop bugging him about it. The Seinfeld co-creator took the stage Wednesday at the Television Critics Assn. press tour in Beverly Hills -- joined by his Curb cohorts Susie Essman, Jeff Garlin and J.B. Smoove and executive producer Jeff Schaffer -- to discuss the shows coming ninth season. So, why bring back the show now after all these years? Im not a misser, David told reporters. I dont really miss things, people that much, but I was missing it. I thought, yeah, what the hell. And I got tired of people asking me if the show was coming back. I couldnt get asked that question anymore and I wasnt ready to say, No, never. The often madcap and sometimes hilariously perplexing 30-minute panel -- led by Davids gruff wit and deadpans -- kicked off with a teaser for the season. There was David in a shower, David talking about constipation, David enduring the displeasure of middle-seat status on a flight. The amount of uncomfortable situations [real Larry David] has been in these last six years, Schaffer said, youre going to see it all. Its like were sitting in the Ft. Knox of awkward. As for TV Larry David, Schaffer said viewers will learn very quickly what hes been up to during the years that have passed. Once the show starts to air, it will be self-evident, he said. It goes to this really strange, fun, crazy place.... And you will never expect where it ends. The trip to that ending begins Oct. 1 when the comedy returns to HBO. The 10-episode season brings back Curb favorites like Cheryl Hines, as well as frequent faces Richard Lewis, Bob Einstein, Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen. And what would a long-awaited return be without some guest stars? Elizabeth Banks, Ed Begley Jr., Carrie Brownstein, Bryan Cranston, Lauren Graham, Jimmy Kimmel, Nick Offerman, Nasim Pedrad and Elizabeth Perkins will get in on the fun. For those who still need something to pin their hopes on about what this season will entail, Garlin offered this absurdly brilliant comparison. It really thematically follows Pirates of the Caribbean. ... Its more like the last one than the first few. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print At TCA 2017, HBO defends Confederate, announces Jon Stewart special and says Deadwood movie is inching closer By Greg Braxton Casey Bloys, president of HBO programming, addresses reporters at the Television Critics Assn.'s summer press tour at the Beverly Hilton on Wednesday. (Chris Pizzello / Invision / Associated Press) HBO, which has the hottest show on television with Game of Thrones, recently came under fire with the announcement of a new series called Confederate from a team that includes Game of Thrones producers D.B. Weiss and David Benioff. The series revolves around events that lead to the Third American Civil War and examines an alternate reality in which the South seceded from the Union and thus, slavery is still legal. Casey Bloys, president of HBO programming, defended the project Wednesday during the premium networks session at the summer edition of the Television Critics Assn. gathering at the Beverly Hilton. Bloys said that, in hindsight, the announcement was mishandled because it lacked the context and the vision that he received from Benioff and Weiss in discussing the series. He admitted it was misguided to believe they could simply announce a series with such a sensitive and volatile subject matter. We could have done a better job with the press release, he said. There was no benefit of context. My hope is people will judge the actual material instead of what it could be or should be or might be, he said. Well rise or fall based on that material. He added that he felt the series, rather than being divisive, would be able to advance the racial discussion. Although the topic is controversial, he said he and the producers of the show all feel this is a risk worth taking. Bloys also stressed that the depiction of slavery would not echo Gone With the Wind and would not include whips and plantations. In other major HBO news, former Daily Show host Jon Stewart will perform a stand-up special at a date and time to be announced, and host the latest Night of Too Many Stars, an all-star benefit for autism. Also, a movie reboot of HBOs western Deadwood is closer to reality. Bloys said the shows creator, David Milch, has completed a script that will please fans of the series while also being accessible to those less familiar with the show. But, he said, reuniting the large cast, which included Timothy Olyphant and Ian McShane, may prove challenging. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Two Jon Stewart comedy specials are coming to HBO By Yvonne Villarreal Jon Stewart, seen here presenting at the ESPYS, will return to HBO for his first stand-up special in two decades. (Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP) Jon Stewart will headline two stand-up specials for HBO. The news was announced Wednesday at the Television Critics Assn. press tour in Beverly Hills. The former Daily Show host will get a stand-up special his first since since 1996s Jon Stewart: Unleavened aired on the network. A date and location have not been confirmed. Were excited to bring Jon to the network with this pair of specials, said HBO programming president Casey Bloys in a statement. Weve all missed his uniquely thoughtful brand of humor. Im really thrilled to be able to return to stand-up on HBO, added Stewart in a statement. Theyve always set the standard for great stand-up specials. Plus, I can finally use up the last of the Saddam Hussein jokes left over from my first special. Stewart will also host the latest Night of Too Many Stars, the all-star benefit for Next for Autism, a nonprofit organization focused on people living with autism spectrum disorder. The special will air live this fall and will take place from the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York. The specials are part of Stewarts four-year deal with the premium cable network. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Angelina Jolie talks about difficult split from Brad Pitt By Nardine Saad A-lister Angelina Jolie is adjusting to the domestic growing pains of life as a single mom making a proper breakfast, keeping house and picking up dog poop. I never woke up and thought, I really want to live a bold life. I just cant do the other. Its the same as I cant make a casserole. I cannot sit still, she said in a sprawling new interview with Vanity Fair, in which she discussed her high-profile split from actor Brad Pitt. Ive been trying for nine months to be really good at just being a homemaker and picking up dog poop and cleaning dishes and reading bedtime stories. And Im getting better at all three. But now I need to get my boots on and go hang, take a trip, the humanitarian said of her plans to head to Africa for a mission with the preventing Sexual Violence Initiative. Angelina Jolie opens up about putting her family first, life after Brad, health issues & her most personal film yet https://t.co/nKyf4dO8ls pic.twitter.com/WkXCgWR1PV VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) July 26, 2017 The Oscar-winning actress explained how and when her marriage devolved, though she didnt go into great detail about the breakup for the sake of their six kids. The marriage began suffering in the summer of 2016 while she was in post-production on her fifth directorial effort, First They Killed My Father, a film about Cambodias Khmer Rouge genocide, which hits Netflix in September. Things got bad, Jolie said. I didnt want to use that word. ... Things became difficult. The director became slightly defensive at the mention of the familys globe-trotting lifestyle, which reportedly had been grating on Pitt. "[Our lifestyle] was not in any way a negative, she asserted. That was not the problem. That is and will remain one of the wonderful opportunities we are able to give our children. ... Theyre six very strong-minded, thoughtful, worldly individuals. Im very proud of them. After 12 years together and a few years of marriage, Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt in September 2016. While her ex was couch-surfing, she and the kids spent nine months in a rental property before settling into a six-bedroom, 10-bathroom Los Feliz manse once owned by film legend Cecil B. DeMille. Its just been the hardest time, and were just kind of coming up for air. [This house] is a big jump forward for us, and were all trying to do our best to heal our family. The divorce filing came suddenly for the health of the family on the heels of a spat Pitt had with their 15-year-old son, Maddox. They reached a divorce settlement privately in January after battling publicly for months over custody of the kids. The Oscar-winning producer had been vilified with accusations of child abuse and having an affair with his Allied costar Marion Cotillard. But he arguably won over public opinion with his introspective GQ Style interview in May in which he admitted to sobering up after boozing too much. Last year, Jolie was diagnosed with hypertension and developed Bells palsy when nerve damage caused one side of her face to droop. She took up acupuncture to treat it. Sometimes women in families put themselves last, she said, until it manifests itself in their own health. Thats just the latest in her medical history. Following a preventative double mastectomy in 2013, she had her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed in 2015, which sent her into menopause. I cant tell if its menopause or if its just been the year Ive had, she said, quipping about her dry skin and the idea that she could still be considered a sex symbol. I actually feel more of a woman because I feel like Im being smart about my choices, and Im putting my family first, and Im in charge of my life and my health. I think thats what makes a woman complete. For the record, Aug. 4, 12:55 p.m.: A previous version of this story said that First They Killed My Father would hit Netflix this month. It debuts in September. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Caitlyn Jenner questions why Trump isnt fighting for transgender service members By James Reed (Taylor Jewell / Invision/Associated Press) There are 15,000 patriotic transgender Americans in the US military fighting for all of us. What happened to your promise to fight for them? Caitlyn Jenner, tweeting in response to President Trumps transgender military ban announced Wednesday Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Robert Pattinson confirms hes kind of engaged to singer FKA Twigs By Nardine Saad (Mike Coppola / Getty Images for People) Twilight heartthrob Robert Pattinson says hes kind of " engaged to singer FKA Twigs. The actor addressed the engagement rumors Tuesday in a direct response to shock jock Howard Sterns questioning on Sirius XMs The Howard Stern Show. Youre engaged, right? Stern said after calling the edgy English songstress his fiancee. Yeah, kind of, Pattinson, 31, responded uneasily. The Good Time star, whose relationships have been intensely scrutinized since he dated Twilight co-star Kristen Stewart at the height of the teen vampire frenzy, agreed that hes been a bit protective of his romances. Hes been dating the Water Me singer, real name Tahlia Barnett, since 2014 and theyve been rumored to be engaged since April 2015. Save for public appearances together, Pattinson has kept pretty mum about the relationship. Its one of the most frustrating things in the world because you want to be able to show off a relationship, he told Stern. You kind of get stuck in this position where you have to make decisions whether you want to let the kind of crazy people in. Pattinson was referring to the Twi-hards or, as he called them, a crack troupe of crazies who believe every decision he makes is part of some big conspiracy. To protect [the relationship] you kind of think, I want to create a big boundary between it. But then it makes it difficult for your actual relationship, he said. Additionally, Pattinson also discussed the racial disparagement his fiancee faces on social media for dating him. He tries to tune out the hate when he can, but he isnt always successful. I think its like professional trolls, he said of rude commenters. They get so addicted to kind of just wanting to cause hurt and pain on someone and its just one of the most difficult things to know how to confront. Its a faceless enemy. ... It might seem fake to them, but its definitely real in your life. Pattinson said responding to hate can just be feeding into it. It makes me feel less powerful if youre trying to attack and make it go away. Its like trying to attack a reflection in the water or something. You just look crazy, he said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print David Letterman cringes when late-night TV hosts refer to viewers as fans By Emily Mae Czachor A profoundly bearded David Letterman made a rare talk-show appearance Monday -- one of just a handful of public ventures since the end of his run on The Late Show in 2015. Only this time, Letterman arrived as a guest. In an unusual turn of events, the former late-night host played interviewee on the season premiere of stand-up comedian Norm Macdonalds podcast, Norm Macdonald Live. The longtime pals discussed a number of matters, from Lettermans first-ever hosting gig (a game show called Wordbusters) to the time he found himself face to face with Richard Nixon. The two also discussed late-night TVs changing landscape and how Letterman never felt comfortable thinking of himself as the star of his own show. I could not possibly, and still dont, consider myself a star, because I couldnt refer to myself as a star, Letterman said. Johnny Carson was a star, theres no question of that. So for me to adopt that -- Starring Dave Letterman -- that was just ridiculous. In the same way, I always cringe a little when people refer to the folks who watch their show as their fans, Letterman added. I just think thats a little too you know, you kind of just stepped over the line of basic humility there. Macdonald commented on late-nights packed roster of big-name hosts -- none of whom he finds particularly unique, except Conan OBrien, who he thinks has changed it up a little. On any plans for a late-night return to the host seat, Letterman told fans not to expect too much. Ive done it for 30 years, he said. I dont want to do it anymore. Watch the full episode above (warning: some profanity). Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Olivia de Havilland, 101, files motion to expedite her Feud lawsuit By Nardine Saad Olivia de Havilland at her Paris home in 2003. (Jean-Marc Giboux / Getty Images) Citing her advanced age, legendary actress Olivia de Havilland has filed a motion in her Feud lawsuit for a preferential trial date this fall. De Havillands attorneys filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday, requesting that the jury trial be set in November or no later than 120 days of her motion being granted. The 101-year-old is hoping that a judge will fast track the trial during her Sept. 13 hearing date, which is just days before Feud is expected to be a big winner at the Primetime Emmy Awards. (The miniseries is nominated for 18 awards.) The Gone With the Wind star sued FX and Feud showrunner Ryan Murphy last month over her depiction in the miniseries about rival actresses Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. The two-time Oscar winner, who was played by actress Catherine Zeta-Jones on the show, makes legal claims about violations of her common law and statutory rights of publicity, her right to privacy and unjust enrichment. Based on her unusually advanced age, resulting particular susceptibility to disease, and recurring health issues, there is a substantial likelihood that she, as with anyone at this advanced age, may not survive for any extended period of time, the motion said. It is likely that if a trial preference motion is not granted, Olivia de Havilland will be prejudiced, because on the normal schedule, trial would not be set within the next 120 days. Her team also argued that because she is the sole plaintiff, De Havilland is crucial to the trial. Olivia de Havilland has a substantial interest in the litigation as a whole here as her personal statutory right of publicity cause of action does not survive her death. ... Further, should Olivia de Havilland die before her trial date, she will not be able to enjoy the benefits which she would receive in damages, the motion said. De Havillands June 30 lawsuit said the show damaged her professional reputation for integrity, honesty, generosity, self-sacrifice and dignity. She claimed that FX, Murphy and Fox producers never sought or obtained her permission to be depicted in the series and that Zeta-Jones portrayal of her in an episode about the 1963 Oscars cast her in a false, hurtful and damaging light. The defendants have not yet responded to de Havillands initial filing. According to Deadline, the Paris-based actress will not be attending the September hearing but may return to Hollywood if the trial is expedited to November. Olivia de Havilland 101: Everything you need to know as the movie legend celebrates her 101st birthday Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Despacitos Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee call out Venezuelan president for using song to push agenda By Nardine Saad Luis Fonsi, left, and Daddy Yankee. (Sergi Alexander / Getty Images) Despacito singers Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee and co-writer Erika Ender have condemned Venezuelas President Nicolas Maduro for appropriating their international hit song for political gain. The chart-topping Puerto Rican recording artists and Panamanian songwriter on Monday called out Maduro, currently the subject of violent and sometimes fatal nationwide protests over his policies, for reworking their lyrics to appeal to voters during his weekly television show on Sunday. The revision promoted the leaders plans for a controversial citizens assembly to be elected on July 30 and tasked with rewriting Venezuelas 1999 constitution and bypassing the opposition-led legislature. Our call to the Constituent Assembly only seeks to unite the country ... despacito, Maduros version said. The term despacito means slowly in Spanish and in the original version of the song refers to the singers wooing techniques. Maduros supporters swayed to the remix dressed in matching T-shirts and baseball caps that brandished campaign slogans. the Associated Press said. The president was seen clapping along to the remix while the audience danced, according to the BBC. I DO NOT AGREE WITH THIS, Ender wrote in Spanish on Instagram, citing a news story about Maduros use of the song. I cannot see so much pain in people I love so much. Warrior people, people with iron will. Good people, who are fighting for freedom of rights and expression. ... I love Venezuela, a land that has given me true brothers and sisters. Brothers who suffer because of the situation that exists. Ender also lamented seeing the song she co-wrote be used without permission to advertise campaigns linked to a regime that has sowed so much discontent and suffering. View Instagram post On repeated occasions, I have said how much I enjoy the versions of Despacito that have been released on a global level. However there has to be a limit, Fonsi also wrote in Spanish on Instagram. I have never been consulted, nor have I authorized the use of or the change of lyrics of Despacito for political means, much less in the middle of the deplorable situation in a country I love so much, Venezuela. He added that his music is for everyone who wants to listen to it and enjoy it, not to use as propaganda that tries to manipulate the will of the people who are crying out loud for their liberty and a better future. View Instagram post Daddy Yankee took a much more blunt approach in his post, sharing an image of a news article about Maduro with a large red X superimposed on it. What can you expect of a person who has stolen lives from young dreamers and people who are looking for a better future for their children? the reggaeton rapper wrote in Spanish. That you illegally appropriated Despacito does not compare to the crimes you commit and have committed in Venezuela. Your dictatorial regime is a mockery not only for my Venezuelan brothers, but for the whole world. With that nefarious marketing plan, you will only continue to highlight your fascist ideology, which has killed hundreds of heroes and injured more than 2,000. View Instagram post Millions of Venezuelans joined a general strike last week amid economic turmoil and a shortage of food and medicine in the country. Government opponents dealt a symbolic blow on Sunday to Maduro, casting votes in an unofficial referendum that rejected his plan for the constitutional overhaul. The government denounced the opposition balloting as illegal and seditious, according to The Times, but turnout appeared high at thousands of makeshift voting places set up throughout the country and abroad. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Netflix invests in Matt Groenings Disenchantment By Libby Hill Matt Groening is ready to take another crack at this television thing. The creator of The Simpsons, which debuts its 29th season on Fox this fall, has a new show courtesy of Netflix. The streaming service provider announced Tuesday that it had ordered 20 episodes of Disenchantment, an adult animated comedy series set in a deteriorating fantasy kingdom. The show centers around a hard-living young princess named Bean, voiced by Abbi Jacobson (Broad City), her elf companion, Elfo (Nat Faxon), and personal demon Luci (Eric Andre). Ultimately, Disenchantment will be about life and death, love and sex, and how to keep laughing in a world full of suffering and idiots, despite what the elders and wizards and other jerks tell you, Groening said in a statement Tuesday. Matt Groenings brilliant work has resonated with generations around the world and we couldnt be happier to work with him on Disenchantment, Cindy Holland, vice president of original content for Netflix, said in a statement. The series will bear his trademark animation style and biting wit, and we think its a perfect fit for our many Netflix animation fans. The series joins Netflixs Bojack Horseman in aiming for an audience unafraid of exploring the less-savory aspects of adulthood. Disenchantment will premiere on Netflix 10 episodes at a time, beginning in 2018. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Broad City stars talk about the decision to bleep President Trumps name on the show By Yvonne Villarreal Abbi Jacobson, left, and Ilana Glazer of the series Broad City speak at the Television Critics Assn. press tour at the Beverly Hilton on Tuesday. (Chris Pizzello / Invision/Associated Press) Broad City creators and stars Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson consider the bleeping out of President Trumps name from the comedys upcoming fourth season a different kind of joke. The two appeared onstage Tuesday at the Television Critics Assn. press tour in Beverly Hills to discuss the new season and how they reworked the show in the wake of Trumps election. We just got to a point where in real life were talking about the current administration, were talking about Trump and it sounds so gross every day saying it so many The audience-testing art-film Kuso is the the first feature from avant-garde hip-hop musician Steve Ellison, a.k.a. Flying Lotus a man who clearly grew up watching the midnight movies of yore. There are echoes of David Lynch, Alejandro Jodorowsky, David Cronenberg, and even Frank Zappas 200 Motels and Neil Youngs Human Highway in Ellisons surreal, often stomach-turning exercise in shock and awe. Kuso functions as a sort of video-album. There are through lines, mostly having to do with an earthquake in L.A., which unleashes some sort of plague of open sores. But the movie is mostly a series of sketches, united by Ellisons preoccupation with the scatological. At times, Kuso feels like a literal adaptation of all the feces-focused tracks from classic Parliament/Funkadelic records which probably explains the films George Clinton cameo. Some scenes resemble alt-comedy Adult Swim shows, and feature some of their stars, such as Tim Heidecker and Hannibal Buress. Others are animated, in a variety of styles, from stop-motion to kaleidoscopic collages to culture-jamming mash-ups. (The best of the latter takes an old 70s episode of Match Game and superimposes new mouths on Gene Rayburn and Richard Dawson.) Advertisement Kuso wont be for everybody. Its gross, its repetitive, and if it has a point, its hard to discern. But its not artless. Every densely layered image of oozing pus and gassy orifices is as imaginatively rendered as it is disgusting. ------------- Kuso Not rated Running time: 1 hour, 34 minutes Playing: Cinefamily, Hollywood; streaming on Shudder See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour Movie Trailers calendar@latimes.com Very much like the pivotal historical event it celebrates, Dunkirk confounds expectations. Both intimate and epic, as emotional as it is tension-filled, it is being ballyhooed as a departure for bravura filmmaker Christopher Nolan, but in truth the reason it succeeds so masterfully is that it is anything but. What happened at the French coastal town of Dunkirk between May 26 and June 4, 1940, was perhaps World War IIs unlikeliest turnaround, as a complete military fiasco transmogrified into a stirring psychological victory capped by Winston Churchills stirring we shall fight on the beaches speech. This battle has fascinated writer-director Nolan for years he once crossed the English Channel on a small boat specifically to get a sense of the setting and hes brought a multifaceted examination of it to the screen in a way thats both structurally daring and evocative of old-school David Lean-style storytelling. Advertisement READ MORE: Dunkirk director Christopher Nolan on why, in this era of peak TV, hes still all in on movies Using a cast that adroitly mixes young actors making their feature-film debuts (including former One Direction member Harry Styles) with canny veterans such as Kenneth Branagh, Cillian Murphy, Mark Rylance and Tom Hardy, Dunkirk resembles previous Nolan films like The Dark Knight trilogy and Inception in concrete as well as thematic ways. Working with repeat collaborators including cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema, production designer Nathan Crowley, editor Lee Smith and composer Hans Zimmer, Nolan demonstrates his all-enveloping skill with the tools of narrative, a deep understanding of and commitment to craft as well as witness his telling actor Styles that his boots were laced wrong a willingness to care about the myriad details of filmmaking. If you dont see Dunkirk on the biggest screen you can find, youll be missing the heart of the experience. Shooting with both Imax and 65mm cameras, some of which were specially designed for small spaces, Nolan not only dazzles us with immersive, Gods-eye perspectives, he understands, as always, that a big screen image pulls you into details like cigarette butts left on a windowsill, that huge close-ups can enhance intimacy and increase immediacy. If you dont see Dunkirk on the biggest screen you can find, youll be missing the heart of the experience. FULL COVERAGE: Golden Globes 2018 As hes said in numerous interviews, Nolan has conceived of his film not as a historical drama but rather a Hitchcockian thriller where, aided and abetted by Smiths razor cutting and Zimmers crescendoing score, clocks are relentlessly ticking on any number of fronts. And though much has been made about Dunkirk being Nolans first film about historical events, on examination that feels like a distinction without a difference. Almost all of his films, even the Batman ones, can be looked at as involving ordinary people being thrust into extraordinary circumstances. That is the case with a vengeance here. Because of the complexity of what happened at Dunkirk, Nolan has divided his film into three distinct but interlocking narratives, intercutting between actions on the ground, on the sea and in the air and making it all fit into a crisp 1 hour and 47 minutes. Though Dunkirk was an enormous event, with close to 400,000 British and Allied troops trapped on that French beach with the Germans about to pounce, Nolan has concentrated on small groups of men whose stories stand in for the larger whole. What keeps Dunkirk from being completely straightforward is a kind of temporal sleight of hand. While the action on land unfolds over a week, what happens on sea takes place in a single day and the air battles unfold in a mere hour. By placing these different time frames on an equal footing, Dunkirk enlarges our experience and keeps us on our toes. Its the land war we encounter first, watching Tommy (Fionn Whitehead) running for his life as German bullets pursue him though deserted streets. Suddenly the vastness of the Dunkirk beach, as surreal as a Di Chirico landscape, opens up in front of him. (Nolan shot on the real location, which was swept for unexploded ordnance as a precaution). The land part of Dunkirk is called the mole, another word for the beachs stone breakwater with a wooden pier built onto it where long lines of troops are waiting patiently to be evacuated. Tommy and the other impossibly young soldiers he meets, including the quiet Gibson (Aneurin Barnard) and the edgier Alex (Styles) employ a range of stratagems in their desperation to get on a ship that will take them home. But because safe places can become deathtraps in a heartbeat, feeling secure and out of danger as German planes periodically attack with bullets and bombs is not in the cards. READ MORE: How Fionn Whitehead went from washing dishes to starring in Christopher Nolans Dunkirk While the soldiers are young and not really sure what is going on, older and wiser heads fill us in, primarily Navy Commander Bolton, finely done by a gimlet-eyed Kenneth Branagh decades past his own young hero days as Henry V. It is Bolton who explains that because of the shallow nature of Dunkirks beach, small vessels would be needed to rescue the men. A call had gone out to Britains boat owners to help, and in fact hundreds of self-motivated small ships (a dozen of the real craft appear in the film) took up the task. Among those is the Moonstone, owned and piloted by a man named Dawson (Mark Rylance, letter-perfect as always). With him is his son Peter (Tom Glynn-Carney) and his sons friend George (Barry Keoghan), but their task is complicated when they pick up a shell-shocked survivor who wants only to go home (Nolan veteran Cillian Murphy). The most exhilarating Dunkirk episodes, not surprisingly, are the aerial battles fought against the Germans by a trio of Spitfires. The aerial panoramas cinematographer Van Hoytema and his crew capture are truly dizzying, and having Tom Hardy, an actor whose presence makes the most of confining spaces, as one of the pilots is a major bonus. Although tension about who will live and who will die is always front and center in a film like this, one of the confounding things about Dunkirk is that behind the scenes Nolan and company are quietly building a surprising amount of emotion. By the close, just like those of the troops that did survive, were taken unawares by how moving what weve been through has been. For the surpassing accomplishment of Dunkirk is to make us feel an almost literal fusion with its story. Its not so much that weve seen a splendid movie, though we have, but as if weve been taken inside a historic event, become wholly immersed in something real and alive. Like a debacle turned into a triumph, that is something that doesnt happen every day. READ MORE: Q&A: Christopher Nolan reveals what makes the war story Dunkirk a great suspense thriller Dunkirk Rating: PG-13, for intense war experience and some language Running time: 1 hour, 47 minutes Playing: In general release See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour Movie Trailers kenneth.turan@latimes.com @KennethTuran The plays of the 18th century French dramatist Pierre Marivaux best known stateside for The Triumph of Love are often fueled by linguistic flair and delicious romantic machinations. A new film of his 1737 farce False Confessions (Les fausses confidences) is fueled almost entirely by Isabelle Huppert. Worse fates could befall a movie, and the formidable Huppert, tapping a far lighter vein than in last years Elle or Things to Come, brings a fascinating physicality to the role of a wealthy widow, whether shes doing tai chi in satin pajamas or teetering on Louboutins. But despite a few playful flourishes, filmmaker Luc Bondys experiment in artifice never takes flight. A Swiss director of opera, theater and film, the late Bondy shot the feature in 2014, in and around the Odeon-Theatre de lEurope in Paris, where he was staging a production of the comedy with the same troupe of actors. The daytime shoot, in which the public space of the theater is used as a stylized version of a private estate, is bathed in sunlight, and the camerawork by Luciano Tovoli (Suspiria) often has a lovely translucent burnish. The story, though, with its muddled layers of stratagem and longing, remains opaque. Its questions of class and status are plain, but few of the characters come into three-dimensional focus, even after the somewhat strenuous matter of sorting out the relationships and ruses. Advertisement Setting the upstairs/downstairs maneuvers in motion, Dorante (Louis Garrel), once well-off and now financially strapped, arrives at the home of Hupperts Araminte as her new secretary. Hes been alerted to the position by his former valet, Dubois (Yves Jacques), and eased into it by his uncle, Remy (Bernard Verley), whos the widows lawyer. The valet schemes to make Araminte fall for Dorante while the lawyer works to pair the young man off with the servant Marton (Manon Combes). Plotting from yet another angle, Aramintes imperious mother (a glammed-up Bulle Ogier) conspires to ensure that her daughter weds a count (Jean-Pierre Malo) who comes courting via legal dispute. False Confessions may deal in antiquated statutes and mores governing marriage, but the notion of marrying up is hardly obsolete, and Garrel intermittently conveys a recognizable tangle of desire, desperation and sangfroid. Its up to Huppert, though, to inject the languid proceedings with frissons of mystery and delight. Almost everyone in the movie is pretending, to others or themselves, but Araminte is a professional actress, and the Gallic star has fun with the characters false modesty and self-dramatizing. Her expert jolts of low-key slapstick, not to mention her self-confidence in a gold lame tracksuit, light up the screen amid action thats otherwise bereft of emotional heat. Its unclear what resonance Bondy intended by using the contemporary setting and costumes. The director died in November 2015, before he could finish the film; his wife, writer-director Marie-Louise Bischofberger, saw to its completion and is credited as co-director. The resulting feature commemorates not just the plays run but, more poignantly, Bondys final collaborative effort. Yet what might have had impact in live performance is mere suggestion in this telling. The projects interplay between stage and cinema undoubtedly reverberates for the actors; for the rest of us, its a footnote to a chapter of theater history. ------------- False Confessions In French with English subtitles Not rated Running time: 1 hour, 26 minutes Playing: Laemmle Royal, West Los Angeles See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour Movie Trailers calendar@latimes.com Imagine Buster Keaton crossed with David Lynch, with a bit of Billy Wilder satire tossed into the mix, and youll have a rough idea of the wild and crazy tightrope 1963s absurdist Il Boom manages to walk. A comic yet corrosive dissection of how soulless a consumption-obsessed society can become, Il Boom never received a U.S. release until now despite having, in director Vittorio De Sica, writer Cesare Zavattini and star Alberto Sordi, a crack Italian creative team. But what this crisp new restoration reveals is that Il Boom is a film out of time, more suited to today, where acid views of human nature and surreal plots are thick on the land, though not usually combined with the panache theyre joined with here. Advertisement For American audiences who know both De Sica and Zavattini through their collaborations on spare, neo-realist classics like Bicycle Thieves and Shoeshine, it is intriguing to see them in a different guise, making a socially concerned film but one that is very much in the satiric mode. Il Boom is also a fine opportunity to spend more time with Sordi, one of the greatest and most domestically popular of Italian actors, as brilliant as he is little known outside his core fan base. With his beautifully expressive face, Sordi is, among other things, a master of comic desperation, able to be simultaneously funny and serious. In Il Boom, he has a lot to be desperate about. As its title indicates, Il Boom takes place in the heart of Italys postwar economic boom, the days of la dolce vita, the sweet life, when everyone was making money. Giovanni Alberti (Sordi) is making money as well, just not as much as he needs. Introduced in the credits spending money hand over fist, Alberti is living over his head because Silvia (Gianna Maria Canale), the wife he desperately loves, is a lover of luxury, and he cant bear to tell her that the lifestyle she enjoys is beyond their means. Il Boom begins in the middle of a crisis for Alberti. In the habit of spending twice as much as he makes and borrowing money and writing bad checks to make up the difference, he is terribly in debt, with payments coming due. Alberti has friends who could easily help him, but he is conflicted about asking for assistance, uncertain about how vulnerable he can afford to be, and situations where he goes back and forth with these folks show Sordi at his best. Frantic about money though he is, Alberti never thinks of cutting back on partying and expenditures, and scenes of him and his friends going to steeplechase races and dancing to that new American craze the Twist enable Sordi to play the ever-hopeful striver, a jaunty smile on his face even in his darkest moments. It is at one of these social events that Alberti meets the enormously wealthy Commendatore Bausetti (Ettore Geri) and his dowdy wife, la Signora Bausetti (Elena Nicolai, a La Scala mezzo-soprano before she turned to acting.) When la Signora takes an unmistakable shine to Alberti and invites him to a secret afternoon rendezvous, he takes a deep breath and hopes it is all for the best. But what la Signora suggests (not to be revealed here) is a complete shock to Alberti and catapults Il Boom into a completely different gear, unapologetically out-there and outrageous. Providing a counterpoint to the plots bittersweet and energetic comedy of despair is Il Booms jaunty Piero Piccioni score, which makes excellent use of a jukebox hit of the period called Wheels. Those familiar with the song will be surprised to find it here, but being unexpected is what Il Boom is all about. ------------- Il Boom In Italian with English subtitles No rating Running time: 1 hour, 25 minutes Playing: Laemmles Ahryna Fine Arts, Beverly Hills See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour Movie Trailers kenneth.turan@latimes.com @KennethTuran A senior Roman Catholic priest in the Diocese of Orange sexually assaulted and harassed a female church employee last year at a prominent Irvine parish where he was placed despite a similar prior accusation, according to a lawsuit filed by the woman. Father Alex Kim is accused by his former assistant of sexually assaulting her several times at St. John Neumann Catholic Church. She alleged in the suit that she felt compelled to take a leave of absence to avoid his attacks. In July 2016, Kim pushed her against a wall in the rectory and forcibly kissed, groped and fondled her, said the lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday. Kim then pulled his genitals out of his pants and rubbed it against her, the womans complaint alleges. The next day, according to the lawsuit, he sent her innocuous texts messages as if nothing happened. Advertisement The woman, who is identified only as Jane Doe in the lawsuit, has known Kim since she was a child and described him as once being her spiritual mentor, the suit says. In a statement, the diocese said Kim was immediately removed from public ministry in September 2016 after the Diocese was made aware of the allegation in this case. The statement emphasized that Kim was not accused of misconduct involving minors and said the diocese vehemently denies the claims made in this case by an adult former employee and looks forward to the opportunity to defend itself in court, where it is confident that justice will prevail. The diocese said it could not comment further, citing state law that protects the privacy of employee personnel records. Kim could not be reached for comment. The dioceses news publication, Orange County Catholic, said Kim was ordained in 1991 after attending St. Johns seminary in Camarillo. He worked at various Orange County churches before becoming director of the St. Thomas Korean Center in Anaheim and then St. John Neumann. He loves serving individuals and communities so they can realize and develop their God-given gifts and talents to help them discern their mission and purpose, the publication said. According to the lawsuit, Kim was the subject of sexual misconduct complaints dating back more than a decade. In 2012, Kim was temporarily removed from ministry at St. Thomas Korean Catholic Center after a female parishioner accused him of sexually harassing and assaulting her, and he was sent to a treatment facility for clergy accused of sexual misconduct, the lawsuit said. The suit alleges that Kim was returned to ministry, appointed pastor of St. John Neumann in 2015 and permitted to hire the plaintiff, a single, young, impressionable woman. Father Kim had a long history of exploiting female parishioners. The diocese knew it, said David Ring, an attorney representing the woman, whose suit names the priest, diocese and church as defendants. He said his legal team has interviewed some of the women who complained about Kim in the past. The decision to return a priest to ministry despite prior accusations of sexual misconduct echoes similar actions that led to the child sex abuse scandal that engulfed the church more than a decade ago, Ring said, though he acknowledged that the women accusing Kim are adults. The woman who filed Thursdays lawsuit has known Kim since she was 10, her complaint said. He gave her spiritual guidance that led her to join a convent in Korea as a Catholic nun, but she later left and returned to Orange County, the lawsuit said. She started working as Kims assistant at St. John Neumann in July 2015. The lawsuit alleges that the abuse began on April 2, 2016, when he invited to the rectory and suddenly began to grope her. Later, Kim sent her a text suggesting he had been drunk that night, according to the suit. She said she confronted him a few days later and warned him his behavior was unacceptable. Two months later, he groped, kissed and fondled her before exposing his genitals, according to the suit. Later, he apologized and begged her to continue working at the parish, the suit said. She made him promise that such behavior would never again happen. On Sept. 6, 2016, Kim again groped her and exposed his genitals, according to the suit. When she took a leave of absence, he contacted her and begged her to return to help him make preparations for the celebration of his 25th anniversary as a priest, the lawsuit said. A few days later, she reported his conduct to the diocese. She was constructively terminated in May, according to the suit. richard.winton@latimes.com Twitter: @lacrimes UPDATES: 4:40 p.m.: This article was updated with a statement from the Diocese of Orange. This article was originally published at 3:55 p.m. Real estate developer Mohamed Hadid must do community service, pay fines and put forward a plan to stabilize a Bel-Air hillside after pleading no contest to criminal charges tied to a mammoth mansion in the hills of Bel-Air. It remains undecided whether Hadid will be required to secure a bond to cover the costs of tearing down the roughly 30,000-square-foot house if it cannot be legally finished. The fate of the mansion will depend on whether Hadid can get city approval to continue construction. Were interested in one thing and one thing only bringing this building into compliance, his attorney Robert Shapiro told reporters Thursday after a sentencing hearing. I can assure you that when this building is complete, it will be one of the most beautiful homes in Bel-Air, if not the country. Advertisement Hadid was accused of illegally building a colossal home that was bigger and taller than city rules allowed. The Strada Vecchia Road mansion had bedrooms, decks and an IMAX theater that the city said were never approved, according to court documents filed by prosecutors. Los Angeles officials demanded a halt to construction three years ago and later yanked permits for the home. But the building department said that construction continued illegally on the massive house, defying the city order. At Thursdays hearing, Superior Court Judge Eric Harmon imposed three years of probation under a host of requirements, including more than $3,000 in fines, 200 hours of community service and payment of more than $14,000 to the city to cover building department costs, along with an additional amount yet to be decided to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Hadid must also hire an engineer to craft a plan to stabilize the hillside. At the hearing, Harmon said the developer needed to fix it and fix it soon. Its not fair to have mud and water running through a neighborhood for years on end, the judge said, referring to complaints from neighbors about dirt tumbling down the hillside. However, Harmon decided not to impose jail time on Hadid for the misdemeanor charges. He also rejected a proposed requirement for the developer to pay $250,000 to a community fund, saying he didnt think it would be legal. The judge has not decided whether Hadid will be required to obtain a bond that covers the cost of tearing down the house if the developer is unable or unwilling to finish it legally a requirement that prosecutors had sought to ensure that the city was not on the hook for those costs. Demolition could cost more than $1 million, Senior City Atty. Tina Hess said in court. Another hearing will be held later this year to decide the issue. Hadid, who did not appear in court Thursday, is a flashy figure known for his opulent homes for the rich, his supermodel daughters Bella and Gigi, and his stints on reality television. His attorneys have argued in the past that he was not the one responsible for getting permits. They have also emphasized that the Strada Vecchia house was repeatedly inspected by the city during construction. And Shapiro said Thursday that the building was as safe as any building thats ever been built. Neighbors said they feared that the hillside above them had been dangerously destabilized. The Bel-Air Assn., a homeowner group, urged the stiffest financial and incarceration penalties possible, complaining that Hadid had repeatedly flouted the law and shown zero concern for his neighbors. These were serious violations, City Atty. Mike Feuer said in a statement. The conditions we fought for, and which the court granted, are essential for the safety of this community. But some neighbors who showed up in court Thursday were dismayed that Hadid would not face stiffer punishment. Steve Twining, president emeritus of the Bel Air-Beverly Crest Neighborhood Council, called the sentence atrocious. He should be in jail, Twining said. He violated the citys ordinances over and over again. Mohamed Hadid and daughter Bella Hadid pose before a film screening in May at the Cannes Film Festival in southern France. (Alberto Pizzoli / AFP/Getty Images) Hadid has turned in revised plans for the Strada Vecchia mansion in an attempt to get new permits. But City Councilman Paul Koretz, who represents the area, has urged city officials to declare the hazardous building a nuisance and force it to be torn down an idea cheered by some neighbors. We cannot teach developers that it is better to ask forgiveness than to ask for permission, the councilman wrote in a letter to building department head Frank Bush last month. Hadid and his attorneys have repeatedly rejected that idea, saying that the unfinished home is not a nuisance and will be brought in line with city rules. Shapiro said Thursday that demolishing the home would take tremendous effort and inconvenience the community an assertion that triggered hissing and shouts of No from some neighbors in the courtroom. Finishing the house could take 3 years, a building department official said during the hearing. Shapiro said it could be completed within two years. But city officials pointed out that Los Angeles has imposed additional rules for building in the area since Hadid first began construction, which could make the process drag out longer. emily.alpert@latimes.com Twitter: @LATimesEmily ALSO Forum owners sue Inglewood over efforts to lure Clippers Griffith Park groups press on with legal battle over access to Hollywood sign trail Baldwin Hills mall may soon get a makeover that would add more than 900 housing units Massive Valley blackout again puts spotlight on L.A.'s failing infrastructure New Wilshire Grand hailed as a gorgeous nest for Los Angeles UPDATES: 3:50 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details from Thursdays hearing. This article was originally published at 11:30 a.m. Two police officers were injured Wednesday in an explosion during a K-9 training exercise in South Gate, authorities said. The explosion was reported about 5:45 p.m. in the 5600 block of East Imperial Highway, said Michael Pittman, a supervising dispatcher with the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Both officers one works for South Gate police, the other for Downey were taken to a hospital with significant burns to their upper bodies, said South Gate Police Capt. Darren Arakawa. Advertisement A handful of police agencies participated in the training, though its unclear how many officers were involved. Authorities did not say what triggered the explosion. Weve called in some experts to help us evaluate what actually happened, Arakawa said, calling the incident an industrial accident. There are still a lot of facts were trying to figure out. alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com Follow me on Twitter @AleneTchek ALSO Police are searching for two teens reported missing in Boyle Heights Aliso Canyon natural gas facility that was site of massive leak can reopen, state says Alleged conduct by former USC dean horrible and despicable, med school head tells angry students UPDATES: 9:45 p.m.: This article was updated with information about the officers injuries. This article was originally published at 7:40 p.m. It has destroyed 29 structures, temporarily cut off power to Yosemite National Park and threatened the historic gold-mining town of Mariposa, sending its residents fleeing. Its sent its smoke as far away as Idaho, and it burned so hot that it created its own weather system. If the Detwiler fire, which has moved with frightening speed this week through the rugged terrain of rural Mariposa County, was looking to make a dramatic statement, it succeeded. The blaze which has forced 4,000 people from their homes nearly doubled in size overnight Tuesday, exploding from 25,000 acres to 45,724 acres, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said Wednesday. Advertisement Update: Flames destroy dozens of structures as 70,000-acre wildfire rages near Yosemite By Wednesday evening, the fire was only 7% contained and had burned about 48,000 acres, according to Cal Fire. It was burning about 35 miles west of Yosemite National Park and had gotten within a mile of central Mariposa, officials said. The flames are being fed by tall grass and overgrown shrubs that sprouted along the central Sierra Nevada foothills during the winter rains, said Jordan Motta, a fire captain and Cal Fire spokesman. The rich fuel source has created fire activity that we havent seen in the last seven or eight years, he said. Officials said the fire also was burning in an area where there are many dead trees, killed by bark beetles and years of drought. Janet Kirkland, 72, had to leave her pet parrot behind. She doesn't know if her Hunter's Valley home is still standing; she saw flames Sun. pic.twitter.com/ZvxB4rGpq7 Meg Bernhard (@meg_bernhard) July 19, 2017 As the conflagration snaked through hills and canyons, conditions on the ground and around the blaze became so intense that a large pyrocumulus cloud formed. So-called fire clouds develop when a blaze is so hot that it can create its own environment, said Jim Andersen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Hanford. Any time you see a fire with a pyrocumulus, you know the fire is really roaring, he said. It takes an insane amount of heat. That cloud was a monster, said Janet Kirkland, 72, who fled her home on rural Hunters Valley Road on Sunday with her two dogs, Gizzy and Precious. Standing outside an evacuation shelter at Oakhurst Evangelical Free Church in the small town of Oakhurst, an exhausted Kirkland clutched a water bottle and tried to cool herself in the 92-degree heat. She said she didnt know if her home was still standing. She had initially gone to a shelter at a Mariposa elementary school but was forced to move again when the whole town of Mariposa was evacuated. She stayed at the church along with about 70 other evacuees. On Wednesday, Kirkland worried about her pet parrot, Rookie, whose cage didnt fit in her Jeep. After she saw flames cresting a hill near her house, she left within 15 minutes and had to leave Rookie behind. Rookie likes to imitate the sound of firetruck sirens. But that afternoon, the bird was quiet. Kirkland thinks the parrot sensed something was wrong. The blaze, which started Sunday east of Lake McClure, had destroyed 29 structures, damaged five more and was threatening an additional 1,500 as of Wednesday night, officials said. More than 3,100 firefighters were on the scene. At the command post for #DetwilerFire. Sure is hazy and dark here. pic.twitter.com/iJFDfWQSS7 Meg Bernhard (@meg_bernhard) July 19, 2017 On Tuesday, the Detwiler fire knocked out power to Yosemite National Park for several hours, but crews were able to restore service late that night, said Denny Boyles, spokesman for Pacific Gas & Electric Co. The parks main source of power comes from a 70,000-volt transmission line, which is not in the fires path, Boyles said. But that could change if the fire shifts direction. Mobile generators were positioned near the park as a precaution. Its a fluid situation with the fire still burning, Boyles said. About 8,500 customers along the Sierra foothills were without power as crews worked to repair lines damaged by the fire, he said. Power lines also were de-energized to protect fire crews battling the blaze. The fire has made for a hazy few days in Yosemite, where roaring waterfalls fed by a record-setting wet winter have drawn legions of tourists. Paul Adams, a San Francisco photographer, visited the park Monday. He initially didnt see or smell any smoke. But then the wind switched. He went up to an overlook on Tioga Pass and saw the haze settling over the Yosemite Valley. As the sun set, the smoky sky took on an eerie glow. Then, tiny flecks of white started falling around him. It was very, very tiny pieces of ash, Adams said. I want to call it almost like hair dandruff. Then, when I went to Mariposa, the ash that was falling was about the size of a snowflake, more pronounced. As he left the area the next morning, he saw a traffic jam of firetrucks. The Detwiler fire has produced huge amounts of smoke that could be seen in satellite imagery near Boise, Idaho, more than 600 miles away, said Andersen of the National Weather Service. There is absolutely no rain in the forecast in the area of the fire for at least the next several days, he said. Outside the shelter at the Oakhurst church Wednesday afternoon, Barbara Milazzo, 53, and her daughter Jessica, 15, sat in their minivan, using a quilt hung over the vehicles door to shield them from the sun. They had spent the previous night in a small wooden trailer attached to the back of the van, equipped with a straw mattress, blankets and pillows. Milazzo spent the day listening to the radio for updates and texting and calling her friends, some of whom she said have lost property in the fire. When Milazzo first heard about the fire Monday, she drove to a friends home in Hornitos to fire-sit. The next day, she saw a plume of black smoke erupt over the hills, and she began packing up her friends house before rushing to her own home in Mariposa, where an evacuation advisory was in effect. With the power out at her house, Milazzo, a teacher, decided to spend the night in the evacuation center. The unknown is the biggest stress, she said. Its a small town. We all know each other. We just dont know how their houses are. megan.bernhard@latimes.com Twitter: @meg_bernhard veronica.rocha@latimes.com Twitter: @VeronicaRochaLA hailey.branson@latimes.com Twitter: @haileybranson Bernhard reported from Mariposa, Rocha and Branson-Potts from Los Angeles. Times staff writer Ruben Vives contributed to this report from Mariposa County. ALSO Police are searching for two teens reported missing in Boyle Heights Aliso Canyon natural gas facility that was site of massive leak can reopen, state says Alleged conduct by former USC dean horrible and despicable, med school head tells angry students Addressing scores of bewildered and at times angry students, the dean of USCs medical school said Wednesday that the university had launched multiple internal investigations into the conduct of his predecessor after The Times reported that he associated with criminals and drug abusers who told of using methamphetamine and other drugs with him. These allegations, if they are true, they are horrible and despicable, Dr. Rohit Varma told the gathering of scores of medical scholars and graduate students at the Keck School of Medicine in Boyle Heights, who were summoned to a town-hall-type meeting to discuss The Times article about Dr. Carmen A. Puliafito. The newspaper obtained a recording of the meeting. Hes a man who had a brilliant career, all gone down the drain, Varma said. Im standing in this place where my predecessor now has this taint. ... It is sad. Advertisement He also said Puliafito, who stepped down as dean last year, had sought treatment in the past for alcoholism, but that the allegations in the article that he used drugs came as a complete shock to us. On Monday, when The Times lengthy investigation was published, USC announced that Puliafito, 66, had been placed on leave from his positions as a faculty member and Keck eye surgeon, and was no longer treating patients. The school has been struggling to contend with the fallout from the accounts that the renowned ophthalmologist, who headed the medical school for nearly a decade, led a second life involving meth and other drugs he used with a circle of much younger people. At the meeting on the Keck campus, students some wearing hospital scrubs said university administrators should have known more about Puliafitos troubling behavior, including reports that he appeared drunk or otherwise intoxicated at campus events. One woman said that it seems shocking that no one has been able to figure anything out in the last 10 years. ... People are now going to be questioning our professionalism. Another student said, Its pretty unfathomable to believe there was no one in the loop and that no one had any idea and that everyone is completely blindsided. We want to be assured that there will be people held accountable that this was allowed to take place. Puliafito resigned his $1.1-million-a-year deans post in March 2016, in the middle of the spring term, saying he wanted to explore outside opportunities. He did not mention that three weeks earlier, a 21-year-old woman had overdosed in his presence in a Pasadena hotel room. The woman was rushed to a hospital, where she recovered. Police found methamphetamine in the hotel room, according to a police report, but made no arrests. Want more local investigative journalism like this? Support L.A. Times reporters. If youre not already subscriber, join today. A tip about the episode prompted The Times to investigate. The newspaper interviewed six people who said they partied and used drugs with Puliafito in Pasadena, Huntington Beach and Las Vegas, as well as at USC. They ranged in age from the late teens to late 30s. None were USC students. Members of the group captured their exploits in photos and videos shot in 2015 and 2016. In one video, a tuxedo-clad Puliafito displays an orange pill on his tongue and says into the camera, Thought Id take an ecstasy before the ball. Then he swallows the pill. In another, Puliafito uses a butane torch to heat a large glass pipe outfitted for methamphetamine use. He inhales and then unleashes a thick plume of white smoke. Seated next to him on a sofa, a young woman appears to smoke heroin from a piece of heated foil. Near the end of his remarks Wednesday, Varma said he had recently spoken with Puliafito, and he asked those present in the auditorium not to share with others the personal interaction he had with the former dean. An overdose, a young companion, drug-fueled parties: The secret life of USC med school dean He called me yesterday and he apologized for what had happened and for putting me and the school and SC through what has happened, and he informed me that hes going to go and get help. USC has declined to say when it first learned about Puliafitos alleged conduct or how it responded. Varma said at Wednesdays meeting that USC Provost Michael Quick told him that Puliafito had resigned because he cannot continue his activities here anymore as dean. Varma said Quick provided no other information about the resignation. That is what was communicated to me, he said. There were no other additional aspects. A witness to the incidents phoned the office of USC President C.L. Max Nikias and told two employees about Puliafitos role. The witness spoke to The Times on the condition of anonymity. Phone records confirm that the witness made a six-minute call to Nikias office on March 14, 2016, 10 days after the overdose. A third student at Wednesdays meeting said that if Nikias did receive the call, his handling of the affair needed further scrutiny. If this is true, if it turns out that it is a cultural problem with the university, with President Nikias, will you fight for President Nikias to be let go, so we can bring in another president who wouldnt let this happen? the student asked. Varma told the students that university officials had not corroborated that the call had been placed. There was no evidence particularly of that phone call, he said. There is a full-on series of investigations. Nikias did not respond to an interview request. The Medical Board of California said Wednesday that it had opened an investigation into Puliafito. In a statement Wednesday, USC said we have multiple investigations ongoing, and much of this situation is complicated by confidentiality. The university also said that Varma held the meeting with good intentions but did not intend it as a public statement. The university has been trying to address widespread concern on campus and off about The Times article and how USC handled the former dean. In a letter to USC faculty on Wednesday, Quick said that all along we have taken this matter very seriously, that we made what we felt were the best decisions we could make, as swiftly as could be done in a prudent and thoughtful manner, and given the information we had at any given time. Quick provided no details and said that the university has to follow established processes in a deliberative and careful manner. I know it can be frustrating, especially given the extent of the allegations in the present case, to not be given all the information you may want to have in order to know that the university is living up to its core values, he wrote. Read The Times investigation: The secret life of a USC medical school dean Want more local investigative journalism like this? Support L.A. Times reporters. If youre not already subscriber, join today. sarah.parvini@latimes.com | @sarahparvini paul.pringle@latimes.com | @pringleLATimes matt.hamilton@latimes.com | @MattHjourno adam.elmahrek@latimes.com | @adamelmahrek ALSO They discover, they gentrify, they ruin: How progress is wrecking Los Angeles neighborhoods Aliso Canyon natural gas facility that was site of massive leak can reopen, state says Vandal targets coffee shop at center of anti-gentrification protests in Boyle Heights UPDATES: 5:30 p.m.: Updated with Michael Quick comments. Supreme Court justices said Wednesday that the Trump administration could temporarily reinstate restrictions on refugee resettlement, but that it could not limit the kinds of close family members exempt from a ban on visitors from six mostly Muslim countries. Legal experts said the mixed directive was another sign that the courts conservative wing is far from being in lockstep with the administration as it considers the case over the limits to executive power on immigration and national security. The justices overruled a Hawaii federal judge less than a week after he said tens of thousands of refugees could come into the country despite President Trumps travel ban, which applies to refugees from any country. Advertisement But they agreed with the judge in saying that the government could not block close relatives, such as grandchildren who want to visit grandparents living in the U.S. The high courts one-paragraph order gave no reasoning for its decision, and said it was up to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to further consider which refugees and family members are included in the ban before justices hear arguments on the executive order Oct. 10. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Neil M. Gorsuch said they would have let the government further restrict the kinds of close family exempt from the ban. The same justices considered the most conservative on the court dissented from the courts June decision to revive the travel ban with exceptions for certain travelers, saying the ban should be brought back without changes. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Anthony M. Kennedy are also conservatives, though Kennedy is considered a swing vote on the issue. We can certainly start to read the tea leaves, said Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. The most conservative of the conservatives on the court have been consistent on the travel ban. But three is not a majority. Levinson cautioned that justices had not heard arguments over the ban yet, and could decide by the end of the next term that the issue was moot. Thats because Trump has presented his travel order as a temporary anti-terrorism measure while the government reviews vetting procedures. Nicole Navas, a spokesman for the Department of Justice, said that the administration looks forward to presenting its arguments to the 9th Circuit. Trumps ban halts travel into the U.S. by nationals of Somalia, Syria, Sudan, Yemen, Libya and Iran for 90 days and stops all refugee resettlement for 120 days. Federal courts had blocked the order from January, when an original, broader version of it was signed, until the Supreme Court brought it back to life last month. Since the revised ban went into effect June 29, the state of Hawaii has fought the Trump administration in federal courts over whom it includes. The Supreme Court allowed the ban as long as people with bona fide connections to the U.S., such as close family, employment, university admission or relationships with other institutions, were exempt. The court mostly left those exceptions up to interpretation. The government argues that the connections should include a parent, spouse, child, adult son or daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, sibling, fiance or fiancee, and parents-in-law. But it says grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins and brothers- and sisters-in-law are not close enough to qualify for admission. Lawyers representing Hawaii won an injunction limiting the travel ban after they challenged the governments definitions in a Honolulu federal district court. The state, which is among those challenging Trumps order in the Supreme Court, also argued that a refugee resettlement organizations interactions with a refugee constituted a bona fide relationship. It said that about 24,000 refugees had formal assurances from resettlement agencies for relocation assistance. It said those relationships should be counted as a bona fide. On July 13, one day after the U.S. hit a 50,000 cap on refugee admissions that blocked all refugees except those with close family in the country, U.S. District Judge Derrick K. Watson issued an order largely granting Hawaiis requests. The Department of Justice challenged his order in the 9th Circuit and in the Supreme Court. But the court refused to grant the governments request to clarify its June ruling on close family relationships, said University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias. Immigrant and refugee advocates had mixed reactions to Wednesdays order. The International Rescue Committee is relieved for families including grandmothers, grandchildren, and critical extended relations who will now be able to find safety and stability in the United States because of todays clarification, Hans Van de Weerd, the vice president for U.S. programs at the resettlement organization, said in a statement. Further, the IRC hopes that resettlement agencies, which have prepared extensively for assured refugees arrival and smooth adjustment, are found to qualify as bona fide relationships. An attorney representing the state of Hawaii, Neal Katyal, said on Twitter that the governments request was not properly before the Supreme Court and that he was ready to keep fighting the Trump administration in the 9th Circuit. See you in court! he tweeted. jaweed.kaleem@latimes.com Jaweed Kaleem is The Times national race and justice correspondent. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. More national headlines ALSO Q&A: Trumps travel ban has just hit refugees. Heres what that means for those hoping for sanctuary in the U.S. Civil rights lawyers and protesters return to LAX as the new Trump travel ban takes effect Refugee advocates say even partial reinstatement of travel ban will cause hardship Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. Its Thursday, July 20, and heres whats happening across California: TOP STORIES USC faces angry students over ex-deans alleged behavior In a meeting with bewildered and at times angry students, the dean of USCs medical school said Wednesday that the university had launched multiple internal investigations into the conduct of his predecessor, Carmen Puliafito, after The Times reported that he associated with criminals and drug abusers who told of using methamphetamine and other drugs with him. These allegations, if they are true, are horrible and despicable, said Rohit Varma, dean of USCs Keck School of Medicine. Hes a man who had a brilliant career, all gone down the drain. Im standing in this place where my predecessor now has this taint. It is sad. Varma also said he recently spoke to Puliafito. He called me yesterday and he apologized for what had happened and for putting me and the school and SC through what has happened, and he informed me that hes going to go and get help. Los Angeles Times Advertisement Huge cost of cleaning port pollution The nations largest port complex will seek to slash air pollution and health risks to Southern Californians by replacing diesel trucks and cargo equipment with zero-emissions technology over the next two decades, according to a plan released Wednesday. The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach remain Southern Californias largest single source of air pollution, and the cleanup comes with a huge price tag: $14 billion. Los Angeles Times Aliso Canyon gets the green light to reopen The Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility near Porter Ranch, which was shut down after a massive leak forced thousands to flee their homes, can reopen at a reduced capacity, state officials determined. Residents are unhappy about the decision and vow to fight. Los Angeles Times A hellacious fire raging on Yosemites western edge It temporarily cut off power to Yosemite National Park and threatened to destroy the historic gold-mining town of Mariposa, sending its residents fleeing. It sent its smoke as far north as Idaho, and it burned so hot it created its own weather system. If the Detwiler fire, which has moved with frightening speed this week through the rugged terrain of rural Mariposa County, was looking to make a dramatic statement, it undoubtedly succeeded. Los Angeles Times L.A. STORIES Be a good citizen, Snapchat. Dont just apologize. Disappear from Venice. You know, like one of those photos on your app. -- Columnist Robin Abcarian on the tech-fueled gentrification that is reviving and destroying Venice. Los Angeles Times Plus: A small coffee shop that has been the center of multiple anti-gentrification protests in Boyle Heights was vandalized Wednesday. Los Angeles Times Thats the ticket: In what might be the Broads hottest ticket since opening, the Broad museum plans on Sept. 1 to release tickets for the highly anticipated exhibition Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors, opening Oct. 21. Los Angeles Times Hungry? Famed New York chef and food legend David Changs guide to eating in L.A. LAist Drawing a line: Tow companies are refusing to haul away homeless RVs that violate city laws, citing concerns about health safety (including fleas). Daily News Hmmm: So why did the city manager of Azusa suddenly resign? Residents are asking questions. San Gabriel Valley Tribune Skyline shift: Downtown L.A. could be getting a new 66-story building next to Staples Center and the Wilshire Grand. L.A. Downtown News POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT Its nuts: Are Californias new official nuts actually nuts? Experts say no. Los Angeles Times Cap and trade basics: So what exactly is Californias cap and trade program? The only system of its kind in the country, its designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from facilities such as oil refineries, food processors and power plants. Heres a guide. Los Angeles Times California ban concerns: Californias ban on public-funded travel to states with anti-LGBT laws has some in Texas and the South worried, and others fighting back. If anything, what it does provide is a great opportunity for political types in Alabama to have new fodder for a new commercial, said an Alabama Republican. I think youll see words like Hollywood liberal. New York Times Pot boom: Officials believe its possible there will one day more pot businesses in Sacramento than Starbucks or McDonalds. Sacramento Bee Boom times: Downtown San Jose, for decades a relatively sleepy business district compared with San Francisco, is seeing its own tech boom led by Google and now Adobe. Mercury News Rainbow flag suit: San Diego Rep. Susan Davis and three other House members have been sued for displaying a rainbow flag outside their Capitol Hill offices. The plaintiff: Chris Sevier, an attorney who has an ongoing campaign against same-sex marriage. San Diego Union-Tribune CRIME AND COURTS Vintage security cameras: Some of the security cameras used by BART are from the 1970s. San Francisco Chronicle Police dog dies: A tragedy in the Central Valley as a Fresno County sheriffs K-9 is killed by friendly fire during a SWAT operation. Fresno Bee THE ENVIRONMENT Redwood survivor: There was much concern that a strand of redwood trees in the hills of Orange County would not survive the drought. But to the surprise of many, they are thriving. Orange County Register Tunnel vision: There are still many questions over the fate of Jerry Browns delta tunnel project, and time is ticking away. News Deeply CALIFORNIA CULTURE Farewell, L.A.: The city at times stumbles, flails and fails. But it is always a place where the future happens first. Long ago, the lights of Los Angeles mesmerized me. I still believe they light the path to what America will next become. -- Ronald Brownstein appraising L.A. in his last column for The Times. Los Angeles Times Lowering expectations: SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk on Wednesday downplayed expectations for the upcoming demonstration flight of the companys giant Falcon Heavy rocket, saying there was a good chance the vehicle would not make it to orbit in its first launch. Los Angeles Times Faster, if you pay: Disneyland is launching a digital version of its FastPass, but its going to cost you (even more). Los Angeles Times Grocery guide: Rating the Trader Joes items you should stock up on and those you should avoid. Coconut cold-brewed coffee anyone? San Francisco Chronicle Landmark figure: Betty Dukes, the Bay Area Wal-Mart greeter who took the retail giant all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court in the largest gender bias class-action lawsuit in U.S. history, has died. Associated Press Hall H and beyond: Your guide to Comic-Con. Los Angeles Times CALIFORNIA ALMANAC Los Angeles area: sunny and 84. San Diego: partly cloudy and 78. San Francisco area: partly cloudy and 68. Sacramento: sunny and 93. More weather is here. AND FINALLY Todays California memory comes from Susan Mack: In 1963 I was a 9-year-old living in Anaheim, not far from Disneyland. Our little neighborhood was surrounded by orchards and groves. One day a neighbor boy and I walked to a nearby orchard and began picking plums. An old lady came out of her farmhouse and called to us, motioning for us to come to her. Keith ran away, but I nervously went to her. I thought I was in a lot of trouble! Then she said to me, They arent ripe yet. Come back next week. I want to be that kind of old lady. If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, share it with us. Send us an email to let us know what you love or fondly remember about our state. (Please keep your story to 100 words.) Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints and ideas to Benjamin Oreskes and Shelby Grad. Also follow them on Twitter @boreskes and @shelbygrad. President Trump isnt happy with the Senate or the Justice Department or . Im Davan Maharaj, editor-in-chief of the Los Angeles Times. Here are some story lines I dont want you to miss today. TOP STORIES The President Will Scold You Now Advertisement Repeal and replace. Repeal and delay. Let it fail. Work it out, or else. In less than a week, President Trump has employed all these tactics to try to do away with Obamacare. On Wednesday, he scolded Republican senators, telling them they shouldnt leave town until they pass a measure to replace it. He pointed at one and said, Look, he wants to remain a senator doesnt he, OK? Meanwhile, the Congressional Budget Office numbers on a repeal-only plan werent good: double the premiums and 32 million more Americans without health insurance. Later, Trump vented his frustrations about another topic the Justice Department telling the New York Times he isnt happy with Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein and fired FBI Director James Comey. He had a warning for special counsel Robert Mueller too. John McCain Keeps Up the Fight John McCain has been a fighter all his life, as a prisoner of war and a senator for 30 years. Now its been revealed he is battling brain cancer, discovered after a procedure last week to remove a blood clot above his left eye. His absence had delayed the Senate vote on healthcare this week, and his return to Washington is uncertain. More From Washington -- Grandma and grandpa can come on in: Supreme Court justices said the Trump administration could not limit the kinds of close family members exempt from the travel ban, but it can temporarily reinstate restrictions on refugee resettlement. -- Atty. Gen. Sessions has expanded the authority of law enforcement to seize criminal suspects money and property. -- Trump and Vice President Mike Pence opened the first meeting of the White Houses voter-fraud task force with a vigorous defense of the commissions mission. USC Faces the Wrath of Its Doctors-to-Be The students at the USC Keck School of Medicine in Boyle Heights were bewildered and at times angry. The current dean spoke of his predecessor, Dr. Carmen A. Puliafito, and announced the university had launched multiple internal investigations into Puliafitos conduct: These allegations, if they are true, they are horrible and despicable, Dr. Rohit Varma said at a town-hall-type meeting, called in the wake of The Times article earlier this week about Puliafitos conduct. Read how Varma answered a question about whether he would support action against USC President C.L. Max Nikias. The Parole Hearing of the Century Its been more than two decades since the O.J. Simpson saga played out in real time on TV screens across the country. This morning, if only for a few hours, the feeding frenzy will be back. Now 70, Simpson will face a Nevada parole board, hoping to be released after serving the minimum of his 9-to-33-year prison sentence after a bizarre 2007 robbery. Outside, 19 networks and 120 reporters are expected be encamped. When Trump Backers Want to Tell a Pipeline to Go Take a Hike Picture this: A peaceful hike along the Appalachian Trail through the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia, with birds chirping and brooks babbling. Now picture this: A natural gas pipeline and corridor up to 150 feet wide, running right along the trail, that could boost the local economy. The prospect of building it next to one of the United States most prized scenic trails has set off fierce debate, but not entirely along the lines you might expect: Some Trump supporters hate the idea, and the Democratic governor favors it. A couple admires the view from the Blue Ridge Parkway outside Roanoke, Va. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) The Ports and the Diesel Death Zone The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach long ago took steps to reduce air pollution, but they remain Southern Californias largest single source of it. Thats why officials have unveiled a plan to replace diesel trucks and cargo equipment with zero-emissions technology over the next two decades. The cost: up to $14 billion. But who pays for it, and how, is where things get hazy. MUST-WATCH VIDEO -- Who is dedicated enough to be first in line as Comic-Con opens its doors? -- Check out this rare recording system from the 1920s that still works. -- Blake Griffin re-signs with Clippers: five years, $175.74 million. CALIFORNIA -- State officials say the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility near Porter Ranch, which was shut down after a massive leak, can reopen at a reduced capacity. -- After a six-month surge in water levels, the flood risk has begun to ease along Californias rivers. -- The state pot czar says California is working to avoid a shortage of legalized marijuana. -- The owners of a small coffee shop at the center of multiple anti-gentrification protests in Boyle Heights say their business was vandalized. HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS -- Ghostbusters 101, Intersectional Feminism in Comics and The Trump Presidential Library Panel: The must-see panels of Comic-Con 2017. -- CBS will promote a recurring cast member and add two new performers to Hawaii Five-0" after the departures of Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park. -- Monica Lewinsky is lauding Jay-Z for owning up to his past infidelity on the album 4:44. -- London calling: Theater critic Charles McNulty says Angels in America is as fresh as ever at the National Theatre. CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD Carlos Santana, who turns 70 today, has always followed an eclectic path. Hes played psychedelic blues, fusion jazz and mainstream pop-rock, at venues ranging from the Fillmore to Woodstock to the Hard Rock Las Vegas. In the late 1990s, he says he heard the words of an angel called Metatron, who promised to reconnect him to the frequency of radio. The result? The mega-selling album Supernatural. NATION-WORLD -- Rebuilding Mosul: The mission to bring the demolished city back from the dead is daunting. -- The Russian government says it was surprised when the rebel leader of a breakaway region of eastern Ukraine proposed the creation of a new nation-state called Little Russia. -- Irans latest culture battle: Should women in cars keep their heads covered? -- Researchers across the United States are launching an ambitious clinical trial to test whether a package of low-tech life hacks can prevent or delay dementia. BUSINESS -- After an unexpectedly amicable start to U.S.-China relations under Trump, including high-level economic talks, many are wondering when the other shoe will drop. -- Disneyland has launched a digital version of its Fastpass, but surprise! it will cost you. SPORTS -- Del Mar enjoyed a safe opening day on a new track that was designed with a safety-first mentality. Last year, 17 horses died in the summer meet. -- How good will the new-look Clippers be? Thats most definitely uncertain. OPINION -- USCs silence on the double life of its former medical school is deafening. -- Trump aides want to re-privatize the military. That would be a big mistake. WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING -- Excerpts from the New York Times latest interview with President Trump. -- Baltimore authorities have launched investigations after being alerted to body camera footage that the public defenders office says shows an officer planting drugs. (Baltimore Sun) -- More cheese, please? This little-known, government-sponsored dairy marketing group wants you to eat it up. (Bloomberg) ONLY IN CALIFORNIA Pop quiz: Whats the official state nut of California? If you said the almond, youd be correct. If you said the pecan, walnut or pistachio youd also be correct. Thats because a law recently designated all four as such, even though not one of them, scientifically speaking, is a nut. So how did we get four official state nuts that are actually seeds? Thats the nuttiest part. Please send comments and ideas to Davan Maharaj. If you like this newsletter, please share it with friends. Almost three years after former President Barack Obama promised to degrade and ultimately destroy Islamic State, the terrorist group is reeling. It has been driven from the city of Mosul in Iraq. And Raqqah, the Syrian city that serves as the capital of its so-called Caliphate, is under siege. But depriving Islamic State of its territory wont extinguish the movement or its capacity to plan or inspire acts of violence. The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point reported last month that as of April, Islamic State fighters had launched 1,468 attacks in 16 cities that had been wrested from its control, resulting in nearly 2,600 deaths. More than 100 of those attacks occurred in the western sector of Mosul after that part of the city was recaptured. Much as Americans might hope that the U.S. can simply declare victory and turn its attention elsewhere, the reality is that preventing Islamic State from surviving and thriving in the future will require continued diplomatic, economic and, yes, military engagement by the United States. But it will also require something that has been missing since Obama launched this campaign: congressional approval. Advertisement Islamic State, which shocked the world with its beheadings of journalists and aid workers, was previously the Iraqi affiliate of Al Qaeda. It was able to consolidate power in Iraq because of the disaffection of Sunni citizens with the Shia-dominated government that took power after the fall of Saddam Hussein a government that became even less inclusive with the withdrawal of the last U.S. military forces at the end of 2011. Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis believes that the U.S. should retain a military presence in Iraq. Obama, who presided over that withdrawal and who announced in 2011 that the tide of war is receding, to his credit recognized three years later that Islamic State, if left unchecked, could pose a growing threat beyond that region including to the United States. Obama was struck not only by the groups brutality but also by the fact that it had recruited so many Europeans and Americans who could return home to commit deadly attacks. So a president who had prided himself on extricating the U.S. from foreign military entanglements ended his term by returning U.S. forces to Iraq although the 5,000 trainers, advisers and special forces were a small fraction of the peak U.S. troop level of 170,000. Obama also ordered airstrikes on Islamic State positions in both Syria and Iraq. Despite suggesting during his campaign that he had his own plan for defeating Islamic State, Trump has so far pursued a strategy in Iraq strikingly similar to Obamas relying heavily on air power but rationing the use of U.S. military personnel on the ground. U.S. troops have functioned primarily as trainers and advisers. The brunt of fighting in Iraq has been borne by local forces. They include the elite, multi-sectarian, U.S.-trained Counter-Terrorism Service whose troops were involved in the recapture of Mosul, but also a Shia militia allied with Iran. Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis believes that the U.S. should retain a military presence in Iraq. That makes sense for political as well as military reasons and could help in the continuing effort to urge Iraqs leadership to govern in an inclusive way. (In Syria, the Trump administration long has made it clear that its priority is the defeat of Islamic State, rather than the early ouster of President Bashar Assad. On Wednesday the Washington Post reported that the administration had decided to end a troubled CIA training program for anti-Assad opposition groups.) This page has long argued that the war against Islamic State both the air campaign and the deployment of troops, even if they are not technically in a combat role requires explicit authorization by Congress. The Obama administration sought such approval, but undermined the urgency of its own request by insisting that it already possessed adequate authority under two existing congressional Authorizations for Use of Military Force. The first, approved in 2001, was aimed at the perpetrators of 9/11. The other, from 2002, was designed to deal with the continuing threat posed by Iraq the Iraq of Saddam Hussein. Both of those resolutions addressed situations distant in time and different in context from the threat posed by Islamic State. If, as seems likely, the war against Islamic State is still to be won, Congress must act and not just acquiesce. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook Gov. Jerry Brown has won praise for promising that California will live up to the Paris accord despite President Trumps withdrawal from the treaty. He also signed a climate deal with China last month, and has unveiled plans for a global climate summit in San Francisco next year. Earlier this week, California lawmakers voted to extend the states cap-and-trade program for another 10 years. The message is clear: With a few other states, California is going it alone an approach that is popular locally and resonates with much of the world. But, while Brown should be commended for showing leadership where Trump has not, the truth is that Californias plans for fulfilling the Paris accord and its carbon-cutting commitments will be expensive for the state while achieving slightly more than nothing for the planet. Advertisement At the moment, Californias greenhouse gas emissions account for less than 1% of global emissions, and a little less than 7% of U.S. emissions. The state now plans to cut its emissions by the equivalent of 181.5 million tons of carbon dioxide by 2030 to 40% below its 1990 levels. If, instead, California were to develop green technologies so cheap they could actually outcompete fossil fuels, the whole world would switch to them. Although this is a much bigger cut than California achieved with its 2006 climate change legislation, its still nowhere near enough to have a meaningful effect on global warming overall. Even if California succeeds in making the new cuts and sticks to them for the rest of the century, according to calculations using a standard model of the U.N. Climate Panel, they will amount to a difference of .008 degrees Fahrenheit (.0044 degrees Celsius) a minuscule drop in the bucket of the cuts needed in order to limit total global warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius, the number climate activists have identified as a dangerous tipping point. And theres a big caveat to this small achievement. When limitations are placed on major emitters in one geographical location, the emitters often move to locations with lighter regulatory regimes, bringing their emissions along with them, in a process known as carbon leakage. One study published in the Review of Economics and Statistics found that around 40% of the carbon savings that resulted from the Kyoto Protocol was lost to leakage. Much of the emissions that are cut in California could turn up elsewhere. Indeed, one simulation suggests that practically all of Californias cuts would be lost to carbon leakage. Whats more, Californias official estimates put the cost of its climate change policy at $13 billion to $22.5 billion a year and such estimates often prove to be optimistic. The European Union, one of few entities that has attempted cuts of this magnitude, underestimated the cost of its emissions reduction policy by as much as 100%. (Mexico is likely to have underestimated its climate policy costs by even more.) If California can expect to lose a similar percentage of its GDP, the annual cost would come to about $50 billion. With the states promises to reduce emissions by 80% before 2050, these costs would go up even more and have little to no effect on the environment. Most Californians will feel these costs in the form of higher gasoline and electricity prices. But the real reason carbon cuts are so expensive is they require the economy to shift from low-cost fossil fuels to more pricey, often less efficient green energy. People like to claim that green energy is already competitive. This is far from true. For instance, when solar energy is produced, it is all produced at the same time when the sun shines. The energy thus floods the market and becomes less valuable. Models show that when solar makes up 15% of the market, the value of its electricity is halved. In California, when solar reaches 30% of the market, its value drops by more than two-thirds. The more we rely on unpredictable renewables, the more we need fossil fuel as a backup for when the sun is not shining or the wind is not blowing. When fossil fuel is not relied upon but then required in large amounts, the price goes up, and energy costs overall spike when energy is most needed. For this reason, subsidies will be required for a long time. The International Energy Agency estimates that, this year alone, $125 billion will be spent on solar and wind subsidies globally. A smarter approach to climate policy and one befitting Californias role as one of the most innovative states in the country would be to focus on making green energy cheaper. In other words, spend more on R&D for green energy. Although some argue that agreements like the Paris accord prompt investment in research, most of the investment is absorbed by existing inefficient technologies, leaving little for actual innovation. Germanys much-celebrated climate change policy, which was designed to move that country toward renewable energy and away from nuclear energy and fossil fuel, had a very low effect on innovation, according to a panel of energy experts in a report to the German parliament. California is embracing huge costs while doing virtually nothing for the environment. While the approach might look good, it doesnt help much. If, instead, California were to develop green technologies so cheap they could actually outcompete fossil fuels, the whole world would switch to them. Bjorn Lomborg is director of the Copenhagen Consensus Center and the author of The Skeptical Environmentalist. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook Capt. Charles Moore, the sailor who brought the giant vortex of plastic debris floating in the north Pacific ocean to our attention, now says there is another enormous plastic patch growing in the South Pacific. Moore and the research team from Long Beach-based Algalita Marine Research and Education, an organization he founded to highlight the problem of plastic in the ocean, report that they confirmed the existence of this second major gyre as part of a six-month research trip off the coast of Chile earlier this year. The good news, if you can call it that, is the source of the plastic in this plastic patch seems to be primarily from commercial uses as opposed to litter of consumer items. Advertisement Of course, plastic in the ocean, no matter its source, is a concern. And the problem isnt limited to these patches of the ocean. Microplastics that is former plastic water bottles and plastic foam coffee cups that have broken down into small bits are found floating on the surface of all of the Earths oceans. Even the Great Lakes are plastic waste dumps. This discovery isnt terribly surprising to anyone plugged in to humanitys disposable plastic addiction. One study found that 8 million tons of plastic flowed into the worlds oceans and that was just in 2010. In a study published this week in the journal Science Advances, the same researchers calculated that humans have created more than 8 billion metric tons during the plastics boom of the 1950s. Only 9% of it has been recycled. The amount of single-use plastic bags, containers, wrap, lids, straws and cutlery used and tossed increases every year, despite our somewhat feeble attempts to stem the tide. Californias ban on single-use plastic bags kicked in last year, but grocery T-shirt bags are only one class of plastic ocean litter. Also, the nation isnt exactly rushing to follow Californias example some places have even passed laws to forbid cities from banning plastic bags. Its nuts, yet even in this environmentally enlightened coastal state, we are arguing over policies to curb even the worst ocean litter offenders such as polystyrene takeout containers and cups. The state Legislature punted on a chance to adopt a statewide ban earlier this year and the plastic litter continues to pile up, quite literally, on the beach. Hopefully, it wont take the discovery of yet another giant plastic garbage patch to get some action to turn off the plastic faucet flowing into the ocean. mariel.garza@latimes.com Follow me @marielgarzaLAT UPDATES: 9:50 a.m.: This article was updated to add information about a study of the amount of plastic produced since the 1950s. Theres a lot to be appalled by in President Trumps interview with The New York Times, including his continued vilification of former FBI Director James B. Comey. (In addition to accusing Comey of lying to Congress, Trump claimed that the former director tried to use a dossier of salacious allegations about Trump as leverage to hold on to his job.) But the most offensive and ominous comments by the president concerned his attitude toward the rule of law. Take Trumps criticism of Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions for recusing himself from an investigation of Russian meddling in last years election. Advertisement Sessions should have never recused himself, Trump told the New York Times reporters, and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before he took the job, and I would have picked somebody else. (On Thursday, Sessions indicated that he had no intention of resigning.) Its tempting to treat this as a political story Trump turns on toady! but its real significance is that it shows that Trump has no understanding of why Sessions had to recuse himself. That misconception reflects a larger ignorance of important legal norms. Trump seems to be under the impression that Sessions recused himself because he misled the Senate Judiciary Committee about whether he had met with representatives of the Russian government during last years campaign. Trump said that Sessions gave some answers that were simple questions and should have been simple answers, but they werent. He then becomes attorney general, and he then announces hes going to recuse himself. Trump seems to think the attorney general is his personal lawyer. This gets Sessions recusal wrong. Sessions recused himself not because of his confirmation testimony but because he had been active in the Trump election campaign. As he put it in a March 2 statement, he recused himself to fulfill a promise he made to the Senate that he would consult ethics officials about how to proceed if a specific matter arose where I believed my impartiality might reasonably be questioned. Trump also seems to think the attorney general is his personal lawyer. Actually, as Sessions statement acknowledged, he also has an obligation to the law and to the Senate that confirmed him. Trumps buyers remorse about Sessions wasnt the only evidence in the interview of the presidents eccentric views about the rule of law. He suggested at one point that the FBI director reports directly to the president. (In fact, that official is part of the Justice Department chain of command, though as a member of the executive branch he is ultimately accountable to the president and, obviously, can be fired by the president.) Finally, when Trump was asked if special counsel Robert S. Mueller III would be crossing a red line if he investigated Trumps family finances unrelated to Russia, the president replied: I would say yes, adding I think thats a violation. Pressed as to whether he would fire Mueller if the counsel ventured into that area, Trump said: I cant answer that question because I dont think its going to happen. In fact, Muellers commission empowers him to investigate not only any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump but also any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation. So, if Muellers investigation of ties between individuals connected to the Trump campaign and Russia did lead him to scrutinize Trump family finances, he would be acting well within his mandate. The question is whether in that case Trump would try to have Mueller fired to protect himself or members of his family from a criminal investigation. His comments in the New York Times interview seem to leave that possibility open. Some might see those comments as a veiled threat or even an attempt to obstruct justice. Even if Trump never removes Mueller, those words may come back to haunt him. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook MORE FROM OPINION Jared Kushner and Steve Bannon want to re-privatize the military. That would be a big mistake Bill Nye on the terrifying ascendancy of American dingbatitude What O.J. Simpson can teach us about parole To the editor: If destruction be our lot, our rail splitter-turned-president admonished in 1838, we must be ourselves its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide. (What would Lincoln think of Trump? Opinion, July 12) Abraham Lincoln imagines here that we are more likely to splinter from within than be overtaken by some foreign invasion. Sidney Blumenthal conjectures that Lincoln has much light to shine on the present state of the republic. While I would not speculate on how our 16th president might regard our 45th, it may be useful to consider Lincolns legendary political temperament. Advertisement Lincoln used modest and moderate language in discourse and, when possible, he called upon his fellow citizens to listen to the better angels of our nature. His reliance on reason and his patience were perhaps his greatest gifts. He abhorred strident language, even in pursuit of desirable ends, and trusted that, in the end, justice and natural law would prevail. David DiLeo, San Clemente The writer is a professor emeritus of history at Saddleback College. .. To the editor: Although Blumenthals connections with the Clintons will lead many people to write off his argument without reading it, he actually wrote a quite interesting and cogent column about Lincoln and what he had to say about the harm a demagogue motivated by celebrity and fame who thirsts and burns for distinction could do if he gained power in the U.S. When Lincoln delivered this warning in 1838, he was an elected Illinois state legislator from the Whig Party, and it wasnt just a generic message. Its likely everyone in his audience had someone in mind when they were listening: Trumps hero, Andrew Jackson, who had recently left the presidency but whom a lot of Whigs suspected was still running the country via his hand-picked successor, Martin Van Buren. Mark Gabrish Conlan, San Diego Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook To the editor: During Barack Obamas presidency, the Republican- controlled House passed bills repealing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act more than 50 times. Their party won state and local elections across the nation with the mantra of repeal and replace. (Most Americans and many GOP senators want a bipartisan approach to fix Obamacare. Will Republicans reach across the aisle? July 18) The day after President Trump was elected, the death knell for programs that assist the poor rang, and irresponsible tax cuts for the wealthy appeared on the horizon. Repeal and replace has been heard more often and with more vigor these past few years than the British are coming ever was. To any person who thought the Republicans might be OK with giving assistance to the poor, I have a bridge in Brooklyn you may wish to purchase. Advertisement Kevin H. Park, Mission Hills .. To the editor: Finally, a call for bipartisan solution on healthcare. Im a Democrat, but seeing the faces of three Republican women and their names on TV Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.) as the first three no votes on a straight repeal of Obamacare without a replacement was absolutely thrilling. These women were the first to stand up to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and his group of Republican men who have crafted more than one horrendous healthcare bill. Women across the U.S. are fed up with the president and the Republican Congress backroom approach to healthcare. On to bipartisanship, a caring agenda of essential health benefits and thoughtful solutions to the real problems of healthcare costs, stabilization of insurance markets and the high cost of prescription drugs. Judy Schlosberg, Los Angeles .. To the editor: In light of the absolute gridlock in Washington, it is high time for a number of moderate Republicans to put country before party and separate themselves from the GOP. For these members of Congress to continue to enable the current corrupt and dysfunctional administration only serves to contribute to the ongoing ethical bankruptcy of this nation. Switching parties might put some lawmakers jobs at risk, but it is a risk they should undertake. They, and the nation, might be pleasantly surprised. Gary Tereshkow, Palm Springs .. To the editor: Trump has it backward. He owns Obamacare and now has to explain to the American people why he could not deliver on his No. 1 campaign promise to repeal and replace the program. He can try to blame the Democrats, but we all know the GOP put forth a terrible replacement, one so toxic that some of his fellow Republicans refused to support it. Trump is now blaming the Democrats for his failure; he wants the Democrats to come to him now. Fat chance that will happen. However, I think the Democrats would score big if they were to step forward and suggest the two parties join in a bipartisan effort to fix and not repeal Obamacare, to keep the framework in place and improve it with the best ideas from both parties. Richard Woolsey, Westlake Village Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook Kamala Harris works to forge relationship with Central Valley Sen @kamalaharris talking grapes with Fowler Packing Co president Dennis Parnagian in the fields outside metro Fresno pic.twitter.com/smVuRfbSpQ Cathleen Decker (@cathleendecker) July 5, 2017 The drought may be over in the minds of urban Californians, quite literally washed away by huge accumulations of rain last year that filled reservoirs and left the states mountains covered with snow even now. But the farmers and others in the Central Valley, veterans of multiple drought-and-flood cycles, know the reprieve is only temporary. On Wednesday they pressed new U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris to work to ensure a more reliable source of water for the nations most bountiful farming region. This area is drying on the vine, Ryan Jacobsen, executive director of the Fresno County Farm Bureau, told Harris during a roundtable with Central Valley officials. A long-term solution can only come through federal and state action to protect the areas water supply, he said. Jason Phillips, chief executive of the Friant Water Authority, said recent rainfall had done little to stem problems caused by nearly a decade of drought. A canal that runs from Fresno to north of Bakersfield sunk in some places as much as 2 feet in two years, he said, wreaking havoc on a system that operates on the force of gravity. We cannot get all the water to our growers, he said. The meeting between Harris and nearly two dozen agriculture and water officials was meant to ease what is typically a fraught relationship between the states Democratic leaders all of whose power bases are in metropolitan areas and the mostly Republican Central Valley powers that traditionally look at them with skepticism. Sen. Dianne Feinstein has worked for two decades to aid the agricultural industry at the roundtable, several nodded as Harris referred to the senior senator as an incredible warrior for the area. But Harris predecessor, former Sen. Barbara Boxer, was allied more with environmental groups that have fought dams and other water systems. As a result, she was viewed negatively by many here. Harris was intent Wednesday on persuading the Central Valley representatives of her interest in places beyond her base in Alameda and San Francisco counties. They, on the other hand, worked to convince her to be more in the Feinstein mold on issues important to the area from reliable water to immigration programs to environmental protections that take into consideration the areas needs. President Trump was highly popular in much of the Central Valley, apart from Fresno County, which leans Democratic because of its metropolitan shadings. But some issues important to the valley cut in politically unorthodox ways. Republicans here are more concerned than those elsewhere with passing a plan that would give legal status to immigrants, on whom agriculture depends. With undocumented workers worried about deportation, and the border tightening to those not yet here, the labor supply has already shrunk, farmers said. Theyre out there working, being productive people, said farmer Joe Del Bosque. They work hard for us, and we have nowhere to reach. Del Bosque said he recently held a training session for new workers. Of the 200 people who showed up, only a handful were born in the United States, he said. Environmental regulations prized by Democrats elsewhere are often frowned on by some party members here and blamed for the areas water difficulties. Several of the participants lobbied Harris for her support of dams that have long been under consideration by federal and state officials, particularly the Temperance Flat Dam, which would be constructed on the San Joaquin River. Harris offered no assurances on the topic to the group on Wednesday. Afterward, speaking to reporters, she also did not take a position. One of the things that were going to have to figure out ... is what is the right solution for that, she said of a plan to construct the Temperance Flat Dam and several others. Is it going to be about the building of dams? Is it also going to be about looking at also looking at other sources of renewable and sustainable reliable sources? Both sides signaled they did not expect an alliance on all fronts. But Harris said she would serve as an advocate for farmers during the crafting of a new farm bill and other measures before the Senate. William Bourdeau, executive vice president of the politically influential Harris Farms, told the senator he wished the majority of her supporters who reside in urban areas would have a better understanding of the risks and challenges of farming. We need somebody to explain the symbiotic relationship we have, he said. I agree with you completely, she replied. President Trump has decided to halt the CIAs years-long covert program to arm and train moderate Syrian rebels battling the regime of the nations president, Bashar Assad. Russia had long pushed the United States to end the program. The phasing-out of the secret program was reported by the Washington Post on Wednesday. Officials told the newspaper that ending the operation reflects Trumps interest in finding ways to work with Russia. The program was a key component begun by the Obama administration in 2013 to put pressure on Assad to relinquish power. But even its supporters have questioned its usefulness since Moscow sent forces in Syria two years later. Advertisement Russia long saw the anti-Assad program as an assault on its interests. Ending the plan, in addition to appeasing Russian President Vladimir Putin, is also an acknowledgment of the United States limited ability to remove Assad from power. White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders declined to comment on the reported end of the program and said she did not know if it was discussed during a pair of conversations including one just revealed on Tuesday that Trump had with Putin at an international summit earlier this month. The CIA declined comment on the report. The White House had previously condemned Assad and just three months ago Trump launched dozens of airstrikes against a Syrian air base after the United States accused the Syrian regime of using chemical weapons on its own people. After the Trump-Putin meeting, the United States and Russia announced an agreement to back a new cease-fire in southwest Syria, where many of the CIA-supported rebels have worked. Trump made the decision nearly a month ago, after an Oval Office meeting with national security advisor H.R. McMaster and CIA Director Mike Pompeo, according to the newspaper. And officials told the Post that the move to end the program to arm the anti-Assad rebels was not a condition of the cease-fire. Arizona Sen. John McCain, whose absence from Washington forced Republicans to abruptly cancel a vote on healthcare legislation, announced Wednesday night that he had been diagnosed with brain cancer. After a procedure Friday in Phoenix to remove a blood clot above his left eye, a pathology report revealed that a primary brain tumor known as a glioblastoma was associated with the blood clot, according to a statement issued by McCains Washington office. The senator and his family are reviewing further treatment options, the statement added, saying McCains underlying health is excellent. Advertisement Though no two cases are the same, glioblastoma an aggressive type of cancer can be difficult to treat, according to the website of the Mayo Clinic, which is overseeing McCains treatment. Surgeons can try to remove as much of a tumor as possible. But because glioblastoma grows into brain tissue, complete removal is impossible. Radiation and chemotherapy are common treatments. Median survival is 15 months, according to the American Brain Tumor Assn., although a 2009 study found that 1 in 10 patients can survive five years or longer. McCain, who turns 81 next month, is serving his sixth term in the Senate. His return to Washington is uncertain, pending further consultation with his doctors. His absence, however long, will greatly complicate the task facing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who was already struggling to push through an expansive agenda, including tax reform and the GOPs embattled healthcare overhaul. Without Arizonas senior senator on hand, there are just 51 Republicans in the Capitol the slimmest of majorities. In announcing the surgery to remove the blood clot last week, McCains office played down the procedure, describing it as a minimally invasive operation through an eyebrow incision. The clot was discovered, his office said, during an annual physical. The two-time presidential hopeful, who has a history of skin cancer and a number of permanent injuries from his 5 1/2-year captivity as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, has nevertheless been among the most vigorous members of Congress; a favorite hobby for the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman is flying to war zones and other world hot spots whenever the Senate takes a break. His absence derailed plans for a vote this week on Republican efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, which has been the GOPs top legislative and political priority for close to a decade. Without a unified GOP, McConnell was short of the 50 votes needed to bring the bill to the floor for debate, and last weekend announced an indefinite delay. The legislative effort subsequently collapsed when several Republican senators announced their opposition to the plan, which would make deep cuts in Medicaid and result in tens of millions of Americans going without health insurance. McCain was among those expressing concern about the draft legislation; Arizona has added hundreds of thousands to its insurance rolls as a result of Medicaids expanded coverage, and Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, among other critics, has stated his opposition to the GOPs legislation. In the statement from his office, McCain expressed gratitude for the outpouring of support since his initial diagnosis. He is in good spirits as he continues to recover at home with his family, the statement said. He is confident that any future treatment will be effective. His daughter Meghan issued her own comments on behalf of the family, saying, It wont surprise you to learn that in all this the one of us who is most confident and calm is my father. He is the toughest person I know. The cruelest enemy could not break him. Warm wishes came from across the political spectrum, reflecting the bipartisan regard and respect that McCain has engendered. President Trump said his family was praying for McCain and his family. Get well soon, the president said. Former President Obama, who bested McCain to win the White House in 2008, said: John McCain is an American hero & one of the bravest fighters Ive ever known. Cancer doesnt know what its up against. Give it hell, John. Former President Clinton wrote: As hes shown his entire life, dont bet against John McCain. Best wishes to him for a swift recovery. His wife, Hillary Clinton who forged an improbable friendship with McCain when she served as New Yorks Democratic senator added: John McCain is as tough as they come. Thinking of John, Cindy, their wonderful children & their whole family tonight. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, McCains 2008 running mate, wrote: John McCain is one tough fighter we know hell face this diagnosis with courage and strength. His fellow Arizona senator, Republican Jeff Flake, said, Tough diagnosis, but even tougher man. McCains diagnosis has an eerie parallel to 2009, when Democrats were battling to pass the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare as it has come to be known. In 2008, the bills foremost champion, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, was diagnosed with the same type of brain tumor. He died 15 months later, in August 2009, denying Democrats a key vote needed for passage of the legislation. Eventually, after Kennedys seat was filled by a Republican opponent of Obamacare, Democrats managed to pass the bill without a vote to spare. Times staff writer Michael Finnegan contributed to this report. ALSO Jeff Flake, up for reelection in 2018, will upset Arizona voters no matter how he votes on healthcare Supreme Court lets Trump administration reinstate travel ban restrictions on refugees but not on grandparents What you need to know about President Trumps voter fraud commission UPDATES: 7:50 p.m.: The article was updated throughout with new details. The article was originally published at 5:10 p.m. John McCain, with his short fuse and lashing tongue, is not always an easy man to like, or to get along with. The Arizona senator acknowledged as much in a wry tweet he dispatched Thursday morning candor and self-deprecation always being two of his strongest, most appealing suits. For the record: An earlier version of this article said Norman Ornstein was a congressional scholar at the Brookings Institution. He is with the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. I greatly appreciate the outpouring of support, McCain wrote, hours after revealing he had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer. Unfortunately for my sparring partners in Congress, Ill be back soon, so stand-by! Advertisement At a time of bone-deep political division, the two-time Republican presidential hopeful is a rare unifier. Conservative, temperamental, pugnacious, he nevertheless commands not just respect but a deep regard among Democrats, Republicans and the reporters who cover them. The bulletin on his health Wednesday night brought a flood of tributes and the sort of hopeful wishes to be expected from the White House and bipartisan leaders of Congress. More striking were the heartfelt paeans from his ideological opposites, like former Secretary of State and Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kerry, who said on Twitter, I love @SenJohnMcCain. Unbeatable, unbreakable. Katy Tur of NBC was among a number of reporters who shed any pretense of dispassion or disinterest, tweeting, Fight, John McCain. Fight. I love @SenJohnMcCain. Unbeatable, unbreakable. Former Secretary of State and Democratic Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts At a time most members of Congress come carefully bubble-wrapped and predictably rigid, McCain is neither. While fundamentally conservative, he has broken with fellow Republicans on immigration, climate change, gay rights enough times to have the maverick label practically stitched onto his shirtfront. Along the way, hes garnered allies and antagonists in both parties. Mainly, though, the 80-year-old McCain has been forgiven his trespasses, both personal and political, because of his extraordinary life story, an account filled with unimaginable strength and bravery. He is just a genuine figure and a great American hero, for all his warts and all the frustrations, said Norman Ornstein, a congressional scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, who has known McCain personally for more than three decades. Youre going to cut the guy a lot of slack because of what he went through. The story loses none of its power for its frequent telling: As a Navy pilot, he was shot down over Vietnam in October 1967, landing in a lake in the center of Hanoi, with a broken leg and two broken arms. He was a prize captive, the son of a famous American admiral, and the North Vietnamese sought to capitalize by offering him early release. It would have been a public relations coup, a seeming humanitarian gesture, but McCain refused; his release would have breached the military code of conduct that requires the release of POWs in the order they were captured. In all, McCain spent 5 years in captivity, enduring torture and long stretches in solitary confinement. He still bears the scars, both psychic and physical, including a limp and inability to raise his arms above his shoulders. His harrowing experience was recounted in TV ads, helping him win his first election to the House in 1982. But since then, after being elected to the Senate in 1986, he has come to be known in other ways. As a champion of campaign finance reform after being scolded for poor judgment in an influence peddling scandal as a leading expert on defense and foreign policy, as the ask-me-anything presidential candidate in 2000 who broke new ground for openness and accessibility. If his 2008 White House bid was less celebrated his selection of running mate Sarah Palin continues to confound many of his closest friends and political allies there is a stand-out moment that gained renewed currency in the moments and hours after he announced his cancer diagnosis. At an October rally in Minnesota, a woman rose from the audience and told McCain she could not trust his Democratic opponent, then-Sen. Barack Obama. I have read about him, he said. And hes not, hes not hes an Arab. McCain shook his head, took the microphone and gently corrected her. No, maam, he said. Hes a decent family man, a citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues, and thats what this campaign is all about. He went on. I admire Sen. Obama and his accomplishments; I will respect him. I want everyone to be respectful, and lets make sure we are. Because thats the way politics should be conducted in America. It was a show of grace and a sentiment all the more noteworthy in todays vicious political climate, as the warrior at dusk in the poignant words of McCains daughter, Meghan wages what may the final battle of a remarkable lifetime. mark.barabak@latimes.com @markzbarabak ALSO Sen. John McCain diagnosed with brain tumor after recent surgery Trump, reversing course, wants Senate Republicans to finish Obamacare replacement, but chances remain dim Jeff Flake, up for reelection in 2018, will upset Arizona voters no matter how he votes on healthcare Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) may have as much as $99 billion more to spend to woo GOP senators wary of the partys legislation rolling back the Affordable Care Act, according to a new report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. But it remains unclear if that will be enough to preserve health insurance protections for millions of Americans who stand to be affected by huge cuts in healthcare assistance in the Republican healthcare legislation. The GOP plan analyzed by the budget office one of multiple versions now being considered would still nearly double the number of people without health coverage over the next decade, pushing up the ranks of the uninsured by 22 million. Advertisement And it would increase costs for millions of sick and elderly Americans, the budget office estimates. Those costs could soar even further under another provision of the bill that would allow insurers to offer slimmed-down health plans that dont offer the basic set of health benefits including prescription drugs, maternity care and mental health services currently mandated by the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, That provision, sponsored by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), was not in the new analysis because the budget office needs more time to analyze it. The additional revenue is available because McConnells bill will now retain two taxes on high-income households that were included in Obamacare to help fund the coverage expansion. That increases the amount the plan would reduce the deficit from $321 billion in the original version of the Senate bill to $420 billion in the revised plan evaluated by the budget office . That was cheered by Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), whose office highlighted the increased savings. McConnell may use that money to provide additional assistance to states that could be hit particularly hard by huge cuts in Medicaid assistance in the GOP plan. But critics of the Senate Republican healthcare legislation noted that kind of limited aid could not replace the coverage system in the current healthcare law, which GOP plans call for cutting by more than $1 trillion over the next decade. The fact that Republican leaders are adding another fund on top of their $45 billion to address the opioid epidemic, unrealistic promises of federal waivers to use Medicaid funds to help cover people losing Medicaid coverage under the bill, and inadequate, poorly designed stabilization funds is more evidence that the Senate bill cant be fixed, noted Judy Solomon, vice president for health policy at the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The Medicaid cuts in the Senate legislation have fueled opposition from a number of GOP senators, including Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rob Portman of Ohio and Shelly Moore Capito of West Virginia. The new report comes a day after a separate budget office analysis concluded that McConnells other legislative option to repeal much of the Affordable Care Act without a replacement would leave 32 million more Americans without health insurance over the next decade. That plan, which could come up for a vote next week, would also double healthcare insurance premiums by 2026, budget analysts concluded. Obamacare vs. Trumpcare: A side-by-side comparison of the Affordable Care Act and the GOPs replacement plan Obamacare 101: A primer on key issues in the debate over repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act. noam.levey@latimes.com Twitter: @noamlevey UPDATES: 1:25 p.m.: This article was updated with additional reaction. This article was originally published at 10:05 a.m. President Trump resurrected his partys effort to replace the Affordable Care Act on Wednesday, a day after the Senate legislation collapsed, by abruptly reversing course to push Republican senators to work through their August recess until they pass something. Trumps attempt to inject fresh momentum into an effort that has split his party came as a surprise at a White House lunch for the senators, given his defiant statements on Tuesday that he would simply let Obamacare fail a stance that seemed to end the long-running GOP bid to undo his predecessors healthcare legacy. The presidents shift seemed a tacit acknowledgment of the political danger of walking away from a campaign promise hed made to repeal the law, just as Republicans had vowed for years before him. Yet he also seemed to grasp that simply letting the health insurance program unravel without a replacement was not politically sustainable, now that 20 million Americans depend on it for healthcare coverage. Advertisement For seven years you promised that you would repeal Obamacare, Trump chided senators as they sat down for lunch. Inaction is not an option. And frankly, I dont think we should leave town unless we have a health insurance plan, unless we can give our people great healthcare. Despite new interest from the president, who for months has done little to sell the legislation to members of Congress or the public generally, the chances of success remain dim. Although Trump repeatedly portrayed the Senate as close to reaching agreement, the 52 Republicans remain deeply divided over healthcare policy and can afford to lose just two votes given the united opposition of Senate Democrats. Top administration officials planned to meet with holdout senators late Wednesday to kick-start negotiations. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) insisted he would push forward with a vote next week to start the legislative debate, but it is not clear he will have the 50 votes needed to proceed. The inability to clear that hurdle stopped the bill this week. Several Republican senators had said they would vote against even proceeding to debate because they so objected to the legislation that McConnell had brokered behind closed doors. Most were unwilling to simply repeal Obamacare but could not agree with colleagues on alternatives for replacing it. McConnell, backed by the White House, argued that Republicans had no chance to keep their campaign promise if they didnt at least start the debate process. He promised that senators would have ample opportunity to offer amendments and shape the final product. Its pretty obvious that weve had difficulty getting 50 votes to proceed, McConnell said after the lunch meeting. But we cannot have a debate until we get on the bill. Or as White House legislative director Marc Short put it: Its a little bit like Leslie Nielsen in Naked Gun, with an explosion behind you, saying, Theres nothing to see here. If youre not willing to move to proceed, Short added, youre basically acknowledging theres nothing wrong, that Obamacare is fine. Senators emerged from the White House luncheon seemingly upbeat, but also skeptical that their differences could be resolved in the days ahead. Conservatives want to fully end the Affordable Care Act, while more centrist senators want to preserve aspects of the law, including its Medicaid expansion in their states. Republican governors are among the most powerful critics of the overhaul effort in Congress, and key senators, including Dean Heller of Nevada and Rob Portman of Ohio, are not likely to part ways with governors from their own party who have been among the most vocal. Were just going to continue discussions, Heller told reporters at the Capitol. Trump used a familiar approach with senators mixing friendly banter with pointed jibes. At one point, Trump singled out Heller, who was seated to his immediate right at the table and is considered the most endangered Republican senator facing reelection in 2018. The president awkwardly implied Heller could lose his job unless he backed the Obamacare repeal. He wants to remain a senator doesnt he? Trump said, prompting a game smile from Heller. But for Heller, and others, keeping aspects of the Affordable Care Act in place may be the more politically viable route to reelection in states like his with many beneficiaries. The Republican legislation would cause a projected 22 million Americans to lose insurance coverage. Simply repealing Obamacare without a replacement would leave 32 million Americans without insurance and also cause premiums to double by 2026, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said in an updated reported on Wednesday. The White House encouraged senators to let the administration know what changes would be needed to win their support. By retaining some of the Obamacare taxes on high-income earners, the Republican bill would preserve revenue that could be used to shore up coverage. Were going to spend some more money to make sure everybody is protected, Trump said. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has emerged as a key architect of the replacement plan with a provision that would allow insurers to offer cheaper, skimpier policies. That won over some Republicans who believe it would lower premium costs for consumers. But others doubt the bare-bones policies would offer adequate coverage, and the insurance industry has pronounced the idea unworkable. Some Republicans touted a new administration report purporting to show that health insurance premiums would go down, and insurance coverage up, under the Senate GOP approach contrary to the Congressional Budget Offices findings. But the report was widely criticized by independent experts who pointed out numerous flaws in its methodology. We came from that meeting with a renewed commitment to keep working, keep negotiating, to get to yes, Cruz said afterward. In my view, failure is not an option. Whether Trumps revived interest in healthcare will provide the push needed to reach consensus remains uncertain, in part because of the presidents own widely shifting views. I dont know that lunch with 50 or 60 elected officials gets you very far, said former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a Trump ally. McConnell had already announced that senators had to forfeit the first two weeks of what was to have been the traditional August recess. Most Americans say they want Republicans and Democrats to work together to fix Obamacare, rather than repeal it. But that bipartisan approach did not appear to be on the lunch menu at the White House. With reporters and cameras briefly in the State Dining Room, Trump repeatedly said that President Obama had lied about his signature domestic initiative as Obama worked in 2010 for its passage. Trump also dismissed congressional Democrats as disinterested in working on solutions, though Democratic leaders have repeatedly called on Republicans to work with them to improve the ACA, not repeal it. Republican senators seemed relieved that Trump had backed off, for now, on his intent to simply let Obamacare fail. Its not the responsible thing to do, said Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who is among the conservatives who have objected to the initial Senate bill. I think people realize we have to get to a result, because this is what we promised. Times staff writer Noam N. Levey in Washington contributed to this report. lisa.mascaro@latimes.com @LisaMascaro Noah.Bierman@latimes.com @NoahBierman ALSO Most Americans and many GOP senators want a bipartisan approach to fix Obamacare. Will Republicans reach across the aisle? Two more Republican senators announce opposition to healthcare bill, dooming latest GOP plan With a push from Trump, House Republicans pass Obamacare overhaul More coverage of Congress More coverage of politics and the White House One particular message to the agriculture industry was simple: You want Gov. Jerry Brown to be a friend or an enemy the rest of his term? Friends will support his climate change legislation, it was made clear. To business leaders: This legislation provides tax and regulatory breaks that youve long sought. Grab them now or forget it. Advertisement To agriculture and business: You dont like this cap-and-trade program? Wait until you see what replaces it if its not extended. Browns hardball messages, his willingness to compromise and personal dealings with lawmakers were persuasive enough for him to win arguably his biggest legislative victory as governor. It was a model of how to finesse controversial bills through a Legislature. And it stood in stark contrast to the bumbling weve been watching in the White House and Congress, most notably the failed, humiliating efforts on healthcare. Negotiating disputed legislation when a supermajority vote is needed takes persistence, a willingness to give and the knowledge of when to draw the line. Cajoling and coercion. Neither the left nor the right can get everything they want. Preachers can demand purity, but its a losing cause for politicians. Purity isnt possible in a legislative brawl. One example: Pope Francis is a climate change purist. Cap and trade is bad, in his mind. In no way does it allow for the radical change which circumstances require to slow global warming, he wrote in 2015. Rather, it may simply become a ploy which permits maintaining the excessive consumption of some countries and sectors. But Francis doesnt have a vote in the Legislature. And neither do enough environmental purists to have their way. The merits of Browns cap-and-trade legislation are not the point here. Many Republican conservatives complain that its just another tax hike on consumers. Democratic liberals grouse about a giveaway to big oil. Supporters the vast majority of legislators proudly proclaim that California is showing the world how to save the planet. All that is irrelevant to the point. The point is that we just witnessed how complex, contentious legislation is passed how politicians can avoid gridlock, do something and not just whine. Perhaps part of the credit should go to two political reforms that California voters approved several years ago and are starting to have a moderating affect on legislators. One reform was the elimination of partisan gerrymandering of legislative districts. The other was the open primary that allows voters to choose any candidate, regardless of party. Unfortunately, partisan redistricting and closed primaries still dominate most of the nations congressional districts. What Californias big vote on climate change policies means for you>> The cap-and-trade legislation extends Californias climate change program until 2030. It was slated to expire in 2020. A cap is imposed on an industrys greenhouse gas emissions. But companies can buy extra permits to pollute from the state or private parties. The caps are gradually lowered and emissions, theoretically, are reduced. The dilemma for polluters is that Brown and the Legislature last year set a new target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40% under 1990 levels. The target is supposed to be reached by 2030. The old target was the 1990 level by 2020, and it has already been almost achieved. The trade feature provides polluters with options and flexibility they wouldnt have if the state just set a cap. Cap and trade, said Assembly Republican Leader Chad Mayes of Yucca Valley, is better than Soviet-style command and control. Markets are better than the government coercing people into doing things they dont want to do. Updates from Sacramento Mayes and six other Assembly Republicans supported the legislation, but 18 opposed it. So it could cost Mayes his minority leadership position, which isnt worth much anyway. The GOP is relevant in Sacramento only when a supermajority vote is needed, such as with cap and trade. The state Chamber of Commerce and other business interests strongly supported Browns legislation for the same reasons Mayes did. Much of agriculture also backed it. Brown and his negotiators reminded ag interests that they produce a lot of dirty air in the San Joaquin Valley methane from dairy cows, pollution from food processing and are going to need to clean it up in the future. Theyll be looking for state help, principally money, maybe cap-and-trade bucks. You can make a friend of the governor or an enemy of the governor, they were told, according to one insider. Dont shoot yourselves in the foot. Youre going to want the governor to look favorably on you in the next year or two. Eight Republicans backed Jerry Browns climate change bill heres what that means for their political futures>> Republican Assemblyman Devon Mathis of Visalia, whose district is dominated by agriculture, said he didnt like cap and trade but the alternative was worse. All of agriculture is saying we need this, he told me. Brown sweetened the deal for many rural legislators by scuttling a hated fire prevention fee that hits 800,000 landowners. For business, he extended a manufacturers sales tax break until 2030, eliminated a sales tax on renewable energy equipment purchased by power companies and limited regulation of oil refineries. The wheeling-dealing governor also backed a separate bill to help poor communities clean up their air. And he supported a proposed constitutional amendment that would require a supermajority legislative vote in 2024 to reestablish spending of cap-and-trade revenue. That could jeopardize funding for his bullet train, if its still chugging along. Given political realities, it seems a pretty good compromise and a guideline for success that should be studied in the White House. george.skelton@latimes.com Follow @LATimesSkelton on Twitter ALSO As cap-and-trade evangelist, Gov. Brown shows hes the most effective politician Sacramento has seen in a long time Our current bail system is indefensible, but the bill that aims to fix it needs work AT&T and Verizon want free rein to put new wireless transmitters in your neighborhood. Heres why thats a bad idea Trump called him my African-American. But he has few kind words for the president. By Mark Z. Barabak (Mark Z. Barabak/Los Angeles Times) On the day that changed his life, Gregory Cheadle almost stayed in bed. He was tired he traveled a lot in his long-shot bid for Congress but asked himself: How often does a candidate for president come to the far reaches of Northern California? And why pass up a crowd and the chance to hand out more fliers? So Cheadle roused himself that June 2016 morning and secured a spot up close when Donald Trump swooped in for a rally at Reddings municipal airport. It was hot, the atmosphere was loose and Trumps patter seeming more stand-up comedy than campaign spiel. He went into one of those sidelong digressions, about protesters and an African American great fan, great guy and, by the way, whatever happened to him? It was then, Cheadle said, he raised his hand and jokingly shouted, Im here. Trump looked and pointed, his voice a throaty rumble. Look at my African-American over here! he exclaimed. Are you the greatest? In the days and weeks that followed Cheadle was attacked on social media and harassed by people who dug up his phone number and email address. For a time he stayed home, too nervous to venture outside. All, he said, because the media portrayed him as something he was not and never has been: a Trump sycophant. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump quietly signs Russia sanctions bill By Noah Bierman President Trump quietly signed legislation Wednesday that imposes new sanctions on Russia and limits his ability to remove them, according to two White House aides. Trump signed the bill without cameras or an immediate press release. He had opposed imposing new sanctions on Moscow but had little choice after a nearly unanimous Congress approved the bill, guaranteeing they would override a veto. The bill, which also imposes new sanctions on Iran and North Korea, prevents American companies from investing in many energy projects that are funded by Russian government interests. It also prevents Trump from unilaterally lifting the sanctions. It thus marked an unusual move by Congress to tie the presidents hands on foreign policy. Trump did not want to give up that leverage. But the vote in Congress was a strong sign that lawmakers do not trust Trump to stand up to Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom Trump has repeatedly praised, and the widening federal investigation into possible coordination last year between his presidential campaign and Moscow. Passage of the sanctions bill already has sparked a harsh reaction in Moscow. Putin announced last week that the United States would need to shed 755 personnel, including U.S. diplomats, from its embassy and consulates in Russia. President Obama expelled 35 Russian diplomats, said to be spies, from the United States last December. A White House aide said a statement would be issued later Wednesday. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Senior GOP senators serve notice: No action on healthcare at this point By David Lauter Trump administration officials continue to push the Senate to take another run at healthcare legislation, but on Monday senior Republican senators pushed back, making clear that theyre done with the topic for now. Theres just too much animosity and were too divided on healthcare, Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), the head of the Senate Finance Committee, said in an interview with Reuters. I think we ought to acknowledge that we can come back to healthcare afterward, but we need to move ahead on tax reform, Hatch said. His remarks were quickly followed by others in GOP leadership positions. I think its time to move on to something else, Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri told CNN. If the question is do I think we should stay on healthcare until we get it done, I think its time to move on to something else. Sen. John Thune of South Dakota also chimed in. Until someone shows us how to get that elusive 50th vote, I think its over, he told reporters. The remarks seemed a coordinated effort to respond to administration officials, including budget director Mick Mulvaney and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, who said over the weekend that they wanted the Senate to keep working on healthcare. Last week, the Senate defeated several different Republican plans to repeal all or part of the Affordable Care Act. The votes made it clear that with unified Democratic opposition to repeal, and divisions among Republicans, the campaign to overturn the law has stalled out, at least for now. Congress faces several other pressing issues that will be demanding lawmakers attention, including deadlines at the end of September to raise the federal debt ceiling and fund government agencies for the coming fiscal year. And the administration is eager to move on tax proposals, with officials rather optimistically saying they hope to see votes by November on a tax package that is not yet written. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Good news for Atty. Gen. Sessions: Trump has 100% confidence in Cabinet By Noah Bierman To Q re Sessions, spox Sanders says Trump has 100% confidence in Cabinet. Last wk she wouldn't say if he had it in Sessions. Kelly effect? Jackie Calmes (@jackiekcalmes) July 31, 2017 President Trump has called Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions beleaguered and even VERY weak, but Sessions seemed to get good news from the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, on Monday. Trump has 100% confidence in all of his Cabinet secretaries, Sanders said in response to a question about Sessions job status during the daily White House briefing. Last week, when speculation about Sessions was rife, Sanders repeatedly declined opportunities to provide assurances that the attorney general enjoyed the presidents full confidence. Trump himself said time will tell when he was asked last week about Sessions. The willingness to tamp down speculation about Sessions may reflect the arrival Monday of retired Gen. John F. Kelly as the new White House chief of staff. He is tasked with restoring order to the administration. Sanders also batted down reports that the White House was discussing moving Sessions to another post, as secretary of Homeland Security. That job became vacant Monday after Kelly was sworn in as Trumps new chief of staff. Sanders said the White House has had no conversations about any Cabinet members switching jobs. Republican senators have publicly opposed firing Sessions, and a couple have objected to shifting him to another post as well, given that it could appear that Trump is trying to affect the investigations of himself and his campaign in the context of Russias election interference. Trump has said publicly that his frustration with Sessions, once among his closest allies, stems from Sessions decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation, an act that led to the appointment of a special counsel. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Can Trump really cut health insurance payments for members of Congress and their staff? It would be easy By Lisa Mascaro Reeling from the failure to repeal the Affordable Care Act, President Trump now threatens to block federal funding that lawmakers and their staff rely on to help buy health insurance. Trumps threats are not empty. The administration could simply stop the payments -- which are provided to Capitol Hill lawmakers and staff much the way many employers help pay employees monthly insurance premiums -- by dashing off new federal regulation. But the easy attack on lawmakers skims over what many say was a complicated, but fair-minded, compromise made during the Obamacare debates several years ago. Under Obamacare, if lawmakers want insurance through their employer - the federal government - they are required to buy policies through the ACA exchanges. There had been great criticism at the time, largely from opponents of the healthcare bill, that lawmakers and congressional staff should not be exempt from the law. The argument was they should have to live under it. So they did. Usually those buying individual insurance on the exchanges can apply to see if their income and geographic area allow them to qualify for a federal subsidy. For lawmakers, though, that was prohibited. Instead, they get the regular employer contribution they did before, much in the same way other workers do when their companies buy insurance. For federal workers, the government covers about 70% of the costs, about the same paid by employers in the private sector, according to Kaiser Family Foundation. The administration affirmed that federal support for lawmakers and their staffs in an Office of Personnel Management regulation issued in 2013. To cut those funds off, Trump administration could simply reverse course, and issue another regulation changing the rules. Trump appeared ready to do so in a series of weekend tweets. Why should Congress not be paying what public pays, Trump tweeted over the weekend. If a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will end very soon. But such a move would likely cause an uproar in Congress. Its not just members of Congress, but also their staffs, who would have to pay full price for their insurance. Stopping Trumps action, though, seems tough. It would require Congress to pass legislation ensuring the federal payments would continue to be made. Few lawmakers would likely take up that cause. And even if Congress were able to pass a bill protecting the payments, it seems doubtful Trump at this point would sign it into law. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print U.S. hits Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro with sanctions By Associated Press Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro celebrates the results of Sundays election in Caracas. (Ronaldo Schemidt / AFP/Getty Images) The Trump administration has hit Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro with financial sanctions. The move comes after Venezuela held a weekend election that will give Maduros ruling party virtually unlimited power in the South American country. The Treasury Departments Office of Foreign Assets Control announced the sanctions against Maduro in a brief statement on Monday, a day after the Venezuelan vote to elect a constituent assembly that will rewrite the constitution. A longer explanation from the White House was also expected. The administration imposed sanctions on more than a dozen senior current and former Venezuelan officials last week, warning the socialist government that new penalties would come if Maduro went ahead with Sundays election for the assembly. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Anthony Scaramucci is out as White House communications director By Brian Bennett Anthony Scaramucci, the brash New Yorker who was announced little more than a week ago as President Trumps White House communications director, was ousted Monday before he had even officially taken the job. John F. Kelly, the newly sworn-in White House chief of staff, told Scaramucci around 9:30 a.m. EDT that he was going to be replaced, according to a person close to White House. In a statement officially announcing the move, the White House said Scaramucci felt it was best to give Chief of Staff John Kelly a clean slate and the ability to build his own team. While Scaramuccis time at the center of the presidents circle was short, it was consequential, prompting the resignations of first Sean Spicer as White House press secretary and then Reince Priebus as chief of staff. The most notable firings and resignations in the Trump administration >> A former hedge fund executive on Wall Street, Scaramucci, who enjoyed media attention, also had come on strong stylistically, highlighted by a profane tirade against colleagues Priebus and Trump strategist Steve Bannon in an exchange last week with a New Yorker reporter. The abrupt shift in Scaramuccis status seemed to reflect Kellys mission to bring order to the chain of command within the chaotic administration. In getting Scaramucci to leave, Kelly was undoing Trumps own hiring decision. Scaramucci had told reporters when he was hired that he would be reporting directly to the president at Trumps request, bypassing the normal chain that would have the communications director -- like all staff -- report to the chief of staff. Scaramuccis unusually short tenure reflects a moment of extreme turbulence in the White House, which has been embroiled in infighting as it confronts low poll numbers for the president, a floundering legislative agenda and the investigations involving Russian meddling in last years presidential election. After word spread of Scaramuccis ouster, Spicer, who resigned when Scaramucci took over but was still working in the White House, walked out of his office to a throng of reporters. Is this a surprise party? he asked. UPDATE 12:15 p.m.: This story has been updated throughout with additional details and background. This article was originally published at 11:49 a.m. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump swears in John Kelly, says ex-secretary of Homeland Security will do an even better job as chief of staff By Noah Bierman President Trump swore in his new chief of staff, John F. Kelly, on Monday morning, formalizing a shake-up in his top ranks that was announced Friday evening with word of the resignation of Reince Priebus. We look forward to - if its possible - an even better job as chief of staff, Trump said to Kelly, formerly the secretary of homeland security. Ill try, sir, Kelly replied. JOHN KELLY is now chief of staff. Sworn in during ceremony in Oval Office minutes ago. pic.twitter.com/dMEQ4rhpFA Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) July 31, 2017 Trump is hoping that Kelly, a retired general, will retool and bring order to a White House that has struggled with low poll numbers, staff infighting, a faltering legislative agenda and an investigation into Russian election meddling and potential collusion and obstruction of justice. Yet Trump said the administration has done very well after a reporter asked what would be different under Kelly. He cited the unemployment rate, the thriving stock market and unnamed polls that, he said, show high business confidence. Were doing very well. We have a tremendous base, he said.The country is optimistic. And I think the general will just add to it. Trump praised Kellys performance at the Department of Homeland Security, where Kelly focused on immigration issues at the southern border, as record-shattering, with very little controversy. There was no word on whom the president might name to replace Kelly at the department. Trump reportedly has considered moving Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions there from the Justice Department, reflecting his unhappiness with the attorney general, but Republican senators preemptively have signaled their opposition to such a move. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Risky investigation, stalled agenda Trumps in trouble, so heres his strategy By Noah Bierman (Spencer Platt / Getty Images) Hosts of Southern Californias Morning Answer radio show were wrapping up a two-hour live broadcast from a white tent just outside the West Wing last week and marveling at their access to Cabinet secretaries and prominent administration figures. If youre a Trumpkin, host Brian Whitman told his listeners on AM 870, this is like fantasy camp. The White Houses daylong hospitality for Salem Radio Network, a nationwide chain of Christian and conservative stations, underscored President Trumps continued courtship of and increased dependence on core supporters as he confronts a stalled agenda and increasingly perilous investigations into whether his campaign colluded with Russia and he subsequently sought to obstruct the inquiries. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Obamacare vote isnt the only sign of GOP resistance to Trump By Noah Bierman In the year since Donald Trump won the Republican presidential nomination, party leaders have been reluctant to challenge a man who has formed a tight bond with conservative voters, even when he upset party orthodoxies and norms of presidential behavior. But that reticence is breaking down. A convergence of contentious issues, as well as embarrassing infighting and shake-ups at the White House, have a number of Republicans suddenly in open resistance to Trump on a number of fronts. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump ousts Reince Priebus as chief of staff in latest White House shake-up By Noah Bierman John Kelly (Susan Walsh / Associated Press) President Trump ousted his beleaguered chief of staff, Reince Priebus, naming Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly to replace him Friday in the latest White House shake-up as the administration struggles to emerge from bitter staff infighting and a stalled legislative agenda. Trump announced the abrupt reshuffle in three posts on Twitter hours after the Senate killed his latest plans to rewrite President Obamas signature healthcare law, dealing another harsh blow to the White House. The tweets, sent as Trump was returning on Air Force One with Priebus after a speech on gang violence in New York, caught Capitol Hill and others off guard even though Priebus stature in Trumps inner circle has been in sharp decline for some time. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Putins spokesman accuses U.S. of political schizophrenia By Associated Press Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a meeting in Moscow on June 21. (Sergei Karpukhin / EPA) Russia urged the United States on Monday to show political will to mend ties even as it ordered sweeping cuts of U.S. embassy personnel unseen since Cold War times. President Vladimir Putins spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said it will take time for the U.S. to recover from what he called political schizophrenia, but added that Russia remains interested in constructive cooperation with the U.S. We are interested in a steady development of our ties and are sorry to note that we are still far from that, he said. Peskovs statement followed Sundays televised comments by Putin, who said the U.S. would have to cut 755 of its embassy and consulate staff in Russia, a massive reduction he described as a response to new U.S. sanctions. The Russian Foreign Ministry had previously said that the U.S. should cut its embassy and consular employees to 455, the number that Russia has in the United States. Along with the caps on embassy personnel announced Friday, it also declared the closure of a U.S. recreational retreat on the outskirts of Moscow and warehouse facilities. Moscows action is the long-expected tit-for-tat response to former President Obamas move to expel 35 Russian diplomats and shut down two Russian recreational retreats in the U.S. over reports of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print White House urged to refrain from Obamacare sabotage as Trump mulls subsidy cutoff By Laura King A pair of prominent lawmakers urged President Trump on Sunday not to sabotage the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, in the wake of failed Republican efforts to scrap his predecessors signature legislative achievement. But Trump urged GOP senators to try again to push through some version of repealing and replacing the law, even though Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said last week it was time to move on to other matters. Trump senior advisor Kellyanne Conway said the president would decide in coming days whether to block subsidies that are a crucial component of the existing healthcare law. Hes going to make that decision this week, and thats a decision that only he can make, Conway said on Fox News Sunday. Two of the lawmakers who blocked the Senate GOP repeal plan last week, however, criticized the administrations continued efforts to overturn the law. Sen. Susan Collins, the Maine Republican who steadfastly rejected a series of GOP healthcare measures last week, blamed the Trump administration for encouraging instability in the insurance markets by continuing the uncertainty over whether the subsidies cost-sharing payments that reduce out-of-pocket healthcare costs for poorer Americans would continue. Im troubled by the uncertainty that has been created by the administration, Collins said on NBCs Meet the Press. She contested Trumps characterization of the payments as an insurance company bailout. Thats not what it is, she said, calling the reduction payments vital assistance to low-income Americans. And Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said further action on healthcare should be done in a bipartisan manner and not rushed. You cannot do major entitlement reform singlehandedly, and you wouldnt do major legislative initiatives singlehandedly, she told reporters in Alaska. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) echoed Collins criticism of Trumps threat to stop making the cost-sharing payments. You know, I really think its incomprehensible that we have a president of the United States who wants to sabotage healthcare in America, make life more difficult for millions of people who are struggling now to get the health insurance they need and to pay for that health insurance, he said on CNNs State of the Union. Prior to heading out for a day at his Virginia golf property, Trump tweeted that Republican senators should press ahead with efforts to scrap Obamacare -- a day after he tauntingly exhorted them not to be quitters in the quest for a legislative victory for him. Don't give up Republican Senators, the World is watching: Repeal & Replace...and go to 51 votes (nuke option), get Cross State Lines & more. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 30, 2017 The White House budget director, Mick Mulvaney, on CNNs State of the Union, said it was official Trump administration policy that the Senate should keep working to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, eschewing an August recess if necessary. Senators, he said, need to stay, they need to work -- they need to pass something. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, while acknowledging a responsibility to follow the law -- Obamacare -- also signaled that Trump was not accepting defeat in efforts to get rid of the measure. Our goalas well as the presidents goal, is to put in place a law, a system, that actually works for patients, he said on Meet the Press, adding, You cant do that under the current structure. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Frustrated in defeat, Trump threatens healthcare of voters and lawmakers By Joseph Tanfani Frustrated by the failure of the Obamacare repeal in the Senate, President Trump on Saturday threatened to end federal subsidies for healthcare insurance for Congress as well as the rest of the country. After seven years of "talking" Repeal & Replace, the people of our great country are still being forced to live with imploding ObamaCare! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2017 If a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will end very soon! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2017 If a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will end very soon! Trump tweeted, fuming about Congress failure to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which he said was imploding. Such a move could cause havoc and much higher premiums in insurance markets, since many low- and moderate-income people depend on those subsidies to help cover the cost of their policies. Through a series of administrative maneuvers by Congress and the Obama administration, members and their staffs also benefit from those subsidies. Targeting congressional healthcare might score Trump some populist points with his base, but it would likely come at a cost of poisoning his relationship with Congress. Just making the threat on Saturday highlights how far things have eroded between Trump and top GOP lawmakers. And it comes a day after Trump pushed out former Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, an establishment Republican who was the GOP congressional leaderships trusted liaison in the White House. Trump actually has a jarring amount of leverage over thousands of congressional staff who depend on employer health care contribution. https://t.co/lRPmrmDIJs Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) July 29, 2017 Trumps longstanding threat to let the health insurance plans fail would come with its own political price. The federal government sends about $600 million a month to insurance companies to help cover the cost, and Trump is threatening to cut that off to allow Obamacare markets to collapse. His goal is to pressure Congress to send him a repeal bill, but so far the strategy has failed. The confidence Trump has expressed that if he followed through with the threat the fallout would land not on him but on Democrats, because they created Obamacare, is not widely shared in Washington. If health care collapses, voters will blame Trump and the GOP. That's what happens when you control the White House and Congress. pic.twitter.com/iEjEGyapAL Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) July 29, 2017 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Iran condemns new U.S. sanctions, vows to pursue missile program By Ramin Mostaghim Iran defied Washington and condemned new U.S. sanctions over its development of missiles capable of being armed with nuclear warheads. We will continue with full power our missile program, Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi told state television IRIB on Saturday, dismissing new sanctions passed by Congress last week as, hostile, reprehensible and unacceptable. Its ultimately an effort to weaken the nuclear deal, Ghasemi said, adding, The military and missile fields are our domestic policies and others have no right to intervene or comment on them. Iran had agreed to limit its nuclear activities under the 2015 agreement with the U.S. and other world powers in exchange for sanctions relief. Ghasemi argued Saturday that the U.S. had violated that agreement by linking the missile program to the nuclear deal and restricting Iranian banking activities in the U.S. He argued that Irans latest missile tests dont break the agreement because the weapons are defensive. The new wave of pressure on missile projects in Iran will push the Islamic theocracy into a corner, predicted Iran analyst Hojjat Kalashi in Tehran, noting that the government of President Hassan Rouhani, who was reelected in May, is coping with an economic downturn and may step back from the compromise nuclear deal. The new Iran sanctions bill, which also targets Russia and North Korea, was passed by the House and Senate this week. It would penalize those involved in Irans ballistic missile program as well as those who do business with them, impose an arms embargo on Iran and label its Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps a terrorist group. White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders has said President Trump will sign the bill. On Friday, the U.S. was joined by Britain, France and Germany in condemning Irans recent launch of a satellite-carrying rocket and warned that it violated a United Nations resolution implementing the 2015 nuclear deal. In a joint statement, they urged Iran to stop developing missiles and rockets capable of carrying nuclear warheads that have a destabilizing impact on the region. In response to a rocket launch Thursday, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on subsidiaries of an Iranian company involved in Tehrans ballistic missile program. But Nader Karimi Juni, an analyst close to Rouhanis government, said Iranian leaders dont believe the U.N. and European powers will ultimately back the U.S., and so Iran will not compromise on missile projects and will remain defiant. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump jabs U.S. mayors, who push back, calling president out of touch with cities By Kurtis Lee (Spencer Platt / Getty Images) President Trump wants police to know that he not mayors has their back. Ive met police that are great police that arent allowed to do their job because they have a pathetic mayor or a mayor that doesnt know whats going on, Trump said Friday in a speech before police officers in Brentwood, N.Y. The comments from Trump, who in his address highlighted crime in cities like Chicago and Los Angeles, drew applause from some in attendance. In a statement following Trumps remarks, the United States Conference of Mayors, a bipartisan group, released a statement pushing back against the president. The presidents comments today prove how out of touch he is with the realities of life in American cities. Mayors number one priority is and always will be the safety and protection of their residents, said New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, the groups president. There is no daylight between the mayors of our cities and the uniformed officers who work tirelessly to keep us safe every single day. During the speech Trump called on police and immigration officials to be rough with suspected gang members in cities nationwide. In a recent interview with The Times, former New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who recently launched a $200-million initiative to empower city governments and mayors, stressed the key to good governing is experience as a manager something, he said, Trump was not. Bloomberg added that the mayors are much more in tune with the needs of residents than the federal government. You got to remember a mayor and the local city council are much closer to the public than the governor and the state legislature, or the president and the federal legislature. So if the public is in favor of something, the local officials know it and they get held responsible, he said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print The growing parade of exits under Trump administration By Len de Groot A lot of people have left President Trumps early administration Chief of Staff Reince Priebus was replaced Friday. The White House communications department has been the scene of many of the recent turnovers as it wrestles to craft a message sometimes at odds with Trumps frequent tweeting. At the National Security Council, there has been a leadership struggle since Michael Flynn resigned in the face of pressure over undisclosed contacts with Russia. One appointee was fired over comments he made at a private function. Others have been removed as Flynns successor, H.R. McMaster, has moved to add loyalists to the council. Here are the most noteworthy departures: Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump urges officers and immigration officials to be rough on animals terrorizing U.S. neighborhoods By Barbara Demick ( (Evan Vucci / Associated Press)) President Trump on Friday called for police and immigration officials to be rough with suspected gang members in order to rid the country of animals he said are terrorizing communities. Please dont be too nice, Trump told police recruits at Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood, a heavily Latino suburb of New York City. Like when you guys put somebody in the car and youre protecting their head, you know the way you put the hand like, dont hit their head, and theyve just killed somebody? You can take the hand away. He implied that he was satisfied with rough handling of suspects by the police. When you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon you just see them thrown in, rough, he said. Scoffing at calls for what he describes as political correctness, Trump also renewed his pledges to build a wall along the Mexican border. He accused the Obama administration of admitting criminals into the United States. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Analysis: In a Washington run by men, two overshadowed Republican women make their point on healthcare By Cathleen Decker In a Washington that has grown demonstrably more testosterone-fueled since President Trumps inauguration, it took two Republican women to secure the end of a long effort to repeal and replace Obamacare. They were the same two women Maine Sen. Susan Collins and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski who had been excluded from the 13-member working group drafting the Republican bills. Nobodys being excluded based upon gender. Everybodys at the table, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had said of his all-white-males group. In the early hours of Friday, the duo was overshadowed by the more dramatic and unexpected no vote from Sen. John McCain of Arizona. There was reason for the attention lavished on McCain a war hero and veteran senator returns to the Capitol days after a dire cancer diagnosis. But without both Collins and Murkowskis steadfast opposition, his vote would have been meaningless. Also largely overlooked: Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono, a Democrat who like McCain made an arduous trip to Washington despite her recent diagnosis of late-stage kidney cancer. Social media buzzed Friday with praise for the women senators from many fronts, including from men. But from many women, there was also a sense of familiarity at being ignored or taken for granted. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Clinton Foundation donor who was denied a visa settles leak case against the U.S. By Joseph Tanfani A billionaire Nigerian businessman and major Clinton Foundation donor banned from entering the U.S. two years ago on terrorism grounds has settled a lawsuit against the U.S. government. Gilbert Chagoury last year sued the FBI and other government agencies in U.S. District Court in Washington, saying he had been damaged by what he described as improper government leaks to the Los Angeles Times. The Times reported last year that Chagoury had been denied a visa to travel to the U.S. in 2015 on suspicion that he had provided aid to terrorist groups. One document, citing unverified information from an unnamed source, said that Chagoury who is of Lebanese heritage had funneled funds to Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia and political group designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. Chagoury, an ardent Lakers fan who for decades lived part of the year in Los Angeles, angrily denied that he ever provided funds for terrorism. He said the publicity forced him to sell his Beverly Hills mansion at a loss and caused a bank to close his account. A philanthropist, Vatican ambassador and longtime friend of Bill Clinton, Chagoury once was invited to the White House after contributing to a Democratic get-out-the-vote campaign. He donated at least $1 million to the Clinton Foundation. Emails released last year showed that a Bill Clinton aide pushed Hillary Clintons aides at the State Department to get Chagoury access to top U.S. diplomats. In the settlement filed in court on Friday, the Justice Department said Chagoury has never appeared on the list of Specially Designated Nationals, figures such as terrorists and narcotics traffickers who are generally barred from doing business in the U.S. The government did not grant Chagourys request for a court hearing to dispute the reports that led to his exclusion from the U.S. As I have often said, I have loved America my whole life because it was the land of freedom and justice, he said in a statement, adding that he hopes the agreement will help repair his reputation. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Chagoury, who lives most of the time in Paris, has not applied for another visa, said his spokesman, Mark Corallo. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump ousts Priebus, announces John Kelly as new chief of staff President Trump announced via Twitter on Friday that he had named retired Gen. John Kelly, head of the Department of Homeland Security, as White House chief of staff, replacing Reince Priebus. I am pleased to inform you that I have just named General/Secretary John F Kelly as White House Chief of Staff. He is a Great American.... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2017 ...and a Great Leader. John has also done a spectacular job at Homeland Security. He has been a true star of my Administration Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2017 I would like to thank Reince Priebus for his service and dedication to his country. We accomplished a lot together and I am proud of him! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2017 Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Rep. John Delaney of Maryland to run for president By Associated Press Rep. John Delaney of Maryland says hes running for president, instead of governor or reelection, in 2018. Delaney, a Democrat, announced his plans in a statement Friday. The politically moderate banking entrepreneur is in his third term in Marylands 6th Congressional District, which includes western Maryland and a large section of Montgomery County, the states largest county. The 54-year-old is worth roughly $90 million and is one of the Houses wealthiest members. He spent about $2 million to help finance his first House race in 2012. His consideration of a possible Maryland gubernatorial bid months ago quickly drew interest in his House seat. Several candidates already have expressed interest in running for the seat. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print McCain set to head back to Arizona to undergo chemotherapy and radiation treatments By Kurtis Lee (Shawn Thew / EPA) Sen. John McCain is headed home. Hours after McCain spurned his party and voted in opposition to a GOP measure to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the senators office announced Friday he will return to Arizona to undergo chemotherapy and radiation treatments for his recent diagnosis of brain cancer. McCain, 80, was found this month to have a brain tumor known as a glioblastoma. He is scheduled to return to Washington in September after his initial treatments. The glioblastoma an aggressive type of cancer was discovered when McCain had a blood clot removed from above his left eye. According to the Mayo Clinic, which is overseeing McCains treatment, glioblastoma is difficult to treat. After returning to Washington this week and voting in favor of opening Senate debate on repeal, McCain was among three Republicans early Friday morning to vote in opposition to a so-called skinny bill that would repeal the ACA, known as Obamacare. The move by McCain, who has served in the Senate since 1987, has drawn the ire of members in his own party and some in the right-wing media. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print McCains surprise vote doomed GOP healthcare bill, but did it open the door for Senate bipartisanship? By Lisa Mascaro Sen. John McCain is usually happy to spar with reporters, but he ducked into an elevator ahead of the Senate healthcare vote late Thursday without saying a word about how he would vote. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, though, already knew the answer. The Democratic leader had been talking with the Arizona Republican all week four, five times a day ever since McCain returned to work after being diagnosed with brain cancer. Earlier in the week, McCain had dramatically salvaged the stalled GOP bill by voting to begin debate, only to go on to deliver a blistering speech against his own party leaders partisan, closed-door process in crafting it. Weve been spinning our wheels on too many important issues because we keep trying to find a way to win without help from across the aisle, he told them. Were getting nothing done. Schumer and McCain have been longtime colleagues, a kind of frenemies who seem like throwbacks to an earlier era of Congress. They worked together on big legislation, including the 2013 immigration overhaul grand ideas that seem all but impossible in todays Congress. They had plenty to discuss. About the Senate, about it working again, about working together, and about how this bill was so poor for the American people, Schumer said. And he knew that, so did half his colleagues, but he had the courage to vote no. The moment stunned the Senate when McCain stepped up to cast his vote a single down-turned finger dooming the healthcare bill. Audible gasps filled the galleries, which were packed with onlookers. But his vote along with no votes from Republicans Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska did more than shelve the long campaign to repeal the Affordable Care Act. It cracked open a new divide in the Senate, which seems to be split not so much between Republicans and Democrats, but by those senators who want to work together versus those stuck in hardened partisan tribes. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement U.S. hits Iran with more sanctions in response to satellite launch By Associated Press The United States is slapping Iran with new sanctions in response to its launch of a satellite-carrying rocket into space this week. The sanctions target six Iranian subsidiaries of the Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group. The Treasury Department says that group is central to Irans ballistic missile program. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says the sanctions illustrate deep U.S. concerns about Irans missile testing and other actions. He says the U.S. will continue countering Irans ballistic missile program, including Thursdays provocative space launch. The U.S. has said that launch flouted a U.N. Security Council resolution because the technology is inherently designed to be able to carry a nuclear payload. The sanctions come as the Trump administration continues debating its Iran policy and whether to scrap the 2015 multilateral deal that limits the development of Irans nuclear capabilities. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Political betrayal. McCain vote against Obamacare repeal draws ire from conservative writers By Kurtis Lee (Cliff Owen / AP) Though John McCain was one of three Republicans who helped Democrats squash the legislation to repeal Obamacare, conservative media is homing in on the Arizona senator for spurning his party in the healthcare vote. Here are some of todays headlines: John McCain: Traitor to the conservative cause (Washington Times) McCain, who was recently diagnosed with brain cancer, has been a staunch opponent of Obamacare, but in the end he could not support the so-called skinny repeal measure put forward by his colleagues in the Senate. In this piece, Cheryl K. Chumley, jabs McCain for his vote. For American voters expecting their Republican-dominated House, Senate and White House to honor their years of repeal promises and actually, well, repeal Obamacare, McCains thumbs-down was a face-slap moment that will be remembered in history as a textbook classic case of political betrayal, she writes. McCains odd definition of leading the fight to stop Obamacare (National Review) This article is simple its a quick compare-and-contrast of McCains recent comments versus his vote on Friday. Last year, during a tough reelection, McCains campaign ran a television ad that boasted the senator is leading the fight to stop Obamacare. But last night his office put out a statement noting the GOP Senate bill did not offer a replacement to actually reform our health care system and deliver affordable, quality health care to our citizens. The author of this piece, Jim Geraghty, concludes: Its very difficult to characterize McCains decision as leading the fight to stop Obamacare. Thats more like leading the fight to keep Obamacare in place while you continue to look for a replacement that you like better. John McCain burns Mitch McConnell sides with Democrats (American Spectator) When McConnell, the majority leader, stood on the Senate floor Friday after the bills failure, he was clearly annoyed. McCains no vote had led to applause moments earlier from Democrats. In a move thats no surprise to anyone, John McCain voted against the embarrassingly named Skinny Repeal, voted against his party (or is it his party?) and voted to keep Obamacare going as is, writes Melissa Mackenzie. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Meet the two female GOP senators who opposed the healthcare bill from the start By Kelcey Caulder Sen. John McCain shocked Republicans and Democrats alike with his vote early Friday morning to kill the latest Republican effort to repeal Obamacare. But McCain was not the only Republican to play a role in blocking the final version of the overhaul bill. Two female Republican lawmakers, Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, also voted against the bill. Collins has opposed repeal and replace efforts from the beginning, and Murkowski has also been critical of much of what the Senate Republican leadership has proposed. Collins said it would be a big mistake for Republicans to pass legislation without trying seriously to work with Democrats to reach bipartisan solutions. Instead, she called for both parties to work together to improve the healthcare system. Murkowski and Collins were the first from their party to come out against repealing the ACA without having new, replacement legislation on the table. In statements posted on Twitter, Collins, who voted against the same proposal in 2015, said she did not think it was constructive to repeal the law without a replacement, while Murkowski encouraged senators from both sides of the aisle to work together to address healthcare issues. I will vote no on the motion to proceed to repeal the Affordable Care Act without a replacement. I voted against this same proposal in 2015. pic.twitter.com/Szuke5zYNL Sen. Susan Collins (@SenatorCollins) July 18, 2017 My recent statement on the Senate Healthcare Process: pic.twitter.com/j19Ok1KwWw Sen. Lisa Murkowski (@lisamurkowski) July 18, 2017 The two senators were also the only Republicans to vote against opening debate on repeal of Obamacare earlier this week. Their opposition to Republican healthcare efforts has drawn a lot of criticism within the party, some of it expressed in vulgar, even violent terms. Georgia Rep. Buddy Carter said in an interview Wednesday with MSNBC: Somebody needs to go over there to that Senate and snatch a knot in their ass. A Texas congressman said the female senators narrowly avoided an Aaron Burr-style showdown with him. President Trump publicly rebuked Murkowski on Twitter for her vote. Senator @lisamurkowski of the Great State of Alaska really let the Republicans, and our country, down yesterday. Too bad! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017 Trump has not criticized Collins by name for her vote, but warned Tuesday at a rally in Ohio that any senator who votes against repeal and replace is telling America that they are fine with the Obamacare nightmare, and I predict theyll have a lot of problems. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print The current Senate GOP effort to repeal Obamacare is dead. Now what? By Noam N. Levey (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press) The sudden collapse of the GOPs Senate campaign to repeal or replace the Affordable Care Act does not mean the issue disappears. Significant problems and challenges remain, particularly for Obamacare insurance marketplaces. The defeat increases the odds that Congress will begin to look at a more limited approach to shore up the current law and stabilize markets. The GOPs repeal effort may return, but in the meantime heres a look at what a temporary fix might look like: Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Paul Ryan responds to the failure of the GOP healthcare bill By Associated Press House Speaker Paul Ryan said Friday that hes disappointed and frustrated by the failure of Republican healthcare legislation in the Senate. But Ryan said in a statement that we should not give up after promising for years to repeal and replace Obamacare. We were sent to Washington to fulfill the pledges we made to our constituents, the statement said. While the House delivered a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare, unfortunately the Senate was unable to reach a consensus. At the same time, the speaker said that overhauling the tax code is at the top of the Houses list of priorities. He pledged to pursue historic tax reform in the fall. He issued his statement as the House prepared to leave Washington for its annual August recess. The House passed legislation repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act in May. But after a failed vote early Friday in the Senate, its not clear if GOP leaders will be able to resuscitate the efforts. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Economic growth rebounded to 2.6% annual rate in second quarter By Jim Puzzanghera The Port of Los Angeles (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) The U.S. economy rebounded this spring after a weak winter, expanding at a solid 2.6% annual rate as consumers picked up their spending pace, the Commerce Department said Friday. Total economic output, also known as gross domestic product, for the April-through-June period was in line with analyst expectations for a bounce-back based in part on pent-up demand. The economic growth rate was more than double the 1.2% pace in the first quarter. That figure was revised down Friday from an earlier estimate of 1.4%. After the winter blues, the economy has rebounded, said Sung Won Sohn, an economist at Cal State Channel Islands. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Never mind healthcare. President Trump has made slogans great again By Mark Z. Barabak ( (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)) His promise to repeal and replace Obamacare has crashed and burned. Tax reform hasnt gotten far. The White House is in disarray, and big plans to rebuild the nations infrastructure have hit a brick wall. But there is one unimpeachable triumph President Trump can point to: Hes made great again great again. The Make America Great Again 2016 campaign slogan limned in block letters and emblazoned on countless cherry-red ball caps has been reimagined, repurposed and cheekily appropriated for countless pitches and commercial products. Apart from the now-familiar caps, mercantile options include aprons, beanies, beer cozys, coffee mugs, hoodies, leggings, swimsuits, T-shirts, water bottles and, for the special someone, Donald Trump Make America Great Again Womens Booty Shorts. But MAGA, as the president short-hands the phrase in Twitter posts, is also popping up in places having little or nothing to do with politics: on a catwalk at New Yorks Fashion Week, high in the sky promoting classical music in Phoenix, on the menu at an Italian restaurant in Atlanta. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement If Adam Schiff is Californias next U.S. senator, he might want to thank President Trump By Mark Z. Barabak (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press) The road to elected office can be long and winding and is not always paved with the best of intentions. Some politicians think of the Kennedys or the Bush family are born to the trade. Others are borne by tragedy. Former Santa Barbara Rep. Lois Capps succeeded her husband when he died of a heart attack. Former New York Rep. Carolyn McCarthy was spurred to run when her husband was killed and her son gravely wounded in a mass shooting on the Long Island Rail Road. Typically, though, the ascension is more methodical, one rung after the next, often with a pinch of right-place, right-time fortune thrown in for good measure. Lately that bit of luck has visited itself on Adam B. Schiff, in the form of Russian meddling and a president who hurls tweets like poison thunderbolts. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Kris Kobach says Trumps voter fraud panel will keep voter data secure. Some states arent buying it By Kurtis Lee (Jessica McGowan / Getty Images) After weeks of legal battles and bipartisan pushback from top election officials nationwide, President Trumps voter fraud commission has renewed a message for the states: Its safe to pass along your data about voters. Individuals voter registration records will be kept confidential and secure throughout the duration of the commissions existence, Kris Kobach, vice chairman of the commission, wrote in a letter sent late Wednesday to all 50 secretaries of state. Even so, by Thursday, much of the criticism that greeted an earlier request from the commission was repeated by election officials and activists, who have expressed concerns about privacy and have called the panel both a sham created by an insecure president and a tool to suppress votes. Trump without evidence has repeatedly alleged that 3 million to 5 million illegal votes were cast in last years presidential election. (Trump prevailed in the electoral college, while Democrat Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by about 3 million votes.) Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print President Trump said our guys are rougher than the violent gang MS-13. What did he mean? By Brian Bennett (SAUL LOEB / AFP ) When President Trump said this week his administration is going after bloodthirsty criminal gangs like the notoriously violent MS-13, he added a menacing flourish: Our guys are rougher than their guys. The comment raised concerns that Trump was instructing immigration agents to use excessive force when going after suspected gang members. Not so, Trumps top spokeswoman said on Thursday. I think the president means that our guys are going to do whatever it takes to protect Americans, protect American lives, protect our borders, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in response to a question about what Trump meant by rougher. Trump wants people to do their jobs, not go beyond the scope of what they should do, Sanders said. Trumps comment came during a rally in Youngstown, Ohio, on Tuesday night. We are throwing MS-13 the hell out of here so fast, he said, boasting that his administration is liberating towns and cities from gangs. And, well, I will just tell you this, were not doing it in a politically correct fashion, Trump added. Were doing it rough. Our guys are rougher than their guys. Trumps comment was meant to boost morale among immigration officers looking to arrest and deport gang members, said one senior administration official, who would speak only without being identified to discuss the presidents thinking. As part of Trumps crackdown on immigrants in the country illegally, he has instructed the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to target a suspected gang member for deportation before that person has been convicted of a crime, said ICE director Thomas Homan. Homan joined Sanders at her daily briefing at the White House. The two spoke to preview the presidents Friday trip to Long Island, N.Y., where he will tout his administrations efforts against MS-13 and other gangs. For Trump, who grew up in Queens, recent headlines about MS-13 violence in central Long Island have hit close to home. In April, four young men were found hacked to death in a park in Central Islip, N.Y., a senior administration official told reporters Thursday night. He is a New Yorker and he knows New York, the administration official said. It is absolutely a personal issue. And he knows whats happening in New York -- and its not just Long Island -- is a tragedy and there are communities like that all across America. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Boy Scouts chief apologizes for presidents political rhetoric at national Jamboree. Trump wont By Brian Bennett President Trump wont apologize for a surprisingly political speech this week to Boy Scouts that provoked a backlash for his attacks on his predecessor, his election rival, dissident Republicans and the news media. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders delivered that word on Thursday, just after a top executive of the Boy Scouts of America issued an apology on behalf of the organization for allowing the political rhetoric to occur during Trumps address Monday evening at the National Scout Jamboree held in West Virginia. Michael Surbaugh, the organizations chief executive, in a statement extended his sincere apologies to those in our Scouting family who were offended by the political rhetoric that was inserted into the jamboree. He noted that the groups invitation to the president to speak was in keeping with a long-standing tradition since 1937; eight of 11 incumbent presidents have attended. But, Surbaugh wrote, we have steadfastly remained non-partisan and refused to comment on political matters. We sincerely regret that politics were inserted into the Scouting program. At the White House, however, Sanders indicated that neither she nor Trump saw any reason to apologize, or considered his remarks in any way out of line. I was at that event and I saw nothing but roughly 40,000 to 45,000 Boy Scouts cheering the president on throughout his remarks, Sanders said. I think they were pretty excited that he was there and happy to hear him speak to them, she added. Sanders said she had not seen the statement from the Boy Scouts chief. During his rambling 38-minute speech to the Scouts in Glen Jean, W.Va., Trump criticized Hillary Clinton and President Obama and singled out congressional Republicans who were not in lockstep with him on healthcare. He got much applause and supportive chants from his audience, and even credited the Scouts -- who are too young to vote -- for being among the millions who elected him. But almost immediately, the Boy Scouts organization was inundated with protests from former Scouts, parents and others angered by the presidents partisan words. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trumps words kind of hurtful, Sessions says, but he has no plans to resign By Joseph Tanfani President Trumps scathing criticisms have been kind of hurtful, Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions said Thursday, even as he again signaled that he wants to stay on the job. He wants all of us to do our job, and thats what I intend to do, Sessions said in an interview with Tucker Carlson of Fox News. Separately, Sessions told the Associated Press that it hasnt been my best week for my relationship with the president. He made the comment in El Salvador, during a visit to highlight joint efforts to take on the MS-13 gang. The attorney general said he hadnt met with Trump but looked forward to talking to him about it. If he wants to make a change, he has every right, Sessions said. I serve at the pleasure of the president. Ive understood that from the day I took the job. But, he said, I believe with great confidence that I understand what is needed in the Department of Justice and what President Trump wants. I share his agenda. The comments were the first this week on the subject from Sessions, who has been subjected to harshly critical tweets from Trump for three days. The president has called him weak and said he wasnt aggressive enough in going after leakers. Last week, after Trump criticized Sessions in a New York Times interview, Sessions told reporters he planned to stay on as long as it was appropriate. Sessions has seemed to redouble his attempts this week to win back the presidents favor. He announced another crackdown on so-called sanctuary cities that dont cooperate with immigration enforcement and on Friday traveled to El Salvador to highlight arrests of MS-13 gang members, both favorite topics of the president. The Justice Department also plans to address leaks next week. Sessions said his department was stepping up leak investigations. Some people need to go to jail, he said. The president has every right to ask the DOJ to be more aggressive on that, and we intend to. On Wednesday evening, after Anthony Scaramucci , Trumps incoming communications director, falsely claimed in a tweet that hed been the victim of a leak, Sessions chief spokeswoman released a statement agreeing that leaks are undermining the government and promising to aggressively pursue leak cases wherever they may lead. Trump has made it clear that he is most angry with Sessions for recusing himself from supervising the ongoing investigation into his administrations ties with Russia. But Sessions defended that decision. I understand his feeling about it because this has been a big distraction for him, he said on Fox. Im confident I made the right decision, the decision thats consistent with the rule of law, and an attorney general who doesnt follow the law is not very effective at leading the Department of Justice, he said. In the interview, Sessions reached back to Trumps campaign slogan to praise the president as a strong leader. He is determined to move this country in the direction that he believes it needs to go to make it great again, he said. Sessions has received considerable support in recent days from conservative Republicans, including many of his former Senate colleagues. On Thursday, Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) went to the Senate floor to discourage Trump from moving against Sessions, saying that the Senate would not allow the president to make a recess appointment that would bypass the normal confirmation process. A recess appointment would allow Trump to appoint a person who could serve without confirmation until the start of 2019. Such appointments can only be made if the Senate formally takes a break, which senators of both parties have said they will avoid in order to prevent Trump from avoiding confirmations. If youre thinking of making a recess appointment to push out the attorney general, forget about it, Sasse said. The presidency isnt a bull, and this country isnt a china shop. 1:55 p.m.: This post was updated with additional remarks by Sessions and remarks by Sen. Ben Sasse. 5:50: This post was updated with additional quotes from Sessions interview. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print For Trump White House, cable television becomes the venue for intramural sniping By Noah Bierman President Trump and his aides love to complain about leaks from within the White House. But on Thursday, the infighting was out in the open. The incoming communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, in a morning phone call broadcast on CNN, compared the West Wing to a fish that stinks from the head down, implying that White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus is responsible for at least some of the leaks. Later, Trump press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders declined to come to Priebuss defense and say whether Trump has full confidence in his chief of staff. Another Trump advisor, Kellyanne Conway, used a prison analogy for the broader backstabbing among aides, telling Fox News that her West Wing colleagues were using the press to shiv each other. While the knifings might suggest a new level of chaos in a White House known for it, the style is all Trump. As a businessman, he has a history of fostering rivalries among his employees. He always did sort of like competition, backstabbing, infighting kind of stuff, said Barbara Res, who spent nearly two decades as a top executive in Trumps real estate business. He set people up to do that. Trump led the charge this week, using his Twitter account and an interview with the Wall Street Journal to ridicule his attorney general, Jeff Sessions, one of Trumps first and most prominent campaign supporters. By Thursday, both Priebus and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson were seeing their fates publicly debated, less than a week after Sean Spicer was forced out as press secretary after months of speculation and presidential slights. The Priebus intrigue was amplified by Scaramucci on Twitter and in the CNN interview. He blamed Priebus for leaking Scaramuccis personal financial disclosure forms -- which are publicly available -- and suggested that Trump encouraged Scaramuccis offensive in a phone conversation the two men had just before the aide dialed into CNN. When Sanders was asked about the Scaramucci-Priebus dustup, she said that the president likes healthy competition on his staff. The president likes that kind of competition and encourages it, Sanders said. The result is a White House that increasingly suggests the presidents former way of life. As the star of a reality TV show, he fomented internal competition and firings among apprentices; their cable television appearances, meanwhile, recall the confessionals familiar to reality show fans, in which characters confide directly to the camera their anger or enmity toward others on the show. The primary attribute for a successful tenure in the Trump White House is masochism, tweeted Rick Wilson, a longtime Republican operative and Trump critic. The repeated evidence of dysfunction and the high level of insecurity among Trumps core aides help explain the White Houses inability to focus on its agenda. Trumps critics voiced suspicions on Twitter that the public staff blow-up was a deliberate distraction from the struggle in Congress to pass a healthcare bill, as well as from the ongoing investigations into potential collusion between his presidential campaign and Russia and the backlash to Trumps surprise Twitter announcement on Wednesday that transgender people will be barred from military service. But those issues also were being heavily covered on cable news. The stories that were overshadowed were those Trump was trying to promote: a deal his administration helped strike with Foxconn to build a production facility in Wisconsin, possibly creating thousands of new jobs, and nascent efforts to craft a tax overhaul plan. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Democrats criticize financial industry backgrounds of two Trump bank regulator nominees By Jim Puzzanghera Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). (Joe Raedle / Getty Images) Senate Democrats on Thursday criticized the financial industry backgrounds of President Trumps nominees for two key banking regulatory positions, arguing they would not protect the interests of average Americans. Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and others sharply questioned Joseph Otting, the former chief executive of Pasadenas OneWest Bank, and investment fund manager Randal Quarles during a confirmation hearing by the Senate Banking Committee. Trump nominated Otting to be the comptroller of the currency, a powerful regulator of national banks. Quarles has been tapped to be the Federal Reserves vice chairman for supervision, who is in charge of the Feds oversight of the nations largest bank holding companies and other regulatory efforts. The two are expected to be friendlier to the banking industry than recent Democratic appointees. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Senator warns Trump there will be holy hell to pay if he fires Sessions By Joseph Tanfani A prominent Republican Senator issued a blunt warning to President Trump not to interfere with the Russia investigation, saying any effort to get rid of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III could be the beginning of the end of the Trump presidency. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told reporters Thursday that there will be holy hell to pay if Trump fires Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, a favorite of conservatives who represented Alabama in the Senate for 20 years. Grahams warning was the sternest yet from Senate Republicans to Trump about the potential consequences of firing either Sessions or Mueller. The chairman of the Senate judiciary committee, Sen. Charles Grassley, (R-Iowa), issued his own warning in a tweet Wednesday night, saying his committee would not take up a nomination of a replacement attorney general this year, which is required before the Senate can vote to confirm. Everybody in D.C. Shld b warned that the agenda for the judiciary Comm is set for rest of 2017. Judges first subcabinet 2nd / AG no way ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) July 27, 2017 Starting with an interview in the New York Times last week and continuing with a three-day barrage of critical tweets, Trump has raged at Sessions for his decision to recuse himself from supervising the investigation into the Russian attempts to influence the election, and into whether anybody involved in Trumps campaign participated in the scheme. Trump also has bitterly complained about Mueller, whom he has accused of leading a witch hunt, and Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod J. Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller and who is now supervising the probe. Justice Department regulations say that only the attorney general, or in this case Rosenstein acting in his place, can fire the special counsel. If Sessions were gone, Trump could try to appoint a replacement willing to carry out the firing. Graham said he will introduce a bill next week that would require court review if anyone tried to fire a special counsel who was investigating the president. I think Ill get all the Democrats and I hope to get a good number of Republicans, he said, adding that the enacting such a law is not just for Trump but for any future president. We need a check and balance here. Graham said Trumps campaign to marginalize and humiliate the attorney general is not going over well in the Senate or among conservatives. He also said Trump, who has called on Sessions to investigate his former rival Hillary Clinton, has gone way beyond what is acceptable in a rule of law nation. This is not draining the swamp, he said. What hes interjecting is turning democracy upside down..taking 200-year-old concepts that were a nation of laws and not men and trying to turn it upside down. Sen. Graham: "Any effort to go after Mueller could be the beginning of the end of the Trump presidency." https://t.co/6Pd60LrGRU pic.twitter.com/EXBOwBC35C ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) July 27, 2017 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Watch live: White House news briefing with Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump administration threatens to retaliate against Alaska for GOP senators Obamacare repeal vote, news site reports By Noam N. Levey The Trump administration threatened to block federal aid to Alaska in an effort to bully one of the Republican senators opposed to the current Senate GOP push to roll back the Affordable Care Act, according to a report by the Alaska Dispatch News. The news site reports that Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on Wednesday called Alaska Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan with a warning that Murkowskis vote had put Alaskas future with the administration in jeopardy. According to the report: Sullivan said the call from Zinke heralded a troubling message. Im not going to go into the details, but I fear that the strong economic growth, pro-energy, pro-mining, pro-jobs and personnel from Alaska who are part of those policies are going to stop, Sullivan said. I tried to push back on behalf of all Alaskans. Were facing some difficult times and theres a lot of enthusiasm for the policies that Secretary Zinke and the president have been talking about with regard to our economy. But the message was pretty clear, Sullivan said. The threat followed disparaging comments made by the president about Murkowski, including a Twitter attack Wednesday morning Senator @lisamurkowski of the Great State of Alaska really let the Republicans, and our country, down yesterday. Too bad! Trump wrote. Murkowski dismissed the presidents attacks in an interview with MSNBC. Were here to govern. Were here to legislate, she said. Were here to represent the people who sent us here. And so every day shouldnt be about campaigning. Every day shouldnt be about winning elections. How about just doing a little bit of governing around here? Thats what Im here for. Murkowski and Maine Sen. Susan Collins were the only Republicans who voted against a procedural motion Tuesday to begin debating legislation rolling back the 2010 healthcare law, often called Obamacare. Sullivan, also a Republican, voted in favor of advancing the bill. Murkowski has urged a more open process to develop the legislation, which Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) has put together behind closed doors without committee hearings or input from Democrats. A spokeswoman for Zinke did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Iran angered by report that Trump wants additional nuclear inspections By Shashank Bengali Iran responded angrily Thursday to reports that the Trump administration would push for inspections of military facilities to ensure Tehran is complying with the 2015 nuclear deal. Iran will not succumb to further pressure, Hamid Reza Taraghi, a hard-line analyst who is close to Irans leadership, told The Times. Taraghi did not say whether Iran would refuse inspectors access to military facilities but insisted the Islamic Republic was complying with the agreement, which required Iran to shelve its nuclear program in exchange for relief from economic sanctions. President Trump has said he wants to tear up the deal and doesnt believe Iran is complying, although his administration certified it was in a report to Congress this month. The Associated Press reported Thursday that Trump was pushing for inspections of suspicious Iranian military sites, either to prove that Iran was violating the deal or force it to refuse, which could cause the agreement to collapse. Iranian officials have argued in the past that inspections of military sites would be off-limits. But under the agreement it signed with the United States and five other world powers, Iran agreed to the so-called Additional Protocol, which allows U.N. inspectors limited access to any site where illicit nuclear activity is suspected. Taraghi, a former lawmaker, said the Additional Protocol allowed for snap inspections and that international inspectors had installed closed-circuit cameras in all nuclear-related facilities. They have access to everything going on here on the ground, Taraghi said. What else do they want to know? It was not immediately clear what military sites the Trump administration was seeking to have inspected, or whether it had evidence that Iran was breaching the terms of the deal. U.N. inspectors monitoring Irans compliance had not requested access to military facilities as of July 25, according to a paper published Thursday by Mark Fitzpatrick, executive director of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Washington. If US has good evidence of #Iran violations, then an inspection request is warranted, Fitzpatrick tweeted. A request designed to trap Iran into saying no isnt. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Top U.S. general says Pentagon will not change policy on transgender troops until White House acts By W.J. Hennigan The nations senior military officer said Thursday that there will be no modifications to Pentagon policies for now despite President Trump social media posts declaring a ban on transgender troops in uniform. Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, wrote in a memo to commanders and senior enlisted leaders of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines that the military will continue to treat all of our personnel with respect. Dunford said Pentagon policy on transgender troops would not change until the White House has issued Trumps directive to Secretary of Defense James Mattis through formal channels not on Twitter and the secretarys office issues guidance on implementation to the service chiefs. Its unclear when that might happen. The unusual memo appeared intended to calm widespread confusion and concern at the Pentagon, which was blindsided when Trump wrote Wednesday that Pentagon would not accept or allow transgender troops to serve in any capacity. The presidents posts appeared to reverse a year-old Pentagon policy that allowed transgender soldiers to openly serve for the first time, and to seek sex reassignment surgery, hormone therapy and other treatments at military hospitals. Trumps surprise announcement not only marked a retreat for the Pentagon push to bar gender-based discrimination. It also was an about-face for Trump, who had repeatedly vowed his support for the LGBT community during the campaign last year. The posts raised questions about the fate of thousands of transgender service members, including some deployed overseas, and whether they would be kicked out of the military under Trumps directive. Dunfords memo appeared to address those fears, at least for the short term. There will be no modifications to the current policy until the Presidents direction has been received by the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary has issued implementation guidance, he wrote. In the meantime, we will continue to treat all of our personnel with respect, he added. As importantly, given the current fight and the challenges we face, we will all remain focused on accomplishing our assigned missions. In his tweets, Trump said he had decided to bar transgender troops because the military cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Experts said neither justification was accurate or fair since the expected medical costs were negligible and transgender troops have been openly serving for the past year without disruption. The sweeping declaration drew rebuke from war veterans and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocacy groups, who vowed to challenge Trump in federal court if self-identified transgender service members are forced out of the military. VoteVets, a liberal military veterans advocacy group, said Thursday it had collected more than 20,000 signatures from veterans, military families and other supporters to oppose the ban. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Analysis: Trumps war against elites and expertise By Cathleen Decker (Saul Loeb / AFP/Getty Images) When President Trump campaigned this spring at the Hermitage, the home of Andrew Jackson, one part of his predecessors approach got a special endorsement. It was during the Revolution that Jackson first confronted and defied an arrogant elite. Does that sound familiar? Trump asked to laughs from his audience. When Trump ally and National Rifle Assn. President Wayne LaPierre teed off six weeks later on Americas greatest domestic threats, he cited not homegrown terrorists but what he termed the three most dangerous voices in America: academic elites, political elites, and media elites. The rhetoric against elites came from two men who would seem to be card-carrying members of the club: LaPierre made more than $5 million in 2015, the most recent year for which his compensation was publicly released. Trump lived before his inauguration in a gold-plated home in the sky above New Yorks Fifth Avenue, a billionaires luxurious domain. Yet for Trump and his allies, a war on elites has been central to the campaign which put him in the presidency and has maintained the loyalty of his core voters. Trump has taken particular aim at entities that could counter his power, which has helped stoke the ardor of his political backers. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Top Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway says colleagues using the press to shiv each other By Noah Bierman White House staffers continued their angry campaign against leaks -- and each other -- as top advisor Kellyanne Conway used vivid language in a Fox interview Thursday to denounce colleagues who are using the press to shiv each other in the ribs. The comments came shortly after Anthony Scaramucci, the new White House communications director, delivered his own attack on leakers -- all but blaming Reince Priebus, the White House chief of staff -- in an interview on CNN. If the Trump White House at times resembles a reality show, cable television has become the confessional booth where the players vent their anger at each other. That dynamic was on vivid display Thursday morning. Kellyanne Conway: "Now, there are leaks, and then there are people using the press to shiv each other in the ribs. Thats different." (Fox) David Wright (@DavidWright_CNN) July 27, 2017 Conway largely backed Scaramucci without explicitly taking sides in his public war against Priebus, whom he publicly suggested leaked Scaramuccis financial disclosure forms to the press. The forms are public and available through a request. We just have to cut down on people thinking its cute and its popular and it somehow enhances their resume and their portfolio for later on to curry favor with folks who are more interested in covering the style and not the substance here, Conway said of those who leak to he press. Asked specifically whether she agrees with Scaramucci that Priebus leaked the financial forms, Conway passed on the opportunity to defend Priebus. Leakers are easier to figure out than many think, she said, perhaps ominously given Scaramuccis threats to fire suspects. This West Wing is a very small place. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Warfare in the West Wing breaks into the open as Scaramucci takes aim at Priebus By Brian Bennett A knife fight for control of the West Wing broke into the open Thursday morning as President Trumps new communications director Anthony Scaramucci lashed out at White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus in a televised interview, accusing Priebus of leaking and standing in the way of Trumps agenda. The fish stinks from the head down, I can tell you two fish that dont stink, OK, and thats me and the president, Scaramucci said, calling in to CNNs morning show New Day. I dont like the activity thats going in the White House, he said. Scaramucci, who had said the day he was named to the White House job that he and Priebus were like brothers, drastically amended that in the interview, comparing the two of them to the brothers who, in the Bible, were the characters in the first murder. Some brothers are like Cain and Abel, other brothers can fight with each other and get along. I dont know if this is reparable or not that will be up to the president, he said. Scaramucci on his relationship with Reince: "Some brothers are like Cain and Abel." Uh, Cain killed Abel. https://t.co/UQ8F9HiXLx Dan Merica (@merica) July 27, 2017 President Trump has a track record of encouraging rivalries among people who work for him. Scaramucci said he had spoken with Trump for 15 minutes to go over what he was going to say before he called CNN, implying his warning to Priebus carried Trumps backing. Trump, Scaramucci said, has given me his full support and his full blessing. When Scaramucci was hired, Trump told him he would report directly to the president, bypassing the chief of staff, and setting up the clash that played out Thursday on national television. If you want to talk about the chief of staff, we have had odds, we have had differences. When I said we were brothers from the podium, thats because were rough on each other, Scaramucci said. The tension between Scaramucci and Priebus flared after Politico published a story Wednesday about Scaramuccis publicly available financial disclosure form showing he still stands to profit from his stake in an investment firm he founded. The disclosure form was available to the public because Scaramucci had been nominated earlier this year for a job at the Export-Import Bank of the U.S., and the forms become public 30 days after they are filed. But Scaramucci, in a tweet Wednesday night, seemed to imply Priebus had leaked the form to make him look bad, or knew who did, and called for an FBI investigation. He later deleted the tweet, apparently after being informed that the form was not leaked. Over the last five days, Scaramucci said to CNN, he has done a major amount of work interviewing assistants to the president and communications staff. He also had dinner with Trump on Wednesday night in addition to his phone conversation with the president Thursday morning. The two of them want everyone to know we have a very, very good idea of who the leakers are, who the senior leakers are, in the White House, he said. Scaramucci took aim specifically at Priebus for leaking details about internal White House discussions and maneuvers. If Reince wants to explain that hes not a leaker, let him do that, Scaramucci said. Scaramucci appears to be giving voice to Trumps frustration with people in the White House the president believes are slowing down policy efforts, even though Trump has shown a pattern of repeatedly stepping on his own efforts on healthcare, job creation and other initiatives with unplanned tweets on topics such as Russia, transgender troops and unfounded allegations of voter fraud. There are people inside this administration who think its their job to save America from this president, Scaramucci said. Its not their jobs ... to rein him in or do things to him that slow down his agenda. People in the Washington are back-stabbers, Scaramucci said. Im more of a front-stabbing person. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Scaramucci tweets, then deletes, confusing statement that referred to information in Politico report as a leak By Colleen Shalby In a now deleted tweet, incoming White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci sent out a confusing statement Wednesday night, addressing information reported earlier by Politico as a leak. The article reported on Scaramuccis financial disclosures. According to Politico, those details had been filed with the Office of Government Ethics, so its unclear what if anything was leaked information. Scaramuccis tweet further confused as it ended with White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus Twitter handle. Just before those characters, he noted that he intended to contact the FBI and the Justice Department. Some speculated that Scaramucci was implying that Priebus was behind the leak. But in a new tweet roughly two hours after the original, he tweeted what appeared to be a clarification, correcting a headline of news site Axios. Wrong! Tweet was public notice to leakers that all Sr Adm officials are helping to end illegal leaks, he tweeted, ending it once again with Priebus handle. Wrong! Tweet was public notice to leakers that all Sr Adm officials are helping to end illegal leaks. @Reince45 pic.twitter.com/AB0reseuX1 Anthony Scaramucci (@Scaramucci) July 27, 2017 Five days ago, Scaramucci, responding to a question about reported tensions between him and the chief of staff, said he and Priebus are a little bit like brothers, where we rough each other up a little, which is totally normal for brothers. 10:15 p.m. PT: This post was originally published at 8:52 p.m. It was updated with information from Scaramuccis new tweet. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Senate Judiciary chair fires off warning to Trump about Sessions By David Lauter Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, fired off an unmistakable warning to President Trump on Wednesday evening: Dont even think about trying to get a new attorney general confirmed this year. Trump has been publicly tormenting Jeff Sessions, appearing to want to push the attorney general into stepping down from his job. But in a tweet, Grassley made it clear that if Trump pushed Sessions out, he would have to live with an acting attorney general for a long time. Everybody in D.C. Shld b warned that the agenda for the judiciary Comm is set for rest of 2017. Judges first subcabinet 2nd / AG no way ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) July 27, 2017 Any nominee for attorney general would have to pass through the Judiciary Committee before getting a confirmation vote, so Grassleys no way would be a formidable barrier. Grassley has been an administration loyalist on nearly all issues so far, but as a veteran senator, he has a strong independent streak and, as previous administrations have found, he can be implacable if angered. His message comes as conservative allies rally support for Sessions. Several other Republican senators have spoken out in favor of the attorney general, a former colleague who was well liked during his years as senator from Alabama. Senate Democrats already have said they would use procedural motions to prevent the Senate from formally going on a recess this summer, blocking Trump from making a recess appointment that would bypass the Senate. Republicans used similar maneuvers to block recess appointments by President Obama. If Sessions were to step down and not be replaced, Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein would become acting attorney general. Trump has been critical of Rosenstein as well as Sessions, so that option presumably would not appeal to him. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Under fire from Trump, Sessions should stay focused on his job, White House says By Joseph Tanfani (Alex Brandon / Associated Press) In spite of a daily barrage of Twitter attacks from President Trump, the White House press secretary said Wednesday that Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions should stay focused on performing his duties as the nations top law enforcement officer. You can be disappointed in someone and still want someone to continue to do their job, Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Wednesday, hours after Trump criticized Sessions for the third straight day this time for not replacing acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe. Sessions was one of Trumps earliest and most loyal supporters, but the relationship has turned icy as Trump continues to seethe about Sessions decision to step aside from supervising the investigation into alleged Russian interference with last years election. Sessions was at the White House for meetings Wednesday, the second time this week hes visited the West Wing, but once again did not see Trump, Sanders said. Sanders did not clear up the main question surrounding Trumps strategy of publicly battering the attorney general: If the president is so unhappy, why doesnt he simply fire Sessions? Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Wednesday that Trumps apparent attempt to humiliate Sessions into quitting was a sign of weakness. To me, weakness is when you play around the edges, and you dont use the power you have, Graham said in an interview on CNN. Sanders said that Trump wants Sessions to continue to lead the Department of Justice. He wants him to focus on things like immigration, leaks and a number of other issues, she said. One of Trumps public complaints has been that Sessions hasnt been aggressive enough in pursuing leakers of classified information. In fact, the Justice Department is expected to announce next week some leak prosecutions. On Tuesday, Sessions also announced new measures to cut off some federal funds to so-called sanctuary cities that dont cooperate with immigration enforcement, another favorite issue for the president. But Sanders added that, at this point, a leak investigation would not salvage Sessions standing with Trump. I dont think thats the nature of the relationship, she said. In two tweets Wednesday morning, Trump criticized Sessions for not replacing McCabe, whose wife ran for office as a Democrat in Virginia in 2015. He suggested that McCabe had a conflict of interest in his duties as deputy director of the FBI during the investigation of Hillary Clintons handling of classified emails as secretary of State, although McCabe did not move into that job until months after his wifes campaign was over. McCabe took over the bureau as acting director when Trump fired James B. Comey in May. Sanders also declined to answer a question on why Trump did not fire McCabe himself, saying only that Trump looked forward to seeing his nominee as FBI director, Christopher Wray, be confirmed by the Senate soon. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump, on Twitter, announced a ban on transgender service members. Now the military has to figure out what he means By Brian Bennett (Alex Brandon / Associated Press) President Trump surprised even the Pentagon on Wednesday morning by his unexpected announcement, via Twitter, of a ban on transgender service members. The military has not had a chance to decide how to put such a ban into effect, acknowledged Trumps top spokeswoman, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, as she fielded numerous questions on the topic later from White House reporters. Secretary of Defense James Mattis, who was on vacation, wasnt informed until Tuesday that Trump had decided to bar transgender service members from serving in any way. Sometimes you have to make a decision and once he made a decision, he didnt feel it was necessary to hold that decision, Sanders said. The president concluded, based on consultations with his national security team, that allowing transgender individuals to serve erodes military readiness and unit cohesion, she said. White House and Pentagon officials had been discussing details of medical coverage for transgender service members on active duty. But Trump went far beyond that with his series of tweets that the military will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the military. It will be up to the Defense Department to determine the specifics of the policy, including whether active-duty transgender service members will be kicked out of the military, Sanders said. Estimates of the number of current service members who are transgender range from 1,300 to about 16,000. The implementation policy is going to be something that the White House and Department of Defense will have to work together to lawfully determine, Sanders said. I would imagine the Department of Defense will be the lead on that, she added. Trumps tweets overshadowed other announcements he had planned to make Wednesday about adding manufacturing jobs to the economy and donating $100,000 of his second-quarter paycheck to the Department of Education to support science and math education. The president has expressed concerns since this Obama policy came into effect, Sanders said. She added that the president considered allowing transgender people in the ranks is a very expensive and disruptive policy. At one point, an exasp The Laguna Beach Planning Commission on Wednesday favored increased protection for a creek that runs through Laguna Canyon and agreed additional research on the number of buildings occupying space is necessary. Commissioners reviewed a study from the urban planning firm MIG that included a host of recommendations pertaining to development for an area that includes a mixture of houses and businesses. Some residents are concerned the area could be overrun with structures crammed into lots. The meeting was the third time since May that commissioners publicly discussed the study, which will be forwarded to the City Council for its consideration. Commissioners spent considerable time Wednesday discussing Laguna Canyon Creek and ultimately suggested the creek eventually be included on the states major watershed drainage course map. A location designated as being on the map generally means that construction be at least 25 feet from a creeks banks instead of a measurement from the center of the stream, the Daily Pilot reported last year. Interpretations have varied over whether the creek, which has a history of flooding during major rainstorms, is on the map. Lagunas Community Development Director Greg Pfost said Wednesday that the creek is not on the map. But Julie Hamilton, an attorney representing a group of Laguna Canyon residents who sued the California Coastal Commission over its approval of Louis Longis 30-unit artist work/live project at 20412 and 20432 Laguna Canyon Road, said last year during a court hearing the creek is on the map. Coastal commissioners declared the creek is not identifiable on the map, according to court records. Pfost said a revision to the map would require an amendment to the citys general plan. In that case, another round of hearings would be necessary. Multiple neighborhoods comprise the canyon, including Sun Valley, Castle Rock and Sarah Thurston Park. Commissioner Anne Johnson said each neighborhood has distinctive features, thus development standards could differ depending on the location. Density should be determined by the neighborhoods and their recommendations, Johnson said. Density refers to the number of residential units per acre of land, Pfost wrote in an email Thursday. Johnson said in a phone interview that she was reluctant to suggest a maximum density before knowing results of other planning studies underway in the city. Commissioner Roger McErlane said that he was not opposed to residents providing input on their neighborhoods, but questioned how such a process would be organized. Im concerned with how it would be set up and that it becomes another planning process that everyone has to go through that is not very efficient, McErlane said. The study began in February 2015 with MIG and the city gathering feedback from the public on how it wants the canyon to look and function in the years ahead. The council will review the commissions recommendations and decide whether to begin the process of updating Lagunas general plan and municipal code to incorporate changes. bryce.alderton@latimes.com Twitter: @AldertonBryce The city of Costa Mesa and the owners of the New Harbor Inn have reached a truce in a legal battle that lasted more than a year. During a closed session Tuesday, the Costa Mesa City Council voted unanimously to settle two cases related to the 32-room motel at 2205 Harbor Blvd., which the city had labeled a public nuisance and the owners had alleged was a victim of discrimination. No money will be paid by either party no attorneys fees, City Attorney Tom Duarte said. Each side will bear their own costs. Under the settlement, both sides will dismiss their cases against each other, said attorney Frank Weiser, who is representing New Harbor Inn owners Ming Cheng Chen and Hsiang Chu Shih Chen. We settled on what we believe are very favorable terms, he said. I think the city has come to a good agreement here and we appreciate the fact that the city attorney worked with us. The courtroom clash began in April 2016, when the city filed a public-nuisance complaint seeking an Orange County Superior Court ruling either halting the motels operation, appointing a receiver to take over its management or requiring its owners to address security and operations issues identified by the city. A city news release announcing the action alleged the New Harbor Inn was a known locale for drug storage and sales and the source for a disproportionate amount of police calls. City inspections, the release stated, had turned up multiple code infractions, including substandard property maintenance and health, life and safety violations. In response, the Chens filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in September, alleging the city had discriminated against them and their tenants. Efforts to close the motel, the Chens alleged, violated their civil and constitutional rights and were indicative of a systematic policy, custom and practice by the city aimed at forcing the motel out of business to drive down the value of the property for eventual transfer to private developers. That suit also alleged that Costa Mesa police officers had entered private areas of the motel without notice, consent, a warrant or a court order. The New Harbor Inn has remained open throughout the litigation. Weiser said the Chens are very pleased with the settlement agreement and that the pact demonstrates his clients want to work with the city to alleviate any type of concerns that they might have had. I think we could have come to some kind of an agreement prior to any filing of litigation, Weiser said. But be that as it may, it turned out OK. luke.money@latimes.com Twitter @LukeMMoney Last week I started to track down the parameters of the $2-million site survey the state is planning for closing the Fairview Developmental Center in Costa Mesa by 2021. What prompted this was my column last month about Fairview and Sen. John Moorlachs bill, SB 59, which would require the state to include the city and county in any decision regarding repurposing of the state-owned property. Currently, Sacramento doesnt have to do that. I also talked about how Moorlach, a Costa Mesa resident, was working with a coalition from Hoag and St. Joseph hospitals, as well as county and Costa Mesa city officials, to address mental health issues and homelessness as part of a network. Included in this coalitions scope is how a portion of Fairview could be used by such a network. Costa Mesa Mayor Katrina Foley says of the more than 105 acres at Fairview, 50% could be set aside for single-family housing, 25% for open space, 15% for mental health institutional services of some sort and 10% left for an undetermined use. In that column, Moorlach mentioned a $2-million site study in the states budget for the property. A reader wondered what that site study meant. That simple question certainly lacked a simple answer. It has taken me two weeks of emails and calls to get somewhat of an answer. Moorlachs office tracked my progress. They too were interested in the details of the survey. The question on everyones mind was: If you dont know the scope of the survey to begin with, how do you price it at $2 million? The answer would finally come from the state Department of Finance in a seven-page budget summary request document, which I posted to bvontv.com. The summary starts out explaining how on April 1, 2016, the California Department of Developmental Services submitted a closure plan for Fairview that was approved by the Legislature. It also said the state Asset Management Branch (AMB) is responsible for identifying alternative reuses for the Fairview campus and is requesting $2,168,000 toward contracting consultants. It goes on to say the consultants will assist with the evaluation of appropriate re-use options in order to identify constraints and opportunities; to make revenue estimations; to work with the city of Costa Mesa to identify local stakeholder interest in the reuse of the property; and to identify options that will generate the highest return to the state. Such a return could include revenue to fund programs for the developmentally disabled community. With Californians paying a high rate of income taxes and the large government bureaucracy in Sacramento, youd think thered be staffers who could handle this and not have to spend $2 million on consultants. Apparently not. The document states that for a project of this size and complexity, AMB needs to contract for external consultants with expertise in stakeholder outreach, biological and cultural resource assessment, property condition and infrastructure capacity assessments, traffic studies. It also says in phase one and two, if required, will need environmental site assessments, hydrology and water resource studies, master planning studies and collaboration, alternatives analysis and adaptive repurposing studies, market studies, economic modeling, cost estimating and financial analysis, appraisal, and contract negotiations that are not available within existing staff. This wordy document is drafted in the broadest of terms with the sole purpose of justifying hiring consultants. Between the legalese and repetitiveness, it seems this was written so no one could actually understand the specifics totally a prime example of government circle jerk at its best. So heres whats budgeted in the $2,168,000 for consultants: Project management: $160,000 Civil engineering and site related: $210,000 Environmental assessments: $740,000 Market and economic analyses: $210,000 Traffic analysis: $75,000 Structural engineering: $30,000 Architectural and planning services: $485,000 Cost estimating: $60,000 Disposition costs: $130,000 Distributed admin: $68,000 I question how they can budget for architectural and planning services, as well as structural and civil engineering, when theres actually no building plan in place. And taking into consideration how Fairview has operated since 1959, why is there $740,000 for environmental assessments? Shouldnt they know its impact already? Do we really need to start from scratch here? I could go on and on taking this consultant list apart, but this proposal is only the first step for the state to determine what to do with the property. It has nothing to do with a post-closure plan, which will eventually fold into this multistep process. Who knows how many millions each step along the way will cost. Im sure consultants are already lining up for those paydays. So how much of our tax dollars will the state eventually spend on this Fairview closure? BARBARA VENEZIA lives in Newport Beach. She can be reached at bvontv1@gmail.com. The public is invited to a discussion Thursday, July 20, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Altadena Community Center, where participants will receive a status update on the Devils Gate Dam Sediment Removal project proposed by the County of Los Angeles Department of Public Works and learn about a proposed crosstown pipeline that would transfer water from behind Devils Gate Dam to Altadenas Eaton Canyon. The meeting is hosted by Altadena Heritage, the Altadena Library and Neighbors Building a Better Altadena. Speakers will include Chris Stone, assistant deputy director for L.A. County Public Works, Brad Bowman from Pasadena Public Works and representatives of the Arroyo Seco Foundation, which is currently engaged in a lawsuit over the scope and span of the countys proposed sediment removal project. Residents will learn about the impacts of pipeline construction and the projects effect on local water supplies, and are encouraged to ask questions about the projects and their implications for local populations and habitats. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact altadenaheritage@gmail.com. sara.cardine@latimes.com Twitter: @SaraCardine The La Canada Flintridge City Council on Tuesday swore in newly appointed member Greg Brown and agreed to initiate a pilot program that would expedite the planning process for certain large-scale projects, in hopes of reducing a roughly 5.8-month average approval time. The council approved two consultant contracts one for planning services and the other for planning and architectural consulting to Willdan Engineering and Lilley Planning Group, each not to exceed $45,000. Community Development Director Robert Stanley explained the two firms would make employees available to handle expedited cases and to support the LCF Planning Department for the purpose of streamlining the overall planning process. Obviously, if we have more staff or are using a consultant, itll definitely go faster, Stanley said. It should definitely reduce the times. Applicants would pay a lump-sum deposit to expedite the planning application process for a particular project, paying an additional 20% for associated administrative costs. In return, Stanley said, they would have a dedicated planner working just on your project, with no interruptions and nothing else to do but that project. Expedited cases would be limited to about two per month, with some room for flexibility based on the Planning Departments case load. After six months, the department would evaluate the programs overall success and make adjustments if needed. Offering preferential treatment for a fee came in response to complaints from homeowners and contractors about what seemed to be extraordinary wait times for larger projects to be heard and approved by the Planning Commission. On Tuesday, Stanley estimated that, according to a report conducted in 2004, a standard application without directors reviews took roughly two and a half months to process. Since then, he said, the addition of several other review categories, state regulations and city ordinances have complicated the process, consequently compounding applicant wait times. By comparison, a rough calculation of applications completed in 2016, which considered the time period from submission to the date a project was heard by the Planning Commission, indicated an average process time of 5.8 months. It did go up, probably doubled from what we had in [2004], he told the council. We dont know all the factors that feed into that, but we did see an increase. The fees paid by applicants to expedite the planning process would ultimately pay for the cost of extra consultants and city staff used to process the request, while the contract amounts approved Tuesday would allow the consultants to assist the Planning Department in whatever way they needed. Councilman Jon Curtis agreed something should be done to address numerous complaints received from contractors and community members about an almost prohibitive approval time, but asked staff if there was a way to more accurately calculate what standard processing times should be, so as to inform the public and know if the expedited process was actually working. We need some sort of metric just to figure out where were at, agreed Councilman Len Pieroni. If we dont have something to measure were not going to know where to make corrections, if there are any. Brown, who served on the council from 2003 to 2011, said the planning process has come a long way, but still needs improvement. To have to pay a fee just to get an appropriate time for your project to be heard I find a problem we ought to be supplying a basic level of service thats acceptable, he said. Stanley said hed aim to have some more refined estimates on the current processing times and what standard times might be used to guide the pilot programs success by September. New council member sworn in, LCF searching for new finance director In his swearing-in ceremony Tuesday, Brown took the official oath of office and joined his new council colleagues on the dais. Brown, a previous council member who was selected in a special July 13 meeting to fill a vacancy left by the May 16 passing of Councilman Dave Spence, thanked the council for its confidence in his ability to serve. I really look forward to working with you, to keeping things going, to moving forward and keeping this city as great as it is and will continue to be, Brown said before recognizing wife Joyce and daughter Melanie, who were in attendance. I dont want to make a big speech I just want to get to work, he added. As the city welcomed a new team member, City Manager Mark Alexander told council members city officials were in the process of recruiting candidates for the position of city finance director, replacing former director Dan Jordan. Hired in 2008, Jordan left on June 30 to accept the position of finance director for the community of Westlake Village. The deadline for interested applicants is Aug. 14. sara.cardine@latimes.com Twitter: @SaraCardine Days of escalating clashes and a diplomatic crisis over recently installed Israeli metal detectors at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalems Old City are stoking concern of a new wave of violence ahead of Friday prayers. Girding for a surge of friction at noontime prayers on the Muslim day of rest, the Israeli army put five extra battalions on alert. Meanwhile, international diplomats called for a compromise as Israel and Jordan looked for a path to defuse a standoff before Friday. Israeli authorities installed the security equipment Sunday, two days after a shootout on the esplanade holy to both Jews and Muslims in which three Israeli Arabs with homemade machine guns killed two Israeli Druze policemen and were then killed by security forces. Advertisement Palestinian officials and the Muslim Waqf authority responsible for the Old City site have rejected the metal detectors as unilateral change to long-standing agreements on access and management of the site and instructed worshipers to hold demonstrations and prayers outside the complex rather than pass through the metal detectors. The Old City protests since then have devolved into daily rioting and clashes with police and spread to other Palestinian neighborhoods of East Jerusalem. The Israeli-Jordanian dialogue is being conducted via the countries intelligence and security agencies a channel used in the past to resolve potentially explosive conflicts around the Jerusalem holy site, said Oded Eran, a former Israeli ambassador to Jordan familiar with the contacts. Whether there will be a climbing down by all sides involved, I dont know, said Eran, a fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies, a Tel Aviv University think tank. They will certainly need an elegant formula which will create a situation in which weapons cant be brought into the compound and wont be seen as a regime totally controlled by Israel. Israeli security experts have said it will be practically impossible to have tens of thousands of Palestinians pass though the metal detectors during holy days. The holy esplanade is called the Noble Sanctuary by Muslims who believe its the spot where the Prophet Muhammad rose to heaven. Jews call it the Temple Mount for the two ancient temples that once stood on the place. Israel has said the metal detectors are necessary to tighten security at the sensitive site after three men from the Israeli Arab city of Umm Al Fahm used guns smuggled into the compound last week. On Thursday, Israeli police released a video purporting to show attackers and an accomplice in and around the plaza with a bag of weapons in the compound before the attack. Palestinians said the metal detectors mark a unilateral restriction on access to worshipers by Israel, and they fear that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will go along with calls by members of his right-wing coalition to assert Israeli sovereignty there and drop a ban on Jewish prayer on the plaza. The deaths, the two-day closure of the Temple Mount, and the metal detectors there have seemingly left Jerusalem and the West Bank teetering on the brink of a wider conflict. Disputes over access to the plaza sparked the second Palestinian intifada in 2000, as well as weeks of stabbing and car ramming attacks in 2014 and 2015. In both disputes, Jordan and Israel were able to reach a series of understandings that helped calm tensions. In two separate incidents this week, the Israeli army said it shot and killed two Palestinians who tried to run over and stab soldiers at checkpoints in the West Bank. Palestinian residents of the Old City said clashes with police usually peak in the evening, when hundreds have faced off with Israeli security forces in riot gear. We will not go through the electric gates. This is not something that belongs to them, said Yousef Hammad, 53, who works at a souvenir shop near the entrances to the plaza. If they dont let people in, it will be a big mess for all of Palestine, not just here. Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah on Thursday called on the international community to pressure Israel to reverse its decision on the metal detectors, and President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday cut short a visit to China in order to return to Ramallah to deal with the crisis. Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said Wednesday that it was up to Israel to defuse the crisis, according to the official Petra news service. Israels respect for the historic and legal status in the Al Aqsa Mosque and the end of all attempts to create new facts on the ground is the key to restoring calm in the holy shrines, he said. The U.S. and the United Nations issued statements urging the sides to work together to find a compromise. I am deeply concerned by the recent surge in tensions and violence around the holy esplanade in the Old City of Jerusalem, said Nickolay Mladenov, the U.N. special coordinator for the Middle East peace process in a statement Thursday. I call on all concerned parties to de-escalate the situation and on moderate voices to speak up against those who try to fuel tensions. The White House press secretary released a statement urging Israel and Jordan to make a good faith effort to reduce tensions and find a solution that assures public safety and the security of the site and maintains the status quo. Mitnick is a special correspondent. @joshmitnick All material is subject to strictly enforced copyright terms & conditions and cannot be repurposed or reproduced. 19882022 Latin American Financial Publications Inc. Bethlehem Township police want your help to reel in some seafood scammers. Police say the three women in the photo above consolidated multiple packages of seafood into one package. Then they checked out of the ShopRite supermarket at 4701 Freemansburg Ave. The crime was at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 16, police said. Anyone who knows the identity of the women can contact Patrolman Nicholas Durham at 610-419-9703 or email ndurham@bethlehemtwp.com. You can also report an anonymous tip by texting "TIP BETHLEHEMTWP" followed by your message, to 888777. Or, you can visit the police department's nixle page. Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook. UPDATE: N.J. man arrested in Wilson is wanted on kidnapping charge A 10-hour manhunt ended late Wednesday with the capture of a fugitive from New Jersey in a row home in Wilson Borough. The home at 1554 Northampton St. was surrounded by heavily armed police at 11:10 p.m. when an officer inside called out, "Put your hands up over your head!" A woman with three children came outside followed by a heavyset man with no shirt, gray shorts and handcuffs. He was taken away in a Wilson Borough police cruiser. Borough police early Thursday morning identified the fugitive as Derek Edwards, 45, of Elizabeth. He was to be charged at Northampton County Central Booking as a fugitive from justice, a department of corrections employee confirmed. The court action was expected to take place between 7 a.m. and 7:30 a.m., she said. Edwards would then face an extradition hearing that would determine his return to New Jersey. He faces a "slew" of charges there, police said. More specifics were expected to be revealed later Thursday morning in a news release, police said. Easton police Inspector Daniel Reagan said the capture ended an "extensive" search throughout the Easton area that started at 1 p.m. He said the man was wanted by Elizabeth, New Jersey, police. Reagan declined to name him or disclose the charges he faced. He acknowledged "a lot of people saw a lot of police activity" on the block that night, but the man's capture meant they need not worry for their safety. Reagan said Elizabeth police should have more information about the fugitive. No one was available to answer questions late Wednesday. Reagan and other Easton police officers assisted Wilson Borough police in the investigation along with New Jersey State Police, Elizabeth police and Palmer Township police. People stood around the home's front steps after the raid, including the woman and the small children, but none of them had any comment. One neighbor who declined to give his name said the residents of that home moved in about a year ago. He called them a nuisance and said they have guests coming and going frequently. "They're up all night," he said. The home is owned by Ragab & Abdalla Partners of Bethlehem, according to Northampton County online tax records. Tony Rhodin contributed to this report. Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook. A Northampton County task force made headway on a cell phone robbery ring investigation after charges were filed Wednesday in connection with store robberies in Forks and South Whitehall townships. These follow charges in Wind Gap and Bethlehem Township earlier this year. Police also think a Lopatcong Township cell phone store robbery is connected to the others. Police say Vaughn-Darrius John Felix robbed the Forks store on Oct. 29. The 27-year-old Easton man got help from Gregory Lewis to rob the South Whitehall store on Jan. 16, police said. Police have linked the ring to the murder of Michael Davis, an employee at the Forks store who was killed outside his home, and the abduction and beating of Michael DeRose, the Forks store manager, outside his home. No charges have been filed in either of those cases, although the lawyer for Lewis, 27, of Wilson Borough, admitted in Northampton County Court two weeks ago that he suspects his client will be charged with criminal homicide. Cell records show Felix was on his phone in the vicinity of the Forks Township store six minutes before the robbery and immediately after the robbery. He was talking to Nadir Chandler, 26 of Bethlehem, who was charged in May with conspiring to rob the Forks store, according to police. Chandler allegedly told police he discussed with Felix how easy it would be to rob the store. Chandler allegedly checked out the store and told Felix only one employee was there, so it was a good time to rob the store. About an hour after the robbery, Felix drove up to Chandler's home with a "trunkload" of phones and Chandler took 20 to 25 for himself, police said. Felix allegedly locked DeRose in the bathroom at gunpoint and took 79 devices, mostly phones, worth $40,000 and $400 from the cash register during the caper. Police found a silver handgun in Felix's bedroom closet that looks like the one used in the robbery. After the robbery of the store at 3705 W. Tilghman St. in South Whitehall Township, police used a tracking device in one of the phones to lead them to Easton. They found 57 electronic devices worth $27,000 in a car. Felix's DNA was found on the car's gearshift and a soda can, mask and hat found in the car, police said. Signals from Felix's cell phone bounced off cell towers near the store seven times in the hour leading up to the robbery, police said. A signal from Lewis' phone bounced off a nearby tower a minute after the South Whitehall robbery. The descriptions of Felix and Lewis match those of the robbers of the South Whitehall store, police said. They are accused of locking two employees in the bathroom at gunpoint during the robbery. Felix is charged with robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, kidnapping, theft, receiving stolen property, possession of an instrument of crime, false imprisonment and simple assault for the Forks incident. Felix and Lewis face the same charges in the South Whitehall case with conspiracy to commit simple assault and kidnapping tacked on for both men. Both men were previously charged with robbing a Wind Gap Verizon store on Feb. 9 and an Easton jewelry store on Jan. 23. Lewis is charged with the Jan. 5 robbery of a Bethlehem Township AT&T store. Bail for Felix in the two most recent cases is $1 million. Lewis' bail for the South Whitehall Township robbery is $750,000. Neither man posted bail Wednesday. Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook. Laois Government Minister has extended a political olive branch to a future Sinn Fein opponent in Offaly ahead of what should be a titanic battle at the next General Election. Minister for Justice and Equality Charlie Flanagan reached out to his 'constituency colleague' Deputy Carol Nolan when acknowledging her contribution to a new bill in the Dail. Deputy Nolan will be battling hard with Laois TD Brian Stanley to retain two seats out of five for Sinn Fein if Laois and Offaly are reunited but at the next General Election. Six TDs represent the two counties at present but there will be five if the Constituency Commission's recommendations to merge are adopted by the Dail. "I do not suppose it is premature of me to say that we are now constituency colleagues in a way that happened suddenly and without notice," the Minister told Dep Nolan. "I look forward to working with Deputy Nolan as both of us strive to represent the enlarged constituency of Laois-Offaly, which I had the pleasure of representing for a long number of years. I did not expect that I would have the opportunity to represent it again so soon. "No doubt, Deputy Nolan and I will meet outside the House in a way we have not done to date, representing as we do different constituencies," he said. For her party Dep Nolan congratulated the Minister on his new job in the Department of Juste. "I take this opportunity to wish Deputy Flanagan well in his new role as Minister for Justice and Equality," she said. Sinn Fein, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael have two seats each in the two Laois and Offaly constituencies at present. Unless there is a snap election, one party will loose out next time around. Sinn Fein gained a seat when the counties split in 2016. Marcella Corcoran Kennedy is Fine Gael's Offaly TD. Fianna Fail is represented in Laois by Sean Fleming while Barry Cowen is the party's Offaly TD. Unsuccessful FF candidate in 2016 Eddie Fitzpatrick told a meeting in Portarlington this week that his party stood little chance of winning a third seat in Laois Offaly. He blamed this on the removal of Portarlington to south Kildare which is set to become a four seat constituency. At the same meeting Fianna Fail in Port decided to put their energy into fighting to win a seat for Port in Kildare rather than fighting the constituency commission change which sends a population of 12,000 into Kildare which will have eight TDs at the next General Election. READ STORY HERE Building work will soon get under way in Laois on abandoned houses that will give some lucky local families on the long council house waiting list a fresh start in a new home. Laois Sinn Fein TD Brian Stanley told the Leinster Express that work has begun on the vacant social housing units in Cluinin Estate in Mountrath. The Contractors are carrying out site preparation works and will begin remedial work on the 11 houses in the coming weeks. This is a welcome and long awaited development as these houses have been left idle and abandoned for years. "he existing residents in the estate and those on the council housing waiting list in the Mountrath area have been anxious to have these completed for a long time," he said. Dep Stanley had previously clashed with the owners, Oaklee Housing Association, over the fact the houses had been left vacant. "They have assured me that it is their intention to have the houses completed this year, said Dep Stanley. The homes were part of a housing development that came to sudden halt during the building crash. At last Monday's monthly meeting of Manorhamilton Municipal District a motion was put forward by Cllr Sean McDermott in which he stated he had been contacted by a number motorists whose wing mirrors have been damaged or broken on the R281 between Kiltyclogher and Rossinver as a result of overgrown hedges. Cllr McDermott stated, "For the driver it is a nightmare, something needs to be done. You need to stop when two cars meet never mind when you meet a lorry. A reply from the Senior Egineer, Roads stated, "The road in question will be assessed and we will try and establish the names of the landowners with hedges that are a hazard to road users where upon we will write to the land owner under the Road Acts instructing them to cut/maintain the hedges/trees. Padraig McShera, District Engineer Leitrim County Council added that "45k has been allocated for hedge cutting. We can't afford to spend anymore of the discretionary funding. "It is up to landowners to cut hedges. Every road that you drive on there is a hedge issue." Cllr Felim Gurn responded saying, "The main issue is everyone is getting calls about hedges. If something isn't done we won't be able to pass on roads, they are going to be impassable. I know school buses that won't go on these roads for fear of losing wing mirrors. Lorry drivers are the same." Cllr Warnock added, "It is a disgrace. The road into Kiltyclogher is a regional road not a local road." In reply Cllr Frank Dolan said, "This discussion takes place at this time of year, every year. If you were to do every road it would cost millions. Land owners will have to take responsibility. An issue of cutting Japanese knotweed was also discussed with Mr McShera insisting, "It is the landowners responsibilty." Following a question from Cllr Warnock in relation to whether or not Leitrim County Council use 'round-up' Mr McShera replied, "We don't use it at all." At the July Manorhamilton District Meeting which was held on Monday last, Cllr Padraig Fallon proposed that "Manorhamilton Municpal District call on the ESB, the Department of Agriculture, Energy and Rural Affairs together with the relevant Ministers to work together in the interests of fairness to review the current compensation offered where wood poles interfere with everyday farming practices. "I also call on the Department to adapt and extend the annual payment from ESB Networks to all cases where inconveniences arise due to ESB poles." Addressing the meeting Cllr Fallon said, "There are a number of farms with individuals who have shown me this. Compensation is available if the poles carry 38kv or more." However, Cllr Fallon believes the requirements for compensation should be altered saying, "I believe there should be a payment on all poles 20kv and over." Cllr Fallon referred to a farm that has been particularly impacted saying, "There are 16 poles in 8 acres of land and the farmer can't get compensation. I think it's wrong." Cllr Fallon added that, "The value of land has decreased significantly." The motion received the backing of the meeting and was quickly proposed and seconded. A motion put before last Monday's Manorhamilton Municipal District Meeting called on Leitrim County Council to adopt a scheme similar to or along the lines of the Rural Resettlement Scheme. Cllr Padraig Fallon, who submitted the motion, said, "The time has come to do something about this. It is time to grasp the nettle." Cllr Sean McDermott backed the motion saying it would be particularly beneficial for Kiltyclogher. "It would enhance the village and bring life back to the village. I would ask the Council to engage. The Council needs to help that village." Cllr McDermott added, "If the youth continue to leave at the rate they are we will be in dire straits. Rather than being reactionary we need to try and get ahead of the curve." Cllr Mary Bohan sounded a word of caution when she stated, "For the Council to take on something like this they would need extra resources." Cllr Bohan expressed her belief that a national focus is necessary in order for such a proposal to be a success saying, "I think we need to write to Minister Ring to sit down and see what can be done. Families can't just be dropped in, they need resources. It needs a dedicated staff." Cllr McDermott added, "Whatever we are doing, we are not doing right. When they finish school they leave the area." Cllr Frank Dolan offered the view that "Work is our biggest problem," with Cllr Justin Warnock adding, "We don't create the jobs to sustain our young people." Cllr Fallon concluded the discussion saying, "We must lobby hard for this. This county needs to lobby for this. We should look for pilot status." Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content. Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist. If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter . Support our mission and join our community now. Following water disruptions around Drumsna last weekend, Independent Councillor Enda Stenson has called on Irish Water to keep your money and invest in water pipelines. Businesses and residents in Drumsna and along the Foxborough line were without water for almost 24 hours when it cut off on Sunday, July 16. It is the most recent of a number of disruptions on this line due to burst pipes. This week, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said over one million households will receive refunds this autumn from Irish Water of up to 325. The refunds are for homes that paid water charges. Cllr Enda Stenson is calling on Irish Water to keep their money and instead focus on fixing priority pipelines. He said it is ridiculous Irish Water are giving back money but people are still without water. Drumsna resident and local Councillor Sinead Guckian said the frequent break in water service is not just in Drumsna village but affects a large number of people and group water schemes along the Foxborough line. She said the recent burst meant people were without water for almost 24 hours. The water supply cut out at around 2pm on Sunday, July 16 and full service was returned on Monday, July 17 at 2pm. Cllr Guckian said she understands from the Chief Executive, Frank Curran that Irish Water agree the line needs to be replaced and are considering it for investment. Cllr Guckian said a large area from Jamestown/ Drumsna along the N4 and into Kiltoghert and Kilnagross are affected by frequent breaks in water service. She said she hopes the line will be a priority investment. Irish Water confirmed that a burst water main over the weekend led to reservoir levels to fall and subsequent water outages in the area. "The reservoir in Finnalaughta was affected by this burst which led to water outages from Finnalaughta to Roosky and Bornacoola and affected all group water schemes in the area. Repair crews attended to the burst which occurred at 7pm on Sunday night and was fixed at approximately 12.30pm on Monday will full supply restored to all residents and businesses in the area," a spokesperson explained. Irish Water working in partnership with Leitrim County Council would like to apologise to everyone affected by this unplanned incident and thank the public for their patience while repairs were taking place. Works are starting on the Eslin/Mohill pipeline this month that has been causing major disruptions recently with frequent burst pipes. 2.2km of watermain on the R210 outside Mohill will be replaced, at a cost of 330,000. Over 2,000 people are expected to benefit from the works. Those who have complaints about their service must call the Irish Water helpline based in Cork. Cllr Stenson slammed this procedure and said it puts Leitrim County Council in an impossible situation. He said there should be a local helpline. He also commented that this issue would not be allowed to occur in built up areas, but Leitrim is forgotten. Lord (Robin) Teverson has been writing for PoliticsHome on the UKs membership of Euroatom: Last years referendum was not about Euratom. Leave and Remain were silent about this low profile, essential institution a body that uses the EU institutions but is not part of it. Put simply Euratom acts on behalf of the International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA) as the safeguarding agency for all its 28 member states, the same 28 members of the EU. It ensures that under international non-proliferation treaties all fissile materials are controlled and accounted for. Its inspections make sure the strict protocols and safeguards are in place on behalf of all its members, including the UK. It agrees nuclear cooperation agreements with third countries, ensuring the safe supply of nuclear materials. The most important are with supply countries: Canada, Australia, Kazakhstan, the USA and South Korea. Post-Brexit UK will have to renegotiate some 45 nuclear international agreements. It is responsible for major nuclear research projects, the main funder of the Joint European Torus (JET) project in Oxfordshire. It guarantees the free movement of nuclear scientists and technicians. It governs the movement of radioactive isotopes used in nuclear medicine for the identification and cure of cancers. Robin concludes: So with the nuclear clock ticking what needs to happen? Firstly a withdrawal agreement. Positively this is one area where both Commission and UK have published position papers. But there is plenty of awkward detail, not least the divorce bill and who owns which nuclear materials. The Governments pitch is for a relationship outside of Euratom which is near identical to being within. That crosses an EU27 red line. Then, our new relationship with Euratom has to be agreed. In parallel we must establish our own safeguarding body, sufficiently resourced to be recognised by the IAEA. These are not simple transactions. Only then can we set about new agreements with our nuclear trading partners to secure nuclear fuels, parts, and expertise. Government ministers insist there is no barrier to the import of medical isotopes. Others differ their movement are specifically covered in the Euratom Treaty, in the same list as nuclear reactors. There is confusion. Once more, on things Brexit what ministers say is no longer trusted. Big challenges lie ahead, all because our Government decided to exit Euratom on the basis that its rules are judged by the European Court of Justice. It is said that ministers did not want to leave Euratom. They recognised the value of this efficient and quiet institution. It is a pity they didnt have the moral courage of their convictions. There is still time to change their mind. You can read the full piece here. Counterintuitive though it may seem to many, Britain is significantly more equal than it was a decade ago especially in London, where the fall in inequality has been dramatic according to the IFS. This poses several challenges for those who consider that reducing income inequality should be a policy priority, among whose number are many Liberal Democrats. First, are people really that concerned about inequality (i.e. their income compared to others) or do they care primarily about how they themselves are doing? The evidence from the last decade would suggest it is the latter. Second, what is the virtue of reducing inequality through recession/slow economic growth? The fall in inequality is due in large part to the rich becoming poorer to a greater extent than the poor. I dont see that as a cause for celebration, but if it is the easiest (and possibly only realistic) way of reducing inequality, would proponents of that end be content with this means? Third, we have as a party in recent years asserted falsely on a few occasions in conference motions that inequality has been increasing, and from there have proposed policy solutions based on that falsity. How as a party do we get better at accepting independent evidence, even if it is uncomfortable? You can read the whole IFS paper here. * Nick Thornsby is a day editor at Lib Dem Voice. PLANS to erect a plaque in Limerick city in memory of two men who died tragically while working on Thomond Bridge two years ago have temporarily been put on hold. Sinn Fein councillor John Costelloe put forward a motion at this weeks council meeting to erect a memorial plaque in remembrance of Bryan Whelan, 29, and T.J. Herlihy, 36, who died tragically while carrying on restoration works on the historic Thomond Bridge on August 29, 2015. At the time, three men were working on the bridge in a cage like structure suspended by a cable over the River Shannon when the structure snapped and plunged into the water. All three were harnessed and wearing lifejackets, which they were required to do under safety regulations. But when they became submerged under water, only one man survived. Paul Murphy, originally from Wexford but living in Co Limerick, who was in the cage when it crashed into the river, managed to free himself from a harness and make his way to safety. Mr Herlihy had just started work with the contracting company, Irish Bridge, on that Saturday, the day of the incident. A report by the Health & Safety Authority into the circumstances surrounding their deaths has not been published publicly. Former mayor of Limerick, Independent councillor John Gilligan, said this is a very sensitive issue as a number of people have lost their lives in the River Shannon in tragic and unfortunate incidents, and they too may wish to see a plaque erected in memory of their loved ones who perished in the water. The River Shannon takes a lot of people every year and we need to be sensitive about this and get this right, urged Cllr Gilligan. Councillor Michael Sheahan stressed that the families of both men should also be consulted before any plaque is erected. Kieran Lehane, director of physical development at Limerick City and County Council, said this has been raised at a number of meetings, and it had been proposed to have a shared memorial due to a number of incidents around the river. Cllr Costelloe said that he is meeting with council officials this Thursday for further talks, saying the grieving families of both men deserve a focal point where they can pray and place a wreath. He said the men were carrying out works for a contractor at the councils request at the time, and that they did not die of their own volition. A LIMERICK coroner has said that the death of city homeless woman Louise Casey is a damning indictment on the whole system at an inquest this week. This Wednesday morning, Limerick Coroner's Court heard the horrendous circumstances surrounding the death of the 31-year-olds death, who was found dead in an outside basement in the city centre. The inquest heard that Ms Casey, of Colmcille Street, St Marys Park, was found unresponsive by a member of the public at an outside basement of a flat on Catherine Street, on the morning of November 8 last. The inquest heard that Ms Casey died of cardio-respiratory due to drugs in her system. Coroner John McNamara concluded the inquest after giving a verdict of misadventure. Her sister addressed the inquest, saying: The homeless crisis is appalling. To think, in this day and age, in 2017, to get a telephone call that your sister was found dead in a basement. Loved ones said that Ms Casey had a heart of gold and was just a text away. The inquest heard that she suffered trauma in recent years after burying her father and two children. One family member said that she was put out of McGarry House before she passed away. Mr McNamara asked the family why this happened. They replied: It was never said. She was quite upset that she got put out. Garda John Mulcahy, of Henry Street, said that efforts to resuscitate Ms Casey were unsuccessful, and she was pronounced dead within an hour. Pathologist Dr Olubunmi Ipadeola said that there were trace amounts of drugs in her system, including cod-eine, morphine and paracetamol. But he said that the collective amount would be enough to be the cause of death. Mr McNamara told the family that Ms Casey would have died quite peacefully. The inquest heard the statement of witness Ger Curtin, who said that he observed Ms Caseys body at the premises at 2.30pm the previous day. He stated that he thought she was sleeping, so he left her alone. He stated that, the following day, he saw her in the same position and immediately alerted others to the scene. Mr McNamara said that it was horrendous that Ms Casey was found in a basement, and that it was a damning indictment on the whole system. Mr McNamara said that there was no evidence of foul play involved and that there was no alcohol in her system. EVIDENCE has concluded in the trial of three men who are charged in connection with two aggravated burglaries in County Limerick more than five years ago. Patrick Roche, aged 52, of Kilcronan Close, Clondalkin, Dublin; his son Philip Roche, aged 24, also of Kilcronan Close, Clondalkin and Alan Freeman, aged 37, of Pearse Park, Tipperary Town have each pleaded not guilty to a charge of aggravated burglary relating to an incident at Sunville House, Pallasgreen on April 16, 2012. All three also deny falsely imprisoning Gerard Garvey, his wife Ann and three of their four children after entering their family home at around 10pm. Patrick Roche and Philip Roche have also pleaded not guilty to similar charges relating to an incident at the home of three elderly siblings at Ballyluddy, Pallasgreen on May 31, 2012. Mr Freeman a brother-in-law of Patrick Roche is not charged in connection with that incident. Over the course of almost five weeks of evidence, the jury of seven men and five women heard evidence from a large number of gardai as well as several civilian witnesses. The trial has also heard from two witnessess who have been been convicted over their involvement in the burglaries. John Cahill, aged 33, who is originally from Cappamore testified that Alan Freeman asked him to drive a car on the night of the aggravated burglary at Sunville house. He said he met the three accused and another man at an agreed location at around 9pm and that he observed Patrick Roche changing the number plates on the sky-blue BMW. Cahill, who was sentenced to five years imprisonment for his role in the incident, alleged that Patrick Roche was in possession of a gun and that Alan Freeman had a screwdriver. I was told to wait in the car, that Id be phoned to drive up and drive in, he told the court. Another witness William Gammell, aged 32, who has an address in Co Tipperary gave evidence that he acted as the getaway driver on the night of the incident at the Creed family home on May 31, 2012. He previously received a five-year suspended sentence. In evidence, Gammell described picking up Patrick and Philip Roche from Cappawhite and driving them to a location in Pallasgreen which is adjacent to the rural farmhouse. He told the jury he never entered the house and that he did not terrorise the elderly siblings who are all aged in the 70s. The final witness in the trial was Sergeant Michael Reidy who was a detective in the Bruff district at the time. He told the jury the three defendants were arrested early on the morning of October 18, 2012 and were questioned over a number of days at various garda stations in Limerick. Memos of interviews with Alan Freeman were read to the jury this Wednesday afternoon while the jury was told that both Patrick Roche and Philip Roche denied any involvement in the aggravated burglaries After closing the State case, Shane Costelloe SC, prosecuting, delivered his closing speech to the jury this Wednesday evening. THE last dying wish of Angelas Ashes author Frank McCourt was for his own ashes to be scattered in Limerick, the home of his miserable Irish Catholic childhood which propelled him to literary stardom. Eight years on since his death in New York, his wife Ellen, only daughter Maggie and two of his grandsons, Jack, age 14, and Avery, age seven, flew across the Atlantic and saw that his wish was finally fulfilled this week. Together, the three generations dispersed his ashes in two locations close to his heart in Limerick in emotional moments as they struggled to hold back the tears. The private family ceremony occurred with some serendipity, just in advance of the eighth anniversary of the death, at the age of 78, this Wednesday, July 19, and as a musical version of his memoirs reaches new audiences across the country. When asked about his thoughts on his own mortality, the Pulitzer Prize winner famously and irreverently quipped to the Limerick Leader: I dont want funeral services or memorials. Let them scatter my ashes over the Shannon and pollute the river. Side by side, wife and daughter each paid tribute to Frank at the respective sites the ruins of Carrigogunnell Castle, overlooking the River Shannon, and Mungret Abbey - as they looked skyward and flung his ashes to the heavens. Ellen McCourt said that following his death, she, Maggie, and each of his surviving brothers Michael, Alphie and Malachy - received a portion of his ashes after he was cremated, while his urn is buried in a plot in Connecticut, in the same graveyard as playwright Arthur Miller. Frank had always told me he wanted them scattered at Carrigogunnell, as he used to cycle out there with his friends, and would look out over the River Shannon and dream of going all the way to America, Ellen told the Limerick Leader. You've made it, Frank, she whispered to him, as she stood at the ruins of the 13th century castle, just outside Clarina. Daughter Maggie, his only child, born to his first wife, brought her portion of her dads ashes with her on her first visit to Limerick in over 30 years. Its the first time Maggie and I have been in Limerick together, so it seemed fitting, explained Ellen. I was very happy to have done this, as it was something I told Frank I would do, and the opportunity did not present itself until now, even though I have been here on several occasions since [his death]. Maggie added that before he died they asked him what his wishes were and whether he wanted us to take his ashes to the family graveyard in Limerick, and he looked up at me with big, sad eyes and said That would be too much trouble. In contrast to the constant rain which has since become synonymous with Angelas Ashes Limerick, they said they were greeted with a perfectly clear blue-sky day as they remembered him, before the weather turned on Franks anniversary. It was almost as of that day was sent to us, it was so beautiful. Its very emotional to be here, said Maggie, a 46 year-old mother of four. Im grateful that were here, as this is something we have been planning to do for quite some time. I can understand why he wanted his ashes scattered at Carrigogunnell as its so magical. Ellens portion of her husbands ashes remain in New York, as she said I dont want to part with them. Carrigogunnell is referenced on a number of occasions throughout McCourts break-through 1996 work, which Ellen, his third wife, from California, insisted that he had to write. It shot him to literary stardom in his 60s while he was a English teacher beloved of his students in New York, and led to a cannon of memoirs and a childrens book, which have sold more than 10 million copies worldwide. Every Saturday I swear Ill go to confession, McCourt wrote in Angelas Ashes, and tell the priest of my impure acts at home, on lonely boreens around Limerick with cows and sheep gawking, on the heights of Carrigogunnell with the world looking up. He frequently visited Carrigogunnell with his father Malachy, where the top of Ireland is spread out in front of me. Maggie scattered his ashes at Carrigogunnell, while Ellen scattered another portion at Mungret Abbey, where members of the McCourt family are buried, and the family were accompanied by Una Heaton, artist and curator of the Frank McCourt museum on Hartstonge Street. The museum continues to attract hundreds of people a year from all over the world, to view memorabilia of his life, including the manuscript of Tis, a collection of his rosary beads, his personal copy of Angelas Ashes, and the robes he wore when he was conferred with an honorary degree from the University of Limerick. Brother Malachy McCourt, the now only surviving McCourt sibling, had earlier intended to scatter his brothers ashes, but that never occurred at the time. The 85 year-old prolific author has now written about preparing to leave this mortal coil Death Need Not be Fatal - for which he posed in a coffin for the books cover. Now immobilised with inclusion body myositis (IBM), an inflammatory muscle disease, he said he would like his own ashes to be scattered across the Hudson River in New York, where he has lived for decades. I dont find it at all morbid talking about death. I dont feel scared of death; its just a transition. I have no hope of heaven and no fear of hell. Ill just be in an extremely deep sleep. He does not wish to have a Catholic funeral service, but a service in the Symphony Space theatre on Broadway, where his brother Frank was also remembered by the arts community in New York. Malachy, who will not be able to travel to Ireland to see the musical, said he laughed when news of the production prompted someone to comment online: Whats next a musical of Schindlers List? Author and playwright Peter Sheridan is among those who has lauded the production, describing it as fresh, funky, with loads of attitude and not to be missed under any circumstances. The family arrived en masse in Limerick last weekend as Angelas Ashes The Musical, under acclaimed director Pat Moylan, made its way from Limerick after a sell-out run, to Dublins Bord Gais theatre this week. A LIMERICK man accused of shooting dead a biker told gardai that "tensions were running high" after members of a rival motorcycle club threatened to burn his house down with his family inside. Alan 'Cookie' McNamara, 51, from Mountfune, Murroe, Co Limerick has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Andrew AOD ODonoghue on Saturday June 20, 2015 at Mountfune. Also on trial is Mr McNamaras stepson Robert Cusack, 28, of Abington, Murroe who has pleaded not guilty to impeding Mr McNamaras apprehension knowing or believing him to have committed a serious offence. Sergeant Brian OConnor and Detective Garda Niall Fitzgerald told prosecuting counsel John O'Sullivan BL that they interviewed Mr McNamara at Roxboro Garda Station in Limerick on June 21 2015. Sgt O'Connor agreed that Mr McNamara told them that members of the Road Tramps motorcycle group had tried to beat the shit out of me on the Friday night. When asked about the shooting, he said he felt sorry for Mr O'Donoghues child and added: I didn't look for no trouble. I just want to live my life and get on with it. Describing events that weekend he said the bikers attacked him outside Kellys pub in Doon, Co Limerick, struck him on the head, beat him to the ground and took his waistcoat from him. The waistcoat had a Caballeros patch sewn into it. He said his wife was also attacked. He told gardai he did not know how the men knew he was in Doon and thought they might be watching him. On his way home, after the attack, he said he passed the Road Tramps clubhouse and was followed by men in a maroon car, one of whom was carrying a gun. He told interviewing gardai that CCTV outside the club would show his car going past, followed by the maroon car. The men stopped outside Mr McNamara's home and, in front of his wife and young child, he said they threatened to burn down his house with his family in it. They would kill us, he said. He got his children out of the house and spent that Friday night in fear of what was going to happen next. Were they going to burn down my house? he said. He said he feared for his life and his familys life and he took the threat seriously. At one point he considered contacting the Road Tramps club but feared that might make things worse. The following day, the day of the shooting, Mr McNamara said tensions were running high and his wife gave him four Valium that morning to calm him down. In a later interview he said he was sorry that Mr O'Donoghue was dead and added: I know AOD [Mr ODonoghue] is dead. Im dead. My family is going to suffer. In an interview on June 22, he described the situation as a disaster, and said he wouldnt be in this mess if they hadnt called to his house. He said he loves life and loves people and added: Times were just starting to be good, and now this. The jury also heard from Detective Garda Ursula Cummins of the ballistics section at Garda HQ who said she examined shotgun cartridges found at the scene of Mr O'Donoghues shooting and compared them with cartridges fired from a gun found in a wooded area behind the accused man's home. She said she looked at marks left on the cartridges by the firing pin under a microscope and was satisfied that one of the cartridges, a 12-gauge shotgun cartridge, was fired by that gun. The other was inconclusive. Analyzing the gun, she said it was sawn to a barrel length of 37cm and therefore could not be a legally held firearm in Ireland. The minimum legal length for a shotgun barrel in Ireland is 60cm. The witness also used the gun to successfully discharge cartridges seized by gardai at Mr McNamara's home following the shooting. The trial continues this Friday before Justice Paul McDermott and a jury of seven men and four women. May 3, 2021, 8 PM Almost 100 letter carriers were in violation of the Hatch Act in 2016, when the United States Postal Service granted the carriers leave requests to allow them to work for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. Washington Postal Scene By Bill McAllister The United States Postal Service allowed 97 letter carriers to work for Hillary Clintons presidential campaign last year in what investigators told Congress was a systemic violation of a law prohibiting federal workers from engaging in partisan politics. The accusation, made at a July 19 Senate hearing, drew an immediate apology from Postmaster General Megan J. Brennan. She called the Postal Services violations of the Hatch Act unintentional and promised to end the abuses. Connect with Linns Stamp News: Sign up for our newsletter Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson, whose staff discovered the Postal Services practice of granting unpaid leave for politics, warned that, although the actions do not seem like large numbers, especially here in Washington, the consequences were far-reaching. Investigators told the committee the National Association of Letter Carriers, a major postal union, has had a long-standing practice, dating back to the 1990s, of securing leave without pay for union members at election time. Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, said USPS headquarters officials last year had taken official actions with the intent of enabling the unions political agenda and has done so with a clear understanding of what that activity involved. It is legitimate to wonder why no one will be held accountable [and] how the Postal Service leadership allowed this systemic violation of the Hatch Act to go on for 20 years, the chairman said. He questioned whether other federal agencies also were allowing extensive leave taking for politics. Adam Miles, acting U.S. Special Counsel, said his office concluded that the USPS practice of facilitating and directing carrier releases for the unions political activity resulted in an institutional bias in favor of the NALCs endorsed political candidates, which the Hatch Act prohibits. To stop these systemic violations the Office of Special Counsel said the Postal Service should not require, direct or suggest that local supervisors release union members to engage in political activity. It urged the USPS to adopt a hands off approach to the unions political activities. It also said the USPS should drop reference to political activities being allowed for leave without pay. Miles said USPS management appears to be receptive to these changes. The official also said that his office did not believe individual punishments were appropriate and that the practice was a result of the USPSs efforts to engender goodwill with the union. William Siemer, acting deputy inspector general of the USPS, said in his testimony that the Office of Inspector General has discovered that 97 carriers took leave without pay to engage in partisan political campaign activities from September through November of last year. The leave ran from four to 50 days, totaling more than 2,700 days off. Eighty-two percent of the union activities were in the states of Florida, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. All six states were described as battleground states in the presidential race between Democrat Clinton and Republican Donald J. Trump. Some local managers attempted to deny the leave requests, Siemer said. But an unnamed headquarters labor relations executive was said to have sent emails to field managers requiring explanations for any carriers whose leave requests were not approved. The inspector general said his staff examined leave requests of 22 carriers and said that the USPS paid a net overtime cost of more than $90,000 to make up for the jobs of the workers granted leave. Postal management approved the leave requests as a customary practice and a necessary part of cultivating a good relationship with the union. After the hearing, the NALC posted a brief statement on its website promising it would submit a statement to the Senate committee to address the legitimacy and accuracy of some of the data and statements at the hearing. NALC also will monitor these proceedings to protect our right to continue representing the views of our members across the political spectrum consistent with the law. Dispute over Statue of Liberty replica on 2010 U.S. Postal Service stamp ordered to trial May 2, 2021, 5 PM The four-year-old lawsuit between sculptor Robert S. Davidson, whose Las Vegas replica of the Statue of Liberty appears on a 2010 United States stamp, and the U.S. Postal Service has been ordered to trial. By Bill McAllister, Washington Correspondent A federal judge has ordered a dispute over the Lady Liberty stamp that the United States Postal Service mistakenly produced in 2010 to go to trial in September. Federal Claims Court Judge Eric G. Bruggink rejected motions by both the Postal Service and sculptor Robert S. Davidson that would have effectively ended a four-year-old lawsuit over a stamp that was based on a replica of the Statue of Liberty. The judge put aside motions for summary judgment and ordered a trial on liability and damages to begin Sept. 11 in Washington, D.C. Connect with Linns Stamp News: Sign up for our newsletter Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Davidson sued the Postal Service over the stamp in 2013, claiming the Postal Service had violated his copyrighted Lady Liberty replica, which stands outside the New York, New York Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. Postal officials initially defended the stamp design, saying they mistakenly believed the Lady Liberty photograph was taken of the famed statue in New York Harbor. The postal official who oversaw stamp designs later said he would have never selected that image if he had realized it featured a replica. The error was discovered not by the Postal Service but by Sunipix, a stock photo agency, which notified the USPS of the error. In a July 18 ruling, Bruggink rejected the governments arguments for summary judgment, which he said were based on a faulty premise that photographic copying of a public architectural work does not constitute copyright infringement. The premise behind the governments defense is wrong, he wrote. Congress in 1990 added a provision that allows sculptural works to be protected as works of authorship under the Copyright Act, the judge said. Even if the replica were viewed by the public as a design element of the casino, as defendants experts contend, that does not strip plaintiffs work of its protection as a sculpture. The judge said: There is no question that plaintiff was invoking the Statue of Liberty, in his replica, but he argues that his intent was not merely to copy and that the replica is unique. He contends that the face which is the only aspect copied in the stamp at issue, was intentionally not a perfect copy of the original, the judge wrote. Postal lawyers argued that the differences between the replica and the original are too subtle to warrant protection as an original work, Bruggink said. They also said they are entitled to fair use of the Lady Liberty design even with protected elements of Davidsons design, the judge said. Davidson argued that the Postal Service sold millions of the stamps, but the USPS countered that those sales have a minimal potential for reducing plaintiffs ability to make further commercial use of the replica. Putting those factors together makes it impossible to grant Davidsons motion for summary judgment nor does it allow for a Postal Service motion to reject the claim, the judge said. Postal Service spokesman David A. Partenheimer said, We have no comment due to the ongoing litigation. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page. Between 2012 and 2016, the cases of more than 200 police officers who shot people in the line of duty came before grand juries in Harris County. None were indicted. Mimi Swartz, a Houston-based author and an executive editor at Texas Monthly, writes in Thursday's New York Times about her tenure as a Harris County grand juror in 2013, that began with a jail tour, a demonstration by the county the K-9 unit and a shoot/don't shoot simulation that amounted to "an exercise in indoctrination." She describes the intended result: We duly became rubber-stamp artists. And I might have continued to indict away on autopilot if it hadn't been for two fellow jurors: a young black lawyer and a white former judge. As cases came and went, I couldn't help noticing that their questions seemed to annoy the prosecutors: They were gumming up the works. Swartz notes, however, that the prevailing Harris County ethos changed in 2016 with the election of Kim Ogg, a Democrat and former prosecutor, as district attorney, who "sees criminal justice reform and public safety as linked." And there are signs of progress: The grand jury recently indicted two law enforcement officers in separate violent incidents involving civilians. Granted, one cop quickly retired and the other was off duty, but the indictments stand in contrast to past practice. "If people don't trust the system, they won't participate," Ms. Ogg told me. If you've got something worth posting about Houston, or Texas, in Must Read, send it to me at vernon.loeb@chron.com, with a brief comment on why you liked it. We'll include submissions from readers in future posts. Thanks for reading Gray Matters. The wildfire thats been raging near Yosemite National Park was showing signs Thursday of calming down as temperatures in the area dipped and humidity rose, officials said. The Detwiler Fire has burned more than 70,000 acres in Mariposa County, destroyed 45 structures and prompted thousands of evacuations since it started on Sunday, officials said. While the fire was only 10 percent contained, Ken Pimlott, the director of Cal Fire, said Thursday that hes optimistic about the Detwiler Fire because the behavior of the blaze has modified and temperatures have cooled down slightly. The fire behavior is not nearly as intense as it was in the past few days. So that gives firefighters a chance to engage in their plan and put containment lines in, Pimlott said. We can truly say we are starting to turn the corner on this fire. He said firefighters are focused on stopping the fire from spreading into the town of Mariposa, which was almost completely evacuated earlier this week when the inferno moved within five miles of it. Pimlott said that over the next 48 hours, firefighters will be cutting lines and doing as much as possible to tamp things down before the hot, dry temperatures return this weekend. "If the weather holds and it goes the way we would like it, our hope is to get people back in these communities as quickly as we can," he said. "That could occur as early as this evening." Pimlott said the fire jumped the Merced River to the north side and that the north end of the fire is now threatening Coulterville and Greeley Hill, which were also evacuated. That area has deep brush and firefighters are concerned the flames there could run out of control. Thats the priority over the next 24 to 48 hours, he said. Pimlott said hot, dry conditions and rapid spread are becoming the norm for fires in California. The dry conditions, weather patterns, all of it is combining to promote rapid and sometimes explosive rates of spread, he said. Weve got this grass from the rains that in some cases is 6 feet tall. Its very dense and its creating situations that can be challenging. I think smoke is a problem for everybody thats downwind from this fire, he added. Certainly its an issue over the crest of the Sierras and into the Carson Valley. Peter Fimrite is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: pfimrite@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @pfimrite This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Conservative columnist Ben Shapiro, the latest right-wing pundit whom a Republican student organization has tried to bring to UC Berkeley, wont be allowed to speak on the campus under the conditions the group has proposed, school officials said Wednesday. The Berkeley College Republicans want to host Shapiro on Sept. 14 at a campus location able to accommodate 500 people. But campus officials say none is available on that day, unless the group is willing to pay a potential rental fee. They say they may be able to find a venue of that size on another date, or a smaller venue on Sept. 14. Campus officials previously refused to give the Republican group permission to host conservative commentator Ann Coulter in April because of the lack of an appropriate venue. Coulter threatened to show up anyway, but didnt. The Berkeley College Republicans is also the group that invited Milo Yiannopoulos to campus in February, but his appearance was called off at the last minute when rioting broke out in Sproul Plaza outside the hall where he was to speak. Mr. Shapiro is welcome on our campus, UC Berkeley officials wrote in a letter Wednesday to the Republican student group. They offered to meet with the students to figure out a time and place for Shapiros visit. Berkeley blocks Ben Shapiro! came the indignant response in the form of a news release from the Berkeley College Republicans and Young Americas Foundation, a conservative speakers bureau. Berkeleys inability to find a lecture hall more than two months in advance is laughable. The groups have sued UC Berkeley and University of California President Janet Napolitano over the Coulter affair. Spencer Brown, a spokesman for Young Americas Foundation, said Wednesday that UC Berkeley officials were engaging in blatantly anti-free speech and unconstitutional actions against conservative speakers. More for you Conservative students test UC Berkeley with latest speaker invite UC Berkeley officials told the Republican student group that campus police would need to conduct a security assessment that might rule out certain hours for the event an indication that officials may not allow Shapiro to speak during evening hours. Shapiro, a 33-year-old graduate of Harvard Law School, is not given to the type of outrageous, attention-grabbing statements that have polarized fans and foes of Yiannopoulos and Coulter. He doesn't even support President Trump. He uses his Web-based "Ben Shapiro Show" and other online columns to oppose abortion, criticize the "self-righteous media" and to wade into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict firmly on the side of Israel. Shapiro says its an outright lie that Palestinians want peace in the Middle East, and calls the two-state solution stupid. As at many college campuses across the country, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a live wire at UC Berkeley, with long arguments common between students who are passionate on both sides. Campus spokesman Dan Mogulof emphasized the willingness of UC Berkeley to work with the students to find a time and place for Shapiro to speak. The way to do this is not by press release, Mogulof said, but by sitting down together. Update: A description in this story describing Shapiro's views was updated Sept. 15, 2017. Nanette Asimov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: nasimov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @NanetteAsimov The Lying Game By Ruth Ware Gallery/Scout. 370 pp. $26.99 --- My heart sank as I read the opening sentences of Ruth Ware's new suspense novel, "The Lying Game." "No," I told myself. "Not a dog on a beach digging up a bone. Please, it can't be ..." Alas, it was. That dog did indeed dig up a human (!) bone, thus performing one of the stalest tricks in the suspense story playbook. What happens on the novel's next page is just as cliched: four former school friends-who-share-a-terrible-secret-from-the-past are notified about the discovery and reunite. Things have nowhere to go but up in Ware's thriller after this double whammy of worn-out conventions. Eventually, they sort of do. Blame my dismay at the weak opening of "The Lying Game" on the ingenuity of Ware's previous novel, the best-selling "The Woman in Cabin 10." That tale took place on a labyrinthine yacht on the high seas and was infused with claustrophobic menace. Were Alfred Hitchcock still around, he surely would have snapped up the rights. Hitch would have more of a challenge, though, making "The Lying Game" into something memorable. This story stays scrupulously within the lines: to the degree it satisfies, it does so because - like a Lifetime movie - its premise, setting and characters are so comfortably broken-in. There's even a haunted house, a dark and stormy night, a baby in peril and climactic trials by flood and fire. Our narrator here is Isa Wilde, a new mother living in North London. Shortly after that canine exhumes that bone from the sand, Isa receives an unsigned text in the dead of night that reads simply: "I need you." Isa instantly knows what the text means and who sent it - even though she and the sender, Kate Atagon, have not seen each other since they were wayward schoolgirls nearly two decades ago at Salten House, a mediocre boarding school near the English Channel. The very next morning, Isa makes up an excuse to her partner, packs her baby daughter, Freya, into her carriage, and boards a train for the village of Salten, where Kate still lives. Later that day, two other long-lost friends also answer the same summons and turn up at Kate's cottage. No, cottage is inaccurate. Kate lives in a structure called the Tide Mill - the same place she's been living ever since her father, a beloved art teacher at Salten House, disappeared. The Tide Mill seems to be a waterlogged version of Edgar Allan Poe's "House of Usher." Here's Isa's description of her arrival at the place: "It's not a building so much as a collection of driftwood thrown together by the winds, and looking as if it might be torn apart by them at any point. ... [a] wooden walkway bridg[es] the ten feet of water that separates the mill from the shore. ... It is narrower than I remember, the slats salt-bleached and rotten in places. ... I take a deep breath, trying to ignore the images in my head (slats giving way, the pram falling into the salt water) ... as I bounce the wheels across the treacherous gaps." Needless to say, Isa's fearful fantasies are a textbook example of the literary technique known as foreshadowing. Once the four women gather at Tide Mill, we learn that, in their school days, the quartet indulged in an amusement called "The Lying Game," in which they told tall tales to teachers and other students. As it becomes clear that the dread secret the four share has something to do with their long-ago expulsion from Salten House, Kate's father's disappearance, and, now, that newly resurfaced bone, Isa begins to suspect that one of her old friends may be playing a more sinister version of their old game. The plot ambles back and forth between the women's youth and their anxious present, during which time they must attend a catty reunion dinner at Salten House and figure out who has been blackmailing Kate. Ware's style here is as routine as her plot. For instance, when faced with an awful revelation, Isa feels "a shiver of cold run from my neck, all the way down my back, prickling at my skin." In other scenes, like many a thriller heroine before her, words scream inside Isa's head or she's surprised by "a longing with a heat so fierce that I thought it might consume me." "The Lying Game" rallies in its second half, making a few unforeseen detours off its well-worn narrative road before inevitably returning to that perilous half-submerged footbridge to wrap things up. As long as readers are ready to surrender to the pleasures of the predictable, Ware's latest thriller is enjoyable enough. --- Corrigan, the book critic for the NPR program "Fresh Air," teaches literature at Georgetown University. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The story of the Giants bullpen struggles in 2017 cannot be told without mentioning a huge loss. Left-hander Will Smith, acquired from Milwaukee in a midseason deal a year ago, was ticketed for the eighth inning until he blew out his elbow and underwent Tommy John surgery on March 30. Smith did not hesitate Wednesday when asked whether he hopes to be on the active roster next Opening Day. Hell, yeah, he said. You never want to get too far ahead because there are always setbacks, but its a personal goal Ive set for myself. To achieve it, Smith is doing something counterintuitive. He plans to wait until the six-month mark post-surgery to begin playing catch, longer than the normal 4 to five months, so he can further strengthen his arm. There is no rush because he will not pitch this year anyway, and he believes that could cut his rehab time on the back end. Smith, who turned 28 on July 10, hopes to have a normal spring training of bullpen sessions and live batting practice. The medical staff then can assess when to let him pitch in a game. Smith has had no real setbacks and has become an upbeat, near-constant presence in the clubhouse, keeping a promise to remain with the team for the most part rather than confine himself to the Giants rehab facilities in Arizona. Barring a trade, the Giants could boast a more formidable back end of the bullpen in 2018 with a presumably healthy Mark Melancon, Sam Dyson, Hunter Strickland and Smith. Trade talk: The Yankees deal for third baseman Todd Frazier and others Tuesday has heightened the Red Soxs interest in Eduardo Nunez. Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported that Boston is expected to scout the potential free agent more thoroughly in the coming days. Nunezs hamstring strain remains an issue. He was under orders not to bust loose on the bases Tuesday because of continuing soreness, and he did not start Wednesday. On the other hand, Nunez is playing well. He had three hits Tuesday, including a walk-off single, one night after he failed to reach base for the first time in 34 games, ending the longest streak in the majors this year. He also hit a pinch single Wednesday. Henry Schulman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. On deck Thursday vs. Padres 7:15 p.m. Channel: 11 Chacin (8-7) vs. Bumgarner (0-3) Friday vs. Padres 7:15 p.m. NBCSBA Cahill (4-3) vs. Samardzija (4-11) Saturday vs. Padres 1:05 p.m. NBCSBA Perdomo (4-5) vs. Moore (3-10) Leading off Another HBP: Prospect Ryder Jones was hit in the left wrist by a pitch Tuesday in his first game back at Sacramento after a right-wrist injury. He will miss a few games. Henry Schulman The Saint Arnold Brewing Co. is about more than just beer though, for the record, the company produces 11 year-round beers, seven seasons, and three special series. Last weekend, dinner patrons helped raise more than $100,000 during the seventh annual Feast of Saint Arnold for Texas Children's Hospital's Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center. You dont have to venture far for a change of scenery and some attractive camping sites especially when the leaves turn and temperatures drop in the fall. Government Canyon State Natural Area: The 12,000-acre area park offer many activities from biking, geocaching, hiking, picnicking, trail running, ranger programs, regularly scheduled guided hikes and scheduled programs (Hike the Canyon, Explore the Canyon and Family Fun). Overnight camping on Fridays and Saturdays (additional camping nights available on many holidays). The park has the only known dinosaur footprints on public land in Bexar County. Gates open from 7 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Monday, closed on Tuesday-Thursday. 210-688-9055, 1-800-792-1112, reservations 512-389-8900 or make reservation online at texas.reserveworld.com; 12861 Galm Road, San Antonio. Guadalupe River State Park: 1,900 acres just north of San Antonio off Texas 46 on the Guadalupe River. Visitors come to fish, canoe, swim and tube on the Guadalupe River, but the park offers camping with about 100 campsites, picnicking, hiking and a 5.3 mile-equestrian trail that is also open to mountain biking. Fishing gear is available, on loan, for use in the park. Open daily. Gates open 8 a.m.-10 p.m., 830-438-2656, reservations 512-389-8900 or make reservation online at texas.reserveworld.com; 3350 Park Road 31, Spring Branch. Hill Country State Natural Area: 5,300 acres southwest of Bandera provides a secluded retreat with rocky hills, oak groves, grassy valleys and canyons and spring-fed streams. A variety of camp sites ranging from 40 primitive to back-country camping are available. Other park activies include backpacking, equestrian trails, fishing, hiking, mountain biking and swimming. Visitors are encouraged to bring their own drinking water. Open daily. 830-796-441, reservations 512-389-8900 or make reservation online at texas.reserveworld.com; 10600 Bandera Creek Road, Bandera. More Information For more information: Texas State Parks See More Collapse Garner State Park: North of Uvalde, visitors may swim, tube or paddle boat on the 2.8 miles of the Frio River that wind through the parks 1,774 acres. Camping is allowed with approximately 375 campsites and shelters. Other activities include bird-watching, hiking, picnicking and dancing at the parks concession building. Open daily 8 a.m.-10 p.m. 830-232-6132, reservations 512-389-8900 or make reservation online at texas.reserveworld.com; 234 RR 1050, Concan. Enchanted Rock State Natural Area: One of the most visited parks in the state park system, the 1,640-acre park is known for the massive pink granite dome rising above Central Texas. Visitors are offered 11 miles of hiking trails, rock climbing, picnicking, bird watching and stargazing. Campers may choose 35 walk-in campsites and 20 primitive backpack campsites. Open daily 8 a.m.-10 p.m. 830-685-3636, reservations 512-389-8900 or make reservation online at texas.reserveworld.com; 16710 Ranch Road 965, Fredericksburg. Blanco State Park: One of the smaller state parks at 104.6 acres, its only an hour away from San Antonio. Visitors may go boating, tubing, swimming or fishing on the one-mile stretch of the spring-fed Blanco River that hugs the park. Camping (only 29 campsites are available all with power and water), hiking, geocache and wildlife watching are popular park activities. Fishing gear is available on loan for park use. Open daily. 830-833-4333, reservations 512-389-8900 or make reservation online at texas.reserveworld.com; 101 Park Road 23, Blanco. Lost Maples State Natural Area: The park stretches across 2,174 acres two hours northwest of San Antonio. Visitors can birdwatch, explore more than 10 miles of trails and stay at the 30 camp sites with water and electricity or backpack to the six primitive campsites. Fishing in the Sabinal River or at Can Creek can be done without a license. Please note cellphone reception in not available in the Natural Area. Open daily. 830-966-3413, reservations 512-389-8900 or make reservation online at texas.reserveworld.com; 37221 F.M. 187, Vanderpool. Choke Canyon State Park: Two units (South Shore and Calliham) make up the park with Calliham offering boating, hiking, fishing, a lake beach, camp sites, shelters with air conditioning and group facilities. The South Shore Unit is a day-use only park. Located on the 26,000-acre Choke Canyon Reservoir. Open 6-a.m.-10 p.m. daily (except during public hunts). The Calliham Unit is located 12 miles west of Three Rivers on Texas 72 to Tilden. 361-786-3868, reservations 512-389-8900 or make reservation online at texas.reserveworld.com. Goliad State Park & Historic Site: The park complex has a refurnished restoration of the Spanish colonial era mission of Nuestra Senora del Espiritu Santo de Zuniga, reconstructed in the 1930s. Activities include camping, picnicking, hiking, fishing and nature study. Open daily (except for Christmas Day) 8 a.m.-5 p.m.; 361-645-3405, reservations 512-389-8900 or make reservation online at texas.reserveworld.com; 108 Park Road 6, Goliad. Bastrop State Park: The 6,600-acre park (32 miles east of Austin) lets campers choose from a total of 126 walk-in, basic and standard camp sites, 54 RV hook-ups or stays in the 13 historic cabins available. Open daily. 512-321-2101, reservations 512-389-8900 or make reservation online at texas.reserveworld.com; 3005 Texas 21 E. (100 Park Road 1A), Bastrop. Palmetto State Park: The park is an hour away from San Antonio and Austin. Water flows into the park from multiple sources (including the San Marcos River) that allows canoeing, fishing, swimming and tubing. Dwarf palmettos, the parks namesake, grow under the trees at the 270-acre site nothwest of Gonzales and southeast of Luling. Campers are offered 19 tent sites, 18 RV sites and a secluded group site that can house 100 people. Open daily (gate is locked only when the park is closed for emergencies). 830-672-3266, reservations 512-389-8900 or make reservation online at texas.reserveworld.com; 78 Park Road 11 South, Gonzales. Pedernales Falls State Park: 30 miles west of Austin, the park (5,200 acres east of Johnson City) is set on the banks of the Pedernales River. Activities include birdwatching, camping, hiking, horse riding, mountain biking and picniking. On the river, you can fish, swim and go tubing. Campers may chose from 69 sites with water and power or a hike-in camp area (limited to four campers per site with a two-mile minimum hike to the campsite). Open daily. 830-868-7304, reservations 512-389-8900 or make reservation online at texas.reserveworld.com; 2585 Park Road 6026, Johnson City. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A Laredo federal judge has sentenced a 23-year-old Florida woman for smuggling liquid methamphetamine through a local port of entry, Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez announced Wednesday. Alyssa Lopez, of Panama City, Florida, pleaded guilty June 6, 2016 to charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. U.S. District Judge Diana Saldana ordered Lopez, 23, to prison for a total of 50 months. The sentence will be immediately followed by three years of supervised release. READ MORE: Zapata man refused treatment after crashing pickup truck, responders say On March 11, 2016, Lopez engaged in a conspiracy to smuggle 16.5 kilograms of liquid methamphetamine through the Gateway to the Americas Port of Entry International Bridge II in Laredo. Lopez was driving a blue Dodge Charger with Florida license plates. Inside, agents discovered three plastic horse shampoo bottles containing 16.5 kilograms of liquid methamphetamine. During a post-Miranda interview, Lopez told authorities she was instructed to transport the cocaine from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico to Austin, Texas, a complaint filed in the case states. Lopez has been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations and Customs and Border Protection conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jose Angel Flores Jr. prosecuted the case. LMT Staff Writer Taryn T. Walters contributed to this report. 1 Gacy victim: Illinois investigators have used DNA evidence to identify one of the seven remaining unknown victims of John Wayne Gacy, a 1970s serial killer who raped and murdered dozens of teenage boys and young men and was dubbed the killer clown by the news media, the authorities said Wednesday. The Cook County Sheriffs Department in Illinois said that the newly identified victim was James Byron Haakenson, 16, who ran away from his home in St. Paul in the summer of 1976. The police found his body and 26 others in the crawl space beneath Gacys home in Norwood Park Township in December 1978. Gacy was convicted in 1980 of killing 33 people and was executed in 1994. 2 Election violations: The U.S. Postal Service engaged in widespread violations of federal law by pressuring managers to approve letter carriers taking time off last fall to campaign for Hillary Clinton and other union-backed Democrats, investigators in Washington said Wednesday. High-level postal officials had for years granted employees requests for unpaid leave, leading last year to an institutional bias in favor of Clinton and other Democrats endorsed by the National Association of Letter Carriers, one of the largest postal unions. The Postal Services Office of Special Counsel and inspector general found that the agency violated the Hatch Act, which restricts federal employees from working for or against a political candidate or party during election season. Two California coastal counties and one beach-side city touched off a possible new legal front in the climate change battle this week, suing dozens of major oil, coal, and other fossil fuel companies for the damages they say they will incur due to rising seas. The three cases, which target firms such as Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP and Royal Dutch Shell, assert that the fossil fuel producers are collectively responsible for about 20 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions between 1965 and 2015. They claim that industry "knew or should have known" decades ago about the threat of climate change, and want companies to pay the costs of communities forced to adapt to rising seas. "We're already living the impact of sea level rise," said Marin County Supervisor Kate Sears. She said a county vulnerability study found hundreds of county businesses and other assets could be at risk in coming years. "This lawsuit is a natural next step in how we address the expense we've already had in planning for and trying to remediate the impacts of sea level rise, but also in addressing the impacts we expect in the future." The suits represent a variation on several largely unsuccessful attempts to hold individual companies responsible for their contribution to climate change. In 2009, the vulnerable Alaskan coastal village of Kivalina used similar logic to sue a string of fossil fuel companies. The case failed when an appellate court ruled that federal action by the Environmental Protection Agency "displaces" their claim. An even bigger setback came in 2011 when the Supreme Court decided against a public nuisance suit brought by eight states and New York City against a group of electric utilities - ruling once again, that since EPA had begun to take action on climate change, the claim had been displaced. The California cases are also proceeding under a legal doctrine called "public nuisance" (among other claims), which charges that under California common law, the companies have injured the counties and city by contributing to rising seas, and more frequent and severe flooding as a result. But the difference is that this time, they are making state level nuisance claims rather than federal ones, which have already failed as courts pointed out that those worried about climate change had other recourses, such as EPA action. The lawsuits were filed in California courts by Marin and San Mateo counties and the City of Imperial Beach, which sits south of San Diego near the Mexico border. Each cites specific damages expected from rising seas. San Mateo cited worries about the flooding of the San Francisco Airport, along with up to $24 billion in assets being put at risk. Marin County estimated nearly $16 billion of homes and businesses were threatened, and that with 6.7 feet of sea level rise, 7 percent of coastal roads would be "exposed to higher average sea level and storm threats at several locations." Imperial Beach cited the potential for "over $106 million" in property damages due to coastal erosion and argued the town has few resources to adapt to rising seas. Vic Sher, a partner at the firm of Sher Edling who is helping lead the legal challenge, said the goal behind the lawsuits is to shift the "very real and very large costs of dealing with sea level rise" from ordinary citizens to the companies responsible for knowingly contributing to global warming. He likened the cases to past litigation that sought to hold tobacco companies accountable for the public health toll of smoking, as well as efforts to force lead paint manufacturers to renovate homes where health risks remain. "This is a very straightforward case for damages for wrongful conduct," Sher said. "You have communities that are already injured, that have already spent a lot of money and are going to have to spent a lot more money in the future." Royal Dutch Shell declined to comment Wednesday, and ExxonMobil did not respond to a request for comment. The American Petroleum Institute, a trade group for oil and gas companies, also declined to comment on the pending litigation. David Bookbinder, chief counsel with the Niskanen Center, a libertarian think tank, expects more such suits to be brought in different localities around the country. "The California Supreme Court is going to view disappearance of its coastline quite differently than the Supreme Court might view it," Bookbinder said. A strength of the lawsuit, note some legal observers, lies in the fact that sea level rise is easily measurable, constant (unlike climate-affected weather events), and very strongly linked to a warming planet. Moreover, analyses have become more and more precise when it comes to mapping which locations will be inundated, or subjected to greater flooding risks, for a given level of rising seas. Bookbinder said there could be a time when the science is powerful enough to try to assess blame for other climate related changes, such as droughts, but that sea level rise is a stronger and simpler case right now. "What's different about these lawsuits is the way in which they rely on the current state of climate science and the current state of information about what these companies knew, when they knew it and what they did with their knowledge," added Michael Burger, executive director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University. "Over the last several years, a lot of information has come to light . . . What we know now is fundamentally different from what we knew years ago." But there are clear legal hurdles, too. The companies will surely point out that each individual corporation contributed only a small fraction to climate change, or resulting sea level rise. In addition, the companies themselves did not directly emit carbon into the atmosphere, but rather sold gasoline and other products that consumers used to power their cars and homes. "The litigants misunderstand nuisance law," said Scott Segal, an attorney with Bracewell LLP who represents energy companies in D.C. "Commentators have suggested that nuisance law, a relative backwater in property law, is based upon conditions in which there are distinct producers and recipients of pollution. However, in the case of global climate change, a molecule of carbon is literally around the world in seven days. The requisite causation needed for nuisance suits is missing and unprovable." "It's possible the suits will go nowhere, that they will be one offs that end in dismissal," added Burger. After all, he said, there have been a number of previous lawsuits filed against the fossil fuel industry, raising public nuisance and other common law claims, and none have been entirely successful. "But I think the potential here is that it becomes a first-of-its-kind set of lawsuits," he said, agreeing with Bookbinder that other local governments are likely to pursue similar claims. "And you wind up with a groundswell of litigation that puts real pressure on the fossil fuel industry and on the government." Still, he added, "These are not easy cases to win. The plaintiffs will certainly have their work cut out for them convincing a judge, or perhaps a jury, that these particular companies bear enough of a burden of blame that they should be held responsible in a court of law." Winston Churchill and Dwight Eisenhower tried to suppress captured Nazi documents that showed Britain's former King Edward VIII discussing his desire for peace with Adolf Hitler, according to files newly released in London. The National Archives published more papers Thursday from the U.K. government's secret basement storeroom in the Cabinet Office where papers deemed "too difficult, too sensitive" for the regular filing system were hidden away. They include a 1953 memo from Churchill, marked "top secret," explaining the existence of a series of German telegrams carrying reports of comments by the Duke of Windsor, as Edward VIII was known after he abdicated in 1936. "He is convinced that had he remained on throne war would have been avoided and describes himself as firm supporter of a peaceful compromise with Germany," reported a telegram from Lisbon in neutral Portugal, where the duke was staying in July 1940. "Duke believes with certainty that continued heavy bombing will make England ready for peace." Edward abdicated so he could marry an American divorcee, Wallis Simpson. The couple set up home in France, but when World War II broke out they moved to Spain. The government in Madrid, formally neutral but sympathetic to Germany, asked for guidance from Berlin as to what should be done with them. German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop replied, asking if they could be kept there. Then he ordered a watch on their house. Ribbentrop's interest was piqued when he was told, a few days later, that in private "Windsor spoke strongly against Churchill and against this war." While he considered what to do, the duke and duchess made their way to Portugal, where they made similar comments. The Nazis decided to act. "The duke should return to Spain under all circumstances," Ribbentrop wrote, adding that they should then be "persuaded or forced" to stay there. His plan was then to offer the duke "the granting of any wish," including "the ascension of the English throne." Churchill, meanwhile, was alive to the danger of having an alternative monarch so close to being in Nazi hands. He appointed the duke as governor of the Bahamas. When the Windsors were reluctant to leave Europe, Churchill threatened Edward, who held honorary military rank, with court-martial. Ribbentrop, anxious not to let his prize escape, launched Operation Willi to persuade the Windsors to return to Spain, kidnapping them if necessary. But despite sabotage attempts and bomb threats, the Germans failed. The plan was "to persuade the duke to leave Lisbon in a car as if he were going on a fairly long pleasure jaunt, and then to cross the border at a specified place, where Spanish secret police will ensure a safe crossing," according to a note sent to Ribbentrop. The telegrams describing their operation were found in 1945 as Hitler's regime collapsed. When they were passed to the British government, Clement Attlee, who had replaced Churchill as prime minister, wrote to his predecessor, saying that their publication "might do the greatest possible harm." Churchill replied, agreeing and expressing the hope that it might be possible to "destroy all traces" of the files. But after Churchill returned to power in 1951, he was horrified to learn Attlee had subsequently changed his mind, apparently at the urging of Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin. Historians in Washington now proposed to publish the Nazi telegrams. In 1953, Churchill wrote to President Eisenhower, expressing his concern that "they might leave the impression that the duke was in close touch with German agents and was listening to suggestions that were disloyal." Eisenhower, who had been the allies' supreme commander, had seen the telegrams in 1945, but believed he had successfully suppressed them, arguing they were "obviously concocted with some idea of promoting German propaganda." He was unaware a microfilm of them had been passed to the State Department. By the 1950s, too many people had seen the messages for them to be destroyed, and the British historian in charge of preparing the documents for publication threatened to resign if they were suppressed. They were eventually published in 1957, with the duke describing them as "complete fabrications." CRISFIELD, Md. - Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) and four of the Democrats vying to challenge him endured steamy weather at this small fishing town's annual crab feast on Wednesday, networking with the state's power brokers, posing for selfies with supporters and pressing palms with potential donors. Hogan, wearing brown shorts and a black polo bearing his name, had the largest following at the J. Millard Tawes Crab and Clam Bake, with about a half-dozen people jostling for photos with him at any given time as he tried to make his way from one end of the event to the other. The governor arrived at about noon and quickly crossed paths with the Maryland Democratic Party's new chair, Kathleen Matthews, who said she was at the event as part of an effort to remind Eastern Shore voters that her party hasn't forgotten about them. The two leaders exchanged pleasantries for about a minute before moving on. "You're doing a great job," Hogan said. "Thanks," said Matthews, a former television anchor and Marriott executive who ran for Congress last year and is married to "Hardball" anchor Chris Matthews. "I met your Republican chair of the state, and he's a nice guy. We all have the same goals - to make the country and the state do well." "I agree," Hogan said. "Say 'hi' to your husband for me." The Democratic gubernatorial hopefuls at the event were Prince George's County Executive Rushern L. Baker III, state Sen. Richard S. Madaleno Jr. (Montgomery), Baltimore entrepreneur Alec Ross and attorney James Shea. Former NAACP president Benjamin Jealous, the other declared candidate, was not present. Most of the candidates - for governor and other offices - eventually made their way to the largest tent at the event, sponsored by Bruce C. Bereano, one of the state's most powerful lobbyists. Below the canopy, which was ringed with a bipartisan array of campaign signs for Hogan, U.S. Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin, D-Md., state Comptroller Peter Franchot (D) and Howard County Executive Allan H. Kittleman (R), Baker, a former state delegate who is midway through his second term governing Prince George's County, busily worked one table after another. "It is a lot different being here as a gubernatorial candidate," Baker said. "The response is greater, the questions are greater, and the attention is greater." Shea, relatively unknown in Maryland political circles, introduced himself to people and reconnected with others, including former colleagues from his tenure as chair of the University System of Maryland Board of Regents, clients of his law firm, fellow attorneys and officials with Salisbury University. "It's a reminder that if you want to run for office and serve the people of Maryland, you have to be ready to go anytime, anywhere, under any circumstances," he said, clarifying that the latter reference related to the 90-degree heat. Speaking to reporters, Hogan backed up a recent allegation from his spokesman that Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., D-Calvert, threatened earlier this year to block the confirmation of Dennis Schrader, the governor's pick to head the state health department, unless Hogan forced the state hospital commission to stop the creation of a new cardiac program at Anne Arundel Medical Center. Miller has strongly denied the claim, but Hogan insisted on Wednesday that it was true. "Multiple people can tell you the exact same thing," the governor said. "He said it to me seven or eight times, he said it to the cabinet secretary over and over again, he said it to numerous members of our staff. It's just a fact." Hogan also said that he told Miller "repeatedly, probably seven or eight times, that was illegal and improper, and there was no way we were going to do it." Miller, a strong proponent of the Prince George's hospital system and its planned cardiac program, has criticized the Maryland Health Care Commission's decision to authorize a similar program for nearby Anne Arundel. In a statement Wednesday, the Senate leader called Hogan's remarks "an outright lie," adding that "I am on record stating I would support Mr. Schrader, even though many thought he was a political hack who was unqualified for the position at a time when we could be facing a national health care crisis." Hogan eventually withdrew Schrader's nomination, along with that of acting planning secretary Wendi Peters, whose nomination was rejected by a Senate committee. He reappointed both officials after the legislative session ended. But the legislature in the meantime had passed a law that prohibits the state from paying cabinet appointees who are reappointed after the legislature fails to approve their nominations. Last week, Maryland Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp (D), under advice from the office of state Attorney General Brian E. Frosh (D), refused to pay them past June 30, the end of the fiscal year. Matthews said she was doing a "sweep" of the Eastern Shore this week, visiting with the Wicomico County Democratic Central Committee on Tuesday and meeting with the Democratic clubs of Worcester and Somerset counties on Thursday. "It's great that she's here," said Earle Hatton, a Democrat from Wicomico. "It's a way to let the Republicans know that we mean business on the Eastern Shore." Some regulars at the event said they have little interest in politics. "I'm a veteran, so I stay out of that kind of stuff," said Jesse Henry, a Salisbury resident who served with the Army in Iraq and Afghanistan. "I'm just here to socialize, enjoy myself and eat seafood." WASHINGTON - Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein said in an interview that aired Wednesday that neither the president nor the White House had asked him for an update on the investigation into possible coordination between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin to influence the 2016 election, and that he was "not doing any micromanagement" of that probe. The comments came during a wide ranging conversation with Fox News's Martha MacCallum about the Justice Department's new asset forfeiture policy, his recommendation to fire FBI Director James B. Comey and his appointment of a special counsel to lead the Russia investigation. Rosenstein sought to assure people that the special counsel, former FBI director Robert S. Mueller III, was operating with some degree of independence from the Justice Department, though he also was getting the cooperation he needed. But Rosenstein did not go to great pains to defend the special counsel team when pressed about whether he was bothered that several people on it had donated to Hillary Clinton's campaign. "The Department of Justice, we judge by results, and so my view about that is: We'll see if they do the right thing," Rosenstein said. He said he had not been involved in Mueller's hiring decisions. Around the same time the interview aired, the New York Times published a story about an interview with Trump in which the president said he would not have appointed Jeff Sessions as attorney general had he known Sessions would recuse himself from the Russia investigation. It was Sessions' recusal that led Rosenstein to be in a position to appoint Mueller. "Sessions should have never recused himself and if he was going to recuse himself he should have told me before he took the job and I would have picked somebody else," Trump said, according to the New York Times. Trump also criticized Mueller's office for having conflicts of interests - noting that Mueller had replaced Comey, whom Trump fired. He noted Rosenstein, too, had recommended Comey be fired, then appointed Mueller, who is investigating whether the president obstructed justice. "Well, that's a conflict of interest," Trump said, according to the Times. "Do you know how many conflicts of interests there are?" Trump also noted that Baltimore, where Rosenstein served as U.S. attorney before Trump appointed him as deputy attorney general, had "very few Republicans." Asked by The Washington Post at an unrelated briefing earlier Wednesday on how he could maintain his authority over Mueller when he might become a witness, Rosenstein declined to say. "Going to have to move on to the next question. Not going to be talking about that," he said. In his interview with Fox, Rosenstein did offer some sentiments that might please the president, suggesting, for example, he did not approve of Comey engineering a leak of information about a request from the president to shut down the bureau's probe into former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Rosenstein said in an interview with Fox News that those who work for the Justice Department have an obligation to keep documents about ongoing matters confidential, though he took pains to stress he was not commenting on any particular case. Asked by Fox News' Martha MacCallum whether it would "ever be proper" for the FBI director to "make notes of a conversation in that regard and leak them to the press," Rosenstein responded, "As a general propositioner, you have to understand the Department of Justice. We take confidentiality seriously, so when we have memoranda about our ongoing matters, we have an obligation to keep that confidential." When MacCallum said she interpreted his answer as indicating he would not approve the release of a memo about a conversation with the president, the deputy attorney general reiterated his position. "As a general position, I think it is quite clear. It's what we were taught, all of us as prosecutors and agents," Rosenstein said. Comey has acknowledged that he asked a friend to share with the media the content of a memo he wrote about an interaction with President Trump in which Trump told him of Flynn: "He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go." The request, by Comey's account, came after a meeting in the Oval Office, and the president first cleared the room of other officials. Comey said he engineered the leak "because I thought that might prompt the appointment of a special counsel" in the probe of possible coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign in the 2016 election. He got his wish. After the New York Times reported on the leaked material, Rosenstein appointed Mueller to lead the investigation. An attorney for Comey declined to comment. That Rosenstein does not approve of Comey's behavior is perhaps no surprise. Rosenstein wrote a memo that lambasted Comey for his handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation, laying out the case that Comey should be replaced as FBI director. The memo was initially cited by White House officials as a reason that Trump fired him, though the president later said he intended to do so no matter what leaders in the Justice Department recommended. Rosenstein declined to say to Fox News whose idea it was originally to fire Comey, saying he was "not going to be talking publicly about anything that may be within the scope of the ongoing investigation." He said he was concerned personally with Comey's public statements on the Clinton email probe and stood by his own memo. After Comey was fired, Mueller began investigating whether the president might have attempted to obstruct justice. Given Rosenstein's role in Comey's firing, it seems possible that he could become a witness in that case. Rosenstein can remove Mueller or veto his decisions, although he does not have day-to-day supervisory authority over the investigation. He told Fox News he had not "personally been involved in any decisions" about personnel on the case, and he was "not doing any micromanagement." In his interview with Fox News, Rosenstein said he appointed Mueller "based upon his reputation" and noted there was "bipartisan support for his integrity." Sessions, a strong supporter of Trump during the campaign who has recused himself from the Russia probe, had previously told "Fox & Friends" that Mueller was "entitled lawfully, I guess at this point, to hire who he desires, but I think he should look for people who have strength and credibility by all people." Pressed on whether he had confidence in Mueller, Sessions had said: "I feel confident in what he'll do. That's all I can say to you about that." A case filed against Kirbyville CISD on June 6 by the family of principal Dennis Reeves will continue in Beaumont's Ninth Court of Appeals, three judges ruled Wednesday. The family asked for a restraining order to protect evidence related to Reeves' death and on June 13, asked to take deposition of more than 20 people, including employees of the district and in Bryan ISD, Superintendent Tommy Wallis' former district. WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump's senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner will speak to the Senate Intelligence Committee in a closed-door session Monday as part of the panel's widening probe into alleged ties between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. The meeting was confirmed by Kushner's attorney, Abbe Lowell, who said that his client "is prepared to voluntarily cooperate and provide whatever information he has on the investigations to Congress" and "appreciates the opportunity to assist in putting this matter to rest." Kushner is expected to answer the committee's questions and not invoke his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination, according to a person familiar with Kushner's thinking. The interview comes as the Senate Judiciary Committee also announced its intention to have former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and Trump's son Donald Trump Jr. testify in open session June 26. Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and ranking Democrat Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said that they expect Manafort and Trump Jr. "will comply voluntarily with invitations to testify," adding that they "have agreed to issue subpoenas, if necessary" for the two men. Trump Jr.'s attorney, Alan Futerfas, did not respond Wednesday evening to requests for comment about the Judiciary Committee hearing. A lawyer for Manafort said that he and his legal team are reviewing the request and have not made a decision on which committee Manafort will speak with first. The Judiciary Committee also asked Manafort and Trump Jr., as well as the Trump Organization and the Trump campaign, "to preserve all relevant documents related to Russian interference in the 2016 election" and to furnish the committee by Aug. 2 with documents related to a June 2016 meeting with Russians purported to have ties to the Kremlin. Kushner, Manafort and Trump Jr. are expected to be asked about a number of reported contacts they and other Trump surrogates had with Russian officials during the campaign and transition period. In particular, they are expected to be grilled about their participation in the June 2016 meeting in Trump Tower with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who Trump Jr. was told had Kremlin connections and could provide damaging information on presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. There were also four other individuals in attendance: Russian-American lobbyist Rinat Akhmetshin, who once worked in a Soviet military intelligence unit; Russian real estate company executive Ike Kaveladze, who was once the subject of a congressional inquiry into Russian money laundering; music producer Rob Goldstone, who helped set up the meeting; and a translator for Veselnitskaya. "It's safe to say that the committee's going to reach out to everybody we feel has some contribution to make," Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., said Wednesday. "The Don Jr. meeting as of today has potentially eight individuals. All eight of those individuals will be important to us once we know the types of questions that we need answers to." Burr would not say when the committee planned to schedule others to testify, or whether any of those hearings would be public. Those decisions may depend in part on signals from special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, who is conducting his own probe into purported ties between the Trump team and the Kremlin. Mueller gave the Senate Judiciary Committee permission to interview Manafort and Trump Jr. publicly, Feinstein said Tuesday. But the two will not testify before the committee alone, if they agree to appear. The Judiciary Committee has scheduled Manafort and Trump Jr. to appear alongside William Browder of Heritage Capital Management and Glenn Simpson of Fusion GPS, the research firm behind a dossier that outlined various salacious but unverified details of Trump's dealings in Moscow. Grassley has long pursued Fusion for its role in the dossier's production, demanding earlier this year to know why the Justice Department never required the firm to register as a foreign agent for work he charges was being done to further "Russian interests" at the time the dossier was being complied. Grassley based his demands in part on a complaint Browder filed with the government last July. Browder, who once did business in Russia, is best known in Congress for his efforts to get lawmakers to pass the Magnitsky Act - a 2012 law that applied human rights sanctions on Russia, named after one of his employees who died in a Russian prison after accusing officials of tax fraud. Russia responded to the passage of the Magnistky Act by banning Americans from adopting Russian children. Veselnitskaya, a lawyer with the company Prevezon, has lobbied against the Magnitsky Act and its successor, the Global Magnitsky Act, which Congress passed in 2016. Fusion GPS once did research for the law firm representing Prevezon in a civil case. Simpson declined to testify at a Judiciary Committee hearing that was scheduled for Wednesday of this week, but then rescheduled to June 26. That hearing will now also be the venue at which Manafort and Trump Jr. are expected to testify. Officially, the topic of the hearing is the Obama administration's enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The committee also requested Simpson to preserve records, and threatened to subpoena him if he did not appear to speak. - - - Carol Leonnig and Tom Hamburger contributed to this report. President Donald Trump harshly criticized his attorney general and one of his most loyal supporters, Jeff Sessions, for recusing himself from the ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, indicating that he regretted the choice. In an interview with the New York Times on Wednesday, Trump vented about the probe and said that he would not have appointed Sessions - a top campaign supporter - if he had known Sessions would step aside. "Sessions should have never recused himself, and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before he took the job and I would have picked somebody else," Trump said. The comments are a dramatic public scolding of one of Trump's closest supporters in Congress during his presidential campaign, and the man currently holding a top Cabinet position. They also suggest that Trump had hoped Sessions could play a role in managing a probe that he has long called a "witch hunt" and suggested is a threat to the legitimacy of his presidency. Trump called Sessions' decision to recuse himself "unfair." "Jeff Sessions takes the job, gets into the job, recuses himself, which frankly I think is very unfair to the president," he added. "How do you take a job and then recuse yourself? If he would have recused himself before the job, I would have said, 'Thanks, Jeff, but I'm not going to take you.' It's extremely unfair - and that's a mild word - to the president." Sessions recused himself from the investigation, which will look into possible collusion between Trump campaign associates and Russians, shortly after being confirmed to the post, citing his work on the Trump campaign. The decision placed responsibility for the probe squarely in the hands of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, whom Trump named to that position in January. The investigation has dogged Trump's six-month-old presidency and has been the source of months of public and private venting. The investigation has only expanded, recently drawing Trump's children under the microscope after the New York Times reported that Trump's son Donald Jr. accepted a meeting with people purporting to be representing the Russian government about receiving derogatory information about Hillary Clinton during the 2016 campaign. The president's remarks evoked strong comments from some former Justice Department officials. Former U.S. attorney in New York, Preet Bharara, who was fired by Trump, tweeted: "The President today effectively asked Sessions for his resignation. Will he resign or insist on being fired?" Robert Raben, a former assistant attorney general for the Office of Legislative Affairs during the Bill Clinton administration, said: "The president plays with fire when he attacks his military, law enforcement and Justice people. They are the bulwark of our safety. Demeaning them harms all of us." Matthew Miller, a former Justice Department spokesman in the Obama adminstration, said the country appeared "headed for a massive crisis" and called it "an attack on the very independence of the Justice Department." "I think what the president is making clear here is he doesn't believe the Justice Department ought to be able to makes its own decisions about whether and how to investigate him," Miller said. In the Times interview, Trump attacked several other figures connected to the probe, including Rosenstein, Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and former FBI Director James Comey. Spokespeople for the Department of Justice and the special counsel declined to comment. Trump also suggested that the special counsel investigation was now rife with conflicts, though he did not specifically name them. Mueller, a former FBI director, was appointed to lead the investigation after Trump fired Comey. Trump had also considered Mueller as a candidate to replace Comey. "He was up here, and he wanted the job," Mr. Trump said. After he was named special counsel, "I said, 'What the hell is this all about?' Talk about conflicts. But he was interviewing for the job. There were many other conflicts that I haven't said, but I will at some point." The president has criticized the special counsel investigation in the past. He questioned the political independence of attorneys being hired to work on the probe and indicated that Mueller's friendship with Comey was problematic. "Well, he's very, very good friends with Comey, which is very bothersome," Trump said in an interview with Fox News in June. "I can say that the people that have been hired are all Hillary Clinton supporters, some of them worked for Hillary Clinton. "I mean, the whole thing is ridiculous, if you want to know the truth," he added. But his comments on Wednesday are his strongest to date. Trump criticized Mueller personally and warned that if the investigation veered into the personal finances of the Trump family, it will cross a line. He did not, however, say he would fire Mueller, though he was pressed repeatedly on the subject. "I think that's a violation," Trump said. "Look, this is about Russia." Trump also expressed reservations about Rosenstein, who appointed the special counsel. According to the New York Times, the president expressed annoyance when he learned that Rosenstein was from Baltimore, where he had served as a federal prosecutor. "There are very few Republicans in Baltimore, if any," Trump said. Trump's criticisms left virtually no one in contact with the investigation untouched, providing a glimpse of the visceral anger that the probe often evokes in him. The president also levied new accusations against Comey, whom he has repeatedly accused of lying in his sworn testimony to Congress about his interactions with Trump. Speaking about a meeting before Trump's inauguration in which Comey informed Trump about an unsubstantiated dossier of derogatory information about him, Trump said that he believes Comey intended to use the document as leverage against him. "In my opinion, he shared it so that I would think he had it out there," Mr. Trump said. Asked by the Times whether he believes Comey intended it to be leverage, Trump replied. "Yeah, I think so. . . . In retrospect." Comey testified that he briefed Trump on the dossier based on the belief in the intelligence community that the incoming president should be informed about the "salacious and unverified" material before it was reported in the press. He was also chosen to provide the briefing alone to prevent further embarrassment to Trump. "When he brought it to me, I said this is really, made-up junk," Trump told the Times. "I didn't think about any of it. I just thought about, man, this is such a phony deal." President Donald Trump presided over a rare meeting of his full national security team Wednesday in the White House. The subject was the future of the U.S. war effort in Afghanistan, and hovering over the discussion was a big question: How committed is the president to a long-term and costly American presence in the country? Trump has said little about America's longest war since taking office in January, but the debate over how to stabilize the country and reverse the Taliban's momentum has divided top officials in the Pentagon, the State Department and the White House in recent weeks. The meeting Wednesday was designed to tee up final decisions for the president in what has been a long and difficult policy review, said current and former U.S. officials. Trump gave Defense Secretary Jim Mattis the authority more than a month ago to send as many as 3,900 additional troops to Afghanistan on top of the roughly 8,500 currently there. But Mattis has yet to pull the trigger on sending the additional forces until the administration can agree on a final strategy for Afghanistan, said U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing internal planning. "He's clearly being cautious about cashing that check," said a former U.S. official who has participated in the administration debate. "Mattis is either not persuaded that there's a strategic rationale for the troops or he's not persuaded that the decision will ultimately fly with the president - or both." The meeting that Trump led in the White House did not focus on the size of the American force in Afghanistan but looked at America's broader approach to the region and its strategy regarding Pakistan, which has provided a haven for the Taliban. National security adviser H.R. McMaster and U.S. commanders in Afghanistan have pressed for a more punitive approach to Pakistan aimed at forcing it to cut ties to the Afghan Taliban. But such an approach has been met with skepticism by senior officials in the Pentagon and the State Department, who said that Pakistan is unlikely to change its behavior and that efforts to pressure Islamabad would likely lead to greater instability in the region. Top U.S. officials have also been divided over whether to seek peace negotiations with the Taliban now or wait until the new U.S. strategy has begun to shift the momentum on the battlefield. "The McMaster view is that you should not negotiate with the Taliban while they are still ascendant," said the former U.S. official. But the current U.S.-Afghan war strategy is built around a four-year plan to push back the Taliban that is not likely to yield significant results until its later stages, U.S. officials said. Earlier this week, Trump met over lunch with service members who had fought in Afghanistan and suggested that his patience with the war might be running out. "It's our longest war. We've been there for many years," Trump told reporters before the lunch. "We've been there for now close to 17 years, and I want to find out why we've been there for 17 years, how it's going, and what we should do in terms of additional ideas." One challenge for Trump is that there are not a lot of new options available to him that do not come with a big price tag. In recent months, Trump has loosened the rules governing American airstrikes, allowing U.S. forces to boost the air campaign against the Taliban to levels not seen since 2012, when the United States had 100,000 troops in the country. "I'm skeptical that the strategy can be dramatically improved," said Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. "You can try to be tougher on Pakistan. You can try to make clear that we are there for a long-term commitment. But I don't expect a dramatic metamorphosis of this mission." WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump exhorted lawmakers Wednesday to resurrect the failed Republican plan to "repeal and replace" the Affordable Care Act, injecting fresh turmoil into an issue that had appeared settled the day before, when Senate leaders announced they did not have the votes to pass their bill. Trump's remarks, at a lunch with 49 Republican senators, prompted some of them to reopen the possibility of trying to vote on the sweeping legislation they abandoned earlier this week. But there was no new evidence that the bill could pass. At the lunch, the president also threatened electoral consequences for senators who oppose him, suggesting that Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., could lose his reelection bid next year if he doesn't back the effort. The president also invited conservative opposition against anyone else who stands in the way. "Any senator who votes against starting debate is really telling America that you're fine with Obamacare," Trump proclaimed. After the collapse of the Better Care Reconciliation Act, which would have repealed and replaced key portions of the ACA, Senate Majority Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on Monday announced plans for a vote on pure repeal instead, a move that seemed designed to either allow - or force - lawmakers to record a vote on what has been the GOP's top campaign promise of the last seven years. A repeal-only approach, which also lacks the votes to pass, would increase the number of people without health coverage by 17 million next year and by 32 million at the end of a decade, according to a fresh analysis released Wednesday by the Congressional Budget Office. The forecast by the nonpartisan CBO is nearly identical to estimates the CBO made in January based on a similar bill that passed both the House and Senate in late 2015 - and that was vetoed by then-President Barack Obama. "I think we all agree it's better to both repeal and replace. But we could have a vote on either," McConnell said after the lunch at the White House. Trump's remarks injected a new level of turmoil into the GOP, potentially setting up Senate Republicans to take the blame with angry conservatives for failing to fulfill a long-standing GOP vow. The effort to undo Obamacare has been fraught for months with internal GOP divisions. The extraordinary intraparty tension looms over other big-ticket items Republicans are hoping to pass as they control both chambers of Congress and the White House, including passing a budget and enacting major tax cuts. After six months, they can boast no major legislative achievements. And now, Republican lawmakers head into the 2018 midterm cycle with a president who appears capable of not having their back. Despite those tensions, Trump claimed at the lunch that "we're very close" to passing a repeal-and-replace bill. It was the latest sign of the disconnect between the president and the Senate. It also came a day after Trump tweeted "let Obamacare fail"- and two days after he called for a repeal-only bill. The White House appeared determined to keep trying for something. Vice President Mike Pence, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price and Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services director Seema Verma planned to meet with GOP senators on Capitol Hill Wednesday evening. The meeting was arranged by the White House to help convince wavering senators to back the repeal-and-replace bill, according to people familiar with the meeting who were granted anonymity to discuss private planning. But even as Trump's team tried to work out the policy and political disagreements among members, the president was strong-arming skeptical senators in public. Seated directly to Trump's right at Wednesday's lunch was Heller, who is up for reelection in 2018 in a state that Democrat Hillary Clinton won. "Look, he wants to remain a senator, doesn't he?" Trump said, Heller smiling at his side. "Okay, and I think the people of your state, which I know very well, I think they're going to appreciate what you hopefully will do." After he returned to the Capitol, Heller sized it up this way: "That's just President Trump being President Trump." Tensions have been evident for a while. After Heller came out against an earlier version of the Senate bill, a conservative organization aligned with Trump vowed to launch an expensive ad campaign against him, angering and shocking many mainstream GOP allies of the senator. Later, the group backed off. Now, senators aren't sure what they will be voting on in the coming days - pure repeal or repeal and replace. "See, that hasn't been decided. That's part of the discussion. So, that's why I don't take a position at this point," said Heller. Sen. John Cornyn , R-Texas, McConnell's top deputy, said Wednesday: "I know it seems like we've got a bit of whiplash, but I think we're making progress." But even he had no clarity on the next step. "We're still discussing," he said. Sen. Lamar Alexander , R-Tenn., the chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, told reporters Wednesday there still are not enough votes for a repeal-only bill. Separately Wednesday, members of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus started the process of bringing a repeal-only bill to the House floor - a process that is meant to sidestep GOP leaders reluctant to expose vulnerable members to a politically perilous vote on legislation unlikely to become law. The House passed its own revision to the ACA earlier this year. Wednesday's gambit would not only to allow conservatives to vote for a straight-repeal bill, but to force moderates to do the same - adding to the political divisions that Trump had stoked earlier in the day. "The American people do not know why we did not have something on President Trump's desk on Jan. 20," said Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., the group's chairman. "Here we are at July 20 with nothing to show for it, and they're tired of waiting." Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., who has expressed opposition at various times during the months-long health-care drive, said that he understood Trump's push at the lunch for repeal and replace as a call to return to the broader bill McConnell pulled back earlier this week. "I think the president showed some real leadership here," said Johnson. Even GOP senators who oppose the repeal efforts worry about being blamed for failing to act on health care. A recent Gallup Poll found that 70 percent of GOP respondents said they support repealing and replacing Obamacare. Conservative activists are already aggressively targeting centrist Republicans who have opposed the efforts. On Wednesday, a pair of influential conservative groups launched a new "Obamacare Repeal Traitors" website attacking Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va. "They campaigned on REPEAL," says the website, which the Club For Growth and tea party Patriots launched. But now, it says, "they are betraying their constituents by joining with Democrats to defeat Obamacare Repeal efforts!" Capito has said that she supports repealing the ACA, but only if it can be replaced with a bill that doesn't force millions off their insurance and doesn't "hurt people." "I think we all want to get to the right place," Capito said after the White House lunch. On Twitter, she sought to use Trump's word to defend her position, writing: "I'm glad @POTUS agrees that we cannot move to repeal Obamacare without a replacement plan that addresses the needs of West Virginians." At the lunch, Trump said, "People should not leave town unless we have a health insurance plan, unless we give our people great health care," meaning that recess plans should be put off if a deal isn't reached. Marc Short, the White House's legislative director, told reporters afterward that "that this is not something that we can walk away from." Trump, who had invited Republican leaders to a health-care strategy dinner Monday night, was apparently blindsided by the opposition from some conservative members, including Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Jerry Moran , R-Kan., whose declared no votes effectively killed the legislation. At lunch, he scolded them. "The other night I was surprised when I heard a couple of my friends - my friends - they really were and are," Trump said, without ever directly naming the duo. "They might not be very much longer, but that's OK." Trump, as he has done numerous times in recent weeks, reminded the lawmakers that Republicans campaigned against the ACA for years, and that their supporters are counting on them to make good on their promises. "I'm ready to act," Trump said. "I have my pen in hand. I'm sitting in that office. I have pen in hand. You've never had that before. For seven years, you've had the easy route - we repeal, we replace, but he (Obama) never signs it. I'm signing it. So it's a little different." WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin for about 15 minutes at a dinner during the G-20 summit earlier this month, giving the first indication of what topics the two discussed during the previously undisclosed meeting. In an interview with the New York Times, Trump said that he and Putin exchanged "pleasantries" and discussed adoptions during the chat. "The meal was going toward dessert,'' Trump said. "I went down just to say hello to Melania, and while I was there I said hello to Putin. "Really, pleasantries more than anything else. It was not a long conversation, but it was, you know, could be 15 minutes. Just talked about things," Trump said. "Actually, it was very interesting; we talked about adoptions." The talk of adoptions comes days after it was reported that Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., took a meeting with people claiming to represent the Russian government in 2016. The individuals, who had ties to Russia, told Trump Jr. that the meeting would be about derogatory information they had about Hillary Clinton. But in a statement explaining the meeting Trump Jr. said that the topic was about U.S. adoptions of Russian children, which Putin had halted in 2012 in retaliation for a U.S. measures meant to respond to Russian corruption. Earlier in the day, a White House spokeswoman played down the controversy over the meeting in Hamburg. Principal deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders blamed "Russia fever" for the questions the White House has faced about the nature of the meeting, which reportedly lasted about an hour. Trump was alone at the meeting, while Putin was accompanied by his interpreter. "I think that once again, the Russia fever has caught up with the media, and everybody ran out and tried to create a story that simply didn't exist," Huckabee Sanders told reporters during the daily news briefing. "It would be incredibly awkward for them to all be at a dinner and not speak with each other." The two leaders were attending a social dinner and concert at the G-20 summit with other world leaders. Trump was seated next to the spouses of other world leaders, and Putin was seated next to first lady Melania Trump. This undisclosed meeting occurred hours after they met for a formal bilateral session. According to people who witnessed the second exchange, Trump rose from his seat and took a place next to Putin. Their conversation was lengthy enough that it caught the attention of other world leaders at the dinner. But Huckabee Sanders insisted that the conversation was "brief" and "certainly not an hour." She would not, however, say what was discussed. "I'm not going to get into specifics about the conversations," she added. Bloomberg News is reporting that the Russia investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller is zeroing in on President Donald Trump's business transactions. The report quoted an anonymous source as saying that Trump's financial ties to Russia are the focus: "FBI investigators and others are looking at Russian purchases of apartments in Trump buildings, Trump's involvement in a controversial SoHo development with Russian associates, the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow and Trump's sale of a Florida mansion to a Russian oligarch in 2008." The Washington Post has not independently confirmed Bloomberg's report. Somebody is basically daring Trump to try to fire Mueller. Just a day before the Bloomberg report, in an interview with the New York Times, Trump said this is precisely the thing that for him would cross a "red line" with Mueller. The Times reporters repeatedly asked what would constitute Mueller going too far, and eventually Trump agreed that probing his business and his family's financial dealings would be a "violation." It has previously been reported that the Russia investigation has focused on the business dealings of Trump's son-in-law and top adviser, Jared Kushner, but this appears to be the first indication that Trump's own finances are under scrutiny. In the Times interview, Trump didn't quite say he would try to fire Mueller for such a thing, but he sure hinted at it. Here's the transcript: "MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT: Last thing, if Mueller was looking at your finances and your family finances, unrelated to Russia - is that a red line? "MAGGIE HABERMAN: Would that be a breach of what his actual charge is? "TRUMP: I would say yeah. I would say yes. By the way, I would say, I don't - I don't - I mean, it's possible there's a condo or something, so, you know, I sell a lot of condo units, and somebody from Russia buys a condo, who knows? I don't make money from Russia. In fact, I put out a letter saying that I don't make - from one of the most highly respected law firms, accounting firms. I don't have buildings in Russia. They said I own buildings in Russia. I don't. They said I made money from Russia. I don't. It's not my thing. I don't, I don't do that. Over the years, I've looked at maybe doing a deal in Russia, but I never did one. Other than I held the Miss Universe pageant there eight, nine years. [CROSSTALK] "SCHMIDT: But if he was outside that lane, would that mean he'd have to go? "[crosstalk] "HABERMAN: Would you consider - "TRUMP: No, I think that's a violation. Look, this is about Russia. So I think if he wants to go, my finances are extremely good, my company is an unbelievably successful company. And actually, when I do my filings, peoples say, "Man." People have no idea how successful this is. It's a great company. But I don't even think about the company anymore. . . . "HABERMAN: Would you fire Mueller if he went outside of certain parameters of what his charge is? [crosstalk] "SCHMIDT: What would you do? "[crosstalk] "TRUMP: I can't, I can't answer that question, because I don't think it's going to happen. And then it happened. Trump has reportedly thought about trying to fire Mueller before. Trump ally and Newsmax chief executive Christopher Ruddy said last month that Trump was "considering perhaps terminating" Mueller - something the White House sought to play down and Ruddy tried publicly to talk Trump out of. It's not clear that Trump can fire Mueller even if he wanted to, though. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller and is overseeing the probe, has said that only he can fire Mueller and that he wouldn't do it simply at Trump's request, without "good cause." If Rosenstein were to resist Trump's demand and Trump fired him, too, it would fall to Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand to oversee the probe and make that decision. If she resisted and Trump fired her, it would fall to Dana J. Boente, the acting assistant attorney general for national security. It's also not clear that Mueller's probe is restricted in any way, legally speaking. Jeffrey Jacobovitz, a white-collar lawyer who represented officials in the Clinton White House, said there's pretty much no limit. "Mueller's designation as special counsel is very broad, and he will be looking at both direct and indirect issues related to Russia and the campaign," Jacobovitz said. "If you recall, Spiro Agnew was convicted of tax evasion, and the Clinton independent counsel evolved from Whitewater to an affair. So independent counsels have a lot of discretion in terms of what they investigate." But just because it would be difficult doesn't mean Trump wouldn't attempt it. He has shown before that he's willing to fire people who run afoul of him (see: Comey, James B.) even as it resulted in Mueller investigating him for potential obstruction of justice. And Trump also doesn't have much regard for the normal legal processes and the rule of law. Firing Mueller, though, would be the equivalent of firing Comey times 10 on the controversy scale. Now the ball, it seems, is in Trump's court. This story was originally posted on washingtonpost.com. The Washington Post's Amber Phillips contributed to this post. The United Kingdom has become a less popular destination for wealthy Chinese people who are thinking of emigrating, as it grapples with economic and political uncertainty ahead of its departure from the European Union. Canada overtook the UK to move into second place on the list of preferred destinations, according to a new report. The survey, conducted by the Shanghai-based Hurun Research Institute in association with Beijing's Visas Consulting Group, found the United States remained the most popular destination with Chinese millionaires. Canada had been in third place, behind the UK, for the previous two years. The report surveyed 304 Chinese people with a net worth of between $1.5 million and $30 million. Around half were from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman of the Hurun Report, said less than half of those surveyed were considering immigration, the lowest on record. The figure has remained at around 60 percent during the last decade. Respondents were quizzed on criteria including education, investment destination preferences, immigration policy, property purchasing, tax, medical care, visa-free travel, and ease of adaptability. Considerations around education and the environment continue to be the main reasons for emigrating overseas. Hoogewerf said: "Education and pollution are driving China's rich to emigrate. If China can solve these issues, then the primary incentive to emigrate will have been taken away." The rest of the top 10 are Australia, Malta, Portugal, Ireland, Spain, Antigua and Dominica. Malta, Antigua and Dominica entered the top 10 for the first time. "Ultra-high-net-worth individuals, with over $30 million, have different considerations, with taxes and quality of life ranking higher," Hoogewerf added. More than 60 percent of respondents were optimistic about China's economic development during the next three years, while 84 percent were concerned about the devaluation of the yuan, up from 50 percent last year. Thirty four percent said they were considering moving to a different city within China. London maintained 14th position on the list of preferred cities for property. Los Angeles was the most popular, followed by Seattle, San Francisco, New York and Vancouver. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Bexar Countys public school districts have joined the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce to oppose efforts to impose a uniform bathroom use policy on Texas schools, the so-called bathroom bill that is a key goal of social conservatives for the current special legislative session in Austin. In a letter sent to House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, and members of the Bexar County delegation on Monday, 15 school superintendents and the chambers president, Richard Perez, wrote that the proposal to restrict what bathrooms transgender students can use is an attempt to solve a problem that does not exist in our schools. Individual school districts, not the state, are best equipped to handle bathroom policy and safeguard the needs of students, the letter argued. Currently, campus administrators are able to accommodate students and families, for any number of reasons, in order to ensure privacy and dignity to each child who attends our area public schools, the letter said. This includes the use of a bathroom in a clinic or faculty area depending on the situation. Many public schools already give transgender students the option of using single-stall bathrooms on campus, such as the ones located near the school nurses office. Many San Antonio school leaders had already been dismissive of the notion that bathroom policy posed a problem in their schools. The letter is part of a growing chorus of opposition to bathroom legislation championed by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. On Monday, leaders from major businesses including IBM, AT&T, Texas Instruments and several airlines traveled to Austin to lobby against bathroom legislation. The House and Senate couldnt agree on a bill during the regular session this year, and the issue was revived by Gov. Greg Abbott when he placed it on the special session agenda. Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, whose bill to restrict bathroom access based on the gender listed on birth certificates died in the regular session, has filed a related bill, SB 3, for the special session. The text of the bill was unavailable Wednesday evening. Other bills have been filed that could impact what bathrooms transgender Texans can use. Rep. Ron Simmons, R-Carrollton, has filed House Bill 46 and House Bill 50, which would prevent government agencies and school boards from adopting policies that prohibit discrimination in bathrooms, changing facilities or showers. Senate Bill 23, authored by Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, would broadly prevent political entities from prohibiting discrimination against classes not already protected by state or federal law. It would nullify portions of nondiscrimination ordinances across the state, including in San Antonio. lcaruba@express-news.net The family of a young boy who was injured in a July 6 shooting incident at Garner State Park that involved Liberty County Pct. 2 Commissioner Greg Arthur says they want the incident to be treated as an act of negligence, not an accident. "I never thought I would be treating a bullet wound on my 4-year-old son," said La Porte resident Autumn Flores, mother of Cash. "My son keeps asking me, 'Why did that man shoot me?' He doesn't understand." Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, which is making inquiries into the incident, says the investigation is still ongoing but no laws appear to have been broken. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Liberty County commissioner comments on accidental shooting "Anyone who is licensed to carry in the state of Texas can carry on state park property. If they have a license for open carry, the firearm must be in a holster," said Tom Harvey, spokesperson for TPWD. "This firearm was being carried lawfully." Arthur and the boy, both on holiday with their respective families, were attending a children's dance at the park when the shooting incident occurred. Arthur, a former sheriff for Liberty County, says he was wearing his concealed handgun when it began to shift around. He claims that while making adjustments, he accidentally hit the trigger, causing his Smith & Wesson handgun to fire downward toward the ground. The bullet grazed Arthur's leg, causing a gash. Cash and a 27-year-old man reportedly were struck by bullet fragments that ricocheted off the concrete floor of the pavilion. Autumn was not with her son at the time of the incident as he had attended the dance with his uncle and aunt, Ryan and Stacy Lenz, and other family members. "Police showed up at the house and could only tell us that he had been hurt. It never once crossed my mind that my child was shot," Autumn said. Accompanied by the officer and another family member, the child's parents made the long 15-mile drive from their rented vacation home to Garner State Park. There they met with other family members who reportedly filled them in on what had occurred. The child's Aunt Stacy said she was standing in the pavilion alongside her husband, Cash and his older sister. "We took the kids to the dance like we do every summer. Some of the other kids were on the dance floor when we heard this loud pop right next to us. It was definitely the sound of gunfire," she said. "Then I saw a man and woman turning around and rushing off." Stacy said she was still trying to assess what happened when she picked up Cash and handed him to her husband. She then began looking for her other children. "I found all the other kids and assessed everybody really quick. It was so fast. I looked everybody in the eyes and realized they were all okay. Cash wasn't crying or anything but at this point, he said, 'Aunt Stacy, I am bleeding,'" she said. "I told my husband, 'Oh, my god, Cash has been shot.'" After the incident, Cash was first taken to a local hospital in Uvalde County before being transferred to a trauma center in San Antonio where he had to undergo surgery. Two bullet fragments were found in the area around his knee, lodging two inches below the surface of the skin in soft tissue, his mother said. After a two-day stay at the hospital, Cash was released into his parents' care. "I thought it was all behind us but then I realized what all we were going to have to do to care for him while his wounds heal. The bullet fragments didn't hit anything major but because there wasn't an exit wound, we had to pack the bullet wound on our 4-year-old," Autumn said. "My husband and I had to hold him down every day so we could pack his wound. Part of his treatment involved taking a Q-tip and pushing it into his wound to perform a debridement. It was painful for him and he just screamed." Autumn said the family has hired an attorney to help them with the aftermath. "I can't even imagine what the medical bills will be. He had two ambulance rides and had a cardiovascular team waiting on him when he arrived in San Antonio," she said. "I want to be sure he has no residual effects from this. I know what I am going through as his mother but he's only 4 and it's hard for him to communicate. I just want him (Arthur) to do what is right." Arthur says he is extremely remorseful for the incident and has already filed a claim on the child's behalf. A 43-year-old Lake man has been charged in connection with an assault involving a firearm in Clare County. David Mester was arraigned Monday by 80th District Court Magistrate Steven Worpell on charges of felonious assault and brandishing a firearm in public, the Clare County Sheriff's Office reports. Bond was set at $25,000, 10 percent, which has been posted. The incident leading to the charges occurred early Monday morning in the 2200 block of Alice Street in Surrey Township, where deputies were called about a person brandishing a firearm and threatening to kill someone. Deputies found the incident involved a fight in a parking lot, and the suspect following a 26-year-old man to an Alice Street home. At the home, the suspect exited his vehicle and pointed a handgun at a 47-year-old Farwell man who exited the home. The suspect stated he intended to shoot both men. The suspect then left the area. Deputies found him at an Isabella County home, where he was arrested. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate AUSTIN Abortion providers and advocates filed a lawsuit in federal court Thursday to challenge a new Texas law banning a common second-trimester medical procedure. The lawsuit had been anticipated in a state known for passing some of the nation's toughest abortion restrictions. Abortion providers stressed in its 19-page lawsuit that the procedure is the "safest and most common" method of abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, and a ban would create an undue burden for women to terminate a pregnancy. "It's very obvious that the intent of the law is to be an abortion ban and to restrict doctors' decision making," said Amy Hagstrom Miller, founder, president and CEO of Whole Woman's Health, which is one of the plaintiffs. "Politicians are tying the hands of doctors and not letting doctors use their expertise." The Republican-led Legislature passed Senate Bill 8 this spring, ushering into law comprehensive abortion regulations that banned dilation and evacuation, a medical procedure used to remove a fetus using surgical tools. The method is most common in the second trimester. According to 2015 data, the latest available, the procedure was used 4,386 to terminate a pregnancy. In total, 55,287 abortions were performed that year, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. Abortion opponents say they favor the ban on what they call a "dismemberment abortion," but the director of the Texas Alliance for Life said he expects the court will shoot the law down. "We are not confident that this will withstand a court challenge," said Joe Pojman, executive director of the pro-life organization. He said U.S. Supreme Court needs two more votes to uphold the law and warned legislators during the regular session that the law would likely fail. Other abortion opponents say they think the court will side with Texas. "This is the right discussion that the court needs to be having," said Emily Horne, a lobbyist with Texas Right to Life "It brings the attention back to the child." Women seek the procedure for many reasons, according to the suit, including late confirmation of the pregnancy, difficulty gathering funds or making arrangements to obtain an abortion, or choosing to terminate a pregnancy due to fetal abnormalities discovered during the second trimester. The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Texas, comes just more than a year after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a pair of regulation that forced several abortion clinics around the state to close. The court ruled the state could not require abortion facilities to adhere to the stringent standards of a ambulatory surgical center, nor could it require abortion providers to obtain admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. That suit was also filed by Whole Woman's Health and other providers, handing abortion supporters a major political victory. However, by the time the high court struck down portions of the law, the number of abortion clinics in Texas fell from 41 to 19. Other plaintiffs in the suit filed this week include several Planned Parenthood facilities, including the Planned Parenthood Center for Choice in Houston, the Alamo City Surgery Center in San Antonio, the Southwestern Women's Surgery Center in Dallas, Nova Health Systems in El Paso, and several family practice physicians and obstetricians who are suing on their own behalf and on behalf of their patients. Abortion supporters have filed legal challenges to similar dilation and evacuation bans in Arkansas, Alabama, Kansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma. The legal action also comes as the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals mulls another regulation requiring burial rights for fetal tissue, which lawmakers also wrote into state law this year. Advocates for the law say the dilation and evacuation abortion procedure is grotesque and passing the law keeps with the state's imperative to protect life and oppose abortion. Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, has asked state lawmakers to pass additional anti-abortion laws this summer in his special session call, such as banning coverage of abortion in government health care plans. Several of those bills are up for debate at 8 a.m. Friday in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, and another is up for a vote in the Senate Business and Commerce Committee at 9 a.m. Saturday. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Two U.S. Senators introduced a bill Thursday aimed at reducing the use of money bail to hold people behind bars ahead of their trials, a practice the lawmakers said runs contrary to the U.S. justice system's "promise" to treat people equally before the law. The bipartisan measure, introduced by Senators Kamala Harris, D-California, and Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, would create a $10 million grant for state or local governments to replace or reform systems that require money bail. The senators said the practice disproportionately impacts the poor and communities of color and lets high-risk criminals walk free ahead of trial if they have means. "Americans should be able to expect fair and equal treatment under the law regardless of how much money is in their pockets or how many connections they have," Paul said in a statement Thursday "By giving states greater freedom to undertake reforms specific to their needs, our legislation will help strengthen protections for minority and low-income defendants, reduce waste, and move our bail system toward more effective methods, such as individualized, risk-based assessments." The introduction of the bill follows legislative and court-mandated efforts across the country to move away from a money bail system. An Illinois Judge ruled this week that Cook County should release individuals awaiting trial for felonies and misdemeanors who cannot afford bail if the defendants are not considered dangerous. California and Texas state senate bodies approved measures this year aimed at curbing money bail, though the bills did not make it through the state's other legislative chambers. Harris County, meanwhile, has become one of the biggest focal points in the debate after a federal judge ruled that its money bail system was unconstitutionally holding people accused of low-level crimes behind bars. Chief U.S. District Court Judge Lee H. Rosenthal directed the county earlier this year to begin releasing most misdemeanor defendants if they swear they cannot come up with money for bail. An appeals court and the U.S. Supreme Court nixed a county appeal to block Rosenthal's order, which has been met with outcry from local officials who say the federal judge's order could threaten public safety. UK Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union David Davis (L) and the European Commission's Chief Brexit Negotiator Michel Barnier talk to reporters at the start of a first full round of talks on Britain's divorce terms from the European Union, in Brussels, Belgium, July 17, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] BRUSSELS - EU and British negotiators found some common ground at the end of a first full round of Brexit talks but big differences remain over citizens' rights and uncertainty persists over the financial settlement and the Irish border. At the end of four days of talks in Brussels, which focused on setting out positions on key issues, the European Union's chief negotiator Michel Barnier said there was "a fundamental divergence" on how to protect the rights of EU citizens living in Britain and of Britons in the EU after Brexit. He insisted that the European Court of Justice should guarantee citizens' rights after Brexit. "Any reference to European rights imply their oversight by the Court of Justice of the European Union," Barnier told a joint news conference with British Brexit Secretary David Davis. He also called for more clarity on the British position on the financial settlement and on the Irish border. Davis saw "progress" after talks and said the meetings in Brussels this week provided "a lot to be positive about". But he refused to confirm that Britain now accepts that it will end up making some kind of net payment to the EU on leaving. "We're a country that recognizes its international responsibilities and rights and that we will seek to exercise both in the future," he said. Raised with a strong entrepreneurial influence his parents owned and operated H&H Fabric Store in New Braunfels for many years Douglas Heilmann started Duckys T-shirts in 1978 in downtown New Braunfels. He kept the operation simple. He had a press machine with a couple of prints that you could choose from and would put it on the T-shirt, his son-in-law Chris Sandahl said. Thats how it all started; just a really simple T-shirt business. Outgrowing the space within 10 years, Heilmann moved to bigger location on South Union Street, just about a block from the Comal River. More Information Douglas Heilmann Born: July 18, 1953, New Braunfels Died: July 15, 2017, Garden Ridge Preceded by: Mother Frances Heilmann; brother Donald Heilmann Survived by: Wife Dinah K. Ludwig Heilmann; daughters Rachael Sandahl and son-in-law Chris, and Renee Nalls and son-in-law Jimmie; two grandchildren; father Elmer Heilmann; two sisters Services: Visitation from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday at Schertz Funeral Home, 2217 FM 3009, Schertz; funeral at 10 a.m. Saturday at Crosspoint Fellowship Church, 2600 Roy Richard Drive, Schertz, followed by burial at Sunset Memorial Park, 1701 Austin Highway See More Collapse He knew it was the right thing to do, but it was very scary going from this small shop to a larger business, Sandahl said. He expanded to swimwear, flip-flops; he even rented tubes back then. He went from low overhead to a bigger operation. Heilmann established more than a retail mecca for tourists and residents in Duckys; he also created a gathering place, especially for the multitude of teens for whom the shop was their first job. He was a mentor, Sandahl said. They all trusted him, and he treated them like family. Heilmann died at home Saturday after battling pancreatic cancer. He would have turned 64 on Tuesday. A native of New Braunfels, Heilmann took his time building his business. It was gradual, Sandahl said. It is really what you think running a small business is supposed to be like in America; grind it out, slowly expand, add product and continue to grow, slowly but surely. It wasnt all smooth sailing. When first Walmart and then Amazon began cutting into his business, Heilmann responded by shifting his inventory and stocking more exclusive swimwear. When the city enacted a can ban on the river in 2012, Heilmann began catering to the families who preferred a can-free atmosphere. It also didnt hurt that those parents had more disposable income than the college students who were staying away. He always knew who was walking through those doors, Sandahl said. Knowing his customers is why he was so successful. Most of all, Heilmann loved being there. He was friends with so many tourists who came in year after year knew their childrens names, Sandahl said. So many people told him he didnt have to work all the time but he would never, ever stop going in. He just loved it. mheidbrink@express-news.net Forced annexation by cities without a vote by the impacted property owners is piracy by government, a tyranny of taxation without representation that would have made old King George proud. Texas is still the envy of the nation. With our strong economy, overall lower costs of living and high quality of life, the Lone Star State remains the best place to raise a family, build a business and create greater opportunity for all. But liberty in Texas should not end at any city limits sign. While we rightly rail against overreach by the federal government, local municipalities are increasingly infringing on private property rights. Involuntary annexation is a practice that allows Texas municipalities to force property owners just outside of the city limits to become residents whether they like it or not. The city can then impose new regulations and, worse, higher taxes. Those forcibly annexed property owners are made responsible for the citys already accumulated debt without having approved its issuance. This is legal. But very un-Texan. State law currently allows a city to annex up to 10 percent of its incorporated land from its extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) every year. Advance notice must be provided to residents and businesses in the affected area, but consent is not needed. And though public hearings are sometimes hosted, forced annexation by cities provides no actionable outlet for those property owners to approve or disapprove by vote or petition, creating taxation without representation. Texas is one of a dwindling few states that still allow involuntary annexation without election or petition. Cities favor annexation as a means to quickly increase their tax base and generate additional revenue. Alternately, limited-purpose annexations allow a city to annex an area to expand hyper-regulations to its ETJ through sometimes onerous planning, zoning, and health and safety ordinances without imposing taxes but also without providing municipal services such as police protection. Property owners who prefer to live outside the city limits have already voted with their feet. That right can then be denied to them under the current flawed law. Testimony offered during the regular legislative session from residents in the San Antonio ETJ was disturbing. One small community of retirees fears substantial increases in taxes without any appreciable increase or improvement in services, creating a financial hardship for those who chose to live their retirement years outside of the city. To now use protection of our military installations as an argument against much-needed annexation reforms, as some opponents of reforms are doing, is inexcusable. The men and women in uniform who have trained and served on these bases have fought to protect our rights to liberty, some paying the ultimate price. Had sensible land-use protections for areas around our critical military bases been a priority, the city of San Antonio could have acted years ago. Its not just an issue in the Alamo City. Residents from across the state feel abused by the annexation process and voiced their concerns to legislators this past session. But they were outshouted by those representing the interests of the big cities. I urge the Texas Legislature to listen again. If cities want to expand their tax base, they can attract new businesses and residents by following the states lead: Create a welcoming economic environment by lowering taxes, reducing burdensome regulations and speeding up permitting. And if a municipality truly wants to improve services to its ETJ, it should ask the residents of that neighborhood or community first. During the special session this summer, I am directing the Legislature to enact critical reforms to restrict local government from threatening private property rights. I applaud Rep. Dan Huberty, R-Houston, and Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels, for authoring legislation reforming the authority of municipalities to annex territory, exert control over territory or regulate the use of annexed or ETJ land. In Texas, of all places, property rights matter. Greg Abbott is governor of Texas. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Rugby fan and massage therapist Victoria Mathers got about as close as its possible to get to the visiting British and Irish Lions during their recent New Zealand tour. Victoria has worked in the health and fitness industry for around 30 years her clinic, Move Well, is in Orewa. She was taken onto the Lions medical team and was one of three therapists who spent three hours massaging 23 players both before and after the two Auckland games. Victoria works with many NRL teams and rugby union teams, including the Australians, and says the Lions are the biggest boys by far. Her role as soft tissue therapist is hard physical work. Pre-match the players have tight areas, normally their bottoms, calves and hamstrings and, for the props, back, neck and shoulders, Victoria says. Most of the massage is done with my whole body and elbow. My massage table is quite large, but the forwards hung off both ends and the sides of it. After three hours you feel as though youve done a full days work. She says the medical team is always grateful if no one is seriously hurt in a game but there is always a big toll on players bodies. A lot of people dont see how beaten up they are after a match. Theres a lot of bruising, dislocated thumbs and after the first test, one guy had 11 staple stitches in his head. After a game the players get on my table and I ask what hurts. Quite often the answer is everything. Victoria grew up in Bridgend in Wales and some of the Lions, including captain Sam Warburton, also come from that area. Her passion for rugby began when her father played for Bridgend. Although shes now a Kiwi, Victoria gave the Lions her full support including during the test matches. I feel honoured to work with the Lions and, even though I shouldnt be biased, I am Welsh and of course I support the hand that feeds me! Manly Beach was packed with sails on July 79 as the biggest ever Open Bic Mid- winter Cup was held at Manly Sailing Club. A total of 85 young sailors took part 17 from the Hibiscus Coast and others from as far as Australia and Rarotonga. The youngest was eight years old. The local sailors enjoyed sailing with larger numbers in fleet racing for some this was their first event. Competitors were split into three categories depending on their sailing abilities. Winds were light at times and rain and squally conditions meant it was not always possible to see the top mark from the beach. Two locals made it into the top three of Gold fleet. Overall winner was Sean Herbert of Gulf Harbour, who has been sailing this class for almost six years. He and Mattias Coutts, who placed third in Gold fleet, are heading to Italy for the OPen Bic Worlds (July 31August 5). You can follow Sean on his blog www.herbertsailing.com A Longford publican has spoken out about drink driving laws, and the government's consideration of a tax break for publicans who ferry their customers home after a night out John Duignan of Tally Ho in Longford told the Longford Leader that he would welcome the introduction of a tax break, should Minister for Transport Shane Ross' controversial drink driving bill go ahead. "But we think it's highly unlikely that it will happen," said Mr Duignan. "We don't agree with the bill at all. And not because publicans are in favour of drink driving - because they're not in favour of drink driving. But I believe strongly that people should be allowed to have one drink. "What happens is that a driver might have one drink and be driving two other people home. And if they can't have that one drink, then they're often not enjoying their night." In fact, Mr Duignan added that the bill will pose problems for restaurants too. "I'm surprised that restaurants aren't up in arms about this. In a restaurant, people should be able to have one glass of wine when they go for a meal, and then go home," he said. However, while Minister Ross is busy planning, Minister for Tourism Brendan Griffin last weekend told the Irish Independent that he intends to spend the summer recess examining the prospect of tax breaks and other measures for publicans who agree to provide their own transport for customers. This, according to Mr Duignan, is something that rural publicans might get board with, because publicans are not in favour of drink driving. "Shane Ross has been trying to imply that publicans are pro-drink driving, but we're not. We're in favour of common sense. We're in favour of having one drink and then driving home." What is your opinion of Minister Ross' bill? Have your say over on our poll: Should drink driving laws be stricter or will it see the demise of rural pubs? School & Education, Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Politics By Long Island News & PR Published: July 20 2017 Bipartisan legislation would create committees of public school teachers and parents and family members of public school students to advise the Secretary of Education. Long Island, NY - July 20, 2017 - U.S. Representative Kathleen Rice today introduced new legislation that would create two committees made up of public school teachers and parents and family members of public school students to advise the U.S. Secretary of Education and report to Congress about a range of issues related to students, teachers and family engagement in education. H.R. 3246, the Teachers and Parents at the Table Act, would establish a Teachers Advisory Committee made up of public school teachers who have demonstrated policy expertise and represent the full diversity of the teaching workforce, with members from multiple geographic, grade level and specialty areas. The Committee would advise the Secretary and report to Congress about their experiences with federal education policies at the local level, as well as a range of other important issues, including testing and assessment policies, the equitable distribution of teachers, the effects of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), and other relevant topics. Likewise, the legislation would create a second committee made up of public school parents and family members who have a demonstrated history of parental involvement and family engagement in school and represent multiple geographic areas and a diversity of students, including economically disadvantaged students, students from major racial and ethnic groups, children with disabilities, English learners, and students who are members of an Indian tribe or tribal organization. Consideration would also be given to representation of students' gender identity, migrant status, and residence in rural areas. The Parents and Family Members Advisory Committee would advise the Secretary and report to Congress on parental involvement and family engagement in education and offer direction for state and local education authorities to improve family engagement. Rep. Rice spoke about the new legislation this morning at the 2017 National Network of State Teachers of the Year (NNSTOY) Conference in Washington, where she was introduced by Marguerite Izzo, a fifth grade teacher in the Malverne School District who was named New York State Teacher of the Year in 2007 and helped Rices office create the new legislation. In addition to NNSTOY, other organizations supporting the bill include National PTA and the National Education Association (NEA). Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) is the bills Republican co-lead sponsor. The federal government has important roles to play when it comes to crafting national education policies, but we only do ourselves a disservice if we fail to draw on the input, advice and expertise of the people who implement and see the effects of those policies every day in classrooms and homes across the country, said Representative Kathleen Rice. Teachers, parents and family members know better than anyone what our students need to succeed, and creating these committees will give them a seat at the table and give us the benefit of all the knowledge and experience they have to offer. Im proud to introduce this common-sense legislation, and I look forward to working together to get it passed with the bipartisan support it deserves. Our education system works best when teachers and parents are closely involved with the decisions affecting students, said Congresswoman Stefanik. This commonsense, bipartisan legislation simply gives our teachers and parents a direct channel to the Secretary of Education as important decisions are made. A quality education is a great equalizer in our nation, and I will continue to work in Congress to ensure our future generations have the chance to succeed. When our nations outstanding educators are at the policy table, policymakers can make informed decisions that truly improve teaching and learning, said Katherine Bassett, NNSTOY President and CEO. NNSTOY is proud to support the Teachers and Parents at the Table Act, a bill that will help policymakers, educators and parents to create the conditions, capacity and culture to ensure all students get an excellent education. Teachers, parents and family members provide critical expertise and perspective on the classroom and their children. It is essential that they have a seat at the table whenever policies and decisions are made that impact students and schools, said Jim Accomando, president of National PTA. National PTA commends Representatives Kathleen Rice (D-NY) and Elise Stefanik (R-NY) for their leadership in introducing the Teachers and Parents at the Table Act and for their commitment to the importance of family and teacher engagement in policymaking to improve education and ensure every child reaches their fullest potential. Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Politics By Long Island News & PR Published: July 20 2017 Zeldin: "The 106th Rescue Wing is based out of Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach, and has a long and distinguished history of service." New York, NY - July 20, 2017 - On Wednesday, July 19, 2017, Congressman Lee Zeldin (R, NY-1) delivered a speech on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, recognizing the 106th Rescue Wing, New York Air National Guard. Based out of On Wednesday, July 19, 2017, Congressman Lee Zeldin (R, NY-1) delivered a speech on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, recognizing the 106th Rescue Wing, New York Air National Guard. Based out of Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach , NY, the 106th Rescue Wing has a long and distinguished history of service, and took part in a rescue mission in April 2017 after an explosion occurred on a Slovenian cargo ship. The 106th Rescue Wing was called into immediate action and provided advanced medical care for the next two days, saving the lives of two crew members who suffered severe burns. Congressman Zeldin said: Commanded by Colonel Michael Bank, the 106th Rescue Wing is based out of Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach, located in my home district, and has a long and distinguished history of service. In October 1991, during the storm that was depicted in the major motion picture, The Perfect Storm, an HH-60 and tanker from the 106th Rescue Wing flew to an endangered sailboat about 250 miles south of its base. After survival gear was dropped onto the vessel, they began their return to base. However, braving incredibly severe weather conditions, the HH-60 was forced to ditch 60 miles south of base in the Atlantic Ocean. All but one member of the crew was rescued by the United States Coast Guard cutter Tamaroa. In addition, in 1998, the 106th Rescue Wing carried out the longest over-water rescue mission in an HH-60. Members of the wing were also on scene at Ground Zero during the 9/11 Terror Attacks. Most recently, this past April, the heroic members of this squadron saved several lives when an explosion occurred on a Slovenian cargo ship. These brave Airmen took immediate action when called upon to offer desperately needed medical assistance. On April 24, the cargo ship Tamar was rocked by an explosion in the forward bulkhead, which resulted in the immediate death of one individual, and severe burns for three other crew members, one of whom sadly perished prior to the team's arrival. 1300 miles off the coast of Cape Cod at the time of the explosion and holding a crew of over 20 men, the situation looked dire for the injured members of this crew. Boston Rescue Coordination Center was initially contacted for help, who reached out to two Canadian vessels in the area. However, these ships were 12 to 24 hours away at the very least, and did not possess the necessary medical capability. It was then that the 106th Rescue Wing was called into immediate action to save those lives aboard the vessel. Less than two hours after the request was made by the Coast Guard, this seven member crew, led by Major Sean Boughal, boarded a C-130 Hercules aircraft from the 102nd Rescue Squadron, also part of the 106th Rescue Wing, to begin the search and rescue. Following a five hour flight and superb airmanship of the C-130 crew, the seven man PJ Team executed a complex night parachute insertion of equipment and personnel into the water and then made their way to the stricken vessel. After making it onboard, the 103rd Rescue Squadron PJ Team provided advanced medical care for the next two days, until a Portuguese rescue helicopter could hoist off the team and airlift the injured seamen to a higher level of medical care. If not for the brave actions of this Rescue Wing, there could have very well been an even greater loss of life upon that vessel. Local News, Crime, Community, Charity & Cause By Long Island News & PR Published: July 20 2017 After a motorist crashed into a tree on Townline Road, a Volunteer Fireman flagged down a passing car to help pull the unconscious man out of his vehicle. SCPD responded to an incident in which two Good Samaritans helped rescue a man from a burning car in Hauppauge on Wednesday, July 19. Hauppauge, NY - July 20, 2017 - Suffolk County Police responded to an incident in which two Good Samaritans helped rescue a man from a burning car after he crashed in Suffolk County Police responded to an incident in which two Good Samaritans helped rescue a man from a burning car after he crashed in Hauppauge on Wednesday, July 19, 2017 at approximately 4:53 p.m. Paul Gross suffered an apparent medical incident and crashed into a tree on Townline Road at approximately 4:53 p.m. The car started to catch fire. Volunteer Fireman Stephen Matteo heard the crash from his residence and rushed to the scene. Matteo flagged down a passing motorist, Edmund Quinones to help pull the unconscious man out of his vehicle. Matteo and other Good Samaritans provided medical care on the scene and helped revive Gross. Briana Stettner, 19, of Hauppauge, heard the crash and went in the intersection of Townline Road and Hoffman Lane and stopped traffic, so emergency vehicles could get to the scene. Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Health & Wellness, Politics By Long Island News & PR Published: July 20 2017 County Department of Health Trained Over 9,000 Residents, Saved Over 3,000 Lives Since Inception of Pilot Program. Suffolk County, NY - July 20, 2017 - Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone today announced an upcoming Opioid Overdose Prevention Class in commemoration of the fifth anniversary of the rollout of Suffolk County Department of Healths Opioid Overdose Prevention Project. The training, which meets New York State Department of Health requirements, will enable participants to recognize an opioid overdose, administer intranasal Narcan and take additional steps while Emergency Medical Service teams are in transit. Participants will receive a certificate of completion and an emergency resuscitation kit that includes the nasal Narcan. The class is scheduled for Monday, July 31st, at 6:00PM at the William J. Lindsay County Complex, Building C016 Hauppauge NY, 11788. Interested participants can RSVP by calling the Suffolk County Health Departments Office of Health Education at 631-853-4017. Class size is limited. During the early days of my administration, Suffolk County was selected as one of only four localities in New York State to take part in the Regional EMS Opioid Overdose Prevention pilot project. The EMS pilot was so successful that we petitioned New York State to allow us to train laypeople how to recognize an opioid overdose and administer intranasal Narcan to save lives. This has proven to be an integral part of our multifaceted approach to dealing with the opioid epidemic, said County Executive Bellone. As we commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Opioid Overdose Prevention Project, I am proud of how far we have come and the thousands of lives that have been saved by our EMS Technicians, law enforcement officers, and incredible residents who recognize the epidemic and chose to help make a difference. Naloxone, or Narcan as it is known, is administered to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose with minimal side effects. Prior to the 2012 demonstration project, Narcan could be administered at the scene of an emergency by only Advanced Emergency Medical Services providers, either intravenously or by injection. The Opioid Overdose Prevention Project has enabled us to save thousands of lives while we work with colleagues at all levels of government and community services to address this nationwide epidemic on a local level, said Dr. James Tomarken, Suffolk Commissioner of Health Services. Since its inception in 2012, the Suffolk County Department of Health Services Division of Emergency Medical Services has held over 278 classes and trained more than 9,000 individuals to recognize an opioid overdose and administer Narcan. In those five years, Narcan reversals have saved more than 3,000 lives. Those who have been trained include Suffolk Countys 5,000 EMTs; police officers; staff in Suffolk Countys crime lab; domestic violence shelters; jail medical unit; veterans and youth enrichment services as well as probation officers; sheriffs; guards; corrections officers; town and village police; town public safety officers; parks personnel; substance abuse nurses, faculty, staff, and administrators; mobile community crisis action teams; school district faculty and staff; and the general population, including opioid users, their families and friends. In 2016, the Suffolk County health department began partnering with local hospitals to identify patients who are at risk of opioid overdose, and provide them and their families with naloxone kits, while educating them about overdose risk factors and the signs and symptoms of an opioid overdose. According to Robert Delagi, Director of Suffolk County Emergency Medical Services, Suffolk County EMTs reversed 325 opioid overdoses using naloxone in 2012, the first year of the pilot program. The number of opioid overdose reversals increased over the years, with 475 lives saved in 2013, 493 lives saved in 2014, 542 lives saved in 2015 and 681 lives saved in 2016. This year, Director Delagi expects to surpass that number, as there have already been 429 naloxone reversals from January 1 to June 15, 2017. We encourage residents to use the resources that the county and its partners are providing, said Dr. Gregson Pigott, EMS Medical Director and Clinical Director of the Opioid Overdose Prevention Program. Be proactive, save the hotline numbers on your cell, watch the videos weve provided, get trained and become involved in your community. Suffolk County has approached the opioid epidemic on multiple levels, working with lawmakers, medical providers, medical prescribers, parents, school districts, law enforcement, local agencies, and community partners. AnnMarie Csorny, Director of Community Mental Hygiene Services, said, Our division contracts with 10 prevention providers who are active in 37 local school districts. Division prevention staff support the efforts of the local community coalitions, and train teens and parents in prevention strategies. The division operates four methadone clinics, a medication assisted treatment education program at our correctional facilities, and provides onsite treatment and linkages to services in preparation for release. In addition, Suffolk County, with the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (LICADD), operates a 24/7 Substance Abuse Hotline (631-979-1700) for individuals in crisis and their family members. Since inception in April 2016, the hotline has received 1217 incoming calls through May 31, 2017. Editors Note: Below is Dr. David Andrew Weinbergs testimony before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Terrorism, Non-Proliferation, and Trade Subcommittee on July 19, 2017. Dr. Weinberg is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. A version of his testimony with footnotes can be read here. Chairman Poe, Ranking Member Keating, and distinguished Members of the Subcommittee, thank you on behalf of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies for the opportunity to testify before you today about incitement in Saudi Arabias government-published textbooks for school children. It is an honor to be back, particularly because I first engaged with Saudi Arabia on this issue as a staff member for this bodys full committee. Half a decade after 9/11, Nina Shea wrote in an outstanding Freedom House report that Saudi officials accepted their textbooks had problems but have repeatedly pledged that reform is underway or completed. That is still the case today. Yet as the author of the most recent published study on incitement remaining in Saudi textbooks today, I can vouch that over a decade later Riyadh still has not persuasively shown that this problem has been resolved. Unfortunately, U.S. policy has not been up to the task of convincing our Saudi allies to remove this incitement with greater urgency. For example, I exposed in a 2014 monograph that the State Department appeared to have allocated half a million dollars in taxpayer funds to commission a two-part study on Saudi textbooks that was intended for public release but was instead withheld to avoid embarrassing the Saudis or the U.S. administration. Its detailed findings were hidden from public scrutiny for years and only raised with the Saudis at a senior level after the textbooks it had evaluated were already out of date. In the testimony that follows, I will argue that this is particularly disturbing because incitement of this sort is not just a moral issue or a human rights issue, it is a national security issue. While Saudi textbooks are not the only significant source of incitement from the Gulf or even in Saudi Arabia they are an important bellwether and concern for U.S. policy. I will then endeavor to present everything we know about incitement in the latest edition of Saudi Arabias official textbooks. Examples of such incitement include: (1) directives to kill people in response to their non-violent personal life choices, (2) messages that are undoubtedly anti-Semitic or anti-Christian, (3) lessons that are intolerant toward adherents of non-monotheistic religions as well as implicitly toward Shiite and Sufi Muslims, and (4) several other passages encouraging violence. I will explain how Riyadh regularly oversells the success of its textbook reforms. I will then argue for why U.S. policy in this regard needs to change urgently. Next, I will refute some common counterarguments by those who claim that U.S. pressure cannot have a positive impact on the Saudi curriculum. Finally, I will conclude by offering a list of policy recommendations for Congress which could help encourage the Saudi government to address this issue in a more effective and timely manner. I. The Books are a National Security Issue Addressing incitement in Saudi Arabias government-published textbooks is important for several different reasons. First of all, speaking out when hatred is being spread is simply the right thing to do. It is a barometer of how seriously any U.S. administration takes the fight against anti-Semitism and protecting Christians and vulnerable Muslim minorities abroad. It is an important avenue for toning down sectarian hatred in the Middle East without taking the side of Irans terror-sponsoring regime. And it is a basic human rights issue. But most importantly, addressing incitement in Saudi Arabia, including in textbooks, is a serious national security issue. Saudi society has been a top source of foreign terrorist fighters and, at times, terrorist leaders in places like Iraq and Syria. Saudi Arabia was the original home of Osama bin Laden, and fifteen of the nineteen hijackers on 9/11 were Saudi nationals. While Saudi authorities have reportedly convicted hundreds of defendants on terror finance charges, they still grapple with the enormous challenge of radicalized private individuals seeking to fund terrorist groups. The kingdoms books have emerged in well over a dozen countries over the years, including Algeria, Austria, Burkina Faso, China, Comoros, Djibouti, France, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, Tanzania, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and previously the United States. The valedictorian of a school in Virginia that had used the textbooks was convicted in 2005 of plotting with al-Qaeda to assassinate President George W. Bush. Until 2015, Saudi textbooks were even the curriculum of choice in territory held by the Islamic State, according to the New York Times. Much like those books recommended, the Islamic State executed numerous individuals on suspicion of homosexuality, insulting Allah or the Prophet Muhammad, adultery, or purported sorcery. Saudi textbooks are the most pivotal ones from a national security perspective, due to what author Robert Lacey explains is an accident of history regarding how the kingdom was established. The Saudi kingdom, founded in 1932, brought together disparate elements from three different regions: (1) the austere religious traditions of central Saudi Arabia, (2) the oil wealth of Saudi Arabias Eastern Province, and (3) the mantle of religious legitimacy from controlling the two holiest sites in Islam, in Saudi Arabias west. This fusion allowed Saudi rulers to lavishly and persuasively promote their brand of Islam, first within the kingdom and then beyond. When Stuart Levey was the U.S. Treasury Departments under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, he wrote that fighting indoctrination such as intolerant textbooks is even more important than cutting off terrorist finance. He explained that unless we stop the indoctrination of future generations, America will forever be faced with the challenge of disrupting the next group of terrorist facilitators and supporters. Tom Farr, a former director of the State Departments International Religious Freedom, was even more explicit. In 2008, he argued that the U.S. governments lack of urgency and failure to hold Riyadh to its own deadlines for fixing the textbooks and other promised religious freedom reforms meant that the primary lesson of 9/11 [was] shunted to the side. Indeed, without urgently addressing the religious incitement that provides fertile intellectual ground for such violent extremism, we may unfortunately be fated to keep repeating the past. Saudi Arabia today is not the worst country in the Gulf when it comes to state-backed incitement. That title goes to the government of Iran, which regularly calls for the annihilation of Israel and viciously dehumanizes its enemies. Qatars record is also as bad or worse than Saudi Arabias when it comes to the extremist messages that are propagated by its state-backed media and by state-backed preachers. But because Saudi Arabia is so much bigger than Qatar, the impact of what it teaches to school children at home is felt around the world. Textbooks are also not the only challenge involving incitement in Saudi Arabia, but they are the most obvious bellwether for assessing issues of this sort. When the Education Ministry itself adopts certain extremist messages, puts them in writing, and teaches them to children, the link that runs from the state to such incitement is particularly meaningful. While the U.S. should seek to address other areas of incitement as well such as by Saudi government officials and by state-backed preachers the kingdoms textbooks are a very important indicator of its conduct and intentions. II. Accessing the Latest Books Oren Adaki and I worked together at FDD on the issue of Saudi textbooks during the 2013-2014 school year. He did path-breaking work on those books at the time, and I am thrilled to see him serving as the staff director for this subcommittee today. For the subsequent two school years, however, two of the main online venues for accessing the books were made password protected, effectively blocking foreigners. The senior Saudi officials whom I contacted in this regard declined to grant me access. Accessing Saudi Arabias government-published textbooks has been a recurring challenge not just for American researchers, but also for U.S. government officials. When the State Department undertook a 2006 in-house study of several textbooks at the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, it borrowed books from school children because the host government did not answer repeated requests for the books. When the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy (ICRD) was conducting a review of Saudi textbooks on behalf of the U.S. government, it said religious studies textbooks for grades three and six were regrettably unobtainable. On several occasions, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom was promised textbooks by Saudi officials, wrote letters to follow up, and received no reply. Other times, the websites recommended by Riyadh to U.S. officials for accessing the books were out of service or incomplete. But in early 2017, I received an invaluable tip that many, if not all, of the Education Ministry-published books for the 2016-2017 school year were now available at a different location that was not password protected a website maintained by the state-chartered corporation for curriculum modernization. To the best of my knowledge, books for the 2017-2018 school year have not yet been released, so these are still the most up-to-date books for use in Saudi public schools. I conducted a study of key selections from those 2016-2017 books, looking primarily at those textbooks in which religious incitement had previously been a major problem (especially high school books on religious matters). I published the results of that study as an article for the Huffington Post, from which I have drawn extensively here. For each passage from those textbooks that I reference here, I have included at the end of this testimony a copy of that books cover page, copyright page, and the page(s) on which that passage occurred. At two other points in this section, I cite textbook studies by other authors; in those instances, I reference and footnote their studies explicitly. (A) Recommending the Death Penalty for Personal Life Choices The latest editions of several Saudi textbooks call for the killing of any individual who engages in certain acts that we in the United States would treat as personal life choices. The lessons in these books are even harsher than how the Saudi state tends to approach such issues: Whereas judges often apply a strict evidentiary standard to reduce the likelihood of executing a defendant for such acts, no such mitigating context is provided in these lessons. A 2016-2017 high school textbook on Islamic jurisprudence teaches that the punishment for adultery is being stoned to death. It adds that the penalty for premarital sex is one hundred lashes and a year of exile. That same book defines anal sex as a crime and says that the majority of jurists have determined that the penalty for it is like the penalty for adultery, meaning death. The book dehumanizes anybody who engages in such an act, teaching that it creates depravity and lowliness in the soul of whoever commits it, since it extinguishes life. The book adds that societies in which anal sex spreads are swiftly punished by God, incurring disasters, plagues, iniquity, and corruption. Additionally, the book teaches that adultery, premarital, and anal sex each bring shame upon ones family and tribe. This is a key element of the belief system that can lead to tragic honor killings in some communities. This introductory book on religious law also mandates the death penalty for what is calls apostasy, meaning abandoning or renouncing Islam. The book teaches that anybody who does not return to his religion after three days must be killed and will then spend an eternity in fire. The lesson teaches that there are three main kinds of apostasy: (1) mocking Allah or his prophet or his religion and praying to an entity other than Allah, (2) drawing closer to an entity other than Allah in ritual acts, or (3) belief in something known to be forbidden in Islam, such as permitting the consumption of alcohol. Lastly, the 2016-2017 Saudi curriculum teaches that the death penalty should be applied for certain perceived acts of sorcery, according to an introductory high school book on monotheism. For those involved in what it calls devil magic, the penalty given is execution by the state. For acts of magical sleight of hand, the instructed penalty is a rebuke that it says can also go up to the level of execution. It is also worth noting that this is the only one of the four directives listed here that specifies that the killing of such people must be carried out by an authority appointed by the ruler. In all other instances, that assessment is left up to interpretation by the reader, which could leave open the possibility of vigilante violence by non-state groups. (B) Anti-Semitic and Anti-Christian Messages A 2016-2017 Saudi textbook for high school students on Hadith the traditional corpus of actions attributed to the Prophet Muhammad teaches some rather problematic messages about present-day Christianity. The book alleges that Christianity in its current state is an invalid, perverted religion whose promoters seek to dominate Muslim nations using the weapon of intellectual invasion. The book falsely alleges that the American Universities in Cairo and Beirut are two of the institutions leading Christianization all over the world today. That same textbook also teaches some misleading lessons about Zionism, the movement to establish a national home for the Jewish people. It baselessly alleges that Zionism aspires to world domination and a global Jewish government. It falsely argues that as a prelude to world domination the aim of present-day Zionism and the Israeli government is to establish a Greater Israel that stretches from the Nile to the Euphrates. Similarly, a 2016-2017 high school social studies book from Saudi Arabia calls Zionism an octopus that it falsely accuses of seeking to destroy the al-Aqsa Mosque and the entire Islamic creed. It should be noted that imagery of global Jewry as an octopus is a common trope used in other anti-Semitic hoaxes, including some editions of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, Henry Fords The International Jew, and Nazi propaganda. These books single out Zionism among all other self-determination movements as inherently racist and expansionist, inexplicably accusing it of spreading drugs and sexually-transmitted diseases in Islamic countries. The books also present Zionism as inherently hostile and a threat to the Arab and Muslim world. In a lesson entitled the Intifada and the Zionist threat, one of them also falsely asserts that the first Palestinian intifada caused roughly a million Jews to emigrate from Israel. It praises the intifada as a war sapping the wave of the Zionists and as a preparation for liberation, Allah permitting. A twelfth-grade textbook on monotheism from 2016-2017 teaches that God forbade befriending the infidels, in part based on a Quranic verse it includes that says not to take Jews or Christians as allies. The book alleges three reasons for this prohibition, asserting that such infidels are enemies of God, enemies of Islam and its adherents, and that befriending them would show support for disbelief. That lesson also teaches that a key part of Islam and Muslim relations with non-believers is a requirement to abhor the enemies of Allah and their hostilities. (C) Messages against Sufi and Shiite Rituals and Non-Monotheistic Religions Saudi Arabias strict brand of Salafist Sunni Islam, commonly referred to in the West as Wahhabism, maintains a strong emphasis on eschewing any religious practices that could be perceived as deviations from monotheism. As a result, the kingdoms curriculum includes numerous books on monotheism that admonish against acts of polytheism (shirk) and its practitioners (mushrikeen). As such, these lessons are inherently critical toward adherents of non-monotheistic religions. They also single out for criticism many of the rituals that are commonly associated in the local context with Shiite or Sufi Islam. For example, an eighth-grade Saudi textbook on monotheism from 2016-2017 that I found defines such rituals such as praying while walking around a grave or shrine as an act of polytheism. Alongside that passage in the text, the book presents a picture with a big X of what appears to be a mock-up of a shrine with names of several Shiite imams behind it. In this regard, I would like to recommend to you an important forthcoming study by Human Rights Watch on systematic discrimination against Shiite citizens of Saudi Arabia. In it, the organization examines how Saudi primary school textbooks on monotheism from 2016-2017 present relations with non-Sunni Muslims. Generally speaking, it finds that while the curriculum does not address Shiite Islam explicitly or employ a common local slur for its practitioners as rejectionists, the books are still deeply problematic. They discovered that the 2016-2017 books clearly endorsed Sunni Islam over other religions and repeatedly referred to well-known stereotypes of Shiite or Sufi rituals as horrendous examples of polytheism. Key examples of such rituals included swearing by or showing reverence for early figures in Shiite Islam, praying for these or other saintly figures to intercede with Allah on ones behalf, wailing over the dead as some Shiite Muslims do during the holy day of Ashura, and making pilgrimages to religious sites in addition to those in Mecca and Medina. (D) Other Encouragement of Violence The language in 2016-2017 Saudi textbooks that calls for killing people who engage in adultery, anal sex, apostasy, or certain supposed acts of sorcery are not the only passages that encourage violence against those who act in a manner inconsistent with the states vision of Islam. A 2016-2017 Saudi textbook on monotheism for the twelfth grade teaches that there are four kinds of infidels. The first three of them include envoys who have diplomatic immunity, peoples who have a non-aggression pact with the Muslim world, and dhimmis, a term for non-Muslims forced to pay a special tax that is commonly associated with second-class status. According to this book, the remainder of infidels, who comprise the fourth class, are defined as combatants, whom it says Allah has commanded must be fought until they submit to Islam or agree to become dhimmis. That book also calls for fighting the infidels and the polytheists except under a handful of extenuating circumstances. Those include: (1) if such non-Muslims have not been given a chance yet to convert to Islam or become dhimmis, (2) if Muslims are not strong enough to win such a fight, (3) if the ruler does not support it, or (4) if such non-Muslims have a non-aggression pact with the Muslim world. According to a February 2017 Wall Street Journal article, a current eighth-grade Saudi textbook on Islamic law instructed readers to support people who are waging jihad, including by arming them. The passage was translated by the Journal as follows: the mujahideen who are doing good deeds for the sake of Allah should be given transportation, weapons, food and anything else they may need to continue their jihad. III. Full Reform is Never Around the Corner I recently was told by a credible source that Saudi officials now privately claim to have completed the wholesale removal of religious incitement from their curriculum for the upcoming (2017-2018) school year. Such claims would have to be viewed with great skepticism due to the kingdoms past track record. In addition to missing several stated deadlines for textbook reform, Saudi authorities have routinely oversold the extent of these initiatives to date. As State Department officials have reportedly conceded in private, the real pace of Saudi textbook reform has been glacial. Three times in the last decade, newly-appointed Saudi education ministers were hailed by the West as reformers only to leave office without making meaningful strides toward resolving this issue. In 2003, Adel al-Jubeir then an advisor to Saudi Arabias crown prince and now the kingdoms foreign minister told Tim Russert that the textbooks issue was overblown, since the kingdoms books had already been changed. In 2005, Saudi Arabias then-foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, inaccurately assured an audience at the Council on Foreign Relations that we have gone through a whole program of going into the educational system from top to bottom, from schools, teachers, books, and we have taken everything out of them that does not call for cooperation [and] coexistence. He was echoed by King Abdullah, who told Barbara Walters that fall that the kingdom had toned down its textbooks to limit their possible contribution to extremism. In the spring of 2006, Saudi Arabias ambassador to the United States, Prince Turki al-Faisal, told a town hall in Los Angeles that we eliminated what might be perceived as intolerance from old text books that were in our system, and he made similar remarks to an audience in Chicago as well. In July 2006, Saudi Arabia pledged to the U.S. government to remove remaining intolerant references that disparage Muslims or non-Muslims or that promote hatred toward other religions or religious groups, and that it expect[ed] to complete this process in one to two years. Of course, that deadline was missed entirely, and the U.S. did little to chastise the Saudis for falling short. In March 2008, Saudi Arabias deputy minister of education in charge of textbook updates is reported to have incorrectly claimed to the U.S. Embassy that most intolerant language had been removed already from the kingdoms school books. This reported assertion is particularly surprising because the State Department later reported that his Education Ministry had just embarked in 2007 on a multi-year process of revising its textbooks, starting with some of the lower grades and planning to work their way up. In effect, this involved focusing on what Douglas Johnston of ICRD once characterized as low-hanging fruit, revising less controversial textbooks for the lower grades while saving the books with the most problematic materials, which were always at the high school level, for some point down the road. According to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Saudi officials claimed several years into this process that they had thoroughly revised the textbooks for these lower grades. According to the State Department, Saudi Arabias Ministry of Education said that reforming the textbooks for grades one through nine had been fully completed by the end of 2012. However, ICRD reported that even these textbooks still contained some deeply problematic passages. For example, an eighth-grade textbook that has supposedly been already fixed still literally taught hatred, admonishing students to hate non-believers, as well as calling for the execution of sorcerers. Other problematic passages noted by ICRD in these elementary and middle school books that were supposedly fixed included: passages that promoted or glorified aggressive jihad, encouraged extreme bias toward non-Muslims and were very harmful for Saudi religious minorities, gratuitous negative references to Jews and Christians, and sweeping indictments of them as polytheists. According to Hannah Rosenthal, when she was serving as the State Departments Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, a Saudi official asserted to her in 2011 that a passage calling Jews the spawn of monkeys or pigs was no longer in use, even though it actually continued to be taught for at least several more years. If this is what qualifies as a thoroughly revised textbook in Saudi Arabia, then claims that this process may have finally been extended up through the twelfth grade require renewed scrutiny, not the termination of it. The Saudis also missed several deadlines after that. In 2011, the kingdoms deputy education minister reportedly told the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom that the books would be completely revised by 2013. The Commission then reported in 2013 that Saudi officials told them that the process of revising these books, including for grades 10 through 12, would be completed by 2014. In February 2017, Saudi Arabias education minister said that the kingdom had made strides in reforming its education system to meet the nations needs and get rid of extremism, but that I think we still have to do a lot in that direction. According to the Wall Street Journal, he anticipated a broader curriculum overhaul after completing a project to shift Saudi classrooms from using printed materials to electronic tablets, which was expected to take up to three years. IV. Have the Books Improved at All? Absolutely, and this is important to recognize while at the same time not treating it as an excuse to avoid raising the issue urgently with Riyadh. Some particularly egregious passages evident in past editions have not been spotted in the textbooks of late. For example, I found the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a notorious anti-Semitic hoax, being taught in Saudi textbooks as recently as 2015-2016 but have not yet seen it in those books I have been able to examine for 2016-2017. Whereas previous Saudi books frequently instructed students to hate non-believers, I have seen less of this language in the latest edition. More often, such language is instead framed somewhat less harshly, as a directive not to befriend non-believers because it says they are enemies of Muslims and Allah. As noted above, encouragements of violence are still in the curriculum as well, but they are also less common. Simultaneously, some passages recommending tolerance have been added to the curriculum over the last sixteen years. Examples noted this year by the Wall Street Journal included: terrorism is a form of corruption that God has forbidden and terrorism cannot be considered a form of Islamic jihad, the prayer of the oppressed, whether from a Muslim or a non-Muslim, is answered, and Islam is eager to strengthen bonds of love and brotherhood. The ICRDs 2012 report on Saudi textbooks also found a number of positive passages that had been added to the curriculum, even though extensive incitement still remained. Positive examples cited by ICRD included: two passages describing some or all people of the book (meaning Christians, Jews, and Muslims) as believers, a passage about human rights under Islam that declares an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab, a passage that says the Quran commands us to treat parents well and with respect, regardless of whether they are Muslims or non-Muslims, and a passage specifying that treating a peaceful kafer [infidel or non-believer] kindly is not considered to be forbidden loyalty. Saudi Arabia has also spent lavishly on teacher training and expanded the teaching of STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and math), for which it receives frequent U.S. praise. But critics rightly point out that these projects often are used as a distraction from the main problem for U.S. interests: the continued re-publication of incitement year after year by a U.S. ally in its public school curriculum. V. Why U.S. Policy Needs to Change The default American approach to this issue is basically to wait and see, what former State Department official Thomas Farr decried as no particular sense of urgency back in 2008. And although working-level bureaucrats sporadically try to look at this issue, they lack the resources, authorization, and mandate to do so in-depth and regularly enough to have enough impact. They also lack the support necessary from American leaders, who almost never raise the books in a serious, detailed, and sustained manner with their Saudi counterparts. This approach is a formula for failure. Over a decade-and-a-half has passed since 9/11, and yet millions of Saudi school children have continued to be subjected to these inhumane lessons. Undoubtedly, such incitement has made America and our allies less secure, making it easier for the terrorist groups that we are fighting and that target the kingdom itself to attract potential new recruits. Saudi Arabia has not been given a sufficient incentive to undertake the necessary changes to its textbooks in an urgent enough timeframe. Failing to launch a concerted effort to address Saudi textbooks now would also mean missing a moment of unusual U.S. leverage with Riyadh. The Saudi leadership is so eager to see the Trump team follow through on its tough rhetoric regarding Iran that they are willing to go to great lengths to stay in Americas good graces. Furthermore, the kingdoms campaign to mobilize international pressure against Qatars reckless policies means that Saudi Arabia now has extra motivation to respond to public or private concerns about its own record. VI. Common Counterarguments I have encountered several main counterarguments to the perspective that America should be pressing Riyadh more actively to eliminate incitement from its textbooks. The most reasonable one with which I still do not agree is that making a priority out of the textbooks issue cannot be done without sacrificing other important American interests that pertain to the Saudis. Policy-makers can and should debate how best to raise this issue without jettisoning other critical priorities with Riyadh. But more often, the counterarguments that I encounter assert something else: that America bringing up the books would either be unfair or hurt reformers more that it would help. I find these arguments unpersuasive for the following reasons. First, some argue that it would be hypocritical for the United States, which was founded on religious liberty, to tell another nation what to believe. But raising this issue is not the same thing as dictating to Saudi citizens what private beliefs they should hold. It is beseeching a U.S.-allied government to stop publishing passages in state documents that threaten the religious liberties and right to life of others, especially when Saudi officials themselves have acknowledged that some passages in their curriculum do encourage extremism or sow discord. Others argue that outside pressure makes it harder for Saudi Arabia to reform its textbooks because it encourages hardliners to dig in their heels. Conservatives and preachers undoubtedly care about this issue; but sadly, addressing the incitement in textbooks has never been a top priority for the kingdoms rulers. Otherwise, they should have been able to resolve the problem by now without external engagement, as they repeatedly assured us would happen. Instead, the most explicit Saudi government commitment to address this issue occurred in 2006, just two weeks after Nina Sheas report on Saudi textbooks revealed that kingdoms claims to have already resolved the issue of incitement in its textbooks were inaccurate. Whereas Saudi Shiites I encounter the victims of such incitement tend to argue for U.S. pressure over the textbooks issue, it is usually Sunnis close to the regime or Americans focused on eliciting Saudi cooperation on other issues who argue that pressuring the Saudis would hurt rather than help Saudi textbook reform. Another frequent counterargument is the claim that observant Muslim rulers like the Saudis are simply religiously unable to remove holy directives from state texts. But there are many Muslim-majority nations with Muslim rulers that choose not to write such egregious forms of incitement in their state curriculum. There is no religious stricture unambiguously mandating that the textbook of a Muslim state must emphasize particular lines or lessons from scripture. And there are plenty of lines from which to draw in the Quran and its commentaries that favor coexistence, compassion, tolerance, and peace. For example, King Salman and his predecessor Abdullah have both admirably emphasized the Quranic dictum that there is no compulsion in religion. It has also been persuasively argued by ICRD that on balance, the Quran is considerably less negative toward Christians and Jews that the Saudi curriculum. Further, some of the lessons in these books such as those calling for killing people for acts considered immoral are even more extreme than Saudi policy, since they fail to make clear that such killing must only be conducted by the state and that the bar for such executions should be prohibitively high. Finally, some argue that Saudi rulers are simply incapable of moving textbook reform forward more quickly because they are abjectly dependent upon the kingdoms conservative clerical establishment. And while Saudi rulers do look to senior clerics for regime support, they are also capable of making textbook reform a greater relative priority among other culturally contentious topics that the Saudi government is seeking to advance over, say, hosting the first Saudi Comic Con convention last year and working to open a new Six Flags amusement park. The clerical establishment was wary of these moves, but the government pushed forward successfully nonetheless. Indeed, Saudi rulers have historically been able to implement important reforms despite reluctance from the clergy when it suits the needs of the state, such as with the abolition of slavery, the introduction of television, the hosting American troops during the first Gulf War, and passing limitations on the austere religious police last year. VII. Policy Recommendations More than fifteen years after 9/11, it is unfortunate that we still need to be here today to discuss continued religious incitement in the government-published textbooks of a pivotal American ally. But the good news is there is plenty that members of Congress can do to make a difference if they choose to act. 1. Require Timely, Detailed, and Annual U.S. Public Reviews In its most recent annual report, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom called for the executive branch to undertake and make public an annual assessment of the relevant Ministry of Education religious textbooks to determine if passages that teach religious intolerance have been removed. Congress should pass legislation requiring the executive branch to do exactly that, and should allocate appropriate funding to do so. Legislation of this sort should require such a public reporting to be as detailed as possible, including full quotations of all passages that could be seen as encouraging violence or being derogatory toward adherents of other religions. It should require that the U.S. government complete its review within 90 days from the start of the new Saudi school year each September to ensure its results are valid long enough that U.S. officials can engage extensively with Riyadh while books are still current and before drafting of the next edition is finalized. If Saudi officials do not make the books available in time for such an assessment, the U.S. should revisit Saudi Arabias longstanding waiver under the International Religious Freedom Act, first granted in 2006 in part based on assurances that its textbooks would be fully revised long ago. Legislation should also require that copies of these books be made available in the Library of Congress for private researchers and Congressional staff. 2. Require an Assessment of Saudi Exportation of Incitement Direct the U.S. intelligence community to monitor for instances in which Saudi Arabias government-backed exportation of religious messages involves propagating incitement, and allocate appropriate resources for it to do so. Mandate one-time or ongoing governmental reporting to Congress on the matter, primarily in an unclassified format and with a classified annex if appropriate, but only to the extent necessary to protect sources and methods. 3. Insist on the Nomination of Relevant U.S. Envoys Roughly half a year has passed, and yet at the time of writing this, the new U.S. administration still has not picked a nominee for ambassador to Saudi Arabia. It also has not nominated an ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, a special representative to Muslim communities, a special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism, or a special envoy to promote religious freedom of religious minorities in the Near East and South and Central Asia with the rank of ambassador, even though three of these four positions are mandated by act of Congress. Members of Congress should raise this with the administration in public and in private until nominees for all five positions have been named. 4. Call on Saudi Arabia to Replace Old Textbooks Overseas In its most recent annual report, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom called on the U.S. to press the Saudi government to denounce publicly the continued use around the world of older versions of Saudi textbooks and other materials that promote hatred and intolerance, and to make every attempt to retrieve, or buy back, previously distributed materials that contain intolerance. Members of Congress should add their voice to this call, both in public and in private, and use letters or legislation to urge the administration to do so as well. 5. Encourage Rebooting the U.S.-Saudi Strategic Dialogue The George W. Bush administration launched an annual strategic dialogue with Saudi Arabia in 2005 to ensure that issues of concern to either side would get a full hearing even when top leaders are preoccupied with other matters. That dialogue lapsed during the Obama administration, but it should be restarted. The new crown prince of Saudi Arabia is said to support such an idea as well. One of the working groups should be expressly designed to address the U.S. concerns about incitement (in textbooks and other venues) as well as human rights, while also giving Saudi Arabia an opportunity to advocate for the rights and dignity of Muslims in America. 6. Raise Saudi Textbooks, Publicly and Privately, as a Priority Issue Members of Congress should raise the issue of incitement in Saudi textbooks both privately and publicly. They should encourage the president and secretary of state to address it as well, and urge President Trump to issue a formal directive to cabinet members and U.S. agencies to make the issue a priority in U.S.-Saudi relations. While in Saudi Arabia this May, President Trump participated in the inauguration of a Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology, which he predicted will make history. Reflecting on his visit to the kingdom several weeks later, he urged all nations to stop teaching people to kill other people. Stop filling their minds with hate and intolerance. Trump said he would not name other countries besides Qatar, but without addressing the issue of Saudi textbooks more directly, our Saudi allies will simply continue doing what they have been doing: reprinting incitement year after year while whittling away at the edges. In the meantime, these deeply problematic books will be delivered to another generation of school children. David Andrew Weinberg is the Anti-Defamation Leagues Washington Director for International Affairs. Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here. Bashar al Assads regime has long been allied with Iran. But a newly released report by the State Department underscores the degree to which Iran and its terrorist proxies have expanded their footprint in Syria during the war. There are reportedly about 7,000 Hezbollah fighters in Syria, according to States Country Reports on Terrorism 2016, which also noted that several senior Hezbollah military commanders and hundreds of fighters have died in the Syrian conflict. The US government says that Hezbollahs buildup in Syria fulfills a promise made by the groups leader, Hassan Nasrallah. Indeed, Nasrallah said in 2016 that he planned to send extra Hezbollah militants to fight alongside Syrian government forces in the besieged city of Aleppo. And Nasrallah did just that, as Hezbollahs fighters joined Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Iranian-sponsored Shiite militias and Russian forces during the battle for Aleppo. This pro-Assad coalition helped recapture the city. [See FDDs Long War Journal report, Array of pro-Syrian government forces advances in Aleppo.] Iran views the Assad regime in Syria as a crucial ally and Syria and Iraq as crucial routes to supply weapons to Hezbollah, Irans primary terrorist partner, State says, echoing similar language that was included in previous reports. Iran has facilitated and coerced, through financial or residency enticements, primarily Shia fighters from Afghanistan and Pakistan to participate in the Assad regimes brutal crackdown in Syria. Iranian forces have also directly backed militia operations in Syria with armored vehicles, artillery, and drones. The Iranian regime provides the majority of financial support for Hezbollah in Lebanon and has trained thousands of its fighters at camps in Iran. The Assad regime has benefitted from this largesse, while also providing its own political and weapons support to the organization. The Syrian governments speeches and press statements often express the regimes approval of Hezbollah. Irans proxies make for uncomfortable bedfellows in Iraq, where they are participating in the war against the Islamic State. One of these groups is Kataib Hezbollah. In 2016, according to Foggy Bottom, Kataib Hezbollah continued to fight ISIS by joining the Iraqi Army in the Battle of Mosul. The group ultimately advanced farther west of Mosul to clear the Syria/Iraq border, while other Iranianbacked Shia militias continued fighting closer to the city. Kataib Hezbollah was designated a foreign terrorist organization by the US government in 2009. Described as a radical Shia Islamist group with an anti-Western outlook and violent extremist ideology by State, the organization repeatedly attacked US, Iraqi and Coalition forces prior to the American withdrawal from Iraq in 2011. Kataib Hezbollah also threatened the lives of Iraqi politicians and civilians supporting the legitimate political process in Iraq, Country Reports for Terrorism 2016 notes. But now, under the guise of fighting the Islamic State, Kataib Hezbollah has helped to advance Irans interests in Iraq. State confirms, again, that Iranian-supported Shia militias in Iraq have committed serious human rights abuses against primarily Sunni civilians. Of course, Irans terrorist proxies, especially Hezbollah, are also a key part of the Iranian regimes anti-Israeli plans. The Shiite terror group carried out several attacks against Israeli Defense Forces in 2016 along the Lebanese border with Israel. Israel has struck Hezbollahs forces inside Syria on multiple occasions. According to Haaretz, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was overheard at a meeting saying that Israel had targeted Hezbollah dozens of times. [For more, see FDDs Long War Journal report, Hezbollah is preparing Syria as second battlefield against Israel.] Hezbollahs external operations wing, the Islamic Jihad Organization (IJO), conducted a wave of terror plots around the globe in 2012. The Department of Justice recently announced that two IJO operatives had been arrested in the US after they were tasked with performing surveillance on US and Israeli targets, among other missions. [See FDDs Long War Journal report, Analysis: 2 US cases provide unique window into Irans global terror network.] *Hezbollah is used throughout this piece, but the State Departments report spells the groups name as Hizballah. Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor for FDD's Long War Journal. Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here. When the Islamic State lost control of Sirte, Libya late last year, it was a blow for the so-called caliphates plans in North Africa. The groups first spokesman, Abu Muhammad al Adnani, ranked Sirte just behind Mosul, Iraq and Raqqa, Syria in terms of importance. Adnani was killed in Aug. 2016 and Abu Bakr al Baghdadis loyalists were ejected from their urban stronghold on the Mediterranean several months later. But the Islamic State still has a presence in Libya and it is not clear how many fighters remain in the country. According to the State Departments newly released Country Reports on Terrorism 2016, the group lost a significant number of its members during the battle for Sirte. Yet, several thousand of its men were either stationed elsewhere or survived. Although more than 1,700 ISIS terrorists were killed during the Sirte counterterrorism operations, the State Department report reads, many members of the terrorist organization fled to Libyas western and southern deserts, abroad, or into neighboring urban centers. State also cites reports saying that the group had as many as 6,000 fighters in its ranks as of early 2016 that is, several months before the US began its air campaign in Sirte in Aug. 2016. The number of jihadists fighting under the so-caliphates banner swelled between 2015 and 2016, as the Islamic State doubled its presence in the country during that time. Taken at face value, therefore, the State Departments report suggests that approximately 4,300 members of the Islamic States Libyan arm were not killed during the operation to free Sirte from the jihadists grip. How many of them remain in Libya today? We dont know. As FDDs Long War Journal has warned, it is difficult to determine how many fighters the Islamic State has in Iraq, Syria, or elsewhere. The US governments estimates have varied dramatically over time. State says that up to 1,700 ISIS militants bodies were recovered in Sirte, but it isnt clear how firm that figure is. In addition, the self-declared caliphate could have had either more or less than the 6,000 fighters it was estimated to have in Libya as of early 2016. Those who survived the battle in Sirte, or didnt take part in it, could have fled for neighboring countries, such as Tunisia or Egypt. They also could have retreated to other African nations, or further abroad to the Islamic States heartland in Iraq and Syria. All of this means that determining the number of Islamic State fighters left in Libya today is a task fraught with uncertainty. And the same goes for assessing the size of the organizations membership around the globe. Since the loss of Sirte in late 2016, the Islamic States operational tempo has been relatively low, indicating that either it is not capable of carrying out regular attacks, or is seeking to regroup for the future. Still, taken at face value, the figures cited by the State Department suggest that the Islamic State could still have a significant footprint inside Libya. And we wouldnt be surprised if this is the case. On a per capital basis, Libya and Tunisia exported as many foreign fighters (or more) than any other countries for the war in Iraq and the follow-on conflicts. And the Islamic State made Libya one of its top priorities from 2014 to 2016, reversing these flows by sending some fighters back to their home countries in North Africa. In 2014, as the State Department reminds readers, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi dispatched a group of ISIS operatives from Syria to Libya to establish a branch of the terrorist group. They first set up a base in Derna, but lost their hub there after being defeated by rival, al Qaeda-linked jihadists. (The Islamic State exaggerated its strength, before eventually conceding defeat in 2016.) Baghdadi formally recognized the groups Libyan arm in Nov. 2014 after announcing he had accepted oaths of allegiance from fighters in the country. The US hunted down some of the personnel dispatched by Baghdadi in 2015, including Abu Nabil al Anbari (aka Wissam Najm Abd Zayd al Zubaydi) in November of that year. The Defense Department described al Anbari as an Iraqi national who was a longtime al Qaeda operative and the senior [Islamic State] leader in Libya. Other senior Islamic State personnel were deployed to the country as well. The jihadists effort became so important that US officials began to openly worry that Baghdadis men could use Libya as a fallback zone as they lost ground in Iraq and Syria. Between Aug. 1 and Dec. 19, 2016, US Africa Command conducted 495 precision airstrikes against Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Devices, heavy guns, tanks, command and control centers and fighting positions as part of Operation Odyssey Lightning. The operation was conducted in conjunction with the Libyan Government of Nation Accord (GNA), which backed the militiamen that made up most of the ground forces. GNA reports suggested significant losses on the anti-Islamic State side, according to State, with more than 700 fighters from GNA-aligned forces killed and 3,200 others wounded during the sevenmonth-long campaign against ISIS. In Jan. 2017, the US bombed two Islamic State training camps south of Sirte, citing the presence of the groups external plotters. The Defense Department estimated that dozens of jihadists were killed. Subsequent reporting revealed that the external plotters were connected to planned attacks in Europe. But that wasnt the end of the Islamic States presence in Libya, as the jihadists had cadres sprinkled throughout the country. At the end of 2016, Foggy Bottom says, the self-declared caliphates arm was no longer in control of any towns in Libya, but its members continued to operate throughout the eastern, southern, and western regions of the country. The jihadists also carried out attacks in Tripoli and Benghazi. In December, the Islamic States Rumiyah magazine, which is published in multiple languages, carried an interview with Sheikh Abu Hudhayfah al Muhajir, who was identified as the groups leader in Libya. The detachments of the mujahidin are spread today throughout the deserts of Libya, Muhajir claimed, and they will make their enemies taste severe hardship. He vowed that they will reclaim the cities and areas once more, by Allahs power and strength. Muhajir was asked about the Islamic States strength in regions outside of Sirte. He claimed that the number of mujahid brothers in the Libyan wilayat [province] continue to beabundant. Their covert units are scattered throughout all the cities and regions, and their detachments cruise the deserts both east and west. [See FDDs Long War Journal report, Pentagon: Islamic State has lost its safe haven in Sirte, Libya.] Abu Hudhayfah al Muhajir gave an inflated sense of his groups capabilities. Time will tell how strong the Islamic States reconstituted presence in Libya will be. A number of scenarios are possible, including defections to other jihadist groups. But the State Departments report warns that many members of the terrorist organization fanned out across the country and elsewhere after the battle for Sirte. Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor for FDD's Long War Journal. Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here. An audio message from Siraj Haqqani was included in a Dec. 2016 Taliban video emphasizing the groups alliance with al Qaeda. The State Departments newly released Country Reports on Terrorism 2016 points to Pakistans ongoing complicity with jihadists in Central and South Asia, including the Afghan Taliban. Despite describing Pakistan as an important counterterrorism partner, Foggy Bottom blames the country for harboring some of the forces fighting Americas allies in Afghanistan. The Pakistani military and intelligence establishment cracks down on jihadist groups that target elements of the state, but regularly leaves others unscathed, as long as their terrorism is directed elsewhere. The effect of this Good Taliban, Bad Taliban policy continues to be felt in Afghanistan, where the insurgency rages nearly 16 years into the American-led war. Pakistan did not take substantial action against the Afghan Taliban or [the Haqqani Network, HQN], or substantially limit their ability to threaten US interests in Afghanistan, although Pakistan supported efforts to bring both groups into an Afghan-led peace process, Foggy Bottoms report reads. Afghanistan, in particular, continued to experience aggressive and coordinated attacks by the Afghan Taliban, including the affiliated Haqqani Network (HQN) and other insurgent and terrorist groups, State noted. Importantly, a number of these attacks were planned and launched from safe havens in Pakistan. While the State Department refers to the Haqqani Network as being affiliated with the Taliban, it is actually wholly integrated into the Talibans operations. Sirajuddin Haqqani, who leads the network established by his father Jalaluddin, has been one of the Talibans top two deputies since 2015. (Country Reports on Terrorism 2016 notes Sirajs top leadership role in the Taliban.) The Taliban and the Haqqanis have both repeatedly rejected the notion that they are independent groups. [See FDDs Long War Journal report: Taliban again affirms Haqqani Network is an integral part of group.] Although Afghan forces prevented the Taliban from capturing a provincial capital in 2016, State reports that the war was characterized by the capture and recapture of facilities and territory by both sides. The Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) maintained control of major population centers, including provincial capitals and the majority of district centers. But the Taliban gained or maintained control of substantial territory in less populated, rural areasthereby creating an environment of persistent insecurity. State notes that the Talibans extensive rural footprint allowed it to regularly exert pressure on population centers, orchestrating sieges on provincial capitals in Farah, Helmand, Kunduz, and Uruzgan. The Taliban, including the Haqqani Network, also increased high-profile terrorist attacks targeting Afghan government officials including justice officials and members of the international community in 2016. All of this makes the Talibans sanctuary inside Pakistan vitally important, as at least part of the insurgencys leadership continues to safely operate from inside the country. Meanwhile, the ANDSF suffered an unprecedented number of casualties in an intense fighting season. According to the ANDSFs own statistics, its casualties were 30 percent higher in 2016 than in 2015. The Haqqani Network has been designated as a terrorist organization by the US government, so there is a section on the group in States discussion of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. There is no section on the overall Taliban, which hasnt been designated, even though the Haqqanis men lead it. The State Department says that the Haqqani Network is believed to have several hundred core members, but it is estimated that the organization is able to draw upon a pool of upwards of 10,000 fighters, making it a formidable guerrilla army. The Taliban wasnt the only jihadist organization to benefit from Pakistans policies, according to Foggy Bottom. The Pakistani state did not take sufficient action against other externally focused groups, such as Lashkar e-Tayyiba [LeT] and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), which continued to operate, train, organize, and fundraise in Pakistan. The only significant action against LeT or JeM taken by Pakistan in 2016 was to continue implementing an ongoing ban against media coverage of their activities. However, both LeT and JeM were able to hold rallies, raise money, recruit, and train in Pakistan. All of the aforementioned jihadist groups operating in Pakistan the Afghan Taliban (including the Haqqani Network), LeT, and JeM have been allied with al Qaeda. This means that the Pakistani states preferred jihadists have often cooperated with Americas terrorist foe. Ayman al Zawahiri has repeatedly sworn an oath of allegiance (bayah) to the Talibans emir, including current leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada. Zawahiri also swore bayah to Akhundzadas predecessor, Mullah Mansour, who was killed in a US drone strike in Pakistan in 2016. Siraj Haqqani has been a staunch supporter of al Qaeda and has sat on the groups shura council. The State Department says that the Haqqani network draws strength through cooperation with other terrorist organizations operating in Afghanistan, including al Qaeda and JeM. Sirajs father, Jalaluddin, was one of Osama bin Ladens earliest backers in the region, as the two established a relationship in the mid-1980s. After the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001, according to State, Jalaluddin retreated to Pakistan where, under the leadership of [Siraj Haqqani], the group continued to direct and conduct terrorist activity in Afghanistan. Various unconfirmed reports have stated that Jalaluddin has since passed away. Pakistan does fight some jihadists, mainly those who directly target elements of the state. According to the State Department, Pakistani military and security forces undertook operations against groups that conducted attacks within Pakistan such as Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan, otherwise known as the Pakistani Taliban. Al Qaeda is also allied with the Pakistani Taliban. Pakistani officials have even sought to negotiate with al Qaedas leadership in an attempt to rein in the Pakistani Talibans violence. Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal. Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor for FDD's Long War Journal. Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here. File-transfer programs seem like a vestige of the internet that once was. FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is one of the oldest of the internets standards, and its still in broad use. But our need to shift files around among servers we control or those run by others hasnt decreased a bit. So many companies offer cloud-based storage and sync that you may be drowning in a multiplicity of options. For that, Panics updated Transmit 5 can help clear the fog away. Transmit lets you connect your Mac via several internet file-exchange protocols and to most cloud-storage services. You can copy files either to and from your Mac or between servers or services you bring up in side-by-side windows. It also offers a modestly featured synchronization option, and an option to mount certain kinds of servers and services as Finder volumes. The interface has a refreshing new look that adopts and extends the style of the Transmit iOS app. (That app was released first in 2014 and Panic has regularly updated it since.) IDG Transmit offers a crisp way to connect to servers or load local files. Moving files around In the simplest use of Transmit, you connect to a remote server (more on that in a bit) in either or both the lefthand and righthand side of a transfer window. You drag files in or out of that pane, delete them, or rename them. With cloud-based servers that offer a variety of access and storage policies, Transmit 5 exposes different and useful controls that otherwise require using a control panel at the cloud-service site, if its even available. (Some cloud services only expose certain features via an API, requiring third-party software to manage.) For example, Amazon S3 offers different tiers of storage, from frequently used files that are modestly priced to store but cheap to transfer, to seldom-used items that are cheap to store and relatively expensive to transfer. Transmit lets you select any file and change the storage class, but you cant select multiple files and change that property all at once. You can also set server-side encryption options for S3 within Transmit, which wasnt available in version 4. The Files tab in Transmits preferences lets you set a global preference for what happens when you double-click a file: it transfers to your computers default download location, edits in Transmit (for supported file types), or uses an external editor. You use that tab to enter an extension and pair it with an app you pick, like linking text files and BBEdit. (With some server/protocol types, you can also use a Transmit Disk, which I will explain later.) Because Transmit is aimed fairly reasonably at people who wind up working directly with files a lotwhy else use a file-transfer program with this kind of control?Transmit handles the behind-the-scenes details for downloading the file to a temporary location, passes it to the editor, and uploading changes as you save or modify the file in the editor. IDG Transmit offers side-by-side local and remote file listings for transfers and examination. Transmit has a wealth of other preferences, such as inserting custom file header to cloud uploads to cloud services. This seems wonky, but its a way of making sure a given type of file has proper identification on the server side. For example, at one point, Amazon S3 required JavaScript files also added a Content-type: text/javascript header during uploads, or it would only identify the file as text to browsers, which caused websites to load incorrectly. You can also use the Rules preferences to avoid downloading file listings (skip), not show them (hide), or force their appearance (show) in overriding over rules. Thats the same preference tab where you can preset upload permissions for FTP/SFTP, webDAV, and S3. Transmit 5 retains a very unfortunate user interface choice from version 4 regarding deleting an item in a list within preferences. Theres no prompt, warning, or reversal when deleting something, which means you can get rid of well-honed rules with no way to revert to return them unless you made notes. Most similar apps have Revert/Apply buttons or a way to undo changes, and its a surprise that such a concept isnt in Transmit in an overhauled release. Head in the cloud Panic has developed Transmit for over 18 years, but the last release of its macOS version was in 2010. Dotcom empires have risen over seven years, and Transmit 5 mostly catches up. The new version brings 11 new cloud-service types. IDG The revised Transmit adds a heap of cloud server types. Transmit 4 included just Amazon S3 as a cloud-based offering. Version 5 now adds the sync and storage offerings Amazon Drive, Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, and Microsoft OneDrive (separately for consumer and business flavors). It also includes connections for cloud-storage and serving options similar to S3: Backblaze B2, DreamObjects, Microsoft Azure, and Rackspace Cloud Files. In an odd omission, Google Cloud Storage isnt available although two similar products Ill mention under synchronization have that Google integration. You might ask: Why do I need Box, Dropbox, and other sync services when Im using a computer that has a folder on my desktop thats already syncing? Some number of people use a form of selective synchronization, known by different names with different products, that allows keeping just a subset of all files in your centralized repository up to date on a given computer to reduce unnecessary file storage. Its also handy to have a side-by-side view when copying files. And you may simply prefer a file-transfer style interface over the Finder view. This refresh also includes previously available standard internet protocols: the original unencrypted FTP, but also FTP with implicit SSL, FTP with TLS/SSL, and SFTP, all of which use different methods of encrypting connections. It also supports webDAV, used for web-server based file exchange, in both unencrypted and HTTPS versions. Setting up connections just requires entering all the necessary credentials: user name and password, secret key, OAuth or similar pop-up login dialog, and the like. If you use SSH keys for connections, you can implicitly use keys stored in a user directorys normal location or add them manually to Transmit. Connections can created with a variety of detail or, through Quick Connect, the minimum necessary. IDG Setting up a web URL, remote path, and local path enables additional options for copying full paths and workflows. When using the detailed method of adding a server, you can optionally specify a web URL, a remote path on the server, and a local path related to files in that directory. With the URL filled in, selecting and file and then choosing Edit > Copy URL provides the correct full path for pasting in elsewhere or sending in email. This helps tremendously with both web development and sharing files from cloud services, like Amazon S3, which optionally offer web endpoints for access. Transmit still lacks a clever Amazon S3 feature, which lets you create a temporary expiring link to a file. The funky-but-functional CyberDuck can make such URLs, but Transmit cant. The remote path in a server configuration lets you differentiate between multiple different instances of the same server that point to distinct web servers, file containers, or folders. That becomes handy if you save a server as a droplet, which lets you drag and drop files in the Finder and have them copied directly to that defined remote directory. The local directory gets used in two different ways. If you enable Go > Linked Folder Navigation, which you must ever time you connect, Transmit tries to keep navigation in sync when the corresponding local directory is shown in one pane and the server in another. (Linked Folder Navigation should be a persistent setting for a server, not a global one.) Transmit also supports DropSend, which is a little tricky to understand, but nifty in practice. With DropSend enabled for a server, dragging a file from the referenced local directory onto Transmits icon in the Finder or Dock automatically copies that file to the corresponding server entry. You dont have to open the server in Transmit or take any other steps. Adding a server through a full Servers > Add New Server option or clicking the Quick Connect tab to start, retains the entry in the Servers view, which also allows folders for organization. You can also see servers in that view advertised over Bonjour, including other Macs. Panic Sync, which is free and optional, syncs your settings and server entries among copies of Transmit for macOS and iOS and its web-development product, Coda. Panic uses a zero-knowledge approach in which it has no access to the keys created by your copies of its software to encrypt the synced data, thus it exposes no information to hackers or government interception. Transmit 4 allowed you to create Finder-mountable virtual volumes of any of its connection types. These volumes act just as if they were any other volume, letting files be opened and saved directly without using the Transmit interface as a passthrough. In version 5, you can still mount Amazon S3 (in most Amazon regions), and all the internet protocols (FTP, SFTP, and webDAV). The newer cloud and drive options cant be mapped, and Panic includes a note in its help documentation that theres no current plan to add them. It also has other provisos, which you should read carefully. I dont see Finder-mountable Transmit conduits as a key feature. I imagine they kept it intact to avoid breaking peoples previous workflows when they upgraded. But its a bit of neither fish nor fowl to only half support it. Improved sync, but not a flagship option Transmit lacks automation features. Its not designed to keep things up to date by schedule or in the background. Rather, its a tool for real-time interaction with and between local and remote files. Version 5 improves on its sync feature, allowing unidirectional copying with a fair number of settings to tune behavior between two file panes. It also includes a Simulate option, terrific for testing out your choices before theyre irrevocable. IDG Transmits Sync works well enough, but its no replacement for more sophisticated alternatives. But people who need robust, scheduled syncing wont find Transmit a substitute. Ive worked extensively in recent months with Econ Technologies ChronoSync and the Arq backup tool. Both apps work with a wide variety of personal and business sync and cloud services and internet protocols, just like Transmit 5. But both focus enormously more attention on automating behavior, including rules, exclusion, and much more. Despite all this seeming overlap, I wouldnt recommend Transmit, Arq, or ChronoSync to anyone as a solution for all three tasks. ChronoSync has a bewildering level of detail and requires study, but its the sync champion. Arq is much simpler, but the perfect tool for local, network, and cloud backups, including with user-selected encryption. Transmit is the best way to manage remote files and file transfer manually. (One colleague, like me, relies on all three programs.) Bottom line Transmit 5 is a welcome update to software that I and many others use routinely and rely on. The interface refresh works better in the modern macOS and tasks and organization is clearer than the previous release. New cloud support brings Transmits compatibility into 2017 (mostly). Transmit 5 has a more sophisticated and better interface than Cyberduck, a roughly comparable multi-platform donationware program, and more robust workflows, too. But there remain rough areas, which is disappointing after such a long release cycle. For example, because Panic supported Amazon S3 in Transmit 4, you can see many vestiges throughout 5 where S3 plus all internet protocols support a given feature, but none of the other cloud services are included. I describe some above. Omitting Google Cloud Storage, arguably the second-most popular usage-based cloud offering after Amazon S3, is inexplicable given its support in Arq, ChronoSync, and CyberDuck. Those who need access to Google Cloud have to turn to other software. However, theres a lot of room once 5.0 is released to have a 5.1 or 5.2 release that incorporates missing services and elements, as well as fixing up some faulty interface design choices that need help. Its still easily the number-one pick for manual and assisted internet protocol and cloud-based file transfer. Lets hope it continues to grow. Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Thursday would consider the bail plea of Malayalam actor Dileep, arrested for allegedly plotting the abduction and assault of a prominent actress. Meanwhile, the Kalady Magistrate court recorded a secret statement of Pulsar Suni's mother. Pleading innocence with the court, Dileep's counsel said that there were no material to implicate the actor in the case. The actor moved to High Court for bail after the Angamaly Judicial First Class Magistrate court refused to grant him the relief and sent him to judicial custody till July 25. Change is needed The story in yesterdays paper about Katherine Likens was like waking up from a horrible dream. Elizabeth could have been my sister. Those who knew Vicky Hancock probably felt the same as they read the Bulletin yesterday. Friday, July 21 marks another year Melissa, Jeff and myself, along with her friends, have to re-live this tragic day. As soon as the warm months arrive, I start dreading having to go through another July 21. Elizabeths family and friends will suffer the same sentence. Our current laws do not provide enough protection for anyone in a domestic violence situation. I dont have the answers, but we need to offer better protection for women. These situations almost always end up with the woman being murdered. How terrible it must be to know you are going to die, waking up each morning wondering if this will be the day. Will this be the last day I ever see my daughter again? Death of a loved one is a hard pill to swallow, but when that loved one is a murder victim, the pill is much much larger and harder to swallow. I am asking once again for our lawmakers to come up with more protection and better answers for our women. Especially when the woman, like my sister, shows up in the courts again and again, asking for help and protection. We need better answers and results for women in these situations to save lives. Patricia Minter Martinsville Moving forward Challenging a decision is not being disrespectful of authority. Expression of disagreement is the mere exercise of independent thought. College officials at Patrick Henry Community College have made a determination to continue participation in the Miss Virginia Scholarship Pageant. I was hoping that the college would do otherwise and discontinue their experimentation with this pageant. I recognize that college officials have the jurisdiction in areas that do not require a majority vote of approval by the college board, so I feel that deferring to the college officials decision about this issue is the proper thing to do. I am not convinced that this decision will yield the most productive results for the colleges service areas. Alexis Lee Martinsville Manners should matter I am blessed with three wonderful nephews and one niece. Their parents (my brother and sister-in-law), along with their extended families, strive to teach them to say "please" and "thank you", to respect everyone, and to win and lose gracefully. I am saddened to see them growing up in a world that seems not to promote manners and civility. We chastise children for behaviors that we adults commonly practice. Had I, as a child, called someone "idiot" or "stupid", or something worse, my parents would have administered swift discipline. Now, however, media platforms are full of adults hurling insults, opinions attempting to masquerade as facts, and hatred, especially while shielded by anonymity. One could say to another, "I disagree with you, and heres why. Let me hear what you think. Let's compare notes. Let's take the best of my ideas and the best of yours. Let's respect each other and the road that brought us to our opinions."Instead, we attack people instead of debating arguments. "Youre wrong. Because you think A-B-C, you are always wrong. You are never right. Because your opinion is not my opinion, your opinion is stupid. Moreover, you are stupid - a wretched person for even thinking A-B-C."If you start to delve into that territory, pause. Reflect. Youre not right about everything. That's okay. I'm not right about everything. That's okay. You can have your opinions, but that doesn't mean everyone who disagrees should suffer. Lets take the high road for our childrens Justin Watkins Ridgeway In Defence of Marxism is committed to safeguarding your privacy. At all times we aim to respect any personal data you share with us, or that we receive from other organisations, and keep it safe. This Privacy Policy (Policy) sets out our data collection and processing practices and your options regarding the ways in which your personal information is used. This Policy contains important information about your personal rights to privacy. Please read it carefully to understand how we use your personal data. 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Please let us know if you have any queries or concerns whatsoever about the way in which your data is being processed by emailing the Data Protection Manager at webmaster@marxist.com Starting this summer and for the next two years, The Nature Conservancy, the leading conservation organization in the world, will be restoring the floodplain forest at the Fannie Stebbins Wildlife Refuge on the banks of the Connecticut River in the area of Longmeadow known as The Meadows. The refuge was first established in 1951 by the Allen Bird Club, which acquired several acres and named it after Fannie Stebbins, co-founder of the club and former science teacher in Springfield. Since then, additional acreage has been added to total 330 acres, and, in 1972, the refuge was named a National Natural Landmark. It became part of the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2013. The project will restore 223 acres of the refuge -- including reforesting seven old farmers' fields comprising 32.2 acres -- and is expected to cost approximately $400,000, funded by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, a division of the United States Department of Agriculture. According to Karen Lombard, director of stewardship and restoration for The Nature Conservancy, and Kim Lutz, director of the conservancy's Connecticut River Program, this is a big deal. Flooplain forests compose a tiny fraction of the forests that line the river, about 0.1 percent. Most forests along the river are upland forests that don't flood. But the rare flooplain forests "get their feet wet" yearly, as Lutz described it, due to the natural ebb and flow of the river. As a result, they provide a specialized habitat for wildlife. According to the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program, "floodplain forests are considered to be among the rarest and most threatened natural communities in Massachusetts." Markelle Smith, leader on the land transaction part of The Nature Conservancy project, and Andy Finton, The Nature Conservancy's director of conservation science, visit the Stebbins refuge. What is especially exciting is that when the project is complete, the floodplain forest at Fannie Stebbins will be the largest such forest in the entire Connecticut River Watershed, which covers 7.2 million acres, running from the Canadian border in New Hampshire to Long Island Sound in Connecticut. Floodplain forests are important for many reasons. They help filter pollutants and improve water quality in rivers, as well as controlling erosion and providing a buffer against catastrophic flooding. A sign at the Stebbins refuge marks the height of historic floods. Spring floods thaw these forests earlier than surrounding areas, offering an earlier food supply for birds. And in general they create habitats for rare and endangered species. At Fannie Stebbins that includes bald eagles and riverine club tail dragonflies, as well as nesting sites for wood ducks. Right now, there are several factors stressing the natural processes at the site. The first is forest fragmentation. Because of its rich soil, the area was farmed for many years, probably as far back as the founding of Longmeadow. Sections of the forest were cut down to create plowed and cultivated fields, and roads were built to get to and from the fields. Farming has long since ended there, but the fields have continued to be mowed, and the road beds remain. Secondly, this alternating forest and field situation has allowed many unwanted invasive plants to grow. A third problem is that fields and roads disrupt the ebb and flow of river into the forested area. River water flowing into the forest is the essence of a floodplain forest and its unique habitat. According to Lutz, "ebb and flow are like the EKG of the river," indicating its health. One of the ponds at the Fannie Stebbins Wildlife Refuge in Longmeadow. The restoration project in Longmeadow will help restore that ebb and flow at one of the few remaining floodplain forests along the 406-mile Connecticut River. According to Lombard, the land, which The Nature Conservancy owns, will be transferred to the Fish and Wildlife Service to become part of the Conte refuge once the restoration is complete. Lombard and Lutz recently gave a presentation at Storrs Library to a standing-room-only crowd. They will continue to update the public at additional presentations as the project progresses. Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy has signed a bill authorizing the state's tribal casino operators to build a casino in East Windsor, in a move tribal leaders have said is targeted at competing with the upcoming MGM Springfield gaming facility. "Let there be no doubt that Massachusetts made a decision to do whatever they could to get as much gaming out of Connecticut and into their state," Malloy said. "This was an appropriate response to what Massachusetts had done, and quite frankly what other states have done." The bill authorizes the tribal gaming company MMCT to build the state's third casino in East Windsor -- and has drawn strong pushback from MGM, which has criticized it as granting an unfair monopoly on commercial gaming to the tribes. The Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot Tribes, which jointly run MMCT, celebrated the signing of the bill, describing it as a necessary measure to protect Connecticut's economy and state revenue from MGM Springfield's competition. "The signal should be this about the region and the entire state of Connecticut," Mohegan Tribal Council Chairman Kevin Brown said at the signing ceremony. "This has been about protecting Connecticut jobs and competing with Massachusetts." MGM, which has launched public relations and legal campaigns against tribe-centered casino process in Connecticut, has said the bill "shortchanges" towns near the proposed East Windsor casino site and the state as a whole. The company unsuccessfully called on the Connecticut legislature to pass an alternative bill that would open up the process to other developers. "We continue to believe that the process put in place by the Legislature and signed today by the Governor violates both the Connecticut and U.S. Constitutions," MGM Senior Vice President and Legal Counsel Uri Clinton said in a statement. "As such, we will continue to pursue all legal remedies." "If the Senate bill were to ultimately become law, numerous national gaming operators - including MGM - would be precluded from offering a competitive bid for consideration," Clinton said. "To shut down that opportunity would seem to be a disservice to Connecticut's hardworking taxpayers." MGM and MMCT have sparred about the financial effects of the competing sets of legislation. MGM has submitted letters from former U.S. Secretary of the Interior Kenneth Salazar and Sen. John McCain to argue that the MMCT bill would invalidate the state's revenue compact with the tribes' existing casinos -- a seismic shift that would destabilize Connecticut's budget. But MMCT submitted a letter from the Bureau of Indian Affairs stating that the Trump administration "does not anticipate" altering the compact due to the proposed law -- though the letter is not a formal decision. And MMCT further argued that a competitive casino bill that was favored by MGM would violate the tribes' exclusivity under the agreement, costing Connecticut hundreds of millions of dollars if the compact is invalidated. In February, MMCT selected East Windsor as the potential site of the casino, which is targeted at competing with the MGM Springfield casino project and which tribal leaders have described as necessary to protect jobs and revenues from the Springfield facility. The selection followed a lengthy process in which municipalities submitted proposals to host the state's first casino on non-Tribal land. The construction of a new Connecticut casino has drawn interest both in Connecticut and across the Massachusetts border, with supporters of the Connecticut casino measure framing the new casino as a way to protect state gaming revenues and jobs from Massachusetts competition. A study funded by both tribes suggested out-of-state casino competition could cost Connecticut 9,300 jobs. An analysis by the Connecticut's Office of Fiscal Analysis suggested the competition could cost the state $68 million in annual gaming revenues. And Mohegan Tribal Council Chairman Kevin Brown has described the project as in direct competition with MGM Springfield, which is scheduled to open in late 2018. MGM sued in federal court to overturn the state's 2015 gaming act, alleging that it violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. It also alleged the act violates the Constitution's Commerce Clause by restricting the RFP process to a joint company formed by the Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribes. A federal judge dismissed the suit in June of 2016, and last month a federal appeals court rejected MGM's bid to revive its case. The company could file additional litigation against the new bill that specifically authorizes MMCT's casino, now that Malloy has signed it into law. Residents in the North Shore, seaside town of Newburyport were alerted of a shelter-in-place order Wednesday afternoon, as police searched for a potentially armed teen who fled from a popular shopping center. Newburyport Police shut down the perimeter of Port Plaza, which hosts more than 20 businesses, on Storey Avenue after a potentially armed teen fled at the sight of police officers. Authorities in the town were attempting to deliver a Department of Youth Services warrant. Police arrested Jose Ilarraza, 19, on charges of breaking and entering into a building, trespassing, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. Ilarraza, whose last known address was in Amesbury, led local and state police on an hour-long search before he was found around Toppans Lane. Police did not arrest Ilarraza on any firearms-related charges, so it appears authorities shut down the plaza in a pre-cautious measure. The shelter-in-place was lifted after Ilarraza's arrest. Better GPS signals may soon be available inside Boston's tricky tunnel arteries, thanks to a partnership between the state and Waze. The Boston Globe reports that a presentation by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation explained the new project, which would install hundreds of navigational beacons in Boston's many tunnels. Currently, it is nearly impossible to get a good signal while driving underground in the city, where roadways are complex. Along the I-93 stretch in the O'Neill Tunnel, for instance, both right and left exits can force drivers to switch lanes quickly, or miss a turn altogether. MassDOT's installation of more than 800 new signal devices would add an element of safety for drivers using GPS navigation in Boston. According to the Globe, Waze would create an "open platform," making the beacons available for use by the company's competitor apps, Google Maps and Apple Maps. Waze will also reportedly provide the devices to the state for free. Big Sky Economic Development Trust Fund Awards Grants To Create 10 New Jobs and Complete a Virtual Curriculum Program Plan Firebrand Creative http://www.iamfirebrand.com is excited to announce they are the recipient of two grants awarded by the Big Sky Economic Development Trust Fund (BSTF). The BSTF program provides state funds in order to promote long-term, stable economic growth in Montana with financial assistance provided for Economic Job Creation projects and Planning projects. The first grant Firebrand Creative received will allow for the creation of 10 new jobs in Missoula and assist the agency in growth and development to help match its high-growth trajectory. The second grant will allow Firebrand to complete and implement a virtual curriculum program plan targeted toward teaching small and startup companies how to understand market demand, positioning and sales cycles for selling to various markets. "Its companies like Firebrand Creative that are helping grow high-paying jobs in Montana communities," Montana Department of Commerce Director Pam Haxby-Cote said. "By supporting businesses that create jobs, recruit top talent and stimulate economic development, we are strengthening Montanas future and each diverse community." Firebrand Creative is saying no to business as usual and instead emphasizing sustainable and mission-driven business practices. Having recently opened its Missoula-based office, Firebrand Creative brings its unique global expertise to the local Montana market. With over 25 years of combined international experience across a range of industries, Firebrand Creative is working to solve critical growth challenges that every business faces through integrated strategy, sales and marketing solutions. "Being awarded the hiring grant will allow us to more quickly scale growth, hiring an additional 10 staff members right here in Missoula." explained CEO and founder of Firebrand Creative, Amanda K. Larrinaga. "This grant aligns with our mission to create lasting jobs and bringing real, meaningful impact in the Missoula community. Here at Firebrand Creative, we are committed to creating exceptional solutions to real problems and ensuring high wage jobs for every employee is one way of doing just that." Larrinaga went on to say, "Learning we had received a second grant to finish up our virtual curriculum program was a welcome surprise. Weve spent the last five years creating, testing and optimizing an easy-to-use system with local small businesses, startups and nonprofits serving local communities all across the country. With this additional grant we now we have the opportunity to expand upon the original program and continue to provide easy access to small business and startup owners to teach them how to thrive in todays economy." About the Big Sky Economic Development Trust Fund: According to office of Governor Steve Bullock, "BSTF this fiscal year has awarded $1.7 million in job creation funds for 249 new jobs and $775,022 in planning funds for 40 projects. Since July 2016, BSTF grants have positively impacted 29 Montana communities" To learn about BSTF or BSTF grant recipients visit http://marketmt.com/BSTF. About Firebrand Creative: With offices in Idaho, California and now Montana, Firebrand Creative is Montanas first and only global agency. Firebrand Creative collaborates with change-makers, those who are mission-driven and community-focused, to create exceptional solutions to real problems and help remarkable businesses make their mark. As the strategic, holistic and sustainable way to grow your business and leverage your impact, Firebrand Creative is redefining what it means to be a full-service agency. To learn more about Firebrand Creative and its international impact, visit http://www.iamfirebrand.com. The Biomimicry Institute is hiring a Development Director Founded in 2006, the Biomimicry Institute http://www.Biomimicry.org is a 501(c)(3) that empowers people to create nature-inspired solutions for a healthy planet. We believe that biomimicry an approach to innovation that taps into natures time-tested designs and processes in order to solve human-scale problems can be a catalyst for radically sustainable solutions. Reporting to the Executive Director, the Director of Development is responsible for developing, implementing, and coordinating the strategy and activities to drive growth across all fundraising programs while diversifying revenue streams and expanding the opportunity for major giving. This includes grants, donor management, corporate giving and sponsorships, planned giving, membership, strategic partnerships, and recruitment of high net-worth individuals. For full details, please visit https://biomimicry.org/careers/ . Create the climate change solutions the world needs, using nature as your inspiration. Biomimicry Global Design Challenge The Montana Center for the Book, in conjunction with the Montana State Library, has selected Bold Women in Montana History by Missoula author Beth Judy as the states entry in the Library of Congress 2017 Discover Great Places through Reading brochure. The 2017 Discover Great Places Through Reading brochure will be available for distribution at the National Book Festival in Washington D.C. on September 2. Bold Women in Montana History is the sixth in Mountain Presss state-by-state biographical series for teen readers. The book features portraits of eleven Montana women, from the Blackfeet warrior Running Eagle to the stereotype-smashing librarian Alma Jacobs. The list of books featured in the Discover Great Places Through Reading brochure can be works of fiction or non-fiction, either a book about the state or by an author from the state. Children or young adults are the primary audience for the map. The book will be showcased in the Young Readers Center at the National Book Festival and available for sale at the Festival book store. The Montana Center for the Book is a program of Humanities Montana and the state affiliate of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. Its mission is to promote awareness of books, writing, reading, the book arts, publishing and literacy in Montana. Humanities Montana is the states independent, nonprofit state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Since 1972, Humanities Montana has provided services and grants to hundreds of Montana organizations in support of public programs in history, literature, civil conversations, and public issues. Among its many other programs are its grants, Montana Conversations, Speakers in the Schools, Hometown Humanities, Community Conversations, Letters About Literature, and the Governors Humanities Awards. 311 Brantly Missoula, MT 59812 406.243.6022 [email protected] Why do so many companies make bad decisions, even with access to unprecedented amounts of data? With stories from Nokia to Netflix to the oracles of ancient Greece, Tricia Wang demystifies big data and identifies its pitfalls, suggesting that we focus instead on "thick data" precious, unquantifiable insights from actual people to make the right business decisions and thrive in the unknown. TED Video: http://ted.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=07487d1456302a286cf9c4ccc&id=5cfbe93a9f&e=d3135666a2 In partnership with the Northwest Montana Small Business Development Center (SBDC), Flathead Valley Community College is offering two classes in August designed for new and growing businesses. Stephanie Juneau, director of the Northwest Montana SBDC, will present "Evaluate a Business Idea" on August 15 and "Profit Mastery: Creating Value and Building Wealth" August 16-17. "Evaluate a Business Idea" is a 90-minute class that walks participants through the process of evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of a business idea to determine whether it is feasible. Juneau will cover startup costs, market opportunity, financial projections and financing options. The class runs from 3 to 4:30 p.m. at the college. There is no cost to participate in the class, but pre-registration is required. "Profit Mastery: Creating Value and Building Wealth" is a 16-hour class that helps small business owners and managers gain an in-depth understanding of how money flows through their business and what adjustments can be made to maximize profits and cash flow. The class runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the college. Cost to participate is $295 per person and includes a course manual, 90-day online access to resources and support materials, and light refreshments. Each registered participant may bring one additional person from his/her business to the class for no extra cost. To register for either of these classes, contact the FVCC Continuing Education Center at (406)756-3832 or visit http://www.fvcc.edu/contining-education. Juneau has 20 years of experience in commercial banking with expertise in financial analysis, loan structuring, credit underwriting and risk mitigation. She has served as a business consultant for a broad range of companies in various stages of development and has experience working in the general contracting, professional services, technology, alternative energy, bio-medical, manufacturing and import/export industries. Prior to joining the SBDC in 2016, she was the chief financial officer for a startup manufacturing company in California. In her current position with the SBDC, Juneau assists startups and small businesses in Flathead, Lake and Lincoln counties with financing, business planning and market knowledge. The Northwest Montana SBDC is a program of the U.S. Small Business Administration. ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) has announced on the 13th April 2020 the pass rates of its latest exam sitting for March 2020. The results saw 68,247 students around the world entering 79,214 exams. A total of 3,292 students completed their final exams to become ACCA affiliates. Alan Hatfield, ACCA executive director strategy and development said: When we planned the schedule of 2020 exam sittings last year, little did we know that Covid-19 would emerge as one of the biggest disruptive forces since SARs and the global financial crash of 2008. Since the outbreak, our priority has been the health and safety of our students, staff and our stakeholders. As a result of the pandemic spreading, we took the important decision in February to cancel March exam sittings in several countries where governments introduced lock downs including Mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, Kuwait, Macau SAR, Mongolia and South Korea. To say this latest exam period was a challenge for our students is an understatement. We are incredibly grateful to our global student community, our learning provider and employer partners for their understanding and patience during this very unusual time, and for their help to enable exams to take place where it was safe and appropriate to do so. Commending the resilience of its students, Alan Hatfield continued: We know this is a particularly difficult time for many of our students who are unsure of their next steps. Weve heard from those who want to keep to their study plans, and from others who are not able to do so now and want to defer studying until things are more settled. We have put online resources in place and are looking at digital solutions for them. As the Covid-19 pandemic continues, ACCA has announced June exam sitting cancellations in a number of countries including Mauritius. Where exams are cancelled, students will be issued with an exam fee credit to their MyACCA account for the exams already entered so they can be rebooked for a future exam session. ACCA students still have the flexibility to postpone any sitting, and ACCA has also frozen exam entry prices for the September 2020 session as it closely monitors the situation globally as it develops. ACCA has an online information and advice hub for students and members, with a section on wellbeing to help people manage the impact of the global pandemic. Alan Hatfield concludes: Covid-19 continues to present the greatest challenge of our time. Our thoughts go out to our global community and everyone who has been personally affected by it. Exam results The ACCA Qualification rigorously tests the skills, abilities and competencies that a modern-day accountant needs, with a firm grounding in ethics and professionalism. It prepares students for a rewarding career as a qualified and ethical finance professional. For any student-related enquiry, please email ACCA Connect at info@accaglobal.com. Visit www.accaglobal.com for more information and resources in the Covid-19 hub. Partager et informez vous aussi...... 0 shares Share Tweet LinkedIn Articles similaires Democratic candidate Matt Coffay announced Tuesday he is dropping out of the 2018 race for the 11th Congressional District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. The last few months have been an incredible journey, campaigning across western North Carolina six to seven days a week, talking to so many of you throughout the 11th District, reads a statement on the Facebook page for Matt Coffay for Congress. Weve felt great momentum, and without your support, we couldnt have achieved what we have so far. Our direction has been promising. Unfortunately, I have had sudden personal circumstances occur that are beyond my control. Its now made it impossible for me to move forward while addressing these acute personal needs in order to run the campaign that you deserve. After extensive deliberation with my loved ones as well as with my campaign staff, Ive decided that I have to drop out of the race. Coffay, 30, of Asheville was a Democratic candidate for the 11th Congressional District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. This seat is now held by U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows, who is a conservative Republican and in his third term. In May, he brought his campaign to Marion where he held a Coffee with Coffay event at the Crooked Door Coffee House and talked informally with local residents about the issues. He had held similar events at other places throughout the 11th Congressional District, which stretches from Morganton to Murphy. However, Im very proud of the incredible amount of work that weve been able to accomplish, the movement weve catalyzed, and the wave of awareness that weve really started to build here in great force all in a relatively short amount of time, reads his statement. Rest assured that momentum weve created will be focused on continued efforts to sustain the progressive movement across the district and bolster the Democratic Party in NC. We remain fully dedicated as a committee to these causes and will continue the fight that this state and this country needs. Though the campaign is dissolving, our will to put in the work elsewhere has not. We deserve a Congressman that represents the middle class and working families, not someone whose interests lie with the top 1%. For this reason we wish our primary opponent, Phillip Price, and any other Democratic candidates who come forward the best of luck in the fight to defeat Mark Meadows. Thank you for your energy, your dedication, and your enthusiasm. Together, we can move forward. Unless another candidate steps forward, this will leave Price, a McDowell County resident, as the only Democrat to face Meadows in the 2018 election. We were surprised to see Matt Coffay dropping out of the race for Congress and we hope that he and his family are well, reads a statement from Price. I am moving forward with my campaign 150% and we will be reaching out to Matt and his team to join forces with us to Defeat and Unseat the extreme right wing incumbent Mark Meadows. We hope that Matts supporters will come on board with us in this effort to take back the 11th Districts seat and give the voice back to the people of Western North Carolina, not the special interests that Meadows represents. Ehrlichiosis is a bacterial infection caused by exposure to the bacteria Ehrlichia chaffeensis, or E. chaffeensis. The ehrlichiosis bacteria is transmitted via a bite from the lone star tick. It was named after the army base where the first known person was infected in Fort Chaffee, Arkansas. Although the condition was known to occur in animals, it wasnt until the mid-1980s that the first cases were reported in humans. The condition is treatable with antibiotics but it can be potentially deadly for people who have other health conditions, such as HIV, or who have had an organ transplant. What causes ehrlichiosis? Share on Pinterest The lone star tick can cause ehrlichiosis through bites. The tick is native to the eastern U.S., as well as Mexico. Ehrlichiosis is a condition that occurs as the result of a bite from a lone star tick, or Amblyomma americanum. This tick can transmit bacteria called E. chaffeensis, which is also known as rickettsia. The lone star tick is prevalent in much of the eastern United States (U.S.) and Mexico. In the U.S., cases have been reported from coastal New England to western Texas. While the condition is not considered as serious as tick-transmitted Lyme disease, some cases have been life-threatening. People are more likely to be infected with ehrlichiosis in the spring and summer months, as they spend more time outdoors. The bacteria Ehrlichia ewingii can also cause ehrlichiosis in humans. This bacteria is very similar to E. chaffeensis and will cause similar symptoms. Symptoms Symptoms of ehrlichiosis begin about 1-2 weeks after an infected tick has bitten a person. While there are some common symptoms associated with the disease, they can vary from person to person. Symptoms of ehrlichiosis include: chills confusion diarrhea eye redness fever headache malaise, or feeling generally unwell muscle pain nausea vomiting According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) , an estimated 60 percent of children will experience a rash as a result of ehrlichiosis, compared to 30 percent of adults. If a rash does occur, it usually does not itch. The rash does not typically appear on the face but may appear on the palms and the soles of the feet. Sometimes, the rash can look like a sunburn and cause swelling, peeling, and redness. Not all people who are bitten by a lone star tick will have the symptoms associated with ehrlichiosis. Some people will have no symptoms or symptoms too mild to recognize. What conditions are associated with ehrlichiosis? Ehrlichiosis may initially cause similar symptoms to other diseases related to tick bites. Examples of these include: anaplasmosis Lyme disease Rocky Mountain spotted fever Unlike Rocky Mountain spotted fever and Lyme disease, ehrlichiosis is most likely to affect older adults or people with a weakened immune system. Additionally, a rash is much less common in ehrlichiosis than in other tick-related diseases. However, the lone star tick can also carry bacteria known to cause Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Diagnosis Share on Pinterest Some possible symptoms of ehrlichiosis are headaches, fever, chills, and nausea. Ehrlichiosis can be difficult to diagnose, as the affected person may not know they have a tick bite and the conditions symptoms are similar to other illnesses, such as the flu. A blood test is available to check for antibodies, which the immune system develops in response to a tick bite. However, these do not usually appear until a week after the bite. A doctor will usually begin by asking about a persons symptoms, and when they started noticing the symptoms. It is important to determine if a person has recently been bitten by a tick or has visited an area where ticks are common. A doctor will also likely order laboratory tests. These tests check for: increased liver enzymes decreased platelet count decreased white blood cell count During the first week of illness, a doctor may test a persons blood for tick-borne pathogens using a polymerase chain reaction or PCR assay. Doctors can also examine blood under a microscope for the presence of morulae, which are collections of Ehrlichia bacteria in white blood cells. A doctor would ideally diagnose a person quickly, but if symptoms continue for longer than 7-10 days, a doctor may order a test for antibodies to the Ehrlichia bacteria. Other tests for ehrlichiosis include an indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA). This test is rarely used and requires multiple blood samples at different times to test for the bodys immune response to the organisms. Treatment Doctors will commonly prescribe the antibiotic doxycycline to treat ehrlichiosis. The earlier a person takes this antibiotic, the less likely it is that the condition will have long-lasting effects. A doctor may prescribe antibiotics without having blood test results, to ensure a person who has been bitten by a tick gets prompt treatment. If symptoms do not improve within 1-3 days after beginning treatment, the person probably does not have ehrlichiosis. However, it is important that the person takes the full course of antibiotics for them to be effective. In rare instances, such as due to allergies or pregnancy, a person may not be able to take doxycycline. In these situations, a doctor may prescribe a different antibiotic, called rifampin. If a person has been bitten by a tick but is not experiencing symptoms, doctors do not usually recommend taking doxycycline as a preventive measure. Doing so may delay the onset of the condition, which can make the treatment slower. Doctors also prescribe doxycycline to treat other diseases that occur due to tick bites, including Rocky Mountain spotted fever and anaplasmosis. If a person does not receive treatment and their symptoms progress, they can experience complications that include: prolonged fever adult respiratory distress syndrome blood clotting disorders seizures and coma meningitis If these complications occur, a doctor will treat them in addition to the underlying infection. Can ehrlichiosis be prevented? Share on Pinterest Wearing clothing that fully covers the limbs can help a person avoid a tick bite. Wearing light-colored clothing can make it easier to spot ticks. Prevention of ehrlichiosis involves taking steps to avoid getting a tick bite. If people live in an area with lone star ticks, they can help prevent ehrlichiosis by: wearing long-sleeved shirts, long pants, and hats when camping or hiking wearing light-colored clothing to make ticks easier to spot checking clothing and skin for ticks after being outdoors tucking pants into socks to make it harder for ticks to reach the skin checking pets for ticks after returning from the outdoors Exposure to fields and wooded areas puts a person at greatest risk for getting a tick bite. Research teams from around the world are looking for ways to prevent dementia in old age. For people with Alzheimers disease, such interventions are sorely needed; there are currently no reliable treatments to stop neurodegeneration. Share on Pinterest Activities in early and later life can influence cogitive decline, researchers say. The main hallmark of Alzheimers disease is a progressive loss of brain matter that eventually leads to cognitive decline. Two proteins abnormally accumulate in and around neurons in the brains of people with Alzheimers disease, causing cell death. Drugs for the condition only treat the symptoms. Researchers are therefore looking at ways of halting or slowing down cognitive decline by boosting brain health before neurodegeneration occurs. Research presented at the Alzheimers Association International Conference (AAIC) 2017, held in London, United Kingdom, examined the link between lifestyle and cognitive decline. The findings point toward occupation in early life and targeted interventions later in life as having a positive effect on cognition. Complex occupations A study by Allison Kaup, Ph.D., and colleagues from the University of California, San Francisco looked at the influence that the type of profession someone chooses in early and mid-adulthood has on cognitive decline in later life. The study commenced when participants were between the ages of 18 and 30, and it ran for 25 years. Occupational complexity is a measure of how cognitively challenging a particular profession is. An example of a low-complexity job is a machine operator, while teachers are in the medium-complexity job group. High-complexity professions include engineering. The teams data showed that occupational complexity in early life was associated with greater white matter integrity, meaning fewer signs of aging and higher processing speed and executive function in mid-life. But it is not clear whether a more complex job causes these signs or white matter complexity influences career choice. It is also too early to tell whether the study participants are going to develop Alzheimers disease over time, but the team will continue to monitor them. A question raised by a member of the audience was whether or not individuals with complex jobs would benefit from any additional lifestyle interventions, such as brain training, but the jury is still out on this. So what is the evidence of lifestyle interventions in Alzheimers disease prevention? Training the brain and the body A study presented by Bianca Bier, Ph.D., from the University of Montreal in Canada, looked at the effects of two different types of brain training. Single attention training allowed participants to focus on one of two tasks and practice it repeatedly. But in the divided attention training group, participants performed two different tasks at the same time, controlling which one they paid the most attention to. In a study of 30 healthy adults, these two different training schemes had very different effects on the brain. For instance, divided attention training activated those regions of the brain responsible for multitasking, but this plateaued halfway through the study. Meanwhile, single attention training resulted in rapid activation of regions responsible for the particular task the participants were performing up to the halfway study point, but it declined afterward. Dr. Bier explained that this is important as it means that all brain training exercises are not equal, and that it will be important to choose the right type for individual patients. This assessment was echoed by Narlon Silva, a Ph.D. student from Western University in Ontario, Canada, who looked at physical exercise and cognitive function. His study included seniors who had all self-reported some cognitive decline. He compared regular mixed physical exercise which consisted of aerobic and strength training with an additional group that performed a new form of mind-motor training. In this type of training, an instructor demonstrates a stepping pattern on a mat that is marked with four columns of equal squares. As the instructor moves along the mat, he places his feet on different squares, creating a stepping pattern that can range from simple to complex. Participants were then asked to copy the stepping pattern demonstrated to them in an exercise lasting 15 minutes. These exercises were repeated three times per week for 24 weeks. Both groups improved in their cognitive function after 24 weeks, but there was no difference between the groups. However, during a subsequent follow-up at 52 weeks, the mind-motor training group had improved significantly more than the exercise-only group. This led Silva to speculate that the training tested in the study had a delayed effect, and that, as Dr. Bier had found, all training is not equal. The data presented at AAIC certainly point to exercise, cognitive training, and cognitive complexity in daily life as all having a positive influence in preventing decline in old age. But do scientists know anything about the underlying causes? Alzheimers disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder, thought to be caused by buildup of proteins in the brain. But there is increasing evidence that different biological processes are at the heart of the disease, providing scientists with a different approach to possible therapies. Share on Pinterest Genetic factors allow scientists to identify new variants that increase a persons risk of Alzheimers disease. In a plenary session delivered at the Alzheimers Association International Conference (AAIC) 2017, held in London, United Kingdom, Julie Williams, Ph.D. a professor in the Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences at Cardiff University in the U.K. challenged the traditional views of Alzheimers disease by saying that immunity is playing a significant role in the disease. Alzheimers disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, affecting more than 5 million adults in the country. The traditional view is that proteins accumulate in the brains of patients, leading to neuronal death. The culprits are the amyloid beta peptide and the tau protein. Amyloid beta is produced when a short section of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) is severed. The function of the peptide in normal brain function is not known, but some evidence points toward a role in neurons. In Alzheimers disease, amyloid beta accumulates in plaques in the spaces between neurons. Tau is a structural protein, important for neuronal function. But in Alzheimers, tau does not function properly and accumulates in tangles in neurons. How this contributes to cell death is unknown, but there is new evidence that shows that abnormal tau processing can lead to toxic effects. How are scientists challenging the traditional view that abnormal protein buildup in the brain is to blame for the neurodegeneration seen in Alzheimers disease? Joint efforts to identify new genetic variants Until 2009, only four genes were known to be associated with Alzheimers disease. Mutations in three of these APP, presenilin 1, and presenilin 2 cause the inherited form of Alzheimers. This typically develops early in life, between the ages of 30 and 50. It is also known as early-onset Alzheimers disease. Less than 1 percent of Alzheimers disease patients have this inherited form of the condition, in which an overproduction or abnormal folding of amyloid beta in the brain can be observed. The majority of patients have the sporadic form of Alzheimers. Despite the fact that mutations in the apolipoprotein E gene (APOE) were known to be involved in susceptibility and earlier age of onset, only a subset of patients have the variant associated with the disease. Predicting an individuals risk of developing the disease with accuracy is, therefore, a challenge. For many years, there was a serious lack of progress in research looking to establish the underlying causes of susceptibility. Today, we know that sporadic Alzheimers disease has a large genetic component, with its heritability being in the range of 58 to 79 percent. This means that other genetic variants must be involved. Advances in genetics and technology led to a breakthrough, in 2009, that saw Prof. Williams and other researchers identify three new genes associated with Alzheimers disease using genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Prof. Williams told the audience at the AAIC that it very quickly became clear that future discoveries using this type of genetic analysis would be dependent on data from large numbers of patients being available. To her, the only way to achieve this would be to collaborate with other teams around the world. At the AAIC in 2010, held in Hawaii, the International Genomics of Alzheimers Project (IGAP) was born. IGAP is a collaboration of four large research consortia, led by Prof. Williams and other scientists across the U.S. and Europe. IGAP researchers and other scientists have now identified 30 genes and genetic locations across the human genome that are involved a persons susceptibility to Alzheimers. But what can scientists do with this new genetic information? Identifying individuals at risk In a study published in the journal Neurobiology of Aging in 2017, Prof. Williams team used their knowledge of susceptibility genes to test how accurately they could predict an individuals risk of Alzheimers disease. Using data from 17,000 Alzheimers patients and 37,000 controls, and looking at 87,583 mutations, they were able to identify the condition with an accuracy of 74.5 percent. Prof. Williams explained that they were now able to predict quite a lot of the risk of AD [Alzheimers disease] and its better than looking at APOE. We have other genes that are protective and risk variants, she added. Her team can use these to generate risk prediction scores. Knowing an individuals risk level could help to identify who would benefit the most from early interventions. But scientists still do not fully understand what causes the disease. Can these new genetic findings help? From susceptibility to disease mechanism Rather than looking at each of the susceptibility genes in isolation, Prof. Williams and her team are interested in the pathways that these genes are involved in. The strongest association that they have been able to identify has been the immune pathway. Other cellular processes are also implicated to some extent, including cholesterol transport and protein folding. We find very little evidence of amyloid beta production affecting common AD, Prof. Williams said, adding that they did find variants that affect amyloid beta processing and clearance. So might the amyloid buildup seen in Alzheimers patients be less of a problem with excess production and more to do with other processes? Prof. Williams challenged the audience to imagine a scenario wherein there was no historic knowledge of the genes implicated in amyloid processing being involved in Alzheimers disease. Alzheimers disease is more of an autoinflammatory disease, than anything else, Prof. Williams said. What we are seeing with immunity is happening quite early in the disease and maybe a primary event that is happening alongside amyloid [accumulation], she added. What we need to do is to understand mechanisms. The teams latest discovery was published this week in Nature Genetics, and it supports this theory. This study, performed by the IGAP group, identified two new genetic variants that confer Alzheimers disease risk. The genes phospholipase C gamma and B-3-domain-containing transcription factor ABI3 are highly expressed in microglial cells in the brain, which are part of the immune system. Prof. Williams told the audience that scientists around the world are now studying genetic models to better understand how the immune system is involved in the neurodegeneration seen in Alzheimers. What is really important is how researchers are putting this new knowledge and redefinition of the condition to use. Breast cancer can have an impact on many aspects of your daily life. Everyone copes with their diagnosis differently, but breast cancer blogs can provide you with the latest breast cancer breakthroughs, educational information, and support. We have found the best breast cancer blogs. Share on Pinterest Breast cancer blogs offer support from organizations who specialize in breast cancer, as well as from people who have been diagnosed with the disease. In the United States, breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in women after skin cancer. There are around 252,710 new cases of invasive breast cancer and 63,410 new cases of non-invasive breast cancer diagnosed in U.S. women per year. Besides lung cancer, death rates associated with breast cancer are higher than for any other type of cancer. Receiving a breast cancer diagnosis can be overwhelming. It can often be helpful to learn about breast cancer to make informed decisions about your care, discuss your feelings, keep in close contact with friends, family, and other loved ones, and speak with other breast cancer survivors. Breast cancer blogs can put you in touch with individuals that are sharing similar experiences and provide a supportive community so you feel that you are not alone. Here are Medical News Todays top 10 choices of breast cancer blogs. Giving children high doses of vitamin D doesn't appear to reduce the winter sniffles, a new study has found. Dr. Jonathon Maguire, a pediatrician at St. Michael's Hospital, led a randomized clinical trial in which 350 healthy children were given a standard dose of vitamin D drops during the winter, while another 350 got a high dose. On average, the children who received the standard dose had 1.91 colds per winter, while the children who received the high dose had 1.97 colds, which Dr. Maguire said was of no statistical difference. His findings were published online today in the journal JAMA. "We may have just busted a myth," said Dr. Maguire. "More is not always better. Our findings do not support the routine use of high dose vitamin D supplementation for the prevention of wintertime upper respiratory tract infections among healthy children." Colds and other viruses in the upper respiratory tract (the nose and throat) are the most common infectious illnesses among children. For the past 30 years, vitamin D has been thought to play a role in preventing or reducing these infections. But Dr. Maguire said there has been little clinical trial data on which to make informed decisions. The vitamin D Outcomes and Interventions in Toddlers (DO IT) trial was conducted to examine the effect of high-dose oral vitamin D drops (2,000 IU/day) versus the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended dose of 400IU/day on children ages 1 to 5. Each child began taking the drops between September and November of one year and continued until April or May of the following year. The children enrolled in the clinical trial were participating in TARGet Kids!, a unique collaboration between children's doctors and researchers from St. Michael's Hospital and The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. The program follows children from birth with the aim of understanding and preventing common nutrition problems in the early years to minimize their impact on health and disease later in life. The vitamin D study was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institutes of Human Development, Child and Youth Health and Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes, and by the Thrasher Research Fund. The vitamin D drops were provided by Ddrops, the company that makes them. Bani J is very popular and many look up to her for her fitness regime. Well, there is certainly no denying that she has an extremely hot body. From entertaining us on small screen to giving us fitness goals, the girl rocks everything she does. Hamstring & Hoop day. #liftlife #nomatterwhathurts #theliftmakesitallbetter #ironTherapy #gooddaysbaddaysEverydamnday A post shared by Lady RocknRolla (@banij) on Jun 11, 2017 at 4:02am PDT Recently, she posted a photo on Instagram and people can't stop raving about it. The Bigg Boss 10 contestant is having a great time in Thailand with her beau Yuvraj Thakur. And the photos she is sharing are proof that the girl is having a fab time there. Bani shared a picture where she is seen in a bikini, all ready to dive into the pool and enjoy every bit of her vacation. She captioned the picture, Island life gains. Island life gains ??? ____________________________________________ #whateverydaylookslike #holidaze #trainingdaze #gainsdaze #alldayz #hashtagdaze #thatslightfade A post shared by Lady RocknRolla (@banij) on Jul 19, 2017 at 7:24am PDT Bani has been posting some very adorable pictures of her and Yuvraj, and her fans are totally loving them. One of the photos she posted was captioned, Homeostasis #thaithai #endorphinhighmuch #lifehighmuch #allday #allthelifting #allthesoreness #allthelaughs #allthesmiles" Now, don't you feel they look so good together? On the work front, it is reported that Bani will soon be seen donning the role of Olympias, Alexander The Great's mother, in Porus'. Now that sounds pretty interesting. We hope she does a good job of that role! As we are all aware of, daily moisturizing is the key to achieving soft, flawless skin. Some of us have an oily skin tone and hence, there is an increased secretion of sebum from the oil glands. This can lead to clogged pores and acne if neglected. Fret not for MensXP has compiled a list of some of the best moisturizers for men with oily skin, which are readily available. How To Choose A Moisturiser For Oily Skin It's a well known myth that oily skin types don't need a moisturiser, however, this isn't true. Oily skin needs hydration too. But you do need to ensure that your moisturiser isn't oil based. In fact, you need a lightweight and oil-free moisturiser for your skin. Don't know which one to pick? Worry not because here are some tried and tested options for you. The Best Oil-Free Moisturizers For Oily Skin Without further ado, check out these nourishing, lightweight moisturisers that will hydrate your skin and feel feather-light too. S.No Oily Skin Moisturizers & Brands Best For 1 Neutrogena Oil-Free Moisture Combination Skin Moisturizer Best Overall Oily Skin Moisturizer 2 Garnier Men Oil Clear Fairness Cream Sweat Control with Oil-Free Look Best Budget Moisturizer For Oily Skin 3 Dot & Key 72 Hr Hydrating Probiotic Gel Face Moisturizer Best Moisturizer for Long Lasting Hydration 4 Mamaearth Vitamin C Ultra Light Gel Oil-Free Moisturizer Best Light-Weight Moisturizer for Oil Skin 5 Rejusure Salicylic Acid Moisturiser Best For Acne Protection 6 The Man Company Shea Butter Moisturising Cream Best Oily Skin Moisturizer From Pollution Protection 7 Wow Skin Science Oil Free Day Cream Best Moisturizer for Sweat Control 8 Khadi Natural Aloe Vera Gel Best Vegan Oily Skin Moisturizer 9 mCaffeine Oil Free Coffee Moisturiser Best Morning Moisturizer For Oily Skin 10 Pilgrim Retinol Anti-Ageing Night Cream with Hyaluronic Acid & Vitamin C Best Nighttime Moisturizer For Oily Skin 11 Phy Green Tea Superlight Moisturiser Best Oily Skin Moisturiser For Skin Glow 12 BOTICOMAN ORGANICS 7 In 1 Tinted Moisturizer for Men Best Tinted Moisturiser For Oily Skin 13 Beardo Ultraglow All in One Face Cream For Men with SPF 30 Best Oily Skin Moisturiser With SPF 1. Best Overall Moisturizer For Oily Skin Neutrogena Oil-Free Moisture Combination Skin Moisturizer Amazon India A unisex product and dermatologically tested, this magical serum absorbs oil quick and penetrates the skin by providing some extra hydration. Plus, if you'd ask around for popular brands for oily skin products, Neutrogena would be a preferred choice on most occasions. Basically, it's one user-approved product that will never fail to deliver positive results. This product targets the oily areas to control shine, whilst taking care of the dry patches on the skin. This is both alcohol-free and fragrance-free, making it suitable for sensitive skin too. The oil-absorbing Microsponge system reduces greasiness in a jiffy! Therefore, the Neutrogena Oil-Free Moisturizer is one of the best moisturizers for men with oily skin. Check for price 2. Best Budget Oily Skin Moisturizer Garnier Men Oil Clear Fairness Cream Sweat Control with Oil-Free Look Amazon India Garnier Men Oil Clear facial moisturizer is one of the best moisturizers for men with oily skin that delivers visible fairness while controlling sweat and oiliness on the skin. Complete with lemon extracts, it's easy to absorb and leaves the skin oil-free. As per the claims made by the brand, the intensive fairness action provided by the product immediately brightens the skin from the very first use. It contains 'perlite' that absorbs oiliness five times better than ordinary talcum powder, which also lightens blemishes and removes any signs of dullness. Check for price: 3. Best Moisturizer for Long Lasting Hydration Dot & Key 72 Hr Hydrating Probiotic Gel Face Moisturizer Amazon India This gel-based formula is enriched with hyaluronic acid and probiotics. Its oil-free texture hydrates the skin and helps in healing sun damage and pigmentation. Hyaluronic acid locks in the moisture for 72 hours and ensures your skin stays plump and soft for more than 1 day. Check for price 4. Best Light-Weight Moisturizer for Oil Skin Mamaearth Vitamin C Ultra Light Gel Oil-Free Moisturizer Amazon India If you have oily skin, gel moisturisers are an excellent choice for you. This moisturiser is a combination of vitamin C, aloe vera, shea butter and turmeric. Both vitamin C and turmeric fight pigmentation from sun exposure or dark spots and acne marks, this face moisturiser is sure to clarify your skin. Check for price 5. Best For Acne Protection Rejusure Salicylic Acid Moisturiser Amazon India The one most common skincare problem for men with oily skin face are acne. The excess oil, sebum and bacteria ends up clogging the pores which causes breakouts. Using a salicylic acid moisturiser will help keep the oil production under check while moisturising your skin. Check for price 6. Best Oily Skin Moisturizer From Pollution Protection The Man Company Shea Butter Moisturising Cream Amazon India This daily moisturising cream is neither too heavy, nor too light. It is meant for daily skincare use and is suitable for all skin types. It's enriched with shea butter and vitamin E, which not just moisturise but also revive and rejuvenate dull skin. After constant pollution exposure, trust us, your skin needs a moisturiser like this one. Check for price 7. Best Moisturizer for Sweat Control Wow Skin Science Oil Free Day Cream Amazon India When the heat waves are hitting your face and the sweat is making it hard for your skin to breathe, you need to switch to a moisturiser that is oil-free. This day cream is enriched with vitamin B5, hyaluronic acid and shea butter. In addition to moisturising, it also enhances the collagen production of your skin and repairs photo damage. Check for price 8. Best Vegan Oily Skin Moisturizer Khadi Natural Aloe Vera Gel Amazon India This effectively controls the excess oil on your face while simultaneously hydrating it with the goodness of pure aloe vera gel. Basically, there's no way you can't be buying this for yourself if you believe in investing in a quality product. As an added bonus, it even works for combination skin! The brand is natural and this shall definitely become one of your favourite products in the grooming kit. So, it's no surprise that it is a perfect moisturizer for men with oily skin! Check for price 9. Best Morning Moisturizer For Oily Skin Looking for a way to give your skin a hydration boost without making it oily? We have the perfect solution for you. Try out the mCaffeine moisturiser which is enriched with the antioxidant goodness of arabica coffee and the moisturising properties of hyaluronic acid. The News in Brief Giorgi Vashadze proposes picketing Parliament building if no consensus is achieved on draft constitution Giorgi Vashadze, leader of the Civic Platform - New Georgia, is considering picketing the Parliament building if no consensus is achieved on the draft constitution. Giorgi Vashadze will propose the mentioned initiative to the opposition parties. Opposition parties are holding a meeting within the framework of the Protection of the Constitution campaign. Representatives of various parties are attending the meeting, including:Bachuki Kardava, Giorgi Vashadze, Nika Rurua, Nika Machutadze, Sevdia Ugrekhelidze. My offer to all opposition forces is to picket the Parliament building if no consensus is proposed by the Georgian Dream party on the draft constitution. There are three entrances to Parliament and we will simply not let them in the building. They will not be able to vote for the draft constitution in the third reading. This problem can be solved without any violence, said Vashadze. (IPN) 100 Georgians soldiers leave for Afghanistan 100 Georgian soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Brigade are leaving for Afghanistan. The Ministry of Defence held a special farewell ceremony today prior to their departure. The one hundred soldiers, led by Captain Shalva Megrelishvili, will serve in Mazar-i-Sharif under the supervision of German command over the course of six months. Before setting out on the peacekeeping mission, the soldiers underwent a special 13-week training course in Georgia and in Germany, between February 4 and June 23. They will be responsible for control of their perimeter and participation in fast response operations. Georgia is the largest non-NATO contributor to the Resolute Support mission, with 885 troops. The Resolute Support mission was a follow-on task from the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission, to which Georgia contributed about 750 troops. (Agenda.ge) Tallinn: Estonian EU Presidency to Advance Eastern Partnership Agenda The Estonian Presidency of the Council of the European Union will focus on advancing the Eastern Partnership agenda, the Estonian Foreign Ministry told Civil.ge on July 11. Estonia, which assumed the rotating six-month Presidency on July 1, would like to keep the ambitious Eastern Partnership in the focus of the EU, and will support democratic and economic reforms to bring the Eastern partners closer to the EU. The Eastern Partnership enables to uphold a fundamental principle of European security order: the right of countries to choose their own future, their own path to development, the Foreign Ministry noted, adding that it is the more important in terms of current security situation in the European neighborhood [when] some partners are still facing aggression or violation of their territorial integrity. Speaking on the Presidencys concrete plans targeting the Eastern Partnership countries, the Estonian Foreign Ministry said that the country will pay particular attention to sustainable public sector reforms of the partner countries, the development of transport and energy connections, digital society, entrepreneurship and civil society, as well as people-to-people contacts. Estonia fully supports the further political association and economic integration of Georgia, Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova with the EU and the implementation of association agreements, and sees opportunities for further developing relations with Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus. The Ministry also stressed the importance of the European Unions continued focus on conflict resolution in the Eastern neighborhood, and added that it will seek the commitment of the partner countries to fight cybercrime more effectively and to undertake reforms to fight corruption. Georgia in Estonian Priorities The Foreign Ministry spoke specifically about Georgia as well, saying that the countrys track of political and economic integration and approximation of the European Union laws has been impressive, and that it marks the EUs enhanced and wide-ranging partnership with Georgia. By signing the Association Agreement and the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) in June 2014, relations between EU and Georgia were brought to a new level, the Ministry said. Georgia is committed to political association and economic integration by implementing time-consuming and unpopular reforms, it also noted, adding that the country is benefiting from DCFTA economically: trade with the EU is growing, and today, EU is Georgias main trading partner. The Foreign Ministry also touched upon the introduction of visa free regime to Georgia. The process was difficult but at the end of the day Georgia proved its quality with successful reforms. Visa freedom is not only about traveling; it has more symbolic value being accepted to European family, it stated. In the words of the Foreign Ministry, Georgia is an outstanding example in implementing reforms in many other areas as well, which shows that the EU approaching each partner differently helps to increase the sense of ownership over the reform process. With more reforms, there will be more cooperation possibilities; this in turn works as a motivation for further reforms, as Georgia adjusts national legislation to the EU standards, the Ministry said. (civil.ge) Today is the 43rd anniversary of the 20 July 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus, which truncated the territory of Cyprus, left behind numerous victims, caused the humanitarian tragedy of the missing, led to the uprooting of 200,000 Cypriots who were forced to become refugees, and resulted in mass violations of human rights and the despoilment of the Greek and Orthodox Christian historical and cultural wealth of Cyprus, with the crime of Turkish settlement continuing even today. Since then, we have witnessed nearly half a century of ongoing and flagrant Turkish violations of the resolutions of the United Nations, which call on all states to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Cyprus, demand the termination of the Turkish occupation and the withdrawal of Turkish occupation troops from Cyprus, and condemn the illegal entity in occupied Cyprus, calling on all states not to recognise or facilitate this entity in any way. On this day, we ask the whole of the international community to call to mind the criminal repercussions of the illegal Turkish invasion and the ongoing tragedy in Cyprus. Nevertheless, today's sad anniversary of the brutal Turkish invasion of Cyprus, which marked one of the most tragic pages in the history of Hellenism, coincides with a ray of hope. Not hope for an immediate resolution of the Cyprus problem, as this is unfortunately not yet possible due to Turkey's continuing intransigence, but hope because the international community now appears to realise what is obvious, which is set down in the resolutions of the United Nations; that is, that the reunited Cyprus must be a normal modern state, fully sovereign, fully independent and with territorial integrity. In such a state, there is no place for occupation troops nor for anachronistic subjections of the past, such as the "guarantor" role of third countries, which provided the pretext for Turkey to invade Cyprus and, since then, occupy 37% of the country's territory with military forces. The Hellenic and Cypriot Republics will continue their common titanic struggle for the rights of Hellenism, Cyprus and the Cypriot people, and for the restoration of the freedom, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the Cypriot state. They will continue to strive to free Cyprus of the Turkish troops, to restore the rights of the refugees, and to make it possible for the Turkish Cypriots to live in a democratic state, free from the boot of Turkish forces. We owe this as a debt of honour to our fallen Cypriot and Greek brothers and to all of the heroic defenders of Cyprus who faced the forces of the Turkish invader in the harsh and uneven clash of 1974. We value your privacy. Focus Taiwan (CNA) uses tracking technologies to provide better reading experiences, but it also respects readers' privacy. Click here to find out more about Focus Taiwan's privacy policy. When you close this window, it means you agree with this policy. CARO A 66-year old Kingston man who previously did prison time for murder will now do time for torturing and killing his dog. For killing his pit bull dog on Feb. 18, Tuscola County Circuit Judge Amy Grace Gierhart sentenced Terrance W. Mathis to one year in the county jail, to be served consecutively with any additional time that could result from a parole violation sentence. He was also sentenced to five-years probation and ordered to pay $1,508 in court costs and fines as well as $660 in restitution to Sanilac County Animal Control. The maximum sentence for animal torturing and killing is four years in prison, a fine of up to $5,000 and 500 hours of community service. The dog had its jaws taped shut and its throat cut. It was discovered in a trash can in Koylton Township. The Tuscola County Sheriff's Office handled the case. An anonymous tip about the murdered dog led deputies to Mathis. Mathis was convicted of second-degree murder in 1976 in Macomb County. Camp Lejeune Town Halls Aim to Help Those Exposed to Toxic Water. Heres How You Can Go. Retired Marine Master Sgt. Jerry Ensminger made it his mission to tell the world that if they lived or served on Camp Lejeune... A Marine MV-22 Osprey mechanic who was critically injured when lightning struck on the flightline last week has been taken off a ventilator, Military.com has learned. Cpl. Skyler James, a maintainer assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 261, out of Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina, had been working on an aircraft July 11 when the strike happened. Another Marine was also injured in the strike and was briefly hospitalized at nearby Naval Hospital Camp Lejeune. But James's injuries were much graver. He was ultimately transferred to UNC Health Center and placed on a ventilator to support his breathing and organ function. On July 16, North Carolina State officials declared brain death. A spokesman for 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, Capt. John Roberts, told Military.com that James had been taken off the ventilator sometime Tuesday. Related content: Roberts said a date for a unit memorial service in James' honor had yet to be set. James was 23 and a 2012 graduate of Petaluma High School in Petaluma, California, according to the Press-Democrat, a local newspaper. He had enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2014 and had been promoted to the rank of corporal in October. In a release Monday, officials with 2nd MAW said James and the other Marine had been in the process of clearing the flightline after receiving a warning of lighting within five miles when the deadly strike occurred. Lt. Col. Stephen Pirrotta, commanding officer of VMM-261, paid tribute to James' quick smile and easy demeanor in a statement. "Cpl. Skyler James was a hardworking Marine full of work ethic, ability, and drive," Pirrotta said. "... This was a tragic accident. Corporal James will be sorely missed by the Raging Bulls. His family is in our thoughts and prayers." -- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck. More than a year after a mandate for the Pentagon opened previously closed ground combat and special operations jobs to women, officials say the Navy has its first female candidates for its most elite special warfare roles. Two women were in boot camp as candidates for the Navy's all-enlisted Special Warfare Combatant-Craft Crewman program, Naval Special Warfare Center Deputy Commander Capt. Christian Dunbar told members of the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Service in June. Another woman, who sources say is a junior in an ROTC program at an unnamed college, has applied for a spot in the SEAL officer selection process for fiscal 2018, which begins Oct. 1, and is set to complete an early step in the pipeline, special operations assessment and selection, later this summer, he said. "That's a three-week block of instruction," Dunbar said. "Then the [prospective SEAL officer] will compete like everyone else, 160 [applicants] for only 100 spots." Related content: A spokesman for Naval Special Warfare Command, Capt. Jason Salata, confirmed to Military.com this week that a single female enlisted candidate remained in the training pipeline for Special Warfare Combatant Crewman, or SWCC. The accession pipeline for the job, he added, included several screening evaluations and then recruit training at the Navy's Great Lakes, Illinois boot camp before Basic Underwater Demolition School training. Salata also confirmed that a female midshipman is set to train with other future Naval officers in the SEAL Officer Assessment and Selection, or SOAS, course this summer. "[SOAS] is part of the accession pipeline to become a SEAL and the performance of attendees this summer will be a factor for evaluation at the September SEAL Officer Selection Panel," he said. Because of operational security concerns, Salata said the Navy would not identify the candidates or provide updates on their progress in the selection pipeline. In special operations, where troops often guard their identities closely to keep a low profile on missions, public attention in the training pipeline could affect a candidate's career. It's possible, however, that the first female member of these elite communities will come not from the outside, but from within. In October, a SWCC petty officer notified their chain-of-command that they identified as being transgender, Salata confirmed to Military.com. According to Navy policy guidance released last fall, a sailor must receive a doctor's diagnosis of medical necessity and command approval to begin the gender transition process, which can take a variety of different forms, from counseling and hormone therapy to surgery. Sailors must also prove they can pass the physical standards and requirements of the gender to which they are transitioning. These first female candidates represent a major milestone for the Navy, which has previously allowed women into every career field except the SEALs and SWCC community. A successful candidate would also break ground for military special operations. Army officials said in January that a woman had graduated Ranger school and was on her way to joining the elite 75th Ranger Regiment, but no female soldier has made it through the selection process to any other Army special operations element. The Air Force and Marine Corps have also seen multiple female candidates for special operations, but have yet to announce a successful accession. The two women now preparing to enter the Navy's special operations training pipeline will have to overcome some of the most daunting attrition rates in any military training process Dunbar said the SEALs, which graduate six Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL classes per year, have an average attrition rate of 73 to 75 percent, while the special boat operator community has an average attrition rate of 63 percent. The attrition rate for SEAL officers is significantly lower, though; according to the Navy's 2015 implementation plan for women in special warfare, up to 65 percent of SEAL officer candidates successfully enter the community. But by the time they make it to that final phase of training, candidates have already been weeded down ruthlessly. Navy officials assess prospective special warfare operators and special boat operators, ranking them by their scores on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, or ASVAB, physical readiness test, special operations resiliency test, and a mental toughness exam. The highest-ranking candidates are then assessed into training, based on how many spots the Navy has available at that point. "We assess right now that, with the small cohorts of females, we don't really know what's going to happen as far as expected attrition," Dunbar, the Naval Special Warfare Center deputy commander, told DACOWITS in June. Dunbar did say, however, that Naval Special Warfare Command was considered fully ready for its first female SEALs and SWCC operators, whenever they ultimately arrived. A cadre of female staff members was in place in the training pipeline, and the command regularly held all-hands calls to discuss inclusivity and integration. "All the barriers have been removed," he said. "Our planning has been completed and is on track." Salata said the Navy had also completed a thorough review of its curriculum and policies and had evaluated facilities and support capabilities to determine any changes that might need to be made to accommodate women. As a result, he said, minor changes were made to lodging facilities and approved uniform items. Nonetheless, Salata said, "It would be premature to speculate as to when we will see the first woman SEAL or SWCC graduate. Managing expectations is an important part of the deliberate assessment and selection process; it may take months and potentially years." Editor's note: This story has been updated in the third paragraph to correct the school the SEAL officer candidate attends. She is a junior in an ROTC program at an unnamed college, not the Naval Academy. -- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck. Related Video: A measure ordering the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide mental health care to veterans with "bad paper" discharges was given a final push by lawmakers Wednesday before moving to the full House for a vote. On July 5, the VA began providing mental health "emergency stabilization care" to service members with other-than-honorable-discharges under a plan announced by VA Secretary David Shulkin to lawmakers in March. That program, which is available at all VA medical centers, gives emergency mental health care to those veterans for at least 90 days, including inpatient, residential and outpatient care, VA officials announced. Other-than-honorable or "bad paper" discharges are often handed down to troops as the result of what's seen as minor misconduct and can block veterans from receiving health care and other benefits from the VA. But veteran advocates say that, in many cases, those discharges are given to troops suffering from undiagnosed mental conditions who urgently need help. The measure approved by the House on Wednesday would not only move into law the requirement to provide mental health help to those veterans, but remove a qualification that the help requested be an "emergency." Doing so will "ensure that veterans will not receive this life saving mental health care only in cases of crises," said Rep. Beto O'Rourke, a Texas Democrat who proposed the change. Rep. Mike Coffman, a Marine Corps veteran and Colorado Republican who has long championed the mental health help expansion, said providing this assistance is key to reducing the veteran suicide rate. "At a time when an average of 20 veterans take their lives daily, it's time we connect the dots between the discharge characterization and mental health, so those veterans can access life-saving mental health care," he said. The proposal now will head to the House for a vote. Similar legislation has yet to be introduced in the Senate. -- Amy Bushatz can be reached at amy.bushatz@military.com. The VA's $10 billion Choice program set up to deal with the wait-time scandals now has its own wait-time problem and will run out of money next month unless Congress acts. Under complicated rules, veterans have enrolled in the program, which allows them to seek health care in the private sector, in far greater numbers than the Department of Veterans Affairs expected, creating a grocongwing backlog of appointments and exhausting the funding. VA Secretary Dr. David Shulkin, who initially thought there was more than enough money to keep Choice going into fiscal 2018, which begins Oct. 1, now predicts Choice will go broke as early as Aug. 7 unless Congress comes up with emergency funding and eventually a long-term plan to streamline and expand the program. Eight million community care appointments were made through the Choice program between January and June, a nearly 50 percent increase from the same period last year, according to Shulkin. On Monday night, after a hearing of the House Veterans Affairs Committee devoted to making the post-9/11 GI Bill a lifetime benefit for new recruits, Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tenn., the committee's chairman, said he will hold hearings next week on six months of emergency funding for Choice. He said the funding would buy time while Congress debates the future of the program. "We need to have it that long [six months] so that third-party administrators can stay as geared up as they are, and it will give us time to work through some of the other issues," Roe said. Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn., the ranking member on HVAC, said, "We will make sure there is stability in the Choice program" by funding it for another six months, "and then we will come back and discuss the rest. "We've learned that when you're going to tackle some of these big things, you've got to build the coalition, you've got to bring in the stakeholders" from the veterans service organizations (VSOs), Walz said. Roe said, "I listened to all the members about what their concerns were, so did Mr. Walz. We would like to proceed with a fully paid [program] for six months. It will give us six months to hold hearings" on the way forward for Choice. Roe did not get into numbers for the emergency funding but, on the Senate side earlier this month, Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., the ranking member on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, introduced the "Veterans Access to Care Act of 2017." The proposed legislation would provide $4.3 billion for the VA to fund Choice through Sept. 30, 2018, the end of the next fiscal year. Tester also called for a major overhaul of the Choice program. "The issue of where a veteran receives care and how that process is constructed, has been looming over this committee for years," he said. "We need a dramatic revamp of the VA's community care program." Despite opposition from the VSOs, Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Georgia, chairman of SVAC, has introduced a bill to give all enrolled veterans the ability to choose to receive care from an eligible community care provider. Isakson's bill would give a "Choice card" to those veterans to show their eligibility for private care. The last-minute scrambling to fund and overhaul Choice contrasted with the scene at the White House in April, when vets, Shulkin and VSO representatives gathered round as President Donald Trump signed the Veteran Choice Improvement Act of 2017 to extend the Choice program into fiscal 2018, when $3.5 billion for Choice would become available under Trump's budget proposal. At the time, Shulkin was confident that the nearly $1 billion left in the Choice program would be enough to last into fiscal 2018 and would give him time to come up with a reform plan in the fall. In June, Shulkin had to reverse course. He told Congress that funding would run out in August and began to outline his plan for reform. Shulkin at first proposed shifting $3.5 billion out of the Individual Unemployability (IU) program for more than 225,000 elderly and disabled vets to provide stopgap funding for Choice, but he backed down after storms of protest from veterans and the VSOs. "On financial projections, we have to do better," he said. "We do not want to see veterans impacted at all by our inability to manage budgets." In June 7 testimony to the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, Shulkin said he envisioned expanding the Choice program and making it more efficient while renewing his warnings against any moves to privatize veterans' care and take away the VA's role as the primary health care provider. "Our overarching concern remains veterans' access to high quality care, when and where they need it. That's regardless of whether the care is in the VA or in the community," he said. Shulkin called his plan the Veterans Care Program to provide what he said would be "coordinated access" to community care when necessary to receive outside appointments at the VA's expense. Under current rules, veterans who live more than 40 miles from a VA facility or who can't get an appointment within 30 days are eligible for community care, but the system has jammed up under increased demand for private treatment and lack of funding. The VSOs have been deluged with complaints from veterans about referrals being denied under the Choice program. A 77-year-old veteran who lives more than 90 miles from the nearest VA facility in California contacted Military.com about his cataract surgery being delayed. He wanted to know if there were special forms he had failed to complete to speed up the process. There were no special forms. The Choice program was put in place with $10 billion in funding in 2014 in response to the wait-time scandals at the Phoenix VA center, where records were doctored to show appointments were being kept when they weren't. The program was supposed to sunset in 2017, but the VA never expected it to run out of money this soon. In his testimony to the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, Shulkin acknowledged that the "criteria and processes" for the current Choice program are all too often "arbitrary, administrative and unnecessarily cumbersome, but it doesn't have to be that way. Here's how veterans could experience VA health care with your help: "The veteran talks with their VA provider. That's a conversation over the phone, virtually, or in person. The outcome is a clinical assessment. The clinical assessment may indicate that the VA specialist is the best for the veteran or it may indicate that community care is best to meet the veterans' needs. "If community care is the answer, then the veteran chooses a provider from a high-performing network. Assessment tools help veterans evaluate community providers to make the best choices themselves," Shulkin said. "We may help veterans schedule appointments in the community or, in some circumstances, veterans can schedule the appointments themselves. We make sure community providers have all the information they need to treat the veteran. We get the veteran's record back. We pay the veteran's bill," Shulkin said. The VSOs are still wary of Choice being a cover for the ultimate privatization of the VA. "We don't want to contract out more than we already do," Louis Celli, National Director of Veterans Affairs & Rehabilitation at the American Legion, told Military.com. "We don't want Choice to continue in its current form," he said, but "we've got to come up with a bridge for Choice over the next couple of months." The arguments for total privatization of the VA have gone by the wayside, Celli said. "We don't think that's a realistic fear anymore. The costs would be astronomical. It's unaffordable -- we're talking hundreds of billions of dollars." Opposing the Legion's viewpoint is the Concerned Veterans for America (CVA), which has called for a renewed and greatly expanded Choice program. In a statement, CVA Policy Director Dan Caldwell said, "Any legislation that replaces the current Choice program and consolidates VA community care should clearly give veterans who use the VA an opportunity to elect to receive care in the community." The CVA, which is mainly funded by the conservative billionaire Koch brothers, said, "Giving veterans more health care choice will incentivize VHA [Veterans Health Administration] facilities to become higher-performing health care providers through competition and will give veterans other options if existing VHA facilities are not meeting their needs," Caldwell said. Shulkin told the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee in June, "I am not in support of a program that would lead toward privatization or shutting down the VA programs. "Unfettered Choice is appealing to some, but it would lead to essentially, I believe, the elimination of the VA system altogether," he said. "It would put veterans with very difficult problems out into the community with nobody to stand up for them and to coordinate their care." -- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com. The U.S. Army announced Thursday that 2,100 soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) will deploy to Iraq this fall. The soldiers from 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, based in at Fort Polk in Louisiana will replace the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, in a regular rotation of forces in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, according to an Army press release. "During the last several months, the Patriots have worked hard and completed multiple training events to include a Joint Readiness Training Center rotation in preparation for this important mission," said Maj. Gen. Walter E. Piatt, commander of the 10th Mountain Division. "I am extremely confident and proud of the entire 3rd Brigade Team." Third Brigade will be the first brigade-sized unit to deploy under the Associated Units Pilot Program. As part of the Army Total Force, 3rd Brigade has served with the 36th Infantry Division, Texas Army National Guard since March 2016, according to the release. "With the enhanced integration of active/reserve components, we're building a better and stronger team that will enable us to fight our nation's wars," said Maj. Gen. S. Lee Henry, commanding general of the 36th Infantry Division, Texas Army National Guard. "We wish the 3rd Brigade well and a safe return to their families." The Army announced the launch of new pilot program in March 2016. The pilot is designed to team up certain active, National Guard and Reserve units so they can train together before they deploy. Currently, the U.S. has about 500 troops, mostly Special Forces, in Syria and more than 5,000 in Iraq in train, assist and advisory roles as part of the military operation against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. President Donald Trump went to the Pentagon Thursday for briefings on ISIS and Afghanistan. Army Gen. John Nicholson, commander of U.S. Forces-Afghanistan and the NATO Resolute Support mission, has a long-standing request to deploy 3,000-5,000 more American service members to Afghanistan, in addition to the roughly 8,400 currently in country. -- Richard Sisk contributed to this report. -- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com. Spill Response and Absorbent Products for Oil, Gas and Hazardous Waste on Land and in Water To activate the text-to-speech service, please first agree to the privacy policy below. Taipei, July 20 (CNA) The Ministry of Transportation and Communications reiterated on Thursday that it continues to offer members of the public rewards who report activities by ride-hailing company Uber's food delivery app, UberEATS, which is illegal in Taiwan, as part of an effort to clamp down on the company. Melanie Maxwell | melaniemaxwell@mlive.com Ann Arbor Art Fair runs from July 20 to 23 Its that time of year again. Thousands of locals and visitors from around the country will head to downtown Ann Arbor for the 58th annual Art Fair this weekend. The event is a collaboration between four different street art fairs featuring hundreds of artists from across the U.S. Hunting for the perfect piece of art can make you hungry, especially with food stands set up throughout the event and vendors hawking fresh squeezed lemonade and roasted almonds. In case you are not feeling up for fair food, the Ann Arbor News has put together a list of new restaurants that have opened up in Ann Arbor since the 2016 event. More on the event: Your guide to the 2017 Ann Arbor Art Fair By Jessica Haynes | jhaynes1@mlive.com Don't Edit Melanie Maxwell | melaniemaxwell@mlive.com Fred's, 403 E. Washington St. About a block away from the State Street Art Fair portion of the event, Freds offers healthy alternatives to the cheesy, sugary options available on site. The menu covers breakfast, lunch and dinner items from burritos to bulgogi cheesesteak. Fred's is in a space previously occupied by babo, a gourmet grocery store that still sells some items like cold-pressed juices and takeaway salads in a glass case at Fred's, for those looking to make a quick stop before heading back for more art. Don't Edit Katy Kildee | The Ann Arbor News The Haymaker Public House, 203 E. Washington St. Another nearby option, the Haymaker Public House reopened in early July with new menu items including a variety of sliders and sandwiches. The business was formerly the Arena, but has gone through renovations and a rebranding effort. Feeling adventurous? Try the vegetarian Maize & Blue slider with house-made blueberry jam, crushed pineapple, peanut butter and mozzarella. There are also plenty of items worth sharing, like the Diversifries, a mix of each type of fries offered by the Haymaker for $12, or a one-pound pretzel served with beer cheese and ale mustard for $11. There's also plenty of domestic and Michigan craft beers available on tap. Don't Edit Hunter Dyke | hdyke@mlive.com Agave Tequila Bar, 211 N. Main St. Detouring a bit off the beaten path could lead you to Agave Tequila Bar, formerly Sabor Latino. It's about a block away from The Guild's Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair, and offers flavored margaritas and a wide variety of tequilas to choose from. It may not be Taco Tuesday during the Art Fair, but the restaurant's menu includes new lunch items starting at $4.95, like the Huevos a la Mexicana with scrambled eggs and jalapenos. Try the specially roasted corn on the cob, called elotes, for an appetizer, and end the meal with a tres leches cake for $5.95. Don't Edit Matt Weigand | The Ann Arbor News Siris Restaurant and Cigar Bar, 207 N. Main St. Another spot close to the Guild's art event, Siris Restaurant and Cigar Bar, opened in February and has attracted hungry patrons with barbecue options like Magret-smoked duck and a full rack of baby-back ribs for $26. There's also a 120-tap system that delivers a plethora of both domestic and craft beer options, and a fully-insulated cigar case so customers can pick out a stick or two to enjoy after dinner. Don't Edit Don't Edit Melanie Maxwell | The Ann Arbor News Jefferson Market, 609 W. Jefferson St. Looking to brunch? The long-standing Ann Arbor spot known as Jefferson Market is now operated by Mighty Good Coffee, and co-owner Nic Sims has put brunch back on the menu from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Savor bacon waffles topped with blackberry compote and chamomile Chantilly cream or the shrimp roll with a hard-boiled egg and cucumber served on a King's Hawaiian roll, both for $9.50. Jefferson Market also sells Mighty Good Coffee beverages, handmade pastries and a lunch menu with sandwiches and salads starting at $8.50. Don't Edit Melanie Maxwell | melaniemaxwell@mlive.com Smoke's Poutinerie, 1300 S. University Ave More than 700 people lined up for the opening of Smoke's Poutinerie June 4, to see for themselves the delicious combination of crunchy french fries, melting cheese curds and savory gravy. The Ann Arbor location is the first in Michigan for the Canadian restaurant franchise, and also features a bar called The Beaver Trap with both Canadian and American brews. There is also outdoor space for people-watching, with the South University Art Fair just around the corner. Not sure what to order? See at least seven of the poutine dishes available here. Don't Edit Hunter Dyke | hdyke@mlive.com Sozo Japanese Grill, 100 Briarwood Circle Taking the shuttle from Briarwood Mall to the Ann Arbor Art Fair? Stop by Sozo Japanese Grill for a hibachi entree or some quick appetizers to fuel up ahead of the event. Sozo opened in February with a menu that includes like the Sozo Nacho, a crab and cream cheese dip with celery and carrot served with corn tortilla chips for $7.99, or the Gyoza, Japanese pan-fried dumplings stuffed with pork and vegetables served with sweet chili sauce for $4.99. Entrees are served hibachi-style and a wide range of protein, from scallops and steak to chicken and shrimp. Customers can also order the Sozo Signature combo, with steak, chicken and shrimp for $13.99. Don't Edit Melanie Maxwell | melaniemaxwell@mlive.com HOMES Brewery, 2321 Jackson Ave. HOMES Brewery may be the spot if you are craving a Michigan craft beer, looking to get away from the art fair crowds and don't mind a quick five-minute drive from the downtown district. Both the handcrafted brews and Asian-inspired menu items like kimchi fries for $9 and chicken katsu steamed buns for $12 are ordered pub-style at the bar, and can be enjoyed inside or outside in the beer garden area. Look for the HOMES sign on the left side going west out of Ann Arbor on Jackson Avenue; parking is available behind the building and along the street but be careful to not stay too long in order to avoid a ticket. Don't Edit Melanie Maxwell | melaniemaxwell@mlive.com Avalon Cafe and Kitchen, 120 E. Liberty Close to where the Guild's art fair and the State Street Art Fair meets is Avalon Cafe and Kitchen in the former Pretzel Bell building. Detroit-based Avalon International Breads opened the restaurant and cafe in December 2016. Stop in for a quick pick-me-up in the form of specialty lattes and pastries, or head over to the restaurant section with tables and long, communal-style bench seating along one side. Executive Chef Cory Beattie describes the menu as "modern American" with breakfast, lunch and dinner items like brioche French toast served with two eggs, any style, for $13 and a mixture of salads, sandwiches and burgers ranging from $11 to $13. For a creative end to a day at the Ann Arbor Art Fair, check out the dinner menu which includes artfully-arranged fried chicken served with gravy atop a buttermilk biscuit for $21 or a slow-roasted Berkshire pork shoulder with farro risotto for $22. Don't Edit Don't Edit Melanie Maxwell | melaniemaxwell@mlive.com Ollie Food + Spirits, 42 E. Cross St. in Ypsilanti If you want to ditch the crowds and head out of town before grabbing a meal or a drink, head to Ypsilanti's Depot Town to visit the newly revamped Ollie Food + Spirits. The restaurant serves up burgers, including vegan options, and a selection of large and small plated items to snack or gorge on, depending on how hungry you are. Pick a handcrafted cocktail featuring Michigan liquors to go with the meal or stop next door at Cream & Crumb, 44 E. Cross, for the pastry and coffee side of the business. Avoid the lines in Ann Arbor and purchase your Zingerman's pastries here, or order some Hyperion Coffee to go home with you along with your art fair memories and purchases. Don't Edit Melanie Maxwell | melaniemaxwell@mlive.com Food at the Ann Arbor Art Fair Rather stay within the atmosphere of the Ann Arbor Art Fair? There are multiple food courts located within the events boundaries: Liberty between Ashley and South Main Church between S. University and Willard Ingalls Mall between Washington and N. University Returning food vendors include 100% Grassfed, Greek Tavern and Island Noodle. New vendors range from well-known Ann Arbor offerings by Bigalora and Conor ONeills as well as visiting concessions stands like Slows To Go from Detroit. Don't Edit Melanie Maxwell | melaniemaxwell@mlive.com More Your guide to the 2017 Ann Arbor Art Fair Celebrities rave about artist who got start at Ann Arbor Art Fair Vintage photos of the Ann Arbor art fairs celebrate the fun ANN ARBOR, MI - Crews were gearing up for the 2017 Ann Arbor Art Fair on Wednesday, with vendors from around the country setting up booths full of handmade goods, preparing to taking over downtown July 20 to 23. From North to South University and Main to Church streets, the 58th annual Ann Arbor Art Fair is set to bring together four separate art events into one large collaboration featuring hundreds of artists and offering plenty to see and do. Artists were seen unloading vans and trucks and setting up tents ahead of opening day activities. The event kicks off at 10 a.m. Thursday and is expected to draw thousands of visitors from around Michigan and across the country. The Ann Arbor Art Fair - including the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, State Street Area Art Fair, the Guild's Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair, and South University Art Fair - runs from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday, July 23. For more information on parking, shuttle services and transportation, check out the Ann Arbor News guide to the 2017 Ann Arbor Art Fair. Here's a look at the National Weather Service's forecast for the weekend: Thursday: Chance of thunderstorms, mostly cloudy, high temperature near 87. Bring an umbrella, as the chance for rain is around 50 percent throughout the day. Friday: Chance of showers after 2 p.m. Partly sunny, high near 86. Bring an umbrella and the sunscreen if you are heading to the art fair. Saturday: Showers likely, with chance of thunderstorms after 2 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 85. The temperatures will drop Saturday night to around 70, so bring a jacket and an umbrella. Sunday: Chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 84. Check back for further coverage of the weather forecast and Art Fair happenings. YPSILANTI, MI - Police are seeking a suspect in connection with a July 6 armed robbery and shooting in Ypsilanti. Frank C. Kyle, 39, is wanted on a three-count felony warrant for armed robbery, assault with intent to murder and assault with a dangerous weapon, according to Ypsilanti Police. Kyle frequents 636 Fox Ave. in Ypsilanti Township and 4043 Green Meadows Apartment 112 in Pittsfield Township, police say. On July 6, a man was assaulted, robbed at shot in the leg at his girlfriend's apartment in the 500 block of Perry St. Two suspects fled the scene, and police have since arrested one. The victim told police his girlfriend took him to St. Joseph Mercy hospital, dropped him off, told him not to talk to police and fled. Kyle has an extensive criminal history in Washtenaw County that dates back to 1995. He's been convicted of possessing controlled substances and fleeing police, according to 22nd Circuit Court records. He served a 5-year prison term for receiving and concealing a stolen vehicle, and was released in March 2016, according to Michigan Department of Corrections records. Kyle is on probation in Wayne County for possession of cocaine, records show. If anyone sees Kyle, Ypsilanti Police ask that they call 911 or call Detective Coppock at 734-368-8776 if he's taken into custody. BAY CITY, MI -- Bay City's youngest commissioner is resigning from his 3rd Ward seat after accepting an interim city manager position in Pinconning, but there's a chance he could come be back after the November election. Andrew Niedzinski, 31, submitted his resignation letter to the City Commission Thursday morning, July 20. Earlier in the week, the Pinconning City Council voted unanimously to hire him as the city's interim manager following the abrupt departure of William Jasura. Niedzinski was being sworn in as manager Thursday. Officials in Bay City Hall obtained an attorney's opinion that pointed to a state statute not allowing an individual to serve as an elected official and be an employee in a different municipality. One of the sticking points was that Pinconning and Bay City both negotiate water rates as part of a countywide consortium. "The City Commission changed the direction of my life. I am truly thankful for the time I spent serving the residents of Bay City's Third Ward," said Niedzinski, who was first elected to the commission in 2013. He says the position in Pinconning will allow him to get real experience as a city administrator. He was a finalist for a manager job in Cass City, but was passed on due to his lack of experience, he said. His resignation on Thursday doesn't mean he's done with politics in Bay City, though. Niedzinski's name will be on the November ballot after announcing a re-election campaign at the beginning of the year. He goes up against former City Commissioner Dennis Banaszek. Niedzinski acknowledged he could still be elected this November, but would have to resign again if he's still serving as interim manager in Pinconning. He anticipates, however, that the city will find a manager by then. More than 30 people have applied for the job so far. When asked if he plans to campaign for his 3rd Ward seat, he responded with a careful choice of words. "I still plan on being on the ballot," he said. In his resignation letter to the City Commission, he said, "I am not withdrawing from the November general election." At its next scheduled meeting, the Bay City Commission needs to decide if they're going to fill Niedzinski's seat by appointment, or wait until after the election, said City Manager Dana Muscott. Niedzinski, who works as a safety director for Michigan HRDI, is currently finishing up a master's degree in public administration from Central Michigan University. He's expected to graduate in August. He plans to continue working for Michigan HRDI part-time while serving as Pinconning's manager. BAY CITY, MI -- A 46-year-old woman is facing a pair felony charges after police say she drunkenly drove her two young daughters home from the Bay City Fireworks Festival. About 10:55 p.m. on Friday, June 30, police at the corner of Ridge and Oxford roads in Hampton Township saw a black 2006 Chevrolet Impala heading east on Ridge with its rear taillights out. Police followed the car and pulled it over in front of Huntington Place Apartments. Officers made contact with the driver, identified as Rosemary Olivarez. After fumbling through her glove box for a few minutes, Olivarez told the officers she did not have her license, registration, or proof of insurance. As they spoke with her, officers smelled intoxicants and noticed her eyes were watery and bloodshot, they wrote in their reports. They asked Olivarez to step from the car and had her perform field sobriety tests, which she performed poorly on. Olivarez submitted to a preliminary Breathalyzer test, which indicated her blood alcohol level was at 0.21. In Michigan, a person is legally intoxicated when his or her blood alcohol level hits 0.08; a person is considered super drunk at 0.17. Police arrested Olivarez. Passengers in the car included Olivarez's 9- and 11-year-old daughters, her two adults sons, and a 28-year-old man who told police he had just met Olivarez at the fireworks show and was getting a ride home from her. In the Bay County Jail, Olivarez twice submitted to a Datamaster alcohol test. The first test at 11:46 p.m. yielded a result of 0.20; the second, a result of 0.21 at 11:49 p.m., court records show. Police also later determined the license plate on the Impala was improper, as it should have been on a 2006 Chevrolet Equinox, court records state. Olivarez on Monday, July 17, appeared in Bay County District Court for arraignment on two counts of second-offense child endangerment-operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated with an occupant younger than 16, and single counts of driving while license suspended, denied, or revoked, driving an unregistered vehicle, and driving with improper plates. The child endangerment charge is normally a one-year misdemeanor, but the second offense tag increases the maximum penalty to five years' incarceration. Olivarez isn't charged with being super drunk. Olivarez is to appear for a preliminary examination before District Judge Timothy J. Kelly at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 2. BAY CITY, MI -- A Bridgeport teen is accused of repeatedly stabbing her boyfriend while driving through downtown Bay City. While she claimed to have done the deed in self-defense, her boyfriend made up a bogus story of being accosted by two strangers to keep her out of legal trouble. Just before 3 a.m. on Tuesday, July 18, police responded to the area of Washington Avenue and Third Street for a reported stabbing. They arrived to find a 23-year-old man bleeding from multiple stab wounds. He told the officers he had been walking down the street near the McDonald's at 314 Washington Ave. when two men appeared, one of whom stabbed him. "They didn't say anything to me," the victim said, according to court files. "They didn't try to rob me or take anything from me. They just stabbed me and took off." The man was transported to Covenant HealthCare in Saginaw for treatment. Police spoke with the man's mother, who said he had called her before calling 911. She said he claimed his girlfriend, 19-year-old Micayla N. Hughes, had stabbed him. Police determined the stabbing had actually occurred closer to Washington and 7th, with a blood trail leading to Third. Officers went to Covenant to further interview the victim, but had to wait as he was undergoing a CT scan. As they waited, they noticed a woman peer into his room, then walk away. Police stopped the woman, whom they identified as Hughes. Hughes initially said she was at the hospital to see her mom, but eventually admitted she was there for her boyfriend. She had blood on her clothing and hands and said she knew her boyfriend had been stabbed. "I asked her how she knew that and she stated, 'I did it,'" an officer wrote in his report. Hughes said they had been in Bay City having a nice night out when they began arguing. As she was driving her gray Pontiac G6 on Washington, her boyfriend grabbed her by the neck, she told police. She grabbed a folding knife from a pocket in her car door and stabbed him with it, according to police reports. The boyfriend exited the car and Hughes kept driving, she said. "He called me to come up here," she continued, explaining her presence in the hospital. "I know this is serious, but we are still on speaking terms." On being read her Miranda rights, Hughes said her boyfriend has a history of assaulting her. She said she "didn't want to go down for this" as she acted in self-defense. "I have been putting up with him putting his hands on me for a long time," she said. "I have tried to get him to move out. I have packed his things before and then he would put his hands on me again." Police asked her if she had tried calling 911 that night. "He wouldn't have let me," she answered. "He was holding me by my neck. He wouldn't have let me get out." Police wrote in their reports that they saw no marks on Hughes. With Hughes' permission, officers searched her car, finding blood on the passenger door and floorboard. They retrieved the still-open knife from a cup holder, court records show. Officers interviewed the victim at the hospital. He said they had been visiting his mom's Bay City residence, then began arguing over petty matters on the ride back to Bridgeport. "All of a sudden, she started hitting me and it was hurting bad," he said. "She hit me like four, five times." The man said he got out of the car as it stopped for a red light at Seventh Street and noticed he was bleeding. He said he lied about two strangers having stabbed him to cover for Hughes. He denied having assaulted her. The victim suffered several wounds to both forearms and one to the left side of his chest, court records show. Police arrested Hughes. That afternoon, Hughes appeared from the jail via closed-circuit television before Bay County District Judge Timothy J. Kelly. The judge arraigned her on single counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, carrying a concealed weapon with unlawful intent, and domestic violence. The first two charges are four- and five-year felonies, respectively, with the last charge being a 93-day misdemeanor. Hughes said she plans to hire her own attorney. Hughes was free on bond at the time, having been arraigned June 6 in Bay County District Court on single counts of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, failing to report an accident, and driving without a valid license. The crash in question happened about 11:20 p.m. on May 19, near the intersection of Garfield and 21st streets. Kelly set Hughes' bond at $25,000 cash-surety. Hughes is to appear for a preliminary examination before District Judge Mark E. Janer at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 2. Muslim woman banned from wearing headscarf in courtA German judge has banned a Syrian woman from appearing in court without removing her headscarf, claiming religiously-motivated attire is prohibited.Najat Abokal, a lawyer representing the woman, said the order was made for divorce proceedings in the district court in Luckenwalde, Brandenberg.She said the letter warned of legal action against the woman if she does not comply, but also ordered her to appear in person to present her case against her husband.Ms Abokal has accused the judge of acting unconstitutionally, the Tagesspiegel newspaper reported, saying she would contest the order amid fierce debate over Islamic dress in Germany.One of her colleagues confirmed the information to The Independent but said no further comment could be given while the case continued.A spokesperson for the district court in Luckenwalde said they could not comment, saying the judge was responsible for conduct within the courtroom.The German parliament has voted in favour of a partial ban on the burqa and other Islamic veils that cover the face, while existing neutrality laws can be used to forbid the wearing of any religious or political symbols by some judicial officials.But the restrictions do not apply to witnesses, claimants, victims or any other participants in legal proceedings, while a 2006 ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court found a judge had no right to throw out a spectator for wearing a headscarf..Klaus F Garditz, an law professor at Bonn's Friedrich-Wilhelms University, described the letter as an attempt to humiliate the woman that violates freedom of religion.He accused the judge of pursuing provincial racism and sexism under the pretext of following legal procedures, noting that only women were affected by such orders in an article for the Legal Tribune Online.The case comes amid intense debate over Islamic veils in Germany, where a law to partially ban the burqa but not the hijab (headscarf) - has not yet come into force.Angela Merkel announced her support for the move in December, saying full-face veils were not acceptable in Germany and calling them to be banned wherever it is legally possible.Some right-wing politicians have called for a full ban on the burqa in public, which has been imposed in France and Belgium, but ministers have said a blanked prohibition would violate the countrys constitution.Concerns about integration have also risen following the arrival of more than a million asylum seekers, who are mainly from Syria and other countries in the Middle East.A poll carried last year showed that 81 per cent of Germans supported a ban on the burqa within public institutions.Dutch MPs voted for a similar prohibition in the Netherlands last year, covering public transport, education, healthcare and government buildings and punishing any infractions with fines.Support for bans on full-face veils has been growing across Europe since France became the first country to implement such a law in 2011, followed by countries including Belgium and Bulgaria, with partial bans being imposed in Austria and parts of Spain, Italy and Switzerland.Attempts to ban female employees from wearing headscarves and veils have sparked several legal cases, which have so far seen the European Court of Human Rights and European Court of Justice support national prohibitions.In the U.K., an estate agent is suing her former employer at a tribunal after she was allegedly told to remove her black hijab because it had terrorist affiliations. Gallery 92 West (92 W. Sixth St., Fremont): Tracy Gallery Fremont Area Art Association All-Member Show, through July 30. Hinds Gallery Jay Michelsen paintings, through July 30. Admission: Free. Hours: 1-4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Great Plains Art Museum (1155 Q St., Lincoln): David Lovekin and Rick Houchin photography exhibition, through Oct. 28. Lovekin and Houchin spent two years traveling throughout more than a dozen small towns in Nebraska to capture quiet streets void of inhabitants, but full of the signs of human presence. Admission: Free. Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; 1:30-5 p.m. Sunday. Joslyn Art Museum (2200 Dodge St., Omaha): Bijoux Parisiens: French Jewelry from the Petit Palais, Paris, through Sept. 10. The exhibition tells the story of dozens of talented artists, designers and entrepreneurs who created extraordinary works of art using the most precious materials on earth. Glorious Flights: Illustration Art of Alice and Martin Provensen, through Sept. 3. The exhibit features art from dozens of childrens books illustrated by the husband-and-wife team of the Provensens. Janet Biggs, through Sept. 10. Admission: Free. Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday; closed Mondays and major holidays. Ticketed exhibition admission: $10 for adults, free for youth ages 17 and younger. KANEKO (1111 Jones St., Omaha): KINETIC, through Oct. 14. The exhibit explores the art and science of movement and the perception of motion. Admission: Free ($5 suggested donation). Hours: noon to 8 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Closed Sunday and Monday. LUX Center for the Arts (2601 N. 48th St., Lincoln): Roadtripper by Sara Henry, through July 28. This ceramics exhibition acts as a reference to recent drives Henry has taken across the United States. Female Gaze Returned curated by Sandra Williams, through Aug. 25. This exhibit examines the role of the female gaze through the work of five women artists. Admission: Free. Hours: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday; 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. first Friday. Sheldon Museum of Art (12th and R streets, Lincoln): nonObjectives, through July 23. Works on display span decades and feature several rarely seen canvases and recent acquisitions. Selections from the Bertha Schaefer Collection, through July 23. Wright Morris: Nebraska Pictures, through July 23. This exhibition presents a selection of photographs from Sheldons collection that exemplifies Morris sensitivity in capturing details of rural Nebraska in the 1940s. Re-Seeing the Permanent Collection, through July 30. Admission: free. Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday; noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. University of Nebraska-Lincolns Kruger Gallery (In Architecture Hall, 402 Stadium Drive, Lincoln): Dream Space | Play Space: Celebrating the Imagination of Childhood and the Magic of a Miniature, through July. The exhibition features 12 scenes that examine the fantasies, fears and pleasures of children. Admission: free. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. A Jet Airways passenger plane takes off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Jet Airways , India's second-largest airline by market share, has asked dozens of its junior-ranking pilots to accept 30-50 percent pay cuts, or quit, as it moves to bring down its costs, according to two sources and letters seen by Reuters. Jet Airways has proposed salary and stipend cuts in letters sent to pilots earlier this month, saying it was forced to take such steps as it was "intensely focused on fleet and network rationalisation". The move, to be implemented from August 1, is likely to impact up to 400 pilots, said the two sources, who asked not to be named. A third source close to the development said Jet had to make some work adjustments with pilots, as it has rationalised its network given weakness in the Gulf region and improved fleet utilization. Jet Airways, which has the highest cost structure among all the major private-sector carriers in India, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Jet Airways has struggled to keep a lid on costs in one of the world's fastest-growing aviation markets where competition from low-cost carriers such as InterGlobe Aviation's IndiGo and SpiceJet is on the rise and is putting it under pressure. The Indian airline, partly-owned by Etihad Airways of the United Arab Emirates, is also facing headwinds in the international market due to uncertainty in the oil-rich Gulf region which is hurting its revenues. The country's aviation regulator has drawn flak for telling airlines to carry more Hindi language newspapers and magazines for passengers, according to a report in The Economic Times. The decision was taken to help bring at par the number of Hindi and English language newspapers and magazines in flights. The move sparked criticism for "contributing to the promotion of Hindi" and is being seen by many as the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) overstepping its role, the report said. In a letter written to Indian carriers, the joint director general of the DGCA said that the carriers carrying fewer or not carrying Hindi language newspapers at all "go against the official language policy of the Indian union". The directive comes amid efforts by airlines to reduce costs and save aviation fuel by carrying less material on-board. DGCA is meant to be a safety regulator. This had nothing at all to do with safety," a senior airline executive was quoted as saying. "In flights, few read Hindi papers and it will add cost and weight. Besides, in many parts of the country, Hindi is not read or spoken at all. This is like the EU (European Union) requiring German newspapers on all EU flights," DGCA later clarified that the directive was "advisory in nature". Earlier this month, Air India had decided to stop serving non-vegetarian meals in the economy class on all its domestic routes, a move seen by some as enforcing of the ideology promoted by the government. business Buy Adani Enterprises; sell Voltas, Bank of India: Ashwani Gujral Ashwani Gujral of ashwanigujral.com is of the view that one can buy Adani Enterprises and can sell Voltas and Bank of India. business Buy ITC, NBFC stocks on dips; Reliance Industries should head higher: Ashwani Gujral Ashwani Gujral of ashwanigujral.com suggests buying ITC and NBFC stocks on dips while he feels that RIL should head higher. Sudarshan Sukhani of s2analytics.com told CNBBC-TV18, "My trades are mixed; almost all are in the midcaps because I do not have a view on the Nifty today." "Sun TV Network is a buying opportunity. After a big rally there was a minor dip and that dip has extended into three months. Inside that trading range a smaller range is now developing, giving the impression of being willing to breakout. It could be very interesting and a fairly strong momentum upmove if it comes about. So buy Sun TV." "L&T Finance Holdings is coming out of a trading range and for the last five days the Nifty has been in a range now and individual stocks have been there for a longer period but the momentum in non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), one can think of buying this." "Granules India has an extraordinarily attractive chart. A large bullish head and shoulder and is on the verge of breaking out. Yesterday, it had a good day and reached a breakout point. So there is significant upmove and it is helped by pharmaceutical stocks also generally, the sector has suddenly woken up, so Granules is a buy," he said. "There are two short sells - Amara Raja Batteries which is now becoming a favourite short for me. The stock slowly inches downward. The Ramco Cements is now in the Futures and Options (F&O) segment. It's breaking down, a minor breakdown but it is a short sell for the day." "I would avoid Canara Bank and look for a rally to sell into it. I am not upbeat on public sector undertaking (PSU) banks. A relief rally in PSU banks may be coming to an end slowly. So I would not be a buyer at all." "Sugar is now in such a strong upside momentum and even today Balrampur Chini Mills which is the only stock I track is a buying opportunity." live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Axis Bank launched its digital invoice discounting platform, Invoicemart, to improve access of funds to micro, small and medium sector enterprises (MSMEs). Invoicemart is a platform created by A.TREDS, a joint venture of Axis Bank, Indias third-largest private bank, and Mjunction Services, one of the largest B2B e-commerce company. Kalyan Basu, MD & CEO of Invoicemart thinks that digital factoring as a business can get a further boost if the government pushes the public sector MSMEs to get on the platform. In November 2015, RBI had given an in-principle approval to three entities to set up TReDs (Trade Receivables Discounting System). The other two entities are Mynd Solutions (Gurgaon) and NSE Strategic Investment Corporation and Small Industries Development Bank of India (Mumbai). TReDS is factoring of bills, an attempt by the RBI and the government to allow SMEs to post their receivables on the digital system and get them financed. This will not only give them greater access to finance but also put greater discipline on corporates to pay their dues on time. The sale of invoices happen by way of a transparent bidding process involving multiple financiers, which will facilitate efficient price discovery, thus lowering cost of funds for MSMEs. Funds disbursed through TReDS will also qualify for priority sector lending benefits for the banks, Axis Bank said. Completing its first set of transactions, Axis Bnk said it discounted the invoices raised on Sobha, West Coast Paper, Intex Technologies, Future Retail and other corporates by their MSME suppliers. Basu told Moneycontrol, "Factoring is something new that has happened in India. Around 37 percent GDP is contributed by MSMEs but the finance is not available to that proportion. Its success is not in question but when it will happen is something we will have to look at." He added there is a limit to which collateral can be offered by MSMEs and also their financial statements may not qualify for the bank funding, which is why some players get rejected. "This platform will provide recourse to the MSMEs, to get the best of the price and there is no marketing cost for companies involved for on-boarding their sellers, who get easy or a recourse for their legitimate receivables and the large corporates get the benefit of getting the MSMEs paid on time and negotiate better from them too," he said. C Sharma, Vice-Chairman & Managing Director of Sobha , said, "Invoicemart will enable us to improve the financial health of our vendors, which gives us better control over procurement. Additionally, we will use the platform to streamline our vendor payments and for better management of our cash flows." Bajaj Auto and its Austrian partner KTM are believed to be in advanced stages to buy out Volkswagens prized asset Ducati. Speaking to shareholders at the companys 10th annual general meeting, Managing Director Rajiv Bajaj mentioned about an addition of a second brand to the Bajaj-KTM alliance, the likely announcement of which will happen in 1-2 weeks. There have been speculations during the past few weeks that Bajaj had entered the fray to buy out Ducati. However, there was no confirmation on this from Bajaj. KTM's name came up only yesterday when a European news agency quoted sources saying KTM has joined the race. Husqvarna was the first brand added by the alliance when KTM bought equity in that company. The Swedish brand Husqvarna products will now be made at Bajajs Chakan facility sharing bike architecture with KTM and Bajaj. According to Bajaj, the acquisition will plug the final gap in the Bajaj-KTM portfolio which has expanded to as many as six models and is due to add more products shortly. Bajaj, however, did not name the target company. KTM rides in a space which is sporty riding. There is also another world out there which is the world of easy riding, the world of Harley-Davidson, Triumph and Royal Enfield. "This segment so far was the only missing piece in our puzzle, said Bajaj. We are very close to finalising an alliance, it will take a week or two to announce. If it happens it will open up enormous possibilities because that is a brand, that is the format of products that is even more suitable. So if KTM and Husqvarna can do half a million motorcycles a year believe me they can do a million motorcycles together, added Bajaj. Ducati clocked sales of little over 55,000 units last year reporting a growth of under 2 percent. Though the company tried to get into low capacity, mass market bike segment, it could not gain much headway. The Italian brand makes 1000cc super bikes on par with similar bikes from Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki. Bajajs confidence in growing volumes of Ducati stems from the fact that at the time of buying stakes in KTM, the Austrian companys annual sales stood at 65,000 units. This had grown to 250,000 units by the end of last year. After ten consecutive years in losses, they are solidly in the black. After Harley-Davidson, KTM is the most profitable company in the premium two-wheeler space, added Bajaj. A shareholder enquired, with reserves of Rs 13,256 crore by the end of June, 2017, why the company is simply building on its reserves without a strategy in place on how to use it? Bajaj replied, We stand before a very promising opportunity and hopefully you will read it in the papers very soon. That is why we need the money (reserves) because if we have to build Husqvarna and this second brand then we will need this money. As per international media reports, Harley Davidson, Hero Motocorp , Royal Enfield and some other companies were in the race to buy Ducati. The sale of the famed Italian two-wheeler brand will be made soon. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More The Rs 5,000-crore autograde steel plant in joint venture between SAIL and ArcelorMittal would be set up close to an automobile hub and final decision on the site is likely in three months, a top official today said. "It (SAIL, ArcelorMittal JV) is in the final stage now. Absolutely in the final stage," Steel Secretary Aruna Sharma told PTI in an interview. Steel Authority of India (SAIL) and ArcelorMittal had in May, 2015 entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore the possibility of setting up an autograde steel manufacturing facility under a joint venture in India. "There are two things that they (both the companies) have to do. One is commercial agreement between the two and second thing is that they have to zero in on the place where they will be putting up the plant. So that work is going on. So we are expecting it to be completed in may be in another two or three months," the secretary said. A task force team comprising representatives from both SAIL and ArcelorMittal has been working on detailed due diligence and preliminary feasibility study and all other issues for setting up a joint venture company. When asked about the location of the proposed plant Sharma said, "that decision is happening. The two of them are looking at it. They have zeroed in on three sites. So (it would be at) one of the three sites. It will be closer to an auto hub. We have three auto hubs." The secretary further said both the companies were inspecting and comparing the pros and cons of each site. "They have to see all pros and cons. They will prepare a matrix out of it and put a value to it and then decide which place suits them," Sharma said. Elaborating further, the secretary said SAIL took the technical advice on the proposed joint venture from Niti Aayog. "We took the technical advice from Niti Aayog...for administrative things we can understand but on technical issues it's better that one takes an expert's advice," she asserted. The much-awaited JV between steel giant ArcelorMittal and state-run SAIL will also focus on producing specialised grade steel products for defence, space and automobiles. Earlier, an inter-ministerial group had reviewed the progress of the MoU. The proposed JV will construct a cold rolling mill and other downstream finishing facilities in India, touted as one of the fastest-growing automotive markets in the world with production expected to double between 2014 and 2020, from 3.6 million units to 7.3 million units. Representative image The government plans to create 15,000 km of new highways in India in 2017-18 at an ambitious pace of 41 km a day, nearly double the speed of last year, the roads ministry told the Parliament on Thursday. In a written reply to Lok Sabha on Thursday, Minister of State for road transport and highways Pon. Radhakrishnan said that 25 km of new highways constructed a day currently. India added 8,231 km, 6,061 km and 4,410 km to its national highway network in 2016-17, 2015-16 and 2014-15 respectively. During April to June India created 2,269 km of new highways at a pace of 25 km a day. Also read: CCEA approves road project connecting India, Bangkok Radhakrishnan said that for timely project completion, the ministry holds regular meetings with various stakeholders. Regular meetings are held with project developers, state governments and contractors, said the minister. He also said that review meetings are held with regional officers, concessionaires (parties entering into contracts with the government) and others to keep the construction hassle free. The minister said that various steps have been taken to expedite road projects. Various steps are being taken which include streamlining of land acquisition and environment clearances, exit for equity investor and premium re-schedulement, he said. He said that ministry was working in close coordination with other ministries, while steps were being taken to hasten dispute resolution. Also read: Unending wait for infra projects continues: Every 3 out of 10 projects delayed, some up to 21 years At an average cost of Rs 10 crore per km, an additional Rs 1.5 lakh crore nearly six times the annual budget of rural job guarantee scheme NREGAwill be required to build 15,000 kms of highways. The road and other infrastructure projects can spur economic activity, boost construction and create jobs. It accounts for about 8 percent of GDP and is the largest creator of direct and indirect employment, employing about 40 million people. It has a strong multiplier effect, creating an estimated 2.7 new jobs indirectly for every Rs. 1 lakh invested, with major forward linkages to sectors like real estate, infrastructure and manufacturing and backward linkages to steel and cement among others. Government sources said that the construction sector has been affected by the large number of projects which got stalled during the period of stagnation between 2011 and 2014. The banking sector also has a large exposure to construction, estimated at over Rs. 3 lakh crores. As much as 45 percent of the bank loans in the sector are under stress. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said the Goods and Services Tax (GST) was a 'win-win' deal for all as it would expand the tax net, end 'inspector raj' and bring down the prices of goods. While he spoke on the GST at the BJP parliamentary party meeting, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj briefed party MPs on the recent foreign visits of Narendra Modi and said no visiting Indian prime minister had received the kind of welcome accorded to him by US President Donald Trump during his recent to that country. "It was unprecedented," BJP sources quoted her as saying at the meeting. Pitching the GST as a measure beneficial for the country, Jaitley said the prices of goods had come down between four to eight per cent since its roll-out on July 1. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar briefed reporters about Jaitley's remarks. The GST was in the interest of people and states as well as the latter would get 80 per cent of the revenue leading to more development, Jaitley said. There was no longer tax on tax and the transport of goods across the country was going unhindered now, he said. More than one crore firms were expected to be migrating to the new tax regime against around 80 lakh companies earlier, Kumar quoted him as saying. "The tax net has expanded. The country's market has been integrated. Inspector raj is over. The tax burden on the masses has gone down. It is a win-win situation for all," Kumar quoted the finance minister saying. BJP sources said Swaraj highlighted various aspects of Modi's visits to the US, including a working dinner at the White House, Trump giving him a guided tour of his residence, and said it was a rare honour for a visiting Indian prime minister. She also noted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took Modi out on a drive on a beach. Kumar asked the BJP members to ensure their presence here during the vice presidential election on August 5, which is a Saturday. Parliamentarians hailing from different states often leave the national capital during sessions on Friday evening and come back by Monday. India, the third largest coal producer in the world, imported 190 million tonnes of the fuel worth over Rs one lakh crore in 2016-17 fiscal, Parliament was informed today. Minister of State for Coal Piyush Goyal in a written reply to Lok Sabha said 190.95 million tonnes (provisional) of coal valued at Rs 1,00,231.3 crore was imported in the last fiscal. The minister further said in 2015-16, 203.9 million tonnes (MT) of coal valued at Rs 86,033.8 crore was imported, while in 2014-15, the import stood at 217.7 MT worth Rs 1,04,506.6 crore. In 2013-14, the country imported 166.8 MT of coal worth Rs 92,329 crore, the minister said. The gap between demand and supply, Goyal said, cannot be bridged completely as there is insufficient domestic availability of coal and power plants designed on imported fuel will continue to import for their production. The demand of coal is higher than the current level of supply in the country. During 2016-17, as against the total demand of 838.6 MT (provisional), the domestic supply was 647.7 MT. "Due to limited availability of low ash coal in the country, this type of coal is being imported. Further, superior quality of non-coking coal is imported mainly by power plants that have been designed on imported coal," the minister said. In a separate reply, the minister said production target of Coal India, which accounts for over 80 per cent of the domestic coal production, is 600 MT for the present fiscal. A landmark civil nuclear cooperation deal between India and Japan that provides for collaboration between their industries in the field came into force on Thursday, eight months after it was sealed. Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar and Japanese Ambassador Kenji Hiramatsu exchanged diplomatic notes, marking operationalisation of the pact, the External Affairs Ministry said. The civil nuclear cooperation agreement was signed last November during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Tokyo after years of negotiations. "This agreement is a reflection of the strategic partnership between India and Japan and will pave the way for enhanced cooperation in energy security and clean energy. "The agreement seeks to promote full cooperation between the two countries in the development and uses of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes on a stable, reliable and predictable basis," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay told reporters. The deal allows Japan to export nuclear technology to India, making it the first non-NPT signatory to have such a deal with Tokyo. There was political resistance in Japan - the only country to suffer atomic bombings during World War II - against a nuclear deal with India, particularly after the disaster at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in 2011. Japan is a major player in the nuclear energy market and an atomic deal with it will make it easier for US-based nuclear plant makers Westinghouse Electric Corporation and GE Energy Inc to set up atomic plants in India as both these conglomerates have Japanese investments. Other nations who have signed a civil nuclear deal with India include the US, Russia, South Korea, Mongolia, France, Namibia, Argentina, Canada, Kazakhstan and Australia. Representative image The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) agreed in-principle to the construction of the Delhi-Panipat and Delhi-Alwar Regional Rapid Transit Systems (RRTS) projects worth Rs 53,500 crore, a government official said. The 111-km Delhi-Sonipat-Panipat RRTS project is estimated to cost about Rs 16,500 crore, while the 180-km Delhi-Rewari-Alwar line will cost about Rs 37,000 crore. "The NHAI has agreed in-principle to the construction of these two projects along NH-1 and NH-8. It has also agreed in-principle to take up the Urban Extension Road-2 which would help ease traffic congestion in Delhi," the official said. He said this was decided during a meeting between NHAI Chairman Deepak Kumar and Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra here. DDA Vice-Chairman Uday Pratap Singh, National Capital Regional Transport Corporation (NCRTC) MD V K Singh and senior officials of the ministry and concerned organisations also attended the hour-long meeting. A ground survey for aligning the two RRTS projects has already been done by the NCRTC and building them along the national highways would significantly reduce the construction time by over three years, besides bringing down the costs substantially since land acquisition would not be required, the official quoted Mishra as saying at the meeting. The NHAI and the NCRTC would jointly prepare an action plan after examining the issues related to the future expansion plans and possible congestion and the options to address them, the official said. During the meeting, Kumar conveyed the in-principle agreement about the NHAI taking up the execution of Urban Extension Road-2 project aimed at decongesting Delhi by connecting three national highways, the official said. A feasibility report in this regard would be prepared in a month's time for further discussions, he added. Q11. Skywise which provides a single access point for the sharing of operational and flight data is about making the right information available at the right time. To do so, it leverages the massive amount of data previously locked in company and functional silos across the industry to improve operational performance and business results for aircraft operators. Which company owns Skywise? The government has started consultations with various stakeholders to furnish a digital identification number to be given to air passengers at the time of booking tickets, Lok Sabha was informed today. Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said the upgradation of technology for passenger facilitation was a continuous process. "Various stakeholders' consultations have been conducted and suggestions have been received for air passengers to furnish a digital identification number at the time of purchasing an air ticket to enable seamless air travel," he said during Question Hour. Raju said discussions are held regularly with diverse stakeholders on the usage of technology for the benefit of passengers and adopting common protocols for data-sharing across airlines, airports, travel agents and others. The Minister's reply came in response to a question whether the government was planning to make it mandatory for air passengers to furnish a unique identity number at the time of flight booking. Raju said the civil aviation ministry has constituted three committees, including a technical committee, to implement technology-enabled seamless passenger facilities across airports in India. "No specific timeline has been fixed because input will be received from the committee periodically regarding appropriate technology standards and inter-operability protocols," he said. 3:30 pm Market Check: Equity benchmark indices ended the day on a subdued note, with the Nifty closing below 9900, while the Sensex ended one-fifth of a percent lower. The Sensex closed down 50.95 points at 31904.40, while the Nifty ended 26.30 points lower at 9873.30. The market breadth was negative as 1277 shares advanced against a decline of 1440 shares, while 153 shares were unchanged. Axis Bank and ONGC gained the most on both indices, while Tata Steel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, VA Tech Wabag and Canara Bank were the top losers. Also Read: Finding value near Mount 10K? Top 3 stocks which can be multibaggers in 2-3 years 3:00 pm Earnings: Alembic Pharmaceuticals' first quarter consolidated profit fell 35.7 percent to Rs 66.67 crore year-on-year, impacted by transition related to GST and high base of US business in the year-ago quarter. The sale of Abilify boosted US sales in Q1FY17. Revenue during the quarter fell 12 percent to Rs 648 crore compared with Rs 737 crore in corresponding quarter of last fiscal. Operating profit slipped sharply by 36 percent year-on-year to Rs 101.4 crore and margin declined 530 basis points to 16 percent, dented by research & development expenses. The decline is also due to unfavorable business mix with the decline in the India business. 2:41 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks fell further amid consolidation in afternoon, with the Nifty struggling below 9900 level, dragged by ITC, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Infosys. The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 66.44 points at 31,888.91 and the 50-share NSE Nifty declined 29.85 points to 9,869.75. Kotak Mahindra Bank dropped 1.5 percent after lower-than-expected profitability in June quarter. Infosys and ITC were down 0.6-1 percent. Axis Bank extended gains to 4 percent on value buying and HDFC Bank was up 0.8 percent, which both helped Nifty Bank trade higher. 2:25 pm Global growth: Willem Buiter of Citi said global growth continued to be on track and downside risks have marginally diminished over the last month. "We keep global growth forecasts for 2017 and 2018 unchanged and remain slightly more positive on growth than consensus as global forecasts have remained stable or been revised up over the last 12 months," he said. 2:00 pm Results: Kansai Nerolac Paints declared gross sales of Rs 1,442.75 crore in June quarter, marking a growth of 10.9 percent over the same quarter of the previous year. Net profit was Rs 140.8 crores a growth of 11.3 percent over the same quarter of the previous year. "Company has registered a double digit growth in decorative and industrial. The effect of higher input costs is reflected in the profitability," HM Bharuka, Managing Director said in its filing. According to the firm, the good growth in infrastructure, core sector as well as automobile and real estate is likely to have a positive effect on the overall demand of paint for the industry. 1:40 pm Market Check: Benchmark indices continued to consolidate in afternoon session as investors look for more corporate earnings. The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 20.10 points at 31,935.25 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 13.55 points to 9,886.05. ABB India shares gained more than 3 percent after its profit grew by nearly 35 percent year-on-year to Rs 75 crore in April-June quarter, backed by strong operational growth. The stock already rallied 48 percent so far in the year 2017. Axis Bank retained its top position in the buying list among Sensex stocks, up over 3 percent followed by ONGC, Cipla and BHEL whereas Tata Steel was top losers, down over 2 percent. 1:10 pm Europe update: European bourses were higher, supported by a surge in global stocks, as investors awaited a rate decision by the European Central Bank (ECB). France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE gained 0.4-0.8 percent. 12:55 pm Bajaj Auto in focus: Two-wheeler and three-wheeler maker Bajaj Auto has reported mixed set of earnings on Thursday. Profit fell by 5.6 percent year-on-year to Rs 924 crore in the quarter ended June 2017, which was almost in line with expectations. Bottomline was partly supported by other income. Revenue was ahead of estimates, though it fell 3.9 percent to Rs 5,854 crore compared with Rs 6,089 crore in same quarter last year following decline in sales volumes. The company sold 8.88 lakh units during the quarter, which slipped 10.7 percent compared with 9.94 lakh units sold in year-ago quarter. The company missed expectations on operational front. Operating profit dropped 20.2 percent year-on-year to Rs 938.3 crore and margin declined 330 basis points to 17.2 percent in June quarter, which was much lower than CNBC-TV18 poll estimates of Rs 1,075 crore and 20 percent, respectively. 12:25 pm Earnings: ABB India has reported a solid earnings performance as profit grew by nearly 35 percent year-on-year to Rs 75 crore in April-June quarter, backed by strong operational growth. The stock price rallied 6.6 percent intraday. Revenue during the quarter increased 6 percent to Rs 2,361.50 crore compared with Rs 2,226.2 crore in same quarter last fiscal, with order inflow growth of 13 percent YoY. Operating profit shot up 29.7 percent year-on-year to Rs 147.3 crore and margin expanded by 120 basis points to 6.6 percent in June quarter. 12.02 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks continued to trade in a tight range in noon, with the Nifty hovering around 9900 level and the Sensex around 32000-mark. Investors look for more corporate earnings. Reliance Industries, Wipro and Bajaj Auto will announce June quarter earnings later today. The 30-share Sensex was up 15.53 points at 31,970.88 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 1.60 points to 9,898. The market breadth was moderately positive as about 1,251 shares advanced against 1,146 declining shares on the BSE. Axis Bank topped the buying list among Sensex stocks, up 3 percent followed by L&T, Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank and ONGC while Infosys, Asian Paints, TCS, Tata Steel, HDFC and ITC were under pressure. Kotak Mahindra Bank trimmed gains to 0.4 percent from 2 percent after missed analysts' expectations on profit front. 11:45 am Earnings Estimates: Reliance Industries is all set to announce its earnings for the quarter ended June 2017 today. The Mukhesh Ambani Group company is expected to report consolidated net profit at Rs 7,960 crore for the quarter against Rs 8,053 crore in previous quarter. Appreciation in rupee against US dollar may hurt net numbers, analysts feel. According to average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18, gross refining margin is seen at USD 11 a barrel for the quarter against USD 11.5 a barrel in March quarter, impacted by a reduction in light-heavy differential. Disclosure: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd. 11:26 am IPO: HDFC Life, the part of country's largest housing finance company HDFC, has filed a draft for initial public offering with Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority, according to CNBC-TV18 reports quoting unnamed sources. The insurance regulator is likely to issue in-principle approval to HDFC Life IPO by next week. Both shareholders mortgage lender HDFC & Standard Life Plc are likely to dilute stake in ratio of 3:1 through IPO. HDFC owns 61.65 percent stake and Standard Life holds 35 percent in HDFC Life Insurance. After failure to get approval from shareholders as well as insurance regulator for the merger of HDFC Life and Max Life, HDFC decided to go for IPO of its life insurance business. 11:09 am Earnings: Private banking major Kotak Mahindra Bank posted 23 percent year-on-year rise in its standalone June quarter net profit at Rs 913 crore. The number came in lower than a poll of analysts done by CNBC-TV18, which pegged the profit growth at 40.3 percent at Rs 1,041.1 crore for April-June quarter. Standalone net interest margin came marginally higher at 4.5 percent against 4.4 percent in the same quarter last year. The loan growth for the bank grew to Rs 1,42,359 crore against Rs 1,20,765 crore in the June quarter last year. Net non-performing assets, meanwhile, saw declining at 1.25 percent from 1.26 percent QoQ. The net interest income (NII) for Q1FY18 was up 17 percent at Rs 2,246 crore from Rs 1,919 crore in Q1FY17. During the quarter, it spent Rs 63 crore towards marketing and other expenses in relation to Rs 811 crore. 10:45 am Buzzing: Share price of Natco Pharma advanced nearly 3 percent intraday as EIR received from USFDA for its drug formulations facility. The company has received the successful Establishment Inspection Report (EIR) from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for the inspection conducted at its drug formulations facility at Kothur Unit, Telangana, India, during the period January 16-24, 2017. The Kothur formulation facility predominantly caters to regulated international markets, including USA. The company's Kothur plant had received 6 observations from USFDA. 10:35 am IPO: Godrej Industries arm Godrej Agrovet filed draft papers with markets regulator Sebi to raise an estimated Rs 1,000-1,200 crore through an initial public offering. The public issue comprises fresh issue of shares worth Rs 300 crore besides an offer for sale of scrips of up to Rs 300 crore by Godrej Industries and up to 1.23 crore shares by V- Sciences, as per the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP). Besides, the company is considering a pre-IPO placement of up to 5.6 lakh equity shares worth up Rs 252 crore. Godrej Industries owns 60.81 per cent in Agrovet, which is in businesses such as agri-inputs, animal feeds, palm oil manufacturing, dairy and poultry. Proceeds of the IPO will be utilised towards repayment of loans and for other general corporate purposes. 10.14 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks erased early gains, with the Sensex falling below 32,000 level and the Nifty hovering around 9900. Ahead of June quarter earnings, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Reliance Industries and Wipro gained up to 1.7 percent while Bajaj Auto fell 0.4 percent. The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 1.26 points at 31,954.09 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 3.45 points to 9,896.15 whlie the broader markets were flat with a positive bias. About 1,155 shares advanced against 897 declining shares on the BSE. 9:53 am Buzzing: Share price of Sutlej Textiles and Industries declined 7.6 percent intraday on the back of poor numbers declared by the company in the quarter ended June 2017 (Q1FY18). The company has reported 47.7 percent declined in its net profit at Rs 23.6 crore against Rs 45.1 crore, in the same quarter last fiscal. The operating profit (EBITDA) was down 10.5 percent at Rs 69.5 crore and EBITDA margin slipped 330 bps at 10.7 percent. However, the revenue has increased by 18 percent to Rs 652 crore versus Rs 552.7 crore. 9:40 am FII View: Derek Higa of William O'Neil said the MSCI Asia continued to trend near all-time highs constructively despite distribution days being at an elevated level across markets. He remained bullish on the region. According to him, the strongest in the region are India, South Korea and Hong Kong which he continued to advise being overweight on. 9:29 am Buyback: Shares of Just Dial rose 5 percent in morning as the company will consider buyback of its equity shares. The meeting of board of directors of the company is scheduled to be held on July 24, to consider the unaudited financial results for the quarter ended June 2017. In the said meeting the board will also consider a proposal for buyback of equity shares of the company. Also read - Bull's Eye: Buy Indian Bank, DLF, SPARC, Just Dial, Dhampur Sugar, SREI Infra 9:15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks opened moderately higher, with the Sensex reclaiming 32,000 level, backed by Reliance Industries and ITC. Nifty Bank also started off with 100 points gains. The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 62.88 points at 32,018.23 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 14.40 points at 9,914.00. About two shares advanced for every share falling on the BSE. HPCL was down 4 percent while ONGC gained 1.6 percent after cabinet gave ONGC in-principle approval to buy governments stake in HPCL. Coal India, ITC, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Bharti Airtel were early gainers among largescaps. In the broader space, Canara Bank, Mindtree, KPIT Technologies and Marico fell up to 4 percent while Just Dial, Sintex Industries, Balrampur Chini, Triveni Engineering, Bajaj Hindusthan, Mastek, Tata Elxsi, Jain Irrigation, Sterlite Technologies and MRPL gained nearly 7 percent. Representative image The S&P BSE Sensex, which started with a mild gap on the upside witnessed profit booking at levels above 32,000 on Thursday but nearly 100 stocks on the BSE hit fresh 52-weeks high, and 24 stocks saw record highs. Banks are leading charge on the index with S&P BSE Bankex rose over 0.57 percent, followed by BSE Realty index which was up 0.54 percent, and BSE Smallcap index gained 0.38 percent. Stocks which rose to fresh 52-week high include names like Wendt India, Bajaj Finance, Heritage Foods, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Godrej Industries, DHFL, Mastek, KEC International, Sterlite Technologies, Jindal Steel, Tinplate, Tinplate, Jindal Saw, Madhusudhan Industries etc. among others. Stocks which surged to fresh record highs include names like Ineos Styrolution, Ion Exchange, L&T Housing Finance, Sri Krishna Construction, GNA Axles, Merck, Mangalam Cement etc. among others. Kotak Mahindra Bank was trading higher ahead of its results for the quarter ended June but gained momentum to hit its fresh 52-week high of Rs1019.40 on the BSE after the private sector bank reported 23 percent year on year rise in its standalone June quarter net profit at Rs 913 crore. Sterlite Technologies rallied for the second session in a row on the back of strong numbers declared by the company in the quarter ended June 2017. The company's June quarter consolidated net profit increased 60 percent to Rs 61 crore against Rs 38 crore, in the same quarter last year. The Nifty too gave up gains after a gap up opening and was trading near its crucial resistance level of 9,900, but over 50 stocks hit a fresh 52-week high on the NSE. As much as 54 stocks have hit a fresh 52-week high on the NSE which include names like Sterlite Technologies, Hilton Metal, Graphite India, HEG Ltd, JVL Agro, Jindal Saw, Saregama India, Mastek Ltd, Texmaco Infrastructure, Merck, and L&T Housing Finance etc. among others. It looks like the index has now hit a resistance level near 9950-9960 and it would be tough for the index to breach this level in a hurry, suggest experts. The Nifty bounced back above the preceding days Doji candles high and closed above the same on Wednesday. The trend remains sideways to positive & dips remains attractive for longs, Systematix shares said in a report. With support at 9840 followed by 9790 levels, upside potential of 9960-9970 followed by 10035 levels remains intact, it said. We are in the last phase of the September quarter earnings season, and the results announced by the BSE 500 companies so far have shown signs of a sharp recovery, as compared to the June quarter, when the economic activity in the country was compromised due to lockdown in various regions. From the BSE 500 list, 216 companies have announced their September quarter results so far. We excluded banking and financial companies. Along with the index stocks we also analyse each sector quarterly earnings. (Data Source: ACE Equity) Reliance General Insurance today reported 22 per cent increase in net profit to Rs 44 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2017-18. Gross Written Premium of the company rose by 41 per cent to Rs 1,278 crore at the end of the quarter, Reliance General Insurance said in a statement. It continues to demonstrate robust business growth across all lines of business, along with strong improvement in bottom line, the company's CEO Rakesh Jain said. On the listing plan he said it is a significant wealth creation opportunity for retail investors and will enable them to participate in this high growth and profitable journey. By Satish Gupta of astrostocktips.in Todays planetary position: Moon will be transiting in Taurus. Jupiter in Virgo, Lord Rahu in Leo. Lord Saturn in Sagittarius. Mercury, Sun & Mars in Cancer. Venus in Taurus. Ketu in Aquarius. Pluto in Sagittarius. Neptune in Aquarius & Uranus in Pisces. Rahu kal time: - 12.00 13.30 Following sectors will be receiving astrological support: Plastic: Sintex Industries, Jain Irrigation, ETC Industries, Nilkamal, Hitech Corporation, etc. Housing finance: DHFL, Indiabulls Housing, Can Fin Homes, Gruh Finance, etc. Timing is most crucial element in investing or trading. This timing can be known through financial astrology. Astrology is only science which can predict future correctly & guide us about sectors which have to outperform. Every year with commencement of new Samvat (Hindu New Year), astrologically, based on planetary position, certain new sectors start getting strong astrological support & start outperforming, while some others sectors which were performing earlier start underperforming. Some sectors/stocks remain laggards. Stocks of astrological supported sectors outperform resulting in exorbitant gains irrespective of market behaviour, either bull market or bear market. Predicting bullish sectors of next Samvat 2074 Every year we release sectors of new Samvat in the month of March/April when new Samvat starts. But this year, we shall prepone release of next Samvat sectors, which are going to get strong astrological support & stocks from those sector outperform markets. Purpose of releasing sectors of next Samvat earlier is that investors & traders should get maximum advantage of down trend of markets by good timing. We firmly believe that these special astrological positions present very unique opportunities to investors and traders both. This opportunity, if utilised properly, can safeguard your existing portfolio and simultaneously optimise your future investments and trading also. Successful investing and trading is all about good timing only. Needless to mention our innumerable past predictions, where most stocks from the SECTORS of SAMVAT gave exorbitant returns & certain stocks appreciated by over 500 percent. During current Samavat 2073 among other sectors dyes/chemical/sugar sector received strong astrological support & outperformed and gave exorbitant return. Many stocks from dyes/ chemical sector appreciated by over 500 percent Sectors which get very strong astrological support are not normally affected by downfall in the market. : The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. Bull's Eye, CNBC-TV18's popular game show, where market experts come together to dish out trading strategies for you to make your week more exciting and compete with each other to see whose portfolio is the strongest. Remember these are midcap ideas not just for the day, but stocks that look attractive in the medium-term as well. This week, Sameet Chavan, Rakesh Bansal and Sumeet Jain battle it out for top honours. Below their top stock picks and analysis: Sameet Chavan of Angel Broking Buy Cholamandalam Investment with a stoploss at Rs 1122 and target of Rs 1220 Buy Just Dial with a stoploss at Rs 347 and target of Rs 385 Buy Granules India with a stoploss at Rs 142.80 and target of Rs 153 Sell Jet Airways with a stoploss at Rs 616 and target of Rs 575 Rakesh Bansal of RK Global Buy Dhanlaxmi Bank with a stoploss at Rs 41.3 and target of Rs 47.7 Buy Dhampur Sugar with a stoploss at Rs 199.5 and target of Rs 225 Buy SREI Infra with a stoploss at Rs 123.5 and target of Rs 134 Buy DLF with a stoploss at Rs 198.2 and target of Rs 214 Sumeet Jain of Destimoney Securities Buy Indian Bank with a stoploss at Rs 327 and target of Rs 349 Buy KEC International with a stoploss at Rs 304 and target of Rs 334 Buy Sterlite Technologies with a stoploss at Rs 164 and target of Rs 193 Buy Sun Pharma Advanced (SPARC) with a stoploss at Rs 319 and target of Rs 354 Answer: Claudio Grotto and GAS (Representative Image) live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Moneycontrol Research With markets on a roll, investors are looking beyond frontline stocks to unearth value. Amid the frenzy, Nandan Denim Limited (NDL), a little-known textile midcap, has lately caught the Street's fancy. The company is India's largest denim manufacturer. Having completed its capacity expansion and backward integration, NDL looks set to garner market share in the post-GST regime as unorganized players grapple with the reality of new taxes. Denim fabric, which contributes 80-90 percent to NDL's annual turnover on an average, is the company's forte. Here's a look at the key tailwinds that make the stock fundamentally robust. Denim fabric capacity expansion: NDLs fabric manufacturing capacity, which stood at 99 million metres per annum (mmpa) at the start of FY17, increased to 110 mmpa in December 2016, post expansion. Going forward, emphasis will be laid on fashion denim fabric to target better realizations compared to regular denim material. A combination of higher sales volumes and value added products is likely to fuel top-line growth in the coming fiscals. Backward integration completion: NDL more than doubled its spinning capacity from 64 tonnes per day (TPD) in FY16 to 141 TPD by the end of FY17. This will ensure adequate availability of yarn for the companys fabric manufacturing unit, besides reducing the degree of dependence on outside suppliers for raw material and facilitating margin accretion. Foray into premium shirting fabric: NDLs shirting fabric facility (annual capacity of 10 mmpa), which handled manufacturing of grey shirting fabric until now, has been equipped to manufacture superior variants. The average selling price per metre of the new fabric type is 60-400 percent higher vis-a-vis grey shirting fabric, which was previously sold at around Rs 100 per metre. Simultaneously, a new yarn dyeing plant was commissioned during the recently concluded fiscal to meet input requirements of the shirting fabric department. The costlier dyed yarn (in comparison to non-dyed) would consequently help the company to command a premium pricing on its shirting material, eventually causing margins to go up. GST benefits: Post GST implementation, a large number of unorganised manufacturers, by virtue of falling under the tax ambit, will end up losing a significant degree of the competitive edge that they enjoyed over their tax-compliant counterparts over the years. Moreover, GST rate on cotton, the key raw material for NDL, is at par with the pre-GST tax scenario, thereby keeping input procurement costs stable. Growing fabric demand: Indias denim market is clocking a consistent CAGR of 15-18 percent per annum and is expected to register a retail value of $361 billion by 2020 from the current level of $177 billion. Versatility of denim fabric, presence of numerous denim varieties across the country at different price points, better fashion consciousness, booming e-commerce retailing channels, higher disposable incomes, and geography-agnostic use are some of the other major industry drivers that NDL could possibly capitalize on. Indian denim manufacturers gaining traction globally: Internationally, the denim industry is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 6.5 percent till 2020, with Latin America and Asia being the front-runners in the premium and super premium segments. Of late, China, Indias biggest rival in the textile space, has been losing its export advantage, particularly to Indian entities, because of higher labour and compliance costs, in addition to declining cotton output (on account of increasing attention towards other cash crops). Evidently, a huge market awaits Indias denim products. Peer Comparison Valuation FY17 was a challenging year for NDL on many fronts. While a surge in cotton prices led to margin compression, the companys top-line suffered a setback in the immediate aftermath of demonetisation, too. The expanded capacity didnt yield revenues in the first nine months of the year. With cotton prices now stabilizing (owing to an upswing in acreage pan-India) and capacity additions over, the company can look forward to gaining some momentum in earnings. Nonetheless, though NDL is gradually steering the business towards the value added denim category, unfavourable cyclical fluctuations associated with commoditized denim (that occupies a sizeable share of the companys product portfolio) could impact margins. Stiff competition from organised players in the fashion denim business may lead to a loss in market share for the company, thus necessitating constant innovation in terms of styling and design. However, with most of the challenges largely behind, the stock valuation, at 8.7x FY19 estimated earnings, provides a very interesting accumulation opportunity for the investors. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Indias salt to software conglomerate Tata Group is giving thought to reorganise its technology and infrastructure businesses in order to reduce the number of companies it manages, as per a report published in Livemint. The report, quoting people aware of the development, said that many of the groups technology businesses would move into the fold of Tata Consultancy Services Limited (TCS), which generates a bulk of the groups revenue. The conglomerate manages more than 100 operating companies in its fold and wants to shed some units, which do not fit into the core businesses. TCS may take over the control of Tata Elxsi, a product engineering and solution firm along with Tata Interactive Systems, which deals in computer-assisted learning products, as well as privately held Tata Business Support Services Ltd. After taking over as Tata Sons Chairman, Natarajan Chandrasekaran has been focusing on overhauling the USD 100 billion conglomerate and had hired former investment banker Saurabh Agrawal as chief financial officer, a post lying vacant for five years. There are also plans to combine several infrastructure businesses into a single company. This could include air-conditioning and engineering services provider Voltas , Tata Realty & Infrastructure Limited which builds bridges and airports and EPC firm Tata Projects. Answer: Vijay Mallya live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More A joint team of the ED and the CBI is in London to brief UK prosecution, working on the extradition of fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya, and submit fresh proof in the case, officials said. The visiting officials of the two central probe agencies will also submit the charge-sheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate in the case last month in Mumbai, said a senior official in the Mallya probe team. "The Indian investigators will also brief Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) officials about the contents of the ED charge-sheet and the evidence produced in it. Some other legal issues will also be discussed," the official said. The CPS will argue the case in the court on behalf of the Indian government. The official added that the ED's legal advisor will explain in detail the charges made out against Mallya, some more evidence, attachments made by it and other legal points mentioned in the charge-sheet filed under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The ED will also seek cooperation from countries like France, Singapore, Mauritius, Ireland, the US and the UAE to probe certain transactions and the shell companies involved. Nine accused have been named in the charge-sheet filed by the ED. The list includes Mallya, Kingfisher Airlines (KFA), United Breweries (Holding) Limited and senior employees and executives of the now-defunct airline and the IDBI (Industrial Development Bank of India) bank. The agency has called Mallya "prime mover of the entire plot" in the charge-sheet and described how funds obtained from the bank loan were allegedly routed illegally, including "substantial payments" being diverted to the Formula-1 car racing event abroad. Mallya, who is wanted in India for Kingfisher Airlines' default on loans worth nearly Rs 9,000 crore, has been in the UK since March 2016 and was arrested by Scotland Yard on an extradition warrant on April 18. A United Kingdom court recently rejected Mallya's request to shift the final hearing date in his extradition case to next year and fixed it for December 4. Both the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are probing Mallya and others for alleged charges of corruption and money laundering. Here's a summary of the election Ram Nath Kovind has been elected as the 14th President of India. Here's the vote break-up Meira Kumar: 3,67,314 Ram Nath Kovind: 7,02,044 Total votes cast: 10,69,358 Ram Nath Kovind congratulates Meira Kumar for her campaign. Says the rainy weather in Delhi today reminds him of his childhood. He pays tribute to the farmers, oppressed and the poor of the country, and says they should never give up hope. Kovind says he had never thought he would ever become President but will carry out his duties with pride. He finishes off by promising to be a loyal servant of the country. Meira Kumar graceful after defeat congratulates Kovind and thanks parliamentarians for supporting her candidature. "I send my good wishes to him." I thank Sonia Gandhi and leaders of opposition parties for their support, she says. "My battle for ideology doesn't end. it will continue. The principles that I am fighting are sacred," she says. 17:10 Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath congratulates Kovind for bagging two-third of the total votes in the presidential race. He thanks and wishes the best for Kovind on behalf of the citizens of Uttar Pradesh. The state would like to welcome and host him after he takes oath as the 14th President of India, he adds. 17:05 Meira Kumar is speaking now. She congratulates Ram Nath Kovind and thanks parliamentarians for supporting her candidature. "I send my good wishes to him." I thank Sonia Gandhi and leaders of opposition parties for their support, she says. "My battle for ideology doesn't end. it will continue. The principles that I am fighting are sacred," she says. 16:55 Ram Nath Kovind is speaking now. It's his first speech since being elected President. He congratulates Meira Kumar for her campaign. Says the rainy weather in Delhi today reminds him of his childhood. He pays tribute to the farmers, oppressed and the poor of the country, and says they should never give up hope. Kovind says he had never thought he would ever become President but will carry out his duties with pride. He finishes off by promising to be a loyal servant of the country. 16:53 Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi says cross-voting is not a surprise, but adds that it has taken place on both sides. Modi Meira 20 years ago and the presentalways been a privilege to know you, President Elect. pic.twitter.com/IkhnOtYf8N Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 20, 2017 Prime Ministerhas also commendedKumar: I also congratulate @meira_kumar Ji for her campaign, which was in spirit of the democratic ethos & values we all are proud of. 16:50 Here's what BJP President Amit Shah has to say: The election of Shri Ram Nath Kovind ji is a victory for the poor, downtrodden & marginalised and their aspirations. 16:46 Here's the vote break-up: Meira Kumar: 3,67,314 Ram Nath Kovind: 7,02,044 Total votes cast: 10,69,358 16:45 The Prime Minister has also tweeted: "Always been a privilege to know you, President Elect." 16:40 The wishes are starting to roll in. Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has tweeted his congratulations to Kovind. 16:35 Cross-voting has taken place in Gujarat, Assam, Goa, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh in favour of Ram Nath Kovind. The Opposition will be miffed. 16:25 How much do you know about Ram Nath Kovind? Read our detailed profile on his background here. 16:20 It's official! Returning Officer Anoop Kumar confirms Ram Nath Kovind's victory. The NDA candidate won more than seven lakh votes as opposed to Meira Kumar, who crossed the three-lakh mark. 16:15 Several TV channels are reporting that Kovind has reached a majority. Important to note, however, that there is no official confirmation yet. 16:05 CNN-News18, quoting sources, says that Kovind has won 66 percent of the votes. No official confirmation yet. 16:00 In Delhi, Ram Nath Kovind got 6 votes, while opposition candidate Meira Kumar got 55. Six of the votes were rejected. 15:46 The vote counts we've been bringing are for "vote values", which is the formula adopted for these elections. If the one-person-one-vote principle is followed, then Kovind leads Kumar by 1,389 votes to 576 votes. 15:35 Six more rounds of counting to go. But with Kovind nearing the majority mark, will his victory be confirmed in the next round itself? We should find out shortly. 15:30 In case you're still wondering how the President of India is elected, here's our 2-minute video explainer. 15:20 West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has already tweeted her congratulations to Ram Nath Kovind. 15:00 CNN-News18 reports that there has been cross-voting in Gujarat in favour of Kovind. The state goes to the polls later this year so the BJP will be pleased. 14:50 So where do we stand? Counting has been completed in Parliament and in 11 states. Kovind needs nearly 5.5 lakh votes to win and already has 4.79 lakh votes. 14:40 Here's the state-wise break up from the second round of counting: Goa: Ram Nath Kovind (500); Meira Kumar (220)Himachal Pradesh: Kovind (1,530); Kumar (1,087)Jammu and Kashmir: Kovind (4,032); Meira Kumar (20,160) Jharkhand: Kovind (8,976); Kumar (4,576). 14:35 "I am not upset with initial trends," says Meira Kumar. 14:20 Round 2 is now over and there's official word from the Returning Officer. Kovind has won 4,79,585 votes. Meira Kumar has won 2,04,594. Kovind is inching closer to the halfway mark of around 5.5 lakh votes. 14:05 Here's the state-wise break up of votes: Ram Nath Kovind (27,189); Meira Kumar (0)Kovind (448); Kumar (24)Kovind (10,556); Kumar (460) Bihar: Kovind (22,460); Kumar (18,857) 13:50 An important correction: The lead is not one lakh votes, but 40,000. Anoop Mishra, Returning Officer, says Kovind has won 60,683 votes while Kumar has won 22,941 votes. 13:45 Since the votes are counted from states in alphabetical order, big states like Andhra Pradesh and Bihar were among the early lot. Kovind is reportedly leading in Bihar, where coalition partners JD(U) and RJD put their weight behind different candidates. JD(U) for Kovind, RJD for Meira Kumar. 13:30 The first round of voting has ended and Ram Nath Kovind has a big lead of nearly 1 lakh votes. In all, nearly 11 lakh electoral votes are up for grabs. Seven more rounds to go. 13:15 Kovind has kept a low profile in general, but is an experienced hand. Here's all you need to know about him. 13:00 The first trend is expected anytime now. Remember, there will be eight rounds of counting. 12:45 Wondering how the winner will be declared? The Returning Officer will go to the winning candidate to handover the certificate of election. 12:30 The first trend is expected in the next half an hour. 12:15 Cross-voting could be key. There have already been murmurs of this happening in Bengal. In Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party's Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son Akhilesh said they have voted for different candidates. 12:05 The Aam Aadmi Party is supporting opposition candidate Meira Kumar but their Punjab leaders-led by HS Phoolka may have voted for the NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind. 12:00 Thirty-two polling stations including the one in Parliament House were set up in various states for this election. 11:45 More from Meira Kumar: "Great belief in ideology I fought for, also believe in inner voice of conscience. Lets see how much it prevails." 11:33 There will be eight rounds of counting. After every round, there will be a briefing about who is leading the vote. 11:30 Counting has begun. 11:20 Meira Kumar tells CNN-News18 that she is still confident of winning the election. 11:05 First, the ballot box of Parliament House will be opened, and then the ballot boxes received from states would be counted on an alphabetical basis. This means that votes from Uttar Pradesh, which has the most electoral votes, will be among the last to be counted. 10:50 With the votes cast through secret ballot, there is the possibility of cross-voting, which means a BJP leader is allowed to vote for Opposition candidate Meira Kumar. Trends in this regard will be clear once the results are declared. 10:35 As per the electoral process, while the value of an MLA's vote depends on the population of the state he or she belongs to, the value of an MP's vote remains the same at 708. In all, nearly 11 lakh votes are up for grabs and the winning candidate will have to win more than 50 percent of these votes. 10:25 Ram Nath Kovind, the candidate fielded by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, is expected to coast to a landslide victory with at least 40 parties expected to back him and propel him to nearly 70 percent of the vote. His main rival is Meira Kumar, the former Lok Sabha Speaker, was fielded by the Congress-led Opposition parties and is believed to have the support of less than 20 parties. 10:15 Counting will begin at 11.30am and the outcome is expected to be known by 5pm. 10:10 Voting took place on Monday, in which the Electoral College - 776 Members of Parliament and more than 4,000 Members of Legislative Assembly - cast their ballot. Close to 99 percent voting was recorded. Good morning and welcome to live coverage of the 2017 Presidential Election Results. India will know the identity of its 14th President by the end of the day and we'll bring you frequent updates through the day. As the Monsoon Session of Parliament got underway earlier this week, farmers from six states gathered in large numbers a short distance away at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi to make their grievances known. Among the protesters were 100 Tamil Nadu farmers who revived the protests which had first begun in March this year. While demanding loan waivers, they had carried skulls to symbolise the farmers who committed suicide in the state. Even as the farmers at Jantar Mantar stood united in their cause, Tamil Nadu's legislators gave themselves a generous pay hike on Wednesday, nearly doubling their salary from Rs 55,000 to Rs 1.05 lakh. About a fortnight ago, a group of agitating farmers had set forth on a 'Kisan Mukti Yatra' under the Swaraj Abhiyan with twin demands of remunerative farming and debt relief. The yatra from Madhya Pradesh which started on July 6, one month after alleged police action during farmer protests killed six in Mandsaur district, has passed through six states before it reached Jantar Mantar on Wednesday. Children of Maharashtra farmers who committed suicide performed a skit to attract the government's attention to their plight. The family members and friends of the farmers who lost their lives during the Mandsaur violence were also present. Farmer suicides is one of the key issues to be discussed during the Monsoon Session, with the Opposition parties questioning the government about their inability to meet farmers' needs. CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury pledged to fight for farmer rights. According to National Crime Records Bureau data, there were 5,650 registered cases of farmer suicides in 2015 which accounted for 43 percent of total suicides in India. Maharashtra recorded the highest number of suicides followed by Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka with 45.5 percent, 15.9 percent and 14.6 percent, respectively. The report also said that the primary reason for farmer suicides was bankruptcy and indebtedness, accounting for 21.5 percent of the cases. BSF A report by the US clubbing Pakistan among nations providing "safe havens" to terrorists validated India's position that terrorism emanating from the country was a cause of global concern, the external affairs ministry said on Thursday. Spokesperson in the Ministry, Gopal Baglay, said the international community is on the same page with India on terrorism emanating from Pakistan and their solidarity with New Delhi on cross border terrorism is now moving towards enforcement and action. In the report, the US yesterday listed Pakistan among the nations providing "safe havens" to terrorists, saying terror groups like the LeT and the JeM continued to operate, train and raise funds inside that country. A similar report was released by the US last year too. Talking about cooperation between India and the US in effectively dealing with terror, Baglay said the US has taken or proposes to take a number of measures against Islamabad to contain terrorism. Replying to a question on mentioning of Naxals as terror group in the report, Baglay said like terrorists, they also cause huge damage and loss of lives. "...we all know it is terrorism." Asked about ceasefire violations in the last few days by Pakistan along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir, he said India has lodged a protest with Pakistan in a note verbale. He said a total of 240 ceasefire violations by Pakistan have been reported in the current year so far which is significantly high compared to last year. Baglay said the LoC was coming under pressure due to attempts by terrorists to cross over to India. He said India has asked Pakistan to maintain the ceasefire arrangement of 2003. Moneycontrol News For the longest time, India has been one of the few countries in the world without a privacy statute. As the Supreme Court debates on the landmark judgement of whether to make privacy a fundamental right, heres a look at how privacy stands in India at present in comparison with the other countries: Currently, neither the constitution nor any law recognises privacy as a fundamental right. The constitutional undercurrent of the privacy law judgement remains whether right to privacy has assumed the character of a fundamental right given the passage of time and technological transformation. The Aadhaar Link The relationship of the Right to Privacy in relation to Aadhaar has further complicated the debate. The central government issued the Aadhaar Act in 2016 and it has since been aggressively expanding the list of things to which Aadhaar is to be mandatorily linked. Currently and this list includes PAN, tax returns, bank accounts and mobile numbers. Also read: Aadhaar Conundrum: Do Indians have right to privacy? SC to deliver verdict today Legal examples of surveillance and privacy violations from the governments side are still fresh in public memory. The Nira Radia tapes controversy where phones were tapped of corporate lobbyists, journalists among others by the Income Tax Department, tapping of pro-Patel reservation agitator Hardik Patel's phone on grounds of which his arrest was made by the Gujarat government, and the Essar Group-led phone tapping of corporate chiefs, cabinet ministers and bureaucrats. A judgment in the Justice K.S Puttaswamy & Another vs. Union of India and Others claims: The Constitution of India does not specifically guarantee a right to privacy. However, through various judgments over the years, Indian courts have interpreted the other rights in the Constitution as giving rise to a (limited) right to privacy primarily through Article 21, the right to life and liberty. In 2015, this interpretation was challenged and referred to a larger bench of the Supreme Court (the highest Court in the country) in the writ petition. International Inspiration ? A report by HT states that Europe has been at the forefront of privacy legislation and recently came out with a draft Digital Single Market plan that has a default opt-out for data sharing users, instead of a default opt-in as is the case today. The same report also quotes another interesting principle form EU legislation that could be utilized by adopting in India. Called Datensparsamkeit, it a part of German privacy legislation and advocates the idea of storing personal information as per absolute requirement basis for business or applicable laws. The Information Technology Act, meanwhile is responsible for all the data protection issues. Presently there is no explicit law in India that allows an affected individual to find out what information is held about themselves. Other than the Right to Information Act, regulatory bodies and the role they play, and cyber appellate tribunals. A paper titled Online Privacy in India, by the Center for Internet and Society, states that the The Information Technology Act also allows for the interference of user privacy online by defining broad standards of access to law enforcement and security agencies, and providing the government with the determine what tools an individual can use to protect their privacy. The undercurrent of the issue remains that right to privacy has not assumed the character of a fundamental right given the passage of time and great leaps of technology that has made it easy to invade into an individuals privacy. A man sleeps on a bench in a park. Image: Reuters. Researchers have discovered that insomnia or the inability to sleep at night as people age could actually be a hereditary trait rather a health problem. Scientists from the Duke University in South Carolina studied a hunter-gatherer tribe Hazda from Tanzania and observed that there were only 18 minutes in a day when all members of the tribe slept simultaneously, as reported in the Evening Standard. Such a sleep pattern, as the researchers noted, ensured that at least one member of the tribe is awake all the time to look out for predators or potential dangers. The scientists theorise that when farming was not developed this trait could have been true for all the tribes and now humans carry that trait and experience restless nights as they grow old. A lot of older people go to doctors complaining that they wake up early and cant get back to sleep. But maybe theres nothing wrong with them. Maybe some of the medical issues we have today could be explained not as disorders, but as a relic of an evolutionary past in which they were beneficial, the report quoted Charlie Nunn, professor of evolutionary anthropology at Duke University. Similar traits have also been discovered among mice and birds but this is the first time such a study has been done on humans. The study was done on 33 members of the tribe who still live as the primitive humans lived. The tribe usually sleeps in a group of 20 to 30 people. The Supreme Court on Thursday asked searching questions about contours of right to privacy in the digital age when personal information was randomly shared with all types of government and private entities. The apex court, which has ventured to examine whether right to privacy can be held as a fundamental right, wanted to know about the tests which could be used to regulate and enforce privacy right when there could be "legitimate or illegitimate" use of data. The top court gave the examples of personal information like thumb impression people voluntarily gave for using mobile phones and i-Phones which, it said, in a way amounted to surrender of privacy to both private and government bodies. "So does it amount to surrender of the constitutional or personal rights?" it asked It said a large section of the people gave consent for data for a particular purpose, but wanted to know about the section which was unconcerned about the collection of data. A specially constitituted nine-judge bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar sought to know how and what should be the test if there was uninformed consent for use of data by majority of internet and mobile users. "How could the State step in to protect or regulate data. The moment you open your i-Pad by using your thumb impression, your finger print may get into public domain and you may not know," it said. While asking about contours of right to privacy in the modern digital age, the bench, also comprising Justices J Chelameswar, S A Bobde, R K Agrawal, Rohinton Fali Nariman, Abhay Manohar Sapre, D Y Chandrachud, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and S Abdul Nazeer, said that if it could be invoked against the "world at large", then the State would have to make a law to safeguard it. It said contours of this right have expanded in the ageof Internet and data protection where private players were also privy to personal information of citizens. "If there is a right to privacy which is horizontal and is actionable against the world at large and not just the State, then the immediate consequence will be an obligation on the State to enact a law to regulate private players also to ensure that this right is protected," the bench said. It asked as to what would be remedies available to the aggrieved persons if their right to privacy was violated by "non-state actors". "The State is then under an obligation to ensure that personal data does not go to private (non-State) parties," it said. The bench also said, "The government cannot say that your right has been violated by private parties and hence, it cannot do anything". The court, which yesterday observed that right to privacy could not be abolute and the State might put restrictions, questioned the extent upto which a person could claim right to privacy and decide to part or not to part with the personal information. Giving an illustration, it said an individual could apply for a passport and refuse to give information about his father or a person could decline details about the biological parents of his adopted son. "In the context of digital age, how far or to which extent, can a person say that he will disclose or he will not disclose...Can you have right to privacy to suppress your identity," the bench asked. The second day of the day-long hearing saw senior advocates like Arvind Datar, Anand Grover, Sajan Poovayya and Meenakshi Arora pressing hard that right to privacy was inherently linked to fundamental right which could not be invaded and that the government had the responsibility to protect it from being violated by both the state and private entities. Datar said in every jurisprudence, contours of right to privacy differed on a case-to-case basis and assailed the views expressed in the M P Sharma and Kharak Singh cases by the apex court that the right to privacy was not a fundamental right, saying, "Now they do not hold good." Grover also supported the arguments in favour of privacy right and assailed the verdict in the M P Sharma case, saying that the right to privacy was not argued. The senior lawyer said the Constitution iwas a living document and its interpretation must be done in accordance with passage of time and developments in the law. "The interpretation of the Constitution must be done in light of the developing law domestically and internationally and India's obligations under various international legal instruments," he said. "This is very important," the bench said, adding that if India was signatory of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, then the subsequent judgement in the M P Sharma case in 1954 was "wrong at its very inception". Another senior advocate Sajan Poovayya referred to the fact that India has more mobile and internet users than the US and the apex court should must consider right to privacy issue in a holistic manner and referred to a US judgement on privacy. "What is your position on consent or informed consent to disseminate data or when there is no consent at all. What should be the contours of right of privacy then," the bench asked. The lawyer then said that in Karnataka a law was brought under which the state government sought data from taxi aggregators, about the people booking taxis and from which location and to which place. "There is no justification for the government to seek such data from taxi aggregators. What will the State do with such data about people, but then it can be misused if the State takes the data to find out that you travelled from one place to such specific place on weekends," he said. The bench then said if a person is involved in terrorist activity, then will it not be an obligation of the State to seek and use the data about a person travelling from one place to anoother. Poovayya said in the digital world, the collection and analysis of data were being done simultaneously in such a way through artificial intelligence that it was not known to everybody. He said in today's world, digital property is as important as physical property and that's why the need for right to privacy becomes paramount. The arguments remained inconclusive and would resume on July 25 when Attorney General K K Venugopal would put forth the government's views. Monsoon_rain A system developed over the Bay of Bengal a couple of weeks back has been shifting towards Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra, bringing good amount of rain in the eastern parts of the state as well as the central and south-central regions of the country, an IMD official said. "A system developed over the Bay of Bengal a couple of weeks back has been gradually shifting towards Maharashtra. It brought good showers in Odisha in the last week, followed by Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra. The significance of this shift is that Vidarbha region in Maharashtra is getting good showers," Dr A K Srivastav, head of climate monitoring and analysis group, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) told PTI. There is also a depression forming over central India that has pulled the south-west monsoon, which brought more showers, the official said adding, "For the last five days, these developments are taking place gradually and the intensity of precipitation has gone up significantly." The data released by IMD's New Delhi centre today also confirmed this development. Till July 18, Vidarbha region's cumulative rainfall from June 1 to July 18 was 278.9 mm with departure of -20 per cent. However, the rainfall registered in the last 24 hours, Vidarbha region on an average received 58.4 mm rainfall and the deficiency level changed from -20 per cent to -6 per cent. "Parts of Marathwada and Vidarbha regions will continue to receive heavy showers in the next 48 hours. This would certainly improve the overall rainfall figures and support the sowing activities and growth of the crops," the officer said. Pixabay The popular cartoon character Winniethe-Pooh and the only Facebook product allowed in China WhatsApp are the latest victims of recent clampdowns on Internet freedom by the Chinese authorities. Users of Twitters Chinese version Weibo and a messaging app WeChat reported problems while posting references about the cartoon character. Winnie-the-Pooh is a cartoon bear from author AA Milnes childrens book. The clampdown is because the authorities observed that some people are using the images of Winnie-the-Pooh to show the resemblance to Chinese President Xi Jinping on social media, reported The New York Times. The ruling Communist Party frowns upon the slightest of criticism towards its powerful leader. The particular images or memes in question show cartoon characters like Eeyore, Winnie and his companion Tigger compared with images of Xi Jinping's meetings with world leaders such as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and former US President Barack Obama. Trending on Weibo: Abe as Eeyore and Xi as a smug Pooh #APEC pic.twitter.com/lx53FzkVzu Deirdre Bosa (@dee_bosa) November 10, 2014 These memes started in 2013 and since then the governments army of censors have been trying to curb their circulation. According to a research report, Winnie the Pooh as Xi Jinping was the most censored post on the internet in China in 2015. On the other hand, users of WhatsApp in the country said that they were also facing problems in sending images, videos and even text messages, according to another NYT report. China has a history of blocking social media and messaging services. An Audi commercial aired in China that compares used cars to women has drawn flak from netizens all around the world. The advertisement begins with a wedding scene where a couple is waiting to read their vows. Before the groom says "I do" his mother intervenes and runs to inspect the bride. The mother pulls the bride's ear and nose to make sure she is perfect. After the mother is done, she signals her approval much to the relief of the couple. However, in the very next scene, the mother immediately shifts her attention to the brides bosom to which the anxious bride covers her chest area with her hands. The advertisement then shows a red Audi sedan whizzing past on a highway with a voiceover saying: an important decision must be made carefully. The netizens flooded Weibo, a Twitter-like platform in China, with criticism and disapproval of the apparently sexist ad, according to a report in The Washington Post. Terming the advertisement disgusting people urged others to boycott the automaker whereas several others asked for an apology, stated the report. A Weibo page devoted to the ad has been viewed more than 200,000 times. An Audi spokesperson, talking to The Washington Post, regretted the advertisement and informed that it has been withdrawn. The ads perception that has been created for many people does not correspond to the values of our company in any way, the report quoted Audi spokesman Moritz Drechsel. U.S. President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping chat as they walk along the front patio of the Mar-a-Lago estate after a bilateral meeting in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., April 7, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria - RTX34M80 As the two largest economic powers of the world, the US and China have "strong overlapping interests" and they need to focus on a fair and balanced economic relationship, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said today. Advancing President Donald Trump's agenda, Mnuchin said a fair and balanced trade means providing the same access for American firms in China as the US provide for Chinese firms. "As the world's two largest economies and the major drivers of global growth, the US and China have strong overlapping interests. We need to work together to maximize the benefits for both sides. We need to focus on a fair and balanced economic relationship between the US and China," he said at the inaugural Comprehensive Economic Dialogue between the two countries. Established by Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping during their Mar-a-Lago Summit, the Comprehensive Economic Dialogue is an important step in economic relations between the two countries, Mnuchin said. "With the Comprehensive Economic Dialogue, our hope is that we can increase our focus on concrete and targeted commitments to address both short- and long-term strategic challenges," Mnuchin as he welcomed the high-powered Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier Wang Yang. The Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross also address the meeting along with Wang. Mnuchin said a fair and balanced trade means addressing the imbalances caused by Chinese government intervention in its economy, as well as addressing the impact of China's industrial, agricultural, technological, and cyber policies on US jobs and exports. "It means holding the US and China to a high standard of communicating new and revised policies and regulations so that governments and individuals worldwide can better tailor their policy and investment decisions," the treasury secretary said. "A more balanced economic relationship will create prosperity for our two countries. With strong, sustainable growth benefits the US, China, and the world, US and Chinese stated economic goals can be mutually beneficial. We should pursue these areas of common interest," he said. For example, China's rebalancing toward household consumption and away from relying on investment and exports will not only generate healthy, sustainable Chinese growth but will also create more consumers for US goods and services, he said. "Opening China's markets to foreign firms will improve the competitiveness of Chinese firms and ultimately provide higher quality goods and services to Chinese consumers. Foreign participation in China's financial sector will help improve the allocation of resources to the most productive sectors of the Chinese economy and contribute to a stronger global financial system," Mnuchin said. The United States, he said, is committed to restoring robust growth through three key policies: reforming the tax system, streamlining regulations, and improving trade policy. "The United States and China must also work together - both bilaterally and multilaterally - to foster a healthy and sustainable global economy. We must look to strengthen the existing international economic architecture and to advance high standards in development finance," Mnuchin said. A day earlier, the Chinese Vice Premier urged the US to relax export barriers against China. "The Chinese and US economies do have a competitive dimension, but there is far greater complementarity than competition," he said at a business luncheon. The United States has lifted the ban on laptops in hand baggage in direct flights from Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Arabian airlines reported. The notification said that two main airports which connect to the US have received clearance from the ban. King Abdul-Aziz International Airport in Jeddah and King Khalid International Airport, Riyadh which have direct flights from Saudi Arabia to the US have been both cleared to allow laptops in aircraft cabins. In March, Donald Trump-led government had banned laptops and other electronic devices in hand baggage to and from the US airports. US officials will, however, continue to check if the Saudi Airports are conforming to the the new security measures. Earlier this month, Dubai-based Emirates and Turkish Airlines said that their flights will not comply to the ban anymore. However, the travel ban is still imposed on six Muslim nations Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya, Iran and Yemen despite been challenged by many citizens in the US courts. Two Democratic state senators some of Iowa Medicaids most vocal advocates are urging Gov. Kim Reynolds to petition Iowas pair of Republican senators to oppose any federal legislation that could jeopardize dollars for the Medicaid expansion. In 2011, Iowas Republican and Democratic state legislators worked together to expand the Medicaid program through the Iowa Health and Wellness program, which gave insurance to an additional 150,000 low-income adults. That along with individual health care plans offered through the Affordable Care Act exchange helped push the states uninsured rate down from 8.1 percent to 5 percent. Thats why we ask you to stand up for Iowa the way other Republican and Democratic governors have stood up for their states, wrote Sens. Liz Mathis, D-Cedar Rapids, and Amanda Ragan, D-Mason City. The two state senators pointed to comments made by Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval both Republicans about the necessity of the Medicaid expansion to help their states most vulnerable populations. Medicaid expansion also has reduced the levels of charity care at hospitals, the senators wrote. The cost of unpaid charity care in Iowa could again reach the billion-dollar-a-year level it had reached before the Medicaid expansion, Mathis and Ragan wrote. This would increase the price of health insurance generally and be especially harmful to hospitals and health care providers in Iowas rural communities. If Medicaid is cut significantly, rural health care providers could be forced to close. That would have a devastating effect on patient access to health care and would be a major blow to the continued viability of Iowas small towns. The governors office said in an email that, While Washington works through its differences, Gov. Reynolds is focused on advocating for a stopgap measure to protect 72,000 Iowans from losing coverage. Obamacare is unaffordable, unsustainable and unworkable. Its led to premiums increasing 110 percent, and its collapsing before our eyes. The governor hopes Congress and the president are able to come together on a plan to cover Iowa families while bringing down those skyrocketing premiums. The stopgap would give consumers age- and income-based tax credits, as well as use a reinsurance mechanism for costly medical claims. Governor Reynolds, we urge you to speak up in defense of Iowa families, Iowa health care providers, Iowa jobs and the state budget. Specifically, we urge you to contact Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst as soon as possible. Encourage them to speak out publicly against health care changes that would devastate Iowans and the Iowa economy, the two senators wrote. Education Montgomery County Community College will present the spring installment of the interview/talk show program Issues and Insights April 20 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in Science Center room 214, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The programs will be simulcast to the Colleges West Campus in South Hall room 216, 101 College Drive, Pottstown. Dr. Kolsky will offer a humorous presentation, Carrots, Sticks and Politics: A State of the Nation and the World Message. In this speech, he will provide his interpretation of domestic and international politics and then welcome questions from the audience for discussion. Issues and Insights, is free and open to the public. For information, contact Dr. Thomas Kolsky, professor of political science, at 215-641-6380 or tkolsky@mc3.edu. Montgomery County Community Colleges STEM Scholars Program will host a STEM Jam! open house April 25 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Advanced Technology Center at the Colleges Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The drop-in event is designed for students interested in learning more about careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Activities will include STEM program information and career advising, STEM speakers throughout the day from industry and academia, micro-helicopter and robotics competitive obstacle courses and demonstrations and static models of STEM student and faculty work. For more information about STEM Jam! or STEM programs at MCCC, contact William Brownlowe at wbrownlowe@mc3.edu or 215-641-6644, or Robin Zuhlke at 215-619-7440 or rzuhlke@mc3.edu. Temple Ambler, located at 580 Meetinghouse Road, presents the following events: International Club Global Bazaar April 15 from 5 to 8 p.m. The Ambler Campus International Club invites all students, faculty, staff and the community to celebrate a multitude of diverse cultures, which will be showcased at the organizations Global Bazaar. This family friendly event will highlight cultural traditions and celebrations in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, South American, North America and Africa through music, entertainment, food and informative displays developed and presented by students at the Ambler Campus. Young visitors will be provided with passports, which they may get stamped at each country they visit. Prizes will be awarded to world travelers who talk to cultural representatives, answer questions about the countries theyve visited and take part in fun-filled activities designed to help them learn about the rich diversity of cultures found throughout the world. Refreshments will be served. The event is free. For more information, call 267-468-8108 or e-mail tuc36466@temple.edu. EarthFest 2011 April 29 from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. More than 75 exhibitors, including the Philadelphia Zoo, The Franklin Institute, the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Elmwood Park Zoo and the Insectarium, will take part in EarthFest 2011. School students of all ages are invited to attend and develop displays of their own. EarthFest partner the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society also offers its Kids Grow Expo, featuring the Junior Flower Show, as part of the event. For more information, call 267-468-8108 or e-mail duffyj@temple.edu. Annual Spring Plant Sale May 7 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The plant sale an Ambler Campus tradition dating back to the early 1900s will feature woody plants and perennials in portable sizes, hardy trees, shrubs, and vines, native plants that are attractive to wildlife, herbs, and hanging baskets. There will also be numerous special plants for sale to highlight Amblers special anniversary year. Garden books and garden tools will also be available for sale. Students, staff, and volunteers from the Department of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture and the Ambler Arboretum Advisory Committee will be available to answer questions. All proceeds from the Spring Plant Sale will support the Ambler Arboretum Fund and the Pi Alpha Xi National Honor Society. Information: 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary. June Homecoming/Louise Bush-Brown Garden Dedication June 5 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. (June Homecoming), Bright Hall Lounge; 2 p.m. (Garden Dedication), Ambler Campus Formal Perennial Gardens. Tickets June Homecoming: Participant $18 per person; Sustainer $25 per person; Benefactor $40 per person. The 2011 June Homecoming, sponsored by the School of Environmental Design Alumni Association, will include the Alumni Association annual meeting and luncheon. June Homecoming will be followed by the formal dedication of Temple University Amblers Formal Perennial Gardens as the Louise Bush-Brown Formal Gardens. During this 100th anniversary of the campus, Temple University Ambler and the Ambler Arboretum of the Temple University is honoring Louise Bush-Browns many contributions to the history of the campus by formally dedicating the gardens in her honor. During the program, campus Executive William Parshall will welcome guests, Ambler Arboretum Director Jenny Rose Carey will speak about the Bush-Browns and the history of the garden, and an official ribbon cutting will be held for the Louise Bush-Brown Formal Garden. Following the ribbon cutting, guests are invited to take a tour of the gardens, which will wend their way to the Campus Greenhouse for the School of Environmental Designs annual Plant Auction. Information (Garden Dedication): 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Information (June Homecoming): 215-482-0722. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary. Northview Garden Tour and Fundraiser for the Ambler Arboretum June 12 from noon to 5 p.m. Call for reservations. Tickets: $15 per person or $20 at the door. In addition to the gardens of the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University, Arboretum Director Jenny Rose Carey has a garden oasis all her own right in Ambler Northview. Visitors will have the opportunity to take self-guided tours throughout the many gardens, where garden experts will be available to answer questions about the various designs. The Ambler Keystone Chapter of the Womans National Farm and Garden Association will also provide tea and refreshments. All proceeds from the tours will support the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University. Information or to register: 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary. The Senior Adult Activities Center of Montgomery County, 536 George Street, Norristown, will hold the following events: SAAC Adult Day Care, an alternative to Nursing Home Care is available for information call 610-275-1960 Volunteers are needed for Meals on Wheels Program (call the number above) SAACs Fifth Avenue Boutique opens Monday through Friday from 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Exercise with Theresa will be held every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 1 p.m. Dance class is held every Monday at 10 a.m. Tai Chi is held every Monday at 10 a.m. Yoga is held every Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. Line Dancing is held every Thursday at 10:30 a.m. Dancing with Joan is held every Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. Sculpture Class is held Wednesdays from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Why Should I Learn Spanish? will be held Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. Generations On-Line computer classes for seniors will be held Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. 4 p.m. computers are available during those hours. Health Living will be held every Tuesday at 1 p.m. Boomer U will hold the following events. Boomer U is located at 45 Forest Avenue, Ambler. Registration & payment is required for all events: 215-619-8863. Pilates Class is held Wednesdays and Fridays at 9:30 a.m. First class is free; please bring a mat. For information call 610-291-5376. Blue Bell School of Dance, 921 Penllyn Blue Bell Pike, Blue Bell, hosts Argentine Tango Classes and a Milonga dance party every Friday evening. Lessons start at 8:30 p.m. followed by dancing at 9:30 p.m. Andrew Conway, master Argentine Tango dancer, instructor and performer and his partner Linda Chase will instruct. All levels welcome and no partner is needed. Refreshments will be served. Fee is $12 per person and includes lesson and dancing. Information: 215-634-1101 or www.amoretango.com. The Montgomery Hospital Medical Center will offer the following classes: Childbirth Education Class- all parents are invited to participate, including those who are delivering at other hospitals. For more information on maternity services or classes, call 610-270-2020. CPR and First Aid Courses are offered for beginners to experiences health care providers. Call 610-270-2313. The Ambler SAAC (Senior Adult Activities Center), located at 45 Forest Ave in Ambler will hold the following events: Tai Chi every Monday and Thursday at 11 a.m. Yoga is every Tuesday at 1 p.m. and Friday at 10:30 a.m. Strength and balance training every Wednesday at 10 a.m. Armchair Aerobics is held every Monday at 10 a.m. Gourmet Weight Wise every Thursday at 12:30. Fitness Center and Pool Room open daily 8 a.m.-4 p.m. The Diabetes Education Center will offer day and evening classes each month. Health insurance pays for diabetes education classes. Preregistration is required. Call 610-270-2301. For Kids & Families The Ambler Kiwanis Club will host its annual Easter Egg Hunt April 26 at 10 a.m. in Ambler Borough Park, located just off of the intersection of Hendricks Street and Valley Brook Road. Members of the Wissahickon Key Club will assist Kiwanians in hiding thousands of wrapped chocolate eggs in a designated area of the park. Also hidden will be plastic colored eggs, which are redeemed for prizes. Elementary school children are separated by age. Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation will hold its 21st annual Storybook Egg-Stravaganza April 15 fom 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Upper Dublin Township Building. Toddlers and preschoolers love this annual event where photo opportunities with favorite friends abound! Treasures are collected from UDP&Rs assortment of lifesize cutouts of favorite cartoon characters from Disney, Sesame Street, Nickelodeon and other well-known animation. Children can have their picture taken with Bugsy OHare; bring your own camera. And dont forget a basket for goodies! $7 for UD residents; $12 for non-residents. Pre-register at 215-643-1600 ext. 3443. Splash Week is a free week-long program that teaches children and families basic swimming skills and water safety practices. All YMCA branches will host multiple classes each day from April 11 to 15. For more information, contact the Ambler Area YMCA at 215-628-9950. Healthy Kids Day is April 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The day is filled with fun, engaging and artistic activities that cultivate healthy living as part of the YMCAs larger efforts to help more kids and families become physically active. All activities are free and open to the community. For more information, contact the Ambler YMCA at 215-628-9950. No reservation is required. The Ambler Area YMCA has added several new programs for area youngsters. Classes are held late afternoons or evenings on various weekdays. For more information, visit philaymca.org or call 215-628-9950. Basic Beading: Ages: 10+. Wednesdays 7 to 7:45 p.m. This class will teach you the fundamentals of wiring and stringing along with how color can be used to create unique and vibrant beadwork design. You will create various jewelry including earrings, bracelets, charm pendants and much more! Supplies will be provided. Bringing your own jewelry pliers or tools would be a plus. Messin with the Masters: Ages: 8-12. Thursdays 7 to 7:45 p.m. Learn about some of the worlds greatest artists. You will be inspired to create your own Starry Night with oil pastels and tempera paints, a tissue paper painted Monet garden, a Picasso head using scraps of paper, a Georgia OKeeffe clay flower bowl and a Rousseau jungle collage. Super Scientist: Ages: 5-7. Mondays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Well be concocting chemistry experiments such as making slime, mixing potions and having fun with magnet magic. Your budding little scientist will enhance his/her creative thinking and motor skills and to top it off will learn that science can be serious fun. Wacky Junk Art: Ages: 8-12. Thursdays 6 to 6:45 p.m. Why throw it away! Instead join us to make household junk into aliens from outer space, wacky specs, crazy hats, body masks or a recycled train. Globe Trotters: Ages: 4-6. Tuesdays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Youre never too young to start thinking globally. Each week, we explore a new country through crafts, games, music, stories and even some taste-testing. A perfect introduction to our great big world! Crazy about Crafts: Ages: 5-7, Thursdays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Let your childs creative juices flow with our fun arts and crafts projects each week. Fine motor skills and creative thinking skills will be enhanced with this crafty class. Come out and join the Ambler Area YMCAs Teen and Junior Leaders Club. Participants are given the freedom to plan community service projects year round and truly make a difference in the lives of people in need. Those in Teen and Junior Leaders also attend leadership retreats all along the East Coast three times a year and meet other leaders who are doing the same great work in their respective areas. Dont miss out on this inspiring opportunity. Teen Leaders, ages 13-17, meet every Wednesday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Junior Leaders, ages 10-12, will begin in the spring and will meet every Monday. For more information, contact Mike Miles, Teen Director, 215- 628-9950 x 1540 or mmiles@philaymca.org. Did you know that the new Ambler Area YMCA holds childrens birthday parties at its site for members and non members as well. The Ambler Y does all the work from start to finish and birthday parties include a personalized cake, ice cream, beverage and paper products. Parties are held on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and include two party hosts to lead activities, set-up, clean-up and assist with serving. You can have a Splash Party for children ages six to 12 in the new zero depth entry pool with water slide and spray fountains. Up to 25 children have exclusive use of the pool area with 30 minutes in the party room. Sports Parties are offered for kids ages four to 12 with age appropriate activities and games, and sports such as floor hockey, soccer, basketball or dodge ball. Children ages three to five years of age will enjoy parties in the Family Active Center with use of the Moon Bounce and organized activities, such as parachute play and songs. For information, 215-628-9950 ext. 1583. Community Events at the Ambler Y: -YAchievers YMCA Achievers is a developmentally based, extracurricular, educational and team mentoring program designed to help students in grades five through 12 prepare for fulfilled livelihoods in college and beyond. Participation is free and all students in this program receive a free YMCA membership. Registration for the 2009 program begins now. You do not need to be a YMCA member to utilize these special services. Call 215-628-9950 to register. Greater Norristown Art Leagues Childrens Weeklong Summer Art Camps will be held at 800 West Germantown Pike in East Norriton, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday throughout the summer. The cost per session is $125 per student for ages 6 and up. Jo Ann Cooksey Bono teaches an introduction to basic drawing skills and techniques from 10 a.m. until the lunch break each day. In the afternoon sessions, Mary Vogel Lozinak involves the students in hands on projects such as collage, papermaking, T-shirt printing, 3D design and sculpy clay. Fridays Graduation Day includes an art show, awards ceremony and reception for parents, siblings, grandparents and friends. All supplies are included. Students provide their own lunch. A refrigerator is available and the building is air-conditioned. This is the 15th year to run this successful program. Both instructors are professional artists with State Police and Child Abuse Clearances. To register, call Jo Ann at 610-279-1008, or register on-line at www.gnal.org. Health Dresher Physical Therapy is hosting an interactive seminar discussing its Golf Assessment Progam April 30 from 10 a.m. to noon at Dresher Physical Therapy, 1075 Virginia Drive, Suite 200, Fort Washington. Physical therapist Chris Miller, certified through the Titleist Performance Institute, will discuss why your body may be the most important piece of golf equipment you invest in and how this can drastically improve your game. $10 in advance; $15 at the door. Call 215-619-4545 to reserve your spot. The Chestnut Hill Center for Enrichment, Center on the Hill and Chestnut Hill Hospital will host a Senior Health and Resource Fair April 14 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Chestnut Hill Presbyterian Church, 8855 Germantown Ave. The event is free. For more information, call 215-248-0180 or e-mail chseniors@cavtel.net. The Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center is hosting Help Yourself to Health, a new six-week workshop for older adults with ongoing health conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure, anxiety, heart disease and others. The free workshop will take place at the Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center, 45 Forest Ave. on six Thursdays, May 12 through June 16 from 9:30 a.m. to noon. Although there is no charge to participate, registration is required. To register, call 215-619-8863. The Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center is sponsoring an eight-week program called A Matter of Balance: Managing Concerns About Falls. Presented by the Montgomery County Health Department, this workshop will be held on Tuesdays, May 3 to June 21 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Ambler Center, 45 Forest Ave. If you pre-register by April 27, the fee is only $5! Registration at the first class is $10. (Checks should be payable to SAAC and will benefit our Meals on Wheels program that serves homebound seniors.) A workbook will be provided and refreshments will be served. Call 215-619-8863 to register or for more information. Fort Washington Wellness Center classes are ongoing. There are several offered during lunch or right after work, for your convenience: Boot Camp from noon to 1 p.m. on Monday; Zumba is MWF from 11 a.m. to noon and Friday at 4 p.m.; there are 25 cycling classes; Ashtanga and Vinyasana Yoga and Pilates; and a group Womens Strength Training class M-F from 10 to 11 a.m. Questions, call Cathy DeMarco at 215-641-1245. Following the success of other local area programs, Impact Sports and Upper Dublin Parks and Recreation are delighted to team up again to offer a spring program for the 2011 season! Upper Dublin area children ages 3-5 years old can attend a Sports Program featuring their favorite sports games; soccer, rugby, hockey, track and field, basketball, and more. The program will start on April 27 and run through June 1. Cost for the program is $85 for the six weeks. The classes will be running 12- 1 p.m.; 1- 2 p.m.; 2- 3 p.m. For more info or to register, call Upper Dublin Township on 215 643 1600 or visit their website a http://www.upperdublin.net. Spring Aquatic Programs UDHS Pool: -Summer is just around the corner Community Aquatic Programs at the UDHS Pool can help get you into shape! Programs begin in March; preregistration is required. Shallow Water Aerobics Two 5-week programs, Wednesday nights, 8-8:45 p.m., $40R/$50NR. Adult Swim Instructions Two 5-week programs, Wednesday nights, 7-8 p.m., $50R/$60NR -Open Rec Swims are fun for the whole family! Come out on Fridays from 7-9 p.m. or Saturdays from 1-4 p.m. and enjoy use of the pool and diving area. Fridays are offered through June 17; Saturdays are offered March 12-May 21. -Join a growing group of adult lap swimmers and water walkers. Lanes are set aside evenings and weekends for use; lanes are shared. Monday Thursday from 7:30-9:30 p.m.; Fridays from 7-9 p.m. and Saturdays (March 12-May 21) from 1-4 p.m. -Private Swimming & Diving Lessons for ages 3-adult are offered at the UDHS Pool through a partnership with the Upper Dublin Aquatic Club (UDAC). Visit the UDAC website for more information, www.udac.us, and click the link to UDHS Private Lessons. -Looking for local programs for US Masters Swimming (adults) or Water Polo (all ages)? UDAC and UDSD are working together to develop programs that will be offered at the UDHS Pool. Add your name to Interest Lists by emailing slohoefer@upperdublin.net. emails will be sent about clinics and program start dates. Questions about Community Aquatic Programs at the UDHS Pool, group use of the pool or pool rental? Contact Susan Lohoefer, Facility & Community Affairs Manager at slohoefer@upperdublin.net or call 215-643-8800 x8994. SilverSneakers Fitness Program. The Healthyways SilverSneakers Fitness Program is a result-oriented program that enables older adults to take charge of their health. The program is an innovative blend of physical activity, healthy lifestyle and socially oriented programing. Members of the program are eligible for a free YMCA membership, with use of the pool and exercise equipment, along with customized classes designed for older adults who want to improve their strength, flexibility, balance and endurance. If you are a subscriber to Independence Blue Cross (Personal Choice 65 PPO) or Keystone 65 HMO, Bravo Health, or Health Options Programs (HOP), call the Ambler Area YMCA, 215-628-9950 or Hatboro Area YMCA, 215-674-4545. You can also visit www.silversneakers.com. Zumba Fitness offers Zumba dance/fitness classes at Academy of Dance and Music/BBAD Studio located at 1524 DeKalb Pike in Blue Bell (behind Sherwin Williams). Classes are offered three times a week: Tuesdays at 6 p.m., Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 8 a.m. For a free trial pass for your first class, email us at info@danceandmusic.biz or call 610-277-2557. For more info, visit our site at www.academyofdanceandmusic.org. Chestnut Hill Health Systems presents the following Health Education Programs: FITNESS CLASSES Golden Yoga: A Breathing, Stretching and Relaxation Class. Fridays, 2:30-3:30 p.m. Lea Auditorium, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. Registration for four classes at a time required. Golden Yoga is Classical Yoga, adapted by the SKY Foundation, to accommodate those who have difficulty getting up and down from the floor. The program includes postures, breathing, relaxation and meditation techniques, all performed while sitting in a chair and standing. Registration required. Call 215-247-3029. Cost: $20 for 4 classes per month. Tai Chi: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 8:30 9:30 a.m. Springfield Residence, 8601 Stenton Ave. Classes, for the novice or beginner/intermediate student, are designed to improve balance, power, posture, coordination, flexibility and mental focus. Slow, gentle movements are modified to most everyones abilities. For more information or to sign up for a free introductory class, call 215-882-2804. Cost: $8 per class/paid monthly. SUPPORT GROUPS Weight Loss Surgery Support Group: Fourth Wednesday of the month, 7-8 p.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia. Join us for a monthly get-together where well share information for those interested in weight loss surgery, learn from guest speakers discussing current news on issues including lifestyle modification, nutrition and exercise and provide ongoing support for those who have completed surgery. Registration required. Call 215-753-2000. Breast Cancer Networking Group: Fourth Tuesday of the month 5:30 7 p.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia. A free, confidential support group for women living with a diagnosis of breast cancer designed to provide a forum for sharing information, feelings and concerns associated with breast cancer. Facilitated by Tish Wakefield, LCSW, Oncology Social Worker. Registration required. To register or for more information, call 215-248-8047. New Moms Support Groups Tuesdays 10:30 a.m. 12 p.m.; contact Jeanine ORourke, MSW or 2:30 4 p.m.; contact Susan Schack, Ph.D Volunteer Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. The Center for Postpartum Depression at Chestnut Hill Hospital is pleased to offer two new support groups to support new moms. Both groups will be run by experienced mental health professionals who really get it when it comes to new motherhood and juggling relationships, extended family, work/family balance and self-care. If you are experiencing new mom challenges that often heighten anxiety and involve hormonally driven depression, join us for an informative and supportive forum to connect with other moms. Infants are welcome. $30 per session (flexible based on need). Registration is required. Call Dr. Schack, 646-265-2484, or Ms. ORourke, 215-206-2931. Man to Man Prostate Cancer Support Group Third Thursday of the month 8-9 a.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. A networking group for men diagnosed with prostate cancer designed to provide education, support and encouragement. Spouses and partners welcome. Harry M. Baer, MD, Chief, Urology Division, will host Ask the Doctor. Registration required. Call 215-248-8325. Contact the Senior Center by phone 215-248-0180 or email (chseniors@cavtel.net) with your questions about these programs or any of our on-going activities and classes. Holy Redeemer HomeCare and Hospice seeks compassionate and emotionally mature volunteers to provide support to local hospice patients and their families in Bucks, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties. Volunteers may also assist with pet therapy and administrative work within the hospice department and are requested to have daytime availability. Hospice patient care volunteers visit with patients in their homes or nursing facilities once a week for two to three hours. They provide emotional support and companionship to patients and family members, assist with errands or provide respite for caregivers. Bereavement volunteers support the families of hospice patients following the loss of a loved one, while administrative volunteers assist with typing, mailings and/or filing. Hospice care workers provide a great service to families and loved ones of hospice patients. Many volunteers also report a great deal of personal satisfaction as a result of their services. Patient care and bereavement volunteers complete an application and attend an 18-hour volunteer training program that covers the medical, psychological and spiritual aspects of hospice volunteering. Day and evening training programs are offered. To sign up for volunteer opportunities in Pennsylvania, contact Holy Redeemer Volunteer Coordinator Jean Francis at 215-698-3737 or email jfrancis@holyredeemer.com. Librarytalk Upper Dublin Public Library, 805 Loch Alsh Avenue, Ft. Washington, 215-628-8744 www.upperdublinlibrary.org APRIL CHILDRENS PROGRAMS: Storytimes: Please register in the library. o Wee Ones: 0 to 23 months Thursdays and Fridays 10:30 to 10:50 a.m. o Tiny Tots: age 2. Wednesdays 10:30 to 10:50 a.m. and Fridays 11 to 11:20 a.m. o Jr. Book Lovers: ages 3 to 6. Tuesdays 10:30 to 11 a.m. o Bedtime Storytimes: 7 to 7:30 p.m. April 20 and 27. Wear your jammies, bring your teddy & hear Miss Barbara read bedtime stories! For ages 3 to 6. APRIL TEEN PROGRAMS: North Hills Library Teens April 28 from 4 to 6 p.m. Movie Matinee APRIL UDPL ADULT PROGRAMS: NEW! ESL Conversation Group. Tuesdays from 7 to 8 p.m. Interested in practicing your English in a safe and caring environment? Come to our conversation group and improve your skills! Please register with Kay Klocko at 215-628-8744 or kklocko@mclinc.org. One-on-One Computer Mentoring. Get personalized assistance from experienced computer volunteers! Sign-up for a one-hour session. Limit one session per month. Please register contact info above. Book Groups Please register with Kay Klocko 215-628-8744. o Daytimers: April 21 at 1:30 p.m. Tired of book groups where you all read the same book? Read any fiction or non-fiction book on this months theme: Explorers. Please register. Meetings: Annual Meeting of the Friends of UDPL: April 14 at 1 p.m. Board of Directors: April 20 at 7 p.m. Blue Bell Library www.wvpl.org Upcoming Events: The Wissahickon Valley Public Library, 650 Skippack Pike (Route 73) in Blue Bell, is diagonally across from the Blue Bell Inn. Call 215-643-1320 or visit their website at www.wvpl.org. For children and teens at Blue Bell: * Story times with guitar music by Miss Michelle, the singing librarian. * Mondays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages. * Wednesdays at 4:30 p.m. for all ages. * Fridays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages. * Family Movies, new releases, second Saturdays of the month at 1:30 p.m. * May 14 Despicable Me * June 11 Alpha and Omega * Special Events * April watch for date of spring/Easter events * April 14 at 4:30 p.m. Junior Lego Club for children ages 3 through 5. Parents and caregivers need to stay with children. * April 14 at 7 p.m. Jeopardy for ages 11 to 18. Test your book and library knowledge for prizes. Sign up to be a contestant. No sign up to be in the audience. Snacks provided. * April 16 at 1 p.m. Adult Mystery Book Group discussing The Beekeepers Apprentice by Laurie King. * April 16 at 1:30 p.m. Childrens event for One Book, Every Young Child celebration. Story and craft for book Whose Shoes? * April 19 at 7 p.m. and April 26 at 1:30 p.m.- Adult book group discusses The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester. Group led by Adam Button. * April 30 through May 3 Friends book sale with about 10,000 items for sale for children, teens and adults. * May sign up for Science in the Summer * June sign up for Enrichment Programs for Elementary-Age children * June sign up for Summer Reading, all ages For adults at Blue Bell: * Daytime Book Discussion Group fourth Tuesday, Jan April at 1:30 p.m. * April 26 The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester * Night-time Book Discussion Group third Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. o April 19 The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester * Art Series with Dr. Sheldon Weintraub, docent at The Barnes and speaker at local colleges o April 27 at 2 p.m. The Art of Looking at Art-Is She Nude or Is She Naked? *Mystery Book Discussion Group, third Saturday of the month at 1 p.m.; new mystery theme each month; www.wvpl.org/programs * Yoga on Mondays at 1:30 p.m. $20 for eight classes; $5 per drop-in class. * Tai Chi on Mondays at 3 p.m. with Dr. Kurt Findeisen. $20 for eight classes; $5 per drop in class. * Philadelphia Museum of Art presents class on their Marc Chagall exhibit, April 13 at 2 p.m. * Giant Book Sale, April 29 May 3 o Starts with almost 10,000 items for children and adults! o Held during library hours. o Preview for members of the Friends of the Library, April 28 at 7 p.m. o Join the Friends and attend the preview sale. Modest fee to join. * Blooms at Blue Bell Gardening Series o May 11 at 1 p.m. Summer Bulbs by PA Horticultural Society * Knitting group Mondays and Wednesdays at 10 a.m. Work on your project or observe and learn. The groups continue year-round in the community room. * Socrates Cafe discussion group every Monday at 7 p.m. You pick the topic to discuss each week. No sign-up, nothing to read. * Bridge every Friday at 12:30 p.m. New players welcome. * Mah Jong every Wednesday at 1 p.m. New players welcome. *Chess every Wednesday at 7p.m. for adults and teens 14 and older. * Movie Matinee showing recent releases every Thursday at 2 p.m. April 14: Maos Last Dancer; April 21: Welcome to the Rileys; April 28: Conviction; May 5: Inception; May 12: Inside Job; May 19 The Kings Speech; May 26 The Fighter; June 2 Rabbit Hole; June 9 Black Swan; June 16 127 Hours * Ongoing like-new, year-round book sale for adults & children during library hours * Library opening at 10 a.m. Monday through Saturday! Ambler Library, a branch of the Wissahickon Valley Public Library, 209 Race St., 215-646-1072. www.wvpl.org. All the following events occur at the Ambler Library. * Story times with guitar music by Miss Michelle, the singing librarian. * Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages. * Thursdays at 4:30 p.m. for all ages. * For adults: * Beading Group meets the first and third Monday of every month at 1 p.m. Work on your own projects or come to watch and learn. * Free Family History Lookup with Connie Briggs. Email Connie for an appointment at the Ambler Library. conniebriggs@comcast.net * Special Events: * April 14 at 1:30 p.m. Book Group discusses Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian. * April 19 at 7 p.m. Travel to Paris with world traveler Harry Balin. Tea and scones at 6:30 p.m. * April 21 at 7 p.m. Art with Sara for children in fourth through seventh grades. *May 2 at 6:30 p.m. Discuss the movie Lone Star with Temple Professor Lisa Hawkins. Watch the movie ahead of time. *May 10 Robert Capucci discusses Art into Fashion. Tea and scones served at 6:30 p.m. Program at 7 p.m. *May 12 at 1:30p.m. Book Group discusses The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman. *May 17 Tour the gardens of Devon and Southwest England with Lois McMullen. Tea and Scones at 6:30 p.m. Program at 7 p.m. *June 13 at 6:30 p.m. Discuss the movie Blade Runner with Temple Professor Lisa Hawkins. Watch the movie ahead of time. Meetings and Lectures The Unisys Blue Bell Retiree Group will meet in the Church on the Mall in the Plymouth Meeting Mall April 14 at 1:30 p.m. Kathy Sacket Young, director/trainer with the North Penn YMCA, will speak on Keeping Fit in Retirement. For more information, contact Membership Committee Chairperson Jerry Feldscher at 610-275-3538 or President Al Rollin at 215-368-4833. The next FWBA meeting will be April 28 at the Hilton Garden Inn Fort Washington. Networking begins at 11:30 a.m.; meeting from noon to 1 p.m. Leon Singletary, Principal, First Contact HR and FWBA Executive Board, will present: Social Media: How to Use It To Get More Business. Lunch is provided courtesy of the Hilton Garden Inn Fort Washington. Members are welcome to bring a guest. An RSVP is requested by return email or 215-628-0313. Big Brothers Big Sisters Southeastern PA is hosting a information sessions over the next few weeks on how to become a Big Brother. The information sessions will take place: April 16 at noon, April 19 at 8 a.m. and April 28 at 6 p.m. All sessions will be held at the groups Norristown Office,t 530 DeKalb St., Norristown. For more information, call 610-277-2200. The North Penn Chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) normally meets on the third Tuesday of each month from now until May. Meetings are held at the William Penn Inn on Route 202 and Sumneytown Pike, Upper Gwynedd, PA. Social hour starts at 5:30 p.m., dinner is served at 6:30 p.m., and the technical program begins at 7 p.m. Cost with reservation is $28 for members. Members without reservations and guests pay $30. Students with reservations pay $15. Reservations may be made by noon on the Monday preceding the meeting by phoning 215-371-1854 or emailing the reservation to northpennima@yahoo.com northpennima@yahoo.com. Information about the North Penn Chapter is available at http://northpenn.imanet.org/. LeTip, a professional organization of men and women who are dedicated to the highest standards of competence and service meets every Tuesday at Cedar Brook Country Club, 180 Penllyn Pike, Blue Bell at 7 a.m. -meeting officially starts at 7:16 a.m. and ends at 8:31 a.m. Our purpose is the exchange of business tips, leads, and referrals. Each business category is represented by one member and conflicts of interest are disallowed. Guests are welcome to visit any of our breakfast meetings. Every third Thursday of month, Sunrise Assisted Living of Blue Bell (795 Penllyn Pike, Blue Bell, PA 19422, 215-619-2777) serves as a satellite site to 148th Legislative district PA congressman Mike Gerber from 10 a.m. to noon. Stop by for help needed with things such as disability placards and license plates, vehicle registration, utilities issues, birth/death certificates,property tax/rent rebates, etc. Notary services arranged by appointment. The Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce is an action-oriented organization dedicated to promoting its members and the economic health of eastern Montgomery county. The Chamber is committed to serving as a catalyst by uniting business, community agencies, government and education to make our county a great place to live and work. For information, call 215-887-5122 or visit www.emccc.org. Do you have a fear of public speaking? Blue Bell Toastmasters Club can help. We meet from 7 to 9 p.m., on the second and fourth Tuesday at the Marriott Courtyard, located on Route 202, directly across from the Montgomeryville Mall. Learn how to improve communication and leadership skills in a friendly and supportive environment. Guests are welcome. Admission fee: $5. For more info, visit www.bbtoast.org. The PennSuburban Chamber of Commerce will hold the following meetings (for reservations to any of the following, email info@PennSuburban.org) -Breakfast News Network, 7:30-8:45 a.m. at Normandy Farm Hotel (1401 Morris Road, Blue Bell, PA 19422) $15 members, includes full buffet breakfast. Join us for a networking program at Normandy Farm Hotel every Thursday morning for breakfast, business news, informative speakers, and plenty of networking. The cost includes a full breakfast buffet. Copies of the business cards will be made available to those who would like them. The BNI, Fort Washington Chapter meets every Monday at The Hilton Garden Inn, 520 Pennsylvania Ave., Fort Washington for a networking meeting. Meetings are from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. Visitors are welcome. The only cost to attend is the cost of your meal. For information or a reservation to attend, please call Luanne Cram at 215-947-7784, or visit our Internet site at: http://www.BNIDVR.Com and click on the menu item Find a Chapter. For the past seven years, people have enjoyed participating in WVWAs Adopt-a-Tree program. Individuals can support the Association in its reforestation efforts by purchasing native trees to be planted. Supporters can plant their adopted tree or have WVWA volunteers will plant it. Trees cost $30 each. If you would like to volunteer or purchase a tree(s), please contact: Bob Adams at Bob@wvwa.org or call: 215-646-8866 for more information. Check www.WVWA.org for directions and maps. Sustainable Upper Dublin, http://sustainableupperdublin.org, meets the first Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m., at the Upper Dublin Township Building, 801 Loch Alsh Avenue, Fort Washington, PA 19034. Please send any questions to suec@sustainableupperdublin.org or call 610-996-6316. To learn more about Sustainable Upper Dublin, view or join the discussion at http://googlegroups.com/group/sustainableupperdublin. Special Events The Mattie N. Dixon Community Cupboard will hold its first nutrition class April 19 at 10 a.m. at the Community Cupboard, 150 N. Main St., Ambler. Lynne Sinclair, a nutritionist from Abington Memorial Hospital specializing in diabetic nutrition, will conduct the class. Topics will include healthy eating, beneficial foods, recipes, making meals with every day foods, and how to use unfamiliar produce. A healthy snack will be provided.The class is is open to all residents in Montgomery County. The Historical Society of Fort Washington presents The History of Conshohocken April 19 at 8 p.m. at the Clifton House, 473 Bethlehem Pike, Fort Washington. Jack Coll will present an illustrated program on the history of the Borough of Conshohocken. Coll is a longtime resident of Conshohocken and a member of the Conshohocken Historical Society. He is co-author with his son, Brian, of the Arcadia Then and Now Series book Conshohocken. He has also done books Conshohocken and West Conshohocken Sports and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Italian Feast. He has taken many photos for the Conshohocken Record and the Norristown Times Herald. This program is free. Refreshments will be served. For additional information, call 215-646-6065. Taste of the White House Soiree featuring former White House Chef Walter Scheib will take place April 29 at 6 p.m. at Manufacturers Golf & Country Club in Fort Washington to celebrate HealthLinks 10th anniversary and honor its founders, the Eugene Jackson Family. The evening will heat up with a Chef Meet & Greet, followed by a specially selected presidential menu. Gala tickets are $150 per person. Proceeds benefit HealthLink, a free clinic providing compassionate, quality medical and dental care to uninsured, working adults in Bucks and Montgomery counties who fall in between the health care cracks. Go to http://tasteofthewhitehouse.charityhappenings.org to make reservations online or lend support through sponsorship. For event information, call 267-699-0124 or email jmarushak@healthlinkmedical.org. The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association will hold an open house at the Evans-Mumbower Mill April 17 from 1 to 4 p.m. The Mill is at the corner of Swedesford and Township Line Roads in Upper Gwynedd. The open house is free but donations are welcome. For more information, call 215-646-8866 o email info@wvwa.org. The Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce will host Breakfast With Your County Commissioners and State Representatives April 21 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the Holiday Inn Fort Washington, 432 W. Pennasylvania Ave. Commissioners: James R. Matthews (Chairman), Joseph M. Hoeffel (Vice Chair), State Representatives: Todd Stephens (District 151) and Josh Shapiro (District 153). Register onlineat www.emccc.org. $10 for EMCCC member; $20 for non-members. Upper Dublins Districtwide Allied Art Show will be held April 27 from 5:30 to 9 p.m. in the Upper Dublin High School Athletic Complex. The Rev. Alfred Muli, chaplain at Fort Washington Estates, will be the featured speaker at the Kiwanis sponsored breakfast observing the National Day of Prayer May 5 at 7 a.m. at the William Penn Inn. The breakfast is open to the public ($15). Reservations can be made by calling 215-646-4356 or by emailing georgesaurman@Juno.com. The Upper Dublin Shade Tree Commission invites people to participate in its spring bare root planting events, sponsored in part by Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation and Friends of Robbins Park. On April 9, zix trees will be planted at the Evelyn B. Wright Park & Community Pool, 401 Logan Ave., North Hills, at 9 a.m., followed by the planting of 10 trees at Sheeleigh Park, Loch Alsh Avenue and Douglas Street, Ambler, at 10:15 a.m. On April 29, students from Upper Dublin High School will join the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society to plant 16 trees in Robbins Park, Butler Pike and Meetinghouse Road, Ambler, to help launch the societys Million Trees campaign. This event will occur in conjunction with Temple Amblers EarthFest. Experienced tree-tenders are sought to assist the students. For more information,contact Ron Ayres at 215-653-0421 or 215-483-4348. The Friends of the Wissahickon and the Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association are teaming up once again to clean the Wissahickon Creek from top to bottom April 30 from 9 a.m. to noon. This spring marks the 41st anniversary of Wissahickon Valley Watershed Associations annual Creek Clean Up, and the second year that FOW has teamed up with WVWA. Volunteers of all ages will clean the creek, the surrounding trails and the many tributaries of the Wissahickon Creek. Armed with bags, volunteers will be assigned to sections of the creek. Following the clean up, all volunteers are invited to WVWAs Talkin Trash picnic in Fort Washington State Park, with food provided by Whole Foods Market of North Wales. The pavilion is located on Mill Road in Flourtown. To help out in Montgomery County, all volunteers must be pre-assigned a section of the Wissahickon Creek to clean. Please contact Bob Adams, WVWA director of stewardship, at 215-646-8866 ext. 14 or bob@wvwa.org. To work with the Friends of the Wissahickon in Philadelphia, meet at the pavilion along Forbidden Drive, a short distance south of the intersection of Forbidden Drive and Northwestern Avenue. Limited parking is available along Northwestern Avenue and other nearby streets. Volunteers are encouraged to bike or carpool to the event. To participate, register at www.fow.org. Contact Kevin Groves with questions at 215-247-0417 ext. 105 or groves@fow.org. Montgomery County Community Colleges International Club invites the community to the second annual International Festival April 20 from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The rain date is April 26. The International Club will transform the outside quad area into multicultural celebration with various performances by dancers, singers and musicians. Artists will share their artwork at various display tables. Activities include games, raffles, Easter egg decorating and henna tattoos. Students will have samples of international cuisine at tables representing different countries and will serve food from various local ethnic restaurants. Throughout the evening, volunteers will accept donations and will raffle gift baskets and prizes to raise funds for Habitat for Humanity. Donations of food, international clothes and prizes are needed. Volunteers, including artists and performers, are welcome. For more information or to sponsor an activity, contact Gillian Nel, International Club president, at gnel9277@students.mc3.edu or 267-974-0163. The Arts and Humanities Division at Montgomery County Community College is partnering with the Philadelphia Writers Conference to host Memoirs Matter: How Life Stories (Including Yours) Can Transform Your Relationship to Literature April 23 from 1 to 3 p.m. in Advanced Technology Center room 101, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The event is free and open to the public. In the first part of this two-hour seminar, professor and author Robert Waxler will explain how writing his two memoirs affected his life as well as his relationship to literature. In the second part, blogger and workshop leader Jerry Waxler will present a sequence of steps to help writers find their own story. For information, contact Dana Resente at dresente@mc3.edu. The Maple Glen Garden Club will hold its fourth annual Plant Sale on May 7 from 8 to 11 a.m. Perennials, shrubs, vegetables and native plants grown by the club members will be sold. The club uses the plant sale proceeds to fund community projects, a college scholarship and community plantings. The sale will be held in the 500 block of Coach Road, Horsham, as part of a neighborhood garage sale. Plants will be sold at bargain prices. For more information, email MapleGlenGardenClub@gmail.com. The Relay for Life Craft Show is looking for local crafters to participate in show, which will be May 21 from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the Wissahickon High School track, 521 Houston Road, Ambler. There is a $10 entry fee, and 20 percent of sales are donated to the American Cancer Society. Participants will receive a 6-foot table under a tent. For information, contact Joanne at joannescoles@comcast.net or Mindy at mcamsilver@comcast.net. Spring House Estates is hosting its annual book fair on April 18 from 4 to 7 p.m. and April 9 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Included will be hardback and paperback used books. Spring House Estates is located at 728 Norristown Road, Lower Gwynedd. The PennSuburban Chamber of Commerce will present the Penn Suburban/Hatfield Joint Business Card Exchange April 20 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Univest Bank Lansdale Area Financial Service Center, 120 Forty Foot Road, Hatfield. The event is free. To make reservations, visit PennSuburban.org/Events. Join Univest National Bank and Trust Co. for a spring-inspired Business Card Exchange at its newest office in the Hatfield Pointe Shopping Center. Come out and meet members of Univests executive management team while enjoying fine food and beverages. 13th Annual Community Reading Day Kick-off Breakfast Get Together April 26 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the North Wales Area Library, 233 Swartley St., North Wales. The event is free. To make reservations, visit PennSuburban.org/Events. For more information, contact the chamber office at 215-362-9200 or info@pennsuburban.org. Join presenting sponsor Verizon, chamber staff and fellow members for the Community Reading Day volunteer get together. The Community Reading Day program allows volunteers to read a designated book to second-grade students throughout 38 area public and private schools and present the book as a gift to each class. Even if you are not a volunteer, you are cordially invited to stop by to network, enjoy coffee and pastries. Ambler Mennonite Church is hosting a Spring Craft Show and Flea Market May 21 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Rain date will be May 28. The community is invited to shop the great craft booths, find some gifts and deals, as well as enjoy home baked goods and tasty lunch specials. Childrens activities are planned. All vendors are encouraged to contact the church at 215-643-4876 or AmblerMennonite@verizon.net. Advertising, signage, customer parking and a shuttle to auxiliary parking at nearby lots for vendors will be provided. 10 foot by 10 foot spaces can be rented for $5 each and tables for an additional $5 each. All proceeds from space and table rentals go toward school kits for children around the world. The church is located at the corner of East Mt. Pleasant Avenue and North Spring Garden Street, Ambler. The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association presents The Life & Times of Aquatic Insects in the Wissahickon Creek April 16 from 1 to 3 p.m. Join WVWA for a hands-on program. RSVP required: www.wvwa.org or 215-646-8866. WVWA member fee: $5 per person / $15 per family. Non-WVWA member fee: $10 per person / $20 per family. The photography exhibition Natures Palette by photo-artist Judy Miller will run March 18 to May 19 at the Art in the Storefront gallery, 41 E. Butler Pike, Ambler. JPRN Networking For People in Transition & People Who Can Help Them Unemployment remains high. JPRN, the Jarrettown Professional Relationship Network can help. Are you trying to network your way to a new job? Do you have expertise or contacts that can help people in transition? Is your company or organization looking for people in the area? This is a free outreach program to support those seeking work, involve people with contacts and networking know how, and involve local companies. Meetings held monthly at Jarrettown United Methodist Church, Limekiln Pike. Pennsylvanias Low-Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) grant program is now open for the 2010-11 heating season. Grants are based on income, family size, type of heating fuel and region. Additional information, such as specific income limits, and applications for LIHEAP grants are available online via the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Access to Social Services (COMPASS) website at www.compass.state.pa.us. Applications are available at most public officals district offices, county assistance offices, local utility companies and community service agencies, such as Area Agencies on Aging or community action agencies. Begin your holiday shopping at Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation! Entertainment books for 2011, Philadelphia North, are now on sale at $30 each. Regal/United Artists movie tickets are on sale for just $7.50 each, and tickets to the Adventure Aquarium, Baltimore Aquarium, and the Philadelphia Zoo are also available. Discounted ski vouchers to area mountains will be arriving in December; call 215-643-1600 x3443 for more information. Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation office hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. RSVP of Montgomery County and the Wissahickon Valley Public Library have partnered again to offer the public their popular free mock interview sessions. The mock interviews are conducted by RSVP volunteers who are retired professionals, some of whom were in hiring positions themselves. Packets of information which include a sample employment application and interviewing tips with mock interview questions are available at the library to pick up prior to a scheduled mock interview or will be sent via email once the interview is scheduled. To schedule your interview, please contact Janis Glusman at RSVP 610-834-1040, ext. 16. The library is also offering a free resume review service. Bring in your current resume and the professional reference staff will assist you with hints and tips on capturing your work history accurately. Registration for Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation summer playgrounds, Camp B.I.G. and Small Folks, X-Zone, and sports camps has began. Register online at www.upperdublin.net/store, or at the UDP&R office, 801 Loch Alsh Avenue, Fort Washington. Call 215-643-1600 x3443 for more information. Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation and Danielles Espresso Cafe presents Mornings at Mondaug Bark Park April 16 and May 21 from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Meet fellow dog lovers. These events include complimentary coffee, treats for people and pups and raffles/giveaways. Upper Dublins Annual Spring Flea Market will be held June 4 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Reserve a table, or come and shop. Tables are $15 for UD residents, $20 for non-residents. This successful event occurs rain or shine. Refreshments available. Call 215-643-1600 ext. 3443 to register for a table. Regal movie tickets available for purchase at Upper Dublin Township Parks & Recreation. Reduced rate: $7.50 per ticket. Some restrictions apply. Call 215-643-1600 x3443. Whitpain Township Parks & Recreation movie tickets $7.50 Regal Cinemas, United Artist & Edwards Cinemas on sale throughout the year Monday Friday from 9 a.m. 4 p.m. Whitpain Township Parks & Recreation Camp Sign-ups for Stony Creek Day Camp Stony Creek Tracers and Park n Tots. Register on-line at www.whitpaintownship.org OrCome to Township Building with check or Visa MasterCard Monday Friday from 9 a.m. 4 p.m. For additional information call 610.277-2400 ext. 374 Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation offers exciting new programs for the fall: -Returning favorites include UK Elite Petite Soccer, Tiny Dancers, Kiddie Tennis, Fun-nastics, Messy Playtime, Little Chefs, and more. Babysitters Training will be offered in November and December. Continuing Adult Fitness Classes include Cardio Circuit, Core & More, Yoga, Boxing, and Adult G.Y.M. For more information call 215-643-1600 x3443. Register for programs online at www.upperdublin.net/store. Music and Theater The community is invited to a Cantors Concert April 16 at 8 p.m. Congregation Beth Or, 239 Welsh Road, Maple Glen. Listen and hum-along to the Yiddish, pop tunes and classical music performed by Congregation Beth Ors own Cantor David Green and his special guest, Cantor Irvin Bell, from Temple Beth Israel in Deerfield Beach, Fla. The cantors will be accompanied by Mark Sobol and his Klezmer musicians. Tickets are $18 in advance and $25 at the door. RSVP with payment to Barb Murtha, 239 Welsh Road, Maple Glen, PA 19002, or call 215-646-5806 ext. 220. Gwynedd Friends Coffeehouse will host the Jameson Sisters May 14. Doors open at 7:30 pm, performance at 8:00 pm. Gwynedd Friends Coffeehouse is located at the corner of Rte. 202 & Sumneytown Pike, Gwynedd. $5 suggested donation. Light refreshment available at a modest cost. For further information, call 215-393-9576 or visit gwyneddmeeting.org/coffeehouse.html. Celebrate patriotism through song with Gwynedd-Mercy Colleges choir, the Voices of Gwynedd, as it presents Hear America Singing April 15 at 8 p.m. The choir will perform song selections from all over the country, including Georgia on My Mind, New York State of Mind, and a medley including Philadelphia Freedom and Allentown. The performance will end with When the Saints Go Marching In to acknowledge the choirs upcoming tour in New Orleans. Hear America Singing will take place in the Julia Ball Auditorium, located in St. Bernard Hall. Parking is available in lots A, C and D. Admission is free. The Choristers will present Anton Dvoraks Stabat Mater April 16 at 7:30 p.m. at Upper Dublin Lutheran Church in Ambler. The choir will be accompanied by a 41-piece orchestra. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for senior citizens, $10 for students and children are free. Tickets will be sold in advance or at the door. For more information, call 215-542-7871 or visit TheChoristers.org Religious News The Staircase Gallery at Or Hadash: A Reconstructionist Congregation in Fort Washington will feature the work of Emily Ennuat-Lustine. The artist will be showing paintings and graphics inspired by her own personal spiritual journey and quest for meaning. Some of the works to be shown have been inspired by Biblical Psalms and writings. Her work has been shown at Abington Art Center, Cheltenham Arts Center and Old City Gallery of Jewish Art among others. The exhibition is open Friday evenings starting Feb. 18 after Shabbat services. Gallery hours are: Mondays through Thursdays 10-4:30, Fridays 10-3 and following Shabbat Services and Sundays 10-1. The synagogue is located at 190 Camp Hill Road in Fort Washington. For additional information contact the synagogue office at 215-283-0276. Reunions St. Matthews High School Conshohocken Class of 1961 is looking for classmates. For details, contact Greg Marincola at 215-646-2239, 215-740-1296 or gregcola@comcast.net. Olney High School Class of 1971 is Lloking for classmates for a 40th reunion Oct. 28. For details, contact Judy at ohsclassof71@yahoo.com or 215-870-7572. Abington High School Class of 1961 is seeking classmates for a 50-year reunion to be held Oct. 14-15, 2011.Visit the website, www.abington61.com, for details or call 215-947-1779. Overbrook High School class of January 1956 is having a 55 year reunion on May 22, 2011 at the Bala Golf Club in Philadelphia. For information please contact overbrookreunion56@comcast.net Germantown High School Class Of January 1961 is looking for classmates for 50th year reunion to take place in May of 2011. Please contact: 215-362-9148, 856-577-0659 or samdelcomo@comcast.net The June 1961 class of Germantown High School is holding their 50th reunion on May 15, which will be a brunch. For further details please contact Linda Dorfman Alten at lindaalten@yahoo.com or call 215-441-8411. Support New Life Presbyterian Church in Dresher, will host GriefShare, a special seminar and support group which will run on Monday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m., from March 7 through June 6. At each meeting there will be a DVD about the grief process, discussion and reference to a grief workbook. Preregistration is required to secure a place in the group and to purchase a GriefShare notebook (for a one-time fee of $15). The notebook goes along with the 13-week schedule covering such topics as: living with grief, the effects of grief, and stuck in grief. For more information or to register, call: Sandy Elder at 215-884-5149. PUPS (People Understanding Parkinsons) A self-help group for those adjusting to a new diagnosis or dealing with the early stages of Parkinsons Disease. Meets fourth Tuesday of the month from 1 to 2:30 p.m., at Abington Health Center, Schilling Campus, Willowood Building, 2510 Maryland Road, Suite 251, Willow Grove. For more information or to RSVP, contact Lorna at 215-542-2931. The North Penn Visiting Nurse Associations Meals on Wheels program is looking for volunteers to pack or deliver meals to the elderly and infirmed. Meals are packed and delivered mornings, Monday through Friday. You can volunteer for as many days per week or month as you would like. Packaging meals requires approximately 2-1/2 hours of your time each day and involves making sandwiches, packaging food into individual serving containers and packing coolers with the meals. Delivering meals requires approximately 1-1/2 hours of your time each day and involves loading coolers into your car and delivering a route of approximately 10 to 15 stops. The Meals on Wheels program is also in need of emergency, winter-weather volunteers to pack and deliver meals in bad weather. North Penn VNA is located at 51 Medical Campus Drive in Lansdale and delivers meals in the Lansdale, North Wales and Blue Bell areas. For more information or to volunteer, please call Bridget, North Penn VNA Meals on Wheels coordinator at 215-855-8296. Elkins Park Area CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) meets the first Tuesday of every month, 7- 8:30 p.m., at Einstein at Elkins Park Hospital in Elkins Park. For information on CHADD or ADHD, please see our website www.chadd.net/249 or call Claire Noyes at: 215-779-6656. Center for Loss and Bereavement, 3847 Skippack Pike, Skippack (610-222-4110) www.bereavementcenter.org Offers professional counseling for individuals, couples, children and families dealing with issues of loss and bereavement. Six-week adult support groups: Newly forming young adult grief support group every other Wednesday, 7 8:15 p.m. (free of charge); Monthly loss of child support second Mondays, 7-8:15 p.m.; Six-week young loss of spouse/partner Thursdays, 10-11:15 a.m.; Other groups scheduled as interest is shown for suicide loss support, adult loss of parent, motherless daughters, adult loss of sibling, coping with chronic illness and disability and mens loss of spouse. Nellos Corner Family Bereavement program offers peer grief support groups for ages 4 through teen and their caregivers Every other Tuesday or Wednesday (free of charge) Local chapter of Parents of Murdered Children also meets at the Center. Registration required. Call for further information. CHADD is a national organization for children & adults with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder, providing education, advocacy and support for individuals and their families with AD/HD. Einstein at Elkins Park Hospital, 60 Township Line Road, Elkins Park, PA 19027, will host children & adults with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder on the First Tuesday of each month 7 8:30 p.m. Free, no childcare provided. The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphias Kehillah of Old York Road is sponsoring a free Caregiver Support Group for individuals who care for an elderly person with cognitive and/or physical impairments. The group meets at SarahCare Adult Day Care Center, 101 Washington Lane, Suite G-6, Jenkintown, Pa., on the first Wednesday of each month. Patty Rich, Send items for Worship News to religion@thereporteronline.com. Address questions to Nancy March, editor, at nmarch@thereporteronline.com. Deadline is noon Thursday to appear in the Saturday Worship News and Notes. Presentation of Our Lord Ukrainian Catholic Church has one more Sidewalk Ukrainian... FORT DODGE | A Webster County found a North Iowa man guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder Thursday. Peter Veal, 31, Lake Mills, sat quietly as the verdict was read, but tears were shed in the areas of the courtroom reserved for Veal's family and the families of the victims. Mindy Kavars died of a gunshot wound to the throat shortly after 2 a.m. Nov. 17 at a residence in the 1600 block of North Hampshire Avenue in Mason City. Caleb Christensen died of multiple stab wounds. Police said Veal committed those crimes and attempted to kill Ron Willis, who was also in the house. Willis testified Veal pointed a gun at his head and pulled the trigger, but the gun didn't fire. Willis said he ran from the house and called 911 while Veal tried to get a jammed round of ammunition out of the gun. Many members of Kavars' family were in the courtroom throughout the trial and when the verdicts were read. Melissa Kavars Hall, Kavars' sister, said the trial became about Veal and Willis, and the victims seemed to be forgotten. "Mindy was kind and loving and very funny," she said. "We don't want her to be forgotten." Kavars' daughter, Alexandrea Kavars Rhine, said she hopes her family and Christensen's family now can "find the peace we desperately needed during these brutal months." Kavars mother, Linda Boyd Kavars, said she knows the verdict won't bring her daughter back, but "we are so glad this guy is locked up and isn't going to hurt anyone again." Update: Veal found guilty of first-degree murder, attempted murder FORT DODGE | A Webster County jury around 1:45 p.m. Thursday found Peter Veal guilty of two She said her daughter "may have had her problems, but she was a beautiful soul." Veal is tentatively scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 25. The mandatory sentence in Iowa for first-degree murder is life in prison without the possibility of parole. Cerro Gordo County Attorney Carlyle Dalen said he was happy for the victims' families, as the verdicts should give them a sense of relief. "I felt like justice took place today," he said. "This was an extremely brutal murder, and conviction in this case was the right thing given the facts." During his closing argument Wednesday, public defender Steven Kloberdanz claimed Willis was the one who fatally shot Kavars and stabbed Christensen to death. Update: Defense claims eyewitness committed double homicide in Mason City FORT DODGE | Ron Willis put his bloody coat on Peter Veal, who was under the influence of dr Kloberdanz claimed Willis put his bloody coat on Veal, who was under the influence of drugs, so he would take the fall. Assistant Iowa Attorney General Scott Brown said during his closing argument that no evidence existed to back up that claim. Veal was found and arrested on North Carolina Avenue not long after Willis called 911. Officers testified during the trial Veal's jeans and shoes had blood on them, as did a coat found along the path Veal took when he left the crime scene on foot. The trial, which was moved to Webster County due to publicity, began July 10. The case was submitted to the jury at 3:15 p.m. Wednesday. Jurors deliberated about an hour and a half before going home for the evening. The jury resumed deliberations at 9 a.m. Thursday, taking a lunch break shortly before noon. The verdicts were read in the courtroom at 1:45 p.m. Letter to editor: Voting is necessary to protect democracy Rabbis installation at Keneseth Israel will get a boost of student creativity July 20, 2017 Saudi Arabia - Bin Salman's Coup Is A Model For His Own Ouster Someone wanted the public to know that the new Saudi clown prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MbS) took up his new position by unceremoniously disposing his predecessor Mohammed bin Nayef (MbN) by force. The juicy details, true or not, were briefed to Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times on the same day: As next in line to be king of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Nayef was unaccustomed to being told what to do. Then, one night in June, he was summoned to a palace in Mecca, held against his will and pressured for hours to give up his claim to the throne. By dawn, he had given in, and Saudi Arabia woke to the news that it had a new crown prince: the kings 31-year-old son, Mohammed bin Salman. Bin Nayef was a darling of the CIA and his disposal was not welcome. It may well be that the author of the tale of his ouster has his office in Langley, Virginia. We had correctly called the MbN removal a coup and predicted that "the old al-Saud family king [..] will be offed soon." From the current Reuters piece: Quoting a witness at the palace, one Saudi source said King Salman this month pre-recorded a statement in which he announces the transfer of the throne to his son. The announcement could be broadcast at any time, perhaps as soon as September. We also wrote that "[m]any Arab peninsula citizens will want to see [the new clown prince's] head on a pike." The details of how MbS deposed the previous crown prince MbN will enrage additional parts of Saudi Arabia's population. Additional leaks about extensive MbS contacts with Israel will increase the bad feelings against him. This especially as Israeli is further encroaching on the al-Haram a-Sharif and the Al-Aqsa mosque on the (likely falsely) claimed Jewish temple mount. MbS' attempt to push Qatar around has, as predicted, failed. The four countries that had joined against Qatar could not agree to increase the pressure. The demands made to Qatar have now been retracted. This is a huge loss of face for MbS and his Emirati mentor Mohammad bin Zayed. The Saudi war against Yemen kills many civilians and costs billions of dollars but is militarily lost. The announced big economic reforms have made no progress. The Gulf Cooperation Council is defunct and may fall further apart. Everything MbS has touched failed. His actions violate traditions and religious commandments. His coup has set an example that can now be used against himself. It would not be astonishing to see a revolt against Mohammed Bin Salman even before he is able to make himself king. The way he shifted MbN to the side broke all traditional rules. The example he set with the ouster of the former crown prince can now be used against himself. UPDATE: Bin Salman is now consolidating all internal security organizations and functions under himself. The Interior Ministry, traditionally headed by the Nayef family branch, will be stripped of all significant powers. MbS is afraid. He knows that many forces, including the CIA, are now working against him. This attempt to coup-proof his rule is probably coming too late. Posted by b on July 20, 2017 at 18:53 UTC | Permalink Comments Did you miss out on the Pop Quiz this week? It's time to catch up and get ready for next week! FORT DODGE | A Webster County jury around 1:45 p.m. Thursday found Peter Veal guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. Our previous story: FORT DODGE | Jury deliberations resumed Thursday morning in the trial of Peter Veal, who is accused in a November double homicide in Mason City. Veal, 31, of Lake Mills, is on trial in Webster County Court for two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Melinda Kavars and Caleb Christensen. He is also charged with attempted murder for allegedly trying to kill Ron Willis. Jurors have been asking to review pieces of evidence during deliberations, which began mid-afternoon on Wednesday. Thursday morning the judge received a note from the jury asking if they could have the court recorders transcript of the testimony. Davenport refused, noting jurors are supposed to use their own recollections of what happened during the trial. Jurors are allowed to take their own notes during trials. On Wednesday jurors asked to have the 911 call Willis made replayed for them in the jury room. Both the prosecution and the defense played the audio of the call for the jury during the trial. The jurors also wanted to examine a diagram of the house where the double homicide took place. Davenport granted both requests. Earlier in the trial Willis testified that he witnessed Veal shooting Kavars in the throat on Nov. 17 at a residence in the 1600 block of North Hampshire Avenue. Mason City double homicide trial goes to jury FORT DODGE | Ron Willis put his bloody coat on Peter Veal, who was under the influence of dr Veal then pointed the gun at Willis' head and pulled the trigger, but the weapon didn't fire, according to Willis. Willis testified he fled from the house while Veal tried to get a jammed round out of the gun. During his closing argument Wednesday, public defender Steven Kloberdanz claimed Willis was the one who fatally shot Kavars and stabbed Christensen to death. Willis put his bloody coat on Veal, who was under the influence of drugs, so he would take the fall, according to Kloberdanz. Veal was found and arrested on North Carolina Avenue not long after Willis called 911. Officers testified during the trial that Veal's jeans and shoes had blood on them, as did a coat found along the path Veal took when he left the crime scene on foot. The trial, which was moved to Webster County due to publicity, began July 10. This is a developing story. Check back for more details. The History Museum of Burke County and the North Carolina Room of the Burke County Public Library have partnered to bring famed North Carolina historian and author Randell Jones to Morganton. The special Coffee at the Museum event will take place on Thursday, July 20, at 6:30 p.m. in the Kistler Wing of the lobby at the Morganton Public Library. The presentation is free and open to the public. A reception will be held after the program. Laurie Johnston, the curator of the NC Room, shared how her job at the library parallels the mission of the museum in preserving and promoting local history. Some people in the community may not be aware that the North Carolina Room at our library serves to collect and document our local history in much the same way that the History Museum does, Johnston said. While the History Museum aims to promote history through education and visual display, our main focus in the North Carolina Room is to collect and share information and photographs about our area and its people. If you have a question about local history, chances are you will find the answer in our North Carolina Room. Partnership with the History Museum of Burke County is natural for us, because our goals are the same - to preserve and promote our shared history. The History Museum approached us with an idea to co-host this program, and the Kistler Wing at the library is a wonderful venue with enough comfortable seating for all. We have seen much success in combining our efforts in the past, and are very excited to bring such a wonderfully entertaining and informative speaker, Randell Jones, to Burke County. Jones, a resident of Winston-Salem, is no stranger to Morganton. Johnston said he has made several presentations over the years to the Burke County Genealogical Society, the Historic Burke Foundation and the Foothills Conservancy at the History Museum of Burke County. Jones has spent the past 23 years studying the history of North Carolina. He is the author of several books, including In the Footsteps of Daniel Boone, which won the 2006 Willie Parker Peace History Book Award from the North Carolina Society of Historians, according to Jones biography. Though he is a native of Arkansas who grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, Jones became interested in North Carolina history while researching his genealogy and tracing his ancestors to North Carolina as far back as 1792. North Carolinas history is part of Americas story, Jones said. Many people are surprised at how much American history has connections to the Tar Heel state, both the good and the bad. The earliest English settlements were here. Now we know, so was one of the earliest Spanish forts as well Fort San Juan at Joara in Burke County. The American Revolution, slavery, Americas Westward Movement, Americas first gold rush, the Trail of Tears, the Civil War, Reconstruction, the Wright Brothers, womens suffrage, the Civil Rights Movement - the list goes on and on. Jones research has focused on Daniel Boone in particular, who was an American pioneer, explorer and trailblazer who moved to North Carolina with his family from Pennsylvania. Daniel Boone is Americas pioneer hero, and he was internationally famous in his own lifetime, Jones said. His remarkable 86-year life spanned from colonial America through the Revolution and beyond the War of 1812. His footprints are seen in America across what are now 11 states, and he lived in North Carolina for 21 years before moving on to Kentucky. He was married in North Carolina and his parents are buried here. We have a great claim on telling Daniel Boones story, from which one can branch off into so many other aspects of American history during the last two-thirds of the 18th century and into the early 1800s. Jones presentation at the library will focus on tales featured in his latest book, From Time to Time in North Carolina. My newest book includes stories about a North Carolina naval commander who accomplished a most astonishing, world-class feat during the Civil War, Jones said. Another Ill share is about an internationally famous, early-20th century American Indian from North Carolina who outran the great athlete, Jim Thorpe, and starred in a silent movie, but suffered greatly when his full identity was revealed. There are stories about P.T. Barnum, who started his first circus in North Carolina, a lecture in Winston-Salem in 1913 by Helen Keller, blind and deaf since age 2, a fabulously wealthy father and daughter whose lives spanned a combined 170 years, and the North Carolina state senator whose murder in a county courthouse at the hands of his political opponents remained an unsolved crime for 65 years. Copies of the book will be sold at the presentation. Jones said those unable to attend the event can order an autographed copy of the book at www.danielboonefootsteps.com. Johnston encouraged people to attend the event and delve into North Carolinas past. Even old history buffs will learn something new from Randell Jones, and no doubt, they will be heartily entertained as well, Johnston said. Tammie Gercken can be reached at tgercken@morganton.com. Morganton native Carrie Stephens will celebrate her graduation from North Carolina State University by traveling to Ghana to help combat global food insecurity. Stephens, who earned a bachelors degree in animal science, has signed on with AgriCorps, a nonprofit organization which sends young American agriculture professionals into developing countries to share the agricultural education models of the 4-H and Future Farmers of America programs, according to a press release announcing the trip. She will leave Morganton in August and spend the next 11 months in Ghana, a country on the west coast of Africa, teaching agricultural methods and sharing up-to-date technology with local farmers while teaching and mentoring local 4-H students, inspiring them to become the farmers of the future. It will be her first trip outside the U.S. I grew up around horses and other livestock and knew I had a passion for animals, Stephens said. When I was 4, I thought I wanted to be a veterinarian, but as I got older, (I realized) it wasnt what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I learned of many different career opportunities that you can have with a degree in animal science. Stephens is the daughter of Brad and Linda Stephens and graduated from Freedom High School in 2013 before attending NCSU, where she heard about the AgriCorps program. I have always had a passion for wanting to educate people, whether children or adults, Stephens said. AgriCorps gives me the opportunity to teach in an environment where the education is applicable to everyday life and where people genuinely want to learn. Its an education that applies to more than just a career that affects them, but one that can positively impact their entire community, as well as the rest of the world, by being able to more efficiently grow food. Her instruction will focus on helping farmers yield more out of their efforts through avenues as diverse as record-keeping, irrigation systems, no-till farming, composting and proper feed regimens and housing options for livestock. The main point she wants to instill in her 4-H students is that becoming a farmer does not mean they will have to live in poverty for the rest of their lives. (Ill be) helping the students create a business out of agricultural practices they are applying and (teach them) how to more efficiently lead business-type meetings amongst their peers, Stephens said. I want them to know that they, as well as their passions for agriculture, are important. She believes she will learn as much, if not more, from her experience in Ghana as she teaches. There are so many aspects of living in Ghana I know I wont understand, even after living there for a year, Stephens said. I hope to learn more about the people there and about their culture. I hope to learn more about myself and the person Im becoming and want to be. Upon returning to the U.S., Stephens will work as a companion animal sales representative at Elanco Animal Health, a company based in Greenfield, Indiana, which develops healthy and environmentally friendly food and other products for animals. Elanco has an agreement with AgriCorps to employ the organizations fellows, according to the press release, due to their shared goals of feeding a growing and changing world. Stephens urged people to make themselves more aware of where their food comes from and how food scarcity affects millions of people worldwide. My biggest challenge to people in our community would be to educate themselves about agriculture, Stephens said. Its important to know the science as well as the emotion that farmers pour into their crops and their animals and how much they do to make sure our community and others have food to eat. The growing pressure on agriculturalists to provide food and the growing media and marketing pressures on society to choose the highest quality products make it hard for us all to work together, but thats what we have to do if we want to truly combat global food insecurity. I only wholeheartedly devote myself to endeavors that I have faith in, and I have so much faith in the future of AgriCorps and what they are doing for the world. I would encourage anyone reading this article to check out more about AgriCorps at www.agricorps.org or to check out AgriCorps on social media. Tammie Gercken can be reached at tgercken@morganton.com. MASON CITY | The thunderstorm, rain, humidity and muddy roads couldnt dampen the newly crowned North Iowa Fair Queens spirits Wednesday night. The 2017 North Iowa Fair Queen Elise Obermire, 17, of Mason City, was poised as ever on stage and off the stage. Its an honor, really, Obermire said. Obermire said her mother encouraged her to compete. It was great meeting new people, Obermier said. Any one of these girls could have won. She is involved in choir, Stebens Childrens theater and has been participating in the Bill Riley Talent Search for 11 years. It will be quite a busy year. Obermire will be a senior at Mason City High School in the fall. The new queen was crowned in front of a crowd of more than 120 people including several local officials at the North Iowa Events Center. State Sen. Amanda Ragan spoke during the opening ceremonies. Any one of them would be great to represent North Iowa, Ragan said, pointing to the group of ladies. The 2016 queen, Kacy Samson, said she gained so many different skills including public relations, during her tenure. Her advice to the future queen: Just have fun, it goes by super-fast. Obermier will represent Cerro Gordo County at the Iowa State Fair Queen Contest. She'll have a busy week at the North Iowa fair as well as a week of pageant duties at the State Fair in August, including trying new food. Ill spend a week in workshops, Obermire said. When the ceremony was done, she hugged family and friends, shook hands and retreated to the office where she substituted delicate high heels for a sturdy pair of cowboy boots. North Iowa Fair Queen first-runner-up Rebekah Mason, 16, of Mason City encourages anyone who feels like running to just do it. Its so much fun, Mason said. Elise really deserved it. Sarah Wendel 17, of Mason City was named Miss Congeniality, an award voted on by the contestants. Also in the North Iowa Fair Court: Kylee Smith, 18, of Rockford, Brooke Hoeppner, 18, Northwood, and Gracie Smith, 16, Rockford. North Iowa Fair Association President Jim Barkema was excited to kick off the fair and excited for the variety of events this year. We have events in everything and anything this year, Barkema said. Maintaining independence and editorial freedom is essential to our mission of empowering investor success. We provide a platform for our authors to report on investments fairly, accurately, and from the investors point of view. We also respect individual opinionsthey represent the unvarnished thinking of our people and exacting analysis of our research processes. Our authors can publish views that we may or may not agree with, but they show their work, distinguish facts from opinions, and make sure their analysis is clear and in no way misleading or deceptive. To further protect the integrity of our editorial content, we keep a strict separation between our sales teams and authors to remove any pressure or influence on our analyses and research. Read our editorial policy to learn more about our process. A severe thunderstorm packing heavy winds rolled through North Iowa Wednesday, uprooting trees, downing limbs and knocking out power in several communities. In Osage, Police Chief Brian Wright said wind speeds were clocked at 75 mph when the storm hit the town around 5:30 p.m. Gusts of 66 mph had been reported at the Forest City Airport at 4:35 p.m. and 63 mph at the Mason City Airport at 4:45 p.m., according to reports from the National Weather Service. Several videos of the severe storm were shared with the Globe Gazette. Iowa Storm Chasing Network shared Steve Boyken's video of the front near Titonka, where at the time winds were reported to be gusting up to 70 mph. Rachael Kobriger shot a video of blustery conditions in Forest City, while Lisa Schaefer caught them near Manly/Hanlontown. A semi was reported overturned on Interstate 35 northbound, near the 205 mile marker, as the storm rolled through Worth County. It's unknown if the accident was related to high winds, as law enforcement hasn't released any details about the crash. Extensive tree damage was reported across Osage, causing several streets to be closed as well as a portion of Highway 218 to remove large tree that had been uprooted during the storm. The Osage Fire Department was dispatched to aid the city in cutting down downed branches that blocked the roadway in Spring Park, so motorists could leave, Fire Chief Kurt Angell said. Severe damage was also being reported in other parts of Mitchell County, including New Haven, where the Catholic church sustained damage. In addition, crops were reported to be flattened in sections of the county. A tornado warning was issued for southeastern Mitchell County around 5:15 p.m., but no confirmed tornado has been reported. Forecasters have said the storm qualified as a "derecho," a widespread, long-lived, straight-line wind storm associated with a fast-moving group of severe thunderstorms. Storm damage was also reported in several other towns, including Clear Lake, Forest City and St. Ansgar. More than 9,000 customers were reported to be without power in North Iowa around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to Alliant Energy. The National Weather Service said heavy rain is possible in North Iowa Friday morning and night. It's also possible Saturday morning, forecasters said. Temperatures are expected to remain warm this weekend before beginning to cool off early next week. Jim Cross, Steven Thompson and Ashley Miller contributed to this story. Mount Pleasant, SC (29464) Today Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy this afternoon. High around 75F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low near 55F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Looking at it from a bigger picture, Lubbock isnt all that different from Amarillo. Theyre smaller, but Midland and Odessa have similarities as well. Agriculture, water, transportation, growth and economic development are all being discussed at city halls across West Texas. So why not better communicate and collaborate on ideas and solutions? This concept is the reasoning behind a sort of coalition forming among mayors across West Texas. Area mayors had their first group meeting on Wednesday at the Texas Tech Club inside Techs Jones AT&T Stadium. Mayors from Lubbock, Amarillo, Big Spring, Midland, Odessa and San Angelo met for more than five hours in a closed meeting. They had some visitors -- TTUHSC President Tedd Mitchell and Plains Cotton Growers executive vice president Steve Verett -- but other than that it was closed to the media and public. The mayors held a collective news conference afterward. Being pressed by questions from the media, the mayors shook off the thought that the state Legislatures actions -- some of which local leaders have criticized for taking away local control -- are the reason for forming a coalition. They acknowledged communicating as a group will better serve their interests in Austin, but the meeting, they said, was mainly to discuss local problems and local goals. Amarillo Mayor Ginger Nelson said they also intend to advocate, as a whole, for West Texas. During the news conference, Lubbock Mayor Dan Pope said the mayors talked about the challenges their communities face and projects theyre working on. They talked about things they can work on together and offered advice on how things are done in their cities. We have a lot of things in common in West Texas, Pope said. Even though less than 15 percent of the states population lives west of I-35, many of the resources that the state counts on are in West Texas -- whether it be oil and gas or the fiber from our cotton or from the other parts of agriculture, beef cattle in particular... those of you in Lubbock have heard this before: how do you find money to take care of what you already have? We talked about the different ways of doing that, and I think good ideas came out of that today. When conversations did turn to state issues, Pope said, the focus was mostly on transportation and water. He said extending Interstate 27 -- a proposal brought to the Legislature in the spring by State Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, but that did not gain traction -- was not heavily discussed. Nelson, who has been in office for less than three months, said her goal was to learn from others. She doesnt want to spend time reinventing the wheel if she can steal good ideas from her colleagues, she said. During the meeting, Nelson said, she heard helpful ways mayors in similar cities address challenges in infrastructure, crime and getting citizens to engage. Its perfectly logical to take that West Texas spirit of neighborhood and community and extend that out through our cities. Thats what weve done here today, said Nelson. I can tell you personally that I benefited as a new mayor from listening to people who have already faced some of the challenges. Every city faces the same challenges. The meeting Wednesday took place one day after Nelson and Pope signed a letter with 16 other mayors requesting a meeting with Gov. Greg Abbott to discuss items in the states special legislative session that began Tuesday. The letter said some items were targeting local control -- a common theme in the regular session. The other mayors said they would have signed it too, had they been asked. We really, in West Texas, are tired of hearing about I-35, what goes on in Austin and what drives our economy because of what happens in Austin, said Mayor Brenda Gunter of San Angelo. Strength in numbers is always important, and we will utilize that going forward so we can help better our communities through partnerships with our sister cities. Mayor David Turner of Odessa said it would help West Texas if people stood together when approaching issues in Austin, particularly with funding for transportation. In the five or so minutes media was allowed in the conference room to take photos, Nelson was leading the discussion about downtown development. She said afterwards thats something Amarillo is gaining momentum in, and was happy to discuss how that came to be. Pope said the mayors agreed to meet again, potentially in the next few months. According to a news release from the city, Abilenes Mayor Anthony Williams was also scheduled to attend but couldnt make the trip Wednesday due to unforeseen circumstances. --- Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN UNITED STATES CALGARY, Alberta, July 19, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vier Capital Corp. ("Vier" or the "Corporation") (TSX Venture:VIE.P) today announced its proposed Qualifying Transaction under Policy 2.4 Capital Pool Companies (Policy 2.4) of the TSX Venture Exchange (the TSXV) involving a business combination with Vertex Resource Group Ltd. ("Vertex"). Vertex is a private company incorporated under the laws of Alberta. Vier entered into a letter of intent with Vertex dated July 17, 2017, pursuant to which Vier intends to acquire all of the issued and outstanding securities of Vertex (the "Vertex Securities"), effected by way of an arrangement, share exchange or similar transaction pursuant to the terms of a definitive agreement to be entered into by Vier and Vertex (the Definitive Agreement), and the Business Corporations Act (Alberta) (the Proposed Transaction). For convenience, Vier as it will exist after completion of the Proposed Transaction, is sometimes referred to herein as the Resulting Issuer. In connection with the Proposed Transaction, it is anticipated that: (i) all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Vier (the "Vier Shares") will be consolidated on a 10-for-1 basis; and (ii) 85,773,433 post-consolidation Vier Shares will be issued to Vertex securityholders in exchange for their Vertex Securities. The Proposed Transaction values the Vier Shares at $1.00 per share on a post-consolidation basis. It is estimated that there will be approximately 86.5 million common shares of the Resulting Issuer issued and outstanding immediately following closing of the Proposed Transaction, with former Vier shareholders holding approximately 0.85% of such common shares and former Vertex securityholders holding approximately 99.15% of such common shares. Upon completion of the Proposed Transaction, Vier will change its name to Vertex Resource Group Ltd. Concurrent with the completion of the Proposed Transaction, it is expected that all directors and officers of Vier will resign and be replaced by Vertex nominees. The Proposed Transaction is subject to receipt of requisite regulatory, stock exchange, court, governmental and shareholder approvals, authorizations and consents. Shareholders of Vier approved the consolidation and name change at Viers most recent shareholder meeting in May 2017 and it is anticipated that the Proposed Transaction will not require shareholder approval of Vier. Vier has agreed not to solicit or negotiate with any entity, other than Vertex, in respect of a sale or transfer of Vier Shares until the earlier of August 15, 2017 or the mutual agreement of Vier and Vertex not to pursue the execution of a Definitive Agreement. A comprehensive press release with further particulars relating to the Proposed Transaction the Corporation following completion of the Proposed Transaction will follow in accordance with the policies of the TSXV. Conditions to Completion of Proposed Transaction & Regulatory Matters Completion of the Proposed Transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to: completion of satisfactory due diligence; execution of the Definitive Agreement; TSXV acceptance of the Proposed Transaction; and approval of the Proposed Transaction by Vertex shareholders. The Proposed Transaction cannot close until the required approvals are obtained. There can be no assurance that the Proposed Transaction will be completed as proposed or at all. The parties to the Proposed Transaction are at arms length and therefore it is anticipated that the Proposed Transaction will not be a Non-Arms Length Qualifying Transaction for purposes of Policy 2.4 as none of the directors, officers or insiders of Vier, or any of their respective associates or affiliates, own any securities of Vertex. If available, the Corporation will make an application to the TSXV for an exemption from the sponsorship requirements of Policy 2.2 Sponsorship and Sponsorship Requirements of the TSXV, but there is no assurance that such an exemption will be granted. Trading of the Vier Shares is presently halted and is expected to remain halted pending the closing of the Proposed Transaction. While halted, the Vier Shares may only trade upon TSXV approval and the filing of required materials with the TSXV as contemplated by the policies of the TSXV. About Vier Vier is a capital pool company created to identify potential acquisitions of commercially viable businesses and assets that have the potential to generate profits and add shareholder value. About Vertex Vertex is a private company that commenced operations in 1976. Vertex has grown to become a leading provider of environmental and industrial services, including environmental and land consulting, fluid hauling and management, industrial insulation, cleaning and equipment rentals. Vertex is headquartered in Sherwood Park, Alberta and employs a staff of approximately 450 employees that service a wide array of customers in industries such as oil and gas upstream and midstream, utilities, telecommunication, forestry, agriculture and government. Vertex principally operates in Western Canada, with limited but growing operations in the United States. For further information: Jason Krueger, President, Vier Capital Corp., 587-585-1776; or Terry Stephenson, President & CEO, Vertex Resource Group Ltd., 780-464-3295 Cautionary Note As noted above, completion of the Proposed Transaction is subject to receipt of all requisite regulatory, stock exchange, court or governmental approvals, authorizations and consents, approval of the shareholders of Vertex and Vier (if required), and completion of the consolidation by Vier. The Proposed Transaction cannot close until the required approvals have been obtained. There can be no assurance that the Proposed Transaction will be completed as proposed or at all. Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the continuous disclosure document containing full, true and plain disclosure regarding the Proposed Transaction required to be filed with the securities regulatory authorities having jurisdiction over the affairs of Vier, any information released or received with respect to the Proposed Transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. The trading in the securities of Vier on the TSXV should be considered highly speculative. Forward-Looking Information Although the Corporation believes, in light of the experience of its officers and directors, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors that have been considered appropriate that the expectations reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them because the Corporation can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. When used in this press release, the words "estimate", "project", "belief", "anticipate", "intend", "expect", "plan", "predict", "may" or "should" and the negative of these words or such variations thereon or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements and information. The forward-looking statements and information in this press release include information relating to the business plans of Vier and Vertex, the Proposed Transaction (including TSXV approval, shareholder and court approval (as applicable), and the closing of the Proposed Transaction) and the board of directors and management of the Resulting Issuer upon completion of the Proposed Transaction. Such statements and information reflect the current view of Vier and/or Vertex, respectively. Risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in those forward-looking statements and information. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the following risks: (i) there is no assurance that Vier and Vertex will obtain all requisite approvals for the Proposed Transaction, including the approval of their respective shareholders (if applicable), the approval of the TSXV for the Proposed Transaction (which may be conditional upon amendments to the terms of the Transaction) or court approval (if applicable) of the Transaction; (ii) following completion of the Transaction, the Resulting Issuer may require additional financing from time to time in order to continue its operations and financing may not be available when needed or on terms and conditions acceptable to the Resulting Issuer; (iii) new laws or regulations could adversely affect the Resulting Issuer's business and results of operations; and (iv) the stock markets have experienced volatility that often has been unrelated to the performance of companies. These fluctuations may adversely affect the price of the Resulting Issuer's securities, regardless of its operating performance. There are a number of important factors that could cause Vier and Vertexs actual results to differ materially from those indicated or implied by forward-looking statements and information. Such factors include, among others: currency fluctuations; limited business history of Vier; disruptions or changes in the credit or security markets; results of operation activities and development of projects; project cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses, and general market and industry conditions. The terms and conditions of the Qualifying Transaction may be based on the Corporations due diligence and the receipt of tax, corporate and securities law advice for both the Corporation and Vertex. The Corporation undertakes no obligation to comment on analyses, expectations or statements made by third parties in respect of the Corporation, Vertex, their securities, or their respective financial or operating results (as applicable). Vier cautions that the foregoing list of material factors is not exhaustive. When relying on Viers forward-looking statements and information to make decisions, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. Vier has assumed that the material factors referred to in the previous paragraph will not cause such forward-looking statements and information to differ materially from actual results or events. However, the list of these factors is not exhaustive and is subject to change and there can be no assurance that such assumptions will reflect the actual outcome of such items or factors. The forward-looking information contained in this press release represents the expectations of Vier as of the date of this press release and, accordingly, is subject to change after such date. Readers should not place undue importance on forward-looking information and should not rely upon this information as of any other date. Vier does not undertake to update this information at any particular time except as required in accordance with applicable laws. This press release is not an offer of the securities for sale in the United States. The securities have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. The TSX Venture Exchange Inc. has in no way passed upon the merits of the Transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. NEW YORK, July 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Thank You For Joining Us "In The Boardroom" On SecuritySolutionsWatch.Com Kurt Takahashi, President, AMAG Technology - A G4S Company Marc Blackmer, Cisco, Product Marketing Manager, Industry Solutions, Security Business Group Samir Shah, CEO, Cyberinc Ken Mills, General Manager, Dell EMC, Surveillance and Security Steve Visconti, President & CEO, Extenua Jim Miller, ImageWare Systems, Chairman and CEO Scott B. Suhy, CEO, Netwatcher ***** AMAG Technology - A G4S Company, Kurt Takahashi, President www.securitysolutionswatch.com/Interviews/in_Boardroom_AMAG_Takahashi.html www.AMAG.com AMAG Technologys Symmetry Security Management Solutions are deployed across a wide variety of market segments from commercial to government, education, healthcare, banking, transportation, utilities, plus many more. Headquartered in Torrance, California with sales and support located throughout the Americas, EMEA, APAC and LATAM, AMAG provides customers with industry leading unified security solutions. AMAG Technology is part of G4S plc, the worlds leading global integrated security company which has operations on six continents and 585,000 employees. As the industry leader, AMAG focuses on delivering the latest technology to meet market needs. Its next generation of Symmetry security solutions help organizations operationalize their business to mitigate risk, meet compliance requirements and save money. For our complete interview with Kurt Takahashi, President, AMAG Technology - A G4S Company, please click here or here: www.securitysolutionswatch.com/Interviews/in_Boardroom_AMAG_Takahashi.html In recent news: Nortech Joins Amag Technology's Symmetry Preferred Partner Program http://www.amag.com/en/Company/News/2017/06/20/Nortech ***** Cisco, Marc Blackmer, Product Marketing Manager, Industry Solutions, Security Business Group http://www.securitysolutionswatch.com/Interviews/in_Boardroom_Cisco_Blackmer.html Cisco Blog Marc Blackmer, Product Marketing Manager, Industry Solutions, Security Business Group, Cisco, shared with us, We at Cisco are fully committed to the IoT, and we believe the IoT must be secured for its promise to be realized. Securing the IoT is easier said than done, though. The first complication is that most IoT devices cant protect themselves. To be fair, there are a number of reasons why they cant, but from a cybersecurity perspective, those reasons dont matter. A vulnerability is a vulnerability is a vulnerability. And these vulnerabilities create ample opportunities for an attacker to exploit those devices and gain access to your network. More ***** Cyberinc, CEO, Samir Shah www.securitysolutionswatch.com/Interviews/in_Boardroom_Shah_Cyberinc.html www.Cyberinc.com Samir Shah, CEO, Cyberinc, told us, "Isla represents an entirely new approach to cyber security. Until now security solutions have always been based on detecting bad things and blocking them from running. Anti-Virus tries to detect bad files, Web Filters try to detect bad websites, the list goes on and on. Isla takes a different approach to the problem. Instead of detecting bad things, Isla simply isolates ALL web content in a specialized environment located outside of an organizations sensitive network. Since ALL content is isolated no attacks can ever slip through the cracks and compromise the user. This is a simple, yet powerful approach. Since organizations vary so widely, Isla is offered in a number of ways to suit each potential customers needs. Isla can be deployed as an appliance directly at a customers office, it can be deployed in a customers existing cloud data centers or it can be delivered as a pure Cloud service by a Cyberinc Isla Cloud Service partner. More " In recent news: Cyberinc, An Aurionpro Company, appoints Romi Randhawa as Chief Strategy Officer; strengthens Leadership Team https://cyberinc.com/news/cyberinc-appoints-romi-randhawa-as-chief-strategy-officer/ Cyberinc partners with Sohonet to deliver Isla Cloud Malware Isolation to defeat advanced cyber attacks https://cyberinc.com/news/cyberinc-partners-with-sohonet-to-deliver-isla-cloud-malware-isolation/ Cyberinc partners with OvationData to launch Isla Cloud Malware Isolation to defeat advanced cyber attacks in UK https://cyberinc.com/news/cyberinc-partners-with-ovationdata-to-launch-isla-cloud-malware-isolation/ Interchange partners with Cyberinc to shut down cyber threats https://cyberinc.com/news/interchange-partners-with-cyberinc-to-shut-down-cyber-threats/ ***** Dell EMC, General Manager, Surveillance and Security, Ken Mills www.securitysolutionswatch.com/Interviews/in_Boardroom_KenMills_GeneralManager_DeLLEMC.html https://www.emc.com/storage/video-surveillance-storage.htm Ken Mills, Dell EMC, General Manager, Surveillance and Security, told us, It is an exciting time to be at Dell EMC right now. Dell Technologies is now #1 In Everything, All in 1 Place and we are bringing this world-class portfolio to the surveillance market. Never before, have our customers and partners been able to modernize their surveillance infrastructure with an end-to-end portfolio like we have a Dell EMC. We are leveraging the same industry-recognized surveillance lab to expand our validated solutions to include the entire Dell EMC portfolio This is a huge step forward for the industry where for the first time, our customers and partners can purchase with confidence all of their surveillance infrastructure needs from one place - Dell EMC. Public Sector continues to be a key vertical for us. With the demand in public safety at an all time high, the need for cost effective and proven solutions has never been greater. We are seeing strong demand for our Public Safety Data Lake solution built on Isilon. Customers are pushing back on closed single vendor solutions are looking for reliable open platforms for evidence management whether they are deploying on premises or in the cloud. Dell EMC is focused on building solutions that allow our customers choice in how they manage their evidence data. We are also going to continue to bring the Dell EMC value to our enterprise and commercial customers across the globe." More FOR MORE INFORMATION: Learn here about Dell EMC Surveillance Solutions and the Solutions Portfolio here or here: https://www.emc.com/storage/video-surveillance-storage.htm#!solution_portfolio For Dell EMC Partner Validations, please click here or here: https://www.emc.com/storage/video-surveillance-storage.htm#!partner_validations Please click here for the Dell EMC VIGILARE BLOG - Surveillance and Public Safety Emerging Trends or click here: http://vigilareblog.emc.com/ ***** Extenua, President and CEO, Steve Visconti www.securitysolutionswatch.com/Interviews/in_Boardroom_Extenua_Visconti.html www.Extenua.com Extenua has just released a most timely white paper This free white paper discusses the challenges of keeping ransomware (Cryptolocker, WannaCry, and the like) out of the corporate data storage, whether it is local, in the cloud or hybrid. CLOUD2DRIVE-PROTECTED ONLINE STORAGE IS IMPERVIOUS TO RANSOMWARE BY USING SILVERSHIELD Ransomware is a type of malware that restricts access to the infected computer system, and demands that the user pay a ransom to the malware operators to remove the restriction. Probably the most famous ransomware, even though not the only one, is Cryptolocker, and its certainly something you dont want to deal with. Regardless of the strenuous efforts put in place by Antivirus developers, the rate of infection is astonishing, and these days its becoming even worse with an unprecedented outbreak of infection. To make things even worse, ransomware can also access all the shared folders on your NAS/SAN, so if you backup to a network drive your backups will be compromised too. The ransomware goals include, in fact, preventing you from being able to restore your old (healthy) data from a backup. Even in case your systems are infected by a ransomware, you will simply be able to format your computer, reinstall your operating system, and restore all your data from an always-healthy backup. Download the complete White Paper (in PDF format) http://dl.extenua.com/no-ransomware.pdf ***** ImageWare Systems, Chairman and CEO, Jim Miller www.securitysolutionswatch.com/Interviews/in_Boardroom_ImageWare.html www.iwsinc.com Jim Miller, Chairman and CEO, ImageWare Systems, OTCQB: IWSY, told us, With data breaches happening every day and causing damage to your brand, tangible economic loss, and termination of employment for executive management charged with oversight, enhancing security without compromising user experience is a priority for todays organizations. Multi-modal biometrics for user authentication handles this requirement and thats what ImageWare does. We have invested substantial time and effort into making the implementation of biometric security simple, quick, and cost-efficient. Being a pioneer in biometrics, with several decades of experience, ImageWare has built its brand through deployments in law enforcement applications, later migrating to secure biometric credentialing, and more recently, to authentication in the cloud using smart mobile devices. At the heart of all of our product offerings is the patented IWS Biometric Engine (BE), which provides an ultra-scalable, real-time, multi-modal biometric enrollment and matching database specifically built for biometrics. The BE supports a dozen different biometric modalities today and adding new modalities is simple and straight forward. As we say, we secure your future, meaning that we not only satisfy your current security requirements, but we also secure your investment as new biometric technology becomes available. We treat biometrics as plug and play, so you can take advantage of new advancements with no loss to your current investment. More For more information: About ImageWare Systems ( https://iwsinc.com/about ) ImageWare Systems Markets ( https://iwsinc.com/solutions ) ImageWare Systems Products ( https://iwsinc.com/products ) ImageWare Systems News ( https://iwsinc.com/category/news ) ImageWare Systems Investors ( https://iwsinc.com/about/investors ) ImageWare Systems Partners ( https://iwsinc.com/partners ) ImageWare Systems Resources ( https://iwsinc.com/resources ) ImageWare Systems Patent Portfolio (https://iwsinc.com/about/intellectual-property/ ) ***** NetWatcher, CEO, Scott B. Suhy www.securitysolutionswatch.com/Interviews/in_Boardroom_Netwatcher_Suhy.html www.NetWatcher.com Scott Suhy, CEO, NetWatcher, told us,"On May 12th, 2017 the WanaCry (or WCry, WannaCry, WannaCrypt, WanaCrypt0r 2.0, Wanna Decryptor) ransomware was unleashed and caused over 75,000 attacks in 99 countries. How Does the WanaCry Ransomware Work? The Ransomware initially entered organizations via a phishing email message and then exploited a vulnerability (MS17-010) in Windows to spread within a network locking down computers and asking victims to pay $300 via Bitcoin. The Windows vulnerability was leaked as part of the NSA Shadow Brokers hack and Microsoft soon after released a patch however many computers were not yet updated at the time of the attack. What Should I do? What do NetWatcher Customers do? Customers first need to ensure they are not vulnerable to the attack: NetWatcher Managed Detection & Response customers leverage a built-in vulnerability scanner that periodically scans their environment for vulnerabilities. If the customer was vulnerable to the new ransomware they would have seen the vulnerability titled SMBv1 Unspecified Remote Code Execution (Shadow Brokers) show up in their reports as a high severity issue and warned that they needed to patch the Windows asset. ***** SecuritySolutionsWatch.com Is Proud To Be A Sponsor Of These Important Upcoming Events MARK YOUR CALENDAR! ***** Cyber Security Summit: Chicago Tuesday, August 8, 2017 | 7:45AM to 6:00PM | Hyatt Regency Chicago https://cybersummitusa.com/2017-chicago/ ***** Cyber Security Summit: New York Friday, September 15, 2017 | 7:45AM to 6:00PM | Grand Hyatt New York https://cybersummitusa.com/2017-newyork/ ***** Cyber Security Summit: Boston Wednesday, November 8, 2017 | 7:45AM to 6:00PM | The Westin Copley Place, Boston https://cybersummitusa.com/2017-boston/ ***** Cyber Security Summit: Los Angeles Wednesday, November 29, 2017 | 7:45AM to 6:00PM | The Beverly Hilton https://cybersummitusa.com/2017-losangeles/ ***** Cyber Intelligence Europe 2017 Bucharest, Romania 5th September 2017 - 7th September 2017 http://www.intelligence-sec.com/events/cyber-intelligence-europe-2017 Cyber Intelligence Europe will take place in Bucharest, Romania and provide in-depth case studies of recent threats and attacks faced to government infrastructures. Many governments are increasing their focus on developing strong cyber defence strategies against possible attacks. With this in mind, our 5th annual Cyber Intelligence Europe conference and exhibition will bring together leading public sector officials who will discuss their cyber security plans, strategies and current capabilities. For more information regarding this international event please contact us at events@intelligence-sec.com or +44 (0)1582 346 706. ***** DSEI 12 15 September 2017 The World Leading Defence & Security Event ExCeL, Royal Victoria Dock, 1 Western Gateway, London E16 1XL Nearest train stations: Prince Regent / Royal Victoria (DLR Line) https://www.dsei.co.uk ***** US/Canada Border Conference How Technology is Shaping Border Management 12 - 13 September 2017 Detroit, MI The US/Canada Border Conference brings together border security leadership from the U.S. and Canada to provide an educational experience designed to help advance your agencys mission. The conference is developed by former border security officials who understand the educational needs of todays border security professionals. This two-day event, focused on advancing the Beyond the Border Action Plan, is strategically located in Detroit, Michigan, near several of the busiest shared ports between the United States and Canada. The Beyond the Border initiative outlines a vision for perimeter security and economic competitiveness whereby the U.S. and Canada work in partnerships within, at, and away from our borders to achieve enhanced security and accelerate the legitimate flow of people, goods, and services between our two countries. The United States and Canada bilateral relationship is among the closest and most extensive in the world. Each day, $2.0 billion of cross-border trade is conducted between the U.S. and Canada. 300,000 people cross between the countries every day by all modes of transport. The two nations work cooperatively on border security, law enforcement, environmental protection and free trade on multiple levels from federal, to state and provincial, to local. ***** World e-ID and Cybersecurity Digital Identity & Data Protection for Citizens & Businesses Conference & Exhibition - Sept. 25-27, 2017 Marseille Provence, France www.worlde-idandcybersecurity.com Now in its 13th edition, World e-ID and Cybersecurity explores the latest secure identification technologies, their implementation and the related online trust challenges. Over 2.5 days, 400 project managers, government reps and technology experts will join in to learn, share visions with counterparts worldwide and foster cooperation for successful secure Identity & Cybersecurity implementations. From printed documents to the identity of connected objects, the agenda will deliver a clear vision of secure identification as boundaries are blurring between physical and online ID, between private and public sector cybersecurity, between citizen and consumer online trust. Within Smart Security Week, additional learning, networking and innovation discovery events are also part of the agenda: exhibition & demos, workshops & tutorials, awards ceremony along with multiple bridges with the co-located conferences addressing identity for development, IoT security, cyberthreat intelligence and risk management. ***** Identity World Individual Recognition for Global Development Conference & Exhibition - Sept. 25-27, 2017 Marseille Provence, France www.identity-world.com IDENTITY WORLD is the new conference on how trusted technologies address the state of the individual identity and its contribution to global development. An estimated 1.5 billion people do not have an official, government issued and recognized document as proof of their legal identity. The majority of these people live in Asia and Africa and a disproportionate number are women and children. IDENTITY WORLD has set out to address this identity gap through the collective lens of our cultures, experiences, understanding and resources. Complementing its sister World e-ID and Cybersecurity conference till now, both the intensity of discussion and diversity of subject matter has lent itself to become in 2017 a separate space in the realm of public discourse. Over 2.5 days, 40 speakers will address thoroughly the strategic framework stakes along key themes including: Statelessness & Inclusion Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Public & Private Sector Cooperation Digital Identity, Democracy & Peace. Thought leadership insights will be illustrated by case studies of large-scale implementations (identity, e-vote, healthcare, welfare payments) as well as industry and technology perspectives. Multiple panel discussions are scheduled to ensure maximum interactivity. ***** Connect Security World Embedding Trust in IoT Systems and Connected Hardware Conference & Exhibition - Sept. 25-27, 2017 Marseille Provence, France http://www.connectsecurityworld.com As IoT solutions are transitioning from hype to real deployments, the Internet of insecure things threat is gaining ground. To address unlimited risks, threats and vulnerabilities surrounding IoT, a new generation of connected devices and services is required, with better security and privacy by design. In its 6th edition, Connect Security World invites both digital security experts and IoT developers to discuss and define a true end-to-end security, from sensors to Cloud, from design and development to deployment. Key 2017 themes include: Embedding Security in billion devices: SW/HW approaches New IoT networks security: LPWAN, 4G/5G Cost of security: Time to market vs secure design IoT security regulation: industry and governments role Joining Connect Security World offers the opportunity to meet and exchange with 350+ professionals: experts from security research and industry, associations, standards bodies as well as IoT stakeholders from manufacturing to digital services. Within Smart Security Week www.smartsecurityweek.com , they will benefit from additional synergies of contents and networking opportunities. ***** ASIS 2017 ASIS International 63rd Annual Seminar and Exhibits 25-28 September 2017 Dallas, Texas https://securityexpo.asisonline.org Continuing A Legacy of Excellence.For more than six decades, ASIS Annual Seminar and Exhibits (ASIS 2017) has been the premier event for security professionals worldwide, providing industry-leading education, countless business connections, and the latest products and services. ASIS 2017 will offer attendees the opportunity to: CONNECT with 550+ solutions providers showcasing the latest industry innovations and services NETWORK with 22,000+ security professionals for collaborative learning and solutions for enterprise business and public sector security leaders JOIN industry leaders accelerating the future of the security profession ***** About SecuritySolutionsWatch.com SecuritySolutionsWatch.com features thought leadership interviews about security solutions. Our flagship In The Boardroom program, now in its 15th year, has delivered outstanding content about security solutions from leading global brands such as: Cisco Security, Dell EMC, HP Cybersecurity, Gemalto, HID Global, ImageWare, Siemens Security and SONY Security, just to name a few. What's YOUR cybersecurity, physical security, mobility, payments, safety or "smart" solution? We invite you to please join us "In The Boardroom", more details here, or here: http://www.securitysolutionswatch.com/Main/ThoughtLeadershipOpportunity_July2017.pdf Please click here for our Media Kit (http://www.securitysolutionswatch.com/MediaKit.html) Please click here or here: http://www.securitysolutionswatch.com/Main/170502%20RATE_CARD-4.pdf for additional details about our offerings. ***** FOR MORE CONTENT ABOUT SECURITY THREATS AND SOLUTIONS... ...PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR OUR MONTHLY NEWLETTER (http://securitysolutionswatch.com/newsletters/newsletter_2017_06.html) And PLEASE VISIT US ON TWITTER HERE: https://twitter.com/SecStockWatch ***** THIS PRESS RELEASE, AND ALL ADVERTISING, CONTENT AND ALL OTHER MATERIAL AND INFORMATION WHICH APPEARS ON SECURITYSOLUTIONSWATCH.COM AND/OR SECURITYSTOCKWATCH.COM, ONLINE AND/OR IN PRINT, IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS OF USE, CONDITIONS, AND DISCLAIMER HERE:www.securitysolutionswatch.com/Main/Terms_of_Use.html. 'The big truck is still on ... GET OUR APP Our Spectrum News app is the most convenient way to get the stories that matter to you. Download it here. Dublin, July 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Insect Pheromones - 2017: Insect Pest Management, Semiochemicals, Pheromone Discovery, Monitoring, Mass Trapping, Mating Disruption, Regulation, Markets, Trends" report has been added to Research and Markets' offering. The significant increase in world population demands more food production and, consequently, key inputs such as fertilisers and pesticides, particularly in developing countries. Environmentally-sustainable technologies for pest management means greater semiochemical use, which currently shows a compound annual growth rate higher than 15%. This report cogently explains how increased semiochemical use is being driven by more restrictive regulatory legislation for conventional pesticides, by consumer demand, and as a result of a meaningful increase in pesticide resistance. The sector is limited by political (reduction in government funding), societal (cost and lack of understanding), and regulatory factors. However, on a positive note, governments are encouraging more sustainable agricultural policies including less complicated and faster regulatory procedures. Consumers want to eat residue-free foods and are resistant to conventional insecticides. They are also eating more organic foods and believe in sustainable agriculture. Technological trends include improvements in pheromone manufacture resulting in lower costs. With the creation of a substantial biopesticide industry, and the investment of large crop protection companies, the pheromone market will likely see consolidation and mergers in the near future. Key features include: - The regulatory and political factors influencing the market - Consumer behaviour and its effect on the industry - Market shares and values - Trends and technological advances shaping the market Key Topics Covered: Executive summary 1. Introduction 2. Insect pest management 2.1 Summary - Insect pest management 2.2 Introduction 2.3 How IPM works 2.3.1 Prevention 2.3.2 Monitoring 2.3.3 Intervention 2.4 IPM strategies and tools 2.4.1 Establishing an economic threshold 2.4.2 Protecting natural enemies 2.4.3 Product selection 2.4.4 Responsible product use 2.4.5 Managing pest resistance 2.4.6 Pros and cons of IPM tools 2.4.7 Stewardship and training 2.5 Benefits of IPM 2.6 Advantages and disadvantages of pheromones compared to insecticides 3. Semiochemicals 3.1 Summary - Semiochemicals 3.2 Introduction 3.3. Classification of semiochemicals 3.4 Pherobase 3.5 Insect taste and smell 3.5.1 Taste 3.5.2 Smell 3.6 Insect pheromones 3.6.1 Alarm or dispersal pheromones 3.6.2 Trail pheromones 3.6.3 Honey bee pheromones 3.6.4 Sex Attractants 3.6.5 Aggregation and anti-aggregation pheromones 3.6.6 Marking pheromones 3.6.7 Stigmergy 3.6.8 Chemical characteristics of lepidoptera pheromones 4. Pheromone discovery 4.1 Summary - Phermone discovery 4.2 Introduction 4.3 First steps 4.4 Solving problems 4.5 New technology 4.6 A chemical language 4.7 Mating disruption 4.8 Trapping 4.9 Future research 5. Pheromones in IPM - Monitoring 5.1 Summary - Pheromones in IPM - Monitoring 5.2 Introduction 5.3 Modes of use in monitoring and detection 5.4 Types of lures 5.5 Pest monitoring with pheromone traps 5.5.1 Costan Rican army worm 5.5.2 Emerald ash borer 5.5.3 Citrus fruit borer 5.5.4 Tomato leaf miner 5.5.5 Brazilian apple leafroller 5.5.6 Pink bollworm 5.5.7 European corn borer 5.5.8 Stored product pests 6. Pheromones in IPM - Mass trapping 6.1 Summary - Pheromones in IPM - Mass trapping 6.2 Introduction 6.3 Case studies of mass trapping 6.3.1 Tephritid fruit flies 6.3.2 Asiatic rice borer 6.3.3 Tomato leafminer 6.3.3.1 Recommendations for mass trapping 6.3.4 Cotton boll weevil 6.3.5 Bark beetles 6.3.6 Palm weevils 6.3.7 Sweet potato weevil 6.3.8 Black banana weevil 7. Pheromones in IPM - Mating disruption 7.1 Summary - Pheromones in IPM - Mating disruption 7.2 Introduction 7.3 Factors affecting the mating disruption technique 7.3.1 Pheromone dispensers 7.3.2 Pheromone field concentration 7.3.3 Application aspects 7.3.4 Some conclusions for mating disruption 7.4 Case studies of mating disruption 7.4.1 Codling moths 7.4.2 Tomato pinworm 7.4.3 Brazilian leaf apple roller 7.4.4 Pink bollworm 7.4.5 Oriental fruit moth 7.5 Attract and Kill 8. The regulatory situation 8.1 Summary - The regulatory situation 8.2 Introduction 8.3 New Zealand 8.4 Europe 8.5 USA 9. The insect pheromone market and future tendencies 9.1 Summary - The insect pheromone market and future growth trends 9.2 The insect pheromone market 9.3 Future tendencies 9.3.1 Limiting factors and threats 9.4.1 Promotional factors and trends 10. Company profiles and product lines 10.1 Summary 10.2 A.G. Biosystems 10.2.1 Product profile 10.2.2 R&D 10.3 Agrisense, UK 10.3.1 Product portfolio 10.4 Andermatt Biocontrol 10.4.1 Product portfolio 10.5 ATGC Biotech 10.5.1 Product portfolio 10.6 BASF 10.6.1 BASF launches pheromone in Latin America 10.7 Bedoukian Research 10.8 Biagro 10.9 Biobest Group 10.9.1 Product lines 10.10 BioChemTech 10.11 BIO CONTROLE 10.11.1 Product line 10.12 Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI) 10.13 ChemTica International (CTI) 10.14 Hercon Environmental 10.14.1 Product portfolio 10.14.2 New capability to control bark beetles 10.15 Horizon Biosciences 10.16 International Pheromone Systems (IPS) 10.17 International Biocontrol Manufacturers Association (IBMA) 10.18 Isagro 10.18.1 Ecodian range of pheromones 10.19 ISCA Tecnologias, Brazil 10.20 ISCA Technologies Inc., USA 10.21 Kenogard 10.21.1 Pheromone products 10.22 KOPPERT 10.23 Laboratorios Agrochem 10.24 NOVAGRICA 10.25 OpenNatur 10.26 Pacific Biocontrol Corporation (PBC) 10.26.1 Product portfolio 10.27 PCI (Pest Control India) 10.28 PHEROBANK 10.28.1 Product portfolio 10.29 RUSSELL IPM 10.30 Scentry Biologicals 10.30.1 Product portfolio 10.31 SEDQ 10.32 SHIN-ETSU 10.33 SUTERRA 10.33.1 Product portfolio 10.34 Trece Incorporated 10.35 TRIFOLIO For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/w7rztf/insect_pheromones This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate HART -- First Baptist Church in Hart held its annual Vacation Bible School July 10-14. To prepare for VBS, Gene Meacham, pastor, contacted the Caprock Plains Baptist Area Association in Plainview, an organization he knows well after serving as director for 10 years. Meacham was looking to partner with a church similar to FBC Hart to enrich its VBS experience. FBC Hart is a member of Staked Plains Association, which is part of the area organization. James Sparks, pastor of First Baptist Church DeKalb in northeastern Texas, responded. He was hoping to bring some of his congregation to West Texas for its annual summer ministries. The connection was made and Sparks along with about 30 from FBC DeKalb brought air mattresses and sleeping bags and slept in the education wing of the Hart church. Meacham found a community with agriculture roots -- farmers around DeKalb grow corn like those around Hart. Both communities raise cattle. Brad Barnes, FBC Hart deacon, drove to ODonnell to borrow a shower trailer provided by FBC ODonnell and Texas Baptist Men. He set up the trailer with its showers, washing machines and clothes dryers near FBC Hart. He was assisted by fellow deacons David Smith and Merton Knightly. Other members from both congregations ministered to children attending VBS. FBC DeKalb also traveled to Bovina to help that FBC with its evening VBS. While in Hart, the group met with community members, focusing on youth. The youth component boasted the largest numbers each day of VBS. FBC DeKalb has an international ministry with some members in Guatemala this summer. Last year, they had a ministry in South Dakota. Sparks said FBC DeKalb may return to West Texas, adding he likes to create relationships and keep them ongoing for at least three years. He emphasizes families ministering to people -- he brought his entire family (wife and three children), and families were a part of those serving Hart and Bovina. FBC DeKalb has about 300 members. While in Hart, youth from FBC Hart and FBC DeKalb painted the outside of Mt. Calvary Baptist Church in Hart. Largely African American, Mt. Calvary is assisted financially by FBC Hart. Garfield Griffin of Lubbock is lead pastor, assisted by Barbara Lee of Hart. Mt. Calvarys building was once used by Hart Methodists. According to FBC Hart Deacon Weldon Davis, the building was in a pasture in northeast Hart. It was moved to the current site of the Methodist Church in Hart before being purchased by FBC Hart in the early 1950s and moved to its current location on First Street. The building was used for several years as a Spanish mission of FBC Hart. After that endeavor ended, the Mt. Calvary congregation entered into the partnership with FBC Hart and began holding services there building. U.S. lawmakers and rural businesses are arguing that a one-off subsidy meant to support cotton farmers should become a permanent fixture because of the aid countries including China and India provide to their own producers, according to letters sent to President Donald Trump Tuesday. The so-called Cotton Ginning Cost Share Program gave producers $300 million last year to help them cover fiber-processing costs, with each farmer receiving $8,100 in aid, on average. It was billed as a temporary measure to help producers who were battling lower incomes and receiving less government aid under the 2014 farm bill. Subsidies were cut because of a World Trade Organization ruling against the U.S. cotton program, which lawmakers will need to tiptoe around while creating new aid. Still, farmers facing low prices need assistance because of how other governments help their producers, said House Agriculture Chairman Mike Conaway, who led 109 House lawmakers in signing the letter from that chamber. Cotton farmers have experienced three, four years of really hard times, the Midland Republican said in an interview. Weve got to find a way to heal them up. Similar letters were sent to the president by a group of 26 senators, cotton groups including the National Cotton Council, and more than 1,000 rural banks and businesses. Its been a tough few years for U.S. farmers, with a worldwide glut of major crops. The surpluses are curbing the outlook for American exports just as some farmers in the south move away from growing corn in favor of cotton, a trend thats boosting domestic production of the fiber. U.S. cotton producers arent projected to receive any government farm payments in the current fiscal year, according to a Congressional Budget Office estimate last month. Thats tied to changes made in the last farm bill, approved in 2014, that drastically reduced subsidies as part of a settlement with Brazil over a World Trade Organization case the U.S. lost. In contrast, producers of corn, the biggest U.S. crop, may receive $4.2 billion in aid this year. Globally, the fiber is a heavily subsidized crop, with 71 percent of world production receiving direct aid, according to a 2016 report from the International Cotton Advisory Committee. Aid worldwide for the 2015-2016 marketing year was estimated at $7.2 billion, down from a record $10.7 billion the previous year, according to the study. China is the worlds biggest subsidizer, giving $5.3 billion in aid during that time, according to the report. Indias aid is less direct, coming in the form of subsidies for farmers to cover fertilizer, electricity and other costs. China has been cutting back on price supports over the past three years, reducing production incentives and creating opportunities for exporters including the U.S., Brazil and Thailand. Even with those changes, the support still isnt zero, Conaway said. As long as thats out there, I dont want to force our folks to do without something in anticipation of what China decides to do or not do. Still, with Brazil and the WTO watching for any U.S. farm-program changes that might upset the agreement, the government must tread lightly in efforts to aid growers. Were assessing what the nature of these proposals are, and we will continue to assess whether or not these programs fit within the parameters of the 2014 agreement, said Mark Langevin, director of BrazilWorks, a consulting firm that has Brazils cotton association as a client. Chinese officials werent immediately available for comment outside of regular business hours. An industry push to make cottonseed oil, a byproduct of the ginning process thats used in cooking, eligible for farm aid has foundered over legal concerns from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which would have to add the designation. Former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack refused to do so, citing legal advice. His successor, Sonny Perdue, who as governor of Georgia led the second-biggest cotton producing state, has taken the same position. The cost-share program has fared better. The House Agriculture Appropriations bill approved in committee last week recommends re-instituting that program this year. HART -- Hart City Administrator Adrian Rosas reports that the Citys Water Quality meets guidelines in 2016, as set out by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. This report was mailed to each household in the city in July 2017. The report, called the Consumer Confidence Report, is required yearly. He said he tests monthly for E coli, and two samples are taken to Amarillo for that testing. He checks the chlorine levels daily. Toronto, ON, July 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- More than 30 people, comprised of Indigenous, Jesuit, English and French Canadian paddlers leave Midland on July 21 at 12:00 noon for a month-long, 850-kilometre canoe trip in response to the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. By helping both Indigenous and non-Indigenous to be immersed in each others customs and traditions for an entire month, the Canadian Canoe Pilgrimage (CCP) hopes to foster respect, trust, dialogue and hopefully friendships -- the building blocks for reconciliation. Following a traditional First Nations canoe trade route, the CCP will begin at Midland, Ontario then go up Georgian Bay, travel across the French River, Lake Nipissing, the Mattawa and Ottawa Rivers, and end near Montreal. Who : Father Peter Bisson, SJ, (Provincial, Jesuits in English Canada), William Baird, (General Manager, Sainte-Marie among the Hurons), Father Michael Knox, SJ, (Director, Martyrs Shrine), Gerry Marshall, Warden County of Simcoe, Mayor Town of Penetanguishene, Gord McKay, (Mayor of Midland), Scott Warnock, (Mayor of Tay Township). What: Launch of the Canadian Canoe Pilgrimage, an 850-kilometre canoe trip in response to the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission When: Friday, July 21, launch ceremonies begin at 12:00 Noon, a Mass precedes the send-off at 10:30 AM. Reception at 1:30 PM in Ste. Maries Restaurant Where: Launch is from Sainte-Marie Park, located off Wye Valley Road, adjacent to the bridge on Hwy. 12, over the Wye River, between Martyrs Shrine and Ste-Marie among the Hurons, 16164 Highway #12, Midland. The CCP itinerary below shows major landfalls, but please be advised there may be changes due to logistical considerations and weather-related contingencies. July 21 - Departs Sainte-Marie among the Hurons (Midland, ON) July 28 French River Visitors Centre, French River Provincial Park July 31 North Bay, ON August 2 Mattawa, ON August 6 Pembroke, ON August 9 Ottawa, ON August 14 Montreal, Quebec August 15 Kahnawake First Nation (close to Montreal) For photos, video and news releases, please go to: https://canoepilgrimage.com/2017/04/20/press-release/ The Canadian Canoe Pilgrimage has been made possible by the generosity of donors including The Miller Group, the Ontario 150 Community Celebration Fund, the Canadian Heritage River System, Parks Canada, and Ontario Parks. Also thanks to Sainte-Marie among the Hurons and Martyrs Shrine for hosting the launch event on July 21. About the Canadian Canoe Pilgrimage The Canadian Canoe Pilgrimage (CCP) is a project inspired by Canadas Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) with the hope of encouraging intercultural and interreligious dialogue and learning. Participants, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, will be immersed in each others customs and traditions. Through this immersion, the goal is to foster respect, trust, dialogue and hopefully friendship -- the building blocks for reconciliation. The canoe route is a traditional First Nations trading route that was travelled by early European settlers such as Samuel de Champlain and Jean de Brebeuf, who were welcomed and guided by the Indigenous Peoples of this land. This pilgrimage will begin at Sainte-Marie among the Hurons in Midland, on the shore of Georgian Bay, on July 21 and end on August 15 on the St. Lawrence River at the Kahnawake First Nation, close to Montreal. The community of paddlers making this 850-kilometre, 25-day voyage is comprised of Indigenous Peoples, Jesuits, English and French Canadians, men and women - all desiring to travel together on a path of healing and friendship. The route follows a similar one paddled by 24 young Jesuits in 1967. For more information, and to donate, please go to: www.canoepilgrimage.com. About the Jesuits in English Canada The Jesuits, an order of priests and brothers in the Roman Catholic Church, have worked in Canada for more than 400 years. They have responsibility for the direction of schools, churches, retreat houses, and a variety of social justice ministries that span from St. Johns, Newfoundland and Labrador to Vancouver, British Columbia. They have worked closely with the TRC and issued a public Statement of Reconciliation in 2013. The Jesuits are currently implementing the Calls to Action described by the TRC. For more details please visit www.jesuits.ca. About Sainte-Marie among the Hurons Ontarios first European Community, Sainte-Marie among the Hurons was the headquarters for the French Jesuit Mission to the Huron Wendat people. In 1639, the Jesuits, along with French lay workers, began construction of a fenced community that included barracks, a church, workshops, residences, and a sheltered area for Native visitors. By 1648, Sainte-Marie was a wilderness home to 66 French men, representing one-fifth of the entire population of New France. Sainte-Marie's brief history ended in 1649, when members of the mission community were forced to abandon and burn their home of nearly ten years. After extensive archaeological and historical research, Sainte-Marie among the Hurons is now recreated on its original site, where the missions compelling story is brought to life. More information may be found at http://www.saintemarieamongthehurons.on.ca About Martyrs Shrine Martyrs Shrine is the National Shrine to the Canadian martyrs, celebrating its 90th season, and is a ministry of the Jesuits in English Canada. This house of prayer and home of peace honours the Jesuit missionaries and their companions who lived, worked, and died here more than 350 years ago. It is located in Midland, Ontario, in the heart of the Huron Confederacy of the 17th century. More than 110,000 visitors from around the world and from all cultural backgrounds are welcomed to the Shrines 75-acre landscaped grounds each year. More information may be found at: http://martyrs-shrine.com For news media and government information, please contact: Mark Hunter LaVigne, MAJ, APR, FCPRS Mark.lavigne@hunterlavigne.com 416-884-2018 (mobile) Erica Zlomislic cdacommunications@jesuits.org 416-962-4500 X225 855-962-4500 X225 416-333-2585 (mobile) For project information, and to discuss donations and grants, please contact: Erik Sorensen, SJ canoe.pilgrimage@jesuits.net 647-850-5411 (mobile) For community relations and social media, please contact: Adam Pittman, SJ apittman@jesuits.ca 347-513-7100 For French Canada, please contact: Marco Veilleux mveilleux@jesuites.org 514-387-2541 poste 277 Find us on: Facebook/Twitter/Instagram: @CanoePilgrimage Attachments: A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1039b566-d124-49ec-b9f3-dafa7edef482 SOUTHINGTON Police continue to investigate a reported assault on Ragged Mountain. About 9 a.m. Sunday night, two Berlin police officers were conducting ATV patrols on Ragged Mountain to combat illegal swimming and trespassing in the area of the reservoir, said Deputy Chief John Klett, Berlin police spokesman. They discovered an assault in progress in an area of the reservoir that is in Southington, Klett said. Southington police responded and are investigating the assault. One person involved was unresponsive possibly due to drugs or alcohol, Klett noted, and had to be removed by Berlin fire crews. Southington police Sgt. Jeff Dobratz said because juveniles were involved in the incident, police couldnt immediately release additional details on the nature of the investigation. Its unclear how many people were involved in the incident, and if there were any injuries. As of Thursday, no charges had been filed, Dobratz said, adding that he doesnt expect any developments in the case before next week. The heat wave, bringing hot and humid days in the low 90s, is predicted to last until Sunday when rain is expected in the afternoon. Enjoy the sunny part of the weekend at an outdoor concert in Meriden or catch a movie at Southingtons drive-in theater. Want your weekend event listed? Contact Lauren Takores at LTakores@record-journal.com MERIDEN Twilight Summer Music series When: 7-9 p.m. Friday Where: Meriden Green, Pratt and State streets Description: Concert featuring Johnny I Band, playing classic rock and blues. Silver City Fire Festival When: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday Where: Comfort Inn, 900 E. Main St. Description: The 8th annual event features outdoor fire truck and emergency vehicle displays and indoor models, photography displays and vendors. Admission is $5 for adults, kids ages 12 and younger free. Rockin the Green benefit When: 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday Where: Meriden Green, State Street Description: An all-day benefit for Fisher House Connecticut. Farmers market from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., muscle car show from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., live music in amphitheater from noon to 9 p.m. featuring Hilton Valentine, guitarist of classic rock band The Animals. WALLINGFORD Turtle Mania, Turtle Palooza When: 1 p.m. Saturday Where: All Pets Club, 1167 N. Colony Road Description: Anthony Pierlioni, senior director of the Turtle Room, will discuss education, conservation and survival of turtles. For more information, visit www.allpetsclub.com. SOUTHINGTON Moana at the Southington Drive-In When: 6 p.m. Saturday gates open, show begins at sunset Where: Southington Drive-In, 995 Meriden-Waterbury Turnpike Description: Town residents pay $10 per carload, $15 for non-residents, $2 for walk-ins per person. Cash only. Food vendors, playground on site. Fame by Youth Summer Theater When: 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday Where: Southington High School, 720 Pleasant St. Description: Southington Youth Summer Theaters Spotlights program presents Fame, the story of young performers as they face the challenges and joys of attending a prestigious arts high school. Show has mature themes and content. CHESHIRE Local wildlife presentation When: 1:30 -2:30 p.m. Saturday Where: Ives Farm, 1585 Cheshire St. Description: Laura Simon, president of the Connecticut Wildlife Rehabilitators Association, and April Leiler, Cheshire animal control officer, to give a free presentation on whats in your backyard, animal behavior and patterns, and how and what to do when you come across the wild creatures. Ocean View, Delaware, July 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Painting Tools Market is slated to cross USD 14 billion by 2024; according to a new research report by Global Market Insights, Inc. Growing urbanization along with increasing infrastructure spending is anticipated to drive painting tools market growth. Increase in government spending in tourism, commercial & building renovation coupled with rise in retail industry has positively influenced the product demand. Construction applications is projected to surpass USD 10 billion by 2024. Rising population, ongoing industrialization, expanding foreign investment funding across developing economies will fuel the painting tools market. Globally, construction industry is projected as one of the most lucrative industries in the coming years and is forecast to have 4.5% growth rate in next five years. Request for a sample of this research report @ https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/1843 Rising demand for corrosion resistant and attractive textures in residential & commercial building are the preliminary factors driving painting tools demand. Increasing architectural paint & coatings application in commercial buildings to enhance aesthetic appearance will boost product penetration. Rise in the global purchasing power parity from USD 13,100 in 2013 to USD 15,800 in 2015 provides a positive outlook for consumer goods industry. Increasing application of coatings on consumer electronics products will stimulate demand. High painting tools market price trend along with limited consumer awareness regarding the product usage may hamper business growth. Germany accounted over 15% of Europe painting tools market in 2016. Presence of major automobile brands including BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Porsche, Opel and Audi in the country makes it a substantial contributor in European automotive industry. Russia is expected to surpass 20% of the regional industry share by 2024. APAC painting tools market is set to witness growth over 6% through 2024. Infrastructural advancement in China, Japan and India positively stimulates product penetration in the regional industry. Brushes are the largest selling and widely recognized product. Global production of paint brushes surpassed 440 million units in 2016. Plastic handle brush are extensively used in emerging countries, while high quality wooden handle is more popular in North America and Europe. Rollers accounted more than 25% painting tools market demand in 2016. Construction industry is the major consumer of rollers as it provides enhanced paint layoff and reduce bristle loss. Offering unique design to the walls is among the key factor driving product demand in modern wall designs. Knives and scrapers will witness a substantial growth owing to rising demand for high-class paint & coating application in residential and commercial construction. The segment accounts over 17% demand in LATAM painting tools market by 2024. Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @ https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/1843 Demand from automotive industry contributed over USD 550 million in 2016. Rising demand for luxury vehicles including Cadillac, Infiniti, Maserati Ghibli, Jaguar, Range Rover, Rolls-Royce, Porsche and Bentley has encouraged vehicle manufacturers to utilize spray guns for vehicle coatings. Additionally, appealing finishing of vehicles is accredited to usage of modern coating tools including trowels and sanding coat equipment. Global painting tools market share is fragmented owing to presence of large number of industry players. Mergers and acquisition plays a crucial role in gaining industry share. Prominent manufacturers in painting tools market include Gordon Brush, Braun Brush, Purdy, Anderson Products, Mill-Rose Company and Milton Brushware. Other significant manufacturers are Allway, Nespoli Group, Harbor Freight, EPOS Egypt, Shawky Brush & Roller Factory, Makinah, Dura Paints, MAAN and Nour Egypt. Browse key industry insights spread across 210 pages with 199 market data tables & 12 figures & charts from this 2017 report Painting Tools Market in detail along with the table of contents: https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/painting-tools-market Browse Related Reports: Material Handling Equipment Market Size 20172024 Material Handling Equipment Market size was over USD 110 billion in 2015; industry growth is pegged at over 5% CAGR estimation from 2016 to 2024. Increasing penetration of advanced technologies, such as RFID, IoT, and voice picking, are expected to drive the material handling equipment market over the forecast timeframe. Participants accounting for material handling equipment market share include Kion Group AG, Daifuku Co. Ltd, Bastian Solutions LLC, Dematic GmbH, etc. https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/material-handling-equipment-market Window And Door Market Size 20162024 Windows & Doors Market size was valued at over USD 82 billion in 2015 and is forecast to grow at 5.6% CAGR from 2016 to 2024. This revenue refers to window and door system or profile sales. Global demand was over 28,000 kilotons in 2015, it will witness steady growth at 3.9%. The companies involved in manufacturing and supplying window and door systems are Andersen Corp, Eurocell, Corialis, Atrium, Pella, PGT, Reynaers, Sapa Building Systems, Schuco, YKK Corporation, etc. https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/window-and-door-market About Global Market Insights Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology. Contact Us: Arun Hegde Corporate Sales, USA Global Market Insights, Inc. Phone: 1-302-846-7766 Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688 Email: sales@gminsights.com Web: https://www.gminsights.com Blog: https://www.gminsights.com/blogs Connect with us: Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Twitter This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Over the next three years, the new owners of the farmers market on Airline Drive plan to transform the property into a "destination retail experience," one where fishmongers, dairy makers and bakers operate in air-conditioned buildings alongside an open-air pavilion where merchants will sell fresh produce. The space surrounding the buildings - now a jumbled mess of pockmarked parking areas and heavy truck traffic - will be reorganized and made a safer place for pedestrians. Dozens of trees will be added, and a central lawn could host community events like chef demonstrations and wine tastings. The company that bought the farmers market earlier this year is beginning to execute its vision. The group on Thursday will formally unveil its plans, created with the help of a large team of architects, engineers and consultants, including Houston chef and James Beard award-winner Chris Shepherd. SPREADING: Farmer's markets sprouting in northwest Houston The new owners and their consultants say the intent is not to strip the market of its authenticity or ignore its long history in the community, but to improve its offerings and make it a better, safer place for people to visit. Story continues below ... Now Playing: Grab a few ears of sweet corn and some fresh herbs from your local farmers' market to pull together this savory side dish. Video: JW Player "We still want it to be a bit messy," landscape architect Sheila Condon said. "The goal is not to homogenize it, but make it flow a little better and have a diversity of offerings." More for you Listen: Will the Heights farmers market get 'hipsterized?' In May, MLB Capital Partners purchased the nearly 18-acre property at 2520 Airline in the northeastern part of the Heights from the Farmers' Marketing Association of Houston, which had owned and operated the market since it started in 1942. The group's plans include creating shaded open-air market areas, new restrooms and common seating areas. New merchants and culinary concepts would lease space in air-conditioned buildings. About 60,000 square feet of additional space is planned. MLB's Todd Mason said the group wants to maintain the cultural aspects of the market, while enhancing the experience for the vendors and customers. "We're proud to have that history," Mason said. Mason said the market was purchased at a price that will allow many of the longtime vendors, like Canino Produce, North Side Banana and smaller sellers, to stay. "We're not going to have to increase their rent by much," Mason said. "Maybe in the 5 to 10 percent range." The planned redevelopment of the farmers market is the latest - and largest - example of the changes that have taken place in recent years as the Heights became a neighborhood sought after by affluent Houstonians. GET YOUR MAP: Four farmer's markets you'll want to visit Kirk Michaelis, owner of El Bolillo bakeries, including one across from the market, said the area's demographics are much different from when his bakery on Airline opened 21 years ago and police officers had to keep vagrants off the property. The customers, too, aren't like the ones who shopped there in the beginning. "Ladies would be lined up in the morning to get their fresh breads to make their husbands sandwiches before work," Michaelis said. "Now it's people coming in to shop. The amount of money they spend is higher, and it's more credit cards than cash." Property values have risen in the area around the market, and development of townhomes has already started. "We've come to the realization that no matter what we do here, it's already happening," Mason said. "We've looked around to buy more over here, and prices have already escalated." Construction on the market is expected to begin next spring, after planning and permitting are completed. Other consultants on the project include Studio RED Architects, Gunda Corp. and Arch-Con Corp. When the project is finished, Houston will have something closer to the type of culinary markets seen in cities like Seattle, San Francisco, Philadelphia and London. "One of the things that Houston really lacks is an environment like this," project consultant Kevin Floyd said, explaining that it could help launch unique concepts. "There are all kinds of amazing ideas for food service," Floyd said. The farmers market was started as a co-op started by local farmers. It incorporated in the late 1980s, and its shareholders were the original farmers or their descendants. Most of the local and regional farms that used to sell there are no longer around. Over time, the market became a place where produce was shipped and trucked in from places like Mexico and elsewhere like it is to a grocery store. The changes to the market, Shepherd said, won't be destroying history but "recreating history." Shepherd and Kevin Floyd, who manages the operations of Shepherd's Underbelly and One Fifth restaurants and is the managing partner of Hay Merchant, wouldn't say definitively if they will open a concept in the development. "If Chris and I do our job really well, we're going to want to take space in the market," Floyd said. A 17-year-old boy was arrested in connection with two shootings in San Francisco, one a fatal shooting Saturday of a teenager in the Bayview neighborhood, and another that left a man wounded last week, officials said Wednesday. The suspect, whose name was not released because he is a juvenile, was taken into custody Tuesday on the 1500 block of Geneva Avenue in the Crocker-Amazon neighborhood and charged with attempted murder and murder for the two shootings, according to police. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 Harry Cabluck/STF Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Eric Gay/STF Show More Show Less 3 of 3 Former Texas comptroller Susan Combs, who has been nominated for a top position at the Department of Interior, assured senators Thursday she would work closely with states on conservation policies that can impact oil and gas drilling and other development on federal lands. During a hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Combs promised a "collaborative" approach during questioning from western states including Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah. State securities regulators have suspended San Antonio investment adviser Michael Keith Parish for 30 days and fined him $5,000. The Texas State Securities Board determined during a records inspection that Parish had custody of client money or securities but failed to implement safeguards for holding the funds a violation of state securities rules, according to a disciplinary order the board issued this week. The state also cited Parish for failing to maintain a balance sheet, income statements and a general ledger, also in violation of the boards rules. Im not pleased about it, Parish said when reached by phone Thursday. I designed (a) limited partnership such that I would not be defined as a custodian (but) they redefined what a custodian was in 2011. I could not evade being called a custodian, even though the fact still remains that no money ever flows through my hands. The custody rule requires investment advisers who hold client funds to implement certain safeguards, said Robert Elder, a Texas State Securities Board spokesman. Those are to protect the funds from loss, being misused or misappropriated, Elder said. According to the disciplinary order, Parish agreed to hire an outside auditor and submit an audit of all money under his management within 60 days to the Texas State Securities Board. The Securities and Exchange Commissions website shows Parish last filed an investment adviser registration form almost three years ago. He reported on the form $1.5 million in assets under management. The amount essentially isnt large enough to warrant the scrutiny, Parish said, adding the partnership is basically in liquidation. Parish waived his right to to appear and present evidence at a hearing before the Texas State Securities Board on the matter. I can spend tens of thousands of dollars trying to defend myself, he said. I dont have the resources to do that. Parish has been a registered investment adviser in Texas since 1993. pdanner@express-news.net Twitter: @AlamoPD Edward A. Ornelas /San Antonio Express-News The Atkins Group, a San Antonio-based brand communications agency, is the sole finalist for a four-year contract worth up to $32 million to market San Antonio as a tourist and meeting destination, a spokesman for Visit San Antonio said Thursday. Visit San Antonios board of directors voted Thursday afternoon to enter contract negotiations with The Atkins Group after fielding proposals from more than a dozen agencies on selling the Alamo City to tourists, Visit San Antonio spokesman Richard Oliver said. That group included Austin-based Proof Advertising, which has held the contract since 2011. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The festivities of highly-influential comic convention Comic-Con International San Diego officially began Wednesday and the action won't stop until Sunday, July 23. FLASHBACK: Hottest cosplay costumes from San Diego Comic-Con 2016 Expect plenty of costumes, celebrities and industry surprises. The convention's website is packed with information that will make many fans want to hop a plane to California at this very moment. Story continues below... Fans in the know are expecting to get more detailed intel on heavily-anticipated film properties like a "Tomb Raider" reboot, Steven Spielberg's "Ready Player One," "Blade Runner 2049," "Ocean's Eight," and maybe even more footage from "Deadpool 2." BATTLE STATIONS: Legal battle brewing between Comic-Con, comic-con Big TV franchises like "Game of Thrones," "The Walking Dead" and "Westworld" are also expected to make some major announcements. Of course being a comic convention, it brings out the best and brightest stars of cosplay, the folks who spend all year perfecting screen-worthy costumes Lithuanian English The largest Lithuanian mobile operators Bite, Tele2 and Telia Lietuva received the European Commissions permit to create a common platform for provision of instant payments. The company Mobilus mokejimai (Mobile payments), a jointly by three operators owned entity, will create a platform required for provision of instant payments. It also will be the main operator and supervisor of this platform. In May 2017, Mobilus mokejimai was granted a limited activities electronic money institution licence by the Bank of Lithuania. The licence is required for provision of instant payment activities. Instant payment for the users of mobile communication will allow to use mobile phone at various places for settlements for goods and services as well as instantaneously make a money transfers at any time of a day even during the public holidays and weekends. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate San Antonio's TV newscasters and hosts may seem mostly business on the air, but they, like the rest of us, need to get away from it all sometimes -- particularly during the summer. Everyone from KENS' Sarah Lucero to KSAT's Ursula Pari and Steve Spriester to WOAI's Delaine Mathieu were happy to share photos from recent vacations, where they toured exotic, beachy and family destinations. They swam, sunbathed, boated and generally unwound and kicked back with friends and family. Sometimes, they chose to connect with nature and its intriguing land and water creatures. RELATED: Reality TV star shooting wild new series in San Antonio KABB anchorwoman Jessica Headley traveled to Cozumel, Mexico, with friends and cavorted with dolphins. KENS morning and noon co-anchor Sarah Forgany loves spending holidays in her homeland of Egypt -- sometimes atop a camel. KSAT's Spriester, the city's No. 1 anchorman, combined a family jaunt to Haiti with a good story. He, his wife, Nicole Foy, and three daughters took their former house guest and Haiti native, Bethlie, and her mom and dad with them. RELATED: National TV show focuses on murder of San Antonio journalist's sister As a little girl, Bethlie was injured in the 2010 Haitian earthquake, he wrote in an email, and lived with him and his family for two years while she received medical care here. "Her mother and father live here now, but her relatives haven't seen her since she was taken by paramedics to the United States." Foy said the trip "was emotional and bittersweet for (Bethlie) -- the highlight was us all visiting her old school, which had fallen on her when she was 10 during the earthquake. She is 17 now and hadn't been back since. ... Bethlie had fundraised for the school and delivered the donations, plus spoke to classes about her journey." RELATED: Anchor's status up in the air at San Antonio TV station It all added up to a heartfelt memory and great time for the Spriester family. But most of S.A.'s anchors and lifestyle hosts were simply after fun and pleasure. Flip through the slideshow to see your favorite local newscaster off-duty and unbuttoned during recent vacations. jjakle@express-news.net Pastel adobe finish. Garlands of dried chiles. Is that a blue corn tortilla that just passed by? If you have a feeling youre not in Texas anymore when visiting one of San Antonios newest restaurants, theres a good reason for that. Like its name implies, Santa Fe Trail New Mexican Cuisine specializes in the green and red fare of our neighbors to the west. The newcomer occupies a former Outback Steakhouse location, but theres very little evidence of the Down Under ancestor beyond an ample parking lot. The sprawling dining room feels cozy for its size with a colorful central bar anchoring the room. A pink adobe fireplace draws the eye to another corner. Seating throughout comes courtesy of sturdy wooden chairs painted in a weathered turquoise hue. On the menu: With very few exceptions, Santa Fe Trail stays true to its New Mexican roots. Sure, theres guacamole and a shrimp taco tropical avocados dont thrive in the landlocked arid state and a few burgers. But for the most part, the menu shares very little overlap with the far more common Tex-Mex and Mexican eateries in town. Take the blue corn enchiladas ($12) as exhibit A. Available filled with chicken, beef or red chile-marinated pork adobada, these are atypical from the ground up. Not only are the tortillas blue, but the enchiladas are built in stacks rather than rolled. The tortillas themselves were on the tough and chewy side during a recent visit. The adobado, however, was memorably flavorful. It would have been nice to see the whole assembly doused in the kitchens fiery red chile sauce to give those tortillas a chance to soften up before hitting the table. The green chile stew ($7/bowl, $4/cup) was a rustic charmer from the first bite, with long-simmered chunks of pork bathed in a smoky broth of green chiles, potato and onion. Roasted slivers of green chiles gave the Navajo taco ($8) served on fry bread instead of a tortilla a similarly recognizable signature. Green chiles show up on the drink menu as well. Santa Fe Trail holds happy hour 4 to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, which is a perfect time to try one of their Hatch chile margaritas ($7, $4 during happy hour). Theyre bracingly tart with fresh lime juice and leave a tingling burn on the lips. Its a little chunky to sip through the provided straw thanks to a not insignificant quantity of roasted pepper pulp, but youd miss all that flaky salt on the rim if you did that anyway. Pueblo fries ($8) might sound like a good idea. Its a platter of crispy battered french fries doused with ground beef, onions, cheese and beans. But the finished effect is an unappetizing pile of brown that doesnt benefit much from the accompanying red or green sauces. The bonito trout ($12) works hard to make up for the fries lack of elegance. Atop a bed of rice sits a meaty filet of rainbow trout cooked in a lime and chile rub. They are dressed with a ribbon of sweet and tangy mango salsa. The fish was juicy, well cooked and nicely seasoned, and the salsa made a worthy foil to the salty rice below. And a scoop of calabacitas zucchini and summer squash stewed with sweet corn served on the side almost stole the show. Didnt have any leftovers but still want to bring a taste of New Mexico home with you? Fear not, theyve got you covered. On your way out, be sure to pause at the hostess station and poke around. A small selection of spices, seasonings, salsas and decorations, including the impressive strands of dried peppers found throughout the dining room, are available for purchase. Location: 16080 San Pedro Ave. 210-257-5059. Facebook: Santa Fe Trail New Mexican Cuisine. Hours: 8 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Sunday pstephen@express-news.net Twitter: @pjbites Instagram: @pjstephen This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Its possible to write an American Thai food review without pad thai. Im going to prove it. Nothing against the peanut butter noodle pile thats part of almost every Thai order in the country. But blowing off pad thai is as liberating as defecting from a packaged travel tour and freebooting across a country. At Thai Dee, the adventures written on the last page of the menu, beyond the noodles, curries and fried rice, beyond the eggrolls and stir-fries and some other things that arent really Thai to begin with. The last page is devoted to Sanseeha Specials, the food on which chef and owner Chanapol Sanseeha staked his claim when he started Thai Dee 16 years ago in a hole in the wall next to a convenience store near Lee High School. You dont need my help discovering pad thai. Neither do the people on the eternal waiting list at the front of the room. But I can help with the last page, from the meat-on-a-stick sensation called moo ping to the flavor waves of an Angry Ocean. Moo ping was a true pork steak on a stick experience, with a fleeting sweet caramelization, every bite like the juicy heart of a well-grilled chop. The sauce drove it home: lime, fish sauce, pepper seeds, toasted rice. Spicy green beans get top billing for a pad prik king curry dish on the Sanseeha page. But lime leaves chopped as fine as threads of dill stole the show, releasing a bloom of citrus esters. The curry pulled the dish together with warm ginger and palm sugar, and flash-grilled pork proved a good vehicle for absorbing the flavors and throwing some fat into the fray. More Information Thai Dee ** 5307 Blanco Road, 210-342-3622, thaideesa.com Quick bite: Casual, mid-priced Thai restaurant in a run-down space that draws heavy crowds for reliable Thai standards and refreshing not-so-standards. Hit: Papaya salad, grilled moo ping, green bean curry Miss: Chicken satay, pork larb, understaffed service Hours: 4-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday-Saturday. Price range: Appetizers, $2.95-$11.95; soups, $3.75-$4.95; salads, $2.95-$11.95; noodles, $5.95-$15.95; fried rice, $8.95-$14.95; entrees, curries and fish, $8.95-$14.95; house specialties, $9.95-$13.95; desserts, $2.95-$7.95. Friday lunch specials, $8.99-$10.99 with soup and eggrolls. Alcohol: BYOB wine and beer with no corkage fee **** Superior. Can compete nationally. *** Excellent. One of the best restaurants in the city. ** Very good. A standout restaurant of its kind. * Good. A restaurant that we recommend. (no stars) We cannot recommend this restaurant at this time. See More Collapse Nam tok had everything going for it: lime acidity, toasted rice crunch, a cold toss of iceberg lettuce, the requisite pooling of juice that gives the dish its more lyrical name: Waterfall Pork. The one thing missing? The fire that waterfalls meant to quench. Its an issue across the spectrum at Thai Dee, spicing thats too polite, born no doubt from years of catering to domesticated tastes. The San Antonio masses are ready for mas. Rough us up. A city that can handle habanero can handle a little fire, waterfall or not. Fried pork ribs from the Sanseeha page defied the expectation that things traditionally left unfried are better left unfried. The small, crunchy ribs carried actual barbecue-caliber tension on the bone. Not too loose, not too clingy. The Angry Ocean was the showboat of the Sanseeha roster, hissing and spitting on a fajita-style iron platter with fat shrimp, velveteen mussels of improbable size, wide wales of curled squid meat scored with crosshatched precision to cut the tough muscle fibers and, finally, a $3 addition of delicately fried tilapia for a reasonable $16.95 seafood bounty. That was the fauna. The flora of this ocean was a thoroughly integrated stir-fry of bamboo shoots, lemongrass, peppers and onions, finished with fried basil leaves for one more perfumed grace note. The flash of that last page doesnt mean that Thai Dee has forsaken the standards. Even if Im swearing off pad thai this time, I still can appreciate the equally common papaya salad especially an uncommonly good one, with a tart lime dressing flavoring every crisp bite of green papaya, every peanut, every shred of lettuce and bell pepper and crunchy green bean. Thai Dees shrimp pancake also reached beyond the ordinary. This is far more than a pancake. Its a savory Bangkok funnel cake. Or a twist on fish and chips, with shrimp in an eggy batter under a crunchy, willowy shell, braced with a crisp salad of bean sprouts, carrots and green onions. The chicken, curry and noodle dish called khao soi was a lesson in texture, a nest of crispy noodles with an equal and opposite nest of soft noodles submerged in a smooth red curry with an interplay of lime and sugar. Red bell pepper and red onions offered more textural crosscurrents. Thai Dee is a curry wonderland, and the massaman curry will take you places. To Thailand, sure, with the peanuts. But also to places where cardamom and anise and cinnamon come into play. India, the Middle East, even the sweet spice rack of Mexican mole sauces. Chickens the more common choice, but I recommend beef shaved down like shawarma. The parade of solid standards continued with stir-fried eggplant like purple velvet, the funky Prince of stir-fried vegetables, just as small and powerful and unexpected. And pad kee mao with soft noodles, beef and jalapeno heat offered an adventurous alternative to pad thai. Not to worry, Thai soup aficionados. My dismissal of pad thai doesnt extend to the creamy coconut sweetness of tom kha nor the sweet-sour-salty-fishy allure of tom yum. Thai Dee does yeomans work with both, in particular with firm blocks of tofu that absorbed and conveyed flavor with clean efficiency. Popularitys a double-edged sword at Thai Dee. They were packed every time I went, yet never seemed to have enough help to fully serve the room and take care of the people stacking up for tables at the claustrophobic entryway. The clamor got in the way of little things like water, napkins and silverware and created a nothing-nothing-EVERYTHING pace of dish delivery. The air remained cordial, but benign neglect is still neglect. The kitchen missed a few steps in the mayhem. Pork larb salad was as dry as overcooked hamburger. Shrimp dumplings bore a one-note mushy character, drawing most of their flavor from a soy dipping sauce. And another tired standard grilled chicken satay was dry and stringy beyond what peanut sauce could cover up. Two small touches helped to define the Thai Dee experience. Picture the difference between fresh taco shop salsa roja and the cooked monotony of Pace picante. Thats the difference between fresh sambal at Thai Dee and the chile paste youve come to expect. A side of fish sauce with Thai green chiles drew the same surprise, with salinity that stunned my senses until I realized the salt lit the fuse on the deep fish flavor. Both sauces do so much with so little. Thats true of Thai Dee in general. It does so much with so little. The small storefront is cased with weathered wood paneling that extends inside to the walls and ceiling, as if to create a sanctuary from the convenience store next door. They try hard to create a world that doesnt take anything too seriously except for the food, right down to BYOB wine service that includes nice stemware and ice buckets. As far as pad thai goes? Order it. Im sure its fine, and who am I to judge? But Thai Dee opens the door to so much more. msutter@express-news.net Twitter: @fedmanwalking This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate An 8-month-old pitbull-labrador mix named Boots still has a lot to learn about the world. For example, spoons are not for eating. Christian Nunnelee, who lives on San Antonio's North Side, had to make an emergency trip to an animal hospital earlier this week after his dog Boots swallowed a spoon whole. And not a little spoon. It was the kind you'd eat soup or cereal with. RELATED: S.A.-area dog park closes after canine influenza, kennel cough outbreaks It happened around 8 p.m. Tuesday night, Nunnelee told mySA.com. He was sitting upstairs when he heard a commotion Boots had knocked over a bowl of cereal. As cereal splashed onto the floor, Nunnelee said Boots was more concerned with a spoon that had fallen. "There's a whole bunch of cereal and he just went for the spoon," he said. "For some reason, he just goes for the spoon; didn't eat the cereal." First, Boots tried to bite the spoon, Nunnelee said. As the spoon traveled down Boots' throat, Nunnelee attempted to pull the utensil out and even tried performing the Heimlich maneuver on the puppy. RELATED: 10-plus tips to keep your dog Spot swimming safely "That didn't work," he said, adding Boots went back to his "normal, playful" self after successfully swallowing the spoon. But Nunnelee rushed Boots to a San Antonio animal hospital where the 8-month-old was put under and the spoon was pulled out. Officials at the clinic told Nunnelee they never worked a case like Boots'. Boots is back home and doing fine after the incident, Nunnelee said. kbradshaw@express-news.net Twitter: @kbrad5 This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate TRUMBULL In many school districts across the state, standardized test score are something to be studied and analyzed. In Trumbull, the scores are being celebrated. Student performance on Connecticuts recently released 2017 Smarter Balanced Assessment results show this district of more than 6,600 students not only are above the state average, but rank fourth overall in the percentage of third through eighth graders scoring at grade level or above in reading and in math. On the English/Language Arts test, some 81.4 percent of Trumbull students met or exceeded the grade level standard. The only districts with higher percentages are Darien, Easton and New Canaan. In math, 77.3 percent of Trumbull students met or exceeded grade level standards. Darien came in at 80.9 percent, New Canaan at 85.1 percent and Region 18 (Lyme/Old Lyme) at 78.1 percent. District officials say participation was close to 100 percent. The district would not yet release individual school results. I am extremely proud and appreciative of the commitment Trumbulls staff and students have demonstrated in achieving outstanding 2017 Smarter Balanced assessment scores, Schools Superintendent Gary Cialfi said. Preliminary state scores were released last week, showing that 54.2 percent of students in grades three through eight met grade level standards in reading, slightly lower than in 2016. More Information Trumbull's grade level Smarter Balanced results (percentage of students at or above grade level) ELA/Literacy Mathematics Grade 3 75% 84% Grade 4 85% 83% Grade 5 85% 75% Grade 6 79% 77% Grade 7 84% 72% Grade 8 81% 74% See More Collapse In math, the 45.6 percent of students reaching or exceeding grade level was celebrated since it was higher than the 44 percent who met the grade level standard in 2016. Cialfi said what is significant to him is that Trumbull students outperform all other districts in its reference group which is based socio-economic factors. Trumbull is in the second highest reference group. It outscored most in the highest group. School Board Chair Loretta Chory attributed the results to high expectations set by the board. Although there was a slight percentage dip in the percentage of Trumbull students getting a 3 or 4 in literacy from 2016 to 2017, we would associate that with the negligible natural differences of one testing year to another, Chory said. This is the third year the state has given the Smarter Balanced Assessment, which measures how well students are grasping tougher Common Core curriculum standards and the earliest the state has managed to produce results, giving districts time over the summer to analyze the data. Students took the computerized test in the spring. State officials pin some of the improvement in math on an intensive effort to strengthen math instruction. A statewide Math Council made recommendations for developing clearer and consistent mathematics standards, more training and support, and more interventions. Jonathan Budd, who was director of curriculum in the district before becoming assistant superintendent, the district in recent years introducing more complex texts at all grade levels and making sure a sizable number of middle school students have been exposed to pre-algebra and algebra by the eighth grade. It is what they are going to see on the test, Budd said. There has also been an increase in teacher training in high-leverage instructional strategies, Budd said. Administrators are going into more classrooms, watching teachers and offering feedback on how they can engage every kid, Budd said. Trumbull First Selectman Tim Herbst, in a written statement he was extremely proud of the hard work that helped make Trumbull among the very best school systems in the state. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Rio Bravo's police chief says in a recently filed lawsuit that the city's administrator asked him to shoot children of immigrants who had entered the country illegally. Rene Cervantes states in the lawsuit that Miguel Berry instructed him to "shoot children of illegal immigrants (he) and his officers might arrest so it would be easier to send the parents back to Mexico." Cervantes resisted this directive and others that he said were unconstitutional and unconscionable, according to the lawsuit. "(Berry's) conduct in ordering Chief Cervantes to shoot the children of illegal aliens, as well as his campaign to humiliate and terrorize Chief Cervantes, was extreme and outrageous," states the petition filed in the 406th District Court. READ MORE: 'The crowd looked so f--king dead': Migos concert in Laredo receives mixed reviews on social media Cervantes is suing the City of Rio Bravo and Berry, the city's administrator, for breach of contract, interference with his contract and intentional infliction of emotional distress. He is requesting more than $200,000 in damages. Cervantes alleges the city breached his contract by allowing Berry to exercise supervisory authority over him when his contract states he is under the supervision of Dr. Francisco Pena, the mayor. Berry has demanded privileged information about ongoing investigations, demanded Cervantes violate security and privacy protocols and instructed him to engage in unconstitutional acts, according to the lawsuit. The city suspended Cervantes without pay in June for insubordination and breach of the policies and procedures manual, the lawsuit states. Cervantes said this suspension constituted another breach of his employment contract. MORE FROM LMTonline: Former Zetas cartel leader used to eat victims, report says Rio Bravo and Berry have not yet filed a response to the allegations. Representatives for the defendants and Mayor Pena could not immediately be reached for comment. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A few months ago, Angie Truitt, senior partner at Joseph Chris Partners in Kingwood was browsing LinkedIn when she saw Forbes had released its list of America's top recruiting firms for 2017. "I'm looking through the list and seeing all of these powerhouses, these huge companies," Truitt said. When she reached No. 37 on the list of 250 top executive recruiting firms, her interest evolved into utter excitement. "I was like, 'We're on the list. We're on the list,' and it was super exciting because all of these massive companies were on the list, and then there we were," Truitt said. Veronica Ramirez, CEO and president of Joseph Chris Partners likened the recognition to winning a People's Choice Award for recruiting firms. Forbes' list ranks companies based on survey results from thousands of recruiters, employees and human resource managers. Participants listed their choices of up to 10 top recruiting firms. 20,000 recommendations were collected from the survey. Firms that received the most recommendations achieved the highest rankings. "This is a really great thing for us because that says a lot," Ramirez said. "This is from years and years of dedicated people on the team who really focus on customer service, the quality of work that we do, always being present and taking care of our team, and doing it with integrity." Making it on Forbes' list of "Best Executive Recruiting Firms" is cause enough for celebration in and of itself; however, the accomplishment's significance was amplified because it arrived in a milestone year for the firm. "This was a super awesome birthday present for our 40th year," Truitt said. Joseph Chris Partners performs executive recruiting and consulting to the real estate development and construction industries. They do consulting with clients and professionals throughout the industry both inside and outside the United States. Ramirez's father, Joe Ramirez, began Joseph Chris Partners in Houston in 1977. "My dad started it out of his garage and built it up," Ramirez said. Ramirez grew up in Kingwood. In 1986, her father decided to bring Joseph Chris Partners closer to home and set up a location at the front of Kingwood. Eventually it moved farther into Kingwood, and is now located at Kings Harbor. Ramirez worked for her father's company, learning the ins-and-outs and taking on increasingly greater responsibilities. When her father decided to retire several years ago, she approached him about letting her purchase the company. Her parents decided to sell Joseph Chris Partners to Ramirez. Over the years, Ramirez has concentrated on building a culture of employee appreciation. In 2012, she incorporated equity opportunity for reliable, longstanding team members. Erica Lockwood, executive/equity partner at Joseph Chris Partners, believes employee retention rate is one of the company's exceptional features. "We have a really high average amount of year tenure, which is very unique in the recruiting and staffing industry, period," Lockwood said. "You usually don't find that." Under Ramirez, the firm has taken on new concepts to promote team-building through group activities - for example, the upcoming company 40th anniversary disco-themed party. "We brought a lot of new ideas into the organization just to keep it fresh and really support the next generation of millennials that are coming into the company," Ramirez said. "We try to create a culture here where you can just be yourself. It keeps good relationships within the team. We work hard, but have fun doing it." The firm has extended relationship-building beyond its clients and employees by taking part in community engagement and service initiatives. "We're going into our third year of putting on what we call, 'Turn Kings Harbor Blue,'" Truitt said. "We office here at beautiful Kings Harbor. We are very supportive of our law enforcement community and showing appreciation for everything they do. So, a couple of years ago, Veronica had an idea to put on a community event right here in our back yard to show support for them." On Friday, Nov. 10, Joseph Chris Partners will host its third annual Turn Kings Harbor Blue event from 6 to 9 p.m. at Kings Harbor. The community is invited to enjoy the live music and food while appreciating local law enforcement officers. "This year's going to be bigger than it's ever been," Truitt said. "We've got vendor interest. It's a very well-received and enjoyable thing for all of us to participate in." For Joseph Chris Partners' 40th anniversary year, the firm has set a fundraising goal of $40,000 to go toward building a house for Habitat for Humanity. On June 3, Joseph Chris Partners team members were actually onsite helping to construct a home for Habitat for Humanity. "We went out there and actually got to put on the safety goggles and swing hammers and get on ladders and it was a really wonderful experience," Truitt said. Moving forward, Ramirez looks forward to expanding the scope of what Joseph Chris Partners has to offer. As she looks back on the last 40 years, she attributes the company's survival to the dedicated team. "My family's been in this business for a long time," Ramirez said. "Not many family businesses last multi-generations, so it's an incentive for me to keep pushing hard and keep us together. I keep it family-oriented because these guys are more than just employees, they're team members. We are all here for each other, and I am looking forward to hitting another 40 years." For more information about Joseph Chris Partners, visit www.josephchris.com. To view Forbes' "America's Best Recruiting Firms 2017," visit https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkauflin/2017/05/03/americas-best-recruiting-firms-2017/#13a080c330f8. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., used his signature snark to warn colleagues that he will be returning soon to Washington - and chastised the Trump administration for ending assistance to moderate Syrian rebels battling the government of Bashar al-Assad. The twin statements served as reminders of the outsized role the 80-year old senator plays on Capitol Hill. Republicans badly need him to return as they try to shore up a weeks-long debate on a health-care overhaul. And he has been more willing than most Republicans to buck his party and the president to demand more decisive action to bolster the nation's security, particularly in areas involving the country's cyber defenses and posture against Russia. McCain announced late Wednesday that he has been diagnosed with a tumor called a glioblastoma after surgery to remove a blood clot above his left eye last week. The tumor is an aggressive type of brain cancer, and the prognosis is generally poor. The news sparked bipartisan calls for his swift return and public statements of support from Trump and his predecessors. Former president George W. Bush said on Thursday that he phoned his 2000 GOP presidential campaign rival to "encourage him in his fight." "Instead, he encouraged me," Bush said. "I was impressed by his spirit and determination. He has devoted his life to his country. Thankfully, he is committed to continuing that service." Responding to the well wishes, McCain tweeted on Thursday, "I greatly appreciate the outpouring of support - unfortunately for my sparring partners in Congress, I'll be back soon, so stand-by!" In a separate statement, he blasted reports that President Trump is ending the CIA's covert program to arm and train moderate Syrian rebels battling Assad's government, a move long sought by Russia. If true, "the administration is playing right into the hands of Vladimir Putin," McCain said in the statement. "Making any concession to Russia, absent a broader strategy for Syria, is irresponsible and shortsighted. The administration has yet to articulate its vision for Syria beyond the defeat of [the Islamic State], let alone a comprehensive approach to the Middle East." The criticism signaled that no matter where he is, McCain intends to remain engaged. When he might return to Washington, however, remains in doubt. The Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, which diagnosed McCain, said that the senator and his family are considering treatment options, including a combination of chemotherapy and radiation. His office did not indicate on Thursday where he will undergo treatment and when he might return to the Senate. "We look forward to seeing our friend again soon," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Thursday, "and we hope he'll be back in the very near future." McCain's absence plunged the ongoing health care debate into further chaos. McConnell has vowed to hold a vote next week to begin formal debate on legislation to repeal the 2010 Affordable Care Act. With 52 Republicans and 48 Democrats in the Senate, the GOP can only afford to have one more senator absent or vote against the procedural motion to begin debate - since Democrats all plan to vote against it. On Thursday, one Republican holdout, Sen. Rand Paul, Ky., said that he is willing to move ahead with the bill if certain concessions are made. But several other Republicans, including Susan Collins, Maine, Lisa Murkowski, Alaska, and Dean Heller, Nev., have not yet signaled what they will do. That makes McCain's absence all the more difficult. "Our focus is not on the missing vote. It's on Senator McCain's health," Collins told reporters when asked about the stakes. "And all of us are deeply saddened and shocked by the diagnosis." Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said he was troubled to think that "a terrible diagnosis" was a factor in the fate of high-stakes legislation. But, he acknowledged, "Practically speaking, you know that you have to put that in the vote count." As chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, McCain is also scheduled in the coming weeks to steer floor debate on the annual defense policy bill that sets military policy. McConnell announced this month that he would cancel the first two weeks of the scheduled August recess in order to allow debate and passage of the National Defense Authorization Act. Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., the third-ranking Senate Republican, indicated that other senior members of the armed services panel probably could lead debate on the bill in McCain's absence, but "we need John here." Sen. Lindsey O. Graham, R-S.C., McCain's closest friend in Congress, added that the Senate is likely to wait for McCain's return to consider the defense bill. He also echoed McCain's disdain for Trump's latest reported moves on Syria. "The decision to stop supporting opposition forces to Assad in my view is a complete capitulation to the Russians, to the Iranians, to Assad," he said. "It is a betrayal of the Syrian people who have been slaughtered by Assad - and Russia and Iran's support for them - it is a strategic mistake, it puts our allies in a bad spot, and it diminishes our standing. Other than that it's a good idea." In an interview, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., recalled that he and McCain "bonded over cold pizza" as they led the bipartisan "Gang of Eight" senators who spent hours toiling over details of the 2013 comprehensive immigration reform bill. The measure ultimately died, but was heralded by members of both parties as a good-faith compromise bill. "He was so good, he knew when to hold, he knew when to fold. He worked for the good of the eight - not just himself," Schumer said. "He is such a needed guy around here," he added. "The number of people who have the ability to say what they think even if other people don't like it - including the president - you can count on a couple of hands. He's one of them." --- Sean Sullivan and Kelsey Snell contributed to this report. McLean, Virginia, July 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vricon, a global leader in 3D imagery, is pleased to announce the addition of Barry Tilton, who will join Vricon Systems LLC as the Vice President of Engineering and CTO for U.S. Government Programs. Vricons mission is to build The Globe in 3D by producing photorealistic 3D products and digital elevation models with unmatched coverage and delivery timelines. Tilton will spearhead efforts to create new content and improve response times and product quality for Vricons customers. Tilton brings a unique and extensive background in the Defense and Intelligence communities, having worked in remote sensing systems design and user support for a range of customers, to include the Air Force Space program, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the National Reconnaissance Office, the Office of the Director of Intelligence, and the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence. Tilton also has experience in international technical collaboration with Algeria, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Mongolia, New Zealand, Russia, and the United Kingdom. We are pleased to welcome Barry to the Vricon family, said Magnus Brege, Vricon CEO. Barrys broad customer experience both domestic and international will support Vricons efforts to integrate our 3D products into the fabric of our customers missions. After making the decision to leave direct government consulting, I considered several opportunities in the community, said Tilton. Looking at the global need for high quality geospatial information supporting missions from operations support to crisis response to commercial monitoring, the capabilities that Vricon is developing and delivering presents a unique mix of solutions and new investments to enhance understanding. Tilton holds a bachelors degree from the University of Southern California and received his masters degree from Northrop University in Engineering. About Vricon Vricon serves the global professional geospatial market with world-leading 3D geodata and 3D visualization solutions. Vricon is headquartered in McLean, Virginia. For further information, visit http://www.vricon.com. Attachments: A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/60824120-0568-4148-8b08-929f8f86b50f As they scramble to resurrect the Senate GOP's last chance to repeal the Affordable Care Act, conservative activists and media figures have settled on a message that could fall flat: Do it for President Donald Trump. From Tuesday night through the announcement of yet another Republican meeting on their repeal bills, pundits and outside groups cast senators as "traitors" if they did not deliver a victory for the president. "Republicans don't really want this to be repealed and don't really want Trump to win," Rush Limbaugh told his listeners on Wednesday. "They never sell the plan." "These people are being true to their school, just not true to their party, and maybe not true to their country," said "Fox and Friends" co-host Brian Kilmeade, before asking a guest why Congress had "let Trump down." It wasn't clear what leverage conservatives had left. Key Republicans like Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, were just re-elected to six-year terms. Calls and protests against the repeal bills vastly outnumber any actions to support them - on Wednesday, dozens more protesters courted arrest by sitting and singing outside Republicans' Senate offices. Despite several rewrites of the basic bill, major insurers have continued to oppose it, and to oppose the "consumer freedom amendment" favored by Sen. Ted Cruz ,R-Texas. "All of our effort is on the three senators who voted for the 2015 repeal but are telling people they won't vote for it now," Club for Growth President David McIntosh said in an interview, describing the new website ObamacareRepealTraitors.com and its attacks on Murkowski, Portman, and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va. "They're not up in cycle, but they're in Trump states. I've been using the analogy of [former senator] Arlen Specter - are they going to be loyal to the Republican Party, or starting out on their own path?" On the right, the final repeal push has been framed as a rematch of Trump's 2016 victory - a chance for Republicans to go with their president, or reveal themselves as sellouts. Coverage of the health-care fight on Fox News, which had occasionally vanished from prime time, returned Tuesday night in the form of attacks on congressional failure. "Coming close doesn't count," Fox's Sean Hannity said in his opening monologue. "You people in Congress - you are pampered. You are overpaid. You are spoiled." After attacking members of Congress for access to "free parking at work" and "access to the congressional gyms," the Fox News host, whose annual salary has been estimated at $29 million, informed viewers that congressmen are paid "$174,000 a year, three times higher than the median household income." The president has taken a light approach to the repeal effort, especially when compared to the lobbying that his most recent predecessors did for signature legislation. In 2009 and 2010, Barack Obama held multiple town halls and made scores of speeches about what needed to be part of the Affordable Care Act. In 2005, George W. Bush held dozens of events to promote Social Security privatization, many in the states of vulnerable-seeming Democratic senators. The Trump White House has not come close to that level of involvement. Trump has not held events in West Virginia, a state he won by the biggest landslide of any Republican candidate in history, represented by a Democrat and Republican who oppose the latest iterations of repeal. He has issued, then retracted threats to campaign against Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., and Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who are up for re-election next year. Since the Senate took up its repeal bill, he has done interviews only with Fox News and the Christian Broadcasting Network; on Twitter, he has veered wildly between letting "Obamacare die" and endorsing an unseen "fixed" bill. Yet in conservative media, Trump's Wednesday speech at the White House was portrayed as the president trying to save Republicans from themselves. "If there's virtue in the replacement bill, sing its praise," said Limbaugh. "Well, Trump did in his speech today. Nobody else is. They're all acting embarrassed of it." In fact, defenders of the legislation had spent plenty of time talking it up - and, like Trump, describing the ACA as a collapsing house. But conservative media showed little interest in the details of the bill as it was debated; it emerged again as a topic when it became a straightforward story of the president against the shirkers. That story got a workout on Wednesday, thanks to the news that Republicans, while still short on votes, would hold an evening meeting with Heath and Human Services Secretary Tom Price. But the Trump luncheon speech veered between rote recitations of bullet points ("Will allow the use of pretax dollars to pay premiums. Will expand the HSAs. Will devote substantial resources to fight opioid and other substance abuse.") and repetitive attacks on Democrats. In less than 30 seconds, Trump said that Democrats had "no ideas," and that they wanted to pass single-payer health care. At another point, Trump promised that insurance reforms that could be part of "a popular bill" to come that would save people "60 and 70 percent" on premiums. The narrative that gripped conservative media did not always match up with what Republicans were seeing. Threats of primary challenges from the Senate Conservatives Fund and other groups referred, as the Club for Growth's campaign referred, to elections three or five years away. FreedomWorks, which spent part of Wednesday handing awards to conservative members of Congress, said it was encouraging grass-roots phone calls to Capito and Portman; there was no evidence that this was drowning out the calls against the bill. And at times, the conservative narrative fell short. On his radio show, Limbaugh said he'd heard from a congressional staffer who wondered where the speechifying, hands-on Trump of the Wednesday lunch meeting had been. "Do you remember the Iraq war in George W. Bush's first term? Do you realize he spent a year and a half selling that war? He spent a year and a half," said Limbaugh. "Do you remember the way the Democrats sold Obamacare? They were out there every day." Moments later, Limbaugh played a clip from the luncheon, and returned to praising the president, for the way he'd humiliated his critics. "I saw some commentators today writing, 'Trump's an oaf! Trump didn't even try to sell 'em,'" said Limbaugh. "It was a Never-Trumper column. Well, here's Trump taking it to 'em." Education Secretary Betsy DeVos blasted Washington, teachers unions and "defenders of the status quo" Thursday as she pledged to shrink the role of the federal government in U.S. schools and colleges. "This drives the big-government folks nuts, but it's important to reiterate: Education is best addressed at the state, local and family levels," DeVos said, winning applause from lawmakers gathered in Denver for the annual meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Conference (ALEC), an influential group known for promoting conservative policy goals nationwide. DeVos has long been an ardent proponent of giving states more power over education, but some conservatives questioned her local-control credentials in recent weeks as the Education Department began reviewing state plans to implement a sweeping new federal law, the Every Student Succeeds Act. State officials viewed some of the department's feedback as overreaching and nitpicking criticism seemingly out of line with DeVos' pledge to get Washington out of the way. In her remarks Thursday, she assured state legislators from across the country that she had no intention of overstepping and was actively seeking ways to shrink the federal footprint in education. "The time of inefficient, top-down, one-size-fits-all mandates is over," DeVos said. "This approach does not work, it has not worked, and it will never work." It was a friendly crowd for an education secretary who has become one of the most visible and controversial members of President Donald Trump's Cabinet. On Wednesday, hundreds of protesters gathered in downtown Denver to protest what they described as DeVos' efforts to undermine public education, according to the Denver Post. Debbie Lesko, a Republican state senator from Arizona who interviewed DeVos on stage Thursday, pronounced her remarks "refreshing" after eight years Democratic control of the Education Department. "We absolutely love what you have to say," Lesko said. DeVos spent 30 years lobbying state lawmakers to expand school choice, and as education secretary she is pushing an agenda that ALEC - which has been a key force pushing legislation allowing for charter schools, virtual schools, private-school vouchers and tax-credit scholarships - embraces. She urged state legislators to continue working for more and larger choice programs, saying the "next reforms won't originate from Washington, D.C. - they'll come from you." The Trump administration proposed spending $1.25 billion to expand school choice next fiscal year, but that proposal appears to be headed nowhere. House Republicans have rejected the new investment in their appropriations bill. DeVos took aim at teachers unions, repeatedly referring to them as "defenders of the status quo" that don't have the best interest of children at heart. She pointed to a tweet from the American Federation of Teachers that criticized her for saying that public money should be invested in individual students and arguing instead that "we should invest in a system of great public schools for all kids." "I couldn't believe it when I read it, but you have to admire their candor," she said. "They've made it clear that they care more about a system, one created in the 1800s, than they do about individual students. ... What exactly is education, if not an investment in students?" Miles away in Washington, Randi Weingarten - president of the AFT and one of DeVos's most relentless critics - attacked the education secretary as a "public school destroyer" whose push for school choice and proposals to shrink federal education funding harms the students DeVos says she wants to help. Weingarten, speaking in D.C. before hundreds of AFT members at the union's annual meeting, said "school choice" is a term that has long been used to "cloak overt racism," recalling how school districts in the South used school choice as a tool of massive resistance after the Supreme Court deemed segregated schools unconstitutional. Prince Edward County, Virginia, for example, closed its public schools and then gave white families vouchers they could use for private school tuition. "Make no mistake: This use of privatization, coupled with disinvestment, are only slightly more polite cousins of segregation," Weingarten said. "We are in the same fight, against the same forces, who are keeping the same children from getting the public education they need and deserve." Weingarten's remarks echoed a recent report from the left-leaning Center for American Progress titled "The Racist Origins of Private School Vouchers." Voucher proponents said it is unfair and offensive to draw a line between modern school choice and efforts to perpetuate segregation - particularly given that many students who take advantage of choice programs are low-income and non-white. The mayor of Minneapolis said Thursday that it is "unacceptable" that no body-camera footage exists capturing a police officer fatally shooting an Australian woman in the city over the weekend, a case that has drawn international scrutiny and criticism. Mayor Betsy Hodges also wrote in a blog post that based on information that investigators have released publicly, "the fatal shooting of Justine Damond should not have happened." Hodges was sharply critical of the fact that even though every patrol officer in Minneapolis wears a body camera, neither officer present when Damond was fatally shot late Saturday activated theirs, preventing authorities from having potentially key footage of what happened. "We have put too much time, money, and effort into them to have them fail us when we needed them most," Hodges wrote of the body cameras. "That cannot happen again." Damond's death has largely been cloaked in mystery since the 40-year-old was fatally shot, with officials only gradually releasing some details. According to police records and Damond's relatives, she had called 911 just before 11:30 p.m. Saturday to report what she thought was a possible rape occurring near her home. Transcripts of her 911 calls, made public Wednesday, show that Damond called twice, first summoning officers to her home and then, several minutes later, making sure they had the address right because she could still hear the woman's screams. When two officers arrived, investigators said, they were driving near her home with their squad car lights off when a loud noise startled Officer Matthew Harrity, who was driving. Harrity, who spoke to investigators on Tuesday, said that immediately after the noise, Damond approached his open window and Officer Mohamed Noor, sitting in the passenger seat, fired one shot at her through the window. An incident report released Wednesday showed that at 11:41 p.m., the officers reported a shooting incident and began performing CPR. Damond was pronounced dead 10 minutes later, according to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office, killed by a gunshot wound to her abdomen. Her death was ruled a homicide. Investigators said there is no footage of the shooting because neither officer activated their body cameras until after the shooting, which may have violated police department policy. The policy states that officers must manually activate the devices before any use of force and, if that does not take place, the cameras must be "activated as soon as it is safe to do so." Adding to the uncertainty about what happened, investigators say, Noor has declined to be interviewed by investigators. The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), the state agency investigating the shooting, said agents cannot compel an officer to speak to them. In a statement earlier this week, the agency said Noor's attorney "did not provide clarification on when, if ever, an interview would be possible." Thomas C. Plunkett, the attorney, has not responded to multiple requests for comment about the BCA's statement or whether the officer will ever consent to an interview. Hodges and Janee Harteau, the Minneapolis police chief, have echoed calls from the public and Damond's relatives in saying they also want more information. In a news conference Tuesday night, Hodges said that even with Harrity's account, it remains "frustrating to have some of the picture but not all of it." She said it remained unanswered why Noor pulled out his gun and fired as well as why neither officer turned on their body cameras. After Noor joined the force, Hodges wrote a Facebook post last year that singled him out as "the newest Somali officer in the Minneapolis Police Department." She wrote in the post that Noor was assigned to the 5th Precinct and that "his arrival has been highly celebrated, particularly by the Somali community." The Somali community in the region has said that since Noor has been publicly identified as the officer in the shooting, it is afraid of a backlash, with one activist saying that other Somali officers on the Minneapolis police force have been "nervous." Noor joined the Minneapolis police in 2015, while Harrity joined the department last year. Police records released Wednesday indicate that Noor has been the subject of three complaints, two of which remain open. The third was closed without discipline, and the records do not elaborate on the type of allegation for any of the complaints. Harrity is the subject of one open complaint, records show. A Minneapolis police spokesman has declined to comment on whether the officers are being investigated for potentially violating departmental policy regarding body cameras. Hodges said cameras should have been recording in this case. She pledged that police officials would work in the future to change policies "to ensure that the next time we want to see body-cam footage of a police encounter, we have it." She also said her expectation is that body cameras will begin recording whenever an officer is responding to a call. Damond's death has reverberated in Australia, where hundreds gathered in Sydney to mourn Wednesday. A newspaper in the city called the shooting an "AMERICAN NIGHTMARE," and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Australian officials were demanding information for her relatives. "We are demanding answers on behalf of her family, and our hearts go out to her family and all of her friends and loved ones," Turnbull said in a television interview this week. "It's a truly tragic, tragic killing . . . something clearly went tragically wrong." Damond is one of 554 people fatally shot by police in the United States this year, according to a Washington Post database tracking such deaths. BEIRUT - The parents of missing American journalist Austin Tice said Thursday they are "fully confident" their son will be released from captivity in Syria, and they urged his captors to contact them ahead of the anniversary of his disappearance near Damascus five years ago. Marc and Debra Tice, speaking at a news conference in Beirut, encouraged anyone with information on their son's whereabouts to come forward, pledging to work with "any government or group" to win their son's freedom. Tice, a former Marine and Georgetown law student, vanished on Aug. 13, 2012 - two days after he turned 31. His stories from Syria - including vivid and human frontline dispatches - appeared in The Washington Post, the McClatchy newspapers and other news outlets. "We are willing to cooperate with any government or group in order for our son to return home," said Debra Tice, who has made numerous trips to Damascus to investigate her son's disappearance. Syria at the time was on the verge of a full-blown civil war. "Our message has been the same for five years," she said. "We are just asking whoever is holding Austin: What is going to be required to resolve this issue and bring Austin safely home?" Debra and her husband said Thursday that they would not speculate on the identity of their son's captors. U.S. officials have said they believed Tice was being held by the Syrian government - but little progress has been made in finding out the details of his captivity. In June, the New York Times reported that President Trump's CIA director, Mike Pompeo, had opened up a back channel with the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad, with the goal of securing Tice's release. That line of communication, however, was reportedly abandoned after Trump ordered strikes on a Syrian air base as punishment for a chemical weapons attack on civilians in Idlib province in April. The Tices declined to comment on the report but said they have been pleased with the "speed and engagement" with which the Trump White House has approached their case. The administration has prioritized the release of captive Americans abroad since taking office in January, including Egyptian American, Aya Hijazi, who was held in Egypt, and the now-deceased Otto Warmbier, who had been imprisoned in North Korea. "For us, I think, the main thing is that there is absolutely no evidence" that he is not alive, Marc Tice said of his son at the news conference. We are "working with the confidence that he is alive and he'll come home safe. It is just a matter of excruciating time." Syrian officials have denied knowledge of Tice's location. The only time his captors reached out to prove he had been taken was just six weeks after he vanished, when a brief video showing Tice blindfolded on a hillside was uploaded to YouTube. In the video, Tice is surrounded by armed men. "Oh, Jesus. Oh, Jesus," he can be heard saying in English. In a posting on its website that was updated last month, the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders, a media advocacy organization, said without further explanation that Tice "is alive and he is not being held by ISIS," as the Islamic State extremist group is widely known. A representative of Reporters Without Borders said at Thursday's news conference in Beirut that Tice is the last American journalist detained in Syria. "We need another chance to communicate with him," Debra Tice said. In a message to her son, she said: "We don't give up. We're waiting. We're ready. We'll get you home. Hang in there." --- Cunningham reported from Istanbul. WASHINGTON - Conservatives are furious - furious - that Senate Republicans got close to repealing big parts of Obamacare and are now on the verge of walking away from the effort altogether, possibly leaving President Barack Obama's health-care law on the books for the foreseeable future. No issue motivated conservative activists more over the past seven years than repealing Obamacare, with groups on the right expending huge dollars and resources to get Republicans elected across two branches of government so they could finally pass a repeal bill. Their path seemed clear. First, the GOP took the House in 2010. Four years later, Republicans seized the Senate majority. And then in November, when President Donald Trump unexpectedly won, conservatives thought victory was theirs. Just about every Republican who won a national election since the ACA was passed had promised to repeal it as part of their platform. "You add together all the tweets and social media posts, you add all the interviews and news conferences - my guess is that Republicans in Congress have pledged to repeal Obamacare well over a million times," Media Research Center President Brent Bozell told reporters Wednesday. The tea party movement, which helped mobilize voters to give Republicans big victories several elections in a row, largely grew out of opposition to the Affordable Care Act, Tea Party Patriots founder Jenny Beth Martin noted on a call with the press. "If there is a single unifying issue in the tea party movement, it is the desire to repeal Obamacare," Martin said. Now, nothing is turning out as they'd hoped. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., intends to hold a vote early next week to start debate on a repeal bill. But unless senators can hash out an agreement on how to treat Medicaid spending - as they tried to do in a meeting Wednesday night in Sen. John Barrasso's, R-Wyo., office - it will likely fail. It's also unclear when - or if - Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., will return to Washington after announcing last night that he was diagnosed with brain cancer. At least four centrist Republicans -- Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Rob Portman of Ohio - have said they'll vote against even starting debate on the measure without a better ACA replacement ready to go. That's got conservatives seething, and plotting their revenge. FreedomWorks is prepping a "Freedom Traitor Award" along with a bust of Benedict Arnold to deliver to the offices of any Republicans who help block the repeal effort next week. Spokesman Jason Pye told me the group is "aggressively targeting" Portman and Capito's offices with phone calls and emails pressuring them to support it. Tea Party Patriots and Club for Growth launched a website called "Obamacare Repeal Traitors" featuring photos of Murkowski, Capito and Portman, listing multiple previous quotes where they'd slammed the ACA and promised to repeal it and providing the phone numbers to their offices. "They campaigned on REPEAL, they got to Washington on that promise...and now they are betraying their constituents by joining with Democrats to defeat Obamacare Repeal efforts!" the website says. Former Hillary Clinton spokesman Jesse Ferguson recoiled at how the groups are using the word "traitor:" "Disgusting. @FreedomWorks calls Senators "traitors" if they won't take away health care from 32m ppl & force premiums to double," Ferguson tweeted. Ken Cuccinelli, president of the Senate Conservatives Fund, warned reporters of political repercussions. He said "the solution is good, conservative candidates in primaries with these folks" - although that might be a ways off, since neither Murkowski, Capito or Portman are up for reelection next year, as Dave Weigel noted: "Up in 2022, 2022, and 2020. Hard to pressure," Weigel said via Twitter. Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, also said his group will go after Republicans who don't follow through on their Obamacare repeal promises. "If Republicans cannot repeal Obamacare now, they're going to call hospice because their majority is not long for this world," Perkins said. The political right has persistently used Obamacare as political fodder in elections. In the 2014 midterm elections, for example, Republicans used ACA messaging in 84 percent of their political ad spots, compared to just 15 percent of ads run by Democrats, according to an analysis by Kantar Media. That year, more than 1.3 million health insurance and political ads aired, half of them referencing the ACA. Conservative groups had criticized the first version of the Senate health-care bill, saying it didn't go far enough in repealing the ACA's insurer regulations. But the Heritage Foundation, FreedomWorks, Club for Growth and others had mostly come around with the addition of an amendment from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, expanding the opt-out for insurers. In the end, it was two conservatives - Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Jerry Moran of Kansas - who became the third and fourth senators to come out against the Senate's Better Care Reconciliation Act. Yet conservatives are still placing the blame on moderate senators, who were uncomfortable with how the bill would have phased out Medicaid expansion and enacted deeper underlying cuts to the program. More moderates were unwilling, at the end of the day, to repeal Obamacare's health-coverage expansions than conservatives had bargained for, Heritage Action spokesman Dan Holler said. "There was just no sense in the Senate negotiations that the more moderate or liberal Republicans had a desire to get to yes," Holler said. If the Obamacare repeal effort goes down in flames - and that's looking like the most likely outcome at this point, despite a confusing lunch at the White House yesterday where Trump made his own electoral threats to at least one naysayer - it will be a dark day for conservatives. "There's a lot of frustration, and in some quarters, anger," Holler said. Villers-les-Nancy, 18 July 2017 - 7:00 p.m. (CET) PRESS RELEASE HOSPITAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS MAJOR ACQUISITION MALTA INFORMATIQUE, a PHARMAGEST Group subsidiary ( Euronext Paris #FR 0012882389 - PHA.PA ), announces the acquisition of aXigate, specialised in new technologies and a French leader in the Hospital Information Systems (HIS) sector. aXigate has developed a 100% Cloud-based solution for hospital-based patient care management An acquisition with an international dimension opening up opportunities in the hospital sector for the PHARMAGEST Group's Solutions for Health and Social Care Facilities Division, spearheaded by MALTA INFORMATIQUE. Continuity of care : a major priority in the transformation of the non-hospital/hospital landscape anticipated by PHARMAGEST Group through different investments made by the subsidiary MALTA INFORMATIQUE: DICSIT in 2016 and today aXigate. High-value strategic positioning and operational synergies : this acquisition in the hospital information systems sector completes the current software offering of the Solutions for Health and Social Care Facilities Division of MALTA INFORMATIQUE and DICSIT INFORMATIQUE (elderly residential care homes , Hospital at Home programmes, home-based nursing services .) and will generate major functional, technical and operational synergies. 100% of aXigate's capital acquired which becomes a subsidiary of MALTA INFORMATIQUE. *** aXigate: a French Hospital Information Systems leader Created in 2002 and based in Paris, aXigate SA develops information system solutions for healthcare establishments and patient care networks The company has been managed from the very beginning by a team coming from the leading engineering schools as well as doctors and nurses with a dual expertise in medicine and Hospital Information Systems (HIS). In 2008, aXigate was awarded the OSEO/ANVAR "Innovative Enterprise" label. In 2016, the French Ministry of Health awarded aXigate the Blaise Pascal Prize for innovative technology in the regional hospital information systems category for its contribution to public health. aXigate is a developer of one of the most innovative solutions in the Hospital Information Systems market. Already in the 2000s it pioneered a fully integrated and configurable Web-based solution and today proposes a mobile solution. Today it is the only "Web Responsive" solution on the market operating on every type of terminal (tablets, smartphones). A comprehensive solution for managing hospital-based patient care workflows The aXigate system makes it possible to manage the entire patient care workflow: medical consultation, ER, hospitalisation, operating room, intensive care (resuscitation). It covers the full range of the needs of healthcare professionals (doctors, surgeons, nursing, pharmacist, medical secretaries) and is fully interoperable with other HIS applications. Its functional scope includes a common patient record, the treatment file, the medication pathway, medical office automation, medical consultations and planning, activity coding, quality indicators, etc. More than 40 hospitals equipped to date The aXigate solution is destined mainly for public hospital centres, particularly regional hospital groups (Groupements Hospitaliers de Territoire or GHT). Authorised for millions of patient records and thousands of users, aXigate is deployed at hospitals of all sizes and offers a multi-establishment architecture to manage the patient pathway which is a major demand of the sector. In addition, among the 40 hospitals and regional hospital networks (GHT), it should be noted that in 2013, aXigate was selected for the electronic medical record (EMR) market by the UNI.HA hospital purchasing group. In that manner, any public French hospitalcan acquire the aXigate solution. And since 2014, it has equipped France's second largest teaching hospital (CHU), the Marseilles Public Hospital. A fully Cloud-based and responsive solution that is SIMPLE and OPEN addressing hospital information system needs. The aXigate solution is fully web-based. This means it guarantees accessibility, use across all supports, operating flexibility and scalability. The aXigate system is one of the only HIS solutions offering all advantages of the Web W3C/HTML 5 generation technology and the only Web Responsive system ensuring the application's complete mobility across all devices (tablets, smartphones). All functions are accessible through a web browser and the system can be configured to the specific needs of every facility. aXigate proposes a highly adaptable tool equipped with an application generator. The result is a very attractive offering fully aligned with the needs and constraints of hospital facilities. It also offers very good level of functional coverage which means that its deployment by healthcare facilities can be modular and optimised. Non-hospital/Hospital continuity of care and complete knowledge of the patient file. MALTA INFORMATIQUE now offers an innovative and comprehensive patient data exchange solution to all participants in the healthcare ecosystem through a patient-centred system. Because hospitalisation represents only one step in the patient care pathway which continues after leaving the hospital, whether at home or a healthcare establishment adapted to the patient's specific situation, PHARMAGEST Group and MALTA INFORMATIQUE, through their information systems for pharmacies, health and social care facilities, Hospital at Home programmes and home-based nursing services, will be able to offer a very integrated system to facilitate the patient care management process. Similarly, the scope of synergies with aXigate also includes patient access to their medical file, in both non-hospital settings (through the ecosystem developed by PHARMAGEST Group in pharmacies) and hospitals (aXigate is soon expected to propose a portal reserved for patients receiving hospital-dispensed care). As France is setting up regional hospital groups and local care networks, PHARMAGEST Group is anticipating market needs by investing in a system that will permit: data exchanges between hospitals and non-hospital healthcare providers, and the interconnection of participants in the healthcare process involved in the patient's care. Significant financial strength and operational capacity: the advantages of the MALTA/aXigate duo in the hospital information systems market. Backed by PHARMAGEST Group and its parent company, La Cooperative WELCOOP, MALTA INFORMATIQUE will give aXigate: the advantages of substantial financial resources . PHARMAGEST Group's investment in this project is comparable to efforts carried out for all its Health IT business lines. As a reminder, in 2016 PHARMAGEST Group had annual revenue of 128.4 million and net profit of 21.4 million; access to PHARMAGEST Group's 900 employees and its powerful French and European commercial network; the ability to leverage PHARMAGEST Group's personal health data hosting authorisations. Since 2012 PHARMAGEST INTERACTIVE is authorised as a hosting services provider for personal health data by the French Ministry of Social Affairs and Health: Remote data backup services, hosting applications managed and administered by customers, hosting applications with direct patient access; Significant operational capacity with technicians, project leaders and instructors. In its new scope, MALTA INFORMATIQUE now offers substantial human resources (+ 120 people) including a team of around 10 project managers and more than 25 consultants-instructors immediately deployable to address hospital information systems management issues. A market experiencing a major information technology transformation: a significant growth opportunity Whether in France, or more generally, worldwide, healthcare information systems that were developed more than 20 years ago are today obsolete. In France, with the emergence of regional hospital groups (135 to date), public hospitals must define by the end of 2017 a common information technology master plan that will lead to information systems convergence before the end of 2021. That means that all hospitals in France must rethink their information systems within the next four years. For MALTA INFORMATIQUE, this represents a significant opportunity. The aXigate solution, in addition to providing a very high level of professional coverage also offers a multi-facility solution through a single database to manage the patient care pathway through different hospital facilities at the territorial and, if need be, the national level. Significant international potential Today, while the system developed by aXigate is scaled for the French market, its European potential is indisputable: the global management solution available through this system, particularly for the EMR, ensuring continuity of care across hospital and non-hospital pathways is of interest to all industrialised countries universally concerned by the healthcare economy challenges. The aXigate system will soon be available in English *** For Gregoire de ROTALIER, MALTA INFORMATIQUE's Chair, "This represents a major acquisition for us: Through the combination of the cutting-edge technological expertise and operational quality of the system developed by aXigate and the breadth of our offerings, the new entity will generate added value to all our customers and those of aXigate, in both the non-hospital and hospital segments. In addition, the business model developed by aXigate is extremely relevant to the French market. By building on the quality of the existing technical foundations, our aim is to adapt over the medium term this innovative model in other European countries." For Dominique PAUTRAT, Managing Director of PHARMAGEST INTERACTIVE "PHARMAGEST Group has once again strengthened its capacities to propose a global patient-centred ecosystem. Until now, this offering was largely focused on the non-hospital segment with our software solutions for pharmacies, elderly residential care homes, Hospital at Home programmes, and home-based nursing services. With aXigate, our ecosystem now also includes the hospital-based patient care segment. For healthcare professionals, this new scope guarantees an effective response to the priority of continuity in care and treatment across the "non-hospital/hospital" spectrum. For the patient, this provides a guarantee of quality in terms of the standard of care and attendance". For Thierry CHAPUSOT, Chair of the Board of Directors of PHARMAGEST INTERACTIVE and Chair of the La Cooperative WELCOOP Executive Committee: "aXigate is a technological gem: it proposes the most technologically complete solution in the hospital IT market and at the cutting edge for 100% cloud-based HIS solutions. As such, this represents a strategic acquisition for PHARMAGEST Group and a major milestone as we become the only company in Europe with the operational capability to manage the coordination of care across the non-hospital and hospital pathways. This transaction, with an international dimension, is in line with PHARMAGEST INTERACTIVE's historical track record of anticipating market needs, innovating, creating value for customers and guaranteeing patient access to quality healthcare. For Vincent LECLERC, Chair of aXigate: "Our goal was to leverage aXigate's potential through the backing of a top-performing and well known information technology group. By joining forces with MALTA INFORMATIQUE and in consequence PHARMAGEST Group and La Cooperative WELCOOP, we now have the resources to support our offering for hospitals and regional hospital groups. In particular I am thinking of the deployment of our system by other regional hospital groups and members of the UNI.HA hospital purchasing group that have not yet adopted our solution. We will also be able to complete several improvements to our offering, such as the development of a dedicated portal for patients offering them access to information relating to their hospital stay." Upcoming financial publications of PHARMAGEST INTERACTIVE: - Publication of 2017 H1 revenue: 10 August 2017. - Publication of 2017 H1 results: 22 September 2017. About MALTA INFORMATIQUE MALTA INFORMATIQUE, a wholly-owned subsidiary of PHARMAGEST Group, is an independent software vendor specialised in applications for elderly residential care homes and day care facilities, a fast-growing sector in which it has a market share exceeding 10%. Its TITAN application is the only solution on the market covering the entire medication pathway for elderly residential care homes. At 31 December 2016, MALTA INFORMATIQUE was installed at 1,580 care homes. MALTA INFORMATIQUE also operates in the hospital at home segment with its subsidiary DICSIT INFORMATIQUE and equips a broad range of structures: Hospital at Home programmes, home-based nursing services, Local Information and Coordination Centres for the Elderly (CLIC) and Collaborative home-based support and care services (SPASAD). About PHARMAGEST Group: PHARMAGEST Group is the French pharmacy information technology leader, with a 43.5% market share and more than 900 employees. The Group's strategy is based on a core business, information technology innovation to improve health care, and on the development of two priorities: 1/ Services and technologies for healthcare professionals, with a focus on assisting pharmacies in the area of patient medication compliance; and 2/ technologies for improving the efficacy of healthcare systems. To roll out that strategy, PHARMAGEST Group has developed specialised businesses, including pharmacy IT, e-Health solutions, solutions for healthcare professionals, solutions for pharmaceutical laboratories, connected health devices and apps, and a sales financing marketplace. These businesses are now divided into four divisions: The Solutions for Pharmacy Division - Europe, the Solutions for Health and Medical-Social Institutions Division, the Solutions for e-Health Division, and the Fintech Division. Listed on Euronext Paris(TM) - Compartment B Indices: CAC SMALL and CAC All-Tradable par inclusion Eligible for the Long-Only Deferred Settlement Service (SRD) ISIN: FR 0012882389 - Reuters: PHA.PA - Bloomberg: - PMGI FP For all the latest news go to www.pharmagest.com CONTACTS PHARMAGEST INTERACTIVE Analyst and Investor Relations: Chief Administrative and Financial Officer: Jean-Yves Samson Tel. +33 (0)3 83 15 90 67 - jean-yves.samson@pharmagest.com Media Relations: FIN'EXTENSO - Isabelle APRILE Tel. +33 (0)1 39 97 61 22 - i.aprile@finextenso.fr MALTA INFORMATIQUE Gregoire DE ROTALIER: Chair Tel.: +33 (0)5 57 35 19 25 - gregoire.derotalier@malta-informatique.fr AXIGATE Vincent LECLERC - Chair and Managing Director Tel.: +33 (0)1 45 89 66 66- vincent.leclerc@axigate.fr WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's close relationship with President Trump was on display during Trump's formal sit-down with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this month in Germany. He was the only other U.S. official present, apart from a translator, for the most anticipated diplomatic meeting of the new administration, held as Trump and Putin were attending the Group of 20 summit. The picture was one of a trusted envoy at the center of the action. Back in Washington, however, the State Department that Tillerson leads is adrift. Trump is his administration's loudest and most-watched voice on foreign policy and has consolidated decision-making among a small group of trusted aides and family members at the White House. Tillerson meets with the president most days the two are in Washington and takes calls from him at all hours on his mobile phone. But diplomacy, or at least the kind the State Department traditionally conducts, has seemed a low priority for a president who is openly skeptical of international entanglements. There were early signs that the State Department would be benched. Trump put his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who had no foreign policy background, in charge of Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking. And he disregarded the advice of Tillerson and the State Department when he decided to leave the Paris climate accord. Diplomats breathed a sigh of relief when Trump did not quickly lift punitive sanctions on Russia that many of the State Department's senior leaders had worked for years to impose, and when he backed off his harshest criticism of China as a currency manipulator. Similarly, Trump has signaled that he will not immediately abandon the State Department-negotiated Iran nuclear deal. But in each case, current and former department employees said, the State Department's voice was muted or regarded with a measure of suspicion. Several credited the addition of similar recommendations from the Pentagon for changing Trump's mind. The nation's oldest Cabinet department has a hollowed-out feel these days. Six months into Trump's presidency, most of the top jobs remain unfilled, and lower-level hiring is largely on hold. "There's a lot of stuff where it's not clear there's anybody at the helm," said Ronald Neumann, a former ambassador who is president of the American Academy of Diplomacy. "There's a sense of incoherence in the way they fire people without replacements, shuttle people into the job and then have to shuttle somebody else into that job." Tillerson wants to restructure the department to reduce its size and get rid of overlapping areas of responsibility. Congressional critics, including numerous Republicans, told Tillerson last month that streamlining may be a good idea but that empty desks and large budget cuts are not. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., opened a hearing on the State Department budget by praising Tillerson's straight-talking style, while warning him that he has a lot to learn. Graham took Tillerson on a rhetorical tour of trouble spots, including Syria, North Korea, Ukraine and the Persian Gulf, among others. The U.S. secretary of state has to confront all of them, the veteran senator told Tillerson. "You're the man," Graham said. "You're going to do all that and cut the budget by 29 percent?" Tillerson has made clear that he thinks the department's structure and functions need reforming for the 21st century. He has told diplomats that he has seen the benefits of periodic management overhauls. But his timeline for change - extending to late 2018, or halfway through the presidential term - is languorous by the standards of Washington political cycles. A senior adviser, R.C. Hammond, said Tillerson, a mechanical engineer by training, has approached the job methodically. First he huddled with Trump and the national security team, a job set back by the sudden resignation of national security adviser Michael Flynn. Then he proceeded in charted phases. First he laid the groundwork for the most pressing problem, trying to coax China into turning its back on North Korea over its nuclear program. "In the first six months, we set up an entire new direction with our policy toward North Korea," he said. "It's not because the administration changed. It's because of world events." Now, Tillerson is trying to improve relations with Moscow despite growing questions over its attempts to disrupt the U.S. election, and he is wading into the crises in Syria and the Persian Gulf. Hammond dismissed the narrative that Tillerson is isolated from the staff. He said he has met frequently with desk officers and advisers on hot spots that he is training his attention on. And he is known for insisting that his schedule block out dedicated hours for reading briefing papers. "People mistake the value of face time versus reading time," Hammond said. "This is a guy who gets excited reading instructions from Ikea. He's a mechanical engineer who reads and analyzes. He spends a lot of time with the guys who work on China and the Middle East. The information he needs to do the job is dictated by what the president is looking for." In the next six months, Hammond said, Tillerson will speak frequently on the immorality of human trafficking, the wisdom of nuclear nonproliferation, and cooperation with Mexico to combat the drug cartels. "This was the plan all along," Hammond said of Tillerson's pace. "He's not adjusting because of criticism. He's staying on the railroad track he laid out for himself, and continues chugging along." Tillerson has begun to project his own role more aggressively. That became publicly noticeable when he introduced the annual human trafficking report last month. Six weeks earlier, he had skipped the rollout of the annual human rights report entirely, a sharp departure from previous secretaries of state who used it to underscore the centrality of human rights to U.S. foreign policy. But when the human trafficking report came around, Tillerson was front and center in the opulent Benjamin Franklin room, with several prominent members of Congress in attendance. Talking off the cuff as the cameras rolled, he struck themes similar to those of his immediate predecessor, John F. Kerry, saying that "the consequences of our failure to act in this area has so many other negative impacts around the world: It breeds corruption; it undermines rule of law; it erodes the core values that underpin a civil society." He was willing to infuriate Beijing with the report, which downgraded China to a ranking reserved for the world's worst offenders. He spoke scornfully and at length of China using North Korean guest workers whose pay goes directly to Pyongyang despite its nuclear weapons program. At the G-20 summit in Hamburg, the man who in March described himself as "not a big media press access person" stood comfortably in front of a room of reporters, answering their questions and even making light of first lady Melania Trump's unsuccessful attempt to break up the meeting with Putin when it ran long. After months of watching silently while the White House grabbed the big items in the foreign policy portfolio, Tillerson - and the State Department - are edging to the forefront of several foreign initiatives. He has appointed a special representative to push U.S. views and help shape negotiations over the war in Ukraine, where an agreement mediated by the French and Germans has languished for years. In the Syrian war, the State Department was involved in weeks of negotiations to get an agreement for a cease-fire in the southwest, and Tillerson hopes the cooperation he has sought with Russia will lead to a further cessation of hostilities elsewhere in the country. And Tillerson spent several days in July flying around the Persian Gulf trying to help end a trade and diplomatic embargo placed on Qatar by its neighbors. At the end of that trip, Tillerson told reporters that he hoped he had nudged the squabbling parties closer, and he suggested that he is more comfortable with that part of the job than he is navigating political Washington. "It is a lot different than being CEO of Exxon, because I was the ultimate decision-maker. That always makes life easier," Tillerson said. Neumann said it is perhaps too easy to criticize Tillerson and the new administration for sidelining the State Department. Tension between the department and the White House National Security Council is nothing new, he noted, nor is a tug-of-war over influence in policy decisions. The larger question looming over the department, Neumann said, is how diplomacy figures in an administration that still feels ad hoc and that is continually buffeted by Trump's own behavior. "It's one thing having policies under debate. It's another to have policies that have to be reversed because the president is undercutting his own Cabinet secretaries," Neumann said. HOUSTON, July 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Planet Resource Recovery, Inc. (PINK SHEETS:PRRY) is pleased to announce that NSF International has re-certified the Companys product lines, PetroLuxus and AquaLuxus to be Safe and Non-toxic according to American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standards for drinking water. Both product lines received rigorous toxicology testing and the manufacturing facility underwent inspection & audit to obtain NSF/ANSI Certification in accordance with international health and safety standards for drinking water. For Official Listing visit: NSF.org/Planet NSF International is The Public Health and Safety Company, providing public health and safety risk management solutions to companies, governments, and consumers around the world. NSF/ANSI 60: Drinking Water Treatment Chemicals Health Effects is the internationally recognized health effects standard for chemicals that are used to treat drinking water. For more information visit: www.nsf.org Since 2013, Planets PetroLuxus & AquaLuxus products and manufacturing facilities have been audited and inspected on a yearly basis by NSF auditors and certified to have met NSF/ANSI Standard 60 stringent requirements. About Planet Resource Recovery, Inc . Planet Resource Recovery, Inc. is the developer, manufacturer and marketer of the PetroLuxus Technology Platform which currently include the NSF/ANSI Standard 60 Certified PetroLuxus family of products for the Oil & Gas industry and AquaLuxus for the water industry. For more information visit: www.planetresource.net. Safe Harbor Statement Under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: The statements in this presentation that relate to the Company's expectations with regard to the future impact on the Company's results from new products in development are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The results anticipated by any or all of these forward-looking statements may not occur. Additional risks and uncertainties are set forth in the Company's Annual Report for the year ended December 31, 2011. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly release the result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof, or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events or changes in the Company's plans or expectations. City leaders and health-care providers gathered Thursday morning for the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the University of the Incarnate Words School of Osteopathic Medicine at Brooks City Base. Later this month, the school will welcome its inaugural 150-member class, who will be taught by more than 45 faculty members. The campus includes four refurbished buildings on 16 acres. San Antonio, our eagle has landed, said founding dean Robyn Phillips-Madson, referring to the late President John F. Kennedys 1963 space-age speech made at the same location. Phillips-Madson frequently mentioned that more than 50 years ago, JFK gave a dedication speech at what was then called the Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine to begin a new age of space exploration research for San Antonio and the rest of the country. The UIW school is the states second to teach osteopathic medicine and its first private one. Both osteopathic and allopathic students can be certified to practice medicine in Texas, but the philosophy differs. For osteopathic doctors, designated by D.O., theres more of a focus on the person rather than their ailments, Phillips-Madson said. The school, which was privately funded through donors, cost about $50 million to start, including renovation of the buildings. It is the second medical school for San Antonio. The University of Texas medical school, known as the Health Science Center, offers doctor of medicine, or M.D., degrees. The school will become a crown jewel in the citys medical community, said Louis Agnese, UIWs former president. When somebody comes to San Antonio and they ask, Where is the medical center? we will respond with Which one? Agnese said. Several of the speakers said the new school would fulfill the need for more primary-care doctors on San Antonios Southeast Side, as well as the state as a whole. In 2016, there were 20,578 practicing primary-care physicians in Texas, about 73 for every 100,000 residents, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. fmilburn@express-news.net SAN FRANCISCO, July 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nozomi Networks, the pioneer in real-time cybersecurity and operational visibility for industrial control systems (ICS), today announced that it will be at Black Hat USA 2017 next week to demonstrate how the company is working with Fortinet to address the modern challenges of securing industrial networks. Cybersecurity professionals working with operational technologies (OT) have long understood the challenges of securing the systems that keep critical infrastructure up and running. And with attacks against energy and other critical infrastructure on the rise, the pressure to secure these operational networks is at an all-time high. According the Annual Black Hat Attendee Survey, 60% believe that a successful cyberattack on U.S. critical infrastructure will occur in the next two years. And while roughly two-thirds of respondents think its likely their own organizations will have to respond to a major security breach in the next 12 months, 69% say they do not have enough staff to meet the threat; 58% feel they do not have adequate budgets. In a special session with Fortinet, ICS cybersecurity expert and engineer Paul Smith will discuss how innovations in artificial intelligence are helping address many of these concerns and will share how applied machine learning can map, model, detect and defend industrial control systems (ICS) in real-time. Who: Nozomi Networks Technical Operations Manager Paul Smith, CET, GICSP What: Machine Learning Advances ICS: How to Map, Monitor and Detect Cyberattacks in Real-time When: Wednesday, July 26th 11:30 am PDT Where: Fortinet Theater, Mandalay Bay Convention Center, booth #915 A Fortinet Fabric Ready Partner, Nozomi Networks has teamed with Fortinet to provide ICS environments a holistic security solution. Nozomi Networks SCADAguardian offers non-intrusive monitoring for ICS network, protocol, and device behavior. Combined with Fortinets FortiGate enterprise firewall, the joint solution optimizes productivity and business continuity for organizations reliant on ICS networks. Now in its 20th year, Black Hat is among the worlds leading information security events, providing attendees with the very latest in research, development and trends. Black Hat USA 2017 kicks off Friday in Las Vegas with four days of technical training (July 22-25), followed by the two-day main conference (July 26-27) at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center. About Nozomi Networks Nozomi Networks is revolutionizing Industrial Control System (ICS) cybersecurity with the most comprehensive platform to deliver real-time cybersecurity and operational visibility. Since 2013 the company has innovated the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence to meet the unique challenges of critical infrastructure operations. Nozomi Networks delivers both cybersecurity and process anomaly detection along with industrial network visualization and monitoring, asset inventory, and vulnerability assessment. Deployed in the worlds largest industrial installations, customers benefit from enhanced cybersecurity and improved operational reliability with one end-to-end solution. Nozomi Networks is headquartered in San Francisco, California. www.nozominetworks.com Press Contact: Jil Backstrom, Gamut Public Relations jbackstrom@gamutpublicrelations.com - 303.913.1650 Follow the Nozomi Networks Blog Follow @nozominetworks on Twitter Visit and Follow the Nozomi Networks Corporate Page on LinkedIn This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Along with conspiracy theories regarding the assassination of John F. Kennedy, government involvement in the 9/11 attacks, and reptilian humanoids at the controls of humanity, one of the most popular claims of trickery continues to be the theory that mankind never went to the moon. According to theorists, back in 1969 we didn't have technology or funds to get to the moon so we faked the whole thing. TMI, NASA: Early NASA diapers forced astronauts to disclose the size of their manhood Other proffered explanations for why it was faked include wanting to win the Space Race with the Soviet Union at any cost, giving NASA a shot in the arm to justify excessive money already spent, or even distracting the American public from the unwinnable Vietnam War ensnaring the military. Some claim that lunar landings ceased because NASA had already "achieved" what it set out to do, when in fact it was done as a cost-cutting measure. Our work in space from 1972 on would be mostly for scientific research, with the goal of possibly one day heading to Mars and points beyond. HoustonChronicle.com: To moon landing skeptics, NASA says, 'Yes, we did' Why do people want to not believe we went to the moon? It's probably too much fun talking about it, and coupled with the endless capacity of the internet, skeptics can find nearly any conspiracy theory to fit their mindset. One theory we enjoy is NASA and Stanley Kubrick teaming up on an Area 51 soundstage to fake the landing. Proponents must have liked Kubrick's 1968 work on "2001: A Space Odyssey" which is still easily one of the most inventive space films. An entertaining hoax video a few years back even had an actor posing as the late director confessing to the whole thing. Kubrick's daughter Vivian even reiterated that her pop hadn't faked one of the landmark events in human history. HoustonChronicle.com: Last man on the moon spent years seeking an encore Granted, the story of the U.S. government faking the moon landing -- and subsequent landings -- makes for great fiction, the kind of thing that Kubrick would likely lampoon in a film of his own. We think that if anyone would have helped the government fake the moon landing it would have been Rod Serling and Alfred Hitchcock working in tandem. For now let's agree that Neil Armstrong and the boys actually went to the moon and came back with souvenirs. They even had to fill out passport documents to come back home. Buzz Aldrin punched conspiracy theorist Bart Sibrel in the face years back after he accused the American hero of not making the journey. Mission Moon: How 50 years of space exploration defined Houston CHRON CATCH-UP | NEWSLETTER Get a quick, weekday news update for free See More Collapse In all, NASA visited the moon six times for exploration, last visiting in December 1972 during Apollo 17. Things like the "waving" American flag, the supposed lack of a landing crater, a lack of stars in the background, all have led to some pledging allegiance to the moon-landing-hoax theory. People will likely go back to the moon sooner or later but they will be on missions funded by private firms, meaning that maybe some of the youngest people reading this will be able to one day send home selfies from the Sea of Tranquility. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate HOUSTON In a searing 100-page rebuke of the Texas prison system, a federal judge Wednesday ordered state officials to provide air-conditioned living quarters for elderly, disabled and other heat-sensitive inmates at the Pack Unit northwest of Houston. The judges ruling which chastises prison officials for obstruction and deliberate indifference to inmate suffering gives the state 15 days to draft a plan to ensure that 475 vulnerable inmates have living units cooled to no more than 88 degrees and that 1,000 others have easy access to indoor respite areas. The prison must also develop a heat-wave policy to prevent further injuries and install insect-proof window screens. The ruling from U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison does not require prison officials to install air conditioning throughout the prison, but suggests staff could adjust housing assignments to make sure inmates with health problems sleep in cooled dormitories. Ellison who spent five hours at the Pack Unit in the summer of 2014 to feel the heat for himself cites Fyodor Dostoyevskys writing on Siberian prison conditions in ordering the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to bring its prisons up to modern standards. The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons, Ellison wrote. To deny modern technology to inmates today for the simple reason that it was not available to inmates in past generations is an argument that proves too much. No one suggests that inmates should be denied up-to-date medical and psychiatric care, or that they should be denied access to radio or television, or that construction of prison facilities should not use modern building materials. The treatment of prisoners must necessarily evolve as society evolves. Ellison concluded that the inmates are likely to win at trial, saying the conditions outlined in testimony and documents appear to violate the Eighth Amendments prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. The preliminary injunction will remain in place for 90 days, which should carry the order through the hottest months. State officials vowed to appeal the decision to the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Texas taxpayers shouldnt be on the hook for tens of millions of dollars to pay for expensive prison air-conditioning systems, which are unnecessary and not constitutionally mandated, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a news release. Well appeal the decision and are confident that TDCJ is already doing what is constitutionally required to adequately safeguard offenders from heat-related illnesses. Jeff Edwards, whose Austin law firm argued the case for the inmates along with the Texas Civil Rights Project, said the judge relied on common decency preserved in the nations founding documents. The true significance of Judge Ellisons opinion is to remind everyone that one of the beauties of living in the United States of America is that were governed by a constitution that applies to everyone, not just the best and brightest among us, he said. When you read this order, what comes across is that the standards need to apply to everyone. It is simply wrong to display indifference to prisoners for the basic reason that theyre human beings. Attorney Wallis Nader, with the Texas Civil Rights Project, said the lawsuit aims to end brutal heat conditions in Texas prisons. All Texans, regardless of whether they are incarcerated, deserve dignity and respect, Nader said. The inadequate cooling mechanisms provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in the past offered no real protection to the individuals inside human beings have been baked inside Texas prisons. Ellisons ruling follows a nine-day injunction hearing in June during which inmates testified about sleepless, sweat-soaked nights in the dormitories and daytime heat that caused fainting and vomiting. One inmate told the judge he had such a bad headache that it felt like an ice pick had been jammed into his brain. The inmates described the heat as debilitating, unbearable and miserable, yet they told the judge the prison discouraged them from spending time in cooled respite areas by asking them to remain silent, shuffling them from room to room, or requiring them to go to the infirmary for rectal thermometer readings of their core body temperature. The lawsuit was brought by six inmates at the minimum-security Pack Unit built in 1983, which houses a disproportionate number of geriatric inmates and more than 500 inmates with medical needs. According to witnesses, dozens of inmates at the facility use wheelchairs, walkers and canes. Half the prisoners are older than 50, and about 200 are over 65. Another 200 inmates are young and healthy, shouldering the bulk of the workload. State prison officials provided documentation that 22 Texas inmates have died since 1998 of heat stroke caused by the unregulated indoor climate inside prisons. None of the deaths has occurred at the Pack Unit, prison officials said. In 2016, 100 inmates suffered heat-related injuries across Texas, according to court documents. The judge noted, however, that heat deaths are vastly underreported since people who die from heat exposure can have other contributing causes of death. The judge noted that 142 Pack Unit inmates have coronary artery disease, 728 have hypertension, 212 have diabetes, 113 have asthma, 111 are medically obese and 66 take medications that compromise their bodies ability to regulate heat. Hundreds of prison employees have also suffered heat-related illnesses, the judge said. Dr. Susi Vassallo, a national expert on heat illness, testified at a 2016 hearing on the case that the indoor heat at the Pack dormitories posed a substantial risk of serious injury to residents, particularly to those who are vulnerable due to age, medical conditions or medication. State officials argued that managing indoor heat has been a top priority, and that they provide respite areas, wellness checks, cold showers, fans and abundant ice water. State lawyers argued that the statistical risk of death or injury from heat exposure is low. Ellison noting that the state abandoned daily efforts to measure the heat index inside the Pack Unit concluded the state has not done enough. Despite a significant risk of harm faced by the men at the Pack Unit, (prison officials) have done the bare minimum, Ellison wrote. The mitigation measures put in place by TDCJ are insufficient to combat the substantial risk of serious injury or death faced by the inmates at the Pack Unit during the summer months. The state is expected to present a plan to Ellison on Aug. 8. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate AUSTIN Gov. Greg Abbott expanded the already ambitious special session agenda Thursday to allow lawmakers to broadly consider school finance reform, a difficult issue that House leaders repeatedly have asked him to showcase. The move earned praise from House Speaker Joe Straus, who will have a big say in the passage of Abbotts other items, most of which the speaker has compared to a pile of manure. I think that Texas leaders ought to be spending a lot more time on public school finance that we know is a mess, and the property tax relief that can come along with doing that correctly, said Straus, R-San Antonio. We have an issue with retired teachers health care that Im pleased to see we can get on. So I think if we in the House can continue to focus on the issues that really matter to most Texans and stay away from the divisive, harmful stuff, I think well have a good 30 days here, Straus said. Abbott controls what topics lawmakers can consider in the special session. Along with incendiary issues such as restrictions on which public restrooms can be used by transgender people, Abbott has said from the beginning that the special session will include some education matters, such as teacher salaries, a commission to study the issue of school finance and school vouchers for special-needs students. In the early hours of Thursday, when Abbott issued his proclamation formally setting the agenda, he included the broader reference to school finance that goes beyond a study commission. He also gave a nod to legislation regarding the troubled health care system for retired teachers. Its a big challenge for the Legislature to take on school finance reform, which it typically tackles only when forced to do so by a court order. To reform school funding in the special session, which began Tuesday and can last 30 days, would be beyond extraordinary. But lawmakers are plunging ahead. The Senate Education Committee has scheduled a hearing today on a school finance measure featuring vouchers and a bill to create the school finance commission. On Sunday, it will hear a proposal by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick to dedicate lottery proceeds, which already go to education, to bonuses for current and retired teachers. Its part of a plan that Patrick unveiled in recent days. Senate Education Committee Chairman Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, said his legislation in the special session targets specific school finance initiatives, not a broad restructuring effort. The proposed commission would study and recommend more sweeping changes to be considered in the next regular session of the Legislature in 2019, he said. The House Public Education Committee will hear a school finance reform bill sans vouchers Tuesday, said its chairman, Rep. Dan Huberty, R-Houston. Im ready to go, Huberty said. We are going to be here for 30 days. Lets get something done. An ambitious effort on school finance reform driven by Straus and Huberty died in the regular session after the Senate revamped the plan and added a provision for state financial support for private tuition for students with disabilities. The House has voted against voucher ideas, and it wasnt willing to consider that one. Huberty said his committee likely will consider legislation aimed at helping special-needs students in two weeks, and he thinks that will include a look at a voucher measure. Well listen to anything that comes along, he said. But some were jaded about Abbotts move. We should always be talking about ways to improve the schools. The House was ready to have that conversation during the regular session without any interest being shown by the governor at all, said Rep. Diego Bernal, D-San Antonio, vice chairman of the House Public Education Committee. Since the regular session, Bernal contended, The governor and the Senate have discovered that Texans arent stupid, and their priorities are not bathrooms and tree ordinances and all of these silly primary voter box-checking endeavors. They care about their kids and the opportunities that we provide their kids. Bernal was referring to a proposal by Abbott that aims at local ordinances regulating the cutting of trees on private property. Abbott has talked about the need to reform school finance, particularly to get rid of the Robin Hood system, which requires some school districts to send local property tax funds to the state. But Abbott didnt dive into the issue during the regular session. Toward the end of that session, Abbott focused on Lt. Gov. Dan Patricks effort to pass a bathroom bill and limits on how much property tax revenue can be raised by cities and counties without facing an automatic rollback election. When it was clear that the measures he wanted wouldnt win House approval, Patrick stalled a must-pass sunset bill to continue several state agencies, essentially forcing a special session. When Abbott called the special session, he included Patricks wish list on the agenda with the bill on state agencies. In one way, the governor has been bullied into calling a special session by the lieutenant governor, and now hes been bullied into talking about school finance, finally, by the House, Bernal said. Abbott expanded the special session agenda to include an array of items, as promised, after the Senate in a rare post-midnight meeting passed crucial sunset legislation to keep several state agencies open. Patrick, who presides over the Senate, has put Abbotts agenda on the fast track, with the goal of passing the legislation through his chamber by the middle to the end of next week. Besides the education measures, high-profile hearings are scheduled on the bathroom bill today and on abortion and property tax reform bills Saturday. Patrick hopes to have the agenda through committees by the time the weekend ends. But Straus opposes the bathroom bill, and he has shown no enthusiasm for much of Abbotts original special session agenda with the exception of the must-pass sunset bill. Straus said Thursday that hes not feeling any pressure from the Senates plan to pile controversy-stirring issues on the doorstep of his chamber at a breakneck pace. We are methodical over here. We try to be deliberate, Straus said. This isnt a race. The House is going to give full consideration to the priorities here. I work for the House and for the constituents in Northeast Bexar County, said Straus, who is elected from House District 121 and five times has been picked as speaker by his colleagues. And what the Senate does, the Senate does. pfikac@express-news.net Twitter: @pfikac After a 12-minute confrontation with domestic violence suspect Gilbert Flores in 2015, two Bexar County sheriffs deputies decided they would not let the incident drag on and that they would follow a supervisors commands to do whatever you have to do, according to court documents. Just as Flores had seemed to stop his erratic behavior who earlier had tried to stab the deputies, took away a police Taser and came close to getting a deputys AR-15 rifle and raised his hands above his head in what appeared to be surrender, the deputies agreed on ending this and opened fire, one after the other, according to new details recently obtained by the San Antonio Express-News. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate AUSTIN - House Speaker Joe Straus said Thursday hes not feeling any pressure from the Senates plan to pile controversy-stirring issues on the doorstep of his chamber at a breakneck pace. We are methodical over here. We try to be deliberate, Straus, R-San Antonio, said. This isnt a race. The House is going to give full consideration to the priorities here. I work for the House and for the constituents in Northeast Bexar County. And what the Senate does, the Senate does, Straus said. Straus spoke after the Senate in a rare post-midnight meeting passed crucial sunset legislation to keep several state agencies open. Senators action opened the door to Gov. Greg Abbott formally adding other items to the agenda of the special session, which began Tuesday. Those items include a contentious bill to restrict the public restrooms transgender people can use and a measure fought by cities and counties that would put new limits on their authority to raise property tax revenue. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who presides over the Senate, has put all the legislation on the fast track with the goal of passing it through his chamber by the end of next week. But Straus opposes the bathroom bill, and he has shown no enthusiasm for the rest of the special-session agenda with the exception of the must-pass sunset bill. The special session was forced when Patrick stalled the sunset bill in the regular session that ended May 29. He did so because he saw the tax reform and bathroom bills were dying in that session, and he wanted to give them another chance to pass. By killing the sunset bill, he forced Abbott to call the special session on the sunset issue and Abbott agreed to add Patricks priorities, which the governor also supports. Straus applauded Abbott for expanding the special session agenda to also give lawmakers more leeway to address the troubled school finance system. Straus has pushed for this action, saying its important for students and the best way to address the local property tax burden. I was very pleased to see that he has added some public education items that the House had been prioritizing in the regular session and certainly been talking about in the weeks leading up to the special session, Straus said. pfikac@express-news.net Twitter: @pfikac In an interview with Mexican publication El Blog del Narco, a reporter said a now-deceased Zetas cartel leader used to eat the flesh of victims. The journalist told the publication he had seen former Zetas leader Heriberto Lazcano, or "El Lazca," eat human flesh, according to El Blog del Narco. He said after the cartel leader would have someone killed, the victim would be cleaned and shaved, according to the publication. The San Antonio Express-News and the University of Texas at San Antonio are hosting a "Conversation with Mayor Ron Nirenberg" on Thursday, July 27, 2017, at 7 p.m. in the Buena Vista Theater at the university's downtown campus, 501 W Cesar E. Chavez Blvd. The Facebook Live feed can be seen at the San Antonio Express-News Facebook page. This event is part of a townhall series addressing topics affecting or of interest to residents of metropolitan San Antonio. Past townhall topics have included sanctuary cities, water, the Alamo and property taxes. RELATED: New mayor almost unrecognizable in throwback photos Dr. Francine S. Romero, the associate dean in UTSA's College of Public Policy and an associate professor in the school's Department of Public Administration, will moderate the discussion. She will question the mayor on policy issues he has raised as a city council member and mayoral candidate and other issues of interest to the community. Judging from questions already submitted by Express-News readers solicited via ads run by the newspaper this is shaping up to be an informative conversation. Readers want the mayor to flesh out his positions on such issues as infrastructure generally including roads, buses and light rail police/community relations, the environment, income inequality, how the city will absorb the 1 million new residents expected by 2040, affordable housing, gentrification, water, stray animals and how we can help residents stay or get healthy. RELATED: Nirenberg announces new hires Readers submitted questions online. Those who attend the event will have the opportunity to submit questions as well. New York, July 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The New York City Regional Center (NYCRC) is pleased to announce that over 4,000 individuals (EB-5 investors and family members) participating in its offerings have now achieved permanent residency in the United States. A total of 1,417 I-829 petition approvals in NYCRC offerings to date have enabled 4,059 individuals to secure permanent green cards. I-829 petition approvals have now been issued in the NYCRCs first nine project offerings. Over the past two months, over 1,000 individuals have secured permanent green cards through NYCRC offerings. Since the beginning of 2017, over 600 I-829 petitions have been approved in NYCRC offerings. Permanent residency permits EB-5 investors to live and work anywhere in the United States and be protected by the laws of the United States. An EB-5 investors spouse and children under age 21 are also authorized to live, work, and attend school anywhere in the United States. Achieving over 1,400 I-829 petition approvals and over 4,000 permanent green cards is the result of years of hard work on behalf of our investor families, said Paul Levinsohn, Managing Principal of the NYCRC. We know that EB-5 investors and their families put their trust in our ability to help them achieve permanent residency in the United States. We take this responsibility seriously and are proud to announce these new milestones. Since our designation nine years ago, weve focused on spurring job creation and economic development in New York City as well as assisting our EB-5 investors and their families begin a new life in America, added George L. Olsen, Managing Principal of the NYCRC. Permanent residency for over 4,000 individuals and over 1,400 1-829 approvals are major achievements for our company and, of course, for our EB-5 investors and their families. We extend our best wishes to them on their continued journey in this country. Helping secure permanent residency in the United States for over 4,000 individuals represents the latest approval milestone for the NYCRC. Other examples include conditional residency in the U.S. for over 5,300 EB-5 investors and family members and I-526 petition approvals for over 2,400 EB-5 investors. About New York City Regional Center The NYCRC was approved by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services in 2008 to secure foreign investment for real estate and infrastructure projects under the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. The company was the first EB-5 regional center approved in New York City. To date, the NYCRC has secured over $1.4 billion of capital for 21 economic development projects in Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, and the Bronx. Examples of projects utilizing loans provided by NYCRC-managed funds include the following: redevelopment of the George Washington Bridge Bus Station in Washington Heights; construction of a wireless infrastructure network in New York Citys subway stations; redevelopment of a new cargo facility at JFK International Airport; redevelopment of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, New York Citys largest industrial park; construction of Fresh Directs new food processing and distribution facility in the South Bronx; expansion of Steiner Studios, New York Citys largest film and television studio; construction of the City Point development in Downtown Brooklyn; construction of a hotel and medical office complex in Washington Heights; construction of key components of the Atlantic Yards redevelopment in Brooklyn; expansion of the Hutchinson Metro Center in the Bronx; construction of LinkNYC, the public-private initiative that is bringing the nations largest and fastest public Wi-Fi infrastructure network to the streets of New York City. In addition to fueling economic development, NYCRC offerings have enabled over 4,000 individuals to become permanent residents of the United States through the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. For more information about the NYCRC, please visit www.nycrc.com. ##### The op-ed pages here have been particularly fetid lately. However, Gerard Brookers commentary, The boy president (The News-Times, July 13) really cries out for some fresh air and sunlight. Mr. Brookers sensibilities are a bit bruised by our 45th president. Like many of his fellow travelers, his sense of outrage is selective, as I will explain. Mr. B. isnt fond of President Trumps (I love typing those words!) use of executive orders referring to him as the undoing president. Well, Mr. Obama famously told us that he has a phone and a pen, meaning that the Congress can pound sand while he pretends hes Emperor Obama. Trouble is that if Hillary didnt win, his successor could use his or her pen to reverse those orders. Too bad, so sad. By the way, several of Mr. Obamas orders were reversed by the Supreme Court by unanimous votes. Yes, Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsberg actually agreed several times about Mr. Obamas imperial overreach. Regarding Mr. Bs assertion that no significant legislation has been passed yet, perhaps the treatment of our veterans isnt a significant issue to him. On July 13th in the National Review, Jim Geraghty wrote the following about reforming the Veterans Administration: One particular law designed to make the VA more accountable is arguably the most consequential legislation President Trump has signed so far. It establishes speedier procedures for firing employees, gives the department the authority to recoup bonuses and pensions from employees convicted of crimes, adds greater protections for whistleblowers who report errors and scandals, and expands employee training. One result of this law is that between President Trumps inauguration and July 3, the VA had fired 526 employees, demoted another 27, and temporarily suspended another 194 for longer than two weeks. I dont recall hearing of anything like that happening in the prior eight years. Perhaps Mr. B. has that info on a thumb drive somewhere. Mr. Bs concern for the widening gap between the rich and poor is curious given the Obama Administrations record. The infamous top 1 percent held more of our nations wealth at the end of his eight-year reign than it did at the beginning of it. His War on Coal meant that electricity would become more expensive, further punishing the middle class that his party professes to care about so much. Furthermore, the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) was designed to pinch the middle class. How so, you ask? Economist Casey Mulligan, Ph.D., of the University of Chicago wrote a book, Side Effects and Complications, about the effects of the ACA on our economy. One of his assertions is the ACA is rooted in the presumption that the middle class just uses too much health care. Stringent mandates causing skyrocketing premiums and deductibles have left the shrinking middle class to have less access to health care. Even though you have that nice card in your wallet or purse, it provides you much less than it used to by design. Mission accomplished. Perhaps Mr. B. can show us the morality in that policy as Im not seeing it. Near the end of his opus he gave us the following chestnut: If he succeeds, the middle class will shrink, perhaps to a point where the discontent will become volatile. Ironically, think NRA. OK, that sentence was just plain scummy. Does Mr. B. not recall the spate of assassinations of police officers we had not too long ago? How about the campus rioting at Berkeley, Middlebury College, and NYU preventing conservative speakers from even speaking? Perhaps he missed the angry androids of ANTIFA who assaulted, bludgeoned and maced ordinary citizens including young women and elderly men. One might think that someone who was honored with an award named for Mahatma Gandhi would have publicly rebuked these reprobates. Meh Its all Donalds fault. In conclusion, Mr. B. dropped the obligatory leftist virtue signal of impeachment. The U.S. Constitution Art. II, Sec. 4 states that the President shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, and other high crimes and misdemeanors. Nothing about mean tweets or sniping at the media here, folks. So sorry! All in all, its just another piece of low information journalism. Todd Peterson is a resident of Washington Depot. Immigration is a major league policy challenge. But Congress, having recently passed a pair of bills that will accomplish nothing, is stuck playing in the minors. There are many risk-averse members of the legislative branch who prefer simple ideas over doing the hard things that might put them at odds with donors or anger constituents. The result: scores of lawmakers most often Republicans, but also some Democrats who havent let the fact that they dont know the first thing about immigration stop them from feeling passionately about the topic. Look, too, at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue. As he discussed plans for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border with reporters aboard Air Force One, President Donald Trump suggested that there is a very good chance we could do a solar wall that would double as a massive energy saver. And people said we couldnt save the planet while making America white again. Trump also said that drug smugglers may have devised a new if primitive weapon to use against Border Patrol agents. As horrible as it sounds, when they throw the large sacks of drugs over, and if you have people on the other side of the wall, you dont see them they hit you on the head with 60 pounds of stuff? Its over. So, to spare Border Patrol agents from being walloped in the head, Trump wants a wall that agents can see through even if that means we wind up with little more than a steel wall with openings. Got it. Just because we dont have transparency in the Russia investigation doesnt mean we shouldnt have it on the border. Finally, Trump admitted that the length of the proposed structure was likely to be a lot shorter than advertised. You dont need 2,000 miles of wall because you have a lot of natural barriers, he said. You have mountains. You have some rivers that are violent and vicious. You have some areas that are so far away that you dont really have people crossing. So you dont need that. Youll need anywhere from 700 to 900 miles. This sounds like were finally getting some honesty and common sense. You wont find either honesty or common sense in the two immigration bills recently passed by the House of Representatives. Both measures are punitive and poorly thought out. And neither bill is likely to do much to solve the problem at hand. All they do is illustrate that most lawmakers in Washington dont have the foggiest idea of how to deal with the issue. The first bill dubbed Kates Law, after 32-year-old Kate Steinle, who was killed in San Francisco in July 2015 establishes stiffer penalties for illegal immigrants who re-enter the United States after being deported. Steinles accused assailant, Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, had been deported to Mexico five times but always returned. The second bill bars cities, counties and states that refuse to cooperate with immigration authorities from receiving grants from the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security. Some of those grants have nothing to do with immigration, and instead touch on more serious law enforcement and security matters such as terrorism. Both pieces of legislation are headed to the Senate. The problem with the first bill is that it lacks an understanding of human nature. Stiffer sentences and more jail time wont deter someone who is hungry, desperate to provide for his family, or intent on reuniting with her children on the other side of the border. The flaw with the second bill is that it lacks a grip on reality. There is no such thing as a sanctuary city a mythical fantasyland where illegal immigrants can live out their days without fear of being detected and deported. Thats a political fabrication by Democrats that Republicans were dumb enough to swallow whole. What a waste of time and energy. The immigration debate is serious business. Its time we started electing leaders who approach it in a serious way. ruben@rubennavarrette.com Public trust in a governmental body can evaporate quickly when there is a perceived lack of transparency, intentional or not. The Comal Independent School District is facing a public relations nightmare over the proposed location of a fourth high school in this fast-growing area north of San Antonio. Some voters in that community believe the district pulled a bait-and-switch on the location of the high school after passage of the bonds to finance it. Members of the Comal ISD tell the Express-News their plans were mentioned on the districts website and at public meetings. But the district could have done a better job of keeping constituents informed. Some of the information presented to voters prior to the $259 million bond election in May touted land already owned by the district for the proposed high school. Some campaign literature also referenced negotiations for the purchase of land for the high school at a different location. As recently as July 10, some election materials on the districts website mention only land already owned by the district as the site for the fourth high school, while others mention the ongoing land negotiations. Voters deserved more clarity. The district made a compelling case for two additional high schools to meet the rapid growth in its student population. More than 78 percent of the 7,000 votes cast in the school bond election were in support of the measure. Plans for the high school call for a facility with classroom space for 1,5000 students and a design that will allow for expansion. Any plans for a future buildout will require Comal ISD to go back to the voters for additional bond funds. The current controversy could make that a harder sell. Re: Gov. says in S.A. hes ready to fight liberals front page, Saturday: Is this how we elect our leaders to fight against a group with different opinions on policies? Cant we choose leaders who bring us together rather than start a fight? From lying Ted Cruz to oops Rick Perry and on and on, is this the best Texas politics has to offer? Come on, Texas, we can do better than that. Whatever happened to leaders like Lyndon Johnson and Lloyd Bentsen? We still have a few real leaders in Texas who bring people together, like House Speaker Joe Straus. Lets act like thoughtful adults and not like schoolyard bullies who think they have to fight others to be elected. Lets elect real leaders, not bullies. Michael Kusek What bill would cut Looks like Texas is poised to work on passing the bathroom bill. Guys, please do it fast. That way, we wont have all these conventions and playoff games, and then the traffic might finally ease up. Not to mention getting rid of all those senators and representatives who voted for it. It could have saved Texas at least $1 million. Herman Brysch With Straus 100% Re: Bexar GOP faction denounces S.A. speaker, Gilbert Garcia, July 12: I was extremely disappointed to read that the Bexar County Republican Party passed an anti-Joe Straus resolution calling for a change in the Texas House speakership. I am behind Straus 100 percent. I am for anyone in Austin who stands up to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and denounces his ridiculous ranting. It will really hurt Texas if Patrick gets his way with the unnecessary bathroom bill. Brenda Davis Not news thats fake Real news ... fake president! Sue Snyder Moral fiber lacking Donald Trump, responding to news that his eldest son, son-in-law and campaign chairman met with a Russian operative, stated, Most people would have taken that meeting. I would like to know which population of most people he was talking about. Was it most people in his family or most people in his circle of friends and business partners? Im prepared to concede that for those categories, he is probably correct. However, if the population of most people were U.S. citizens, I doubt it. I believe most Americans have the moral fiber to refuse a meeting with operatives from a country that has been our enemy for the past 70 years. And hiding behind his lawyers excuse that it probably wasnt technically collusion with the enemy also does not speak highly of his moral fiber. Joel D. Rosen Those gator Dems When Donald Trump was campaigning for president, he promised to bring about much-needed changes to revive the American economy and spirit. The Democrats, however, have done everything possible to deter him from the mission, setting up roadblocks and spending time, money and energy on irrelevant issues. When you are up to your neck in alligators, it becomes difficult to remember that your mission was to drain the swamp! Charles E. Bailey, Windcrest Collusion potential Re: Parscale agrees to talk with House panel, front page, Saturday: Brad Parscale, in charge of the digital operation for the Trump campaign, claims there was no collusion with Russians in his work. Of course, as he states, We didnt need data, we didnt need it from anyone else the best data is right here, which is probably very true. No one is questioning the data came directly from the U.S. but rather that his work in putting it all together and his analysis was so good that other people in the organization could have very easily taken it and shared it with Russian operatives to use to their advantage. There must have been printouts and access to the information in various forms. Maybe he didnt collude, but can he be so sure that others with access didnt? Rita R. Charles Who knows? Intel Re: Trump and history, Your Turn, July 14: This letter was magnificent. Donald Trump casts doubt on intel that Russian meddled in out elections. The letter writer quotes our president, who always seems to be saying, Who knows? Well, all the intelligence agencies know. Who knows why the president doesnt listen to them. Judith Howse Real Americans Re: Yay for body slammer, Your Turn, July 4: I have to say it has been awhile since I have read a letter that has offended me like that, with its sheer idiocy. This ill-informed writer is saying or implying that only people with her views are real Americans. Just because my views are not conservative does not make me immoral or not a real American. The letter writer condones violence against a reporter for simply doing his job. I guarantee you if the reporter slugged Greg Gianforte or any other conservative, she would have been offended. As for the incident with Princess Diana, reports indicated the driver was under the influence when this happened, so there are two sides to this story. How dare someone with closed-minded views presume to be above people who do not share the same views. I have news for the letter writer: I am a real American. Rebecca Hernandez This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The smoky haze didnt faze proud El Capitan or majestic Yosemite Falls on Thursday, and tourists could still see Half Dome rising up like a crescent moon as the tourist mecca went about its business seemingly oblivious to the havoc being wrought 30 miles west of the park entrance. Yosemite National Park was unmoved by the Detwiler Fire, which continued its path of destruction through Californias Gold Country, billowing smoke across the mountainous landscape. Park rangers, hotel workers, rock climbers, museum curators and sightseers carried on as if the 70,000-acre fire was a mere gnat on the windshield of a tour bus. We do have smoke blowing into the valley, but its pretty minimal at this time, said Jamie Richards, a Yosemite park ranger, describing how the light haze has served only to highlight the grand waterfalls and cliffs. We still have water cascading over the waterfalls. Its still really nice. The hotels, campgrounds, restaurants and other visitor services in Yosemite Valley were all open. Full power had been restored after park officials were forced to use generators a day before when the fire approached the electrical grid along Highway 140. Skies remained hazy throughout the region, but the smoke was not nearly as bad as it was Wednesday, according to park officials. The biggest inconvenience was the closure of a portion of Highway 140, one of the three main routes used to approach from the west, because of the flames threatening Mariposa. Visitors traveling to Yosemite from the Merced area were being diverted to Triangle Road toward Highway 49, which leads into Oakhurst before reconnecting with Highway140. The park remained crowded despite the smoke. We have had visitors asking questions, but all the major roads in and out of Yosemite are open, Richards said. If you are planning a trip to Yosemite, its still a great time to come. Lisa Mayo, executive director of the Tuolumne County Visitors Bureau in Sonora, about 20 miles northwest of the fire, said a lot of people have been calling her to find out about the air quality before heading up to the mountains. There is smoke in the air and it can shift depending on the wind, Mayo said. The area is also getting busier with emergency personnel, but I dont think people are necessarily canceling trips at this point. As long as they dont have respiratory issues, they are being told it is OK to come up. The Yosemite Westgate Lodge, on Highway 120 in Buck Meadows, remained open for business. The smoke is here, and people have canceled reservations because of it, said a manager at the lodge who identified herself as Lucy. We do whatever we can to prioritize our customers first and give them updates about what is going on. It does affect business a little because people are worried. Mayo, who has offered to arrange lodging for firefighters, said most people in the communities around Yosemite are used to fires in the summer and early fall. Weve been through this before and well get through it again, she said. Our thoughts are with all the firefighters and the other personnel helping to stop the fire and those whove lost their homes. Peter Fimrite is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: pfimrite@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @pfimrite 1 Top court control: Polish lawmakers voted Thursday to approve a contentious law that gives control of the nations Supreme Court to the president instead of to judges, sparking new protests outside parliament in Warsaw. The bill has drawn condemnation from the European Union and has led to street protests. Critics say it kills judicial independence and violates the rule of law. The new law gives the nations president the power to influence the courts work and to appoint its judges. 2 Dali paternity lawsuit: Catalonias High Court said forensic experts successfully removed biological samples from Salvador Dalis body 27 years after it was embalmed and interred in a museum dedicated to the painters memory. Dali died in 1989 and was buried in Figueres, the northeastern town in Spain where he was born 84 years earlier. Last month, a Madrid judge ruled that the artists remains should be exhumed to settle a paternity lawsuit brought by Pilar Abel, a 61 year-old tarot card reader. Abel says her mother had an affair with Dali while working as a domestic helper. She says a desire to honor her mothers memory, and not money, was motivating her lawsuit. SAN FRANCISCO, July 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The 21st Annual Meritus Scholarship Awards were presented recently at the KQED offices in San Francisco. Zephyr Real Estate, a long-time supporter and contributor, has renamed its scholarship this year to The Steven Drypolcher Memorial Scholarship, in memory of the son of Zephyrs Founding Partner, Bill Drypolcher. Bill is a long-time supporter of Meritus, both personally and professionally and has served on their Advisory Council. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/040d558c-76c1-4531-a391-17c4e4b19c06 Guenne Sarmiento from Lowell High School received the scholarship and plans to attend the University of California, San Diego. A degree will carve pathways toward so many opportunities I cannot even imagine, she commented. I am ready to expand my horizons and my real passions. This year Meritus awarded $840,000 in scholarships to 60 students across the Bay Area. Recipients were selected based on academic achievement, financial need, resilience and a grade point average between 3.0 and 3.7. Meritus works with students from low-income communities who greatly desire higher education yet may otherwise be overlooked. Meritus Scholars are the future, commented Executive Director of Meritus, Diana Wolf. Our students demonstrate the best in our communities, and our shared society has much to gain from the leadership and voices of these driven young people. We look forward to seeing all that they will accomplish, in college and beyond! In addition to Guennes scholarship, friends and family of Steven Drypolcher awarded an additional scholarship to Ronald Phelps from Lincoln High School who will attend the College of Idaho in Caldwell, Idaho. Meritus College Fund was founded in 1996 and invests in socio-economically disadvantaged, yet highly motivated, high school students. The fund provides scholarships, individualized advising, and career development in the belief that higher education is a critical step in addressing income disparity for eager and talented youth. To date, Meritus has awarded over $10 million, and sent over 700 students on to higher education. More than 97% percent of the recipients are the first in their family to go to college, and Meritus students have an 88% percent graduation rate. What a privilege to see dreams realized for these motivated students who are poised to make their mark in the world, commented Randall Kostick, President and CEO of Zephyr. They are indeed our future. The Meritus fund is supported through donations from groups and individuals who all endorse the philosophy of creating educational opportunities for those who might otherwise be left behind. To learn more about how you can participate or apply, visit the website at www.meritus.org. About Zephyr Real Estate Founded in 1978, Zephyr Real Estate is San Francisco's largest independent real estate firm with nearly $2.3 billion in gross sales and a current roster of more than 300 full-time agents. Zephyrs highly-visited website has earned two web design awards, including the prestigious Interactive Media Award. Zephyr Real Estate is a member of the international relocation network, Leading Real Estate Companies of the World; the luxury real estate network, Who's Who in Luxury Real Estate; global luxury affiliate, Mayfair International; and local luxury marketing association, the Luxury Marketing Council of San Francisco, and the Artisan Group. Zephyr has six offices in San Francisco, a Marin County office in Greenbrae, a San Mateo County business center in Burlingame, and two brokerage affiliates in Sonoma County, all strategically positioned to serve a large customer base throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. For more information, visit www.ZephyrRE.com. Former Police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri has won the Supreme Court appeal by the State contesting an order for forfeiture of his properties acquired over his 25 year tenure at the helm of the Police. The National Prosecuting Authority had appealed against the removal of some of his properties from the unexplained wealth orders, five months ago. Chihuri, who fled to exile in 2017, resumed control over some of the properties he acquired during his 25 years at the helm of the police force following a High Court judgment in June this year, which ruled partly in his favour. But other assets and those of his companies fingered in possible corrupt business deals with the police force remained under the unexplained wealth orders. Dissatisfied with the lower court decision, The NPA took the matter up to the Supreme Court challenging the decision. A three-judge panel comprising Justices Susan Mavangira, George Chiweshe and Joseph Musakwa upheld the decision by Justice Pisirayi Kwenda earlier this year and struck the appeal off the roll citing non compliant and defective grounds of appeal. The High court accepted Chihuris explanation on his source of funds generally. He retired after serving the ZRP for 37 years. Chihuri argued that over the period of employment, he made savings on salaries, bonuses, savings from foreign trips and conditions of service benefits. He said he was a delegate and vice president for Interpol in Africa and was remunerated in US dollars. The High Court noted that in any event Chihuri acquired all the assets prior to the period during which, the State alleges he became involved in serious crime. The allegation is that he was involved in crime in the year 2017. He argued that all the properties acquired by him and his wife were bought through income from legitimate business. He further argued that some of the properties were registered as the property of their children for estate planning purposes. Justice Kwenda ruled that therefore the State is not justified in insinuating that they are proceeds of crime because they were all acquired prior to the year 2014. Chihuri claims that various documents had been submitted with the application to prove the acquisition; in some cases, disposal; and ownership of the various properties. It was the courts conclusion that the unexplained wealth orders were unreasonable and unjustified and that had he (Chihuri) been afforded the opportunity to explain it is unlikely that this court, acting reasonably and carefully would have granted the ex parte unexplained wealth order. Chihuri was represented by lawyer Addington Chinake of Kantor & Immerman while the state was represented by Chief Law officer and head of assets forfeiture unit Chris Mutangadura. Herald Breaking News via Email First direct observation and measurement of ultra-fast moving vortices in superconductors (Nanowerk News) Researchers have made the first direct visual observation and measurement of ultra-fast vortex dynamics in superconductors. Their technique, detailed in the journal Nature Communications ("Imaging of super-fast dynamics and flow instabilities of superconducting vortices"), could contribute to the development of novel practical applications by optimizing superconductor properties for use in electronics. Superconductivity is a state of matter in which an electric current can flow with absolutely no resistance. This occurs when certain materials are cooled below a critical temperature. The effect is useful for various applications, from magnetically levitating trains to MRI machines and particle accelerators. It also sparks the imagination with thoughts of lossless power transfer and much faster computation. However, superconductivity is, generally speaking, suppressed in the presence of magnetic fields, limiting the ability to use these materials in real life applications. A certain family of superconductors, called type 2, can withstand much higher values of magnetic fields. This is thanks to their ability to allow the magnetic field to thread through the material in a quantized manner, in a local tubular-shaped form called a vortex. Unfortunately, in the presence of electric currents these vortices experience a force and may begin to move. Motion of vortices allows for electrical resistance, which, again, poses an obstacle for applications. Understanding when and how vortices will move or remain localized is the focus of much scientific research. Until now, addressing the physics of fast moving vortices experimentally has proven extremely challenging, mainly because of the lack of adequate tools. Now an international team of researchers, led by Prof. Eli Zeldov from the Weizmann Institute of Science and Dr. Yonathan Anahory, senior lecturer at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Racah Institute of Physics, has shown for the first time how these vortices move in superconducting materials and how fast they may travel. This photo shows four different images of vortices penetrating into a superconducting lead film at rates of tens of GHz, and traveling at velocities up to about 20 km/s. The vortex trajectories, appearing as smeared lines, show a tree-like structure with a single stem that undergoes a series of bifurcations into branches. Each image is done at a different magnetic field and each image is 12 x 12 m 2 . (Image: Yonathan Anahory / Hebrew University) They used a novel microscopy technique called scanning SQUID-on-tip, which allows magnetic imaging at unprecedented high resolution (about 50 nm) and magnetic sensitivity. The technique was developed over the last decade at the Weizmann Institute by a large team including Ph.D. student Lior Embon and Ella Lachman and is currently being implemented at the Hebrew University in Dr. Anahory's lab as well. Using this microscope, they observed vortices flowing through a thin superconducting film at rates of tens of GHz, and traveling at velocities much faster than previously thought possible -- up to about 72 000 km/hr (45 000 mph). This is not only much faster than the speed of sound, but also exceeds the pair-breaking speed limit of superconducting condensate -- meaning that a vortex can travel 50 times faster than the speed limit of the supercurrent that drives it. This would be like driving an object to travel around the earth in just over 30 minutes. In photos and videos shown for the first time, the vortex trajectories appear as smeared lines crossing from one side of the film to another. This is similar to the blurring of images in photographs of fast-moving objects. They show a tree-like structure with a single stem that undergoes a series of bifurcations into branches. This channel flow is quite surprising since vortices normally repel each other and try to spread out as much as possible. Here vortices tend to follow each other, which generates the tree-like structure. A team of theoretical physicists from the USA and Belgium, led by Professors Alexander Gurevich and Milorad Milosevic, partially explained this finding by the fact that when a vortex moves, the appearance of resistance locally heats the material, which makes it easier for following vortices to travel the same route. "This work offers an insight into the fundamental physics of vortex dynamics in superconductors, crucial for many applications," said Dr. Lior Embon, who was, at the time, the student in charge of this study. "These findings can be essential for further development of superconducting electronics, opening new challenges for theories and experiments in the yet unexplored range of very high electromagnetic fields and currents." "The research shows that the SQUID-on-tip technique can address some outstanding problems of non-equilibrium superconductivity, ultrafast vortices and many other magnetic phenomena at the nanometer scale," said Dr. Yonathan Anahory, senior lecturer at the Hebrew University's Racah Institute of Physics. Furthermore, simulation results obtained by Ph.D. student Zeljko Jelic from Belgium suggest that by proper sample design and improved heat removal it should be possible to reach even higher velocities. In that regime, the calculated frequencies of penetration of vortices may be pushed to the much technologically desired THz frequency gap. Semiliquid chains pulled out of a sea of microparticles (Nanowerk News) An electrode brought to the surface of a liquid that contains microparticles can be used to pull out surprisingly long chains of particles. Curiously enough, the particles in the chains are held together by a thin layer of liquid that covers them. This spectacular phenomenon, discovered with the involvement of Polish scientists and described in the prestigious journal Nature Communications ("Formation of printable granular and colloidal chains through capillary effects and dielectrophoresis"), holds promise for a broad variety of applications. This is a chain of microparticles pulled out of the liquid by an electrode. (Image: IPC PAS) An electrode slowly rises from the surface of a liquid, pulling out individual spherical particles that, just a moment before, were chaotically dispersed in a colloidal solution. A long, regular chain of microparticles thus forms above the surface of the liquid, in a previously unnoticed phenomenon. It was first observed, studied, and described by scientists from the Institute of Physical Chemistry at the Polish Academy of Sciences (IPC PAS), the Faculty of Physics of the Adam Mickiewicz University (UAM), the Northwestern University in Evanston (Illinois, USA), and the Faculty of Physics at the University of Warsaw. "We've all probably seen our mothers or grandmothers wear necklaces made of beads strung on a thread. The chains of microparticles fabricated and studied by our team look very similar, but they are much smaller in size. However, the most interesting thing is the physics behind this process. The formation of these regular structures is determined by a set of phenomena that are by no means trivial, and the role of the thread that holds together the individual beads is played by... a liquid. What is more, in a necklace, the thread goes through the beads, while our thread, in this case the liquid, actually covers the microparticles," says Dr. Filip Dutka from the Faculty of Physics at the University of Warsaw. "This phenomenon was discovered accidentally, during experiments conducted in the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the PAS," relays Dr. Zbigniew Rozynek, the lead author of the publication in the journal Nature Communications, currently employed at the Faculty of Physics at the Adam Mickiewicz University. "I used an electrode at several hundred volts to examine glass microspheres floating on the surface of oil. When I pulled out the electrode, I was surprised to see a long and very regular chain at its tip. When I examined it under the microscope, it turned out to have the thickness of a single particle." This is a colloidal chain under the microscope, magnification 617 times. Capillary bridges between each pair of microparticles are clearly visible. False colors. (Source: UAM) The phenomenon visually resembles one of the most important modern-day technological processes - namely, Prof. Jan Czochralski's method of growing monocrystals - which involves slowly pulling a rod-mounted seed crystal out of molten material. Moreover, this method, which enables the fabrication of high-quality semiconductors for use in the electronics industry, was reportedly also discovered by accident. When writing notes, Prof. Czochralski absentmindedly dipped his pen in a crucible with cooling molten tin instead of dipping it in the inkpot. When attempting to pull out the pen, he noticed a tin filament at its tip that, on closer inspection, proved to be a monocrystal. "The materials that are fabricated using Czochralski's method are crystals, so their structure is regular in all three dimensions. We create our structures using not atoms or molecules but microparticles arranged regularly along only one dimension. With a bit of leeway, we might therefore treat our chains as one-dimensional crystals," Dr. Rozynek says. How can we form such a colloidal chain? We take a container with non-conductive liquid, add spherical and conductive particles, and mix them together. When we bring an electrode (for example, in the shape of a needle) to the surface of the suspension, one of the particles attaches to its tip and becomes an extension of the electrode, which happens because the particles conduct electricity. If we apply an adequate electric voltage, we will be able to pull such spheres out of the liquid one after another, thus forming a chain of particles covered with a thin layer of the liquid. Each pair of adjacent particles is held together by a liquid capillary bridge, forming stable electric contacts. Consequently, an electric current flows through the whole of the chain almost as efficiently as through a single particle, allowing the last particle to attract another particle from the solution. "Hourglass-shaped capillary bridges can be found between each pair of adjacent spheres in the chain. Once the electric field is turned off, they play a crucial role: by holding the particles together, they keep the chain intact. Since the capillary bridges are simply composed of liquid, the chain is highly flexible," Dr. Dutka explains. The chains of microparticles are formed as a result of complicated interactions of an electrical, gravitational, and capillary nature (related to the surface tension of the liquid). Here, gravity plays the role of a spoiler: if a chain gets too heavy, gravity will cut it like scissors. There is much to indicate that such chains could also be formed under zero gravity and could be then of practically any length. "Once they form, the structures created from microparticles behave like chains: they are flexible, meaning they can be bent into various shapes. However, much depends on the type of liquid used. In some experiments, we pulled chains out of molten paraffin wax. Shortly after being pulled, the bridges would solidify and the structure would become rigid. There's also an intermediate option: if we blend, for example, resin and alcohol, the resin hardens as the alcohol evaporates. The chain is then a lot less flexible but not completely rigid," Dr. Rozynek observes. The length of the colloidal chains depends on the number and weight of the microparticles, which is usually closely related to their size. The Polish scientists, supported by funding from the National Science Centre and the Foundation for Polish Science, conducted experiments for particles with diameters ranging from around 100 nanometers to 200 micrometers. Chains formed from micron-sized particles had up to several thousand elements and were up to several inches long. Find the newest releases to watch from National Geographic on Disney+, including favourite documentary series and films Free Solo, The Rescue, Shark Beach with Chris Hemsworth and The World According to Jeff Goldblum. English French Financial press release Vranken-Pommery Monopole 2017 first-half revenues: 101.4 million Sharp increase in revenues over the half-year: +6.5% Disposal of the stake in Listel SAS Reims, 20 July 2017 All of the Group's businesses contributed to an increase in revenues in the first half of the year, with particularly robust growth in the second quarter. There was a 7.3% increase in international brand sales. The Group now intends to focus on the development and distribution of Domaines et Chateaux brands, and accordingly ended the Listel joint venture put in place with the Castel group. Consequently, it sold its stake in Listel SAS holding to Castel on 19 July 2017. This transaction, which took place in the second half of 2017, will have a positive impact on the Group's financial statements. It will be disclosed in detail under "Events after the reporting period" in the 2017 interim financial statements, which will be published on 11 September 2017*. Champagne The Pommery and Heidsieck & Co Monopole brands supported dynamic Champagnes sales, particularly in European Union countries other than France and non-European markets. Rose de Camargue and Rose de Provence wines The results recorded during this half-year, showing growth of 12.5%, demonstrate the relevance of the strategy put in place for developing and distributing "gris" and rose wines produced by the Group's estates. Sales increased by nearly 17% in France and abroad in the second quarter. Growth in consolidated revenues H1 (1 January - 30 June) In millions of euros 2017 2016 Change % change Champagne 73.3 72.8 0.5 0.7% Provence and Camargue wines 10.8 9.6 1.2 12.5% Other 8.2 8.0 0.2 2.5% Sub-total, brand sales 92.3 90.4 1.9 2.1% Inter-industry (semi-finished product) and generic wine sales 9.1 4.8 4.3 89.6% Total H1 revenues 101.4 95.2 6.2 6.5% Q2 (1 April - 30 June) in millions of euros 2017 2016 Change % change Champagne 36.2 34.3 1.9 5.5% Provence and Camargue wines 7.6 6.5 1.1 16.9% Other 4.8 4.5 0.3 6.7% Sub-total, brand sales 48.6 45.3 3.3 7.3% Inter-industry (semi-finished product) and generic wine sales 0.5 1.0 - 0.5 -50.0% Total Q2 revenues 49.1 46.3 2.8 6.0% Q1 (1 January - 31 March) in millions of euros 2017 2016 Change % change Champagne 37.1 38.5 -1.4 -3.6% Provence and Camargue wines 3.2 3.1 0.1 3.2% Other 3.4 3.5 -0.1 -2.9% Sub-total, brand sales 43.7 45.1 -1.4 -3.1% Inter-industry (semi-finished product) and generic wine sales 8.6 3.8 4.8 126.3% Total Q1 revenues 52.3 48.9 3.4 7.0% Outlook The very promising launch of the Louis Pommery California sparkling wine brand will enable the Group to expand its North American subsidiary's product offering and gain market share in a very strong growth segment. The Pommery brands will be able to increase their market share in this rapidly expanding segment thanks to the Group's cross-selling, advertising and reputational franchise. The increase in Vranken-Pommery America's revenues arising from the marketing of Louis Pommery California is estimated at more than 10%. Group subsidiary Les Grands Domaines du Littoral has earmarked Domaine du Bosquet in Aigues-Mortes for the creation of a new wine growing and making unit, exclusively for the production of Brut de France. Next date Publication of the 2017 interim financial report: 11 September 2017* Contrary to what was previously announced, the Group has brought forward publication of its 2017 interim results to 11 September. * publication initially scheduled for 14 September 2017 About Vranken-Pommery Monopole Vranken-Pommery Monopole is the second largest Champagne group. With sites in Champagne, Provence, Camargue and Douro, it is Europe's leading wine grower. Its brand portfolio includes: the leading Champagne brands VRANKEN, POMMERY, HEIDSIECK & CO MONOPOLE and CHAMPAGNE CHARLES LAFITTE; the ROZES and SAO PEDRO ports and TERRAS DO GRIFO Douro wine brands; the Sable de Camargue DOMAINE ROYAL DE JARRAS rose wines and Cotes de Provence CHATEAU LA GORDONNE. Vranken-Pommery Monopole is listed on NYSE Euronext (Paris and Brussels). (Codes "VRAP" (Paris), and "VRAB" (Brussels); ISIN: FR0000062796). Contacts NATO and the Jordanian Armed Forces inaugurated the newly established Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) in Amman on 19 July 2017. The CERT was set up as part of a NATO Science for Peace and Security (SPS) project to enhance Jordanian cyber defence capabilities. Jordans geographical location and security environment the conflict in Syria and Iraq on its borders, the refugee crisis in the region and the threat of terrorist organisations such as ISIL make the country vulnerable to a number of threats. Particularly challenging are cyber attacks. To help counter this growing threat, NATOs SPS Programme has been strengthening the cyber defence capabilities of the country, an active partner country in NATOs Mediterranean Dialogue forum for cooperation. Launched in 2014, the SPS project led by experts from Germany and Jordan and further supported by France and the United States responds to a key national priority and forms part of the Defence and Related Security Capacity Building (DCB) package for Jordan. The DCB Initiative reinforces NATOs commitment to partners and helps to project stability beyond NATOs borders by providing support to nations requesting defence capacity assistance from NATO. This project signifies a milestone for cooperation in the area of cyber defence with a partner nation, and is the first of its kind to have been approved by NATO Allies, says Christian Liflander, Head of NATOs Cyber Defence Section. It supported Jordan in developing capabilities to defend its infrastructure, mitigate the impact of cyber attacks, and enhance the overall security situation in the county, he explains. The SPS project established a Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) within the Jordanian Armed Forces, which represents a major milestone in Jordans national cyber defence programme and enhanced the countrys cyber defence posture. Through training and professional development, it contributed to the creation of a qualified and well-trained workforce. The success of the project was underscored by a decree of the Jordanian government, declaring the project to be a recognised national priority. Building on the projects accomplishments, a follow-on multi-year SPS project is currently under development. It will deliver additional capabilities that will complement, consolidate and strengthen those built during the first project. NATO support for Jordan is not limited to the area of cyber defence. Under the umbrella of the SPS Programme, numerous practical activities to strengthen Jordans capabilities in the security sector have been launched. Two examples which also form part of the DCB package for Jordan, are a border security symposium for the Jordanian Armed Forces in March 2017 and a multi-year project in the domain of counter improvised explosive devices (C-IED) which was recently approved by NATO Allies. It will contribute to strengthening the C-IED capabilities of the Jordanian Armed Forces, including through the development of an official C-IED policy and doctrine. (Natural News) A 36-year-old father of three was reportedly brought back to life after 40 minutes of not having a pulse. According to reports, John Ogburn of North Carolina suffered a cardiac arrest while working on his laptop near his Charlotte home on June 26. Two nearby police officers rushed within a minute following a 911 call and performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on Mr. Ogburn. Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers Lawrence Guiler and Nikolina Bajic took turns performing the procedure on the patient well around 42 minutes until his pulse returned. As per standard operating procedures, emergency respondents are not required to perform CPR after 20 minutes if the patients shows no vital signs. After being brought to the hospital, the physicians placed the patient on induced coma to facilitate recovery for the rest of the week. Later on, Mr. Ogburn was advised not to drive for six months and was told to ease back into work. Aside from a sore chest, the patient reported feeling generally fine. Nevertheless, Mr. Ogburn expressed deep gratitude towards the two police officers. My energy level hasnt been what it was before, but that might be because my routine changed a bit. The combination of [the chest compression and an internal defibrillator] is a little sore, but if thats all I got to complain about, then Im doing really well. In certain time frames theyre supposed to call it, and they didnt, they continued to try to save me. And I am just so grateful for that and for them, Mr. Ogburn told BBC.com. The evidence does tell us that for every minute the heart is stopped and that high-quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is not conducted, there is a 10 percent reduction in survival. This case in North Carolina highlights the value of CPR in extending that window of survivability. Immediate CPR can double or treble chances of survival from cardiac arrest. Most US employees are not prepared to handle cardiac emergencies, and that needs to change, said outside expert Dr. Michael Kurz. The physician currently serves as an associate professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine and an American Heart Association volunteer. Fast facts on cardiac arrests Mr. Ogburns ordeal was only one of the many cases of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) across the U.S. In fact, more than 350,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur in the country annually. Only 46 percent of OHCA patients receive any form of medical assistance before professional paramedics arrive, while 90 percent of patients die of the condition. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also revealed that about 357,000 people in the U.S. experienced OHCA in 2015 alone. On the other hand, about 209,000 U.S. patients get treated for in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) annually. According to the report, about 70 to 90 percent of OHCA patients die before reaching the hospital. In addition, the report showed that cardiac arrest survivors were at an increased risk of injury to the brain and nervous system and other physical ailments. Moreover, almost 50 percent of OHCA patients exhibit psychological distress such as depression, anxiety, and post traumatic stress disorder. Still according to the report, the estimated societal cost of deaths related to cardiac arrest was two million years of life lost for men and 1.3 million years for women. The estimates were higher than all individual cancers and other life-threatening disorders. (Related: Study finds about half of cardiac arrest patients showed these telltale signs before their attack.) Sources include: BBC.com CDC.gov (Natural News) Its hard not to feel the overwhelming urge to take the best care of yourself possible when you hear what happens to elderly people in nursing homes. While horror stories involving specific incidents of mistreatment hit the headlines every now and then and can be extremely disturbing, a much more insidious problem is doing even more harm to nursing home residents: overmedication. The latest study out of Norway shows just how extensive this problem is. When researchers studied the medical records of around 1,000 Norwegian nursing home residents over the course of six years and interviewed their relatives using questionnaires, they found that medication use for mental illness was remarkably high whether residents had dementia or not. Patients who showed symptoms like hallucinations, aggressive behavior, and irritability were more likely to be given psychotropic drugs. In addition, they noted that many patients continued to take these medications even after their symptoms improved, placing them at a higher risk of falls, strokes, and even early death. The lead author of the study, which was published in the journal BMC Geriatrics, said that antipsychotics should not be the first option for treatment and that when they are used, they should be given for the minimum amount of time possible. Anne-Sofie Helvik said that the main focus should be on high-quality nursing care instead of medication. She pointed out that doctors typically only spend a few hours at a time attending to patients in nursing homes, which means they rely on information given to them by nursing home staff members. Thats why she feels the nurses in charge of these patients need to have a good system in place for observing their symptoms and relaying relevant information to doctors so they can make choices that are in the patients best interest. Better training needed for caregivers The study also found that those living in nursing homes for longer periods of time had a bigger chance of being prescribed antipsychotic or anxiolytic drugs. She theorizes that new residents sometimes get extra attention while they are getting acclimated, while those who have been there longer might not get the same amount of attention and follow-up. In addition, those living in bigger nursing homes took anti-anxiety meds for longer periods and more often than residents of smaller homes. While the study didnt identify a specific explanation, Helvik feels the noise levels in these facilities might add to anxiety in those living there. She also pointed to high staff turnover in some nursing homes, which can impact the continuing of care and follow-up. She said that nurses need greater knowledge when it comes to understanding patients needs and a strong understating of the side effects of drugs. Cost could also be a factor. The head of the Norwegian Association for Retirement and Nursing Medicine, physical Kjellaug Enoksen, said that medicating patients is cheaper than hiring caregivers to take on extra shifts, and she echoed the sentiment that caregivers need better training. Elderly overmedicating also a problem in the U.S. Overmedication in nursing homes is also a problem in the U.S., where data shows that more than 123,000 patients died as a result of overmedication in 2014 alone. This is particularly alarming when you consider the fact that more than a third of ER visits for drug reactions involve patients who are 65 or older, a percentage that has risen dramatically since 2005-2006 when just 26 percent of such visits involved elderly patients. Antipsychotics and opioids are just a few of the drugs behind this rise. Allergic reactions to antibiotics and hemorrhages from anticoagulants were just a few of the common medication-related problems sending older adults to the hospital. Even though antipsychotics arent approved for dementia patients, one third of those with dementia who spend more than 100 days in nursing homes are given the drugs, which raise their risk of mortality and cause problems like movement disorders and low blood pressure. This, in turn, prompts them to take even more drugs to correct these side effects, creating a vicious cycle of overmedication and sizeable profits for Big Pharma. Doesnt our older generation deserve better? Sources include: AlphaGalileo.org NaturalNews.com NaturalNews.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) The United Kingdoms National Health Service has received a fair amount of criticism for a variety of things over the years. For example, the NHS was recently attacked by the devastating WannaCry ransomware, and the cyber attack left many people skeptical of the universal healthcare system especially after it was revealed that the NHS had been warned of their vulnerabilities before the attack happened. Now it seems that the NHS has been involved in yet another scandal but this time, peoples lives were put at risk on purpose. Recently discovered documents from 1980 and 1981 have shown that NHS officials willfully put patients at risk by transfusing them with contaminated blood and some 2,000 people died as a direct result of their disregard for human life. In total, some 7,500 people were infected with hepatitis. Many were also infected with HIV thanks to the NHSs dirty practices. And if that alone wasnt damning enough, evidence shows that these bureaucrats planned on using their victims as test subjects to pioneer new testing methods for hepatitis. Essentially, the NHS was creating its own human guinea pigs to experiment on. It doesnt get much sicker than that, or does it? Uncovered records reveal NHSs dirty secret from 30 years ago As The Daily Mail explains, the recently unearthed meeting minutes show that healthcare officials continued to provide patients with tainted blood for at least five years after the problem was discovered. At least 50 patients a year were becoming infected with hepatitis because of the contaminated blood, but NHS authorities did nothing to stop the distribution of tainted blood until 1986 even though they first became aware of the issue sometime between 1980 and 1981. The Daily Mail reports further: Scientists were so sure the blood was dangerous, they even planned to use victims as guinea pigs to develop a new test for hepatitis, say the papers, which are likely to play a central role in a major civil action to be lodged at the High Court today, in which 300 families of victims are suing the Government. The concerns about contaminated blood first began to rise in the mid-1980s, as a result of the AIDS epidemic in the United States. But in the UK, concerns about tainted blood yielding hazardous effects on the population were first born in 1980. At an international hematology symposium that year in Glasgow, Dr. Howard Thomas predicted that within ten years time, the effects of contaminated blood would be impossible to ignore. Bearing in mind the proportion of the patients that are infected, or have persistent abnormal liver function tests anything from 60 to 80 per cent it will be an enormous problem when it happens, he said. The son of a victim of contaminated blood unearthed the damning documents which show scientists were well aware of the problem, the grim future it would bring, and the fact that they chose to ignore it. During June of 1981, the UK governments blood transfusion research committee held a meeting, during which officials discussed the fact that hemophiliac patients treated for clotting problems were already exhibiting symptoms of hepatitis. These officials believed so strongly that patients treated with these products would become infected, they decided that instead of fixing the issue and saving their lives, it would be better to simply experiment on them. It was proposed that these patients, infected with deadly diseases by their own government, should be used in trials to develop new medical testing procedures. The NHS consciously chose to sacrifice the well-being of innocent people for their own gain (something theyd like to call the greater good, no doubt) and in many cases, their little experiment cost people their lives. Dr. Diana Walford, now 73, was present at that meeting. At the time, she was a senior official for the Department of Health and Social Services, but she went on to become the Governments deputy chief medical officer. The Mail reports that she has refused to even discuss the meeting and has also refused to provide evidence for an official investigation of the scandal. How contaminated blood spread in the UK The NHSs issue with contaminated blood primarily applies to hemophiliacs in need of clotting factors. The clotting agent, known as Factor VIII, was extracted from donors blood. One injection could contain material from up to 3,000 donors; contamination from any number of infections was almost inevitable. When the NHS ran low on supplies, they began importing Factor VIII from the United States. But in the US, the clotting agent was often taken from high-risk populations who donated blood for money; prison inmates, drug addicts and prostitutes, just to name a few. As a result, 7,500 people in the UK contracted hepatitis. Some 2,000 died, while others were left with devastating health issues. Some even caught HIV from their transfusions. During the 1980 meeting in Glasgow, leading virologist Dr. John Craske commented that he was especially worried about non-A, non-B hepatitis which we know today as hepatitis C. He said at the meeting, There is a high risk from the use of Factor VIII or IX concentrate that the patients will contract non-A, non-B hepatitis, and a 20-30 per cent chance of resultant chronic hepatitis. Even in the wake of evidence that shows the NHS knew they were willfully putting people at risk and chose to do so for their own gain the Department of Health is quoted as saying, We took steps to protect patients according to the best information then available. Will the NHS ever admit to its wrongdoing? Sources for this article include: DailyMail.co.uk BBC.com A look at a person's search history can reveal their genuine curiosities. A country's search history has the power to unveil what's on the minds of an entire nation. Americans have a lot of questions about President Donald Trump, who completes his first six months in office this week. It turns out that a much smaller group of people have Googled "Trump Russia" than say "George Clooney Trump." Google Trends is a tool offered by the search engine that looks at data from searches. A team from Google News Labs compiled search data for NBC related to the topic "Donald Trump" from January 20, 2017, to July 14, 2017, and included searches with a reference to the president. The service then broke down the search results by major cities and states for a glimpse at what people around the country want to know about Trump. Patterns emerged from the top Trump-related Google searches, in both English and Spanish, in the president's first six months in office. For both languages, people wanted to know most about news related to the president. A recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll revealed that 62 percent of people who live in counties that carried Trump to victory oppose his use of Twitter. But that doesn't mean Americans aren't interested in what he has to say on the platform. "Trump Twitter" was the second most popular Google search. The times where "Trump news" and "Trump twitter" searches peaked often came in the wake of blockbuster news stories, such as the aftermath of the firing of FBI Director James Comey and the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller in May. Along with searches like "approval rating" and "inauguration speech," some celebrity searches also made it into the top 10. "George Clooney Trump" appeared third on the top Google searches in English and even beat out "Trump Twitter" for Spanish searches, a reference to the actor's interview with French outlet Canal+ where he called the president a "Hollywood elitist" in February. "Kathy Griffin Trump" came sixth on the English list, perhaps due to people's curiosity about the comedian's controversial photo shoot where she held a mock decapitated head of the president. "Trump impeachment" appears in the top five English searches in most major cities in the U.S., while Spanish lists do not include searches for impeachment. And in certain places, the searches cross a line into the unusual. Dover, Delaware's, list includes a "Trump moves things" English search in its top five. "Snoop dogg Trump," came in third on Atlantic City, New Jersey's, list of top English searches, referring to the controversy over a Snoop Dogg music video that shows the rapper pointing a fake pistol at a Trump-like clown. For Spanish speakers, searches on the president often included the names of Spanish-speaking countries, such as Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela. While both English and Spanish searchers sought information on immigration, Spanish searches had more specific inquiries rise to the top that were not present on the English lists, such as searches on D.A.C.A., sanctuary cities, the travel ban, and mass deportations. Searches related to President Trump and an immediate family member were virtually absent from the English search lists, while Spanish speakers searched for first lady Melania Trump and the president's son, Barron in places like Chicago, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (For the purpose of this exercise, a search on a family member like Donald Trump Jr. would be filtered out of the lists unless the search also included the word "son.") With news about possible collusion between President Trump's campaign and Russia a fixture in national media, a relatively small number of American cities included in Google's search roundup appear to be looking for information on the subject the same way. Russia-related Trump searches were among top searches in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Boston and Salt Lake City. The issue did not make the national Top 10 list in either language. Some Google users are looking for humor amid the Trump presidency. "SNL Trump" appears in the top searches for English users in America, while "memes" related to the president are among the most popular searches for Spanish speakers. Wildlife experts are warning South Bay residents not to leave trash and pet food outside their houses after two coyote sightings were reported last week in Los Gatos. A larger number of coyotes are heading into populated areas in search for food, experts said, urging people to be cautious and stay at least 20 feet away, if they come across the animals. I think the main problem is humans, said Ashley Kinney with the Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley. People leave their trash and pet food out and it's like a buffet for these animals." Without access to easy meals, coyotes are more likely to move on from the area. On Sunday, a coyote reportedly snatched a small dog off a San Francisco doorstep something that Paul Garneau, of Los Gatos, has seen first-hand. My wife heard something on the side of the house and I woke to see a coyote with our neighbors cat in his jaw, running down the street, he said. CHARLOTTETOWN, July 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Provincial and territorial ministers of education were in Charlottetown this week for the 106th meeting of the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC). 50th anniversary of CMEC This year marks the 50th anniversary of CMEC. Since 1967, CMEC has been an integral part of the education landscape in Canada. It brings together ministers of education from all provinces and territories and plays a vital role in the countrys education systems. Our council makes an important contribution to provincial and territorial education systems. Its our meeting place for strategic discussions, our international ambassador, and our workshop for pan-Canadian action, said the Honourable Doug Currie, current Chair of CMEC and Minister of Education, Early Learning and Culture for Prince Edward Island. Our partnership in CMEC enables us to move our education systems forward through leadership and collaboration. While in Charlottetown, ministers reviewed a new multi-year strategic plan for CMEC and agreed to its launch in fall 2017. The plan will ensure that CMEC continues to focus on priority areas identified by ministers in which dialogue and collective action will bring the greatest benefit to provincial and territorial education systems. Student transitions A students ability to move successfully from secondary school to postsecondary education and into the labour force is an important measure of how well our education systems are meeting the needs of learners. To complement the work being done on transitions in each province and territory, ministers released the CMEC Reference Framework for Successful Student Transitions. The framework, which includes shared perspectives on transitions, a benchmarking tool, and an action-plan template, is intended to provide guidance based on good practices identified through pan-Canadian and international scans. Each province and territory will be able to use the elements of the framework that best suit its specific objectives and context. Prince Edward Island and other provinces and territories have long championed the importance of effective transition mechanisms, said Minister Currie. Our new framework will be a useful tool for ensuring that a students journey through school, and from school to work, is a successful one. Indigenous education Ministers discussed the CMEC Indigenous Education Plan (IEP) for 201619 and shared information about initiatives being undertaken in their respective jurisdictions to address the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canadas Call to Action 63 and to respond to the objectives and principles of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Ministers received an update on the implementation of the IEP and reviewed possible themes for one of its key eventsa symposium on the indigenization of teacher-education programs, to be held in 2018. Technology in elementary-secondary education Ensuring that students are equipped for the digital world means more than access to the latest high-tech devices. Increasingly, school systems are being called upon to find ways to integrate technology more effectively to support 21st-century pedagogies and help students develop the skills they need to succeed in tomorrows world. In this first pan-Canadian ministerial discussion of technology and innovation in our education systems, ministers looked at the current state of digital skills among students, drawing from pan-Canadian and international data. They also engaged with a stakeholder panel led by the C21 CEO Academy, a pan-Canadian network of school-system superintendents, and considered next steps in CMECs work on technology in education. It was agreed that a CMEC working group would be established to consider learning opportunities needed to ensure Canadian students are able to fully participate in social and economic life as global citizens. Math skills and strategies in elementary-secondary education In keeping with their commitment to strong foundational skills for all students, ministers held a round-table discussion on student performance in mathematics and discussed measures that have been taken in their respective jurisdictions to foster improved math performance. Their discussion was framed by a presentation on math and numeracy performance in Canada that drew on results from both pan-Canadian and international student assessments. Global competencies CMECs six global competenciescritical thinking and problem solving; innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship; learning to learn/self-awareness and self-direction; collaboration; communication; and global citizenship and sustainabilitywere first presented in July 2016 and are part of a pan-Canadian effort to prepare students for the rapidly changing social, economic, and technological landscapes of the 21st century. At their Charlottetown meeting, ministers of education shared information about progress and initiatives on these global competencies in their respective jurisdictions. They also agreed to begin work on the development of a pan-Canadian strategy for assessing global competencies. This strategy will complement assessments in literacy, numeracy, reading, and related subjects that are already coordinated in Canada by CMEC. Postsecondary education sustainability The sustainability of education systems is a preoccupation of all provinces and territories as they weigh important public priorities and plan for a future in which education and training are more important than ever to achieve prosperity. Postsecondary education has become a requirement for many of todays jobs and will be a requirement for many more in the future. The sector faces many challenges, including changing demographics and enrolment trends, which influence its sustainability. CMEC 106 provided ministers with the opportunity to continue their discussion of how best to ensure the long-term health of provincial and territorial postsecondary education systems. They shared information on their respective approaches to postsecondary sustainability and on how to work effectively with colleges, universities, and other postsecondary institutions. The challenges of faculty renewal were also discussed. It was agreed that on-going discussion and sharing of best practices are essential as every jurisdiction considers solutions to sustainability challenges. Universities as economic drivers In addition to their long-standing role in knowledge creation and human-capital development, universities are increasingly being asked to contribute more directly to innovation and economic growth. Ministers responsible for postsecondary education are addressing this challenge in a variety of ways within their respective jurisdictions. They used their meeting in Charlottetown to engage with a panel of experts who occupy different positions in the university-economy ecosystem. We want to empower our universities and colleges to serve as incubators of new ideas, initiatives, and best practices, said the Honourable Deb Matthews, Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Development and Deputy Premier of Ontario. We have a changing expectation of what postsecondary institutions can achieve; we recognize the important role they play in economic development as both employers and developers of the workforce. Student well-being Student well-being at school and on campus has been a growing area of interest among education policy-makers in Canada and abroad over the last decade, in part to determine how well education systems promote students overall development, sense of self, and quality of life. Ministers discussed initiatives, programs, and approaches related to student well-being in their respective jurisdictions. They paid particular attention to the different facets of student wellbeing, such as mental health; safe, accepting, and healthy learning environments; and equitable and inclusive education. Canadian education on the world stage While in Charlottetown, ministers reviewed the proposed program and discussed possible topics for the Fourth High-Level Consultation on Education Collaboration between the Provinces and Territories of Canada and the Peoples Republic of China (4HLC), which will take place from October 18 to 21, 2017, in Beijing. Ministers also reviewed the proposed program for a delegation to Vietnam, which is scheduled for October 1416, 2017. Ministers hope to engage and build a strong relationship with Vietnam and encourage education collaboration. Ministers were also pleased to welcome Andreas Schleicher, Director for the Directorate of Education and Skills for OECD, to their 106th meeting. Mr. Schleicher presented an overview of OECD education activities and reviewed trends in education in Canada and around the world. Provinces and territories are top performers in many OECD education-related studies and combine excellence in results with high equity among students. About CMEC Founded in 1967, CMEC is a collective voice for Canadas ministers of education and postsecondary education. It provides leadership in education at the pan-Canadian and international levels and contributes to the exercise of the exclusive jurisdiction of provinces and territories over education. For more information, visit us at www.cmec.ca. Four members of a reality show camera crew were robbed in Oakland by thieves who put guns to their heads and took $50,000 in equipment. The head of the crew, 37-year-old Chris Burns, told the East Bay Times Wednesday that he and three women were filming the show "This is Summer" for AwesomenessTV that follows 17-year-olds growing up in the Bay Area. They were wrapping up next to a pizza place late Monday night when two men put guns to their heads and said they would be hurt if they did not cooperate. The robbers took cameras, lenses, a cellphone, a laptop and more. Oakland police have offered a $15,000 reward for information that might lead them to the suspects. AwesomenessTV is a venture run by Dreamworks Animation that produces shows for a YouTube channel and television. The South Bay's largest water agency is considering a plan to build a massive new reservoir in hopes of "drought-proofing" California's future. If what the Santa Clara Valley Water District is considering happens, the plan will likely come with a big bill. The reservoir the district is discussing would be the county's largest and the first new one built in the area in 60 years. The plan calls to expand a reservoir near Pacheco Pass to hold as much as 130,000-acre feet of water. "We're looking at a facility here that would be probably greater than the sum of the existing water storage we have in the county today," Santa Clara County Water District COO Garth Hall said. The district wants to buy the land and then spend as much as $800 million to eventually store enough water to serve 650,000 people for a year. Mark Hinkle, president of the Silicon Valley Taxpayers' Association, wants to know how the district plans to pay for the project. The district said it would seek funding and likely make some of it back through higher water rates. Meanwhile, the district plans to do environmental studies of the area. A teenage suspect is in custody after a shelter-in-place order was issued by police in Newburyport, Massachusetts, on Wednesday afternoon. Authorities were searching the area immediately surrounding Port Plaza for a 19-year-old man who police said may be armed. He allegedly fled from officers who were serving an arrest warrant in conjunction with the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families. The teen was later identified by police as Jose Ilarraza, most recently of Amesbury. Police said Ilarraza was initially located inside a store inside the shopping center and fled from officers. The shelter-in-place was issued out of an abundance of caution and K9 crews were dispatched from multiple area police departments. One woman, who did not want to be identified, told NBC Boston that she was outside of her home when her sister called to warn her. "I want you to go in the house right now. Lock your doors. There's a shelter in place in Newburyport," she recalled. She said from her living room, she looked out her window and says she saw a man matching the suspect's description. "I called 911, gave them a description. I said, 'he's heading towards the high school direction.' And then a minute later they went bombing down the street. And then when I saw him on the news. That's him," the woman recalled. Ilarraza was taken into custody about an hour later in the area of Toppan Lane without further incident. Neighbors said they were relieved the tense situation was over. "It's so important for us as citizens to be vigilant. Pay attention if you know somebody who is an area and someone is loose. Police need our help," said one neighbor. Ilarraza is facing charges of breaking and entering a building during the daytime, trespassig, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. It's unclear when Ilarraza will be arraigned on the charges. Severe weather rolled over the Chicago area Wednesday night and into Thursday morning as thunderstorms persisted into the overnight hours. Thunderstorm warnings continued into the early morning hours amid the rush hour commute. Power outages were widespread in several counties, with more than 11,500 people without power by 6 a.m. Thursday, according to Comed. A Tornado Warning issued for Ogle, DeKalb, Winnebago and Boone counties expired at about 8:45 p.m. Wednesday. Severe Thunderstorm Warnings were also issued for Will, Grundy, Cook, LaSalle, Kendall, Kane, DeKalb and DuPage counties. The storms were expected to weaken as they moved through the area but brought with them the potential for severe winds and periods of heavy rainfall, which could lead to localized flooding. By Thursday morning, some areas had already seen more than 2 inches of rain. The storms are expected to end early Thursday morning, with isolated scattered storms possible throughout the day. Flood Warnings continued Thursday for portions of the Des Plaines and Fox Rivers, where several communities were left under water laster week prompting disaster proclamations for multiple counties. A Flood Advisory was also issued Kendall, Lake, Will, Kane, DuPage, Cook and Lake counties until 9:15 a.m., warning of minor flooding. Highs will stay in the upper-80s and low-90s with heat index readings near 100 degrees. On Friday, the chance for storms returns during the morning hours and again during the afternoon and evening. The threat continues throughout the weekend. One of two Norwalk physicians accused of writing illegal prescriptions, defrauding the states Medicaid program out of millions of dollars and money laundering faced a judge in Bridgeport on Wednesday. The court granted a continuance so that the Connecticut's U.S. Attorneys Office has more time to explore Dr. Bharat Patels assets. Patel owns three properties in Connecticut and a condo in Mumbai. His attorney, Alexander Schwartz, wanted him released on a $250,000.00 bond and recommended that he be ordered to stay at home with his family, and have electronic monitoring. Federal officials are concerned Patel is a flight risk, having traveled nearly two dozen times since January of 2012. The federal criminal complaint alleges in that time frame, Patel wrote 200 post-dated prescriptions for 32 patients, who they said received more than 12,000 narcotics pills fraudulently. More than 50 friends, family members and patients showed up at the hearing on Wednesday, to stand in support of Patel. Hell remain in federal lock up in Rhode Island. Schwartz has concerns with his high blood pressure and high cholesterol, and the fact he is 70 years old. On Wednesday, Patels younger brother, Subhash Patel, told NBC Connecticut "I dont believe it. Hes been accused incorrectly or wrongly. And, you know, I have been his patient since 1981. On several occasions, he already refused to give me a prescription for certain medicines. I dont believe the charges at all." Just because its in the affidavit, doesnt mean its true or accurate," Schwartz said. "The safety issue comes from the nature of the charge. Because of the drug charges, theres the presumption that he cannot be released into the community, and I think I rebutted that well because he cannot write prescriptions for what hes charged with prescribing." The prosecutor stated that Patel admitted to earning $5,000 a month in writing prescriptions in this way. Also announcing a claim that the doctors wife knew what was going on. At the liquor store his wife once owned in the same location as the urgent care facility Patel worked at in Norwalk, the prosecutor said, prescriptions were left for patients pick up. Federal officials located the other doctor, Dr. Ramil Mansourov, accused of fleeing the country after being named a suspect in an investigation into what authorities are calling the largest ever health care fraud enforcement action by the federal Medicare Fraud Strike Force in the country last week. He was found outside a hotel in Montreal, Canada. Canadian authorities said Mansourov had a hearing and is slated to have another hearing in the coming days. Patel, 70, of Milford, and 47-year-old Mansourov, of Darien, are accused of running this pill mill and selling prescriptions for drugs, including oxycodone and hydrocodone, to addicts and drug dealers. In all, 412 defendants have been charged across the country, including 115 doctors, nurses and other licensed medical professionals, for alleged participation in health care fraud schemes involving approximately $1.3 billion in false billings. The local investigation began after allegations that the two doctors might be writing prescriptions outside the scope of legitimate medical practice. Patel and Mansourov operated out of Family Health Urgent Care, at 235 Main Street in Norwalk, which is closed until further notice. Some of those addicts they are accused of selling to referred to the defendants medical practice as The Candy Shop, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorneys Office. Patel owned the previous practice, which was known as Immediate Health Care, and sold it in 2012 to Mansourov, who renamed it, according to the United States Attorneys Office. Authorities said Patel regularly provided prescriptions for narcotics, including oxycodone and hydrocodone, to patients he knew were addicted or had been arrested for distributing or possessing controlled substances. On several occasions, he sold the prescriptions to patients under the table for $100, including to some who used a state Medicaid card, then distributed the drugs, officials said. In some instances, Patel wrote prescriptions for people who were not his patients in exchange for cash, federal officials said, and Mansourov provided Patels patients with unnecessary prescriptions. In 2014 alone, more than $50,000 in cash was deposited into Patel and his wifes bank accounts and some of that money went to buy the house Patel currently lives in, according to federal authorities. Mansourov is accused of defrauding the states Medicaid program of more than $4 million between November 2013 and December 2016 and moving some of that money to a bank account in Switzerland. He is accused of billing for home visits he never made, billing for nursing home visits he never made, billing for office visits that never happened and billing for visits that he claimed took place on dates on which he was actually out of state or out of the country, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office. Too many trusted medical professionals like doctors, nurses, and pharmacists have chosen to violate their oaths and put greed ahead of their patients, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement about the nationwide crackdown. A wooden and metal post located on the Waterbury Green is stirring up questions in the city. Could it be a whipping post? The post received attention after someone recently posted a performance art photo on social media of a young lady displayed as a slave with her arms tied around the post. Raechel Guest is the director of the Silas Bronson Library and has studied Waterburys history for years. She said from her research so far, it appears the post was a whipping post, but theres still much to investigate to determine if that was actually the case. "Now, whether or not this was the original post used for whippings or if this is a replacement post because things that are wood (and) standing outside eventually fall apart that, I dont know, Guest said. Guest said every community in Connecticut once had a whipping post used by government officials. From her research, the possible whipping post in the Watertown Green appears to have been used between the 1700s until about 1821. Whipping posts were used as a form of punishment for certain crimes. Guest said when the post was not being used for whippings, it was used for displaying notices. Joe Geary, chief of staff for the City of Waterbury, told NBC Connecticut, "Were still trying to determine the actual use of the post that is on the Waterbury Green. At the time we determine what the post was used for, we will determine what to do with it." NBC Connecticut spoke to residents into town about what they believe should be done final results from the citys research determines the post was used as a whipping post. "It is a part of history but a history I dont agree with so I think it should go in a museum," Thomas Hixon, of Waterbury, said. "I honestly think that they should put a plaque on it for a reminder that this is history. Its part of our Waterbury Green," Theresa Lawler, of Waterbury, said. Many towns and cities are sending bills out late this year because they still dont know how much money theyre getting in the state budget. A late car tax bill can cause big problems. A struggling medical student, Morgan Gilmour, said he moved to Illinois, left a forwarding address with the post office, yet never got his tax bill. Years later, he has a collection agency demanding he pony up 50 percent more than what he originally owed. "This completely shocked me. I always paid my bills on time," Gilmour said. The city trying to collect the taxes said he has no choice but to pay up and the law is on its side. The 2014 motor vehicle tax bill for Gilmours Ford Escape was originally $196, but by the time a collection agency found him two and a half years later, penalties and interest ballooned it to more than $320. Gilmour explained he filed a permanent change of address form with the postal service and notified the DMV that he sold the Escape before moving. The USPS said it will forward mail for one year when someone makes a permanent address change. But when Gilmour moved, New London delayed sending out its motor vehicle tax bills six months because it could not pass a budget. The bill, while sent less than a year after Gilmour left town, never got to him. He said Mayor Michael Passero looked into the matter, but in the end, could not assist, citing a very clear state law connected to an 1862 court case that remains precedent in Connecticut. Passero told the NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters, "Even if the city is at fault, I believe that is still not a defense to paying your taxes." Gilmour also reached out to New London state representative Chris Soto, who said he had a similar case when he moved away years ago. Hell see if theres anything the legislature can do, Morgan raises a good point and this is an opportunity for us to look at the way we do business at that small town city level and see if there's ways that we can make life easier for people living in our communities, Soto said. Gilmour adds, I don't think it's right. I think that a 150 year old court case should not determine the modern day situation that we find ourselves in. People are a lot more transient now than they were 150 years ago. Gilmour said he is willing to pay just the taxes he owes. However, the city of New London said state law also does not allow towns and cities to waive interest or penalties that taxpayers get charged. A Norwalk mother who has lived in the United States for 24 years is refusing deportation and would not board a plane back to Guatemala on Thursday. Nury Chavarria left her native Guatemala in 1993, when she was 19, and applied for asylum. Her application was denied, but she remained in the U.S., with nothing to go back to at home. Chavarria, a mother of four, is currently seeking asylum at the Iglesia De Dios Pentecostal Church on East Pearl Street in New Haven, because immigration officials cannot arrest her on church property. "We have been informed that Nury Chavarria has opted to seek refuge in a local church through sanctuary," a statement from the law firm representing Chavarria with her ICE case said. Since 2011, she has had yearly check-ins with immigration officials. Each year she was given the approval to remain in the U.S. Chavarria said she has no criminal record, works as a housekeeper, and pays taxes. She believed those factors would allow her to remain in the U.S., despite President Donald Trump's administrations focus on deportations. All that changed at her June check-in, when ICE officials told her in five weeks she would have to pack up her life and leave. I told him, 'Im not a criminal. Im a mother with four children. They are citizens. USA. I want to stay here to help them and keep my family together,' she said. ICE issued Chavarria an ankle-monitor to track her movements ahead of her removal. Meanwhile, her 9-year-old daughter has a plea for President Trump. Please let my mom stay because she has four children, and Im one of them and I really want her to stay, Hayley Chavarria said. New Haven attorney Glenn Formica and the volunteer activist group Connecticut Shoreline Indivisible have taken on Chavarria's case. "The current policy doesnt allow common sense adjudication doesnt allow them any discretion to say 'Yeah, it doesnt make sense to force Nury to leave her four children here and become burdens on the state,'" Formica said. This is just inhumane. Things have to change. This is not who we are as a people. We have compassion, we care about people, added Charla Nich of Connecticut Shoreline Indivisible. When NBC Connecticut reached out to ICE on the case, they released the following statement Monday: "Nury Chavarria was allowed to voluntarily depart by a federal immigration judge in 1998, and failed to comply, rendering her subject to final order of removal in 1999. In 2010, the agency deferred her removal for one year on humanitarian grounds. As a current exercise of discretion, the agency has allowed her to remain free from custody while finalizing her timely departure plans. The agency will continue to closely monitor her case to ensure compliance." Chavarria's request to stay was denied Tuesday. Gov. Dannel Malloy visited the church Thursday and said her situation in Connecticut speaks to the breakdown of immigration policy in Washington, focusing on removing the wrong people from this country. He said there is nothing more the state can do for her except to give her support. The mother of Jordan Edwards, the teen killed by a Balch Springs police officer earlier this year, is speaking out. Shaunkeyia Stephens says she received a glimmer of hope earlier this week when former officer Roy Oliver was indicted for murder. In a statement Wednesday, Stephens said: "The last 82 days have been extremely difficult, punctuated by moments of disbelief, heartbreak and deep sadness. On Monday, I received a glimmer of hope when the man responsible for shooting and killing my son, Jordan Edwards, was indicted by the Grand Jury for murder. "I am thankful for the hard work and perseverance of the Dallas County District Attorneys Office in their careful, swift and vigilant investigation of this case to prosecute Roy Oliver. My son did not deserve to lose his life by any means, particularly not at the very hands of those who have taken an oath to serve and protect him. The Dallas County District Attorneys Office pledged to work to ensure that Roy Oliver would be held responsible for his actions and be brought to justice and made to answer for his crimes. It has made good on that promise, and while fulfilling this promise does not make the pain of Jordans loss any easier to bear, I am heartened that our legal system is working toward justice for my beloved son. His life has been cruelly cut short and we have been robbed of his love, his joy and his vibrant spirit. "While I am encouraged by the indictment of Roy Oliver, I am aware that much hard work lies ahead, and I ask for your prayers for my family as the trial process begins. His siblings and I recognize that reliving the last moments of Jordans life is a necessary part of the legal process, but it will also be incredibly painful. I am heartbroken at the prospect; but, we will not allow Jordans death to be another statistic, and Jordan himself to be yet another victim of brutally inhumane police behavior. I pray that this case will not only result in Roy Oliver being held fully responsible for his actions; but that it will also force Police Departments nationwide to address the cultural and environmental factors that promote violent and lethal action against innocent civilians. I continue to pray that Jordans death will be a catalyst for positive change in the attitudes, behaviors, and civic responsibility in way we hold our government, our city and our police force accountable." Oliver, 37, was indicted on a charge of murder in connection with the fatal shooting. In a response issued by Oliver and his attorneys Tuesday, Oliver denied the allegations against him and said his actions the night of the shooting were reasonable and not clearly excessive. The document goes on to state Oliver felt he was in imminent danger and his response was necessary. See the document and read more of Oliver's account here. On Thursday, lawyers representing the family released the following statement, refuting Oliver's claims. Lee Merritt, and other counselors representing the family of Jordan Edwards, held a news conference to refute the testimony offered by former Balch Springs police officer Roy Oliver. NEW YORK, July 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE:MTX) will host a conference call on Friday, August 4, 2017 at 11 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss its second quarter 2017 financial results. The conference call is being webcast and can be accessed at Minerals Technologies Inc.'s website at http://www.mineralstech.com. To listen to the call, go to the MTI website and click on "Investor Information," then click on "Presentations and Conference Calls." New York-based Minerals Technologies Inc. is a resource- and technology-based growth company that develops, produces and markets worldwide a broad range of specialty mineral, mineral-based and synthetic mineral products and related systems and services. MTI serves the paper, foundry, steel, construction, environmental, energy, polymer and consumer products industries. The company reported sales of $1.638 billion in 2016. A Lewisville man's struggle to get to the United States was difficult, but looking back at his past and looking ahead to what the future holds for his son, he says everything was worth it. Kan Thang is a native of Burma, a Buddhist country south of China that borders Thailand, in which Christians are under constant religious persecution. "Yes, it's dangerous," said Thang, who always wanted a better life for his wife and three sons. "It's not like here, it's different," remembers Thang's youngest son, Peng Thang. "Out of nowhere the military with guns would show up with guns at your church and that's it. If they said stop, you stop, or you're dead pretty much." Kan Thang left Burma and sought refuge in Malaysia, where he worked for nearly 10 years, saving money and never speaking to those he loved most. "We don't have phone, we don't email, so I cannot contact my family," he recalled. Peng Thang was too young to understand. "We'd see our friend's dads building things for them or doing things for them, and we wanted it too," he said. Eventually the family saved up enough money and moved to North Texas. It was a big change culturally. "My first time seeing a car, we had to hide because we didn't know what it was," Peng Thang joked. "We jumped off the side of the road and we had to hide because we were afraid." It's a distant memory now. Peng Thang later joined the JROTC program at Lewisville High School, dreaming of someday serving his new country. "The reason for me being here, my family being here, is because of those great men and women that serve this country, because of that freedom they provide. They give their lives so people from a foreign country can be here freely, so I ask myself why can't I do the same thing," he said. Next week he'll start that journey at the Naval Academy Preparatory School, or NAPS. During a recent Burmese refugee ceremony at the George W. Bush Presidential Center, the former president greeted the future United States sailor. "You can handle it. I'm proud of you," Bush told Peng Thang. And for the dad who gave up so much, the pride is hard to put into words. Kan Thang fought back tears as his son Peng said, "If you look at it now, it was all along God's plan. This is where I say God answered my prayers." THE FIRST WEEKEND IN AUGUST? That's when things start to get mighty serious about the mighty serious topic of making some summer-style fun. Back-to-school ads are popping up on the air and in the paper, pencil cases are lining the store shelves, and you realize that the double-dose of joyful "J" months June and July, both have flown on by with the speed of a dancing kite. If you're going to sit by some shimmery blue water, and dine upon seafood, and do that whole basking-in-the-rays thing, it has to step up when August arrives on the doorstep. And water, dining, and rays come into focus each year at the beginning of the eighth month when... LOBSTERFEST AT NEWPORT BEACH... returns. Note, first off, that this is a one-day affair, an afternoon-into-evening soiree, which is a good thing to keep in mind, as some of the other Southern California lobster parties, both in July and September, run into full weekend territory. Two? The Sunday, Aug. 6 to-do a fundraiser hosted by Leadership Tomorrow for Make-A-Wish Orange County and Inland Empire, so your ticket will help a wonderful organization. And three? The address, 101 N. Bayside Drive, says it all: You'll be doing the whole bibs 'n butter thing in the presence of water, which always ups the general seafood-focused atmosphere. If you dig red potatoes, corn on the cob, and other complementary sides, those'll be part of the feasting, along with the whole Maine lobster. YOUR TICKET? It's sixty bucks to attend Lobsterfest at Newport Beach, with kid tickets coming in at $20 and VIP admission at $150. To see what entry works for you, eye all, but don't wait too long. August is on the horizon, and one of Orange County's lobster-iest larks is ready to butter people on the search for summer fun up. A Maryland police officer worked through the night to return a toy stolen from a little girl. On Sunday, Jason Hendricks posted video evidence showing his daughters toy dragon and dinosaur being stolen from their porch the night before. As outrage built in the comment section, a friend of Hendricks called upon La Plata Police Department Officer Robert Bagley to assist. "I'm on it," Bagley wrote back. Hendricks posted his security video with a time and date stamp from that night. Bagley immediately recognized the suspect taking the toys in the footage. "I recognized the suspect as someone who hangs out in that area a couple streets down from where they live and I had a pretty good idea where she might be located," Bagley said. "I didn't find her, but I was making a U-turn in the cul-de-sac and I saw the little toy sitting there laying up against the curb." Bagley found the toy about 2 a.m. and decided it was too late to go knock on the Hendricks' door. "I figured I could swing by there in the morning hours after my shift," he said. The toy dragon had a broken arm, though, and before buying glue to fix it, Bagley stopped at the hospital. "I usually stop by the hospital when I'm working nights anyway," he said. "I just kind of go walk through the ER, make my presence known, check on people I know and see if they need coffee or anything." While there, Bagley asked hospital staff to wrap up the dragon's arm and pose for a picture. "The idea just kind of popped in my head to do this story for the girl. Give her something to look at in the morning and kind of cheer her up a little bit," Bagley said. "I took pictures throughout the night on some routes that I was on and areas I was checking. I never really expected it to get this big." By Wednesday, Hendricks' original Facebook post, where the story unfolded, received more than 2,600 reactions, about 4,700 shares and more than 200 comments commending Bagley. Bagley didn't expect such a huge showing of support because community policing is a routine part of his daily patrols. "I've taken several classes and trainings and have worked on my community policing for several years," he said. "It's definitely something I've noticed helps the community out and creates trust between the city and police." Given the political climate and the bad press police have received in recent years, Bagley said establishing connections with young people is an important part of what makes the fabric of his community strong. "We got a job just like their moms and dads do and I think its good to establish those relationships young and let kids know were out to help them, not cause problems," Bagley said. La Plata Police are still working to positively identify the person who stole the toys, but there was no word as to whether they will face charges. On the same day a a judge dropped charges against a South Florida beauty queen, the man she was accused of attacking is telling his side of the story. David Duperon, a popular DJ, spoke with NBC 6 Thursday about the December 2016 incident. He calls it "a big misunderstanding" and says he doesn't see justice in the future. Vanessa Barcelo, the former Miss Miami Lakes, no longer faces a misdemeanor battery charge for attacking Duperon with a bat. The judge dismissed the case, citing Florida's so-called "Stand Your Ground" law. Duperon was left badly bruised and with his left eye swollen shut after the incident. He was at a holiday party at Barcelo's home when he was attacked. "Unlike her, I have proof of this stuff. I'm the one with the scar on my face. I'm the one with $200,000 in medical bills," said Duperon. "I'm the one who spent Christmas and my birthday in the hospital. I'm the one who's getting the reputation dragged through the mud." Duperon said he wants his reputation restored. Barcelo accused him of trying to undress her drunk cousin during the party.But charges were never filed against him, and the Power 96 DJ vehemently denied those claims. "Never touched her, never took off her clothes, never did anything inappropriate with her," Duperon said. "This is somebody that I thought I was helping out, a friend. I was intoxicated. I tried to do something right and it backfired on me." Duperon worked as a DJ for Power 96 for eight years, but hasn't been back to work since the incident. He says the ordeal put a cloud over his career and life. A 49-year-old Florida woman who identified herself as "Million Dollar Ho" was arrested Tuesday for reportedly offering sex and exposing herself to an undercover officer, according to WPTV. Debra Thomes got into a Fort Pierce officers car and said "$40 and Ill give you everything you want. Youre the first one today," police said. Thomes was arrested and charged with operating a house of prostitution, according to the report. An arrest warrant listed her as homeless. Thomes has had six prostitution-related charges since 2015, not including Tuesdays arrest, police said. It's hard to think about school in the middle of summer, but the next school year is creeping up on us, and with that comes economic anxiety for thousands of South Florida families. The source of that anxiety is school supplies, something most of us take for granted. "We did a backpack index and discovered that it costs about a thousand dollars for families with high school students to purchase the supplies they need and for the low income families that we serve, a thousand dollars is money they can use for other necessities," said Elyssa Linares of Communities in Schools. Communities in Schools is a non-profit group that provides a range of services to inner city schools and to kids like Olivier Arnaux, who just graduated from Miami Edison High School. Arnaux will be a freshman in college next month. Coming from a family with four siblings and a single mom, he knows how hard it is for his mother to buy school supplies every year. The family is forced to make choices between essentials such as clothing and notebooks or food and pencils. "Like sometimes that money could do something else but she has to, basically, send us to school and prepare us for school," Arnaux said. Coming to school without all the needed supplies can have more than just an academic impact. There's a ripple effect that can impact kids in ways most people may not even consider. "Research has shown that actually not having the supplies that the students need affects their attendance, so they won't come to school if they're having to ask students for supplies or they don't have the tools," Linares said. The embarrassment of not having basic supplies can actually lead kids to drop out of school. That's why Communities in Schools, in partnership with NBC6, Telemundo 51 and the United Way are asking the public to donate school supplies. We're talking about everything from pencils and paper to crayons to flash drives and calculators. The supplies can be dropped off at the International Mall, The Falls, Dadeland and the Coral Square Malls. It's an easy way to contribute to families who need your help. "The student's gonna have the opportunity, the parents not gonna worry anymore about the supplies that they needed. They gonna save that money and do something else with it," said Arnaux, a recent immigrant from Haiti, about the benefits of this supply drive. It's all about allocating scarce resources. We can all help families who have very little have one less thing to worry about as the school year approaches. A University of Central Florida student who went viral when he graded his ex-girlfriends apology letter is no longer suspended, his attorney said Wednesday. Student Nick Lutz wrote on Facebook Monday that he was facing a semester-long suspension for violating the university's code of conduct. But his attorney, Jacob Stuart, said Wednesday that Lutz won his appeal in the case. "After a very long process and anxiety filled journey, we are pleased to share that all sanctions against Mr. Lutz have been revoked at this time," Stuart said in a statement. "Mr. Lutz is no longer suspended or facing any pending sanctions." UCF didn't responded to requests for comment Wednesday. Lutz posted the letter on Twitter in February with the caption "when your ex writes you an apology letter so you grade it to send it back." It has since been re-tweeted more than 121,000 times. When your ex writes you an apology letter so you grade it to send it back pic.twitter.com/MczdjcCiil Nick Lutz (@NickLutz12) February 17, 2017 Lutz marked the four-page letter in red pen and gave it a D-. He critiqued its sentence structure, lack of supporting evidence and spelling, and on the last page wrote "61/100revision for half credit will be accepted." Lutzs ex-girlfriend doesnt attend UCF, according to WFTV. She filed a grievance with the college after the Volusia County Sheriffs Office didnt follow up on a cyberbullying report, according to The Miami Herald. Lutz subsequently received a letter from UCF stating he violated the disruption and cyberbullying portions of the schools code of conduct, according to WFTV. Lutzs mom urged anyone who knows him to write a letter about his character earlier this month on Facebook. [[435450443, C]] Opponents of President Donald Trump's ban on refugees and visitors from six mostly Muslim countries are urging the Supreme Court to leave in place a federal judge's order that would relax restrictions on entry into the United States. The lead challengers say in a high court filing Tuesday that the administration's argument in favor of a broader travel ban that excludes grandparents and grandchildren is "nonsense." Up to 24,000 refugees could be affected by the Supreme Court's decision. The administration is appealing a ruling from U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson that requires the government to allow in refugees formally working with a resettlement agency in the United States. Watson also vastly expanded the family relations that refugees and visitors can use to get into the country. Last month, the justices allowed the administration to partially reinstate a 90-day ban on visitors from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen and a 120-day ban on refugees from anywhere in the world. But the court's ruling exempted a large swath of refugees and travelers with a "bona fide relationship" with a person or an entity in the U.S. The justices did not define those relationships but said they could include a close relative, a job offer or admission to a college or university. The Trump administration then defined the relationships as people who had a parent, spouse, fiance, son, daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law or sibling already in the U.S. It also said that refugee resettlement agencies didn't count because their relationships are with the government, not the refugees. But Hawaii and other travel plan opponents went back to court to seek a broader list of relations and groups that might be used to allow people to get into the country. Watson issued his order last week, including grandparents, grandchildren, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins. He also included charitable and religious groups that are working to resettle refugees in the U.S. In its appeal Friday night, the Justice Department said Watson's interpretation of the Supreme Court's ruling on what family relationships qualify "empties the court's decision of meaning, as it encompasses not just 'close' family members, but virtually all family members. Treating all of these relationships as 'close familial relationship(s)' reads the term 'close' out of the Court's decision." Hawaii's high court filing said Watson "faithfully applied" the Supreme Court's ruling, and allows the government to enforce the ban against countless residents of the six countries and roughly 175,000 refugees who do not have the required relationship with a relative or organization in the U.S. More than 40 former U.S. officials, including former Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, former Secretaries of State Madeleine Albright and John Kerry, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and former CIA Directors Michael Hayden and Leon Panetta, filed a separate legal brief in support of Hawaii. The justices already have scheduled arguments about the travel ban for October. They could rule anytime on the rules for enforcing the ban. BARRE, Vt., July 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Northern Power Systems Corp. (TSX:NPS), a next generation renewable energy technology company, today announced that all nominees listed in the Information Circular and Proxy Statement of Northern Power, dated May 1, 2017, for the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders held May 25, 2017, in Burlington, MA (the Meeting) were elected as directors of Northern Power. The nine (9) candidates nominated for election were elected by a majority of the shareholders present in person or represented by proxy at the Meeting, as follows: Nominee For Withheld Not Voted Ciel R. Caldwell 16,794,358 0 637,356 Alexander Hap Ellis III 16,794,358 0 637,356 Richard Hokin 16,794,358 0 637,356 Kevin Kopczynski 16,794,358 0 637,356 William F. Leimkuhler 16,794,358 0 637,356 Robert L. Lentz 16,794,358 0 637,356 Troy C. Patton 16,793,358 1,000 637,356 John Simon, Ph.D. 16,793,358 1,000 637,356 Gregory Wolf 16,794,358 0 637,356 In addition, at the Meeting the resolution to ratify the appointment of RSM US LLP as Northern Powers independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2017 was approved by the requisite majority of the votes cast at the Meeting. About Northern Power Systems Northern Power Systems designs, manufactures, and sells distributed power generation and energy storage solutions with its advanced wind turbines, inverters, controls, and integration services. With over 16 million run-time hours across its global fleet, Northern Power wind turbines provide customers with clean, cost-effective, reliable renewable energy. NPS turbines utilize patented permanent magnet direct drive (PMDD) technology, which uses fewer moving parts, delivers higher energy capture, and provides increased reliability thanks to reduced maintenance and downtime. Northern Power also develops Energy Storage Solutions (ESS) based on the FlexPhase power converter platform, which features patented converter architecture and controls technology for advanced grid support and generation applications. Northern Power has been a technology innovator for over 40 years and serves clients around the globe from its US headquarters and European offices. To learn more, visit www.northernpower.com. What to Know Renee Hall will start her tenure as Chief of Police on Sept. 5, nearly a year after David O. Brown resigned. Hall has served as Deputy Chief of the Detroit Police Department since May 2014. Hall's father, who was also a Detroit officer, was shot and killed while working a case when she was only 6 months old. The City of Dallas named U. Renee Hall the next chief of the Dallas Police Department Wednesday. Hall, the daughter of a murdered Detroit police officer, is the first woman to hold the position in the department's 136-year history. "I am honored to be chosen to lead the Dallas Police Department at this critical time in its history, Hall said in a prepared statement. "I look forward to building on the successes of the past, preserving community trust and ensuring the safety of our officers and the entire Dallas community." Her appointment means women of color now hold the top three law enforcement positions in Dallas County. Hall joins Sheriff Lupe Valdez, the first openly gay Latina to be elected Dallas County sheriff, and District Attorney Faith Johnson, the first black woman appointed to the position. Dallas City Manager T.C. Broadnax admitted choosing the city's new police chief was a difficult choice. He said he was looking for fresh eyes, new perspective and someone who could connect with the community. On Wednesday, Broadnax announced Detroit's Renee Hall is the city's next chief. Before coming to Dallas, Hall spent more than two decades with the Detroit Police Department, most recently as deputy chief. Under Hall's leadership in Michigan, the city of Detroit experienced a 40-year low in homicides and double-digit reductions in violent crime for three consecutive years. She is expected to begin work in Dallas on Sept. 5. Dallas City Manager T.C. Broadnax said Wednesday Hall is a proven leader with a stellar background and a passion for public service. "My belief is Renee Hall will be a dynamic chief and do great things in this community," Broadnax said. "She's going to have a great impact, not just on the police department, but the entire city." City officials said that while Hall was in Detroit she "developed and implemented comprehensive community policing and mentor programs, forged partnerships and established trust within minority communities while also building strong relationships between officers of all ranks and community stakeholders." In an exclusive interview with NBC 5 Investigative reporter Scott Friedman, Hall said she will work to implement these same types of programs in Dallas. Among her objectives, she said, is having officers more involved in the community, doing service projects, feeding the homeless and working with teens, because "officers can't police a community they don't understand." "What I've learned from being in the city of Detroit, as you know the city of Detroit went through bankruptcy, we went through pension reform, pay cuts for the officers they even had holidays taken away, and morale was very low. We did have mass exodus, much like Dallas had, but when we got down to talking to the officers, officers don't necessarily leave just about money. It's not always monetary. They just need to have an environment where they have unwavering support from their leaders, creating an environment of excitement," Hall said. Detroit's U. Renee Hall gives a statement after being named Dallas next chief of police, July 19, 2017. Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings welcomed Hall to the city in a series of tweets where he said, "I knew we would get many great candidates, and we did because of the great opportunity. We needed an excellent leader and we got a proven one. I'm pleased with our choice." Pleased to welcome our new @DallasPD Chief of Police U. Renee Hall. She will be the first female police chief in @CityOfDallas history. pic.twitter.com/n0qc9L3b6Y Mike Rawlings (@Mike_Rawlings) July 19, 2017 "Weve done our homework on her. We were told that she was very strong in the community that even as a chief level officer in the city of Detroit she gets out and engages the community and actually gets involved in police incidents and maintains a presence in the community, said Thomas Glover, president of the Black Police Association of Greater Dallas. The city launched a nationwide search for a new police chief last fall after Chief David O. Brown abruptly announced his retirement. Brown, who grew up in Dallas and attended UT, had led the department for six years, but had spent decades on the force. His departure came only a few months after five law enforcement officers were ambushed and gunned down in downtown Dallas near the end of a peaceful protest. Since Brown's departure on Oct. 22, the department has been led by interim Chief of Police David Pughes who said early on that he was not seeking to fill the position permanently. Congratulations to Chief Hall as she becomes the next Chief of Police for the Dallas Police Department. https://t.co/bjOfybnzDq Chief David O. Brown (@ChiefDavidBrown) July 19, 2017 During an event earlier this month in Dallas, Hall joined seven other finalists at City Hall to meet with stakeholders and greet the public. She said then she recognized the city's need to heal after the ambush attack last summer and that she could help do that. "This job is about skill. It's about the ability to lead, boost morale and fight crime," Hall said. "To bring a city that needs to heal together as a whole. I bring that." Dallas City Manager T.C. Broadnax announces Renee Hall as the new chief of police. Hall, who was promoted to deputy chief in Detroit in May 2014, was one of two black women among the eight finalists for the job. She edged out five local finalists, four from within the Dallas Police Department, including Dallas Assistant Chief of Police Gary Tittle; Dallas Deputy Chief Malik Aziz; Dallas Deputy Chief Rick Watson and Grand Prairie Chief of Police Steve Dye. Both Johnson and Valdez released statements of support following Wednesday's announcement. I want to welcome our new Chief of Police, Ulysha Renee Hall to Dallas ... its exciting that she will serve as the first female chief at the Dallas Police Department. I am proud that she is joining me and Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez on the growing list of females in top law enforcement positions in Dallas County," Johnson said. "There is much work to be done building bridges between law enforcement and our communities, and I am looking forward to all of us working together to ensure success." "The Sheriffs Department congratulates Dallas City Manager T.C. Broadnax on the selection of Dallas Polices new chief. It was a tough decision because any one of the seven candidates would have made an excellent chief. We welcome Chief U. Renee Hall and look forward to working with her. I am personally aware of the challenges that the first female chief will face. My staff and I stand ready to help in any way that we can," said Valdez. Deputy Chief Renee Hall is the new Police Chief of Dallas! The Detroit Police Department congratulates Chief Hall, we will miss her. pic.twitter.com/qUlMar3JOY Detroit Police Dept. (@detroitpolice) July 19, 2017 Hall has a bachelors degree in criminal justice from Grambling State University and Masters degrees in Security Administration and Intelligence Analysis from the University of Detroit Mercy. A graduate of the FBI National Academy, she also completed the Police Executive Leadership Institute and is a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police. According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, Hall was 6 months old when her 27-year-old father was gunned down while working a prostitution and gambling case. After failing to report in for 12 hours, his body was discovered only after a man reported finding a person had been shot in the chest. To date, his murder remains unsolved. "I know what it's like to grow up without a parent who died at the hands of a violent crime. And I know what the citizens feel when their loved one has been taken away from them," she told NBC 5. "So it's important for me to make sure that those individual are brought to justice so there's closure in their lives. Because I never received that closure," she said. She told The Dallas Morning News that closure was important to her family and that she believed she was finishing what her father started. Dallas police union and city leaders react to the news of U. Renee Hall as the next Dallas police chief. During a lighter moment with the media, Hall was asked Wednesday if she'd continue to support the Detroit Lions after moving to Dallas. She said though she was a lifelong Lions fan, she'd be wearing a Dallas Cowboys hat on Sundays -- except for when the Cowboys play the Lions. There will be no conflict this year unless the team's meet in the postseason -- the Cowboys and Lions are not scheduled to play in the 2017 season. Hall is expected to begin work in Dallas on Sept. 5. NBC 5's Ashleigh Barry, Ken Kalthoff, Scott Friedman and Eva Parks contributed to this report. Donte Brooks Island has been sentenced to 33-100 years behind bars for shooting suburban Philadelphia police officer Christopher Dorman last June. Island pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted murder, two counts of assault on a law-enforcement officer and gun offenses in the shooting of Officer Dorman, who was shot seven times during a response in Delaware County for drug activity. Dorman, then 25, was shot in the face, leg and groin in Folcroft as he approached people suspected of smoking marijuana behind an apartment building. Island fled after the shooting, prompting a three-hour manhunt. The 34-year-old was later arrested at the same apartment complex. After the sentencing hearing Thursday, Dorman said, "I think he should have been put away for a lot longer." "I'm very fortunate I'm able to speak, to see Dante get the sentence he did," Dorman said, "Police officers are a target in this country and world today, and I think stricter sentences are needed for crimes against law enforcement." Dorman has recovered after multiple surgeries and returned to police duty. [[388757602 , C]] Island served about nine years in federal prison on a gun conviction before his release in 2013. His sentence in the shooting of officer Dorman includes about a year of the time he has already served. The family of a missing woman came to Chester County after the search for her focused on her Chester County home last week. Anna Bronislawa Maciejewska-Goulds family from Poland came to the Malvern area to get the latest on the search and to meet with Pennsylvania State Police and talk to her husband, Allen Gould. "This ongoing period of time that we really don't know what happened is terrible for the family," brother-in-law Leszek Wronski said Monday. Pennsylvania State Police confirmed last week that the search along Hedgegrow Lane in Malvern was to look for clues in Maciejewska-Goulds disappearance. It was the first time state police searched the home, investigators said. Several state police vehicles were on the property Thursday, though an official told NBC10 Gould was not there and was not under arrest. The 43-year-old mother went missing the morning of April 10 and hasnt been seen since. Gould said she was in a panic and she never arrived at her job at Voya Financial in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Maciejewska-Gould was driving her 2011 Navy Blue Audi A4 with the Pennsylvania license plate HTF 2919 at the time of her disappearance. NBC News published a report on her disappearance that included interviews with family members who claimed she abruptly canceled a scheduled trip to her native Poland. The trip is an annual tradition for Maciejewska-Gould who planned on bringing her 4-year-old son with her to visit her father on his 80th birthday, according to her nephew. The family members also said Maciejewska-Gould called out of work the week of April 3, which was unusual for her. Maciejewska-Gould's Polish relatives thanked the community for its support in the search. Maciejewska-Gould stands 5 foot, 4 inches tall with blue eyes and dark blonde hair and weighs around 160 pounds. If you have any information on her whereabouts, please call Pennsylvania State Police at 610-486-6280 or the Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers at 1-800-4PA-TIPS (1-800-472-8477). You can also email tips to Findingannam@gmail.com. San Diego County crews are traveling north to help battle a wildfire burning in Mariposa County that's threatening homes and the power supply to Yosemite National Park. Three San Diego Fire-Rescue Department engines along with crews from National City and Chula Vista fire departments left Wednesday to battle the Detwiler Fire. Mariposa is located approximately 400 miles north of San Diego west of Yosemite National Forest. Since it started on Sunday, the Detwiler Fire has burned nearly more than 70,000 acres or 109 square miles. Thousands have been forced to leave tiny, Gold Rush-era towns in the area. At its closest, the blaze was still about 35 miles from the boundary of Yosemite, where campgrounds are open, park spokesman Scott Gediman said. Power lines supplying power to Yosemite National Park were threatened. The fire closed one of several roads into the park during its busy summer season, and rangers warned visitors with respiratory problems to be mindful of the haze, Gediman said. Yosemite does not appear at risk from the fire, which was moving south Wednesday, away from the park, California fire spokesman Jordan Motta said. The fire was threatening about 1,500 homes and other buildings, after already destroying 45 structures and damaging six. The flames are near Highway 49, a historical route winding its way up California foothills of the western Sierra Nevada dotted with little towns that sprouted along the gold Mother Lode that drew miners to California in the 1800s. Record rain and snowfall in the mountains this winter abruptly ended California's five-year drought. But that has increased the challenge for crews battling flames feeding on dense vegetation. "There's ample fuel and steep terrain," Cal Fire spokeswoman DeeDee Garcia said. "It makes firefighting difficult." Gov. Jerry Brown has declared an emergency, bolstering the state's resources to battle the fire that he said has forced thousands of residents to flee and is expected to continue burning. The cause of the fire was under investigation. Here are some of the road closures effective Wednesday, July 19: What to Know Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk says he has the go-ahead to build a Hyperloop system connecting NY to DC The Hyperloop, an electromagnetic tube system, would transport people from city to city in 29 minutes Musk first proposed the idea of an intercity Hyperloop in 2013 UPDATE: Elon Musk's NY-DC Hyperloop One Step Closer to Reality New York to Washington in 29 minutes? Elon Musk says it's possible and he has the government's approval to do it (though it's anyone's guess how long it would take to build). "Just received verbal govt approval for The Boring Company to build an underground NY-Phil-Balt-DC Hyperloop. NY-DC in 29 mins," the billionaire inventor and entrepreneur tweeted Thursday afternoon. "City center to city center in each case, with up to a dozen or more entry/exit elevators in each city," he said in another tweet. The Boring Company is Musk's tunneling venture. "Still a lot of work needed to receive formal approval, but am optimistic that will occur rapidly," Musk said about an hour later. He waited until Friday morning to acknowledge, again via Twitter, that the verbal approval was at the federal level only. "Still a lot of work before formal, written approval, but this opens door for state & city discussions," he added. In a statement to News 4 New York on Thursday, a Boring Company spokesperson said the company has had a number of promising conversations with local, state and federal government officials. "With few exceptions, feedback has been very positive and we have received verbal support from key government decision-makers for tunneling plans, including a Hyperloop route from New York to Washington," the person said, adding the company hopes to "break ground later this year." LEVITATING PODS Passengers traveling via Hyperloop would board magnetically levitating pods moved by electric propulsion. The U.S. Department of Transportation referred inquiries about the project to the White House. The Trump administration acknowledged Musk's tweet while not getting into any specifics about a possible project. "We have had promising conversations to date, are committed to transformative infrastructure projects, and believe our greatest solutions have often come from the ingenuity and drive of the private sector," a White House spokesman said. [NATL] The Many Handshakes of President Donald Trump Representatives for both the New York City and Washington, D.C. mayors said they were unaware of approvals for the project. "This is news to City Hall," tweeted Eric Phillips, a spokesman for New York Mayor Bill de Blasio. "This is the first weve heard of it, but we can't wait to hear more," said LaToya Foster, spokeswoman for D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser. The D.C. Department of Transportation did not immediately respond to an inquiry. The Federal Transit Administration deferred to the Transportation Department. In February, Musk tweeted photos from a tunnel in D.C., sparking a flurry of speculation. NBC Washington learned he toured the 2 1/2-mile-long Anacostia River Tunnel and saw the tunnel-boring machine that created it. A spokesman for Musk declined to speak at the time about the purpose of the tour. Baltimore officials, in statements to local media, said they supported the project and would not stand in its way. SKEPTICS CHALLENGE Skeptics wasted no time in challenging Musk on the details of his announcement Thursday, including the BBC's Silicon Valley reporter, who asked whether the CEO was announcing prematurely in a bid to drum up support. "Support would be much appreciated!" he replied. In a later response to an inquisitive follower, Musk did say the work on the New York-to-Washington tunnel would run in parallel to an existing project to build tunnels in Los Angeles. "Then prob LA-SF and a TX loop," he tweeted. He gave no estimate for how long any of these projects would take or what they might cost. He also indicated that adding Boston and Providence to the NY-DC route would be a "natural extension," and said his company had been approached by Chicago officials about an O'Hare-to-downtown tunnel as well. Musk is best known for his electric car company Tesla and his space venture SpaceX, as well as co-founding PayPal. The inventor first proposed the Hyperloop electromagnetic tube system in 2013. Earlier this year the California tech company Hyperloop One unveiled a plan for a NY-to-DC system. Musk's system appeared to be different from theirs, though. Technology company Hyperloop One has unveiled a plan for a high-speed tube that could take people from New York City to Washington, D.C. in just 23 minutes. In April, former D.C. Department of Transportation head Gabe Klein said he thinks Hyperloop will happen. "I think it's going to become a reality," he said. "I think it may take longer than people think to get through all the right-of-way clearances and the sort of government regulations. But I think we are in for a sea change in terms of long-haul transportation." The illness outbreak at the Chipotle location in Sterling, Virginia, sickened approximately 60 people, the local health department said Thursday. One of these customers has tested positive for norovirus, Dr. David Goodfriend of the Loudoun County Health Department said in a statement. Additional research is needed to pinpoint why people got sick. "This provides additional information but is not sufficient to determine the cause of the outbreak," Goofriend said. The Chipotle restaurant was closed for two days because people said they got sick after eating there. Chipotle said Tuesday that it temporarily closed the restaurant. The company said it became aware of a "small number" of reported illnesses. The reported symptoms are consistent with norovirus, for which symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea and stomach pain. The restaurant was back open Wednesday morning. The specific cause of the outbreak has not been found, the Loudoun County Health Department said in a statement Wednesday. "We are encouraged that those affected are starting to feel better, and we are focused on preventing any new infections," the statement said. Other Chipotle locations in the D.C. area remained open. Beth Oteyza said she and her daughter got severely ill after they shared a salad with chicken from the Chipotle location in Sterling on Friday. "We decided to call the ambulance because I couldn't even sit up," Oteyza said. "The ambulance took me to Leesburg hospital. My daughter came and my husband came, and as they were waiting for me in the ER, she started throwing up." "They both diagnosed us with the same thing, which is gastroenteritis. And when we compared our notes, we determined that the one thing we had both eaten in common was the Chipotle carryout food," Oteyza continued. On Tuesday afternoon, she said she still felt sick. Customer Chris Lee said he also got sick after he ate at the restaurant on Friday. He also ordered a salad with chicken. "About 7 o'clock on Saturday, really bad stomach pains. I just got better today," he said Tuesday afternoon. The Denver-based company said norovirus does not come from its food supply and it is safe to eat at its restaurants. "We take every report of illness seriously. In accordance with our established protocols, our team is working to ensure the safety of our customers and employees, including voluntarily closing the restaurant yesterday to conduct a complete sanitization," Jim Marsden, executive director for food safety, said in a statement issued Tuesday. Norovirus is a highly contagious virus you can get from contaminated food, surfaces or people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Food workers can spread the virus through poor hygiene practices. Chipotle said Tuesday morning that it planned to reopen the restaurant later that day after a "complete sanitization." A Loudoun County health inspector at the restaurant Tuesday afternoon said she believed the restaurant would not reopen Tuesday. Chipotle has been working to bounce back from food scares that included an E. coli outbreak in the fall of 2015 and a norovirus case in Boston later that year. Among the changes the company has announced are tweaks to cooking methods and training for employees to prevent such cases. In addition to reassuring customers of the safety measures it has taken, Chipotle had been giving away coupons for free burritos and stepping up marketing to win back customers. For the first three months of this year, sales were up 18 percent at established locations. That followed a 20 percent decline in 2016. Norovirus is the leading cause of illness and outbreaks from contaminated food in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Infected employees are frequently the source of the outbreaks, the CDC says, often by touching foods such as raw fruits and vegetables with their bare hands before serving them. Anyone who at at the Sterling location and fell ill is encouraged to call the county health department at 703-771-5411. Chipotle Mexican Grill's shares fell more than 5 percent Tuesday, after Business Insider reported the closure in Virginia. One Chipotle customer outside the restaurant on Tuesday said she'll return no matter what. "I love Chipotle," she repeated and laughed. The health department said further test results should be available early next week. A woman with a record of trying to illegally enter the White House grounds has pleaded guilty to an incident on the Fourth of July. Alicia Keppler of Spartanburg, South Carolina, pleaded guilty Tuesday to entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds. Keppler has had a history of attempting to gain access to White House grounds, including on the Fourth of July two years in a row, according to authorities. In the most recent incident, Keppler, 32, jumped over a bike rack security fence, according to a court document. She ignored orders from the U.S. Secret Service to back away from the security barrier near the fence line and was forcefully taken to the ground by an officer, according to court records filed by the officer. In his court filing, the Secret Service officer said Keppler refused to identify herself after her arrest and was not carrying identification. "At no time did the individual gain access to the actual White House grounds," a Secret Service spokesman said. Keppler faces a maximum of a year in prison and a fine when she is sentenced Sept. 19. A court document says Keppler previously jumped over a bicycle rack security fence in March 2016 and then twice violated a court order by returning, once to try to get into the White House Easter Egg Roll. Keppler was also arrested by the U.S. Secret Service on July 4, 2016 for allegedly trying to break onto White House grounds, police have said. That attempt occurred at the White House Ellipse along the east side of 17th Street NW, according to court records. The case was dismissed when Keppler agreed to enter a diversion program and was ordered to undergo mental health services. Keppler's attorney didn't immediately respond to a telephone call requesting comment Wednesday. Keppler's case is among a recent string of attempts to breach security at the White House. A News4 I-Team review of prosecutions handled by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia showed at least 20 prosecutions of people arrested for breaching security since 2014. A majority of the cases involved people for whom mental health screenings were ordered. Several of the cases, including Keppler's, involved multiple attempts spanning several months. Former Secret Service officer Robert Caltabiano said the agency often arrests repeat offenders breaching security. There really isn't a lot, at times, the government can do to hold them," he said. "They can arrest (the offender) for trespassing, and if there's no security component of threatening against the president, the reality is they're going to be released. And guess what? They do it again." President Donald Trump took office promising a pivot for the country on everything from health care to immigration, a transfer of power not from one administration to another but from Washington, D.C., to the American people. In his inaugural address, Trump said the United States must protect against other countries stealing companies and jobs, and vowed prosperity and strength. "From this day forward, its going to be America first -- America first," he said. "Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs, will be made to benefit American workers and American families." Anne Norton, the chairwoman of the political science department at the University of Pennsylvania, said that, symbolically, Trump has met the expectations of his supporters and those who voted for him as a protest. "They believe he is 'sticking it to the man' both in Washington and abroad," Norton said. "When he tweets things his critics regard as offensive or ridiculous or outright falsehoods -- that's all to the good for them. The more provocative he is, even the more he profits from his office, the better they like it." [NATL] Donald Trump's Presidency in Pictures But for those looking for policy changes, he has not met expectations, Norton said. "He hasn't displaced the elites, he hasn't built the wall, he hasn't done a whole series of things that they want him to do and most importantly, he hasn't found them jobs," she said. Trump and the Congressional Republicans had a significant and very public failure this week when the U.S. Senate failed to repeal Obamacare and replace it with an alternate health care bill. Plus, Trump's administration has been rocked by revelations of contacts with Russian officials and clashes in the federal courts. His $4.1 trillion spending plan, with deep domestic spending cuts, has little chance in Congress. His promises of tax cuts and infrastructure projects are still to come. Observers are saying that Trump needs a win in tax reform to show a legislative success. Google shared their top U.S. searches involving President Trump heading into his six-month anniversary in office. Can you guess the most-searched term or phrase? Though the legislative scorecard is lacking, Trump has had other victories, particularly on the U.S. Supreme Court. Here's a look at his progress so far. HEALTH CARE Repeal and Replace, or Just Repeal? Republicans failed to come through on their promise, and Trumps, to repeal and replace "Obamacare" when the U.S. Senate version for a replacement bill collapsed on Tuesday. Two senators Mike Lee of Utah and Jerry Moran of Kansas announced they would not support the new health care bill, a vote on which had been delayed while Sen. John McCain recovered from surgery, which led to a brain tumor diagnosis for the senator. Two other senators, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Susan Collins of Maine had already come out against the bill which would have allowed insurers to sell low-cost, bare bones plans but included deep cuts Medicaid. Only one additional defection was needed to doom it because Senate Democrats all opposed it. The House bill, narrowly approved in May, would leave 23 million more people without insurance than under the Affordable Care Act. A fallback plan to pass a straight repeal also fell apart. Is the RHOA star romancing the former Criminal Minds hunk? FOREIGN AFFAIRS ISIS' Shrinking State Trump saw the defeat of ISIS in Mosul, Iraq's second largest city and one of ISIS's strongholds, last week after a nine-month battle. But the terrorist group still holds significant territory in Syria and in Iraq, particularly the Syrian city of Raqqa, which it declared its capital. During the campaign, Trump once said he would "bomb the hell" out of ISIS and ordered his generals to submit a plan for defeating ISIS within 30 days. The Pentagon sent him a preliminary one on Feb. 27. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi is greeted by cheering residents after arriving in Mosul, where Iraqi forces are fighting to retake the last bit of the battle-ruined city from ISIS fighters. Iran's Nuclear Deal During the campaign, Trump criticized the nuclear agreement with Iran as "the worst deal ever." But since taking office, he has twice certified its compliance with the deal. He continues to say that his administration wants to strengthen the deal. His administration is preparing new economic sanctions against Iran because of its ballistic missile program and its adding to regional tensions. President Donald Trump criticized Iran during a joint press conference with Italian Premier Paolo Gentiloni, saying Iran "are not living up to the spirit" of its nuclear disarmament program. ECONOMY Jobs, Jobs, Jobs, Jobs Trump got good news on one of his main campaign pledges when the government reported that 222,000 jobs had been added in June, though some manufacturers will continue to send jobs overseas. Ford Motors, for example, announced it would produce its Focus model in China. And though the jobless rate rose slightly, that was because job seekers who had given up returned. A new jobs report from the federal government showed 235,000 new jobs added to the economy for President Donald Trump's first full month in office, with data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showing a lowered unemployment rate as well. Other Economic Measures Put the stock market in the positive column for the Trump team, as it's hit record levels several times during his presidency, including last week. And a report from the Federal Reserve at the beginning of July found that the U.S. economy was growing steadily, though still faces problems: Investment levels remain low, productivity is growing slowly, and pay is rising slowly. The Associated Press disputed Trump's contention that "no matter where you look, the economy is blazing." "At best, it's a controlled burn," an AP fact check said. The economy grew at a sluggish annual rate of 1.4 percent during the first three months of the year and Federal Reserve officials are predicting the economy will grow by 2.2 percent this year, leaving the 4 percent annual growth Trump has predicted elusive. THE COURTS Tilting Right on the Supreme Court One of Trumps clear victories has been the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court. Trump had promised to nominate federal judges in the mold of Justice (Antonin) Scalia. Gorsuch, who voted to allow an Arkansas inmate to be put to death and was in favor of allowing all of Trumps travel ban to take effect while the court considers it, has already been one of the most conservative justices on the high court. He replaced Scalia after Republicans in the U.S. Senate refused to consider President Barack Obamas pick, Merrick Garland. Trump has the chance to fill more than 120 openings on the federal courts a result of the slow pace with which Republicans took up Obamas nominees. New orders for U.S.-made goods unexpectedly fell in November amid sharp declines in demand for machinery and electrical equipment, government data showed on Monday. IMMIGRATION Walling off Mexico Throughout the campaign, Trump promised a wall along the more than 1,900-mile U.S.-Mexico border that Mexico would pay for. That wall recently shrunk to 700 to 900 miles after Trump told reporters on July 13 that natural barriers and other factors make a longer one unnecessary. There is already a fence along nearly 700 miles of the border. The wall, for which House Republicans have budgeted $1.6 billion to begin construction, could include solar panels and would need to be transparent so drugs couldnt be thrown over it, Trump said. So far, Mexico is refusing to pay. A House panel unveiled a plan to begin building President Donald Trump's proposed border wall Tuesday. The $1.6 billion will be added to the government's almost $20 trillion debt. Trump promised on the campaign trail that Mexico would pay for the wall, but he has not come up with a plan to make that happen. Banning Travel from Mostly Muslim Countries Trumps campaign call for barring all Muslims from entering the United States has been scaled back and the administration would now ban people from certain predominantly Muslim countries. But even that has run afoul of the federal courts, which blocked implementation of the initial ban and a subsequent revised version. At the end of June, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed some parts to go forward until it could hear arguments on the policy but left the details to the Trump administration. On July 13, a federal judge in Hawaii expanded categories to allow in grandparents and other close relatives, a decision the U.S. Supreme Court upheld on Wednesday. The case pits the presidents authority to limit immigration against protection from discrimination based on religious beliefs or national origin. President Donald Trump's revised travel ban, a tightening of already-tough visa rules affecting citizens and refugees from six Muslim-majority countries, will go into effect Thursday evening. The ACLU is criticizing the Trump administration for pushing on with the ban, citing the chaos that erupted in airports nationwide the first time the ban went into effect. Arresting Undocumented Immigrants Arrests of immigrants jumped 40 percent, according to a government report released in May, with the largest arrest spike in immigrants with no criminal offense other than being undocumented. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have arrested more than 41,000 people since January at an average of 400 arrests a day, according to a report by ICE. The increase came though Trump had said that his immigration crackdown would focus heavily on criminals, "bad hombres" and public safety. CLIMATE CHANGE Methane Regulation The Trump administrations efforts to roll back dozens of environmental regulations put in place by President Barack Obama hit a legal setback at the beginning of July when a federal appeals court ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency could not suspend a rule to restrict methane emissions from new oil and gas wells. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt had imposed a two-year moratorium on parts of the regulation, but the court ruled that his decision was unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious. The EPA must instead go through a new, exhaustive rule-making process. Paris Agreement Trump made good on his campaign pledge to cancel the Paris climate accord last month when he announced the United States would withdraw from the agreement. And though he said he wanted a better deal for the United States, the leaders of France, German and Italy responded that the 2015 pact was not open for renegotiation. Trump described the agreement, adopted by 195 countries, as draconian and said it imposed unfair standards on the U.S. businesses. The United States was to have cut its greenhouse gas emissions 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. It also would have committed up to $3 billion in aid for poorer countries by 2020. Donald Trump announced that the United States is withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement. Keystone XL Pipeline Trump approved the Keystone XL Pipeline in March, reversing a decision by President Barack Obama on the controversial project opposed by environmentalists and some Native Americans. Trump said the pipeline's construction would bring new jobs, lower energy costs and reduce U.S. reliance on foreign oil. [NATL] The Many Handshakes of President Donald Trump CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GCP Applied Technologies Inc. (NYSE:GCP), a leading global provider of construction products technologies, today announced that it expects to release its second quarter 2017 results at 6:00 a.m. ET on Thursday, August 3, 2017. President and Chief Executive Officer Gregory E. Poling and Chief Financial Officer Dean P. Freeman will host a conference call to discuss the results later that day at 10:00 a.m. ET. The live webcast may be accessed by visiting the Events and Presentations section of the companys website at investor.gcpat.com. The call also may be accessed by dialing +1 (844) 887-9408 in the U.S. or +1 (412) 317-9261 internationally. Participants should ask to join the GCP Applied Technologies earnings call. For those unable to listen to the live conference call, a playback will be available until August 10, 2017. To listen to the playback, please dial +1 (877) 344-7529 in the U.S. or +1 (412) 317-0088 internationally; the access code is 10110219. A webcast replay will also be available in the Events and Presentations section of the companys website for approximately three months. About GCP Applied Technologies GCP Applied Technologies is a leading global provider of construction products technologies that include additives for cement and concrete, waterproofing, air barriers, roofing and flooring underlayments, repair systems, and fire protection applications. The company is creating new product categories in the ready-mix concrete industry with its Verifi in-transit concrete management system and has launched new Silcor liquid waterproofing and Perm-A-Barrier weather barrier products that improve building performance and reduce labor costs. GCP products have been used to build some of the worlds most renowned structures. More information is available at www.gcpat.com. A Vermont man, whose girlfriend was found dead down an embankment last week in Middlesex, has been taken into custody in Illinois. Vermont State Police had issued an arrest warrant for 61-year-old Randal Gebo on charges of aggravated vehicle operation without owner consent and fraudulent use of a credit card. Gebo was arrested without incident Wednesday in Downers Grove, Illinois, by the Illinois State Police following a traffic stop. He was driving the 2009 Mini Cooper that belonged to homicide victim, Cindy Cook. Illinois State Police seized the vehicle as evidence following Gebos arrest. Cook's body was found July 12 in a secluded area in Middlesex after a resident called about the discovery. Gebo is scheduled to appear in federal court in Illinois Thursday for an initial appearance. No other details are available. Gov. Phil Scott, R-Vermont, issued an executive order Thursday creating a 21-person climate action commission. The move came weeks after President Donald Trump announced the United States would be withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement, which had set aggressive goals to address climate change, including the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Despite what's going on in Washington, I am committed to doing our part, Scott said in announcing the climate action commission. The commission, made up of business leaders, transportation experts, members of the agriculture and forestry sectors, utility representatives, and others, will advise Gov. Scott on a long-term plan to slash greenhouse gas emissions and embrace renewable energy. Scott reaffirmed Vermonts 2016 commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80-95 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2050. He said the state also wants to meet 90 percent of its energy needs through renewable sources by 2050. The question we have to answer today is whether we're going to let the impacts of a changing climate threaten our people and our economy, or are we going to harness the innovative minds of Vermonters to lead the growing climate change economy? Gov. Scott said at the announcement. Scott said he wants the commission to give him three tangible suggestions by the end of the yearways Vermonts legislature can start thinking about attacking climate change while improving the economy. Some environmentalists told necn they hope to see bold recommendations from the commission, including recognition of the importance of renewable energy. I hope it's not another study to delay action, said Robb Kidd from the Sierra Club. The wave of the future is around renewable energy. When we have communities all across the country pledging to go 100 percent renewable, that's what the state should proceed to. Those recommendations that are coming in January can't be little things that nibble around the edges, added Ben Edgerly Walsh, the climate and energy program director of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group. They need to be actions that will have Governor Scott walk the walk in a real way in the short term. Scott said however the state tackles this urgent challenge, it must provide solutions for all Vermontersincluding the most vulnerable. The governor said no individual group should be unduly burdened. Scott added that programs developed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions must spark business growth and allow Vermonters to save money while reducing their carbon impact. Police say a special education teacher is facing several molestation charges following an assault at a Rhode Island mall. Police say Matthew Labriola, a 35-year-old man, from Plainville, Massachusetts, intentionally bumped into a group of girls at the Providence Place Mall July 12 and touched their chest and shoulders. Labriola was arrested after several of the victims identified him to police. He has been charged with five counts of child molestation and one count of sexual assault. Fall River Public Schools tells the Providence Journal he was a teacher at James Madison Morton Middle School. School officials say he has been placed on administrative leave, pending the ongoing investigation. Christians celebrate God's creation at Norwich Pride Christians celebrate God's creation at Norwich Pride Christians will taking part in the Norwich Pride March on Saturday July 29 to celebrate Gods creation and humanity in all its diversity and they are inviting others to join them. Earlier this week, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) announced the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) standards have been extended to include mesh network features. It is clear that the Internet of Things (IoT) is the intended market. The SIG says: Bluetooth Mesh is ideally suited for building automation, sensor networks and other IoT solutions where tens, hundreds, or thousands of devices need to reliably and securely communicate with one another. Mesh networks are not new. It is a network topology in which each node relays data for the network. All mesh nodes cooperate in the distribution of data in the network. The IoT-purpose-built Zigbeea low-power, low-bandwidth ad hoc networkis a mesh network. Dating to 2002, Aruba Networks was founded to build Wi-Fi mesh networks. In 2014, student protesters in Hong Kong used mobile app FireChat to turn the crowds smartphones into a Wi-Fi and Bluetooth mesh network so authorities could not interrupt protesters coordinating conversations by blocking 3G and 4G network access. Bluetooth Mesh has some very desirable features: Mesh networks are self-healing. If a node fails, packets are routed around the failure, provided there are a least two nodes within range of one and other. Standards bring interoperability. The combination of BLE mesh networks and BLE beacons have very interesting applications in asset tracking and providing location-based context to augmented reality (AR) applications. Multiple silicon sources from established semiconductor makers such as Texas Instruments, Nordic and Cypress foster competition and lower prices. Is this the right time for an innovative IoT industry to commit to one standard above the data link layer? The implementation of the BLE mesh standard at the physical and data link layers in silicon modules and radio ICs could result in competitive prices that would drive the adoption of IoT. But it does not have to be implemented above layer 2. Implementing further up the stack is questionable when there is so much innovation ahead in the IoT and continued research into protocol independent mesh networks that could accelerate innovation. The Bluetooth SIGs BLE mesh specification is very comprehensive, carefully considered and well engineered. The use casessmart buildings, sensor networks and industrial networksare also carefully considered. It is unclear, though, at this point in time when most IoT applications are prototypes if all the requirements of the use cases under development now and in the next few years are incorporated in the specification, and if a standards body can keep pace with rapidly changing requirements of an emerging new market. Is a standards body like the Bluetooth SIG the right format for innovation? There is not a Github repository accompanying the release of the BLE mesh spec. An open-source project that captures the software contributions of companies and independent developers could introduce new and better approaches to the implementation of the specification. To influence the specification, innovators who may need a modification to the specification must join the SIG, join a Working Group, contribute the modification to the specification, and if an agreement is reached, contribute this modification to the specification. If the modification is not adopted, the innovator cannot implement the modification separately without conflicting with the SIGs Bluetooth Patent/Copyright License Agreement. The agreement says: Compliant Portion means only those specific portions of products (hardware, software or combinations thereof) that: (i) implement and are compliant with the actual Bluetooth Specification and/or Foundation Specification, whichever the case may be, (ii) are qualified pursuant to the Bluetooth Qualification Process, (iii) are within the bounds of the Scope and (iv) meet the requirements set forth in the Compliance Requirements. That means the innovator could not use the extremely valuable Bluetooth brand to market the product. There is a little wiggle room for an innovator to engineer around the compliance issue because the agreement allows the implementation of functions not required for compliance. Open source could meet the mesh specification in the middle The Bluetooth Patent/Copyright License Agreement is not an open source agreement like the Apache or MIT Licenses that foster the contributions of improvements and enhancements back to the project. Access to the specification is free, but using the valuable Bluetooth brand requires a membership fee. The Bluetooth SIG communities benefit less from the virtuous cycle of innovation compared to open source communities. It also means the functions needed to implement the specification but not included in the specification will be redundantly developed by SIG members. The workmanship in the Bluetooth Mesh specification to enable products to interoperate, interconnect or communicate is very impressive. An accompanying open source initiative to the announcement of the specification could accelerate the adoption of Bluetooth Mesh and save the redundant R&D of its implementation and ensure that the Bluetooth Mesh specification keeps pace with fast changing requirements. TORONTO, July 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ZoomerMedia Limited (TSXV:ZUM) (the Company), the leader in serving the interests of the 45+ Zoomer market in Canada, today announced its financial results for the third quarter ended May 31, 2017. Consolidated Results For the three months ended May 31, 2017 the Company had revenues of $12.3 million, operating expenses of $12.0 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $0.3 million. Net loss for the three months ended May 31, 2017 was $0.3 million. For the comparative three months ended May 31, 2016 the Company had revenues of $13.6 million, operating expenses of $11.8 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $1.9 million. Net income for the three months ended May 31, 2016 was $13.2 million. For the nine months ended May 31, 2017 the Company had revenues of $38.4 million, operating expenses of $36.8 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $1.6 million. Net loss for the nine months ended May 31, 2017 was $0.1 million. For the comparative nine months ended May 31, 2016 the Company had revenues of $40.1 million, operating expenses of $35.2 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $4.9 million. Net income for the nine months ended May 31, 2016 was $9.9 million. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are not calculations based on IFRS and should not be considered an alternative to net income in measuring the Companys performance, nor should they be used as an exclusive measure of cash flow, because they do not consider the impact of movements in working capital (including liabilities relating to program rights), capital expenditures, debt principal reductions and other sources and uses of cash which are disclosed in the consolidated statements of cash flows. Investors should carefully consider the specific items included in our computation of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA. Additional Information Detailed financial information and Managements Discussion and Analysis for the three and nine months ended May 31, 2017 can be found on SEDARs website at www.sedar.com. The financial information included in this release is qualified in its entirety and should be read together with the interim consolidated financial statements for the three and nine months ended May 31, 2017, including the notes thereto. About ZoomerMedia Limited ZoomerMedia is a multimedia company that serves the 45plus Zoomer demographic through television, radio, magazine, internet and trade shows. ZoomerMedias television properties include; Vision TV, Canadas only multi-faith specialty television service; ONE: Get Fit, offering programs on exercise, meditation, yoga, natural health and living a planet-friendly lifestyle; JoyTV in Vancouver, Victoria, Surrey and the Fraser Valley, and HOPETV, a lifestyle television service out of Winnipeg devoted to broadcasting Christian programming and is available in approximately 6 million Canadian homes. ZoomerMedias radio properties include CFMZ-FM Toronto The New Classical 96.3FM, CFMX-FM Cobourg The New Classical 103.1FM, CFMO-FM Collingwood The New Classical 102.9FM, Canadas only commercial classical music radio stations serving the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), eastern Ontario and Collingwood, CFZM-AM 740 Toronto and CFZM-FM 96.7FM Toronto Zoomer Radio, Torontos Timeless Hits Station. ZoomerMedia also publishes ZOOMER Magazine, the largest paid circulation magazine in Canada for the mature market. ZoomerMedia is Canadas leading provider of online content targeting the 45plus age group through many properties, the key one being www.EverythingZoomer.com. ZoomerMedia also has trade show and conference divisions that produce the ZoomerShows, annual consumer shows directed to the Zoomer demographic and ideaCity, an annual Canadian conference also known as 'Canada's Premiere Meeting of the Minds'. Cautionary note on forward looking statements The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. Certain statements made in this report are forward-looking statements which may include, without limitation, any statement that may predict, forecast, indicate or imply future results, performance or achievements, and may contain the words believe, anticipate, expect, estimate, project, will be, will continue, will likely result or similar words or phrases. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties are detailed from time to time in filings by ZoomerMedia Limited with provincial securities commissions. New risk factors emerge from time to time and it is not possible for management to predict all such risk factors, nor can it assess the impact of all such risk factors on the Companys business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to, the following: the risks inherent in magazine publishing; the risks inherent in the operation of Internet media properties; the risks inherent in the operation of television broadcast properties; the risks inherent in the operation of radio broadcast properties; the risks inherent in the operations of affinity partners with respect to royalty revenue; the risks inherent in the operation of consumer shows generally, the competition within the media industry for the baby boomer generations business; the risks associated with governmental regulation of the publishing, internet, radio broadcasting and television broadcasting businesses; the results of legal claims made by or against the Company; the dependence of the business on the continuing operation of its computer systems; and the dependence of the business on key personnel. Given these risks, and uncertainties, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results. ZoomerMedia Limited does not intend and does not assume any obligation to update these forward-looking statements. CALGARY, Alberta, July 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canadas largest faith-based Christian music festival, No Greater Love (NGL), is excited to announce its Saturday evening headliner is country superstar Reba McEntire. The festival will take place August 12 13 at the Chief Goodstoney Rodeo Lands on the Stoney Nakoda Nation, located 40 minutes west of Calgary. Reba has achieved a rare pinnacle with 35 No. 1 singles and more than 56 million albums sold worldwide. The Country Music Hall of Fame and Hollywood Bowl member has won 15 American Music Awards, 14 ACM Awards, 9 Peoples Choice Awards, 7 CMA Awards and 2 Grammy Awards, in addition to an ACM Career Achievement Honor and 50th Anniversary Milestone Award for the Most Awarded ACM Female Vocalist of the Year, as well as the first-ever American Country Countdown NASH Icon Award and a National Artistic Achievement Award from the U.S. Congress. The Grand Ole Opry member has also received the Andrea Bocelli Foundation Humanitarian Award and Leadership Music Dale Franklin Award. During her 2011 All The Women I Am Tour, Pollstar and Billboards Boxscore named Reba the #1 female Country touring artist with a combined total of over 9 million tickets sold in her career. Rebas No Greater Love festival appearance is her first visit to the Calgary area since her performance during the 2014 Calgary Stampede. Having a major international artist headline a faith-based music festival is unique and as far as we know, has never been done before, says Executive Producer Karri Ward. We are thrilled to have Reba perform at this years festival. In February 2017, McEntire released her latest album, Sing It Now: Songs of Faith and Hope, as a two-disc collection of 20 songs, including 10 classic hymns and 10 contemporary spiritual songs. The powerful single Back to God topped the Billboard Country and Christian/Gospel charts, making it her 13th number one hit. Also confirmed for this years NGL lineup are the talents of For King and Country, Building 429, Jamie Grace, Hawk Nelson, and more. The festival, which debuted to 5,000 concert-goers in 2016, featured Christian music greats Michael W. Smith, Switchfoot, and Tenth Avenue North last year. No Greater Love is unlike any other music festival in the world thanks to its collaborative spirit and stunning Rocky Mountain backdrop. In a unique relationship with the Stoney Nakoda first nations community, the festival takes place on their Nation, in a jaw-dropping meadow space featured in films such as Legends of the Fall, The Revenant and Shanghai Noon. Attendees can enjoy family and youth zones, including a skateboard park, a Kids Kingdom featuring sports, slides, and kids activities, a vendor alley showcasing local artisans, an area highlighting First Nations culture, food truck village and more. The festival features music that is Christian faith-based, but we are truly non-denominational. Our team created this event based on unity of faith, family, and community, and we cant think of a better way to accomplish that than through a beautiful setting with incredible music, added Ward. Weekend passes are currently on sale for $150, day passes are $99, and ample family-friendly camping onsite is available. To buy tickets, camping passes or learn more about the event, visit www.nogreaterlove.ca. About The No Greater Love Music Festival The No Greater Love Music Festival is Canadas largest faith-based Christian music festival. Its all about unity and community! The event started in 2016, with 5,000 people coming together at the foot of the majestic Canadian Rockies to enjoy incredible music in a family-friendly festival setting. Hosted on the Stoney Nakoda Nation and dubbed one of the most spectacular festival backdrops in North America, the area is recognized as 'Mother Natures Movie Set' where Hollywood Blockbusters such as The Revenant, Legends of The Fall and Shanghai Noon were filmed. Its the perfect setting for a one-of-a-kind experience. Visit www.nogreaterlove.ca. Sunitha natti By Express News Service MUMBAI: Its not a merger of equals, still R Thyagarajan, founder, Shriram Group, expects the proposed combined entity to be called IDFC Shriram, ostensibly for the love of language. I prefer to go by the English alphabet and I comes first (laughs). So it will be IDFC-Shriram and theres no other logic behind it, Thyagarajan, known fondly as RT, told Express. When you merge as equals, you shouldnt start quarrelling about whose name comes first, he added. But this is precisely what investors are not convinced terming the deal an unequal marriage. The Chennai-based financial services conglomerate is much larger than the Mumbai-based IDFC with which the former will be merged, subject to regulatory approvals. You can say after 10 years, if it goes well, IDFC could be bigger than Shriram. Today, its small, but it could grow bigger. Big or small doesnt matter. From the communitys point of view, two entities coming together is a much better proposition than each operating independently, he explained. According to RT, there were few other proposals in the past, which Shriram had turned down. But is now pursuing the IDFC proposal as it allows the company to widen the scope of financial products and services. He insists that though technically it is a merger, both companies will adopt a partnership approach, something Shriram has been doing for the past 15-20 years. We got private equity, telco, City Union, Sanlam as partners and we have been successful, RT recalled. Both teams from IDFC and Shriram and consultants covering areas like legal, taxation and regulatory approvals are working behind the scenes to arrive at an acceptable structure. The exercise is likely to be completed in a month, after which it will be presented to the regulators to convince them the deal is doable. For now its only a standstill understanding between IDFC and Shriram to determine the valuation and structure of the combined entity within 90 days. Since no formal agreement is signed, the deadline could be extended if both parties wish to. Else, we will go back and everything will be normal, RT said. Can the 90-day deadline be met? The process has started. It will take another one month or so to work out the structure. But, it will take 1-2 years for integration, thats what the pundits tell me, he said. MUMBAI: Its not a merger of equals, still R Thyagarajan, founder, Shriram Group, expects the proposed combined entity to be called IDFC Shriram, ostensibly for the love of language. I prefer to go by the English alphabet and I comes first (laughs). So it will be IDFC-Shriram and theres no other logic behind it, Thyagarajan, known fondly as RT, told Express. When you merge as equals, you shouldnt start quarrelling about whose name comes first, he added. But this is precisely what investors are not convinced terming the deal an unequal marriage. The Chennai-based financial services conglomerate is much larger than the Mumbai-based IDFC with which the former will be merged, subject to regulatory approvals. You can say after 10 years, if it goes well, IDFC could be bigger than Shriram. Today, its small, but it could grow bigger. Big or small doesnt matter. From the communitys point of view, two entities coming together is a much better proposition than each operating independently, he explained. According to RT, there were few other proposals in the past, which Shriram had turned down. But is now pursuing the IDFC proposal as it allows the company to widen the scope of financial products and services. He insists that though technically it is a merger, both companies will adopt a partnership approach, something Shriram has been doing for the past 15-20 years. We got private equity, telco, City Union, Sanlam as partners and we have been successful, RT recalled. Both teams from IDFC and Shriram and consultants covering areas like legal, taxation and regulatory approvals are working behind the scenes to arrive at an acceptable structure. The exercise is likely to be completed in a month, after which it will be presented to the regulators to convince them the deal is doable. For now its only a standstill understanding between IDFC and Shriram to determine the valuation and structure of the combined entity within 90 days. Since no formal agreement is signed, the deadline could be extended if both parties wish to. Else, we will go back and everything will be normal, RT said. Can the 90-day deadline be met? The process has started. It will take another one month or so to work out the structure. But, it will take 1-2 years for integration, thats what the pundits tell me, he said. By Reuters NEW DELHI: About 57 percent of gas-fired power plants in India are lying idle due to non-availability of domestic gas, Power Minister Piyush Goyal told lawmakers on Thursday. "Domestic natural gas supply to power sector can improve only in case production levels increase in future," Goyal said. India, which has an installed gas-powered capacity of over 25 GW, is suffering from natural gas shortages that have required power plants to shut down or run at lower rates. India has asked Qatar, the world's biggest LNG exporter, to consider investing in some of its stranded gas based power plants. NEW DELHI: About 57 percent of gas-fired power plants in India are lying idle due to non-availability of domestic gas, Power Minister Piyush Goyal told lawmakers on Thursday. "Domestic natural gas supply to power sector can improve only in case production levels increase in future," Goyal said. India, which has an installed gas-powered capacity of over 25 GW, is suffering from natural gas shortages that have required power plants to shut down or run at lower rates. India has asked Qatar, the world's biggest LNG exporter, to consider investing in some of its stranded gas based power plants. By PTI NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court today asked the city police to file a status report with regard to the ongoing probe into the death of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor's wife Sunanada Pushkar. A bench of Justices G S Sistani and Chander Shekhar directed police to place within three days their report during hearing of Subramanian Swamy's plea for a court-monitored probe by the CBI-led SIT into the matter. The direction was issued by the bench after Delhi Police standing counsel Rahul Mehra informed the court that the status report of the investigating agency has been given to him in the court room so he wants to go through it before placing it on record. Mehra further informed the court that SIT has been constituted in the matter. He also said that the BJP leader's petition has raised serious allegations against the police probing the matter, so the agency be given time to place their stand. Considering the request made by Delhi Police counsel, the court fixed the matter for August 1 while directing them to supply an advance copy of the status report to Swamy, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the CBI. During further hearing, the Delhi Police told the court that a lot has happened in the matter and many more things has to be revealed which they have come across during the probe in the matter. "We (police) are pretty close to it (finishing the probe)," Mehra said, adding that, before transferring the case to any other agency, the police should be given chance to place their progress report. He further said, "we have nothing to hide in the matter". Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain, appearing for the MHA, submitted that the Delhi Police should also supply him with the copy of the status report in advance. Swamy has alleged that "inordinate delay" has been caused in the investigation "which is a blot on the justice system". The high court had on July 12 sought the Centre's stand in the case on a plea filed by the BJP leader seeking a court-monitored CBI-led SIT probe into the death of Pushkar. Swamy claimed that many of the evidences in the case have been destroyed and alleged that Tharoor was influencing the investigation in the matter. "This matter is of national and international interest as the victim was about to disclose about alleged corruption in cricket. She had also called for a press conference before her death to disclose about the same," Swamy had submitted. The plea, which was filed on July 6, has sought setting up of a multi-disciplinary Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Intelligence Bureau, the Enforcement Directorate, RAW, the Delhi Police and headed by the CBI to probe the case. Pushkar was found dead in a suite of a five-star hotel in south Delhi here on the night of January 17, 2014. NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court today asked the city police to file a status report with regard to the ongoing probe into the death of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor's wife Sunanada Pushkar. A bench of Justices G S Sistani and Chander Shekhar directed police to place within three days their report during hearing of Subramanian Swamy's plea for a court-monitored probe by the CBI-led SIT into the matter. The direction was issued by the bench after Delhi Police standing counsel Rahul Mehra informed the court that the status report of the investigating agency has been given to him in the court room so he wants to go through it before placing it on record. Mehra further informed the court that SIT has been constituted in the matter. He also said that the BJP leader's petition has raised serious allegations against the police probing the matter, so the agency be given time to place their stand. Considering the request made by Delhi Police counsel, the court fixed the matter for August 1 while directing them to supply an advance copy of the status report to Swamy, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the CBI. During further hearing, the Delhi Police told the court that a lot has happened in the matter and many more things has to be revealed which they have come across during the probe in the matter. "We (police) are pretty close to it (finishing the probe)," Mehra said, adding that, before transferring the case to any other agency, the police should be given chance to place their progress report. He further said, "we have nothing to hide in the matter". Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain, appearing for the MHA, submitted that the Delhi Police should also supply him with the copy of the status report in advance. Swamy has alleged that "inordinate delay" has been caused in the investigation "which is a blot on the justice system". The high court had on July 12 sought the Centre's stand in the case on a plea filed by the BJP leader seeking a court-monitored CBI-led SIT probe into the death of Pushkar. Swamy claimed that many of the evidences in the case have been destroyed and alleged that Tharoor was influencing the investigation in the matter. "This matter is of national and international interest as the victim was about to disclose about alleged corruption in cricket. She had also called for a press conference before her death to disclose about the same," Swamy had submitted. The plea, which was filed on July 6, has sought setting up of a multi-disciplinary Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Intelligence Bureau, the Enforcement Directorate, RAW, the Delhi Police and headed by the CBI to probe the case. Pushkar was found dead in a suite of a five-star hotel in south Delhi here on the night of January 17, 2014. HYDERABAD: For the first time, the Hyderabad police, who have registered 70 cases and arrested around 100 persons in connection with drug peddling activities, have found city-based students and businessmen peddling narcotic drugs procured from Germany. Following the arrest of nine persons in the city in connection with possessing drugs, the Task Force police was shocked to find a parcel of drugs imported from Germany. The parcel contains Methylenedioxy methamphetamine, commonly known as ecstasy or Molly (MDMA). Warning that offenders who are repeatedly committing drug peddling offences would be detained under PD Act, Task Force DCP B Limba Reddy said that they have recovered a courier parcel of drug material that was supplied from Germany to the city based drug addicts. The accused Raghu Vamshidhar Reddy, Abhinav Mahender and other accused had obtained information about international drug peddling gangs based in Germany and ordered for MDMA drugs through darknet websites, DCP Limba Reddy told Express. A courier was registered and sent by Deutsche Post, operating under the trade brand of Deutsche Group, German Postal service and international courier service to the name of Lakshman Mallik of KPHB. During the search, our teams found an envelop cover that reached the address of Lakshman Mallik, Maha Lakshmi Kirana store, KPHB on July 1. The courier was sent by international postal service of German based Deutsche Post to the accused on the fictitious name by supplying MDMA drug in the form of capsules, powder. It was revealed in the investigation that the accused ordered the drug, police said. The accused has opened online accounts as per rules and regulations of Germany and transferred the amount. For the seized courier drug material, the accused paid `2 lakh. Based on the call detail record (CDR) of the accused, the police have started investigation to find out the information about the international drug peddling gangs. HYDERABAD: For the first time, the Hyderabad police, who have registered 70 cases and arrested around 100 persons in connection with drug peddling activities, have found city-based students and businessmen peddling narcotic drugs procured from Germany. Following the arrest of nine persons in the city in connection with possessing drugs, the Task Force police was shocked to find a parcel of drugs imported from Germany. The parcel contains Methylenedioxy methamphetamine, commonly known as ecstasy or Molly (MDMA). Warning that offenders who are repeatedly committing drug peddling offences would be detained under PD Act, Task Force DCP B Limba Reddy said that they have recovered a courier parcel of drug material that was supplied from Germany to the city based drug addicts. The accused Raghu Vamshidhar Reddy, Abhinav Mahender and other accused had obtained information about international drug peddling gangs based in Germany and ordered for MDMA drugs through darknet websites, DCP Limba Reddy told Express. A courier was registered and sent by Deutsche Post, operating under the trade brand of Deutsche Group, German Postal service and international courier service to the name of Lakshman Mallik of KPHB. During the search, our teams found an envelop cover that reached the address of Lakshman Mallik, Maha Lakshmi Kirana store, KPHB on July 1. The courier was sent by international postal service of German based Deutsche Post to the accused on the fictitious name by supplying MDMA drug in the form of capsules, powder. It was revealed in the investigation that the accused ordered the drug, police said. The accused has opened online accounts as per rules and regulations of Germany and transferred the amount. For the seized courier drug material, the accused paid `2 lakh. Based on the call detail record (CDR) of the accused, the police have started investigation to find out the information about the international drug peddling gangs. By Express News Service HYDERABAD: The Norton Wi-Fi Risk Reports exposes how vulnerable our online lives are when you connect online 74 percent of Indians believe their personal information is safe when using public Wi-Fi, yet more than half (57 percent) act unsafely when online 51 percent of consumers cant wait more than a few minutes before logging onto a Wi-Fi network once they arrive somewhere new, showing the need to always be connected. An alarming 73 percent of Indians are even willing to do or swap something for a strong, free Wi-Fi signal. These were some of the findings of the Norton Wi-Fi Risk Reports released last week. Says Ritesh Chopra, Country Manager, Consumer Business Unit, Symantec, What someone thinks are private on their personal device can easily be accessed by cybercriminals through unsecure Wi-Fi Networks or even apps with privacy vulnerabilities. The Norton Wi-Fi Risk Report surveyed more than 15,000 consumers in 15 countries to learn about their public Wi-Fi practices and perceptions. The India scenario l 54 percent of Indians dont use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to secure their Wi-Fi connections, even though it is considered a best way for protecting personal information. l 31 percent Indians admit to viewing nude, explicit or suggestive content on public Wi-Fi l Of those people, 44 percent admit to doing so at work and 49 percent have done so in a hotel, hostel or Airbnb l 96 percent of Indians have potentially put personal information at risk while using public Wi-Fi, including checking their bank accounts, and sharing personal photos and videos. l Yet 41 percent reported they would feel horrified if their financial details were stolen. Staying safe Use Security Software: Use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) from a trusted vendor such as Symantecs Norton Wi-Fi Privacy. VPNs provide a secure tunnel that encrypts data being sent and received between your device and the internet. Look for HTTPS: Many companies use secure websites - HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) - to provide online security. You can tell if a website is secure if it has https in its URL and has a small lock symbol next to it. However, even though the website itself might be safe, your personal information could be vulnerable if your network connection isnt secure. Share Less: Think twice before entering any type of personal information - from passwords, to financial details and photos - over public Wi-Fi networks. Even if youre not actively sharing the information, your device may be doing so for you. HYDERABAD: The Norton Wi-Fi Risk Reports exposes how vulnerable our online lives are when you connect online 74 percent of Indians believe their personal information is safe when using public Wi-Fi, yet more than half (57 percent) act unsafely when online 51 percent of consumers cant wait more than a few minutes before logging onto a Wi-Fi network once they arrive somewhere new, showing the need to always be connected. An alarming 73 percent of Indians are even willing to do or swap something for a strong, free Wi-Fi signal. These were some of the findings of the Norton Wi-Fi Risk Reports released last week. Says Ritesh Chopra, Country Manager, Consumer Business Unit, Symantec, What someone thinks are private on their personal device can easily be accessed by cybercriminals through unsecure Wi-Fi Networks or even apps with privacy vulnerabilities. The Norton Wi-Fi Risk Report surveyed more than 15,000 consumers in 15 countries to learn about their public Wi-Fi practices and perceptions. The India scenario l 54 percent of Indians dont use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to secure their Wi-Fi connections, even though it is considered a best way for protecting personal information. l 31 percent Indians admit to viewing nude, explicit or suggestive content on public Wi-Fi l Of those people, 44 percent admit to doing so at work and 49 percent have done so in a hotel, hostel or Airbnb l 96 percent of Indians have potentially put personal information at risk while using public Wi-Fi, including checking their bank accounts, and sharing personal photos and videos. l Yet 41 percent reported they would feel horrified if their financial details were stolen. Staying safe Use Security Software: Use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) from a trusted vendor such as Symantecs Norton Wi-Fi Privacy. VPNs provide a secure tunnel that encrypts data being sent and received between your device and the internet. Look for HTTPS: Many companies use secure websites - HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) - to provide online security. You can tell if a website is secure if it has https in its URL and has a small lock symbol next to it. However, even though the website itself might be safe, your personal information could be vulnerable if your network connection isnt secure. Share Less: Think twice before entering any type of personal information - from passwords, to financial details and photos - over public Wi-Fi networks. Even if youre not actively sharing the information, your device may be doing so for you. By PTI THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A 54-year-old convict who jumped parole from the Central Prison in Kerala's capital city returned to jail after 25 years, much to the surprise of the jail authorities. Nazar, a native of Mattancherry in Kochi was given a life sentence after he was convicted in a murder case in 1991. After serving two years of his prison term, Nazar was given parole. Instead of returning to prison after a month, Nazar fled to Mumbai. From there, he went to Saudi Arabia to start a new life. But the implementation of the naturalisation law 'nitaqat' in Saudi Arabia forced him to return to India after 11 years. Meanwhile, Nazar was diagnosed with cancer. Facing a huge treatment expense and lookout by police, Nazar decided to surrender before the jail authorities. The jail authorities said he would be given treatment as he had many years of prison term left. THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A 54-year-old convict who jumped parole from the Central Prison in Kerala's capital city returned to jail after 25 years, much to the surprise of the jail authorities. Nazar, a native of Mattancherry in Kochi was given a life sentence after he was convicted in a murder case in 1991. After serving two years of his prison term, Nazar was given parole. Instead of returning to prison after a month, Nazar fled to Mumbai. From there, he went to Saudi Arabia to start a new life. But the implementation of the naturalisation law 'nitaqat' in Saudi Arabia forced him to return to India after 11 years. Meanwhile, Nazar was diagnosed with cancer. Facing a huge treatment expense and lookout by police, Nazar decided to surrender before the jail authorities. The jail authorities said he would be given treatment as he had many years of prison term left. By IANS MUMBAI: Speaking on the nepotism debate in the Hindi film industry, veteran actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha says that things like nepotism are only for the sake of discussion. Sinha said this while attending the 10th convocation ceremony of Whistling Woods International Film School here, along with veteran director Shyam Benegal, institute's founder Subhash Ghai and his daughter Megha Ghai Puri. Father of actress Sonakshi Sinha, Shatrughan said: "These (nepotism) things are only for the sake of discussion. This used to happen earlier, it happens now also and will continue happening in the future as well. I feel the audience will decide who is going to sustain in the industry." "There are many star sons and daughters who have done really well while some of them haven't. So I feel it is not bad because if star kids have the required talent and aptitude, then we have no right to stop them. It doesn't mean that we are promoting them over talent outside the industry. It all boils down to talent, passion, result of their films and acceptance from the audience," he added. Rumours were afloat that a biopic on Shatrughan Sinha is in the talks. On this, the "Kaala Patthar" actor said: "There are talks about my biography and some people are also interested in making my biopic. If anyone decided to do so, then it will be motivating, gripping and with lots of twists and turns." Asked who is the best to enact him onscreen, he said, "All new talents like Ranbir Kapoor and Ranveer singh, are doing really good work. In our time Govinda and Anil Kapoor also did some really good work and I feel Amitabh Bachchan is the best and latest newcomer of the industry till now," the "Kalicharan" actor said in jest. BJP leader Shatrughan proposed Amitabh Bachchan as the party's candidate for President. But Bachchan was not nominated. "Now there is no scope and space, but I always think that there will be no better candidate than Amitabh Bachchan to be India's president as he has been successful in every possible front. He is one of the finest human beings and a well-experienced man. He is very popular and holds a really good image among people." Talking about his daughter Sonakshi's film career, he said: "I feel in showbiz, art and culture, just like politics, there are no last moments. You can't grow as an artist if you don't have the passion for improvement in the long run. I am happy with Sonakshi's career. God has been very kind to her. But I want her to push the limits and do well in future also." Asked if he plans to do a film in the future, Sinha said: "I have become a multi-dimensional personality. I have done cinema, television, politics and theatre as well. If anything interesting comes along which suits my stature, image and age then I will definitely do it." MUMBAI: Speaking on the nepotism debate in the Hindi film industry, veteran actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha says that things like nepotism are only for the sake of discussion. Sinha said this while attending the 10th convocation ceremony of Whistling Woods International Film School here, along with veteran director Shyam Benegal, institute's founder Subhash Ghai and his daughter Megha Ghai Puri. Father of actress Sonakshi Sinha, Shatrughan said: "These (nepotism) things are only for the sake of discussion. This used to happen earlier, it happens now also and will continue happening in the future as well. I feel the audience will decide who is going to sustain in the industry." "There are many star sons and daughters who have done really well while some of them haven't. So I feel it is not bad because if star kids have the required talent and aptitude, then we have no right to stop them. It doesn't mean that we are promoting them over talent outside the industry. It all boils down to talent, passion, result of their films and acceptance from the audience," he added. Rumours were afloat that a biopic on Shatrughan Sinha is in the talks. On this, the "Kaala Patthar" actor said: "There are talks about my biography and some people are also interested in making my biopic. If anyone decided to do so, then it will be motivating, gripping and with lots of twists and turns." Twitterati slam Karan, Varun, Saif for 'Nepotism' chant Asked who is the best to enact him onscreen, he said, "All new talents like Ranbir Kapoor and Ranveer singh, are doing really good work. In our time Govinda and Anil Kapoor also did some really good work and I feel Amitabh Bachchan is the best and latest newcomer of the industry till now," the "Kalicharan" actor said in jest. BJP leader Shatrughan proposed Amitabh Bachchan as the party's candidate for President. But Bachchan was not nominated. "Now there is no scope and space, but I always think that there will be no better candidate than Amitabh Bachchan to be India's president as he has been successful in every possible front. He is one of the finest human beings and a well-experienced man. He is very popular and holds a really good image among people." Talking about his daughter Sonakshi's film career, he said: "I feel in showbiz, art and culture, just like politics, there are no last moments. You can't grow as an artist if you don't have the passion for improvement in the long run. I am happy with Sonakshi's career. God has been very kind to her. But I want her to push the limits and do well in future also." Asked if he plans to do a film in the future, Sinha said: "I have become a multi-dimensional personality. I have done cinema, television, politics and theatre as well. If anything interesting comes along which suits my stature, image and age then I will definitely do it." By PTI NAINITAL: The Uttarakhand High Court today dismissed a petition filed by filmmaker Rakesh Roshan, seeking a stay on his arrest in a case of alleged copyright violation. Justice VK Bisht rejected his plea on the ground that a charge sheet had already been filed against him. Dehradun-based novelist Rupnarayan Sonkar had filed a police complaint against the filmmaker last year, accusing him of copyright violation. The complainant had alleged that the plot of the 2013 Bollywood film, 'Krrish 3', was based on his novel 'Suardaan'. Roshan had then filed a plea in the high court, seeking quashing of the FIR against him. Sonkar's lawyer H C Bisht said the novel was published in 2010 and hence, the case was filed against Roshan. NAINITAL: The Uttarakhand High Court today dismissed a petition filed by filmmaker Rakesh Roshan, seeking a stay on his arrest in a case of alleged copyright violation. Justice VK Bisht rejected his plea on the ground that a charge sheet had already been filed against him. Dehradun-based novelist Rupnarayan Sonkar had filed a police complaint against the filmmaker last year, accusing him of copyright violation. The complainant had alleged that the plot of the 2013 Bollywood film, 'Krrish 3', was based on his novel 'Suardaan'. Roshan had then filed a plea in the high court, seeking quashing of the FIR against him. Sonkar's lawyer H C Bisht said the novel was published in 2010 and hence, the case was filed against Roshan. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Petronas massive LNG export proposal on Lelu Island faces a constitutional law obstacle. The Federal Court of Appeal today set aside a National Energy Board (NEB) decision regarding the provincially approved Prince Rupert Gas Transmission pipeline proposal and sent the matter back to the NEB for re-determination. The 900-kilometre PRGT pipeline would move gas from north-eastern BC to the proposed Pacific NorthWest LNG export terminal near Prince Rupert. The appeal court ruled that the Board made a legal mistake when it dismissed Smithers BC resident Mike Sawyers request that the NEB hold a full hearing to determine if the PRGT project is actually in federal jurisdiction and needs to have NEB approval. Speaking for a unanimous panel of three judges, Mr. Justice Donald Rennie said the Board made significant constitutional law errors in dismissing Mr. Sawyers application. He said the Board merely looked at the location of the pipeline within BC and failed to consider that the entire purpose of the pipeline is to move gas for export. The judge explained that the courts dont usually overturn NEB decisions, but in Mr. Sawyers case the issue involves the Constitution of Canada and the court will step in if the NEBs decision is not legally correct. Mr. Sawyer was delighted by the courts decision. This shows that the NEB was too quick to dismiss a legitimate constitutional argument without a full hearing, he said. Im convinced that PRGT is just one part of a massive natural gas export scheme that is clearly within federal jurisdiction and needs federal approval to proceed. My approach to this is a principal approach, he said. I dont think we should be exporting our natural resources, particularly energy resources, if we havent determined whats in our public interest, Sawyer said. TransCanada has 60 days to apply to the Supreme Court of Canada for permission to appeal the Federal Court of Appeal decision. Apart from that, the constitutional issue will go back to the National Energy Board for a full hearing to determine if PRGT is in federal jurisdiction and would require a federal environmental assessment and approval. Sawyers challenge of the NEB decision was made possible in part by assistance from the West Coast Environmental Laws Environmental Dispute Resolution Fund which provides environmental legal aid grants to enable individuals and communities to obtain legal representation to protect their environment. SkeenaWild Conservation Trust assisted with funding Sawyers legal case. SkeenaWild is a regional conservation initiative working to make the Skeena a global model of sustainability and is concerned about the impacts to salmon habitat from the proposed pipeline. Federal Court of Appeal Ruling: http://decisions.fca-caf.gc.ca/fca-caf/decisions/en/item/232998/index.do By PTI NEW DELHI: As lawmakers voted to elect India's next president, the ruling BJP exuded today confidence that NDA nominee Ram Nath Kovind would win with a "comfortable" margin, while the opposition said its joint pick Meira Kumar was the best choice in the "clash of ideologies". "Kovind ji will win (the election) with a respectable and comfortable margin," Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu told reporters ahead of the polling. Naidu, however, refused to comment on the BJP parliamentary board's meeting to choose the ruling alliance's vice presidential candidate. Let the presidential poll get over first, he said. Another Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said Kovind will register a "decisive victory" and would turn out as an "honest" president, who, he said, will work hard according to the Constitution. "It would have been better if there was consensus (among all parties over Kovind's nomination). But no issues," he said. Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said the fight between Kovind and Kumar was "one of ideologies" and rated the latter as the best choice for the president's post. "The president should be a person pursuing an ideology under which everybody should be equal for him. And when there is a clash of ideologies, I think our candidate (Kumar) is the best," Azad, the Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, said. Backing Kumar, the CPI(M) urged voters, comprising MPs and MLAs, to pick the "custodian of the Constitution" thoughtfully. "Hope the electoral college picks the custodian of India's Constitution thoughtfully....Vote to uphold constitutional values of our republic," party general secretary Sitaram Yechury said on Twitter. Yechury and senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge asked all MPs and MLAs exercising their franchise to vote according to their "inner conscience". "We believe in democracy and that's why we are contesting (the poll). All the voters, including those from the BJP, should also vote as per their conscience," Kharge said. With both Kovind and Kumar belonging to the Dalit community, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati expressed satisfaction that a Dalit leader would occupy the office of the president irrespective of who won the poll. Mayawati also claimed it was because of her party that the NDA and the opposition had to field candidates from the community. "Winning or losing (a poll) is a different issue. Whoever wins, the good thing is a Scheduled Caste person will be the country's president. And I think it is a good thing for our movement, the party. "And the NDA, the BJP had to field a Dalit candidate for the presidential poll because of the BSP and the other side (the opposition) too," she told reporters outside Parliament. The voting for the presidential poll began at 10 am and will continue till 5 pm. The result of the poll will be declared on July 20. NEW DELHI: As lawmakers voted to elect India's next president, the ruling BJP exuded today confidence that NDA nominee Ram Nath Kovind would win with a "comfortable" margin, while the opposition said its joint pick Meira Kumar was the best choice in the "clash of ideologies". "Kovind ji will win (the election) with a respectable and comfortable margin," Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu told reporters ahead of the polling. Naidu, however, refused to comment on the BJP parliamentary board's meeting to choose the ruling alliance's vice presidential candidate. Let the presidential poll get over first, he said. Another Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said Kovind will register a "decisive victory" and would turn out as an "honest" president, who, he said, will work hard according to the Constitution. "It would have been better if there was consensus (among all parties over Kovind's nomination). But no issues," he said. Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said the fight between Kovind and Kumar was "one of ideologies" and rated the latter as the best choice for the president's post. "The president should be a person pursuing an ideology under which everybody should be equal for him. And when there is a clash of ideologies, I think our candidate (Kumar) is the best," Azad, the Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, said. Backing Kumar, the CPI(M) urged voters, comprising MPs and MLAs, to pick the "custodian of the Constitution" thoughtfully. "Hope the electoral college picks the custodian of India's Constitution thoughtfully....Vote to uphold constitutional values of our republic," party general secretary Sitaram Yechury said on Twitter. Yechury and senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge asked all MPs and MLAs exercising their franchise to vote according to their "inner conscience". "We believe in democracy and that's why we are contesting (the poll). All the voters, including those from the BJP, should also vote as per their conscience," Kharge said. With both Kovind and Kumar belonging to the Dalit community, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati expressed satisfaction that a Dalit leader would occupy the office of the president irrespective of who won the poll. Mayawati also claimed it was because of her party that the NDA and the opposition had to field candidates from the community. "Winning or losing (a poll) is a different issue. Whoever wins, the good thing is a Scheduled Caste person will be the country's president. And I think it is a good thing for our movement, the party. "And the NDA, the BJP had to field a Dalit candidate for the presidential poll because of the BSP and the other side (the opposition) too," she told reporters outside Parliament. The voting for the presidential poll began at 10 am and will continue till 5 pm. The result of the poll will be declared on July 20. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: The CBI on Wednesday summoned Karti Chidambaram, son of former Union finance minister P Chidambaram, for questioning in a corruption case relating to grant of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval to INX Media. This is the third notice the CBI has sent to Karti. Through the latest summon, the CBI has asked Karti to appear before it on Friday at its headquarters here. The agency is seeking to interrogate Karti in the case relating to FIPB clearance given to INX Media for receiving funds from Mauritius when P Chidambaram was the Union finance minister. Earlier, the CBI had summoned Karti and four other accused to appear before it for questioning on June 27 and June 29. However, they failed to appear. Karti had informed the CBI through his lawyer that he needed more time to appear for questioning. The agency had on May 15 this year registered an FIR against Karti and others on charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating, graft and criminal misconduct. According to the CBI First Information Report, Karti is alleged to have received `3.5 crore from Mumbai-based INX media for facilitating it in getting FIPB clearance to the firm then run by Peter and Indrani Mukherjea. After registering the case, the CBI had conducted raids at the premises of Karti, Peter, and Indrani at 14 locations in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and the National Capital Region (NCR) in connection with the case. NEW DELHI: The CBI on Wednesday summoned Karti Chidambaram, son of former Union finance minister P Chidambaram, for questioning in a corruption case relating to grant of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval to INX Media. This is the third notice the CBI has sent to Karti. Through the latest summon, the CBI has asked Karti to appear before it on Friday at its headquarters here. The agency is seeking to interrogate Karti in the case relating to FIPB clearance given to INX Media for receiving funds from Mauritius when P Chidambaram was the Union finance minister. Earlier, the CBI had summoned Karti and four other accused to appear before it for questioning on June 27 and June 29. However, they failed to appear. Karti had informed the CBI through his lawyer that he needed more time to appear for questioning. The agency had on May 15 this year registered an FIR against Karti and others on charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating, graft and criminal misconduct. According to the CBI First Information Report, Karti is alleged to have received `3.5 crore from Mumbai-based INX media for facilitating it in getting FIPB clearance to the firm then run by Peter and Indrani Mukherjea. After registering the case, the CBI had conducted raids at the premises of Karti, Peter, and Indrani at 14 locations in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and the National Capital Region (NCR) in connection with the case. Harpreet Bajwa By Express News Service CHANDIGARH: An accused in the Shimla rape case was murdered by the main accused inside a prison cell at Kotkhai police station in the Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh. Following the incident, an irate mob ransacked the police station and set fire to it in protest. Sources said the 29-year-old Suraj Singh (a Nepalese labourer) was murdered by the main suspect, the 32-year-old Rajinder Singh, late on Tuesday night. Rajinder reportedly smashed Surajs head on the floor of their cell. Both the accused were lodged in the same cell. Soon after the incident on Tuesday night, Rajinder Singh and three other accused were shifted from the jail to an unknown location. Sources alleged that Rajinder was angry at Suraj for spilling details of the incident to the police and blaming it entirely on Rajinder. Both had an argument late on Tuesday night during which Rajinder Singh allegedly banged Surajs head on the floor. Suraj died by the time an on-duty policeman could intervene, sources said. He was taken to a hospital. However, doctors there said he was brought dead. His body was later sent to Indira Gandhi Medical College in Shimla for post-mortem. The police have sought a judicial probe into Surajs death. As the news spread, a mob entered the police station and ransacked it and set fire to it. Earlier, the police had fired in the air to disperse the mob that had gathered outside the police station. More forces were rushed to Kotkhai to bring the situation under control. As the news of the incident spread, protests were held at other places in the district Dhalli, Theog and Mashobra. Shops were shut down in Kotkhai and protesters blocked the highway connecting the town to Shimla. The Himachal Pradesh High Court has summoned the Director General of Police in this case. Advocate General Sharwan Dogra assured the court the police were investigating the case and demanded the matter should be handed over to the CBI. Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh, who was in Mandi, cancelled his tour and rushed to Shimla to oversee the developments. He said: I wrote a letter to the Prime Minister asking him to order a CBI enquiry in the case. The murder inside the station cell has put the police in a tight spot at a time when it was under public scrutiny for the lackadaisical approach to the investigation of the rape case. The police had earlier said that the main accused Singh was acquainted with the victim, as he offered her lifts twice earlier. She was offered a lift by the accused on July 4 when she was returning home from school. The family of the girl alleged that the real culprits belong to high-profile families and the state government had made sure that they get away scot-free. The deceaseds elder sister said, Our protests will continue till the real culprits are apprehended. Suddenly, the police arrested six persons, four of whom are labourers two from Uttarakhand and two from Nepal. She also questioned the delay in handing over the case to the CBI. We were told that the case has been handed over to the CBI. But till now no CBI official has come and nor any investigation has been started, she said. A delegation of MPs, led by union health minister JP Nadda met union home minister Rajnath Singh and requested him to direct the state government to maintain law and order. CHANDIGARH: An accused in the Shimla rape case was murdered by the main accused inside a prison cell at Kotkhai police station in the Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh. Following the incident, an irate mob ransacked the police station and set fire to it in protest. Sources said the 29-year-old Suraj Singh (a Nepalese labourer) was murdered by the main suspect, the 32-year-old Rajinder Singh, late on Tuesday night. Rajinder reportedly smashed Surajs head on the floor of their cell. Both the accused were lodged in the same cell. Soon after the incident on Tuesday night, Rajinder Singh and three other accused were shifted from the jail to an unknown location. Sources alleged that Rajinder was angry at Suraj for spilling details of the incident to the police and blaming it entirely on Rajinder. Both had an argument late on Tuesday night during which Rajinder Singh allegedly banged Surajs head on the floor. Suraj died by the time an on-duty policeman could intervene, sources said. He was taken to a hospital. However, doctors there said he was brought dead. His body was later sent to Indira Gandhi Medical College in Shimla for post-mortem. The police have sought a judicial probe into Surajs death. As the news spread, a mob entered the police station and ransacked it and set fire to it. Earlier, the police had fired in the air to disperse the mob that had gathered outside the police station. More forces were rushed to Kotkhai to bring the situation under control. As the news of the incident spread, protests were held at other places in the district Dhalli, Theog and Mashobra. Shops were shut down in Kotkhai and protesters blocked the highway connecting the town to Shimla. The Himachal Pradesh High Court has summoned the Director General of Police in this case. Advocate General Sharwan Dogra assured the court the police were investigating the case and demanded the matter should be handed over to the CBI. Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh, who was in Mandi, cancelled his tour and rushed to Shimla to oversee the developments. He said: I wrote a letter to the Prime Minister asking him to order a CBI enquiry in the case. The murder inside the station cell has put the police in a tight spot at a time when it was under public scrutiny for the lackadaisical approach to the investigation of the rape case. The police had earlier said that the main accused Singh was acquainted with the victim, as he offered her lifts twice earlier. She was offered a lift by the accused on July 4 when she was returning home from school. The family of the girl alleged that the real culprits belong to high-profile families and the state government had made sure that they get away scot-free. The deceaseds elder sister said, Our protests will continue till the real culprits are apprehended. Suddenly, the police arrested six persons, four of whom are labourers two from Uttarakhand and two from Nepal. She also questioned the delay in handing over the case to the CBI. We were told that the case has been handed over to the CBI. But till now no CBI official has come and nor any investigation has been started, she said. A delegation of MPs, led by union health minister JP Nadda met union home minister Rajnath Singh and requested him to direct the state government to maintain law and order. Prasanta Mazumdar By Express News Service GUWAHATI: In a dramatic turn of events, Nagaland Governor PB Acharya on Wednesday dismissed chief minister Shurhozelie Liezietsu and appointed T R Zeliang, who was leading a group of dissident Naga Peoples Front (NPF) MLAs, as the states next CM. Zeliang was administered the oath of office and secrecy by governor Acharya at 3.00 pm during a function held in Raj Bhawan in Kohima. Zeliang has been given time until July 22 to prove majority. Zeliang enjoys the support of at least 47 MLAs 36 of them from the Naga Peoples Front (NPF), seven Independents and four BJP MLAs in the 60 member House, which now has an effective strength of 59, following Liezietsus son Khriehu Liezietsus resignation, last month. Former chief minister Liezietsu was supposed to take a floor test on Wednesday at 9.30 am to prove his majority. However, he and 11 other MLAs boycotted the process and the House had to be adjourned sine dine. Following this, the speaker of the House sent a report to governor Acharya. Subsequently, the governor sent an order to the chief minister, dismissing him. Meanwhile, Liezietsu had filed a petition at a Division Bench of the Gauhati High Court, challenging the dismissal of his writ petition by the Kohima Bench of the Gauhati HC. The Kohima Bench on Tuesday ruled that there was no merit in his petition and dismissed it. It had left the issue to the wisdom of the governor to take a decision on the same after proper application of mind. Road ahead not smooth Zeliang first donned the mantle of CM in 2014 when Neiphiu Rio who was chief minister at the time had resigned to contest in the Lok Sabha elections. Rio, whose NPF is a constituent of National Democratic Alliance (NDA), contested and won the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. However, when the ruling BJP refused to make him a Union minister, he tried make a comeback to Nagaland politics. He allegedly made two unsuccessful attempts to oust Zeliang. However, recently the two buried the hatchet and joined hands to plot Liezietsus fall. It remains unclear how the tribal organisations would respond to his government. It was their protests against 33 per cent reservation for women in civic elections that led to Zeliangs resignation in February. Rio, the three-time former chief minister may try to make good use of any protest against Zeliang to reclaim seat of chief minister. With nine months left for Nagaland Assembly elections, Zeliangs maiden challenge will be induction of MLAs into his ministry. He has got a long list of MLAs to chose from while allotting ministerial posts. He can at best induct 12 MLAs. But there are independents, MLAs from the camp of former CM Neiphiu Rio, legislators from the BJP, and the NPF. Money, as well as power, plays a big role in the politics of Nagaland. With elections just months away, most MLAs would surely demand their pound of flesh, a Naga politician told the New Indian Express. GUWAHATI: In a dramatic turn of events, Nagaland Governor PB Acharya on Wednesday dismissed chief minister Shurhozelie Liezietsu and appointed T R Zeliang, who was leading a group of dissident Naga Peoples Front (NPF) MLAs, as the states next CM. Zeliang was administered the oath of office and secrecy by governor Acharya at 3.00 pm during a function held in Raj Bhawan in Kohima. Zeliang has been given time until July 22 to prove majority. Zeliang enjoys the support of at least 47 MLAs 36 of them from the Naga Peoples Front (NPF), seven Independents and four BJP MLAs in the 60 member House, which now has an effective strength of 59, following Liezietsus son Khriehu Liezietsus resignation, last month. Former chief minister Liezietsu was supposed to take a floor test on Wednesday at 9.30 am to prove his majority. However, he and 11 other MLAs boycotted the process and the House had to be adjourned sine dine. Following this, the speaker of the House sent a report to governor Acharya. Subsequently, the governor sent an order to the chief minister, dismissing him. Meanwhile, Liezietsu had filed a petition at a Division Bench of the Gauhati High Court, challenging the dismissal of his writ petition by the Kohima Bench of the Gauhati HC. The Kohima Bench on Tuesday ruled that there was no merit in his petition and dismissed it. It had left the issue to the wisdom of the governor to take a decision on the same after proper application of mind. Road ahead not smooth Zeliang first donned the mantle of CM in 2014 when Neiphiu Rio who was chief minister at the time had resigned to contest in the Lok Sabha elections. Rio, whose NPF is a constituent of National Democratic Alliance (NDA), contested and won the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. However, when the ruling BJP refused to make him a Union minister, he tried make a comeback to Nagaland politics. He allegedly made two unsuccessful attempts to oust Zeliang. However, recently the two buried the hatchet and joined hands to plot Liezietsus fall. It remains unclear how the tribal organisations would respond to his government. It was their protests against 33 per cent reservation for women in civic elections that led to Zeliangs resignation in February. Rio, the three-time former chief minister may try to make good use of any protest against Zeliang to reclaim seat of chief minister. With nine months left for Nagaland Assembly elections, Zeliangs maiden challenge will be induction of MLAs into his ministry. He has got a long list of MLAs to chose from while allotting ministerial posts. He can at best induct 12 MLAs. But there are independents, MLAs from the camp of former CM Neiphiu Rio, legislators from the BJP, and the NPF. Money, as well as power, plays a big role in the politics of Nagaland. With elections just months away, most MLAs would surely demand their pound of flesh, a Naga politician told the New Indian Express. By PTI UDHAMPUR/JAMMU: The bodies of three persons, who were washed away in flash floods in Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir, have been recovered, police said today. The three were washed away in flash floods at Pachond in Dudu area of Udhampur on Tuesday when they were crossing a 'nullah'. The have been identified as Mohd Sharif, Rekha Devi, both residents of village Pachound, and Shakina of Pattangarh. UDHAMPUR/JAMMU: The bodies of three persons, who were washed away in flash floods in Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir, have been recovered, police said today. The three were washed away in flash floods at Pachond in Dudu area of Udhampur on Tuesday when they were crossing a 'nullah'. The have been identified as Mohd Sharif, Rekha Devi, both residents of village Pachound, and Shakina of Pattangarh. Sanjib Kumar Roy By Express News Service PORT BLAIR: As the day was dawning on Thursday, ITT Panther, a cargo ship, sent its last communication. It was a distress call to the Coast Guards. The vessel, with a displacement tonnage of 1042 tonnes, was in deep trouble. Thanks to the strong winds, some of the ship's load shifted to one side, creating an imbalance. Soon, the unstable ship plunged to the bottom of the sea, leaving 11 crew members gasping in the Bay of Bengal. The incident happened about 120 nautical miles off North Andaman Island's Diglipur. Thanks to the containers which were floating around, the crew members had something to hold on to while waiting rescuers. They were later rescued by the Indian Coast Guard. The coast Guard received a distress call at around 6.30 am. Soon three Dornier aircraft were sent to locate the vessel one after the other. But the aircraft could locate only some floating containers and a life waft, with 11 crew members, Commandant Dalip Singh, Public Relations Officer, Coast Guard Region (A&N) told New Indian Express. A Coast Guard vessel ICGS Rajkamal was immediately disptached to the spot. It reached the spot at around 5 PM and rescued the crew members. The Coast Guard said the incident was caused by shifting of cargo load due to bad weather. Commandant Dalip Singh said all crew members were from India. They will be brought to Port Blair tomorrow morning. The 63-metre-long vessel, ITT Panther had 29 containers on board when it made a plunge to the bottom of the sea. The containers were carrying 500 metric tones of sand, 200 metric tonnes of steel and a car. The ship was headed to Andaman's Port Blair. PORT BLAIR: As the day was dawning on Thursday, ITT Panther, a cargo ship, sent its last communication. It was a distress call to the Coast Guards. The vessel, with a displacement tonnage of 1042 tonnes, was in deep trouble. Thanks to the strong winds, some of the ship's load shifted to one side, creating an imbalance. Soon, the unstable ship plunged to the bottom of the sea, leaving 11 crew members gasping in the Bay of Bengal. The incident happened about 120 nautical miles off North Andaman Island's Diglipur. Thanks to the containers which were floating around, the crew members had something to hold on to while waiting rescuers. They were later rescued by the Indian Coast Guard. The coast Guard received a distress call at around 6.30 am. Soon three Dornier aircraft were sent to locate the vessel one after the other. But the aircraft could locate only some floating containers and a life waft, with 11 crew members, Commandant Dalip Singh, Public Relations Officer, Coast Guard Region (A&N) told New Indian Express. A Coast Guard vessel ICGS Rajkamal was immediately disptached to the spot. It reached the spot at around 5 PM and rescued the crew members. The Coast Guard said the incident was caused by shifting of cargo load due to bad weather. Commandant Dalip Singh said all crew members were from India. They will be brought to Port Blair tomorrow morning. The 63-metre-long vessel, ITT Panther had 29 containers on board when it made a plunge to the bottom of the sea. The containers were carrying 500 metric tones of sand, 200 metric tonnes of steel and a car. The ship was headed to Andaman's Port Blair. By PTI NEW DELHI: Ram Nath Kovinds triumph was a foregone conclusion given the NDAs numerical superiority over the opposition, but his presidential bid got a push with lawmakers from rival parties cross-voting for him in several states including poll-bound Gujarat and Mamata Banerjees West Bengal. BJP general secretary Bhupender Yadav, Kovinds key election manager, claimed close to 116 lawmakers from rival parties, including the Congress, appeared to have voted for the NDA candidate. The 71-year-old Kovind defeated joint opposition candidate Meira Kumar, a former Lok Sabha speaker, after garnering 65.65 percent of the votes in the electoral college. A former Bihar governor, Kovind received 2,930 votes with a value of 7,02,044, said election Returning Officer Anoop Mishra. Kumar got 1,844 votes with a value of 3,67,314. The states from where Kovind got votes from the rival camp included West Bengal, where the BJP is locked in a bitter, and often bloody, fight with the ruling TMC. Kovind clinched the votes of 11 MLAs in the state, five more than NDAs tally of six. He also managed to secure votes of seven lawmakers in the Left-ruled Tripura, where BJP or its NDA allies do not have any MLA. These included six TMC MLAs who are likely to join the BJP. The Congress has much to worry about Gujarat where Assembly elections are due later this year, with at least eight of its MLAs appeared to have voted for the NDAs candidate. The party has 57 MLAs in the state but Meira Kumar got only 49 votes. The Congress party is gripped by a factional feud in Gujarat between Leader of the Opposition Shankarsinh Vaghela and state party chief Bharatsinh Solanki over who would leader the Assembly poll campaign. In Maharashtra, the NDA nominee got 20 votes more than the alliances strength of 188 in the state assembly. Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Goa, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi are among other states that witnessed cross-voting in Kovinds favour. Going by the oppositions strength in the Maharashtra Assembly, Meira Kumar should have got 90 votes, but secured only 77, a jubilant state BJP chief spokesperson Madhav Bhandari told PTI. The opposition owes an explanation to the people for the loss of these 13 votes, Bhandari said. Going by the BJP-led alliances strength, Kovind should have got at least 185 votes - 122 of BJP and 63 of Shiv Senaplus votes of other alliance partners, but he got 208 votes, Bhandari said. On the other hand, Kumar should have pocketed at least 90 votes -- 83 of Congress-NCP combine, three of PWP, one of CPM, two of MIM and one of SP, Bhandari said. But she got only 77 votes, he said. Of the 288 MLAs in the state, 287 had voted in the July 17 poll. At least three of Goas 16 Congress MLAs were also suspected to have voted for Kovind. Yes, there was cross-voting. We have called a special meeting of the Congress Legislature Party tomorrow to discuss the issue. We want to find out who have cross-voted, Leader of Opposition Chandrakant Kavlekar said. In the 40-member Goa Assembly, whose current strength has been reduced to 38 due to resignation of two MLAs, the BJP has 12 members, Congress 16, GFP and MGP three each, Independents 3, and NCP 1. Presuming that all 12 MLAs of the BJP, besides three each of its allies GFP, MGP and three independents voted for Kovind, his tally would have stood at 21. However, he clinched 25 votes. Reacting to the instances of cross-voting, Bhupender Yadav took a dig at Meira Kumar for her appeal to the electoral college for a conscience vote. Many lawmakers of the Congress followed their conscience and voted for Kovind, he said, taking a swipe at Kumar. He claimed out of the 116 opposition lawmakers who appeared to have voted for the NDA candidate, 30-35 were MPs. There is secret voting in presidential elections and it is almost impossible to exactly identify which lawmaker cross-voted. NEW DELHI: Ram Nath Kovinds triumph was a foregone conclusion given the NDAs numerical superiority over the opposition, but his presidential bid got a push with lawmakers from rival parties cross-voting for him in several states including poll-bound Gujarat and Mamata Banerjees West Bengal. BJP general secretary Bhupender Yadav, Kovinds key election manager, claimed close to 116 lawmakers from rival parties, including the Congress, appeared to have voted for the NDA candidate. The 71-year-old Kovind defeated joint opposition candidate Meira Kumar, a former Lok Sabha speaker, after garnering 65.65 percent of the votes in the electoral college. A former Bihar governor, Kovind received 2,930 votes with a value of 7,02,044, said election Returning Officer Anoop Mishra. Kumar got 1,844 votes with a value of 3,67,314. The states from where Kovind got votes from the rival camp included West Bengal, where the BJP is locked in a bitter, and often bloody, fight with the ruling TMC. Kovind clinched the votes of 11 MLAs in the state, five more than NDAs tally of six. He also managed to secure votes of seven lawmakers in the Left-ruled Tripura, where BJP or its NDA allies do not have any MLA. These included six TMC MLAs who are likely to join the BJP. The Congress has much to worry about Gujarat where Assembly elections are due later this year, with at least eight of its MLAs appeared to have voted for the NDAs candidate. The party has 57 MLAs in the state but Meira Kumar got only 49 votes. The Congress party is gripped by a factional feud in Gujarat between Leader of the Opposition Shankarsinh Vaghela and state party chief Bharatsinh Solanki over who would leader the Assembly poll campaign. In Maharashtra, the NDA nominee got 20 votes more than the alliances strength of 188 in the state assembly. Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Goa, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi are among other states that witnessed cross-voting in Kovinds favour. Going by the oppositions strength in the Maharashtra Assembly, Meira Kumar should have got 90 votes, but secured only 77, a jubilant state BJP chief spokesperson Madhav Bhandari told PTI. The opposition owes an explanation to the people for the loss of these 13 votes, Bhandari said. Going by the BJP-led alliances strength, Kovind should have got at least 185 votes - 122 of BJP and 63 of Shiv Senaplus votes of other alliance partners, but he got 208 votes, Bhandari said. On the other hand, Kumar should have pocketed at least 90 votes -- 83 of Congress-NCP combine, three of PWP, one of CPM, two of MIM and one of SP, Bhandari said. But she got only 77 votes, he said. Of the 288 MLAs in the state, 287 had voted in the July 17 poll. At least three of Goas 16 Congress MLAs were also suspected to have voted for Kovind. Yes, there was cross-voting. We have called a special meeting of the Congress Legislature Party tomorrow to discuss the issue. We want to find out who have cross-voted, Leader of Opposition Chandrakant Kavlekar said. In the 40-member Goa Assembly, whose current strength has been reduced to 38 due to resignation of two MLAs, the BJP has 12 members, Congress 16, GFP and MGP three each, Independents 3, and NCP 1. Presuming that all 12 MLAs of the BJP, besides three each of its allies GFP, MGP and three independents voted for Kovind, his tally would have stood at 21. However, he clinched 25 votes. Reacting to the instances of cross-voting, Bhupender Yadav took a dig at Meira Kumar for her appeal to the electoral college for a conscience vote. Many lawmakers of the Congress followed their conscience and voted for Kovind, he said, taking a swipe at Kumar. He claimed out of the 116 opposition lawmakers who appeared to have voted for the NDA candidate, 30-35 were MPs. There is secret voting in presidential elections and it is almost impossible to exactly identify which lawmaker cross-voted. Aishik Chanda By Express News Service KOLKATA: The burning down of an 87-year-old community hall of the Bengali Association late on Tuesday night has exposed the brewing ethnic divide between the Gorkha and Bengali population in Kurseong town of Darjeeling district. While many of the 200-odd Bengali residents of Kurseong are astonished at the attack on Raj Rajeswari community hall considered as the only Bengali symbol in Kurseong since 1930 most fear that inter-community relations may now worsen. This seems to be a handiwork of outsiders. We have no fear from the local Gorkha populace and have never faced any dangers even during the 1986-88 armed movement but we fear that outsiders may try to create problems between the local Gorkhas and Bengalis, said Arun Ghosh, secretary of Raj Rajeswari community hall. Though more than 50 public properties were burnt since the beginning of the present phase of Gorkhaland agitation on June 8, no places of worship or community centres of minorities were harmed, which makes this attack unprecedented in the history of Gorkhaland agitation. Only last year we celebrated 100 years of Durga Puja at Raj Rajeswari Hall. Most of the Bengalis openly support Gorkhaland statehood but this burning has made the Kurseong Bengalis really upset, said Arunava Banerjee, whose great grandfather Bibhutibhushan Banerjee helped build the hall. The burning has also made the Bengalis more vocal against Gorkhaland. We are forced to support the Gorkhaland statehood movement in the open but deep down we dont want it to materialise, said Ghosh. Relations between the two communities have also changed a lot over the period. More than 95 per cent of the Bengalis have left town since 1980s. Only per cent of us remain, Ghosh said indicating at the Bengali exodus from the hills since the beginning of Gorkhaland agitation in the mid-1980s. Gorkhas of the town feel that the burning was part of a conspiracy. Burning down of Raj Rajeswari Hall was a calculated move to instigate problems between the two communities, said Jimmy Pradhan, a local Gorkha whose house is situated right beside the burnt hall. Raj Rajeswari Hall was part of Gorkha history too. People from outside Kurseong either from Darjeeling or from the plains might have done this to ignite communal passion in this town as a substantial portion of the towns 42,500 residents are Bengalis, Marwaris and Biharis. This burning may have been done to scare them, said cafe owner Rajesh Gurung. Apart from this, a police vehicle and a Trinamool Congress party office were also set on fire by angry protesters on Wednesday in Darjeeling town. KOLKATA: The burning down of an 87-year-old community hall of the Bengali Association late on Tuesday night has exposed the brewing ethnic divide between the Gorkha and Bengali population in Kurseong town of Darjeeling district. While many of the 200-odd Bengali residents of Kurseong are astonished at the attack on Raj Rajeswari community hall considered as the only Bengali symbol in Kurseong since 1930 most fear that inter-community relations may now worsen. This seems to be a handiwork of outsiders. We have no fear from the local Gorkha populace and have never faced any dangers even during the 1986-88 armed movement but we fear that outsiders may try to create problems between the local Gorkhas and Bengalis, said Arun Ghosh, secretary of Raj Rajeswari community hall. Though more than 50 public properties were burnt since the beginning of the present phase of Gorkhaland agitation on June 8, no places of worship or community centres of minorities were harmed, which makes this attack unprecedented in the history of Gorkhaland agitation. Only last year we celebrated 100 years of Durga Puja at Raj Rajeswari Hall. Most of the Bengalis openly support Gorkhaland statehood but this burning has made the Kurseong Bengalis really upset, said Arunava Banerjee, whose great grandfather Bibhutibhushan Banerjee helped build the hall. The burning has also made the Bengalis more vocal against Gorkhaland. We are forced to support the Gorkhaland statehood movement in the open but deep down we dont want it to materialise, said Ghosh. Relations between the two communities have also changed a lot over the period. More than 95 per cent of the Bengalis have left town since 1980s. Only per cent of us remain, Ghosh said indicating at the Bengali exodus from the hills since the beginning of Gorkhaland agitation in the mid-1980s. Gorkhas of the town feel that the burning was part of a conspiracy. Burning down of Raj Rajeswari Hall was a calculated move to instigate problems between the two communities, said Jimmy Pradhan, a local Gorkha whose house is situated right beside the burnt hall. Raj Rajeswari Hall was part of Gorkha history too. People from outside Kurseong either from Darjeeling or from the plains might have done this to ignite communal passion in this town as a substantial portion of the towns 42,500 residents are Bengalis, Marwaris and Biharis. This burning may have been done to scare them, said cafe owner Rajesh Gurung. Apart from this, a police vehicle and a Trinamool Congress party office were also set on fire by angry protesters on Wednesday in Darjeeling town. By PTI NEW DELHI: The Army's director general of military operations Lt. Gen. A K Bhatt today strongly took up with his Pakistani counterpart the issue of Pakistani troops "deliberately targeting" civilians and firing at school children along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. During a telephonic conversation, Bhatt asked Pakistani DGMO Maj. Gen. Sahir Shamshad Mirza to exercise "strict control" over his troops and instruct them to refrain from any "nefarious activities", an Army spokesperson said. The Pakistani DGMO was informed about Pakistani troops deliberately targeting civilian villages and also firing at school children in Nowshera sector of Rajouri district when they were being evacuated from the area on Tuesday. "This, he (Mirza) was told, does not behove any army. The Indian Army as professional force takes due care to avoid targeting of civilians and Pakistan Army was expected to do the same," Army spokesman Col. Aman Anand said. Col Anand said the Pakistani DGMO was informed about the spate of ceasefire violations which also included "calibre escalation coupled with incidents of sniping and attempted infiltration". The two DGMOs had spoken on Monday as well, during which Bhatt told Mirza that the Indian Army reserves the right to retaliate appropriately against any incident of ceasefire violation along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir. Anand said the Indian Army has been taking all necessary steps to ensure the safety of life and property of Indian citizens. The telephonic call over the hotline was initiated by Lt. Gen. Bhatt to protest Pakistani troops' firing at school children. NEW DELHI: The Army's director general of military operations Lt. Gen. A K Bhatt today strongly took up with his Pakistani counterpart the issue of Pakistani troops "deliberately targeting" civilians and firing at school children along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. During a telephonic conversation, Bhatt asked Pakistani DGMO Maj. Gen. Sahir Shamshad Mirza to exercise "strict control" over his troops and instruct them to refrain from any "nefarious activities", an Army spokesperson said. The Pakistani DGMO was informed about Pakistani troops deliberately targeting civilian villages and also firing at school children in Nowshera sector of Rajouri district when they were being evacuated from the area on Tuesday. "This, he (Mirza) was told, does not behove any army. The Indian Army as professional force takes due care to avoid targeting of civilians and Pakistan Army was expected to do the same," Army spokesman Col. Aman Anand said. Col Anand said the Pakistani DGMO was informed about the spate of ceasefire violations which also included "calibre escalation coupled with incidents of sniping and attempted infiltration". The two DGMOs had spoken on Monday as well, during which Bhatt told Mirza that the Indian Army reserves the right to retaliate appropriately against any incident of ceasefire violation along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir. Anand said the Indian Army has been taking all necessary steps to ensure the safety of life and property of Indian citizens. The telephonic call over the hotline was initiated by Lt. Gen. Bhatt to protest Pakistani troops' firing at school children. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: In the midst of the continuing standoff over the tri-junction with Bhutan, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj Thursday told Parliament that if China unilaterally changes the status quo on the issue then it poses a challenge to Indias security. Swaraj asserted that India is ready for talks with China provided both the armies pull back from Doka La, the point where they are in a face-off situation for over a month now. We are saying that the matter can be resolved through talks, but both sides have to first take back their armies, Swaraj told the Upper House. Indias emphasis on both the armies pulling back from the area of standoff in Sikkim comes after Chinese articulation that the Indian army must withdraw before any meaningful dialogue on resolving the issue. Answering supplementary questions during the Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha, Swaraj said, Their (Chinas) intention was to reach the tri-junction so that they can unilaterally end the status of the tri-junction. It was only then that India came into the picture. If China unilaterally changes the tri-junction point, then Indias security is challenged. She further said Bhutan has protested in writing to China on the issue. To further buttress Indias case, the minister referred to the written agreement between India, China and Bhutan entered into in 2012 that the three nations will together decide on the boundaries at the tri-junction point. Swaraj also informed the House that China has in the past constructed temporary roads but this time the Chinese brought in bulldozers and excavators. She further stressed that India was not unreasonable on the Doka La row and that all nations were backing it on the issue as they have realised that China is getting aggressive with Bhutan. All countries are supporting us and they understand that the stand taken by India on the issue is not wrong. Indias position is not wrong on the tri-junction and all nations are with it. The law is with our country and all realise this, she added. Separately, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said that India has been in close contact with the Bhutan government on the border issue. India and China are committed to a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to the boundary dispute through dialogue and peaceful negotiation, the government said in the Rajya Sabha. In a written response to a question, V K Singh, Union minister for state in the Ministry of External Affairs, said China and India have each agreed to appoint a Special Representative (SR) to explore the framework for a boundary settlement from a political perspective. There have been SR 19 meetings so far, the last one being in Beijing in April 2016, Singh informed. PM Narendra Modi had met President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in June in Astana. NEW DELHI: In the midst of the continuing standoff over the tri-junction with Bhutan, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj Thursday told Parliament that if China unilaterally changes the status quo on the issue then it poses a challenge to Indias security. Swaraj asserted that India is ready for talks with China provided both the armies pull back from Doka La, the point where they are in a face-off situation for over a month now. We are saying that the matter can be resolved through talks, but both sides have to first take back their armies, Swaraj told the Upper House. Indias emphasis on both the armies pulling back from the area of standoff in Sikkim comes after Chinese articulation that the Indian army must withdraw before any meaningful dialogue on resolving the issue. Answering supplementary questions during the Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha, Swaraj said, Their (Chinas) intention was to reach the tri-junction so that they can unilaterally end the status of the tri-junction. It was only then that India came into the picture. If China unilaterally changes the tri-junction point, then Indias security is challenged. She further said Bhutan has protested in writing to China on the issue. To further buttress Indias case, the minister referred to the written agreement between India, China and Bhutan entered into in 2012 that the three nations will together decide on the boundaries at the tri-junction point. Swaraj also informed the House that China has in the past constructed temporary roads but this time the Chinese brought in bulldozers and excavators. She further stressed that India was not unreasonable on the Doka La row and that all nations were backing it on the issue as they have realised that China is getting aggressive with Bhutan. All countries are supporting us and they understand that the stand taken by India on the issue is not wrong. Indias position is not wrong on the tri-junction and all nations are with it. The law is with our country and all realise this, she added. Separately, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said that India has been in close contact with the Bhutan government on the border issue. India and China are committed to a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to the boundary dispute through dialogue and peaceful negotiation, the government said in the Rajya Sabha. In a written response to a question, V K Singh, Union minister for state in the Ministry of External Affairs, said China and India have each agreed to appoint a Special Representative (SR) to explore the framework for a boundary settlement from a political perspective. There have been SR 19 meetings so far, the last one being in Beijing in April 2016, Singh informed. PM Narendra Modi had met President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in June in Astana. By PTI NEW DELHI: Facing attacks over lynching incidents, the government today asserted that killings in the name of cow "sentiments" was unacceptable and said the state governments should take stern action against those indulging in such violence. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who was replying to a debate on lynchings in the Rajya Sabha on behalf of ailing Home Minister Rajnath Singh, made it clear that the central government could not be blamed for violence by "some people" as it was the responsibility of the state governments to deal with such issues. "The government's stand is clear. Nobody is allowed to do that (lynching in the name of cow protection). There is no rationalisation, no arguments of sentiments being hurt can be an explanation for this. And, the government is absolutely committed," he said. He said "no amount of sympathy" will be shown for those who indulge in lynching and "law will certainly take its own course." Jaitley, who is also the Leader of the House, was replying to the debate on 'situation arising out of the reported increase in the incidents of lynching and atrocities on minorities and dalits across the country', during which the opposition parties slammed the government and particularly targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over such incidents. Most of the opposition parties blamed RSS-affiliates for the cow vigilantism, with the Congress accusing the prime minister of doing nothing to restrain them and "creating such an environment" by indulging in "double speak". Rejecting the Opposition's allegations, Jaitley said the prime minister had spoken thrice against cow vigilantism. "The government unequivocally condemns the killing of human beings in the name of protecting cows," he declared, adding, "nobody has the right to take law in his own hands". At the same time, cow slaughter should not be "praised" or "eulogised", he said, referring to an incident in Kerala where a cow was slaughtered on a road by some youth Congress workers and 'beef festivals' were held. "The incidents of people saying that they will display in Kerala as to how cow is cut and hold festival is equally damaging to the country as lynching in a train," he said. "Violence can never be a partisan issue and can't be justified... One of your (Congress) CMs of the prohibited states has the audacity to say that given a choice he will eat beef," Jaitley added. On the Opposition charge of inaction, Jaitley asserted that "legal action was taken systematically in each incident. People were arrested and they are in jail. They are all going to be chargesheeted against whom evidence is going to be found...This is clear and there is no 'ifs' and 'buts'." In his speech, he emphasised that cow slaughter was banned in most of the states during the time of first Prime Minister Jawaharalal Nehru, who was "secular and not over- religious" unlike Indira Gandhi who was "more religious". "This (ban on cow slaughter) was not proposed by Modi ji or Rajnath ji. This was said by Ambedkar during Nehru's time," Jaitley said, adding ban on cow slaughter was presribed in the Article 48 of the Constitution framed by the Constituent Assembly. Later, it was made part of 7th Schedule of the Constitution as a result of which the matter fell under the purview of the state governments. "At that time, neither the BJP was in place, nor was any state ruled by the BJP," he said, adding most of the states then were ruled by the Congress, which framed laws prohibiting cow slaughter. "We have laws in place and if any such incident occurs where police is not acting and brought to our notice to this effect, the government will not think twice of requesting state governments and advising the state governments and even asking for reports as well as states are concerned," he said. "There are no 'ifs' and 'buts'. Laws made in the states have provisions to preserve and protect cows. That right is with the state and its police. Nobody has the right to take law into their hands... If anybody does it, they should be arrested and prosecuted," he said. He said "selective morality" caused problem and cited how there were a series of reports on attack on churches during elections in Delhi and not even one case was found politically motivated. Jaitley said there was no difference in opinion between the government and the opposition as killing of human beings in the name of cow protection has to be unequivocally condemned. Contending that the definition of secularism has been "distorted" in 70 years, he said the issue pertains to faith and needs introspection. He urged the opposition to rise above politics. He took a jibe at the BSP saying if the law banning cow slaughter had been framed now, the party would have been the first to object that Baba Saheb Ambedkar was communal. BSP leader Satish Misra said his party welcomes banning of cow slaughter but the question was killing of people in the name of cow. Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said Kashmir, despite having Muslim majority, has a law prohibiting cow slaughter which has not been changed. He, however, decried killing of some people in the state on suspicion of ferrying beef. He said the Opposition's objection was to lynching and it wanted to know whether people of other religions had no right to do businesses like dairy as they were being targeted in the name of merely keeping the cows. Jaitley said people have to be tolerant to each other as the country belongs to all. "We have vibrant secularism." At the same time, he said there were more instances of intolerance and violence in liberal societies. During his speech, Jaitley attacked the Left Front, asking, "Why is it that incidents of violence increase in Kerala when the Left comes to power there? .. Why were there no incidents (of violence) when Oomen Chandi (of Congress) was there (till 2014)." Addressing the opposition benches, he said, "If it want to know why it did not happen before 2014, you have chosen an eminent and fair man for Vice President...when you will go through every report that Gopal Krishna Gandhi has sent, you will be enlightened." At this, Azadi quipped, "Please do not divide the opposition." Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma then remarked in a lighter vein that since Jaitley has "acknowledged" that the opposition candidate for Vice President was "emeinent and fair", the ruling party should withdraw its candidate. Jaitley also stressed the need for uplifting Dalits and weaker sections, saying the way they were treated in history needs to be reversed. He said the issue boils down to effective action by the police in violence against the Dalits. In case of police not acting in a state in crimes against Dalits, the Centre "will not hesitate" in telling that particular state to act. The Centre can also seek report from the state, he said, adding if needed, the Union Home Ministry may monitor probe in any case. A demand by some opposition members for a separate law for lynching was also set aside by Jaitley, saying the present law was sufficient to ensure justice. Maintaining that the BJP was wrongly blamed for violence against minorities, he mentioned the attacks on churches in Delhi in the run-up to Delhi Assembly polls two years back. He said investigations had subsequently revealed that some drunkard or some urchin had damaged a church. "But an impression was given that India had become intolerant", he said, adding New York Times had then written an article about it, damaging India's image. NEW DELHI: Facing attacks over lynching incidents, the government today asserted that killings in the name of cow "sentiments" was unacceptable and said the state governments should take stern action against those indulging in such violence. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who was replying to a debate on lynchings in the Rajya Sabha on behalf of ailing Home Minister Rajnath Singh, made it clear that the central government could not be blamed for violence by "some people" as it was the responsibility of the state governments to deal with such issues. "The government's stand is clear. Nobody is allowed to do that (lynching in the name of cow protection). There is no rationalisation, no arguments of sentiments being hurt can be an explanation for this. And, the government is absolutely committed," he said. He said "no amount of sympathy" will be shown for those who indulge in lynching and "law will certainly take its own course." Jaitley, who is also the Leader of the House, was replying to the debate on 'situation arising out of the reported increase in the incidents of lynching and atrocities on minorities and dalits across the country', during which the opposition parties slammed the government and particularly targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over such incidents. Most of the opposition parties blamed RSS-affiliates for the cow vigilantism, with the Congress accusing the prime minister of doing nothing to restrain them and "creating such an environment" by indulging in "double speak". Rejecting the Opposition's allegations, Jaitley said the prime minister had spoken thrice against cow vigilantism. "The government unequivocally condemns the killing of human beings in the name of protecting cows," he declared, adding, "nobody has the right to take law in his own hands". At the same time, cow slaughter should not be "praised" or "eulogised", he said, referring to an incident in Kerala where a cow was slaughtered on a road by some youth Congress workers and 'beef festivals' were held. "The incidents of people saying that they will display in Kerala as to how cow is cut and hold festival is equally damaging to the country as lynching in a train," he said. "Violence can never be a partisan issue and can't be justified... One of your (Congress) CMs of the prohibited states has the audacity to say that given a choice he will eat beef," Jaitley added. On the Opposition charge of inaction, Jaitley asserted that "legal action was taken systematically in each incident. People were arrested and they are in jail. They are all going to be chargesheeted against whom evidence is going to be found...This is clear and there is no 'ifs' and 'buts'." In his speech, he emphasised that cow slaughter was banned in most of the states during the time of first Prime Minister Jawaharalal Nehru, who was "secular and not over- religious" unlike Indira Gandhi who was "more religious". "This (ban on cow slaughter) was not proposed by Modi ji or Rajnath ji. This was said by Ambedkar during Nehru's time," Jaitley said, adding ban on cow slaughter was presribed in the Article 48 of the Constitution framed by the Constituent Assembly. Later, it was made part of 7th Schedule of the Constitution as a result of which the matter fell under the purview of the state governments. "At that time, neither the BJP was in place, nor was any state ruled by the BJP," he said, adding most of the states then were ruled by the Congress, which framed laws prohibiting cow slaughter. "We have laws in place and if any such incident occurs where police is not acting and brought to our notice to this effect, the government will not think twice of requesting state governments and advising the state governments and even asking for reports as well as states are concerned," he said. "There are no 'ifs' and 'buts'. Laws made in the states have provisions to preserve and protect cows. That right is with the state and its police. Nobody has the right to take law into their hands... If anybody does it, they should be arrested and prosecuted," he said. He said "selective morality" caused problem and cited how there were a series of reports on attack on churches during elections in Delhi and not even one case was found politically motivated. Jaitley said there was no difference in opinion between the government and the opposition as killing of human beings in the name of cow protection has to be unequivocally condemned. Contending that the definition of secularism has been "distorted" in 70 years, he said the issue pertains to faith and needs introspection. He urged the opposition to rise above politics. He took a jibe at the BSP saying if the law banning cow slaughter had been framed now, the party would have been the first to object that Baba Saheb Ambedkar was communal. BSP leader Satish Misra said his party welcomes banning of cow slaughter but the question was killing of people in the name of cow. Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said Kashmir, despite having Muslim majority, has a law prohibiting cow slaughter which has not been changed. He, however, decried killing of some people in the state on suspicion of ferrying beef. He said the Opposition's objection was to lynching and it wanted to know whether people of other religions had no right to do businesses like dairy as they were being targeted in the name of merely keeping the cows. Jaitley said people have to be tolerant to each other as the country belongs to all. "We have vibrant secularism." At the same time, he said there were more instances of intolerance and violence in liberal societies. During his speech, Jaitley attacked the Left Front, asking, "Why is it that incidents of violence increase in Kerala when the Left comes to power there? .. Why were there no incidents (of violence) when Oomen Chandi (of Congress) was there (till 2014)." Addressing the opposition benches, he said, "If it want to know why it did not happen before 2014, you have chosen an eminent and fair man for Vice President...when you will go through every report that Gopal Krishna Gandhi has sent, you will be enlightened." At this, Azadi quipped, "Please do not divide the opposition." Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma then remarked in a lighter vein that since Jaitley has "acknowledged" that the opposition candidate for Vice President was "emeinent and fair", the ruling party should withdraw its candidate. Jaitley also stressed the need for uplifting Dalits and weaker sections, saying the way they were treated in history needs to be reversed. He said the issue boils down to effective action by the police in violence against the Dalits. In case of police not acting in a state in crimes against Dalits, the Centre "will not hesitate" in telling that particular state to act. The Centre can also seek report from the state, he said, adding if needed, the Union Home Ministry may monitor probe in any case. A demand by some opposition members for a separate law for lynching was also set aside by Jaitley, saying the present law was sufficient to ensure justice. Maintaining that the BJP was wrongly blamed for violence against minorities, he mentioned the attacks on churches in Delhi in the run-up to Delhi Assembly polls two years back. He said investigations had subsequently revealed that some drunkard or some urchin had damaged a church. "But an impression was given that India had become intolerant", he said, adding New York Times had then written an article about it, damaging India's image. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Thirty-seven years after the formation of the BJP, the saffron outfit succeeded in installing one from its ranks, Ram Nath Kovind, as the 14th President of the country. Kovind polled 65.65 per cent of the votes in the electoral college, making the combined Opposition look small. With significant cross-voting in key states on the radar of the BJP, the Opposition camp is also now left with a sense of doubt about unity in their ranks. About 4 pm on Thursday, electoral officer Anoop Mishra declared Kovind elected as the next President. The 71-year-old President elect will be sworn in on July 25. The NDA nominee bagged 2,930 votes having the value of 7,02,044 in total against Kumars 1,844 votes with a value of 3,67,314. Kovind missed beating the votes polled by the outgoing President Pranab Mukherjee by a whisker, as the latter had polled 69 per cent of the votes in 2012. But eyebrows were raised as votes of 21 MPs were found to be invalid. A total of 77 votes across the country were termed invalid, after the electorate didnt follow the stipulated norms set by the Election Commission. The BJP leaders sought to claim that the invalid votes belonged to the Opposition camp. The Opposition, which had sought to make the Presidential election a precursor to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections after 18 parties came together in unity, was left with much soul-searching to be done as cross-voting in favour of the NDA nominee was reported from Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Gujarat, Mizoram, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and a few other states. Maximum cross-voting seems to have been from Maharashtra where about 20 Opposition votes came to Kovind. In poll-bound Gujarat, eight Congress MLAs voted for Kovind, while two Opposition votes in Goa came the NDAs way. Karnataka, which is heading to polls early next year, also witnessed cross-voting, with about 10 Opposition MLAs voting for Kovind, which in the case of Delhi stood at four, said a senior BJP functionary. West Bengal reported as many as 10 invalid votes even while state chief minister Mamata Banerjee had reportedly tutored her flock to vote for Kumar. One JD (U) MP also supported Kumar against the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumars support to the NDA nominee. Celebrations began among BJP leaders by noon, as sweets were distributed in Parliament where votes were being counted, which culminated with the feting of Kovind by the top brass of the saffron outfit in the evening. Prime Minister Narendra Modi noted the extensive win margin of Kovind, while sharing a 20-year old photograph of him attending the marriage function of the son of the President-elect, suggesting a personal bond between the two leaders. Kovind, on his part, attributed his victory to the greatness of Indian democracy, while stating that its also a message to those who are discharging their duties with integrity. He added I am feeling emotional. Kumar, while congratulating Kovind, said that now it has fallen upon Kovind to uphold Constitutional values. She, at the same time, said she would continue to fight for secularism and for the oppressed and marginalised sections of society. Kovind would be the second Dalit President after K R Narayanan. He was Governor of Bihar when the BJP nominated him as Presidential nominee of the NDA. He had served two terms as Rajya Sabha MP too. NEW DELHI: Thirty-seven years after the formation of the BJP, the saffron outfit succeeded in installing one from its ranks, Ram Nath Kovind, as the 14th President of the country. Kovind polled 65.65 per cent of the votes in the electoral college, making the combined Opposition look small. With significant cross-voting in key states on the radar of the BJP, the Opposition camp is also now left with a sense of doubt about unity in their ranks. About 4 pm on Thursday, electoral officer Anoop Mishra declared Kovind elected as the next President. The 71-year-old President elect will be sworn in on July 25. The NDA nominee bagged 2,930 votes having the value of 7,02,044 in total against Kumars 1,844 votes with a value of 3,67,314. Kovind missed beating the votes polled by the outgoing President Pranab Mukherjee by a whisker, as the latter had polled 69 per cent of the votes in 2012. But eyebrows were raised as votes of 21 MPs were found to be invalid. A total of 77 votes across the country were termed invalid, after the electorate didnt follow the stipulated norms set by the Election Commission. The BJP leaders sought to claim that the invalid votes belonged to the Opposition camp. The Opposition, which had sought to make the Presidential election a precursor to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections after 18 parties came together in unity, was left with much soul-searching to be done as cross-voting in favour of the NDA nominee was reported from Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Gujarat, Mizoram, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and a few other states. Maximum cross-voting seems to have been from Maharashtra where about 20 Opposition votes came to Kovind. In poll-bound Gujarat, eight Congress MLAs voted for Kovind, while two Opposition votes in Goa came the NDAs way. Karnataka, which is heading to polls early next year, also witnessed cross-voting, with about 10 Opposition MLAs voting for Kovind, which in the case of Delhi stood at four, said a senior BJP functionary. West Bengal reported as many as 10 invalid votes even while state chief minister Mamata Banerjee had reportedly tutored her flock to vote for Kumar. One JD (U) MP also supported Kumar against the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumars support to the NDA nominee. Celebrations began among BJP leaders by noon, as sweets were distributed in Parliament where votes were being counted, which culminated with the feting of Kovind by the top brass of the saffron outfit in the evening. Prime Minister Narendra Modi noted the extensive win margin of Kovind, while sharing a 20-year old photograph of him attending the marriage function of the son of the President-elect, suggesting a personal bond between the two leaders. Kovind, on his part, attributed his victory to the greatness of Indian democracy, while stating that its also a message to those who are discharging their duties with integrity. He added I am feeling emotional. Kumar, while congratulating Kovind, said that now it has fallen upon Kovind to uphold Constitutional values. She, at the same time, said she would continue to fight for secularism and for the oppressed and marginalised sections of society. Kovind would be the second Dalit President after K R Narayanan. He was Governor of Bihar when the BJP nominated him as Presidential nominee of the NDA. He had served two terms as Rajya Sabha MP too. By Express News Service KOLKATA: Rajya Sabha MP Roopa Ganguly and BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya were summoned to appear at the Crime Investigation Department's headquarters in Bhabani Bhaban for interrogation on July 27 and 29 in connection with the high-profile Jalpaiguri child trafficking case. Summon notices were also sent to two other BJP leaders Vinayak Mishra and Prashant Sareen under Section 160 CrPC. Sources said a Special Operations Group (SOG) comprising senior officers would interrogate the four BJP leaders based on the statements made against them by those arrested in the case. Interrogation of Jalpaiguri shelter homes owner Chandana Chakraborty in February revealed the West Bengal BJP general secretary, Juhee Chowdhury's involvement in the case. She was nabbed by a CID team when she was trying to flee to Nepal. During interrogation, Chandana had claimed that Juhee Chowdhury had lobbied Roopa Ganguly and Kailash Vijayvargiya for influencing the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) in New Delhi for more central funds into the adoption centres run by Chandana Chakraborty in Jalpaiguri. She was nabbed by a CID team when she was trying to flee to Nepal. During interrogation, Chandana had claimed that Juhee Chowdhury had lobbied Roopa Ganguly and Kailash Vijayvargiya for influencing the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) for more central funds into the adoption centres run by Chandana Chakraborty in Jalpaiguri. Though state BJP leadership at first supported Juhee Chowdhury. However, later the party began maintaining a distance with her and said that if found guilty, Chowdhury should be punished. KOLKATA: Rajya Sabha MP Roopa Ganguly and BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya were summoned to appear at the Crime Investigation Department's headquarters in Bhabani Bhaban for interrogation on July 27 and 29 in connection with the high-profile Jalpaiguri child trafficking case. Summon notices were also sent to two other BJP leaders Vinayak Mishra and Prashant Sareen under Section 160 CrPC. Sources said a Special Operations Group (SOG) comprising senior officers would interrogate the four BJP leaders based on the statements made against them by those arrested in the case. Interrogation of Jalpaiguri shelter homes owner Chandana Chakraborty in February revealed the West Bengal BJP general secretary, Juhee Chowdhury's involvement in the case. She was nabbed by a CID team when she was trying to flee to Nepal. During interrogation, Chandana had claimed that Juhee Chowdhury had lobbied Roopa Ganguly and Kailash Vijayvargiya for influencing the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) in New Delhi for more central funds into the adoption centres run by Chandana Chakraborty in Jalpaiguri. She was nabbed by a CID team when she was trying to flee to Nepal. During interrogation, Chandana had claimed that Juhee Chowdhury had lobbied Roopa Ganguly and Kailash Vijayvargiya for influencing the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) for more central funds into the adoption centres run by Chandana Chakraborty in Jalpaiguri. Though state BJP leadership at first supported Juhee Chowdhury. However, later the party began maintaining a distance with her and said that if found guilty, Chowdhury should be punished. By PTI KOLKATA: The West Bengal CID has freezed bank accounts of top Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) leaders, including its president Bimal Gurung, alleging that the funds were being "misused". The accounts of GJM general secretary Roshan Giri and assistant general secretary Binay Tamang were also freezed, a senior Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officer confirmed to PTI tonight. "Bank accounts of Gurung, Tamang and Roshan Giri have been freezed on July 17 after it was found that the funds were misused for illegal operations such as purchasing arms," the officer said. "All these three accounts were in a private bank in Darjeeling and belonged to the GJM leaders who were using the fund for all sort of illegal activities starting from purchasing arms and weapons. Hence, we decided to freeze the accounts," the officer said, adding around Rs 26 lakh was seized from the three accounts Asked how long the accounts would be freezed, the officer said, "It's still unclear. We have to look into the details of the transactions and a probe has been ongoing." When contacted, Giri said he had no clue that the account, used as the salary account for the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), has been freezed. "I have no clue that my account has been freezed. But my question is what could be the reason behind this. This account was used for my GTA salary account. I used this account to pay my house rent also," he told PTI. "I have all the I-T details and my papers are up to date. I think this is absolutely unnecessary," Giri added. Gurung and Tamang could not be contacted for their reactions. The hills is on the boil since June 8, when GJM supporters clashed with police when they tried to break the barricades following which police restored to lathicharge. The GJM supporters damaged police vehicles and set some of them ablaze as the state government held a Cabinet meeting at the Raj Bhawan. The Army had to be called out to stage flag marches in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong to restore peace. KOLKATA: The West Bengal CID has freezed bank accounts of top Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) leaders, including its president Bimal Gurung, alleging that the funds were being "misused". The accounts of GJM general secretary Roshan Giri and assistant general secretary Binay Tamang were also freezed, a senior Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officer confirmed to PTI tonight. "Bank accounts of Gurung, Tamang and Roshan Giri have been freezed on July 17 after it was found that the funds were misused for illegal operations such as purchasing arms," the officer said. "All these three accounts were in a private bank in Darjeeling and belonged to the GJM leaders who were using the fund for all sort of illegal activities starting from purchasing arms and weapons. Hence, we decided to freeze the accounts," the officer said, adding around Rs 26 lakh was seized from the three accounts Asked how long the accounts would be freezed, the officer said, "It's still unclear. We have to look into the details of the transactions and a probe has been ongoing." When contacted, Giri said he had no clue that the account, used as the salary account for the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), has been freezed. "I have no clue that my account has been freezed. But my question is what could be the reason behind this. This account was used for my GTA salary account. I used this account to pay my house rent also," he told PTI. "I have all the I-T details and my papers are up to date. I think this is absolutely unnecessary," Giri added. Gurung and Tamang could not be contacted for their reactions. The hills is on the boil since June 8, when GJM supporters clashed with police when they tried to break the barricades following which police restored to lathicharge. The GJM supporters damaged police vehicles and set some of them ablaze as the state government held a Cabinet meeting at the Raj Bhawan. The Army had to be called out to stage flag marches in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong to restore peace. By Express News Service BHOPAL: It was not only Kanpur district which celebrated the triumph of its son Ram Nath Kovind in the presidential election on Thursday. Celebrations broke out in Guna in Madhya Pradesh, where Kovinds elder brother Ram Swaroop Kovind and family live. Hanuman Colony in Guna (200 km from Bhopal) burst into celebrations after Kovinds victory was declared with his retired accountant brother Ram Swaroop Kovind participating enthusiastically. Residents of the locality danced to drumbeats and Kovinds elder brother distributed sweets all around. Ram Swaroop will leave with son Karan on July 22 to attend the newly elected presidents swearing-in ceremony in New Delhi. He said he hoped his brother as countrys first citizen will become the voice of the exploited and marginalised sections. He also expressed confidence that as supreme commander of Indian defence forces, his brother will leave no stone unturned in safeguarding the nations borders and wage a war against corruption. Residents of the locality expressed the hope that the newly elected president will visit Guna in the next six months. BHOPAL: It was not only Kanpur district which celebrated the triumph of its son Ram Nath Kovind in the presidential election on Thursday. Celebrations broke out in Guna in Madhya Pradesh, where Kovinds elder brother Ram Swaroop Kovind and family live. Hanuman Colony in Guna (200 km from Bhopal) burst into celebrations after Kovinds victory was declared with his retired accountant brother Ram Swaroop Kovind participating enthusiastically. Residents of the locality danced to drumbeats and Kovinds elder brother distributed sweets all around. Ram Swaroop will leave with son Karan on July 22 to attend the newly elected presidents swearing-in ceremony in New Delhi. He said he hoped his brother as countrys first citizen will become the voice of the exploited and marginalised sections. He also expressed confidence that as supreme commander of Indian defence forces, his brother will leave no stone unturned in safeguarding the nations borders and wage a war against corruption. Residents of the locality expressed the hope that the newly elected president will visit Guna in the next six months. Ramananda Sengupta By Northeast of what? That was a question by a youngster from Nagaland, part of a band which had come down to Calcutta (as it was known in those days) to perform at a three-day rock concert in the early 1980s. He was responding to the emcee declaring the band to be from the Northeast. In a column in 2010, Maloy Krishna Dhar, former joint Director of the Intelligence Bureau and one of the most upright and highly decorated officers India has ever known, asked the same question. Dhar, who passed away in 2012, had seen action in almost all Northeastern states (brokering several critical peace initiatives), Punjab (during the Khalistani movement) and Kashmir, and handled several delicate political and counterintelligence assignments during his 30 years in the Bureau. Answering his own question, Dhar argued that more than 90 per cent of the Hindi heartland and the southern peninsula would probably not even be able to name the seven sisters of the Northeast, where some kind of electoral democracy coexists with armed insurgency and terrorism. The facade of constitutional unity is maintained more in form than in faith, and Delhi relinquishes its duties by pouring money, administrative assistance and deploying forces in the restive region when required, he declared. We bristle every time China declares its claim on Arunachal, but how many of us can even name its capital? Dhar once asked me. Poorly connected to the Indian mainland by a narrow stretch called the Siliguri corridor or the Chickens Neck, these seven stateseight if you include Sikkimborder countries such as Bhutan, Myanmar, Bangladesh and China (most of the Northeastern states have international borders). But poor connectivity is only part of the reason for the resource-rich regions disconnect from the mainland. The main reason is New Delhis apathy and almost condescending attitude towards the area. Ever since Independence, the mandarins in the capital mostly perceived the region as a strategic frontier, ensuring that it was only seen through the prism of national security and allied priorities. It was only in 1971 that the North Eastern Council was set up through an act of the Parliament for the economic and social development of the seven states. Sikkim, the least populous and the second smallest state in India, was introduced as the eighth member in 2002. But bar a few ill-conceived dams and some roads, the NEC has nothing much to boast of during its 45+ years of existence. Most of these states joined the Indian Union long after Independence. Nagalandonce a land of tribal headhunterswas formally inducted as the 16th Indian state in December 1963. Mizoram, a part of undivided Assam, was carved out as an union territory in 1972, and became the 23rd Indian state only in 1987. Sikkim officially became a state of the Indian Union in May 1975, and the Chogyal, or king, was replaced by a chief minister. Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims, is the northernmost state in the region. After the India-Pakistan war of 1971, which led to the birth of Bangladesh, New Delhi reorganised the region and three new states Meghalaya, Manipur, and Tripura were born in January 1972. Plagued by ethnic and tribal rivalries, migration from East Pakistan and later Bangladesh, insurrections and freedom movements, the region was relegated to the security and intelligence wonks (like Dhar), who hustled to negotiate accords and mergers to ensure peace and stability. China, Myanmar and East Pakistan/Bangladesh exploited and fuelled the unrest, giving shelter, training, and weapons to the insurgents. While most of the secessionist movements have now either been crushed or co-opted, low intensity conflict continues to plague the region. Demographic changes in Assam and Tripura due to the massive influx of Muslim migrants from Bangladesh remain a sore point, and communal violence keeps erupting every now and then. Nagaland and its neighbours still bicker violently over borders and ancient land rights, and Arunachal Pradesh worries about the increasing Chinese claims to its territory. But while New Delhi hustled to secure the region strategically and politically, it did not think it necessary to integrate and familiarise the region with the rest of the country. In fact, after the Chinese invasion of 1962, even connectivity and infrastructure were deliberately delayed owing to fears that these roads could be used by the Chinese if they invaded again. Hence, the people of peninsular India never really saw the people from the region as Indian, and their Mongoloid features often led them being offensively described as Chinkis or worse. The government banned the word after the massive exodus of people from the Northeast from Bengaluru in 2012 following rumours that they were being targeted by locals, and people using the term can face up to five years in jail. But that did not stop Nido Tania, a young student from Arunachal Pradesh, from being beaten to death in New Delhi following an altercation with goons who had cast a racial slur at him in January 2014. Days earlier, two women from Manipur were assaulted in the same neighbourhood. Their fault: looking different. Soon after Narendra Modi was sworn in as prime minister in 2014, the government announced its Act East Policy, or AEP, which essentially aims to boost connectivity and other ties between Northeastern states and Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). While that is a commendable move, it might make more sense to try some internal integration with mainland India first. Unless we accept and bring the region into our national consciousness, that question will continue to haunt us: Northeast of what? Ramananda Sengupta Senior Associate Editor, The New Indian Express Email: ramananda@newindianexpress.com Northeast of what? That was a question by a youngster from Nagaland, part of a band which had come down to Calcutta (as it was known in those days) to perform at a three-day rock concert in the early 1980s. He was responding to the emcee declaring the band to be from the Northeast. In a column in 2010, Maloy Krishna Dhar, former joint Director of the Intelligence Bureau and one of the most upright and highly decorated officers India has ever known, asked the same question. Dhar, who passed away in 2012, had seen action in almost all Northeastern states (brokering several critical peace initiatives), Punjab (during the Khalistani movement) and Kashmir, and handled several delicate political and counterintelligence assignments during his 30 years in the Bureau. Answering his own question, Dhar argued that more than 90 per cent of the Hindi heartland and the southern peninsula would probably not even be able to name the seven sisters of the Northeast, where some kind of electoral democracy coexists with armed insurgency and terrorism. The facade of constitutional unity is maintained more in form than in faith, and Delhi relinquishes its duties by pouring money, administrative assistance and deploying forces in the restive region when required, he declared. We bristle every time China declares its claim on Arunachal, but how many of us can even name its capital? Dhar once asked me. Poorly connected to the Indian mainland by a narrow stretch called the Siliguri corridor or the Chickens Neck, these seven stateseight if you include Sikkimborder countries such as Bhutan, Myanmar, Bangladesh and China (most of the Northeastern states have international borders). But poor connectivity is only part of the reason for the resource-rich regions disconnect from the mainland. The main reason is New Delhis apathy and almost condescending attitude towards the area. Ever since Independence, the mandarins in the capital mostly perceived the region as a strategic frontier, ensuring that it was only seen through the prism of national security and allied priorities. It was only in 1971 that the North Eastern Council was set up through an act of the Parliament for the economic and social development of the seven states. Sikkim, the least populous and the second smallest state in India, was introduced as the eighth member in 2002. But bar a few ill-conceived dams and some roads, the NEC has nothing much to boast of during its 45+ years of existence. Most of these states joined the Indian Union long after Independence. Nagalandonce a land of tribal headhunterswas formally inducted as the 16th Indian state in December 1963. Mizoram, a part of undivided Assam, was carved out as an union territory in 1972, and became the 23rd Indian state only in 1987. Sikkim officially became a state of the Indian Union in May 1975, and the Chogyal, or king, was replaced by a chief minister. Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims, is the northernmost state in the region. After the India-Pakistan war of 1971, which led to the birth of Bangladesh, New Delhi reorganised the region and three new states Meghalaya, Manipur, and Tripura were born in January 1972. Plagued by ethnic and tribal rivalries, migration from East Pakistan and later Bangladesh, insurrections and freedom movements, the region was relegated to the security and intelligence wonks (like Dhar), who hustled to negotiate accords and mergers to ensure peace and stability. China, Myanmar and East Pakistan/Bangladesh exploited and fuelled the unrest, giving shelter, training, and weapons to the insurgents. While most of the secessionist movements have now either been crushed or co-opted, low intensity conflict continues to plague the region. Demographic changes in Assam and Tripura due to the massive influx of Muslim migrants from Bangladesh remain a sore point, and communal violence keeps erupting every now and then. Nagaland and its neighbours still bicker violently over borders and ancient land rights, and Arunachal Pradesh worries about the increasing Chinese claims to its territory. But while New Delhi hustled to secure the region strategically and politically, it did not think it necessary to integrate and familiarise the region with the rest of the country. In fact, after the Chinese invasion of 1962, even connectivity and infrastructure were deliberately delayed owing to fears that these roads could be used by the Chinese if they invaded again. Hence, the people of peninsular India never really saw the people from the region as Indian, and their Mongoloid features often led them being offensively described as Chinkis or worse. The government banned the word after the massive exodus of people from the Northeast from Bengaluru in 2012 following rumours that they were being targeted by locals, and people using the term can face up to five years in jail. But that did not stop Nido Tania, a young student from Arunachal Pradesh, from being beaten to death in New Delhi following an altercation with goons who had cast a racial slur at him in January 2014. Days earlier, two women from Manipur were assaulted in the same neighbourhood. Their fault: looking different. Soon after Narendra Modi was sworn in as prime minister in 2014, the government announced its Act East Policy, or AEP, which essentially aims to boost connectivity and other ties between Northeastern states and Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). While that is a commendable move, it might make more sense to try some internal integration with mainland India first. Unless we accept and bring the region into our national consciousness, that question will continue to haunt us: Northeast of what? Ramananda Sengupta Senior Associate Editor, The New Indian Express Email: ramananda@newindianexpress.com Raghottam Koppar By Express News Service GADAG:Alien was the talking point at Antur in Gadag district once again on Wednesday when members of the Disclosure Team India arrived at the village from New Delhi. The team of the UFO (unidentified flying object)-focused organisation faced relentless queries from villagers about aliens. Antur was in the news last week after some of the villagers claimed to have heard heavy breathing in the eaarly hours and discovered unusual footprints in the fields. Many people from surrounding villages visited Antur to see the mysterious footprints. The team from New Delhi visited the spot near Bhudeshwara mutt where footprints were found and photographed them. They also measured the footprints and collected the mud from them. The trees in the vicinity were also checked for any possible scratch marks made by the mysterious creature. It is said the team had sought permission from the Forest Department a few days ago, after the news of the alien was reported. Ganesh Kalmath, one of the team members, said they collected all the data and samples pertaining to the creature. As of now we cannot say anything. But we will send the data for further evaluation and wait for the report, he said.Our team has worked in Manchikere in Uttara Kannada district and Kanagal village in Mysuru. Antur is the third case in Karnataka handled by us. We are trying to get evidence that pertain to extra terrestrial life, he added. GADAG:Alien was the talking point at Antur in Gadag district once again on Wednesday when members of the Disclosure Team India arrived at the village from New Delhi. The team of the UFO (unidentified flying object)-focused organisation faced relentless queries from villagers about aliens. Antur was in the news last week after some of the villagers claimed to have heard heavy breathing in the eaarly hours and discovered unusual footprints in the fields. Many people from surrounding villages visited Antur to see the mysterious footprints. The team from New Delhi visited the spot near Bhudeshwara mutt where footprints were found and photographed them. They also measured the footprints and collected the mud from them. The trees in the vicinity were also checked for any possible scratch marks made by the mysterious creature. It is said the team had sought permission from the Forest Department a few days ago, after the news of the alien was reported. Ganesh Kalmath, one of the team members, said they collected all the data and samples pertaining to the creature. As of now we cannot say anything. But we will send the data for further evaluation and wait for the report, he said.Our team has worked in Manchikere in Uttara Kannada district and Kanagal village in Mysuru. Antur is the third case in Karnataka handled by us. We are trying to get evidence that pertain to extra terrestrial life, he added. By Express News Service BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has slammed the recommendations of the Union Finance Commission saying it was ad hoc and not based on any criteria. In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he has stated that Karnataka has been allocated only Rs 1,527 crore under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) for five years, from 2015-16 to 2019-20. It is significantly less than other states such as Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat with lesser vulnerability. Even though Karnataka has 60 per cent of its geographical area as drought-prone and some parts are prone to multi-hazards, we are allocated lesser amount compared to other states, he complained. He pointed out that 16 out of the 24 districts listed as the most drought-prone in Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Karnataka belonged to the state and the percentage of irrigated lands in Karnataka was less to even that of Rajasthan. It can be decided from the data that in the last six years, against the average annual allocation of Rs 215.74 crore under SDRF, the average amount spent annually under SDRF along with National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) is Rs 1,029.28 crore which justifies an enhancement in allocation towards SDRF as per the Finance Commissions own recommendation of considering past experiences, he argued. Further, he pointed out that during 1990-2005, the allocation to Karnataka was 3.5 per cent of the total allocation for Calamity Relief Fund (Rs 1,435.95 crore against total allocation of Rs 43,750 crore). However, during 2015-2020, the percentage of allocation had dropped to 2.4 per cent of the total allocation despite the increasing frequency of disasters and higher spending from the state government towards disaster management. CM insisted that the annual allocations be revisited for the proper determination of allocation to SDRF by applying proper methodology. BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has slammed the recommendations of the Union Finance Commission saying it was ad hoc and not based on any criteria. In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he has stated that Karnataka has been allocated only Rs 1,527 crore under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) for five years, from 2015-16 to 2019-20. It is significantly less than other states such as Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat with lesser vulnerability. Even though Karnataka has 60 per cent of its geographical area as drought-prone and some parts are prone to multi-hazards, we are allocated lesser amount compared to other states, he complained. He pointed out that 16 out of the 24 districts listed as the most drought-prone in Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Karnataka belonged to the state and the percentage of irrigated lands in Karnataka was less to even that of Rajasthan. It can be decided from the data that in the last six years, against the average annual allocation of Rs 215.74 crore under SDRF, the average amount spent annually under SDRF along with National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) is Rs 1,029.28 crore which justifies an enhancement in allocation towards SDRF as per the Finance Commissions own recommendation of considering past experiences, he argued. Further, he pointed out that during 1990-2005, the allocation to Karnataka was 3.5 per cent of the total allocation for Calamity Relief Fund (Rs 1,435.95 crore against total allocation of Rs 43,750 crore). However, during 2015-2020, the percentage of allocation had dropped to 2.4 per cent of the total allocation despite the increasing frequency of disasters and higher spending from the state government towards disaster management. CM insisted that the annual allocations be revisited for the proper determination of allocation to SDRF by applying proper methodology. By Express News Service KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Thursday reserved its order on the bail petition of actor Dileep, after hearing both sides of the argument in the case pertaining to the abduction and assault on an actress in Kochi. The special investigation team probing the case submitted before the court Dileep, the eleventh accused, was the mastermind who hatched the conspiracy. The prosecution submitted Dileep had given the contract or quotation for committing rape. Appearing for the police, Director General of Prosecution (DGP) C Sreedharan Nair and senior government pleader Suman Chakravarthy said: It is for the first time in the history of criminal law a quotation was given for committing rape. Dileeps name will enter the annals of criminal history if he is convicted in the case. According to the prosecution, the SIT had collected sufficient materials and evidence to prove Dileeps involvement in the crime. The telephone call records and deposition of eyewitnesses confirm his role. Refuting Dileeps claim he did not know Pulsar Suni, the prosecution said the actor had met Suni more than four times at different places. Dileep had handed over `10,000 as an advance from his car to Suni to commit rape and record it. The prosecution submitted the original mobile phone and the memory card containing the visuals were yet to be recovered. The police have only recovered a memory card containing the visuals copied from the original card.Dileeps counsel submitted there was no material to implicate the actor. The police had filed the final report in the case in April. In the wake of media reports, he was called by the police on several occasions and questioned for hours along with his staff members. Without conducting an inquiry and solely based on a statement of Pulsar Suni, a criminal involved in a number of abduction and robbery cases, he was arraigned as accused and arrested on July 10. He is in judicial custody since then. In the remand report filed against him, there is no statement indicating connection between the petitioner and the crime. He was implicated in the case following a deep-rooted conspiracy at high levels. The petitioner said he had signed several film projects. If he is detained further his film career will be spoiled. Rejecting bail will not give any message to society, counsel for the petitioner said. Pratheesh Chacko arrested, released on bail Kochi: Pratheesh Chacko, the former counsel of Pulsar Suni, was arrested by the special investigation team in connection with the actor assault case. His arrest was recorded after a marathon interrogation at the Aluva Police Club. Later, he was released on bail at 8.30 pm. Pratheesh had appeared before the team, including Rural SP A V George, by 11 am. The cops strongly believe Pulsar Suni handed over the memory card containing the visuals of the assault on the actress to Pratheesh. The cops said the interrogation of Pratheesh is crucial in taking the investigation forward as the probe so far has pointed to his role in the post-crime scenario. The sleuths had earlier interrogated Raju Joseph, Pratheeshs junior. Based on Pulsar Sunis deposition, the police had searched the office premises of Chacko and recovered a bag containing four SIM cards, a memory card, card reader and the dress worn by Pulsar Suni while committing the crime. Abduction bid: Accused confess to crime Kochi: The four accused arrested on Wednesday in the case pertaining to the abduction bid on an actress in Kochi in 2011 said they were aware of Pulsar Sunis plan to abduct and sexually assault the actress. The police said during interrogation, second accused Ashraf Kunjumon,32, who introduced himself as the representative of a hotel in the city; third accused Suneesh E K,32, the tempo traveller driver; fourth accused Abin Kuria-kose,27, and fifth accused Bibin V Paul,27, have confessed to the crime. The officers said the four accused, along with Pulsar Suni, prepared a plan to abduct the actress and videograph obscene visuals. The police took the accused to the Ernakulam South Railway Station, Ponnurunni and a hotel in the city for gathering evidence. Granting of bail may undermine probe Kochi: Opposing the bail plea of actor Dileep, the prosecution submitted before the Kerala High Court many crucial witnesses in the case were linked with the Malayalam film industry. Hence, if Dileep is released on bail, he will influence the witnesses to sabotage the investigation and trial. Many leading actors and film-related persons have been questioned and their statements were recorded, the prosecution said. The prosecution submitted Dileep had entered into a criminal conspiracy with Pulsar Suni during their meeting in March-April, 2013, in room No-410 of Hotel Abad Plaza, Ernakulam. The duo was present in the hotel and this was confirmed by the witness statements and hotel bills. The room was booked in Dileeps name, the prosecution said. KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Thursday reserved its order on the bail petition of actor Dileep, after hearing both sides of the argument in the case pertaining to the abduction and assault on an actress in Kochi. The special investigation team probing the case submitted before the court Dileep, the eleventh accused, was the mastermind who hatched the conspiracy. The prosecution submitted Dileep had given the contract or quotation for committing rape. Appearing for the police, Director General of Prosecution (DGP) C Sreedharan Nair and senior government pleader Suman Chakravarthy said: It is for the first time in the history of criminal law a quotation was given for committing rape. Dileeps name will enter the annals of criminal history if he is convicted in the case. According to the prosecution, the SIT had collected sufficient materials and evidence to prove Dileeps involvement in the crime. The telephone call records and deposition of eyewitnesses confirm his role. Refuting Dileeps claim he did not know Pulsar Suni, the prosecution said the actor had met Suni more than four times at different places. Dileep had handed over `10,000 as an advance from his car to Suni to commit rape and record it. The prosecution submitted the original mobile phone and the memory card containing the visuals were yet to be recovered. The police have only recovered a memory card containing the visuals copied from the original card.Dileeps counsel submitted there was no material to implicate the actor. The police had filed the final report in the case in April. In the wake of media reports, he was called by the police on several occasions and questioned for hours along with his staff members. Without conducting an inquiry and solely based on a statement of Pulsar Suni, a criminal involved in a number of abduction and robbery cases, he was arraigned as accused and arrested on July 10. He is in judicial custody since then. In the remand report filed against him, there is no statement indicating connection between the petitioner and the crime. He was implicated in the case following a deep-rooted conspiracy at high levels. The petitioner said he had signed several film projects. If he is detained further his film career will be spoiled. Rejecting bail will not give any message to society, counsel for the petitioner said. Pratheesh Chacko arrested, released on bail Kochi: Pratheesh Chacko, the former counsel of Pulsar Suni, was arrested by the special investigation team in connection with the actor assault case. His arrest was recorded after a marathon interrogation at the Aluva Police Club. Later, he was released on bail at 8.30 pm. Pratheesh had appeared before the team, including Rural SP A V George, by 11 am. The cops strongly believe Pulsar Suni handed over the memory card containing the visuals of the assault on the actress to Pratheesh. The cops said the interrogation of Pratheesh is crucial in taking the investigation forward as the probe so far has pointed to his role in the post-crime scenario. The sleuths had earlier interrogated Raju Joseph, Pratheeshs junior. Based on Pulsar Sunis deposition, the police had searched the office premises of Chacko and recovered a bag containing four SIM cards, a memory card, card reader and the dress worn by Pulsar Suni while committing the crime. Abduction bid: Accused confess to crime Kochi: The four accused arrested on Wednesday in the case pertaining to the abduction bid on an actress in Kochi in 2011 said they were aware of Pulsar Sunis plan to abduct and sexually assault the actress. The police said during interrogation, second accused Ashraf Kunjumon,32, who introduced himself as the representative of a hotel in the city; third accused Suneesh E K,32, the tempo traveller driver; fourth accused Abin Kuria-kose,27, and fifth accused Bibin V Paul,27, have confessed to the crime. The officers said the four accused, along with Pulsar Suni, prepared a plan to abduct the actress and videograph obscene visuals. The police took the accused to the Ernakulam South Railway Station, Ponnurunni and a hotel in the city for gathering evidence. Granting of bail may undermine probe Kochi: Opposing the bail plea of actor Dileep, the prosecution submitted before the Kerala High Court many crucial witnesses in the case were linked with the Malayalam film industry. Hence, if Dileep is released on bail, he will influence the witnesses to sabotage the investigation and trial. Many leading actors and film-related persons have been questioned and their statements were recorded, the prosecution said. The prosecution submitted Dileep had entered into a criminal conspiracy with Pulsar Suni during their meeting in March-April, 2013, in room No-410 of Hotel Abad Plaza, Ernakulam. The duo was present in the hotel and this was confirmed by the witness statements and hotel bills. The room was booked in Dileeps name, the prosecution said. By Express News Service Inadequacies in commercial tax The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) gave a scathing account of the inadequacies of the Commercial Taxes Department (CTD) in collecting data, in its report on the revenue sector for the year ended March 31, 2016. The Tamil Nadu Commercial Tax Manual prescribes for coordinating with other departments/agencies to obtain information and to make use of it in detecting suppression and evasion of tax. However, the CAG said, the CTD did not have any system in place for the collection of third party data. Further, the report mentioned that the failure of the CTD to implement the GO issued by the Industries Department resulted in non-realisation of deferred tax of Rs 1,637.61 crore from January 2007 to September 2013. The Commercial Taxes Department failed to institute a well-established system of collection of data from various work awarders in the State, read the report. This resulted in contract receipts escaping assessment. The CAG said that a separate wing, the Business Intelligence Unit (BIU) was formed for the collection of data from various sources only in August 2014. It said that the BIU did not efficiently carry out its duty as several sources of third party data remained untapped. Further, the data that was gathered was not utilised by the Assessing Authority (AA). No TNPCB consent for thermal plants North Chennai Thermal Power Station (NCTPS) Stage I and Tuticorin Thermal Power station (TTPS) are operating without the consent of Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, according to a report of Comptroller and Auditor General of India. The report said that TNPCB has yet to give its consent as the two plants did not revamp existing pollution control systems like Electrostatic Precipitators (ESPs) and have not installed and connecting online continuous effluent monitoring systems with TNPCBs server. It also stated that the thermal plants of Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) are functioning without adhering to the norms for air, water and noise pollution as the Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM) levels and carbon emissions remained high due to non-usage of clean beneficiated coal. It is learnt that 69.58 million tonnes of ash remained in the ash dyke in the three power plants which was against the norms of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Chennai Corp also faces issues The performance audit of Greater Chennai Corporation also wasnt that impressive. Against the requirement of D9,228 crore for Chennai Mega City development mission, Tamil Nadu government sanctioned only D2,500 crore, thereby limiting the scope of the project. Storm-Water Drains were constructed without considering topographical, meteorological and hydrological data resulted in wasteful expenditure. Panchayat Raj schools poor A compliance audit of Panchayat Raj Institutions by CAG of India revealed that Panchayat Union Schools located in rural areas lacked basic infrastructure. Some observations were incomplete compound walls, dysfunctional classrooms causing classes to happen in corridors, Inadequate provision for toilets and poor kitchens. What judicial infrastructure? The narrowing down the gap in judge-population ratio could not be achieved even after sanction of 48 additional judge posts, as the sanctioned strength was only 1,150 as against the norm of 3,605 judges. The recommendation of 13th Finance Commission for having morning and evening special courts was not implemented. CAG report stated that 121 evening courts, proposed to be constituted in 32 districts, werent installed. Tamil Nadu failed to contain revenue deficit Tamil Nadu has not only failed to achieve the projected revenue surplus but has also failed to contain its revenue deficit within the target proposed in the budget during 2015-2016, found the audit undertaken by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) tabled in the Assembly on Wednesday. The States revenue receipts stood at Rs 1,29,008 crore, constituting 10.64% of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). The audit report mentioned that the growth of revenue receipts that showed a decreasing trend from 2011-2012 dropped to a five-year low of 5.38% during 2015-16. The poor growth rate of the States tax revenue and grants-in-aid were cited as reasons. The growth rate of own tax revenue of the state, which was 24.56% in 2011-2012, had declined to just 2.31% in 2015-2016. Of the total expenditure of Rs 1,62,319 crore during 2015-16, revenue expenditure Rs 1,40,993 crore accounted for 86.86%. Out of the expenditure, 74.06% (Rs 1,04,415 crore) was incurred on the non-plan component. The committed expenditure Rs 83,817 crore stood at 64.58% of the total revenue receipts Rs 1,29,008 crore of the State during 2015-16, as against 61.54% during 2014-15. The capital expenditure of Rs 18,995 crore during the current year increased by Rs 1,192 crore (6.7%) over the previous year. Another concern highlighted in the audit was the increase in the outstanding fiscal liabilities from Rs 1,91,847 crore during 2014-15 to Rs 2,23,030 crore during 2015-16. The State could, however, contain the fiscal deficit as a percentage of GSDP to 2.69% during 2015-16, which was within the target of 3% of GSDP as envisaged under the TN Fiscal Responsibility Act, projections made in Medium Term Fiscal Policy and Fourteenth Finance Commission target. Public sector losses grow to D8,000 crore, driven by TANGEDCO & STUs Even as they registered all-time record in revenue, the State-run Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) in Tamil Nadu, especially the power and transport utilities, are continuing to pile on losses, revealed report by Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) that was tabled in the Assembly on Wednesday. Although the State PSUs had an all time record turnover of D99,850.38 crore for the year ended March 31, 2016, the losses, too, have kept on increasing. They have posted an accumulated loss of D80,925.82 crore, the report said. This figure stood at D59,636.87 crore in 2011-12, steadily rising during the subsequent years. In total, there were 68 working PSUs and 6 non-working companies, which employed 2.91 lakh employees in total. Giving out specific details, the audit has found while 41 PSUs earned a profit of D811.27 crore, it was dwarfed by the D15,684.69 crore loss recorded by 21 companies. In particular, heavy losses were incurred by Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited (D12,756.59 crore). D1,095 Cr loss in Co-operative sugar mills High cost of production coupled with interest burden has led to a lossof D1,095 crore during 2013-14 to 2015-16 for the Co-operative SugarMills (CSM) leaving them financially weak, according to the report of the CAG of India on Economic Sector (for the year ended on March 2016). Tamil Nadu is the fourth largest sugar producing State in the country with an annual sugar production of 13.08 lakh metric tonnes during 2015-16 crushing season. There are 43 sugar mills in the state of which only 16 are registered as CSMs. A loss of over D1,000 crore was recorded in only these 16 mills which contribute to 21% of total sugar production. The status of the rest remains unknown. The interest burden of the CSMs over three years rocketed to a D963 crore on borrowings making them financially weak. The report attributed the loss to, The measures recommended for attaining financial self-sustainability were not effectively implemented... including utilisation of over aged cane for crushing, non-adherence to prescribed norms. City police faces shortage of vehicles & communication equipment If you dial 100 and seek police assistance, immediate help is likely to be delayed as most of the police stations across the state dont have four-wheelers or two-wheelers, according to a report by Comptroller and Auditor General. The modernisation of the TN Police Force has taken a hit due to the shortage of vehicles and communication equipment. Quoting a report by Bureau of Police Research and Development, the CAG report said that mobility could be achieved only when a well-equipped police force has the ability to move the entire force at once, hence, every police station should be equipped with two four-wheelers and three two-wheelers. According to the report, 194 of 487 stations in the 10 test-checked districts do not have four-wheelers and 227 police stations do not have two-wheelers. Expenditure of F13.37 crore Delay over printing, storage and disposal of samacheer kalvi textbooks has resulted in an avoidable expenditure of Rs 13.37 crore, noted the CAG report on general and social sector released on Wednesday. In 2011, the government led by late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa dropped Samacheer Kalvi (Uniform System of School Education) brought in by the DMK regime, alleging it of being substandard and promoting DMKs agenda. Report makes a case for delivery of citizen services High-security number plate registration It emphasised the need for the implementation of the High Security Registration Number Plates (HSRP) to secure owners against theft of vehicles. The amended CMV Rules in 2001 made it mandatory to fix HSRP plates for newly registered vehicles and existing vehicles. Testing tracks The report went on to state that the State Transport Authoritys website said 69,059 accidents took place in 2015 of which 94% were due to the fault of drivers. Hence, the CAG recommended that the Government put in place adequate testing tracks to ensure conducting of quality driving license tests by the Department. Accident victim funds It said the State Transport Corporation had a liability of D435.07 crore as compensation to accident victims as on March 2015. Of this, D207.72 crore was accepted by them. However, the report stated at the end of March 2016, corpus of D59.10 crore alone was available. As a result of this insufficient corpus, there was a delay in settling claims of accident victims. The CAG suggested that the Government may initiate action to increase the corpus fund every year to meet claim of accident compensation awarded to victims. Autorickshaws It spoke of two important points. It said steps need to be taken without further delay for the conversion of petrol driven autos into LPG ones. It said failure of the department to initiate necessary action and failure of ELCOT to finalise the tender for procurement of GPS meters for autos in Chennai metro area. Hand-held devices The lack of hand held devices for field staff of the Transport Department was pointed out. These devices would improve the efficiency of the enforcement work and revenue collection and would reduce the waiting time of the public in obtaining driving licenses, fitness certificates and for registration of new vehicles. Nirbhaya funds It said the Nirbhaya Fund set up in September 2013 for safety of women in public places was not being utilised. The report said that according to the Census of 2011, four cities Chennai, Thiruchirapalli, Madurai and Coimbatore have a population of more than one million and therefore, qualified for utilisation of the funds under the scheme. However, TN had not set up any control rooms for monitoring public transport through GPS devices, nor had funds been sought under the Scheme. Pollution norm It spoke of how during the period of 2010-11 to 2014-15 indicated that Fitness Certificates were given without production of Pollution Under Control Certificate (PUCC). The report further stated that almost 20% of teh vehicles were issued FC every year without PUCC. Further, the report stated that there are about 188.08 lakh vehicles plying in the STate of which 359.83 lakh PUCCs were issued during 2014-15. However, 12.69 lakh PUCCs alone were issued, which indicated that only 3.5% of the vehicles had fulfilled the requirement of obtaining a PUCC every six months. Thus indicating that 96.5% of the vehicles plying in the State did not adhere to the mandatory provisions of obtaining emission certificates every six months. Inadequacies in commercial tax The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) gave a scathing account of the inadequacies of the Commercial Taxes Department (CTD) in collecting data, in its report on the revenue sector for the year ended March 31, 2016. The Tamil Nadu Commercial Tax Manual prescribes for coordinating with other departments/agencies to obtain information and to make use of it in detecting suppression and evasion of tax. However, the CAG said, the CTD did not have any system in place for the collection of third party data. Further, the report mentioned that the failure of the CTD to implement the GO issued by the Industries Department resulted in non-realisation of deferred tax of Rs 1,637.61 crore from January 2007 to September 2013. The Commercial Taxes Department failed to institute a well-established system of collection of data from various work awarders in the State, read the report. This resulted in contract receipts escaping assessment. The CAG said that a separate wing, the Business Intelligence Unit (BIU) was formed for the collection of data from various sources only in August 2014. It said that the BIU did not efficiently carry out its duty as several sources of third party data remained untapped. Further, the data that was gathered was not utilised by the Assessing Authority (AA). No TNPCB consent for thermal plants North Chennai Thermal Power Station (NCTPS) Stage I and Tuticorin Thermal Power station (TTPS) are operating without the consent of Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, according to a report of Comptroller and Auditor General of India. The report said that TNPCB has yet to give its consent as the two plants did not revamp existing pollution control systems like Electrostatic Precipitators (ESPs) and have not installed and connecting online continuous effluent monitoring systems with TNPCBs server. It also stated that the thermal plants of Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) are functioning without adhering to the norms for air, water and noise pollution as the Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM) levels and carbon emissions remained high due to non-usage of clean beneficiated coal. It is learnt that 69.58 million tonnes of ash remained in the ash dyke in the three power plants which was against the norms of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Chennai Corp also faces issues The performance audit of Greater Chennai Corporation also wasnt that impressive. Against the requirement of D9,228 crore for Chennai Mega City development mission, Tamil Nadu government sanctioned only D2,500 crore, thereby limiting the scope of the project. Storm-Water Drains were constructed without considering topographical, meteorological and hydrological data resulted in wasteful expenditure. Panchayat Raj schools poor A compliance audit of Panchayat Raj Institutions by CAG of India revealed that Panchayat Union Schools located in rural areas lacked basic infrastructure. Some observations were incomplete compound walls, dysfunctional classrooms causing classes to happen in corridors, Inadequate provision for toilets and poor kitchens. What judicial infrastructure? The narrowing down the gap in judge-population ratio could not be achieved even after sanction of 48 additional judge posts, as the sanctioned strength was only 1,150 as against the norm of 3,605 judges. The recommendation of 13th Finance Commission for having morning and evening special courts was not implemented. CAG report stated that 121 evening courts, proposed to be constituted in 32 districts, werent installed. Tamil Nadu failed to contain revenue deficit Tamil Nadu has not only failed to achieve the projected revenue surplus but has also failed to contain its revenue deficit within the target proposed in the budget during 2015-2016, found the audit undertaken by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) tabled in the Assembly on Wednesday. The States revenue receipts stood at Rs 1,29,008 crore, constituting 10.64% of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). The audit report mentioned that the growth of revenue receipts that showed a decreasing trend from 2011-2012 dropped to a five-year low of 5.38% during 2015-16. The poor growth rate of the States tax revenue and grants-in-aid were cited as reasons. The growth rate of own tax revenue of the state, which was 24.56% in 2011-2012, had declined to just 2.31% in 2015-2016. Of the total expenditure of Rs 1,62,319 crore during 2015-16, revenue expenditure Rs 1,40,993 crore accounted for 86.86%. Out of the expenditure, 74.06% (Rs 1,04,415 crore) was incurred on the non-plan component. The committed expenditure Rs 83,817 crore stood at 64.58% of the total revenue receipts Rs 1,29,008 crore of the State during 2015-16, as against 61.54% during 2014-15. The capital expenditure of Rs 18,995 crore during the current year increased by Rs 1,192 crore (6.7%) over the previous year. Another concern highlighted in the audit was the increase in the outstanding fiscal liabilities from Rs 1,91,847 crore during 2014-15 to Rs 2,23,030 crore during 2015-16. The State could, however, contain the fiscal deficit as a percentage of GSDP to 2.69% during 2015-16, which was within the target of 3% of GSDP as envisaged under the TN Fiscal Responsibility Act, projections made in Medium Term Fiscal Policy and Fourteenth Finance Commission target. Public sector losses grow to D8,000 crore, driven by TANGEDCO & STUs Even as they registered all-time record in revenue, the State-run Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) in Tamil Nadu, especially the power and transport utilities, are continuing to pile on losses, revealed report by Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) that was tabled in the Assembly on Wednesday. Although the State PSUs had an all time record turnover of D99,850.38 crore for the year ended March 31, 2016, the losses, too, have kept on increasing. They have posted an accumulated loss of D80,925.82 crore, the report said. This figure stood at D59,636.87 crore in 2011-12, steadily rising during the subsequent years. In total, there were 68 working PSUs and 6 non-working companies, which employed 2.91 lakh employees in total. Giving out specific details, the audit has found while 41 PSUs earned a profit of D811.27 crore, it was dwarfed by the D15,684.69 crore loss recorded by 21 companies. In particular, heavy losses were incurred by Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited (D12,756.59 crore). D1,095 Cr loss in Co-operative sugar mills High cost of production coupled with interest burden has led to a lossof D1,095 crore during 2013-14 to 2015-16 for the Co-operative SugarMills (CSM) leaving them financially weak, according to the report of the CAG of India on Economic Sector (for the year ended on March 2016). Tamil Nadu is the fourth largest sugar producing State in the country with an annual sugar production of 13.08 lakh metric tonnes during 2015-16 crushing season. There are 43 sugar mills in the state of which only 16 are registered as CSMs. A loss of over D1,000 crore was recorded in only these 16 mills which contribute to 21% of total sugar production. The status of the rest remains unknown. The interest burden of the CSMs over three years rocketed to a D963 crore on borrowings making them financially weak. The report attributed the loss to, The measures recommended for attaining financial self-sustainability were not effectively implemented... including utilisation of over aged cane for crushing, non-adherence to prescribed norms. City police faces shortage of vehicles & communication equipment If you dial 100 and seek police assistance, immediate help is likely to be delayed as most of the police stations across the state dont have four-wheelers or two-wheelers, according to a report by Comptroller and Auditor General. The modernisation of the TN Police Force has taken a hit due to the shortage of vehicles and communication equipment. Quoting a report by Bureau of Police Research and Development, the CAG report said that mobility could be achieved only when a well-equipped police force has the ability to move the entire force at once, hence, every police station should be equipped with two four-wheelers and three two-wheelers. According to the report, 194 of 487 stations in the 10 test-checked districts do not have four-wheelers and 227 police stations do not have two-wheelers. Expenditure of F13.37 crore Delay over printing, storage and disposal of samacheer kalvi textbooks has resulted in an avoidable expenditure of Rs 13.37 crore, noted the CAG report on general and social sector released on Wednesday. In 2011, the government led by late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa dropped Samacheer Kalvi (Uniform System of School Education) brought in by the DMK regime, alleging it of being substandard and promoting DMKs agenda. Report makes a case for delivery of citizen services High-security number plate registration It emphasised the need for the implementation of the High Security Registration Number Plates (HSRP) to secure owners against theft of vehicles. The amended CMV Rules in 2001 made it mandatory to fix HSRP plates for newly registered vehicles and existing vehicles. Testing tracks The report went on to state that the State Transport Authoritys website said 69,059 accidents took place in 2015 of which 94% were due to the fault of drivers. Hence, the CAG recommended that the Government put in place adequate testing tracks to ensure conducting of quality driving license tests by the Department. Accident victim funds It said the State Transport Corporation had a liability of D435.07 crore as compensation to accident victims as on March 2015. Of this, D207.72 crore was accepted by them. However, the report stated at the end of March 2016, corpus of D59.10 crore alone was available. As a result of this insufficient corpus, there was a delay in settling claims of accident victims. The CAG suggested that the Government may initiate action to increase the corpus fund every year to meet claim of accident compensation awarded to victims. Autorickshaws It spoke of two important points. It said steps need to be taken without further delay for the conversion of petrol driven autos into LPG ones. It said failure of the department to initiate necessary action and failure of ELCOT to finalise the tender for procurement of GPS meters for autos in Chennai metro area. Hand-held devices The lack of hand held devices for field staff of the Transport Department was pointed out. These devices would improve the efficiency of the enforcement work and revenue collection and would reduce the waiting time of the public in obtaining driving licenses, fitness certificates and for registration of new vehicles. Nirbhaya funds It said the Nirbhaya Fund set up in September 2013 for safety of women in public places was not being utilised. The report said that according to the Census of 2011, four cities Chennai, Thiruchirapalli, Madurai and Coimbatore have a population of more than one million and therefore, qualified for utilisation of the funds under the scheme. However, TN had not set up any control rooms for monitoring public transport through GPS devices, nor had funds been sought under the Scheme. Pollution norm It spoke of how during the period of 2010-11 to 2014-15 indicated that Fitness Certificates were given without production of Pollution Under Control Certificate (PUCC). The report further stated that almost 20% of teh vehicles were issued FC every year without PUCC. Further, the report stated that there are about 188.08 lakh vehicles plying in the STate of which 359.83 lakh PUCCs were issued during 2014-15. However, 12.69 lakh PUCCs alone were issued, which indicated that only 3.5% of the vehicles had fulfilled the requirement of obtaining a PUCC every six months. Thus indicating that 96.5% of the vehicles plying in the State did not adhere to the mandatory provisions of obtaining emission certificates every six months. By Express News Service CHENNAI: After meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi to secure Presidential assent to two bills on the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test passed in the Assembly, Tamil Nadu ministers expressed hopes of getting exemption from NEET this year. Ministers D Jayakumar, C Ve Shanmugam, K P Anbalagan and C Vijaya Basker, and Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai went to Delhi on Wednesday to meet Modi and also to discuss the matter with Union Health Minister J P Nadda and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and others. Speaking to reporters at the airport here on Thursday, Jayakumar said they are hopeful that Tamil Nadu will get exemption from NEET. Prime Minister Modi said he will see what can be done after consulting the ministries concerned, he said. Now the bills have reached the Home Ministry. We spoke to Ravi Shankar Prasad for 20 minutes sharing our concerns. We hope to get exemption for at least a year, said Jayakumar. Earlier, speaking to the media in Delhi, Thambidurai, said: The PM promised he will forward our memorandum to the concerned ministries, since the matter is in Supreme Court...We also met Ravi Shankar Prasad and Prakash Javadekar. Since education is in the concurrent list, the bills passed by the State need Presidential assent. Meanwhile, PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss met President Pranab Mukherjee and discussed the NEET bills. The two bills are The Tamil Nadu Admissions to Post Graduate Courses in Medicine and Dentistry Bill, 2017 and the Tamil Nadu Admissions to MBBS and BDS Courses Bill, 2017. CHENNAI: After meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi to secure Presidential assent to two bills on the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test passed in the Assembly, Tamil Nadu ministers expressed hopes of getting exemption from NEET this year. Ministers D Jayakumar, C Ve Shanmugam, K P Anbalagan and C Vijaya Basker, and Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai went to Delhi on Wednesday to meet Modi and also to discuss the matter with Union Health Minister J P Nadda and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and others. Speaking to reporters at the airport here on Thursday, Jayakumar said they are hopeful that Tamil Nadu will get exemption from NEET. Prime Minister Modi said he will see what can be done after consulting the ministries concerned, he said. Now the bills have reached the Home Ministry. We spoke to Ravi Shankar Prasad for 20 minutes sharing our concerns. We hope to get exemption for at least a year, said Jayakumar. Earlier, speaking to the media in Delhi, Thambidurai, said: The PM promised he will forward our memorandum to the concerned ministries, since the matter is in Supreme Court...We also met Ravi Shankar Prasad and Prakash Javadekar. Since education is in the concurrent list, the bills passed by the State need Presidential assent. Meanwhile, PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss met President Pranab Mukherjee and discussed the NEET bills. The two bills are The Tamil Nadu Admissions to Post Graduate Courses in Medicine and Dentistry Bill, 2017 and the Tamil Nadu Admissions to MBBS and BDS Courses Bill, 2017. By Express News Service HYDERABAD: A 29-year-old medico A Srikanth Goud, who was kidnapped in Delhi on July 6 by an Ola cab driver, was rescued by the Delhi police on Wednesday. The police would hand over the rescued medico to his uncle Narayana Goud, who is also a doctor in Delhi. The family members of Srikanth Goud living in Gadwal expressed their happiness after learning that their son was rescued. Srikanths cousin Srinivas Goud said that his brother was rescued by the UP and Delhi police from the kidnappers and handed over to their family members in Delhi. Srikanth Goud is likely to come to Gadwal on Thursday. On July 6, Srikanth Goud, working in a private hospital, hired a cab to reach a metro train station to catch train to go to his house. However, the Ola cab driver drove the car to Dadri near Noida and then other members of the gang abducted him. After kidnapping the medico, the miscreants made a call to the hospital and his family members demanding a ransom of `5 crore. The Delhi police, who registered a kidnap case, took up investigation. They tried to catch the gang members in Meerut, but the miscreants gave the police a slip. Cops then tracked the gang member at Haridawar but here too police ran out of luck. Finally the police located the kidnappers at Muzaffarnagar, and arrested four abducters and rescued the medico. Srikanth Goud is the son of Janardhan Goud and Bharathamma, who completed MBBS in China and was pursuing post-graduation in New Delhi. HYDERABAD: A 29-year-old medico A Srikanth Goud, who was kidnapped in Delhi on July 6 by an Ola cab driver, was rescued by the Delhi police on Wednesday. The police would hand over the rescued medico to his uncle Narayana Goud, who is also a doctor in Delhi. The family members of Srikanth Goud living in Gadwal expressed their happiness after learning that their son was rescued. Srikanths cousin Srinivas Goud said that his brother was rescued by the UP and Delhi police from the kidnappers and handed over to their family members in Delhi. Srikanth Goud is likely to come to Gadwal on Thursday. On July 6, Srikanth Goud, working in a private hospital, hired a cab to reach a metro train station to catch train to go to his house. However, the Ola cab driver drove the car to Dadri near Noida and then other members of the gang abducted him. After kidnapping the medico, the miscreants made a call to the hospital and his family members demanding a ransom of `5 crore. The Delhi police, who registered a kidnap case, took up investigation. They tried to catch the gang members in Meerut, but the miscreants gave the police a slip. Cops then tracked the gang member at Haridawar but here too police ran out of luck. Finally the police located the kidnappers at Muzaffarnagar, and arrested four abducters and rescued the medico. Srikanth Goud is the son of Janardhan Goud and Bharathamma, who completed MBBS in China and was pursuing post-graduation in New Delhi. By PTI COLOMBO: Australia will provide USD 377,000 as financial assistance to Sri Lanka to help it combat its worst-ever dengue outbreak which has claimed over 200 lives and infected nearly 100,000 people. Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop, who was on a two-day visit to the country, promised the Australian assistance to combat the dengue fever in Sri Lanka. Bishop also called on President Maithripala Sirisena this morning to know about the worst outbreak of dengue fever in Sri Lanka. Australia would immediately provide 475,000 Australian dollars (USD 377,000) to the World Health Organization (WHO) to implement immediate dengue prevention, management and eradication programmes in Sri Lanka, Bishop said yesterday. Australia will also grant one million Australian dollars (USD 795,000) for a research partnership between its Monash University and Sri Lanka's Health Ministry to test the introduction of naturally occurring Wolbachia bacteria to eradicate dengue fever from Sri Lanka. According to WHO figures, from January 1 to July 7, 215 people have died out of the total 80,732 people infected by the outbreak of dengue fever, a 4.3 fold higher than the average number of cases for the same period between 2010 and 2016. Nearly 43 per cent of the cases were reported from the Western Province, the WHO said, adding that the most affected area is the Colombo district where a total 18,186 cases were reported, followed by Gampaha (12,121), Kurunegala (4,889), Kalutara (4,589), Batticaloa (3,946), Ratnapura (3,898) and Kandy (3,853). As an urgent measure to combat the epidemic, the Cabinet decided yesterday to impose regulations to check houses and properties which are being overlooked for maintenance to take legal action against them under public security Act. The hospitals in Sri Lanka are teeming with patients, and the government has deployed soldiers, police and health officials to monitor houses and clear rotting garbage, stagnant water pools and other potential mosquito-breeding grounds across the country. COLOMBO: Australia will provide USD 377,000 as financial assistance to Sri Lanka to help it combat its worst-ever dengue outbreak which has claimed over 200 lives and infected nearly 100,000 people. Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop, who was on a two-day visit to the country, promised the Australian assistance to combat the dengue fever in Sri Lanka. Bishop also called on President Maithripala Sirisena this morning to know about the worst outbreak of dengue fever in Sri Lanka. Australia would immediately provide 475,000 Australian dollars (USD 377,000) to the World Health Organization (WHO) to implement immediate dengue prevention, management and eradication programmes in Sri Lanka, Bishop said yesterday. Australia will also grant one million Australian dollars (USD 795,000) for a research partnership between its Monash University and Sri Lanka's Health Ministry to test the introduction of naturally occurring Wolbachia bacteria to eradicate dengue fever from Sri Lanka. According to WHO figures, from January 1 to July 7, 215 people have died out of the total 80,732 people infected by the outbreak of dengue fever, a 4.3 fold higher than the average number of cases for the same period between 2010 and 2016. Nearly 43 per cent of the cases were reported from the Western Province, the WHO said, adding that the most affected area is the Colombo district where a total 18,186 cases were reported, followed by Gampaha (12,121), Kurunegala (4,889), Kalutara (4,589), Batticaloa (3,946), Ratnapura (3,898) and Kandy (3,853). As an urgent measure to combat the epidemic, the Cabinet decided yesterday to impose regulations to check houses and properties which are being overlooked for maintenance to take legal action against them under public security Act. The hospitals in Sri Lanka are teeming with patients, and the government has deployed soldiers, police and health officials to monitor houses and clear rotting garbage, stagnant water pools and other potential mosquito-breeding grounds across the country. By PTI KANO: At least 33 people were killed in clashes between cattle herders and farmers in Nigeria's northern Kaduna state, a police chief said today. Two days of violence between herders and farmers erupted on Sunday in Kajuru village, 50 kilometres outside the city of Kaduna, state police commissioner Agyole Abeh told AFP. "A total of 33 people were killed in the violence between Fulani herdsmen and farmers," said Abeh. "The violence started when some villagers attacked a young Fulani man and his father, which led to the death of the young man after he was admitted to hospital." The victim's kinsmen gathered from nearby settlements and launched a reprisal attack on the village, killing six men, said Abeh. In response, the youth from the farming communities "mobilised and went into the bush attacking and burning Fulani settlements they could find", he added. "Our men were contacted but before they could deploy, the attackers had killed 26 people, mostly women and children and injured several others." Security personnel has since been deployed to the area to maintain peace. Nigeria's Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has ordered reinforcements in Kaduna state following the clashes. He condemned what he said were the "needless deaths" and expressed frustration with the security challenges in southern Kaduna. Osinbajo promised to ensure that the "perpetrators of these dastardly acts" were identified and brought to justice, he said in a statement issued on Wednesday evening. Southern Kaduna has seen a spate of deadly clashes between the predominantly Christian farmers and Muslim Fulani herders, a historically nomadic people who graze their cattle on the land. Originally, the clashes were over land and water rights disputes. But ethnicity and religion have been playing a larger role in the conflict after post-election violence in 2011 that saw hundreds of Muslims killed and forced to flee the area. Without a national strategy in place to address the conflict, tensions between herdsmen and farmers have not subsided, and tit-for-tat killings have become common. Experts blame a heavy-handed, militarised response by the government and incendiary comments from political and religious leaders for fanning the flames of animosity. KANO: At least 33 people were killed in clashes between cattle herders and farmers in Nigeria's northern Kaduna state, a police chief said today. Two days of violence between herders and farmers erupted on Sunday in Kajuru village, 50 kilometres outside the city of Kaduna, state police commissioner Agyole Abeh told AFP. "A total of 33 people were killed in the violence between Fulani herdsmen and farmers," said Abeh. "The violence started when some villagers attacked a young Fulani man and his father, which led to the death of the young man after he was admitted to hospital." The victim's kinsmen gathered from nearby settlements and launched a reprisal attack on the village, killing six men, said Abeh. In response, the youth from the farming communities "mobilised and went into the bush attacking and burning Fulani settlements they could find", he added. "Our men were contacted but before they could deploy, the attackers had killed 26 people, mostly women and children and injured several others." Security personnel has since been deployed to the area to maintain peace. Nigeria's Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has ordered reinforcements in Kaduna state following the clashes. He condemned what he said were the "needless deaths" and expressed frustration with the security challenges in southern Kaduna. Osinbajo promised to ensure that the "perpetrators of these dastardly acts" were identified and brought to justice, he said in a statement issued on Wednesday evening. Southern Kaduna has seen a spate of deadly clashes between the predominantly Christian farmers and Muslim Fulani herders, a historically nomadic people who graze their cattle on the land. Originally, the clashes were over land and water rights disputes. But ethnicity and religion have been playing a larger role in the conflict after post-election violence in 2011 that saw hundreds of Muslims killed and forced to flee the area. Without a national strategy in place to address the conflict, tensions between herdsmen and farmers have not subsided, and tit-for-tat killings have become common. Experts blame a heavy-handed, militarised response by the government and incendiary comments from political and religious leaders for fanning the flames of animosity. By AFP WASHINGTON: Donald Trump said he regretted his choice for attorney general Wednesday as he sought to protect himself from the growing firestorm over Russia's alleged election meddling which is engulfing his presidency. On the eve of the six-month mark of Trump's inauguration, it also emerged that senators will next week grill three of the pivotal players in the Trump campaign -- including his eldest son -- over swirling allegations of the presidential campaign's collusion with Russia. The announcements came as the Trump administration and the Kremlin tried to quell an uproar about a previously undisclosed meeting between Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during this month's G20 summit. Attorney General Jeff Sessions was one of the first senior Republican politicians to endorse Trump before last November's election and was rewarded by being appointed America's top law enforcement officer. But he stood aside in March from overseeing an FBI-led probe into whether members of the Trump team colluded with Moscow during the election campaign after it emerged that Sessions had not disclosed during his Senate confirmation hearing that he met twice with the Russian ambassador to Washington. In an interview with the New York Times, Trump said Sessions had acted unfairly in taking the job in the first place if he had felt in any way compromised. "How do you take a job and then recuse yourself? If he would have recused himself before the job, I would have said, 'Thanks, Jeff, but I'm not going to take you,'" Trump said. "It's extremely unfair -- and that's a mild word -- to the president." Trump also criticized Sessions' performance at the Senate confirmation hearing in January, in which he denied meeting with any Russians when he had in fact met with the Russian ambassador. - 'Bad answers' - "Jeff Sessions gave some bad answers," the president said in his interview with the Times. "He gave some answers that were simple questions and should have been simple answers, but they weren't." The Senate Intelligence Committee is now due to grill the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner, who is one of the most powerful figures in the Trump White House, in a closed-door session next Monday, his lawyer told CNN. And two days later, the Senate Judiciary Committee will question Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, and former campaign manager Paul Manafort about Russia's role, congressional officials announced on Wednsday. All three men attended a controversial meeting with a Russian lawyer last year, in which they were expecting to receive dirt from Moscow on Trump's election rival Hillary Clinton. Trump Jr sent shockwaves through Washington last week by releasing a series of emails that detailed how he had attended the meeting after being promised "very high level and sensitive information" that was "part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump." Both Trump Jr and Manafort were told in letters from the panel's senior members to "preserve all relevant documents in your possession... related to Russian interference in the 2016 election, including documents related to your or the Trump campaign's contacts with Russian government officials, associates or representatives." The senators said they would issue subpoenas if the witnesses did not produce the required documents. With Washington reeling from the stream of revelations, Trump has rushed to his son's defense, and lambasted what he calls a political "witch hunt". But on Wednesday night a senior official made clear that the administration was cooperating with the investigation being conducted by a special counsel, former FBI director Robert Mueller, who is probing the Russia connection independently of the Senate panels. "I'm part of the Trump administration, and the special counsel is reporting to me, and the answer to that is certainly yes," deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein told Fox News. "We are providing appropriate cooperation to make sure the investigation is done properly." - 'Russia fever' - Some critics have seized on the additional, previously undisclosed meeting between the US president and his Russian counterpart as more evidence that the Trump team are reluctant to come clean on anything involving Russia. The White House confirmed the politically sensitive sit-down over dinner on the final night of the G20 summit in Germany only after it was leaked, but has denied that it amounted to anything untoward. "Once again, the Russia fever has caught up with the media and everybody ran out and tried to create a story that simply didn't exist," White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said at a briefing on Wednesday. That message was echoed by her Kremlin counterpart Dmitry Peskov. "The use of the terms 'secret' or 'confidential' for this meeting provokes absolute surprise and incomprehension." The meeting had been "officially accepted" by diplomatic channels, he added in comments reported by the Russia's TASS news agency. WASHINGTON: Donald Trump said he regretted his choice for attorney general Wednesday as he sought to protect himself from the growing firestorm over Russia's alleged election meddling which is engulfing his presidency. On the eve of the six-month mark of Trump's inauguration, it also emerged that senators will next week grill three of the pivotal players in the Trump campaign -- including his eldest son -- over swirling allegations of the presidential campaign's collusion with Russia. The announcements came as the Trump administration and the Kremlin tried to quell an uproar about a previously undisclosed meeting between Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during this month's G20 summit. Attorney General Jeff Sessions was one of the first senior Republican politicians to endorse Trump before last November's election and was rewarded by being appointed America's top law enforcement officer. But he stood aside in March from overseeing an FBI-led probe into whether members of the Trump team colluded with Moscow during the election campaign after it emerged that Sessions had not disclosed during his Senate confirmation hearing that he met twice with the Russian ambassador to Washington. In an interview with the New York Times, Trump said Sessions had acted unfairly in taking the job in the first place if he had felt in any way compromised. "How do you take a job and then recuse yourself? If he would have recused himself before the job, I would have said, 'Thanks, Jeff, but I'm not going to take you,'" Trump said. "It's extremely unfair -- and that's a mild word -- to the president." Trump also criticized Sessions' performance at the Senate confirmation hearing in January, in which he denied meeting with any Russians when he had in fact met with the Russian ambassador. - 'Bad answers' - "Jeff Sessions gave some bad answers," the president said in his interview with the Times. "He gave some answers that were simple questions and should have been simple answers, but they weren't." The Senate Intelligence Committee is now due to grill the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner, who is one of the most powerful figures in the Trump White House, in a closed-door session next Monday, his lawyer told CNN. And two days later, the Senate Judiciary Committee will question Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, and former campaign manager Paul Manafort about Russia's role, congressional officials announced on Wednsday. All three men attended a controversial meeting with a Russian lawyer last year, in which they were expecting to receive dirt from Moscow on Trump's election rival Hillary Clinton. Trump Jr sent shockwaves through Washington last week by releasing a series of emails that detailed how he had attended the meeting after being promised "very high level and sensitive information" that was "part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump." Both Trump Jr and Manafort were told in letters from the panel's senior members to "preserve all relevant documents in your possession... related to Russian interference in the 2016 election, including documents related to your or the Trump campaign's contacts with Russian government officials, associates or representatives." The senators said they would issue subpoenas if the witnesses did not produce the required documents. With Washington reeling from the stream of revelations, Trump has rushed to his son's defense, and lambasted what he calls a political "witch hunt". But on Wednesday night a senior official made clear that the administration was cooperating with the investigation being conducted by a special counsel, former FBI director Robert Mueller, who is probing the Russia connection independently of the Senate panels. "I'm part of the Trump administration, and the special counsel is reporting to me, and the answer to that is certainly yes," deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein told Fox News. "We are providing appropriate cooperation to make sure the investigation is done properly." - 'Russia fever' - Some critics have seized on the additional, previously undisclosed meeting between the US president and his Russian counterpart as more evidence that the Trump team are reluctant to come clean on anything involving Russia. The White House confirmed the politically sensitive sit-down over dinner on the final night of the G20 summit in Germany only after it was leaked, but has denied that it amounted to anything untoward. "Once again, the Russia fever has caught up with the media and everybody ran out and tried to create a story that simply didn't exist," White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said at a briefing on Wednesday. That message was echoed by her Kremlin counterpart Dmitry Peskov. "The use of the terms 'secret' or 'confidential' for this meeting provokes absolute surprise and incomprehension." The meeting had been "officially accepted" by diplomatic channels, he added in comments reported by the Russia's TASS news agency. By PTI KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has detained a prominent Bangladesh activist, civil groups said today, describing the government action as "harassment" against human rights defenders. Adilur Rahman Khan, secretary of the rights group Odhikar, was detained after arriving at Kuala Lumpur International Airport early today, activists said. He was due to speak at a two-day conference organised by the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network. Rights group Voice of the Malaysian People (Suaram) said Khan was being kept incommunicado at the airport's immigration lock-up and appealed for his release. "Suaram calls for his immediate release and demand that the immigration department stop its persistent harassment against human rights defenders visiting Malaysia," it said in a statement. Immigration authorities could not be reached for comment. Malaysia often denies foreign pro-democracy activists entry into the country without giving explanation. The Asian Human Rights Commission urged the international human rights community "to immediately intervene in this case, and secure Khan's release from arbitrary detention". The commission said it was worried that the detention of Khan, his country's former deputy attorney general, "is the result of collusion between governments in Bangladesh and Malaysia". In the past, Khan's group has been critical of human rights violations allegedly committed by Bangladeshi security forces, including torture and extra judicial killings. Malaysia has also denied Khan a lawyer and the right to speak to anyone, the group said. In 2015, student activist Joshua Wong, who helped organise the 2014 Hong Kong protests, was denied entry by immigration authorities. KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has detained a prominent Bangladesh activist, civil groups said today, describing the government action as "harassment" against human rights defenders. Adilur Rahman Khan, secretary of the rights group Odhikar, was detained after arriving at Kuala Lumpur International Airport early today, activists said. He was due to speak at a two-day conference organised by the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network. Rights group Voice of the Malaysian People (Suaram) said Khan was being kept incommunicado at the airport's immigration lock-up and appealed for his release. "Suaram calls for his immediate release and demand that the immigration department stop its persistent harassment against human rights defenders visiting Malaysia," it said in a statement. Immigration authorities could not be reached for comment. Malaysia often denies foreign pro-democracy activists entry into the country without giving explanation. The Asian Human Rights Commission urged the international human rights community "to immediately intervene in this case, and secure Khan's release from arbitrary detention". The commission said it was worried that the detention of Khan, his country's former deputy attorney general, "is the result of collusion between governments in Bangladesh and Malaysia". In the past, Khan's group has been critical of human rights violations allegedly committed by Bangladeshi security forces, including torture and extra judicial killings. Malaysia has also denied Khan a lawyer and the right to speak to anyone, the group said. In 2015, student activist Joshua Wong, who helped organise the 2014 Hong Kong protests, was denied entry by immigration authorities. By PTI ISLAMABAD: The children of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif could face up to seven years in jail if it was proved that they had submitted fake documents to the Panama panel probing the money laundering allegations against the family, the Supreme Court warned today. The apex court heard the Panamagate scandal case for the fourth consecutive day since the hearing began on Monday, following submission of a report by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) on July 10, which was tasked by the court to probe allegation of corruption against Sharif and his family. "The punishment for submitting forged documents in the court is seven years in jail," warned the three-member panel of judges. The JIT among other things has observed that some of the documents submitted by the children of Sharif, 67, were tampered with. A trust deed provided by the prime minister's daughter Maryam Nawaz and executed in 2006 was written in Calibri font which was not commercially available till 2007. It was also notarised from an office in London on Saturday which is officially an off day, raising concern about the authenticity of the document. Similarly, Government of Dubai has revealed that the documents of Gulf Steel Mills provided by the prime minister's son Hussian Nawaz were forged as there was no record of those documents. Justice Ejaz Afzal is heading the probe panel comprising Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Justice Ijazul Ahsan. They also warned Salman Akram Raja, the lawyer of Sharif's children, against a media trial in the case after some of the documents presented by him were leaked to media and were discussed in talk shows yesterday. "You have been conducting a trial in the media and the documents (submitted to the court) have already been discussed in the media," said Justice Saeed. "There is a media dais outside, you should give your arguments there as well," he told Raja, who assured the court that he had not released any documents to media. Meanwhile, Raja presented his arguments in details. The arguments were still going on when the court adjourned the proceedings till tomorrow. The judges today again asked the Sharif family to provide the money trail of its various businesses in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UK. "The main question is where did the money for these businesses came," asked the panel. Later, Fawad Chaudhry, a member of a legal team representing Imran Khan of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), told media outside the court after the hearing that the hearing might be completed by tomorrow. "For us the case is over. Sharif would have to go home and then jail for corruption. His children would also land in jail for forgery," he said. Minister of State for Information Marriyam Aurangzeb said that the prime minister has been vindicated as there is no proof of any corruption against him. "The prime minister was accused of money laundering and corruption but none of the allegations have been proved," she said. The scandal surfaced when the Panama Papers leaks last year revealed that Sharif's sons -- Hassan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz -- and his daughter Maryam -- owned offshore companies which managed their family's properties. The assets in question include four expensive flats in Park Lane, London. Opposition parties allege that the London flats were purchased through illegal money which Sharif and his family have rejected. However, they have been unable to satisfy the court about the source of money used to purchase these properties. ISLAMABAD: The children of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif could face up to seven years in jail if it was proved that they had submitted fake documents to the Panama panel probing the money laundering allegations against the family, the Supreme Court warned today. The apex court heard the Panamagate scandal case for the fourth consecutive day since the hearing began on Monday, following submission of a report by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) on July 10, which was tasked by the court to probe allegation of corruption against Sharif and his family. "The punishment for submitting forged documents in the court is seven years in jail," warned the three-member panel of judges. The JIT among other things has observed that some of the documents submitted by the children of Sharif, 67, were tampered with. A trust deed provided by the prime minister's daughter Maryam Nawaz and executed in 2006 was written in Calibri font which was not commercially available till 2007. It was also notarised from an office in London on Saturday which is officially an off day, raising concern about the authenticity of the document. Similarly, Government of Dubai has revealed that the documents of Gulf Steel Mills provided by the prime minister's son Hussian Nawaz were forged as there was no record of those documents. Justice Ejaz Afzal is heading the probe panel comprising Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Justice Ijazul Ahsan. They also warned Salman Akram Raja, the lawyer of Sharif's children, against a media trial in the case after some of the documents presented by him were leaked to media and were discussed in talk shows yesterday. "You have been conducting a trial in the media and the documents (submitted to the court) have already been discussed in the media," said Justice Saeed. "There is a media dais outside, you should give your arguments there as well," he told Raja, who assured the court that he had not released any documents to media. Meanwhile, Raja presented his arguments in details. The arguments were still going on when the court adjourned the proceedings till tomorrow. The judges today again asked the Sharif family to provide the money trail of its various businesses in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UK. "The main question is where did the money for these businesses came," asked the panel. Later, Fawad Chaudhry, a member of a legal team representing Imran Khan of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), told media outside the court after the hearing that the hearing might be completed by tomorrow. "For us the case is over. Sharif would have to go home and then jail for corruption. His children would also land in jail for forgery," he said. Minister of State for Information Marriyam Aurangzeb said that the prime minister has been vindicated as there is no proof of any corruption against him. "The prime minister was accused of money laundering and corruption but none of the allegations have been proved," she said. The scandal surfaced when the Panama Papers leaks last year revealed that Sharif's sons -- Hassan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz -- and his daughter Maryam -- owned offshore companies which managed their family's properties. The assets in question include four expensive flats in Park Lane, London. Opposition parties allege that the London flats were purchased through illegal money which Sharif and his family have rejected. However, they have been unable to satisfy the court about the source of money used to purchase these properties. By ANI NEW YORK: Giving a major relief to Pakistan, which has been facing chronic shortage of energy, severely limiting economic development, the United States will support Pakistan to add at least 3,000 megawatts of clean power generation infrastructure to Pakistans national electricity system by 2020. The U.S. assistance to Pakistan is being provided under U.S.-Pakistan Clean Energy Partnership, through which the USAID will support capacity building, technical assistance, USAID Development Credit Authority financial guarantees, business-to-business sales arrangements, and the construction of transmission lines to private projects to stimulate increased levels of private investment in clean power. The U.S. has already made more than 2,400 megawatts available to Pakistans electricity grid, benefiting some 28 million Pakistanis, and has helped Pakistan take steps to reform its troubled energy sector since 2009. The U.S. has also funded the refurbishment or construction of nearly 1,100 kilometers of roads, enabling trade, security, and mobility. The U.S.State Department said this in its latest report on Terrorism, in which it has also accused and listed Pakistan for not taking substantial action against terror groups. However on other side Washington continue to build strong cooperation with Pakistan on energy, economic growth including agriculture, education and health, according to the U.S. State Departments 2016 annual Country Reports on Terrorism. The U.S. Agency for International Developments (USAIDs) on-budget investments in energy generation, facilitated by the Energy Policy Program (EPP), contributed to increasing generation capacity, energy production, and the reliability of power. EPP helped Pakistan develop the contractual framework that led to the first importation of liquefied natural gas, report says. It further says, In 2016, the United States continued to focus on five sectors determined in consultation with the Pakistani government in 2011. Energy, economic growth including agriculture, stabilization of areas vulnerable to violent extremism, education and health with emphasis on improving democracy, governance, and gender equity are integrated into programming across the five sectors. The report stated that U.S. assistance has helped Pakistan improve governance and management systems, and increase the countrys distribution companies revenue collection by more than US $400 million, as well as provide commercial opportunities for U.S. businesses. The United States continued to fund infrastructure rehabilitation projects, especially in clean energy, and provided technical assistance to Pakistani energy institutions, including distribution companies, to increase power generation and improve performance. The U.S. has also trained more than 5,600 police and 1,000 prosecutors across Pakistan; provided scholarships to approximately 15,000 Pakistanis to attend Pakistani universities, 50 percent of whom were women; and supplied better access to comprehensive family planning services to more than 100,000 women since 2009. In 2016, the United States continued to build strong cooperation with Pakistan, including through U.S. assistance, as a stable, secure, prosperous, and democratic Pakistan is in the long-term U.S. national security interest. Although assistance levels have declined in recent years, to support this partnership, the United States has allocated civilian and security assistance totaling US $8.4 billion since 2009. U.S. security assistance to Pakistan is designed to build Pakistans counterterrorism and counterinsurgency capacity. In addition, since 2001, the Department of Defense has reimbursed nearly US $14 billion in Coalition Support Funds for Pakistani expenditures in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Since 2009, the United States has committed about US $5 billion in civilian assistance to Pakistan, in addition to more than US $1 billion for emergency humanitarian assistance. Through a range of programs and public-private partnerships in agriculture and other sectors of Pakistans economy, U.S. assistance helped Pakistan create jobs and foster economic growth. USAID programming will improve the financial and operating performance of at least 6,000 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in a maximum of seven industrial, manufacturing, and service sectors. In June 2016 in New York, the U.S. and Pakistan governments convened the fourth U.S.-Pakistan Business Opportunities Conference. NEW YORK: Giving a major relief to Pakistan, which has been facing chronic shortage of energy, severely limiting economic development, the United States will support Pakistan to add at least 3,000 megawatts of clean power generation infrastructure to Pakistans national electricity system by 2020. The U.S. assistance to Pakistan is being provided under U.S.-Pakistan Clean Energy Partnership, through which the USAID will support capacity building, technical assistance, USAID Development Credit Authority financial guarantees, business-to-business sales arrangements, and the construction of transmission lines to private projects to stimulate increased levels of private investment in clean power. The U.S. has already made more than 2,400 megawatts available to Pakistans electricity grid, benefiting some 28 million Pakistanis, and has helped Pakistan take steps to reform its troubled energy sector since 2009. The U.S. has also funded the refurbishment or construction of nearly 1,100 kilometers of roads, enabling trade, security, and mobility. The U.S.State Department said this in its latest report on Terrorism, in which it has also accused and listed Pakistan for not taking substantial action against terror groups. However on other side Washington continue to build strong cooperation with Pakistan on energy, economic growth including agriculture, education and health, according to the U.S. State Departments 2016 annual Country Reports on Terrorism. The U.S. Agency for International Developments (USAIDs) on-budget investments in energy generation, facilitated by the Energy Policy Program (EPP), contributed to increasing generation capacity, energy production, and the reliability of power. EPP helped Pakistan develop the contractual framework that led to the first importation of liquefied natural gas, report says. It further says, In 2016, the United States continued to focus on five sectors determined in consultation with the Pakistani government in 2011. Energy, economic growth including agriculture, stabilization of areas vulnerable to violent extremism, education and health with emphasis on improving democracy, governance, and gender equity are integrated into programming across the five sectors. The report stated that U.S. assistance has helped Pakistan improve governance and management systems, and increase the countrys distribution companies revenue collection by more than US $400 million, as well as provide commercial opportunities for U.S. businesses. The United States continued to fund infrastructure rehabilitation projects, especially in clean energy, and provided technical assistance to Pakistani energy institutions, including distribution companies, to increase power generation and improve performance. The U.S. has also trained more than 5,600 police and 1,000 prosecutors across Pakistan; provided scholarships to approximately 15,000 Pakistanis to attend Pakistani universities, 50 percent of whom were women; and supplied better access to comprehensive family planning services to more than 100,000 women since 2009. In 2016, the United States continued to build strong cooperation with Pakistan, including through U.S. assistance, as a stable, secure, prosperous, and democratic Pakistan is in the long-term U.S. national security interest. Although assistance levels have declined in recent years, to support this partnership, the United States has allocated civilian and security assistance totaling US $8.4 billion since 2009. U.S. security assistance to Pakistan is designed to build Pakistans counterterrorism and counterinsurgency capacity. In addition, since 2001, the Department of Defense has reimbursed nearly US $14 billion in Coalition Support Funds for Pakistani expenditures in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Since 2009, the United States has committed about US $5 billion in civilian assistance to Pakistan, in addition to more than US $1 billion for emergency humanitarian assistance. Through a range of programs and public-private partnerships in agriculture and other sectors of Pakistans economy, U.S. assistance helped Pakistan create jobs and foster economic growth. USAID programming will improve the financial and operating performance of at least 6,000 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in a maximum of seven industrial, manufacturing, and service sectors. In June 2016 in New York, the U.S. and Pakistan governments convened the fourth U.S.-Pakistan Business Opportunities Conference. Download Now The News-Gazette mobile app brings you the latest local breaking news, updates, and more. Read the News-Gazette on your mobile device just as it appears in print. Reporter Tim Mitchell is a reporter at The News-Gazette. His email is tmitchel@news-gazette.com, and you can follow him on Twitter (@mitchell6). Flowers and candles are among some of the items that have been used to create a memorial on the corner of Goodwin and Clark in Urbana for missing scholar Yingying Zhang. Anne Johnston, longtime owner of Campus Florist in Campustown, said an individual asked for flowers to be delivered last week to the spot that Zhang was last seen. Since the first bouquet was placed last week, the makeshift memorial has only continued to grow. Champaign, IL (61820) Today Mainly cloudy with snow showers around this morning. High 38F. Winds WNW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 50%.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. Low 23F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph. The number of available anti-seizure medications has exploded in the past two decades, going from just a handful of medicines available in the 1990s to more than 20 now. Once the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves each new medicine based on trials in adults, it's available for clinicians to prescribe off-label to all age groups. However, says William D. Gaillard, M.D., division chief of Child Neurology and Epilepsy, Neurophysiology and Critical Care Neurology at Children's National Health System, trials that lead to FDA approval for adults do not provide any information about which medications are best for children. "With so many medications and so little data," Dr. Gaillard says, "one might think doctors would choose a wider variety of medicines when they prescribe to children with epilepsy." However, the results from a recent study by Dr. Gaillard and colleagues, published online in Pediatric Neurology on June 27, 2017, show otherwise. The study indicates that doctors in the United States appear to have reached an unexpected consensus about which medication to prescribe for their pediatric patients. The study is part of a broader effort to collect data on the youngest epilepsy patients -- those younger than 3 years old, the age at which epilepsy most often becomes evident. As part of this endeavor, researchers from 17 U.S. pediatric epilepsy centers enrolled in the study 495 children younger than 36 months old who had been newly diagnosed with non-syndromic epilepsy (a condition not linked to any of the commonly recognized genetic epilepsy syndromes). The researchers mined these patients' electronic medical records for information about their demographics, disease and treatments. About half of the study participants were younger than 1 year old when they were diagnosed with epilepsy. About half had disease marked by focal features, meaning that their epilepsy appeared to originate from a particular place in the brain. Nearly all were treated with a single medication, as opposed to a cocktail of multiple medicines. Of those treated with a single medication, nearly all were treated with one of five medicines: Levetiracetam, oxcarbazepine, phenobarbital, topiramate and zonisamide. However, the data showed a clear prescribing preference. About 63 percent of the patients were prescribed levetiracetam as a first choice. By contrast, oxcarbazepine and phenobarbital, the next most frequently prescribed medicines, were taken by patients as a first choice by a mere 14 percent and 13 percent respectively. Lab Diagnostics & Automation eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today Even more striking, of the children who were not prescribed levetiracetam initially but required a second medication due to inadequate efficacy or unacceptable side effects, 62 percent also received this medication. That made levetiracetam the first or second choice for about 74 percent of all the children in the study, despite the availability of more than 20 anti-seizure medications. It's not clear why levetiracetam is such a frequent choice in the United States, says Dr. Gaillard. However, in its favor, the drug is available in a liquid formulation, causes no ill effects medically and can be started intravenously if necessary. Studies have shown that it appears to be effective in controlling seizures in about 40 percent of infants. Yet, levetiracetam's market dominance appears to be a North American phenomenon, the study authors write. A recent international survey that Dr. Gaillard also participated in suggests that outside of this continent, carbazepine and oxcarbazepine were the most frequently prescribed medications to treat focal seizures. What's really necessary, Dr. Gaillard says, is real data on efficacy for each of the medications commonly prescribed to pediatric epilepsy patients--a marked vacuum in research that prevents doctors from using evidence-based reasoning when making medication choices. "This study identifies current practices, but whether those practices are correct is a separate question," he explains. "Just because a medication is used commonly doesn't mean it is the best medication we should be using." To answer that question, he says, researchers will need to perform a head-to-head clinical trial comparing the top available epilepsy medications in children. This study sets the stage for such a trial by identifying which medications should be included. "Uncontrolled pediatric epilepsy can have serious consequences, from potential problems in development to a higher risk of death," Dr. Gaillard says. "You want to use the optimal medicine to treat the disease." If the Republics go ahead with the plan to repeal Obamacare, around 32 million Americans would lose their health cover according to a prediction from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) yesterday. CBO is a non-partisan office that works to analyse pending bills and legislations. The CBO analysed and predicted that the cost of medical insurance would rise by 25% in the coming year and double by 2026. Repeal bill, it said would also reduce the federal deficit by $473bn (363bn). The Senate has on two occasions failed to pass the healthcare bill and plans to sit together next week to work on the repeal of the 2010 healthcare bill brought by President Barack Obama with a two year delay. Net Effects of the Obamacare Repeal Reconciliation Act of 2017 on the Budget Deficit - Image Credit: https://www.cbo.gov/publication/52939 President Donald Trump postponed the partys August recess until they come to a consensus to repeal Obamacare and replace it with their own Republican plans. He has called on the 49 Republican Senators for immediate action on this. He added that the Republicans have promised to repeal Obamacare for the past seven years and now is the time. We can repeal, but we should repeal and replace, and we shouldnt leave town until this is complete, he said. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell thus has scheduled a vote early next week to repeal Obamacare. At least three of the Senators however have defected already this week though. Moderate Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia are opposed to the repeal. Democrats are together in opposing this repeal and Republicans could lose only those two votes in their 52-48 majority at the 100 strong Senate in order to pass the bill. Im glad @POTUS agrees that we cannot move to repeal Obamacare without a replacement plan that addresses the needs of West Virginians, Senator Shelley Moore Capito who is opposing the outright repeal wrote on Twitter. Senator Lamar Alexander chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee also said that he doubted if there would be 40 votes in favour of only repeal and no replacement. Loss of the Affordable Care Act that was popularly called Obamacare would mean a rise of 17 million in 2018 uninsured according to the CBO. Mr. Trumps campaign pledge was to repeal Obamacare and Republicans have looked upon Obamacare as an expensive interference into the healthcare system. The Republican plans for healthcare also includes reductions in Medicaid that paid for healthcare for the disabled and the poor. Obamacare had a mandate that all individual citizens need to be under the umbrella of medical insurance and if they fail to do so, they would require to pay a tax penalty. Repeal of the policy could also mean that this clause would be removed. Persons who have failed to renew their policy for over two months would now be banned for six months before they can attempt for a fresh insurance cover. So come next week a vote that would finally take place would determine the outcomes of millions of covered Americans. Organs respond to injuries with the formation of new fibrous tissue, which can result in scarring. This process called fibrogenesis can now be monitored noninvasively on a molecular level, as American scientists report in the journal Angewandte Chemie. They have created a new gadolinium-based probe for magnetic resonance imaging that specifically reports the proteins involved in fibrogenesis. The imaging method may provide a quantitative assessment of the formation of the potentially harmful scar tissue. Natural wound healing and tissue injury involves the formation of collagen-based fibrous tissue to close the wound. In normal healing, the fibrous material is eventually replaced by normal tissue. If the injury is large or if the tissue is repeatedly damaged, the wound healing process may not be complete, resulting in scar formation that threatens the loss of function and even organ failure. On a molecular level, fibrogenesis is the accumulation and then remodeling of collagen, mainly by cross-linking, to create more rigid and tight structures. To monitor this process, Peter Caravan and collaborators from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, USA, sought a molecular probe that could specifically recognize the components involved in fibrogenesis. They have created a functionalized gadolinium chelate as a probe for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Lab Diagnostics & Automation eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today The probe was developed to target allysine, an amino acid indicative of active collagen cross-linking. "In active fibrogenesis, an active pool of allysine would be generated, but in stable disease or with therapeutic invention, these allysine moieties would be converted to cross-links," the authors reasoned. Thus, they designed an oxyamine-functionalized gadolinium chelate termed GdOA that would form stable oxime links with allysine and is "therefore expected to result in a strong MR signal enhancement on binding to allysine," as the authors proposed. The GdOA meets the key criteria for MRI technology, as the researchers proved in numerous tests. It was stable, water-soluble, and excretable through the renal tract with very good pharmacokinetics, and it displayed high target selectivity in both test tube and in real mouse models. The scientists quantified pulmonary fibrogenesis in mice noninvasively by MRI using this probe, and they also monitored the suppression of fibrogenesis when the mice were treated with a specific medication. In this report, they studied fibrosis of the lung, but fibrogenesis is a common feature of many chronic diseases of the inner organs, and also in many cancers. This work gives a promising outlook to new specific MRI probes for disease detection, prognosis, and monitoring disease progression or treatment response across a range of human conditions. According to a latest report from the World Health Organization on the worldwide epidemic of tobacco addiction, the efforts to control tobacco use has increased notably over the last ten years. Tobacco control measures include advertising and public awareness campaigns, graphic warnings on the packs and bans on smoking in public zones. The report says that in 2007 only 1 billion people and around 15% of the world population was exposed to some form of measure that warned them against tobacco use. In 2017, the report says, around 4.7 billion people and 63% of the world population can see a no smoking warning or sign. This is a huge leap and the report says that this heartening trend has saved millions of lives being lost before their time. According to the WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic, 2017 these numbers could still rise if it were not for the constant interference from the tobacco industry, that understandably wants to stop the complete efforts of the government to advertise ban on tobacco use to save lives and health care costs. The industry continuously works against these measures by threatening litigation or by refuting science that tobacco is harmful for health and by inflating the economic importance of the tobacco industry in the countrys financial strength. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General called on the governments to incorporate all the clauses of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) into their national policies that control tobacco use. Illicit tobacco trade that leads to serious health and social consequences also need to stop. He reiterated the utility of these preventive measures and how they can save millions of lives and billions of dollars a year in health care costs and loss of productivity. This four times rise in the number of persons exposed to a tobacco control measure is due to the fact that more and more countries are incorporating the policies of the WHO FCTC in their national policies he explained. The WHO FCTC has a MPOWER measure that supports the incorporation of the reduction of tobacco demands. MPOWER was started in 2008 in order to promote the government activities on six tobacco control strategies. These include close monitoring of tobacco use and prevention of its use, protecting people from passive smoking and its hazards, offering tobacco quitting support, warning people against tobacco, banning tobacco advertising and raising taxes on tobacco containing products. The six tenets of MPOWER are; Monitor Protect (against passive smoking) Offer (help and support) Warn Enforce and Raise (taxes) The report also finds that 43% of the population globally or 3.2 billion individuals are covered with at least two measures of MPOWER. This is seven times higher than that of 2007. At least four or more MPOWER measures were incorporated by eight countries around the world including the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Brazil, Islamic Republic of Iran, Ireland, Madagascar, Malta, Panama and Turkey. Nepal leads in the graphic warnings on the packet covers with 90% of the packs being covered in graphic warnings against tobacco. This was introduced after a huge number of tobacco users were detected in the country. India has started nationwide tobacco cessation programme and toll-free quit line in 2016 after surveys found that at least 50% of tobacco users want to quit tobacco use but did not know how. Philippines has a Sin Tax Reform Law since 2012 that has seen tobacco demand reductions. Smoke free zones and laws are in place for 55 countries. Tobacco cessation treatment is in place in 26 countries. Graphic warnings on labels are in place in 78 countries. Bans on advertising are in place for only 15% of the world populations at this time says the report. Raising taxes is also not a very popular measure finds the report. According to Michael R. Bloomberg, WHO Global Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases and founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies MPOWER has been highly effective in reducing the number of tobacco related deaths that is one in ten worldwide. This new report is funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies and further shows that one third of the countries worldwide monitor tobacco use closely. This was one quarter in 2007. More numbers are needed to make the efforts stronger. The report adds that countries with limited resources can also implement several of the MPOWER measures. New Delhi: The Doklam standoff between India and China is now in its fifth week. This is an extraordinary stalemate, the kind of which we havent seen since the Samudorong Chu incident in 1986. Both in terms of the rhetoric from Beijing as well as its unilateral action to change the status quo at the India-China-Bhutan trijunction, China has made it clear they see this incident as very different from the ones in the past. Wouldnt such an extraordinary turn of events also merit an out-of-the box, not so ordinary, response? So far, the MEA has been saying regular channels of communication are open between both countries i.e communication through each others respective embassies, through the diplomats stationed therein with the Foreign offices of the respective host countries. If one thing is clear in the fifth week of this standoff, it is this. This current flare-up does require some out-of-the box thinking, perhaps employing means of communication which have not been activated before. When Narendra Modi went to Beijing in May 2015, both countries had decided to set up a hotline between their respective military headquarters. Later it was decided that the level will be at that of both the DGMOs. That hotline is perhaps gathering dust somewhere in North Block. Now is as good a time as any to activate that hotline. Also, last year, after Beijings refusal to allow India entry into the Nuclear Suppliers group and its recalcitrance in declaring Jaish e Mohammed founder Masood Azhar a global terrorist, both India and China decided to set up a special mechanism between Foreign Secretary Jaishankar and Chinas Executive Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui. Even this new mechanism has not been activated in the current Doklam standoff. Why these two out of the ordinary channels of communication have not been activated in this current stand-off remains an elusive question. One that the MEA also refuses to answer. New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday termed right to privacy as a very complex issue and wondered if a person could assert his right to remain anonymous and suppress his identity as facets of his privacy. During the day-long hearing, the nine-judge bench deliberated upon the legislative and regulatory framework that may be required to be put in place by the Central government if the apex court were to assign to privacy the status of a fundamental right. Right to privacy is being debated after questions arose whether collection of biometric data and its usage under Aadhaar scheme was a breach of peoples right to privacy, and if the privacy was a fundamental right. On the second day of the Constitution bench hearing, the judges, including Justices Rohinton F Nariman, D Y Chandrachud and Sanjay K Kaul, told lawyers seeking a declaration in favour of right to privacy that one of the immediate consequences of declaring privacy a fundamental right could be creation of a corresponding obligation on the government to bring in a regulatory framework. The State will have to put in place a legislative and regulatory framework. But questions would arise about how one can enforce this right vis-a-vis private players since fundamental rights are enforceable against the State, the bench asked the lawyers. The lawyers responded that damages could be sought from the private parties whereas an individual would be able to approach a constitutional court against a State action if his right to privacy is impinged upon by a government or its agencies. Justice Kaul, however, retorted that damages alone might not be the remedy when the right is given the status of being a fundamental right and some form of injunction even against the private players could be mulled. The bench further wondered if right to privacy could be so pervasive that a person would be allowed to remain anonymous. Can an individual assert his right to be anonymous? A fundamental question before us is about to what extent an individual can say that he has a right to remain anonymous. To what extent you can assert your right to privacy to suppress your identity, asked Justice Chandrachud. The judge illustrate this by saying whether a man can say that I want a passport but I would not furnish details of my parents or spouse in the form prescribed. How far a citizen can say I will remain anonymous, especially when the State conducts census, surveys etc and collate all information, he asked. Justice Chandrachud then went on to discuss the legitimate and illegitimate use of data as he emphasized that data collection may by itself be not an example of breach in privacy. Suppose the government collects data on convicted persons. Can it be wrong? We dont think so. However, some countries use this meta data to profile its population in order to get an indication of people who are likely to commit crimes. Now this profiling based on artificial intelligence could be a breach, he said. Thus, the real difference, Justice Chandrachud said, was not about collection of data but the legitimate or illegitimate use of it. If this data is used for providing social benefits to a HIV positive person, there is nothing wrong with it but if it is used to stigmatise that person, it falls foul of the rights, said the judge. He added that although most of the information about individuals were usually in the public domain, the issue was very complex when somebody sought to assert this right in a particular manner. Justice J Chelameswar asked senior lawyers Gopal Subramanium, Arvind Datar, Anand Grover and Sajan Poovayya if it would not be appropriate for the nine-judge bench to outline the boundaries of right to privacy. Should we not acknowledge and identify the developments that have taken place in last few decades and say these are the identified facets of privacy? asked the judge. The lawyers, on their part, said that it would be more proper if the bench did not define the contours of this right and decide its delineation on a case to case basis. There cannot be an exhaustive catalogue of this right and therefore it would be more proper if its contours are decided as and when situations arise, by also building upon the jurisprudence on privacy developed with passage of time, submitted the lawyers. Datar added there were different kinds of privacy. Physical privacy is about protection against tangible or intangible invasion of ones private space. Informational privacy is about an individuals control over dissemination of his personal information and decisional privacy is about protection of a persons autonomy over fundamental personal choices, he said. Poovayya highlighted significance of privacy in the digital era and said that the protection to this right was imperative at a time when we have 118 crore mobile connections and 40 crore internet connection in the country. Secrecy is not the basis of privacy. Dignity is, he said. The senior lawyer also responded to the courts queries regarding the process of data collection, saying the very thought of sharing of private information and about the government may be watching were enough to cause a chilling effect on free speech and actions. Collection of data itself is problematic without a just reasonable law. My right begins at the stage of collection of data. The question to be asked is not to whether this data will be leaked or not, the question is how this data collection can be allowed without checks and balances, he added. Poovayya concluded his arguments by stating: What this bench should consider is that if there was a judgment on this issue by the Supreme Court 15 years ago, could the government collect this data by an executive order through private agencies, thereby making it capable of being mined for various unwarranted purposes too. The court will resume the hearing on Tuesday next week when Attorney General K K Venugopal would commence his arguments on behalf of the Centre. New Delhi: The NITI Aayogs plan to allow private firms lease space in government hospitals for 30 years has few takers within the government itself. Though circulated as a set of Model Concessionaire Agreements, thought up jointly by the Aayog and the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to push through a robust, scalable and a sustainable PPP model in the health sector, it hasnt gone down well with the ministry. Senior officials told News18 that the NITI Aayog, which has long wanted further privatization in healthcare, wanted to experiment this model. The ministry, however, is taking a stand and pushing back. An official said the plan also doesn't seem to be working with the states, many of them have flagged that it wont be an easy project to implement. Its one thing for a central level planning body to propose but field management is a different story, the official said. The plan is to bring more private facilities into treating Indias rising burden of non-communicable diseases -- cancer, cardiac conditions, respiratory tract disease-- by letting them lease space for either a 50 bed or a 100 bed PPP (Public-Private Partnership) facility, depending on the population and number of patients in the area. This will be done with district hospitals in tier 2 and 3 cities. Private facilities often mean spiralling hospital costs, however, the officials said there would not be an uncontrollable private charge system, as that goes against the ministrys policy. For patients above the poverty line and those not covered by government insurance schemes, the ministry is considering something close to Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) rates. Those below poverty line will be treated for free. If it works out to be a feasible model within cost parameters, only then will it work, said the official. The idea has also been severely criticised by healthcare professionals working in the public sector. Dr Amit Sengupta of the Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, a civil society group working for healthcare and equitable development, questioned the very role of the NITI Aayog. What is their locus standi? he asked, Theyre at most an advisory body, a think tank. How can they formulate policy, especially when health is a state subject? However, he added, this wasnt surprising if one read between the lines of the National Health Policy 2017, which promised basic primary health services by the government, secondary through an insurance model and let people pay for tertiary care in private hospitals. I dont think states will agree to this but if they do, public assets will be handed over to private players for their profit in this model and the private sector wont have to pay for much, he said. The government will provide the private players with a captive patient set and pay for the treatment of those below poverty line. This is a dangerous trend, said Dr Arun Gadre, co-author of the book Dissenting Diagnosis, where he wrote on the ethical concerns in the private health sector such as over-prescription of drugs and diagnostic tests and unnecessary surgeries, all done for profit. He questioned how these private facilities would be regulated to make sure procedures arent being performed only for profit. What are the checks? No one follows the Clinical Establishment Act [for registration and regulation of clinical establishments]. The private industry doesnt come under the purview of the Medical Council of India, said Gadre. Gadre and Sengupta also pointed out that such a model would take money and resources away from the public hospitals which desperately need them. Sengupta said the public sector was called inefficient after it had been starved of resources for years. Despite that, it played a major role in reaching people that the private players never would. The private sector will cherry pick the districts they want to open these clinics in. They wont go to areas with low resources and poorer population concentrating instead on already better off regions, he said. New Delhi: The Army's director general of military operations Lt. Gen. A K Bhatt on Thursday strongly took up with his Pakistani counterpart the issue of Pakistani troops "deliberately targeting" civilians and firing at school children along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. During a telephonic conversation, Bhatt asked Pakistani DGMO Maj. Gen. Sahir Shamshad Mirza to exercise "strict control" over his troops and instruct them to refrain from any "nefarious activities", an Army spokesperson said. The Pakistani DGMO was informed about Pakistani troops deliberately targeting civilian villages and also firing at school children in Nowshera sector of Rajouri district when they were being evacuated from the area on Tuesday. "This, he (Mirza) was told, does not behove any army. The Indian Army as professional force takes due care to avoid targeting of civilians and Pakistan Army was expected to do the same," Army spokesman Col. Aman Anand said. Col Anand said the Pakistani DGMO was informed about the spate of ceasefire violations which also included "calibre escalation coupled with incidents of sniping and attempted infiltration". The two DGMOs had spoken on Monday as well, during which Bhatt told Mirza that the Indian Army reserves the right to retaliate appropriately against any incident of ceasefire violation along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir. Anand said the Indian Army has been taking all necessary steps to ensure the safety of life and property of Indian citizens. The telephonic call over the hotline was initiated by Lt. Gen. Bhatt to protest Pakistani troops' firing at school children. New Delhi: A day after the US State Department said Pakistan is still giving safe havens to terror groups, CNN-News18 has video proof that these groups operate with a free hand not just in some remote corner of the country but in Islamabad and Lahore. The videos are of two public rallies, one on the July 16th in Islamabad while the other happened on the 19th in Lahore. In the videos, Syed Salahuddin is seen being felicitated openly. Salahuddin was proscribed as a most wanted terrorist by the US State Department less than a month ago. A sword and an AK-47, both purportedly from Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed were handed over to Salahuddin at this public rally. Modi, to behead you, for the victory of our nation, Amir Mohammed Hafiz Saeed has given this gift. Inshallah, this gun will destroy India and give freedom to Kashmir, Salahuddin is heard saying in the video. Furthermore, two Pakistani legislators, Ahmed Raza Qasoori and Syed Zafar Ali Shah were also part of the rally. Qasoori is from Parvez Musharraf's party, All Pakistan Muslim League (APML), while Shah is a senator representing Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's party, Pakistan Muslim League (PMLN). Both of them we seen sharing the stage in this public rally with known terrorists. Also present in the rally was Abdul Rehman Makki, Hafiz Saeed's brother-in-law and now the defacto head of the JuD. The organisation has openly called for jihad against India. Salahuddin is the head of Hizbul Mujahideen, an organisation responsible for several attacks in Kashmir. Not only this, he also heads the United Jihad Council, an umbrella body which oversees all Jammu and Kashmir terror outfits. He was designated by the US as a global terrorist in June 2017. He has played key role in fuelling terror in Kashmir for over the last 27 years. Originally from Budgam, he has been operating from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir since 1989. New Delhi: The state-controlled media in China has kept up its rhetoric against India since the start of a military standoff in Doklam four weeks ago. It's latest attack is on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the rise of Hindu nationalism. Raising the bogey of an armed conflict, an editorial in Global Times said religious nationalism risks pushing India and China into another war. Nationalist fervor that demands revenge against China has taken root in India since the border war. The election of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has fueled the country's nationalist sentiments. Modi took advantage of rising Hindu nationalism to come to power.... The border row this time is an action targeted at China that caters to the demand of India's religious nationalists, the opinion-editorial said. It claimed that the 1962 war had led to an ingrained suspicion of Chinese strategy. India harbors deep strategic suspicion toward China. For a long time, it has hyped that China is pursuing what is called the "String of Pearls" to encircle India. Despite China's goodwill in inviting India to join the Belt and Road initiative, India insists on interpreting the project as a part of China's strategic containment and encirclement of it. The Belt and Road initiative is believed to be a pet project of Chinese President Xi Jinping. New Delhi has opposed the project which passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and skipped its big launch in Beijing earlier this year. China has been ratcheting up rhetoric against India in the recent weeks following the face-off between the armies of the two nation in the Bhutan tri-junction. The face-off was triggered when Indian troops stopped the Chinese army from building a road in the area. China claimed that they were constructing the road within their territory and has been demanding immediate pull-out of the Indian troops from the disputed Dokalam plateau. New Delhi has expressed concern over the road building, apprehending that it may allow Chinese troops to cut India's access to its northeastern states. India has conveyed to the Chinese government that the road construction would represent a significant change of status quo with serious security implications for it. Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Dokalam, while China claims it as part of its Donglang region. Of the 3,488-km-long India-China border from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh, a 220-km section falls in Sikkim. New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said that no one will be allowed to take the law into their own hands, in a reference to the recent spate of lynchings by self-proclaimed Gau Rakshaks. He, however, also questioned the selective morality when it comes to condemning incidents of violence. Just as killing of a human being in the name of cow should be condemned unequivocally, in areas where cow slaughter is prohibited, they shouldnt celebrate it, Jaitley said in the Rajya Sabha. Addressing the Opposition benches he added, No one has the right to take the law into their hands, but selective morality or call of conscience is a problem. The debate in the Upper House of Parliament saw lively exchanges between the government and Opposition on the issue of mob lynchings in the name of cow protection. Ghulam Nabi Azad of the Congress said his home state of Jammu & Kashmir had cow slaughter laws introduced during the time of the maharaja of Kashmir which were still in place. No one had an objection to these, he said. But what was disturbing was news of lynchings like those of Junaid in a train or Pehlu Khan, who was transporting milch cattle. In his reply, Jaitley said the Union government had passed instructions to states to act against people who indulged in vigilantism and lynchings in the name of cow protection. He added that in each case of lynching the legal process had been initiated and the accused had been arrested. All will be chargesheeted and prosecuted, the FM said. Hurt sentiments cannot be used as an excuse and the Prime Minister has thrice condemned the activities of gau rakshaks, Jaitley added. However, he told the Opposition benches that a majority of the laws banning cow slaughter in the country had been brought under Congress regimes. Baba Saheb [Ambedkar] and Panditji [Nehru] were secular, but they said that the cow has a cultural significance in our country. Jaitley said, after the NDA government took charge isolated incidents of violence were taken up by the Opposition and a picture of intolerance was painted. Before the Delhi elections, there were Church attacks which the police investigated and found no political angel, but the New York Times wrote about it and said India had become intolerant, Jaitley said. New Delhi: In Ram Nath Kovinds victory, BJP has successfully sent its first card holder to the Rashtrapati Bhawan and a strong political message to its oldest NDA ally Shiv Sena. The BJP has been able to win almost two dozen extra votes in Maharashtra. That is over and above 63 of the ally Shiv Sena. If you add these votes to the BJPs own strength of 122 in the Assembly, the party crosses the half way mark in the House of 288 MLAs. Presidential polls are conducted under a secret ballot for which no whips are issued by parties. It would probably never be known in Maharashtras fractured polity who voted for whom. Whether Congress or NCP legislatures crossed fence to vote for Kovind. But the larger political message and the writing on the wall for Shiv Sena is clear that if need be, Devendra Fadnavis government can survive without the crutches of Shiv Senas 63 MLAs. Interestingly, in a reversal of sorts, it is Shiv Sena which is now more dependent on the BJP for maintaining its grip on the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation or the BMC. The outcome of the presidential polls in itself is a powerful political statement by the BJP and a strong message to the Shiv Sena, with which it has not been on great terms. The two parties had a bitter break-up just before the last Assembly polls, but joined hands again to form the government. Sena, however, had to settle as a minor partner in the alliance. Earlier this year, BJP made strong inroads into Shiv Sena bastion in Mumbai when it decided to go solo in the BMC polls. Shiv Sena now is entirely dependent on the BJP for its survival in the richest municipal corporation of the country. Even during the presidential polls, while all the other allies authorised Prime Minister Narendra Modi to nominate the NDA candidate, Shiv Sena sought to know the name of the BJP pick before extending its support. This despite BJP President Amit Shahs visit to Matoshree to meet Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray. To rub it in, Shiv Sena initially floated the name of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and then reputed scientist MS Swaminathan. Cross voting in neighbouring Gujarat is also indicative of political churning in the poll-bound state. About 11 Opposition MLAs are reported to have broken ranks. All are said to be Shankarsinh Vaghela supporters. The former Gujarat CM has dropped enough hints in the last six months that he wants to be Congresss face in upcoming Assembly polls. But the question is if Congress doesnt concede, what will Bapu do? He called a meeting of his supporters in Ahmedabad on Friday to decide the next course of action. Through this cross voting, Vaghela has conveyed to the Congress that if this group of eleven vote against the Congress in the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls, BJP will win all three seats. Stakes are high. Of the three seats up for grabs, one has been held for years now by Ahmed Patel, Congress President Sonia Gandhis closest aide. New Delhi: For the first time since the India-China faceoff started in Doklam on June 16, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has spoken on the issue in Parliament. The minister has clarified that China tried to unilaterally change the status quo at the tri-junction between India, Bhutan and China prompting the Indian troops to get involved. Swaraj made it clear that it was only upon request from the Bhutan government that the Indian Army, which has an advisory role in Bhutans security affairs, decided to move about 150-200 men to the flashpoint in the Doklam Plateau. She had to respond in Parliament because a supplementary question asked by the Samajwadi Partys Naresh Agarwal had gone unanswered. Swaraj also cited the 2012 agreement between India and China which recognizes the tri-junction as disputed territory but any resolution will be in consultation with all three parties concerned. Meanwhile, China on Thursday reiterated that it wont talk to India until New Delhi withdraws troops from Doklam. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said this while responding to Swarajs comments. The unilateral decision by China which changed the status quo was the call to build a road all the way up to Mount Gipmochi. India recognises the tri-junction point as Batang La which is further east. Allowing the Chinese to build a concrete road all the way up to Mount Gipmochi would seriously impede Indias security interests. Once the road is complete, it would give Chinese PLA troops vantage over the chickens neck, the narrow sliver of land that connects northeast India to the rest of the country. Indian and Chinese troops have been engaged in this standoff for over a month. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping had a brief 4 to 5 minute meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit last week which failed to resolve the faceoff. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval will travel to Beijing next week for a BRICS security conference. If he gets an opportunity for a stand-alone meeting with his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechion on the sidelines of the BRICS meeting, it may lead to a resolution. New Delhi: New Delhi: A former Chinese diplomat has said that Indian soldiers deployed at Doklam could either withdraw voluntarily, be captured or be killed. "When people in uniform get across the border to move into the territory of the other side, they naturally become enemies who will have to face three consequences: First, they can go out voluntarily, or they may be captured or when the border dispute should escalate, they may be killed," said Liu Youfa, a former Chinese consul general in Mumbai, was quoted as saying by Chinese channel CGTN. Indian and Chinese troops have been engaged in a standoff for over a month. For the first time since the India-China faceoff started in Doklam on June 16, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has spoken on the issue in Parliament. The minister clarified that China tried to unilaterally change the status quo at the tri-junction between India, Bhutan and China prompting the Indian troops to get involved. Youfa said the Chinese side is waiting for the Indians to make the sensitive choice. This is the best result for both sides to avoid the eventual confrontation, he said. The diplomat said the construction of road by the Chinese government is no ground for sending troops across the border. The Congress staged a walkout in the Rajya Sabha after BJP MP Prakash Javadekars comment on lynchings during the 1984 riots. Stay tuned for live updates: Read all the Latest News , Breaking News , watch Top Videos and Live TV here. NDA nominee Ram Nath Kovind has crossed the winning margin to become the 14th President of India, beating opposition candidate Meira Kumar. Stay tuned for updates: Read all the Latest News , Breaking News , watch Top Videos and Live TV here. Bengaluru: Continuing the outrage against 'Hindi imposition', a pro-Kannada group has on Thursday morning defaced metro boards carrying Hindi letters. Activists of the Kannada Rakshna Vedike threw black ink on the boards with Hindi signage at many stations in the state capital. The protesters claim that the time they had allotted the Bangalore Metro Corporation Limited (BMRCL) to remove Hindi from the boards had expired and that they had now decided to act upon it. The Rakshna Vedike split into small groups around 3 am and managed to deface boards at Yeshwantpur, Deepanjali Naga, Nagasandra, Mysore Raod and Goraguntepalya. The Bangalore police managed to detain a few activists at the KR Market metro station. Earlier, the Union Urban Development Ministry had asked BMRCL to ensure Hindi signage is used in the metros new Phase 1 stretch that was inaugurated in June. The Kannada Development Authority had later asked for a reply from BMRCL about the same. New Delhi: The largest ever study in India on the use of antibiotics in poultry farms has shown an unprecedented rise in antibiotic-resistant bacteria, posing a grave threat of it spreading to humans. A new study by the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy (CDDEP), a Washington DC and New Delhi based organisation, in 18 farms across six districts in Punjab reported high rates of resistant bacteria with broiler farms far outdoing the egg-laying ones. The authors say they took 1500 samples from 530 birds across large-scale farms, making it the biggest of its kind in the country. The study has found high resistance levels to popular broad spectrum antibiotics 39% for ciprofloxacin (used to treat respiratory infections) and 86% for nalidixic acid (used to treat urinary tract infections), said Dr Ramanan Laxminarayan, lead author and Director CDDEP. The report also found that 94% of its samples had multidrug resistance (MDR) and 87% had ESBL producing bacteria, essentially an enzyme that breaks down antibiotics rendering them ineffective. In 2005, the United States had banned these antibiotics for use in poultry farms, a move followed by the EU in 2006, said Laxminarayan, but these antibiotics are still widely used in India. In fact, he said, the range of unregulated antibiotic used in farms here was mind-boggling. Furthermore, the research suggests that many clinically important antimicrobials were being used indiscriminately. Crucially, meat producing or broiler farms showed higher levels of resistance than their egg-laying counterparts. Antibiotics used for growth help get the chicken to the market in 35 to 40 days, so that farms dont have to spend more on rearing and feeding them. An egg-laying chicken is kept on the farm for its life span of little over a year, needing fewer drug doses. Weve long used antibiotics for nutrition and growth promotion. Severely malnourished children are given antibiotics, said Laxminarayan. However, this practice is now obsolete in most parts of the world, he added. The situation is set to get worse, as antimicrobial consumption in food animal production in India is projected to grow by 312% in the next 15 years, says the study. India is the largest consumer of antimicrobials, said the report. Despite the need to establish exact causes, resistance goes back and forth between humans and animals, said Laxminarayan. No scientist will say that humans and animals live in bubbles isolated from each other. Hence, rising antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in farms will affect humans starting with the farm labourer who come in direct contact with the birds (often without protective gear), the villagers (drinking water from farm run offs), the consumers and soon everyone. The most vulnerable are the new-borns. The bacteria doesnt stay on a farm in Ludhiana. It spreads. There is a silent epidemic of antimicrobial resistance in hospitals, explained Laxminarayan. The gut bacteria mixes more easily with food and water sources in India, making its way into our food system. The study found that almost 60% of the Escherichia coli (E. coli) samples contained resistance conferring genes, which not only render many antibiotics ineffective but can also easily pass on to other types of bacteria. Though several previous studies have pointed out this trend, according to Laxminarayan, there was no recognition of the scale of the problem. Though India has developed a National Action Plan to combat Antimicrobial Resistance, there needs to be more urgency, said Laxminarayan. It cannot be a five-year plan, well lose all our antibiotics by then. Without immediate action, India continues to barrel towards a post antibiotic world. Emma Watson is in trouble and needs your help. Yes, the Beauty and the Beast star has lost something very valuable and is seeking help on social media for any hints or leads to find what she deems as her most 'meaningful and special possession'.The Harry Potter actor who lost three silver rings on Sunday afternoon, took to Facebook to seek help from her fans and followers in finding the lost accessories.She wrote in her post, "On Sunday afternoon, I went for a treatment at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Spa in Hyde Park, London. Before my appointment I removed 3 silver rings from my fingers and put them in the safe inside the locker. When I left, I forgot to take my rings from the safe. When I got home I realised the rings were not on my hands and I called the spa, but at this time the spa was closed. Security checked the safe and said there was nothing in it but that the spa would be open again in the morning and they could speak to them then and see if they had them or if anyone had handed them in."She also mentioned that anyone who provides 'information leading to the return of the rings' shall be rewarded for it. She wrote, "Reward for information leading to the return of rings lost Sunday 16th July at Mandarin Oriental Spa, London."The only reason Emma seems so desperate to find the rings is because one of them was gifted to her by her mother when she turned 18. The ring certainly meant more to her than just a usual accessory on her finger. She seems attached emotionally to it and would not spare any effort to find it.She wrote, "Were these just any rings I could accept this, but one of the them was a gift from my Mum. She bought it the day after I was born and wore it for 18 years, never taking it off, and then gave it to me for my 18th birthday. I wear this ring everyday, it is my most meaningful and special possession." "If anyone was at the Mandarin Oriental Spa on Sunday from 3pm onwards and saw the rings or accidentally picked them up or knows anything about them, I cannot express how much it would mean if they came back to me - no questions asked. If you have seen them or have any information please email: findthering@outlook.com," she added to her Facebook post.So, if you have any information leading to where Emma could find her valuable possession, you know whom and how to contact.Read her full post here: While Uber has changed ground transport in many cities, Sao Paulo's infernal traffic jams have sparked a new app that opens the sky to commuters: Voom, a helicopter taxi service that charges according to distance and the passenger's weight. It's a godsend for those in a rush -- but only if the weather permits. Gustavo Boyde, a Brazilian living in the United States who goes to Sao Paulo for business, is one of those who says the hops above the city are the only way to get around. "I've opted for helicopters," he said, pointing to the metropolis sprawling beyond the horizon as he choppered from a chic central district to the airport. Sao Paulo -- South America's biggest city, home to 12 million residents within its municipal limits and millions more in satellite towns -- is regularly choked by gargantuan traffic jams. There are 5.9 million vehicles, or one for every two people. At peak hour, traffic can be backed up as much as 576 kilometers (358 miles). Not so pricey A new venture launched in April by Europe's Airbus, Voom has taken a page out of Uber's marketing manual to put clients above it all -- at a competitive price. The app asks passengers to enter their weight and that of any baggage, then immediately sends the calculated fare. Boyde's run, from the southeastern neighborhood of Itaim Bibi to the airport some 30 kilometers (20 miles) away, takes nine minutes and costs $150. Compare that with the market rates before Voom became available. Individual helicopter companies wanted 10 times more -- and trips needed to be booked at least two days in advance. "Our goal is to make helicopter transport accessible to more people, so that the helicopter is seen as an alternative," said Voom's executive director, Uma Subramanian. In Boyde's case, taking a helicopter through the app was a no-brainer. Using a traditional taxi on the clogged roads would have cost him $50 and an hour and a half of frustrating stop-and-go. "I chose Voom because it fits within my travel budget, it's economical and it's practical," Boyde said. "Those are two hours I can now use for work, which is handy given the tight schedule I have," he said. According to Subramanian, saturated roads in Latin America mean that "people lose up to 10 hours a week" stuck in traffic. Biggest fleet Sao Paulo topped a list of 500 cities Voom considered for its debut, for a variety of reasons. The city, which sits in a state of the same name whose population exceeds 45 million, has the biggest fleet of helicopters in the world. ANAC, the National Association for Civil Aviation, says 700 choppers, or nearly a third of Brazil's total number, are located there, alongside 528 helipads. Brazil's deep recession also means that many in Sao Paulo's aviation sector have embraced Voom. "In the current situation of a contracting market, the arrival of this service is a positive," said Arthur Fioratti, head of the ABRAPHE association of Brazilian helicopter pilots that covers some 2,000 professional flyers. Back during Brazil's boom time, between 2010 and 2013, the sector flourished. ABRAPHE said there were 2,000 helicopter flights a day in Sao Paulo state. Today, there are 1,300. Voom has deals with three helicopter companies which operate five helicopters in Sao Paulo's metropolitan zone. Business travelers are the company's target clientele -- an elite used to taking a lift to the top of a glass-and-steel tower to be picked up on the rooftop helipad. But it hopes to eventually broaden the appeal of flitting across the sky by bringing fares down to below what a taxi would charge. Eye on the weather Currently, between six and 10 people use Voom's service daily. "When my friends saw me using a helicopter to get to the airport they asked if I'd become a millionaire. When I told them how much it cost, they were surprised," said Lucas Amadeu, head of marketing for Voom. "I think that once people know what it costs, the service will grow a lot," he added. But while market forces are one thing, Mother Nature is another, and the sometimes violent storms and tropical rain that lash Sao Paulo can ground Voom's fleet. At those times, users are forced to resort to ordinary taxis -- and to confront road traffic made even more choked by the weather. Within Brazil, the poor quality of public transport in Sao Paulo is well known. In 2013, the biggest protests the country has ever known erupted when authorities tried to raise fares for the creaking, overburdened network of buses and metros. One risk for Voom is that it might become too popular. An abrupt rise in the number of helicopters flying above the city could prompt the same sort of response as in New York, where officials are considering ways to limit flights. For now, though, the company has its view fixed on other horizons. Its next city pegged for expansion is Mexico City, another badly choked megapolis. For Boyde, who goes to Mexico City almost as often as he does to Sao Paulo, that is good news. "If they do the same thing over there, I'll be their customer," he said. News that a local Saudi woman has been arrested for flouting the kingdom's dress code by wearing a miniskirt and crop top in a viral video, serves as a reminder to visitors to do their homework before traveling to conservative countries in the Middle East. In the video, which went viral over the weekend after first surfacing on Snapchat, a young, dark-haired woman is seen walking around the historic fort in Ushayqir in the ultra-conservative province of Najd in Saudi Arabia. The video stoked controversy on social media, with some calling for the model's immediate arrest, and others coming to her defense. But whether or not you support the woman's actions and audacity, travelers to conservative countries are advised to read up on local customs and abide by their laws. According to the US Department of State, women in Saudi Arabia customarily wear a full-length black cloak known as the abaya, and cover their heads with a scarf. Women who choose not to conform to the dress code are advised that they face possible detention and arrest. Likewise, men are advised to dress conservatively and not to wear shorts in public or go out shirtless. Because as the Department of State points out, visitors are subject to local laws. Those who violate the rules -- even unknowingly -- may be expelled, arrested, imprisoned, subject to physical punishments, or even executed depending on the offense. Unlike Saudi Arabia, women traveling to the UAE are not expected to cover their heads or wear traditional Muslim dress, points out the Embassy of the UAE website for the US. When visiting a mosque, women will be asked to respect Muslim traditions and wear an abaya to cover their heads. -- Countries with strict dress codes -- Meanwhile, it's not just Saudi Arabia that enforces a strict dress code. In North Korea, locals are likewise expected to dress conservatively or risk attracting unwanted attention from government "fashion police." Last year, the government banned body piercings (ears are allowed), jeans, ponytails and tight clothing as part of a major crackdown on any public expression or appreciation of Western culture, reported Japanese news service Asia Press. Sudanese women also face lashings for wearing trousers, while women in Uganda can be arrested for wearing skirts or shorts above the knee. New Delhi: Pankaj Tripathi is another theatre graduate who has cemented his place in the Hindi film industry after toiling for more than a decade. The National School of Drama (NSD) graduate, who has delivered impressive performances in films such as Gangs of Wasseypur, Masaan and Nil Battey Sannata, said coming from theatre, Bollywood was always about survival for him. "I didn't come in the industry to change anything. I came here only to survive. I had done plays and Hindi theatre pays peanuts. For a married man with a family, I had to survive first. I would do one-scene roles at the time. "And now work is seeking me. I can afford to choose parts today. This has not been handed over to me by anyone. I have bled drop-by-drop, like water seeps from a vessel," Tripathi said in an interview. It is certainly a good time for the actor as four of his films - Gurgaon, Munna Michael, Bareilly Ki Barfi and Newton - are ready to hit the screen. Tripathi is looking forward to the role of Kehri Singh, a farmer-turned-real-estate-tycoon in the Shanker Raman-directed Gurgaon. "I play a father in the film who is close to his daughter. It is a very internalised performance. It is a layered character with lots of complexities. Kehri is no saint but I always try to find the humanity in the character no matter how dark it is. I am really looking forward to the film." Quoting Sahir Ludhianvi's lyrics, Ye Duniya agar mil bhi Jaye to kya hai, Pankaj said an actor becomes more internal as an individual if he has faced struggle or has achieved what he/she set out for. "I think we also get tired. Sometimes a vacuum develops when we have nothing to lose. Reach the top or perish while struggling are two quite similar situations." As a character artist, Tripathi said he had less chance of being rejected by the audience than the main lead. "I was offered 10 Sultan Qureshi-type roles after Gangs of Wasseypur. But I did not want to repeat that as I have little fear of being rejected by the people. "We have the freedom to experiment as an artist - unlike lead heroes. I never became a hit, so naturally, I will never flop. We can strike a balance between commercial and indie cinema. Big films help your reach a wider audience and doing independent films keeps your artistic side happy." Tripathi said striking this balance was important as an actor because mainstream cinema helps indie films stay afloat. "If commercial cinema won't be there, independent films won't be able to survive. Multiplexes will become banquet halls. Cinema is like a temple." Tripathi said even if the content was serious and message-driven, the storytellers could not shirk their responsibility to deliver an entertaining plot. "There's a fine line between being effortless and bloodless. Roles that I do are entertaining, they have ras. I don't do boring roles in the name of realising or truthful cinema. I want the stories that I do to be interesting for the audience too." The Shanker Raman-directed film, also starring Akshay Oberoi and Ragini Khanna, releases on August 4 with Shah Rukh Khan-Anushka Sharma starrer Jab Harry Met Sejal. Tripathi, who worked with Shah Rukh in Dilwale, is not worried about the film clashing with the superstar's project. "Clash is when the fight is between equals. I want Shah Rukh's film to go houseful so that ones who don't get tickets will end up watching our film." Los Angeles: Disney's upcoming live-action reboot of the 1992 animated classic Aladdin is facing blowback for casting a non-Arab actress to play Jasmine. After a months-long worldwide search, Disney roped in actress Naomi Scott to play Jasmine in the film. Scott is of British and Indian heritage and some critics of the decision see it as a suggestion by Disney that women of Indian and Middle Eastern heritage look the same, reported Fortune. Mena Massoud, who plays the role of Aladdin in the film, is of Egyptian descent. Aladdin, the story of a rough-and-tumble kid from the streets who enlists a genie to win the love of Princess Jasmine, is set in fictional Agrabah, which is largely seen as representing a Middle Eastern city. A critic of the decision said it was one more instance of Hollywood believing that "brown (people) are interchangeable," while another said fans are "upset that their representation was taken away, and rightly so." Disney did not return Fortune's request for comment on the story. Director: Christopher Nolan Cast: Tom Hardy, Fionn Whitehead, Mark Rylance, Harry Styles, Cillian Murphy, Kenneth Branagh How would you react when you watch a film that neither has a protagonist nor well-defined, sharp characters? In all probability, youd be a bit impassive and indifferent. But when writer-director Christopher Nolan takes up the challenge, it is done with the sole motive to not just offer a film, but an experience that alone makes it worth seeing. Not necessarily a film with a definite plot, story, character arc, but an experience that lingers in memory. Nolans Dunkirk - his incredible World War II epic - revolves around the 1940 Battle of Dunkirk when close to 3,30,000 British and Allied forces, encompassed by the enemy, were evacuated in a rather miraculous way and were instantly interpreted as legend by the British press. While Nolan puts forth both - the acutely distressing defense and evacuation of troops - it shows all of it not just through the standpoint of the soldiers left on the beach, but also civilian fleet who evacuated them, and the RAF pilots in the air who did just about everything to shield them. Since I watched Dunkirk in IMAX (the format filmmaker intended it to be seen), it left an ineradicable impact, especially because even the panoramas looked like flawless close-ups. Nolan and his cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema engineer one of the most intense opening shots Ive ever witnessed. A team of soldiers walk cautiously along a street. They are surrounded by leaflets which are essentially warnings sent from German planes to die or surrender. Soon, all die except the survivor, Tommy (Fionn Whitehead). Nolan further explains his genius by filming enormous, sweeping individual shots including the plummet of planes and multiple petrifying beach bombardments. While these shots remain with you long after the credits roll, Nolan also manages to achieve what he set out to offer virtual reality without the goggles. Besides Nolan's 1998 feature debut Following, Dunkirk - with the running time of 106 minutes is the shortest film. Thats because Nolan approaches the story not like a historical episode for which he needs to adhere to the conventions of a war movie. But as a work of art that isnt just visually engaging, but also leaves an impact with its sounds. We all understand that what had actually transpired at Dunkirk was pretty complex. To ensure his viewers get a clear understanding of events, Nolan divides his film into three separate but intertwining narratives that include action on the land, the sea, and in the air. While action on land transpires over a week, action on sea take just about a day and air combats in an hour. Even though all this happens in a completely different time frame, Dunkirk makes the experience more enriching, and keeps the viewers on the edge of the seat. In addition to using less dialogue, Nolan doesnt spend time on the backstory, but instantly makes us feel what the young soldiers experience as they deal with the thought of impending death and unending terror. It is interesting to see how Nolan is spectacular in making linear leaps in the film so that the viewers understand the same event in multiple ways. The films strength lies in the central performance by Fionn Whitehead as an Army private who gets associated with Aneurin Barnards soldier and Harry Styles and tries hard to get off the beach. Their only aim in life is survival, and its tough not to be able to connect with them. Mark Rylance as the civilian whos traveling to Dunkirk to save as many soldiers as he can is impressive too. Honestly speaking, none of the characters in the film are crucial as individuals because what happens at every moment is far important than how Dunkirk happened. In a nutshell, Dunkirk isnt a war film that is made with the objective to flatter viewers with its epicness. But Nolan has indeed been successful in making a different war movie that elicits not just fears, but thoughts as well. Rating: 4/5 Youtube:Prakash Jha Productions Alankrita SrivastavaKonkona Sen Sharma, Ratna Pathak Shah, Aahana Kumra, Plabita BorthakurThrough the window of Rosie, a fictional character, Alankrita Srivastava brings to celluloid the unspoken, unattended and unwavering Lipistick waale sapne of womankind. The film may not necessarily start a revolution, but it can, and probably will puncture the bubble of patriarchy in ways more than one.Shrivastava beautifully knits a rebellious world of women amid the stereotypical mankind in the city of Bhopal and introduces us to four women, each leading a battle starkly different from the other, but woven tautly, with a unifying undertone of sexual reveries. All that Rosie sees through her window becomes archetypal of all that the burkha-clad women realise through the course of their journey in the film.Burkha, however, isnt just a clothed veil here, but also a wholesome representative of the boundaries set by family, society and patriarchy, for a woman to be ideal. All four protagonists Usha ji, Shireen, Rihanna and Leela, in a way, are living a life of duality both in personalities and in dreams. One that conforms to the norms of the society and the other that pleasures them, lets them explore and live freely in a world margined for women.Usha ji (Ratna Shah Pathak), popularly referred to as bua ji, is that aunt of a small Bhopal mohalla, who everybody respects and listens to. Until of course, the pensive men and women discover that she, an old lady of 55, bears sexual desires and fantasies. Expected to have devoted herself to celibacy and satsang and swamis, it comes as a shocker for many that she still reads erotic novels for pleasure disguised under the covers of religious books and has fallen for a much-younger swimming instructor.Shireen (Konkona Sen Sharma) is that wife, married to a compulsive dominant husband, who is only expected to serve the purpose of a baby-making machine and treated like an object, a man would hump to, as and when and how he desires. But unlike how Shireens husband sees her, she nurses a hidden career - a sales woman and aspires to be a sales trainer.Rihanna (Plabita Borthakur) is that burkha-clad girl, who steps out veiled but dreams of, and soon changes to, ripped denims and stolen boots. For her parents, shes that responsible girl who works at their boutique after college hours sewing and altering burkhas for others, but for herself, she finds solace besides a Miley Cyrus poster or in Lep Zeppelins songs.Leela (Aahanaa Kumra) is that woman working in a beauty parlour, who while ripping off a waxing strip, casually bestows the client on the bed, with life-altering perspective. She considers Bhopal and its ideologies too limiting for her and harbors a plan of running away with her boyfriend.Millennial, engaged, married and old - the four steal, cheat, hide and lie to foster an identity for themselves. Even in different phases the women seem to be united in their common battle. While Ratna and Konkona deliver a nuanced performance, its the characters of Plabita and Aahanaa, whore instantly relatable. The ensemble cast, including Vikrant Massey and Shashank Arora, pull off their bits well.The juxtaposition of dialogues and actions is so well-tuned that even if nothing significant is happening on-screen, theres a subtle hint of whats coming up next. Like the scratching noise of a toy car on dinner table reminding one of Shireen's forced sex life, or Usha ji mellowing down her sultry phone calls with the sound of a running tap.The strength of this film, however, lies in Shrivastavas handling of the subject. She doesnt provide us with answers, or with superficial solutions, but just offers us a narrative, bold enough to arouse a womans hidden desires and valiant enough to question the patriarch mindset. In fact, the last scene takes place during the festival of Diwali wherein the lives of them four are falling apart. But does that take away their spark?Absolutely not. Even if you havent lived a life of restrictions, the film will feel relatable on several levels.When youre few minutes into the film, youd understand why it irked the Pahlaj Nihalani-led CBFC in the first place. The film is a fictional womans perspective on sexual-exploration and hidden desires of women, who often resort to non-stereotypical ways, is helmed by a woman director and features four non-conformant women as leads of course, it had to be termed lady oriented.Lipstick Under My Burkha is a rare Bollywood film, that without being preachy in its tone, serves the potential of wounding the patriarch in you. And rightly so. Chennai: Amid rumours that actor R. Madhavan might reunite with Mani Ratnam for the fourth time, a source close to the filmmaker says he hasn't finalised the cast for his next yet-untitled Tamil project. "Mani sir is in talks with a few actors and this includes Madhavan. But he hasn't signed anyone yet and the process will take a few more weeks," said a source. Ratnam and Madhavan had previously worked in Tamil films Alaipayuthey, Kannathil Muthamittal and Aayutha Ezhuthu. The source confirmed Ratnam is not making a romantic film. "He is exploring a different genre and it won't be another romantic flick this time. Also, the film might feature two male protagonists," the source said. Cinematographer Santosh Sivan has joined forces for the sixth time with Ratnam on this project, slated to roll from September. What started as a curiosity over an article about a band in Tihar Jail led director Habib Faisal to the story of his latest film, Qaidi Band, about seven undertrials seeking redemption through music.Faisal, best known for his films such as Do Dooni Chaar and Ishaqzaade, said he was unsure about the direction of the story until he came across the sad state of undertrials in India."So much has been sacrificed to achieve our freedom. But it's ironic that the freedom of the citizens is taken for granted because of the complex judicial system. People have literally fallen into a black hole because we don't have enough judges and courts," Faisal said in aninterview.Citing the example of Assam's Machal Lalung, who was released after spending 54 years in jail as an undertrial, Faisal said during his research, he came to know that 70 per cent of the inmates in India are undertrials waiting for a verdict."What primarily drove me to write this story was how we take our freedom for granted and in the trailer, there is a dialogue where the character says, 'What has happened to us can happen to you as well. Keep your freedom safe.'"Faisal said he later saw a documentary on the band The Flying Souls, where they are seen performing a song called Freedom for jail inmates."And then I also came to know that they organise a Tihar Idol, where they bring together the inmates from male and female wards together. It made me realise that there was enough potential for a story. Our jails are the microcosm of the society outside."The movie, whose trailer came out yesterday, will release on August 25.The Yash Raj Films project will launch two newcomers -- Aadar Jain and Anya Singh.It is the second time that Faisal is working with newcomers after Ishaqzaade in 2012, which launched Arjun Kapoor opposite a relatively new Parineeti Chopra.The director said not just Jain, who is the grandson of Raj Kapoor, and YRF find Anya, other five actors are also new."The story was such that it needed people who will create a world which does not even have a hint of the film industry or make-believe. To best reflect the concerns of the story, it was important to get the drama and the colour of that world right."Both Adi (Aditya Chopra) and I felt it should have newcomers and they had to be cast carefully. It was a rigorous process. We shortlisted many people and put them through workshops to finally arrive on these seven, who are not only good actors but also have strong individual personalities," he said.Faisal, whose first film had thespians like Rishi and Neetu Kapoor, said the process of working with actors whether new or experienced was not much different."If actors are excited about the story and surrender themselves to the vision of the story and the director, then it does not matter whether they are new or established." Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumars party Janata Dal (United) came out with conflicting statements on Thursday over the demand of Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadavs resignation for his alleged involvement in a land graft case. Soon after the closed door meeting between Kumar and Tejashwi which signalled the ruling mahagathbandhan may survive, JD (U) leaders said that the charges of corruption against the RJD leader were not discussed and the party was still waiting for his explanation. On the other hand JD (U) general secretary KC Tyagi, contrary to his party colleagues, said the alliance with RJD was unbreakable. The charge is Tejashwi allegedly got a piece of high-value land in Patna in lieu of licences to run two IRCTC hotels to a private company when his father and RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav was Union railway minister. The CBI has filed an FIR against him in the case. JD (U) spokesman Sanjay Singh said, It has left stains on the face of our government. Who will erase it? Obviously, the onus is on the RJD to come clean. People who voted for us are owed an answer from them. JD (U) Ajay Alok and Rajeev Ranjan also lashed out the RJD for trying to ignore the issue and projecting that Tuesdays meeting between Nitish and Tejashwi resolved it. Meanwhile, Tejashwi, who is in New Delhi, said that there was no threat to mahagathbandhan. He was echoed by Tyagi, contrary to his party colleagues. He also hinted that Kumar never demanded Tejashwis resignation and had said that those facing corruption charges must go in peoples court with the truth. Alliance partner Congress also sought to dispel any friction within the mahagathbandhan. Congress spokesman Dileep Chaudhary expressed confidence that all was now well within the alliance but accused that some JD (U) leaders of trying to blow the issue out of proportion. New Delhi: At a time when the Opposition is accusing the NDA of playing identity politics in presidential polls, BJP general secretary Ram Madhav tells CNN-News18s Shreya Dhoundial that its flawed discourse to identify a person with certain caste and community only. He reminds of the embarrassment India faced abroad in case of identity politics around former President KR Narayanan. Edited excerpts: Some people are accusing the BJP has reduced the highest office of the country to identity politics? What do these people mean with identity politics? As far as presidential nominee from our side is concerned, after a lot of due diligence we decided to field Mr Ram Nath Kovind. He is a very eminent politician and social activist. We found him to be the most suitable candidate for presidential election. But the Opposition says the only thing that the BJP saw in Mr Kovinds CV was his caste. A Dalit from Uttar Pradesh in Rashtrapati Bhavan is being seen as a part of the larger plan to consolidate Hindu votes under one umbrella. This kind of discourse in itself is flawed. Now if somebody gets up and says that you have chosen a person for vice presidential post because he has Gandhi surname, how do you answer it? When we chose a candidate, we see a lot of aspects. To identify a person with certain caste and community in itself is a flawed discourse. We have paid heavy price by indulging in this kind of identity politics earlier also in the case of KR Narayanan. Our overemphasis on the caste aspect of the candidate had led to embarrassing situations for us abroad. At least now the Opposition parties should desist from bringing up the caste issue again and again. You have recently argued that to reduce Kovinds selection to linear caste identity is unjust and ill-informed. What do you mean by that? Coming from a particular background is always an important aspect as it shows innate strength of our democracy in which anybody, purely on the basis of his or her merit and hard work, can rise to occupy the highest position. To that extent, the discourse is good. But to attribute political motives to the decision and to say that its been done to influence a certain community is not correct. Kovind has been an active party cadre for the past 25 years. We wanted a good party member who understands the party thinking and understands the country as we see it. Thats why we chose him. And not just because of his caste alone. But isnt it a fact that when Kovinds name was announced, very few outside the BJP knew who he was? It is a sad commentary on our own intellectual class or political class if they had to google about him. He was a two-time Rajya Sabha member. He has been a party leader all through. He was our Schedule Caste Morcha chairman. He was our spokesperson. He has been a Governor for the past one and a half years. He is quite well known as a leader inside our party. To project him as a totally unknown entity is a great disservice to the person and the work he has done all these years. Lets talk about your close friend Venkaiah Naidu who has been picked for the post of vice president by the NDA. We all are very happy with the partys decision. I have known him from my childhood. He is a very senior leader. We both come from the same state. He, like many in the present government, comes from a very humble background a farmers family. He rose through the ranks, working hard with perseverance. He was a student leader. Then he was in the Jan Sangh. He has built the BJP in Andhra Pradesh through sheer commitment. I think his choice for VP will make cadres very happy. New Delhi: When historian Ramchandra Guha said last week that Nitish Kumar is a genuine leader without a party, a wide range of media debate followed on. I would read his comment as Nitish Kumar is a national leader coming from a regional party. We, in JDU, are fully aware of the fact that our party has presence only in Bihar, Eastern UP and Jharkhand. But our leader has a vision for the nation and society, driven by constitutional morality, and has proven track record in governance and politics. When one talks of Nitish Kumar as an alternative national leader, one has to understand his personality and background. A child of Jayaprakash Narayan movement, Nitish entered politics for a cause. Thats also the reason why he enjoys a clean image, even among his opponents, after four decades of political career and has kept his family away from public life. What can be the bigger proof of someone being a great administrator than turnaround of a state like Bihar, which was once considered Bimaru? Nitish, through his hard work and perseverance, not only uplifted Bihar economically, but also focused on social justice to ensure that no caste or community was left behind. Under his government 95,000 criminals, regardless of their party affiliation, were convicted in courts, helping the state get rid of organised crime. Gender justice is a natural component of Nitishs commitment for social justice. Despite numerous campaigns, Lok Sabha has just about 10% women members, while Nitish ensured 50% reservation for women in Panchayati Raj institutions and 35% reservation in government jobs. This grass root empowerment of women in a feudal state like Bihar is strengthened by schemes like distribution of free cycles and dress to school girls. In 2015 Bihar Assembly election, Nitish realised that something far bigger than personal or party performance was at stake. This could be seen from the way he has led Mahagathbandhan, before polls and after coming to power. Everyone in Bihar knows that Nitishs goodwill was the prime reason why Mahagathbandhan won. But despite being in such a strong position, Nitish exhibited statesmanship by giving more seats to alliance partners, particularly Congress, than most observers deemed reasonable. For those who know him, it was not surprising at all he always walks extra mile to be fair. Like always, he fought Bihar polls on issues of principles and governance even when the opponents tried to drag down the debate. At no point did he utter a single word which could be seen discomforting, leave alone controversial. Few months into power, when allegations against some of his alliance partners came to the fore, JDU categorically stated that each question should be answered transparently. Thats because Nitish believes in probity and clean politics. This was clearly seen during his last tenure when he introduced a law to seize property of corrupt officials, turning it into public service institutions. Many states have tried to follow it since then. Some people may ask why Nitish is continuing to run government with an alliance partner who is facing allegations of corruption. Nitish has stated from day one that each allegation must be explained, but he also has to show patience and dignity during investigation. It may sound complex to some but Nitish, a follower of Buddhas Madhyam Marg, has the unique ability to practice coalition dharma while having zero tolerance for corruption. I would also like to clearly mention here that if someone from JDU was facing charges of graft, Nitish would have taken a strict decision on day one. We have seen many such instances when people perceived to be powerful in political or bureaucratic circles were made to resign in light of corruption charges. But coalition has its own principles. During his alliance government with BJP also, Nitish followed the same norm he acted first against his own people and then patiently and persistently ensured that the coalition partner also followed probity in public life. A leader with such maturity and vision can lead a coalition at the national level. This is important because if an alternate has to emerge to the ruling party, it has to be through a partnership of secular and progressive forces. Those who doubt Nitishs credentials in industrial development, compared with states like Tamil Nadu or Gujarat, should remember that Bihar is a landlocked state with high population and small landholdings. Bihar was discriminated against as some sort of internal colony of India and a much deserved special status was denied. Remember, when Jharkhand was separated, Bihar lost its only strength natural resources. Despite these limitations, Bihars industrial growth under Nitish has been in double digits. In 2013, an expert report on industrial development dedicated an entire chapter to Bihars development model. Nitish practices what Amartya Sen describes as human-centric development. He believes development and social justice cant be separated. Its only this kind of development that can bring peace and harmony. I would urge social scientists across world to study how Naxalism and caste wars have nearly disappeared from Bihar ever since Nitish has governed the state. And none of this was done by using brutal police power, but through effective developmental schemes. Once again, I ask, if a leader can achieve so much under severe limitations, imagine wonders that he can do if given an opportunity to take forward the economy of India. Trust is another big factor. Nitish as leader doesnt believe in manipulating people through emotive speeches. Even in election rallies he speaks in a measured tone and talks about issues in depth. This may not make for sensational headlines but helps in building confidence among people. Today, when the country faces serious challenge due to divisive forces, Opposition needs to come together. From violence in the name of cow to agrarian crisis, from caste violence to joblessness, the country needs a credible leader. Congress, being the largest party, should take a lead on this front. (Author is Rajya Sabha MP and former editor of Hindi daily Prabhat Khabar) New Delhi: While Rahul Gandhi was attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a farmers rally in Banswara, Rajasthan on Wednesday, a group of young boys from Amethi came to Parliament House, in hope of meeting their MP whom they refer to as bhaiyya. No one had told them that Rahul was in Rajasthan and they had to return disappointed. Ever since UP Assembly polls came to an end, Rahul Gandhi has not visited his constituency. He was last seen in Amethi during the UP election. His sister Priyanka, too, has not visited the constituency. One of the young men who had come to meet bhaiyya said his absence was a big cause of worry. Smriti Irani is a big minister now. She will make things difficult for Rahul bhaiyya, he said. Indeed, Iranis rise should be a cause of worry for the grand old party. Irani has been making regular rounds of Amethi almost every month. She was there on the first anniversary of her fight from there. Earlier people would go to Munshiganj guest house even when Rahul Gandhi was not in Amethi. Now they go to Smriti Iranis office in Amethi. The people know that if they just drop their message at her office, their work will be done, the youth told News18. A close aide of Irani told News18 that the minister was just doing her job. Rahul hasnt been there in over a year. Irani has not become a minister to oust him. Shes working, while hes not, the aide said, on condition of anonymity. Its this discontent which could make things difficult for Rahul Gandhi. The young delegation which has come to Delhi hope to meet Sonia Gandhi and request her to come to Amethi and also ask her son to come more often. Irani targeting a win in Amethi is a known fact. This along with the fact that Congress is neither in power at the state or the central level can make things worse for the Congress scion to get work done in his familys bastion. Rahul Gandhis charisma and legacy is powerful but people want more, Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh told News18. Interestingly, no new projects have taken off in the region and the existing ones are on precarious grounds. Other than Iranis stupendous rise, the disillusionment in the party workers in Amethi is another a major hurdle for Gandhi. Many in the party are aware that sticking to the party would not get them any dividends, but continue to do so because of ideological reasons. Take Ameeta Singh for instance. Singh, whose marital status with Sanjay Singh has raked up enough controversy, contested as MP but lost to her husbands first wife Garima Singh. Ameeta, now, feels ignored by the party. The feeling of ignorance is rampant among the young workers who have not seen Rahul Gandhi in four months. He doesnt even know the names of all workers. Hes a nice person but we would like him to be more involved, said one of the party members. So, is Amethi no more a Gandhi bastion? While its still early to conclude, its sfe to say the Gandhis are at a disadvantage. People of Amethi are under no compulsion or obligation to vote for Gandhis. One must not forget when Indira Gandhi lost in 1977, said political expert Rasheed Kidwai. Rahuls grandmother had lost to Raj Narain, but the latter was also quick to disown the people who voted him to power. Legend has it that Narain, after the win, had thanked the voters and in his address told them to not count on him for getting work done. Dont come to Delhi expecting me to work for you. If you can make Indira lose after she worked so hard for you, I know you can never be loyal to me, he had said. Narains words hit Amethi hard and since then it has always been about Gandhis. Until now. If theres anything that Rahul Gandhi must look to protect, his familys legacy should definitely be on priority. Ahmedabad: Cross voting by 11 Congress MLAs in Gujarat in Presidential elections has widened rift in the Gujarat Congress with party high command cautioning its workers not to attend a meeting called by its senior-most leader Shankersinh Vaghela on his 77th birthday on Friday. Congress sources told CNN-News18 that party has held Shankersinh solely responsible for cross-voting in the Gujarat Assembly. Shankersinh's revolt may have long term implications in the poll bound state, even imperilling the Rajya Sabha seat held by Ahmed Patel, Congress President Sonia Gandhi's closest aide. Elections for the four seats to Upper House from Gujarat are slated next months. BJP can easily win three, while the fourth has for long been held by Patel for many terms now. Cross voting by these eleven MLAs seen to be close to Shankersinh can further embarrass and weaken the Congress which has been out of power in Gujarat for almost three decades now. The former Gujarat CM who rebelled against the BJP to join Congress has been at loggerheads with the party for almost a year now. He's just has stopping short of announcing any drastic step for a couple of months. So has this cross voting by Shankersinh supporters precipitated the crisis brewing in the Gujarat Congress? We will come to know of it on Friday when the former Union Textiles Minister meets his supporters. These are some of the options before the septuagenarian leader: There is a strong possibility that he may quit the Congress. As he is turning 77, Shankersinh would he strike a bargain to secure his son and MLA Mahendrasinh Vaghela's political future. The other option for Shankersinh is to relinquish the post of Leader of Opposition. Shankersinh has invited only opposition MLAs - those from the Congress, NCP and JD(U). Congress leaders holding only organisational positions are not on the guest list. . Some political observers infer from this that Shankersinh may not quit the party but will just give up the post of the Leader of Opposition. By doing so, he continues to hold bargaining chips within the Congress. Shankersinh is an extremely seasoned politician who once broke away from the BJP in 1996 to form his own outfit. He eventually merged his party with the Congress a couple of years later. Some of his supporters may want him to take the float a new party once again, the question however is- will Bapu take the plunge at this age? In an apparent move to compete with Microsoft-owned LinkedIn, Google has launched 'Hire', a recruiting app for small- and medium-sized businesses that also integrates seamlessly with G Suite."Hire makes it easy for you to identify talent, build strong candidate relationships and efficiently manage the interview process end-to-end," Berit Johnson, Senior Product Manager at Google Cloud, wrote in a blog on Tuesday.'Hire' integrates seamlessly with G Suite apps like Gmail and Google Calendar that are being used by over three million businesses to drive recruiting efforts. "With the introduction of 'Hire', customers now have a hiring app alongside G Suite's familiar, easy-to-use tools that can help them run an efficient recruiting process," Johnson added. With 'Hire', businesses can communicate with candidates in Gmail or 'Hire' and emails will be synced automatically in both.Interviews can be scheduled in 'Hire' with visibility into an interviewer's schedule from Calendar and it can also enable businesses to track candidate in 'Hire'. "Hire and G Suite is made to work well together so recruiting team members can focus on their top priorities instead of wasting time copy-pasting across tools," Johnson said. In May, Google unveiled "Google for Jobs" initiative focused on helping both job seekers and employers, across company's products and through deep collaboration with the job matching industry. In kidnapping cases, the gang usually calls the family of the kidnapped person to demand for ransom. However, the recent kidnapping case of a Delhi-based doctor took a surprising turn when the kidnappers reportedly demanded Rs 5 crore ransom from Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal.According to a report by The Indian Express, an Ola driver teamed up with three ex-Ola friends to kidnap a doctor from Delhis Preet Vihar. The driver was on his maiden Ola trip. They then made a call to Ola customer care from the doctors mobile phone and demanded the call to be transferred to the CEO. They said they had kidnapped a man and wanted Rs 5 crore for his release, the report said.The doctor went missing on July 6 and was rescued on July 19 from Meerut. It took a force of 200 policemen in 25 teams and two rescue operations to save the doctor after a dramatic gun fight with the kidnappers. While the doctor is now safe, he is in a weak condition resulting from the physical assault and shock. The entire service team of Oppo Mobile in Punjab has reportedly resigned after employees claimed that the Chinese company disrespected India and said, Indians are beggars. According to the employees, the derogatory statement was made after a salary hike was demanded. The resignation letter, signed by Oppo Service Team Punjab, was also forwarded to major dealers and distributors of the region. While the company is yet to comment on the incident or confirm the same, employees at the facility has taken the incident seriously.As per ground sales team, with tough competition from the likes of Xiaomi and others, Oppo smartphones, otherwise expensive, are facing a tough time in the country as the handsets are not value for money.We are OPPO Service Team Punjab & here we are resigning whole service team because our HODs is making pressure to our Service Manager Mr. Arun Sharma to resign, & by wrong pressure.Healways disrespect our India Country & our culture. As per him we Indian only work for Money, & we are not having any dignity & self respect.He always makes us unnecessary penalty & wrong commitment.He make us to work till late night & if we miss any report he create penalty.When some employee asks for salary increment, he says Indian are beggars always asking for money.There are a lot of other reasons too, but this kind of hitlership is not accepted any stage of private sector.So kindly accept our resignation."Back in March, a Chinese employee at the Noida Sector 63 facility of Oppo India had reportedly tore the Indian national flag and dumped it in a dustbin which had led to huge protests by other employees, residents of the area along with activists from the Vishva Hindu Parishad. Over 200 police personnel were deployed to bring the situation under control. A case was also filed by the police against the Chinese employee.The Chinese employee was later fired by Oppo India. Islamabad: The children of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif could face up to seven years in jail if it was proved they had submitted fake documents to the Panama panel probing the money laundering allegations against the family, Pakistans Supreme Court warned on Thursday. The apex court heard the Panamagate scandal case for the fourth consecutive day since the hearing began on Monday, following submission of a report by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) on July 10, which was tasked by the court to probe allegation of corruption against Sharif and his family. "The punishment for submitting forged documents in the court is seven years in jail," warned the three-member panel of judges. The JIT among other things has observed that some of the documents submitted by the children of Sharif, 67, were tampered with. A trust deed provided by the prime minister's daughter Maryam Nawaz and executed in 2006 was written in Calibri font which was not commercially available till 2007. It was also notarised from an office in London on Saturday which is officially an off day, raising concern about the authenticity of the document. Similarly, Government of Dubai has revealed that the documents of Gulf Steel Mills provided by the prime minister's son Hussian Nawaz were forged as there was no record of those documents. Justice Ejaz Afzal is heading the probe panel comprising Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Justice Ijazul Ahsan. They also warned Salman Akram Raja, the lawyer of Sharif's children, against a media trial in the case after some of the documents presented by him were leaked to media and were discussed in talk shows yesterday. "You have been conducting a trial in the media and the documents (submitted to the court) have already been discussed in the media," said Justice Saeed. "There is a media dais outside, you should give your arguments there as well," he told Raja, who assured the court that he had not released any documents to media. Meanwhile, Raja presented his arguments in details. The arguments were still going on when the court adjourned the proceedings till Friday. The judges again asked the Sharif family to provide the money trail of its various businesses in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UK. "The main question is where the money for these businesses came from, asked the panel. Later, Fawad Chaudhry, member of a legal team representing Imran Khan of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), told media outside the court after the hearing that the hearing might be completed by Friday. "For us the case is over. Sharif would have to go home and then jail for corruption. His children would also land in jail for forgery," he said. Minister of State for Information Marriyam Aurangzeb said that the prime minister has been vindicated as there is no proof of any corruption against him. "The prime minister was accused of money laundering and corruption but none of the allegations have been proved," she said. The scandal surfaced when the Panama Papers leaks last year revealed that Sharif's sons - Hassan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz - and his daughter Maryam - owned offshore companies that managed their family's properties. The assets in question include four expensive flats in Park Lane, London. Opposition parties allege that the London flats were purchased through illegal money, a charge that Sharif and his family have rejected. However, they have been unable to satisfy the court about the source of money used to purchase these properties. A former chef and investor with the Locust Thicket historic venue in Lynchburg has sued the propertys owners, claiming back pay and saying the business is underfunded and could be forced to repay state tourism grant money. Jason Arbusto left as culinary head of the restaurant, situated inside a mansion off Old Forest Road, in June. He contended in legal papers this month he repeatedly was misled about the operations finances and is owed more than $45,000 in months of unpaid salary. Locust Thicket co-owner Paul Hughes declined to respond to the lawsuit Wednesday. Another co-owner named in the suit, Sarah Quinn, who is Hughes daughter, could not be reached for comment. Hughes said the matter is with the lawyers. Their attorney, Michael Lovell, called the matter largely a personnel dispute but also said it was inaccurate for the lawsuit, which was filed in Lynchburg Circuit Court, to suggest Locust Thicket has failed to meet its obligations under the tourism grant. Locust Thicket has received $72,000 from the Virginia Tourism Corp. based on the owners investment in the property. Lovell said its also on track to receive another $72,000 in matching funds from the Lynchburg Economic Development Authority. Lovell said Arbusto and the two business owners just dont get along, but in spite of their differences, settlement talks still are possible. Arbusto is seeking not only the claim for alleged unpaid salary but also $300,000 in compensatory damages on various legal grounds, as well as $350,000 in punitive damages for claims including emotional distress, for a total of $650,000 plus the alleged back pay and legal costs. Arbusto moved from San Francisco last July to join Locust Thicket, a late 1700s-era manor house and grounds Hughes and Quinn were restoring fully to open as an upscale restaurant and special-event venue. He also invested in a 10 percent stake in a limited-liability corporation associated with the owners, according to the suit. Locust Thicket and its restaurant soon opened last year though later than scheduled due to poor planning, the lawsuit claims but by this June had shuttered temporarily, with the owners saying on Facebook they had hired a new chef and started revamping the menu. Arbusto said in the lawsuit he was enticed by numerous misrepresentations by Hughes and Quinn to join the establishment and make an investment. Over the course of his tenure as chef, on some months he wasnt paid his salary or was underpaid, he alleged. Since leaving, he also has not been able to retrieve $42,000 worth of restaurant equipment he owns and brought with him when joining the team, he said. Arbusto said in an email Wednesday, My attorney has advised me not to comment because the matter is now in litigation, and to refer all questions to him. While most of the case centers on work-related disputes including whether Locust Thicket can enforce a purported non-compete deal with Arbusto it invokes complex issues over the use of economic development funds aimed at restoring the land and mansion and opening its doors to the public. According to the suit, the business was under-capitalized and has failed to perform to the requirements of a $72,000 Virginia Tourism Growth Fund grant issued in June 2016. Arbustos lawyer, John Falcone, contends Locust Thickets owners consequently will have to pay back that grant and also forfeit an expected $72,000 grant in matching funds from the Lynchburg Economic Development Authority. Lovell said that part of the legal complaint doesnt ring true. All of the parties involved are investors in the project, Lovell noted. He said Locust Thickets state grant was paid out based on a percentage of funds already spent on the restoration. Lovell said the venue is well on its way to meeting the goals to secure the other $72,000 half of the grant from local economic development funds. Locust Thicket has signed deals to receive the grants from both the state and local funds, but the suit claims it hasnt met several required targets, such as numbers in hiring and the purchase of a shuttle bus for visitors. Lovell said the second, local half of the grant doesnt set any targets until June 2018. They still have another year to achieve the goals, he said. Theyve met all the requirements so far to get their first payment. They havent lost access to those funds at all, he said. Locust Thicket also has hired a new chef, reworked its menu and is reopening soon, Lovell said. An email blast from Locust Thickets new chef July 11 said he was on track to opening the restaurant. Falcone said the full extent of what has transpired with the business over the last year isnt clear and wont be until the court allows evidence to be gathered. Theres a lot we dont know, which we will get through discovery, he said. Theres been no response yet from any of the defendants. A court date hasnt been set in the case. Hughes and Quinn have until early August to formally respond, based on the dates they were served papers, according to Falcone. While not ruling out the idea of settlement talks, Falcone said the next likely step is evidence discovery ahead of trial. Buckingham County contractor David Ball has joined the crowded field in the race against Del. Matt Fariss, R-Rustburg, to represent the 59th District of the Virginia House of Delegates. Hailing from the far eastern end of the sprawling district that includes Appomattox, Buckingham, a large section of Campbell and parts of Nelson and Albemarle counties, Balls campaign centers on serving the needs of rural Virginians, changing the tax code to encourage job creation and representing the needs of constituents over political parties. I felt that people needed to have a choice that isnt party related, the independent candidate said. They need somebody who will carry the banner of the voters and not the party. [Thomas] Jefferson and [James] Madison both cautioned about the negative possibilities that would come about because of political parties. Ball, 60, supports the increased use of strategic tax credits and other tax breaks to bring more light manufacturing jobs and other high-paying industries to the region. I think that tax credits can be used to help stimulate the economy, he said. Theres an argument that theres too many tax credits in Virginia, but I think if you target the tax credits at job creation, then what youre going to see is jobs going to come in. He wants to see policies that would increase access to high-speed internet in rural areas, which he said especially is a problem in Buckingham, where he has resided since 2007. There is no reason why our rural area does not have DSL service, he said. There is very limited access in some areas, but the majority of the county is unserved, so youre left with using cellphones as hot spots or getting a satellite dish, which is very expensive. Another concern of Balls is changing the medical system in Virginia to increase rural residents access to emergency medical care. Originally from Northern Virginia, Ball moved to Buckingham permanently in 2007 after owning property in the area for a few years in order to escape the rapidly growing region surrounding Washington, D.C. He has earned five associate degrees from Northern Virginia Community College across a variety of subjects including business, psychology, science, education and psychology. Ball said he has held a variety of jobs, including in residential real estate and working for the Virginia Department of Transportation in road and bridge construction decades ago. Recently after moving to the area, Ball was elected to the Peter Francisco Soil and Water Conservation District in 2007, a state entity managing money in Buckingham and Cumberland counties for agriculture-related conservation, which he held for two terms. He lost his third re-election bid in 2015. Previously, Ball unsuccessfully challenged Lynchburg-area attorney Mark Peake and Goochland County Supervisor Ken Peterson for the Republican nomination in the special election held earlier this year to represent Virginia Senate District 22 following now-Congressman Tom Garrett winning the race to represent the Fifth Congressional District. Now Ball is challenging Fariss, who has held the seat since 2012, Albemarle-based Democrat Tracy Carver and Green Party candidate Marcus Sutphin. Although Fariss had to battle it out with Democrat Connie Brennan and Independent Linda Wall in 2011 to first win the seat, he has gone uncontested in the past two election cycles. More than half of the 59th District has voted for a GOP candidate in every election since the boundaries were redrawn in the once-every-10 years redistricting process in 2011, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. Despite several challengers, Fariss said he welcomes the opposition. I am very proud of the job I have done representing the hard working people that elected me in the 59th District, he said in a statement. I am not surprised that I have acquired opposition in today's political climate. I look forward to running a campaign that focuses on the issues that affect my constituents in the 59th District. Three hundred and twenty-five years after the Salem witch trials, a few Lynchburg women say they have uncovered ancestral ties to those who suffered. Now Donna StClair and Catherine Joseph say they plan to join the Associated Daughters of Early American Witches, a national society whose purpose is to locate the female descendants of all accused witches in the American colonies and preserve the names of those accused, according to its website. The duo, along with another local woman, plan to visit the ancestral site in Salem, Massachusetts together this fall, StClair and Joseph said. After her husbands death in February, StClair, 65, discovered her ninth great-grandmother, Mary Towne Easty, was the last to be hanged during the trials. His family was really interested in genealogy and after he got sick, I decided to start pursuing my own, she said. StClair uncovered her relation to a trio of accused witches: Sarah Towne Cloyse, Rebecca Town Nurse and Mary Towne Easty, also sometimes spelled Estey. The latter two appear in The Crucible, a 1953 play by Arthur Miller about the Salem witch trials, which coincidentally StClair taught for eight years as a Nelson County High School teacher. The tears I just, thats my grandmother, she said. That was probably one the weirdest moments Ive ever had in my life, and its kind of been weird ever since. StClair was browsing through a family genealogical report when she saw Easty and Nurses names. And to think, for all the times I taught [The Crucible] and all the times I mentioned the name Mary Easty and Rebecca Nurse, and they were my grandma and my aunt and I didnt even realize it, she said. At a Wednesday ceremony at Proctors Ledge in Salem, Massachusetts, the site of the hangings, community leaders honored Nurse, Sarah Good, Elizabeth Howe, Susannah Martin and Sarah Wildes, all women who were hanged on July 19, 1692, according to the Associated Press. On Tuesday, StClair said she was excited about the memorial. I wish I could be there, she said. For six weeks, StClair worked up to six hours a day researching her ancestors, she said. While she already had a family tree, she needed proof such as christening records, wills and marriage and death certificates in order to apply to the Associated Daughters of Early American Witches. The women are using sources such as Ancestry.com, genealogist organizations, and books including The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege, by Marilynne Roach in order to research their ancestors and what they went through. Joseph said they are hoping to gain a larger sense of camaraderie withthe national group. StClair has since finished her application, kept neatly in a purple binder. Joseph is still on the hunt for more proof. Joseph said shes struggling to prove the most recent generations heritage. I was adopted when I was 5,she said over the phone from a cranberry bog in Nova Scotia last week. It seems funny but the first generation for me seems to be the hardest. Still fighting to unseal her adoption records, Joseph, 63, knows her birth family personally and said she was able to discover her relation to a series of women known as The Witches of Gloucester. When I saw it, I was like I dont believe this, she said. You know, its a part of history that youve heard about but you never thought you were a part of it in any fashion. Joseph said Puritan power struggles, boredom and government preoccupation created the conditions that led to the trials. Once you were accused, you were guilty, she said. A total of 200 people were arrested, 19 people and two dogs hanged, one person was pressed to death and four people died in jail between 1692 and 1693, according to records in Salem, Joseph said. The prisons were cramped and dirty, forcing inmates to take the hunched form of Halloween witches, StClair said. There was no light or room to move, and the youngest imprisoned witch was only 5 years old, Joseph said. When you see those conditions, its almost like the hanging was the easy part, Joseph said. Obviously none of them were witches. The women take pride in finding similarities between themselves and their ancestors, StClair said. StClair and her friend Jane Snider have known each other for more than 20 years, StClair said, but the two felt an immediate connection with Joseph. We all found an instant kinship with one another, she said. And we are so like our [ancestral] grandmothers that its weird. Josephs grandmother was methodical, while StClairs took to her pen to voice her opposition. [Jane Sniders] grandma actually died in prison, she didnt die at the gallows, StClair said. But they threatened to arrest her daughter and her granddaughter if she didnt confess that she was a consort of the devil, and so, Janes grandma which is so totally, completely what Jane wouldve done said Yall want a story? Come on here and sit down. She made up the craziest yarns and of course, she achieved her goal, she spared her daughter and her granddaughter. The injustices faced and lessons learned during the Salem witch trials are applicable today, Joseph and StClair said. We need to accept people, not try to judge them because we could be wrong, Joseph said. People should be slower to judge and quicker to listen, StClair said. Picking up a book from her coffee table, she read some of her grandmothers plea aloud. I petition to your honors not for my own life, for I know I must die and my appointed time has been set but let no more innocent blood be shed, StClair read. Inspired by Eastys impassioned plea to end the accusations and executions for all those who would come after her, StClair said she now yearns to do something to protect the innocent. I kind of feel like she passed the torch to me, StClair said. In whatever little way that I can, I think I need to speak up for anybody else who might be put in the gallows. It happens a lot. We hang people in all kinds of ways, not always by noose. Move forward on ACA tweaking President Trumps response to the failure of the Republican Senate health care replacement bill is reported to be well let Obamacare fail. The general idea is that things will get so desperate that any Republican bill would be welcomed with open arms. Of course, the administration has the ability to make the Affordable Care Act fail by withholding premium subsidies or not enforcing the mandate, allowing the insurance pool to get older and sicker. Not included in this thought process is the fact that 18 million would lose their insurance the first year with a repeal, and 32 million eventually. Rapidly increasing the number of uninsureds is a pure formula for disaster for health provider systems like Centra, where all patients are accepted regardless of insurance. Either the House or the Senate bills would have done this, in addition to the just repeal proposal. Fortunately, it appears that enough Republicans are unwilling to support the repeal either, one Republican senator commenting that I wasnt elected to hurt people. Coming back to the presidents reaction, this fits the concept of winning and losing that was highlighted throughout his campaign. In Trumps case, it is the personal wins and losses that count, much more than those of the party. In our history, we have been fortunate to have many presidents willing to take personal hits for the good of the country. I look forward to the day when we will once again have a leader who will put our country ahead of his ego needs, whether that person be a Democrat, Republican or other. There are things that could be done to salvage our health care system, but it wont happen if everyone stays in their camps counting wins and losses. WALKER SYDNOR Chairman, Board of Directors Centra Health Goodlattes a Trump enabler American political and cultural philosophies have always embodied a tension between the rugged individual personified by the movie version of John Wayne versus the more communitarian vision of social justice represented by Dorothy Day. Im a Democrat because I lean more toward Dorothy Day than John Wayne. I believe we all do better when we all do better, and I believe government has a role to play in leveling the playing field. I dont believe in the inherent benevolence of capitalism because I dont believe in the perfectibility of humanity. There are reasons we have laws to restrain harmful behavior of individuals. If, as Mitt Romney famously reminded us, corporations are people, then the same principle applies to them as well. But reasonable people can have political differences. I get that and have no problem with it. What I have a great deal of difficulty with is Rep. Bob Goodlattes apparent indifference to rampant malfeasance by members of the Trump campaign and administration, indifference that seems to be purely a political calculation. History will not be kind to Trumps enablers. Does Goodlatte really want to be memorialized as the head of a Judiciary Committee that refused to investigate an administration with smoke rising from so many shady doings and flames visible in ever more of them? I hope and pray not. NEAL SUMERLIN Lynchburg The womens revenge Thanks to The News & Advance for the July 19 article, Heath law repeal plan collapses. A single, one-sentence paragraph in the center column directly below the front-page headline says it all: All [three GOP women senators] had been shut out of McConnells initial all-male working group on health care. Each participating male senator should be chased out of town by the first person, male or female, who can find a tobacco stick! DON MANNING Forest The EPA matters I care about protecting clean air and water and the environment, and I am concerned about the lack of media attention to President Trumps proposed cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency. DANA WILSON Appomattox Instead of waiting for a company to move to the region, construct a building and create jobs, Campbell Countys Industrial Development Authority is taking the matter into its own hands by building a space in the hopes of attracting a business. Earlier this month, the Campbell County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to transfer ownership of a five- to seven-acre parcel of land in the county-owned Seneca Commerce Park to the authority. It is the most recent step toward the construction of a 10,000-square-foot building Economic Development Director Mike Davidson hopes will help land jobs for the countys citizens. While the county currently maintains three industrial parks with cleared and subdivided lots and two partially designed, but not built, buildings that can be modified for companies needs, Davidson said he has observed companies are looking for faster start-up times and prefer to move into existing buildings instead of building their own. For the past three years, we have seen empirical data that the [companies] out there are looking for buildings, he said. Theres a vast amount of buildings all over the East Coast because factories have shut down. Most of those properties are dated, and theyre not the most advantageous, but its still fast to come in and get up and running with that type of building. Each of Campbell Countys three industrial parks have been partially developed, the level of which depends on funding. Several lots have been cleared in each park, and both Seneca Commerce Park, located off U.S. 29 near Yellow Branch, and Dearing Ford Business & Manufacturing Center, located near Altavista, have water, sewer and broadband connections. The Brookneal/Campbell County Industrial Park, located north of Brookneal on U.S. 501, has water and broadband but no sewer connection. Although land has been cleared at these sites, many companies also prefer localities to already have completed environmental assessments, grading and permitting to ensure a rapid start-up. Several years ago, Campbell County discussed using capital improvement funds for industrial parks to grade several sites, but the project was deemed too expensive. Davidson hopes by providing the newly built space, he will be able to attract a company to move to the county within a year of construction. According to Davidson, in the two years the county has worked with a Richmond-based consulting firm to find interested companies, more than a third have been interested in a building of that size and specification. In order to finance the project, the authority received a grant from the Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission that will pay for about half of the $1.4 million structure. Under the grant agreement, Campbell County must construct the type of building that was stated in the application. If the project does not get completed as originally advertised, the Tobacco Commission must be repaid. The other half will be funded by a commercial bank loan, which the authority only could obtain if it owns the land. Last month, Integrated Technology Group, a commercial technology solutions firm, announced it would move to Amherst County into a building owned by the countys Economic Development Authority after it was vacated by CMC Rebar. The building originally was constructed by the EDA for CMC Rebars use in 2007. The EDA also constructed a shell building to attract business in 2004, and it was purchased by Old Dominion Footwear, which still is doing business there. Bedford County completed a similar project in 1999 and built a shell building to serve as a temporary court house, which was transitioned in space for businesses. The building now is home to Central Virginia Community Colleges Bedford Satellite Campus and East Coast Fabricators, a company specializing in making parts out of plastics. According to the states economic development agency Virginia Economic Development Partnership, between 65 percent and 70 percent of the companies the agency works with to find manufacturing locations look for an existing building. I definitely would confirm that a publicly owned shell building can be a really effective marketing tool to attract industries that might lack available existing real estate, VEDP spokesperson Suzanne Clark said. Currently there only are six localities that have publicly owned shell buildings, like the one Campbell County is preparing to build, on the market statewide, Clark said. They are located in Mecklenburg, Botetourt, Russell, Cumberland and Lee counties as well as the city of Martinsville. When searching for sites, companies work with government agencies like VEDP as well as private site selectors who travel the world to scout locations for businesses seeking to open or expand. If a tenant is found, the building will be sold at fair market value, and the authority plans to use the profits to try to build another building to bring in another company, Davidson told the board of supervisors July 6. Prior to the vote to transfer the property, Timberlake Supervisor Mike Rousseau inquired about the possibility the building would not be sold and questioned the governments role in creating jobs. He pointed to the fact only two parcels in Seneca Commerce Park have been sold to Shentel, a telecommunications company, despite the money sunk into preparing the land to make it more attractive for businesses. The park is a total of 88 acres, with approximately half of it undeveloped. Now were going to start building buildings for businesses with no guarantee that were going to find tenants for them or sell them, Rousseau said. What we need to understand is if we go down this road, and we dont have a better track record than what we have so far, there is a very real possibility that were going to be going to the taxpayers and having to explain why theyll be picking up the mortgage payments on this. In response, Davidson pointed out the authoritys history of purchasing both the former Thomasville furniture factory in Brookneal and the former Hirschfeld Steel building near the Lynchburg Regional Airport to renovate for Banker Steels use. In 2013 the authority used bank loans to build a 40,000-square-foot building for a Banker Steel expansion. Weve been successful with the other projects weve done, and we are confident that we can put a tenant in there, Davidson said, citing the three previously completed projects where the authority had purchased the two former factories and built a new building for Banker Steel. Is that a 100 percent guarantee? There are no 100 percent guarantees in life. I cannot sit here and say that we will find a tenant, but I can say it is highly unlikely that theyre not going to find one. He went on to tell the board the authority has the funds to pay for the building for two years, but even if the building is not sold in two years, the Industrial Development Authority, as a legal body, is able to incur debt so it would not fall on the taxpayers. After hearing from Davidson that the authority does not operate with taxpayer money but instead uses money from selling and leasing industrial properties in the county along with bank loans, Rousseau questioned how the authority got started in the first place without a jumpstart from taxpayer money. All I can remember is the 19 years Ive been here, Davidson said. The only funds the county has given the IDA are the funds for the board stipends. They have not used taxpayer money for any of their projects. Rousseau challenged him, saying taxpayer money had to be involved with the authority at some point. Well, respectfully, Mr. Davidson, this is a government organization, he said. It had to start with money from somewhere. They didnt find it at the end of a rainbow. Sunburst Supervisor Bob Good weighed in and said he felt the investment was worth it to attract business, and it came with less risk due to the grant received by the county. Concord Supervisor Eddie Gunter agreed and said it was a good suggestion to try and grow the countys economy. Altavista Supervisor Stanley Goldsmith said although this project is not a guarantee, economic development is a competitive process, and the county must take risks to grow its tax base. Were competing with every town, every county, every city in this entire country to bring a business in to this place, he said. If were not willing to take a little chance every now and then, were going to be behind. Despite his earlier misgivings about the project, Rousseau ended up voting for the proposal and gave his good wishes. I have been and remain highly skeptical in governments involvement in these types of ventures, but I am in the minority here, and I would like to see the thing succeed as much as anybody else, so Im going to give this a yes vote, he said. I wish the very, very best of luck to the IDA, and I hope they can pull it off. The board voted unanimously to transfer the parcel. Now, the authority will proceed with selecting a contractor to complete the building and pick which bank it wants to procure the necessary loan from. The state of ICT Saying that this is the first plan doesnt mean that the other two plans were unsuccessful. The difference between these two statements by Maxie Cuffie, Public Administration and Communications minister is a year. The first was made during an interview with Business Day last year, the second, during the recent launch of Fastforward II. Fastforward II is this countrys latest draft national ICT plan. Business Day sat with Cuffie after the event to discuss it and where this countrys ICT is heading. We bring up the issue of implementation, as we did during the interview last year. The public is always hearing about plans, but very rarely the results. Fastforward II was preceded by a Fastforward I and SmartTT plan both covering the period from 2003 to 2016. The first version of Fast Forward led to Gov.net, the government backbone as well as lot of infrastructure. It was really geared toward increasing connectivity as well. SmarTT was also about going for greater connectivity. It had a short lifespan, but it had some successes. Because of the changes in the ICT industry, cloud computing, for example, now plays a far bigger role than it did say four or five years ago. You need to consequently update your plans and make them and make them consistent with the changes in technology. That is what this plan is about, said Cuffie. Some of the successes the plan reported was this countrys move up the World Economic Forum Network Readiness Index from 70 to 2015, to 67 out of 139 countries. It also has a mobile penetration as of 157 per cent, where the average for most countries is 97 per cent. As of 2013, 70 per cent of homes in this country had computers versus 42 per cent in 2010. Meanwhile Internet household penetration has jumped from 58 percent in 2014 to 65 percent in 2015. It also said all government entities are now online and the government portal, TTconnect, makes available 627 services for citizens, 256 for businesses and 118 for non-residents. The plan also cites improvements in the number of service providers available, as well as the quality and choice of services and a reduction in prices. ICTs contribution to the countrys GDP also increased from three per cent or three billion in 2006 to 3.4 per cent or 5.59 billion in 2015. But it recognised shortfalls as well. This country still relied largely on market forces to construct this countrys ICT infrastructure and said this may not be enough. The country also lagged behind developed nations in the productive and innovative use of ICT. The population, moreover, was still largely unaware of e-services and even though ICT penetration itself was high, digital literacy remained relatively low. Several pieces of legislation within the Electronic Transaction Act and the Data Protection Act, necessary to support the operation of ICT infrastructure, remain in limbo. We discussed these during last years interview with Cuffie. Then, he had deemed the legislation one of his main priorities. This year, he admitted some of the legislation was still unproclaimed and it was affecting the implementation of other initiatives. One of these is the roll out of Wi-Fi across the country. So far, 13 buses feature the technology. We asked the minister for an update. The telecommunications provided for it, said Cuffie, But it was not spelt out and enforceable. What we needed to do was to get the act amended and implemented. We are in the process of doing that now. While we are doing that, we are working on a schedule as to where we are putting it, how we are going to deploy it. We now have commitment, because I have spoken to the telecommunications authority and the providers. To facilitate the deployment of Wi-Fi at no cost to the public, the concessionaires will be absorbing the cost. Cuffie shied away from saying more until the details were approved by Cabinet. The plan has ambitious targets. Over its five-year life span, it seeks to increase this ICTs contribution to this countrys GDP by five per cent, increase broadband access to 85 per cent with minimum download speeds of 100 mbps for households and businesses, 30,000 directly created jobs and number one status among our the Caribbean neighbours in the World Economic Forum rankings, among others. It is expected to be reviewed in 2021. Built within the plan is also a measure to monitor the implementation of Fastforward IIs objectives, including the formulation of a National ICT steering committee and the appointment of a National Chief Information Officer. The stakes for success, or failure, are high. The World Bank estimates for every ten per cent increase in Internet speeds boosts economic growth by 1.3 per cent. I just want to underscore the importance of this for diversification and for economic growth. People dont see the connection, Cuffie told Business Day. They expect to see that we are going to open this a company. But an economy isnt driven by government. It is driven by ordinary businesses and what we are doing is facilitating through ICT, the growth of businesses. The draft plan is available on the public administration and communications ministrys website for feedback and comment. FAME-Caribbean to help create business opportunities for artisans Having travelled extensively to different locations throughout the world (and) currently consulting in India with a remit to train 100,000 tailors in three years...I have had first-hand access to the missed opportunities that we in the Caribbean can have in areas of high quality craftsmanship, design and delivery. Ramroop was addressing a gathering of people from Trinidad and Tobagos (TT) business and fashion communities at the July 6 launch of his foundation. Held on the grounds of the Chancellor Hill, St Clair, home of FAME-Caribbeans brand ambassador, Brian Lara, the event included a fashion show which showcased local design talent. FAME-Caribbean is based on Italys Pitti Immagine in Florence, which Ramroop explained is an annual marketplace during which, thousands of buyers place orders for items on display by hundreds of fashion and accessory designers. Ramroop believes that if given the right support to take advantage of opportunities, they and other creative people across the Caribbean can become as successful as those in traditional careers; such as lawyers and doctors, with the additional benefit of generating much-needed foreign exchange (forex). FAME-Caribbeans primary objective is to take advantage of export opportunities in fashion by positioning ourselves to offer sustainable business development, training, mentoring and support to practitioners in TT... Antigua, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and St Lucia. Ramroop cited the fact that the two biggest consumer industries are food and clothing, followed more recently by electronics. Ramroop plans to hold the first FAME-Caribbean event later this year in Trinidad from November 7 to 9 and in Tobago from November 10 to 11. Referring to the upcoming showcase of talent from the six aforementioned countries as Fashionomics, Ramroop said, Fashionomics is about opening doors for overseas markets. Ramroop added that it is of paramount importance that apparel businesses benefit from FAMECaribbeans initiative, looking beyond tropical clothing to designs that would also appeal to buyers in cold climates. There is an enormous market in North America and Europe for the highest quality menswear, womenswear, resort wear and winter wear. TT and the rest of the Caribbean could rise to the standard required to satisfy demand. The Caribbean could have a huge impact on the rest of the world in garment manufacture. Ramroop then pledged to use his considerable experience, contacts and acquaintances to open the markets for goods produced here in the Caribbean, particularly in TT. He explained that the objective is to create high quality employment and to attract forex. Hence the plan to invite local and foreign buyers to the Buyers Tent at FAME-Caribbean 2K17; sometimes referred to as FAME, in November. The Buyers Tent Will have for sale accessories such as jewellery, shoes and handbags, all made in the Caribbean. Absolutely no imports except for raw materials, Ramroop declared. Guests that evening also heard about the TT Governments plans to establish a garment production facility to help boost the manufacture of clothing by local designers. This is part of its economic diversification thrust away from the countrys dependency on oil and gas revenues. This was one of three initiatives announced by Tunapuna MP Esmond Forde on behalf of Prime Minister (PM) Dr Keith Rowley, who at the time was attending a CARICOM meeting in Grenada. Costa Rica and Trinidad and Tobago: Complimentary trade allies Through this commercial office, Costa Rican and Trinidadian businesspeople have had a commercial partner that has been in charge of developing the relationship further, taking advantage of instruments such as the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed by the Central American country with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in 2004. The agreement applied to Costa Rica and 12 CARICOM states - Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Kitt s and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. With this treaty, a solid trade agreement was reached which, like other trade agreements, is part of the main objective of foreign trade policy to promote, facilitate and consolidate the integration of countries into the international economy. This agreement constitutes a balanced legal framework, through which the trade and investment flows between Costa Rica and the Caribbean region are supported and promoted. As a result of the commercial relationship between these countries, and benefiting from the tariff benefits established in the FTA, in 2016 Costa Rica exported to Trinidad and Tobago USD$58 million, including products such as: syrups and concentrates for aerated beverages, anti sera, carrots, plastic articles for packaging, medicines, soaps and cleaning preparations and boxes of paper or paperboard. Trinidad and Tobago exported to Costa Rica USD$16 million - products such as liquefied natural gas, nitrogenous fertilizers or chemical fertilizers, cereal products, parts of lighting equipment, advertisements, signs etc, mixtures of odoriferous substances for the food or beverage industry, and electrical materials. The commercial promotion office of PROCOMER in Trinidad and Tobago offers its services to both Costa Rican exporters and Caribbean importers. Some of the services provided by the office are: face-toface and virtual business agendas, trade missions, business contacts, and general business support for entrepreneurs. In PROCOMER you have an ally for your business. Contact us, it will be a pleasure to serve you. PROCOMER Email: caricom@procomer.com Tel: 822-6085 Address: Solus Business Centre, 29 Long Circular Road, St James Finger licking good When we were at the point of the main course, the only entree option was that of poultry. The beautifully presented entrees were placed before each of the guests. As the guests began to enjoy the meal, and amid the various conversations, came a portion of poultry flying off the plate of one guest, all the way down the table, eventually landing on the nicely tiled floor. Thankfully, both guest and host saw this as great humour, and laughed it off, with the host stating, Why didnt you just pick the darn thing up with your hands? This scenario raises several dining dilemmas, the first being the service of dining options. One school of thought when serving poultry is to ensure the poultry is served in filet form meaning, served without the bone. Unless one is very adept with the use of cutlery in such scenarios, it is incumbent upon the host to ensure the most comfortable and enjoyable dining experience for the guest. As such, it may be best to serve the poultry without the bone. The second dilemma raised is that of eating with ones hands. When does it become acceptable to eat with your hands? This is based on a few premises, including, event (style, location, suitability) culture (country you may be in), and dining option (casual, fast food). I have been asked about the management of finger foods at cocktail styled events, and how does one manage in such a scenario. The first point to understand is that the term finger food refers to foods that can be easily consumed in one or two bites and that can be held with your hands. The issue with the management of finger foods, particularly in the cocktail event, requires the appreciation of a few steps. If you are required to visit a buffet table to avail yourself of the pieces, it is wise to visit just once, in the first instance, using the utensils provided to place the foods into your plate sometimes you may see finger foods dressed with toothpicks, to make it easier for lifting do not use these toothpicks to lift other foods off the serving trays. It is useful to keep a napkin handy best placed under your plate, as in cocktail styled settings, you are usually standing or walking and chatting. Keep the napkin placed discretely under your plate to assist with any spillage, as well as to ensure your fingers and mouth remain clean always. In some settings, cocktail forks and other utensils are made available, whereas in other settings, the finger foods are meant to be eaten with your fingers. In either setting, it is important you do what you feel most comfortable with, as you would not want to end up with a piece of poultry flying off your plate. In a cocktailstyled setting, I may avoid the buffalo wings, based on the style of the event. If the event is more formal, the further away I would steer clear from the more difficult fare. However, if the event is more casual, then it is perfectly acceptable to consume the finger foods to ones delight. Again, it is always important to appreciate the cultures within which you operate, as this informs the dining style and options available. In another dining setting in London, I was invited to a very formal event, hosted by a family originally from India. The invitation stated formal or traditional dress, and when I arrived, the setting certainly was indeed formal. However, the menu was what I am very familiar with, being various forms of curried cuisine, with the option of rice or roti, and the host leading the dining experience with her hands. A similar experience is shared in Trinidad and Tobago and many other countries. Paths to recovery What exactly is the current state of play? Since 2008 Trinidad and Tobago entered a path of low growth and, after 2014, it has recorded negative GDP growth rates. Our economy is specialised in the production and export of oil and gas, as well as products in the oil and gas value chain. The relatively recent economic growth was largely determined by the good performance of commodity prices at international level. As at 2016 the petroleum industry (including petrochemicals) accounted for 32% of the GDP, compared to 7.8% from manufacturing. The petroleum industry is responsible for 83% of the total exports of Trinidad and Tobago and it is the chief destination for Foreign Direct Investments (87%). However, this sector only provides 3.2% of employment, with 85.4% of the workforce employed in the services sector. We are hoping that the nonenergy sector can be transformed to generate output and revenue to eventually replace that loss from the energy sector. What is the present performance of the non-energy sector? If we look at the manufacturing sector, the Food, Beverages & Tobacco subsector represents nearly 25% of manufacturing firms working in this space, accounting for 34% of manufacturing employment and 56% of GDP of the sector. In terms of GDP, this sub-sector is followed by chemicals and non-metallic minerals with 15% (ie non-petrochemicals), printing and publishing with 11%, and assembly-type and related industries with 11%. Manufacturing exports in 2016 accounted for 13.5% of total exports and were heavily concentrated, at that time, within the iron and steel sub-sector and transport equipment for ships and boats, which together accounted for roughly 75% of total manufacturing exports in 2015. The closure of ISPATT and CENTRIN would have significantly reduced exports of this sector. Generally, when the economy experienced a good trade performance it was driven by the petroleum industry, which presented high surpluses against trade balance deficits in other sectors. Since the financial crisis in 2008, the overall trade balance shows a downward trend. To restructure the economy and identify opportunities for economic diversification this country must pay attention to some key issues. We must look at diversification opportunities of particular interest that include first high-value opportunities to diversify away from commodity exports of oil and gas and related products. Secondly, we must identify exportoriented activities (both goods and services) to assist us to balance inflows and outflows of foreign currency. This is crucial for a small open economy for which access to foreign currency is the life blood of the country. Thirdly, we must identify and develop feasible opportunities that build on current capabilities. We must partner our research capabilities in the universities with both the service and manufacturing concerns to develop a product space separate from that of the energy sector, which produces few spin offs, to create a dense product space. Fourthly our small private sector that accounts for a very small percentage of exports must select activities that would benefit from co-ordinated support from government that focuses on the global market. The development of an export capability to replace the declining energy sector is vital part of our development thrust. We must understand the state of the economy so we cannot be fooled. In addition, if policy decisions such as those above do not reverse the decline on government revenue the reducing employment level maybe one option to be exercised. TT heads regional accountancy body Pierre is a fellow of the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants of the UK (FCCA), a member in practice of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Trinidad and Tobago (CA), an associate of the Institute of Certified Financial Consultants of the USA (CFC) and a Certified Internal Control and Risks Analyst (CICRA). He has served on the ICATT council since 2002 and chaired several committees over the years, including the 2008 Steering Committee for an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) project for the institutional strengthening of ICATT. He served as vice president from 2007 to 2009 and became president in 2009, serving three successive terms up until 2012. He has chaired the ICATT Investigations Committee and served as vice chairman of the Small and Medium Sized Practitioner (SMP) committee. Pierre has been ICATT director on the Board of the ICAC since 2009 and served as secretary for two consecutive terms from 2011 to 2013. He has chaired several committees of the regional body and in 2015, he was appointed vice president. Pierre is executive chairman of Evolved Accounting and Business Solutions Limited, as well as principal and chief executive officer (CEO) of Anthony P Pierre & Co Chartered Accountants, a member firm of Santa Fe Associates International. He has spent over 30 years in auditing, accounting, taxation, risk management, financial advisory, business consultancy and training and has had a varied portfolio of local, regional and international clients drawn from the private and public sectors. He has also worked extensively in the credit union sector. ICATT president Stacy- Ann Golding in extending congratulations on behalf of ICATT said, Anthony Pierres appointment to lead the nine-member regional accountancy body is a significant achievement for the country and the profession. He has served Trinidad and Tobago well with significant contributions to the building of ICATT into the organisation it is today and will no doubt make a great impact on ICAC for the benefit of the profession in the wider region. Prepare for floods BEFORE A FLOOD (When flooding is forecast) B e alert. Monitor your surroundings. Monitor local television and radio stations, or weather websites If a flash flood warning is issued for your area: Climb to safety immediately Flash floods develop quickly. Do not wait until you see rising water. Get out of low areas subject to flooding. If driving, do not drive through flooded roadways Assemble disaster supplies Drinking water fill clean containers. Food that requires no refrigeration or cooking. Cash. Medications and first aid supplies. Clothing, toiletries. Battery-powered radio. Flashlights. Extra batteries. Important documents: insurance papers, medical records, bank account numbers, passports, ID cards and drivers licence Be prepared to evacuate Identify places to go. Identify alternative travel routes that are not prone to flooding. Plan what to do with your pets. Fill your cars gas tank. If told to leave, do so quickly. Review your family disaster plan Discuss flood plans with your family. Decide where you will meet if separated. Designate a contact person who can be reached if family members get separated. Make sure every family member has the contact information. Protect your property Move valuables and furniture to higher levels. Move hazardous materials (such as paint, oil, pesticides, and cleaning supplies) to higher locations. Disconnect electrical appliances. Do not touch them if you are wet or standing in water. Bring outside possessions indoors or tie them down securely. This includes lawn furniture, garbage cans, and other movable objects.Seal vents to basements to prevent flooding. DURING A FLOOD Be alert. Monitor your surroundings. Monitor local television and radio stations, or weather websites Dont drive unless you have to. If you must drive, travel with care. Make sure your vehicle has enough fuel. Follow recommended routes. DO NOT sightsee. Avoid disaster areas. Your presence might hamper rescue or other emergency operations and put you at further risk. Watch for washed-out roads, landslides, and downed trees or power lines. Be especially cautious at night, when it is harder to recognise flood dangers. If the vehicle stalls, abandon it. If water rises around your car, leave the vehicle immediately. Climb to higher ground as quickly as possible. Never drive through flooded roadways. STOP! Turn Around Dont Drown. The roadbed may be washed out. You can lose control of your vehicle in only a few inches of water. http://www.newsday.co.tt/?sub=admin&dane[id]=246597&action=podglad Your car may float. Vehicles can be swept away by less than two feet of water. Do not drive around a barricade. Turn around and go another way. Get to high ground Climb to safety! Get out of low areas that may be subject to flooding. Avoid already-flooded areas and do not attempt to cross flowing water. Stay away from power lines and electrical wires. Evacuate immediately, if you think you are at risk or are advised to do so Act quickly. Save yourself, not your belongings Move to a safe area before access is cut off by rising water. Families should use only one vehicle to avoid getting separated and reduce traffic jams. Shut off water, gas, and electrical services before leaving. Secure your home: lock all doors and windows. If directed to a specific location, go there. Never try to walk or swim through flowing water If flowing water is above your ankles, Stop! Turn around and go another way. If it is moving swiftly, water six-inches deep can knock you off your feet. Be aware that people have been swept away wading through flood waters. Never allow children to play around high water, storm drains, creeks, or rivers. Shut off the electricity at the circuit breakers. If someone falls in or is trapped in flood water: Do not go after the victim! Use a floatation device. If possible throw the victim something to help them float, such as a spare tyre, large ball, or foam ice chest. Call for assistance and give the correct location information. AFTER A FLOOD Wait until it is safe to return Monitor local television and radio stations. Do not return to flooded areas until authorities indicate it is safe to do so. Do not visit disaster areas following a flood. Your presence may hamper urgent emergency response and rescue operations. Travel with care Follow recommended routes. DO NOT sightsee. Watch for washed out roads, landslides, and downed trees or power lines. Stay away from downed power lines. If a building was flooded, check for safety before entering Do not enter a building if it is still flooded or surrounded by floodwater.Check for structural damage. Inspect foundations for cracks or other damage. Turn off any outside gas lines at the metre tank. Do not enter a building that has flooded until local building officials have inspected it for safety. Use extreme caution when entering buildings Wear sturdy shoes. The most common injury following a disaster is cut feet. Use only battery-powered lighting. Flammable material may be present. Look for fire hazards (such as damaged gas lines, flooded electrical circuits). Check for gas leaks. If you smell gas or hear a blowing or hissing noise, open a window and quickly leave the building. If possible turn off the gas at the outside main valve. Call the gas company. Report broken utility lines to authorities. Check for electrical system damage (sparks, broken or frayed wires, or the smell of burning insulation). Turn off the electricity at the main circuit breaker if you can reach it without stepping in water. Examine walls, floors, doors, windows and ceilings for risk of collapsing. Watch out for animals that might have entered with the floodwaters. Let the building air out to remove foul odours or escaping gas. Take pictures of the damage, both of the building and its contents, for insurance claims. Get professional help Seek necessary medical care. Do not neglect minor wounds or illnesses. If the gas has been turned off for any reason, it must be turned back on by a professional. Have an electrician check the electrical system and appliances. Your home is no longer a safe place Throw away medicine, food, or water that had contact with floodwaters (including canned goods). If water is of questionable purity, boil drinking water for ten minutes. Restrict children from playing in flooded areas. Keep windows and doors open for ventilation. Keep the power off until an electrician has inspected the system for safety. All electrical equipment should be checked and dried before being returned to service. Clean and disinfect everything that got wet. Service damaged sewage systems as soon as possible. When making repairs, protect your property from future flood damage Follow local building codes. Use flood-resistant materials and techniques. Elevate electrical components above the potential flood height. Elevate utilities (washer, dryer, furnace, and water heater) above the level of anticipated flooding. (www.susquehannafloodforecasting.org) HUMAN TORCH La Rosa, 37, died at the scene while 52-year-old Samuel remains warded in hospital in a critical condition with burns to 70 percent of his body. The fire also destroyed three houses built on the compound and has left eight people homeless. The couple was in a relationship for over eight years and had three children together. According to reports, at 5.15 pm Khadysha Issac, a 20-year-old relative of Samuel arrived at their Eighth Street East home. The compound contains about five houses. Issac said the sounds of rainfall on the roof was all she heard for a few minutes until a quarrel erupted at one of the other houses. I did not even know that anyone else was in the yard at the time. All of a sudden I heard a commotion like people quarrelling and fighting, Issac said, adding that when she realised it was La Rosa and Samuel who were arguing, she decided not to get involved in the ex-couples tiff. I then smelled gas but before I could even come out of my house, I heard a loud boom and then screams from both Clifford and Anika. She screamed twice and that was it from her. I saw Clifford running in the yard, covered from his head to his toes in fire. It was like a scene from a movie, Issac said. Samuel, she related, quickly hurled himself into a drain filled with water from the days incessant rainfall. Issac, relatives and neighbours rushed to the burning mans assistance. Before he lapsed into unconsciousness, his charred skin falling away from his arms and legs, Samuel told those gathered around, Anika trying to kill meh! Even as houses on the property caught fire, the gatherings attention remained on Samuel who was pulled out of the drain, placed in a vehicle and driven to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in Mt Hope. A call was made to the police and fire services and firemen later doused the blaze but not before three houses were gutted. Police sources said that so intense was the heat that La Rosas upper body was burnt down to bones while he legs remained untouched by the flames. Her corpse was removed to the Forensic Science Centre in St James for autopsy. Police sources said investigations are proceeding along the route of an attempted murder and suicide. Relatives said that within recent times, the couples relationship had grown rocky with Samuel leaving the home in Port of Spain which he shared with La Rosa and returning to his familys Arouca home to stay. Apart from their three children, both La Rosa and Samuel had children from other relationships. Earlier on Tuesday, relatives said, La Rosa dropped off her children at the homes of her relatives. She was seen walking towards Samuels house in Arouca with a bottle filled with an unknown substance which investigators believe may be the gas. Family members said this was not the first time one of the houses on the property was destroyed by fire and it was rebuilt recently only to be destroyed by La Rosas actions on Tuesday. 3 landslides in 3 hours Home owner Rooplal Singh told Newsday that at about 12 pm on Tuesday, heavy rainfall and strong winds began as the country felt the effect of feeder bands from Tropical Storm Don. Singh added that water flowed past trees and into the house. The back of the house bore the brunt of the landslides. According to Singh, the family was in the gallery when the landslides occurred. Singh, his wife Mala and others bolted when they felt the earth shake and saw the walls move. The family, which also includes three children, two in-laws and three grandchildren are staying at neighbours houses while they await assistance to repair the house. Singh who has lived in the house for over 50 years, fears it could collapse. His son-in-law Michael Lovell told Newsday that the family contacted the Santa Cruz Police, the Santa Cruz Fire Station, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM), Santa Cruz Councillor Lyndon Lara and St Anns East Member of Parliament Nyan Gadsby-Dolly. I sent pictures to the councillor who said he would send the pictures to the head of the Regional Corporation and they would send the relevant authorities. A field officer from the corporation visited and said that we might have to be relocated because they literally have to break down one of the rooms to get to the landslide, Lovell said. We need as much help as we can get. I even spoke to a grocery owner down the road to see if we could get some assistance. Family members said they are in need of help as Singh is unemployed due to a nerve problem that rendered him disabled and his wife Mala is the sole breadwinner. Singhs daughter Oma said, We really need assistance because almost all of our things are destroyed. We are afraid to go in the house. We cant even cook in the kitchen because there is so much dirt...so that means no food. Calls by Newsday to the Deputy CEO of ODPM Neville Wint went unanswered yesterday. To provide assistance to the family, our readers can call 759-9553 or 477-7002. The Cabo Star has arrived A Port Authority official told Newsday the ship stayed offshore as local customs and immigration officials went aboard to clear it for entry. It was due to dock at the Port of Port of Spain later in the evening. The vessel was delayed on Sunday in the Panama Canal and was subsequently delayed further due to bad weather. The vessel is being leased from Bridgemans Services Group of Vancouver, Canada at a daily rate of US$22,500 (TT$157,500). Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan, earlier in the week told Newsday once the formalities were cleared, the vessel which replaces the Super Fast Galicia on the sea bridge, will do a maiden run to Tobago after which it will begin its service. He expects that the Cabo Star will begin its service by July 23. Meanwhile, Newsday Tobago has reported the President of the Truckers and Traders Association Horace Amede as saying that once operational, truckers will be relieved of the stress of being stuck in the airport at 2.00 am to 3.00 am. Since the Super Fast Galicias service was pulled from the route, and two smaller vessels were used as a replacement, truckers were not allowed to accompany their vehicles. They had to use the air bridge. Once Cabo Start starts its service, the truckers will once again be able to travel with their vehicles. Meanwhile, Newsday Tobago also reported Port Authority Chief Executive Officer Charmaine Lewis as saying that measures are being taken to minimise inconvenience for truckers and the business community. This includes extending the current leases of the two replacement cargo vessels, the Atlantic Provider and Trinity Transporter. Kidnap accused demands bail Quacy Bowen, 31, stood before Senior Magistrate Nanette-Forde in the Fourth Court charged with the kidnapping Zhang last week Thursday plus a host of other offences including possession of a firearm and ammunition. After the charges were read out and the accused was told he was not being called on to enter a plea since the charges are all indictable, the court prosecutor petitioned Magistrate Forde-John to refuse bail as Bowen was charged for committing the kidnap while out on bail for other unrelated charges. The firearm, a magazine and 16 rounds of .9 mm ammunition were presented to the court yesterday as evidence by Corporals George, Fenton and Best of the Anti Kidnapping Unit. Bowen who was not represented by an attorney, requested the court to provide one for him immediately so that he (the attorney) could argue on why Bowen should be granted bail. Your worship, I dont have any funds for an attorney and if I apply through Legal Aid I will have to wait too long. Me being in prison without an attorney will mean the matter will be delayed even further. I am asking as it is for one to be provided for me now, Bowen said. However, Magistrate Forde-John said he would have to apply to the Legal Aid Authority for an attorney or source a lawyer privately. Zhang was snatched while walking along Hayde Street in Woodbrook last week Thursday. A ransom of $20,000 was demanded but not paid as he was rescued four hours after being snatched. Bowen was remanded into custody and ordered to return to court today. Retrenched steel worker homeless after malicious fire Jaggernauth was one of hundreds retrenched when ArcelorMittal closed its Trinidad operations. He worked as a certified ladle crane operator and since being laid off last year, he began fishing to maintain his family. Jaggernauth recalled that while out at sea last Thursday at about 11 pm, he observed smoke and on arrival at shore, learnt his home was completely burnt. Wife Savita Balkaran, 39, and their baby Diara Jaggernauth, were awaiting his arrival at the Claxton Bay Fishing Depot. But on hearing about the fire, the mother with baby in arm, hustled back to their home. Police have told the family that they believe the fire was malicious. Nothing was saved. Desperate for shelter, the family is now staying in an office at Jaggernauths former union, the Steel Workers Union of Trinidad and Tobago (SWUTT) based in California. For the past few days, I was living in our car. But through comrade Timothy Bailey, we got permission to stay in one of the unions offices. He linked up a room for us. But we cant stay there forever. During the day, the union has its business to conduct, Jaggernauth said. The retrenched worker said he worked faithfully for almost 20 years for ArcelorMittal but when the company closed last year, he and other workers were left with nothing. As soon as I left school, I started working there. I know nothing else but crane operations. When the company closed, it left us without a cent. They just closed their doors and sent us home without benefits. This jersey I have on, is what people gave me, Jaggernauth said. The crane operator admitted since his retrenchment, life has been very difficult and it hurts that he cannot provide for his wife and daughter. I want help. I am not looking for handouts, althought that too will be appreciated. I need a job, something I can earn money. I want to rebuild my home for my family. I want to do right for them. Sometimes I feel death is the best thing for me when I think about everything, but I have to be strong for my wife and our child, Jaggernauth said. Officers of the Savonetta Fire Station and Couva Police Station are continuing investigations. Photo by via the El-Yateem campaign We rely on your support to make local news available to all Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2022. Donate today M1 Tasker Road partially collapsed Police placed iron barriers at two points along the road, one near the Malgretoute WASA substation and the other near a connecting road by a fruit stall, to divert traffic. As such, motorists have to use alternatives routes to enter and exit Princes Town. It is believed that heavy rainfall together with an increased flow in traffic contributed to a depression in the roadway on a bridge, a few days ago. Overnight rains on Tuesday saw the problem worsen and part of the road collapsed. Councillor for Inverness/Princes Town South, Deryck Mathura yesterday explained that on Tuesday evening he contacted the Ministry of Works and Transport (Victoria West district) and informed them of the issues. Due to the inclement weather, workers were unable to immediately start work and so work started yesterday morning Focus on manufacturing and agro-processing in 2018 budget Speaking with reporters at a business seminar hosted by the Chaguanas Chamber of Industry and Commerce and the Caribbean Industrial Research Institute at the Centre for Enterprise Development, Innovation Avenue, Freeport, she said focus had to be placed on the exploration of new markets for local products at a time of fluctuating energy prices The focus has to be on our products for export, products for import substitution as well, this is part of the transformation of the economy. By 2020, exporTT is to ramp up our export levels by 100 per cent so hence the reasons we are looking at new markets - Cuba, Venezuela, Chile. There are a lot of big companies doing it but you have to look at your smaller and medium enterprises in terms of marketing our export services and the push will come from, government, I can guarantee you, she said. The Ministry of Trade and Industry will be making those recommendations, the final decision will belong to the government recommended by the Minister of Finance. She said government would strive to ensure local manufacturers produced competitive products which were world class and meet a high standard of excellence. We really want to diversify and the manufacturing sector is that potential sector, however what we will require is increasing our volumes and our productivity levels, and it means that we have to ramp up our production levels. We have to apply improved technologies and robotics so that our output is improved, our quality is improved as well. Quality is going to take us forward. Chamber president Vishnu Charran said there was a need to spur growth in both the agro processing industry as well as small and medium enterprises as this would stimulate the local economy and increase foreign exchange reserves. No One Will Ever Smash Stuff Quite Like He Did Not long after 5-year-old Kade Maresh and his 3-year-old sister, Kallan, visited a petting zoo in Minnesota in early July, they began vomiting and had nonstop diarrhea. After several emergency room visits, they were rushed by ambulance to the University of Minnesota's children's hospital, where they fought for their lives, reports the Star Tribune. It was determined they'd contracted an especially dangerous strain of the E. coli bacterium, which led to hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) after shiga toxins targeted tiny blood vessels and hampered their bodies' ability to transfer oxygen in red blood cells. Kallan, who would have turned 4 next month, soon died of multi-organ system failure, and her brother remains in critical condition, struggling to survive. Most kids exposed to this strain of E. coli get better, but 10% to 15% don't, even after seeking medical care, reports CBS Minnesota. "It's very seriouspotentially fatal," a kidney specialist says. "It can happen anywhere. It happens in the heart, happens in the brain, the gut, the liver, and the pancreas." Authorities are still investigating to determine where the siblings contracted the bacterium, which lives on cow feces and tends to be transmitted through food or in contaminated pools or lakes. In an "abundance of precaution," the petting zoo they visited took the animals off display. The family reports on CaringBridge that Kade has had a blood transfusion and is on dialysis. Their GoFundMe page to help with medical expenses has raised more than $63,000 as of this writing. (In spite of her E. coli illness, this woman wants more Chipotle.) President Trump says he would never have hired Jeff Sessions as his attorney general if he had known Sessions was going to recuse himself from the Russia investigation. In a New York Times interview, Trump makes it clear that he feels he has been shabbily treated by Sessions, who was the first senator to support his candidacy. "Jeff Sessions takes the job, gets into the job, recuses himself, which frankly I think is very unfair to the president," Trump said, referring to himself in the third person. "If he would have recused himself before the job, I would have said, 'Thanks, Jeff, but Im not going to take you,'" Trump said. "It's extremely unfairand that's a mild wordto the president." Sources tell CNN that Sessions has no intention of resigning after Trump's remarks. In the wide-ranging NYT interview, Trump said he has no regrets about firing FBI chief James Comey. "I did a great thing for the American people," he said. He said that weeks before his inauguration, Comey told him about a dossier full of allegations against him, in a move that Trump now believes was an attempt to show he had leverage. Trump also accused special counsel Robert Mueller, who is leading the Russia investigation, of having "many" conflicts of interest. Asked about his recently disclosed second conversation with Vladimir Putin, Trump said they had discussed adoption, noting that it was the same subject that came up in Donald Trump Jr.'s meeting with a Russian lawyer last year. (Read more Jeff Sessions stories.) Arizona Sen. John McCain has been diagnosed with a brain tumor, his office said in a statement Wednesday. The 80-year-old lawmaker has glioblastoma, an aggressive cancer, according to doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, where McCain had a blood clot removed from above his left eye last Friday. "Subsequent tissue pathology revealed that a primary brain tumor known as a glioblastoma was associated with the blood clot," his office said in a statement. According to the American Brain Tumor Association, more than 12,000 people a year are diagnosed with glioblastoma, a particularly aggressive type of tumor. The American Cancer Society puts the five-year survival rate for patients over 55 at about 4%. It's the same type of tumor that struck McCain's close Democratic colleague in legislative battles, the late Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts. The tumor digs tentacle-like roots into normal brain tissue. Patients fare best when surgeons can cut out all the visible tumor, which happened with McCain's tumor, according to his office. That isn't a cure; cancerous cells that aren't visible still tend to lurk, the reason McCain's doctors are considering further treatment, including chemotherapy and radiation. McCain has had a lifetime of near-death experiences, reports the AP: surviving the July 1967 fire and explosion on the USS Forrestal that killed 134 sailors; flying into power lines in Spain; the October 1967 shoot-down of his Navy aircraft and fall into Truc Bach Lake in Hanoi; and 5.5 years in a North Vietnamese prison. (Read more John McCain stories.) A young Western woman captured amid the rubble of Mosul is believed to be Linda Wenzel, a German teenager suspected of running away to join ISIS. Wenzel, now 16, was 15 when she apparently converted to Islam in secret and was radicalized online, the Guardian reports. She is believed to have traveled from Germany to ISIS-held territory last year after telling her mother she was spending the weekend at a friend's house. Iraqi security forces say Wenzel, who has now been transferred to Baghdad, was found among a group of around 20 female ISIS supporters from countries including Germany, Russia, and Canada. Iraqi forces say the woman were armed and had barricaded themselves in a tunnel. Some of them were allegedly wearing suicide vests. German prosecutors say they are investigating whether the captured girl, whose photo was posted on an Iraqi special forces Facebook page, really is Linda Wenzel. An Iraqi lawmaker from the Yazidi minority, which was severely persecuted by ISIS, said Wenzel had been identified by her mother, the Times of London reports. Vian Dakhil described Wenzel as a "sniper girl" and called for her to be put on trial instead of being allowed to return to Germany. (Read more Mosul stories.) The sisters of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ order own land in Lancaster County, Penn., that they consider sacred. Now Williams, an energy company, wants to run a gas pipeline through that landand the nuns have constructed a chapel on the grounds, in the middle of a cornfield, to illustrate their protest against the plan. "We just wanted to symbolize, really, what is already there: This is holy ground," one sister tells the Washington Post. The chapel was consecrated July 9 in a service attended by more than 300 people, and others have come to pray and leave ribbons showing their solidarity since then. Williams wants to use the land for its Atlantic Sunrise pipeline, which will carry the natural gas extracted by fracking from the state's Marcellus shale region to other areas. The sisters' order is particularly concerned with environmental protection and activism. Williams would be paying for an easement to dig up the land and put the pipeline in before returning the land to its owners, compensating farmers for lost crops, and checking to make sure farm output (the nuns lease the land to a farmer) returns to normal afterward. The company tried to negotiate with the nuns over the path's pipeline, but that went nowhere. "We are believers in sustainable energy," says the aforementioned sister. "These are fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are dangerous to the environment. They are not sustainable." There are fewer than 30 landowners who haven't made agreements with Williams, leading the company to undertake proceedings to seize the property through eminent domaina right granted to it by federal law. But the nuns have filed their own complaint, and a number of religious freedom laws could protect their interests. See the Post for more, or Lancaster Online has details on a related hearing taking place this week. (Read more fracking stories.) Justine Damond called 911 twice to report a possible sexual assault in progress before she was shot dead by one of the responding officers, according to transcripts released by Minneapolis on Wednesday. In the initial call, at 11:27pm Saturday night, the 40-year-old Australian said she feared somebody was being raped in an alley near her home, NBC reports. "It sounds like sex noises, but it's been going on for a while and I think she tried to say help and it sounds distressed," Damond said. She was told officers were on their way. Eight minutes later, Damond called 911 again. She told the operator she had reported an emergency, "but no one's here and was wondering if they got the address wrong." When the squad car arrived, she was shot dead by officer Mohamed Noor after approaching the vehicle. Officer Matthew Harrity, who was driving, has told Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigators that he was "startled by a loud sound" moments earlier. His lawyer tells the Star Tribune it is "certainly reasonable" to believe that the officers may have thought they were driving into a "possible ambush." Police say they found no evidence of a sexual assault in the area that night. Noor has declined to be interviewed by BCA investigators. In his first comments on the case, Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton called it a "horrible tragedy" and said the state legislature should review its policy on body cameras, which the officers were wearing but had not turned on. (Read more Justine Damond stories.) A jury has convicted a western Michigan woman of first-degree murder in the shooting death of her husband in a crime apparently witnessed by the man's pet parrot. The Newaygo County jury deliberated about eight hours before finding 49-year-old Glenna Duram guilty Wednesday of killing 46-year-old Martin Duram, reports the AP. He was shot five times in May 2015. Glenna Duram suffered a head wound in what prosecutors said was a suicide attempt, but survived. Martin Duram's ex-wife, Christina Keller, has said that after the slaying, the African grey parrot, Bud, repeated "don't (expletive) shoot" in Martin Duram's voice. Keller took ownership of the bird after Martin Duram's death. MLive reports that police floated money woes as a possible motive, and notes the couple's home was in foreclosure at the time. WOOD reports the pet was not "used" in court. Duram is due to be sentenced Aug. 28 on the murder and a felony firearm charge. (Read more strange stuff stories.) Late June brought a shocker in the Middle East: a shake-up in Saudi Arabia's line of succession, with King Salman's nephew stripped of his next-in-line status and the title of crown prince handed to Salman's 31-year-old son, Mohammed bin Salman. Now, a second jolt via a New York Times report that describes the ouster as a much more plotted (by the new crown prince) and contentious one than has been reported. One caveat: Its account comes by way of unnamed US officials and persons close to the royal family, and official comments from a senior Saudi official deny the claims and paint a copacetic picture. In the Times' telling, Mohammed bin Nayef was called to the palace on June 20 under the pretense of meeting with the king. Sources say he instead had his cell phone taken from him and was held in a room into the wee hours until he gave in to the badgering of royal court officials who were prodding him to relinquish his post. Other royal court officials apparently focused on the Allegiance Council, a group of princes who are tasked with greenlighting any succession changes; the council was reportedly told the 57-year-old suffered from a drug addiction. That might not be entirely off-base, per a former CIA officer who believes the painkiller regimen Mohammed bin Nayef was put on after a 2009 assassination attempt has turned out to be an addictive one. Reuters is out with a similar account that deviates slightly: Its sources say Mohammed bin Nayef actually met with the king that night, who told him to step down and cited his addiction, which "dangerously affects your decisions." (Read more Saudi Arabia stories.) The Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot a woman who had called 911 to report a possible rape still hasn't spoken with investigators and doesn't have to, but he will be compelled to give a statement to his department as part of an internal investigation. Officer Mohamed Noor hasn't provided his explanation for what happened Saturday when he fired a shot from the passenger seat of a squad car, past his partner in the driver's seat, and killed Justine Damond, 40, who was standing outside the vehicle. When it comes to talking to authorities, defense attorneys and legal experts say police officers have the same Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination as everyone else. "Any lawyer [who] would recommend to him that he should give a statement to the [Bureau of Criminal Apprehension] should be disbarred," Minneapolis defense attorney Joe Friedberg, who's not involved in the case, tells the AP. "Nobody should ever speak to law enforcement when they're the subject of a criminal investigation." The police department's internal affairs unit can compel Noor to give a statement as part of its own investigation, and fire him if he refuses, but that statement can't be used against him in any criminal investigation, Friedberg says. An internal use-of-force investigation has been opened, which is standard any time an officer discharges a weapon. (Damond called 911 once, then again 8 minutes later.) Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Thursday he has no plans to resign in the wake of President Trump's criticism of him, but he seemed to add a qualifier: "We love this job. We love this department, and I plan to continue to do so as long as that is appropriate," he told reporters, per Politico. He spoke after Trump told the New York Times that he never would have appointed Sessions as attorney general had he known that Sessions would recuse himself from the Russia investigation. Asked how he could continue to serve if the president doesn't seem to have confidence in him, Sessions said, "We're serving right now" and went on to praise the Justice Department's current investigations. "I'm totally confident that we can continue to run this office in an effective way," he said, per CNN. Sessions recused himself after it emerged that he'd met with the Russian ambassador as a senator but didn't disclose that fact at his confirmation hearing to become attorney general. (Read more Jeff Sessions stories.) Canada's governor general says he decided to breach royal protocol and touch Queen Elizabeth II to ensure she didn't stumble down slippery steps during an official engagement in London. David Johnston, who met with the 91-year-old monarch on Wednesday to mark Canada's 150th birthday, was seen gently touching her elbow as she ascended steps at London's Canada House. He did the same as she left the building. It's generally accepted that members of the public don't touch the queen, reports the AP. While he's "certainly conscious of the protocol," Johnston told CBC News "it's a little bit awkward, that descent from Canada House to Trafalgar Square." He continues, "There was a carpet that was a little slippy, and so I thought perhaps it was appropriate" in order to avoid a potential stumble. The National Post's take: "As a protocol violation, Johnston's was minor, barely noticeable except to the initiated. It is not as if he put his arm around her, as many people have enthusiastically done over the years, notably Michelle Obama." It notes the traditional greeting is a bow of the head for men, a slight curtsy for women. Johnston is the queen's rep in Canada; when his term ends in September, former astronaut Julie Payette is to take his place, though her vetting hasn't been without drama. (Read more Queen Elizabeth II stories.) The student who was suspended from the University of Central Florida because he graded an apology letter from an ex and posted it on Twitter is no longer suspended. UCF suspended Nick Lutz months after the tweet went viral, saying he broke the portions of the university's code of conduct against disruptive behavior and cyber bullying, but after that story made headlines this week the school granted Lutz's request for an appeal and ultimately dismissed the case, the Miami Herald reports. An attorney for Lutz tells WFTV the 21-year-old senior (who gave his ex's letter a D-) will be allowed back in the classroom. (Read more Florida stories.) Members of the low-caste Dalit community in India were once known as "untouchables." How times have changed: Two just competed against each other for the largely ceremonial office of president, and 71-year-old Ram Nath Kovind came out on top, reports CNN. In India, the real power is with the prime minister. Kovind isn't actually the first Dalit president, the first coming in 1997, notes NBC News. In fact, one analyst tells the network that the real significance of the election isn't the caste factor but its reflection of the growing power of the ruling BJP Party. Both Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi belong to the BJP (which is why the election was never really in doubt), and Modi's blessing of Kovind is seen as a calculated strategy to woo other members of the 200-million-strong Dalit community. "Dalit politics suddenly has come center stage with a bang," another analyst tells the New York Times. "Every leader is bending over backward to show, 'I am a well-wisher.'" India elects its vice president next month, and BJP is counting on another win to cement its influence over Parliament. (Read more India stories.) The spokesperson for Turkeys' president says the government had no role in the publication by the Turkish state-run news agency of a map showing US military posts in Syria, the AP reports. The US military said it had raised concerns with Ankara after Anadolu Agency published a map showing 10 locations where it says US troops are located. The posts span a stretch of northern Syria controlled by Syrian Kurdish forces that the US supports but that Turkey considers a terrorist group. Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin said on Thursday the news article that contained the map was based on the agency's "own newsgathering network," insisting that the government had not given "the information or directed the agency." Kalin says Turkey has no "thought or intention that would endanger the lives of our allies' soldiers." (Read more Syria stories.) US pulls up Pakistan for providing 'safe heavens' to terrorists Washington : The US has slammed Pakistan for failing to crackdown on terror groups operating from "safe havens" inside its territory, and said the Nawaz Sharif government did not take any action against the LeT and JeM, which continue to operate openly. In its annual Country Report on Countering Terrorism, the US State Department said though the Pakistan government supported political reconciliation between the Afghan government and the Afghan Taliban, it "failed to take significant action to constrain the ability of the Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network to operate from Pakistan-based safe havens and threaten US and Afghan forces in Afghanistan. It said the Pakistan government "did not take any significant action against Lashkar-e-Taiba or Jaish-e-Mohammed, other than implementing an ongoing ban against media coverage of their activities. LeT and JeM continued to hold rallies, raise money, recruit, and train in Pakistan," it said. In its overview of the South Asian region, the report said that "Afghanistan, in particular, continued to experience aggressive and coordinated attacks by the Afghan Taliban, including the affiliated Haqqani Network (HQN) and other insurgent and terrorist groups. A number of these attacks were planned and launched from safe havens in Pakistan". It said India continued to experience attacks, including by Maoist insurgents and Pakistan-based terrorists. "Indian authorities continued to blame Pakistan for cross-border attacks in Jammu and Kashmir. In January, India experienced a terrorist attack against an Indian military facility in Pathankot, Punjab, which was blamed by authorities on JeM. Over the course of 2016, the Government of India sought to deepen counterterrorism cooperation and information sharing with the United States," it said. Young woman in Saudi Arabia arrested for wearing skirt, released Rome : Saudi Arabian Police have interviewed and released a model who sparked a furore when a video of her bare-headed and wearing an 'indecent' miniskirt were posted to Snapchat, the Saudi government said on Wednesday. The woman, who has been named in media reports as Khulood, told police the video was posted on Snapchat without her knowledge, the Saudi Ministry of Culture said in a statement. She was released without charge and the case has been closed by the prosecutor, according to the statement. The news came soon after Italian junior Culture Minister Dorina Bianchi launched a petition on change.org calling for Khulood's release. Bianchi described as "courageous" Khulood's stroll around an historic fort in Ushayqir wearing a miniskirt and cropped top which was initially shared on Snapchat at the weekend. Ushayqir, about 155 km north of the capital Riyadh, in Najd province, is one of the most conservative regions in Saudi Arabia and is the cradle of Wahhabism - the austere form of Sunni Islam practised by the Saudi royal family and religious establishment. The video of Khulood sparked heated debate among Saudis on social media. Some Saudi Twitter users called for Khulood's arrest for breaking the country's strict dress code that requires women to wear full-length robes known as 'abayas' in public as well as a headscarf if they are Muslim. But other Saudi Twitter users praised Khulood and insisted she should be allowed to wear what she wanted. Following a few months of R&R, The Pennsy, the food hall located adjacent to Penn Station and MSG, reopened with some brand new vendors and a big new bar from the team behind the award-winning The Dead Rabbit. The fancy food court added three new vendors to the lineup from the opening squad, which included Cinnamon Snail, Pat LaFrieda and The Little Beet. THE PENNSY BARHPH, the hospitality group that owns Dead Rabbit along with Pier A and French-themed food hall Le District, now has a stake in this revamped food hall that includes running the on-site bar. The bar itself is quite large, but alcohol is welcome anywhere in the space, including the outdoor patio and al fresco "stadium" seating (click the last photo above). Cocktails are NYC-themed, like the Big Apple (Jack Daniel's Old No. 7 Whiskey, Martinelli's Apple Cider, Black Walnut Bitters, $14) and the Pennloma (El Jimador Tequila, Cinnamon Syrup, San Pellegrino Pompelmo, Lime Juice, $12). Expect to pay $6 for a Budweiser. "Parma" - Mozzarella, prosciutto di parma, arugula, cherry tomatoes, grated parmigiana from Ribalta (Sai Mokhtari/Gothamist) RIBALTA The downtown pizzeria known for Neapolitan pies that are sometimes topped with hot dogs and fries brings personal-sized pizza pies to their new Pennsy location. Guests can build their own pies from three different bases and a selection of cheeses, veggies or meats; or opt for a signature pizza ($14) like the Speck with asparagus spread, speck, mozzarella and parmigiana. Panini, salads, meatballs and tiramisu are also on offer. The Pennsy - ($10.50) Asparagus, cucumbers & spicy sauce inside and Tuna, salmon, yellowtail & avocado outside from Sabi Sushi (Sai Mokhtari/Gothamist) SABI SUSHI There's quite a bit more to the menu here than just rolls, but those do come in vegetarian and classic options like California ($5.75) and Shrimp Tempura ($5.75) in addition to special rolls like Knick ($10.50), a crab and tobiko roll with tuna, salmon, yellowtail, bass and shrimp on the outside. From there the menu runs all over the place with Banh Mi sandwiches ($10.56), rice bowls, dumplings, and noodles, including a make your own soup option ($10.95) with a choice of noodles (rice, soba, udon, wonton) and meats (chicken, beef balls, shrimp). Smoked Sage Seitan Burger - ($12) topped with sage seitan sausage baked ziti, with marinated kale, smoked chili coconut bacon, & roasted garlic aioli on a grilled pretzel bun from Cinnamon Snail (Sai Mokhtari/Gothamist) THE CINNAMON SNAIL Adam Sobel and his crew have found their niche in food halls and return with The Pennsy's reopening. Pasta's a new theme with the new menu, which includes Baked Ziti ($6) with smoked sage seitan sausage and roasted garlic marinara and a Smoked Sage Seitan Burger ($12) that's topped with that ziti plus marinated kale, smoked chili coconut bacon and roasted garlic aioli on a grilled pretzel bun. Cold Pressed Juice Margarita from Taco Dumbo (Sai Mokhtari/Gothamist) TACO DUMBO This is where to go for "healthy" Southern Cali cuisine like Grain Bowls ($14), Spice-Rubbed Cauliflower tacos ($4) and cold-pressed juices. The juices also serve as a base for the restaurant's margaritas, with a choice of liquor (there's tequila but also vodka, rum and sake) and a juice combo like cucumber-mint, lime-orange or pineapple-turmeric. THE LITTLE BEETThis fleet of bowl-based restaurants are lunchtime go-tos for Midtown worker bees looking for protein and veggie-packed meals. You'll find the same here, like the Avo Fresh ($11.35) that includes half a grilled avocado plus broccolini, beets, lentils, walnut red pepper spread, and turmeric toasted almonds. There are DIY options from dozens of ingredients from rices to veggies to proteins and sauces. Fresh Roast Beef - ($12) sliced cold, blue cheese, horseradish aioli, pickled red onions, & watercress on a semolina roll from Pat LaFrieda (Sai Mokhtari/Gothamist) PAT LAFRIEDA The renowned and now ubiquitous meat man returns post-revamp with plenty of flesh to go around. There are hot sandwiches like Grandpa's Meatball ($12), cold sandwiches like the Italian Sub ($14) loaded up with cured meats, provolone cheese and peppers, and what's being touted as the "World's Greatest Hot Dog" ($4.95). Barbecue plates, charcuterie plates and a light Caesar Salad ($9) are also on the menu. 2 Pennsylvania Plaza, (917) 475-1830; thepennsy.nyc. Open daily 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Sorry! This content is not available in your region The Daily News-Miner encourages residents to make themselves heard through the Opinion pages. Readers' letters and columns also appear online at newsminer.com. Contact the editor with questions at letters@newsminer.com or call 459-7574. New Delhi: The Cabinet on Wednesday approved sale of governments 51.11 per cent stake in oil refiner HPCL to Indias largest oil producer ONGC for a potential Rs 26,000 crore to Rs 30,000 crore, a top source said. While ONGC buying HPCL will help the government meet as much as 40 per cent of its target for raising Rs 72,500 crore in the current fiscal through stake sales, more deals in the oil sector including one where refiner Indian Oil Corp (IOC) buys out explorer Oil India Ltd or Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) merges with gas utility GAIL may be in the offing. The source said the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave in-principal approval for Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) buying Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL). Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan is likely to make a statement on the deal as well as other potential mergers tomorrow afternoon in Parliament. Prior to the merger, HPCL is likely to take over Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) to bring all the refining assets of ONGC under one unit. ONGC currently owns 71.63 per cent of MRPL while HPCL has 16.96 per cent stake in it. HPCL buying ONGC stake will give the explorer Rs 16,414 crore at todays closing price. ONGC, which has cash reserves of Rs 13,014 crore, also has an option to sell part or all of its 13.77 per cent stake in IOC which is worth nearly Rs 25,000 crore. The source said ONGC will not have to make an open offer to minority shareholders of HPCL as the governments holding is being transferred to another state-run firm and the ownership isnt changing. The deal will be completed within a year, he said. HPCL will become a subsidiary of ONGC and will remain a listed company post the acquisition, he said adding the board of the refining and marketing company will continue to remain in place. HPCL has a market cap of Rs 58,485.55 crore, based on todays closing price of Rs 384 a share on the BSE. At todays rate, ONGC will have to shell out close to Rs 30,000 crore for governments 51.11 per cent but the actual price may be either of one-year, 26 week or 60 day average scrip price, the source said. ONGC Chairman and Managing Director Dinesh K Sarraf said the funding plans for the acquisition are in place but refused to reveal them citing market sensitivities. Many options have been debated, he said. Once the government officially notifies the decision, the board of ONGC will consider buying out HPCL and valuations will then be worked out, he said. The source, cited earlier, said a committeeheaded by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and comprising Pradhan and Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkarihas been constituted to work out the modalities. Sarraf said there was a strong case for merging MRPL, which ONGC had acquired in March 2003 from AV Birla Group, with HPCL but no modalities have been worked out yet. MRPL will be the third refinery of HPCL, which already has units at Mumbai and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. A source in ONGC said the company may not appoint valuation advisers as the job would be done by the seller (the government). Jaitley had in his Budget for 2017-18 fiscal talked about creating an integrated oil behemoth. After that oil companies were asked to give their options. ONGC had evaluated options of acquiring either HPCL or BPCLthe two downstream oil refining and fuel marketing companies. It found the nations second-biggest fuel retailer BPCL too expensive and conveyed its choice to the parent oil ministry. Another source said the transaction is likely to be completed within this fiscal year. ONGC has cash reserves of Rs 13,014 crore and to fund the government stake acquisition in HPCL, it will have to borrow at least Rs 10,000 crore, the source said. BPCL has a market cap of Rs 1,01,860.56 crore and buying governments 54.93 per cent would alone have entailed an outgo of about 56,000 crore. HPCL, on the other hand, has a market cap of Rs 58,485.55 crore and buying governments entire 51.11 per cent stake would entail an outgo of Rs 29,900 crore. Sources said the government was initially looking at creating an integrated oil company through the merger of an oil producer with a refiner but the idea was dropped for the fear of repeating the Air India-Indian Airlines kind of a merger which is not considered successful. Similar differences in work culture and ethos prevail in upstream and downstream firms and so the exercise under consideration now is to only help the government mop up resources and HPCL would become a mere subsidiary of ONGC. There are only six major companies in the oil sector-- ONGC and Oil India Ltd being the oil producers, IOC, HPCL and BPCL in refinery business and GAIL in the midstream gas transportation business. The rest, such as ONGC Videsh, Chennai Petroleum Corp (CPCL), Numaligarh Refinery Ltd and MRPL, are already subsidiaries of one of these six PSUs. HPCL will add 23.8 million tonnes of annual oil refining capacity to ONGCs portfolio, making it the third-largest refiner in the country after IOC and Reliance Industries. For all the Latest Business News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Kangana Ranaut, who is currently shooting for her upcoming biopic on Rani Laxmi Bai - 'Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi', was rushed to the hospital after she got severely injured on the sets. According to the media reports, the actress was shooting for one of the sword fighting sequences along with co-star Nihar Pandya. Reportedly, in the scene, Kangana was supposed to duck when Nihar tried to attack her with sword, however, the diva ended up getting injured which resulted in 15 stitches between her brows. Soon the actress was admitted in ICCU in Apollo Hospital where she will be kept under observation for a few days. Talking about the same Kangana told Mid Day, "I am a bit embarrassed to be thrilled to have a battle scar on my face. Also, people from my team have been telling me that it's like that Peshwa teeka that Manikarnika wore. It's a bit dramatic but I am excited that my face was covered in blood and I got a genuine and authentic glimpse of the Queen's life." Also Read | 'Manikarnika: The Queen Of Jhansi': Television actress Ankita Lokhande to make her Bollywood debut with Kangana Ranaut's next Kangana was immediately rushed to Apollo hospital nearby, where she was admitted into the ICCU. She got 15 stitches on her forehead and will be under observation in the hospital for a few days. The examining doctor said that it was a close shave for her because the cut was too close to her bone, a source was quoted as saying. a#KanganaRanaut wearing her scar with pride like a brave warrior queen. We wish her a speedy recovery! a A post shared by Kangana Ranaut (@team_kangana_ranaut) on Jul 20, 2017 at 12:40am PDT Notably, Kangana will be seen doing several action sequence in the movie and even underwent sword fighting training for her role. She has even reportedly ruled out to take help of a double for fight scenes. In fact, after being injured, the actress has even decided to flaunt her scar in the movie. Rani of Jhansi was a warrior. So Kangana has decided that she will wear her scar with pride just like the Queen of Jhansi did, the source was qouted as saying. Helmed by Krish, 'Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi' is slated to release in April next year. For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: TV anchor and actor Karan wahi had slammed Sony TVas newly launched TV drama aPehredaar Piya Kia for its content, calling it stupid and producers should not churn out anything for TRPs. Surprisingly, Suyyash Rai who is good friends with Karan Wahi, plays an important character in the show. The basic plot of the serial revolves around a nine-year boy who falls in love with 18-year old maid. Apart from Suyyash, aPehredaar Piya Kia also features Tejaswi Prakash and Afaan Khan in the lead roles. Suyyash Rai took Instagram and defended the show by posting a picture with Tejaswi Prakash and wrote "Pehredaar Piya Ki. @tejasswiprakash baby smile plz. Guys watever @imkaranwahi said its his pov no1 can question him neither me nor you guys. But this doesnt change the fact that WE the whole team of #PPK we love this show and we all have worked really hard for it and we still are andddd we will ?? our motive is to entertain you guys not promote child marriage or anything. This show is different, plz dont judge it and jump onto conclusions. If a channel like @sonytvofficial has approved the show they must have thought something right? Even d producers must have thought a lot before making this and investing soo much money. It's my req to all, plz watch it first and then decide. Maybe m wrong MAYBE but let's wait n then decide. Love to all n thanku for sucha good response for the frst epi.@tejasswiprakash baby smile plzaa. New Delhi: Bhiku Daji Bhilare alias Bhilare Guruji, a veteran freedom fighter and a two-time MLA, credited for thwarting an assassination attempt on Mahatma Gandhi by Nathuram Godse in Maharashtras Panchgani in 1944, died at 98 at his native village, Bhilar, near Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra. The 98-year-old veteran freedom fighter and a Gandhian was cremated at his village in Bhilar at Mahabaleswar, family members said. Senior state congress leaders and freedom fighters were present during the cremation. Family members said he died on Wednesday. Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi remembering Bhilare Guruji tweeted, A staunch Gandhian & a freedom fighter, Bhilare Guruji was a selfless custodian of the values we hold dear. Very sad to learn his passing. A staunch Gandhian & a freedom fighter, Bhilare Guruji was a selfless custodian of the values we hold dear. Very sad to learn of his passing https://t.co/BmcIYw1LB0 Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) July 19, 2017 The Indian National Congress to remembered the freedom fighter. In it official twitter handle the party tweeted, Remembering Bhilare Guruji who passed away today. He restrained Nathuram Godse when he attempted to attack Gandhiji at Panchagani in 1944. Maharashtra State Congress vice president, Ratnakar Mahajan, remembering the Gandhian said, Bhilare Guruji throughout his life had engaged himself in social and public services. Also Read | London: Mahatma Gandhi's rare pencil portrait auctioned Tuesday for 32,500 pounds Mahajan told the media that Bhilare Guruji worked as a volunteer for Mahatma Gandhi when he visited Panchgani-Mahabaleshwar. At the year of the incident he was only 25-year-old and was sub-district president of the Rashtra Seva Dal, one of the frontal groups of the Congress. There is no government record or documented history about Bhilare saving Mahatma Gandhi from Nathuram Godse in 1944. However, great grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, Tushar Gandhi, in his new book, Lets Kill Gandhi, has mentioned the incident. He in his book has mentioned that during a prayer meeting, Nathuram Godse dressed in Nehru shirt, pajama and jacket, brandishing a dagger rushed towards Gandhi. Godse was overpowered by Bhilare Guruji and Manishankar Purohit. Two youths accompanying Godse ran away, the book says. The book says, (In) July 1944, after his release from Aga Khan Prison Camp in May 1944, Gandhi contracted malaria and was advised to rest by Physician. The book further states, He retired to Panchgani, a mountain resort near Poona (now Pune), where he stayed at Dilkhush Bunglow. A group of 18 and 20 men reached Panchgani and held a day-long protest against Gandhi. When Gandhi was informed about the demonstration, he contacted the leader of the group, Nathuram Vinayak Godse, for discussion. Nathuram rejected the invitation and continued the protest, further reads the book. Also Read | PM Modi on lynching: Violence never has and never will solve any problem, Mahatma Gandhi would not have approved it According to the book Panchgani attack was one out of the four assassination attempts made by fundamentalists to kill Mahatma Gandhi. In 2008, during an event was organised by Mani Bhavan Gandhi Sangrahalaya in Mumbai, recalling the wet July 1944 Bhilare Guruji had said, On July 1944, we all had assembled for evening prayers. When Nathuram Godse opened the door opposite me wielding a knife towards Gandhiji and shouting anti-Gandhi slogans. Then he had added, I and my colleagues in the Rashtra Seva Dal were also quick to react. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: More than 20 people lost their lives after a bus fell down into a gorge near Shimlas Rampur in Himachal Pradesh. 9 were injured in the accident. The bus was travelling to Solan from Kinnaur. Congress president Sonia Gandhi expressed her distress and profound grief at Shimla bus accident. She asked HP government to take immediate relief and rescue measures. The rescue operations are currently underway. More details are awaited on this. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: NDA nominee Ram Nath Kovind won the Presidential poll on Thursday and he would become 14th President of India on July 25. He got 7,02,644 votes while UPA's candidate Meira Kumar secured 3,67, 314votes, Returning Officer Anoop Mishra said. KovindA got 66% of votes while Meira Kumar got 34 % votes. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee congratulated Kovind on his magnificent victory. A A formal announcement was made by the Returning officer Anoop Mishra.A Here are the highlights from the counting of votes: #8:52 PM Sonia Gandhi congratulates Ram N Kovind, reiterated Cong's commitment to work for upholding values intrinsic to Constitution #8:31 PM Union Minister Nitin Gadkari congratulates Ram Nath Kovind on his victory in Presidential election, in Delhi. #8:15 PM Congratulations Ram Nath Kovind ji. Wishing you a great term as President of India, tweets Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi #8:10 PM I extend to you (Ram Nath Kovind) my heartiest congratulations on your election as 14th President of Republic of India: President Mukherjee # 6:52 PM Feeling very happy. He is very simple and a quite person. He cares for everyone: Daughter-in-law of President-Elect Ram Nath Kovind # 6:49 PM I hope the tenure of Mr. Kovind would prove to be inspiring, encouraging and egalitarian: Mehbooba Mufti, J&K CM # 6: 47 PM His victory marks an important milestone in political history of India.It reflects empowerment of weaker sections of society: Mehbooba Mufti # 6:46 PM All over India people are celebrating. We all are very happy.It is a proud moment for us: Swati, Daughter of President Elect Ram Nath Kovind #6:41 PM When Kovind Ji takes over as President, crores of oppressed&poor Indians will see their representative on highest constitutional post: Amit Shah #6:31 PM Congratulate the 14th President of India Ram Nath Kovind. Congratulations to Meira Kumar for the courage she has shown: Lalu Prasad Yadav #5:46 PM PM Modi meets President-elect Ram Nath Kovind, congratulates him for becoming 14th President of IndiaA #WATCH Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President Amit Shah and Union Min Ananth Kumar felicitate President Elect #RamNathKovind in Delhi pic.twitter.com/YonlhKPtuW a ANI (@ANI_news) July 20, 2017 # 5:22 PM Ram Nath Kovind gets certificate of Presidential poll victoryA # 5:17 PM Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar congratulates Ram Nath Kovind over phone for Presidential Poll victory #5:03 PMA A Want to make it very clear that today on 20th July 2017 my battle for ideology doesn't end, it will continue: Meira Kumar #5:01 PM My fight for secularism, the oppressed & the marginalised continues.I thank all my well wishers for their support & good wishes: Meira Kumar #4:58 PM My best wishes with Sh. Kovindji as it has fallen upon him to uphold Constitution in letter and spirit in these challenging times: Meira Kumar #4:56 PM I will represent the poor in Rashtrapati bhavan: Ram Nath Kovind #4:56 PM My win shows greatness of democracy: Kovind #4:55 PM A I congratulate Shri Ram Nath Kovindji for becoming the President of India: Meira KumarA #4:55 PM Never aspired to be President, my win is a message to those discharging their duties with integrity: Ram Nath KovindA #4:54 PM I thank all who supported me from across country, I feel very emotional, I'll represent all struggling to make a living: Ram Nath Kovind #4:54 PM This is an emotional moment for me today: President Elect Ram Nath KovindA # 4:44 PM Congratulations to Shri Ram Nath Kovind ji for emphatic victory in the 2017 Presidential elections. His victory is truly historic: Amit Shah #4:35 PM Ram Nath Kovind secured 2930 votes with value of 7,02,044; Meira Kumar got 1,844 votes with the value of 3,67,314; 77 invalid: Anoop Mishra #4:24 PMA A Official announcement made: NDA's RamNathKovind wins Presidential elections, defeating opposition candidate Meira Kumar # 4:19A A Ram Nath Kovind becomes 14th President of India #4: 18 PM NDA's Ram Nath Kovind all set to become the next President of India, official announcement awaited. # 4:16 PM Ram Nath Kovind gets 66% votes while Meira Kumar gets 34% votesA # 3:07 PM Ram Nath Kovind got 1389/479585 votes and Meira Kumar 576/204594, 37 invalid after counting for Parliament & 11 states: Anoop Mishra, Returning officer # 3:04 PM Ram Nath Kovind : Total votes polled: 522. Total value-3,69,576 Meira KumarA Total votes : 225, Total value of the votes polled : 1,58,300 Total votes polled: 5,43,734 Invalid votes : 21 Break up of votes as per states Arunachal Pradesh:A Ram Nath Kovind - Votes: 56, Value: 548 Meira kumar - Votes: 3, Value:24 Assam:A Ram Nath Kovind - Votes: 91, Value: 10,556 Meira Kumar - Votes: 35, Value :4060 Bihar:A Ram Nath Kovind - Vote : 130, Value: 22,490 Meira Kumar - A Votes: 109, Value: 18,857 Chattisgarh:A Ram Nath Kovind- Votes: 52, Value:6,708 Meira Kumar: Votes: 35, Value: 4,505 Jharkhand: Ram Nath Kovind - Votes:51, Value: 8976 Meira Kumar - Votes: 26, Value:4576 Invalid: 4 votes GoaA Ram Nath Kovind - Votes: 25, Value: 500 Meira Kumar - Votes: 11, Value: 220 Invalid 2A Gujarat Ram Nath Kovind - Votes: 132, Value:9404 Meira Kumar - Votes: 49, Value: 7,203 Haryana Ram Nath Kovind - Votes 73, Value: 8,176 Meira Kumar - Votes 16, A Value: 1,792 Himachal PradeshA Ram Nath Kovind- Votes 30, Value: 1,530 Meira Kumar - Votes 37, Value: 1,887 J and KA Ram Nath Kovind - Votes 56, Value: 4032 Meira Kumar: Votes 30, Value: 2160 # 2:50 PM Presidential Poll 2017: Ram Nath Kovind leading with 1389/479585, Meira Kumar 576/204594, 37 invalid after counting for Parliament & 12 states # 2:44 PM Parliament: Total votes polled in favor of Ram Nath Kovind is 522 in value of 3,69,576; 225 for Meira Kumar in value of 1,59,300; invalid 21 # 2:25 PM I am not upset, why should I be upset? I am a fighter, I fought for the belief and faith of majority of my countrymen and women: Meira Kumar # 1:34 PM Meira Kumar getsA 22,941 votes in first round of counting # 1:33 PM Ram Nath Kovind getsA 60,683 votes in first round of counting # 1:32 PM Ram Nath Kovind ahead in first round of counting of votes # 12:54 PM Counting of votes underway in Parliament # 11:22 AM Great belief in ideology I fought for,also believe in inner voice of conscience lets see how much it prevails: Meira Kumar # 11:08 AM Visuals of counting of votes # 11:00 AM Counting of votes for Presidential post begins An Election Commission official, who has witnessed previous two presidential polls, said usually results are declared around 5 PM. Close to 99 per cent voting was recorded for electing Indiaas next president. Thirty two polling stations, including the one in Parliament House, were set up in various states. A total of 4,896 voters -- 4,120 MLAs and 776 elected MPs were eligible to cast their ballot. MLCs of states with legislative council are not part of the electoral college. While the value of an MLAas vote depends on the population of his or her state, the value of an MPas vote remains the same at 708. The numbers are stacked in favour of the ruling coalitionas nominee Kovind, a former Bihar governor, over the oppositionas candidate and former Lok Sabha Speaker Kumar. Process to elect the President of the Republic of India: The process is a little tricky but we have tried to simplify the amathsa behind the election of Indiaas top constitutional post. The first thing you should know is the President is not elected by the People. Instead, it is elected by an electoral college which includes members of the Parliament and State Assemblies. However, the nominated members are not allowed to vote. Total 4,120 members of the state legislative assemblies and 776 members of parliament elect the President of India. Let me tell you it doesnat mean there will be only 4896 votes (MLAs+MPs). There is a certain value of each MLA and MP's vote. The value of an MLAas vote differs across states but it remains the same for an MPas vote. The Value of an MLAas vote depends on the population of each state. The total population of the state (1971 census) is divided by 1,000 and number of MLAs in the state assembly. By this calculation, the value of an MLAas vote in UP is different from Delhi and Sikkim. In UP, the value of an MLAas vote is 208 while in Delhi it is 58. In Sikkim, it is only 7.A The total value of all MLA votes is 5,49,495. On the other hand, the value of an MPas vote is same and it is 708. The total value of MLA votes is divided by the total no. of MPs (only elected). A candidate needs more than 50 per cent votes to win the election.A Know all who supported Ram Nath Kovind apart from NDA allies: # AIADMK a Tamil Nadu CM Edapaddi Palanisami has announced support for Kovind # O. Panneerselvam, rebel leader too put his weight behind the NDA candidate # Biju Janata Dal chief and Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik # Bihar CM Nitish Kumar whoas also the chief of Janata Dal (United) # K. Chandrashekhar Rao of Telangana Rashtra Samithi # Independent MLA from Kunda, Uttar Pradesh Raghuraj Pratap Singh aka Raja Bhaiya too offered his support to Kovind. He also said that he voted for Kovind as he had a great relationship with him. # 6 TMC MLAs from Tripura too had offered their support to the NDA nominee # Congress had claimed that the Presidential election represented a clash of ideas and conflict of disparate values. Know all who supported Meira Kumar apart from UPA allies # Trinamool Congress - West Bengal CM and chief Mamata Banerjee has announced support for Meira Kumar # AAP a Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal too has offered support to the UPA candidate Ram Nath Kovind The NDA's presidential pick Ram Nath Kovind had assured all MPs and MLAs that he would act in an "impartial manner" and upkeep the dignity of the office of the President. He has said the President's post is above party politics as it is the highest constitutional post of the country. Kovind had said that once he became the Governor of Bihar, he did not remain a member of any political party and had performed all his duties as governor as per the Constitution.A A A A A A A Meira Kumar Meira Kumar, the opposition's presidential candidate, had said that although she respected her rival NDA contestant Ram Nath Kovind; the Presidential election was a battle of two ideologies. She has also said that it was a sad situation that the Presidential poll was being dubbed as a 'Dalit vs Dalit' contest. Kumar had lamented that since the battle this time was between her and former Bihar governor Kovind, both of whom were Dalits, nothing else was being discussed apart from their caste. With PTI inputs The name of the next occupant of the Rashtrapati Bhawan would be known by 5.00 pm. The voting took place on Monday. First, the ballot box of Parliament House would be opened, and then, the ballot boxes received from states would be counted on alphabetical basis. The votes would be counted on four separate tables and there would be eight rounds of counting. An Election Commission official, who has witnessed previous two presidential polls, said usually results are declared around 5 PM. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: UPAs presidential nominee Meira Kumar congratulated 14th President-elect and her poll rival Ram Nath Kovind for winning the Presidential elections. She further said that he now had to uphold the Constitution in letter and spirit in these challenging times. Kumar said her fight for secularism, the oppressed and the marginalised would continue. The former Lok Sabha speaker polled 1844 votes with avalue of 367314 as against Kovinds 2930 votes with a value of 702044 (more than 65 percent votes). I congratulate Sh. Ram Nath Kovindji for becoming the President of India.My best wishes are with Sh. Kovindji as it has fallen upon him to uphold the Constitution in letter & spirit in these challenging times, she tweeted. ALSO READ: NDA's Ram Nath Kovind to become 14th President of India Kumar thanked the leaders of 17 opposition parties,including Congress president Sonia Gandhi, for fielding her astheir consensus candidate and also members of the collegiumcomprising MPs and MLAswho voted for her. My fight for secularism, the oppressed & the marginalised continues.I thank all my well wishers for their support & good wishes, she added. READ: Ram Nath Kovind elected as India's new President: 10 things about him With PTI inputs For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Gopal Baglay, Spokesperson of Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said that diplomatic channels between India and China have never been impeded and it was never broken. While addressing a presser, Baglay said National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval will be visiting China for BRICS NSAs meeting. Baglay said India wants a peaceful solution of Dokalam issue through talks. Baglay said it should be left to diplomats as they are good at, instead to get involved that which side has made offer or who reacted or not. Diplomatic channels and diplomatic communications have never been ceased, they have never broken: MEA Spox Gopal Baglay #China pic.twitter.com/PBRm0Ujboo ANI (@ANI_news) July 20, 2017 While reacting on ceasefire violations by Pakistan, he said that India has protested to Pakistan in writing. We have protested to Pakistan in writing about ceasefire violations. MEA Spox Gopal Baglay ANI (@ANI_news) July 20, 2017 We've told Pak that our troops don't initiate ceasefire violation but they do have to respond to unprovoked firing from Pakistan side, he said. Also Read | Sikkim standoff: Mulayam Singh warns govt against China's evil design, says dragon conspiring to attack India For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: A doctor was rescued from Meerut on Wednesday by the police after a shootout with the kidnappers. He was kidnapped from east Delhis Preet Vihar. Four men have been detained in the case, police said. SSP (Meerut) Manzil Saini said that one of the accused suffered bullet injuries in the shootout. Doctor, Shrikant Gaur was abducted from Preet Vihar by the kidnappers while he was travelling in a cab on July 6. A ransom of Rs 5 crore was demanded by the abductors from his family, who informed the police. The policemen acted as the representatives of the cab aggregator and told the kidnappers to release the victim as they were ready to pay the ransom amount since it was their customer who had been kidnapped. ALSO READ: Delhi University student thwarts kidnapping attempt by two men The police managed to track down the location of the accused in Daurala village in Meerut. They also requested for assistance from the Meerut police in the operation. On July 16, they were following a vehicle being driven by the kidnappers. However, after their vehicle got punctured, the accused left their vehicle and fled through some fields there, the police said. The police identified two of the accused as Sushil and his brother Anuj, residents of Dadri village. It also emerged that two othersOmbir and Gaurav Sharmawere involved in the kidnapping. Sushil is a driver with the cab aggregator firm and he had planned the kidnapping, the police said. After they were identified, the police started questioning their families and their teams also started scanning nearby villages. On Wednesday evening the Delhi Police team received information that the doctor was being held captive at a house in Partapur village in Meerut. The police team surrounded the place where the doctor was being held captive. Following an exchange of fire between the Meerut and Delhi Police teams and the kidnappers, the doctor was rescued and four accused were nabbed, said the officer. The doctor is being brought to Delhi by a police team. With PTI inputs. ALSO READ | Revolver Rani 2.0: Jilted woman in UP stops wedding, abducts groom in style For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The humble outgoing President of India Pranab Mukherjee, who would be handing over the baton to Presidential-elect Ram Nath Kovind as the 14th President of the country soon, has left mark in the history for taking tough stand against terrorists and criminals. Mukherjee as the 13th President of the Country has rejected 35 mercy pleas requesting him to commute death sentence to life. During his term he has rejected 30 mercy petitions which includes appeals from Afzal Guru and Ajmal Kasab. He had questioned the UPA government for approving an ordinance to allow convicted politicians to contest elections. He had called the home minister and law minister for explanation. As a president he struck a good relationship with both UPA and present Modi-led NDA government but from time to time questioned the government on controversial issues. Know all about the 13th President Pranab Mukherjee Mukherjee was born to Kinkar Mukhopadhyay Sarani and Lakshmi, in the family of Bengali Kulin Brahmin family at Birbhum in West Bengal on 11 December, 1935. He earned an MA degree in Political Science and History from University of Calcutta. He also has an LLB degree. After completing his education, he worked as an upper-division Clerk in the Office of the Deputy Accountant-General (Post and Telegraph) in Calcutta. He was also a journalist and had a short term teaching career. He has seven noted books under his name out of which he wrote during his term as the Indian President. Political Career Mukherjee was into four decades of active politics and has served as the Defence Foreign, Commerce and Finance Minister during different term periods. His political career started in 1969 after he was inspired by then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Positions held Rajya Sabha - 1969, 1975, 1981, 1993, 1999 Lok Sabha - 2004, 2009 Member, Business Advisory Committee, Committeeon Privileges and Committee on Rules Member, Consultative Committee on External Affairs - 1996-99 Leader of the Lok Sabha - 2004 to 2012 Deputy Minister, Industrial Development - 1973 to 1974 Deputy Minister, Shipping and Transport - 1974 to 1974 Minister of State for Finance - 1974 to 1975 Minister of State for Revenue and Banking (Independent Charge) - 1975 to 1977 Cabinet Minister of Commerce and Steel and Mines- 1980 to 1982 Cabinet Minister of Finance - 1982 to 1984 Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission - 1991 to 1996 Cabinet Minister of Commerce - 1993 to 1995 Cabinet Minister of External Affairs - 1995 to 1996 Cabinet Minister of Defence - 2004 to 24 2006 Cabinet Minister of External Affairs - 2006 to 2009 Cabinet Minister of Finance - 2009 to 2010 For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Delhi High Court on Thursday directed Delhi Police to submit status report of Sunanda Pushkar death case in three days. The next date of hearing in the case is August 1. "Delhi Police said that they have no objection to CBI inquiry if the Court decides so," said BJP leader Subramanian Swamy. Earlier on July 14, Delhi police on Friday sought the damage report of the sealed suite no. 345 from Hotel Leela Palace where Sunanda was found dead on January 17, 2014. The Hotel Leela Palace room no. 345 has been closed since 2014 and the Police have no clue so far how Sunanda, wife of Congress leader Shashi Tharoor died. After several forensic experts visits to the room and five others reports from different medical boards, nothing could be found about the cause of her death. Swamy on July 6 had filed a petition in the court seeking a court monitored enquiry into the death of Sunanda. The Court also asked Swamy that why he woke up so late for which Swami replied he has come after exhausting all other options. Sunanda Pushkar, wife of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor was found dead in a suit of The Hotel Leela Palace in South Delhi on January 17, 2014. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. News, analysis, and archives on the grassroots in Haiti. Nouvel, analiz, ak achiv sou baz yo an AYITI. Noticias, analisis y archivos sobre el pueblo de Haiti. New Delhi: Footage has emerged of what leading UFO researchers believe to be an alien "mothership" the mammoth craft was spotted on NASA's live feed of the space region adjacent to the International Space Station (ISS). Truth revealed about what is leading leading UFO researchers believe to be an alien "mothership". It was only after a video was released on Thursday by brothers Blake and Brett Cousins who run YouTube channel thirdphaseofmoon'. In the footage released, a hazy object 'the mammoth craft' was spotted on NASA's live feed of the space region adjacent to the International Space Station (ISS). It is seen like a mere line of burning orange orbs initially, quickly forming the shape of what appears to be a spacefaring vessel gains contour and colour. The clip itself, the Cousins duo said, is sped up by 900 percent the actual event lasted over nine minutes. The pair enlisted the expertise of a UFO aficionado to shed some light on what the apparent craft which they claimed was "tracking" the station might actually be. Till now the video has been able to get the attention of over 40,000 views following its upload date (July 17). Also Read: Google street view's latest destination ISS, user can see 360-degree "It's pretty obvious we're either a protected planet like a nature reserve or under the protection or rule of another alien race. People wonder how come so many different craft come here. It's like the aliens are not allowed to say 'hello.' Why? Because we have been ruled from day one and still are. Pretty simple logic. Other aliens probably visit us to look, but have an agreement to not contact us, hence crop circles, graffiti? They probably say, 'poor humans being slaves I wish we could tell them!' But it's much similar to the tribe that lives in the Andaman Islands, they have no contact with the rest of the world, they have no idea what's out there. Our governments won't let us say hello, and that's on Earth, so people don't be shocked that they are here but not allowed to speak to us, it's like the Earth is being run by Kim Jong-il," speculated user MrSonicseeds. The footage was apparently missing from a subsequent NASA upload, leading some ufologists to suggest the agency deliberately edited the footage. Also Read: Elon Musk suggests SpaceX will abandon Red Dragon mission on Mars For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Sydney: According to detailed maps released by Australia, the painstaking search for missing flight MH370 has uncovered a previously unknown undersea world of volcanoes, deep valleys and soaring ridges. Although no trace of the Malaysia Airlines plane was found during the search in the southern Indian Ocean -- the most expensive ever of its kind -- large volumes of data showing a detailed picture of the sea floor had to be collected to guide the probe. Scientists are hopeful the new maps will give their community greater insight into oceans. "It is estimated that only 10 to 15 per cent of the world's oceans have been surveyed with the kind of technology used in the search for MH370", Geoscience Australia's environmental geoscience chief Stuart Minchin said late Wednesday. "(That makes) this remote part of the Indian Ocean among the most thoroughly mapped regions of the deep ocean on the planet." Read more: Astronomers detect bizarre radio signals coming from red dwarf star "So this data is unique both because of the remote location of the search area, and because of the sheer scale of the area surveyed." Minchin said the maps would also be useful for future scientific research, such as oceanographic and habitat modelling. Australia, Malaysia and China suspended the deep sea hunt in January, almost three years after the Boeing 777 disappeared with 239 people on board. The hunt -- based on satellite analysis of the jet's likely trajectory after it diverted from its flight path -- covered a 120,000 square-kilometre (46,000 square mile) designated zone, an area slightly smaller than England. Two shipwrecks were discovered during the search but no trace of the plane, deepening one the most enduring mysteries of the aviation age. However, the data revealed ridges six kilometres (3.73 miles) wide and 15 kilometres long that rise 1,500 metres above the sea floor, as well as fault valleys 1,200 metres deep and five kilometres wide. A second set of data will be released in mid-2018. While the search for the missing plane has been called off, Canberra has said it could be restarted if new evidence about the specific location of the aircraft emerges. "We remain hopeful that new information will come to light and that at some point in the future the aircraft will be located", Australia's Transport Minister Darren Chester said. Read more: Bird-like feathered dinosaur identified by Royal Ontario Museum Australia's national science body CSIRO released a report in April confirming that MH370 was "most likely" north of the former search zone. Three fragments from the plane have been recovered washed up on western Indian Ocean shores, including a two-metre wing part known as a flaperon found on La Reunion island. Speculation on the cause of the plane's disappearance has focused primarily on possible hijacking, rogue pilot action or mechanical failure, but nothing has yet been proved. For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: A Senate panel has announced that US President Donald Trumps eldest son and a former campaign manager will testify before Congress next week as part of US investigations into the Trump teams alleged contacts with Russia. Trumps son along with Paul Manafort are scheduled to testify in an open hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee at 10 am (local time) on Wednesday. Last year, the duo attended a controversial meeting with a Russian lawyer wherein they were expecting to receive dirt from Moscow on Trumps 2016 election rival Hillary Clinton. Citing Trumps son-in-law Jared Kushners lawyer, CNN reported that Kushner will testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Monday, albeit in a closed-door session. ALSO READ: US lists Pakistan among nations offering 'safe havens' to terrorists Kushner also attended the June 2016 meeting with the Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya. He is married to Trumps daughter Ivanka Trump. Trump Jr sent shockwaves through Washington when he confirmed the meeting by releasing a series of emails in which the now-presidents son was told the campaign could get very high level and sensitive information that was part of Russia and its governments support for Mr Trump. It put Trumps son and son-in-law at the centre of a burgeoning scandal involving multiple US investigations into whether Trump associates colluded with Moscow in its efforts to tilt the 2016 election in the Republicans favour. Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and top Democrat Dianne Feinstein yesterday warned in letters to those testifying next week that they need to preserve all relevant documents in your possession... related to Russian interference in the 2016 election, including documents related to your or the Trump campaigns contacts with Russian government officials, associates or representatives. The senators said they would issue subpoenas if the witnesses did not produce the required documents. With PTI inputs. ALSO READ: US announces sanctions on Iran over ballistic missiles, terrorism For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Budapest: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday denounced Brussels repeated criticism of Israel as an anomaly and called on Europe to reassess its relationship with the Jewish state. There is an anomaly, we are often criticised by Western Europe, often more than any other place in the world. Israel is a bastion of European and western values in the heart of a very dark place, the premier said in Budapest on the second of a three-day visit to Hungary. Its time to have a re-assessment in Europe about the relationship with Israel. Netanyahu made the remarks after holding talks with leaders from the so-called Visegrad Four group - Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic - whose nationalist anti-immigration stances have also put them increasingly at odds with Brussels. ALSO READ: PM Modi, Benjamin Netanyahu enjoy some light moments at scenic Dor beach in Haifa The Israeli premier praised the Visegrad nations for supporting Israel on several occasions at European Union meetings. Observers say Israel is seeking closer ties to nations that can help defend its interests in international forums. With their backing, it will be harder for the EU to pass resolutions critical of Israel, Middle East expert Peter Lintl told Austrian newspaper Kurier. Netanyahu is the first Israeli leader to visit Budapest since the fall of communism in 1989. His Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban, a virulent opponent of Muslim immigration, has hailed Netanyahu as a patriot. We share Israels notion of protecting external borders, said Orban whose government has erected fences on its southern EU frontiers to keep out illegal asylum-seekers. If Europe does not cooperate with Israel, it is punishing itself, he added. Both men are right-wingers enamoured of US President Donald Trump and with a disdain for the left-leaning liberal global order bankrolled, as they see it, by the likes of US Jewish billionaire George Soros. Netanyahus trip comes at a sensitive time for Orban, who is under fire at home over his running battle against Hungarian-born Soros and praise of a Hungarian Nazi-allied wartime leader. Many in Hungarys 100,000-strong Jewish population - one Europes largest - have accused Orban, in power since 2010, of turning a blind eye to anti-Semitism or even encouraging it to stave off growing support for the far-right. However Netanyahu defended Orban on Tuesday, insisting that Hungary, as the birthplace of modern political Zionism founder Theodor Herzl, was at the forefront of countries fighting anti-Zionism. ALSO READ | PM Modi-PM Netanyahu meet: India, Israel ink 7 pacts, step-up cooperation in space, agriculture and water conservation sectors For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Ram Nath Kovind, a low-key lawyer-turned-politician, was elected on Thursday as Indias 14th President, the first BJP member and the second Dalit to occupy the countrys highest office. The 71-year-old Kovind defeated joint opposition candidate Meira Kumar, a former Lok Sabha speaker, after garnering 65.65 percent of the votes in the electoral college. Expressing happiness over the extensive support Kovind got from the electoral college, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, Congratulations to Shri Ram Nath Kovind Ji on being elected the President of India! Best wishes for a fruitful & inspiring tenure. A former Bihar governor, Kovind received 2930 votes with a value of 7,02,044, said election Returning Officer Anoop Mishra. Kumar got 1844 votes with a value of 3,67,314. The winning margin was not as big as forecast by the BJP, which had projected a 70 per cent vote for Kovind. Outgoing President Pranab Mukherjee had received votes valued at 7,13,763. I never aspired to be the president. My win is a message to those discharging their duties with integrity. My election as the President is an evidence of the greatness of Indian democracy, Kovind told the media after his victory was announced. I am feeling emotional. Kovind is the first BJP member to be elected president. He will take oath of office on July 25 for a five-year term. He is also the second Dalit to occupy Rashtrapati Bhavan after K.R. Narayanan. Previous presidents have included a Sikh and two Muslims. As soon as the results were formally announced, the sounds of firecrackers going off reverberated in Kalyanpur in Kanpur Dehat in Uttar Pradesh, where Kovind hails from. The teachers of DAV College, where Kovind had studied, said they were proud of his achievement. For us it is indeed a glorious moment, as one of the proud alumnus of our college is now going to occupy the top constitutional post of the country, said Amit Kumar Srivastava, principal of the college. Kovinds victory is partly due to the BJPs massive victory in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections earlier this year. This gave the party a big boost in the electoral college numbers. Even after the U.P. victory, the BJP-led NDA was slightly short of majority and had to rely on the support of non-NDA parties such as TRS in Telangana, AIADMK factions and DMK in Tamil Nadu, the JD(U) in Bihar, and BJD in Odisha. But the party played a masterstroke by fielding a Dalit candidate as part of its outreach to woo the backward communities, which several opposition parties found difficult to oppose given the political sensitivites. This forced the opposition to follow suit and put up Kumar, a diplomat-turned-politician, in a Dalit vs Dalit fight. Congratulating her poll rival, Kumar said it has now fallen on Kovind to uphold the Constitution in letter and spirit in these challenging times. Kumar said that her fight for secularism, the oppressed and the marginalised will continue. Modi also congratulated Kumar for her campaign, saying it was in the spirit of democratic ethos and values we all are proud of. Among those who congratulated Kovind were Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, a host of chief ministers and other politician. Soon after, the president-elect met with Modi, who put a piece of sweetmeat in his mouth after putting a stole around his neck, as BJP President Amit Shah looked on. #WATCH Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President Amit Shah and Union Min Ananth Kumar felicitate President Elect #RamNathKovind in Delhi pic.twitter.com/YonlhKPtuW ANI (@ANI_news) July 20, 2017 Hailing as historic Kovinds election, Shah said it is a victory for the poor, downtrodden and marginalised and their aspirations. A total of 768 out of 771 eligible MPs cast votes. Likewise, 4083 out of 4109 eligible MLAs cast their votes, registering a turnout of nearly 100 percent. While 522 MPs voted for Kovind, Kumar secured support of 225 parliamentarians. The electoral college comprises of Members of Parliament and members of legislative assemblies of all states. Also Read: NDA's Ram Nath Kovind is 14th President of India; PM Modi, BJP prez Amit Shah congratulate him on his victory While the value of an MLAs vote depends on the population of his or her state, the value of an MPs vote remains the same at 708. The polling was marked by cross-voting in various states where many opposition members favoured Kovind. The vice-presidential election will be held on August 5. While BJP has nominated a former party president, Venkaiah Naidu, the opposition has fielded former West Bengal governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The lawyers of Pakistans higher and lower courts on Wednesday held nationwide protests against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif seeking his resignation. the protests were held after a joint investigation team (JIT) probing Panam papers leak case accused Sharif and his family of evading tax by setting up offshore companies to purchase high-end properties in London. The protests against Sharif were called by the Pakistan Bar Council and the Supreme Court Bar Association along with Pakistans top lawyers. The courts, where protests were organized did not hear any case. However, the Supreme Court of Pakistan continued with its proceedings, including hearing the Panama Papers leaks case. The protests also partially disrupted the proceedings of Lahore high Court. Bar Council Vice Chairman Ahsan Bhoon said the lawyer community has expressed solidarity with the Supreme Court and asked Sharif to step down. The organisations have urged Sharif to honorably resign as he has lost the moral and legal authority to continue in his office. We have requested the Supreme Court to take the Panama Papers case to its logical end and disqualify the prime minister and other public office-holders declared guilty of corruption in the JIT report. Pakistan PM, however, said those asking for my resignation have been rejected by the nation multiple times and complained that he had never been allowed to complete his tenure and this is the first time he has completed four years. Apart from Sharif, the bar councils have also sought the resignation of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and the prime ministers son-in-law Muhammad Safdar. (With PTI inputs) For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Dubai: Saudi police have released without charge a woman who was filmed in a miniskirt at a historicsite in the ultra conservative kingdom, the government said on Thursday. The ministry of information said police had released the woman last night and the prosector had closed the case. Police said they were questioning the woman after she appeared in a series of videos, initially posted to messaging app Snapchat, wearing a crop top and a high-waisted miniskirt. She had been filmed walking through the historic fort of Ushaiqer, north of Riyadh, and playing with sand in the dunes. The videos were uploaded over the weekend to the "ModelKhulood" Snapchat account. The ministry said in a statement that the woman had confessed to walking through the site in a skirt with her hair uncovered but that the footage had been uploaded without her knowledge. Women are required to wear long black abaya robes and cover their hair in public in most of Saudi Arabia, which has some of the world's harshest restrictions on women. The kingdom does not allow women to drive and requires them to be accompanied or given written permission by a malerelative - usually a father, husband or brother - to study,work or travel. The videos sparked heated debate among social media usersin the region and beyond on questions of gender and rights inthe kingdom. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. The number of tourists coming to Japan hit a record high in the first half of 2017. The Japan National Tourism Organization says more than 13.75 million people visited Japan in the 6 months. That's up 17 percent from a year ago and the highest ever for the January-to-June period. An increase in air routes between Japan and South Korea helped spur the rise. Cruise ships from China and Taiwan making port calls in Japan were another factor. Visitor spending also reached an all-time high. For the most recent quarter, between April and June, the total was around 9.6 billion dollars. But expenditure per traveler fell 6.7 percent from the same period last year to around 1,300 dollars. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate DANBURY Starting this fall, area students with a dream of launching a business can get expert advice, seed money, and assistance in turning the idea into a bona fide business. The Ridgefield Chamber of Commerce announced the launch of the Young Entrepreneurs Academy, or YEA, a national program for middle and high school students. Enrollment is open to students in grades six through 12 in greater Danbury. The 30-week program, which will start in November, will include guest speakers, mentors and field trips to places such as local businesses and city halls to visit the various departments involved in launching a company. Once their business plan is refined, students will pitch their ideas to a panel of investors. Its a very hands-on and interactive curriculum, said Bobbi Jo Beers, who will run the program. The cost is $995, with at least three scholarships available. The academy will meet once a week after school for three hours. Jennifer Zinzi, executive director of the Ridgefield Chamber of Commerce, announced the launch of the program at a press conference held Wednesday morning at the Entrepreneurship, Research, Innovation and Creativity Center, or ERIC, at Western Connecticut State University. Classes for the program will be held at ERIC. So far 4,000 students in the country have launched more than 3,000 businesses, nonprofits and social movements, Zinzi said. Its something that truly changes the lives of young adults. It helps prepare the leaders of tomorrow. YEA is in 75 other communities throughout the U.S. The Ridgefield Chamber of Commerce is the first in Connecticut to run the program. The academy is being funded locally by the Goldstone Family Foundation of Ridgefield. One of the core funding initiatives of the Goldstone Family Foundation has been to create opportunities for individuals to learn and build a tool box of skills to carry forward through life, enabling self-sufficiency, Kerri Glass, director of the Goldstone Family Foundation, said. The Ridgefield Chamber of Commerce will run the program for at least three years. Ridgefield Superintendent of Schools Karen Baldwin said the program fits in with the districts aim to develop creative and critical thinkers. Anne Mead, administrator of Early Childhood Education and Extended Learning Programs for Danbury schools, added: Its important for our students to have these opportunities. We have so many students from diverse backgrounds who look forward to doing their own thing. Beers, the former director of the Bethel Chamber of Commerce and currently the owner of a mobile fashion business, said she jumped at the chance to run the program. Being able to share my knowledge and connections with young entrepreneurs I couldnt say no, she said. Many college graduates are not taking risks because of high college debt. This gives middle and high school students the opportunity to start a business early and not have that fear of going out on their own. An informational session will be held at 6 p.m. on Aug. 1 at ERIC, which is located on WestConns West Campus off Mill Plain Road. cbosak@hearstmediact.com; 203-731-3338 CALGARY, July 20, 2017 /CNW/ - Cervus Equipment Corp. ("Cervus" or "the Company") (TSX: CERV) today announced that it will host its second quarter 2017 results conference call on August 11, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The Company intends to disclose its financial results after markets close on August 10, 2017. President and CEO, Graham Drake, and CFO, Randy Muth, will discuss Cervus's financial and operating results for the quarter ended June 30, 2017, and then take questions from securities analysts and institutional shareholders. Interested parties may access the conference call by dialling (647) 427-7450 or 1-888-231-8191. Please connect approximately 10 minutes prior to the beginning of the call. The conference call will be archived for replay until Friday, August 18, 2017 at midnight. To access the archived conference call, dial (416) 849-0833 or 1-855-859-2056 and enter the reservation number 58494446 followed by the number sign. A live audio webcast of the conference call will be available at: http://event.on24.com/r.htm?e=1472329&s=1&k=736535A0E1503C2B91E9602A0504B5FB Please connect at least 15 minutes prior to the conference call to ensure adequate time for any software download that may be required to join the webcast. The webcast will be archived at the above website for 90 days. About Cervus Equipment Corporation Cervus acquires and operates authorized agricultural, construction, materials handling and transportation equipment dealerships. The company has interests in 64 dealerships in Canada, New Zealand and Australia, employing more than 1,500 people. The primary equipment brands represented by Cervus include John Deere agricultural equipment; Peterbilt transportation equipment; Bobcat, CMI and JCB construction equipment; and Clark, Sellick and Doosan material handling equipment. The common shares of Cervus are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and trade under the symbol "CERV". SOURCE Cervus Equipment Corp. For further information: Graham Drake - President & CEO, (403) 567-2095, [email protected]; Randy Muth - Chief Financial Officer, (403) 567-2097, [email protected] Hillberg & Berk honours the Queen's Sapphire Jubilee with a one-of-a-kind brooch using Canada's only known sapphires REGINA, July 19, 2017 /CNW/ - During her visit to Canada House Trafalgar Square on July 19, 2017, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was presented with a sapphire brooch designed by Saskatchewan-based jeweller Hillberg & Berk on behalf of the Government of Canada to celebrate the Queen's Sapphire Jubilee and to commemorate Canada's 150th anniversary of confederation. Governor General David Johnston presented The Queen with the brooch moments before she and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh unveiled a new Jubilee Walkway panel outside Canada House. "To mark these milestones and to thank you for your selfless and devoted service to our country, we wish to present you with a special gift. We were delighted when you recently wore your maple leaf brooch in a lovely photo you shared with us on Canada Day. We know that that brooch was a gift from your father to your mother on the occasion of her first visit to Canada in 1939," he said. "Today, 78 years later, on behalf of all Canadians, I have the honour of presenting you with a special companion to your maple leaf brooch a snowflake, shaped like the North Star. This brooch was specially handcrafted for you and features unique Canadian beluga sapphires from Baffin Island in Nunavut and diamonds from northern Canada. We hope that you will be pleased with this gift from the people of Canada and that it will serve as a reminder of the immense affection in which you are held." The brooch which features Canada's only known sapphires, discovered near the hamlet of Kimmirut on Baffin Island pays tribute to The Queen in true Canadian style. Taking design inspiration from the backdrop of the Canadian Arctic, Her Majesty's Canadian Sapphire Jubilee Brooch celebrates the beauty of the landscape and the one-of-a-kind nature of the snowflake. The Jubilee Brooch was made in Canada, using the following elements: 48 Canadian sapphires of varying colour and shape, totalling 10.19 carats; More than 400 diamonds of varying size, including Maple Leaf certified diamonds, totalling 4.39 carats; Certified 18K Canadian white gold; The brooch is 61mm tall and 66mm wide. This distinctive piece will be added to the Queen's collection of sapphire jewellery. To commemorate her Sapphire Jubilee, an official 2014 portrait by David Bailey depicting the sovereign wearing sapphire jewellery she received as a wedding present from her father was reissued, further enhancing the iconic image of the Queen's lifelong association with sapphires. "I can think of no other woman who better represents what sparkle truly means to us," says Rachel Mielke, CEO and Founder of Hillberg & Berk. "Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is a symbol of strength and inspiration, not only to Canadians, but to people around the world." "Being chosen to create this truly one of a kind brooch on behalf of the Government of Canada is a tremendous honour," she adds. "We are so humbled to have created this special piece for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II." Special thanks to PM Gems and Maple Leaf Diamonds for their work on this project. Link to media assets, including the press release, background information and more: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/g1u6uea4s2ap3ff/AABKv8sDuwbbX_Rxz1jNzf8Ca?dl=0 Getty Images link to photo of The Queen receiving the brooch: http://www.gettyimages.ca/license/818729508 Link to tweet shared by The Royal Family of The Queen receiving the brooch: https://twitter.com/RoyalFamily/status/887645984683159553 Link to tweet shared by Governor General David Johnston showcasing the brooch: https://twitter.com/GGDavidJohnston/status/887622453777883138 Link to Instagram album shared by The Royal Family of The Queen receiving the brooch: https://www.instagram.com/p/BWuy_PrgVoq/?taken-by=theroyalfamily About Hillberg & Berk Using only the finest semi-precious stones, freshwater pearls, Swarovski crystals and more, Hillberg & Berk's handcrafted pieces are designed to last throughout time. Celebrities and dignitaries such as Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Tessa Virtue, Arianna Huffington, Chloe Wilde and Justin Bieber have been spotted wearing Hillberg & Berk designs. Currently, Hillberg & Berk jewellery is sold through five corporately owned retail locations in Regina, Saskatoon and Edmonton, sold at 90 retailers across Canada and online at hillbergandberk.com. Follow on Twitter: @hillbergandberk, Instagram: @hillbergandberk, Facebook: facebook.com/hillbergandberk SOURCE Hillberg & Berk For further information: For media inquiries, please contact: Ricky Zayshley, Press + Post, Cell: 403.401.3833, E: [email protected] Projects will advance gender equality in Alberta's and Canada's economies. Local women leaders will be engaged in pan-Canadian network. EDMONTON, July 19, 2017 /CNW/ - As Canada marks the 150th anniversary of Confederation, it is important to reflect on our legacy for the future. Despite the important milestones witnessed in these 150 years, women, girls, and gender-non-conforming people still face hardships. A lot more work remains for gender equality to become a reality in Canada. By investing in a strong and thriving women's movement today, we are laying the foundation for gender equality tomorrow. Today, Terry Duguid, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Status of Women and Member of Parliament for Winnipeg South, on behalf of the Honourable Maryam Monsef, Minister of Status of Women, announced Government of Canada funding for two projects that will help advance gender equality in Alberta's and Canada's economies. The Canadian Centre for Women in Science, Engineering, Trades and Technology (WinSETT Centre) is receiving $354,128 in funding for a three-year project to challenge gender bias and stereotypes affecting women in the science, engineering, trades and technology sectors. The organization will work with industry partners to develop a strategy to address these stereotypes. This will then be shared with stakeholders, including potential employers. In addition, Women Building Futures is receiving $384,000 for a three-year project to support the hiring and retention of Indigenous women in the construction, maintenance, and oil and gas sectors. The project will bring together Indigenous women, employers and stakeholders to identify barriers and best practices to advance Indigenous women's participation in these industries. The organization will develop a series of workshops on workplace practices and dynamics as well as making recommendations to employers and industry champions on how to support the success of Indigenous women employees. Quotes "Strong, dynamic women are the heart of the women's movement and their leadership is key to achieving gender equality. Our Government's initiative will bring them together, at the national level, with the goal of facilitating the exchange of experiences and best practices. This strong, vibrant, and coordinated women's movement will lead the way to equality, for the next 150 years and beyond." The Honourable Maryam Monsef, P.C., M.P. Minister of Status of Women "When women are empowered to succeed in the economy, all Canadians benefit. With these projects, women across Alberta will enjoy greater opportunities to work in several well-paying sectors of our economy. By challenging the barriers that hold women back, Canadian industries can benefit from women's enormous economic potential and leadership skills. This will contribute to their success." Terry Duguid Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Status of Women "We are proud to work with the Government of Canada on this project to break down the stereotypes that often hold women back from careers in science, engineering, trades and technology. These industries depend on innovation and they need the diverse skills and perspectives of women to compete in the global economy." Dr. Margaret-Ann Armour, Chair Canadian Centre for Women in Science, Engineering, Trades and Technology "Indigenous women have a lot to offer the construction, maintenance and oil and gas industries, but they face unique challenges in trying to access those careers. This project will identify the systemic barriers faced by Indigenous women and work with employers to find solutions." Kathy Kimpton, President and CEO Women Building Futures Quick Facts In October 2016 , Status of Women Canada invited organizations to propose projects that advance gender equality across Canada . As of June 2017 , some 50 projects have been approved for over $18 million in Funding to Advance Gender Equality with the goal of empowering great Canadian women and enabling their good work to set the stage for the next 150 years. This is the most funding to ever be approved through a Status of Women Canada call for proposals. Approved projects will take place over a period of three years. , Status of Women Canada invited organizations to propose projects that advance gender equality across . As of , some 50 projects have been approved for over in with the goal of empowering great Canadian women and enabling their good work to set the stage for the next 150 years. This is the most funding to ever be approved through a Status of Women Canada call for proposals. Approved projects will take place over a period of three years. These initiatives are part of a federal investment of over $18 million in support of grassroots organizations and 150 women leaders across the country who will work together as part of a pan-Canadian network. They will thereby contribute to feminist action for gender equality at the national level. The network is being convened by the Canadian Women's Foundation. in support of grassroots organizations and 150 women leaders across the country who will work together as part of a pan-Canadian network. They will thereby contribute to feminist action for gender equality at the national level. The network is being convened by the Canadian Women's Foundation. The Women's Program at Status of Women Canada supports eligible organizations to carry out projects to advance equality by addressing systemic barriers that contribute to gender inequality in Canada . Related Produc Backgrounder Associated Links Ce texte est egalement disponible en francais For news releases and information on Status of Women Canada, go to women.gc.ca. Follow us on Twitter: @Women Canada Like us on Facebook: Women in Canada Follow us on Instagram: women_canada Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/CanadaSWC Backgrounder Canadian Centre for Women in Science, Engineering, Trades and Technology (WinSETT Centre) - $354,128 The WinSETT Centre is a non-profit organization that aspires to recruit, retain and advance women in the science, engineering, trades and technology sectors. The WinSETT Centre is receiving $354,128 in funding for a three-year project to challenge gender biases and stereotypes impeding women from joining the science, engineering, trades and technology sectors. The organization will work with industry partners to develop a strategy to address these stereotypes.This will then be shared with stakeholders, including potential employers. Women Building Futures (WBF) - $384,000 WBF has been working since 1998 to prepare women for well-paying careers in industries where women have historically been under-represented. The organization is receiving $384,000 for a three-year project to support the hiring and retention of Indigenous women in the construction, maintenance, and oil and gas sectors. The project will bring together Indigenous women, employers and stakeholders to identify barriers and best practices to advance Indigenous women's participation in these industries. The organization will develop a series of workshops on workplace practices and dynamics as well as making recommendations to employers and industry champions on how to support the success of Indigenous women employees. Call for proposals: Funding to Advance Gender Equality in Canada Over $18 million In October 2016, Status of Women Canada invited organizations to propose projects that advance gender equality across Canada. As of June 2017, some 50 projects have been approved for over $18 million in Funding to Advance Gender Equality. Over the course of 36-months, the projects will address systemic barriers in Status of Women Canada's three areas of focus: increasing women's economic security and prosperity; encouraging women and girls to be better represented in leadership and decision-making roles; and ending violence against women and girls. The Canadian Women's Foundation will convene a strong, independent, pan-Canadian network of women leaders to support feminist action for gender equality at the national level. These leaders have been chosen for their remarkable efforts at the local level to advance gender equality with women, girls and gender non-conforming people. By creating a network of visionary women, we will broaden the reach of their efforts beyond their communities inspiring others from across the country to add their voices and contribute their ideas towards achieving real progress. SOURCE Status of Women Canada For further information: Philippe Charlebois, Director of Communications, Office of the Minister of Status of Women, 613-618-8546; Leonie Roux, Public Affairs Officer, Status of Women Canada, 819-420-6821 Related Links https://www.canada.ca OAKVILLE, ON, July 19, 2017 /CNW/ - Restaurant Brands International Inc. (TSX/NYSE: QSR, TSX: QSP) will release its second quarter 2017 financial results on Wednesday, August 2, 2017 and will host an investor conference call that morning at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. The earnings call will be webcast on the company's investor relations website http://investor.rbi.com and a replay will be available for 30 days following the release. Investors may also access the conference call via the following dial-in numbers: (877) 317-6711 for U.S. callers, (866) 450-4696 for Canadian callers, and (412) 317-5475 for callers from other countries. About Restaurant Brands International Inc. Restaurant Brands International Inc. ("RBI") is one of the world's largest quick service restaurant companies with more than $27 billion in system-wide sales and over 23,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries and U.S. territories. RBI owns three of the world's most prominent and iconic quick service restaurant brands TIM HORTONS, BURGER KING, and POPEYES. These independently operated brands have been serving their respective guests, franchisees and communities for over 40 years. To learn more about RBI, please visit the company's website at www.rbi.com. SOURCE Restaurant Brands International Inc. For further information: Investors, Markus Sturm, Investor Relations, [email protected]; Media, Patrick McGrade, Corporate Affairs, [email protected] TORONTO, July 20, 2017 /CNW/ - Street Capital Group Inc. ("Street Capital" or the "Company") (TSX: SCB), today announced that it will host a conference call on Thursday, August 3, 2017 at 7:30 a.m. ET to discuss its 2017 second quarter financial results. The Company plans to release its financial results at 6:00 a.m. ET on Thursday, August 3, 2017. Website - https://streetcapital.ca/ Conference Call Details Participant Dial-in Webcast Reference Number Conference Call 647-427-7450; or 1-888-231-8191 http://bit.ly/2uJOBMH Replay (available for 2 weeks) 416-849-0833; or 1-855-859-2056 58546601 About Street Capital Group Inc. (streetcapitalgroup.ca) Street Capital Group Inc. (TSX: SCB) is a public company operating through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Street Capital Bank of Canada, a federally regulated Schedule I Bank offering residential mortgage loans with the strategic goal of introducing additional retail banking products in the coming years. Street Capital Bank of Canada sources its mortgage products primarily through a network of independent mortgage brokers across Canada with whom it has built relationships. Street Capital Bank of Canada offers a broad line-up of high ratio and conventional mortgages to borrowers and either sells the mortgages it underwrites to top tier financial institutions or holds them on balance sheet. Street Capital Bank of Canada lends throughout all of the Provinces of Canada (other than Quebec) and has offices in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. For more information please visit streetcapital.ca. SOURCE Street Capital For further information: W.E. Gettings, CEO, Street Capital Group Inc., [email protected]; Jonathan Ross, LodeRock Advisors Inc., Inv. Relations, [email protected], (416) 283-0178 Related Links https://streetcapital.ca/ finger lakes drug bust Officers seized a kilogram of heroin, dozens of grams of cocaine, 15 guns and drug paraphernalia after searching eight residences. Photos provided by the AG's office show some of the guns, drugs and paraphernalia confiscated by officials. (NYS Attorney General's Office) A man wanted by the state since May for running a statewide heroin ring out of the Finger Lakes has been arrested, the Ithaca Police Department announced Wednesday. Arthur Erskine Officials said 40-year-old Arthur "Wise" Erskine, of Ithaca, was found Tuesday at a home along Lenox Avenue in Utica and taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service. New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced in May that charges had been filed against Erskine and 30 others for their involvement in a major heroin operation that stretched from New York City to the Finger Lakes region in upstate New York. Investigators said the operation moved "massive" amounts of heroin across the state. Erskine bought fentanyl-laced heroin in New York City and passed it along to his network of dealers for distribution, according to the attorney general's office. He owned a home in the Bronx, as well as two in the affluent village of Cayuga Heights in Ithaca, for drug trafficking, officials said. At least one woman, Stephanie Dvorak, died after using heroin bought from Erskine's dealers, according to the attorney general. Officers from nine departments executed search warrants shortly after Dvorak's death and seized over a kilogram of heroin, dozens of grams of cocaine, 14 handguns, one MAC-11 machine pistol and narcotics-related paraphernalia from the ring allegedly run by Erskine and his family. The bust was the culmination of a five-month investigation, deemed "Operation Un-Wise," into the operation, officials said. Erskine was charged with: Operating as a major trafficker Second-degree conspiracy First-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance Two counts of second-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance Six counts of second-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance Twelve counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance Three counts of third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance Four counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon Four counts of second-degree criminal possession of drug paraphernalia Two counts of first-degree unlawfully dealing with a child He is currently being held in Tioga County jail without bail, police said. He is scheduled to be arraigned Friday afternoon Skye Banks renewed commitment to debt recovery and profitability is paying off as the bank has reportedly raked in over N60 billion from its debtors through aggressive and robust debt recovery efforts in the last one year.The Management of the Bank made this disclosure in a statement issued to update stakeholders of milestones recorded in the last one year of its regulatory intervention that has seen the management work assiduously and silently to steer the bank to stability.The Central Bank of Nigeria had on July 4, 2016 constituted a new board and management for Skye Bank Plc to address the Banks declining prudential ratios and return it to sustainable profitability with a mandate to reduce cost to income ratio, improve asset quality, improve liquidity and capital adequacy and restore profitability.A statement jointly signed by its Chairman and the Group Managing Director, M. A. Ahmad and Tokunbo Abiru, stated: Upon assumption of office, we found the institution in a poor state with many of its largest loans non-performing; its capital significantly eroded and liquidity impaired.At the core of the banks challenges was a failure of corporate governance typified by a very high level of non-performing insider-related loans. The funding mix and structure; as well as risk asset portfolio mix also signified improper risk management exposing the institution to policy and currency risks.The Banks management outlined the efforts it put in place to drive and restore customer confidence and stabilize the institution.The statement said: One of the most important challenges the management addressed, relates to the inadequacy of loan security and improper collateral documentation in the legacy portfolio of the bank.The management over the last one year has worked assiduously on cleaning up loan and collateral documentation on most of the high value facilities, thus putting the bank in a stronger position to enforce its rights as a lender.Skye Bank is one of Nigerias leading retail banks with a wide range of electronic solutions and services, promoting consumer lifestyle and e-commerce experience especially within the retail, and SME banking space. The Assistant General Overseer to Pastor Enoch Adeboye, on Administration/Personnel, Pastor Johnson Odesola has thrown his weight behind calls for the restructuring of the Nigerian nation.Odesola stated this in a chat with newsmen after the monthly Special Prayer programme and thanksgiving for First Born and their families hosted by the national headquarters of the church, Throne of Grace Parish, Ebutte- Metta, Lagos tagged: Born to excel.Pastor Odesola stressed the importance of restructuring the nation, noting that it would go a long way to providing solutions to several unnecessary agitations across the nation and open doors for Nigeria to settle down and address important issues that would give Nigerians a sense of belonging.He said: I am happy that all stakeholders and leaders of thought have agreed on the need to restructure and I agree with it too. It will provide us an opportunity to discuss and address the teething problems that led to agitations in several quarters.We need restructuring that will further unify the country guided by selfless love, peace, good conscience and prosperity for all.The cleric further called on Nigerians to help one another instead of thinking of disintegration while those that have enough should go into entrepreneurship and engage those who do not have the wherewithal to do so.Nigerians should take advantage of the diversification and think of what to do instead of criticising the government. I submit that the present economic situation is an avenue for Nigerians to come up with a lot of bright ideas in the area of entrepreneurship, he said.He urged government to remain focused and work hard to implement projects that will ameliorate the suffering of Nigerians. The Lagos State Police Command said on Wednesday that it has arrested the policeman, who allegedly shot a tanker driver dead along Burma Ro... The Lagos State Police Command said on Wednesday that it has arrested the policeman, who allegedly shot a tanker driver dead along Burma Road, Apapa. The command said 18 suspected hoodlums who allegedly caused mayhem in the area following the killing have also been apprehended. According to the commands spokesperson, ASP Olarinde Famous-Cole, police received a distress call from the Chief Security Officer of a new generation bank located in the area which they responded to. The caller said hoodlums were trying to take laws into their hands by setting the bank ablaze following the shooting of a tank driver by a policeman attached to the bank during an altercation. Operatives of the command including the Area Commander,Apapa, the Rapid Response Squad, and other security agents quickly rushed to the scene to take charge of the situation. The State Commissioner of Police, Mr Fatai Owoseni, was also present at the scene of the incident. If not for the quick intervention of the Police, the hoodlums would have wrecked more havoc as they destroyed private properties and valuables. A mob had gathered in front of the bank demanding that the trigger-happy policeman be released to them, but the bank refused, leading to the arson and further attack on another banks branch located on Wharf Road. The fire at the banks was put out by the police and other security agencies as the tanker driver, identified as Azeez was rushed immediately to the hospital for treatment, he said. Famous-Cole, however, said the driver was confirmed dead on arrival at the hospital. He said:Contrary to reports making the rounds, only one tanker driver was shot. The policeman has been arrested and will be charged to court immediately, the 18 suspected hoodlums also arrested are also undergoing investigations. The command would like to address the members of the public on impunity and jungle justice in the state. We are no longer going to tolerate the act of lawlessness and impunity by members of the public. The police spokesman said normalcy had been restored to the area. The Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Navy on Wednesday dismissed the recent report of the killing of 97 Nigerians by Cameroonian gendarmes over their refusal to pay a N100, 000 fishing boat tax imposed on them in the ceded part of the Bakassi Peninsula.The Nigeria Police, the Nigeria Immigration Service as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also said no Nigerian was killed in the particular case of fishing boat tax dispute between the Bakassi residents and the Cameroonian authorities.However, they confirmed that many Nigerians, who either could not afford the tax or simply opposed it, had elected to return to Nigeria and were being quartered in camps in Cross River State.These submissions were made to the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Relations at the National Assembly in Abuja.The committee, which is chaired by a member from Abia State, Nnena Elendu-Ukeje, was directed by the House on Thursday last week to investigate the alleged killings.But, as the Federal Government officials spoke before the committee on Wednesday (yesterday), they merely admitted that a disagreement over fishing tax did exist, but clarified that there were no deaths.Maj. Gen. David Ahmadu, who represented the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, told the committee that the army used its own mechanism to conduct a check on the issue but was unable to confirm the killings.Ahmadu added that Nigeria and Cameroon had had a harmonious relationship in recent years, collaborating on the fight against Boko Haram insurgents.He added, The report on the killing of Nigerians cannot be confirmed by the Nigerian Army. Nobody corroborated the allegation. Nigerian and Cameroonian troops have had good cooperation on cross-border criminal activities. Our position is that we have not got any confirmation that the killings took place.The Navy gave a similar position in its submission to the Elendu-Ukeje committee.Rear Admiral O.H. Ngalabak, who represented the Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, said, We undertook an investigation of the allegation. We found out that there were no evidence of attacks or injuries on the returnees. The report of the killings is doubtful and demands careful handling. The arrival of the returnees and the immediate protests in the area appeared to have been stage-managed for political reasons.On the part of the NIS, it confirmed that many Nigerians relocated from Bakassi to Nigeria when they were unable to afford the tax.The NIS also said there had been a number of eviction threats against the Nigerians, though the matter had not degenerated to killings.A Deputy Comptroller-General of Immigration, Mr. N.A. Ibrahim, informed the committee that so far the service had documented 1,541 returnees.The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in its brief, told the committee that since the news of the alleged killings broke on July 7, it had conducted investigations and engaged Cameroon through diplomatic channels, but was unable to establish that the killings took place.The Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mr. Olusola Enikanolaiye, gave the ministrys position on behalf of the Minister, Mr. Godfrey Onyeama.However, Senator Bassey Henshaw, who spoke for the Bakassi people, accused the Federal Government of not being sincere about the plight of Bakassi residents.He cited the non-implementation of the Green Tree Agreement signed between Nigerian and the Cameroonian authorities, which had remained a source of friction over the last 10 years. The strike action which was called by workers union of the Corporate Affairs Commission is having a negative huge impact on the inflow of revenue to the government.The Registrar-General, CAC, Bello Mahmud, confirmed the development during a chat in Abuja.He said that the decision of the union to embark on the strike action which resulted in a total shutdown of the headquarters of the commission is also affecting the objective of the Federal Government in the area of ease-of-doing doing business.He lamented that a meeting which was convened by the management of the Corporate Affairs Commission with the workers union to resolve the current industrial action ended in a deadlock.Mahmud said he had no powers to unilaterally approve the demand of the workers as the responsibility to take such decision lies on the board.He, however, noted that since the board of the commission has not been reconstituted by the Federal Government, he had requested for approval from the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Okechukwu Enelamah.He said the approval was being expected when the workers began their industrial action on MondayMahmud said, The CAC at the moment has no constituted board and the agreement had been forward to the minister for approval.While waiting for ministerial approval, the union suddenly embarked on a strike action.A meeting convened on Tuesday involving all stakeholders failed to resolve the dispute as the union prevented the management from accessing the CAC premises on Wednesday.The workers had shut down the commission to protest high salary gap between the executive staff and non-executive staff.The problem started after a proposed pay rise in 2010 of 15 per cent and 35 per cent for executive and non-executive staff respectively which the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission altered to a flat rate of 26 per cent for all. Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the interim forfeiture of a property on Banana Island, Lagos bought for $37.5m in 2013 by a former ... Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the interim forfeiture of a property on Banana Island, Lagos bought for $37.5m in 2013 by a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke. Justice Chuka Obiozor, a vacation judge, made the order yesterday following an ex parte application by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) counsel Mr. Anselem Ozioko. The EFCC, in documents filed in court, described the property as Building 3, Block B, Bella Vista Plot 1, Zone N, Federal Government Layout, Banana Island Foreshore Estate. It has 24 apartments, 18 flats and six penthouses. The court also ordered the temporary forfeiture of $2,740,197.96 and N84,537,840.70, said to be part of the rent collected on the property. The funds were said to have been found in a bank account. Ozioko had told the judge that the EFCC reasonably suspected that the property was acquired with proceeds of Alison-Maduekes alleged unlawful activities. He said the EFCCs investigation revealed that the former minister made the $37.5m payment for the property in cash, adding that the money was moved straight from her house in Abuja and paid into the sellers account in Abuja. Ozioko added: Nothing could be more suspicious than someone keeping such huge amounts in her apartment. Why was she doing that? To avoid attention. We are convinced beyond reasonable doubt because as of the time this happened, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke was still in public service as the Minister of Petroleum Resources. The application was filed pursuant to Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, No. 14, 2006 and Section 44(2)(k) of the constitution. Listed as respondents in the application are Mrs Alison-Madueke, a legal practitioner, Afamefuna Nwokedi, and a company, Rusimpex Limited. In a 41-paragraph affidavit attached to the application, an EFCC investigative officer, Abdulrasheed Bawa, averred that Nwokedi, in connivance with Mrs Alison-Madueke, incorporated Rusimpex Limited, on September 11, 2013 to facilitate the alleged fraud scheme. According to Bawa, when Nwokedi was questioned by the EFCC, the lawyer explained that he had approached the former minister for opportunities in the oil and gas industry but the ex-minister told him that being a lawyer, she did not have any such opportunity for him. She allegedly asked him whether he could in the alternative manage landed properties, an offer which Nwokedi accepted. Bawa stated that Nwokedi registered Rusimpex Limited at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). A lawyer in his law firm, Adetula Ayokunle, and a Russian, Vladmir Jourauleu, were listed as the directors of the company. The address of Nwokedis law firm in Ikoyi, Lagos was registered as the business address of Rusimpex Limited. The investigator added that when Ayokunle was questioned by the EFCC, he explained that he only signed the CAC documents on his boss instruction. Jourauleu denied knowledge of the firm. Bawa said: Sometime in 2013, the former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, invited Barrister Afamefuna Nwokedi, the Principal Counsel of Stillwaters Law Firm, to her house in Abuja for a meeting where she informed the said Barrister Afamefuna Nwokedi to incorporate a company and use same as a front to manage landed properties on her behalf without using her name in any of the incorporation documents. She further directed Mr. Afamefuna Nwokedi to meet with Mr. Bisi Onasanya, the Group Managing Director of First Bank of Nigeria Plc for that purpose. Mr. Stephen Onasanya was invited by the commission and he came and volunteered an extrajudicial statement wherein he stated that he marketed a property at Bella Vista, Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos, belonging to Mr. Youseff Fattau of Ibatex Nigeria Limited to Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke and Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke later bought the property from Mr. Youseff Fattau, through her lawyer, Mr. Afamefuna Nwokedi (who she introduced to him) and that payment for the said property was made through the Abuja office of First Bank of Nigeria Plc. First Bank of Nigeria Plc, through Mr. Barau Muazu, wrote to the commission and also volunteered an extrajudicial statement in writing that they made the payments totalling US37,500,000 to Ibatex Nigeria Limited & YF Construction Development and Real Estate Limited on behalf of Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke and that they collected the entire cash from Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke at her residence of No. 10, Fredrick Chiluba Close of Jose Marti Street, Asokor, Abuja and paid into the First Bank of Nigeria Plc accounts of Ibatex and YF Construction Development and Real Estate Limited on her instruction. After listening to Ozioko, Justice Obiozor ordered temporary seizure of the property and the funds. He directed that the order should be published in a national newspaper. Justice Obiozor adjourned till August 7 for anyone interested in the property and funds to appear before him. An Osun State High Court in Osogbo on Wednesday sentenced a 40-year-old man, Kayode Adedeji, to death by hanging for robbing a woman of N3... An Osun State High Court in Osogbo on Wednesday sentenced a 40-year-old man, Kayode Adedeji, to death by hanging for robbing a woman of N3,420 on April 25, 2009. Prosecuting counsel from the state ministry of justice, Elisabeth Alabi, had told the court that Mr. Adedeji robbed one Omowumi Adebayo at Bolorunduro area in Ilesa, armed with a knife at midnight. The prosecution also claimed that the robber also had other dangerous weapons during his attack on Mrs. Adebayos residence. Adedeji was said to have fled the scene of the robbery but was trailed and arrested by some members of the Oodua Peoples Congress, OPC, in the area. He pleaded not guilty to the one count charge of armed robbery when he was arraigned about eight years ago and was granted bail. Alabi, the convict abused the bail privilege by committing another offence which led to his remand in Ilesa prison. She argued that the offence was punishable under Section 11(2)(A) CAPR II, Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004. The presiding judge, Kudirat Akano, found Mr. Adedeji guilty of the crime and convicted him. The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, yesterday, disclosed that the Federal Government offered him Bia... The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, yesterday, disclosed that the Federal Government offered him Biafra Republic while in Prison with only the five South East States as the component parts but he rejected it. According to him, he rejected it because that did not constitute the complete Biafra, saying that he told them that he wanted a Biafra with Rivers and Benue States inclusive. The IPOB leader also claimed that he was offered an oil block and mansion in Dubai aimed at making him to abandon the cause but that he rejected them and insisted on the actualization of Biafra.Kanu said those things were Greek gifts to buy him over and maintained that he has no price other than to actualize the restoration of Biafra Republic and liberate the Igbo.They gave me Biafra in prison with only the five Igbo states; I said no, I want Benue and Rivers, Kanu said, pointing out that Biafra is coming, there is nothing to stop it.Kanu, who spoke when leaders of Igbo Civil Society Coalition led by Prof. Obasi Igwe paid him a solidarity visit at his Umuahia home, also gave knocks to Igbo elites for their anti-Biafra activities, saying that they have no interest in the Igbo masses. He lambasted Igbo elites who he said are bent on scuttling the Biafran agitation, saying they were doing so for their selfish interest and challenged them to show the Igbo masses what they have been able to do for them since their romance with Nigerian Government. He said they would not succeed.Kanu lamented the deplorable condition of roads in Igbo land and general lack of social amenities and wondered what the elites have been doing in Abuja other to fight for their self interests. He further dismissed Igbo elites whom he said had thought he could be bought over, saying he has no price tag. They cant buy us with money.If I can turn down oil block, turn down mansions in Dubai, what can they offer us? All the roads in Biafra land are in deplorable condition, yet we have elites who are just interested in their pockets. All the roads in Biafra are bad. Apart from Okpara (late Michael Okpara), Mbonu Ojike and Sam Mbakwe, I have not seen any elite in Igbo land. Let them show us what they have done, no roads, no water, nothing. Because they are in Abuja, they are now elites, let them show us what they have done for the people as elites.They said everything has price, I told them that Nnamdi Kanu has no price. All of you here know my wife, I sacrificed her for two years; so what can they offer me. Self actualization is not war. We are not for war. We are not talking of war but self actualization. Self determination is not war. Any elite that interprets self determination to be war does not understand English. Biafra is coming; there is nothing that can stop it, no matter the level of intimidation and blackmail. Some people are running around, saying why must it be Nnamdi Kanu, why not me.I am not an elite, I was born to restore Biafra. We are not interested in any violence, self actualization is not violence, Kanu said. Adding to the IPOB leaders statement, Media and Publicity Secretary for IPOB, Emma Powerful said Kanus position has always been clear. Our leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu had discussion with government in prison and he rejected every offer and demanded a referendum in all the states in South East and South South, including those of our brothers and sisters living in some parts of Benue, Edo and Kogi States.Federal Government should fix a particular date for the people to decide where they want to be. We cannot afford to abandon those in Igbanke, Igala, Idoma and Igede because they are Biafrans unless they decide otherwise.To join or be part of Biafra is not by force but through referendum, we ascertain who wants to be part of Biafra or not. In his remarks, the leader of the delegation, Prof. Obasi Igwe commended Kanu and IPOB for their non-violence approach to the agitation and urged him to maintain that approach. He said their aim of visiting him was to encourage him and urge him to ensure that the Igbos have one voice for peace and prosperity of Igbo nation, the entire Eastern region, southern region as well as the middle belt.In an interview, Prof. Igwe insisted on non-violence approach to the issue, and called for appropriate sanctions for the Arewa youths who gave the Igbo quit notice. Police in Katsina State have arrested a notorious armed robber, Muhammad Bello, 25, a.k.a Kiri Gorare Namushoda.The commands Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Gambo Isa, said this in a statement made available to newsmen in Katsina on Thursday.Isa said that Bello had led an armed robbery syndicate that terrorised people on Dustinma Danmusa Road in Danmusa Local Government Area of the state.He said the robber was arrested following a tip-off three days ago.He said Bello had led an armed robbery operation five days ago where the group shot dead one motorist and injured several passengers on Dustinma Danmusa road.The police spokesman further said that the thief told the police that his accomplices were Haroun Anchau, Mushoda Bakin-ranji, Gabudeji Namushoda, Dikko Garhin-Dustinma and Ali Iraqi, all at large.He said that police were making efforts to arrest the suspects and recover their weapons.He, therefore, urged the public to assist the police with information on the whereabouts of the hoodlums and other criminals operating in the state. The former Deputy Governor of Osun state, Senator Iyiola Omisore has denied been report that he was sent out of the just concluded meeting of the People Democratic Party (PDP) in Abuja saying that it was nothing but a big lie and figment of imagination of the writer of the said story.Senator Omisore in a message released by his media office described the said publication as a terrible lie, an embarrassment to the journalism profession and an insult to the reading public.According to Senator Omisore, it was unfortunate that while leaders and loyal PDP members are struggling to sustain the new love and unity in the peace which started with the victory of the party in the July 8 Osun West by election and followed by the Supreme Court judgment which confirmed Senator Ahmed Makarfi as the authentic National leader of our great party, the PDP, some people could still be working underneath to scuttle the peace in the party by resolving into sponsoring of lies just to achieve selfish political goal.For record purpose. I want to state here that I am not a member of NEC so the issue was non existent. Moreso, many journalists from reputable National and International newspapers, radio and Television stations were at the meeting and reported the events accurately. Only for the Osun based medium to resort to these terrible lies it called news story he said.The PDP leader wondered what could be the motive of such concocted lies aimed at misinforming the populace especially the PDP members and leaders in Osun state and beyond.I wish to state clearly here that the antics of sponsors of the lies reported have again failed woefully in their bid to resort to mischief making, blackmail and feeding the public with lies just to frustrate the newly found love in the PDP family in Osun state and Nigeria in general . We in the PDP are focused and no amount of lies can derail us again.I am again calling on leaders and members of our great party particularly in Osun state to disregard the wicked lies and join hands with our party leaders in the ongoing reconciliation moves at further fostering the much needed unity and oneness in our party to be able to face other challenges ahead of the party. Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the interim forfeiture of a property on Banana Island, Lagos bought for $37.5m in 2013 by a form... Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the interim forfeiture of a property on Banana Island, Lagos bought for $37.5m in 2013 by a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke.Justice Chuka Obiozor, a vacation judge, made the order yesterday following an ex parte application by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) counsel Mr. Anselem Ozioko.The EFCC, in documents filed in court, described the property as Building 3, Block B, Bella Vista Plot 1, Zone N, Federal Government Layout, Banana Island Foreshore Estate. It has 24 apartments, 18 flats and six penthouses.The court also ordered the temporary forfeiture of $2,740,197.96 and N84,537,840.70, said to be part of the rent collected on the property.The funds were said to have been found in a bank account.Ozioko had told the judge that the EFCC reasonably suspected that the property was acquired with proceeds of Alison-Maduekes alleged unlawful activities.He said the EFCCs investigation revealed that the former minister made the $37.5m payment for the property in cash, adding that the money was moved straight from her house in Abuja and paid into the sellers account in Abuja.Ozioko added: Nothing could be more suspicious than someone keeping such huge amounts in her apartment. Why was she doing that? To avoid attention.We are convinced beyond reasonable doubt because as of the time this happened, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke was still in public service as the Minister of Petroleum Resources.The application was filed pursuant to Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, No. 14, 2006 and Section 44(2)(k) of the constitution.Listed as respondents in the application are Mrs Alison-Madueke, a legal practitioner, Afamefuna Nwokedi, and a company, Rusimpex Limited.In a 41-paragraph affidavit attached to the application, an EFCC investigative officer, Abdulrasheed Bawa, averred that Nwokedi, in connivance with Mrs Alison-Madueke, incorporated Rusimpex Limited, on September 11, 2013 to facilitate the alleged fraud scheme.According to Bawa, when Nwokedi was questioned by the EFCC, the lawyer explained that he had approached the former minister for opportunities in the oil and gas industry but the ex-minister told him that being a lawyer, she did not have any such opportunity for him.She allegedly asked him whether he could in the alternative manage landed properties, an offer which Nwokedi accepted.Bawa stated that Nwokedi registered Rusimpex Limited at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). A lawyer in his law firm, Adetula Ayokunle, and a Russian, Vladmir Jourauleu, were listed as the directors of the company. The address of Nwokedis law firm in Ikoyi, Lagos was registered as the business address of Rusimpex Limited.The investigator added that when Ayokunle was questioned by the EFCC, he explained that he only signed the CAC documents on his boss instruction. Jourauleu denied knowledge of the firm.Bawa said: Sometime in 2013, the former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, invited Barrister Afamefuna Nwokedi, the Principal Counsel of Stillwaters Law Firm, to her house in Abuja for a meeting where she informed the said Barrister Afamefuna Nwokedi to incorporate a company and use same as a front to manage landed properties on her behalf without using her name in any of the incorporation documents.She further directed Mr. Afamefuna Nwokedi to meet with Mr. Bisi Onasanya, the Group Managing Director of First Bank of Nigeria Plc for that purpose.Mr. Stephen Onasanya was invited by the commission and he came and volunteered an extrajudicial statement wherein he stated that he marketed a property at Bella Vista, Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos, belonging to Mr. Youseff Fattau of Ibatex Nigeria Limited to Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke and Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke later bought the property from Mr. Youseff Fattau, through her lawyer, Mr. Afamefuna Nwokedi (who she introduced to him) and that payment for the said property was made through the Abuja office of First Bank of Nigeria Plc.First Bank of Nigeria Plc, through Mr. Barau Muazu, wrote to the commission and also volunteered an extrajudicial statement in writing that they made the payments totalling US37,500,000 to Ibatex Nigeria Limited & YF Construction Development and Real Estate Limited on behalf of Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke and that they collected the entire cash from Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke at her residence of No. 10, Fredrick Chiluba Close of Jose Marti Street, Asokor, Abuja and paid into the First Bank of Nigeria Plc accounts of Ibatex and YF Construction Development and Real Estate Limited on her instruction.After listening to Ozioko, Justice Obiozor ordered temporary seizure of the property and the funds.He directed that the order should be published in a national newspaper.Justice Obiozor adjourned till August 7 for anyone interested in the property and funds to appear before him. US serving Senator from Arizona, John McCain, has been diagnosed with brain cancer, according to a Wednesday statement released by his offi... US serving Senator from Arizona, John McCain, has been diagnosed with brain cancer, according to a Wednesday statement released by his office. The tumor was discovered after the former Republican senator underwent a procedure last week to remove a blood clot. Below is the statement "Washington, D.C. At the request of Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and his family, Mayo Clinic released the following statement today: "On Friday, July 14, Sen. John McCain underwent a procedure to remove a blood clot from above his left eye at Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix. Subsequent tissue pathology revealed that a primary brain tumor known as a glioblastoma was associated with the blood clot. "Scanning done since the procedure (a minimally invasive craniotomy with an eyebrow incision) shows that the tissue of concern was completely resected by imaging criteria. "The Senator and his family are reviewing further treatment options with his Mayo Clinic care team. Treatment options may include a combination of chemotherapy and radiation. "The Senator's doctors say he is recovering from his surgery 'amazingly well' and his underlying health is excellent." The office of Senator John McCain also released the following statement: "Senator McCain appreciates the outpouring of support he has received over the last few days. He is in good spirits as he continues to recover at home with his family in Arizona. He is grateful to the doctors and staff at Mayo Clinic for their outstanding care, and is confident that any future treatment will be effective. Further consultations with Senator McCain's Mayo Clinic care team will indicate when he will return to the United States Senate." President Donald Trump released a message soon after the news of the senator's condition broke. "Senator John McCain has always been a fighter," he said. "Melania and I send our thoughts and prayers to Senator McCain, Cindy, and their entire family. Get well soon." John McCain, who contested in the 2008 presidential election was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986. He is known for his work in the 1990s to restore diplomatic relations with Vietnam, and for his belief that the Iraq War should have been fought to a successful conclusion. Meanwhile, Former US President Barack Obama, who competed against Senator John McCain, in the 2008 presidential election has shown support for him as he battles with brain cancer. Obama hailed Mr. McCain as an "American hero & one of the bravest fighters I've ever known" on Twitter. John McCain is an American hero & one of the bravest fighters I've ever known. Cancer doesn't know what it's up against. Give it hell, John. Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic nominee for president who served with McCain in the Senate, said her former colleague is "as tough as they come." John McCain is as tough as they come. Thinking of John, Cindy, their wonderful children, & their whole family tonight. He has also received support from US President Donald Trump, Former Vice President Joe Biden, Sarah Palin, and Chuck Schumer among many other prominent politicians. A teenage boy apologized in Helena youth court Wednesday for his role in a $3 million arson fire at Helena High School last year, before a judge sentenced him to probation and restitution. The boy was 13 when he entered the school with two teenage girls and started fires in a custodian closet and lit posters in a classroom. The fire closed the entire school for two days and the damaged wing of the building for three months. The boys probation officer testified Wednesday that after moving out of Helena, the boy was under better supervision and in closer contact with more family members. The boy was doing well and staying out of trouble, the officer said. Before his sentencing, the boy said he was sorry to the people the fire impacted, including students and teachers. District Judge Kathy Seeley agreed with a recommended sentence that keeps the boy under supervision until he is 18 but also keeps him at home. He was sentenced to Pine Hills Youth Correctional Facility, but the judge suspended incarceration in favor of probation. The sentence comes with multiple stipulations, including that he not own a lighter or matches and that he not enter Helena High School. The boy must also pay restitution jointly with one of the other defendants totaling $250,000 the school districts deductible in the case. His accomplice, a 13-year-old girl who admitted to charges of arson, obstructing officers and alcohol possession, was sentenced to a secure chemical dependency treatment facility and to remain in the care of the Montana Department of Corrections until she turns 18. She had previously received a suspended sentence, but that was revoked after she and a group of teens were caught stealing beer from a local store. The other teenage girl who entered the school with the two arsonists has admitted to charges of obstructing a peace officer, possession of an intoxicating substance and possession of tobacco products. A count equivalent to a felony charge of burglary was dropped. Considering his occupation, it would be an understatement to say that coastal researcher Kelin Hus departure from the Water Institute of the The study looks at two smaller-scale projects that are in some ways predecessors to the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion, the $2 billion plan to slow land loss erasing Louisiana's coast. Construction on that project could begin as early as next year, while a similar one on the opposite side of the river known as the Mid-Breton Diversion could follow. OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) - UPDATE - Both mom and son have returned home, according to the Omaha Police Department. ----- Omaha Police need your help finding a missing woman and her 2 year old son. Police were called to the area of 28th & Bauman Avenue in Omaha around 10 a.m. Wednesday morning for a report that 24 year old Dakota Foster and her son, 2 year old Aaron Locke-Foster were missing. Foster is a 5 foot 6 white female, 135 to 140 pounds with bleached blonde hair and blue eyes. Police have not been able to determine if Foster's son is with her, and there are concerns for both of their well being. Foster is driving a black 2005 Kia Spectra with Iowa license plates EWS 525. Anyone with information should call 911 or the Omaha Police child victim unit at 402-444-5636. New U.K. Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt has reversed most of an economic package announced by the government just weeks ago, including a planned cut in income taxes. Hunt said Monday he was scrapping almost all the tax cuts announced last month by the Conservative government of Prime Minister Liz Truss, and also signaled that public spending cuts are on the way. It was a bid to soothe turbulent financial markets spooked by fears of excessive government borrowing. The move raises questions about how long the beleaguered prime minister can stay in office, though Truss insisted she has no plans to quit. She vowed to lead the Conservatives into the next general election, but many in the party want her gone. A hospital in western Kenya will receive equipment and training for its neonatal department when a proposal by a North Platte Rotary Club becomes reality. A Rotary Global Grant project is in the works to help the Kakamega County Hospital, which is in one of the poorest counties in Kenya. The North Platte Noon Rotary Club is contributing $10,000 toward the $100,000 project. The rest of the money will be provided by Rotary District 5630, other partnering districts and matching funds from Rotary International, according to a press release. The Ministry of Health in Kakamega County also has pledged $60,000. While final details for the grant are being worked out, Rotary International officials have said they dont see any obstacles to the project going forward, said Dr. Kim Baxter, a local Rotarian who has led the project. At Wednesdays Noon Rotary meeting, Dr. Pamela Donohue, an associate professor of pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, described the grant project. A team of specialists from Johns Hopkins will go to Kenya in May or June along with nursing instructors from the University of Nebraska at Kearney. A team of medical professionals from Kakamega also will travel to Johns Hopkins, which is offering them training at no cost. Donohue said the grant project has two components: First, it will provide infrastructure for the hospital, including a clean water source and biomedical equipment. Not all parts of the hospital have access to water, Donohue said. Equipment will include incubators for critically ill infants and portable pulse oximeters, which measure oxygen saturation in the blood. The Kakamega hospital greatly needs equipment to care for infants. It has only one oxygen condenser and one infant warmer neither of which works, she said. To keep babies warm, the hospital places radiant heaters under beds, which is extremely dangerous, she said. Theyre trying to improvise the best they can, she said. The second component of the project is vocational and technical training for doctors, midwives and community health volunteers. The U.S. team will focus on training the trainers in Kenya so they can continue the work after the Americans leave. Johns Hopkins is donating several mannequins that simulate newborn and premature infants, she said. The simulators can be used to teach techniques such as ventilation with a bag and mask. The preemie simulator also can be fed using a nasogastric tube. It also is useful for teaching mothers-to-be kangaroo care using skin-to-skin contact to keep a baby warm instead of using an incubator. A birthing simulator straps onto the front of a teacher to teach health care workers how to deliver babies. It can simulate postpartum hemorrhages and other complications. Six people from Kakamega will be trained at Johns Hopkins. Some will get more advanced training on obstetric and neonatal emergencies. An administrator will receive public health systems training. Others will learn biomedical engineering so they can repair and maintain equipment. The Kakamega hospital delivers 700 babies per month and has two obstetricians and one pediatrician. All other care is provided by personnel who are not doctors, Donohue said, so its critical that they receive training. In contrast, Johns Hopkins Hospital delivers about 2,500 babies per year. Kakamega County has 10 doctors and 55 nurses per 100,000 people. Donohue said Johns Hopkins Hospital has about that many health professionals just in its neonatal intensive care unit, which has 45 beds. In Kakamega County the infant mortality rate is 35 per 1,000 live births, compared to 5.8 per 1,000 in the United States, Donohue said. The maternal mortality rate is 488 per 100,000 pregnancies in Kenya; in the U.S. its 17 per 100,000. Baxter explained how the Kakamega project came about. The North Platte optometrist led the effort after seeing conditions in Kenya during an eye-care mission trip with his son, Craig, five years ago. Afterward, Craig Baxter, who has since died, told his dad he wanted to return to help. A few years later, Rotarys district governor was seeking project ideas to use Rotary Global Grant funds, and Baxter proposed building a medical clinic in Shikunga, the village the Baxters had visited. But the clinic could not have become self-sustaining, Kim Baxter said, so he and other Rotarians instead decided to seek grant money to provide equipment and training for the neonatal department at nearby Kakamega County Hospital. Through a doctor friend, Baxter said, he was connected with Donohue. She recruited others from Johns Hopkins to join the team. Baxter said the grant is in the pipeline with Rotary International but is awaiting just a couple of details. It must name the medical professionals going to Kenya and list what their roles will be. Likewise, it must list the Kenyans who will train at Johns Hopkins and what they will study. He said the committee working on the grant expects to submit the final application to Rotary International in the next two weeks. Grants generally get approval within a month or two. This was all because a young man said, Dad, we need to come back, said Joanne Hoatson, president of the Noon Rotary Club. The Nebraska 150 Express train will be coming to North Platte on Aug 4. The Whistle Stop Tour will travel from Omaha to Gering and back with rallies scheduled across the state. I want to thank Union Pacific for its generous support of this event and commitment to our state, First Lady Susanne Shore said in announcing the schedule. Our histories are inextricably linked as we have, in many ways, grown up together. I cant think of a more fitting way to celebrate this historic occasion than with a fun train tour that harkens back to days gone by. The train will depart Omaha at 9:45 a.m. Aug. 4 and arrive in Columbus at 11:50 a.m. for the first rally. At 12:50 p.m., the train will make its way to North Platte for a rally from 4 to 6:30 p.m. The train is expected to arrive at 5:15 p.m. Event organizers plan to showcase the North Platte Canteen spirit by having the North Platte Area Chamber of Commerce serve guests free food, including grilled hot dogs, chips, root beer floats, birthday cake and water. According to a press release, the event will include a photo booth with Lil Spike from the Golden Spike Tower and special discounts downtown for those who present a flag or pennant from the rally, which will be distributed onsite. Our connection to Nebraska dates back to President Abraham Lincoln founding Union Pacific 155 years ago, when the Cornhusker State was a bustling territory, said Union Pacific CEO Lance Fritz. Our first track was laid in Omaha, not far from where the NE150 Express will be departing. Thanks to the perseverance, ingenuity and support of communities and their citizens, both Union Pacific and Nebraska blossomed with towns developing along the transcontinental railroad route. We look forward to touring the state and visiting these communities as part of the sesquicentennial celebration. Sponsors of the North Platte rally include Nebraskaland National Bank, KX104, Golden Spike Tower, City of North Platte, North Platte Area Chamber of Commerce and the North Platte Downtown Association. The train will stay overnight in North Platte before departing for Ogallala at 8 a.m. CDT Aug. 5. Ogallalas rally is scheduled from 7 to 9:30 a.m. MDT. CLINTON A judge has denied Macon Countys request to bring in a new special prosecutor to investigate allegations of misconduct against Macon County States Attorney Jay Scott. The decision came Thursday afternoon at the Dewitt County Courthouse in Clinton where Judge Karle Koritz heard arguments from attorneys representing Macon County and those who filed the original request for a special prosecutor. Koritz told the court he would stand by his original appointment of Stephanie Wong, a Bloomington defense attorney and former prosecutor in McLean County, to serve as special prosecutor. He said he did not approve of the countys attorneys going out on their own to recruit a new special prosecutor without statutory authority. Were very pleased with the outcome, said John Davis, a Decatur attorney who filed the original petition for a special prosecutor along with Greg Mattingley. Barring other petitions, Davis said the next step is for Wong to continue her investigation in Scott, who has been accused of misconduct that includes allowing employees to engage in electioneering and showing pornographic material to a female employee and female crime victim. Scott, who has repeatedly denied the allegations, has declined any further comment on the case. Ed Flynn, an attorney from Featherstun, Gaumer, Stocks, Flynn & Eck LLP who filed the countys petition to consider a new special prosecutor, said he respected the judge's decision and thanked Kortiz for hearing their concerns. The move is the latest wrinkle in the legal drama surrounding the allegations, which surfaced in September. Davis and Mattingley, the former county public defender and current Macon County Board member, filed the original petition last fall. Koritz ruled in January that the case could move forward, and in May appointed Wong to serve as special prosecutor. The judge said the court had reached out to a number of states attorney offices to find a special prosecutor before Wongs appointment, but those efforts were unsuccessful. In a petition filed June 15 on behalf of Macon County, Flynn asked the judge to reconsider the appointment as the county is looking at a $2 million shortfall in the coming fiscal year. The petition asked the court to appoint Randolph County States Attorney Jeremy Walker, who Flynn said agreed to serve as a special prosecutor. If the court had replaced Wong with Walker, the county would only have to pay for his mileage, room and board, and the fee for a private investigator of his choice. With the denial, the county will be required to pay a "reasonable" attorneys fees for Wong and any other attorneys she appoints, as well as a private investigator chosen by Wong. The original petition filed by Davis and Mattingley alleges that Scott: allowed employees to engage in electioneering within county offices; used his county-owned smartphone for political and personal uses; solicited an employee of the Macon County Sheriff's Office to support his campaign in community parades; exhibited pornographic material to a female state's attorney employee and female crime victim on a computer owned by the county. For the third straight week, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed that the amount of oil the country has in storage had fallen. Further, these declines have been much deeper than the market had expected. This week, for example, crude oil storage inventories fell 4.7 million barrels from last week. Not only was that better than the 3.2 million barrel inventory draw that analysts had expected, but it completely contradicted an earlier report by the American Petroleum Institute showing that crude inventories spiked by 1.6 million barrels this week. That said, instead of applauding the news, oil traders shrugged, evidenced by the slight rise in the U.S. oil benchmark WTI, which edged up slightly more than 1% to around $47 per barrel. Oil traders had the same reaction yesterday after a report out of Saudi Arabia indicated that the country was considering cutting its oil exports by another 1 million barrels per day (bpd). While oil initially popped on the news, that rally didn't go very far because oil traders remain skeptical. That said, this skepticism could be lulling them into believing that we're in a go-nowhere market. Because of that, it's growing increasingly possible that oil traders could go into a frenzy if they get caught off-guard by an unexpected barrage of bullish news. Lulled to sleep by lackluster data Even with today's rise, crude remains well below the mid-$50 a barrel level that the market expected to see this year. Three factors have been weighing on oil prices this year: weaker oil demand growth in the first quarter, a rapid rise in shale output, and increasing production from Libya and Nigeria, which are exempt from OPEC's cuts. Because of these factors, crude oil inventories haven't drained as quickly as OPEC expected. In fact, according to the EIA, even with this week's significant draw, they remain in the upper half of the average range for this time of year. Meanwhile, there have been some recent hiccups in OPEC's efforts to cap its production. Last month, OPEC's production surged 720,000 bpd thanks to growth from not only Libya and Nigeria, but an unexpected rise from Saudi Arabia. Because of that, OPEC's compliance with its cuts fell to 78% in June. Meanwhile, Ecuador recently said that it no longer plans to hold up its end of the bargain and cap its production at 520,000 bpd because it needs the money. It's issues like these that have oil traders largely ignoring an equally healthy dose of bullish news in recent weeks. In fact, oil traders have been cutting their speculative bets over the past few months. According to data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), after peaking at more than 550,000 contracts in late February, market speculators only held 358,000 contracts as of mid-July. With participation from market speculators waning, it could lead to a significant spike in volatility if traders get caught flat-footed by a barrage of bullish news in the coming months because it could cause a torrent of buying to both take bullish positions and cover short ones. Missing the forest for the trees One reason to believe market traders could get blindsided is that the bullish data set extends far beyond a three-week stretch where oil inventories have been draining at a healthy clip. One of the most important data points is that "there was a dramatic acceleration" in oil demand last quarter, according to the International Energy Agency's latest market report. Overall, demand grew by 1.5 million bpd during the second quarter after only expanding by an average of 1 million bpd during the first quarter. This spike caused the Agency to bump up its full-year forecast by 100,000 bpd to 1.4 million bpd. Meanwhile, the rapid rise in shale output might be slowing down. That seems to be the indication of the latest rig count report by oil-field services giant Baker Hughes (NYSE: BHGE), which showed that the U.S. rig count flattened out last week. That's the second time in three weeks that Baker Hughes' rig count data didn't show a gain, which is worth noting since the rig count rose for a record 23 straight weeks earlier this year. That data seems to suggest that shale drillers are making good on their promise not to drill themselves into oblivion. However, what could push the crude market over the top if shale drillers announce budget cuts and downward guidance revisions when they report second-quarter results in the coming weeks. Several drillers were banking on $55 oil when they set their budgets, and they now might need to reset expectations given where oil is these days. One candidate is leading Bakken Shale producer Whiting Petroleum (NYSE: WLL). The company has been ramping up its drilling activities this year after doubling its capital budget to $1.1 billion. That money would enable Whiting Petroleum to run enough rigs to increase its output 23% by the end of the year. However, given that Whiting has $1.5 billion in debt coming due starting in 2019, and it needs $55 oil to balance the budget, it can't afford to keep drilling at its current pace, making a spending cut all the more likely. Is a flat-footed freak-out moment on the horizon? If several shale drillers announce that they're pulling back the reins on their ambitious growth plans, it will signal that U.S. supplies are starting to top out. Combine that with continued robust demand growth and the potential for deeper inventory declines if OPEC gets its act together, and it could shake oil traders out of their slumber. Given the enormous drop in speculative positions, it's possible that oil prices could rally sharply in the second half as traders reposition. It's a rise that would likely take oil stocks up with it, potentially making now a great time to buy top-tier producers as well as service companies like Baker Hughes since they should ride that wave higher. 10 stocks we like better than Baker Hughes a GE Co. When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Baker Hughes a GE Co. wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. Click here to learn about these picks! *Stock Advisor returns as of July 6, 2017 Matt DiLallo has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. INDIANAPOLIS Hoosier businesses and local governments frustrated by duplicative state reporting requirements now have an outlet to tell Indiana lawmakers about the problem. A survey on the Indiana Economic Development Corp. website, at iedc.in.gov/programs, seeks information about state statutes, rules or guidelines that mandate companies or municipalities to report similar or identical data to two or more state agencies. House Enrolled Act 1157 directed the state's commerce agency to establish the duplicative reporting website. It overwhelmingly was approved earlier this year by the Republican-controlled General Assembly and signed by Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb. The survey results will be provided annually to lawmakers serving on the House Select Committee on Government Reduction, which is charged with identifying and recommending for elimination any state laws or mandates that it finds no longer are needed. State Rep. Julie Olthoff, R-Crown Point, is among those urging business leaders to share their duplicative reporting experiences with the state. "As a small-business owner, I know that redundant state reporting requirements can cause unnecessary paperwork with a result of lost work time," Olthoff said. "We hope this study will help us to consolidate the reporting process for Hoosier businesses." Walgreens is closing another Northwest Indiana pharmacy, shuttering the store at 1605 E 37th Ave. at the southeast corner of Highway 51 and Highway 6 in Hobart. "This Walgreens will be permanently closing on July 27, 2017," a voicemail recording said. "You prescription will be available at any other Walgreens." A company spokesman did not return messages. Hobart has another Walgreens at 742 Old Ridge Road, and is also served by Fagan Pharmacy and CVS. It's the latest in a slew of Walgreens closures in the Calumet Region. The Deerfield, Illinois-based pharmacy chain, which is the second largest in the country after CVS, shuttered its State Line Road store in Calumet City and three of its four Gary locations in recent years. Community activists rallied against the June closure of the Walgreens on Lake Street, which had been a go-to shopping destination for Gary's Miller and Aetna neighborhoods. Walgreens had operated a pharmacy there for 10 years. Last month, Phil Caruso, Walgreens media relations manager, said the company, which recently gave up on a proposed merger with Rite Aid, was shuttering 75 stores nationally this summer. WARRENSBURG Not seeing an SUV waiting to turn east onto Park Road, a sedan hit a stopped SUV on Illinois 121 on Wednesday evening, causing it to roll over, the Macon County Sheriff's Office said. The drivers, a 26-year-old Forsyth woman and a 39-year-old Warrensburg woman, were treated for injuries not considered life-threatening at Decatur Memorial Hospital, the sheriff's office said. Not aware of the stopped vehicle, the sheriff's office said the rear driver did not apply the brakes before the collision. The Warrensburg woman was cited for failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident, the sheriff's office said.l The accident was reported at 5:50 p.m., the sheriff's office said. The highway was closed until 7:15 p.m. The Warrensburg Police Department, Warrensburg Fire Department and Decatur Ambulance Service assisted the sheriff's office at the scene. Collector and "Finding Vivian Maier" filmmaker John Maloof has donated to University of Chicago a trove of 500 photographic prints by the esteemed street photographer Vivian Maier, whose candid shots of life in Chicago won her posthumous acclaim. The vintage prints from the 1950s to the 1980s Maier made in her own darkroom never were before published or shown the to public. The South Side university in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood will make the collection, which includes one of her cameras and some personal effects, available for research purposes at the Librarys Special Collections Research Center. Images in the collection include street portraits of anonymous people, as well as big names like John F. Kennedy, Eleanor Roosevelt, Pope John Paul II, Eva Marie Saint and Frank Sinatra. This collection of prints will help researchers and students to understand Maier as a working photographer, said Daniel Meyer, director of the Special Collections Research Center. As a new discovery in 20th-century American photography, Vivian Maiers work also offers fresh insights into the viewpoints and graphic styles of her contemporaries. Maier worked as a nanny and shot street scenes and intimate portraits of random pedestrians while walking to and from work. She was unknown until her death in 2009, after which her work was widely displayed at galleries and museums like the Chicago History Museum, the Museo di Roma in Rome and the International Photography Hall of Fame in St. Louis. Vivian Maier herself is unique as a photographer because of her personal story and the remarkable quality of her work, said Brenda Johnson, library director and University librarian at UChicago. Seeing these prints will help viewers to step back into Maiers time and place and to explore her perspective. Maloof acquired more than 100,000 of her photographs after buying her storage lockers in an auction. He co-wrote and co-directed the Academy Award-nominated documentary "Finding Vivian Maier." He said he wanted academics to gain insights into how her work evolved. Theres more here that she physically created with her hands that can be studied than has ever been open to the public, Maloof said. This is what made her tick, who she was as an artist. HAMMOND Thomas Lee Kirsch II's latest career move could require some shuffling by clients and the federal prosecution of Portage's mayor. The White House announced last week it is nominating Kirsch to replace interim U.S. Attorney Clifford Johnson. Jay Kenworthy, a spokesman for U.S. Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., said Monday confirmation hearings may not be scheduled for some months. Kirsch, a Republican sponsored by Young, is expected to win approval from the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate. Once confirmed, Kirsch would direct the prosecution of hundreds of criminal cases in the U.S. District Courts in Hammond, South Bend, Fort Wayne and Lafayette. Except one, according to legal experts knowledgeable in state and federal ethics standards. Portage Mayor James Snyder hired Kirsch last year to stand by his side during a Nov. 18 arraignment to answer federal charges of bribery, solicitation of bribery and providing false information to the Internal Revenue Service to conceal income and assets to repay a tax debt. Snyder, who has pleaded not guilty, has included Kirsch on his defense team since then. Federal prosecutors in Hammond, soon expecting to be under Kirsch's supervision, are preparing evidence against Snyder, whose trial is set to begin in January. The U.S. Department of Justice spokesman declined to comment. The Standards of Conduct page of the DOJ's Offices of the U.S. Attorneys' website states that on entering the department for duty, attorneys must, in general, withdraw from all cases they are currently handling and avoid an appearance of biased or less-than-impartial conduct. "Clearly, he cannot prosecute his former client," Donald Lundberg said this week. Lundberg is an Indianapolis lawyer and a former Indiana Supreme Court investigator of lawyer ethics. He also specializes in helping set standards of ethics and professional responsibility for the American Bar Association. "The question then becomes whether his conflict of interest can be imputed to his entire (U.S. attorney's) office," Lundberg said. "If it is, then the entire office is disqualified." Lundberg said he believes the DOJ has guidelines governing potential conflicts and when a U.S. attorney must be recused from a case. "I can guarantee you this is not the first time this has arisen," Lundberg said. He said Indiana state prosecutors commonly recuse themselves from cases in which they have conflicts of interest with the defendant, requiring the appointment of a special prosecutor, often from a different county. Lundberg said an Indiana attorney is generally prohibited from using the secrets learned from a former client to later put that client in jeopardy. "General conflict-of-interest principles come into play. A lawyer can never be adverse to a former client in the same or substantially related matter," he said. Neither Kirsch nor Snyder could be reached for comment. Kenworthy, of Young's office, said U.S. attorney nominees routinely are asked to report any potential conflicts to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics. A spokesperson for that office declined comment "The Department of Justice could take this prosecution outside the (Northern Indiana) district altogether and essentially recuse the entire (Hammond) office because of Tom's position there," said Larry Mackey, an Indianapolis attorney and former federal prosecutor for 19 years in Illinois and downstate Indiana. "The prosecution could then fall to a public corruption section (of lawyers) in Justice Main in Washington, D.C., that handle cases all around the country. "Another alternative is for a prosecutor from another district, from Chicago, for example, to be appointed for purposes of that prosecution. The direction, decision making and strategy would be done by somebody other than Tom," Mackey said. "A third option would be to keep the leadership of the prosecution inside the Northern Indiana District's office and simply wall off their decision making in the case from (Kirsch)." CHICAGO A Cal City man allegedly found with 41 baggies of pot was charged with marijuana possession after police found him on a Metra train, according to a Metra news release. Darris L. Johnson, 45, was transported to the Cook County Detention Center in Chicago to await his Aug. 16 bond hearing, according to the news release. A conductor aboard a Metra Electric train told police he alerted Metra police after he noticed a strong smell of marijuana, the release stated. We appreciate the quick response of our onboard personnel, which resulted in Fridays arrest, said Metra Police Chief Joseph Perez. We cant emphasize strongly enough how important it is for people to help us and each other by reporting suspicious activity when they see it. Metra in the news release urged customers to be aware of surroundings at all times and to report any and all suspicious or criminal activity on Metra property to Metra Police at 312-322-2800. MICHIGAN CITY Police have made an arrest in Tuesday's fatal hit-and-run of a 5-year-old girl. Marcus R. Scully, 35, of Trail Creek, was taken into custody at 11:20 a.m. Thursday in the 2000 block of Redwood Drive, according to the Michigan City Police Department. Delaney Klewer was trying to cross the street when Scully allegedly struck her with his vehicle, police said. His attorney contacted police Thursday morning, saying his client wanted to come forward. Scully has been charged with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, a felony, according to a news release. According to Michigan City Police Cpl. Steve Alt, investigators were looking for a light-colored Chevy Equinox captured on video traveling through the area at about the time Delaney Klewer was struck in the 300 block of Broadway Street. A local attorney contacted detectives Thursday morning to report his client wished to come forward and provide information about the crime. During an interview with Scully, police said in a news release, information developed that implicated him as the driver of the suspect vehicle. Originally, the suspected vehicle was described as a black or dark gray SUV. Alt said the vehicle description was provided by children playing in the area. "I'm glad he turned himself in, (but) he should have done it that same day," said Phillip Smith, the grandfather of the victim. Smith said Delaney, out of his nine grandchildren, was special. "I love them all the same, but everybody knew that Delaney was my baby," he said. He said Delaney was like her mother when she was a small child, and would lie on his chest and go to sleep. "Anything she wanted she pretty much got from me when she smiled at me," Smith said. Her parents, Gail Biela, of Michigan City, and Matthew Klewer, of Valparaiso, were preparing Delaney's services at Greenwood Cemetery before the arrest in the case was announced Thursday afternoon. Biela said Delaney, like her, was a Green Bay Packers fan and had on a jersey of her favorite NFL team when killed. Biela has ordered a new one to bury her in. According to family members, Delaney and her 8-year-old sister, Sara, were walking back to Water Tower Park to retrieve flip flops they forgot to bring home. Sara said she yelled for Delaney to get out of the street when she saw what she described as a fast-moving vehicle approaching. The posted speed limit there is 20 mph. Charges also could be forthcoming against an undisclosed member of the public on allegations of providing false information to detectives that hindered the investigation, police said. That matter is still being looked into, police said. CROWN POINT Lake County Commissioners announced Wednesday they now will hold twice-weekly special meetings, beginning July 25, to approve routine as well as emergency spending that takes place between the regular meetings. Lake County Attorney John Dull said this is in response to recent criticism by Public Access Counselor Luke H. Britt over the three commissioners and seven county council members' past practices of signing government contracts and resolutions when action was required between regularly monthly meetings. Britt said the practice violated the state's Open Door law and eroded public trust in local government. He noted that commissioners signed a resolution this spring, without a public meeting or public notice, against a state law giving telecommunication firms more freedom to install electronic hardware in public right-of-ways. Dull said he may disagree with Britt and ask commissioners to sue to resolve this dispute. Lake County Commissioner Jerry Tippy said, "I think there are cases where we have taken liberties to sign things that might be violations of the spirit of the law." He said he is asking Britt, The Times and Post-Tribune and others to share their views on public meetings and documents at a county seminar Oct. 24. As renovations continue at Penn Station, the state announced Wednesday an improvement plan for dozens of Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) stations, including two in Queens. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the state is investing $5.6 billion to transform 39 LIRR stations. "We've taken a very bold course. We are daring to imagine a better New York, and we believe we can do it," Cuomo said at a press conference for the announcement. "We're investing the largest sum in infrastructure in the United States of America. We have the most aggressive infrastructure building program in the country, period, by far." He said the much-needed improvements will strengthen transportation infrastructure and increase rider capacity by 80 percent. The Jamaica Station will undergo a major face lift, as it will be upgraded with higher speed switches and new signals. Aging platforms are expected to be replaced, and some will be expanded to accommodate full-length, 12-car trains. The station is also projected to be equipped with heated waiting areas and Wi-Fi. Meantime, Flushing Station is expected to undergo general improvements. The announcement comes amid a rough summer for commuters as Penn Station is currently undergoing major repairs as part of the "Summer of Hell" as Cuomo called it a few months ago. Just last month, Cuomo declared a state of emergency for the MTA. Penn Station is currently undergoing major repairs as part of the "Summer of Hell" as Cuomo called it a few months ago. Shoppers in Alabama can get an early start this weekend in preparing for the start of school with the Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday that began Friday. Alabamas 12th annual back-to-school sales tax holiday runs from 12:01 a.m. Friday until midnight on Sunday. For the first time, the state moved the holiday up to July instead of the first weekend in August. It was changed because the Legislature passed a bill during the past session officially moving it from August to the third weekend in July to ensure that its always before the first day of school, said Melissa Warnke, spokeswoman for Alabama Retail Association. There are over 318 cities and counties participating in the holiday, according to Warnke. Items exempt from state and city sales tax fall into three major categories: Clothing All apparel suitable for a person's general use is exempt unless it otherwise appears on the taxable list; clothing items must cost $100 or less per article of clothing to be exempt. Computers, computer software and school computer supplies A single purchase with a sales price of $750 or less will be exempt. Exempt items include computers, computer software and any item commonly used by a student in a course of study in which a computer is used. School supplies Any items costing $50 or less per item commonly used by a student in a course of study will be exempt. Supplies may include art supplies, reference maps and globes, textbooks on an official school book list with a sales price of more than $30 but less than $50, and books with a sales price of $30 or less per book. The associations theme this year is New Date, Same Savings. So the big push for us this year is just making sure that parents and teachers and anyone else who is doing back to school shopping knows that is in July rather than August of this year, Warnke said. We always encourage people to try their best to shop with retailers in their own community when theyre doing their shopping, particularly for big shopping events like the back to school season. Shopping local in Opelika and Auburn Warnke said the associations overarching theme is to shop local. We want to encourage people to think about the value of their dollar and so when they shop with a local retailer, the local retailer is reinvesting that money back in your community, Warnke said. Opelika Chamber of Commerce President Pam Powers-Smith said the holiday is beneficial for local businesses. I think its a win-win situation for everyone, Powers-Smith said. Our local stores are getting business while the customers receive a benefit. Im glad our state utilizes this program. Apparel that will be for sale at the Barbasol Tournament this weekend will be exempt from state and city sales tax. In Auburn, Wrapsody co-owner Sarah Brown said she is "thrilled" the tax-free weekend is earlier this year than it has been previously. "It will be a really busy weekend," said Brown, who said sales and foot traffic on tax-free weekend are exponentially higher than a normal weekend. "People will be shopping and thinking about going back to school. It's soon enough that I think a lot of people will want to get it done." In addition to customers not having to pay tax, many stores have scheduled sales for this weekend. Wrapsody customers can expect 20 percent off all merchandise both Friday and Saturday, Brown said. The store is closed on Sundays. Brown said she expects Vera Bradley lunchboxes to be the boutique's top seller for back to school, as well as locker decals, shoes and clothing. "People will really try to take advantage of it being tax-free weekend," she added. For more information on the holiday, go to www.alabamaretail.org/salestaxholidays and click on Back to School. Liam Derbyshire was born with a very rare congenital disease that causes him to stop breathing every time he falls asleep. Doctors told his parents that he wouldnt live past six weeks, but the boy has defied the odds and will soon turn 18-years-old. Liam suffers from a condition known as central hypoventilation, or Ondines Curse, after a nymph from French folk stories. Ondine fell in love with a man called Palemon, and at their wedding, he vowed to love her with his every breath. So when the nymph later discovered his infidelity, she cursed him: You pledged faithfulness to me with your every waking breath and I accepted that pledge. So be it. For as long as you are awake, you shall breathe. But should you ever fall into sleep, that breath will desert you. Totally normal stuff for a folk tale, but a similar curse actually exists in real life. Photo: BBC Ondines Curse is a very rare condition. It is estimated that only 1,500 people around the world suffer from it, but Liams case is one of the most extreme. Milder versions of the condition prevent sufferers from getting a good, repairing sleep, but in the 18-year-olds case, falling asleep can literally kill him. Because he stops breathing whenever he doses off, the boy has been sleeping in a medical bed his entire life, connected to a life support system that feeds oxygen into his lungs and monitors his vitals. Liam Derbyshires room is a mix between a normal teenagers room and a hospital, with complex LEGO creations his favorite hobby blending with medical gear and wires. Even though the sensors in his bed constantly monitor his life signs, someone has to be around all the time, in case anything goes wrong. Looking after him has been tough on the family, who have spent thousands of pounds on electricity bills and backup power sources, in case of power outs, but are happy to have given their son as normal a life as he could have in these circumstances. Photo: BBC We have been very fortunate with Liam that he has had the life that hes got. We always wanted him to have as normal a life as we could give him. Hes exceeded all expectations, Liams mother, Kim, said when he turned 11. He is so full of life, hes fantastic. Hes constantly smiling and laughing. Hes very affectionate. He has all the normal traits of a lot of kids. Every day of his life is a bonus. Now almost 18-years-old, Liam Derbyshire continues to amaze doctors. They only gave him a few weeks to live, after diagnosing him with the condition, at birth, but he has beaten the odds, even beating cancer at one point in his life. Photo: BBC The really unusual thing about Liam is that he had a cancer growing inside of him and he had a problem with his bowel, said Dr. Gary Connett. I couldnt find any reports of children who had all these problems and survived. Its quite amazing. I would say hes unique worldwide. No one knows for sure what his life expectancy is. If we had listened to some of the doctors, he would not be alive now, Liams parents recently told the BBC. We never really thought he would live for so many years, we are living proof that there is always hope. Because of his condition, Liam will never be completely independent, but with the help of his family, he will be as independent as possible under the circumstances. Tupelo, the Mississippi birthplace of Elvis Presley, is looking for a PR firm to get national media to attract visitors, according to a report in the citys Daily Journal. Neal McCoy, executive director of the Tupelo Convention and Visitors Bureau, said he needs somebody to reach out to the New York Times and Washington Post. He said TC&VBs PR chief Jennie Bradford Curlee has built great relationships with media reps, bloggers and different folks, but she doesnt have the national contacts that a PR firm would have. McCoy said hed be issuing an RFP to spell out Tupelos PR needs. Tupelo has stepped up its ties to The King. Last year, it completed the Elvis Presley Birthplace Trail, which connects downtown to Elvis house and features stops such as the Tupelo Hardware Co., where Elvis got his first guitar. But theres more to Tupelo than just its famous native son. Other attractions are Tupelo Automobile Museum, Natchez Trace Parkway and Buffalo Park & Zoo. Agricultural News Plains Grains Executive Director Mark Hodges Reflects on the 2017 Wheat Harvest in Oklahoma Mark Hodges, executive director of the non-profit wheat marketing organization, Plains Grains, stopped by the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network studios this week to visit with Farm Director Ron Hays, about the 2017 winter wheat crop, now that harvest in the Southern Plains has had time to be processed some in the minds of farmers and elevator managers. You can hear their entire conversation as Hodges offers some of his reflections on this year's HRW wheat harvest is Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and further North, by clicking or tapping the LISTEN BAR below, at the bottom of the story. Hodges gave an initial overview to the crop harvested this year, which he says in many ways, is comparable to the crops of recent years. "In a lot of respects from a quality standpoint, it's kind of a mirror image of last year," he said. "From a production standpoint, obviously, we had pretty good production on acres that weren't abandoned - but, we had a lot of acres of abandonment, which we don't completely have our arms wrapped around yet." He continued, saying that even from a quality perspective, this year's harvest was reminiscent of last year in the kernel characteristics of this crop, which are exceptional he says. On the other hand, however, this crop lacked the desired protein levels being highly sought in the market currently. This was unfortunately the case due to the market's lack of fertilizing incentive over the last few growing seasons which led to many farmers choosing this year, to forego the additional input costs of adding supplemental Nitrogen to their fields. What little if any Nitrogen that existed in the soil profile last year was easily sapped by the record producing crop of 2016, that continues to weigh on markets. "We ended up with grain fill conditions and no stress at that point," Hodges recounted, "and so there wasn't anything to put protein in the kernels because there wasn't enough Nitrogen in the profile to start with." Considering the production of this crop, it seemed in the beginning to be a bit larger than it has turned out to really be. Oklahoma's wheat community originally figured total production would end up right at 100 million bushels; USDA officials estimated 89 million. The actual number is starting to appear now, and it looks as though Oklahoma is settling into about 90 million bushels. This is level is reflective of many producers' decision to graze out their wheat fields, and chase their profit through the bellies of cattle. "It's pretty hard to argue with producers when at that time, the cattle market was going up and wheat prices were at $3.00-$3.20/bu.," he said. "It's pretty hard to argue that you shouldn't run it through the cattle." To hear Hodges speak to the condition of the Kansas crop that was snowed under in the western half of the state and those crops further North, now choked by drought, click or tap the LISTEN BAR below. Hodges will join Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays for his weekly In the Field segment on KWTV News9 in the Oklahoma City area on Saturday morning at 6:40 a.m. Hear Hays and Hodges reflect on the harvest of this year's wheat crop on the Southern Plains below WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady NSI Top Agricultural News Agricultural News Wheat Organizations Appluad Indiana's Ted McKinney as the Ideal Candidate for USDA Trade Post On July 19, 2017, the Trump Administration announced a declaration of intent to nominate Ted McKinney for Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). In May, the USDA created the new Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs position, as directed by the 2014 Farm Bill. "McKinney's leadership experience as Indiana's Agriculture Director and longstanding background in trade make him an ideal candidate for this position," said David Schemm, president of the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) and a wheat farmer from Sharon Springs, Kansas. "The U.S. wheat industry applauds the Administration's choice and calls for a quick confirmation hearing in the Senate." Indiana Agriculture Director Ted McKinney spent over 30 years in various roles with Dow AgroSciences and Elanco, a subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Company. "McKinney has been a champion for U.S. agriculture throughout his career and clearly understands the importance of access to foreign markets," said Mike Miller, chairman of U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) and a wheat farmer from Ritzville, Wash. "We look forward to working with him and his team at USDA to expand trade opportunities for U.S. farmers." Source - US Wheat Associates WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady NSI Top Agricultural News Agricultural News Grain Market Economist Dr. Kim Anderson Says the Markets are Like a Pendulum, Expect Corrections OSU Extension Grain Market Economist Dr. Kim Anderson joins the SUNUP team, again this week, talking wheat prices. Recently, the Funds have had a pessimistic outlook on the wheat market. However, there seems to have been a shift to a more optimistic position by the funds. First, Funds were short around 650 million bushels over the last few months, and now after having bought .3 billion bushels, they are long 650 million bushels. The "cautiously optimistic" move, says Anderson, prompted prices to respond. He reports that cash prices began in Oklahoma at approximately $3.75, peaked on July 11th at $4.80, and have since backed off by $0.50 to now $4.25-$4.30. "Price is like a pendulum," he said. "If they go up, they normally go up a little too high then they have to back off. If they go down too far, they have to back off. So, we saw that pendulum swing." Negative market factors, such as the size of the foreign crops and the lack of protein-rich wheat, kept the pendulum from swinging any higher, unfortunately for farmers. Anderson advises growers to start thinking now, about how they can produce quality wheat with high protein, this next season. "If you give them protein," he remarked, "prices will go up." You can watch their visit tomorrow or Sunday on SUNUP- but you can hear Kim's comments right now by clicking on the LISTEN BAR below. Beyond Dr. Anderson's weekly chat - the SUNUP crew has a very full lineup for your viewing this weekend: This week on SUNUP, we join you from the South Central Research Station near Chickasha for the Summer Forage Field Day. - David Marburger recaps the 2017 wheat crop and explains what producers should be thinking about for 2018. - In Cow-Calf Corner, Glenn Selk says time of day when cutting forage does not impact nitrate levels. - Heath Sanders explains why Teff might be a good forage for southwest Oklahoma. - In the Mesonet weather report, Gary McManus explains why drought it's growing in Oklahoma. - Michael Pettijohn and Alex Rocateli show us what producers learned at the 2017 Summer Forage Field Day. - Finally, we travel to Tulsa County to meet a significant woman in agriculture and see how she is helping her inner-urban community. Join us for SUNUP: Saturday at 7:30 a.m. Sunday at 6 a.m. on OETA-TV You can watch their visit tomorrow or Sunday on SUNUP- but you can hear Kim's comments right now WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady NSI Top Agricultural News Sen. John McCains diagnosis of glioblastoma is not a great one, but the senator has several marks in his favor as he faces the disease, an Omaha neurosurgeon who specializes in such tumors said Thursday. A statement released Wednesday by McCains office indicated that scanning done after the surgery last week to remove a blood clot above the senators left eye shows that the tissue that caused concern was completely removed. The statement also noted that McCain, 80, is recovering well and that his underlying health is excellent. Dr. Michele Aizenberg, a neurosurgeon and associate professor of neurosurgery at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, said its good news that doctors removed all of the tumor that was visible on scans because data strongly indicate that removing more tumor greatly improves overall survival. The fact that the senators health is good, with no apparent neurological deficits, also is a mark in his favor. But gliomas, with glioblastoma being the most aggressive type, infiltrate the brain rather than growing inside a capsule, said Aizenberg, who completed a fellowship in neurosurgical oncology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Surgeons can remove all of the tumor that they can see on scans, but some unseen cells always are left behind. And not all glioblastomas are the same, she said. Each has different molecular features, and the cancer mutates over time, both factors that make it difficult to treat. These are complicated tumors, Aizenberg said. The cancer is relatively rare, striking three people out of 100,000 in the U.S. More than 12,000 new cases were expected in 2017, according to the American Brain Tumor Association. But it has made a name for itself, claiming the lives of Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and Beau Biden, son of former Vice President Joe Biden. The former vice president spoke movingly of his sons battle during his visit to Omaha in late May as part of the dedication of the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center on the UNMC campus. Aizenberg said doctors usually tell patients that the average survival is about 15 months. Thats up from 12 months in years past. In addition, more patients now are surviving to between two years and five years than did years ago. But we generally consider this disease incurable, she said. There are a handful of people who have a cure, but for the most part, we consider it incurable, and its almost guaranteed to recur at some point. The standard treatment starts with surgery followed by chemotherapy and radiation. Some patients also may be eligible for clinical trials, which usually occur in combination with standard care. A number of trials involving medications, vaccines and immune therapy are underway. Aizenberg said theres no way to know at this point whether McCain would be eligible for such trials. McCain and his family reportedly are reviewing treatment options, including a combination of radiation and chemotherapy, as he recuperates at his home in Arizona. We always tell people what theyre dealing with, Aizenberg said. We also have things to help (provide) as much time as possible and as much quality as possible. Those are the important things. Combine drought-like conditions in some areas with weak grain prices, and the rural economy of the Midwest suffers. That situation is reflected in a monthly survey of non-metro bankers by Creighton University economist Ernie Goss, who said an index based on the latest survey had the sharpest one-month decline since the mid-recession month of November 2009. The survey of 171 bankers in 10 states yielded a Rural Mainstreet Index of 40.7, well below the growth-neutral index of 50 in Junes survey. The bankers outlook for the coming six months also dropped, from 48.9 in June to 38.4. Indexes dropped in each of the states Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming indicating a widespread decline. But the bankers estimated that 15 percent of grain farmers would have losses this year, which would be an improvement from 19.1 percent expected a year go. The surveys index of farm- and ranchland prices fell to 36.6 from 40 in June, the 44th straight month of price decline. Farm equipment sales registered an index of 20, down from 26.2 in June but still above July 2016s index of 10.7. Retail business remained in decline, with an index of 43.1, but the home sales index of 60.8 and the employment index of 53.6 both showed growth. Hiring was strongest in non-agriculture businesses. Crop conditions were poor in parts of North Dakota and Illinois but good in neighboring Minnesota, the bankers said. They said they expect 4.9 percent of farm loans to default, fewer than the 5.4 percent predicted at the same time last year. Nebraskas index dropped from 51.4 in June to 42.1, although its hiring index remained strong at 62.5. Iowas index dropped from 50.5 to 41.7, also with a healthy hiring index, 60.7. A man was arrested Wednesday in Fremont 2 hours after he abducted his 8-year-old son in southwest Omaha, law enforcement authorities said. The Nebraska State Patrol issued an Amber Alert at about 6:15 p.m. for the boy, Driver Smith. His abduction was reported around 4:30 p.m. near 149th Court and O Plaza. The car was reported to be a 2008 gray Chevrolet Malibu driven by Michael Westerholm, 33, the childs father. About 7:10 p.m., Fremont police found the car after a gas drive-off was reported. Someone had located the vehicle in the Amber Alert driving away from the gas station and called that into the police, said Officer Phil Anson, an Omaha Police Department spokesman. The suspect was taken into custody, and the child was (rescued) safely. Some erratic behavior by Westerholm has been alleged in court documents over the past month. On June 30, Omaha police arrested Westerholm on suspicion of trespassing in the yard of a woman near his home. On July 2, authorities allege in court documents, he tried to burglarize the womans house. She successfully filed for a protection order against Westerholm. In early July, Drivers mother successfully sought a protection order in Douglas County District Court to prohibit Westerholm from contacting her. In an affidavit, she wrote that Westerholm had been having delusions and hallucinations and was hospitalized for psychiatric treatment. On July 5, police arrested Westerholm at Creighton University Medical Center-Bergan Mercy after a security officer reported that he tried to enter the neonatal intensive care unit three times. Westerholm said he was there to see his newborn daughter, but he kept providing a different name for the childs mother, according to a police report. He was charged with trespassing. The woman who didnt show up to testify in the murder trial of a boyfriend who is accused of killing a second boyfriend has been arrested. Doloma Curtis, a former Douglas County correctional officer, was booked into Pottawattamie County Jail on Wednesday. Thursday marks the fifth day of a jury trial for 27-year-old Rolander Brown, who is accused of killing Carlos Alonzo in May 2016. Curtis was dating both men. Prosecutors had wanted her to testify, and had issued a subpoena for her to do so, but theyre now unlikely to call her to the stand. The trial is expected to conclude early next week. Authorities allege that Curtis, Brown and Alonzo were at her house near 20th and Lake Streets on May 28, 2016, when Brown fatally shot Alonzo, 40. Curtis also is accused of using law enforcement databases to notify Brown that authorities were looking for him and of helping Brown flee to Georgia. She was charged with being an accessory to a felony and posted $2,500 bail in December to be released from jail. A judge issued a warrant for her arrest July 10, saying she had violated conditions of her release. Wednesday, she was booked on suspicion of being a fugitive from justice and waived extradition Thursday to face the additional charge in Douglas County. The parents of a malnourished 8-year-old boy entered pleas of no contest on Wednesday to five counts of negligent child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury. Stephen Bauer and Megan Finlan originally were charged with intentional child abuse resulting in serious injury. Douglas County District Judge Marlon Polk found them both guilty and set their sentencing date for Sept. 15. Each charge carries a penalty of up to five years in prison, Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said. The child, who had been adopted by Bauer and Finlan, has since been adopted by another family. Well be asking for a very heavy sentence of 25 years for each of the defendants, Kleine said. Our first concern was for the child, and hes doing very well now. The plea deal means the child will not have to testify against his former parents, Kleine said. Bauer, 39, and Finlan, 34, were arrested in 2015 after police were called to Florence Elementary School to investigate a possible case of child neglect. Prosecutors said that the boys parents had withheld food from him at home and that he had been locked in his room for days at a time, forcing him to urinate and defecate on his floor. At school, he would eat food out of the trash can and would lick other kids plates clean. The childs teeth appeared to be nearly disintegrated, prosecutors said. He weighed 32 pounds, well below the weight of an average 8-year-old boy, which is about 57 pounds. Bauer and Finlan are also parents of four biological children. Finlans attorney, Matthew Kahler, said the other children are in state custody. Bauer is a former program director of the Nebraska Family Support Network. He no longer works there, according to someone who answered the phone at the office. His attorney, John Jedlicka, declined to comment on the plea agreement. Jessi Domingos apparent last words predicted his fate. Its OK, Im about to die, the 23-year-old told his cousin on the phone, a prosecutor said in court Wednesday. Three minutes later, Dustin Salisbury called 911 to report that he had crashed his pickup truck near a Ralston apartment complex. Salisbury didnt mention Domingo until officers questioned him later. While preparing for a fishing trip, Salisbury said he argued with a Hispanic man in his yard. Something triggered his post-traumatic stress disorder, Salisbury told officers, and he blacked out. Authorities believe that Salisbury intentionally hit Domingo with his pickup on June 21, thrusting him into a garage and killing him. A judge ruled that Salisbury, 32, will be held without bail on charges of second-degree murder and use of a weapon to commit a felony. Ralston police officers went to 82nd and Seymour Streets at 4:38 a.m. four minutes after Salisbury called 911 and seven minutes after Domingo called his cousin. Salisbury was trapped in his 2016 Honda Ridgeline, which was lying on its side. He had driven through a fence and hit a utility box, a pole and a row of three connected garages at a high speed, said prosecutor Ryan Lindberg on Wednesday. Authorities believe that Domingo was run down by Salisbury near the pole and first garage. Domingo suffered blunt force trauma to his limbs, trunk, head and neck which are consistent with being hit with a vehicle, prosecutors have said. Salisbury told police that there were no other vehicles involved, Lindberg said. A pair of size 9 New Balance shoes were found at the scene of the crash. Domingos body was not discovered until seven hours later in a back corner of the connected garages. A relative later identified the shoes as belonging to Domingo. Officers later questioned Salisbury about Domingos body. Salisbury became upset and asked if he was being accused of killing someone, Lindberg said. Then, Salisbury told officers he had an argument with a Hispanic man that morning and was upset that the man was talking to him in his yard. He told officers he suffers from PTSD and blackouts and that he didnt remember the crash. Salisbury was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs, Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said. He was booked into jail on Monday and his next hearing is scheduled for August. Public defender Cathy Saathoff said Salisbury had lived in Ralston for six years and had an 8-month-old daughter. Salisbury also served in Iraq and Turkey with the military, she said. Domingos relatives were not able to be reached Wednesday night. A 25-year-old man was seriously injured early Thursday in a single-vehicle crash on Veterans Memorial Bridge in South Omaha. The crash occurred at 3:50 a.m. on the Iowa side of the bridge east of 10th Street. Rescue squads from Omaha, however, handled the injured man, who was taken to Nebraska Medical Center in critical condition, according to authorities at the scene. An Omaha police officer, Lt. Enrico Ramos, tweeted that the westbound vehicle struck a forklift in a construction zone on the Iowa side of the bridge. Reports to Douglas County 911 dispatchers indicated that one of the mans legs was pinned in the crash. He was cut free about 25 minutes after the crash was reported. Eastbound and westbound traffic on the bridge was blocked while Omaha and Council Bluffs police investigated the crash. The City of Papillion has selected a new assistant city administrator. Amber Kummer will join City Hall on Aug. 21 if the City Council approves her appointment at its Aug. 1 meeting. Kummer is the city administrator and clerk for the City of Anthony, Kansas, where shes worked for seven years. Kummer stood out in the selection process because of her experience managing a rapidly changing community, a press release said. Anthony experienced an unexpected oil boom in 2010, followed by a bust in 2015. Kummer helped guide the city through those events, the release said. We are very excited to welcome Amber to our team at the City of Papillion, Mayor David Black said in the press release. Her skills and experience will be an asset to our government and community as our city continues to experience rapid growth and change. Kummer has a masters of public administration and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of South Dakota. She replaces former assistant city administrator Christine Myers, who took over as city administrator in May. Myers was paid about $108,000 in the role. Former city administrator Dan Hoins is now Sarpy Countys administrator. A motorcyclist was killed Thursday morning in a crash with a semitrailer truck north of Valley. Blake A. Escamilla, 24, of Fremont, was pronounced dead at the scene, a spokeswoman for the Nebraska State Patrol said. The driver of the semi, Brian Heldt, 51, of Fremont, was not injured. The crash occurred about 6:10 a.m. just west of U.S. Highway 275 at West Reichmuth Road and Nebraska Highway 36. The semi was eastbound on Reichmuth Road when it turned left in front of Escamillas westbound motorcycle, the spokeswoman said. A nurse who arrived at the scene reported the crash to Douglas County 911 dispatchers. Traffic on roadways in the area was blocked while authorities investigated the crash. The investigation into the crash is ongoing. The death was the 20th motorcycle fatality in Nebraska this year, which equals the total fatality numbers for all of 2016 and 2014, according to AAA. In 2015, 26 motorcyclists were killed in crashes around the state. Proponents, who included two current and two former state senators, said oil pipelines were 400 times safer in transporting oil than railcars or trucks. But opponents said theres no question that the pipeline will eventually leak and harm farm and ranch operations, and that the Keystone XL would create perhaps no more than 20 full-time jobs in the state. The coyote sniffed the little Yorkie, then snatched it, disappearing into a cornfield as the dog let out a yelp. That was the last time Steve Anderson saw his 4-pound Yorkie, Jasper, which his family got as a puppy seven years ago. Animal experts say the incident last week is a reminder to keep a close eye on pets, particularly small ones, in areas where coyotes might be prowling. Anderson and his wife, Gail, live on an acreage 18 miles west of Lincoln. He knows coyotes are close by, because hes captured images of them on the trail camera he has set up on his property. The incident with Jasper happened just after sunset when Steve Anderson was returning from a walk. Jasper was running ahead as they approached the yard of Andersons house. Anderson spotted what he first thought was a dog dashing toward them, but then realized it was a coyote. Anderson began yelling and running toward Jasper, but it was too late. He peered into the dark cornfield for a few minutes, but the thick, 10-foot-tall stalks made it impossible to see anything. He walked through the corn, too, and couldnt find Jasper. We were pretty upset, he said. Anderson said he hopes that by sharing the story hell help other pet owners avoid a similar loss. Steve Beal, manager of Lincoln Animal Control, said people should avoid leaving small pets unattended outside and can carry a whistle to scare off a coyote. Pets are very precious to people and thats very disturbing, he said of Jasper. Beal said there have been about 35 reports of coyote sightings in the city since May, more than in recent years. The majority of sightings have been near the Holmes Lake area, he said. Pam Wiese, spokeswoman for the Nebraska Humane Society, said her agency has received three or four calls about coyote sightings in the Omaha area since spring. There have been several incidents in the region this year involving coyotes, including one in March, south of the Millard area. A badly injured coyote was rescued after it was found hanging from a fence it got caught in. In July in Hastings a 1-year-old boy was bitten by a coyote. Laura Stastny, executive director of Nebraska Wildlife Rehab, said its rare for a coyote to snatch a small dog or cat out of a yard, particularly with an owner nearby. Stastny said coyotes, who weigh between 20 and 35 pounds in this region, have become more common in U.S. urban areas in the last five years or so, likely an indication of dwindling habitat. LINCOLN A biologist employed by TransCanada is disputing contentions that new transmission lines associated with the proposed Keystone XL pipeline would harm endangered whooping cranes. Jon Schmidt, a Florida-based regulatory consultant for the pipeline firm, said that the 36-inch, crude-oil pipeline would require only about 20 miles of additional electrical transmission lines (to serve pipeline pumping stations) across Nebraska. That, Schmidt said, represents only a .4 percent increase in the 5,471 miles of transmission lines that already exist in the migratory corridor used by the cranes, representing a very minor risk to whoopers. The written testimony, submitted earlier this week, rebuts testimony filed a month ago by Paul Johnsgard, a retired University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor who has written extensively about whooping cranes. Johnsgard said that the new electric transmission lines required by the XL project would significantly increase whooper deaths from collisions with the lines. When asked about the rebuttal on Wednesday, Johnsgard agreed that the risk was small but said that losing even one of the endangered cranes wasnt worth it. I dont regard even a slight danger as something that should be ignored, he said, adding that power line collisions are the No. 1 cause of death for whoopers. TransCanada is seeking permission from Nebraska for a 275-mile route for the Keystone XL across the state. Several pumping stations will be built, which will require building electric transmission lines to them. Both proponents and opponents of the controversial pipeline have been submitting written arguments ahead of an Aug. 7-11 hearing before the Nebraska Public Service Commission. The five-member elected commission is charged with determining whether the proposed route is in the best interests of the state. The commission could also decide that other routes are better, which has been suggested by pipeline opponents. TransCanada was allowed to provide rebuttal testimony to comments submitted last month on behalf of the Sierra Club and Bold Nebraska, which argued that the pipelines route would be disastrous for the states natural resources. At the very least, opponents have said, the route should be moved. They maintain that TransCanada has minimized the advantages in terms of disrupting less property of doing that. Schmidt, the TransCanada biologist, said that the proposed route crosses fewer miles of highly erodible soil than if the route was shifted to parallel the existing Keystone pipeline, which went into service in 2010. Co-locating the two pipelines, he said, would also require many deviations in the path, especially at stream crossings, because the existing Keystone pipeline has already used the best stream crossings. Schmidt said the advantages of paralleling the existing Keystone pipeline were minor, if any exist at all. The U.S. State Department, in its biological assessment of the project, said the XL may affect, but is not likely to adversely affect whooping cranes. Johnsgard dismissed that opinion as political. There was some disagreement about how many miles of power lines would be needed for the XL pumping stations. Schmidts testimony said 20 miles and Johnsgard, in his earlier testimony, said 68 miles. A spokesman for NPPD said last month that it was 23 miles. Johnsgard on Wednesday said he could not recall where he got the 68-mile figure. Nebraska communities, large and small, benefit when they have a local spirit of entrepreneurship that spurs business growth. Nurturing that can-do mindset and understanding of business among the states young people is important for Nebraskas future. The University of Nebraska at Omaha provided an encouraging example this year, as shown in a recent news story by World-Herald staff writer Paige Yowell. The winner of UNOs Business Plan Competition was the concept for an online womens boutique, called Mauve, developed by two UNO alumni and a current student. The Mauve website went up shortly after winning the business competition and ended up breaking even two days later, said Kat Slump, 22, a co-founder along with Keegan Mahoney, 23, and Alissa McMahon, 22. Here are some other examples of how the University of Nebraska works to promote entrepreneurial skills among its students: The University of Nebraska Medical Center offers interdisciplinary instruction focusing on medical innovation and commercialization of research. The Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, launched in 1986, is one of the nations oldest such facilities, helping students learn real-world business conditions. UNLs Engler Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Program has a range of efforts to deepen students understanding of ag-focused business issues. In all, about 900 UNL students are studying entrepreneurship to some degree. The NU College of Law conducts clinics where its students work with entrepreneurs on legal aspects of launching businesses. Enactus, the University of Nebraska at Kearneys entrepreneur club, holds an annual New Venture Adventure. More than 100 students from UNK and local high schools participate, creating fictional business ventures. Kearney-area business people work with the students to address typical business complications. Such efforts plant seeds that offer hope for Nebraskas economic future and the vitality of its communities. Looking for something to do this weekend? Weve got you covered. Check out some classic cars and aircraft, groove to outdoor music or celebrate Nebraska brewers. RiverFest / Friday and Saturday Celebrate summer with two nights of live music, a carnival, car show, bull riding and games at Haworth Park, 2502 Payne Drive in Bellevue. Fireworks will take place Saturday at 10 p.m. Admission is $1. Food and drinks will be available for purchase. Nebraska Highway 66 Concourse Classic / Saturday and Sunday See more than 100 classic cars displayed around historic aircraft from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. An opening event with parachute jumpers is at noon on Saturday. Vote for fan favorites; an awards ceremony is Sunday at 2 p.m. The show is free for members and included in general admission, $12 for adults, $11 for seniors and military, and $6 for youth ages 4-12. Nebraska Brewers Carnival / Saturday Head to Beer Corner USA, 35th and Farnam Streets, for an outdoor celebration of Nebraska breweries, complete with games, carnival food, a dunk tank and live music. Look for the big tent, games and beverages from 20 state breweries from 1 to 9 p.m. on 36th Street, outside Crescent Moon Alehouse, 3578 Farnam St. A DJ will play music from 2:30 to 8:30 p.m. Carnival food will be available for purchase. The free event is from 1 to 9 p.m. Outdoor yoga / Saturday Wake up, pack a towel and practice yoga at Hitchcock Nature Center in Honey Creek, Iowa, 20 minutes northwest of downtown Omaha. The beginners yoga session is from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. Participants are asked to bring a beach towel or yoga mat, water and bug spray and meet at the park entrance gate parking lot. The class is about 50 minutes. A $5 donation is suggested. Shop local / Saturday See handmade products from local arts and crafters at Locally Grown Showcase Omaha. There will be womens and childrens apparel, accessories and home decor from 3 to 8 p.m. at The Ridge Banquet Facility, 20033 Elkhorn Ridge Drive in Elkhorn. Drinks are available for purchase. Admission is $3 at the door; children admission is free. Ticket are also available at eventbrite.com; search locally grown. Refuge anniversary / Saturday Fontenelle Forest, 1111 Bellevue Blvd N., will celebrate its Raptor Woodland Refuge one year anniversary from 9 a.m. to noon. Meet raptor ambassadors, see the bird feedings and take photos. There will be a raptor trivia scavenger hunt with prizes, raptor crafts and a raffle with items such as a tent, nature photography books and Mannheim Steamroller box sets. All proceeds from the raffle benefit the Bellevue forest. Admission is free for members or included in daily admission. Beatles music / Saturday Listen to the music of John Lennon, Paul McCartney and friends at Cellar 426 in Ashland, Nebraska. The Come Together Band will perform from 6 to 9 p.m. Food will be available for purchase. Admission is free. Taste of La Vista / Saturday The City of La Vista and the La Vista Community Foundation will host a community engagement and food event from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday. Food and drinks will be available at Central Park, 7648 Edgewood Boulevard from La Vista-area businesses, including Kros Strain, Lucky Bucket, Mamas Pizza, Pizza West, Nebraska Brewing Company and A&W. City employees will be on site to answer questions and give feedback on projects such as City Centre, Civic Center Park, Nebraska MultiSport Complex and Thompson Creek. River Jam / Friday and Saturday Pack your coolers for two nights and three stages of outdoor music at Riverwest Park in Elkhorn. Bands include Linear Symmetry, Funk Trek and Peach Truck, an Allman Brothers tribute band. Gates open at 2 p.m. Camping is available. Tickets, $15-$25, available at eventbrite.com. Support a paws clause / Saturday Basset & Beagle Rescue of the Heartland, a nonprofit rescue group, will host its third annual barbecue and Bingo fundraiser from 5 to 9 p.m. Eat smoked pulled pork, vegetarian sloppy joes, vegan baked beans, veggies, chips and desserts at Electricians Union Hall Local 763, 13306 Stevens St. Bingo starts at 6:30 p.m. There will also be beer available and a raffle and silent auction. Cost is $25. For more information, go to bassetandbeagle.org. Theater performance / Saturday See a Neil Diamond tribute cover performance by musician Keith Allynn at Chanticleer Community Theater, 830 Franklin Ave. in Council Bluffs. The event is a fundraiser for the theater with complimentary wine and hors doeuvres at intermission. Tickets are $25-$30. Doors open at 6:45 p.m., and the show starts at 7:30 p.m. For more information, go to chanticleertheater.com. Human rights of people of Xinjiang should be respected and guaranteed: India 1981 AI hijack: After 36 years, two Sikh militants granted bail India ians-IANS By Ians English New Delhi, July 20: A court in Delhi granted bail to two Sikh militants, accused of hijacking an Air India plane in 1981 to Lahore, Pakistan. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Jyoti Kler granted bail to Tajinder Pal Singh and Satnam Singh and asked them to furnish a personal bond of Rs 2 lakh and two sureties of like amount each. The court directed them not to tamper with evidence or influence witnesses in the case. The court earlier on Tuesday granted two-day interim bail to the duo after they appeared before it. The case against them dates back to September 29, 1981, when they allegedly hijacked an Air India plane from New Delhi en route to Srinagar via Amritsar and forced it to land in Lahore, Pakistan, where they were arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment. Both were deported in 2000 from Pakistan after serving life-term for hijacking. They had later sought their discharge from the case but a sessions court had dismissed their plea. In 2011, the Delhi Police had chargesheeted them under various sections 121 (waging war against the government of India), 121A (conspiring to commit certain offences against the state), 124A (sedition) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The Delhi High court had also dismissed their plea seeking stay on the sessions court order and asked the trial court to proceed with the matter. IANS In regular touch, trying for consular access: MEA on detention of 8 Indians in Qatar 6 lakh Indians in Qatar safe, no need to evacuate: MoS V K Singh India oi-PTI There has been no adverse effect on Indians living in Qatar, V K Singh, Union Minister of State for External Affairs said in a written response to a question in the Rajya Sabha. There are nearly six lakh Indians working and staying in Qatar and there is no need to evacuate them as the situation there is normal, the government today said, amid the boycott imposed by four Middle East nations on the country. In response to another question, Singh said there has been a decline in the number of Indian workers emigrating to the Gulf countries for employment, attributing it to economic slowdown in those nations. He said 7.75 lakh Indian workers emigrated to the Gulf nations in 2014, followed by 7.58 lakh in 2015. However, the figure dropped drastically to 5.07 lakh in 2016. Last month, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic ties with Qatar. Among other terms, they have demanded that Qatar cut ties with Iran. PTI For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, July 21, 2017, 2:07 [IST] Operation All Out: Taking down the command in the Valley Operation All Out: 170 terrorists shot dead and the year isnt complete as yet Abu Dujana, Kashmir's 'slippery' Lashkar commander India oi-Vicky By Vicky Abu Dujana the commander of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba in the Kashmir Valley managed to give security forces the slip yet again. On Wednesday, he came close to being caught, but managed to slip away along with his two associates. Ironically this is not the first time that he is slipping away. This is in fact is the fifth time that he had managed to dodge the security forces. This has now raised questions, whether he has a knack of escaping? It was in the month of May 2016 that he was first seen in public. A funeral being accorded to a terrorist in Pulwama was attended by Dujana where he had called on locals to take the fight to the Indian Army. Lift up your guns and fight against the Indian Army, he said before a crowd. Dujana the chief of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba in Kashmir is currently a major headache for the Indian security establishment. From masterminding the Udhampur attack, the 27 year old Dujana has become a menace in South Kashmir. Recommended Video Kanwar Yatra: Suspicious object seized from the yatra camp in Uttarakhand | Oneindia News Who is Abu Dujana? A dossier on this 27 year old operative in the possession of OneIndia states that he joined the Lashkar-e-Tayiba when he was 17. His rise in the outfit has been meteoric. A resident of Gilgit-Baltistan, he operates out of the Pulwama region in South Kashmir. His planing and style of execution had impressed his bosses who appointed him as a deputy to Abu Qasim. Following the death of Abu Qasim, Dujana became the obvious choice to lead the outfit in Kashmir. Dujana currently is on the run and in the interim the Lashkar appointed Abu Ismail, the mastermind of the Amarnath yatra attack in his place. Dujana's main target is the Indian army. All his attacks are directed against the armed forces in Kashmir as he believes that it is the armed forces which is coming in the way of their so-called Kashmir struggle. His name featured in several attacks which also included the ones at Pampore and Udhampur. In fact he was the one who had planned the Udhampur attack in which two BSF personnel were martyred. When Mohammad Naved one of the terrorists was caught alive, he confirmed to the police that the attack was masterminded by Dujana and Qasim. The investigations being conducted into the recent Pampore attack had also found that it was Dujana who had masterminded the attack. There is currently a reward of Rs 8 lakh on his head and a massive manhunt has been launched to track him down. The question is when will this slippery commander of the Lashkar be caught or killed. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, July 20, 2017, 7:12 [IST] 'It's an affront to sacred institution of Parliament': Congress on ED summoning Kharge Airlines can't impose flying ban on anyone: RS Deputy Chairman India oi-PTI New Delhi, July 20: Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien on Thursday said airlines have no authority to impose flying ban on anybody, including parliamentarians, and the law of the land should take its course. The remarks came after SP member Naresh Agrawal raised the issue of recent flying ban imposed by major domestic airlines, including state-owned Air India. Agrawal wanted to know if the airlines could impose such restrictions. According to him, such an action was a breach of privilege of the Members of Parliament. To this, Kurien said agreed that Agrawal has raised a "valid point" that if any MP has committed a crime or something against the law, the law of the land should take its course. "Airlines are not given the authority to punish anybody. I think the government should take note of it. "MPs are also citizens ... if they commit a crime or mistake, the law of the land should take recourse to it," the Deputy Chairman said. He further said "it is a punishment imposed on an MP for some crime...This cannot be done. This is not a thing to be punished by airlines". Congress MP Anand Sharma suggested to the Deputy Chairman that the word 'crime' should be replaced with 'violation'. However, Kurien said if a person beats up someone, it is a crime. Different airlines yesterday lifted the flying ban on TDP MP J C Diwakar Reddy after "urgent" notices from the court to the government and the aviation regulator DGCA on the lawmaker's plea against the action of domestic carriers. On June 15, Reddy got into a verbal spat with IndiGo ground staff at Visakhapatnam airport and threw a printer kept at the airline counter after he was informed that boarding for his flight to Hyderabad had closed. Reddy was the second MP after Shiv Sena's Ravindra Gaikwad who was banned from flying domestic airlines. A flying ban was imposed on Gaikwad in March this year after he repeatedly hit an Air India officer with slippers for not providing him a business class seat on an all-economy flight. The ban was lifted after a fortnight following an undertaking from him that he would desist from such conduct in future. PTI Central team roped in as dengue cases in Bihar rise to over 5000 Bihar BJP leader Krishna Shahi was killed over extra-marital affair: Police India ians-IANS By Ians English Patna, July 20: The Bihar Police on Thursday said that they have arrested the main accused in the murder of BJP leader Krishna Shahi. The politician was allegedly killed for having an extra-marital affair with the arrested individual's sister. Shahi, who was head of the Bharatiya Janata Party's commercial cell in Bihar, was murdered and his body thrown into a well in Manjha village in Gopalganj district. Police on Wednesday recovered his body. Gopalganj Superintendent of Police Ravi Ranjan Kumar on Thursday told media that Aditya Rai, a suspect in the case, has been arrested. "Rai told police that he was angry after he came to know about Shahi's extra-marital affair with his sister and finally killed him by mixing pesticide in his food," he said. The police superintendent said an investigation team has verified the suspect's claims that Shahi used to visit Aditya Rai's house late in the night. Earlier, a man and five women were detained after Shahi's family suspected their involvement in the murder. Shahi's supporters also attacked the house of Rai, but police managed to control the situation. The BJP leaders who on Wednesday had termed the murder a result of a complete failure of law and order in the state refused to comment on the extra-marital affair of their leader on Thursday. In 2011, BJP legislator Raj Kishore Kesri in Bihar was stabbed to death at his home in Purnia district by a woman who had accused the politician of raping her. IANS BJP was first to moot 'State Flag' for Karnataka, not Congress India oi-Anusha Contrary to its stand on a separate flag for Karnataka now, the BJP was, in fact, the first to make hoisting of Kannada flags mandatory. While the party is criticising Congress government over its push for two flag policy when in power, it was the BJP that that sought to accord official status to the Karnataka flag. In 2012, then Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda sought to give the maroon and yellow flag an 'official state flag status'. During his budget speech for the year, 2012-13 Gowda made it mandatory to hoist the Kannada flag during Rajyothsava celebrations in all schools, colleges and government offices. This was, however, challenged in the Karnataka High court. A division bench comprising then Chief Justice Vikramajit Sen and Justice B V Nagarathna asked the state if any other flag other than the tricolour can be hosted. "Will this not violate the order governing the national flag? When you don't have a state flag, how can you hoist it? Can the state salute such a flag during official functions? It is essential to consider the Union of India's stand on questions whether any flag other than the tricolour can be hoisted by the government. The state should also clarify whether any flag other than the national flag is hoisted at official functions," the bench observed. Recommended Video Karnataka state flag: The hidden politics behind govt. move | Oneindia News The Karnataka government was forced to the withdraw its decision on hoisting the flag. On the eve of Rajyotsava, the Karnataka government issued a notification withdrawing its decision. During the hearing of the case, the Karnataka government in a written submission said, "the State had refused to accept a suggestion to declare the Kannada flag as the official flag for the reason that such a recognition would be against unity and integrity of the country." Now when the Congress government under Siddaramaiah is moving to bring a two-flag policy, the BJP has made a U-turn and is criticising the government for the same. OneIndia News Rahul Gandhi invites Siddaramaiah for sprint during Bharat Jodo Yatra and this happens next [watch] Corruption allegation against Karnataka CM, complaint filed with Lokayukta, ACB India oi-Anusha Complaints have been filed against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Bengaluru Development Minister K J George accusing them of corruption. BJP leader N R Ramesh has filed complaints about misappropriation of funds under Indira canteen scheme. N R Ramesh has accused Siddaramaiah of swindling Rs 65 crore under the Indira Canteen scheme. "Rs 39 lakh is being misappropriated for every kitchen and Rs 18 lakh for every canteen that is being set up under the scheme. In all 27 kitchens and 198 canteens are being set up and the total funds misappropriated is Rs 65 crore," alleged N R Ramesh. The former BJP corporator has filed complaints against Siddaramaiah, K J George and three others with the Lokayukta, Anti Corruption Bureau apart from approaching the 4th ACMM court with a petition. A petition seeking direction to the police to register cases under IPC sections 403, 406, 464, 468, 477(a) has been filed. OneIndia News Doctor kidnapped by Ola cabbie in Delhi rescued in dramatic fashion India oi-Vicky By Vicky A doctor who was abducted while traveling in an OLA cab earlier this month was rescued in a dramatic fashion. The doctor was abducted 14 days back by the cabbie and his associates. Interestingly the kidnappers demanded a ransom of Rs 5 crore not from the doctor, but from Ola. Nearly 200 personnel of the Delhi police were deployed to crack this case. On Wednesday the four kidnappers were finally arrested by the police. In the run up to the cracking of the case, there were at least two encounters with the accused persons. The police say that 5 others involved in this case are still absconding. Srikanth Goud, a resident of Hyderabad works at a private hospital in Delhi. He had booked the cab on July 6 while returning from a party at Noida. The doctor's friend dropped him at Preet Vihar following which he booked the cab. He found something fishy when the cab took a u-turn and headed towards Noida. When he asked the cabbie about the same, he was told to remain silent failing which he would be killed. The kidnappers then called the Ola call centre and demanded the ransom on July 7. They made another call to the hospital and told a nurse that they wanted to teach Ola a lesson. Meanwhile the gang kept changing locations. They even used the doctor's mobile to evade being tracked. On Wednesday the cops tracked the kidnappers down. There was an encounter that took place at Shatabdi Nagar at Meerut. There were at least four rounds exchanged during the encounter. Finally the police managed to prevail over the kidnappers and arrested them. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, July 20, 2017, 6:37 [IST] Gau rakshaks are your people: Sibal mocks BJP India oi-Vikas By Vikas Holding Prime Minister Narendra Modi responsible for an atmosphere of fear created by cow vigilantes, Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Thursday asked why the Prime Minister does not criticise the VHP and Bajrang Dal publically. During a debate in the Rajya Sabha on mob lynching and cow vigilantism, Sibal came down hard at the Centre and said killing in the name of the cow is the death of humanity. Continuing his tirade, he said, "It has nothing to do with cow vigilantes. It is the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is creating that kind of an environment." Sibal said the BJP can not distance itself from violence in the name of the cow as VHP and Bajrang Dal are associated with it. "You say it isn't related to BJP. These people are cow vigilantes. But these are your people. VHP has said it will equip gau rakshaks," Sibal added. CPI leader D Raja said that it was shameful that issues like mob lynching are being discussed even 70-years after independence. Recommended Video Gau Rakshaks attack again; Nagpur man beaten up by mob | Oneindia News "Dalits, minorities and women doesn't want sympathy or empathy. They want empowerment guaranteed by the Constitution," he said. After this, Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar raked up the issue of 1984 Sikh riots in Delhi to counter the opposition. "In 1984, homes were burnt in Delhi and 3,000 Sikhs were lynched. We will not tolerate lynching, don't play politics on this issue," said Javadekar. Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad condemned HRD Minister's speech and said, "We made this nation not you, you all were with British, we sacrificed." Congress then walked out of the House. OneIndia News GJM challenges W Bengal govt to prove allegations regarding the partys Nepal and Kashmir links India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Darjeeling, July 20, 2017: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has challenged the West Bengal Government to prove their claims of Nepal and Kashmir links with the hill party. A West Bengal intelligence agency report claimed that key GJM leaders were having telephonic conversations with persons in Nepal and Kashmir. The agency has claimed that the Nepal Maoists are aiding the ongoing agitation in the Darjeeling Hills. Hand-in-glove with the GJM these forces are carrying of arson and vandalizing in the Hills. "They claim that I had a telephonic conversation with a person in Nepal on June 7 and that GJM General Secretary Roshan Giri also had a conversation with a person in Kashmir. What does this prove? Just mere allegations will not do. They have to make public from which number we had called? Who did we call and the content of the conversations. They have to provide material evidences. Mere fabricated allegations will not do" stated Binay Tamang; Asiistant Secretaqry, GJM. Incidentally West Bengal Chief Minister along with alleging hand of North East insurgent outfits and Nepal Maoists in the ongoing agitation has also written a letter to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh claiming China's involvement in the ongoing unrest in the Hills which she claimed is an attempt to destabilize the Siliguri corridor. Tamang feels that it is a conspiracy to give the ongoing movement an anti-national color thereby derailing it. "If they have evidences against us they should immediately report to the Union Government for investigations" stated Tamang. The GJM leader feels that people of the Darjeeling Hills have relatives in Nepal and it is not out of the way to have telephonic conversations with persons in Nepal. "CM Mamata Banerjee often calls up Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Does that mean that the CM has some links with Bangladeshi terror groups?" explained Tamang. Meanwhile the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday directed the city sessions court to frame charges against GJM President Bimal Gurung and 21 others in the Madan Tamang murder case by August 17. The division bench comprising of acting Chief Justice Nishita Mhatre and Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty while hearing a PILs on the ongoing indefinite bandh in the Hills had earlier added the CBI in the case. The division bench had asked the investigation agency to file an affidavit as to why the CBI has failed to take steps to ensure that GJM President Bimal Gurung, his wife Asha Gurung and several others accused in the killing of All India Gorkha League leader Madan Tamang is not present in Kolkata from the date of framing of charge in the case until completion of the trial, as was directed by another division bench of the high court. Incidentally Madan Tamang had been brutally assassinated on May 21, 2010 at the Upper Clubside, Darjeeling while overseeing preparation of a public meeting. The case was handed over to the CBI. In May 2015 the CBi submitted a charge sheet naming 54 persons including Bimal Gurung, Asha Gurung, Roshan Giri and BinayTamang. 22, including Gurung, Giri, Tamang had moved anticipatory bail pleas in the Calcutta high court. A division bench headed by Justice Ashim Roy had in December 2016 had granted the Morcha leaders anticipatory bail but had specified that the trial against the accused would be conducted by a special CBI court in Calcutta and they would have to stay in the city (within the jurisdiction of Kolkata metropolitan police) from the time of framing of the charges and till the completion of trial.The framing of charges was to be initiated in February this year. With a specific date fixed by the division bench headed by acting Chief Justice Nishita Mhatre on Wednesday would put Gurung and his men in a tight spot at a time when they are spearheading an agitation in the Hills. The division bench on Wednesday was hearing PILs against the indefinite bandh. The next date of hearing of this case has been fixed on August 23 for the hearing on the PILs when the bench would also take a decision on the petitioners demands for initiating contempt proceedings against Gurung for flouting the court's orders on a ban on the bandh. The division bench had earlier declared the ongoing indefinite bandh as illegal. "We will honour the orders of the court and act as per the court's directive. However our legal counsel is also looking into the Court's order and will direct us accordingly" added Binay Tamang. On Thursday the Panchayat office in Lamahatta and the DFO office in Kurseong were torched. Hopes fade for Grand Alliance in Bihar, breakup inevitable now India oi-Vicky By Vicky The crisis in the Grand Alliance at Bihar continued with there being no breakthrough in the talks between the JD(U) and RJD. The much hyped meeting between Bihar Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav yielded no results. A meeting of Kumar and Yadav which lasted over 40 minutes appears to have worsened the situation. Kumar sought an explanation from Yadav over the corruption charges and CBI raids against him. Recommended Video Tejashwi Yadav states no rift in Bihar alliance, Mahagathbandhan is intact | Oneindia News The JD(U) said that it wants the RJD to come clean on the charges. The JD(U)'s Neeraj Kumar said that they wanted a public clarification on the issue. The party's spokesperson, Ajay Alok said that the RJD would need to clear itself in public. Our stand on the issue has not changed, he also said. Tejashwi Yadav was recently named by the CBI in the land for hotels case. Raids were conducted at his residence. The CBI also raided the residence of Lalu Prasad Yadav and others. There has been pressure mounting on Nitish Kumar to take action against Tejashwi who is the deputy chief minister of Bihar. However the junior Yadav has refused to step down. Congress President Sonia Gandhi even tried to intervene and resolve the crisis, but there appears to have been no fruitful result. The Congress is part of the Grand Alliance in Bihar. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, July 20, 2017, 6:42 [IST] Xi Jinping tells Chinese army to prepare for war, fight and win it All's not well between China, Russia China face off: India wants peaceful resolution of the matter, says MEA India oi-Madhuri Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Gopal Baglay on Thursday said that India's approach has been always peaceful resolution for all border disputes. While addressing the media, Baglay said,''Hoping to find peaceful resolution to all problems.'' Recommended Video Sikikim Stand off: China alone can't change status quo in Dokalam says Sushma Swaraj |Oneindia News He also said India's stand is backed by all the Countries. China has reiterated that it won't talk to India until New Delhi withdraws troops from Doklam ''On forward movement, we have very clearly mentioned our stand. Let's not get into the details as of now,'' MEA Spokesperson said. He further said that diplomatic channels with China were never broken. They have been taking place. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval will be travelling to Beijing on July 27-28 to attend a BRICS meeting. OneIndia News Share your opinion on this topic by sending a letter to the editor to tctvoice@madison.com. Include your full name, hometown and phone number. Your name and town will be published. The phone number is for verification purposes only. Please keep your letter to 250 words or less. Karnataka flag: Important to provide context to the debate India oi-Dr. Sandeep Shastri The Karnataka government's decision to appoint a Committee to examine the feasibility of the state having its own flag has evoked nation-wide interest and as expected has got caught up in the political cross fire. While the BJP leaders have denounced the move as it goes against the principle of One Nation One Flag, the Chief Minister has cautioned that it is merely a proposal that is being examined and asserted that it does not violate the letter and spirit of the Constitution. The issue is likely to snowball into a major controversy, given the fact that the state goes to the poll in the coming year and political temperatures are already rising. Unless handled with tact, given the strong emotional overtones that the issue can evoke, it could gravitate into a major controversy. It is important to provide the context to this debate. Given the political circumstances in which the Indian Constitution came to be written, the members of the Constituent Assembly rightly focused on the need to fortify the unity of the country. The Constitution does not use the word federalismto describe the Indian polity but consistently refers to Union-State relations. Article 1 of the Constitution clearly outlines that India, that is Bharat is a Union of States. This underscoring of the Unity dimension was unequivocally reinforced by the constitution makers through the constitution. Single citizenship, a single integrated judicial system, a single constitution (save for the state of Jammu and Kashmir) were all part of this focus on maintaining the unity and integrity of the country. Recommended Video Karnataka state flag: The hidden politics behind govt. move | Oneindia News During the six and a half decades of the working of this Constitution, much water has flown below the political bridge. One saw the assertion by the states of India of their legitimate autonomy and many would argue that the States of India have emerged as the new Centre of Indian politics. Especially since the 1990s with the emergence of a competitive party system, states have come to play an important role in defining and deciding trends in national politics. This has also significantly altered the nature of the political narrative on Unity and Integrity. While the Unity of India is considered paramount and sacrosanct, the new narrative has also focused on the need to privilege and celebrate diversity as a way of strengthening and fortifying unity. Many would argue that in terms of rhetoric we have moved from Unity in Diversity to Unity through Diversity. The argument here is simple. Recognizing and celebrating the diversity that India represents is one way of allowing differing segments of society to strengthen the bonds of ownershipfor the idea of India. The fabric of Indian unity, it can be argued is by weaving in the multiple strands of diversity and assuring that diversity its legitimate space. In that sense it can be argued that One India One Flag is to be recognized and respected but this does not go against the logic of allowing the states of India to have their own flag. While the National Flag enjoys a status of supremacy, the state flag gives the states too an identity. If one were to take the example of other federal systems like the United States and Germany the states (Landers in Germany) each have their own flag. Even newer federal systems in developing countries which have privileged diversity, like Ethiopia, Nigeria and Malaysia, have a national flag and each of the states of the federal system have their own flag. A new democracy that is taking baby steps towards federalism - Myanmar - has its national flag and all the seven regions and seven states have their own distinct flags. Thus, across the world the states of a federal system having their own flag does not represent a threat to the Unity of the country as the National flag is clearly a national symbol and paramount even as the state flag represents the state identity and is a recognition of the fact of diversity. One needs to add another subtle dimension to the ongoing debate. The current discussion on the state exploring the possibilities of a state flag needs to be viewed in the backdrop of a parallel debate on the way that spread of Hindi is being championed by the Central government in the states of South India. While over the years, the people in Karnataka have not been averse to the use of Hindi in their state and have seen its widespread presence especially in the electronic media, there has been a rising resistance to the way in which the spread of Hindi language is being aggressively advocated. For many the protest against Hindi is not against the language per se, but against the political domination that the language represents. Unless handled with care and caution, the aggressive manner in which Hindi is sought to be imposed could well pave the way for a strong anti-Hindi counter agitation, especially in the non-Hindi speaking states. This is a language divide which at this stage of our social and political development we would well do without. The move towards a separate state flag needs also to be seen in this context as representing a desire to protect an important and distinct regional identity. One of course needs to add a word of caution. In all debates linked to language and regional identities there is always the danger of such movements being taken over by parochial elements who have their own hidden agendas. While speaking for the protection of diverse identities within the frame of a larger national identity, it is well possible that such movements could be hijacked by vested interests to serve selfish parochial and deeply divisive ends. One needs to protect oneself from such a danger. It is important to re-assert the point that while unity and the efforts towards national integration need to be placed on a premium the fact of diversity that this country represents cannot be perennially placed on the back burner. One needs to create a win-win situation in which diversity is celebrated even as the unity of the polity is sacrosanct. The danger in all such debates is that along the way, the narrative assumes unanticipated overtones and does more danger than good to the working of the political process in particular and society in general. (Dr. Sandeep Shastri is a leading political scientist) For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, July 20, 2017, 7:37 [IST] Karnataka II PUC supplementary result 2017 expected on Friday, how to check India oi-Vicky By Vicky The Karnataka II PUC supplementary result 2017 is expected to be released on Friday. The likely time of the result is at 3 pm. Candidates who appeared for the exam can check their results on the official website. The II PUC exam was conducted from March 9 to 27. 6,84,247 candidates appeared for the exams. The results for the same were declared in May. The results once declared can be checked at results.nic.in, pue.kar.nic.in and karresults.nic.in. How to check Karnataka II PUC supplementary result 2017: Log on to results.nic.in , pue.kar.nic.in or karresults.nic.in , or Click on supplementary results link Enter required details View result Download Take a printout OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, July 20, 2017, 8:19 [IST] PM to visit Shimla on May 31, will participate in Garib Kalyan Sammelan Watch: PM Modi stops his car to accept painting of his mother by girl in Shimla Kotkhai rape-murder: Protests reach Shimla India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia A large number of people took part in the 'Shimla Bandh' on Thursday and demanded justice for teenage school girl who was raped and murdered at Kotkhai in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. On July 4, a 16-year-old girl was raped and murdered at the Kotkhai area of Shimla district after she was offered a lift in a car by a group of people. On Wednesday, an accused in Kotkhai rape and murder case, Suraj Singh (29), was allegedly murdered by prime-accused Rajender Singh in lock up at the Kotkhai police station. The case triggered violent protests in Kotkhai town, where a mob pelted stones on cops and set the police station on fire. 'Shimla Bandh' demanding justice People protest during the 'Shimla Bandh' and demand justice for teenage school girl who was raped and murder at Kotkhai, in Shimla on Thursday. Activists burn the effigy of chief minister Virbhadra Singh ABVP activists burn the effigy of chief minister Virbhadra Singh during a protest and demanded justice for teenage school girl who was raped and murdered, in Shimla on Thursday. Protest continues People protest during the 'Shimla Bandh' and demand justice for teenage school girl who was raped and murder at Kotkhai, in Shimla on Thursday Irated mob sets police vehicle ablaze Irate mob set ablaze a police vehicle at Kotkhai near Shimla on Wednesday following alleged murder of a suspect lodged in jail by another co-accused in the 16-yr-old girl's rape-and murder case. Police station ransacked Irate Mob ransack the Police station at Kotkhai near Shimla on Wednesday following alleged murder of a suspect lodged in jail by another co-accused in the 16-yr-old girl's rape-and murder case. OneIndia News (Photo credit: PTI) Opposition alleges use of coercion, threats in RS polls in Jharkhand Kovind's village living it up with sweets, songs and dance India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Paraukh village in Derapur tehsil in Uttar Pradesh, the birthplace of President elect Ram Nath Kovind, is enjoying the moment. The moment news flashes the NDA presidential candidate's victory a huge crowd, comprising of youngsters and also some old time friends of Kovind are creating quite a noise with song, dance and dhols. From special Pooja and Paath for Ram Nath Kovind's victory now there is an environment of celebration, dance and loud music in his native village. Sweets were distributed amid the chanting of songs in praise of PM Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah and Kovind. Paraunk, small village in Dehat district is 110 kms from Kanpur. People will play 'Holi' during the day and celebrate 'Diwali' at night. Reportedly, Kovind had visited Paraunkh village in July 2016, when he became the governor of Bihar. "Oh our village is going to be on the world map soon. it's because of him. Now there will be better roads, perhaps we may get our own college," said Gauri Shankar Shrivastava, who says he is Kovind's friend, reports NDTV. Ram Nath Kovind was born in Paraukh, a village of 12,000 people in Kanpur Dehat, on October 1, 1945. His father, Maikulal, was a landless Dalit from the weaver community who ran a small grocery to support his family of 10, including five sons and three daughters. The mud hut where Kovind was born has been donated to the village. In its place now stands a community centre. Festive atmosphere at Kovind's Delhi residence A festive atmosphere prevailed today at the 10 Akbar Road bungalow where president-elect Ram Nath Kovind has been staying since filing his nomination for the top constitutional post. Flower pots were lined up at the main entrance while several baskets of flowers, including choicest roses, were taken inside the bungalow premises, to welcome Kovind, who defeated opposition candidate Meira Kumar by bagging 65 per cent of the votes. OneIndia News (with agency inputs) Leaked BJP internal probe report nails Kerala leader for taking bribes India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer A report filed by Kerala BJP probe panel accuses its own leader of corruption. The internal probe report that was leaked to the media claims that an office bearer in the BJP Kerala unit accepted bribes of Rs 5.60 crore to get Medical Council of India sanction for a college. The report claims that cooperative cell convenor R S Vinod admitted to taking money from one, R Shaji, the chairman of S R Educational and Charitable Trust in Varkala promising to get him MCI's sanction for a hospital run by his trust. The Kerala BJP chief Kummanam Rajasekharan had ordered an internal probe after Shaji went public accusing Vinod of accepting bribes. Shaji is said to have even sent a letter to National President Amit Shah after which Rajasekharan ordered a probe. "This has got nothing to do with the party" Reacting to reports of BJP leader taking bribes, Kerala unit chief Kummanam Rajasekharan said that the allegation had nothing to do with the party. "BJP is a party that deals with corruption in a very strong manner. In this particular issue, the party will discuss it at the appropriate forum and strict action will be taken, if needed. But what's being heard now has got nothing to do with our party," he said. The Kerala unit of the BJP will hold a meeting on Friday where the issue will be discussed. "Vinod admitted having taken the money to get medical college status to SR hospital in Varkala. He paid this money to a Delhi-based middleman through a hawala dealer near Kochi," the leaked report says. The committee even recorded the statements of the complainant who said that he handed over the money to Vinod after he claimed to have known a middleman who had ensured MCI sanction for many other colleges. Further, the probe also accuses other leaders of indulging in similar actions including a district secretary. The internal probe committee's report comes as a blot on the BJP's clean image that every party leader including Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been pushing. The committee is said to have even examined the middleman who took the money from party leader Vinod. The Congress in the state lashed out at the BJP and sought a CBI probe. Speaking to the media, senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala said that the report by BJP's own leaders exposed the party's tall claims of being non-corrupt. "We demand a CBI inquiry into the allegations of kickbacks," he said. Leaders of the CPM have decided to raise the issue in the Parliament. (With agency inputs) Why is Parliament being cut-short so often asks Derek O'Brien Monsoon session day 4: Mob lynchings dominate RS proceedings India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer Both Houses of Parliament convened today, the fourth day of Monsoon session. While Rajya Sabha will continue its discussion on reported increase in the incidents of lynching and atrocities on minorities and Dalits across the country, Lok Sabha take up the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill, 2017. In Rajya Sabha LoP Ghulam Nabi Azad makes a speech and condemns HRD Minister's speech and declares the Congress is walking out. TMC also condemned the speech and staged a walk out. HRD Minister Parakash Javadekar raises to respond, saying mob lynchings are a crime against humanity. "But along with this we should not fall prey to selective amnesia. In 1984, homes were burnt in Delhi and 3,000 Sikhs were lynched," he says. He goes on despite voices from Opposition, he goes on to rake up the Godhra train burning. "Isn't that a big lynching," he asks. He reels out statistics on lynchings from pre-May 2014 times, and asks whose government was in place. JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav equates lynchings to "Talibani" atrocities and laments the fact that Jharkhand had become hub of such incidents, while taking pride that in JD(U)-RJD-ruled Bihar there was no such incident. "The climate of fear is making people afraid of travelling in trains, buses," he says. "Cattle is the ATM of the farmers. We call it cattle wealth (pashu dhan)," he says adding that because of the climate of lynchings the farmers are driven towards suicide. Kapil Sibal invokes Modi's old speeches on cow slaughter, blames BJP for mob lynching. Shiromani Akali Dal's Naresh Gujral said that such incidents were not only condemnable but against the spirit of India. He said that apart from prime minister's strong words strict action was also necessary. Bengal MP Tapan Sen also asks abut H-1B visa. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj says she will give a detailed statement on the issue. AIADMK MP V. Maithreyan asks if H-1B visa was made by the Prime Minister during his interaction with US President Donald Trump. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj says the Prime Minister took the issue without using the word H-1B. Ahmed Hassan speaks on negative impact of GST. He speaks about textile sector employees who protested in Gujarat recently. MPs from North East raise the issue of Assam floods. Ripun Bora says Assam government has not taken any contingency plans. AIADMK MP Navaneethakrishnan says the Tamil Nadu farmers are not agitating against the State government. They are protesting against Centre since they haven't revised the MSP. In Lok Sabha Lok Sabha attempts to proceed with Question Hour amid sloganeering; adjourned for the day. The BJP-led central government has planned some 34 odd bills to be tabled during the Monsoon Session, which will have roughly 20 sessions. However, with Tuesday being a near washout and Wednesday's stormy session, the government would be hard-pressed to push its agenda. OneIndia News UP ATS picks up two more accused in Al-Qaeda radicalisation case Moral policing in Uttar Pradesh; minors thrashed India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer In a shocking brutality caught on camera, two minors including a girl were stripped and assaulted by three men in the name of moral policing in Uttar Pradesh's Maharajganj. Also, the three assaulters threatened the minors with making the video public. Maharajganj (UP): A boy and a girl beaten up by goons in the name of moral policing; case registered, two people arrested pic.twitter.com/8svuqSOnp7 ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) July 20, 2017 In fact, the incident occurred last week, but the apathy of local police led to the delay in registering the case against the assaulters. Girl's father approached the local police relentlessly, however, only after the intervention of senior police officials, the case was registered against the hooligans. Later, police arrested two of the three assaulters. According to a private TV channel report, the police suggested the girl's father to compromise with the culprits for cash. But, victim's father took the matter to senior officers. A day before, in a similar incident, a boy was stripped and beaten by two men and caught the brutal act on camera. OneIndia News Rapists should be brought out in public and lynched says Jaya Bachchan No anti-lynching law says Government India oi-Vicky By Vicky The Centre has said that it was not considering a separate anti-lynching law. The government is of the view that the existing provisions under the Indian Penal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure are sufficient to tackle the rising problem in India. Replying in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State, Home Affairs, Hansaraj Gangaram Ahir said, "whether a lynching was done by a single person or by many, existing laws could deal with the crime. The members of the Samajwadi Party who were unhappy with the response took to the well of the House and raised slogans and alleged inaction on part of the government. "I don't think there is a need to bring changes in the law," Ahir said in response to a supplementary question from Congress member Digvijaya Singh on whether the government intended to bring changes in the IPC or CrPC to curb such violence. Ahir said state governments could take action against persons involved in such incidents under existing laws. He added that the Centre had issued advisories to states asking them for immediate registration of FIRs and arrest of the accused in such crimes. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, July 20, 2017, 6:48 [IST] Now, IT dept going into 'new areas' to check tax evasion In regular touch, trying for consular access: MEA on detention of 8 Indians in Qatar No information on 39 missing Indians, hope they are alive: Iraqs ambassador to India India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia There is no confirmation whether the 39 Indians missing in Iraq since last two years are dead or alive, Iraq's Ambassador to India Fakhri Al-Issa has said. I have no information on missing Indians, hope they are somewhere alive and safe. Not only 39 Indians, thousands of Iraqi nationals are also missing. ISIS may be using them as hostages or slave labours," he said. The families of 39 missing Indians in Iraq recently met Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj with the hope of getting some information about their kin's whereabouts, has once again turned to despair. On July 15, reacting to reports that the families of the hostages were trying to locate their kin after the liberation of Mosul from ISIS forces by Iraq, Sushma Swaraj had assured of all the help in locating the nationals. "Iraq is not fighting for Iraq alone. The envoy said Iraq would welcome India's humanitarian assistance in the form of medical treatment for wounded Iraqi soldiers and civilians. It's not going to be easy to rebuild Mosul as there has been destruction of about 60-70% of city. Estimated figure for rebuilding the city would be around 100 billion dollars, this is beyond the Iraqi ability, he said. It is waiting for all other countries to come in and participate to build Mosul. India could play major part in reconstruction in Iraq, not only Mosul but all liberated areas occupied and destroyed by Daesh, he added. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, July 20, 2017, 23:29 [IST] 10 things to know about Ram Nath Kovind, India's 14th President Ram Nath Kovind bagged one vote from Kerala in Presidential poll In Kovind's win, the Shiv Sena has everything to worry about In Delhi who were the 2 AAP MLAs who cross voted in favour of Kovind Ram Nath Kovind to be sworn in as 14th President of India on July 25 India oi-Vicky By Vicky Ram Nath Kovind was today elected as the 14th President of India. Kovind scored a comfortable victory over his rival Meira Kumar. He won with a margin of 65.65 per cent of the votes. Meira won 34.35 per cent of the votes. 10 things to know about Ram Nath Kovind, India's 14th President Recommended Video Ram Nath Kovind wins Presidential Elections, beats Meira Kumar by huge margin | Oneindia News Counting took place across four tables. There will be eight rounds of counting, and announcements will be made after every round. Polling to choose the successor to President Pranab Mukherjee, who demits office on July 24, was held simultaneously at 32 polling stations -- one in Parliament House and one each in 29 state assemblies and two union territories with assemblies. [Next President of India: Did you Know Ram Nath Kovind was Morarji Desai's pvt secy] Lok Sabha Secretary General Anoop Mishra is the Returning Officer for the election, and will issue the certificate to the winning candidate. Officials said the seals of ballot boxes will be opened on Thursday in the presence of representatives of the two candidates -- former Bihar Governor Kovind and former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar -- and the observers of the Election Commission. [Presidential election 2017 results: This is how counting takes place] Follow the live updates here: 5:07 pm: My ideological battle will continue. I congratulate Ram Nath Kovind: Meira Kumar 5:05 pm: I want to thank all those who have voted for me says President elect Ram Nath Kovind This is a very emotional moment for me: Kovind I would also like to thank Meira Kumar: Kovind This is an emotional moment for me: Kovind I would like to thank Sonia Gandhi and all those who supported me: Meira Kumar 4:43 pm: Congratulations to Ram Nath Kovind Ji on being elected the President of India! Best wishes for a fruitful & inspiring tenure, tweets PM Modi. 20 years ago and the presentalways been a privilege to know you, President Elect. pic.twitter.com/IkhnOtYf8N Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 20, 2017 Congratulations to Shri Ram Nath Kovind Ji on being elected the President of India! Best wishes for a fruitful & inspiring tenure. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 20, 2017 I also congratulate @meira_kumar Ji for her campaign, which was in spirit of the democratic ethos & values we all are proud of. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 20, 2017 20 years ago and the presentalways been a privilege to know you, President Elect. pic.twitter.com/IkhnOtYf8N Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 20, 2017 4:40 pm: Kovind to be sworn in on July 25. 4:39 pm: Ram Nath Kovind secured 2,930 votes with value of 7,02,044. MeiraKumar got 1,844 votes with the value of 3,67,314. 77 votes were declared invalid. 4:38 pm: Win of Ram Nath Kovind is a victory for the poor: Amit Shah 4:30 pm: Ram Nath Kovind will be sworn in at the Central Hall of Parliament. 4:12 pm: Kovind's total tally was at 7,02,644 Meira Kumar polled 3,67,314 4:11 pm: Ram Nath Kovind has won the presidential election. An official announcement to this effect has been made. Kovind won the elections by a 65.5 per cent margin. Meira Kumar polled 34.35 per cent of the votes. 4:08 pm: Heartiest congratulations to Ramnath Kovind Sahib as he goes on to assume the highest office in the land with all good wishes for his term: Omar Abdullah 4:05 pm: Ram Nath Kovind wins Presidential election 4:00 pm: People offer prayers for Ram Nath Kovind in Kanpur Kanpur Dehat: People offer prayers for #RamNathKovind in anticipation of his win pic.twitter.com/FJPZ74Hpp6 ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) July 20, 2017 3:33 pm: Kovind leads with 4,79,585 votes, Meira bags 2,045,94 3.20 pm: Congratulations to Ram Nath Kovind ji, who will be our next President: Mamata Banerjee 3:08 pm: Cross-voting has taken place in Goa and Gujarat. Both in favour of NDA nominee Ram Nath Kovind. 3:00 pm: State-wise break up of votes: Parliament: Kovind (3,69,576): Meira Kumar (1,59,300), 21 invalid Andhra Pradesh: Ram Nath Kovind (27,189), Meira Kumar (0). Arunanchal Prdesh: Kovind (448): Meira (24). Assam: Kovind (10,556): Meira (460). Bihar: Kovind (22,460): Meira (18,867). Goa: Ram Nath Kovind (500): Meira Kumar (220), 2 invalid. Chattishgarh: Ram Nath Kovind (6,708) Meira Kumar (4,515), 3 invalid. Gujarat: Kovind (19,404): Kumar (7,203) Haryana: Kovind (8,176); Kumar (1,792). Himachal Pradesh: Kovind (1,530) Meira Kumar (1,087). Jammu and Kashmir: Kovind (4,032): Meira Kumar (20,160). Jharkhand: Kovind (8,976) Meira Kumar (4,576). Total: Kovind (4,97,585); Kumar (2,40,594). 2.50 pm: Vote share for Kovind in 11 states so far Andhra Pradesh 100% Arunachal Pradesh 94.9% Assam 95.8 % Bihar 54.3 % Goa 69.4% Himachal Pradesh 58.5% Jammu and Kashmir 16.7% Jharkhand: 66.2 % Gujarat 72.9% Haryana 82% Chhattisgarh 59. 8% 2.43 pm: Kovind takes further lead with 4,79,585 votes, Meira bags 2,045,94. 2:15 pm: I am not upset says Meira Kumar. I am a fighter and fought for my countrymen, she also said. 1:52 pm: States covered in first round of counting are: Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Bihar 1.47 pm: Kovind leads by 1 lakh votes now 1.40 pm: Ram Nath Kovind takes massive lead with a 60,683 vote share. Meira Kumar of the UPA has a vote share of 22,941. 1.32 pm: Ram Nath Kovind has taken the lead. He polled 221 votes while Meira Kumar polled 134. 1.13 pm: Kanpur: People at village of NDA's presidential candidate #RamNathKovind celebrate and offer prayers in anticipation of his win Kanpur: People at village of NDA's presidential candidate #RamNathKovind celebrate and offer prayers in anticipation of his win pic.twitter.com/c2sTHK6OQT ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) July 20, 2017 12.56 pm: Counting is being done under the supervision of Lok Sabha Secretary General Anoop Mishra, who is also the Returning Officer 12.55 pm:Counting of votes underway in Parliament 12.47 pm:Celebrations have already begun at Ram Nath Kovind's village, Paraukh in anticipation of his victory. The UPA's counting agents are Deepinder Singh Hooda, Gaurav Gogoi, BK Hariprasad and Nadimul Haque. 12.38 pm: The first trend is expected in the next half an hour. 11.42 am: Let us see if the inner voice of conscience prevails says UPA's presidential candidate Meira Kumar. I have great belief in ideology, she also says. 11.30 am:The first boxes to be opened for counting were from Andhra Pradesh and Assam Winning or losing is not the issue. The good part is a Dalit candidate would be President irrespective of whoever wins says BSP's Mayawati. 11.27 am: Great belief in ideology I fought for, also believe in inner voice of conscience, lets see how much it prevails, says MeiraKumar 11.24 am: The BJP says that Kovind will win by a 68 per cent margin 11.22 am: Ram Nath Kovind offers prayers at Bangla Sahib Gurdwara 11.22 am: Suresh Angadi, Ganesh Singh and Gajendra Shekhawat are the counting agents of the BJP. 11:20 am: I have fought for ideology, says Meira Kumar 11.19 am: Meira Kumar speaks to media as counting of votes for Presidential Poll begins 11.10 am: There would be updates on the results provided every 2 hours 11.09 am: Counting is taking place on 4 tables There would be 8 rounds of counting 11.08 am: The BJP expects the vote share to cross 70 per cent 11.05 am: Counting of votes has begun 10:53 am: Ram Nath Kovind is set to win the election by a 70 per cent margin Counting starts at 11 am Result to be declared by 5 pm OneIndia News West Bengal Government provides financial relief to the Hills of North Bengal Pro-Gorkhaland protest spreads fast from hills of Darjeeling to plains of WB India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer Darjeeling, July 20: All these days, the pro-Gorkhaland agitation was mostly restricted within Darjeeling and its neighbouring areas. However, it seems the movement is fast spreading from the hills to the plains of West Bengal. On Wednesday evening, supporters of Gorkhaland--a demand for a separate state to be carved out of West Bengal for the Nepali-speaking people--staged a candle light march in Siliguri, which is situated in both Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts and dominated mostly by the Bengali-speaking people. During the Siliguri protest, the supporters of Gorkhaland raised their demand for a separate homeland and protested the death of one of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) workers, Ashish Tamang, due to alleged police firing a few days ago in Darjeeling. "Siliguri, WB: Candle light march in support of Gorkhaland and against the death of GJM worker Ashish Tamang, allegedly due to police firing," reported ANI. Siliguri, WB: Candle light march in support of #Gorkhaland & against death of GJM's Asish Tamang, allegedly due to Police firing (19.7.17) pic.twitter.com/tPha5LjWAU ANI (@ANI_news) July 20, 2017 According to the supporters of Gorkhaland, a total of eight people have been killed in police firing in Darjeeling and its neighbouring areas since the agitation rocked the hills of Bengal on June 8. However, the police refuted the charges and said only two people have been killed so far in the agitation and that too due to violence unleased by the protesters. The indefinite strike called in the hills by the GJM, which is spearheading the ongoing protest, entered the 36th day on Thursday. On Wednesday, a police vehicle was set on fire by unknown persons. Since the beginning of the Gorkhaland agitation this year, violence has become part and parcel of the protest, which has led to the death of around eight persons. Several protesters have also sustained injuries during their clash with police personnel. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, July 20, 2017, 10:14 [IST] UP polls: BSP worker Arshad Rana bitterly cries for not getting ticket in viral video Rajya Sabha accepts BSP chief Mayawati's resignation India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday accepted Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati's resignation as Member of Parliament (MP) on the fourth day of the ongoing Monsoon session of Parliament. Though Mayawati resigned on July 18, her resignation was not accepted as it did not follow the prescribed format. Recommended Video Mayawati's resignation from the Rajya Sabha: The hidden politics behind | Oneindia News She resigned from Rajya Sabha hours after she threatened to quit for restricting her impromptu speech on anti-Dalit violence in Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh. The debate over the rise in Dalit atrocities under the BJP regime in Uttar Pradesh, raised by Dalit leader and former UP chief minister Mayawati, caused a lot of pandemonium in the Rajya Sabha. The leaders of BJP protested when Mayawati spoke about "atrocities against Dalits" in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur. Angry Mayawati had told the House that if she was not allowed to speak she would quit. "I will resign from Rajya Sabha today," a visibly anguished Mayawati shot back when Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien asked her to wrap up her speech as she had exceeded the three minutes given to her to make her submission. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, July 20, 2017, 14:06 [IST] IT dept conducts raids at 40 locations in Rajasthan, 3 businessmen on radar Robbers loot Rs 15 lakh from UCO Bank branch in Jaipur India pti-PTI Jaipur, Jul 20: Armed robbers looted Rs 15 lakh at gunpoint from a bank in UCO Bank's Rajapark branch in Rajasthan's capital Jaipur on Thursday. After entering the bank, the two men opened fire to create panic, said reports. The two robbers demanded the keys of the strong room from the cashier and also opened fire but no one was injured, branch manager Rajni Bhargava said. The robbers asked all the employees to gather and then forced them into an office in the bank. ACP, Adarsh Nagar, Madan Singh said the robbers decamped with nearly 15 lakh and fled on the motorcycle of a cleaning staff. A forensic team has reached the spot and efforts are being made to identify the accused on the basis of CCTV footage, he said. One of the robbers was using a handkerchief to cover his face. PTI Man booked for rape of 12-year-old after video of injured girl surfaces on internet Man rapes 8-year-old to use her blood for removing obstacles to his marriage Shimla rape-murder case: People's protest to prove costly for Congress govt in HP? India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer Shimla, July 20: It has been more than two weeks since the capital city of Himachal Pradesh, Shimla, and its neighbouring areas are on a boil after the brutal rape and murder of a 16-year-old school girl in Kotkhai on July 4. The residents of the hill station are protesting against the government for failing to provide safety to women/girls. The protesters are demanding strictest punishment to the culprits. Every day, citizens of Shimla are thronging the streets of the city demanding justice for the 16-year-old deceased as a part of their campaign--Justice for Gudiya. The residents have named the victim Gudiya (doll or a young girl in Hindi). The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused the ruling Congress under Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh for shielding the culprits in the horrific case. The shocking rape and murder case could prove detrimental to the ruling Congress as the elections are going to take place later this year. The BJP also demanded the resignation of the Virbhadra Singh government at the earliest. A few days ago, the police arrested six persons for the rape and murder of the girl. The case took a shocking turn when the main accused on Tuesday murdered another accused inside the police lock-up at the Kotkhai police station. On Wednesday, violent protests were witnessed across the state in the wake of the murder inside the police lock-up. "Protesters surrounded the Kotkhai police station and pelted stones, before finally torching the police station. Three police vehicles were also set on fire. Police had to resort to lathicharge and fire two rounds in the air to disperse the crowd. About half-a-dozen policemen and some residents were reported to have been injured in the clashes," reported The Indian Express. On Wednesday, the Himachal Pradesh High Court ordered a CBI probe into the rape and murder of the girl as well as the death of the accused. Himachal Governor Acharya Devvrat also sought a detailed report from the state government on both the cases. The CM, who is under tremendous pressure from all corners, said that justice will be provided to the victim and her family. "To play politics over the death of a minor girl is shameful, as her soul won't be able to rest in peace. I am sincerely committed to bringing the criminals to book and want them to be hanged for the heinous crime they have committed," he said. "The state government has formed a Special Investigation Team... I personally wrote to the Prime Minister to get the CBI to investigate this case," he added. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, July 20, 2017, 13:11 [IST] TN farmers resort to self-beating with chappals to protest against salary hike of MLAs India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer New Delhi, July 20: Look at the irony of the entire situation. While the drought-hit farmers from Tamil Nadu are being compelled to leave their homes to protest in the national capital, back in the state, on Wednesday, the members of legislative assembly (MLAs) got almost 100 per cent salary hike. The poor and debt-ridden farmers of the southern state, who have come to Delhi on Sunday to stage an indefinite protest at Jantar Mantar, appalled by the salary hike of their leaders, beat themselves up with chappals (slippers) on Thursday. The protesting farmers at Jantar Mantar said that they were very unhappy with the salary hike of Tamil Nadu MLAs. The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday almost doubled the salary and allowances of MLAs, taking their new pay packet to Rs 1.05 lakh per month. As per the announcement made by Chief Minister K Palaniswami in the state assembly, the salary and allowances of legislators had been raised from the existing Rs 55,000 to Rs 1,05,000 per month, an increase of 90.91 per cent. The farmers have come to Delhi for a second time within a gap of a few months to demand loan waiver, better prices for crops and interlinking of rivers, to name a few. First time, they came to Delhi in March to protest. The protest ended on April 23, after Tamil Nadu CM assured the farmers that their demands would be met. However, that did not happen and they are being forced to come back to the national capital once again. Lamenting about the plight of the farmers, Ayakannu, a leader of the agitating farmers, said that being a farmer is worse than being a beggar. The southern state of Tamil Nadu is facing one of its worst droughts in 140 years. According to reports around 19 farmers in the state have committed suicide in the last 10 months. In fact, the protesting farmers have brought with them skulls of dead farmers who have committed suicide because of crop failure and rising debts. OneIndia News US amends media note to Jammu and Kashmir India oi-Vicky By Vicky After calling it Indian-administered Kashmir, the US has now changed the term to Jammu and Kashmir. In its order, the US while designating Syed Salahuddin a global terrorist had referred to J&K as Indian-administered Kashmir. Minister of State, External Affairs, General V K Singh informed the Lok Sabha that the term has been changed to Jammu and Kashmir in the note. He also said that the ministry had taken cognisance of the same and maintained that the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. The matter was taken up with the US following which the media note was amended, he also said. On June 26, the Department of State designated Syed Salahuddin, leader of the terrorist group Hizbul Mujahideen as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT). The media note stated "Under Salahuddin's tenure as senior HM leader, HM has claimed responsibility for several attacks, including the April 2014 explosives attack in India-administered Jammu and Kashmir, which injured 17 people." OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, July 20, 2017, 7:42 [IST] 'Venkaiah should have been the President,' a village celebrates Naidu's nomination India oi-Anusha The NDA has chosen Venkaiah Naidu as its Vice President nominee but everyone in Chavatapalem village in Nellore believes that he deserves to be the President of India. The small village is full of close and distant relatives of Venkaiah Naidu and the celebrations have not ended ever since he was nominated for the coveted post. "Everybody is happy and excited. Why wouldn't we be? It is an honour. But honestly, he should have been the nominee for President of India, Vice President may just be a smaller post for him," quipped Dr Penchalaiah, Venkaiah Naidu's cousin. While he is as excited as the rest of the village, he also acknowledges that people may have loved to see him continue as a minister. Recommended Video Venkaiah Naidu gets support of south party Telangana Rashtra Samithi | Oneindia News "It is a moment of pride for us but people in the village feel that he could have continued to do more good as a minister. Had he been a minister, he would have done much more for Nellore as a whole but now it may not be possible. Development of Nellore may be hampered," he added. The village, now renamed Sriramapuram, has seen Venkaiah Naidu grow as a leader. From Student leader to an MLA. The people, mostly relatives, have witnessed him becoming an MP, a union minister and now the Vice Presidential candidate. People of the village recall Venkaiah Naidu's 'Nellore next', a program that he launched to develop the district. "With Nellore next, he visited villages at least every two months. He spoke to the people about the various projects and that progress that they have achieved. Now, he may not visit us as often. People will miss him," Dr Penchalaiah added. As someone who has known Venkaiah Naidu from his student leader days, Dr Penchaiah recalls how Naidu was the 'go to man' even in college. "We studied in the same institute, albeit he was in college and I was in school. Even as a student, whenever there were problems plaguing the student community, he would lead. Everybody knew him, spoke to him and knew he would highlight the issue," he recalled. The village elders recall how, despite losing parents at a young age, Venkaiah Naidu rose through the ranks of the BJP. The people of Sriramapuram have no hesitation in crediting the two bypass roads in Nellore to Venkaiah Naidu's efforts. Apart from roads, sanitation, Venkaiah Naidu has ensured flyovers, bridges as well as the development of Nellore railway station. While Venkaiah Naidu's relatives back home are celebrating his nomination, they are also unhappy that their son may not come visiting as often as he had. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, July 20, 2017, 7:29 [IST] Mo Farah says he was trafficked to UK as a child World Day Against Trafficking in Persons: How Kailash Satyarthi changed the perspective on child trafficking West Bengal child trafficking case: CID issues notices to BJP leaders Roopa Ganguly, Kailash India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer West Bengal CID has issued notices to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Roopa Ganguly and party General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya on Thursday in connection with an alleged child trafficking case in Jalpaiguri. The BJP leaders have been asked to appear before the CID by 27 July. Key accused in the alleged child-trafficking case, Chandana Chakraborty, claimed that party national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and president of party's women's wing in the state Roopa Ganguly were involved in the racket. According to reports, Chakraborty alleged that West Bengal Mahila Morcha general secretary Juhi Chowdhury lobbied with Ganguly and Vijayvargiya to "resolve some issues" about her shelter home. In March, the West Bengal CID arrested Juhi Chowdhury from the Batasia area close to the Indo-Nepal border in North Bengal. Chowdhury had sought the two BJP leaders' help to influence Ministry of Women and Child Development's Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) to grant a central aid of Rs 22.5 lakh to her shelter home 'Ashray', renew its licence. She had also sought retransfer of 14 children, who were sent to other child care homes after district Child Welfare Committee noted irregularities at 'Ashray'. Chowdhury allegedly offered expensive gifts to Vijayvargiya and Ganguly in return for the favours. Vijayvargiya has refuted the allegations, claiming the Kolkata Police is "being controlled by Trinammol Congress" and it is "conspiring against me". (With agency inputs) For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, July 20, 2017, 16:57 [IST] Shubham couldn't have enmity with anyone, says father on son's stabbing in Australia Australia to help Sri Lanka combat worst-ever dengue outbreak International pti-PTI Colombo, Jul 20: Australia is contributing funds to help Sri Lanka combat its worst outbreak of dengue fever, which has claimed 250 lives and infected nearly 100,000 people so far this year in the island nation. Visiting Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said last night that Australia is giving USD 377,000 to the World Health Organization to implement immediate dengue prevention, management and eradication programs in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka's hospitals are overcrowded with patients, and the government has deployed soldiers, police and health officials to inspect houses and clear rotting garbage, stagnant water pools and other potential mosquito-breeding grounds across the country. Health officials blamed the public for their failure to clear puddles and piles of trash after last month's heavy monsoon rains. The number of infections nationwide is already 38 per cent higher than last year, when 55,150 people were diagnosed with dengue and 97 died, according to the Health Ministry. Cases were concentrated around the main city of Colombo, though they were occurring across the tropical island nation. Bishop is on a two-day visit and will meet today with government leaders. She said Australia is offering an additional USD 795,000 for a research partnership between Australia's Monash University and Sri Lanka's Health Ministry to test the introduction of naturally occurring Wolbachia bacteria to eradicate dengue fever from Sri Lanka. She said the bacteria "prevent transmission of dengue virus between humans" and that it has shown success during the last six years in countries such as Brazil, Columbia, Australia, India, Vietnam and Indonesia where it was piloted. The bacteria have the ability to block other mosquito- borne diseases such as Zika and Chikungunya, the Australian embassy said in a statement. PTI China is resorting to psychological war, wants India to back off at Doklam: Sources International oi-Vicky By Vicky China appears to be applying psychological pressure on India through its media. On Wednesday, reports stated that there was major troop mobilisation by China towards the Line of Actual Control. It was also stated the Peoples' Liberation Army had conducted military exercises in Tibet. India has however dismissed these reports and said that the movement is not unusual in nature. The manner in which reports have emerged from China, it is an indicator that they want to pressurise us to move away from Doklam, an Indian government official said. Recommended Video Sikkim Stand Off : China moves army in Tibet to pressure India for negotiation | Oneindia News Experts in India say that China is now fighting a psychological war. The war is being fought through its state media and this is an attempt to get us to stand back at Doklam the source also added. Such exercises in Tibet by China are not new and it has been happening since 2009, officials said. Both countries have not moved away from their positions and the standoff is set to enter into its sixth week now. India on the other hand hopes that diplomatic channels would open up soon and the standoff would end. There needs to be a solution to the issue on the diplomatic front, officials said. A lot would be riding on the visit by National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval to China next week. Although the Doklam standoff is not part of the agenda, Doval is expected to raise the issue with his counterpart on the sidelines of the BRICS summit. We see a resolution in sight soon, a top official informed. OneIndia News How Kulbhushan Jadhav was abducted in Iran and sold to ISI International oi-Vicky By Vicky Kulbhushan Jadhav was captured by the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Khorasan and then sold to the ISI in Pakistan. This revelation was made Baloch activist, Mehrab Sarjov. Explaining how the deal was struck Sarjov said that Jadhav had not entered Pakistan voluntarily. In fact he was sold to the ISI by the terrorist group. The allegation by Pakistan that Jadhav was an Indian spy involved in terrorism and espionage is false. In fact a trap was laid to kidnap him from Iran and then take him to Pakistan, he also said. Jadhav was approached by some persons with a business offer. After he hurriedly agreed, he travelled to the Iran border town of Saravan in a rented car. A Baloch separatist boarded the car following which Jadhav was trapped and taken to Pakistan, Sarjov also said. The Lashkar-e-Khorasan which specialises in abducting foreign nations took Jadhav to an undisclosed location in Zamaran and kept him there for three weeks. A deal was struck and Jadhav was sold to the ISI, he also said. OneIndia News Modi's failure to curb rising Hindu nationalism could lead to war says China International oi-Vicky By Vicky China has blamed the rise of Hindu nationalism in India and said that it has hijacked Narendra Modi's policy. Prime Minister Modi's policy on China has been hijacked by rising Hindu nationalism and this could lead to war, China said. India is weaker than China in national strength and Indian politicians have failed to get that, the Chinese media also said. The state media in China said that Modi and his government had failed to curb Hindu nationalistic violence against Muslims since it came to power in 2014. Further commenting on the Doklam standoff, the media said that it was an indicator that it was planned and executed to cater to Hindu nationalistic sentiments. An analysis published in the Global Times said that Modi came to power in 2014 due to rising religious nationalism. He is now catering to the sentiments through strong policies against China and Pakistan. Recommended Video Sikkim standoff: Rising Hindu nationalism created rift b/w the 2, says Chinese daily |Oneindia News The analysis further said that the election of Indian PM Narendra Modi has fueled the country's nationalist sentiments. Modi took advantage of rising Hindu nationalism to come to power. This, on one hand, has enhanced his prestige and ability to control the country, but on the other, has made India more subject to the influence of conservatives, thus hampering reform Targeting Muslims has been part of the rising religious nationalism. In diplomacy, New Delhi is demanded to act tougher in foreign relations, especially toward countries like Pakistan and China. The border row this time is an action targeted at China that caters to the demand of India's religious nationalists, the analysis written by Yu Ning also stated. Modi can do nothing if religious nationalism becomes extreme, the article said. Stuck in zero-sum mentality: Further the article said that since the defeat in the 1962 war, some Indians have been stuck in a zero-sum mentality while dealing with China. The war inflicted lingering pain on India and this has led to ingrained suspicion of Chinese strategy. India sees the development of China as a misfortune and the faster China grows, the more fearful India becomes, the article stated. India harbors deep strategic suspicion toward China. It considers China as a rival and a potential enemy. For a long time, it has hyped that China is pursuing what is called the 'String of Pearls' to encircle India. Despite China's goodwill in inviting India to join the Belt and Road initiative, India insists on interpreting the project as a part of China's strategic containment and encirclement of it, the article said. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, July 20, 2017, 9:53 [IST] My party-BJP have different ideologies but common aim of uplifting poor: Nepal ex-PM Prachanda Former Nepal PM says removed from office for including Kalapani Nepal launches free Mandarin course to boost tourism International oi-PTI Kathmandu, July 20: To attract more foreign visitors from China, Nepal and China have launched a programme to offer free training to up to 200 tourism entrepreneurs in Mandarin. Chinese ambassador to Nepal Yu Hong today inaugurated a new batch of tourism entrepreneurs who will be trained in the Chinese language in Kathmandu. A group of 40 people, consisting of tour operators and tourism entrepreneurs, will be trained during the six-month programme. The classes being run at the initiative of the Chinese embassy will not only help to promote Chinese tourists in Nepal, but it will also strengthen people-to-people relations between Nepal and China, Yu said. The classes will be provided at free of cost. More than one billion Chinese tourists visited foreign countries between 2013-2016 and Nepal can tap the opportunity by training its tour operators in Chinese language, she said. Nepal could generate USD 22 billion every year if the country can attract one million Chinese tourists, she added. Nepal currently attracts 125,000 Chinese tourists annually and the number has been increasing steadily. Nepal is the third-largest country after India and Sri Lanka to receive Chinese tourists. Maniraj Lamichhane, director at Nepal Tourism Board said they are aiming to train 200 tour operators and travel trade entrepreneurs in Chinese language within the next five years, with the objective to promoting Chinese tourists into Nepal. PTI US to impose tougher conditions for aid to Pakistan International pti-PTI Washington, Jul 20: In a bid to push Islamabad to take effective action against terrorist groups, a key congressional panel has voted to impose tougher conditions on Pakistan to receive US assistance. The bill also authorises the secretary of state to suspend aid if Pakistan fails to take effective actions against terrorist groups. The House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday approved by voice vote the 2018 State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill, which seeks certification from Rex Tillerson for disbursement of US aid to Pakistan, making it conditional for Islamabad to take action against terrorist groups. Recommended Video Pakistan: A 'safe haven' for terrorists, says America | Oneindia News The bill now heads to the House of Representatives for consideration. It provides USD 47 billion in regular discretionary and Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funding. This is USD 10 billion fewer than the amount earmarked for fiscal year 2017, when counting additional funds provided last year in the Security Assistance Appropriations Act. Within this amount, OCO funding totals USD 12 billion, which supports operations and assistance in areas of conflict, such as Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. The bill says that none of the funds appropriated by this Act under the 'Economic Support Fund', the 'International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement', and the 'Foreign Military Financing Programme' for Pakistan may be made available unless the secretary of state certifies to the committees that Islamabad is taking action against terrorist groups. Under the bill, the secretary of state is asked to certify that Pakistan is cooperating with the US in counter- terrorism efforts against the Haqqani network, the Quetta Shura Taliban, Lashkar-e-Tayba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, al-Qaeda, and others, including taking effective steps to prevent such terrorist groups from basing and operating in Pakistan and carrying out cross-border attacks into neighbouring countries. The secretary of state is also required to certify that Pakistan is not supporting terrorist activities against the US or coalition forces in Afghanistan, and Pakistan's military and intelligence agencies are not intervening extra-judicially into political and judicial processes in Pakistan. The certification needs to include that Pakistan is "not financing or supporting schools" linked to the Taliban or any designated terrorist group and that Islamabad is preventing the proliferation of nuclear-related material and expertise. The bill says the secretary of state should "suspend assistance" to Pakistan if it fails to make measurable progress in meeting its benchmarks. While the secretary of state can waive these conditions in the name of national interest, the draft bill says that funds appropriated by this Act under the 'Foreign Military Financing Programme' for Pakistan may be made available only to support counterterrorism and counterinsurgency capabilities in that country. This means Pakistan would be able to get F-16 fighter jets with American aid. In an accompanying report, the committee noted the continued importance of US assistance to secure and stabilise Afghanistan and Pakistan. Understanding that the staffing and programming requirements in these countries will remain under continuous review and, for that reason, the committee said it has not designated specific funding recommendations. The committee urged 'Voice of America' to consider expanding Sindh language broadcasting. PTI US to restore financial assistance for Tibet International pti-PTI Washington, Jul 20: A key congressional committee has approved a bill to maintain the decades-old American policy of providing financial assistance for Tibet and support "democracy and human rights programmes". The bill is a reversal of the Trump administration's move to slash aid to Tibetans to zero. The administration, in its maiden budget proposal in May, had cut the US aid to Tibet to zero, resulting in a huge disappointment to the large Tibetan community around the world. Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi had then expressed concern over the move. The US State Department, however, had described the decision as one of the "tough choices" it had to make as its budget itself had been slashed by more than 28 per cent. But in a report accompanying the State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill 2018, the House Appropriations Committee said it "continues to support democracy and human rights programmes for Tibet" and that "not less than the amounts provided in fiscal year 2017" be continued for such purposes. The appropriations will be effective for the next fiscal beginning October 1. The committee's recommendation includes USD 1 million for the Office of the Special Coordinator for Tibetan issues. Noting that the Tibetan language services of 'Voice of America' and 'Radio Free Asia' (RFA) provide the only sources of independent information accessible to the people of Tibet, the committee recommendation provides USD 42 million for RFA, including funds to continue the Tibetan language service. It also recommended USD 8 million - same as the 2017 fiscal year - to support activities that preserve cultural traditions and promote sustainable development and environmental conservation among Tibetan communities in the Tibetan Autonomous Region and other Tibetan autonomous areas in China. Noting that Tibetans in South Asia face developmental challenges, it has proposed USD 6 million to continue to support the community in India and Nepal in the areas of education, skills development and entrepreneurship. The House Appropriations Committee in its report supported the continued allocation of funds to assist Tibetan refugees in Nepal and India - commensurate with prior years. The committee expressed concerns over the reports that Nepal has handed over Tibetan refugees to Chinese border authorities, in contravention of Kathmandu's international obligations to protect refugees fleeing persecution. "The committee supports efforts by the Secretary of State to work with the Government of Nepal to provide safe transit for Tibetan refugees and legal protections to Tibetans residing in Nepal," the report said. An 'Economic Support Fund' will be made available for programmes to preserve Tibetan culture, development, and the resilience of Tibetan communities in India and Nepal, and to assist in the education and development of the next generation of Tibetan leaders from such communities, according to the bill. According to a CRS report, the total financial assistance to the Tibetan cause was more than USD 24 million in 2014. Since 2014, there has been a gradual decline in Tibetan funding. The House Appropriations Committee, however, proposes to reverse that trend. PTI 2008-2022 One News Page Ltd. All rights reserved. One News is a registered trademark of One News Page Ltd. Madison Police Department Detective Roger Baker explained to the City Council Tuesday that sex trafficking is a pervasive problem in Madison. Many homeless girls and young women are lured into the sex trade and kept there by pimps who take advantage of drug addictions or the need for food, clothing and shelter. This young woman, seen outside a motel on Madisons Far East Side, is believed to be a victim of sex trafficking, said Madison Police Detective Maya Krajcinovic. WGN 04 Nov 2021 Over a decade, police Sgt. Ronald Watts framed and shook down residents of a public housing complex, planting drugs on those who.. Ijeoma Josephina Otabor, the Big Brother Naija housemate, who is popularly known as Phyna, has been verified on Instagram. Phynas Instagram account manager made the announcement by uploading a video of Phyna dancing on Saturday. The video was captioned, Shey you see? celebrity hype priestess. Verified hype priestess. If you see another one like this, call my attention. Till then, make I dey hype my babe dey go peacefully. Phynation, una too much. Best fanbase ever. This one na for una. Barely hours after he met with the Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan yesterday held closed-door meetings with former military President General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida IBB and former Head of State General Abdulsalami Abubakar. Jonathan met the former leaders in Minna, Niger State. He was received at about 1.30pm at Minna International Airport. He spent about one hour each in the residences of the former presidents. Recall that former president Olusegun Obasanjo, had also met with the two former heads of state, barely two weeks ago in Minna. Speaking to Journalists after his meeting with Abubakar, Jonathan urged Nigerians to elect leaders who will take national interest above self aggrandisement. The former president said We all wish our country well, especially for the young people. Elections are coming. They have to select the person you believe will lead us well, serve us well, the leader is also a servant as a president you lead you serve. Somebody that will take the interest of all of us, the interest of the country, somebody that will not compromise our own interest for his own aggrandizement he added when asked about his take on the 2023 general election. He reiterated that Nigeria needs Somebody that will carry all Nigerians along and most especially take Nigeria as a project. ADVERTISEMENT Asked why he was visiting Minna he said he is the Most Junior among all the former presidents. From time to time I used to go round and greet them. For some time now I have not seen General Abdulsalami, so there is nothing special about the visit. It is a regular visit that I normally do. Jonathan added, We are talking about election, you know he chairs the National Peace Committee that tries to midwife the Peace Process during elections, there is so much pressure on him now so that the 2023 election will be conducted freely, fairly and in an environment that there will be peace and love. Confirming his meeting with Jonathan, Peter Obi, had in a tweet, said, I recently visited my senior brother, H.E. @GEJonathan to exchange views on an array of serious national interest questions. -PO He also posted a picture with Jonathan. Former President Goodluck Jonathan has appealed to Nigerian youths to vote for a president that has the interest of the nation at heart. Jonathan, who made the call in Minna, Niger State, on Wednesday when he visited a former Head of State, Abdulsalami Abubakar, said a president who has the interest of the country at heart is all the nation needs at the moment. I appeal to the youth to select a person they believe will lead us well and serve us well, somebody who will take the interests of all of us and the country to heart; a leader who will not compromise our interests for personal gain, especially one who sees Nigeria as a project. A leader is also a servant, and as president, you are to lead and you are to serve, Jonathan said. Related News The former president also stated that only a candidate who sees Nigeria as a project can save the nation. He further said that other than a courtesy visit as a result of his return from medical treatment abroad, he was in Minna because the nation needs him as a result of the role he plays in stabilising the peace of the nation. It has been over a year since I visited the state. As the youngest former president, I go around from time to time to visit them. I havent seen General Abdulsalami for quite some time, and you know he just came back from medical treatment abroad, so it is proper for me to come with some of my friends to pay a courtesy call and greet him, he said. President Muhammadu Buhari has promised to engage in further consultations with relevant stakeholders towards ending the protracted strike by members of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). The president stated this when he met with the Chairman and select members of Pro-Chancellors of Federal Universities on Friday in Abuja. He said that without necessarily going back on what was already established policy, I will make further consultations, and Ill get back to you. The Pro-Chancellors were led to the meeting by Prof. Nimi Briggs. Briggs said they came to meet with Buhari in his capacity as President and Commander-in-Chief, as father of the nation, and as Visitor to the Federal universities. He added that despite the pall cast by more than seven months of industrial action, the future of university system in the country is good. He cited as example the recent listing of the University of Ibadan among the first 1,000 universities in the world, a development occurring for the first time. Briggs commended the Federal Government for concessions already made to the striking lecturers, including the offer to raise salaries by 23.5 per cent across board, and 35% for Professors. He, however, asked for further inching up of the salary, in view of the economic situation of the country. The Pro-Chancellors also asked for a reconsideration of the No-Work, No-Pay stance of government. They promised that lecturers would make up for time lost as soon as an amicable situation was reached, and schools reopened. Minister of State for Education, Goodluck Opiah, said all the concessions made by Federal Government were to ensure that the industrial action comes to an end, but ASUU has remained adamant. September 16, (THEWILL) A Federal high court sitting in Gusau, Zamfara state, has nullified the primary election that produced Dauda Lawal, as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2023 election in the State. Lawal had polled 431 votes to win the governorship ticket in the partys primary, held on May 25, 2022. Three other aspirants including Abubakar Nakwada, Wadatau Madawaki, and Ibrahim Shehu-Gusau had earlier withdrawn from the race, alleging irregularities. But Adamu Maina, the returning officer for the primary, said their withdrawal was declined since it was without formal notice. Shehu-Gusau, Madawaki and Aliyu Hafiz Muhammad had approached the court to challenge the legality of the primary that produced Lawal as the partys candidate. They requested that the exercise be annulled due to alleged anomalies, contradictions, fraud, and violations of the partys constitution and electoral laws, among other things. Delivering judgement on Friday, Aminu Bappa, the presiding judge, granted all the prayers of the plaintiffs and nullified the primary. He also ordered that a fresh primary should be conducted to produce an authentic flagbearer. Addressing journalists after the ruling, Ibrahim Aliyu, counsel to the plaintiffs, expressed joy over the outcome, describing it as a victory for democracy. The court looked at the merit of the matter and decided the case in favour of the plaintiffs. Our prayers were that the primary elections conducted by a committee, led by Adamu Maina Waziri, be nullified by the court and order be given by the court for the conduct of a fresh election in line with the PDPs constitution and guidelines. All our prayers have been granted. The judgement was well evaluated because we proved our case beyond reasonable doubts and we are happy with the decision of the court. Also speaking on the ruling, Imraan Ahmad, a media aide to Lawal, said his principal will appeal the judgement. However, the state legal adviser of the PDP in the state, Barrister Bashir Abubakar Masama, said the party would study the judgement and take the next line of action. The gruesome murder of Ummakulsum Sani Buhari, a 23-year-old Kano-based lady, has sparked outrage among Nigerians on social media. Daily Trust had reported how the lady known as Ummita was stabbed to death by her Chinese lover, Mr Geng Quanrong, in Kano, on Friday. According to reports, Mr Geng was Ummitas boyfriend for about three years before she got married to someone else in February 2022. Ummitas mother had told Daily Trust that after her daughters divorce, Geng came back to her life, pressing that he must see her, even though her family chased him away and disapproved of their relationship. But on Friday night, the defiant ex-lover stormed the house by pushing Ummitas mother away who had opened the door for him after persistent knocking and went straight to Ummitas room and stabbed her. Soaked in blood, Ummita was rushed to the hospital but she died on the way. Mr Geng has since been arrested by the police for further investigation and possible prosecution. Nigerians on Twitter have been calling for the quick prosecution of Mr Geng, and demanding justice for Ummita with the hashtag #JusticeForUmmita. A Twitter user, @A__yabo said, A Chinese man butchered a girl yesterday in Kano. Reports says the girl didnt accept his love and he followed her to her fathers house and stabbed her to death. We demand #JusticeForUmmita. Another said asking questions about their past relationship is now unnecessary, because what matters is that he illegally murdered her. I see people asking questions like were they dating?, what did she do? It doesnt matter what she did, she didnt deserve to be murdered in cold blood, if she had hurt him in anyway he shouldve taken the right course of action. This is a crime against Nigerians #JusticeForUmmita. I promise if i was Governor i would do everything within my power to make sure that man doesnt get extradited and serves whatever sentence metted out on him by the Judiciary. If you commit a crime abroad, they make an example & make sure you dont go scot free #JusticeForUmmita, said @khalifarabiu. Bashir Ahmad, the Special Assistant on Digital Communications to the President Muhammadu Buhari, expressed pleasure that the accused had been arrested by the police and also demanded justice for Ummita. This is a very sad and devastating story of a Chinese man slaughtering a young lady in Kano. Good to find out that the the perpetrator has since been arrested by the authorities. #JusticeForUmmita, he wrote on his Twitter handle. Another Twitter user, @Mr_Virus101 wrote, I think its right time we Acknowledged the lifes of every Citizen in Nigeria. You cant commit a Crime in Chinese and go Scot-free. This man should be prosecuted immediately. Let the Law take its course. God Bless Nigeria #SHUTDOWN #Chinese #England #JusticeForUmmita. Ummita was hacked to death by a Chinese in her own home in her own fatherland. If a Nigerian did that in China, there would have been VISA restriction for months. But we cant dare because weve borrowed our entire livelihood from China. What a sad country! #JusticeForUmmita, said @drpenking. @SkinnyBoi001_ wrote, The people asking about the relationship status btw the Chinese man and Ummita and other irrelevant questions are the most stupid people I have seen today. Whatever they had between them does not and would never justify what he did to her. He should be k!lled #JusticeForUmmita. The gruesome murder of Ummita by a Chinese man in Kano State is highly condemnable. I commiserate with the family and appeal to relevant Nigerian security operatives to fish out the perpetrator and make him face the full wrath of the law. Human life is SACRED! #JusticeForUmmita, wrote @iam_ohajuobed. /* custom css */ .tdi_58.td-a-rec{ text-align: center; }.tdi_58 .td-element-style{ z-index: -1; }.tdi_58.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_58.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; }@media (max-width: 767px) { .tdi_58.td-a-rec-img { text-align: center; } } Advertisement wants security agents to fish out perpetrators By Chuks Eke The spiritual leader of the Igbo nation and Ogilisi Igbo, Chief Rommy Ezeonwuka has placed a curse on those who carried out the recent attack on the convoy of the Senator representing Anambra South Senatorial zone, Senator Ifeamyi Ubah at Nkwo Enugwu-Ukwu in Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra state, saying that the gods of Igboland and the spirits of our ancestors would surely hunt them down. He also placed the same curse on kidnappers, assassins and other criminals who have been terrorizing people in various parts of Igbo land. In a press issued yesterday, via SMS, Ezeonwuka who vehemently condemned the assassination attempt, described it as a barbaric act which is never acceptable to humanity in general and in Igbo land in particular. Let me join million of well meaning Nigerians in condemning the assassination attempt made against Senator Ifeanyi Ubah at Nkwo Enugwu Ukwu by armed men which resulted in the sudden and unnatural deaths of Senator Ubahs personal assistants, security aides and the Onowu of Nri community who was hit by the assassins bullet when he came to drop off his visitor. Ezeonwuka warned that those who have taken to killing their fellow Igbo brothers as their job should get ready to face more catastrophic way of dead with vulture eating up their dead bodies because God and nature made it clear that those who kill will die in a more horrible manner. He also warned that those killing others with hope to go scot free are deceiving themselves because apart from the security agents going after them, the wrath of God who created humanity and nature are after them too, just as the wrath of gods of the land and the spirit of the ancestors are equally after them. He lamented that the high rate of killings in Igboland by Ndigbo themselves has turned Ndigbo into a laughing stock to the outside world, noting that the respect that Ndigbo command from the outside world as people who love themselves, people who are their brothers keepers, people who are educated and hardworking is being eroded by negative activities of killings being perpetrated by violent criminals. The spiritual leader however commiserated with the families of the victims of the attack, wishing them peaceful rest and called on security agents to work hard and fish out the attackers and deal with them according to the rule of law. /* custom css */ .tdi_59.td-a-rec{ text-align: center; }.tdi_59 .td-element-style{ z-index: -1; }.tdi_59.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_59.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; }@media (max-width: 767px) { .tdi_59.td-a-rec-img { text-align: center; } } Again, the Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP) and Boko Haram terrorists clashed in Borno State on Thursday night, killing dozens of fighters They terrorised the residents of the Dikwa and Bama local government areas which later resulted to the death of a commander Meanwhile, the commander and his team were on a robbery mission, but were intercepted by the ISWAP fighters and were defeated PAY ATTENTION: heck out news that is picked exactly for YOU find the Recommended for you block on the home page and enjoy! On Thursday, September 15, another fierce battle broke out between late Abubakar Shekau Boko Haram faction and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) that led to the killing of a commander simply identified as Kundu and dozens of fighters. The fight happened between Dikwa and Bama local government areas. A security source said that Kundu and his team were on a robbery mission when the ISWAP intercepted them on six motorcycles, each conveying three fighters, Daily Trust reported. Earlier, President Muhammadu Buhari urges service chiefs to take the fight to the doorstep of terrorists. Photo credit: Femi Adesina Source: Facebook A security analyst confirmed the clash Zagazola Makama, a security analyst and a counter insurgency in Lake Chad, also confirmed the fight. He said: A heavy fight ensued between the terrorists resulting to dozens of casualties on the side of the Boko Haram terrorists, while few ISWAP terrorists were wounded. The Boko Haram terrorists took to their heels leaving their motorcycles to the ISWAP terrorists. Good news as COAS leaks high-grade military moves Army is making against terrorists, sponsors The Nigerian Army on Tuesday, September 13, said it has been tracking the activities of terrorists and other criminals in Nigeria. The chief of army staff, Lieutenant General Farouk Yahaya, while speaking at the opening of the COAS third Quarter Conference 2022, in Abuja said that the military is appraising its performance so far and adopting new ideas to enhance security in Nigeria. He noted that the quarterly conference by the Nigerians Army is aimed at maintaining constant interaction with commanders in the field. FG finally reveals the stage of insecurity in Nigeria as Lai Mohammed gives details Nigerians across the world have been assured that the worst days of insecurity in the country are over. This assurance was handed to citizens by the minister of information, culture and tourism, Lai Mohammed. According to Mohammed, terrorists and bandits operating in various parts of the country can only run but cannot hide. Source: Legit.ng The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the February 23, presidential election, Atiku Abubakar and his party has insisted that President Muhammadu Buhari was not qualified to have contested the 2019 poll and as such should be disqualified by the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal. The party and its candidate also claimed that Buharis election was invalid as INEC and Buhari allegedly rigged the poll. It was also argued that there are discrepancies in results between tendered Certified True Copies of forms EC8A and polling units. Besides, the petitioners in their final address to the tribunal insisted that they have proved all allegations contained in their petition against the conduct of the February 23 presidential election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). In a 43-page final address filed by their lead counsel, Dr Levy Uzoukwu SAN, Atiku and PDP claimed to have established the fact that Buhari does not possess the requisite academic qualification for the position of President of Nigeria. In the final address filed on August 14, the petitioners said even Buharis own witnesses under cross examination admitted to the fact that Buhari does not possess a school certifcate, being the basic requirements for contesting for the office of the president. We therefore submit that all the purported evidence led by the 2nd respondent (Buhari) to prove that he attended a secondary school or a primary school or that he attended some courses, is irrelevant because he did not rely on any of those purported qualifications in exhibit P1, he relied on primary school certifcate, WASC and Officer Cadet. Equally futile is his attempt to prove that he can speak and write in the English language. That is all irrelevant to his inability to produce his primary school certifcate, secondary school certifcate or WASC and his Officer Cadet qualification, whatever that means. Officer Cadet is not a qualification or certifcate under the Constitution and Electoral Act; nor is it known to any law, the party said. On the purported Cambridge University certifcate tendered by Buhari before the tribunal, the petitioners asked why, it was easier for Buhari to go all the way to Cambridge in the United Kingdom to obtain a bogus documents that his own witnesses said was not a certificate, instead of just driving down the street in Abuja to the Army Headquarters or placing a phone call to the Secretary of the Military Board in Abuja to hurry over with his certifcate or certifcates Still on the Cambridge University documents, the petitioners submitted that, A comparison of the purported Cambridge Assessment International Education Certifying Statement of the purported West African Examination Council (WAEC) certifcate and a certified true copy of the purported confidential result sheet of the University of Cambridge West African School Certificate of 1961 for the Provincial Secondary School, katsina reveals many discrepancies in the suppose result. One listed 8 subjects that the candidate therein mentioned one Mohamed Buhari allegedly sat for, the other 6 subjects, both documents are therefore unreliable as both cannot be correct. The contradiction must count against the 2nd respondent. Another false claim by Buhari, according to the petitioners is that he attended, Elementary School, Daura and Mai Aduwa 1948-52. Elementary School Daura is totally different from Mai Aduwa, their locations are totally different. He also claimed he entered Middle School Katsina in 1953, however, the petitioners submitted that by 1953, the Middle School system had been abolished in the northern region of Nigeria. On the claim that his certifcates were with the military, the petitioners submitted that Buhari failed woefully to prove the claim, rather the petitioners evidence to the contrary was not contested nor challenged. It is also the case of the petitioners that they have successfully proved that the Nigerian Army had denied being in possession of Buharis alleged certifcates. One of the strongest evidence on the issue was given by the second respondents own witness, RW1, General Paul Tafa, (Rtd), who under cross examination by the 1st respondent (INEC), told the court firmly and unequivocally that the Army did not collect the certifcates of military Officers and added, there was no such thing. ***On the issue of rigging and non- compliance with the Electoral Act, the petitioners said with the plethora of evidence tendered and witnesses called they have been able to show to the tribunal that Buharis election was invalid. They added that analysis of results from 11 states showed how INEC in connivance with Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) wrongly and unlawfully credited Buhari with votes not valid or lawful. According to them documents tendered before the tribunal showed huge discrepancies between collated results as contained in the tendered Certified True Copies of forms EC8A and polling units. They further alleged that a total of 2, 906,384 votes were cancelled across the country, while 2, 698,773 Nigerians were disenfranchised. They said the two figures when added exceeded the 3, 928,869 differential between the votes as stated in INEC form EC8E. By Chuks Eke A coalition of support groups in Anambra State, under the aegis of Coalition for Peter Obi, CPO, has described the Presidential candidate of Labour Party, LP, Peter Obi as the most credible, capable, and competent person who can lead Nigeria to the promised land. State Lead Coordinator of the group, Chidi Nzekwe who stated this yesterday in Awka, the State capital, while speaking to newsmen in reaction to their last Saturdays two-million-man solidarity march for Obi/Datti movement, insisted that the presidency should be handed over to Obi for a desired positive change in our economic and political history. According to Nzekwe, We are using this medium to sensitise the people on the need to get their Permanent Voter Cards, PVC and be well mobilized to cast their votes ahead of the 2023 general elections. The crowd, especially the youths, that came out for the solidarity march last Saturday was an indication that we need a disruptive system to drive good governance, and we believe Peter Obi is the right candidate. He is credible, capable, and competent to lead Nigeria to the promised land and we urge the electorate to come out en masse and vote wisely for a new and better Nigeria. The support groups were drawn from various professional bodies, including Doctors for Peter Obi, Docs4PO, led by Dr. Henry Eze. Dr. Eze, Anambra State Coordinator of Docs4PO as well as its Southeast Zonal Director, disclosed that they equally mobilized their members in the State to participate actively in last Saturdays solidarity march. According to Dr. Eze, We are very much optimistic that, with the right things done, Obi will win the 2023 presidential election because Nigerians are awake and wiser now. Our currency, the naira has depreciated to abysmal levels. Theres insecurity everywhere. Our roads are death traps and theres grossly insufficient power supply. In fact, the entire country is about to collapse on our heads. We will do anything legitimately possible to secure victory for Obi so as to have a credible, capable, and competent administration and a new Nigeria. We have confidence in Obi and Datti to rescue and reposition this country. This is once in a life time opportunity to rescue this country from unmitigated catastrophe and reposition it on the path of peace, progress, and sustainable development, said Dr. Eze. /* custom css */ .tdi_59.td-a-rec{ text-align: center; }.tdi_59 .td-element-style{ z-index: -1; }.tdi_59.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_59.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; }@media (max-width: 767px) { .tdi_59.td-a-rec-img { text-align: center; } } Advertisement Gov. Hope Uzodimma of Imo has given reason for Saturdays security raid at Eke-Ututu Market in Orsu Local Government Area. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that security operatives raided and burnt some shops in the market after materials for Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) were allegedly uncovered in the place. Addressing newsmen on the development at the Government House in Owerri on Wednesday, Uzodimma said that bandits operating in the area use the IEDs to fight security operatives. /* custom css */ .tdi_58.td-a-rec{ text-align: center; }.tdi_58 .td-element-style{ z-index: -1; }.tdi_58.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_58.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; }@media (max-width: 767px) { .tdi_58.td-a-rec-img { text-align: center; } } He said that a Major in the Nigerian Army on duty around Orsu Awo-idemmili died last month from an explosion from the device. Last Saturday, a joint security force, which arrested a bandit, took him after his confession to guide them to where they operate from and manufacture the explosives. It turned out to be Eke-Ututu Market. They discovered four shops where fertilisers, ammonium sulphate and electrical gadgets used in manufacturing explosives were packed, the governor said. He said the Captain, who led the operation, together with another officer, was currently lying critical at the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri. He further said that the soldiers recovered all the weapons and fertilisers used by the bandits to manufacture IEDs. In the process, they burnt down shops and this is consistent with our policy. However, they were so tactful that no innocent life was lost. They were able to destroy all the shops, where the items were stored, Uzodimma said. He expressed concern that rather than visit the scene to ascertain the true situation of event, opposition candidates preferred to condemn the activities of security agencies. He said that some were so brazen to blackmail the security agencies, questioning why they should go there at all. He said that traders were not allowed into the market without paying taxes to unknown gunmen. These are illegitimate taxes to enable people to open their shops. This is what we have been fighting all through, he said. Uzodimma said that his administration would stop at nothing in the fight against terrorism, banditry, and kidnapping in the state. It is not politics. It is about the security of lives and property of our people, he said. According to him, the state government will continue to support security agencies to work efficiently. The governor, who expressed regrets over the collateral damage suffered during the raid, promised to replace and rebuild the market. So, when Eke-Ututu Market is destroyed to give Imo peace, the Government will also rebuild it. If in the process, there are innocent traders who lost their items, government will work out a compensation for them. But government has a responsibility to fight crime, Uzodimma said. He urged community leaders, residents and visitors with useful information on the bandits hideouts to volunteer it to help in their arrest. The governor said that the operation was exclusively executed by a combined team of the Nigerian Army, Navy, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and Police. He said that contrary to speculation, no local vigilante, called Ebubeagu, joined in the operation. /* custom css */ .tdi_60.td-a-rec{ text-align: center; }.tdi_60 .td-element-style{ z-index: -1; }.tdi_60.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_60.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; }@media (max-width: 767px) { .tdi_60.td-a-rec-img { text-align: center; } } Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike and his estranged ally, former senator representing Rivers South-East constituency, Lee Maeba have been appointed as members in the constituted Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential campaign council (PPC). Wike, Maeba Among PDP Presidential Campaign Council Team Wike and Maeba are among the 326 member Campaign Team in a list signed and issued by the National Organizing Secretary of the party, Umar Mohammed Bature. In the list, Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal was named the Director-General of the National Campaign Management Committee (NCMC), with Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom state as the Chairman Presidential Campaign Council (PCC). Others are Governor Bala Mohammed (Bauchi) PCC Vice Chairman North and Governor Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Vice Chairman South. The list also has Senator Liyel Imoke, Deputy Director General operations, Prof Adewale Oladipo, Deputy Director General Administration, Chief Raymond Dokpesi, Deputy Director General Technical and Systems and Chief Okwesilieze Nwodo, Deputy Director General Research and Strategy. The list consists of the names of former Vice President Namadi Sambo, serving as well as former State Governors of the party, former Ministers who are still members of the PDP, members of the Board of Trustees among others. Former Senate Presidents, Senators David Mark, Bukola Saraki, Pius Ayim; former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekwerenmadu also made the list. Members of the campaign council will be inaugurated on September 28, 2022 at the International Conference centre in Abuja. It is not clear how Wike and Maeba will work together as members in the presidential campaign council considering their severed relationship. Recall that Maeba recently raised an alarm that his life was in danger, alleging that Wike had threatened to kill him and others over their visit and support for Atiku. Wike appears not to be happy with Atiku having lost the presidential primary of the PDP to the former vice president and subsequent appointment of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State as Atikus running mate. Also, it is not clear if Wike will even accept to work in the campaign council given his consistent demand for the resignation of the national chairman of the party, Iyorchia Ayu. So far, Makinde and former deputy national chairman of the party, Bode George have also added their voices to the call for Ayus resignation. In other news, Kanyi Daily had reported that Atiku said the only way the national chairman of the PDP can be removed is when the partys constitution is amended. He stated this against the backdrop of several calls for the resignation of Ayu on the grounds that the partys presidential candidate and national chairman can not come from the same region. Atiku hails from Adamawa (North-East) while Ayu hails from Benue (North-Central). /* custom css */ .tdi_59.td-a-rec{ text-align: center; }.tdi_59 .td-element-style{ z-index: -1; }.tdi_59.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_59.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; }@media (max-width: 767px) { .tdi_59.td-a-rec-img { text-align: center; } } Advertisement Kano to spend N1.2bn for reconstruction of roundabouts, rehabilitation, maintenance of 42 roads Kano state government is to spend over N1.2 billion on the construction of roundabouts, rehabilitation and maintenance of various metropolitan roads which are in a state of disrepair as a result of the prevailing heavy downpour occasioned by floods. /* custom css */ .tdi_58.td-a-rec{ text-align: center; }.tdi_58 .td-element-style{ z-index: -1; }.tdi_58.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_58.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; }@media (max-width: 767px) { .tdi_58.td-a-rec-img { text-align: center; } } The state commissioner for information, Malam Muhammad Garba, who dropped the hint at the weekend, said some roundabouts that included ones at A A Rano Filling Station and First Bank, among others, have also been slated for reconstruction. He said a technical committee comprising of engineers from the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, the state Urban Planning and Development Agency as well as other Ministries, Department and Agencies has been constituted to study the situation for an urgent action. Malam Garba said the committee has already reached out to the contracting firms some of which have been mobilized to undertake the project. The commissioner added that eight clusters of roads have been earmarked for the rehabilitation and maintenance that aimed at ensuring smooth vehicular movement. He said some of the roads include Audu bako Way, Sani Marshal Road, Mission Road, Hotoro Tsamiyar Boka Road, Layin Kaura Goje, Sheikh Hassan-Layin Gidan Biredi-Sani Bello Road, Kwanar Jaba-Kwana Hudu-Gayawa Bridge Road. Others are FCE-Kofar Famfo, Gwarzo Road, Sheikh Jafar Road, Muhammadu Buhari Road, New Hospital Road, Sabo Bakin Zuwo Road, Lamido Crescent, Route to Cancer Treatment Centre, Dakata Road, DanHassa-Eastern Bypass, Yan Mota-Kofar Mazugal, Abagana Street Fagge. The commissioner further enumerated the rest of the roads that include Aminu Kano Way-Kofar Ruwa, Festing-Bompai, France Road, Igbo Road, Gwammaja-Wapa, Kurna Babban Layi, Madaki Street Yolawa, Sabon Titi Mandawari, Kwanar Dala-Gidan Malam Aminu Junction, Lafiya Road. Malam Garba also gave the list of other roads to include Bello Terrace, Alu Avenue and Iyaka Road. /* custom css */ .tdi_60.td-a-rec{ text-align: center; }.tdi_60 .td-element-style{ z-index: -1; }.tdi_60.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_60.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; }@media (max-width: 767px) { .tdi_60.td-a-rec-img { text-align: center; } } Nigerias track sensations Tobi Amusan and Ese Brume have made giant leaps in the World Athletics Women Chart. From being ranked 43rd in September 2021, Tobi Amusan is now in the top 10, moving up 38 places to being ranked 5th in the world while her compatriot and friend Ese Brume moved up 32 places from being ranked 93rd in the world to 61st within the same period. Both Amusan and Brume have had a remarkable year with amazing results in all the international competitions they were involved in. Read Also: Enyimba, Rivers United, Rangers, Plateau United, 8 Others For Tico/Select Preseason Tournament In Enugu, Asaba Amusan set a new world record in the 100m hurdles with a time of 12.12s, became a World Champion in Eugene, Oregon at the World Athletics Championships and successful defended her Commonwealth Games title in Birmingham. Earlier in the year, she won gold for Nigeria at the African senior Athletics Championships in Mauritius. Ese Brume won a silver medal for Nigeria at the World Athletics Championships in Long Jump, and struck Gold at the Commonwealth Games. Both athletes were awarded national honours by the Federal Government for their remarkable achievement for Nigeria at the Presidential Reception held at the State House, Aso Rock Villa, Abuja on Thursday. Copyright 2021 Completesports.com All rights reserved. The information contained in Completesports.com may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the prior written authority of Completesports.com. Lisa Vioni Benedicte Gravrand, Opalesque Geneva for New Managers: Modern Investor Tools is a series on technology providers that assist asset allocators. Founded in 2005, Hedge Connection is New York State-based platform that connects hedge funds and investors online and through events.Through its fund database, the firm offers comprehensive profiles on hedge funds, fund of funds, private equity funds and CTAs completely free of charge. And through its Capital Club, managers can get introduced to investors who belong to the same club. "The basic business of Hedge Connection is as a marketing platform for these funds," CEO and co-founder Lisa Vioni tells Opalesque. "We are not a third-party marketer, but we give them a platform where they can raise their profile and get access to investors." It took a while for people to adopt the platform in the early days, she continues. "I stepped down as CEO in 2011, we did a big pivot and we re-imagined the way everybody interacted and then we re-launched the company in 2014." In the last 12 years, she has seen two trends among investors. The first one favors emerging managers, as investors are realizing they are a legitimate investment; the second one not so much. "This emerging manager sector has really become, in...................... To view our full article Click here Opalesque Industry Update - The European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) and the International Capital Market Association's (ICMA) Asset Management and Investors Council (AMIC) published on 19 July a joint paper analysing how and why leverage is used in investment funds in Europe, how firms address in practice related risks and the technical tools used to measure leverage and improve the efficient management of their portfolio. Today's report addresses the theme of leverage as it forms a significant part of the international regulatory concern about systemic risk in investment funds. The FSB and IOSCO seek to identify consistent measures of leverage to facilitate more meaningful monitoring for financial stability purposes. The report explores and describes how the European legislative regime, notably the UCITS and AIFMD legislative frameworks, but also other rules in EMIR, for instance, offers a robust framework to address the risks related to leverage in investment funds. Recent years show that the EU regulatory framework is sound and efficient as it allows European regulators to assess levels of leverage in funds and take appropriate supervisory actions. Furthermore, levels of leverage have remained constant and there has been no systemic risk related to the use of leverage in EU-domiciled funds. Peter de Proft, EFAMA Director General, commented:"EFAMA and ICMA consider that the existing EU regulatory framework is regulating in a consistent way the use of leverage in investment funds, along with key related topics, such as: the mandatory disclosures to investors, the reporting requirements to the regulators and the monitoring of leverage by regulators for systemic risk purposes. We firmly believe European regulation is a cutting-edge framework at global level, and hope that IOSCO and FSB regulators use it as the benchmark and starting point for their work. This will allow them to deliver their mandate and propose a consistent matrix of different measures that can capture the broad universe of fund vehicles and investment strategies". Martin Scheck, ICMA Chief Executive, commented:"This study complements last year's work[1]by AMIC and EFAMA on liquidity risk management and is designed to highlight the advanced technical framework already in place in Europe regulating the use of leverage in investment funds. We believe this work should help the on-going debate on systemic risk in investment funds and should promote sensible solutions based on existing rules and practices". The report also puts forward a number of recommendations to improve monitoring and analysis of leverage risk: 1. The existing regulatory standards at the EU level can be the basis for developing, at global level, leverage and risk measurements through a matrix of different measures. This would allow a meaningful representation of a fund's exposures, given that there is no single measure that can capture all the risks in nature, size and characteristics associated with a fund's underlying assets and strategies. 2. Further streamlining of global calculation methodologies for leverage and risk. Regulators should in that respect rely upon the existing EU regulatory regime. 3. Adjustments and updates of these methods, particularly the 2010 CESR Guidelines, based on the best practices at EU level, could be envisaged if necessary. 4. Data sharing among regulators of already reported data is key and should be improved at both EU and global level. This would enable regulators to better assess the overall risks related to funds in Europe and globally. EFAMA and AMIC look forward to contributing further to this debate and assisting global regulators in their discussions. EFAMA is the representative association for the European investment management industry. ICMA represents institutions active in the international capital market worldwide and has over 500 members located in 60 countries. press release Bg Global Lithium-Ion Battery Market Is Expected To Boost In The Coming Years, Driven By Surge In Demand For Electric Vehicles Variant Market Research https://www.variantmarketresearch.com/report-categories/semiconductor-electronics/lithium-ion-battery-market https://www.variantmarketresearch.com/report-categories/semiconductor-electronics/lithium-ion-battery-market/sample-request www.variantmarketresearch.com/ Global Lithium-Ion Battery Market Report, published by Variant Market Research, forecast that the global market is expected to reach $56 billion by 2024 from $25 billion in 2016; growing at a CAGR of 10.6% from 2016 to 2024. By geography, Asia-Pacific and Rest of the World (RoW) are expected to grow at a CAGR of 12.3% and 11.8%, respectively, during the forecast period.Browse Complete Report @Increase in demand for electronic devices such as smartphones and tablets, and stringent government regulations to decrease pollution level fuels the demand of global Lithium-Ion Battery Market. Additionally, surge in demand for electric vehicles has also boosted the market growth. However, high cost and risk of fire in electronic devices would act as a restraint for the market. Growth in automobile industry would generate new business opportunities for the market in the near future.The global lithium-ion battery market is segmented on the basis of material type, industry vertical, and geography. By material type, the market is further divided into cathode, anode, electrolytic solution, and others. Cathode accounted for the highest market revenue in 2016. Furthermore, the industry vertical segment is categorized into industrial, electronics, automotive, and others. Electronics accounted for the largest market share in the overall application segment in 2016, owing to huge demand of lithium-ion batteries in smartphones and other electronic devices. The automotive segment is anticipated to grow at the fastest CAGR, owing to its increased demand in various electronic vehicles.Click here to request a free sample of this report atGeographically the market is categorized into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and RoW. In 2016, Asia-Pacific accounted for the largest market share of 38.6%, and is expected to continue its dominance during the forecast period, driven by rising demand from consumer electronics and increase in number of electric vehicles (EVs) in Japan, China and India. North America accounted for the second largest market share of 32.6%, as the lithium-ion batteries are broadly used in the automotive sector in North America. In terms of growth, Asia-Pacific is expected to attain the fastest CAGR of 12.3% during the forecast period 2016-2024, driven by increasing adoption of these batteries in tablets, laptops & PCs, and smartphones.Major companies operating in the global lithium-ion battery market are Samsung SDI Co. Ltd., LG Chem Power (LGCPI), LITEC Co., Ltd., Automotive Energy Supply Corporation, A123 Systems, LLC., Panasonic Corporation, Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd., Toshiba Corporation and GS Yuasa International Ltd., China BAK Battery Co. Ltd., among others.We at Variant Market Research provide syndicated as well as customized reports along with short and long term consulting services pertaining to your requirements; offering accurate analysis, post precise data mining and analysis of information gathered. Adding to that, our offerings also include customized data pack, proposing market sizing in an Excel/PDF/PPT/Word format as per the need of our consumers.VARIANT MARKET RESEARCH LLPWeb:649 Mission St.,5th Floor, San Francisco,CA 94105, United States.Tel: +1-415-680-2785Fax: +1-415-680-2786Email: help@variantmarketresearch.com FEMA hosts workshop at Critical Infrastructure Protection & Resilience North America (CIPRNA) www.ciprna-expo.com The focus of the workshop is specifically to enhance local level response and interaction / coordination of local and state agencies and private sector partnerships to a long-term power outageThe tabletop exercise will include local-level participants from response, government, public works, health care, and private sector partners.It will also include state-level participants from emergency management, health, military and private sector partners.The aim is to create a better understanding of how LTPO response is managed and its relationship within the multi-agency coordination concept. The discussion will assist in improving sustainment of power and response continuity. Private sector, state and local government entities will have the opportunity to participate in discussions addressing an LTPO.There are 16 critical infrastructure sectors whose assets, systems, and networks, whether physical or virtual, are considered so vital to the United States that their incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating effect on security, national economic security, national public health or safety.Presidential Policy Directive 21 (PPD-21): Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience advances a national policy to strengthen and maintain secure, functioning, and resilient critical infrastructure. This directive supersedes Homeland Security Presidential Directive 7.Critical Infrastructure Protection and Resilience North America will be held in Orlando, Florida from the 5th-7th December 2017 and will bring together leading stakeholders from industry, operators, agencies and governments to collaborate on securing North AmericaLatest confirmed speakers include:- Joseph Wassel, Director, C4 Resilience & Mission Assurance, US Department of Defence- David Fortino, Regional Continuity Manager, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)- Senior Representative, Office of Infrastructure Protection, U.S. Department of Homeland Security- Fred Ruonavar, Chief of DISA/DODIN Critical Infrastructure Program- Michael Lowder, Director Office of Intelligence, Security & Emergency Response, US Dept of Transportation- Mark Troutman, Director, George Mason University- Frederic Petit, Research Scientist, Argonne National Laboratory & Regional Director, International Association of CIP Professionals- Victoria Sherazi, Project Lead Mitigating Risks in the Innovation Economy, World Economic ForumEvent details can be seen atCritical Infrastructure Protection and Resilience North America organised by Torch Marketing and KNM Media, will take place in Orlando, Florida on 5th-7th December 2017.Torch Marketing Co Ltd, 53 Clarendon Road, Cheshun, 53 Clarendon Road, Cheshunt United States Geotechnical Instrumentation and Monitoring Market Report 2017 http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1118186&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/united-states-geotechnical-instrumentation-and-monitoring-market-report-2017.htm http://www.qyresearchreports.com Geographically, this report splits the United States market into seven regions:The WestSouthwestThe Middle AtlanticNew EnglandThe SouthThe Midwestwith sales (volume), revenue (value), market share and growth rate of Geotechnical Instrumentation and Monitoring in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast).Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @United States Geotechnical Instrumentation and Monitoring market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Geotechnical Instrumentation and Monitoring sales volume, price, revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players includingFugroKeller Group PLCNova Metrix LLCGeokon, IncorporatedGeocomp CorporationSISGEO S.R.L.Cowi A/SJames Fisher and SonsDeep ExcavationRST InstrumentsGeomotion SingaporeEustis EngineeringDST Consulting EngineersGeosigSmart StructuresOn the basis of product, this report displays the sales volume, revenue, product price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoWiredWirelessOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, sales volume, market share and growth rate of Geotechnical Instrumentation and Monitoring for each application, includingBuildings & InfrastructureEnergy & PowerOil & GasMiningObtain Report Details @Table of ContentsUnited States Geotechnical Instrumentation and Monitoring Market Report 20171 Geotechnical Instrumentation and Monitoring Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Geotechnical Instrumentation and Monitoring1.2 Classification of Geotechnical Instrumentation and Monitoring by Product Category1.2.1 United States Geotechnical Instrumentation and Monitoring Market Size (Sales Volume) Comparison by Type (2012-2022)1.2.2 United States Geotechnical Instrumentation and Monitoring Market Size (Sales Volume) Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Wired1.2.4 Wireless2 United States Geotechnical Instrumentation and Monitoring Market Competition by Players/Suppliers2.1 United States Geotechnical Instrumentation and Monitoring Sales and Market Share of Key Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.2 United States Geotechnical Instrumentation and Monitoring Revenue and Share by Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.3 United States Geotechnical Instrumentation and Monitoring Average Price by Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.4 United States Geotechnical Instrumentation and Monitoring Market Competitive Situation and Trends3 United States Geotechnical Instrumentation and Monitoring Sales (Volume) and Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)3.1 United States Geotechnical Instrumentation and Monitoring Sales and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.2 United States Geotechnical Instrumentation and Monitoring Revenue and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.3 United States Geotechnical Instrumentation and Monitoring Price by Region (2012-2017)List of Tables and FiguresFigure Product Picture of Geotechnical Instrumentation and MonitoringFigure United States Geotechnical Instrumentation and Monitoring Market Size (K Units) by Type (2012-2022)Figure United States Geotechnical Instrumentation and Monitoring Sales Volume Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 2016Figure Wired Product PictureFigure Wireless Product PictureFigure United States Geotechnical Instrumentation and Monitoring Market Size (K Units) by Application (2012-2022)About UsQYReseachReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.Contact UsBrooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web: 24-7 Intouch Announces Expansion to Las Vegas WINNIPEG, Manitoba, July 18, 2017 - 24-7 Intouch, a global leader in contact center solutions, today announced it will continue to expand its US footprint into Las Vegas.This will be the 14th campus for the company, currently operating in the United States, Canada, Guatemala, Jamaica and The Philippines.With construction scheduled to begin in early Fall 2017 at the Boulevard Center Mall, the 54,000 square foot Las Vegas campus will emulate the corporate culture, partner branding and unique design elements of 24-7 Intouchs current centers.We are very excited to continue to grow our presence in the Southwestern United States and partner with the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance to bring our innovative solutions and over 1,000 jobs to the area in the next 12 months, said Greg Fettes, President & CEO of 24-7 Intouch.In 2016, the company expanded globally into Jamaica and Asia, with a two brand new campuses in The Philippines.About 24-7 Intouch24-7 Intouch is an award-winning Global Contact Center Outsourcer that delivers innovative and value-driven customer service solutions across all industries via an omnichannel approach that includes voice, social media management, live chat, email, fraud, UAT, self-service, and back office administration. Using the most advanced technology in the industry, 24-7 Intouchs customizable customer care method allows their clients to utilize business insights to deliver lifetime consumer loyalty and increase incremental revenue. With over 17 years of experience, the 24-7 Intouch team takes pride in creating a top to bottom brand alignment for partners to create the ideal customer experience.24-7 Intouch24-7intouch.com240 Kennedy St., 2nd FloorWinnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3C 1T1 The Goddard School's Dynamic Learning Through Play Curriculum Grows Presence in Tampa Goddard Systems, Inc. (GSI), the franchisor of The Goddard School preschool system, announces its latest school in Wesley Chapel, Fl is open. Located at 2539 Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, the new school is operated by franchisee Dinesh Patel. Prior to joining The Goddard School, Dinesh worked in India as a textile engineer in the textile manufacturing industry. After moving to the U.S. with his family, he continued to enrich his entrepreneurial spirit by managing and operating businesses in a number of different industries. Dinesh discovered the The Goddard School when speaking with a friend who described how fulfilled he felt as a franchisee in The Goddard School system. Intrigued, Dinesh explored The Goddard School franchise concept, and was inspired to make a difference in the lives of Tampa-area families by opening a location in Wesley Chapel. The Goddard School preschool system prides itself on its unique dual-management system, a distinguisher in the early childhood education industry. Franchise owners are onsite at each location and work alongside an educational director, whose focus is to communicate and work with teachers, as well as to implement The Goddard School curriculum. This system ensures a hands-on, community-focused approach when it comes to early childhood education. With each school opening, The Goddard School also has a local economic impact, creating an average of 20 to 25 jobs within the community. The Goddard Schools play-based approach, called Fun, Learning Experience (or F.L.EX.), is grounded in research on how children learn best: children experience the deepest, most genuine learning when they are having fun. At The Goddard School, the focus is on building each childs emotional, academic, social, creative and physical skills to provide a well-rounded experience and ensure each one becomes confident, joyful and fully prepared in school and in life. With nearly 30 years of experience in early childhood education, The Goddard Schools unique dual-management system creates lasting community bonds as owners are on-site at the Schools to provide support to the communities they serve, said Joe Schumacher, Chief Executive Officer of Goddard Systems, Inc. One area that truly sets us apart from other childcare systems is our philosophy based on learning through play, designed to teach and reinforce 21st century skills, including social behaviors such as communication, critical thinking, creativity and collaboration. This philosophy fosters a lifelong love of learning and creates meaningful connections at an early age. Jobs relating to STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) are currently the fastest growing segment of the U.S. economy, and a focus on developing 21st century skills such as creativity and innovation, as well as the abilities to collaborate, communicate and think critically, is expected to increase over time. By introducing 21st century skill concepts early on, children develop a strong foundation and a passion for STEAM at the very beginning of their education. When looking into preschool franchising opportunities, I was immediately drawn to The Goddard Schools proven business model, and dedication to enriching the whole child, said on-site owner Dinesh Patel. I strongly believe in laying a solid educational foundation in young childrens lives so they succeed in both school and in life, and am looking forward to bringing The Goddard Schools unparalleled curriculum to families in our area. The Goddard School located in Wesley Chapel, FL can be found at 2539 Bruce B. Downs Blvd, Wesley Chapel, FL 33544. Please call 813-603-6100 or email WesleyChapelFL@goddardschools.com. For general information and franchising opportunities, please visit www.goddardschoolfranchise.com . The Goddard School Franchise, franchisor of The Goddard School preschools, is consistently named one of the top childcare franchises in the United States by Entrepreneur magazine, and one of the Top 200 Franchise Systems (in worldwide sales) by Franchise Times. Headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, The Goddard School franchise currently licenses more than 460 franchised Schools with more than 65,000 students in 36 states. The Goddard School's AdvancED- and Middle States-accredited F.L.EX. Learning Program (Fun Learning Experience), a comprehensive play-based curriculum developed with early childhood education experts, provides the best childhood preparation for social and academic success. With a proven system in place and a strong network of dedicated franchisees, The Goddard School Franchise is the acknowledged leader in franchised childcare and a premier educational childcare provider. For more information, visit www.goddardschoolfranchise.com . Konnect Agency Emily Johnston 888 S. Figueroa Street, Ste. 1000 Los Angeles, CA 90017 ejohnston@konnectagency.com This release was published on openPR. Permanent link to this press release: Copy Please set a link in the press area of your homepage to this press release on openPR. openPR disclaims liability for any content contained in this release. International Oncology Summit Allied Academies invites all the participants from all over the world to attend 'International Oncology Summit during November 27-28, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA which includes prompt keynote presentations, Poster presentations and Exhibitions. This Summit has the platform to fulfill the prevailing gaps in the transformation of this science of hope, to serve promptly with solutions to all in the need.Allied Academies invites all the participants from all over the world to attend 'International Oncology Summit during November 27-28, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA which includes prompt keynote presentations, Poster presentations and Exhibitions. This Summit has the platform to fulfill the prevailing gaps in the transformation of this science of hope, to serve promptly with solutions to all in the need.85 Great Portland St, Marylebone, London W1W 7LT, UKoncologySummit@alliedconferences.orgph 442037690972 Salud y Vida NO CENIZAS! (Health and Life NO ASHES!) Toxic Ashes https://www.facebook.com/events/100987233892413/?active_tab=about https://www.facebook.com/events/493925160949470/?active_tab=about https://www.facebook.com/madresporpuertorico/ https://www.facebook.com/womensmarchflwpb/ ***For Immediate Release***Tuesday, July 18, 2017Maylin Lopez Badillo | lopezbadillo@gmail.com | 787.203.8782Maria J. Torres-Lopez | maria@womensmarchfl.org | 407.489.7807Salud y Vida NO CENIZAS!(Health and Life NO ASHES!)WHAT: On Wednesday, July 19th a diverse coalition of community groups from all Puerto Rico and USA will have a Rally at the Governors House (La Fortaleza) in Puerto Rico. The event will also have a twitter-storm to expand the voice of the Penuelas Camp against Toxic Ashes in Penuelas, Puerto Rico. We demand environmental justice, no more last-minute changes to the state laws that allow the abuse of our poor communities. We demand the Governor of Puerto Rico, Ricardo Rosello to follow on his promise to not allow toxic ashes to be deposited anywhere in the Archipelago of Puerto Rico. We demand accountability and media exposure of the injustices and horrors that private waste companies are perpetrating against disenfranchised communities. We demand an immediate stop and END to toxic ashes dumping. And we demand an end to an unsustainable energy plan that pollutes and kills our communities.Who: Affected families and a diverse coalition of community groups from Puerto Rico and the USA.WHERE: Governors House (La Fortaleza) in San Juan, Puerto Rico and Online via Twitter #PenuelasSinCenizas #ToxicAshesKillWHEN: Wednesday, July 19th at 6pmWe wont sit back as EC Waste and AES Corp. poisons record numbers of our friends, family, and neighbors. We wont sit back as they devalue our suffering and as they deny basic human rights and dignity. We wont stop until the Governor of Puerto Rico stops using state police to criminalize our activists and disrupt our communities with militarized state. We wont be quiet as private Waste companies such as EC Waste and AES Corp make astronomic profits while they poison our bodies. And we wont continue to sit idle as they wreak havoc on our lives and communities.From Women's March Florida, Women's March Florida- West Palm Beach "We stand against the environmental injustices and stand strong with all the marginalized communities whose bodies are literally being poisoned and while they suffer the unspeakable consequences of living in a poisoned zone.From Madres por Puerto Rico "Enviaremos un mensaje firme y contundente. Queremos un Pais donde nuestros hijos e hijas crezcan respirando aire puro, libre de contaminantes. No a las cenizas toxicas".Main Island Event Link HEREWest Palm Beach Solidarity Event HEREMadres por Puerto RicoWomen's March Florida - West Palm BeachMaylin Lopez Badillo | lopezbadillo@gmail.com | 787.203.8782Maria J. Torres-Lopez | maria@womensmarchfl.org | 407.489.7807 Global Industrial Keyboard Market Outlook 2017-2022 Acnodes, AICSYS, Armagard, Baaske Medical GmbH, CKS Global Solutions Industrial Keyboard Market http://bit.ly/2vjTedw http://www.spiremarketresearch.com/global-industrial-keyboard-market-2017-demand-insights-key-palyers-segmentation-and-forecast-to-2022/ Industrial Keyboard Market Research ReportA market study based on the " Industrial Keyboard Market " across the globe, recently added to the repository of Market Research, is titled Global Industrial Keyboard Market 2017. The research report analyses the historical as well as present performance of the worldwide Industrial Keyboard industry, and makes predictions on the future status of Industrial Keyboard market on the basis of this analysis.Ask For Sample Copy of Report :Top Manufacturers Companies Covered In This Research Report -AcnodesAICSYSArmagardBaaske Medical GmbH & Co. KGCKS Global SolutionsCorvalentCTI Electronics CorporationDevlinGrafossteelKey TechnologyIndustrial Keyboard Market : Type AnalysisMembrane KeyboardSilicone KeyboardMetal KeyboardExplosion-Proof KeyboardLong Stroke KeyboardIndustrial Keyboard Market : Application AnalysisPetroleum Chemical IndustryMachinery Manufacturing IndustryTransportation IndustryDefence IndustryMilitary IndustrySpace IndustryThe report studies the industry for Industrial Keyboard across the globe taking the existing industry chain, the import and export statistics in Industrial Keyboard market & dynamics of demand and supply of Industrial Keyboard into consideration. The ' Industrial Keyboard ' research study covers each and every aspect of the Industrial Keyboard market globally, which starts from the definition of the Industrial Keyboard industry and develops towards Industrial Keyboard market segmentations. Further, every segment of the Industrial Keyboard market is classified and analysed on the basis of product types, application, and the end-use industries of the Industrial Keyboard market. The geographical segmentation of the Industrial Keyboard industry has also been covered at length in this report.Browse full Report here:The competitive landscape of the worldwide market for Industrial Keyboard is determined by evaluating the various industry participants, production capacity, Industrial Keyboard market's production chain, and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Industrial Keyboard market worldwide.The global Industrial Keyboard market 2017 is also analysed on the basis of product pricing, Industrial Keyboard production volume, data regarding demand and Industrial Keyboard supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. Various methodical tool of Industrial Keyboard such as investment returns, feasibility, and market attractiveness analysis has been used in Industrial Keyboard market research to present a comprehensive study of the industry for Industrial Keyboard across the globe.About Us:"Spire Market Research" is a leading market intelligence team which accredits and provides the reports of some of the top publishers in the field of technology industry. We are as a firm expertise in making extensive reports that cover all the necessary details about the market assessments such as major technological improvement in the industry.Contact Us5001 Spring Valley Road,Suite 400 East,Dallas, TX 75244, USA China and Japan collectively accounts for about 39% market share of Global Fish Oil Market http://www.marketintelreports.com/report/fo18082/fish-oil-market-by-species-marine-fish-tilapias-carps-salmon-and-trout-and-others-by-application-aquaculture-direct-human-consumption-and-others-by-geography-north-america-europe-asiapacific-and-row-global-scenario-market-size-outlook-trend-and-forecast-20152024 http://www.marketintelreports.com/pdfdownload.php?id=fo18082 http://www.marketintelreports.com/purchase.php?id=fo18082 www.marketintelreports.com Global Fish Oil Market is estimated to reach $2,364 million by 2024; growing at a CAGR of 5.6% from 2016 to 2024. Fish oil is derived from the tissues of oily fish. They contain several important nutrients for humans and animals. Fish oil consist of omega-3 fatty acids such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and can be consumed as general health supplement. Increasing lifestyle diseases and chronic diseases among consumers has increased the demand for fish oil, in the form of health supplement and functional food. Human consumption, aquaculture and industrial sector are some of the key application areas of dish oil.Browse 112 Pages of extensive research on Global Fish Oil Industry @Growing aquaculture activities and rising consumer knowledge regarding various health benefits of omega-3 are driving the growth of the fish oil market. Increasing direct human consumption and use of fish oil in cosmetics also fuels the growth of the market. Though, large demand-supply gap and high cost of fish oil can hamper the growth of the market. Nevertheless, European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) may provide growth opportunities in coming years.The global fish oil market is segmented into species and application. By species, the market is segmented into marine fish, salmon and trout, tilapias, carps and others (Includes herrings, eels and mackerels). By application, the market is further divided into aquaculture, direct human consumption, and others (Includes industrial uses and hydrogenation).Based on geography, the global fish oil market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and RoW. The U.S., Mexico and Canada are covered under North America wherein Europe covers Germany, UK, France, and others. Asia-Pacific covers China, India, Japan, and others. Rest of the World (RoW) covers South America, Middle East and Africa.Major companies operating in the fish oil market are FMC Corporation, TASA, Croda International Inc., Omega Protein Corporation, Copeinca AS, Colpex, Corpesca SA and Pesquera Diamante S.A, among others.Request Sample Market Brochure of Fish Oil Market @The key takeaways from the report The report will provide detailed analysis of the Fish Oil Market with respect to major segments such as species, and application The report will include the qualitative and quantitative analysis with market estimation over 2015-2024 and compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2016 and 2024 Comprehensive analysis of market dynamics including factors and opportunities will be provided in the report An exhaustive regional analysis of Fish Oil Market has been included in the report Profile of the key players in the Fish Oil Market, will be provided, which include key financials, product & services, new developments and business strategiesScope of Fish Oil MarketSpecies Segments Marine Fish Salmon And Trout Tilapias Carps Others (Herrings, Eels And Mackerels)Application Segments Aquaculture Direct Human Consumption Others (Industrial Uses And Hydrogenation)Geographical Segments North America US Canada Mexico Europe Germany UK France Others Asia-Pacific China India Japan Others RoW South America Middle East AfricaProcure this report @About Us:MarketIntelReports (MIR) aims to empower our clients to successfully manage and outperform in their business decisions. We do this by providing Premium Market Intelligence, Strategic Insights and Databases from a range of Global Publishers.MarketIntelReports currently has more than 150,000 plus titles and 100+ publishers on our platform and growing consistently to fill the Global Intelligence Demand Supply Gap. We cover more than 15 industry verticals being: Automotive, Electronics, Manufacturing, Pharmaceuticals, Healthcare, Chemicals, Building & Construction, Agriculture, Food & Beverages, Banking & Finance, Media and Government, Public Sector Studies.Contact us:Sales ManagerMayur S2711 Centerville Road, Suite 400,Wilmington,Delaware,19808United Statespr@marketintelreports.comTelephone: 1-302-261-5343 John Coker to Offer Rare Antique American Glass Bottles at No-Reserve Auction August 3 Green Double-Eagle bottle/flask, one of 9 Double Eagles of various colors included in the sale http://www.antiquesonline.com A distinguished eastern Tennessee familys three-generation collection of antique American glass bottles and flasks will be auctioned with no reserve on Thursday, Aug. 3 in Springfield, Massachusetts. Auctioneer John W. Coker has chosen the Sheraton Springfield Monarch Place Hotel as the venue for his auction of the Frank M. Hodges Jr and Hodges family collection as a convenience to the many antique bottle collectors who will be in the area on that day.While the auction is not actually affiliated with the Federation of Bottle Collectors annual convention being held at the Sheraton, the Hodges family collection is so important, we felt it made sense to move the sale from Tennessee to where the largest concentration of bottle collectors would be, said auctioneer John Coker. We also want to support the club and help promote attendance at the convention. Our auction is an added incentive for those club members who may be on the fence about traveling.Cokers auction will be held at the Sheratons 3rd Floor Longford Reception Room, starting at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time. In addition to on-site bidding, all remote forms of bidding will be available, including absentee, by phone and live via the Internet through LiveAuctioneers.Packed with rarities in beautiful original condition, the 100-lot estate collection spans a timeline from the 18th through 20th centuries and includes New England and Southern bottles and flasks; medicine and advertising bottles; and inkwells. The collection was inherited by the consignor, Frank Hodges III, upon his fathers passing earlier this year. He represents the third generation of a family that has had a deep involvement in antiques and the documentation of eastern Tennessees history.This collections origins go back ninety years to antique dealer Frank Hodges Sr, but the bulk of the collection was amassed over a 60-year period by his son, Frank Jr, who was a respected clock expert and very knowledgeable antique dealer. The collection has never been displayed publicly and is 100% intact. It has never been picked, said Coker. Frank Jr kept the bottles in special cases that were positioned so he could enjoy a view of the best bottles from his favorite chair. Very few visitors were ever invited to the Hodges home to see the collection, Coker added. Other dealers may have noticed him buying bottles at auctions, but they never put it together that he had a personal collection. In fact, he was a very advanced collector who was meticulous about researching and cataloging his acquisitions. He was a real scholar.The crown jewels of the collection are the nine Double Eagle hand-blown whiskey flasks in pint, half-pint and quart sizes, including examples in aqua, multiple shades of green (including olive), and amber. The term Double Eagle refers to the attractive bas-relief eagle motif embossed on both the obverse and reverse sides of the bottle. Dating from 1810 to 1830, they are estimated from $2,000 to $50,000 each, depending on rarity.Among the other motifs seen on bottles and vessels in the collection are: Urn & Cornucopia, Eagle and Tree; Scroll, Eagle and Banner; (Union) Clasped Hands, (Coventry) Lafayette, (Fislerville) Jenny Lind, Washington and Mayflower; and Washington and Taylor. Inscriptions include: Success to the Railroad, For Pikes Peak, (Haviland & Co.) NYC, Augusta & Charleston; Never Surrenders, and a number of others. Many early glass companies are represented. In some cases, there are multiple examples of a given bottle, but each is a different color variation.While the Hodges family collection has been off the grid and largely unknown to the collecting community for 90 years, it comes to the marketplace with prestigious provenance.My father was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution and had a great sense of history. By the time of my earliest recollection, his showcases were already full of his most highly prized bottles, which he collected just as much for their historical value as their beauty, said Frank Hodges III. If he purchased bottles, he only chose examples that were of very good quality, but his most common method of obtaining them was to go out and search in lake beds and abandoned dwellings. He grew up on a very large farm in eastern Tennessee, where his favorite pastime was digging up old bottles and Indian relics. Later, as a young man, whenever the region flooded, he would go out and look around the old buildings and dwellings that had been taken over by the Tennessee Valley Authority. It was a good way to find bottles that had been hidden for a very long time, and he enjoyed preserving them for posterity.John W. Cokers Thursday, Aug. 3 no-reserve auction of the Frank M. Hodges Jr. and Hodges family antique bottle and flask collection will be held at the Sheraton Springfield Monarch Place Hotel in Springfield, Massachusetts. Start time: 2:00 p.m. Eastern time. Preview: 11 a.m. till start of auction. All forms of bidding will be available, including absentee, by phone or absentee/live online via LiveAuctioneers.For additional information, call John W. Coker at 865-475-5163 or email joh@antiquesonline.com. View the fully illustrated catalog online.Established in 1971, John Coker, Ltd. is located in Eastern Tennessee. John conducts appraisals of fine art and antiques, estate liquidations, brokering, and auctions both on site and soon online. John keeps an open shop where exciting finds are made. John works with individuals, museums, and dealers in building interesting and unique collections.John CokerJohn Coker, Ltd.1511 W. Highway 11ENew Market, TN 37820865-475-5163joh@antiquesonline.com Global Cigarette Lighters Industry Market Research Report 2017 http://qyresearchglobal.com/ http://qyresearchglobal.com http://qyresearcheurope.com http://qyresearchjapan.com/ SummaryThe Global Cigarette Lighters Industry 2017 Market Research Report is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Cigarette Lighters industry.Firstly, the report provides a basic overview of the industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. The Cigarette Lighters market analysis is provided for the international market including development history, competitive landscape analysis, and major regions development status.Secondly, development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures. This report also states import/export, supply and consumption figures as well as cost, price, revenue and gross margin by regions (United States, EU, China and Japan), and other regions can be added.Then, the report focuses on global major leading industry players with information such as company profiles, product picture and specification, capacity, production, price, cost, revenue and contact information. Upstream raw materials, equipment and downstream consumers analysis is also carried out. Whats more, the Cigarette Lighters industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed.Finally, the feasibility of new investment projects is assessed, and overall research conclusions are offered.In a word, the report provides major statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.Ask a sample or any question, please email to:hebe@qyresearchglobal.com or hebe@qyresearch.comThe players list(Partly, Players you are interested can also be added):BIC (France)Tokai (Japan)Clipper (Spain)Swedishmatch (Sweden)Zippo (US)Colibri (US)NingBo XINHAI (China)Flamidor (France)Key Topics Covered:Chapter One Industry Overview of Cigarette LightersChapter Two Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Cigarette LightersChapter Three Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Cigarette LightersChapter Four Capacity, Production and Revenue Analysis of Cigarette Lighters by Regions, Types and ManufacturersChapter Five Price, Cost, Gross and Gross Margin Analysis of Cigarette Lighters by Regions, Types and ManufacturersChapter Six Consumption Volume, Consumption Value and Sale Price Analysis of Cigarette Lighters by Regions, Types and ApplicationsChapter Seven Supply, Import, Export and Consumption Analysis of Cigarette LightersChapter Eight Major Manufacturers Analysis of Cigarette LightersChapter Nine Marketing Trader or Distributor Analysis of Cigarette LightersChapter Ten Industry Chain Analysis of Cigarette LightersChapter Eleven Development Trend of Analysis of Cigarette LightersChapter Twelve New Project Investment Feasibility Analysis of Cigarette LightersChapter Thirteen Conclusion of the Global Cigarette Lighters Industry 2017 Market Research ReportRelated Reports:US Cigarette Lighters Industry Market Research Report 2017Europe Cigarette Lighters Industry Market Research Report 2017India Cigarette Lighters Industry Market Research Report 2017China Cigarette Lighters Industry Market Research Report 2017Korea Cigarette Lighters Industry Market Research Report 2017Japan Cigarette Lighters Industry Market Research Report 2017If you need a report or have any question, please feel free to contact meHebe | Sr. Manager Global SalesProfessional Market Research Report PublisherQYResearch Co.LtdQYResearch focus on Market Survey and ResearchPhone: +86-20-8665-5165Email: hebe@qyresearchglobal.com or hebe@qyresearch.comWeb:About QYResearchQYResearch established in 2007, focus on custom research, management consulting, IPO consulting, industry chain research, database and seminar services. the company owned a large basic database (such as National Bureau of statistics database, Customs import and export database, Industry Association Database etc), experts resources (included energy automotive chemical medical ICT consumer goods etc industries experts who own more than 10 years experiences on marketing or R&D), professional survey team (the team member with more than 3 years market survey experience and more than 2 years depth expert interview experience),Excellent data analysis team (SPSS statistics and PPT graphics process team); QYResearch has always pursuit product quality, adhere to the quality is the soul of business. Through the companys years of effort and a lot of customer support, QYResearch consulting group creative design method of many high-quality markets investigation and research team with rich experience. Today, QYResearch brand has become the consulting industry with quality assurance consulting brand. The company has 2500 global well-known customers, covering energy automobile pharmaceutical chemical agriculture more than 30 industries, services from the data analysis and recommendations-Consulting landing one-stop solution, and research regions cover China,US,EU,Asia,Middle East and Africa,South America,Australia,etc Global all regions,and also built research or marketing center in China USA UK France Hongkong etc regions. currently, QYResearch has become the first choice and worth trusted consulting brand in Global and China business consulting services.Media ContactCompany Name: QYResearch CO.,LIMITEDContact Person: HebeEmail: hebe@qyresearchglobal.comPhone: +86-20-8665-5165Address: Room 2311 VILI International Building No.167 Linhe West Road Tianhe DistrictCity: GuangzhouCountry: ChinaWebsite:(US) |(EU) |(JP) Preservation Vacuum Pump market outlook 2017 Elmo Rietschle, Gardner Denver Thomas, Nash, VUOTOTECNICA Preservation Vacuum Pump http://bit.ly/2spcQuI http://www.depthmarketresearch.com/global-preservation-vacuum-pump-market-2017-demand-insights-analysis-key-players-segmentation-and-forecast-to-2022/ Preservation Vacuum Pump market research 2017A market study Global Preservation Vacuum Pump Market examines the performance of the Preservation Vacuum Pump market outlook 2017. It encloses an in-depth Research of the Preservation Vacuum Pump market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of Preservation Vacuum Pump market in the present and the future prospects from various angles in detail.The Global Preservation Vacuum Pump Market 2017 report includes Preservation Vacuum Pump market outlook, Revenue, market Share, Preservation Vacuum Pump industry volume, market Trends, Preservation Vacuum Pump Growth aspects. A wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis are also consist in the report.It shows manufacturing capacity, Preservation Vacuum Pump Price during the Forecast period from 2017 to 2022.To Get Sample Report Click Here:Manufacturers Analysis and top sellers of Preservation Vacuum Pump Market 2017:1. Elmo Rietschle2. Gardner Denver Thomas3. Nash4. Shanghai Pacific Pump Manufacture5. VUOTOTECNICA6. Zhejiang Value Mechanical & Electrical Products7. Zibo Vacuum Equipment PlantFirstly, the report covers the top Preservation Vacuum Pump manufacturing industry players from regions like United States, EU, Japan, and China. It also characterizes the market based on geological regions.Further, the Preservation Vacuum Pump report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Preservation Vacuum Pump industry, Preservation Vacuum Pump industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. Preservation Vacuum Pump Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.Inquiry Here:The Preservation Vacuum Pump research report includes the products that are currently in demand and available in the market along with their cost breakup, manufacturing volume, import/export scheme and contribution to the Preservation Vacuum Pump market revenue worldwide.Finally, Preservation Vacuum Pump market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage.About Us:"Spire Market Research" is a leading market intelligence team which accredits and provides the reports of some of the top publishers in the field of technology industry. We are as a firm expertise in making extensive reports that cover all the necessary details about the market assessments such as major technological improvement in the industry.Contact Us5001 Spring Valley Road,Suite 400 East,Dallas, TX 75244, USAUnited States Global Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold Market : Abbott, Biotronik, Kyoto Medical and Elixir Medical https://goo.gl/uVmq19 https://goo.gl/1nLMj5 https://market.biz/ http://emarketresearch.us/ 2017-2022 Global Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold Market ReportThe report titled Global Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold Market gives a proper understanding of global Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold industry. Furthermore it also cover-up forecast and analysis for Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold market on the global and regional level. The report analyses Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold market on basis of its attractiveness and investment feasibility. It also presents proper description of every section and emerging industry trends. This will allow the readers to target Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold market product specifications, current competitive players in Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold market and the market revenue with profitability. Global Industry Analyze Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold Market by its type, competitive players, regions and applications of Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold market, forecast up to 2022.Before purchasing the report please do inquire here:Report scope is as follows:Global Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold MarketThis report analyses the scope of Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold market. This can be achieved by using Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold previous historical data, analysing qualitative insights in detail, provable projections about global Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold market size. The projections showed in this Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold report are taken from previously proved research methodologies and hypothesis. By performing such projections, the Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold market research report serves as a storehouse of analysis, data and information for every aspect of the Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold market. Considering the geographic area, Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold market is divided into various regions like Middle-East a and Africa, Asia-Pacific, South America and Europe.In order to help key decision makers, the Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold report consists of competitive depicting of the leading players in worldwide Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold market, tempting investment plans, market positioning of crucial producers sections. Other thorough evaluation offered in the report consists of:Key Players/Manufacturers Segment of Global Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold Market(2017-2022):AbbottKyoto MedicalBiotronikElixir MedicalThe worldwide Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold market is cut down into two sectors each type and application.Application Segment Analysis of Global Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold Market(2017-2022):Hospital & ClinicMedical CenterType Segment Analysis of Global Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold Market(2017-2022):Metal BVSPolymer BVSRegional Segment Analysis of Global Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold Market(2017-2022):1. Europe (UK, Germany, Italy, France and Russia)2. South America (The Middle East and Africa)3. North America (The USA, Canada and Mexico)4. Asia-Pacific (India, China, Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia)Request Sample Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold Research Report atGlobal Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold Market report mainly covers 11 Chapters. They are as follows:Chapter I gives us Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold Introduction, market overview, product scope, market opportunities, market driving force and market threat;Chapter II displays Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold market forecast, by regions, application and type, with revenue and sales of Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold market, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter III and IV, to show the competing situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share of Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold market in 2016 and 2017;Chapter V shows the top manufacturers of Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold, with revenue, Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold sales and price, in 2016 and 2017;Chapter VI and VII, shows the market by application and type, with sales Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter VIII, to show the global Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold market by regions, with sales, market share and revenue of Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold, for each region, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter IX, covers the global Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold market key regions, with sales, market share and revenue by key countries in these regions, from 2012 to 2017;Lastly, Chapter X and XI gives details about Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold sales channel, traders, distributors, dealers, research discovery and conclusion, appendix and data source;What Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold Market Report Contributes?-Comprehensive Study of the global Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold market.-Evaluation of Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold market progress.-Important revolution in Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold market.-Share study of Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold industry.-Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold market primary strategies of dominant manufacturers.-Full data regarding Segmentation details of the Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold market-Rising Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold industry segments and local markets.-Endorsement to firms in order to establish/entrench their niche within the Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold marketAbout Us:Market.Biz is designed to provide the best and most penetrating research required to all commercial, industrial and profit-making ventures in any sector of online business. We take pride in our ability to satisfy the market research needs of both domestic and international businesses.Market.Biz has access to the worlds most comprehensive and up-to-date databases in your business sector, including countless market reports that can provide you with valuable data relating to your business. We understand the needs of our clients, and keep our reports updated as market requirement changes.Contact Us:James JohnsonS. no. 51/14 First Floor,Office No. 4, Vishwa Arcade,Near Navale Lawns, Pune.Tel: +1(857)2390696Email: inquiry@market.bizWebsite:Blog: Global Hydraulic Hammer Market : Toku, NPK, Montabert (Joy Global), Furukawa and Soosan https://goo.gl/GF1pZi https://goo.gl/xx8J4y https://market.biz/ http://emarketresearch.us/ 2017-2022 Global Hydraulic Hammer Market ReportThe report titled Global Hydraulic Hammer Market gives a proper understanding of global Hydraulic Hammer industry. Furthermore it also cover-up forecast and analysis for Hydraulic Hammer market on the global and regional level. The report analyses Hydraulic Hammer market on basis of its attractiveness and investment feasibility. It also presents proper description of every section and emerging industry trends. This will allow the readers to target Hydraulic Hammer market product specifications, current competitive players in Hydraulic Hammer market and the market revenue with profitability. Global Industry Analyze Hydraulic Hammer Market by its type, competitive players, regions and applications of Hydraulic Hammer market, forecast up to 2022.Before purchasing the report please do inquire here:Report scope is as follows:This report analyses the scope of Hydraulic Hammer market. This can be achieved by using Hydraulic Hammer previous historical data, analysing qualitative insights in detail, provable projections about global Hydraulic Hammer market size. The projections showed in this Hydraulic Hammer report are taken from previously proved research methodologies and hypothesis. By performing such projections, the Hydraulic Hammer market research report serves as a storehouse of analysis, data and information for every aspect of the Hydraulic Hammer market. Considering the geographic area, Hydraulic Hammer market is divided into various regions like Middle-East a and Africa, Asia-Pacific, South America and Europe.In order to help key decision makers, the Hydraulic Hammer report consists of competitive depicting of the leading players in worldwide Hydraulic Hammer market, tempting investment plans, market positioning of crucial producers sections. Other thorough evaluation offered in the report consists of:Key Players/Manufacturers Segment of Global Hydraulic Hammer Market(2017-2022):RammerAtlas-copco(Krupp)Montabert (Joy Global)FurukawaSoosanNPKTokuEVERDIGM (Hanwoo)MSBMKB?KONAN)DaemoIndecoItaldemTabeGiantLiboshiEddieSunwardChangzhiThe worldwide Hydraulic Hammer market is cut down into two sectors each type and application.Application Segment Analysis of Global Hydraulic Hammer Market(2017-2022):Construction IndustryMunicipal EngineeringMining IndustryMetallurgical IndustryType Segment Analysis of Global Hydraulic Hammer Market(2017-2022):Light Duty Hydraulic HammerMedium Duty Hydraulic HammerHeavy Duty Hydraulic HammerRegional Segment Analysis of Global Hydraulic Hammer Market(2017-2022):1. Europe (UK, Germany, Italy, France and Russia)2. South America (The Middle East and Africa)3. North America (The USA, Canada and Mexico)4. Asia-Pacific (India, China, Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia)Request Sample Hydraulic Hammer Research Report atGlobal Hydraulic Hammer Market report mainly covers 11 Chapters. They are as follows:Chapter I gives us Hydraulic Hammer Introduction, market overview, product scope, market opportunities, market driving force and market threat;Chapter II displays Hydraulic Hammer market forecast, by regions, application and type, with revenue and sales of Hydraulic Hammer market, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter III and IV, to show the competing situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share of Hydraulic Hammer market in 2016 and 2017;Chapter V shows the top manufacturers of Hydraulic Hammer, with revenue, Hydraulic Hammer sales and price, in 2016 and 2017;Chapter VI and VII, shows the market by application and type, with sales Hydraulic Hammer market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter VIII, to show the global Hydraulic Hammer market by regions, with sales, market share and revenue of Hydraulic Hammer, for each region, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter IX, covers the global Hydraulic Hammer market key regions, with sales, market share and revenue by key countries in these regions, from 2012 to 2017;Lastly, Chapter X and XI gives details about Hydraulic Hammer sales channel, traders, distributors, dealers, research discovery and conclusion, appendix and data source;What Hydraulic Hammer Market Report Contributes?-Comprehensive Study of the global Hydraulic Hammer market.-Evaluation of Hydraulic Hammer market progress.-Important revolution in Hydraulic Hammer market.-Share study of Hydraulic Hammer industry.-Hydraulic Hammer market primary strategies of dominant manufacturers.-Full data regarding Segmentation details of the Hydraulic Hammer market-Rising Hydraulic Hammer industry segments and local markets.-Endorsement to firms in order to establish/entrench their niche within the Hydraulic Hammer marketAbout Us:Market.Biz is designed to provide the best and most penetrating research required to all commercial, industrial and profit-making ventures in any sector of online business. We take pride in our ability to satisfy the market research needs of both domestic and international businesses.Market.Biz has access to the worlds most comprehensive and up-to-date databases in your business sector, including countless market reports that can provide you with valuable data relating to your business. We understand the needs of our clients, and keep our reports updated as market requirement changes.Contact Us:James JohnsonS. no. 51/14 First Floor,Office No. 4, Vishwa Arcade,Near Navale Lawns, Pune.Tel: +1(857)2390696Email: inquiry@market.bizWebsite:Blog: Epic Research Daily Agri Commodity Report Of 20 JULY 2017 http://www.epicresearch.co/ Commodity NewsSoybean futures exhibited mixed trend on NCDEX as the Julycontracts traded higher due to lower acreage, irregular rains in soybeangrowing areas and lower arrivals in the physical market, while Augustcontracts traded lower on weak demand in spot markets. The contractfor July delivery was trading at Rs 2910.00, up by 0.24% or Rs 7.00from its previous closing of Rs 2903.00. The open interest of thecontract stood at 350 lots. The contract for August delivery was tradingat Rs 2997.00, down by 0.76% or Rs 23.00 from its previous closing ofRs 3020.00. The open interest of the contract stood at 73800 lots onNCDEX.Turmeric futures edged down on NCDEX due to easing demand inthe spot market. Further, adequate stock position on increased suppliesfrom producing regions too influenced turmeric prices. The contract forJuly delivery was trading at Rs 7320.00, down by 1.51% or Rs 112.00from its previous closing of Rs 7432.00. The open interest of thecontract stood at 230.00 lots. The contract for August delivery wastrading at Rs 7260.00, down by 1.92% or Rs 142.00 from its previousclosing of Rs 7402.00. The open interest of the contract stood at14640.00 lots on NCDEX.Jeera futures edged higher on NCDEX on rising physical as well asexport demand at the spot market. Moreover, tight stocks positionfollowing lower supplies from the producing belts too fuelled theuptrend. The contract for July delivery was trading at Rs 19850.00, upby 0.18% or Rs 35.00 from its previous closing of Rs 19815.00. Theopen interest of the contract stood at 717 lots. The contract for Augustdelivery was trading at Rs 19780.00, up by 0.23% or Rs 45.00 from itsprevious closing of Rs 19735.00. The open interest of the contractstood at 13959 lots on NCDEX.Economic NewsIndian coffee exports are likely to fall 15-20% in the current year asexporters havent got enough orders for the coming months. As per CoffeeBoards export data for the period from January 1 to July 17, 2017, thetotal export volumes were at 2,16,926 tonnes a marginal drop comparedto same period last year. But in the coming months, the drop will widen,said Ramesh Rajah, president of the Coffee Exporters Association ofIndia. Towards the end of last year, we had taken fewer orders as growershad estimated a 30% drop. But in the end it was down by only 10%.Whatever orders we had have been shipped. Now it is difficult to findbuyers as they have bought from other origins, Rajah said. Global robustacoffee futures prices, after rising to over $2,200 per tonne in January,declined by $200 in subsequent months. It has again touched $2,126 pertonne now. Arrivals decreased in the market as growers expected betterprices. Though prices are up now, buying has slackened, said MP Deviah,general manager of Allansons, a major exporter.Terming agriculture as the biggest strength of Indian economy, UnionMinister Nitin Gadkari today wondered how could the previousgovernment spend Rs 70,000 crore for buying aircraft at a time whenseveral states did not have irrigation facilities. Stressing on the need ofagricultural diversification towards energy like manufacturing of ethanol,he said the government is likely to bring a policy to promote bamboocultivation which could be used to harness bio-fuel. Taking a dig at theprevious government regime, he said, "Had the capital cost incurred onpurchase of aircraft worth Rs 70,000 crore been used to provide irrigationfacilities to farmers, it would have made a huge difference to theagriculture sector". "Agriculture has not been the priority but purchase ofaircraft worth Rs 70,000 crore (by previous regime) despite the fact that 11states lacked irrigation facilities with the percentage as low as 5.6 per centin Jharkhand and 18.98 per cent in Maharashtra," Road Transport,Highways and Shipping Minister Gadkari said here.Trading RecommendationsBUY CORIANDER ABOVE 4990 TARGET 5020 5050 5100 SLBELOW 4940BUY TURMERIC ABOVE 7440 TARGET 7470 7510 7560 SLBELOW 7390SELL GUARGUM5 BELOW 7000 TARGET 6970 6930 6880 SLABOVE 7050Epic Research Limited is a supreme level financial advisory services provider firm .We have designed services for different investors as per their needs like mcx tips , equity tips, agri tips and many more to serve our clients. We offer regular services for investors with less capital and premium services for massive investors looking for higher returns on investments with bigger targets.Want to take a FREE TRIAL? Visit our site link below and become a part of our Epic family. Happy trading.ormail us @ info@epicresearch.coAlso you can Whatsapp us at :7049084664Our Office:411 Milinda Manor, 2 RNT Road, Indore 452001 . CNC Controller Market Size, Share, Statistics, Trends, Strategy and Segmentation Analysis by Forecast to 2023 CNC Controller Market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/3839 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/cnc-controller-market-3839 Market Highlights:The study reveals that Computer numerical control (CNC) Controller is trending in North America region. The CNC controller market is highly competitive with nearly two-thirds of the market being captured by Bosch, Mitsubishi and Siemens. The competition among the top three suppliers is aggressive. The demand side in this market is very rarely switches suppliers due to the investment in personnel training and the ability to move applications from one machine to the next.The study indicates that the growing demand of CNC machining center is expected to hold the major share of the controller market by 2023. The manufacturer is contributing to the highest investment in technologies advanced solutions and develop innovative products for the uses. These machines are offering a high level of accuracy and ability to perform continuous production work. Therefore, the adoption of CNC controllers along with CNC machining centers is rising the demand for the machining centers for complex machining operations.The CNC Controller Market is growing rapidly over 4.0% of CAGR and is expected to reach at USD 3.77 Billion by the end of forecast period.Taste the market data and market information presented through more than 30 market data tables and figures spread over 100 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content TOC & market synopsis on CNC Controller Market - Forecast to 2023.Major Key Players: Siemens AG (Germany) Bosch Rexroth AG (Germany) Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (Japan) DMG MORI CO., LTD. (Japan) Hurco Companies, Inc. (US) Fagor Automation (US) Haas Automation, Inc. (US) Wuhan Huazhong Numerical Control Co., Ltd. (China) Yamazaki Mazak Corporation (Japan) FANUC Corporation (Japan) Okuma Corporation (Japan)Request a Sample Report @CNC Controller Market Segmentation:The CNC Controller Market has been segmented on the basis of product, component, axis type, applications, end -users and region. On the basis of application, the aerospace and defense industry requires equipment, machines, or parts that are of high quality and can deliver high performance with zero failure rate. Thus, the adoption of controllers that can control advanced machines is increasing significantly, which is expected to drive the growth of the CNC controller market for the aerospace and defense industry during the forecast period.Market Research Analysis:On geographic basis, CNC Controller Market is studied in different regions as North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of world. It has been observed that North America region is leading with largest market share growth in the CNC Controller market. Whereas, the multinational companies are operating in this market.The growth of the market is primarily driven by growing manufacturing sector in this region. Furthermore, the continuous advancements and technological innovations in various industries, economic development in China, Japan, and India and the growing infrastructural developments in other countries and increasing foreign investments in this region drive the growth of the CNC controller market.Regional Analysis:The regional analysis of CNC Controller market is being studied for region such as Asia pacific, North America, Europe and Rest of the World. North America is one of the leading region across the world in terms of largest market share in CNC Controller market due to the deployment of the 5-Axis machines can produce higher quality and more dependable results faster and more efficiently than can be accomplished with multiple setups on three or four axis machines. 5-Axis machining is particularly useful for applications where complex parts that have many features applied at various angles and surfaces around the part are being manufactured.This capability also make innovative and experimental designs more feasible. However, the market in Europe is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period owing to continuous technological advancements in the manufacturing sector of the country. Europe has always been an important market for advanced technologies.Browse Full Report Details @Intended Audience: Industrial automation equipment providers Market research and consulting firms Original equipment manufacturers Associations and industrial bodies Component suppliers and distributors CNC machines and controllers across industries Government bodies such Semiconductor product designers and fabricators Product manufacturers/ developers Consultancy firms/advisory firms Technology investors Research institutes, System Integrators Research/Consultancy firmsTable of Contents1 Market introduction1.1 Introduction1.2 Scope of Study1.2.1 Research objective1.2.2 Assumptions1.2.3 Limitations1.3 Market Structure:1.3.1 Global Cnc Controller Market: By Product1.3.2 Global Cnc Controller Market: By Component1.3.3 Global Cnc Controller Market: By Axis Type1.3.4 Global Cnc Controller Market: By Applications1.3.5 Global Cnc Controller Market: By End User1.3.6 Global Cnc Controller Market: By RegionContinuedList of TablesTable 1 Cnc Controller Market, By ProductTable 2 Cnc Controller Market, By ComponentTable 3 Cnc Controller Market, By Axis TypeContinuedList of FiguresFigure 1 Research MethodologyFigure 2 Cnc Controller Market: By Product (%)Figure 3 Cnc Controller Market: By Component (%)ContinuedAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 524/528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com Automotive Wires and Cable Materials Market Will Increase at a CAGR of 6.3% During 2016 - 2026 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1676 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-1676 www.futuremarketinsights.com Global automotive wire and cable materials market revenues will grow by 7.3% in 2016, reaching nearly US$ 4 billion in revenues. Growth will be supported by increasing emphasis on safety and vehicle maintenance, as well as increasing installation of infotainment and navigation systems. Steady automotive sales will continue to serve the market well, especially in Asia Pacific, where China and India will witness heightened demand.While growth of the automotive wire and cable materials market will remain stable over 2016, emerging trends will continue to play an important role in shaping up the market. Innovations in connected and hybrid vehicles and substitution of copper with aluminium are expected to influence manufacturing process in 2016 and beyond.Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) will continue to be the most sought-after material for manufacturing automotive wires and cables. This segment will witness a year-over-year growth of 5.6% and reach US$ 1.9 Bn in revenues in 2016. Polypropylene (PP), the second-largest segment by material type, will witness a growth rate of 6.8% in 2016.While passenger cars will remain the largest segment in terms of vehicle type, development of rapid transit routes and increasing adoption of hybrid power trains will create opportunities in the light commercial and heavy commercial vehicles segment. Light commercial vehicles segment is anticipated to grow by 4.7% in 2016 over 2015 to reach US$ 0.7 Bn in revenues.Request For Sample@Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) is the largest market for automotive wire and cable materials and the status quo will remain so in 2016 and beyond. Growth of the automotive wire and cable materials market in APEJ will be supported by the resurgent automotive sector in the region. Increasing emphasis on safety and functionality and implementation of vehicle safety regulations will influence demand positively. The APEJ automotive wire and cable materials market will grow by 6.2 % in 2016 to reach US$ 2.1 Bn in revenues. North America and Western Europe, the other key markets for automotive wire and cable materials will also witness significant growth in 2016.Leoni AG, Coficab Tunisie SA and Sumitomo Corporation are the top 3 players in the global automotive wire and cable materials market. These 3 players collectively accounted for 46.2% revenue share of the market in 2015. In addition to these marquee players, Delphi Automotive PLC, Draka Holdings B.V., Lear Corporation, Coroplast Fritz Muller GmbH & C. KG, Yazaki Corporation and Allied Wire and Cable Inc. etc. are the other leading players in this market.Long-term Outlook: The global automotive wire and cable materials market is expected to increase at a CAGR of 6.3% during the forecast period 2016-2026 and reach US$ 3.9 Bn in revenues in 2016. APEJ will continue to be the largest market throughout the forecast period.Send An Enquiry@ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite : Surface Mining Market Insights and Analysis for Period (2014 - 2020) http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-61 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-61 www.futuremarketinsights.com Surface mining refers to the mining technique where the overlying layer of soil and rock is removed, followed by the recovery or excavation of the underlying minerals. This method of mining provides considerably better recovery, safety, flexibility, environmental conditions and grade control as compared to other mining methods such as underground mining. The technique of surface mining gained momentum in the 16th century and has been widely prevalent at a global level, especially in North America.Factors such as lower injury rates, better recovery, flexibility and grade control serve as drivers for the global surface mining industry. However, from an environmental perspective, surface mining tends to have an extensive and more prominent impact on the surrounding environment as compared to underground mining. This is a disadvantage for the global surface mining industry. Hence, to counter this environmental impact associated with the surface mining operations, a safety zone needs to be placed around the mining area. Another disadvantage associated with the global surface mining industry is the relatively higher transport cost involved during the mining operation. For instance, the transportation cost of rock in open pit mining method accounts for about 50% of the total operating cost. Supporting regulations for surface mining such as the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, 1977 in the US, and proper economic planning alongwith the establishment of safety zone near the mine surface have been introduced in recent times. These developments, the vast horizontal and low lying reserves and the surging demand of iron-ore, diamond, chromium and coal, will act as opportunistic factors for the global surface mining market.Request For Report Sample@Market segmentation of surface mining can be done on the basis of mining methods, the type of mineral deposits and regions. On the basis of mining methods, the global surface mining can be categorised into 3 groups: strip mining, terrace mining and open-pit mining. Among these, strip mining is applied where both the surface of the ground and the ore body are relatively horizontal with a minimal depth under the surface. An example of strip mining is the coal mining operation at Mpumalanga. Terrace mining is opted for where the overlying layer is relatively thicker or the ore incline is too steep. Terrace mining is a multi-step method in which the entire mine moves over the ore reserve from one end to another. This type of mining is prevalent in Germany-based lignite mines, and in some of the coal mines in the UK and South Africa. Open-pit mining refers to the traditional cone-shaped excavation with a typical vein structure, and steeply dipping and stratified ores. This mining method is primarily used for the excavation of metals such as Sishen iron-ore and Palabora copper ore. However, at some places open-pit mining can also be used for the excavation of other types of deposits such as diamond ore at Finsch.On the basis of the type of mineral deposits, surface mining can be categorised as stratified and non-stratified. Stratified surface mining can be further sub-divided into horizontal and inclined. Non-stratified is divided into vertical vein, and massive stockwork or pipe.On the basis of region, the global surface mining market includes North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Japan, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and Middle East & Africa. Among these, surface mining is mostly prevalent in North America, followed by Latin America, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. Surface mining accounts for about 85% of the overall mineral exploitation in the US. The major countries using surface mining include the US, Canada, Mexico, Peru, India, China, Chile, Brazil, Indonesia, Ukraine, Angola and Australia.Request For TOC@Some of the prominent players of the global surface mining market include: Goldcorp, Teck, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, Vale S A, Freeport-McMoran, Barrick Gold and others. With the adoption of safety measures, economical techniques and support from governmental legislations, the mining companies are expected to witness further positive growth, thereby contributing to a sustainable positive future for the global surface mining market.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Specialty Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) Market to Expand at a CAGR of 8.8% Through 2016 - 2024 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1719 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-1719 www.futuremarketinsights.com The global specialty active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) market is anticipated to record a year-over-year growth rate of 7.9% and reach a market value of US$ 119,513.1 Mn in 2016. Small molecules will continue to account for the leading market revenue share by product type, accounting for over two-thirds share in 2016.Staggering increase in the manufacturing of HPAPI (high potency API) will continue to influence the adoption of API positively. Popularity of peptide-based drugs and the patent expiry of blockbuster branded drugs in the near future is also expected to boost the growth of the market. However, complex manufacturing guidelines and stringent regulatory processes will continue to pose challenges to widespread adoption.By product type, growth of the small molecules segment will be positively impacted by increasing outsourcing of active pharmaceutical ingredients manufacturing from European to Asian countries. In addition, rising preference for HPAPI to treat cancer will play a crucial role in the growth of small molecule segment of the global specialty API market.Based on the consumption pattern, the outsourced segment will continue to dominate market revenues, accounting for nearly 65% share in 2016. New pharmaceutical companies are increasingly entering the market with authorized and approved HPAPI, but lack of manufacturing facility infrastructure is providing an impetus to the outsourcing trend in terms of manufacturing. This factor is currently more pronounced in U.S.-based companies. Furthermore, the tendency of established pharmaceutical companies to curtail the operational and financial load of HPAPI manufacturing is anticipated to play a key role in elevating the outsourcing segment, boosting the growth of SMEs in the market.Request For Sample@FMIs report has segmented the global specialty active pharmaceutical ingredient market on the basis of region into North America, Europe, and Rest of the World (ROW). The ROW is the leading region in terms of global revenue share, closely followed by Europe and North America. European API manufacturers are competing on the basis of high quality standards, advanced manufacturing installations, and high purity of intermediates (API), whereas ROW CMOs are focusing on bulk API manufacturing.The key players in the small molecule active pharmaceutical ingredients segment include Johnson Matthey, Almac, and Siegfried Holding AG, which follow advanced manufacturing technology, premium promotion strategies, and provide a range of development and diagnostic services.Notable companies in the peptide API segment are PolyPeptide Laboratories, Corden Pharma International GmbH (International Chemical Investors Group), Pepscan Holding, Provence Technologies Group, BCN Peptides S.A., and Senn Chemicals AG. They are characterized on the basis of expertise in development and manufacturing, strong client base, and activity in a wide range of industries.Major HPAPI players in the market are Ash Stevens, Inc., Orion Corporation, Farmhispania Group, S.L., Olon S.p.A., and AmbioPharm, Inc., based on widespread market presence, government approvals, and strong distribution channels.Long-term Outlook: The global specialty API market is expected to witness a CAGR of 8.8% during the forecast period 2016-2024. ROW will continue to be the leading region in terms of revenues during the forecast period.Send An Enquiry@ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite : United States Cloud Firewall Management Market 2017 by Top Manufacturers - Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Centurylink, Verizon Communications, Symantec Corporation, Solutionary, Secureworks https://www.fiormarkets.com/report-detail/70865/request-sample https://goo.gl/Sx97bN https://goo.gl/xbCqYv www.fiormarkets.com www.swiftnary.com The Report describe Global Cloud Firewall Management Market Introduction, product scope, market overview, opportunities, risk, driving force also to analyze the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue, and price, market type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2017 to 2022To Request Sample Copy Of This Report @COVERED IN THE REPORT:The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global Cloud Firewall Management market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report considers the new installations.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:The WestSouthwestThe Middle AtlanticNew EnglandThe SouthThe MidwestCloud Firewall Management Market Research Report 2017 Covers the following Manufacturers.International Business Machines (IBM) CorporationHewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)Verizon CommunicationsAT&TSymantec CorporationFortinetSolutionarySecureworksComputer Sciences CorporationsCenturylinkAccess Full Report With TOC @The reports analysis is based on technical data and industry figures sourced from the most reputable databases. Other aspects that will prove especially beneficial to readers of the report are: investment feasibility analysis, recommendations for growth, investment return analysis, trends analysis, opportunity analysis, and SWOT analyses of competing companies. With the help of inputs and insights from technical and marketing experts, the report presents an objective assessment of the Cloud Firewall Management market.Cloud Firewall Management Market Research Report Split by TypeManaged FirewallManaged Intrusion Detection/Prevention SystemUnified Threat ManagementVulnerability ManagementCompliance ManagementDistributed Denial Of ServiceManaged Security Information And Event ManagementIdentity And Access ManagementAntivirus/AntimalwareOthersCloud Firewall Management Market Research Report Split by ApplicationBFSI (Banking, Financial Services and Insurance)Government and DefenseHealthcare and Life SciencesTelecom and ITRetail and Consumer Packaged GoodsEnergy and UtilitiesEducationOthersRELATED POST:Table of ContentsGlobal Cloud Firewall Management Market Research Report 20171 Cloud Firewall Management Market Overview2 Global Cloud Firewall Management Market Competition by Manufacturers3 Global Cloud Firewall Management Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)4 Global Cloud Firewall Management Market Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2012-2017)5 Global Cloud Firewall Management Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type6 Global Cloud Firewall Management Market Analysis by Application7 Global Cloud Firewall Management Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis8 Cloud Firewall Management Manufacturing Cost Analysis9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders11 Market Effect Factors Analysis12 Global Cloud Firewall Management Market Forecast (2017-2022)13 Research Findings and Conclusion14 AppendixMethodologyAnalyst IntroductionData SourceABOUT USFior Markets is a leading market intelligence company that sells reports of top publishers in the technology industry.Our extensive research reports cover detailed market assessments that include major technological improvements in the industry. Fior Markets also specializes in analyzing hi-tech systems and current processing systems in its expertise.Contact UsMark StoneSales ManagerOffice - 102, Sanskriti Aspirations,Near Post 91, Baner Road,Pune, MH, India - 411045Phone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb:Blog: Medical Coatings Market Opportunity Assessment Research Study http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1448 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1448 www.futuremarketinsights.com Medical device components and electronics require protection to be effective. Electrical charges, moisture, bodily fluids and contamination can render a life saving device useless and ineffective. Medical coatings need to be ideal for most types of substrates, including metals, glass, plastics, ceramics and silicone rubber, and should be sterilizable on all of them. Physicomechanical coatings are those designed with physicomechanical properties such as moisture, chemical and electrical barrier properties as well as tribological (lubricous) properties. The damage to the mucosal lining has led to development of antimicrobial coatings with biological function (antimicrobial activity) and physicomechanical function (lubricity). Medical device coatings are significantly used to enhance performance of devices and augment product surface function. In addition, coatings help in reducing friction between tissues and devices, provide wetting, surface coverage and coating homogeneity. Most of the medical devices require non-stick coatings over electrical insulation, molded, biocompatible or other finishes.Medical Coating Market: DriversThe increasing demand for coatings for life saving devices from medical industry is expected to increase the consumption of medical coatings. In addition, rising demand for life saving devices from emerging economies of Asia Pacific and Latin America is expected to increase the consumption of medical coatings. However, availability of substitutes, product aging, low shelf life and rising costs could hamper the growth of this market. In addition, varying government regulations for medical devices across countries may hamper the growth of medical device coating market to some extent.Request For Report Sample:Medical Coating Market: SegmentationMedical coatings market is segmented on the basis of type, application and region. By type, medical coating can be segmented into lubricants, antimicrobial and hydrophilic coatings. By application, the medical coating can be segmented into medical devices, implants, medical equipment and tools and others. On the basis of region, medical coating market can be segmented into North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan and Middle East and Africa (MEA).Medical Coating Market: Regional OutlookNorth America has the largest market share for medical coating, followed by Europe and Asia Pacific. However, Asia Pacific is expected to experience fastest growth during the forecast period. India and China are expected to be the major consumers of medical coatings in Asia Pacific due to presence of an established medical industry. Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia are expected to be other major consumers of medical coatings in Asia Pacific. In addition, Latin America is expected to experience high growth due to rapid economic development and growth in medical industries. Argentina, Brazil and Peru are expected to be major consumers of medical coatings in Latin America.Request For TOC:Medical Coating Market: Key PlayersLarge and medium medical equipment and pharmaceutical manufacturing companies dominate the medical coatings market. Some of the key players in this market are SurModics, the DECC Company, Hangzhou Kangsheng Medical Equipments Co., Ltd., Yangzhou Fuda Medical Devices Co., Ltd., Precision Coating Co., Inc. , Donwell Company, Inc., Merit Medical Systems, Inc., Harland Medical Systems , Applied Medical Coatings, LLC., Dymax Corporation , Raleigh Coatings , Abbott Laboratories , Biocoat Inc AeonClad , Bayer Material Science LLC, Boston Scientific Corporation , Covalon Technologies Ltd., Endura Coatings Ltd , Specialty Coating Systems Inc., and TheraSyn Pharmaceuticals Inc. among others.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: New Study Offers Detailed Insights on APAC Fluoroelastomer Market http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-ap-120 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-ap-120 www.futuremarketinsights.com Fluoroelastomers are a type of synthetic rubber which offers extraordinary resistance to chemicals, oil and heat, along with an expected service life above 200C. This material possesses a high ratio of fluorine to hydrogen, outstanding heat stability due to absence of saturation, and exceptional oil resistance compared to other rubbers. Fluoroelastomers are categorised based on their properties and are divided into three broader categories FKM, FFKM & FEPM. FKM accounts for (80 %+) of the all fluoroelastomer and shows finest balance of all properties, with high heat resistance, improved low temperature performance and base resistance. The second type of fluoroelastomers are FFKM category, which have extraordinary fluid resistance, and high temperature resistance. The third category is FEPM which is used in aerospace applications.Fluoroelastomers are widely used in automobile sector due to their incomparable resistance to heat, and sealing and mechanical properties. In case of short working periods fluoroelastomers can work at very high temperatures, but for a longer duration, its working range is 26C to 205-230C (except a few which can work at a temperature of 3270 C). Industries like automobiles and aerospace require specialised products like hoses and gaskets where fluoroelastomers are used. They are also used in fiber optic cables as jacketing materials. The oil and gas industry uses fluoroelastomers as sealing and contaminant solutions for extreme climates.Request For Report Sample@The global fluoroelastomers market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4%- 5% through 2020. Asia Pacific is expected to be emerge as the largest consumers of fluoroelastomers in the near future due to rapid technological advancements and increasing application industries. Major market players are focusing on the Asia Pacific region to increase their market share and profitability.Key players in global fluoroelastomers market include 3M company, DuPont, Daikin Industries, Honeywell International Inc., Asahi Glass company Ltd., etc. Top players in the market are investing in research and development activities as application of fluoroelastomers is becoming widespread due to its performance advantage.The choice of fluoroelastomers depends upon the chemicals and climate conditions that the end use product is going to withstand. The use of fluoroelastometers as a sealant in automotive industry is expected to improve radically during the years to come.Due to stringent regulations for fuel emission, fluoroelastomers are widely used in fuel system applications as they act as a barrier against evaporative emissions and as a chemical resistance against diverse fuels. They also last longer than other materials. Fluoroelastomers are also gaining importance in pharmaceutical and food processing industries as they provide long term protection against high temperature and fight against corrosion. Both, the pharmaceutical and food processing sectors, are expected to register strong growth rate over next five years. This will create additional demand for fluoroelastomers in the APAC region.Request For TOC@In addition, use of fluoroelastomers in medical, automotive, and electrical industries also substantiates the higher demand for fluoroelastomers in emerging Asia, especially China and India. With growth in allied industries, the fluoroelastomers market in APAC is anticipated to witness huge investment from industry stakeholders. Low volume fluoroelastometers like PVDF and FEP have shown high penetration in industries like construction where they are used in coating applications. Due to their low cost of production, the manufacturers are now eyeing China as a production base for PTFE type of fluoroelastomers. Tapping the Chinese market can be challenging in future due to its rapidly changing governmental policies and inclination towards environmental concerns.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Growth Opportunities in Steering Column Control Modules Market New Research Report http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2073 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2073 www.futuremarketinsights.com Automobile design, operation, aesthetics and technology are continuously evolving and witnessing significant advancements. Previous designs and operations in automobiles included various switches for different purposes, which were simple in design but complex in operation. Especially, steering systems witnessed prominent advancements in past decade. Development of hybrid, electric and hydraulic steering are some of the examples. Integration of various operational switches for convenience in steering wheels and column is indeed a timely innovation, which can also be claimed as one amongst the important innovation in an automobile.It was never thought that someone could come up with an idea of Steering Column Control Module (SCCM) where one can control the switches very comfortably with ease while driving. The safety and the ease of driving an automobile has increased considerably due to the installation of steering column control modules on the steering wheel of vehicles.The module which controls the switches on or around/below the steering wheel are known as the steering column control modules. Typically, there are many electromechanical systems installed on the steering wheels nowadays in automobiles. A Steering column control module is mounted on the steering column but it is placed below the steering wheel, this steering column module is the main network for all the systems surrounding it. The operating switches known as the stalk lever switches, are positioned to the right and the left sides of the steering column control modules. The stalk lever switches and the controls which are mounted on the steering wheel and systems i.e. (sound controls buttons, cruise controls, horns, Bluetooth and hands free calling buttons and air bags) are all connected with the other system through the Steering Column Control Module. Typical assembly components of steering column control module includes circuit board, connectors and electrical wire cables for interconnection between the systems. The features and controls which are provided in the steering column control module are also dependent the type of the automobile i.e. Passenger Cars, Commercial Vehicles, Transport vehicles etc. Introduction of new technologies, comfort features and active safety systems in vehicles is expected to drive steering column control modules market in near future.Steering Column Control Modules Market dynamics:The market of steering column control module has been marked with presence of established players. A challenging task in steering column control modules market is to manufacture these modules as the interconnection between many components and the systems in the steering assembly. The automotive manufacturers are heavily dependent on the providers of the steering system owing to their technological expertise. Steering column control module market is witnessing continuous development from its providers with new ideas and innovation.Request For Report Sample:Increasing safety of vehicle occupants and pedestrians is one of the prime concerns of automakers and many manufacturers are trying to develop steering column control modules so that safety and comfort features are enhanced to a much higher level. As per the current scenario, steering column control modules have become integral part of automobiles. The increasing standard of cabin comfort level has triggered utilization of requirement specific or custom made steering column control modules in great demand and this is expected to provide significant boost in the near future. The market for the steering column control modules is expected to provide significant opportunities to component providers, integrators and original equipment manufacturers across the globe.Steering Column Control Modules Market segmentation:Steering Column Control Modules can be segmented by type of sales channel, by components position and automobile type.By sales channel,Steering Column Control Modules Market can be segmented as:Original equipment manufacturerAftermarketBy Component Position type, Steering Column Control Modules Market can be segmented as:On the Steering Wheel (Sound Control, Airbags, etc.)Around/Below the Steering Wheel (Stalk levers, i.e. Wiper control, Head light control etc.)By Automobile type, Steering Column Control Modules Market can be segmented as:Passenger carsCommercial vehiclesHeavy Trucks and BussesOff-road VehiclesSteering Column Control Modules Market: Regional Outlook:Steering Column Control Modules can be divided into seven different geographical regions/divisions such as North America, Latin America, Western and Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan, Middle East and Africa. The demand for steering column control modules is significant in Asia Pacific followed by Europe and North America owing to automotive steady rates of production volumes and sales. Owing to lack of production facilities in Middle East and Africa and relatively low production of vehicles in Latin America, the market potential of steering column control module is low. The Asian giant countries like India and China which have significant sales and production of automobiles are expected to witnessmomentous growth in steering column control module market in the coming years.Request For TOC:Steering Column Control Modules Market: Key Players:ZF TRWLeopold Kostal Gmbh & Co. KGDelphi Automotive LLPIdiditNexteer AutomotiveValeoABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Wireless Charging Market Pegged to Value US$ 27 Billion by 2024 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/wireless-charging-market.asp http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/10789 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/wireless-charging-market/toc http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com According to Persistence Market Research, the global market for wireless charging is currently valued over US$ 2.6 billion. By the end of 2024, revenues emanating from global sales of wireless charging devices & services will grow at an exponential CAGR of 34% and bring in revenues worth over US$ 27 billion.As we head towards an era where wires wont necessarily be a requisite for powering up devices, tech companies from around the world are intensifying their efforts towards production of advanced and immaculate wireless charging systems. Innovative technologies supporting the working mechanism of wireless charging devices is also piquing the curiosity of tech enthusiasts as well as common consumers. From green vehicles to smartphones, Persistence Market Research has published its research study on how wireless charging is spanning the globe as the next-gen mode of charging electric devices.The report further reveals the significance of components in driving the sales of wireless charging devices. Considering that wireless charging systems will eventually put an end to wired chargers, the components used in such systems will play an instrumental role in shaping up the future of wireless charging. Much like today, the feature of charging multiple devices at same time will continue to trend in the long run. In the global market for wireless charging, components used as power transmitters will garner a dominant position. In 2017 and beyond, transmitters are expected to account for more than three-fourth of global wireless charging revenues. Nevertheless, surplus power transmission will necessitate the use of advanced receiver components revenues from which are projected soar at highest CAGR of 35.2%.Browse Complete Report @A key challenge faced by manufacturers of wireless charging systems hovers around the selection of suitable charging technology to assure compatibility with all electronic devices in the world. Availability of diverse electric devices brings uncertainty over expanding product portfolio of wireless charging systems. Research findings compiled in the report suggest that consumers of wireless charging devices are growing more inclined towards devices that use resonance charging technology. After accounting more than US$ 800 million revenues in 2016, the resonance charging technology will continue dominating the global wireless charging market by procuring nearly 40% value share through 2024. The global demand for inductive charging technology will incur a major downtrend, while revenues accounted by radio frequency (RF) charging technology will soar at nearly 40% CAGR during the projected period.A sample of this report is available upon request @While every other wireless charging device sold in the world will be used for powering smartphones, tablets, laptops and other consumer electronics, the report projects a lucrative growth for automotive application of wireless charging systems. During the forecast period, revenues procured from sales of wireless charging devices in the global automotive industry will be elevated at a staggering 42.1% CAGR. Rampant sales of electric vehicles will be factoring this growth, making automotive the most favorable application of wireless charging. Additionally, complications and hazards arising from wired power cables in manufacturing plants will also propel the demand for wireless charging in industrial applications. Through 2024, more than US$ 5 billion worth of wireless charging devices are likely to be consumed by industries across the globe.Request to view table of content @Additional Highlights of the Report include:Asia-Pacific will be the largest consumer of wireless charging systems in the worldSales of wireless charging devices in North America and Europe will procure more than 60% of global revenues throughout the forecast periodTech giant, Apple Inc., recently made the news for joining the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) to be a part of the global organization that develops widely-used wireless charging standard for smartphones and other electronic devicesThe report has profiled similar tech companies that are partaking in the growth of global wireless charging market, which include Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., Texas Instruments, Inc., Leggett & Platt, Inc., Energized Holdings, Inc., Integrated Device Technology, Inc., WiTricity Corporation, ConvenientPower HK Limited, PowerbyPoxi, and Powermat Technologies Ltd.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Metallic Stearates Market Report Actionable Insights and Recommendation http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-3722 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-3722 www.futuremarketinsights.com Metallic stearates are long chain fatty acid compounds with metals of different valencies. Metallic stearates can be used for a wide range of applications, owing to their versatile properties, such as lubrication, separating properties, water repellence, gelling, stabilising, foam inhibition, and others. Metallic stearates have high melting points and are thermostable in nature. They are mostly derived from animal or plant based fatty acid sources. Aluminium and magnesium stearates are widely being used as stabilizing agents in many suspensions. Metallic stearates are used as lubricating agents in the plastics processing industry. They provide excellent resistant to colour degradation at elevated temperatures. Moreover, Zinc stearates are used as mould release agents in a number of applications.Global Metallic Stearates Market: DynamicsDrivers:The global metallic stearate market is driven by the increasing demand for PVC (Polyvinyl chloride) and other polymers, which use metallic stearates in various types of processing. The use of metallic stearates in the manufacturing of different polymers, such as phenolic resins, polyolefin, polystyrene, and others is expected to drive the global metallic stearates market.Moreover, there has been an increase in the use of metallic stearates in the manufacture of soaps and detergents, due to their hydrophilic properties that prevent particles from absorbing moisture and thus, prevent agglomeration.Restraints:A major factor that acts as a challenge for the growth of the global metallic stearate market is the problem of filterability of chemicals by the use of these stearates. Another problem faced by the addition of metal stearates is that of corrosion.Request For Report Sample:Trends:Manufacturers are focusing on the development of tailored solutions. Special customised metallic stearates are being manufactured as per requirement. Based on specific needs, such as water repellence, stabilising properties, acid scavenging, and others, different types of metallic stearates are being manufactured.Global Metallic Stearates Market: SegmentationThe global metallic stearates market can be segmented in a number of ways. Some of the prominent classifications being on the basis of product type, end use industry, and form.On the basis of product type, the global metallic stearates market can be segmented as:Zinc stearateMagnesium stearateCalcium stearateAluminium stearateOthers (Nickel, Copper, Lithium, etc.)On the basis of end use industry, the global metallic stearate market can be segmented as:Building and constructionPharmaceuticalCosmetics and personal careLubricantsPaints and coatingsPolymer and rubber industryPaper and pulp IndustryMining and metallurgyFood and beverage IndustryOn the basis of form, the global metallic stearate market can be segmented as:Fine powerFlakesPellet/granularAqueous stearate dispersionsRequest For TOC:Global Metallic Stearates Market: Regional OutlookAsia Pacific is anticipated to hold a major share in the global metallic stearate market and the region is projected to retain its dominance throughout the forecast period. There has been an increase in the demand for metallic stearates in Asia Pacific, owning to an increase in the number of major end use industries, such as polymers and rubber, and building and construction, among others. China is a major market for metallic stearates, followed by India. Europe and North America are also anticipated to hold a significant share in the global metallic stearates market. This can be attributed to a large base of manufacturing industries in the region that require metallic stearates for various applications. The Middle East and Africa region is anticipated to show relatively sluggish growth over the forecast period and the region is expected to remain a relatively small market for metallic stearates. Japan is projected to expand at a moderate CAGR over the forecast period.Global Metallic Stearates Market: Market ParticipantsExamples of some of the market participants identified across the value chain of the global metallic stearates market include Baerlocher GmbH, Dover Chemical Corporation, Brenntag Specialities Inc., PMC Group Inc., Valtris Specialty Chemicals, James M. Brown Ltd., Faci S.p.A, Hallstar, Peter Greven GmbH & Co. KG.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Global Ascorbic Acid 2-Glucoside (AA2G) Market 2017 Major Players - Spec-chem, Well-bridge, Chemaxcel, Chengxin Pharma https://www.fiormarkets.com/report-detail/72508/request-sample https://goo.gl/rDer4b www.fiormarkets.com www.albaniantimes.com Global Ascorbic Acid 2-Glucoside (AA2G) Market 2017 Outlook, Oppourtunities, Segment, Size, Growth, Value, Region, Types, Revenue, Analysis and Forecast to 2022The report provides an executive-level blueprint of the Ascorbic Acid 2-Glucoside (AA2G) market beginning with the definition of the market dynamics. The analysis classifies the Ascorbic Acid 2-Glucoside (AA2G) market in terms of products, application, and key geographic regions. Presenting a detailed value chain analysis, the study evaluates the set of region-specific approaches forged by the industry. To determine the market potential for Ascorbic Acid 2-Glucoside (AA2G) in the international scenario, the study delves into the competitive landscape and development landscape exhibited by the key geographic regions.Download Free Sample Report @The reports analysis is based on technical data and industry figures sourced from the most reputable databases. Other aspects that will prove especially beneficial to readers of the report are: investment feasibility analysis, recommendations for growth, investment return analysis, trends analysis, opportunity analysis, and SWOT analyses of competing companies. With the help of inputs and insights from technical and marketing experts, the report presents an objective assessment of the Ascorbic Acid 2-Glucoside (AA2G) market.This report also presents product specification, manufacturing process, and product cost structure etc. Production is separated by regions, technology and applications. Analysis also covers upstream raw materials, equipment, Downstream client survey, Marketing channels, Industry development trend and proposals. In the end, the report includes Ascorbic Acid 2-Glucoside (AA2G) new project SWOT analysis, Investment feasibility analysis, Investment return analysis, and Development trend analysis. In conclusion, it is a deep research report on Global Ascorbic Acid 2-Glucoside (AA2G) industry. Here, we express our thanks for the support and assistance from Ascorbic Acid 2-Glucoside (AA2G) industry chain related technical experts and marketing engineers during Research Teams survey and interviews.Access Full Report @Other important aspects that have been meticulously studied in the Ascorbic Acid 2-Glucoside (AA2G) market report are: Demand and supply dynamics, import and export scenario, industry processes and cost structures, and major R&D initiatives. The new opportunities they present to market players have been mentioned in the report.About Fior MarketsFior Markets is a leading market intelligence company that sells reports of top publishers in the technology industry.Our extensive research reports cover detailed market assessments that include major technological improvements in the industry. Fior Markets also specializes in analyzing hi-tech systems and current processing systems in its expertise.We have a team of experts that compile precise research reports and actively advise top companies to improve their existing processes. Our experts have extensive experience in the topics that they cover.Contact UsMark StoneSales ManagerOffice-102, Sanskriti AspirationsBaner Road, Pune,MH 411045IndiaPhone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb:Blog: Research Study Offers Insights on Future of Bio-Based Levulinic Acid Market http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-227 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-227 www.futuremarketinsights.com New molecules developed by Segetis, in Minnesota based on esters of levulinic acid made from using bio based hydroxyl compounds and corn cobs are known as levulinic ketals. These can be used to produce a series of products such as plasticizers, polyols for polyurethane foams and solvents.Segetis are constructing a new toll manufacturing plant for their new ketals chemistry in the Midwest and the construction of which was expected to be completed by the end of 2011. Products entering the market would start with solvents. While polyols is expected to be the last to enter in the market because of significant functional testing required. At present China is the supplier of the levulinic acid from the company but later it may use residue of wood as a feedstock.Request For Report Sample@The potential outcome by the development of bio based levulinic acid could be the replacement of the phthalate plasticizers which is used to make Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) which is the most widely produce plastic and other plastics flexible. The company is also working directly to replace the phthalate which concerns about exposure to children. The major advantages of ketal monomers are that they attach to the PVC molecule firmly and are of natural origins.Major opportunity for the market can be obtain from the manufacture of polyols which combines with iscoyanates to produce polyurethane. The polyols which are made from bio based levulinic acid will have rigidity which in turn will help to reduce the level of iscoyanates while obtaining polyurethane having similar properties and the monomers will play the role of the performer. The cost of polyols produce by the company will be same as made from petroleum resources. But it is expected that it will help to improve the economics for formulators due to less use of iscoyanates. The major advantage for the ketals chemistry is from its total cost.Request For TOC@This research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data and statistically-supported and industry-validated market data and projections with a suitable set of assumptions and methodology. It provides analysis and information by categories such as market segments, regions, product type and distribution channels.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Natural Flavours Market Intelligence Research Reports for Actionable Insights http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-598 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-598 www.futuremarketinsights.com The market for natural flavours has grown tremendously over the past couple of years due to increase awareness of health coupled with emerging middle class across the globe. Flavours are used in food and beverages in order to enhance the taste and quality of the products. Thousands of natural volatile compounds make up the flavours and aromas of the food products that we eat in our day to day life. The definition of natural flavour under the Code of Federal Regulations is: the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavouring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavouring rather than nutritional. The market is buoyant for the coming years especially in Europe for the natural and clean label flavours.Natural Flavours Market: Drivers and RestraintsGrowing consumer interest in natural ingredients coupled with the strong command of retailers in the supply chain has made natural flavours easily and widely available in the market for consumers and are the major driving forces of the market globally. However, rising cost of raw materials and the issues of sustainability and stability of natural flavours over synthetic flavours are major restraining factor of the natural flavour market. Trends of the natural flavour market includes demands for clean-label products categories such as confectionery and soft drinks and growth in R&D for stability of natural flavour.Request For Report Sample@Natural Flavours Market: SegmentationNatural flavour market is segmented on the basis of product type, application and region. On the basis of product type the market can be segmented into natural extract, aroma chemical, essential oils and other natural flavour. Furthermore, on the basis of application natural flavour market can be segmented into beverages, dairy product, confectionary, oral products, tobacco and others. Beverages was the largest segment in natural flavour market followed by dairy products in 2014. Lastly, on the basis of region the market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific, Japan and Middle East and Africa.Natural Flavours Market: Region-Wise OutlookIn 2014, North America holds the largest market of natural flavours followed by Europe. However, Asia Pacific and Latin America are key emerging region in natural flavours market and are expected to marginally take a lead in the global natural flavours market by 2025 over developed regions.Visit For TOC@Natural Flavours Market: Key PlayersSome of the global key players in the natural flavour market are Givaudan, Firmenich, Takasago International Corporation, Symrise AG, Sensient Technologies Corporation, Kerry Group PLC, Frutarom Industries Ltd. to name a few. Givaudan, a Switzerland based company holds the maxium market share in the global natural flavour market. Big multinational companies in the natural flavour market focus on the acquisition activity in order to expand within the growth areas of natural flavour market. Major Companies such as Givaudan currently marking its footprint by increasing number of production sites, creative centres, an increased marketing and sales force and also opening new offices in Africa and Asia to cater the local demandABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: New Study Offers Detailed Insights on Chromatography Resins Market http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-274 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-274 www.futuremarketinsights.com Chromatography resins are used in purification and separation of proteins and other bio-molecules in biotechnology, pharmaceutical, food manufacturing, and environmental analysis. Chromatography resins are of three types, viz., synthetic, natural and inorganic media. Natural and synthetic resins are preferred over inorganic media. Chromatography resins are used in affinity, mixed-mode, ion-exchange, hydrophobic interaction and size exclusion techniques. In terms of revenues, Protein A resins accounted for the highest share of the market.The main driver for the chromatography resins market is huge demand for monoclonal antibodies. Huge demand for monoclonal bodies is on account of the number of growing critical diseases resulting in these types of therapeutics to swiftly gain significance. Biotechnology & pharmaceutical are the leading end-users for chromatography resins and are likely to gain more importance in near future. Food manufacturing was second-largest end-user application for chromatography resins. Chromatography resins are also used in industrial applications, genetic engineering and drug recovery. However, presence of stringent regulations regarding manufacture and usage of this product is expected to hamper the growth of the market over the next few years. Research & development in chromatography resin for various applications is expected to open new opportunities for the growth of the market.Request For Report Sample@In technology terms, ion-exchange chromatography had the highest consumption in past few years. Though, affinity chromatography resins hold the key share of the revenue. This is mainly due to the higher selling costs associated with affinity resins. Demand for chromatography resins was highest in North America. However, there is huge demand for chromatography resins from Asia Pacific region due to the growing pharmaceutical industry, particularly in India, China and South Korea. Additionally, the emergence of CMOs and CROs is driving the chromatography resins market in Asia Pacific region. Europe is expected to show steady growth over the forecast period.Some of the key players in the chromatography resins market are Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc., GE Healthcare Life Sciences, Tosoh Corporation, Merck KGaA, Life Technologies Corporation and Pall Corporation among others.Request For TOC@This research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data and statistically-supported and industry-validated market data and projections with a suitable set of assumptions and methodology. It provides analysis and information by categories such as market segments, regions, product type and distribution channels.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Light Detection and Ranging Market to Perceive Substantial Growth During 2015 -2021 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/light-detection-ranging-market.asp http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/4695 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/4695 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Light Detection and Ranging, popularly known as LiDAR (derived from the common term RADAR) is a sensing technology that makes use of light pulses in the form of a laser to measure variable distances from the Earth. A three dimensional information about the surface characteristics and shape of Earth is obtained using this technology. LiDAR technology helps mapping professionals and scientists to examine and study man-made as well as natural environments with precision, accuracy and flexibility.To View Complete Report @ :Early, the use of LiDAR was confined to the government and military applications. However, with technological advancements, and reductions in the manufacturing cost of LiDARs, it is heavily penetrating into the industrial as well as the commercial sectors. A few of the major applications catered by LiDAR technology include: volumetric mapping, mining, forestry, archaeology, geology, seismology, mining, topographic surveying, and corridor mapping among others. Additionally, light detection and ranging also encompasses the field of civil engineering with its applications in transportation, urban mapping and planning, infrastructure projects, and roadway planning among others. Currently, civil engineering and planning are the top revenue grossing applications for light detection and ranging systems. The LiDAR market is classified on the basis product type: airborne LiDAR, Terrestrial LiDAR, Mobile LiDAR and Short range LiDAR. However technological innovations are boosting the cost-benefit ratio of terrestrial and mobile LiDAR systems. Further, the LiDAR market may also be classified based on its components such as the inertial navigation system, GPS/GNSS, laser diode, camera and MEMS mirror.A sample of this report is available upon request @Currently, there is no potential substitute for the LiDAR technology. Moreover, market has witnessed increased rapid growth in the automation provided by the LiDARs, along with the technological superiority in its field of application. Owing to these reasons, the LiDAR market is anticipated to grow at a substantial rate in near future. FARO, introduced Focus 3D LiDAR Scanner, a newly added low end device to the stationary 3D scanning market. The PrimeSense 3D Sensor, a non-traditional LiDAR, delivers an innovative solution which is adapted for real-time robotic navigation and is expected to fuel the 3D scanning LiDAR market. The recently found wide application of LiDAR technology in the digital mapping area has helped growth of this technology. Additionally, the introduction of low-cost, hand-held LiDARs is expected to reform the surveying sector in the coming five years.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @Some of the reasons responsible for a slow growth of the LiDAR market is high cost of the equipments and lack of awareness amongst the masses about the adoption of this technology. With technological advancements, LiDARs have found its usage in the field of agriculture majorly to create a topographical map of the fields that reveals the slopes and sun exposure of the farm land. This technology helps farmers to achieve the highest crop yield by indicating key areas for the usage of expensive fertilizers. In addition, the researchers are working on terrestrial LiDARs for automated indoor modeling, which would aid them in modeling interiors of the building.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Tissue Engineered Skin Substitute Market Research Study for the Period (2015-2025) http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-781 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-781 www.futuremarketinsights.com Tissue engineering is a technique that engage the practice of combining scaffolds, biologically active molecules and cells to develop functional tissues as an alternative to natural ones. The main objective of tissue engineering is to make use of functional construct that can ultimately restore, maintain and improve damaged tissues and organs through improving the recovery process and chances of survival.Tissue engineering substitute are of two types, acellular and cellular. Cellular products comprises living cells such as fibroblasts and keratinocytes enclosed within a matrix. Acellular products include matrix composed of materials such as hyaluronic acid, collagen, and fibronectin.According to the American Burn Association (ABA), about 1 million burn injuries occur annually in the United States, burn injuries result in approximately 4500 deaths.Request For Report Sample@Tissue Engineered Skin Substitute Market: Drivers and RestraintsPresently, tissue engineered skin substitute global market is driven by the technological advancement in healthcare industry, increasing research funding, inclination of researchers towards development of tissue engineered skin, increase in the incidence of burn injuries and other skin diseases. However, inability of reproducing skin appendages, and lack of capability to replace the lost tissue especially the dermis are some major barriers for this market.Tissue Engineered Skin Substitute Market: SegmentationTissue engineered skin substitute global market is segmented into following types:By Product TypeSynthetic Skin SubstituteBiosynthetic Skin SubstituteBiological Skin SubstituteAllograftCellular AllograftAcellular AllograftXenograftBy ApplicationsChronic WoundsBurns CasesTraumatic WoundsDiabetic Foot UlcersBy End UsersHospitalsOther Healthcare FacilitiesTissue Engineered Skin Substitute Market: OverviewWith rapid technological advancement, increasing research funding, and increase in the incidence of burn injuries and other skin diseases, the tissue engineered skin substitute global market is expected to grow at a healthy CAGR in the forecasted period (2015-2025).Tissue Engineered Skin Substitute Market: Region-wise OutlookDepending on geographic regions, tissue engineered skin substitute global market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa. North America and Europe is expected to capture the largest market shares followed by Asia Pacific countries where the market is expected to grow due to rapid technological innovations, large consumer base, and high disposable income.Visit For TOC@Tissue Engineered Skin Substitute Market: Key PlayersSome of the key participating players in tissue engineered skin substitute market are Organogenesis, Inc., Smith & Nephew Plc, BSN medical GmbH, Covidien Plc., Regenicin Inc., Integra LifeSciences Corporation, Shire Plc., Molnlycke Health Care AB and others.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Linear Actuators Market Challenges and Opportunities Report http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-3778 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-3778 www.futuremarketinsights.com Linear actuators assist in converting energy into straight line motions, generally for positioning applications. Most of the linear actuators are either mechanical or electro-mechanical devices that provide controlled movement and positioning. These actuators are primarily used in industrial machinery, computer peripherals, valves, and many other places where linear motion is required. A typical linear actuator generally produces push and pull action. As most processes across a variegated range of industries gets automated, the global linear actuators market is expected to expand with an impressive CAGR throughout the forecast period.Linear ActuatorsMarket: Drivers & RestraintsThe major factors boosting the growth of linear actuators market is rising automation across manufacturing industry. Industrial objectives such as achieving complete factory automation, and integrating Industrial Internet of Things are some of the prime reasons that will drive more demand for linear actuators. While, rising industrialization particularly in the third world countries is another factor that will drive the demand in the global linear actuators market, on the backdrop of increasing number of factories. As the number of research studies conducted increases, demand for telescopic actuators is expected to increase significantly. Also as companies overcome their legacy systems to achieve higher efficiency, and replace existing actuators with new ones, demand for linear actuators is expected to rise. Furthermore, as an increasing number of industrial process adopt self-control and positioning demand in the linear actuators market is expected to continuously rise.However, as concerns regarding employment rises among most countries on the backdrop of increasing automation in factories, demand for linear actuators might get sluggish over the end years of the forecast period. Adoption of 3D printing in many industries is another factor that will restrain the demand for linear actuators, as usage of machines will decrease.Request For Report Sample:Linear ActuatorsMarket: Market SegmentationThe Linear Actuators Market is segmented into two parts based on operation type and end use industry:Based on operation mechanism, the linear actuator market is segmented into:MechanicalHydraulicPneumaticPiezoelectricElectro-mechanical actuatorsBased on End Use Industry, the linear actuator market is segmented into:AutomotiveMedical/HealthcareEnergy and Mining,SteelConstructionMilitaryChemicalOthersLinear Actuators Market: Regional OutlookGeographically, linear actuators market has been categorized into seven key regions including North America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, APEJ, Japan, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa.A prominent share of the demand for linear actuators comes from North America, and the region is expected to maintain its dominance throughout the forecast period. Furthermore, with more inclination towards shifting manufacturing in US from China and other ASEAN countries, demand for linear actuators will further rise in the region. Asia Pacific Exc. Japan is another prominent shareholder in terms of demand for linear actuators, amid, large manufacturing sector of China. Moreover, with India and Indonesia picking up at a fast pace, demand for linear actuators is expected to expand with a bullish growth rate over the forecast period. Being home to large automotive and research base companies, Western Europe is another prominent region generating huge demand for linear actuators. Eastern Europe is also expected to generate descent demand for linear actuators, particularly from energy and defense sector. Rising industrialization and the already dominant oil and gas industry of Middle East and Africa is the prime reason driving automation in the Middle Eastern region. Thus driving more demand for linear actuators. Japan is another prominent industrial nation, which drives demand for linear actuators, due to high automation penetration in their industries coupled with growing semiconductor industry of the region.Request For TOC:Linear Actuators Market: Key PlayersSome of the players identified in Global Linear Actuators market are:-Duff-NortonHelix Linear Technologies, Inc.Altra Industrial MotionTolomatic, Inc.Fabco-Air, Inc.Actuonix Motion DevicesTusk Direct, Inc.Bishop-Wisecarver CorporationBEI Kimco MagneticsBurr Engineering & Development CompanyDel-Tron Precision, Inc.Rollon India Pvt. Ltd.The global woodworking machines market is highly fragmented due to the presence of large number of regional and global players. Regional players choose quality service and competitive pricing as their winning strategy over global players. In response to this, global players are largely involved in merger & acquisition and partnership activities in order to enhance their profitability margin and market share.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Smart Grid Sensors Market Pegged to Value US$ 1,447.3 Mn by 2025 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/smart-grid-sensor-market.asp http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/3962 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/smart-grid-sensor-market/toc http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Key findings in the report exhibit that the global smart grid sensors market will have a steadfast growth during the assessment period, 2017-2025. In this period, the dynamic growth of the global smart grid sensor market will be impacted by several factors, among which following have an enduring influence:Extreme Weather Conditions: Severe climate and harsh environment is disrupting the operational efficiency of smart grids, compelling the deployment of thermal sensors that can detect temperature differences and adapt to drastic weather changes, particularly in the US.Electricity Thefts: Rising incidence of electricity thefts in developing & underdeveloped regions is driving the adoption of smart grids. In Latin American countries, power authorities are monitoring such malpractices with help of sensors that identify faux power glitches.Proliferation of IoT: Internet of Things (IoT) is influencing the sales of smart grid sensors but remuneratively. Presently, utilities companies in Europe are looking to leverage IoT to improve development and operation of smart grids by connecting unique devices, which will end up creating an intelligent & self-sustained energy ecosystem.Browse Complete Report @The global energy sector is transitioning into intelligent, efficient network of power supply, and smart grids are actively replacing conventional power grids across the world. The demand for smart grid sensors grows in parallel with surging adoption of smart grid technology. In todays day and age, detection and monitoring operations have helped save potential losses worth millions of dollars. Therefore, smart grid sensors are also expected to gain surplus demand in tomorrows energy industry. Persistence Market Researchs latest report on the global market for smart grid sensors projects that the market, which is presently valued at a little over US$ 128 Mn, will soar at a stellar CAGR of 30.3% to bring in US$ 1,447.3 Mn in revenues by the end of 2025.A sample of this report is available upon request @Ineffectiveness of older power grids, increasing energy demands, and implementation of smart metering systems has also propelled the global demand for smart grid sensors. According to the report, titled Smart Grid Sensors Market: Global Industry Trend Analysis 2012 to 2016 and Forecast 20172025, rising concern regarding safety & security of smart grids, and high implementation costs of smart grid sensors is likely to impede the global markets growth, but to a certain extent.Request to view table of content @Based on the region, Latin Americas smart grid sensors market is projected to exhibit a relatively high growth, registering a robust CAGR of 36.1%. The demand for voltage/temperature sensors, in particular, is projected to remain high throughout the forecast period. The report estimates that in 2016, more than 40% of global smart grid sensor revenues were accounted by sales of voltage/temperature sensors. In terms of application, smart energy metering is expected to dominate with more than 40% share, while revenues amassed from other applications such as lead management, energy storage and renewable energy will be registering a speedy growth at 38.1% CAGR. The report also profiles key participants in the global smart grid sensors market, which include ABB Ltd., Aclara Technologies LLC, General Electric Company, Honeywell International Inc., Eaton, Toshiba Corporation, Networked Energy Services Corporation, QinetiQ Group PLC, Torino Power Solutions Inc., Sentient Energy, Inc., ARTECHE, Siemens AG, Ingenu Inc., GIPRO GmbH, GRID20/20 Inc.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Advance Wound Dressing Market Report Actionable Insights and Recommendation http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-807 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-807 www.futuremarketinsights.com Advancement in Wound Dressing Market begins years before when the film and hydrocolloids introduced. Advanced Wound Dressing accelerates the healing process by keeping moist environment around the wound along with medicines like antibiotic and painkillers.Advanced Wound Dressing used to heal acute and chronic wounds especially in chronic wounds. Advanced wound dressing has shown very significant results in diabetic patients as well in chronic wounds that takes a long time or cannot be healed by traditional wound dressings.Advance Wound Dressing Market: Drivers and RestraintsAdvanced Wound Dressing market is growing as the number of diabetic and chronic patients increasing rapidly worldwide. Major drivers for the Advanced Wound Dressing Market is ageing population, increase in incident of accidents, increase in adoption rate of Advanced Wound Dressings like hydrocolloids and wound contact layers, continuously advance improvement in dressing like combination of antibiotics and painkillers with dressings. However, high price and lack of adequate reimbursement policies in developing countries are the main hindrance of the market growth.Request For Report Sample@Advance Wound Dressing Market: SegmentationAdvance Wound Dressings global market is segmented into following types:HydrocolloidsNon-Antimicrobial Hydrocolloid DressingsAntimicrobial Hydrocolloid DressingsHydrofibersNon-Antimicrobial Hydrofiber DressingsAntimicrobial Hydrofiber DressingsAlginatesNon-Antimicrobial Alginate DressingsAntimicrobial Alginate DressingsHydrogelsNon-Antimicrobial Hydrogel DressingsAntimicrobial Hydrogel DressingsCollagensNon-Antimicrobial Collagen DressingsAntimicrobial Collagen DressingsFoamsNon-Antimicrobial Foam DressingsAntimicrobial Foam DressingsFilmsNon-Antimicrobial Film DressingsAntimicrobial Film DressingsWound Contact LayersNon-Antimicrobial Wound Contact LayersAntimicrobial Wound Contact LayersAdvance Wound Dressing Market: OverviewAdvance Wound Dressing Market is growing with a significant CAGR because of its high adoption rate in treatment of chronic wounds. Developing countries is growing with a higher CAGR compared to other parts of the world.Advance Wound Dressing Market: Region-wise OutlookDepending on geographic region, global Advanced Wound Dressing market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa.North America contributes maximum in global Wound dressing Market Share. European countries showing a good growth as the adoption rate for Advance Wound Dressing is increasing for diabetic patients, burns, and chronic wounds. Asia Pacific is growing with a significant CAGR for Advance Wound Dressing market due to increase in healthcare awareness. Amongst the Asian countries, India and china are more promising due to large population pool and increased number of hospitals.Visit For TOC@Advance Wound Dressing Market: Key PlayersKey players of Advance Wound Dressing market includes Smith & Nephew, Molnlycke Health Care, Paul Hartmann, Covidien, ConvaTec, B. Braun Melsungen, BSN medical, 3M Health Care, Systagenix Wound Management, Derma Sciences, Coloplast, Laboratoires Urgo, Johnson & Johnson, Kinetic Concepts, Inc and Others. Local Players also have a significant presence in Advance Wound Dressing Market.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Radiology Information System RIS Market Competitive Intelligence and Tracking Report http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-825 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-825 www.futuremarketinsights.com Radiology Information System is a software which manages the data for physicians, hospitals radiology department and clinics in an electronic form. Data could be in any form like billing, scheduling and medical imaging. Radiology information system is very useful to track radiology imaging orders and to track reports of patients. Patients entire radiology history, from admission to discharge could be track. Statistical reports for a patient or for a group of patients can be generated. The radiology information system also allows the staff to make appointments for outpatient and inpatients. Radiology Information system also provides the detailed financial recording, electronic payments and automated claims.Recently, Singapore based healthcare groups called SingHealth and Eastern Health Alliance (EH alliance) and Singapore Health Ministrys IT arm, IHis purchased Carestreams Vue Radiology (Radiology Information System) and Vue PACS (Picture Archiving and Communications System) for better result, access and management of radiology results and patient imaging data. Almost 4 million patients visits every year in SingHealth Group. Carestreams Vue RIS+PACS are in few other hospitals too in Singapore like Singapore General Hospital, KK Womens and Childrens Hospital, National Cancer Centre Singapore, National Heart Centre Singapore and SingHealth Polyclinics. By this software, one can access data from any location and create one unified imaging of patient file.Request For Report Sample@Radiology Information System Market: Drivers & RestraintsTechnological advancement, rising ageing population, consolidation of healthcare providers, innovation, improved efficiency and better results, increasing demand for better healthcare systems, cost-effectiveness, increase usage of cloud computing and web based solutions, increase number of chronic diseases, are the most important driving factors in radiology information system market. Since radiology information system maintains the data for physicians and hospitals to get access form anywhere, the demand for radiology information system has increased.With so many advantages and splendid features of radiology information system, it has few disadvantages too. Lack of inexperienced professionals and interoperability issues are acting as a barrier for radiology information system market.Radiology Information System Market: SegmentationRadiology Information System Market is broadly classified on the basis of the following segments By Deployment:Web based RISCloud based RISOn-premise RISBy Product:Integrated RISStandalone RISBy End-User:HospitalsEmergency Healthcare Service ProvidersOffice Based PhysiciansRadiology Information System Market: OverviewThe radiology information system has grown substantially at a healthy CAGR due to increasing need of integrated healthcare system and rise in demand of diagnostic industry. With rapid technological advancement and innovation, radiology information system market is expected to grow globally. North America and Europe region will be dominating radiology information market in the forecast period.Radiology Information System Market: Region-wise OutlookThe radiology information system market is expected to register a double-digit CAGR for the forecast period. Depending on geographic regions, radiology information system market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa. North America has the largest market for radiology information system and is contributing the most as compare to other regions. This is due to the increase demand of diagnostic industry go get better, fast and effective results.Visit For TOC@Radiology Information System Market: Key PlayersSome of the key market players in radiology information system market are Cerner Corporation, Siemens Healthcare, Carestream Health, Mckesson Corporation, GE Healthcare, Merge Healthcare, Allscripts and Epic Systems.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Malt Ingredients Market Report Offers Intelligence and Forecast till (2015-2025) http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-835 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-835 www.futuremarketinsights.com Malting is the process of converting cereal grains like barley, wheat and others into malt which can be used in brewing, distilling and in food manufacturing. The cereal grains are germinated by soaking in water then allow to sprout and dried with hot air. During malting process grain starches are converted in simple sugars such as glucose and fructose. Malt ingredients are used in food industry as a food additives which imparts desirable flavor and color to finished product and it helps to modify or stabilize texture of food & beverages. Increasing new food product development to incorporate natural ingredients, and increasing demand for all natural food products is creating opportunities for malt ingredient market.Malt Ingredients Market: SegmentationMalt ingredients market is segmented on the basis of sources as barley, wheat and others (rye). Barley is commonly used raw material in malting process. Wheat grains are used for malting as it contains higher amount of proteins Malt ingredients markets is segmented on the basis of grade as special grade and standard grade malts (are also known as base malts). Out of these two types base malts have diastatic power to convert their starches while specialty malts have little diastatic power, and it contributes flavor, color to the final product. On the basis of types malt ingredients market is further segmented as dry malt, liquid malt, flour and others (flakes). Dry malt powder is used in bakery and powder premixes manufacturing. Liquid malts are used in syrup and ice cream toppings. Flakes are used as bakery toppings. The malt ingredients market is also segmented on the basis of end use applications as food products, bakery and confectionary products, dairy and frozen products, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and others (pharmaceutical and animal feed).Request For Report Sample@Malt Ingredients Market: Region-wise OutlookMalt ingredients market can be segmented on the basis of region includes North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific except Japan, Japan and Middle East and Africa. The Malt ingredients market is expected to witness vigorous growth through 2025 due to the rising demand for ready-to-eat and packaged food preferences of consumer. With increasing packaged food consumption and non-alcoholic beer consumption, malt ingredient market is expected to grow at healthy rate. Europe is expected to dominate the market in forecast period. Asia-Pacific and Middle East and Africa will show the robust growth due to growing demand for alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. New product development in dairy premixes and malt based drinks for kids is motivational factor for malt ingredient market growth.Malt Ingredients Market: DriversThe increasing population globally has a strong impact on the food supply. Health conscious consumers are looking for clean label, food quality and safety. Increase in consumption of malt beer and malt based nutritional dairy products is key driver for malt ingredients market. Malt ingredients are used in bakery and confectionery products for dwell purpose as it imparts colour and flavor to finished products.Visit For TOC@Malt Ingredients Market: Key PlayersThe key international players operating in malt ingredients market includes Axereal, Cargill Incorporated, Crisp Malting Group, Global Malt GmbH & Co. Kg, Graincrop Limited, Ireks GmbH, Malteurop Group, Muntons PLC. Simpsons Malt Ltd, Soufflet GroupABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Neurodiagnostic Devices Market Share 2017 Covidien, Elekta, CTF MEG Technologies, Nihon Kohden Neurodiagnostic Devices https://tinyurl.com/yawe3h4f http://www.spiremarketresearch.com/global-neurodiagnostic-devices-market-research-report-2017/ Neurodiagnostic Devices Market Research ReportA market study Global Neurodiagnostic Devices Market examines the performance of the Neurodiagnostic Devices market Size 2017. It encloses an in-depth Research of the Neurodiagnostic Devices market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of Neurodiagnostic Devices market in the present and the future prospects from various angles in detail.The Global Neurodiagnostic Devices Market 2017 report includes Neurodiagnostic Devices market Size, Revenue, market Share, Neurodiagnostic Devices industry volume, market Trends, Neurodiagnostic Devices Growth aspects. A wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis are also consist in the report.It shows manufacturing capacity, Neurodiagnostic Devices Price during the Forecast period from 2017 to 2022.Request For Sample Report:Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Neurodiagnostic Devices Market 2017:1. Covidien2. Elekta3. Cadwell Laboratories & Advanced Brain Monitoring4. CTF MEG Technologies5. Nihon Kohden6. Tristan Tech7. Yokogawa8. Compumedics9. Mayo Clinic...Firstly, the report covers the top Neurodiagnostic Devices manufacturing industry players from regions like United States, EU, Japan, and China. It also characterizes the market based on geological regions.Further, the Neurodiagnostic Devices report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Neurodiagnostic Devices industry, Neurodiagnostic Devices industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. Neurodiagnostic Devices Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.Browse Complete Report:The Neurodiagnostic Devices research report includes the products that are currently in demand and available in the market along with their cost breakup, manufacturing volume, import/export scheme and contribution to the Neurodiagnostic Devices market revenue worldwide.Finally, Neurodiagnostic Devices market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage.About Us:"Spire Market Research" is a leading market intelligence team which accredits and provides the reports of some of the top publishers in the field of technology industry. We are as a firm expertise in making extensive reports that cover all the necessary details about the market assessments such as major technological improvement in the industry.Contact Us5001 Spring Valley Road,Suite 400 East,Dallas, TX 75244, USA Withdrawable Switch Cabinet Market Size 2017 GE, Mitsubishi Electric, Fuji Electric, Hyundai Heavy Industries Withdrawable Switch Cabinet https://tinyurl.com/y7vrj88r http://www.spiremarketresearch.com/global-withdrawable-switch-cabinet-sales-market-report-2017/ Withdrawable Switch Cabinet Market Research ReportA market study Global Withdrawable Switch Cabinet Market examines the performance of the Withdrawable Switch Cabinet market Size 2017. It encloses an in-depth Research of the Withdrawable Switch Cabinet market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of Withdrawable Switch Cabinet market in the present and the future prospects from various angles in detail.The Global Withdrawable Switch Cabinet Market 2017 report includes Withdrawable Switch Cabinet market Size, Revenue, market Share, Withdrawable Switch Cabinet industry volume, market Trends, Withdrawable Switch Cabinet Growth aspects. A wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis are also consist in the report.It shows manufacturing capacity, Withdrawable Switch Cabinet Price during the Forecast period from 2017 to 2022.Request For Sample Report:Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Withdrawable Switch Cabinet Market 2017:1. GE2. Mitsubishi Electric3. Fuji Electric4. Hyundai Heavy Industries5. Toshiba6. SENTEG7. Schneider Electric8. ABB9. EATON10. SIEMENS...Firstly, the report covers the top Withdrawable Switch Cabinet manufacturing industry players from regions like United States, EU, Japan, and China. It also characterizes the market based on geological regions.Further, the Withdrawable Switch Cabinet report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Withdrawable Switch Cabinet industry, Withdrawable Switch Cabinet industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. Withdrawable Switch Cabinet Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.Browse Complete Report:The Withdrawable Switch Cabinet research report includes the products that are currently in demand and available in the market along with their cost breakup, manufacturing volume, import/export scheme and contribution to the Withdrawable Switch Cabinet market revenue worldwide.Finally, Withdrawable Switch Cabinet market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage.About Us:"Spire Market Research" is a leading market intelligence team which accredits and provides the reports of some of the top publishers in the field of technology industry. We are as a firm expertise in making extensive reports that cover all the necessary details about the market assessments such as major technological improvement in the industry.Contact Us5001 Spring Valley Road,Suite 400 East,Dallas, TX 75244, USA Global Valved Particulate Respirators Market Professional Survey 2017 by Top Manufacturers - 3M, Honeywell, Sinotextiles, Gerson, Crosstex, Uvex https://www.fiormarkets.com/report-detail/74142/request-sample http://www.fiormarkets.com/report/global-valved-particulate-respirators-market-professional-survey-report-74142.html https://goo.gl/7c2Woh www.fiormarkets.com www.universalmarketresearch.com The Report describe Global Valved Particulate Respirators Market Introduction, product scope, market overview, opportunities, risk, driving force also to analyze the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue, and price, market type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2017 to 2022To Request Sample Copy Of This Report @COVERED IN THE REPORT:The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global Valved Particulate Respirators market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report considers the new installations.Global Valved Particulate Respirators Industry 2017 is a comprehensive, professional report delivering market research data that is relevant for new market entrants or established players. Key strategies of the companies operating in the market and their impact analysis have been included in the report. Furthermore, a business overview, revenue share and SWOT analysis of the leading players in the Valved Particulate Respirators market is available in the report.Combining the data integration and analysis capabilities with the relevant findings, the report has predicted strong future growth of the Valved Particulate Respirators market in all its geographical and product segments. In addition to this, several significant variables that will shape the Valved Particulate Respirators industry and regression models to determine the future direction of the market have been employed to create the report.Get Full Report With TOC @The report begins with a market overview and moves on to cover the growth prospects of the Valved Particulate Respirators market. The current environment of the global Valved Particulate Respirators industry and the key trends shaping the market are presented in the report. Insightful predictions for the Valved Particulate Respirators market for the coming few years have also been included in the report. These predictions feature important inputs from leading industry experts and take into account every statistical detail regarding the Valved Particulate Respirators market.Statistical forecasts in the research study are available for the total Valved Particulate Respirators market along with its key segments. The key segments, their growth prospects and the new opportunities they present to market players have been mentioned in the report. Moreover, the impact analysis of the latest mergers and acquisition and joint ventures has been included in the report. The report also provides valuable proposals for new project development that can help companies optimize their operations and revenue structure.A detailed segmentation evaluation of the Valved Particulate Respirators market has been provided in the report. Detailed information about the key segments of the market and their growth prospects are available in the report. The detailed analysis of their sub-segments is also available in the report. The revenue forecasts and volume shares along with market estimates are available in the report.RELATED POST:ABOUT USFior Markets is a leading market intelligence company that sells reports of top publishers in the technology industry.Our extensive research reports cover detailed market assessments that include major technological improvements in the industry. Fior Markets also specializes in analyzing hi-tech systems and current processing systems in its expertise.Contact UsMark StoneSales ManagerOffice - 102, Sanskriti Aspirations,Near Post 91, Baner Road,Pune, MH, India - 411045Phone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb:Blog: Automotive LED Lighting Market Analysis 2016-2022: Key Findings, Regional Analysis, Key Players Profiles and Future Prospects Automotive LED Lighting Market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2703 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/automotive-led-lighting-market-2703 Automotive LED Lighting Market Overview:The Automotive LED Lighting Market is growing rapidly owing to its Cost efficiency and work efficiency. According to a recent study report published by the Market Research Future, The global market of Automotive LED Lighting is projected to grow at a rapid pace during the forecast period (2016 2022). The Market is forecasted to demonstrate a spectacular growth by 2022, the global Automotive LED Lighting market is expected to grow approximately at USD 20 Billion by 2022, approx.9% of CAGR between 2016 and 2022.Increasing sales of lightweight vehicles worldwide, growing automobile industry, increasing LED penetration and focus on energy efficiency are factors providing impetus to the market growth of Automotive LED Lighting Market globally. On the other hand, Factors such as slow growth of vehicle sales in BRIC nations, high costs of LED, high research and development costs are projected to restrict the market growth of global Automotive LED LightingThe Automotive Light Emitting Diode Lighting market is growing because of the low cost of the LED and efficient working of it. LEDs are small, solid light bulbs which are extremely energy efficient and long lasting. The long life of LED lamps was initially attractive, however, low brightness and high cost means, that they were generally restricted to use in dashboards.Request a Sample Report @Major Key Players: Osram Licht AG (Germany) Magneti Marelli S.P.A (Italy) Koito Manufacturing Co.Ltd (Japan) Stanley Electric Co.Ltd (Japan) Mercedes-Benz (Germany) Koninklijke Philips N.V. (Netherlands) Hyundai Group (South Korea) Toyota Motor Corporation (Japan) Tata Motors Limited (India) Zizala Lichtsysteme Gmbh (Austria)Global Automotive LED Lighting Market Competitive Analysis:Highly competitive market of the Automotive LED Lighting is totally dependent on automobile sales and is driven by the increase in automotive production. The market appears to be fragmented owing to the presence of several large and small key players accounting for a substantial market share. Well established players incorporate acquisition, collaboration, partnership, expansion, product & technology launch in order to gain competitive advantage in this market and to maintain their market position. These players emphasis upon new product development initiatives, and geographical expansion.The global Automotive LED Lighting market is anticipated to witness relentless innovations and development of new products eventually result in intense competition among the automotive lighting manufacturers.Automotive LED Lighting Market Segments:The Automotive LED Lighting Market can be segmented in to 4 key dynamics for the convenience of the report and enhanced understanding.Segmentation by Position: Comprises Front, Rear, Side, and Interior.Segmentation by Vehicle Type: Comprises Passenger Car, Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV), Heavy Commercial Vehicle (HCV).Segmentation by Adaptive Lighting: Comprises Front Adaptive Lighting, Rear Adaptive Lighting, And Ambient Adaptive Lighting.Segmentation by Regions: Comprises Geographical regions - North America, Europe, APAC and Rest of the World.Global Automotive LED Lighting Market Synopsis:The introduction of innovative technologies to enhance safety and performance along with declining component prices has increased the sales of Automotive LED Lighting products. Manufacturers are also developing premium LED lights to accessorize vehicles. Innovations in LED technology, Increase in popularity of ambient lighting and Development of laser and OLED lights are the three key trends that are contributing to the augmented growth of global Automotive LED Lighting.Automotive LED Lighting Market Regional Analysis:The regional analysis of Automotive LED Lighting market is being studied for regions such as Asia pacific, Americas, Europe and Rest of the World. Asia- Pacific region owing to the fast growing automotive industry in developing countries such as India, China and South Korea is expected to show a significant growth in the Automotive LED Lighting market.Europe and North America are anticipated to dominate the LED lighting market in terms of demand. Increasing automotive production paired with adoption of energy efficient lighting source such as LED is driving the growth of automotive lighting industry in the European region. Also government enforcing to lesser CO2 emission from the vehicle is driving the LED market in that region.Browse Full Report Details @Table of Contents1 Market Introduction1.1 Introduction1.2 Scope of Study1.2.1 Research Objective1.2.2 Assumptions1.2.3 Limitations1.3 Market StructureContinuedList of TablesTable 1 Automotive Led Lighting Market, By PositionTable 2 Automotive Led Lighting Market, By Vehicle TypeTable 3 Automotive Led Lighting Market, By Adaptive LightingContinuedList of FiguresFigure 1 Research Network SolutionFigure 2 Automotive Led Lighting: By Position (%)Figure 3 Automotive Led Lighting: By Vehicle Type (%)ContinuedAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.ContactAkash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com Global Bath Salts Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 2.7% during 2016 to 2022 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1789 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/bath-salts-market-1789 Market Research Future Published a Half Cooked Research Report (HCRR) on the Global Bath Salt Market has been estimated to grow over 2.7% posts 2022Market Overview:Globally, there has been increase in demand for bath salts due to its versatility in industrial use ranging from personal care to home care applications. Unique properties of bath salts including high concentrations when used with water that helps in relaxation of human body muscles are driving the demand for bath salts in aromatherapy sub-segment. Hence, global bath salts market is expected to grow at CAGR over 2.7% post the year 2022.Key Players:The key players profiled in Bath Salts Market are Bathclin, Watsons, Jahwa, Kneipp, L'occitane, Relachee, PrettyValley, Genlese, Clarins, Borghese, Kanebo, Shiseido, Camenae, Skinhealthy, Stenders, Sak.Request a Sample Report @Reasons to BuyThis report includes in-depth study analysis of Bath Salts marketIt covers market segmentation by source, and nutrition per serving.It helps in identifying region-wise major suppliers and understand consumption patternsThe report will provide useful and premium insights that will support in investments for Bath Salts and allied companies providing details on the fast growing segments and regionsIn addition, it will provide key findings that will help the companies to improve profitability by using supply chain strategies, cost effectiveness of various products mentioned in the reportThe data used in the report is primarily based on primary interviews with the major producing companies and industry experts and also supported by authentic industry data from secondary sources.Access the market data and market information presented through more than 60 market data tables and 25 figures spread over 110 numbers of pages of the project report Bath Salts Market - Forecast to 2022Market Research Analysis:Secondary data reveals that the bath salt sales is projected to grow more than 2.7% annually post the year 2022The top 5 exporters of bath salts include China, Germany , Italy, Malaysia and BelgiumInclusion of new aromas and ingredients is accelerating the growth of Bath salts marketAccess Report Details @Intended AudienceBath salts manufacturersSkin care, home care manufacturersSalts manufacturersRetailers, wholesalersE-commerce companiesTraders, Importers and exportersBrief of TOC Global Bath Salts Market:1 Introduction1.1 Definition1.2 Scope of Study1.3 Research Objective1.4 Assumptions & Limitations1.5 Market Structure:2 Research Methodology2.1 Research Process2.2 Primary Research2.3 Secondary Research3 Market Dynamics3.1 Drivers3.2 Restraints3.3 Opportunities3.4 Challenges4 Market Factor Analysis4.1 Porters five forces model5 Global Bath salt Market, By Type5.1 Introduction5.1.1 Dead Sea Salt5.1.2 Epsom Salt5.1.3 Himalayn Salt5.1.4 Bolivian Salt5.1.5 Others6 Global Bath Salt Market, By Form6.1 Introduction6.1.1 Granual6.1.2 Powder6.1.2 Coarse7 Global Bath Salt Market, By ApplicationContinuedAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.ContactAkash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com Waterproof Distribution Box Market Forecasts 2017 Yuliang Telecom, Huajia Group, Saipu Group Waterproof Distribution Box https://tinyurl.com/ydyxj3z9 https://tinyurl.com/y8byezbx Waterproof Distribution Box Market Research ReportA market study Global Waterproof Distribution Box Market examines the performance of the Waterproof Distribution Box market Size 2017. It encloses an in-depth Research of the Waterproof Distribution Box market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of Waterproof Distribution Box market in the present and the future prospects from various angles in detail.The Global Waterproof Distribution Box Market 2017 report includes Waterproof Distribution Box market Size, Revenue, market Share, Waterproof Distribution Box industry volume, market Trends, Waterproof Distribution Box Growth aspects. A wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis are also consist in the report.It shows manufacturing capacity, Waterproof Distribution Box Price during the Forecast period from 2017 to 2022.Request For Sample Report:Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Waterproof Distribution Box Market 2017:1. Yuliang Telecom2. Huajia Group3. Saipu Group4. SUNTREE Electirc5. Meba Electric6. Polycase7. Shanghai Saipwell Electric8. Raywe Electric...Firstly, the report covers the top Waterproof Distribution Box manufacturing industry players from regions like United States, EU, Japan, and China. It also characterizes the market based on geological regions.Further, the Waterproof Distribution Box report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Waterproof Distribution Box industry, Waterproof Distribution Box industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. Waterproof Distribution Box Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.Inquiry Before Purchasing Report:The Waterproof Distribution Box research report includes the products that are currently in demand and available in the market along with their cost breakup, manufacturing volume, import/export scheme and contribution to the Waterproof Distribution Box market revenue worldwide.Finally, Waterproof Distribution Box market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage.About Us:"Spire Market Research" is a leading market intelligence team which accredits and provides the reports of some of the top publishers in the field of technology industry. We are as a firm expertise in making extensive reports that cover all the necessary details about the market assessments such as major technological improvement in the industry.Contact Us5001 Spring Valley Road,Suite 400 East,Dallas, TX 75244, USA Patient Throughput Management Market Pegged to Value US$ 1,229.9 Mn by 2024 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/patient-throughput-and-capacity-management-market.asp http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/13198 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/patient-throughput-and-capacity-management-market/toc http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com North Americas dominance over the global patient throughput & capacity management market is justified by the regions robust healthcare industry, which is also a proponent to technological advancements and adoption of intelligent solutions. Europes patient throughput & capacity management market will also leave a sizable imprint on the global market, registering a value CAGR of 5.3%.The need for aligning resources in healthcare settings has compelled medical organizations towards adoption of technological solutions that help manage & arrange patient care information in orderly fashion. Hospitals from across the globe are installing patient throughput & capacity management solutions to tackle challenges associated with management of increasing capacity & space. Ideal use of added functional capacity through improved patient throughput solutions is also a key trend driving the demand for such solutions. Persistence Market Research estimates that towards the end of 2024, more than US$ 1.2 Bn worth of patient throughput & capacity management solutions will be employed across the globe.Browse Complete Report @The global market for patient throughput & capacity management, according to Persistence Market Researchs report, is presently valued at US$ 834 Mn, and will soar steadily at 5% CAGR during the eight-year forecast period. The report further anticipates that over half of global revenues procured from sales of patient throughput & capacity management solutions will be accounted by the US and Canada.A sample of this report is available upon request @The report reveals that an analysis of global sales of patient throughput & capacity management solutions indicates a major upsurge in demand for RTLS solutions. With more than one-third share, RTLS solutions will remain a top-selling product dominating the global market revenues through 2024. Revenues from global sales of workflow management solutions will impose a consistent share on global revenues, while bed management solutions will exhibit revenue growth at 5.2% CAGR during the projected period. A majority of products offered in the global patient throughput & capacity management market will be offered as integrated solutions. Towards the end of 2024, integrated solutions will surpass 65% share on global revenues, while global demand for standalone solutions will register a marginal decline.Request to view table of content @The report also reveals that over 40% of patient throughput & capacity management solutions are delivered through on-premise models. By 2024-end, on-premise delivery of patient throughput & capacity management solutions will net nearly US$ 500 Mn in global revenues. On the other hand, cloud-based delivery is likely to lose out its traction, but will witness a negligible downtrend in terms of revenue growth. The report has also profiled companies such as EPIC Systems Corporation, STANLEY Healthcare, Central Logic, Care Logistics LLC, McKesson Corporation, TeleTracking Technologies, Inc., Sonitor Technologies, Inc., Allscripts, Awarepoint Corporation, and Cerner Corporation as key players of the global patient throughput & capacity management market.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Automotive Display Market Share 2017 Alpine Electronics, Continental, Delphi Automotive, DENSO Automotive Display https://tinyurl.com/y79aw7m8 https://tinyurl.com/y992pffk Automotive Display Market Research ReportA market study Global Automotive Display Market examines the performance of the Automotive Display market Size 2017. It encloses an in-depth Research of the Automotive Display market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of Automotive Display market in the present and the future prospects from various angles in detail.The Global Automotive Display Market 2017 report includes Automotive Display market Size, Revenue, market Share, Automotive Display industry volume, market Trends, Automotive Display Growth aspects. A wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis are also consist in the report.It shows manufacturing capacity, Automotive Display Price during the Forecast period from 2017 to 2022.Request For Sample Report:Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Automotive Display Market 2017:1. Alpine Electronics2. Continental3. Delphi Automotive4. DENSO5. Fujitsu6. Garmin7. KYOCERA Display8. LG Display9. Nippon Seiki10. Panasonic11. Pioneer12. Robert Bosch13. Valeo14. Visteon15. Yazaki16. Garmin17. Magneti Marelli18. Texas Instruments19. TI Automotive...Firstly, the report covers the top Automotive Display manufacturing industry players from regions like United States, EU, Japan, and China. It also characterizes the market based on geological regions.Further, the Automotive Display report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Automotive Display industry, Automotive Display industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. Automotive Display Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.Inquiry Before Purchasing Report:The Automotive Display research report includes the products that are currently in demand and available in the market along with their cost breakup, manufacturing volume, import/export scheme and contribution to the Automotive Display market revenue worldwide.Finally, Automotive Display market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage.About Us:"Spire Market Research" is a leading market intelligence team which accredits and provides the reports of some of the top publishers in the field of technology industry. We are as a firm expertise in making extensive reports that cover all the necessary details about the market assessments such as major technological improvement in the industry.Contact Us5001 Spring Valley Road,Suite 400 East,Dallas, TX 75244, USA Fruit Juice Market - Analysis and Outlook to 2022 of Global & Europe Report by Regions, Product, Types, Applications & Top 30 Players Tropicana , Yeshu , Paperboat , Lolo https://www.htfmarketreport.com/sample-report/593598-global-and-europe-fruit-juice-market https://www.htfmarketreport.com/buy-now?format=1&report=593598 A new research document with title 'Global and Europe Fruit Juice Market - Analysis and Outlook to 2022 ' covering detailed analysis, Competitive landscape, forecast and strategies. The study covers geographic analysis that includes regions like United States, Europe, China, Japan, India, Southeast Asia and important players/vendors such as Tropicana , Yeshu , Paperboat , Lolo, Patanjali................The report will help user gain market insights, future trends and growth prospects for forecast period of 2022SummaryThis report presents a comprehensive overview of the Fruit Juice market in Europe. This shares the history data information from 2012 to 2016, and forecast from 2017 to 2022.This report provides a detailed analysis of the market, its dynamics, structure, characteristics, main players, growth and demand drivers, etc. As a Detailed Analysis report, it covers all details inside analysis and opinion in Fruit Juice industry.This report focus Global and Europe market, it covers details players regions product type and other details as following:Request a sample report @Key PlayersDabur Real(United States)Wahaha(China)Tropicana(United States)Yeshu(China)Paperboat(United States)Lolo(China)Patanjali(United States)Nongfu Spring(China)24 Mantra(United States)Yasai Seikatsu(Japan)B Natural(United States)Natchan(Japan)Del Monte(United States)Qoo(Japan)Ceres(United States)Bireleys(Japan)Minute Maid(United States)Ichinichi bun no Yasai(Japan)Safal(United States)Yasai Ichinichi Koreippon(Japan)Apple and Eve(United States)Jujitsu Yasai(Japan)Sumple Organge(United States)Nichirei(Japan)Huiyuan Juice(China)Nokyo(Japan)Tingyi(China)Natchan(Japan)Uni-President(China)Koiwai(Japan)Buy this report @Key RegionsEurope----Germany----United Kingdom----France----Italy----Spain----Russia----Netherland----Poland----OthersUnited StatesChinaJapanIndiaOthersKey Product TypeSpecialty Food TypeOrganicGluten-FreeVegetarianUSDA OrganicGMO-FreeNutrition Facts Per ServingFat FreeLow FatSugar FreeSodium FreeLow SodiumCalories Per Serving0 CaloriesHTF Market Report is a wholly owned brand of HTF market Intelligence Consulting Private Limited. HTF Market Report global research and market intelligence consulting organization is uniquely positioned to not only identify growth opportunities but to also empower and inspire you to create visionary growth strategies for futures, enabled by our extraordinary depth and breadth of thought leadership, research, tools, events and experience that assist you for making goals into a reality. Our understanding of the interplay between industry convergence, Mega Trends, technologies and market trends provides our clients with new business models and expansion opportunities. We are focused on identifying the Accurate Forecast in every industry we cover so our clients can reap the benefits of being early market entrants and can accomplish their Goals & Objectives.Contact Us:HTF Market Intelligence Consulting Private LimitedUnit No. 429, Parsonage Road Edison, NJNew Jersey USA 08837sales@htfmarketreport.com+1 (206) 317 1218 Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery Devices Market Dynamics, Segments and Supply Demand 2015-2025 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-956 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-956 www.futuremarketinsights.com Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery is performed to treat disease occurring in various parts of brain, spinal cord or skull base through a small opening. Diseased area may require repair, removal and in the worst cases replacement which is being done through neurosurgery. Neurosurgical device used for the visualization purpose inside the human brain or spinal cord is known as Endoscope which is kind of a small microscope inserted through minimal invasion. Endoscope helps in magnifying critical anatomical structure and assist the surgeon in the treatment. Endoscopic neurosurgery requires minimal incision thus it is also known as Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery. Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery avoids complication post-surgery, leads to faster recovery, minimal scarring/pain and high accuracy. Recent advancement in endoscope design produced endoscopes that are compact, more efficient with improved resolution and better illumination than the earlier devices.Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery Devices Market: Drivers & RestraintsMinimally Invasive Neurosurgery Devices market is probably the last speciality to move to minimally invasive because of the complexity involved in the surgery however due to continuous advancement in medical technology for the treatment of neurological disorders have raised the demand of Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery Devices. Rise in the ageing population leading to increase in the incidence of neurological disorders are some major factors driving the growth of Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery Devices market. More awareness amongst the surgeons is helping the market to dwell in developed countries however the market of developed countries are more or less saturated and have a limited growth opportunity as compared to developing countries especially Asia Pacific countries where due to large population the market growth can be significant in the upcoming years. Lack of skilled professionals in the developing countries and poor or unstable reimbursement regulations are hampering the growth of Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery Devices in developing countries.Request Report Sample@Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery Devices Market: SegmentationMinimally Invasive Neurosurgery Devices market is classified on the basis of product type, surgery type and geography.Based on product type, the global Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery Devices market is segmented into the following:Fiber optic cablesMiniature video cameras (Endoscopes)Special surgical instrumentsExternal video monitorsBased on surgery type, the global Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery Devices market is segmented into the following:Intracranial SurgeryEndonasal NeurosurgerySpinal SurgeryMinimally Invasive Neurosurgery Devices Market: OverviewMinimally Invasive Neurosurgery Devices is a growing market due to various benefits offered like less recovery time, shortened hospital stay, greater accuracy, less pain and muscle sparring which is making minimally invasive neurosurgery a preferred option for the medical practitioners and surgeons. Proliferation of joint ventures and cross utilization of technology in minimally invasive surgical devices market is a plus for different market players as they dont have to invest much on the research and development of different types of products. Introduction of robotic devices to perform the surgery is an alternative for better outcomes and increased accuracy.Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery Devices Market: Region-wise OutlookDepending on geographic regions, global Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery Devices market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa. North America is the leading region in Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery Devices market due to the high volumes of surgical procedures being performed. Also, the availability of established healthcare infrastructure, high contribution of healthcare to economy, patient compliance are the reasons for the high demand in North America. Europe has the second largest Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery Devices market due to vast technological advancement in terms of healthcare sector. Asia Pacific market is expected to grow at a good rate as compared to NA and Europe as there is ample market opportunity in countries like India and China.Visit For TOC@Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery Devices Market: Key PlayersSome of the key market players in global Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery Devices market are Karl Storz GmbH & Co. KG, Olympus Corporation, Conmed Corporation, Richard Wolf GmbH, Boston Scientific Inc., Integra LifeSciences Holdings Corporation, Aesculap Division, Smith & Nephew Plc, Medtronic and NICO Corp. to name a few.About Us Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Motor Drivers Market Share 2017 Texas Instruments, ON Semiconductor, Microchip, STMicroelectronics Motor Drivers https://tinyurl.com/y7muey7e http://www.spiremarketresearch.com/global-motor-drivers-market-research-report-2017/ Motor Drivers Market Research ReportA market study Global Motor Drivers Market examines the performance of the Motor Drivers market Size 2017. It encloses an in-depth Research of the Motor Drivers market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of Motor Drivers market in the present and the future prospects from various angles in detail.The Global Motor Drivers Market 2017 report includes Motor Drivers market Size, Revenue, market Share, Motor Drivers industry volume, market Trends, Motor Drivers Growth aspects. A wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis are also consist in the report.It shows manufacturing capacity, Motor Drivers Price during the Forecast period from 2017 to 2022.Request For Sample Report:Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Motor Drivers Market 2017:1. Texas Instruments2. ON Semiconductor3. Microchip4. STMicroelectronics5. Infineon Technologies6. Omron7. Schneider Electric8. Littelfuse9. Phoenix Contract10. Richtek11. Molex12. ROHM13. TI Connectivity14. Toshiba...Firstly, the report covers the top Motor Drivers manufacturing industry players from regions like United States, EU, Japan, and China. It also characterizes the market based on geological regions.Further, the Motor Drivers report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Motor Drivers industry, Motor Drivers industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. Motor Drivers Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.Browse Complete Report:The Motor Drivers research report includes the products that are currently in demand and available in the market along with their cost breakup, manufacturing volume, import/export scheme and contribution to the Motor Drivers market revenue worldwide.Finally, Motor Drivers market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage.About Us:"Spire Market Research" is a leading market intelligence team which accredits and provides the reports of some of the top publishers in the field of technology industry. We are as a firm expertise in making extensive reports that cover all the necessary details about the market assessments such as major technological improvement in the industry.Contact Us5001 Spring Valley Road,Suite 400 East,Dallas, TX 75244, USA Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Market By Component Type : Software, On-Premise, CAD/CAM/CAE & Numerical Control - Global Industry Overview, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017 - 2022 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=285098 http://www.researchmoz.us/product-lifecycle-management-plm-by-component-type-software-services-by-end-use-automotive-and-transportation-aerospace-and-defense-industrial-machinery-and-heavy-equipment-electronics-and-semiconductor-energy-and-utilities-consumer-p-report.html Albany, New York, July 20, 2017 : Recent research and the current scenario as well as future market potential of "Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) (By Component Type - Software, Services; By End-use - Automotive and Transportation, Aerospace and Defense, Industrial Machinery and Heavy Equipment, Electronics and Semiconductor, Energy and Utilities, Consumer Products and Retail, Medical Devices and Pharmaceutical, IT and Telecom, and Others) Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2015 - 2022" globally.Product lifecycle management (PLM) represents an overall vision and systematic data management related to the product design, production, support as well as its ultimate disposal in a product development process in organizations. There are certain variables such as time, functions, performance, and price that change frequently with the product lifecycle processes. Therefore, the product innovation process should be done based on the changes in above mentioned variables to meet the market the demand. Delivering right product at right time is the major goal of enterprises in the market. PLM provides many benefits to organizations such as significant reduction in time-to-market the product, production cost minimization, and product quality and reliability enhancement. The various challenges faced by product development teams in enterprises include globalization, and growing demand for mass customization as well as quick innovation. These challenges are leading to the growing need for PLM solutions, which provide the collaborative environment and knowledge management of a products lifecycle process.Get PDF for more Professional and Technical insights @This research report provides in-depth analysis of the global PLM market based on component types, end-use applications, and geography. In terms of geographical regions, the report segments the global PLM market into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa (MEA), and Latin America, which are analyzed in terms of revenue generation. North America is further segmented into the U.S. and Rest of North America, while Europe is divided into EU7, Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and Rest of Europe. Moreover, Asia Pacific is subdivided into Japan, China, South Asia, Australasia, and Rest of Asia Pacific. Also, MEA is further segmented into Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, North Africa, Southern Africa, and Rest of MEA, while Latin America is subdivided into Brazil and Rest of Latin America.The PLM market is categorized based on component types into software and services. The market is experiencing implementation of PLM software in both on-premise as well as cloud-based models. The report further segments both on-premise and cloud-based PLM into various software types including CAD/CAM/CAE (CAx), numerical control (NC), simulation and analysis (S&A), architecture, engineering and construction (AEC), collaborative product definition management (CPDM), digital manufacturing, electronic design automation (EDA), and others. The PLM services market is also subdivided into consulting, integration, and operation & maintenance. This research report provides complete insights into different end-use application sectors of PLM including automotive and transportation, aerospace and defense, industrial machinery and heavy equipment, electronics and semiconductor, energy and utilities, consumer products and retail, medical devices and pharmaceuticals, IT and telecom, and others (marine and chemicals). The report analyzes each of these segments for various geographical segments considered under the scope of the study.Furthermore, the report analyzes the factors that drive and restrain the growth of the PLM market. The report also discusses the prevailing market trends, prospective growth opportunities, and major strategies increasing the popularity of PLM software and services. It also provides the market estimates and forecasts for all the segments in terms of revenue. Also provided is the market positioning of key players in the global PLM market.Additionally, the report includes competitive profiling of the major players engaged in offering PLM software and services. Major business strategies adopted by them, their market positioning, and various recent developments have also been identified in the research report. The key market players profiled in this study include both software vendors and service providers. The major PLM software vendors profiled in the report are Dassault Systemes, PTC, Inc., Siemens AG, Autodesk, Inc., SAP SE and Aras Corporation. The major service providers of PLM profiled in the study are IBM Corporation, Accenture PLC, Atos SE, and Hewlett-Packard Company.Make an Enquiry about TOC @Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) MarketBy Component TypeSoftwareOn-PremiseCAD/CAM/CAE (CAx)Numerical Control (NC)Simulation and Analysis (S&A)Electronic Design and Automation (EDA)Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC)Collaborative Product Definition Management (CPDM)Digital ManufacturingOthersCloud-basedCAD/CAM/CAE (CAx)Numerical Control (NC)Simulation and Analysis (S&A)Electronic Design and Automation (EDA)Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC)Collaborative Product Definition Management (CPDM)Digital ManufacturingOthersServicesConsultingIntegrationOperation and MaintenanceBy End-useAutomotive and TransportationAerospace and DefenseIndustrial Machinery and Heavy EquipmentElectronics and SemiconductorEnergy and UtilitiesConsumer Products and RetailMedical Devices and PharmaceuticalIT and TelecomOthersBy GeographyNorth AmericaEuropeAsia PacificLatin AmericaMiddle East and AfricaResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.ResearchMoz90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States Off-Highway Hybrid Commercial Vehicles Market Size 2017 Caterpillar, Mitsubishi, Still Off-Highway Hybrid Commercial Vehicles https://tinyurl.com/y8exoqh6 https://tinyurl.com/ya4baalt Off-Highway Hybrid Commercial Vehicles Market Research ReportA market study Global Off-Highway Hybrid Commercial Vehicles Market examines the performance of the Off-Highway Hybrid Commercial Vehicles market Size 2017. It encloses an in-depth Research of the Off-Highway Hybrid Commercial Vehicles market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of Off-Highway Hybrid Commercial Vehicles market in the present and the future prospects from various angles in detail.The Global Off-Highway Hybrid Commercial Vehicles Market 2017 report includes Off-Highway Hybrid Commercial Vehicles market Size, Revenue, market Share, Off-Highway Hybrid Commercial Vehicles industry volume, market Trends, Off-Highway Hybrid Commercial Vehicles Growth aspects. A wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis are also consist in the report.It shows manufacturing capacity, Off-Highway Hybrid Commercial Vehicles Price during the Forecast period from 2017 to 2022.Request For Sample Report:Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Off-Highway Hybrid Commercial Vehicles Market 2017:1. Caterpillar2. Mitsubishi3. Still4. Toyota Motors5. Atlas Copco6. CNH Industrial7. Deere8. Doosan9. Hitachi10. Kobelco Cranes11. Komatsu12. Mecalac Ahlmann13. Sany Group14. Shantui Construction Machinery15. Sunward Intelligent Equipment16. Volvo Ab-B Shs17. Wayhausen18. Yuchai Group...Firstly, the report covers the top Off-Highway Hybrid Commercial Vehicles manufacturing industry players from regions like United States, EU, Japan, and China. It also characterizes the market based on geological regions.Further, the Off-Highway Hybrid Commercial Vehicles report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Off-Highway Hybrid Commercial Vehicles industry, Off-Highway Hybrid Commercial Vehicles industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. Off-Highway Hybrid Commercial Vehicles Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.Inquiry Before Purchasing Report:The Off-Highway Hybrid Commercial Vehicles research report includes the products that are currently in demand and available in the market along with their cost breakup, manufacturing volume, import/export scheme and contribution to the Off-Highway Hybrid Commercial Vehicles market revenue worldwide.Finally, Off-Highway Hybrid Commercial Vehicles market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage.About Us:"Spire Market Research" is a leading market intelligence team which accredits and provides the reports of some of the top publishers in the field of technology industry. We are as a firm expertise in making extensive reports that cover all the necessary details about the market assessments such as major technological improvement in the industry.Contact Us5001 Spring Valley Road,Suite 400 East,Dallas, TX 75244, USA Permeate Market Growth, Forecast and Value Chain 2015-2025 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-900 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-900 www.futuremarketinsights.com Permeate is a dairy ingredient rich in lactose content which is produced after the removal of protein and other ingredients from milk or whey. Whey and milk permeates are used in various food application to enhance the salty flavor. Permeate is considered as the cost effective alternative to the other expensive ingredients used to add salty flavor to the food products. Owing to the rising demand of consumers for low sodium products, which results to the increasing use of permeate in various applications including bakery, prepared meals, soup and others. Moreover, high lactose in permeate results in brown appearance and caramelized aroma in baked products. Whey permeate is formed as a co-product of whey protein concentrate and whey protein isolate. However, milk permeate is a formed as the co-product of milk protein isolate and milk protein concentrate. Permeate is used as an alternative to ingredients such as whole milk powder and skim milk. Overall dairy industry is much consolidated market with various small players operating in it. Permeate market is expected to contribute significant growth in the next four to five years due to the evolving needs related to the milk coupled with the rising population in the forthcoming years.Permeate Market SegmentationGlobal permeate market is segmented on the basis of product type, application and region. Based on the product type global permeate segmentation includes whey and milk. Of which, whey permeate is expected to be the dominating segment over forecast period ,followed by the milk permeate segment due the various benefits associated with it such as it is less sweet than sucrose, absorbs synthetic and natural pigments, absorbs volatile flavor compounds and comparatively more moisture resistant. On the basis of application permeate market is segmented into, soups and sauces, dairy foods, beverages and meat. Among all the segments of permeate market dairy food is the leading segment, followed by other segments over the forecast period. Permeate market is expanding especially in Asia Pacific due to the rising awareness among consumers regarding the health benefits associated with the consumption of dairy products which includes high protein content coupled with increasing number of upper middle class population in the Asia Pacific region. Global permeate market is segmented on the basis of region into North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa and Japan.Request Report Sample@Permeate Market: Region-wise OutlookThe Global permeate market is expected to witness robust growth over the forecast period due the various health benefit related to the consumption of permeate. Globally, among all regions, North America is expected to contribute the maximum market share during the forecast period. In North America, U.S is the dominating segment that contributes highest market share owing to the increasing production of permeate in U.S. However Asia Pacific is anticipated to witness significant growth owing to the rising awareness among consumers related to benefits of dairy ingredient such as permeate coupled with rising high income consumers in region such as India and China.Permeate Market: DriversMajor factors that fuel the growth of permeate market includes increasing consumption of milk and rising awareness among the consumers related to the health benefits associated with the consumption of permeate in the mature markets. However factor that hinder the growth of permeate market include lack of awareness among consumers in the emerging countries related to the benefits of the dairy ingredient such as permeate.Visit For TOC@Permeate Market: Key PlayersMajor companies operating in permeate market are Arla Foods Ingredients Inc., American dairy product institute, Fonterra Co-Operative Group, Nestle S.A, Silwan International General Trading LLC , La Belle Inc. and Volac International LimitedAbout Us Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: After overwhelming opposition to naming the City-County Building after former President Barack Obama, city and county officials are dropping the proposal and instead seeking community feedback for a more appropriate public space to bear his name. The City-County Liaison Committee on Wednesday voted to withdraw a resolution to name the Downtown building after the 44th president. The proposal was introduced by County Executive Joe Parisi and three County Board supervisors last month. Sup. Shelia Stubbs, 23rd District, said the plan garnered mostly negative public feedback. The Dane County chapter of the NAACP voiced its opposition in a letter to the County Board Monday, saying the building is a symbol of racial disparities in the criminal justice system. The building houses a portion of the Dane County Jail on its sixth and seventh floors. I have received feedback (from constituents) saying, Lets do something, but lets not let it be this building, Stubbs said. Out of more than 200 respondents to a poll posted on the countys website July 11 asking residents if they favored the resolution to name the City-County Building the Barack Obama City-County Building, 80 percent voted no. The second poll asks which types of public property might be appropriate to name after a president. Participants can select government building, public park, public school, public street or highway, topographical feature such as a lake, or other. Stubbs said she has heard several ideas for public locations so far, including the Dane County Regional Airport. The committee will revisit the naming process Aug. 17 after receiving more community input. Gourmet Salts Market Revenue, Opportunity, Segment and Key Trends 2015-2025 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-898 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-898 www.futuremarketinsights.com Gourmet salts are unrefined and high quality salts used in cuisine in order to enhance taste and appeal of the food. Gourmet salts are used for to enhance the texture and flavor. In addition, these type of salts possess better solubility and also high mineral content. Gourmet salts are also blended with other type of herbs, spices and flavors in order to enhance the flavor and color of spices. Gourmet salts are used in various applications such as bakery, savoury, confectionery, poultry and sea food. Fleur de sel is one of the widely used gourmet salts, which is used in variety of food products such as roasted meat, vegetable dishes and salads. Gourmet salts are also used in for preserving canned food products in order to store food item for longer duration.Gourmet Salts Market: SegmentationGlobal Gourmet salts market is segmented on the basis of product type, application and region. Based on the product type segmentation includes fleur de sel, Himalayan salts, sel gris, and flake salts. Of which, fleur de sel is used widely in various food applications such as meat and salads. Fleur de sel is anticipated to be the dominating segment during the forecasted period, followed by other gourmet salts. On the basis of application, gourmet salts is segmented into savoury, bakery and confectionary, poultry and seafood products and others. However, among all the segments, bakery and confectionary segment is expected to contribute maximum revenue to the overall gourmet salts market. Global gourmet salts market is segmented on the basis of regions into North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan, Middle East and Africa and Japan. Gourmet salts market is dominated by European region, followed by North America and Asia Pacific excluding Japan. In Europe, France and Spain are expected to contribute maximum revenue share to the overall gourmet salts market. However North America is projected to witness fastest growth in the next four to five years owing to the high disposable income of consumers in this region.Request Report Sample@Gourmet Salts Market: Region-wise OutlookThe Global gourmet salts market is expected to witness vigorous growth during the forecasted period due to the rising awareness among consumers related to changing food or cuisine preferences among consumers .Globally, among all regions, Europe is expected to witness significant growth in the gourmet salts market and contribute maximum market share, followed by North America and Asia Pacific over the forecasted period. However, North America is expected to experience fast growth due the high disposable income of the consumers, which results in buying patterns for products rich in gourmet salt. Since, these products are expensive in nature.Gourmet Salts Market: DriversVarious factors that fuel the growth of gourmet salts market includes rising living standard of consumers, increasing commercialisation of food industry by various media shows and also awareness regarding benefits of gourmet salts in the traditional food. However, factors that hampers the growth of gourmet salts market are high price associated with gourmet salts in comparison to conventional salts. Other major factor that restraints the growth of gourmet salts market that hinder the growth of gourmet salts market is lack of awareness among consumers in developing countries. Companies operating in gourmet salts market are mainly adopting new product development strategy in order to enhance their product portfolio and also to expand into new markets.Visit For TOC@Gourmet salts Market: Key PlayersMajor companies that operate in gourmet salts market includes Cargill Inc., Morton Salt Inc., Murray River Salt, Alaska Pure Sea Salts Co., Infosa, Amagansett Sea Salt Co., Maldon Crystal Salt Co., Pyramid Salt Pty. Ltd.About Us Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: 2017 Forecast Global Allergy Immunotherapy Market: Industry Size, Share, Growth, Forecasts https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/466705 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/reports/466705/global-allergy-immunotherapy-trends-and-market-research-reports https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/enquiryBuy/466705 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ Latest industry research report on: Global Allergy Immunotherapy Market | Industry Size, Share, Research, Reviews, Analysis, Strategies, Demand, Growth, Segmentation, Parameters, ForecastsRequest For Sample Report @The report titled Global Allergy Immunotherapy Market: Trends & Opportunities (2015-2019) provides an in-depth analysis of the global allergy immunotherapy market with detailed analysis of market sizing and growth, market share and economic impact of the industry. Global allergy immunotherapy market penetration rate is also provided in the report. The report also provides market size of allergic rhino conjunctivitis (AR) and HDM allergy disease. The report provides detailed market share analysis of the global allergy immunotherapy market by types, regions and players. The market share of allergy immunotherapy market in the respiratory market and prescription allergy market is also explained in detailed.The report provides detail regional analysis of the allergy immunotherapy market in the United States and Europe. In regional analysis market by value, key players are provided with market for pipeline products.Complete Report Details @The report also assesses the key opportunities in the market and outlines the factors that are and will be driving the growth of the industry. Growth of the overall global allergy immunotherapy industry has also been forecasted for the period 2014-2019, taking into consideration the previous growth patterns, the growth drivers and the current and future trends. The competition is global allergy immunotherapy market is stiff and dominated by the big players like ALK-Abello. Further, key players of the allergy immunotherapy industry like ALK-Abello, Stallergenes; and Allergy Therapeutics are also profiled with their financial information and respective business strategies.Have Any Query? Ask Our Expert @Country CoverageUnited StatesEuropeCompany CoverageALK-AbelloStallergenesAllergy TherapeuticsExecutive SummaryAllergen immunotherapy, also known as allergy shots, is a form of long-term treatment that decreases symptoms for many people with allergic rhinitis, allergic asthma, conjunctivitis (eye allergy) or stinging insect allergy. Allergy shots decrease sensitivity to allergens thats why it is known as desensitization or hypo-sensitization and often lead to lasting relief of allergy symptoms even after treatment is stopped. This makes it a cost-effective, beneficial treatment approach for many people. Allergen immunotherapy is a preventive treatment for allergic reactions to substances such as grass pollens, house dust mites and bee venom. Whole allergen immunotherapy is the only treatment that targets the actual cause of the allergy and attempts to re-educate the immune system to tolerate the allergen.In the 2013 World Allergy Organization White Book, the WHO estimated that there were 400 million people in the world suffering from allergic rhinitis and 300 million from asthma, which shows the scale of the problem. The most common allergens found in the US and Europe.Patients presenting with allergies are questioned and the tested in an attempt to ascertain exactly what they are allergic to. Once this has been identified, a treatment regime can be put in place. However, the approaches in the US and Europe are quite different, largely because of differences in product availability. The type of product used falls into three categories: SCIT, SLITD and SLITT.About usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.Contact UsState Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Website:Email: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Global Litigation Services Market- Size, Trend, Share, Opportunity Analysis & Forecast, 2014-2025 https://www.progressivemarkets.com/industry-research/litigation-services-market https://www.progressivemarkets.com/enquiry-about-report/litigation-services-market https://www.progressivemarkets.com/request-customization/litigation-services-market https://www.progressivemarkets.com Global Litigation Services Market- Size, Trend, Share, Opportunity Analysis & Forecast, 2014-2025. It offers a comprehensive analysis of factors that drive or impede growth of the industry. This aids stakeholder to recognize top investment pockets.The study offers introduction of the global litigation services market in terms of scope. It includes Porters Five Forces Analysis (PFFA) to provide insightful information of competition in the industry. It analyzes certain parameters, such as power to bargain by suppliers & buyers and threat by substitutes & new entrepreneurs. In addition, it incorporates summary of the industry. These include trend analysis, recent development, competitive landscape, and market attractiveness. The research divides the industry into solution, service, industry vertical, and geography. Based on solution, it categorizes the market into forensic technology & consulting, deposition & trial, and e-discovery & early data management.Request Sample At:According to the report, the global litigation services market offers its services in contract management, document management & review, and litigation support services. Regionally, it classifies the industry into Latin America Middle East & Africa (LAMEA), Asia-Pacific, Europe, and North America. Based on industry vertical, it segments the market into BFSI, law firms, healthcare, retail, and public sector. It also assesses market share of solutions, industry verticals, end-users, and geographies for the period, 20142025. Further, the research evaluates industry size of each solution, industry vertical, and end user by region for the historic period as well as forecast period, 20142016 and 20172025, respectively. It also explores factors that drive progress of the market, such as rise in cyber-attacks and data privacy.The experts discuss alternative factors that propel growth of the global litigation services market. These include inclination towards cloud based deployment, increase in demand and spending on leading services. Moreover, the study describes factors that hamper growth of the industry, such as global compliance. It discusses alternative factors that hinders growth rate of the market. These include limited IT resources and accessibility for low cost alternatives. It also describes top manufacturers of the industry. These include Transperfect legal solutions, Litigation Services, Lapiz digital services, LLC, Clutch Group, QuisLex, Bodhi Global Solutions, Inc., Integreon, Inc., Pangea3, CPA Global Ltd, and UnitedLex.Enquire About Report At:The report assesses abovementioned companies of the global litigation services market based on criterions set, such as recent advancements by each manufacturer. It also explores finance and business segment of every vendor. Apart from this, it also offers a brief introduction of every big market player. In addition, the research offers several key takeaways of the industry which include competitive intelligence within geographical boundaries of the market. It aids new entrants to have an in-depth understanding of consumer behavior as well as industry dynamics.Request For Report Customization At:Table Of Contents:1. Executive summary1.1. Key Findings1.2. Market Attractiveness and Trend analysis1.3. Competitive Landscape and recent industry development analysis2. Introduction2.1. Report Description2.2. Scope and Definitions2.3. Research Methodology3. Market landscape3.1. Growth Drivers3.1.1. Impact Analysis3.2. Restraints and Challenges4. Global Litigation Services Market by Solutions4.1. Forensic Technology & Consulting4.1.1. Historical Market Size by Region, 2014-20164.1.2. Market Forecast by Region, 2017-20254.2. E-discovery & early data management5. Global Litigation Services Market by Service5.1. Contract Management5.1.1. Historical Market Size by Region, 2014-20165.1.2. Market Forecast by Region, 2017-20255.2. Litigation Support ServicesProgressive Markets is the answer to every possible business query. It is a market research and business consulting firm, headquartered in India with an aim to deliver up-to-date executive support to foster overall growth of an organization in its domain.Contact Us:Asia Pacific Intelligence CentreUnited StatesEAST COAST U.S.Direct: +1-646-564-2246Toll Free + 1-888-906-9222Email: help@progressivemarkets.comWeb: Good Growth Opportunities in Tissue Sealants and Tissue Adhesive Market Till 2025 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-862 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-862 www.futuremarketinsights.com Tissue sealants and Tissue Adhesive are agents which helps to surgeons to control bleeding during surgery. These agents play a prominent role in management of bleeding either mechanically or act by promoting coagulation cascade. Tissue sealants are the products those binds and close the defect tissues. Hemostasis is a complex phenomenon between Platelets, Plasma Proteins, Coagulation and fibrinolysis pathways. Constriction of blood vessel to reduce blood flow, Platelets are activated at site of injury and provide hemostatic plug and sequential activation of enzymatic reactions involve in coagulation process. Tissue sealants, tissue adhesives are advanced medical devices rapidly replacing conventional sutures for wound and incision closure. Advantages of tissue sealants, tissue adhesives over conventional suture involve minimal invasive application, these are take less time, prevention of leakage of non-blood fluids and reduced post-operative microbial infections.Tissue Sealants and Tissue Adhesive Market: Drivers and restraintsTissue Sealing and Tissue Adhesive market is driven by increasing preference of these product among surgeons due to its efficacy to prevent bleeding during surgery. These tissue sealants diminishes post-operative bleeding. These tissue sealants are highly effective, ease of use and less prone to microbial infection after surgery. Factors such as aging the population and rising surgical procedures drive the growth of Tissue sealing and tissue adhesive market globally. The Stringent regulatory policies and high cost of the products are major restrains of tissue sealants and tissue adhesive market.Request Report Sample@Tissue Sealants and Tissue Adhesive Market: SegmentationGlobal Tissue Sealants and Tissue Adhesive market can be segmented as following typesBy Product:Tissue SealantsSynthetic Tissue SealantsNon-Synthetic Tissue SealantsFibrin Based Tissue SealantsCollagen Based Tissue SealantsProtein Based Tissue SealantsTissue AdhesivesCyanoacrylate Based Tissue AdhesivesOther Cross-linkable Polymer Based Tissue AdhesivesBy End Users:PhysiciansSurgeonsTissue Sealants and Tissue Adhesive Market: OverviewTissue sealants and adhesives are highly advanced medical devices so these are widely accepted for wound healings and surgeries to prevent blood flow. Increasing number of surgeries and subsequent demand for advanced wound closure devices minimize scars and post-operative infections. Tissue sealants rising demand for effectiveness and attracting the surgeons towards these products. Global tissue sealants and adhesive market has a tremendous growth rate in forecasting period.Tissue Sealants and Tissue Adhesive Market: Region-Wise OutlookDepending upon the geographic regions global tissue sealants and adhesive market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, Latin America, and Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and Asia pacific excluding japan, Japan, Middle East and AfricaNorth America dominates Global tissue sealants and adhesive market due to significant spending power of population and technological advancement. Asia Pacific countries are anticipated to witness lucrative growth rate in tissue sealants and tissue adhesive market.Visit For TOC@Tissue Sealants and Tissue Adhesive Market: Key playersSome of the key players in global tissue sealants and tissue adhesive market are Baxter International Inc., Johnson & Johnson, Exapharma, Smith & Nephew, C.R Bard and Integra LifeSciences.About Us Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: European Fish and Seafood Market to grow at a CAGR of 2.93% during 2016-2020 - Marine Harvest, Bolton Group, Grupo Freiremar, Nomad Foods http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=560895 http://www.researchmoz.us/fish-and-seafood-market-in-europe-2016-2020-report.html http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG With the growing population, the demand for food, including seafood, has increased in Europe. To meet the burgeoning demand, the production of fish and seafood needs to increase more than twofold. The growth of the food and beverage industry, changing lifestyles, and increased demand for processed seafood drove the fish and seafood market in Europe in 2015.The fish and seafood market in Europe to grow at a CAGR of 2.93% during the period 2016-2020. The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the fish and seafood market in Europe for 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from the retail sales of fish and seafood.The market is divided into the following segments based on product type:- Prepared fish and seafood- Frozen fish and seafood- Fresh and chilled fish and seafoodClick to get sample PDF with TOC:Technavio's report, Fish and Seafood Market in Europe 2016-2020, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Browse more details at:Key vendors- Marine Harvest- Bolton Group- Grupo Freiremar- Nomad FoodsOther prominent vendors- Dong Won Fisheries- Faroe Seafood- Findus Group- Grupo Calvo- Kverva- Mogster Group- Pinnacle Foods Group- Princes Group- Stolt Sea Farm- Surapon FoodsMarket driver- Population growth in Europe- For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challenge- Illegal overfishing- For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trend- Demand for eco-labeled products- For a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this report- What will the market size be in 2020 and what will the growth rate be?- What are the key market trends?- What is driving this market?- What are the challenges to market growth?- Who are the key vendors in this market space?- What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?- What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?About UsResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn at: Global Peptide Antibiotics Market and Clinical Pipeline Insight 2023 https://www.kuickresearch.com/report-global-peptide-antibiotics-market-and-clinical-pipeline-insight-2023.php For Report Sample Contact: neeraj@kuickresearch.com or +91-11-47067990Download Report:Report Table of ContentsPeptide Antibiotics - A New Era for Antibiotics1.1 Introduction1.2 Systemization of Peptide Antibiotics and Drugs1.2.1 Non-Ribosomally Synthesized Peptide Antibiotics1.2.2 Ribosomal Synthesized Peptide AntibioticsMechanism and Production of Peptide Antibiotics2.1 Approach of Peptide Antibiotics on Bacterial Surface2.2 Creational Process of Peptide AntibioticsIdentification of Human Antimicrobial Peptides3.1 Human Defensins3.2 Human Cathelicidins3.3 Antimicrobial NeuropeptidesPortrayal of Peptide Antibiotics in Cancer Treatment4.1 Introduction4.2 Mechanism of Antimicrobial Peptides in Cancer TreatmentCategorization of Anticancer Peptides5.1 Alpha-Helical Anticancer Peptides5.2 Beta-Sheet Anticancer PeptidesApproved Peptide Antibiotics6.1 Bacitracin6.2 ViomycinMarket Analysis of Peptide Antibiotics7.1 Introduction to Antibacterial Drug Market7.2 Global Antimicrobial Peptide MarketMarket Dynamics of Antimicrobial Peptides8.1 Favorable Parameters8.2 ChallengesFuture Perspective of Peptide Antibiotics Market and Drug DevelopmentGlobal Peptide Antibiotics Clinical Pipeline Overview10.1 By Country10.2 By Indication10.3 By Mode of Action10.4 By Formulation10.5 By Delivery RouteGlobal Peptide Antibiotics Clinical Pipeline by Company, Indication and Phase11.1 Research11.2 Preclinical11.3 Clinical11.4 Phase-I11.5 Phase-II11.6 Phase-III11.7 PreregistrationMarketed Peptide Antibiotics Clinical and Patent Analysis12.1 Telavancin (Arbelic and Vibativ)12.2 Dalbavancin (Dalvance and Xydalba)12.3 Daptomycin Intravenous (Cubicin)12.4 Oritavancin (Nuvocid and ORBACTIV)12.5 Teicoplanin (Targocid)12.6 Vancomycin (Vancomycin hydrochloride)Competitive Landscape13.1 AMP Therapeutics13.2 Eli Lilly13.3 GlaxoSmithKline13.4 Hospira13.5 Kasten13.6 Madam Therapeutics13.7 Novartis13.8 Pacgen Life Science Corporation13.9 Pfizer13.10 Phosphagenics13.11 Savara Pharmaceuticals13.12 Theravance13.13 Vicuron PharmaceuticalsFigure 1-1: Structure of Some Important Peptide AntibioticsFigure 1-2: Classification and Characterization of Peptide AntibioticsFigure 2-1: Targets for Antimicrobial Peptides to Inhibit the Bacterial GrowthFigure 2-2: Chemical Structure of TeixobactinFigure 2-3: Steps for the Solid Phase Synthesis of TeixobactinFigure 3-1: Typical Processing of Cathelicidin Protein by Protease EnzymesFigure 3-2: Mechanism of Antimicrobial Peptides in Defense against PathogensFigure 4-1: Angiogenesis Inhibition Mechanism of ActionFigure 6-1: Bacitracin - Mechanism of ActionFigure 7-1: Global - Antibacterial Drug Market (US$ Billion), 2016-2023Figure 7-2: Usage of Therapeutic Peptides and Proteins in Different Disorders (%)Figure 7-3: Global - Peptide Drug Market (US$ Billion), 2016-2023Figure 7-4: Therapeutic Peptide Based Drugs over Route of AdministrationFigure 7-5: Global - Peptide Antibiotics Clinical Pipeline by Phase (%), 2017 till 2023Figure 7-6: Global - Peptide Antibiotics Clinical Pipeline by Phase (Number), 2017 till 2023Figure 8-1: Favorable Parameters which Helps in the Growth of Antimicrobial PeptideFigure 8-2: Challenges to Antimicrobial Peptide Market GrowthFigure 9-1: Different Possible Treatment Options of Cancer by Using PeptidesFigure 10-1: Global - Peptide Antibiotics Clinical Pipeline by Country (%), 2017 till 2023Figure 10-2: Global - Peptide Antibiotics Clinical Pipeline by Indication (%), 2017 till 2023Figure 10-3: Global - Peptide Antibiotics Clinical Pipeline by Mode of Action (%), 2017 till 2023Figure 10-4: Global - Peptide Antibiotics Clinical Pipeline by Formulation (%), 2017 till 2023Figure 10-5: Global - Peptide Antibiotics Clinical Pipeline by Delivery Route (%), 2017 till 2023Table 3-1: Cell Sources of Human Defensins Antimicrobial PeptidesTable 9-1: Future Human Antimicrobial Peptides and their Proposed TargetsKuick Research is a market research and analytics company that provides targeted information for critical decisions at business, product and service levels. We are quick, predictive and known by the recommendations we have made in the past. Our result-oriented research methodology offers understanding of multiple issues in a short period of time and gives us the capability to keep you full with loads of practical ideas. By translating research answers into strategic insight and direction, we not only rate the success potential of your products and/or services, but also help you identify the opportunities for growth in new demographies and find ways to beat competition.Neeraj Chawlaneeraj@kuickresearch.comKuicK ResearchAvanta Business Center 4th Floor,Statesman House Barakhamba Road,Connaught Place New Delhi 110 001, India+91-11-47067990 FMI Releases New Report on the Magnetic Resonance Imaging MRI Market 2015-2025 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-858 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-858 www.futuremarketinsights.com Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an advanced imaging technique used in medical field to produce high quality images of the soft tissues, organs of the human body. This device capture the images of body organs and tissues by applying the magnetic field and this images will give the information about whole human body system in both diseased and healthy condition.Different types of magnetic Resonance imaging (MRI) are available based on field strength. In this high field Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) gives more cleared images compared with remaining MRIs.The images which are given by this MRI systems are having more information regarding tissues and ligaments and body organs when we compare with the images of X-ray, computed tomography (CT) scan and ultra sound techniques.Request Report Sample@Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is increased due to raising geriatric population, technical advancements like low field strength, high field strength MRI systems and increasing health awareness in developed countries and no reported side effects of the use of the systems.Magnetic resonance imaging is an advanced and safe technique when compared with CT scan and X-ray technique. Because ionizing radiations are using for capturing images in CT.However, patients who had heart surgeries and surgeries with implanted metals at the ligaments has to take precautions while using Magnetic resonance imaging systems.Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)Market: SegmentationGlobal Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is further segmented into following typesBased on field strengthLow Field MRI SystemMid Filed MRI SystemHigh Filed MRI SystemBased on ApplicationAbdomen MRIBrain MRIMRA or Vascular MRIPelvic MRISpine MRICardiac MRIBased on ArchitectureOpenMRIClosed MRIMagnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)Market: OverviewWith rapid technological advantage in capturing high quality images of soft tissue, ligaments and other body organs the use of High field strength MRI use will increase and the market is expected to have a double digit growth in the forecast period (2015-2025).Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)Market: Region- wise OutlookDepending on geographic regions, the global Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan, Japan and Middle East & Africa.The use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) market is high in North America because it is highly developed region, having good healthcare setup and people are having good awareness about health care. In Asia pacific region china and India also having rapid growth health care set up and the use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) systems. Europe also having good growth in this market.Visit For TOC@Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)Market: Key PlayersSome of the key players in Global Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) are Siemens, Philips Healthcare, Toshiba medical systems, GE healthcare, Hitachi Medical systems, Esaote SpA and Sanrad Medical Systems Pvt. Ltd.About Us Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Network Bulls Launches Cisco CCIE Data Center Certification Training www.networkbulls.com/ Network Bulls, Gurugram recently launched Cisco CCIE Data Center Certification training which is perfect for professionals having experience in the networking industry. The best part is that even before announcing the launch, Network Bulls received the racksset-upfor providing practical training. In fact, NB is the only networking training institute to provide DC training with the updated infrastructure.Lets have a look at the highlights of the Cisco CCIE Data Center Certification training What will you learn during the DC training at Network Bulls, Gurugram?CCIE DC training at Network Bulls covers the blueprint of Ciscos Data Center examination. Post completion of your training, you will be eligible to appear for written as well as Data Center lab examination.The training will impart you excellent skills for planning, designing, implementing and managing the complex Data Center infrastructure.During your training, you will learn orchestration, virtualization, automation, DC security, integration of cloud initiatives, unified computing, policy-driven infrastructure and a lot more.CCIE Data Center certification training at Network Bulls will provide you an in-depth knowledge of the DC infrastructure and evolving DC technologies.Job roles after CCIE Data Center certification training @Network Bulls, GurugramPost completion of your DC training at Network Bulls, you will be eligible for multiple senior level job roles. Below listed are few of the expected job roles DC Network Engineer, DC Implementation Engineer, DC Support Engineer, Network Design Engineer, DC Pre-sales Engineer and a lot moreThus, after your training, you will have multiple opportunities waiting at your door-step as you will become eligible for multiple senior level job roles.Know the training fee for the courseNetwork Bulls offers different training plans to suit the requirement of the candidates and the fee for each plan is different. Fee for each training plan is listed below CCIE DC V2 Lab BootcampIt is best for the candidate shaving in-depth knowledge of CCIE DC Written. It is a 10-day lab training in which you will be given access to CCIE DC V2the racks. The cost of this boot camp is 1,30,000 INR.CCIE DC written + lab TrainingIt is the best for the candidates planning to prepare for CCIE DC written + lab examination. It is a 1-month training program which will cost you 1,45,000 INR.Combo Training CCNA + CCNP + CCIE DCIt is perfect for the candidates looking forward to building their career in the DC technology. The course will cover all the three levels of Cisco Data Center and will make you an expert in Data Centers. It is a 5-6 months training program and will cost you 2.25 lac.The best part of learning at Network Bulls, Gurugram is that you get the guidance of experts. Trainers are CCIE certified with 5 to 15 years of experience in the networking field. In fact, many trainers are dual and triple CCIE certified. Thus, you get the guidance of experts in the industry which serves a long way in developing a crystal clear understanding of the technology.Network Bulls is the leading networking training institute which provides beyond excellence IT training. It was started in the year 2009 and has won more than 13 education excellence awards in a short span of 7 years.Network Bulls provides training on various networking courses which mainly includes Cisco certification and Microsoft courses. 100% job guarantee courses are also provided by Network Bulls along with the written job guarantee letter. The training institute also holds the award for best placement record in the industry.SCO-9, 10, 11, 12 2nd & 3rd Floor,Above Vishal Mega Mart,Old Delhi Road,Sector-14,Gurgaon-122001, HaryanaContact: 1800-3070-7628E-mail - admin@networkbulls.comSite: At a CAGR of 6.52%, Global Small UAV Market to rise over 2016-2020 - AeroVironment, Elbit Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries, SAAB, Thales http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=560868 http://www.researchmoz.us/global-smart-windows-market-2016-2020-report.html http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Small UAVs are classified based on their size; they are small enough to be carried and operated by a single person. Small UAVs can be hand-launched, and can have vertical take-off and landing (VTOL), or short take-off and landing (STOL) capabilities. A majority of the small UAVs are either electric-powered or solar-powered. Some of them are also powered by fuel, which are mostly used for defense applications.The global small UAV market to grow at a CAGR of 6.52% during the period 2016-2020. The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global small UAV market for 2016-2020. The report provides a global overview of the market and the growth prospects by region (Americas, APAC, and EMEA).Click to get sample PDF with TOC:Technavio's report, Global Small UAV Market 2016-2020, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendors- AeroVironment- Elbit Systems- Israel Aerospace Industries- SAAB- ThalesBrowse more details at:Other prominent vendors- Aeronautics Limited- Aeyron Labs- Aibotrix, BAE Systems- DJI- Lockheed Martin- Prox Dynamics.Market driver- Demand for small UAVs from emerging markets- For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challenge- Defense budget cut- For a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this report- What will the market size be in 2020 and what will the growth rate be?- What are the key market trends?- What is driving this market?- What are the challenges to market growth?- Who are the key vendors in this market space?- What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?- What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?About UsResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn at: EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Two Wheeler Lightings Market Report 2017 EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Two Wheeler Lightings Market Report 2017 http://www.qyresearcheurope.com/ http://www.qyresearchglobal.com/ The Two Wheeler Lightings Industry 2017 Market Research Report is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Two Wheeler Lightings.Firstly, the report provides a basic overview of the industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. The Two Wheeler Lightings market analysis is provided for the international market including development history, competitive landscape analysis, and major regions development status.Secondly, development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures. This report also states import/export, supply and consumption figures as well as cost, price, revenue and gross margin by regions (United States, EU, China and Japan), and other regions can be added.Then, the report focuses on global major leading industry players with information such as company profiles, product picture and specification, capacity, production, price, cost, revenue and contact information. Upstream raw materials, equipment and downstream consumers analysis is also carried out. Whats more, the Two Wheeler Lightings development trends and marketing channels are analyzed.Finally, the feasibility of new investment projects is assessed, and overall research conclusions are offered.In a word, the report provides major statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.EMEA Two Wheeler Lightings market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Two Wheeler Lightings sales volume (K Units), price (USD/Unit), revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players includingUnitechKoitoVarrocHellaFederal MogulStanleyBruno/Zadi GroupLumaxCoboRinderBoogeyMindaAmpas LightingIJLJ.W. speakerZWK GroupMotolightLazer lightFiem......Ask a complete & professional report sample, please send message to tinaning@qyresearch.com or visit atTable of contents:1 Two Wheeler Lightings Overview2 EMEA Two Wheeler Lightings Competition by Manufacturers/Players/Suppliers, Region, Type and Application3 Europe Two Wheeler Lightings (Volume, Value and Sales Price), by Players, Countries, Type and Application4 Middle East Two Wheeler Lightings (Volume, Value and Sales Price), by Region, Type and Application5 Africa Two Wheeler Lightings (Volume, Value and Sales Price) by Players, Countries, Type and Application6 EMEA Two Wheeler Lightings Manufacturers/Players Profiles and Sales Data7 Two Wheeler Lightings Manufacturing Cost Analysis8 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers9 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders10 Market Effect Factors Analysis11 EMEA Two Wheeler Lightings Market Forecast (2017-2022)12 Research Findings and Conclusion13 AppendixRelated Reports:Global Two Wheeler Lightings Market Report 2017China Two Wheeler Lightings Market Report 2017USA Two Wheeler Lightings Market Report 2017Korea Two Wheeler Lightings Market Report 2017Japan Two Wheeler Lightings Market Report 2017India Two Wheeler Lightings Market Report 2017Contact Details:Company Name: QYResearch CO.,LIMITED | focus on Market Survey and ResearchTina| Sales ManagersEmail: tinaning@qyresearch.com Tel: 0086-20-22093278(CN)Web:QYResearch focus on Market Survey and ResearchQYResearch established in 2007, focus on custom research, management consulting, IPO consulting, industry chain research, data base and seminar services. The company owned a large basic data base (such as National Bureau of statistics database, Customs import and export database, Industry Association Database etc), experts resources (included energy automotive chemical medical ICT consumer goods etc industries experts who own more than 10 years experiences on marketing or R&D), professional survey team (the team member with more than 3 years market survey experience and more than 2 years depth expert interview experience),Excellent data analysis team (SPSS statistics and PPT graphics process team); QYResearch has always pursuit product quality, adhere to the quality is the soul of business.Room 2311 VILI International Building No.167 Linhe West Road Tianhe District A Madison police detective told a courtroom Wednesday that one of four men charged in a May homicide and armed robbery on the citys North Side named Odum L. Carter as the one who shot and killed the victim. Det. Diane Nachtigal testified at a preliminary hearing for Carter, 31, of Sun Prairie, in Dane County Circuit Court. Nachtigal said Devon L. Davis, one of the other men charged in the May 31 shooting death of Michael Meaderds, told police that Carter told Davis that Carter was the one who shot Meaderds, 33. The name of the alleged shooter hadnt previously been disclosed by police or in a criminal complaint. Carters attorney, Brian Gleason, challenged that allegation, saying Davis stood in a hallway during the robbery at Meaderds apartment and therefore couldnt know who shot Meaderds. Authorities allege that Carter, Davis and two other men Emmanuel J. Johnson, 30, of Sun Prairie, and Steven T. Johnson, 26, of Madison went to Meaderds apartment at 515 Northport Drive May 30 to rob him of drugs and money. Meaderds was shot and killed during the robbery after he attempted to flee, according to a criminal complaint. Meaderds girlfriend and their 3-year-old child were home during the robbery. All four were charged with felony murder and armed robbery in June. After testimony from detectives that investigated the case, a Dane County Circuit Court judge ruled that there was probable cause for the charges against Carter, who was ordered to stand trial. At Wednesdays hearing, Carter refused to enter the courtroom. Instead, he remained in a doorway outside of the courtroom and outside the view of family members and the news media. Steven Johnson and Emmanuel Johnson were both ordered to stand trial at a preliminary hearing in June. Davis, who was arrested in Chicago late last month, made an initial court appearance on Monday. He is scheduled for a status conference on Aug. 7. Pneumatic Conveying System Market 2017 - Hillenbrand Inc. (U.S.), Flexicon Corporation (U.S.), Nilfisk Group (Denmark) Pneumatic Conveying System Market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2449 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/enquiry/2449 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/pneumatic-conveying-system-market-2449 Market Synopsis of Global Pneumatic Conveying System:A Pneumatic Conveying System is the process by which bulk materials of almost any type are transferred or injected using a gas flow as the conveying medium from one or more sources to one or more destinations. Air is the most commonly used gas, but may not be used with reactive materials.Request a Sample Report @The growth of Global Pneumatic Conveying System Market can be attributed to factors such as rapid industrialization in emerging economies and growing demand for material handling equipment. In addition, increasing demand for energy-efficient pneumatic conveying system is expected to fuel the market growth. However, high capital investment and complex installation are the major restraints to the growth of market.The Global Pneumatic Conveying System Market is poised to grow approximately at 6% CAGR and is estimated to touch USD XX billion by the end of 2022.Study objectives of Global Pneumatic Conveying System Market: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next ten years of various segments and sub-segments of the global pneumatic conveying system market. To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth. To analyze global pneumatic conveying system market based on various tools such as Price Analysis, Supply Chain Analysis, Porters Five Force Analysis. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- Asia-Pacific, North America, Europe, Rest of World. To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective. To provide country level analysis of the market for segment by capacity, by technology and by region. To provide strategic profiling of the key players in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market. To track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the global pneumatic conveying system market.Make an Enquiry before buying @Regional Analysis of Global Pneumatic Conveying System Market:Asia-Pacific is the leading market and anticipated to grow approximately at XX% CAGR during the forecast period. It is due to rapid industrialization in countries such as China and India. Also, the favorable reforms for the growth of manufacturing sector which includes food, pharmaceuticals and ceramic.It is followed by North America, where U.S is expected to be the largest market owing to increased demand for energy-efficient Pneumatic Conveying Systems in the region.Key Players:Hillenbrand Inc. (U.S.), Flexicon Corporation (U.S.), Nilfisk Group (Denmark), Cyclonaire Corporation (U.S.), Dynamic Air Inc. (U.S.), Schenck Process Holdings GmbH (Germany), Vac-U-Max (U.S.), Zeppelin systems GmbH (Germany), Macawber Engineering, Inc. (U.S.) and Nol-Tec Systems, Inc. (U.S.) are some of the leading players operating in this market.Target Audience: Manufactures Raw Materials Suppliers Aftermarket suppliers Research Institute / Education Institute Potential Investors Key executive (CEO and COO) and strategy growth managerBrowse Full Report Details @About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by Components, Application, Logistics and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 524/528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com global Auction Software market, analyzes and researches the Auction Software development status and forecast in United States By 2022 http://globalqyresearch.com/download-sample/242380 http://globalqyresearch.com/checkout-form/0/242380 http://globalqyresearch.com/ This report studies the global Auction Software market, analyzes and researches the Auction Software development status and forecast in United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia. This report focuses on the top players in global market, likePromena e-Sourcing SolutionsRainWorx SoftwareEastern UnityILanceMerkeleon SoftwareOnline Ventures SoftwareE-Multitech SolutionAuction FlexEnuukOakgroundsScriptSoftAuctionXpert Online Auction SoftwareMaestroSoftNorthwest Software TechnologiesCharity Auctions TodayMarket segment by Regions/Countries, this report coversUnited StatesEUJapanChinaIndiaSoutheast AsiaDownload Sample Report Copy:Market segment by Application, Auction Software can be split intoApplication 1Application 2Table of Contents :Global Auction Software Market Size, Status and Forecast 20221 Industry Overview of Auction Software1.1 Auction Software Market Overview1.1.1 Auction Software Product Scope1.1.2 Market Status and Outlook1.2 Global Auction Software Market Size and Analysis by Regions1.2.1 United States1.2.2 EU1.2.3 Japan1.2.4 China1.2.5 India1.2.6 Southeast Asia1.3 Auction Software Market by End Users/Application1.3.1 Application 11.3.2 Application 22 Global Auction Software Competition Analysis by Players2.1 Auction Software Market Size (Value) by Players (2016 and 2017)2.2 Competitive Status and Trend2.2.1 Market Concentration Rate2.2.2 Product/Service Differences2.2.3 New Entrants2.2.4 The Technology Trends in Future3 Company (Top Players) Profiles3.1 Promena e-Sourcing Solutions3.1.1 Company Profile3.1.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.1.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.1.4 Auction Software Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.1.5 Recent Developments3.2 RainWorx Software3.2.1 Company Profile3.2.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.2.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.2.4 Auction Software Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.2.5 Recent Developments3.3 Eastern Unity3.3.1 Company Profile3.3.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.3.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.3.4 Auction Software Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.3.5 Recent Developments3.4 ILance3.4.1 Company Profile3.4.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.4.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.4.4 Auction Software Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.4.5 Recent Developments3.5 Merkeleon Software3.5.1 Company Profile3.5.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.5.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.5.4 Auction Software Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.5.5 Recent Developments3.6 Online Ventures Software3.6.1 Company Profile3.6.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.6.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.6.4 Auction Software Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.6.5 Recent Developments3.7 E-Multitech Solution3.7.1 Company Profile3.7.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.7.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.7.4 Auction Software Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.7.5 Recent Developments3.8 Auction Flex3.8.1 Company Profile3.8.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.8.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.8.4 Auction Software Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.8.5 Recent Developments3.9 Enuuk3.9.1 Company Profile3.9.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.9.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.9.4 Auction Software Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.9.5 Recent Developments3.10 Oakgrounds3.10.1 Company Profile3.10.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.10.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.10.4 Auction Software Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.10.5 Recent Developments3.11 ScriptSoftAuction3.12 Xpert Online Auction Software3.13 MaestroSoft3.14 Northwest Software Technologies3.15 Charity Auctions Today4 Global Auction Software Market Size by Application (2012-2017)4.1 Global Auction Software Market Size by Application (2012-2017)4.2 Potential Application of Auction Software in Future4.3 Top Consumer/End Users of Auction Software5 United States Auction Software Development Status and Outlook5.1 United States Auction Software Market Size (2012-2017)5.2 United States Auction Software Market Size and Market Share by Players (2016 and 2017)6 EU Auction Software Development Status and Outlook6.1 EU Auction Software Market Size (2012-2017)6.2 EU Auction Software Market Size and Market Share by Players (2016 and 2017)7 Japan Auction Software Development Status and Outlook7.1 Japan Auction Software Market Size (2012-2017)7.2 Japan Auction Software Market Size and Market Share by Players (2016 and 2017)8 China Auction Software Development Status and Outlook8.1 China Auction Software Market Size (2012-2017)8.2 China Auction Software Market Size and Market Share by Players (2016 and 2017)9 India Auction Software Development Status and Outlook9.1 India Auction Software Market Size (2012-2017)9.2 India Auction Software Market Size and Market Share by Players (2016 and 2017)10 Southeast Asia Auction Software Development Status and Outlook10.1 Southeast Asia Auction Software Market Size (2012-2017)10.2 Southeast Asia Auction Software Market Size and Market Share by Players (2016 and 2017)11 Market Forecast by Regions and Application (2017-2022)11.1 Global Auction Software Market Size (Value) by Regions (2017-2022)11.1.1 United States Auction Software Revenue and Growth Rate (2017-2022)11.1.2 EU Auction Software Revenue and Growth Rate (2017-2022)11.1.3 Japan Auction Software Revenue and Growth Rate (2017-2022)11.1.4 China Auction Software Revenue and Growth Rate (2017-2022)11.1.5 India Auction Software Revenue and Growth Rate (2017-2022)11.1.6 Southeast Asia Auction Software Revenue and Growth Rate (2017-2022)11.2 Global Auction Software Market Size (Value) by Application (2017-2022)11.3 The Market Drivers in Future12 Auction Software Market Dynamics12.1 Auction Software Market Opportunities12.2 Auction Software Challenge and Risk12.2.1 Competition from Opponents12.2.2 Downside Risks of Economy12.3 Auction Software Market Constraints and Threat12.3.1 Threat from Substitute12.3.2 Government Policy12.3.3 Technology Risks12.4 Auction Software Market Driving Force12.4.1 Growing Demand from Emerging Markets12.4.2 Potential Application13 Market Effect Factors Analysis13.1 Technology Progress/Risk13.1.1 Substitutes13.1.2 Technology Progress in Related Industry13.2 Consumer Needs Trend/Customer Preference13.3 External Environmental Change13.3.1 Economic Fluctuations13.3.2 Other Risk Factors14 Research Finding/Conclusion15 AppendixMethodologyAnalyst IntroductionData SourceBuy Now This Report :Global QYResearch() is the one spot destination for all your research needs. Global QYResearch holds the repository of quality research reports from numerous publishers across the globe. Our inventory of research reports caters to various industry verticals including Healthcare, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Technology and Media, Chemicals, Materials, Energy, Heavy Industry, etc. With the complete information about the publishers and the industries they cater to for developing market research reports, we help our clients in making purchase decision by understanding their requirements and suggesting best possible collection matching their needs.Cleveland Road Air Cargo Security Screening Market Is Expected To Grow At A CAGR Of 6% By 2021 Air Cargo Security Screening Market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1272 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/air-cargo-security-screening-market-1272 Market Synopsis of Air Cargo Security Screening:The global Air Cargo Screening System market is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 6% during 2016-2021. The factors driving the market are measures taken to counter air cargo security threats, strict regulation to perform standard practice, and integration of best in class technology at all major airports.Asia Pacific is the leading market and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6% in the forecast period, followed by EMEA and Americas. Many prominent and well-established cargo operators now have strong presence in the APAC region. Along with an increase in air cargo traffic and the launch of new airports, the APAC region is also investing in state-of-the-art technologies; for example, the utilization of cargo screening technology based on neutron and X-ray radiography.Request a Sample Copy @Key Player of Air Cargo Security Screening Market: 3DX-RAY American Science and Engineering L-3 Security & Detection Systems Morpho Detection, Rapiscan Systems Armstrong Monitoring Astrophysics AUTOCLEAR CEIA GilardoniStudy Objectives of Air Cargo Security Screening: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 5 years of the various segments and sub-segments of the global Air Cargo Security Screening market. To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth. To Analyze the Air Cargo Security Screening market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, Porters five force analysis. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to six main geographies and their countries- North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East, and Africa. To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective. To provide country level analysis of the market for segment by technology and by region as well as its sub segments. To provide strategic profiling of key players in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market. To track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, and new product developments in the global Air Cargo Security Screening market.Key FindingsIn 2015, APAC lead the market with 36% of market share, followed by Americas and EMEAIn terms of value, air cargo amount to a third of the total international cargo shipments. More goods are being traded internationally, with majority of the growth coming from the emerging markets in the APAC.Brief TOC:1. Introduction1.1 Report Description1.2 Research Objective2. Executive Summary2.1 Key Findings / Highlights2.1.1 Investment Opportunities2.1.2 Market Startegies2.1.3 Latest Developments3. Scope of the Study3.1 Markets Covered3.2 Years Considered For the Study (2016-2021)3.2 Geographic Scope3.3 Key Stakeholders4. Assumptions and Limitations5. Research Methodology5.1 Primary Research5.2 Secondary Research5.3 Econometric and Forecasting ModelContinueAccess Report Details @About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.Contact:Akash AnandMarket Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com Phosphate Market Size, Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook https://www.gminsights.com/request-toc/upcoming/1853 http://bit.ly/2tsC4No https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/1853 https://www.gminsights.com/ Phosphate market is segmented on the basis of its product that include ammonium, potassium, calcium and sodium. Calcium accounts for highest share in the industry. End user industries is classified into pharmaceuticals, food, agriculture and ecology. Its bifurcation on the basis of applications includes medicines, fertilizers, biochemistry and food processing.Factors hindering phosphate market growth includes its side effects on human body. Excessive usage of substance can lead to vomiting, nausea, stomach pain, muscle pain, weakness, numbness and tingly feelings. Increasing consumers awareness and products ill effects is becoming an obstacle in consumption of the substance.Purchase This Report by calling Global Market Insights, Inc. at 1-888-689-0688 (Toll Free) or 1-302-846-7766.Phosphate Market size will register significant gains over the projected time period. It is a rock used to make calcium nutritional supplements for animals. Its purest form is utilized to formulate chemicals in the industry and fertilizers for agriculture. Product is natural occurring found in minerals, they are also mined to obtain phosphorus from the material. Substance contains properties of softness, flexibility, resistance to crack, waterproof and clarity that has boosted its demand and usage in various industries.Agricultural industry drives the phosphate market, it will surge to over 4% from 1.2% in the forecast period. The rock is extensively used to produce fertilizers for agricultural fields, it helps a plant to convert other nutrients into usable building blocks with which they can grow. Fertilizers are significantly consumed by the crops and plants in agricultural fields to increase productivity and life span of the fields. Growing product demand in agricultural industry will positively influence phosphate market.Request for table of contents of this research report @High usage of product in food industry is uplifting phosphate market, it is commonly found in protein rich foods including eggs, fish and sausages. It plays a vital role in meat industry, used as an additive for preserving meat and retains its water by forcing the proteins apart and maintaining natural flavor of the meat for longer duration. Its wide consumption as thickening and leavening agents in baked goods has fueled its demand in food processing industry.Phosphate market is segmented on the basis of its product that include ammonium, potassium, calcium and sodium. Calcium accounts for highest share in the industry. End user industries is classified into pharmaceuticals, food, agriculture and ecology. Its bifurcation on the basis of applications includes medicines, fertilizers, biochemistry and food processing.Browse Full Report summary @Asia Pacific is projected as fastest growing region in phosphate market. Increasing awareness about product amongst farmers, growing demand for harvesting and rising agriculture is driving the demand in the region. Indian agriculture sector contributes over 13% of its gross domestic product. China is a major contributor in agriculture and ranked first worldwide in farm output, primarily producing wheat, tomato, cotton and barley. Products extensive usage as an essential component in fertilizers is bolstering its demand in agriculture industry.Reasons to Buy This Report:1. Phosphate Market size & share forecast by product & application 2017-20242. Growth drivers, pitfalls & industry challenges3. Phosphate Market growth opportunities & emerging business models4. Competitive benchmarking with market share analysis and company profilesThe U.S. is worlds crucial pharmaceutical industry. It accounts for over 40% of global industry by hosting many top companies that are contributing in the medicine industry globally. The product is widely used in medicines to prevent kidney stone formation in body. Flourishing pharmaceutical industry in North America will surge phosphate market in forecast time period.The Phosphate Market Report Consists of:1. Methodology and Scope2. Executive Summary3. Phosphate Industry Insights4. Industry segmentation5. Industry size, forecast and growth expectations, 2017 - 20246. Industry ecosystem analysis Raw material insights7. Technology insights8. Regulatory framework9. Industry dynamics10. Key growth opportunities11. Porter's analysis12. Company market share, 201713. PESTEL analysis14. Regional price trends15. Phosphate Product Insights16. Phosphate Application Insights17.Phosphate Regional Insights18. Competitor ProfilesMake an inquiry for purchasing this report @Prominent players in phosphate market are Mosaic Company, Israel Chemicals Ltd, Saudi Arabian Mining Company, S.A OCP, PJSC PhosAgro, Potash Corporation, EuroChem, Innophos Holdings, Agrium Inc. and Jordan Mines Company. EuroChem, the second largest apatite concentration producer in Russia expanded its mines in 2015. Objective of expansion was growth, up gradation and renovation of whole mining program. Enlargement will increase the supply demand ratio over next five years, the company is one of those four companies that are mining rocks in huge quantity globally.About Global Market Insights:Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone:1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:Connect with us: Google+ | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook Military Electro Optical and Infrared Systems Market is Expected to Grow at a CAGR of 7% by 2021 Military Electro Optical And Infrared Systems Market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1287 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/military-electro-optical-infrared-systems-market-1287 Market Synopsis of Military Electro-Optical and Infrared Systems Market:The global Military Electro-Optical and Infrared Systems market is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 7% during 2016-2021.As per the MRFR analysis, this growth is driven by growing demand for vetronics, introduction of InGaAs detector systems. Factors impacting the market are declining defense budget in US and UK and regulatory issues with regards to all three platforms (air, naval, and land). Shifting trend towards EO/Laser Guidance Systems is also significantly contributing towards the increase in demand.Americas is leading the market with around 40% market share and is likely to dominate the market in the forecast period followed by EMEA and APAC.Request a Sample Copy @Key Players of Military Electro Optical and Infrared Systems Market: Raytheon Lockheed Martin L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc. BAE Systems Plc. Thales group DRS Technologies Northrop Grumman Elbit Systems Ltd. Harris Corporation Rheinmetall Defence AG Textron Rockwell Collins Ultra Electronics HoldingsStudy Objectives of Military Electro-Optical and Infrared Systems Market: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 5 years of the various segments and sub-segments of the Global Military Electro-Optical and Infrared Systems Market To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth To analyse the Global Military Electro-Optical and Infrared Systems Market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of the World (ROW) To provide country-level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective To provide country-level analysis of the market for segment by types and applications To provide strategic profiling of key players in the market, comprehensively analysing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market To track and analyse competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the Global Military Electro-Optical and Infrared Systems MarketKey Findings: Land based platform account approx. 80% of the market share and will dominate the market in forecast period. APAC will register a CAGR of around 10% in the forecast followed by EMEA and Americas. Growing investment towards InGaAs detector system, which allows imaging in the SWIR without the necessity of an external cooling system.Brief TOC:1. Introduction1.1 Report Description1.2 Research Objective2. Executive Summary2.1 Key Findings / Highlights2.1.1 Investment Opportunities2.1.2 Market Startegies2.1.3 Latest Developments3. Scope of the Study3.1 Markets Covered3.2 Years Considered For the Study (2016-2021)3.2 Geographic Scope3.3 Key Stakeholders4. Assumptions and Limitations5. Research Methodology5.1 Primary Research5.2 Secondary Research5.3 Econometric and Forecasting ModelContinueRegional and Country Analysis of Military Electro-Optical and Infrared Systems Market:Americas will dominate the electro optic and infrared sensor market during the forecast period. With increased investment and procurement of weapons systems in land, naval, and air platforms, APAC will register the maximum growth in the forecast period.Access Report Details @About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.Contact:Akash AnandMarket Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com Social Business Intelligence Market - Global Industry Trends,Share,Size,Status and Forecast 2023 https://goo.gl/ihB4Kk https://goo.gl/Xwazup https://goo.gl/4cbCCX https://www.bigmarketresearch.com/global-social-business-intelligence-research-report-2011-2023-market https://www.bigmarketresearch.com/ Big Market Research has added a report, titled, Global Social Business Intelligence Market Research Report 2011-2023Report Sample Enquiry @The report provides an extensive analysis of sales, revenue, growth rate, and key market players for the historic period, 20112016 and the forecast period, 20172023. Moreover, marketing channels, major distributors, and supply channels are discussed in the study. These insights are helpful for market players, investors, and new entrants to get full value from assets, understand risk factors, and determine investment suitability.The research offers a brief overview of the Global Social Business Intelligence Market based on definition of the industry and types. Major market activities are highlighted in the industry along with similar industries. These insights are helpful for CEOs, VPs, stakeholders, and investors to save their time and gain overview of the industry. It helps them to weigh up opportunities and take necessary steps to gain strong position.Purchase Enquiry @Competitive landscape of the Global Social Business Intelligence Market is provided based on key segments and regions. Regions analyzed in the study are the U.S., Europe, China, India, Japan, and Southeast Asia. The report provides insights on revenue generated and revenue growth rate for the historic period as well as the forecast period. Moreover, sales and sales growth rate for aforementioned periods are outlined with the help of tabular representation. Revenue generated in aforementioned regions by major players is also explored for 2016. This information is valuable to gain excellent brand equity and unwavering geographical presence.Market share analysis of the Global Social Business Intelligence Market is offered for production and revenue of market players. Moreover, production market share and revenue market share based on regions are analyzed for the historic period. These insights are helpful to devise strategies to gain impressive & recurring revenue growth. Supply chain analysis is offered based on raw material, production process, production cost structure, and end users.Check Discount on Report @Key market players operating in the Global Social Business Intelligence Market are analyzed to outline competitive intensity. Details of a company, product information, and applications are highlighted. Moreover, insights on revenue, price, and operating profits are provided in a tabular format. These insights are helpful to determine investment opportunities and collaborate with other market players to gain stronghold in the industry.Globalization and trade analysis are provided based on supply channels, marketing strategies, and barriers to entry. This information is helpful to gain improved profitability and strong revenue visibility across the world. Insights on major distributors and customers are enlisted based on regions. Moreover, detailed information on import, export, consumption, and consumption value for aforementioned countries is offered. This information is helpful to determine emerging economies and discover untapped geographies. Key success factors are outlined at the end of the research.Table of Contents1 Market Overview1.1 Objectives of Research1.2 Market Segment2 Industry Chain2.1 Industry Chain Structure2.2 Upstream2.3 Market3 Environmental Analysis4 Market Segmentation by Type4.1 Market Size4.2 Market Forecast5 Market Segmentation by Application5.1 Market Size5.2 Market Forecast6 Market Segmentation by Region6.1 Market Size7 Market Competitive7.1 Global Market by Vendors7.2 Market Concentration7.3 Price & Factors7.4 Marketing Channel8 Major Vendors8.1 Company 18.1.2 Profile8.1.2 Business Performance (Sales Revenue, Cost, Gross Margin)Check Complete TOC@About Us:Big Market Research uniqueness lies in its highly ethical reports at economical rates because we value your relationship and growth more than money. Your growth is our aim. With the arsenal of different search reports, we help you here to look and buy research reports that will be helpful to you and your organization. Our research reports have the capability and authenticity to support your organization for growth and consistency.Contact Us:5933 NE Win Sivers Drive,#205, Portland, OR 97220United StatesDirect: +1-971-202-1575Toll Free No: +1-800-910-6452Email: help@bigmarketresearch.comWeb: LED Bulbs Detailed Analysis Report 2022 by Global Regions, Product, Types, Applications & Players TaoTronics, GE, SunLabz, OPPLE, NVC https://www.htfmarketreport.com/sample-report/590256-global-led-bulbs-detailed-analysis-report https://www.htfmarketreport.com/buy-nowformat=1&report=590256 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/request-discount/590256-global-led-bulbs-detailed-analysis-report https://www.htfmarketreport.com/reports/590256-global-led-bulbs-detailed-analysis-report A new research document with title 'Global LED Bulbs Detailed Analysis Report 2017-2022 ' covering detailed analysis, Competitive landscape, forecast and strategies. The study covers geographic analysis that includes regions like United States, Europe, China, Japan, India, Southeast Asia and important players/vendors such as TaoTronics, GE, SunLabz, OPPLE, NVC ................The report will help user gain market insights, future trends and growth prospects for forecast period of 2022SummaryThis report splits LED Bulbs By Price, By Light Bulb Wattage, By Light Bulb Color Temperature, By Light Bulb Brightness, By Light Bulb Base Type. This shares the history data information from 2012 to 2016, and forecast from 2017 to 2022.And this report mainly introduces volume and value market share by players, by regions, by product type, by consumers and also their price change details. As a Detailed Analysis report, it covers all details inside analysis and opinion in LED Bulbs industry.Request a sample report @This report focus Global market, it covers details players regions product type and other details as following:Major Companies of LED BulbsTCP(United States)Hyperikon(United States)Vemotix(United States)TIWIN(United States)Lighting EVER(United States)GE Lighting(United States)TaoTronics(United States)GE(United States)SunLabz(United States)Mulcolor(United States)Vivid Lighting(United States)LED Bulbs(United States)OPPLE(China)NVC(China)Foshan Electrical and Lighting(China)Midea(China)Yeelight(China)Sanxiong Aurora(China)Aidelang(China)Xingfan(China)TCL(China)Chuanghuaxing(China)Lionway(China)GERUN(China)BULL(China)DELIXI(China)LONON(China)Huanxin(China)Yueyingkaidun(China)High-Class Lighting(China)HONYAR(China)Imposing(China)ROLin(China)LOHAS-LED(China)Panasonic(Japan)Philips(Netherlands)Long Life Lamp Company(United Kingdom)Lampaous(United Kingdom)DizauL(United Kingdom)OSRAM(Germany)Buy this report @Main RegionsUnited StatesEuropeGermanyUnited KingdomFranceItalySpainRussiaNetherlandPolandOthersChinaJapanIndiaSoutheast AsiaOthersMain Product TypeLED Bulbs Market, By PriceUnder $25$25 to $50$50 to $100$100 to $200$200 & AboveLED Bulbs Market, By Light Bulb WattageUnder 10 Watts10 to 19 Watts20 to 29 Watts30 to 49 Watts50 to 59 Watts60 to 69 Watts70 Watts & AboveLED Bulbs Market, By Light Bulb Color TemperatureWarm (2000 - 3499 K)Neutral (3500 - 4099 K)Cool (4100 - 4999 K)Daylight (5000 K & Above)LED Bulbs Market, By Light Bulb BrightnessUnder 449 Lumens450 - 799 Lumens800 - 1099 Lumens1100 - 1599 Lumens1600 Lumens & AboveLED Bulbs Market, By Light Bulb Base TypeEdisonBi-pinWedgeBayonetFlangedMain ApplicationsHomeCommercialGet customization & check discount for report @Table of ContentsChapter One LED Bulbs Market Overview1.1 Global LED Bulbs Market Sales Volume Revenue and Price 2012-20221.2 LED Bulbs, By Price 2012-20221.2.1 Global LED Bulbs Sales Market Share By Price 2012-20221.2.2 Global LED Bulbs Revenue Market Share By Price 2012-20221.2.3 Global LED Bulbs Price By Price 2012-20221.2.4 Under $251.2.5 $25 to $501.2.6 $50 to $1001.2.7 $100 to $2001.2.8 $200 & Above1.3 LED Bulbs, By Light Bulb Wattage 2012-20221.3.1 Global LED Bulbs Sales Market Share By Light Bulb Wattage 2012-20221.3.2 Global LED Bulbs Revenue Market Share By Light Bulb Wattage 2012-20221.3.3 Global LED Bulbs Price By Light Bulb Wattage 2012-20221.3.4 Under 10 Watts1.3.5 10 to 19 Watts1.3.6 20 to 29 Watts1.3.7 30 to 49 Watts1.3.8 50 to 59 Watts1.3.9 60 to 69 Watts1.3.10 70 Watts & Above1.4 LED Bulbs, By Light Bulb Color Temperature 2012-20221.4.1 Global LED Bulbs Sales Market Share By Light Bulb Color Temperature 2012-20221.4.2 Global LED Bulbs Revenue Market Share By Light Bulb Color Temperature 2012-20221.4.3 Global LED Bulbs Price By Light Bulb Color Temperature 2012-20221.4.4 Warm (2000 - 3499 K)1.4.5 Neutral (3500 - 4099 K)1.4.6 Cool (4100 - 4999 K)1.4.7 Daylight (5000 K & Above)1.5 LED Bulbs, By Light Bulb Brightness 2012-20221.5.1 Global LED Bulbs Sales Market Share By Light Bulb Brightness 2012-20221.5.2 Global LED Bulbs Revenue Market Share By Light Bulb Brightness 2012-20221.5.3 Global LED Bulbs Price By Light Bulb Brightness 2012-20221.5.4 Under 449 Lumens1.5.5 450 - 799 Lumens1.5.6 800 - 1099 Lumens1.5.7 1100 - 1599 Lumens1.5.8 1600 Lumens & Above1.6 LED Bulbs, By Light Bulb Base Type 2012-20221.6.1 Global LED Bulbs Sales Market Share By Light Bulb Base Type 2012-20221.6.2 Global LED Bulbs Revenue Market Share By Light Bulb Base Type 2012-20221.6.3 Global LED Bulbs Price By Light Bulb Base Type 2012-20221.6.4 Edison1.6.5 Bi-pin1.6.6 Wedge1.6.7 Bayonet1.6.8 FlangedChapter Two, LED Bulbs by Regions 2012-20222.1 Global LED Bulbs Sales Market Share by Regions 2012-20222.2 Global LED Bulbs Revenue Market Share by Regions 2012-20222.3 Global LED Bulbs Price by Regions 2012-20222.4 United States2.5 Europe2.5.1 Germany2.5.2 United Kingdom2.5.3 France2.5.4 Italy2.5.5 Spain2.5.6 Russia2.5.7 Others in Europe2.6 China2.7 Japan2.8 India2.9 Southeast Asia2.10 OthersChapter Three, LED Bulbs by Brands 2012-20223.1 Global LED Bulbs Sales Volume Market Share by Brands 2012-20223.2 Global LED Bulbs Revenue Share by Brands 2012-20223.3 Global Top Brands LED Bulbs Key Product Model and Market Performance3.4 Global Top Brands LED Bulbs Key Target Consumers and Market PerformanceChapter Four, LED Bulbs by Consumer 2012-20224.1 Global LED Bulbs Sales Market Share by Consumer 2012-20224.2 Home4.3 Commercial4.4 Consuming Habit and Preference....ContinuedView Detailed Table of Content @Thanks for reading this article, you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, Europe or Asia.HTF Market Report is a wholly owned brand of HTF market Intelligence Consulting Private Limited. HTF Market Report global research and market intelligence consulting organization is uniquely positioned to not only identify growth opportunities but to also empower and inspire you to create visionary growth strategies for futures, enabled by our extraordinary depth and breadth of thought leadership, research, tools, events and experience that assist you for making goals into a reality. Our understanding of the interplay between industry convergence, Mega Trends, technologies and market trends provides our clients with new business models and expansion opportunities. We are focused on identifying the Accurate Forecast in every industry we cover so our clients can reap the benefits of being early market entrants and can accomplish their Goals & Objectives.Contact Us:HTF Market Intelligence Consulting Private LimitedUnit No. 429, Parsonage Road Edison, NJNew Jersey USA 08837sales@htfmarketreport.com+1 (206) 317 1218 What are the Factors that drives the Growth & Opportunities for Of Global Terephthalic Aldehyde Market? https://www.gminsights.com/request-toc/upcoming/1868 http://bit.ly/2tsSntt https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/1868 https://www.gminsights.com/ The component is extensively consumed in dye industry as a mixing agent in its manufacturing. It gives long lasting color to the products and can be used for changing color of component. Dyes are consumed globally as an intermediary in manufacturing of textiles, inks, tinting, construction and polymers. Upsurge in CAGR of dye industry over 4.5% is propelling its demand and inducing growth in terephthalic aldehyde market.Pharmaceutical industry will grow at over 10% in the forecast period. The component is highly used in medicine production. It is consumed for combatting viruses, bacteria, fungi and insects, up surge in medicinal industry is anticipated to boost terephthalic aldehyde market.Purchase This Report by calling Global Market Insights, Inc. at 1-888-689-0688 (Toll Free) or 1-302-846-7766.Terephthalic Aldehyde Market size is anticipating considerable growth in forecast time period. The product is whitish crystal compound manufactured by utilizing xylene in the presence of bismuth and tungsten. It is basic chemical used as an intermediary in various applications that include plastic, dyes and pharmaceuticals. Being a basic component in various applications demand for the substance has successively boosted. Plastic, dyes and pharmaceuticals are one of the fastest growing industries of economy, influencing product penetration worldwide.Plastic industry will register CAGR of over 6% in next five years. Being a major component in plastic manufacturing, compound demand will propel in near future. Its excellence in water and moisture resistance has fueled its usage in soft drink bottles. Global carbonated drinks is expected to witness CAGR over 2% in terms of volume and revenue in the next seven years. Up surge in these industries will boost terephthalic aldehyde market.Request for table of contents of this research report @Supply chain of terephthalic aldehyde market initiates from procuring raw material from various suppliers. Manufacturing of the component takes place in laboratory, it is a formulated by chemical reaction of various atoms and molecules. Post manufacturing, it is transported and distributed to various location for varied applications. Major end use of the substance are pharmaceuticals, dyes, pigments and plastic industries.Challenges faced by terephthalic aldehyde market includes its ill effect on the human body that includes allergic hypersensitivity disease, respiratory allergies and other aging associated disease. Growing consumer awareness in medication and health consciousness is posing obstacle for the terephthalic aldehyde market.Segmentation on the basis of end use industries involves pharmaceuticals, plastic, textiles and optics industry. Various application of terephthalic aldehyde market are medicines, dyes, plastic bottles and brightener.Browse Full Report summary @The U.S. is worlds most important pharmaceutical industry, contributing over 35% in global pharmaceutical industry. It hosts many top companies contributing in the industry on a global basis. Reasons to Buy This Report:1. Terephthalic Aldehyde Market size & share forecast by product & application 2017-20242. Growth drivers, pitfalls & industry challenges3. Terephthalic Aldehyde Market growth opportunities & emerging business models4. Competitive benchmarking with market share analysis and company profilesPlastic industry majorly contributes in economic welfare of Europe by enabling innovation, creating quality life for the natives and climate protection. Europe ranks second in global plastics material production and is one of the largest consumer of plastic based products. Rise in plastic demand will make the region a considerable contributor and will bolster terephthalic aldehyde market.The Terephthalic Aldehyde Market Report Consists of:1. Methodology and Scope2. Executive Summary3. Terephthalic Aldehyde Industry Insights4. Industry segmentation5. Industry size, forecast and growth expectations, 2017 - 20246. Industry ecosystem analysis Raw material insights7. Technology insights8. Regulatory framework9. Industry dynamics10. Key growth opportunities11. Porter's analysis12. Company market share, 201713. PESTEL analysis14. Regional price trends15. Terephthalic Aldehyde Product Insights16. Terephthalic Aldehyde Application Insights17.Terephthalic Aldehyde Regional Insights18. Competitor ProfilesMake an inquiry for purchasing this report @Key manufacturers in the market are Jinan Haohua, Chemindustry, Haihang Industry, Nebula Chemicals, Fond Chemicals, Struchem co. Ltd., Conier Chem and Pharma Limited, Suzhou Health Chemicals, Angene International Limited and Rosewachem co. Ltd. Companies are emphasizing on product research and development and to supply the product globally. Other focus it is to minimize its side effects on human health by improving its chemical formulation. Jinan Haohua expanded its business through research and development, manufacturing chemicals, pharmaceuticals and intermediaries. Aim of the company is to make the product available worldwide and establish long term and stable relationship with the customers.About Global Market Insights:Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone:1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:Connect with us: Google+ | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook Military Aircraft Digital Glass Cockpit Systems Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2016-2021 Military Aircraft Digital Glass Cockpit Systems Market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1298 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/military-aircraft-digital-glass-cockpit-systems-market-1298 Market Synopsis of Military Aircraft Digital Glass Cockpit Systems Market:The global Military Aircraft Digital Glass Cockpit Systems market is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 3% during 2016-2021. The market is driven due to growing demand for system automation and increased procurement of next generation military aircraft.As per the MRFR analysis, in 2015, Americas lead the market. It is estimated that APAC will outpace other regions in the forecast period in terms of sales and growth rate. This growth is attributed to growing defense spending and procurement of military aircraft with best in class technology.Request a Sample Copy @Key Players of Military Aircraft Digital Glass Cockpit Systems Market: Astronautics Corporation of America Barco Inc, Elbit Systems Esterline Technologies Corp Finmeccanica Group.Study Objectives of Military Aircraft Digital Glass Cockpit Systems Market: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 5 years of the various segments and sub-segments of the Global Military Aircraft Digital Glass Cockpit Systems Market To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth To analyse the Global Military Aircraft Digital Glass Cockpit Systems Market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of the World (ROW) To provide country-level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective To provide country-level analysis of the market for segment by systems and geography To provide strategic profiling of key players in the market, comprehensively analysing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market To track and analyse competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the Global Military Aircraft Digital Glass Cockpit Systems MarketBrief TOC:1. Introduction1.1 Report Description1.2 Research Objective2. Executive Summary2.1 Key Findings / Highlights2.1.1 Investment Opportunities2.1.2 Market Startegies2.1.3 Latest Developments3. Scope of the Study3.1 Markets Covered3.2 Years Considered For The Study (2016-2021)3.2 Geographic Scope3.3 Key Stakeholders4. Assumptions and Limitations5. Research Methodology5.1 Primary Research5.2 Secondary Research5.3 Econometric and Forecasting ModelContinueAccess Report Details @Key Findings: In 2021, APAC is expected to lead the market with a share of around 43% APAC has the fastest projected growth, with its market likely to grow at a CAGR of around 4%, during the forecast periodAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.Contact:Akash AnandMarket Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com Silver will be hallmark too, along with gold: Announces Guinea Gold Jewellers Pvt. Ltd Durgapur, Paschim Bardhaman, 7th July, 2017 Guinea Gold Jewellers Pvt. Ltd., one of the fastest growing jewelers of Bengal, has declared that they are going to launch hallmark silver sets in their stores along with gold ornaments. They are proud of being a part of this certified Silver revolution that is paving a new path in the world of precious metals & jewelry. Guinea Gold Jewellers Pvt. Ltd. or GGJ has recently announced that right now, they are going to keep hallmark certified silver sets in their stores and very soon, they are going to create silver ornaments that will be 100% hallmark certified.The tradition of wearing hallmark silver ornaments is still very rare in Bengal, due to the ignorance of the consumers which affects the demand of silver ornaments. Therefore, jewelers worldwide may have started keeping hallmark silver sets, but this tradition hasnt yet been followed in Bengal widely. GGJs CEO Shri Nirmal Kr. Ghosh says, people lack proper information about silver items and many entrepreneurs are taking its advantage by selling non-certified silver products instead of guiding them rightly. We dont support this kind of illegal activity. All of our silver items are 100% BIS hallmark certified and purely safe and authenticated to use. He also said that all of their branches including the Benachity & Aesby More branches too.Their recent venture was Ratha Yatra offer SONA KINLE RUPO FREE, where they promise to deliver hallmark silver products only.The brainchild of Shri Nirmal Kr. Ghosh, Guinea Gold Jewellers Pvt. Ltd. is now independent and takes pride in making unique hallmark jewelry items of both in gold & silver. Their forte is their specially made hallmark silver products which are quite rare in Bengal. They also make all kinds of gold, silver & diamond items along with the GIS certified gemstones and follow all the norms of SEBI, in order to deliver a secured service to their clients.Guinea Gold Jewellers Pvt Ltd.Nachan Road, Trinayani Mansion, Benachity Durgapur 7132137797735000 A former UW-Madison student pleaded guilty Wednesday to sexually assaulting and choking a classmate in his dorm room while high on LSD in 2016. Alec R. Shiva, 19, of Verona, pleaded guilty to second-degree sexual assault, false imprisonment, strangulation and suffocation all felonies in Dane County Circuit Court. He also pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery and fourth-degree sexual assault. Shiva will be sentenced after a pre-sentence investigation is completed. Shiva sexually assaulted an 18-year-old woman in his Sellery Hall dorm room on Nov. 10, 2016, while high on LSD, according to a criminal complaint. The woman went back to Shivas room after he begged her to when he became paranoid at a protest on campus. But when they got back to Sellery Hall, he pushed her into his room and locked the door before he pushed her onto a bed and grabbed her face to make her kiss him. During the incident, according to the complaint, he put his hands around her neck and put his hands on her mouth and nose, preventing her from breathing, before groping her and telling her, Im going to rape you now, is that OK? The woman was eventually able to kick Shiva off of her, unlock the door to the room and run away, the complaint said. Shiva has been expelled from UW-Madison for the assault, said spokeswoman university Meredith McGlone. As part of a plea agreement, prosecutors dropped misdemeanor charges of criminal damage to property and disorderly conduct. The victim 100 percent agreed with the plea agreement, Assistant District Attorney Chelsea Wetjen told the court. Global Diabetic Food Market 2017 : PepsiCo, Kraft Foods, InBev, Max Foods, Hershey, Pillsbury Diabetic Food http://bit.ly/2uBCsZC http://bit.ly/2vEXRy5 Top Manufacture Analysis Of Diabetic Food Market 2017 Includes Market outline, section by Application, Market by Region and Production, Revenue (Value), worth Trend by kind. The Markets And analysis study delivers necessary information and realistic data of the globe Diabetic Food market. The report presents a deep study of the market growth factors and drivers. In-depth analysis of the Diabetic Food Market limitations and thus the opportunities modify the user to create the long run projection. The report to boot includes current trends supported the manufacturing ways, technological advancements, and innovations.Free Sample Copy Of Report :Global Diabetic Food Market key Manufactures square measureNestleDanoneMARSCargillUnileverPepsiCoKraft FoodsInBevMax FoodsHersheyPillsburyPopsicleTelefuGlobal Diabetic Food Market 2017 report to boot options an outline of Compound Annual rate (CAGR) in command of worth for the actual quantity for Diabetic Food market which will assist the user to conclude the selection supported a front chart. The Diabetic Food Market report to boot contains in-detail information of the key players beside vendors and suppliers. The report to boot focuses on the geographical distribution of the Diabetic Food market across the globe with the analysis done by our qualified researchers.The Diabetic Food market report provides Associate in Nursing in-depth outline of various segments supported application, end-user industries, technology, and merchandise kind. The regional analysis of the Diabetic Food market is developed by considering the performance of the Diabetic Food trade inside the particular region. Hence, the similar analysis is used to estimate the long run forecast of the globe Diabetic Food market.Inquiry For Report :The report to boot provides in-depth information regarding the specification, definitions, related to the Diabetic Food trade and to boot highlights the modification and changes created to ease the assembly procedures. certain trade chains and government authorizations relevant to the Diabetic Food market are engulfed inside the report.The characteristics of the Diabetic Food trade square measure evaluated throughout a qualitative and quantitative due to compare the Diabetic Food market regionally and globally. Moreover, the report is crafted with many graphical representations that embrace graphs, figures, and diagrams supported the mathematics data beside precise revenue graphs and analysis of the merchandise.About Us :Worldwide Industry are a trusted brand in the research industry with capability of commissioning complex projects within a short span of time with high level of accuracy. At Worldwide Industry, we believe in building long term relations with our clients. Our services cover a broad spectrum of industries such as Automotive and Aerospace, Medical Devices, Technology, Machinery & Manufacturing.Contact Us :Worldwide IndustryUnited States Luminary Global Energy Leaders Convened in Singapore to Support Low Carbon Future www.wes-ies.org www.wes-ies.org www.ies.org.sg www.applied-energy.org https://www.journals.elsevier.com/applied-energy/ World Engineers Summit Applied Energy Symposium & Forum 2017 to drive sharing and co-creation of engineering innovations for sustainable urban development from 18 to 21 July, 2017The Institution of Engineers, Singapore (IES) today officially opened the doors to the World Engineers Summit Applied Energy Symposium & Forum: Low Carbon Cities & Urban Energy Joint Conference (WES-CUE) 2017 at the Suntec Convention & Exhibition Centre, Singapore. The conference is a focal point for addressing pressing global issues arising from energy - and carbon- intensive urban development, with a special focus on harnessing engineering innovations to create a sustainable, low carbon future.Mr Teo Chee Hean, Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security was the guest-of-honour at the opening ceremony. He addressed 400 multi-disciplinary engineers and scientists; energy, urban planning and environmental & water specialists; business leaders; academia and policy makers from more than 30 countries around the world.Rapid urbanisation is elevating energy demand to unprecedented levels. According to the World Bank, cities consume about two-thirds of the worlds energy and account for more than 70% of global greenhouse gas emissions. WES-CUE 2017 has brought together eminent experts, renowned researchers, practitioners and policy makers to share latest research findings and engineering advancements critical for moving cities towards highly energy-efficient and sustainable practices.For the first time, the biennial WES series has partnered with The Applied Energy Innovation Institute, to deliver profound and diverse technical content to delegates. The conference technical committee received a record 288 technical paper abstracts from more than 35 countries in response to its call for submissions, out of which a total of more than 150 are being presented at the conference.WES-CUE 2017 is designed to bring delegates to the forefront of scientific research and facilitate exchange of the latest progress in urban energy systems and policy options. This years summit will play a major role in helping engineers, business leaders, policy makers and other professionals accelerate the transformation of cities into low carbon urban systems and move the world towards a cleaner, more energy-efficient and resilient future, said Prof S.K. Chou, Co-Chair, WES-CUE 2017 Joint Conference.Prof J. Yan, Co-Chair of WES-CUE 2017, added, Singapore offers an excellent meeting point for the chosen theme of the joint conference. Applied Energy Symposium & Forum: Low Carbon Cities & Urban Energy (CUE) is a platform under the Applied Energy network that focuses on urban energy systems covering topics such as energy supply, distribution and end use; smart eco-cities; urban transportation with efficient energy use and low emissions; microgrid and smart homes; BIPV and renewable energy applications; urban waste to energy; nexus of energy-water; and policy options.Summit HighlightsWES-CUE 2017 will address a range of critical issues with focus on six key topics: Transport, Building, Industry, Environment, Power Generation & Energy Storage and Urban Planning.Four sustainability thought leaders kicked off the conference today as keynote speakers: Ms Jean Venables, Vice President of the World Federation of Engineering Organisations (WFEO) and Chair of Committee on Engineering & Environment (CEE); Professor Lui Pao Chuen, Advisor, Strategic Planning Division, Ministry Of National Development, Singapore; Dr Richard E. Rocheleau, Director, Hawaii Natural Energy Institute, University of Hawaii; and Dr Liu Thai Ker, Senior Director, RSP Architects Planners & Engineers (Pte) Ltd, Singapore.Other conference highlights include: WES-CUE 2017 Conference Dinner on 20 July, 6.30pm to 9.30pm, to be graced by Mr Masagos Zulkifli, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources WiSER Forum on 20 July, 9am to 12.30pm a platform focusing on empowering and promoting women leadership in the engineering industry and professional fields ASHRAE Distinguished Lectures Seminar on 21 July, 9am to 6pm, focusing on the integrated design, installation and operation of Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) system and Building Automation System (BAS) to achieve thermal comfort and indoor air quality in high performing buildings Technical Site Visits on 21 July, 2pm to 5pm, for delegates to personally tour several of Singapores world-class facilities boasting sophisticated sustainability features National Engineers Day 2017 on 19, 20 & 21 July, 9am to 6pm, an annual engineering festival organised by IES to promote engineering to the youngThe event accepts on-site registration. Find out more ator follow IES on Facebook and LinkedIn for the latest updates.- END -About World Engineers SummitLaunched in 2013, the biennial World Engineers Summit (WES) is a premier platform that focuses on addressing global challenges arising from the impact of climate change by gathering influential thought leaders, policy makers, specialists, business leaders, multi-disciplinary engineers and leading academics from across the globe, to exchange expert opinion and present sound engineering solutions for the future. The WES is organised by The Institution of Engineers, Singapore (IES), the heart and voice of engineers in Singapore.For more information, visitAbout The Institution of Engineers, Singapore (IES)The Institution of Engineers, Singapore (IES) was formally established in July 1966 as the national society of engineers in Singapore. IES is the premier engineering institution in Singapore and is called upon by the Government to provide feedback on professional engineering matters.IES is well represented among the faculty members of the major engineering institutions of higher learning in Singapore. Through close collaboration with the local universities and polytechnics, IES organises courses, seminars and talks for engineers and IES members to advance the continuous development of engineers.The Institution maintains close links with professional organisations of engineers regionally and throughout the world. These include organisations in Australia, China, Japan, United Kingdom and the United States. The Institution also represents Singapore in the ASEAN Federation of Engineering Organizations (AFEO) and the Federation of Engineering Institutions of Asia and the Pacific (FEIAP) in promoting goodwill, fellowship and exchange of knowledge among all engineers in ASEAN and the Asia-Pacific region.Through its Engineering Accreditation Board (EAB), IES obtained full signatory status in the Washington Accord (WA) in June 2006. The entry grants IES the authority to represent Singapore, the first country within the ASEAN region which has obtained full signatory status in the WA, to vet education systems under the WA mutual recognition framework.For more information, visitAbout Applied EnergyApplied Energy is an international journal published by Elsevier. It provides a forum for information on innovation, research, development and demonstration in the areas of energy conversion and conservation, the optimal use of energy resources, analysis and optimization of energy processes, mitigation of environmental pollutants, and sustainable energy systems. The journal publishes original papers, review articles, technical notes, and letters to the editor. Authors are encouraged to submit manuscripts which bridge the gaps between research, development and implementation. The breadth of coverage ranges from innovative technologies and systems of both fossil and renewable energy to the economic industrial and domestic use of energy with no or minor impact on the environment. Applied Energy is also concerned with the attendant problems of modeling and forecasting, conservation strategies, and the environmental, social and economic impacts of energy policies and usage, including climate change mitigation and other environmental pollution reduction.The Applied Energy network organizes several international conferences annually including:- International Conference on Applied Energy (ICAE):- Applied Energy Symposium & Forum: Low Carbon Cities & Urban Energy (CUE)- Applied Energy Symposium & Forum: Renewable Energy and Microgrid (REM)Follow this link for more information:- END -MEDIA CONTACTThe Institution of Engineers, Singapore (IES):Veron PohConference ManagerDID: 6461 1240Email: veron.poh@iesnet.org.sgDesmond TeoPublications ManagerDID: (65) 6461 1229Email: desmond@iesnet.org.sgThe Right Spin PR:Ng Rui FenAssociateDID: (65) 6325 5927Mobile: (65) 9681 5262Email: ruifen@therightspin.com.sgKathlyn LokeJunior AssociateDID: (65) 6325 5927Mobile: (65) 8127 2886Email: kathlyn@therightspin.com.sg Global Ferment Fillings Market 2017 : Zentis, Fruit Crown, Alimentos Profusa, Frexport, Lyons Ferment Fillings http://bit.ly/2gMqS8v http://bit.ly/2udBK3T Top Manufacture Analysis Of Ferment Fillings Market 2017 Includes Market outline, section by Application, Market by Region and Production, Revenue (Value), worth Trend by kind. 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Our services cover a broad spectrum of industries such as Automotive and Aerospace, Medical Devices, Technology, Machinery & Manufacturing.Contact Us :Worldwide IndustryUnited States Global Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Market Will Reach At CAGR Of 7.5% Between 2017-2021 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1064785 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/reports/1064785/global-therapeutic-drug-monitoring-market-research-reports https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/enquiryBuy/1064785 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ Latest industry research report on: Global Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Market : Industry Size, Share, Research, Reviews, Analysis, Strategies, Demand, Growth, Segmentation, Parameters, ForecastsRequest For Sample Report @Therapeutic drug monitoring is a branch of clinical pharmacology and clinical chemistry that specializes in the measurement of drug concentration in blood. It is mainly performed on the drugs with a narrow therapeutic window. Therapeutic drug monitoring aims at improving patient care by regulating the dose of drugs. It is based on a priori pharmacogenetic, demographic, and clinical information. It also considers a posteriori measurement of drug concentration in the blood.Technavios analysts forecast the global therapeutic drug monitoring market to grow at a CAGR of 7.5% during the period 2017-2021.Complete Report Details @Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global therapeutic drug monitoring market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report presents a detailed picture of the market by way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:AmericasAPACEMEAHave Any Query? Ask Our Expert @Technavio's report, Global Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Market 2017-2021, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendorsBeckman CoulterBio-Rad LaboratoriesF. Hoffmann-La RocheSiemens HealthcareThermo Fisher ScientificOther prominent vendorsAdaptive BiotechnologiesAESKU.DiagnosticsAlerebioMrieuxBio-TechneBHLMANN LaboratoriesDiaSorinEuro DiagnosticaExagen DiagnosticsIDEXX LaboratoriesInSource DiagnosticsMerck MilliporeMiraca Life SciencesMyriad GeneticsPhadiaQuest DiagnosticsSEKISUI MEDICALSQI DiagnosticsTecanTheradiagMarket driverIncreasing demand for personalized medicineFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challengeShortage of skilled technicians for performing diagnostic techniquesFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trendAdvent of POC testsFor a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this reportWhat will the market size be in 2021 and what will the growth rate be?What are the key market trends?What is driving this market?What are the challenges to market growth?Who are the key vendors in this market space?What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?About usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.Contact UsState Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Website:Email: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Global Ice Cream Powder Market 2017 : Indian Dairy, Oishi International, Alaskan Snow, Sunspray Food, Millac Cream Family Ice Cream Powder http://bit.ly/2vmd2wO http://bit.ly/2vFgaTE Top Manufacture Analysis Of Ice Cream Powder Market 2017 Includes Market outline, section by Application, Market by Region and Production, Revenue (Value), worth Trend by kind. The Markets And analysis study delivers necessary information and realistic data of the globe Ice Cream Powder market. 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Moreover, the report is crafted with many graphical representations that embrace graphs, figures, and diagrams supported the mathematics data beside precise revenue graphs and analysis of the merchandise.About Us :Worldwide Industry are a trusted brand in the research industry with capability of commissioning complex projects within a short span of time with high level of accuracy. At Worldwide Industry, we believe in building long term relations with our clients. Our services cover a broad spectrum of industries such as Automotive and Aerospace, Medical Devices, Technology, Machinery & Manufacturing.Contact Us :Worldwide IndustryUnited States Global Denim Market 2017: Shasha Denims Limited, Bhaskar Industries, Isko, Oswal Denims, Aarvee and Arvind Global Denim Market https://goo.gl/6i9EVu https://goo.gl/SwLbfi https://market.biz/ http://emarketresearch.us/ Global Denim research report provides the complete and precise view of the market during the forecast period from 2017-2022. The Denim market Report enlists the different factors which can help the readers in transforming their knowledge into vital business decisions. To start with the Denim report analyses the market development based on market gains, extensive product applications, dominant market regions and the companies within these regions.At an initial stage, the report offers the Denim market structure, business outline, product view, technical advancements and pioneering market plans along with the factors that can restrain the progress of Denim market.Do Inquiry Before Accessing Global Denim Report:Remarkable Assets of the Global Denim Market Report: Breakdown of the report by key market segments will exhibit the market growth scenario based on regions. With the knowledge of dominant key players, the vital business choices can be made. Easy to understandable view of the global Denim market will be provided by segment-wise and region-wise analysis. 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We take pride in our ability to satisfy the market research needs of both domestic and international businesses.Market.Biz has access to the worlds most comprehensive and up-to-date databases in your business sector, including countless market reports that can provide you with valuable data relating to your business. 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Decision makers can now rely on our distinct data gathering methods to get factual market forecasting and detailed analysis.008, Mihir Co-operative,Above Bharat Suzuki showroom,Fatima Nagar,Pune,Maharashtra,IndiaIndia: +91 2069535353Jay MatthewsDirect: +1 513 549-5911Email: sales@reportsmonitor.comWebsite: B2B Basic and B2B Advanced packages, encompassing General & Unique requirements of business, launched for Magento 2 users B2B Basic and B2B Advanced Package Features http://cedcommerce.com/magento-2-extensions/b2b/marketplace/b2b-basic-marketplace-package http://cedcommerce.com/magento-2-extensions/b2b/marketplace/b2b-advanced-marketplace-package Portland, Oregon, - (July 20, 2017) Enabling Magento 2 users to quickly start their B2B business, CedCommerce on Thursday launched B2B Basic and B2B Advanced packages. 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Also, it is OFFICIAL channel integration partners with Walmart, Jet and Newegg.We build Magento solutions that are robust, affordable and user friendly.1812 N Columbia Blvd, Suite C15-653026, Portland,Oregon, 97217, USA LED Lamp Market Market to See USD 13.5 Billion Worth by 2024: Growth Factors & Trends https://www.marketstudyreport.com/check-for-discount/448862/ https://www.marketstudyreport.com/request-a-sample/448862/?utm_source=OPR-NL http://www.satprnews.com/author/jignesh-thakkar/ https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/2017-global-and-regional-office-led-lamps-market-research-report-forecasts-2022/ https://www.marketstudyreport.com LED Lamp Market size is set to reach USD 13.5 billion by 2024, according to a new research report . The global LED consumption in 2016 was over 2 billion units.Global LED lamp market growth is attributed to modernization in lighting systems, demand for energy-efficient solutions, and adoption across residential, industrial, and commercial purposes during the forecast timespan. Stringent government regulations have boosted the need for eco-friendly solutions and reduction of carbon footprint through industrial and commercial applications.Growing concerns about the depletion of non-renewable sources of power have fueled the need for lighting solutions that can reduce the negative impact on the environment. Owing to their wide range of benefits, these products are expected to eventually replace the usage of commonly used lighting sources such as filament lamps, fluorescent, and halogen lighting, fueling global LED lamp market size.LED lighting is a cost-effective solution that provides longer duration of illumination compared to conventional counterparts such as filament bulbs and incandescent lights. The LED lamp market has witnessed considerable installation initiatives from regulatory bodies across public locations and highways.Enquiry Discount for Global LED Lamp Market Research Report @The automation of the manufacturing process has reduced the input costs of developing LED sources; thus, playing a significant role in decreasing the overall cost. Increasing R&D in chips and arrays is also a major factor driving industry growth; for instance, the introduction of organic light-emitting diode lamps. Steady technological advancements in manufacturing have made these bulbs brighter with longer operational duration. These lighting elements have about 30,000 to 40,000 hours of lifespan and can last up to four times longer than the compact fluorescent bulbs.The general-purpose LED lamp market is expected to witness high growth rates during the forecast period owing to multipurpose applications. Consumption trends across various verticals are observed irrespective of the end-use. Adjustable illumination settings along with longer product life are expected to increase the demand across commercial and residential applications.Indoor applications of the LED lamp market include the usage in commercial, industrial, and residential areas. Rapid urbanization and demand for energy-efficient solutions in office spaces, warehouse locations, and others while reducing the carbon footprint of the company are propelling the demand in this segment.Request a Sample Copy of Global LED Lamp Market Research Report @Projects undertaken by governments in growing economies for infrastructure modernization also play a major role in driving the LED lamp market; for instance, China and India have approved and increased the installation in commercial and residential locations across the country.Stringent government policies in economies, such as China, Europe, and Canada, fueled by environmental concerns and requirement for energy-efficient solutions are the prime reasons for industry growth. Various countries including the U.S. have banned the usage of inefficient lighting solutions and offered rebates by utilities to reduce energy utilization. High living standards in Europe and the movement towards smart homes fitted with energy-efficient lamps are major reasons for regional LED lamp market growth. Companies operating in the industry include GE, Philips, Osram, Cree, etc.LED lamp market research report includes in-depth coverage of the industry with estimates & forecast in terms of global volume in unit shipments and revenue in USD from 2013 to 2024, for the following segments:LED Lamp Market By Product - General purpose LEDs, Decorative LEDs, Specialty LEDsFor More Info on Market ResearchRelated Reports: -2017 Global and Regional Office LED Lamps Market Research Report Forecasts 2022This report provides valuable information for companies like manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, traders, customers, investors and individuals who have interests in this industry.Centralize market research purchases across your entire organization in one place.Marketstudyreport.com allows you to manage and control all corporate research purchases to consolidate billing and vendor management. You can eliminate duplicate purchases and customize your content and license management.Market Study ReportThe Green Suite #4594,Dover, DE 19901United StatesPhone: 1-201-355-0868US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150Email: sales@marketstudyreport.comWebsite:Connect with us: Google+ | LinkedIn | Twitter Using a vase, a South Side Madison woman in her 60s scared off a burglar in her home Thursday morning, Madison police said. The Engelhart Drive resident scared off the burglar at about 11:50 a.m., when he broke in through her door after she didn't answer her doorbell, said Madison Police Department spokesman Joel DeSpain. "She grabbed a heavy vase and told him to get out," he said. "He did." The suspect, a bald, black male in his 40s with a heavy build and wearing red shorts and a white t-shirt, hasn't been located, DeSpain said. Swiss Tunnel project uses South African designed antenna www.poynting.tech South African antenna technology used in major European tunnel project, June 2017The Gotthard Base Tunnel, the world's longest and deepest train tunnel through the Swiss Alps, makes exclusive use of South African antenna technology from Poynting Antennas to ensure a seamless digital communication service underground over a route length of more than 57km.The R130 billion-project was completed recently and consists of two single-track tunnels connecting Switzerland with Italy, as part of the so-called New Railway Link through the Alps.We are very proud of the fact that a South African company was chosen as the preferred antenna supplier for this colossal project, says the CEO of Poynting South Africa, Michael Howard.For the pan-European project team to choose our antenna, the XPOL 2 v2, as part of their highly sophisticated communications network in the tunnel is significant, as it highlights the competitiveness of our technology. According to Howard the XPOL 2 v2 antenna is 4G /LTE and 2G/3G compatible and is also capable of operating over a wide frequency range that caters for the requirements of the many network operators in different countries... Many competitors have either-or scenarios, but not a versatile antenna that is as robust as ours.Poynting Antennas has years of experience with the supply of antennas for communications and data transfer. They are developed specifically for tunnels and mining operations. These antennas operate in hazardous mining environments and tunnels where performance and safety are necessary.With up to 250 trains (200 freight trains, 50 passenger trains) per day passing through the tunnel at speeds of up to 200km/h engineers and tunnel operators must be able to rely on a seamless and uninterrupted communications service to manage the traffic.Our XPOL 2 v2 was specifically developed with this in mind, says Howard. The radome is made of the same vandal and water resistant material used in our other antennas. It has been extensively field-tested in extreme temperatures under harsh conditions. He added Poynting was confident the high performance LTE antenna will operate flawlessly in temperatures as low as -40 degrees Celsius, making it perfect for the extreme weather experienced during the winter months in Switzerland.The antenna is ideal for a wide range of applications, including areas with poor data signal reception, for capacity enhancement in urban and rural areas..Being a wideband antenna, the XPOL 2 v2 increases network operator flexibility, as it works on most networks meaning a new antenna is not needed per network operator, says Howard, adding that this also improves system transmission reliability.Having proven its capabilities, the XPOL 2 v2 must be high on any network operators communication system configuration list, says Howard. We are confident it will out perform expectations in any type of environment.Issued on behalf of Poynting Group by Outlook Africa.Poynting Group:Poynting innovates, designs and manufactures integrated antennas solutions primarily for wireless high speed data applications such as 4G LTE residential as well as B2B, antenna solutions for GSM, M2M, DTV (digital TV) and other CPE applications within the telecommunication, broadcast and consumer market. Based in Samrand South Africa, Poynting is the proud holder of more than 50 patents widely used in its unique antenna solutions for enhanced wireless communications for LTE, 3G,Wi-Fi, RF and other applications.Poynting was founded on the deep knowledge and understanding of the principles of electromagnetics, RF propagation, antenna design and development. Poynting employees include graduate as well as professionally registered engineers with doctorate level expert knowledge of the technology and the industry.Poynting has legacy of innovative design and delivery with customers and partners worldwide.The approach has resulted in extensive Intellectual Property (IP) with over 50 patents and registered trademarks.Poynting is a locally based company designing antennas for wireless communication and is growing both locally and internationally.12 Shere Grace Estate, Shere, Aerostat Systems Market is Expected to Grow at a CAGR of 13% by 2021 Aerostat Systems Market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1302 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/aerostat-systems-market-1302 Market Synopsis of Aerostat Systems:The Global Aerostat Systems Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 13% during 2016-2021. The factors behind such significant growth are growing demand of surveillance and intelligence from military and homeland security agencies. This system provides round the clock surveillance and is quite effective during extreme whether condition.High acquisition risk (overweight components, and difficulties with integration and software development) and operational hazards such as wind speed, and lightning are some external factors posing threat to the market.In 2015, Americas account around 50% of the market share and is likely to dominate the market in the forecast period. In 2012, US DOD has spent $1.3 billion to develop and acquire numerous aerostats and airships.Request a Sample Copy @Key Players of Aerostat Systems Market: AUGUR-RosAeroSystems Raven Industries Inc. Lockheed Martin Raytheon Exelis Inc. Allsopp Helikites Ltd. Israel Aerospace Industries Lindstrand Technologies Limited Drone AviationStudy Objectives of Aerostat Systems Market: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 5 years of the various segments and sub-segments of the global Aerostat Systems Market. To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth. To Analyze the Aerostat Systems Market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, Porters five force analysis. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to six main geographies and their countries- North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East, and Africa. To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective. To provide country level analysis of the market for segment by product type, class, and by region as well as its sub segments. To provide strategic profiling of key players in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market. To track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, and new product developments in the global Aerostat Systems Market.Brief TOC:1. Introduction1.1 Report Description1.2 Research Objective2. Executive Summary2.1 Key Findings / Highlights2.1.1 Investment Opportunities2.1.2 Market Startegies2.1.3 Latest Developments3. Scope of the Study3.1 Markets Covered3.2 Years Considered For The Study (2016-2021)3.2 Geographic Scope3.3 Key Stakeholders4. Assumptions And Limitations5. Research Methodology5.1 Primary Research5.2 Secondary Research5.3 Econometric and Forecasting ModelContinueAccess Report Details @About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.Contact:Akash AnandMarket Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com Menstrual Cups Market Size, Industry Analysis & Forecast Report 2017 Reports Monitor https://www.reportsmonitor.com/request-sample/?post=238045 https://www.reportsmonitor.com/global-menstrual-cups-market-professional-survey-report-2017/ http://www.reportsmonitor.com ReportsMonitor.com has added a new report to its database Global Menstrual Cups Market Report 2017.This report identifies the Menstrual Cups market size for the years 2012-2017, and forecast of the same till the year 2022. It also highlights the market drivers, restraints, growth indicators, challenges, and other key aspects with respect to the Menstrual Cups market.Menstrual Cups Market tracks the major market events including product launches, technological developments, mergers and acquisitions, and the innovative business strategies opted by key market players. Along with strategically analyzing the key micro markets, the report also focuses on industry-specific drivers, restraints, opportunities and challenges in the Copper Strips market. This research report offers in-depth analysis of the market size (revenue), market share, major market segments, and different geographic regions, forecast for the next five years, key market players, and premium industry trends. It also focuses on the key drivers, restraints, opportunities and challenges.For Requesting a Sample Copy of This Report, Please Visit @This report focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringDivacupLunetteThe KeeperMooncupSoft CupAniganFemmyCycleIrisCupInsteadMeLunaSckoonCupYUUKIFEMMECUPLADYCUPMIALUNAHuazheng Technology LimitedLinmed medicalThe competitive landscape of the global market for Menstrual Cups is determined by evaluating the various market participants, production capacity, Menstrual Cups markets production chain, and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Menstrual Cups market worldwide.This report segments the Menstrual Cups marketDisposable Menstrual CupsRecycle Menstrual CupsOn the basis of application:HospitalsClinicsDomesticFor comprehensive understanding of market dynamics, the Menstrual Cups market is analyzed across key geographies namely:North AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaEach of these regions is analyzed on basis of market findings across major countries in these regions for a macro-level understanding of the market.Some points from TOC:Global Menstrual Cups Market Professional Survey Report 20171 Industry Overview of Menstrual Cups1.1 Definition and Specifications of Menstrual Cups1.1.1 Definition of Menstrual Cups9 Development Trend of Analysis of Menstrual Cups Market9.1 Global Menstrual Cups Market Trend Analysis9.1.1 Global 2017-2022 Menstrual Cups Market Size (Volume and Value) Forecast9.1.2 Global 2017-2022 Menstrual Cups Sales Price Forecast9.2 Menstrual Cups Regional Market Trend9.2.1 North America 2017-2022 Menstrual Cups Consumption Forecast9.2.2 China 2017-2022 Menstrual Cups Consumption Forecast9.2.3 Europe 2017-2022 Menstrual Cups Consumption Forecast9.2.4 Southeast Asia 2017-2022 Menstrual Cups Consumption Forecast9.2.5 Japan 2017-2022 Menstrual Cups Consumption Forecast9.2.6 India 2017-2022 Menstrual Cups Consumption Forecast9.3 Menstrual Cups Market Trend (Product Type)Browse Full Table of Contents and Report Description @Reports Monitor (ReportsMonitor.com) is a platform to meet the market research and business intelligence requirements. Our aim is to change the dynamics of the Market Research industry by providing quality intelligence backed by data. Your requirement for market forecasting is fulfilled by our exclusive quantitative and analytics driven intelligence. We have a vast collection of reports, covering maximum industries worldwide. Our process is meticulously planned and executed in order to use maximum resources and explore the market for getting genuine insights. Decision makers can now rely on our distinct data gathering methods to get factual market forecasting and detailed analysis.008, Mihir Co-operative,Above Bharat Suzuki showroom,Fatima Nagar,Pune,Maharashtra,IndiaIndia: +91 2069535353Jay MatthewsDirect: +1 513 549-5911Email: sales@reportsmonitor.comWebsite: Baby Diapers Market: Global Industry Trends, Opportunities & Regional Outlook Analysis http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=13925 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/east-africa-baby-diapers-market.html East Africa Baby Diapers Market: OverviewIn recent years, the demand for baby diapers has grown steadily in various nations of East Africa.Baby diaper forms a key hygiene product required to be worn by infants for the purpose of incontinence. The increasing awareness of urban as well as rural population toward maintaining hygiene of infants to ensure their proper growth have led parents to use diapers for their babies. With constant advances in manufacturing technology, the market has witnessed the launch of super-absorbent diapers containing natural odor-blockers that are gentle and soft on the infants skin. Recent product innovations have stimulated the use of plant-based and sustainable materials in manufacturing baby diapers, which has boosted their use.Know More Information About Industry Insight, Download PDF Brochure:The report provides an in-depth insight into the key market dynamics, emerging trends, recent design innovations, and competitive landscape. The study offers a thorough statistical analysis related to the market share and size of segments and analyzes the key factors shaping the competitive dynamics. Recent efforts by governments of various countries and private players in East Africa are highlighted and their impact on the pricing strategies of vendors are evaluated. The study takes a closer look at the development of distribution channels in various developing and developed nations which help investors identify lucrative avenues.East Africa Baby Diapers Market: Trends and OpportunitiesThe East Africa baby diapers market is primarily driven by a continuous decline in the infant mortality rate in developing nations, an upsurge in urban population with significant disposable incomes, and increasing awareness related to the hygiene of infants. Coupled with this, intensive and consistent efforts made by several governmental and non-governmental organizations to create awareness among rural population have led to an increasing use of baby diapers to promote the healthy growth of infants.Growing shift toward the use of eco-friendly and sustainable materials in manufacturing baby diapers has resulted in various product innovations. The growing popularity of diapers made with naturally derived and plant-based materials has opened exciting opportunities for manufacturers. Furthermore, the advent of ultra-soft and hypoallergenic diapers made without the use of any additives is expected to propel the market over the forecast period.However, the growing trend of parents preferring longer in-between changing times of diapers has resulted in skin rashes and infections among babies. Various studies reiterating the role of disposable diapers in causing testicular cancer among males are likely to hinder the growth of the market to an extent. On the other hand, the increasing awareness toward proper practices of changing baby diapers among parents is expected to boost the market in the coming years.East Africa Baby Diapers Market: Regional OutlookThe major countries analyzed in the research report are Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi. Kenya is the most lucrative market for baby diapers in East Africa. The impressive demand for baby diapers in Kenya is propelled by the significant rise in birth rate combined with a substantial decline in the infant mortality rate compared to other developing nations of East Africa. Tanzania is the second largest revenue contributing country in the East Africa diapers market. The Tanzania market is poised to expand at an impressive rate along the forecast period.Browse Report@East Africa Baby Diapers Market:Leading players are also developing sustainable products made with biodegradable materials to attract parents who are conscious of the environmental impact of disposing diapers. Major manufacturers are making product innovations and actively boosting their distribution channels to consolidate their presence across major countries. Key players operating in this market include Procter and Gamble, Unicharm Corporation, Johnson and Johnson, INDEVCO Group, SCA Hygiene Products GmbH, Mega Soft (Fujian) Hygiene Products Co. Ltd., and Interconsumer Products Ltd.About Us:-Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a next-generation provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations.Contact Us:-State Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com Bharat Kapadia joins BrandAd Emedias Dollartune Board Bharat Kapadia, a seasoned media professional, joins the board of BrandAd Emedia Solutions Pvt Ltd, promoters of Dollartune. Dollartune is an opt-in Android based application offering brand communication delivery on pay per delivery model. The application was launched in November 2016, and crossed 125,000 downloads mark, and counting, well ahead of anticipated milestone of the first year of operation. Dollartune has now targeted to grow to 200,000 downloads by Diwali.Bharat Kapadia brings in his rich experience of holding senior level positions with various media houses like Lokmat, Jagran 18, Divya Bhaskar group, and Chitralekha. He is also the founder of ideas@bharatkapadia.com. He has also been Chairman of Advertising Standards Council (ASCI), Chairman of Media Research Users Council (MRUC), and Chairman, Mumbai Regional Committee of Indian Newspaper Society (INS), an Industry body of the Publishers.Rohit Kanabar Promoter and Director Dollartune says that it was a seminar delivered by Bharatbhai on innovations some time back that seeded the thought of Dollartune. Having worked on the concept and perfecting it meant that advertisers have a medium where they can optimaly utilise their advertising budget. Bharatbhai joining the board is the most natural process and we are delighted to have him on the board.Raja Gupta CEO, BrandAd Emedia Solutions said, Having emerged as an innovative platform for advertisers to engage with customers, our objective facilitates the targeting of a more precise audience based on accurate demographics. We are indeed fortunate and would seek the expertise of Bharat Kapadia in propelling our growth.With smartphones increasingly dominating the market, the app combines the best of ATL marketing activities, revolutionizing communication with users. With brands facing the challenge of ad-avoidance, this is an innovative and effective marketing platform for advertisers through a mobile application that is non intrusive in nature and offers abundant time to its users to engage with brands innovatively.The Tagline Faayde ki Ghanti is to provide the user a reward value every time the phone rings. The user allows their phones to be used as a broadcast medium for the reward the brand communication takes place every time the phone rings. With a partnership with Indias largest e-wallet service, PayTM, Dollartune makes gratification for the users extremely convenient.For Advertisers, this is an innovative platform as the Cost Per Engagement module which makes Dollartune a cost effective medium to engage with customers and target a more precise audience based on accurate Demographics. The total daily ad deliveries are in excess of 350,000 per day on the ad-wall of Dollartune, along with more than 250,000 ringtones delivered.Dollartune is a venture by BrandAd Emedia Solutions Private Limited, promoted by Rohit Kanabar, Bharat Kapadia and Raja Gupta, experienced media professionals.BrandAd Emedia Solutions Pvt. Ltd.118, Corporate Avenue, Sonawala Road, Goregaon East,MUMBAI 400063 Global Industrial Plastic Processing Machinery Sales Market 2017 - Milacron, Arburg, Toshiba Machine, Japan Steel Works, Battenfeld-Cincinnati https://www.fiormarkets.com/report-detail/73701/request-sample https://goo.gl/cLwcdQ www.fiormarkets.com http://longshortreport.com/ The report studies Industrial Plastic Processing Machinery Sales in Global market Professional Survey 2017 : Size, Share, Trends, Industry Growth, Opportunity, Application, Production, Segmentation, Cost Structure, Company Profile, Product Picture and Specifications during the Forecast period by 2022The Industrial Plastic Processing Machinery Sales market research report distils the most essential aspects of the market and presents them in the form of a comprehensive and cohesive document. The findings of this report have been obtained via a balanced mix of both primary and secondary research. Interviews of C-level executives in the Industrial Plastic Processing Machinery Sales market form a chunk of the qualitative analysis contained in this report.Download Free Sample Report @To begin with, the report defines the Industrial Plastic Processing Machinery Sales market and segments it based on the most important dynamics, such as applications, geographical/regional markets, and competitive scenario. Macroeconomic and microeconomic factors environments that currently prevail and also those that are projected to emerge are covered in this report.With a view to deepen the scope of the analysis, the report also tracks milestone developments and regulations that have shaped the Industrial Plastic Processing Machinery Sales market thus far. To help readers effectively plan their future strategies, the report provides a set of expert recommendations. The analysts working on the report have successfully identified expected policy changes, industry news and developments, and trends and opportunities this information can be harnessed by companies to strengthen their market presence.Other important aspects that have been meticulously studied in the Industrial Plastic Processing Machinery Sales market report are: Demand and supply dynamics, import and export scenario, industry processes and cost structures, and major R&D initiatives.Access Full Report @Based on all of this information, the report provides recommendations and strategies to the following market participants: New players, investors, marketing departments, regulatory authorities and suppliers/manufacturers. The Industrial Plastic Processing Machinery Sales market research study has been composed using key inputs from industry experts. Furthermore, the extensive primary and secondary research data with which the report has been composed helps deliver the key statistical forecasts, in terms of both revenue and volume. In addition to this, the trends and revenue analysis of the global Industrial Plastic Processing Machinery Sales market has been mentioned in this report. This will give a clear perspective to the readers how the Industrial Plastic Processing Machinery Sales market will fare worldwideFior Markets is a leading market intelligence company that sells reports of top publishers in the technology industry.Our extensive research reports cover detailed market assessments that include major technological improvements in the industry. Fior Markets also specializes in analyzing hi-tech systems and current processing systems in its expertise.We have a team of experts that compile precise research reports and actively advise top companies to improve their existing processes. Our experts have extensive experience in the topics that they cover.Contact UsMark StoneSales ManagerPhone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb:Blog: In-Flight Catering Service Market is Expected to Grow at a CAGR of 5% by 2021 In-Flight Catering Service Market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1303 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/in-flight-catering-service-market-1303 Market Synopsis of In-Flight Catering Service Market:The global In-Flight Catering Service Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 5% during 2016-2021. Increased emphasis on quality food services and passenger preferences to pay for premium food are some of the key drivers for the market growth.As per the MRFR analysis, economy class is expected to be around $12 billion market in the forecast period, followed by premium and business class aircraft. Full service carriers account almost 80% of the market share and will continue to dominate the inflight catering service market.In the catering types segment, meals account 50- 55% of the market share followed by bakery & confectionary and beverages.Request a Sample Copy @Key Players of In-Flight Catering Service Market: SATS Servair Emirates Flight Catering dnata Air Culinaire Compass Group Do & Co Egypt Air In Flight Services Gate Gourmet Goddard CateringStudy Objectives of In-Flight Catering Service Market: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 5 years of the various segments and sub-segments of the Global In-Flight Catering Service Market. To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth. To analyse the In-Flight Catering Service Market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of the World (ROW). To provide country-level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective. To provide country-level analysis of the market for segment by aircraft class, flight types and catering types. To provide strategic profiling of key players in the market, comprehensively analysing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market. To track and analyse competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the Global In-Flight Catering Service Market.Brief TOC:1. Introduction1.1 Report Description1.2 Research Objective2. Executive Summary2.1 Key Findings / Highlights2.1.1 Investment Opportunities2.1.2 Market Startegies2.1.3 Latest Developments3. Scope of the Study3.1 Markets Covered3.2 Years Considered For The Study (2016-2021)3.2 Geographic Scope3.3 Key Stakeholders4. Assumptions and Limitations5. Research Methodology5.1 Primary Research5.2 Secondary Research5.3 Econometric and Forecasting ModelContinueAccess Report Details @About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.Contact:Akash AnandMarket Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com Global Antimony Ore Market 2017 - China-Tin Group, GeoProMining, Huachang Group, Mandalay Resources, Stibium Resources https://www.fiormarkets.com/report-detail/73945/request-sample https://goo.gl/QtRFXk www.fiormarkets.com http://longshortreport.com/ The report studies Antimony Ore in Global market Professional Survey 2017 : Size, Share, Trends, Industry Growth, Opportunity, Application, Production, Segmentation, Cost Structure, Company Profile, Product Picture and Specifications during the Forecast period by 2022The report begins with a broad introduction of the Antimony Ore market and then drills deeper into specific segments such as application, regional markets, end-users, policy analysis, value chain structure, and emerging trends. The Antimony Ore market report makes a case for investments in particular regions based on a realistic view of their regulatory environment, manufacturing dynamics and availability of skills and resources. Also, recommendations are made based on regions and market segments that are not poised for appreciable growth in the near future.Download Free Sample Report @The Antimony Ore market and its dynamics are evaluated using industry leading tools and techniques. A qualitative analysis forms a sizeable portion of the research efforts as well. With emerging changes on the horizon, the Antimony Ore market is poised for certain important change. It is imperative that market players gear up for these changes. The report helps companiesboth new and establishedto identify white spaces and opportunities for growth in the Antimony Ore market.The leading companies in the Antimony Ore market are profiled to offer a complete overview of their growth strategies, financial standing, product and services pipeline, as well as recent collaborations and developments.The reports analysis is based on technical data and industry figures sourced from the most reputable databases. Other aspects that will prove especially beneficial to readers of the report are: investment feasibility analysis, recommendations for growth, investment return analysis, trends analysis, opportunity analysis, and SWOT analyses of competing companies. With the help of inputs and insights from technical and marketing experts, the report presents an objective assessment of the Antimony Ore market.Access Full Report @A detailed segmentation evaluation of the Antimony Ore market has been provided in the report. Detailed information about the key segments of the market and their growth prospects are available in the report. The detailed analysis of their sub-segments is also available in the report. The revenue forecasts and volume shares along with market estimates are available in the report. The competitive landscape of the market presented in the study profiles the most prominent players in the market.Fior Markets is a leading market intelligence company that sells reports of top publishers in the technology industry.Our extensive research reports cover detailed market assessments that include major technological improvements in the industry. Fior Markets also specializes in analyzing hi-tech systems and current processing systems in its expertise.We have a team of experts that compile precise research reports and actively advise top companies to improve their existing processes. Our experts have extensive experience in the topics that they cover.Contact UsMark StoneSales ManagerPhone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb:Blog: Nutricosmetics Market: Changing Lifestyle Embracing Natural Elements for Health and Beauty Boosts Adoption http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=377 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/nutricosmetics-market.html Global Nutricosmetics Market: OverviewNutricosmetics is an oral based natural heath products which include specific nutrients and antioxidant that provides treatment or prevents problems in skin, hair and nails arising due to several deficiencies such as lack in vitamin B12, vitamin D, vitamin A and vitamin C. Consumers over the years have become conscious about the wellbeing of the skin, hair and overall health. The global Nutricosmetics market has been segmented on the basis of product types, primary function, distribution channel, and region. Based on product types, the market has been segmented into supplements and beauty beverages/drinks. The supplements have been further segmented into tablets, capsules, powder and liquids. Based on primary function, the market has been segmented into skin care, hair care, nail care, weight management and multifunctional. Skin care has been further segmented into sun care, anti-aging, radiance, and glow, anti-acne, pimple. The market has been further segmented on the basis of distribution channel into modern trade, health and beauty stores, specialty stores, pharmacy stores and E-commerce.Know More Information about Industry Insight, Download PDF Brochure:Global Nutricosmetics Market: Scope of StudyThe report also analyzes factors driving and inhibiting growth of the glass tableware market. The report will help manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors to understand the present and future trends in this market and formulate strategies accordingly. The market has been tracked in terms of revenue (US$ Mn) and the same has been segmented based on product type, primary function, and distribution channel.Global Nutricosmetics Market: Market DynamicsThe demand for organic products among the consumers have surged to a great extent in the past few years, on account of increasing awareness about the benefits offered by natural products. Synthetic products are inclusive of harmful chemicals that may have adverse effects on human health. Due to this issue, health conscious consumers are shifting their focus towards natural products. Introduction of new innovative nutricosmetic products having organic elements is another key factor driving the sales of nutricosmetic products. In recent periods, products have been launched presenting innovative elements such as oils, barks, fruits, roots, and seeds. In addition, fruit extracts, green tea, and coenzyme Q10 are the other commonly used ingredients in nutricosmetic products. These are some major factors responsible for the switch from synthetic products to natural products. The popularity of nutricosmetics among the aging population is also considered as one of the key drivers of the global nutricosmetics market. Rapidly growing base of aging population coupled with increasing awareness about health and wellness is also fuelling the demand for nutricosmetics at present.Additionally, many countries across the globe are expected to serve as potentially good markets for nutricosmetic products. For instance, the demand for nutricosmetics products has increased in Asia Pacific. In addition, Japan has made rapid progress with regards to the growth of this market. Further, China is expected to register a healthy growth in the forecast period. Taiwan and South Korea are expected to be lucrative regions for nutricosmetics in coming years.Moreover, in this report, the study provides different countries included in different regions such as North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East and Africa. Europe which includes EU5, Nordic, Russia, and Poland among the other regions dominated the global Nutri cosmetics market due to rising consciousness regarding health and beauty among the people. EU5 among the other regions in Europe captured a large part of the market share in 2016. Asia Pacific which includes India, China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand among the other regions also captured a significant market share in 2016. Japan dominated the Nutri cosmetics market among the other regions due to its product launches in recent years which include collagen-based drinks and vitamin infused sodas. North America, which includes the U.S. and Canada showed the fastest growth rate during the forecast period due to the rapid adoption rate of nutricosmetics among the consumers.Browse Report@Global Nutricosmetics Market: Competitive LandscapeThe report provides company market share analysis of the various key participants. Key players have also been profiled on the basis of company overview, financial overview, business strategies and SWOT Analysis. Global key participants of the cosmetic ingredient market include Cargill Incorporated (Minnesota, U.S.), E. I. Du Pont De Nemours and Company (Delaware, U.S.A.), Nestle S.A. (Vevey, Switzerland), LOreal SA (Clichy France), The Coca-Cola company (Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.), Skinside AG (Switzerland), Croda International Plc (East Yorkshire U.S.A), Pfizer Inc.(NewYork, U.S.A), Frutarom Industries Limited (Haifa District, Israel), Nutrikosm (Barcelona, Spain), Robinson Pharma Incorporated (Santa Ana, CA, U.S.A.), Shiseido (Tokyo, Japan), Ashland Incorporated (Kentucky, U.S.A.), Vitabiotics Company (London, U.K.), Medcoll Bio (Westmeath, Ireland).About Us:-Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a next-generation provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations.Contact Us:-State Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com Global Organic Tea & Coffee Sales Market Report 2017 - Honest Tea Inc., The Kroger Co., Oregon Chai Inc. http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1154503&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-organic-tea-and-coffee-sales-market-report-2017.htm http://www.qyresearchreports.com Qyresearchreports include new market research report "Global Organic Tea & Coffee Sales Market Report 2017" to its huge collection of research reports.The global Organic Tea & Coffee market is shed light upon with an in-depth analysis of vital elements that could prove influential for growth and demand in the foreseeable future. With both primary and secondary analysis in sync, the analysts authoring this report make successful efforts to dig deep into the crucial aspects of the market for determining current and future growth prospects. Buyers are anticipated to rely on this comprehensive account of the market for Organic Tea & Coffee to create productive business plans and formulate fighting-fit strategies for securing a strong foothold in the industry. Other portions of intelligent market analysis such as segmentation, regional outlook, competitive landscape, company profiling, and market projections are meticulously provided in the report.Global Organic Tea & Coffee market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Organic Tea & Coffee sales volume, Price (USD/MT), revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players includingStarbucks CorporationHain Celestial Group Inc.Honest Tea Inc.The Kroger Co.Oregon Chai Inc.The WhiteWave Foods CompanyNewman's Own Inc.SunOpta Inc.SFM, LLC.Organic ValleyTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Factors affecting the growth of the global Organic Tea & Coffee market and the visible and imperceptible challenges of industry participants are elaborately discussed in the publication to help readers stay aware of the situations about to take shape. This could assist them to avoid any unexpected circumstances and take planned decisions when making business in the market. Market opportunities predicted to become available in future are unveiled with an extensive evaluation performed by experienced researchers in the industry. Significant driving factors positioned at the helm of the market are also assessed and put forth in the publication with the broadest of all research and analytical senses.The growth of the market based on various factors such as sales, revenue, gross margin of companies, and price trend is examined to give a clear idea of the opportunities prevailing in the global Organic Tea & Coffee market.Table of ContentsGlobal Organic Tea & Coffee Sales Market Report 20171 Organic Tea & Coffee Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Organic Tea & Coffee1.2 Classification of Organic Tea & Coffee by Product Category1.2.1 Global Organic Tea & Coffee Market Size (Sales) Comparison by Type (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Organic Tea & Coffee Market Size (Sales) Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Organic Coffee1.2.4 Organic Tea1.2.5 Other1.3 Global Organic Tea & Coffee Market by Application/End Users1.3.1 Global Organic Tea & Coffee Sales (Volume) and Market Share Comparison by Application (2012-2022)2 Global Organic Tea & Coffee Competition by Players/Suppliers, Type and Application2.1 Global Organic Tea & Coffee Market Competition by Players/Suppliers2.1.1 Global Organic Tea & Coffee Sales and Market Share of Key Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Organic Tea & Coffee Revenue and Share by Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Organic Tea & Coffee (Volume and Value) by Type2.2.1 Global Organic Tea & Coffee Sales and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.2.2 Global Organic Tea & Coffee Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.3 Global Organic Tea & Coffee (Volume and Value) by Region2.3.1 Global Organic Tea & Coffee Sales and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)2.3.2 Global Organic Tea & Coffee Revenue and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)2.4 Global Organic Tea & Coffee (Volume) by Application3 United States Organic Tea & Coffee (Volume, Value and Sales Price)3.1 United States Organic Tea & Coffee Sales and Value (2012-2017)3.1.1 United States Organic Tea & Coffee Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.2 United States Organic Tea & Coffee Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.3 United States Organic Tea & Coffee Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)3.2 United States Organic Tea & Coffee Sales Volume and Market Share by Players3.3 United States Organic Tea & Coffee Sales Volume and Market Share by Type3.4 United States Organic Tea & Coffee Sales Volume and Market Share by ApplicationBrowse Complete Report with TOC @4 China Organic Tea & Coffee (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4.1 China Organic Tea & Coffee Sales and Value (2012-2017)4.1.1 China Organic Tea & Coffee Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.1.2 China Organic Tea & Coffee Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.1.3 China Organic Tea & Coffee Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)4.2 China Organic Tea & Coffee Sales Volume and Market Share by Players4.3 China Organic Tea & Coffee Sales Volume and Market Share by Type4.4 China Organic Tea & Coffee Sales Volume and Market Share by ApplicationList of Tables and FiguresFigure Product Picture of Organic Tea & CoffeeFigure Global Organic Tea & Coffee Sales Volume Comparison (K MT) by Type (2012-2022)Figure Global Organic Tea & Coffee Sales Volume Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 2016Figure Organic Coffee Product PictureFigure Organic Tea Product PictureFigure Other Product PictureFigure Global Organic Tea & Coffee Sales Comparison (K MT) by Application (2012-2022)Figure Global Sales Market Share of Organic Tea & Coffee by Application in 2016Figure Retail ExamplesTable Key Downstream Customer in RetailFigure Institutional & Commercial ExamplesAbout UsQYReseachReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.Contact UsBrooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web: Federal funding cuts will spell the end of housing for homeless veterans at two of Wisconsins three veterans homes by the end of the year, officials say. Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Daniel Zimmerman sent a letter to veteran advocacy groups last week warning of the changes. The Wisconsin American Legion provided the letter to news outlets on Thursday. The letter states that federal funding has been eliminated for the Veteran Housing and Recovery Programs at King and Union Grove and will end in September. Funding for the program at the Chippewa Falls veterans home will continue on a conditional basis, Zimmerman wrote. The letter offered no explanation. Zimmerman wrote that the WDVA will continue to fund the programs through December if needed, but that its not feasible to use state money for them beyond that point. He did not explain why. As a result, King and Union Grove will no longer accept new homeless vets and will immediately start transitioning the 19 vets in the King program and the 28 in the Union Grove program to new housing with help from veteran advocacy groups and other nonprofit partners. I will personally ensure that each Veteran is compassionately placed and cared for during this situation, Zimmerman said. While the Federal governments decision is disappointing, we will adapt, innovate and lead. Zimmerman said that to help compensate for the loss of the programs, his department will look to expand its Veterans Outreach and Recovery Program from 49 to 65 counties. Under that program, case managers work to find stable housing, food, clothing, furniture and other amenities for homeless veterans. The Wisconsin American Legion issued a news release demanding that legislators save the Union Grove and King housing programs. The chapters commander, Laurel Clewell, called the WDVAs plan to help the soon-to-be-displaced veterans half-baked. Making homeless veterans homeless again is not a solution, said Clewell. These are men and women who have served this country and its taxpayers honorably, risked their lives and now we cant put a roof over their heads in state facilities dedicated to veterans care? WDVA spokeswoman Carla Vigue said in an email that the agency was surprised to hear about the funding cut and hasnt received an official explanation yet from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs despite several inquiries. Messages The Associated Press left at USDVA late Thursday afternoon werent immediately returned. The federal government supplied about $1.3 million annually for the homeless housing program in each of the last two fiscal years, according to the Legislature Fiscal Bureau. The state chipped in about $830,000 annually from its veteran trust fund, an account that covers a myriad of services for veterans, including tuition reimbursement and grants. The program is housed at the veterans homes but isnt part of their budgets. Taking more state money out of the trust fund to keep the programs afloat at King and Union Grove would require legislative authorization. Aides for Sen. Alberta Darling and Rep. John Nygren, co-chairs of the Legislatures budget-writing committee, didnt immediately reply to emails seeking comment. Global Digital Commerce Platform Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022 - IBM, Oracle, Hybris, Demandware http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=944968&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-digital-commerce-platform-market-size-status-and-forecast-2022.html http://www.qyresearchreports.com Qyresearchreports include new market research report "Global Digital Commerce Platform Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022" to its huge collection of research reports.A clear understanding of the overall state of a specific market and its key elements, markets growth prospects, factors leading to increased demand, factors restraining demand, level of competition in the market, rate of success and failure of a variety of projects, price an cost structure, industry supply chain, etc., makes strategic decision making easier. While every single company, whether wanting to newly venture in a marketplace or to expand its territory, requires data pertaining to the above mentioned areas, not all companies have the time or dedicated resources required to undertake an effective market research.This report studies the global Digital Commerce Platform market, analyzes and researches the Digital Commerce Platform development status and forecast in United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia. This report focuses on the top players in global market, likeIBMOracleHybrisDemandwareMagentoDigital RiverCloudCraze SoftwareApttus CorporationNetSuiteElastic Path SoftwareA new research report recently added to QYResearchReports.com is an excellent data repository for the global Digital Commerce Platform market. The report presents detailed overview of key market elements and furnishes quantitative as well as qualitative data pertaining to key market elements.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Gathered with the help of a number of primary and secondary research methodologies, the vast amount of market data is narrowed down with the help of industry-best methods of analysis.With the help of historical data, growth trajectory of the market in the recent past is established. An overview of the impact of key factors driving the market, restraining it, and the major trends defining consumer preferences in the Digital Commerce Platform market on markets future growth prospects are also presented in the report.The report also includes a detailed overview of the regulatory scenario of the global Digital Commerce Platform market, presenting data about notable rules, regulations, plans, and policies in the global as well as regional markets and their impact on a number of decisions.The report also presents a comprehensive overview of the competitive landscape of the global Digital Commerce Platform market, furnishing details such as detailed business profiles, SWOT analysis, finance related data, contact details, etc. of some of the key companies in the Digital Commerce Platform market.Table of ContentsGlobal Digital Commerce Platform Market Size, Status and Forecast 20221 Industry Overview of Digital Commerce Platform1.1 Digital Commerce Platform Market Overview1.1.1 Digital Commerce Platform Product Scope1.1.2 Market Status and Outlook1.2 Global Digital Commerce Platform Market Size and Analysis by Regions1.3 Digital Commerce Platform Market by Type1.3.1 Business-to-Consumer (B2C)1.3.2 Business-to-Business (B2B)1.3.3 Consumer-to-Business (C2B)1.3.4 Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C)1.4 Digital Commerce Platform Market by End Users/Application1.4.1 BFSI1.4.2 Retail1.4.3 IT and Telecommunication1.4.4 Airline and Travel1.4.5 Others2 Global Digital Commerce Platform Competition Analysis by Players2.1 Digital Commerce Platform Market Size (Value) by Players (2015-2016)2.2 Competitive Status and Trend2.2.1 Market Concentration Rate2.2.2 Product/Service Differences2.2.3 New Entrants2.2.4 The Technology Trends in FutureBrowse full table of contents and data tables of Report @3 Company (Top Players) Profiles3.1 IBM3.1.1 Company Profile3.1.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.1.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.1.4 Digital Commerce Platform Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.1.5 Recent Developments3.2 Oracle3.2.1 Company Profile3.2.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.2.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.2.4 Digital Commerce Platform Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.2.5 Recent Developments3.3 Hybris3.3.1 Company Profile3.3.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.3.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.3.4 Digital Commerce Platform Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.3.5 Recent Developments3.4 Demandware3.4.1 Company Profile3.4.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.4.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.4.4 Digital Commerce Platform Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.4.5 Recent Developments3.5 MagentoList of Tables and FiguresFigure Digital Commerce Platform Product ScopeFigure Global Digital Commerce Platform Market Size (2012-2017)Table Global Digital Commerce Platform Market Size and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure Global Digital Commerce Platform Market Share by Regions in 2015Figure United States Digital Commerce Platform Market Size and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure EU Digital Commerce Platform Market Size and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure Japan Digital Commerce Platform Market Size and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure China Digital Commerce Platform Market Size and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure India Digital Commerce Platform Market Size and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)About UsQYReseachReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.Contact UsBrooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web: Collecting Barbies index reveals how much your old dolls are worth The first Barbie dolls, from 1959, can sell for thousands, states the 2017 update of the JustCollecting Barbie IndexThe brunette version of Barbie #1, from 1959, tops the list at $9,250The blonde Barbie #1 variant has provided the best return on investment since 2005 up 5.8% a year to $8,800Condition is vital: prices listed are for mint condition dolls never removed from their original packagingThe earliest Barbie dolls from the late 1950s continue to be the most valuable, reveals the 2017 edition of the JustCollecting Barbie Index.The brunette version of Barbie #1 (1959) sells for $9,250 in top condition, with all its original packaging. The blonde variant makes $8,800. Both were $3 new."Brunette Barbie #1 is far rarer than the blonde version, yet only slightly more expensive," says JustCollecting's Dan Wade."That's because more collectors want to own the blonde doll, which is viewed as the quintessential Barbie. Also, more children would have owned a blonde version, so now they're nostalgic adults, it's the blonde one they want back in their lives."Modern dolls can also be valuable, when scarce. The standout recent performer has been the controversial Pregnant Midge from 2002 up 18.3% per annum between 2015 and 2017 to $140."Prices for Pregnant Midge, who came with a detachable stomach, have soared in the past two years," says Wade."Collectors are increasingly excited by its rarity. It was quickly pulled from the shelves after complaints she encouraged girls to get pregnant. Many people were also upset she wasn't wearing a wedding ring."Most valuable Barbies in the JustCollecting Barbie IndexBarbie #1 Brunette (1959): $9,250Barbie #1 Blonde (1959): $8,800Barbie #2 Brunette (1959): $8,000Best performing Barbies 2015-2017Pregnant Midge (2002): up 18.3% per annum to $140Barbie #4 (1960): up 11.8% per annum to $1,250Talking Brad (1970): up 9.5% per annum to $450Best performing Barbies 2005-2017Barbie #1 Blonde (1959): up 5.8% per annum to $8,800Barbie #1 Brunette (1959): up 5.7% per annum to $9,250Barbie #4 (1960): up 5.6% per annum to $1,250If you're fortunate enough to have a valuable Barbie, remember that prices shown are for dolls in their original, unopened packaging. Unboxed versions lose around 75% of their value.See the full figures here.For further information and images please contact Stephanie Hall on +44 (0) 117 903 9502 or email stephanie@justcollecting.com.ENDSAbout JustCollectingJustCollecting is a community and rewards club for collectors where members can buy, sell, share and manage their collections, earning exclusive reward points to spend on products, discounts and entry to competitions. JustCollecting also hosts auctions from the world's most prestigious auction houses.a: Orchard House, La Grande Route De St Pierre, St Peter, Jersey, JE3 7AYp: 0117 933 9502stephanie@justcollecting.com Urease Market Estimated to Flourish by 2016 2024 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/12148 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/urease-market.asp www.persistencemarketresearch.com Urease is an enzyme in the class of phosphotriesterases and amidohydrolases which catalyzes the hydrolysis reaction of urea thereby forming ammonia and carbon dioxide. The primary source of urease are plants, algae, fungi and yeast. Among the plant sourced, urease jack bean urease are the best characterized and bacteria sourced yield low quantity of urease. Urease has wide industrial applications which includes diagnostic kits for measuring urea, as reducing agent in alcoholic beverages. Besides, urease find major use in the biosensors which are required for hemodialysis systems. Urease inhibitors are also widely used in controlling (slow down) the rate of hydrolysis of urea. Some of the mostly used inhibitors are N-(n-Butyl) thiophosphoric triamide (NBTPT or NBPT) which has less toxicity and ability to get mixed or coated on urea fertilizers. The fertilizers industry and the clinical requirements will boost global urease market during the forecast period.The urease market is primarily driven by its increasing use in the industrial applications such as biosensors. Since plant sourced urease results in less toxicity and almost no side effects further benefits the growth of global urease market. The agronomic and eco-friendly benefits of urease in the inhibitors will fuel the global urease market. Also, the global trend of adoption of organic items over synthetic ones and increasing consumption in clinical diagnostics will aid the growth of global urease market.Request to View Tables of Content @The global urease market is segmented on the basis of source and application.The global urease market is geographically divided in to five key regions including North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Middle East & Africa. North America, especially US holds major share of urease market due the increase consumption in clinical research. Followed by North America is Europe and Asia Pacific, Latin America and MEA. In Asia Pacific India, Korea, and Bhutan possess major prospectus for urease consumption with majority use as inhibitors for agro industries. The consumption of urease in Latin America is expected to increase during the forecast period with companies such as DASA, the renowned medical diagnostic company in Brazil. The global urease market will show increasing trend of consumption due to industrial applications and clinical diagnostic tests during the forecast period.Some of the key players identified in the global urease market are BBI Solutions, Sekisui Diagnostics Limited, Sigma-Aldrich Co. LLC., Sisco Research Laboratories Pvt. Ltd etc.The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data, and statistically supported and industry-validated market data. It also contains projections done using a suitable set of assumptions and methodologies. The research report provides analysis and information according to categories such as market segments, geographies, type, machine size and end use.The report is a compilation of first-hand information, qualitative and quantitative assessment by industry analysts, inputs from industry experts and industry participants across the value chain. The report provides an in-depth analysis of parent market trends, macro-economic indicators, and governing factors, along with market attractiveness as per segments. The report also maps the qualitative impact of various factors on market segments and geographies.To view complete report @About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a U.S.-based full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated research, custom research, and consulting services. PMR boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Technology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductor and Electronics, Consumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients business needs.PMR stands committed to bringing more accuracy and speed to clients business decisions. From ready-to-purchase market research reports to customized research solutions, PMRs engagement models are highly flexible without compromising on its deep-seated research values.ContactPersistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.commedia@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Global & US Botulism Illness Market To Grow Suitably; MRFR Reveals Market Insights Up To 2027 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/776 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/botulism-illness-market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/enquiry/776 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/statistical-reports/europe-insulin-pump-market-3694 Market IntroductionBotulism is one of the very serious and rare potentially critical illnesses which are caused by the toxins produces by a bacteria Clostridium botulinum. This type of disease mostly happens due to trouble seeing, weakness, trouble speaking and feeling tired. The major symptoms which can be classified under botulism illness are wound botulism, food borne botulism, and infant botulism and by inhalations.These symptoms are not only caused by the bacteria or bacterium itself but can also by the toxins which are produced by the bacteria. It can occur in the human body by eating contaminated food, weak immune system and improper food. These symptoms generally appear with in 1 to 2 days or maximum 8 to 10 days after exposure.Key Players Microbiotix, Inc., XOMA Corporation, Molecular Targeting Technologies, Inc., AlphaVax, Inc., Morphotek, Inc.Request a Sample Report @Market SegmentationThe global botulism illness market is segmented into the drug types and applications. Considering the drug type, the global botulism illness market is segmented into antibiotics, antitoxins and others (heptavalent botulinum and trivalent) and by application, the global market is segmented into hospitals, clinics, pharmacies and others.Market Growth InfluencerThe major driving factors considered for the global botulism illness market are the availability of proper treatment of botulism illness, huge spending on research and development activities, clean environment. In addition to this, the government is taking proper initiative and working on the hygiene factor in many countries. Rising awareness about the care and treatment are easily available in the North America and European region. Along with this, the different health associations of countries such as in the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization and others are putting positive efforts; however, the botulism illness is getting irradiated gradually. On the other hand, lack of awareness in some undeveloped regions, intake on unhygienic food and high cost of research & development are hindering the overall global botulism illness market.Test the market data and market information presented through more than 50 market data tables and figures spread over 205 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content TOC & market synopsis on Global & US Botulism Illness Market Research Report - Forecast to 2027.Browse Report @Regional AnalysisGeographically, the global botulism illness market is divided into North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific and Middle East & Africa.North America: In North America, the US is one of the major markets for the treatment of botulism illness. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the US has been looking forward to the proper treatment and care. Rising awareness and proper diagnose has meet the expectation of the North America, particularly in the US region. According to CDC (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) on an average 140 to 150 botulism cases report where in about 60% are of infant botulism, 18% are of wound botulism and 15% are of food borne.Europe: Followed by North America, European medical and healthcare associations along with WHO has implemented the proper treatment for botulism illness. In the recent, United Kingdom has reported large number of food borne botulism cases and control measures included the pause of production of all yogurt.Asia-Pacific: Australian & New Zealand are the key market for the treatment for botulism illness because of the free medical policies for infants. Even though, the government initiative and rising awareness are pushing the market.Make an Enquiry @Market Research Future introduces about 2016 Global Botulism Illness Market during the forecast period 2016-2027 which mainly includes the growth drivers, trends and restraints and how the market will grow in the future across the globe. In this report, Market Research Future has focused on the current market scenario which includes market segmentation, market dynamics, and competitive landscape along with company profiles.Browse Statistical ReportEurope Insulin Pump Market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 8.7% and is expected to reach US$ 2,784.5 million by 2023. In Europe Insulin Pump Market, Germany accounted for the largest market share in 2016.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com Smart Electric Meter Market size is set to exceed USD 11 billion by 2024 https://www.marketstudyreport.com/request-a-sample/312371//?utm_source=OPR-PSR https://www.marketstudyreport.com/check-for-discount/312371//?utm_source=OPR-PSR https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/smart-electric-meter-market/ https://www.marketstudyreport.com https://www.marketstudyreport.com Smart Electric Meter Market size is set to exceed USD 11 billion by 2024; according to a new research report. Commercial smart electric meter market shipments could exceed 30 million units by 2024.Growing demand for accurate billing coupled with efforts towards energy conservation will augment the global smart electric meter market growth. Rapid development of electricity network along with growing investment in smart grid will further complement the business landscape.Increasing energy prices and growing instances of electricity theft will further boost product demand. According to a 2013 IMF report, global electricity theft was over USD 100 million. Rising concerns towards accuracy in billing among end users may positively influence the industry size.The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) mandating strict regulations towards accurate billing along with increasing electricity demand will stimulate the U.S. smart electric meter market size. The U.S. Department of Energy and ARRA jointly invested USD 30 billion in 2009, to give an impetus to a wide range of sustainable energy projects and upgrade existing smart grid networks in the region.Get sample Copy of this Report:Stringent regulations towards adoption of intelligent systems to precisely track electricity consumption will augment the smart electric meter market share. European Union Directive 2009/72/EC mandates member countries to undertake initiatives which will increase consumer awareness towards the benefits of adopting these products. Directive 2014/724/EU provides guidance to regulators on safeguarding and protecting consumers' consumption data.In 2016, UK contributed to over 20% of the Europe smart electric meter market share in terms of unit shipments. Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy along with the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (OFGEM) have directed utility providers to install these products in every household by 2020, with a view to conserve electricity.Smart electric meter market size from Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) technology is anticipated to exceed USD 4 billion by 2024. Conventional AMR devices were programmed to collect meter readings and match with the utility provider's consumption data. Additional data parameters can be set in these products to control their functionality remotely, owing to technological advancement. These products give warning in case of meter tampering, low battery and leak detection.Get Discount on this Report:Automated Metering Infrastructure (AMI) systems will grow owing to increasing adoption of the advanced technology in developed nations including the U.S., UK, Sweden, Norway and Japan. These products provide enhanced features like notifications for demand response actions and time-based pricing.Japan smart electric meter market is predicted to witness a paradigm shift owing to adoption of AMI products. In August 2015, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) launched an initiative to install over 2.7 million intelligent systems across the country and offer 24-hour customer support service through a Smart Meter Operation Centre.Notable players in the smart electric meter market include Siemens, Itron, Schneider Electric, Landis+GYR, Icsa, Circutor, Holley Metering, Iskraemeco, Osaki Electric, Honeywell International, Sensus Sentec, Elster Group, Badger Meter and Neptune Technology.Smart Electric Meter Market research report includes in-depth coverage of the industry with estimates & forecast in terms of volume (Unit Shipments) and revenue (USD) from 2013 to 2024, for the following segments:Global Smart Electric Meter Market, By Application:Residential, Commercial, UtilityGlobal Smart Electric Meter Market, By Technology AMI, AMRThe above information is provided on a regional and country basis for the following: North America, U.S., Canada, Europe, Germany, Italy, France, UKFor More Details on this Report:Company Overview:Centralize market research purchases across your entire organization in one place.Marketstudyreport.com allows you to manage and control all corporate research purchases to consolidate billing and vendor management. You can eliminate duplicate purchases and customize your content and license management.Contact Us:Market Study ReportThe Green Suite #4594,Dover, DE 19901United StatesPhone: 1-201-355-0868US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150Email: sales@marketstudyreport.comWebsite:News:/news Global Electric Heating Cable Market by Manufacturers, Countries, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 Market Research Reports http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1196761&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-electric-heating-cable-market-by-manufacturers-countries-type-and-application-forecast-to-2022.htm Qyresearchreports include new market research report "Global Electric Heating Cable Market by Manufacturers, Countries, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022" to its huge collection of research reports.The new report in QYResearchReports.coms market intelligence repository presents readers with a comprehensive evaluation of the global Electric Heating Cable market. Each aspect of the global Electric Heating Cable market is assessed in thorough detail in the report in order to provide a 360-degree review of the markets workings for interested parties. The past, present, and future growth trajectory of the Electric Heating Cable market are assessed in the report, with detailed analysis of the historical trajectory of the market providing a solid database for reliable predictions regarding the Electric Heating Cable markets future.The report examines the environment of the global Electric Heating Cable market in great detail in order to familiarize readers with the operating conditions of the market and the factors likely to boost and impede their growth. The economic and regulatory factors likely to have a lasting impact on the global Electric Heating Cable market are studied in the report, providing readers with a comprehensive look at the Electric Heating Cable markets operating conditions. The latest updates regarding the economic and regulatory factors determining the Electric Heating Cable markets growth are provided in the report, making it a must-have accessory for all interested parties in the Electric Heating Cable market. This analysis is a crucial aid in the SWOT analysis of individual players, as a detailed understanding of the Electric Heating Cable markets operating environment is necessary to formulate winning strategies on a regular basis.Fill the form to gain deeper insights on this market @This report focuses on the Electric Heating Cable in Global market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report covers- Raychem- SST- Anhui Huanrui- Thermon- Bartec- Wuhu Jiahong- Emerson- Anbang- Eltherm- Heat Trace Products- Anhui HuayangThe segmentation of the global Electric Heating Cable market is assessed in detail in the report, providing readers with a close look at the hierarchy and granular structure of the Electric Heating Cable market.Table of Contents1 Market Overview1.1 Electric Heating Cable Introduction1.2 Market Analysis by Type1.2.1 Self-regulating Heating Cable1.3 Market Analysis by Applications1.4 Market Analysis by Regions1.5 Market DynamicsGet more information from Research Report Press Release:3 Global Electric Heating Cable Market Competition, by Manufacturer3.1 Global Electric Heating Cable Sales and Market Share by Manufacturer3.2 Global Electric Heating Cable Revenue and Market Share by Manufacturer3.3 Market Concentration Rate3.3.1 Top 3 Electric Heating Cable Manufacturer Market Share3.3.2 Top 6 Electric Heating Cable Manufacturer Market Share3.4 Market Competition Trend4 Global Electric Heating Cable Market Analysis by Regions4.1 Global Electric Heating Cable Sales, Revenue and Market Share by Regions4.1.1 Global Electric Heating Cable Sales by Regions (2012-2017)4.1.2 Global Electric Heating Cable Revenue by Regions (2012-2017)4.2 North America Electric Heating Cable Sales and Growth (2012-2017)4.3 Europe Electric Heating Cable Sales and Growth (2012-2017)4.4 Asia-Pacific Electric Heating Cable Sales and Growth (2012-2017)4.5 South America Electric Heating Cable Sales and Growth (2012-2017)4.6 Middle East and Africa Electric Heating Cable Sales and Growth (2012-2017)10 Global Electric Heating Cable Market Segment by Type10.2 Self-regulating Heating Cable Sales Growth and Price10.3 Constant Wattage Heating Cable Sales Growth and Price10.4 Mineral Insulated Heating Cable Sales Growth and Price10.5 Skin-Effect Heat-Tracing Cable Sales Growth and PriceFigure Electric Heating Cable PictureTable Product Specifications of Electric Heating CableFigure Global Sales Market Share of Electric Heating Cable by Types in 2016Table Electric Heating Cable Types for Major ManufacturersTable Electric Heating Cable Sales Market Share by Applications in 2016Figure USA Electric Heating Cable Revenue (Value) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Canada Electric Heating Cable Revenue (Value) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Mexico Electric Heating Cable Revenue (Value) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Germany Electric Heating Cable Revenue (Value) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)QYReseachReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United States 2017-2022 Global Top Countries HDPE Pipe Market Report : Industry Segment by Countries : FLO-TEK, Olayan Group Market Research Reports http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1196772&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/20172022-global-top-countries-hdpe-pipe-market-report.htm Qyresearchreports include new market research report "2017-2022 Global Top Countries HDPE Pipe Market Report" to its huge collection of research reports.The global market for HDPE Pipe market has been extensively analyzed in this report on the basis of the drivers, restraints, challenges, opportunities, this market faces. The study estimates the current size of the HDPE Pipe market in as well as what it will be after the forecast period by evaluating its historical and present performance. The size of the HDPE Pipe market is provided in terms of volume and revenue. The market revenue for all the regions is determined in US$ Mn and the volume is measured in kilo tons. The market size of each of the segments is offered in the context of the global and the regional markets.The market estimations for this study have been based on the revenue and the volume. The factors for the usage of HDPE Pipe in each of the applications have been taken care of in assessing the revenue of this market. The demand for HDPE Pipe has been derived by examining the global as well as regional demand for HDPE Pipe in each of the application segments. The HDPE Pipe market has been evaluated keeping the expected demand in mind.This report studies HDPE Pipe in Global market, especially in United States, Canada, Mexico, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Russia, China, Japan, India, Korea, Southeast Asia, Australia, Brazil, Middle East and Africa,focuses on the top Manufacturers in each country, covering- JM Eagle- Chevron Phillips Chemical Company- Aliaxis- WL Plastics- Jain Irrigation Systems- PIPELIFE INTERNATIONAL- Nandi Group- Blue Diamond Industries- National Pipe & Plastics- Kubota-C.I.- FLO-TEK- Olayan Group- Pexmart- Godavari PolymersFill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @The market data for each of the segments is based on their respective revenues and production volume. The predictions have been made upon the projected demand from HDPE Pipe applications. Researches have utilized the top down and bottom - up approaches to calculate the market, divided into regions.The report further provides a detailed analysis of the competitive landscape in the market for HDPE Pipe in a bid to highlight the level of the competition between the leading players. In this process, researchers review the profiles of the prominent market participants and identify the key strategies they have taken up for the progress of their businesses.Browse Market Research Report @Table of Contents1 HDPE Pipe Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of HDPE Pipe1.2 HDPE Pipe Segment by Types1.2.1 Global Sales Market Share of HDPE Pipe by Types in 20151.3 HDPE Pipe Segment by Applications1.4 HDPE Pipe Market by Countries1.5 Global HDPE Pipe Overview and Market Size (Value) (2012-2022)2 Global HDPE Pipe Sales, Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Manufacturers2.1 Global HDPE Pipe Sales and Market Share in 2015 and 2016 by Manufacturers2.2 Global HDPE Pipe Revenue and Market Share by Manufacturers in 2015 and 20162.3 Global HDPE Pipe Average Price by Manufacturers in 2015 and 20162.4 Global HDPE Pipe Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area, Product Types by Manufacturers2.5 HDPE Pipe Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 HDPE Pipe Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 HDPE Pipe Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers4 Global HDPE Pipe Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis4.1 JM Eagle4.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors4.1.2 HDPE Pipe Product Types, Application and Specification4.1.2.1 Type 14.1.2.2 Type 24.1.3 JM Eagle HDPE Pipe Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)4.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview4.2 Chevron Phillips Chemical Company4.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors4.2.2 HDPE Pipe Product Types, Application and Specification4.2.2.1 Type 14.2.2.2 Type 24.2.3 Chevron Phillips Chemical Company HDPE Pipe Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)4.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview4.3 Aliaxis4.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors4.3.2 HDPE Pipe Product Types, Application and Specification4.3.2.1 Type 14.3.2.2 Type 24.3.3 Aliaxis HDPE Pipe Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)4.3.4 Main Business/Business OverviewFigure Picture of HDPE PipeTable Product Specifications of HDPE PipeFigure Global Sales Market Share of HDPE Pipe by Types in 2015Table HDPE Pipe Consumption Market Share by Applications in 2015Figure United States HDPE Pipe Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Canada HDPE Pipe Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Germany HDPE Pipe Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure France HDPE Pipe Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)QYReseachReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United States Global Hookah Market by Manufacturers, Countries, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 Market Research Reports http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1196774&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-hookah-market-by-manufacturers-countries-type-and-application-forecast-to-2022.htm Qyresearchreports include new market research report "Global Hookah Market by Manufacturers, Countries, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022" to its huge collection of research reports.This research publication includes a broad evaluation of the global Hookah market analyzed with a top-to-bottom approach to help readers receive a complete understanding of each key segment. This could help them to analyze their individual performance in the background of other competitors in the market. Market predictions for the forthcoming years, current data, and archived information have been considered to create an extensive database, with the help of which the benchmark for each segment has been generated. Participants could implement these guidelines presented in the report for extending their business across more applications or better their current status in the market.Forecasts and other vital signs predicted in the report could be taken into account for making a confident progress in the global Hookah market or securing existing achievements in the industry. The competitive landscape section sheds light on some of the most dominating companies leading the market, including an assessment of their recent developments, market shares, and future strategies likely to be adopted. Factors affecting the market positively or negatively have also been discussed to help players gain a strong foothold or advance cautiously in the business. Changing consumer trends, technological risks, developments in growing and successful economies could be significant for the market.Enter your information below to receive a sample copy of this report @This report focuses on the Hookah in Global market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report covers- Al Fakher Hookahs- Starbuzz Hookahs- FUMARI- Mya Hookah- Evolution Hookahs- Anahi Hookahs- Regal Hookahs- Tianbao Glass- Ed Hardy HookahRegional markets discussed in the report have been encyclopedically examined to identify the most productive ones and take informed decisions concerning the deployment of products and services. The global Hookah market has also been researched according to regional distribution and share, so as to measure the level of growth in each geography and determine prospects that could arise in the foreseeable future.Table of Contents1 Market Overview1.1 Hookah Introduction1.2 Market Analysis by Type1.3 Market Analysis by Applications1.4 Market Analysis by Regions1.5 Market Dynamics1.5.1 Market Opportunities1.5.2 Market Risk1.5.3 Market Driving ForceRead Comprehensive Overview of Report @3 Global Hookah Market Competition, by Manufacturer3.1 Global Hookah Sales and Market Share by Manufacturer3.2 Global Hookah Revenue and Market Share by Manufacturer3.3 Market Concentration Rate3.3.1 Top 3 Hookah Manufacturer Market Share3.3.2 Top 6 Hookah Manufacturer Market Share3.4 Market Competition Trend4 Global Hookah Market Analysis by Regions4.1 Global Hookah Sales, Revenue and Market Share by Regions4.1.1 Global Hookah Sales by Regions (2012-2017)4.1.2 Global Hookah Revenue by Regions (2012-2017)4.2 North America Hookah Sales and Growth (2012-2017)4.3 Europe Hookah Sales and Growth (2012-2017)4.4 Asia-Pacific Hookah Sales and Growth (2012-2017)4.5 South America Hookah Sales and Growth (2012-2017)4.6 Middle East and Africa Hookah Sales and Growth (2012-2017)10 Global Hookah Market Segment by Type10.1 Global Hookah Sales, Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)10.1.1 Global Hookah Sales and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)10.1.2 Global Hookah Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)10.2 2 Hose Sales Growth and Price10.3 3 Hose Sales Growth and Price10.4 Other Sales Growth and Price12 Hookah Market Forecast (2017-2022)12.1 Global Hookah Sales, Revenue and Growth Rate (2017-2022)12.2 Hookah Market Forecast by Regions (2017-2022)12.2.1 North America Hookah Market Forecast (2017-2022)12.2.2 Europe Hookah Market Forecast (2017-2022)12.2.3 Asia-Pacific Hookah Market Forecast (2017-2022)12.2.4 South America Hookah Market Forecast (2017-2022)12.2.5 Middle East and Africa Hookah Market Forecast (2017-2022)12.3 Hookah Market Forecast by Type (2017-2022)12.4 Hookah Market Forecast by Application (2017-2022)QYReseachReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United States United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) Market Size, Status and Forecast 2021 Market Research Reports http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=809806&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/united-states-eu-japan-china-india-and-southeast-asia-radiofrequency-identification-rfid-market-size-status-and-forecast-2021.htm Qyresearchreports include new market research report "United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) Market Size, Status and Forecast 2021" to its huge collection of research reports.The research report Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) comprises precise facts of the market in order to allow a user to formulate an analytical plan of action that takes into account the reports detailed descriptions of the significant features that govern the United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) market. The report is replete with classifications, definitions, key characteristic descriptions for the United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) market. The knowledge and analysis of these factors will be advantageous to the reader when understanding their potential role in the various segments of the United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) market, along with the regional perspective given.The report discovers the crucial tendencies that have so far directed the United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) market, and offers a predictive analytics of the trends that will continue to influence it over the given forecast period. This is important for the examination of the United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) markets growth trajectory.The regional analysis of the United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) market allows the readers of this report to observe the changes in a market as an when it crosses diversities in demand and supply between different types of clients, cultures, and regions. The report examines the viability of each region that the United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) market is currently developing in, while expounding on the fruitful policies that have so far benefitted players in these regions.Fill the form to gain deeper insights on this market @This report studies the global Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) market, analyzes and researches the Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) development status and forecast in United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia. This report focuses on the top players in global market, likeNXP SemiconductorsTexas InstrumentsAtmelAmsSTMicroelectronicsMelexis TechnologiesAlien TechnologyEM Microelectronic3ALogicsFudan microelectronicsThe research methods utilized in the United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) markets research report incorporate tools that give proportionate weightage to the macro and micro aspects of the market. The report come complete with analyst opinions that are supported with substance, along with detailed analysis of the key players that operate in the United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) market.Table of Contents1 Industry Overview of Radiofrequency Identification (RFID)1.1 Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) Market Overview1.1.1 Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) Product Scope1.1.2 Market Status and Outlook1.2 Global Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) Market Size and Analysis by Regions1.3 Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) Market by End Users/ApplicationObtain Report Details @2 Global Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) Competition Analysis by Players2.1 Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) Market Size (Value) by Players (2015-2016)2.2 Competitive Status and Trend2.2.1 Market Concentration Rate2.2.2 Product/Service Differences2.2.3 New Entrants2.2.4 The Technology Trends in Future3 Company (Top Players) Profiles3.1 NXP Semiconductors3.1.1 Company Profile3.1.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.1.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.1.4 Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.1.5 Recent Developments3.2 Texas Instruments3.2.1 Company Profile3.2.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.2.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.2.4 Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.2.5 Recent Developments3.3 Atmel3.3.1 Company Profile3.3.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.3.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.3.4 Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.3.5 Recent DevelopmentsList of Tables and FiguresFigure Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) Product ScopeFigure Global Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) Market Size (2011-2016)Table Global Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) Market Size and Growth Rate by Regions (2011-2016)Figure Global Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) Market Share by Regions in 2015Figure United States Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) Market Size and Growth Rate by Regions (2011-2016)Figure EU Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) Market Size and Growth Rate by Regions (2011-2016)Figure Japan Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) Market Size and Growth Rate by Regions (2011-2016)Figure China Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) Market Size and Growth Rate by Regions (2011-2016)Figure India Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) Market Size and Growth Rate by Regions (2011-2016)QYReseachReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United States Snake Robots Industrial and Market Analysis Shares, Strategies, and Forecasts, Worldwide, 2011 to 2017 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=14777 http://www.researchmoz.us/snake-robots-market-shares-strategies-and-forecasts-worldwide-2011-to-2017-report.html "Snake Robots Market Shares, Strategies, and Forecasts, Worldwide, 2011 to 2017" The Report covers current Industries Trends, Worldwide Analysis, Global Forecast, Review, Share, Size, Growth, Effect.Description-A confined space needs snake shapes to achieve access. Confined spaces exist by design (aircraft engine), by failure (collapsed building) or naturally (human body). Snake-arm robots are self-contained portable devices and extensions to existing systems. These products build on software and hardware technology.Get Sample Report With TOC @Confined spaces exist. A confined space exists because of a lack of ability to take apart or dismantle components. Confined spaces exist in nuclear reactors, aircraft, the human body, industrial processing plant, underwater environments, ship-building, space. Buildings, roads, pipelines and other man-made spaces all have confined spaces. The world is full of awkward confined spaces.Snake robots are robotic arms used in industrial applications, but the arms are more versatile and move independently because of the jointed structure. Snake robots have a variety of applications. They are implemented as industrial arm robots, surgical minimally invasive devices, and for the military provide unique reconnaissance opportunities. The snake robots are the ultimate in an all-terrain units, they can go anywhere, even under doors and over mountains, in a way that no wheeled vehicle can maneuver.According to Susan Eustis, lead author of the study, Snake robots have a variety of applications. They are implemented as industrial arm robots, surgical minimally invasive devices, and for the military provide unique Snake robot markets are set to grow at a rapid pace. Markets at $46 million are anticipated to reach $8.5 billion by 2017. The reasons for strong growth are that the technology is proven, there are 100 successful reference accounts in a variety of industries, and the technology is useful.TABLE OF CONTENTSNAKE ROBOTS MARKET SHARES AND MARKET FORECASTSSnake Robot Market Driving ForcesSnake Robots Market SharesSnake Robot Market Forecasts1. SNAKE ROBOTS MARKET DESCRIPTION AND MARKET DYNAMICS1.1 Snake Robots Are Different1.2 Modsnake Robots1.2.1 Modsnake Robots Support Human Workers1.3 Snakelike Robots Slither over Rough Landscape1.4 Snake Robots Locomote1.5 Serpentine Robot Applications1.5.1 Seizing the Robotics Opportunity1.5.2 Modular Self-Reconfiguring Robotic Systems1.6 Public Aware That Robotics Have Arrived1.7 Next Generation Snake Robotics2. SNAKE ROBOTS MARKET SHARES AND MARKET FORECASTS2.1 Snake Robot Market Driving Forces2.2 Snake Robots Market Shares2.3 Snake Robot Variety of Applications2.3.1 OC Robotics Snake-Arm for Aircraft Assembly2.3.2 Minimally Invasive Equipment Surgical Robots2.3.3 Cardioarm Is A Jointed Robot2.3.4 SINTEF Robot Snakes Climb Pipes2.3.5 University of Southampton.2.3.6 CCTV Inspection2.4 Snake Robot Market Forecasts2.4.1 Cardiac Surgery Snake Robots Market Forecasts2.4.2 Cardiorobotics Initial Goal Is To Help Avoid Open-Heart Surgery2.4.3 Minimally Invasive Surgery Positioning: Cardiorobotics Requires One Incision At The Bottom Of The Ribs Whereas The Da Vinci Endoscopic Surgical System Could Require Up To Six Incision Points2.4.4 Cardiorobotics Positioning2.5 Snake Robot Prices2.5.1 Inaccessible Spaces - OC Robotics2.5.2 Cardiac Surgery - Cardioarm2.6 Snake Robots Regional Market Analysis3. SNAKE ROBOT PRODUCT DESCRIPTION3.1 OC Robotics Snake-Arm for Aircraft Assembly3.1.1 OC Robotics Extender Snake Range Of -Motion Robots Reach The Unreachable3.1.2 OC Robotics Snake-Arm -3.2 University of Michigan All-Terrain Robotics:3.2.1 University of Michigan Mobile Robotics Lab Omnitread3.2.2 OmniTread Robot Snakes3.3 Applied Robotics Technologies, LLC3.3.1 Applied Robotics Technologies Key Benefits3.3.2 Applied Robotics Technologies Pricing3.4 NASA Robotic Snakes3.5 Canadian Robotics Ltd.3.6 Japan Guru World-Class Snake Robotics3.7 NTNU and SINTEF in Norway World-Class Snake Robotics3.7.1 Sintef Climbing Robot3.7.2 Sintef Robot Learning3.7.3 Anna Konda Firefighting Snakebot3.7.4 SINTEF / NTNU Aiko - Snake Robot With Electric Motors 3-263.7.5 Department of Engineering Cybernetics at NTNU Pneumosnake - Snake Robot With Pneumatic Bellows3.8 Hibot ACM-R5 Amphibious Robosnake3.8.1 HiBot Japanese Snake Robot3.9 Medical Devices for Minimally Invasive Surgery3.9.1 Cardiorobotics Snakelike Robots for Heart Surgery3.9.2 Cardiorobotics Cardiac Surgery Snake Robot3.9.3 Minimally Invasive Surgery Positioning: Cardiorobotics Requires One Incision At The Bottom Of The Ribs Whereas The Da Vinci Surgical System Could Require Up To Six Incision Points3.10 OC Robotics3.10.1 OC Energy & Environment Robotics3.11 Maintaining High Voltage Transmission Lines Using Robotics3.11.1 Hydro-Quebec Research Institute (IREQ)LineScout Tele-Operated Obstacle Crossing System3.11.2 HiBot Expliner3.11.3 Americas Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) Autonomous Version4. SNAKE ROBOT TECHNOLOGY4.1 Actuated Joints In A Tight Volume4.2 OC Robotics4.2.1 OC Robotics Develops Snake-Arm Robots For Confined Spaces4.2.2 OC Robotics Snake Arm Actuator Pack4.2.3 OC Robotics Snake Arm4.2.4 OC Robotics Tool4.2.5 OC Robotics Confined Space Piece Manipulation4.2.6 OC Robotics Confined Space Reach4.3 OC Robotics Snake-Arm Robot Basics4.3.1 OC Robotics Snake Robot Curvature -4.3.2 OC Robotics Protective Skins4.3.3 OC Robotics Manages Hazardous Environments -4.3.4 OC Robotics Software - SoftSnake4.3.5 OC Robotics PipeSnake4.3.6 OC Robotics Snake-Arm Robots Aircraft Assembly4.4 CISST ERC Snake Robot4.5 Bio-Robotics Lab4.6 Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute4.7 Sintef4.7.1 Sintef Aiko Snake Robot With Electric Motors4.8 Hirose Fukushima Lab ACM Land and Amphibious Robot Snake4.8.1 Hirose Fukushima Lab ACM-R5 Control System4.8.2 Hirose Fukushima Lab ACM Slim Slime Robot4.8.3 Hirose Fukushima Lab Pneumatically-Driven Slime Robot4.8.4 Hirose-Fukushima Lab at Tokyo Institute of Technology Amphibious Snake Robot - ACM-R54.9 DrGavin S7 Snake Robot Rectilinear Locomotion4.9.1 Nottingham Trent University4.10 Israeli Army Deploys Robot Snakes4.10.1 Israeli Military Develops Robot Snake Bomb Hirose Fukushima Lab4.11 Merlin Robotics, Nottingham Trent University Robot Snake Dance4.12 Snake Bot at Carnegie Mellon4.12.1 Carnegie Mellon Conforming Loop4.13 CardioArm Biomedicine Snakelike Robots for Heart Surgery4.13.1 Snake Robot Helps Wounded Soldiers4.14 Hughes Aircraft R7 Early Robotic Snake4.15 British 'Serpentine Spy'4.16 IDF Spy Robot Snake4.17 SINTEF Robot Snakes Climb Pipes4.17.1 SINTEF Anna KondaFull Report @ResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Researchmoz Global Pvt. Ltd.90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States,Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free),Tel: +1-518-621-2074 Military Robots and Unmanned Vehicles Industrial and Market Analysis Shares, Strategies, and Forecasts, Worldwide, 2010 to 2016 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=18908 http://www.researchmoz.us/military-robots-and-unmanned-vehicles-market-shares-strategies-and-forecasts-worldwide-2010-to-2016-report.html "Military Robots and Unmanned Vehicles Market Shares, Strategies, and Forecasts, Worldwide, 2010 to 2016" The Report covers current Industries Trends, Worldwide Analysis, Global Forecast, Review, Share, Size, Growth, Effect.Description-LEXINGTON, Massachusetts (January 22, 2010) - WinterGreen Research announces that it has a new study on Military Ground Robots and unmanned vehicles. The 2010 study has 513 pages, 190 tables and figures. Worldwide markets are poised to achieve significant growth as the military ground robots and unmanned vehicles are used globally. Growth comes as the nature of combat changes in every region while the globally integrated enterprise replaces nationalistic dominance.Get Sample Report With TOC @Military robot automation of the defense process is the next wave of military evolution. As automated systems and networking complement the Internet , communication is facilitated on a global basis. The military charter is shifting to providing protection against terrorists and people seek to maintain a safe, mobile, independent lifestyle. Much of the military mission is moving to adopt a police force training mission, seeking to achieve protection of civilian populations on a worldwide basis.According to Susan Eustis, the lead author of the study, the purchase of Military Robots s is dependent on budget constraints. The use of Military Robots s is based on providing a robot that is less expensive to put in the field than a trained soldier. That automation of process has appeal to those who run the military.Robots are automating military ground systems, permitting vital protection of soldiers and people in the field, creating the possibility of reduced fatalities. Mobile robotics operate independently of the operator.The innovation coming from all the vendors is astounding. No one innovation is more significant than another. One vendor, BAE Systems has an ant size robot useful for reconnaissance and networking robots in development. As soldiers take up secure positions behind a wall, they deploy a small reconnaissance team. The initial deployment is poised to be a very, very small reconnaissance team. Some hopping, some flying, the stealthy autonomous reconnaissance squad vanishes into a suspicious building for several minutes, then relays the all-clear back to its partners outside when that is the case.What is good for a robotic unmanned ground vehicle is also good for an ummanned vehicle. Multiple technological, logistical, political and market forces share a quantum singularity that has bro ght mobile robotics to the point where robots are useful to every arm of the military services. This is a phenomenon that will have a major impact on the way we run the military and police societies.Use of remote-control toys in Iraq started as improvised robots to check out possible roadside bombs. There has since been a flurry of activity on the robotic explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) front since that early beginning. Deliveries of smaller and cheaper Bots are anticipated.The emergence of a market for intelligent, mobile robots for use in the field and the confined areas of city fighting presents many opportunities. Units used in public spaces and on the battlefield create a better, more flexible, more cost efficient military.Technology is used to actuate the disparate robot types. Core robotics research and advances in robotic technology can be applied across a variety of robotic form factors and robotic functionality. Advances feed on and off of each other. With each new round of innovation, a type of technological cross pollination occurs that improves existing robotic platforms and opens up other avenues where intelligent mobile robots can be employed, effectively creating new markets.Roboticists are more advanced in their training and in the tools available to create units. Military robots have evolved from units used in the field to manage different situations that arise. Robots save lives..Defense security systems have an emphasis on causality reduction during combat. This has resulted in investment in robotics technology that is useful. Robotic research is on the fast track for government spending. Congress passed a law making it an Army goal that by 2015, one-third of the operational ground combat vehicles are unmanned. The US Navy and Marines have similar initiatives underway.Military ground robot market forecast analysis indicates that vendor strategy is to pursue developing new applications that leverage leading edge technology. Robot solutions are achieved by leveraging the ability to innovate, to bring products to market quickly. Military purchasing authorities seek to reduce costs through design and outsourcing. Vendor capabilities depend on the ability to commercialize the results of research in order to fund further research. Government funded research is evolving some more ground robot capability.Table of ContentMILITARY GROUND ROBOT EXECUTIVE SUMMARYMilitary Ground Robot Market Driving ForcesFuture Combat System (FCS) Program Transitions toArmy Brigade Combat Team ModernizationRobots Operate IndependentlyMilitary Robots Market Driving ForcesMilitary Ground Robot Market SharesBAE Systems Ant Size RobotMilitary Ground Robot Market Forecasts1. MILITARY ROBOTS MARKET DESCRIPTION AND MARKET DYNAMICS1.1 Delivering Robotic Capabilities to Combat Teams1.2 Military Robot Scope1.2.1 Military Robot Applications1.3 Army's G8 Futures office1.3.1 Delivering Capabilities to the Army's Brigade Combat Teams1.3.2 Transition Between The Current Market And Where The Market Is Going1.3.3 Different Sizes of UGVs1.4 Types of Military Robots1.4.1 Telerob Explosive Observation Robot and Ordnance Disposal1.4.2 QinetiQ North America Talon RobotsUniversal Disrupter Mount1.4.3 General Dynamics Next-Generation CROWS II Increases Soldiers Safety1.4.4 Soldier Unmanned Ground Vehicle from iRobot1.5 UGV Enabling Technologies1.5.1 Sensor Processing1.5.2 Machine Autonomy1.6 Military Robot Bandwidth1.6.1 UGV Follow-Me Capability1.6.2 Communications Bandwidth1.6.3 Battery Power1.6.4 Combination Of Batteries Linked To Onboard Conventional Diesel1.7 SUGVs1.7.1 Mid-Size Category UGV1.7.2 Large UGV1.7.3 U.S. Army Ground Combat Vehicle1.7.4 TARDEC1.7.5 Tacom2. MILITARY GROUND ROBOT MARKET SHARES AND FORECASTS2.1 Military Ground Robot Market Driving Forces2.1.1 Future Combat System (FCS) Program Transitions to Army Brigade Combat Team Modernization2.1.2 Robots Operate Independently2.1.3 Military Robots Market Driving Forces2.2 Military Ground Robot Market Shares2.2.1 General Dynamics Robotic Systems2.2.2 Northrop Grumman Remotec Andros2.2.3 Northrop Grumman / Remotec2.2.4 Northrop Grumman Remotec UK Wheelbarrow Robots2.2.5 iRobot Government & Industrial Robots2.2.6 QinetiQ / Foster-Miller2.2.7 Qinetiq / Foster-Miller TALON EOD robots2.2.8 NAVEODTECHDIV Funds QinetiQ / Foster-Miller Talon Robots2.2.9 Foster-Miller TALON Responder and EOD2.2.10 Kongsberg CrowsII Military Robot System2.2.11 BAE Systems Ant Size Robot2.2.12 Telerob Rapid Response Vehicle2.2.13 Boston Dynamics2.2.14 Robotic Technology Robot2.3 Military and First Responder Robot Market Shares2.4 Military Ground Robot Market Forecasts2.4.1 Mid Range Military Robot Market Forecasts2.4.2 High End Military Robots2.4.3 Mid Range Unmanned Vehicle UVV Market Forecasts2.4.4 High End Unmanned Vehicle UVV Market Forecasts2.4.5 SUGVs2.4.6 Small Military Robots Used In Networks2.4.7 Remotely Controlled Armed Robots Deployed In Iraq2.4.8 Robots For Defense And Homeland Security2.4.9 U.S. Army Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle (SUGV)2.4.10 Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA Tactical Teams2.4.11 Application Scope2.4.12 U.S. Military Robots Key to Iraq Surge Success2.5 Military Robot Regional Market Analysis2.5.1 iRobot Geographic Information3. MILITARY ROBOTS PRODUCT DESCRIPTION3.1 iRobot3.1.1 iRobot PackBot 510 with EOD Kit3.1.2 iRobot PackBot 510 with First Responder Kit3.1.3 iRobot Warrior 7003.1.4 iRobot PackBot 500 with RedOwl Sniper Detection Kit3.1.5 iRobot PackBot 510 with FasTac Kit3.1.6 iRobot PackBot 500 with ICx Fido Explosives Detection Kit3.1.7 iRobot PackBot 510 with HAZMAT Detection Kit3.1.8 iRobot SeaGlider iRobot SeaGlider3.1.9 iRobot Ranger iRobot Ranger3.1.10 iRobot Aware 2.0 Robot Intelligence SoftwareFull Report @ResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Researchmoz Global Pvt. Ltd.90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States,Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free),Tel: +1-518-621-2074 Mesenchymal Stem Cells Market is Expecting Worldwide Growth by 2020 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/mesenchymal-stem-cells-market.asp http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/3309 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Mesenchymal stem cells are the adult stem cells. Mesenchymal stem cells are of various types such as monocytes, adipocytes, osteocytes and chondrocytes. Mesenchymal stem cells main function is to replace or repair damage tissue. In addition, mesenchymal stem cells have high potential for tissue repair. Mesenchymal stem cells are isolated from other tissues such as fallopian tube, cord blood, fetal liver, peripheral blood and fetal lung. Mesenchymal stem cells are renewable source to substitute tissue and cells to treat disabilities and diseases.To view complete report @North America dominates the global market for mesenchymal stem cell due to large number of aging population and increasing incidence of cancers. Asia is expected to show high growth rates in the next five years in the global mesenchymal stem cell market. China and India are expected to be the fastest growing mesenchymal stem cell markets in Asia-Pacific region. Some of the key driving forces for mesenchymal stem cell market in emerging countries are large pool of patients and rising government funding and support.In recent times there is increased use of mesenchymal stem cell due to increasing aging population. Rising incidence of chronic diseases, regulatory and government support and increasing investment in stem cell biology are some of the key factors driving the growth for the global mesenchymal stem cell market. In addition, increasing use of mesenchymal stem cell as a substitute to knee replacement surgeries and other operative procedures is also fuelling the growth of the global mesenchymal stem cell market. However, lack of therapeutic advancement related to vitro properties of stem cell is the major factor restraining the growth for the global mesenchymal stem cell market.Numerous ethical, political and religious controversies on mesenchymal stem cell could lead a challenge for the global mesenchymal stem cell market. Some of the trends for the global mesenchymal stem cell market are increasing collaborations and partnerships and rising innovation of mesenchymal stem cell products.A sample of this report is available upon request @Some of the major companies operating in the global mesenchymal stem cell market are EMD Millipore Corporation, Cell Applications, Inc., Cyagen Biosciences, Inc., Genlantis, Inc., Advanced Cell Technology Incorporated, Stemcell Technologies Inc., Celprogen, Inc., Stemedica Cell Technologies, Aastrom Biosciences and ScienCell Research Laboratories.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Innovative Drugs Market Demand is Increasing in Most Part of World 2020 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/innovative-drugs-market.asp http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/3311 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com An innovative drug refers to the novel medication that is given to the patients for the treatment of specific disease. Innovative drugs help to deliver novel solutions to the patients for curing diseases that do not have satisfactory treatment available in the market. Various diseases that can be treated by innovative drugs are cancers, osteoarthritis and alzheimers. In addition, some of the other diseases for which available drugs show poor results are chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD), parkinsons disease and infections. Innovative drug discovery and development is a time consuming and expensive process. For receiving regulatory approval, innovative drugs must show distinct advantages over existing drugs. Innovative drugs are known by both generic as well as their brand names.To view complete report @North America, followed by Europe, has the largest market for innovative drugs due to high number of approved drugs and technological advancement in this region. Asia is expected to show high growth rate in the innovative drugs market in next few years due to rise in incidence of various diseases, outsourcing drug discovery and increasing awareness among people for better healthcare facilities in the region.Increasing R&D activities in drug discovery and development, technological advancement, rise in need for improvement in excising drugs, requirement of novel drugs to treat diseases, increase in incidence rates several of disease and growing concerns over high death rates are driving the market for innovative drugs. In addition, rising awareness among people for better healthcare facilities is expected to drive the market for innovative drugs. However, strict government regulations and approval process, economic volatility and cost concerns are some of the key factors restraining the growth for global innovative drugs market.Growing demographics and economies in the developing countries such as China, Japan and India are expected to offer good opportunities in innovative drugs market in Asia. In addition, rise in incidence of various diseases and increasing awareness about better healthcare is expected to offer new opportunity for global innovative drugs market. New product launches, increasing number of mergers and acquisitions and rise in collaborations and partnerships are some of the latest trends that have been observed in global innovative drugs market.A sample of this report is available upon request @Some of the major companies operating in the global innovative drugs market are Bio-Rad Laboratories, Abbott Laboratories, Stratasys 3D Printers, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Gedeon Richter, Novartis, Bayer HealthCare, GlaxoSmithKline and Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Global Oil Shale Market Research Report 2017 Oil Shale https://www.24marketreports.com/request-sample/global-oil-shale-market-research-report-2017 https://www.24marketreports.com/manufacturing-and-construction/global-oil-shale-market-research-report-2017 Oil Shale Report by Material, Application, and Geography Global Forecast to 2021 is a professional and in-depth research report on the world's major regional market conditions, focusing on the main regions (North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific) and the main countries (United States, Germany, united Kingdom, Japan, South Korea and China).The report firstly introduced the Oil Shale basics: definitions, classifications, applications and market overview; product specifications; manufacturing processes; cost structures, raw materials and so on. Then it analyzed the world's main region market conditions, including the product price, profit, capacity, production, supply, demand and market growth rate and forecast etc. In the end, the report introduced new project SWOT analysis, investment feasibility analysis, and investment return analysis.The report includes six parts, dealing with:1.) basic information;2.) the Asia Oil Shale Market;3.) the North American Oil Shale Market;4.) the European Oil Shale Market;5.) market entry and investment feasibility;6.) the report conclusion.Get a free sample at :Table of Content Part I Oil Shale Industry Overview Part II Asia Oil Shale Industry (The Report Company Including the Below Listed But Not All) Part III North American Oil Shale Industry (The Report Company Including the Below Listed But Not All) Part IV Europe Oil Shale Industry Analysis (The Report Company Including the Below Listed But Not All) Part V Oil Shale Marketing Channels and Investment Feasibility Part VI Global Oil Shale Industry ConclusionsGet access to full report @24MarketReports is the marque of market research industry which identifies massive database of market research reports. We are having a numerous sectors market research gathering which covers diverse verticals around the Earth. Our central focus to make it trouble-free for decision makers to find applicable information and locate right Research reports which can save their time and assist in what they do best.New York City Zone 01,United States,Int'l: (+1) 646 781 7170,UK(Toll free): +44 800 088 5734,help@24marketreports.com Oncology Drugs Market is Expected to Continue Flourishing in Developed and Developing Regions of World, 2020 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/oncology-drugs-market.asp http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/3312 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Oncology is a branch of study and treatment of cancer. Cancer is disease in which abnormal cells grow and divide without control. Oncology drugs help in diagnosis cancer. Some of the causes of cancer are tobacco and smoking, viral infections, genetic causes, carcinogens, bacterial infections, physical activities, eating habits and age. Various types of cancer that can be treated by oncology drugs are blood cancer, endocrine cancer, lung cancer, bone cancer, skin cancer, genitourinary cancer, gastrointestinal cancer, breast cancer, eye cancer, head and neck cancers and gynaecologic cancer. On the basis of treatment, oncology drugs market can be segmented into chemotherapy, immunotherapy, surgery, radiation therapy, stem cell transplant, hormone therapy and others.To view complete report @North America, followed by Europe, has the largest market for oncology drugs due to new drug development, government initiatives and developed healthcare infrastructure in this region. Asia is expected to show high growth rate in the oncology drugs market in next few years due to increasing incidence of cancer cases, rise in the use of tobacco products and growth in aging population in the region.Technological advancement, increasing incidence of various type of cancers, rise in need for R&D activities in cancer and growing concerns over high death rates due to cancer are driving the market for oncology drugs. In addition, introduction of new drugs and therapies for cancer and government support to improve healthcare condition are expected to drive the market for oncology drugs. However, high cost of cancer treatments, strict government regulations, huge investment involvement in the development and clinical trials of the therapies and side effects of cancer treatments are some of the major factors restraining the growth for global oncology drugs market.Growing demographics and economies in the developing countries such as China and India are expected to offer good opportunities in oncology drugs market in Asia. In addition, new innovations in cancer drugs and therapies and rise in awareness about the new drugs and therapies available in the market are expected to offer new opportunities for global oncology drugs market. Personalized medicines, increasing number of mergers and acquisitions, new product launches and rise in number of collaborations and partnerships are some of the trends that have been observed in global oncology drugs market.A sample of this report is available upon request @Some of the major companies operating in the global oncology drugs market are Amgen, Bayer Healthcare AG, CELGENE CORPORATION, GlaxoSmithKline, ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Eli Lilly and Company, Novartis, Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, Pfizer and Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Antidiarrheal Drugs Market to Register a Strong Growth By 2020 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/antidiarrheal-drugs-market.asp http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/3325 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Pharmaceutical sector is growing at a significant rate globally due to increase in the prevalence of diseases, rise in aging population and improvement in the healthcare facilities. Gastrointestinal drugs may be classified on the basis of different active ingredients used in it. Antidiarrheal drugs refer to a class of drugs that are used to treat diarrhea. Antidiarrheal drugs market is growing at a significant rate globally due to increasing incidence of diarrhea and growing awareness in this field.To view complete report @North America, followed by Europe, dominates the global market for antidiarrheal drugs due to high prevalence of diarrhea cases and high adoption rate for antidiarrheal drugs. Asia is expected to experience high growth rate in the next few years in global antidiarrheal drugs market. China and India are expected to be the fastest growing antidiarrheal drugs markets in Asia. Some of the key driving forces for antidiarrheal drugs market in emerging countries are large pool of patients, increasing awareness and improvement in the healthcare facilities.Various factors that are driving the global antidiarrheal drugs market are growing awareness for antidiarrheal drugs, rising government initiatives for improvement in healthcare facilities and increasing prevalence for diarrhea cases. However, various side effects associated with the uptake of antidiarrheal drugs, such as constipation, fullness and bloating are restraining the global antidiarrheal drugs market. In addition, traditional and home remedies are still popular in emerging countries; this restrains the antidiarrheal drugs market from growing.Emerging countries hold a good potential for the global antidiarrheal drugs market. Discovery of some antidiarrheal drugs with less side effects is expected to offer good opportunity for global antidiarrheal drugs market. Decrease in the efficacy of other medicine if taken along with antidiarrheal drug is a challenge faced by antidiarrheal drugs market. Some of the latest trends that have been observed in the global antidiarrheal drugs market include companies involved in geographical expansions and implementing various strategies for setting their brand.A sample of this report is available upon request @Some of the major companies dealing in global antidiarrheal drugs are Johnson & Johnsons, Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline and Proctor & Gamble Pharmaceuticals. Some other companies with significant presence in the antidiarrheal drugs market are Sanofi Aventis, Pfizer, Merck & Co. and Bayer.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Digital Pathology Systems Market Estimated to Grow Strongly by 2020 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/digital-pathology-systems-market.asp http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/3101 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Digital pathology refers to the process of using computer technology to convert an analog microscopic image into a digital image. A digital pathology system is an image based healthcare information system which creates, manages, stores, shares, analyzes and interprets the digital image through glass slides by using computer technology. Digital pathology helps in accurate diagnosis by standardizing test interpretation and workflow. Digital pathology systems are used in hospitals, research institutions, medical universities and government organizations.To view complete report @The application based market of digital pathology includes human and animal pathology. Digital pathology systems can be integrated with laboratory information system that help to capture, store, manage, share and display patients related information such as patients case history, case reports and other related documents for the treatment of patients. A digital pathology system helps to reducing laboratory expenses and improving patients care through integration.North America, followed by Europe, has the largest market for digital pathology systems due to reimbursement policies, rise in incidence of chronic diseases and increasing adoption of digital pathology systems in pharmaceutical and biotechnological companies in the region. Asia is expected to show high growth rate in the digital pathology systems market in next few years due to government initiatives and rise in awareness about digital pathology and its benefits in the region.Technological advancement, government initiatives to use of digital pathology to improve the quality of cancer diagnosis, rise in incidence of chronic diseases and increasing development of personalized medicines are some of the key factors driving the global digital pathology systems market. In addition, increasing demand for quality healthcare services and improvement in operational efficiency and productivity are expected to drive the market for digital pathology. However, strict government regulations and high implementation cost involved are some of the key factors restraining the growth for global digital pathology systems market.Growing demographics and economies in the developing countries such as India and China are expected to offer good opportunities for digital pathology systems market in Asia. In addition, increasing demand for powerful IT systems is expected to offer new opportunity to global digital pathology systems market. However, standardization and interoperability issue is a challenge for digital pathology systems market. Shifting focus towards patient-centric approach is one of the major trends that have been observed for global digital pathology systems market.A sample of this report is available upon request @Some of the major companies operating in the global digital pathology systems market are 3DHISTECH Ltd., Hamamatsu Photonics K.K., Leica Microsystems, Ventana Medical Systems, Inc., Definiens, Indica Labs, Mikroscan Technologies, Inc., Visiopharm, Corista and Nikon Instruments Inc.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Worldwide Hypercars Industry 2017 Report: Ferrari, Porsche, Automobili,Bugatti, Maserati, Daimler Global Hypercars Market Research Report 2017 http://www.reportsnreports.com/contacts/discount.aspx?name=1133197 http://www.reportsnreports.com/purchase.aspx?name=1133197 http://www.reportsnreports.com/contacts/inquirybeforebuy.aspx?name=1133197 The report provides key statistics on the market status of the Hypercars manufacturers and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the industry.Complete report on Hypercars market spreads across 119 pages profiling 12 companies and supported with 187 tables and figures @Key Companies Analysis: Ferrari, Porsche, Automobili Lamborghini, Koenigsegg, Pagani Automobili, Bugatti, Maserati, Daimler Group, Hennessey Performance Engineering (HPE), McLaren, Zenvo Automotive and Honda profiles overviewThe Global Hypercars Industry provides a basic overview of the industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. The Hypercars market analysis is provided for the international markets including development trends, competitive landscape analysis, and key regions development status.Development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures are also analyzed. This report also states import/export consumption, supply and demand Figures, cost, price, revenue and gross margins.The Global Hypercars Industry focuses on global major leading industry players providing information such as company profiles, product picture and specification, capacity, production, price, cost, revenue and contact information. Upstream raw materials and equipment and downstream demand analysis is also carried out. The Hypercars industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed. Finally the feasibility of new investment projects are assessed and overall research conclusions offered. With the tables and figures the report provides key statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.Place a Direct Purchase on this Report @Major Points Covered in Table of Contents:1 Industry Overview2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Hypercars3 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis4 Production Analysis of Hypercars by Regions, Technology, and Applications5 Sales and Revenue Analysis of Hypercars by Regions6 Analyses of Hypercars Production, Supply, Sales and Market Status 2010-20177 Analysis of Hypercars industry Key Manufacturers8 Price and Gross Margin Analysis9 Marketing Traders or Distributor Analysis of Hypercars10 Development Trend of Hypercars industry2017-202211 Industry Chain Suppliers of Hypercars with Contact Information12 New Project Investment Feasibility Analysis of Hypercars13 Conclusion of the Global Hypercars industry 2017 Market Research ReportList of Tables and FiguresGet more details on this report @About Us:Reports n Reports is digital databank of syndicated market reports for worldwide and China businesses. ReportsnReports.com offers market research reports to businesses, entities and organizations with an objective of assisting them in their decision making process. Our collection of 500,000+ industry & nation research reports shields 5000+ micro markets. We provide 24X7 available, online and offline support to our clients.Contact:Ritesh TiwariUNIT no 802, Tower no. 7, SEZMagarpatta city, Hadapsar,Pune, Maharashtra 411013, IndiaTel: +1-888-391-5441sales@reportsandreports.com Advanced (Carbon Dioxide) CO2 Sensors Market - Building Automation Is Expected To Boost The Growth Of The Marke www.transparencymarketresearch.com www.transparencymarketresearch.com Advanced CO2 sensors can adjust automatically to the change in humidity, temperature and altitude during the process of monitoring the presence and intensity of CO2 across different medium such as water and air. Increased emission of hazardous gases from various industrial sector is one of the most important factor anticipated to boost the demand of technologically advanced CO2 across the globe. Thus, in order to effectively measure and monitor the presence of CO2 in the atmosphere, CO2 sensors are increasingly used in air pollution measuring system. Increasing concern of various industrial sectors in respect of keeping a control on their CO2 emission is one of the most important factor anticipated to trigger the adoption rate of advanced CO2 sensor during the forecast period from 2017 to 2025. In addition, the rapid increase in the amount of industrial waste have resulted in the pollution of water bodies with contagious substances and toxic. The traditional CO2 sensors that are available in the market are not capable enough to track the composition of CO2 in the contaminated water. This in turn, leads to rising demand for advanced CO2 sensors that can be used underwater to measure and keep a track of the CO2 level and other gases present in the water body.For the purpose of providing a detailed analysis of the market, the global CO2 sensor market has been segmented on the basis of product type and end user. On the basis of product type, advanced CO2 sensor market is segmented into non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) CO2 sensors and chemical CO2 sensors. The NDIR CO2 sensor is expected to account for the largest market share during the forecast period due to its stability, long life span, high humidity and dirt withstanding capability of infrared sensors. However, the disadvantage of NDIR CO2 sensors is that it is bulky and expensive. However, changes in the level of infrared energy in the system, light scattering from particulars and thermal drift are some of the measurement errors in the NDIR CO2 sensors. In spite of this, the market opportunities for this product lies in the fact that it is easy to use and is relatively simpler in structure.Based on end user the advanced co2 sensors can be segmented into healthcare, automotive, petrochemical, building automation and domestic appliances, industrial and others. Building automation is expected to boost the growth of the market due to the increase in automation that have led to the increase in infrastructure. Due to the increase in the real estate industry, different indoor pollutants that comprises of volatile organic compound like paints, chemical uses and others that came forward. Though co2 is not a pollutant but it have an effect on human beings due to which they become sluggish and feel sleepy. Thus to overcome the above concern advanced co2 sensors is used that help in purifying the air and leads to proper ventilation. In addition the use of advanced co2 sensors in industrial sector to control pollution and measure co2 emission will help to widen the scope of the market.The global advanced CO2 sensors market is further segmented based on geography into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, and Latin America. Middle East and Africa is expected to dominate the market in the forecast period followed by North America and Asia Pacific. The increasing utilization of advanced co2 sensors in the smart buildings is expected to fuel the growth of the market.The key vendors of advanced Co2 sensors market Amphenol Advanced Sensor (The U.S.), Digital Control Systems Inc. (The U.S.), Honeywell (The U.S.), Johnson Controls (The U.S.), General Electric (The U.S.), Pepperl+Fuchs GmbH (Germany), Sick AG (Germany), Hans Turck GmbH & Co. (Germany), Siemens (Germany), Balluff GmbH (Germany), Gas Sensing solutions (The U.K.) and many more. These players have adopted various strategies such as business expansion, new product launch, partnership and mergers to cater to the various need of advanced CO2 sensors.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a next-generation provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendationsTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: North America's Ground Mount PV Utility Market by Installation (Pile Mount, Pole Mount, and Others) and by Country (U.S., Canada, and Mexico), 2014 - 2022 Market Research Report http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=285074 http://www.researchmoz.us/ground-mount-pv-utility-market-by-installation-pile-mount-pole-mount-and-others-and-by-country-us-canada-and-mexico-north-america-industry-analysis-size-share-growth-trends-and-forecast-2014-2022-report.html http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "North America's Ground Mount PV Utility Market by Installation (Pile Mount, Pole Mount, and Others) and by Country (U.S., Canada, and Mexico), 2014 - 2022" to its huge collection of research reports.Industry drivers such as reducing prices of PV modules, decreasing project costs, government schemes such as RPS, and increasing economies of scale of utility-scale projects are creating demand for ground mount PV utility. The ground mount PV utility annual installation in North America stood at 3,381.4 MW in 2013 and is expected to reach 17,589.7 MW by 2022, expanding at an AAGR of 20.1% between 2014 and 2022. Revenue generated through installations of ground mount PV utility projects in North America was valued at USD 7,311.8 million in 2013 and is projected to reach USD 19,464.1 million by 2022 at an AAGR of 11.5% between 2014 and 2022.The research study is designed to analyze the ground mount PV utility market in North America. The market is calculated in terms of annual capacity installations (MW) and revenue (USD Million). The market for ground mount PV utility in North America has been segmented based on the installation type and countries. On the basis of installation type, the market for ground mount PV utility in North America has been segmented into pile mount, pole mount, and others. The market for ground mount PV utility in North America, based on country-wise segment, has been divided into the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. The report provides a detailed growth forecast for the period 2014?2022 based on the baseline year 2013. Projections have been provided for annual installations (MW) and revenue (USD Million).The report includes the key market dynamics affecting the demand for ground mount PV utility in North America. As a part of our market dynamics analysis, we have analyzed the market drivers, market restraints, and market opportunities. Furthermore, we have also provided a cost analysis of the ground mount PV utility projects in North America. In this cost analysis segment, we have analyzed the price of both fixed-axis and one-axis projects along with the cost of electricity for utility-scale PV projects in the U.S. and other North American countries. A comprehensive competitive landscape, which includes company market share analysis and market attractiveness analysis, has also been provided in this report. The report also provides a detailed industry analysis of the ground mount PV utility market in North America with the help of Porters Five Forces model. The Porters Five Forces analysis aids in understanding the five major forces that affect the industry structure and profitability of the ground mount PV utility market in North America. The forces analyzed are the bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of suppliers, threat from new entrants, threat from substitutes, and degree of competition.The study also includes the value chain of the ground mount PV utility market which provides a glimpse of interaction and roles of major stakeholders in the industry. The attractiveness involves benchmarking and ranking each country included in the ground mount PV utility market. The parameters selected are likely to have a pronounced effect on the demand for ground mount PV utility in North America in the current as well as future scenario. In order to collate the North America ground mount utility market report, we have conducted in-depth primary interviews and discussion with numerous key opinion leaders and participants. Primary research represents the bulk of our research efforts, coupled with an extensive secondary research. We also reviewed key players product portfolio, annual reports, press releases, and relevant documents for competitive analyses and better understanding of the ground mount utility market in North America. Secondary research includes in-depth research on current trends, Internet sources, trade journals, technical writing, and statistical data from associated approach for obtaining concise data, capturing industry participants insights, and recognizing growth opportunities.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Key participants in the ground mount PV utility market in North America include Andalay Solar, Inc., First Solar, Haticon Solar, LLC, NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, SolarCity Corporation, SunEdison, Inc., SunLink Corporation, SunPower Corporation, and Unirac Incorporated. This report provides an overview of these companies, followed by their financial revenues, business strategies, and recent developments.North America Ground Mount PV Utility Market: Installation Type AnalysisPile MountPole MountOthersNorth America Ground Mount PV Utility Market: Country-wise AnalysisU.S.CanadaMexicoTable Of ContentChapter 1 Preface1.1 Report Description1.2 Research Scope1.3 Market Segmentation1.4 Research MethodologyChapter 2 Executive SummaryChapter 3 Biomass Power Generation Market Industry Analysis3.1 Introduction3.2 Value Chain Analysis3.3 Market Dynamics3.4 Market DriversBrowse More Details @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ Growing Demand For Industrial Dispensing System and Equipment In Global Market During The Period 2015 - 2021 Market Research Report http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=285071 http://www.researchmoz.us/industrial-dispensing-system-and-equipment-market-global-industry-analysis-size-share-growth-trends-and-forecast-2015-2021-report.html http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Growing Demand For Industrial Dispensing System and Equipment In Global Market During The Period 2015 - 2021" to its huge collection of research reports.Industrial dispensing systems and equipment are used for dispensing chemicals, glues, powder product, liquid product, inks, or other solvents. The solvents dispensed can be in a quantity desired by the consumer or in a pre-defined quantity. Industrial dispensing systems play an important role in the day-to-day operations in a manufacturing plant. These systems are used in number of applications such as large-scale industries for dispensing oil and other solvents, pharmaceuticals products and disinfecting solutions, household chemicals such as detergent liquids and other cleaning solutions, personal care products such as shampoos and moisturizers, foods such as syrups and sauces, and beverages such as water and aerated drinks.The integration of automation in various industries are contributing to the growing demand for industrial dispensing systems across the globe. Dispensing systems are widely used in various industries such as automotive, oil and gas, defense and aerospace, and pharmaceuticals industry. These industries require dispensing system in order to improve their production efficiency. India, China, Ghana, South Africa, Mauritius and Brazil are the growing countries adopting new technology of industrial dispensing systems. In addition, Adoption of new technology in automotive sector is supporting the growth of industrial dispensing systems and equipment market. However, the new technologies such as fluid dynamic technology in the food and beverage segment are anticipated to have a huge influence on the dispensing system market. Various advantages associated with fluid dynamic technology in the food and beverage industry which includes lower carbon footprint, and maximum efficiency in minimal space is further fueling the growth of this market. It helps to save energy through efficient cooling and manages to remove the volume of beverage from the system, and thus decreasing the operational cost.The developing economies like India, China, Brazil, Indonesia and others are expected to experience more demand for industrial dispensing system and equipment market in the coming years. With technological advancement in the industrial dispensing system and equipment market new products are being developed by the manufacturers with better efficiencies, functionalities and customizations. The industrial dispensing system and equipments have demand in the industries such as automotive, personal care products, food and beverage and others. There are some challenges which the industry encounters and few of those have high impact at present such aslow metering quality of liquid dispensing machine, and shrinking after sales service. . However, the impact of these factors is expected to reduce during the forecast period.In this report, the market has been segmented based on end use, types and geography. It also includes drivers, restraints and opportunities (DROs), Porters five forces analysis and value chain of the industrial dispensing systems and equipment market. The study highlights current market trends and provides the forecast from 2015 to 2021. We have also covered the current market scenario for bearings and highlighted future trends that could affect the demand for components based on industrial dispensing system.By geography, the market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Rest of the World (RoW). The study covers major countries such as the U.S., the U.K., China and Japan. The market size and forecast from 2015 to 2021 have been provided in the report.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The report also analyzes macroeconomic factors influencing and inhibiting the growth of the industrial dispensing systems market. Porters five forces analysis offers insight into the market competition throughout its value chain. The market attractiveness analysis provided in the report highlights key investing areas in this industry. The report will help manufacturers, suppliers and distributors understand the present and future trends in this market and formulate their strategies accordingly.This study includes the profiles of key players in the market and the strategies adopted by them to sustain in the competition. Recent developments and barriers of the market are expected to help emerging players to design their strategies in an effective manner. The study is expected to help key players in the market and also the electric vehicle manufacturers to formulate and develop new strategies. Some of the key players operating in this market include Nordson Corporation, Techcon System Inc., Fisnar Inc, Graco Inc., Dymax Corporation., Franklin Fueling System, GPD Global Inc., Wayne Fueling Systems, and IMI Cornelius Inc. among others.Global Industrial Dispensing System and Equipment Market: By ApplicationGlues and Sealants Dispensing SystemLiquid MaterialPowder Product DispenserOthersGlobal Industrial Dispensing System and Equipment Market: By End UseAutomotivePersonal Care ProductsPharmaceuticalsFood and BeverageOthersGlobal Industrial Dispensing System and Equipment Market: By GeographyNorth AmericaEuropeAsia PacificRest of the world (RoW)Browse More Details @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ Global Engineering Software (CAD, CAM, CAE, AEC, & EDA) Market - Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2014 - 2022 Market Research Report http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=285062 http://www.researchmoz.us/engineering-software-cad-cam-cae-aec-and-eda-market-global-industry-analysis-size-share-growth-trends-and-forecast-2014-2022-report.html http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Engineering Software (CAD, CAM, CAE, AEC, & EDA) Market - Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2014 - 2022" to its huge collection of research reports.The global engineering software market defines the use of different software such as computer-aided designing (CAD) software, computer-aided engineering (CAE) software, computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) software, electronic design automation (EDA) software, and architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) software. These softwares are utilized across various engineering disciplines, such as electronics and communication engineering, electrical engineering, process engineering, chemical engineering, and mechanical engineering.This research study, entitled Engineering Software (CAD, CAM, CAE, AEC, & EDA) Market Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2014 2022, provides strategic analysis of the global engineering software market along with the market growth (size in US$ Bn*) forecast for the period from 2015 to 2022. The report includes an in-depth analysis of the market drivers, restraints, opportunities, and industry trends. It also highlights the significant growth opportunities for engineering software in the next few years.The report provides an extensive assessment of stakeholder strategies and the winning imperatives in the engineering software market and also analyzes the current and future engineering software market potential. The report segregates the engineering software market based on engineering software type and applications across different geographies, which include North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), Middle East & Africa (MEA), and Latin America (LATAM).The report segments the global engineering software market, on the basis of engineering software type, into computer-aided design (CAD) software; computer-aided engineering (CAE) software; computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) software; architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) software; and electronic design automation (EDA) software. Furthermore, the global engineering software market is segmented by applications into design automation, plant design, product design & testing, drafting & 3D modeling, and other applications. The other applications segment includes 3D printing, enterprise resource planning, project management, and knowledge management.The competitive positioning of key engineering software vendors in the global engineering software market mentioned in the report provides a detailed understanding of the various players in the market. The market position of the companies is identified based on factors such as product/service portfolio mix, geographic presence, tenure (duration of activity in the market), and their recent key developments. The competitive strategies implemented by leading engineering software vendors on a global scale are also provided in the report. The study analyzes the global engineering software market, and provides revenue estimates in terms of US$ Bn for the period from 2013 to 2022, wherein the forecasts are for the period from 2015 to 2022. The market forecasts are based on the analysis of existing dynamics and their potential future impact. Market estimates have been analyzed by taking into account the impact of various economic, political, technological, social, and legal factors, as well as the existing market dynamics influencing market growth.The engineering software market is moderately fragmented in nature. Autodesk, Inc., Bentley Systems, Inc., Dassault Systemes S.A., IBM Corporation, Geometric Ltd., Siemens PLM Software, Inc., SAP SE, Synopsys, Inc., PTC, Inc., Ansys, Inc., and MSC Software Corporation are a few key players operating within the global engineering software market.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The global Engineering Software market is segmented as below:Global Engineering Software Market, By Software TypeComputer-Aided Designing (CAD) SoftwareComputer-Aided Engineering (CAE) SoftwareComputer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM) SoftwareArchitecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) SoftwareElectronic Design Automation (EDA) SoftwareGlobal Engineering Software Market, By ApplicationsDesign AutomationPlant DesignProduct Design & TestingDrafting & 3D ModelingOthers (3D Printing, Enterprise Resource Planning, Project Management, and Knowledge Management)Global Engineering Software Market, By GeographyNorth AmericaEuropeAsia Pacific (APAC)Middle East & Africa (MEA)Latin America (LATAM)Browse More Details @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ Deep Dive into Chemical Milling Market to observe latest trends, market dynamics and future growth- 2017 to 2022 Reports Monitor https://www.reportsmonitor.com/asia-pacific-chemical-milling-market-by-manufacturers-regions-type-and-application-forecast-to-2022/ https://www.reportsmonitor.com/request-sample/?post=235033 This report studies the chemical etched parts market. Chemical milling is the subtractive manufacturing process of using baths of temperature-regulated etching chemicals to remove material to create an object with the desired shape. It is mostly used on metals, though other materials are increasingly important. It was developed from armor-decorating and printing etching processes developed during the Renaissance as alternatives to engraving on metal.Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Chemical Milling in Asia-Pacific market, especially in China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, India and Australia. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, countries/Regions, type and application.Browse Full Table of Contents and Report Description @Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report covers Great Lakes Engineering Tech-Etch United Western Enterprises VACCO Industries (Under Esco Technologies) Wist Europe Lancaster Metals Science Co. Tech Met Orbel Precision Micro Newcut Veco BV Advanced Chemical Etching ToyoMarket Segment by Countries, covering China Japan Korea Taiwan Southeast Asia India AustraliaMarket Segment by Type, covers Steel Chemical Etched Part Aluminum Chemical Etched Part Copper Chemical Etched Part Brass Chemical Etched PartMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided into Aerospace Electronic Medical Automotive OthersFor Requesting a Sample Copy of This Report, Please Visit @There are 19 Chapters to deeply display the Asia-Pacific Chemical Milling market.Chapter 1, to describe Chemical Milling Introduction, product type and application, market overview, market analysis by countries, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the manufacturers of Chemical Milling, with profile, main business, news, sales, price, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 3, to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 4, to show the Asia-Pacific market by countries, covering China, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, Taiwan, India and Australia, with sales, price, revenue and market share of Chemical Milling, for each country, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 5 and 6, to show the market by type and application, with sales, price, revenue, market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 to analyze the key countries by manufacturers, Type and Application,covering China,Japan,Korea,Southeast Asia, Taiwan, India and Australia,with sales,revenue and market share by manufacturers,types and application;Chapter 14, Chemical Milling market forecast, by countries, type and application, with sales, price, revenue and growth rate forecast, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 15, to analyze the manufacturing cost, key raw materials and manufacturing process etc.Chapter 16, to analyze the industrial chain, sourcing strategy and downstream end users (buyers);Chapter 17, to describe sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers etc.Chapter 18 and 19, to describe the research findings and conclusion, appendix, methodology and data sourceAbout UsReports Monitor (ReportsMonitor.com) is a platform to meet the market research and business intelligence requirements. Our aim is to change the dynamics of the Market Research industry by providing quality intelligence backed by data. Your requirement for market forecasting is fulfilled by our exclusive quantitative and analytics driven intelligence. We have a vast collection of reports, covering maximum industries worldwide. Our process is meticulously planned and executed in order to use maximum resources and explore the market for getting genuine insights. Decision makers can now rely on our distinct data gathering methods to get factual market forecasting and detailed analysis.Contact UsAbout UsReports Monitor (ReportsMonitor.com) is a platform to meet the market research and business intelligence requirements. Our aim is to change the dynamics of the Market Research industry by providing quality intelligence backed by data. Your requirement for market forecasting is fulfilled by our exclusive quantitative and analytics driven intelligence. We have a vast collection of reports, covering maximum industries worldwide. Our process is meticulously planned and executed in order to use maximum resources and explore the market for getting genuine insights. Decision makers can now rely on our distinct data gathering methods to get factual market forecasting and detailed analysis. Global Compression Molding Machine Market Research Report Forecast 2017 - 2021 Compression Molding Machine Market http://www.marketresearchstore.com/report/global-compression-molding-machine-market-research-report-forecast-146253 https://goo.gl/GNccfD The Compression Molding Machine Market Research Report 2017 is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Compression Molding Machine industry.Read Complete Report @The key players are expected to tap onto these market opportunities to penetrate the market. Furthermore, the untapped opportunities in emerging economies will provide a considerable impetus to the small, medium, and large companies operating in the Global Compression Molding Machine market. These opportunities in turn are projected to have positive impact on the Global Compression Molding Machine market. Players in the market are focusing on innovation, which has resulted in a lot of mergers, acquisitions, collaborations, and partnerships. The prominent market players are also focusing to offer a broader range of products. Competitors often are competing on the basis of the cost of the products in the Global Compression Molding Machine market.The report studies the Compression Molding Machine market by evaluating the market chain, prevalent policies, and regulations as well as the manufacturers, their manufacturing chain, cost structures, and contribution in the industry. The regional markets for the global Compression Molding Machine market are examined by analyzing the pricing of products in the region compared to the profit generated. The production capacity, demand and supply, logistics, and the historical performance of the market in the given region is also evaluated in this market report.Global Compression Molding Machine Market : Top ManufacturesWabash MPIFrench Oil Mill MachinerySACMIPAN STONE HYDRAULIC INDUSREPAutopack Packaging MachineryHanChangLong Chang Mechanical lndustrialSumitomo Heavy Industries MechatronicsGlobal Compression Molding Machine Market : Regional Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaRequest for Sample Report @Development plans and policies significantly impact the market dynamic. The report therefore studies in detail the impact of the strategies, plans, and policies adopted by leading vendors of the Compression Molding Machine market. Manufacturing cost of products and the pricing structure adopted by the market is also evaluated in the report. Other parameters crucial in determining trends in the market such as consumption demand and supply figures, cost of production, gross profit margins, and selling price of product and services is also included within the ambit of the report.About Us:MarketResearchStore is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics released by reputed private publishers and public organizations.Contact UsJoel JohnTel: +1-386-310-3803GMT Tel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll Free No. 1-855-465-4651Email: sales@marketresearchstore.comWeb: Market Research Store Anti-thrombin Activators Market Research Report by Key Players Analysis 2024 Anti-Thrombin Activators Market http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/antithrombin-activators-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=4480 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Anti-thrombin activators are widely accepted due to their role in reducing thrombus formation. Anticoagulants, anti-platelet drugs, and thrombolytic drugs are some of the different types of anti-thrombin activators available, which act by different mechanisms. While anticoagulants restrict blood clotting, thrombolytic drugs are useful in dissolving clots already formed in the human body. Anti-platelet drugs limit platelets aggregation. Anticoagulants can be further divided into direct factor Xa inhibitors, vitamin K antagonists, direct thrombin inhibitors, and heparin. Some of the thrombolytic therapeutic drugs are tenecteplase, lanoteplase, reteplase, staphylokinase, streptokinase, and urokinase. Various new anti-platelet drugs include adenosine diphosphate receptor (ADP) antagonists, thromboxane A2 receptor antagonists, and protease-activated receptors (PAR-1) antagonists.The market intelligence report on the global anti-thrombin activators market meticulously studies all the important aspects, including vendor landscape, geographical segmentation, analysis of drug type, and key trends impacting the growth trajectory of the market in the near future. It extensively covers data and statistics pertaining to exports and imports, price dynamics, and turnover of the anti-thrombin market and its overlying industries at both global and regional levels. The key players in the market are profiled along with their business strategies, market shares, latest developments, and revenue and cost structures. The report includes a separate section of recommendations by industrial experts for both established as well as emerging players in the market.This report gives readers a comprehensive overview of the Anti-thrombin Activators Market:Antithrombotic activators are the most commonly used treatment for arterial and venous thrombosis. The increasing shift towards unhealthy lifestyles is augmenting the occurrence of blood vessel damage and obesity. These conditions trigger the chances of arterial and venous thrombosis. Therefore, their rising prevalence is stoking the growth of the global market for anti-thrombin activators.However, the dearth of efficient and reliable drugs is hampering the growth of the market. Moreover, the expiry of two blockbuster drugs, Lovenox and Plavix, is opening avenues for generic drug manufacturers. The influx of generic versions is adversely affecting the overall revenue generation of the market. Nevertheless, these factors are also paving way for the development of novel drugs, which is likely to provide a significant boost to the global anti-thrombin activators market in the near future.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Anti-thrombin Activators Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market:From a geographical standpoint, the report segments the global anti-thrombin market into North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa. North America will be a prominent market, owing to the high awareness among the populace and growing incidence of arterial and venous thrombosis. On the other hand, Asia Pacific will be a high promising market. The rapidly growing population in countries such as India and China and the lack of effective drugs are rendering the regional market highly opportunistic. The increasing investments in research and development activities in the field and improving healthcare infrastructure are contributing to the growth of the region.The global anti-thrombin activators market holds immense potential. The market is characterized by the presence and dominance of pharmaceutical giants. The majority of players are focusing towards extensive research and development activities to build a promising pipeline and enhance their offerings. Key players are also banking on mergers and acquisitions to expand their product portfolio and stay ahead in the market. Some of the prominent companies operating in the global anti-thrombin market are Boehringer Ingelheim, Astra Zeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Novartis AG, Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline Plc., Bayer International, Eli Lilly & Co., and Johnson & Johnson.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Antithrombin (recombinant) Market Research Report Forecast to 2024 Antithrombin (Recombinant) Market http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/antithrombin-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=4500 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Antithrombotic drugs help in the prevention or inhibition of thrombus by mimicking the role of antithrombin, a protein molecule produced in our body which helps in clotting. The protein molecule is produced by the liver, and among other benefits, has anti-inflammatory effects. Engineered recombinant antithrombin has gained clinical significant in recent years for the prevention of various peri-partum and peri-operative thromboembolic events or blood clots.A notable development in the market has been the U.S. FDA approval of ATryn in 2009. The molecule, a recombinant Antithrombin, has been manufactured by rEVO Biologics and has been useful in treating patients suffering from hereditary antithrombin (AT) deficiency undergoing surgery or giving birth. However, the treatment is not yet approved for indications in patients suffering from hereditary antithrombin deficient. Several clinical studies and developments of novel targeted therapies are ongoing and boost the evolution of the Antithrombin market.The report provides comprehensive insights into the key market dynamics, emerging trends, opportunities, research and development activities, regulatory landscape, and competitive dynamics. The study is an indispensable guide for all market participants exploring imminent investment pockets in various regions as they can capitalize on lucrative market avenues.This report gives readers a comprehensive overview of the Antithrombin (recombinant) Market:Managing the right level of the coagulation protein antithrombin in human body is essential. The deficiency of the protein may be fatal and is prominent in case of patients suffering from an inherited deficiency, a genetic rare disease. The growing prevalence of this disease, both among men and women, is a key factor propelling the demand for antithrombin drugs and therapies. The recent FDA approval of recombinant antithrombins in major region has increasingly boosted the market. The protein molecules have also gained importance to boost the levels of Antithrombin in patients. This deficiency is attributed to clinical conditions prevalent in patients affected by liver failure, metastatic tumors, severe trauma, and nephritic syndrome. Moreover, patients undergoing heparin therapy and chemotherapy may also suffer from antithrombin deficiency. These factor are expected to catalyze the market growth over the forecast period.However, the limited efficacy of antithrombin to improve neonatal outcomes is likely to impede the market to an extent. Furthermore, ATryn, the recently approved recombinant antithrombin by U.S. FDA, is found to have contraindications in patients who have hypersensitivity to goat milk proteins. Nevertheless, recent advances in clinical studies in evaluating the potential of recombinant antithrombins in prolonging gestation so as to improve maternal and neonatal outcomes have opened up exciting opportunities for market players.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Antithrombin (recombinant) Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market:The major regional markets for antithrombin are North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. Of these, North America is a prominent market and is trailed by Europe. The substantial growth in these regional markets is attributed to the early adoption of recombinant antithrombins in preventing various clinical conditions caused by the prevention of blood clots.However, Asia Pacific is projected to witness a robust demand for recombinant antithrombins. This regional market is chiefly driven by the surge in demand from the countries such as India and China. In addition, the growing incidence of various cardiovascular diseases is expected to propel the demand for recombinant antithrombins in various countries of Asia Pacific.Key companies operating in the antithrombin (recombinant) market include rEVO Biologics Inc., Ovation Pharmaceuticals, and GTC Biotherapeutics Inc. In the coming years, the market is expected to witness several large pharmaceutical companies making a foray in the biotechnology segment. They intend to make intensive research and development in biotechnology to gain a foothold in the market in various regions. This is likely to intensify the competition in the global antithrombin (recombinant) market over the forecast period.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Protein Characterization and Identification Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2015 - 2023 Protein Characterization And Identification Market http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/protein-characterization-identification-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=4501 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Proteins form the fundamental component of human life and thus, they are an important subject of study and research. Protein characterization and identification is the basic research process to analyze the contents of a protein-based on their molecular weight and their charge. The demand for protein characterization and identification is high for clinical diagnosis, agricultural and environmental research, and drug discovery and development. The research process finds application across end-use sectors such as pharmaceutical, biotechnology, contract research organizations, and academic research institutes.The report on the global protein characterization and identification market encompasses all the important parameters of the market and its affiliated industries. The key trends and opportunities presented in the report are useful for existing as well as new players in formulating viable growth strategies. Besides, the detailed coverage of business strategies and latest developments of the leading companies in the market makes the report a reliable business tool. The report also sheds light on market segmentation on the basis of various criteria, including geography and application.This report gives readers a comprehensive overview of the Protein Characterization and Identification Market:To ensure sustainable growth, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies are paying high attention to research and development activities. As a result, they are pouring large fund into such activities, which has a direct positive impact on the growth of the global protein characterization and identification market. In addition, rapid advancements in technology are facilitating improvements in research processes, thereby augmenting the market.The robust growth of the biologics and proteomics sectors is also one of the key factors stoking the adoption of protein characterization and identification. Besides this, several governments worldwide are investing large sums in proteomics research, which is providing a fillip to the global market.However, the high cost of instruments used in protein characterization and identification is acting as a major impediment to the growth of the market. Moreover, the dearth of skilled and qualified personnel is hindering the growth of the market. Nevertheless, the emergence of biomarkers along with the booming biomarker identification segment is rendering the global protein characterization and identification market highly lucrative.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Protein Characterization and Identification Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market:The key regions reviewed in the report are Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, and Rest of the World. Asia Pacific will be a prominent market for protein characterization and identification. The region is a home to a large number of companies manufacturing biotechnological analytical devices. The increasing investments by governments of emerging economies in research and development activities are leading to the greater uptake of protein electrophoresis equipment in the region. The growth of APAC can also be attributed to the easy availability of raw materials and reagents. Japan and China will be major revenue contributors to the growth of the market. Europe will also represent a large share in the market during the forecast period, with France and the U.K. being sights of high growth rate.The global protein characterization and identification market is a highly fragmented arena in nature. Research and development play a vital role in the protein characterization and identification industry. Therefore, companies are investing sizeable funds in these activities. In addition, players in the market are looking upon mergers and acquisitions as a viable strategy to enhance their research facilities. Some of the key participants in the global marketplace are Proteome Factory AG, CBS Scientific Company Inc., AB Sciex Pte. Ltd, Alphalyse Inc., LabRepCo., Serva Electrophoresis GmbH., Lonza Group Ltd, Sigma-Aldrich Co. LLC., and Hoefer Inc.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: EEG and ECG Biometrics Market - Rapid Adoption Of Multimodal Biometrics In Industries Such As Insurance, Banking, Healthcare, Airport http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/eeg-ecg-biometrics-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=27050 www.transparencymarketresearch.com www.transparencymarketresearch.com An electrocardiogram (ECG) is a diagnostic tool that analyses the activity of an individuals heart. ECG combined with biometric solution is used for authentication purposes as every individual have different cardiac muscle movement and resultant electrical activity. The electroencephalogram (EEG) biometric technology is used to record and measure electrical activity of the brain which is also saved for authentication purposes. The EEG and ECG biometrics help to identify the individuals on the basis of their behavioral traits. It forms an additional layer of security to access data since this kind of technology cannot be impersonated as of now. The global EEG and ECG biometrics market is expected to experience a fast growth rate during the forecast period from 2016 to 2025 due to its increasing adoption in the healthcare sector, government, banking and financial for securing confidential information of individual.Browse The Report:The global EEG and ECG biometrics market is expected to witness a progressive growth in the coming years due to rapid adoption of multimodal biometrics in industries such as insurance, banking, healthcare, airport and others. These multimodal biometrics require a combination of two or more biometrics that would help prevent unauthorized access to database of mobile devices or different databases. The EEG and ECG biometrics help in securing the online and offline applications and organizations are assured to get accurate results. For instance, EEG and ECG biometrics are used at various airports to restrict the entry at sensitive areas only to authorized personnel.However, in spite of these factors, the high initial cost of EEG and ECG biometrics is anticipated to hinder the growth of the market at present. In addition the strong competition from biometric is likely to hinder the growth of EEG and ECG biometrics market.For the purpose of providing detailed research report, the global EEG and ECG biometrics market is classified on the basis of component and end user. On the basis of component, the EEG and ECG biometrics market is segmented into scanners, hardware, software, sensors and integrated solutions. In 2016, scanner held the largest market share due to easy installation process and easy to use. By end user, the EEG and ECG biometrics market is segmented into healthcare, government, banking and financial and others. The healthcare segment is expected to dominate the market during the forecast period for implementing improved security of crucial data like doctors diagnoses and patients information. This is also being used for patient and staff verification. In addition, due to the increase in number of cyber-attacks and terrorist attacks the government is installing stronger security measures for the identification of the individuals. The EEG and ECG biometrics would also help to reduce the chances of theft of critical data from government departments like law enforcement, defense, intelligence and others.Geographically, the global EEG and ECG biometrics market has been further segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East and Africa. North America held the largest share of the EEG and ECG biometrics market in 2016 and is expected to lead the market throughout the forecast period. The EEG and ECG biometrics market of North America is majorly driven owing to wide concentration of the key EEG and ECG biometrics manufacturers in this region. Moreover, the increased awareness of the benefits that are offered by EEG and ECG biometrics has led to the adoption of this EEG and ECG biometrics not only in the healthcare segment but also in other industries as well.Make an Enquiry @Some of the key vendors operating in the global EEG and ECG biometrics market includesiMotions (Europe), Neurokai (Spain), NeuroSky (The U.S.), Nymi (Canada), Interactive Video Productions (New Jersey), B-secur (The U.K.), and many more.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a next-generation provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendationsTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Dental Sterilizers Market In United State: Top Manufacturers/Players - Runyes, Meisheng, Jinggong-medical, Melag, Shinva & Tuttnauer Market Research Report http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1237790 http://www.researchmoz.us/united-states-dental-sterilizers-market-report-2017-report.html http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Dental Sterilizers Market In United State: Top Manufacturers/Players - Runyes, Meisheng, Jinggong-medical, Melag, Shinva & Tuttnauer" to its huge collection of research reports.In this report, the United States Dental Sterilizers market is valued at USD XX million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.Geographically, this report splits the United States market into seven regions:The WestSouthwestThe Middle AtlanticNew EnglandThe SouthThe Midwestwith sales (volume), revenue (value), market share and growth rate of Dental Sterilizers in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast).United States Dental Sterilizers market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Dental Sterilizers sales volume, price, revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players includingRunyesMeishengJinggong-medicalMelagShinvaTuttnauerSironaMocomSciCanOn the basis of product, this report displays the sales volume, revenue, product price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoSemi-automaticAutomaticOtherTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @On the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, sales volume, market share and growth rate of Dental Sterilizers for each application, includingHospitalClinicTable of ContentsUnited States Dental Sterilizers Market Report 20171 Dental Sterilizers Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Dental Sterilizers1.2 Classification of Dental Sterilizers by Product Category1.2.1 United States Dental Sterilizers Market Size (Sales Volume) Comparison by Type (2012-2022)1.2.2 United States Dental Sterilizers Market Size (Sales Volume) Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Semi-automatic1.2.4 Automatic1.2.5 Other1.3 United States Dental Sterilizers Market by Application/End Users1.3.1 United States Dental Sterilizers Market Size (Consumption) and Market Share Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Hospital1.3.3 Clinic1.4 United States Dental Sterilizers Market by Region1.4.1 United States Dental Sterilizers Market Size (Value) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 The West Dental Sterilizers Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 Southwest Dental Sterilizers Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 The Middle Atlantic Dental Sterilizers Status and Prospect (2012-2022)2 United States Dental Sterilizers Market Competition by Players/Suppliers2.1 United States Dental Sterilizers Sales and Market Share of Key Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.2 United States Dental Sterilizers Revenue and Share by Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.3 United States Dental Sterilizers Average Price by Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.4 United States Dental Sterilizers Market Competitive Situation and TrendsBrowse More Details @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ Precast Construction Market Augmented Expansion to be Registered by 2025 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/precast-construction-market.asp http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/13681 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/13681 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Precast Construction Market IntroductionPrecast construction, also known as prefabricated construction, finds application in the construction of structures or buildings where most of the structural components are standard and made in plants located away from the construction site. They are then transported to the site for installation. Precast construction involves mass production of components and hence offers several advantages, such as optimum time management, increased efficiency, consistent quality and cost effectiveness. Besides these factors, precast construction gains an edge over conventional construction due to its relatively high durability, ease of installation and reduced product maintenance. Structures are successfully erected at a much faster pace with the use of precast construction; thereby increasing its market demand. The aesthetic superiority, coupled with lesser maintenance and increased durability offered by precast construction are driving global demand for the precast construction market.To access full report @However, structures made using precast construction display lesser flexibility in their designing basics as compared to those made with conventional construction. Also, linkages or connections linking precast construction products (structural links) could pose design issues. Furthermore, in order to achieve economies of scale, structures ideally need to be of a regular shape, which has been a constraint in the applications of precast construction globally.The plan of a building or structure is affected by the replication of forms, which is a characteristic of precast construction. It has also been frequently observed that panel linkages are costly and complex in nature. Also, the on-site installation of panels needs skilled labor. Besides, precast construction also mandates the use of cranes to lift construction parts, which incurs further installation costs. With regard to application of the precast construction panels on-site, there is a need of skilled labor and heavy-duty machinery, which has been making the application of precast construction uneconomical, and hence posing a concern for the precast construction market.A sample of this report is available upon request @Precast Construction Market SegmentationOn the basis of product type, the global precast construction market is segmented as follows:Columns and beamsFloors and roofsGirdersWallsStaircasesLintelsPaving slabsOthers (door & window components, manholes and water & sewer system products)On the basis of type, the global precast construction market is segmented as follows:ModularManufacturedOn the basis of application, the global precast construction market is segmented as follows:ResidentialNon-residentialTo view TOC of this report is available upon request @Precast Construction Market DynamicsPrecast construction technology has been found to be environment-friendly; hence, the technology has gained widespread approval from all over the globe. Besides the techno-economic benefits, precast construction delivery has been inducing users to switch to this new technology from the conventional one.In the North American region, especially the U.S., new market participants could make a foothold after a relatively comfortable entry in smaller, niche construction segments in the near future. However, hurdles could be expected during market entry in the most important industry verticals as existing market participants in the precast construction market have the benefit of an established customer base and in-depth market knowledge, apart from their existing brand image at least at a local level. Besides, some of them have vertically integrated enough to produce cement and concrete, thereby gaining considerable advantages in terms of production cost and infrastructural efficiency, which would be inaccessible to new entrants. Thus, it could be expected that in the near future, new precast construction companies would successfully enter only niche U.S. sub-markets.It has been observed that growth in the worldwide demand for modular construction has been encouraging growth of the precast construction market and this trend is expected to continue for the next few years, as building contractors and construction companies are opting for precast construction in the modular construction business.Precast Construction Market ParticipantsExamples of some market participants in the global precast construction market are as follows:Acs actividades de construccion y servicios S.A (Spain)Komatsu Ltd. (Japan)Bouygues Construction (France)Larsen & Toubro Limited (India)Taisei Corporation (Japan)Balfour Beatty plc (UK)Kiewit Corporation (US)Laing ORourke (UK)Julius Berger Nigeria Plc (Nigeria)Red Sea Housing Services (Saudi Arabia)The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data, and statistically supported and industry-validated market data. It also contains projections using a suitable set of assumptions and methodologies. The research report provides analysis and information according to categories such as market segments, geographies, types and applications.The report covers exhaustive analysis on:Market SegmentsMarket DynamicsMarket SizeSupply & DemandCurrent Trends/Issues/ChallengesCompetition & Companies involvedValue ChainRegional analysis includes:North AmericaLatin AmericaAsia PacificJapanWestern EuropeEastern EuropeMiddle East & AfricaThe report is a compilation of first-hand information, qualitative and quantitative assessment by industry analysts, inputs from industry experts, and industry participants across the value chain. The report provides an in-depth analysis of parent market trends, macroeconomic indicators and governing factors, along with market attractiveness within the segments. The report also maps the qualitative impact of various market factors on market segments and various geographies.Report highlights:Detailed overview of parent marketChanging market dynamics in the industryIn-depth market segmentationHistorical, current and projected market size in terms of volume and valueRecent industry trends and developmentsCompetitive landscapeStrategies of key players and products offeredPotential and niche segments, geographical regions exhibiting promising growthA neutral perspective on market performanceMust-have information for market players to sustain and enhance their market footprintAbout UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Corporate Wellness Market: (Service Type - Health Risk Assessment, Fitness, Smoking Cessation, Health Screening, Weight Management, Nutrition) - Asia Pacific Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/841744 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/enquiry/841744 Corporate wellness services such as fitness, health risk assessment, weight management, and health screening have witnessed significant growth in revenue in the past few years. Corporate wellness programs are designed to support employees in understanding their health risk and accepting healthy behavior at workplace and to reduce their health care expenditure. These programs reduce the cost of hospitalization, emergency room visits, specialist visits, and surgeries. Moreover, corporate wellness programs result in decrease in absenteeism, increase in productivity, and improvement in quality of life of employees. Increase in non-communicable diseases, government support and initiatives, growingnumber of white collar employees, rising health consciousness among the population, willingness of employers to incorporate wellness programs, and mandatory laws to implement wellness programs in organizations are the factors likely to drive the corporate wellness market in Asia Pacific. However, high cost of services andinefficient execution of corporate wellness services are anticipated to hamper the growth of the corporate wellness market in Asia Pacific.The executive summary of the report comprises a market snapshot of the corporate wellness market in Asia Pacific and comparative analysis by geography in terms of value % for 2015 and 2024. Based on service type, the corporate wellness market in the region has been segmented intohealth risk assessment, fitness, smoking cessation, health screening, weight management, nutrition, and others.Get The Sample Copy Of This Report :Market revenue analysis of all the segments mentioned abovehas been provided for the forecast period from 2016 to 2024, considering 2015 as the base year and 2014 as historical year. The executive summary also comprises majordrivers and restraints along with key trends likely to drive the growth of the corporate wellness market in Asia Pacific.The market overview section of the corporate wellness market report analyzes the market dynamics and trends such as drivers, restraints, and opportunities that influence the current and future status of the corporate wellness market in Asia Pacific. Impact factors such as market attractiveness analysis by geography of the corporate wellness market in Asia Pacific have been provided in this section of the report. Furthermore, the report includes market opportunity map, industry developments and opportunity analysisfor the market.Geographically, the corporate wellness market in Asia Pacific has been segmented into ninecountries: China, Japan, India, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, and Rest of Asia Pacific. The study further offers recommendations and key trends for the corporate wellness market in the region, which would be useful for existing and new players to sustain and grow in the market.Send An Enquiry :The report on the corporate wellness market in Asia Pacific concludes with the company profiles section that includes key information in terms of company overview, financial information, product portfolio, business strategies, and recent development about the major players operating in the corporate wellness market in the region. Key players operating in the corporate wellness market in Asia Pacificinclude Central Corporate Wellness, ComPsych Corporation, Optum, Inc., JLT Australia (Recovre Group), Truworth Wellness, SOL Wellness, Sodexo, ConneXions Asia, and Bupa Wellness Pty Ltd.The corporate wellnessmarket in Asia Pacifichas been segmented as follows:Asia Pacific Corporate Wellness Market, by ServiceHealth Risk AssessmentFitnessSmoking CessationHealth ScreeningWeight ManagementNutritionOthers (stress management, diabetes management, and vaccinations)Asia Pacific Corporate Wellness Market, by CountryChinaJapanIndiaAustraliaSingaporeHong KongMalaysiaThailandRest of Asia PacificMRRbiz supports your business intelligence needs with over 700,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-Canada)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Flame Detectors Market - Reporting And Evaluation Of Recent Industry Developments http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/flame-detectors-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=27068 www.transparencymarketresearch.com www.transparencymarketresearch.com A flame detector is a type of sensor, which is primarily designed to identify, detect, and respond to the presence of a fire or flame. Installation of the flame detectors plays an important role in the whole process of detecting a flame of fire. After detecting the fire or flame, the detector primarily sounds an alarm, deactivates the fuel line, and also activates the fire suppression system. Flame detectors are much faster and detect a fire or flame more accuratelythan a heat or smoke detector duet the mechanisms it applies to detect the fire. In terms of product type, the global flame detectors market can be segmented into single IR, single UV, dual UV / IR, triple IR, and multi IR. In terms of service type, the market for flame detectors can be segmented into design and installation service, engineering service, maintenance service, and inspection service. In terms of end-use industry, the flame detectors market can be segmented into power and energy, consumer goods, healthcare, logistics and transportation, oil and gas, defense and aerospace, mining, and automotive. In terms of geography, the market for flame detectors can be segmented into Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, Latin America, and Middle East &Africa.Browse The Report:Single UV flame detectors are widely used in the manufacturing and oil &gas industries. This particular type of fire or flame detector primarily identifies and detects the intensity of the radiation emitted at the time of ignition.Scanners for monitoring the condition of a flame in a burner along with the detectors in fire alarm systems, which detect fire; both are different categories of flame detectors. Growing popularity and adoption rate of flame detectors in different industries, which includes mining, oil and gas, manufacturing, transportation, and retail, are considered as key drivers for the market. Domestic heating system, industrial drying and heating system, and gas fueled cookers are major application areas of flame detectors. Government policies, and regulations and norms for workplace safety are major factors boosting the expansion of the flame detectors market. Increasing installation of flame detectors across factories, companies, and enterprises is another key driver for the market. High installation and maintenance cost along with shorter lifecycle of flame detectors are some restraints on the market, which are anticipated to hinder the expansion of the market during the forecast period. However, applications in the paper and printing industry are one of the opportunities for the market.In terms of revenue, Asia Pacific led the flame detectors market in 2016. North America and Europe followed Asia Pacific in terms of revenue share in the global market. China is the leading contributor to the Asia Pacific market due to its technological advancement in the field of flame detectors. India, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan follow China in terms of market share in Asia Pacific. The U.S. is dominated the market or flame detectors, followed by Canada and Mexico in 2016. Germany, the U.K., Italy and France are holding prominent positions in the flame detectors market across Europe. The UAE, South Africa, Brazil and Argentina among others are dominating the market for flame detectors across Middle East and Africa and South America. Growing industrialization and increasing adoption rate of flame detectors across different manufacturing factories and the oil and gas sector are major factors fuelling the expansion of the Middle East & Africa and Latin America markets.Geographical expansions and establishing partnership agreements with other companies are key strategies adopted by companies in order to strengthen their presence worldwide. Prominent players operating in the global flame detectors market include Honeywell International Inc. (The U.S.), Robert Bosch GmbH (Germany), Siemens AG (Germany), Tyco International PLC (Ireland), Emerson Electric Co. (The U.S.), Johnson Controls (The U.S.), and MSA Advanced Detection, LLC (The U.S).Make an Enquiry @The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a next-generation provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendationsTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Worldwide Physician Computer Assisted Coding Market for Professionals is anticipated to reach $2.5 billion by 2023: Shares, Strategies and Forecasts http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1066879 http://www.researchmoz.us/physician-computer-assisted-coding-for-professionals-market-shares-strategies-and-forecasts-worldwide-2017-to-2023-report.html http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG http://healthcare-research-report.blogspot.in/ ResearchMoz added Latest Research Report titled " Physician Computer Assisted Coding for Professionals: Market Shares, Strategies, and Forecasts, Worldwide, 2017 to 2023 " to it's Large Report database.Next generation Computer Assisted Coding of medical information is able to leverage natural language software technology to support some automation of the billing process and use of analytics to achieve higher quality patient outcomes. The study has 301 pages and 110 tables and figures.Computer assisted coding of medical information uses natural language solutions to link the physician notes in an electronic patient record to the codes used for billing Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance companies.Natural language processing is used determine the links to codes. 88% of the coding can occur automatically without human review. Computer assisted coding is used in all parts of the healthcare delivery system. The coding systems work well to implement automated coding process.Request for Sample PDF of Premium Research Report with TOC:Physicians think about patient conditions in terms of words. Software is configured to achieve working with physicians who are more comfortable describing a patient treatment in words than codes. The electronic patient record, created using physician dictation, is used to form the base for the coding. Natural language solutions implement computer coding to identify key words and patterns of language. The physician dictation can be done using regular language that the software recognizes and translates into billing codes.Properly designed natural language processing (NLP) solutions do not require physicians to change the way they work. They can dictate in a free-flowing fashion, consistent with the way they think, and are not limited to structured inputs that may or may not fully capture the unique circumstances of each patient encounter.Matching codes generated from physician notes to standard treatment protocols promises to improve health care delivery. Accompanying that type of physician patient management against best practice promises to revolutionize health care delivery. The ability to further check as to whether the recommendations for follow up made by radiologists and matching the commendations with the actual follow up heralds significant promise of vastly improved health care delivery.Browse more details @Table of ContentsComputer Assisted Coding Executive Summary 18Medical Best Practice Linking 21CAC for Coders 21Computer Assisted Coding Best Practice 24Coding Solutions 26Physician Computer Assisted Coding Services 28Natural Language Computer Assisted Coding Market Shares 29Natural Language Computer Assisted Coding of Medical Procedures Forecasts 31Medical Best Practice Linking 331. Computer Assisted Coding for Large Physician Practices and Ambulatory Treatment Centers Market Description and Market Dynamics 341.1 Coding Challenge 341.1.1 Computer Assisted Coding (CAC) Physician Practice Services Component 351.1.2 Advances In Natural Language Processing And Informatics 361.1.3 Using Electronic Health Record (EHR) Documentation To Generate Codes 371.2 Computer-Assisted Coding 391.2.1 Physician Practice Industry Forces Affecting Development of CAC 401.2.2 Application of CAC Technology 421.3 Development of a CAC Tool For Physician Use 431.3.1 CAC Impact on the Coding Workflow 431.3.2 Computers Replace Human Coders 431.3.3 CAC Applied Without Human Intervention Depends On Critical Differences Between CAC Systems 44About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the world's fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMoz's service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Contact Us:Mr. Nachiket Ghumare90 State Street, Albany NY, United States - 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074 / Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn at:Follow me on Blogger at: Water Treatment Chemicals Market to Cross Market Revenue of USD 26 Billion by 2022 Water Treatment Chemicals Market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1843 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/water-treatment-chemicals-market-1843 Synopsis of Water Treatment Chemicals Market:Market Forecast:Market Research Future published a Half Cooked Research Report on Water Treatment Chemicals Market. The Global Water Treatment Chemicals Market is projected from around USD 19.80 Billion in 2015 to cross USD 26 Billion in 2022, at a CAGR of approximately 5% in the forecasted period of 2016 to 2022.Key Players in Market:The key players of global water treatment chemicals market report include: GE Water & Process Technologies Ashland Inc. Kemira Oyj Ecolab The Dow Chemical Company Akzo Nobel N.V. BASF SE Buckman Laboratories International Inc Solvay S.A Cortec CorporationRequest to Receive a Sample Report @Market Overview:Water treatment chemicals are used for the treatment of water in boilers, cooling towers, and effluents from industries and sewage treatment plants. The rising population in emerging countries has become the reason for the growth of the global water treatment chemicals market. Power generation and oil & gas industries extensively use water treatment chemicals. The restraining factors towards the growth of the market are increasing water treatment chemicals prices and presence of alternate treatment technologies. Asia-Pacific contributes largely to the market, followed by North-America and Europe.Market Research Analysis:The market is highly application based. The key factors contributing to the growth of the Global Water Treatment Chemicals Market is the increasing world population, which fuels the demand for treated water. This is further stimulated by the increased industrial activities. The market is expected to have higher growth rate as compared to the previous years. The share is attributed to the growth industry, especially from the regions of India and China. Asia-Pacific is the fastest growing region for the water treatment chemicals market, followed by North-America and Europe. The main reason for the growth in the region include increasing awareness about water borne diseases and scarcity in the pure and clean drinking water.Report Details @Scope of the Report:This study provides an overview of the global water treatment chemicals market, tracking two market segments across four geographic regions. The report studies key players, providing a five-year annual trend analysis that highlights market size, volume and share for North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World. The report also provides a forecast, focusing on the market opportunities for the next five years for each region. The scope of the study segments the Global Water Treatment Chemicals Market as type and application. On the basis of type it is segmented as corrosion inhibitor, scale inhibitor, biocides & disinfectant, chelating agents, anti-foaming agents and others. On the basis of application it is widely used in municipal water treatment, food & beverage, chemical processing, oil & gas, power generation and others.Table of Contents for the Report:1 Executive Summary2 Scope of the Report2.1 Market Definition2.2 Scope of the Study3 Market Research Methodology3.1 Research Process3.2 Secondary Research3.3 Primary Research3.4 Forecast Model4 Market Landscape4.1 Five Forces Analysis4.2 Value Chain of Global Water Treatment Chemicals Market5 Industry Overview of Global Water Treatment Chemicals Market5.1 Introduction5.2 Growth Drivers5.3 Impact analysis6 Market Trends6.1 Introduction6.2 Growth Trends7. Global Water Treatment Chemicals Market by Region8. Global Water Treatment Chemicals Market by Type9. Global Water Treatment Chemicals Market by ApplicationAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com Mining Lubricants Market Global Industry Analysis Forecast 2017 - 2025 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/mining-lubricants-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=26762 The mining industry underwent a transformation, from underground mining to open pit mining, during the 20th century. Open pit mining has become common in developed countries. Haul trucks, draglines, shuttle cars, roofbolters, scoops, loaders, longwall machines, and shovels are some of the machines used in mining. These machines possess heavy gear system, wire ropes, bearings, and transmission system. These need to be lubricated from time to time. A lubricant should be such that it decreases maintenance costs and increases the machine life. It must have high viscosity index, corrosion prevention, high boiling point, resistance to oxidation, ability to absorb shock loads, good thermal stability, and hydraulic stability. The mining lubricants market relies on mining activities. Expansion of the mining lubricants market depends upon the number of mining activities.Obtain Report Details @:Based on application, the mining lubricants market can be segmented into open gears, wire rope, gear boxes, and bearings. The open gears segment dominates the mining lubricants market. Open gears system suffers from wear and pitting because of insufficient lubrication. Asphaltic-based lubricants and synthetic type lubricants are most commonly used in open gears system. Synthetic lubricants do not contain heavy metals. They are environmentally-friendly and are designed to protect from heavy shock loads on open gears system. Mining gear boxes tend to overload. This causes premature failures. A suitable gear oil with properties such as protection due to shock loadings and protection from water contamination should be applied. Lubricant with improper sealing mechanism contaminates the bearing boxes and results in bearing failures.Based on end-use industry, the mining lubricants market can be divided into coal ore, iron ore, and other earth minerals. Production of coal ore is higher than that of iron ore and other earth metals. Hence, the coal ore segment leads the mining lubricants market. High energy consumption and industrial growth are anticipated to boost the mining lubricants market.Based on region, the mining lubricants market can be classified into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. Mining activities in Asia Pacific, especially in China, India, and Australia, are high. Therefore, these countries dominate the mining lubricants market in Asia Pacific. China leads the use of mining lubricants due to the high production of coal ore and iron ore in the country. Asia Pacific is followed by North America.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @:Key players operating in the mining lubricants market are Total Oil (Australia), Exxon Mobile Lubricants & Specialties (the U.S.), Royal Dutch Shell Plc. (the Netherlands), Chevron (the U.S.), Perma-tec GmbH & Co. KG (Germany), Quaker Chemical Corporation (the U.S.), Petro Canada Lubricants Inc (Canada), BP Lubricants (the U.S.), Conoco Phillips Inc (the U.S.), Aarna Lube Private Limited (India), Lubrication Engineers, Inc. (the U.S.), Engen Botswana Limited (South Africa), Vivo Energy (Mauritius), and Interlube Limited (the U.K.). Large players operating in the mining lubricants market design their products. Total Oil is one of the major players in the mining lubricants market. It manufactures and supplies lubricants across the globe. The companys lubricants have a long life and ensure complete protection to the mining equipment. Total Oil provides lubricants to drag lines, loaders, excavators, haul trucks, and diggers, among others. Petro Canada Lubricants Inc develops products for underground mining and open pit mining. For underground mining, the company uses VULTREX Rock Drill EP000, which is designed for in-line pneumatic systems and mist-free lubrication of rock drills. It markets products under the brand names VULTREX OGL Synthetic Arctic, an open gear lubricant for cold regions, VULTREX OGL Synthetic All Season, an open gear lubricant for all seasons, and PRODURO for gears and bearings. Volatility in prices of raw materials, environmental upkeeps, and instability in government policies related to the mining industry are some of the restraints of the mining lubricants market.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207 Indoor Lighting Management Market Worldwide Trends, Size, Growth, Supply, Demand by Forecast to 2023 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/3852 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/indoor-lighting-management-market-3852 Market HighlightsWith rapid advancement in LED technology, it consumption is increasing in indoor lighting owing to numerous benefit of it that includes energy efficient, cost effective, long life span and others. Such characteristics combined with their long working life and reliability has made them the suitable choice for next generation of lighting systems including emergency, backlight, automotive, indoor and outdoor.North America is one of the most competitive markets across the globe with various regional players and a few large international players in emergency lighting market. Also, rise in demand from citizens and enterprise for advanced LED interior light source is driving the growth of Indoor Lighting Management Market in North America region. Europe is one of the prominent player in the indoor lighting management market owing to increased demand of LED indoor lighting in residential sector. Also, emerging economies from countries such as Germany, UK, France, Russia, Italy, Benelux and Spain is driving indoor lighting management market.The Indoor Lighting Management Market is growing rapidly over 19% of CAGR and is expected to reach approximately at USD 17 Billion by the end of forecast period.Indoor Lighting Management Market Players: Crompton Greaves (India) General Electric (U.S.) Gstar Technology Co. Ltd. (China) Havells Sylvania (U.K.) Osram Licht AG (Germany) Osram Sylvania (U.S.) Koninklijke Philips N.V. (Netherlands) Shenzhen MR LED (China) Thorn Lighting (U.K.) Ushio Lighting Technologies (Japan)Request a Sample Report @Indoor Lighting Management Market SegmentationThe indoor lighting management lighting market has been segmented on the basis of product type and application. On basis of application the indoor lighting management lighting consists of ceiling lights, wall lights, picture lights, table lamps and others. Ceiling lamps adds liveliness to the room, they project brightness and warmth and refine the room. By type it consists of ambient lighting, task lighting and accent lighting. Ambient lighting, brighten the room during day and night time. Task lighting can be used for specific purpose that includes grooming, cooking and carrying out official work.Market Research Analysis:Regional analysis for indoor lighting management market is studied in different geographic regions as North America Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of World. The North America market is the leading player owing to rise in demand for new lighting technology and solution of indoor lighting management in hospitality business and architectural sights. Asia-Pacific region is the fastest growing in indoor lighting management market and is expected to witness noteworthy growth in the near future. Regulation over energy efficient product and high disposal income will help to drive demand for indoor lighting for architectural application in Asia-Pacific region.Access Report Details @Intended Audience- Investors and consultants- System Integrators- Government Organizations- Research/Consultancy firms- Technology solution providers- IT Solution Providers- Original Equipment ManufacturersAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com Public and Personal Safety 2017 Market Share, Competitor Strategy and Forecast to 2023 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2795 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/public-and-personal-safety-market-2795 Market Scenario:Public and personal safety describes the security measures that are designed to provide safety against all types of attacks, thefts, threats and others. Public and personal safety is a broad term, the personal safety refers to the freedom from physical harm and threat of physical harm, and freedom from hostility, aggression, harassment and others whereas public safety refers to welfare and protection of public from dangers affecting safety such as crimes or disasters.The study indicates that the Public and Personal Safety Market is boosted by the rise in criminal activities, natural disaster & cross border terrorism and also due to the increasing demand for security measures due to the increasing threats. The study indicates that apart from it the need for stringent government policies & regulations for public safety and personal safety also drives the public and personal safety market. The study indicates that lack of workforce is a challenge faced by the public and personal safety market.Global Public and Personal Safety Market is expected to grow at USD 518 Billion by 2023, at 13% of CAGR between 2017 and 2023.Key Players:The prominent players in the public and personal safety market are Cisco Systems, Inc. (U.S.), Tyler Technologies Inc. (U.S.), Huawei Technologies (China), LM Ericsson (Sweden), Northrop Grumman Corporation (U.S.), Alcatel-Lucent (France), AGT International (Switzerland), ESRI (U.S.), Honeywell International, Inc. (U.S.), NEC corporation (Japan), among others.Request a Sample Report @Regional Analysis:The regional analysis of public and personal safety market is being studied for region such as Asia- Pacific, Americas, Europe and Rest of the World. Technological advancements and high security concerns has driven the market of public and personal safety in North America. It has been observed that North America region is the leading in public and personal safety market followed by Europe. The study reveals that Asia-Pacific region is expected to show a positive growth in the public and personal safety market during the forecast period. Asia-Pacific countries like China, Japan and South Korea have a fair share in the public and personal safety market.Segments:The global public and personal safety market has been segmented on the basis of solution, service, end-user and region.Public and Personal Safety Market by Solution:- Critical Communication Network- C2/C4ISR System- Biometric Security and Authentication System- Surveillance System- Scanning and Screening System- Emergency and Disaster Management- Personal safety and general alarmsPublic and Personal Safety Market by Service:- Professional Services- Managed ServicesPublic and Personal Safety Market by End-User:- Commercial and residential- Government- Construction and architecture- Manufacturing- Emergency servicesBrowse Report @Intended AudienceSoftware investorsSecurity solution vendorsPublic and personal safety service providersCyber security vendorsNetworking and telecommunication companiesVideo surveillance system providersSecurity Management Service ProviderSecurity Equipment ProvidersSecurity AgenciesSystem IntegratorsResearch/Consultancy firmsAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com Benign Positional Vertigo Market to Post a Revenue of About USD 797.3 Million by 2023 Benign Positional Vertigo Market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/3234 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/benign-positional-vertigo-market-3234 Market Overview and Forecast:Market Research Future has a Half Cooked Research Report on Benign Positional Vertigo Market. The Benign Positional Vertigo Market was around USD 605.9 million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD 797.3 million by 2023 and expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.1% from 2017 to 2023.The Global Benign Positional Vertigo Market has been evaluated as steadily growing market and it is expected that the market will continue to grow similarly in the near future. Increasing demand for new medicines and treatments are key driving forces of the global benign positional vertigo market. Furthermore, increasing investment in R&D is another key driver for the market growth. Hospitals and medical professionals are working on new treatment options to cure benign positional vertigo which leads to market growth.Market Segmentation:Global benign positional vertigo Market has been segmented on the basis of type which Benign, Paroxysmal, Positional, Vertigo, and others. On the basis of diagnosis, it is segmented into Electroencephalogram (EEG), Electronystagmography (ENG), Head CT, Head MRI, Hearing test, Magnetic resonance angiography, Caloric stimulation, and others. On the basis of treatment, the market is segmented into Canalith repositioning (sub-segmented into Semont-Toupet Maneuver, Epley Maneuver), Surgery (Posterior Canal Plugging, Laser assisted posterior canal plugging), medication (Antihistamines, Scopolamine, Sedatives), and others.Request to Receive a Sample Report @Major Players and Competitive Analysis:There are plenty of large and small market players which operate in this market: Some of the key players in this market are: Ambu A/S (Denmark), DizzyFix (Canada), DizzyStop (US), Dr. Reckeweg & Co. GmbH (Germany), Ocean Global (U.K.), Vertisil (US), SIDIS LABS LLC (US), and Others.Increasing number of patients suffering from benign positional vertigo is leading the growth for market. Increasing R&D and innovative product development are major driving forces of benign positional vertigo market. Key players are offering various products and everyone owns their specific product portfolio. Companies are investing money in R&D to develop more usable product for the market. Many companies are collaborating with hospitals, research laboratories and medical professionals to provide better solutions to the patients. Additionally, increasing adoption of new treatments or therapies and new products are creating competition in this market. Majority of players are operating from North America or Europe region but they are now focusing on developing economies where healthcare sector is growing rapidly.Access Report Page @Regional Analysis:Considering the global scenario of the benign positional vertigo market, North America is holding largest market share in global benign positional vertigo market in 2016. While the European market is second largest market and Western Europe region is the growing with the fastest rate in European market. Due to developing healthcare sector, rising healthcare spending and increasing awareness of disorder and therapies, Asia-Pacific region will be fastest growing market for benign positional vertigo during the forecast period from 2017-2023. On the other hand, Middle East and Africa is expected to grow at steady pace during the forecast period.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com Telehandler Market Analysis & Forecast 2022 Profiling Caterpillar, J.C. Bamford Excavators, JLG Industries https://www.marketstudyreport.com/request-a-sample/167946/?utm_source=OPR-AN https://www.marketstudyreport.com/check-for-discount/167946/ https://www.whatech.com/market-research/companies/market-study-report https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/emea-europe-middle-east-and-africa-automotive-axle-market-report-2017/?utm_source=RR-AN https://www.marketstudyreport.com https://www.marketstudyreport.com/category/news-releases/ Global Telehandler market consists of different international, regional, forecast and local vendors. The market competition is foreseen to grow higher with the rise in technological innovation and M&A activities in the future.In this report, the global Telehandler market is valued at USD XX million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.Global Telehandler Market Research Report 2017 estimates the drivers, restraints, and opportunities pertaining to the global Telehandler market over the timeframe of 2017-2022. Delivering the key insights pertaining to this industry, the report provides an in-depth analysis of the latest trends, present and future business scenario, market size and share, and commercialization potential of the Telehandler industry over the coming five years.Request Simple for Global Telehandler Market Research Report @The industry is analyzed in terms of products, applications, regions, and the key manufacturers holding a prominent share of the global revenue.In terms of end-user or applications, the report is 3000~6000 lb, 6000~9000 lb, 9000~1200 lb and Other. A detailed analysis of the contribution of these application segments to the overall market revenue and volume has been included in the report.The product landscape of the Transport, Construction. Each product has been analyzed in terms of its production, capacity, and consumption. The report further details the market share to be procured by each of these products over the coming years.Request Discount for Telehandler Market Research Report @The regional segmentation of the report includes North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, and India. Detailing the consumption and production rate of Telehandlers in these regions, the report outlines the growth curve of this industry in terms of market volume and share over 2017-2022.The competitive landscape of the Telehandler market profiles the key players participating in the global business space. These are Caterpillar, J.C. Bamford Excavators, JLG Industries, Manitou BF, Bobcat Company. The report also details the market positioning, strategies, and revenue procured by each of these manufacturers.For More Info on Market Research @Related Reports: -EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Automotive Axle Market Report 2017In this report, the EMEA Automotive Axle market is valued at USD XX million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.Centralize market research purchases across your entire organization in one place.Marketstudyreport.com allows you to manage and control all corporate research purchases to consolidate billing and vendor management. You can eliminate duplicate purchases and customize your content and license management.Market Study ReportThe Green Suite #4594,Dover, DE 19901United StatesPhone: 1-201-355-0868US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150Email: sales@marketstudyreport.comWebsite:News: Research Report Explores The Microarray Market & Forecast To 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/microarray-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=19043 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Microarray is an advanced molecular biology technique used to spot expressions of many genes at the same time. Gene expression is a crucial part of normal gene functioning and plays significant role in understanding normal growth and development of life. Any abnormalities in gene functioning can lead to critical disease. Research involving the study of many genes by traditional method is next to impossible. Microarrays serve the purpose. Thousands of genes can be arrayed at one time and analyzed accurately. It is fast, accurate, cost effective and easy to do assay design. Microarray can be used for many micro molecules such as DNA, RNA, proteins, and also for enzymes, carbohydrates, and tissues. It can be used for gene expression profiling, molecular interactions, biomarker profiling, enzyme activity, pathway identification, and mutations. Microarray is not limited to basic research, but has expanded to clinical research and diagnosis.Obtain Report Details @Based on type, microarrays can be segmented into DNA microarrays, protein microarrays, and antibody microarrays. DNA microarrays can be used for single nucleotide polymorphism-based diagnostics, forensic detection, gene expression profiling, etc. Large number of applications of DNA microarrays makes it a major segment of the microarray market. Protein microarrays are used in biomarker screening, enzyme substrate profiling, small molecule profiling, protein-protein interaction, etc. Antibody microarrays find applications in immunology in antibody specificity profiling, electronic immunoassays, etc.In terms of application, microarrays can be segmented into gene expression profiling tool, comparative genomics tool, disease diagnosis, drug discovery, and toxicological research involving the uncharacterized microbial populations exposed to toxins and pollutants. With the help of microarrays some of the uncharacterized microbes can be identified and their original gene pattern and functionality can be studied. Microarray technology has provided a new insight into the evolutionary studies, as many arrays can be studied parallel that are specific for particular species. Microarrays can be used in comparative genomics and pathway probing. Microarrays provide information, though not complete but useful, about the gene or group of genes that can be studied further, illuminating the biological pathways. Microarray has helped in better understanding of some diseases, their pathogenesis, and genetics. Scientists are able to differentiate cancer on the basis of organs harboring tumor, leading to a better understanding of gene pattern in the tumor cells. Microarray has also benefitted therapeutics development. Better understanding of any drug addiction followed by better treatment in any patient is an example of it. In diagnosis of diseases, particularly at the time of outbreaks, where a quick and accurate diagnosis is required, microarray has gained recognition in identifying the causative agent or the pathogen and the specific strain or antigen (serotype).Based on product type and analysis, the microarray market can be segmented into consumables and instruments. Large number of applications of microarray has led to high demand for consumables such as reagents, primers, buffers, DNA chips, and reagent kits.Microarray has widespread applications in genomics as well as proteomics. The progressively evolving information and software technology and emerging bioinformatics are some of the factors driving the microarray market, making it economical, unfailing, and durable. The development of biological products such as vaccines and therapeutic proteins involving microarray technologies could lead to promising results. However government protocols have mentioned that minor changes in the biological process may lead to distinguished end product, there is an urgent need of extensive testing and authentication. And these factors may hamper the market.Fill The Form To Gain Deeper Insights On This Market @In terms of region, the microarray market can be segmented into five regions: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America was the largest market for microarrays. Advanced technology, high quality result oriented research, public awareness about personal health, and government initiatives are the factors contributing to the growth of the microarray market in North America. Europe was the second largest market for microarrays, followed by Asia Pacific. Increasing awareness among the people about genetic diseases, education, government initiatives, and modern technology in diagnosis and treatment of diseases are propelling the microarray market in Asia Pacific.Key players in the microarray market are Agilent Technologies, Illumina, Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific and Merck. Other companies include Applied Microarrays, BioGenex, Perkin Elmer, QIAGEN, and Phalanx Biotech.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Explore Microbial Fermentation Technology Market: Latest Trends and Future Outlook by 2025 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/microbial-fermentation-technology-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=25952 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Microbial fermentation is an industrial process of manufacturing a wide number of metabolites and biomaterials by using microbes in a controlled culture environment. Technically, it is the anaerobic conversion of sugar to carbon dioxide and alcohol by microorganisms. This can be performed in a batch, fed-batch or continuous mode depending upon the product type. Final product in the fermentation process is dependent on the choice of organism, medium used, agitation, pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen and various other factors. The recent advances in biotechnology and engineering helps in maximizing the yield and reduction of overall cost.Microbial fermentation technology is the favorable biological process because of simplicity, specificity, lower cost and versatility of reaction. Utilization of fermentation technology in vast applications diversify its market.Obtain Report Details @Increasing utilization of medically important products such as biosimilars, recombinant proteins, antibiotics, solvents such as ethanol & alcohol beverages, fermented food products as cheese, bread, buttermilk etc. are driving the microbial fermentation technology market. Increasing biofuels production and blending with the normal fuels have also increased the market of microbial fermentation technology. Rise in the R&D activities by corporate as well as institutional participants in search of novel applications also fuels the market. Several challenges in scaling up the bioprocess for large scale commercial applications are limiting the market to expand. In addition to this, high expense in the specifically designed microbes for protein production also limits the growth.The market is trending with the new generation fermentation products such as therapeutic recombinant proteins, anti-viral products and DNA & monoclonal antibodies. There are various newer drug substances discovered by the use of recombinant technology such as single-domain antibodies, peptibodies, or antibody fragments requires the use of microbial fermentation technology. With the rise in number of contract research organizations over the globe, manufacturing capabilities have increased manifold. Companies are thinking of differentiating strategies for innovation in the manufacturing and scaling process as to increase the production and reducing the costs. Mergers and collaborations between manufacturing industries, CROs and academic institutes are also enlarging the market.A geographic condition regarding the Microbial Fermentation Technology Market, it has been segmented into five key regions: North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East & Africa. Large number of established research organizations, manufacturing facilities for bio-fuels and brewery are making North America an established market player in the use of microbial fermentation technology. This is followed by Europe mostly because of the usage of this technology in brewery industry.Make an Enquiry @Latin America is also in the race because of huge establishment of bio-fuel industry. Asia-Pacific market is the emerging market for the microbial fermentation technology due to the government initiatives in the bio-fuel production and the establishment of more bio-pharmaceuticals as well as food & beverage industries in the region.There is diverse market in the use of microbial fermentation technology. Some of the global players involved in the manufacturing of various products includes Biocon, Danone Ltd., Lonza, United Breweries Ltd., Carlsberg, Amyris, DuPont, Novozymes, TerraVia Holdings, Inc. and many others.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Contact UsTransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Angel Catches Boy Who Falls 7 Stories - True Says Donna Louis, Author Of 'Miracles of Direction' Christian author Donna Louis http://www.miraclebook.net A recent story on CBS News titled "An angel caught him: Boy survives 7 story fall" related a story about a child who fell 7 stories and walked away. The 5-year boy was leaning on a screen at a condo in Quincy, Massachusetts and fell. The fall was broken by a tree. According to the website, one neighbor said, "It is really like a miracle, I think his guardian angel was definitely there." Several other witnesses used the word 'miracle' when describing the event.But is that a miracle? Donna Louis, author of 'Miracles of Direction, Miracles of Conquest, Miracles of Provision and Miracles of Purpose' believes it is. She knows that miracles are not just found in the Bible. Modern day miracles occur all over the world, every day.Louis' book explores biblical miracles that took place while Jesus was here on earth. She then references with miracles that take place on a daily basis in the modern world. She separates these miracles into four categories and presents insightful example of each type, taken directly from the Bible. She knows that miracles happen every day, even today, and offers readers a message of hope and faith."There is a song," Louis stated, "titled 'Jesus loves the little children all the children of the world.' In the bible it says, 'And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them. Mark 10:13-16'. 'Lo, children are a heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward'. Psalm 127:3. This young boy has a purpose in life and a mission to fulfill for God, hence the miracle!"Louis knows her subject well, as she has personally experienced three miracles. As the result of those life-altering experiences, she began an in-depth study of some of Christianity's most well-documented miracles. In her book, she attempts to expand upon and explain both the purpose and the direction of those miracles.Donna was chosen as a winner in the 2015 and the 2016 '50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading' awards contest. She was recently nominated in the 2017 Top Female Author Awards Program. Miracles' has also received rave reviews from readers. One review called it "amazing, uplifting and inspirational". Another stated, "I was profoundly impressed by the writing."Donna is now making her book available to organizations to be used as a fundraising tool. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the e-books may be donated to those organizations that qualify. Churches and other charitable organizations whose mission is to uplift and inspire are welcome to contact Donna using the information below to discuss the details of the program.Donna Louis is available for media interviews and can be reached using the information below, or by email at louistolouis@aol.com. More information is available at her website. Miracles of Direction is available at online retail book outlets. More information is available at her website.Donna Louis is happily married to her husband of 30 years Patrick Louis and currently resides in Florida. She lives to accomplish the task that God created her for and on a daily basis to follow Proverbs 3:5-6. "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."PO Box 1613Shallotte, NC 28459 Future Energy Nigeria to unpack new Power Sector Recovery Program in Lagos in November Nigeria?s energy elite to focus on restoring investor confidence http://www.future-energy-nigeria.com The rebranded Future Energy Nigeria will return to Lagos in November and will focus on the bold turnaround plan of the Nigerian government, known as the Power Sector Recovery Program, which is aimed at restoring investor confidence in the sector following reported problems in the countrys electricity market. U$D7.6-billion has been earmarked for this recovery process that the government developed in partnership with the World Bank.The Nigerian government is serious about restoring investor confidence and providing an enabling environment to grow private investments in the electricity sector, says Claire OConnell, event director of Future Energy Nigeria. She adds: there are huge opportunities in the Nigerian electricity supply industry for local and international investors. There are also very advantageous incentives in place for investors such as cost reflective tariffs for electricity, 0% duty on power generation equipment and 20% capital allowance for five years.Nigerias energy sector, quick facts*:Generation:- Current installed generation capacity: 11.1 GW (2016)- Aimed for installed capacity by 2030: 32 GW- Investment required to reach this goal: U$D26.99-billion- Generation mix of 2030 goal includes:o Gas: 41%o Solar PV: 16%o Large hydropower: 15%o Coal: 10%o 18%: nuclear, small-medium hydro, biomass, solar thermal and wind.Transmission & Distribution:- Current transmission capacity: 6.6 GW- Aimed for capacity by 2022: 20 GW- The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) estimates it will need about U$D4.2-5-billion until 2020 to rehabilitate and modernise existing facilities.- Complete projects are already under construction to expand the network to 10 GW.*Information source: Uncovering growth opportunities in a connected world, Strategic Environment Analysis, Country power sector report Frost & Sullivan, July 2017According to Future Energy Nigerias Claire OConnell the extensive opportunities in Nigeria for technology and service providers to the industry include:- Expansion of existing facilities in generation, transmission and distribution- Manufacturing of wires, cables, transformers and other auxiliary equipment- Building new integrated power plants (IPPs)- Expansion of existing transmission lines- Production and distribution of metering devices- Provision of operations and maintenance servicesSome conference speaker highlights:- Onyeche Tifashe, CEO, Siemens, Nigeria- Akinwole Omoboriowo, CEO, Genesis Energy, Nigeria- Patrick O. Okigbo III, Principal Partner, Nextier, Nigeria- Sunkanmi Olowo, Head SME Banking, Ecobank, Nigeria- Bart Nnaji, CEO, Geometric Power, Nigeria- Joy Ogaji, Executive Secretary, Association of Power Generation Companies, Nigeria- Joel Abrams, Managing Director, Nigeria Solar Capital Partners, Nigeria- Olumide Noah Obademi, CEO, Afam Power PLC, Nigeria- Nicholas Okafor, Partner, Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie, Nigeria- Olubunmi Peters, Executive Vice Chairman, North South Power Shiroro, Nigeria- Segun Adaju, President, Renewable Energy Association of Nigeria, Nigeria- Engr. Faruk Yabo, Director Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency, FMoPWHIndustry supportThe 14th edition of the event once again enjoys widespread support from the industry with Lucy Electric, a global secondary distribution leader in the electricity sector, returning as platinum sponsor, while Jubaili Bros and Genesis are gold sponsors and Conlog, Landis+Gyr, Hexing and Vodacom are silver sponsors.New brand same, innovative eventFuture Energy Nigeria (formerly known as the West African Power Industry Convention WAPIC), with the support of the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, Transmission Company of Nigeria, Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission, Distribution Companies and prominent Generation companies, will once again host many of the countrys leading energy decision makers from 7-8 November 2017 at the Eko Hotel & Suite Convention Centre in Lagos, Nigeria.The Future Energy Nigeria is recognised as being a distinctive gathering of stakeholders within the power value chain which includes governments, power generation companies, transmission and distribution companies, off takers, developers, investors, equipment manufacturers and providers, technology providers, EPCs, legal and consulting firms all with a shared goal of supporting the on-going implementation of finding lasting solutions to Nigerias energy challenges. Co-located to the event is the Oil & Gas Councils Nigeria Assembly.Future Energy Nigeria dates and location:Strategic conference: 7-8 November 2017Venue: Eko Hotel & Suite Convention Centre, Lagos, NigeriaFuture Energy Nigeria is organised by Spintelligent, a multi-award-winning Cape Town-based exhibition and conference producer across the continent in the infrastructure, real estate, energy, mining, agriculture and education sectors. Other well-known events by Spintelligent include African Utility Week, Future Energy East Africa (formerly EAPIC), Future Energy Central Africa (formerly iPAD Cameroon), Future Energy Uganda, Agritech Expo Zambia, Kenya Mining Forum, Nigeria Mining Week and DRC Mining Week. Spintelligent is part of the UK-based Clarion Events Group.Senior communications manager: Annemarie RoodbolTelephone: +27 21 700 3558Email: annemarie.roodbol@spintelligent.comWebsite:Postal address: PO Box 321, Steenberg, 7947, South Africa Outshine your ideas about yourself Maven Infotech Pvt. Ltd. changes your idea about yourself. It ensures proper and effective training to all the employees. No hard work goes unnoticed here. The responsibilities that are assigned here always help you achieve the unachievable. Very healthy work place coupled with great facilities. I truely enjoy my days here.#Maven Infotech Reviews#Maven Infotech Pvt. Ltd Reviews#Maven Reviews#Maven Infotech UTH Reviews#Maven Infotech Interview#Maven Infotech tech SupportMaven Infotech, founded by Mr. Mayur Agarwal, is one of the fastest growing companies in India. It primarily deals with business in e-commerce, ERP Development, Software and Hardware Maintenance, Data Mining, Research and Analytic, Inbound and Outbound Sales and Internet marketing through Business Directory Listings. We are among the leading business development consultants operating with average annual earnings in excess of $16 million. Maven Infotech Pvt Ltd is the flagship company with a significant global presence, along with recognition of being among the top ITES companies.205 & 206, 5/8 Block A, 2nd Floor, Eco Space Park, Newtown, Kolkata, West Bengal 700156 Los Angeles Celebrity Designer Kami Shade' Opens An Exclusive New Boutique In One of The Hottest New Atlanta Suburbs! Fashionable Millionaire is a High Fashion Women's Clothing Boutique Specializing in Sizes XS-4X www.kamishade.com FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASELos Angeles Celebrity Designer Kami Shade' Opens An Exclusive New Boutique In One of The Hottest New Atlanta Suburbs!Fashionable Millionaire is a High Fashion Women's Clothing Boutique Specializing in Sizes XS-4XAtlanta, Georgia (July 19, 2017) Designer Kami Shade' reigned in the Los Angeles Fashion Industry from 2004 to 2016. The creator of the Celebrity magent Hollywood Shop Til' You Drop Shopping event which garnered attendance by some of Hollywood's top talent including Terrance Howard, Taraji P. Henson, Anothoy Anderson, Mario Lopez, MC Lyte, Victoria Justice, Tisha Martin-Campbell just to name a few. Shade's clothing brand impacted a slew of Hollywood red carpets which she was known for her plunging necklines and most talked about vintage inspired swimwear line worn by Rhianna, Sharon Stone and Lauren Conrad.Kami Shade' recently closed her retail store locations on Melrose Ave and Sunset Blvd leaving the fashion industry buzzing on what she would do next. Fast forward a year later, the mom of five, uprooted her family to Atlanta, Georgia to live what some would say would be a simple life from all of the Hollywood action. Simple life lasted for about a year, the the passion came calling full fledged. Continuing the success of her popular online store Kami Shade' just last year reached the one million visitor mark for the year of 2016.I went our shopping one day and noticed I had to drive so far and fight traffic to just to go Lenox Mall for a quick little black dress. If I hate traffic, I'm sure many other women feel the same way. Of course, Kami Shade' immediately knew the solution. She has planted her fashion roots right in the heart of Duluth, Georgia where a mass of celebrity clientele call home. Under construction for the past few months, the glamorous retail location sprouted on Peachtree Industrial Blvd with Glitzy sparkles in the window and a huge neon chic sign that claimed the attention of the city.The grand opening soiree of Fashionable Millionaire will commence this Saturday, July 22, 2017 at 1pm. An Exclusive Fashion Show will held while guests mix and mingle with a delights of cupcakes and cocktails. The event is located at the new boutique at 3490 Peachtree Industrial Blvd, Suite C Duluth, Georgia 30096AboutKami Shade' is a high fashion womenswear designer established back in 2004. The brand has catapulted into a one stop shop eCommerce fashion haven. Fashionable Millionaire is a branch from the Kami Shade' brand which will create the ultimate in person experience for the fashionable consumer.ContactsKami Shade' & Fashionable MillionaireRSVP: kami@kamishade.comWeb:Voice: (818) 358-99663940 Peachtree Industrial Blvd, Suite CDuluth, Georgia 30096 IBEROSTAR Riviera Maya Resort integrate Perle Ethernet Extenders into new CCTV installation http://www.cosmobit.com.mx/ www.perle.com NASHVILLE, July 20th, 2017 IBEROSTAR Hotels & Resorts puts guest and staff safety at the top of their agenda. When it was time to update the CCTV system at one of its resorts, they turned to Cosmobit, one of Mexicos premier suppliers of infrastructure, connectivity and security solutions.Dulce Carillo, Telemetry Business Unit Manager at Cosmobit explains, IBEROSTAR wanted to install a state of the art CCTV system. The entire hotel complex, perimeters, lobbies, spa facilities, pool landscapes, restaurants and beachside needed to be fitted with cameras and the corresponding network infrastructure.CCTV cameras were strategically placed throughout the resort and connected over Ethernet to the nearest networking closet. However, in many instances, the distance between the camera and the network closet exceeded the maximum Ethernet data transmission distance of 100m. Perle Ethernet Extenders were used to extend these distances up to 3km and facilitate reliable, real-time CCTV transmission across the resort.The full IBEROSTAR Case Study is available to read on the Perle Systems website.About Cosmobit :Cosmobit offer infrastructure, connectivity and security solutions to increase the productivity and effectiveness of the information technology of our clients. Providing solutions in the fields of infrastructure, connectivity & networks, security and managed services.About Perle SystemsPerle Systems is a leading developer, manufacturer and vendor of high-reliability and richly featured connectivity and device networking products. These products are used to connect remote users reliably and securely to central servers for a wide variety of business applications. Product lines include Console Servers for Data Center Management, Terminal Servers, Device Servers, Remote Power Switches, Media Converters, Ethernet I/O, Serial Cards, Parallel Cards and Multimodem Cards. Perle distinguishes itself through extensive networking technology, depth of experience in major real-world network environments and long-term distribution and VAR channel relationships in major world markets. Perle has offices in 9 countries in North America, Europe and Asia and sells its products through distribution and OEM/ODE channels worldwide.Perle Systems830 Fesslers Parkway, Suite 108Nashville, TN 37210Julie Mc DanielVP MarketingPhone: 1-800-46703753 United States Multi-point Monitoring Systems Market 2017 Top Players - Particle Measuring Systems (Spectris Company) (U.S.), Rion, Honeywell Analytics, UWT GmbH Level Control, Hangzhou Zetian Technology, ETG Risorse e Tecnologia http://www.researchmoz.us/united-states-multi-point-monitoring-systems-market-report-2017-report.html http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1237813United http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=1237813 www.researchmoz.us/ Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "United States Multi-point Monitoring Systems Market Report 2017" to its huge collection of research reports.In this report, the United States Multi-point Monitoring Systems market is valued at USD XX million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.Geographically, this report splits the United States market into seven regions:The WestSouthwestThe Middle AtlanticNew EnglandThe SouthThe Midwestwith sales (volume), revenue (value), market share and growth rate of Multi-point Monitoring Systems in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast).Browse Detail Report With TOC @United States Multi-point Monitoring Systems market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Multi-point Monitoring Systems sales volume, price, revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players includingParticle Measuring Systems (Spectris Company) (U.S.)Rion (Japan)Honeywell Analytics (U.S.)UWT GmbH Level Control (Germany)Hangzhou Zetian Technology (China)ETG Risorse e Tecnologia (Italy)...On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoPressure Monitoring SystemsTemperature Monitoring SystemsLevel Monitoring SystemsOthersOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, sales volume, market share and growth rate of Multi-point Monitoring Systems for each application, includingOil & GasEnvironmentalMedicalOthersTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @States Multi-point Monitoring Systems Market Report 2017Table of ContentsUnited States Multi-point Monitoring Systems Market Report 20171 Multi-point Monitoring Systems Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Multi-point Monitoring Systems1.2 Classification of Multi-point Monitoring Systems by Product Category1.2.1 United States Multi-point Monitoring Systems Market Size (Sales Volume) Comparison by Type (2012-2022)1.2.2 United States Multi-point Monitoring Systems Market Size (Sales Volume) Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Pressure Monitoring Systems1.2.4 Temperature Monitoring Systems1.2.5 Level Monitoring Systems1.2.6 Others1.3 United States Multi-point Monitoring Systems Market by Application/End Users1.3.1 United States Multi-point Monitoring Systems Market Size (Consumption) and Market Share Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Oil & Gas1.3.3 Environmental1.3.4 Medical1.3.5 Others1.4 United States Multi-point Monitoring Systems Market by Region1.4.1 United States Multi-point Monitoring Systems Market Size (Value) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 The West Multi-point Monitoring Systems Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 Southwest Multi-point Monitoring Systems Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 The Middle Atlantic Multi-point Monitoring Systems Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 New England Multi-point Monitoring Systems Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 The South Multi-point Monitoring Systems Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 The Midwest Multi-point Monitoring Systems Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 United States Market Size (Value and Volume) of Multi-point Monitoring Systems (2012-2022)1.5.1 United States Multi-point Monitoring Systems Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2022)1.5.2 United States Multi-point Monitoring Systems Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)2 United States Multi-point Monitoring Systems Market Competition by Players/Suppliers2.1 United States Multi-point Monitoring Systems Sales and Market Share of Key Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.2 United States Multi-point Monitoring Systems Revenue and Share by Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.3 United States Multi-point Monitoring Systems Average Price by Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.4 United States Multi-point Monitoring Systems Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.4.1 United States Multi-point Monitoring Systems Market Concentration Rate2.4.2 United States Multi-point Monitoring Systems Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Players/Suppliers2.4.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion in United States Market2.5 United States Players/Suppliers Multi-point Monitoring Systems Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area, Product Type3 United States Multi-point Monitoring Systems Sales (Volume) and Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)3.1 United States Multi-point Monitoring Systems Sales and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.2 United States Multi-point Monitoring Systems Revenue and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.3 United States Multi-point Monitoring Systems Price by Region (2012-2017)4 United States Multi-point Monitoring Systems Sales (Volume) and Revenue (Value) by Type (Product Category) (2012-2017)4.1 United States Multi-point Monitoring Systems Sales and Market Share by Type (Product Category) (2012-2017)4.2 United States Multi-point Monitoring Systems Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)4.3 United States Multi-point Monitoring Systems Price by Type (2012-2017)4.4 United States Multi-point Monitoring Systems Sales Growth Rate by Type (2012-2017)5 United States Multi-point Monitoring Systems Sales (Volume) by Application (2012-2017)5.1 United States Multi-point Monitoring Systems Sales and Market Share by Application (2012-2017)5.2 United States Multi-point Monitoring Systems Sales Growth Rate by Application (2012-2017)5.3 Market Drivers and Opportunities6 United States Multi-point Monitoring Systems Players/Suppliers Profiles and Sales Data6.1 Particle Measuring Systems (Spectris Company) (U.S.)6.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors6.1.2 Multi-point Monitoring Systems Product Category, Application and Specification6.1.2.1 Product A6.1.2.2 Product B6.1.3 Particle Measuring Systems (Spectris Company) (U.S.) Multi-point Monitoring Systems Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)6.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview6.2 Rion (Japan)6.2.2 Multi-point Monitoring Systems Product Category, Application and Specification6.2.2.1 Product A6.2.2.2 Product B6.2.3 Rion (Japan) Multi-point Monitoring Systems Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)6.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview6.3 Honeywell Analytics (U.S.)6.3.2 Multi-point Monitoring Systems Product Category, Application and Specification6.3.2.1 Product A6.3.2.2 Product B6.3.3 Honeywell Analytics (U.S.) Multi-point Monitoring Systems Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)6.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview6.4 UWT GmbH Level Control (Germany)6.4.2 Multi-point Monitoring Systems Product Category, Application and Specification6.4.2.1 Product A6.4.2.2 Product B6.4.3 UWT GmbH Level Control (Germany) Multi-point Monitoring Systems Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)6.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview6.5 Hangzhou Zetian Technology (China)6.5.2 Multi-point Monitoring Systems Product Category, Application and Specification6.5.2.1 Product A6.5.2.2 Product B6.5.3 Hangzhou Zetian Technology (China) Multi-point Monitoring Systems Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)6.5.4 Main Business/Business OverviewContinued...Make an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ bit.ly/1TBmnVG Global Revenue For The Oncology Market Is Forecast To Grow At A CAGR Of 10.66%, From $118.6 Billion In 2016 To $241.0 Billion In 2023 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1245341 http://www.researchmoz.us/global-oncology-market-to-2023-robust-growth-driven-by-rising-prevalence-and-increased-uptake-of-immune-checkpoint-inhibitors-report.html http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=1245341 www.researchmoz.us/ Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Oncology Market to 2023 - Robust Growth Driven by Rising Prevalence and Increased Uptake of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors" to its huge collection of research reports.In 2012, there were 32.6 million people living with any type of cancer within five years of diagnosis. These are generally incurable once they progress to the stage where they are unresectable. Chemotherapy compounds are a mainstay treatment for cancers of all types, at various disease stages. In a typical course of therapy for cancer, multiple chemotherapy compounds are administered sequentially in combination regimens, as an adjunct to surgery and radiation therapy. Chemotherapy drugs are cytotoxic to dividing cells, meaning that they act on both healthy and malignant tissues and are fairly toxic. However, they exert more damage on malignant tissue than healthy tissue due to the rapid cell cycle of cancer cells. The key cancer indications of this report are breast, colorectal, lung, and prostate and hematological cancers.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @A number of common etiologic factors have been strongly characterized as raising the risk of developing cancer, including age, chronic inflammation, gender, obesity, tobacco usage and heritable cancer syndromes. The risk of cancer increases greatly in patients over the age of 65. Populations in developed countries are projected to become increasingly aged and show rising obesity incidence, which will drive both cancer prevalence and revenue growth for its treatments.There has been a shift towards developing targeted therapies, such as mAbs and cell therapies. Targeted therapies, by their nature, have less toxicity associated with their use and as a result can be administered to more cancer patients, who are commonly elderly and have co-morbidities, therefore increasing the overall survival of this group and the number of treatment cycles they may receive. The most commercially successful oncology treatments are mAbs such as MabThera/Rituxan, Avastin and Herceptin.Browse Detail Report With TOC @Scope- Global revenue for the oncology market is forecast to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 10.66%, from $118.6 billion in 2016 to $241.0 billion in 2023. Which drugs will achieve blockbuster status and how will the key player companies perform during the forecast period?- The oncology pipeline is large and fairly diverse and contains 7,773 products. How does the composition of the pipeline compare with that of the existing market? What are the most popular types of molecule type and molecular target in the pipeline?- What mechanisms of action and molecule types are most common for pipeline products being trialed in the various key indications?- How will the market shares and CAGRs of the top 20 pharma companies compare within oncology?- What proportion of the key players revenues will be attributable to oncology products?Reasons to buy- Understand the current clinical and commercial landscape by considering disease pathogenesis, diagnosis, prognosis, and the treatment options available at each stage of diagnosis- Visualize the composition of the oncology market across each indication, in terms of dominant molecule types and targets, highlighting the key commercial assets and players- Analyze the oncology pipeline and stratify by stage of development, molecule type and molecular target, with a granular breakdown across key indications- Understand the growth in patient epidemiology and market revenue for the oncology market globally and across the key players and product types- Stratify the market in terms of the generic and premium product revenue split between oncology products and assess the role of these product types in the treatment of the various cancers- Identify commercial opportunities in the oncology deals landscape by analyzing trends in licensing and co-development dealsTable of Contents1 Table of Contents 51.1 List of Tables 71.2 List of Figures 72 Introduction 102.1 Therapy Area Introduction 102.2 Symptoms 112.3 Diagnosis 122.4 Etiology and Pathophysiology 132.4.1 Etiology 132.4.2 Pathophysiology 152.5 Co-morbidities and Complications 162.6 Epidemiology Patterns - Prevalence, Patient Segmentation, and Diagnostic and Treatment Usage Rates 172.6.1 Breast Cancer 172.6.2 Colorectal Cancer 182.6.3 Lung Cancer 192.6.4 Prostate Cancer 202.6.5 Hematological Cancers 212.7 Prognosis 222.7.1 Breast Cancer 222.7.2 Colorectal Cancer 232.7.3 Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer 232.7.4 Prostate Cancer 242.8 Treatment 252.8.1 Surgery and Radiation Therapy 252.8.2 Chemotherapy 262.8.3 Hormonal Therapies 282.8.4 Targeted Therapies 293 Key Marketed Products 313.1 Overview 313.2 MabThera/Rituxan (rituximab) 323.3 Avastin (bevacizumab) 333.4 Herceptin (trastuzumab) 353.5 Revlimid (lenalidomide) 373.6 Opdivo (nivolumab) 393.7 Xtandi (enzalutamide) 413.8 Gleevec/Glivec (imatinib mesylate) 423.9 Alimta (pemetrexed) 443.10 Zytiga (abiraterone acetate) 463.11 Conclusion 474 Pipeline Landscape Assessment 494.1 Overview 494.2 Pipeline Development Landscape 504.3 Molecular Targets in the Pipeline 544.4 Clinical Trials 584.4.1 Failure Rate by Stage of Development, Indication, Molecule Type and Molecular Target 584.4.2 Clinical Trial Size and Duration by Stage of Development, Indication, Molecule Type and Molecular Target 624.4.3 Clinical Trial Size and Duration by Stage of Development, Indication, Molecule Type and Molecular Target 664.4.4 Aggregate Clinical Program Size by Stage of Development, Indication, Molecule Type and Molecular Target 704.4.5 Conclusion 744.5 Assessment of Key Pipeline Products 744.5.1 Durvalumab - AstraZeneca 744.5.2 Durvalumab and Tremelimumab - AstraZeneca 754.5.3 Abemaciclib - Eli Lilly 764.5.4 Rova-T (rovalpituzumab tesirine) - AbbVie 774.5.5 Neratinib - Puma Biotechnology 794.5.6 Acalabrutinib - AstraZeneca 804.5.7 KTE-C19 (Axicabtagene Ciloleucel) - Kite Pharma 814.5.8 Tisagenlecleucel-T - Novartis 834.5.9 Conclusion 845 Multi-scenario Market Forecast to 2023 855.1 Overall Market Size 855.2 Generic Penetration 1015.3 Revenue Forecast by Molecular Target 1035.3.1 Programmed Cell Death Protein 1/Programmed Cell Death 1 Ligand 1 1035.3.2 Tumor Necrosis Factor 1055.3.3 Tyrosine-Protein Kinase BTK 1065.3.4 Cyclin-Dependent Kinases 1075.3.5 Androgen Receptor 1085.3.6 Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor 1096 Company Analysis and Positioning 1106.1 Revenue and Market Share Analysis by Company 1116.1.1 Roche - To What Extent Will Newly Approved and Pipeline Product Approvals Offset the Patent Expiries of Avastin and Herceptin? 1166.1.2 Celgene - How Will Multiple Patent Expiries Affect Oncology-Related Revenues? 1186.1.3 Novartis - How Will Mekinist plus Tafinlar and Tasigna Perform over the Forecast Period? 1196.1.4 Bristol-Myers Squibb - How Successful Will Recent Approvals Opdivo and Empliciti Become? 1206.1.5 Pfizer - What Do Sutent and Inlyta Patent Expiries Mean for Pfizer? 1206.1.6 AstraZeneca - How Will its Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors Durvalumab and Tremelimumab Perform? 1216.2 Company Landscape 1236.3 Marketed and Pipeline Portfolio Analysis 1247 Strategic Consolidations 1267.1 Licensing Deals 1267.1.1 Deals by Region, Year and Value 1267.1.2 Deals by Stage of Development and Value 1297.1.3 Deals by Molecule Type, Mechanism of Action and Value 1307.1.4 Table for Licensing Deals Valued Above $100m 1317.2 Co-development Deals 1457.2.1 Deals by Region, Year and Value 1457.2.2 Deals by Stage of Development and Value 1477.2.3 Deals by Molecule Type, Mechanism of Action and Value 1487.2.4 Table for Co-development Deals Valued $1 billion and Above 1498 Appendix 1568.1 References 1568.2 Abbreviations 4178.3 Methodology 4188.3.1 Secondary Research 4188.3.2 Market Size and Revenue Forecasts 4198.3.3 Pipeline Analysis 4198.3.4 Competitive Landscape 4198.4 Contact Us 4208.5 Disclaimer 420Make an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ bit.ly/1TBmnVG Global Food Antiseptics Market Professional Survey Report 2017 Top Manufacturers DSM, BASF, Celanese, Dupont, Cornion, Galactic, Akzonobel, Kemin, NTAC, Wanglong, Kunda, Univar, Hawkins Watts Limited, Cargill, Danisco, Tate & Lyle http://www.researchmoz.us/global-food-antiseptics-market-professional-survey-report-2017-report.html http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1208398 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=1208398 www.researchmoz.us/ Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Food Antiseptics Market Professional Survey Report 2017" to its huge collection of research reports.This report studies Food Antiseptics in Global market, especially in North America, China, Europe, Southeast Asia, Japan and India, with production, revenue, consumption, import and export in these regions, from 2012 to 2016, and forecast to 2022.This report focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringDSMBASFCelaneseDupontCornionGalacticAkzonobelKeminNTACWanglongKundaUnivarHawkins Watts LimitedCargillDaniscoTate & LyleBrowse Detail Report With TOC @By types, the market can be split intoNatural AntisepticsChemical AntisepticsBy Application, the market can be split intoFood & BeveragesFeedOthersBy Regions, this report covers (we can add the regions/countries as you want)North AmericaChinaEuropeSoutheast AsiaJapanIndiaTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Table of ContentsGlobal Food Antiseptics Market Professional Survey Report 20171 Industry Overview of Food Antiseptics1.1 Definition and Specifications of Food Antiseptics1.1.1 Definition of Food Antiseptics1.1.2 Specifications of Food Antiseptics1.2 Classification of Food Antiseptics1.2.1 Natural Antiseptics1.2.2 Chemical Antiseptics1.3 Applications of Food Antiseptics1.3.1 Food & Beverages1.3.2 Feed1.3.3 Others1.4 Market Segment by Regions1.4.1 North America1.4.2 China1.4.3 Europe1.4.4 Southeast Asia1.4.5 Japan1.4.6 India2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Food Antiseptics2.1 Raw Material and Suppliers2.2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Food Antiseptics2.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Food Antiseptics2.4 Industry Chain Structure of Food Antiseptics3 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Food Antiseptics3.1 Capacity and Commercial Production Date of Global Food Antiseptics Major Manufacturers in 20163.2 Manufacturing Plants Distribution of Global Food Antiseptics Major Manufacturers in 20163.3 R&D Status and Technology Source of Global Food Antiseptics Major Manufacturers in 20163.4 Raw Materials Sources Analysis of Global Food Antiseptics Major Manufacturers in 20164 Global Food Antiseptics Overall Market Overview4.1 2012-2017E Overall Market Analysis4.2 Capacity Analysis4.2.1 2012-2017E Global Food Antiseptics Capacity and Growth Rate Analysis4.2.2 2016 Food Antiseptics Capacity Analysis (Company Segment)4.3 Sales Analysis4.3.1 2012-2017E Global Food Antiseptics Sales and Growth Rate Analysis4.3.2 2016 Food Antiseptics Sales Analysis (Company Segment)4.4 Sales Price Analysis4.4.1 2012-2017E Global Food Antiseptics Sales Price4.4.2 2016 Food Antiseptics Sales Price Analysis (Company Segment)5 Food Antiseptics Regional Market Analysis5.1 North America Food Antiseptics Market Analysis5.1.1 North America Food Antiseptics Market Overview5.1.2 North America 2012-2017E Food Antiseptics Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.1.3 North America 2012-2017E Food Antiseptics Sales Price Analysis5.1.4 North America 2016 Food Antiseptics Market Share Analysis5.2 China Food Antiseptics Market Analysis5.2.1 China Food Antiseptics Market Overview5.2.2 China 2012-2017E Food Antiseptics Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.2.3 China 2012-2017E Food Antiseptics Sales Price Analysis5.2.4 China 2016 Food Antiseptics Market Share Analysis5.3 Europe Food Antiseptics Market Analysis5.3.1 Europe Food Antiseptics Market Overview5.3.2 Europe 2012-2017E Food Antiseptics Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.3.3 Europe 2012-2017E Food Antiseptics Sales Price Analysis5.3.4 Europe 2016 Food Antiseptics Market Share Analysis5.4 Southeast Asia Food Antiseptics Market Analysis5.4.1 Southeast Asia Food Antiseptics Market Overview5.4.2 Southeast Asia 2012-2017E Food Antiseptics Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.4.3 Southeast Asia 2012-2017E Food Antiseptics Sales Price Analysis5.4.4 Southeast Asia 2016 Food Antiseptics Market Share Analysis5.5 Japan Food Antiseptics Market Analysis5.5.1 Japan Food Antiseptics Market Overview5.5.2 Japan 2012-2017E Food Antiseptics Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.5.3 Japan 2012-2017E Food Antiseptics Sales Price Analysis5.5.4 Japan 2016 Food Antiseptics Market Share Analysis5.6 India Food Antiseptics Market Analysis5.6.1 India Food Antiseptics Market Overview5.6.2 India 2012-2017E Food Antiseptics Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.6.3 India 2012-2017E Food Antiseptics Sales Price Analysis5.6.4 India 2016 Food Antiseptics Market Share Analysis6 Global 2012-2017E Food Antiseptics Segment Market Analysis (by Type)6.1 Global 2012-2017E Food Antiseptics Sales by Type6.2 Different Types of Food Antiseptics Product Interview Price Analysis6.3 Different Types of Food Antiseptics Product Driving Factors Analysis6.3.1 Natural Antiseptics of Food Antiseptics Growth Driving Factor Analysis6.3.2 Chemical Antiseptics of Food Antiseptics Growth Driving Factor Analysis7 Global 2012-2017E Food Antiseptics Segment Market Analysis (by Application)7.1 Global 2012-2017E Food Antiseptics Consumption by Application7.2 Different Application of Food Antiseptics Product Interview Price Analysis7.3 Different Application of Food Antiseptics Product Driving Factors Analysis7.3.1 Food & Beverages of Food Antiseptics Growth Driving Factor Analysis7.3.2 Feed of Food Antiseptics Growth Driving Factor Analysis7.3.3 Others of Food Antiseptics Growth Driving Factor AnalysisMake an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ bit.ly/1TBmnVG Global Connected Vehicles Market 2017 Top Manufacturers BMW, Broadcom, Chrysler, Benz, Daimler, Volkswagen, Hyundai Motor, Honda, Volvo, Luxoft, Qualcomm, Toyota, Garmin http://www.researchmoz.us/global-connected-vehicles-market-professional-survey-report-2017-report.html http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1208466 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=1208466 www.researchmoz.us/ Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Connected Vehicles Market Professional Survey Report 2017" to its huge collection of research reports.This report studies Connected Vehicles in Global market, especially in North America, China, Europe, Southeast Asia, Japan and India, with production, revenue, consumption, import and export in these regions, from 2012 to 2016, and forecast to 2022.This report focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringBMWBroadcomChryslerBenzDaimlerVolkswagenHyundai MotorHondaVolvoLuxoftQualcommToyotaGarminBrowse Detail Report With TOC @By types, the market can be split intoEmbeddedTetheredIntegratedBy Application, the market can be split intoCarTrainOtherBy Regions, this report covers (we can add the regions/countries as you want)North AmericaChinaEuropeSoutheast AsiaJapanIndiaTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Table of ContentsGlobal Connected Vehicles Market Professional Survey Report 20171 Industry Overview of Connected Vehicles1.1 Definition and Specifications of Connected Vehicles1.1.1 Definition of Connected Vehicles1.1.2 Specifications of Connected Vehicles1.2 Classification of Connected Vehicles1.2.1 Embedded1.2.2 Tethered1.2.3 Integrated1.3 Applications of Connected Vehicles1.3.1 Car1.3.2 Train1.3.3 Other1.4 Market Segment by Regions1.4.1 North America1.4.2 China1.4.3 Europe1.4.4 Southeast Asia1.4.5 Japan1.4.6 India2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Connected Vehicles2.1 Raw Material and Suppliers2.2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Connected Vehicles2.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Connected Vehicles2.4 Industry Chain Structure of Connected Vehicles3 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Connected Vehicles3.1 Capacity and Commercial Production Date of Global Connected Vehicles Major Manufacturers in 20163.2 Manufacturing Plants Distribution of Global Connected Vehicles Major Manufacturers in 20163.3 R&D Status and Technology Source of Global Connected Vehicles Major Manufacturers in 20163.4 Raw Materials Sources Analysis of Global Connected Vehicles Major Manufacturers in 20164 Global Connected Vehicles Overall Market Overview4.1 2012-2017E Overall Market Analysis4.2 Capacity Analysis4.2.1 2012-2017E Global Connected Vehicles Capacity and Growth Rate Analysis4.2.2 2016 Connected Vehicles Capacity Analysis (Company Segment)4.3 Sales Analysis4.3.1 2012-2017E Global Connected Vehicles Sales and Growth Rate Analysis4.3.2 2016 Connected Vehicles Sales Analysis (Company Segment)4.4 Sales Price Analysis4.4.1 2012-2017E Global Connected Vehicles Sales Price4.4.2 2016 Connected Vehicles Sales Price Analysis (Company Segment)5 Connected Vehicles Regional Market Analysis5.1 North America Connected Vehicles Market Analysis5.1.1 North America Connected Vehicles Market Overview5.1.2 North America 2012-2017E Connected Vehicles Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.1.3 North America 2012-2017E Connected Vehicles Sales Price Analysis5.1.4 North America 2016 Connected Vehicles Market Share Analysis5.2 China Connected Vehicles Market Analysis5.2.1 China Connected Vehicles Market Overview5.2.2 China 2012-2017E Connected Vehicles Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.2.3 China 2012-2017E Connected Vehicles Sales Price Analysis5.2.4 China 2016 Connected Vehicles Market Share Analysis5.3 Europe Connected Vehicles Market Analysis5.3.1 Europe Connected Vehicles Market Overview5.3.2 Europe 2012-2017E Connected Vehicles Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.3.3 Europe 2012-2017E Connected Vehicles Sales Price Analysis5.3.4 Europe 2016 Connected Vehicles Market Share Analysis5.4 Southeast Asia Connected Vehicles Market Analysis5.4.1 Southeast Asia Connected Vehicles Market Overview5.4.2 Southeast Asia 2012-2017E Connected Vehicles Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.4.3 Southeast Asia 2012-2017E Connected Vehicles Sales Price Analysis5.4.4 Southeast Asia 2016 Connected Vehicles Market Share Analysis5.5 Japan Connected Vehicles Market Analysis5.5.1 Japan Connected Vehicles Market Overview5.5.2 Japan 2012-2017E Connected Vehicles Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.5.3 Japan 2012-2017E Connected Vehicles Sales Price Analysis5.5.4 Japan 2016 Connected Vehicles Market Share Analysis5.6 India Connected Vehicles Market Analysis5.6.1 India Connected Vehicles Market Overview5.6.2 India 2012-2017E Connected Vehicles Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.6.3 India 2012-2017E Connected Vehicles Sales Price Analysis5.6.4 India 2016 Connected Vehicles Market Share Analysis6 Global 2012-2017E Connected Vehicles Segment Market Analysis (by Type)6.1 Global 2012-2017E Connected Vehicles Sales by Type6.2 Different Types of Connected Vehicles Product Interview Price Analysis6.3 Different Types of Connected Vehicles Product Driving Factors Analysis6.3.1 Embedded of Connected Vehicles Growth Driving Factor Analysis6.3.2 Tethered of Connected Vehicles Growth Driving Factor Analysis6.3.3 Integrated of Connected Vehicles Growth Driving Factor Analysis7 Global 2012-2017E Connected Vehicles Segment Market Analysis (by Application)7.1 Global 2012-2017E Connected Vehicles Consumption by Application7.2 Different Application of Connected Vehicles Product Interview Price Analysis7.3 Different Application of Connected Vehicles Product Driving Factors Analysis7.3.1 Car of Connected Vehicles Growth Driving Factor Analysis7.3.2 Train of Connected Vehicles Growth Driving Factor Analysis7.3.3 Other of Connected Vehicles Growth Driving Factor AnalysisMake an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ bit.ly/1TBmnVG Demand of Intravenous Therapy and Vein Access Market Industry Analysis and Forecast 2017-2023 IV Therapy https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/2350 https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/2350 https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/intravenous-IV-therapy-and-vein-access-market According to a new report published by Allied Market Research, titled, Intravenous Therapy and Vein Access Devices Market by Product, Application, and End User: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2017-2023, the global intravenous therapy and vein access devices market was valued at $18,000 million in 2016, and is projected to reach $27,971 million by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 6.4% from 2017 to 2023. The intravenous catheter segment accounted for one-third share of the total market in 2016.Get Sample PDF of Report@Intravenous therapy is used to administer medicine, nutrients, blood, and buffer solution directly into the vein. IV therapy works faster for the quick immune system response and relief from chronic diseases as compared to oral mode of medication. IV therapy can be easily monitored and has infusion pump that controls the volume of the substance to be administered in the body. Increase in incidence of chronic disorders, surge in trauma cases, rise in geriatric population, and growth in road accidents are expected to boost the market growth during the analysis period. However, lack of skilled professionals is projected to restrain the market growth during the forecast period.North America dominated the market, with highest share in 2016, and is expected to maintain the lead during the analysis period. However, Asia-Pacific is expected to grow with the highest CAGR, owing to significant increase in the number of well-equipped hospitals with advanced healthcare systems to cater to the needs of the large patient population.The intravenous catheter market segment held the highest share in 2016, owing to increase in healthcare expenditure and continuous advancement in intravenous catheter technology, which are expected to support the growth of this market during the forecast period.Do Purchase Inquiry@The medical administration held the highest market share in 2016, owing to the wide use of IV therapy for medication administration as it is most effective, fast acting, and suitable for unconscious and emergency patients. The hospital's segment gained the highest market share in 2016, owing to the highest number of surgical procedures in hospitals resulting in usage of IV therapy.North America accounted for two-fifths share in 2016, and is expected to dominate the market throughout the forecast period. This is attributed to increase in incidence of chronic diseases due to rise in geriatric population, well-established healthcare systems, and increase in awareness among the population toward timely diagnosis and treatment of diseases. In addition, higher adoption rate for technologically advanced devices is anticipated to provide new growth opportunities for the key players in the market. However, Asia-Pacific is projected to grow at the highest growth rate during the analysis period, owing to rise in healthcare expenditure, increase in per capita income, growth in demand for healthcare services from a large pool of patient population, and improvement in healthcare infrastructure.The major players profiled in the global IV therapy and vein access devices market are Becton, Dickinson and Company, B. Braun Melsungen AG, Terumo Medical Corporation, Teleflex Medical Inc., Medtronic Inc., Smith & Nephew plc., AngioDynamics, Inc., Pfizer Inc., Insulet Corporation, and Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA.Access Full Summary at:About Us:Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of Market Research Reports and Business Intelligence Solutions. AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.Contact Us:Pankaj Kumar 5933 NE Win Sivers Drive#205, Portland, OR 97220 United StatesDirect: +1-503-894-6022Toll Free: +1 (800) 792-5285 (U.S. & Canada)Fax: +1 (855) 550-5975E-mail: sales@alliedmarketresearch.com New Survey Reveals Wealth in the UK: HNW Investors 2017 - Researchmoz http://www.researchmoz.us/wealth-in-the-uk-hnw-investors-2017-report.html http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1068349 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=1068349 www.researchmoz.us/ Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Wealth in the UK: HNW Investors 2017" to its huge collection of research reports."Wealth in the UK: HNW Investors 2017", analyzes the investing preferences and portfolio allocation of UK HNW investors. The report is based on our proprietary Global Wealth Managers Survey.London is a major wealth capital with competitive financial services, fintech, and property industries. HNW individuals from around the world reside in the UK, particularly London, for its attractive lifestyle and business opportunities. The majority of UK HNW investors are over the age of 50, with males accounting for the majority. Equity and bond investments constitute the greatest proportions of UK HNW portfolios, mirroring the regional average. UK wealth managers experience strong demand for financial products and services, with pension planning in particularly high demand.Browse Detail Report With TOC @Specifically the report -- Profiles the average UK HNW investor in terms of their demographics and analyzes the expat opportunity in the UK.- Analyzes which wealth management mandates are preferred among UK HNW investors and how the demand will develop going forward.- Examines the allocation of UK HNW investors portfolios into different asset classes and how the allocation is expected to develop in the future.- Analyzes the product and service demand among UK HNW investors.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Scope- Inherited wealth dominates among UK HNWs, but taken together the largest share has been sourced from family business ownership and first-generation entrepreneurship.- The vast majority of UK HNW investors prefer their wealth to be managed professionally, with 79.5% placed in discretionary mandates.- Asset allocation is heavily weighted towards equities and bonds. Wealth managers anticipate reduced demand for bond investments and greater interest in non-traditional asset classes.- Pension and financial planning services show the strongest demand, and this is not expected to change in the near future. Demand for inheritance planning will remain stable.Reasons to buy- Develop and enhance your client targeting strategies using our data on HNW profiles and sources of wealth.- Give your marketing strategies the edge required and capture new clients using insights from our data on HNW investors drivers for seeking investment advice vs self-directing.- Tailor your investment product portfolio to match current and future demand for different asset classes among HNW individuals.- Develop your service proposition to match the product and service demand expressed by UK HNW investors and react proactively to the forecasted changes in demand.Make an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ bit.ly/1TBmnVG Scandinavia Renewable Energy-based Commercial Aviation Market Key Trends, Size, Growth, Shares And Forecast Research Report http://www.researchmoz.us/renewable-energy-based-commercial-aviation-market-in-scandinavia-report.html http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1064760 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=1064760 www.researchmoz.us/ Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Renewable Energy-based Commercial Aviation Market in Scandinavia" to its huge collection of research reports.Technavio Announces the Publication of its Research Report Renewable Energy-Based Commercial Aviation Market in Scandinavia 2017-2021Technavio recognizes the following companies as the key players in the renewable energy-based commercial aviation market in Scandinavia: Gaia Solar, Equator Aircraft Norway, Serenergy, SkyNRG and SWEDISH BIOFUELS.Browse Detail Report With TOC @Commenting on the report, an analyst from Technavios team said: One trend in the market is development of second- and third-generation biofuels. Second-generation biofuels are those that can be synthesized from various kinds of biomass, i.e., any source of organic carbon that can be renewed rapidly as part of the carbon cycle. These biofuels are usually made from lignocellulosic biomass or woody crops, several kinds of agricultural residues, or waste.According to the report, one driver in the market is easy access to feedstock in Scandinavian countries. In order to make sustainable jet fuel production commercially viable, the feedstock should be cost-effective and available in large quantities. Feedstocks for sustainable jet fuel are also potential feedstock for other renewable fuels (biodiesel or ethanol). Therefore, there is no need to establish a separate feedstock processing facility exclusive to jet fuel production. Instead, an already established base for producing sustainable fuels for road and other means of transport can be shared for producing sustainable jet fuels.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Further, the report states that one challenge in the market is financial viability in producing advanced biofuel. Financing biofuels to a commercial level of production is a key challenge faced by airlines and the aviation industry. Many airlines are unable, economically, to support or invest in biofuel supply. In turn, biofuels become expensive to harness, which results in fewer investments in the sector. Additionally, the production of any alternative fuel for the aviation industry is often costlier than that of the fuels used in road transportation. Also, the requirement for producing drop-in fuels for aviation applications necessitates adhering to processes more advanced than those used for the first generation of biofuels used in road transportation, like fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) or ethanol.Table of ContentsPART 01: Executive summaryPART 02: Scope of the reportPART 03: Research MethodologyPART 04: IntroductionKey market highlightsPART 05: Market landscapeMarket overviewMarket size and forecastFive forces analysisPART 06: Market segmentation by typeMarket segmentation by type of renewable energy sourceAviation biofuel market in ScandinaviaAirport solar PV systems market in ScandinaviaPART 07: Segmentation by countryMarket segmentation by countryRenewable energy-based commercial aviation market in NorwayRenewable energy-based commercial aviation market in SwedenRenewable energy-based commercial aviation market in DenmarkPART 08: Decision frameworkPART 09: Drivers and challengesMarket driversImpact of drivers on key customer segmentsMarket challengesImpact of challenges on key customer segmentsPART 10: Market trendsGrowing emphasis on route developmentDevelopment of second- and third-generation biofuelsSupport from the Fly Green Fund initiativePART 11: Vendor landscapeCompetitive landscapeEquator Aircraft NorwayGaia SolarSerenergySkyNRGSWEDISH BIOFUELSPART 12: AppendixMake an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ bit.ly/1TBmnVG Asia-Pacific Renewable Energy Market 2017 Top Manufacturers - EnBW, Duke Energy, Southern Company, Exelon Corporation, Hawaiian Electric Company, RWE Group, Vattenfall Europe, Iberdrola, Abengoa Solar, AREVA Renewable Energys http://www.researchmoz.us/asia-pacific-renewable-energy-market-report-2017-report.html http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1043319 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=1043319 www.researchmoz.us/ Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Asia-Pacific Renewable Energy Market Report 2017" to its huge collection of research reports.In this report, the Asia-Pacific Renewable Energy market is valued at USD XX million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.Geographically, this report split Asia-Pacific into several key Regions, with sales (volume), revenue (value), market share and growth rate of Renewable Energy for these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), includingChinaJapanSouth KoreaTaiwanIndiaSoutheast AsiaAustraliaBrowse Detail Report With TOC @Asia-Pacific Renewable Energy market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Renewable Energy sales volume, price, revenue (Million USD)and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players includingEnBWDuke EnergySouthern CompanyExelon CorporationHawaiian Electric CompanyRWE GroupVattenfall EuropeIberdrolaAbengoa SolarAREVA Renewable EnergysAeon Renewable EnergyChina Huaneng GroupChina Datang CorporationChina Huadian CorporationChina Guodian CorporationChina Three Gorges CorporationChina Resources PowerDongfang Electric CorporationOn the basis of product, this report displays the sales volume, revenue, product price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoSolar EnergyWind EnergyHydro EnergyBiomass EnergyOcean EnergyGeothermal EnergyOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, sales volume, market share and growth rate of Renewable Energy for each application, includinResidentialCommercialIndustrialOthersTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Table of ContentsAsia-Pacific Renewable Energy Market Report 20171 Renewable Energy Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Renewable Energy1.2 Classification of Renewable Energy by Product Category1.2.1 Asia-Pacific Renewable Energy Market Size (Sales)Comparison by Types (2012-2022)1.2.2 Asia-Pacific Renewable Energy Market Size (Sales)Market Share by Type (Product Category)in 20161.2.3 Solar Energy1.2.4 Wind Energy1.2.5 Hydro Energy1.2.6 Biomass Energy1.2.7 Ocean Energy1.2.8 Geothermal Energy1.3 Asia-Pacific Renewable Energy Market by Application/End Users1.3.1 Asia-Pacific Renewable Energy Sales (Volume)and Market Share Comparison by Applications (2012-2022)1.3.2 Residential1.3.3 Commercial1.3.4 Industrial1.3.5 Others1.4 Asia-Pacific Renewable Energy Market by Region1.4.1 Asia-Pacific Renewable Energy Market Size (Value)Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 China Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 Japan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 South Korea Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Taiwan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 India Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.8 Australia Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Asia-Pacific Market Size (Value and Volume)of Renewable Energy (2012-2022)1.5.1 Asia-Pacific Renewable Energy Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2022)1.5.2 Asia-Pacific Renewable Energy Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)2 Asia-Pacific Renewable Energy Competition by Players/Suppliers, Region, Type and Application2.1 Asia-Pacific Renewable Energy Market Competition by Players/Suppliers2.1.1 Asia-Pacific Renewable Energy Sales Volume and Market Share of Key Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Asia-Pacific Renewable Energy Revenue and Share by Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.2 Asia-Pacific Renewable Energy (Volume and Value)by Type2.2.1 Asia-Pacific Renewable Energy Sales and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.2.2 Asia-Pacific Renewable Energy Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.3 Asia-Pacific Renewable Energy (Volume)by Application2.4 Asia-Pacific Renewable Energy (Volume and Value)by Region2.4.1 Asia-Pacific Renewable Energy Sales and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)2.4.2 Asia-Pacific Renewable Energy Revenue and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3 China Renewable Energy (Volume, Value and Sales Price)3.1 China Renewable Energy Sales and Value (2012-2017)3.1.1 China Renewable Energy Sales Volume and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.2 China Renewable Energy Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.3 China Renewable Energy Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)3.2 China Renewable Energy Sales Volume and Market Share by Type3.3 China Renewable Energy Sales Volume and Market Share by Application4 Japan Renewable Energy (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4.1 Japan Renewable Energy Sales and Value (2012-2017)4.1.1 Japan Renewable Energy Sales Volume and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.1.2 Japan Renewable Energy Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.1.3 Japan Renewable Energy Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)4.2 Japan Renewable Energy Sales Volume and Market Share by Type4.3 Japan Renewable Energy Sales Volume and Market Share by Application5 South Korea Renewable Energy (Volume, Value and Sales Price)5.1 South Korea Renewable Energy Sales and Value (2012-2017)5.1.1 South Korea Renewable Energy Sales Volume and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.1.2 South Korea Renewable Energy Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.1.3 South Korea Renewable Energy Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)5.2 South Korea Renewable Energy Sales Volume and Market Share by Type5.3 South Korea Renewable Energy Sales Volume and Market Share by Application6 Taiwan Renewable Energy (Volume, Value and Sales Price)6.1 Taiwan Renewable Energy Sales and Value (2012-2017)6.1.1 Taiwan Renewable Energy Sales Volume and Growth Rate (2012-2017)6.1.2 Taiwan Renewable Energy Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)6.1.3 Taiwan Renewable Energy Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)6.2 Taiwan Renewable Energy Sales Volume and Market Share by Type6.3 Taiwan Renewable Energy Sales Volume and Market Share by Application7 India Renewable Energy (Volume, Value and Sales Price)7.1 India Renewable Energy Sales and Value (2012-2017)7.1.1 India Renewable Energy Sales Volume and Growth Rate (2012-2017)7.1.2 India Renewable Energy Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)7.1.3 India Renewable Energy Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)7.2 India Renewable Energy Sales Volume and Market Share by Type7.3 India Renewable Energy Sales Volume and Market Share by ApplicationMake an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ bit.ly/1TBmnVG Egg and Egg Products Market by Product Type, Market, Regions & Players Table Eggs, Egg Powders, Bakery Mix, Liquid Egg - World Forecast to 2021 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/sample-report/219724-world-egg-and-egg-products-market https://www.htfmarketreport.com/enquiry-before-buy/219724-world-egg-and-egg-products-market https://www.htfmarketreport.com/buy-nowformat=1&report=219724 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/reports/219724-world-egg-and-egg-products-market HTF Market Intelligence released a new research report of 113 pages on title 'World Egg and Egg Products Market by Product Type, Market, Players and Regions-Forecast to 2021' with detailed analysis, forecast and strategies. The study covers key regions that includes USA, Europe, Japan, China, India, South East Asia and important players such as Table Eggs, Egg Powders, Bakery Mix, Liquid Egg..................SummaryThe Egg and Egg Products market research report provides the newest industry data and industry future trends, allowing you to identify the products and end users driving Revenue growth and profitability.The industry report lists the leading competitors and provides the insights strategic industry Analysis of the key factors influencing the market.Request a sample report @The report includes the forecasts, Analysis and discussion of important industry trends, market size, market share estimates and profiles of the leading industry Players.Global Egg and Egg Products Market: Product Segment AnalysisTable EggsEgg PowdersBakery MixLiquid EggFrozen EggDried EggGlobal Egg and Egg Products Market: Application Segment AnalysisBakeryDairyConfectionerySaucesMeal ReplacementsBeveragesGlobal Egg and Egg Products Market: Regional Segment AnalysisUSAEuropeJapanChinaIndiaSouth East AsiaThe Players mentioned in our reportBarry FarmsCal-Maine FoodsHy-Line InternationalKeggfarms Pvt. Ltd.Land OLakesMichael FoodsNingbo Jiangbei Dexi FoodsNoble Foods LtdRose Acre FarmsGlobal Eggs CorporationWith no less than 15 top producers.Make an enquiry before buying this Report @Table of ContentChapter 1 About the Egg and Egg Products Industry1.1 Industry Definition1.1.1 Types of Egg and Egg Products industry1.1.1.1 Table Eggs1.1.1.2 Egg Powders1.1.1.3 Bakery Mix1.1.1.4 Liquid Egg1.1.1.5 Frozen Egg1.1.1.6 Dried Egg1.2 Main Market Activities1.3 Similar Industries1.4 Industry at a GlanceBuy this report @Chapter 2 World Market Competition Landscape2.1 Egg and Egg Products Markets by Regions2.1.1 USAMarket Revenue (M USD) by Types, Through 2021Market Revenue (M USD) by Applications, Through 2021Major Players Revenue (M USD) in 20152.1.2 EuropeMarket Revenue (M USD) by Types, Through 2021Market Revenue (M USD) by Applications, Through 2021Major Players Revenue (M USD) in 20152.1.3 ChinaMarket Revenue (M USD) by Types, Through 2021Market Revenue (M USD) by Applications, Through 2021Major Players Revenue (M USD) in 20152.1.4 IndiaMarket Revenue (M USD) by Types, Through 2021Market Revenue (M USD) by Applications, Through 2021Major Players Revenue (M USD) in 20152.1.5 JapanMarket Revenue (M USD) by Types, Through 2021Market Revenue (M USD) by Applications, Through 2021Major Players Revenue (M USD) in 20152.1.6 South East AsiaMarket Revenue (M USD) by Types, Through 2021Market Revenue (M USD) by Applications, Through 2021Major Players Revenue (M USD) in 20152.2 World Egg and Egg Products Market by TypesTable EggsEgg PowdersBakery MixLiquid EggFrozen EggDried Egg2.3 World Egg and Egg Products Market by ApplicationsBakeryDairyConfectionerySaucesMeal Replacements2.4 World Egg and Egg Products Market Analysis2.4.1 World Egg and Egg Products Market Revenue and Growth Rate 2011-20162.4.2 World Egg and Egg Products Market Consumption and Growth rate 2011-20162.4.3 World Egg and Egg Products Market Price Analysis 2011-2016Chapter 3 World Egg and Egg Products Market share3.1 Major Production Market share by Players3.2 Major Revenue (M USD) Market share by Players3.3 Major Production Market share by Regions in 2015, Through 20213.4 Major Revenue (M USD) Market share By Regions in 2015, Through 2021Chapter 4 Supply Chain Analysis4.1 Industry Supply chain Analysis4.2 Raw Material Market Analysis4.2.1 Raw Material Prices Analysis 2012-20164.2.2 Raw Material Supply Market Analysis4.2 Manufacturing Equipment Suppliers Analysis4.3 Production Process Analysis4.4 Production Cost Structure Benchmarks4.5 End users Market Analysis......CONTINUEDRead Detailed Table of Content @HTF Market Report is a wholly owned brand of HTF market Intelligence Consulting Private Limited. HTF Market Report global research and market intelligence consulting organization is uniquely positioned to not only identify growth opportunities but to also empower and inspire you to create visionary growth strategies for futures, enabled by our extraordinary depth and breadth of thought leadership, research, tools, events and experience that assist you for making goals into a reality. Our understanding of the interplay between industry convergence, Mega Trends, technologies and market trends provides our clients with new business models and expansion opportunities. We are focused on identifying the Accurate Forecast in every industry we cover so our clients can reap the benefits of being early market entrants and can accomplish their Goals & Objectives.Contact Us:HTF Market Intelligence Consulting Private LimitedUnit No. 429, Parsonage Road Edison, NJNew Jersey USA 08837sales@htfmarketreport.com+1 (206) 317 1218 HVDC Converter Station Market Trends Forecast By 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/hvdc-converter-station-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=14552 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com A high voltage direct current (HVDC) converter is a distinctive type of substation used as an equipment for HVDC transmission lines. These converter stations are especially used to transmit bulk of power to long distances and for converting alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC) or vice versa.An HVDC converter station is generally used for the transmission of electricity from renewable energy sources situated at remote areas to metropolitan areas, with fewer energy losses by converting AC to DC.Growing concerns over gradually reducing fossil fuels and increasing carbon emissions have led to the growth of offshore wind farms that require HVDC converter station for connecting farms to the grid.Obtain Report Details:HVDC system has the capability to reduce costs and electrical losses, and is the single possible solution to facilitate the use of renewable energy sources. HVDC systems are installed at every possible voltage point which connects the systems between two asynchronous grids.The key drivers for the HVDC converter station market is the increasing adoption of efficient power transmission systems, rising number of offshore wind farms, growing requirement for connecting asynchronous grids, and encouraging government policies to establish HVDC converter station.Also, indirect factors such as growing GDP in emerging economies are driving the growth of the HVDC converter station market. In the coming years, a large number of offshore wind farms are anticipated to be built in deep water with high efficiency and large capacity which would support the growth of the HVDC converter station market.HVDC cables are primarily used for submarine transmission. The share of emission-free and clean power from solar, wind, hydro, and other renewable energy sources in the global energy combination is expected to increase.The key factors that challenge the growth of the HVDC converter station market includes transmission congestion and instability, high initial cost, lack of investment in grid infrastructure by power utilities, lengthy approval processes for transmission projects, and limitations at the technology level. However, increasing investments in HVDC systems is the current major trend emerging in the HVDC converter station market.The HVDC converter station market can be segmented on the basis of technology, application and type. On the basis of technology, the HVDC converter market can be segmented into line commutated converters (LCC) and voltage source converters (VSC).Recently, high number of projects were deployed by using line Commuted converter (LCC) technology. On the other hand, the growing adoption of non-renewable energy sources has improved the demand for voltage Source Converter (VSC) technology.The application segmentation includes powering Island and remote loads, underground power links, connecting wind forms, interconnecting networks, bulk power transmissions, grid access for offshore applications, long distance transmission via cables, and oil and gas platforms.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the HVDC Converter Station Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market.Further, on the basis of type, the market can be segmented into monopolar, bi-polar, back-to-back, and multi-terminal. Currently, the bi-polar HVDC configuration covered the largest market size and is estimated to grow more in the coming years.The major players in the global HVDC converter station market include TransGrid Solutions Inc., Toshiba Corporation., Siemens A.G., Prysmian Group, NR Electric Co., Ltd., Nexans SA, BHEL, Hitachi, Ltd., General Electric, American Superconductor and ABB Ltd.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth insights, understanding market evolution by tracking historical developments, and analyzing the present scenario and future projections based on optimistic and likely scenarios.Each research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology developments, types, applications, and the competitive landscape.About TMRTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact TMR90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email:sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Cardiac Output Monitoring Devices Market : Industry Overview and Forecasts 2016 - 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/cardiac-output-monitoring-devices-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=14153 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Cardiac output is known as the volume of blood is pumped by from the right or left ventricle of heart per minute and which is dependent on heart rate, and stroke volume. The cardiac output increases during acute exercise and mental stress, while decreased cardiac output might include physical exercise of a intensity that the patient is not able to bear because of decrease in oxygen supply, obesity, ingestion of large meals that place an added workload on the heart, retention of fluid, emotional stress, hypervolemia, and smoking. It is essential to assess the state of patients blood circulation. Low cardiac output usually leads to a common problem of low blood pressure which might surface occur during surgery, or during postoperative care in the intensive care units.View Report @In high-risk surgical patients and critically ill patients the arterial blood pressure and cardiac output usually are monitored more comprehensively. Cardiac output monitoring devices are used to know the cardiac output of heart and arterial oxygen content which enable the circulation of continuous systemic oxygen supply to the body. Doubling the cardiac output leads to double amount of the oxygen supply to the tissues, while the low cardiac output leads to inadequate supply of oxygen to organs like brain and the low amount of cellular oxygenation can cause tissue and organ failure. The major observed causative factors for the decrease cardiac output are congenital heart defects, pathologic changes in the heart's muscle, blood dyscrasias, chronic pulmonary disease and electrolyte imbalances (as of potassium or calcium). According to North American Nursing Diagnosis Association, decreased cardiac output is defined as a state in which inadequate blood is pumped by the heart to meet the metabolic demands of the body. Cardiac output monitoring devices market is classified on the basis of product type, methods, end-user and geography.On the basis of product type the market is broadly classified into invasive, minimally-invasive and non-invasive cardiac output monitoring devices. The invasive cardiac output monitoring has been traditionally accomplished using the pulmonary artery catheter (PAC), but complications associated with PAC has markedly decreased the widespread use of the PAC. The market demand for the non- invasive devices is high followed by minimally invasive devices as compare to invasive devices, due to factors such as ease, accessibility and cost- effectiveness and fast response time. By methods the market is segmented as thermodilution method, pulse pressure analysis, Doppler method, bioimpedance and applied Fick principle. Each methods has its own merits and demerits. On the basis of end-user the market is segmented as hospitals, ambulatory care and critical care centers. By end-user hospitals covers the major market for cardiac output monitoring devices, because of reliability and conjunction of other therapeutic treatments. The factors such as raising incidences of cardiovascular diseases, increase in the number of people suffering from obesity, growing ageing population, and raising healthcare infrastructure facilities are the growth drivers of this market.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Cardiac Output Monitoring Devices Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market.By geography, the market can be segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the world. Geographically, North America was observed to have the major share of cardiac output monitoring device market due to high healthcare awareness, prevalence of cardiovascular diseases and technological advancement in the region. Europe contributes to the second largest share in the cardiac output monitoring device market growth with raising ageing population. However, Asia Pacific region is expected to be the fastest growing due to the gradual adoption of improved technologies, emerging health care infrastructures, and raising population with cardiac problems and obesity. Followed by Rest of the world.The major key players operating in cardiac output monitoring device market include Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, Cheetah Medical, PULSION Medical Systems SE, Philips Healthcare, LiDCO Group plc, Boston Scientific Corporation, GE Healthcare, and others. Bioreactance-based NICOM Cheetah Medical remains the topmost non-invasive market leader.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Dental Fittings Market : Analysis, Applications, Size, Share, Overview To 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/dental-fittings-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=14195 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Orthodontics mainly deals with the correction of improper alignment of teeth by braces or apparent loss of teeth by dentures/artificial teeth. Orthodontics was initially chosen for children but now it is used ubiquitously. Technological advancements have reduced the stigma related with this treatment and now many dental fittings such as tongue and teeth colored braces are available commercially. Rising awareness of dental aesthetics and related advantages has resulted in increased acceptance of dental fittings amongst all age groups.View Report @The dental fittings include dentures, archwires, anchorage appliances and ligatures. The braces or the brackets are meant to place the misaligned or crooked teeth in place. Braces are small squares attached to the front of the teeth by an orthodontic bonding agent and connected to each other via connectors or bands. Orthodontic bands are stainless steel, tooth colored material or transparent. Spacers are separating parts that fit between the teeth before the bands. Archwires guide braces with the movement of the teeth. Ligatures are small rubber bands which hold on to the archwires together. Traditionally braces were made up of metals, however, with technological advancements they are now available in ceramics. The braces are also made up of stainless steel, titanium or a mixture of both. The orthodontic archwires are of two types: coated metal and transparent non-metallic. Coated metal archwires are made up of nickel- titanium or of stainless steel and are coated with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), parylene-polymer, and an epoxy-resin. Transparent nonmetallic arches are similar to metal arches which are made from glass spindle and are embedded in polymer matrix. The growing demand for aesthetic archwires has led to many advancements in archwires technology. These wires will continuously be developed on the basis of appearance, durability and flexibility. Non-metallic archwires may take over the future market as they are more preferred over the conventional metallic wires. Dentures are used to replace and support the missing teeth and the surrounding gum tissues. Dentures are of two types: complete ones and the partial ones. The partial ones are plastic partials or the metal partials, on the basis of the material used to attach to the teeth.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Dental Fittings Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market.The dental fittings market is on an all-time high due to many regulatory reforms in most of the countries like reimbursement coverage, access to advanced technology, increased disposable income and increased rate of awareness about dental fittings treatment. Aspects such as rising awareness about dental fittings, cheaper availability of treatment and increasing health care expenditure may boost the growth of the dental fittings market in Asia Pacific. Attributing to rapid development in healthcare, infrastructure, government reforms and access to advanced dental fittings, China and India are most profitable markets in Asia. Also, easy availability of skilled orthodontists and supporting economy is expected to spur the growth of the dental fittings market in China and India.Many of the companies are manufacturing dental fittings, and are adopting acquisitions and mergers, extensive R&D as measures to expand their geographic reach and introduction of novel products in to the market. Asia Pacific dental fittings market is expected to rise with context to volume, on basis of low product prices, less market penetration, disposable earning and improving healthcare expenditure. Also the awareness of dental aesthetics systems and dental cosmetic surgery will expectedly drive this market in North America and Europe. The advanced CAD/CAM technology and 3 Dimensional digital imaging may lead to growth in the industry. The CAD technology can support in making digital prostheses much faster. The global dental fittings market is dominated by few key players such as GC Orthodontics, Dentaurum, Henry Schein, Hangzhou Shinye, and Dental Morelli.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Global active pharmaceutical ingredients market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.2% during forecast period 2023 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1385 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/check-discount/1385 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/active-pharmaceutical-ingredients-market-1385 www.marketresearchfuture.com Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients Market Research Report, by manufacturing process (captive manufacturing, contract manufacturing), by source (synthetic and biological), by type (generic, branded), by application - forecast till 2023Study objectives Global Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients Market Detailed information about the present and forecasted market with its key players that influences the market on global scale Detail analysis of the market with respect to all the possible segmentation of the market Detail information about the factors affecting the growth of the global active pharmaceutical ingredients market To track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the global active pharmaceutical ingredients Analysis of the market of the different factors like- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc. Detail information on the possible segments and sub segments of the market and regional analysis of the market- America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Middle East and Africa. Insights on the major countries/regions in which this industry is blooming and to also identify the regions that are still untapped Detail information on trends and the opportunities in various regions.Get a copy of sample report atIntended Audience Research and Development (R&D) Companies API manufacturing company Government and Independent Research Laboratories Government and Independent Regulatory Authorities Contract Research Organizations (CROs) Medical Research Laboratories Academic Medical Institutes and UniversitiesMarket Scenario:Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) is a biologically active pharmaceutical drug. API can be obtain by synthetic process or from natural sources. The global active pharmaceutical ingredients market is driven by increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, rising cancer population and adoption of the biologic and natural therapy by the people. According to WHO, approximately 14 million new cases was registered in 2012 and is expected to rise to almost 19 million by 2024. The number is increasing continuously due to increasing consumption of alcohol, poor lifestyle. Beside this technological development, increasing demand for the new and better treatment and increasing aging population are some other factors driving the growth of the market. Increasing demand for the generic drugs in developing countries like India and China has increased the demand development of new active ingredients. This two countries account nearly 80% of total generic drug sale. Stringent regulatory requirements and lack of awareness in majority of people may restrains the growth of the market.Global active pharmaceutical ingredients market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.2% during forecasted period.SegmentationGlobal active pharmaceutical ingredients market is segmented on the basis ofRegional AnalysisOn regional basis, America dominates the market for active pharmaceutical ingredients. IncreasingR&D expenditure, increasing incidence of chronic diseases and technological advancements in drug manufacturing are key factor for the growth of the market in this region. Europe accounts second largest market which is followed by Asia Pacific. Asia Pacific is the fastest growing region owing to the availability affordable work force and increasing API manufacturing units in these countries.Request for Discount @Key Players for global active pharmaceutical ingredients market Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (Israel) Cipla (India) Dr. Reddys Laboratories (India) Novartis International AG (Switzerland) Sanofi (France) Pfizer, Inc. (US) Eli Lilly and Company (US) Aurobindo Pharma (US) Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (India) Boehringer Ingelheim (Germany) Bristol-Myers Squibb (US) GlaxoSmithKline Plc (UK) Merck & Co., Inc. (US) AbbVie Inc. (US)The report for Global Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients Market of Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different markets segments and regions.Complete Report Available atTABLE OF CONTENTS1 INTRODUCTION1.1 DEFINITION1.2 SCOPE OF STUDY1.2.1 RESEARCH OBJECTIVE1.2.2 ASSUMPTIONS & LIMITATIONS1.2.2.1 ASSUMPTIONS1.2.2.2 LIMITATIONS1.3 MARKET STRUCTURE:2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY2.1 RESEARCH PROCESS:2.2 PRIMARY RESEARCH2.3 SECONDARY RESEARCH:3 MARKET DYNAMICS3.1 DRIVERS3.2 RESTRAINTS3.3 OPPORTUNITIES3.4 MACROECONOMIC INDICATORS4 MARKET FACTOR ANALYSIS4.1 PORTERS FIVE FORCES MODEL4.2 BARGAINING POWER OF SUPPLIERS4.3 BARGAINING POWER OF BUYERS4.4 THREAT OF NEW ENTRANTS4.5 THREAT OF SUBSTITUTES4.6 INTENSITY OF RIVALRY5. GLOBAL ACTIVE PHARMACEUTICAL INGREDIENTS MARKET, BY MANUFACTURING PROCESS5.1 CAPTIVE MANUFACTURING5.2 CONTRACT MANUFACTURING6. GLOBAL ACTIVE PHARMACEUTICAL INGREDIENTS MARKET, BY SOURCE6.1 SYNTHETIC6.2 BIOLOGICAL7. GLOBAL ACTIVE PHARMACEUTICAL INGREDIENTS MARKET, BY TYPE7.1 GENERIC7.2 BRANDED8. GLOBAL ACTIVE PHARMACEUTICAL INGREDIENTS MARKET, BY APPLICATION8.1 ONCOLOGY8.2 CARDIOLOGY8.3 OPHTHALMOLOGY8.4 NEUROLOGY8.5 ORTHOPEDIC8.6 OTHER9. GLOBAL ACTIVE PHARMACEUTICAL INGREDIENTS MARKET, BY REGION9.1 INTRODUCTION9.2 AMERICA9.2.1 NORTH AMERICA9.2.1.1 US9.2.1.2 CANADA9.2.2 SOUTH AMERICA9.3 EUROPE9.3.1 WESTERN EUROPE9.3.1.1 GERMANY9.3.1.2 FRANCE9.3.1.3 ITALY9.3.1.3 SPAIN9.3.1.5 UK9.3.1.6 REST OF WESTERN EUROPE9.3.2 EASTERN EUROPE9.4 ASIA-PACIFIC9.4.1 JAPAN9.4.2 CHINA9.4.3 INDIA9.4.4 AUSTRALIA9.4.5 REPUBLIC OF KOREA9.4.6 REST OF ASIA-PACIFIC9.5 MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA9.5.1 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES9.5.2 SAUDI ARABIA9.5.3 OMAN9.5.4 KUWAIT9.5.5 QATAR9.5.6 REST OF MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA10. COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE10.1 MAJOR STRATEGIES ADOPTED BY MARKET PLAYERS10.1.1 STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP10.1.2 MERGER & ACQUISITION11 COMPANY PROFILE11.1 TEVA PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES11.1.1 OVERVIEW11.1.2 PRODUCT OVERVIEW11.1.3 FINANCIALS11.1.4 KEY DEVELOPMENTS11.2 CIPLA11.2.1 OVERVIEW11.2.2 PRODUCT OVERVIEW11.2.3 FINANCIALS11.2.4 KEY DEVELOPMENTS11.3 NOVARTIS INTERNATIONAL AG11.3.1 OVERVIEW11.3.2 PRODUCT OVERVIEW11.3.3 FINANCIALS11.3.4 STRATEGY11.3.5 KEY DEVELOPMENT11.4 SANOFI11.4.1 OVERVIEW11.4.2 PRODUCT OVERVIEW11.4.3 FINANCIALS11.4.4 KEY DEVELOPMENTS11.5 PFIZER, INC11.5.1 OVERVIEW11.5.2 PRODUCT OVERVIEW11.5.3 FINANCIALS11.5.4 KEY DEVELOPMENTS11.6 MERCK & CO., INC.11.6.1 OVERVIEW11.6.2 PRODUCT OVERVIEW11.6.3 FINANCIALS11.6.4 KEY DEVELOPMENTS11.7 GLAXOSMITHKLINE11.7.1 OVERVIEW11.7.2 PRODUCT OVERVIEW11.7.3 FINANCIALS11.7.4 KEY DEVELOPMENTS11.8 OTHERS12 CONCLUSION12.1 KEY FINDINGS12.1.1 FROM CEOS VIEWPOINT12.1.2 UNMET NEEDS OF THE MARKET12.2 KEY COMPANIES TO WATCH12.3 PREDICTION OF API INDUSTRY13 APPENDIXAt Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.Akash AnandP: +1 646 845 9312W: Europe, the Middle East and Africa insomnia market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.28% during forecasted period of 2017-2023 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/594 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/check-discount/594 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/europe-insomnia-market-594 www.marketresearchfuture.com Europe, The Middle East And Africa Insomnia Market Research Report, By Types Of Therapy (Pharmacological Therapy And Non-Pharmacological Therapy), By Drug Formulation (Capsules, Tablet And Others), By Type Of Diseases Condition (Poor Quality Of Sleep, Sleep Maintenance And Other) - Forecast Till 2023The main objective of this research is to provide information about insomnia market in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, its types, drug formulation and type of disease. To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next seven years of the various segments and sub-segments of the insomnia market. To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth. To analyze the insomnia market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to Europe, Middle East and Africa. To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective. To provide country level analysis of the market for by types of therapy, drug formulation, by type of diseases and its sub-segments. To provide overview of key players and their strategic profiling in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market. To track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the Middle East and Africa insomnia market.Intended Audience Manufacturing and packaging industries. Insomnia devices and drug manufacturers Insomnia devices and drug suppliers Biotechnology Companies Bio-Pharmaceutical Companies Research and Development (R&D) Companies Government Research Laboratories Medical Research InstitutesGet a copy of sample report atInsomnia a sleeping disorder caused by unhealthy sleep habits of a person. Medical conditions that may lead to insomnia are chronic pain, neurological conditions (Parkinson's disease), arthritis, nasal/sinus allergies, gastrointestinal problems, low back pain endocrine problems, asthma and other conditions. It is found to be prevalent among women than in men which may be the results of stress. The Increasing incidence of neurological disorders like Parkinsons disease favor the growth of this market. The market of insomnia in Europe, the Middle East and Africa is increasing due to increasing insomnia owing to lifestyle changes and use of sleeping pill. Mental stress related to work or other personal issues is found to be another cause leading to insomnia thus favouring the growth of market. Over consumption of sleeping pills may be fatal for the person requiring critical care. Increased psychological and emotional stress is also found to be a major cause of insomnia. Europe, the Middle East and Africa insomnia market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.28% during forecasted period of 2017-2023.Europe, the Middle East and Africa insomnia market has been segmented on the basis of types of therapy which comprises pharmacological therapy and non-pharmacological therapy. Pharmacological therapy is further segmented into benzodiazepines, non-benzodiazepines, melatonin receptor agonists and other. Non pharmacological treatment are further segmented into relaxation therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy, sleep hygiene education, stimulus control, paradoxical intention and other. By drug formulation they are segmented as capsules, tablet and others. On the basis of type of disease they are poor quality of sleep, sleep maintenance and other.Request for sample copy @On regional basis, Europe accounts for accounts the largest share in the Europe, the Middle East and Africa insomnia market. France accounts for the largest market share in insomnia market in Europe. Middle East is the second largest market for insomnia followed by Africa. Increase in prevalence of insomnia, thus resulting in increasing consumption of sleeping pills is the major driving factor for the market in Europe, the Middle East and Africa region.Key Players for Europe, the Middle East and Africa Insomnia market Pfizer Inc. (U.K) Sanofi (France) GlaxoSmithKline Plc. (UK) Astellas (UK) Biocodex S A (France) Neurim (Switzerland) Flynn Pharma (UK) CAD Middle East Pharmaceutical Industries LLC (Saudi Arabia) Tabuk Pharmaceutical (Jordan)The report for Europe, the Middle East and Africa insomnia market research report of Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different markets segments and regions.Complete Report Available atTABLE OF CONTENTS1. INTRODUCTION1.1 DEFINITION1.2 SCOPE OF STUDY1.2.1 RESEARCH OBJECTIVE1.2.2 ASSUMPTIONS & LIMITATIONS1.2.2.1 ASSUMPTIONS1 .2.2.2 LIMITATIONS1.3 MARKET STRUCTURE:2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY2.1 RESEARCH PROCESS:2.2 PRIMARY RESEARCH2.3 SECONDARY RESEARCH:3 MARKET DYNAMICS3.1 DRIVERS3.2 RESTRAINTS3.3 OPPORTUNITIES3.4 MACROECONOMIC INDICATORS4 MARKET FACTOR ANALYSIS4.1 PORTERS FIVE FORCES MODEL4.2 BARGAINING POWER OF SUPPLIERS4.3 BARGAINING POWER OF BUYERS4.4 THREAT OF NEW ENTRANTS4.5 THREAT OF SUBSTITUTES4.6 INTENSITY OF RIVALRY5. EUROPE, THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA INSOMNIA MARKET, BY TYPES OF THERAPY5.1 PHARMACOLOGICAL THERAPY5.1.1 BENZODIAZEPINES5.1.2 NON-BENZODIAZEPINES5.1.3 MELATONIN RECEPTOR AGONISTS5.1.4 OTHER5.2 NON PHARMACOLOGICAL THERAPY5.2.1 RELAXATION THERAPY5.2.2 COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY5.2.3 SLEEP HYGIENE EDUCATION5.2.4 STIMULUS CONTRO5.2.5 PARADOXICAL INTENTION5.2.6 OTHER6. EUROPE, THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA INSOMNIA MARKET, BY DRUG FORMULATION6.1 CAPSULES6.2 TABLET6.3 OTHERS.7. EUROPE, THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA INSOMNIA MARKET, BY TYPE OF DISEASE7.1 POOR QUALITY OF SLEEP7.2 SLEEP MAINTENANCE7.3 OTHER.8. EUROPE, THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA INSOMNIA MARKET, BY REGION8.1 INTRODUCTION8.2 EUROPE8.2.1 WESTERN EUROPE8.2.1.1 GERMANY8.2.1.2 FRANCE8.2.1.3 U.K.8.2.1.4 ITALY8.2.1.5 SPAIN8.2.1.6 REST OF EUROPE8.2.2 EASTERN EUROPE8.3 MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA8.3.1 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES8.3.2 SAUDI ARABIA8.3.3 QATAR8.3.4 OMAN8.3.5 KUWAIT8.3.6 REST OF MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA9. COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE9.1 MAJOR STRATEGIES ADOPTED BY MARKET PLAYERS9.1.1 STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP9.1.2 MERGER & ACQUISITION10 COMPANY PROFILE10.1 PFIZER INC.10.1.1 OVERVIEW10.1.2 PRODUCT OVERVIEW10.1.3 FINANCIALS10.1.4 KEY DEVELOPMENTS10.2 GLAXOSMITHKLINE PLC.10.2.1 OVERVIEW10.2.2 PRODUCT OVERVIEW10.2.3 FINANCIALS10.2.4 KEY DEVELOPMENTS10.3 SANOFI10.3.1 OVERVIEW10.3.2 PRODUCT OVERVIEW10.3.3 FINANCIALS10.3.4 KEY DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY10.3.5 KEY DEVELOPMENT10.4 ASTELLAS10.4.1 OVERVIEW10.4.2 PRODUCT OVERVIEW10.4.3 FINANCIALS10.4.4 KEY DEVELOPMENTS10.5 BIOCODEX S A10.5.1 OVERVIEW10.5.2 PRODUCT OVERVIEW10.5.3 FINANCIALS10.5.4 KEY DEVELOPMENTS10.6 OTHERS11 CONCLUSION112.1 KEY FINDINGS112.1.1 FROM CEOS VIEWPOINT112.1.2 UNMET NEEDS OF THE MARKET112.2 KEY COMPANIES TO WATCH112.3 PREDICTION OF INSOMNIA INDUSTRY12 APPENDIXAt Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.Akash AnandP: +1 646 845 9312W: Global Industrial Access Control Market Growth and Regional Forecast 2017 - 2023 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/3515 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/industrial-access-control-market-3515 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/check-discount/3515 www.marketresearchfuture.com Market Research Future published a half-cooked research report on Global Industrial Access Control Market Research Report- Forecast 2023" - Market Analysis, Scope, Stake, Progress, TrendsIndustrial Access Control Market, By Access Type (Physical Access, Electronic Access, Logical Access, Network Access), By Services, By End-User (Automotive and aerospace, Utilities, Hospitals, Government and defense) - Forecast 2023The study reveals that Industrial Access Control is trending in North America region. The rising need for a high level of data and identity security in corporate firms will lead to the growth of this market. In recent times, the need for access control solutions like biometrics and smart cards has increased owing to the recent rise in the number of terrorist attacks and criminal activities. The most corporate employees use their mobile devices to access company data, the demand for access control solutions will increase significantly as these devices are highly vulnerable to attacks.The study indicates that electronic access control systems offer smart ways to access various commercial and industrial facilities, which are further provided as a solutions which is integrated as a range of electronic access control devices, locks and systems. The various management tools also help to control the access of offices, facilities and operations. Industrial access control market offers the complete support in the layout, installation and assessment of these systems.The Industrial Access Control Market is growing rapidly over 10.8% of CAGR and is expected to reach at USD $~1.03 Billion by the end of forecast period.Taste the market data and market information presented through more than 30 market data tables and figures spread over 100 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content TOC & market synopsis on The Industrial Access Control Market Research Report -Forecast to 2023.Get a sample report atThe Industrial Access Control Market has been segmented on the basis of Access type, end -users and region. The Industrial Access Control market is highly centralized by owing to the presence of many small regional suppliers and large multinational vendors. In the forecast period, the established Industrial Access Control vendors is expected to acquire smaller vendors to expand their product and services portfolio and will boost the market shares. The market is also characterized by the presence of numerous well-diversified international and regional vendors.The prominent players in the Industrial Access Control market Morpho SA (France) NEC Corporation (Japan) ASSA ABLOY AB (Sweden) dorma+kaba Holding AG (Switzerland) 3M Company (US) Allegion Plc (Ireland) Honeywell Security Group (U.S) Napco Security Technologies Inc.(U.S) Keyscan Inc. (U.S) Johnson Controls International Plc (Ireland)Browse complete report atOn geographic basis, Industrial Access Control market is studied in different regions as Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of world. It has been observed that North America region is leading with largest market share growth in the Industrial Access Control market. In this market, Europe is to be estimated to be the largest market for Industrial Access Control solutions during the forecast period. The increasing security concerns will lead to the high demand for Industrial Access Control among the government and BFSI sectors. Moreover, with the increasing implementation of stringent regulations by the government to ensure security access, the market for Industrial Access Control solution will have a positive outlook in APAC region.Segments:The global Industrial Access Control system market has been segmented on the basis of Access type, end -users and region.Industrial Access Control system Market by Access Type: Physical Access Electronic Access Logical Access Network Access OthersIndustrial Access Control system Market by Service: Installation & Integration Access Control as a Service Maintenance & Support OthersIndustrial Access Control system Market by End-User: Automotive and aerospace Pulp & Paper Steel & Metal Hospitals Utilities Machinery & Electronics Chemical & Synthetics OthersIndustrial Access Control system Market by Regions: North America Europe APAC Rest of the WorldRequest for discount atTABLE OF CONTENTS1 MARKET INTRODUCTION1.1 INTRODUCTION1.2 SCOPE OF STUDY1.2.1 RESEARCH OBJECTIVE1.2.2 ASSUMPTIONS1.2.3 LIMITATIONS1.3 MARKET STRUCTURE1.3.1 GLOBAL INDUSTRIAL ACCESS CONTROL MARKET: BY ACCESS TYPE1.3.2 GLOBAL INDUSTRIAL ACCESS CONTROL MARKET: BY SERVICE1.3.3 GLOBAL INDUSTRIAL ACCESS CONTROL MARKET: BY END USER1.3.4 GLOBAL INDUSTRIAL ACCESS CONTROL MARKET: BY REGION2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY2.1 RESEARCH SERVICE2.2 PRIMARY RESEARCH2.3 SECONDARY RESEARCH2.4 FORECAST MODEL3 MARKET DYNAMICS3.1 INTRODUCTION3.2 MARKET DRIVERS3.3 MARKET CHALLENGES3.4 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY5. MARKET FACTOR ANALYSIS5.1 PORTERS FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS5.2 SUPPLY CHAIN ANALYSIS6 INDUSTRIAL ACCESS CONTROL MARKET6.1 INTRODUCTION6.2 MARKET STATISTICS6.2.1 BY ACCESS TYPE6.2.1.1 PHYSICAL ACCESS6.2.1.2 ELECTRONIC ACCESS6.2.1.3 LOGICAL ACCESS6.2.1.4 NETWORK ACCESS6.2.1.5 OTHERS6.2.2 BY SERVICE6.2.2.1 INSTALLATION & INTEGRATION6.2.2.2 ACCESS CONTROL AS A SERVICE6.2.2.3 MAINTENANCE & SUPPORT6.2.2.4 OTHERS6.2.3 BY END-USER6.2.3.1 AEROSPACE & DEFENSE6.2.3.2 PULP & PAPER6.2.3.3 STEEL & METAL6.2.3.4 TRANSPORTATIONS6.2.3.5 AUTOMOTIVES6.2.3.6 UTILITIES6.2.3.7 RETAIL6.2.3.8 GOVERNMENT6.2.3.9 OTHERS6.2.4 BY REGION6.2.4.1 NORTH AMERICA6.2.4.2 EUROPE6.2.4.3 ASIA PACIFIC6.2.4.4 REST OF THE WORLD7 COMPANY PROFILES7.1 MORPHO SA (FRANCE)7.2 JOHNSON CONTROLS INTERNATIONAL PLC. (IRELAND)7.3 NEC CORPORATION (JAPAN)7.4 DORMA+KABA HOLDING AG (SWITZERLAND);7.5 ASSA ABLOY AB (SWEDEN)7.6 3M COMPANY (US)7.7 ALLEGION PLC (IRELAND)7.8 HONEYWELL SECURITY GROUP (U.S)7.9 KEYSCAN INC. (U.S)7.10 NAPCO SECURITY TECHNOLOGIES INC. (U.S)7.11 OTHERSAt Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.Akash AnandP: +1 646 845 9312W: Global Ball Valves Market is Estimated to Grow by ~3.2% of CAGR Forecast to 2023 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/3349 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/ball-valves-market-3349 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/check-discount/3349 www.marketresearchfuture.com Global Ball Valves Market, By Type (Floating, Rising Stem, Trunnion Mounted), by Size (Up to 1, 16, 6 to 25, 25 to 50), By Material (Alloy, Cryogenic, Stainless Steel, Cast Iron,), by End Users - Global Forecast to 2023 - Forecast 2023The study reveals that is trending in North America region. The increasing demand of energy from various sectors is expected to open up new growth opportunities in the US is one the key factors driving this market growth. Moreover, the high demand of Ball Valves devices such as fiber-optic sensors in the oil and gas industry is projected to gain growth of this market.The study indicates that increasing urbanization has led to ball valve market to grow rapidly. The oil & gas is expected to favor the large market growth. The offshore oil and gas projects across the globe is boosting the demand from manufacturing & process industry.The Ball Valves market is growing rapidly over 3.2% of CAGR and is expected to reach at USD ~$11.56 billion by the end of forecast period.Taste the market data and market information presented through more than 30 market data tables and figures spread over 100 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content TOC & market synopsis on The Ball Valves Market Research Report -Forecast to 2023.Get a sample report atThe Ball Valves Market has been segmented on the basis of type, material types, size, end users and region. Looking through the end-user segment it has been observed that and the water infrastructures are expending due to ongoing efforts of ball valve, improved safety and reduced operating costs, are the major factors expected to favor the growth of ball valve market. The increasing demand of petrochemical products like paints, polymers and plastics with rising manufacturing as well as process industries is expected to flourish the demand of ball valves in coming years.The prominent players in the Ball Valves market are Alfa Laval AB (Sweden) Swagelok Company (US) MRC Global Inc. (US) Emerson Electric Company (US) Weir Group (UK) Kitz Corporation (Japan) Velan Inc. (Canada) Curtiss-Wright Corporation (US) Cameron-Schlumberger Ltd.(U.S) Flowserve Corporation (US) Metso Oyj (Finland) Flomatic Corporation (US) Dwyer Instruments Inc. (US)Browse complete report atOn geographic basis, Ball Valves market is studied in different regions as North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of world. It has been observed that North America region is leading with the highest growth rate in the Ball Valves market as the increasing pipeline installations and need for monitoring & controlling from centralized location has boosted the growth & demand of ball valves in this region. Europe is expected to show slower growth rate compared to other regions in the Ball Valves market. The developing economies in Asia-pacific regions like China, Japan, India and others are showing relatively good growth in the Ball Valves market.Study Objectives of the Ball Valves Market: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast of the various segments and sub-segments of the Ball Valves market. To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth. To analyze the Ball Valves market based porters five force analysis etc. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), and Rest of the World (ROW). To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective. To provide country level analysis of the market for segment on the basis of type, port types, material types, size, end users and region. To provide strategic profiling of key players in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market. To track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the Ball ValvesRequest for Discount atIntended Audience Ball Valves device manufacturers Industrial valves manufacturers Manufacturers of components Professional services/solutions providers End users from the listed industries Process industry standard organizations Research institutes and organizations Associations of valve manufacturers Safety equipment manufacturers Distributers InvestorsThe regional analysis of Ball Valves market is being studied for region such as Asia pacific, North Americas, Europe and Rest of the World. North America is dominating the ball valve market due to the implementation of stringent government policies regarding wastewater treatment in these regions. Asia-Pacific region is contributing high with the growing demand of existing power plants as per the established standards is also contributing to boost market growth. Whereas, the Europe is showing a significant growth during the forecasted period.At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.Akash AnandP: +1 646 845 9312W: Spirodiclofen Market: In-depth Research Report segmented based on Type and End-User Industry 2020 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/spirodiclofen-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=3989 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Global Spirodiclofen Market: SnapshotThe global market for spirodiclofen is witnessing a high growth rate, thanks to its significantly increasing demand, owing to its compliance with the current requirements and the standards of integrated pest management (IPM). Over the coming years, this demand is likely to increase effectively, thanks to the rising yield of almonds, walnuts, and tangerines. Apart from this, the surge in the production of tomatoes is also projected to boost the market remarkably over the next few years.Browse Market Research Report:In 2013, the worldwide market for spirodiclofen was worth US$119.9 mn. Registering a CAGR of 6.0% between 2014 and 2020, the opportunity in this market is likely to increase to US$172.1 mn by the end of 2020. Researchers predict high growth prospects for this market on account of the rising usage of spirodiclofen in fruiting vegetable crops and decorative plants in the years to come.Demand for Spirodiclofen to Rise in Almond CropsSpirodiclofen finds a widespread usage in a number of fruit crops, such as almond, apple, peach, grapes, pear, avocado, and lime and lemon. Among these, almonds report the most prominent consumption of the acaricide across the world. The efficiency of spirodiclofen in keeping the crop healthy and disease-free, thus improving the crop yield, is reflecting greatly on its adoption in this segment. Since, the crop industry is focusing aggressively on protecting the crops from various insects and diseases, the demand for mite-extermination chemicals, specifically spirodiclofen, is expected to increase over the forthcoming years, boosted by the growing production of fruits, such as tangerines and walnuts.Other crops, such as ornamental plants and fruiting vegetables, are also requiring spirodiclofen significantly in order to eliminate harmful pests that restrict the growth of the plant. With the increasing cultivation of ornamental plants, known as floriculture, which is broadly done for the purpose of beautification in landscape design projects, the demand for spirodiclofen is likely to rise in the years to come. Moreover, the growing production of several other common crops, such as tomatoes in a bid to meet the escalating demand for food is projected to boost the market for spirodiclofen across the world in the years to come.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Spirodiclofen market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market @Europe to Continue on TopIn terms of geography, the global market for spirodiclofen registers its reach across Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), North America, and the Rest of the World (RoW). With a share of 25%, Europe led the overall market in 2013. Thanks to the increasing usage of this acaricide in several crops, such as walnuts and almonds, the regional market is expected to remain on the top over the forthcoming years.Among other regional markets, Asia Pacific is projected to offer the most lucrative opportunities for the growth of this market in the near future. North America and the Rest of the World, specifically Latin America, are also expected to experience an increased demand for spirodiclofen in the years to come.With only two established players, the global market for spirodiclofen displays a highly concentrated competitive structure. The two leading participants in this market are Bayer CropScience and Hangzhou Tianlong Biotechnology Co. Ltd.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact UsTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Para Nitrophenol Market : Key Growth Factors and Industry Analysis 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/para-nitrophenol-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=12362 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Global Para Nitrophenol Market: DescriptionPara Nitrophenol also known as 4- nitrophenol or p- nitrophenol or 4- hydroxynitrobenzene is primarily a phenolic compound, which has a nitro group placed at the position opposite to hydroxyl group. The compound is a colorless or light yellow solid having no odor. P- nitrophenol is stable at room temperature; however, it turns a reddish color when exposed to direct sunlight. When reacted with other phenolic substances, p- nitrophenol turns a bright yellow color. Owing to this property, p- nitrophenol is used as a pH indicator in various chemical reactions. On acute exposure to this compound, reactions like cyanosis, nausea, drowsiness and headaches are caused in humans. In addition, if the compound encounters skin for prolonged periods of time, allergic reactions may occur.Browse Market Research Report @Para nitrophenol is employed in the production of insecticides, fungicides, dyes etc In addition, p-nitrophenol is used in the manufacturing of various drugs and in the darkening of leather. Para nitrophenol is an organophosphorous insecticide and is used on specific crops including cotton, corn, wheat, soybeans and rice. Para nitrophenol is used to a wide extent in the manufacture of specifically methyl parathion and ethyl parathion insecticides. Additionally, the synthesis of paracetamol is done with the help of p- nitrophenol.Global Para Nitrophenol Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe rising demand for pesticides and insecticides is the main driver for the p-nitrophenol market. Pesticides are needed globally in order to tackle the mosquito problem and the fruit fly problem that affects agricultural practice, among others. Agriculture is the main end-user industry driving this market. Recent studies have proved that if not used with caution it can cause serious health issues to human population and animals as well. P- nitrophenol itself is less toxic but when inhaled or ingested causes irritation to eyes and drowsiness, nausea and cyanosis.When exposed to the chemical for too long cancer risk could increase. Most countries have not banned the use of this insecticide, but have put forward regulations for the safe usage of the product in the public environment so as not to cause any inconvenience to people. Para nitrophenol does not cause any major harmful effects to the environment and is decomposed relatively easily as compared to other insecticides and pesticides. Bioaccumulation of this compound rarely occurs. At the same time, the U.S. and the EU have encouraged cautious use of pesticides, insecticides and drugs that have p- nitrophenol as one of their main ingredients.Global Para Nitrophenol Market: Geographical DynamicsThe key market segments include Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, and Rest of the World. Asia Pacific has the highest demand for p- nitrophenol especially countries like India and China owing to their booming agricultural sector. The U.S., being one of the biggest manufacturers of P- nitrophenol, has huge demand for the chemical. P- nitrophenol was off the market in Europe for a while owing to its ill effects but has been recently reintroduced into the European market by public demand. Due to its pesticidal and insecticidal properties, most countries have stringent regulations about its use in areas that are heavily populated, but it can be used with extreme caution to get rid of pest infestation.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Para Chloroaniline Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market @A few of the companies that manufacture p- nitrophenol include Dow AgroSciences India Pvt. Ltd., Paramount Pesticides Ltd. Suven Life Sciences, Ashu Organics Pvt. Ltd. and Hema Pharmaceuticals Private Limited among others.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.ContactTransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Aerospace Composites Market SWOT Analysis Of Top Key Player Forecasts To 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/aerospace-composites-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=21086 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Aerospace Composites Market: SnapshotThe increasing demand for lightweight composite materials in aircraft manufacturing is the chief driver of the global aerospace composites market. The demand for better fuel-efficiency and curbing the chances of increased carbon emission in future will compel aircraft manufacturers to look for advanced composite materials. Spurred by these factors, the global aerospace composites market is forecast to exhibit robust growth in the coming years. In the military sector, the use of composite materials will rise to cater to the need for increasing mission duration and loiter time for aircrafts.Despite forecasts for its positive run, the aerospace market is reeling under the challenge of high cost of manufacturing. Expenditure incurred during fabrication and designing of composites is considerably high. In addition, the cost of carbon fiber composites, widely used in the aerospace industry, is less likely to reduce any time in the near future. Besides this, existing challenge of transferring skills will continue haunting the market players also in the forthcoming years.According to Transparency Market Research (TMR), the global aerospace composites market is forecast to exhibit a CAGR of 9.1% between 2016 and 2024. At this pace, the markets valuation is expected to reach US$24.8 bn by the end of 2024, from US$11.5 bn in 2015.View Report @Despite High Cost, Carbon Fiber Composites to Continue Dominating the MarketBased on the product type, the global aerospace composites market is segmented into carbon fiber composites, glass fiber composites, aramid fiber composites and others, which include ceramic and metal fiber composites. The production of carbon fiber composites is a complex undertaking as it takes a number of intermediate steps to complete the process. The complexity inherent in the manufacturing of carbon fiber composites is the one that adds value to the structures made from it. Other composites such as glass fiber composites and aramid fiber composites are comparatively easy to manufacture. However, these are unlikely to outperform carbon fiber composites in terms of fuel efficiency and low carbon emissions. According to TMR, carbon fiber composites constituted the leading product-based segment, with a volume share of nearly 53% in the overall market in 2015.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Aerospace Composites Market Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market.Europe and Asia Pacific to Emerge as Lucrative Regional MarketsIn terms of geography, the global aerospace composites market has been segmented into North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and Middle East & Africa. In terms of demand, North America accounted for the leading market share in 2015. The regional market was followed by its counterparts in Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Middle East & Africa. Fleet expansion activities, increased competition among global aircraft leaders such as Boeing, expansion of low cost carriers and clause relaxation are the key drivers of the market in the North America region.In Europe, the aerospace composites market is riding on the competition from high speed trains, increased domestic aviation and other modes of travelling. Asia Pacific is an attractive region for the aerospace composites market as it showed a considerable rise in air passenger traffic and emergence of global aircraft leaders into the region. In Latin America, the market is expected to witness a robust growth owing to the increased number of low cost carriers and rising demand from emerging economies like Brazil. The presence of one of the prominent aircraft competitors Embraer will also aid the markets expansion in the region. The Middle East & Africa is also anticipated to have a growth potential owing to the presence of aircraft competitors and the growing number of maintenance, repair, and operational activities in the regionKey players operating in the aerospace composites market include Cytec Solvay Group, Hexcel Corporation, Koninklijke TenCate, BASF SE, Toray Industries Inc., SGL-The Carbon Company, Huntsman International LLC and Argosy International LLC.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Rubber Processing Chemicals Market 2016 Share, Trend, Segmentation and Forecast to 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/rubber-processing-chemicals-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=3806 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Global Rubber Processing Chemicals Market: OverviewRubber processing chemicals belong to a group of specialty chemicals added to rubber to make it commercially viable for usage in various application. They are used to impart different characteristics to rubber such as resistance to ozone, heat, mechanical stress, oxidation, and others. They exhibit properties such as resilience, abrasion resistance, flex resistance, hardness, and tensile strength for product-specific end-use applications.The report estimates and forecasts the rubber processing chemicals on the global, regional, and country levels. The study provides forecast between 2016 and 2024 based on volume (kilo tons) and revenue (US$ Mn) with 2015 as the base year. The report comprises an exhaustive value chain analysis for each of the product segments. It provides a comprehensive view of the market. The study includes drivers and restraints for the rubber processing chemicals market along with their impact on demand during the forecast period. The study also provides key market indicators affecting the growth of the market. The report analyzes opportunities in the rubber processing chemicals market on the global and regional level. It also provides the global average price trend analysis.View Report @Global Rubber Processing Chemicals Market: Scope of the ReportIn-depth interviews and discussions with wide range of key opinion leaders and industry participants were conducted to compile this research report. Primary research represents the bulk of research efforts, supplemented by extensive secondary research. Key players product literature, annual reports, press releases, and relevant documents were reviewed for competitive analysis and market understanding. This helped in validating and strengthening secondary research findings. Primary research further helped in developing the analysis teams expertise and market understanding.Secondary research sources that were typically referred to include, but were not limited to company websites, financial reports, annual reports, investor presentations, broker reports, and SEC filings. Other sources such as internal and external proprietary databases, statistical databases and market reports, news articles, national government documents, and webcasts specific to companies operating in the market have also been referred for the report.The report includes Porters Five Forces Model to determine the degree of competition in the rubber processing chemicals market. The report comprises a qualitative write-up on market attractiveness analysis, wherein type, application and countries have been analyzed based on attractiveness for each region. Growth rate, market size, raw material availability, profit margin, impact strength, technology, competition, and other factors (such as environmental and legal) have been evaluated in order to derive the general attractiveness of the market.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Rubber Processing Chemicals Market Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market.Global Rubber Processing Chemicals Market: Key SegmentsThe study provides a comprehensive view of the rubber processing chemicals market by dividing it into type, application and geography. In terms of type, the rubber processing chemicals market has been segmented into antidegradants, accelerators, stabilizers, vulcanizing agents, and others. In terms of application, the rubber processing chemicals market has been segmented into tire and non-tire. The non-tire segment has been further segregated into automotive, building & construction, industrial, and other segment. Application segments have been analyzed based on historic, present, and future trends, and the market has been estimated in terms of volume (kilo tons) and revenue (US$ Mn) between 2016 and 2024.Global Rubber Processing Chemicals Market: Regional OutlookRegional segmentation includes the current and forecast demand for rubber processing chemicals in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa (MEA). Additionally, the report comprises country-level analysis in terms of volume and revenue for type and application segments. Key countries such as the U.S., Canada, Germany, France, the U.K., Spain, Italy, Japan, India, China, Mexico, South Africa, and Brazil have been included in the study. Market segmentation includes demand for individual type and application in all the regions and countries.Global Rubber Processing Chemicals Market: Competitive LandscapeThe report covers detailed competitive outlook that includes market share and profiles of key players operating in the global market. Key players profiled in the report include BASF SE, Eastman Chemicals Company, LANXESS, Arkema Inc. Akzo Nobel N.V., Solvay, and Sumitomo Chemical Company, Limited, China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, Emerald Performance Materials, LINKWELL, and Merchem. Company profiles include attributes such as company overview, number of employees, brand overview, key competitors, business overview, business strategies, recent/key developments, acquisitions, and financial overview (wherever applicable).About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Furfural Derivatives Market 2016 Share, Trend, Segmentation and Forecast to 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/furfural-derivatives-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=14036 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Furfural Derivatives Market: SnapshotThe furfural derivatives market is not yet fully commercialized and as result, players are likely to find several opportunities to capitalize on in the coming years. The increased demand for products made from renewable and biodegradable sources as well as the growing consumption of furfural derivatives in the food industry have led to a significant demand for the same. The global furfural derivatives markets stood at 947.58 kilo tons in 2016 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 2.69% to reach 1,172.17 kilo tons by 2024.Transparency Market Research finds that the declining cost of furfural derivatives is likely to facilitate their penetration in various application industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemical intermediaries, and plastics.View Report @Growing Applications of FDCA Make it Highly Lucrative Product SegmentThe furfural derivatives market has been segmented on the basis of product type into furoic acid, tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol (THFA), 2,5- furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA), and others. The others segment, which includes tetrahydrofuran (THF), methyl tetrahydrofuran (MeTHF) and poly tetrahydrofuran (Poly THF), is one of the highly attractive product types. These, when combined together, have a variety of applications and therefore hold a larger share in the total market revenue. The segment accounted for a share of over 48.64% in terms of revenue in 2015.In terms of CAGR, the FDCA segment of the furfural derivatives market is extremely lucrative and is expected to register a 2.85% CAGR from 2016 to 2024. The least revenue is generated by the furoic acid segment. Furoic acid is used as an intermediate chemical for the production of furyl chloride, which is used to make agriculture insecticide or pesticide formulations.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Furfural Derivatives Market Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market.Asia Pacific Emerges as Leading Consumer and Producer of Furfuryl AlcoholOn the basis of geography, the global furfural derivatives market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa (MEA), and South and Central America.Asia Pacific is the chief producer and consumer of furfuryl alcohol and, as a result, held the leading share in the global furfural derivatives market in 2015. China and India are the dominant consumer markets for furfuryl alcohol. The growth of various end-use industries, including chemicals, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, paints and coatings, and resins, is driving the furfural derivatives market in Asia Pacific. Technological advancements have improved production processes, which has been instrumental in creating innovative products from renewable agricultural biomass. This has had a major impact on the growth of the furfural derivatives in Asia Pacific. The region is projected to expand at a CAGR of 2.93% from 2016 to 2024.Europe also holds a remarkable share in the global furfural derivatives market and follows Asia Pacific in terms of consumption. The increased number of application areas of furfural alcohol and products of furfural derivatives primarily drives the Europe market. The market for furfuryl alcohol in North America is expected to decline during the forecast period owing to the presence of various substitutes.Key players in the furfural derivatives market include Ashland, Inc., Avantium, BASF SE, DynaChem Inc., Hongye Chemical Co. Ltd., Corbion NV, Sinochem Qingdao Co. Ltd., Penn A Kem LLC, Nova Molecular Technologies, and Mitsubishi Chemical.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Global Herbal Skincare Products Market to Rise at CAGR of 5.5% 2017-2023 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/3792 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/herbal-skincare-products-market-3792 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/check-discount/3791 www.marketresearchfuture.com Market Research Future published a half cooked research report on Global Herbal Skincare Products Market which is estimated to grow more than 5.5% during the period of 2017-2023Global Herbal Skincare Products Market Information- By Type (Face Care, Body Care others), By Form (Cream, Gel, Liquid, Powder, others), By Distribution Channel (Supermarket/Hypermarket, Specialty Retailers, Convenience Stores, E-Commerce, others) and By Region Forecast Till 2023Herbal beauty products are derived from plant based sources and have minimal side effect to the skin. Herbal skincare products are used majorly to achieve skin healing and smoothness. Herbal products are also used to enhance the skin texture owing to the herbal ingredients found in the product. Herbal skin care product are free of chemicals and contain extracts made out of plant roots and leaves. Mass consumers adopting the usage of natural and organic cosmetics worldwide prefer herbal beauty products such as skin care, hair care, make-up and other products. The market share of the herbal products is evaluated to be rising as compared to other synthetic products. In addition, since the herbal beauty products contain no harmful chemicals, they are less likely to cause any skin damage which has resulted in its higher consumer preference.Get a sample report atThe Global Herbal Skincare Products Market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World (ROW). Asia-Pacific has the major market share followed by North-America. Increased production of herbal skincare products in India, China is projected to generate a high revenue from Asia-Pacific region during the given forecast period. Changing consumer preferences for natural and authentic products will support the sale of herbal skincare products in various region during the forecast period. The major importers of herbal skincare products include U.S., China, U.K., Germany, and Singapore. Based on the higher demand for personal care products especially in female population, the import and export of herbal skincare products for manufacturing such products in the developed countries is found to rise at a steady rate.Competitive analysis-The major key players in Herbal Skincare Products market are Weleda AG (Swirtzerland) The Himalaya Drug Company (India) Renpure Organics (U.S.) Tata's Natural Alchemy, LLC (U.S.) Arbonne International LLC (U.S.) VLCC Health Care Limited (India) W. Basics (U.S.)Browse complete report atAdoption of chemical-free products by the consumers is considered to be one of the major drivers for this market. Increased awareness about the harmful effects of synthetic cosmetics on the skin has raised the bar for quality in the skincare domain and in turn, the market share for herbal skincare products on a global level. Mass market penetration is leading to introduction of new products and their retail across various regions. High focus on Research and Development has led to innovations and in the product line which has fueled up the market share of herbal skincare products in global market. High benefits obtained from herbal products is also supporting the sale of herbal skincare products globally.Among the various type of herbal skincare products, face care products are evaluated to hold a major share as wide range of products are available in this category attracting consumers towards the product line. Cream based herbal skincare products hold a dominant share based on convenience usage and easy storage properties. Based on the distribution channel, sale through supermarkets and hypermarkets retailers is found to hold a major share owing to one-stop purchase and easy availability of the desired product through the channel.Key Findings: Sale of gel based herbal skincare products is found to be growing at a higher rate during the forecast period Top exporters of herbal skincare products include France, U.S., India, Germany and SingaporeRequest for Discount atThe Global Herbal Skincare Products Market is segmented under the following regions mentioned below:North America U.S. Canada MexicoEurope Spain Italy Germany France U.K. Rest of EuropeAsia-Pacific China India Australia Japan Rest of Asia PacificRest of the world Iran Saudi Arabia Morocco South Africa OthersThe report for Global Herbal Skincare Products Market of Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives a clear picture of the current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro-economic and governing factors in the market. This report provides a detailed information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different market segments and regionsAt Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.Akash AnandP: +1 646 845 9312W: Global Mechanical Hand Tools Market Is Poised To Reach USD 20,516.3 Million by 2023With A CAGR Of 3.67% During The Forecast Period-2023 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/3602 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/mechanical-hand-tools-market-3602 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/check-discount/3602 www.marketresearchfuture.com Market research future published a cooked research report on global mechanical hand tools market. The mechanical hand tools market is expected to grow over the CAGR of around 3.67% during the period 2017 to 2023.Global Mechanical Hand Tools Market, By Type (Hand Service Tools, Edge Tools, Hand Saw And Others), By Application (Construction Industry, Decoration Industry, And Household Application), And Region - Forecast 2017-2023.The need for mechanical hand tools is gradually rising owing to factors such as, growing demand from construction industry coupled with increasing industrialization, growing application industries, increasing demand from household applications and among others. Mechanical hand tools are widely used in the construction industry. The rise in the number of manufacturing plants, where hand tools are majorly used, will lead to the growth of mechanical hand tool market. The industrial sector is expected to grow and would increase in demand for professional hand tools kit, thus leading to the growth of the market. On the other hand, the need for hand tools is likely to increase with the increase in the demand for wooden furniture. The key factors responsible for the growth of the furniture market is growth in construction and renovation activities. Increase in the number of single-person and two person households, has resulted in the increase in demand for small and convenient furniture.Get a sample report atThe global Mechanical Hand Tools market has witnessed a moderate growth over the past few year and it has been analysed that the market will grow at the same pace during the forecast period. This market was valued at USD 16,044.1 million in 2016 and is poised to reach USD 20,516.3 million with a CAGR of 3.67% during the forecast period.Market Segmentation:The global mechanical hand tools market has been segmented into:By Type Hand Service Tools Edge Tools Hand Saw OthersBy Application Construction Industry Decoration Industry Household ApplicationRegional AnalysisGeographically, North America has emerged as the leading market for mechanical hand tools market consuming around 35.3% market share in 2016. US is one of the leading country in terms of consumption owing to the rising construction sites and rapid industrialization. Asia-Pacific region has registered itself as the fastest growing region with a CAGR of 4.00% during forecast period. Whereas Europe stood on third rank in terms of value.Browse complete report atThe major players operating in this market, who have adopted these strategies, are Robert Bosch Tool Corporation (U.S) Stanley Black & Decker, Inc (U.S.) Snap-on (U.S.) TOYA SA (Poland) Metabowerke GmbH (Germany) Hilti Corporation (Liechtenstein) Techtronic Industries Co. Ltd (TTI) (Hong Kong) Makita Corporation (U.S.) Wurth Group (Germany) Klein Tools (U.S.)The report for Global Mechanical Hand Tools Market of Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different market segments and regions.Request for discount atTable of Contents1 Executive Summary 122 Introduction 142.1 Definition 142.2 Scope of the Study 142.3 Assumptions 142.4 Market Structure 153 Research Methodology 163.1 Research Process 163.2 Primary Research 173.3 Secondary Research 173.4 Market Size Estimation 174 Market Dynamics 204.1 Introduction 204.2 Impact Analysis 204.3 Market Drivers 214.3.1 growth in construction industry 214.3.2 Growth in the furniture market 214.3.3 Increase use of capital goods in households 224.4 Restraints 224.4.1 Power Tools Replacing Traditional Hand Tools 224.4.2 Fluctuation In Raw Material Prices 234.5 Opportunities 234.5.1 Broader Scope In Developing Nation 235 Market Factor Analysis 245.1 Porter's Five Forces Analysis 245.1.1 Threat of New Entrants 245.1.2 Bargaining Power of Suppliers 245.1.3 Bargaining Power of Buyers 255.1.4 Threat of Substitutes 255.1.5 Rivalry 255.2 Supply Chain Analysis 256 Global mechanical Hand Tools Market, By Type 276.1 Overview 276.1.1 Edge Tools 296.1.2 Hand service tools 296.1.3 Handsaw 296.1.4 Other 297 Global Mechanical Hand Tools Market, By Application 307.1 Overview 317.1.1 Construction Industry 327.1.2 Decoration Industry 327.1.3 Household Application 328 Global Mechanical Hand Tools Market, By Region 338.1 Introduction 348.2 North America 358.2.1 US 378.2.2 Canada 388.3 Europe 408.3.1 Germany 428.3.2 UK 448.3.3 France 458.3.4 Italy. 478.3.5 Rest of Europe 488.4 Asia-Pacific 508.4.1 China 528.4.2 Japan 548.4.3 India 558.4.4 Rest of Asia-Pacific 578.5 Rest of the World 588.5.1 Latin America 618.5.2 Middle East & Africa 629 Competitive Scenario 649.1 Overview 649.1.1 Merger & Acquisition 659.1.2 Product Development 6510 Company Profiles 6610.1 Robert Bosch Tool Corporation 6610.1.1 Company Overview 6610.1.2 Financial Overview 6610.1.3 Product/Service Offering 6710.1.4 Strategy 6710.2 Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. 6910.2.1 Company Overview 6910.2.2 Financial Overview 6910.2.3 Product/Service Offering 7010.2.4 Strategy 7110.2.5 Strategic Development 7110.3 Snap-on 7310.3.1 Company Overview 7310.3.2 Financial Overview 7310.3.3 Product/Service Offering 7410.3.4 Strategy 7410.3.5 Chart: Strategic Development 7410.4 TOYA SA 7610.4.1 Company Overview 7610.4.2 Financial Overview 7610.4.3 Product/Service Offering 7710.4.4 Strategy 7810.5 Metabowerke GmbH 7910.5.1 Company Overview 7910.5.2 Financial Overview 7910.5.3 Product/Service Offering 8010.5.4 Strategy 8010.6 Hilti Corporation 8110.6.1 Company Overview 8110.6.2 Financial Overview 8110.6.3 Product/Service Offering 8210.6.4 Strategy 8210.7 Techtronic Industries Co. Ltd(TTI) 8410.7.1 Company Overview 8410.7.2 Financial Overview 8410.7.3 Product/Service Offering 8510.7.4 Strategy 8610.8 Makita Corporation 8710.8.1 Company Overview 8710.8.2 Financial Overview 8710.8.3 Product/Service Offering 8810.8.4 Strategy 8810.9 Wurth Group 8910.9.1 Company Overview 8910.9.2 Financial Overview 8910.9.3 Product/Service Offering 9010.9.4 Strategy 9010.10 Klein Tools 9110.10.1 Company Overview 9110.10.2 Financial Overview 9110.10.3 Product/ Service Offering 9210.10.4 Strategy 9211 Conclusion 93At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.Akash AnandP: +1 646 845 9312W: global liquid roofing market will cross USD 7.5 billion by 2022 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1710 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/liquid-roofing-market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/check-discount/1710 www.marketresearchfuture.com Liquid Roofing Market Research Report, by Types (Polyurethanes, Water-based Acrylic, PMMA (Polymethyl Methacrylate), Polyurea Systems, Water Dispersible Polymers and others), By Application (Residential, Non-residential) - Forecast To 2022The global liquid roofing market has witnessed a remarkable growth over the past decade owing to its increasing demand from the residential and non-residential properties. It has been estimated that the global liquid roofing market will cross USD 7.5 billion by 2022 growing at a CAGR of approximately 7%. The cost effectiveness and changing consumers preference are driving this industry. Geographically, APAC is anticipated to be the leading market due to the existence of emerging economies such as China, India, Japan, and Indonesia, where the market has enormous opportunities in construction industry. Followed by this, North America and Europe will compete each other during the forecast period.Get a sample report atStudy Objectives of Liquid Roofing Market: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 6 years of the various segments and sub-segments of the liquid roofing market To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth To analyze the liquid roofing market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW. To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective To provide country level analysis of the market for segments by type, applications and regions To provide overview of key players and their strategic profiling in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market To track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the global marketKey Players for Liquid Roofing Market:Some of the key players in this market are DOW Chemical, BASF SE, 3M Company, ALT Global, LLC, Sika, Akzonobel, Johns Manville Corporation, Kraton Performance Polymers, GAF Materials and others.Target Audience Manufactures of end-use industry Raw material Suppliers Aftermarket suppliers Research Institute / Education Institute Potential Investors Key executive (CEO and COO) and strategy growth managerBrowse complete report atThe report covers brief analysis of geographical region includesNorth America US CanadaEurope Germany France Italy Netherlands U.K. Rest of EuropeAPAC China India Japan Rest of Asia-PacificRoW South America Middle East AfricaThe report for Global Liquid Roofing Market of Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different market segments and regions.Get a discount atTable of Contents1 Report Prologue2 Introduction2.1 Definition2.2 Scope Of The Study2.2.1 Research Objective2.2.2 Assumptions2.2.3 Limitations2.3 Market Structure3 Research Methodology3.1 Research Process3.2 Primary Research3.3 Secondary Research3.4 Market Size Estimation3.5 Forecast Model4 Market Dynamics4.1 Introduction4.2 Growth Drivers4.3 Restraints4.4 Mega Trends4.5 Macroeconomic Indicators5 Market Factor Analysis5.1 Porter's 5 Forces Analysis5.1.1 Threat Of New Entrants5.1.2 Bargaining Power Of Suppliers5.1.3 Bargaining Power Of Buyers5.1.4 Threat Of Substitute5.1.5 Segment Rivalry5.2 Value Chain Analysis6 Global Liquid Roofing Market, By Type6.1 Introduction6.2 Market Size (Sub Segments)6.2.1 Polyurethanes6.2.2 Water-based Acrylic6.2.3 PMMA (Polymethyl methacrylate)6.2.4 Polyurea Systems6.2.5 PET (PET Bottle Resin)6.2.6 Water Dispersible Polymers6.2.7 Others7 Global Liquid Roofing Market, By Application7.1 Introduction7.2 Market Size (Sub Segments)7.2.1 Residential7.2.2 Non-Residential8 Global Liquid Roofing Market, By Region8.1 Market Size By Region8.1.1 North America8.1.1.1 The United States8.1.1.2 Canada8.1.2 Europe8.1.2.1 Germany8.1.2.2 United Kingdom8.1.2.3 France8.1.2.4 Netherlands8.1.2.5 Italy8.1.2.6 Rest Of Europe8.1.3 Asia-Pacific8.1.3.1 China8.1.3.2 Japan8.1.4 Middle East8.1.5 Africa8.1.6 South America9 Company Profile9.1 DOW Chemical9.1.1 Company Overview9.1.2 Product/Business Segment Overview9.1.3 Financial Overview9.1.4 Key Development9.2 BASF SE9.2.1 Company Overview9.2.2 Product/Business Segment Overview9.2.3 Financial Overview9.2.4 Key Development9.3 3M Company9.3.1 Company Overview9.3.2 Product/Business Segment Overview9.3.3 Financial Overview9.3.4 Key Development9.4 ALT Global9.4.1 Company Overview9.4.2 Product/Business Segment Overview9.4.3 Financial Overview9.5 Sika9.5.1 Company Overview9.5.2 Product/Business Segment Overview9.5.3 Financial Overview9.5.4 Key Developments9.6 Akzonobel9.6.1 Company Overview9.6.2 Product/Business Segment Overview9.6.3 Financial Overview9.6.4 Key Developments9.7 Johns Manville Corporation9.7.1 Company Overview9.7.2 Product/Business Segment Overview9.7.3 Financial Overview9.7.4 Key Developments9.8 Kraton Performance Polymers9.8.1 Company Overview9.8.2 Product/Business Segment Overview9.8.3 Financial Overview9.8.4 Key Development9.9 GAF Materials9.9.1 Company Profile9.9.2 Product/Business Segment Overview9.9.3 Financial Updates9.9.4 Key Development10 ConclusionAt Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.Akash AnandP: +1 646 845 9312W: Absorption Spectrometers Market Poised for a High Growth in the Years to Come http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/absorption-spectrometers-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=11789 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Absorption Spectrometers Market: OverviewAbsorption spectroscopy is analytical technique that measures the concentration of an element by measuring the amount of light absorbed (at a specific wavelength) when it passes through a sample. Absorption spectroscopy is used in several industries such as such as food and beverages, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, clinical diagnostics and environmental monitoring for the purpose of quality assurance.The technique is also employed in studies of atomic and molecular physics, astronomical spectroscopy and remote sensing. Absorption spectrometers, are instruments for measurement of absorption that can analyze the concentration of multiple elements in a given sample solution. The instrument relies on the Beer-Lambert law to determine the concentration of a particular element in a sample.Obtain Report Details @Absorption Spectrometers Market: Drivers and TrendsThe global absorption spectrometers market is significantly growing under the influence of emerging biopharmaceuticals, biotechnology and food and beverages industries. High investment in research and development by life science companies, extensive academic and industry collaborations, increased governmental funding, innovation in atomizers technology, advancements in the atomic spectroscopy, development of better performing reagents and rise in acquisitions/partnerships among companies are some of major divers of absorption spectrometers market.Furthermore, factors such as increasing demand of atomic absorption spectroscopy, escalating usage of fluorescence spectrometers in antibody purification, and drug assessment are also triggering the growth of this market. However, the presence of other advanced analytical techniques such as mass spectrometers and UV-VIS reflectometers are the major road-block for the global expansion of absorption spectroscopes market. In addition to these, high price of the instruments and issues related to low sample throughput may also hamper the growth of this market to some extent.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Absorption Spectrometers Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this marketAbsorption Spectrometers Market: SegmentationThe global absorption spectrometers market has been segmented on the basis of applications and technology. Based on applications, the market comprises pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, research, food and beverage, and others. Based on technology, the market has segmented into atomic absorption spectrometers, x-ray diffraction spectrometers, x-ray fluorescence spectrometers, inductively coupled plasma spectrometers, elemental Analyzers, and others. Based on geography, the absorption spectrometers market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of the World (RoW).Absorption Spectrometers Market: Region-wise OutlookThe North America region was observed as being the largest absorption spectrometers market worldwide in 2013. This market is expected to grow even further, due to robust research-related activities for the discovery and development of drugs and biologics and extensive financial support from governments. Europe was the second-largest market for absorption spectrometers owning to the opening of new production facilities and increased funding by local and national government bodies in the region.Asia-Pacific is expected to be an exponentially growing absorption spectrometers market during the forecast period from 2014 to 2020. This high growth is can be ascribed to the improving economic scenario in countries such as India, China and Malaysia. An increase in the number of research activities in the chromatography sector by Asian companies can also be credited for this.Absorption Spectrometers Market: Key PlayersThe key players in the absorption spectrometers include Analytik Jena AG, Shimadzu Corporation, Aurora Biomed, Agilent Technologies, GBC Scientific Equipment Pty Ltd., Bruker Corporation, PerkinElmer, Inc., Rigaku Corporation, Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation, and Thermo Fisher Scientific.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR Syndicated Research report covers a different sector such as pharmaceuticals, chemical, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, our syndicated reports thrive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Virtual Retinal Display (VRD) Market Growing Steadily with Improving Technology http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/virtual-reality-headset-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=11825 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Virtual Retinal Display (VRD) Market: OverviewVirtual retinal display with LCDs or Low-energy lasers projects pictures directly onto human retina giving user the illusion of looking at a typical screen-sized display flying in the air at some distance. The ability of this emerging technology, to give sense of reality that other technologies such as LCDs could not provide, will drive its penetration globally.Obtain Report Details @Virtual Retinal Display (VRD) Market: SegmentationThe virtual retinal display market is segmented by application as military and aerospace, gaming, medical, engineering and others. Military and medical applications are expected to be the key growth markets for virtual retinal display solutions. In medical applications, VRD technology is heating up with potential applications in radiology, therapeutics and surgery. VRD technology have potential to be used for patients with low vision.The technology is expensive if utilized to its full potential which is a challenge to the market. However, the features such as high resolution, high brightness and full color will drive its adoption. The virtual retinal display market is segmented by geography as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle-East and Africa and Latin America. Considering the large target consumer base, Asia Pacific exhibits significant growth potential in the long run for virtual reality display market. North America is expected to witness highest initial adoption of virtual retinal display technology owing to high demand for technologically advanced products in the region.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Virtual Retinal Display (VRD) Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this marketVirtual Retinal Display (VRD) Market: DriversThe efficient power consumption by virtual retinal displays is the key driving factor for the technology. Moreover, the images by VRD are not affected by external lighting conditions creating a clear and sharp view. Virtual retinal displays supports stereoscopic features and possess the ability to provide separate images/video to both eyes. Such 3D display technology is expected to further drive its adoption, in particular across gaming applications.Virtual Retinal Display (VRD) Market: RestraintsThe virtual retinal display technology has few challenges which restrain its adoptions. The threat of damaging the retina as there is no protection against radiation in VRD technology, is still a concern. The images sent through virtual retinal displays interfere with the reality objects which might cause concerns distracting the users. Few of the expected future applications for virtual retinal display technology are, viewing messages on the go, presenting with notes streamed to your eyes, getting directions while moving towards the destination, viewing recipes while cooking and many others. The technology will potentially be used to simplify the way of communication over the coming years.Virtual Retinal Display (VRD) Market: Competitive OverviewVirtual retinal displays require very less of the hardware needed by the traditional display devices and thus are lighter in weight. This is expected to drive its penetration in mobile devices, handheld gaming systems, laptops and computers. The players in the virtual retinal display market include Human Interface Technology Laboratory, Avegant Corp., Google, Inc., Microvision, Inc., and Texas Instruments Inc. Many players are expected to enter in this emerging market for virtual retinal display to tap into the potential growth opportunities. With decrease in the cost of components, the virtual retinal displays market growth will spur in the long term. However, the technology is still in development phase and has only been commercialized in specialized markets of the displays and needs to overcome the prevailing market challenges.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR Syndicated Research report covers a different sector such as pharmaceuticals, chemical, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, our syndicated reports thrive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Web Real Time Communication Market Growing with Innovative Industrial Applications http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/web-real-time-communication-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=11816 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Web Real Time Communication Market: OverviewWeb Real Time Communication (Web RTC) is an open source application programming interface (API) originated by World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Web RTC enables end-users with voice calling, video chat and peer to peer file sharing between browsers without the support of any external plugin. World Wide Web Consortium is the international standard organization for the development of standards world wide web. The W3C tries to establish compatibility among industry service providers for adoption of global standards developed by them. The internet protocols required for web RTC are developed, managed and standardized by Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).Web RTC comprises of three APIs, GetUserMedia (), PeerConnection () and DataChannels (). The GetUserMedia () request the user for permission to get access to input devices such as microphone and camera. The PeerConnection () establishes a connection between local device and remote device. The DataChannels () represents a bidirectional data channel between both the peers in the connection.Web RTC provides time efficient, easily accessible and encrypted commercial telephony system. Web RTC is an open source API, hence could be easily accessed by the application developers. This has led to heavy adoption of web RTC in developing communication solutions at a lower cost compared to traditional systems. Web RTC does not depend on platform and device on which it is integrated, thus would attract global customers.Obtain Report Details @Furthermore, web RTC provides better video and audio quality at a lower cost with enhanced security level compared to other telecommunication systems, thus could drive the growth of global web RTC market. Web RTC adapts and adjusts itself according to the changing network conditions. It adjusts according to bandwidth availability and avoids network congestion, thus increases efficiency of the network. The organizations enabled with web RTC technology products could improve customer interaction, promotional activities and increase their sales in a cost-effective way. The growth in customer facing industries such as retail, healthcare and hospitality would further boost the growth of web RTC market. However, web RTC is still an emerging technology, therefore has various challenges such as privacy issues with use of public internet and data security. These issues are expected to restrain the growth of global web RTC market. With big players such as Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corporation not supporting web RTC technology, the market is expected to face a hurdle in its growth.Web Real Time Communication Market: SegmentationWeb RTC market is broadly segmented on the basis of type, solution and geography. On the basis of type, the web RTC market can be segmented into software and services whereas, on the basis of solution it can be segmented as video calling solutions, voice solutions, messaging solutions and file sharing solutions. The software segment of the market provides software which have web RTC functionality whereas service segment provides the technology and API to integrate web RTC in their existing websites.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Web Real Time Communication Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this marketMoreover, in terms of geographies, the global Web RTC market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa and Latin America regions. Web RTC technology show its strong presence in North America as technological advancements and heavy investments are made by the players of this region. AsiaPacific and Europe are also adopting web RTC significantly due to tremendous growth seen in usage of web based applications.Web Real Time Communication Market: Key PlayersThe major participants in the web RTC market include companies such as Google Incorporation, Mozilla Corporation, Cisco Systems Inc., Opera Software ASA, TokBox, Twilio, Alcatel-Lucent S.A., Voxeo Corporation, American Telephone & Telegraph Corporation and Avaya Inc.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR Syndicated Research report covers a different sector such as pharmaceuticals, chemical, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, our syndicated reports thrive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Wireless Charging Market to be Driven by Upgradation of Technologies http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/wireless-charging-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=11174 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Wireless Charging Market: Overview and SegmentationWireless charging is recharging batteries of electrical devices with no physically connected cables. Currently, charging of devices is an important aspect of business is response to power intensive applications. Mobile manufacturers such as Samsung, Nokia, LG Electronics and HTC are positioning phones with wireless charging to drive demand at the high end.The global wireless charging market is segmented by application into consumer electronics, industrial, medical, automotive and defense. Consumer electronics is expected to be the largest application segment in the wireless charging market.On the basis of geography the market is segmented as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle-east and Africa and Latin America. High volumes of electronics devices such as smartphones and laptops in Asia Pacific make it the most promising region for wireless charging market. However, United States is the largest regional market for wireless charging. Increase in adoption of wireless charging for industrial applications and growing awareness of wireless power technology among consumers propels market growth in this region.Obtain Report Details @On the basis of technology wireless charging market is segmented as Inductive, RF and Resonant. Inductive technology is mature and has high demand in wireless charging market owing to its use in all the applications. On the other hand, RF and resonant technologies are gaining traction in the wireless charging market. Companies such as Qualcomm and Samsung support resonant technology which allows charging multiple devices simultaneously.Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP), Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) and Power Matters Alliance (PMA) are the three groups present in the wireless charging market. Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) uses Qi standard commonly found in smartphones whereas Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP) uses resonance technology which is still in the early stages of development. Interoperability between these groups is of prime importance for the wireless charging market. Companies such as AT&T are seeking a commitment to one standard of wireless charging from their handset vendors.Wireless Charging Market: Trends and DriversThe penetration of wireless charging is expected to increase in wearable devices over the years. Wireless charging market is expected to experience a boom in electrical vehicles too. In-car charging and wireless charging of electrical vehicles are the key trends in the automotive industry. Rise in electrical vehicles manufacturing globally will help in the wireless charging market growth. Significant investments in R&D are being made by the market participants, wherein the leading players are focusing on improving the power transmission range. This would facilitate charging of devices wirelessly over long distances, subsequently expanding the application base. However, retaining the costs low is the key challenge for the wireless charging devices market.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Wireless Charging Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this marketWireless Charging Market: Competitive ScenarioWireless charging market is highly fragmented with start-ups and large market participants. Players are trying to distinguish themselves on the basis of quality and affordability. Few of the key players in the wireless charging market include Qualcomm Inc., Fulton Innovation LLC, Texas Instruments, Inc., WiTricity Corporation, Convenient Power HK Ltd., Integrated Device Technology, Inc., Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Duracell Powermat (Procter & Gamble Co.), Energizer Holdings, Inc, Oregon Scientific, Inc. and Anker among others.The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data, and statistically supported and industry-validated market data. It also contains projections using a suitable set of assumptions and methodologies. The research report provides analysis and information according to categories such as market segments, geographies, types and applications.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR Syndicated Research report covers a different sector such as pharmaceuticals, chemical, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, our syndicated reports thrive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Passenger Car Sensors Market Analysis by Sensor Type and Applications, Industry Growth Factors https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2118 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/passenger-car-sensors-market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/enquiry/2118 Market Research Future published a half-cooked research report on " Global Passenger Car Sensors Market Research Report - Forecast to 2022" - Market Analysis, Progress, Trends and Forecast to 2022Global Passenger Car Sensors Market, by Sensor Type (Pressure, Temperature, Speed and other), by Application (Powertrain/ Drivetrain, Exhaust, Interior/Comfort, DAS and Body control) - Forecast 2016-2022.Market Synopsis of Passenger car sensors Market:Market Scenario:The growth of automotive industry directly leads to increasing demand in passenger vehicle sensor market. Efficiency, stringent emission norms, safety and comfort are some of the factors which drives the passenger car sensors market. Sensors are used from engine to exhaust system of the vehicle to optimize vehicle performance while improving reliability and durability. Moreover, advancements such as tire pressure monitoring systems, occupant detection, electronic stability control, heating and ventilation air conditioning and other are driving the market for passenger vehicle sensors. Additionally, Government also encourages passenger car sensors for electronic stability control and for detection.Whereas, high cost acts as a barrier for the growth of the market growth.Request a Sample Report @Regional Analysis:Passenger car sensors market is highest growing market in Asia pacific. Government announced that soon they will make rear view sensors or backup camera's mandatory on all new vehicles. Increasing risk to small children and pedestrians from reversing or rolling back vehicles is the major aim behind that. Additionally, sensor innovation such as monitor light, temperature, pressure and other things driving the market of passenger car sensors market and showing opportunity for the development of sensor.Whereas, Europe is encouraging passenger car manufacturers to focus on the emerging parts of the globe where the passenger car population increasing at a fast pace.Study Objectives of Passenger car sensors markets Market: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast of the various segments and sub-segments of the Passenger car sensors markets Market. To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth. To analyze the Passenger car sensors markets market based porters five force analysis etc. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of the World (ROW) To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective. To provide country level analysis of the market for segment by sensor type, application and sub-segments To provide strategic profiling of key players in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market To track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the Passenger car sensors.Browse Full Report Details @Key Players:The major player operating in the market of Global Passenger car sensors are- Robert Bosch GmbH Continental AG Denso Corporation Delphi Automotive PLC Allegro Microsystems LLC Analog Devices Inc. CTS Corporation Elmos Semiconductors Infineon Technologies TRW Automotive.Target Audience: Packaging Organizations Manufacturer Research Institute / Education Institute Potential InvestorsProduct Analysis:Product matrix which gives a detailed comparison of the market for different recycled product typesAdditional Information: Regulatory Landscape Pricing Analysis Macroeconomic IndicatorsGeographic Analysis: Geographical analysis across 15 countriesRequest Make an enquiry for this Report @Company Information: Profiling of 10 key market players In-depth analysis including SWOT analysis, and strategy information of related to report title Competitive landscape including emerging trends adopted by major companiesThe report for Global Passenger car sensors Market of Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different market segments and regions.At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com Decoquinate Market | Key Trends and Forecast Research Report 2023 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/decoquinate-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=11798 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Decoquinate-based Products Market: OverviewDecoquinate (ethyl 6-decoxy-7-ethoxy-4-oxo-1H-quinoline-3-carboxylate) is an antiprotozoal agent. It acts against coccidia parasites and is thus known as a coccidiostat. Decoquinate-based products are majorly used in veterinary medicine. Decoquinate acts on the sporozoite stage of a coccidian parasites lifecycle. The sporozoite can penetrate the hosts intestinal call and prevents their further development, which necessitates the use of antiprotozoal substances. Decoquinate has low toxicity and is administered orally to a wide range of mammalian and avian species.Various studies conducted on decoquinate-based products suggest that the drug is readily tolerated by several target species, including cattle and lambs. On the other hand, studies conducted on rats and dogs showed minor changes in food consumption, feed conversion, subdued behavior, and changes in body weight and organ weight. In conclusion, though there may be a minor risk posed by decoquinate-based products, the protection it provides against coccidian parasites comfortably outweighs it.Decoquinate-based Products Market: SegmentationThe market for decoquinate-based products can be segmented according to the type of formulation into powder, tablet, and nanoparticles. Powdered decoquinate dominates the global decoquinate-based products market owing to its ease of usage. Powdered decoquinate-based products can easily be added to animal feed, which also helps the drug get absorbed into the animals body at a rapid rate.However, nanoscale decoquinate-based products comprise the fastest growing segment of the global decoquinate-based products market due to the added advantages nanoparticles provide over powders. The smaller size of nanoparticles means they can be absorbed into the animals body even quicker than powders. The increased overall surface area of nanoscale decoquinate-based products also means they are more reactive and more likely to encounter a coccidian parasite.According to a study conducted on mice at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Silver Springs, MD, U.S., oral administration of nanoscale decoquinate-based products to mice effectively repressed liver-stage parasite growth, providing causal prophylaxis. Nanoscale decoquinate-based products were observed to be 15 times more efficacious than microscale decoquinate, which is used in powder and tablet formulations.Moreover, the dosage provided to mice 1.25 mg/kg was also much lower than the dosage provided through powder and tablets around 20 mg/kg. Thus, nanoscale decoquinate-based products have been shown to be safer as well as more effective than microscale products, although the preliminary research in this field needs to be expanded to draw a definitive conclusion.View Report Decoquinate-based Products Market: Regional OutlookGeographically, the decoquinate-based products market has been classified into four segments: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Rest of the World. North America and Europe currently dominate the global decoquinate-based products market due to the strong economic conditions and the large population of cattle in these regions. The Europe market for decoquinate-based products is driven by the rising demand from Switzerland, which is known for its large dairy industry. In 2010, there were 1,591,233 cattle in Switzerland.Additionally, several governments in North America and Europe have also set up regulatory agencies, which have also been instrumental in the growth of the global decoquinate-based products market. These government bodies provide funds for developing novel veterinary biologics and animal health products such as antibodies, vaccines, diagnostic kits, which are used for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of infectious diseases in animals.The Asia Pacific market for decoquinate-based products is also growing rapidly due to the increasing awareness about the benefits of decoquinate among cattle and poultry breeders.Decoquinate-based Products Market: Key PlayersMany major pharmaceutical companies are involved in the manufacture of decoquinate-based products. Alpharma, a subsidiary of Pfizer Inc., is a major player in the global market. The company offers deccox, 3 nitro, Albac, ChlorMax, lincomycin, and many other decoquinate formulations. Other major brands in the global decoquinate-based products market include Laboratories Bioves acti decocci and lacto decocci, Pharmacia & Upjohn Companys Lincomix, Sogeval Laboratories Rumicox, and Qualians Ucamix V decoquinate.Request a brochure of this report to know what opportunities will emerge in the rapidly evolving Decoquinate Market during 2016- 2023About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Sperm Bank Market | Key Trends and Forecast Research Report 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sperm-bank-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=12173 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Global Sperm Bank Market: Overview and DynamicsThe global market for sperm banks has been witnessing increasing growth since the last few recent years, primarily owing to the surge in social acceptance and awareness among the general population. Rise in the number of young sperm donors, legalization of and increase in same-sex marriages, various technological advancements in the field of assistive reproduction, and strong support on the part of governments toward donor offspring and sperm donors are also projected to boost the sperm bank market. However, this market continues to be challenged by the negative mindset toward sperm donation, high cost of artificial insemination and assistive reproduction, and several government regulations in developing and underdeveloped countries.Sperm donors can be of several types: Directed donor, client donor, anonymous donor, and known donor. Sperm banks offer a range of services such as sperm storage, genetic consultation, sperm donations, and semen analysis for a variety of end users such as pre-vasectomy patients, police officers, high-impact athletes, cancer patients, military personnel, firefighters, and transgender people.The report on the global sperm bank market offers clients an in-depth assessment of the emergence, popularity, need, and forecast of sperm banks across the globe. Various factors driving the demand for sperm banks, those that act as impediments to the market growth, and several policies and laws impacting sperm donation as a service have been carefully studied in the report. The research also highlights the present status of the vendor landscape, identifying the major players competing at a global level and evaluating their performance over the years.View Report Global Sperm Bank Market: Region-wise OutlookThe global sperm bank market has been segmented on the basis of geography into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World. Considering that North America has the highest number of sperm banks with the highest number of licensed labs, this regional market for sperm banks is one of the largest in the world. Other factors such as the availability of advanced assisted reproductive technologies, higher disposable income and spending on health care, growing awareness among the general population, and high rate of miscarriages have also significantly contributed to the growth of the sperm bank market in North America.Europe is a growing market for sperm banks given the surging demand for the same. However, the high unmet need is presently the only lucrative attraction for market players in the region, since there is a severe shortage of sperm donors as compared to the increasing demand. Countries such as the U.K. have been investing in new and innovative advertising plans to increase awareness among the male population in the country and encourage them to actively participate in sperm donation.The sperm bank market in Asia Pacific holds immense opportunities owing to a high rate of infertility and miscarriages in the region. In China, For instance, the alarming levels of air pollution in China have caused a decrease in sperm quality, count, and motility, thereby driving the demand for sperm donors and sperm banks.Global Sperm Bank Market: Vendor Landscape AssessmentThe vendor landscape of the global sperm bank is consolidated to an extent, considering very few large players control a majority of the overall sperm bank market. New England Cryogenic Center Inc., Cryos International Sperm Bank, FairFax Cryobank, and Androcryos are currently the most prominent and dominant companies operating in the global sperm bank market. Orlando, a Florida-based Cyros International Sperm Bank, is presently one of the largest sperm banks in the world. With an additional base set up in Mumbai, India in 2008, Cryos has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as well as the Indian Council of Medical Research. Recognizing the immense potential that the sperm bank market possesses, an increasing number of players have been undergoing continuous upgrade to withstand the competition presented by industry giants.Request a brochure of this report to know what opportunities will emerge in the rapidly evolving Sperm Bank Market during 2016- 2024About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Oregon's Land Use Board of Appeals on Wednesday rejected Portland's limits on the expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure in the city, saying the ordinance violated the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution. The ordinance was passed last December and was the signature legacy of Portland Mayor Charlie Hales. The ordinance was born after the city decided against making zoning changes to accommodate a $500 million propane export terminal proposed by a Canadian energy company, Pembina Pipeline Corp., at the Port of Portland's Terminal 6. Hales originally supported that project, but reversed course after a groundswell of public opposition that focused on the public safety, environmental and climate change impacts of large fossil fuel facilities. The Portland Business Alliance joined fuel suppliers to appeal to the state Land Use Board of Appeals. They cited a number of grounds for the appeal, but Wednesday's decision was based on a violation of the commerce clause, which gives the federal government the right to regulate trade between states and other nations. The city is considering an appeal to the State Court of Appeals. "This decision is disappointing and goes against the interests of our community," according to a statement issued by Mayor Ted Wheeler. "It is incumbent upon us to protect our residents from the enormous risks posed by fossil fuels. The City is reviewing the ruling and exploring our options, including an appeal. Additionally, we will continue to work with environmental, energy, and resiliency experts to ensure Portland remains a leader on these issues." The Portland Business Alliance issued the following statement: "We agree with the City of Portland that we should all be working together to address the issue of climate change. The Portland Business Alliance is looking forward to working with the City on next steps which are both legal and in line with the constitution." The ordinance was a major victory for local environmental groups, which also expressed disappointment Wednesday. "The people of Portland overwhelmingly supported this policy and strong climate action," Dan Serres, conservation director for Columbia Riverkeeper, said in a news release. "We will not be dissuaded by the fossil fuel industry's attempt to put our communities and climate at risk." "The Portland Business Alliance should be ashamed at their attempt to undercut Portland's role as a leader in moving towards green energy and a safe community," said Micah Meskel, Conservation Field Coordinator with the Audubon Society of Portland. "Although some of their members claim they to want to see the Paris Climate Accord upheld, the PBA chose to align itself with extreme fossil fuel interests." - Ted Sickinger 503-221-8505; @tedsickinger - Correction: The original version of the story said the board's decision to reject the ordinance was unanimous. It was not. Two members of the board recused themselves from the decision. Just read an article about the deportation of undocumented workers under the Trump administration. Actually just an increase in Obama's ramped up deportations. One aspect that these articles seem to miss is the coming hardship this will bring to most Americans. The price we pay for produce at the food store is based on a system that relies on paying these workers very low wages -- often under the table to also avoid payroll taxes. The time is coming when these workers won't be available and Americans will have to be hired. It's been tried in Alabama and no one was interested in working at the same level of productivity for low wages. When wages are made high enough and the labor demands are lowered enough to attract workers the result is going to be a very steep increase in food prices. Double, triple or more. Once increased these prices will never return to current levels even if the undocumented workers are invited back. Any savings will go into the pockets of the industry owners. Just look at what's happened to the price of prescription drugs these past decades. Greed has made them skyrocket. Once food prices do the same, they'll never come back to reasonable levels. -- Fred Fawcett, Lafayette STANFIELD Residents in a small Oregon city say the fumes coming from a nearby potato dehydration plant smell like "dead flesh," have sent one person into an asthma attack and made another vomit. The frustrated residents reached a boiling point on Tuesday at the Stanfield City Council meeting, where they hammered their leaders for not taking care of the problem and those leaders listened. The East Oregonian reports the City Council unanimously approved a motion at the meeting directing city staff to fine 3D Idapro Solutions and seek a court order to shut down the company's plant. The state Department of Environmental Quality contacted the company last week about the smell. State officials said the company immediately responded, stating a mechanism that suppresses the smell was damaged in a winter fire. The Associated Press A business owner in Wood Village is being fined $3,000 for illegal signs promoting his businesses, including two blonde robotic mannequins who promote his cannabis dispensary, according to The Outlook. Aaron Michelsen, owner of NW Compassion Medical Center and Fabulicious Cupcakes, located in the same building, told The Outlook that he is being unfairly targeted because he owns the town's only dispensary. Michelsen was fined $1,000 for each of his robotic mannequins, which were dressed in marijuana leaf-decorated clothing and blonde wigs and waved signs that read, "Got Chronic." He was also fined for a sign mounted on the roof of his cupcake shop for an additional $1,000. The fines are related to a newly-revised Wood Village sign code that bans "portable signs." Michelsen told The Outlook that he believes this is a pattern of retaliation against his business from the city. In February of 2015, a city utility worked named Randy Lauer wrote a one-star review of his business, which said, "Pot and cupcakes might mix for some (insert pun here) but not for me. Terrible business practice." Lauer is now a city councilor in Troutdale who The Outlook reports, "often cast himself as an opponent of recreational cannabis, and has posted less-than-flattering comments about NW Compassion on several occasions." "In Wood Village, you're not free to promote yourself, which means you're not free to run your own business," Michelsen told The Outlook. The city said it treats all businesses equally. "That code is being uniformly applied regardless of the business type," Wood Village City Manager Bill Peterson told The Outlook. "We are not singling out any business type." -- Lizzy Acker 503-221-8052 lacker@oregonian.com, @lizzzyacker Portland's finance office no longer wants to seek approval from the City Council for most six-figure consulting contracts, a process bureau officials say wastes time. "Small projects are sitting, waiting and the community wonders why it takes so long to get anything done," Office of Management and Finance spokeswoman Jen Clodius said in an email. A proposal before council Thursday would increase the value of consulting contracts that the city's chief procurement officer could okay without council approval from $100,000 to $500,000. The change would allow bureau directors and the city's chief procurement officer decision making authority over 96 percent of consulting projects. This means 95 contractsor more than $9.5 million worth of dealsapproved by the city council in the last 17 months would have been selected without council oversight. The new rule would take effect immediately if approved by the city council Thursday. Pegged as a pilot program, the procurement officer's increased signing authority would last through December 2018. Clodius said her office brought the item before council because the signing authority has not been updated since 1998. "It is overdue," Clodius said. The proposal would also increase the value of public improvement and construction contracts, as well as goods and services contracts, the procurement officer could execute without council approval from $500,000 to $1 million. Clodius said the change will help "improve efficiency in getting infrastructure projects from 'Bid' to 'Notice to Proceed' more quickly." When asked how raising the threshold for council review of consulting projects would help increase construction project efficiency, Clodius noted that it takes two months to get an ordinance through council. The city's procurement office came under scrutiny in 2013, when it received a "D-" grade for transparency in city spending from The Oregon State Public Interest Research Group. The grade stemmed largely from the city's failure to post a contract database and other financial information online. The city has since posted a Vendor Payment Checkbook online that shows a snapshot of city expenditures. It also produces annual reports of all the city's procurements on the Office of Management and Finance website, where the most recent one posted is from two years ago. "Coming in front of council for these relatively low dollar procurements is time consuming," Mayoral spokesman Michael Cox said. "There are checks within the bureau to make sure these procurements with these levels are done responsibly." Note: This story has been updated to remove former Chief Procurement Officer Christine Moody from the story. Moody resigned in June. Larry Pelatt is serving as the interim chief procurement officer. --Jessica Floum 503-221-8306 Dear Commissioners, I am very concerned that the problems with the assessment process have not been corrected. In 2015, Assessor Berrios, while announcing a new assessment model, stated that the assessment system was regressive. Regressivity hurts low and middle income residents the mostputting them on the hook for a larger property tax bill than they should be paying. We have now learned that the new model, which was created to address regressivity, was neveror only partiallyimplemented. The Cook County Clerks Office is an integral part of the property tax system and we rely on accurate and fair assessments from the County Assessors Office to determine property tax rates. I am aware that Assessor Berrios and President Preckwinkle are looking for experts to bring solutions and transparency to the assessment process. Still, two question must be asked: (1) why is the Assessors Office not using the model that, in 2015, they publicly touted would significantly alleviate this problem and, (2) what assessment model is the office currently using? Three substantive studies have already been conducted: a 2011 study by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy; a University of Chicago analysis commissioned by the Assessor in 2014 and funded by the MacArthur Foundation; and the Chicago Tribune investigation. Clearly, there is a crisis to solve and we must beginas you are todayby speaking with the experts that have already spent countless hours studying the assessment process and developing stronger models. If the choice is to move forward with an expert to offer solutions to the assessment system, then the selection process cannot be conducted behind closed doors. My office, and the other Cook County offices that administer the property tax system, must be involved. We need all hands on deck to assure the public that the property tax system is fair and transparent. Finally, any study of the crisis we face must be conducted with all deliberate speed. The assessment process is complex. However, there has been a lack of transparency from the Assessors Office. The public cannot afford any delay in implementing real solutions. David Orr Goose Creek, SC (29445) Today Sunshine and clouds mixed. High 76F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low 54F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Our Savior Lutheran Church, 1501 N. Saginaw Road, Midland, will host its 7th Annual Summer Cruise-In for cars, trucks and motorcycles from 5-8 p.m. Aug. 2 at the church. Vehicles may be of any age or vintage. There will be 50/50 drawings, refreshments and winner plaques for each category. All proceeds will be donated to the Fallen and Wounded Soldiers Fund. Entrants will be parked on the lawn and visitors have parking available in the parking lot. The public is invited to attend and vote for their favorite car, truck and motorcycle. There also will be a chance to donate blood during the event. For more information or directions, call the church office at 989-832-3667. The Zonta Club of Midland awarded a $500 Jane M. Klausman Women in Business Scholarship to Dallas Rau. Rau's scholarship application has been forwarded to the Zonta district level to compete for the international scholarship award. Rau is a junior at Northwood University, working toward her degree in business management. She is vice president and partner of SecureCom located in Midland. Rau serves as the secretary of the Midland Noon Rotary club and has volunteered for various organizations including Habitat for Humanity, Walk for Warmth and Midland Public Schools. The Zonta International Foundation established the Jane M. Klausman Women in Business Scholarship to assist women pursing degrees in business leading to a business management career. The named scholarship was established with a bequest from Jan M. Klausman who was a Zonta Club member in Syracuse, New York and served as Zonta International Parliamentarian from 1990-1995. Zonta Club of Midland is a service organization of business executives and volunteers working together to advance the status of women in Midland and around the world and is part of Zonta International. Additional information can be found at ZontaClubOfMidland.org. Paducah, KY (42003) Today Snow this morning will give way to some clearing this afternoon. High 41F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 100%. Snowfall around one inch.. Tonight Mainly clear skies. Low 24F. Winds light and variable. We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription. Smith, who became wealthy leading an acquisition firm in the 70s through the 90s, was involved with the Heritage Foundation, Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Brookings Institution. He served as national chairman of the College Young Republicans and in later years was involved in fundraising for the Republican National Committee, GOPAC, and candidate and state party organizations, his obituary said. Anyone that knew Smith personally like Horist did would know that Smith's suicide wasn't the fault of the Clintons' like hysterical rumor mills portrayed, he said. "This seemed so much in character," Horist wrote. "He made a very rational decision based on the facts, and allowed himself to slip away in a quiet and peaceful manner." Horist's tribute as posted on Facebook and used by his permission: Another old friend has passed. It is ironic that this very quiet wealthy man, who liked to maintain his privacy would become the subject of national news in his final days. Peter Smith was a dedicated patriot who used his money to support the causes in which he believed. Much of his wealth was expended on organizations and issues that were widely regarded as good causes. Groups with which I was involved, such as the City Club of Chicago and the Public Policy Caucuses were beneficiaries of his generosity. His most endearing quality was his quiet demeanor and rational thinking. Even in the most tense situations, Peter never raised his voice or flung insults or accusations. He valued the advice of everyone. He did gain a bit of notoriety for funding the effort to bring the indiscretions of President Bill Clinton to the surface. Through Peter, I was able to bring the Arkansas troopers to Chicago for a series of meetings and briefings. My wife and I had a private dinner with the troopers and were stunned by their many stories which later surfaced in the press and in the [Clinton] impeachment hearings. In these latter days, Peter used his money to try to secure the missing Clinton emails from any of several sources that reportedly had them. Of course that has not yet happened. Peter ended his own life in a hotel room in Minnesota, where he had visited the Mayo Clinic. At 81 years old, his health was in serious decline. In his suicide note, he also explained that a $5 million insurance policy benefiting his family was about to lapse. He took his life by suffocating himself with helium. This seemed so much in character. He made a very rational decision based on the facts, and allowed himself to slip away in a quiet and peaceful manner. I am sure some of the nut case conspiratorial theorists will try to attribute his passing to some baseless intrigue. That was not the case. It was always a pleasure to be in Peters company. He will be missed. After Republicans spectacularly failed to gather enough votes to repeal and replace Obamacare, President Donald Trump should consider changing his slogan from "Make America Great Again" to "Hey, We Tried." And somewhere, I am so sure, former President Barack Obama is smiling. His signature health care law, the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare, survived with all of its imperfections and it's apparently growing in popularity intact after a Republican push to repeal and replace it fell apart Monday night. After a few weeks of closed-door meetings and a lot of backstage bargaining for votes, support for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's ACA repeal-and-replace bill, nicknamed Trumpcare by its critics, collapsed like a leaky blimp. Relying solely on Republican votes, support for the bill melted away after two conservative Republican senators, Mike Lee of Utah and Kansas' Jerry Moran, said they would not vote for it. That put the final nails in Trumpcare's coffin. Good riddance. Among other problems in my view, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the GOP's Senate bill would leave 22 million people without insurance coverage, a toll surpassed in its cruelty only by the House Republican bill, which the CBO says would deny health care to 24 million Americans. Those unattractive options help to explain why national approval ratings for Obamacare rose above 50 percent after Trump's election and have continued to rise as the public learns what the possible alternatives could be. What went wrong for repeal? Three problems stand out. One, after years of promising repeal and repeatedly voting for it only to be repeatedly vetoed by President Obama congressional Republicans neglected to come up with an alternative plan to introduce, not that it would have had a chance of passing. Two, the GOP's failure to create an alternative plan exposed deep fissures. The polarization within the party and the reduction of moderates to an endangered species has left the GOP too divided within their own ranks to reach a consensus on the best remedy for Obamacare's ills. Third, President Trump is too inexperienced in government and too clueless about how Capitol Hill works to provide the leadership and arm-twisting that get important bills passed. That has left even more heavy lifting for McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan without much help from the president, beyond his cheerleading tweets. Also, let's face it: The Republicans have not had their heart in this fight. Health care has long been a top agenda item for Democrats in the way that tax cuts are for Republicans. That's why the GOP health care bills, short on spending and long on tax cuts, have looked more like tax reform legislation than health care bills. But, after making ACA repeal a top priority, Republicans own the health care issue now, whether they like it or not. That's particularly embarrassing now for GOP leaders. Even with control of the White House and Congress the Trump-era GOP has yet to send up a major piece of legislation for President Trump's signature. Obamacare repeal now joins Trump's proposed tax code overhaul, his proposed "trillion-dollar infrastructure" and his proposed Mexican border wall among major promises that currently are stalled. What next? Trump's morning tweets struggled to put a smiley face on the GOP's catastrophe and throw a little blame on Democrats. "We were let down by all of the Democrats and a few Republicans," he tweeted. "Most Republicans were loyal, terrific and worked really hard. We will return!" "Let down?" As if he really had some reason to expect help from the Democrats in dismantling Obama's signature legislation? Maybe now Trump knows how Obama felt after Republicans boycotted the ACA's original passage. Having failed at the repeal-and-replace approach, McConnell briefly proposed repeal-and-delay. He floated the idea of bringing the House-passed bill up for consideration "in the coming days" and amending it with a full repeal and a two-year delay for implementation. At least three Republican senators said they wouldn't support that path, though, and it was dropped Tuesday. McConnell can say, again, "Well, we tried." Right. His best chance is if he genuinely reaches out to Democrats, whom he has threatened to approach if he doesn't get enough cooperation from his fellow Republicans. Obama and other Democratic leaders have said all along that the ACA needs improving, not repeal. No argument there. What's hard to imagine is actual bipartisan cooperation in today's divided Congress. Still, it's worth a try. The bipartisan solution to health care is the transfer of everybody with pre-existing conditions to a temporary Medicaid expansion. All of them would pay the average premium in their states (assuming those that cant are already on Medicaid) and to prevent insolvency, Medicaid would be allowed to negotiate drug pricing with big pharma, and use competitive bidding where possible. Also, all taxpayer funds bailing out the exchanges would be redirected to subsidize the expansion, which would be temporary and would phase out over time (i.e. everybody transferred would die without being replaced). Cutting off government subsidies would incentivize insurance companies to negotiate drug prices with the pharmaceutical industry because theyd no longer have government bailouts. With that accomplished, thered be an exemption-free individual mandate (like for car insurance), solving the pre-existing conditions problem over time (i.e. everyone has insurance, no future pre-insurance illness). Wed of course keep the regulation that forbids insurance companies from kicking people off a plan for filing a claim. Insurance companies would be allowed to offer personalized plans and tailor their plans to the customers needs, instead of offering a one-size-fits-all plan. This achieves universal coverage for all individuals, reduces premium costs (by removing the key group and regulations raising them), ensures free market competition for quality and allows individuals the option to only purchase catastrophic health coverage (as opposed to comprehensive plans), while making meaningful Medicaid reforms that could prevent the entire programs insolvency in the future. Forget Obamacare-lite. Pass the real solution, Washington. Caleb Schieler, Gridley 100 years ago July 20, 1917: The Chicago Daily News has picked up on the story of the lion hunt outside Monticello. But instead of carrying the facts, the paper made the entire matter out to be a joke. But in the real world of Monticello and the adjoining Allerton estate, the lion is still loose. 75 years ago July 20, 1942: No one exhorts patriotic feeling with the battle cry, Remember Dutch Harbor. But the Japanese bombed the naval base at Dutch Harbor, Alaska, earlier this month. A Navy photographer caught the raid on film, and today three photos appeared on page two. 50 years ago July 20, 1967: Its hard enough to be chief of police without tripping on a throw rug at home. Chief Bernard McElvaney fell Tuesday night and discovered Wednesday that his ankle was broken. The cast goes on Friday, and maybe next week the chief can go back to work. 25 years ago July 20, 1992: Feeney Oil Co.s storage facility on Parkinson Street in Normal was hit by a major fire. Normals firemen fought the blaze while Bloomington and Towanda tended the fire houses. The cause is undetermined, but a lightning strike is said to be a possibility. The state of Texas is currently being ruled by Greg Abbott, a Governor who is trying to pass a potentially harmful "bathroom bill" that would require transgender people to use the bathroom in accordance with the sex on their birth certificates. History shows that he is not the most female-approved or LGBT-friendly politician on the block, but if all goes well, Texans won't have to deal with him after next year because there's a new gay candidate in town. Dallas businessman Jeffery Payne declared his candidacy for the 2018 governor's election, filing as a Democratic candidate shortly after Abbott announced his bid for re-election on Friday. In a statement for the Dallas Voice, Payne branded the current governor as "a disaster for Texans." "Texas needs a governor who believes in real Texas values, like integrity, honesty, freedom and independence," he said. "It's time we stopped wasting our time and money on silly legislation and start investing our time finding ways to help Texans, their families and businesses prosper." Payne is an openly gay man and has been actively involved in the Dallas LGBT community, being owner of popular Dallas gay leather bar The Eagle. And while it may seem crazy that someone who was crowned International Mr. Leather in 2009 is running for Governor, look at who our President is. And although Payne also points to his successes in real estate, law firms, and philanthropy to show that he has Texans' true interests in mind, he has no plans to hide his divisive past and history with the LGBT community. Not considering the fact that he is gay (and into BDSM), Payne has a tough road ahead of him simply as a Democratic candidate. Texas has not elected a Democratic governor since 1991, and in the national Presidential elections, the state has voted Republican consistently since 1980. Regardless, he has hopes for a major change in the Texas political climate. "It's time we stopped letting the Republican Party run unopposed in this state," Payne declared. "We need a governor who is not a career bureaucrat, but one with real world experience and dedication to making Texas a better, safer and healthier place for all Texans." Photo via Dallas Voice In the wake of Trump, kids across the country are rising up and forming an activist generation, leading the charge for resistance against the administration's discriminatory and potentially harmful actions. But when many kids still feel too uncomfortable in their own skin or situation to speak out about themselves or the world around them, it may be difficult to figure out how they can be a participant, let alone a leader. The most effective ways to help create leadership and communities, in real life and online, include sharing your own stories and experiences, creating safe spaces where marginalized communities can be heard and accepted, and being kind to each other, things that are especially essential to the LGBT community. But how can we still speak our minds when minorities and young people are now constantly under threat with proposed federal laws? The mission of the Born This Way Foundation, founded by Lady Gaga and her mother Cynthia Germanotta, is to help today's youth become these types of leaders in their own right, encouraging them to build a kinder world and support each other's wellness, no matter their race, gender, or sexuality. Their platforms, including the Hack Harassment campaign, which seeks to put an end to cyber-bullying, and the Channel Kindness Awards, which rewards young people around the country for spreading kindness in their communities, help us do exactly that. But there's still so many ways beyond charitable initiatives to channel kindness in your own life. Maya Enista Smith, the foundation's executive director, is talking to us about how we can step up and make the world a kinder place for all. The first thing I wanted to talk about was your background and what inspired you to become apart of the Born This Way Foundation. There's so many reasons. I'm a mother of two young children, and the fact that I get to wake up every morning and tell them "Mommy's going to work today" and my work is to build a kinder and braver world is such an incredible gift that my family's been given. But then personally, I'm the daughter of Romanian immigrants who came to this country, and the kindness they were extended, the community that they felt part of, and the opportunities they had made it really clear from an early age for me that I was gonna do this work forever. Particularly around the issues the foundation works on, a close member of my family committed suicide a couple years ago and watching the impact that his suicide had on my family makes me even more committed about mental wellness and de-stigmatizing conversations around mental health. I feel very fortunate to do work that I would pay for the opportunity to do, and somehow its my job, which is just a "pinch me" moment everyday. Totally. I'm so sorry for your loss but that does lead me into the mental health stigma and de-stigmatizing. I know that the Foundation has efforts to combat that battle, one of them with Prince William, am I right? Yeah, he's one of our partners in this work. But in order to really reduce the stigma around mental health conversations, it's gonna take everybody, so I'm glad that Gaga and Prince William are standing up, and hopefully you and I and kids and everybody around the world will join them. For sure. How would we do that? I think the first thing is changing the vocabulary and starting to talk about your stories. I'm sitting with my best friend right now, and if I said to you that her father-in-law died of cancer, you'd be like, "Aww I'm so sorry," right? But if the same conversation was like, "Oh my god, my father-in-law died of suicide," that's an awkward thing that we just don't talk about in the same way, both because its an uncomfortable topic but because there's still some stigma around how people are gonna receive that. So I think first, we need to change the way we talk about mental health and do away with this idea that it's only relevant if there's something wrong, and we need to start talking about it proactively. We need to talk about mental health in the way that we talk about our physical health. It's something that everyone has, and everyone should prioritize and work to maintain and improve their mental health. And then creating what Lady Gaga did in her open letter about PTSD where she shared her story, so encouraging young people to share their story is the next really important step. For me, it's been [thinking], "What am I willing to do? If I'm talking about why other people need to do it, what am I willing to do with my own life?" and that's being honest about the story of my own family, that's being honest about the struggles that I have. I recently wrote an email to our entire list-serve that was really nerve-wracking, talking about the fact that I suffered from postpartum depression. That's something that my husband and I had kept in the family for five years, all this while I've been talking about mental health. Let's take responsibility for our individual stories and share them and talk about it, and then hopefully encourage more people to do the same. Specifically for LGBT youth, do you think there's any particular ways to combat the mental health stigma for them? We know through the research that we do and in total that LGBTQ young people, especially those who've described themselves as transgender or bisexual, report higher instances of cyber-bullying. So when we talk about sharing your stories and creating safe spaces, it can't just happen in your therapist's office. We need to talk about what that looks like online, we need to talk about what that looks like offline, in families and communities, on campuses. So I think we need to recognize that there's people among us who are disproportionally affected by an issue, who we need to think about as not just how that affects us, but how that affects everybody. That leads me to another topic, which is safe spaces. Not only how do we create safe spaces, but how do we preserve them when they're attacked? For many young people, a lot of the world that they're met with is unsafe, unwelcoming, and disempowering, especially if this is an LGBTQ conversation. So creating safe spaces is the way to counteract that and make sure that more young people are feeling safe, welcomed and empowered. This is general, not to safe spaces, [but] young people need to be listened to and they need to be trusted. So it's not like me, a 33-year old mom, who's going to be creating safe spaces for young people. We need to listen to them, and we need to trust them, and we need to help them create the spaces that they feel they need to be in. It doesn't mean that people want to stifle debate or shut down other people who don't think how they do, I don't think that's it at all. I think they just want to feel that their own feelings are being respected and heard, and that the community they're part of cares about their own reality and their well-being even if it's different than another one. Completely. I feel like that is an effort that could especially be made on college campuses, because they are the only voice, yet they can still be attacked. Yet the interesting thing is, taking it to the 30,000-foot level, this isn't a college campus conversation alone. We live in a world where young people exist online and offline. The foundation has a program called Hack Harassment and the goal is to reduce the instances of various online harassment and we're working with the platforms and users to think about each individual's responsibility in helping to make the online world a kinder space. But this is a family thing, a community thing, a campus thing, an online thing, it is environment-agnostic. With the rise of Trump and the more hateful language out there, do you think it's still possible to create and preserve safe spaces, or have we stepped back a bit? I think kindness was important before the election and I think kindness is important today. I think that safe spaces were needed before and are needed now, and I certainly think we can preserve them if we're committed to acknowledging the validity of our own feelings and those around us. I was on a panel at Drexel two days ago, and one of my co-panelists said something like "you can't hate the people that you know." The value of being truly in community with people so that you reduce the otherness of them is the key to solving a lot of the problems we're facing. That leads into another thing I want to touch onI know one of the foundation's missions is to spread kindness. How could people spread kindness in ways that they may not even realize? Oh my gosh, I feel like I need to make a t-shirt that says "Kindness is the way of life" or something like that. Kindness isn't this sum total of your acts, I think it's the way you live your life and the way you view people in the world around you. We define kindness as "the acts and service to someone else without the expectation of anything in return." So when you're thinking, I'm sitting next to my best friend Kristen "How could I make Kristen's day be better, how can I help her go through this tough time?" I'm not trying to get anything out of it, I'm just thinking, "How could I improve and support someone else?" I think there's great lists online that's like "Check out a neighbor," "Buy a meal for a homeless person," "Volunteer at a local non-profit," and those are all extremely worthwhile and important ways to spread kindness. But I would encourage people to think as something they as part of every interaction that you have. You go to coffee in the morning, I just went to Starbucks to buy a cup of coffee, was I kind to the barista? I'm gonna fly on a flight tonight, am I kind to the people I encounter in line at TSA? It's less like some total of actions than it is a culture that we all have a role in creating. It's really important to make that distinction because people don't realize that it needs to be a lifestyle in a sense. Yeah, and what's super important is that kindness is not only outwardly facing, and this is something that has a really strong connection with mental health. You need to be kind to yourself. If you're struggling with anxiety and you can't make it to that class because you just need to take a nap for you to be able to finish your day, take care of yourself and be kind to yourself. Maybe missing class wasn't the best example to give there, but you know what I mean. Exactly. On that note, how do we get people to become more sympathetic when it comes to taking care of mental wellness? Before we can get people to understand the action that needs to be taken around mental wellness, we need to get people to understand the existence of mental wellness. I think the relationship I have with Cynthia [Germanotta], our president and co-founder, is a really great example. She knows about my good days, she knows about my bad days, I'm not just her executive director. We've invested in one another and so it's easier for me to say to her, "I was up all night with the kids last night because they're not sleeping, so I'm going to take a nap after this meeting." And she's like, "Great, thank you for expressing what you need, and go and do it". If you have a cold, you take a day off. If you're having an anxiety attack, you need to be able to take a day off. But the way to get what you need is to be able to verbalize it. For people that may not know, could you talk about how the Foundation is trying to let people think and speak about their experiences? There's two story-telling platforms that we're really excited about right now. The first is channelkindness.org. We created a platform where people are chronicling their everyday heroic acts of kindness so that we can train our eyes and ears to look not just for the negative and hysterical news coverage in our world but also the positive, community-building pieces of it. So it's is a great place to go and share your story, to look at incredible other stories, to be in community with young people, it's an awesome platform. The second (Foundation Activation), the foundation is going on tour with Joanne World Tour, starting on August 1st, so we'll be in a number of communities across the world. [We're] encouraging young people to come share their stories and get access to the resources on the foundation's website. That reminds me of the Born Brave Bus on a previous tour. The Born Brave Bus on the first tour is the heart and soul of everything we've continued to do, so the main pieces that you saw at the Born Brave Bus will still be included in this next round of activation. Cool. I do want to touch on another one of the foundation's missions, which is combatting homelessness for LGBT youth. Do you think we've seen the numbers decrease or is it still a major battle we need to fight? I don't think we've resolved that problem at all, and I think that's absolutely still an important problem that no one profit can solve, that we need to solve together. We need to solve it with cross-specter partnerships of corporations and governments and non-profits. I think you have to look at the reasons that people leave, the reasons people feel like they can't be themselves and address those. I think that's what the foundation is really about. The questions that we get on Twitter is like, "How can I tell my mom I'm gay? I'm scared she's gonna kick me out," "How can I tell my sister that I'm cutting myself?" Like how do we allow for these conversations to happen in a way that young people will feel acknowledged, will feel taken seriously, and will feel trusted? I think that's really the root of a lot of things. Absolutely. One more thing I wanted to ask was how do we get young people more politically involved and more inclined to become community leaders, especially within the LGBT community? First recognizing that everybody is already a leader and having the capacity to impact change today. I think so many young people have this notion of leadership that it's something that they'll get when they're older, or that they need to get this degree. If we could change this notion of leadership and say that today, in the content you're posting online, in the way you're talking to people around you, on the way that you stand up for that kid in class, to when people are being an asshole. That's leadership. There's no paper that says "today, you're a leader." So this idea of leadership as something that we're eventually prepared of is overwhelming. You never know who's watching you, you never know who hears your story, you never know who you can show up for. One of the single biggest predictors to combatting suicide is the authentic connection with one person who cares that you're alive. So as a suicidal young person, once you build a relationship with one person who's like, "Please I can't wait to see you next Friday, please don't do anything between now and then, because next Friday, I'm really looking forward to seeing you." That's leadership! Like helping someone stay alive, that is the highest and best use of my time if I ever saw one. For more information on the Foundation's initiatives, please visit bornthisway.foundation. If you or someone you know is in need of help, please use one of the several hotlines and resources found on their Get Help page. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Mount Kimbie will release their third studio album Love What Breaks in September, and in the meantime they will continue to barrage us with a series of inventive and exciting visuals. After releasing the trippy video for the Jame Blake-featuring "We Go Home Together," the London duo is back to share an equally trippy accompaniment for the King Krule-featuring "Blue Train Lines." According to Frank Lebon, a frequent visual collaborator for the band, the video is "a fictional re-creation of two anthropologists (Robert F. H. and Theadora K.) who have been called in by the authorities to study a man they seem to believe is the last of the Yahi of California. Upon stumbling into civilization in 1910, the man unknowingly became the life's work and obsession of a pair of human scientists who housed and cared for him while they studied his every move. However, the story takes a turn when the pair fall out and one of them tries to sell all his belongings on eBay. Luckily, the buyer, who goes by the name 'Frank L.', acquires all of the wild man's things, only to reinvest them back into further studies in a tale exploring the lines between student, teacher, collaborator, scientist, historian, and friend. Rest in peace Ishi." Watch below. [h/t Dazed Digital] Splash photo via Vevo (Chicago Tribune photo) CHICAGO - Sure, Illinois is $15 Billion behind in bills to doctors, hospital and clinics, among other taxpayer- funded public services - but guess where $7.3 million of your hard-earned state income tax dollars have gone? Thanks to House Speaker Mike Madigan's wife Shirley and the Illinois Arts Council, 21 television stations throughout the state have millions more dollars to spend - despite already sitting on millions in assets. Those media recipients certainly must be grateful to you, Illinois taxpayers. That's why they provide such balanced political news coverage, right? News and commentary on organized crime, street crime, white collar crime, cyber crime, sex crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, espionage and terrorism. On July 17, 2017, in blatant disregard for Russias international commitments to protect religious freedom, the Supreme Court of Russia confirmed its earlier ruling that criminalized the activity of Jehovahs Witnesses in Russia. The decision effectively bans the worship of Jehovahs Witnesses throughout the country. The three-judge panel of the Appellate Chamber of the Supreme Court rejected the Witnesses appeal and upheld the Courts April 20 decision by Judge Yuriy Ivanenko. He had ruled in favor of the claim filed by the Ministry of Justice to liquidate the religious organization Administrative Center of Jehovahs Witnesses in Russia and the local religious organizations that are part of its structure [and] to turn over to the Russian Federation all property of the liquidated religious organization. Read Full Story .... jw.org >>> : Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Government has announced plans to construct a foundry to produce basic materials and instruments to feed the local industry. A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Announcing the decision in Accra on Tuesday evening at the Innovation Prize for Africa event, President Akufo-Addo said the foundry, which is an example of several targeted technology and associated workshops, will be equipped with tools and machinery to produce agro processing machines and equipment, farming implements and spare parts for maintenance and repairs. He indicated that the foundry will be used to provide technical support for the One District, One Factory initiative of my government. The entire framework hinges on the capability of celebrated heart surgeon, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, who is leading the implementation of the project. That, he said, is part of reasons government decided to partner the African Innovation Foundation (AIF) to host the 2017 edition of the IPA. For him, Platforms such as the IPA are vital for building stronger synergies amongst key Science, Technology, Innovation (SITs) in Ghana while expanding linkages with international partners to promote STI development. President Akufo-Addo indicated that since taking office in January 2017, the principal focus of his government has been to change the focus of the Ghanaian economy from a producer and exporter of raw materials to an industrial value-adding economy. STI is at the centre of our agenda for national development; we have thus begun to implement an STI policy aimed at enhancing productivity and the competitiveness of Ghanaian enterprises, he noted. With the aid of science and technology, the promotion of enterprise, innovation and creativity and the spread of democratic values, we can construct a new era of prosperity for all the peoples of West Africa. He reiterated his governments commitment to investing in innovation-led growth and prosperity. He commended efforts by African nations to invest in technology and innovation in order to become high-end players in todays global economy. At the end of the day, Egyptian national, Aly El-Shafei emerged the ultimate winner of the Innovation Prize for Africa (IPA) award, taking home a whopping $100,000 as his prize, followed by Ugandan national, Philippa Ngaju Makobore, who came second and took $25,000. Liberian Dougbeh-Chris Nyan, who placed third, won a cash prize of $25,000. Source: Daily Guide Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) will hold a one-day stakeholder forum to present a report on research findings on media ownership in Ghana on Tuesday, July 25, 2017 at 9a.m. at the Alisa Hotel in Accra. The research project titled: Media Ownership Monitor is the first of its kind in West Africa and it seeks to map the current status of media ownership in Ghana, the legal framework that regulates media ownership and its overarching implication on media pluralism. The question of Who controls the media in Ghana? is the critical question this study seeks to answer. The forum will bring together key stakeholders including media owners and professionals, journalists, experts, regulators, policy makers and the public to discuss the findings of the study, and to dialogue on how media regulation in a converging media environment needs to be designed, in order to safeguard the medias independence, to ensure competition and provide transparency. The event will be chaired by the Minister of Information, Honourable Mustapha Hamid and addressed by local and international speakers who will deliberate on the critical issue of media ownership in Ghana. A panel will discuss the topic: The Media industry in Ghana: the critical issues of ownership, transparency and regulation. The forum will also witness the launch of the Media Ownership Monitor Ghana website. Source: MFWA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video It was a sight to behold when hundreds of market women from Makola market in Accra mobbed the Member of Parliament for Assin Central in the Central region, Ken Agyapong. The motive for the ambush was to appeal to the outspoken MP to prevent the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) from ejecting them from the present site. The traders sell their goods in front of the newly constructed Makola shopping mall thus according to authorities, they selling in front will affect business. The market women have therefore been given two week ultimatum to vacate the premises. Distraught about the development, the angry Makola women stormed the offices of the Multimedia group where Mr. Agyapong was a panel member to help them beg the the Chief Executive of AMA, Mohammed Adjei Sowah to rescind his decision. The leader of the angry market women, Nana Akua said efforts to speak with the Accra Mayor proved futile thus their only option is to speak to Ken Agyapong. We are all NPP members and we have been sacked because someone has bought our Makola land. We dont know where to go now. We have children, we pay fees, we pay taxes every three months. This isnt fair, just two weeks to vacate and stay home? they cried as they pleaded. We know Akufo-Addo is a lawyer and will help us. They claim Nana Addo gave them the mandate to sack us. It is only in Akufo-Addos term that this will happen One of the traders said. Addressing the women, Ken Agyapong appealed for calm and called on the AMA boss and the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Ishmael Ashittey to do the ejection with a human face We have to be fair and concerned. These women are talking against Nana Addo but he is not even aware. I think the leaders should have human feelings. If they collect taxes from them then it means they should look for a place for them. Sacking them without giving them a place is not good. I will plead with the AMA boss to get a place for them to stay he stressed. Ken Agyapong promised the women he will go and talk to the Accra Mayor for the matter to be resolved amicably. I will go and see the AMA boss. They will still make money from the direct tax. The Sabbath was made for man not man the Sabbath. They brought their plea to me. I will only plead. They should remember 2020 is close. This same people have husbands, children they will all vote against us he maintained. Video- Source: adomonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has stated that if African leaders are to succeed in improving the living standards of their peoples, a critical piece of the puzzle has to be the availability and use of information and data. According to President Akufo-Addo, the rapid evolution of the advanced and emerging market economies have been made possible largely as a result of the employment of information and data. If we, in Africa, are to emulate them and be an integral part of the on-going data revolution, there is the need, firstly, for us to require the owners of data to make it publicly available, in ways that are useful to all potential users, the President said. He noted further that we need to educate and improve the data literacy of our people, and thirdly, encourage innovations on how, when and what data are collected and shared so that they are up to date, disaggregated and relevant to the concerns of people and policy makers. President Akufo-Addo made this known when he delivered the keynote address at the 2017 Africa Open Data Conference, on Thursday, July 20, 2017, currently on-going at the Accra International Conference Centre. On the measures put in place to ensure the ease of availability of data and information in Ghana, President Akufo-Addo stated that the nation has committed a budget to revamping the Ghana Open Data Initiative. Through this initiative, President Akufo-Addo indicated the resolve of government to ensure that government data is legally and technically open, data released from all Ministries, Departments and Agencies, and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies are made available, and the use of open data is promoted within government and the open data ecosystem. These initiatives, President Akufo-Addo stressed, will enhance the opportunity for economic development and creation of jobs in the area of digital technology for young people, who will be assisted to develop open data mobile and web applications for business. It will also encourage citizens to hold government accountable and ensure greater transparency. Open data must work in Ghana for the benefit of the citizenry, he added. The President continued, As part of promoting the availability of data, government, under the e-Transform Project, is working to create innovation hubs (iHubs) and mobile labs (mLabs). Government will establish an Open Data Institute to promote education, management and use of open data, especially for the development of mobile and web-based applications. Achieving SGD Goals As co-Chair of the UN Sustainable Development Goals Advocacy Group of Eminent Personalities, President Akufo-Addo revealed that the availability and use of data have been at the heart of the discussions on the achievement of the SDGs by 2030. We recognise that open data can be used to assist in the realisation of the SDGs through a clear understanding of the goals of the SDGs, and through tracking and measuring of the SDGs, and tapping into the knowledge, tools and capacities of groups tracking SDGs, he added. For example, SDG 2 is aimed at ending hunger, achieving food security and improved nutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture. The Open Data Institute has reiterated that shared and interoperable meteorological data and soil quality data can contribute to better farming methods. Again, the Institute, in proposing a solution to the implementation of SDG 7, which is to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all, believes that energy data can be used to understand energy consumption patterns, empower consumers, as well as support companies who are dependent on stable energy supply. Clearly, the role of open data in helping achieve all 16 SDG goals is critical It is the intention of government also to ensure the long overdue passage of the Right to Information Bill by Parliament, he said. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Donald Trump Jr has been called to testify in front of a government panel investigating his pops links to Russia, after it was revealed he met with a Russian government attorney who promised seriously incriminating dirt on Hillary Clinton. The Senate judiciary committee has requested both Trump Jr and former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort to testify under oath on July 26. Their presence should make for the most intense public grilling over the Russia scandal since ousted FBI director James Comey gave his take. News of Trump Jrs meeting provided the most concrete suggestion yet that the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government, and that they directly sought the help of a foreign power to unsettle the election. Regarding the chances of Trump Jr actually facing those heated qs, his lawyer Alan Futerfas told Politico were discussing this with various committees. Thats where Im going to leave it. It seems unlikely any lawyer would let Donald Trump Jr. appear under oath before a congressional committee where Dems can ask him anything. David Corn (@DavidCornDC) July 19, 2017 Manafort was also present at the July 2016 meeting, and his team is presenting the same message as Trump Jrs. According to Manafort spokesperson Jason Maloni, they received the committees request and are reviewing their options. Jared Kushner, Trump Jrs brother-in-law and a vital figure in the Trump campaign, has also been called to testify behind closed doors for the Senate intelligence committee. You guessed it: Kushner was present at the meeting too. His attorney Abbe Lowell confirmed Kushner would face the committee on July 24, and that he will continue to cooperate and appreciates the opportunity to assist in putting this matter to rest. FWIW, a steady drip-feed of scoops regarding the meeting forced Trump Jr to post the email chain about its organisation to his own Twitter. If thats his response to a string of media bombshells, you can only imagine whatll happen if hes all-but interrogated on live television. Source: Politico / CNN. Photo: Leigh Vogel / Twitter. A woman who claims to have once been a part of R Kellys entourage has corroborated many elements of a damning report on his alleged psychological and sexual control over several other women. Speaking to Jezebel, the woman said she was never one of the six women who reportedly live in properties owned by Kelly. However, she did back up journalist Jim DeRogatis assertions that Kelly would subject the women to degrading, controlling practices and would subject his babies to unusual punishments if they stepped out of line. She also says Kelly described his Number One girl as someone he had raised since the age of 14 or 15. The woman is currently over the age of consent. The woman, whose identity Jezebel chose to withhold, says she met Kelly at a gig in 2016. After being invited onstage and then to an afterparty, the pair started a sexual relationship that saw her fly to his home in Chicago, or to his hotels on tour. During those visits, the woman recalls seeing Kelly telling two women take off your clothes and act like you miss each other, before filming on one of at least three iPads totally backed up with similar footage. The woman says their instantaneous reaction to do so was jarring. Its not non-consensual, I guess. But I dont know if they even realize the situation theyre in is wrong, she said. She likened the situation to Stockholm Syndrome. All these girls are so nice and trusting and young. She also described Kelly forbidding the women from discussing their personal lives, or talking extensively to other men. When were out were not allowed to look at anyone, she said, adding if were back in his studio sitting on the couches and he has friends across the room at the bar we cant look at each other or communicate with each other. Notably, she said she had no idea the other women actually lived in his accomodation and had left their families to do so until she read DeRogatis article. Kellys representatives have flatly denied any wrongdoing after the initial report. Read the full Jezebel piece HERE. Source: Jezebel. Photo: Prince Williams / Getty. The lucky folks at Google are well-known for having some of the best perks in the working world. Nap pods and free food are part of the picture, but the most recognisable of the lot has to be the huge fleet of yellow bikes that employees use to get around the giant campus. Theyre not locked up or docked at any time because the entire point is that they be easily accessible, a perk that comes with a big tradeoff theyre fucking everywhere. Not just over the campus, either, people are hurling the bikes into a bloody creek. Executive director of a volunteer organisation that looks after the Stevens Creek, Aaron Grossman, came across a collection of dumped bikes while walking along the creek trail. I think someone has a mental issue, or a mental problem with Google or bicycles or both, he told Motherboard. Or maybe he doesnt even like the creek. Either way, the image of someone physically throwing a bicycle is inexplicably funny, to me. The behemoth tech company has around 1,000 bikes sprawled across their Mountain View headquarters in Silicon Valley, but theyre by no means confined to the campus, or even the creek. Theyre trying really hard to make the tech capitol as bike-friendly as Copenhagen, but theres clearly some community ire directed towards the concept. Google do send a truck out to collect the bikes when reported, but they still seem to find their way into just about everywhere. When Grossman had the creek bikes collected, the very same ones were chucked back there a few days later. Seen an abandoned Google Bike lately? Let them know (650.253.5353) or email (lostgbike@google.com).Plz include location for pick up. pic.twitter.com/gppd6AUkqT CityofMountainView (@mtnviewcityhall) July 18, 2017 A lot of folks in the greater Mountain View community are not bloody keen on them, either, seeing them more as trash than a mode of transport. Google bikes litter the streets of my neighbor [sic] each and every day. There is absolutely NO EXCUSE for this. It is not up to Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Palo Alto or any city experiencing the influx of Google bikes to round them up and return them to Google, wrote user RoxieK in the comments section of a Mountain View Voice article. Who are you, mysterious Google bike-hater? What dark forces compel you to viciously and ferociously toss a number of bicycles into the local creek? Who hurt you? Source: Motherboard. Photo: Mark Noack. More than 160 soldiers from a variety of Pennsylvania National Guard commands rappel from UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters during air assault training at Fort Indiantown Gap in Union Township, Lebanon County, Pa. U.S. Army Air Assault School is a 10 day course designed to prepare soldiers for insertion, evacuation and pathfinder missions that call for the use of multipurpose transportation and assault helicopters. The air assault training segment of the course focuses on the mastery of rappelling techniques and sling load procedures. This marks the first time that Fort Indiantown Gap has hosted an air assault course. Pennsylvania may be on the verge of becoming a national gambling guinea pig. To help balance the still-unfinished, $32 billion state budget, lawmakers have proposed establishment of up to 10 new "satellite" casinos to be scattered around Pennsylvania. Are you all ready for intentionally small casinos in places like Reading? York County? State College? Altoona? The Lake Erie shoreline? Like it or not, it is becoming a central plank of the gambling expansion piece of the budget puzzle, along with the authorization of Internet-based games played from personal electronic devices, and it is a bit of a gamble in itself. For while many other states have added small numbers of casino licenses over time, "this would be the first time it (creation of new sites) was done in just this way," said Michael Soll, president of The Innovation Group, a New Orleans-based gambling industry consultant that has conducted several studies of Pennsylvania's market. And then, there's this: The main motivator in the ongoing push to develop satellite casinos or, in the alternative, permit slots-style Video Gaming Terminals in bars, restaurants and private clubs is more money for the state budget. Many industry experts are concerned that by making long-term changes to solve a present budget issue, Pennsylvania risks hurting a casino industry that, at present, consistently generates more than $1.4 billion per year for the state, host communities and school property taxpayers. "The worst reason to expand gambling is to solve this year's budget shortfall," Michael Pollock, managing director of the New Jersey-based Spectrum Gaming Group, said in a telephone interview this week. "Any type of move like this you've really got to go slow and take your time. You've got to ask the right questions and then get satisfactory answers because, moves like this, you really can't undo them." So far, it seems to be a trade-off many lawmakers are willing to make. As Rep. Stephen Bloom, a Carlisle Republican, put it in a recent interview with The Associated Press, "I hate it (voting for expanded gambling). I just hate it less than taxes." As an example of the unintended consequences of this latest state-sanctioned casino gold rush, consider the case of the casino that sits closest to the Capitol dome, Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course. It's not clear yet how the licenses for the individual satellite sites will be awarded: Some form of auction is being considered, with a minimum bid of $10 million, but no drafts of the proposal have yet hit the streets. But sources familiar with drafting discussions have noted for the past several weeks that central to the plan is creation of a market protection zone around each of the first-generation casinos built and opened over the last decade. The lead version, at this point, is a 25-mile radius around each casino. The idea is that for the satellite casinos to be true revenue generators for Pennsylvania, cannibalization of the state's 12 existing commercial casinos should be held to a minimum. But the way the 25-mile plan plays out on the state map has Wyomissing-based Penn National Gaming executives tossing in their sleep. Overlapping rings in the Philadelphia, the Lehigh Valley and into the Scranton Wilkes-Barre regions mean there literally could not be any of the new casinos built in a roughly 500-square-mile block in the eastern third of the state. But many of the most attractive secondary markets that are left - Reading, Lancaster, York, Gettysburg, State College, even Williamsport - are all closer to Penn National than anywhere else. "The vast majority of the potential sites for these new casinos fall within our market area in Central Pennsylvania, representing a severe threat to our property and the more than 1,050 jobs it represents," Eric Schippers, Penn National's senior vice president for public affairs said in a recent statement to PennLive. "We're beyond disappointed and will do everything in our power to fight to protect our employees' jobs." Compounding the problem, Penn National execs argue, is that the 25-mile circle around its Grantville racetrack casino captures large swatches of rural ground like Upper Dauphin and Perry counties. The company contends that more than half its customers lie outside its 25-mile buffer. Early versions of the bill, according to sources, would have required a market study of the state before any new casino licenses were awarded, in order to overlay the satellite shops to best fit with the existing market. That language has apparently been struck from later drafts in an effort to help get more casino licenses issued more quickly, because the state budget calculus demands it. Some casino allies express sympathy for Penn National in this debate, but others see a little irony: Penn National, they note, was the one operator that was open to VGTs, seen by the industry as a whole as a sure-fire way to erode the base market. The exclusion zone issue is one of several final details that are still on the table, and it's possible there will be further changes, like giving casinos a right to match any bid to build casinos close to their natural market areas. READ MORE: Pa. gaming revenue for fiscal year 2016-17 drops slightly: Here's how that happened But it's a good example of why it's hard to do gambling policy in the vise of a budget crunch. There is more consensus around the introduction of Internet-based games, the other major plank of the emerging Pennsylvania legislation. I-gaming has already been deployed in another major casino states, New Jersey, and has at this point proven itself to be a net plus to the existing brick-and-morter casinos. "The data we've analyzed demonstrates that the participating casinos are able to attract a different demographic on-line, and they've been able to cultivate some of them as customers who will later visit the land-based casinos," said Spectrum's Pollock. In addition, a 2014 study by Philadelphia-based Econsult Solutions found that the introduction of I-gaming in Pennsylvania could in fact be a good thing for the established market here. There is some evidence to suggest the satellite casino plan can work too, for the state as a whole. In a 2011 study for then-Treasurer Rob McCord, Soll's firm identified three sites in eastern and central Pennsylvania that could generate more net revenue than a second Philadelphia site: southern York County; Reading; and Chambersburg. It also said a casino in the Altoona area would nearly match the revenue from a second Philadelphia casino. That report assumed the current construct of a $50 million license fee. Presumably, those and other sites would be just as attractive with less up-front cost, as the bill envisions. Proponents argue that the satellites will give the state's existing casino players a chance to bolster their in-state markets and, hopefully, create hundreds of new jobs along the way. Then too, there's the political bounty of creating a new form of local revenue in 10 more communities through a host municipality local share. Stephen Mullin, a principal with Econsult who conducted the state's first i-gaming study, said he rates it as "very, very likely" that casino operators can find enough secondary markets to grow the state's net revenue. Roger Gros, the publisher of Global Gaming Business magazine, agreed, with a caveat. At some point, Gros said Wednesday, casino operators need to have stability. The changes already being considered in Pennsylvania, he noted, have led to an exploration of a sale - since dropped - by Las Vegas Sands of its Bethlehem site. "If you continue to manipulate the gaming laws, you're going to get secondary companies that don't really have a commitment to the state and aren't going to reinvest in their properties," Gros said. "I would encourage the Legislature to say: 'This is going to be the final state of gaming in Pennsylvania.' If these corporations can't count on that, they're not going to stay in your market." FILE - In this March 22, 2017, file photo, an Emirates plane taxis to a gate at Dubai International Airport at Dubai International Airport in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Travelers flying to the U.S. from nearly 300 international airports, including those in Mexico and Canada, are now subject to stepped-up security measures that include stricter screening for electronic devices larger than cell phones. The new measures may include asking passengers to present larger electronic devices for inspection and prove they can be powered on.(AP Photo/Adam Schreck, File) Dan Albas is Member of Parliament for Central Okanagan Similkameen Nicola and member of the Conservative caucus. This column appears weekly. The new riding of COSN includes Cawston, Olalla, Hedley and Summerland, all in The Herald's readership area. Helicopters are seen leaving a fire base for the Verdant Creek wildfire in an undated Parks Canada handout image. The Verdant Creek wildfire has spread over about 25 to 30 square kilometres in Kootenay National Park and Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park in British Columbia on the Alberta boundary. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Parks Canada, *MANDATORY CREDIT* PHOTOS: Petoskey celebrates Veterans Day 2022 Petoskey's American Legion taught local elementary students how to fold the flag during the Veterans Day ceremony on Friday, Nov. 11 in Pennsylvania Park. More than a century ago, Joe Horn and Frank Hardart gave Americans the first nibble of fast-food restaurants with Horn & Hardart, a Philadelphia-rooted chain whose Automat vending machines dispensed plebeian fare such as Harvard beets, creamed spinach, and rice pudding. But it was coffee that Horn and Hardart built their empire on bold but smooth, made as a French drip while everyone else was selling boiled. The last H&Hs closed in 1991 amid bankruptcy. Shortly after, two entrepreneurs briefly reproduced some of the food and sold it in supermarkets' refrigerated cases. The coffee piqued the interest of one of those investors, Al Mazzone of West Chester. A tech company executive, Mazzone has considered it his side mission to revive the H&H brand through coffee. The Automat? Probably not feasible, he concedes. But there are nascent plans for some kind of H&H retail. (The Horn & Hardart Cafe in Suburban Station is a separate business.) For now, Mazzone, 69, who recently took on two partners, e-commerce specialists John Tooher, 55, and Dan Lievens, 42, is selling H&H coffee online. It's available ground, in whole bean, and starting in early August as K-cups. Something else to note: Tooher is from Ireland, Lievens from Belgium. Neither had heard of H&H before last fall. We sat down last week at a coffee shop around the corner from the first Automat, at 818 Chestnut St. (now a doctor's office). I remember that you were among the first to try to revive H&H in the early '90s. What happened? Mazzone: I stepped away when the other partners wanted to go in a different direction. I'd always been in the background, and I always regretted stepping away, and I used to complain about it all the time. About six, seven years ago, my wife said something like, "Either stop complaining about it, or do something about it." I went back and started reapplying for all the trademarks, and I invested all the time and money to do that. I always wanted to do coffee. But I didn't know enough about it then, and I didn't have the relationships. I've now been studying coffee for 20 years and I felt I knew enough about it and I had relationships now in the industry. So I decided, it would be really fun if I could go back and re-create the original Horn & Hardart recipe, because no one knew what it was. If nobody knew what it was, how do you Mazzone: I'm a great detective. I knew when they started importing coffee, there was no Sumatran coffee, no African coffee. Everybody knew coffee came from South America and Central America. So I didn't even have to look at 80 percent of the [current] coffee suppliers. I knew it had to be Brazil, it had to be Colombia, because those were the two biggest. And I knew it was someone else, I wasn't sure, but I had a taste profile that I knew about. And I was able to dig up some shipping records of where they were importing in Philadelphia and New York, and it turned out it was also Costa Rica. That I was surprised about. So I had my three countries: Brazil, Colombia, and Costa Rica. And it took me about two years. I ended up tasting like 240 different coffees, and I had what I thought was the blend because it has all the characteristics that they said. If you go to Page 75 of the 400-page operations manual, it was written out, "This is how you make the coffee." What's it like? Mazzone: It is a good, strong cup of coffee, but it's not bitter. I recall seeing it for sale on Amazon. Mazzone: I was selling a bunch of it, in 38 states, and actually six countries. The U.S. consulate in the Congo was buying coffee. Amazon kept getting more and more expensive, and it got to the point where we were making almost no money selling it. How did John and Dan figure in? Mazzone: Around November [2016], we had a meeting. I said, "You work with a friend of ours. I'm very happy with the results," and so I hired them as consultants. And we did three strategy sessions about the brand. The neat part about it was them not having a background, not having anything preconceived about Horn & Hardart. They started falling in love with the story. And they really got the power of the brand. Lievens: As John and I started going out there and doing some initial marketing and testing of the waters, the amount of stories that we get from people saying, "Oh, my God. I remember my grandmother taking me to the Horn & Hardart on 69th Street," and all these stories are building up. And the biggest question that we get now is, "Are you guys opening up again? Can I get some rice pudding? Can I get some of the baked beans?" So, based on the overwhelming response that we are getting from our market study, we are going to look at some potential of opening something beyond e-commerce. A brick-and-mortar Horn & Hardart? Tooher: Hopefully we will. But not for at least a year. We're working on it as a concept. What would it be? How do you bring back a brand and make it relevant to now? We're not going to bring back an Automat, but we're going to bring back something. Mazzone: I don't want to just be a clone of what people are doing. I don't want to knock off anybody. So I thought about it when Horn & Hardart started, they were revolutionary, they came up with something that wasn't thought of. If we're going to do this again, I want it to be like that scale. Like, "That's a great idea. I'm surprised we didn't think of that," kind of thing. My intention is to get the coffee really well established and turn the coffee into a national brand, and e-commerce is the only way we are going to be able to scale that sort of thing. And then if we are successful in doing that, then we can look at the brick and mortar, only because, I think, I'm tired of people saying, "When are you going to do that?" Kelley Hodge walks to give her pitch for interim district attorney in City Hall July 19, 2017. Read more Congratulations, Kelley Hodge, for being appointed interim district attorney, becoming an instant footnote in Philadelphia history. You'd have to have some reason to lust for a job that lasts just 5 months, but Hodge was among 14 citizens who hung their names out there. She joins another footnote, Lynne Abraham, who was also a candidate for the interim job. Abraham is a double footnote: First, she was Philadelphia's first female DA (and she appointed Hodge a Municipal Court supervisor). Second, as a judge in 1991 she was appointed by fellow judges to run the office when DA Ron Castille resigned to run for mayor. In a 39-37 vote, she edged out fellow Common Pleas Judge Russell Nigro, who was elected to the state Supreme Court four years later. (Earlier in her career, Abraham had been an assistant district attorney.) I don't know how Hodge will run the office, but the last thing we need filling out the term of disgraced DA Seth Williams is an activist. No disrupters need apply. We have one of those in the White House, and the reviews have not been good. I imagine working in the DA's Office in recent months must have been like being in Mosul, with daily airstrikes, artillery bombardments, and booby traps. The sanctity of the office was shattered by the indictment, trial, and sudden confession of the boss. Morale melted like water ice, but the office hobbled forward. If there was any collapse of mission inside the offices at 3 South Penn Square, it didn't make its way into the media. And it would have. The traumatized people there hunkered down, focused on the important work in front of them, and behaved like professionals. Ernest Hemingway defined courage as grace under pressure. That defines professionalism, too. Although maybe not a stampede out of the DA's Office, a record 43 assistant district attorneys departed in 2015, the year rumors about Williams broke into print. So far this year, 26 have walked. "You try not to let it affect you at all, you plow forward," I was told by a former prosecutor with friends in the office. "Most of that office, in my view, had long since checked out on Seth." Mostly, he said, staffers feel embarrassment. As interim DA, Hodge will have to shred the curtain of embarrassment lowered on the office by Williams. Calm and stability should be the ingredients for dealing with the 306 prosecutors. Some hand-holding, back-patting, and hair-smoothing may be required. I'm not kidding. The attorneys are not children, but some certainly feel tainted by shame. Hodge should see herself as a caretaker, not a rule-maker. She is a bridge. "Wholesale changes, they take a lot of thought and a lot of implementation," I was told by Abraham a few days before the appointment was made, a decision she said she would support no matter who got the job. Her former rival, Nigro, agrees. "They're not going to be able to set policy because they're not going to have enough time," he told my colleague Chris Brennan the other day. In November, a new boss will be chosen by the voters. Implementing policies now that might be reversed by a new DA in January would add to the turmoil. Hodge is the new boss by default of the felonious old boss. We've had the storm in the DA's Office. Now is the time for calm. Pennsylvania State University students may soon be seeing an increase in their cost of attendance. On Thursday, the university's Board of Trustees Committee on Finance, Business and Capital Planning proposed an operating budget for the coming school year that, if approved, will increase tuition by 2.74 percent for in-state residents and 3.85 percent for out-of-state residents at the main campus in State College. The proposed tuition increase averages about 2.45 percent for all campuses. The board will vote on the budget Friday. In a statement, the board said the drafting and proposal of the budget comes at a time when the school is unsure of what its future state funding will look like, given the legislature's failure "to establish appropriations for state-related universities, such as Penn State" during the budget impasse at the end of June. "We have moved ahead with our proposed budget despite the uncertainty of our appropriation because the operations of the university must continue, as well as our commitment to students and their families," president Eric Barron said. Eight of the school's 19 satellite campuses Beaver, DuBois, Fayette, Greater Allegheny, Mont Alto, New Kensington, Shenango, and Wilkes-Barre will see no increase in tuition. If the budget is approved, costs will increase at the main University Park campus by about $232 per semester for in-state residents and by about $605 per semester for out-of-state residents. In the previous school year, Pennsylvania residents studying at the University Park campus paid $17,900 in tuition and fees, while out-of-state residents paid $32,382. Barron on Thursday acknowledged the costly nature of attendance at Penn State and universities in general. "In building the proposed 2017-18 operating budget, Penn State has placed the highest priority on keeping tuition increases as low as possible, while continuing to provide the highest quality educational experience for students," he said in a statement. "The proposed budget, tuition and fees package reflects the university's comprehensive and ongoing efforts to control the cost of a Penn State degree." The proposed tuition increase comes a week after similar mark-ups were announced at Pennsylvania's 14 state schools (3.5 percent) and Temple University (2.5 percent), which like Penn State is a state-related university. As someone who writes a lot about the medical and social issues of aging, I am constantly faced with a problem: What am I supposed to call old people these days? I know. Some of you are mad at me already, but it gets really tiresome to have to alternate among the hazy euphemisms that are supposed to stand in for the hated word "old." Older, as in older adults or older people, seems to be the most acceptable term, but it offends the part of me that prefers words with some precision. Older than what? Everybody's older than somebody. Senior citizen has fallen out of fashion, but "seniors" is OK in some quarters. (Definitely not all.) Some writers use "mature." Do we really have to wait till we're 65 to be mature? I rather like "elders," but when does that start? I am old enough to remember when it was OK to call people not much older than I am now (62) old. I get that ageism is a serious problem, especially if you feel good and want to or have to keep working after 65 in a setting that prizes youth. In some quarters, 30 is over the hill. So, I see why advocates dislike the word old and all its pejorative implications. We live in an era when both our recent presidential candidates were past traditional retirement age, when rock stars tour in their 70s, when Tony Bennett is beloved and charismatic at 90, when doctors, lawyers and professors routinely work well into what used to be old age. We need to rethink what old means. But I personally think that some of my baby boomer peers the oldest are now 71 are ridiculously sensitive about words that imply they've lived a while. I also think it's crazy to use the same word to describe me that you'd use for my frail, almost 88-year-old mother. I asked her how she thinks people should describe her and she said "ancient." She wasn't joking. I am clearly beyond middle-aged, from a math perspective, unless I got every possible good gene in my family. It would make my life as a writer who sometimes has to write about age groups easier if we had more than one word for the huge swath of the population over that arbitrary line: age 65. If you're over 65, what would you like your age group to be called? Tell us what you think, either in the comments or by email at sburling@phillynews.com. My guess is that our inability to embrace a word isn't so much about the word itself but about how Americans feel about the last stage or two of their lives. Most of us still don't even want to talk about, let alone face, what inevitably comes after old age: death. We desperately want to look and act younger than our chronological age and pretend we'll never need a walker or forget our children's names. Young is a compliment. Any version of old is not. As long as that remains true, no word for people with graying hair and wrinkles can remain untainted for long. I asked some experts for help with my terminology problem and found that they've been struggling with it, too. For years. "We need a word or words to describe this period, and we just don't have them yet," said Tracey Gendron, a gerontologist at Virginia Commonwealth University. She prefers not to categorize people, but says referring to older adults and the aging population is acceptable. As she and others pointed out, one source of the problem is that we're dealing with something new. "I think we're in an unprecedented time, this longevity revolution," she said. Aging experts, she said, have tried calling people young old (65 to 74), old old (75-84) and oldest old (85+). Age-based categories at this stage of life often aren't helpful, she said, because there is so much variability in how people age. "The variation in aging is vast," said Christine Arenson, a geriatrician at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Most geriatricians think of their target patient group as starting around 70, she said, but a 40-year-old who has had diabetes for 20 years might have much in common with older patients. "Most 65-year-olds in America are quite healthy still," she said. Work by John Shoven, a Stanford University economics professor, shows how aging has changed since 1930. He looked at three groups: those who had a 1 percent, 2 percent and 4 percent chance of dying in the next year. Shoven thinks achieving 1 percent risk roughly corresponds with the end of what most of us think of as middle age. Shoven himself he's 70 likes to think of middle age as the middle of our adult years, not the middle of our whole life. He thinks if your chances of dying are less than 1 in 100, you're still young. He doesn't think we're old until our risk climbs to 4 percent. The striking thing is that the age at which people reached those milestones has climbed impressively. In 1930, an average man reached the 1 percent threshold at 44. Men now hit that mark around 60, women at 65. The age at which men have a 4 percent risk of dying in a year rose from 65 in 1930 to 76. Women now get there around 80. That jibes with Jerry Johnson's experience. He is chief of geriatric medicine at Penn Medicine and is himself 69. He says that many 70-year-olds have more in common medically with 50-year-olds than with 80-year-olds. "Between 70 and 80, a lot happens in terms of endurance and energy conservation and exposure to new diseases and co-morbidities," he said. Between 80 and 85, many people begin to think and act differently. He hasn't found a word that pleases everybody. Some patients don't want any word for the older age group. He thinks a label helps with "succinct communication" but added that "labeling is always flawed. There's no way to get around it." There seems to be general agreement among experts that "elderly" and "senior citizen" and "aged" are on the outs. "Elders" has fans because it connotes respect, but, apparently, some critics think it's too much like "elderly." Kirsten Jacobs, associate director, dementia and wellness, for LeadingAge, a senior housing group, said people should also steer clear of "silver tsunami," a term often used to describe the coming increase in need for senior services as boomers age. Equating aging to a natural disaster, she said, sends the wrong message. The Journal of the American Geriatrics Society announced last month that it will now require writers to use "older adults" for people 65 and older. If they want to talk about a smaller group, they can list the ages. That puts it in line with the American Medical Association's position. The geriatrics society and seven other aging organizations worked with the FrameWorks Institute, which helps advocates and scientists communicate more effectively about their social issues, to study attitudes and messages around aging. The institute, which conducted interviews and surveys, concluded this year that aging has a major image problem. People almost always see it as negative. The way we talk about aging is littered with "othering" language that sees older people as "them" and not "us." As Allen Glicksman, 63, director of research and evaluation for Philadelphia Corporation for Aging, joked, "Old is 10 years older than you are." The project did not look at which words older people would like to be called. Nor did it ask whether the oldest old category should have a name of its own. It did ask survey takers about five terms: older adult, older person, senior, senior citizen and elder, said Drew Volmert, director of research for the FrameWorks Institute. The survey asked how old a person labeled with each word was likely to be and how competent they were. Seniors, senior citizens and elders were all thought to be in their late 60s and less competent than younger people. An older person was seen as more competent than the seniors and senior citizens, but only a little younger, around 64. Older adults were seen as around 54. Volmert thinks that's too young for the aging population, so he uses older people. The report is largely about the bigger issue, changing the way we think of aging so that the concept includes both the value of experience and the eventual need for more help. Experts seem to agree with me here. The real problem is with how we think about aging, not with specific words. "We need to take it back, the word old," Gendron said. Still, I accept that the words we choose affect our thoughts. So, it looks like I'm stuck with using "older" for now. For the record, I don't care if you call me old. When I'm a little older. How to fight back against ageist language Finding a good word for a stage of life is one thing. Ageist language, which permeates our culture, is another. To say someone is youthful or has a young spirit is a compliment. Some also talk down to older people as if they were children. It's called elderspeak. Professionals may ignore an older person completely and talk to a younger companion. Tracey Gendron, a gerontologist at Virginia Commonwealth University, said she knows that many people mean well, but she thinks it's time for older people to call out ageist language when they hear it. Here are some of her examples of how to respond. They say: "You don't look 70." Response: "What is 70 supposed to look like?" They say: "How are you doing, young lady?" Response: "I understand you're trying to compliment me, but I'm not young and I'm OK with that." They say: "I'm frustrated because I had to teach Mom how to use the GPS again." Response: "Your mom had to teach you to use a spoon multiple times." They say: "What can I get for you, sweetie?" (Or, dear or honey). Response: "Please don't call me sweetie or dear. My name is -." What do you think? If you're over 65, what would you like your age group to be called? Do you think there should be a different word for people over, say, 75 or 80? Share some examples in the comments area of this article (or email them to sburling@phillynews.com) of ageist language that makes you grit your teeth. Do you have a favorite retort? The Pew Center for Arts and Heritage awarded a $300,000 grant to Thomas Jefferson University to extend its year-old work with ARTZ Philadelphia to foster empathy in health professions, the university announced Thursday. The project will pair about 80 people living with dementia and their caregivers with Jefferson medical students in a mentoring program. The grant is enough to keep the program going for two more years. The ARTZ@Jefferson course is designed to engage students through a series of conversations generated by arts-based experiences. The work will culminate in an original theater performance about what it means to become a healer, produced by Theater of Witness. "Our program provides a safe, mutually respectful forum where the stigma of dementia can be dismantled and students can learn from the experts," said Susan Shifrin, founding director of ARTZ Philadelphia. ARTZ Philadelphia, founded in 2013, is a branch of ARTZ: Artists for Alzheimer's, a national organization based in Boston that creates arts programming for people with the disease, and incorporates the participation of caregivers. The program offers tours, arts activities, training, and research. Jefferson has a history of merging art and medicine. In 2014, the university began offering drawing classes to first-year medical students at the Fleisher Art Memorial in South Philadelphia. Michael Natter, a former medical student at Sidney Kimmel Medical College who took the class, went on to self-publish a comic book detailing his life with type 1 diabetes. Natter also shares his medical cartoons on Instagram with his 67,000 followers. The drawings are a way to help him remember and digest the torrent of information. "We believe that medicine is a performative and relational art as well as a science, and that empathy is a process of authentic dialogue and relationship-building that cannot be taught through textbooks," Megan Voeller, director of humanities at Thomas Jefferson University, said in a news release. Physician Hooman Noorchashm says the design of hinges on commonly used hospital beds is flawed because it allows the accumulation of debris. Read more State inspectors found that janitorial staff were doing a subpar job of cleaning the hinges on bed railings last fall at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, according to a report made public this month. By the time the Pennsylvania Department of Health visited the Philadelphia hospital in May, the problem had been corrected through enhanced training and internal inspections, agency officials reported. The state's findings were based on interviews with employees and photographs from physician Hooman Noorchashm, whose wife, Amy Reed, noticed the problem during her treatment at the hospital for advanced uterine cancer. She died in May, after she and her husband had waged a national campaign to ban a surgical device that surgeons in Boston had used to perform her hysterectomy, spreading a previously undiagnosed cancer. Noorchashm expressed dismay over the state's report on the bed railings, saying the fault lay with their design, not with Penn's cleaning staff. The hinges on the TotalCare beds, made by Chicago-based Hill-Rom Inc., have recessed "alcoves" that can trap debris and are extremely difficult to clean, he said. He warned that the railings would pose a problem at any hospital. "You're going to see debris and crud on those beds because of the way they're designed," he said. "This has never been about HUP. This has never been about janitorial services." Carlos Urrea, Hill-Rom's vice president for medical affairs, said the company had cooperated with the hospital and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to address the matter. "Patient safety is our number-one priority and we take the safety, performance and efficacy of our products seriously," Urrea said in a statement. "We were pleased to work with our customer and the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health to successfully address the concern raised this past fall." Asked about the state's report and the status of its own review, the FDA sent the following statement: "The FDA cannot comment on this specific report, but we will evaluate it as part of the body of evidence we review to further our understanding about this issue. We are continuing to gather information at this time." Penn Medicine worked quickly to address the problem, said Patrick Norton, the health system's vice president for public affairs. "Infection control is among our highest priorities, and we are fully cooperative with all regulatory review processes," he said. "We are taking this matter very seriously, and have worked closely with the manufacturer to implement enhanced cleaning protocols to ensure patient safety." The state report did not mention any evidence that patients were harmed by accumulated debris or any microbes it may have contained. A Penn employee told state inspectors that the hospital did not test the debris, according to an interview excerpted in the report. "We did not complete a microbiology analysis test on the material found in the alcove areas of the ICU patient beds," said the employee, whose name was not given in the report. "We believed the substance to be dust and lint." The hinges where the debris accumulated are below the surface of the bed. But Noorchashm said that when patients are connected to plastic tubes for the delivery of medication into the bloodstream, the tubes are draped over the side of beds, near where the debris was found. "This material is literally within inches of a lot of these central-line ports," he said. "It's not really a far stretch to ask, 'Well, what if there's fungus in there? What if there's bacteria in there?' It's a matter of common sense." A stepmother and her stepdaughter murdered as they sat next to each other in a truck in Fairhill; a woman struck in the face by a stray bullet while driving to work in Logan; a young Frankford resident shot to death by her ex-boyfriend, who then turned the gun on police and himself. Since July 12, five women have been slain and three others critically injured in six cases across Philadelphia, a city where 85 percent to 90 percent of homicide victims are typically men. Four of the women were killed or gravely wounded in incidents of domestic violence. Most recently, a 48-year-old woman was stabbed to death and her 21-year-old daughter was critically injured when the younger woman's ex-boyfriend attacked them with a knife around 1:55 a.m. Thursday on the 2700 block of Daly Terrace in South Philadelphia, where the women lived, according to police. Chief Inspector Scott Small told reporters at the scene that the suspect was upset because the younger woman had recently "dumped" him. The identities of the victims and the suspect, who remains on the loose, have not been released. Around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jose LeBron, 38, shot his 48-year-old wife in the neck in a house on the 400 block of Somerset Street in Kensington, police said. LeBron then fled to another home on the block, and when police arrived on the scene, he went out on the porch and took turns pointing his gun at his own head and then at police, authorities said. When LeBron allegedly refused to drop the weapon, seven SEPTA and city police officers fired at him. He was hit in the legs and arm but was listed in stable condition Thursday. LeBron's wife, who suffered a gunshot wound to her neck, remains in critical condition. LeBron faces attempted murder and related charges in the case. Another suspect faced off with police Tuesday night into early Wednesday after he shot his ex-girlfriend to death, barricaded himself in a home, and fired shots at police during a seven-hour standoff, according to authorities. Khalil Redding, 32, who had just been released from prison last month, allegedly went to the Frankford home of his ex-girlfriend, 25-year-old Michelle Saint-Aude, around 1:15 p.m. Tuesday and shot her repeatedly outside the residence, police said. Later, Redding was traced to a house on the 1300 block of East Haines Street in East Germantown, and at 6:30 p.m., a barricade was declared by police. During the standoff, Redding fired shots at police from the home, but no injuries were reported. At 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, authorities entered the house and found Redding dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Earlier Tuesday, around 7:30 a.m., a 42-year-old woman, whose identity has not been released, was struck in the head by a stray bullet that went through her windshield as she was driving to work on Rockland Street near 11th Street in the Logan section, police said. She remains in critical condition at Einstein Medical Center. Her shooter remains on the loose. Last week, 19-year-old Aslemarie Torres and her stepmother, Lylliana Mendoza, 35, were shot to death shortly early on July 12 as they sat together in a truck parked in front of their home on the 3000 block of Lawrence Street in Fairhill. A neighbor with surveillance cameras said his footage showed a driver pulling up alongside the truck the women were sitting in and firing about two dozen shots into the vehicle. Authorities have not identified a suspect or a motive in the case. Later that day, Rosalind Wicks, 57, was stabbed four times and beaten to death with a hammer shortly after 7 a.m. in the kitchen of her home on the 5500 block of North Hill Creek Drive in Crescentville. Her daughter, who was also at home at the time, was treated for a head injury, according to authorities. A police spokesman said Thursday that no arrest had been made in the case but that detectives are "actively pursuing leads." Staff writer Joseph A. Gambardello contributed to this article. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said jailed conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar will join the BJP any day as the conman's second letter sparked a row over the Delhi government's much-publicised education model. "Sukesh Chandrashekhar is learning to speak the language of the BJP. Even the BJP used to say there should be a lie detector test for Kejriwal. Now, he is trained to join the BJP. He will join the BJP any day now," Arvind Kejriwal said. Meanwhile, the jailed conman alleged that he had arranged the PR for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government's Delhi schools' story. Must-Read Travel Guides EAST ASIA SOUTHEAST ASIA Featured Articles Contact Copyright Disclosure If you wish to contact me for questions, collaboration inquiries, comments, suggestions, reviews or just about anything, please send an email to. I will try my best to reply quickly! Unless, of course, I'm on a trip! :D All rights reserved. All photos and content in this blog are owned by(unless otherwise stated). Parts of the articles may be excerpted (a link to this site should be provided), but not reproduced as a whole. Photos may not be used without permission. Thank you very much!Unless otherwise stated, I personally write my blog posts and it expresses my own thoughts and opinions. I pay for all the expenses of my trips (unless otherwise stated). I welcome collaborations and reviews as long as they are beneficial to my readers. All reviews on collaborations contain my own views and opinion and were not influenced by anyone. For inquiries, you may contact me here . Thank you very much! By India Today Web Desk: A lot has been said and written about trouble in marriage for Aamir Khan and his wife Kiran Rao. But the couple shut their detractors when the two along with their son Azad Rao Khan took to Italy for a vacation. Aamir, who has been busy shooting for Thugs of Hindostan in Malta, took a mini-break before the next schedule of the film. advertisement The 52-year-old actor flew to Italy with Kiran and Azad, and the trio is having a gala time in the European country. A source was quoted as telling Mid-Day, "Aamir wanted to unwind before getting into the promotions for Secret Superstar. Since Azad had his summer vacations, they travelled to Italy. They visited the Tenuta Casanova Winery and Sant'Agnese Farm in Chianti, Tuscany." Aamir's spokesperson also told the daily, "They are currently in Rome. They visited the museums in Florence, including the Accademia Gallery. They also saw the Leaning Tower of Pisa." Aamir and Kiran will soon return to India. The Dangal actor will soon begin with the promotion of Secret Superstar. ALSO READ: Fatima Sana Shaikh to play Aamir Khan's wife in Rakesh Sharma biopic Saare Jahan Se Achcha? ALSO READ: Aamir Khan to work with Dangal girl Fatima Sana Shaikh in Thugs of Hindostan WATCH: Aamir Khan discusses his acting career with Ranveer Singh --- ENDS --- Arizona florists have once again teamed with Teleflora for their annual Make Someone Smile Week event. Teleflora member florists and community volunteers will be out in full force in the Phoenix area the week of July 16th through the 22nd delivering Be Happy Bouquets for Make Someone Smile Week, the floral industry's largest community outreach program with more than 30,000 arrangements given away each year, according to the company. This year the local Arizona florists chose to deliver the cheerful Be Happy Bouquets to various police precincts around the valley. "Police Officers face tough challenges on the job every day and we want to let them know we appreciate their efforts this day and every day," said Cheryl Denham, owner of Arizona Family Florist. "You can't help but smile when you see these beautiful yellow flower arrangements and our men and women in blue definitely deserve big smiles," added Denham. The annual event is a collaborative effort. Teleflora has donated these iconic yellow Be Happy mugs to thousands of participating florists. To make the bouquets complete, those florists, in turn, donate their time and talents while many local wholesalers and growers contribute flowers. This year Arizona Flower Market donated the design space and flowers along with generous flower contributions from farms like West Flowers, Myriad Flowers, and The Elite Flower. Participating local florists who donated their design skills include Fred's Flowers, Amazing Flowers, Ambrosia Floral, and Create Yours. In addition, Jen Colvin, the floral design program instructor at Phoenix Union High School, recruited students who are looking to hone their design skills by donating their time to make flower arrangements. "Local florists love giving back to our community and this is one great way to work together as an industry to do just that," said Brent Denham, director of operations for Arizona Flower Market and board member of the Arizona State Florists Association. For more information about Arizona Family Florist, visit www.azfamilyflorist.com. David Blackmon called police for help recovering his cocaine. (Photo: Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office) David Blackmon, 32, called 911, identified himself as a drug dealer, and proceeded to report that cash and cocaine had been stolen from his car Sunday, according to a Facebook post by the Okaloosa County (FL) Sheriff's Office. A deputy responded to the scene, at which point Blackmon told him that $50 and a quarter-ounce bag of cocaine had been stolen from the car's center console, reports the Palm Beach Post. The deputy searched the vehicle and found the cocaine in the same spot from where it had been reported stolen. He also found a crack pipe on the floor and a crack rock near the cocaine, according to the Facebook post. Blackmon was arrested and charged with possession of cocaine, resisting arrest without violence and possession of drug paraphernalia. A former Dallas-area police officer was indicted Monday on murder and other charges in a deadly April encounter in which authorities said he fired at a car, killing a 15-year-old passenger, reports CNN. The former officer says he fired because he feared for his partner's safety. Roy Oliver, 37, formerly of the Balch Springs (TX) Police Department, was indicted by a grand jury on one count of murder in the death of Jordan Edwards and four counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon by a public servant in connection with the four other people in the car, Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson said. Oliver "discharged multiple rounds from his patrol rifle as the vehicle drove past him" on April 29, according to an arrest warrant. One bullet struck Jordan as the teenager rode in the car with the group, including two brothers. The five were driving away from a house party after reportedly hearing shots. Jordan died from a fatal gunshot wound to the head, the Dallas County medical examiner's office said. Oliver shared his story of what happened in response to a civil lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed by the father of 15-year-old Jordan Edwards, reports Fox News. In his response to the civil suit, Oliver said he was backing up another officer. He said they heard six to 10 gunshots as they were investigating the party. The former officer said he saw the car leaving and his partner ordered it to stop. He said the car accelerated and passed him. Oliver said his partner was just a few inches from the car. He saw movement in the back seat and heard breaking glass near his partner. He fired three to five shots from about 10 to 15 feet away because he feared for himself and others. Worcester, MA, police are investigating a violent stabbing incident on Monday that put a 16-year-old male in critical condition. The victim's injuries were so severe that an officer was tasked with driving the ambulance while EMTs kept him in stable condition on the way to the hospital, police said. Near Crompton Park around 5:00 p.m., officers noticed a crowd gathering and saw two males run to a car and drive off. At the scene, they witnessed a 16-year-old victim bleeding heavily from a serious stab wound to his lower back, reports Mass Live. The officer drove the ambulance so EMTs could tend to the victim during transport. He was immediately taken into emergency surgery after arriving at the hospital. Police said he was in critical condition when he arrived but is believed to have been stabilized. Officers shifted their attention to the suspect's vehicle and alerted all surrounding units to keep an eye out for the blue Honda. The suspect vehicle was spotted and then finally stopped, and 17-year-old males were put under arrest. Photo: Craig County Sheriff's Office Authorities say a 15-year-old male is in custody after a high-speed chase Tuesday evening across Craig and Rogers counties in Oklahoma that sent two Craig County deputies to the hospital. Oologah-Talala EMS says the chase ended with a rollover crash at Winganon Road, west of Oologah Lake. The teen was taken to a Tulsa hospital to be checked out, before being released to law enforcement. Two Craig County deputies, identified by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol as Ryan Robinson, 37, of Nowata and Michael McCowen, 26, of Afton, were involved in a crash west of Big Cabin and were taken by helicopter to Tulsa hospitals. McCowen was treated and released and Robinson was admitted in stable condition. Sheriff Heath Winfrey told News On 6 both deputies were "banged up pretty bad" in the crash, one requiring surgery. Winfrey also said the department called off the chase once the deputies crashed. A gunman accused of firing at Los Angeles police and wounding a search dog during a gun battle has been charged with 19 counts of attempted murder on officers as well as other charges, prosecutors said Wednesday. Jose Rauda, 34, faces 27 additional counts of assault with a firearm on a peace officer, assault with a firearm, assaulting a police animal causing injury, and possession of a firearm by a felon, in connection with the June 15 shootout, reports the Los Angeles Times. According to police, officers were about to launch a probation search about 7 p.m. when they came under fire from someone inside a house. Police returned fire and saw Rauda run off, Los Angeles County prosecutors said in a news release. Two hours later, a K-9 searching for Rauda near a trash can in a backyard was shot in its hind leg. Before officers arrived, the shooter fled, officials said. Around midnight police found Rauda hiding in a laundry room behind a nearby house, prosecutors said. When officers closed in, Rauda opened fire, police said, adding that one officers helmet was grazed by a bullet. Chamber Works by Szymon Laks Artist: ARC Ensemble Release Date: 2 June 2017 Label: Chandos Format: CD ORDER NOW Content SZYMON LAKS (1901 1983): Divertimento for violin, clarinet, bassoon, and piano Concertino for oboe, clarinet, and bassoon Passacaille (arrangement for clarinet and piano) String Quartet No. 4 Quintet for piano and strings Sonatina for piano In the autumn of 2008 the ARC Ensemble performed Lakss Piano Quintet in a live broadcast from Warsaw. At the post-concert reception, a very stylish and distinguished woman congratulated the ensembles pianist, Dianne Werner, on her performance. The woman, Halina, told her that she had not heard Lakss music since a visit to Paris, some fifty years earlier, with her late husband, the composer Wadysaw Szpilman, a founding member of the much-admired Warsaw Piano Quintet. Unlike Laks, Szpilman had remained in Poland where his music, his songs particularly, had been performed both before and after WWII. The Pianist (2002), Roman Polanskis Oscar-winning film, had introduced the extraordinary story of Szpilman, as well as some of his music, to an international audience. While music saved the life of both Szymon Laks and Wadysaw Szpilman, the unsparing eyewitness account which Laks gave of his imprisonment has eclipsed his musical legacy. His view that music was powerless to effect any tangible improvement, and irrelevant to the quality of prisoners lives, capsizes assumptions that credit music with intrinsic goodness, redemptive power, or a means of protest, and this is something that many find troubling. Laks did little to promote his music, and his backward-looking style and language separated him from the fashionable trends of the midtwentieth century. In commemorative and anniversary programmes, composers who perished during the Holocaust often receive a kind of compensatory attention, but despite this process of revival many emigres and survivors, Laks among them, have been roundly and unjustly ignored. (From the CDs booklet notes, written by Simon Wynberg) Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print It was Trump who pushed for Senate Republicans to vote on a repeal only bill, and the CBO has released a new finding that 32 million Americans would lose their health insurance coverage under Trumps scheme. According to the CBO: Those are some devastating numbers. 17 million people would lose their insurance immediately. Twenty million Americans would lose their coverage by the time that Trump runs for reelection in 2020. Health insurance premiums would double by 2026, and at the same time, three-quarters of the US population would have no insurers participating in the insurance market. If moderate Republicans couldnt stomach taking health care coverage away from 22 million Americans, they arent going to support taking coverage away from 32 million Americans. If this bill passed, it would harm more than 30 million Americans while wrecking the health care system in the United States, and Trump doesnt care. These numbers are proof that the Trump plan is a disaster and why any vote on the bill is likely to go down in flames in the Senate. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print After the latest version of Trumpcare was killed in the Senate, Republicans in the Senate House are holding yet another meeting on Wednesday to revive the unpopular legislation. The GOP, led by Donald Trump, simply cant accept the fact that the American people arent in favor of health care legislation that would kick millions off their insurance, make massive cuts to Medicaid, and take away Obamacare-guaranteed essential health benefits. Tweet via Politicos Burgess Everett: NEWS: GOP calls emergency meeting tonight to save healthcare bill. All skeptical Rs senators will gather and try and hash it out. Story tk Burgess Everett (@burgessev) July 19, 2017 While Burgess noted that the skeptical senators will be meeting, he also noted that one of the most outspoken opponents of each version of Trumpcare, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, will be absent from the meeting. Tweet: Collins says she wasnt invited to GOP healthcare meeting until this afternoon and has another commitment (!) Burgess Everett (@burgessev) July 19, 2017 While Collins may very well have another commitment, its likely she wouldnt have come around in support of the potential new legislation with or without joining her colleagues. She has been a no vote throughout the whole process. Without Collins, that means Republicans will again have to hold all but two of the remaining GOP senators, which seems highly unlikely. The emergency meeting comes after the Congressional Budget Office announced that a repeal-only plan would leave 32 million Americans without health insurance a stunning number that eclipses any previous version of Trumpcare that has been proposed in Congress. Regardless of widespread opposition to their plans and repeatedly failing to get enough votes among members of their own party, the Republican meeting on Wednesday suggests that the party isnt giving up on its goal. This president and his GOP allies in the Senate will not rest until they dismantle health care in America, leave millions without the care they need, and give a massive tax cut to wealthy Americans. The fight to preserve Obamacare is far from over. Two brothers Sushil and Anuj, who were once drivers with Ola, have been spending several months to execute an abduction plan bringing to light the loopholes in the system operations of cab services. By Chayyanika Nigam: Taking the advantage of loopholes in Ola's system operation in verification process of the vehicle and the driver, the two brothers - Sushil and Anuj, once drivers with Ola - have spent several months to execute a foolproof ransom operation. They succeeded to an extent, but their plan was foiled by Delhi Police after the teams managed to rescue the doctor who was kidnapped by Ola cab driver against a ransom of Rs 5 crore from the company. However, the brothers who are the residents of Dadri, are still absconding but the four kidnappers who were dancing on their tunes, are under police net. advertisement Planning of Sushil and Anuj to hide their identities, have left the force into tizzy ahead of sensitivity during the Independence Day Celebration. "The duo brothers knew in depth how the system operates. There is a slight gap in verification process, which they exploited. They were very clear in their mind that Ola will pay ransom for the sake of their reputation. They never demanded any money from the family of victim and tried to portray that the victim was merely incidental to the crime and they were aiming to target Ola," said Ravindra Yadav, Joint Commissioner of Police (Eastern Range). They did a lot of planning and plotting for each step meticulously. Senior police officers said all four accused - Pramod Kumar, Amit Kumar, Sohanveer and Nepal - who were nabbed after a brief encounter were hiding their identity under the dress of Kawariyas. It was learnt that three days after registering the cab with Ola, they executed kidnapping plan the Dr Akkala Srikanth Goud, 29, was the first customer. Also Read Were you able to get an Ola or Uber today? Thank Delhi High Court Delhi doctor kidnapped by Ola cabbie rescued after Bollywood-style shootout --- ENDS --- Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Donald Trump made a lot of stunning statements during Wednesdays interview with The New York Times, but among the most jaw-dropping came when the president threatened to fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller if his investigation delves into the first familys finances. Mueller, of course, is leading the wide-ranging investigation into Russias involvement in last years presidential election, as well as Moscows ties to the Trump campaign. Trump told the Times that if Mueller delves too deeply into his and his familys finances, he would be crossing a red line, which is essentially an admission that Trump would consider trying to fire him if he doesnt like the direction of the investigation. More from The New York Times: Mr. Trump said Mr. Mueller was running an office rife with conflicts of interest and warned that investigators would cross a red line if they delve into Trump family finances unrelated to Russia. Mr. Trump never said he would order the Justice Department to fire Mr. Mueller, nor would he outline circumstances under which he might do so. But he left open the possibility as he expressed deep grievance over an investigation that has taken a political toll in the six months since he took office. Asked if Mr. Muellers investigation would cross a red line if it expands to look at his familys finances beyond any relationship to Russia, Mr. Trump said, I would say yes. He would not say what he would do about it. I think thats a violation. Look, this is about Russia. Once again, it sounds a lot like Trump is threatening those investigating him in order to influence the investigation. If the president doesnt like the direction of the inquiry, he is suggesting that hell do something, although hes not specific, to stop it or change its direction. As Rachel Maddow also pointed out on Wednesday night, Trumps threat to Mueller came on the very same night that The New York Times published another story essentially saying that the presidents finances are, in fact, being investigated by the special counsel. Video: Maddow on Trump threatening Mueller if he investigates the first familys finances pic.twitter.com/SNSrJuDep0 Sean Colarossi (@SeanColarossi) July 20, 2017 Maddow said, The president is clearly threatening to fire the special counsel tonight if he looks into the presidents finances. The Times separately reporting tonight that Robert Mueller is looking into the presidents finances. Its obvious that Trump has something to hide as he consistently demands loyalty and threatens those in charge of running the investigation. As the Russia investigation continues to rage on, the President of the United States is becoming more and more unhinged. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print By Steve Holland and Amanda Becker WASHINGTON (Reuters) U.S. President Donald Trump scolded Senate Republicans on Wednesday for failing to reach agreement on repealing or overhauling Obamacare, demanding they keep their campaign promises and find a new healthcare approach. Trump told 49 senators who came to a White House lunch that they should not leave Washington for a planned August recess until they can find common ground on healthcare. Were close. Were very close, Trump said at the start of the lunch meeting, a day after the seven-year Republican quest to repeal and replace Democratic former President Barack Obamas signature healthcare law seemed to collapse in the Senate. For seven years you promised the American people you would repeal Obamacare. People are hurting and, frankly, inaction is not an option, Trump told the Republican lawmakers. Any senator who votes against starting debate is really telling America that youre fine with Obamacare. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has vowed to go ahead with a vote early next week on a repeal of the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, despite indications it will fail after the defections on Tuesday of at least three Republican senators. Moderate Republican senators Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia said they oppose McConnells plan for a repeal that would take effect in two years, giving Congress time to develop a replacement. All three attended the lunch. With Democrats united in opposition to repeal, McConnell can only lose two votes from his 52-48 majority in the 100-seat Senate to pass healthcare legislation. Trump, who had not been heavily involved in lobbying the Senate on the issue until this week, said he wanted more than a straight repeal vote and wanted the Senate to pass a replacement measure as well. We can repeal, but we should repeal and replace and we shouldnt leave town until this is complete, he said. Capito, speaking to reporters ahead of the meeting on Wednesday, expressed some doubts the Senate vote on a repeal-only healthcare bill would actually occur next week. Its changing so quickly, she said. I think were probably going to air what our differences are again. The president has taken a lot of time to try to call us all individually, said Capito. I dont think anyones mind is going to get changed sitting right there, but it gives us a chance to frame it where we have our differences. HONOR OUR PROMISE Repealing and replacing Obamacare was a top campaign promise for Trump and Republicans in Congress, who say it is a costly intrusion into the healthcare system. But the reality has been difficult for a party divided between moderates concerned the Senate bill would eliminate insurance for millions of low-income Americans and conservatives who want to see even deeper cuts to Obamacare, which boosted the number of Americans with health insurance through mandates on individuals and employers, and income-based subsidies. We have to honor our promise, Republican Senator Ted Cruz told reporters. For seven years Republicans have told the voters, if you elect us, well repeal Obamacare. I think we will look like fools if we cant deliver on that promise. Republican Senator Orrin Hatch said it was a tough issue for Trump, but I suspect he could be a little bit more forceful and I hope he will be. I think he needs to. Democrats, clearly delighted with the turn of events, have welcomed the Republicans failure to replace Obamacare as an opportunity to work together. Republicans conceded their other options may be exhausted. The No. 2 Senate Republican, John Cornyn, told reporters it was unfortunate that he expected bipartisan talks to begin. Democrats are strongly committed to Obamacare and are unwilling to admit structural problems, which create the problems we are having in the individual market today, Cornyn said. But well do the best we can with the hand weve been dealt. If senators try to shore up Obamacare, an initial hurdle in coming weeks will be boosting faltering state insurance markets by ensuring that insurers keep receiving subsidies that help lower the cost of insurance for low-income individuals. The Trump administration will continue making the subsidy payments through August while a related Republican lawsuit is pending. The uncertainty beyond that has rattled insurers. Republican senators have acknowledged the need to address the unstable markets but resisted Democratic calls to fund the subsidies without accompanying reforms, calling it a bailout for insurance companies. Funding for the Childrens Health Insurance Program, a part of the Medicaid government health insurance program for the poor and disabled, known as CHIP, expires on Sept. 30 and will require reauthorization. Bills to address the subsidy payments and CHIP would likely require 60 votes for passage, acting as a barometer of how inclined Republicans and Democrats are to work together, industry lobbyists and experts said. Trump suggested on Tuesday that Republicans should allow the insurance markets to fail before working with Democrats. But Republican Senator Lamar Alexander, the head of the Senate Committee on Health, Labor and Pensions, said he would begin holding hearings on the issue in the next few weeks. (Writing by John Whitesides; Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell, Richard Cowan, Yasmeen Abutaleb and Susan Heavey; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Nick Zieminski) Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print A new Fox News poll has Trump losing support among Republicans (-3), white men (-9), and working class whites (-11), which means that Trumps small base of support is continuing to shrink. According to Fox News, Approval of the president has mostly held steady among Republicans (down three points) since he first took office, but dropped 11 points among working class whites and nine among men. Meanwhile, voters think Russia interfered in the U.S. election (by a 55-34 percent margin), and five times as many think the Kremlin wanted a President Trump (65 percent) as opposed to a President Hillary Clinton (13 percent). 4 Trump has a major problem on health care. By a margin of 59%-32%, respondents disapprove of his performance on health care. Fifty-four percent of respondents said that Trump isnt on their side, and 51% described that the change that Trump has brought as bad. It isnt the Russia scandal that is driving supporters away from Trump. It is healthcare. It is true that all politics are local, but it is also true that pocketbook politics trumps everything else. Donald Trump and the Republicans are messing with an issue that will hit every American in the wallet. At best, people will have to pay more for less healthcare. At worst, they will lose their access to care and die. In the long-term, the Russia may destroy Trumps presidency, but if Democrats win back Congress, healthcare, not Russia will be the biggest reason why. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Donald Trump threw an embarrassing tantrum on Wednesday, telling The New York Times that he is furious that Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation. Trump told the newspaper that Sessions should have never recused himself from the Russia inquiry and that he would have never chosen him to be the attorney general had he known that would happen. Audio: Jeff Sessions takes the job, gets into the job, recuses himself, which frankly I think is very unfair to the president, Trump said. How do you take a job and then recuse yourself? If he would have recused himself before the job, I would have said, Thanks, Jeff, but Im not going to take you. Its extremely unfair and thats a mild word to the president. Trumps tantrum wasnt over yet, though. Trump also fumed about the lies Sessions told during his Senate confirmation hearing: Jeff Sessions gave some bad answers. He gave some answers that were simple questions and should have been simple answers, but they werent. The fact that Trump is angry at Sessions for removing himself from the Russia investigation suggests the president intended to use his attorney general as political cover the same way he tried to use former FBI James Comey. If the president and his team have nothing to hide, they wouldnt care who was investigating the matter so long as the inquiry is fair and gets to the bottom of what happened. The Department of Justice is not supposed to do the bidding of the President of the United States in fact, just the opposite; its supposed to be independent of Trump. Once again, not only is the president showing that he has no idea how the U.S. government works, but he is worried about where the Russia investigation is headed. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print House Intelligence Committee member Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) said that she believes meeting with Donald Trump Jr. and the Russians were the tip of the iceberg. Investigators are digging deeper and asking questions about Trump Jr.s interactions with Russia. Video: House intel member Jackie Speier believes Don Jr. meeting is "the tip of the iceberg", says may have had more undisclosed interactions. pic.twitter.com/BtagNw4f9A Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) July 20, 2017 Rep. Speier said, This in my view, is the tip of the iceberg. How many more meetings were there? That is the question that I think needs to be asked and answeredI believe there was a phone conversation that Donald Trump Jr. probably had with someone before the meeting took place, and then there was clearly a message being sent by the Russians that we want to help your father out. We want to help Trump get elected to the presidency. So was there more interactions that took place? I think those are some of the questions that have to be asked. Both the special counsel and Congressional investigators are following threads, which is why a scandal as complicated as the potential Trump collusion with Russia takes so long to investigate. There are a lot of moving parts, and investigators have to determine if all of those pieces worked together towards a common goal of colluding with Russia to win the election. Trumps lawyers tried to wall him off from his son in law Jared Kushner. They are also trying to create plausible deniability for this president towards the actions of his son. Since Trump Jr. wasnt smart about his communications with Russia, the odds are that if there were more meetings, investigators already know, or will find out. Speier was correct. There probably wasnt just one meeting with Russia, and the fate of Trumps presidency may hinge on the question of how many more meetings there were. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Both the FBI and Special Counsel Robert Mueller are looking at the financial transactions between the Trump family, Trump associates, and Russians for potential money laundering. Bloomberg reported, The U.S. special counsel investigating possible ties between the Donald Trump campaign and Russia in last years election is examining a broad range of transactions involving Trumps businesses as well as those of his associates, according to a person familiar with the probe..The roots of Muellers follow-the-money investigation lie in a wide-ranging money laundering probe launched by then-Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara last year, according to the person..Muellers team is looking at the Trump SoHo hotel condominium development, which was a licensing deal with Bayrock Capital LLC. In 2010, the former finance director of Bayrock filed a lawsuit claiming the firm structured transactions in fraudulent ways to evade taxes. Bayrock was a key source of capital for Trump development projects, including Trump SoHo. Trumps warning that he would fire Special Counsel Mueller if he investigated his or his familys finances makes even more sense now. Trump, his family, and his associates are being looked at for money laundering. If laundered money made its way into the Trump campaign that would bring up a whole host of criminal and campaign finance law violations. Since Trump is micromanager of his business, his name is bound to be on documents that are associated with the financial transactions which are under investigation. The reason why Trump wont release his tax returns or details of his business dealings is that they would reveal that the financial roadmap of his ties to Russia. Mueller is investigating Trumps finances, so it is up to Trump to decide whether or not he is going to fire the special counsel. The Russia pieces are coming together, and they paint a picture of a president that is bought and owned by Putin and Russia. If Trumps businesses laundered money for Russia, it would be time to stop talking about impeachment and begin discussing prison. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Charles Blow has published a column of all columns to read this Thursday. While making the point in The New York Times that he has found something of comfort in Donald Trumps presidency he is too intellectually deficient, in both practice and policy, to impose all of the heartless directives his campaign rhetoric threatened, Blow laid bare the truth behind the worship of Trump. Blow correctly pointed out that not only did Congressional Republicans not have a plan with which to replace Obamacare, but neither did Donald Trump. He campaigned on applause-line policies: Anything that roused a response from his rabid adherents, he repeated and amplified. He never gave details because the details didnt exist, and he wouldnt have been able to understand and articulate them if they did. Trump support was never about policy. I have been repeating this until Im blue in the face, while others condescend to those of us who live in real America to tell us that the Trump voter was concerned about economic policy. While a changing landscape of economic security certainly primed the Trump voter to be susceptible to racism and sexism, Trumps policies were not the siren call, nor could more populist economic policies have lured the Trump voters away, had they been offered by a minority or a woman. Charles Blow knows this (post-election polls also suggest this). Trump was simply a megaphone for the primal screams of Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton haters flipping out over the cultural anxiety accompanying the ascension of women and minorities, Blow writes. He helped people find the language and the platform to disguise racial worry as economic worry. He helped people who inherently, in many cases maybe even subconsciously, loathe women, at least when they aspire to equality or power, to loathe Hillary Clinton, a woman aspiring to more power. This is a powerful truth that wont go away with economic policies that appeal to the poor and working class. This is a powerful truth that hides behind the people in power at all levels of government, media, and culture. Candidate Barack Obama was able to overcome some of this fear because he held a light up for hope and some people were willing to hear it from him. Obamas charisma and strong character helped win national debates disguising latent racism. The Russians were not helping Obamas opponents, either. Thats worth mentioning. Hillary Clintons slogan, Stronger Together was actually a good message and she had the work history of someone who meant it. She couldnt overcome the hatred aimed at her, the way Fox News so easily used her as a symbol of a changing world where women have power and authority, and she had to fight the Russians, the media, and the Republicans. This is happening to our country because our deep political fissure was easy to exploit. While there are liberal news sources, there is not the same level of almost cult-like epistemic closure you see in Right wing news. Liberals are not being fed conspiracy theories about Trump killing people in a pizza shop in DC. The crazier the Right gets, the angrier the Left gets in reaction to the crazy. Putin took an easy shot at us, with the assist of Republicans and Donald Trump. The comfort in this nightmare is, as Blow points out, that Donald Trump cant get much done legislatively. Trumps incompetence and ineptitude are the only gifts he offers his country. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print By Doina Chiacu WASHINGTON (Reuters) U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday brushed off sharp criticism from President Donald Trump over his recusal from the Justice Departments Russia investigation, saying he loved his job and planned to continue serving. We love this job, we love this department, and I plan to continue to do so as long as that is appropriate, Sessions said at a news conference announcing a cyber crime bust. Sessions was flanked by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, who were both also criticized by the president in an interview with the New York Times on Wednesday. Trump took a broad swipe at his administrations top law officers in the interview, saying he would not have appointed Sessions as attorney general if he had known he would recuse himself. The Republican president also noted Rosensteins roots in Democratic Baltimore and that McCabes wife took money from a leading Democrat during a political campaign. The public lashing came after a turbulent first six months in office during which Trump fired national security adviser Michael Flynn and FBI Director James Comey, then the top official leading the probe into whether Russian meddled in the 2016 presidential election and possible ties to the Trump campaign. Sessions recused himself in March from the Russia criminal investigation. He did so after failing to disclose at his confirmation hearing that he had held meetings last year with Russias ambassador. Sessions should have never recused himself and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before he took the job and I would have picked somebody else, the Times quoted Trump as saying. Sessions was Trumps first supporter in the U.S. Senate and helped shape his political team throughout the campaign and into the transition period after the Nov. 8 election. He declined on Thursday to acknowledge Trumps criticism. I have the honor of serving as attorney general. Its something that goes beyond any thought I would have ever had for myself, Sessions said. Similarly, Rosenstein, asked about Trumps remarks that there were very few Republicans in Baltimore, declined to comment. I was proud to be here yesterday, Im proud to be here today, Ill be proud to work here tomorrow, he said. A federal special counsel has been appointed to take over the Russia investigation, and several congressional committees are conducting their own probes. Next week, Trumps son-in-law and White House adviser, Jared Kushner, and the presidents eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., are scheduled to testify before Senate panels, as well as the presidents former campaign manager Paul Manafort. The Kremlin says it did not interfere in the election, and Trump has denied any collusion between his campaign and Moscow. In the Times interview, the president also took aim at the special counsel appointed to take over the Russia investigation, Robert Mueller, saying Mueller would be crossing a red line if he began investigating Trumps personal finances. I think thats a violation. Look, this is about Russia, Trump told the Times. The newspaper also reported on Wednesday that Deutsche Bank AG has been in contact with federal investigators about Trumps accounts, citing two people briefed on the matter. And the bank was expecting to eventually have to provide information to Mueller, they said. Deutsche Bank, which has loaned the Trump Organization family business millions of dollars for real-estate ventures, late last month rejected demands by Democratic lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives to provide details of Trumps finances, citing privacy laws. (Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Additonal reporting by Dustin Volz and Julia Ainsley; Editing by Frances Kerry and Jonathan Oatis) Pizza has been a constant in Brian Kesslers life, from the time he got a job in a pizzeria as a teenager until the day he met his wife in a pizza joint. Read moreIggy's Pizza Shop is now open in Mount Pleasant Charleston, SC (29403) Today Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy this afternoon. High 77F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low around 55F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. By India Today Web Desk: Ajay Devgn is all set to play the legendary Maratha warrior, Subedar Taanaji Malusare, in his upcoming film titled Taanaji The Unsung Warrior, to be directed by Om Raut. The actor shared the first look poster of the film on Twitter and revealed that it will hit the theatres in 2019. Not many have heard of this "unsung warrior of glorious Indian history," as Ajay Devgn calls him. So, who was Taanaji Malusare? advertisement Taanaji was one of Chhatrapati Shivaji's generals and a warrior par excellence. He was entrusted with the responsibility of recapturing the Kondana fort, which had to be handed over to the Mughals as per the Treaty of Purandar (1665). In 1670, Malusare set out with his troops on this mission, as per the wishes of Shivaji's mother, Jijabai. It was regarded by many as an impossible mission because not only was the fort was fiercely guarded, it was also structurally impregnable. However, Taanaji is said to have scaled the fort with the help of his pet monitor lizard (called "ghorpad" in Marathi). Historians have debated this, believing that Gorpad, which sounds very similar to a Maratha surname, could have referred to the person who managed to scale the fort first. Taanaji could only lead the attack with around 300 of his troops, it is said, as the rest could not climb to the top. His troops were heavily outnumbered, but they bravely fought on. Taanaji was engaged in combat with Udaybhan Rathod, the fortkeeper, and fought till his last breath. His men were filled with a renewed vigour to overpower the enemy, and managed to defeat the Mughal army, in what came to be known as the Battle of Sinhagad. It is said that Shivaji was deeply sad about the loss of his brave commander, and renamed the fort to Sinhagad (Lion Fort) in his memory. ALSO SEE: Ajay Devgn looks majestic as the brave Maratha general in the first look of Taanaji ALSO READ: Ajay Devgn's Sons of Sardaar The Battle of Saragarhi will be an epic, big-budget war film ALSO WATCH: I can take on anybody with my little finger, says Ajay Devgn --- ENDS --- Watchdog and Public Service reporter Thad Moore is a reporter on The Post and Couriers Watchdog and Public Service team and a graduate of the University of South Carolina. To share tips securely, reach Moore via ProtonMail at thadmoore@protonmail.com or on Signal at 843-214-6576. Adam Parker has covered many beats and topics for The Post and Courier, including race and history, religion, and the arts. He is the author of "Outside Agitator: The Civil Rights Struggle of Cleveland Sellers Jr.," published by Hub City Press. In Georgetown County's closest race, the board of elections and voter registration certified Scott DuBose's election to the county school board with a margin of victory of just three votes out of 4,343 cast. Read moreGeorgetown Co. elections: DuBose's election to District 2 school board seat certified Mary Katherine, who also goes by MK, covers health care for The Post and Courier. She is also pursuing a master's degree in data science. She grew up in upstate New York and enjoys playing cards, kayaking and the Blue Ridge Mountains. Fear has once again gripped the Sariska Forest Reserve in Rajasthan's Alwar district as two more people were injured in a leopard attack on Wednesday. By Dev Ankur Wadhawan: Fear has once again gripped the Sariska Forest Reserve in Rajasthan's Alwar district as two more people were injured in a leopard attack on Wednesday. At least seven people have been killed this year alone in leopard attacks in the Reserve. The two victims - Ram Chandra Yadav and Ram Jeeven Gujar - were on their way back with a goat. As they approached Prithvipura's forest area, the leopard attacked the goat. Yadav and Gujar were injured as they tried to rescue the animal. Ram Chandra Yadav. Photo credit: Dev Ankur Wadhawan. advertisement The locals who rushed to the spot to rescue them drove the leopard away. The duo was taken to a government hospital where they are undergoing treatment. MANY LEOPARD ATTACKS THIS YEAR AT SARISKA RESERVE There have been several incidents of leopard attacks this year in Rajasthan's Sariska Forest Reserve, a popular tourist hub for spotting tigers. The Reserve has been in the spotlight recently due to attacks on human beings, which reiterates the man-animal conflict people of the region have to confront.In February this year, there were four deaths within a span of seven days. Villagers and locals are angry as despite assurances from authorities, leopard attacks have not stopped. The district administration and officials of the Sariska Forest Reserve have realised the gravity of the situation rather late after repeated protests by villagers. Even though seven leopards have recently been captured by the administration, incidents of leopard attacks on humans have not gone down. Also read | Karnataka: Leopard caught by villagers in Kolar, handed over to forest officials Also read | Watch: Leopard barges into Mumbai girls hostel in search of food, attacks dogs Also read | Leopard attacks: 4 deaths in 7 days, fear psychosis grips people around Sariska Also read | Rajasthan: Forest department files FIR after angry mob set leopard on fire in Sariska --- ENDS --- The main value of Veterans Day is, unlike Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter, not so much in our participating in a particular event or tradition but in our remembering at least once a year the debt we all owe to those who have served our country in uniform. Read moreEditorial: Remember our veterans today and every day Terry Graham, interim director for Richland County's elections office, previously said he planned to resign in January, but now plans to stay on as deputy director for a few more years after the Nov. 8 election had few issues. Read moreRichland County interim elections director decides not to resign after successful election DULUTH Brian Daugherty started out washing dishes at Grandma's Restaurant 41 years ago. He's worked just about every hourly job since. Now the company's president, he believes he has a great feel for his employees' needs. Like them, he said he's faced every sort of adversity over the years, from being sick, to legal issues, to a death in the family. While Grandma's never offered him paid sick leave, he said the company worked with him in other ways, sometimes giving him time off, or allowing him to pick up other shifts. "That's the culture that most restaurants have developed," he said. "They work with their people. It's how we survive, it's how we compete" in an industry with notoriously thin operating margins. It's a culture Daugherty worries he may lose if Duluth's leaders vote to require Grandma's and other businesses to provide workers paid sick leave. A City Council-appointed task force in Duluth has been collecting public views on the matter and researching paid sick time laws around the country. Seven states now require it, in addition to dozens of cities and counties. Paid leave ordinances took hold recently in St. Paul and Minneapolis. ADVERTISEMENT Like the Twin Cities, Duluth business owners are divided on the issue. Daugherty argues to keep the status quo, a voluntary policy where businesses can work with their employees to give them the time off they need in a way that's economically sustainable. Two-thirds of his 640 employees are 24 or younger. To them, he said, the most important benefit he offers is a free meal. "I spend a lot of money on employee meals every year. It is an important benefit for my demographic," he said. "I don't want to lose it. I don't want to be told what to do and how to spend my money, because it might be detrimental to my business, and my customers and my employees." But just down the street, another well-known Canal Park eatery has taken a different approach. Northern Waters Smokehaus, locally famous for its smoked fish, has offered paid sick time off to its roughly 70 employees for the past six years. "From our perspective, it's just a very smart business decision," said co-owner Lynn Goerdt. "And it has shown to impact recruitment and retention of employees. And maintain healthier employees. It just makes sense." An estimated 46 percent of workers in Duluth do not have access to paid sick time off, according to research from the Institute for Women's Policy Research. And those who earn the least are most likely not to have the benefit. That's why Goerdt said she's such a strong backer of a Duluth paid sick time ordinance. "To me it's a no-brainer that it just needs to happen, because right now it isn't happening, and if it's just up to employers, which is the way it is right now, it's not happening." Earlier this year, the city's paid leave task force held nine listening sessions to gather feedback on whether Duluth should guarantee paid sick time off, and if so, what that policy should look like. ADVERTISEMENT "One of the things that has struck all of us are some of those stories you don't really think of, said Laura Weintraub, CEO of Aimclear, a Duluth marketing agency, and co-chair of the task force. For example, "having an older child stay home with a younger child, so everyone misses school, so mom can go to work and get a paycheck." But Weintraub said the group has also heard from many business owners who care about their employees. "They want to find a way to work on this," she said. "Whether they want an ordinance is a different question. Everyone wants to do right by everyone else, it's just a matter of how we get there." The panel has laid out a series of options, ranging from no ordinance to strict mandates for earned sick and safe time coverage. At a public meeting to get feedback on those options last week, some argued the city's reputation was at stake. "We feel it is important for Duluth to be seen as a business-friendly community that embraces economic development and growth," said Dave Jensch, manager of Duluth TV station KBJR and chair of the Duluth Greater Downtown Council board. "We've watched as the rigid mandates in Minneapolis and St. Paul have divided the community," he added. Task force members insist they will not cut and paste the Minneapolis or St. Paul ordinances into Duluth. But they are paying close attention to the debates there, including ongoing litigation over the Minneapolis law. Others, including Marsha Hystead, a partner in the marketing firm Hailey Sault, argue Duluth should follow in the footsteps of the Twin Cities. "We are trying to attract creative talent to Duluth," she said. "People want to make their life here. This is an exploding community right now. But I have to tell you, if we don't step up as a community and say people do deserve to have these sick days, it will affect people wanting to live in our community." ADVERTISEMENT If a paid sick and safe leave ordinance is ultimately passed in Duluth, business leaders asked the task force to give businesses time to prepare for the law before it goes into effect. "Build in some opportunity for people to discern what this may mean for their business," said Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce President David Ross. Duluth residents have another chance to weigh in on the issue at a public meeting Wednesday afternoonat Duluth City Hall, and a final meeting July 27 at Community Action in Duluth. The task force plans to present recommendations to the City Council in September. Council president Joel Sipress said he hopes to vote on the issue by the end of the year. HUTCHINSON City, county and state officials from around Minnesota were in Hutchinson on July 13 to see how soybean oil might help save their roads. A soybean oil-based sealant called RePlay Agricultural Oil and Seal, was developed by Sheldon Chesky, president and CEO of BioSpan Technologies,, with research funds from United Soybean Board and the soybean checkoff. RePLAY has been used on approximately 118,000 miles of road in Minnesota. The sealant contains 56 percent soybean oil. It takes about 100 bushels of soybeans to treat one lane for one mile. Asphalt surfaces typically last 10 to 12 years when sealed. BioSpan Technologies says RePlay can extend road life two to four times longer. Proponents of the product say RePlay penetrates the asphalt deeper than other products, helping to seal the road from salt and oxidation, thus extending the life of the road, and saving taxpayer dollars. ADVERTISEMENT In Minnesota, there have been about 300 applications of RePlay, on city streets, parking lots, trails, and county roads. It has been used on nearly one-third of the roads in Hutchinson for several years. "We looked at how the roads are lasting," said Mike Youngerberg,director of product development and commercialization for Minnesota Soybean. So far, RePlay looks promising. "In Hutchinson, a number of streets are way past the five-year time frame (when roads typically need a chip-sealing repair), and they look as good as possible,"Youngerberg told the group on July 13. He noted one length of road in particular was not even cracked around the manhole covers or on the edges, areas that typically need repair sooner than others. RePLAY is still in the evaluation phase, according to Youngerberg, but if the product continues to show positive results it could present a new market for Minnesota soybean farmers, who now produce 3 billion bushels of soybeans annually. I've discovered that tilting my head ever so slightly and stroking my chin has never done anything for my ability to appreciate art. That's why the second installment of Art4Trails, the public art initiative by Rochester Arts Collaborative and Rochester Art Center, works so well for ordinary art schmucks like me. You can be driving down a Rochester street one day and see some abstract thingamajig on the corner and think, "That's cool!" Or you're heading to Roscoe's BBQ stand near Mayo Park East and see a dash of red and green out of the corner of your eye. You've nourished both your body and your soul. But sometimes it helps to be joined by an art whisperer, somebody that's open and capable of intuiting an artwork's secrets if there are any to tell. So when we toured the latest Art4Trails exhibits last week, I was joined by Rochester Post-Bulletin photographer Ken Klotzbach. I call him Muse (not to his face, that would be creepy), because his commentary is often accompanied by bolts of illumination. ADVERTISEMENT Art: Unbroken Artist: Katya Roberts Location: Slattery Park Unbroken is sculpture made out of a single sheet of aluminum shaped into all kinds of different angles. And one of the first things you think of is origami, the art of paper folding. The object is human-sized, more than six-foot tall. It's all sharp edges and right angles, and as you look at it, the sculpture has an interesting effect on the surrounding fences, picnic tables and rooftop of the picnic shelter. You're aware, suddenly, of all the pointy edges and right angles that surround you as if they have been thrown into sharp relief. Why is it called Unbroken? I have not the slightest idea. But Muse had an interest theory about how artists title their work. Sometimes artists make something for no other reason than it pleases them. They don't know why. They just do it. And then they grab some title out of the ether, not because it fits so perfectly but "because they don't want to call it 'Untitled No. 6.'" Whether that's the case here, I don't know. But Unbroken has discernible human dimensions. There is a tendency, after you look at it for awhile, to see a human figure. It has a pointy head and arm that's extended as if it's striding forward. Art: Tractor Cat ADVERTISEMENT Artist: Richard Brusker Location: Roy Sutherland Playground. Meow! Tractor Cat is made of five pieces of steel fitted together. It has a rounded yellow tail and a winking eye. Fun and whimsical, the cat is an almost complete stylistic opposite to Unbroken. Whereas that sculpture was all right angles, this cat is all arcs and round surfaces. While the other was a stark black-and-white, cat vibrates with five bright colors. It's something pleasing to look at as you climb the monkey bars. Art: Drinking Sunshine Artist: Craig Snyder Location: Government Center River Landing ADVERTISEMENT Except for one caveat, Drinking Sunshine is really set in the perfect place. Snyder's work is a 14-foot column of precariously poised blocks that looks like it's on the verge of tumbling over. It sets on a pad at the edge of the Zumbrota River next to the Government Center and framed by surrounding canal walls. The illusion of motion it creates, combined with its playful colors, commands the eye. The spotlight effect is enhanced by the surroundings. Amidst the concrete walls and heavy industrial look, Drinking Sunshine stands out amid the drab grays and browns like a sly joke at a strait-laced mortuary convention. It's light-hearted and induces a kind of cheerfulness. The one drawback to its location was that the pad also serves as a way station for the hundreds of geese and ducks that traffic up and down the Zumbro. The pad was covered in yucky bird poo. Art: Fantastic Fruits Artist: Amarama Location: Mayo Park. Muse and I argued about this one. I said apple. He said bell pepper. I think I'm right about this one. Fantastic Fruits by Amarama is three large-sized fruit objects made of hand-dyed cement. Each fruit sculpture is cut in half or peeled to reveal a glass mosaic interior. The colorful art sits in the middle of wide-open green space in the middle of Mayo Park East. It lies right next to a children's playground, a subtle reminder for children to eat their fruits. Especially apples. Art: Perfect Canoe Artist: Sebastian Richer Location: Silver Lake Fire Station Perfect Canoe was one of Muse's favorites. It is a 10-foot-tall sculpture in the shape of a canoe and perched on one end near the banks of the Zumbro. It is located on a street corner next to the Fire Lake Fire Station. Thousands of motorists pass it each day. The canoe's flow and swoopiness are reminiscent of the river's curves. The canoe and paddle also resonate as symbols of Minnesota's indigenous past and its outdoorsy culture. Muse really liked the shape, it being both abstract and not completely abstract that "gave it a little something else." There is a test to determine an art work's power. It's like looking at your spouse day after day. If you can look at a painting or sculpture that's imbued with history and culture each day and never get tired of it, that's amore! By PTI: New Delhi, Jul 20 (PTI) The bidding for the second phase of Bharat Net project - which entails broadband connectivity for the remaining 1.5 lakh gram panchayats - is likely to be completed by October 2017, according to an official source. The tenders for the network infrastructure of Bharat Net are likely to be floated by September and contracts are expected to be awarded by October, the official said. advertisement The official, who is familiar with the modalities of the Bharat Net project, said that six states - Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh have already submitted the detailed project report (DPR) for the second phase roll out. On Wednesday, the Cabinet had approved the modified implementation strategy of BharatNet project for providing broadband connectivity to all gram panchayats by March 2019. The objective of the project is to provide minimum 100 mbps broadband connectivity to all gram panchayats in the country by using an mix of underground fibre, aerial fibre, radio and satellite media. The Cabinet approval entailed a total estimated expenditure of Rs 42,068 crore for the implementation of BharatNet, which will be funded from Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF). Of this, Rs 11,148 crore is the cost of providing connectivity to one lakh gram panchayats (GP) in the first phase and Rs 18,792 crore is for providing connectivity to remaining 1.5 lakh gram panchayats in second phase. The balance amount is for activities not covered in the initial Bharatnet framework, which include, last mile connectivity architecture, operation and maintenance and replacement of BSNLs poor quality fibre being used in the project between Block to GP. The modified strategy includes implementation of project by states and state agencies, private sector and CPSUs, and providing connectivity by "mix of media" rather than only by underground optical fibre, which was the initial strategy. It also entails last mile connectivity in every gram panchayat for service delivery on wi-fi or any other technology. Infrastructure created under BharatNet will be shared with all categories of service providers on non- discriminatory basis. The implementation agency would also be responsible for management, operation maintenance, preferably for the life time of the project. The project will facilitate electronic delivery of services to citizens of various e-governance, e-commerce, e- education, and e-health services. In all, the project seeks to create network infrastructure for broadband connectivity to all 2.5 lakh gram panchayats in the country in a phased manner. The first phase entailing roll out to 1,00,000 gram panchayats was completed recently, after several delays. PTI MBI SBT --- ENDS --- With three songs on the Christian Top 30 chart, three music videos, a recently-released EP, and a schedule booked with performances, Justin Hawley, Mark Eidem, and Critter of Light45 know a thing or two about success. The bands album "Decibel," is a five-track EP. Three of those five songs have made it to the Billboard Christian Top 30 chart. Their first release, "Steeped," climbed to #5 on the charts, followed by "The Maze," which settled in at #14, and their latest release, "Bringing You Back to Life," is sitting at #11. "Our goal is to get every song from our debut album on the charts. Ive never heard of that happening before," Eidem said. As if Billboard Top 30 wasnt enough, Light45s "Bringing You Back to Life" was featured on A&Es show "Born This Way," a reality show featuring individuals with Down syndrome. This is especially meaningful to Critter, the bands drummer. He works for PossAbilities in Rochester, an organization dedicated to providing opportunities for individuals with disabilities. There are two other network shows also considering using the bands music, but they wont know for sure for another nine months, said Hawley. ADVERTISEMENT Videos that amaze Light45 has created and produced a music video for each of the three Top 30 singles. It took about a year to make all three. Each video was shot on location, sets were constructed by the band, and filming took about 8 to 12 hours. For "The Maze" video, "We wanted desperately to stay true to the theme of the song. We didnt want to cheat the video," said Hawley. So he did his research. He can name every natural and man-made maze in the world, because he contemplated filming the video at each location. It took three months looking at 300 different locations before the band finally settled on shooting in the Alvord Desert in Oregon. They built their own set and drove it to the desert. "We had one day to do this. If we had high wind, it wouldve been a bust. If it rained, it wouldve been a bust. We only had eight hours to shoot, so we used every second. We had to work in harmony," Eidem said. The video for "The Maze" owes its life to the Light Chasers, a community of people who financially support Light45. "We couldnt have made the video without the Light Chasers," added Hawley. "We were literally out of money." ADVERTISEMENT Back to life Balancing a successful music career with family life and work obligations is challenging, but Light45 refuses to compromise personal beliefs and principles to get ahead. "We play off our strengths and minimize our weaknesses. We try to make our weaknesses stronger but we dont fight battles we are going to lose," Hawley said. Touring is one of those losing battles. "We have families, and we have financial considerations," Eidem said. "We have seen a lot of bands, Christian bands included, that will try to tour and their marriages end up in shambles." Even with a chart-busting first album, television credits, and three music videos under their belts, the members of Light45 continue to prioritize their true successes. "As a band, we know what is important in life, and we are not willing to sacrifice those things," Hawley said. "God first, family second, music third. That is part of our secret sauce." You can see Light45 perform on Saturday, July 22at WorshipFest in Austin and on Friday, July 28at the Ironwood Springs Christian Ranch in Stewartville. KASSON Welcoming students back to school this year is a new face. Erin Kyllo was hired as the new Kasson-Mantorville Middle School principal after the departure of Michelle Krell, who took a position in Owatonna. The K-M School District began searching for a new principal after Krell resigned April 28. Twenty-five candidates applied for the position, but school officials said it became clear Kyllo would be a perfect fit for the job. They noted her experience at Chaska-Chanhassen School District with personalized learning, her passion for children and education and her commitment to building relationships with staff, students and community members. "I look forward to the passion she brings to the middle school students and staff in addition to the wealth of knowledge that she will bring to our administrative team," said K-M Superintendent Mark Matuska. "She is a winner." Kyllo has worked in Chandler, Ariz., and Inver Grove Heights since 2000 as a teacher for grades K-12. Additionally, she was a part of different district- and building-level leadership committees, including grading and assessment, Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports and the math and reading vertical team for her district. Kyllo earned her undergraduate and master's degrees from Winona State University and her specialist's degree from the University of St. Thomas. ADVERTISEMENT Recently, Kyllo was the administrative dean for Chanhassen High School. With 18 years of educational experience under her belt, Kyllo's role as an administrator now gives her full experience with students K-12. "It has been fascinating to see students learn and grow at all levels," she said. "I was inspired to take on a leadership role as a principal by a former principal of mine, and I have loved every minute of it. My favorite time of day is still when I am in classrooms watching children learn." 'There is nothing more rewarding' For Kyllo, education always has been a passion. "I enjoy working with children and can't imagine doing anything else," she said. "There is nothing more rewarding to me than knowing I made a difference in the life of a child." The Owatonna native has lived in a number of Southeast Minnesota communities, including Blooming Prairie, Kasson and Rochester. Kyllo graduated from John Marshall High School. "I was drawn to Kasson-Mantorville because of the district's reputation for excellence and the support from the community," she said. "Everyone I met has been so supportive and helpful. I feel like I am joining an amazing team." When asked what she considered to be her greatest accomplishments, Kyllo quickly named the most important one. ADVERTISEMENT "Being a mom is one of the greatest accomplishments," she said. "I believe it helps me stay grounded in my profession. "As for my approach to education, I believe we are a team, and everyone truly wants what is best for kids. So it is important to be honest, transparent, empathetic and strategic when we are making decisions." Her influences in education include teachers she had while in school. She remembers each one fondly and notes the impact they had on her as an educator. "Relationships are important to me. I am looking forward to building those strong partnerships," she said. "I grow and learn from each experience. I feel blessed to have a circle of friends, family and colleagues that inspire me." Art returned to 324 First Ave. SW in Rochester's downtown today. Gallery 24 , a local artists collaborative, is hosting a "soft opening" in the former home of what once was The Creative Salon. The gallery will display and sell a variety of visual artwork, sculpture and jewelry made by the 24 artists in the group. The collection of artists includes many people well known in the Med City art scene, such as Heather Jerdee, Amarama Lynn, Beth Sieversand Chad Allen. Some were active in the The Creative Salon. Others also are members of the Southeastern Minnesota Visual Artists. Founder and Board President Cassandra Buckexplains the plan is for the temporary location to serve as "an example of what we aspire to do eventually on a permanent basis." In the next few weeks, a large exhibit involving all of its artists will go on display in the front window of the fledgling gallery. The current location, which they rent from building owner Helen Roland, will be available for only six to eight months before it will be demolished to make way for a future office building. The Creative Salon closed its doors at 324 First Ave. SW in the fall of 2015. ADVERTISEMENT Buck says Gallery 24, which was founded in 2015, is in the process of becoming an official nonprofit. The group is raising money through a GoFundMe online campaign under the name "Gallery24findsahome" to finance a future location. While providing a place to display and sell art is a major part of Gallery 24's mission, the organization is about more than just that. The plan is to offer monthly art classes for the public taught by Gallery 24's members. It also will provide professional development for artists in the form of classes about business and marketing, as well as creative input and feedback on artworks. "We want to help artists get the basic skills they need to survive," explained Buck. The new Gallery 24 location will be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursdays and from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays to start, but those hours could expand and change as the group learns more about what customers want, she said. Turkey, sometimes an unsteady ally during the Cold War and in Middle Eastern affairs but an ally nonetheless, is showing increasing signs under Erdogan of tilting toward Islamism and away from the West. And thats leaving aside the appalling scene from Erdogans recent visit to Washington, which featured his security goons beating up on protestors in the streets of Washington outside the Turkish embassy. Today the Wall Street Journal reports that Turkeys state-run media has released a map showing the location of U.S. forces in Syria: WASHINGTONA detailed map purportedly showing where U.S. forces are deployed in northern Syria was published by Turkeys state-run news agency, drawing a sharp retort and a warning from the Pentagon that the move could undermine the battle against Islamic State. Since the map was published by state-run media, the obvious question is why the Turkish government decided to put out this damaging information publicly. It is likely not much of a secret there U.S. forces are in Syria, nor is it news that Turkey is displeased that we have chosen to work with a Kurdish faction that Turkey dislikes. Making this a public media story seems to have one purpose: to express public contempt for the United States, as if having a goon squad beating up people in the streets of Washington didnt already convey that message. I noted here a couple weeks ago the episode during my recent visit to Bulgaria where Turkeys ambassador behaved in a highly undiplomatic way toward Daniel Pipes. The most remarkable part of this, as I mentioned at the time, was the ambassadors refusal to answer the question of whether Dan would be arrested if he set foot in Turkey. Dan has now returned to the scene of the crime, so to speak, with his own more detailed account and analysis of the confrontation (complete with a sequel about the ambassadors tweetstorm against Pipes afterward), but Dan also offers up a 15-minute video of the episode. Worth watching: Dan concludes by recalling the words of British Prime Minister William Gladstone, but Ill double down and say that it would be nice if we could have Constantinople back. Alas, the old song is probably right: So, Take me back to Constantinople No, you cant go back to Constantinople Been a long time gone, Oh Constantinople Why did Constantinople get the works? Thats nobodys business but the Turks. Chaser: Germany warning travelers about going to Turkey. The Daily Mail rushes in where others fear to tread, so take this story with a grain of salt. Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor and his lawyer have refused to explain why Noor shot Justine Damond, in a case that has reverberated around the world. But the Daily Mail claims to have interviewed Noors friends. Somewhat to my amazement, they allegedly say that Noor did it on purpose: Killer policeman Mohamed Noor has said he was startled by his victim Justine Damond seconds before he opened fire. *** DailyMail.com has spoken to those friends to reveal for the first time his account of what happened that night. *** Justine was unarmed and had called 911 caller to alert police to what she believed may have been a rape taking place in the alley behind her home. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a friend of Noor told DailyMail.com that the officer had opened fire when an unidentified figure emerged from the dark and ran towards the vehicle. The officer said he was not sure what the person was carrying and momentarily opened fire through his driver-partners open window. It was confirmed that Justines cell phone was found alongside her during the tragedy. Noor told associates it was dark and the situation was already tense as the caller had been panicking when making the 911 call reporting an assault in the alley beyond where Justine lived with her fiance and his son. Its one thing for a 911 caller to panic, quite another for a responding police officer to panic. According to Noors version when they reached the end of the alley, they came across a waiting, panicking figure. It was dark, and the figure was moving around and approached their vehicle. Noor said he did not know whether the figure who rushed towards their vehicle was the 911 caller or even if it was a man or woman. He [fired] his weapon through Harritys open drivers window hitting his victim once in the abdomen. This story is worse than what I had assumed, which was a completely accidental (and obviously negligent) discharge of Noors pistol. No one puts much credence in anonymous, unidentified sources (well, not unless youre the Washington Post or the New York Times), so we cant assume the DMs narrative is correct. But if it is, its no wonder that Officer Noor has gone to ground. Most of us understand, I think, that President Trump lacks class and self-discipline. Still, I would not have expected him to rip Jeff Sessions, his Attorney General, in an interview with the New York Times, of all organs. If Trump is this unhappy with Sessions, then fire him. Or accept his resignation, which Sessions reportedly offered after the last time Trump popped off about him. But dont whine to Maggie freaking Haberman. Trump complains that he wouldnt have nominated Sessions if he had known Sessions would recuse himself from the Russia investigation. He says Sessions should have told him of his intent to recuse before taking the job, so he could have nominated someone else. But at the time of his nomination, Sessions had no idea that circumstances would arise that might cause his recusal. The recusal decision stems from testimony Sessions gave during his confirmation hearing, and thus after his nomination. Sessions mistakenly testified that he hadnt met with Russian officials. It turned out that he had met with the Russian ambassador. There is no reason to believe that Sessions intentionally misstated the facts, a point we and others have made. However, his encounters with the Russian ambassador and his mistaken denial of any such contacts led him to conclude that the Russia investigation might come to involve him as a witness or player. Thus, after conferring with ethics experts at the DOJ, he made the honorable decision to recuse himself, as we would expect from this honorable man. Sessions could have withdrawn after he realized that he had given mistaken testimony at his confirmation hearing. But Im pretty sure most of us would have been unhappy if he had. Moreover, he apparently didnt decide he needed to recuse himself until after he was confirmed and the ethics advisers at DOJ recommended that he do so. Nor did Sessions have any reason to believe that his recusal might hurt President Trump. Sessions did not know that Trumps actions would lead to such strong calls for a special counsel. He must have thought there is nothing to claims of Trump collusion with the Russians and that the DOJs investigation would so conclude, with or without his involvement. Was Sessions honorable decision to recuse himself the right decision, given the dishonorable milieu of contemporary Washington, D.C.? Reasonable people can disagree about this. However, I see no reasonable defense of Trump publicly trashing his Attorney General. I agree with this statement by Rick Manning, president of Americans for Limited Government: Jeff Sessions is the best Attorney General President Trump could have. He is doing the difficult job of unwinding the politicized mess left behind by his Obama appointed predecessors. Rather than turning a blind eye, Attorney General Sessions is cracking down on illegal immigration, deporting MS-13 gang members and other illegal alien criminals, and ending the war on police. Sessions recusal on matters related to the 2016 campaign and the Russia investigation, while perhaps unnecessary, underscores his commitment to the restoring the rule of law, which after the Obama administrations abuse of power was sorely needed and was one of Trumps key campaign promises. Any attempt to remove him from office at this stage would be a catastrophic mistake. If the President expects the American people to stand by him in the months ahead on the tough road to draining the swamp, he must stand by those who have stood with him. Not only is Jeff Sessions an outstanding Attorney General, as the first Senator to endorse Trump, he is one of the major reasons Trump did solidly in the south during the GOP primary. He should prefer that Sessions continue running 99 percent of the Justice Department while the Russia investigation wraps up than to turn over 100 percent of DOJ to the deep state for the months or year that it would take to confirm a new Attorney General through a Senate that is, in many respects, still Democratic Party controlled. Indeed. We know little, if anything, about what happened at the formal between President Trump and Vladimir Putin after Trump told the autocrat-thug that he was honored to meet him. We know nothing about what transpired at the dinner in Hamburg after Trump sought out Putin for further discussion. But now we know what Trump has done for Putin since they met in Germany. He has ended a CIA program in Syria to arm and train non-jihadist Syrian rebels fighting the government of Bashar al-Assad, a mass murderer who is aligned not just with Russia, but with Iran and Hezbollah too. Ending the program is a massive concession to Putin. I agree with the U.S. official who told the Washington Post, this is a momentous decision that means Putin won in Syria. The administration says Trump made the decision to scrap the CIA program nearly a month ago, and thus well before he met with Putin. If this is true, then one hopes that the great deal maker who, from all that appears, has made no deal of much consequence in six months as president got something substantial from Putin in return for ending the CIA program. What did Trump get? We know he got a cease fire agreement with Russia in southwestern Syria, where many of the CIA-backed rebels have operated. Administration sources say this agreement was not tied to Trumps abandonment of the program to train and arm rebels. Im not so sure. In any case, who believes that a cease fire deal with Russia is likely to hold for one day longer than Russia determines is in Russian interests? I dont. U.S. officials say that Trumps decision is part of a larger strategy of negotiating limited cease fire deals with the Russians. Trump himself has said: We are working on the second cease-fire in a very rough part of Syria. If we get that and a few more, all of a sudden we are going to have no bullets being fired in Syria. This claim, if asserted honestly, strikes me as shockingly naive. Only with the capitulation or destruction of anti-Assad forces will Trumps vision of a bullet free Syria be accomplished. To me, it looks like Trump has contracted out our Syria policy to Putin sort of like President Obama did after failing to enforce the red line, only on a much larger scale. The Obama administration, feckless though it was, never abandoned its allies on the ground in Syria, and probably never would have without getting something more substantial in exchange than a bunch of cease fire deals. I agree with Noah Rothman that collaborating with Russia is a fools errand and that allowing Moscow to be the power broker in Syria. . .makes America and its allies less safe. I agree with Rothman on this point too: Moscow has made it a priority to execute airstrikes on American and British covert facilities in Syria, and Donald Trump has just rewarded those air strikes on U.S. targets. Trump has sacrificed the goodwill he garnered from Sunni-dominated Middle Eastern governments when he executed strikes on Assads assets and, as recently as June, the U.S. downed a Syrian warplane for attacking anti-ISIS rebels laying siege to the Islamic State capital of Raqqa. . . . [Trumps] concession to Russia is significant not just because it removes some pressure on Moscows vassal in Damascus. It sends a series of signals to the worlds bad actors, who will inevitably react. To be more specific: This move will only further embolden not just Russia and Syria but their mutual ally, the Islamic Republic of Iran. It will convince the regions Sunni actors that the United States is not on their sidea matter of increasing urgency in Iraq. The insurgency in Syria is unlikely to end so long as regional fighters have a means of getting into the country. America will simply sacrifice its leverage over those groups. And all of this for what? To garner goodwill with the bloody regime in Damascus? To court Moscow or Tehran? There is nothing to gain from cozying up to these regimes that is not offset by the sacrifice of American national interests and moral authority associated with rapprochement. For all of the Trump administrations criticisms of Barack Obamas policy with regard to those regimes, this decision suggests hes willing to double down on Obamas mistakes. I would go further than Rothman. When it comes to Syria at least, Trump has gone further down the road to appeasing Russia than Obama ever did. By PTI: Chandigarh, Jul 20 (PTI) The Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has clarified that a guideline for procurement of renewable power through competitive bidding would be notified shortly by the Centre, the Haryana government said today. Till then, projects may be set up under existing provisions of the Electricity Act, 2003 under section 62 wherein the State Regulatory Commission is to be approached for fixation of tariff, a Haryana government statement said here. advertisement The release, quoting a spokesman of Haryana Renewable Energy Development Agency (HAREDA), said that after the notification,any project developer may set up a project for generation of renewable energy as per the bidding guideline if it qualifies for the same. "In the National Tariff Policy 2016 purchase of power by the states from renewable energy sources has been contemplated through competitive bidding. "This created confusion among the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) as on the site identified by them no one else could bid. Therefore, HAREDA sought clarification from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy in this regard," the release said. It added that in the renewable energy policy of the Haryana government, there is a provision for setting up of renewable power projects by independent power producers on the site identified by them. For this, they have to submit their proposal along with detailed project report (DPR) to HAREDA. After approval of the DPR, they have to file a petition before the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC) for fixation of tariff for their projects for sale of power to the state grid. PTI SUN ABM --- ENDS --- By PTI: Mumbai, Jul 20 (PTI) All manufacturers, distributors and retailers, interested in selling drugs and medicines online will have to register themselves on an e-portal to be set up soon by the Centre, the Bombay High Court was told today. This information about the Centree proposed measure to regulate the online sale of drugs was given by the Maharashtra government to a bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice N M Jamdar. advertisement The state government gave the information during hearing by the court a plea of city resident M Patil, highlighting the malady of easy, online availability of medicines with students buying drugs on strength of fake medical prescriptions. The high court had earlier taken serious note of the malady and had asked the government as to what steps it proposed to take to tackle it. Additional government pleader P P Kakade told the court that a public notice had been issued by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in March this year on the need to plug the gaps in sale of drugs, including their online sale. "The objective of such regulation would be to ensure availability of right drugs that meet the standards of quality to every person, in need of medicines, curbing anti-microbial resistance and also regulating supply of medicines online or on internet to persons or other entities outside India," the notice said. "The government proposes to establish a robust e-enabled structure for regulating the sale of medicines. An electronic platform will be developed and maintained by an autonomous body under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare," the notice said. It added that all manufacturers will be required to register themselves with the portal and enter data relating to the sale of drugs on e-platform to different distributors. "All wholesalers and distributors will also be required to register themselves on the said portal and enter details of stocks received and supplied by them to further distributors or retailers," the notice said. "No retailer, chemist and e-pharmacist outlet shall be permitted to sell any medicine or drug unless such pharmacy is registered on the said portal. The pharmacy outlets will be required to enter details of all medicines/drugs received, sold, returned to the manufacturer or disposed of in any other manner," the notice said. The petition had raised concerns over the easy availability of drugs and medicines even without a doctors prescription as stipulated by the Drugs and Cosmetics Act. The Centre in its notice has said medicines included in the Schedule H, H1 and X of the said Act shall be dispensed or sold only on a medical practitioners prescription. advertisement "The details of medicines sold or dispensed will be entered in the e-platform and bills will be generated through the system. The details will include the prescribing doctors registration number and the name and registration number of the chemist and the quantity supplied," the notice said. The court perused the notice and posted the matter for further hearing after two weeks. PTI SP NRB RAX --- ENDS --- By PTI: (Eds: Adding details) New Delhi, Jul 20 (PTI) China intends to unilaterally change the status of the tri-junction with Bhutan, posing a challenge to Indias security, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said today. Observing that China was demanding the withdrawal of the Indian troops from the tri-junction point, she said India has been saying that both countries would have to withdraw their armies before amicably resolving the dispute through talks. advertisement Responding to supplementaries during Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha, Swaraj said "their (Chinas) intention was to reach the tri-junction so that they can unilaterally end the status of the tri-junction. It was only then that India came into the picture. "If China unilaterally changes the tri-junction point, then Indias security is challenged," she said, adding that Bhutan has protested in writing to China on this issue. Swaraj also said that the country has been alert about its security in the context of China building infrastructure in the South China Sea. India favours freedom of navigation and unimpeded commerce in the South China sea. On the standoff at Dokalam, she referred to the written agreement between India, China and Bhutan in 2012 that the three nations will together decide on the boundaries at the tri-junction point. The Minister said China has been constructing roads earlier too, but now they have brought in bulldozers and excavators. "We are saying that the matter can be resolved through talks, but both sides have to first take back their armies," she said. The Minister said the boundaries between India and China are yet to be finalised and the two nations will do that bilaterally through a mechanism already set up, while the same between China and Bhutan too will be done through talks. The Minister also said that India was not "unreasonable" on the issue and all nations were with it. Swaraj said "all countries are supporting us and they understand that the stand taken by India on the issue is not wrong" as they realise that China is getting aggressive with Bhutan. "Indias position is not wrong on the tri-junction and all nations are with it. The law is with our country and all are realising this," she said. Replying to a supplementary from Naresh Agrawal (SP), Swaraj said the principle of Panchsheel agreement between India and China is very much relevant today. Swaraj also said China has stated its objective of becoming a "maritime power" and as part of this strategy, it is developing ports and other infrastructure facilities in the littoral countries of the region, including in the vicinity of Indias maritime coundary. advertisement "To say that India is being surrounded, I would say that India is very alert about its security and that is why nobody can corner it," she said, when asked if China was aiming to surround India by setting up infrastructure in the South China Sea. She said Indias policy is very clear on South China Sea that there should be freedom of navigation and commerce should be unimpeded. "If there are any differences, they need to be sorted out through UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on Law of Sea). China had in 2012 said it wanted to become a maritime power and for achieveing that, it set up various ports and other facilities," she said. In response to another supplementary by Chhaya Verma (Cong), the minister said it was wrong to say that India had delayed in objecting to the OBOR (one belt, one road) issue. She claimed that the moment India got to know that the OBOR was being made a part of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), it objected to the move immediately. advertisement "Under the OBOR initiative, China is undertaking projects for development of infrastructure facilities in several countries in the region. The so-called CPEC which passes through Indian territory under illegal occupation of Pakistan, has been identified as a flagship project of OBOR," she said in her written reply. Swaraj said the governments consistent position is that Pakistan has been in illegal occupation of parts of Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir since 1947 and New Delhi conveyed to Beijing at the highest level, its concerns about their activities in PoK and asked them to cease such activities. "Government keeps a constant watch on all developments having a bearing on Indias security and takes all necessary measures to safeguard it," she said. PTI SKC ARC --- ENDS --- The Community FoodBank of New Jersey is hosting a weeklong fundraiser to help feed families in South Jersey. Feed A Family will run from July 30 to Aug. 6. Patrons may add $5 to their bill at one of the participating restaurants. One dollar allows the Community FoodBank to provide three meals for a family, and a $5 donation will provide meals for 15 families, the FoodBank wrote in a statement. For more information, visit cfbnj.org/event/feedafamily. A list of the participating restaurants is with this story at PressofAC.com. EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP Patients of Dr. James Kauffman, the jailed endocrinologist, have until 4 p.m. Friday to retrieve their medical records from his Ocean Heights Avenue practice before the office closes, according to staff there. A sign on the door of Atlantic Endocrinology Associates on Ocean Heights Avenue says the office will be open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday until July 21. Staff said records would not be available after that. Patients were told to call 609-653-0505 to get their records, as it would allow staff to gather them and be able to tell the patients whether the office is in possession of the records and whether they can have them ready when the patient arrives. After several emails and a visit to the office, patients voiced frustration that it was difficult to get through on the phone line. Inside the office, patients quietly lined up with drivers license or photo identification in hand to show staff members in order to pick up their medical records. Most transactions were pleasant and quick, and after wishing staff members well, the patients left with manila portfolios in their hands with the medical information they will need to take to their next doctor. Patients whose records were not physically in the office were told to contact the Atlantic County Prosecutors Office at 609-909-7800. A staffer said it could take a while for the records to be copied and returned but that the patient would eventually get them. Some patients records were seized June 13 by the FBI when Kauffmans office was raided in connection with a medical fraud investigation that resulted in an armed standoff between the doctor and police. Kauffman has been in jail since that time, and his license has been suspended in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He remains licensed in Florida. Kauffman, of Linwood, was charged with unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, possession of hollow-point bullets and obstruction of the administration of law. The charges are unrelated to an investigation into the 2012 killing of Kauffmans wife, April, a local radio personality and veterans advocate. According to county Prosecutor Damon G. Tyner, the FBI seized about 1,000 medical files out of the 9,000 to 10,000 files that were kept at Atlantic Endocrinology Associates, of which Kauffman was the sole practitioner. One of the many patients retrieving records was Ocean City teacher Andi Storey, of Northfield. Storey was there to pick up her husbands records and was told by a member of the Atlantic Endocrinology staff that the records were not there and to contact the Prosecutors Office. Dr. James Kauffman appeals ruling to keep him in jail MAYS LANDING Dr. James Kauffman has filed an appeal of a Superior Court judges decision t A staffer at Kauffmans office said they have been giving patients their records for the past three weeks, which she said is standard procedure when a practice closes permanently. Asked what about the patients who do not get to Kauffmans office before 4 p.m. Friday, the worker said, They will not be able to get them. She said those people who cannot get to the office can give written authority to a relative or another person who will need to show identification to pick up the records. Atlantic Endocrinology Associates is at 4030 Ocean Heights Ave. in Egg Harbor Township. A hardline Chinese newspaper today said that election of Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister has fuelled Hindu nationalism, which in turn is pushing India in to war with China. By Ananth Krishnan: China's State media have this past month waged a relentless campaign blaming India for "trespassing" into the Doklam region, where China's road-building into territory claimed by Bhutan triggered a standoff on June 16. Today, one Chinese English-language newspaper offered a rather bizarre explanation for the standoff: "rising Hindu nationalism in India". "India should be careful and not let religious nationalism push the two countries into war," wrote columnist Yu Ning in the Party-run Global Times, a hawkish tabloid that doesn't necessarily reflect official views and is known in China to often taken provocative stances aimed largely at raising the hackles of foreign audiences. advertisement Yu's commentary in the English-language edition, which is mainly read overseas, was headlined "Hindu nationalism risks pushing India into war with China". It said that "the election of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has fuelled the country's nationalist sentiments", and argued that the Modi government "can do nothing if religious nationalism becomes extreme, as shown in its failure to curb violent incidents against Muslims since he came to power in 2014." 'MODI TOOK ADVANTAGE OF HINDU NATIONALISM' "Modi took advantage of rising Hindu nationalism to come to power," it added. "Nationalist fervour that demands revenge against China has taken root in India since the border war. This, on one hand, has enhanced his prestige and ability to control the country, but on the other, has made India more subject to the influence of conservatives, thus hampering reform. In diplomacy, New Delhi is demanded to act tougher in foreign relations, especially toward countries like Pakistan and China. The border row this time is an action targeted at China that caters to the demand of India's religious nationalists." The commentary said that "regardless of China's call urging India to withdraw its troops that have crossed the border, New Delhi has continued its provocation". "Where the China-India competition goes hinges on each side's strength and wisdom," it said. "India is weaker than China in terms of national strength, but its strategists and politicians have shown no wisdom in preventing India's China policy from being kidnapped by rising nationalism. This will put India's own interests in jeopardy." Also read: Now, China moves military equipment to Tibet. Should India be scared? Also read: US keeps Pakistan on list of countries providing safe haven to terrorists Also read: India to develop missiles that can hit all of China even from southern bases --- ENDS --- By PTI: Kolkata, Jul 20 (PTI) BJP Rajya Sabha MP Roopa Ganguly, party general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and two other leaders were today summoned by the CID for questioning in connection with the Jalpaiguri child trafficking case. Reacting on the summons to the leaders, West Bengal BJP alleged that it was a conspiracy of ruling Trinamool Congress to tarnish the partys image. advertisement "A notice has been sent to Kailash Vijayvargiya and Roopa Ganguly and two others in connection with the case," a senior Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officer told PTI. "Vijayavargiya has been summoned to appear before our officers on July 24 while we will visit Gangulys residence for questioning on July 29," he said. The CID, a senior officer said, would question Ganguly over her alleged meeting with arrested former BJP womens wing general secretary Juhi Chowdhury, an accused in the case. The nursing home is alleged to have served as a cover for an international child trafficking racket. The agency also summoned BJP leader Samik Bhattacharya to appear before it tomorrow in connection with their probe into the alleged Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana scam that surfaced in the Basirhat area in North 24-Parganas district. West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh alleged that the summon to Vijayavargiya and Ganguly was a conspiracy hatched by the Trinamool Congress to tarnish the image of the BJP. "Though the prime accused has already admitted that she never met Ganguly and Vijayavargiya, the CID still issued the summon to them. This is absolutely unnecessary. It is because the TMC has failed to stop the BJP in the state they are using the CID. This is nothing but harassment of our leaders," Ghosh told PTI. "There is nothing in the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Scam scam. The CID has no evidence against Bhattacharya and by issuing the summon they are trying to harass him also," he said. The CID had arrested several persons including the head of a child protection agency in Darjeeling and a member of a child welfare committee on charges of selling babies and children through questionable adoption deals. These arrests were part of a widening probe into the adoption racket at the Bimala Shishu Griho, a childrens home in Jalpaiguri town. Sacked state BJP womens wing leader, Juhi Chowdhury, and the chief adoption officer of the childrens home Sonali Mondal, the homes chairperson Chandana Chakraborty and her brother Manas Bhowmik were arrested earlier. advertisement They have been charged with selling about 17 children, aged between one and 14 years, to foreigners by entering into shady adoption deals. The CID had unearthed the child trafficking racket during raids at homes and nursing homes in Baduria area of North 24 Parganas district, in Behala in the southern fringes of Kolkata and some other parts of south Bengal in November last year. PTI SCH MD DIP --- ENDS --- LONDON, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Since March 2017, Talent Spot has participated in activities held by the China-Britain Business Council (CBBC) and the Australia-China Business Council in the UK and Australia respectively. As a leading human resource service provider in Asia, Talent Spot explored "Various Ways of Investing in China" together with representatives of local enterprises to demonstrate their role and value of human resource services in cross boarder investment thus expanding their global presence. In the "Sino-UK Economic Forum" held by CBBC on March 28th, Talent Spot (www.talentspotgroup.com.cn) together with another Chinese enterprise Huawei was presented as a sponsor in the forum. In this forum, "How to meet your investment objectives in China through cost effective, legal and compliant human resource management within the constraint of China Labour Law," remained a topic of wide concern. With regards to this topic, Matthew Kong, Head of International Business, Talent Spot highlighted that "the rapid development of the Chinese economy has led to a constant change in the investment climate. The development of foreign-invested enterprises in China is also restricted by certain laws and regulations. All these 'restrictions' lead to 'opportunities' and also coupled with 'risks'. Therefore, it is recommended that any foreign enterprises planning to enter the Chinese market should make an effort to study the Chinese recruitment policies and also gain an in-depth understanding of the Chinese business market environment in advance. By doing so, this allows their business to grow stably and also the conversion of 'risks' to 'opportunities'." Matthew Kong was invited to deliver a speech in both activities, where he interpreted Chinese latest labour laws and shared successful case studies delivered by Talent Spot. "To meet overseas clients' actual need to enter into the Chinese markets, we provide customized talent solutions for various industries. So far, a well-known European retail enterprise has successfully entered into China with the support from the services of Talent Spot." Recently, Talent Spot was officially renamed as Talent Spot International with plans for global expansion. With branches in more than 30 cities across mainland China, Talent Spot also has branches in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and business partners in Malaysia and other Asian regions. In the near future, Talent Spot will further expand into the European markets. SOURCE Talent Spot The company also announces new global customers utilizing its best-in-class streaming, monetization and discovery technology including, Channel 5, Laguadere, Webmedia and Spiegel Online NEW YORK, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- JW Player, the world's largest network-independent video platform, today announced the expansion of its global operations with the launch of a European headquarters in London, and the opening of engineering and support operations in the Netherlands. The company also announced new strategic customer partnerships. The headquarters will serve as the central hub for JW Player's business development efforts in the UK and Europe. It will be headed by Ryan Beebe, recently named vice president of Enterprise Sales for EMEA, a senior sales executive who for the past five years has helped grow JW Player's diverse customer portfolio in the Americas. Additionally, to maximize support for JW Player's European customer base, the company added a team of engineering and support professionals in Eindhoven, Netherlands. "Our rapid global growth comes as nearly all companies and brands turn increasingly toward online and mobile video as a strategic imperative," said Beebe. "Our driving mission is helping media organizations and brands across Europe make the most of their video assets by extending reach, increasing engagement and driving revenue growth." JW Player also announced that the U.K's Channel 5 and the European Broadcast Union recently joined thousands of brands, media and broadcast organizations across the regionincluding Lagardere, Spiegel Online, Deutsche Welle, and Webmediathat use JW Player technology to deliver video, to increase audience and to drive monetization. Globally, JW Player's clients include many of the world's top content creators and media brands such as Red Bull, BBC America, VICE, WWE, Univision, Hearst and Fox News. These world class organizations benefit from JW Player's unique set of business solutions that integrate with any workflow and prioritize speed, API control, and audience growth across all viewing platforms. "We've established an amazing track record with some of the biggest publishers and brands in the U.S and around the world. As we continue to grow, it is important for JW Player to have a physical presence in Europe, where many of our customers are located," said Jeroen Wijering, cofounder and chief product officer of JW Player. "The company has roots in Europe from our earliest days, so it is very gratifying to be expanding our operations more aggressively into the region at this time. Our driving mission is helping media organizations and brands across the globe make the most of their video assets by extending reach, increasing engagement and driving revenue growth." About JW Player JW Player is the world's largest network-independent video platform. Founded in 2008 as the first open source video player, today JW Player's customers span the globe across 193 countries, and range from Fortune 500 companies to video-centric small businesses. The company's flagship product, JW Player, is live on more than 2 million sites with over 1.3 billion monthly unique viewers across all devices OTT, mobile and desktop. In addition to the player, the company's services include advertising, analytics, data services, video hosting and streaming. Media Contact Tim Gray Director of Communications & Public Relations tim@jwplayer.com (917) 202-9515 Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/146616/jw_player_logo.jpg Related Links http://www.jwplayer.com SOURCE JW Player (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/537411/Select_School_Travel_Chateau_du_Baffy.jpg ) Select feel strongly that as a school trips operator they have a responsibility to offer opportunities for schools whose social economic situations may make inclusion in trips challenging. The competition was launched with the intention of providing an opportunity for students who may never have been on a residential school trip before. Select also believes in the initiative of Learning Away's campaign for 'brilliant residentials' which asks schools, providers, and other related parties to pledge to work to provide more life changing experiences for young people. The campaign encourages considerations such as: recognition of how residential learning impacts on curriculum; promotion of the links between residentials and resilience/confidence; and recognition of the opportunities to support young people's emotional health and wellbeing. The winners of the competition have been selected this week as Sir Frederic Osborn School of Welwyn, submitted by Head of Humanities, Mr Broad. The entry clearly demonstrated that the opportunity would enable pupils to participate who had never been on a residential school trip before, allowing them the chance to integrate socially outside of a classroom environment, and affording opportunities to raise self-esteem and aspirations. These social and financial problems were aspect the judges felt important to take into consideration, but they also looked beyond to the type of learning to be gained from the trip. Rob Yandell, STO, on the winning entry: "I was impressed by the desire to offer a multi-subject trip covering History, Geography, French and RE, and the fact that this trip would fill a gap in what is offered; in this case, a residential for KS3 pupils." Mr Broad commented: "We are very excited at the opportunity this trip will provide for students who would not ordinarily have such an exciting learning experience. Our thanks to the organisers for providing this inspiring prospect." You can find out more about future initiatives at Select School Travel and also at the family brands Select School Tours, Chateau du Baffy and Select School Skiing. SOURCE Select School Travel Ltd By PTI: By Lalit K Jha Washington, Jul 20 (PTI) Reversing the Trump administrations move to slash aid to Tibetans to zero, a key congressional committee has approved a bill to maintain the decades-old American policy of providing financial assistance for Tibet and support "democracy and human rights programmes". The administration, in its maiden budget proposal in May, had cut the US aid to Tibet to zero, resulting in a huge disappointment to the large Tibetan community around the world. advertisement Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi had then expressed concern over the move. The US State Department, however, had described the decision as one of the "tough choices" it had to make as its budget itself had been slashed by more than 28 per cent. But in a report accompanying the State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill 2018, the House Appropriations Committee said it "continues to support democracy and human rights programmes for Tibet" and that "not less than the amounts provided in fiscal year 2017" be continued for such purposes. The appropriations will be effective for the next fiscal beginning October 1. The committees recommendation includes USD 1 million for the Office of the Special Coordinator for Tibetan issues. Noting that the Tibetan language services of Voice of America and Radio Free Asia (RFA) provide the only sources of independent information accessible to the people of Tibet, the committee recommendation provides USD 42 million for RFA, including funds to continue the Tibetan language service. It also recommended USD 8 million - same as the 2017 fiscal year - to support activities that preserve cultural traditions and promote sustainable development and environmental conservation among Tibetan communities in the Tibetan Autonomous Region and other Tibetan autonomous areas in China. Noting that Tibetans in South Asia face developmental challenges, it has proposed USD 6 million to continue to support the community in India and Nepal in the areas of education, skills development and entrepreneurship. The House Appropriations Committee in its report supported the continued allocation of funds to assist Tibetan refugees in Nepal and India - commensurate with prior years. The committee expressed concerns over the reports that Nepal has handed over Tibetan refugees to Chinese border authorities, in contravention of Kathmandus international obligations to protect refugees fleeing persecution. "The committee supports efforts by the Secretary of State to work with the Government of Nepal to provide safe transit for Tibetan refugees and legal protections to Tibetans residing in Nepal," the report said. An Economic Support Fund will be made available for programmes to preserve Tibetan culture, development, and the resilience of Tibetan communities in India and Nepal, and to assist in the education and development of the next generation of Tibetan leaders from such communities, according to the bill. advertisement According to a CRS report, the total financial assistance to the Tibetan cause was more than USD 24 million in 2014. Since 2014, there has been a gradual decline in Tibetan funding. The House Appropriations Committee, however, proposes to reverse that trend. PTI LKJ CK ABH --- ENDS --- COLUMBIA FALLS, Maine, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Join us for a historic day of honor and tribute. On Saturday, July 29, 2017, members of the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (the Old Guard), including unit Commanders, the U.S. Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, Continental Color Guard and the U.S. Army Drill Team, will be in Downeast Maine to participate in a veterans remembrance tree-tagging event. The afternoon event, co-sponsored by national nonprofit Wreaths Across America, will culminate with a concert free for all veterans and active duty military at the Balsam Valley Amphitheater where The U.S. Army Field Band's Six-String Soldiers will perform prior to the featured act, the legendary rock band KANSAS. A complete listing of the day's public events with times can be found at the end of this release. Included in this public event will be a ceremony unveiling the newly designated "Old Guard Memorial Grove." The grove will be located on the tip land where balsam is harvested to create the remembrance wreaths that are placed at Arlington National Cemetery and across the country each December as part of National Wreaths Across America Day. There, tree branches will forever carry replica dog tags with the names of those service members who have passed. Every three years the trees will be "tipped" or pruned to gather balsam brush to make veterans remembrance wreaths that are placed on military headstones. Especially meaningful is the location of the Grove, which is adjacent to the soon-to-be-opened Medal of Honor Remembrance Park. From this vantage point, The Old Guard will continue to stand watch over America's fallen heroes. Public event timeline: 2:30 3:30 p.m. Unveiling ceremony for the "Old Guard Memorial Grove" Open to the public; please use tip land entrance across from County Concrete (125 Pit Rd.) 4:30 p.m. Gates open to Balsam Valley Amphitheater Always FREE to all veterans and active duty military 5:45 p.m. Performance by the U.S. Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, The U.S. Army Drill Team and the Continental Color Guard 6:30 p.m. Performance by the Six-String Soldiers of the U.S. Army Field Band 7:15 p.m. Children sing-along of "I'm an American. Yes, I am!" with Six-String Soldiers Open to ALL attending children 8:00 p.m. Performance by rock band KANSAS 9:30 p.m. Fireworks display "We are so excited to be bringing this once-in-a-lifetime event to Maine," said Renee Worcester, event manager, Balsam Valley Amphitheater. "From the U.S. Army Drill Team's amazing routines with bayonets flying through the air to a sing-along with the Six-String Soldiers, all leading to a performance by KANSASthis will be a can not miss event!" About The Old Guard (fact sheets available upon request) The 3d U.S. Infantry, traditionally known as "The Old Guard," is the oldest active-duty infantry unit in the Army, serving our nation since 1784. The Old Guard is the Army's official ceremonial unit and escort to the president, and it also provides security for Washington, D.C., in times of national emergency or civil disturbance. The unit received its unique name from Gen. Winfield Scott during a victory parade in Mexico City in 1847 following its valorous performance in the Mexican War. Fifty five campaign streamers attest to the 3rd Infantry's long history of service, which spans from the Battle of Fallen Timbers to World War II, Vietnam and the current Global War on Terrorism. Since World War II, The Old Guard has served as the official Army Honor Guard and escort to the president. In that capacity, 3rd Infantry Soldiers are responsible for the conducting of military ceremonies at the White House, the Pentagon, national memorials and elsewhere in the National Capital Region. In addition, Soldiers of The Old Guard maintain a 24-hour vigil at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, provide final honors for military funerals at Arlington National Cemetery and participate in parades at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall and Fort Lesley J. McNair. About the Six-String Soldiers (fact sheet available upon request) Part of The United States Army Field Band, Six-String Soldiers is a three-member acoustic group performing Americana, folk, bluegrass, and Irish music in an informal setting. The group brings its signature style to the smallest most intimate venues, the busiest public places, and music festivals across the United States. Honoring veterans and telling stories of American soldiers across the nation, the Six-String Soldiers offer one of the most personal musical experiences found in the United States Army. Six-String Soldiers' social media videos have become viral sensations and earned acclaim from many of the covered songs' original artists, such as Micky Dolenz of The Monkees, The Doobie Brothers, and John Fogerty. About KANSAS With a legendary career spanning more than four decades, KANSAS has firmly established itself as one of America's iconic classic rock bands. This "garage band" from Topeka released their debut album in 1974 after being discovered by Wally Gold, who worked for Don Kirshner and have gone on to sell more than 30 million albums worldwide. Composing a catalogue that includes fifteen studio albums and five live albums, KANSAS has produced eight gold albums, three sextuple-Platinum albums (Leftoverture, Point of Know Return, Best of KANSAS), one platinum live album (Two for the Show), and two one million-selling gold singles, Carry On Wayward Son and Dust in the Wind. KANSAS appeared on the Billboard charts for over 200 weeks throughout the '70s and '80s and played to sold-out arenas and stadiums throughout North America, Europe and Japan. Carry On Wayward Son continues to be one of the top five most played songs on classic rock radio, and Dust In the Wind has been played on the radio more than three million times! About Wreaths Across America Wreaths Across America is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded to continue and expand the annual wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery begun by Maine businessman Morrill Worcester in 1992. The organization's mission Remember, Honor, Teach is carried out in part each year by coordinating wreath-laying ceremonies in December at Arlington, as well as at thousands of veterans' cemeteries and other locations in all 50 states and beyond. For more information, to sponsor wreaths or to sign up to volunteer, please visit www.WreathsAcrossAmerica.org. SOURCE Wreaths Across America Related Links http://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org NEW YORK, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The legal marijuana market continues to gain momentum, driven by increasing public acceptance and an increasing number of investors looking for viable opportunities on a crowded playing field. According to a recent Gallup poll[1], 60 percent of Americans now support the legalization of marijuana. As the playing field continues to grow in diversification and size, some of the most recognizable and frequently seen names are ChineseInvestors.com, Inc. (OTC: CIIX) (CIIX Profile), Terra Tech Corp. (OTC: TRTC), Medical Marijuana, Inc. (OTC: MJNA), Marijuana Company of America, Inc. (OTC: MCOA) and CV Sciences, Inc. (OTC: CVSI). The market presence of ChineseInvestors.com, Inc. (OTC: CIIX) is increasing significantly as the company continues to diversify its entry points into the cannabis space. CIIX aims to become the world's leading publicly traded Chinese medical cannabis company and is focused on investing in the distribution and R&D of cannabidiol-based (CBD) health products and medicines to Chinese-speaking customers throughout the world. Though marijuana is currently illegal in China, cannabis-based oils are not, which gives CIIX prime access to a market of almost 2 billion customers in China. Additionally, CIIX is expanding its footprint to other countries, having recently incorporated CBD Biotechnology Inc. in British Columbia, Canada. This subsidiary will focus on R&D and distribution of health products that include hemp-based CBD, food and beverage items in Canada. Recently, CIIX released (http://nnw.fm/w3pbB) news that it's wholly owned Chinesehempoil.com, Inc. subsidiary will now officially accept bitcoin payments, enabling customers purchasing hemp-based health products, foods and beverages to use bitcoin alongside other more common payment methods like PayPal and credit cards. This will enable cannabis customers to complete non-cash transactions in countries with government restrictions in place that limit banking options for cannabis businesses, like the United States. CIIX is additionally readying its first retail store to open for business in the primarily Chinese community of San Gabriel, California. This store will be among the first to offer CIIX's new OptHemp health product line, which includes the company's first private label product, OptHemp Ultra Premium Hemp Oil. OptHemp has been launched by Chinesehempoil.com and is crafted using a formula that has been optimized for management of inflammation and pain. It is GMO-free and is grown in organic farms in Colorado using a CO2 extraction technology. The December 2016 launch of the ChineseCBDoil.com website in the free-trade zone of Shanghai, China, was another CIIX milestone. This site is the first CBD health products online store to be offered in the Chinese language, and, alongside its launch, the company additionally introduced the first Chinese language Yelp-style social media app, which offers a database of cannabis dispensaries and marijuana strains along with a platform for reviewing and discussing cannabis products, maps of dispensary locations and more. The app has been approved by the Apple store. A May 2017 research report issued by Consilium Global Research (http://nnw.fm/a13sJ) projected that CIIX will grow at a CAGR of about 100 percent through 2020 and that the company will attain revenues of $14.8 million by fiscal year 2020, while the underlying market is expected to grow at a rate of 80 percent. Another promising legal cannabis play is Terra Tech Corp. (OTCQX: TRTC), a vertically integrated agriculture company with multiple subsidiaries in the medical cannabis space. The company's focus is on consistently cultivating and providing high-quality medical marijuana to qualified, registered medical marijuana establishments while furthering researching in the medical cannabis industry to eventuate the cultivation and cross-breeding of marijuana strains that can treat various ailments. Terra Tech is uniquely positioned to operate safe and successful medical marijuana cultivation facilities throughout the United States as cannabis use approval advances across the country. The company recently received its Dual Use Marijuana business licenses from the state of Nevada, enabling its four Blum cannabis dispensaries in that state to begin adult-use cannabis sales. Medical Marijuana, Inc. (OTC: MJNA) is distinguished as the first company to have made hemp-based CBD products available in the U.S. and globally, having found legal means of offering these products in the U.S. despite federal restrictions on cannabis. MJNA is providing high-quality cannabis-derived products that feature non-psychoactive cannabinoids like CBD, which boasts various potential health applications independent of reliance on tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Going outside the U.S. to grow low-THC varieties of cannabis (hemp), MJNA offers CBD hemp oil from carefully cultivated hemp plants and imports it into the U.S. CBD hemp oil is fully legal in the U.S. and is non-psychoactive, containing a full spectrum of phyto-cannabinoids and high CBD content with almost no THC. MJNA's products include pure CBD oil, oil capsules, oil chewing gum, oil tinctures, sprays and liquids, as well as CBD vaporizers, vape oil, vaporizer pens, and hemp oil body care. In addition to MJNA's success in offering legal hemp-based CBD products in the U.S., the company has also broken into markets in Mexico, Brazil and Europe. The first office for MJNA's subsidiary, HempMeds Mexico, opened in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico in June 2017. Marijuana Company of America (OTC: MCOA) markets and distributes hemp to provide investors an opportunity to be at the forefront of cannabis and hemp innovation, cultivation, processing and distribution. MCOA's focus is on producing a diverse portfolio of synergistic companies that deliver value to shareholders. The company's vertically integrated business model has ideally positioned it and its partners for rapid growth. MCOA's portfolio of brands, investments and joint ventures includes hempSMART, Club Harmoneous, Bougainville, GateC Research and MoneyTrac Technology. Another interesting marijuana play, CV Sciences, Inc. (OTCQB: CVSI), operates two distinct business segments: a drug development division focused on the development and commercialization of novel therapeutics using synthetic CBD; and a consumer product division that manufactures, markets and sells plant-based CBD products. The company's pharmaceutical division is focused on developing synthetically formulated CBD-based medicines and is pursuing FDA approval for drugs that have specific indications utilizing CBD as the active pharmaceutical ingredient. The company has achieved promising preclinical results in developing CBD medicines for the treatment of a variety of medical conditions, with its pipeline currently including CVSI-007 to support the cessation of smokeless tobacco use and addiction. The company's consumer products include PlusCBD Oil and Purified Liquids. For investors seeking action in the legal marijuana market, the named companies offer the chance to participate in an interesting array of industry niches, making the case for further due diligence and market research. Editorial Sources: (1) Gallup http://nnw.fm/Cq0ZA (2) Arcview http://nnw.fm/HWqF6 For more information on ChineseInvestors.com please visit: ChineseInvestors.com (CIIX) or http://www.ChineseInvestors.com About NetworkNewsWire NetworkNewsWire (NNW) is an information service that provides to users (1) access to our news aggregation and syndication servers, (2) enhanced press release services, and (3) a full array of social communication solutions. As a multifaceted financial news and content distribution company with an extensive team of contributing journalists and writers, NNW is uniquely positioned to best serve private and public companies that desire to reach a wide audience of investors, consumers, journalists and the general public. 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The forward-looking statements in this release are made as of the date hereof and NNW and FNM undertake no obligation to update such statements. Media Contact e-mail: FN Media Group, LLC [email protected] +1-954-345-0611 SOURCE NetworkNewsWire CHICAGO and ATLANTA, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Negative publicity not only damages a company's brand, but also its ability to recruit talent. According to the latest CareerBuilder survey, 71 percent of U.S. workers would not apply to a company experiencing negative press. Female workers are much more likely not to apply to a company experiencing negative press than their male counterparts, 79 percent compared to 61 percent respectively. The national survey, which was conducted online by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder from May 24 to June 16, 2017, included representative samples of 2,369 full-time employers and 3,462 full-time U.S. workers across industries and company sizes in the private sector. "In today's 24/7 news cycle and social media world, earning and maintaining a good reputation can be a challenge," said Rosemary Haefner, chief human resources officer at CareerBuilder. "It's easier than ever before for job seekers to research potential employers. Employers that value transparency and take a proactive approach to issues or complaints will have a better chance of securing trust and loyalty and maintaining a positive reputation that can strengthen their recruitment and retention strategies." Negative press and the bottom line Bad publicity can have a serious ripple effect across companies. More than a quarter of employers (26 percent) say their company has experienced negative publicity, resulting in a hit to their hiring process. Sixty-one percent of these employers combined report fewer job offers being accepted, fewer candidate referrals from employees and fewer job applications as a result of the negative publicity. Other negative impacts to the business included lower employee morale, higher voluntary employee turnover and a decline in sales. Bad publicity may turn off candidates from applying but it rarely deters current workers from leaving their jobs. Less than 1 in 10 workers (6 percent) have left a company because of negative publicity. Positive press, positive results While negative news travels faster in our social world, companies should share their positive news to strengthen their company overall. Nearly 4 in 5 employers who have experienced positive press have seen beneficial impacts such as: Higher morale among employees (42 percent) Employees were most likely to share positive things about the company on social channels (36 percent) Boost in sales (36 percent) More job applications (32 percent) More job candidate referrals from employees (22 percent) More job offers being accepted (21 percent) Lower voluntary employee turnover (19 percent) Survey Methodology This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder among 2,369 hiring and human resource managers ages 18 and over (employed full-time, not self-employed, non-government) and 3,462 employees ages 18 and over (employed full-time, not self-employed, non-government) between May 24 and June 16, 2017 (percentages for some questions are based on a subset, based on their responses to certain questions). With pure probability samples of 2,369 and 3,462, one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have sampling errors of +/- 2.01 and +/- 1.67 percentage points, respectively. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies. About CareerBuilder CareerBuilder is a global, end-to-end human capital solutions company focused on helping employers find, hire and manage great talent. Combining advertising, software and services, CareerBuilder leads the industry in recruiting solutions, employment screening and human capital management. It also operates top job sites around the world. CareerBuilder and its subsidiaries operate in the United States, Europe, Canada and Asia. For more information, visit www.careerbuilder.com. Media Contact Rachel Nauen 773-353-3803 [email protected] http://www.twitter.com/CareerBuilderPR SOURCE CareerBuilder Related Links http://www.careerbuilder.com SANTA CLARA, Calif., July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Acalvio Technologies, an innovator in Advanced Threat Defense, today announced the immediate availability of ShadowPlex-R, a comprehensive, distributed-deception solution for early, accurate and cost-effective detection and mitigation of ransomware. ShadowPlex-R is based on Acalvio's patented Deception 2.0 technology, which delivers automated and authentic enterprise-scale deception with low IT impact. ShadowPlex-R integrates with Splunk Enterprise Security (Splunk ES) to deliver comprehensive threat intelligence and ensure timely and efficient remediation for customers. Acalvio is a member of the Splunk Adaptive Response Initiative, which brings together leading vendors to leverage end-to-end context and automated response to help organizations better combat advanced attacks through a unified defense. Acalvio is offering a free trial of ShadowPlex-R which can be obtained here (http://acalvio.com/ransomware). Acalvio (booth #365) and Splunk (booth #1254) will be participating at Black Hat USA 2017 where security specialists will be available to demonstrate the capabilities of ShadowPlex-R and discuss the benefits of Deception 2.0 technology. "Ransomware is the latest scourge of the internet, extorting millions of dollars from people and organizations after infecting and encrypting their systems," said Bryan Sartin, Executive Director, Global Security Services, Verizon Enterprise Solutions. "We have seen ransomware jump from the 22nd most common variety of malware in the 2014 DBIR to the fifth most common in this year's data. In the past year, we have seen more technical and process innovation in ransomware than we have seen since the invention of Bitcoin-enabled anonymous payments. Fueled by the success of early attacks, organized criminal groups will continue to utilize ransomware to extort money. A solution, such as ShadowPlex-R, is needed to address today's growing ransomware problem." The market for ransomware protection is projected to grow to $17.36B by 2021, at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 16.3% according to a recent report by MarketsandMarkets. This demonstrates the compelling need for more sophisticated security solutions to address the ransomware problem. Moving forward, it will be important for organizations to utilize a deception-centric solution to detect ransomware for its inherent advantages over traditional detection solutions. ShadowPlex-R's patent-pending algorithms quickly detect and stop ransomware and its crippling effects. Specific benefits include: Effective Detection: ShadowPlex-R presents attackers with a comprehensive palette of realistic and non-fingerprintable decoys, lures, baits and breadcrumbs that blend in with an organization's production assets. These serve as sensors and any compromise to them results in very high fidelity detection. ShadowPlex-R presents attackers with a comprehensive palette of realistic and non-fingerprintable decoys, lures, baits and breadcrumbs that blend in with an organization's production assets. These serve as sensors and any compromise to them results in very high fidelity detection. Scalable and Flexible Deployment: ShadowPlex-R employs a DevOps approach to deploying deceptions. By dynamically and automatically deploying the most effective and relevant deceptions, ShadowPlex-R dramatically reduces the cost of operation compared to first generation deception products. By delivering deception from and to public clouds, private clouds and on-premises environments, organizations can deploy dynamic deceptions wherever their assets are deployed. ShadowPlex-R employs a DevOps approach to deploying deceptions. By dynamically and automatically deploying the most effective and relevant deceptions, ShadowPlex-R dramatically reduces the cost of operation compared to first generation deception products. By delivering deception from and to public clouds, private clouds and on-premises environments, organizations can deploy dynamic deceptions wherever their assets are deployed. Low IT Impact: ShadowPlex-R dramatically lowers the cost of operation while simultaneously increasing efficacy, when compared to first generation deception products, by dynamically and automatically deploying the most effective and relevant deceptions. "Our solution represents a fundamental leap over prevailing signature-based and anomaly-based approaches," said Ram Varadarajan, CEO, Acalvio. "ShadowPlex-R builds on our Deception 2.0 platform to detect ransomware in the most efficient fashion, and leverages Splunk to deliver comprehensive threat intelligence and timely remediation. Through a unique combination of distributed deception and Splunk, ShadowPlex-R provides a fundamentally new and effective way to detect and respond to Ransomware." "Ransomware is a rapidly growing problem and requires a new approach to keep up with the rapid pace of its development," said Michael Osterman, Principal Analyst of Osterman Research. "Acalvio's unique and clever use of deception technology, plus its integration with Splunk's Threat Intelligence and Adaptive Response solution, promises to offer a robust and effective method of minimizing the likelihood of a ransomware infection." "The growing threat of ransomware is leaving Security Operations Centers (SOCs) around the world scrambling for better answers. With ShadowPlex-R and its integration with Splunk Enterprise Security, Acalvio has created a first-of-its-kind solution to help detect and stop ransomware in its tracks," said Haiyan Song, senior vice president of security markets, Splunk. "By combining delivery of high-fidelity alerts and comprehensive threat intelligence specific to ransomware with the Adaptive Response framework provided by Splunk Enterprise Security, Acalvio has built an innovative solution that helps enable faster detection and remediation against ransomware. We're proud to partner with Acalvio to assist organizations around the world as they employ new detection techniques and address ransomware with security analytics." "ShadowPlex-R is one of the most innovative solutions currently available in the ransomware space," said Golan Ben-Oni, CIO at IDT Corporation. "The combination of low false positives, low IT impact and cost-effectiveness makes it one of the most compelling solutions in the industry. We are very pleased to partner with Acalvio in this effort." ShadowPlex is a comprehensive, distributed deception platform that provides early, accurate and cost-effective detection of malicious activity within the enterprise. ShadowPlex is built on Acalvio's patented Deception 2.0 technology which alleviates inherent structural limitations of Deception 1.0 solutions by leveraging data science and dynamic deception. It represents a quantum leap in architectural advancement that delivers scale, automation and authenticity with low IT overhead. ShadowPlex is designed for flexible deployment on-premises, private clouds and public clouds. The platform has pre-built integration with major security information event management (SIEM) systems for delivering comprehensive threat intelligence. Acalvio and Splunk will be hosting a webinar on August 10 at 10 a.m. (PST), where Xuefeng Bai, Senior Solutions Engineer of Acalvio and Vijay Chauhan, Director, Global Strategic Alliances Security Markets of Splunk, will provide a deep dive on how the companies are providing early, accurate and cost-effective detection and mitigation of ransomware. For more information on Acalvio and ShadowPlex, please visit http://acalvio.com/ and follow the company on Twitter at @AcalvioTech and on LinkedIn. About Acalvio Acalvio provides Advanced Threat Defense solutions to detect, engage and respond to malicious activity inside the perimeter. The solutions are anchored on patented innovations in Deception and Data Science. This enables a DevOps approach to deploying enterprise-scale pervasive deception, with low IT administrative overhead. Acalvio delivers comprehensive threat intelligence by integrating with other 'best in class' solutions in the security industry, enabling customers to benefit from defense in depth; reduce false positives; and derive actionable intelligence for remediation. The Silicon Valley based company is led by an experienced team with a track record of innovation and market leadership and backed by marquee investors. For more information, please visit www.acalvio.com PR Contact: John Kreuzer (408) 896-3307 [email protected] SOURCE Acalvio Technologies NEW YORK, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Inc. (NYSE: ANW) ("Aegean" or the "Company") today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Jonathan Mcilroy as President, effective immediately. "Following a comprehensive search process, we are pleased to appoint a leader of Jonathan's caliber as President of Aegean," said Yiannis Papanicolaou, Interim Chairman of the Board. "Having joined Aegean in January 2016, over the last 18 months, Jonathan has played a critical role in successfully expanding Aegean's back-to-back trading division and worked with all the group's physical supply stations to drive growth in contracted volumes with major clients. Jonathan was initially recruited to bring a fresh international perspective to all aspects of the business including physical supply, back-to-back trading, sales & marketing and credit policies. Since joining Aegean, Jonathan fully engaged his 25 years of experience of working with ship operating clients, traders and third party physical suppliers in all major regional markets for shipping and bunkering globally and opened new marketing offices, recruited top talent and developed group strategies to better reflect the state of today's bunker markets." Mr. Papanicolaou continued, "While serving as Aegean's Global Trading Manager, Jonathan developed strong customer relationships and broadened Aegean's exposure in all shipowning and operating segments of the maritime industry. With significant industry experience and familiarity with Aegean's unique platform, we are confident in Jonathan's ability to lead our strategic shift to a more profitable model." Mr. Mcilroy said, "Aegean has established a global platform with a reputation for high-quality customer service and I am honored to serve as President. I look forward to working alongside this talented group to continue to deploy resources into the most effective and profitable markets. Aegean is well positioned for continued success and I am excited to lead this company and enhance shareholder value." The Company also announced that Jean Jose ("JJ") Metey, who has served as interim President since June 2017, has been appointed Vice President and Head of Corporate Development, effective immediately. Mr. Papanicolaou said, "On behalf of the Board, I thank JJ for serving as interim President and for his assistance during a seamless transition process. We look forward to JJ's continued contributions to Aegean as Vice President and Head of Corporate Development." About Jonathan Mcilroy Mr. Mcilroy has nearly 25 years of experience in the shipping, energy and bunker trading markets. Mr. Mcilroy has served as Global Trading Manager of Aegean since January 2016. As Global Trading Manager, Mr. Mcilroy managed the expansion of the back-to-back trading division and has helped developed the commercial strategy, global marketing efforts and credit policies. Prior to joining Aegean, Mr. Mcilroy served as a Marketing Manager at Cockett Marine Oil from 2012 to 2015. Previously, he was a Credit Manager at Peninsula Petroleum from 2005 to 2012. Before Peninsula Petroleum, Mr. Mcilroy held roles with Platts, Infospectrum Ltd and MRC Business Information Ltd. Mr. Mcilroy received a BA and an MA with First Class Honors from the University of Oxford, Trinity College. About Jean Jose Metey Mr. Metey, Director of Corporate Development at Aegean, has more than 30 years of management and executive experience in the oil and servicing industry. Prior to joining Aegean in 2006, Mr. Metey spent more than 20 years in various roles with BP OIL, including Head of Bunkering with BP France and BP OIL U.K. and General Manager of Business Development at BP OIL International Supply and Trading in London. About Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Inc. Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Inc. is an international marine fuel logistics company that markets and physically supplies refined marine fuel and lubricants to ships in port and at sea. The Company procures product from various sources (such as refineries, oil producers, and traders) and resells it to a diverse group of customers across all major commercial shipping sectors and leading cruise lines. Currently, Aegean has a global presence in over 30 markets and a team of professionals ready to serve our customers wherever they are around the globe. For additional information please visit: www.ampni.com. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Matters discussed in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides safe harbor protections for forward-looking statements in order to encourage companies to provide prospective information about their business. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements, which are other than statements of historical facts. The Company desires to take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and is including this cautionary statement in connection with this safe harbor legislation. The words "believe," "intend," "anticipate," "estimate," "project," "forecast," "plan," "potential," "may," "should," "expect" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions, including without limitation, our management's examination of historical operating trends, data contained in our records and other data available from third parties. Although we believe that these assumptions were reasonable when made, because these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond our control, we cannot assure you that we will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs or projections. In addition to these important factors, other important factors that, in our view, could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements include our ability to manage growth, our ability to maintain our business in light of our proposed business and location expansion, our ability to attract and retain senior management and other key employees, our ability to obtain double hull secondhand bunkering tankers, the outcome of legal, tax or regulatory proceedings to which we may become a party, adverse conditions in the shipping or the marine fuel supply industries, our ability to retain our key suppliers and key customers, material disruptions in the availability or supply of crude oil or refined petroleum products, changes in the market price of petroleum, including the volatility of spot pricing, increased levels of competition, compliance or lack of compliance with various environmental and other applicable laws and regulations, our ability to collect accounts receivable, changes in the political, economic or regulatory conditions in the markets in which we operate, and the world in general, our failure to hedge certain financial risks associated with our business, our ability to maintain our current tax treatments and our failure to comply with restrictions in our credit agreements and other factors. Please see our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a more complete discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties. SOURCE Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Inc. Related Links http://www.ampni.com MINNEAPOLIS, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- African Development Center of Minnesota announced its $300,000 Wells Fargo grant today which will help expand Minnesota diverse-owned small businesses. The ADC was among 14 CDFIs selected around the country for round three of the six-round Wells Fargo Diverse Community Capital (DCC) program. Through the program, Wells Fargo will distribute $75 million over three years to CDFIs private, nonprofit financial institutions like ADC that assist underserved populations. "Basic economic security remains out of reach for too many of the Twin Cities' 130,000 African immigrants and refugees," said Nasibu Sareva, Executive Director of African Development Center of Minnesota. "The ADC is a critical resource for integrating the African communities of Minnesota and this grant will allow us to further stimulate markets among the state's growing ethnic communities which will benefit all Minnesotans." ADC is dedicated to the economic empowerment and success of African immigrants. Minnesota is home to over one-hundred thousand African immigrants, many of whom face language, cultural, and religious barriers. ADC actively works to reduce these barriers and create a path for African immigrants to achieve financial success. "This grant will allow the African Development Center of Minnesota the ability to provide more capital to African immigrants interested in starting or growing their small business, said Paige Harris, vice president, Wells Fargo Community Lending and Investment. "Increasing access to capital is an important first step in helping more diverse businesses start and succeed in Minnesota." About African Development Center of Minnesota The African Development Center grows businesses, builds wealth and increases reinvestment in the African communities of Minnesota. ADC is a leader in micro-lending to small businesses, outperforming even the largest banking institutions in the state of Minnesota. With the help of eight dedicated full-time employees, an Executive & Finance Committee and a Board of Trustees, ADC provides services in 6 languages to communities throughout Minnesota. About Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.9 trillion in assets. Wells Fargo's vision is to satisfy our customers' financial needs and help them succeed financially. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 8,500 locations, 13,000 ATMs, the internet (wellsfargo.com) and mobile banking, and has offices in 42 countries and territories to support customers who conduct business in the global economy. With approximately 271,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 25 on Fortune's 2017 rankings of America's largest corporations. News, insights and perspectives from Wells Fargo are also available at Wells Fargo Stories. Photos and further information: www.adcminnesota.org. SOURCE African Development Center of Minnesota Related Links http://www.adcminnesota.org HOUSTON, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- alliantgroup congratulates the leaders of the State of Illinois for renewing their state research and development tax credit. The credit, which had originally expired on December 31, 2015, was given a five-year extension as part of recently passed state budget legislation. The extension runs retroactively through 2021, meaning Illinois-based companies can now claim their credits for tax year 2016 and that 2015 credits are now available for fiscal year filers. "This is tremendous news for Illinois businesses," said alliantgroup CEO, Dhaval Jadav. "Now these companies will be able to invest and strategize around the credit knowing that it will be available for the foreseeable future. With this extension, the state's government has provided much-needed certainty for Illinois business owners." The extension of the state R&D tax credit has many benefits for Illinois's economy and businesses. Over the years, the credit has provided companies the capital needed to hire new employees, reinvest in internal R&D and new product lines, purchase new equipment and remain competitive against foreign markets. The credit has given businesses a reason to stay in the state, and in return, these companies have created jobs and stimulated economic opportunity within their local communities. Just as the federal R&D tax credit has done for American companies, Illinois's R&D tax credit has opened doors and expanded the growth potential of many state businesses. "I have seen first-hand over the years the importance of R&D tax credits at both the state and federal level," said Jadav. "These incentives have allowed companies to keep their doors open and thrive in a competitive marketplace. They have also given businesses the opportunity to swing for the fences when it comes to funding R&D-based endeavors. From Illinois to both the east and west coasts, I would encourage all business owners to look into these valuable incentives." alliantgroup is a leading tax consultancy that assists American companies and their CPAs in properly identifying and claiming all available federal and state tax incentives. We have helped more than 20,000 businesses claim over $5 billion in government-sponsored tax credits and incentives. alliantgroup's headquarters is in Houston and the firm has offices nationwide including in Chicago, New York, Irvine, Boston, Indianapolis, Orlando, Sacramento and Washington, D.C. For more information on alliantgroup and our R&D tax credit services, please visit alliantgroup on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Media Contact: David Rosen alliantgroup 713-350-3167 [email protected] SOURCE alliantgroup Related Links https://www.alliantgroup.com In a study released today in JCI Insight , Feinstein Institute researchers found that the FDA-approved Alzheimer's drug "galantamine" cut key markers of inflammation a hallmark of metabolic syndrome by more than 25 percent, leading to reduced insulin resistance. A cluster of four risk factors increased blood pressure, a high blood sugar level, excess body fat around the waist and abnormal cholesterol levels comprise metabolic syndrome, which greatly raises risks for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. But there is no treatment for metabolic syndrome as a whole, leaving physicians to tackle the condition by treating symptoms. From previous studies at the Feinstein Institute, Associate Professor Valentin A. Pavlov, PhD, and his colleagues knew that galantamine derived synthetically from flowers used in Greek mythology to combat memory loss and delirium lessened inflammation levels in mice with obesity. Since inflammation plays a key role in metabolic syndrome, they decided to study the effect of galantamine in people with the condition. "It's been very tough to come up with a treatment that targets all the components of metabolic syndrome, which is becoming a pandemic because it stems from obesity," said Dr. Pavlov, corresponding author of the new research. "By repurposing galantamine, it means we don't have to start from zero to establish its safety. We already know it's safe." "Galantamine can target the entire syndrome as well as targeting components of the syndrome," added study co-author Yael Tobi Harris, MD, chief of endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism at North Shore University Hospital and Long Island Jewish Medical Center, part of Northwell Health. "Using an existing drug is a much faster way of getting a treatment out there. It's promising, it makes me optimistic, and it's a starting point indicating an avenue of research that should be pursued further." Galantamine belongs to a class of drugs known as acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, which slow the breakdown of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, a chemical messenger in the brain. In Greek mythology, the snowdrop flower serving as a source of galantamine was given to Odysseus by the god Hermes as an antidote to jimsonweed, which the sorceress Cerce gave to Odysseus to trigger memory loss and delirium. The Feinstein Investigators collaborated with a team of colleagues led by Dr. Fernanda Consolim-Colombo from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil to perform a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical study of the effects of galantamine in patients with metabolic syndrome. In the study, 30 patients with metabolic syndrome received graduated doses of galantamine daily for 12 weeks and another group of 30 patients received a placebo during this same timeframe. Levels of inflammatory molecules indicating patients' metabolic syndrome-associated inflammation were tracked. Also measured were participants' insulin levels, insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) heart rate and heart rate variability, and other metabolic and cardiovascular markers. At the end of the 12-week treatment period, those treated with galantamine experienced significantly reduced levels of pro-inflammatory molecules and higher levels of anti-inflammatory molecules compared to placebo patients. The galantamine group also experienced a significant decrease in insulin levels and insulin resistance compared with the placebo group. "What galantamine does is activate the nervous system to decrease inflammation," Dr. Harris explains. "And because the inflammation is causing insulin resistance . . . we then see a decrease in insulin resistance." Dr. Pavlov noted that the graduated doses of galantamine used on study participants 8 mg and 16 mg daily in the intervention group were still lower than the highest approved dose for Alzheimer's patients of 24 mg daily, and none of the patients experienced serious side effects. "Our results are even more impressive because they were achieved with relatively low doses," he says. Dr. Pavlov and Dr. Harris agreed more research still needed, including longer clinical trials that include greater numbers of patients with metabolic syndrome. Other trials could also examine galantamine's effects on type 2 diabetes, they said. "These findings illustrate that it may be possible to treat inflammation in metabolic syndrome," says Kevin J. Tracey, MD, a co-author of the study and president and CEO of the Feinstein Institute. "Bringing down inflammation and insulin resistance may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and other complications." About the Feinstein Institute The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research is the research arm of Northwell Health, the largest healthcare provider in New York. Home to 50 research laboratories and to clinical research throughout dozens of hospitals and outpatient facilities, the Feinstein includes 4,000 researchers and staff who are making breakthroughs in molecular medicine, genetics, oncology, brain research, mental health, autoimmunity, and bioelectronic medicine a new field of science that has the potential to revolutionize medicine. For more information about how we empower imagination and pioneer discovery, visit FeinsteinInstitute.org Contact: Jason Molinet 516-321-6705 [email protected] Michael Kaplan 917-304-2078 [email protected] SOURCE Feinstein Institute for Medical Research Related Links http://www.feinsteininstitute.org BRISTOL, Wis., July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Anderson Manufacturing, a family-owned specialty fastener business for nearly 40 years, is launching a new chapter with its July 17, 2017 acquisition by the principals of Big Shoulders Capital. Anderson Manufacturing produces custom miniature fasteners for a wide variety of applications in medical, automotive, electronics, appliances, hardware and housewares. Cold formed fasteners from Anderson Manufacturing in Bristol, Wisconsin can be customized to meet the needs of virtually any application. Cold forming equipment can produce complex components at remarkably high speeds and with incredible accuracy. The process produces strength throughout the fastener. David Muslin and Todd DiBenedetto, principals of Northbrook, Illinois-based Big Shoulders Capital, have purchased Anderson and reorganized the management team to position the company for strong growth in the specialty and complex cold-formed fastener business. As an initial step in saving 50 company jobs, they have brought back a long-time executive to lead the business as the new president. Tim Cash brings more than 20 years of experience with the company to his new position. "We intend to reinvigorate the business, beginning with additions to our engineering department and then building every area of expertise," said Cash. "Our business is very specialized and requires an expertise that is not common among mass producers of fasteners. We thrive on solving challenging issues and in creating high-quality precision fasteners for applications in medical, automotive, electronics, appliances, hardware and housewares. "We have highly skilled and experienced team members who allow us to create solutions where others simply can't," said Cash. "Our plan is to leverage and grow that expertise." Anderson also has plans to grow organically by entering new markets and by making strategic acquisitions. "We saw this as an opportunity to invest in a company with a demonstrated track record of success and a high ceiling for the future," said David Muslin, principal of Big Shoulders. "Anderson had a tough year following a failed roll-up strategy by a private equity group. The company was linked to Rockford Products, which has since gone out of business. Now, we intend to invest in Anderson and return it to its position as one of the leading specialty fastener manufacturers in the nation." Cash added, "Our customers and vendors will recognize a renewed sense of energy, commitment and vision as we launch this new chapter in our company history." About the Company Anderson Manufacturing is a trusted supplier to automotive manufacturers, providing products such as complex cold formed terminals, pins, semi-tubular rivets, shoulder rivets, screws, contacts, threaded forming screws, self-tapping screws, clinch studs and anti-cross threaded product. The company also offers secondary operations including thread rolling, tapping, grinding, sorting and packaging, and value-added services such as cost reduction and manufacture ability reviews. Founded in 1976, it operates a 52,000-sqare-foot facility in Bristol, Wisconsin, where it employs approximately 50 and runs three shifts daily. Additional information is available from www.andersonmfg.com or by contacting Cash at 262-857-7056. Contact: Tom Nicholson, 212-203-2803 [email protected] SOURCE Anderson Manufacturing Related Links http://www.andersonmfg.com Philanthropy Friday: "You Give, We Give" Guests who donate to Dickey's charitable foundation, Barbecue, Boots & Badges, will receive a gift card as a thank you for their donation. All uniformed first responders also receive 50 percent off their meal. Giveaway Saturday: Guests can register for a chance to win free barbecue for a year. Kids Eat Free Sunday: Kids eat free with an adult purchase of $10 or more. To join Dickey's Big Yellow Cup Club and receive members-only specials and discounts, click here. "We congratulate Owner/Operators Tiffany Oder and Chad Burge on the opening of their new location in Goodyear," said Laura Rea Dickey, CEO of Dickey's Barbecue Restaurants, Inc. "We are excited to expand our presence in the Phoenix area, and serve delicious, authentic barbecue to Arizona residents, which is made possible by hardworking owner/operators like Tiffany and Chad." The new Dickey's Barbecue Pit in Goodyear is located at 15525 W. Roosevelt St. #108, 85338. The phone number is 623-233-6136. To find the location nearest you, click here. Find Dickey's on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. About Dickey's Barbecue Restaurants, Inc. Dickey's Barbecue Restaurants, Inc., the nation's largest barbecue chain was founded in 1941 by Travis Dickey. Today, all meats are still slow smoked on-site in each restaurant. The Dallas-based family-run barbecue franchise offers several slow-smoked meats and home style sides with 'No B.S. (Bad Stuff)' included. The fast-casual concept has expanded to nearly 600 locations in 44 states. In 2016, Dickey's won first place on Fast Casual's "Top 100 Movers and Shakers" list and in 2017 again won a top 10 on the list. Dickey's Barbecue Pit has also been recognized by Entrepreneur Magazine, Franchise Times, and Nation's Restaurant News. For more information, visit www.dickeys.com. Media Contact: Bryce Nayden [email protected] SOURCE Dickey's Barbecue Related Links http://www.dickeys.com The silent killer in question is not only roaming loose in the streets of Delhi but mostly targets people in the age group of 35-44. Here's a complete report on the menace. By Priyanka Sharma: There's a silent killer on the prowl and it's preying on the Capital's young. Two AIIMS studies set 20 years apart have tracked an alarming rise in hypertension cases among people in the 35-44 age group in the National Capital Region. Two out of every five in the urban population and one of every four in the rural populace was detected to have high blood pressure (HBP). Untreated hypertension damages the heart and other organs and can lead to life-threatening conditions that include heart disease, stroke, and kidney disease. advertisement It has emerged as a leading risk factor for cardiovascular mortality in India. The AIIMS findings now published in the British Medical Journal's latest issue stated that incidence of high blood pressure increased from 23 per cent to 43 per cent in the urban population while in rural population it rose from 11.2 per cent to 28.9 per cent. The rise in age-specific prevalence was highest in the youngest age group (35-44), noted the study. Experts at the institute did a recent systematic analysis of a repeat cross-sectional study which suggested high prevalence of hypertension with poor awareness, treatment and control of the condition in the national Capital. Author, Dr Ambuj Roy, who is professor of cardiology at the cardio thoracic science centre at AIIMS, told Mail Today, "This study showed us that in the past 20 years, a growing trend in youth getting contracted with high blood pressure is being noticed. We conducted two surveys on prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors between April 1991 and June 1994 (survey 1) and August 2010 and January 2012 (survey 2) in Delhi (urban areas including south Delhi, west, east and north) and adjoining rural Haryana including Ballabhgarh. And we co-related both the findings which informed us that not only incidence of HBP in younger population has increased, there is no improvement in awareness, treatment and control rates of hypertension in the population." NON-COMMUNICABLE BUT SILENTLY KILLS The increase in age-specific prevalence was highest in the 35-44 group with a rise in prevalence of 153 per cent, 115 per cent, 239 per cent and 336 per cent, in urban men, urban women, rural men and rural women, respectively. If a person's blood pressure is 120/80, 120 represents systolic pressure, or the pressure of blood against artery walls when the heart beats. Eighty represents diastolic pressure, or the pressure between beats. High BP exists when either the systolic measurement is 140 or higher or the diastolic measurement is 90 or higher. Dr Roy pointed out that hypertension is a non-communicable disease and if not diagnosed and treated on time, it becomes a silent killer as there are no major symptoms. Some with high blood pressure report headaches (particularly at the back of the head and in the morning), as well as lightheadedness, vertigo, tinnitus (buzzing or hissing in the ears), altered vision or fainting episodes. "Younger generations are getting more susceptible to diabetes, heart attack, kidney failure, stroke and other diseases but timely medical treatment can avoid such health issues," he said. In both the surveys, those with high education, consuming alcohol, with obesity and high fasting blood glucose levels were at greater risk for hypertension, the findings say. A total of over 9,000 participants were surveyed in the two studies at different times. Based on health characteristics, participants were divided into three age groups: 35-44, 45-54 and 55-64. According to the studies, the increase in prevalence was by 83 per cent in urban NCR and 158 per cent in rural NCR. Surprisingly, more women in rural areas are suffering from high BP than men in the critical 35-44 years age group. Dr Roy said, "Earlier hypertension was known as a disease for urban people, but now it has reached to rural population too That means that now, there is no difference in the lifestyle trigger in both groups. Sedentary lifestyle and changing food habits are causing most of this." advertisement HOW TO PREVENT IT Exercise for 30 to 60 minutes a day. This can bring down your BP by 4 to 9 mmHg. Start with walks and proceed to jogging and gymming. Keep your sodium intake to a minimum. Consuming too much sodium can lead to a sharp rise in BP. Don't have more than 1,500mg/a little over half a teaspoon each day. Use herbs and spices to add flavour instead. advertisement Cut down smoking because every cigarette you smoke temporarily raises your BP for several minutes. Incorporate cardio into your exercise routine, as it improves circulation and heart efficiency. Consuming omega-3 fatty acids keeps BP in check. Eat lots of mackerel, salmon and trout. Increase potassium intake to lessen the effects of sodium on blood pressure. Alcohol can lower BP by 2 to 4 mm Hg. But that protective effect is lost if you drink too much alcohol - generally more than one drink a day for women and for men older than age 65, or more than two a day for men age 65 and younger. Also read: Woman molested, robbed at gunpoint on IFFCO Chowk flyover Also read: Delhi ranks highest in fatal road accidents due to drunken driving. But who cares Also read: Enraged over scoring low marks in exam, SRCC student slaps professor --- ENDS --- LONDON, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Spectrum analyzers are used in manufacturing and designing of field services, repairing electrical devices and check their performance, identify errors, and also troubleshoot accordingly. When electrical signals pass through a system, spectrum analyzers are used to analyze signal frequency and amplitude in logarithmic scale. Growing adoption of portable and handheld spectrum analyzers with features such as multitasking and advancements in the bandwidth & frequency have been the major factors that have driven the growth of the spectrum analyzer market. The growing demand for second-hand spectrum analyzer today is a major factor that would hinder the market growth. Asia Pacific is the leading market with the global context, due to leading semiconductor & electronics companies in China & India. The widespread adoption of spectrum analyzers in the region, due to significant investments in the aerospace & defense and IT & telecommunication sectors would drive the market in the region, and add to market growth. Spectral analysis is majorly used in the IT & telecommunication, medical & healthcare, semiconductors & electronics, industrial & energy, and aerospace & defense sectors. Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4977791/ Based on Products, the Spectrum Analyzer market is segmented into Benchtop, Portable, and Handheld. Based on Network Technologies, the market is segmented into Wireless and Wired. The verticals covered under the report include Semiconductor & Electronics, Telecom & IT, Industry & Energy Sector, Healthcare, Healthcare & Life Sciences, and Others. Based on Country, Spectrum Analyzer market is segmented into China, Japan, India, South Korea, Singapore, Australia and Rest of Asia Pacific. China remained the dominant Country in the Asia Pacific Spectrum Analyzer market in 2016. Australia and South Korea would witness promising CAGR during the forecast period (2017-2023). The report covers the analysis of key stake holders of the Spectrum Analyzer market. Key companies profiled in the report include Keysight Technologies, Fortive Corporation, Cobham Plc., Giga-Tronics Incorporated, National Instruments Corporation, Teledyne Technologies Inc., Yokogawa Electric Corporation, and LP Technologies Inc. Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4977791/ About Reportbuyer Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers http://www.reportbuyer.com For more information: Sarah Smith Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 208 816 85 48 Website: www.reportbuyer.com SOURCE ReportBuyer Related Links http://www.reportbuyer.com SAN DIEGO, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Shareholder rights law firm Johnson & Weaver, LLP (J&W) has launched an investigation into whether the board members of Avista Corporation (NYSE: AVA) ("Avista") breached their fiduciary duties in connection with the proposed sale of the Company to Hydro One Limited ("Hydro One"). Avista operates as an electric and natural gas utility company. On July 19, 2017, Avista announced that it had signed a definitive merger agreement with Hydro One. Terms of the deal call for shareholders to receive $53 per share for each share of Avista stock they own. The investigation concerns whether the Avista board failed to satisfy its duties to the Company shareholders, including whether the board adequately pursued alternatives to the acquisition and whether the board obtained the best price possible for Avista shares of common stock. Nationally recognized Johnson & Weaver is investigating whether the proposed deal price represents adequate consideration. If you are a shareholder of Avista and believe the proposed buyout price is too low or you're interested in learning more about the investigation or your legal rights and remedies, please contact lead analyst Jim Baker ([email protected]) at 619-814-4471. About Johnson & Weaver, LLP: Johnson & Weaver, LLP is a nationally recognized shareholder rights law firm with offices in California, New York and Georgia. The firm represents individual and institutional investors in shareholder derivative and securities class action lawsuits. For more information about the firm and its attorneys, please visit http://www.johnsonandweaver.com. Attorney advertising. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Contact: Johnson & Weaver, LLP Jim Baker, 619-814-4471 [email protected] SOURCE Johnson & Weaver, LLP Related Links http://johnsonandweaver.com Prior to joining BGL, Dan was a member of Piper Jaffray's investment banking team where he successfully led and executed M&A transactions in the Food & Beverage industry as well as other industries. Dan has experience advising clients on strategic and financial alternatives, mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, recapitalizations, and other advisory transactions. His clients included both public and private companies as well as private equity sponsors. Dan began his career at Deutsche Bank Securities in New York. Prior to investment banking and after graduating from the Naval Academy, Dan achieved the rank of Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy and served as a designated Naval Aviator flying Seahawk helicopters on operational deployments overseas and as Aide to the Director, Space Information Warfare, Command and Control Division in the Pentagon. "Dan is a consummate professional with immense drive and working knowledge of the Food & Beverage industry," said John Tilson, Managing Director and Group Head of the Consumer & Retail Group at BGL. "With more than 10 years of M&A and corporate experience under his belt, Dan is poised to make an immediate impact on our team." Senior Managing Director and Founder Michael Gibbons added "Dan has served our nation with distinction and dedication and now brings his skills, knowledge and work ethic to bear for our clients. We are honored to welcome Dan to our firm." Dan is based out of the Chicago office. To learn more about Dan, please visit: www.bglco.com/daniel_j_gomez About Brown Gibbons Lang & Company Brown Gibbons Lang & Company is a leading independent investment bank serving the middle market. BGL specializes in mergers and acquisitions advisory services, debt and equity placements, financial restructuring advice, and valuations and fairness opinions, with global industry teams in Business Services, Consumer & Retail, Environmental & Industrial Services, Healthcare & Life Sciences, Industrials, and Real Estate. BGL has offices in Chicago, Cleveland, and Philadelphia and real estate offices in Chicago, Cleveland, Irvine, and San Antonio, in addition to Global M&A partner offices in more than 50 countries across 5 continents. BGL is able to deliver to our clients unparalleled access to strategic relationships, investors, and opportunities globally. For more information, please visit: www.bglco.com. SOURCE Brown Gibbons Lang & Company Related Links http://Www.bglco.com DENVER, July 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Bill Barrett Corporation (the "Company") (NYSE: BBG) announced today that it is providing an update on certain second quarter of 2017 items, including commodity price and derivatives data and the weighted average basic and diluted shares outstanding. For the second quarter of 2017, West Texas Intermediate ("WTI") oil prices averaged $48.29 per barrel, Northwest Pipeline ("NWPL") natural gas prices averaged $2.67 per MMBtu and NYMEX natural gas prices averaged $3.19 per MMBtu. The Company had derivative commodity swaps that settled in the second quarter of 2017 for 6,625 barrels of oil per day tied to WTI pricing at $58.10 per barrel, 10,000 MMBtu of natural gas per day tied to NWPL regional pricing at $2.96 per MMBtu and no hedges in place for NGLs. Based on preliminary unaudited results, the Company expects to realize a cash commodity derivative gain of $6.2 million in the second quarter due to positive derivative positions. The Company expects its second quarter commodity price differentials to benchmark pricing before commodity derivative gains and taking into account delivery location and quality adjustments to approximate: oil less $2.45 price per barrel versus WTI; and natural gas less $0.24 per thousand cubic feet ("Mcf") compared to NWPL. The Denver-Julesburg Basin oil price differential averaged oil less $2.16 per barrel in the quarter. NGL prices averaged approximately 34% of the WTI price per barrel during the quarter. The following table summarizes the Company's hedge position for 2017 and 2018 as of July 19, 2017: Oil (WTI) Natural Gas (NWPL) Period Volume Bbls/d Price $/Bbl Volume MMBtu/d Price $/MMBtu 3Q17 7,125 58.77 10,000 2.96 4Q17 7,125 58.77 10,000 2.96 1Q18 6,750 53.20 2Q18 6,750 53.20 3Q18 4,500 52.35 4Q18 4,500 52.35 Realized sales prices will reflect basis differentials from the index prices to the sales location. The Company estimates that the weighted average common basic and diluted shares for the second quarter will be approximately 74.8 million. Forward-Looking Statements All statements in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Words such as expects, forecast, guidance, anticipates, intends, plans, believes, seeks, estimates and similar expressions or variations of such words are intended to identify forward-looking statements herein; however, these are not the exclusive means of identifying forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this release relate to, among other things, preliminary estimates of second quarter commodity derivative gains, commodity price differentials and number of shares outstanding and future financial performance and business expectations. These and other forward-looking statements in this press release are based on management's judgment as of the date of this release and are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties. Please refer to the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016 filed with the SEC and other filings, including our Current Reports on Form 8-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, all of which are incorporated by reference herein, for further discussion of risk factors that may affect the forward-looking statements. Risks also include potential differences between expected reported results and actual reported results after the Company's financial statements and related reviews are finalized. The Company encourages you to consider the risks and uncertainties associated with projections and other forward-looking statements and to not place undue reliance on any such statements. In addition, the Company assumes no obligation to publicly revise or update any forward-looking statements based on future events or circumstances. ABOUT BILL BARRETT CORPORATION Bill Barrett Corporation (NYSE: BBG), headquartered in Denver, Colorado, develops oil and natural gas in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States. Additional information about the Company may be found on its website www.billbarrettcorp.com. SOURCE Bill Barrett Corporation Related Links http://www.billbarrettcorp.com CHICAGO, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Brennan Investment Group announced plans for the Elk Grove Technology Park, a new 85-acre in-fill development one of the largest of its kind in the country to accommodate opportunities in the emerging fields of digital manufacturing, robotics and data centers. The approximate boundaries of the 85-acre site are Higgins Road on the North, Lively Road on the East, Oakton Boulevard on the South and King Street on the West. Brennan will initiate development by constructing an amenity rich infrastructure with ponds, water features, sculptures, bike paths and pedestrian walkways. Upon completion, four speculative facilities, facing Higgins Road will be built. The development can host an additional five buildings, including sites for data centers. Located nearly adjacent to O'Hare International Airport, the park will be an ideal location for state of the art industrial and data center facilities. "Opportunities to develop near airports, in major metropolitan areas and in scale -are virtually non-existent," said Michael Brennan, chairman and managing principal, Brennan Investment Group. "We are confident this will become the most desirable and significant industrial development in the Chicago region, and perhaps in the United States." "America is experiencing an Industrial Renaissance that is creating both new companies and revolutionizing traditional manufacturers," Brennan added, "There is an acute shortage of modern facilities in strategic locations that are built in aesthetically pleasing environments. The Elk Grove Village Technology Park will address these needs." CBRE will be the exclusive leasing agent for the project. The CBRE team of Chris Zubel, John Hamilton and Jack Brennan will lead the industrial leasing efforts. Todd Bateman, North American practice leader for CBRE's Data Center Solutions team, will handle data center leasing "Elk Grove Village is known as the top market in the Chicago area for businesses," said Craig Johnson, Mayor of Elk Grove Village. "The work of our board, and our staff, in collaborating with Brennan on the concept and design of the Elk Grove Technology Park is another example of our tradition of working together to accomplish great things for both business and the community." Elk Grove Village is the largest community comprising the O'Hare market with more than 3,600 companies calling Elk Grove Village its principal location. According to CBRE research, industrial vacancy in the O'Hare market is 2.8 percent and the Class A vacancy rate is under 1 percent. There is very little construction in the pipeline and that which is planned is de minimis by comparison. "Demand is extremely high in the O'Hare market and there is virtually no new supply," said Chris Zubel, managing director with CBRE. "The focus of this park will be specialized high-tech industrial and clean manufacturing firms. With this location and this state-of-the-art product, Elk Grove Technology Park will assure that these firms have a place to grow and flourish." Data center opportunities will also be a significant focus for this project. According to CBRE Research, Chicago is one of the top three markets in the country for data center leasing activity and Elk Grove Village is the epicenter of this activity as it sits at the convergence of national fiber optics cables. With less than 3 percent vacancy in the Chicago market, supply is not meeting current demand. To learn more, visit: https://www.elkgrovetechnologypark.com/ About Brennan Investment Group Brennan Investment Group, a Chicago-based private real estate investment firm, acquires, develops, and operates industrial properties in select major metropolitan markets throughout the United States. Brennan owes and manages an industrial portfolio with a market value in excess of $3 billion dollars. The company's current portfolio spans 23 states and encompasses over 27 million square feet. Brennan Investment Group co-invests with private and institutional capital to achieve outstanding risk-adjusted returns. The firm's management team is among the most accomplished in its industry, having invested in over 4,000 properties covering more than 60 cities throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. For more information on Brennan Investment Group, go to brennanllc.com. Brennan Investment Group, LLC 9450 W. Bryn Mawr Suite 750 Rosemont, Illinois 60018 Tel +1 847-813-6800 Fax +1 847-257-8888 brennanllc.com SOURCE Brennan Investment Group Related Links http://brennanllc.com HOUSTON, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockton Dunning Benefits is excited to announce Brett Haugh as Executive Vice President in their Houston office. His dynamic leadership, creative solutions and innovative approach to helping clients succeed, is a direct result of his vast consulting experience and extensive industry knowledge. Brett will bring his leadership expertise to the firm's executive committee as their newest member. "Brett is a powerful new addition to the Lockton Dunning Benefits Houston team," stated Bruce Sammis, Chief Executive Officer for Lockton Dunning Benefits. "Not often do we have the opportunity to onboard the very best in the business, and with Brett, we've succeeded." Lockton Dunning Benefits continues to show a unique dedication to investing in the future of not only their clients and Associates but in the communities in which they office. The addition of Brett is a direct result of their commitment to be the best place to do business and to work. According to Steve Bohannon, Lockton Dunning Benefits Chief Operations Officer, "Brett has built professional relationships grounded on trust and the genuine passion he holds for his clients. Brett has exactly the kind of drive and laser focus we look for in our Houston office as well as in our leadership team." Haugh brings with him the comprehensive knowledge of employee benefits and executive leadership experience. Brett joins Lockton Dunning Benefits from Ascende-EPIC and was formerly with Towers Watson as a Senior Consultant. He has also worked for Coopers & Lybrand in the Actuarial, Benefit and Compensation Practice. Haugh feels strongly about giving back to the community as he divides his time and skills between his family and a variety of philanthropic responsibilities. He currently serves on many boards, is a member of the Louisiana Health Care Association's advisory commission on managed care health plans and the Paul "Bear" Bryant Awards Leadership Committee for the American Heart Association. Additionally, he is frequently invited to speak at national and local industry events. Brett holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Entrepreneurship from Baylor University. Joining a large team of professionals, Brett offices out of the Lockton Dunning Benefits' Houston office, located at 5847 San Felipe Street, Suite 320, Houston, TX 77057, the contact phone number is (713) 458-5200. About Lockton Dunning Benefits With over 1000 clients, Lockton Dunning Benefits is the largest benefits consulting agency in the country. Lockton Dunning Benefits is a Texas based series of Lockton Companies which employs over 335 Associates and includes additional offices throughout the country. Lockton Dunning Benefits specializes in the design, implementation, communication, and year-round operation of Health and Welfare and Retirement benefits. In addition, Lockton Dunning Benefits offers services in several related consulting practices, including compensation, wellness, corporate communication, and pharmacy. Lockton is a global professional services firm with 6,500 Associates who advise clients on protecting their people, property and reputations. Lockton has grown to become the world's largest privately held, independent insurance broker by helping clients achieve their business objectives. For eight consecutive years, Business Insurance magazine has recognized Lockton as a "Best Place to Work in Insurance." To see the latest insights from Lockton's experts, check Lockton Market Update. SOURCE Lockton Dunning Benefits Related Links http://www.lockton.com/ "For more than 70 years, Britax has been a leader in travel safety and we continue to set new standards across the globe," said Maria Montano, president of Britax Americas. "To stay ahead, we must continue to bring fresh insights and innovative thinking to everything we do. Jay's unwavering commitment to quality and disciplined approach to innovation will be instrumental in helping us continue to achieve this mission." Zhao brings a dedicated philosophy centered on Advanced Product Quality Planning and an emphasis on early engineering to plan, conceptualize and test products. The goal: to ensure superior quality and safety. Additionally, Zhao will lead an advanced engineering team that will work side by side with Britax's product marketing team. This insight-driven approach aligns product innovations with consumer demand delivering on what consumers want most. "I've spent my career focused on new product development and quality," said Zhao. "As a father, I can't think of a more important undertaking than developing superior products that also provide valuable peace of mind to parents around the globe. Britax has long been a pioneer in innovation and safety and I look forward to the opportunity to uphold and advance this important mission." About Britax Child Safety, Inc. Britax manufactures a full line of safe, high-quality and intuitively designed premium car seats, strollers and accessories. Britax Americas sets and exceeds safety standards in the U.S. and Canada, and engineers, tests and assembles more than 90 percent of its car seats in the United States. In 2011, Britax expanded its product line by acquiring BOB gear, a leading manufacturer of high-quality strollers and stroller accessories. The Britax Child Safety, Inc. Americas Headquarters is located in Fort Mill, S.C. and employs over 200 people. Media Contact: Kim Metcalfe: (312) 802-0211 [email protected] SOURCE Britax Child Safety, Inc. Related Links https://us.britax.com BOSTON, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Carlos Watson, Emmy Award-winning journalist and Editor in Chief of OZY.com, will host a new, prime-time, cross-platform debate program, Third Rail with OZY. Co-produced by WGBH Boston's Studio Six and OZY Media, and made possible with support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, PBS and The Pew Charitable Trusts, this seven-part series will broadcast and stream Fridays at 8:30pm ET, starting September 8, 2017 (check local listings). Intriguing, unexpected and enlightening, Third Rail with OZY promises to present new voices and valuable dialogue for the digital age. In a fresh addition to the PBS line-up, Watson will frame each week's half-hour show around a single, provocative question. Expert and celebrity guests will debate it in the studio each Friday, moderated by Watson, and informed by the weeklong social media conversation leading up to it. The series' underlying query in this contentious age is: can dialogueinformed by dataalter people's points of view? "Third Rail with OZY will be sharp, smart, andwe hopefun. WGBH's partnership with OZY Media creates a rare and important opportunity for Americans to really listen to each other, and engage with a diverse range of viewpoints for a new type of conversation," says Denise DiIanni, series creator and Senior Executive in Charge for WGBH. "After the success of Point Taken in 2016, we are excited to welcome Carlos Watson back to PBS stations this fall. Carlos brings a unique combination of smarts and razor-sharp wit to his role as host and moderator, exploring a range of topics that are timely and relevant to the concerns of the American public," said Marie Nelson, Vice President, News and Public Affairs, PBS. "While there are many issues that divide our country, there is often common ground to be found. We are proud to continue to serve as a platform for spirited and civil discussion." Online and social media voting will be used to assess outcomes of each week's debate. Viewpoints posted on Facebook and Twitter, and on PBS.org, will be integrated and displayed as part of the program. To frame and inform the televised and digital discourse, the Marist Institute for Public Opinion will conduct advance, exclusive national surveys on each of Third Rail's featured questions. The Conversation US, a media outlet aggregating academic and research content, will be an editorial collaborator. "Third Rail with OZY will be an arena for open and honest conversations about provocative topics, offering a variety of viewpoints and spirited debate on some of the most critical issues facing our society today," explains Carlos Watson, OZY.com Editor in Chief and host of Third Rail with OZY. "Now more than ever it is important we bring these conversations out of the shadows and into the light, offering people perspective and an opportunity to make their voices heard." Share your POV: PBS.org/ThirdRail Fb.me/ThirdRailPBS #ThirdRailPBS Third Rail with OZY is a co-production of Studio Six at WGBH Boston and OZY Media. Host: Carlos Watson. Executive in Charge: Denise DiIanni. Executive Producers: Eugenia Harvey and Cameo George. Funding is provided by PBS, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and The Pew Charitable Trusts. About WGBH Boston WGBH Boston is one of America's preeminent public broadcasters and the largest producer of PBS broadcast and digital content, including Frontline, NOVA, American Experience, Masterpiece, Antiques Roadshow, Arthur, as well as other children's, primetime, and lifestyle series. WGBH also is a major supplier of programming for public radio, and a leader in educational multimedia for the classroom, supplying content to PBS LearningMedia, a free national broadband service for teachers and students. WGBH is a pioneer in technologies and services that make media accessible to those with hearing or visual impairments. WGBH has been recognized with hundreds of honors: Emmys, Peabodys, duPont-Columbia Awards and Oscars. More information at wgbh.org. About OZY Media With 25 million monthly unique users and 2 million subscribers, OZY brings readers "the new and the next," offering 100% original content, with a focus on the future, via unique OZY News, OZY Magazine, OZY TV and OZY Events products. Called "the new media magnet for the news hungry" by Fortune magazine, OZY's in-depth and high-quality journalism has attracted a number of high-profile media partners including The New York Times, NPR, PBS NewsHour, TED, The Financial Times, The Huffington Post and many more, as well as guest editors including Bill Gates, President Bill Clinton, and Prime Minister Tony Blair. Founded in 2013 by Emmy award winning journalist Carlos Watson and co-founder Samir Rao, the OZY team is based in Mountain View, CA and backed by leading Silicon Valley investors including Laurene Powell Jobs, Ron Conway, David Drummond, Larry Sonsini and Dan Rosensweig and a significant investment from publishing giant Axel Springer. About PBS PBS, with 350 member stations, offers all Americans the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television and online content. Each month, PBS reaches nearly 100 million people through television and nearly 33 million people online, inviting them to experience the worlds of science, history, nature and public affairs; to hear diverse viewpoints; and to take front row seats to world-class drama and performances. PBS' broad array of programs has been consistently honored by the industry's most coveted award competitions. Teachers of children from pre-K through 12th grade turn to PBS for digital content and services that help bring classroom lessons to life. PBS' premier children's TV programming and its website, pbskids.org, are parents' and teachers' most trusted partners in inspiring and nurturing curiosity and love of learning in children. More information about PBS is available at www.pbs.org, one of the leading dot-org websites on the Internet, or by following PBS on Twitter, Facebook or through our apps for mobile devices. pbs.org/pressroom About CPB The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967, is the steward of the federal government's investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of nearly 1,500 locally owned and operated public television and radio stations nationwide. CPB is also the largest single source of funding for research, technology and program development for public radio, television and related online services. For more information, visit CPB.org, follow us on Twitter @CPBmedia, Facebook, and LinkedIn, and subscribe for email updates. MEDIA CONTACTS: Eileen Campion Roslan & Campion PR [email protected] 212-966-4600 Bara Levin WGBH [email protected] 617-300-5391 SOURCE WGBH Related Links http://www.wgbh.org/ The approval represents a milestone for Cardiac Science as the Powerheart G5 is the first AED approved by Health Canada to combine automatic shock delivery, dual-language rescue prompting in both French Canadian and English, variable escalating energy, and rapid shock times. "We are proud to offer fully automatic Powerheart G5 AEDs to the Canadian market and, more importantly, help lead the fight against sudden cardiac arrest (SCA)," said Dev Kurdikar, Cardiac Science Chief Executive Officer. "Since its launch to the U.S. market in 2015, the fully automatic Powerheart G5 has been our most popular AED for the public-access marketplace where ease-of-use and concise rescue prompting are paramount." The fully automatic Powerheart G5 AED enables first-time users and professional rescuers to respond to an SCA incident. Without a shock button to press, rescuers armed with fully automatic AEDs avoid hesitation or delays for therapy since the AED makes the determination when to shock, not the rescuer. This pioneering technology was first developed for public access defibrillators by Cardiac Science. Fully auto functionality, combined with the company's patented Rescue Ready daily self-testing technology and optional Intellisense CPR feedback, are the primary drivers fueling AED deployments. AED deployments are becoming more widespread because of the growing awareness that SCA deaths can be preventable. SCA, an abrupt loss of heart function that causes blood to stop flowing to the brain and other vital organs and which is characterized by the victim suddenly collapsing, can occur among people of all ages and is often fatal if not treated within minutes of onset. Sadly, SCA continues to leave a deadly imprint on Canada, striking more than 40,000 people a year, according to the Canadian Heart & Stroke Foundation. Over eight in 10 SCA events occur in public places or at the home, yet only one in 10 victims survive an SCA event that happens outside of a hospital. The chance of surviving a cardiac arrest doubles when early CPR is used in combination with an AED in the first few minutes. This is why having an AED present during an SCA event is so critical. About Cardiac Science Cardiac Science develops, manufactures, and markets automated external defibrillators (AEDs), related parts and accessories. The company also offers Rescue Ready Services, a comprehensive portfolio of training, maintenance, and support services for AED customers. Cardiac Science has executive offices in Deerfield, Wisconsin. The company has operations in North America, Europe and Asia and has an installed base of over 500,000 units in nearly 100 countries worldwide. For information, call 1.800.426.0337 or visit http://www.cardiacscience.com For media questions, contact Ric Kositzke at +1.262.953.7624. SOURCE Cardiac Science Related Links http://www.cardiacscience.com VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Canadian Web Hosting, Canada's leading web hosting and cloud services provider, has announced the impending release of their new 100% Canada-based OpenStack environment, OpenStack Ocata. Ocata is the 15th release of the most popular open source software for building clouds and is scheduled for public release in September. Canadian Web Hosting believes that the addition of Ocata will bring in a range of new features with improvements in stability, scalability, and manageability. This means that customers can expect higher uptimes, live migrations of Virtual Machines, and a variety of new services like VPN, DNSaaS, and relational database in addition to their powerful cloud computing and cloud storage that is fully Canadian. This new deployment offers an improvement in terms of allowing stable and fast instance upgrades (like adding more CPUs or RAM), a stable and highly available storage backend, load balancing between instances, firewall capabilities on your virtual router, and more. The developer and application focused environment supports new open APIs and offers additional support for containerized services. "This latest version of Openstack focuses on stability and security, which is what we at Canadian Web Hosting strive to provide for all of our clients," said Canadian Web Hosting's Matt McKinney. "Our new Openstack deployment with Ocata should bring greater peace of mind for anybody looking to host services on a public cloud, thanks to the cutting edge of Openstack technology, backed with Canadian Web Hosting's guarantee." For customers interested in Ocata, or building OpenStack cloud, you can get more information on our website or by emailing [email protected]. To learn more about OpenStack, please visit: http://www.openstack.org About Canadian Web Hosting Since 1998, Canadian Web Hosting has been providing on-demand hosting solutions that include Shared Hosting, Virtual Private Servers (VPS), Cloud Hosting, Dedicated Servers, and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) for Canadian companies of all sizes. Canadian Web Hosting is SSAE 16 Type II SOC 1 certified ensuring that their processes and business practices are thoroughly audited against industry standards. Canadian Web Hosting guarantees a 100% network uptime, and a total money back guarantee that backs everything they do. Customers can get help by calling 1-888-821-7888 to get 24/7 support. For more information, visit them at http://www.canadianwebhosting.com, or get the latest news by following them on Twitter at @cawebhosting or by liking their Facebook page. Media Contact: Adelina Wong [email protected] 1-888-821-7888 SOURCE Canadian Web Hosting Related Links http://www.canadianwebhosting.com Sudden change in the weather led to traffic in various parts of Delhi-NCR and forced schools to shutdown. By Ajay Kumar: A wind-driven deluge lashed Delhi as well as adjoining Noida and Ghaziabad on Thursday morning, flooding streets and basements while chopping down trees and snapping umbrellas inside out. Waterlogged roads were teeming with traffic for hours, especially in south Delhi and parts of Noida. Broken down traffic lights worsened the situation. The monsoon misery hit the National Capital Region on a day a cloudburst triggered flash floods in Jammu and Kashmir in which at least six people perished. advertisement Several schools of southeast and east Delhi as well as Noida closed for the day while employees reached offices four to five hours late. KANWAR YATRA Thursday was also the penultimate day of the Kanwar Yatra, an annual event in which devotees of Lord Shiva carry water from the Ganga to local shrines in their states. The processions posed an added challenge for traffic officials in Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad and Gurugram. Cops stopped ordinary commuters at intersections to provide safe passage to the pilgrims and their slow-moving vehicles. The Dhaula Kuan-Sarai Kale Khan section of the ring road saw a huge gridlock, which spilled over to adjoining roads such as Aurobindo Marg and areas like Munirka, South Campus Road, South Extension, Greater Kailash, Ashram and CR Park. Vehicles also crawled on Mehrauli-Badarpur Road and Mehrauli-Gurugram Road with Saket, Khirki Extension, Khanpur, Malviya Nagar and Hauz Khas all chocka-block. Traffic snarls also appeared around India Gate, Pragati Maidan and Purana Qila Road. Gurugram did not face major problems this time because it received comparatively little rain. "There was a massive traffic jam on ring road. I was stuck between AIIMS and South Extension market. It took me two hours to cross the flyover. There was no alternate route to reach DND because all adjoining routes were choked. I eventually reached there in four and a half hours," said Sameer Chopra, a marketing consultant at a leading brokerage firm. People also complained of taxi-hailing services hiking their prices due to shortage of vehicles. Many were forced to take longer, alternate routes to reach their places of work. According to traffic officials, over 90 complaints were received about non-functioning stoplights. Ajay Kashyap, special commissioner of police (traffic) said the department receives three to five complaints about traffic lights daily and they would be rectified. Officials from the department also blamed the Municipal Corporations of Delhi (MCDs) and New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) for the inadequate drainage system on roads. The weather office has predicted overcast conditions in the region for the next three days. An official at the Safdarjung observatory said that western winds headed from Punjab to the Bay of Bengal were responsible for the rain and thunderstorm. advertisement The meteorological department recorded 23mm of rainfall in the city on Thursday. The Safdarjung observatory has predicted 187.3mm of rain in the month of July while Palam observatory has forecast 174.4 mm. Also Read Rains in Delhi-NCR disrupt flight, train traffic --- ENDS --- NEW YORK, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Ten board-ready senior executive women were announced today by Catalyst as the second US class of the Catalyst Women On Board initiative. The sponsorship program matches exceptional candidates with leading CEOs and board chairs to help advance more women onto corporate boards in the United States. Its goal is to address the fact that current boards do not reflect the diversity of our country as women only hold around 20% of all S&P 500 board seats and women of color hold about 3%. "When it comes to impacting almost every aspect of our lives, boards matter. And not nearly enough women have voices on the boards of the world's biggest, most powerful companies," said Deborah Gillis, President and CEO, Catalyst. "The Catalyst Women On Board program is an amazing game changerplacing exceptional women on an accelerated path to the boardroom thanks to the generous support of global leaders who are willing to make a difference and really 'walk the talk' about diversity in the boardroom." The latest Catalyst Women On Board US initiative participating pairs include: Sponsors Board-Ready Candidates Dominic Barton, Global Managing Partner, McKinsey & Company Diane Reyes, Global Head of Liquidity and Cash Management, HSBC Ursula Burns, Retired Chairman and CEO, Xerox Corporation Lorraine Martin, Executive Vice President and Deputy, Rotary and Mission Systems, Lockheed Martin Corporation Mary Cranston, Corporate Director, VISA, The Chemours Company, MyoKardia Karen Golz, Former Vice Chair, Ernst & Young Global Limited David Dillon, Retired Chairman, The Kroger Co. Anne Taylor, Vice Chairman and Managing Partner, Deloitte LLP Catherine Engelbert, CEO, Deloitte US Victoria Dolan, Chief Transformation Officer and Corporate Controller, Colgate-Palmolive Company Michel Landel, Group CEO, Sodexo Dr. Ilham Kadri, Senior Vice President and Officer, Sealed Air Corporation and President, Diversey Marc Lautenbach, President & CEO, Pitney Bowes Inc. Marie Gallagher, Senior Vice President and Controller, PepsiCo, Inc. Terry Lundgren, Executive Chairman and Chairman of the Board, Macy's Inc. Lori Mitchell-Keller, Global General Manager, Consumer Industries, SAP Christopher J. Swift, Chairman & CEO, The Hartford Jacki Kelley, Chief Operating Officer, Bloomberg Media James S. Turley, Retired Chairman & CEO, Ernst & Young Global Limited Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, Former Executive Vice President and Treasurer, Walmart Stores, Inc. "Diverse boards are good for business and the community. It's not only a matter of fairness, but rather having women on boards allows companies to tap into a wider talent pool and gives them a competitive advantage in the marketplace," said Brande Stellings, Senior Vice President, Advisory Services, Catalyst. "The bottom line is change has been taking a really long time, but we know that deliberate sponsorship sparks change faster. And our initiative makes sponsorship a reality." The Catalyst Women On Board launched in Canada in 2007 and expanded to the United States in 2015. Nearly 60% of its alumnae have already been appointed to corporate boardsincluding more than 130 board appointmentsand 68 senior executive women have been selected as participants. Sponsors and board-ready candidates are global leaders at some of the largest companies and professional service firms. For more information, visit catalystwomenonboard.org. About Catalyst Founded in 1962, Catalyst is the leading nonprofit organization accelerating progress for women through workplace inclusion. With operations in the United States, Canada, Europe, India, Australia, and Japan, and more than 800 supporting organizations, Catalyst is the trusted resource for research, information, and advice about women at work. Catalyst annually honors exemplary organizational initiatives that promote women's advancement with the Catalyst Award. CONTACT: Tia T. Gordon, 646-640-1375, [email protected] SOURCE Catalyst, Inc. Related Links http://www.catalyst.org A Celebration Dedicated to Honouring the Life and Legacy of Albert Einstein Events include Einstein Youth Forum, Genius 100 Innovation Summit and a special dinner featuring visionaries that include Amal Elsana Alh'jooj, Yoshua Bengio, Guy Laliberte, Nancy Lublin, Rick Hansen, Chris Hadfield and Craig and Marc Kielburger TORONTO, July 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - The Einstein Legacy Project is proud to announce "Celebrating a Century of Genius," a weekend dedicated to honouring the life and legacy of Albert Einstein by inspiring a new generation of creative and brilliant minds. The weekend, in collaboration with Lune Rouge, includes a series of events held September 7th through 10th at various locations in Montreal including: The Einstein Youth Forum, The Genius 100 Innovation Summit, and a special dinner with visionaries from around the world. The dinner will also unveil the world's first 3D printed book in the likeness of Albert Einstein. This highly anticipated book, "Genius: 100 Visions of the Future," will bring together an impressive group of contributors including Amal Elsana Alh'jooj, Yoshua Bengio, Guy Laliberte, Nancy Lublin, Rick Hansen, Chris Hadfield and Craig and Marc Kielburger. "Our mission is to bring together inspirational leaders in innovation and education for a weekend that not only celebrates, but inspires the next generation of brilliant minds," said Monette Malewski, President, M Bacal Group and Co-Chair "Celebrating a Century of Genius" committee, together with Matt Price-Gallagher, President and CEO, Water Cluster Scientific and Tori Avey, Food History and Lifestyle Blogger. "We are incredibly pleased to be celebrating the 100th Anniversary of Einstein's Theory of Relativity with so many visionaries and dignitaries who are truly changing the world and inspiring our youth." A schedule of events is as follows: "Einstein Youth Forum" - Friday, September 8th from 12:00pm-5:00pm (Lower Canada College) The inaugural two-day 2017 Einstein Youth Forum will showcase a "TED-Talks" style symposium, entitled "EINSTEIN Inspirations." These presentations, by visionaries, thought leaders and industry experts, will elaborate on the following prescient topics of interest and importance to students: Science & Space Exploration; Technology & Innovation; Environment & Social Responsibility; Community & Leadership; and Education & Creativity. Speakers will be chosen from among the visionaries of the Genius: 100 Visions for the Future project. Students from over 70 local and regional schools (including First Nations) will be in attendance, in collaboration with our Partner Schools: College Durocher (St. Lambert), Lower Canada College and Herzliah High School. An opening reception and panel discussion on Quebec innovation will be held at 6pm on Thursday, September 7, at College Durocher, in St. Lambert, QC. "Genius 100: Innovation Summit"- Sunday, September 10th from 9:00am-12:30pm (Maison Alcan) The Genius 100: Innovation Summit will feature some of the world's 100 greatest minds on topics ranging from science & technology, the environment, education, the arts and literature. Keynote speakers will include Chris Hadfield, Dan Goldin and Rick Hansen among others. "Celebrating a Century of Genius" Dinner - Sunday, September 10th at 5:30pm (MTL Grande) Representing one of the greatest gatherings of Nobel laureates, intellectuals, artists and scientists of our time, the dinner "Celebrating a Century of Genius" promises to inspire a new generation of creative thinkers. The celebration, hosted by The Einstein Legacy Project, is part of a series of events which commemorates the 100th anniversary of Einstein's Theory of Relativity. Attendees confirmed to date include former three-term Prime minister of Norway who also served as Director General of the World Health Organization, Nobel Laureates, the Under Secretary General of the U.N., former head of NASA, and major business leaders from India, China, Japan, Africa and beyond. Also attending are dinner co-chairs Astronaut and President, Association of Space Explorers, Soichi Noguchi, Air Canada President and CEO Calin Rovinescu, Ambassador Haile Menkerios, Under Secretary General of the UN, Special Envoy of the Secretary General of the UN to the Organization of Africa Union, Chairman and CEO of the Libra Group, George M. Logothetis. The host for the evening will be film director and writer Daniel Ferguson. The dinner will also unveil "Genius: 100 Visions of the Future," a once-in-a-century publishing event with the world's greatest minds in fields ranging from science and technology to arts and education sharing their visions for the future in the world's first 3D-printed book. Contributors each write one page on what their vision is for the future. Genius will represent a collective vision of humanity, designed by renowned artist Ron Arad and shaped in the likeness of Einstein himself. For updates on the weekend, visit www.EinsteinLegacyProject.com About The Einstein Legacy Project It has been 100 years since Albert Einstein created the General Theory of Relativity. To celebrate this historic milestone, the Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University is embarking on The Einstein Legacy Project. The project's purpose is to inspire a new generation of scientists and humanitarians, to bring fresh thinking to contemporary global challenges and to make science, technology, engineering and mathematics more accessible and appealing to future generations. The projects included are: "Celebrating a Century of Genius", The Next Einstein Competition and The Einstein Archive and Visitors Center. For more information please visit: www.EinsteinLegacyProject.com SOURCE Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University BOCA RATON, Fla., July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Cendyn, the leading customer relationship management (CRM) and sales platform in the hospitality industry, has today announced they have joined the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA). This membership with the CSA reinforces Cendyn's long-standing commitment and heritage with cloud and data security across all its products. The CSA is a not-for-profit organization with a mission to promote the use of best practices for providing security assurance within Cloud Computing, and to provide education on the uses of Cloud Computing to help secure other forms of computing. "We pride ourselves on our continued commitment to data and cloud computing security at Cendyn," said Charles Deyo, CEO & President of Cendyn. "Our clients range from some of the largest groups of hotels in the world to some of the most bespoke independent, boutique properties, all with different needs for their data. While the data landscape and security needs are continuously changing for every one of our clients, our membership with the CSA is a testament to our dedication to them, no matter who or where they are in the world." Cendyn's membership in the Cloud Security Alliance assures hoteliers that all Cendyn products have the security and credibility required of more than 200 other businesses. This demonstrates their dedication to providing secure technology products through this membership. "Cendyn is a cloud-based organization that puts security and data integrity at the heart of what they do," said Jim Reavis, co-founder and CEO of the CSA. "With their extensive experience delivering secure data across the globe, for all their clients, we welcome them and look forward to Cendyn sharing their wealth of insights on data security and deliverability with our membership." About Cloud Security Alliance The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) is the world's leading organization dedicated to defining and raising awareness of best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment. CSA harnesses the subject matter expertise of industry practitioners, associations, governments, and its corporate and individual members to offer cloud security-specific research, education, certification, events and products. CSA's activities, knowledge and extensive network benefit the entire community impacted by cloud from providers and customers, to governments, entrepreneurs and the assurance industry and provide a forum through which diverse parties can work together to create and maintain a trusted cloud ecosystem. CSA operates the most popular cloud security provider certification program, the CSA Security, Trust & Assurance Registry (STAR), a three-tiered provider assurance program of self assessment, 3rd party audit and continuous monitoring. CSA launched the industry's first cloud security user certification in 2010, the Certificate of Cloud Security Knowledge (CCSK), the benchmark for professional competency in cloud computing security. CSA's comprehensive research program works in collaboration with industry, higher education and government on a global basis. CSA research prides itself on vendor neutrality, agility and integrity of results. CSA has a presence in every continent except Antarctica. With our own offices, partnerships, member organizations and chapters, there are always CSA experts near you. CSA holds dozens of high quality educational events around the world and online. Please check out our events page for more information. About Cendyn Cendyn is a cloud-based software and services provider that develops integrated technology platforms for driving sales and marketing performance in the travel and hospitality industry. The Cendyn Hospitality Cloud offers the most complete set of innovative software and services in the industry, covering hotel marketing, guest engagement, group sales, and event management. With offices in Boca Raton, Atlanta, Boston, San Diego, Toronto, Whistler, London and Singapore, Cendyn proudly serves more than 30,000 clients in 143 countries with enterprise spend levels in excess of $1 billion. For more information on Cendyn, visit www.cendyn.com. Media Contact Michael Bennett SVP, Global Marketing [email protected] 561-419-2286 SOURCE Cendyn Related Links http://www.cendyn.com WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J., July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Chubb has named Michelle McLaughlin Executive Vice President and Property Manager for its North America Commercial Insurance division. In this capacity, she will oversee the retail commercial property and package property insurance business that serves the middle market in North America, through 48 offices in the United States and Canada. Ms. McLaughlin, with 25 years of experience at Chubb, most recently served as Package Property Manager for Commercial Insurance. She has a Master of Business Administration in Finance and Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Seton Hall University. Ms. McLaughlin will report to Paul Lewis, Executive Vice President and Chief Underwriting Officer, Commercial Insurance. "Michelle's deep underwriting knowledge and her proven leadership capabilities will be instrumental in focusing on the growth of the organization while helping our commercial property clients in North America protect their assets" said Mr. Lewis. "I look forward to working with her to build our future property business." "Michelle is going to provide enormous value in her new role," said Derek Talbott, Division Chairman North America Property. "She will play a vital part in executing Chubb's property strategy in North America, and I'm confident that her broad industry experience will enable her to meet the evolving risks of our global property customers." Ms. McLaughlin succeeds Edward Radzinski, who after a distinguished 39-year career at Chubb, will retire at the end of August. "For more than three decades, Ed played a key role in developing the property underwriting discipline, capabilities and products for the organization," said Mr. Lewis. "I want to express my deepest thanks and appreciation for his steady hand in developing our people and our business, and we wish him well in his retirement." About Chubb Chubb is the world's largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance company. With operations in 54 countries, Chubb provides commercial and personal property and casualty insurance, personal accident and supplemental health insurance, reinsurance and life insurance to a diverse group of clients. As an underwriting company, we assess, assume and manage risk with insight and discipline. We service and pay our claims fairly and promptly. The company is also defined by its extensive product and service offerings, broad distribution capabilities, exceptional financial strength and local operations globally. Parent company Chubb Limited is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: CB) and is a component of the S&P 500 index. Chubb maintains executive offices in Zurich, New York, London and other locations, and employs approximately 31,000 people worldwide. Additional information can be found at www.chubb.com. Chubb Insurance Company of Canada has offices in Toronto, Calgary, Montreal and Vancouver and provides its products and services through licensed insurance brokers across Canada. For additional information, visit: chubb.com/ca. SOURCE Chubb Related Links http://www.chubb.com "To successfully launch this new, dedicated team for domestic development, our company knew the ideal candidate would require expert vision, and a proven history of generating results," said Servold. "David's years of quick-service restaurant experience in finance, franchise development, and operations make him uniquely suited to lead our latest departments." As Vice President of Franchise Development, Knies will oversee three newly created director roles Director of New Business, Director of Real Estate, and the recently appointed Director of Construction, Wayne Stubbs. Together, these chicken passionates will be working to provide seamless service to both franchisees and the brand's internal customers. "This year, Church's Chicken signed its largest franchise development deal ever, and the momentum has grown to the point where this team's formation became the natural next step," said Knies. "This brand's future is undeniably bright, and I am thrilled to be a part of its continued legacy." David Knies is an alumnus of the University of Tennessee where he earned his Bachelor's degree and Master's degree in Accounting and Finance. In addition, he taught Accounting Principles while completing his graduate coursework. About Church's Chicken Founded in San Antonio, TX in 1952 by George W. Church, Church's Chicken is one of the largest quick service restaurant chicken chains in the world. Church's specializes in Original and Spicy Chicken freshly prepared throughout the day in small batches that are hand-battered and double-breaded, Tender Strips, sandwiches, honey-butter biscuits made from scratch and freshly baked, and classic, home-style sides all for a great value. Church's (along with its sister brand Texas Chicken outside the Americas) has more than 1,600 locations in 27 countries and international territories and system-wide sales of more than $1 billion. For more information, visit www.churchs.com. Follow Church's on Facebook at www.facebook.com/churchschicken and Twitter at www.twitter.com/churchschicken. Contact: Diego Perez 866.571.3449 [email protected] SOURCE Church's Chicken Related Links http://www.churchs.com Apart from the above, why is it the perfect alternative to Surface Pro? Design: Both SurBook and Surface Pro features a 12.3 inch Samsung IGZO display panel with 2736*1824 resolution and 267 PPI, and 3:2 aspect ratio makes it comfortable when we browse web pages and handle office work. In addition, they both are designed with an adjustable kickstand and a detachable backlit keyboard. Hence, this means converting the product from a tablet to laptop, would be extremely straightforward. Memory & Storage: In terms of ROM, Surface Pro is settled on one choice with a 128GB version, while Chuwi SurBook offers 2 versions to choose from, including a 64GB and 128GB. However, when it comes to RAM, SurBook is the winner with an extra 2GB, which will run more smoothly when browsing web pages and switching from one app to another. Let alone, they both support massive TF expansion to 128GB. Connectivity: This is the exact part where Chuwi Surbook greatly overtakes Surface Pro. Surface Pro only provides 1* USB 3.0 port. If you look at the product, you would find that Chuwi SurBook comes with not only 2* USB 3.0 ports, there's a USB Type-C as well to provide audio/video transmission. The bottom line is, it's so lightweight, but it makes a great portable office helper. Given the fact that it's compatible with PD2.0 protocol to support up to 20V charging efficiency, so if you already have the PD2.0 charger, that is a bonus taking Chuwi Surbook home. Conclusion: Chuwi SurBook shares some amazing features with Surface Pro, and it certainly performs well when it comes to connectivity and the price tag it carries along. Around 1,050 US dollars for a Surface Pro set, however, it would only cost you merely half the price at $429 to get a set of the Chuwi Surbook. The SurBook campaign is highly informative - it will end in 3 days: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/chuwi-surbook-affordable-2-in-1-intel-pc-tablet--3#/ For more information about Chuwi Surbook, please refer to en.chuwi.com. SOURCE Chuwi SANTA CLARA, Calif., July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Citcon, a leading cross-border mobile payment company, announced today the appointment of Wei Jiang as President and Chief Operating Officer, and the promotion of Kenny Shi as Vice President of Engineering, effective immediately. Wei will oversee the company's rapidly expanding sales, marketing and business operations, and Kenny will lead the Engineering efforts. Both Wei and Kenny will report directly to Citcon Founder and CEO, Chuck Huang. "Wei brings 15 years of experience and expertise in payment, marketing and product management through leadership roles in renowned companies. Kenny is a respected technology leader in Business Intelligence, Business Rules, Machine Learning, Fraud Prevention and Detection," said Chuck. "Their individual track records of growing a business into a global leading brand, passion for servicing customers at a global scale, and genuine team-player attitude make them an extraordinary fit for Citcon. We're excited to have Wei and Kenny to join our leadership team and take Citcon to the next level of growth." Prior to joining Citcon, Wei led the consumer and commercial prepaid product and innovation team at Visa. He also headed up Visa U.S.'s product marketing team for Debit, Prepaid, Commercial and Small Business products, which represents over 80% of Visa's U.S. payment volume. He was Global Product Director at Terex, Senior Business Unit Manager at Belkin, Senior Brand Manager at Whirlpool, and Sales Manager at Procter & Gamble China. Wei holds an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University. "I'm incredibly excited and honored to join the Citcon team," said Wei. "The global payment landscape has been changing rapidly and China is leading the way in the mobile payment space. Citcon is the pioneer in the cross-border mobile payment market. With the combination of a passionate customer base, leading products, amazingly talented people and dedication to technology innovation which fuel the progress of the payment industry, Citcon is positioned to become the gateway for cross-border commerce. We are proud to bring leading mobile payment brands WeChat Pay and Alipay to North America, connecting global merchants with the exponentially growing China market in the Tourism, eCommerce, Education and many other sectors, to attract more customers, grow spending and drive growth." Since joining Citcon last September, Kenny built a robust, scalable payment infrastructure and led the product strategy, which laid a solid foundation for Citcon's rapid growth. Prior to Citcon, Kenny was Head of Fraud at Uber, and held leadership roles in Risk and Fraud at PayPal and eBay. Kenny graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with Bachelor of Science degree in EECS. "I am thrilled to lead the efforts of massively scaling payment infrastructure while rapidly innovating on new products and offerings to our merchants and partners," said Kenny. "Our talented and experienced team understands both the North American payment ecosystem as well as Chinese consumer market. Chinese mobile wallets are convenient and versatile; American merchants demand reliability and security in payments. Through Citcon's world-class technology platforms, we are committed to seamlessly and successfully bridging all gaps to bring these two commerce cultures together." About Citcon Silicon Valley-based Citcon integrates mobile payment and marketing platforms to connect merchants to a market estimated to be worth $200 Billion in 2017 alone. As North America's first authorized payment partner for WeChat Pay, Alipay, and UnionPay, Citcon is blazing a trail as the seamless and secure China-ready payment option beyond Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express. With extensive experience in Chinese outbound tourism market, mobile payment, and cross-border eCommerce and marketing, Citcon is the one-stop solution for global businesses to reach the massively untapped market of Chinese tourists and domestic consumers. Citcon was founded in 2015 by Chuck Huang, a payment product and technology veteran who held leadership positions in top notch US and Chinese payment companies, such as Visa, eBay, PayPal, Miteno Group, and Beijing All-Union. Citcon is backed by leading Silicon Valley venture capital firms and received strategic investments from leading technology and financial service companies in China. For more information, please go to www.citcon-inc.com Evelyn Yang Citcon +1 408 656 2536 [email protected] SOURCE Citcon Related Links http://www.citcon-inc.com JACKSON, Mich., July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Directors of CMS Energy has declared a quarterly dividend on the company's common stock. The dividend for the common stock (CUSIP: 125896100) is 33.25 cents per share. It is payable Aug. 31, 2017, to shareholders of record on Aug. 4, 2017. CMS Energy (NYSE: CMS) is a Michigan-based company that has an electric and natural gas utility, Consumers Energy, as its primary business and also owns and operates independent power generation businesses. For more information on CMS Energy, please visit our website at www.cmsenergy.com. To sign up for email alert notifications, please visit the Investor Relations section of our website. SOURCE CMS Energy Related Links http://www.cmsenergy.com BROOMFIELD, Colo., July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- ComRent International, a global leader in load bank solutions for testing and commissioning mission-critical infrastructure, announced today that its recently launched website has won four 2017 Stevie Awards from the American Business Awards for its design, usability, brand experience and results. This year, ComRent's website won in the following categories: New Industrial Website Serving Utilities Stands Out For Design and Usability Utility (Gold) New Website Serving the Construction Industry Stands Out For Design, Usability, and Results Materials & Construction category. (Gold) New ComRent Website Thrills Customers and Prospects in the Best Overall Web Design category. (Silver) New B2B Website Transforms User & Brand Experience in the Brand Experience of the Year Business-to-Business category. (Bronze) Beyond a crisper design, the ComRent website launched in June 2016 includes customer-friendly load bank-related content, making it easier for businesses to understand the value of load bank testing in their markets. The content mirrors the consultative service approach from ComRent's technical experts and helps customers find the right product and supporting material to meet their project goals. Among the most visible changes to the new site is the section on the homepage titled "Industries We Serve," a resource hub that provides recommended packages based on needs of specific markets served by ComRent. Founded in 2002, the American Business Awards commemorate organizations through the United States that excel in in all areas of business including marketing, video, PR, corporate communications, human resources, websites, apps, live events, and more. More than 190 professionals worldwide judge the competition. ComRent's four awards were presented to KEO Marketing, a business to business marketing agency, who collaborated on the creation and development of ComRent website. About ComRent International ComRent International offers technology and energy customers the most comprehensive load bank and service solutions to interconnect systems faster, stay on time and budget, and reduce risk. Through ComRent's global delivering locations, 3,210-unit fleet and over 90 miles of cable, customers receive load banks faster and can confidently rely on ComRent's exceptional service and industry knowledge to do testing right the first time. Fortune 50 data centers, electrical utilities, solar and wind developers, and oil and gas companies rely on ComRent to fulfill their testing and commissioning requirements. Learn more at www.ComRent.com. SOURCE ComRent International Related Links http://www.comrent.com Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Gopal Baglay told reporters here that New Delhi has been in "close contact" with the Bhutan government on the unfolding developments. By Press Trust of India: India today made a renewed pitch for a "peaceful resolution" of the Doklam standoff through diplomatic channels, stressing that "differences" should not become "disputes". Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Gopal Baglay told reporters here that New Delhi has been in "close contact" with the Bhutan government on the unfolding developments. "India's approach is to have a peaceful resolution of issues on border with China," he said underlining the understanding at the Astana meeting that differences between India and China should not be allowed to become disputes. advertisement Prime Minister Narendra Modi had met Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit in June in Kazakh capital Astana. "So, it is obvious that every responsible power, person and player in the world prefers peaceful resolution of matters," Baglay said. Asked whether India has briefed other countries on the issue, Baglay said it would not be appropriate for him to comment on diplomatic interactions on sensitive matters. Baglay also confirmed that National Security Advisor Ajit Doval will travel to Beijing on the 27th to attend a meeting of the BRICS multilateral grouping. Chinese and Indian soldiers have been locked in a face-off in Doklam area of the Sikkim sector for over a month after Indian troops stopped the Chinese army from building a road in the disputed area. New Delhi has expressed concern over the road building, apprehending that it may allow Chinese troops to cut India's access to its northeastern states. China's state-run media has stepped up rhetoric against India in recent weeks. China claimed that it was constructing the road within its territory, and has been demanding immediate pull-out of the Indian troops from the Dokalam plateau. Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Doklam, while China claims it as part of its Donglang region. Of the 3,488-km-long India-China border from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh, a 220-km section falls in Sikkim. ALSO READ: Doklam: When George Fernandes called China as threat No. 1 and how he stands vindicated China trying to change status quo in Doklam, India ready to defend: Sushma Swaraj Withdraw, capture or get killed: Ex-Chinese diplomat's 3 options on Doklam ALSO WATCH VIDEO: --- ENDS --- FREMONT, Calif. and SYDNEY, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Concentrix Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of SYNNEX Corporation (NYSE: SNX), and Tigerspike today announced a definitive agreement in which Concentrix will acquire Tigerspike. Alex Burke, CEO of Tigerspike, will stay as the leader of Tigerspike and join Concentrix' senior executive staff, reporting to Chris Caldwell, President of Concentrix. This transaction is intended to enhance Concentrix' digital competencies and drive further differentiation and growth in the market place through Tigerspike's digital domain expertise. Tigerspike is a digital products and strategy company founded in 2003. The company's unique approach blends technology with human expertise to deliver business outcomes, such as improvements in efficiency, productivity and employee engagement, fast for its clients. It has a full suite of digital competencies (strategy, experience design, platform and mobile application development and systems integration), with a focus on enterprise mobility. The transaction aligns with Concentrix' stated strategy to further invest in digital and enabling technologies to create effortless, personalized customer engagements and improved business intelligence and performance for its clients. "Tigerspike has established itself as a high-value enterprise player in digital products and strategy. It's capabilities and solutions in "Business Digital" stand out and meet a fast-growing market demand, which we believe we will be able to leverage across our combined client base," said Chris Caldwell, President of Concentrix. "This acquisition is intended to increase Tigerspike's speed to market of these solutions and provide us new opportunities for expansion. Tigerspike's approach of blending technology, human expertise, and the use of data and digital to enhance value to clients through analytics and business success metrics is both needed and extremely exciting to our clients." "This is an exciting step on our journey for Tigerspike as we continue to scale out our practice, products and approach globally," said Alex Burke, CEO of Tigerspike. "Our vision is to transform businesses by empowering leaders to make better decisions, both now and in the future. Concentrix shares this vision and our ambition to deliver business results, faster. Our team, clients and partners can only benefit from Concentrix and Tigerspike coming together." Tigerspike has operations in Australia, Singapore, UAE, Japan, USA, Poland, and the UK, and adds approximately 300 staff to Concentrix. It is anticipated that the transaction will close in Q3 2017, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of customary closing conditions. Until the transaction is completed, the companies will continue to operate independently. About SYNNEX SYNNEX Corporation (NYSE: SNX) is a Fortune 500 corporation and a leading business process services company, providing a comprehensive range of distribution, logistics and integration services for the technology industry and providing outsourced services focused on customer engagement strategy to a broad range of enterprises. SYNNEX distributes a broad range of information technology systems and products, and also provides systems design and integration solutions. Concentrix, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SYNNEX Corporation, offers a portfolio of strategic solutions and end-to-end business services around customer engagement strategy, process optimization, technology innovation, front and back-office automation and business transformation to clients in ten identified industry verticals. Founded in 1980, SYNNEX Corporation operates in numerous countries throughout North and South America, Asia-Pacific and Europe. Additional information about SYNNEX may be found online at www.synnex.com. About Concentrix Concentrix, a wholly owned subsidiary of SYNNEX Corporation (NYSE: SNX), is a leading business services company. We focus on customer engagement and improving business outcomes for over 450 global clients across many continents. Our 100,000+ staff deliver technology-infused, omni-channel customer experience management, marketing optimization, digital, consulting, analytics and back office solutions in 40+ languages from 125+ delivery centers. We serve automotive; banking and financial services; insurance; healthcare; technology; consumer electronics; media and communications; retail and e-commerce; travel and transportation; and energy and public sector clients. Visit www.concentrix.com or follow @Concentrix on Twitter. About Tigerspike Tigerspike is a global digital products company specializing in strategy, experience design, development and systems integration. We deliver business value, creating products that are differentiated by the experience, the technology and the data derived from both. Founded in 2003, Tigerspike now employs more than 300 people and has presence in New York, London, Singapore, San Francisco, Dubai, Melbourne, Wroclaw, and Tokyo. To learn more about Tigerspike visit www.Tigerspike.com or follow @Tigerspike on Twitter. Safe Harbor Statement Statements in this news release which are not historical facts, are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements may be identified by terms such as believe, foresee, expect, may, will, provide, could and should and the negative of these terms or other similar expressions. These statements, including statements regarding the expected timing of the transaction and the impact of the transaction on Concentrix' and SYNNEX' business and operations, staffing, Concentrix' stated strategy, and expectations that the transaction will enhance Concentrix' digital competencies and drive further differentiation and growth in the market place, increase the acquired business' speed to market of Business Digital solutions, provide Concentrix new opportunities for expansion, and allow Concentrix to leverage certain aspects of the acquired business, are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks relating to Concentrix' ability to successfully and timely close the acquisition, the impact of the acquisition on Concentrix' and SYNNEX' operations and financial performance, Concentrix' ability to compete effectively, and other risks and uncertainties which apply to SYNNEX Corporation, which are detailed in our Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended November 30, 2016 and subsequent SEC filings. Statements included in this press release are based upon information known to SYNNEX Corporation as of the date of this release, and SYNNEX Corporation assumes no obligation to update information contained in this press release. Copyright 2017 Concentrix Corporation. All rights reserved. SYNNEX and CONCENTRIX are registered trademarks of SYNNEX Corporation, Reg. U.S. Pat. & Tm. Off., used under permission. All other names and marks are the property of their respective holders. SNX-G SOURCE Concentrix Corporation Related Links http://www.concentrix.com NEW YORK, LONDON and OSLO, Norway, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Confirmit, the leading global solutions provider for Customer Experience, Voice of the Employee and Market Research, announced today that TMC, a global, integrated media company, has named Confirmit Horizons a recipient of the 2017 CRM Excellence Award, presented by CUSTOMER magazine. This marks the eighth consecutive CRM Excellence Award win for Confirmit. The award recognized Confirmit Horizons V22 for its innovative feedback capabilities, including its ground-breaking text analytics techniques, which enables companies running VoC and MR programs to easily extract more meaningful insights from text responses. Released in March 2017, Confirmit Horizons V22 is a flexible, multi-channel software platform for customer experience, employee engagement and Market Research (MR) programs. With new notable enhancements including Model Builder module, Confirmit empowers businesses to quickly and easily maintain their own categorization models to ensure that correct customer comments are captured and actioned. Users can also quickly configure reports to show text analytics results, allowing drill down into the categorization model and sentiment analysis to uncover a wealth of new insights and ensure they can adapt their models to evolving business needs. "In the age of consumer-centricity, the ability to gather, understand and act upon unstructured feedback is paramount to an organization's success," shared Michael Wooh, Chief Marketing Officer, Confirmit. "We're committed to providing our customers with a platform that produces rich insights out of important data and enables them to make smarter decisions. This award serves as a testament to that commitment and we are honored to be recognized as a leader in the industry by TMC yet again." "The 18th Annual CRM Excellence Award honors Confirmit for being a true CRM partner to its customers and clients," said Rich Tehrani, TMC's CEO and Group Editor-in-Chief. "Confirmit has demonstrated to the editors of CUSTOMER magazine that Confirmit Horizons improved the processes of their clients' businesses by streamlining and facilitating the flow of information." Based on hard data, the CRM Excellence Awards rely on facts and statistics demonstrating the improvements the winner's product has made in a client's business. Winners were chosen based on their product or service's ability to help extend and expand the customer relationship to become all encompassing, covering the entire enterprise and the entire lifetime of the customer. The 2017 CRM Excellence Award winners are highlighted in the June 2017 issue of CUSTOMER magazine. About Confirmit Confirmit is the world's leading SaaS vendor for multi-channel Voice of the Customer, Voice of the Employee, and Market Research solutions. The company has offices in Oslo (headquarters), Grimstad, London, Moscow, New York, San Francisco, Sydney, Vancouver, and Yaroslavl. Confirmit's software is also distributed through partner resellers in Madrid, Milan, Salvador, and Tokyo. Confirmit powers Global 5000 companies and Market Research agencies worldwide with a wide range of software products for feedback / data collection, panel management, data processing, analysis, and reporting. Customers include Aurora, British Airways, British Standards Institution, Copart, Cross-Tab, Dow Chemical, GfK, GlaxoSmithKline, GMO Research, KeepFactor, Morehead Associates, Nielsen, Research Now, RS Components, QRS, SSI, Sony Mobile Communications, and Swisscom. Visit www.confirmit.com for more information. About CUSTOMER Since 1982, CUSTOMER magazine (formerly Customer Interaction Solutions) has been the voice of the call/contact center, CRM and teleservices industries. CUSTOMER has helped the industry germinate, grow, mature and prosper, and has served as the leading publication in helping these industries that have had such a positive impact on the world economy to continue to thrive. Through a combination of outstanding and cutting-edge original editorial, industry voices, in-depth lab reviews and the recognition of the innovative leaders in management and technology through our highly valued awards, CUSTOMER strives to continue to be the publication that holds the quality bar high for the industry. Please visit http://www.customer.tmcnet.com. Media Contact Emma Walter Matter Communications 978-518-4820 SOURCE Confirmit Related Links http://www.confirmit.com ATLANTA, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Core Security, a leader in Vulnerability, Access Risk Management and Network Detection and Response, today announced the availability of Core Network Insight 6.3. The new offering includes enhancements like Retroactive Analysis, which allows users to "look back in time" at metadata from before a device started to act suspiciously, and new behavior profilers. Core Network Insight is an advanced threat detection system built on nearly a decade of scientific research and big data visibility. It automatically and accurately identifies hidden infections in real time on live traffic. When Core Network Insight confirms a device is infected by advanced persistent threats or malware, it terminates criminal communications and presents a full case of evidence, prioritized by risk thus, no more chasing False Positives. "Organizations are constantly looking for better, correlated data to help them conduct more thorough investigations into incidents to protect from data breaches," said Stephen Newman, SVP of Product Management at Core Security. "Our new retroactive analysis capability provides more historic context, helping to speed along these investigations. In addition, the addition of the transaction and contextual profilers continue to make Core Network Insight the most robust solution for detecting the myriad of ways and patterns that criminal operators use once they have penetrated a network." New features in Core Network Insight 6.3 include: Enabling Hunting of Network Communication Data: Retroactive Analysis - Network Insight 6.3 now stores metadata on all observed internet bound communications, enabling the retroactive discovery of command and control communications that occurred days prior to knowledge of the destinations being malicious. This allows administrators to search stored historical network communication metadata for investigations. Network Insight 6.3 now stores metadata on all observed internet bound communications, enabling the retroactive discovery of command and control communications that occurred days prior to knowledge of the destinations being malicious. This allows administrators to search stored historical network communication metadata for investigations. New API Support Allows users to interact with the product and pull data via RESTful API. Allows users to interact with the product and pull data via RESTful API. Driving Innovation Into Advanced Threat Detection: New Transaction Profiler Detection technique that detects malicious traffic using packet payload analytics. Detection technique that detects malicious traffic using packet payload analytics. New Contextual Profiler Detection technique that identifies related domain sets used by malware to communicate to peripheral (non-C&C, human usable) legitimate domains. Detection technique that identifies related domain sets used by malware to communicate to peripheral (non-C&C, human usable) legitimate domains. DNS Tunneling and TOR Detection- Enhanced DNS tunneling and TOR Profilers are included as events in SIEM outputs from Network Insight and in the evidence timeline. Enhanced DNS tunneling and TOR Profilers are included as events in SIEM outputs from Network Insight and in the evidence timeline. New Deployment Options: Virtual Sensor Ideal for remote locations and branch office deployments. To learn more about Core Network Insight 6.3, please contact us at [email protected] or better yet if you are going to Black Hat, stop by our booth #224. About Core Security Corporation Core Security provides companies with the security insight they need to know who, how, and what is vulnerable in their organization. The company's threat-aware, identity & access, network security, and vulnerability management solutions provide actionable insight and context needed to manage security risks across the enterprise. This shared insight gives customers a comprehensive view of their security posture to make better security remediation decisions. Better insight allows organizations to prioritize their efforts to protect critical assets, take action sooner to mitigate access risk, and react faster if a breach does occur. Core Security is headquartered in the USA with offices and operations in South America, Europe, Middle East and Asia. To learn more, contact Core Security at (678) 304-4500 or [email protected] Media Contact Kari Walker ZAG Communications for Core Security +1.703.928.9996 [email protected] SOURCE Core Security Related Links http://www.courion.com MIAMI, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Council of the Americas (COA) announced today six honorees who will receive the 23rd BRAVO Business Awards at a special gala ceremony on November 3 in Miami. The BRAVO Awards recipients are business and policy leaders from Chile, Mexico, and the United States. "We are privileged to have an outstanding group of honorees whose accomplishments have left a lasting impact on the region," said Americas Society/Council of the Americas President and CEO Susan Segal. "Their success embodies not just the present but the future of the hemisphere's potential." Jose Angel Gurria will be honored with the Legacy award for his indelible mark on the Latin American and global economies. The achievements of the secretary-general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) include being the architect of Mexico's economic stabilization in the 1990s and leading the OECD in becoming a vital instrument for the development of middle-income countries. Horst Paulmann, founder and chairman of Cencosud, will be presented with the Lifetime Achievement award for his impact on Latin America's retail industry. Paulmann built the firm as the largest retail company in Chile and the third largest in Latin America, exhibiting exceptional leadership and unwavering commitment to the region for more than four decades. Fernando Gonzalez will be recognized as CEO of the Year for leading CEMEX's impressive financial and operational performance, reflected in a tenfold increase in net income in the first quarter of 2017, in comparison to the same period last year. Gonzalez has propelled CEMEX to a position of worldwide leadership in sustainable construction. Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta Air Lines, and Andres Conesa, CEO of Aeromexico, will be jointly awarded the Visionary CEO Leadership recognition for their strategic vision, which led to the groundbreaking partnership between the two aviation giants in 2017 and established the largest trans-border alliance between Mexico and the U.S. Individually, Bastian has played a central role steering Delta Air Lines to its current position as an international market leader. Meanwhile, Conesa has positioned Aeromexico as a global player by focusing on innovation and customer service excellence. Jorge Perez, Chairman and CEO of Related Group, will be recognized as Transformational Leader of the Year for promoting economic, social, and cultural development in Miami, an important hub for business and culture in the Americas, and for his visionary real estate investments, which have led to the creation of Miami's most iconic neighborhoods. Sponsors: HSBC, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, LLORENTE & CUENCA, The AES Corporation, CAF Development Bank of Latin America, The Boston Consulting Group, Bombardier, Chubb, Emerson, Florida International University, and Microsoft. Media partners: CNN and Financial Times. Symposium Partner: Inter-American Development Bank. For more information, please visit: http://bravobusiness.com/ Press inquiries: Yndira Marin | [email protected] | 1-646-386-6523 AS/COA Media Relations | [email protected] | 1-212-277-8384 | 1-212-277-8333 Council of the Americas (COA) is the premier international business organization whose members share a common commitment to economic and social development, open markets, the rule of law, and democracy throughout the Western Hemisphere. The Council's membership consists of leading international companies representing a broad spectrum of sectors, including banking and finance, consulting services, consumer products, energy and mining, manufacturing, media, technology, and transportation. Its sister organization, Americas Society (AS) is the premier forum dedicated to education, debate, and dialogue in the Americas. Its mission is to foster an understanding of the contemporary political, social, and economic issues confronting Latin America, the Caribbean, and Canada, and to increase public awareness and appreciation of the diverse cultural heritage of the Americas and the importance of the inter-American relationship. SOURCE Council of the Americas Related Links http://bravobusiness.com SAN ANTONIO, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- CPS Energy has agreed to further partner with the Alamo Area Council of Governments (AACOG), ensuring air quality data collection remains active at a half-dozen air monitoring stations across San Antonio and the surrounding area. While State funding for this work was recently eliminated, the new agreement between CPS Energy and AACOG will help both organizations keep up their efforts to effectively monitor San Antonio's air quality. CPS Energy will use an outside vendor to collect ozone and weather data from six stations in Bexar, Comal and Guadalupe counties currently maintained by AACOG. By combining the six stations with the two stations the vendor currently maintains for CPS Energy, the region will get efficiencies while still maintaining the quality and integrity of the data. Finally, CPS Energy has committed to installing a ninth monitoring station before next summer. "CPS Energy has been fiscally balanced for 157 years, while also being environmentally conscious. As a testament to that, we are pleased to be part of this air quality solution, working creatively with AACOG to reach this agreement," said CPS Energy President & CEO Paula Gold-Williams. "Each and every day we serve our community by providing electric and gas service, so providing a solution to something as important to our community as air quality makes perfect sense." This is the latest initiative by CPS Energy to serve the community's energy needs on environmental issues. The company previously announced it will deactivate a coal plant in 2018 and also has installed an extensive amount of renewable energy in comparison to many of its industry peers. The City-owned utility has more than 1,000 megawatts (MW) of wind power, 500 MW of solar capacity and 460 MW of energy efficiency and conservation, all of which contribute to its optimal generation / supply diversity. Diane Rath, Executive Director of AACOG, further commented. "This is really a big step for the region and it demonstrates CPS Energy's commitment to air quality. AACOG looks forward to this partnership with CPS Energy for our long-range planning and improving the air quality for the region." AACOG's Natural Resources Department addresses air quality issues in the region by bringing together stakeholders from all interests government, industry, business, and residents to develop air pollution reduction plans that benefit our quality of life. AACOG's air quality and outreach programs complement its technical work by increasing knowledge of and encouraging participation in pollution reduction measures. AACOG is a voluntary association of cities, counties and special governmental districts serving the Alamo Area/State Planning Region 18, which covers 13 counties across 12,582 square miles with approximately 2.5 million residents. AACOG's mission is to enhance the lives of all residents of the Alamo Area by working in mutual respect and partnership with all levels of government, the business sector, and the community at large to meet regional challenges and to create regional strengths. For more information on AACOG's work on air quality, visit www.aacog.com or call (210) 362-5200. CPS Energy is celebrating its 75th year of City of San Antonio ownership. Established in 1860, we are the nation's largest municipally-owned natural gas and electric company, providing safe and affordable service to 804,000 electric and 343,000 natural gas customers in Greater San Antonio. With our AA+ credit rating, one of the best in the industry, we offer best-in-class reliability and some of the lowest rates among the top 10 largest U.S. cities. We recognize our role as a community partner, and are continuously focused on job creation, economic development and educational investment. Powered by our people, our investment in the community is demonstrated through our employees' generosity in giving $1.1 million to United Way. We are also committed to investing in clean energy. CPS Energy is among the top public power wind energy buyers in the nation and number one in Texas for solar generation. For more information, visit newsroom.cpsenergy.com. SOURCE CPS Energy Related Links http://www.cpsenergy.com NEW YORK, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Clinical trial recruitment is a challenging step toward FDA approval of new treatments for patients across all disease states; this is especially true for inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). The Crohn's & Colitis Foundation (the Foundation) launched today a dedicated Clinical Trials Community (the Community) for IBD. The Community is designed to educate patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers about the clinical trial process, its value, and how to address barriers that exist in enrollment. "These recruitment difficulties cause delays in attaining the critical data needed to move the drug development process forward," said Michael Osso, President and CEO of the Foundation. "Our Clinical Trials Community will provide education and resources to help overcome these challenges and accelerate treatment options toward approval." The Foundation conducted research including a literature review, landscape analysis and focus groups among the IBD patient population, which confirmed that barriers to clinical trial participation include insufficient awareness of available clinical trials and lack of understanding of the process. "We know through our research that patients would be willing to participate in clinical trials if they were able to learn more about the purpose and importance of clinical trial research," Osso said. "With a dedicated, singular resource we are empowering patients to make decisions that are right for them, cultivating a culture of citizen scientists and creating opportunities for patients to support research that affects the whole IBD community." The IBD Clinical Trials Community has been created to educate about and raise awareness of clinical trials among patients and caregivers, provide resources to identify and participate in relevant clinical trials, and support and improve patient and provider communication about engaging in clinical trials. The Community will be implemented using a phased approach beginning with the launch of the new website, including an educational video series, patient stories, an IBD clinical trial finder, and research updates. Over the remainder of 2017, the Foundation will roll out a clinical trial ambassador program, clinical trial communications, and educational tools for Foundation programs and events across the country. The Crohn's & Colitis Foundation's Clinical Trial Community is made possible by support from AbbVie, Celgene Corporation, Genentech, Inc., and Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. About the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation The Crohn's & Colitis Foundation is the largest non-profit, voluntary, health organization dedicated to finding cures for inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). The Foundation's mission is to cure Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, and to improve the quality of life of children and adults who suffer from these diseases. The Foundation works to fulfill its mission by funding research; providing educational resources for patients and their families, medical professionals, and the public; and furnishing supportive services for those afflicted with IBD. For more information visit http://www.crohnscolitisfoundation.org, call 888-694-8872, or email [email protected]. SOURCE Crohn's & Colitis Foundation Related Links http://www.crohnscolitisfoundation.org/research/clinical-trials-community/ WOONSOCKET, R.I., July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- CVS Health [NYSE:CVS] today announced the opening of the company's Talent Connect Center (TCC) to serve the Fort Bragg, NC military community. This innovative employment and training facility will be dedicated to helping veterans and their families transition from military life to private sector civilian careers. The Talent Connect Center (TCC) is part of the newly dedicated Fort Bragg Career Resource Center which, in partnership with Columbia Southern Education Group, serves as an employment, skills-focused facility and connects service members who are transitioning off active duty with companies who can provide training and employment. The TCC combines state-of-the-art virtual reality technology with hands-on support to help veterans and their spouses throughout the human resources process, from resume assistance and simulated interviewing practice to speaking with leaders of various departments to learn about the many opportunities within the company. CVS Health will be one of approximately 20 companies with training centers within the Career Resource Center. "By 2020 the health care industry will need a projected 5.6 million highly-skilled workers, like our veterans, necessary to compete and grow and there is no reason why we can't 'connect' the two," said Lisa Bisaccia, Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, CVS Health. "The Talent Connect Center is designed to expertly walk veterans through the expanded opportunities at CVS Health, which extend past retail and into distribution, IT and nursing, providing a gateway into high-demand, good paying fields." Equipped with video conferencing technology to serve and reach military and CVS Health personnel beyond Fort Bragg, the TCC will offer training in the Army Career Skills Program (ACSP) for management, retail and logistics. The ACSP allows active duty soldiers within 180 days from separation from the military to train in an interested career field. CVS Health has established a long history of recruiting, hiring, training and retaining veterans to build a pipeline of workforce talent. Since 2015, the company has hired almost 8,000 people with military experience and more than 2,300 military spouses. Leo Trimble, who served in the U.S. Army for 21 years as a Signal Support Technician, said CVS Health took steps to ease his transition when he applied for a job at the end of his service. "When I first made the decision to leave the military, I was all over the place on what to do next," said Trimble, now a Field Support Technician for CVS Health. "I was drawn to CVS Health because they helped me to identify IT opportunities that allowed me to continue to do what I love. I wouldn't change where I am today for anything." On average, enlisted service members have been leaving the U.S. military at a rate of roughly 200,000 each year, and the U.S. Department of Defense estimates the rate will remain high through 2019. "As a new generation of service men and women come home, we owe them every opportunity to live the American Dream that they helped to defend," said David Casey, VP, Workforce Strategies and Chief Diversity Officer, CVS Health who also served as a U.S. Marine Corps Sergeant in Operation Desert Storm. "The Talent Connect Center is dedicated to helping to make the transition process easier for veterans through in-person and virtual skill-building, training and mentoring, and to create an environment that values diversity, leadership and working collaboratively." CVS Health supports our nation's military in many ways. Through a partnership between MinuteClinic, the company's retail medical clinic, and the Department of Veterans Affairs, veterans in Phoenix, AZ are able to access high quality care and treatment of minor illnesses and injuries at the walk-in clinic. The Company also provides charitable support to military and veteran-focused organizations, including the National Guard, Fisher House, Operation Homefront, Operation Military Embrace, Operation Reinvent, ThanksUSA and the USO. CVS Health's colleague resource group Valor is comprised of over 500 colleagues with a passion to serve those who have served our country. About CVS Health CVS Health is a pharmacy innovation company helping people on their path to better health. Through its nearly 9,700 retail locations, more than 1,100 walk-in medical clinics, a leading pharmacy benefits manager with nearly 90 million plan members, a dedicated senior pharmacy care business serving more than one million patients per year, expanding specialty pharmacy services, and a leading stand-alone Medicare Part D prescription drug plan, the company enables people, businesses and communities to manage health in more affordable and effective ways. This unique integrated model increases access to quality care, delivers better health outcomes and lowers overall health care costs. Find more information about how CVS Health is shaping the future of health at https://www.cvshealth.com. Media Contacts: Joe Goode, CVS Health (401) 770-9820; [email protected] Fort Bragg Public Affairs Office (910) 396-2920 SOURCE CVS Health Related Links http://www.cvshealth.com The Resource Tracking for HIV Prevention R&D Working Group's (RTWG) 13th annual report, HIV Prevention Research & Development Investments, 2016: Investment priorities to fund innovation in a challenging global health landscape , documents the lowest annual investment in HIV prevention R&D in more than a decade. In 2016, funding for HIV prevention R&D decreased by three percent (US$35 million) from the previous year, falling to US$1.17 billion. At a time when the field is moving towards a new slate of efficacy trials across the prevention pipeline and follow-on research for successful antiretroviral-based prevention options is underway or planned this trend is worrisome, particularly in light of uncertainties around the sustainability of public sector support from the US and other funders. Even small declines in funding can delay or sideline promising new HIV prevention options that are needed to end the HIV epidemic. The US continued to be the major funder of HIV prevention research. In fact, 88 cents of every dollar spent on HIV prevention R&D in 2016, came from just two donors: the US public sector and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In contrast, European public sector funding fell by US$10 million from 2015, and at US$59 million, accounted for just six percent of all public sector investment. This is the lowest European funding recorded in the last decade and marks a 52 percent decrease from the peak funding (US$124 million) in 2009. In addition, the number of philanthropic donors fell sharply from a total of 27 in 2015 to just 12 in 2016. The RTWG renewed a call for a greater range of donors to increase the stability of R&D financing and cushion potential impact if any of the major funders were to reduce their investments. Noting increases in public sector funding from the Netherlands and Sweden, the RTWG called on other European countries to increase investment in critical HIV prevention tools to help end the epidemic. The past year has seen one new HIV vaccine efficacy trial begin and another planned to begin later in 2017; a novel proof-of-concept trial of antibody-mediated prevention underway; a monthly vaginal ring with the antiretroviral (ARV) drug dapivirine proven effective and under review by the European Medicines Agency; a multipurpose technology combining dapivirine and a contraceptive has launched early-stage trials; a long-acting ARV-based injectable PrEP formulation is beginning efficacy trials; and, finally, daily oral PrEP delivery programs are being scaled up in multiple countries. And behind these more advanced R&D activities come many other different HIV prevention modalities poised to prove themselves in early-stage research. "The latest figures from UNAIDS show us that there has been progress toward meeting the 90 90 90 treatment goals, but there has been less progress and less reporting on meeting the prevention goals that are critical to epidemic control," said Mitchell Warren, AVAC executive director. "We need to not only vastly accelerate roll out of HIV treatment and existing prevention options, we need continued and sustained investment to keep HIV prevention research on track to provide the new tools that will move the world closer to ending AIDS." The RTWG has tracked more than US$17 billion in investment towards biomedical HIV prevention since 2000 and warned that the greatest impact of this investment could be lost without continued and sustained support to move promising prevention options from laboratories and clinics into the lives of those who most need them. "We are at an incredibly exciting time in the field of HIV prevention research and development with more life saving innovations, science and technology coming to the forefront than ever before," said Luiz Loures, Deputy Executive Director of UNAIDS. "We cannot allow a lack of funding to set back progress. Invest now and we can end AIDS by 2030." The report documents some critical increases in funding, including the highest annual investment in preventive HIV vaccines since 2007, which includes the highest investment by the US public sector in preventive vaccine research since 2000, in part because of the start of the first vaccine efficacy trial in almost a decade. Yet European public sector investment in vaccine research was the lowest since 2001. The increase in support for vaccine research comes at a critical time in vaccine R&D and is an example of funders responding to the need for investment to keep promising research moving forward. The RTWG noted this level of investment should be occurring across the field to support the broadest possible pipeline of promising new HIV prevention options. "A true end to AIDS will only be possible if we can develop and deploy an effective HIV vaccine and other innovative biomedical products for HIV prevention" said Mark Feinberg, President and CEO of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI). "With growing risk of increasing rates of HIV infection due to demographic trends and incomplete reach of HIV treatment programs, advances being made in HIV R&D needs support and acceleration. Progress can only happen with sustained public and private sector investment in HIV prevention R&D." The HIV field comes together in Paris next week at IAS2017 at a time when there is both much to be optimistic about in HIV science and in the accumulated knowledge of what and how we need to deliver treatment, prevention and care to the people who need it most. Yet, as the title of the report notes, this optimism faces a volatile global health landscape. Funding constraints, policy changes, shifting donor priorities and shifting demographics will all play a role in the world's ability to respond to the continued challenges that HIV presents. "After years of prudent and increasingly high-impact investment in HIV prevention and treatment, we have seen amazing dividends in lives saved, families kept together, communities revitalized and economies boosted," added Warren. "We cannot lose that momentum. We have the innovative science. Now we need an expanded cadre of innovative funders who will work with us to ensure a continued return on investment in more lives saved and more infections averted." The report and infographics on prevention research investment are online at www.hivresourcetracking.org and on social media with #HIVPxinvestment. Since 2000, the Resource Tracking for HIV Prevention R&D Working Group (formerly the HIV Vaccines & Microbicides Resource Tracking Working Group) has employed a comprehensive methodology to track trends in research and development (R&D) investments and expenditures for biomedical HIV prevention options. AVAC leads the secretariat of the Working Group, that also includes the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). This year's report is additionally made possible by the support of several donors, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the American people through the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the US Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of AVAC and the Working Group and do not necessarily reflect the views of PEPFAR, USAID or the United States Government. SOURCE Resource Tracking for HIV Prevention R&D Working Group Related Links http://www.hivresourcetracking.org WASHINGTON, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Delta (NYSE: DAL) customers now can use fingerprints instead of their boarding pass to board any Delta aircraft at Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA). Delta launches biometrics to board aircraft at Reagan Washington National Airport Delta's biometric boarding pass experience that launched in May at the DCA Delta Sky Club is now integrated into the boarding process to allow eligible Delta SkyMiles Members who are enrolled in CLEAR to forego a paper or mobile boarding pass in favor of using fingerprints as proof of identity to board their plane. The final phase of Delta's DCA biometric boarding pass test, coming this summer, will allow Members to also use their fingerprints to check a bag. "The truly exciting piece of what Delta is doing, is how scalable this experience is in part due to our partnership with CLEAR," said Gil West, Delta's Senior Executive Vice President & COO. "Once we complete testing, customers throughout our domestic network could start seeing this capability in a matter of months not years. Delta really is delivering the future now." Delta is partnering with CLEAR to power the back end of its pioneering biometric boarding pass experience. The DCA pilot is testing how Delta and CLEAR's systems work together while laying the foundation for Delta to deliver a more convenient customer experience broadly in the future. Being part of the initial tests means that eligible customers will be able to traverse DCA as they do today and simply use their fingerprint instead of pulling out their boarding pass. Participating in the test is optional. "Customer and employee feedback has been extremely encouraging throughout our Delta Sky Club test and we expect that enthusiasm to continue with the boarding experience," West continued. "It's a win-win program. Biometric verification has a higher level of accuracy than paper boarding passes and gives agents more time to assist customers with seat changes and other skilled tasks instead of having to scan individual tickets and customers have less to keep track of as they travel through the airport." Over the past year, Delta has led the industry on a number of innovative customer solutions like biometric-based self-service bag drop, RFID baggage handling, real-time bag tracking via the Fly Delta mobile app, more efficient and high tech automated screening lanes and a groundbreaking app that helps Delta pilots avoid turbulence for a more comfortable flight. Delta's partnership with CLEAR already gives exclusive rates to U.S.-based SkyMiles Members for a faster way through security lines at more than 20 airports nationwide, including DCA. Findings from the DCA test will be analyzed to determine next steps for improving the process and broader implementation. How it works During the pilot, Delta customers with a SkyMiles number and who are also enrolled in CLEAR are eligible for the biometric boarding pass experience. CLEAR will capture and use both biometric and SkyMiles information to identify customers at bag drop, Delta Sky Club entry and boarding. Today : Eligible Members can now use their fingerprints to enter Delta Sky Club and board the aircraft at DCA. The biometric boarding pass experience remains optional. Coming Soon : Delta plans to extend passenger biometrics as ID and boarding pass to Delta's DCA ticket counter work stations for bag drops. About Delta Delta Air Lines serves more than 180 million customers each year. In 2017, Delta was named to Fortune's top 50 Most Admired Companies in addition to being named the most admired airline for the sixth time in seven years. Additionally, Delta has ranked No.1 in the Business Travel News Annual Airline survey for an unprecedented six consecutive years. With an industry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to 334 destinations in 62 countries on six continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs more than 80,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 800 aircraft. The airline is a founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance and participates in the industry's leading transatlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia as well as a joint venture with Virgin Atlantic. Including its worldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers more than 15,000 daily flights, with key hubs and markets including Amsterdam, Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York-JFK and LaGuardia, London-Heathrow, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City, Seattle and Tokyo-Narita. Delta has invested billions of dollars in airport facilities, global products and services, and technology to enhance the customer experience in the air and on the ground. Additional information is available on the Delta News Hub, as well as delta.com, Twitter @DeltaNewsHub, Google.com/+Delta, and Facebook.com/delta. SOURCE Delta Air Lines Related Links http://www.delta.com Almost two decades ago, the then Defence Minister George Fernades had called China as threat number one. Doklam standoff today vindicates the stand nuanced by Fernandes and criticised by experts. By Prabhash K Dutta: Even more than one month after the standoff broke out between India and China over Doklam plateau of Bhutan, there is no sign of relent. India and China have dug their heels deeper at Doklam. China is reported to have mobilised large number of soldiers in Tibet and transported tones of ammunition in the region. India has also increased its preparedness in the Sikkim sector, though emphasis is on resolving the standoff diplomatically. advertisement China seems a real threat and some observers are of the view that even though a full-fledged war is ruled out skirmishes can happen over Doklam issue. A long military standoff between India and China was not expected. But, it has not come as a surprise. Former Defence Minister George Fernandes, 19 years ago, had identified China as the "potential threat number one". Fernandes had made this remark during a television interview which had evoked sharp criticism from all quarters. But, the subsequent developments have shown that Fernandes had called a spade a spade. HOW FERNANDES GOT IT RIGHT In the TV interview, Fernandes had emphatically spelt out China's string of pearls policy to encircle India. Fernandes also gave a momentum to defence-strategic response by India to counter China's string of pearls policy. George Fernandes had then said, "China has provided Pakistan with both missile as well as nuclear know-how... China has its nuclear weapons stockpiled in Tibet right along our borders." "On the eastern frontier, the Chinese have trained and equipped the Myanmarese Army... From 1,70,000 six years ago, its strength today is 4,50,000 and by the turn of the century, it will be half a million. Myanmar's population is only 42 million," Fernandes had said elaborating Chinese scheme of things. Currently, Myanmar has 5.15 lakh (more than half-a-million) military personnel. Fernandes also claimed that China had renovated 11 airstrips in Tibet to house new-generation Sukhoi combat aircraft. Based on his assessment of Beijing's strategic approach towards New Delhi, George Fernandes insisted that China must be perceived as a threat by "any person who is concerned with India's security." "China has taken them (Coco Islands - where China has now developed a military base) on loan, where there is a surveillance establishment which is monitoring India," Fernandes had said. Fernandes remarks were viewed also in the context of the Chinese Dong Feng missile, which was the first such missile under the possession of Beijing which was capable of striking targets deep in Indian territory. However, many international experts refuted this analogy. advertisement A Chinese government image claiming that Indian troops trespassed in Doklam area. REACTION TO FERNANDES Made only days ahead of Pokran nuclear tests in 1998, the remarks by Fernandes had created a flutter in the political and international circles. Fernades was bitterly criticised for upping the ante against China in India's strategic preparedness. China was quick to reject the suggestion saying, "The view is absolutely ridiculous and unworthy of refutation." In response to George Fernandes' reference to China-Myanmar defence pacts, the then Chinse army chief FU Quanyou had said, "China does not seek military alliances... nor does it station any troops abroad or establish overseas military bases." The recent developments in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (along the China-Pakistan-Economic Corridor) and Djibouti prove beyond doubt that Fernandes was right in his assessment. Chinese troops are present in the PoK while Beijing had opened its military base in Djibouti. The government of India had not backed Fernandes for targeting China. The PMO had said that the statement of Fernades was not the "considered opinon" of the government. The External Affairs Ministry had remarked, "No comment. There is nothing more to add to it." Former Prime Minister IK Gujral had called Fernandes an "adventurist" Defence Minister and the response of PMO as "meekish". Salman Khursdhit, the then Congress spokesperson, had said, "His statements are an attempt by back door to reverse the process of peaceful relations with China." advertisement WHY CHINA REMAINED THREAT NUMBER ONE George Fernandes was the 30th Defence Minister of India and none before him had labeled China as potential threat number one. Fernandes had made the remark less than two months after taking charge as the Defence Minister of India. The short duration in office was one of the factors raised by his critics. Sitaram Yechury of the CPI(M) had said, "He should tell us how within a matter six weeks the threat perception has changed so dramatically." Fernandes had explained in his interview the reason why perception about China (not being a threat) was not based on ground reality. "I think there is a reluctance to face the reality that China's intentions need to be questioned," he had said. There have been consistent Chinese efforts at increasing its military capability in the Tibet region. According to Defence Ministry's annual report 1985-86, "China has considerably improved its tactical position in Tibet. Its modernisation programme has pronounced military overtones which have obvious security implications for us." advertisement IN DOCUMENTS OF DEFENCE MINISTRY In 1987-88, the Ministry of Defence report said, "China... maintains significantly higher force levels compared to the past." The supply of weapons to the countries in India's neighbourhood has been a concern for India for about 25 years. In 1990-91, Ministry of Defence annual report said, "Sales of arms to countries in our neighbourhood is likely to hamper the process of de-escalation of regional tensions." Another Defence Ministry report from 1990s, said, "Pakistan's acquisition of sophisticated weapon systems, including missiles, from China has a direct bearing on India's security." Defence Ministry annual report for 1997-98 said, "The progress China has made in recent years in augmenting its nuclear arsenal and missile capabilities will continue to have relevance for India's security concerns." The 2016-17 annual report of the Defence Ministry also mentions the latest restructuring of the People's Liberation Army of China with concern. It said, "China initiated significant restructuring of the People's Liberation Army, aimed at stronger control by the Party (the Communist Party of China)..." PRESENT STATUS The restructuring of the PLA preceded the ongoing Doklam standoff. The stubborn attitude of the Chinese in the present standoff is credited to the overhaul of Chinese military set up by President Xi Jinping. Doklam incident has only proven George Fernandes correct in his assessment of the Chinese danger. Incidentally, Fernandes' predecessor in Defence Ministry and SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav yesterday made a similar observation in the Lok Sabha. Mulayam Singh Yadav said, "China, not Pakistan, is our enemy," adding, "China is the biggest problem." Interestingly, Fernandes was reluctant to take charge of defence portfolio as he did not have a suitable wardrobe for ceremonial occasions yet he went on to predict dangers and threats to India's security accurately. ALSO READ | China trying to change status quo in Doklam, India ready to defend: Sushma Swaraj Withdraw, capture or get killed: Ex-Chinese diplomat's 3 options on Doklam Can China really encircle India with its String of Pearls? The great game of Asia Before Doklam standoff, Xi Jinping did an overhaul of Chinese Army ALSO WATCH | China trying to change status quo in Doklam: Sushma Swaraj --- ENDS --- HORSHAM, Pa., July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Democrats in Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District will go to the polls May 15, 2018, to choose a candidate to run against Republican incumbent Pat Meehan in the 2018 mid-term election. Democratic Jewish Outreach PA (DJOP), which supports Democratic candidates running in Pennsylvania who best reflect Jewish values, announced on July 17 that it has endorsed State Senator Daylin Leach for Congress in PA-7. "Senator Leach champions policies and legislation that reflect the values we hold dear," said Jill Zipin, a DJOP founder and member of its executive committee. "His tireless support for a living wage, Medicaid expansion, common-sense gun laws, reproductive freedom, LGBT rights, fighting human trafficking, environmental protection, equitable funding of public education, voting rights, and ending gerrymandering, are among the many reasons Senator Leach has earned our strong endorsement." Zipin also points to Senator Leach's legislative accomplishments, including: A ban on the shackling of pregnant prisoners; New efficiency standards for PA's fleet of automobiles; and The legalization of the use of medical marijuana. "Passage of these bills required gaining support from both sides of the aisle, a skill in short supply in Harrisburg and Washington, DC, and one that Senator Leach clearly possesses," Zipin said. A longtime resident of PA-7, Senator Leach won election to the PA House in 2002. In 2008, he was elected to the PA Senate representing the 17th District. During his time in office, he has earned a reputation as one of the hardest working, most accessible members of the legislature. "Senator Leach consistently seeks to improve the lives of all Pennsylvanians, and he will do the same in Washington," Zipin stated. "His unwavering activism on behalf of people, regardless of their background or party affiliation, and his advancement of Jewish values have earned Senator Leach our enthusiastic support." About Democratic Jewish Outreach PA (DJOP) DJOP was founded in 2008 to support the candidacy of Barack Obama. Since then, DJOP's mission has expanded to supporting Democratic candidates running in Pennsylvania who best reflect Jewish values, including assisting the less fortunate, equality for all, a strong, secure Jewish homeland, and "tikkun olam," the Jewish principle of repairing the world. SOURCE Democratic Jewish Outreach PA (DJOP) Related Links http://www.djop.org GLENDALE, Calif., July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- DineEquity, Inc. (NYSE: DIN), the parent company of Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar and IHOP restaurants, will announce its second quarter fiscal 2017 financial results on August 10, 2017 before the stock market opens. The Company will host a conference call to discuss its results on the same day at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time. To participate on the call, please dial (888) 771-4371 and reference passcode 45293838. International callers, please dial (847) 585-4405 and reference passcode 45293838. A live webcast of the call will be available on DineEquity's website at www.dineequity.com and may be accessed by visiting Events and Presentations under the site's Investors section. Participants should allow approximately ten minutes prior to the call's start time to visit the site and download any streaming media software needed to listen to the webcast. A telephonic replay of the call may be accessed from 10:30 a.m. Pacific Time on August 10, 2017 through 8:59 p.m. Pacific Time on August 17, 2017 by dialing (888) 843-7419 and referencing passcode 45293838#. International callers, please dial (630) 652-3042 and reference passcode 45293838#. An online archive of the webcast will also be available on Events and Presentations under the Investors section of DineEquity's website. About DineEquity, Inc. Based in Glendale, California, DineEquity, Inc. (NYSE: DIN), through its subsidiaries, franchises restaurants under the Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar brand and franchises and operates restaurants under the IHOP brand. With more than 3,700 restaurants combined in 19 countries and approximately 400 franchisees, DineEquity is one of the largest full-service restaurant companies in the world. For more information on DineEquity, visit the Company's website located at www.dineequity.com. SOURCE DineEquity, Inc. Related Links http://www.dineequity.com NEW YORK, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Douglas Elliman Real Estate, the largest brokerage in the New York Metropolitan area and the fourth largest residential real estate company nationwide, today releases the second quarter 2017 Fairfield County and Greenwich Sales Market Report. Fairfield County continued to show heavy sales volume, with the second highest number of sales in a dozen years, while Greenwich sales remained stable, including the luxury market. "In Fairfield County, we saw a sharp rise in median sales prices across all property types, with a surge in new contracts and a slightly faster marketing time," said Scott Durkin, Elliman's Chief Operating Officer. "In general, prices were higher than they were a year ago." Greenwich showed stable conditions from mixed price trends and a slight decline in sales and inventory. "There was a large decline in luxury listings, which is a great sign as overpriced inventory expired, removing confusion for buyers," said Jonathan Miller, author of the reports. "Older listings were snapped up, as sellers met buyers in the market. In addition to more realistic pricing in luxury, Greenwich experienced a jump in condo pricing, along with some mixed results in single family price trends. Areas such as Byram, Pemberwick and Glenville saw rapid acceleration in the pace of the market." "In other words," added Durkin, "sales, inventory and price conditions in the Greenwich luxury market showed relative stability, which in itself is an improvement over conditions a year ago." Highlights of the Douglas Elliman Q2 Market Reports: FAIRFIELD COUNTY SALES Overview - Second most second quarter sales in 12 years - Lowest second quarter inventory in 12 years - Sharp rise in median sales price across property types and luxury - Surge in new contracts with slightly faster marketing time Key Trend Metrics (compared to same year ago period) - Median sales price jumped 23.6% to $445,000 - Number of sales declined 15.4% to 3,335 - Days on market was 106, down from 110 - Listing discount was 4.2%, unchanged - Listing inventory fell 7.7% to 5,972 GREENWICH SALES Overview - Single family price trends showed mixed results as condo prices jumped - Single family sales slipped slightly as condo sales remained stable - Listing inventory slipped across property types with unusually large drop in luxury as more overpriced listings expired - Luxury price trends rose largely from a similar rise in average sales size - Luxury days on market jumped as older listings were snapped up as sellers met buyers at the market. - Areas such Byram, Pemberwick and Glenville saw rapid acceleration in pace of market Key Trend Metrics (compared to same year ago period) SINGLE FAMILY - Median sales price nominally slipped 0.8% to $1,757,000 - Number of sales declined 4.1% to 162 - Days on market was 169, unchanged - Listing discount was 5.9%, up from 5.5% - Listing inventory decreased 2.7% to 660 CONDO - Median sales price rose 11.8% to $760,000 - Number of sales were unchanged at 39 - Days on market was 137, up from 90 - Listing discount was 2.9%, down from 3.3% - Listing inventory declined 2.4% to 123 About Douglas Elliman Real Estate Established in 1911, Douglas Elliman Real Estate is the largest brokerage in the New York Metropolitan area and the fourth largest residential real estate company nationwide. With more than 6,500 agents, the company operates approximately 90 offices in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, New Jersey, Long Island, the Hamptons & North Fork, Westchester, Greenwich, South Florida, Colorado and Beverly Hills. Moreover, Douglas Elliman has a strategic global alliance with London-based Knight Frank Residential for business in the worldwide luxury markets spanning 59 countries and six continents. The company also controls a portfolio of real estate services including Douglas Elliman Development Marketing; Manhattan's largest residential property manager, Douglas Elliman Property Management with over 250 buildings; and DE Commercial. For more information on Douglas Elliman as well as expert commentary on emerging trends in the real estate industry, please visit www.elliman.com. SOURCE Douglas Elliman Related Links http://www.elliman.com Food allergy is a growing epidemic affecting 220 million people around the world. One in 12 children are diagnosed in the United States and the number is doubling nearly every decade. Every two minutes someone visits the emergency room due to a food allergy-induced, life-threatening anaphylactic reaction. E.A.T. hopes the new PSA campaign will educate broader audiences about the dangers of food allergies and encourage people to donate to much-needed research to help the millions of people who are one bite away from a reaction. "After watching this PSA, we hope people of all ages will understand the severity of food allergies and the risks those affected face every single time they eat," said E.A.T. co-founder Elise Bates, whose 12-year-old daughter has a severe food allergy. "People with food allergies can look fine one minute but then be in a life-threatening situation the next, after just one bite of the wrong food. It's terrifying. We need to find better treatments." BBDO created the "Could you EAT?" PSA to show people what it's like to live with food allergies. The 60-second PSA portrays a poisonous food truck in New York City, and captures real-time reactions from people who learn that they can order dishes from this food truck that "could" be life-threatening. Chef Ming Tsai, known for his restaurants Blue Ginger and Blue Dragon in the Boston area, appropriately plays the chef of the food truck. Tsai developed the Food Allergy Reference Book, a pioneering system that creates safeguards to help food-allergic people dine safely. For four years, Ming worked with Massachusetts Legislature to help write Bill S. 2701, which was signed into law in 2009. This groundbreaking legislation, the first of its kind in the U.S., requires local restaurants to comply with simple food allergy awareness guidelines. Eight major food allergens milk, egg, peanut, tree nuts, wheat, soy, fish and crustacean shellfish are responsible for most of the serious food allergy reactions in the U.S. The spot ends with a call-to-action to donate and help "fund the research to find the cures." Said Kirsten Flanik, President, BBDO New York which created the new PSA: "The potential dangers of food allergies are a significant, under-publicized issue and one that impacts many of us here at BBDO. We were happy to lend our volunteer support." Merrill and Robert Debbs' son Oakley suffered a fatal anaphylactic reaction from a previously diagnosed mild nut allergy. They founded the non-profit organization Red Sneakers for Oakley to help raise awareness about asthma and food allergies, specifically nut allergies, through the creation of educational programs and community outreach. They also encourage people to wear red sneakers in honor of Oakley, who loved wearing them in his many sporting events. "Oakley ate one bite of cake that contained nuts and had an allergic reaction that hours later took his life," said Bates. "We support the Debbs' efforts to raise awareness through Red Sneakers for Oakley, and they support E.A.T.'s efforts to fund critical research so that no other parent has to lose their child to a bite of common food." Since E.A.T. was launched in 2015 to help the significant gap in research funding, the non-profit organization has raised $1.4 million. To date, E.A.T. has funded five promising research studies by scientists seeking food allergy treatments and cures. E.A.T, which donates 100% of net proceeds, is the only food allergy organization solely committed to funding research. To watch the PSA, please visit http://bit.ly/EATPSA or endallergiestogether.com To donate, please text "CURE" to 80077 #CouldYouEAT? #DonateToEAT #EndFoodAllergies About End Allergies Together (E.A.T.) End Allergies Together (E.A.T.) is a 501c(3) non-profit organization solely focused on raising money for promising food allergy research. One hundred percent of net proceeds go directly to the researchers dedicated to finding answers for this growing epidemic. Co-founders Kim Hall and Elise Bates wanted to make a change after raising kids who both suffer from life-threatening food allergies. More than 17 million Americans are affected by food allergies. For more information regarding the E.A.T. please visit EndAllergiesTogether.com Press Contacts: Kriskey Lane Communications Susan Kriskey, [email protected] Marni Lane, [email protected] SOURCE End Allergies Together (E.A.T.) PESSAMIT, QC, July 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - The Pessamit Innu Band Council has won a first round in its fight against Hydro-Quebec to stop the raising of the water level at the Manicouagan reservoir. In his judgment of July 13, 2017, Justice Serge Francoeur of the Superior Court in Baie-Comeau ruled that the Crown Corporation must immediately stop the process of filling the reservoir which started last year. This judgment, which is equivalent to an interlocutory injunction, also provides that as of August 2017, the parties must agree to proceed quickly to holding hearings on the issue of a permanent injunction. Should such an injunction be granted, Hydro-Quebec would have to then re-establish the water level below the upper limit of the drawdown zone observed in the early 1980s, and keep it at these limits. Profits vs Environment Since it became aware of the project already underway to raise the water level of the Manicouagan reservoir, the Innu Council of Pessamit has argued that it is engaged in a struggle between purely financial interests and the firm determination of Innu to protect the environment of Nitassinan (ancestral territory), and consequently, of the entire region. Above the Law "Hydro-Quebec started raising the water level without even warning us," says Rene Simon, Chief of the Pessamit Innu. "By doing so, the organization will release methyl mercury, a harmful substance known to concentrate at each level of the food chain, at the top of which are found the Pessamit Innu and the surrounding population. Moreover, the flooding of an environment that has been re-generated over the past four decades will kill several thousand hectares of forest bordering on the reservoir as well as numerous wildlife species, and destroy the spawning grounds of various fish species, several buildings, and cottages. Hydro-Quebec's argument that it has had the right to raise the reservoir level since the 1960s is no longer valid because since that time, several Quebec and Canadian laws have prohibited anyone from introducing any polluting substances into the environment that cause a risk to human health and a threat to animal species. In our view, it is illegal for Hydro-Quebec to unilaterally abrogate the right to pollute." Above the Supreme Court After consulting Hydro-Quebec's 2016-2020 Strategic Plan, it is clear that Hydro-Quebec has been planning on increasing its capacity by 1140 MW, in particular to meet its electricity export targets. The increase in level of the Manicouagan Reservoir is part of this plan. It is also noted on page 35 that to add power to certain facilities, Hydro-Quebec intends to "enter into agreements with the regional and Indigenous communities concerned." However, in the case of the Manicouagan Reservoir, it never consulted the Pessamit Innu First Nation, although this is a right that has been confirmed many times by the Supreme Court of Canada. In terms of ancestral rights for Aboriginal Peoples, Hydro-Quebec clearly appears to be one of the worst companies in Quebec. Good News The objective of Pessamit is to obtain a permanent injunction by the spring of 2018 in order to maintain the water level that existed at the beginning of the 1980s, i.e. about 350 meters (1 148 feet) instead of 359 meters (1 178 feet)." The mere fact of having interrupted this process of raising the level of the Manicouagan Reservoir is good news not only for the Pessamit Innu, but also for owners of cottages and buildings located in the sector, for the many users of the territory and especially, especially, for the environment," concluded Chief Simon. SOURCE Conseil des Innus de Pessamit LEXINGTON, Ky., July 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Fazoli's, America's largest fast casual Italian chain, announced today a 1 percent same-store sales increase for its franchised locations during the second quarter of 2017 marking the 17th consecutive quarter of same-store sales growth. "Fazoli's continues to build momentum after a record fiscal year and yet another quarter of solid results," said Carl Howard, president and chief executive officer of Fazoli's. "Given our incredible value proposition offered to guests, not to mention some of the challenges facing others in the restaurant industry, this is a significant achievement and a testament to the strength of the Fazoli's brand and its unique positioning. We are continuing to make strides in the right direction and look forward to a stellar second half of the year." Fazoli's strong growth has been fueled by its continuing brand refresh efforts including a completely clean food menu. The brand also rolled out an upgraded menu with premium ingredients at its 120 company-owned locations across the country last month. The remaining 91 and all new franchised locations will feature the newly upgraded menus in January 2018. Building on this success, Fazoli's is in the process of remodeling select locations with a new contemporary look to create a better customer experience for its guests. As a testament to its achievements, Fazoli's franchisees are experiencing nearly three times the industry average growth rate with new franchised restaurants continually setting new system-wide records. With nearly 220 restaurants in 26 states, Fazoli's is currently seeking single- and multi-unit operators to join its growing, successful franchise network and is targeting new markets across the U.S. For more information about franchise opportunities, contact Sam Nelson, vice president of franchise recruitment and development, at 1-800-446-4368 or [email protected]. About Fazoli's With approximately 220 restaurants in 26 states, Fazoli's is America's largest Italian fast casual chain, serving freshly prepared entrees, Submarinos sandwiches, salads and pizza. One of the New York Post's five breakout fast casual restaurants and a FastCasual.com Brand of the Year, Fazoli's franchisees are experiencing record sales growth. Visit www.ownafazolis.com for details on development opportunities. Contact: Courtney Whelan Fish Consulting 954-893-9150 [email protected] SOURCE Fazoli's EAST HANOVER, N.J., July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Novartis today announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review the Biologics License Application (BLA) for AMG 334 (erenumab) for the prevention of migraine in patients experiencing four or more migraine days per month. If approved, erenumab is expected to be the first and only fully human monoclonal antibody targeting the calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor, specifically designed for the prevention of migraine. "Migraine is a serious, chronic neurological disease with a profound and limiting impact on patients' abilities to carry out everyday tasks," said Vas Narasimhan, Global Head Drug Development and Chief Medical Officer for Novartis. "We look forward to continuing our longstanding history of redefining clinical practice in neurology by working with the FDA to bring erenumab to people suffering from migraine, and to subsequently reduce the overall burden of this debilitating disease." Phase II and Phase III clinical studies of erenumab versus placebo have demonstrated a significant reduction in the number of migraine-affected days, acute medication over-use and disability, while improving quality of life for patients with episodic and chronic migraine. The safety profile of erenumab was similar to placebo in over 2,600 patients in the Phase II and Phase III studies assessing the prevention of migraine, and persistence rates were approximately 90 percent. Erenumab will be jointly commercialized in the US by Amgen and Novartis. About AMG 334 (Erenumab) AMG 334 (erenumab) is the only fully human monoclonal antibody specifically designed for the prevention of migraine that has been filed with the FDA. Erenumab specifically inhibits the receptor of the calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), which is thought to play a causal role in migraine pathophysiology. Erenumab has been studied in several large global, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials to assess its safety and efficacy in migraine prevention. About Migraine Migraine is a distinct neurological disease.3 People with migraine lose a substantial portion of their lives to this illness, experiencing significant physical impairment, frequently accompanied by head pain, nausea, vomiting and meaningful disruption of daily activities.3 The World Health Organization ranks migraine as one of the most debilitating illnesses.4 For the approximately 10 million Americans whose migraine frequency or severity impacts daily activities, preventive medications may be an option.5 Approximately 3.5 million of these patients are currently on a preventive therapy, but up to 80 percent are non-adherent within one year.5,6 Migraine is associated with personal and societal burdens of pain, disability, and financial cost, and it remains under-recognized, under-treated, and compounded by stigma and misunderstanding. About Novartis and Amgen Neuroscience Collaboration In August 2015, Novartis entered into a global collaboration with Amgen to jointly develop and commercialize pioneering neuroscience treatments in the field of migraine and Alzheimer's disease (AD). The collaboration focuses on investigational drugs in the migraine field, including erenumab (Biologics License Application accepted by the US FDA in July 2017) and AMG 301 (currently in Phase I development). In April 2017, the collaboration was expanded to include co-commercialization of erenumab in the US. For the migraine program, Amgen retains exclusive rights in Japan, and Novartis has exclusive rights in Europe, Canada and rest of world. Also, the companies are collaborating in the development and commercialization of a beta-secretase 1 (BACE) inhibitor program in AD. The oral therapy CNP520 (currently in Phase III for AD) is the lead molecule and further compounds from both companies' pre-clinical BACE inhibitor programs may be considered as follow-on molecules. Novartis in Neuroscience Novartis has a strong ongoing commitment to neuroscience and to bringing innovative treatments to patients suffering from neurological conditions where there is a high unmet need. We are committed to supporting patients and physicians in multiple disease areas, including Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Epilepsy and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and have a promising pipeline in MS, Alzheimer's disease, migraine and specialty neurology (e.g., neuropathic pain). Disclaimer This press release contains forward-looking statements, including "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, that can generally be identified by words such as "milestone," "investigational," "expected," "look forward," "continuing," "would," "step toward," "potential," "ongoing," "commitment," "may," "pioneering," "committed," "promising," "pipeline," "will," "submitted," or similar terms, or by express or implied discussions regarding potential marketing approvals for AMG 334, CNP520, AMG 301, other BACE inhibitors of Novartis and Amgen, and other investigational compounds of Novartis and Amgen subject to the collaboration, potential new indications or labeling for products in the Novartis Neuroscience portfolio, or regarding potential future revenues from such investigational compounds and products, and potential future revenues from the collaboration with Amgen. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on our current beliefs and expectations regarding future events, and are subject to significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. There can be no guarantee that AMG 334, CNP520, AMG 301, other BACE inhibitors of Novartis and Amgen, or other investigational compounds of Novartis and Amgen subject to the collaboration will be submitted or approved for sale in any market, or at any particular time. Neither can there be any guarantee that the collaboration with Amgen will achieve any or all of its intended goals and objectives, or be commercially successful. Nor can there be any guarantee that any product in the Novartis Neuroscience portfolio will be submitted or approved for any additional indications or labeling in any market, or at any particular time. Neither can there be any guarantee that AMG 334, CNP520, AMG 301, any of the other investigational compounds subject to the collaboration with Amgen, or any product in the Novartis Neuroscience portfolio will be commercially successful in the future. In particular, our expectations regarding such investigational compounds and products, and the collaboration with Amgen, could be affected by, among other things, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, including clinical trial results and additional analysis of existing clinical data; regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; our ability to obtain or maintain proprietary intellectual property protection; the particular prescribing preferences of physicians and patients; global trends toward health care cost containment, including government, payor and general public pricing and reimbursement pressures; general economic and industry conditions, including the effects of the persistently weak economic and financial environment in many countries; safety, quality or manufacturing issues, and other risks and factors referred to in Novartis AG's current Form 20-F on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Novartis is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. About Novartis Located in East Hanover, NJ Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation is an affiliate of Novartis which provides innovative healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of patients and societies. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis offers a diversified portfolio to best meet these needs: innovative medicines, cost-saving generic and biosimilar pharmaceuticals and eye care. Novartis has leading positions globally in each of these areas. In 2016, the Group achieved net sales of USD 48.5 billion, while R&D throughout the Group amounted to approximately USD 9.0 billion. Novartis Group companies employ approximately 118,000 full-time-equivalent associates. Novartis products are sold in approximately 155 countries around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.novartis.com. Novartis is on Twitter. Sign up to follow @Novartis at http://twitter.com/novartis For Novartis multimedia content, please visit www.novartis.com/news/media-library For questions about the site or required registration, please contact [email protected] References American Migraine Foundation. The Burden of Migraine. https://americanmigrainefoundation.org/living-with-migraines/. Accessed July 11, 2017 . Hawkins K, Wang S, Rupnow M. Direct cost burden among insured US employees with migraine. Headache. 2008;48(4):553-563. Lipton RB, et al. Migraine prevalence, disease burden, and the need for preventative therapy. Neurology. 2007; 68(5):343-9. Headache disorders - Fact sheets. World Health Organization. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs277/en/. Accessed July 11, 2017 . MarketScan data on file. March 31, 2017 . Ref Type: Data File Hepp Z et al. Adherence to oral migraine-preventive medications among patients with chronic migraine. Cephalalgia. 2015; 35(6):478-88 Novartis Media Relations Central media line: +41 61 324 2200 E-mail: [email protected] Eric Althoff Novartis Global Media Relations 1-212-830-2408 (office) 1-646-438-4335 (mobile) [email protected] Christina Zoppi Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation 1-862-778-1980 (direct) 1-862-345-4140 (mobile) [email protected] SOURCE Novartis PRINCETON, N.J., July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- WIRB-Copernicus Group (WCG), the world's leading provider of solutions to measurably improve the quality and efficiency of clinical research, announced today that it has acquired FDAnews, which provides global regulatory information for executives in the clinical research, biopharmaceutical and medical device industries. FDAnews joins clinical trial publishing leader CenterWatch to create a powerful new resource for the life science community. FDAnews/CenterWatch provides a suite of well-respected newsletters, books, databases, market intelligence reports, conferences and webinars, including Drug Industry Daily, CenterWatch Monthly, the Clinical Trials Data Library, the Medical Device Quality Congress and the FDA Inspections Summit. "We are delighted to welcome the accomplished team from FDAnews to our family of companies and excited to see what the combination of FDAnews and CenterWatch will produce for our industry," said Donald A. Deieso, PhD, chairman and CEO of WCG. "We have long prided ourselves on providing thought leadership and information solutions to the clinical trials community and look forward to extending our offerings to other segments of the biopharmaceutical and medical device ecosystem," said Deieso. "Our clients will benefit from real-time access to regulatory actions, industry developments and other critical issues that affect life sciences organizations." "We are very excited to join CenterWatch and the family of WCG companies and look forward to what we will collectively deliver to our clients," said Cynthia Carter, president of FDAnews/CenterWatch. "My team has long admired CenterWatch products and we share WCG's mission of providing high-quality products and services to the industry." Serving the industry for 50 years, WCG is the trusted partner of biopharmaceutical companies, CROs, institutions and central research sites, and has overseen research conducted by 90 percent of the country's FDA-regulated investigators. Comprised of the largest and most highly accredited institutional review boards (IRBs) in the world, WCG's chief focus is on finding ways to accelerate the clinical research process and protect study volunteers. Like the other WCG companies, FDAnews/CenterWatch will operate independently as a publishing division within the group and will be respectively located in Falls Church, Virginia and Boston, Massachusetts. WCG will support the new company as it continues to expand with access to capital, expertise and corporate operational support. About WIRB-Copernicus Group WIRB-Copernicus Group (WCG) is the world's leading provider of solutions to measurably improve the quality and efficiency of clinical research. The industry's first clinical services organization (CSO), WCG enables biopharmaceutical companies, CROs and institutions to accelerate the delivery of new treatments and therapies to patients, while maintaining the highest standards of human subject protections. For more information, please visit www.wcgclinical.com or follow us on [email protected] About FDAnews Founded in 1972 by David Swit, FDAnews is a pioneer in the creation of focused information for the biopharmaceutical and medical device industries. Over the last 45 years it has expanded to include high-quality conferences and webinars and continues to provide valuable, highly curated information for the life science community. For more information, please visit www.fdanews.com. About CenterWatch Founded in 1994 by Ken Getz, CenterWatch is the recognized global leader in providing clinical trials information to a broad and influential spectrum of clinical research professionals, ranging from sponsors and CROs to investigative sites. CenterWatch provides proprietary data and information analysis on clinical trials and industry trends through a variety of well-respected newsletters and books, including CenterWatch Monthly and the Clinical Trials Data Library. For more information, please visit www.centerwatch.com. SOURCE WIRB-Copernicus Group Related Links http://www.wcgclinical.com AUSTIN, Texas, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- FieldPoint Petroleum Corporation (NYSE/MKT:FPP) announced that it has completed the sale of 401 net acres in Lea County, New Mexico, held by multiple East Lusk 15 Federal Com wells ("East Lusk Wells") and the Jennings Federal Com No. 1 well ("Jennings Well"), to a private E&P company. FieldPoint will retain its 43.75% net working interest in the East Lusk Wells and its 87.50% net working interest in the Jennings Well. Total sales price for the asset was $1,200,000. Phillip Roberson, President and CFO, said, "One million dollars of the funds from this transaction were used to further reduce outstanding bank debt. The remaining balance will be used for operating expenses. We are fortunate to be able to make another significant reduction in debt without a loss in production. Today's transaction is another step toward regaining compliance with the terms of our bank debt, and with the NYSE listing requirements. We will continue to market non-core assets to pay down debt, while searching for new growth opportunities." This press release may contain projection and other forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934, as amended. Any such projections or statement reflect the company's current views with respect to future events and financial performance. No assurances can be given, however, that these events will occur or that such projections will be achieved and that actual results could differ materially from those projected. A discussion of important factors that could cause actual results to differ from those projected, such as decreases in oil and natural gas prices and unexpected decreases in oil and natural gas production is included in the company's periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (at www.sec.gov) SOURCE FieldPoint Petroleum Corporation Chinese diplomat's comments underline the sharpening rhetoric from Beijing - and the threat of use of force - over the Doklam stand-off. By Ananth Krishnan: A former Chinese diplomat, who was earlier Consul General in Mumbai, told Chinese state media on Wednesday that Indian troops faced three options at Doklam as the stand-off entered one month: withdrawal, capture or an attack by China "should the dispute escalate". His comments underline the sharpening rhetoric from Beijing - and the threat of use of force - over the stand-off, with the Chinese government still insisting that there was no room for diplomatic solutions until India fulfilled a "precondition" of withdrawing unilaterally. advertisement Liu Youfa, former Chinese Consul General in Mumbai and now a strategic affairs expert, told state broadcaster China Central Television's English-language channel on Wednesday, "When people in uniform get across the border and move into territory of another country, they naturally become the enemies who have to face three consequences." CHINA WAITING FOR INDIA TO MAKE SENSIBLE CHOICE "First," Liu continued, "They can pull out voluntarily. Or, they can be captured. And should the border dispute escalate, they maybe killed. These are the three possibilities." Liu added, "The Chinese side is standing there waiting for India to make a sensible choice which is the first scenario." "It is the best result for both sides to avoid a confrontation," Liu said. His comments reflect the hard-line approach to the stand-off that China has assumed, in what some experts have seen as muscle-flexing and posturing aimed at getting India to withdraw. MILITARY EQUIPMENT IN TIBET The PLA's official newspaper, the PLA Daily, reported this week in the latest indication of muscle-flexing that it had transported military equipment to Tibet under an exercise held on the plateau, although the location in northern Tibet near the Kunlun mountains is far from the site of the stand-off near the Sikkim section. In fact, the site of the stand-off at the India-China-Bhutan tri-junction is thought to be one of the few pockets along the border where China is at a considerable disadvantage in terms of both terrain and its capability to sustain a long-term forward posture, which some experts say might partly explain its shrill rhetoric. Also read: Doklam standoff: China says no bilateral talks with India till impasse is resolved Also read: Chinese media fires salvo, blames Hindu nationalism for Doklam standoff WATCH THE VIDEO HERE --- ENDS --- CHICAGO, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Strategy execution firm Gagen MacDonald recently added Karen Bundy as a senior consultant to serve clients in the areas of business transformation and culture. With more than 17 years of experience across the human resources domain, Bundy will help build and support the firm's rapid growth in the organizational change space. "As we continue to see growing demand from Fortune 500 leadership teams who want to transform their businesses from the inside out, we're thrilled to be adding even greater depth to our team," said Gagen MacDonald President Sherry Scott. "Bringing on additional seasoned talent like Karen, who truly understands the interdependencies of strategy, structure and culture to drive business transformation, is critical to delivering for our clients." Prior to joining Gagen MacDonald, Bundy was a senior member of Mercer's change management business and the global M&A culture practice lead. She brings multi-industry experience in providing strategic guidance from business and cultural alignment, key stakeholder engagement, and decision making to communications, administration, and governance on the various organizational, operational, and human capital components required to achieve business outcomes. She holds a bachelor's degree in Mathematics and Spanish from the University of Kansas and earned her MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School Of Business. Founded in 1998, Gagen MacDonald is a woman-owned consulting firm focused on employee engagement, culture change and leadership for many of the world's largest brands. Throughout its 19-year history, the company has undergone several quantum leaps to remain on the cutting edge of accelerating organizational change. "It was important for me to work with an organization that is committed to being on the forefront of organizational change and culture. That means not only having proven expertise, but also having the willingness to continue investing in capabilities to stay ahead of ever-evolving client needs. Add Gagen MacDonald's own collaborative and supportive culture, and it was really a perfect fit for me," said Bundy. "As our work-life motto states: 'Be where you need to be.' I'm confident that I'm exactly where I need to be." About Gagen MacDonald Gagen MacDonald is a strategy execution firm specializing in employee engagement, culture change and leadership. Working collaboratively from the corporate office to the front line, Gagen uses an organization's brand, culture, vision and history to motivate and align employees to transform companies, accomplish business objectives and drive reputation from the inside out. As a pioneer in organizational change, Gagen has helped some of the world's biggest brands, including Coca-Cola, DuPont, GE, Johnson & Johnson, Phillips 66 and Walgreens Boots Alliance. To learn more, please visit www.gagenmacdonald.com. SOURCE Gagen MacDonald Related Links http://www.gagenmacdonald.com "At Garnier, we're committed to building and sustaining communities by connecting people through acts that take care of our planet and give better futures to our next generations," said Ikdeep Singh, President of Maybelline, Garnier & Essie at L'Oreal USA. "We are honored to partner with UNICEF to support the outstanding life-saving work they do around the world to help children in difficult circumstances. In emergencies, UNICEF uses Child Friendly Spaces to foster an essential sense of security, normalcy and trust, ensuring that society's youngest and most defenseless can continue to grow, flourish and connect with others in their community to build a brighter future together." UNICEF, which operates in 190 countries and territories, responds to children's needs by providing safe water and hygiene, nutrition, health and protection services and gives hope for the future by creating safe spaces for children to play and learn. Along with ensuring children's basic needs are met, educational and play-based activities in the spaces help to restore a sense of normalcy for children. Garnier's donation will help fund UNICEF's work with children in emergencies. The UNICEF School-in-a-Box Kit is just one way UNICEF helps children in emergencies by giving them access to education in the world's most challenging locations. This hard-shelled, aluminum box has everything a teacher needs to carry on classes for three months for 40 students. In addition to the basic school supplies, such as exercise books and pencils, the kit also includes a locally-developed teaching guide and curriculum, a wind-up solar radio and special paint to transform the kit's lid into a blackboard. Garnier's support could fund up to 5,600 educational and play-based activity kits, reaching up to 300,000 children who need care and support. Additional kits supported include the Early Childhood Development Kit, the Recreation Kit and the Hygiene Kit: Early Childhood Development Kit : This treasure box can help 50 young children under six to play and develop their skills in a time of stress. Kit contents include: puzzles and games, counting circle and boxes to stack and sort, board books and puppets for storytelling, art supplies, soaps and water containers for promoting hygiene. : This treasure box can help 50 young children under six to play and develop their skills in a time of stress. Kit contents include: puzzles and games, counting circle and boxes to stack and sort, board books and puppets for storytelling, art supplies, soaps and water containers for promoting hygiene. Within the kit, caregivers will also find an easy-to-use Activity Guide filled with suggestions on how to use each item based on a child's age and interests. Recreation Kit: This game kit can help 90 children recover from trauma through team sports with a teacher. It includes balls for several types of games, colored tunics for different teams, measuring tape for marking play areas and a whistle and scoring slate. This game kit can help 90 children recover from trauma through team sports with a teacher. It includes balls for several types of games, colored tunics for different teams, measuring tape for marking play areas and a whistle and scoring slate. Following a gender analysis of the kit, and in light of UNICEF's priority of girls' education, additional items aimed at encouraging physical activity and sport amongst girls have also been added. Hygiene Kit: These kits are filled with essential items to help households safeguard family health in the aftermath of natural disasters. Packed in plastic buckets, the kits contain essential household supplies, including: soap, detergent, toothbrushes, toothpaste and towels. "We commend Garnier for its commitment to helping children in emergencies, who need the support of UNICEF and our partners the most," said Caryl M. Stern, President and CEO of UNICEF USA. "In any emergency, children are always the most vulnerable group. They face the highest risk of violence, exploitation, disease and neglect. We have a duty to effectively and quickly respond to their needs, therefore giving them the best possible chance of surviving and helping them lead the lives we wish for our own children." In partnership with UNICEF, Garnier created a video to illustrate some of the extreme circumstances that affect children around the world today and are encouraging consumers to join the conversation via social sharing. In stores now through August 31st 2017, Garnier Micellar Water, Fructis and Whole Blends products will feature on-pack messaging communicating Garnier's commitment and donation to UNICEF that will create these kits. During the month of August, in-store displays will reveal impactful visuals and messaging to communicate that Garnier's donation will help children maintain their childhood and education, even in the midst of an emergency situation. Garnier's financial support of UNICEF is not influenced by the purchase of any Garnier product and UNICEF does not endorse any brand, company or service. For more information please visit: http://www.garnierusa.com/garnier-and-unicef About Garnier For over 100 years, Garnier has created innovative, performance-driven products covering all types of beauty needs. Present in more than 65 countries, the brand draws its strength from its young and resolutely optimistic spirit. Garnier's expertise has expanded to cover several areas in the beauty field with iconic and world renowned products in haircare, styling, hair coloration, skincare and more. At Garnier, we embrace individuality by creating must-have products that harness the power of nature and technology to help everyone look good and feel better every day. With Garnier, the best hair starts with strength. For more information, please visit www.garnierusa.com About UNICEF The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) works in more than 190 countries and territories to put children first. UNICEF has helped save more children's lives than any other humanitarian organization, by providing health care and immunizations, clean water and sanitation, nutrition, education, emergency relief and more. UNICEF USA supports UNICEF's work through fundraising, advocacy and education in the United States. Together, we are working toward the day when no children die from preventable causes and every child has a safe and healthy childhood. For more information, visit www.unicefusa.org. Media Contacts: Alison Brod Marketing + Communications for Garnier Donna Valle [email protected] UNICEF USA Ann Reinking [email protected] SOURCE Garnier USA Related Links http://www.garnierusa.com LONDON, July 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Gas Meters Market: Overview The global gas meters market report by Transparency Market Research provides in-depth analysis of the gas meters market globally. The report segments the market on the basis of product type, application, and geography. The report analyzes the global gas meters market in terms of both gas meters annual sales volume (Units) and revenue (US$ Mn) for the year between 2016 and 2024. For this research study, the base year is 2015, whereas the forecast is from 2016 to 2024. Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4760057/ The report provides a comprehensive competitive landscape and features companies manufacturing gas meters. This report includes the key dynamics affecting the gas meters market globally. The analysis in the report provides detailed insights of the global gas meters market. The drivers, opportunities, and restraints of the market were analyzed in detail and are illustrated in the report. The report also provides a detailed industry analysis of the global Gas Meters with the help of the Porter's Five Forces Analysis model. Gas Meters Market: Segmentation Analysis The research report is segmented into product type and application. Product type segment is further segmented into diaphragm gas meter, rotary gas meter, turbine gas meter, ultrasonic gas meter, and others. Application segment is further segmented into residential, commercial, and industrial. The global gas meters market has been segmented geographically into five regions and further into sub-segmented 14 unique country sub-segments. The regional segments are North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and Latin America. The 14 countries which have been separately addressed in this report are the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Germany, France, Russia, China, India, Japan, ASEAN, GCC, South Africa, Brazil, and Mexico. On the basis of product type, diaphragm gas meters are the most widely used type of gas meters. Diaphragm gas meters hold around 70% market share of the global gas meters type segment. Rotary and turbine gas meters are also installed in large numbers. Turbine and ultrasonic gas meters are being installed at a very high rate across the globe. Other gas meters types include orifice gas meters and coriolis gas meters. These types of gas meters hold less than 10% market share of the global gas meters market. On the basis of application, Residential application includes gas connections of individual houses, gas connections of buildings, and gas connections of individual flats in buildings. Commercial application includes gas connections of hotels, gas connections of restaurants, gas connections of malls, gas connections of shops, and other commercial facilities with gas connections. Industrial application includes power generation facilities with gas connections, manufacturing plants with gas connections, chemical plants with gas connections, and other industrial facilities with gas connections. Residential application dominated the global gas meters market with around 70% market share. Increasing residential gas connections are expected to boost the sales of gas meters for residential application during the forecast period. Asia Pacific dominated the global gas meters market in terms of gas meters sales volume and revenue, in 2015. China, India, Japan, Australia, and ASEAN countries are some of the major countries in the Asia Pacific gas meters market. Increasing industrialization in the region have augmented the sales of gas meters. Increasing consumption of natural gas in the region has also boosted the sales of gas meters in Asia Pacific. Global Gas Meters Market: Companies Mentioned in the Report Some of the key market participants in the global Gas Meters market are ABB, AEM S.A., APATOR SA, Badger Meter Inc., Betar Ltd., Diehl Gas Metering GmbH, EDMI Ltd., Elster GmbH, General Electric, Itron Inc., Landis+Gyr, Honeywell Process Solutions Inc., Qianwei Kromschroder Meters Chongqing Co. Ltd., Chongqing Shancheng Gas Equipment Co. Ltd., and Dandong Dongfa (Group) Co. Ltd. among others. The report provides an overview of these companies, followed by their number of units sold, financial details, business strategies, and SWOT analysis. The global gas meters market has been segmented as follows: Global Gas Meters Market: Regional Analysis North America The U.S. Canada Europe The U.K. Germany France Russia Rest of Europe Asia Pacific China India Japan ASEAN Rest of Asia Pacific Middle East & Africa GCC South Africa Rest of Middle East & Africa Latin America Brazil Mexico Rest of Latin America Global Gas Meters Market: By Product Type Diaphragm gas meters Rotary Gas Meters Turbine Gas Meters Ultrasonic Gas Meters Other Types Gas Meters Global Gas Meters Market: By Application Type Residential Commercial Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4760057/ About Reportbuyer Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers http://www.reportbuyer.com For more information: Sarah Smith Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 208 816 85 48 Website: www.reportbuyer.com SOURCE ReportBuyer Related Links http://www.reportbuyer.com HOUSTON, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Gastar Exploration Inc. (NYSE MKT: GST) ("Gastar") announced today that it will release its second quarter 2017 results on Thursday, August 3, 2017 after the market closes. In conjunction with the release, Gastar has scheduled a conference call for 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time (8:00 a.m. Central Time) on Friday, August 4, 2017. Investors may participate in the call either by phone or audio webcast. By Phone: Dial 1-412-902-0030 at least 10 minutes before the call. A telephone replay will be available through August 11 by dialing 1-201-612-7415 and using the conference ID: 13666599. By Webcast: Visit the Investor Relations page of Gastar's website at www.gastar.com under "Events & Presentations." Please log on a few minutes in advance to register and download any necessary software. A replay will be available shortly after the call. For more information, please contact Donna Washburn at Dennard-Lascar Associates at 713-529-6600 or e-mail [email protected]. About Gastar Exploration Gastar Exploration Inc. is a pure play Mid-Continent independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development and production of oil, condensate, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Gastar's principal business activities include the identification, acquisition, and subsequent exploration and development of oil and natural gas properties with an emphasis on unconventional reserves, such as shale resource plays. Gastar holds a concentrated acreage position in the normally pressured oil window of the STACK Play, an area of central Oklahoma that is home to multiple oil and natural gas-rich reservoirs including the Meramec and Osage limestone formations, the Oswego limestone, the Woodford shale and Hunton limestone formations. For more information, visit Gastar's website at www.gastar.com. Contacts: Gastar Exploration Inc. Michael A. Gerlich, Chief Financial Officer 713-739-1800 / [email protected] Investor Relations Counsel: Lisa Elliott / [email protected] Dennard-Lascar Associates: 713-529-6600 SOURCE Gastar Exploration Inc. Related Links http://www.gastar.com WASHINGTON, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Genes in SpaceTM named two winners of its third US competition. In an unprecedented tie, Sophia Chen from Washington and Elizabeth Reizis from New York will both have their experiments performed aboard the International Space Station (ISS) using miniPCR technology. The innovative Genes in SpaceTM contest called for students in grades 7 through 12 to design an experiment to solve a real-life space exploration challenge through DNA analysis. The competition was founded by miniPCR and Boeing and is sponsored by Math for America, CASIS, New England Biolabs, and FedEx. Sophia Chen (14) from Lakeside School, Washington, aims to measure cancer-inducing genomic instability in astronauts. She was mentored by her ninth-grade teacher David Joneschild. Elizabeth Reizis (14) from Stuyvesant High School, New York, wants to assess the effects of microgravity on the differentiation of immune system cells. She was mentored by MA Master Teacher Jessica Quenzer. Chen's and Reizis' winning experiments were announced today at the ISS Research and Development Conference in Washington, D.C. They were chosen from a competitive group of 375 applications from across the country. They were among five finalist teams who were invited to present their proposals before a prestigious panel of scientists, educators, and technologists at the conference. The distinguished panel of judges included: Dr. Philip Schein, member of the board of CASIS; Michelle Daly, MA Master Teacher; Ezequiel Alvarez Saavedra, Ph.D., co-founder of miniPCR; Nicole Nichols, Ph.D, Group Leader at New England Biolabs; Brice Gaudilliere, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor at Stanford University; and Sarah Wallace, Ph.D. microbiologist at NASA. Genes in SpaceTM promotes youth scientific engagement and DNA research in space. The first Genes in SpaceTM experiment by 17-year-old high-school student Anna-Sophia Boguraev of Bedford, N.Y., was the first DNA amplification experiment ever conducted in space. Chen and Reizis will both have their experiments performed in low Earth orbit aboard the ISS and will be invited to watch the launch of their experiments into space. Their winning experiments will continue to build genetic analysis capabilities aboard ISS and inspire the next generation of space biologists. For more information about the Genes in SpaceTM and all other awardees, visit: www.genesinspace.org. Media contacts: miniPCR: Emily Gleason, [email protected], 781-990-8727 Boeing: Kelly Kaplan, [email protected], 281-226-4367 SOURCE Genes in Space Related Links http://www.genesinspace.org RICHMOND, Va., July 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Genworth Financial, Inc. (NYSE: GNW) today announced it would issue its earnings release containing second quarter results after the market closes on August 1, 2017; the earnings release and quarterly financial supplement will be available through the company's website, http://investor.genworth.com at the time of their release to the public. Due to the pending sale to China Oceanwide, the company does not plan to host an earnings call. About Genworth Financial Genworth Financial, Inc. (NYSE: GNW) is a Fortune 500 insurance holding company committed to helping families achieve the dream of homeownership and address the financial challenges of aging through its leadership positions in mortgage insurance and long term care insurance. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, Genworth traces its roots back to 1871 and became a public company in 2004. For more information, visit genworth.com. From time to time, Genworth releases important information via postings on its corporate website. Accordingly, investors and other interested parties are encouraged to enroll to receive automatic email alerts and Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds regarding new postings. Enrollment information is found under the "Investors" section of genworth.com. From time to time, Genworth's publicly traded subsidiaries, Genworth MI Canada Inc. and Genworth Mortgage Insurance Australia Limited, separately release financial and other information about their operations. This information can be found at http://genworth.ca and http://www.genworth.com.au. SOURCE Genworth Financial, Inc. Related Links http://www.genworth.com PUNE, India, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Market Research Future published a half-cooked research report on "Global Industry 4.0 Market Research Report - Forecast to 2022" - Market Analysis, Scope, Stake, Progress, Trends and Forecast to 2022. Industry 4.0 Global Markets Overview 'Industry 4.0' stands for the fourth industrial revolution. The rise of new digital industrial technology is referred to Industry 4.0. Industry 4.0 is the grouping of numerous major innovations in digital technology. These technologies include advanced robotics and artificial intelligence; sensors; cloud computing; the Internet of Things; data capture and analytics; digital fabrication (3D printing); software-as-a-service and other new marketing models; smartphones and other mobile devices. Industry 4.0 refers to development of machines which would be using self-optimization, self-configuration and artificial intelligence to complete difficult tasks so as to deliver cost efficiencies and better-quality goods or services. Industry 4.0 includes data, computational power, connectivity, analytics and intelligence, human machine interaction and digital to physical conversion. The market gets digitized and integrates processes vertically across the entire organization, from product development and purchasing, through manufacturing, logistics and service. The factors contributing to the growth of the market are evolution of cloud computing technologies, technological advancements in electronics industry, implementation of smart factory concept & factory automation technologies and government initiatives by different countries. According to a recent study report published by the Market Research Future, the global market of Industry 4.0 is forecasted to witness a thriving growth in terms of value with a striking CAGR during the anticipated period (2016 2022). The Growth is likely to surpass its previous growth records by 2022. The major drivers for industry 4.0 are digitization and integration of vertical and horizontal value chains, digitization of product and service offerings, digital business models and customer access, Faster, Flexible and Efficient Production and Increasing popularity of smart factories. MRFR Analysis indicates that Cyber security risks are the major threat involved in Industry 4.0 market. This may hinder with the market growth of Industry 4.0 up to some extent. Request a Sample Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2375 Industry 4.0 Market Players: The global Industry 4.0 market appears to be highly fragmented and competitive. Giant players having a strong presence in the international and regional market adorn the global Industry 4.0 market. Innovation, mergers & acquisitions, and brand reinforcement remain the key trends for leading players operating in the Market. Matured players are making high investments in technology and employee training; MRFR Analysis interprets this as their foreseen view of their digital transformation primarily in terms of gains in operational efficiency, cost reduction and quality assurance. Some of the prominent players in the Industry 4.0 Market are Bosch Rexroth AG (Germany), Maschinenfabrik Reinhausen GmbH (Germany), SAS (U.S.), Siemens AG (Germany), Wittenstein AG (Germany), General Electric Company (U.S.), Daimler AG (Germany), Klockner & Co. SE (Germany), TRUMPF GmbH (Germany), Festo AG & Co. KG (Germany), Wittenstein AG (Germany) among others. Industry 4.0 Global Market Segments: The Industry 4.0 market can be segmented in to 4 key dynamics for the convenience of the report and enhanced understanding; Segmentation by Technology: Comprising Cloud computing, IoT platforms, Augmented reality, Location detection technology, Advanced human machine interfaces, Big data Analytics, Smart sensors, 3D printing, Mobile devices, among others Segmentation by Application: Comprising Industrial Automation, Smart Factory, Industrial internet of things (IIoT), among others Segmentation by End-Users: Comprising Industrial manufacturing, Oil & gas, Construction, Aerospace & defense, Electronics, Automotive, Transportation, Chemical, Pharmaceuticals, Mining & metals, Food & beverages, among others. Segmentation by Regions: Comprises Geographical regions - North America, Europe, APAC and Rest of the World. Browse Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/industry-4-0-market-2375 Industry 4.0 Global Market Synopsis Industry 4.0 needs to extend far wider than horizontal and vertical integration within the organization. Go getters (Active movers) achieve breakthrough performance by going a step further to understand consumer needs and use digital technologies to create and deliver value to the customer in an integrated, innovative solution. Fundamentally this is about developing complete product and services solutions for Businesses. As the value of an ecosystem is driven by the number of involved partners and the intensity of their relationships, the biggest challenge is to set the right incentives and find suitable benefit sharing models that compensate everyone fairly for his contribution. The most basic business model in an ecosystem is a marketplace, which brings together multiple sellers and buyers capturing value from commissions on the transaction value. One can profit from being part of digital ecosystems, even if you don't fully control the entire value chain. Industry 4.0 Global Market Regional Analysis: The regional analysis of Industry 4.0 market is being studied for region such as Asia pacific, North America, Europe and Rest of the World. The study indicates that North America and Europe regions would dominate the industry 4.0 market by the forecast period. However, countries like in Japan and Germany are the farthest along in digitizing internal operations and partnering across the horizontal value chain owing to the high investments in technology and employee training. They view their digital transformation, primarily in terms of gains in operational efficiency, cost reduction and quality assurance. China is one of the countries that stand to gain the most from automating and digitizing labor-intensive manufacturing processes. In addition, Chinese companies are highly flexible and are open to digital change, and the Chinese workforce is embracing digital technologies. The study reveals that at present Asia Pacific companies report the highest digitization and digital integration levels. Browse Related Report The Global Smart Sensors Market is expected to reach USD 60 billion by 2022, growing with approximately 21% of CAGR during forecast period 2016-2022 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/smart-sensors-market-2768 About Market Research Future: At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services. Contact Akash Anand, Market Research Future +1 646 845 9312 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Market Research Future Related Links https://www.marketresearchfuture.com (Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/537434/GVS_Logo.jpg ) (Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/537435/Kuss_Filtration_Logo.jpg ) With the combination of their respective technical expertise, global sales and distribution networks, GVS and Kuss will together maximize penetration in the automotive, microfiltration markets. "GVS has high expectations for this new investment, stated Massimo Scagliarini, CEO of GVS. Kuss Filtration brings us extensive experience in the fuel filtration market. Their skilled management team, product portfolio, and significant sales position, will give GVS's Automotive Division clear leadership in the automotive microfiltration market." "We are very excited to become part of the GVS Group, stated Hasnain Merchant, CEO of Kuss. This partnership will allow us to fully utilize our design and technical skills. We will also be able to provide additional products and solutions to our customers." After the combination, GVS will operate from 26 locations in 22 countries around the globe. The company will employ over 2300 employees and serve the Healthcare, Automotive, Life Science, Personal Protection, Hvac and Appliance industries, outdoor power equipment, powersport and on-and off highway commercial vehicle markets. GVS was advised by Ice Miller, and IOP and Kuss were advised by Robert W. Baird & Co., and Winston & Strawn LLP. About GVS: Founded in 1979, GVS is a global technology leader in the development and manufacture of filtration products primarily serving the medical, automotive, safety, Life Science, appliance and industrial markets. GVS has eleven manufacturing plants: in Italy, United Kingdom, Brazil, China, Romania, United States, with supporting sales offices in 22 countries. About Kuss Filtration: Founded in 1949 Kuss produces a wide variety of fuel, oil, lubrication and urea filters, engine air intake, cabin air and emission filters for a global customer base serving the light vehicle, outdoor power equipment, powersport and on-and off highway commercial vehicle markets. Headquartered in Findlay, OH, Kuss has four production plants in the United States, Brazil and China, and sales offices in France and Switzerland. About IOP: IOP, based in Evanston, IL, is a private equity investment firm with $910 million of committed capital since its inception. IOP is focused on acquiring and managing middle-market manufacturing and value-added distribution businesses. Utilizing its operations-focused approach and dedicated Board of Operating Principals, IOP has a track record of stabilizing, growing and enhancing the value of its acquired businesses. SOURCE GVS S.p.A and Kuss Filtration Mined metal production at 233kt; up 84% y-o-y Integrated silver production at 115 MT ; up 30% y-o-y ; up 30% y-o-y Integrated zinc-lead metal production of 228kt; up 81% y-o-y EBITDA at Rs. 2,404 Crore , up 113% y-o-y Hindustan Zinc Limited today announced its results for the first quarter ended June 30, 2017. Mr. Agnivesh Agarwal, Chairman "I am pleased to see a robust start to the new financial year. Our underground mines delivered their highest ever volumes this quarter, underpinning our smooth transition to an entirely underground mining company. Zinc prices strengthen towards the quarter-end on continued supply deficits and declining inventories of Zinc, we look forward to setting new benchmarks this year." Financial Summary (In Rs. Crore, except as stated) Particulars Q1 Q4 2018 2017 Change 2017 Net Sales/Income from Operations Zinc 3,779 1,920 97% 5,138 Lead 595 340 75% 851 Silver 435 360 21% 563 Others 152 150 1% 118 Total 4,961 2,770 79% 6,671 EBITDA 2,404 1,130 113% 3,770 Profit After Taxes 1,876 1,037 81% 3,057 Earnings per Share (Rs.) 4.44 2.45 81% 7.23 Mined Metal Production ('000 MT) 233 127 84% 312 Refined Metal Production ('000 MT) Integrated Refined Metal Zinc 194 101 91% 215 Saleable Lead1 35 25 42% 45 Zinc & Lead 228 126 81% 260 Saleable Silver2,3 (in MT) 115 89 30% 139 Wind Power (in million units) 156 148 5% 75 Zinc CoP without Royalty (Rs. / MT) 62,698 61,440 2% 53,226 Zinc CoP without Royalty ( $ / MT) 973 918 6% 794 Zinc LME ($ / MT) 2,596 1,918 35% 2,780 Lead LME ($ / MT) 2,161 1,719 26% 2,278 Silver LBMA ($ / oz.) 17.2 16.8 2% 17.4 USD-INR (average) 64.46 66.93 -4% 67.01 (1) Excluding captive consumption of 1,956 MT in Q1 FY2018 as compared with 1,084 MT in Q1 FY 2017 and 1,633 MT in Q4 FY 2017 (2) Excluding captive consumption of 10.25 MT in Q1 FY2018 as compared with 5.5 MT in Q1 FY 2017 and 8.7 MT in Q4 FY 2017 (3) Silver occurs in Lead & Zinc ore and is recovered in the smelting and silver-refining processes Note: Numbers may not add up due to rounding off; historical numbers may have changed due to regrouping Operational Performance Mined metal production of 233kt during the quarter was achieved, up 84% y-o-y. The increase was primarily on account of higher volumes from all mines, higher zinc grade and depletion of opening ore stock. Integrated zinc metal production during the quarter was at 194kt, up 91% y-o-y. Integrated saleable lead metal production during the quarter was at 35kt, up 42% y-o-y. The increase was in line with availability of mined metal, supported by smelter efficiencies. Integrated saleable silver production during the quarter was 115 MT, up 30% y-o-y due to higher grade and volume from Sindesar Khurd mine. Financial Performance Revenues during the quarter were Rs. 4,961 Crore, up 79% y-o-y on account of strong zinc & lead prices and higher volume. The zinc metal cost of production per MT before royalty (COP) during the quarter was at Rs. 62,698 ($973), higher by 2% y-o-y (6% in dollar terms). The increase was due to substantial increase in coal & commodity prices and lower acid realization, offset by higher volumes. The above revenue and cost of production resulted in a 113% increase in EBITDA during the quarter to Rs. 2,404 Crore. During the quarter, net profit increased by 81% y-o-y to Rs. 1,876 Crore. The impact of higher EBITDA was partly offset by lower investment income on a smaller investment corpus post dividend pay-out and interest cost on temporary Commercial Paper. Expansion Projects Capital mine development increased by 82% y-o-y and 28% q-o-q to 8,828 meters during the quarter. At Rampura Agucha during the quarter, the equipping of the main shaft was completed and winder will be commissioned in the current quarter. Order for Ventilation fans was placed with commissioning targeted by end of the financial year, in line with return air drive development. We expect the production from the shaft to start in Q3 FY19. Sindesar Khurd mine main shaft headgear erection was completed and preparatory works for equipping is in progress. We expect commissioning of winder system by Q1 FY 19 and production from the shaft to start in Q2 FY19. During the quarter we awarded order to L&T for a new mill of 1.5 mtpa capacity, to take total capacity to 5.8 mtpa. Excavation work for mill has started in full swing with targeted commissioning by Q2 next year. In Zawar mine raise boring machines were mobilized for ventilation raises at Balaria and Mochia mines and work was commenced. Zawar mill debottlenecking project, now upgraded to 2.7 mtpa, will be completed by this quarter and associated power upgradation project was completed during the quarter. We are now upgrading Zawar to the status of a mega mining complex based on revised R&R potential and have increased focus on our exploration program for Zawar. The fumer project is progressing as per schedule and expected to complete by mid FY 2019. All long lead items are ordered and civil works are in full swing. Outlook The Company maintains its volume guidance given in April with Dollar COP (excluding royalty) to be slightly higher than previous year and are on track to reach mined metal capacity of 1.2 mtpa in FY 2020. Liquidity and investment The Company's net cash and cash equivalents was Rs. 16,998 Crore as at June 30, 2017 which is excluding Rs. 6,959 Crore of short term commercial paper. The gross investments were Rs. 23,957 Crore in high quality debt instruments. Earnings Call on Thursday, July 20, 2017 at 4:00 pm (IST) The Company will hold an earnings conference call on Thursday, July 20, 2017 at 4:00 pm IST, where senior management will discuss the Company's results and performance. The dial in numbers for the call is: Dial In: +91-22-3960-0762 For further information, please contact: Ekta Singh Manager Investor Relations Hindustan Zinc Limited [email protected] Tel: +91-800-3099676 Pavan Kaushik Associate Vice President Corporate Communications Hindustan Zinc Limited [email protected] Tel: +91-99288-44499 About Hindustan Zinc Hindustan Zinc (NSE & BSE: HINDZINC) is the one of the largest integrated producers of zinc-lead with a capacity of 1.0 million MT per annum and a leading producer of silver. The Company is headquartered in Udaipur, Rajasthan in India and has zinc-lead mines at Rampura Agucha, Sindesar Khurd, Rajpura Dariba, Zawar and Kayad; primary smelter operations at Chanderiya, Dariba and Debari, all in the state of Rajasthan; and finished product facilities in the state of Uttarakhand. Hindustan Zinc has a world-class resource base with total reserve & resource of 404.4 million MT and average zinc-lead reserve grade of 8.9%. The Company has a track record of consistently growing its reserve & resource base since 2003 and currently has a mine life of over 25 years. The Company is self-sufficient in power with an installed base of 474 MW coal-based captive power plants. Additionally, it has green power capacity of 325 MW including 274 MW of wind power and 35 MW of waste heat power and 16 MW of solar power. The Company has an operating workforce of nearly 19,000 including contract workforce. Hindustan Zinc is a subsidiary of the BSE and NSE listed Vedanta Limited (formerly known as Sesa Sterlite Limited; ADRs listed on the NYSE), a part of London listed Vedanta Resources plc, a global diversified natural resources company. Disclaimer This press release contains "forward-looking statements" that is, statements related to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address our expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "should" or "will." Forwardlooking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. For us, uncertainties arise from the behaviour of financial and metals markets including the London Metal Exchange, fluctuations in interest and or exchange rates and metal prices; from future integration of acquired businesses; and from numerous other matters of national, regional and global scale, including those of a political, economic, business, competitive or regulatory nature. These uncertainties may cause our actual future results to be materially different than those expressed in our forward-looking statements. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements. For further information, please contact: Communications Zarin Amrolia Manager, Group Communications Tel: +91-22-6646-1000 [email protected] Investor Relations Ashwin Bajaj Director Investor Relations Tel: +91-22-6646-1531 [email protected] Aarti Raghavan VP Investor Relations Vishesh Pachnanda Manager Investor Relations Sneha Tulsyan Associate Manager Investor Relations About Vedanta Limited Vedanta Limited is a diversified natural resources company, whose business primarily involves producing oil & gas, zinc - lead - silver, copper, iron ore, aluminium and commercial power. The company has a presence across India, South Africa, Namibia, Australia and Ireland. Vedanta Limited is the Indian subsidiary of Vedanta Resources Plc, a London-listed company. Governance and Sustainable Development are at the core of Vedanta's strategy, with a strong focus on health, safety and environment and on enhancing the lives of local communities. The company is conferred with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) 'Sustainable Plus Platinum label', ranking among the top 10 most sustainable companies in India. To access the Vedanta Sustainable Development Report 2016, please visit http://sustainabledevelopment.vedantaresources.com/content/dam/vedanta/corporate/documents/Otherdocuments/SDreport2015-16/Vedanta%20SDR%20FY%2015-16.pdf Vedanta Limited is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange in India and has ADRs listed on the New York Stock Exchange. For more information please visit www.vedantalimited.com Vedanta Limited Vedanta, 75, Nehru Road, Vile Parle (East), Mumbai - 400 099 www.vedantalimited.com Registered Office: Regd. Office: 1st Floor, 'C' wing, Unit 103, Corporate Avenue, Atul Projects, Chakala, Andheri (East), Mumbai 400 093 CIN: L13209MH1965PLC291394 Disclaimer This press release contains "forward-looking statements" that is, statements related to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address our expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "should" or "will." Forwardlooking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. For us, uncertainties arise from the behaviour of financial and metals markets including the London Metal Exchange, fluctuations in interest and or exchange rates and metal prices; from future integration of acquired businesses; and from numerous other matters of national, regional and global scale, including those of a political, economic, business, competitive or regulatory nature. These uncertainties may cause our actual future results to be materially different that those expressed in our forward-looking statements. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements. SOURCE Vedanta Limited Related Links http://www.vedantalimited.com All you need to know about the Dunkirk evacuation of 1940 on which the Christopher Nolan film Dunkirk is based. By Ananya Bhattacharya: Christopher Nolan is taking us to the French port of Dunkirk tomorrow. The master storyteller's latest film has already received rave reviews in the West, where the film has already premiered. Dunkirk hits screens in India tomorrow. In addition to the excitement that accompanies a Nolan film, Dunkirk has a dream ensemble cast. Tom Hardy, Mark Rylance, Fionn Whitehead, Jack Lowden, Harry Styles and a constellation of stars are in Dunkirk. The critics called Dunkirk as the 'greatest war film ever'. Given the kind of work Nolan is known for, that might not be an exaggeration. But we will find out for ourselves soon. advertisement Dunkirk is based on the Dunkirk evacuation, also known as Operation Dynamo. Layman tongue named it the 'Miracle of Dunkirk' because what ensued in this northern French town, just 10 kilometres off the Belgian border between May 26 and June 4 in 1940, was indeed a miracle. Before you take that trip to the theatre, here is all you need to know about that chapter from World War II. DUNKIRK IN A NUTSHELL It was 1939. Germany invaded Poland and kicked off World War II. Neighbours France and Germany found themselves on opposite sides in this war. France deployed its troops along the border with Germany. Germany could invade France via Belgium if Belgium was captured. The French armies lightly defended the border with Belgium where the heavily wooded Ardennes lies. Meanwhile, the British had sent their British Expeditionary Force (BEF) to aid France in the battle against Germany. Operation Dynamo lasted eight days, from May 26 to June 4, 1940 In May 1940, Germany invaded France via the Ardennes, an area that France had left unguarded because they thought it was nearly "impenetrable". Soon, the Germans pushed nearly 400,000 Allied soldiers to the north coast of France, cutting them off from the other Allied forces. There was no way they would have lived as Germans closed in on them. In the face of certain slaughter, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced Operation Dynamo, an audacious plan to evacuate the soldiers from the beaches at Dunkirk while German planes bombed the area while more ground troops were moving towards this area. The evacuation had to happen before the Germans reached. May 27, 1940 marked the first day of full-fledged evacuation by the British. Over the next eight days, the BEF, the French, Belgian, Canadian and some Indians too were rescued from Dunkirk. WHERE IS DUNKIRK? The French city of Dunkirk lies 10 kilometres from the border of Belgium. It is a commune in the Nord department of the country and is a major attraction in France due to its historical significance. Dunkirk, today, is home to more than 90,000 people. It is situated on the bank of the English Channel and was originally a fishing village. 'Dunkirk', Church in the Dunes in Dutch, was first mentioned by its name back in 1067AD. Today, the city has France's third largest harbour after Le Havre and Marseilles. advertisement DUNKIRK DURING WORLD WAR II The quiet town of Dunkirk was the scene of one of the largest evacuations during World War II. Like the trailers of the Nolan film say, "When 4,00,000 men couldn't get home, home came for them." That is precisely what happened in Dunkirk in 1940. WHAT HAPPENED IN DUNKIRK IN BETWEEN MAY 26 AND JUNE 4, 1940? Dunkirk saw the Operation Dynamo, or the Miracle of Dunkirk, playing out on its beaches from May 26, 1940 to June 4, 1940. It was the largest evacuation of Allied soldiers from the beaches and harbours of France during the World War II. 4,00,000 soldiers from Britain, France, Belgium and Canada found themselves cut off from the world when Germany invaded France and pushed them to Dunkirk. WHAT LED TO THE DUNKIRK CRISIS? Dunkirk from the Ardennes This 'colossal military disaster' had its inception right at the beginning of the World War II. In 1939, after Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland, which marked the beginning of the second World War, Britain sent its BEF (British Expeditionary Force) to France. With the BEF aiding Britain's allies in France, the country decided to guard its border with Germany in order to prevent an attack from the Nazis. France fortified its border with Germany with the intention of preventing any penetration into Belgium. Right on the border of France and Belgium and to the north of where France's fortification of the France-Germany border ended, lies the Ardennes. The people drawing up the military charts were of the opinion that the heavily wooded Ardennes region was "impenetrable" unless Germany took "special provisions". The Ardennes was thought of as an area that had 'limited threat' from the Germans, and was left lightly guarded. advertisement But trust Germany to strike where it hurts the most. BRITAIN BEGINS ITS RESCUE OPERATIONS On May 10, 1940, Germany attacked Belgium and the Netherlands, with a group setting off for the English Channel. Soon, the BEF was trapped, along with three French armies and some of the Belgian troops. These 4,00,000 men from Britain, France and Belgium were all pushed along the northern coast of France, along the English Channel. On May 20, the British, without informing the French, began planning the Dunkirk evacuation to get its soldiers home. advertisement THE MIRACLE OF DUNKIRK At 7pm on May 26, 1940, after the Germans cut off Dunkirk completely, Churchill green-signalled Operation Dynamo. By then, 28,000 men had already departed Dunkirk. May 27 was the first day of a full-fledged evacuation of the BEF from the beaches of Dunkirk. The operation lasted for the next eight days and finally came to an end on June 4, after the surrender of the last 40,000 French troops. 4,00,000 soldiers, rescued in eight days. The operation came to be known as a 'miracle' because of how incredible a feat it was. CHURCHILL'S SPEECH IN BRITISH PARLIAMENT On June 4, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill reached the House of Commons in the British Parliament to declare the end of Operation Dynamo. Churchill delivered one of his most famous speeches, 'We Shall Fight On The Beaches', and called the events in France 'a colossal military disaster'. He went on to hail the rescue of the soldiers from Dunkirk a 'miracle of deliverance'. Listen to Winston Churchill's full speech 'We Shall Fight On The Beaches' here. DUNKIRK ON NOLAN'S CANVAS Come Friday, Christopher Nolan is taking us back to Dunkirk of the 1940s. His version of the Dunkirk Evacuation is touted to tell the story of this miracle from three perspectives - the land, the sea, the air. The initial verdict says that Nolan has been able to do justice to the Dunkirk evacuation. We will know soon. (The writer tweets @ananya116) ALSO READ: Indians too were trapped with Allied forces in Dunkirk --- ENDS --- ATLANTA, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- With its acquisition of North America's largest airport wine bar and wine retail chain Vino Volo, Hojeij Branded Foods (HBF) creates a powerful new partnership, bringing together two companies that share an unwavering commitment to quality and an outstanding guest experience. Currently with more than 40 locations in 32 airports throughout North America, Vino Volo (Italian for "wine flight") has an unparalleled reputation for offering guests a premier experience with wines from around the world by the glass. "Combining the forces of HBF and Vino Volo is a natural fit for both companies," says HBF CEO Regynald G. Washington. "Vino Volo believes as we do that modern travelers expect and deserve a high-end airport wine experience. Both organizations are widely recognized for operational expertise, top-notch guest service and a strong commitment to employees. As a result of this acquisition, HBF is now uniquely positioned to serve more guests in more cities than ever before." Like HBF, Vino Volo has received extensive accolades from the industry, counting 34 Airport Revenue News awards, including "Food Operator with Highest Regard for Customer Service" 11 years in a row and "Best Airport Wine Bar" at the Airport Food & Beverage awards. With the company's commitment to bringing the wine country experience to business travelers, Vino Volo has become a customer favorite by offering a relaxed, knowledgeable atmosphere and the combined services of a lounge, restaurant-quality light bites and wine shop to travelers on the go. "We are delighted to join forces with HBF," says Vino Volo CEO Doug Tomlinson, who founded the San Francisco-based company in 2004. "Like HBF, Vino Volo has experienced tremendous growth by delivering high quality and an exceptional experience. With our shared guest-centered culture, the two companies have achieved success by building unique, complementary strengths and assets. By now joining forces, we are confident that the combined company will see even greater growth." Wassim Hojeij, founder of HBF added, "This acquisition is a continuation of our strategy of partnering with top brands and delivering a level of service and quality unparalleled in the airport industry. This also continues our goal of becoming one of the largest and the best airport food and beverage operators in North America." With the retention of Vino Volo founder Tomlinson as president, Vino Volo will become a wholly owned subsidiary of HBF, run by Vino Volo's current leadership team under the leadership of the HBF CEO. Together, HBF and Vino Volo are exceptionally well positioned to embrace and enhance HBF's mission of "enhancing the passenger's dining experience, one airport at a time." About Hojeij Branded Foods Hojeij Branded Foods (HBF) is an Atlanta-based company operating more than 70 restaurants and bars across 14 airports in the United States. HBF's portfolio includes over 40 widely known national, regional, and local brands that range from full service to fast casual and quick serve. Across all its locations, HBF strives for operational excellence and outstanding service in order to deliver on its mission of "Enhancing the passenger's dining experience, one airport at a time." HBF is a Morgan Stanley Private Equity Portfolio Company. For more information, visit www.hbfairports.com. About Vino Volo Vino Volo establishments combine an upscale wine lounge, restaurant and boutique wine shop under one roof, and are primarily located in airports across North America. Vino Volo (derived from "wine flight" in Italian) is a trusted wine authority that makes wine approachable, offering hand-selected wines from around the world by the glass, in tasting flights and by the bottle for customers to take home or have shipped. Vino Volo also offers a Wine Club for enthusiasts and a loyalty program to reward its guests. For more information, visit www.vinovolo.com. SOURCE Hojeij Branded Foods The Director of Planning, Mr Raymond Lee, shared his vision on the exhibition, "The exhibition comprises four thematic zones of Hong Kong - Liveable, Visionary, Cultural and Playful - that together present the infinite future possibilities for the city and the theme of the show. "I sincerely hope that the public will enjoy this exhibition and share the memories of our collaborative efforts on planning and development of Hong Kong. At the same time, we reimagine our vision of the city's future development and advance sustainable projects. Together we shall build a liveable, competitive, sustainable and inclusive Hong Kong," Mr Lee said. "Liveable Hong Kong" takes inspiration from the Impressionist movement to showcase Hong Kong's on-going transformation across six different aspects of liveability: housing, places for the community, green and blue spaces, managing water resources, keeping the city moving and connecting with the world. "Visionary Hong Kong" uses a Postmodernist approach and five interactive models to detail the projects that will keep Hong Kong moving forward as Asia's World City. "Cultural Hong Kong" shows the future of the arts through the lens of the West Kowloon Cultural District, where people will be able to visit world-class venues and enjoy a wide array of classic and contemporary visual and performing arts. "Playful Hong Kong" at Edinburgh Place lets young artists and members of the community express their impressions of the city through digital art, mosaic and play. The exhibition zone features a centrepiece with a "never-ending" surface, echoing the city's infinite possibilities. To tie in with the exhibition, a family fun day and a series of art related workshops will be held throughout the exhibition period, including Your Dream City Family Fun Day, Community Planning Workshop, Art Workshop, LEGO Mosaic Workshop, Music performance and Sketching Workshop. For more information about the exhibition and activities, please visit the City Gallery's website (http://www.citygallery.gov.hk/) and like City Gallery's Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/%E5%B1%95%E5%9F%8E%E9%A4%A8-City-Gallery-644196202390274/ ) or call +852-3102-1242. SOURCE City Gallery Related Links http://www.citygallery.gov.hk CALGARY, July 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Horizon North Logistics Inc. ("Horizon North" or the "Corporation") (TSX HNL) announced today that it intends to release its 2017 second quarter results after market close on August 1, 2017 and has scheduled a conference call and webcast to begin promptly at 9:00 a.m. MT (11:00 a.m. ET) on August 2, 2017. The conference call dial in number is 1-888-231-8191 A live webcast of the conference call will be accessible on Horizon North's website at www.horizonnorth.ca/investors/webcasts/ An archived recording of the conference call will be available approximately two hours after completion of the call until August 8, 2017 by dialing 1-403-451-9481 or 1-855-859-2056 - Passcode: 58648514. About Horizon North Horizon North is a publicly listed corporation (TSX: HNL.TO) providing a full range of industrial, commercial, and residential products and services. Our Industrial division supplies workforce accommodations, camp management services, access solutions, maintenance and utilities. Our Modular Construction division integrates modern design concepts and technology with state of the art, off-site manufacturing processes; producing high quality building solutions for commercial and residential offerings including offices, hotels, and retail buildings, as well as distinctive single detached dwellings and multi-family residential structures. As a result of our diverse product and service offerings, Horizon North is uniquely positioned to meet the needs of our customers in numerous sectors, anywhere in Canada. Corporate Information Additional information related to Horizon North, including the Corporation's annual information form, news releases, financial statements and MD&A are available on the Corporation's website at www.horizonnorth.ca and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com SOURCE Horizon North Logistics Inc. Related Links www.horizonnorth.ca AUSTIN, Minn., July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE: HRL) invites you to participate in a conference call with Jim Snee, president and chief executive officer, and Jim Sheehan, senior vice president and chief financial officer, to discuss the company's third quarter financial results. The company will issue its earnings press release before the markets open on Thursday, August 24, 2017, and will host a conference call at 8:30 a.m. CT (9:30 a.m. ET). WHEN: Thursday, August 24, 2017 8:30 a.m. CT (9:30 a.m. ET) WEBCAST: To listen to a live webcast of the conference call, go to the company's website, http://www.hormelfoods.com, click on Investors, and you will find a link to the webcast. PHONE: Dial toll-free 800-263-0877 at least 10 minutes prior to the call. From outside the United States, call 323-794-2094. Please note: all dial-in participants should quote the conference ID of 9221656 to access the call. If you have difficulty accessing the call, please contact: PGI Reservations Line (888) 563-4743 AUDIO REPLAY: To listen to a replay of the conference call, go to the company's website http://www.hormelfoods.com, click on Investors, then click on News & Events and you will find a link to the webcast. About Hormel Foods Inspired People. Inspired Food. Hormel Foods Corporation, based in Austin, Minn., is a global branded food company with over $9 billion in annual revenues across 75 countries worldwide. Its brands include SKIPPY, SPAM, Hormel Natural Choice, Applegate, Justin's, Wholly Guacamole, Hormel Black Label and more than 30 other beloved brands. The company is a member of the S&P 500 Index and the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats, was named one of "The 100 Best Corporate Citizens" by Corporate Responsibility Magazine for the ninth year in a row, and has received numerous other awards and accolades for its corporate responsibility and community service efforts. In 2016, the company celebrated its 125th anniversary and announced its new vision for the future - Inspired People. Inspired Food. - focusing on its legacy of innovation. For more information, visit www.hormelfoods.com and http://2015csr.hormelfoods.com/. Hormel Foods Contact: Nathan Annis (507) 437-5248 [email protected] SOURCE Hormel Foods Corporation Related Links https://www.hormelfoods.com MEXICO CITY, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Hoteles City Express, S.A.B. de C.V. ("Hoteles City" or "the Company") (BMV: HCITY), announced the opening of City Express Plus Puerto Vallarta, reaching 128 hotels in operation and more than 14,300 available rooms in 65 cities and 29 states in Mexico, as well as Colombia, Costa Rica and Chile. City Express Plus Puerto Valarta has 127 available rooms and is 100% Company-owned. This new property will serve travelers with business activities in the Marina area, and is expected to benefit from commercial and tourist activity in the city. About Hoteles City Express: Hoteles City Express is considered the leading and fastest-growing limited-service hotel chain in Mexico in terms of number of hotels, number of rooms, geographic presence, market share and revenues. Founded in 2002, Hoteles City Express specializes in offering high-quality, comfortable and safe lodging at affordable prices via a limited-service hotel chain geared mainly towards domestic business travelers. With 128 hotels in operation located throughout Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia and Chile, Hoteles City Express operates five distinct brands: City Express, City Express Plus, City Express Suites, City Express Junior and City Centro to serve different segments of its target market. In June 2013, Hoteles City Express completed its IPO and began trading on the Mexican Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "HCITY"; furthermore, on October 8, 2014, Hoteles City Express completed a follow on with the aim of accelerating its growth in new hotels in coming years. For further information, please visit our website: https://cityexpress.com/en/investors/ SOURCE Hoteles City Express, S.A.B. de C.V. HOUSTON, Texas, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Sugar Land's Clements High School has a new national achievement to celebrate after incoming sophomore Adrian Pacini wins top filmmaking honors at the 2017 International Thespian Festival for his acclaimed short film 'Beyond.' The short film had previously been recognized as an official selection of the Texas state festival before progressing to the international competition. Filmmaker Adrian Pacini Dating back to 1941, the annual International Thespian Festival draws thousands of top students in theater, dance and film from across the USA and around the world each summer for a celebration of student achievement in the arts. The festival spans six days of keynotes, panels, and workshops, as well as the much-anticipated ITF Showcase, where the top festival honorees are recognized as best-in-class for their creative works and performances. Pacini's short film 'Beyond' received unanimous acclaim at this year's festival, taking home the Overall Superior award and Official Selection recognition at the Showcase. It was the only film screened at the Showcase for an international audience of thousands. 'Beyond' is a stop-motion animation short film that tells a story of big dreams, the power of friendship, and learning that the grass isn't always greener on the other side. The film earned a perfect 60 out of 60 possible points from festival judges. The win for 'Beyond' is a strong ending to a big year for Sugar Land's Clements High School Theatre & Film Department, which also won 11 of 23 total categories at Fort Bend ISD's all-district 2017 Jerry Baber Awards for theater in late May. Assistant Director Elizabeth Winner, who also attended the international festival this summer, feels that the Clements program's DNA gives students the freedom and responsibility to pursue a variety of projects and skill areas. "Teaching the fundamentals is key, but we also provide our students with a great deal of latitude to pursue their artistic visions and the projects they love. It's just thrilling to see these students take real ownership of varied types of projects, create great art and then get the recognition they deserve." For filmmaker Pacini, who also earned Best Supporting Actor at the district's 2017 Baber Awards, it was an honor to represent his school, but even more importantly, the larger role of performing arts programs in schools. "Theater and film programs give students the ability to show their creative abilities, tell stories and communicate ideas in a very expressive way," said Pacini. "No matter what they end up doing as a career, learning these skills will help them greatly." Media Contact: Samuel Black Phone: 832-538-1111 Email: [email protected] Related Images image1.jpg image2.png image3.jpg Related Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9RncGnhIgo SOURCE XY Media Group on behalf of Adrian Pacini NEW YORK, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- i-Comm Connect announced today that TMC, a global, integrated media company, has awarded TACTAL a 2017 Communications Solutions Product of the Year Award. i-Comm Connect's patented WebRTC solution, TACTAL, empowers businesses to leverage their internet presence by adding real-time, cost-saving communication services. Moreover, businesses looking to transform the customer experience can add call buttons to their website, mobile app, or any online customer touch point to boost call volumes, increase sales, and improve customer satisfaction. Key features include a secure, web-based toll-free call button, visual IVR menu, powerful analytics, and integrations with CRM or Contact Center solutions to elevate and manage the customer experience. "We're honored that TACTAL has been recognized as a standout real-time communications solution by TMC," said Kevin Mahaney, CEO, i-Comm Connect. "In this age of the connected customer, it's no longer enough to deliver basic customer service and marketing campaigns to your customers. Today, customers expect to be able to engage with businesses instantly from anywhere, on any device. TACTAL maintains a seamless, connected experience that keeps customers online and uses customer session data to increase call handling efficiency and improve customer satisfaction." "Congratulations to i-Comm Connect for being honored with a Communications Solutions Product of the Year Award," said Rich Tehrani, CEO, TMC. "TACTAL is truly an innovative product and is amongst the best solutions brought to market in the past twelve months that facilitates business-transforming voice, data and video communications. I look forward to continued excellence from i-Comm Connect in 2018 and beyond." About i-Comm Connect i-Comm Connect is a Software as a Service solutions company with a mission to transform the customer service industry through innovative products that allow businesses to seamlessly engage, convert, and retain customers at every stage of their online journey. As a market leader with a global reach, our focus is on developing cutting-edge WebRTC/VoIP technologies (Patents: USA, Japan, & Canada) and driving the shift to innovative online customer engagement solutions. About TMC TMC is a global, integrated media company that supports clients' goals by building communities in print, online, and face to face. TMC publishes multiple magazines including Cloud Computing, IOT Evolution, Customer, and Internet Telephony. TMCnet is the leading source of news and articles for the communications and technology industries, and is read by as many as one million unique visitors monthly. TMC produces a variety of trade events, including ITEXPO, the world's leading business technology event. i-Comm Connect Contact: Meredith Schmidt-Fellner, Director of Marketing [email protected] TMC Contact: Stephanie Thompson, Manager [email protected] SOURCE i-Comm Connect Related Links http://icommconnect.com Launched in 2012, Ibotta partners with leading brands and retailers to offer cash rewards on anything you buy, including groceries, electronics, clothing, gifts, home and office supplies, restaurant dining, and more. The company's Mobile Marketplace expansion comes on the heels of its comprehensive app relaunch, which included an improved, personalized user experience to help shoppers discover relevant deals and earn rewards faster than ever. "Ibotta's goal is to be the starting point for a rewarded shopping experience, a single destination for shoppers everywhere," said Bryan Leach, Founder and CEO of Ibotta. "Through the expansion of Ibotta's Mobile Marketplace, consumers can find personalized content and rewards on virtually everything they might want to buy, all in a single mobile app, with the touch of a button." Ibotta debuted its Mobile Marketplace category in 2016, partnering with mobile partnership platform, Button, to launch the first-ever, mobile partnership platform. On Button's platform, retailers can build partnerships designed to drive commerce a channel that represents 20 percent of retailers' traffic in desktop, but before Button, was impossible to replicate in mobile or in retailers most valuable channel their mobile apps. "Button recognized that the performance marketing channel needed a mobile specific solution, and we've built what the most innovative retailers in the world have asked for," said Michael Jaconi, Co-founder and CEO of Button. "Retailers have been begging to replicate their affiliate channel in mobile, they've wanted to drive affiliate and partner traffic into their apps, and they want to tap into exclusive mobile only audiences. That is what Button's platform offers." Ibotta now has more than 20 mobile brand partners, providing users with rewards on their mobile purchases across myriad shopping verticals including flower delivery, event and movie tickets, food and alcohol delivery, hotel and flight deals, music streaming, and ridesharing services. The following mobile partners are currently live in Ibotta's robust Mobile Marketplace: 1-800-Flowers.com Boxed AtomTickets Caviar BloomThat CheapOair.com Booking.com Delivery.com Drizly Jet eBags Minibar eBay Mr & Mrs Smith Groupon SeatGeek Hotels.com Spring HotelStorm Ticketmaster HotelTonight Also announced today is a new opportunity for retailers to join forces with Ibotta and Button via affiliate network integrations. Only a few select merchants will be accepted into the first wave of the program; the application period opens today. Retailers need to verify that they satisfy the requirements of the program and apply at Ibotta.com/affiliate. Those accepted into the program will be notified between July 27 and July 31, 2017. If retailers are interested, they should contact their affiliate network representatives and inquire about the opportunity. 1-800-FLOWERS: "At 1-800-Flowers.com, we provide our customers with easy and convenient ways to deliver smiles, allowing them to engage with the brand through their preferred channel, including our mobile experience," says Amit Shah, Chief Marketing Officer at 1-800-Flowers.com. "We are excited to team up with Ibotta and Button to further enhance our customer experience and provide customers with rewards on gifts for all celebratory occasions." Atom Tickets: "At Atom, customers are at the heart of everything we do, and we love rewarding them with exclusive movie offers," said Ameesh Paleja, CEO and co-founder, Atom Tickets. "By teaming up with Ibotta, we're able to bring our VIP movie experience to even more potential customers, and deliver a convenient mobile experience that allows movie lovers to earn cash rewards just by going to the theater." Booking.com: "We're truly pleased to be part of Ibotta's Mobile Marketplace - it makes complete sense given the strong and continuous mobile growth that we observe through our loyal customers," says Motty Sasson, Head of Strategic Partnerships US East. "At Booking.com, we're on a mission to empower people to experience the world and provide the world's leading hotel reservation platform. This with a strong focus on convenience and a 'book now, pay later' model. The partnership with Ibotta helps us reach new customers and reward them with cash when booking their hotel stay." eBags: "eBags strives to better our customers' journeys by helping them find the perfect bag or travel accessory," said Chris Seahorn, VP of Marketing for eBags. "We are excited that this partnership with Ibotta will help new shoppers discover our large selection of quality products - at great value - and reward them for shopping from their mobile devices wherever their travels take them." About Ibotta Headquartered in Denver, CO, Ibotta ("I bought a...") is transforming the shopping experience by making it easy for consumers to earn cash rewards on everyday purchases through a single smartphone app. The company partners with leading brands and retailers to offer rewards on groceries, electronics, clothing, gifts, home and office supplies, restaurant dining, and more. Named one of Inc. magazine's Best Workplaces for 2017, Ibotta is the premier destination for rewarded shopping on mobile, and has paid out more than $230 million in cash back to its users. Launched in 2012, Ibotta has nearly 23 million downloads, and is one of the five most frequently used shopping apps in the United States. About Button Button (www.usebutton.com) connects the mobile economy, making it easy for consumers to discover and purchase what they want, when they want it - with the tap of a Button. The company provides the easiest way for mobile brands to connect with one another, facilitating discovery and transaction among consumers with a contextually-relevant experience. Current partners on the platform feature industry leaders such as Conde Nast, OpenTable, Hotels.com, Foursquare, and more. The company was founded in 2014 and was voted the number one place to work in New York by Fortune magazine and a Best Workplace in the U.S. from Inc. magazine in 2017. Button has raised more than $34 million in Seed, Series A, and Series B funding from Norwest Venture Partners, Redpoint Ventures, Greycroft Partners, DCM Ventures, Accomplice, Vayner/RSE and others. SOURCE Ibotta KANSAS CITY, Mo., July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Accolades for the Independence Utilities Center keep rolling in. The U.S. Green Building Council has awarded the new facility with a highly coveted Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certification. The City of Independence facility earned the highest LEED designation for exceptional energy and water conservation, site connectivity and development, sustainable construction techniques, and a number of indoor, health, safety and user comfort features. Burns & McDonnell provided a full range of architectural, engineering and construction services for a full-scale renovation of the former medical building on a larger 14-acre site. The 47,500-square foot, three-story building, located at 17221 E. 23rd Street, was previously a medical building located on a larger campus that included the former Medical Center of Independence. Though the hospital had been razed, the medical building was left standing. Completed in October 2016, the new Independence Utilities Center houses administrative and customer service offices for Independence Power & Light along with offices for the Independence Water Department and some large training spaces. The project also was recently recognized by the Kansas City Business Journal as a winner of a Capstone Award in the green design category. "We are extremely proud to have achieved LEED Platinum certification for a building that dramatically improves the surrounding community," says Mayor Eileen Weir of the City of Independence. "This is a real achievement that will become a model for developers looking for proof of how sustainable design can have a meaningful impact on our built environment." "The City of Independence now has a showcase facility that demonstrates how renovated buildings can surpass the energy and environmental performance of even newly constructed buildings," says Joe Williams, who served as lead project architect for Burns & McDonnell. "Reinvestment in a repurposed facility like this takes creativity and teamwork. But it's worth it. During the course of this project, we heard countless stories from people who spent time in the building when it was home to the many medical practices associated with MCI hospital. It has been an honor and privilege to return this building to a place where it is once again a vibrant part of the Independence community." The project preserved more than 95 percent of the existing structure. Key additions greatly improved aesthetics and energy efficiency of the building envelope, including new wall and roof insulation, thermal windows, aluminum exterior panels and sun shades and a "cool" white roof to reduce heat gain. Almost 98 percent of construction waste was recycled or reused and diverted from landfill. The interior was gutted and built-out with high efficiency heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC) and new LED lighting. A large amount of reclaimed white oak sourced from a thoroughbred horse farm in Kentucky was reused in public areas of the building and over 97 percent of new wood purchased was FSC-certified for sustainable forestry practices. New low-emitting materials, finishes and furniture will protect the health and productivity of the City's 130 employees who now occupy the building. The facility features a variety of energy conservation and renewable energy features, including a rooftop solar array and wind turbine capable of providing 15 percent of the building's annual energy needs. The building is ventilated using a dedicated outside air unit (DOAS) that has an energy recovery wheel to capture heating or cooling from the building exhaust air to pre-condition the ventilation air, minimizing the need for mechanical cooling or electric heating. A variable refrigerant volume (VRV) heat pump system allows units in different zones of the building to modulate to match the load in each zone with high part-load efficiencies to simultaneously heat and cool, as needed. The combination of systems makes the building 51 percent more efficient than a comparable baseline building. In addition, ultra-high efficiency plumbing fixtures reduce water use within the building by 40 percent. Exterior landscaping features a number of native and adapted plant species that thrive without the need for permanent irrigation and help slow and infiltrate stormwater runoff from the site. For photos and support materials, please visit our MEDIA KIT. About Burns & McDonnell Burns & McDonnell is a family of companies made up of more than 5,700 engineers, architects, construction professionals, scientists, consultants and entrepreneurs with offices across the country and throughout the world. We strive to create amazing success for our clients and amazing careers for our employee-owners. Burns & McDonnell is 100 percent employee-owned and is proud to be No. 16 on Fortune's 2017 list of 100 Best Companies to Work For. For more information, visit burnsmcd.com. Contact: Roger Dick, Burns & McDonnell 816-822-3339 [email protected] SOURCE Burns & McDonnell Related Links http://www.burnsmcd.com Master-director Christopher Nolan's war epic -- DUNKIRK -- will release in India tomorrow. Before you go relish the movie, see India's connection with this French port city from where 3,00,000 soldiers were evacuated during the World War II. By Dev Goswami: In 1940, over the course of eight days, the French port city of Dunkirk won itself a place in military history, becoming the site of an ingenious evacuation that ultimately saved over 3,00,000 allied soldiers. An evacuation that sets the backdrop for Christopher Nolan's war epic Dunkirk, which releases this Friday. The film promises to be a 70mm spectacle that, early reviews say, is among Nolan's best works. What you will probably not see on the silver screen is the little-known tale of the Indian Army troops who were in and around Dunkirk when the historic evacuation was carried out. advertisement The soldiers were part of the first units of the Indian Army to take part in the Second World War. Over the course of the grand war, the Indian Army, which started off with just under 2,00,000 men, grew to more than 2.5 million personnel, becoming the largest volunteer force in history. The Indian Army's contributions during the latter part of the World War II are well documented. However, the story of four transport companies of Indian Army that sailed from Mumbai and had to be rescued from the beaches of France has mostly skipped the history books. CORNERED BY THE BEACH By May 1940, the world had slipped into its second global war. Germany, having invaded Poland, Denmark and Norway, was fighting pitched battles with allied armies in Europe. In France, German forces managed to encircle a large number of allied soldiers near Dunkirk during the Battle for France. All hope seemed lost, but aided by a controversial German decision to briefly pause the Dunkirk offensive, Britain successfully carried out the Dunkirk evacuation, rescuing 3,38,226 mostly British and French soldiers even as the Germans breathed down their neck. Operation Dynamo -- code name given to the Dunkirk evacuation -- used 933 ships to pick up the soldiers from the beaches and harbours of the French city. Among the soldiers rescued were a bunch of Indian Army troops who originated from modern-day Pakistan. INDIAN ARMY IN DUNKIRK By the time the Second World War began, the British army disbanded its animal transport companies in favour of mechanised vehicles. In October 1939, however, the need was felt for animals that could transport arms, ammunition and other supplies over non-motorable terrain in France. Britain turned to India (and Cyprus) for help after deciding that all British Expeditionary Force divisions in France must have an animal transport company each. The then Royal Indian Army responded by dispatching four animal transport companies of the Royal Indian Army Service Corps. The contingent - called Force K6 - sailed from then Bombay and reached Marseille in France sometime towards the end of 1939. According to one estimate, the entire force, which was commanded by Lt Col RRW Hills, consisted of 1,800 men and 2,000 animals (mules or horses). The Indian soldiers were from Rawalpindi in today's Pakistan. advertisement Archival footage hosted by French film production company Pathe shows Indian troops arriving in France along with their own priests and doctors. The footage also has shots of the Indian soldiers cooking and eating rotis. Soon after Force K6's arrival in France, three of the four Indian Army transport companies -- numbers 25, 29 and 32 -- were dispatched to the French coast in order to aid the British Expeditionary Forces that were fighting against the Germans in the Battle for France. The 22nd company initially stayed back in Marsellies and was later sent to a region a little inland of Dunkirk. The 25, 29 and 32 companies ended up being part of the allied brigade that was forced to retreat to Dunkirk in face of the rapid German onslaught that saw the troops trapped on northern French coast. Providence in the form of a controversial German decision to briefly pause the offensive allowed most of the allied troops to fall back to Dunkirk. advertisement On May 26, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill gave the go-ahead to launch Operation Dynamo that employed naval and civilian vessels to transport the trapped troops across the English Channel to mainland Britain. During the eight days of evacuation, men 25, 29 and 32 of three Indian Army companies were successfully rescued from Dunkirk. They, however, had to leave their animals behind. The 22 company, on the other hand, was not as lucky, with most of its men getting captured by German forces just short of Dunkirk. They were taken prisoners of war and most of the men are believed to have died in captivity. AFTERMATH After being rescued from Dunkirk, the Royal Indian Army Service Corps men were initially stationed in different parts of the United Kingdom. The animals they lost during the Dunkirk evacuation were replaced with fresh horses and they were later joined by three more animal transport companies from back home. One of the junior officers even received a medal for his bravery in Dunkirk. Jemadar Maula Dad Khan was awarded Indian Distinguished Service Medal, the citation for which, according to the Dunkirk evacuation's online museum, read: "On 24 May 1940 when approaching Dunkerque, Jemadar Maula Dad Khan showed magnificent courage, coolness and decision. When his troop was shelled from the ground and bombed from the air by the enemy he promptly reorganised his men and animals, got them off the road and under cover under extremely difficult conditions. It was due to this initiative and the confidence he inspired that it was possible to extricate his troop without loss in men or animals." advertisement The Royal Indian Army companies spent a few years in the UK, coming back to India only in 1944. Once back, they were quickly requisitioned for the war in Burma in another theatre of the Second World War. --- ENDS --- SAN FRANCISCO, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- InfluxData announces general availability of the InfluxData platform, version 1.3; our modern, Open Source Platform built from the ground up for metrics and events. With the arrival of InfluxData 1.3, the platform can handle a billion unique time series, making it easier to handle ephemeral data coming from containers, or adding and removing sensors in IoT tracking systems. Ephemeral data is transitory, or existing only briefly, and is becoming vital for modern applications built where containers, microservices and sensors can come and go and are not always connected. "We've seen the industry grapple with the explosion of more data points, more data sources, more monitoring, more controls requiring nanosecond precision coming from sensors and microservices," said Evan Kaplan, CEO, InfluxData. "This release further delivers on our promise of providing a modern engine for metrics and events defined by rapid time to value and extreme scale." The InfluxData Platform provides a comprehensive set of tools and services to accumulate metrics and events data, analyze the data, and act on the data via powerful visualizations and notifications. New features in this release include: Time Series Indexing which moves the in-memory index to disk eliminating the restrictions imposed by the available memory and makes support for 1 billion endpoints possible. which moves the in-memory index to disk eliminating the restrictions imposed by the available memory and makes support for 1 billion endpoints possible. Highly Availability Anomaly Detection ensures service availability of the alerting subsystemnever worry about an action being ignored or an alert missed for your streaming analytics. ensures service availability of the alerting subsystemnever worry about an action being ignored or an alert missed for your streaming analytics. Query Language Improvements that support timezone offsets for queries, new time-based functions and operators increasing developer productivity. that support timezone offsets for queries, new time-based functions and operators increasing developer productivity. Automatic Cluster Rebalancing making operational scaling and availability easier. "This work represents one of the most significant technical advancements in the platform to date," said Paul Dix, Founder, InfluxData. "We're excited about this new release and welcome feedback from the developer community." About InfluxData InfluxData, the creators of InfluxDB, delivers a modern Open Source Platform built from the ground up for metrics and events (time series data). Whether the data comes from humans, sensors, or machines, InfluxData empowers developers to build next-generation monitoring, analytics, and IoT applications faster, easier, and to scale delivering real business value quickly. Based in San Francisco, InfluxData customers include Autodesk, Cisco, eBay, and SolarCity. Visit influxdata.com. Twitter: @influxdb. Editorial Contact Ruth Busbee, InfluxData 510-910-6732 | [email protected] SOURCE InfluxData Related Links http://www.influxdata.com LONDON, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Institute of Trading and Portfolio Management (ITPM) have announced the details of their annual fall conference in New York City at the Radisson Martinique Hotel on 23 September, with keynote speakers: Anton Kreil, Raj Malhotra, David Perlin, Ben Berggreen and Christopher Quill. The ITPM New York Conference will this year be the final stop on a four-date tour of North America, which includes Los Angeles, Dallas, Toronto and New York. The New York Conference will be held on Saturday afternoon and evening on 23 September and will include FIVE main keynote speakers including Anton Kreil, Raj Malhotra, David Perlin, Ben Berggreen and Christopher Quill. Anton is the Managing Partner of the Institute, a 400-strong community of Retail Traders globally that trade financial markets with their own money and Institute money. Raj Malhotra, David Perlin and Ben Berggreen are Senior Trading Mentors at the Institute who have taught hundreds of successful Professional Traders and Portfolio Managers in their careers. Christopher Quill is the Institute's Quant Analyst who supports the team with deep Quantitative Research. Overall, the team have taught over 30,000 Retail Traders in the last five years and at the New York Conference, Retail Traders will be taught very important lessons in order to help them become consistently profitable trading the financial markets. The schedule of the New York Conference is packed with seminars starting at 12pm and ending and 6pm. Starting off the day, the former head of the International Trading Desk at Goldman Sachs, David Perlin will be presenting "The Investment Spectrum and Finding Your Niche." After this, Hedge Fund Trader Ben Berggreen will be presenting "Full on Commodity Futures Trading." Then, former Goldman Sachs Trader Anton Kreil, former head of Options Trading at Bank of America and Nomura, Raj Malhotra, and Chris Quill will be presenting "Make Options Trading Great Again." The final seminar given by Anton Kreil - "The Ultimate Western World Hedge" - will be of ultra-importance given U.S. Equity Markets are currently trading on all-time highs. Details of the full schedule can be found, HERE. After the conference, a secret nearby location will be announced for drinks and networking, included in the standard ticket price for all delegates. Following this, delegates have the opportunity to attend a VIP Dinner with Anton Kreil, Raj Malhotra, David Perlin, Ben Berggreen and Chris Quill to further their trading knowledge and careers in Financial Markets. VIP Ticket Holders will be taken to one of Manhattan's finest restaurants at 9pm where they get to discuss their personal situations in a more intimate small group environment, leveraging the knowledge of the group at a personal level. All Ticket types can be accessed, HERE. Commenting on today's announcement, Christopher Quill made the following Statement on behalf of the Institute: "We all love going to New York for our Annual Conference. The crowd there are very savvy and are always surprised when we come to town because we have a fresh perspective and a new way of looking at things that they're not used to. There is a lot to get through on the day and it will be intense, but delegates will learn key information and strategy to seriously help them become consistently profitable. We can't wait to get there again and meet everyone." Useful Links: ITPM New York Conference: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/itpm-new-york-conference-tickets-35748837736 ITPM Website: http://www.itpm.com ITPM Seminars: http://www.itpm.com/seminars ITPM Education: http://www.itpm.com/education/ Press Enquiries: http://www.itpm.com/contact SOURCE Institute of Trade and Portfolio Management NEW YORK, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The global market for instrumentation sensors for fluid control should reach $16.2 billion by 2021 from $11.8 billion in 2016 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.7%, from 2016 to 2021. The stationary applications market is the largest sector of the instrumentation sensors market. The market is expected to grow from $11.5 billion in 2016 to $15.9 billion in 2021 at a CAGR of 6.7% for the period 2016-2021. Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p05002449/Instrumentation-Sensors-for-Fluid-Power-Stationary-and-Mobile-Applications.html The mobile applications sector of the instrumentation sensors market is expected to grow from $243 million in 2016 to $308.6 billion in 2021 at a CAGR of 4.9% for the period 2016-2021. Introduction Study Goals and Objectives The study focuses on four instrumentation sensors measuring variables such as flow, level, pressure and temperature for fluid control in the processing industries and instrumentation sensors for measuring the positions of hydraulic cylinders used in the mobile sectors. The 11 stationary sectors covered in this report are water and waste water, chemicals, energy, food and beverage, metal production, oil and gas production, paper, refining and petroleum, pharmaceuticals, cement and machine building. The six mobile sectors are grouped under hydraulic cylinders for position control in heavy machineries. These sectors are agricultural and forestry construction; mining, material handling, compaction, and aerospace and defense. The report is aimed to provide data regarding the size and growth of numerous instrumentation sensors for fluid control technology markets, as well as company profiles and industry trends. The goal of this report is to provide a detailed and comprehensive multi-client study of the instrumentation sensor market for fluid control and to identify potential business opportunities in the future. An assessment of new and potential products and services is also provided. Another important objective is to provide realistic market data and forecasts for the instrumentation sensors for fluid control market. This study provides a complete account of instrumentation sensors for fluid control technologies currently available in a multi-client format. It provides a thorough and up-to- date assessment of the subject. The study also provides extensive quantification of the many important market developments for instrumentation sensors for fluid control. This contributes to the strategic responses that companies may adopt to compete in this dynamic market. Reasons for Doing This Study Maximizing business opportunities in the instrumentation sensors for fluid control technologies arena is a challenging task. Significant changes are taking place within this industry, which was dominated in the past by plant architecture specialists, plant designers, engineering consultants, multinational sensors manufacturers, plant original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), engineering procurement and construction (EPC) companies, contractors, plant owners and users The shift in the industry trend has been driven by many external forces, including the growing use of the latest communication technologies and new sensors technologies. Intended Audience Audiences for this study include marketing executives, business unit managers and other decision- makers in the business of instrumentation sensors for fluid control technologies used in the stationary process industry and in mobile applications. This report will also be of interest to other plant designers, plant suppliers, EPC, consultants, electronics developers, plant owners and end-user companies peripheral to this business. Scope of the Report The scope of this report is comprehensive, covering the present status of and future prospects for instrumentation sensors for fluid control technologies. This includes four instrumentation sensor measuring variablesflow, level, pressure and temperature of fluid controlin the processing industries belonging to 11 stationary sectors, as well as instrumentation sensors for measuring the positions of hydraulic cylinders used in the mobile sectors. The report identifies and evaluates instrumentation sensors for fluid control technology markets with keen potential for growth. It also provides extensive quantification of the many important market developments for advanced instrumentation sensors for fluid control technologies. The report also covers the many issues concerning the merits and future prospects of the instrumentation sensors for fluid control technologies business, including corporate strategies, information technologies, and the means for providing these highly advanced products and service offerings. It also covers in detail the economic and technological issues regarded by many as critical to the industry's current state of change. The report provides a review of the instrumentation sensors for the fluid control technology industry and its structure, as well as plant architecture specialists, plant designers, engineering consultants, multinational sensors manufacturers, plant original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), engineering procurement and construction (EPC) companies, contractors, plant owners and users. The competitive position of the main players in the instrumentation sensors for fluid control market is well-protected due to protected and patented technologies used by OEMs (e.g., GE, Emerson, ABB, Siemens, Vega, Invensys, Honeywell, Endress+Hauser, Schneider Electric, Krohne, Yokogawa, Magnetrol, Hawk) in the stationary industry. Position sensors are integrated in hydraulic cylinders for position detection of piston rods. This is also used in the mobile machinery sectors by OEMs, including Parker Hannifin, Hyde and Pepperl + Fuchs. Manufacturers of instrumentation sensors for fluid control for each sector must adhere to standards conforming to each targeted user country and follow statutory and mandatory guidelines for acceptance. The U.S., Europe and Japan are among the many countries that have stringent standards concerning plant and instrumentation sensors for fluid control in targeted applications. The forecast tables represent the estimated value of the instrumentation sensors for fluid control technologies added to the overall cost of the control and instrumentation components of plants supplied by EPC. In this report, the term revenue is equivalent to and is used interchangeably with the terms purchases, demand and sales. All growth rates mentioned in the tables and text are based on compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) from 2016 through 2021. Current 2016 dollar measures are used, and these growth rates reflect the growth in volume or real growth, including the effects of price changes and changes in the product and service mix. Information Sources A comprehensive and exhaustive search of the literature on instrumentation sensors for fluid control technologies was initially conducted. These sources included the latest press releases on company websites, including application news, company news, marketing news, product news, brochures, product literature, instrumentation sensors for fluid control technology magazines (e.g., Control, Fluid Handling International, Global Water Intelligence, Automation, Applied Automation), technical journals, technical books (e.g., Perry Handbook on Chemical Engineering, Instrument Engineers Handbook), marketing literature, other promotional literature, annual reports, security analyst reports on instrumentation sensors for fluid control and other technology business digest publications. Consulted sources on instrumentation sensors for fluid control include the Instrument Society of America (ISA); the Sensor Technology Handbook; the Journal of Sensors and Actuators; the U.S. Census (www.census.com) on expenditures in different sectors in 2014 and 2015; the ASEAN Investment Report; Chemical Spending in the E.U.; Proceedings of the 5th World Congress on Intelligent Controls (Progress of Smart Sensors and Smart Sensor Networks); VDMA; ZVEI; and online research papers published by various U.S., European, Chinese and South Korean universities and research institutes. Annual data published in 2016 on the Measurement, Control and Automation Association (MCAA) website was also taken into account. The latest issues of magazines such as Control (www.controlglobal.com), Fluid Handling International, Global Water Intelligence and Applied Automation were also studied to extract the desired information related to instrumentation sensors for fluid control technology. There is little specific data in the available literature that analyzes the instrumentation sensors for the fluid control technology industry as a whole, and the data that do exist tend to present instrumentation sensors for fluid control as part of the sub-group category called control and instrumentation. This category makes major expenditures on software and other hardware (e.g., PLC, display monitors, analyzers, positioners, valve actuators, wiring). The challenge was to identify and quantify the instrumentation sensors for the fluid control technology market and evaluate where it fits in with the C&I architectures of each of the 11 stationary sectors, as well as to identify and quantify sensors used in hydraulic cylinders used in the six targeted mobile sectors for position control. An extensive patent analysis was conducted to gauge technological innovation and to determine research activity as it applies to new product development. The second phase involved formal and informal telephone interviews and e-mail correspondence with personnel in companies that offer instrumentation sensors for fluid control technologies for application in the 11 stationary sectors and six sectors combined into a sub-group called position control sensors in hydraulics cylinders. This involved interaction with experts in the instrumentation sensors for fluid control, suppliers, design engineers, consulting companies, other technical experts, government officials and trade association officials, as well as project contractor personnel. Methodology The research methodology was qualitative in nature and employed a triangulated approach, which aids in establishing validity. Initially, a comprehensive and exhaustive search of the literature on the application of instrumentation sensors for fluid control in stationary and mobile applications was conducted. These secondary sources included instrumentation sensors for fluid control technology journals and related books, trade literature, marketing literature, other product and promotional literature, annual reports, security analyst reports and other publications. Patent searches and analysis were also conducted. In a second phase, a series of semi-structured telephone interviews and e-mail correspondence was conducted with marketing executives, product sales engineers, international sales managers, application engineers and other personnel from companies that offer instrumentation sensors for fluid control technologies. Other sources included instrumentation sensors for fluid control technology magazines, academics, technology suppliers, technical experts, trade association officials, government officials and consulting companies. These were rich sources of data. Subsequent analysis of the documents and interview notes was iterative. To understand the instrumentation sensors for fluid control market for the 11 process industries and for mobile applications, the research study measured total investment in each targeted sector by five regions (i.e., U.S., Europe, Japan, China, Rest of World [ROW]). The percentage of expenditures in control and instrumentation as part of total plant cost was derived from multiple sources. After this, the cost of instrumentation sensors for fluid control was derived from C&I expenditure. This same variable according to prevailing practices was followed by end users and country guidelines for plant from one sector to the next and from one region to another. OEMS such as ABB and Vega often recommend types and numbers of instrumentation sensors for fluid control for almost all sectors based on past projects. Considerable assistance has been taken from the available information from such sources. Geographic Breakdown The regions considered for market analysis in this report include: North America U.S. Mexico Canada China Japan Europe France Germany Italy ROW South America Asia-Pacific Summary and Highlights Sensors and transmitters supply the fundamental data related to process in industries. The transmitter can transmit the sensed signal (e.g., temperature) in the industry standard 4-20 mA form, which is a function of the sensed parameter. An entire plant operation depends on this data, so it must be accurate, error free, and free from corrupt values caused by environmental noise and resistive drops. For this purpose, the conventional transmitters are being replaced by their smart counterparts. This has become possible due to the revolutionary developments taking place in the relevant technologies, including the design of high-performance microcontrollers and low-power devices, computer integrated manufacturing (CIM), data communication and industrial networking. The potential advantage of the smart devices is that they can be interacted remotely by a handheld configurator. Moreover, when smart field devices are connected to a bus (i.e., a group of conducting lines following certain electrical conventions) known as Fieldbus, they can perform various operations otherwise unimaginable using the conventional devices. Smart transmitters are the backbones of modern plants. They incorporate various features, including sensor linearization, remote communication, re-ranging, engineering unit conversion, damping, diagnostics, local/remote span and zero adjustment. Smart transmitters based on Fieldbus are being developed to network field devices such as PLCs, smart transmitters, actuators and controllers. In 2016, China was a major market for instrumentation sensors for fluid control in process control, holding 27.6% share, followed by North America at 23.4%, Europe at 19.3%, Japan at 8.7% and ROW at 21%. In 2021, China will be a major market for instrumentation sensors for fluid control in process control, holding a 27.5% share, followed by North America at 22.9%, Europe at 18.6%, Japan at 8.4% and ROW at 22.5%. The CAGR from 2016 to 2021 is forecast to be 6.7%. In 2016, the flow transmitters for fluid control in the process industries had a maximum share of 40.9%, followed by level transmitters (25.5%), pressure transmitters (17.5%) and temperature transmitters (16.1). In 2021, this segment will hold the maximum share of 41%, followed by level transmitters (25.3%), pressure transmitters (17%) and temperature transmitters (16.6%). In 2016, the power and energy sector by end-user application maintained the maximum usage of instrumentation sensors at 34.6%, followed by oil and gas production (25%), chemical (17.4%), refining and petrochemicals (10.4%), food and beverage (7.4%), pharmaceutical (2%), machine building (1%), water and waste water (0.9%), pulp and paper (0.6%), metal production (0.3%) and cement production (0.3%). In 2021, the power and energy sector will see maximum usage of instrumentation sensors at 37%, followed by oil and gas production (25.5%), chemical (16.8%), refining and petrochemicals (8.3%), food and beverage (7.8%), pharmaceuticals (1.7%), machine building (0.8%), water and waste water (0.9%), pulp and paper (0.7%), metal production (0.3%) and cement production (0.2%). Research on instrumentation sensors for mobile application study is mainly focused on position sensors as integrated into hydraulic cylinders used in mobile machineries. In 2016, the market for position sensors was estimated at $243 million, with a CAGR of 4.9% to reach at $308.6 million in 2021. Stationary applications accounted for the largest market share of 97.9 % ($11.5 billion) in 2016, which is expected to increase to 98.1% (15.9 billion) by 2021. Market demand for position sensors integrated into hydraulic cylinders used in mobile machineries was estimated at $243 million (2.1%). In 2021, market demand for position sensors integrated into hydraulic cylinders used in mobile machineries will reach $308.6 million (1.9%). Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p05002449/Instrumentation-Sensors-for-Fluid-Power-Stationary-and-Mobile-Applications.html About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. http://www.reportlinker.com Contact Clare: [email protected] US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 SOURCE Reportlinker Related Links http://www.reportlinker.com DALLAS, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Invitation Homes Inc. (NYSE: INVH) ("Invitation Homes" or the "Company") today announced that it will release its second quarter 2017 financial and operating results on Thursday, August 10, 2017, after the market closes. The Company will host a conference call on Friday, August 11, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern time to review second quarter results, discuss recent events, and conduct a question-and-answer session. The conference call will be available via webcast on the Invitation Homes Investor Relations website at ir.invitationhomes.com. To participate in the live telephone conference call: Domestic Dial-in Number: 1-888-317-6003 International Dial-in Number: 1-412-317-6061 Passcode: 6296467 To access a telephone replay of the call: Domestic Dial-in Number: 1-877-344-7529 International Dial-in Number: 1-412-317-0088 Passcode: 10110601 Date Accessible Through: September 11, 2017 About Invitation Homes: Invitation Homes is a leading owner and operator of single-family homes for lease, offering residents high-quality homes in desirable neighborhoods across America. With nearly 50,000 homes for lease in 13 markets across the country, Invitation Homes is meeting changing lifestyle demands by providing residents access to updated homes with features they value, such as close proximity to jobs and access to good schools. The company's mission, "Together with you, we make a house a home," reflects its commitment to high-touch service that continuously enhances residents' living experiences and provides homes where individuals and families can thrive. Investor Relations Contact: Greg Van Winkle Phone: 844.456.INVH (4684) Email: [email protected] Media Relations Contact: Claire Parker Phone: 202.257.2329 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Invitation Homes Related Links http://www.invitationhomes.com The gift will endow and expand the 'Maguire Scholars' scholarship program enabling SJU to attract even more outstanding students from Philadelphia as well as expanded regional and national markets who wish to pursue a Jesuit education but lack the financial means. Additionally, the gift will establish multiple endowed funds in support of SJU's No. 1 nationally ranked risk management and insurance program, providing critical support for faculty, scholarship opportunities for students, and professional development opportunities for both. In recognition of this gift and his efforts in launching and supporting the program since its inception, SJU is pleased to also announce the Academy which coordinates and advances the program will be named the Maguire Academy of Risk Management and Insurance. Lastly, the gift will endow support for educational leadership programs for Philadelphia-area teachers in Catholic and independent schools. Saint Joseph's University and the Maguires have partnered in the past to advance education in the region, and both share a deep commitment to preserving and elevating Catholic schools in the Philadelphia region. "This is a historic and game-changing gift," said Mark C. Reed, Ed.D., President of Saint Joseph's University. "This investment will advance academic excellence and will increase student access through a major infusion of endowed funds for scholarships and financial assistance top strategic priorities. The significant impact on our endowment will benefit students and faculty for generations. SJU has bold intentions and a vision to expand our reach and raise our profile regionally and nationally. To do so requires all of us associated with SJU to think and dream big, and to stretch to support our ambitions. Jim and Frannie Maguire have set the bar high for us all to follow, and I am so grateful to them for their past and present support and the impact they have made on our students, faculty, and campus. Getting to know Jim and Frannie has been one of my true privileges and pleasures since coming to Hawk Hill. They are kind, caring, and creative people, who stand out in our region for their generosity and loyalty to many causes, especially Catholic education. We are most blessed and fortunate at SJU to be the beneficiaries of their single largest gift." "Saint Joseph's University is where my life changed," said Jim Maguire. "Early in my college career, I struggled academically but it was the Jesuits who saw my potential and nurtured it, setting me on a path for success. I have never forgotten that it was at Saint Joseph's where people first believed in me and I have lived my life professionally and personally embracing the values that are the foundation of a Jesuit education. I have gotten to know Dr. Reed well over the past two years and it's become evident that he has a clear vision for SJU and is an effective and respected leader. The University is in a very strong position and poised for phenomenal success. It is with great confidence and pride that we make this investment in SJU." Mr. Maguire began his career at MetLife as a salesman and in his first year earned the President's Club Distinction a recognition reserved for only 175 of more than 29,000 MetLife salesmen. Based on his success in the insurance industry, Mr. Maguire went on to establish the Maguire Insurance Agency Inc. in 1960 and thereafter formed Philadelphia Insurance Company in the early 80s. After going public in 1993, the business employed 1,600 people in 50 offices nationwide. In 2008, the business merged with the Tokio Marine Group, which was considered one of the largest transactions for financial firms in Japanese history. A charter member of the Saint Joseph's University Magis Society and a recipient of the Shield of Loyola, Mr. Maguire generously gifted $15 million to the Saint Joseph's expansion campaign in 2005, enabling the purchase of the former Episcopal Academy property, now known as the James J. Maguire '58 Campus. The Maguires are the largest benefactors to the University to-date with a total lifetime giving that now reaches $75 million. The Maguires are co-principals of the Maguire Foundation, which provides funding to support education in the arts and humanities, and to alleviate hunger and homelessness. The Maguire Scholars Program funds more than 1,000 scholarships for students at 24 elementary schools, 35 high schools and 28 universities in the mid-Atlantic region. Also a member of the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, Mr. Maguire is the author of "Just Show Up Every Day," which outlines his approach to overcoming adversity and his six steps to finding success in life. About Saint Joseph's University Founded in 1851 in the Jesuit tradition of academic excellence, Saint Joseph's University is a top-ranked Catholic University that provides a rigorous, student-centered education. With a total enrollment of 8,500 undergraduate and graduate students, SJU offers a wide-array of academic programs designed so that each graduate enters the world with a competitive resume and global perspective. This is achieved through intense academic study led by thought-leading faculty scholars, a comprehensive campus experience and robust study abroad, service-learning, internship and co-op programs. Upon graduation, nearly 100 percent of students are employed, pursuing advanced degrees or volunteering in prestigious service programs. A member of the Atlantic 10 Conference, SJU offers 20 Division I intercollegiate men's and women's sports. SJU alumni over 60,000 strong - provide a powerful network that spans the globe. SOURCE Saint Joseph's University Princess Module Ozolua is the founder of the philanthropic foundation, Empower 54. Graham has been an active ambassador for the organization by raising millions of dollars and personally delivering necessary goods and services to the Congo. Empower 54 is a non-profit organization that offers assistance through health, rural development, educational, empowerment initiatives for woman and girls and successful IDP/refugee programs. Graham and her philanthropic partner, Chaka Clarke's long term vision is becoming a reality by creating a sustainable environment in the province. The Governor has agreed to donate 12.5 acres towards the development of a modern day community for hundreds of orphans in the area. The land is close to the famous Inongo Black Lake in Inongo. The community will have accommodation for the children, schools, kitchens, a skilled acquisition center, private farming lands, a technology village and accommodation for visiting volunteers and much more. Immediately, efforts to renovate schools in the Province du Mai-Ndombe are underway to encourage the children attend school in suitable learning environment. The renovation will include establishing computer labs and the gifting of desktop computers. Solar panel technology will be installed to provide power and electricity for theses initiatives in the rural areas. Graham and Clarke are currently working with individuals and corporations to assist with the delivery of 30 foot containers of medication and nutritional meals to communities where children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition in Province du Mai-Ndombe. Some of the poverty stricken communities being aided include: Inongo, Bokoro, Mushie, Kwamouth, Kutu, Kiri and Yumbi www.katgraham.com Instagram @KatGraham Twitter @KatGraham Facebook /KatGrahamOfficial SOURCE Kat Graham Related Links http://www.katgraham.com DENVER and PLYMOUTH, Minn., July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- KCNQ2 Cure Alliance and Pairnomix, LLC, a personalized genetic evaluations company, today announced that they have completed the first case under their partnership investigating a genetic mutation implicated in KCNQ2 epileptic encephalopathy. They also report plans to extend the partnership for a second case involving an additional KCNQ2 genetic mutation. Last year, the KCNQ2 Cure Alliance and Pairnomix entered into a collaboration to further explore genetic mutations in KCNQ2 epileptic encephalopathy with the goal of identifying more effective and more accurately targeted drug therapies. It is estimated that 500 people worldwide have been diagnosed with KCNQ2 epileptic encephalopathy. However, many more are believed to be affected by this rare genetic mutation, but have not been diagnosed due to its relatively recent discovery and availability of genetic testing. At the end of this first case evaluation, Pairnomix identified through cellular testing a series of drugs capable of inhibiting a gain-of-function KCNQ2 mutation. These drugs represent novel therapeutic options for the consideration of healthcare providers. "We appreciate the thorough approach Pairnomix undertook while evaluating our first case together and we are excited to see the real-world application from this data," said Jim Johnson, President of KCNQ2 Cure Alliance. "The KCNQ2 Cure Alliance is a truly caring and supportive organization. We feel privileged to provide our services in an effort to support their community," said Matthew Fox, CEO of Pairnomix. Clinical evaluation of the top drug result is currently underway and the genetic evaluation of the second case has recently been initiated. Pairnomix and the KCNQ2 Cure Alliance will present data from the initial case at scientific conferences later this year including the annual meetings for Child Neurology Society (CNS), Society for Neuroscience (SfN), and American Epilepsy Society (AES). About KCNQ2 Epileptic Encephalopathy KCNQ2 epileptic encephalopathies are caused by mutations in the KCNQ2 gene (also known as the potassium voltage-gated channel, KQT-like subfamily, member 2 gene). KCNQ2 belongs to a large family of genes that provide instructions for making potassium channels. These channels, which transport positively charged atoms (ions) of potassium into and out of cells, play a key role in a cell's ability to generate and transmit electrical signals. Channels made with the KCNQ2 protein are active in nerve cells (neurons) in the brain, where they transport potassium ions out of cells. About Pairnomix Pairnomix, a personalized genetic evaluations company, is committed to helping people living with rare diseases understand the genetic cause of their condition and explore potential treatment options that are available today. Pairnomix' initial focus is on advancing personalized research for people living with epilepsy and other disorders of the Central Nervous System. To learn more, please visit www.pairnomix.com. SOURCE Pairnomix, LLC Related Links http://www.pairnomix.com ELKHART, Ind., July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- LCI Industries (NYSE: LCII), a supplier of components for the leading OEMs of recreational vehicles and adjacent industries and the aftermarkets of these industries, will release its second-quarter 2017 financial results before the market opens on Friday, August 4, 2017. LCI Industries will also host a conference call on Friday, August 4, 2017, at 11 a.m. ET to discuss the results and other business matters. The call will conclude with a question-and-answer session with participation limited to institutional investors and analysts. Individual investors, retail brokers and the media are invited to listen to a live webcast of the call on the LCI Industries website at www.lci1.com\investors . Participating in the conference call will be: Jason Lippert, CEO Scott Mereness, President Brian Hall, CFO About LCI Industries From 52 manufacturing and distribution facilities located throughout the United States and in Canada and Italy, LCI Industries, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Lippert Components, Inc., supplies, domestically and internationally, a broad array of components for the leading original equipment manufacturers of recreational vehicles; buses; trailers used to haul boats, livestock, equipment and other cargo; trucks; pontoon boats; trains; manufactured homes; and modular housing. The Company also supplies components to the related aftermarkets of these industries primarily by selling to retail dealers, wholesale distributors and service centers. LCI's products include steel chassis and related components; axles and suspension solutions; slide-out mechanisms and solutions; thermoformed bath, kitchen and other products; vinyl, aluminum and frameless windows; manual, electric and hydraulic stabilizer and leveling systems; furniture and mattresses; entry, luggage, patio and ramp doors; electric and manual entry steps; awnings and awning accessories; electronic components; televisions and sound systems; navigation systems; backup cameras; appliances; and other accessories. Additional information about LCI and its products can be found at www.lci1.com . SOURCE LCI Industries Related Links http://www.lci1.com DALLAS, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Oil and Gas consulting firm, Lease Analytics, announced today that it has established the Human Intelligence and Language Technologies Lab (HiLT) Fund at the University of North Texas (UNT) in Denton, Texas. This fund supports faculty and graduate research in the development of new techniques to recognize and infer meaning from specific images, words, phrases or sentences. The algorithms produced will have potential broad application in industry and government agencies interested in the growing fields of data analytics, and could make skilled human analysts far more productive in analyzing large volumes of current and historic documents. "We will use this fund to find new ways to tag oil and gas leases and contracts with categories of interest, and improve classification, search and clustering beyond word presence," said Eduardo Blanco, co-director of the HiLT Lab. HiLT is within UNT's College of Engineering, and its interests include Natural Language Processing (NLP), Machine Learning (ML), and Cognitive Science. HiLT's primary focus is on computational semantic models that facilitate machine understanding of text and spoken dialogue. "We are very excited to support the faculty and students at UNT," said President and CEO of Lease Analytics Tom Agnew. "UNT has had a preeminent position in both oil and gas accounting and information sciences. Our most capable data scientists have come from the graduate program at UNT. This research will drastically reduce back office error rates, and I look forward to seeing the results of this project." About Lease Analytics, LLC Lease Analytics is based in Dallas, Texas, and applies deep learning technology to solve complex problems in the oil and gas back office, from acquisition to divestiture. Lease Analytics provides Revenue Recovery and Land Data Cleanup services to oil and gas companies. The company uses the most advanced data mining techniques to analyze land and accounting records to uncover errors and omissions, while generating significant savings in time and money. Please visit www.lease-analytics.com for more information. About the University of North Texas The University of North Texas's Department of Computer Science and Engineering is one of the oldest in the state of Texas, graduating its first class in 1977. The department is one of the 2017 "Best Colleges for Computer Science in America", according to Niche.com. The University is also in the top 20 percent of 2017 "Best Colleges in America". The main campus is located in Denton, Texas, with satellite campuses in Dallas and Fort Worth. Please visit https://engineering.unt.edu/ for more information about UNT's College of Engineering and http://hilt.cse.unt.edu/about.html for more information about the HiLT Lab. Contact: Tom Agnew 1-214-736-9055 [email protected] SOURCE Lease Analytics, LLC Related Links http://www.lease-analytics.com NEW YORK, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- LendKey, the leading lending-as-a-service solution for banks and credit unions, today announced $13 million in Series C funding, $8 million in equity and $5 million in debt financing. North Atlantic Capital, based in Portland, ME, led the round with participation from each of LendKey's existing investors including DFJ, Updata Partners, Gotham Ventures, and TTV Capital. "Since LendKey's launch eight years ago, we have experienced steady growth. This new round of funding will help support this growth allowing us to meet the strong bank and credit union demand for our service," said Vince Passione, chief executive officer, LendKey. "Traditional financial institutions are now more than ever adapting to evolving customer needs to remain competitive and better reach millennials. LendKey empowers these institutions to compete in today's lending market by digitizing their loan businesses." "This is a very strong team with very impressive industry knowledge and background, solving a real need for banks and credit unions," said Mark Morrissette, Managing Director at North Atlantic Capital. "With more than a dozen bank investors in our current fund, this is a great fit for us." The Series C funding will enable the company to expand its services and staffing. LendKey plans to grow its regional office in Cincinnati, Ohio and expand its account development and sales teams. Fifty-nine percent of banks have invested in a competitive digital technology program as part of their business strategy, according to an Accenture study. Banks are eager to meet digital demand with 51 percent of U.S. adults banking on their mobile devices. Many banks do not have the in-house resources to build their own digital lending solutions for products such as private student loans, student refinancing and home improvement loans. LendKey's lending-as-a-service solution transforms traditional financial institutions into profitable digital lending businesses and manages the process, which includes demand generation, online decisioning, loan origination, customer service and balance sheet management. LendKey partners with hundreds of banks and credit unions to help them conduct their digital lending business via its complete lending-as-a-service solution. Some of LendKey's prominent clients include Navy Federal, McGraw-Hill Federal Credit Union and WSFS Bank. LendKey currently helps lenders conduct loan programs in the following asset classes: private student loans, student loan refinancing, auto and home improvement loans. For more information, please visit business.lendkey.com. ABOUT LENDKEY LendKey pioneered the lending-as-a-service model by creating white-labeled lending solutions that transform financial institutions into profitable digital lending businesses. LendKey's customized solutions help financial institutions attract new business, grow relationships, manage liquidity, and mitigate risk. The company manages the entire lending process, which includes demand generation, online decisioning, loan origination, customer service and balance sheet management. Founded in 2009 and based in New York and Cincinnati, LendKey works with hundreds of credit unions and banks and has deployed more than $1.5 billion in capital to date. For more information, please visit business.lendkey.com. Media Contact: Melissa Barto JCUTLER media group [email protected] SOURCE LendKey Related Links http://business.lendkey.com The PIL claims that the government has abused the provisions of the Constitution relating to 'Money Bills' and has taken the backdoor to bypass the Rajya Sabha. By Vidya : A petition challenging the constitutional validity of Sections 156 to 189 of Finance Act, 2017 has been filed in the Bombay High Court. The division bench comprising Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice NM Jamdar today issued notice to the Union of India while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by a group called Tax Friends Association. advertisement It is claimed in the PIL that the sections 156-189 of Finance Act, 2017 and the rules violate the basic structure of the construction and the issue goes down to the roots of separation of power while impairing the independence of judiciary. The PIL also claims that the government has abused the provisions of the Constitution relating to 'Money Bills' and has taken the backdoor to bypass the Rajya Sabha thereby committing a fraud upon the Constitution of India. Senior advocate Vikram Nankani and advocate Kunal Katariya, representing the petitioners, told the court that the PIL also challenges the Tribunal, Appellate Tribunal and other Authorities (Qualifications, Experience and other conditions of Service of Members) Rules, 2017. Additional Solicitor General of India Anil Singh appeared for the Union Government and sought time to file the reply. The court granted Singh 8 weeks to file the reply. ALSO READ | PIL filed in Bombay High Court seeking 24-hour helpline against cow vigilantes Finance Bill's amendments to Income Tax Act: Black money crackdown or return of inspector raj? Maharashtra: Bombay High Court to hear PIL on farmer issues next week ALSO WATCH | 2008 Malegaon blast case: Bombay High Court grants bail to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur --- ENDS --- DALLAS, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Flywheel Building Intelligence, Inc., a building performance management system, welcomed Lenny Jachimowicz to their Board of Directors on July 10th. Jachimowicz joins the team following his retirement from Marriott International, one of the world's largest hotel companies, as vice president, engineering and guest experience. After a successful 45-year career at Marriott, Jachimowicz brings valuable industry knowledge in engineering, facility operations, and guest experience to the Dallas-based SaaS startup. "There's a big gap in the hospitality industry in terms of groups having a systemic approach across a portfolio, how they're going to execute maintenance [in their buildings], and how they plan on improving productivity within their teams," said Jachimowicz. "Flywheel has a great product that can help solve this gap. I'm excited to join the team and help them bring their product to market." Jachimowicz started his career at Marriott in 1972 as a maintenance helper. He has since held positions as director of engineering, division director of the Courtyard brand, vice president for engineering North America, and more. Jachimowicz's experience in the maintenance field, while later expanding into the corporate field, attracted Flywheel's interest and will prove valuable as they expand. Joining the team Jachimowicz will help grow the company and refine the product. His knowledge will serve as an asset, connecting the dots between people, maintenance, and energy. Steve Gossett Jr., CEO of Flywheel stated, "People like to talk about someone being comfortable from the boiler room to the board room. In his 45-year career, Lenny went from building technician all the way to leading operations for the largest hotel chain in the world. He is not just a guy deep in knowledge and experience; he's also someone who has led multiple massive programs to adopt new technologies to bring significant change to the hospitality industry. He really is a unicorn and we're ecstatic to have him." ABOUT FLYWHEEL Flywheel is a building management software company that helps facility managers and building operators run a more intelligent building. Flywheel's unique approach of combining people, maintenance, and energy into one application makes them the world's first building performance platform. With more than 30 years' experience, Flywheel serves customers in multiple industries, including hospitality, commercial, and the municipal sector. To learn more, visit Flywheel's website: https://www.flywheelbi.com/ Contact: Hayley Carpenter (972) 386-5335 x 110 [email protected] SOURCE Flywheel Building Intelligence, Inc. Related Links https://www.flywheelbi.com (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130221/595427 ) Psoriasis is a common, chronic, immune-mediated, inflammatory disease[4] affecting an estimated 125 million people worldwide,[5] including nearly 14 million Europeans.[6] It primarily affects the skin, but carries with it a substantial social and psychological burden, even when a relatively small proportion of body surface is affected.[4] Kyntheum is different from existing therapies. By specifically binding to the receptor on skin cells rather than targeting free floating inflammatory mediators, brodalumab blocks the biological activity of several pro-inflammatory IL-17 cytokines involved in psoriasis plaque formation.[2],[7],[8] "Lasting skin clearance is our ultimate treatment goal for psoriasis patients, as it has such a significant impact on an individual's wider wellbeing, along with their physical health. Experiencing clear skin brings a huge benefit to patients. Results from the AMAGINE trials show that Kyntheum has the potential to virtually clear psoriasis in almost 80% of patients, often within just three months[*], establishing its approval as a major advancement within the field of psoriasis" commented Professor Dr. Ulrich Mrowietz, Psoriasis Centre, University Medical Centre, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The AMAGINE trials - AMAGINE-1-3 - involved 4,373 patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis,[9],[10] the largest study population in the development program of any new biologic treatment in psoriasis to date.[11],[12],[13],[14],[15],[16],[17] All three trials evaluated the efficacy and safety of different doses of Kyntheum compared to placebo[9],[10] and AMAGINE-2 and -3 also compared Kyntheum to ustekinumab.[9] Kyntheum was well tolerated in all trials with an acceptable safety profile.[18] Although cases of suicidal ideation and behaviour were reported, no causal association between treatment with Kyntheum and increased risk of suicidal ideation and behaviour has been established.[19] Its launch in Europe will be supported by post-marketing pharmacovigilance activities to capture and follow up on any reports of safety events. Gitte Pugholm Aabo, President and CEO of LEO Pharma, said: "Those most affected by psoriasis often feel controlled by their condition, the stigma it brings, and the diverse complications associated with it. We hope that the EU approval of Kyntheum will help many more people to regain control, and live lives unrestricted by psoriasis, while our role is to support them throughout their journey to clear skin." Brodalumab is currently approved in the U.S. and Japan for adult patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. In Japan, it is also approved for psoriasis vulgaris, psoriatic arthritis, pustular psoriasis and psoriatic erythroderma. * 76-79% of patients achieved clear or almost clear skin (sPGA scores of 0 or 1) after 3 months of treatment with Kyntheum -ENDS- NOTES TO EDITORS About Kyntheum Kyntheum(brodalumab) is the only fully human monoclonal antibody that selectively targets the IL-17 receptor subunit A.[2],[3] By binding to the receptor with high affinity, Kyntheum effectively blocks the biological activity of several pro-inflammatory IL-17 cytokines, which are important in psoriasis.[3],[20] The psoriasis clinical studies programme for Kyntheum consisted of three clinical trials; AMAGINE-1 (n=661), AMAGINE-2 (n=1831) and AMAGINE-3 (n=1881).[9],[10] Results showed Kyntheum 210mg offered more patients complete skin clearance (PASI 100) at 12 weeks compared to patients treated with ustekinumab [AMAGINE-2: 44% (n=272) versus 22% (n=65), p<0.001; AMAGINE-3: 37% (n=229) versus 19% (n=58), p<0.001].[9] In AMAGINE-1 83% of patients on Kyntheum 210mg achieved PASI 75[] compared to 3% of patients treated with placebo at 12 weeks [83.3% (n=185) versus 2.7% (n=6), p<0.001] and 76% of patients achieved sPGA[] success versus 1% of patients treated with placebo [75.7% (n=168) versus 1.4% (n=3), p<0.001].[10] In the AMAGINE trials more than half (53-56%) of patients on continuous Kyntheum treatment achieved PASI 100 at week 52.[10],[21] Patients also reported experiencing improved health-related quality of life after four weeks of treatment with Kyntheum.[22] After 12 weeks of treatment, seven in ten patients (72%, n=29/40, p<0.0001) reported psoriasis no longer impaired their health-related quality of life, (0/1 DLQI) compared with placebo (5%, n=2/37).[22] Data from the three large randomised, controlled AMAGINE clinical trials, found Kyntheum to be well tolerated, with an acceptable safety profile.[18] The most common adverse events were arthralgia (joint pain), nasopharyngitis (inflammation of the nose and pharynx), headache, and upper respiratory tract infection.[10] In July 2016, LEO Pharma entered into a partnership agreement with AstraZeneca granting LEO Pharma exclusive licence to develop and commercialise Kyntheum in Europe. Outside of Europe, Valeant Pharmaceuticals has global commercial rights for brodalumab except in Japan and certain other Asian countries, where the rights are held by Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co., Ltd. PASI 75 is defined 75% improvement in Psoriasis Area and Severity Index score sPGA success is defined as patients who achieved a static Physician's Global Assessment 0 or 1 About psoriasis Psoriasis is a common, chronic, immune-mediated, inflammatory disease that primarily involves the skin.[4] The most frequently reported symptoms include thickening and scaling of the skin, itching and erythema (superficial reddening of the skin, usually in patches).[4] An estimated 125 million people worldwide live with psoriasis,[5] including nearly 14 million Europeans.[6] Psoriasis can be a painful, disabling and stigmatising condition with substantial social and psychological impact on a person's life.[17] People with psoriasis, especially those with more severe symptoms, are also at increased risk of developing other serious associated conditions,[23] including heart disease[24],[25],[26] and metabolic diseases (a combination of diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity).[27] Mental health complications, such as depression and anxiety, are also more common in people with psoriasis.[28] According to the World Health Organization, the burden of living with psoriasis is underestimated and it urges for action to fight stigma and improve treatment.[4] About LEO Pharma LEO Pharma helps people achieve healthy skin. By offering care solutions to patients in more than 100 countries globally, LEO Pharma supports people in managing their skin conditions. LEO Pharma offers a comprehensive range of integrated care solutions for control and relief of psoriasis. By expanding its portfolio into biologics, through the approval of Kyntheum, the company is set to become the world's leading dermatology company. Founded in 1908 and owned by the LEO Foundation, the healthcare company has devoted decades of research and development to delivering products and solutions to people with skin conditions. LEO Pharma is headquartered in Denmark and employs around 5,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.leo-pharma.com Subscribe to our YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/leopharmaglobal Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/leohealthyskin Visit us at LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/leo-pharma Global media contacts Henrik Heskjr Kyndlev Global Communications Manager Email: [email protected] Mobile: +45-3140-6180 References 1. European Commission, Community register of medicinal products for human use, Kyntheum (brodalumab). Available from: http://ec.europa.eu/health/documents/community-register/html/h1155.htm (Accessed July 2017) 2. Campa M, et al. Dermatol Ther. 2016;6:1-12 3. Coimbra S, et al. Core Evidence. 2014;9:89-97 4. World Health Organization (WHO). Global Report on Psoriasis. Available from: http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/204417/1/9789241565189_eng.pdf (Accessed July 2017) 5. The International Federation of Psoriasis Associations. Available at: https://ifpa-pso.com/ (Accessed July 2017) 6. Ortonne J, et al. Eur J Dermatol. 2004;14:41-45 7. Beringer A, et al. Trends Mol Med. 2016; 22: 230-41 8. Russell CB, et al. J Immunol. 2014; 192: 3828-36 9. Lebwohl M, et al. N Engl J Med 2015;373:1318-28 10. Papp K, et al. Br J Dermatol. 2016;175:273-286 11. European Medicines Agency. EPAR summary for the public: Cosentyx. 2015. Available from: http://www.ema.europa.eu/docs/en_GB/document_library/EPAR_-Summary_for_the_public/human/003729/WC500183132.pdf (Accessed July 2017) 12. Taltz. Summary of Product Characteristics 2016. Available from: http://www.ema.europa.eu/docs/en_GB/document_library/EPAR_-Product_Information/human/003943/WC500205804.pdf (Accessed July 2017) 13. Stelara. Summary of Product Characteristics 2009. Available from: https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/medicine/32569 (Accessed July 2017) 14. Enbrel. Summary of Product Characteristics 2000. Available from: http://www.ema.europa.eu/docs/en_GB/document_library/EPAR_-_Product_Information/human/000262/WC500027361.pdf (Accessed July 2017) 15. Humira. Summary of Product Charateristics 2003. Available from: https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/medicine/31860 (Accessed July 2017) 16. Remicade. Summary of Product Characteristics 1999. Available from:http://www.ema.europa.eu/docs/en_GB/document_library/EPAR_-Product_Information/human/000240/WC500050888.pdf (Accessed July 2017) 17. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Psoriasis: assessment and management guidelines. Available at: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg153/chapter/1-Guidance#systemic-therapy (Accessed July 2017) 18. Attia A, et al. Clin Drug Investig. 2017; DOI: 10.1007/s40261-017-0500-9 19. Lebwohl, M. et al. The American Academy of Dermatology annual meeting 2017. Poster 4908 20. Papp K, et al. N Engl J Med. 2012;336:1181-9 21. Supplement to: Lebwohl M, et al. N Engl J Med. 2015;373:1318-28 22. Gordon KB, et al. Br J Dermatol. 2014;170:705-15 23. Reich K. Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2012; 26(2):3-11 24. Gelfand JM, et al. JAMA. 2016;296:1735-41 25. Ahlehoff O, et al. Eur Heart J. 2012;33:2054-64 26. Lowes MA, et al. Immunology of psoriasis. Ann Rev Immunol. 2014;32:227-35 27. Langan SM, et al. J Invest Dermatol. 2012 Mar; 132(3 0 1): 556-562 28. Dalgard F, et al. JID. 2015;135(4), 984-991 SOURCE LEO Pharma A/S PORTLAND, Ore., July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Lightscale Labs announced today the immediate availability of pesticide testing services for cannabis, joining a short list of accredited laboratories in Oregon offering the full suite of compliance testing required for recreational and medical cannabis products. "Pesticide testing is a critical component of making cannabis safer for Oregonians," said Justin Ouellette, CEO of Lightscale Labs. "Cannabis producers and consumers alike have spoken loudly in favor of rigorous safety standards, but achieving those standards is a complex process and it's meant that lab testing has generally fallen behind the incredible pace of the industry as a whole. We're now starting to catch up." Oregon is unique among states that have legalized cannabis for its focus on health and safety. To receive a license to test cannabis, a laboratory must be accredited by the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) and undergo the same scrutiny as environmental labs that traditionally offer food, water, and soil testing. The accreditation process can be lengthy, creating a bottleneck for cannabis production in the state. With its new pesticide testing services, Lightscale Labs has significantly improved that bottleneck. Recently, the OHA considered relaxing certain testing standards. "It's important to find the right balance," said Ouellette. "We all want to see the cannabis industry grow healthy and strong, and that means keeping lab testing requirements realistic. We hope Oregon will continue to serve as a model for the rest of the country, prioritizing public safety and evaluating the rules as the industry evolves and our scientific understanding improves." SOURCE Lightscale Labs Related Links http://lightscale.com LONDON, July 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Lingerie Market: Overview Lingerie market has occupied a significant position in the apparel industry in recent years as it not only serves its functional benefits but also is considered as an basic necessity to every woman. The global lingerie market has been bifurcated on the basis of product types into bras, knickers and panties, lounge wear, shape wear and others which includes baby doll, corsets, chemises and chemisoles among others. Bra as an essential necessity and also a fashion accessory to every women and it has captured the largest market share in 2015. Knickers and panties also occupied a significant position in the same year, thus contributing significantly to the overall market size of the lingerie industry. The market is further segmented on the basis of distribution channel into online stores and storefront. Online stores captured the largest market in 2015 due to high penetration of internet services and rapid advancements in the field of technology, thus creating a strong platform for the manufacturers of lingerie Further, the e-commerce giants are engaged in strong promotional activities due to which they provide with continuous discount options and various other offers which attract both consumers and manufacturers to avail this platform. Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4760062/ Global Lingerie Market: Drivers and Trends Females in the developing countries are experiencing latest trends towards carrying themselves in public. They are changing their outlook towards accepting innerwear as a casual affair and take time to choose and make a purchase. The outerwear of women has undergone a dramatic change and due to this women prefer selecting inner wear, especially bras that can match with their attire. They try to purchase lingerie depending on the occasion or event, such as there are special sport wear bras for gymnasium purpose. It can be demonstrated from the product differentiation brought by the lingerie manufacturers over online and retail stores. Thus this is a key factor complementing the growth of the global lingerie market. Lingerie has witnessed a rapid acceptance in the fashion industry. Women from all backgrounds want to try out the latest trends in the inner wear segment. Most of the large brands have exclusive stores in shopping malls or independent stores. In developing countries like India and China, brands like Jockey try to reach out to customers through small roadside innerwear shops. Additionally, lingerie is available at stores as well as online. Brands like Victoria Secret have country specific websites for easier transactions and shipment. Global Lingerie Market: Restraints However, the lingerie wear maintains high cost for advertisement and other marketing promotions. This is due to the cost of celebrities or models that are hired for being featured in the photo shoots. Moreover, the destination or location cost of the photo shoot depends and therefore larger brands do not compromise in keeping high cost for their lingerie wear. Therefore, this factor is majorly hindering the growth of the market and the impact of the same is likely to reduce by the end of the forecast period. Global Lingerie Market: Opportunities Moreover, the global lingerie market is experiencing moderate growth in the apparel segment as nowadays individuals are more inclined towards branded items, most of which are usually priced on the higher end. People from all backgrounds and income group want to avail a comfortable and lasting inner wear that can be fashionable as well as skin-friendly. There are many local brands or companies that manufacture cheap quality products to cater to the wide population in the under developed or developing countries. Mergers and acquisitions are a strategic way of entering the market and understanding the current needs and preferences of the population. Through this, the large companies will benefit in capturing the market and at the same time, will enable the small companies to fight for a better position in the market. Global Lingerie Market: Regional Outlook Moreover, in this report the study provides different countries included in different regions such as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East and Africa. North America includes U.S. and Rest of North America. Europe includes U.K., Germany, France, Russia, Italy and Rest of Europe. Asia Pacific includes countries such as India, China, Japan and Rest of Asia Pacific. In addition, Middle East and Africa includes country such as UAE, South Africa and Rest of Middle East and Africa. Latin America comprise of countries such as Brazil and Rest of Latin America Asia Pacific is anticipated to witness the fastest growth during the forecast period. Transition in the lifestyle of the consumers which is backed by rapid urbanization and increasing purchasing power is a major factor behind the high growth of this market in Asia Pacific. Further, consumer exposure to the same by way of advertisements through televisions, and print media among others is another key factor responsible for the growth of the Lingerie Market in this region. Key Players Mentioned in this Report: Some of the major key players operating in the global lingerie market are, Jockey International Inc. (Kenosha, Wisconsin, U.S.), Hanes (North Carolina U.S.), Groupe Chantelle (Cachan, France), LVMH (Boise U.S.), L Brands Inc. (Columbus, Ohio), MAS Holdings Limited (Colombo, Sri Lanka), Ann Summers (London, U.K.), Marks and Spencer (London U.K.), PV H Corporation (New York, U.S.) among others. The report analyzes the factors that are driving and restraining the growth of the lingerie market. This report will help manufacturers, distributors and suppliers to understand the present and future trends in this market and formulate strategies accordingly. The global lingerie market can be segmented as follows:- Global Lingerie Market, by Type Bra Knickers and Panties Lounge wear Shape wear Others Global Lingerie Market, by Distribution Channel Online Stores Store Front Global Lingerie Market, by Geography North America U.S. Rest of North America Europe U.K. Germany France Italy Rest of Europe Asia Pacific China Japan India Rest of Asia Pacific Latin America Brazil Rest of Latin America Middle East and Africa UAE South Africa Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4760062/ About Reportbuyer Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers http://www.reportbuyer.com For more information: Sarah Smith Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 208 816 85 48 Website: www.reportbuyer.com SOURCE ReportBuyer Related Links http://www.reportbuyer.com Under a public-private partnership, NASA recently awarded Lockheed Martin a Phase II contract for the Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) habitat study contract. As part of Phase II, the team will continue to refine the design concept developed in Phase I and work with NASA to identify key system requirements for the Deep Space Gateway . Included in this work, the team will build a full-scale habitat prototype in the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center and a next-generation deep space avionics integration lab near Johnson Space Center. "It is easy to take things for granted when you are living at home, but the recently selected astronauts will face unique challenges," said Bill Pratt, Lockheed Martin NextSTEP program manager. "Something as simple as calling your family is completely different when you are outside of low Earth orbit. While building this habitat, we have to operate in a different mindset that's more akin to long trips to Mars to ensure we keep them safe, healthy and productive." A full-scale prototype of the deep space habitat will be built by refurbishing the Donatello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM). Donatello was one of three large modules, flown in the space shuttle payload bay, that were used to transfer cargo to the International Space Station. The team will also rely heavily on mixed reality prototyping using virtual and augmented reality. Through this approach, the team can reduce cost and schedule, as well as identify and solve issues early in the design phase. "We are excited to work with NASA to repurpose a historic piece of flight hardware, originally designed for low Earth orbit exploration, to play a role in humanity's push into deep space," said Pratt. "Making use of existing capabilities will be a guiding philosophy for Lockheed Martin to minimize development time and meet NASA's affordability goals." The work will occur over 18 months and will build upon the concept study performed in Phase I. Phase II will also focus on mixed reality and rapid prototyping, and working on concept refinement and risk reduction. The new results, which will be provided to NASA, will further the understanding of the systems, standards and common interfaces needed to make living in deep space possible. The Deep Space Gateway will rely on many of Orion's advanced capabilities that can be used while astronauts are there, and utilizes capabilities common to Lockheed Martin-built planetary spacecraft like Juno and MAVEN while it's unoccupied. Employing NASA's space-proven Orion spacecraft as the Deep Space Gateway command deck early on allows for a safe and practical approach for the incremental build-up of deep space exploration capabilities. Additionally, Lockheed Martin will build a Deep Space Avionics Integration Laboratory in Houston to demonstrate command and control between the Deep Space Gateway and Orion. The lab will help reduce risk associated with critical data interfaces between Deep Space Gateway elements and provide an environment for astronauts to train for various mission scenarios. "Because the Deep Space Gateway would be uninhabited for several months at a time, it has to be rugged, reliable and have the robotic capabilities to operate autonomously. Essentially it is a robotic spacecraft that is well-suited for humans when Orion is present," said Pratt. "Lockheed Martin's experience building autonomous planetary spacecraft plays a large role in making that possible." About Lockheed Martin Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 97,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. SOURCE Lockheed Martin Related Links http://www.lockheedmartin.com RALEIGH, N.C., July 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Mako Medical Laboratories partnered with Secretary Strickland, the Department of Veteran Affairs, and the Military Family Assistance Fund (MFA) to bring 140 soldiers back home to Louisiana to visit with their families one last time before being deployed. Mako Medical Laboratories provided the funding to coordinate the travel and logistics needed for these soldiers. "Mako Medical Laboratories is committed to supporting our deployed soldiers and their families. We just wish we could bring them all home," said Chad Price, President and CEO of MAKO Medical Laboratories. The MFA Fund was originally established in 2005 to help members of the Louisiana National Guard and Reserves, and their families address financial hardships they may encounter when they are placed on active-duty status. In 2016, the fund was made available to all Louisiana Veterans and their families (when eligibility criteria are met). MFA can assist with a variety of items for those that qualify. Those items might include: food, utilities, housing assistance, medical expenses, auto repair, housing repair, etc. While the MFA fund has been expanded to serve all Louisiana Veterans, the MFA Fund remains committed to providing for our Guard and Reserve members serving in distant lands to protect our freedom and helping their families back home. Within the last year, MFA has already paid over $45,000 to bring members of LANG home from their deployments. This is an investment that is well worth it because there have been times in the past that this was the last time some of Louisiana's heroes were able to see their families before paying the ultimate sacrifice for our country. "We are honored to serve those that are serving." --Chad Price, President of Mako Medical Laboratories Mako Medical Laboratories has quickly become a regional leader in providing top-quality laboratory services to medical institutions in the region. Mako Medical Laboratories handles diagnostic testing for 12 states and is quickly becoming the fastest growing lab in the United States. Mako Medical Laboratories is a high complexity laboratory that performs diagnostic testing for hospitals, physicians, and urgent care facilities around the country. Mako Medical Laboratories is known for its state-of-the-art facilities, use of robotics, innovative cloud/app technology, and its proprietary method development. Mako Medical Laboratories also handles specialized testing typically only found at the Mayo Clinic. Mako's team is comprised of nationally renowned doctors and Ph.D.'s that have extensive experience with method development. Mako Medical Laboratories has pioneered efficient and cost effective solutions for health care professionals around the country. Mako Medical Laboratories hires U.S. Military Veterans to operate its logistics fleet and has committed life-saving instrumentation to counties in need. Mako Medical also supports missionaries overseas, partners with local community colleges, and supports over 302 charities. Related Files mako logo.png mikey1.jpg SOURCE Mako Medical Laboratories CYPRESS, Calif., July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Manhattan Beachwear, Inc., the nation's largest swimwear manufacturer, is proud to announce a new partnership with F1-Generation, GmbH to represent Manhattan Beachwear's brand portfolio in all 23 major EU Territories. Effective June 1, 2017 F1-Generation, GmbH will represent Manhattan Beachwear's 16 licensed and proprietary brands, initially launching Lauren Ralph Lauren and Polo Ralph Lauren swimwear brands at the Paris Swim Show. F1 maintains accounts in all key department stores, online retailers and better specialty stores throughout Europe. With a keen sense for new trends and popular labels F1-Generation is the perfect partner for the distribution of Manhattan Beachwear's premier proprietary and licensed brands in the European market. Kevin F. Mahoney, President and Chief Executive Officer of Manhattan Beachwear stated, "We are very pleased to have partnered with a world class European distributer in F1 Generation and look forward to the execution of one of our mutual strategic initiatives." F1 Generation is a privately held company owned by Andreas Huettenhoelscher and has been distributing in Europe for 15 years. The Cologne, Germany based company distributes more than 30 brands with a special concentration in swimwear and intimate apparel. Besides their offices in Cologne the company has subsidiaries in the UK and Spain. About Manhattan Beachwear Manhattan Beachwear, Inc. is the largest swimwear company in the US. Manhattan Beachwear, based in Cypress, CA, designs, manufactures, and markets under license for Kenneth Cole, Kenneth Cole Reaction, Lucky Brand, Lauren Ralph Lauren, Polo Ralph Lauren, Chaps, Trina Turk, Nanette Lepore, Sperry Top-Sider, and Hobie. In addition, Manhattan Beachwear also designs, manufactures, and markets proprietary brands, La Blanca, 24th & Ocean, Maxine of Hollywood, The Bikini Lab, Green Dragon, and Pink Lotus. SOURCE Manhattan Beachwear, Inc. Related Links http://www.mbwswim.com A millennial and Detroit native, Moore received his B.F.A. in illustration from the College for Creative Studies and M.F.A. in painting from the Yale School of Art. A former artist-in-residence at Knox College, his work has been exhibited at the Charles H. Wright Museum, George N'Namdi Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem State University's Diggs Gallery, Driscoll Babcock Gallery and Detroit Artists Market. DIA's exhibition is meant to tie current events, such as the Black Lives Matter movement, to historic events in order to spark discussions about unrealized hopes for and expectations of American cultural, social, political and economic policies. Moore's oil painting, titled "Queen Mother Helen Moore," depicts the matriarch archetype of the Black community. Yet, instead of depicting her as grieving, enraged or saddened, Moore depicts her as defiant, protective and strong. "When this groundbreaking artwork is seen in the DIA's upcoming exhibition it will make apparent the connection of the past to the present and help our audience understand the significance of the artists' role and contributions in the ongoing struggle for racial and social justice," said Salvador Salort-Pons, Ph. D, director at DIA. DIA's exhibition is being presented in collaboration with the Charles H. Wright Museum of African-American History, which is mounting a complementary exhibition. DIA plans to continue the discussion after the exhibition through programs featuring prominent scholars and artists. Learn more about Mario Moore at: www.mariomoorestudio.com Plan your trip to DIA exhibition at: www.dia.org SOURCE Mario Moore WELLESLEY, Mass., July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Babson College, the recognized global leader in entrepreneurship education and women's entrepreneurial leadership, has announced the appointment of Marla M. Capozzi, MBA'96 and long-time global strategy consultant at McKinsey & Company, as Chair-elect of the Babson College Board of Trustees. Babson College, the recognized global leader in entrepreneurship education and womens entrepreneurial leadership, has announced the appointment of Marla M. Capozzi, MBA96 and long-time global strategy consultant at McKinsey & Company, as Chair-elect of the Babson College Board of Trustees. Capozzi will succeed current Chair of the Board and esteemed member of the Babson College community, Joseph L. Winn MBA'74, who is stepping down as chair in October 2017 following six years of dedicated service in this role. Before being named Chair, Winn also served an additional 10 years on Babson's Board of Trustees. He is the retired Vice Chairman and CFO of American Tower Corporation (NYSE: AMT). Capozzi, a Vice Chair of Babson's Board of Trustees, member of the Board for the last seven years, and an alumna of Babson's F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business, will be the first woman to serve as Chair of Babson's Board and will take the helm this fall as the college prepares to celebrate its Centennial in 2019. In making this appointment, Babson becomes the only Massachusetts business school to have its two most senior governance roles held simultaneously by women leaders. Capozzi joins Babson College President Kerry Healey, who became the first woman to serve as Babson's president when she took office in 2013. "On behalf of the entire Babson College community, I want to thank Chairman Winn for his strong leadership and exemplary service to the college, especially his commitment and efforts as Chair to expand Babson's global presence and reach," said Healey. "Babson is the recognized world leader in entrepreneurship education and, today, Babson's people and programs are growing businesses, spurring innovation, and strengthening communities in 114 countries around the world. I look forward to working closely with Chair-elect Capozzi to expand on this global vision and ensure that, in its second century, Babson continues to make the power of entrepreneurship accessible to everyone, everywhere." Marla Capozzi, currently a leader in McKinsey Academy, McKinsey & Company's new global venture for client leadership development and capability building, has also been a founder and leader of McKinsey & Company's Global Innovation practice. A 17-year veteran of the firm, she serves clients on building new ventures, technology and industry disruption. She has published widely on her extensive research on strategy and innovation, taught strategy at Babson as an adjunct lecturer, and previously led product-development at the Lotus/IBM innovation center. She was appointed to, and served on, the Massachusetts Council for Innovation by Governor Deval Patrick and served as vice-chair of the Board of Directors for Project Bread: The Walk for Hunger, a local Boston-based hunger organization, for seven years. "As the world leader and the school that founded the discipline of teaching entrepreneurship, we will continue to pioneer the most innovative education opportunities to make entrepreneurship accessible and affordable to everyone around the world," said Capozzi. "As an alumna, I am proud to work with fellow trustees and governance members, President Healey, faculty, and staff to build on our 100-year legacy and increase Babson's impact in its second century." Babson's Centennial strategy is focused on preparing entrepreneurs of all kinds to lead in a new waycreating social and economic value simultaneously and, in doing so, transforming lives, businesses, and communities for the better. By offering a transformative experience, fostering intentional diversity, and preparing graduates to apply Babson's unique methodology, Entrepreneurial Thought & Action, in all settingsfrom professional services to startups to NGOsBabson graduates will be ready to lead and make a difference in a rapidly changing world. The Centennial strategy also calls for deepening the college's expertise and impact in three areas: strengthening family enterprises, advancing women-led entrepreneurship, and driving social impact. Each of these priorities is a historic strength for the college and offers an opportunity for Babson to make an outsized contribution to solving some of the world's most pressing problems. "Marla's global lens on strategy and innovation, coupled with her deep understanding of Babson and higher education, will position the school to build on its extraordinary success and continue to lead in its next century," said current Chair of the Babson College Board of Trustees Joseph L. Winn MBA'74. "I am incredibly proud of what we have accomplished during my time on the Board, including our continued No. 1 rankings in entrepreneurship and return-on-investment, the creation of innovative affordability offerings, and our efforts to expand Babson's reach and impact globally. I am excited about Marla's vision to extend and increase these efforts and look forward to supporting her and the college long into the future." Chair-elect Capozzi was nominated by an eight-member Trustee committee led by Ken Romanzi '82. The Committee noted her long-time dedication to Babson and the strategic approach she brings to leadership and decision-making. This fall, current Chair Joseph L. Winn will be celebrated for his many years of service and dedication to the college. Marla M. Capozzi Marla Capozzi has served as a leader of McKinsey & Company's Global Strategy and Innovation Practice, based in the Boston office. For the past 17 years at McKinsey, Capozzi has served global clients across sectors on topics ranging from strategy, innovation, disruptive technologies, corporate venture capital, building new ventures, and organizational change. She has served clients across private sectors, public and government as well as family and social enterprises. More recently, she is a leader in McKinsey Academy, the firm's new global venture for client leadership development and capability building. Capozzi has conducted extensive research on strategy and innovation and has published leading articles in Fortune/CNN, McKinsey Quarterly, MIT Sloan Management Review, Strategic Finance, and Banking Strategies. Her articles are among the most read annually in McKinsey Quarterly, including "Leadership and Innovation" and "Sparking Creativity in Senior Executives." Capozzi is a frequent lecturer at Babson College, the NYU Stern School, MIT, Emory, and London Business School. She is also a regular Mass Challenge competition judge and startup mentor. Prior to joining McKinsey, Capozzi led product development at the Lotus/IBM Innovation Centre in Cambridge where many of the first online collaboration and online learning management software products were launched in the 1990s. Capozzi earned her MBA from Babson College with honors, and previously served as a member of the Babson College Board of Trustees where she sat on the Executive Committee and chaired the Academic Affairs Committee. Capozzi also has serves on Center for Women's Leadership Advisory Board and served on the board of Babson Global, an innovation initiative that developed new global opportunities to fulfill Babson's mission to educate entrepreneurial leaders globally. In 2006, she received a Distinguished Recent Alumni Award and in the fall will be one of the recipients of the Richard J. Snyder Distinguished Service to the College Awards. Capozzi was an appointed member of Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick's Council for Innovation and served as vice-chair of the Board of Directors for Project Bread: The Walk for Hunger, a local Boston-based hunger organization, for seven years. About Babson College Babson College is the educator, convener, and thought leader for Entrepreneurship of All Kinds. The top-ranked college for entrepreneurship education, Babson is a dynamic living and learning laboratory where students, faculty, and staff work together to address the real-world problems of business and society. We prepare the entrepreneurial leaders our world needs most: those with strong functional knowledge and the skills and vision to navigate change, accommodate ambiguity, surmount complexity, and motivate teams in a common purpose to make a difference in the world, and have an impact on organizations of all sizes and types. As we have for nearly a half-century, Babson continues to advance Entrepreneurial Thought & Action as the most positive force on the planet for generating sustainable economic and social value. SOURCE Babson College Related Links http://www.babson.edu (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/792302 ) Browse 78 Market Data Tables and 58 Figures spread through 154 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Mass Notification Systems" http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/mass-notification-market-1248.html Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report Growing concerns for public safety and security, increasing awareness about MNS for business continuity, increasing implementation of Internet Protocol (IP) based notification devices, and the rising adoption of the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) trend are some of the factors driving the growth of the MNS market. Additionally, extensive demand for MNS in the energy and utilities vertical, need for end-to-end crisis communication, and growing cloud-based MNS deployments are expected to offer huge market opportunities in the next 5 years. "The in-building solutions segment is estimated to have the largest market share in 2017." The in-building solutions segment is expected to have the largest market share during the forecast period, as these solutions can be integrated with fire alarm systems and public address systems to effectively convey alert messages and notifications to people present in small areas, such as buildings, corporate offices, or restaurants. In-building mass notification systems are important because a crisis in a smaller area can cause greater damage and chaos, and also result in the loss of physical enterprise assets. Request to Get PDF Brochure @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownload.asp?id=1248 "The commercial vertical is expected to grow at the highest rate during the forecast period." The commercial vertical is projected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2017 to 2022, due to an increase in the demand for safety and security frameworks by commercial installation vendors and community centers. "North America is expected to contribute to the largest market share; Asia Pacific (APAC) is expected to grow the fastest rate during the forecast period." North America is expected to hold the largest share in the MNS market during the forecast period. Increased awareness about MNS after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and an increase in the occurrence of campus shootouts are the factors driving the growth of the MNS market in the North American region. APAC is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The growth in the APAC region is fortified by factors such as the acceptance of the mass notification technology by end-users, due to dynamic environmental conditions. Moreover, the demand for cloud-based MNS solutions in enterprises is expected to enhance the MNS product offerings in the APAC region. Inquiry before Buying @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=1248 The major vendors providing Mass Notification Systems Market are Airbus DS Communications, Inc. (California, US), BlackBerry AtHoc, Inc. (California, US), Blackboard, Inc. (Washington D.C., US), Desktop Alert, Inc. (New Jersey, US), Eaton Corporation (Dublin, Ireland), Everbridge, Inc. (Massachusetts, US), Honeywell International, Inc. (New Jersey, US), Omnilert LLC (Virginia, US), OnSolve (Florida, US), Siemens AG (Munich, Germany), Singlewire Software, LLC (Wisconsin, US), and xMatters, Inc. (California, US). Browse Related Reports Incident and Emergency Management Market by System and Solution (Web-Based Emergency Management, Mass Notification), Professional Service, Simulation, Communication Tool and Device, Vertical, and Region - Global Forecast to 2021 http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/incident-emergency-management-market-1280.html Critical Infrastructure Protection Market by Security Technology (Network, Physical, Radars, CBRNE, Vehicle Identification, Secure Communication, SCADA, Building Management), by Service, by Vertical & by Region - Global Forecast to 2021 http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/critical-infrastructure-protection-cip-market-988.html Know More About our Knowledge Store @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Knowledgestore.asp About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 5000 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve. MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "RT" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. Contact: Mr. Rohan MarketsandMarkets 701 Pike Street Suite 2175, Seattle, WA 98101, United States Tel: +1-888-600-6441 Email: [email protected] Visit Our Blog @ http://www.marketsandmarketsblog.com/market-reports/telecom-it Connect with us on LinkedIn @ http://www.linkedin.com/company/marketsandmarkets SOURCE MarketsandMarkets The court directed police to place within three days their report during hearing of Subramanian Swamy's plea for a court-monitored probe by the CBI-led SIT into the matter. By Press Trust of India: The Delhi High Court today asked the city police to file a status report with regard to the ongoing probe into the death of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor's wife Sunanda Pushkar. A bench of Justices G S Sistani and Chander Shekhar directed police to place within three days their report during hearing of Subramanian Swamy's plea for a court-monitored probe by the CBI-led SIT into the matter. advertisement The direction was issued by the bench after Delhi Police standing counsel Rahul Mehra informed the court that the status report of the investigating agency has been given to him in the court room so he wants to go through it before placing it on record. Mehra further informed the court that SIT has been constituted in the matter. ALLEGATIONS AGAINST POLICE He further said that the BJP leader's petition has raised serious allegations against the police probing the matter, so the agency be given time to place their stand. Considering the request made by Delhi Police counsel, the court fixed the matter for August 1 while directing them to supply an advance copy of the status report to Swamy, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the CBI. Swamy has alleged that "inordinate delay" has been caused in the investigation "which is a blot on the justice system". Pushkar was found dead in a suite of a five-star hotel in south Delhi here on the night of January 17, 2014. Also read: Sunanda Pushkar murder case: Son may have deleted photos from her phone Also read: After PM Modi's dog filter meme, Derek O'Brien, Shashi Tharoor don it to support humour --- ENDS --- SAN DIEGO, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Medical Marijuana, Inc. (OTC: MJNA), the first publicly traded cannabis company in the United States, today announced that it and its subsidiary HempMeds Brasil garnered extensive media coverage across Brazil about the Company's growth and the booming cannabis market across U.S. and Latin America. A July 16, 2017 article from Rio de Janeiro-based Brazilian newspaper O Globo "Negocios que dao a maior onda", or "In the cannabis market, these businesses will get you high", which was picked up by several other major news outlets across the Country, discussed the explosive growth projected for the cannabis market in the U.S. and Latin America and recent advances in legislation. The article also featured a global AFP photo of Medical Marijuana, Inc.'s products taken at the 4th Annual Cannabis World Congress and Business Expo in New York City in June 2017. "It's encouraging to see the widespread global media coverage of the medical marijuana and CBD markets; we are always pleased to be at the forefront of discussion of one of the fastest growing industries in the world," said CEO of Medical Marijuana, Inc. Dr. Stuart Titus. "A goal of our company has been to provide an alternative health-and-wellness approach to those who may fail conventional medical treatment." "Brazil, a nation willing to challenge convention and explore botanical remedies that may provide health-and-wellness benefits, has set forth progress in terms of botanical cannabinoids - and many Brazil-national families have seen the benefits. We appreciate that the recent press coverage is helping educate the people of Brazil and the world," added Dr. Titus. HempMeds Brasil is the first company to offer legal medicinal cannabis products to Brazil after receiving import approval to those suffering from specific medical conditions. Most recently in February 2017, for the filling of a prescription for the first time for the Company's hemp CBD oil product Real Scientific Hemp Oil (RSHO) to treat patients in the country suffering from Multiple Sclerosis. Additionally, doctors in Brazil can prescribe RSHO for any condition and HempMeds Brasil has worked with several cases including patients suffering from: Epilepsy Alzheimer's Psoriasis Migraine Pain Diabetes Cancer Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Parkinson's About Medical Marijuana, Inc. Our mission is to be the premier cannabis and hemp industry innovators, leveraging our team of professionals to source, evaluate and purchase value-added companies and products, while allowing them to keep their integrity and entrepreneurial spirit. We strive to create awareness within our industry, develop environmentally-friendly, economically-sustainable businesses, while increasing shareholder value. For details on Medical Marijuana, Inc.'s portfolio and investment companies, visit www.medicalmarijuanainc.com. Shareholders are also encouraged to visit the Medical Marijuana, Inc. Shop for discounted products. About HempMeds Brasil HempMeds Brasil currently has three cannabis products approved for importation into Brazil as a prescription medication for multiple conditions including; Epilepsy, Parkinson's, Chronic Pain, Psoriasis, Cancer, Alzheimer's, Diabetes, ALS, Multiple Sclerosis and Migraines. The company had the first-ever cannabis product allowed for import into Brazil and its products are currently subsidized by the Brazilian government, under their health care system, for all three medical indications listed above. HempMeds Brasil is working on additional approvals for multiple indications. FORWARD-LOOKING DISCLAIMER AND DISCLOSURES. This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements and information, as defined within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and is subject to the Safe Harbor created by those sections. This material contains statements about expected future events and/or financial results that are forward-looking in nature and subject to risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements by definition involve risks, uncertainties. The statements in this press release have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease. The Company does not sell or distribute any products that are in violation of the United States Controlled Substances Act. The Company does sell and distribute hemp-based products. CONTACT: Public Relations Contact: Andrew Hard Chief Executive Officer CMW Media P: 888-829-0070 [email protected] www.cmwmedia.com SOURCE Medical Marijuana, Inc. Related Links http://www.medicalmarijuanainc.com LONDON, July 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Medical Microbiology Testing Technologies Market: Overview This report provides forecast and analysis of the medical microbiology testing technologies market on the global and regional levels. It provides historical data of 2015 along with forecast from 2016 to 2024 in terms of revenue (US$ Mn). The report also includes macroeconomic indicators along with an outlook on medical microbiology testing technologies globally. It includes drivers and restraints of the medical microbiology testing technologies market and their impact on each region during the forecast period. The report also comprises the study of current issue and opportunities for medical microbiology testing manufacturers. Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4760060/ In order to provide users of this report with comprehensive view of the market, we have included detailed competitiveness analysis and company players. The dashboard provides detailed comparison of medical microbiology testing manufacturers on parameters such as operating margin, unique selling propositions, collective market share, and geographic concentration. The study encompasses market attractiveness analysis, by indication, type, technology type, application type, end user type and region. Global Medical Microbiology Testing Technologies Market: Segmentation The report includes usage of Medical Microbiology Testing Technologies and the revenue generated from sales of medical microbiology testing technologies in all regions and important countries in these regions. By indication, the global medical microbiology testing technologies market has been segmented into respiratory diseases, neurological diseases, infectious diseases and others. By technology, the market is segmented into Cell Culture, Microscopy and Serology. On the basis of application, the market is segmented into Diagnostic and Treatment Monitoring. On the basis of end user, the market is segmented into Hospital Labs, Pathology Labs, Research Institutes and others. Market numbers have been estimated based on average consumption and weighted average pricing of medical microbiology testing technologies and the revenue is derived through regional pricing trends and the epidemiology of specific diseases. Market size and forecast for each segment have been provided in the context of global and regional markets. The Medical Microbiology Testing Technologies market has been analyzed based on expected demand. All key end users have been considered and potential applications have been estimated on the basis of secondary sources and feedback from primary respondents. Regional demand patterns have been considered while estimating the market for various end users of Medical Microbiology Testing Technologies in different regions. Top down approach has been used to estimate the Medical Microbiology Testing Technologies market by regions. Market numbers for indication, technology, application, and end user segments have been derived using the top-down approach, which is cumulative of each region's demand. Company-level market share has been derived on the basis of revenues reported by key manufacturers. The market has been forecast based on constant currency rates. Global Medical Microbiology Testing Technologies Market: Competitive Landscape A number of primary and secondary sources were consulted during the course of the study. Secondary sources include FACTIVA, NCBI, Google Books, company websites, journals, press releases, Morningstar, Hoover's, and company annual reports and publications. The report provides detailed competitive and company profiles of key participants operating in the global market. Key players in the global Medical Microbiology Testing Technologies market include Agilent Technologies Inc., Becton, Dickinson & Company, Beckman Coulter Inc. (A Danaher Company), Biomerieux SA, Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc., Roche Holding AG, among others. The market has been segmented as below: Global Medical Microbiology Testing Technologies Market By Indication Respiratory Diseases Neurological Diseases Infectious Diseases Others Global Medical Microbiology Testing Technologies Market By Technology Cell Culture Microscopy Serology Global Medical Microbiology Testing Technologies Market By Application Diagnostic Treatment Monitoring Global Medical Microbiology Testing Technologies Market By End User Hospital Labs Pathology Labs Research Institutes Others Global Medical Microbiology Testing Technologies Market By Region North America U.S. Canada Latin America Brazil Mexico Rest of Latin America Europe Germany UK France Italy Spain Rest of Europe Asia Pacific (APAC) China India Japan Australia New Zealand Rest of Asia Pacific Middle East and Africa (MEA) Saudi Arabia UAE RSA Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4760060/ About Reportbuyer Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishershttp://www.reportbuyer.com For more information: Sarah Smith Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 208 816 85 48 Website: www.reportbuyer.com SOURCE ReportBuyer Related Links http://www.reportbuyer.com LONDON, July 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Military Personal Protective Equipment Market: Overview Military personal protective equipment has become a crucial and standard element of soldier equipment. One of the major factor driving the market is the increasing role of ground troops in different parts of the world such as Iraq, Afghanistan and India among others. The demand for military personal protective equipment is anticipated to be driven by modernization initiatives undertaken by several large defense spenders globally and various internal security threats, such as organized crime and terrorism among others. Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4760058/ Global Military Personal Protective Equipment Market: Drivers and Trends One of the major factor driving the market is the increasing role of ground troops in different parts of the world such as Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq among others. As of 2014, there were 8 active military conflicts and 10 official wars known by the United States. In addition, there were also other violent clashes relating 64 countries and 576 separatist and militias groups. In 2016, in wars between Syria and Iraq, Afghanistan, South Sudan, the Lake Chad basin and Yemen helps the military personal protective equipment market to grow at a high CAGR which in turn is expected to boost the market. Body armor (IBA), improved outer tactical vest (IOTV), advanced combat helmet (ACH), pelvic protection systems (PPS), life safety jacket, military combat eye protection (MCEP) and others sectors are the various product types of the military personal protective equipment market. Among various product types of the military personal protective equipment market body armor (BA) is the held the major market share in 2015 and expected to be the same during the forecast period of 2016 2024. Global Military Personal Protective Equipment Market: Segmentation The military personal protective equipment market has been segmented on the basis of application into army, air force, navy and others. Among various application of the military personal protective equipment market army held major market share in 2015 followed by navy and is expected to be remain the same during the forecast period of 2016 2024. Several countries are focusing on manufacturing better military personal protective equipment such as lightweight under suits, ballistic inserts, combat helmets and advanced night vision equipment that provide the benefits of enhanced protection and comfort to ground, navy and air forces. In 2015, the market is expected to be dominated by North America followed by Europe and Asia Pacific. In addition, Asia Pacific occupies more than 20% of the global market share, is driven by developing economies such as India, South Korea, Japan and China among others which are performing soldier modernization programs. Global Military Personal Protective Equipment Market: Regional Outlook By geography, the military personal protective equipment market is classified into five regions namely North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa and Latin America. In 2015, North America holds the largest market share in the military personal protective equipment followed by Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East & Africa. However, in 2024 Asia Pacific is anticipated to be the largest market for military personal protective equipment market followed by North America. China held the largest share for the military personal protective equipment market in Asia Pacific in 2015. It is also expected to experience healthy growth in the coming years. Growing research and development activities started by different research organizations acts as a driving factor of the market. In addition, growing concerns over the safety and protection of the forces is expected to propel the growth of the market. Key Players Mentioned in this Report are: Key players profiled in this report include 3M Ceradyne (United States), ArmorWorks (United States), Eagle Industries Unlimited Inc (United States), BAE Systems (United Kingdom), DSM Dyneema (United States),Armorsource (United States), Du Pont (United States), Honeywell Advanced Fibres and Composites (United States), Revision Military Inc. (United States) and GentexCorporatio Corporation (United States) among others. The segments covered in the Military Personal Protective Equipment market are as follows: Global Military Personal Protective Equipment Market: By Product Type Body Armor (IBA) Improved Outer Tactical Vest (IOTV) Advanced Combat Helmet (ACH) Pelvic Protection Systems (PPS) Life Safety Jackets Military Combat Eye Protection (MCEP) Others Global Military Personal Protective Equipment Market: By Application Army Air Force Navy Others Global Military Personal Protective Equipment Market: By Geography North America U.S. Canada Mexico Europe U.K. Germany France Italy Rest of Europe Asia Pacific India China Japan Rest of Asia Pacific Latin America Brazil Rest of Latin America Middle East and Africa Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4760058/ About Reportbuyer Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers http://www.reportbuyer.com For more information: Sarah Smith Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 208 816 85 48 Website: www.reportbuyer.com SOURCE ReportBuyer Related Links http://www.reportbuyer.com "I'll be developing new products and services we can offer to both our current corneal surgeon partners and new customers," Perry says. "The eye banking industry is maturing, and we are looking forward to ways we can contribute to advancement in our field." "Through Isaac's role, MIS will be able to expand our services beyond traditional eye banking," says Brenda Horn, Vice President of Business Development. "We can now look at products and services directed beyond the sole discipline of cornea that support our mission of restoration, preservation, and enhancement of sight through transplant, research and innovation making it possible to help a wider base of patients who suffer from different sources of sight impairment." Perry is looking forward to using his extensive background in eye banking in this new position. He began at MIS more than eight years ago as a lab technician, working his way up to supervisor and management roles. He has a BS in Biology from UNC-Chapel Hill, an MBA from Wake Forest University, and has completed his core coursework for an Masters in Public Health from UNC-Chapel Hill's Gillings School of Global Public Health. He is also planning on taking the Project Management Institute's (PMI) prestigious Project Management Professional (PMP) certification exam in the coming months. "I've always been intrigued by abstract concepts and solving problems," Perry says. "I'm excited to use a combination of my business and medical backgrounds to drive the future of MIS. Historically, we've provided a safe cornea for transplant. With a new Director of Research and Development role, we can move forward to find ways to help optimize patient and practice flow. That could reduce the number of trips required for a patient to go to various clinics. We also have the potential for new service offerings that may optimize post-operative outcomes. Additionally, our goal is to offer brand new products that are not available yet, with an emphasis being better patient care and cost savings." "We have accrued a wealth of knowledge in our more than half-century of experience at MIS," Perry adds. "We're now in a position to use that to collaborate with our doctors to improve cost, quality and access to healthcare for patients we serve in new and different ways." About Miracles In Sight Miracles In Sight (formerly the North Carolina Eye Bank), based in Winston-Salem, NC, USA is one of the largest eye banks in the world. The mission of Miracles In Sight is support the restoration, preservation, and enhancement of sight through transplant, research, education and innovation. A significant part of this mission is stewardship focused on training and educating the medical community and supporting partners and organizations around the world. FOR MORE INFORMATION: Bob Russ Director of Communications and Human Resources Miracles In Sight O: 336.765.0932, x1400 [email protected] Meg McDonald Public Relations Director The Reuben Rink Co. O: 336.397.5407 C: 704.575.7149 [email protected] SOURCE Miracles In Sight LAKEWOOD, Colo., July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- General Moly, Inc. (the "Company") (NYSE MKT and TSX: GMO), the only western exchange listed, pure-play molybdenum mineral development company, announced that the Bureau of Land Management ("BLM") has published its Notice of Intent ("NOI") to complete a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement ("Supplemental EIS") for General Moly's majority-owned Mt. Hope Project. The Supplemental EIS will address concerns raised by the December 28, 2016 Opinion of the U.S Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ("Ninth Circuit"). The NOI was published in the Federal Register on July 19, 2017. The Company has been working closely with the BLM to resolve the technical matters noted by the Ninth Circuit under the National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA"). Bruce D. Hansen, Chief Executive Officer, said, "We are pleased that the Supplemental EIS process is underway as evidenced by the publication of the NOI. We look forward to receiving the Record of Decision, and anticipate this approval in late 2017, or early 2018. This time frame could align with the continuing gradual recovery of the molybdenum market. Our internal go-ahead decision for construction will require a sustained period of higher molybdenum prices and re-instatement of water permits from the state of Nevada, followed by approval from the Board of Directors." With the publication of the NOI, the public is informed of the Supplemental EIS's proposed scope to provide updated information regarding certain air quality data and analysis used in the original EIS, and to also provide clarification regarding the existence and status of any Public Water Reserves, which may be potentially impacted by the Mt. Hope Project. The Ninth Circuit affirmed all other aspects of the original EIS. After a draft of the Supplemental EIS is completed, the BLM will publish a Notice of the Availability (NOA) of the Draft Supplemental EIS in the Federal Register for public review and comment, specific only to the narrow scope of the Supplemental EIS. Thereafter, the BLM will address substantive comments and any additional analysis will then be incorporated into the Final Supplemental EIS. Once the Final Supplemental EIS is completed the BLM will again publish an NOA in the Federal Register. Thereafter, it is anticipated that the BLM will reissue a Record of Decision authorizing the construction and operation of the Mt. Hope Project. About General Moly General Moly is a U.S.-based molybdenum mineral development, exploration and mining company listed on the NYSE MKT and the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol GMO. The Company's primary asset, an 80% interest in the Mt. Hope Project located in central Nevada, is considered one of the world's largest and highest grade molybdenum deposits. Combined with the Company's wholly-owned Liberty Project, a molybdenum and copper property also located in central Nevada, General Moly's goal is to become the largest pure play primary molybdenum producer in the world. Molybdenum is a metallic element used primarily as an alloy agent in steel manufacturing. When added to steel, molybdenum enhances steel strength, resistance to corrosion and extreme temperature performance. In the chemical and petrochemical industries, molybdenum is used in catalysts, especially for cleaner burning fuels by removing sulfur from liquid fuels, and in corrosion inhibitors, high performance lubricants and polymers. Contact: Scott Roswell (303) 928-8591 [email protected] Website: www.generalmoly.com Forward-Looking Statements Statements herein that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and are intended to be covered by the safe harbor created by such sections. Such forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected, anticipated, expected, or implied by the Company. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to metals price and production volatility, global economic conditions, currency fluctuations, increased production costs and variances in ore grade or recovery rates from those assumed in mining plans, exploration risks and results, political, operational and project development risks, including the Company's ability to obtain a re-grant of its water permits and Record of Decision, ability to maintain required federal and state permits to continue construction, and commence production, ability to raise required project financing, ability to respond to adverse governmental regulation and judicial outcomes, and ability to maintain and /or adjust estimates related to cost of production, capital, operating and exploration expenditures. For a detailed discussion of risks and other factors that may impact these forward-looking statements, please refer to the Risk Factors and other discussion contained in the Company's quarterly and annual periodic reports on Forms 10-Q and 10-K, on file with the SEC. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements. SOURCE General Moly, Inc. Related Links http://www.generalmoly.com NASHVILLE, Tenn., July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- A New York Times best-selling author, captivated by the story of a former Tennessee slave's involvement in the most successful whiskey brand in the world, has announced plans for a dozen projects to honor the man, including a museum, memorial park, book about his life and college scholarships for his descendants. Nathan "Nearest" Green was the master distiller for the whiskey operations for Dan Call in the mid-1800s in Lynchburg, Tenn., where a young Jack Daniel got his training in the business. Green's place in the whiskey tradition of Tennessee was highlighted in a 2016 story by New York Times journalist Clay Risen. Best-selling author Fawn Weaver was on an international business trip with her husband when she read and was struck by the narrative a slave whose significance in the Tennessee whiskey industry was uncovered and acknowledged. As she dug deeper, she realized the story was not about just two men, but rather an entire community of African-Americans and whites in the South living and working in harmony. "The idea that there were positive stories out there of whites' and blacks' working side by side, through and beyond the Civil War, resonated with me," Weaver said. "I liked the story of Jack Daniel, but Nearest Green's story and the community at large really stayed with me." When he was growing up, Daniel did chores for his neighbor, Call, and he took an interest in distilling. Call instructed Green to teach Daniel everything he knew, and in the 1967 official biography of Daniel, titled "Jack Daniel's Legacy," Call described Green as "the best whiskey maker that I know." "It was on the Call farm that young Jack became one of the world's most famous pupils and Uncle Nearest, the greatest teacher in the fine art of distilling Tennessee whiskey," Weaver said. Call would later hand over the still to Daniel, and Weaver has uncovered documents showing that the Daniel and Green families worked together for decades, including original paychecks from Daniel's descendants to several of Green's children and grandchildren, some of whom still work in the whiskey industry to this day. "When Fawn contacted us, we were excited to hear that someone was bringing to light all of this information about our family," said Mitchell Green. "Until now, only our family and a small community were aware of the impact our ancestor had on the Tennessee whiskey industry." What began as an idea for a book has grown into an entire foundation to honor Green. (www.NearestGreen.org) Weaver and her husband purchased the old 313-acre Call farm, where the original Jack Daniel's Distillery was located, where Green taught Daniel the craft of making fine Tennessee whiskey and was the master distiller for Jack Daniel's until at least 1881. The two-room dogtrot cabin where Green lived during the Civil War and the Greek Revival home where Call and Daniel once lived are being rebuilt by the same construction team that was used to restore Daniel's original office and other historic buildings around Lynchburg. A beautification project is near completion in the 2-acre area surrounding the original spring where the water for early bottles of Old No. 7 can still be seen pouring gallons of water out 24 hours a day. The Nearest Green Foundation was created to ensure that, once his story has been told, it will never again be forgotten. Already in the works are artifacts being placed on permanent loan to the Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.; plans for a museum in Lynchburg dedicated to the history of Tennessee whiskey; the renaming of a street to Nearest Green Way; the Nearest Green Memorial Park in Lynchburg; a book scheduled for completion this year; an improvement project at Highview Cemetery in Lynchburg, where Green is believed to have been buried; and a scholarship fund to benefit his direct descendants. The scholarship's first recipients are Matthew McGilberry and Marcus Butler, both attending college this fall. To correct the record, Weaver has written a new foreword and preface for Jack Daniel's official biography, "Jack Daniel's Legacy," which will be republished this month in honor of the 50th anniversary of its original release. Weaver worked with reporter and author Ben Green's heirs to republish the book, with proceeds going to the Nearest Green Legacy Scholarship fund. "Nearest and his wife, Harriet, could not read or write," Weaver said. "Neither could their children. Most of their grandchildren were pulled out of school as early as the sixth grade to work. With a heritage like that, we thought one of the best ways to honor Nearest Green would be to ensure each of his descendants who gets accepted into college need not worry about how it will be paid for and can just think about succeeding and then paying it forward." Weaver has interviewed more than 100 people connected to the story, including Green's 106-year-old granddaughter, who identified the African-American man in the famous picture sitting to the immediate right of Jack Daniel as her uncle. Also interviewed were descendants of Jack Daniel, dozens of local historians and other Green family members. More than 20 archivists, genealogists, conservators, archaeologists and researchers have assisted her in uncovering the story that already includes more than 2,500 hours of collective research. Although not a part of the foundation, a group Weaver helped pull together is releasing a handmade, Tennessee-crafted whiskey called Uncle Nearest 1856 this month, which will help in supporting all the various foundation efforts. "When I met with the descendants of George Green, the son most known for helping his father, Nearest, and Jack Daniel in the whiskey business," Fawn recalled, "I asked them what they thought was the best way to honor Nearest. Their response was, 'No one owes us anything. We know that. But putting his name on a bottle, letting people know what he did, would be great.'" With that request, an ultra-premium whiskey brand built on the most authentic (and verified) story to enter the spirits industry in the last century was born. About Nathan "Nearest" Green Nathan "Nearest" Green, known by those in his hometown of Lynchburg, Tennessee as Uncle Nearest, was the first African-American master distiller on record in the United States. He was also the first head stiller, now commonly referred to as master distiller, for Jack Daniel Distillery and remained in that capacity until at least 1881. Media contact: Ben Baden MP&F Public Relations 615-259-4000 [email protected] Katy Varney MP&F Public Relations 615-259-4000 [email protected] SOURCE Nearest Green Foundation Related Links http://nearestgreen.com CHAPEL HILL, N.C., July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- IntraHealth International is happy to welcome Rob Murphy as the new vice president of finance and administration and chief financial officer. In his new role as part of the executive team, Murphy will direct the financial and administrative functions of IntraHealth's network of 18 offices around the world and its diverse portfolio of projectswhich comprises over $211.5 million in new funding awarded in just the past yearas it strengthens health systems and increases access to high-quality health services around the world. Murphy brings over 25 years of experience within the public and private sectors, including international development firms, nongovernmental organizations and nonprofit organizations within the U.S. government contracting, international and commercial arenas. "These are uncertain times in global health and development," Murphy says. "IntraHealth is preparing by becoming even more nimble in today's evolving marketplace and forging powerful new partnerships. This will not only further IntraHealth's mission, but also make us a stronger organization in the long run." Murphy's broad and diverse experience includes managing financial systems, corporate structures/strategy, human resources, program oversight, contracts/legal, facilities, mergers and acquisitions, and information technology within foreign assistance environments. Before joining IntraHealth, Murphy served as chief financial officer/chief compliance officer at FHI 360. He also served in senior roles, including as chief financial officer, at Deloitte Emerging Markets Group, the United Nations Office for Project Services in Denmark, Counterpart International, Development Alternatives, Inc. and the Academy for Educational Development. SOURCE IntraHealth International Related Links http://www.intrahealth.org BOSTON, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- New York REIT, Inc. ("NYRT" or the "Company") (NYSE: NYRT), announced that it will release its second quarter 2017 results on Wednesday, August 9, 2017 after the market close. NYRT is a publicly traded real estate investment trust listed on the NYSE that owns income-producing commercial real estate, including office and retail properties, located in New York City. NYRT's shareholders recently adopted a plan of liquidation pursuant to which NYRT is liquidating and winding down and, in connection therewith, is seeking to sell its assets in an orderly fashion to maximize shareholder value. For more information, please visit our website at www.nyrt.com. Media: Investor Relations: Jonathan Keehner Wendy Silverstein, Chief Executive Officer Mahmoud Siddig New York REIT, Inc. Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher wsil[email protected] [email protected] (617) 570-4750 [email protected] (212) 355-4449 John Garilli, Chief Financial Officer New York REIT, Inc. [email protected] (617) 570-4750 SOURCE New York REIT, Inc. Related Links http://www.nyrt.com WASHINGTON, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Census Bureau is now accepting applications for approximately 125 temporary positions that will support the address canvassing operation for the 2018 End-to-End Census Test in the Bluefield-Beckley-Oak Hill, W.Va., area. Address canvassing will allow the Census Bureau the opportunity to conduct the process of building its 2020 Census address list across a wide area of physical geography, housing structures and residence types. An updated address list will help ensure an accurate and complete count for the nation in 2020. The test area includes approximately 175,000 housing units throughout Fayette, Greenbrier, McDowell, Mercer, Monroe, Pocahontas, Raleigh, Summers and Wyoming counties. Data gathered from the test area will provide insight to guide planning to ensure an accurate census in 2020. As 2020 Census operations move forward, the Census Bureau will continue to improve the use of mobile technology, administrative records, innovations from the geospatial industry, and internet self-response. Recruiting sessions are currently being held, and work assignments will start in August. The hourly rate for census workers is $13.25. For census field supervisors, the rate is $16.25/hour. For more information, please visit the 2018 End-to-End Census Test page. Also, visit the Census Bureau's Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pages for more information. For more information on Census Bureau jobs, please call the toll-free number at 1-888-480-1639. No news release associated with this report. Tip Sheet only. Daniel D. Velez/Jewel Jordan Public Information Office 301-763-3030 / [email protected] census.gov Connect with us on Social media SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau Related Links http://www.census.gov Novacap raises Canada's largest private equity fund focused on the Technology, Media and Telecom ("TMT") sector largest private equity fund focused on the Technology, Media and Telecom ("TMT") sector The Fund will invest in TMT companies with revenues of $30 million to $300 million New fundraising brings the Firm's total capital raised to over $2.6 billion since inception, with current assets under management of $2.26 billion MONTREAL, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Novacap, one of Canada's leading private equity firms, today announced it has closed its latest private equity fund, NOVACAP TMT V (the ''Fund''), at its hard cap with total commitments of $840 million. The Fund surpassed its target size by 40 per cent, driven by strong demand from new and existing investors. "We are delighted by the support we have received from our existing long-term investors and welcome several new international investors to the Fund," said Pascal Tremblay, President and Managing Partner of Novacap TMT. "The closing of the Fund comes at a period of significant activity for Novacap, both in terms of new investments and add-on acquisitions. TMT V will continue to execute Novacap's core strategy of investing in established mid-sized TMT companies in Canada and the United States." Investors in TMT V include public and corporate pension funds, insurance companies, endowments, foundations, family offices, and individual investors across Canada, the United States, Europe and Australia. The Fund will invest in a broad spectrum of technology and technology-enabled industries with a focus on software, business and financial services, internet infrastructure, e-commerce, and industry-specific technology solutions in the energy, healthcare and other vertical markets. The Firm expects to make equity investments ranging from $20 million to $100 million in order to support companies with organic growth initiatives and drive strategic acquisitions. TMT V will be led by its partners Pascal Tremblay, Stephane Tremblay, Francois Laflamme, Ted Mocarski, Etienne Veilleux and Yong Kwon, and supported by an investment team with extensive experience in the TMT sector. About Novacap Founded in 1981, Novacap is a leading Canadian private equity firm with $2.26 billion of assets under management. The Firm has raised over $2.6 billion in capital since its inception. Novacap's unique investment approach, based on deep operational expertise and an active partnership with entrepreneurs, has helped accelerate growth and create long-term value for its numerous investee companies. With an experienced management team and substantial financial resources, Novacap is well positioned to continue building world-class companies. For more information, please visit www.novacap.ca. SOURCE Novacap Management Inc. By PTI: Sydney, Jul 20 (PTI) The first settlers arrived in Australia at least 65,000 years ago, drastically altering the known history of the trek out of Africa by modern humans, a study has found. The world-first finding, which follows years of archaeological digging in an ancient camp-site beneath a sandstone rock shelter within the Jabiluka mining lease in Kakadu, Northern Territory, also found that the settlers were sophisticated tool-makers of their time. advertisement Aboriginal people have lived in Australia for a minimum of 65,000 years, a team of archaeologists has established, 18,000 years longer than had been proved previously and at least 5,000 years longer than had been speculated by the most optimistic researchers, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. The findings, which are already causing intense interest in archaeological circles across the world, have been peer reviewed by internationally recognised scientists and are published this week in the worlds most prestigious science journal, Nature. Among the trove of discoveries are the worlds oldest stone axes with polished and sharpened edges, proving that the earliest Australians were among the most sophisticated tool- makers of their time: no other culture had such axes for another 20,000 years. "The axes were perfectly preserved, tucked up against the back wall of the shelter as we dug further and further," leader of the international team of archaeologists, associate professor Chris Clarkson of the University of Queensland told Fairfax Media. "There was one on the surface, another further down that we dated at 10,000 years. Then there were quite a few further down still which were able to date at 35,000 to 40,000 years, and finally one at 65,000 years, surrounded by a whole bunch of stone flakes," Clarkson said. The team had also found the oldest known seed-grinding tools in Australia, a large buried midden of sea shells and animal bones, and evidence of finely made stone spear tips. Professor Clarkson said one of the most striking finds was the huge quantity of ground ochre, right from the oldest layers. This suggested the first humans to populate Australia were already enthusiastic artists, and had continued to be so through their continuing culture in an area known for its spectacular rock art. One major significance of the discovery is that archaeologists will have to recalibrate previous assumptions about the journey out of Africa by modern humans. Most academics believe the trek began between 80,000 and 100,000 years ago, but until now there was no solid evidence that humans had reached south-east Asia, let alone Australia, for anything beyond 50,000 years. PTI KJ AKJ KJ --- ENDS --- advertisement NEW YORK, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- NYU Langone Hospital Brooklyn, formerly NYU Lutheran Medical Center, announced a new name and a major philanthropic gift, marking a significant collaboration and unifying vision to improve the health and wellness of diverse populations across the Brooklyn community. Jackie and Mike Bezos read to children and families at NYU Langone Hospital Brooklyn The philanthropic pledge of $25 million made by the Bezos Family Foundation will support major initiatives to help mothers, children, and families in the Brooklyn community. The gift will provide long-term funds for critical new positions and initiatives based on the science of early brain development to advance mother/baby care across the institution and support families during the critical first years of a child's life. The investment will also establish a lasting partnership between the Departments of Population Health and Obstetrics and Gynecology to ensure that there is a measurable impact on family and community outcomes over generations. "This is a significant step forward for our medical center, which has made considerable changes and improvements to better help patients and communities across Brooklyn," said Bret J. Rudy, MD, executive hospital director and senior vice president, NYU Langone Hospital Brooklyn. "This generous gift from the Bezos Family Foundation represents a major milestone in our institution's history. What our talented physicians, researchers, and staff will be able to accomplish thanks to the Foundation's support will enable NYU Langone Hospital Brooklyn to provide outstanding care for the communitymaking us a destination for growing families." Helping Mothers, Children, and Families in the Brooklyn Community As a leading hospital in the Brooklyn area, NYU Langone Hospital Brooklyn is on track to deliver approximately 4,500 babies annually by 2018 and has more than 600,000 visits per year to its network of nine Family Health Centersmany of these visits for prenatal and infant health. This gift represents a milestone in a philanthropic history spanning a decade between the Foundation and NYU Langone, most notably leadership giving towards ParentCorps, an early childhood education program now being scaled throughout NYC's Pre-K programs, reaching more than 70,000 4-year-olds each year, an endowed professorship in the Department of Population Health, held by Laurie Miller Brotman, PhD, and initiatives across the institution. "When we first visited NYU Langone Hospital Brooklyn, we realized why it has been a beacon for Sunset Park and the surrounding community for more than 100 years," said Jackie Bezos, president of the Bezos Family Foundation. "Given the nearly decade-long relationship our Foundation has had with NYU Langone, and the high-quality outcomes they have achieved, the combination of academic rigor and community commitment presented an important new opportunity to support their work and provide resources to infuse the latest science on early brain development," added Mike Bezos, vice president of the Bezos Family Foundation. "This is a wonderful community and our hope is for them to experience care that is greater than they have ever had before." As part of the gift, an endowment will be established, allowing the Department of Population Health to work closely with Obstetrics and Gynecology to develop and track measures of family and community well-being, including physical health, school readiness, economic stability, and other qualities of daily life that are increasingly understood to drive gains in overall family health. Additional innovations supported by the gift include: Establishing multiyear, science-based programs to help support overall family health and child development initiatives for infants born at NYU Langone Hospital Brooklyn . Over time, families will be able to access additional resources such as parenting groups and early childhood development experts who are culturally aware of the diverse needs of the community. . Over time, families will be able to access additional resources such as parenting groups and early childhood development experts who are culturally aware of the diverse needs of the community. Providing ongoing care for families after they leave the hospital, including access to community-based programs, support from community health workers, and assistance with navigating community resources. Supporting research to identify and evaluate the most effective approaches to achieving optimal health outcomes over time, tailored to specific communities and their social and cultural norms. Enhanced training and development of staff focused on children, families, and caregivers between NYU Langone Hospital Brooklyn and other NYU Langone facilities. and other NYU Langone facilities. An endowed professorship will be established to create a focused vision for care strategies over the long-term, and provide oversight that bridges departments to help create, support, and measure the impact of new initiatives. As a result of these new efforts, NYU Langone Hospital Brooklyn will be able to help even more families in the Brooklyn area, and tailor its mother/baby initiatives to have the best outcomes, as well as monitor the results with expertise from the Department of Population Health. "This gift establishes an on-the-ground core at NYU Langone Hospital Brooklyn for NYU Langone's Department of Population Health, facilitating future large scale initiatives to positively impact community well-being," said Marc Gourevitch, MD, MPH, chair of the Department of Population Health at NYU Langone. "It is certain to have a substantial and beneficial impact for families in the Brooklyn community, while also illuminating strategies that can be scaled more broadly. We are truly thankful to the Bezos Family Foundation for their support." About NYU Langone Health NYU Langone Health is a world-class, patient-centered, integrated academic medical center, known for its excellence in clinical care, research, and education. Included in the 200+ locations throughout the New York area are five inpatient locations: Tisch Hospital, its flagship acute-care facility; Rusk Rehabilitation, ranked as one of the top 10 rehabilitation programs in the country; NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital, a dedicated inpatient orthopedic hospital with all musculoskeletal specialties ranked top 10 in the country; Hassenfeld Children's Hospital at NYU Langone, a comprehensive pediatric hospital supporting a full array of children's health services; and NYU Langone HospitalBrooklyn, a full-service teaching hospital and level 1 trauma center located in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Also part of NYU Langone Health is the Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center, a National Cancer Institutedesignated cancer center, and NYU School of Medicine, which since 1841 has trained thousands of physicians and scientists who have helped to shape the course of medical history. For more information, go to nyulangone.org, and interact with us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. About Bezos Family Foundation The Bezos Family Foundation is a private, independent foundation established by Jackie and Mike Bezos, who along with their children and spouses, serve as directors. Its vision is that all young people are prepared to achieve their full potential and make a meaningful contribution to society. The Bezos Family Foundation supports rigorous, inspired learning environments for young people, from birth through high school, to put their education into action. Through investments in research, public awareness and programs, the foundation works to elevate the field of education and improve life outcomes for all children. SOURCE NYU Langone Health Related Links http://nyulangone.org NEW YORK, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- OnDeck (NYSE:ONDK), the leader in online lending for small business, announced today that it will report financial results for the second quarter of 2017 on Monday, August 7, 2017, at approximately 7:00 a.m. ET. The company will host a conference call to discuss the results at 8:00 a.m. ET that same day. The conference call will be webcast live on the company's Investor Relations website or it can be accessed toll free by dialing (866) 393-4306 for calls within the U.S., or by dialing (734) 385-2616 for international calls. The Conference ID is 54111057. A replay of the conference call will be available via webcast on the company's Investor Relations website for 90 days following the event. About OnDeck OnDeck (NYSE: ONDK) is the leader in online small business lending. Since 2007, the company has powered Main Street's growth through advanced lending technology and a constant dedication to customer service. OnDeck's proprietary credit scoring system - the OnDeck Score - leverages advanced analytics, enabling OnDeck to make real-time lending decisions and deliver capital to small businesses in as little as 24 hours. OnDeck offers business owners a complete financing solution, including the online lending industry's widest range of term loans and lines of credit. To date, the company has deployed over $6 billion to more than 70,000 customers in 700 different industries across the United States, Canada and Australia. OnDeck has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and operates the educational small business financing website BusinessLoans.com. For more information, please visit www.ondeck.com. Investor Contact Scott Reynolds 646.668.3551 [email protected] Media Contact: Jim Larkin 646.553.2498 [email protected] OnDeck, the OnDeck logo and OnDeck Score are trademarks of On Deck Capital, Inc. SOURCE On Deck Capital, Inc. CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- OpenNebula 5.4, code-named "Medusa", is the third release of the OpenNebula 5 series. Almost every component of OpenNebula has been reviewed to target usability and functional improvements driven by the needs of its thousands of users that include industry leaders like BlackBerry, Unity, Akamai, Runtastic, Telefonica, CA Technologies, Hitachi Data Services, Santander Bank, and Fuze, and research and supercomputing centers like Harvard University, FermiLab, European Space Agency and SURFsara. As an enterprise-class product, OpenNebula offers an upgrade path to get to the most current version. OpenNebula 5.4 takes a giant leap forward in VMware support, bringing it up to speed with KVM management. New features include enhanced network and storage management, support for linked clones, disk resizing, save-as template functionality for VMware VMs, disk save-as functionality, automatic storage scheduling, storage quotas and many more. This enables the use of vCenter with functionality only available through VMware license add-ons. Medusa additionally brings a native implementation of the Raft consensus algorithm that enables the High Availability deployment of the OpenNebula front-end without relying to third party components. This new functionality of distributed system state is also used to federate multiple OpenNebula zones. There are many other improvements in 5.4 like VM-VM and VM-Host affinity/anti-affinity rules, improved VM lifecycle, flexible resource permissions, live disk resizing, improved Ceph support, enhanced disk I/O feedback, showback cost estimate in Sunstone, flexible IPv6 definition, and http proxy support for marketplace. After the successful fifth edition of OpenNebulaConf in Boston with keynote speakers from Harvard, Akamai and Telefonica, the sixth edition of the OpenNebula community event will be held in Madrid on 22-23 October 2017 with keynote speakers from Trivago, BlackBerry and Runtastic. The event will feature presentations from a wide range of OpenNebula users, representing telcos, enterprises, government, and research. OpenNebula Conferences serve as a meeting point for cloud users, developers, administrators, integrators and researchers. Check OpenNebula.org for detailed release notes and for pointers to download the code. About OpenNebula Systems OpenNebula Systems develops OpenNebula, supports its community, and provides support subscriptions, consulting, and training. OpenNebula Systems has a global presence with offices in Europe and the United States. Check OpenNebula.systems for more information. SOURCE OpenNebula Systems Related Links http://OpenNebula.org "The transfer of homes from a base to a reservation is a practical and cost-effective housing solution for rural American Indian families," Dr. John Castillo, executive director of Walking Shield, Inc. said. "A quality home slated for demolition now provides a family a safer and healthier place to live and build a promising future for children." The homes, which were transported by semi-trailers, were originally slated for demolition at the base. Riley's, LLC, the privatized partnership between the U.S. Army and Corvias Military Living, worked with Operation Walking Shield to save and donate the homes to help meet the Kickapoo Nation's housing needs. Since October 2015, there have been at least ten Kickapoo tribal members who have been on a waiting list for homes. In a community where it's common for multi-generational families to live under one roof, there is a pressing need for quality, three to four bedroom houses. There are additional 250 homes at Fort Riley planned for demolition and another 335 homes designated as excess that could eventually be donated through the Riley's, LLC partnership. Fort Riley is the first active-duty U.S. Army installation to donate houses through Operation Walking Shield, which is the housing and infrastructure branch of Walking Shield, Inc. headquartered in Lake Forest, California. With a long-standing partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense, Operation Walking Shield staff members have unique experience in working with the military to identify excess housing units and coordinate discussions between tribes and military bases. The goal is to transfer the excess homes, normally designated for demolition, to reservations with significant housing shortages. About Walking Shield, Inc. Since 1986, Walking Shield has been improving the quality of life for American Indian families by coordinating programs that provide shelter, healthcare, community development support, educational assistance and humanitarian aid. Walking Shield, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization collaborates with tribal leaders, the Department of Defense, government agencies, corporations and foundations to fulfill its mission in some of the country's most remote regions. Visit the website at www.walkingshield.org. Contact: Dr. John Castillo, 949-639-0472 SOURCE Walking Shield, Inc. Related Links http://www.walkingshield.org BALTIMORE, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Paragon Bioservices, a global leader in the manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals and vaccines, announced today the appointment of Deborah Wild to the position of Vice President, Quality and Regulatory Affairs, where she will focus on accelerating our quality agenda. "We are building a world class team and Ms. Wild's experience and leadership is spot on to support Paragon's growth initiatives in GMP vaccine and viral vector manufacturing," stated Peter Buzy, President and CEO of Paragon. "Having both quality and manufacturing experience, Deb has a strong track record of executing plans that have added the profitability for the companies she has been employed by, both as an employee and as a consultant. We are excited to have Deborah join our senior team and to be a critical part of the Company's future growth. We look forward to her contributions as we continue to grow the company." Ms. Wild is an accomplished Quality Executive/Leader with 30 years' experience. Most recently she ran a thriving consulting practice, for over 14 years, leading Quality Assurance focused initiatives for high profile clients such as Genentech, TEVA, Polynoma, Cytovance, CMC Biologics, etc. Managing her consulting on the side, Ms. Wild occupied full time roles at Polynoma as VP of Quality Systems and VP of Manufacturing and Supply Chain at Victory Pharma. Prior to launching her practice, she spent over 17 years at Genentech ending there as Director of Contract Manufacturing. Through her experience, Ms. Wild has earned a strong reputation for adding to company growth strategies by effectively transforming Quality organizations into strong business partners. Additionally, Ms. Wild was a member of our armed forces serving in the Army having been deployed to Desert Storm towards the end of her enlistment. She began as a Private First Class and left having achieved the rank of Staff Sergeant. About Paragon Bioservices, Inc. Paragon Bioservices is a private-equity backed contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) whose focus is the development and manufacturing of biopharmaceuticalsincluding the production and purification of monoclonal antibodies, recombinant proteins, viral vectors and vaccines. The company provides research services, process development and cGMP manufacturing. Paragon's cGMP facilities include microbial and mammalian suites, fill-finish and fully-segregated virus facilities. Media Contact Philip W Wills, PhD, SVP Commercial Development PH (410) 975-4050 SOURCE Paragon Bioservices, Inc. Related Links http://www.paragonbioservices.com MONROVIA, Calif., July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Parasoft, the leader in software testing solutions, is excited to announce the worldwide release of the Jtest Unit Testing Assistant (UTA) for Java. UTA is a unit testing tool that aids developers in the creation, assessment, and enhancement of unit tests, enabling teams to reduce the time and learning curve required to create and maintain effective tests. UTA guides you through the entire process of creating and analyzing unit tests, allowing you to spend less time constructing the test itself and focus on the business logic required to validate the code under test. By analyzing the code, UTA can create fully-functioning unit tests with the click of a button, while also helping you improve existing tests to ensure their quality and compliance with unit testing best practices. Recommendations and hints help you extend and customize high-coverage unit tests. UTA can also be customized to your needs and preferences and you can choose frameworks that best suit your needs and testing habits. To learn more about Unit Test Assistant, please visit the recent blog post. "We often hear from our customers that they are struggling to increase the amount of unit testing being performed because their development teams are constrained by both time and expertise needed to create meaningful unit tests," said Mark Lambert, VP of Products at Parasoft. "Parasoft Jtest's Unit Test Assistant is the next generation of unit testing technology, designed to simplify the creation and maintenance of valuable JUnit test cases." Parasoft Jtest's Unit Test Assistant enables you to: Instantly create a runnable JUnit test and seamlessly capture code coverage information during execution. Isolate the code under test from its dependencies with one-click mocking and runtime mocking hints and recommendations. Get immediate feedback on how to enhance and create stable unit tests using runtime recommendations. Quickly run through multiple test scenarios with parameterized unit tests using mutated input data stored in-code or in external sources (i.e. CSV files). Scale your testing effort with a bulk test creation for multiple classes/methods with a package or the entire project. To get UTA, request a Jtest trial to get started today. About Parasoft Parasoft provides innovative tools that automate time-consuming testing tasks and provide management with intelligent analytics necessary to focus on what matters. Parasoft's technologies reduce the time, effort, and cost of delivering secure, reliable, and compliant software, by integrating static and runtime analysis; unit, functional, and API testing; and service virtualization. Parasoft supports software organizations as they develop and deploy applications in the embedded, enterprise, and IoT markets. With developer testing tools, manager reporting/analytics, and executive dashboarding, Parasoft enables organizations to succeed in today's most strategic development initiatives agile, continuous testing, DevOps, and security. SOURCE Parasoft BREA, Calif., July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Beckman Coulter Diagnostics, a global leader in the clinical diagnostics industry will present its global initiative, "Partnering Today for a Stronger Tomorrow," at the 69th American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) Annual Scientific Meeting and Clinical Laboratory Expo (CLE) in San Diego, Calif. From July 31Aug 4, attendees can visit booth #3117 to discover the Beckman Coulter Diagnostics Differencea unique integrated partnership solution comprised of tools, insights, management systems and process improvements, created to help laboratories achieve operational and clinical excellence. "We look forward to collaborating with our colleagues and partners at AACC this year to further relationships and deepen understanding. We know that, as significant changes occur in the healthcare landscape, our clinical partners face a host of challenges that require new ways of thinking," said Arnd Kaldowski, president, Beckman Coulter Diagnostics and Group Executive Diagnostics for Danaher. "We believe that patient care begins with the clinical laboratory. Helping serve patients in the safest and most efficient manner is our job, and, in fact, it is our vision to advance healthcare for every person." At the heart of the Beckman Coulter Diagnostics Difference, are the company's comprehensive high-quality clinical diagnostics solutionsexemplified by several new products featured in the booth this year, including the: DxC 700 AU chemistry analyzer, ideal for mid- to high-volume clinical laboratories Procalcitonin chemistry assay for early detection and management of bacterial infections Access AMH assay* for women's health and fertility assessments Access 2 immunoassay analyzer, featuring new enhancements for ease-of-use and productivity DxH 500 hematology analyzer, ** designed for physician offices and other laboratories with low-volume workloads designed for physician offices and other laboratories with low-volume workloads DxM 1096 MicroScan WalkAway System,*** featuring a design update for ease-of-use DxONE portfolio of information management tools, created to ease data access and usability, and empower more confident decision making REMISOL Advance middleware solutions, bridging laboratory information systems (LIS) and instrumentation to provide real-time operational insights to improve laboratory efficiencies The launch of these new products further expands portfolio spanning multiple disciplines, further expands the clinical diagnostic solutions available to customers through Danaher Corporation's network of companies, which include Beckman Coulter, Cepheid, Leica Biosystems, Radiometer and SCIEX Diagnostics. The breadth of offerings extends from established to highly advanced diagnostic technologies for clinical and anatomic pathology laboratories and point-of-care testing. With a rich history and tradition of innovation, the diagnostic companies of Danaher remain committed to helping healthcare systems build comprehensive and efficient diagnostic services to meet the evolving demands of highly integrated and coordinated healthcare delivery models. Laboratorians and healthcare professionals can learn more about Beckman Coulter Diagnostics solutions by participating in the company-hosted educational programs and in-booth presentations listed below. Detailed information is available here. ASCLS SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM Tuesday, August 1, 1:00 to 2:00 pm Sepsis and the Hematology Laboratory In this session, the clinical and laboratory-related characteristics of sepsis are described, with special emphasis on hematologic manifestations of sepsis. Speaker: Mike Samoszuk, M.D., Beckman Coulter AACC SYMPOSIA #34121 Wednesday, August 2, 10:30 am to 12:00 pm The ASSESS Trial: A Multi-instrument Evaluation of 13 Commercial Troponin Assays, Sample Analysis in a Common Cohort of Samples Moderator: Robert Christenson, Ph.D., University of Maryland School of Medicine Speakers: Allison Chambliss, Ph.D., Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California; Paramjit Sandhu, M.D., MPH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Alan Wu, Ph.D., University of California San Francisco General Hospital Beckman Coulter In-booth Education Sessions Procalcitonin and its Role as a Biomarker for the Management of Sepsis Sherry Faye, Ph.D. Tuesday, August 1, 12:00 pm New Challenges for Microbiology Laboratories in Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing Barbara Zimmer, Ph.D. Tuesday, August 1, 1:00 pm H&H Testing: The Rule of Three Is Still Relevant Ahmed Bentahar M.D., Ph.D. Tuesday, August 1, 2:00 pm High-sensitivity Cardiac Troponin: What Does It Mean for Your Laboratory, Your Clinicians and Your Patients? Peter Kavsak Ph.D., FCACB, FACB, FCCS Tuesday, August 1, 3:00 pm DxONE Innovative Informatics Santosh Kookal Wednesday, August 2, 11:00 am Prostate Health Index (phi): A Simple Blood Test to Reduce Unnecessary Biopsies Jay White, Ph.D., MPH Wednesday, August 2, 12:00 pm Three Clinical Rules for Laboratory Survival Diane Janowlak Wednesday, August 2, 1:00 pm Automated Platelet Counting: Technical and Clinical Considerations Mike Samoszuk M.D. Wednesday, August 2, 2:00 pm Introducing DxONE Inventory Manager Sunil Daryanani Wednesday, August 2, 3:00 pm Introducing the Topaz System: A Simplified LCMS Experience Crystal Holt, M.S. Wednesday, August 2, 4:00 pm Leveraging Service and Care Through Real-time Analysis of Provider Relationships and Behavior Connor Billing Thursday, August 3, 10:00 am Posters: 9:30 am to 5:00 pm Tuesday, August 1 or Wednesday, August 2 Authors will be available at posters from 12:30 to 1:30 pm for discussion with attendees. A Prospective Observational Study of the Clinical Decision Impact on the Prostate Health Index (phi) Test in a Urology Practice Setting (A-141) A Comparison of the New Beckman Coulter DxC 700 AU Clinical Chemistry System to the UniCel DxC 800 Synchron Clinical Systems (B-440) Characteristics of the New Beckman Coulter Access hsTnI Assay (TBD) Biomarker Changes in Adult Men with Low Testosterone (low-T) (A-172) Improvement to Workflow in Reagent Dispense System Design in the New Beckman Coulter DxM MicroScan WalkAway System (B-075) Multicenter Evaluation of Imipenem MIC Results for Gram Negative Bacilli Using MicroScan Dried Gram Negative MIC Panels (A-123) Easy as 1, 2, 3? Trimester-specific TSH Reference Intervals in a Well-Characterized Population Using the Beckman Coulter (3rd IS) Immunoassay (TBD) Early Development of DxONE Insights, a Tool to Enhance Data-Driven Decision Making to Improve Laboratory Efficiency (B-028) Analyzer Maintenance Affects the Observable Sigma Metrics of Clinical Chemistry Analytes (A-234) About Beckman Coulter Beckman Coulter Diagnostics helps healthcare and laboratory professionals provide better patient care by delivering the accurate diagnostic information they need, when they need it. For more than 80 years, Beckman Coulter has been the partner of choice for healthcare organizations. Our scalable instruments, comprehensive diagnostic tests and business management services are trusted by hospitals, laboratories and other critical care settings around the world. We share in our customers' mission toward continuous improvement and quality patient care, because we believe when efficiency and clinical outcomes are improved, patients benefit, and we can move healthcare forward for every person. Beckman Coulter, the stylized logo and the Beckman Coulter product and service marks mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Beckman Coulter, Inc. in the United States and other countries. *Pending 510(k) clearance by the United States Food and Drug Administration; not yet available for in vitro diagnostic use in the United States. **Under development. The performance characteristics of this product have not been established. ***Not yet available for in vitro diagnostic use. Pending achievement of CE compliance, Canadian Licensure and other regulatory registrations. REMISOL Advance is a trademark or registered trademark of Normand-Info SAS in the United States and other countries. Used under license. Cepheid and GeneXpert are trademarks of Cepheid in the United States and other countries. SOURCE Beckman Coulter Related Links http://www.beckmancoulter.com PURCHASE, N.Y., July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE: PEP) today announced three senior leadership appointments that support the company's strategic priorities and growth agenda. "PepsiCo has consistently delivered top-tier financial performance while simultaneously making investments that position the company for sustainable long-term growth," said PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi. "Our ability to perform while we transform is a testament to our people. All across the business, from our frontline associates to our senior executives, PepsiCo is home to the very best talent in the industry. We have built a strong bench of senior executives, and these leadership appointments will further enhance our efforts to create shareholder value and propel our company forward." The following moves are effective September 1, 2017: Ramon Laguarta , currently CEO, Europe Sub-Saharan Africa (ESSA), will become president, PepsiCo. In his new role, Laguarta will shape PepsiCo's corporate strategy, work closely with business units to deliver top line growth, drive productivity to enable this growth, and invest in new areas of disruptive innovation, all in support of the company's previously announced Performance with Purpose 2025 agenda. Specifically, he will oversee PepsiCo's Global Category Groups; its Global Operations, Corporate Strategy, and Public Policy & Government Affairs functions; and the PepsiCo Foundation. Operationally, he will work closely with Mehmood Khan , Vice Chairman and Chief Scientific Officer, to drive category innovation and progress against PepsiCo's sustainability goals. Laguarta brings more than 20 years of PepsiCo experience to his new role. In his most recent position, he led the transformation of the company's European product portfolio and significantly strengthened PepsiCo's position in key growth markets. Prior to becoming ESSA CEO, he served as PepsiCo Europe's president of developing and emerging markets. Previous roles include president, PepsiCo Eastern Europe Region; commercial vice president for PepsiCo Europe; general manager for Iberia Snacks and Juices; and general manager for Greece Snacks. Laguarta will continue to report to Nooyi. Laxman Narasimhan , currently CEO, Latin America (LATAM), will become CEO, LATAM and ESSA. In this new role, Narasimhan will oversee the company's food and beverage businesses across both geographies, with a focus on unlocking new growth opportunities for the two organizations, sharing commercial strategies and other best practices, and investing in talent development. Narasimhan joined PepsiCo in 2012 from McKinsey & Company, where he served almost 20 years in a variety of positions, including as a senior partner, and co-leader of the Global Consumer and Shopper Insights Practice, as well as overseeing the firm's research on emerging market consumers. He has held several senior leadership positions with increasing responsibility over the past five years. As LATAM CEO, he has successfully led the business through sector-wide volatility, strengthened relationships with franchise bottlers, and forged new collaborations with governments and NGOs in pursuit of the company's sustainability agenda. Prior to being named LATAM CEO in 2015, he served as CEO, Latin America Foods, responsible for the company's foods businesses in Mexico, Brazil, Central America, South America and the Caribbean. He also served as senior vice president and chief financial officer, PepsiCo Americas Foods. Narasimhan will continue to report to Nooyi. Silviu Popovici , currently president, Russia , Ukraine and CIS, has been named president, ESSA. Popovici has been an integral part of PepsiCo's success in Russia and Eastern Europe during the past several years, leading his businesses through volatility while capitalizing on new growth opportunities and building capabilities for the future. Previously, he spent three years as president, PepsiCo Russia. Earlier in his career, he held senior leadership roles at Wimm-Bill-Dann, running both its beverage and dairy businesses. Prior to joining PepsiCo, Popovici held several general management positions with the Coca-Cola system in Eastern Europe. In his new role, Popovici will report to Narasimhan. "Ramon, Laxman and Silviu are highly respected executives with long track records of delivering strong results throughout their careers," Nooyi said. "These moves continue our longstanding practice of elevating great leaders within PepsiCo and allowing them to apply their capabilities in new ways that support our strategies for growth. We have an incredibly strong executive team in place, and I have no doubt that our next generation of talent will lift our company to even greater heights in the years ahead." The above changes will have no impact on PepsiCo's external financial reporting structure. The company will continue to report segments as Frito Lay North America, LATAM, Quaker Foods North America, North America Beverages, ESSA, and Asia Middle East and North Africa, consistent with current practice. About PepsiCo PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. PepsiCo generated approximately $63 billion in net revenue in 2016, driven by a complementary food and beverage portfolio that includes Frito-Lay, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Quaker and Tropicana. PepsiCo's product portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages, including 22 brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales. At the heart of PepsiCo is Performance with Purpose our fundamental belief that the success of our company is inextricably linked to the sustainability of the world around us. We believe that continuously improving the products we sell, operating responsibly to protect our planet and empowering people around the world is what enables PepsiCo to run a successful global company that creates long-term value for society and our shareholders. For more information, visit www.pepsico.com. Cautionary Statement Statements in this communication that are "forward-looking statements" are based on currently available information, operating plans and projections about future events and trends. Terminology such as "aim," "anticipate," "believe," "drive," "estimate," "expect," "expressed confidence," "forecast," "future," "goal," "guidance," "intend," "may," "objective," "outlook," "plan," "position," "potential," "project," "seek," "should," "strategy," "target," "will" or similar statements or variations of such terms are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such terms. Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted in such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: changes in demand for PepsiCo's products, as a result of changes in consumer preferences or otherwise; changes in, or failure to comply with, applicable laws and regulations; imposition or proposed imposition of new or increased taxes aimed at PepsiCo's products; imposition of labeling or warning requirements on PepsiCo's products; changes in laws related to packaging and disposal of PepsiCo's products; PepsiCo's ability to compete effectively; political conditions, civil unrest or other developments and risks in the markets where PepsiCo's products are made, manufactured, distributed or sold; PepsiCo's ability to grow its business in developing and emerging markets; unfavorable economic conditions in the countries in which PepsiCo operates; the ability to protect information systems against, or effectively respond to, a cybersecurity incident or other disruption; increased costs, disruption of supply or shortages of raw materials and other supplies; business disruptions; product contamination or tampering or issues or concerns with respect to product quality, safety and integrity; damage to PepsiCo's reputation or brand image; failure to successfully complete or integrate acquisitions and joint ventures into PepsiCo's existing operations or to complete or manage divestitures or refranchisings; changes in estimates and underlying assumptions regarding future performance that could result in an impairment charge; increase in income tax rates, changes in income tax laws or disagreements with tax authorities; failure to realize anticipated benefits from PepsiCo's productivity initiatives or global operating model; PepsiCo's ability to recruit, hire or retain key employees or a highly skilled and diverse workforce; loss of any key customer or changes to the retail landscape; any downgrade or potential downgrade of PepsiCo's credit ratings; PepsiCo's ability to implement shared services or utilize information technology systems and networks effectively; fluctuations or other changes in exchange rates; climate change or water scarcity, or legal, regulatory or market measures to address climate change or water scarcity; failure to successfully negotiate collective bargaining agreements, or strikes or work stoppages; infringement of intellectual property rights; potential liabilities and costs from litigation or legal proceedings; and other factors that may adversely affect the price of PepsiCo's publicly traded securities and financial performance. For additional information on these and other factors that could cause PepsiCo's actual results to materially differ from those set forth herein, please see PepsiCo's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent annual report on Form 10-K and subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. PepsiCo undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. SOURCE PepsiCo, Inc. Related Links http://www.pepsico.com Mark Lange, Senior Vice President, P&C Programs of Arch Insurance said, "We are very excited to team up with a dedicated organization that sits at the forefront of innovation within the industry. We are confident that our collaborative efforts will build a long lasting and successful relationship between Arch Insurance Group and Plug and Play." Over the past year, the Plug and Play Insurtech team has grown to over 50 participants with a global presence in three continents. Plug and Play Insurtech Batch 2 recently presented at Plug and Play's Summer Summit to an audience of over a thousand people. Plug and Play Insurtech's startup innovation platform introduced some of the hottest startups in the insurtech space to the rest of its ecosystem of thousands of corporate partners, investment firms, and universities. "Increased engagement from carriers and traditional corporations in the industry has encouraged entrepreneurs and investors to enter the Insurtech space. This trend can only improve processes, distribution, risk management, and increase efficiency for many of our corporate participants. We are moving in the right direction, however, for us to reach our goal of building the 'ultimate startup ecosystem', we still have a long way to go. We believe by providing value to the Insurtech space, we will reap the benefits in return as an investor." said Ali Safavi, Director of Plug and Play Insurtech. This second batch was hand selected by the majority of corporate partners who have been with the program for over the past six months and widely varies from the previous batch, in both digital solutions and innovation. From their first batch, approximately 30% of the startups that participated in the program are engaged in proof of concept (POC) pilots with corporations, and from the second batch, 69% of their startups are in talks around POCs. Plug and Play Insurtech released their year in review, giving a glimpse into the performance of their first two batches. View the infographic here: http://bit.ly/insurtechinfo Earlier this week Plug and Play Insurtech kicked off Batch 3 with its top 150 list including focus areas such as Data Analytics, Chatbots, Cybersecurity and Wearables. The list includes applicants from Asia, Europe and Africa. Plug and Play Insurtech's Selection Day for Batch 3 will be located at Plug and Play's headquarters on August 30-31st. Startup applications for this next batch close July 24th. For inquires or to apply, please visit: www.plugandplaytechcenter.com/startup-application/ About Plug and Play Insurtech Established in 2016, Plug and Play Insurtech is one of Plug and Play's largest industry-specific programs. This 12-week business development program is headquartered in Silicon Valley. The program currently has over 50 corporate participants including Farmers Insurance, Munich Re, Nationwide, SOMPO Digital Lab, and Travelers, and has worked with hundreds of startups to date. Plug and Play Insurtech runs three separated tracks throughout the program: General Insurtech, Property & Casualty, and Life/Health/Group. For more information, visit http://plugandplaytechcenter.com/insurance/ About Plug and Play Plug and Play is a global innovation platform. We connect startups to corporations and invest in over 150 companies every year. Since inception in 2006, our programs have expanded worldwide to include a presence in 22 locations globally giving startups the necessary resources to succeed in Silicon Valley and beyond. With over 6,000 startups and 180 official corporate partners, we have created the ultimate startup ecosystem in many industries. We provide active investments with 200 leading Silicon Valley VCs, and host more than 365 networking events per year. Companies in our community have raised over $6 billion in funding, with successful portfolio exits including Danger, Dropbox, Lending Club, PayPal, SoundHound, and Zoosk. For more information, visit www.plugandplaytechcenter.com Contact: Hadiyah Fain 1-408-524-1662 [email protected] SOURCE Plug and Play Related Links http://www.plugandplaytechcenter.com LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo., July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- When R&D/Leverage began building tooling for the injection blow mold (IBM) market, they found a unique opportunity to make dramatic improvements to the traditional design of injection blow tools R&D/Leverage Introduces The Liberty IBM System "The reason we became so interested in improving the IBM tooling is that when we got into the IBM tooling business we recognized there were many problems inherent in the traditional design that were not conducive to cost-effective manufacturing and productivity that today's injection blow molders need to be competitive in their markets. Because of these design problems in IBM, especially for the start-up of the run, it was very labor intensive," says Jeff Chen, Director of Research & Simulation at R&D/Leverage. "Now, after much research, development and testing we have a proven IBM tool that really works." Some of the problems inherent in a conventionally-designed injection blow mold tool that the Liberty IBM System solves are: Eliminates the ill effect of thermal expansion related problems like bowing of the die-set Enables the process technicians to do "cold starts" without having to torch the nozzles Minimizes thermal expansion induced wear at the nozzle tip and gate area, which also eliminates frequent replacement of the nozzle Eliminates the need of engaging and disengaging the manifold from the injection cavity for startup and shutdown A high degree of manifold balance can be easily achieved Minimize temperature bleed over between neck insert and cavity Offers a solution for the galling and wear of traditional bottom mold retract components by utilizing a unique retract system Minimizes parting line mismatch Bruce Wardlow, Director of Product Development, states, "We've had great success with our expertise in the injection stretch blow process we took a more scientific approach to designing a preform for that process. Wardlow explains that there are several attributes in the Liberty IBM System design to help it perform optimally. One of those is the temperature spread we can achieve between the neck insert, which contains the threads for the cap, and the shoulder of the bottle. "In a Traditional tool, a process technician might think the shoulder temperature is running at a 250 degree set point and the neck is running at an 80 degree set point, for example," said Wardlow. "However there is so much temperature bleed in the shoulder, between the shoulder and neck insert, whereas in reality you're not running either one because of the temperature bleed." "Through thermal isolation in our Liberty IBM System, we can achieve appropriate process temperatures without having to excessively run the thermolator only to achieve a lesser result," Wardlow adds. "With superior isolation in those areas you can achieve appropriate temperatures easier and without as much strain on you equipment. A thermolator is expensive to operate and requires a lot of maintenance, so the Liberty IBM System reduces maintenance costs." R&D/Leverage is hosting their tri-annual Open House this September 20-22, where many new innovations will be presented and demonstrated during plant tours and presentation series. Registration and overview for the event can be found here. http://www.rdleverage.com/open-house.html About R&D/Leverage USA, headquartered in Missouri, services the food and beverage, home and personal care, and healthcare industries. It is the only company to offer both structural brand development and mold manufacturing capabilities. Structural brand development capabilities are upfront research such as retail audits that include trend and color study, ethnographic research, consumer focus groups, concept development, validation, and implementation. Mold manufacturing capabilities include full mold manufacturing for PET tooling, IBM tooling, injection molds, as well as unit tool development, testing, validation, and training. Contact: Robert Schiavone R&D/Leverage 816-872-4839 [email protected] www.rdleverage.com SOURCE R&D/Leverage Related Links http://www.rdleverage.com By PTI: By CP Balasubramanyam New Delhi, Jul 20 (PTI) The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has begun the process of relocating its regional centres to ease connectivity issues faced by students and learning centres. "IGNOU is ravamping and relocating its regional centres logically and logistically across the country to reduce connectivity issues," the varsitys Vice Chancellor C Ravindra Kumar told PTI. advertisement The varsity will be moving on from its traditional approach of having a regional centre in each state to strategically relocating its existing 56 regional centres. "Nine regional centres in northeast region would be untouched. However, centres in southern and northern parts of the country will be relocated to a strategic place," V V Reddy, IGNOUs regional services division director, said. As part of the overhaul, setting up of a new regional centre in Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh is also in the pipeline with the state government giving its nod. The varsity gets around 9 percent of its total applicants every year from the northeastern states, whereas enrolments from the entire south India including Port Blair in Andaman and Nicobar Islands is the same at 9-10 percent. "We thought rationalisation of regional centres would help more aspirants opt IGNOU," Reddy said. The varsity receives 40 percent of its enrolments from northern India and 10 to 11 percent from western region (Maharashtra). A committee, headed by professor Kapil Kumar, has been overseeing the process and the VC will be setting up another committee to analyse its feasibility. "The entire process of rationalisation will be completed in a years time," Kumar said. Presently, IGNOU has a total of 56 regional centres across the country and over 3,000 learning centres. PTI CPB ASV ZMN ASV --- ENDS --- WARREN, Mich., July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Aquamarine or dollop of cream walls? Sectional or sleeper sofa? Hardwood or carpet? The design experts at Scott Shuptrine Interiors recognize that selecting the right decorating option can be overwhelming for homeowners, and have introduced a new program to assist them. Scott Shuptrine Interiors' new customizable designer packages include complimentary design services and provide affordable advice to those who want the benefits of an interior designer's expertise. The luxury retailer has 11 interior design-related offerings, including in-home consultation, style and budget determination and spatial planning. The skilled designers at Scott Shuptrine Interiors also assist with establishing color palettes, shopping and accessory placement, providing recommendations on accessorizing rooms, choosing window treatments and selecting furniture, lighting and flooring. "Creating unique spaces that authentically reflect the style and personality of our clients is a highly personalized process," said Jeanette McNamara, vice president of the Scott Shuptrine Interiors division at Art Van Furniture. "Our designer program packages allow individuals to utilize Scott Shuptrine Interiors' vast knowledge and resources in targeted areas of their home design projects where they desire professional assistance." Designer Package 1 is $299 and includes one hour of complimentary design services plus four additional hours focused on up to four of Scott Shuptrine Interiors' design offerings. Designer Package 2 is $429, and includes one hour of complimentary design services as well as seven additional hours focused on up to six design offerings. Additional interior design hours desired with Designer Package 2 are $50 per hour. For more information, visit scottshuptrine.com. About Art Van Furniture Art Van Furniture is the Midwest's largest furniture retailer and America's largest independent furniture retailer. The company operates more than 120 stores throughout Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa, including freestanding Art Van PureSleep mattress stores, Art Van Flooring stores, and Art Van Furniture franchise locations, as well as a full-service e-commerce website. Founded in 1959, the company is headquartered in Warren, Mich. Visit artvan.com for more information. SOURCE Art Van Furniture Related Links http://www.artvan.com SUNNYVALE, Calif. and ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- RiskSense, Inc., the pioneer and market leader in pro-active cyber risk management, today announced it will showcase new innovative Attack Surface Validation techniques and its Continuous Cyber Risk Scoring capabilities at Black Hat USA 2017 from July 26 27, 2017 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas. "The damages inflicted by the recent WannaCry and No-Petya cyber-attacks illustrate the importance of fully assessing an organization's cyber risk exposure and validating its attack surface to minimize exposures to business depilating security breaches," said Dr. Srinivas Mukkamala, co-founder and CEO at RiskSense. "We will share our latest vulnerability research findings and demonstrate new product innovations at Black Hat to assist organizations in managing security risks in today's dynamic threat landscape." RiskSense is sponsoring the Black Hat USA 2017 conference and will share actionable information from customer deployments to help governments and enterprises implement a comprehensive, continuous cyber risk scoring and mitigation program that can: Automate the assessment of cyber risk exposure across an expanding attack surface, spanning the network, Web applications, databases, Internet of Things devices, and operational technologies; Pinpoint critical vulnerabilities that are likely exploitable and pose an imminent threat to enable organizations to fix what really matters; Prioritize the mitigation of risks based on business criticality and operational impact; and Generate reports on the organization's risk and security posture in near real time. RiskSense serves as a force-multiplier for increasingly scarce cyber security operations talent, while also providing cyber risk management visibility and best practices for the C-Suite. Its cyber security risk management platform enables organizations to significantly reduce risk and costs, improve response readiness, and increase risk-posture visibility. The RiskSense Platform is the first cyber risk management solution that allows organizations to quickly understand their particular cyber risk exposure across a growing attack surface, quickly orchestrate remediation, and monitor the results. RiskSense reduces detection to remediation to minutes, not months, by unifying and contextualizing internal security intelligence, external threat data, and business criticality. This intelligence-driven approach enables organizations to pro-actively discover and address security gaps that pose the most severe risks to their operations. The company also offers two managed services: RiskSense Vulnerability Discovery and RiskSense Attack Surface Validation. These are delivered via the RiskSense Platform and provide organizations with cyber security insights to supplement their existing IT resources and expertise in a cost-efficient manner. For more information about the RiskSense Platform or the company's managed RiskSense-as-a-Service offerings, please visit our booth (Innovation City #20) at Black Hat USA 2017. About RiskSense RiskSense, Inc., is the pioneer and market leader in pro-active cyber risk management. The company enables enterprises and governments to reveal cyber risk, quickly orchestrate remediation, and monitor the results. This is done by unifying and contextualizing internal security intelligence, external threat data, and business criticality across a growing attack surface. The company's Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform transforms cyber risk management into a more pro-active, collaborative, and real-time discipline. The RiskSense Platform embodies the expertise and intimate knowledge gained from real world experience in defending critical networks from the world's most dangerous cyber adversaries. By leveraging RiskSense cyber risk management solutions, organizations can significantly shorten time-to-remediation, increase operational efficiency, strengthen their security programs, heighten response readiness, reduce costs, and ultimately minimize cyber risks. For more information, please visit www.risksense.com or follow us on Twitter at @RiskSense. Media Contacts Marc Gendron Marc Gendron Public Relations +1 781.237.0341 [email protected] or [email protected] SOURCE RiskSense Related Links http://www.risksense.com HERNDON, Va., July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- SAP National Security Services, Inc. (SAP NS2), a U.S. based independent subsidiary of SAP, today announced FedRAMP authorization for its SAP NS2 Secure Node with SAP SuccessFactors HCM Suite DoD. The SAP NS2 Secure Node is purpose-built to address every dimension of SaaS delivery for the Federal Government. SAP NS2 Secure Node with SAP SuccessFactors is a cloud-based human capital management (HCM) suite. As part of the FedRAMP Connect program, SAP NS2 Secure Node is also FedRAMP In Process with the Joint Accreditation Board (JAB). FedRAMP is a government-wide program that provides a standardized approach to security assessment, authorization and continuous monitoring for cloud products and services. Using a "do once, use many times" approach, FedRAMP saves time and costs by enabling rapid procurement of information systems and services, eliminates duplicate assessment efforts and ensures consistent application of information security standards across all government organizations. https://www.fedramp.gov/fedramp-connect-the-latest-vendors-prioritized-by-the-jab/ "The FedRAMP authorization allows us to deliver the market leading HCM SaaS solution to the Department of Defense," said Carmen Krueger, General Manager of the Cloud at SAP NS2. "People remain our most critical asset and our solution helps agencies train, reward and retain the right talent." Gain insights and get results from the SAP SuccessFactors HCM Suite a complete set of tightly integrated talent acquisition, learning management and talent management solutions, robust workforce analytics and planning, plus a next-generation core HR solution. "Today's digital economy brings dramatic change to the workforce and work itself," said Brian Roach, managing director of Regulated Industries at SAP North America. "All organizations are experiencing it, including those in government. SAP SuccessFactors is focused on enabling HR leaders to respond to change, become more strategic, and engage and empower their people to succeed. We're very pleased with the FedRAMP authorization as it broadens our reach to help HR leaders drive digital transformation in their organizations." About SAP NS2 At SAP NS2, we are driven to defend. We provide innovative computing, analytics, and cloud solutions that accelerate the pace of data fusion, analysis and action. Our solutions help leaders better manage the business of the mission from the back office to the battlefield, delivering a critical offset over the adversary. As an independent subsidiary of SAP, we're backed by game changing technology, staffed by 100% U.S. citizens on U.S. soil, dedicated to meeting the unique mission requirements of U.S. national security organizations. Learn more at www. SAPNS2.com. About SAP As market leader in enterprise application software, SAP (NYSE: SAP) helps companies of all sizes and industries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, desktop to mobile device SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. SAP applications and services enable more than 350,000 business and public sector customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably. For more information, visit www.sap.com. SOURCE SAP National Security Services, Inc. Related Links http://www.sapns2.com JACKSONVILLE, Fla., July 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Real estate agents and brokers in Greater Phoenix and across Arizona interested in gaining market share by attracting more online consumers now have another option to reach this fast growing marketplace. The service is called Search Alliancesm, a first-of-its-kind national marketing platform being offered by real estate technology company, HomeASAP. The real estate industry is in a fight for its future. If portals win the tug-of-war over consumers, agents are on a fast path to becoming devalued, and in the worst-case scenario, disintermediated. Search Alliance helps agents and brokers level the playing field against their much larger competitors by leveraging the power of co-opetition, a business model that aligns competitors for a common good or benefit. Search Alliance enables agents and brokers to own websites that are natively connected to each other, forming a cooperative home search network for consumers that rivals the national portals such as Zillow and others. Taking a page from social media's formula for creating value around the extended network, Search Alliance participants collectively deliver through their networked sites, a search experience on par with any national portal, and for a fraction of the price. During the beta period, over 20,000 agents across 175+ MLSs have joined or expressed an interest in joining Search Alliance. The company is now expanding in key regional markets including Arizona, Greater Chicago and Massachusetts. Prior to Search Alliance, HomeASAP is best known for pioneering innovative marketing and lead generation applications on Facebook, used by over 500K agents nationwide. "We have always been aligned with the industry, particularly agents and brokers," says Mark Bloomfield, founder and CEO of HomeASAP. "We wanted to create a solution that could help them regain their position on the web and at the same time meet the most advanced search expectations of consumers. Transforming the traditional 'siloed website' to one that is networked was key to our vision." Leveling the Playing Field Search Alliance is a network, not a portal, and is markedly different than traditional stand-alone websites where costly and repeated marketing is required to generate meaningful consumer traffic. Third party portals have gained mass market appeal, consumer confidence and have become the defacto destination for search traffic. Search Alliance helps agents and brokers level this playing field against their much larger competitors by leveraging the power of co-opetition, a business model that aligns competitors for a common good or benefit. Sharing the Wealth Agents and brokers participating in the network are credited for traffic that originates on their site and is later routed to another site in a non-competing area, should the consumer broaden their search. This builds incremental high quality traffic inside the network while rewarding participants with reduced costs and increased traffic priority. In effect, Search Alliance pays participants for delivering network traffic that is not likely to be of value to themselves but has high value to another participant in another market. "The multiplier effect of hundreds of thousands of agents working cooperatively to create their own network of high quality consumer traffic is a game changer for the industry," said Bloomfield. "The future of the web for real estate sales professionals is about being networked to each other and connected to a pipeline of market ready consumers," he said. Name Your Own Everything In addition to agent-generated traffic, participants receive traffic from Search Alliance's consumer marketing campaigns managed by HomeASAP. Using a name-your-own-price bidding system similar to Priceline, agents stipulate their own bid price, budget and service area for network traffic, and are charged only when delivered. Search Alliance is free to join. A minimum monthly spend on network traffic is required to participate. A Fight for the Future "The industry is in a fight for its future," said Bloomfield. "If portals win the tug-of-war over consumers, agents are on a fast path to becoming devalued, and in the worst-case scenario, disintermediated. On the other hand, if agents stepped up their investments to compete independently with better websites, technology and marketing, this will be costly, time consuming and still fall short of what portals can deliver. Search Alliance is the only solution for agents and brokers to compete with the portals and accrue the benefits for themselves." Join Search Alliancesm: https://joinsearchalliance.com/arizona/ HomeASAP is the leading provider of online marketing solutions for RE professionals, offering a broad portfolio of integrated applications and services to help connect homebuyers and sellers with agents and brokers. Visit https://homeasap.com/. Zillow is a trademark of Zillow, Inc. Media Contact: Tim Hamby Director of Corporate Communications Phone: (904) 508-0154 Email: [email protected] Facebook: www.facebook.com/homeasap.LLC Twitter @homeasap : www.twitter.com/homeasap Instagram: www.instagram.com/homeasap SOURCE HomeASAP Related Links http://homeasap.com SAN FRANCISCO, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Digital-economy training company Simplilearn, announced today that it has been named one of the top learning providers by Training Industry's 2017 Online Learning Library Company List. (Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/535442/Simplilearn_Logo.jpg ) With its first annual Top 20 Online Learning Library Company List, Training Industry monitors the training marketplace looking for the best providers of services and technologies in support of corporate learning and development. Training Industry chooses companies based on specific criteria including industry visibility, innovation and impact, breadth and quality of courses and content, company size and growth potential, quality of clients and geographic reach. Simplilearn has been chosen for its diversity in course offerings and its innovative features that meet modern learning and development needs. "Simplilearn has been at the core of helping professionals and enterprises around the world acquire the skills they need to succeed in today's changing digital economy," says Krishna Kumar, Founder and CEO of Simplilearn. "We are honored to be recognized by Training Industry and their acknowledgment of us as a Top Online Learning Library Company reinforces Simplilearn as a leader that consistently develops and delivers high quality training content for corporate and individual learners." "The inaugural Top 20 Online Learning Library Companies List was developed because we recognize how important it is to provide effective and accessible training content in the corporate L&D environment, including making that content available on demand to the individual," says Doug Harward, CEO of Training Industry, Inc. "We look forward to seeing this segment of the industry continue to excel in providing organizations and learners with the content they need, when they need it and how they need it." Simplilearn develops learning content in digital technologies and owns a library of over 400 courses, spanning across big data, analytics, digital marketing, cloud computing, devops, project management and cyber security. Simplilearn delivers these courses through a high touch learning model. The courses are available through online self-learning and instructor-led live classrooms, where students can learn from global instructors and attend multiple live classes at their own convenience. Each learning program is developed and updated in partnership with industry thought leaders and is tailored to meet the learner's requirement. In addition to course materials, students gain hands-on experience with access to work on live projects and are mentored by industry experts. View more information about Training Industry's Top 20 Learning Portal Companies. About Training Industry, Inc. Training Industry spotlights the latest news, articles, case studies and best practices within the training industry and publishes annual Top 20 and Watch List reports covering many sectors of interest to the corporate training function. Our focus is on helping dedicated businesses and training professionals get the information, insight and tools needed to more effectively manage the business of learning. About Simplilearn Simplilearn's mission is to help professionals around the world acquire the skills they need to succeed in today's digital economy. The company provides online training in disciplines such as Cyber Security, Cloud Computing, Project Management, Digital Marketing, Data Science and other emerging technologies. Based in San Francisco, California and Bangalore, India, Simplilearn has helped more than 500,000 professionals and companies across 150+ countries get trained, acquire certifications and upskill their employees. Its training courses are designed and updated by renowned industry experts. Simplilearn's blended learning approach combines online classes, instructor-led live virtual classrooms, relevant, applied projects and 24/7 teaching assistance. Leading global training organizations have recognized Simplilearn as an official provider of certification training. The company has been named the 8th most influential education brand in the world by LinkedIn. For more information, visit https://www.simplilearn.com Contact Rushitha Samavedam Senior PR Manager Simplilearn +91-9538207070 [email protected] SOURCE Simplilearn NEW BRITAIN, Conn., July 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE: SWK) announced today that its Board of Directors approved a $0.05 increase of its quarterly cash dividend to $0.63 per common share. This marks the 50th consecutive annual dividend increase for the company. The dividend is payable on Tuesday, September 19, 2017 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on Friday, September 1, 2017. Stanley Black & Decker's President and CEO, James M. Loree, commented, "A strong and growing dividend continues to be a critical component of our shareholder value proposition. I am pleased to continue the trend of consecutive increases, which has now spanned five decades." Stanley Black & Decker, an S&P 500 company, is a diversified global provider of hand tools, power tools and related accessories, electronic security solutions, healthcare solutions, engineered fastening systems, and more. Learn more at www.stanleyblackanddecker.com. Stanley Black & Decker Investor Contacts Dennis Lange Vice President, Investor Relations (860) 827-3833 [email protected] Michelle Hards Director, Investor Relations (860) 827-3913 [email protected] SOURCE Stanley Black & Decker Related Links http://www.stanleyblackanddecker.com SACRAMENTO, Calif., July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- SupportPay by Ittavi, the first-ever platform to automate child support payments and enable parents to share related expenses, today announced the release of its SupportPay 4.0 app, featuring a brand new iOS and Android mobile application, the ability to send money directly between parents bank accounts, the ability to make partial payments as well as a shared calendar for parents. The new version allows busy parents on-the-go the ability to upload new transactions, access records, and make payments anywhere at anytime- whether they are on a web browser or on their phone. SupportPay offers a private, secure and fully automated payment platform to automate and standardize the child support tracking, billing and payment process. Even if a parent has their base child support managed through automatic payment or state systems, SupportPay provides the only solution to manage additional expenses such as healthcare, education and child care. A parent can easily enter an expense, attach a receipt and submit a transaction to the other parent directly through the app. The other parent can then quickly review the item, confirm instantly that the expense is for their child, then make a payment. SupportPay handles all of the calculations as well as tracking, communications and document storage - so parents have the transparency they need, without the stress or arguments. In addition, both parents have a certified record of all child support to be used for court or tax purposes. "Today's modern families are always on the move, and they need a simpler way to keep track of the shared expenses for their children. Having full access to records, transactions, and the ability to make payments whenever, wherever is crucial to avoid conflicts between separated parents," said Sheri Atwood, Founder and CEO of Ittavi. "The release of SupportPay 4.0 is another step in our mission to help parents never fight about money in front of their children again." SupportPay Premium is available today with a free 30-day trial. The iPhone and Android application are currently being offered for free, a savings of $19.99. The new features include: Registration Directly from the Mobile App: Easily setup your account directly on the mobile app. Parents can sign-up with or without the other parent's participation. Easily setup your account directly on the mobile app. Parents can sign-up with or without the other parent's participation. New Payment Options with Digital Checks: In addition to tracking cash, credit card, and bank checks, parents can now opt to send money, via an electronic check, directly between bank accounts while ensuring their financial information is not shared with the other parent. In addition to tracking cash, credit card, and bank checks, parents can now opt to send money, via an electronic check, directly between bank accounts while ensuring their financial information is not shared with the other parent. Partial Payment Options: For larger expenses, partial payments can be made, enabling parents to make a payment, even if the entire amount is not available For larger expenses, partial payments can be made, enabling parents to make a payment, even if the entire amount is not available Capture & Add Expenses from Anywhere : Easily take photos of receipts, upload, and enter expenses from anywhere at anytime. : Easily take photos of receipts, upload, and enter expenses from anywhere at anytime. Make Payments on the Go : Submitted expenses can be viewed from any device or web browser and a payment can be made or scheduled. : Submitted expenses can be viewed from any device or web browser and a payment can be made or scheduled. Add Important Dates to a Shared Calendar: Parents can monitor and share important events in one centralized calendar between parents. Parents can monitor and share important events in one centralized calendar between parents. Add Merchant Type & Categorize Expense Type: Keep organized records for every type of expense around your children including extracurricular activities, child care, medical, dental and more. Keep organized records for every type of expense around your children including extracurricular activities, child care, medical, dental and more. Track Alimony, Spousal, & Child Support - in One Place: Beyond child support, SupportPay will now allow parents to track additional expenses they share such as alimony and spousal support, in one convenient place. SupportPay Premium starts at $9.99/month (based on an annual subscription) for unlimited tracking and entries, additional payment options, dispute capabilities, customized alerts, the ability to make items private and free access to the mobile app. Register today for a free 30 day trial of premium services. For more information and to start using SupportPay, visit supportpay.com About SupportPay: Based in Sacramento, CA, SupportPay is on a mission to end family financial conflicts. SupportPay is the first-ever automated child support payment platform, poised to transform the complex, time-consuming & stressful process that impacts nearly 300 million parents exchanging more than $900 billion in child support & child expenses worldwide. Submit child expenses, store receipts, and make payments quickly and securely, with automatic reminders, approve/dispute capabilities, and a complete archive of all transactions. Parents can access family law resources as well as a child support calculator and other management tools. With SupportPay, today's modern families can spend less time managing and arguing about child support, and more time focused on raising happy, healthy children. Available online, mobile apps for iOS and Android, and tablets. Find out more about how you can streamline your child support payments at: supportpay.com. PR Contact: Andrea Recine Resound Marketing 609-279-0050 x110 [email protected] SOURCE SupportPay by Ittavi Related Links http://supportpay.com ABU DHABI, UAE, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- On November 9-12, 2017, the city of Tangier in Morocco will welcome thousands of international visitors participating at the second edition of International Festival of Ibn Battuta. Born and raised in Tangier, the city has been Ibn Battuta's point of departure and return. A strategic gateway between Europe, Africa, and the Arab world, it is every traveler's dream to see the meeting point of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean in Tangier and catch a sight of the mountains marking one of the entries to Europe. A significant marine route, the city holds one of the world's busiest ports where an inflow of tourists arrives from Western Europe to Tangier. The easy access has made the city a real melting pot that brought together writers, musicians, and artists. The influence is reflected upon the different historical places that dot the city. Being this year's host city, this is an opportunity to promote Tangier through Ibn Battuta's travels and adventures. The Moroccan Association of Ibn Battuta, the organization behind the event actively promotes Ibn Battuta as a strong support to the development of Morocco's cultural and tourism industry. Mohamed Dekkak, the association's Honorary Chairman stated, "The festival theme, 'Travelers, the Ambassadors of Peace' aims to promote universal values, mutual tolerance and open mindedness. This significant event looks to engage Moroccans and international visitors to a meaningful and colorful dialogue of shared cultural discoveries." The Association President Aziz Benami adds, "We work to continue our unconditional commitment to promoting culture, tradition, ethics and sustainability through the spirit of the legendary character of Ibn Battuta." ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF IBN BATTUTA: The International Festival of Ibn Battuta, now on its second edition, promotes awareness on the legacies of Ibn Battuta. The festival intends to be interactive carrying out social and cultural activities such as carnival parades, film shows, theater plays, musical and cultural shows, conferences, art exhibits and more. For more information visit https://ibnbattuta.ma/. The Moroccan Association of Ibn Battuta was founded in June 2015 by tourism professionals and cultural heritage advocates; It is the world's first association created and dedicated to promoting the famous Ibn Battuta. PRESS CONTACT: Sarah Garcia [email protected] This press release was issued through 24-7PressRelease.com. For further information, visit http://www.24-7pressrelease.com. SOURCE Moroccan Association of Ibn Battuta Related Links https://ibnbattuta.ma/ The first book, "Fortune Cookie," follows Candice Brighton, also known as Cookie, as she searches for real love. By the end of the book, Cookie has found the husband of her dreams, a new career, and spiritual security. The road to redemption wasn't an easy one, as she revealed deep secrets and disappointments from her past to her sister, Chelsea. And, in the second book it seems it's Chelsea's turn to clean her dirty laundry. A move that can jeopardize everything Cookie has accomplished. "My first novel has evolved into what will be a trilogy series. 'No Cream In The Middle' uncovers more deadly secrets between these two sisters, really bringing the focus to Chelsea," Harleaux explained. "The plot will definitely make you gulp your hot coffee or tea!" "No Cream In The Middle" is available now for $15 at: www.peauxeticexpressions.com/shop/no-cream-middle Carlos Harleaux Carlos Harleaux is a native of Houston, Texas, and currently resides in Dallas, Texas with his wife, Alexandria. He has a deep love for poetry, having authored Books including "Stingrays," "Honesty Box," "Hindsight 20/20" and "Blurred Vision." He has also written two novels, "Fortune Cookie" and the brand new release, "No Cream In The Middle." Additionally, since founding his own publishing company, 7th Sign Publishing, in 2013 he has enjoyed assisting other aspiring writers. Visit www.peauxeticexpressions.com. SOURCE Carlos Harleaux SAN JOSE, Calif., July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Thales, a leader in critical information systems, cybersecurity and data security, announces the results of its 2017 Thales Data Threat Report, Retail Edition, issued in conjunction with analyst firm 451 Research. According to U.S. retail respondents, 52 percent have experienced a data breach in the past. The majority (88 percent) consider themselves 'vulnerable' to data threats, with 19 percent stating they are 'very' or 'extremely' vulnerable. Click to Tweet: Over half of U.S. retailers have experienced a data breach #2017DataThreat http://bit.ly/2uwoKY9 Year-over-year breach rate improvement Encouragingly, U.S. retail data breaches in the past year dropped from 22 percent in the 2016 survey to 19 percent this year. This number is lower than any other U.S. vertical polled for the 2017 report, including healthcare (20 percent), financial services (24 percent) and the U.S. federal government (34 percent). However, U.S. retailers may be failing to learn from past mistakes; more than half (11 percent) of the 19 percent that were breached this year had also experienced a breach previously. Garrett Bekker, principal analyst for information security at 451 Research says: "First, the good news: Only 19 percent of U.S. retail respondents reported being breached last year, significantly less than the global average. However, breach results were not so rosy for global retail a staggering 43 percent of global retail respondents reported a breach in the past year alone, approaching twice the global average. These distressing breach rates serve as stark proof that data on any system can be attacked and compromised. Unfortunately, organizations keep spending on the same security solutions that worked for them in the past, but aren't necessarily the most effective at stopping modern breaches." Budget misallocation hindering security Seventy seven percent of U.S. retail organizations are increasing IT security spending, but are not concentrating spending where it will make the most difference. Eighty eight percent of respondents selected network security as 'very' or 'extremely' effective at protecting data from breaches even as network security fails to keep out attackers and is unable to protect data that is increasingly stored in the cloud. Spending patterns also indicate a focus on what has worked in the past with the planned spending increases on network (67 percent) and endpoint (63 percent) protection. Data-at-rest approaches, which have proven to be effective at protecting the data itself, came in second from last (49 percent) in terms of retailer security spending priorities. Pressures to use advanced technology increase risk According to the report, 95 percent of U.S. retail organizations will use sensitive data in an advanced technology environment (such as cloud, big data, IoT and containers) this year. However, 53 percent of respondents believe that sensitive data use is happening in these environments without proper security in place. Peter Galvin, vice president of strategy, Thales e-Security says: "It's encouraging that yearly retail data breach rates have finally started to drop, but rates are still quite high. With tremendous sets of detailed customer behavior and personal information in their custody, retailers are a prime target for hackers so should look to invest more in data-centric protection. And as retailers dive head first into new technologies, data security must be a top priority as they continue to pursue their digital transformation." Retail organizations interested in improving their overall security postures should strongly consider: deploying security tool sets that offer services-based deployments, platforms and automation; discovering and classifying the location of sensitive data within cloud, SaaS, big data, IoT and container environments; and leveraging encryption and Bring Your Own Key (BYOK) technologies for all advanced technologies. Please download a copy of the new 2017 Thales Data Threat Report, Retail Edition for more detailed security best practices. Industry insight and views on the latest key management trends can be found on the Thales e-Security blog at blog.thalesesecurity.com. Follow Thales e-Security on Twitter @Thalesesecurity, and on LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube. About Thales e-Security Thales e-Security is the leader in advanced data security solutions and services that deliver trust wherever information is created, shared or stored. We ensure that the data belonging to companies and government entities is both secure and trusted in any environment on-premise, in the cloud, in data centers or big data environments without sacrificing business agility. Security doesn't just reduce risk, it's an enabler of the digital initiatives that now permeate our daily lives digital money, e-identities, healthcare, connected cars and, with the internet of things (IoT), even household devices. Thales provides everything an organization needs to protect and manage its data, identities and intellectual property, and meet regulatory compliance through encryption, advanced key management, tokenization, privileged-user control and high-assurance solutions. Security professionals around the globe rely on Thales to confidently accelerate their organization's digital transformation. Thales e-Security is part of Thales Group. About Thales Thales is a global technology leader for the Aerospace, Transport, Defence and Security markets. With 64,000 employees in 56 countries, Thales reported sales of 14.9 billion in 2016. With over 25,000 engineers and researchers, Thales has a unique capability to design and deploy equipment, systems and services to meet the most complex security requirements. Its exceptional international footprint allows it to work closely with its customers all over the world. Positioned as a value-added systems integrator, equipment supplier and service provider, Thales is one of Europe's leading players in the security market. The Group's security teams work with government agencies, local authorities and enterprise customers to develop and deploy integrated, resilient solutions to protect citizens, sensitive data and critical infrastructure. Thales offers world-class cryptographic capabilities and is a global leader in cybersecurity solutions for defence, government, critical infrastructure providers, telecom companies, industry and the financial services sector. With a value proposition addressing the entire data security chain, Thales offers a comprehensive range of services and solutions ranging from security consulting, data protection, digital trust management and design, development, integration, certification and security maintenance of cybersecured systems, to cyberthreat management, intrusion detection and security supervision through cybersecurity Operation Centres in France, the United Kingdom, The Netherlands and Hong Kong. SOURCE Thales A bilateral meeting between special representatives on border talks of India and China has been ruled out for now. This after Beijing said it was not keen on dialogue with New Delhi until the latter withdrew troops from Doklam. By Geeta Mohan: Even as the border stand-off continues beyond a month, a bilateral meeting between special representatives on border talks of India and China has been ruled out for now. There was speculation that National Security Adviser Ajit Doval could meet State Councillor Yang Jeichi on the sidelines of BRICS NSAs meet that is being held in Beijing. India Today has learnt that China is not keen on any dialogue unless India 'withdraws troops' from Doklam. Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said on Tuesday, "We have stated many times that we hope the Indian side will get a clear understanding of the situation (and) immediately take measures to withdraw the troops that illegally crossed the border back to the Indian side of the border." advertisement India, on the other hand, has not sought any bilateral meeting from the Chinese side. Both sides are playing by the ear. If there is any indication of de-escalation and a window of opportunity opens up, the two sides might reconsider a meeting between the Special Representatives. NSA DOVAL TO ATTEND BRICS MEET NSA Doval will be in Beijing for the BRICS meet between July 27th and 28th. While the current border tensions are at the India-Bhutan-China tri-junction, India and China have an unresolved boundary question that needs to be resolved. The Special Representatives of India and China were appointed for the same and talks commenced in 2003. In April 2005, the Agreement on the Political Parameters and Guiding Principles for the Boundary Settlement was signed. But since then there hasn't been much forward movement. The focus of any engagement between the Special Representatives would be to discuss construction of road by China inside Bhutanese territory which is in direct violation of its commitment under the agreements of 1988 and 1998 to maintain the status quo on the boundary. Also read | Former Army chief on Doklam standoff: China a strategic threat, India can't back off Also read | China has buried nukes in Pakistan to attack India: ex-Defence Minister Mulayam Singh Also read | Now, China moves military equipment to Tibet. Should India be scared? WATCH VIDEO --- ENDS --- The report sorts brand relevance by age, and highlights generational (Generations X, Y and Z) difference in responses. As an entire generation of digital natives moves into adulthood, age has become paramount amongst traditional demographics. Most Relevant Brands by Industry: 1. Fashion I ADIDAS 2. Food & Beverage I YILI 3. Beauty I ESTEE LAUDER 4. Personal Care I REJOICE 5. Mobile App I WECHAT 6. Hospitality I FOUR SEASONS 7. Automobile I VOLKSWAGEN 8. Electronics & Tech I HUAWEI 9. Luxury I CHANEL "This is an interesting time for brands," says Marc-Oliver Arnold, Chief Strategy Officer at RTG Consulting Group. "Brands are expanding and targeting up-and-coming niche trend markets, capitalizing on emerging trends to quickly head that sector - brands like adidas, WeChat and Huawei are key examples of the effectiveness of this strategy. To succeed, brands need to move at the speed of modern China's cultures and subcultures." "At RTG our mission is to ensure our clients' brands remain relevant to today's consumers, so it's critical to hear from Chinese consumers what brands are most relevant to them. What I find most interesting about this year's report is this trend toward 'Easternisation' with the increasing resonance of many Chinese brands across several industries. The rising influence and relevance these brands have on Chinese consumers cannot be overlooked. This may have a significant impact on the overall brand market landscape in the near future," says Angelito Tan Jr., CEO of RTG Consulting Group. Select Highlights In the Fashion sector, global sportswear brands maintained their dominance, with adidas and Nike winning the top spot for Generations Z and Y, respectively. adidas performed especially well among brands of all categories and respondents of all generations, earning top marks in key metrics like passion, leadership and consistency. The brand has accomplished this by setting up large-scale distribution in lower tier cities while pursuing inventive marketing strategies that endear it to different subcultures, especially amongst Chinese millennials (Gen-Z). While international fashion brands enjoyed strong growth, up-and-coming local brand HLA saw a meteoric rise to number four in the overall fashion rankings, topping the rankings for most relevant fashion brand among China's Generation X. Generation X. In the Mobile App sector, WeChat continues to dominate. Remarkably, only one international mobile app, Amazon, made it in to the top 20. The biggest surprise, however, comes from the fall of Apple in the Electronics & Tech sector. After scoring most relevant in Electronics & Tech in 2016, the brand fell to the 6th spot for 2017 while local brand Huawei tops the ranking thanks to strong momentum with Chinese millennials (Generations Y and Z). (Generations Y and Z). In the Food & Beverage sector, the biggest winner is local brand YiLi, who scored very high in regards to authenticity, passion, dynamism, trustworthiness, leadership and social responsibility. YiLi is making an increasingly significant impact both domestically and overseas, which is especially impressive given the melamine scandal of 2008. They've managed to overcome this momentous setback, regain their reputation and proceed with business growth. The only sector where local brands did not experience significant growth is Luxury. Of the top 20 most relevant brands, none are local Chinese. Chanel ranked highest for China's Generations X and Y, and second for Generation Z, who ranked Dior as their favorite for Luxury. For the full report, visit http://www.rtgconsulting.com/brandrelevance/ About the 2017 RTG Brand Relevance Report The 2017 RTG Brand Relevance Report is an annual study that assesses relevance of 300 leading brands through the lens of Chinese consumers. It also sheds light on how brand relevance differs between Gen-X, Gen-Y, and Gen-Z. 5,000 consumers were surveyed for quantitative results (180 of which provided additional qualitative results) between the ages of 15-45 across 4 major metropolises (Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, and Chengdu). 45 industry experts also weighed in with their qualitative insights. The report covers 9 industries, including Hospitality, Luxury, Fashion, Beauty, Personal Care, Food & Beverage, Electronics & Tech, Mobile App, and Automobile. About RTG Consulting Group With offices in Shanghai and Beijing, RTG Consulting Group is a team of over 60 international and local Chinese brand consultants focused on the Mainland China market. As consumer and industry models constantly evolve, our mission is to ensure businesses stay relevant. For more information about the complete 2017 RTG Brand Relevance Report, please contact [email protected]. For all press inquiries, please contact [email protected]. SOURCE RTG Consulting ASTORIA, N.Y., July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Halal Guys, a fast-casual Middle Eastern and Mediterranean restaurant famous for pioneering American Halal food, has been named the number one fastest growing restaurant concept by Restaurant Business on its 2017 Future 50 list. Restaurant Business and Technomic's annual Future 50 report highlights 50 restaurant chains that are on a rapid growth path and are on the brink of breaking out on a broader scale. The Halal Guys' rapid national and international growth has placed the brand at the top of the Future 50 list this year. The Halal Guys first opened its food cart on 53rd and 6th Avenue in New York City in 1990 after noticing the huge demand for Halal food within the Muslim cab driver population. Since then, The Halal Guys has become a global brand, with more than 350 restaurants currently in development world-wide. Restaurant Business's Future 50 List evaluates restaurants' annual percent of growth in sales and store openings. Over the past year, The Halal Guys opened more than 30 units and recorded more than 700% increase in sales growth. "We are proud of the tremendous growth we've seen and honored to be recognized on this year's Restaurant Business Future 50 list," said Andrew Eck, Director of Marketing for The Halal Guys. "We strive to maintain our commitment to serving authentic Halal food while remaining true to our roots as a New York City food cart, and delivering the authentic and consistent dining experience our fans love us for." About The Halal Guys The Halal Guys grew from its humble beginnings as a food cart on the streets of New York City to a global icon known as the largest American Halal street food concept in the world. The food cart was first parked on the corner of 53rd and 6th Avenue in 1990 by three like-minded men from Egypt who came to America in search of a better life. When the founders noticed many Muslim cab drivers in New York City were looking for a place to buy Halal food in Manhattan, they created their first food cart that quickly grew into a leading destination for American Halal fare. In 2013, The Halal Guys was ranked the most popular food truck reviewed on FourSquare and in 2014 was the third most reviewed restaurant on Yelp in the United States. In 2014, The Halal Guys began expanding its authentic Halal cuisine from the food cart into restaurants and now operates 49 locations within the United States, Canada, Indonesia, South Korea and the Philippines. For more information, visit www.thehalalguys.com or connect on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Contact: Belle Communications Mary Stankiewicz [email protected] SOURCE The Halal Guys Related Links http://www.thehalalguys.com CLEVELAND, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Consolidated net sales increased 16.0% in the quarter to a record $3.74 billion , and increased 12.1% in the six months to a record $6.50 billion , including Valspar sales for the month of June, which increased consolidated net sales in the quarter and six months by 11.8% and 6.6%, respectively. The change in revenue classification increased net sales 2.2% in the quarter and six months Net sales from stores in U.S. and Canada open more than twelve calendar months increased 4.9% in the quarter and 6.0% in the six months Earnings Before Interest Taxes Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) from continuing operations increased 11.7% in six months to $1.03 billion and increased 9.3% without the impact from the Valspar Acquisition Diluted net income per common share decreased 15.8% to $3.36 per share in the quarter, including a $.44 per share charge related to the divestiture of the Valspar North American Industrial Wood Coatings business divestiture, and a $.72 per share charge for acquisition-related costs, including inventory purchase accounting adjustments and increased amortization of intangibles. Valspar operations increased EPS by $.10 per share in the quarter, including a $.19 per share charge from interest expense on new debt Establishing 3Q17 EPS range of $3.70 to $4.10 , including a $.40 to $.60 per share increase from Valspar operations, offset by approximately $1.10 per share charge for acquisition-related costs Updating continuing operations FY17 EPS guidance to $12.30 to $12.70 per share, including a $.75 to $.95 increase from Valspar operations, partially offset by approximately $2.50 per share charge for acquisition-related costs vs. $11.99 per share in 2016, which included an $.86 per share charge for acquisition-related costs The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE: SHW) announced its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2017. On June 1, 2017, the Company completed the acquisition of The Valspar Corporation (Valspar) for a total purchase price of $8.9 billion. The acquisition expands Sherwin-Williams' diversified array of brands and technologies, expands its global platform and adds new capabilities in the packaging and coil businesses. As a result of the Valspar acquisition and integration, the Company made important changes to its organizational and reporting structure that resulted in establishing three new reportable operating segments. The Americas Group reportable operating segment includes Sherwin-Williams' previous Paint Stores Group and Latin America Coatings Group. The Consumer Brands Group reportable operating segment includes Sherwin-Williams' Consumer Group and Valspar's Consumer Paints segment, excluding Valspar's Automotive Refinishes products business. The Performance Coatings Group reportable operating segment includes Sherwin-Williams' Global Finishes Group and Valspar's Coatings Group along with Valspar's Automotive Refinishes products business. Valspar's North American Industrial Wood Coatings business, which was previously reported under Valspar's Coatings Group, was divested in order to secure regulatory approval to complete the Valspar acquisition. Compared to the same periods in 2016, consolidated net sales increased $516.3 million, or 16.0%, to $3.74 billion in the quarter and increased $703.7 million, or 12.1%, to $6.50 billion in six months due primarily to the addition of Valspar sales for the month of June and higher paint sales volume in The Americas Group and the Performance Coatings Group. The previously announced change in revenue classification increased sales 2.2% both in the quarter and six months. This change primarily impacted The Americas Group and the Performance Coatings Group. It had no impact on segment profit, but reduced the segment profit as a percent to net sales of the affected Groups. Diluted net income per common share in the quarter decreased to $3.36 per share from $3.99 per share in 2016. Diluted net income per common share in six months increased to $5.90 per share from $5.76 per share in 2016. Diluted net income per common share from continuing operations (excluding a $.44 per share charge related to the divestiture) in the quarter and six months was $3.80 and $6.34 per share, respectively. Second quarter and six months 2017 diluted net income per common share include a $.72 and $.80 per share charge, respectively, from acquisition-related costs, inventory purchase accounting adjustments and increased amortization of intangibles. Valspar operations increased EPS by $.10 per share in the quarter, including a $.19 per share charge from interest expense on new debt. Second quarter and six months 2016 diluted net income per common share included a $.16 and $.40 per share charge from acquisition-related costs, respectively. Currency translation rate changes did not have a significant impact on diluted net income per common share in the quarter and six months. Net sales in The Americas Group increased 8.7% to $2.44 billion in the quarter and increased 10.2% to $4.39 billion in six months due primarily to higher architectural paint sales volume across most end market segments, the impact of the change in revenue classification and selling price increases. Latin America region net sales, stated in U.S. dollars, increased 1.2% in the quarter and increased 6.9% in six months over last year's comparable period. Net sales from stores in U.S. and Canada open for more than twelve calendar months, excluding the change in revenue classification, increased 4.9% in the quarter and increased 6.0% in six months over last year's comparable periods. The Americas Group segment profit increased $33.3 million to $532.7 million in the quarter and increased $86.0 million to $837.9 million in six months due primarily to higher paint sales volume and selling price increases partially offset by increased raw material costs. Segment profit as a percent to net sales decreased in the quarter to 21.8% from 22.2% last year. Six months segment profit margin increased to 19.1% from 18.8% last year. Excluding the change in revenue classification, segment profit margin was 22.6% and 19.7% in the quarter and six months, respectively. Net sales of the Consumer Brands Group increased 16.0% to $536.4 million in the quarter and increased 4.0% to $859.8 million in six months due primarily to the inclusion of Valspar sales for the month of June, partially offset by lower volume sales to most of the Group's retail and commercial customers. Valspar sales increased Group net sales 27.9% and 15.6% in the quarter and six months, respectively. Segment profit decreased to $76.1 million in the quarter from $103.2 million last year and decreased to $132.0 million in six months from $163.0 million last year due primarily to lower organic sales volumes, increasing raw material costs and acquisition-related purchase accounting adjustments to inventory and increased amortization costs totaling $20.5 million in the quarter. The impacts were partially offset by improved operating efficiencies, good expense control and selling price increases. As a percent to net external sales, segment profit decreased in the quarter to 14.2% from 22.3% last year and decreased in six months to 15.4% from 19.7% last year due primarily to higher raw material costs and acquisition-related costs, which reduced segment profit as a percent to sales in the quarter and six months by 3.8% and 2.4%, respectively. The Performance Coatings Group's net sales stated in U.S. dollars increased 48.0% to $761.1 million in the quarter and increased 26.9% to $1.25 billion in six months due primarily to one month of Valspar sales, higher paint sales volume and selling price increases. Valspar sales contributed 48.8% and 25.6% to Group net sales in the quarter and six months, respectively. Stated in U.S. dollars, segment profit decreased in the quarter to $62.3 million from $70.4 million last year and decreased in six months to $119.5 million from $123.1 million last year due primarily to acquisition-related costs, including purchase accounting adjustments to inventory and increased amortization costs of $38.3 million in the quarter. Currency translation rate changes had a minimal impact on segment profit in the quarter and six months. As a percent to net external sales, segment profit decreased in the quarter to 8.2% from 13.7% last year and decreased in six months to 9.6% from 12.5%. Acquisition-related expenses decreased segment profit as a percent to sales in the quarter and six months by 5.0% and 3.1%, respectively. The Company made no open market purchases of its common stock in the six months ended June 30, 2017. At June 30, 2017, the Company had cash on hand of $210 million that will be utilized to reduce debt. In the first six months, the Company opened 33 net new store locations in The Americas Group. Based on total Company borrowings, twelve-month interest expense is projected to be approximately $400 million. Incremental depreciation and amortization step-up related to Valspar acquisition purchase accounting is projected to be approximately $275 million on an annual basis. Purchase accounting inventory adjustments of $110 million are being amortized over the three months of June, July and August, 2017. The balance sheet reflects preliminary purchase accounting balances and incremental debt of $9.5 billion used to fund the acquisition. Commenting on the second quarter, John G. Morikis, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "It is gratifying to finally report a quarter that includes results from Valspar. We are pleased to have completed the acquisition, and I would like to once again welcome our colleagues from Valspar and the tremendous talent they bring to Sherwin-Williams. This acquisition accelerates Sherwin-Williams' global growth strategy and creates the global leader in paints and coatings. The combination of these two companies forms a world class brand portfolio, expanded product range, premier technology and innovation platforms and an extensive global footprint." "Looking ahead, our focus is on strengthening the performance of our core businesses while completing the integration of the two companies with speed and precision. The former will require us to drive stronger architectural paint sell-through across all retail channels and capture raw material cost increases through appropriate pricing initiatives, particularly in our industrial coatings businesses. The latter means implementing the integration plans we have developed over the past 15 months, and recognizing when course correction is required. Our success in these two areas will create a highly differentiated enterprise better equipped to serve paint and coatings customers around the corner and around the globe." "For the third quarter, we anticipate our Sherwin-Williams' core net sales will increase a low to mid single digit percentage compared to last year's third quarter. In addition, we expect incremental sales from the Valspar acquisition to be approximately $1.0 billion in the third quarter. At that anticipated sales level, we estimate diluted net income per common share in the third quarter of 2017 to be in the range of $3.70 to $4.10 per share, including a $1.10 per share charge from costs associated with the Valspar acquisition, and includes an EPS increase of $.40 to $.60 per share from Valspar operations. The increase from Valspar operations includes acquisition financing expense charge of $.40 per share in the third quarter. Third quarter 2016 earnings were $4.08 per share and included a $.24 per share charge for acquisition-related costs. For the full year 2017, we expect Sherwin-Williams' core net sales to increase by a mid single digit percentage compared to full year 2016. In addition, we expect incremental sales from the Valspar acquisition to be approximately $2.4 billion in 2017. With annual sales at that level, we are updating our guidance for full year 2017 diluted net income per common share to be in the range of $12.30 to $12.70 per share compared to $11.99 per share earned in 2016. Full year 2017 diluted net income per common share guidance includes a $2.50 per share charge from costs associated with the acquisition of Valspar, and includes an EPS increase of $.75 to $.95 per share from Valspar operations. The increase from Valspar operations includes acquisition financing expense charge of $.95 per share for the full year. Full year 2016 earnings per share included $.86 per share charge related to the Valspar acquisition." The Company will conduct a conference call to discuss its financial results for the second quarter, and its outlook for the third quarter and full year 2017, at 11:00 a.m. EDT on Thursday, July 20, 2017. The conference call will be webcast simultaneously in the listen only mode by Issuer Direct. To listen to the webcast on the Sherwin-Williams website, www.sherwin.com , click on About Us, choose Investor Relations, then select Press Releases and click on the webcast icon following the reference to the July 20th release. The webcast will also be available at Issuer Direct's Investor Calendar website, www.investorcalendar.com . An archived replay of the live webcast will be available at www.sherwin.com beginning approximately two hours after the call ends and will be available until August 9, 2017 at 5:00 p.m. EDT. Founded in 1866, The Sherwin-Williams Company is a global leader in the manufacture, development, distribution, and sale of paints, coatings and related products to professional, industrial, commercial, and retail customers. The company manufactures products under well-known brands such as Sherwin-Williams, Valspar, HGTV HOME by Sherwin-Williams, Dutch Boy, Krylon, Minwax, Thompson's Water Seal, Cabot and many more. With global headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio, Sherwin-Williams branded products are sold exclusively through a chain of more than 4,100 company-operated stores and facilities, while the company's other brands are sold through leading mass merchandisers, home centers, independent paint dealers, hardware stores, automotive retailers, and industrial distributors. The Sherwin-Williams Performance Coatings Group supplies a broad range of highly-engineered solutions for the construction, industrial, packaging and transportation markets in more than 120 countries around the world. Sherwin-Williams shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol: SHW). For more information, visit www.sherwin.com. Regulation G Reconciliation Management of the Company believes that investors' understanding of the Company's operating performance is enhanced by the disclosure of diluted net income per common share excluding the Valspar acquisition-related costs. This adjusted earnings per share measurement is not in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). It should not be considered a substitute for earnings per share computed in accordance with U.S. GAAP and may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies. The following tables reconcile diluted net income per common share computed in accordance with U.S. GAAP to diluted net income per common share excluding the impact from the Valspar acquisition. Three Months Six Months Three Months Ended Year Ended Ended Ended September 30, 2017 December 31, 2017 June 30, June 30, (guidance) (guidance) 2017 2017 Low High Low High Diluted net income per common share $ 3.36 $ 5.90 $ 3.70 $ 4.10 $ 11.86 $ 12.26 Charge related to discontinued operations .44 .44 .44 .44 Diluted net income per common share from continuing operations 3.80 6.34 3.70 4.10 12.30 12.70 Valspar-related costs: Transaction and integration costs .30 .38 .10 .10 .60 .60 Purchase accounting amortization expense .42 .42 1.00 1.00 1.90 1.90 Consolidated excluding Valspar-related costs 4.52 7.14 4.80 5.20 14.80 15.20 Valspar operations income .29 .29 .80 1.00 1.70 1.90 New debt interest expense (.19) (.19) (.40) (.40) (.95) (.95) Total Valspar income contribution .10 .10 .40 .60 .75 .95 Consolidated excluding Valspar $ 4.42 $ 7.04 $ 4.40 $ 4.60 $ 14.05 $ 14.25 Three Months Six Months Three Months Year Ended Ended Ended Ended June 30, June 30, September 30, December 31, 2016 2016 2016 2016 Diluted net income per common share: Consolidated $ 3.99 $ 5.76 $ 4.08 $ 11.99 Acquisition-related costs .16 .40 .24 .86 Consolidated excluding Valspar-related costs $ 4.15 $ 6.16 $ 4.32 $ 12.85 Management of the Company believes that investors' understanding of the Company's operating performance is enhanced by the disclosure of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) excluding the Valspar acquisition-related costs. This measurement is not in accordance with U.S. GAAP. It should not be considered a substitute for net income or net operating cash. The following table reconciles net income from continuing operations computed in accordance with U.S. GAAP to EBITDA from continuing operations excluding the impact from the Valspar acquisition. Six Months Six Months Ended Ended June 30, 2017 June 30, 2016 $ Change % Change Net income from continuing operations $ 599,803 $ 542,940 $ 56,863 10.5 % Interest expense 82,424 66,610 15,814 23.7 % Income taxes 215,805 212,639 3,166 1.5 % Depreciation 94,965 86,724 8,241 9.5 % Amortization 35,088 11,366 23,722 208.7 % EBITDA from continuing operations 1,028,085 920,279 107,806 11.7 % Valspar EBITDA * (16,952) (35,623) 18,671 (52.4) % EBITDA from continuing operations without Valspar $ 1,045,037 $ 955,902 $ 89,135 9.3 % * Valspar EBITDA for 2017 includes June 2017 Valspar operations, purchase accounting items and acquisition costs. Valspar EBITDA for 2016 includes acquisition costs only. Investor Relations Contact: Bob Wells Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications & Public Affairs Sherwin-Williams Direct: 216.566.2244 [email protected] Media Contact: Mike Conway Director, Corporate Communications Sherwin-Williams Direct: 216.515.4393 Pager: 216.422.3751 [email protected] This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements," as defined under U.S. federal securities laws, with respect to sales, earnings and other matters. These statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "believe," "expect," "may," "will," "should," "project," "could," "plan," "goal," "potential," "seek," "intend" or "anticipate" or the negative thereof or comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements are based upon management's current expectations, estimates, assumptions and beliefs concerning future events and conditions. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are necessarily subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside the control of the Company that could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements and from the Company's historical results and experience. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include such things as: general business conditions; the Company's ability to successfully integrate past and future acquisitions into its existing operations, including Valspar, as well as the performance of the businesses acquired; risks inherent in the achievement of anticipated cost synergies resulting from the acquisition of Valspar and the timing thereof; strengths of retail and manufacturing economies and the growth in the coatings industry; changes in the Company's relationships with customers and suppliers; changes in raw material availability and pricing; unusual weather conditions; and other risks, uncertainties and factors described from time to time in the Company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Since it is not possible to predict or identify all of the risks, uncertainties and other factors that may affect future results, the above list should not be considered a complete list. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which such statement is made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The Sherwin-Williams Company and Subsidiaries Statements of Consolidated Income (Unaudited) Three Months Ended June 30, Six Months Ended June 30, Thousands of dollars, except per share data 2017 2016 2017 2016 Net sales $ 3,735,817 $ 3,219,525 $ 6,497,204 $ 5,793,549 Cost of goods sold 1,998,761 1,583,624 3,416,874 2,895,803 Gross profit 1,737,056 1,635,901 3,080,330 2,897,746 Percent to net sales 46.5% 50.8% 47.4% 50.0% Selling, general and administrative expenses 1,145,492 1,048,496 2,155,667 2,045,169 Percent to net sales 30.7% 32.6% 33.2% 35.3% Other general expense - net 1,775 2,733 2,051 20,287 Interest expense 56,729 40,878 82,424 66,610 Amortization 28,918 5,584 35,088 11,366 Interest and net investment income (3,091) (952) (4,371) (1,439) Other (income) expense - net (1,770) (52) (6,137) 174 Income from continuing operations before income taxes 509,003 539,214 815,608 755,579 Income taxes 148,352 161,150 215,805 212,639 Net income from continuing operations 360,651 378,064 599,803 542,940 Loss from discontinued operations Income taxes 41,540 41,540 Net loss from discontinued operations (41,540) (41,540) Net income $ 319,111 $ 378,064 $ 558,263 $ 542,940 Basic net income per common share: Continuing Operations $ 3.89 $ 4.12 $ 6.47 $ 5.93 Discontinued Operations (0.45) (0.45) Net income per common share $ 3.44 $ 4.12 $ 6.02 $ 5.93 Diluted net income per common share: Continuing Operations $ 3.80 $ 3.99 $ 6.34 $ 5.76 Discontinued Operations (0.44) (0.44) Net income per common share $ 3.36 $ 3.99 $ 5.90 $ 5.76 Average shares outstanding - basic 92,841,148 91,788,734 92,695,853 91,632,297 Average shares and equivalents outstanding - diluted 94,968,636 94,669,751 94,697,439 94,305,997 Additional information regarding the Company's financial condition, operating segment results and other information can be found on the Sherwin-Williams website, "www.sherwin.com", choosing Investor Relations, then selecting Press Releases and clicking on the reference to the July 20th release. SOURCE The Sherwin-Williams Company Related Links http://www.sherwin.com HAMILTON, Bermuda, July 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Third Point Reinsurance Ltd. (NYSE: TPRE) ("Company") today announced that it is planning to release its second quarter 2017 results after the market close on Wednesday, August 2, 2017. The Company will also hold a conference call to discuss its results at 8:30 am (Eastern Time) on Thursday, August 3, 2017. The conference call can be accessed by dialing 1-877-407-0789 (domestic) or 1-201-689-8562 (international) and asking for the Third Point Reinsurance Second Quarter 2017 Earnings Call. A telephonic replay will be available approximately three hours after the call and can be accessed by dialing 1-844-512-2921, or for international callers 1-412-317-6671, and providing the passcode 13665530. The telephonic replay will be available until 11:59 pm (Eastern Time) on August 10, 2017. Interested investors and other parties may also listen to a simultaneous webcast of the live conference call by logging onto the Investors section of the Company's website at http://www.thirdpointre.bm/. The online replay will be available on the Company's website immediately following the call. About the Company The Company is a public company listed on the New York Stock Exchange which, through its wholly-owned subsidiaries Third Point Reinsurance Company Ltd. and Third Point Reinsurance (USA) Ltd., writes property and casualty reinsurance business. Third Point Reinsurance Company Ltd. and Third Point Reinsurance (USA) Ltd. each have an "A-" (Excellent) financial strength rating from A.M. Best Company, Inc. Contact Third Point Reinsurance Ltd. Manoj Gupta - Head of Investor Relations and Business Development +1 441-542-3333 [email protected] SOURCE Third Point Reinsurance Ltd. Related Links http://www.thirdpointre.bm NEW YORK, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- This August UBM Fashion at NY Women's, Intermezzo Collections will debut its first-ever [email protected] consumer-facing fair within the show that will be epicenter of vintage shopping for retailers and consumers alike in the heart of Manhattan on Sunday, August 6th through Tuesday, August 8th, held at the Javits Center, New York. Featuring an unmatched curated selection of vintage dealers showcasing their one-of-a-kind apparel and accessories collections, the entire fashion community will have access to the best in vintage design, style and period pieces. Consumers will be able to shop the fair with the purchase of a $20 admission ticket available for presale here. Each vintage dealer will be showcasing a unique facet of the industry with product available for wholesale and retail. Today's consumers demand authenticity in their purchases and [email protected] delivers. The product will range from luxury vintage designer including Missoni and Versace, gowns and furs, to rare Victorian and Asian pieces such as Issey Miyake, alongside accessible active and sportswear, denim, T-shirts, and personal pieces from Norma Kamali's closet from as early as the turn of the century. Participating vendors include: Morphew Concept, Norma Kamali, Dusty Rose Vintage, The Wayward Collection and Brent Edward Vintage. "Vintage brings provenance to one's wardrobe and represents another time, when clothing and accessories were not mass produced but crafted by hand with a true love for the actual product itself. It speaks to the journey that has brought us to today and influences the way we see ourselves in the future," Peter Berta, Show Director. Intermezzo Collections first debuted its B2B [email protected] neighborhood at the NY Women's May Show with returning curator and industry expert, Bridgette Morphew of Morphew Concept. Coming off of the success of this show, matched with the consumer demand for authenticity in their purchases, opening up the show to the public was the evident next step. "To present and curate a vintage fair within a fair as significant as Intermezzo that is accessible not just to fashion insiders, but to fashion fans is the realization of a decade long dream of ours. We truly believe that if you can understand the past, you can predict the future trends and style movements," Bridgette Morphew, Founder and Creative Director of Morphew. Fashion icon and long time fan of the Intermezzo Collection show, Iris Apfel, will be joining the esteemed designer Norma Kamali and Stephanie Solomon, the Vice President and Fashion Director at Lord & Taylor for a panel discussion moderated by Lauren Parker, Editor in Chief of Accessories magazine on the benefits of vintage, and how retailers can use it to set their stores apart. The 'Value of Vintage' panel will be hosted on the Monday of the show at 2:00PM in the Crystal Palace. Additional highlights of the show include: Spring/Summer 2018 Trend Presentation will take place on Sunday, August 6 at 2:00PM - offering an in-depth look at what's driving the five biggest trends for the SS18 with a focus on accessories. at - offering an in-depth look at what's driving the five biggest trends for the SS18 with a focus on accessories. A Q&A with Rachel Shechtman , founder of themed retailer STORY will delve into how the revered founder has concepted a brick-and-mortar experience that feels like a live webpage with its ever-changing themes, products and point of view. The Compelling Curation: The Art of Storytelling will be held on Tuesday, August 8 at 10:00AM , in the Crystal Palace. [email protected] at Intermezzo Collections is held during UBM Fashion's NY Women's August Marketplace which offers women's apparel and accessories with a strong focus on immediate deliverables, touting the largest accessories presentation with the two industry leading shows, Accessorie Circuit and AccessoriesTheShow, alongside Intermezzo Collections, Fame, Moda, and children's club. Further detail on the Influencers, brands, events and happenings at the August show, please click here. Follow along @IntermezzoVintage Instagram for updates on participating dealers, guest appearances and further announcements. For consumer ticketing information please visit this link. Verified retailers and exhibiting brands may access [email protected] free of charge. | @IntermezzoVintage | About UBM Fashion | Uniting the most influential fashion retail decision makers and the world's top fashion brands, UBM Fashion serves the $1 trillion+ worldwide fashion industry through its comprehensive marketplaces in New York (NY Men's and Women's) and Las Vegas (MAGIC). UBM Fashion serves the industry by bringing together great brands and retailers in superbly merchandised shows while providing superior customer service and ultimately presenting end consumers with the best apparel, footwear, accessories, and fashion products. About Morphew | Morphew is founded by Bridgette Morphew and Jason Lyon and is an inspirational lifestyle brand sourcing the greatest pieces of fashion's past from around the globe. Parent company of fashion consulting business Paradox, servicing the world's most celebrated designers. As Paradox began to define and shape the collections of top fashion houses, it became a coveted source for one-of-a-kind fashion pieces. Designers began sharing their finds with trendsetting musicians, actors and artists, and in 2013 Morphew officially opened its doors to the public. Today Morphew, in partnership with Paradox, is a premiere source for designers, collectors, editors and stylists for the rarest pieces of fashion's past all sourced with an eye towards modern trends. Morphew is a unique brand steeped in rich historical concepts, tailored to fashion's most influential creators, luminaries and tastemakers that connects the past and the future in style. SOURCE UBM Fashion PORTLAND, Ore., July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Uncle Nearest 1856 Premium Whiskey, a national whiskey brand inspired by the best whiskey maker the world never knew, Nathan "Nearest" Green, officially launched in Portland, Oregon on July 19, 2017. The aged whiskey debut in Portland will be followed by Nashville, Tennessee. When asked what would most honor Green, the first African-American master distiller on record in the United States, the descendants of his son, George Green the one most known for helping his father in the whiskey business said ensuring his legacy lived on a bottle of premium whiskey in perpetuity would be the ultimate tribute. With that direction, the Uncle Nearest production team set out to create an ultra-premium line of whiskey products in his honor. Using local grains and the charcoal mellowing process Green helped perfect in Tennessee over 160 years ago, a process now known as the Lincoln County Process named after the county in which Green lived and made his whiskey, the Uncle Nearest team worked with two Tennessee distilleries still making whiskey the way Green made it. This process is approached intricately by hand, placing the product in new American oak barrels close to the same 110-proof Green was known for and waiting until it is at the perfect age, taste and color. "This whiskey is meant to bring to the forefront the man who so few outside of Lynchburg, Tennessee knew was one of the most important master distillers in the creation of what is now known as Tennessee whiskey," said Keith Miles, spokesman for the brand. "Having spent so much time with Green's descendants, our founders knew their desire was to honor him with a premium whiskey made as close to his way as possible and bring it to every bar and spirit shop around the world, so everyone would know his name." The resulting whiskey is as unique as the story from which it came. The Uncle Nearest Premium Aged whiskey presents a caramel color with a deep golden hue. On the nose, baled hay, pumpkin seeds, stone fruit, caramel corn and sweet maple are present. On the palate, the whiskey shows spicy caramel notes up front, and then hints of maple as it mellows with dried fruit and floral notes. Sweetness and spice reminiscent of freshly baked oatmeal cookies remain through a long and rich finish. A Premium Silver product, slated for a release later this summer, is the only clear whiskey in the world to undergo UN's proprietary triple charcoal mellowing process to produce a smooth, mixable spirit. Product Details: Uncle Nearest 1856 Premium Tennessee Whiskey: Aged Price: $59.95 (*Oregon price, will vary by market) Proof: 100 Honoring Green with Portland's collaborative spirit, the Uncle Nearest team has enlisted top Portland artisans to create celebratory products inspired by the whiskey and its story for its July launch. Artisans include: Bull in China, Jacobsen Salt Co., Salt & Straw, Steven Smith Teamaker, Alma, Xocolatl de David, QUIN Candy, and Marshall's Haute Sauce. Top bars and restaurants throughout Portland will also feature Uncle Nearest-inspired cocktail specials at launch and throughout the summer. In Nashville, the team tapped artisan favorites including Bongo Java, Goo Goo Clusters, Edley's BBQ, Jake's Bakes, and Acme Feed and Seed. About Uncle Nearest 1856 Premium Whiskey Uncle Nearest 1856 Premium Whiskey is inspired by the best whiskey maker the world never knew, the first African-American master distiller on record in the United States, Nathan "Nearest" Green. The Uncle Nearest brand encompasses a Premium Aged and Premium Silver product, distilled, aged, bottled and hand labeled in Tennessee using locally sourced grains. For more information please visit the Uncle Nearest website, and follow on Instagram (@unclenearest) and Facebook. PR Contacts Carrie Welch, Little Green Pickle [email protected], (917) 846-3599 Frances Dyer, Little Green Pickle [email protected], (503) 894-8695 SOURCE Uncle Nearest 1856 Premium Whiskey Related Links http://unclenearest.com SHANGHAI, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the Report on the Spending of Chinese Students' Abroad (2017) issued by UnionPay International on July 20th, the Chinese students who study abroad spend over 380 billion RMB overseas each year and 80% of it are tuition fees and daily expenses. The overseas study market in China is growing stably now with students become younger and their choices of destinations more diverse. As the Report points out, the transaction volume of UnionPay cards in overseas study-related fields continues to grow. Now, over 2,000 educational institutions outside mainland China accept UnionPay cards for tuition payment, and the UnionPay service system for students studying abroad keeps improving. Solving the payment pain point of studying overseas The US, the UK, Australia and Canada are still the most popular destinations for overseas study, and the Chinese students studying in these countries are increasingly younger. Japan, France, New Zealand, Singapore and Germany are also among the top ten destinations. Students and parents are able to pay tuition fees with UnionPay cards in the following ways: First is through platforms of peerTransfer, WesternUnion, and 6 payment platforms of banks in Taiwan (covering about 90% of universities and colleges in Taiwan). Second is through the school official sites, including the over 700 institutions under TMS and TouchNet, etc. Students can pay for tuition at the POS terminals on campus with UnionPay cards too. Enhancing the payment service system for overseas study Currently, more than 20 million merchants and 1.4 million ATMs outside mainland China accept UnionPay cards. Based on this, UnionPay payment service system for overseas study has covered online/offline tuition payment, daily cash withdrawal and spending, travel spending and local card application etc. Various UnionPay card products are issued in over 40 countries and regions, including major destinations for overseas study. UnionPay International has built on-and-off campus card-using ecosystem surround the prestigious schools. Students can pay with UnionPay cards only at campus merchants, withdraw cash from ATMs, but also easily pay with UnionPay cards at bookstores, restaurants, supermarkets, drug stores, cinemas, etc. For instance, in over 20 US colleges and universities with the largest number of Chinese students, UnionPay credit cards are accepted at campus bookstores. SOURCE UnionPay International NEW YORK, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- United Kingdom Telecom outlook report is a comprehensive analytical research on the United Kingdom's cellular, fixed telephone and fixed broadband segments. Through detailed analysis of the current market conditions and industry trends, the report analyzes the United Kingdom telecommunications sector. Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p04890596/United-Kingdom-Telecommunications-Strategic-Analysis-and-Outlook-to-Analysis-of-United-Kingdom-Mobile-Fixed-Telephone-and-Broadband-Markets.html In addition to emerging industry trends, consumption patterns, geographic coverage, demographic analysis and tariffs of key players are provided to understand the key strategies and analysis of revenues, investments and infrastructure. Further, industry dynamics, SWOT Analysis of the market and changing business scenario of United Kingdom telecommunications industry is included. Forecasts of users in mobile segment, landline segment and broadband segment are provided from 2005 to 2025. Further, demographic and economic factors including GDP, population (by age, by gender and by location) and disposable income are forecasted to 2025. United Kingdom mobile, landline and broadband industry is benchmarked with peer countries to evaluate its position in regional front. Further, recent United Kingdom telecom industry trends along with drivers and challenges confronting United Kingdom telecom markets are analyzed. On the competitive landscape, key players in each of the segment are detailed. Further, company profiles of three leading players along with their SWOT analyses are included. In addition, foreign and domestic participation in the industry is also included. Further, latest developments and their impact on players in the United Kingdom telecommunications industry are also provided. Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p04890596/United-Kingdom-Telecommunications-Strategic-Analysis-and-Outlook-to-Analysis-of-United-Kingdom-Mobile-Fixed-Telephone-and-Broadband-Markets.html About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. http://www.reportlinker.com __________________________ Contact Clare: [email protected] US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 SOURCE Reportlinker Related Links http://www.reportlinker.com SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Universal Technical Institute, Inc. (NYSE: UTI), the leading provider of automotive technician training, announced today that it will report its financial results for the fiscal 2017 third quarter ended June 30, 2017, on Thursday, August 3, 2017, after market close. UTI will host a conference call at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time on the same day to discuss its fiscal 2017 third quarter financial results and operating performance. The conference call will feature chairman of the board and chief executive officer Kimberly McWaters and chief financial officer Bryce Peterson. To participate in the live call, investors are invited to dial (412) 317-6790 or (844) 881-0138. A live webcast of the call will be available via the Universal Technical Institute investor relations website at http://uti.investorroom.com/. Please go to the website at least 15 minutes early to register, download and install any necessary audio software. The conference call will also be archived for 60 days at http://uti.investorroom.com/ or the replay can be accessed through August 15, 2017 by dialing 412-317-0088 or 877-344-7529 and entering passcode 10110803. About Universal Technical Institute, Inc.: Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, Universal Technical Institute, Inc. (NYSE: UTI) is the leading provider of post-secondary education for students seeking careers as professional automotive, diesel, collision repair, motorcycle and marine technicians. With more than 200,000 graduates in its 52-year history, UTI offers undergraduate degree and diploma programs at 12 campuses across the United States, as well as manufacturer-specific training programs at dedicated training centers. Through its campus-based school system, UTI provides specialized post-secondary education programs under the banner of several well-known brands, including Universal Technical Institute (UTI), Motorcycle Mechanics Institute and Marine Mechanics Institute (MMI) and NASCAR Technical Institute (NASCAR Tech). For more information visit www.uti.edu. Contact: Bryce Peterson Chief Financial Officer Universal Technical Institute, Inc. (623) 445-0993 SOURCE Universal Technical Institute, Inc. Related Links http://www.uti.edu TOKYO, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Astellas Pharma Inc. (TSE: 4503, President and CEO: Yoshihiko Hatanaka, "Astellas") announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted orphan-drug designation to gilteritinib in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The Orphan Drug Designation program assigns status to drugs and biologics intended for the safe and effective treatment, diagnosis or prevention of diseases or disorders that affect fewer than 200,000 people in the United States. "Fewer than 10,000 Americans will be diagnosed with FLT3 mutation-positive AML this year and while that may be a small percentage of the overall population, it is an important group of patients who are deserving of potential new treatments," said Steven Benner, M.D., senior vice president and global therapeutic area head, oncology development, Astellas. "We are grateful to the FDA for acknowledging the unique needs of rare diseases and for providing a path forward for gilteritinib in supporting these patients." Gilteritinib is a receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor of FLT3 and AXL, which are involved in the growth of cancer cells. Gilteritinib has demonstrated inhibitory activity against FLT3 internal tandem duplication (ITD) as well as tyrosine kinase domain (TKD), two common types of FLT3 mutations that are seen in up to one third of patients with AML. AML is a cancer that impacts the blood and bone marrow and most commonly experienced in older adults. According to the American Cancer Society, in 2016 there were an estimated 21,000 new cases of AML diagnosed in the United States and about 10,600 cases resulted in death. Astellas is currently investigating gilteritinib in various AML patient populations through several planned and already initiated Phase 3 trials, including the registrational ADMIRAL trial in relapsed/refractory FLT3+ AML. The safety and efficacy of the agent discussed herein are under investigation and have not been established. There is no guarantee that the agent will receive regulatory approval and become commercially available for the uses being investigated. Information about pharmaceutical products (including products currently in development) which is included in this press release are not intended to constitute an advertisement or medical advice. About Gilteritinib Gilteritinib was discovered through a research collaboration with Kotobuki Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., and Astellas has exclusive global rights to develop, manufacture and potentially commercialize gilteritinib. Astellas classifies highly prioritized research projects as "Fast Track", meaning research and development time is minimized through the focused investment of both capabilities and resources. Gilteritinib was designated as our first Fast Track project. About Astellas Astellas Pharma Inc., based in Tokyo, Japan, is a company dedicated to improving the health of people around the world through the provision of innovative and reliable pharmaceutical products. We focus on Urology, Oncology, Immunology, Nephrology and Neuroscience as prioritized therapeutic areas while advancing new therapeutic areas and discovery research leveraging new technologies/modalities. We are also creating new value by combining internal capabilities and external expertise in the medical/healthcare business. Astellas is on the forefront of healthcare change to turn innovative science into value for patients. For more information, please visit our website at www.astellas.com/en . SOURCE Astellas Pharma Inc. Related Links http://www.astellas.com/en By PTI: (Eds: Combining relasted reports) New Delhi, Jul 20 (PTI) India said today it is ready for talks with China with both sides first pulling back their armies to end the tense standoff in the Sikkim sector, stressing the need for a "peaceful resolution" of border issues. Chinese and Indian soldiers have been locked in a face- off in Dokalam area in the southernmost part of Tibet in an area also claimed by Indian ally Bhutan for over a month after Indian troops stopped the Chinese army from building a road in the disputed area. China claimed it was constructing the road within its territory, and has been demanding immediate pull-out of the Indian troops. advertisement Responding to supplementaries during Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said China intends to unilaterally change the status of the tri- junction with Bhutan, posing a challenge to Indias security. On the standoff at Dokalam, she referred to the written agreement between India, China and Bhutan in 2012 that the three nations will together decide on the boundaries at the tri-junction point. The Minister said China has been constructing roads earlier too, but now they have brought in bulldozers and excavators. "We are saying that the matter can be resolved through talks, but both sides have to first take back their armies," she said. The Minister also said India was not "unreasonable" on the Doklam border issue and that all nations were with it. Observing that China was demanding the withdrawal of the Indian troops from the tri-junction point, she said India has been saying that both countries would have to withdraw their armies before amicably resolving the dispute through talks. Swaraj said "their (Chinas) intention was to reach the tri-junction so that they can unilaterally end the status of the tri-junction. It was only then that India came into the picture. "If China unilaterally changes the tri-junction point, then Indias security is challenged," she said, adding that Bhutan has protested in writing to China on this issue. Swaraj said "all countries are supporting us and they understand that the stand taken by India on the issue is not wrong" as they realise that China is getting aggressive with Bhutan. "Indias position is not wrong on the tri-junction and all nations are with it. The law is with our country and all are realising this," she said. Separately, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay told reporters that India has been in "close contact" with the Bhutan government on the border issue. "Indias approach is to have a peaceful resolution of issues on border with China," he said underlining the understanding at the Astana meeting that differences between India and China should not be allowed to become disputes. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had met Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit in June in Kazakh capital Astana. advertisement "So, it is obvious that every responsible power, person and player in the world prefers peaceful resolution of matters," Baglay said. Asked whether India has briefed other countries on the issue, Baglay said it would not be appropriate for him to comment on diplomatic interactions on sensitive matters.PTI SKC MPB ARC GSN GSN --- ENDS --- SAN JOSE, Calif., July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- uSens, Inc., a pioneer in interactive tracking solutions for immersive augmented, virtual and mixed reality experiences, today announced the development of a Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) based mobile inside-out 6DOF positional tracking solution. Designed from the ground up for mobile devices through advanced machine learning and computer vision techniques, uSens' lightweight algorithm is faster, more accurate and has lower latency than other mobile tracking solutions. Following in the footsteps of uSens' pioneering 26DOF (degrees of freedom) hand tracking technology, uSens SLAM provides developers with another solution to create content that allows users to feel present and immersed in virtual worlds. uSens (www.usens.com) is launching a Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) based mobile inside-out 6DOF positional tracking solution. Compatible across a range of platforms, the uSens SLAM helps developers create fully immersive content for augmented and virtual reality experiences. "We carry around a supercomputer in our pocket at all times our smartphones and giving developers the tools to enhance the user experience on hardware we all already possess is key to increasing adoption," said Dr. Yue Fei, chief technology officer and co-founder of uSens. "Apple entering the market with ARKit, joining Samsung and Google, has focused the industry on creating untethered, mobile content. Consumers are excited for the coming wave of AR content and we're focused on building the core interactive technologies for developers so they can create experiences that feel real and immersive, which is what consumers are demanding." SLAM is a series of computations and algorithms that constructs a virtual map of an environment, which can then be augmented with useful and value-adding digital content depending on your location within this space. uSens' marker-less, inside-out mobile SLAM tracks a user's location by continuously scanning and 'learning' about their environment through camera imaging. This allows a user's position to be tracked in unknown and changing environments, which is a requirement and a far better user experience on mobile. Marker-based or outside-in SLAM, utilized by gaming-focused hardware, requires markers or sensors to be placed around a room in order to interact with the ARVR system or Head Mounted Display (HMD) cameras. This is not possible in wide-scale mobile virtual experiences, as the fixed positions of the markers cannot adapt to changing environments. Dr. Fei continued, "Positional tracking is required to give objects and experiences real meaning in virtual environments. Computing systems can create color, shape, size, etc., but what's missing in the mix is position. The world is not flat, so as our technology begins to blend the physical and virtual world, it's increasingly important that it interacts with the world in three dimensions. We're already in discussions with a number of consumer-level companies to utilize our SLAM technology. Accurately tracking a user's position will allow the entire industry to take a giant leap forward and our solutions will help bring on the next generation of amazing ARVR content." Connect with uSens: Watch a video demo of uSens SLAM: https://youtu.be/_bEHvN3ZibQ Meet live with uSens in booth 236 at the SIGGRAPH exhibition taking place August 1-3 in the Los Angeles Convention Center at the SIGGRAPH exhibition taking place in the Convention Center Keep up with the uSens Super Reality blog or follow us on YouTube, Twitter or LinkedIn About uSens, Inc. Founded in 2013, San Jose-based uSens, Inc. closes the gap between Virtual Reality and the real world. The pioneering ARVR company provides inside-out, 26DOF hand and 6DOF head position tracking technologies for Augmented and Virtual Reality experiences. With domain expertise in 3D HCI technology, computer vision, and artificial intelligence, uSens is leading the industry to achieve Super Reality, a truly immersive and natural ARVR experience. For more information, visit www.usens.com and follow @usensinc. 2017 uSens, Inc. uSens and Fingo are trademarks and/or registered trademark of uSens, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. Other brand and product names are for identification purposes only and may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holder(s). Contacts: William McCormick PR & Marketing Manager [email protected] Anthony Baldini Sterling Communications for uSens [email protected] (408) 335-7323 SOURCE uSens, Inc. Related Links http://www.usens.com WAYNE, N.J., July 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Valley National Bancorp (NYSE: VLY) ("Valley"), the holding company for Valley National Bank, announced that its Chairman and CEO, Gerald H. Lipkin will host a conference call on Wednesday, July 26, 2017 at 10:00 AM (ET) to discuss Valley's second quarter 2017 earnings. Interested parties are invited to listen in by dialing 800-230-1766. A replay of the teleconference will be available beginning at 12:00 PM on Wednesday, July 26, 2017 and ending at 11:59 PM on Saturday, August 26, 2017 by dialing 800-475-6701 (International - 1-320-365-3844), access code 425775. The teleconference will also be webcast live and archived on Valley's website through Friday, August 25, 2017. Valley will release its second quarter 2017 earnings before the market opens on Wednesday, July 26, 2017. Valley National Bancorp is a regional bank holding company headquartered in Wayne, New Jersey with approximately $23 billion in assets. Its principal subsidiary, Valley National Bank, currently operates over 200 branch locations in northern and central New Jersey, the New York City boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island, and Florida. Valley National Bank is one of the largest commercial banks headquartered in New Jersey with executive offices in Manhattan and West Palm Beach. Helping communities grow and prosper is the heart of Valley's corporate citizenship philosophy. For more information about Valley National Bank and its products and services, please visit a convenient branch location, www.valleynationalbank.com or call our Customer Service Team at 800-522-4100. SOURCE Valley National Bancorp Event Telephone Number Earnings conference call on July 25, 2017 India 6:00 PM (IST) Mumbai main access +91-22-3938-1017 Toll Free number +1-800-120-1221 +1-800-200-1221 Singapore 8:30 PM (Singapore Time) Toll free number 800-101-2045 Hong Kong 8:30 PM (Hong Kong Time) Toll free number 800-964-448 UK 1:30 PM (UK Time) Toll free number 0-808-101-1573 US 8:30 AM (Eastern Time) Toll free number +1-866-746-2133 For online registration http://services.choruscall.in/diamondpass/registration?confirmationNumber=5267915 Replay of Conference Call (25 July 2017 to 31 July 2017) Mumbai +91-22-3065-2322 Passcode: 63835# For further information, please contact: Communications Roma Balwani President Group Sustainability& CSR Tel: +91-22-6646-1000 [email protected] Investor Relations Ashwin Bajaj Director Investor Relations Tel: +91-22-6646-1531 [email protected] Aarti Raghavan VP Investor Relations Vishesh Pachnanda Manager Investor Relations Sneha Tulsyan Associate Manager Investor Relations About Vedanta Limited Vedanta Limited is a diversified natural resources company, whose business primarily involves producing oil & gas, zinc - lead - silver, copper, iron ore, aluminium and commercial power. The company has a presence across India, South Africa, Namibia, Australia and Ireland. Vedanta Limited is the Indian subsidiary of Vedanta Resources Plc, a London-listed company. Governance and Sustainable Development are at the core of Vedanta's strategy, with a strong focus on health, safety and environment and on enhancing the lives of local communities. The company is conferred with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) 'Sustainable Plus Platinum label', ranking among the top 10 most sustainable companies in India. To access the Vedanta Sustainable Development Report 2016, please visit http://sustainabledevelopment.vedantaresources.com/content/dam/vedanta/corporate/documents/Otherdocuments/SDreport2015-16/Vedanta%20SDR%20FY%2015-16.pdf Vedanta Limited is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange in India and has ADRs listed on the New York Stock Exchange. For more information please visit www.vedantalimited.com Vedanta Limited Vedanta, 75, Nehru Road, Vile Parle (East), Mumbai - 400 099 www.vedantalimited.com Registered Office: Regd. Office: 1st Floor, 'C' wing, Unit 103, Corporate Avenue, Atul Projects, Chakala, Andheri (East), Mumbai 400 093 CIN: L13209MH1965PLC291394 Disclaimer This press release contains "forward-looking statements" that is, statements related to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address our expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "should" or "will." Forwardlooking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. For us, uncertainties arise from the behaviour of financial and metals markets including the London Metal Exchange, fluctuations in interest and or exchange rates and metal prices; from future integration of acquired businesses; and from numerous other matters of national, regional and global scale, including those of a political, economic, business, competitive or regulatory nature. These uncertainties may cause our actual future results to be materially different that those expressed in our forward-looking statements. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements. SOURCE Vedanta Limited Related Links http://www.vedantalimited.com "We are indeed humbled by this recognition from our global investors and analysts. Our teams deserve the credit of Vedanta's leading rank, a testimony of our world-class management and transparent disclosures. We remain committed to strive for excellence, and create even higher benchmarks in the global natural resources sector," said Mr. Tom Albanese, CEO, Vedanta. The company has been recognized for the 'Best Investor Relations' (nominated by the sell-side), in the Basic Materials industry. Mr. Tom Albanese, CEO, Vedanta Limited, has been ranked as the 'Best CEO' (nominated by the sell-side), while Mr. Ashwin Bajaj, Director-Investor Relations, Vedanta Limited, won the second place in the 'Best Investor Relations Professional' category (nominated by the sell-side) in the industry in Asia (ex-Japan). Vedanta has a market capitalisation of about US$15 billion and is a part of India's premier index, the Nifty 50. Vedanta is also among the top contributors to the country's exchequer at nearly Rs. 40,000 crores in FY 2017. The company declared record dividends of Rs. 7,100 crores last year, amounting to about Rs. 19.50 per share. Its subsidiary Hindustan Zinc too announced record dividends of Rs. 27,157 crore during the period. About Institutional Investor Awards: Institutional Investor is a leading business to business publisher, focused primarily on international finance. For over 30 years, Institutional Investor has recognized people and firms in the financial services industry for excellence. 'Honored Companies' earned at least one overall top 3 combined Buy-side and Sell-side for Best CEO, Best, CFO, Best Investment Relations Professional, or Best IR Program. Voters rank the top-four companies that they believe demonstrate excellence in each of the IR characteristics or performance attributes. Their votes are then weighted by the rank they have assigned each company and aggregated to produce buy-side, sell-side and combined buy- and sell-side rankings for each sector. The Award process has voters rank IR programs, evaluating them on attributes of accessibility of senior executives, constructive conference calls/meetings, quality corporate documents and investor kits, timely and appropriate financial disclosure and quick and thorough responses to requests. In 2017, global Buy-side participation in the survey tripled to 3,074 compared to 1,007 in 2016, while Sell-side participation rose sharply to 868, up from 611 in 2016. This resulted in deep and detailed data to support the results, and a record number of companies nominated: 2,510 companies across 18 sectors, compared to 1,541 companies last year. Respondents from the buy side are associated with institutions that collectively manage US$1.5 trillion in Asia equities excluding Japan. For further information, please contact: Communications Zarin Amrolia Manager, Group Communications Tel: +91-22-6646-1000 [email protected] Investor Relations Ashwin Bajaj Director Investor Relations Tel: +91-22-6646-1531 [email protected] Aarti Raghavan VP Investor Relations Vishesh Pachnanda Manager Investor Relations Sneha Tulsyan Associate Manager Investor Relations About Vedanta Limited Vedanta Limited is a diversified natural resources company, whose business primarily involves producing oil & gas, zinc - lead - silver, copper, iron ore, aluminium and commercial power. The company has a presence across India, South Africa, Namibia, Australia and Ireland. Vedanta Limited is the Indian subsidiary of Vedanta Resources Plc, a London-listed company. Governance and Sustainable Development are at the core of Vedanta's strategy, with a strong focus on health, safety and environment and on enhancing the lives of local communities. The company is conferred with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) 'Sustainable Plus Platinum label', ranking among the top 10 most sustainable companies in India. To access the Vedanta Sustainable Development Report 2016, please visit http://sustainabledevelopment.vedantaresources.com/content/dam/vedanta/corporate/documents/Otherdocuments/SDreport2015-16/Vedanta%20SDR%20FY%2015-16.pdf Vedanta Limited is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange in India and has ADRs listed on the New York Stock Exchange. For more information please visit www.vedantalimited.com Vedanta Limited Vedanta, 75, Nehru Road, Vile Parle (East), Mumbai - 400 099 www.vedantalimited.com Registered Office: Regd. Office: 1st Floor, 'C' wing, Unit 103, Corporate Avenue, Atul Projects, Chakala, Andheri (East), Mumbai 400 093 CIN: L13209MH1965PLC291394 Disclaimer This press release contains "forward-looking statements" that is, statements related to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address our expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "should" or "will." Forwardlooking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. For us, uncertainties arise from the behaviour of financial and metals markets including the London Metal Exchange, fluctuations in interest and or exchange rates and metal prices; from future integration of acquired businesses; and from numerous other matters of national, regional and global scale, including those of a political, economic, business, competitive or regulatory nature. These uncertainties may cause our actual future results to be materially different that those expressed in our forward-looking statements. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements. SOURCE Vedanta Limited Related Links http://www.vedantalimited.com ONTARIO, Calif., July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Vero, LLC, a subsidiary of CU Direct, and Allied Solutions today announced a new strategic partnership for the delivery of innovative solutions to both the credit union and auto dealer markets. As a result of the partnership, Allied Solutions, a leading provider of insurance, lending and risk management solutions to financial institutions, is acquiring 30% ownership in Vero a marketer and distributor of products for the credit union and auto dealer markets. Vero's core products include identity theft recovery solutions for credit unions and their members, as well as prepaid maintenance, Mechanical Breakdown Protection (MBP), Guaranteed Auto Protection (GAP) and after-market products for dealers. The two companies will also collaborate on the development of dynamic lending solutions that will help credit unions not only remain competitive, but to further improve their lending processes and member experience, and drive more loans. Leveraging both companies expertise in the lending marketplace, the joint venture creates a greater value proposition for credit unions and dealers. The companies are currently packaging several automotive related products together into a simpler, more comprehensive solution for credit unions. The synergistic partnership between the two organizations creates a strong foundation for future product development. "Collaborating with a recognized industry force like Allied Solutions, we have a tenured distribution network in the credit union space to partner with, as we bring Vero's innovative products and systems to market," notes Joe Annoreno, CEO of Vero, LLC. "Our mutual goal is putting the member first, as member experience and protection is at the core of our product development." "We are excited about this new partnership with Vero and how we can broaden the value proposition we provide our mutual clients and prospects. We plan to leverage the strength of all three entities to deliver industry leading solutions and results to the credit union market," said Pete Hilger, president and CEO of Allied Solutions. "CU Direct is committed to assisting credit unions improve their lending processes and member experience through innovative technologies," said Tony Boutelle, president and CEO of CU Direct. "Partnering with Allied Solutions will advance efforts in bringing best in class solutions to credit unions." About Allied Solutions Allied Solutions provides insurance, lending and risk management solutions to more than 4,000 financial institutions in North America. Dedicated to helping their clients grow, protect and evolve their business for more than 35 years. Allied delivers solutions that are rooted in proven expertise and customized to support each clients' objectives. Allied Solutions is a wholly owned and independently operated subsidiary of Securian Financial Group. For more information you can visit www.alliedsolutions.net About Vero Vero is a company of CU Direct, offering exclusive vehicle aftermarket and identity recovery products. Vero products create opportunities for credit unions, dealers, and alternative markets to serve their members and customers, and to generate additional revenue. For more information, visit www.veroproducts.com About CU Direct For more than twenty years, CU Direct has been a lending technology leader, helping credit unions fund $209 billion in loans. More than 1,000 credit unions rely on CU Direct's solutions to generate loans, create efficiencies, and grow membership. From CUDL, the industry's number one auto lending platform, to the industry's revolutionary Lending 360 Loan Origination System, and Lending Insights dynamic analytic tools, CU Direct develops the technology that helps credit unions advance their lending programs and overall portfolio success. 14,000 auto dealers nationwide use CU Direct's automotive solutions to connect with credit unions and their members to drive sales and increase their bottom lines. CU Direct is recognized as an award-winning Top Workplace by the California-based Press Enterprise. For more information, visit www.cudirect.com. Connect with CU Direct on Twitter and LinkedIn. Contacts: Bill Meyer CU Direct 909.481.2360 [email protected] Amy Hearn Allied Solutions 817.366.8571 mobile [email protected] SOURCE CU Direct Related Links http://www.cudirect.com NEW YORK, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Each independently owned and operated Volkswagen dealership is now able to partner with automotiveMastermind, the leading predictive analytics technology company, to attract more drivers through the implementation of behavioral analytics and marketing automation. "The introduction of the new Atlas SUV is an example of Volkswagen's efforts to re-invigorate their brand and it demonstrates that they are listening to their customers by tapping into the growing share of the market that wants a powerful, sleek SUV," said Marco Schnabl, CEO and Co-Founder of automotiveMastermind. "Our technology helps dealers find and retain customers by giving their sales team easy access to know which customers are ready to buy and the exact reasons why. We deliver superior customer service that underpins our commitment to our dealer, resulting in a true partnership" Mastermind's proprietary technology captures thousands of data points, gathered from the dealer management system (DMS) and combines it with Big Data social media profiles, financial records, product and consumer lifecycle information, socio-demographics and more. The data is distilled down to one simple number, the Behavior Prediction Score (BPS), a ranking from 0-100 that simply demonstrates to the dealer which customers would result in immediate sales. In addition, Mastermind delivers customer-specific talking points right to the salesperson's desktop, and highly personalized marketing campaigns proven to increase the probability of a customer visiting a dealer. "Volkswagen has long established itself as producing high-quality, exciting cars and this is the perfect opportunity to integrate predictive analytics into their sales process," said Andrew Gillman, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for automotiveMastermind. "Through the use of behavioral prediction and analytics, VW will be able to offer their dealerships the ability to increase sales and customer retention with measurable results." automotiveMastermind has a proven track record of transforming the dealership experience for consumers and revolutionizing the way automotive dealerships and manufacturers, find, engage and earn long-lasting customer relationships. About automotiveMastermind Founded in 2012, automotiveMastermind is the leading provider of predictive analytics and marketing automation technology for the automotive industry. The company's cloud-based platform helps dealers precisely predict automobile-buying behavior and automates the creation of micro-targeted consumer communications, leading to proven higher sales and more consistent customer retention. automotiveMastermind currently works with more than 800 dealer partners, providing access to their technology to more than 6,000 dealerships nationwide. Headquartered in New York City and San Francisco, automotiveMastermind has more than doubled its employee count in the last year. For more information, visit automotivemastermind.com or follow them on Twitter @autoMastermind. SOURCE automotiveMastermind Related Links http://www.automotivemastermind.com NEW YORK, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), today announced the launch of a national fellowship program for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) teachers, in partnership with the National Network of State Teachers of the Year (NNSTOY). The announcement was made during NNSTOY's 2017 National Conference presented by Voya held this week in Washington, D.C. Hundreds of teachers, principals and school administrators gathered at the event to learn from one another about best practices, and to discuss challenges related to student success, teacher leadership, education policy and community relationships. The Voya STEM Fellowship program is focused on ensuring that early-career STEM teachers remain in the field and are highly effective in the classroom by providing mentorship and guidance from educators who have been named State Teachers of the Year. Voya and NNSTOY have identified 15 State Teachers of the Year as Master STEM teachers because of their ability to transform the educational landscape, connect curriculum to real-world experiences and promote student engagement. These Master STEM teachers will be partnered with 15 high-potential first- or second-year teachers, and will act as mentors to these young educators helping them achieve success in teaching STEM subjects and remain in the teaching profession. "STEM education can unlock the doors to creativity in many children, but mastery of these subjects depends on teachers who are empowered to engage students and push the limits of innovation," said Angela D. Harrell, SVP, Corporate Responsibility, and President, Voya Foundation. "Voya's longstanding partnership with NNSTOY is the perfect launch pad for our first-ever Fellows program for educators, and we're excited to see the impact these teachers can have when provided with a platform to share their talents and strengths." As part of the program, Voya's STEM Fellows and Master STEM Teachers will develop a framework to provide their mentees with the tools and support they need to transform their classroom and encourage students to consider careers in the STEM industry. This framework will be scalable and applied to future Voya Foundation programs in the K-12 STEM Teacher Training space, positioning the teachers as thought leaders in the field. "To be successful in today's business environment, students must master a set of transferable skills that help them think outside the box and creatively solve problems," said Joseph Fatheree, Director of Strategic Projects for NNSTOY. "The Voya STEM program will bring together experienced educators and teaching students with fresh perspectives, and empower them to build a STEM education framework that sets up both students and teachers for long-term success in the future." The National Network of State Teachers of the Year is a nonprofit organization committed to improving student learning across the U.S. by advocating for teacher engagement in policy and establishing new and necessary structures to transform the teaching profession, such as career advancement models. Its members are State and National Teachers of the Year and finalists. As an industry leader and advocate for greater retirement readiness, Voya Financial is committed to delivering on its vision to be America's Retirement Company and its mission to make a secure financial future possible one person, one family, one institution at a time. Media Contact: Nicole Vasile Voya Financial Cell: (860) 839-1589 [email protected] About Voya Financial Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), helps Americans plan, invest and protect their savings to get ready to retire better. Serving the financial needs of approximately 13.6 million individual and institutional customers in the United States, Voya is a Fortune 500 company that had $11 billion in revenue in 2016. The company had $505 billion in total assets under management and administration as of March 31, 2017. With a clear mission to make a secure financial future possible one person, one family, one institution at a time Voya's vision is to be America's Retirement Company. Certified as a "Great Place to Work" by the Great Place to Work Institute, Voya is equally committed to conducting business in a way that is socially, environmentally, economically and ethically responsible and has been recognized as one of the 2017 World's Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute, as well as one of the Top Green Companies in the U.S., by Newsweek magazine. For more information, visit voya.com. Follow Voya Financial on Facebook and Twitter @Voya. SOURCE Voya Financial, Inc. Related Links http://www.voya.com NEW YORK, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Weight Watchers International, Inc. (NYSE: WTW) will release its results for the second quarter 2017 after the NYSE closes on Thursday, August 3, 2017. The Company has also scheduled a conference call on August 3 at 5:00 p.m. ET. During the conference call, Mindy Grossman, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Nicholas Hotchkin, Chief Financial Officer, will discuss the second quarter 2017 results and answer questions from the investment community. Live audio of the conference call will be simultaneously webcast over the Internet on the Company's corporate website, www.weightwatchersinternational.com. A replay of the webcast will be available on this site for approximately 90 days. About Weight Watchers International, Inc. Weight Watchers International, Inc. is one of the most recognized and trusted brand names among weight-conscious consumers. Weight Watchers provides commercial weight management services through a global network of Company-owned and franchise operations and offers innovative, digital weight management products through its websites, mobile sites and apps. These services and products are built on the Company's weight management program, which helps millions of people around the world lose weight through sensible and sustainable food plans, activity, behavior modification and group support. Weight Watchers has an unparalleled network of service providers to assist members on their journey and also offers a wide range of products, publications and programs for those interested in weight loss and healthier living. This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs, as well as a number of assumptions concerning future events. These statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on such forward-looking statements because actual results may vary materially from those expressed or implied. The reports filed by the Company pursuant to United States securities laws contain discussions of these risks and uncertainties. The Company assumes no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any obligation to, update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Readers are advised to review the Company's filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (which are available from the SEC's EDGAR database at www.sec.gov, at various SEC reference facilities in the United States and via the Company's website at www.weightwatchersinternational.com). Contact Information: Investors: Brainerd Communicators, Inc. Corey Kinger (212) 986-6667 [email protected] SOURCE Weight Watchers International, Inc. Related Links http://www.weightwatchers.com NEW YORK, July 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- M-Commerce and omnichannel further developing Western Europe's already advanced E-Commerce market, reveals yStats.com Aside from Asia and North America, Western Europe has the third biggest B2C E-Commerce market worldwide, maintaining a strong one-digit share of the region's retail sales during 2016, with this number expected to increase to double-digits in the coming years, according to estimates in the yStats.com report. Due to this, as well as high rates of Internet and online shopper penetration, Western Europe is deemed as an advanced market. Nonetheless, mobile and omnichannel commerce are championing further growth. Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p03659102/Western-Europe-B2C-E-Commerce-Market.html The UK holds the leading spot for both online retail and M-Commerce. Market statistics cited by yStats.com reveal how in 2015, one-third of E-Commerce sales came from mobile devices, with this share increasing at a rate of several percentage points yearly. Another leading market, Germany, is experiencing an M-Commerce growth rate of double that of online retail and ten times more than total retail sales. Mobile shopping is also taking off in Spain, where half of digital buyers purchased with mobile devices during 2016. Cited information from the yStats.com report also highlights the strong development of omnichannel retail throughout Western Europe. France is a good example due to almost half of digital buyers researching items in store and purchasing them online. Surveys conducted in Sweden stated how customers paid more for their most recent purchase if they utilized several retail channels for it. In Austria, there was also incongruity between website hits and online purchase rates for brick-and-mortar retailers, indicating how consumers prefer searching for products online, but that doesn't mean they will purchase them from the same channel. In regards to competition, Amazon was found as one of the most popular E-Commerce websites in almost all countries covered in the yStats.com publication. Nearly a quarter of customers in the UK categorized Amazon as their top retail brand for 2016 and half of digital consumers in Germany began their purchase journey via Amazon. For individual Market Report purchases: 1. A "Single User License" means that only one (1) individually named user of an organization shall be entitled to access the report 2. A "Site License" means that up to ten (10) users within a given geographical location (i.e. country) of an organization shall be entitled to access the report 3. A "Global Site License" means that up to ten (10) worldwide users of an organization shall be entitled to access the report Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p03659102/Western-Europe-B2C-E-Commerce-Market.html About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. http://www.reportlinker.com __________________________ Contact Clare: [email protected] US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 SOURCE Reportlinker Related Links http://www.reportlinker.com LOS ANGELES, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On Wednesday, July 12, 2017, Bobby Saadian and Colin Jones of Wilshire Law Firm filed a proposed class action lawsuit in a federal district court in California, on behalf of their client, Sandra Smith, and similarly situated individuals, against Sabre Corporation. The complaint alleges that Sabre Corporation violated California constitutional laws and unfair competition laws; breached implied contracts and acted negligently, when the company failed to safeguard and protect hotel guests' information from threat of being lost, stolen, misused, and/or disclosed to unauthorized parties. The 8-month data breach compromised payment data from hundreds of thousands of customers, who booked hotels between August 2016 and March 2017. A non-authorized party gained access to private, financial information from customers, who made hotel reservations; their payment card information was compromised, including: full name, card and account number, card expiration date, card verification code, email, phone number, address and other private identifiable information. The proposed class action against Sabre Corporation has been filed to seek justice for hotel guests, whose privacy rights have been violated, and who were exposed to the risk of fraud and identity theft. Sabre Corporation had a duty to maintain Sabre SynXis Central Reservations system's security, which thousands of lifestyle properties use around the world; as well, ensure that hotel guests' information was, adequately, safe and protected by implementing timely processes, which could promptly detect a data breach. A number of hotels using Sabre SynXis Central Reservations system have, reportedly, admitted to the data breach. Among those are Trump Hotels, the Four Seasons, Hard Rock International, Montage Beverly Hills, Loews Hotels and many others. Wilshire Law Firm has received several claims from hotels guests, whose payment information has been compromised, after Sabre Corporation failed to protect their data. Those who have been affected are registering their claim on the Wilshire Law Firm HotelGuestDataBreach.com website. Wilshire Law Firm was founded in 2007 by Bobby Saadian, Esq. The firm represents victims in class action lawsuits and mass torts cases against negligent corporations and big business; as well, victims of catastrophic accidents, environmental contamination, dangerous pharmaceuticals and defective products. Wilshire Law Firm also fights for employee rights and equality in the workplace. https://wilshirelawfirm.com/ Case Filing Number: 2:17-cv-05149 / PDF copy of the class action available upon request. SOURCE Wilshire Law Firm Related Links https://wilshirelawfirm.com/ Sources have told India Today TV that Pakistan has been aggressively trying to seek investment from international financial institutions and countries, including China and South Korea By Geeta Mohan: India's diplomatic power play is paying off with countries rethinking and reviewing decisions to invest in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). South Korea's Daelim Industrial Company Limited, which is leading a consortium to develop the 500 MW Chakothi Hattian Hydropower Project on the Jhelum in Muzaffarabad, is reconsidering its investment in the venture. This after financiers such as the Asian Development Bank, International Finance Corporation and Exim Bank of Korea expressed their inability to back a project in a disputed area. The information minister of PoK Mushtaq Ahmed Minhas has confirmed the development. advertisement Further, other Korean-financed ventures in the region, such as the Kohala Hydropower project, may also be stalled. Sources have told India Today TV that Pakistan has been aggressively trying to seek investment from international financial institutions and countries, including China and South Korea, in energy and other infrastructure projects in PoK and Gilgit-Baltistan. Both are parts of undivided Jammu and Kashmir, and claimed by India as its territory. "I think it's a very favourable development for us," said Jayadeva Ranade, president of the Centre for China Analysis and Strategy, and a former additional secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat. "It's a development that we should follow up. In fact, I would say that we should encourage South Korea and its companies to come to India particularly in areas that we are weak like shipbuilding." MONEY ISSUES While investments were being considered earlier, lately there has been a general reluctance both by financial institutions and countries towards putting money in these areas. This disinclination is on account of an increased international understanding of the legal status of Gilgit-Baltistan and PoK. "If it is as a result of diplomatic effort on the part of India, I would say that it is very good and encouraging news that countries are receptive to concerns that we have," said former foreign secretary Shyam Saran. Following the announcement of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), and India's categorical objection to it on the grounds that Pakistan and China could not construct an economic corridor that passed through Indian territory currently under illegal occupation of Pakistan, the international community has woken up to the disputed nature of the region. Hydropower has been a source of friction between the neighbouring nations, with the two sides over the years objecting to each other's major dam projects. New Delhi has in recent months fast-tracked hydropower projects worth about $15bn in Kashmir, ignoring warnings from Islamabad that power stations on rivers flowing into Pakistan will disrupt water supplies. The CPEC has also brought to the fore the legal position of the two areas in Pakistan. Not only do the regions remain disputed territory, they are also not formally part of Pakistan under the country's constitution. Azad Kashmir (AJK),i.e., Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan, are not named in the constitution of Pakistan, thereby leaving a large number of questions unanswered, including the citizenship of people residing in these parts. India's continuous efforts to highlight these facts over the last few years have yielded results where doubts have been raised among investors on the economic feasibility of projects in the disputed area. "I think this realisation will dawn on commercial entities which have major stakes in India," said Ashok Kantha, former ambassador to China. "They will have to take a call sometime on what is more important for them: to get involved in PoK or to look after their commercial interests in India." advertisement CHINA'S ROLE Apart from South Korea, sources say China has also been putting pressure on Pakistan to legalise the status of PoK and Gilgit-Baltistan through amendments to its constitution before it pours in huge investments in these areas as a part of the CPEC. China is aware that not only is the region disputed, being claimed by India, but even Pakistani laws do not give it the status of Pakistan's sovereign territory. Chinese pressure has led to the recent move by the Nawaz Sharif government to change the status of Gilgit-Baltistan and declare it the fifth province of the country. advertisement "There must be some technical reason for their pullout," said Sardar Atiq, former Prime Minister of AJK (PoK). "One needs to find out. But as far as foreign investment in 'Azad Kashmir' is concerned, this is not for the first time. We have 2-3 projects going on right now and are accommodating a lot of foreign investment." Earlier, Asian Development Bank also refused to fund the $14 billion Diamer-Bhasha Dam on the Indus river. This project has been facing problems with financiers since its inception with several sponsors backing out in 2012. The following year, it appeared that the project would take off after the Aga Khan Foundation and ADB agreed to be its financiers. However, subsequently the ADB put its decision to bankroll the project on hold. Also Read Is China backing Pakistan's position on PoK projects under its China-Pakistan Economic Corridor plan? Gilgit-Baltistan: Story of how region 6 times the size of PoK passed on to Pakistan advertisement Also Watch South Korean firm Daelim reconsiders hydel power project in PoK --- ENDS --- NEW YORK, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- XL Catlin has enhanced its Cyber & Technology insurance coverage with the introduction of CyberRiskConnect, a new policy form that addresses the rapidly expanding and ever evolving exposures of cyber & technology risk. According to John Coletti, Chief Underwriting Officer for XL Catlin's Cyber & Technology group in North America, "Data breaches and cyber threats are increasing in both magnitude and sophistication, as most recently evidenced by Petya and Wannacry." "Our daily lives are changing in response to new technologies and business models," Mr. Coletti added. "While advancements in technology services and products may simplify our personal and professional lives, they also create new exposures, previously not contemplated. As a result, our Cyber & Technology Errors and Omissions Insurance Coverage provides broad coverage to protect against these unprecedented risks." According to the Ponemon Institute's 2017 Cost of Data Breach Study, the average consolidated total cost of a data breach is $3.6 million. The average cost for each lost or stolen record containing sensitive and condential information is $141 and companies are experiencing larger breaches, according to the study. The average size of data breaches increased 1.8 percent to more than 24,000 records. Additionally, according to another study by IBM Security, ransomware attacks increased 6,000 percent in 2016 compared to 2015. "We're committed to making sure our cyber insurance coverage addresses our clients' changing technology and unique risk profile," said Mr. Coletti. "Our new policy is distinguishable from the competition as it provides more effective resources and latest policy terms to help clients thwart the growing threats associated with the threat of cyber risk." CyberRiskConnect includes: All third party insuring agreements now provide expanded coverage for wrongful acts committed by rogue employees, outsourced providers and third parties for whose third party wrongful act an insured is legally responsible. Business Interruption coverage applies after a waiting period while Extra Expense is excess of a dollar retention. The reimbursement period for losses arising from a data breach or cyber-security breach is 18 months. Unlimited reimbursement period for loss of business income. Expanded definition of "outsourced provider" to include any third party contracted to perform any business service on behalf of an insured company. CyberRiskConnect provides broad coverage for data protection and privacy risks, both for third-party claims and first-party mitigation costs following a technology or cyber event. Coverage is tailored for businesses across various industries and technology companies. Several breach preparedness tools are available via our online resource -- www.cyberriskconnect.com -- as well as through XL Catlin's preferred vendor network. For more information, please contact a member of the XL Catlin Cyber & Technology underwriting team. About XL Catlin Insurance Operations XL Catlin insurance companies offer property, casualty, professional, financial lines and specialty insurance products globally. Businesses that are moving the world forward choose XL Catlin as their partner. To learn more, visit xlcatlin.com. About XL Catlin XL Catlin is the global brand used by XL Group Ltd's (NYSE: XL) insurance and reinsurance companies which provide property, casualty, professional and specialty products to industrial, commercial and professional firms, insurance companies and other enterprises throughout the world. Clients look to XL Catlin for answers to their most complex risks and to help move their world forward. To learn more, visit xlcatlin.com . SOURCE XL Catlin Related Links http://xlcatlin.com BOSTON, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- ZappRx, a digital health company that reduces the administrative burden associated with prescribing specialty medications, today announced that its platform has been deployed at Arizona Pulmonary Specialists, the largest private practice treating pulmonary hypertension, as well as Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, CA. The implementations were led by Dr. Jeremy Feldman (Arizona) and Dr. Ronald Oudiz (Harbor-UCLA), both considered to be amongst the most highly-regarded and innovative physicians in the pulmonary hypertension community. ZappRx simplifies the complex process required to order specialty medications, making it easier to collect and save all of the information required to order a prescription, and then enabling providers, pharmacists, and payers to digitally interact with one another to fill a prescription. The platform is currently live in three disease areas, including Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH), Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF), and Cystic Fibrosis, with plans to expand to support prescribing for neurology, oncology, rheumatology, and gastroenterology conditions. "The first prescription we wrote was approved within 48 hours, improving immediately on what had been a completely paper-based process for us, taking sometimes more than three weeks," said Dr. Ronald Oudiz, MD, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Liu Center for Pulmonary Hyptertension, LA Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. "Our team spends its time differently now that we use ZappRx," said Dr. Jeremy Feldman, MD, FCCP, who serves as Director of the Pulmonary Hypertension Program and Medical Director of Research at Arizona Pulmonary Specialists. "The nurses worry less about the prescriptions and prior authorizations for our patients, and are able to spend more time with patients, and less time on the phone with insurance companies. The nurses also connect with the doctors more on patient care, and are generally less stressed about their jobs." "Dr. Feldman raised his hand to be first to use our combined prescription and prior authorization feature set. We love that innovators on the clinical front like Drs. Feldman and Oudiz are showing leadership in technology innovation too, and that ZappRx is the vehicle for it," said Karen Tirozzi, VP of Solutions at ZappRx, who previously served as VP of Research and Development at Health Leads and VP of Client Services at PatientKeeper. About ZappRx ZappRx simplifies the complex process required to order specialty medications, consolidating what is currently a multi-step, redundancy-laden, and manual process. The platform makes it simple to collect and save all of the information required to fill a specialty prescription in one step; including pharmacy information, payer/prior authorization requirements, and relevant patient clinical history. ZappRx then enables providers, pharmacists, and payers to digitally interact with one another to fill a prescription, reducing the need for fax and phone call interactions. ZappRx is on the web at ZappRx.com. Follow ZappRx on Twitter, at twitter.com/zapprx and LinkedIn, at linkedin.com/company/zapprx. Contact: Chrysta Olson 617-844-0989 SOURCE ZappRx Related Links http://www.zapprx.com The only tangible link between ISIS and Kashmir has been found with boys who were driven towards it from outside the country. By Shuja-ul-Haq : Through the narrow lanes of old city Srinagar the corpse of Sajad Gilkar, a newly formed Hizbul militant was being taken out from his home on July 12. Scores of people were following and shouting slogans, the atmosphere looked tense. It was all usual until someone suddenly pulled away the green Pakistani flag from the body and later instead covered with a black one. advertisement It resembled the flag that ISIS uses globally. The pictures of this incident have ever since become a talking point. Many using it to suggest that this was a clear indicator of ISIS having been able to make inroads into Kashmir. If true, this would certainly mean a monumental shift in Kashmir's conflict. But conflicts have a habit of throwing doubts at people and at times they even make things look real only to be eventually proven wrong. So is the 'ISIS in Kashmir' story a reality or just a myth? The answer lies in details. The top notch instruments of the security paraphernalia working in Kashmir suggest that ISIS entering into the Valley and functioning like it does is nothing but a fable. "It is not Syria. In Kashmir an organisation like ISIS coming up and working the way it does is just not possible. Let us not underestimate our grids," said a top official in one of the security forces working in the Valley. Even in the case of Sajad Gilkar the officials have denied any linkage with any ISIS type group so far. "In downtown it is for the first time we have seen ISIS flags on a militant body. Earlier such flags were seen in protests. We have already started investigations but so far have found nothing concrete," said IGP Kashmir Munir Khan. READ: Zakir Musa hails Burhan Wani in new video, says slain Hizb commander wanted 'caliphate' in Valley ISIS KASHMIR CONNECT: The only tangible link between ISIS and Kashmir has been found with boys who were driven towards it from outside the country. Over the years only three cases have come to light. In August 2015: A young Kashmiri boy named Adil Fayaz Wada from Srinagar's upscale Jawahar Nagar locality had allegedly joined ISIS from Australia. He had been pursuing his MBA degree from Queensland University. After finishing his degree, Wada had told his family that he had got a job in Turkey, after unsuccessfully trying to get one in Australia, Dubai and Qatar. There has been no news about him ever since. In January 2016: A 23-year-old youth from Preng village of Ganderbal district, Sheikh Azhar ul Islam was deported from the UAE for being an alleged IS sympathiser, along with two other Indians. In 2017: Afshan Pervaz, 21, a resident of Khanyar, a downtown Srinagar locality, has been deported from Turkey for allegedly trying to join ISIS. According to police, Pervaz had told his family that he wanted to go to Iran for higher studies, and had booked a seat on a flight to Tehran on March 23 from where he had moved to Turkey. Scores of people gathered for Sajad Gilkar's funeral. Scores of people gathered for Sajad Gilkar's funeral. advertisement ISIS TYPE IDEOLOGY IN KASHMIR'S AZADI? What is concerning the security forces is the growing ideology of 'hard-line Islam' among the youngsters who are joining militant groups. Recently a boy from North Kashmir had left his home to join the Zakir Musa group of militants. His parents and the police worked hard to bring him back just in the nick of time. They had to take the help of a religious scholar to convince him to shun the path. When the police spoke to him it seemed that he was fascinated by the ideas of Islamic supremacy that Zakir Musa has been professing. Musa made headlines with his audio message in which he threatened to chop off the heads of Hurriyat leaders if they came in his path and insisted that the struggle of Kashmir was just political. advertisement Zakir also later announced his breakup from the parent group of Hizbul Mujahideen. He was even heard saying that he had no ties with ISIS or al Qaeda but he wasn't against them. Ever since then he and his group have been functioning as a separate entity mostly in the south of Kashmir. To some people all this does find similarities to ISIS. However there still is a sharp difference between ISIS and Kashmiri militancy. "ISIS professes ultra radical Salfist ideology and their system of Islamic governance is guided by that. They use brutal means to achieve the objective. Kashmir won't accept that," says a top police official in J&K. READ: Zakir Musa could be the first al Qaeda commander in India, say intel inputs IS ZAKIR MUSA THE ISIS OF KASHMIR? So what explains this growing trend of young boys getting lured towards Zakir Musa. There are many factors to this and one among them is the hopelessness. "The youngsters are losing faith in Hurriyat and to an extent even Pakistan. In these decades nothing has changed in Kashmir. Not an inch has been won by them. And now there seems to be little interest being shown by political class in Delhi for any headway or talks. This causes hopelessness and in such a state some are bound to find refuge in extreme thought process," explains an important top functionary in the security setup. advertisement Another factor as per the experts could also be the sudden assertion of the 'Hindu' ideology in the rest of the country. Social media users in Kashmir do react sharply to every news item about cow vigilantism or any other such issue that comes up from the mainland India. Zakir Musa has issued audio tapes attacking Hurriyat conference and even Pakistan. His audio recordings have also mentioned about the 'atrocities' on Indian Muslims. But is Zakir Musa such a big problem for the security scenario? Well yes he seems to. The security establishment feels that Zakir Musa brand of extremism is finding space among the youngsters who are mostly disgruntled by the inefficacy of Hurriyat and Pakistan. Some believe that the more these separatist political outfits like Hurriyat become irrelevant the more space it would create for the thought process that Zakir Musa supports. "Zakir Musa and his band of boys is a threat. If not ISIS they certainly do have the capability of creating a disruption of a different kind in the Valley. He appeals to a youngster because that young boy wants to see something happening on the ground which others haven't been able to achieve," said the police officer dealing with anti-militancy cases. Also read: The black shroud in Kashmir marks presence of ISIS in Valley Video claims Zakir Musa's Taliban-e-Kashmir provided info to forces about LeT militants killed by Army Ex-Hizb commander Zakir Musa's new recruit was accused of unnatural sex Now, MARCOS helping Army flush out terrorists in Kashmir Kashmir: Army kills 3 wanted Lashkar militants in Anantnag encounter ALSO WATCH | Modi government will find a permanent solution to the Kashmir issue: Rajnath Singh to India Today 100 terrorists killed in Jammu and Kashmir this year --- ENDS --- If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here Washington, July 18 : US President Donald Trump's administration has unveiled its goals for renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), issuing a plan for how it hopes to rewrite trade terms and transform the American economy, the media reported. The administration sent a document on Monday to the Congress that contained a broad list of objectives, including some goals that have been specifically championed by the President, as well as numerous provisions that echo the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), an Obama-era trade agreement that Trump has disparaged, reports The Washington Post. It said the aim is to improve market access for US manufacturing, agriculture and services in the three-nation deal. US Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer said an updated agreement will include a digital economy chapter and will fold labour and environment obligations, which have remained outside the main agreement, into a final deal, reports The Hill magazine. Lighthizer said the US will work to eliminate "unfair subsidies, market-distorting practices by state-owned enterprises" and will improve intellectual property protections. "Too many Americans have been hurt by closed factories, exported jobs and broken political promises," Lighthizer said in a statement. "Under President Trump's leadership, USTR will negotiate a fair deal." Talks are expected to start in about a month. Trump has called NAFTA the "worst deal ever" and has threatened to leave the agreement. The combined goods and services trade deficit with Mexico was $55.6 billion in 2016. The US deficit in goods was $63.2 billion last year, while the services surplus for the US was $7.6 billion in 2016. The US has a $12.5 billion goods and services surplus with Canada. The U.S. goods trade deficit with Canada was $12.1 billion in 2016 while the US services trade surplus was $24.6 billion last year. New Delhi, July 19 : Counting of the ballots cast in the July 17 presidential election will be taken up here on Thursday to decide the fate of two contenders -- the ruling NDA's candidate Ram Nath Kovind, who has a clear edge, and the combined Opposition nominee Meira Kumar. Officials said all preparations have been made for the vote count and that all ballot boxes have already reached Parliament House by Tuesday evening amid tight security. They said the counting will begin at 11 a.m. simultaneously across four tables. There will be eight rounds of counting, and announcements made after every round. Polling to choose the successor to President Pranab Mukherjee, who demits office on July 24, was held simultaneously at 32 polling stations -- one in Parliament House and one each in 29 state assemblies and two union territories with assemblies. Lok Sabha Secretary General Anoop Mishra is the Returning Officer for the election, and will issue the certificate to the winning candidate. Officials said the seals of ballot boxes will be opened on Thursday in the presence of representatives of the two candidates -- former Bihar Governor Kovind and former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar -- and the observers of the Election Commission. In Monday's polling, several states registered 100 per cent polling. The overall poll percentage was pegged at 99.41 per cent. A total of 776 members of Parliament and 4,120 legislators were eligible to cast votes. In the electoral arithmetic, Kovind has a distinct advantage over his rival as parties like the Janata Dal-United and the Biju Janata Dal, otherewise not allied with the Bharatiya Janata Party, had decided to vote for him. The Janata Dal-United has about 1.91 per cent of electoral college votes, while the BJD of Odisha has 2.99 per cent. In addition, the ruling Telengana Rashtra Samithi in Telangana (two per cent), different factions of AIADMK (5.39 per cent), and the YSR Congress (1.53 per cent) also had announced their backing for Kovind. The value of vote of an MP is 708 while that of an assembly member varies from state to state depending on the size of its population. The total value of votes of the presidential electoral college is 10,98,903, and the NDA candidate is slated to get over 63 per cent votes. In the last presidential election in 2012, Pranab Mukherjee had defeated P.A. Sangma and got over 69 per cent votes. Washington, July 20 : The first round of new talks on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) will take place in Washington, D.C. from August 16-20, US Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer announced on Wednesday. John Melle, assistant USTR for the Western Hemisphere, will serve as chief negotiator for the US to revamp the trilateral trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, Xinhua reported. The upcoming trade talks immediately follows the 90-day consultation period with US Congress and the public initiated on May 18, when Lighthizer notified Congress of President Donald Trump's intent to renegotiate NAFTA to get a better deal, according to the USTR's Office. The USTR's Office on Monday released objectives for the renegotiation of the NAFTA that aims to reduce US trade deficit and includes new aspects, such as digital economy, labour and environmental obligations. It's the first time that USTR has included deficit reduction as a specific objective for NAFTA negotiation, reflecting the Trump administration's determination to address the trade deficit. Trump has called NAFTA a "disaster" and blamed it for the hollowing out of the US manufacturing sector. He has also threatened to quit NAFTA so as to ramp up pressure on Canada and Mexico to renegotiate the trade agreement. During phone calls with the leaders of Mexico and Canada in April, Trump said he agreed not to terminate the NAFTA "at this time" but would proceed swiftly to renegotiate it with the other two countries. US Secretary of Commerce Department Wilbur Ross said last month that he hoped renegotiation on the NAFTA could be done by the end of this year. Jerusalem, July 20 : Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday slammed the EU policy on Israel as "absolutely crazy". Netanyahu said the EU is the only association of countries in the world that conditions the relations with Israel, Xinhua reported. EU has repeatedly condemned Israel's building of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and crackdown on civil society groups critical of the government. Netanyahu commented that the EU was the only major power to attach "political" conditions to its relationship with Israel. "This, he said, was damaging to the bloc's security and economic interests," BBC reported. Netanyahu cited China, Russia and India as countries who do business with "innovation giant Israel" and "don't care about political issues." Netanyahu made the remarks on the second of a three-day visit to Budapest, the first such trip by an Israeli leader since the fall of communism in 1989, said the report. The Hague, July 20 : The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday ordered the trial chamber to review whether former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo should continue to be detained. On March 10 this year, Trial Chamber I of the ICC decided that Gbagbo shall remain behind bars in a UN detention centre until the end of his trial, Xinhua reported. Gbagbo appealed the decision. The trial judges "should have considered the duration of time Mr Gbagbo has spent in detention ... and it should have determined whether, all factors being considered, Mr Gbagbo's detention continues to be reasonable", said the Appeals Chamber in its ruling. The 71-year-old Gbagbo, president of Cote d'Ivoire from 2000 to 2011, was transferred to the ICC's detention unit in The Hague on November 30, 2011, following his arrest warrant on November 23 the same year. In January 2016, the trial opened. Gbagbo denied all charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed against supporters of Alassane Ouattara, current President of Cote d'Ivoire, during the aftermath of the presidential elections in 2010 and 2011. The trial chamber "erred in taking into account the fact that a person denies responsibility for the charges he faces, as a factor favouring detention" and "erred by considering Mr Gbagbo's advanced age as a factor that increased his desire to abscond, rather than one that may potentially mitigate the possibility of absconding", said the Appeals Chamber. Therefore the appeals chamber ordered "the trial chamber to carry out a new review as to whether Mr Gbagbo should continue to be detained or should be released with or without conditions". In its decision, the Appeals Chamber emphasized that it is not suggesting what the outcome of the Trial Chamber's review should be. Lagos, July 20 : At least 33 people lost their lives in clashes between villagers and herdsmen in southern part of north Nigeria's Kaduna State on Wednesday. "Twenty-seven herdsmen living in Kajuru area of the state were killed by villagers in two separate attacks, while six villagers also died," Xinhua quoted Agyole Abeh, the state commissioner of police, as saying. The police chief said his officers would arrest and prosecute those responsible for this dastardly and callous act. He, however, said that calm has been restored to villages affected. The renewed crisis was said to have erupted since Sunday when some Fulani youths reportedly went to a village at Ugwan Uka to avenge the killing of their kinsman. Kajuru Local Government is about 50 km drive from the state capital. If the Congress have their Indira Canteens, the Janata Dal (Secular) now has their very own Namma Appaji Canteen, courtesy gold merchant and MLC TA Sharavana. By Nolan Pinto: If the Congress have their Indira Canteens, the Janata Dal (Secular) now has their very own Namma Appaji Canteen, courtesy gold merchant and MLC TA Sharavana. The first model canteen of the project, that Sharavana decided to fund entirely on his own, is expected to begin operations in Basavanagudi constituency in Hanumanthanagar. A technical team is already at work and the project is being personally supervised by the leader who wants the canteen to be ready by August 2. advertisement "This canteen will be useful for those people who need it the most like auto rickshaw drivers, roadside vegetable vendors and many who just cannot afford a good meal every day," Sharavana told India Today. He decided to name the canteen after the former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda who is fondly called Appaji in the family and by his close friends. Sharavana said he had been thinking of opening this canteen for over a year now ever since the party supremo made a suggestion. Every year on Vaikunta Ekadasi, Sharavana donates 1 lakh ladoos to devotees of the Tirumala temple. This was noticed by the HD Deve Gowda who suggested that while this was a noble gesture, Sharavana could also feed the poor. Sharavana instead decided to charge a small amount, rather than giving free food, because then he says people will value it. After assessing how well the first canteen operates, he plans to open many more in all the 28 Assembly constituencies and then in various districts across the state. WHAT IS ON THE MENU? The Namma Appaji Canteen will initially be open from 7.30 am to 2.30 pm. They will serve idlis, vadas, karabath and kesaribath for Rs 5 each till 10 am. Tea and coffee will be sold for just Rs 3. Lunch will begin 12.30 onwards and on the menu will be ragi mudde, rice and sambar along with Pongal and Bisibelebath for Rs 10. On the difference between the Congress government's Indira canteens, Sharavana told India Today that it would be wrong to even compare Namma Appaji canteen with that since he is singlehandedly financing this whole operation in the name of the JD(S) party supremo. "He (HD Deve Gowda) has done so much for society and I am one of his followers," he says adding, "I am not interested in elections and this is in no way political." According to him, the canteen is a work of charity and for a noble cause in society. Sharavana also knows how important such canteens have worked in favour of the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu. He is of the opinion that if Namma Appaji Canteen, "helps the party, then it is well and good." While the JD(S) is moving on this project full steam ahead, the Congress' Indira Canteen is in danger of not meeting the CM's deadline of August 15. As per our sources, out of 198 wards, construction work has begun only in 38 wards. But the Corporation officials are an optimistic lot and are certain of meeting the deadline given to them. advertisement ALSO READ: Karnataka borrows Tamil Nadu's 'Amma canteen' idea, calls it Indira canteen Chennai is all shut, but Amma canteens continue to serve food to people --- ENDS --- Creative Group Inc., a performance improvement company, announced that Stephanie Sorrells has joined the company as Account Executive. Stephanies understanding of the incentive travel market and her ability to deliver truly unique experiences sets her apart, said Creative Group President, Janet Traphagen. Sorrells will join the Business Development team and continue to lead her existing clients in addition to enabling the company to focus on new vertical markets. The move to Creative Group provides me the opportunity to offer my clients more services from strategic meeting management to individual incentives and employee engagement solutions. Im excited to join the team with its expanded resources and commitment to client excellence, Sorrells said. Creative Group offers meeting and event services, as well as incentive solutions, designed to align the behaviors of employees, sales forces and customers with desired results. About Stephanie Sorrells Sorrells has over 25 years of experience in the meetings and incentives business. Having run her own company, Vibrant Travel Solutions, for over fifteen years she has a keen understanding of the business, from strategic experience creation to on-site execution for Fortune 100 customers. She prides herself on her 100 percent customer satisfaction ratings. Sorrells is a member of Leading Hotels of the World Advisory Board and Northstar Media Advisory Board. In addition, she is an international speaker, writer and author of Women Who Ignite. About Creative Group Creative Group, a Direct Travel company, is a full-service performance improvement company. The company specializes in engagement, incentive and recognition solutions, and end-to-end meeting and event management. An industry leader, Creative Group has been honored with the CMI 25 Award, which recognizes the top 25 most influential meeting and incentive management companies in the U.S., each year since the awards inception in 2007. Creative Group was founded in 1970 and has served clients in financial services, life sciences, insurance, manufacturing, retail, technology, automotive, hospitality and more. Employing over 150 people, the company is headquartered in Appleton, Wisconsin, and maintains a large office in suburban Chicago as well as satellite offices in Detroit and Denver. APN Logo Truckerpath chose Wallarm application security because its architecture is a good fit for our dynamic AWS-based infrastructure. Today, Wallarm announces it has joined Amazon Partner Network (APN). The technology partnership between Wallarm and AWS presents a promising opportunity for DevOps teams that use AWS infrastructure for their production workloads and want to incorporate application security into the application development and deployment processes. The collaboration between the two companies further supports the commitment from Wallarm to enable application security in the cloud. "Truckerpath chose Wallarm application security because its architecture is a good fit for our dynamic AWS-based infrastructure. In 15 month that we have been using the solution, we have seen already low false positive rates come down even further and no security breaches.", said Andrey Neverov, Head of Engineering, TruckerPath. As a leading provider of AI-driven application security, Wallarm is helping customers to implement application security for CI/CD environments. Wallarm solution includes high-performance signature-free WAF with the ability to verify the impact of malicious payloads in real time. This means SecOps and DevOps teams can now eliminate security impediments to the efficient development process by deploying a security solution which operates at a speed of load balancer and automatically adjusts security rules after every application release. Wallarms scalable hybrid architecture is well suited for cloud deployments with blocking security rules and initial traffic analysis performed in the distributed filtering nodes, while anonymized application data / metrics are sent to Wallarm cloud service for in-depth machine learning. Cloud service is also responsible for periodic updates of security rules and active threat verification. Many of our customers are running their web applications on the new technology stack including AWS infrastructure., said Ivan Novikov, CEO of Wallarm, With additional deployment option as an AMI image, customers deploying in AWS have more opportunities to take advantage of Wallarms adaptive AI-enabled security for their cloud applications while leveraging their existing DevOps toolset. Availability Filtering nodes for Wallarms next gen WAF with real-time threat verification are now available as virtual appliance in the Amazon marketplace: Wallarm AMI Achieving the Standard standing as an APN partner means customers can deploy Wallarm solution on their AWS infrastructure with confidence. About Wallarm Founded in 2013, Wallarm provides its award-winning application security solution to hundreds of enterprises and SaaS providers worldwide. Hybrid architecture makes its products uniquely suited for cloud applications and micro-services. Wallarm uses machine learning to analyzes traffic and creates adaptive security rules to protect applications and APIs. Wallarm is a privately held company headquartered in Menlo Park, California and backed by Y-combinator, Partech Ventures, and other investors. Team Tunista operates 3 FMO contracts, including JBPH, Hollamon AFB, and Ft. Benning. Tunista Services, LLC, a wholly owned 8(a) subsidiary of Yulista Holding, LLC, was awarded a five year, firm-fixed price contract supporting the US Air Force at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam providing furnishings management and operations. The FMO contract is the second contract win for TSL in the second quarter of 2017. Tunista is proud to have been chosen to support the USAF at JBPH. This win further validates TSL as a strong contender in the FMO as an Alaska Native Owned Small Disadvantaged Business. With this win, TSL now operates and maintains 3 large FMO contracts. Kyle Nakamura, TSL Vice-President TSL specializes in base operations and maintenance, warehousing management, and information technology services. TSL provides base and facilities support for multiple government agencies in Hawaii, Arizona, New Mexico, South Carolina, and Georgia. For more information about Yulista Holding, LLC, and its family of companies, visit http://www.yulista.com. Lexington personal injury attorney Julie Butcher has announced the winner of her scholarship for 2017. Brionna Roberts will receive $1,000 from the law office, which she will use when attending the University of Kentucky this fall. After reading her essay and meeting with her in person, it was clear that Brionna is incredibly bright, passionate and generous, said Butcher. She believes in giving back to her community, and I think she will go on to do even more great things. The essay that Roberts submitted for the scholarship demonstrated years of volunteer work that included working on behalf of the Michael K. Brown Memorial Scholarship, a scholarship dedicated to the memory of her uncle. She has also done volunteer work through the varsity cheer team at Bourbon County High School, as President of the YMCA Black Achievers Youth Advisory Board and through her church with the Kids Praise program. Butcher offered the scholarship to Kentucky high school seniors who planned to attend certain schools in the state. The winner was selected based solely on the essay submitted. The criteria were creativity, originality and ability to convey a complex message. Applicants were asked to write a 500- to 1000-word essay that answered the question, When did you become passionate about volunteering in your community and what have you done throughout your academic career to further the cause(s) for which you have given your time? Butcher said that Roberts demonstrated the qualities of generosity and selflessness that will likely be a hallmark of todays youth. Im heartened to see young people like Brionna be so involved with their communities, Butcher said. She embodies that altruistic spirit that I believe will define her generation. About Julie Butcher: Julie Butcher is a personal injury attorney based in Lexington, KY. For over 25 years, she has assisted clients who have suffered serious injuries across the state. She opened her own firm, the Julie Butcher Law Office, in 2003. To learn more about her practice, visit http://juliebutcherlaw.com/ or call 859.233.3641. Better Places Travel is committed to 100% tailor-made roundtrips, designed by experts who know their destination inside and out. Better Places, a social enterprise in responsible travel that launched in The Netherlands in 2014, followed by Germany in 2016 (operating as Fairaway), is now available to English-speaking travellers around the globe as Better Places Travel. Initial destination roll-out includes: Argentina, Colombia, Cuba, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Madagascar, Namibia, Nepal, Peru, South Africa, Suriname, and Vietnam. Additional locations coming soon. With more independent travellers seeking unique, locally-focused experiences that support the communities they visit, Better Places Travel connects travellers with local experts in Asia, Africa and Latin America to design unique, tailor-made experiences. These experts are either expatriates who have lived in the country for years, or locals with extensive tourism experience, so they have a wealth of insider knowledge and local connections. Personal contact is always the top priority: between the traveller and the local expert, and between the traveller and the local people. Co-founder Saskia Griep says, Everyone has their own travel style and preferences: from outdoor adventures and hidden gems to locally-focused homestays and family-friendly activities. Thats why Better Places Travel is committed to 100% tailor-made roundtrips, designed by experts who know their destination inside and out. They will coordinate everything from small-scale accommodations like ecolodges and homestays to in-country transportation and excursions led by local guides, allowing travellers to focus on their experience, not the logistics. Better Places Travel follows responsible travel practices and has a trusted network of partners in accordance with Travelife, an international certification program for agents and tour operators. All payments are made through the Better Places Travel website, and backed by financial securities and guarantees, giving travellers peace of mind when they book. With the growth weve seen in The Netherlands and Germany in such a short time period, we wanted to bring Better Places to a wider international audience, says marketing manager Marcela Rilovic. Our expansion into the English-speaking markets will enable more people to visit countries responsiblyas travellers, not just as tourists. For more information visit http://www.betterplacestravel.com. About Better Places Travel Better Places Travel is part of Better Places (NL), a social enterprise in travel that provides 100% tailor-made authentic travel experiences in accordance with responsible and sustainable tourism practices. Better Places puts travellers in contact with local experts to design unique experiences around nature and the local population, ensuring money directly supports local communities. Their Better Places for people to live in, Better Places to visit mission is carried out through their focus on ecolodges, family-run homestays, responsible tours and carbon emission offsets. Better Places not only offsets emissions from in-country flights, accommodations and tours, but also international flightsall at their expense. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube Contact Marcela Rilovic Marcela(at)betterplacestravel.com +31(0) 71 891 0404 Columbia, Md. office welcomes Neil Madan Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices PenFed Realty, one of the countrys fastest-growing real estate brokerages, today welcomes Neil Madan to its Columbia, Md. office. Madan will work with home buyers and sellers, with a focus on relocation and investment real estate services. Im extremely excited to join such a dynamic and well-respected company, said Madan. This is a brokerage firm with unmatched products and services, and with people who go above and beyond to serve clients. Madan began his career in 2000 as a marketing professional for satellite radio company, XM Satellite Radio (now Sirius XM Radio). After advancing to leadership positions in advertising agencies, he switched gears in 2007 and started his own real estate company, The Madan Group. Neil has an impressive track record of successfully managing and growing businesses, said Baltimore regional president Terri Bracciale. His marketing and business development expertise is a huge asset, and hell be a fantastic addition to the team. A longtime Maryland resident, Madan received his bachelors degree from the University of Maryland university system and resides with his family in Howard County. Madan is licensed and experienced in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia, and can be reached via phone at 202-258-1127 or by email at Neil.Madan(at)penfedrealty(dot)com. About the company Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices PenFed Realty (http://www.penfedrealty.com) is a full-service real estate company with unit sales of over 15,000 per year and sales volume of $4 billion annually. The company has 1,800 agents and more than 55 offices, providing complete real estate services nationwide. PenFed Realty is a wholly-owned subsidiary of PenFed Credit Union, a financial institution with almost $24 billion in assets and almost 2 million members worldwide. PenFed Realty is a member of the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices brokerage network, operated by HSF Affiliates LLC. PenFed Realty is an equal opportunity employer: m/f/v/d. Equal Housing Opportunity. Kamal Haasan has accepted the invite for the platinum anniversary celebrations of DMK mouthpiece even as Rajinikanth is yet to respond to it. By India Today Web Desk: After asking his fans and the people of Tamil Nadu to openly question the E Palaniswami government, actor Kamal Haasan is expected to attend the platinum anniversary celebrations of Murasoli Daily, a DMK mouthpiece. While Rajinikanth is yet to accept the invitation to attend Murasoli Daily's anniversary celebrations, Kamal Haasan has accepted the invite. The anniversary celebrations for the daily will be held over two days. Kamal Haasan will attend the event on August 10 while Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) cadres will take part in celebrations on August 11. advertisement In the last few days, Kamal Haasan has alleged corruption in the current Palaniswami government. The government has not taken kindly to the accusations with Chief Minister Palaniswami saying that the actor does not know politics. "He is into acting... does not know about politics. After he comes to politics and says (such) things, we will give him a proper respone," the Tamil Nadu chief minister said. To this, Kamal Haasan posted a message on Twitter in which he said "the day I expressed my voice against imposition of Hindi, I had become an amateur politician". Without naming anyone in his Twitter post, the actor said that those "behind power" and those who forget their responsibility by accepting money" were threatening action against him for tax evasion. Kamal Haasan exhorted people to come forward and question the government. He said that it is the duty of a responsible citizen to question the government on corruption. He asked people to digitally record instances of corruption in the government. "You should write to them if you had come across corruption in this government. Don't do that through letters or postcards as they will just tear them. Record them digitally, and with dignity," Haasan said. Kamal Haasan has alleged widespread corruption in giving tax exemption to films, adding that many from the film industry aided such corruption "out of fear". ALSO READ: Kamal Haasan's clarion call to Tamil Nadu citizens: Come out and question Palaniswami government Kamal Haasan at India Today Conclave: If you want to ban jallikattu, ban biryani too Kamal Haasan backs Panneerselvam, says Sasikala should back off. An India Today exclusive ALSO WATCH: Kamal Haasan backs Panneerselvam, says he has proved his mettle till now --- ENDS --- White Conveyors, Inc. announced that they completed a comprehensive training program, delivered by ManageAssist, Inc. in conjunction with a New Jersey state funded grant. The intensive four-month training program, which included Fundamentals of Blueprint Reading, Critical Skills of Customer Service, Effective Communications Skills and Fundamentals of Project Management has been able to significantly upgrade the communications skills of the companys employees, and their ability to perform their duties more accurately and efficiently. White Conveyors, a 3rd generation family-owned company, offers a full line of advanced garment and linen material handling solutions. Its products include manual to fully automated sorting, transport, and storage/retrieval systems serving the dry cleaning, hotel/resort, industrial laundry, hospital, and retail markets. Whites customized solutions are designed to improve productivity, increase profitability, and provide a fast return-on-investment. http://www.white-conveyors.com ManageAssist, Inc. is a corporate training firm that offers a broad range of practical training programs which consistently satisfy their clients needs and expectations. Since 2000, they have been offering training solutions that have been specifically designed to meet the ever growing needs of todays organizations. Please visit ManageAssist, Inc. at http://www.manageassist.com According to John Moore, Director of Operations for White Conveyors, White has thrived for over 70 years thanks to its incredible team that has made it their mission to guarantee our customers get nothing but the best quality product we have to offer. Whites future can and will be equally successful as long as we keep investing in our team and helping them to increase their skills through training and mentoring. One of the participating employees added that Going through the training really allowed people from different departments the chance to learn from each other. The trainer helped to facilitate the exchange of ideas that we otherwise wouldnt have thought of on our own. Learning how to better manage projects, through the methods taught to us, has helped to eliminate a lot of the issues we faced in the past. When Mr. Moore was asked why White Conveyors selected ManageAssist for this training, he replied, White recognized that the only way to surpass the level that had currently been reached was by investing in our employees and helping them to acquire additional skills, which will aid the company in the future challenges we face. Hiring ManageAssist seemed only natural to help us accomplish this goal. ManageAssist noted that, Fundamentals of Blueprint Reading training was very much hands-on using White Conveyors drawings and additional material supplied by the by the trainer. Each class addressed a specific topic and approach to learning Blueprint reading. Each participant showed a level of proficiency to understand the material. The participants were actively involved as they were asked to demonstrate their understanding using sketches, pre-testing, and questions. The impact this training will have is a defined disciplined approach to reading blueprints that will result in: fewer mistakes, higher output and quality, better worker self-esteem, improved on-time delivery, less rework, improved profitability, and improved Customer Satisfaction. buzzbox beverages, inc., the first eco-friendly beverage manufacturing company that creates ready-to-drink premium cocktails, received three award recognitions from the 2017 Spirits International Prestige (SIP) Awards. The buzzbox Classic Cosmo and Cuban Mojito cocktails won Platinum, and the Perfect Margarita cocktail won Gold in the Pre-Mixed Cocktails (RTD) category. The 2017 SIP Awards, held in Newport Beach, California in May, was its largest blind tasting competition to date with over 670 spirit brands competing for the awards based on merits of taste, aroma and finish by unbiased consumers. Judges are carefully vetted to guarantee reliable results, and were presented with undiluted and chilled spirit samples in unmarked glasses. Were honored to be recognized by the prestigious SIP Awards for our premium, all-natural ready-to-drink cocktails, said Rod Vandenbos, founder and CEO of buzzbox All three cocktails that we entered were awarded, and we received three out of the 10 awards in the pre-mixed cocktail category. This is not only a testament to our convenient, single-serve premium beverages, but to our top-quality flavor as well. Headquartered in Palm Desert, California, buzzbox creates single-serve cocktails in recyclable, eco-friendly packaging with no preservatives or artificial flavors. Vegan Friendly, Kosher, Gluten Free and Non-GMO, buzzbox cocktails are the worlds first and finest eco-friendly cocktails. The proprietary packaging allows for its beverages to be poured over ice or consumed directly from the box with an attached straw, making it the first complete drink experience in a green and energy efficient package. buzzbox is now in the running for the 2018 Consumers Choice Award (CCA), which is presented to brands that demonstrate the ultimate quality to consumers year after year. Over the last two years, buzzbox has won awards in the ready-to-drink (RTD) category from Craft Spirt Awards, Micro Liquor Spirit Awards, LA International Spirits Competition and the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. buzzbox released its eight (8) premium cocktails in the summer of 2016, which included the Perfect Margarita, Classic Greyhound, Long Island Cocktail, Extreme Coconut Cocktail, the Classic Cosmo, Cuban Mojito, Bloody Mary and Whiskey Lemonade. To purchase buzzbox cocktails visit: http://www.buzzbox.com to find the nearest retail or online store. About buzzbox beverages, inc. buzzbox was founded in 2013 by Rod Vandenbos. The first-of-its-kind beverage manufacturing company creates premium, single-serve, ready-to-drink cocktails in recyclable, eco-friendly and energy efficient packaging. buzzbox cocktails are handcrafted premium drinks, made with only natural ingredients. There are no preservatives or artificial flavors. buzzbox cocktails are produced in aseptic packaging, giving products a shelf life of over 18 months. buzzbox is headquartered in Palm Desert, California. For more information or to become a distributor, visit http://www.buzzbox.com. About the SIP Awards The SIP Awards provides a unique judging competition for spirit brands to gain exposure, feedback, and recognition from unbiased consumers. As the only blind tasting competition of its kind, the SIP Awards offer a fair platform for top brands to showcase their products to their most discerning audience. To learn more about the SIP Awards beverage competition, venue partnerships, or for a complete list of 2017 winners, visit https://sipawards.com/. Media Contact: Brad Kinney Chief Brand Officer buzzbox 888-982-2899 x 102 brad(at)buzzbox(dot)com David Uffelman named VP, Operations of Forrester Construction. By adding David to our team, we are adding experience, knowledge and a resource to support Forrester Operations. David Uffelman has joined Forrester Construction in the role of Vice President, Operations. With nearly 30 years in the industry and $2 billion in completed construction projects during his career, David has a diverse portfolio ranging from large office building, commercial and government projects to educational facilities, interior renovations and historic preservation work. This experience, combined with his passion for and knowledge of field operations, complements Forresters mission to offer clients high value-added general contracting, construction management and preconstruction services. President Steve Houff said, By adding David to our team, we are adding experience, knowledge and a resource to support Forrester Operations. His style is very collaborative, which will only help us continue to offer best-in-class client service and help Team Members who work with him to grow. Houff and Forresters Executive Committee note that David shares a strong commitment to the companys core values teamwork, doing the right thing and making it happen for clients, business partners, Team Members and the community. Please join us in welcoming David Uffelman to the Forrester Team and learn more about him in a Q & A session on Forrester's website. David can also be reached via email at duffelman(at)forresterconstruction(dot)com or via LinkedIn. The School Employees Retirement System of Ohio's new pension administration solution, which was developed by Sagitec Solutions, has drastically improved business processes and customer service. We value Sagitec as our strategic partner and we look forward to having a long-term relationship with Sagitec, said Jay Patel, Chief Technology Officer and Project Manager for the SMART project. Only months after going live with their new Neospin pension administration solution (PAS), the School Employees Retirement System of Ohio (SERS) is already witnessing the benefits of modern technology. On Feb. 27, 2017, SERS officially stopped using their homegrown, technologically obsolete PAS and started using a system designed by Sagitec Solutions. The PAS, which SERS named SMART, has satisfied the overarching goal of the software modernization project, said SERS Deputy Director Helen Ninos. Our primary goal was to improve customer service and update our processes, and the new SMART system does both, said Ninos. The decisive moment when SERS staff realized the capabilities of SMART in streamlining business processes occurred in May when the agency was able to process more than 1,200 retirement applications in one month, which is the most the agency has ever been able to process in that amount of time. I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of retirement applications that our staff was able to process, said John Grumney, Director of Member Services and Project Manager for the SMART project. That is definitely something we werent able to do in our previous system, added Grumney. One reason for the increased speed and efficiency in retirement application processing is due to the fact that the SMART system performs all of the required calculations accurately, which is something SERS legacy system could not do. In the old system, our staff would first do the initial calculation by hand, and then that was compared to the system-generated calculation, said Chad Hanson, Senior Manager, Benefits Processing. With SMART, we dont have to do that anymore, which allows us to get through the cases a lot quicker. Besides improving the completion of retirement applications, the SMART system features numerous enhancements to the member and employer web self-service portals, and new features such as digital workflow management and paperless processing. Specifically, the web self-service portals help promote the agencys goal of superior customer service while also drastically improving data quality, said Chris Castle, Employer Service Manager. Castle, who was instrumental in designing the SMART system with Sagitec staff, is appreciative of the employer web portal improvements, especially those associated with employer reporting. With our legacy system, all the employers had to do was upload a file, explained Castle. If it was properly formatted, the legacy system accepted it often times with many errors. Therefore, a majority of our time was spent following up with employers to fix the errors. With SMART, there are controls in place that prompt employers to fix issues with their data before the contribution file is allowed to be submitted to our agency. SMARTs functionality and features are not the only attributing factors to the modernization projects immediate successes it was also a strong partnership and deep commitment to the project by both Sagitec and SERS that resulted in a positive go live transition. I think that it was almost like we were operating of one mind and there was a real commitment to the things that needed to get done, said Ninos. Sanjay Gupte, Sagitecs project manager for the modernization project, echoes Ninos sentiment. A major contributor to the success of the project was the commitment of the SERS organization to the whole effort, said Gupte. The leadership team at SERS, the project management team as well as the end users were true partners in all aspects of the project. While Sagitec has officially finished developing the SMART system, that doesnt mean the relationship between SERS and Sagitec has ended. We value Sagitec as our strategic partner and we look forward to having a long-term relationship with Sagitec, said Jay Patel, Chief Technology Officer and Project Manager for the SMART project. About Sagitec Solutions Sagitec Solutions, LLC designs and delivers tailor-made pension, provident fund, unemployment insurance, and healthcare and life sciences software solutions to clients of all sizes. Understanding that a dynamic world requires dynamic technology, Sagitec offers solutions that are highly configurable and extensible by nature. With deep industry experience in software implementation and systems integration, project management, consulting, hosting and software support, Sagitec is a partner clients can trust to deliver mission-critical IT projects. Find further information by visiting http://www.Sagitec.com or by contacting Rick Deshler at (651) 335-3406 or at Rick.deshler@sagitec.com. Georgia Manufacturing Leaders Receive Buy From GA Proclamation from Governor Deal Georgia is very grateful for the fantastic job Jason is doing to promote manufacturing and the economy across the state, stated Governor Deal. Governor Nathan Deal presented the Buy from GA proclamation to 70 members of the Georgia Manufacturing Alliance at the State Capitol on July 17, 2017. This was the 4th year that the Governor has presented this proclamation promoting manufacturers and the goods they produce in Georgia. Governor Deal welcomed the GMA members and posed for a group photo in the Capitol rotunda. Additional photos taken throughout the day can be seen at https://goo.gl/SKuubt He later invited Jason Moss, CEO of the Georgia Manufacturing Alliance and their leadership team, into his personal office. Georgia is very grateful for the fantastic job Jason is doing to promote manufacturing and the economy across the state, stated Governor Deal. While this historic event was happening in our state, President Donald Trump was simultaneously signing a proclamation making July 17th "Made in America Day" in Washington, DC. (See more here - https://goo.gl/q5JXv5) Products from all 50 states were highlighted and the product selected to represent Georgia was Chick-fil-A food. "We are pleased that Rob Dugas, the Vice President & Chief Procurement Officer of Chick-fil-A, will be the keynote speaker at our Georgia Manufacturing Summit on October 25th, said Jason Moss. Chick-fil-A has a tremendous impact on manufacturing in our state. From the tractor that plants the corn that feeds the chickens, to the fixtures and tables in the restaurants, to the bag that the sandwich is placed in; manufacturing is a huge part of the entire process. A new website was also announced on Monday to promote products manufactured in Georgia year-round. The http://www.BuyFromGA.com website features over 800 items that are manufactured in our state. Consumers can purchase these products via this site using their Amazon account. Today was a significant day for manufacturers in our state, and we will continue to provide resources for our manufacturers to learn best business practices, connect with local suppliers, and promote their goods and services, said Jason Moss. GMA is here to provide the resources to help our manufacturers and service providers be more successful. About the Georgia Manufacturing Alliance: The Georgia Manufacturing Alliance (GMA) is a membership-based industry organization founded in 2008 to support Georgias manufacturing community. GMA provides monthly plant tours, educational sessions, tradeshows, and unique networking opportunities designed to help make profitable business connections for its members. The Georgia Manufacturing Directory, Georgia Manufacturing Summit, Georgia Manufacturing Calendar, and Georgia Manufacturing Job Board are additional resources produced by GMA. To learn more about the organization, membership, and upcoming events, please call 770-338-0051 or visit their website at http://www.GeorgiaManufacturingAlliance.com. Colorado Insurance Law Center The recent hailstorm in the Denver area, particularly the damage it caused to the Colorado Mills Mall and the resulting shutdown of businesses there, provides a good reminder of the importance of having business income coverage. Colorado is home to some of the most cutting edge and fastest-growing businesses in the nation. To keep their competitive edge, local business owners have made significant investments in real estate, people, processes, and equipment. The recent hailstorm in the Denver area, particularly the damage it caused to the Colorado Mills Mall and the resulting shutdown of businesses there, provides a good reminder of the importance of having business income coverage to protect your Colorado business against a catastrophic loss. Losses due to natural disasters and storms in Colorado touch a variety of industries, including real estate management, construction, hospitality, food, retail, manufacturing, travel, energy, and technology. Commercial property insurance policies can, but do not automatically, include business income coverage and extra expense coverage (BI/EE), also known as business interruption or time element coverage. BI/EE coverage is designed to continue your business income and cover extra expenses incurred after a disruptive event. Business income coverage typically includes both the net income lost from the suspension of operations (due to property damage from a covered event) plus continuing normal operating expenses, such as rent and payroll. Extra expense coverage reimburses the additional expenses your business must incur to resume normal operations and ultimately get back to its pre-loss income levels. BI/EE coverage often specifies the time periods for which you can expect reimbursement. Alternatively, it may allow the insurer to reimburse you based on its determination of how long it should take your business to resume normal operations. While BI/EE coverage typically is triggered by damage to your own property, it can be tailored to cover you if you need to suspend operations because of damage to another business property. This is especially important if you are a key supplier, a customer, or a destination retail store located within a larger mall or shopping area. This could also be an issue if a governmental order or directive deprives your business of access to your premises in the event of an emergency such as a shooting or bomb threat. If your operations depend heavily on an uninterrupted supply of electricity, gas, phone, or internet service, BI/EE coverage can be designed to cover utility services interruptions, which are a common event during a storm or other severe event. For Colorado businesses that serve refrigerated foods and beverages, such as a restaurants and breweries, food spoilage will be a concern. The issue of interrupted utilities can also impact online clothing stores and parts businesses. It is crucial to work with your broker and insurance coverage legal counsel to ensure that your BI/EE coverage is tailored your unique operations. In assessing the best type and duration of BI/EE coverage for your business, consider the following: 1. Make sure your business is actually covered under the insurance policy you anticipate would be triggered in a loss and/or suspension of operations. 2. Be prepared to promptly notify your carrier that, in addition to property damage, your operations are suspended or diminished following a loss. 3. To avoid a costly and lengthy dispute with your insurer later, create and keep meticulous and contemporaneous records concerning your property and, when a covered event occurs, of the property damage suffered, the repair work needed, and the extra expenses incurred to keep your operations running. 4. Be aware of how certain exclusions and/or anti-concurrent causation clauses may affect your power outage or other add-on coverage, and of any applicable sublimit. 5. Be vigilant in monitoring your insurers BI/EE payments; confer with your broker or insurance coverage counsel if you notice or suspect any reduced, delayed, or withheld payments. 6. In a dispute over the value of your property and/or BI/EE claim(s), consult with coverage counsel before agreeing to the appraisal process under your policy; if you proceed, watch for conflicts of interest that might arise. Colorado Insurance Law Center (CILC) works closely with commercial policyholders, business lawyers, and insurance professionals to ensure that the valuable investments, and the income derived from them, are fully protected so that Colorado businesses stand ready for the next big storm. Learn more at http://www.ColoradoInsuranceLawCenter.com. JBS United presented Dr. John Patience with the 2017 John B. Swisher Leadership Award on June 7, 2017 at the World Pork Expo in Des Moines, Iowa. The John B. Swisher Leadership Award is an annual honor presented to an individual who exemplifies extraordinary leadership qualities and who has made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of the swine industry. We are honored to award Dr. Patience with the 2017 John B Swisher Leadership Award, remarked Doug Webel, Ph.D., President and CEO of JBS United. Dr. Patience is a noteworthy leader in the field. His work with the students at Iowa State University is leaving a lasting impact on the swine industry. Dr. Patience, Professor at Iowa State University, is recognized nationally for his leadership in animal agriculture. For the past 9 years, Dr. Patience has worked in the Department of Animal Science at Iowa State. Prior to that, he was the President and Chief Executive Officer of both PSC Elstow Research Farm, Inc and of Prairie Swine Centre, Inc. His numerous awards and recognitions include the New Frontiers in Animal Nutrition Award from the Federation of Animal Science Societies / American Feed Industry Association, the Animal Industry Service Award from the American Society of Animal Science, the Lifetime Achievement Award from Alberta Pork Congress, and the Award for Excellence in Nutrition and Meat Sciences, from the Canadian Society of Animal Science, to name a few. The impact that Dr. Patience has made in animal agriculture, and the knowledge and experience that he is sharing with his students at Iowa State made him the perfect candidate for this award, explained Dr. Webel. I am particularly grateful to Mr. Swisher and the legacy he has created at JBS United, said Dr. Patience. My students and I visited them at their head office in Sheridan, Indiana, and at that time Mr. Swisher joined us and shared his view of the history of the feed industry, his vision for his company and his enthusiasm for the future. My students were struck by his generosity of spirit and his dedication, not just to his own family and his company, but also to the whole agriculture community. JBS United has retained this spirit and this perspective for all these years. As part of the honor, JBS United has contributed $5,000 to the Department of Animal Science at Iowa State University. About JBS United JBS United, founded in 1956, is dedicated to providing research-based solutions that create value for its partners in animal agriculture. JBS United offers livestock nutrition and health products globally through the JBS United or affiliate brands. While the organizations headquarters are in Sheridan, Indiana, the sales staff and team members stretch from the East Coast to the West to assist customers with their business needs. In total, the JBS United operation extends to 23 countries, including South Korea, the Philippines, and locations in South America and Europe. The company, originally known as United Feeds, set itself apart from the competition by intimately getting to know customers and understanding what they needed to be more successful. That guiding principle continues to be the foundation of JBS United. To learn more, visit JBSUnited.com Engel & Volkers - VEYTIA GROUP awards $2000 check to GERMAN SCHOOL campus Newport Beach CA Empowering Youth for a Global Future GERMAN SCHOOL campus student award ceremony this Saturday morning planned to honor the outstanding achievements of students in their German language studies, turned into an unexpected bigger celebration of educational success. GERMAN SCHOOL campus has been awarded a $2000 gift from Engel & Volkers Veytia Group from Laguna Beach, and received the check this morning during the annual award ceremony. Principal Ursula Schoeneich: We are absolutely thrilled to receive this check of $2000 for our school! This amount can sponsor one student for a whole year of German language studies here at our school! Before the presentation of the check took center stage, students of the school received their awards for their hard work, but most importantly for their impressive results on the German National Exam, the official test by the American Association of Teachers of German (AATG). Students of GermanSchoolCampus brought home 10 Gold, 4 Silver and 1 Bronze medal! After witnessing the great success GermanSchoolCampus has had in only its second year, we decided that we wanted to invest into the youth of the future with this school, says Rotarian John Veytia of Engel & Volkers VEYTIA GROUP. He adds, As a real estate agent I thoroughly get it what it means to speak another language. It literally opens doors in my profession. He feels that understanding another language and culture is so important these days as the world becomes a much closer community. Principal Ursula Schoeneich chimes in that since May 2017 her school is also an accredited chapter for the Delta Epsilon Phi National Honor Society for High School Students of German. She could already induct two of her students into her local chapter! Learning German pays off, not only in high school credits and qualifying for AP classes, but most importantly in standing out with your college application," she points out during her address at the award ceremony. A delicious, catered luncheon for students and all guests rounded off the eventful morning and set the relaxed tone for next weeks German Language Camp at the Sea Base STEM Summer Day Camp Earth, Water, Air, Fire from July 3rd-8th. About GermanSchoolCampus: GermanSchoolcampus serves the Orange County community since 2015. The school offers German language classes and high school German language tutoring as well as preparation classes for the high school AP German exam and the German National Exam. School principal Ursula Schoeneich is a certified DaF German Language Teacher and a trained Assistant Scoutmaster for the Boy Scouts of America. GermanSchool campus is a 501(c) (3) non-profit Public Benefit Corporation. Donations are 100% tax deductible. About Engel & Volkers Veytia Group: Engel & Volkers, a global real estate company and life style brand, was originally founded in Germany and operates in 32 countries on four continents. Veytia Group in Laguna Beach works as an agency under the Engel & Volkers Real Estate Group. Veytia Group is committed to help the community in many ways. Part of the groups community outreach is to support youth in their educational goals. (Veytia Group, 32351 Coast Highway, Laguna Beach, CA 92651 ph:949-285-1310) AgencyEquity, a premier website for insurance agency owners, is announcing a new directory of insurance carriers that features up-to-date financial strength ratings provided by A.M. Best. This comprehensive database gives agency principals 24/7 access to detailed information on over 1000 carrier groups and over 2000 A.M. Best Ratings. Joseph Totah, president of AgencyEquitys parent company Strategic Agencies, LLC said, Carrier appointments are part of an agency's strategy. We are excited to be able to offer this new resource to our agency customers. Insurance agencies often seek appointments with new carriers to fill needs their existing carriers cannot meet as well as provide more options to their clientele. The new AgencyEquity directory enables agency owners who are seeking new carrier appointments to easily research prospects. The A.M. Best financial strength ratings will be updated every three months for every carrier in the directory. A.M. Best is the oldest and most widely recognized provider of insurance carrier ratings, financial data and news. Its financial strength ratings are letter grades that indicate a carrier's ability to pay claims. Barry Finan, CPCU, commercial relationship manager with A.M. Best's data support services, said, I had the pleasure of working with Joe Totah to provide him and his team with A.M. Best information that will be used within the AgencyEquity.com website. Joe has a passion for the insurance industry and we wish him much success in his endeavors. The directory lists over 1000 carrier groups (such as Travelers Companies or AIG), along with the individual carriers that belong to the group. For example, there are ten carriers within the Travelers Companies group, and the ratings of each of those carriers will be updated quarterly. With an average of 2 carriers per group, the directory will list financial strength ratings and details on over 2000 insurance carriers. The easy-to-use search tool allows users to search for carriers by type (direct writer, life/health, large multi-line property and casualty, etc.); states in which they do business; and type of coverage. In addition to the A.M. Best ratings, the listings provide details and links to valuable information such as: Carrier home pages Directories of their current appointed agents Agency appointment information States in which they do business Carrier size Totah added, AgencyEquity is the go-to site for insurance agencies who are looking for strategic resources. We value our insurance agency customers and are always looking for ways to bring them more resources. We further feel that having the A.M. Best ratings will help agencies make good decisions about which carriers meet their minimum standards. The directory, available free of charge to AgencyEquity.com customers, can be found at https://www.agencyequity.com/listings/insurance-carrier-directory. AgencyEquity.com is the website where insurance agency principals, executives, and producers make connections for agency acquisitions, mergers, cluster memberships, carrier appointments, and other strategic management needs. Along with its sister sites InsuranceNewsletters.com and RiskLookup.com, provides insurance industry professionals and organizations resources for doing business competitively in the modern world. Lead Liaison, an innovative marketing and sales solution provider, is elevating the scope of B2B mobile software with a first ever, fully integrated lead capture app, conveniently named GoCapture!. Although it is not available for public consumption yet, the Lead Liaison has released a few specifics that have the technology world buzzing. The app is intended to be used at events such as trade shows, seminars and conferences, and even in door-to-door sales, to capture hot leads or take surveys onsite. This new technology allows Lead Liaison to span the full life cycle of an event, from onsite lead capture and data collection to nurturing with marketing automation, and beyond. This application pairs with Lead Liaisons Marketing Automation platform, Lead Management Automation (LMA) and their CRM, OneFocus, allowing exhibitors to instantly capture, qualify, distribute, and nurture leads with a single system. It will be initially available for iOS and Android operating systems with support for Windows in a subsequent release. Information is limited, but according to Lead Liaisons engineers, GoCapture! will provide the ability to quickly capture leads using several methods. The first method is through a mobile form submission. Trade show attendees will be able to walk up to a companys booth and manually fill in the form on a smartphone or tablet. Exhibitors can also directly fill in the form. The second method for onsite lead capture is through a business card transcription portal. Employees working an event can simply take a photo of the leads business card. From there, OneCapture! offers the option to transcribe the business card using a self-service portal at a later time. Alternatively, Lead Liaison also offers a paid transcription service. The third method for lead capture is by optical character recognition (OCR). OCR provides the ability to scan the business card, capturing the information automatically. The methods and flexibility in which we allow someone to capture a lead has grown. It is tailored around an event or a show, explains Lead Liaison Solutions Specialist, Chris Kipgen. What sets us apart is the fact that we own all of these pieces, from the CRM to the automation, which can deliver different kinds of touch points, digital and offline. The fact that we are not integrating with systems we do not own really makes this experience stand out from our competitors. Its seamless. GoCapture! is scheduled for release in the fall, according to Lead Liaison. However, they are starting testing with early adopters over the next few weeks. To sign up for alerts about this mobile technology, visit this webpage. About Lead Liaison Lead Liaison provides cloud-based sales and marketing automation solutions that helps businesses accelerate revenue by attracting, converting, closing and retaining more prospects. Filling a void in the small pool of marketing automation providers that focus on marketing-centric functionality, Lead Liaison gives equal focus to sales providing sophisticated visitor tracking and additional website engagement tools to boost sales effectiveness. Lead Liaison blends ease-of-use, a flexible business model, deep external integration, marketing across social, web, mobile, email and offline channels and powerful functionality, all specifically tailored for mid-sized businesses, into a single platform, called Revenue Generation Software. Lead Liaison is headquartered in Allen, Texas, near Dallas. For more information, visit http://www.leadliaison.com or call 1-800-89-LEADS (895-3237). Kangana Ranaut was hit on her forehead by a sword while filming a sword-fighting sequence for Manikarnika - The Queen Of Jhansi. By India Today Web Desk: Kangana Ranaut escaped a near-fatal accident while shooting for her upcoming film, Manikarnika - The Queen Of Jhansi. Mid-Day reports that the shoot in Hyderabad went horribly awry when Kangana got hit by a sword on her forehead while filming an intense sword-fighting sequence and began bleeding profusely. A unit hand told the publication, "Kangana was immediately rushed to Apollo hospital nearby, where she was admitted into the ICCU. She got 15 stitches on her forehead and will be under observation in the hospital for a few days. The examining doctor said that it was a close shave for her because the cut was too close to her bone." advertisement Producer Kamal Jain said that Kangana refused to use a body double and even though the scene had been rehearsed many times before, the timing went wrong this time. "Kangana had to duck when Nihar (Pandya) attacked her, but the timing went wrong and Nihar's sword hit her forehead instead. It made a deep cut between her eyebrows. The drive to the hospital took a good 30 minutes, but she put up a brave front despite the pain and bleeding. Nihar was apologetic and felt terrible, but Kangana pacified him," he said. It is likely that the actress will be left with a scar, according to the examining doctor. However, Kangana wants to flaunt her scar in the film. "Rani of Jhansi was a warrior. So Kangana has decided that she will wear her scar with pride just like the Queen of Jhansi did," a source said. Kangana, who will be discharged from the hospital next week, may have to undergo cosmetic surgery after the film is completed. Manikarnika - The Queen Of Jhansi will reportedly release in April next year. OPINION: Kangana Ranaut, beware. The Bollywood elite wants to take you down ALSO READ: Kangana Ranaut reveals she has marriage plans in 2017 INDIA TODAY EXCLUSIVE: Watch Kangana respond to accusations of being a witch, whore and psychopath --- ENDS --- Russ Withem, Firearms Expert, Morphy Auctions We are thrilled to welcome Russ to our team of best- in-class firearms experts. His deep knowledge, combined with passion for research, accuracy, and collaboration, makes him a strong fit for Morphys. - Dan Morphy, President, Morphy Auctions Morphy Auctions today announced that Russ Withem has joined the company as a Firearms Expert in the companys Firearms and Militaria Division. This new position was created in response to Morphys emerging leadership in these important categories - demonstrated most recently by the companys June, 2017 $3.3 million firearms sale. Withem will be responsible for identifying and valuing merchandise, cataloging, developing consignment networks, and representing Morphy's at 30-40 trade and industry events annually. Withem received his first gun at age 12. Today, he has more than 40 years of experience collecting, appraising, and buying and selling firearms and sporting collectibles, including WW1 German militaria. Withem has deep expertise with Luger pistols, Winchesters, and Colt revolvers. He has contributed to several published books, including History Writ in Steel German Police Markings 1900-1936 (Thai Watana Press Co., Ltd., 2009); Simson Lugers: Simson & Co, Suhl, the Weimar Years (Brad Simpson Publishing, 2007); and Police Lugers: German Police Lugers and Their Markings 1918-1958 (Golden Belt Printing Inc., 2012) and is currently working on a book about the Colt 1877 DA. Withem is a member of the Winchester Collectors Association and the Colt Collectors Association. Prior to Morphys, Withem owned and ran a firearms store in Southern Oregon. According to Dan Morphy, President of Morphy Auctions, "We are thrilled to welcome Russ to our team of best- in-class firearms experts. His deep knowledge, combined with passion for research, accuracy, and collaboration, makes him a strong fit for Morphys. Withem adds, I am certain that my will help to grow Morphys Firearms and Militaria division as well as its national visibility. I joined the team for its great reputation and to handle higher end firearms on the East Coast. The divisions next sale is scheduled for November 3-5, 2017 and I look forward to reviewing potential consignments for this auction. About Morphy Auctions: Morphy Auctions, the finest auction destination for fresh to the market collectibles, is headquartered in Denver, PA. The company also has a satellite office in Las Vegas, NV. A full-service auction house, Morphys presents over 35 premier auctions annually. The companys three-part mission includes ensuring consignor satisfaction with every auction, offering world-class customer service that goes above and beyond the call of duty, and providing relentless buyer support to create confidence for all clients seeking a trustworthy purchasing experience. Morphys team of specialists includes the nation's finest and most recognized experts in popular collecting categories including advertising; firearms; fine automobiles, automobilia and petroliana; coin-operated machines; antiques, fine, and decorative art; dolls, bears, toys, and trains; cast iron; coins; marbles; jewelry and wrist watches. Morphy Auctions is owned by President and Founder Dan Morphy, himself a lifelong and passionate collector of antiques, banks, and numerous other categories. Morphy's has been in business since 2004 and has grown from two to over 65 employees in over a decade. Morphy Auctions is located at 2000 North Reading Road, Denver, PA 17517. We can be reached by phone at 877-968-8880, by fax at 717-336-7115, and by email at info(at)morphyauctions(dot)com. We are open 7 days a week: Mon-Fri from 9am-4pm and Sat and Sun from 9am-1pm. For more information, please visit http://www.MorphyAuctions.com. Partner Kristen S. Scheuerman Im honored and excited to take on the responsibilities of this state-wide office serving my fellow litigators and attorneys throughout Wisconsin - Attorney Scheuerman It was announced recently that attorney Kristen S. Scheuerman, a partner at Herrling Clark Law Firm, Ltd., was elected to a one-year term as Treasurer of the Litigation Section of the State Bar of Wisconsin. She will serve the post during the 2017-18 term. The Litigation Section brings together members who have an interest in civil litigation, insurance law, and tort law. The section publishes a newsletter to keep members abreast of developments affecting litigation, monitors and proposes legislation, and sponsors CLE programs. The Litigation Section maintains an Email list, and assists with the editing and publishing of materials benefiting litigators in Wisconsin. It also supports the training of law students in trial advocacy and the continuation of the adversarial and jury systems. Im honored and excited to take on the responsibilities of this state-wide office serving my fellow litigators and attorneys throughout Wisconsin, Ms. Scheuerman said of assuming the role of Treasurer with the Section. I look forward to continuing the work of the Litigation Section and its efforts in various areas. As a partner at Herrling Clark Law Firm, Ltd., Ms. Scheuerman focuses her practice primarily on matters of personal injury litigation. She was named a partner in 2016 after joining the firm as an associate in 2011. Scheuerman earned a BA from Lawrence University and worked in corporate America for five years before enrolling at Marquette University Law School. She graduated with a JD in 2010. In addition to her role with the Litigation Section of the Wisconsin State Bar, Scheuerman is extremely active with her fellow trial lawyers in the Wisconsin Association of Justice. She currently sits on both WAJs Board of Directors and the Executive Committee. She is also the Chair of WAJs New Lawyers Section, Vice-Chair of the Womens Caucus, Chair of the Education Program Committee, and serves as a trustee for the Justice Fund. About Herrling Clark Law Firm, Ltd.: Herrling Clark Law Firm, Ltd., provides legal representation for individuals and businesses throughout Northeast Wisconsin. Founded in 1959, the firm handles cases involving family law, personal injury, business law, and wills and trusts. Clients can visit one of the firms four offices in Appleton, Green Bay, New London, and Oshkosh. To schedule an initial consultation, call 920-739-7366 or visit http://www.herrlingclark.com. Athens, Ga., was ranked the number one choice for those looking to earn a real estate degree in an affordable town. TurboTenant, a rapidly growing startup, recently conducted a study measuring the livability and affordability of US cities with high ranking real estate degree programs. Each city chosen for the study was required to have a university offering a real estate program, as well as high livability scores with a focus on world-class amenities. Each town chosen also needed to offer average two bedroom rental house prices under $1,600 a month. TurboTenant used this data to pick the top three cities across the nation with high ranking real estate degree programs. The three cities that made the list include Madison, Wis., Gainesville, Fla., and Athens, Ga. These three cities were selected due to their outstanding amenities, quality of life, and exceptional degree programs. Athens, Ga., was ranked the number one choice for those looking to earn a real estate degree in an affordable town. With average rent prices for a two bedroom at $848, Athens was cited as offering a blend of exceptional amenities, an array of activities, and easy access to the renowned city of Atlanta. The full article and the towns statistics can be viewed on TurboTenants blog at Top Three Cities For Earning A Real Estate Degree. About TurboTenant (turbotenant.com): TurboTenant helps independent landlords improve the investment performance of their properties by offering them access to online tools, previously only available to large property management companies. More than 40,000 landlords across the U.S. turn to TurboTenant for free, online solutions for landlording. Features offered by TurboTenant include online rental applications, tenant credit and background reports, property listings and automated marketing, and online rent payments. All of TurboTenants features focus on helping landlords manage smarter, faster, and more effectively. 2017 Columbus Celebration Honoree Dr. Laura Forese The Columbus Citizens Foundation today announced Thomas Iovino, the Founder of Judlau Contracting, Inc., and CEO, Judlau Enterprises, LLC, and Dr. Laura L. Forese, the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of NewYork-Presbyterian, as honorees of the 2017 Columbus Celebration. They will join Barnes & Noble Founder and Chairman Leonard Riggio, who was previously announced as 2017 Grand Marshal. Angelo Vivolo, President of the Columbus Citizens Foundation, said of the announcement: Thomas and Laura demonstrate what it means to be Italian-American. Through their hard work and dedication, they are leaders in their respective fields and in the community. It is an honor to have such successful and inspiring Italian-Americans join Grand Marshal Leonard Riggio in leading the parade. Dr. Forese serves as the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of NewYork-Presbyterian. She is responsible for achieving NewYork-Presbyterians operating targets, and implementing a patient-centered strategic vision and culture across the enterprise. Dr. Forese, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, has been a Columbia University faculty member since 1993. In addition, she is the Chairperson of the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center Research Hospital Board and is a founding Board Member of the Matthew Larson Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. Dr. Forese commented; It is such a thrill to take part in one of New York Citys largest parades, and it is an honor to be recognized by the Columbus Citizens Foundation. I cant wait to join Len and Tom as we march up Fifth Avenue. Native New Yorker Iovino is a member of several organizations such as the World Presidents Organization and the Chief Executives Organization, in addition to serving as CEO of Judlau Enterprises. He is also an active philanthropist and is dedicated to the New York community. He founded the Iovino Foundation in 2006, served as a weekly volunteer for 20 years at the Huntington Hospital in Huntington, NY, and served as President of the Suffolk County Family Service League. On being named a 2017 Honoree, Mr. Iovino had this to say, As a longtime member of the Columbus Citizens Foundation, Im so proud to support its scholarship program and promote the culture and advancement of Italian-Americans. The annual Columbus Day Parade, organized by the Columbus Citizens Foundation, is the world's largest celebration of Italian-American heritage and culture in the United States. The Columbus Day Parade was first started in 1929 when New York City businessman and Italian immigrant Generoso Pope led a parade from East Harlem to Columbus Circle and has since become an ongoing celebration of the contributions of Italians and Italian-Americans to the United States. The theme of this years parade is A Celebration of Italian-American Authors, and was created by Grand Marshal Leonard Riggio. Mr. Riggio is inviting all Italian-American authors from across the country to march up Fifth Avenue with him in the parade. In addition to planning the Columbus Day Parade, the Columbus Citizens Foundation currently provides over 700 scholarships at elementary, high school and college level to Italian-American students who have academic ability but lack financial means. The Columbus Day Parade begins at 11:30 a.m. EST on Monday, October 9 and will air live locally on WABC-7 from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. EST. For more information on the parade, please visit columbuscitizens.org. MORE ABOUT THE COLUMBUS CITIZENS FOUNDATION The Columbus Citizens Foundation is a non-profit organization in New York City committed to fostering an appreciation of Italian-American heritage and achievement. The Foundation, through a broad range of philanthropic and cultural activities, provides opportunities for advancement to deserving Italian-American students through various scholarship and grant programs. The Foundation organizes New York City's annual Columbus Celebration and Columbus Day Parade, which has celebrated Italian-American heritage on New York's Fifth Avenue since 1929. For more information, contact jwilson@columbuscitizens.org. MORE ABOUT DR. LAURA L. FORESE Laura L. Forese, MD, MPH, is Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of NewYork-Presbyterian, an academic medical center and healthcare delivery network in the Greater New York area, providing high quality, patient-centered care in collaboration with Weill Cornell Medicine and Columbia University Medical Center. NewYork-Presbyterian includes 10 campuses/hospitals with more than 4,300 beds, 39,000 employees and $7.8 billion in revenue. Dr. Forese graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Princeton University, and Alpha Omega Alpha from Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons. She also holds a Master of Public Health from Columbias Mailman School of Public Health. She completed a residency in orthopedic surgery at the former Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center (now NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center). She is married to Dr. Robert Downey, a thoracic surgeon and they have 3 children, Meagan, Caitlin, and James. MORE ABOUT THOMAS IOVINO Thomas Iovino is a successful entrepreneur with four decades of experience in founding and managing companies in the sector. Most recently, he served as Chief Executive Officer of OHL North America, one of the regions leading construction firms and a major unit of the OHL Group headquartered in Madrid, Spain. In this capacity he oversaw the construction activities of OHL North America and its divisions, including Judlau Contracting, Inc. (which he founded in 1981), OHL USA, OHL Canada, Community Asphalt, OHL Building and OHL Arellano. Mr. Iovino is also the founder and CEO of several successful specialty contractors, including J-Track, LLC & J-Track Central; TC Electric, LLC; Welkin Mechanical, LLC; and Environmental and Infrastructure Group. These companies perform track, signal, mechanical, and demolition & environmental remediation work respectively. Concurrently, Mr. Iovino is a leader in the construction industry, a member of the World Presidents Organization, the Chief Executives Organization, and Construction Industry Roundtable. He is also a member of The Moles, a fraternal organization of the heavy construction industry that honored him with the prestigious 2012 Moles Member Award for outstanding achievements in construction. Also, Mr. Iovino is a Trustee on the Board of Directors of the Norton Museum in Palm Beach. Mr. Iovino received a Bachelors and Masters degree in Civil Engineering from RPI. He is a registered Professional Engineer in New York State. Mr. Iovino and his wife, Judy, live in New York City and have two children, Lauren and Michael, and four grandchildren. When USA Todays article on 11 tips for retiring with a million dollar nest egg came out, Jim Hitt of American IRA in North Carolina was eager to read through it. In the article, 11 tips are presented for investorstips such as be prepared for stretches in a bad market and boost your savings rate every time you get a raise. While Jim Hitt says this isnt bad advice for investment beginners, he recently took to his blog to offer a different spin on what it takes to build a powerful retirement nest egg. Articles like this are important, says Jim Hitt. They highlight some of the most important issues out therenamely, that todays generation actually pays attention to their retirement investing from a young age. But not everyone enjoys that luxury. I wanted to present my own spin on the advice by showing that there are other ways to invest your money, even if youre a little older and need to play catch-up. The CEO of American IRA in Asheville heads a Self-Directed IRA Administration firm. This firm helps people own Self-Directed IRAs, which are independently-run IRAs in control of the investor. With these IRAs, investors can diversify their assets across classes such as real estate and precious metals. Real estate, in particular, is something that people need to pay attention to, says Jim Hitt. Pointing out that a Real Estate IRA comes with a number of advantages for those who want to maximize the tax-protected strategies these accounts contain, Jim Hitt points out that good investment advice needs to branch out and cover more territory. There is a whole other world of assets out there, and very few young investors are exposed to it, says Jim Hitt. My goal with this blog post was to show that while these eleven steps can help you become a millionaire, there are interesting alternatives that investors cant afford to ignore, either. The post, which puts some of the quality steps at USA Today in context and offers some of its own ideas, can be found online at http://www.AmericanIRA.com. American IRA can also be reached at 1-866-7500-IRA(472). About American IRA, LLC: Click here to claim one of our 7 Self-Directed IRA guide(s). American IRA is committed to providing every client with gold-level service, regardless of account size. Experience their expertise through their certified IRA services professionals. Enjoy the value with one low annual fee of $285 with unlimited assets and unlimited account values. American IRA clients love the benefit of no charge for "All Cash" accounts. The performance of the American IRA staff is unmatched, with quick and efficient processing within 48 hours. American IRA services thousands of clients and has over $300 million in assets under administration. American IRA was built by investors for investors, and brings their successful investment experience to the table, providing excellent educational material showing the public that their Self-Directed IRA account can invest in a variety of assets such as real estate, private lending, limited liability companies, precious metals and much more. American IRA is conveniently located in Asheville, NC and Charlotte, NC, and serves clients nationwide. Window Genie announces the grand opening of its newest location in Sarasota. Ryan Bates is the owner. Window Genie is a national home service franchise specializing in residential and light commercial window cleaning, window tinting, pressure washing, gutter cleaning and more. Window Genie of Sarasota will service home and small business owners throughout Sarasota, Longboat Key, Bradenton and the surrounding areas. Before purchasing a Window Genie franchise, Bates worked in construction for over 20 years; more recently as the owner of a construction company in Breckenridge, CO. After selling that business a few years ago, he moved to Florida to be closer to family while pursuing a degree in Finance. During that time, he took a job as a Limo Driver. Bates said, I enjoyed driving because while it was a temporary gig to get me through school, it gave me a sense of independence, which is what I loved about being a business owner in Colorado. Ive been looking forward to getting back to being my own boss, where Im in control of the decisions that impact my success. Bates weeded through the many opportunities in franchising while working with a broker from FranNet, a franchise consulting firm. Together they determined that Window Genie would best fit Bates strengths, weaknesses, goals and interests. Bates said, Franchising made sense for me because I know business owners wear many hats, and that can really slow you down. Rather than going it alone, I can ramp up and meet my goals quicker with the help of a proven system and experienced support team at the corporate office. Window Genie of Sarasota officially opened for business on July 17th. For more information, or a free estimate, contact owner Ryan Bates directly at rbates(at)windowgenie(dot)com or by calling 941-870-4900. ### About Window Genie: Window Genie, founded in 1994, is a nationally ranked mobile window cleaning service franchise offering residential and light commercial window cleaning, window tinting, pressure washing, gutter cleaning and more. Recognized as one of the fastest growing franchise systems in North America, Window Genie has grown to more than 100 franchise partners operating in 31 states. In 2016, Window Genie became a subsidiary company of Dwyer Group, a service-based franchise organization. The number one reason for failed M&A projects is speed of integration. SNP is reporting a globally increased interest in intelligently automated data migration related to M&A activity in the first quarter 2017. Market trends show Energy and Power was the leading sector, clocking a 62% increase from the previous year. The Materials sector was second in volume, despite a decrease from 2016 levels. Rounding out the top 3 was Healthcare with a 61% increase year over year. Bringing up the rear were telecom, media, and retail, which saw a 48% decline for the previous years period. The US took the lead in deal making, up 16% from 2016, while Chinese transactions plummeted due to strict regulation on transactions over $2 billion dollars. Despite the activity, the truth is most of these deals will continue with the overall trend and fail to see shareholder value, and many of the deals will result in destroying it. Dr. Steele Arbeeny, Chief Technology Officer at SNP recently addressed the key reason for this. The number one reason for failed M&A projects is speed of integration. Whether Im speaking with the CIO, CFO, or CEO of a company, they all want the same thing- the technology integration and data migration done as quickly as possible, without raising the risk threshold. This eliminates a critical hurdle in the deal, so there can be shareholder value realized Dr. Arbeeny said. SNP has developed a method that is used by the most successful organizations to streamline their M&A project timeline. An exclusive webinar for this topic will be held on July 27th. Learn more here "M&A in a Weekend Webinar" About SNP SNP helps companies transform business models and roll out new technologies. Its software and services make it easier to execute technical or commercial changes in global business applications. Together, SNPs CrystalBridge and Transformation Backbone(r) constitute the worlds leading data transformation suite for automatically analyzing, applying and tracking changes in IT systems. They significantly improve quality while making transformation projects much faster and more cost-effective. The SNP Group employs over 1,000 people worldwide. It is headquartered in Heidelberg, Germany and generated around 81 million euros in revenue in 2016. It serves multinational companies in all industries. SNP was established in 1994, went public in 2000, and has been listed in the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since August 2014 (ISIN DE0007203705). For more info, visit http://www.snpgroup.com Mary Chaney and David Elcock of ICMCP The International Consortium of Minority Cybersecurity Professionals (ICMCP) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mary Chaney as Vice President and David Elcock as Executive Director. The board is excited to have Mary and David amongst the ICMCP executive leadership, said Aric K. Perminter, President at ICMCP. Their experience, knowledge of the organization, and vision for the future are vital to the organization as we work with our 1,500 members to strengthen and preserve services to underrepresented women and minorities in the fast-growing field of cybersecurity. Ms. Chaney brings with her to ICMCP a wealth of experience within the cybersecurity industry, having spent over 20 years in the fields of information security, privacy, and risk management. She graduated from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio, with her B.S.B.A. in Information Systems. She received her J.D. degree from Thurgood Marshall School of Law and is a licensed attorney in the State of Texas. Ms. Chaney spent several years practicing law in Washington, DC, focusing primarily on antitrust and intellectual property rights infringement cases. She then transitioned to serve her country by becoming a Special Agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). While with the FBI (Los Angeles), she investigated all types of cyber-related criminal activities, including denial of service attacks, computer intrusions, internet piracy, intellectual property theft, and copyright infringement. Ms. Chaney also served as the Information Systems Security Officer for the FBI in Los Angeles. Ms. Chaney obtained her Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification in 2008. In her corporate career, she has held senior level information security roles with Comcast, Johnson & Johnson, and GE Capital. Ms. Chaney has also held a post as an adjunct professor at the University of Cincinnati, where she assisted with the establishment of their Cybersecurity Certificate program. "ICMCP provides the opportunity for professionals in cybersecurity to address the growing gap of talent by strategically supporting and developing women and minorities in the field. As a dual minority myself, I think it is fundamentally important to address both the talent gap and provide those already in the field with an organization that specifically addresses the many challenges women and minorities can face throughout their career progression. It was a natural decision to join ICMCPs leadership team and I look forward to serving the cybersecurity community, said Ms. Chaney. Currently, Ms. Chaney is the CEO of MBS Information Security Consulting, LLC (MBS), where she specializes in assisting companies with developing holistic and business specific information security management programs. David Elcock comes to ICMCP as the organizations Executive Director. He is a co-founder of Lynx Technology Partners, Inc., one of Inc. Magazines fastest-growing private companies and ranked among the top US security companies for consecutive years. Mr. Elcocks track record spans three generations as a proven leader and team builder in both for-profit and non-profit enterprises. In the non-profit sector, Mr. Elcock has held a variety of positions from General Manager to Board Member with The Enterprise Foundation, National Equity Fund, Access One Broadband and One Economy. His volunteer positions include Board Chairman & Treasurer for Mount Hope Housing Company, Board Treasurer, Morris Heights Healthcare Center, Operation Executive, Food for Survival, and Global Logistics Advisor for World Share. According to Mr. Elcock, National Security, Economic Workforce Development, and Corporate Social Responsibility are three extremely relevant issues impacting this generation. Addressing all three in one fell swoop is a major undertaking for any organization, let alone a two-year-old non-profit. Yet ICMCP's programmatic approach to addressing the shortage of women and minorities in information security, assurance, and cybersecurity is doing just that. Mr. Elcock added, ICMCP is committed to amassing, supporting and advocating for a talent roster of the best, brightest, and most skilled non-traditional cybersecurity practitioners found anywhere on earth. Its ICMCPs way of supporting our nations cybersecurity interests. I'm philosophically and professionally in sync with ICMCP's mission and pleased to lend my talents to this undertaking. About ICMCP The International Consortium of Minority Cybersecurity Professionals (ICMCP) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. It began official operations in September 2014 and is organized exclusively for charitable purposes, to provide members with educational/technical scholarships, mentoring opportunities, professional development, and networking opportunities. For more information or to become a sponsor, please visit https://icmcp.org/, follow @ICMCP_ORG on Twitter or visit the ICMCP LinkedIn page. TargetSolutions, the leading provider of e-Learning applications for the fire service, will unveil game-changing enhancements for managing fire department training at the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) 2017 Fire-Rescue International in Charlotte, N.C. TargetSolutions will be at booth No. 1237 during exhibit hall hours July 27-29 to answer questions and showcase recent updates to the industrys most dynamic online firefighter training technology. In 2016, more than 16.5 million training and compliance tasks were completed by thousands of agencies utilizing the platform. New upgrades will make that process even more user-friendly, said TargetSolutions Director of Product & User Experience Jennifer Jones. TargetSolutions is focused on releasing time-saving updates that reduce the number of clicks it takes to get where you want to go, Jones said. Our most recent set of updates were designed with busy training officers in mind. Here are some of TargetSolutions new capabilities that will be on display during FRI: The ability to manage and deliver custom activities with fewer steps when tracking training and compliance The ability to efficiently assign activities directly from the activity build page The ability to effectively control file versioning inside the system, as well as upload pictures and other documents on mobile devices In addition to enhanced usability, attendees of the annual conference can learn more about TargetSolutions latest training courses, including the all-new NFPA 1410 Fireground Evolutions Series. Soon fire departments will be able to create their own competency assessment to test firefighters knowledge and fill training gaps, Jones said. New functionality will enable training officers to set test questions and automatically assign TargetSolutions courses and their own activities to explain concepts behind missed questions. New courses and platform functionalities like this are a part of TargetSolutions goal of continuous improvement, said Jones. Upcoming TargetSolutions product enhancements will continue to make it even easier to create, deliver and track through the platform. In addition, a TargetSolutions representative will attend the IAFCs Volunteer & Combination Officers Sections (VCOS) annual meeting where Michael Accardo III of the St. Tammany Fire District 9 will be honored as the 2017 Training Officer Recognition Award winner. Accardo, a chief of training and safety for the combination department in Bush, La., was selected for the prestigious honor because of his unmatched commitment to delivering innovative firefighter training. This marks the fourth year in a row TargetSolutions and the VCOS are teaming up to present the prestigious honor, which is designated each year for an individual who displays exemplary conduct befitting of a training officer. Capt. Chip Everett of Oshtemo Township Fire Department (Mich.), Asst. Chief Brad Pinsky of Manlius Fire Department (N.Y.) and Deputy Chief Steve Malone of the Manhattan Fire Protection District (Ill.) won the award in previous years. About TargetSolutions TargetSolutions delivers cutting-edge software applications, engaging online training courses, and world-class customer service. The company was founded in 1999 and today there are more than 4,000 organizations across the country using TargetSolutions innovative technology to solve their training challenges. For questions about TargetSolutions, please check online at http://www.targetsolutions.com or contact us today (800) 840-8048. About Vector Solutions Vector Solutions sets the standard for excellence in delivering online continuing education, training and performance support solutions to the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industries, as well as industrial, public safety and IT fields. Through its brands RedVector, TargetSolutions, LearnSmart, and Scenario Learning. Vector Solutions offers individual courses as well as and large-scale corporate training solutions via a state-of-the-art Learning Management System. With an online library exceeding 5,000 courses authored by more than 200 subject matter experts, Vector Solutions serves professionals and firms across the globe. The recipient of numerous community honors and industry awards, Vector Solutions was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida. For more information, call 1-866-546-1212 or visit http://www.vector-solutions.com/. BHI's CEO Swati Abbott will address the importance of actionable analytics for medical device organizations. Blue Health Intelligence (BHI) announced today that Swati Abbott will discuss Harnessing the Power of Data and Analytics to Optimize Reimbursement Strategies. The keynote presentation will occur on Tuesday, July 25th at 8:30 a.m. at the Autograph Hotel in Chicago. Medical device organizations need actionable analytics to support their business strategies in todays rapidly changing healthcare environment, said Swati. Advanced analytics provides critical insights that not only inform organizations reimbursement strategies but identifies opportunities for innovation, now and in the future. During her discussion, Swati will cover topics such as: What key market dynamics are driving the need for analytics in the medical device industry Why a foundation for actionable analytics increases value and powers competitiveness How actionable analytics informs business strategies for medical device organizations and helps improve health and financial outcomes About Blue Health Intelligence Blue Health Intelligence (BHI) is the nations premier resource for data-driven insights about healthcare trends and best practices, promoting healthier lives and more affordable access to safe and effective care. BHI leverages a team of analytics experts and advanced technology, coupled with access to the greatest number of healthcare claims172 million livesgathered over 10 years in a safe, HIPAA-compliant, secure database. The resulting conformed, reliable data set has the broadest, deepest pool of integrated medical and pharmacy claims, reflecting medical utilization in every ZIP code. Blue Health Intelligence (BHI) is an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. BHI is a trade name of Health Intelligence Company, LLC. http://www.bluehealthintelligence.com. Blue Health Intelligence Contact: Stacy Goldman 312-540-5114 office stacy.goldman(at)bluehealthintelligence.com Fans need not worry, Kangana Ranaut only suffered a minor injury on the sets of Manikarnika - The Queen Of Jhansi. By India Today Web Desk: The nation woke up to the news of Kangana Ranaut's "severe" injury while shooting for her Rani Laxmibai biopic, Manikarnika - The Queen Of Jhansi. Reportedly, Kangana was hit by a sword while filming a fight sequence, and required 15 stitches on her forehead. However, the actor's fans need not be worried, as India Today has learnt that it was a minor injury. advertisement While reports said that she was hospitalised and was likely to be under observation for about a week, Kangana left Apollo Hospital, Jubilee Hills, on Wednesday itself, after a brief treatment. The hospital confirmed that the injury was a minor one. Producer Kamal Jain had told Mid-Day that Kangana was injured when a sword-fighting sequence with her co-star Nihar Pandya went awry. "Kangana had to duck when Nihar attacked her, but the timing went wrong and Nihar's sword hit her forehead instead. It made a deep cut between her eyebrows," he said. "I am a bit embarrassed to be thrilled to have a battle scar on my face. Also, people from my team have been telling me that it's like that Peshwa teeka that Manikarnika wore. It's a bit dramatic, but I am excited that my face was covered in blood and I got a genuine and authentic glimpse of the Queen's life." Kangana said in a statement. The actor has been shooting for Manikarnika - The Queen Of Jhansi in Hyderabad's Film City. The biopic, which marks the Bollywood debut of television actress Ankita Lokhande, will reportedly release in April next year. (With inputs from Ashish Pandey and PTI) OPINION: Kangana Ranaut, beware. The Bollywood elite wants to take you down ALSO READ: Kangana Ranaut reveals she has marriage plans in 2017 INDIA TODAY EXCLUSIVE: Watch Kangana respond to accusations of being a witch, whore and psychopath --- ENDS --- Mohr Partners, Inc. (MPI), a global corporate real estate advisory firm, today announced that Tori Wint joined the company as Director of Human Resources in its Dallas headquarters office. Her focus will be leading MPIs national talent acquisition, training, and development as well as managing the overall human resources functions. Tori brings over ten years of experience in human resources to MPI. Tori has a record of driving company growth through sound practice. Her extensive experience in talent acquisition, employee engagement, and retention is vital to corporate culture, said Eric Karl, Chief Financial Officer. Robert Shibuya, Chairman, and CEO stated, Tori is a key piece of our organizational effort towards specialists in key positions as we push to make every MPI office operate as seamlessly as headquarters. Her depth of experience will be a great asset to MPI as she gets acquainted with her role. Before joining MPI, Ms. Wint was the Director of Human Resources at Republic Elite. Ms. Wint has a Bachelors in Human Resource Development from the University of Massachusetts and is pursuing a Masters in Human Resource Management from Southern New Hampshire University. Furthermore, she is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Dallas HR Chapter, and the Young Professional Society. About MPI: Mohr Partners, Inc. (MPI) is a global corporate real estate services firm providing tenants and occupiers integrated solutions including portfolio management and lease administration, business intelligence consulting, research and site selection, location incentives practice, transaction advisors, and project management. Since 1986, MPI has been managing real estate portfolios for organizations across industries. MPI has recently performed transactions on behalf of clients in more than 1,400 markets worldwide including every state in the US and 12 other countries through its owned offices across North America and its strategic alliance partners. For more information on MPI, please visit http://www.mohrpartners.com. For more information contact: Jennifer Cheek Managing Director, Marketing Communications 214 273 8647 jennifer.cheek(at)mohrpartners(dot)com This release may contain forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, including statements that address activities, events or developments that we or our management intend, expect, project, believe or anticipate will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on managements assumptions and assessments in light of experience and trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other relevant factors. They are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results may differ significantly from those envisaged by our forward-looking statements. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described or implied in the forward-looking statements are general business and economic conditions, production delays resulting from lack of regulatory certifications and other factors, competition in our existing and future markets, lack of market acceptance of our products and services, the substantial leverage and debt service resulting from our indebtedness, loss or retirement of key executives and other risks disclosed by us or generally associated with our business. Fashion Group International provides insights on major trends and grants access to business professionals to the influence fashion plays in the marketplace. The bamm platform is an easy way for members to support FGI-MSP programs. bamm, next-generation travel and meeting management platform, along with Fashion Group International of Minneapolis St. Paul (FGI MSP), is implementing a fund-raising program designed to increase support for FGI MSP initiatives. This new affinity program provides FGI MSP members a simple, easy way to stand behind the FGI MSP mission. Using bamms web (http://www.getbamm.com), iOS and Android based platform, members travel for fun or business and a percentage of the proceeds go to FGI MSP. bamm is excited and proud to partner with FGI to create a simple and straightforward way for FGI donors and supporters to donate to FGI MSP's mission. bamm has access to the best global travel inventory, and since everyone travels; why not travel for the cause? said Kurt Johnson, CEO, bamm. "FGI MSPs mission is to be the pre-eminent authority on the business of fashion and design and propel its members forward in their careers. The bamm platform is an easy way for members to further this mission by supporting future FGI-MSP programs," said Sandy Simmons, Regional Director, FGI MSP. bamm helps non-profits increase revenue through travel affinity programs that use donor's travel dollars to support a good cause. Enterprises enjoy the best market pricing for travel while busy individuals can have more productive meetings and travel plans. Integrations with Priceline and Uber ensure nearly all aspects of personal and professional travel are enabled; integration with Uber Conference ensures users can go virtual if they are late, and integration with Outlook and Gmail ensures users reap bamms productivity benefits. Companies and individuals use bamm to: Book rental cars, hotels and air travel via the web, iPhone, or Android apps Schedule and monitor meetings and events Communicate directly to participants through status notifications, chats, and instant conference bridges About bamm (Before and After Meeting Manager) Founded in 2014 in Chicago, IL, bamm is the next generation travel and meeting management platform, and is uniquely positioned to offer affinity and travel programs to non-profits and enterprises. As a member of the Priceline Partnership Network, bamm has access to over 900,000 hotels worldwide, over 18 rental car brands in 180 countries, and 220+ airlines, and gets travelers where they need to be at the best prices. bamms smart apps for Web, iPhone and Android take the stress out of meetings and meeting management and ensure users are on time or able to be productive regardless of schedule changes. Integrations with Priceline, Uber, Uber Conference, Outlook, Gmail, combine with bamms proprietary AI to create an effortless travel and meeting experience. https://www.getbamm.com About FGI MSP (Fashion Group International of Minneapolis St. Paul) Fashion Group International is a global, non-profit, professional organization with 5,000 members in the fashion industry. Founded in New York circa 1930, FGI provides insights on major trends and grants access to business professionals to the influence fashion plays in the marketplace. Fashion Group International of Minneapolis-St. Paul (FGI MSP) includes local professionals working in the fields of design and aesthetics fashion, decor, design, food, jewelry, beauty and architecture to name a few. The organization hosts events covering a range of topics and provides industry networking opportunities. http://minneapolisstpaul.fgi.org/ bamm When and Where Effortlessly is a registered trademark of DESTN8,LLC. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. This partnership with Wochit gives France Medias Monde a significant advantage in the competitive digital landscape, where mobile is now often the first, or the only screen. Wochit, the cloud-based video creation platform, today announced a partnership with France Medias Monde as part of the publishers expanding digital strategy. The partnership will better enable France Medias Monde to rapidly create short-form social video that is optimized for distribution across platforms and screens in order to grow and engage audiences. France Medias Monde selected Wochit for its AI-powered editing platform and vast library of premium content from leading global publishers including AFP, Reuters, Getty and many others that will enable France Medias Monde to dramatically increase its offerings for foreign language audiences. France Medias Monde brands will also benefit from Wochits content partnerships with Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, plus a custom integration of the France 24 television feed that is now available directly within Wochit. The partnership follows a June 2017 pilot with France Medias Monde subsidiary Radio France International (RFI), during which videos created with Wochit and published to the RFI Facebook page saw 216 percent more reactions, 164 percent more comments and 283 percent more shares compared to RFIs averages on Facebook that month. Based on these results, the publisher is expanding use of Wochit more broadly across its holdings. "Video, and more specifically, mobile video, is in strong demand by audiences worldwide, said Tony Andres, Head of Platform Partnerships & Business Development at France Medias Monde. This partnership with Wochit gives France Medias Monde a significant advantage in the competitive digital landscape, where mobile is now often the first, or the only screen. "We are delighted that France Medias Monde has chosen Wochit as their partner for production of trending stories and distribution in the formats that work best on each platform, said Garrett Goodman, Wochit Vice President of Business Development EMEA. With the ability to quickly adjust aspect and other elements, they can be sure audiences have the best user experience on every device and channel. Wochit customers produce more than 30,000 videos every month for distribution across owned and operated websites as well as via OTT, mobile apps and social networks. On Facebook alone, socially-optimized videos created using Wochit and posted since January 1, 2017 have received more than 1 billion views and 10.3 million shares. About Wochit Wochit is a video creation platform that empowers newsrooms, media companies and brands to expand audience engagement through the power of social video. Worldwide media brands such as Time Inc., Daily News, USA Today, Gannett, AOL, Conde Nast, The Week, ProSieben, Singapore Straits Times, and Der Spiegel use Wochit to produce short-form videos around trending topics at the scale and speed required in the video-first, mobile era. With rights-cleared assets from AP, AFP, Reuters, Getty, Bloomberg, and others, cloud-based editing tools and native uploads, horizontal and vertical videos are quickly created and distributed across all social and digital platforms. Wochit is among the 2016-2017 EContent Top 100 companies in the digital content industry as well as the the winner of both the Gutenberg Prize for its disruptive technology in the field of journalism and Digidays Best Video Technology Innovation for its significant impact on publishers bottom line. The Company is backed by ProSieben, Singapore Press Holdings SPH Media Fund, Carlo de Benedetti, Redpoint Ventures, Marker LLC, Greycroft Partners and Cedar Fund. Wochit is based in New York, with offices in London and Tel Aviv. Find out more at http://www.wochit.com. Whitfield Diffie, Advisor to BlackRidge Technology My passion in applying the principles of cryptography to securing internet computing remains as strong through my active role with BlackRidge Technology," said Diffie BlackRidge Technology International, Inc. (OTCQB: BRTI), a leader in cyber defense, is pleased to congratulate Dr. Whitfield Diffie, BlackRidge Advisor known for discovering the concept of public key cryptography, which underlies the security of internet commerce and all modern secure communication systems, for his election into The Royal Society. Diffie has been a member of the BlackRidge Technical Advisory Board since 2012, actively advising the company on the practical use of cryptography in representing large identity populations, and on the important problem of establishing trust and accountability in corporate networks and cloud environments. He was also recently elected to the National Academy of Engineering, and Diffie previously received the 2015 ACM A.M. Turing Award for Critical Contributions to Modern Cryptography. The Royal Society is a Fellowship of many of the world's most eminent scientists and is the oldest scientific academy in continuous existence. The Societys fundamental purpose, reflected in its founding Charters of the 1660s, is to recognize, promote, and support excellence in science and to encourage the development and use of science for the benefit of humanity. I am honored to be elected to The Royal Society with such a distinguished group of scientists, said Dr. Whitfield Diffie. My passion in applying the principles of cryptography to securing internet computing remains as strong through my active role with BlackRidge Technology. Blackridge Transport Access Control rejects unwanted TCP connections quickly and cheaply, This providing a new level of cyber defense. This not only avoids wasting computer cycles on trying to detect intruders, it prevents them from acquiring information to launch attacks in the first place.'' Dr Whitfield Diffie is best known for discovering the concept of public key cryptography, which underlies the security of internet commerce and all modern secure communication systems. He is a Consulting Scholar in the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford and a Visiting Professor at Royal Holloway College of the University of London. After leaving Stanford University in the late 1970s, he became Manager of Secure Systems Research for Bell-Northern Research, the laboratory of the Canadian telephone system. In 1991, he moved to Sun Microsystems, rising to be Vice-President, Sun Fellow, and Chief Security Officer until 2009. Since leaving Sun, he has worked primarily as an advisor to innovative startups in the security field. Diffie received the 2015 Turing Award and in 2017 was elected to the National Academy of Engineering. Since 1993, much of Diffie's attention has been focused on public policy, in the areas of cryptography, security, and privacy. His position --- in opposition to limitations on the business and personal use of cryptography --- has been the subject of articles in the New York Times Magazine, Wired, and Discover and programs on CNN, the Discovery Channel, and Equinox TV. Diffie's contributions as one of the world's foremost cryptographers continue to be invaluable to BlackRidge's vision of establishing trust across networks and cloud services, said John Hayes, Chief Technology Officer of BlackRidge Technology. We really enjoy working with Whit and appreciate his active contributions to our identity-based approach to cyber defense. About BlackRidge Technology BlackRidge Technology provides a next generation cyber defense solution that stops cyber-attacks and blocks unauthenticated access. Our patented First Packet Authentication technology was developed for the military to cloak and protect servers and segment networks. BlackRidge Transport Access Control authenticates user and device identity and enforces security policy on the first packet of network sessions. This new level of real-time protection blocks or redirects unidentified and unauthorized traffic to stop attacks and unauthorized access, isolates systems and segments networks, and provides identity attribution. BlackRidge was founded in 2010 to commercialize its military grade and patented network security technology. For more information, visit http://www.blackridge.us. About The Royal Society The Societys fundamental purpose, reflected in its founding Charters of the 1660s, is to recognise, promote, and support excellence in science and to encourage the development and use of science for the benefit of humanity. The Society has played a part in some of the most fundamental, significant, and life-changing discoveries in scientific history and Royal Society scientists continue to make outstanding contributions to science in many research areas. Our priorities include, promoting excellence in science, supporting international collaboration, demonstrating the importance of science to everyone. Read more about our priorities in our Strategic Plan for 2017-2022. Saving 20 Million is as easy as these questions Any company doing business with EU entities is affected. The EU is taking personal data security to new levels with the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) set to go into effect on May 25th of next year. This leaves global businesses approximately ten months to set their data privacy and security policies in line with the strict GDPR compliance, or face crippling fines of up to 4% of annual global revenue or 20 million Euros, whichever figure is greater. The ripple effects of GDPRs strict compliance will be felt worldwide. Despite GDPRs quickly approaching enforcement date, it is reported that a surprisingly large portion of executive officers in the U.S. remain in the dark about the level of exposure and dire fiscal impact GDPR could have on their businesses. Amir Ameri, VP of Global Risk & Compliance at digital workplace technology company, Beekeeper, has compiled a list of 31 essential questions every global business leader must ask themselves to assess their companys readiness to meet GPDR compliance before May 2018. https://beekeeper.io/gdpr-compliance Executives now face a sprint of thorough internal evaluations to revamp policies around collection, storage, or usage of EU resident personal data. The financial implications of breaching GDPR are astronomical, says Ameri. We recommend mapping all data assets and appointing dedicated Data Protection personnel on a full-time or contract basis to properly oversee the adoption of high-caliber data protection processes and technologies. The reality is that GDPRs effects stretch far beyond the confines of the EU. If your global business touches personal data of European citizens in any way whatsoever, you are subject to all requirements set forth by the new regulation. Gabrielle Griffith, Director at compliance consultancy BPE Global, stresses the importance of internal due diligence across your organization ahead of GDPRs enactment. Any company doing business with EU entities is affected, Griffith states. For example, global companies that maintain a website to solicit sales from potential EU customers will be subject to GDPR requirements. Furthermore, Griffith urges global organizations to see these regulations as an opportunity to elevate and align Corporate Compliance. We challenge global companies to look at the new GDPR regulations as an opportunity to align Corporate Compliance at a high-level. There are several sectors of international compliance for global companies: trade, antitrust, anti-corruptionGDPR compliance is the newest learning curve, Griffith says. Global companies need to scale and train immediately to ensure seamless GDPR compliance come May 2018. Companies must develop an offensive strategy that streamlines all areas of your companys compliance. With GDPRs compliance deadline just around the corner, it is crucial that all global companies demonstrate rigorous investment in the personnel and policy changes required to securely store and manage personal data. A cross-organizational security assessment will not only keep your business GDPR compliant, but also work to reduce the risk of a future breach. About Beekeeper Beekeeper is an award-winning digital workplace app that digitizes the non-desk workforce by connecting operational systems and communication channels within one secure, intuitive platform. Beekeeper automates corporate communications, connects colleagues, and includes an intelligent dashboard that helps companies improve internal communication and business processes. The company is based in Zurich and San Francisco, and supports users in more than 137 countries. Clients include Heathrow Airport, Seaboard Foods, and Grand Hyatt. For more information, visit http://www.beekeeper.io. Kaulig speaks to press following the Certified Made in America Event. Its an honor to be able to help advance President Trumps mission to put America first, said Kaulig. I hope to inspire other business leaders to move their manufacturing back to the U.S., and encourage them to create much needed jobs in this country. LeafFilter Gutter Protection Owner and President Matt Kaulig was recognized by the White House and President Donald Trump yesterday as part of Trumps Certified Made in America event. The inaugural event recognized businesses that are committed to manufacturing and job creation in the United States. Twenty companies that manufacture their products in the United States were invited to the White House for a roundtable discussion to highlight the importance of manufacturing products in American factories, using American workers. Kaulig and other business owners discussed ways to verify and protect Made in America products. It was such an awesome experience to meet with President Trump, Vice President Pence and their administration today at the White House for the roundtable discussion on verified Made in America products, said Kaulig. We talked a lot about branding Made in America, and how we can make buying American-made products, like LeafFilter, a priority for consumers in this country. While LeafFilter Gutter Protection is headquartered in Ohio, LeafFilter Gutter Protections impact on manufacturing and job creation spreads far beyond the states borders. The company includes over 40 offices, which employ more than 1,300 U.S. workers, and generated over $100 million in revenue in 2016. The micromesh gutter protection is manufactured in Plainwell, Michigan. The Made in America initiative is part of the Trump administrations effort to recognize American workers and companies. In a proclamation issued on Monday, Trump cited his efforts to support American business owners. My Administration recognizes the critical connection between a strong manufacturing base and a thriving economy, said Trump. I am committed to promoting American manufacturing, opening markets around the world for our producers, and protecting our businesses from unfair trade practices. And I am reducing job killing regulations and cutting taxes, making it more attractive than ever to do business in the United States. As a leader in job creation and American made products, Kaulig, who was recently named Ernst and Youngs Entrepreneur of the Year, intends to keep LeafFilter purely American made to support job creation and manufacturing within the United States. Its an honor to be able to help advance President Trumps mission to put America first, said Kaulig. I hope to inspire other business leaders to move their manufacturing back to the U.S., and encourage them to create much needed jobs in this country. About LeafFilter and LeafFilter North, LLC Headquartered in Hudson, OH, LeafFilter has been rated the #1 professionally installed gutter protection system on the market. LeafFilters patented, branded system protects homes from the damages of clogged gutters, including foundation damage, structural issues, and other water-related problems. LeafFilter is the leading gutter protection company in North America, providing customer support throughout the entire sales and installation process. LeafFilter currently serves regions in 35 states through 40 office locations, and has installed over 30 million feet of gutter protection product to date. Learn more about LeafFilter and its solutions at http://www.leaffilter.com. Dedication of the Enfield Family Resource Center. Goodwill Community Foundation, (GCF) donated washers and dryers to launch Halifax County Schools laundry program for all ten schools in the district. Last week, the program was launched district-wide with Halifax County School board members, staff, parents, students, elected officials and community partners dedicating the Family Resource Center located on the campus of adjoining schools, Inborden Elementary School and Enfield Middle Schools, where two sets of new washers and dryers are housed. The washer and dryer initiative is an effort to increase student attendance and engagement. By meeting this basic need of having clean clothes, Halifax County Schools recognizes that there are external factors derailing efforts to educate its students. As we chart a new course for the district, we recognize that our children have basic needs that have to be met before they can actually learn reading, writing and arithmetic, said Halifax County Schools Superintendent Eric Cunningham. GCF has been a mighty force to help us address those basic needs. We appreciate their generous contribution as we move forward. The work that has been done by the superintendent and the principals in creating this space is extraordinary, said Rev. Dennis McLain, President of Goodwill Community Foundation. They have taken a room that has been used for nothing to a space where kids can have dignity, where parents and families can have their kids taken care of in a manner that gives them the opportunity to take pride in themselves, pride in their community and pride in their school. Goodwill Community Foundation (GCF) donated $22,377 to Halifax County Schools to purchase washers and dryers. Because of the donation from GCF, all 10 Halifax County District schools will be outfitted with a set of commercial grade large capacity GE 7.2 cubic feet washer and dryer units with the capacity to launder more clothes per load than the standard size. I think the partnership between Goodwill Community Foundation and Halifax County Schools is awesome, said Claude Cooper, Chairman, Board of Education, Halifax County Schools. It gives our kids an opportunity for some things that without their assistance they could never have. So, I say thank you on behalf of the board of education. About Goodwill Community Foundation (GCF) Goodwill Community Foundation (GCF) continues to be a leader in an era of change by providing the training required for the emerging world where technology is integrated into everyday life. The mission of GCF is to create and provide education, employment and life enrichment opportunities regionally, nationally and internationally for people who desire to improve the quality of their lives. The GCF Community Foundation, a Durham-based tax-exempt organization, provides employment, fresh produce and volunteer opportunities, family services for parents with children with disabilities and free accounting services to youth programs across eastern North Carolina. GCFLearnFree.org and GCFAprendeLibre.org have provided free lessons for over 555,000 people in North Carolina since 2010 to improve their technology, math and English skills. All GCF programs are funded through revenue generated from the value of donated items to 40 Goodwill Community Foundation stores throughout eastern North Carolina. GCF employs more than 400 people who earn an average of $20 per hour with benefits at these stores. For more information on GCF, visit http://www.GCFGlobal.org. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University For the seventh straight year, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has been selected as one of the Great Colleges to Work For by The Chronicle of Higher Education, the nations most respected publication covering colleges and universities. The rankings were based on a two-part methodology: an institutional audit that captured demographics and workplace policies from each institution and a survey of employees on workforce practices. More than 45,000 people at 232 institutions participated in this years survey, with 79 of the schools earning the title of Great College to Work For. Only 42 of those 79, including Embry-Riddle, were additionally named Honor Roll schools for excellence across multiple categories. Embry-Riddle won high marks in the following areas: Facilities; Workspace & Security; Job Satisfaction; Professional/Career Development Programs; Respect and Appreciation; Supervisor/Department Chair Relationship; and Work/Life Balance. Its very gratifying that for the seventh year in a row, Embry-Riddle employees who responded to the Great Colleges to Work For survey have given the university their vote of confidence, said university President Dr. P. Barry Butler. At Embry-Riddle we offer benefits that support the work/life balance that is so essential to attracting and retaining top-tier faculty and staff. Embry-Riddle employs more than 2,200 faculty, staff, and administrators worldwide. Benefits include paid holidays, including the week off between Christmas and New Years Day, a generous personal leave program, a four-day summer workweek, a 403(b) retirement plan with Embry-Riddle gift and matching contribution, health insurance with vision and dental coverage, a telecommuting option, and a comprehensive Employee Assistance Program. A tuition waiver program offers free tuition to employees and family members, with employees allowed paid time off to attend Embry-Riddle classes. The Great Colleges to Work For distinction is well-known by academic jobseekers as a sign that an institutions employees are valued and given opportunities for growth, said Liz McMillen, editor of The Chronicle. Any college or university on our annual list has proven that they emphasize one of their best assets: their faculty and staff. The full survey rankings can be found online here and will appear July 21 in The Chronicles Academic Workplace Special Issue. To administer the Great Colleges to Work For survey and analyze the results, The Chronicle worked with ModernThink LLC, a strategic human capital consulting firm. About Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the worlds largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, is a nonprofit, independent institution offering more than 80 baccalaureate, masters, and Ph.D. degree programs in its colleges of Arts & Sciences, Aviation, Business, Engineering, and Security & Intelligence. Embry-Riddle educates students at residential campuses in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Prescott, Ariz., through the Worldwide Campus with more than 125 locations in the United States, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, and through online programs. The university is a major research center, seeking solutions to real-world problems in partnership with the aerospace industry, other universities, and government agencies. For more information, visit http://www.embryriddle.edu, follow us on Twitter (@EmbryRiddle) and facebook.com/EmbryRiddleUniversity, and find expert videos at YouTube.com/EmbryRiddleUniv. About The Chronicle of Higher Education The Chronicle of Higher Education is the No. 1 source of news, information, and jobs for college and university faculty members and administrators. The newspaper has over 51,000 academic subscribers and a total readership of more than 215,000. The Chronicles audited website traffic is more than 12.8 million pages a month, seen by more than 1.9 million unique visitors. Based in Washington, D.C., The Chronicle employs more than 70 writers, editors, and international correspondents. For more information, go to http://chronicle.com. About ModernThink LLC As a research and consulting leader in workplace issues, ModernThink has supported a wide variety of Best Place to Work initiatives. Through these programs, the firm has gained substantial survey and industry expertise, including specific insight into higher education. For more information, go to http://www.modernthink.com. ### Lucas Group Were working side-by-side with companies to source this in-demand talent that will fuel continued growth. Executive recruitment firm Lucas Group announced the launch of its new customer engagement campaign, Together, We Own D.C.. The three-month campaign reaffirms Lucas Groups strong commitment to providing customer-centric recruiting solutions tailored to the dynamic Washington, D.C. market, including companies based in Northern Virginia and central Maryland. D.C. is a fast-paced, dynamic city with a crop of ambitious, rising stars, says Chief Marketing Officer Scott Smith. These professionals seek out high-performing companies that will support their career trajectories. Thanks to the strong regional economy, these top performers can afford to be selective. Were working side-by-side with companies to source this in-demand talent that will fuel continued growth. Lucas Groups Washington, D.C. practice focuses on Accounting & Finance, Human Resources and Legal recruitment in addition to our cornerstone Military Transition practice. The Military Transition recruiters work with officers, non-commissioned officers, and highly- skilled technicians to identify exceptional post military jobs that lead to lasting, rewarding careers. The Own D.C. campaign includes custom recruitment resources via Lucas Groups career advice site, Your Career Intel. This collection of original blogs, infographics and videos provides local-expert insights for companies seeking to hire top talent in this competitive market. Your Career Intel also includes candid advice for D.C.-based professionals navigating mid-career transitions. Together, We Own D.C. is an opportunity for Lucas Group to share its appreciation for 17 years of strong customer relationships with hundreds of Mid-Atlantic companies and the local community. Lucas Groups DC office makes significant investments in their people and community. Office celebrations and traditions often extend outside the walls and include rooftop happy hours, outings to a Nationals game, trips across town to celebrate team accomplishments, and workout groups. They support the Marine Parade each year as well as local non-profits including HER Resiliency Center, a local non profit dedicated to helping vulnerable young women reach their potential. We are a team of recruiters competing to be the best in the city for our customers. With strong roots in and an understanding of the area, we are dedicated to developing exceptional relationships and building careers in the highly unique DC market. says Ann Reiling, Washington, D.C. Managing Partner, Human Resources Executive Search Practice. The Together, We Own D.C. campaign will run through September 30, 2017. About Lucas Group Lucas Group is North Americas premier executive search firm. Since 1970, our culture and methodologies have driven superior results. We assist clients ranging in size from small to medium-sized businesses to Fortune 500 companies find transcendent, executive talent; candidates fully realize their ambitions; and associates find professional success. To learn more, please visit Lucas Group at http://www.lucasgroup.com and connect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Representatives from 8 of 11 Southland school districts who signed a PACE agreement gather at the University of La Verne. We want every high school student in Southern California to know that an education from a distinguished private university is within their reach, - Devorah Lieberman Eleven additional school districts have partnered with the University of La Verne to expand what was already one of Southern Californias largest initiatives to ensure that students have access to a high-quality, affordable college education. The Partnership for Access to College Education (PACE) launched in January with the university, a dozen public school districts, and a private high school. It has now grown to encompass 23 districts that house nearly 100 high schools and serve more than 383,000 students per year. Those districts stretch from Montebello to Palm Springs, and from Kern County to the Jurupa Valley. The program promises qualified students from the districts a pathway to the University of La Verne that includes: Guaranteed admission Guaranteed financial aid of at least $10,000 per year Application fee waivers And a range of programs to assist with college readiness and the application process We want every high school student in Southern California to know that an education from a distinguished private university is within their reach, University of La Verne President Devorah Lieberman said. We look forward to working with our PACE partners to support these students and guide them on their paths to success. Officials from the 11 new districts came to the university on July 20 for a ceremony to celebrate the partnership. New PACE partners are: Arcadia Unified School District, Azusa Unified School District, Baldwin Park Unified School District, Bassett Unified School District, Charter Oak Unified School District, Claremont Unified School District, Hacienda La Puente Unified School District, Jurupa Unified School District, Palm Springs Unified School District, Project BEST (Black Excellence in Scholarship and Teaching)/Kern High School District, and St. John Bosco High School. About half of the students who attend the University of La Verne are the first in their families to go to college. About 75 percent of first-time freshmen come from within 50 miles of the university. About the University of La Verne Founded in 1891 and located 35 miles east of Los Angeles, the University of La Verne is a private, nonprofit, comprehensive institution founded on four core values: lifelong learning, ethical reasoning, civic and community engagement, and diversity and inclusivity. The University of La Verne serves nearly 8,400 students on the historic La Verne location as well as across 10 Southern California regional campuses. Early on Thursday morning, the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike painted Hindi signboards black at the Namma Metro stations in Bengaluru. By Rohini Swamy: The Karnataka government has said that they will arrest all those who have defaced metro stations as part of their anti-Hindi campaign. Now, heavy police patrolling and deployment has begun across the city to ensure that no further attacks take place. Early on Thursday morning, the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) painted Hindi signboards black at the Namma Metro stations in Bengaluru. advertisement The Karnataka Rakshana Vedike which has been vociferously fighting against the use of Hindi signages has been continuing its effort to put pressure on the Namma metro authorities. Several signages on the Bangalore Metro were painted black and the KRV said they will continue their protests till the metro officials relent. The Peenya Station, Jayanagar Station were some of the places where the fringe activists blacken boards. They pushed themselves into the station and sprayed paint to send their message loud and clear about their campaign 'Nammametrohindibeda#Recently the KRV had called a meeting where non-Hindi speaking states which have political parties supporting the movement are present. The leader of the pro-Kannada organisation Vatal Nagaraj said that they will not allow Hindi signboards and the effort to impose Hindi on Kannadigas. "If it continues, we will testify our story." The Urban Minister KJ George said there is no need to protest this way as the Karnataka CM and the government are committed to give importance to Kannada. ALSO READ: Bengaluru: Hindi words covered on sign boards outside Namma Metro stations Row over Hindi in Namma Metro stations: Siddaramaiah to decide after knowing other states' policies --- ENDS --- Due to popular demand, United Benefit Advisors (UBA) and Guardian will present a repeat of the live UBA WisdomWorkplace webinar titled, The Leave Management Puzzle Challenges & Solutions for Midsize Employers on Tuesday, July 25, at 2:00 p.m. EDT. To receive complimentary access to the webinar, enter code GRDUBA72517 when registering. This webinar has been approved for 1.25 re-certification credit hours from the Human Resource Certification Institute. Midsize employers faced with increasing challenges in administering employee leave have responded by increasing their use of external partners with the expertise and technology to ensure their leave management practices are in compliance with the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and state/local leave laws. Whether a company is just getting started, looking for tips on advancing their companys leave management program, or trying to understand the current environment, this webinar is designed to help. Mid-size employers are realizing that inconsistent leave policies and procedures, or simply approving all leave requests, can potentially hurt their company in a variety of ways, says Wes Thornhill, Guardian Group Sales Consultant. Not managing leave properly exposes employers to potential litigation from non-compliance with federal and state laws, reduces productivity from inappropriate use of leave, and possibly lowers employee morale because leaves policies may be deemed unfair or biased, adds Ann Johnson, Guardian Account Manager. These challenges apply to all employers not just very large companies, but particularly midsize firms, many of whom may not have the internal resources to effectively manage leave across multiple locations and in multiple states, according to Wes. Leveraging insights from Guardians 2017 Absence Management Study and more than 70 years of collective experience among the presenters, this webinar will address current trends, challenges, and potential solutions for midsize employers. The session will offer practical advice, actionable insights, and best practices, especially for firms with 50 to 500 employees. ABOUT THE PRESENTER Ann Johnson, Account Manager at Guardian Based in the Chicago regional office, Ann works with our core market customers (100 to 1,000 lives), focused on retention and revenue growth, for life, accident, disability, FML, worksite and stop-loss. With more than 20 years of industry experience, Ann helps employers implement the most effective solutions based on their company's needs. Ann has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Minnesota. WES THORNHILL, Group Sales Consultant at Guardian Based in the Indianapolis regional office. Wes builds partnerships with brokers and consultants and their customers (25 to 1,000 lives), focused on sales growth and persistency for life, accident, disability, FML, dental, vision, worksite and stop-loss. Wes began his career with Guardian upon college graduation in 2004 and has a bachelor's degree in Economics & Management from DePauw University. JENNIFER LYONS, Product Manager at Guardian Jennifer is responsible for advancing the product strategy of Guardian's absence management business. She has been with Guardian for nine years. Jennifer has more than 20 years of experience in the insurance industry, specializing in absence, disability, and life products. She has held positions in Underwriting and Product & Business Development with several of the largest group insurance carriers. GENE LANZONI, Assistant Vice President, Group & Worksite MarketingThought Leadership at Guardian Gene has nearly 30 years experience in marketing and market research as well as broad experience in the financial services industry. He previously served as Vice, Global Market Research at Prudential Financial and Vice President and head of Market Research for U.S. Business at MetLife. Gene holds a bachelor's degree in Marketing and Communications from The College of New Jersey. ABOUT GUARDIAN Guardian is a UBA Strategic Alliance for Dental, Life, AD&D, Disability, Vision, and Worksite Benefits. Guardian is dedicated to helping customers provide the right group benefits while managing costs by offering innovative plan designs, leading technology platforms, and more effective ways to engage employees. Our ability to deliver high quality customer solutions is backed by more than 150 years in the insurance industry, a strong mutual foundation, and exemplary financial ratings*. From identifying needs to ongoing service, customers of all sizes rely on our comprehensive approach to meeting their benefits needs. For more information, visit the Guardian website. *Ratings as of 3/17 and are subject to change. ABOUT UNITED BENEFIT ADVISORS United Benefit Advisors (UBA) is the nations leading independent employee benefits advisory organization with more than 200 offices throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. UBA empowers more than 2,000 Partners to both maintain their individuality and pool their expertise, insight, and market presence to provide best-in-class services and solutions. Employers, advisors and industry-related organizations interested in obtaining powerful results from the shared wisdom of our Partners should visit http://www.UBAbenefits.com. # # # The Landing is the first hotel to be built on Lake Minnetonka in 50-years and the first hotel in Wayzata in over a century. Adolfson & Peterson Construction (AP) celebrates the completion of The Landing Hotel and Residences located on the fifth block of The Promenade of Wayzata. The grand opening ribbon cutting was held June 16, 2017. This $40-million project is the final piece in a massive $342-million five-block project in Wayzata to which AP was a large contributor. The building is owned by Wayzata based BohLand Development, with the hotel and restaurant managed by New England-based Hay Creek Hotels. The Landing is the first hotel to be built on Lake Minnetonka in 50-years and the first hotel in Wayzata in over a century. The City of Wayzata, along with the surrounding community, looks forward to the new opportunities that will be brought to the area with the addition of this new hotel. At the ribbon cutting in June, Wayzata Mayor Ken Willcox spoke of his excitement with the completion of the Promenade Project as a whole and the new energy this hotel will bring to the area. The new 300,000 square-foot building consists of underground and elevated parking, a 92-unit boutique hotel with a two-story restaurant, banquet facilities and a Scandinavian inspired spa. The residence portion of the building includes 31 high-end condominiums. All 31-homes are architecturally unique and feature luxurious bedrooms and bathrooms with impeccable attention to design. About AP Adolfson & Peterson Construction (AP) is a U.S.-based, privately held firm that is consistently ranked among the top 50 construction managers and general contractors in the nation. Founded in 1946, the company has built longstanding commitments to the regions in which it operates and is known nationally for its innovative and collaborative approaches within the building industry. AP serves the education, multifamily, healthcare, commercial, municipal and senior living market segments from its offices in Charlotte, Dallas, Denver, Minneapolis and Phoenix. For more information, visit http://www.a-p.com and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Stratford School names Neena Bhave new Head of School at Palo Alto Campus Maintaining standards of teaching excellence and supporting student achievement in a nurturing, positive environment are key elements of our culture, and Neena will help us continue that mantra at our school. Stratford School, an award-winning independent preschool through 8th grade private school founded in Silicon Valley, is proud to announce the appointment of Ms. Neena Bhave as the Head of School for the Palo Alto campus. Ms. Bhave brings to Stratford School more than 25 years of educational expertise in teaching, program and curriculum development, and leadership in school administration. Stratford has created a collaborative environment for childrens optimal growth, according to Ms. Bhave. This school has blended traditional methods with current trends to create a unique educational experience for our students. Ms. Bhave explained that, In this setting, students have an opportunity to explore his/her own interests and carve their own future. For this and many other reasons, I am very excited to be a part of the Stratford community. Before joining Stratford School, Ms. Bhave held leadership and teaching positions at public and private schools in the Los Angeles and Silicon Valley. Ms. Bhave holds a Master of Arts degree from Ohio State University and a Bachelor of Science degree from Maharajah Sayajirao University, India. We are so pleased to welcome Neena Bhave to the Stratford School family said Sherry Adams, Stratford School Founder. The Head of School role is an important strategic position for us that allows Stratford to consistently deliver academic excellence across our campuses. Maintaining standards of teaching excellence and supporting student achievement in a nurturing, positive environment are key elements of our culture, and Neena will help us continue that mantra at our school. The public is invited to meet Ms. Bhave at Stratford Schools upcoming Open House on Thursday, July 27, from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM. Visit http://www.stratfordschools.com/open-house to learn more. About Stratford School Established in 1999, Stratford School is a leading independent private school founded on the belief that education is a significant influence in the life of a child. Stratford offers an accelerated curriculum from preschool through eighth grade with an emphasis in the areas of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) that incorporates music, physical education, foreign language, and social skills development. Stratfords goal is to prepare and mentor students for admission to competitive high schools and colleges. All students are provided the necessary tools to excel, and are encouraged to participate actively in leadership, community service, and extracurricular activities. Visit http://www.stratfordschools.com for more information. Girl Up Campaign Director, Melissa Kilby, released the statement below about the introduction of bipartisan House and Senate legislation in support of providing girls access to education in refugee settings. In May, Congressman Steve Chabot (R-OH) and Congresswoman Robin Kelly (D-IL) introduced H.R. 2408, the Protecting Girls Access to Education in Vulnerable Settings Act. Yesterday, companion legislation was introduced in the Senate by Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), the Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Global Womens Issues, respectively. Kilby said: Girls in refugee settings are among the most vulnerable in the world, and making sure they get an education is key to creating a better future for them and for the world. When a girl is educated and empowered, she is a powerful force for change. As 350 girl leaders brought that message to Capitol Hill yesterday to educate Members of Congress and their staff about the need for refugees to have access to education, we were pleased to see bipartisan legislation introduced in the Senate to address this pressing issue. We applaud the leadership of Rep. Steve Chabot and Rep. Robin Kelly, who introduced their bill in May, as well as the leadership of Sen. Marco Rubio and Sen. Robert Menendez to help educate girls in need. With the international community facing the largest displacement crisis since World War II, we hope the House and Senate take up these important pieces of legislation as quickly as possible. Strong U.S. support for girls education, alongside the life-saving work of the United Nations, can help change the lives of refugee girls around the world. In turn, this will create a more just and prosperous future for all of us. Today, there are more than 65 million people worldwide who have been forced from their homes by conflict and persecution. Displaced girls are the least likely to be in school, making them especially vulnerable to early marriage, human trafficking, and child labor. This bipartisan legislation will help to ensure that children who have been displaced will have access to primary and secondary schooling. Upon announcing the legislation, the sponsors of the bill said the following. Representative Steve Chabot: As a parent and former teacher, I firmly believe that education empowers our children. Unfortunately, with a staggering 65 million people around the world now displaced from their homes, it has become increasingly difficult for children in conflict zones to receive a primary or secondary education. H.R. 2408 aims to offer educational opportunities to the approximately 62 million girls globally who arent in school. By providing access to safe primary and secondary education, this legislation would help pave the way for a more peaceful and stable life for these girls, before they are subjected to further poverty, trafficking and recruitment into extremist organizations. Representative Robin Kelly: As a mother, the statistics are truly heartbreaking. There are 30 million children living as refugees and 20 million of them arent receiving a primary education. In addition to running from war, strife and famine, this lack of education makes these young people easier targets for terrorist organizations and human traffickers. This bill matches our international aid investments with our values protecting children and helping them learn, grow and succeed while supporting U.S. and global peace and security. Senator Marco Rubio: It is a sad reality that 62 million girls across the globe are not in school. It is critical that we help change this and ensure that all children have access to a primary or secondary education, whatever their gender and wherever they live. When girls are not in school, they can become more vulnerable to human trafficking and other forms of exploitation. This legislation will help offer a brighter future for millions of children around the world. Senator Robert Menendez: More than 65 million people are currently displaced due to driving forces including war, famine, and persecution, half of whom are under the age of 18. Education empowers young people to take control of their future and by equipping them with tools to become the next generation of leaders for their communities in and emerging from conflict. Ensuring access to education provides alternatives for joining criminal organization and protection from abduction, human trafficking and early marriage, which disproportionately impact young girls. This legislation sends and important message that the United States supports displaced people around the world, the importance of equal opportunity for girls and boys, and the value of education. ### About the United Nations Foundation The United Nations Foundation builds public-private partnerships to address the worlds most pressing problems, and broadens support for the United Nations through advocacy and public outreach. Through innovative campaigns and initiatives, the Foundation connects people, ideas, and resources to help the UN solve global problems. The Foundation was created in 1998 as a U.S. public charity by entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner and now is supported by philanthropic, corporate, government, and individual donors. Learn more at unfoundation.org. About Girl Up Girl Up, the United Nations Foundations adolescent girl campaign, supports the empowerment of girls everywhere. Since its launch in 2010, the campaign has funded UN programs that promote the health, safety, education, and leadership of girls in developing countries and built a community of nearly half a million passionate advocates including Girl Up Global Advocates Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan and Latin American business leader Angelica Fuentes. Our youth leaders, representing more than 1200 Girl Up Clubs in 66 countries, stand up, speak up, and rise up to support the hardest to reach girls living in places where it is hardest to be a girl. Learn more at GirlUp.org. Were proud to continue our long-standing support of AAJ and appreciate the opportunity to again present on a topic which we feel AAJ members will find timely and relevant to their mass tort practices. Counsel Financial, the nations trusted source for law firm financing, announced today it will once again be the Diamond Sponsor of the 2017 American Association for Justice annual convention. The Counsel Financial team will travel to Boston, Massachusetts this week for the conference, to be held July 22-25, which is on-course to be one of AAJs largest conventions to date. The event draws the top attorneys from across the country, along with specialized speakers who convene to discuss the latest litigation updates surrounding various practice areas and to engage in continuing legal education programs. As an elite sponsor, Counsel Financial will host a panel discussionEmerging Mass Torts: Latest News from the Expertson Sunday, July 23 at 12:30pm focused on breaking updates surrounding current litigations and different considerations when incorporating cases into a firms portfolio. Attorneys interested in expanding their practice to include mass torts or building upon their existing case portfolio will hear from industry leaders on the best torts to become involved in. The program will feature presentations from top firms including Sanders Phillips Grossman, Beasley Allen, Brenes Law Group, Jones Ward and more. Topics will include talc, opioids, hernia and physiomesh. The program will conclude with a robust Q&A session to delve further into specific areas of interest. Paul Cody, President and CEO of Counsel Financial, states, The American Association for Justice is a premier organization that fights relentlessly to strengthen the civil justice system for its membership and their clients. Were proud to continue our long-standing support of AAJ and appreciate the opportunity to again present on a topic which we feel AAJ members will find timely and relevant to their mass tort practices. As the only law firm financing company exclusively endorsed by AAJ since 2006, Counsel Financial remains the trusted source for law firm funding among AAJ members. Beyond financing, the company offers a multitude of benefits to its clients, such as assistance with budgeting and financial analysis, industry insight and co-counsel introductions. To learn more about all of the financing solutions offered, visit booth 503 or Counsel Financials Diamond Sponsor Boardroom (308) during Convention to meet with a representative. About Counsel Financial Counsel Financial is the largest provider of working capital lines of credit to plaintiffs attorneys in the industry, having loaned over $1.5 billion exclusively to plaintiffs attorneys in its 15-year history. Counsel Financial sets the standard for innovation and flexibility in its loan offerings, structuring terms that are conducive to the unique demands of contingency-fee practices. Leveraging 200+ years of internal legal experience, Counsel Financial has financed the growth of firms in every area of plaintiffs litigation, including personal injury, mass torts, class action and labor and employment. The company is exclusively endorsed by multiple national and state trial organizations, including the American Association for Justice and The National Trial Lawyers. The Trousdale Community We know that the No. 1 indicator for quality of life in the later years is socialization. Our vision is how we can work with the hospital, work with our community partners like Eskaton, to make sure what we provide at The Trousdale is going to fit. Past News Releases RSS Eskaton Recognized as Top Senior... Eskaton Kids Connection Combats... Eskaton Houses Homeless Navy... Eskaton, a nonprofit community-based organization serving seniors in San Mateo County, has partnered with Peninsula Health Care District (PHCD) on a brand-new assisted living and memory care community in Burlingame called The Trousdale. Owned by PHCD and managed by Eskaton, The Trousdale is now renting apartments for 2018 and offers residents 120 years of combined community service experience, paired with state-of-the-art technological advances that surpass traditional aging communities. We see assisted living and memory care as a fundamental element of the continuum of care, said Cheryl Fama, CEO of PHCD. We know that the No. 1 indicator for quality of life in the later years is socialization. Our vision is how we can work with the hospital, work with our community partners like Eskaton, to make sure what we provide at The Trousdale is going to fit. Located across the street from Mills Peninsula Hospital in Burlingame, The Trousdale is inspired by the surrounding Silicon Valley technology, and offers state-of-the-art innovation for seniors, including smart sensor LED lighting that adapts to the needs of the residents, an online portal for easy communication between family and residents and more that has been proven to increase the wellbeing of residents. We see shorter hospital stays, more procedures being done on an outpatient basis, more demand for choice, noted Fama. The Trousdale includes 101 beautifully designed assisted living apartments and 23 memory care residences for those with Alzheimers or dementia. Amenities include a wellness center, lifelong learning opportunities, and innovative and engaging activities such as yoga, acupuncture, art, and music programs. Eskaton is thrilled to bring our 50 years of experience in community services to The Trousdale to offer the best, most innovative care for our residents, said Sylvia Chu, Executive Director of The Trousdale. As a nonprofit organization like the Peninsula Health Care District, we share the same vision and dedication to providing quality and transformative care in our community. The community also includes several apartments at below market rate for income-qualified applicants. Additionally, this development will bring over 100 new well-paying employment positions to the region. The future of aging services looks nothing like it does today, concluded Lawrence Cappell, Chair, Peninsula Health Care District Board of Directors. The role of the caregiver is now being taken on by the adult children. Not only are we servicing the person who is getting older, but were also going to be servicing the person who is taking care of that person. About Eskaton Founded in 1968, Eskaton is now the largest nonprofit community-based organization serving seniors in the Greater Sacramento area. Our dedicated team members provide services and support for nearly 12,000 individuals annually who live in our communities or participate in our comprehensive Home Support Services. Eskatons difference lies in our broad array of choices and affordable options to engage and support people living in their own homes, as well as those who choose to live in one of our communities. Our positive reputation extends to our signature life-enriching programs, innovative health and wellness initiatives, professional staff training and development and generous philanthropy. These, along with our nonprofit status are Eskatons distinguishing factors. For more information, please call (866) ESKATON, or visit http://www.eskaton.org. About PHCD Health Care Districts are public entities that provide community-based health care services to residents throughout the state. They respond to the needs in their District by providing a wide range of services, which many include a hospital and nursing communities, as well as education and wellness programs. Each of Californias Health Care Districts are governed by a locally elected Board of Trustees who are directly accountable to the communities they serve today. For more information, call (650) 697-6900, or visit http://www.peninsulahealthcaredistrict.org. For media inquiries, please call Rachel Smith at (916) 708-7224. Latitude 33 Aviation's large aircraft fleet includes new light, mid, and super-mid size jets. We strive to provide the absolute best of what the private aviation industry has to offer. This award demonstrates Latitude 33 Aviations ongoing commitment to being an outstanding community and industry partner. Latitude 33 Aviation, a private jet charter, executive jet management, and aircraft sales/acquisitions company headquartered at McClellan-Palomar Airport in Southern California, received the Friendly Flyer Award for achieving outstanding compliance with the Van Nuys Airports Fly Friendly Program for calendar year 2016. The voluntary Fly Friendly/Quiet Departure Program for jet aircraft was established in 1994 to address the communitys concerns regarding jet aircraft noise in neighboring areas. The annual Friendly Flyer Award program was established in 2012 to acknowledge those operators who complied with all noise abatement policies and procedures and achieved the highest level of success in adhering to the Fly Friendly/Quiet Departure Program. The award winners were determined using the following criteria: 1. At least 60 southbound jet departures during 2016 2. 99% or greater compliance with the no early turn and the Quiet Jet Departure Programs 3. No violations of noise ordinances: Noise abatement and curfew regulation Non-Addition rule Noisier Jet phase-out We congratulate each of our award recipients for their continued efforts to be responsible neighbors, said Cynthia Guidry, Deputy Executive Director of Planning and Development at Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA). Michael Giesbrecht, Director of Marketing and Business Development for Latitude 33 Aviation, adds, We strive to provide the absolute best of what the private aviation industry has to offer. This award demonstrates Latitude 33 Aviations ongoing commitment to being an outstanding community and industry partner. As one of the few private jet operators in the country to have received the Argus Platinum safety rating, Latitude 33 Aviation has aircraft available for private jet charter based in Van Nuys as well as Hawthorne, Orange County, Long Beach, San Diego, and Fresno, California. This years winners were recognized at a luncheon at the Airtel Plaza Hotel in Van Nuys. Van Nuys Airport is dedicated to noncommercial air travel, committed to being a good neighbor, and continues to require stricter standards for voluntary noise abatement measures. About Latitude 33 Aviation Founded in 2006, Latitude 33 Aviation manages the largest and newest fleet of light jets in the United States. Private jet charter aircraft are located at airports in Carlsbad, Van Nuys, Hawthorne, Orange County, Long Beach, Fresno, CA; Scottsdale, AZ; and Nashville, TN. Latitude 33 emphasizes a 99.96 percent flight completion rate for 30,200 flights over 11 years. For more information on Latitude 33 Aviations services, visit http://www.L33Jets.com or call 1-800-840-0310. Instagram: L33Jets Facebook: L33Jets Twitter: @L33Jets Realty Executives Tucson Elite staff and leadership team Realty Executives International would like to recognize Realty Executives Tucson Elite for their high agent productivity, rapid growth, and agent-centric business model by naming them Brokerage of the Month for June 2017. Led by CEO and Designated Broker Jeff Murtaugh, President John Dwyer, and Senior Vice President Mark Shinn, the firm is home to more than 360 real estate professionals who offer full-service real estate expertise to buyers and sellers throughout Southern Arizona. Five years ago, Realty Executives Tucson Elite didnt show up on the market share stats for the Tucson Metro, and our agent count was under 50. Today, were no. 3 in market share in both volume and units, and our agent count has grown by more than 600%, says Dwyer. The brokerage was recently recognized by REAL Trends for agent productivity, with The KMS Team, Corner Connect and The Property Partners ranking in the prestigious The Thousand report. These three elite teams were also featured in the Americas Best Real Estate Agents ranking, along with The Stinson Group, The Watters Team, The Armbruster Team, Deakin-Anderson Team, The Leach Team, and Associate Broker Sofia Gil. These REAL Trends reports place Realty Executives Tucson Elite agents in the top 1 percent of the more than 1.25 million REALTORS nationwide. Our agent benefits, programs, and services are all geared towards making our company the easiest and most cost-effective place for a professional real estate agent to do their business. Our full-service and low-cost environment, coupled with exceptional broker support, has made Realty Executives Tucson Elite the place to be, says Murtaugh. The company has non-competing managers and administrative staff who support the high number of transactions that are typical for Realty Executives agents, as well as a robust affiliated services program that further streamlines processes and boosts efficiency, which includes offerings from title, mortgage, home warranty, insurance, and moving professionals, amongst others. The Brokers, agents and staff of Realty Executives Tucson Elite should be proud, and we at Realty Executives International are honored to celebrate their continued success. About Realty Executives Intl. Svcs. LLC Established in 1965, Realty Executives International is one of the largest and most established real estate franchise systems in the world, with over 8,000 agents and 500 offices globally. The company offers disruptive pricing models particularly attractive to top performing agents. Its unrivaled mobile technology, business tools, training and concierge service are coupled with protected territories and financing for qualified franchisees. The Scottsdale-based, privately held company has been ranked as a leader in the real estate industry by publications like Entrepreneur, Success and Inc. magazines. For additional company information visit http://www.RealtyExecutives.com. - - By PTI: (Eds: Updates with more quotes of minister and opposition) New Delhi, July 20 (PTI) Facing attacks over lynching incidents, the government today asserted that killings in the name of cow "sentiments" was unacceptable and said the state governments should take stern action against those indulging in such violence. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who was replying to a debate on lynchings in the Rajya Sabha on behalf of ailing Home Minister Rajnath Singh, made it clear that the central government could not be blamed for violence by "some people" as it was the responsibility of the state governments to deal with such issues. advertisement "The governments stand is clear. Nobody is allowed to do that (lynching in the name of cow protection). There is no rationalisation, no arguments of sentiments being hurt can be an explanation for this. And, the government is absolutely committed," he said. He said "no amount of sympathy" will be shown for those who indulge in lynching and "law will certainly take its own course." Jaitley, who is also the Leader of the House, was replying to the debate on situation arising out of the reported increase in the incidents of lynching and atrocities on minorities and dalits across the country, during which the opposition parties slammed the government and particularly targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over such incidents. Most of the opposition parties blamed RSS-affiliates for the cow vigilantism, with the Congress accusing the prime minister of doing nothing to restrain them and "creating such an environment" by indulging in "double speak". Rejecting the Oppositions allegations, Jaitley said the prime minister had spoken thrice against cow vigilantism. "The government unequivocally condemns the killing of human beings in the name of protecting cows," he declared, adding, "nobody has the right to take law in his own hands". At the same time, cow slaughter should not be "praised" or "eulogised", he said, referring to an incident in Kerala where a cow was slaughtered on a road by some youth Congress workers and beef festivals were held. "The incidents of people saying that they will display in Kerala as to how cow is cut and hold festival is equally damaging to the country as lynching in a train," he said. "Violence can never be a partisan issue and cant be justified... One of your (Congress) CMs of the prohibited states has the audacity to say that given a choice he will eat beef," Jaitley added. On the Opposition charge of inaction, Jaitley asserted that "legal action was taken systematically in each incident. People were arrested and they are in jail. They are all going to be chargesheeted against whom evidence is going to be found...This is clear and there is no ifs and buts." In his speech, he emphasised that cow slaughter was banned in most of the states during the time of first Prime Minister Jawaharalal Nehru, who was "secular and not over- religious" unlike Indira Gandhi who was "more religious". "This (ban on cow slaughter) was not proposed by Modi ji or Rajnath ji. This was said by Ambedkar during Nehrus time," Jaitley said, adding ban on cow slaughter was presribed in the Article 48 of the Constitution framed by the Constituent Assembly. Later, it was made part of 7th Schedule of the Constitution as a result of which the matter fell under the purview of the state governments. "At that time, neither the BJP was in place, nor was any state ruled by the BJP," he said, adding most of the states then were ruled by the Congress, which framed laws prohibiting cow slaughter. advertisement "We have laws in place and if any such incident occurs where police is not acting and brought to our notice to this effect, the government will not think twice of requesting state governments and advising the state governments and even asking for reports as well as states are concerned," he said. "There are no ifs and buts. Laws made in the states have provisions to preserve and protect cows. That right is with the state and its police. Nobody has the right to take law into their hands... If anybody does it, they should be arrested and prosecuted," he said. He said "selective morality" caused problem and cited how there were a series of reports on attack on chruches during elections in Delhi and not even one case was found politically motivated. Jaitley said there was no difference in opinion between the government and the opposition as killing of human beings in the name of cow protection has to be unequivocally condemned. Contending that the definition of secularism has been "distorted" in 70 years, he said the issue pertains to faith and needs introspection. He urged the opposition to rise above politics. advertisement He took a jibe at the BSP saying if the law banning cow slaughter had been framed now, the party would have been the first to object that Baba Saheb Ambedkar was communal. BSP leader Satish Misra said his party welcomes banning of cow slaughter but the question was killing of people in the name of cow. Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said Kashmir, despite having Muslim majority, has a law prohibiting cow slaughter which has not been changed. He, however, decried killing of some people in the state on suspicion of ferrying beef. He said the Oppositions objection was to lynching and it wanted to know whether people of other religions had no right to do businesses like dairy as they were being targeted in the name of merely keeping the cows. Jaitley said people have to be tolerant to each other as the country belongs to all. "We have vibrant secularism." At the same time, he said there were more instances of intolerance and violence in liberal societies. During his speech, Jaitley attacked the Left Front, asking, "Why is it that incidents of violence increase in Kerala when the Left comes to power there? .. Why were there no incidents (of violence) when Oomen Chandi (of Congress) was there (till 2014)." Addressing the opposition benches, he said, "If it want to know why it did not happen before 2014, you have chosen an eminent and fair man for Vice President...when you will go through every report that Gopal Krishna Gandhi has sent, you will be enlightened." At this, Azadi quipeed, "please do not divide the opposition." advertisement Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma then remarked in a lighter vein that since Jaitley has "acknowledged" that the opposition candidtate for Vice President was "emeinent and fair", the ruling party should withdraw its candidate. Jaitly also stressed the need for uplifting Dalits and weaker sections, saying the way they were treated in history needs to be reversed. He said the issue boils down to effective action by the police in violence against the Dalits. In case of police not acting in a state in crimes against Dalits, the Centre "will not hesitate" in telling that particular state to act. The Centre can also seek report from the state, he said, adding if needed, the Union Home Ministry may monitor probe in any case. A demand by some opposition members for a separate law for lynching was also set aside by Jaitley, saying the present law was sufficient to ensure justice. Maintaining that the BJP was wrongly blamed for violence against minorities, he mentioned the attacks on churches in Delhi in the run-up to Delhi Assembly polls two years back. He said investigations had subsequently revealed that some drunkard or some urchin had damaged a church. "But an impression was given that India had become intolerant", he said, adding New York Times had then written an article about it, damaging Indias image. PTI PTI NAM/LUX AKK AKK --- ENDS --- The Sector Commander of Tema, Felix Mate-Kodjo told JoyNews that the matter is currently under investigation. The interdicted officers are from the customs division of GRA, in Tema. On how they were able to find the alleged culprits, he said the port has standard processes every person goes through at the port. Therefore, it will be easy to identify the culprit if there is a breach by any CEPS official. Essentially Custom officers are to do due diligence in the course of our duty. There are standards that have been established to ensure that these checks are done diligently to garner revenue for the state. I think by standards these people have fallen short somehow, he added. He explained that the first point of contact at the port is the compliance level. Here the officer must undertake some pivotal checks which include the value of the product imported and ensure that the procedures have been followed. Asked how they will sanction the culprits, he said when an officer is caught in such a situation, he is queried, interdicted after which a committee of enquiry will be established to investigate the matter. That is exactly what has been done in respect of the 50 interdicted officers, he stated. This comes at a time when the Nana Addo-led government is currently battling to raise the enough revenue to execute its many ambitious projects and policies. This was disclosed by the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Professor Frimpong Boateng. He was speaking at a media briefing ahead of a training workshop for small scale miners and journalists on proper mining methods. He explained that the ban will ensure that the use of mercury is reduced which will also decrease the level of contamination of water resources in the country. Importation is under the Ministry of Trade but inspection at the ports is done by the EPA, but we do not want to say we are not going to allow mercury to come into the country when we have not discussed all the issues with the Ministry of Trade. We have started discussions already and I do not things are going to take too long and things have become a little bit easier because Ghana has signed onto the Minamata protocol. This is a protocol that bans the use of mercury in the countries that have signed the agreement, he added. Before the fight against galamsey started the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) had been complaining about the huge financial investments it has been making for the purification of the polluted water resources. But the fight against illegal mining has reduced to the turbidity levels of the water. This means they are spending fewer amounts of money in treating the polluted water. Professor Frimpong Boateng said he was optimistic the country will save more if the ban is enforced. This includes: Seeing or being involved in a news event Finding out something significant, bizarre or unusual happening where you live Have you got a story to tell or is there something you think we should investigate? Do you have more information on a story we are already covering? If you think people should know about your story or news, dont hesitate and contact us now! The best way to submit your stories, pictures and videos to us is through: 1. Whatsapp: +233507713497 2. Social Media: Find us @pulseghana a. Using the #PulseEyewitness hashtag on your social media posts. b. Sending us a direct message (DM) on the following platforms - Facebook | Twitter | Instagram 3. Email: eyewitness@pulse.com.gh We at Pulse Ghana live and breathe the importance of real-time coverage, so get your story and news to us as fast as possible. Please try to include as many details about the story as possible including the who, what, when, where and why. This gives us the best opportunity to publish and feature the story at the right moment without delay. By sharing your stories and news with us you are giving us the rights to publish it across our platforms including our website, social media channels, WhatsApp and email. If you would like credit for your submission, we will be happy to @tag you in social media posts and publish your name in articles as you have stated them to us. If you do not want to be tagged or mentioned please let us know in your news submission. We will never publish personal details (name, phone number, social media accounts) without your permission. We aim to read and reply to all of your story and news submissions but due to the numbers we receive each day, it is not always possible to reply to everyone individually! India Today on Wednesday had exposed officials of the food and civil supplies corporation who were caught on camera demanding money for fixing deals for the sale of freshly procured onion. By Hemender Sharma: The Madhya Pradesh government has directed its Economic Offences Wing (EOW) to register a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act against those caught on camera by India Today, trying to fix and strike deals for sale of onion that is being procured at a minimum support price of Rs 8 per Kg by the food and civil supplies corporation. advertisement India Today on Wednesday had exposed officials of the food and civil supplies corporation who were caught on camera demanding money for fixing deals for the sale of freshly procured onion. Among those who were caught on camera was the general manager of the corporation SK Soni who was suspended after the expose. SK Mishra Principal Secretary to Chief Minister while confirming action against those caught on camera in the expose told to India Today, "since those exposed by the India Today story are talking about fixing deals at various locations across the state we have directed the EOW to register a case and get to the bottom of the matter. Those indulging in corruption won't be spared." The opposition Congress party, however, has charged the government of trying to save the political masters while acting against officials. "It is really unfortunate. While on the one hand the government is trying to claim that it wants to help farmers in reality corrupt officials and their political masters are striking deals. There is a nexus between corrupt officials politicians and traders," leader of opposition in the state Vidhan Sabha Rahul Singh while talking to India Today said. Also Read: How onion auction was rigged to sell to private players at throwaway prices in Madhya Pradesh Red alert: Tomatoes have become new onions, prices soar upto 700 per cent Vendors at retail markets sell onion at twice the wholesale rate WATCH | Operation Onion: Tears for Madhya Pradesh farmers, millions for scamsters who rigged auctions --- ENDS --- The suspect, Apostle Joel Amenu, is alleged to have duped these people on the pretext of giving them soft loans for their businesses and offering them opportunities to acquire vehicles on hire purchase. Most of his victims, which included market women, artisans at Kokompe, parents and hotel operators, thronged to the police station to lodge complaints against him when it emerged that he had been arrested. Apostle Amenu is also said to have promised to offer scholarships to the children of some of his victims. He allegedly collected GH150 each from a number of parents as scholarship processing fees and issued dud cheques to schools to cover the school fees of beneficiaries. Police said the Apostle also operated a non-governmental organisation - the Mary Ekem Foundation with his girlfriend, Lady Mary Ekem, where they were allegedly using the names of the former president, John Mahama, and President Nana Akufo-Addo to enhance the reputation and credibility of the NGO. National Chairman of the NDC, Mr Kofi Portuphy at a press conference on Thursday said crime was being committed with brazen bravado across the length and breadth of the country and that the state of insecurity has given rise to fear filled anxiety among innocent Ghanaians who are struggling under excruciating and suffocating economy." He said armed robbers and armed gangs are now operating with impunity and killing our policemen in broad day light without any form of fear and nor trepidation. For the first time in the 4th Republican dispensation, a political party in the shape of the NPP has incorporated militancy and violent extremism into its way of operations." READ ALSO: NDC calls Nana Addo a legal alien who is not on top of issues To give meaning to militancy and violence, a group of brigands and outright criminals have been assembled and given such blood clotting names as Invincible Forces, Delta Forces, Kandaha Boys, Volta Crocodiles and also given official covering from the seat of government to perpetuate their illegal existence, " Mr Portuphy said. But in a response, John Boadu said Portuphy is making such allegations in order to seek the attention of NDC party members who are willing to vote him out. He believes that the NDC Chairman has no moral right to talk about violent activities in political parties. He Portuphy has an AK47 in his car during the Talensi by-election when Ghana was not at war so what is he talking about. I think he is just making these allegations to win the support of his party members he told Accra-based Asempa FM. PRESS CONFERENCE ADDRESSED BY COMRADE KOFI PORTUPHY, RELATING TO PRESIDENT AKUFO-ADDOS SIX MONTHS GROSS INCOMPETENT STATE OF LEADERSHIP.Good morning Ladies and gentlemen of the press, on behalf of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), I welcome you to this all-important Press gathering to speak to very pertinent issues that are not boding well for the democratic path that we have chosen to walk on since the inception of our 4th Republican dispensation in 1992.Ghana has been going through very unbearable moments since January 07, 2017, when the mantle of leadership and a peaceful nation was handed over to President Akufo-Addo.Six months into the moribund maladministration of the Akufo-Addo-led NPP Administration, it has been a sordid story after a sordid story.Having flown on the wings of lavish and unachievable campaign promises to come into power, it is not surprising that President Akufo-Addo and his over-bloated Government are swimming and groping in the dark and not achieving any meaningful results.The fairy-tale promises that the NPP made in opposition is beginning to catch up with them and many of the persons who voted for the current leadership are undoubtedly counting the days and wishing that the next election will take place today so they can rush to the voting centres and vote out this highly incompetent government.Two days ago, President Akufo-Addo on his own volition chose to give more meaning to his failing leadership by calling a press conference which was full of long talk but with empty on substance.Obviously, the ability to memorise and rattle English lines with strange intonations does not necessarily lend heavy weight and substance to speech. Ladies and gentlemen,In keeping with our avowed assurance to offer very responsible Opposition, and to at all times hold the governments feet to the fire of accountability, we deem it extremely necessary to discuss with the good people of Ghana, a number of worrying developments which completely debase governance and threaten the well-being of the nation.We are going to address issues along the lines of:Lawlessness, Insecurity, and Government-Backed TerrorismComposition of Government, Nepotism and Unbridled PartisanshipLack of Commitment To Fight CorruptionArrogance of Power, Lies and DishonestyLadies and Gentlemen,It is universally acknowledged that the first and foremost responsibility of any well-meaning government, is to ensure the security and safety of its citizens.In the last six months, there is no denying the fact that lawlessness has been allowed to fester and run riot, with an unprecedented upsurge in violent crimes to the disbelief of Ghanaians.Hardly does a day pass us by without the news outlets being inundated with stories of horrifying and gory crimes being committed with brazen bravado across the length and breadth of the country.The state of insecurity has given rise to fear-filled anxiety amongst innocent Ghanaians who are struggling to make ends meet under the current excruciating and suffocating economy.Armed robbers and armed gangs are now operating with impunity and killing our policemen in broad daylight without any form of fear nor trepidation.For the first time in our fourth Republican dispensation, a political party in the shape of the NPP, has incorporated militancy and violent extremism into its way of operations.To give meaning to militancy and violence, a group of brigands and outright criminals, have been assembled and given such blood-clotting names as, Invisible Forces, Delta Forces, Kandaha Boys, etc., and also given official covering from the Seat of Government to perpetuate their illegal existence.These criminal gangs have been allowed to wage a psychological war on the security apparatus by attacking and openly killing policemen in uniform.Very credible intelligence information reaching us, has it that, a lot of the armed robbery and killing of our hardworking police officers, is being done by some elements belonging to the aforementioned militant goon squads associated with the NPP.Per the information we are getting, these criminals are very much aware that they have full governmental backing and that in the event that they are even arrested by the police, they will be released by their political godfathers.A typical case in point, is what happened in Kumasi where criminals who beat up the Regional Security Coordinator, and also roughed-up a circuit court judge and disrupted court proceedings, are walking around as free persons because Gloria Akufos Attorney Generals Department decided to file a NO CASE and discontinued the matter in court.Ladies and gentlemenIt is common knowledge that the President gave his tacit endorsement to the brigandry of the NPPs state-sponsored criminal gangs to operate with impunity, when a serving Assistant Superintendent of Police in uniform, was brutally beaten up by the Invisible Forces at no less a place than the Flagstaff House, in the immediate aftermath of the assumption of power by President Akufo-Addo.Apparently, the master plan; is to weaken the resolve of the police and security services to function at full throttle, and thereby leave the armless citizenry at the mercy of the state-sponsored criminal gangs.Did we vote for change for us to be killed, or we voted for development and growth?Unable to fulfil the plethora of promises made to these criminal gangs, the government is sitting idly by and watching the criminals take the law into their own hands and do whatever they want to do to satisfy their whims and caprices.Once the psyche of the security agencies have been destroyed, the rest of us, are, easy targets for the criminal gangs.Ladies and gentlemen,Is it not terrifying that our cherished and respected police service is suddenly walking on its knees and seeming helpless in the face of the gruesome murders of men in uniform?Listening to the Inspector General of Police, David Asante Apeatu, virtually throw up his hands in despair in an interview with the media last week, is certainly a harbinger of the danger that lies ahead of this dear nation of ours.When no less a person that the IGP goes on radio and sounds very desperate, it leaves a lot to be desired.In direct reaction to the breakdown of law and order as well as the desperation in the voice of the IGP; Dr Kwesi Enning, a Security Expert, is also foreboding doom for the nation if no quick action is taken by the government to restore confidence in the security services in general and in the police service in particular.In only six months, a peaceful Ghana that was handed over to President Akufo-Addo, has suddenly become a pool of blood with innocent blood being shed on a daily basis via all kinds of horrific deaths.Why should it be so?Are we not getting to the point where criminal gangs are holding the nation to ransom?We ask; why did the President of Ghana not speak poignantly to the issue of restoring law and order?Why did the Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces not do his utmost best to assuage the fears of Ghanaians that he will not allow Ghana to slide into a lawless state of anarchy and chaos?It is about time President Akufo-Addo stops junketing around traveling abroad frivolously and pin himself down to begin doing some hard work in an acceptable manner and not in this wishy-washy manner.Why is Mother Ghana bleeding so badly under the watch of President Akufo-Addo and his over-bloated and clueless NPP Government?As it is said in the Holy Book, a nation suffers when it is ruled by unrighteous people.Ladies and gentlemenAs regards the issue of the Presidents frivolous travels; we are demanding a full disclosure of how much money he takes as per diem on such travels.Is it $5,000 or $4,000 a day?How much do his many followers and escorts also take?Is it $2,000 or $1,000?With the current budgetary allocation to the Office of The President, far exceeding, major Ministries, it is not surprising that the President and his courtiers, are really dissipating the nations scarce resources without let nor hindrance.Contrary to the NPPs promise to protect the public purse, President Akufo-Addo, has done the exact opposite, by putting in place the most-heavy government ever, in the history of the fourth Republic.We are simply unable to reconcile the appointment of 110 ministers amidst the creation of useless and amorphous Ministries.We submit that the Ministries for;Public Procurement, Business Development, Regional Re-organisation, Special Initiatives, Monitoring and Evaluation, Planning, Aviation, Harbours, and Railways, amongst others, are all unnecessary and constitute a drain on the public purse.The functions of these redundant Ministries, can easily be performed by the existing, Ministries, Departments, and, Agencies.Ladies and gentlemen,A direct consequence of the over-bloated government is that;The nebulous Akufo-Addo/Bawumia Government has given more money (GHC 1.5 billion) to the Office of the President in this year alone, than all the money received by the same Office under the entire four years of President Mahama The Office of the President under Akufo-Addo, is receiving more money for goods and services than the amount that a majority of Ministries are receiving to purchase goods and services they need to work withAt the time that the Office of the President is getting unprecedented amount of money to be spent in a frivolous manner; the Universities, Ghana Health Service, Environmental Protection Agency, the National Blood Bank, and other such Agencies, have been ordered to surrender all Internally Generated Funds (IGFs), leaving such entities with nothing to operate with.For a fact, the profligate expenditure that has surrounded all the wasteful state dinners, is not the best way of protecting the public purse.On the day of inauguration alone, the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia Government spent lavishly on three separate and very expensive state banquets and from that day, it has been lavish state banquet after lavish state banquet while innocent Ghanaians are dying on a daily basis because nurses who were given letters of employment by the NDC Government have been sacked by Akufo-Addos government under the guise that there is no money to pay their salaries.Is it not sheer callousness for the government to have money to be importing expensive dinner suits and bowties from the United Kingdom, Paris, and Italy, and be spending lavishly on state banquets, while innocent people die in our hospitals because there are not enough nurses to give medicare?For the information of President Akufo-Addo; Governance is not a tea party!!! Governance is a very serious business meant for serious people and the current President of Kwame Nkrumahs Ghana has to get serious and govern in a more serious manner than he is currently doing.Indeed, we are not surprised that at the recent botched Diaspora Summit, one of the participants boldly pointed out to an arrogant Deputy Minister of Trade, that the government needs to be serious and that they (the people from the Diaspora) are not in Ghana to play.Ladies and gentlemen of the press,It was a very sad spectacle listening to the President of Ghana not being on top of issues.It is as clear as daylight that the President was cavorting and jumping over the issues and not landing on any form of solid ground.We are not in the least surprised at the inability of the President to give solid answers to the questions posed because he spends more time abroad than within the country.We want to state for the avoidance of any shred of doubt that for the first time in the history of Ghana, we now have a President who has become a LEGAL ALIEN.He has become a LEGAL ALIEN because he spends more time abroad than at home hence his inability to be on top of the governance issues as he grossly exhibited.Is it not sad that people who were quick to refer to other persons as INCOMPETENT, are within a short period of six months, exhibiting a rare form of gross and gargantuan incompetence?Having campaigned on the wings of blatant untruths so as to demonise the NDC Government, we were told that given the opportunity, an Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government will swing the magic wand and turn Ghana into a paradise within 100 days.We ask:Where is the free SHS?Where is the reduction in the prices of electricity tariffs via the abolishing of the Energy Sector Levy?Where is the promise to pay all monies due customers of, DKM, God is Love, Perfect Edge, Little Drops, and other microfinance scam schemes?Where is the $1 million that was going to be carried in Ghana must go bags to all constituencies?Where is the payment due to all contracts?Where is the restoration of teacher and nursing trainee allowances?Where are the decent jobs that was promised the youth?Where is the reduction in corporate tax from 25% to 20%?Where is the reduction in the 3% Special Import Levy?Where is the reduction in the cost of drivers licenses and insurance?Where is the one dam in one village?Where is the one factory in one district?President Akufo-Addo failed to address the above issues and rather chose to disingenuously skirt around them.The President may have succeeded in skirting around his promises when he met the press but he and his NPP cannot skirt around the true verdict of the majority of Ghanaians that Akufo-Addo and Bawumia have failed woefully as managers of the affairs of the state.Most definitely, President Akufo-Addo is turning out to become like Kwaku Ananse.I say President Akufo-Addo is turning out to be like Kwaku Ananse because in our Ghanaian folklore, Kwaku Ananse always begins as the most intelligent and shrewdest person; but ends up scampering to hide his embarrassment in his web. The embarrassment that is engulfing the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia Government is becoming too much.President Akuffo-Addo and the NPP flew into power on the wings of mostly false allegations of corruption against the then NDC government.In Opposition, Akufo-Addo styled himself as an avid fighter against corruption.As things stand now, the NPP Government is sinking in quick-sands of corruption and the President is looking on with gaping helplessness.Now that Akufo-Addo is President, he is only making unacceptable excuses to pull a veil over the massive corruption and blatant thievery that is taking place right under his nose at the Presidency, and all over the governance strata.The Presidents endorsement of the ridiculous cooked-up BNI Report on the contaminated oil scandal involving Alfred Boateng who is the Managing Director of BOST, is a clear indication that the President cannot be relied upon to wage any meaningful war against corruption.In spite of the existence of incontrovertible proof of wrongdoing; including an unambiguous indictment of the Petroleum Sector Regulator, NPA, the President failed to dismiss and prosecute Alfred Obeng.Of course, it is common knowledge that Alfred Obeng heavily financed the campaign of Akufo-Addo and so has been sent to BOST to do whatever it takes (including contaminating oil) to recoup his monies.Prior to the stinking BOST deal, was the equally stinking $2.25 Bond issued in the middle of the night by the Finance Minister cousin of the President.Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has still not been able to exonerate himself from the shady and dodgy Bond deal and the matter is a subject of investigation before CHRAJ.Akufo-Addo is yet to say a single word on the stinking Bond deal by his cousin.Another Financier of Akufo-Addo, in the person of Kennedy Agyepong, has accused the President and his family/cronies, of drowning themselves in a sea of corruption and when the President was given the opportunity to debunk the assertion, he only laughed it off and ended up giving more credence to the assertion by Kennedy Agyepong.That is certainly not a sign of any strong commitment to fighting corruption. Ladies and gentlemen,Arrogance, lies, and dishonesty, have become the visible trademarks of the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government.It has become as clear as daylight that the NPP was only lying to the public when they kept berating the NDC Government for seeking external funds for developmental projects.The lies of the NPP have been badly exposed because in only six months, they have borrowed over 40 billion GHC in direct contravention of their sworn pledge NEVER to borrow if given the opportunity to govern.Who cannot remember the shrill voice of Dr. Bawumia all over the place, berating the NDC government for borrowing to develop the nation?Today, the same Bawumia is Vice President and Head of the Economic Management Team, and we are witnessing unprecedented levels of borrowing.Indeed, if Akufo-Addo and Bawumia have borrowed a whooping 40 billion GHC in only six months, then by the time they run through their four years, Ghanaians will be saddled with about a 640 billion GHC debt burden.Ladies and gentlemen, I ask; are we safe?Is the future of Ghana safe, if this is the reckless manner in which Akufo-Addo/Bawmia are going to be borrowing waa waa waa?In only six months, the NPP appears to have been bitten deeply by the bug of arrogance.Only last week, a Deputy Trade Minister, Robert Ahomka-Lindsey, insulted members of the Ghanaian diaspora by referring to them as whiners, when they were genuinely complaining about the lazy attitude of the NPP ministers and appointees.Also, the Procurement Minister, Sarah Adjoa Sarfo, was caught on tape telling the most befuddling lie about she having personally contacted the World Bank to build a Community Day SHS in her Dome-Kwabenya Constituency.Adjoa Sarfo has since gone into an embarrassing self-imposed exile after it came to light that she had no hand in the project which is on record to be part of the 123 Community Day SHS complexes constructed during the period of President John Mahama.Ladies and gentlemen,In conclusion, let me, as Chairman and Leader of the great NDC Party, assure Ghanaians that we shall continue to be very, effective, responsible, and constructive, in drawing the attention of the already-failing NPP government to more of its failings.There is no denying the fact that we bequeathed a peaceful and cohesive nation to Akufo-Addo and the NPP and shall not sit and watch this dear nation of ours destroyed by, nepotism, cronyism, ethnicity, nor religious and tribal bigotry.The wanton dismissal of Ghanaians who have been lawfully employed in state institutions will not be allowed to go on with such impunity.The politically motivated mass transfers of public sector workers will not be allowed to continue in the capricious manner in which it began.Indeed, it is very unfortunate that when a misguided member of the Press from Oman FM asked why public sector workers supposedly opposed to the NPP are still at post; the President did not seize the moment to school the lady and assure Ghanaians that we all have an inalienable right to work in freedom.President Akufo-Addo must know that there cannot be any development without peace and so it is incumbent on him and his Team to do all they have to do to ensure that Ghanaians operate in an atmosphere of peace and tranquillity.Ghanaians are already suffering under the pressure that the unfulfilled promises of the NPP has burdened them with, and the least Akufo-Addo can do, is to allow Ghanaians to suffer in peace and not in turmoil.Ladies and gentlemen,We are in no doubt that at the time of leaving office on January 07, 2017, the NDC had done a lot of the hard work and spade work to leave a solid foundation for the NPP to easily build on if they are really committed to developing this nation and building a Better Ghana, as opposed to developing their personal and family bank accounts at the expense of the state.As a proof of our works, the Ridge Hospital has been commissioned for public use, the GE Early Power project to generate 400 megawatts of power has also kick-started, the ENI Sankofa hydrocarbon field has also been commissioned.Of course, the huge school buildings we have planted all over the country, are ready to be occupied and give our pupils/students more decent places to learn.The increased enrolments in our Teacher Training Colleges, will also provide more teachers to make use of the modern structures that are currently available.Indeed, if there is much more stability in the power supply, it is because of the heavy investments that the NDC Government made in the sector.Surely, in only six months, the NPP cannot lay claim to any work that it has done in the energy sector to result in the stable power situation as we have it now. We trust that in the, fortitude, perseverance, and resilience of Ghanaians.We acknowledge that we are dealing with very discerning minds and will stay committed to a responsible way of keeping the government on its toes as well as offering constructive alternatives.We are therefore assured that as even as we walk through President Akufo-Addos imposed valley of the shadow of death, we shall not waver nor be cowed into submission by the negative activities of the NPPs state-sponsored Evil Forces.As we remember the 5th Anniversary of the painful passing away of President John Evans Atta Mills on Monday, July 24, 2017, we take this opportunity to re-echo a profound statement of his, when he delivered his third State of the Nations Address in February 2011; Ghana will not die; Ghana will live and give glory to God Almighty.Ladies and gentlemen of the press,I thank you for coming, and I appreciate your kind attention.Thank you. Is it $5000 or $4000 as is being rumoured? How much do his aides also take? Is it $2000 or $1000 as being rumoured? NDC National Chairman Kofi Portuphy asked at a press conference on Thursday to assess the presidents first six months in office. The NDC also believed that Akufo-Addo must scrap useless and amorphous ministries as they are putting a burden on the state purse. But the New Patriotic Party has described the $5,000 per diem claims as bogus. Communications Director of the NPP, Yaw Adomako Baafi told said: It is quite funny and embarrassing that a person of Kofi Portuphys stature could stoop so low to this level of irresponsible, groundless allegation. They (NDC) were in power for eight years, if these people would be honest to tell us even for one year their per diem, I think it will settle everything, he told Accra-based Class FM. He believes that the government is not mandated by law to disclose such allowances to the public, adding that presidents over the years have not disclosed such information. READ ALSO: NDC calls Nana Addo a legal alien who is not on top of issues Meanwhile, the NDC has accused the president, Nana Akufo-Addo of being a legal alien and one who is not abreast of issues. According to him, the president spends most of his time outside the country and he is therefore not on top of issues. Portuphy argued that the president could have done better at the media encounter as he failed to answer most of the questions posed to him. We are not surprised because he spends more time abroad than at home Akufo-Addo is a legal alien, Mr. Portuphy said. Where is the Free SHS, where is the one district-one factory, where is the one village and one dam promises and the $1 million promised in Ghana Must Go bag for every constituencies? Mr. Portuphy asked, adding that the president has failed citizens. According to him, the president spends most of his time outside the country and he is therefore not on top of issues. Mr Portuphy made this known during the NDCs assessment of the six-month-old government of Akufo-Addo. Portuphy argued that the president could have done better at the media encounter as he failed to answer most of the questions posed to him. We are not surprised because he spends more time abroad than at home Akufo-Addo is a legal alien, Mr. Portuphy said. Where is the Free SHS, where is the one district-one factory, where is the one village and one dam promises and the $1 million promised in Ghana Must Go bag for every constituencies? Mr. Portuphy asked, adding that the president has failed citizens. He also touched on security in the country, saying that there is an unprecedented upsurge in violent crimes to the disbelieve of Ghanaians. For the locals and soldiers who hid and lived there for days and weeks in some cases, it was familiar territory; a complex maze of caves that outsiders could never understand. It was not the first time that the Ogbunike caves offered a place for hiding; it is said that slave traders in pre-colonial times hid in the caves from which they planned and executed slave raids. The safety and refuge that the caves have provided across history are partly why they hold special importance to the indigenes of Anambra and the East of Nigeria, to an extent. The Ogbunike caves are actually a system of many caves linked together by small, tunnels and passages. They take their name from Ogbunike, a town in Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra State where they are situated. The main cave consists of a massive structure with a big open chamber of about 5m high, 10m wide and 30m long at the entrance. Beyond their storied history as a place of refuge, the Ogbunike caves have an important spiritual heritage that dates back many years before the white man first set foot on African soil, to a time when they worshiped in its darkest recesses. It is said that the Ogbunike caves were discovered by a man named Ukwa, from the Umucheke family of Ifite-Ogbunike, about 4000 years ago. Legends claim that the caves were created by a deity, Ogba, who they believe lives within. The Ogbunike caves draw much of their spiritual significance from this belief. Some of the indigenes still come there to worship and they point to many phenomena in and around the cave as proof of their beliefs. As part of #Pulse36, their 72-day trip around Nigerias 36 states, Fuad Lawal and Chris Chukwuedo visited the Ogbunike caves. They were led in by a tour guide, Black Mamba who showed them the many elements that have given the caves such spiritual connotations. Within the caves, there is a large colony of harmless bats of various sizes that seem to stand as guardians of the structure. The water around the caves is also thought to be divine. A stream flows out from one of the caves tunnels into River Nkissa, a rapidly flowing river at the foot of one of the caves exits. Water drops perpetually from the roof of the caves at many points; spiritualists believe that it is healing water and many come to collect it for varying purposes. While they found their way through the caves, crawling at times, Black Mamba drew the attention of Fuad and Chris to three small passages to other sections of the caves. If you want to see crocodile, tortoise and talking stone, you will go through this place, he said, pointing towards three small tunnels. ALSO READ: See how all the 36 Nigerian states got their names The indigenes call the talking stone, "Nwanyi Akpanyi". Whether you believe these things or not, the Ogbunike caves have taken on an essence that makes them different from any random naturally-occurring underground structure within or without Nigeria. As such, there are rules, provisions, and celebrations that seek to preserve their sanctity and honor their significance in times of old and nowadays. One cannot leave the caves by the same entrance they came in. This is not negotiable; visitors have to wriggle and crawl their way through until they are led to another passage. As the Igbo say Iman gaba iru inokata gaba azu. In English, one does not begin a journey and suddenly decide to turn back. Luckily, there are many other points of entry and exit, and the journey out can be very short, if need be. Women cannot enter the caves while on their monthly cycles; and all visitors, regardless of status and age, must take their shoes off before entering. Spectators were said to have been surprised when a former governor of Anambra State visited the caves and was asked to tale his shoes off. He obeyed without question. Every year, locals hold the Ime Ogbe festival in a celebration of the caves and its spirits that attract visitors from around the state and beyond. In some ways, the substance of the Ogbunike caves have made their way into modern times, but not as much as one would expect. The caves have become a location of interest for movie directors looking for a bit of the mysterious and natural. In 2013, much of the seminal Nollywood movie series, Idemili was shot at the Ogbunike caves. In 2007, UNESCO added the caves to their tentative list to be considered as a World Heritage Site, after it was submitted by the Nigerian Commission for Museums and Monuments. The Anambra State has also contributed to the preservation of the site, but what has been left undone, leaves much to be desired. The site has been protected from the threat of urbanization to a large degree; there are large boundaries, about 20 hectares on all sides, between the caves and the closest human settlement. In the valley that leads to the mouth of the caves, there is a lengthy walkway of 317 steps that is said to be have constructed by the Anambra State government in the 1990s. In 2014, numerous publications reported that Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State told a gathering of Ogbunike residents that his administration had awarded projects worth 250 million naira for the preservation and upgrade of the caves to meet modern standards. Those reports have since been deleted and taken down. The present state of the Ogbunike caves demands that such money is spent to give it a face-lift, at the least. Besides the steps, there is nothing that offers ease of access and navigation for visitors and tourists. Within the caves, there are no lights to show the way or vents to make the experience easier for claustrophobic visitors. The tour guides have a great deal of knowledge about the caves, but there is no training on how to deal with tourists or adequate remuneration to motivate them to offer visitors a sterling experience. The result is that they can be hostile and dismissive at times. There is no doubt that the Ogbunike caves have major tourist potential, both for their history, novelty and the many mysteries that lie within its dark chambers. "On Friday, July 14, Sen. John McCain underwent a procedure to remove a blood clot from above his left eye at Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix," the statement said. "Subsequent tissue pathology revealed that a primary brain tumor known as a glioblastoma was associated with the blood clot." Before the tumor was discovered, the senator's office had suggested the blood-clot procedure might keep the senator off the job for a week, but the cancer diagnosis and forthcoming treatment could sideline McCain indefinitely. The American Brain Tumor Association notes that glioblastomas are "usually highly malignant" and that "the cells reproduce quickly and they are supported by a large network of blood vessels." McCain's office said the senator was recovering from his blood-clot surgery "amazingly well." His doctors said the senator's underlying health was "excellent." McCain, 80, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee and six-term Republican senator, is also a decorated Navy pilot who was shot down over Vietnam and held as a prisoner for 5 1/2 years. In a statement on Twitter, McCain's daughter Meghan said: "My love for my father is boundless and like any daughter I cannot and do not wish to be in a world without him. I have faith that those days remain far away." President Donald Trump issued this statement Tuesday night: "Senator John McCain has always been a fighter. Melania and I send our thoughts and prayers to Senator McCain, Cindy, and their entire family. Get well soon." "Cancer doesn't know what it's up against. Give it hell, John," former President Barack Obama said on Twitter. He called the senator "an American hero" and "one of the bravest fighters" he had ever known. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called McCain "a hero to our Conference and a hero to our country" in a statement Wednesday night. "He has never shied from a fight, and I know he will face this challenge with the same extraordinary courage that has characterized his life." Heres the full statement from McCains office: Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! "Sessions should have never recused himself, and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before he took the job and I would have picked somebody else," Trump told The Times. It was a stunning admission about Sessions, who was one of Trump's earliest and strongest supporters during the 2016 presidential campaign and often appeared with Trump at rallies. Trump bristled at Sessions' recusal, which he blames for the appointment of former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel in the Russia investigation. Mueller was appointed to oversee the expanding inquiry after James Comey, the FBI director Trump fired in May, leaked his accounts of private conversations with Trump in which, he said, Trump asked him to drop the FBI's investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn. The parallel inquiries into Russia's meddling in last years US election and possible collusion between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign has taken a life of its own since Mueller was appointed, embroiling much of Trump's inner circle and leading to multiple headlines that have been unflattering to the president and his family. Trump has called the Russia investigation a "witch hunt." He has also taken aim at Mueller and his team of investigators, accusing them of potential conflicts of interest. The president said Mueller's investigators could cross a "red line" if they looked into his family's finances beyond the scope of Russian meddling, The Times reported. Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari has accepted the resignation of BSP chief Mayawati from the Upper House of Parliament after she resubmitted the same in the prescribed format. By Poulomi Saha: Vice-President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari has accepted the resignation of BSP supremo Mayawati from the Upper House of Parliament. Mayawati had resigned from the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday evening, after she alleged that the Centre was muzzling her voice when she had risen to speak on the issue of atrocities against Dalits in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur. advertisement But her resignation was rejected for violating 2 rules of Parliament - not being limited to a single sentence and laying down conditions. Mayawati's resignation letter ran into three pages. Today, Mayawati met Rajya Sabha Chairman in person again and resubmitted a hand-written resignation in the prescribed format, after which was then accepted. WHAT PROMPTED MAYAWATI TO RESIGN When Mayawati had started speaking on the matter on Tuesday amid protests from the treasury benches, she was told by Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien to stick to her time limit of 3 minutes and not "monopolise" the discussion. A visibly annoyed Mayawati had then said that if she couldn't represent the weaker sections of society, there was no point in her continuing as a Member of Parliament. Through the day, Opposition leaders, including Congress' Ghulam Nabi Azad, tried to pacify her but the BSP chief refused to relent. Mayawati was nine months short of completing her current term as Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament. Speculations are doing the rounds that the Dalit leader is keen to contest Lok Sabha by-polls from Uttar Pradesh's Phulpur constituency as a Mahagatbandhan nominee. Also read | Lalu Prasad offers Mayawati a Rajya Sabha seat from Bihar Also read | Mayawati resignation likely to be rejected on technical grounds and she knows it Also read | Mayawati resigns as Rajya Sabha MP in protest over Dalit atrocities WATCH VIDEO --- ENDS --- 1. Former Yahoo boss Marissa Mayer has said she still wants to be a CEO but Uber hasn't called yet. Mayer is rumoured to be on a list of candidates that could replace Uber's chief executive Travis Kalanick after he stepped down. 2. Intel has laid off its entire wearables division, which made its Basis smartwatch. The company is now focusing on augmented reality, according to CNBC. 3. Microsoft has built a smart thermostat called GLAS which is powered by its smart assistant, Cortana. The thermostat may be more of a concept to show off Cortana's integration into home appliances. 4. Hackers have run off with millions of dollars' worth of the cryptocurrency Ethereum for the second time in a week. Hackers made off with $32 million (24 million) due a "critical" vulnerability in a client for the virtual currency, according to Motherboard. 5. Apple is giving its machine learning academics the opportunity to show off their research in a new online 'journal'. The company has launched a machine learning blog which will show how the company uses the technology. 6. Softbank announced almost $500 million (383 million) of investment in Silicon Valley and San Francisco startups. The company led a $200 million round into farm startup Plenty, an $159 million round into self-driving car startup Nauto, and an $114 million round into robotics startup Brain Corp. 7. Reggaeton-pop single "Despacito" has become the most streamed record of all time, after Justin Bieber released a remixed version with original artists Luis Fonsi and rapper Daddy Yankee. The single netted 4.6 billion plays in six months. 8. Google is launching its own take on the Google news feed, with a personalised feed of content inside the Google app for Android and iPhone. It's essentially an upgraded version of Google Now, which showed personalised 'cards'. 9. Apple is trying for a fashion audience with a $600 (460) pair of Beats headphones designed with fashion house Balmain. The headphones come in two colours the pinkish-gold "Safari" and khaki. The second: Thank you. While you had every right to withhold your brain cancer diagnosis of glioblastoma multiforme, or GBM, you and your family chose to share it, creating an opportunity to speak frankly about a notorious disease and its realities. What I wish I knew before GBM found my family The statistical reality for GBM, which is the most common and deadly form of primary (or fast-growing) brain cancers, is grim. A typical patient who gets standard-of-care treatment surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation survives 14.6 months. Some 70% of those diagnosed do not live past two years, and less than 10% make it five years or more. Without treatment, these numbers dwindle to single-digit months or days. The financial burden of GBM is also immense; according to a study published in 2014, the total cost of comprehensive care in the US can exceed $138,000. The disease has touched my family in powerful, painful ways that test the abilities of words to describe. I suppose one could say that about all terminal illnesses, but GBM gives rise to a unique hell that statistics fail to capture. My mother-in-law, Brenda, was diagnosed with GBM in December 2014. She passed away 363 days after her diagnosis, and just weeks after my wife and I learned we were going to have our first baby her first grandchild. (My wife wrote a beautiful essay about this and her mother, and NPR published it.) Some doctors and patients call GBM "the terminator" because of its rapid onset and high mortality. I think a more fitting term is "the eraser" because, day by day, we watched Brenda's cancer take pieces of the person she was away from us. GBM is an aggressive cancer of the brain's scaffolding that, as the primary tumor balloons, initially leads to a variety of hard-to-explain symptoms. They can include headaches, sudden weakness or memory impairment, trouble speaking or walking, changes to vision, and more. (In Brenda's case, she suddenly forgot how to type on a keyboard.) As the cancer grows, it starves and severs the neurons and their connections in our brains, which give rise to our motor skills, memories, wants and needs, passions, quirks, humor, and everything else that defines who we are. GBM is considered a terminal diagnosis because it almost always comes back, no matter what treatment a patient receives. "The recurrence of GBM is inevitable, its management often unclear and case dependent," wrote the authors of a recent study about the disease. In hindsight, I wish the half-dozen doctors we met with about Brenda's diagnosis had taken a similarly frank tone. I also wish they'd facilitated the hard conversations with her and my father-in-law early and consistently about the realities of GBM and how the disease can impact day-to-day life. None of us were prepared for Brenda to leave her room in the middle of the night looking for a bathroom, wander the streets, and soak herself in urine. Or to start asking who the strange man her husband in her home was. And we weren't ready for her to lose all mobility, fail to recognize us, and slowly leave the world, piece by piece. Dr. Atul Gawande explains this type of struggle perfectly in his moving book "Being Mortal", which I read after Brenda's diagnosis (and think everyone should read). "The battle of being mortal is the battle to maintain the integrity of one's life," Gawande wrote, "to avoid becoming so diminished or dissipated or subjugated that who you are becomes disconnected from who you were or who you want to be." To protect their mortal integrity, people need healthcare When Brenda was diagnosed, she was covered by an insurance policy through her employer until she couldn't afford it. But we lucked out. Several pieces of relatively recent US legislation (flawed and as imperfect as our current federal healthcare policies may be) allowed Brenda uninterrupted treatment for her disease. Her employer-backed insurance policy lasted for several months after she left the building, thanks in part to the Family Medical Leave Act. When she fell off the company's payroll, she was able to continue that insurance on COBRA as a (pricey) stopgap. The government stepped in once again when she qualified for Social Security Disability Insurance, which helped continue her treatment and secure dependent care through her final days. This gave us untold months and days to recall memories with her, build new ones as we scratched items off her bucket list, try to make her comfortable, and say goodbye without going into medical-bill-induced bankruptcy. I believe in the equal value of human life and, by extension, that everyone has a right to healthcare. That Brenda had access to affordable care is something I now realize I took for granted. That reality has been made clear as Congress and President Trump push to take coverage away from millions of American families, ostensibly to fund tax cuts for the wealthiest members of our society. My first memory of meeting Brenda was the abnormally long, arresting, and moving hug she gave me. She cherished family, and that embrace cemented the fact that I was part of her family, even though I was only dating her daughter at the time. Her kindness and warmth was bottomless, and her ability to inspire the goodness within people, including total strangers, bordered on magical. We must not forget that, behind all the CBO scores and calculations of cost savings, real lives and livelihoods are at stake of mothers, fathers, children, and people like you, me, and Brenda. Terminal illness doesn't care if you're a senator, if you have insurance, or how much more you and your family may suffer because you aren't covered. After revealing that she was hospitalised due to ill health, the Nollywood actress was forced to endure negative comments from haters on social media over her health and how she would end up. ALSO READ: Actress reveals she is in a relationship Now that she is back on her feet, she wishes them exactly what they wish her. She took to social media to thank her fans that cared enough to reach out to her as well as pray for her. In a lengthy write up she titled, "For bleaching idiots," Nwachi said that she sees women who bleach as failures in life, and her feelings only get worse when it comes to men who bleach. ALSO READ: Melanin movement fights back against colourism She went on to describe them in colourful terms such as "dumb as a wall," adding that they have low self-esteem. Read her post below: The incident which happened in the Thai Nguyen province of Vietnam, according to The Sun, saw the pregnant wife identified as Ly Chanel, inviting four of her friends to deal with the mistress by ramming chili peppers into her genitals. Chanel, 23, is said to have become suspicious when her husband Chien Keo, 24, kept disappearing for hours and she and her four friends reportedly followed him to a motel before bursting in on him with a young girl. Local media reported that Ly then puts on latex gloves while the three other women held down the mistress and assaulted her with super-hot red birds eye chilies. The group then allegedly posted pictures online boasting of the punishment but that sparked a furious backlash for not targeting the husband. The horrifying images showed the woman being held down by her head, arms, and legs with red fleshy seeds from inside the peppers smeared across her body and the bed sheets. The unrepentant Ly wrote under the photos: "How can he care for us if he cheats with another girl? A woman who destroys the family? Women can forgive easily but they can never forget. Jealousy is painful. She will know this. There are people who hate me now, but life is like that; you cannot please everyone. Daily Sun reports that Aisha is currently in London with the President in the Abuja House, London, after returning to Nigeria few weeks ago. It was also reported that a very competent presidency source said that Aisha is currently with President Buhari in London. The source said: Aisha visited the President two weeks ago and is currently with the President. The source added: Keeping the arrival date of the President secret is because of noise and exposure. It is not possible for a wife not to see her husband. The information is bandied around by people trying to tarnish the image of the First Lady. The source, it was further reported, also dismissed insinuations that President Buhari is suffering from memory loss, saying the President is responding to treatment. A statement issued by the airlines Corporate Communications Manager, Chris Iwarah, on Thursday described the report as an unwarranted attempt to tarnish the image of one of its most responsible guests. The airline insisted that although it held all its guests in high esteem, it was not its practice to delay its flights because of anybody, no matter how highly placed. The statement said: Our attention has been drawn to a media report claiming that one of our Lagos-Abuja flights was recently delayed because of the Chairman of the FIRS. Although we would have ignored the report as a figment of the imagination of its author, we are compelled to clarify the issue because of its negative impact on the good image of the FIRS boss, who happens to be one of our most responsible guests. While we empathise with our esteemed guests any time they arrive late for their flights, we definitely do not hold down our flights because of anyone, no matter how highly placed. It emphasised that even the Chairman of Air Peace, Mr Allen Onyema, had been left behind on several occasions because of the airlines strict observance of its on-time performance (OTP) policy. While we have had to occasionally delay some of our flights due to poor weather attributable to the rainy season, we have always ensured that measures are taken to mitigate the impact on our valued guests schedules and appointments. "People believe in an ideology based on issues. That ideology means a lot to me and remains my commitment," Meira Kumar told India Today. By Pooja Shali: As counting began at the Parliament House, all eyes were at the residence of two primary nominees. Tracking former Bihar governor Ram Nath Kovind and former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar were heightened media deployment since morning. The name of the next President of India was sealed in ballots of approximately 4,800 votes, including Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) and Parliament (MPs). India Today spoke to Meira Kumar at her residence in South Delhi, where she sat calmly, passing the quintessential smile to visitors and media persons. advertisement Interestingly, a staff member was already distributing sweets, as a courtesy gesture to visitors. "I listened to my inner voice. People believe in an ideology based on issues. That ideology means a lot to me and remains my commitment. I have appealed to inner voice of conscience of others. I do not want to answer hypothetical questions (on final result) but I fought with great belief and confidence," said Kumar. Nominated by the opposition, barring few parties, Kumar had the support of significant parties and also holds vast political experience. Apart from being a former lawyer and a diplomat, she has served as a cabinet minister in the UPA government and was also the speaker of Lower House of Parliament. Her name was announced after the ruling coalition nominated Kovind, ending the speculation for remaining frontrunners. NUMBERS FAVOUR KOVIND However, the numbers have been stacked in favor of Kovind, the unanimous candidate of ruling NDA coalition. The caste factor played an important role in the mention of both nominees. The Congress and other parties attempted to counter the NDA by nominating a Dalit and also a woman with vast political experience. "I want to thank all those parties who got together and unanimously decided to put their trust in me. I spoke to a few leaders in morning but cannot reveal the names right now. I have reached out through an inner voice,"said Kumar. Reacting on the remaining day's plan, Kumar added, "This is going to be a normal day and I will treat it like any other day." The day will be special not only for the candidate but also the country. Perhaps, the candidates want to wait and watch the trends before a final reaction on who will be the next president. Also Read: Ram Nath Kovind vs Meira Kumar: How votes are counted and President-elect is declared Like it or not, Ram Nath Kovind is all set to be your next President Presidential election results out today. Ram Nath Kovind looks set to win against Meira Kumar advertisement ALSO WATCH | How Meira became Opposition's presidential pick against Kovind --- ENDS --- The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, disclosed this on Wednesday, July 19, while briefing the House of Representatives committee on Foreign Affairs headed by Nnena Elendu-Ukeje. Onyeama was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Olusola Enikanolaye. The House is probing the incident. He said though no proof was provided, community leaders confirmed the drowning. He also noted that there was no evidence of 97 Nigerians being killed by Cameroonian gendarmes contrary to earlier media reports. According to the Minister, the recent drowning incident took place after a new Divisional Officer (DO) was deployed to Idabato sub-division of Cameroon to administer the Bakassi general area in July 2017. He said, "On assumption of office, the new DO commenced the imposition of new taxes on the residents after a meeting with all the chiefs. "Accordingly, all men engaged in fishing and other business activities in the area were to pay N55,000, women 30,000 and churches N50,000 per annum. "Furthermore, taxes on packets of fish were raised from N200 to N1,000. Butchers were to pay N1,000 per head for goats slaughtered by them. "The sanctions placed on the residents for violation of the tax rules include seizure of their boats and payment of 200 per cent of the initial tax. "This accounts for the N100,000 which was hitherto heralded in the news and initial reports as the amount of the tax to be paid by Nigerians." ALSO READ: FG summons Cameroonian Ambassador over alleged murder of Nigerians Onyeama said some Nigerians fled their homes and headed for the Ikang Jetty "when the new DO threatened to use force. It was while they were on their way that some of them reportedly drowned. Okunbor said he never participated in the 'shady' oil contracts Diezani and her allies, Kola Aluko and Jide Omokore, were accused to have masterminded. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) had recently filed a civil forfeiture notice to recover funds and property acquired by Aluko and Omokore with proceeds of the contracts obtained from the Diezani. The court documents revealed the manner in which Aluko and Omokore compensated Diezani for the hugely lucrative contracts. In a statement issued by his media aide, Okunbor said his company's only business was to transport crude oil. He said, "For the umpteenth time, the report feasted on blatant falsehood and outright lies in relations to my business dealings. "As this falsehood is being assisted with the ubiquity of social media, it is becoming increasingly clear that maintaining silence further will be misconstrued for consent. "Ocean Marine Solutions (OMS) Limited was contracted by the NNPC to provide security coverage for the crude oil transportation because of its longstanding sterling reputation in maritime security. This became imperative after NNPC had offered PPP Fluid Mechanics Limited (his indigenous procurement and oilfield services company) a contract to transport crude from Escravos to Warri refinery when it had become highly uneconomical to transport crude oil between these locations through the pipeline in view of governments huge expenditure of about $121 million for the maintenance and repairs of the Escravos-Warri broken crude oil pipeline. "Upon satisfaction by NNPC with the delivery of PPPFM and OMS, the companies were adjudged competent and capable for continued transportation of the crude." Okunbor added neither him nor any of his business entities "has ever engaged in any deal requiring lifting the tiniest drop of oil, crude or refined." "I am not a trader; I have never submitted nor participated in any "Oil swap" deal, neither do I own a company trading in any petroleum products, "I have never stood before any administrative, judicial or legislative panels to answer any questions related to any shady deal. I have conducted my businesses with utmost openness, honesty and integrity," he stressed. ALSO READ: 20 things you should know about Diezani's latest looting allegation On Wednesday, July 19, A Federal High Court in Lagos ordered the interim forfeiture of an estate in Banana Island reportedly owned by Diezani. The Chairman of the Forum, Gov. Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara, made this known while speaking with State House Correspondents after the Forum meeting held at the Banquet hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja late Wednesday evening. Yari said that the committee comprised representatives from the nations six geo-political zones. According to him, the committee is saddled with the responsibility of coming up with the best way of policing the country in view of the nations security challenges and its attendant lost of lives. He stated that decision to set up the committee was reached after a closed-door meeting with the governors and the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Alhaji Ibrahim Idris. We discussed and we received presentation from the IGP. He made a presentation to us canvassing for the support to introduce media outfits (radio and television) for the force and as well as the Police to adopt technological way of doing things. The IGP dominated the whole day of our discussion today understanding what the issue of Police is into the system, whereby in some other nations it is ten to one person but in Nigeria we have four hundred to one. So, they are having so many difficulties in funding which we have agreed that with the way things are going through the budgeting process, we cannot be able to fund police. So, the IGP made us to know that there is a kind of trust fund bill which is before the National Assembly, he asked for our support and the members of the National Assembly, especially the House of Representatives. In our own part, we have put a committee in place. It is headed by the governors of Kwara, Imo, Delta, Ekiti, Bauchi and Sokoto to lead the committee so that they can be able to interface with the committee of Police and take the matter before the Acting President for further action. It is important for our nation, he added. The IGP, who also spoke to the correspondents after his presentation at the meeting said that security challenges in all parts of the country was the dominant issue in the meeting. According to him, matters that border on security required a collective effort to confront. We had a fruitful discussion with them on our efforts to address some of the challenges in the Police unit, and obviously all of them are concerned about security in some parts of the country, virtually in all parts of the country. They are ready to support the Police Force to see how we can address some of the challenges. He reassured that the Nigeria Police would continue to ensure reinforcements in the security apparatus of the country as being directed by the presidency. Obviously, it is a normal procedure, when we have challenges we normally reinforce. Having insecurity all over the country requires the participation of every citizen of this country. Osinbajo, who was represented by the Minister of Interior, retired Gen. Abdulrahaman Dambazzau, gave the advice during the funeral ceremony of the late Mrs Christiana Obiano in Aguleri. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mrs Obiano died on June 2 aged 90. He urged the governor and members of his family to take solace in the fact that she led a good life and enjoined them to uphold her legacies. In his sermon, the Most Rev Dr Hillary Okeke of the Catholic Diocese of Nnewi, said anyone who believes in Jesus Christ does not die but lives in eternity. Okeke, who drew his homily from the John 11: 17-27, said people should not mourn as those without hope because Christ represents resurrection and those baptised in Him would rise on the last day. He extolled madam Obiano for living a Christian life and bringing up her children in the fear of God. The bishop underscored the need for a change in mindset and attitude for a better society. Also speaking, the Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh, the Primate, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), described Obiano as a good man. Okoh urged greater cooperation among Nigerians for a better tomorrow, while thanking those who identified with the governor at his time of grief. In his remark, the Bishop of Onitsha Archdiocese, Most Rev. Valerian Okeke, prayed for the repose of the soul of madam Obiano. Okeke asked that the podium where the funeral mass was held be used as a memorial for the deceased. Dignitaries at the event included the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, former governors of the state Chief Peter Obi, Dame Virgy Etiaba and Dr Chukwuemeka Ezeife. Sen. Andy Ubah, Sen. Ben Bruce, former Secretary to the State Government, Mr Oseloka Obaze, Industrialist Godwin Ezeemo, among others, attended the ceremony. Osinbajo asked for the total sum of N135,643,018,749 to implement "some critical priority items for which adequate provisions had not been made in the 2017 Appropriation Act." The Acting President sent a 4-page letter, dated July 18, 2017, addressed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara. Dogara read the letter to his colleagues at plenary on Thursday, July 20, 2017, in Abuja. In the letter, he said the proposal was in line with an agreement made between the presidency and the National Assembly before the signing of the 2017 Appropriation Bill. He said, "Prior to the signing (of the 2017 budget) discussions and consultations were held between the Executive and the leadership of the National Assembly on some critical priority items for which adequate provisions had not been made in the 2017 Appropriation Act. "You would also recall that it was agreed that the Executive should submit a virement proposal to the National Assembly for your consideration. The purpose of this letter, therefore, is to forward the virement proposal." Ministries that are most affected by the request includes the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, the Ministry of Transportation, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Education, Federal Capital Territory Administration and Ministry of Health. According to the details of the proposal, N46,004,049,292 is to be vired within projects of the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing while N66 billion is to be vired within projects of the Ministry of Transportation. Sources of the virements include: N33.247 billion from Ministry of Transportation; N3,181,973,545 from the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing; N14,130,719,780 from Office of the Secretary to the Government of Federation; N5 billion from Office of the National Security Adviser; N5,009,244,926 from the Ministry of Science and Technology and N5,494,065,749 from the Ministry of Trade and Investment. The sum of N1 billion is also to be vired within projects of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; N7,698,811,674 from the Ministry of Interior and N80,500,000 from the Ministry of Trade and Investment; N3.150 billion from the Ministry of Defense; N770 million from the Ministry of Education; N1.7 billion from Federal Capital Territory Administration and N1.3 billion from the Ministry of Trade and Investment. Others include: N1 billion from the Ministry of Health; N735,035,00 from office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation; N1,093,579,983 from the Ministry of Labour and Employment; N729 million from the Ministry of Information and Culture; N734 million from the Ministry of Communication and Technology; N2,387,541,000 from the Ministry of Eater Resources; N1 billion from the Ministry of Mines and Steels Development; and N241,001,800 from the Ministry of Environment. Makarfi made the pledge in Abuja on Thursday when he received members of the committee, which was chaired by Gov. Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa. The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party at its meeting on Tuesday in Abuja dissolved all standing committees, with a decision to set up new ones. Makarfi said that members of dissolved committees still had roles to play in rebuilding the party, and urged them to brace up to the challenge ahead of 2019 general elections. He said that the PDP would continue to look up to Dickson and members of the dissolved committee for support and active participation in all meeting and activities. You should be ready and prepared whenever the party calls on you to play any role. Feel free to advise me on issues that will help move the party forward. Whenever you hear anything that you need clarification on, please get in touch with me, and whenever you feel there is anything you need to advice me on, please feel free to do so. If you do not, I will be disappointed. I will also be very free to get in touch with you from time to time, he said. The chairman commended the committee members for their great sacrifices and contributions in the reconciliation efforts. I want to categorically say that all along it has always been my belief that you have been acting in good faith, Makarfi said. He explained that the decision to dissolve the committees was in consideration of Dicksons suggestions that new hands should be engaged after the Supreme Court judgment. Makarfi also advised PDP members to take advantage of his no victory, no vanquished statement on the Supreme Court verdict, and explained that it referred to everything that happened before the court judgment. He warned that members should not misuse his position on the outcome of the legal tussle to do anything that would undermine the party. The chairman pointed out that the Disciplinary Committee to be set up was not to do with the past, saying it is to do with what will be happening from now. Earlier, Dickson had urged the party leadership to further deepen the reconciliation process. According to him, while the Supreme Court judgement was appreciated by all, it is generally believed that courts do not reconcile but adjudicates.It is now the business of party under your leadership to still deepen reconciliation. It is your responsibility to build a united, strong party that will be the horse that warriors will ride on to go to political battles, he said. Dickson also commended the party leadership for giving the committee members the opportunity to serve, and for considering the committees recommendation for a new reconciliation committee. He also commended the party for the steps and resolutions taken so far after the Supreme Court pronouncement. Olulade, All Progressives Congress (APC) member representing Epe II in the Lagos State House of Assembly, gave the assessment in a statement in Ikeja, ahead of Saturdays council polls in the state. He said that the local government is the closest to the people and it was necessary for Lagos residents to complement the governors achievements by ensuring that candidates fielded by his party in the council polls come out victorious. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) has fixed July 22 for chairmanship and councillorship elections into the 20 Local Government Areas and 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs). Olulade said: The best way for every Lagosian to show appreciation to Ambode for what he has been able to achieve in the last two years is to vote for all the APC candidates on Saturday. What the state has witnessed under the administration of Ambode within a very short period of time is incomprehensible. A lot of people never expected and believed that Ambode will take Lagos State to where it is right now. The governor has touched virtually every LGA and Local Council Development Area, especially in the area of roads rehabilitation. The lawmaker, who is the Chairman, House Committee on Health Services, said some opposition members, thrilled by Ambodes achievements, withdrew from contesting in Eredo LCDA and Ikosi Ejinrin LCDA to honour the governor and his wife, Mrs Abimbola Ambode. Olulade assured the people that candidates of APC would complement Ambodes achievements if they emerge victorious at the forthcoming poll. By PTI: Ansari New Delhi, Jul 19 (PTI) Vice President M Hamid Ansari today pitched for a healthy democracy and asked members of Parliament to prevent "erosion of the vitality" and spirit of democracy, which he said, is the lifeblood of the parliament. He stressed that a parliamentarian must first believe in the democracy himself or herself and underscored the need for proper personal conduct by MPs to stoke assurance among public to ensure them of the efficacy of the institutions of parliamentary democracy. advertisement He said this addressing Lokmat Parliamentary Awards 2017 ceremony, organised by the media house from Maharashtra. The Vice President felicitated BJP stalwart L K Advani and senior Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav, both members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha respectively, with life time achievement awards. CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury was also felicitated during the event which was attended by political heavyweights cutting across party lines. "Our Constitution provides a framework for our democracy. A framework is one aspect; its spirit is another and more important aspect. "It is the duty of the elected representatives of the people of India to prevent erosion of the vitality and spirit of democracy that is the lifeblood of our Parliament." Ansari said. He also quoted former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, whom he described as one of the most charismatic parliamentarians in the history, to stress that House of Parliament is a place "where hopes, aspirations and frustrations of people of this country should be reflected and echoed". Describing parliamentarians as a "bridge" between overarching national interests and local dynamics and interests that affect the constituents who have elected him/her, Ansari said reconciling the two takes not only "political dexterity", but also a broader vision and foresight that should characterise his/her functioning. "The third quality that sets a good parliamentarian apart is the ability to communicate effectively with an economy of words," he said, and insisted MPs must strive to bring the highest possible level of clarity, erudition and civility to their public discourses. He also praised Advani in this context, saying the BJP veteran would always tell party parliamentarians that "ideology alone would not suffice, but there is a need of proper conduct". NDAs vice presidential poll candidate M Venkaiah Naidu, who also attended the event, stressed that parliamentarians should conduct themselves properly keeping in mind that Indian parliamentary system is "recognised, appreciated" worldwide. He also praised Advani in this context, saying the BJP veteran would always tell party MPs that "ideology alone would not suffice, but there is a need of proper conduct". Stating there is "no dearth of TV channels" these days, Naidu told the attendees, comprising parliamentarians in big number, to drive point that the public representatives should conduct themselves well as "people are watching". advertisement He also asked budding parliamentarians to read more to perform well inside the House. BJPs New Delhi MP Meenakshi, NK Premchandran of RSP and Congress Kumari Sushmita Dev -- all from the Lok Sabha -- received the awards in the category of best debutant (woman) parliamentarian, best parliamentarian and best woman parliamentarian awards respectively. From Rajya Sabha, Congress Rajani Patil, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and SPs Jaya Bachchan won the awards in best debutant (woman) parliamentarian, best parliamentarian and best woman parliamentarian awards respectively for the same year. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, BJP veteran Murli Manohar Joshi, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, former Lok Sabha Shivraj Patil, National Conferences Farooq Abdullah, senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari were among the key leaders present at the event. PTI ENM SMJ --- ENDS --- In a recent meeting chaired by the Minister of Interior, Lt Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau, a board approved for all officers with Higher National Diploma (HND) to be upgraded to COMPASS 08, the salary grade level for BSC holders at the entry point. And to authenticate the regularisation of the salary, the board directed that all officers with HND to be upgraded to COMPASS 08, which is the salary grade level for holders of degree certificates at the entry point. While the nomenclature for the HND holders will start with the rank of Senior Inspector, the degree holders are with the rank of Assistant Superintendent II. That sounds like a good news that should put an end to the lingering discrimination between University and Polytechnic graduates since they now take home same salary. Well, it appears so, but there is more to this disparity between University and Polytechnic graduates. Perhaps the decision would have been the best thing to happen to Nigerian educational system if the board had been patient enough to look at other bone of contentions in the unending HND/BSc debacle. This policy may soon diffuse to other government agencies and parastatals to make it a merry-go-round policy as Federal Government has always promised to end the dichotomy. In July 2016, the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu announced at Kaduna Polytechnic Convocation that the Federal Government is planning to take all required steps to put an end to the issue of dichotomy between Higher National Diploma (HND) and the Bachelors degree holders. Few days after, precisely, Monday, August 1, 2016, news broke that the Federal Government had scrapped HND and set to merge polytechnics with Universities. The news tickles the hearts of many Polytechnic undergraduates, who thought turning polytechnics to university would earn them BSc, but their hope turned out to be the usual promise and fail attitude of our government. Since then, turning polytechnics into universities has been made to look like a pipe dream for polytechnics. Although, Moshood Abiola Polytechnic has reportedly been approved by Nigerian University Commission to become an Ivory tower. Now, the Federal Government thought awarding same salary structure and rank for both University and polytechnic graduates in the para-military would end the problem. The HND/BSc dichotomy is much more than what salary can solve and some Nigerians even those in Polytechnics think the Federal Government effort may not neutralise the disparity between Polytechnic and University graduates. Even some University and Polytechnic lecturers do not totally agree with the Federal Government's move to use salary and rank to stop the discrimination some polytechnic graduates have suffered in the labour market. Dr Tunde Akanni, a development consultant and senior lecturer in Lagos State University School of Communication predicated the genesis of the disparity on the visions with which polytechnics were established. He said "When you are creating an institution or any establishment at all, you must have had a vision. The Vision behind the creation of Polytechnics in Nigeria is to provide middle-level manpower for the Nigerian society. But those in the University were envisioned to become elite professionals. When we were admitted into the University, what we were made to understand is that when you are graduating, you graduate as an elite professional whereas, the guys in polytechnics graduate at best a top level technician." Sharing the same sentiment, Oluwafemi Onifade, a lecturer at the Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi believes that the 'original sin' that cosigned Polytechnics to discrimination stemmed from the vision with which it was established. "We all know that the ways they set up the university and polytechnics are very different. Polytechnics are meant to provide middle-level manpower while Universities are to provide top level man power. So because of this most people do not want to go to polytechnic anymore, they all want to go to universities." The government might have had good intentions with their visions for polytechnics but the certificates they award, fraught by dearth of jobs and poor educational system has marred the visions for polytechnics. This is why the disparity becomes more pronounced because the top level manager, the middle level and the low-level managers are now competing to have the same job in which the man with BSc is the employers' favourite. It is also from this vision that discrimination sprouted and this has culminated to seeing Polytechnic graduates as inferior to their university counterparts. A Polytechnic graduate in the civil service at entry level and top level is always placed a step below a BSc holder. This explains the reason why an HND holder in the country cannot become a Permanent Secretary, which is the highest rank in civil service. While many Nigerian discusses the disparity in the context of segregation and discrimination, the Polytechnic lecturer, who spoke with Pulse argues that the disparate treatment the HND holders suffer in work places and elsewhere is not a discrimination but inequality that has legal backings. "I don't really think it is a discrimination because it has legal backings. Should we remove the law and somebody is still saying you have an HND and you cannot get to certain levels then, it becomes a problem, it becomes illegal. But now it is not illegal because they are only following the laid down laws by denying them promotions. "Where I have a problem is where somebody has an HND first, the PGD, the masters and the PHD and someone still says you cannot rise to a certain level because you came in with HND first, when someone who has just BSc becomes a Permanent Secretary or Head of Service without masters or any other qualification. It is annoying. But if after your HND and PGD and you become at par with someone with BA or BSc, fine it is okay. But, generally speaking, the standard is poor." The Lagos State Lecturer also shares similar views that since Polytechnic and University have different laws and visions setting them up, polytechnic graduates should be made to go through some refinement to enjoy same privilege with BSc holders, rather than just putting them on the same salary scale. "If you want to close the gap, you may say for those of you who went to Polytechnic, after fulfilling certain conditions, you may be deemed considered for so and so privileges. There must be conditions to fulfil" Dr. Akanni also pointed out the disparity in admission requirements Polytechnic and University in Nigeria. "We have Universities and Polytechnics in the country and entry requirement are different. Why did they lower requirements for a set of people and high it for another and when they finish the race you expect them to have same ratings irrespective of the disparity at the onset?" He queried. Moreover, the Federal Government had made attempt to convert some Polytechnic to Universities in the country to put a stop the dichotomy. Yaba College of Technology and Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY) are on the verge of becoming universities, yet some still believe that upgrading the school and not the lecturers would still not solve the problem. Dr. Akanni is one of those positing this argument and in his opinion, awarding Btech in Polytechnic-turn- universities is a clear example of putting the cart before the horse. "MAPOLY, Yabatech and others might become universities but then they have to strengthen the personnel, the work force. Go and do a survey of the lecturers in Polytechnics now, how many PhD holders do they have there? If they want to undertake any research, who are the people that'll ascertain that the work is good enough? The United Nations realise this better. If the UN is giving out any research contract, the minimum requirement for a qualified research is masters degree, so what that means is that regular requirement is PhD." He continues, "One important thing for which Universities are most known is research, and if we don't have people who can conduct research, what is in that University? So, awarding B.Tech may still not solve the problem if the personnel are not strengthened academic wise" Before now, Nigerians employers of labour, both government and private often measure job seekers competence by their certificate. University graduates are often adjudged to be better than their Polytechnic counterparts irrespective of what they can do. Though, this narrative is gradually changing from certificate to talent based competence. A lot of employers of labour now consider the CV and the quality of the graduate first before looking at the academic degree the certificate carries. It is against this background that the Bauchi Polytechnic lecturer thinks even if all Polytechnics begin to award Btech, it may not change the perception of public about HND holders if they do not re-train themselves to be fit and qualified for the job they want. Onifade said "even if they (FG) enact the laws and those who go to polytechnics do not re-train themselves, what you hold would not matter. This is why it is all about what you can do on the job. In other words, it is the graduate, not the certificate." In the face of these many issues, the Federal Government has thought it wise to pay both HND and BSc holders in civil service same salary but state governments across the country are yet to domesticate this policy. Again, it is yet to be seen if Polytechnic-turn-University would, in the long run, have same academic and social standing with University in Nigeria given the public perception of Higher National Degree award our polytechnics issue their graduates. Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! The department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, the principal agency overseeing US sanctions programs, said Exxon failed to reveal the activity as required and "the violations constitute an egregious case." OFAC said two US subsidiaries of Exxon signed eight legal documents with Sechin in May 2014 for oil and gas projects in Russia, after he was included in the sanctions in late April. Tillerson stepped down as chief executive of Exxon in 2016 to serve as the Trump administrations secretary of state. Exxon said the Treasury Department's decision was "fundamentally unfair." The company said in a statement it received "clear guidance" from the White House and Treasury Department that participating in a board meeting with Sechin would not constitute a violation so long as the meeting did not concern Sechin's personal business but instead operations of Rosneft, which was not blacklisted. "OFAC is trying to retroactively enforce a new interpretation of an executive order that is inconsistent with the explicit and unambiguous guidance," the company said in a statement. No exceptions Exxon's statement included a list of media reports in which US officials said the sanctions targeted individuals, not companies. But OFAC said the regulations made no distinction and Exxon should have known it would be legally barred from entering agreements countersigned by Sechin on behalf of Rosneft. "No materials issued by the White House or the Department of the Treasury asserted an exception or carve-out for the professional conduct of designated or blocked persons, nor did any materials suggest that US persons could continue to conduct or engage in business with such individuals," OFAC said. Tillerson's ties to the Kremlin were an important sticking point during his confirmation, as some lawmakers suggested they could pose a conflict for the head of US diplomacy. Both Croatia and neighbouring Montenegro have been hit by forest fires along their Adriatic coastlines in recent days. In Montenegro, most of the fires were under control by Wednesday. The fires on Montenegro's Lustica peninsula had forced the evacuation of more than 100 campers and threatened Tivat and neighbouring Herceg Novi and Kotor. Further north, in Croatia, about a dozen wildfires broke out on Sunday in the villages surrounding the popular tourist destination of Split. About 240 firefighters are still deployed in the area to keep the situation under control. Nobody has been injured in the blazes, which have ravaged more than 4,500 hectares (11,100 acres) of olive trees, maquis and pines in Croatia. Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic rejected previous speculation that the fires were caused by sparks from electrical power lines. According to first police reports the blaze was started by "open flames," he said. A probe to establish the cause is ongoing. His right-hand man and fellow defendant Salvatore Buzzi, 61, was handed a 19-year jail term by the court at the capital city's Rebibbia jail. The scandal, which led to a 20-month trial in the high-security prison, had been dubbed "Mafia Capitale" by the media. But judge Rosanna Ianniello said Carminati and Buzzi were guilty of corruption but not of mafia association. "The sentence is stiff, but the whole trial revolved around the question: 'Was it mafia or not?'," Carminati's lawyer Ippolita Naso said. "'Mafia Capitale does not exist," she said. Naso added that she had spoken to Carminati and he was "satisfied". Both men were already behind bars in prisons in Parma and Tolmezzo where they were kept under the notorious harsh 41-bis regime, aimed at cutting mafia inmates off completely from their former criminal associates. "The 41-bis will have to be repealed. But who will give Carminati back the 22 months spent under it?" lawyer Giosue Bruno Naso, Ippolita Naso's father, said. Carminati and Buzzi watched the verdict by video conference, Carminati standing to hear his sentence while Buzzi sat and took notes. They will appeal the verdict. One-eyed Carminati was given a 10-year prison term in 1998 for membership of the Banda della Magliana, a criminal crew which ruled Rome's underworld in the 1970s and 1980s. Carminati's brother Sergio told media at the court that the trial was "ridiculous. Massimo is still paying for the 1980s". In 1983, Buzzi received a 30-year prison sentence for the murder of an accomplice in a forged cheques racket. He served only six years after pursuing his education and successfully portraying himself as a reformed character. "The reason we go there is not to grab the land, we go for pasture, nothing else," says Lemerigi Letimalo, a 28-year-old Samburu herder in a Manchester United T-shirt with a mobile phone hanging in a pouch around his neck. "The white settlers are the ones who call the police forces to attack us," he adds. Violence has spiked in Laikipia this year, with smallholder farms and huge ranches alike invaded by armed herders, leaving dozens dead and uprooting hundreds more. A government-ordered security operation has so far failed to quell the unrest, which some blame on drought and others on politics. Accounts of the attacks are widely divergent. The victims of the incursions are mainly black Kenyans living on small patches of farmland as well as white landowners, whose properties often run into the tens of thousands of acres (hectares), dredging up long-festering resentment over land ownership. Drought, law, violence The March murder of British rancher and former soldier Tristan Voorspuy and the April shooting of Italian author and conservationist Kuki Gallmann are among the most high-profile acts of violence. But the young Samburu "morans" -- the warrior age set that ends with marriage -- sitting by the river at Crocodile Jaw Bridge on a recent Wednesday consider that they are the victims: of weather, of greed and selfishness, and of state violence. They say poor rains have forced them to cut fences in search of grazing land, accusing ranchers, farmers and conservationists of protecting their own livelihoods at the pastoralists' expense. They also accuse security forces of unfairly targeting them. "When we go grazing in there we get attacked by the police. We don't go in there for war or planning to stay, we just go in to graze until there are rains back at home," Letimalo tells AFP, offering a rare insight into the Samburu herders' side of the story. He admits to illegally grazing the 50 cows and 200 goats that he is responsible for on other people's lands and says police have shot dead two of his cows. But Letimalo recognises neither the term "illegal herding" nor the law itself, which he describes as "for the landowners". "When there's drought, a fence means nothing to me," he says, speaking in the local Samburu language. "We blame the whites for bringing the police who attack our cattle and kill our people." 'No option' Fellow herder, 30-year-old Lokimaniki Lekaal, agrees: "Despite the law, we have no option. We cannot sit around and watch our animals die of hunger." A glance at an aerial view of Laikipia shows the stark difference between the green of well-managed, fenced-off private land and the dust bowl free-for-all of the over-grazed rangelands. Too many people with too much livestock have rendered the rangeland unlivable for the growing population, a situation exacerbated by climate change. But in the immediate struggle for survival, talk of long-term planning or better land management is a luxury Lekaal dismisses. "When all the grass is finished we will die. It is up to God," he says. Until then he will keep his cattle wherever grass can be found. 'We don't fight twice' The two men insist that drought is the reason they herd livestock onto private land and deny any suggestion their actions are politically motivated as Kenya heads towards a general election on August 8. "There's no leader who has influenced us to go to graze in someone's land, it is we, ourselves, that decided to go and graze our animals inside the ranches," Lekaal says. Nevertheless, local MP Mathew Lempurkel, a Samburu, has been charged with incitement over the murder of Voorspuy, while a politician in neighbouring Baringo county was similarly charged over arson attacks on Gallmann's estate before his own murder in May. Some invaders in Laikipia have been photographed wearing Lempurkel campaign T-shirts. The MP himself, facing a tight election, has both denied the charges against him and used them to burnish his credentials as the champion of pastoralist interests. 'Only ones suffering' Moran culture plays a part too. Young, unmarried and often uneducated -- neither Letimalo nor Lekaal went to school -- the herders revel in aggressive displays of machismo and pride themselves on not backing down from a fight. "We don't fight twice," as Letimalo puts it. jpegMpeg4-1280x720Landowners and herders alike complain that a late and half-hearted government security response has made matters worse. The herders also say their acts of retaliatory arson and violence are provoked by the security forces. "There's a time we set property on fire but that was because one of our colleagues was killed," says Letimalo. "We had no option but to burn the property. It's not as bad as killing someone!" Some five hundred friends, former colleagues and activists began a procession at the site in the centre of the Ukrainian capital where Sheremet's car was blown apart by a remotely controlled device as he sat at the wheel. The murder of 44-year-old Sheremet -- a native of Belarus who was critical of both Ukraine's pro-Western authorities and Russia -- sent shockwaves through the tight-knit media community in crisis-hit Ukraine. "Afterwards, many journalists in Ukraine didn't feel they were safe," Mustafa Nayem, a former colleague and current ruling party MP, told AFP. "We are very disappointed that we don't have answers to many questions: Who did it? Who ordered it? How did it happen? And, why was Pavel killed?" The chief editor of the Ukrainska Pravda news site where Sheremet worked, Sevgil Musayeva, slammed the official investigation into his murder as "absolutely woeful." Little progress and no arrests have been made by the probe despite Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko insisting it was a "matter of honour" to find those responsible. Investigators in Kiev have suggested that Moscow could have had a hand in the killing -- one of several high-profile assassinations in Kiev recently -- but have provided no firm evidence to back up their claims. Call for independent probe A documentary from the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project released in May alleged Sheremet was under surveillance by Ukrainian intelligence agents around the time of his death and that they may have seen the bomb being planted. "Authorities say Russia is the prime suspect, but the lack of progress in the case, coupled with evidence pointing to possible Ukrainian involvement, weaken Kiev's credibility and suggest the need for an independent probe," the Committee to Protect Journalists said in a report this month. Sheremet began his career in his homeland Belarus, where he founded the popular Belarussky Partizan opposition website before being expelled by the country's authoritarian government. He moved to Ukraine after quitting working for Russian state TV in 2014 over his critical views of Moscow's meddling in Ukraine. Sheremet wrote opinion pieces and conducted interviews with top officials in which he demanded answers for the slow pace of Kiev's efforts to stamp out embedded corruption and achieve sustainable growth. The reporter's murder was the highest-profile killing of a journalist in Ukraine since the gruesome murder of Ukrainska Pravda's founder Giorgi Gongadze in 2000 sparked national outcry. Kenji Fujimori, 37, has been suspended from the Popular Force party led by his sister Keiko for 60 days. The party has the largest number of seats in the legislature. Fujimori is being punished for criticizing in recent weeks the way his party has been dealing with the government, of which it very critical. He himself is seen as more open to working with President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski. For instance, in a vote of confidence that ended up costing the finance minister his job, Fujimori abstained. And in a Twitter post he later compared his colleagues to lions in the colosseum of ancient Rome. The elder Fujimori, president from 1990 to 2000, is serving a 25-year sentence for human rights abuses and corruption. Now 78, Fujimori has suffered a series of health setbacks that has seen him in and out of the hospital. Police said Tuesday they were questioning the woman after she appeared in a series of videos, initially posted to messaging app Snapchat, wearing a crop top and a high-waisted miniskirt. She had been filmed walking through the historic fort of Ushaiqer, north of Riyadh, and playing with sand in the dunes. The videos were uploaded over the weekend to the "Model Khulood" Snapchat account. The ministry said in a statement that the woman had confessed to walking through the site in a skirt with her hair uncovered but that the footage had been uploaded without her knowledge. Women are required to wear long black abaya robes and cover their hair in public in most of Saudi Arabia, which has some of the world's harshest restrictions on women. The kingdom does not allow women to drive and requires them to be accompanied or given written permission by a male relative -- usually a father, husband or brother -- to study, work or travel. By India Today Web Desk: The second trailer of Anees Bazmee's comic caper Mubarakan hit the internet earlier today, and it gives a glimpse into the madness that the film contains. The film features Arjun Kapoor in a double role - the street smart Karan and the soft-spoken Charan. Mubarakan plunges into comedic chaos when Binkle (Athiya Shetty) and Sweety (Ileana D'Cruz) come into the picture. advertisement Here are five things you should expect from the film, based on the trailer: Arjun Kapoor and Anil Kapoor's camaraderie: The real life chacha-bhatija duo are coming together on screen for the first time. At the film's trailer launch, Anil Kapoor said that working with his nephew was "a wonderful and emotional experience." Expect nothing less than fireworks. Neha Sharma's cameo:While Neha Sharma's appearance in Mubarakan had been kept under wraps, the makers have finally given us a glimpse of her. Neha's character in the film is called Nafisa, and it is presumed that she is Charan's girlfriend, before he falls for Binkle. Anil Kapoor's comic timing: From No Entry to Welcome, Anees Bazmee has managed to bring out Anil Kapoor's funniest. It is his character Kartar Singh who gets most of the laughs. Shaadi shenanigans: Shaadi season is arriving early this year with Mubarakan. Weddings form an integral part of the film, as the confusion begins when Karan and Charan's family starts to look for brides for them. The trailer also shows a sneak-peek of a colourful wedding number. Dance numbers: We have heard the foot-tapping Hawa Hawa, and Mubarakan promises more songs that will make you want to put on your dancing shoes. Desi number? Check. Club song? Check. ALSO READ: Arjun Kapoor opens up on his equation with half-sisters Jhanvi-Khushi ALSO READ: Arjun Kapoor and Anil Kapoor promise double dose of madness and fun in Mubarakan poster ALSO WATCH: Up close and personal with Arjun Kapoor --- ENDS --- Gbagbo, the first ex-head of state to be tried by the International Criminal Court, has appealed a March decision that he must stay behind bars in a UN detention centre until the end of his trial. Gbagbo and his former militia leader Charles Ble Goude, 45, have pleaded not guilty to four charges arising out of the post-election violence which wracked the Ivory Coast in 2010 to 2011. About 3,000 people died in the turmoil that swept Abidjan -- once one of Africa's most cosmopolitan cities -- in the aftermath of the November 2010 presidential polls when Gbagbo refused to accept defeat to bitter rival Alassane Ouattara. In a small initial victory for the former Ivory Coast strongman, five appeals judges agreed the judges in his trial had "erred" on several key points when they refused to release him for the duration of his trial. The trial opened in January 2016 and could last three to four years. Greying and balding, Gbagbo listened intently in court to the ruling, with a large beige scarf wrapped around his neck and wearing a casual blue shirt with a red print. The trial judges had failed to take into account both Gbagbo's advanced age -- he is now 72 -- and his health as well as the fact that he has been in detention since he was handed to the ICC in November 2011, the appeals court ruled. "The trial chamber should have considered the duration of time Mr Gbagbo has spent in detention ... and whether Mr. Gbagbo's detention continues to be reasonable," said judge Piotr Hofmanski, reading a summary of the ruling. Therefore the appeals chamber "directs the trial chamber to carry out a new review as to whether Mr Gbagbo should continue to be detained or should be released with or without conditions." The verdict capped a case that prompted hundreds to march through the capital Nairobi in short, fitted clothing in 2014, calling for an end to violence against women after a video of the attack was made public. "We are equal, but it is equally important to respect the dignity of a woman," chief magistrate Francis Andayi said as he handed out the sentences. "This is what many uncultured men do out there," he added. The assault at a petrol station on Nairobi's outskirts, in which the victim was stripped, sexually assaulted and had her phone and cash stolen by a violent mob, was captured on camera and widely circulated on social media. It was part of a rash of assaults against women and led activists mobilised under the hash tag #MyDressMyChoice to demonstrate. The Gulf state's supreme court last month sentenced the mastermind of the cell to life in jail and condemned 20 others to various prison terms for alleged links with Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah and plotting terror attacks in Kuwait. State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Al-Sabah, who is also acting information minister, confirmed that Kuwait had taken diplomatic action against Iran but declined to specify the measures. "Following the supreme court ruling on the case ... the government of Kuwait has decided to take measures, in accordance with diplomatic norms and the Vienna Convention, towards its relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran," Sheikh Mohammad told AFP. He provided no further details. The row comes at a time when Kuwait is trying to mediate an end to the Gulf's worst diplomatic crisis in years, after Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia and its allies cut ties with Qatar over accusations it is too close to Shiite Iran and funds extremists. The Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Seyassah reported on Monday that 14 of the cell's 26 members had fled to Iran by sea. They were convicted by a lower court early last year but acquitted on appeals several months later and set free. The supreme court, whose rulings are final, overturned their acquittal on June 18 and sentenced them to between five and 15 years in prison. Kuwait's interior ministry confirmed on Tuesday that the 14 men were on the run but it said that they had not left the country through official exit points. The cell was busted in August 2015 and large quantities of arms, ammunition and explosives were seized from them, according to the Kuwaiti authorities. Since the prominent democracy activist died of liver cancer in custody last week, his Chinese supporters say they have been barred from leaving their homes or organising commemorative events, while censors have blocked online tributes. But on the seventh day following Liu's death -- an important milestone for the deceased in traditional Chinese culture -- the group gathered Wednesday evening for a two-and-half-hour ceremony in which they shared memories of the man. "Xiaobo is gone, but we are still alive," Jin Yan, one of the attendees, said at the memorial, according to a statement released by the organisers on Thursday. "During the democracy movement in Eastern Europe, many people were killed or sent to the mental hospital. But they had a saying within the movement: between the living and the dead, there's a moral contract. The living has an obligation to complete what the dead started." Public gatherings to commemorate the deaths of prominent dissidents are rare. In the past, those who took part in memorials have been subjected to questioning, detention and in some cases even charged with the crime of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble". Liu was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2009 for "subversion" after co-writing Charter 08, a petition calling for democratic reforms in Communist Party-ruled China. The veteran of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010, but he was not allowed to attend the ceremony in Oslo. Two days after his death, officials released a video of Liu's wife and relatives lowering an urn containing his ashes into the sea, an non-traditional form of burial in China which friends saw as a way to deprive his supporters of a pilgrimage site. 'Too brave' A photo of the event in Beijing shows around 20 people in a room, holding candles and photos of the bespectacled writer. His portrait was placed on a wall, flanked by flowers. Another image shows the group bowing their heads. An attendee who asked not to be named said state security officers stood guard outside the building, while some mourners were driven to the site in police cars. Still others were prevented by police from participating in the memorial. "(Liu) lived just 60 years, with the last 30 years full of frustrations and suffering," said Xu Xiao, another attendee, according to the statement. "Rather than say that the regime is too cruel, we may say that Liu Xiaobo was too brave." Amnesty International China researcher Patrick Poon told AFP about a dozen of Liu's supporters have been questioned or "invited to have tea by police officers" in recent weeks. Where is Liu Xia? Friends are now worried about the fate of the Nobel laureate's widow, the poet Liu Xia, who has been under house arrest since 2010. Authorities have claimed that Liu Xia is "free", but her friends have not been able to contact her since her husband died in a hospital in northeast China on July 13. Authorities have brought Liu and her brother to the southwestern province of Yunnan for "tourism", the Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Hong Kong said in a statement Thursday, citing the widow's relatives. "I also heard from friends that Liu Xia and her brother are in Yunnan under police control. Liu Xiaobo's brothers are back home under police surveillance," activist Ye Du told AFP. The Anadolu Agency (AA) published a report Monday detailing the 10 US military facilities' whereabouts and, in some instances, the number of special operations forces working there. Pentagon spokesman Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway said the release of sensitive military information exposes coalition forces to "unnecessary risk." "While we cannot independently verify the sources that contributed to this story, we would be very concerned if officials from a NATO ally would purposefully endanger our forces by releasing sensitive information," Rankine-Galloway said. "We have conveyed these concerns to the government of Turkey," he added, noting that the Pentagon would not comment on whether the locations listed by AA were accurate. AA said the bases -- two airfields and eight military outposts -- are being used to support the Kurdish Democratic Party (PYD) and its armed wing, the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara views as an affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Turkey views the PKK as a terrorist organization and the group has waged an insurgency since 1984 that has killed more than 40,000 people in Turkey. Despite being NATO allies, the United States and Turkey have a fraught relationship over the current US-led coalition effort to defeat the Islamic State group in northern Syria. America is relying heavily on YPG and other Kurdish elements to conduct the fighting on the ground. And it has shipped weapons to the Kurds in a move that infuriated Turkey, which worries the guns will end up in the hands of the PKK. AA said one post in the town of Ayn Issah in northern Raqa governorate housed around 200 US soldiers and 75 French special forces troops. The remarks highlighted growing impatience by the US administration with leaders in South Sudan, which won independence from Sudan just six years ago with strong backing from the United States. "It is high time for action," Sison told the council. The plan agreed by the regional IGAD group is "the last chance for salvaging the peace agreement," she said. "If South Sudan's leaders do not participate in this high-level forum in good faith, and stick to its deadlines, the United States will need to review our position and priorities on support for the peace agreement and its implementing bodies." The seven-nation IGAD group agreed this month to launch the so-called "revitalization forum" to push for a permanent ceasefire and talks on ending the war, the latest bid by the regional leaders. Ethiopia's Ambassador Tekeda Alemu said the region was now speaking with "one voice" on South Sudan and that there was "no viable alternative" to the regional plan to support a settlement. The United States has repeatedly called for an arms embargo and sanctions on those who are blocking peace efforts in South Sudan. A US bid to impose the tough measures failed to win support at the council in December after Russia, China, Japan, Egypt and four other countries abstained in a vote on a US-drafted sanctions resolutions. "The Security Council waits and waits," Sison deplored. "We wait for things to change in South Sudan, but nothing is changing in South Sudan." "The violence continues. Horrific atrocities are reported so often that they become almost routine." Tens of thousands of people have been killed and more than 3.5 million people have been forced to flee their homes in the conflict that has stirred ethnic rivalries between Dinka, Nuer and other groups. The war began when Kiir accused Machar, his former deputy, of plotting a coup and heavy fighting flared in Juba last year when Machar returned to the capital under the terms of the peace deal. A combined team of security agents was sent to the area to pursue the killers and they are yet to communicate, a police officer, who declined to be identified said. Somali militants had intensified their assaults on the residents of Lamu and the raid had affected tourism, the local economy and movement of people in the community. The raid had also led to the closure of some schools in the community With the countrys general elections scheduled for Aug. 8, it is unclear if the residents of Lamu would be able to cast their votes. About 20 people were killed in the area recently. On Monday, President Uhuru Kenyatta ordered that the terrorists should be killed and buried. Kenyatta pledged to meet fire-with-fire in the war against the terrorists. Our citizens are losing their lives. Our security forces are losing their lives. My Principal Secretary was wounded a few days ago, said Kenyatta, while on political campaign tour of Lamu region. US Ambassador Nikki Haley told the Security Council two weeks ago that she would present "in the coming days" a draft sanctions resolution to confront what she described as a "clear and sharp military escalation." The United States promptly opened negotiations with China, North Korea's main ally and fellow permanent council member, to agree on possible new measures such as cutting off oil supplies, banning North Korean guest workers or imposing new air and maritime restrictions. Those talks are "still going on," a Security Council diplomat said. "There has not been any breakthrough despite a push by the United States in particular to do it more quickly than usual." "It's fairly slow-going," said the diplomat, who asked not to be named. Four other UN diplomats confirmed that the negotiations were moving at a slow pace. Asked whether there was progress in negotiations, China's Ambassador Liu Jieyi told AFP "not yet" and said he did not expect agreement on a draft resolution any time soon. "It's a complicated issue," he added. One complicating factor has been Russia's contention that the July 4 launch was not an intercontinental ballistic missile, despite North Korea's claim that it had achieved that milestone in its military program. North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un described the launch as a "gift" to Americans as they prepared to celebrate Independence Day and hailed a breakthrough in Pyongyang's decades-long drive to develop the capability to threaten the US mainland with a nuclear strike. Russia maintains that its defense ministry had determined, based on its tracking systems, that the missile was in fact of medium range. Russia's arguments challenge the US view that the stronger sanctions are necessary to confront the more dangerous threat posed by North Korea's newly-acquired ICBM capacity. US shows evidence of ICBM launch On Monday, Haley invited all council ambassadors along with South Korea to a meeting at which US evidence was shared about the launch, refuting Russia's claims that it was an ICBM, diplomats said. The missile launched by North Korea "was almost certainly an ICBM, capable of achieving a range in excess of 5,500 kilometers. We have high confidence in this assessment," said a spokesperson for the British mission. Ukrainian Ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko, who attended the briefing, said Russia's envoy was not convinced by the US evidence and that the Chinese ambassador "did not say a word." While Russia contends that the launch was not an ICBM, China is "slipping behind that as a way of not definitively saying that now is the right time for a resolution," said a Security Council diplomat. A spokesman at the US mission declined to give details of the evidence presented at the meeting. "The United States continues to work toward a resolution that will address the escalation" from the ICBM launch, he said. At an emergency council meeting following the launch, Russia argued that sanctions were not the answer to rein in North Korea, and that talks, as advocated by Beijing, were needed. It remains unclear if the United States will become impatient and put forward a sanctions resolution that could be vetoed by either China or Russia. Such a move would clear the way for US unilateral sanctions against Chinese and Russian firms that continue to trade with North Korea. "Once again, the Russia fever has caught up with the media and everybody ran out and tried to create a story that simply didn't exist," said White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders. That message was echoed by her Kremlin counterpart Dmitry Peskov. "The use of the terms 'secret' or 'confidential' for this meeting provokes absolute surprise and incomprehension." The meeting had been "officially accepted" by diplomatic channels, he added in comments reported by the Russia's TASS news agency. "There was no secret and confidential meeting," he said. "To say so is absolutely absurd." After a brief greeting at the start of the two-day summit and a two-hour bilateral meeting with their foreign ministers on July 7, Trump and Putin also chatted over dinner on the final night of the summit, a US official said Tuesday. The White House confirmed the political sensitive sit-down only after it was leaked. That raised questions about what the pair talked about, who was present and why the meeting was not previously mentioned. The Trump administration has been besieged by allegations that the president's closest advisors colluded with Russia to win the 2016 presidential election. Trump's eldest son Donald Jr recently released emails showing he held a meeting during the campaign with Kremlin-connected figures, hoping to get dirt on his father's rival for the White House, Hillary Clinton. Trump took to Twitter to blast the suggestion that there was anything improper about his dinner chat with Putin. "Fake News story of secret dinner with Putin is 'sick.' All G20 leaders, and spouses, were invited by the Chancellor of Germany. Press knew!" he declared. "The Fake News is becoming more and more dishonest! Even a dinner arranged for top 20 leaders in Germany is made to look sinister!" At the dinner in Hamburg, Trump was seated between the wife of the prime Minister of Japan the wife of the president of Argentina. US First Lady Melania Trump was seated next to President Putin." According to a US official "during the course of the dinner, all the leaders circulated throughout the room and spoke with one another freely." "President Trump spoke with many leaders during the course of the evening. As the dinner was concluding, President Trump went over to Mrs. Trump, where he spoke briefly with President Putin." Sanders denied reports that the sit-down lasted an hour, describing it as "brief." But the American president seems sure to face a backlash from Caracas, where charges of US "imperialism" have been the socialist government's favorite retort to pressure from the North. Trump, like his predecessor Barack Obama, confronts the difficult task of managing the long-toxic relationship between the two countries. The two have not had ambassadors in each other's capitals since 2010. But while Obama's Democratic administration succeeded in at least slightly lowering tensions, the relationship has dramatically soured since billionaire Republican Trump came to office in January. "All options are on the table," senior White House officials said late Tuesday, underscoring the toughly worded warning Trump himself had issued a day before. "The United States will not stand by as Venezuela crumbles," Trump said in a statement Monday. "If the Maduro regime imposes its Constituent Assembly on July 30, the United States will take strong and swift economic actions." 'Becoming a dictator' The American president called his Venezuelan counterpart a "bad leader who dreams of becoming a dictator." And senior administration officials who briefed reporters Tuesday denounced what they called the "dictatorial" regime in Caracas and demanded a "re-establishment" of democracy. In the US Congress, Republican Senator Marco Rubio recently demanded "the full restoration of the democratic order and respect of basic rights in Venezuela as the regime of Nicolas Maduro continues its assault on the Venezuelan people and the countrys democratic institutions." Pro- and anti-Maduro demonstrations in Venezuela have left nearly 100 people dead since April 1, amid the near-collapse of the oil-rich nation's economy and steps by Maduro that opponents say amount to a power grab. Both the White House and several American lawmakers expressed support for the symbolic vote last weekend in Venezuela, sponsored by the opposition, that saw 7.6 million people demand an end to plans for a Constituent Assembly -- which Maduro's opponents say would be set up to favor him -- to draw up a new constitution. Moises Rendon, an analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, wrote in a recent paper that "the single most important action for the United States, regional countries and the world is not to recognize the government that comes out from the illegitimate Constituent Assembly," which he described as "Soviet-style." But some analysts warn that too hard a line from the United States could backfire. Geoff Thale, with the lobbying group Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), told AFP he was "very skeptical that unilateral US sanctions (would be) effective. They are more likely to make the government feel they have no option but to resist, and they offer the government a nationalist rallying cry against the US." 'People will starve' David Smilde, a Venezuela specialist at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, said, "I believe it is possible that the Venezuelan government will be strengthened by US sanctions. There is no way to apply economic sanctions now in Venezuela without making the humanitarian situation much worse. People will starve to death." US sanctions, he added, "would unleash enormous resentment among the Venezuelans" and would "never be well received by other countries in the region." US involvement in Latin America carries enormous luggage. The United States has long been accused of interventionism -- even "imperialism" -- in what Washington has sometimes viewed as its "backyard." Maduro, for his part, has threatened a "very firm" response to the "imperial threat" from his American counterpart. His foreign minister, Samuel Moncada, denounced what he called "the insolent threat of a xenophobic and racist empire." But even as the diplomatic temperature between the two countries hovers near zero, economic relations have long been close: The United States remains the leading importer of Venezuelan oil, and several American multinationals, including automaking giant General Motors, have invested heavily for decades in what they viewed as a southern El Dorado. The White House officials who briefed reporters on Tuesday seemed aware of the potential impact US economic sanctions could have on American business. 48 years ago today, the first ever humans, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped on the moon, diminishing the distance between the universe and Earth. By India Today Web Desk: July 20, 1969 was not just any other day for us humans living on the earth. On this day, 48 years ago, technological progress led the humans to land on the moon- a dream that many of us dreamt. Apollo 11 took off from Kennedy Space Centre on July 16, 1969 carrying Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collins and initiated the greatest mission in the history of science. The live broadcast was seen by 530 million people that day. Photo: NASA Photo: NASA advertisement On July 20, 1969, American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin became the first humans ever to land on the moon. The 38-year-old Neil Armstrong was actually a civilian research pilot and was also the commander of the mission. Buzz Aldrin was the Lunar Module Pilot while Michael Collins was the Command Module Pilot during the Apollo 11 mission. Neil Armstrong on the Moon. (Photo: NASA) Apollo 11 travelled 2,40,000 miles in 76 hours and entered the lunar orbit on July 19, 1969. On July 20, the lunar module named "Eagle" was detached from the main module in which Michael Collins remained. The command module "Eagle" then proceeded towards the lunar surface and two hours later it touched the surface of the moon. Only Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong were the first humans to touch the moon as Collins was left behind to man the main module of Apollo 11. Armstrong, being the first one to walk on the moon said, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" as he took his first step. After landing near the Sea of Tranquility, Armstrong immediately radioed to Mission Control in Houston, Texas, "The Eagle has landed." Buzz Aldrin stepped on the moon 19 minutes after Neil Armstrong. After planting the US flag on the moon, Aldrin spoke with President at the time, Richard Nixon via Houston. The first ever footprints recorded on photograph were also Aldrin's footprints. Buzz Aldrin's footprints on moon (Photo: NASA) Apollo 11 mission was the first ever manned mission to land on the surface of the moon. There were some items that were left on the surface of the moon, out of which there was a plaque card that read, "Here men from the planet Earth first set foot on the moon - July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind." Neil Armstrong's footprint on the moon along with the retroreflector(Photo: NASA) --- ENDS --- WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue Extension, in cooperation with a number of partner organizations, will host the second annual Indiana Food Summit, Sept. 25-26 at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. The summit provides learning, networking and sharing opportunities for anyone who works in the food system, from business people to elected officials, said Jodee Ellett, Purdue Extension local foods coordinator and event organizer. We hope participants will not only take away new tools, but also be inspired to implement innovative new strategies in their communities, she said. Last years summit was a rousing success, Ellett said, and organizers have added several new sessions this year in response to participant feedback. Re-localizing food systems takes a lot of time in building networks and relationships, Ellett said. We have created an entire day of professional development workshops and will also have regional networking luncheons so you can meet people from your area you might not know. Also new this year, participants will have an opportunity to submit a brief summary of their activities from the past year to share with their colleagues. The professional development workshops will be held Sept. 25. Speakers are: * Mark Winnie, senior adviser to the Center for a Livable Future at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. Winnie will lead a workshop on food councils in which participants will assess their roles in the community food system, explore a comprehensive food planning framework and learn about the mixture of policy and programming for food councils. There will also be discussion about what a supportive statewide food policy framework would look like in Indiana. * Tera Johnson, director of the Food Finance Institute at the University of Wisconsin Extension Division of Business & Entrepreneurship. The Level 1 training will provide an in-depth look at what food, beverage and value-added farm businesses need to do to optimize their business model and capital structure for profitability. This includes discussion of current market trends, the basics of conducting market research and discussion of the various business models in the food sector. * Kara Lubischer, University of Missouri Extension state specialist. Participants will learn a practical approach to creating healthy food environments in small retail stores through the Stock Healthy, Shop Healthy program. Stock Healthy, Shop Healthy is a comprehensive, community-based program that allows communities to improve access to healthy, affordable foods by working with a small food retailer. The Sept. 26 program will include multiple concurrent sessions with speakers and panels focusing on food policy, healthy food access, farm to school and food business. The summit concludes with a vendors fair offering appetizers, a cash bar and networking opportunities. Registration for the 2017 Indiana Food Summit is now open. For more information about registration or sponsorship opportunities, go to https://www.purdue.edu/dffs/localfood/infoodsummit/. The summit runs 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 25, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 26, with the vendors fair from 4:30-7:30 p.m. Sept. 26, at IUPUIs Hine Hall and University Tower, 875 W. North St., Indianapolis. Writer: Darrin Pack, 765-494-8415, dpack@purdue.edu Source: Jodee Ellett, 765-494-0349. jellett@purdue.edu Agricultural Communications: (765) 494-8415; Shari Finnell, Manager/Media Relations and Public Information, sfinnell@purdue.edu Agriculture News Page ODON, Ind., CRANE, Ind. and WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. More than 500 people are expected to attend a celebration of an economic collaboration agreement at 3:30 p.m. Monday (July 24) at the WestGate Academy Training and Conference Center at 13598 East WestGate Drive in Odon, Indiana. The agreement launches a major economic and professional development initiative to support technology research, commercialization and job creation throughout Southern Indiana. Partners include the WestGate Authority, Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division (NSWC Crane), Purdue University and Purdue Research Foundation, with additional collaboration with the Indiana Economic Development Corporation and Radius Indiana. Radius Indiana is an eight-county regional partnership including Crawford, Daviess, Dubois, Greene, Lawrence, Martin, Orange and Washington. Other Indiana-based public universities including Indiana University and the University of Southern Indiana also are expected to participate in the ongoing collaboration. The long-term goal of the partnership is to provide: Intellectual property support and a WestGate Express License to expedite Purdue and NSWC Crane IP commercialization. Entrepreneurs-in-residence to assist with startup creation. FireStarter program to guide entrepreneurs through the Ideation and startup development process. Support amenities offered to Purdue Foundry clients and Purdue Research Park tenants. Krannert School of Management NSF Midwest I-Corps Node. Purdue Polytechnic Institute educational services and classes in the business and technology sectors. Additional details will be announced at the event, and officials will be available to speak with media. B-roll and photos will be available following the event. CONTACT: Cynthia Sequin, 765-413-6031, casequin@prf.org A multistate federal drug investigation has led to the arrest of a Davenport man and woman. Federal, state and local law enforcement conducted raids on Wednesday in 12 locations in Iowa, Colorado, Oregon and Nevada, according to a news release issued by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Iowa. Three of the locations were in Davenport: two in the 600 block of 15th Street and another in the 4800 block of West Locust Street. Arrested in the Quad-Cities were Jennifer Hoang, 25, of Davenport, and Randy Wardrip, 23, of Davenport, according to the news release. Ms. Hoang and Mr. Wardrip have been charged with conspiracy to manufacture and distribute marijuana and money laundering. A third person, Douglas Tran, 57, of Henderson, Nev., was also arrested and charged with conspiracy to manufacture and distribute marijuana and money laundering. Federal court records state that the investigation was started by the Quad City Metropolitan Enforcement Group around August 2016 in Davenport. The case focused on a group believed to be trafficking drugs and laundering money. Documents state the ring is suspected of being in operation since at least March 2015. HILLSDALE The village is without an attorney after trustees decided to terminate the services of Alcorn Nelson LLC and were unable to appoint former village attorney Virgil Thurman. Mr. Thurman resigned the post in November. On Monday, Mayor Mike Lambrecht named Dan Alcorn as village attorney, but only two trustees Jake Smith and Mike Andrews voted for the choice. Trustee Joni Reiss then proposed terminating Mr. Alcorns services, with Theresa Brooks, June Cole and Chris Dillin voting in favor of the proposal. Ms. Reiss said legal services have cost Hillsdale $6,000 so far this year and, with only $10,000 budgeted, the village wont be able to continue with Mr. Alcorn. She said she appreciated his service, but the village has to watch the spending. She proposed contracting with Mr. Thurman who, upon her request, had submitted a proposal. I will not appoint Virgil, Mayor Lambrecht said, declining to state why. So find another attorney, or hire Dan (Alcorn). Mr. Alcorn said the impasse calls for additional research but, since he no longer works for the village, he could not provide it. He did offer some advice. Quit bickering over stupid stuff, Mr. Alcorn said. Raise the level of discourse above petty, and youll be doing your taxpayers a service. The village also must wait until at least Oct. 1 for a treasurer after Mayor Lambrecht chose not to accept recommendations by Ms. Reiss and Ms. Brooks to appoint Beth Quilty. Ms. Reiss said that, under a process sanctioned by Mayor Lambrecht last month, four applicants were reviewed but Mayor Lambrecht was unavailable. I need to talk to these people and find out who they are, said Mayor Lambrecht. You were supposed to come to me. Ms. Reiss and Ms. Brooks also questioned spending decisions by village departments, recommending any purchase of more than $200 be brought to the board for approval. They expressed concern over how bills were reaching the village clerk and requested a standard process for submitting bills. Theres no heads up, no communication, Mr. Dillon said. Everything is brought up after the fact. Mayor Lambrecht said the approval process would mean essential services and repairs would have to wait. Mr. Alcorn suggested meeting twice monthly to ensure prompt bill payment. Ms. Reiss said Hillsdale has two squad cars, two mowers and multiple maintenance vehicles so some repairs should be able to wait for board approval. She said two department funds are nearly at the years budgeted amount. This is taxpayers money were spending, not ours, she said. Im looking out for the voters. Also on Monday, the board: Heard e-waste drop-off is planned 8 a.m. to noon Sept. 16 at the village hall. Heard Kelly Bechts update on plans for Hillsdale Days, including bingo, fireworks and a movie in the park on Sept. 8 and a parade, vendors, music, bingo, fire department water wars, a dunk tank, bounce houses and a bags tournament on Sept. 9. Approved putting $162,000 of a $170,000 Illinois sales tax check into a reserve fund after village clerk Jane Lundquist said the amount was most likely incorrect. She has requested a report from the state to clear up the issue. CAMBRIDGE -- Henry County Sheriff Kerry Loncka will take the oath of office at 1 p.m. Friday at the Henry County Courthouse in a ceremony conducted by Henry County Circuit Judge Terry Patton. Sheriff Loncka was appointed interim sheriff upon the May 28 retirement of former sheriff James Padilla. On July 13, the Henry County Board voted to have Sheriff Loncka hold the post until the November 2018 elections. "My goals would be to continue a positive working relationship with the county board, the public and the department," he said. "Sheriff James Padilla has improved relationships in all three of these areas, and I would like to continue that. "We, as a department, have to be transparent and constantly strive to change with the times, Sheriff Loncka said. "Law enforcement has constantly changed during my career. Our job performance can be evaluated by public opinion, and we must have the support of the public. "Henry County has many dedicated and professional officers that are up to that task. He said he became interested in law enforcement while in college and working a summer job at Kewanee Farm Equipment. "I was painting a fence when I saw a lady with a flat tire and a Kewanee Police Officer helped her by changing her tire, he said. The lady was so thankful she hugged the officer. I saw that and thought it would be great to help people. He has worked in the Henry County Sheriffs Office for the last 26 years. He joined the department in 1990 as a correctional officer/dispatcher shortly after earning a bachelors degree in criminal justice from the University of Dubuque. After graduating from the University of Illinois Police Academy, he was promoted to patrol deputy. He became patrol sergeant in 1997, lieutenant in investigations in 1998 and patrol lieutenant in 2010 when he also was named supervisor for Henry County/Illinois State Police Major Crimes Investigative Task Force. In 2014, he was promoted to captain/chief deputy in the sheriffs department. Sheriff Loncka also serves on the board of the Braveheart Childrens Advocacy Center. The Kewanee High School graduate now lives in Galva with his wife, Krista, and their children, Christian and Courtney. Tension between Bihar Mahagathbandhan partners - JD(U) and RJD - continues to simmer as Nitish's party remains firm on its demand asking Tejashwi Yadav to come out clean over corruption charges. By Rohit Kumar Singh: There is no let up in Bihar political crisis. A couple of days after the closed door meeting between CM Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav , who is facing corruption charges, tension between the two alliance partners - RJD and JD(U) - continues to simmer. The Janata Dal-United has completely rejected claims made by the Rashtriya Janata Dal that Tejashwi has explained his case to Nitish and that everything has been sorted now. advertisement "What happened during the meeting between Nitish and Tejashwi is not known to anyone. Those who are claiming that things have been settled are wrong," JD(U) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar told India Today. "JD(U) had demanded some answers from Tejaswi but Lalu outsourced Shivanand Tiwary, a political non-entity, to reply on behalf of his son. Why is Shivanand Tiwary answering for Tejaswi? Kumar added. The JD(U) leader said Shivanand Tiwary is desperate for a Rajya Sabha seat and therefore cosying up with Lalu. The JD(U) leader claimed that the party sacrificed its seats to stitch the Mahagathbandhan on 2015 and the RJD must respect the fact. "RJD may 'babbar sher' in Mahagathbandhan on basis of number of seats but we are 'babbar sher' of moral values," Neeraj Kumar said. The JD(U) has repeatedly asked the RJD to come clean on the allegations against Tejashwi with facts and not "display arrogance" of having 80 MLAs in the Bihar Assembly. The JD(U) has 71 MLAs and the Congress 27 while the BJP, which is the main opposition in the House, has 53. ALSO READ: Revealed: What Tejashwi Yadav told Nitish Kumar in their 45-minute meeting behind closed doors As Nitish Kumar decides on dumping Tejashwi Yadav, Lalu's son is hitting political worries for a six Will the real Nitish Kumar please stand up? On Bihar CM's penchant for keeping everyone guessing Lalu should shun his stubbornness on Tejashwi to save alliance with Nitish, warns JDU WATCH: FIR against me is political vendetta, conspiracy by Amit Shah and PM Modi: Tejashwi Yadav --- ENDS --- GENESEO Rich Stodd was more than a teacher and colleague to Alan Kiser. He was a friend. Their friendship spearheaded Mr. Kisers efforts to organize a concert to celebrate the life of Mr. Stodd, the band director with the Geneseo School District for 20 years, while also directing the Maple City Band, now directed by Mr. Kiser. Mr. Stodd died Sept. 21, 2016. The concert is at 7 p.m. Saturday at Geneseo Middle School preceded at 6 p.m. by the Geneseo Performing Arts Council. "We have approximately 90 musicians who will be on stage Saturday," Mr. Kiser said. "The largest Maple City Band I remember in the last 30 years was July 4, 2006, when we celebrated the 100th anniversary of Maple City Band and had about 75 people in the band that day. About 80 of the musicians are current or former MCB members and about 60 of the band members are Geneseo High School graduates. "We even have a couple of band members in the concert who graduated from AlWood High School, where Mr. Stodd taught prior to his coming to Geneseo," Mr. Kiser said. We have several MCB and GHS alums who are coming in from around the country for the concert, including people from Connecticut, New Jersey, Tennessee, Ohio and Oregon. "Teachers have an impact on thousands of students over the years," he said. "We want to gather as many people as possible who knew Rich, whether it was as a teacher, colleague or friend. During the concert's intermission, a Mr. Hollands Opus photo will be taken with the Stodd family, Mr. Kiser said. "The band members will be on stage, and anyone in the audience who had Mr. Stodd for a teacher is invited to stand on either side of the family. Mr. Kiser said people have inquired about making donations at the concert, noting many people donated last fall at Mr. Stodds funeral. The memorial money went to myeloma cancer research. Mr. Kiser said people can make contributions during the ice cream social to the Geneseo Performing Arts Council or to the Maple City Band. Mr. Kiser said one of the difficult chores for the concert was narrowing the list of pieces to be performed. My first short list was of all the MCB pieces I know Rich really liked, and the list had at least 30 marches, he said. I brainstormed ideas with his family and we narrowed it down to six marches and other pieces representative of Richs favorites. Mr. Stodds wife, Janet, and their three daughters will return for Saturdays concert. Mrs. Stodd will play the flute and piccolo with daughter Erin on bassoon, Katie on the French horn and singing, and Jenny announcing and singing. Mr. Stodd began teaching in Geneseo as an assistant high school band director and as a sixth grade band director in the fall of 1986, when Mr. Kiser was a freshman playing percussion. During the 2002/03 school year, Mr. Kiser returned to Geneseo to teach seventh and eighth grade band at Geneseo Middle School and was a colleague of Mr. Stodd. "When I first began playing in the MCB in 1986, there were many rehearsals and concerts where the band numbered only 25 to 30 people and hardly any high school or college age kids in the group, Mr. Kiser said. Rich recruited high school kids over the next several years and built up the MCB so we regularly had 50 to 65 people in the band at any given concert. When Mr. Stodd retired from teaching and directing MCB in 2006, Mr. Kiser became its director, inviting his predecessor to return as guest director for the annual July 4 concerts. He thoroughly enjoyed getting back on the podium, Mr. Kiser said Today is Thursday, July 20, the 201st day of 2017. There are 164 days left in the year. 1867 -- 150 years ago: Horses and wagons are for sale by Beardsley & Brothers at a fair price to all. 1892 -- 125 years ago: Mrs. Ben Cable bought the homestead of Mrs. Maria Hayes on 2nd Avenue and 13th Street for $3,827 1917 -- 100 years ago: E.V. Oritt was elected chairman of Rock Island Lodge, IOOF, with Harry Lund elected secretary and John Reid treasurer. 1942 -- 75 years ago: David Simonson of Rock Island described his duties with an ambulance service in Syria for Argus readers. 1967 -- 50 years ago: The age of nuclear power for the Quad City area is just around the corner, almost 200 public officials, civic leaders and news personnel were advised yesterday. The group toured the nuclear generating station new under construction on the Illinois bank of the Mississippi River above Cordova and heard a progress report from future operators of the station. 1992 -- 25 years ago: Bill Clinton on a Thursday night accepted the Democratic presidential nomination by urging Americans to embrace a new covenant with government to make our nation work again. Argentinean Trains is now operating a daily service, which departs from Constitucion station in Buenos Aires at 15.13, returning from Mar del Plata at 23.59. The train seats 559 passengers and serves 12 intermediate stations. Passenger services on the 450km route were suspended in 2015 following the collapse of a 100-year-old bridge across the Rio Salado near Guerrero. The original structure bridge has now been replaced by a new 250m-long reinforced concrete bridge. Work began on a project to upgrade the line in March 2016. This involved the renewal of 208km of track with 250,000 new concrete sleepers and 600,000 tonnes of ballast. The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has reinstated the environmental approval, a prerequisite for the $US 875m Transportation Infrastructure Finance Innovation Act loan allocated to the project by the Department of Transportation. The state says construction could begin within weeks of receiving a commitment to federal funding. However, with president Donald Trumps opposition to federal funding for transit construction, it is unclear whether the ruling provides a strong enough basis for the Department of Transportation to commit to releasing funds. Iraq's ambassador to India Fakhri H Al-Issa said that Iraqi authorities are trying to locate the missing Indians but so far there is no "confirmed information" on their whereabouts. By Geeta Mohan: The families of 39 missing Indians in Iraq recently met Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj with the hope of getting some information about their kin's whereabouts. In the last three years, these families have met MEA officials 12 times and in their recent meeting with Swaraj, they were briefed that the missing Indians were detained in a prison in Badush, a village in northern Iraq. advertisement In an exclusive interview to India Today, Iraq's ambassador to India Fakhri H Al-Issa said that Iraqi authorities are trying to locate the missing Indians but so far there is no "confirmed information" on their whereabouts. He said it was possible that they (missing Indians) are held captive by the ISIS and used as slave labour. HERE IS INDIA TODAY's EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH IRAQI AMBASSADOR TO INDIA: Q. Mosul has been taken back by Iraqi forces from ISIS. It is a huge win for Iraq but does it mean that Daesh/IS/ISIS is losing its grip? A. Definitely. We are going to see lesser threat when we have stability and secure borders. This will reflect on the stability of all other countries in the region. Q. What about the concerns of India on the 39 missing Indians? Any knowledge of their whereabouts? A. So far, we don't have any confirmed information about their whereabouts or what happened to them. There were two delegations from India that went there. Last one was headed by Minister of State for External Affairs (V K Singh). They have some promises and hope that they might be there but it's only hope frankly (sic). But, are they sure? I haven't heard from them and I haven't heard from Iraq also on any confirmed information. Q. There are certain reports coming in, including from the Ministry of External Affairs, saying that the 39 Indians could be in some ISIS jail. Could it be true? A. It could be. Actually, I met a soldier here in a hospital and he mentioned that they (ISIS) captured one area, liberated one area and found out about 300 Iraqis who were being used as slave labour so it is quite possible that they (missing Indians) are kept somewhere and are being used as slave labour, opening tunnels and doing odd jobs. Q. Are there any prisons that Daesh/IS are maintaining? A. I'm sure that Daesh (ISIS/IS) have prisons but don't have details of their prisons. Q. What is the kind of intelligence gathering on the missing Indians? Is there any hope for the family members who are waiting back home? advertisement A. There is hope. Sometimes no news is also good news. Let's hope they are alive and are kept hostage somewhere. Let's hope that they will come back to their homeland. Q. But right now Iraqi authorities have no information about them? A. The Iraqi authorities are doing their best to find the whereabouts of those 39. Hopefully, in the next weeks or months we will hear something. Q. Coming to the larger question of security and fighting this growing menace of extremist fundamentalism, how difficult is the fight against ISIS? A. It is not difficult to fight them. But the Daesh (ISIS) is using people as human shields which is making our task very difficult. Otherwise fighting them face-to-face is easy. But, they have no morals. Most of them have come from outside, brainwashed with ideas that have nothing to do with Islam. You pay the price but at the end we managed to capture some cities. Q. What about the evacuation programmes that are being undertaken? How safe is it to be in Iraq? A. Most of the Indians are working in the southern part of Iraq, which is quite safe and a secure area. In the north, they are in Kurdistan, Erbil which are also safe and secure areas. Safe for Indians. advertisement Q. Going back to the 39 missing Indians, what is the kind of engagement between the governments of Iraq and India? A. They are working. Intelligence agencies of both the countries are working together to find their whereabouts. Two delegations went from here to Iraq and they met high ranking security officials (there) and I am sure that they have some information. I don't have it personally. Maybe for security reasons, they don't want to reveal that information. ALSO READ: Families of missing Indians in Iraq meet Sushma Swaraj, MEA says they may be in Badush prison The black shroud in Kashmir marks presence of ISIS in Valley How ISIS lures youth with women, meat, chocolates to recruit in Kerala. An India Today exclusive ALSO WATCH: India Today penetrates Islamic State's India module, terror tapes reveal recruitment drive in Kerala --- ENDS --- Welcome to Railway Gazette. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. By continuing to browse this site you are agreeing to our use of these cookies. You can learn more about the cookies we use here. OK For Release Wednesday July 19, 2017 New report based on first ever study looking at the size and scope of the illegal arms trade on the dark web. European purchases of weapons on the dark web generate estimated revenues five times higher than the US. The dark web's potential to anonymously arm criminals and terrorists, as well as vulnerable and fixated individuals, is the most dangerous aspect. Sixty per cent of weapons on sale on the dark web are from the US, according to a new study Behind the Curtain: the illicit trade of firearms, explosives and ammunition on the dark web. The report states that Europe is the source of around 25 per cent of weapons on sale on the dark web. However, transactions of weapons sold to European customers on the dark web generate estimated revenues that are around five times higher than those sold to US customers. The study from the not-for-profit research organisation RAND Europe and Judith Aldridge, Professor of Criminology at the University of Manchester, is the first piece of research exploring the size and scope of the illicit trade of firearms, explosives and ammunition on the dark web. The study involved data collection on the dark web between 1925 September 2016, which covered 12 cryptomarkets, a type of dark web marketplace that brings together multiple sellers managed by marketplace administrators, and 167,693 listings. From these listings, 811 were identified as relevant for the purpose of the study. The dark web was found to facilitate the illegal sales of firearms, weapons, explosives and banned digital products that provide guides on home-made explosives and weapons. Findings from the study suggest that the dark web is increasing the availability of better performing, more recent firearms for the same, or lower, price, than what would be available on the street or the black market. Despite being unlikely to fuel large-scale terrorist operations and armed conflicts, the study illustrates how the dark web has the potential to become the platform of choice for individuals (e.g. lone-wolf terrorists) or small groups (e.g. gangs) to obtain weapons and ammunition. The lone-wolf terrorist attacker in the 2016 Munich shooting used weapons purchased on the dark web. Giacomo Persi Paoli, the report's lead author and a research leader at RAND Europe, says, The dark web is both an enabler for the trade of illegal weapons already on the black market and a potential source of diversion for weapons legally owned. Recent high-profile cases have shown that the threat posed by individuals or small groups obtaining weapons illegally from the dark web is real. The ability to not only arm criminals and terrorists, who can make virtually anonymous purchases, but also vulnerable and fixated individuals is perhaps the most dangerous aspect. Judith Aldridge, Professor of Criminology at the University of Manchester and a co-investigator on the research, says, In very simple terms, anyone can connect to the dark web and within minutes have access to a variety of vendors offering their products, which are most often illegal. The dark web enables illegal trade at a global level, removing some of the geographical barriers between vendors and buyers, while increasing the personal safety of both buyers and sellers through a series of anonymising features that obscure their identities. This veil of anonymity, combined with the relative ease of access, makes the dark web an attractive option for a wide range of sellers. Forty-two per cent of the 811 arms-related listings on cryptomarkets were for firearms, followed by arms-related digital products (27 per cent) and others, including ammunition (22 per cent). Pistols were the most commonly listed firearm (84 per cent), followed by rifles (10 per cent) and sub-machine guns (6 per cent). The trade in arms-related digital products poses complex challenges. These products are often guides that provide tutorials for a wide range of illegal actions, ranging from the conversion of replica/alarm guns into live weapons, to the full manufacture of home-made guns and explosives, and also include models that can be turned into fully-working firearms through 3D printing. The overall value of the arms trade based on the 12 cryptomarkets analysed in the study is estimated to be in the region of $80,000 USD per month, with firearms generating nearly 90 per cent of all these estimated revenues. Every month there could be up to 136 untraced firearms or associated products in the offline world that have been traded on the dark web. However, estimates of the arms trade on cryptomarkets, in terms of both value and volume, will include a certain percentage of fake listings or transactions. Persi Paoli says, The arms trade on the dark web is a drop in the ocean compared to the legal trade of arms worldwide. However, compared to other products traded on the dark web, the numbers are not necessarily the most appropriate indicator of how serious the issue is. A few people using illegally purchased weapons from the dark web can have severe consequences. He continues, We're unable to ascertain the extent of scamming, but know this occurs across all product categories on dark web markets, and perhaps more frequently for vendors of firearms. Despite the uncertainty, we should not dismiss or play down the threat posed by the arms trafficking phenomenon on the dark web. The illegal sales of weapons on the dark web present challenges for law enforcement agencies and national governments. These challenges largely derive from the anonymity enabled by the dark web, which makes identifying individuals and linking them to specific activities challenging. However, Persi Paoli believes that governments and law enforcement agencies can use existing measures to tackle illegal arms trafficking to limit the dark web trade. He says, The dark web offers a platform to trade firearms, but does not create completely new firearms. If properly implemented, all measures designed to tackle illegal arms trafficking in the real world may reduce the availability of illegal weapons to be traded. The only exception is the availability of 3D models for home-made 3D-printed firearms on the dark web. This new element will require further investigation as 3D printing continues to develop and grow. Persi Paoli concludes, The emergence of the dark web as an enabler for arms trafficking certainly requires appropriate responses at all levels. However, this does not mean that existing measures should be considered obsolete. - ENDS - Notes to Editors: To request an embargoed copy of the report or to arrange an interview with one of the researchers on the project please contact Jack Melling on jmelling@rand.org or 01223 353 329 x2560. The full report will be available at the following link: https://www.rand.org/randeurope/research/projects/international-arms-trade-on-the-hidden-web.html. The study was commissioned by the Economic and Social Research Council through the Partnership for Conflict, Crime & Security Research. RAND Europe is a not-for-profit research organisation whose mission is to help improve policy and decision making through research and analysis. Our work lies on the spectrum between that of universities and consultancies, combining academic rigour with a professional, impact-oriented approach. www.randeurope.org Bundt cake made by Five Star This article is one of a series of stories about Michigans agricultural economy. It is made possible with funding from the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. Starlett Simmons loved baking since childhood and was known for baking cakes and pastries from scratch for family, friends, and coworkers. The owner of Roseville-based Five Star Cake Co. Dessert Boutique & Bakery initially turned her passion into a money-making venture by baking cakes at home under Michigans Cottage Food Law. The law allows small businesses to make non-potentially hazardous foods for direct sale to customers without licensing and inspection, an exemption that allows them to get started in the food business without costly overhead. Simmons was ready to expand beyond her home kitchen, but not ready for her own facility.Food startups like Simmons can run into a common roadblock: the cost of a commercial kitchen. A small commercial kitchen equipped with the basics such as an oven, mixer, smallwares, hood and fire suppression, refrigerator, tables, and utensils could cost $50,000, and that assumes a building is already available, says David Schroeder, Executive Learning and Conference Center general manager at the at the University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross School of Business.Not one to be deterred, Simmons turned to an incubator kitchen, a shared commercial kitchen space that allows an early-stage business to gain footing before investing in its own facilities. "I used Detroit Kitchen Connect and was one of the inaugural businesses into the program," Simmons says. "Using an incubator kitchen cuts the overhead of having a building tremendously. Detroit Kitchen Connect is a program of Eastern Market Corporation . It helps entrepreneurs like Simmons find licensed commercial kitchens where they can safely and legally produce their food products by reserving time slots at a local kitchen. Some of the kitchens are unused much of the week. Opening them up to entrepreneurs makes use of the otherwise underutilized space.Simmons began baking in the very small, church basement kitchen of Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Christian Cathedral, says Aaron Egan, head chef at Eastern Market and kitchen manager for Detroit Kitchen Connect. "Even with something that small and very simple that we were able to get Starlett access to, it opens up so much." Where fulfilling a large cookie order for the Detroit Lions may have taken her all day in her home kitchen, she was able to crank it out in short order in the new space.Simmons was also able to test whether a larger-scale business was right for her. It was. "She was one of the first to move over to the main Eastern Market kitchen, which is a little more equipped because it was purpose-built.The Detroit Kitchen Connect network of incubator kitchens was piloted by Eastern Market and FoodLab Detroit. "It really was born out of this need to be a clearinghouse and have a good list of incubator kitchens available in the Detroit area," Egan says. "The demand far outstrips the supply of space and time."Its very difficult for someone to start with something small in todays global marketplace," Egan says. "The incubator projects allow people space to grow.Simmons is proud to proclaim Five Star Cake Co. Dessert Boutique & Bakery as the home of the best carrot cake in Detroit. "My concept of a dessert boutique is to offer nostalgic desserts that you can't find anywhere else or every day. I want to provide an atmosphere like grandmas kitchen," she says.While Simmons first created the taste of grandmas kitchen out of her own home, then out of Detroit Kitchen Connect incubator kitchens, she eventually outgrew all. "I have always known that I wouldn't be in an incubator kitchen long-term," she says. "It's not set up for that purpose. I worked out of the kitchen for four years.In February, Simmons was ready to graduate out of the incubator kitchens as she held the grand opening of her own dessert boutique location in Roseville. Customers purchase Five Star cakes from her Roseville shop, or in June at Eastern Market and Northwest Detroit Farmers Market."My business has absolutely changed my life and career path," Simmons says. She left the corporate world to bake. "Children grow so fast and when I worked for someone else I was missing very important milestones. I now get to mentor my daughter who is an aspiring pastry chef and also works at my bakery. I've always wanted to feel as though I was contributing to the world."Being an entrepreneur has its ups and downs," she continues, "some days are really hard, but I get gratification from knowing I'm making people happy." If Simmons reaches her next set of goals, as shes reached her goals so far, youll be seeing her carrot cakes distributed nationally, have the chance to attend baking lessons, and maybe even see her baking on national television.While one may not notice what a startup Detroit-area baker and a pair of third-generation rural Michigan farmers have in common, both are small business owners who relied on food incubator kitchens to launch their dreams.Bonnie and Dan Blackledge are crop farmers in Marion, located between Cadillac and Clare. They began growing canola in 2007, and marketed their 100-acre canola crop the traditional way having it trucked to Canada. The Blackledges wondered about adding value to their own canola by processing it themselves. But canola oil for cooking wasnt on their minds at first.They began to work on a project making biodiesel from the seeds. Thats when they took a sharp turn down their entrepreneurial path. "We found that the best use for the seed, and the best profit, was in selling the seed as a food product," Bonnie Blackledge explains. It turned out cold-pressed canola oil was the answer they were seeking. Thats when B & B Farms Canola Oil was born.The Blackledges needed a space to cold press and bottle the canola oil, so they turned to Starting Block, an incubator kitchen in Hart, near the states Lake Michigan coast. "We definitely believe it helped with our success," Blackledge says. "The staff at the kitchen walked us through the process to get licensed by MDARD (Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development) and helped us get what we needed to pass inspection. They put us in contact with a company that sold bottles, another that printed labels, and connected us with another client who made a bread-dipping spice for oil that we used in demos."Im not sure what we would have done if no incubator kitchen would have been available," Blackledge says. "Im sure we would have figured something out eventually, but I imagine we would have had a lot of trial and error and it would have taken much longer to get the business going. As it was, we were able to get our license and start selling product in a short time span."We were at the Starting Block for two years before going on our own," Blackledge says. After graduating out of the incubator in 2013, B & B Farms Canola Oil was made in a small, on-farm, licensed kitchen attached to the Blackledge home. Recently, they were able to quadruple the size of the facility by renovating an old dairy barn and turning the clean and safe former milking parlor into their cold-pressing site. Most bottles of the culinary favorite are sold at groceries and specialty stores throughout Michigan, and feature the Pure Michigan logo.The food incubator staff at Starting Block helped the Blackledges make business connections. "They fostered our relationship with the MSU Product Center which has helped us in many ways," Blackledge says.Both Simmons and Blackledge sought help from the Michigan State University Product Center , which helps budding or established businesses in food, agriculture, or natural resources to develop and commercialize products and services.Brenda Reau, Senior Associate Director of the MSU Product Center, says entrepreneurs seek help from her organization at various stages. A startup might consider whether an idea is worthy or get assistance with a business plan, while an existing business might seek help with navigating regulations, food safety, or strategic planning."We work with businesses at all levels, folks that are starting at their kitchen table all the way up to larger businesses, some very large.When businesses are new, Reau suggests they seek MSU Product Center advice early in the process. "We like to work with people who are in what we call the concept development stage because many times people have an idea, but theyre not sure is it something they can turn into a viable business or not," Reau says. "Theres a process we put them through that helps them see, is this going to be a viable business? Is this a marketable concept? Is the market already saturated?Reau suggests entrepreneurs visit the MSU Product Center web page and click on request for counseling . From there, information is reviewed and a business is matched with an innovation counselor.Michigan State University Extension educator Jerry Lindquist was one professional who worked with Bonnie and Dan Blackledge. "They explored and strategized methods to add value to their products by bottling cooking canola oil to offset the high shipping cost of transporting seed to Windsor, Ontario," he recalls. "And they survived the run-up in corn and soybean prices by continuing to grow canola while others chased those higher-priced grains. They are one of the few growers left in the state of Michigan successfully raising canola today.While Starlett Simmons sought to make Five Star Cake Co. Dessert Boutique & Bakery her full-time career, Bonnie and Dan Blackledge set out to supplement their existing farm income with B & B Farms Canola Oil. Both found help at Michigan food incubator kitchens."Weve seen a real foray into this area with the economic climate in Michigan," MSU Product Centers Reau says. "Certainly the economic climate over the last six to eight years in Michigan has propelled innovation on the part of people."Our canola oil business is something that Dan and I have been able to do together, and we have involved our family members along the way," Blackledge says. "Were not going to get rich quick, but our motivation for doing this was mostly to add value to a farm product and enjoy the satisfaction of sharing our product with our customers. Strong powers can underplay their hands and afford to make mistakes. Weak powers, on the other hand, need to exaggerate their power and be far more precise in its use. Power is like money; the less you have, the more you need to flaunt it and the fewer mistakes you can afford to make. But by trying to convince others that they have more power than they actually do, they run the risk of squandering a scarce resource. Its nearly impossible to both flaunt power and preserve it at the same time. This is the core strategic problem of Russia. On the one hand, it is still trying to find its way more than 25 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, an event President Vladimir Putin has referred to as the greatest political catastrophe of the 20th century. In the lives of nations, a quarter of a century is not very long, and the reverberations of the catastrophe are still being felt. On the other hand, Russia lives in a complex and dangerous region, and appearing weak can be the biggest threat to its well-being. Therefore, like a wealthy person coming into hard times, Russia must simultaneously try to appear more powerful than it is and meticulously manage what power it has. Russias Geographic Weakness Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia has faced two fundamental problems. The first is geographic. The second, which well return to later, is economic. Russias main geographic problem is that it needs to maintain a buffer zone to its west to stem the risk of attack from the European Peninsula. Russia has been invaded three times, once by France and twice by Germany. In each case, it survived because of strategic depth. The Baltics, Belarus and Ukraine created the buffer zone that gave Russia room to retreat and exhaust the enemy. Although the weather also played a role, distance was the main challenge for attacking armies. Even in World War I, Germany was unable to sustain the gains it won. In the Napoleonic Wars and World War II, the enemy was ground down and defeated. After World War II, Russias buffer zone expanded dramatically. A second tier of nations to the West Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Romania came under Soviet dominion. Soviet power pushed into central Germany. For the first time in its history, it had strategic depth such that an attack from the European Peninsula was unthinkable. But maintaining the force that was needed to hold this deep buffer exceeded Soviet resources. The drop in oil prices, the inherent inefficiency in the economy, and the cost of defending what it had won in World War II had become unsustainable, and the Soviet Union collapsed. It first lost the deep buffer of Eastern Europe, and two years later, it lost the critical elements of its core buffer, the Baltics and Ukraine. An argument can be made that given the situation on the European Peninsula, the threat to Russia has evaporated. But nothing in Russias history permits such complacency. In 1932, Germany was a weak and divided liberal democracy. Six years later, it was the most powerful military force in Europe. Russia understands the speed with which European (and American) intentions and capabilities can change. It must therefore continue to pursue strategic depth. When the Baltic countries were brought into NATO, the Russians were unable to respond. But Ukraine was a different matter. It had become independent but was not absorbed by the West. It was also a critical part of Russias buffer. Ukraine is vast, and the cost of crossing it from the west is high. When Western countries, particularly the U.S., appeared to support the establishment of a pro-Western government in Kiev during the 2004 Orange Revolution, Russia believed they actually intended to undermine Russian security. A Ukraine armed or controlled by the West would make Russia very difficult to defend. The U.S. claimed the Orange Revolution was about human rights, but the Russians saw that as a cover. The Russians fought back with covert operations designed to install a pro-Russian government in Kiev. The Americans responded by supporting the uprising in 2014, and the Russians saw this too as a hostile act. But Russia was in no position to do anything about it. Its intelligence services failed to understand or prevent what happened in Kiev. The Russians had to do something to demonstrate they were not impotent. So Russia formally annexed Crimea, a region that was historically Russian, and where Russian force was already overwhelming. This convinced the Americans that Russia was an aggressive power. Russia found itself in a strategic confrontation that outstripped its resources but which it could not abandon. But with Russia unable to challenge Western forces and with the U.S. uninterested in an extended conflict with Moscow, the result was a frozen conflict in Ukraine. There was an implicit agreement: Russia would accept a pro-Western government in Kiev so long as that did not include a military alliance or deployment of Western forces in Ukraine. The U.S. and Europe would accept the status quo so long as the Russians did not become aggressive. The Russians had a buffer against the West, and the West had a buffer against Russia. This achieved a solution the West could live with because Ukraine was not a fundamental interest. But for the Russians, it was only minimally acceptable. Ukraine was vital to Russian interests and this solution was only just short of a defeat. Economic Constraints Russia decided it had to act to increase its strength. But it was dealt another blow in 2014, when oil prices began to decline as a result of increased supplies and constrained demand. And this brings us back to Russias second fundamental problem: its economic weakness. Russia is dependent on an economic variable it cant control. It remains heavily reliant on oil exports but it cant dictate the price of oil. At a time when it needed to expand its military power, it was facing deep economic constraints. This was precisely the problem the Soviet Union faced in the 1980s. It had to increase its military force while its major export, energy, plunged in price. This problem was instrumental in the Soviet Unions collapse. To avoid repeating this scenario, the Russians had to decrease their defense budget rather than increase it. After the dual shocks of 2014, Russia could either acknowledge its weakness or attempt to appear more powerful than it was. But if it acknowledged its problems, Russia was afraid, reasonably so, that the U.S. could impose a more aggressive policy on Moscow. Russia was forced into the maneuver of a formerly wealthy man down on his luck. It had to appear convincingly more powerful than it was, with the attendant danger of using up resources it couldnt afford to spend. It pursued this strategy through low-cost, low-risk actions. One such action was in Syria. The intervention there served no Russian strategic interests. There was speculation that Russia was interested in pipelines or ports. But no one believed that Russias commitment to Bashar Assad was so deep that it would intervene to save him. In reality, the Russians intervened to show that they could, and to prove that they could deal with the United States and Turkey as equals. From a strategic standpoint, it made little sense. From a psychological standpoint, it made some sense. The forces it sent were limited, and while they may have prevented the fall of Assad, they are now as bogged down as the Americans, unable to win and unable to leave. But being as bogged down as the Americans was not a problem. To the contrary, it made Russia a player on a bigger stage. Russias second low-risk action was an old Soviet strategy: using its intelligence forces in a destabilization campaign. The goal of the Russian campaign was not so much to interfere in political campaigns as to be seen as interfering. The Soviets also played this game in the 1980s, supporting various radical groups in Europe. Of course, the Soviet Union collapsed anyway. Actions taken by weak nations designed to make them appear stronger than they are always fail in the long run. A countrys real power is durable, but illusions are fleeting. The Russians are delighted that they have convinced some that they control Donald Trump. Not only does this breed instability in the United States, but it gives a sense of overwhelming, if covert, Russian power. If they actually did try to control Trump, then their reputation for incompetence in such matters proceeds them, since being able to blackmail Trump had value only if it were kept secret. And the coup of the century (or several centuries) would be the biggest secret of all time. But the point was not to control Trump, but to destabilize the United States. And while it has certainly created an uproar, the fact remains that American power is intact, and so is Russian power. The balance of power has not changed. Russia has achieved what it needed to in Syria and in its destabilization campaign. It appears to be stronger than it is. But Russias fundamental problems have not been addressed. Its strategic depth has been compromised if not lost, and its economy is staggering as oil prices remain low. The Russians have no solutions to these problems so instead they are engaging in a series of very impressive bluffs. But in the end, they are merely buying time, not solving their strategic problem. The leadership of Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter and the self-professed leader of the Islamic and Arab worlds, is in the midst of radical, and perhaps contested, change. The thirty-one-year-old crown prince, Muhammad bin Salman (MbS), who is already king all but in name, could take the throne soon, perhaps within days. The Wall Street Journal has reported that a video was recorded in recent weeks in which the king says the time has come for MbS to become king. Such an announcement, according to "people familiar with the royal court," could be used upon the king's death or as a public abdication announcement. An unnamed royal court official was quoted as saying, "The king's health is excellent" But he went on: "Any country that abandons its leader in his last days for a critical health condition is a country with no dignity and prestige." Since 1964, one Saudi king has been deposed by the rest of the royal family, and another has been assassinated by a nephew, but most have died of natural causes, usually the consequence of old age. Abdication would be new, although it is allowed for in Saudi law for medical reasons. Despite the claim of the royal court official, King Salman, eighty-one this year, often appears confused and has a short attention span. He is given to repeating the same anecdote to visitors and needs a computer screen to prompt him on his talking points. When he last visited Washington, his entourage actually brought his furniture from one of his palaces to make his hotel suite feel familiar. Both senior British and U.S. officials date this deterioration to before Salman became king in 2015, noting that even then he was no longer an ultimate decisionmaker. Why Salman's condition did not stop him from becoming king probably owes to the late King Abdullah's hope that another half-brother, Muqrin, then deputy crown prince, could replace Salman as crown prince. Muqrin would have acted as a placeholder until Abdullah's son Mitab, the then and still current minister of the national guard, could take over. Such a scheme was derailed when Salman sacked Muqrin three months after he became king. The viciousness of Saudi palace intrigue is clear from reporting by the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times about the removal of Muhammad bin Nayef (MbN) from the position of crown prince in June, a move in which MbS was the driving force. MbN was separated from his bodyguards and close advisors, stripped of his cell phones, and denied access to his diabetes medication until he renounced his position and was videotaped giving the oath of allegiance to MbS. The deposed crown prince is now confined to his palace in Jeddah, guarded by men loyal to MbS. One explanation for the timing of the removal is MbN's known opposition to the current Saudi policy against Qatar, but the ostensible justification was reported to be his health. Some have speculated, here, that he is addicted to prescription painkillers and other substances. People who have met him say he displayed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, probably a consequence of a near-death incident in 2009, when a suicide bomber detonated himself a few feet away. The revelations about MbN's political demise, many apparently leaked deliberately by his supporters, have prompted speculation about the strength of opposition to MbS within the royal family. A recent cell phone video of his uncle, Prince Ahmad, the younger full brother of the king, showed a reception room with only two portraits displayed -- those of King Abdulaziz (Ibn Saud), the founder of modern Saudi Arabia, and King Salman. In a significant lapse of protocol, there was no portrait of the crown prince (MbS). The video showed that among the several princes in the room was national guard minister Prince Mitab bin Abdullah. In the immediate term, short of abdication, the king could appoint MbS as prime minister -- he is currently deputy prime minister. Also likely is that Mitab bin Abdullah could be fired, perhaps through the absorption of the national guard into the main Saudi military, currently controlled by MbS, who is also defense minister. Both would be significant steps, with the latter challenging the autonomy of the national guard, which notionally protects the royal family from a military coup but also acts as a social welfare system for the Saudi rural tribes. What is clear is that the meteoric rise of MbS continues, so far unchecked. While coping with the challenges of the war in Yemen, the crisis with Qatar, the regional rivalry with Iran, and his ambitious Vision 2030 scheme to transform the kingdom's economy, the Saudi crown prince is also breaking the mold on how the House of Saud organizes its succession procedures. The Saudi people and decisionmakers across the world are watching his progress intently. Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale Buy real estate. Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale in US and Canada. Search Real Estate "For Pakistan, no amount of money ever seemed to be enough. The economic aid it received from the United States became a drug it alternately loathed and could not live without," Raymond Davis said in his book "The Contractor". By Press Trust of India: Pakistan treats America like a "limitless ATM" and most of the US aid to the country goes to the military's kitty, a private US defence contractor who was responsible for one the worst bilateral tensions, has said. "For Pakistan, no amount of money ever seemed to be enough. The economic aid it received from the United States became a drug it alternately loathed and could not live without," Raymond Davis said in his book "The Contractor". advertisement Davis, 42, was arrested in Lahore in 2011 on charges of killing two Pakistani citizens and thus kicked off a huge diplomatic crisis between the two countries. Having a first-hand experience of how the system works in Pakistan, the CIA contractor wrote that most of the US aid ended up with the Pakistan military and not with the civilians. "As dysfunctional as the relationship between the United States and Pakistan was, it was made worse by the fact that most of the aid typically ended up in the hands of the Pakistani military, while much of its population continued to languish in poverty," Davis said. In his book, Davis writes that the real power in Pakistan lies with the military. "While Pakistan is said to be a parliamentary federal republic with a president who serves as head of state and a Prime minister who runs the government, everyone knows that the real power in that country lies with the military," he wrote. "For more than half of the sixty-four years that had passed since its birth as a nation, Pakistan had been under military rule. It devoted nearly a quarter of its budget to defence spending. As recently as 2007, Pakistan had been under martial law. That same year, President Pervez Musharraf, a former four-star general, suspended the constitution, had the leader of the opposition party arrested, and dismissed the Supreme Courts chief justice," Davis said. "In short, you did not want to cross the military in Pakistan," he said. Between 1954 and 1959, the US gave Pakistan USD 1.28 billion. "By 2011, the total amount of aid doled out by the United States had ballooned to USD 67 billion," he wrote in his book. "After 9/11, the US, using Coalition Support Funds, also reimbursed Pakistan for any money it spent combating terrorism, a policy that was somewhat flawed because, while it was supposed to encourage the Pakistani military to fight local militants, it provided little incentive for it to do the job well," Davis rued. "After all, if all the terrorists disappeared, so too would the seemingly limitless ATM that was the United States," he said in the book which gives graphic details of his arrest in Lahore and his subsequent release. advertisement "Having grown dependent upon these annual disbursements of aid from the US and with fewer than two million of its 182 million citizens paying income tax, Pakistan had become the very definition of a "rentier state," a country that receives a disproportionate amount of its revenues from external sources, kind of like the ne'er-do-well child of fabulously wealthy parents," Davis said. ALSO READ: Pakistan tests Nasr, army chief Bajwa says missile puts cold water on India's Cold Start China has buried nukes in Pakistan to attack India: Former Defence Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav ALSO WATCH: --- ENDS --- Property details: Island Links ResortHilton Head Island, South Carolina Tucked away among miles of white sugar sand beaches, Island Links Resort on Hilton Head Island welcomes you to one of America's premier leisure destinations. Priority tee times are available to resort guests at nearby gold courses. Guests can use the improved and updated Fitness Center located on the second floor of the Island Links Clubhouse. Explore the miles of island-wide bike and leisure trail pathways connect to the resort, or simply re... Price: $ 3 Seller State of Residence: Florida Property Address: One Coggins Point Road State/Province: South Carolina City: Hilton Head Island Zip/Postal Code: 29928 Number of Bedrooms: 3 Number of Bathrooms: 2 Location: 328**, Orlando, Florida You will be redirected to eBay Nearby 2 , We're sorry, this article is not currently available By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 07/20/2017 ADVERTISEMENT Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade. New show Pehredaar Piya Ki has received a lot of criticism for showing a love story of a 9-year-old boy and a 19-year-old female. By India Today Web Desk: Sony TV's Pehredaar Piya Ki has drawn a lot of criticism ever since its first promo aired that showed a child putting sindoor on the show's leading lady. But even after its pilot, the show has not managed to impress many. A 9-year-old boy stalking a 19-year-old female, and the same child 'saving' the woman from an insect; have the makers really run out of ideas? advertisement Here are 5 plot twists that we fear might make it to the show: The show's leading lady, Diya, escapes from her wedding on a dog's back We suspect this might happen. And we wouldn't be surprised if it did. After all, who would want to marry a child? Not the show's leading lady, we hope. And she will escape on a dog's back, because escaping on a horseback is, well, normal. Male protagonist falls for a baby Because the show has already shown a kid falling for a female twice her age, seeing a man develop romantic feelings for an infant wouldn't be too shocking, we are guessing. The souls of the leads get exchanged A la the Hollywood movie Freaky Friday. What if the boy's soul gets trapped inside the leading lady's body, and vice-versa? If our makers can make a child stalk a woman, then anything can happen on Indian TV. The mother-in-law turns out to be a vampire Now that would be one supernatural twist to the basic (read sick) plotline of the show. Imagine a bloodthirsty vampire who likes to feed on pretty ladies' blood. Yuck! The male and female lead of the show discover that they are in fact siblings The mother of all plot twists. A Game of Thrones inspired plot twist. After 100 episodes, the leading characters of the show discover that they are actually related by blood. Disgusting, but we are talking about Pehredaar Piya Ki here. Please don't let this happen, makers. Also read: Pehredaar Piya Ki TV review: A 9-year-old stalking a 19-year-old is not funny --- ENDS --- Speaking on mob lynchings in Parliament today, Union minister Prakash Javadekar accused Opposition of selective amnesia and said that 3,000 Sikhs were lynched in 1984. By Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu: Union minister Prakash Javadekar, while speaking on lynchings in Parliament, said that 3,000 Sikhs were lynched in 1984. The Opposition, including the Congress and the Trinamool Congress (TMC), staged a walk out following Javadekar's comments in Rajya Sabha today. Later, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also spoke in Rajya Sabha on the lynching debate and said "the issue should not be given political colour. Violence can never be partisan in nature". advertisement He said that investigations into all the incidents of lynching have been initiated and perpetrators are behind bars. "They will be prosecuted for the offences they have committed," Arun Jaitley said . Jaitley said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh have condemned incidents wherein people have taken law in their hands in the name of gau raksha. A CASE OF SELECTIVE AMNESIA? Speaking on lynchings, Javadekar said that "this is the worst crime over mankind. If there is any incident of lynching, this requires urgent condemnation and there should not be any such incident". The Union minister then went to add that "there is selective amnesia. In 1984, Sikhs were burnt alive. Three thousand Sikhs were lynched". Javadekar alleged that in 2012, 16 incidents of mob lynching were reported while 14 such incidents occurred in 2013. "There is no place for lynching in democracy. Where are the culprits of 2012, 2013... where are the perpetrators of 1984," asked Prakash Javadekar, training guns on the Congress. Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said, "It is sad that the education minister has such thoughts... This is not a matter of pride. They have selectively spoken. I have to tell you that no matter whose government was there, Congress or yours, members of the Parivar were found to be behind it". While the Opposition walked out after Javadekar's remarks, Member of Rajya Sabha K T S Tulsi, who is also a senior advocate in Supreme Court, said the government is acting like an ostrich on the issue of lynchings. "Twenty eight Indians have died in cases of lynching, and of them 24 are Muslims," the MP claimed and added that if this is not a communal crime then what is it. ALSO READ: Lynch mobs don't fear PM Narendra Modi, says Chidambaram on Jharkhand murder My son was lynched by his Muslim friends: Mother of 14-year-old cries for justice Politics of lynching, the new normal in India ALSO WATCH: Are we vigilant enough to save tenets of country? Asks President Mukherjee over lynching fever --- ENDS --- advertisement Kovind, 71, gained an overwhelming majority to beat Meira Kumar, also a Dalit candidate, who was backed by the centrist Congress party. By Reuters: Ram Nath Kovind, a Dalit politician backed by the ruling coalition, won India's presidential election on Thursday, tightening the governing alliance's hold on positions of power. Kovind, 71, gained an overwhelming majority to beat Meira Kumar, also a Dalit candidate, who was backed by the centrist Congress party. Votes from 4,896 lawmakers in state assemblies and parliament were counted in parliament to elect the constitutional head. "Kovind has secured a clear majority," said election officer Anoop Mishra. "I duly declare him as the president of India." advertisement KOVIND'S ASCENT TO THE HIGHEST PUBLIC OFFICE Kovind's ascent to the highest public office is the first for a leader reared in the powerful Hindu revivalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) or National Volunteers' Association, the ideological mentor of Hindu groups. Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself was associated early in his career with the RSS, which has long propagated a vision of India that puts the country's majority Hindus first. Kovind's victory caps a series of top appointments by Modi, strengthening the grip of the Hindu right on public offices, such as governors, state chief ministers and the heads of universities. Prior to his appointment Kovind said he was committed to upholding India's secular democratic constitution. KOVIND, A LAWYER AND FORMER GOVERNOR OF BIHAR "I respect the Indian constitution and no political interest can be above the rule enshrined in the rule book," Kovind, a lawyer and former governor of the eastern state of Bihar, told Reuters this month. India's constitution provides a largely ceremonial role for the president, with the prime minister and his cabinet colleagues holding executive power. But the president has a key role during political crises, such as when a general election is inconclusive, by deciding which party is in the best position to form a government. ALSO READ: Ram Nath Kovind elected India's 14th President, to take oath on July 25 President-elect Ram Nath Kovind: PM Narendra Modi's first reactions on Twitter All you need to know about Ram Nath Kovind, 14th President of India BJP's presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind: An ardent dog lover ALSO WATCH VIDEO: --- ENDS --- In the Silicon Valley of India, one can use the cryptocurrency to pay for food, buy bus tickets, order stuff online, and even get a haircut, Aditi Phadnis discovers. IMAGE: You can trade, hold and sell your bitcoins through Unocoin for a 1 per cent commission that the company charges when you convert bitcoins into Indian rupees. Photograph: Benoit Tessier/Reuters . There is nothing about Indiranagar, Bengaluru's middle class suburb, to suggest subversion might be brewing here. Least of all at the Suryawanshi restaurant, an open-air dhaba-type establishment, which serves authentic Maharashtrian food: misal-pav, fragrant lavender-coloured sol kadi and batata vada. You can pay using good ol' cash, credit card, mobile wallet... and also bitcoin. Suyawanshi reported its first bitcoin transaction last month. "A group of people came. They had a mutton thali, prawn sukka masala, misal-pav and some other items. The bill came to around Rs 1,700. They wanted to pay in bitcoin," said Prafesh, part owner and server at Suryawanshi. "I went to the Net and deposited it through Zebpay (a company that trades in bitcoin). The Net was a bit slow. The transaction went through the next day, quite smoothly." Though the restaurant announced nearly two years ago that it was ready to accept bitcoin, the first transaction took place in June 2017. Prafesh said he would never forget it. The Reserve Bank of India might be issuing warnings about the use of bitcoin, and scratching its head over regulation of this cryptocurrency. But in Bengaluru its use is widespread. You can buy bus tickets, a meal, order e-shopping vouchers of companies such as Amazon online, get a haircut (though for that you might have to go to Marathahalli, nearly an hour from Bengaluru, for that's where the beauty parlour and salon is) and order stuff online from nafa.in -- all using bitcoin. Unocoin is the company that operates bitcoin accounts. You can trade, hold and sell your bitcoins through this company for a 1 per cent commission that Unocoin charges when you convert bitcoins into Indian rupees. (In delicious irony, it is located on the first floor of a building that houses a branch of the State Bank of India on the ground floor). The CEO, Sathvik Vishwanath, also co-founded the company. He explained that he felt ripped off, when for every foreign currency transaction -- whether USD or GBP or euro -- intermediaries would shave off as much as 6 per cent in exchange. He used to work online for an American company and figured out that ultimately, all financial transactions over the internet, when broken down, meant only passage of information. So, if no physical money was changing hands in this vast international financial transaction, why not trade in virtual currency? "Bitcoin is the currency for the internet," Vishwanath said. "If the internet were a country, then the currency for that country would be bitcoin. It allows users to do fast and free transactions and without the need for middlemen to process the transaction. Unocoin is the trading platform for bitcoins where Indians can securely buy, sell, store, use and accept bitcoin. It has more than 200,000 users and processes more than 200 million INR every month." What about taxes -- income tax, capital gains, goods and services tax? He looked slightly shocked at the suggestion that trading in bitcoin meant his clients were doing something vaguely illegal. "We pay tax like any other company, though I am not sure how capital gains apply to us," Vishwanath said. "We follow strict KYC norms. We are just a company like any other. We follow each and every rule. Of course, if there are no regulations, it doesn't mean the transaction is illegal. After all, plying taxicabs was also unregulated. But it fulfils a felt need." Actually, bitcoin is a bit behind the times now. There are other currencies, for example, etherium, or the Linden dollar (255 linden dollars equal $1). Unocoin has had some foreign investment. Last year, it netted $1.75 million from Blume Ventures, the company that runs TaxiForSure. "This is not a very loss-making venture like Ola and Uber," said Vishwanath. It is not hard to see why. Trading without borders rarely is. But doesn't he worry about safety? What if a client's computer were hacked and someone just made off with all the bitcoins? After all, there was nothing backing the currency except, well, air and space. Vishwanath looked quizzically. "Anybody can be robbed," he said softly. "Anything can be robbed." What if there was a crash in the bitcoin market? Now he smiled wolfishly, and said, "I am a trader. I don't worry about crashes." Brick and mortar summons arrived. The network had broken down and systems were running slow. He left a number on the table. If someone had bought bitcoins worth $1,000 in January 2017, in June it was worth $2,280. Unocoin has 280,000 customers. The number is growing. India saw 4.2 million foreign tourists till May mainly thanks to visitors from Bangladesh Foreign tourist arrivals are growing at the highest pace in more than a decade, primarily due to a sharp rise in visitors from Bangladesh. Arrivals from the neighbouring nation have surged 58 per cent in the first five months of this calendar year, ensuring 16 per cent growth in foreign visitors. India saw 4.2 million foreign tourists till May, against 3.6 million in the same period last year, growth of 16.3 per cent against an increase of 8.7 per cent for the period under review in 2016, government data showed. About 861,000, or one in five, visitors to India came from Bangladesh. Last year, our country had 540,000 visitors from there in January-May. Approximately 590,000 more visitors landed in the country in the first five months over the past year, while arrivals from Bangladesh rose by 321,000. The rise of Bangladesh in the Indian travel market has been rapid. From a mere 0.5 million visitors in 2012, the number grew almost threefold to 1.37 million in 2016 and the number is poised to hit a new high this year. Most Bangladeshis visit for better medical facilities. Trade and commerce is also a contributor. Government data showed of the 134,344 medical visas issued by India in 2015, half went to Bangladesh citizens. The number of medical visas issued to Bangladeshis increased to almost 97,000 during the first half of 2016. Hospitals, especially those in the east, have registered a significant uptick in patients from across the border. Kolkata-based AMRI Hospitals, which has three facilities in the city, has seen growth of 40 per cent in patients from Bangladesh. We have seen a sharp surge in numbers. We get 1,000-1,500 patients every month from Bangladesh. They come for all kinds of treatments. We get quite a few cases of infertility, said Rupak Barua, group chief executive officer at AMRI, promoted by Emami. A large number from Bangladesh come by a bus service that connects Dhaka to Kolkata. A new bus service on the same route and a rail link between Kolkata and the western city of Khulna in Bangladesh were inaugurated earlier this year. Such moves have helped people from Bangladesh reach India quickly. Photograph: Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters She was among the key executives brought in by Sikka from SAP and was overseeing large deals Infosys chief executive officer Vishal Sikka, is finding it difficult to retain talent as the firm sees 10 key executives leaving Indias second-largest information technology (IT) firm over a couple of years. Executive vice-president Ritika Suri, who was focused on getting large deals, quit recently in a fresh setback to Sikka, who needs huge contracts to lift the company to grow faster than the industry average. This is the second big exit at Infosys after Sandeep Dadlani, who headed the crucial Americas market, which generates two-thirds of revenues for the software exporter. Sikka, who is based out of the US, has moved chief financial officer (CFO) M D Ranganath to the US. Since Sikka took charge in August 2014, Infosys has lost 10 key executives, indicating the challenge for him in retaining top level talent in an uncertain environment. Infosys and its Indian peers are struggling to grow business due to technology shifts towards digital and cloud, pressure on traditional IT services business and growing protectionism in their main markets such as the US and UK. The former SAP board member re-iterated on many occasions that cultural and technology transformation of such a big company has not been easy and has seen criticism coming in from both shareholders and co-founders over issues starting from hefty severance package to former CFO to exit of key leaders at Infosys. We do not comment on speculation related to appointments or exits of executives other than key management personnel, said an Infosys spokesperson. Suri, who earlier looked at mergers and acquisitions (M&As), was involved in acquisition of Israeli digital technology firm Panaya. The deal had raised eyebrows, including allegations that Infosys overpaid for the deal, but an independent forensic investigation by Gibson Dunn & Crutcher last month gave a clean chit to the deal. Suri, a former SAP executive who was brought in by Sikka himself in September 2014, was elevated to executive vice-president last year. Suri was given the responsibility to handle large deals from her earlier role of overseeing M&As. Last year such big exits included Gordon Muehl, head of industrial internet business; Michael Reh, head of EdgeVerve; and David Kennedy, chief legal officer. Former Infosys executives, however, say Suris resignation within a month after the clean chit by external investigation on Panaya was surprising. Even if the company and chief executive Sikka received a clean chit from US law firm Gibson Dunn & Crutcher on allegations over Panaya deal, Suris resignation within a month after the investigation report appears surprising, said a former Infosys executive. The person said he found it unusual of Infosys not releasing the entire report of investigation carried out by Gibson Dunn & Crutcher and only shared a gist of it. Photograph: Kind courtesy, Infosys Ltd He was proactive and the force behind the ongoing reforms in the urban development ministry Venkaiah Naidu might have got the Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJPs) nomination for vice-president for being a vocal supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but his performance as Union Minister for Urban Development has been impressive, according to government data and also those who worked closely with him. Jagan Shah, director of the National Institute of Urban Affairs, says that Naidu was proactive and the force behind the ongoing reforms in the ministry. Urban development is a state subject and moving states in the right direction can sometimes be a stupendous task. Naidu had the ability to work across party lines. He shared good relationships with Opposition leaders and his seniority in the Cabinet helped him push schemes, Shah says. One such scheme was the redevelopment of railway stations under the Smart Cities project, in which Naidu had played an active role by getting the railways on board, says Shah. He was very attentive and was always updated about progress of various schemes under his ministry. It would be a challenge before the new minister as the success of many flagship schemes such as the Smart City Mission, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (Amrut), Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban), and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) largely depends on the implementation of projects by states. Smart City and Amrut are under criticism as only a handful of projects under both the schemes are under the implementation stage. But critics say Naidu had laid the foundation with the help of the Prime Ministers Office and cabinet secretariat. Laying foundation is the most difficult work. Naidu ensured that the timelines of drafting rules, regulations and policies were strictly followed. It is an achievement to launch so many schemes within three years of government. The ministry created a competitive framework and states had to compete with each other to get funding, says an official in the urban development ministry. The official says some results are visible in the BJP-ruled states of Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh because of Naidus personal relations with the chief ministers. The credit rating of municipalities or urban local bodies also took place because of Naidus active involvement. This helped municipalities such as Pune to raise money through bonds. Gulam Zia, executive director at Knight Frank India, says the other biggest achievement during Naidus tenure was the passing of the much awaited Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA). Though it was in the pipeline even before the NDA came to power, Naidu didnt allow many states to dilute the provisions of the Bill. He didnt extend the timeline of implementation of RERA despite many representations from various bodies and states governments, Zia says. His departure would create a vacuum in the ministry, Zia adds. The ministry seemed to have performed better under Naidus leadership when compared to its functioning under the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. For instance, on average 150,000 houses were built every year as compared to 80,000 during the 10-year rule of the UPA. Photograph: Reuters This is not a drill. We repeat: This is not a drill! Two new Harry Potter books are on their way. And fans have clearly not lost any passion for the franchise. IMAGE: A fan enjoys a Harry Potter moment at Kings Cross Station, in London, on June 26, the 20th anniversary of the first Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. The book grew into a seven-novel series that sold 450 million copies in 29 languages and sparked a $7 billion movie franchise. Photograph: Eddie Keogh/Reuters. The 20th anniversary celebrations of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone -- the first of J K Rowling's magical seven-book series -- just got insane! British publishing house Bloomsbury has announced that it will TWO new Harry Potter books. The books will be released in October, coinciding with the opening of the British Library's Harry Potter exhibition A History of Magic. The exhibition will uncover unseen original writings and drawings from Rowling, and display rare Harry Potter manuscripts and objects from the library's collection; the books will cover content similar to the exhibition. Harry Potter: A History of Magic -- the exhibition's official book -- is a collaboration between Bloomsbury, Rowling and the British Library. It will take readers on a journey through the subjects studied at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry -- from alchemy and potions classes through to herbology and care of magical creatures. According to the British Library, the second book, Harry Potter -- A Journey Through A History of Magic, will b packed with 'unseen sketches and manuscript pages from Rowling, magical illustrations... and weird, wonderful and inspiring artefacts that have been magically released from the archives at the British Library.' It promises to be 'an irresistible romp' through the magical world of unicorns, alchemy and Hogwarts. Though neither of the books are written by Rowling, Potterheads are in a tizzy. As the 20th anniversary celebrations proved, they clearly haven't lost their passion for the franchise... IMAGE: Harry Potter tour guide Greta Clarke poses for a portrait at her home in London. Photograph: Neil Hall/Reuters. IMAGE: For Luke Williams, seen here enjoying a drink at a pub, the link to Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe is strong. His dark hair, thin nose, brown eyes and voice are a striking resemblance to Radcliffe, who first starred as Harry in The Philosopher's Stone. Plans to do a graphic design course were scrapped as Williams embarked on a 15-year career as a Potter impersonator. It has taken him around the world to parties, book launches and shows. But he longs for a different kind of attention: 'The girls still squeal when Harry Potter walks down the road ... but I'd rather be a Brad Pitt lookalike.' Photograph: Neil Hall/Reuters. IMAGE: Tracey Nicol-Lewis, 43, and her son Brenden, 15, like to dress up in matching Hogwarts uniform for trips to the supermarket in Cardiff, Wales. Her obsession with Rowling's world of wizards started when her late husband gave her one of the books, Goblet of Fire, shortly before he died. 'We kind of clung to that,' she says. She has since spent around $50,600 on all things Harry Potter, putting together a collection of 2,506 pieces of memorabilia. Photograph: Neil Hall/Reuters. IMAGE: South Wales prop maker Victoria Maclean, 37, also has a large collection of Potter memorabilia decorating her home in Cardiff, Wales. She has a wizard-themed toilet, and her mother's ashes sit in a glass jar replica of Wolfsbane Potion -- a magical substance from the Potter series that stops werewolves being dangerous. 'People are going to look at it and think I'm a complete freak,' says Maclean, who named her children Harry and Daniel after Daniel Radcliffe. Photographs: Neil Hall/Reuters IMAGE: (From left) Cosplay fans George Massingham, Abbey Forbes and Karolina Goralik travel by tube dressed in Harry Potter themed costumes, after a visit to one the literary franchise's movie filming locations in London. Dressed in a long black gown and holding a magician's wand, Massingham is keen for everyone to know he is a Harry Potter super fan. If he isn't doing Professor Severus Snape, the mysterious potions master at Hogwarts School, the 27-year-old likes to dress for work in some other costume relating to Rowlings fantastical world of witches and wizards. His colleagues are getting used to them: 'They don't react as much now as they used do. They just sort of go "oh, you're wearing that again".' Photograph: Neil Hall/Reuters. IMAGE: Potterheads bring their passion to the Harry Potter-inspired Quidditch British Cup in Rugeley, Britain. Photographs: Neil Hall/Reuters. IMAGE: Fans channel their inner Hermoine at London bookshop. Photograph: Eddie Keogh/Reuters. IMAGE: Pottermania is clearly ageless. Maria York puts on her Professor McGonagall costume at her home in Grays, Britain. Photograph: Neil Hall/Reuters. 'When war is thrust on you as in 1962 and 1965 or is tempting as in 1971, ensure that all other fronts are kept quiet, leaving your army free to deal with one,' says Shekhar Gupta. General Bipin Rawat's statement that his army is prepared for a two-and-a-half front war has drawn a fair bit of comment. The fact is, India has faced multiple and multi-layered threats since 1959 and its army has been the political leadership's go-to option. With one exception, 1962, it has delivered each time. Many questions, however, arise from this, particularly now when the second front, China, has sprung to life after decades and the language coming out of Chinese official media will embarrass panellists on our commando-comic TV channels. The first question is, almost 60 years after the two-and-a-half-front challenge first developed, how come it hasn't altered, after three full wars, break-up of Pakistan, many peace accords in the north east, end of the Cold War, and nuclear weaponisation? No other major nation has continued to have the same combination of threats for six decades. The second, is this remarkable continuity in existential military threat a result of India's diplomacy and strategic thought processes, or in spite of them? The question that follows: Does military power guide Indian diplomacy and strategy is subservient to it, or is it the other way around? The first was a Cold War phenomenon, especially for the Soviet Bloc, and it is widely acknowledged now that that ideological and intellectual battle was lost simply because the Warsaw Pact power collapsed under the weight of its armies and militarised thinking. Historian Niall Ferguson has indeed argued that the Cold War ended not because Ronald Reagan's America got the better of the Soviet Bloc, but because the latter succumbed to its Afghan (invasion) misadventure. And third, if even after 60 years and in an altered world, our enemies and enmities still remain unchanged, as do our responses, does it not imply that our political leadership has failed on this most important touchstone of national interest? Modern history also tells you no nation can successfully fight a two-front war and we aren't just talking about Hitler's Russian blunder. Diplomacy, therefore, has to have three priorities. First, avoid conflict while furthering the national interest. Two, achieve the desired resolution by the implicit leverage of military power without using it. And third, when war is thrust on you as in 1962 and 1965 or is tempting as in 1971, ensure that all other fronts are kept quiet, leaving your army free to deal with one. There were fears of a new front opening in each one of our wars, and governments used different methods to prevent that. In 1962, when India faced its first two-and-a-half front situation, Nehru reached out to the United States and Britain to lean on Pakistan to stay calm. The price for this was having to concede a high-level, serious (but insincere) negotiation with Pakistan over Kashmir (Swaran Singh-Bhutto talks, 1962-1963) with plenty of 'third party' intervention. A little foot-note needs to be added. In 1962, the fractional front in the two-and-a-half was Nagaland. As the army retreated to the plains from North-East Frontier Agency (Arunachal Pradesh), Nagaland was abandoned for the time being. A second front was successfully avoided, and the half abandoned to focus on the bigger threat. In 1965, yet again, the Lal Bahadur Shastri government was careful not to open a second front with Pakistan in the east. This, despite evident tactical superiority there, and Pakistan's logistical challenges. The Chinese were not to be given an excuse to jump in. And when they did, towards the third week of that 22-day war as it wasn't going Pakistan's way at all, it was time to accept a ceasefire. My generation heard the word 'ultimatum' for the first time when the Chinese accused the Indian Army of having 'kidnapped' four Tibetan graziers and 'stolen' 59 of their yaks and 800 sheep and threatened dire consequences if these weren't returned forthwith, along with two bits of territory. There was a lighter side to India's response too, when some younger Congressmen took a 'peace' procession to the Chinese mission in New Delhi, 800 sheep in tow, some with placards reading 'Eat me, but don't destroy the world'. More seriously, of the lands Chinese wanted 'returned', one (Jelep La) was mysteriously abandoned. Indian accounts, including by Major General Sheru Thapliyal who served thereabouts as a young officer there, confirm that nobody quite knows who decided to leave this position and why. But since it was vacated, you could make an educated guess that the Shastri government took a tough call to avoid even the whiff of a second front at all costs. This, by the way, was in the same general Sikkim area in contention just now. Our last big war, 1971, was the only one that India planned to fight in advance. And Indira Gandhi had the foresight to pre-emptively avoid the kind of Chinese threat that challenged her predecessor. Her treaty of 'peace, friendship and cooperation' with the Soviet Union guaranteed that one-enemy, one-front situation, leaving Sam Manekshaw's army to achieve all military objectives within just 13 days. It is India's historical and geographical fate that the end of the Cold War and the rise of global anger over Islamic terror have not altered its two-front situation. The China-Pakistan relationship has not only survived these changes, it has become stronger. As a rising China challenges the new world's wobbly post-Donald Trump unipolarity, Pakistan becomes a more useful ally as the China Pakistan Economic Corridor shows. India is therefore a unique nuclear weapons power facing direct threat from two nuclear, and contiguous powers. Every Indian leader has tried to address it. Rajiv Gandhi and Atal Bihari Vajpayee made a substantive outreach to China and it resulted in very useful thawing. But it hasn't moved much further since in spite of some progress under Dr Manmohan Singh. His view was that China saw no urgency in settling with India because it Pakistan was its cheap proxy to 'triangulate' India. His approach to breaking out of this triangulation was radical: Find peace with Pakistan first. He also believed that the rest of the world, particularly the US, had a strong interest in calming and changing the nature of the Pakistani polity. That's why he went out of his way to seek peace with Pakistan in spite of 26/11 and took a truly audacious leap of faith with the Sharm-el-Sheikh declaration. He was thwarted by his own party, and abandoned the project. To his credit, Narendra Modi had a robust beginning with both, Pakistan and China. Optimism flickered briefly on both sides and then disappeared. He and his strategic team have to analyse why. I would submit that the Pakistan relationship has been messed up because of the incompetence of the Jammu and Kashmir coalition, the Bharatiya Janata Party's own lack of conviction in this alliance of ideological adversaries and then the weaving of the Pakistan factor in the party's national politics. China may be partly seizing an opening to help an old ally, and partly also responding to some of the recent actions and statements it finds provocative: Increased presence of officials of the Tibetan government in exile and Taiwan in official and party functions (beginning with the swearing-in ceremony of the Modi government), a higher than usual pitch for the Dalai Lama's visit to Arunachal (with a minister present) and the odd statement like the one from Arunachal chief minister asserting he shared his borders with 'Tibet, not China'. We don't know if all these were well thought out and deliberate. But we need to reflect on the wisdom of a strategy that lights up both major fronts at the same time while a new half smoulders in Maoist-hit east-central India. IMAGE: Indian and Chinese soldiers during the India-China military exercises in Kunming, China. Photograph: Kind courtesy The Indian Army 'It is decided that Tejashwis resignation depends on the CBIs action in the coming days. If the CBI files a chargesheet against him, Tejashwi will have to take a decision. But for now, he doesnt have to resign,' an RJD leader said. In a new twist to the ongoing political crisis in Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will not seek the resignation of Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav, sources said on Wednesday. There is no threat to the ruling Mahagathbandhan of the Janata Dal-United, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress as both top leaders of the alliance -- RJD chief Lalu Yadav and JD-U president Kumar -- have agreed to end the crisis. "A day after Tejashwi Yadav met Nitish Kumar for over 40 minutes and informed him about the lodging of an FIR (first information report) by the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) against him and raids at his residence, a new formula has been prepared to end the crisis under which Tejashwi will not have to resign for now," a senior JD-U leader privy to the development said. According to sources in the JD-U, it was formulated that there is no need for Tejashwi to resign merely on the basis of an FIR being registered by the CBI against him. "It is decided that Tejashwis resignation depends on the CBIs action in the coming days. If the CBI files a chargesheet against him, Tejashwi will have to take a decision. But for now, he doesnt have to resign," an RJD leader said. Another RJD leader close to Tejashwi said Kumar was satisfied after the deputy CM met him and explained his stand. Earlier, Tejashwi had said the allegations of corruption against him are full of lies and part of a conspiracy by the Bharatiya Janata Party, its chief Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In fact, the RJD had threatened its ally JD-U, which was mounting pressure for Tejashwis resignation, that if the deputy CM was sacked or compelled to quit by Kumar, all RJD ministers will resign en masse. RJD leaders had said the party had no option but to follow Tejashwi as he was the leader of the RJD legislature party in the assembly and the political heir of Lalu. Lalu had repeatedly stated in public that Tejashwi will not resign in any case. IMAGE: Bihar deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav, right, with Health Minister Tej Pratap talking to the media after the party legislators' meeting in Patna. Photograph: PTI Photo. IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi with BJP president Amit Shah congratulates Ram Nath Kovind on being elected as the 14th President of India, in New Delhi on Thursday. Photograph: Manvender Vashist/PTI Photo President-elect Ram Nath Kovinds triumph was a foregone conclusion given the National Democratic Allainces numerical superiority over the Opposition, but his bid got a push with lawmakers from rival parties cross-voting for him in several states including poll-bound Gujarat and Mamata Banerjees West Bengal. Victory margin lowest since 1974 Kovind may have won the presidential election comfortably, but his vote share is the lowest since 1974, figures reveal. Kovind received 2930 votes with a value of 7,02,044, while his rival Meira Kumar, the joint opposition candidate, secured got 1844 votes with a value of 3,67,314. This comes to a vote share of 65.65 per cent for the President-elect. However, the victory margin is the lowest since the 1974 presidential poll. According to Election Commission data, Kovind's immediate predecessor Pranab Mukherjee (2012) secured 69.31 per cent votes while Pratibha Patil (2007) got 65.82 per cent of the total votes, marginally higher than the share secured by Kovid. K R Narayanan (1997) and A P J Abdul Kalam (2002) bagged 94.97 per cent and 89.57 per cent respectively, the highest victory percentages since 1974. Only Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy, in 1977, was elected unopposed to the top constitutional post. Gyani Zail Singh (1982) got 72.73 per cent votes, while R Venkatraman (1987) bagged 72.28 per cent. Shankar Dayal Sharma (1992) got 65.87 per cent. Besides Narayanan, only two presidents -- Rajendra Prasad (98.99 per cent) in 1957, and Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan (98.24 per cent) in 1962 -- secured over 90 per cent of the votes. In the first presidential election, Prasad bagged 83.81 votes. The lowest margin of victory for any presidential poll was during the 1969 election when then president V V Girri secured just 48 per cent of the total votes. The low percentage is often attributed to a so called 'syndicate' within the Congress. Fifteen candidates were the in the fray in this poll, the highest in any presidential election. Girri's predecessor Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed bagged 56.23 per cent votes in 1967. Bharatiya Janata Party general secretary Bhupender Yadav, Kovind's key election manager, claimed close to 116 lawmakers from rival parties, including the Congress, appeared to have voted for the NDA candidate. The 71-year-old Kovind defeated joint opposition candidate Meira Kumar, a former Lok Sabha speaker, after garnering 65.65 per cent of the votes in the electoral college. The states from where Kovind got votes from the rival camp included West Bengal, where the Bharatiya Janata Party is locked in a bitter, and often bloody, fight with the ruling Trinamool Congress. Kovind clinched the votes of 11 MLAs in the state, five more than NDAs tally of six. He also managed to secure votes of seven lawmakers in the Left-ruled Tripura, where BJP or its NDA allies do not have any MLA. These included six TMC MLAs who are likely to join the BJP. The Congress has much to worry about Gujarat where Assembly elections are due later this year, with at least eight of its MLAs appeared to have voted for the NDA's candidate. The party has 57 MLAs in the state but Meira Kumar got only 49 votes. However, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani claimed 11 MLAs from the opposition party voted in Kovind's favour in addition to the BJP's 121. In the 182-member House, the BJP has 121 MLAs, Congress 57, Nationalist Congress Party two, Janata Dal-United and the Gujarat Parivartan Party (GPP) one each. The lone JD-U MLA, Chotu Vasava, had boycotted the July 17 vote. "If statements of the NCP and GPP MLA Nalin Kotadia are true, then either 11 MLAs cross-voted for the BJP candidate or eight of our members have cross-voted," a senior Congress leader said. He was referring to the statement of the NCP state unit president Jayant Patel who today said that none of the party MLAs voted for Kovind. Kotadia, who had turned against the BJP government over the Patel quota issue, also said he had voted in favour of Kumar. "The Congress has 57 MLAs in Gujarat. However, our candidate (Kumar) got 49 votes, which indicates that at least eight MLAs have cross voted," a Congress insider said. Meanwhile, Rupani said, "We have 121 MLAs but our candidate (Kovind) received 132 votes. Eleven MLAs have voted in our favour from the opposition party. This speaks about the state of the affairs in the Congress party." He said the BJP did not make any efforts to engineer cross voting. "Votes came to us on their own," he added. Meanwhile, the Congress' Gujarat in-charge Ashok Gehlot went into a huddle with senior leaders here to identify the MLAs who voted against Kumar. Cross-voting by Congress MLAs, poll watchers said, reflected the disunity in the party which may imperil the chances of senior Congress leader and party president Sonia Gandhi's political advisor Ahmed Patel who is seeking another Rajya Sabha term from Gujarat election for which is scheduled for August 8. Clarifying that NCP MLAs had voted for Kumar, Patel said," I just had a talk with a senior Congress leader in Delhi and conveyed to him that the NCP is not involved in cross-voting. As decided ahead of the polls, both our votes went to the UPA candidate. I think the Congress needs to introspect about what went wrong". The cross-voting came in the backdrop of the tussle between Leader of Opposition Shankarsinh Vaghela and state Congress president Bharatsinh Solanki over who would lead the party in the Assembly elections. In Maharashtra, the NDA nominee got 20 votes more than the alliance's strength of 188 in the state assembly. Going by the opposition's strength in the Maharashtra assembly, Meira Kumar should have got 90 votes, but secured only 77, a jubilant state BJP chief spokesperson Madhav Bhandari said. The opposition owes an explanation to the people for the loss of these 13 votes, Bhandari said. Going by the BJP-led alliance's strength, Kovind should have got at least 185 votes - 122 of BJP and 63 of Shiv Sena -- plus votes of other alliance partners, but he got 208 votes, Bhandari said. On the other hand, Kumar should have pocketed at least 90 votes -- 83 of Congress-NCP combine, three of PWP (Peasants and Workers Party of India), one of the Communist Party of India-Marxist, two of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen and one of the Samajwadi Party, Bhandari said. But she got only 77 votes, he said. Of the 288 MLAs in the state, 287 had voted in the July 17 poll. Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Goa, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi are among other states that witnessed cross-voting in Kovinds favour. At least three of Goa's 16 Congress MLAs were also suspected to have voted for Kovind. Yes, there was cross-voting. We have called a special meeting of the Congress Legislature Party tomorrow to discuss the issue. We want to find out who have cross voted, Leader of Opposition Chandrakant Kavlekar said. In the 40-member Goa Assembly, whose current strength has been reduced to 38 due to resignation of two MLAs, the BJP has 12 members, Congress 16, Goa Forward Party and Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party three each, Independents 3, and NCP 1. Presuming that all 12 MLAs of the BJP, besides three each of its allies GFP, MGP and three independents voted for Kovind, his tally would have stood at 21. However, he clinched 25 votes. Two Aam Aadmi Party MLAs, out of the 63 who exercised their franchise in the presidential poll, indulged in cross-voting, analysis of data shared by the returning officer suggests. The figure is much less than claims made by the Delhi unit of the BJP on the day of polling, and on expected lines considering the number of rebel MLAs in the AAP. After casting his vote, sacked Delhi Minister Kapil Mishra had said: My vote went to one who is all set to become the next president. The data also shows that although a total of 67 lawmakers had cast their vote, six were declared invalid. Two AAP MLAs did not vote. The 70-member Delhi assembly currently has 69 MLAs, of which, 65 belong to the ruling AAP and four to the BJP. Among the votes deemed valid, 55 went in favour of Meira Kumar, whom the AAP supported, while six votes went in favour of Kovind. One seat is lying vacant since March when AAP legislator Ved Prakash had quit membership to join the BJP. Reacting to the instances of cross-voting, Bhupender Yadav took a dig at Meira Kumar for her appeal to the electoral college for a conscience vote. Many lawmakers of the Congress followed their conscience and voted for Kovind," he said, taking a swipe at Kumar. He claimed out of the 116 opposition lawmakers who appeared to have voted for the NDA candidate, 30-35 were MPs. There is secret voting in presidential elections and it is almost impossible to exactly identify which lawmaker cross-voted. The fourteenth President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, carries vast public, social, and political experience to the Rashtrapati Bhavan, which will help him better to discharge his duty as the First Citizen of India. President-elect Kovind was born in a Dalit family on October 1, 1945 in Paraunkh, Derapur, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. His father Maiku Lal was a farmer and mother Kalawati a housewife. He was married to Savita on May 30, 1974, and has a son Prashant Kumar and a daughter Swati. He had a humble beginning as a son of a middle-class family and knew the importance of education. He, hence, armed himself with a Bachelors Degree in Commerce and an LLB from Kanpur University. After completing his education, President-elect Kovind came to Delhi and started preparing for the civil services examination. He passed this exam on his third attempt, but he did not join as he was selected for an allied service instead of Indian Administrative Service and thus, started practising law. As an advocate, Kovind was very successful. In 1971, he was enrolled as an advocate with the Bar Council of Delhi. He was the Central Government Advocate in the Delhi high court from 1977 to 1979 and served as a Central Government standing counsel in the Supreme Court from 1980 to 1993. In 1978, he became an advocate-on-record of the Supreme Court of India. He practised in the Delhi high court and Supreme Court for about 16 years. He was also enrolled as an advocate in 1971 with the bar council of Delhi. As an advocate, he provided free legal aid to the weaker sections of society, women and the poor under the Free Legal Aid Society in New Delhi. He also served as the personal assistant of Prime Minister of India Morarji Desai in 1977-1978 and was the Central Governments advocate during Morarji Desai-led Janata Party Government. The 71-year-old has been fighting for the cause of the rights of the mariginalised communities specially Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and minorities since his student days. He served as Member of Board of Management of Dr BR Ambedkar University, Lucknow and was also the SC/ST representative at IIM-Calcutta. Before becoming a Rajya Sabha member, Kovind lived in a rented apartment in Delhis Kalibari area. Political Life Kovind formally joined the Bhartiya Janata Party in 1991 and was one of the first lot of Dalit leaders to join the saffron party. Just after he joined the BJP, the party fielded him from Ghatampur in UP, but he lost. The BJP again given him ticket from the Bhognipur assembly constituency in UP in 2007, but he lost again. He, however, twice (1994-2000 and 2000-2006) represented Uttar Pradesh in the Rajya Sabha. He was also the BJP Dalit Morcha president between 1998 and 2002. His stint in the Rajya Sabha was marked by questions on the welfare of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, including the formalisation of sanitation workers in nationalised banks and according a Cabinet rank to the chairman of the SC/ST Commission. Kovind is also a champion of spreading education. As a Rajya Sabha member, he used his funds to develop basic infrastructure for education in the rural areas by helping in construction of school buildings in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. During his stint as the Rajya Sabha MP, he travelled across the globe to Thailand, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore, Germany, Switzerland, France, the United Kingdom and the United States on study tours. He served as national spokesperson of the BJP. Known to avoid controversy, he never appeared on television when he was the party spokesperson. Since he remained far from spotlight, many leaders in Bihar didnt know much about him when he was appointed Bihar Governor on August 8, 2015. As the Governor of Bihar, Kovind constituted a judicial commission to investigate irregularities in promotion of undeserving teachers, mismanagement of funds and appointment of undeserving candidates in universities, for which he received a lot of praise and accolades from all fronts. Kovind was also a member of Parliamentary Committee on Welfare of Scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribes. Apart from this, he was also a member of various Parliamentary Committees on Home Affairs, on Petroleum and Natural Gas, on Social Justice and Empowerment, on Law and Justice. He also served as Chairman of Rajya Sabha House Committee. He also represented India in United Nations and addressed United Nations General Assembly in October, 2002. Soon after the results of the presidential elections were announced, an emotional Ram Nath Kovind recalled the days of his struggle in his village in Kanpur. Ram Nath Kovind addressing the media after the results of the presidential election was announced. By India Today Web Desk: President-elect Ram Nath Kovind today said it was an extremely emotional moment for him to be elected to the post and that he would work towards protecting the Constitution and upholding its values. Speaking to media soon after the results of the presidential elections were announced, an emotional Ram Nath Kovind recalled the days of his struggle in his village in Kanpur. advertisement Here is the full text of his acceptance speech translated in English: I would like to thank the people of this country, all political parties and all the public representatives for the trust which they have reposed in me. I also thank the Opposition candidate Meira Kumar and wish well for her future. My election to the chair adorned by great scholars such as Rajendra Prasad, Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, APJ Abdul Kalam and Pranab has instilled a sense of great responsibility in me. This is a very emotional moment on a personal level. It has been raining since morning in Delhi. This weather reminds me of my childhood days when I used to live in my ancestral village. We lived in a 'kuchha' house made of mud. The thatched roof couldn't stop the water trickles during the rainy season. I, along with my brothers and sisters, used to stand in a corner and wait for the rain to stop. There would be many such Ram Nath Kovinds who are getting drenched in the rain. Many would be working hard in farms and elsewhere to earn their livelihood in this rain. They would be shedding sweat to earn the night's meal. Today, I wish to tell them that Ram Nath Kovind of Paraunkh village is going to Rashtrapati Bhavan as their representative. I represent all those hardworking people. This is also a message to those who earn their livelihood with hard work and honesty. I neither thought I would be elected to this post, nor was this my aim. But my everlasting spirit to serve the society and my country has brought me here. This spirit is also the tradition of our country. My election to the post of president reflects the greatness of Indian democracy. It is my duty to protect the Constitution and uphold its values as the president. I pay my respects to my countrymen and assure them that I'll serve the nation in the spirit of 'Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah' (May all be happy). I once again express my gratitude to the people of the country, every political party and all people's representatives. I also thank you all. advertisement ALSO READ | Ram Nath Kovind's journey from a leaking mud-house to the palatial Rashtrapati Bhavan All you need to know about Ram Nath Kovind, 14th President of India President-elect Ram Nath Kovind: PM Narendra Modi's first reactions on Twitter Ram Nath Kovind elected India's 14th President, to take oath on July 25 ALSO WATCH | Ram Nath Kovind: My election a message to those who fulfill duties with honesty --- ENDS --- IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulates the President-elect Ram Nath Kovind, in New Delhi on Thursday. Photograph: PTI Photo Congratulatory messages poured in for President-elect Ram Nath Kovind from all across the political spectrum, with some extending their best wishes on twitter or by calling him up. President Pranab Mukherjee said in his message to Kovind: I extend to you my heartiest congratulations on your election as the 14th President of the Republic of India. I also offer my best wishes to you for a successful tenure. May you lead India to the path of democracy, stability and prosperity. Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, Congratulations to Shri Ram Nath Kovind Ji on being elected the President of India! Best wishes for a fruitful & inspiring tenure. Expressing her best wishes to Kovind, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi said the president enjoys a unique position as defender and protector of the Constitution and upholder of democratic traditions. The president of India enjoys a unique position as defender and protector of the Constitution, upholder of democratic traditions and as supreme commander of the Indian Armed Forces, she said in a statement. The president is the conscience keeper of the Constitution of India, she said conveying her best wishes to Kovind. Gandhi also reiterated the Congress party's commitment to work for upholding these cherished values and established conventions which are the intrinsic cornerstone of our Constitution. Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi also congratulated Kovind. Congratulations Ram Nath Kovindji. Wishing you a great term as President of India, he tweeted. Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah and Union ministers J P Nadda, Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Ananth Kumar, Ram Vilas Paswan and Harsh Vardhan and former Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa greeted Kovind at his temporary residence at 10 Akbar Road. M Venkaiah Naidu, who resigned as I&B and housing and urban affairs minister after he was named as the National Democratic Alliances vice presidential candidate, said Kovinds rise to the highest office of the country from humble beginnings speaks for the success of our democracy. My long association of working with Kovindji tells me that he will prove to be an ideal president, he added. From Kovinds home-state Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath congratulated him, saying the rural people are feeling proud of him and the honour of Dalits has increased after a person from their section reached the top position. He said it was a matter of pride for Uttar Pradesh that he hails from the state. Recalling his experiences with Kovind as a fellow parliamentarian and later on as his counterpart in Bihar, UP Governor Ram Naik said he was the first person from the state to occupy the topmost constitutional post. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said, I heartily congratulate Ram Nath Kovind on being elected the 14th President of India. He symbolises the aspirations of the poor and the underprivileged. I wish him a promising and successful tenure. Former Punjab Chief Minister and Akali Dal stalwart Parkash Singh Badal in his message said that the NDA nominee's victory was also a victory of rational forces who wanted to take the country forward. We would like to congratulate Shri Kovind for the manner in which he managed to take everyone along with him due to the force of his personality and self deeds," Badal and his son and former deputy chief minister, Sukhbir Singh Badal said. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, in her congratulatory message to the president-elect, said that his victory marked an important milestone in the political history of the country. She said that Kovinds election reflects the empowerment of the underprivileged, backward, minorities and other weaker sections of the society. Mehbooba hoped the tenure of Kovind would prove to be inspiring, encouraging and egalitarian. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik tweeted, Congratulate Shri Ramnath Kovind ji on being elected President of India. We look forward to work under his leadership at @RashtrapatiBhvn. Congratulating Kovind, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh said he is a leader connected with common people. He has served as advocate of high court, member of Rajya Sabha, Governor of Bihar, and has long experience of working in various sectors in his public life. Kovind has worked hard for betterment of Dalit community and underprivileged sections of society while protecting their interests, he added. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and leader of opposition Y S Jaganmohan Reddy congratulated Kovind on his election. I am very happy that the candidate I proposed has been elected the President. Hailing from a lower class, Kovind rose to the highest post of the country, Chandrababu said in a message. Best wishes to the Hon Sri Ram Nath Kovind Garu, President of India. May the Indian democracy thrive under his able leadership, the chief minister tweeted. Reddy expressed happiness over the election of Kovind as President and said with his rich experience in public life he would certainly embellish the highest constitutional post. Manipur Governor Najma Heptulla said Kovind is a good friend of her and wished him a successful and memorable term. She also expressed hope that Kovind will work for the benefit of the people and for the development of the country. Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh also congratulated Kovind on being elected the President of the country. Uttarakhand Governor K K Paul and Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat also congratulated Kovind and said the country would benefit from his long administrative and legislative experience. Describing him as a veteran, Paul in his congratulatory message to the President said he had been a Rajya Sabha member, member of various parliamentary committees and governor in the past. Kovind has had a long public life and has a deep knowledge of the law and the Constitution, Paul said. Congratulating Kovind on his election to the top office, Rawat said under his leadership and guidance the country would certainly touch new heights of development. His (Kovind's) vast political, administrative experience and the high standards of probity set by him in public life will be a source of inspiration for everyone, he said. Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, in a telephonic conversation with Kovind, congratulated him and termed the election as good news for the people of Assam and the North East along with the rest of the country. Sonowal, who was one of the proposers of Kovind as the NDA candidate, said the President-elect is well known for his strong advocacy of the rights of the weaker section of the society, social development and spread of education. Starting his journey from a farmer's family, Kovind Ji is now all set to adorn the top constitutional post of the country. His vast knowledge and understanding of the Constitution will immensely benefit the nation, Sonowal added. Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das said, I extend my wishes for his successful and fruitful tenure. Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao hoped that Kovind would be successful in continuing the federal spirit of the countrys democracy. The CM hoped that under the leadership of Kovind the country will make progress in all fields. The CM also hoped that Ram Nath Kovind will be victorious in continuing the federal spirit which is a part of Indian democracy, a release from his office said. Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu pinned high hopes from Kovind that the nation would sail to newer heights under his leadership. The chief minister also congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah on the convincing victory of NDA presidential candidate. Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Sitaram Yechury said on Twitter, Congratulations to Shri Ram Nath Kovind. Our fight for a plural, harmonious, equitable and just India continues. CPI national secretary D Raja said Kovind should now act as a custodian of the Constitution. He observed the race to Raisina Hill was a very dignified one, notwithstanding the different political and ideological lines followed by the NDA and the opposition. Right to privacy cannot be an absolute right and the state may have some power to put reasonable restriction, the Supreme Court said on Wednesday while examining the issue whether it can be declared as a fundamental right under the Constitution. A nine-judge Constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar, also asked the Centre and others to assist it about the 'contours' and ambit of test on which the width and scope of right to privacy and its infringement, if any, by the state would be tested. The bench then referred to the apex court judgment, criminalising gay sex and said if right to privacy was construed in its widest sense, then the verdict in the Naz Foundation case 'would become vulnerable'. The NGO, Naz Foundation, has been fighting a legal battle for decriminalising consensual unnatural sex including lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders. During the day-long hearing, the bench, also comprising Justices J Chelameswar, S A Bobde, R K Agrawal, Rohinton Fali Nariman, Abhay Manohar Sapre, D Y Chandrachud, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and S Abdul Nazeer, said, "Right to privacy is an amorphous right and not absolute. It is only a small sub-sect of liberty." It then gave illustrations including that giving birth to offsprings might fall under right to privacy and the parents could not say that the government did not have the power to direct sending every child to schools. It also referred to issue of data protection and said that its ambit was 'much wider' than right to privacy and 'cataloguing the contents of privacy' has the danger of limiting the right itself. "We live in an age of big data and the state is entitled to regulate the data whether it is for the purpose of regulating crime, taxation or other activities... Right to privacy cannot be so absolute that it prevents the state from legislating or regulating it," the bench said. If a bank has sought personal details for disbursing loans then it could not be said to be an infringement of right to privacy, it said, adding that the issues like one's sexual orientation and the bedroom details were covered under right to privacy. Senior advocate Gopal Subramanium, appearing for one of the petitioners, initiated the arguments and said right to privacy was an 'inalienable' and 'inherent' to the most important fundamental right which the right to liberty. He said the right to liberty, which also included right to privacy, was a pre-existing 'natural right' which the Constitution acknowledged and guaranteed to the citizens in case of infringements by the state. "Liberty is the fundamental value of our Constitution. Life and liberty are natural existing rights which our Constitution acknowledges and guarantees. How can liberty be at all experienced without privacy?," he asked. Subramanium, at the outset, referred to apex court verdicts to highlight the process of interpretation of fundamental rights by it and assailed the two judgments delivered in M P Sharma and Kharak Singh cases by an eight-judge and six judge benches in 1954 and 1963 respectively in which it was held that right to privacy was not a fundamental right. The issue of right to privacy as a fundamental right was deliberated upon by the court in the two cases. "It is submitted that the decision in the 1954 and 1963 cases, to the extent they interpret fundamental rights on a distinctive basis (as recognised in the A K Gopalan case of 1950) are no longer good law. "In view of the fact that the A K Gopalan case stands overruled in the R C Cooper case (of 1970), it follows a fortiori (from a stronger argument) that neither of the above decisions are effective." He assailed the M P Sharma verdict which had held that right to privacy was not a fundamental right, saying that the M P Sharma case was not 'an authority for the proposition that there is no fundamental right to privacy in the Constitution'. He argued that right to privacy is inherent to the right to liberty and the Constitution 'mediates' between the citizens and the State and the concept of privacy is 'embedded in liberty as well as honour of a person'. He then referred to the Preamble and Article 14 (equality before law), 19 (freedom of speech and expression) and 21 (protection of life and liberty) of the Constitution to contend that right to privacy was intrinsic to these 'inalienable' fundamental rights also. The counsel assailed the contention of Attorney General K K Venugopal that right to privacy was a 'common law right' and not the fundamental one and said it 'went much beyond the common law' as it was inherently attached to the basic rights of life and liberty. "Right to privacy invariably means the inviolability of the person. The expression 'person' includes the body as well as the inviolate personality and the privacy really is intended to indicate the realm of inviolable sanctuary that most of us sense in our beings. "It refers to spatial sanctity, freedom in decisional autonomy, informational privacy as well as the ability to freely develop one's personality and exercise discretion and judgement," he said. Former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee, appearing in support of privacy right, went much beyond and said even if the Constitution did not 'explicitly' provide this right, it could be deduced as had been done in the case of freedom of press. He referred to Article 19 and said it dealt with the freedom of speech and expression and the apex court deduced the media right from it. Another senior advocate Shyam Divan also said privacy right was a fundamental right according to the 'golden triangle' rule that comprised Article 14, 19 and 21. "As recognised by an unbroken line of decisions of this court since 1975, right to privacy is protected under Part III of the Constitution. This court has recognised several unenumerated rights as facets of Article 21. "Similarly, right to privacy has also been recognised as flowing from Article 21," he said. He said that right to privacy extends to several aspects, including body integrity, personal autonomy, right to be left alone, informational self-determination and protection from state surveillance. The bench, at one point, stopped Divan from raising issues relating to Aadhaar that that government could not force citizens to give biometric details and asked him to focus on the privacy issue alone. When the bench asked whether privacy right could be absolute and the government could put some restriction or not, he said that the aspect of privacy might be determined on a case-to-case basis. "In a technologically dynamic society it is imperative to keep dimensions of right to privacy flexible to adapt and adjust with the new scenarios," he said, adding many of the fundamental rights 'cannot be enjoyed to the fullest in the absence of right to privacy'. He further referred to the fact that India is a signatory to the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and now to say that right to privacy is a common law right only will be a 'regressive' step. He said the recognition of 'fundamental right to privacy' is consistent with international norms and has been recognised internationally as a human right and is protected in almost all liberal democracies. Another senior advocate Arvind Dutta also submitted that right to privacy should be treated as a fundamental right. The argument will continue tomorrow and that attorney general is likely to put the government's view across. Conscious that he will have to rely on the bureaucracy to deliver, Adityanath is changing the faces and rejiging the administration. Virendra Singh Rawat reports. Yogi Adityanath made no move to carry out a major reshuffle of key administrative and police posts immediately after taking charge as Uttar Pradesh chief minister. This was unusual. The state bureaucracy has got used to being moved around after an election and regime change. Uttar Pradesh has a sanctioned strength of more than 600 Indian Administrative Service officers. The previous government headed by Akhilesh Yadav had transferred more than 1,000 senior administrative and police officials within a month of taking oath on March 15, 2012, and had shunted out bureaucrats considered close to his predecessor, Mayawati. On her part, Mayawati shifted more than 200 senior IAS and Indian Police Service officers three to four days after assuming charge as UP CM on May 13, 2007. She inducted her confidantes into key posts for tighter administrative control. Adityanath's first message to bureaucrats was that officials unable to put in long working hours in the new dispensation could pack up and leave. In his first 30 days in office, the new CM transferred only about 60 IAS officers, none in the top echelons. The first set of transfers took place on April 12, when the government shifted 20 IAS officers, including those heading the cash-rich Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad Development Authority in the National Capital Region. Those removed and put on waiting list included Rama Raman and Navneet Sehgal, both of whom were considered close to the Akhilesh Yadav regime and had been tasked with the completion of flagship projects of the Samajwadi Party government. Anita Singh, once Mulayam Singh Yadav's principal secretary, and for five years, the occupant of a room on the hallowed 'pancham tal' (fifth floor, the CM's office in the secretariat) and acknowledged as one of UP's most powerful officers, was also put on compulsory wait. In the second round of major transfers on April 18, the new dispensation shunted 41 IAS officers, including seven divisional commissioners and as many district magistrates. On June 29, when the CM completed 100 days in office against the backdrop of several incidents relating to maintenance of law and order, he undertook a comprehensive bureaucratic reshuffle, which included posting senior IAS officer Rajive Kumar as the new chief secretary. Kumar was earlier repatriated to his home cadre of UP from his central deputation at Adityanath's instance. He was given the extra charge of chief resident commissioner of UP at New Delhi. A 1981 batch officer of the UP cadre, Kumar last served as Union shipping secretary before his premature repatriation to UP. In bureaucratic circles, he is known as an upright bureaucrat and a stickler for rules and norms. In all, the Bharatiya Janata Party government shifted 44 IAS officers. Sehgal, who was principal secretary, information, besides holding several key posts during the Akhilesh Yadav regime, has now been posted as principal secretary, khadi and gramodyog after being kept waiting for two months. Sehgal is acknowledged for his networking and delivery skills, which got him key posts during the Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav regimes. The change of guard in the state bureaucracy tells you about the new government's priorities and the key projects it wants to take up. Kumar took charge at a time when the Yogi government was preparing for its maiden Budget session apart from smoothening the transition to the goods and services tax system. The government is also struggling to meet the promises it made before the elections. The most important of these is the announcement that agricultural loans, subject to a cap, would be waived. It will now be the responsibility of UP bureaucrats to fund this ambitious programme, especially as the central government has made it clear it would provide no funds for this project. Although 100 days of the Yogi government are over, its achievements are nothing to write home about -- a few administrative decisions pertaining to the formation of the anti-Romeo squad or closure of illegal slaughterhouses. This period has essentially been spent taking stock of the situation on the ground and tweaking the previous government's flagships projects. But now, conscious that he will have to rely on the bureaucracy to deliver, Adityanath is changing the faces and rejiging the administration. Whether this alone will be enough, only time will tell. 'After shots were fired from the front, I ducked and shifted my position instinctively.' 'I had heard from other drivers that when stones are pelted at a bus the first target is the driver.' Rediff'com's Prasanna D Zore speaks to Shaikh Salim Gafur, the driver of the bus, whose presence of mind saved many lives on the night of July 10. Photographs and video: Hitesh Harisinghani/Rediff.com IMAGE: Shaikh Salim Gafur at his home with his daughter Amreen, wife Sanjidaben, sons Danish and Ayan, and mother Raziaben. Shaikh Salim Gafur drove bus GJ09Z 9976 through a hail of bullets around 8.20 pm, July 10, when four terrorists -- we spoke to five eyewitnesses, but none could confirm this number given the panic when the firing began -- killed seven people. There were 56 travelers from Gujarat and Maharashtra on the bus, on their way to Katra from Srinagar. They had completed the Amarnath Yatra on July 8, proceeded to Srinagar the next day, and spent July 9 night there. Had Salim not sped past the terrorists that night, the death toll may have been much, much, higher. "The terrorists fired two rounds from the front. The windshield cracked and I could not see who was firing at us. As I sped past, the firing continued from my right," Salim recalls. IMAGE: Tour manager Yogesh Prajapati shows us the passes issued at the Jammu army camp for Laxmiben Patel, who died in the attack, and Laliben Patel, who survived, as proof that had the bus's registration, had problems the Patels and other passengers would not have secured these passes to proceed to Amarnath from Baltal. "Yogeshbhai (Prajapati, the tour manager) and Harshbhai (Desai, the son of the owner of Om Travels that organised this 20-day trip; when Salim ducked for safety three bullets hit Harsh: Two bullets brushed past his nose and one was lodged in his shoulder. He was recovering from an operation on July 13 when we visited him at the Kasturba hospital, Valsad) yelled out aloud to accelerate and I did." "I don't remember what I was doing, but I hit the pedal hard instinctively," Salim told us at his home in Valsad's Police Headquarters area amid congratulatory calls from people who knew him, total strangers, and relatives of those who escaped unhurt that fateful night. "I did what anybody in my place would have done," says Salim, who will reportedly be nominated for a National Bravery Award by Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani. "I thank the Almighty to have given me that courage that night to duck quickly and increase the speed," says Salim who turned 37 on June 1. IMAGE: Bus cleaner Mukesh Patel says he kicked a terrorist who was trying to enter the bus and closed the door after Harsh Desai asked him to close the door. Salim says he too asked Mukesh to close the door, but tour manager Yogesh Prajapati refutes Mukesh's claim that a terrorist was trying to enter the bus. What happened after the Amarnath Yatra? After doing the Amarnath cave darshan on July 8 we stayed the night there. When we left Baltal on July 9 it was already 11 am. From Baltal we reached Srinagar around 4 pm. The passengers insisted they wanted to halt at Srinagar and go for sightseeing. The tour operator then called a mini bus and the passengers went to see Srinagar. The next day too people went out and came back only around 3 pm. We thought if we started around 4 pm, then by 7 pm we would cross the Jawahar Tunnel and then there would be no tension. The route till the tunnel is considered unsafe. IMAGE: Salim's phone kept ringing with congratulatory messages pouring in from across the country. What happened after the terrorists attacked? I kept speeding the vehicle. I was asked to keep driving the vehicle. So I kept driving the bus till I reached the nearest army camp. I asked the cleaner to close the door. As I kept driving, I could hear the passengers cry out loud to stop the bus. They were crying too, but I was sure I had to stop only when we reached the nearest army camp. Were the terrorists wearing police uniforms? It was so dark nobody knew what was happening or from where the terrorists fired at the bus. At first, the spray of bullets sounded like fire crackers. Two rounds were fired on the front window. Since the windshield cracked I could hardly see who was in front of the bus. I did not see anybody, but a few passengers said there were four terrorists firing from my right side. I knew it was a straight road and the bus's lights were powerful enough for me to get some sense of the road ahead. Then they fired from my right side and as I ducked three bullets hit Harshbhai and one hit the bus cleaner. Had I not ducked, I'd have been hit too. Unfortunately, Harshbhai was hit because I ducked. When the conductor (bus cleaner) told me that somebody was running with the bus and trying to enter the bus through the door, I stepped on the accelerator. IMAGE: From left: Salim's mother Raziaben, his wife Sanjidaben, Ayan, Salim, Amreen and Danish. The scene after the bus reached the army camp... I could see blood at the rear of the bus. People were crying for help when the army entered the bus to help the passengers. I helped the wounded passengers. My clothes were drenched in blood. The army men took out those who were dead. While the soldiers were evacuating people from the bus I saw 6, 7 army vehicles heading towards the spot in search of the terrorists. I was told by one officer that a military vehicle which came along the same path a few minutes after we were attacked was also fired upon near that spot. After we alighted from the bus nobody knew who was where. People had no idea who was alive or dead. Those who needed emergency medical attention were immediately shifted to Srinagar. Those who suffered minor injuries were given basic medical aid and those who were not hit were asked to stay in the army camp. Before the attack... We were enjoying ourselves, but after what happened I am unable to believe that this has happened to people in my bus. It is natural that the driver and passengers share a nice bond with each other. Since I knew most of the places we visited before we were attacked, the passengers would often ask me about those places. Meeting the family... On July 11, my family was waiting for me at home when we returned to Surat at 10 am. From Surat I reached Valsad at 4 pm. I could meet my family only at 1 am (July 12) because so many people had come to meet me. I had already informed my family on the night of the attack not to watch TV and that I was safe. I asked them not to get scared after seeing the news. I told them our bus was attacked and only a few windows and the windshield was broken. I called up my brothers using the phone of an army personnel and asked them to inform my parents that nothing had happened to me. On being a national hero... There is already a lot of brotherhood between Hindus and Muslims in Gujarat. Maybe, after this incident, because of what I did, the bond between the two communities will strengthen further. I am fortunate to be alive today because we were going back after doing the darshan. IMAGE: Harsh Desai, who was sitting to Salim's left, was hit by three bullets. One grazed past his nose, the other one grazed past his stomach and the third one lodged itself in his left shoulder. How was Harsh Desai hit? Harshbhai was sitting to my left on the gearbox. After shots were fired from the front, I ducked and shifted my position instinctively. I had heard from other drivers that when stones are pelted at a bus the first target is the driver. While I did not know when the firing started and that bullets were being fired at the bus, my first instinct was to duck for safety. As I shifted and ducked, the bullets hit Harshbhai. Had I not ducked, I too would have been hit. We were driving at 50 to 60 km/hr when the firing started. After that I stepped on the accelerator and increased the speed of the bus. Some people shouted to increase the speed while others whose neighbours were hit shouted to stop the bus. About the controversy around bus registration... If that were the case, the army would have never allowed us to halt at the Jammu camp. Two buses from Gujarat were asked to leave because they were not registered. When the pilgrims reach Jammu camp all of them are sent for a medical check up to test their endurance levels at high altitudes and to find out if they can handle the stress of travelling at heights and in cold weather and if they suffer from breathlessness. This is done at a government hospital. Once the tests are done hospital staff sign on a form which has the name, age and photograph of the pilgrim. Once this is done the pilgrims have to go to either the Jammu and Kashmir Bank or the Punjab National Bank where darshan dates are allotted. Once these formalities are completed, the pilgrims have to come back to the Jammu camp. The army personnel check the vehicle for security purposes. Then they stick a yellow 'security checked' sticker on the bus in a way that it is clearly visible. Then they put either a 'B' or a 'P' sticker depending on what you told the bank that one will be taking the journey via Baltal or Pahalgam. After this, a sticker with the name and phone number of the military officer that accompanies the pilgrims is put on the bus. His vehicle in the lead is followed by five or six army vehicles, which is then followed by the convoy of buses with pilgrims. En route, the army keeps checking if the vehicles are following the time table that they are advised to follow. If you check our bus today you will see all the necessary documents and stickers that are required for the journey to Amarnath. Seventy-seven years ago, 338,000 British soldiers were rescued from the beaches of Dunkirk in France, a stunning great escape which helped Britain avoid defeat in World War II. On July 21, 2017, this heroic evacuation will come alive on the big screen in Dunkirk, directed by Christopher Nolan, famous for movies like The Dark Knight trilogy, Insomnia, Prestige and Interstellar. As film critics hail Nolan's 'masterpiece', a look at that incredible rescue in the summer of '40. In early World War II, Adolf Hitler's war machine had roared through France, pinning about 400,000 British troops on the beaches at Dunkirk, France, by the English Channel. The British Expeditionary Force, trapped by the sea near Dunkirk, were quickly encircled on all sides. Reluctant to retreat, the BEF launched a desperate counterattack on May 21. But Field Marshal Walther von Brauchitsch, the German army's commander-in-chief, was poised to take Dunkirk, the last port available for the withdrawal of British soldiers from Europe. Photograph: Fox Photos/Getty Images A street in Dunkirk under heavy bombardment during the German attempt to take the town before the evacuation. A column of British soldiers march through the exploding shells. Photograph: Keystone/Getty Images The Germans attacked the beach through the air leaving no hiding cover for the British troops. Photograph: Central Press/Getty Images On May 26, the British began Operation Dynamo -- the evacuation of its soldiers from Dunkirk. As there were not enough ships to transport the huge masses of men stranded on and near the beaches, the British Admiralty called on all British citizens in possession of sea-worthy vessels to lend their boats and ships to the effort. Tamzine, a 14-foot open-topped fishing boat, was the smallest boat that took part in the rescue. Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty Images Thousands of soldiers lined up to be evacuated from Dunkirk. Of the 250,000 British troops stranded at Dunkirk, 30,000 were lost in the heroic rescue. Photograph: Fox Photos/Getty Images Once the ships arrived to take part in the rescue, soldiers had to struggle through the sea because the ships could not get close to the Dunkirk beach, leaving them vulnerable to enemy fire and drowning. Photograph: Bert Hardy/Keystone/Getty Images Soldiers had to wait in the water for hours because of the shortage of boats. Remember, there were only 993 boats to rescue the troops. Once the boats arrived, the soldiers clung to ladders and tried to make their way to safety. Photograph: Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images Some were amazed at the patience of the troops. Signaller Alfred Baldwin recalled: 'You had the impression of people waiting for a bus.' 'There was no pushing or shoving.' Photograph: Keystone/Getty Images By June 4, 1940, the operation had ended with the rescue of more than 338,000 soldiers. When word of Operation Dynamo's success reached him, Prime Minister Winston Churchill rose in the House of Commons and delivered one of his finest speeches (external link). 'Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule,' Churchill told the British Parliament, 'we shall not flag or fail.' 'We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender...' Photograph: Keystone/Getty Images A soldier, returning from Dunkirk, is greeted by a relieved girlfriend. Photograph: Topical Press/Getty Images 'When Sanjay died, Indira was consumed by frantic, helpless grief.' 'She became very fragile, very bitter,' recalled Maneka Gandhi. 'She was never normal again.' 'She was never Indira Gandhi again.' In all the highs and lows that India's most powerful, and only woman, prime minister faced in her life, her younger son Sanjay's death was the most soul-destroying. He was her prodigal child, the one she had moulded to carry on her legacy, which she herself had fought bitter battles to carve and strengthen. This must-read excerpt from Sagarika Ghose's fascinating Indira: India's Most Powerful Prime Minister reveals the depth of Indira Gandhi's loss when Sanjay died in a horrific plane crash on June 23, 1980. IMAGE: 'No one can take Sanjay's place, he was my son, but like an elder brother in his support... Rajiv lacks Sanjay's dynamism and his concerns,' Indira Gandhi told Pupul Jaykar. Five months after Indira Gandhi's 1980 election victory, Sanjay Gandhi was killed in a plane crash. Indira was devastated. From this time on, she seemed to lose her sharp instincts and tough resolve. The last years of her prime ministership were marked by violent conflict in many parts of the country. She gave orders for Operation Blue Star, the storming of the Golden Temple in Amritsar by the army to flush out the pro-Khalistan terrorists hidden there. It was a decision that led to her assassination on October 31, 1984. IMAGE: Sanjay Gandhi flies a glider during the Delhi Glider Club's anniversary in March 1980. The joy of the 1980 victory was short-lived. On the morning of June 23, 1980, five months after Indira Gandhi had been sworn in as prime minister, Sanjay Gandhi took his new Pitts S-2A plane for a joyride, lost control while doing aerobatics and crashed. Both he and the flying instructor, Captain Subhash Saxena -- who had initially refused to go with him, knowing Sanjay's inexperience at flying this particular plane -- were instantly and gruesomely killed. Indira had repeatedly warned Sanjay against aerobatics on the Pitts S-2A. "The evening before he died, we went for a ride on the same plane," recalled Maneka Gandhi. "It was the first time he was going in it." "In the plane I screamed and screamed for I think two hours and, when we came down, I ran home and told my mother-in-law: 'Ma, I need you to tell Sanjay not to fly this plane. He can fly any plane he wants, but not this one'." "My mother-in-law said to him in front of me (Dhirendra Brahmachari was also there), 'Maneka's never been so strong about something. If she's saying na jao (don't go), toh na jao tum (then don't go)'." "She said, 'I'm afraid I have to put my foot down'." "Then (Indira Gandhi's personal secretary and confidante, R K) Dhawan came in and started saying, 'Arre yeh toh mardon ka jahaz hai. Manekaji aise bol rahi hai kyonki woh aurat hain. (This is a man's plane. Manekaji is saying this because she's a woman)'." "My mother-in-law asked, 'Sanjay, is it safe?'" "And I said, 'No, it isn't; it's a horrible plane'." "Then Sanjay said, 'Do teen din mein theek ho jayega (It'll be fine in two or three days), she'll get used to it'." "The next morning, he was dead." IMAGE: Investigators examine the wreckage of Sanjay Gandhi's Pitts S-2A plane. He had taken it for a joyride and lost control while doing aerobatics. Sanjay lost his life in the ensuing crash. It was a massive, wrenching loss for his mother. One of the enduring images of Sanjay's death is of Indira visiting the site of the plane wreckage not once but twice on June 23, inspecting bits of debris as if looking for remnants of her son and trying to relive his last moments. Unkind comments were made that she was looking to find keys to a safe deposit box or vault containing his wealth, but instead it was Indira reverting to a primeval way of dealing with sudden and violent bereavement, returning to the site of death as if still searching for the disappeared loved one. 'Doctor, hamara dahina haath kat gaya (My right hand has been cut off),' she confided to Dr Mathur (Dr Krishna Prasad Mathur was Indira Gandhi's personal physician). In 1980, Sanjay was at the very centre of Indira's political roadmap, the main organisation man to whom Youth Congress cadres had remained tenaciously loyal even as the stalwarts fell away from Indira. With none of the heavyweights by her side, it was Sanjay who had become the party's supremo-in-waiting, the kurta-clad karta of the new Congress family, by now the newly appointed general secretary of the Congress. Sanjay's activities during the Emergency had cost his mother an election, but, three years later, it was his organisational power and strategising that had brought her victory, or so she believed. About 150 of the 353 Congress winning candidates in 1980 were Sanjay's recruits, impatient young bucks fiercely loyal to Sanjay, who scorned the old-fashioned niceties of their Congress seniors. IMAGE: Indira Gandhi shares a moment with Sanjay. Motilal (Indira's grandfather), Feroze (Indira's husband) and Sanjay were the alpha males in Indira's life. Brought up by a refined and intellectual father, Indira was paradoxically drawn towards darker versions of men -- aggressive, dynamic men on the make who perhaps satisfied her own latent adventurous, defiant side. Perhaps hers was a subconscious revolt against the high bar set by Nehru, or perhaps insecure about wielding power without too much political conviction, she turned towards brash, power-wielding men rather than towards philosopher-idealists like her father with whom she had never been able to communicate easily and who might disapprove of her methods. Sanjay, in a way, was the last link with Feroze Gandhi and with Motilal Nehru; he was the last of the dominating men in her life to whom she warmed more intimately than she did with her cerebral father or the gentle Rajiv (her elder son). If Jawaharlal was the saint-hero, these men were the anti-Jawaharlal, the opposite of saintly. She did not recognise that none of them could match Nehru's moral strength, telling Jayakar (Pupul Jayakar, a close friend of the Nehru-Gandhi family, wrote Indira Gandhi: An Intimate Biography, published in 1992), 'No one can take Sanjay's place, he was my son but like an elder brother in his support... Rajiv lacks Sanjay's dynamism and his concerns.' IMAGE: Indira Gandhi with Sanjay's body. She visited the site of the wreckage twice, inspecting the debris as if looking for bits of her son. Photograph: The India Today Group/Getty Images/Kind courtesy Juggernaut Nehru died at the age of 74, a reigning prince almost to the end, for whom the cup of life had spilled over. When Sanjay died, short of his 34th birthday, Indira was consumed by frantic, helpless grief. "She became very fragile, very bitter," recalled Maneka Gandhi. "She was never normal again. She was never Indira Gandhi again." DO READ: A two-part interview with author Sagarika Ghose With his death, she also confronted the loss of her family's political future. Over the years, Sanjay had grown from spoiled younger son to arrogant youth to dark prince of the Emergency, but, by the end, he was a politician of guile and stealth, with the gift of outsmarting opponents and planning patient strategy. In crafting his mother's comeback, he had not stood on ego and shrewdly let bygones be bygones in reaching out to once-sworn enemies. He had built the Youth Congress into a loyal fighting force. In 1980, not only had Sanjay himself won from Amethi by a huge margin, but many of his Youth Congress loyalists had also won. They were 'innocent of parliamentary proprieties, unencumbered by ideology or idealism', but not averse to using their lung and muscle power to demonstrate their strength. This 'shouting brigade' of youthful folk now took over Parliament, insisting that the House function only on Sanjay's terms. Indira looked silently on, gazing at the new generation with awe. IMAGE: Indira Gandhi had groomed Sanjay to be her heir. After his death, her elder son Rajiv took her legacy forward. The Sanjay style had begun to place its imprimatur on the government: Independent-minded bureaucrats were summarily removed, humiliated and kept waiting for months for alternative postings, politicians suspected of being 'disloyal' were sidelined, and ministers and civil servants jostled with one another to carry out Sanjay's orders. Already, all state governments under Janata Party rule had been dismissed and President's Rule had been imposed. These competitive cycles of dismissals of state governments by Indira, then the Janata and then again by Indira severely undermined federalism and regional politicians for more than a decade. The worst fallout of this would take place in Punjab where, after being dismissed, the Akalis were unable to return to power. Sikh rage would spiral into a deadly flame that would claim Indira's life. Excerpted from Indira: India's Most Powerful Prime Minister by Sagarika Ghose, with the kind permission of the publishers, Juggernaut. The book is available in bookstores and on Juggernaut. A state-wise breakup of results show how polling was marked by cross-voting in various states where many Opposition members defied their high command's diktat and favoured Kovind. By Nikhil Agarwal: With the backing of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Ram Nath Kovind's victory was imminent but cross-voting in the presidential election result has made alarm bells ringing for many Opposition parties. A state-wise breakup of results show how polling was marked by cross-voting in various states where many Opposition members defied their high command's diktat and favoured Kovind. advertisement Gujarat had 13 Opposition MLAs who voted for Kovind, Karnataka had 12, Uttar Pradesh had 8, Tripura had 7, Telangana and Madhya Pradesh had 6 each. In Maharashtra, Meira Kumar should have got 91 votes - 42 from Congress, 41 from NCP, 2 AIMIM, 3 PWP, 1 CPI-M, 1 BRP, 1 SP. However, the former Lok Sabha speaker, picked by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, got only 77 votes in her favour. In West Bengal, there is a mystery over 5 votes. President-elect Ram Nath Kovind received votes of 11 MLAs but the NDA alliance has only 6 votes - 3 from BJP and another 3 from Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM). Kovind got a bonus of 5 votes in West Bengal which was 294 MLAs. Trinamool Congress, which was supporting the Opposition candidate Meira Kumar, has 211 MLAs, Congress 44 and Left parties 35. The mystery is who cross-voted? Is it TMC, Congress or Left? Andhra Pradesh has one Congress MLA but Meira Kumar couldn't even open her account in the state. In the two Houses of Parliament, 522 MPs voted for Kovind while Meira Kumar secured support of 225 parliamentarians. Meira Kumar was dignified when asked about cross-voting. "I don't want to use this word (cross-voting) and everybody has the right to vote according to his or her wish." There were invalid votes too. MPs had cast 21 invalid votes, West Bengal MLAs 10, Delhi 6, Manipur and Jharkhand 4 each, and Uttar Pradesh 2. President-elect Ram Nath Kovind had received 2,930 votes with a value of 7,02,044 to win the election with about 66 percent vote share. Matter of happiness that 165 votes from BJP in MP were polled, but Kovind ji got 171 votes which means others also voted in his favour:MP CM pic.twitter.com/5stzRPlmpY; ANI (@ANI_news) July 20, 2017 SECRET BALLOT Since voting happens by means of a secret ballot, political parties cannot issue any whip to their MPs and MLAs in the matter of voting in the presidential election. The election rules clearly specify that irrespective of their party affiliations, each MP and MLA have the right to vote for their own choice for the Rashtrapati Bhavan. advertisement It is this rule which allows cross-voting and makes it perfectly legal. Provisions of the Anti-Defection Law are not applicable in presidential election. Even if a party knows that a particular leader didn't vote for their candidate they cannot take any action against him on this ground. However any such action by a politician is taken seriously by the party concerned as it can be treated a test of loyalty towards the high command. (Inputs from Manogya Loiwal in Kolkata) Also read: Ram Nath Kovind's journey from a leaking mud-house to the palatial Rashtrapati Bhavan Ram Nath Kovind elected India's 14th President, to take oath on July 25 All you need to know about Ram Nath Kovind, 14th President of India Ram Nath Kovind set to enter Rashtrapati Bhavan: What do you know about the Raisina Hill palace? Ram Nath Kovind vs Meira Kumar: How votes are counted and President-elect is declared BJP's presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind: An ardent dog lover ALSO WATCH | Ram Nath Kovind beats Meira Kumar to get elected India's 14th president --- ENDS --- advertisement Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Ram Nath Kovind is likely to be announced the President-elect when the Presidential Election 2017 result is declared by evening today. The counting of votes is underway. By Prabhash K Dutta: The Presidential Election 2017 - a direct fight between NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind and Meira Kumar of the UPA - saw a record 99 per cent voting on July 17. With the pre-poll backing of about 70 per cent of the Electoral College of 4,896 Electors, Ram Nath Kovind is all set to be declared the President-elect. advertisement The votes are being counted. As the electronic voting machines were not used in the Presidential Election, the counting of votes would be done manually. The result of the electoral contest between Ram Nath Kovind and Meira Kumar is expected evening today. THE VALID VOTES Presidential Election in India is held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote. The voting is done by secret ballot. Unlike the Lok Sabha or Vidhan Sabha elections, the ballot paper in the Presidential Election does not contain any election symbol. The office of the President is considered above party politics and free from political ideology. The ballot paper has two columns with the headings 'Name of Candidate' and "Order of Preference". Each Elector may mention as many preferences as there are contesting candidates. However, if an Elector does not want to place his/her preferences on the ballot paper, the vote cannot be declared invalid on this ground. The preferences are to be marked in numbers and must not be indicated in words. COUNTING OF VOTES The Returning Officer begins the process of counting by segregating the votes from States and the two Houses of Parliament. The votes polled in States are counted first. The Returning Officer counts the votes State wise in so far as the votes are cast by the members of each Legislative Assembly. The votes cast by the Members of Parliament are counted in one lot. The Returning Officer scrutinizes the ballot papers for separating valid votes from invalid ones. The valid ballot papers are put in the tray meant for the candidate to whom the first preference is marked. After distributing the ballot papers of one State, the Returning Officer totals the valid ballot papers credited to each candidate. The figure arrived at is multiplied by the value of each vote for the respective State. The aggregate value is credited to the candidate as the total value of votes secured. The process is repeated for each of the 29 States and two Union Territories of Delhi and Puducherry. This is followed by counting of votes polled in Parliament in the same manner. advertisement Once the counting of votes is complete, the Returning Officer calculates the grand total of the votes secured by each contestant. THE WINNING VOTE Unlike the elections for the Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabha or other constitutional representative bodies, the winning candidate needs to secure more than 50 per cent of the total votes polled. Technically, this threshold vote is called the quota. The quota for declaring a candidate as elected in the Presidential Election is determined by dividing of the valid votes by two and adding one to the quotient. The remainder is ignored. For example, suppose the total value of valid votes polled by all candidates is 1,00,001. The quota required for getting elected is: 1,00,001/2 + 1= 50,000.50 + 1. 0.50 would be ignored to arrive at the quota for Presidential Election at 50,001. AFTER COUNTING AND FIXING QUOTA The Returning Officer has to see whether any candidate secured the quota for being declared as elected on the basis of the total value of first preference votes polled by him/her. If no candidate gets the quota, the Returning Officer, in the second round of counting, excludes the candidate having lowest value of votes from the electoral race. The votes polled by the excluded candidate are distributed among the rest on the basis of second preference. advertisement The process of exclusion and redistribution of votes based on further preferences is repeated till one of the continuing candidates does not get the required quota. In the Presidential Election 2017, this process of exclusion and redistribution of votes is not required as Ram Nath Kovind and Meira Kumar are the only contestants. In the present case, the total value of the votes of the Electoral College was 10,98,903. About 99 per cent voting was registered on the day of polling. This takes the total value of votes polled to 10,87,913.97. This means, Ram Nath Kovind or Meira Kumar needs to secure 54,3957 votes (ignoring fraction) to be declared President-elect this evening. WHAT IF THERE IS SOME DISPUTE Most of the Presidential Elections have ended in courts. A petition challenging the an election to the office of the President can only be filed in the Supreme Court. The election petition can be filed only one of the candidates or by any twenty or more electors joined together as petitioners. The petition has to be filed in the Supreme Court within 30 days of the election result being notified in the official gazette. advertisement ALSO READ | Like it or not, Ram Nath Kovind is all set to be your next President Presidential election results out today. Ram Nath Kovind looks set to win against Meira Kumar Presidential election voters: 71 per cent crorepati, a third with criminal cases, 451 women ALSO WATCH | How Meira became Opposition's presidential pick against Kovind --- ENDS --- Palestinian Activism Reawakens in Jerusalem after Holy Esplanade Attack Publisher International Crisis Group (ICG) Author Ofer Zalzberg Publication Date 19 July 2017 Cite as International Crisis Group (ICG), Palestinian Activism Reawakens in Jerusalem after Holy Esplanade Attack, 19 July 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5970a0524.html [accessed 12 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. What do we know about the attack and how unusual was it? On Friday 14 July 2017, three Palestinian citizens of Israel attacked and killed two Israeli-Druze policeman who were guarding one of the entrances to Jerusalem's Holy Esplanade - known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as the Temple Mount. The police then pursued the attackers, killing all three inside the compound. So far there has been no evidence of the attackers' political affiliations; the police claims they have none. All three came from Um al Fahem, an Arab city in northern Israel known historically for the strong presence of the more militant, "northern" branch of Israel's Islamic Movement. Preventing violence at the site is one of Israel's General Security Services' two top objectives (the other being preventing an assassination of the prime minister) because of its potentially dramatic implications. While protesters at times have thrown stones and launched incendiary firecrackers at the police in and around the esplanade, this incident was remarkable in two respects. First, resort to firearms in the holy site to kill Israeli policemen marks a significant escalation. Second, Friday's attack also was unusual in that the attackers emerged with two improvised machine guns and a pistol from within the religious complex. The Israeli police claim that their weapons previously had been stored in an unknown location inside, raising sensitive questions about how the firearms were smuggled in the first place. The Israel police responded to this rare incident by pursuing and killing the three attackers; video footage showing one of the gunmen lying on the ground motionless, suddenly jumping up and then falling again after a new exchange of fire fed Palestinian accusations that one of the perpetrators could have been shot in the legs and captured alive but instead was deliberately shot. How important is the Holy Esplanade for Muslims and Jews and what is its current status? One cannot overstate the importance of the Holy Esplanade to both Muslims and Jews. The site is Islam's third holiest after Mecca and Medina; in the Islamic tradition al-Aqsa ("The Furthest") Mosque was Muhammad's destination on his night journey from Mecca aboard his winged horse. From the same foundation stone on the esplanade, Muhammad's journey took him to heaven and on to Mecca. Palestinians see it as their national mission to defend it from foreign encroachment. Similarly, the site is Judaism's holiest. In Jewish tradition, it contains the foundation stone of the world's creation, on which Abraham nearly sacrificed his son Isaac; it is where the First and Second Jewish Temples stood (destroyed in 586 BCE and 70 CE respectively). It has played an outsized role in the Zionist imagination as a symbol of the Jewish Israeli connection to Jerusalem and the Land of Israel. The Status Quo governing the site dates back to Ottoman times. Under this arrangement, only Muslims have the right to worship while non-Muslims, including Jews, can visit. Since 1967, all Israeli and - in their capacity as Muslim custodian of the Holy Esplanade - Jordanian Hashemite kings have remained committed to this formula. In the summer of 2014, daily clashes broke out between young Palestinian protesters and Israeli police over what the former perceived as changes to the Status Quo. These ended only after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Jordan's King Abdullah reached a quiet understanding in November 2014 that reaffirmed the prevailing formula. As part of their understanding, they agreed to four key commitments, all of which until recently have largely been upheld: All Israeli Knesset members were to be kept off the esplanade; Israel would refrain from age or gender limitations on Muslim access; Israel would bar provocative Jewish activists from the site and limit religious Jewish groups entry; Jordan would prevent young Palestinians from surreptitiously entering the compound at night. How has Israel responded to Friday's attack? The government's initial objective was to ensure that such an attack - which happened in spite of its tremendous ongoing security efforts - would not recur. Israel immediately closed all entrances and commenced extensive searches for further weapons within the site; dual-use weapons including knives and sticks were found, but no additional firearms. The police at first did so unilaterally but soon thereafter worked with the Jordanian Waqf, which, as the site's administrator, facilitated police entry into closed buildings. As the attack occurred on the day of Friday prayers, tens of thousands of Muslims from across the West Bank and Jerusalem already were on their way to the site so Israel's decision to close the holy site that day and bar access to the Old City to all but its residents triggered angry reactions. In an act of defiance, Muslims prayed outside the gates. Further complicating matters, Israel, seeking to upgrade security measures, set up metal detectors at the entrances to the site, a measure it had sought to implement since the 2014 escalation but refrained from doing due to Jordanian opposition and fears of potential backlash. The widespread perception among Palestinians is that this decision represents an Israeli attempt to extend its control over an illegally occupied sacred Muslim and Palestinian site, further restricting Palestinian and Muslim access. For Jordan, Israel's move signals another deterioration of the access arrangement that reigned until the second intifada and was never restored, when Israel and Jordan jointly determined entry for non-Muslim tourists and Muslims faced few constraints at the site itself. With the installation of metal detectors, Palestinians, Jordanians and most Muslims see Israel unilaterally arrogating to itself the right to regulate access for everyone, of all faiths, to one of Islam's holiest sites. Though Netanyahu telephoned King Abdullah and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority (PA)'s president, to announce his intention to install the detectors, he neither sought nor received their public backing for the measure; he possibly interpreted their lack of public opposition as a green light. But news of Netanyahu's phone calls coupled with the two leaders' subsequent silence regarding the metal detectors intensified Palestinian feelings that no Muslim ruler could or would protect the site. Are the 2014 understandings between Jordan and Israel still able to preserve the relative calm? The November 2014 understandings between Prime Minister Netanyahu and King Abdullah have been effective at preserving the relative calm in spite of their informal character. Yet in the last year - and even more so in the last month - they have begun to unravel. This largely is due to a change of policy on the Israeli side. The new head of the police's Jerusalem district, Yoram Halevy, who was nominated in January 2016 by Israel's minister of internal security, Gilad Erdan, gradually has altered the police's attitude toward the Temple activists who seek to revise the Status Quo. Specifically, both Erdan and Halevy adopt a more tolerant stance toward individual, quiet Jewish prayer on the esplanade, in effect contravening the Status Quo's ban on non-Muslim worship. When Halevy joined a 29 June visit of Temple activists to the site in order to commemorate the murder of a thirteen-year-old girl from the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba, he received the priestly benediction from an activist in the group. Photos of the event were incendiary and went viral in the Palestinian media: a senior official from the Israeli institution tasked with preserving the ban on non-Muslim worship, in accordance with a more than 150-year-old arrangement, participated in such worship. In the last month, in contravention of Netanyahu's express commitment to King Abdullah, the police twice imposed age-based limitations on Muslim access to the Holy Esplanade in order to, they said, protect large groups of Temple activists visiting on those days, despite the fact that Netanyahu had promised previously to constrain the size of such groups. Netanyahu's announcement that he plans to allow once again Israeli politicians to access the site on 23 July could augur yet another serious erosion of the understandings. That such visits risk having an inflammatory effect is clear: then Likud leader Ariel Sharon's visit to the holy site in 2000 helped trigger the Palestinian uprising known as the second intifada. The prime minister resisted years of pressure by Knesset members to take these steps, but recently, a Knesset member took the matter to Israel's Supreme Court. As it seemed a ruling against the government was likely, Netanyahu felt forced to accede. Many Palestinians and Muslims fear that Israel will now go further and use the current crisis to discard the Status Quo together, allowing Jewish prayer and perhaps allocating an area on the esplanade for it. However, this is highly unlikely as Netanyahu is well aware of the likely explosive consequences and of the potential it has for provoking a crisis not only with Palestinians, but with Muslims worldwide. Israel also knows that altering the existing arrangement could have serious implications for Jordan's stability. King Abdullah is Guardian of the Mosque and therefore considered by Jordanians personally responsible for it. Undermining him could hurt his domestic legitimacy and, if pushed too far, even destabilise Hashemite rule and threaten relations with a country with which Israel enjoys a peace treaty. Finally, changing the Status Quo would undermine Israel's budding relations with several Gulf Arab states, particularly Saudi Arabia. What has been the Palestinian response to these developments? On Sunday, when Israel installed metal detectors at two gates to the esplanade and allowed access for Muslims, virtually all Palestinians refused to enter. The Jerusalem mufti and senior Waqf officials declared that nobody should enter as long as the metal detectors remain in place, and led prayer immediately in front of them. Only the Waqf's head, accompanied by a few employees, entered the site. These defiant prayers steadily have grown - thousands of Muslims gather five times a day around the gates of the mosque and pray in long rows in the streets near the esplanade. Though the gatherings have largely been peaceful and the police have been disciplined and treated worshippers respectfully, there have been repeated clashes after the evening prayers - involving shoving, stone throwing, stun grenades and rubber bullets - injuring dozens of Palestinians and a handful of police officers. Because prominent Jerusalem figures have stood front and centre at the prayers, several have been wounded. Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Central Committee member Mustafa Baraghouti and former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Ikrima Sabri were hospitalised after being shot by rubber bullets near the Lions' Gate. Since Monday, the nightly clashes have spread to other parts of Arab Jerusalem, notably Issawiyah and Silwan. While commerce and tourism in the Old City have resumed, the area around the esplanade is tense, particularly during prayer times. Fatah has declared a "day of rage" against the metal detectors for Wednesday. The Waqf already has decided to shut down all mosques in Jerusalem on Friday so that as many Muslims as possible will come to pray around al-Aqsa. Most Israelis view these moves as irresponsible and escalatory. Palestinians view them as mobilising against an Israel takeover of their holiest national site. The nascent boycott potentially is highly significant because it marks the first time since the second intifada that East Jerusalem Palestinians are organising en masse. So far, the mobilisation includes only those coming to weekday prayers but if the situation is not resolved by this coming Friday, 21 July, its scope could expand. Already, notable Palestinians of different backgrounds and political affiliations - al-Aqsa imams; Jerusalem's mufti; leaders of Fatah, Islamist and Leftist factions; Israeli-Palestinian Knesset members; and PA officials - have been at the forefront of the prayers outside the site. They reportedly rejected a compromise formula pursuant to which Waqf personnel would operate the metal detectors, though key details of the suggested compromise, such as the role Israel police would play around the metal detectors, have not been reported. Hamas and Islamic Jihad issued calls for more violence. How has Israel's policy toward Arab East Jerusalem affected its own security? As part of its reaction to the collapse of peace talks and the outbreak of the second intifada in late 2000, Israel suppressed political activity in Arab East Jerusalem in order to advance its objective of maintaining the entire city under Israeli rule. In 2001, Israel shut down the Orient House, seat of the Palestinian leadership there that was loosely affiliated with the PLO. The leadership void in Arab parts of Jerusalem cast Palestinian Jerusalemites politically adrift. Israel's construction of the separation barrier also walled off much of East Jerusalem from the West Bank; this, coupled with stricter Israeli enforcement of a ban on covert PA activity (including policing) in Jerusalem, has prevented Palestinian factions from operating within the city's Israeli-defined municipal boundaries. Across Jerusalem criminal elements have flourished in this void. At the Holy Esplanade, Islamic activism, mostly supported or led by the northern branch of Israel's Islamic movement, consolidated itself in this vacuum. Its fortunes grew as those of its Palestinian competitors declined, and in direct correlation with Israel's Temple activists. As efforts by Israel's religious right to alter the Status Quo became more potent, so too did Islamic activism succeed in mobilising resources and men. Conversely, the more Islamic activism became confrontational, the easier it became for Temple activists to amass political and financial support. The pattern continued in late 2015, when Israel banned the northern branch and the organisations that led Islamic activism at the site (often led by murabitoun, Arabic for "defenders of holy places"). In the short term, this has been effective in reducing organised opposition. But the longer lasting effect of these policies has been to transform Arab East Jerusalem into an increasingly leaderless and lawless urban zone rife with criminality. The aftermath of Friday's attack demonstrates that, in the absence of organised East Jerusalem Palestinian political institutions, Israel faces two different kinds of challenges. The first is mass protest, as evidenced on Monday and Tuesday evenings, when non-violent demonstrations rapidly turned violent, with dozens injured. Clashes already have spread from the Old City to other neighbourhood-villages across Jerusalem, primarily Issawiyah and Silwan. The second challenge is that without effective institutions to defend Muslim and Palestinian interests in the city, younger militants will choose to act alone and to do so violently, without anyone capable of reining them in. These unaffiliated attackers are harder to identify or preempt - and when Jordan is not seen to be effectively defending the interests of Muslims at the site, the odds are that young militant Palestinians will decide to shoulder this burden themselves. What can be done to reduce tensions? The widespread mobilisation of Palestinians against the metal detectors could play a significant role in terms of how the crisis is resolved. Arguably the first large-scale instance of East Jerusalem Palestinian activism since the end of the second intifada, it could enable the emergence of an organisational infrastructure for coordinated collective action. The longer the crisis drags on, the more likely such networks will be institutionalised, however informally. From an Israeli perspective, a collective Palestinian leadership is a mixed bag. On the one hand, it theoretically has the potential to organise violent activities but on the other hand, it is a political address that can coordinate with Israel to contain violence. In the absence of a political address, Israel will have few options in East Jerusalem other than coercing the other side or being coerced by it, neither of which is sustainable. One way for Israel and Jordan to de-escalate tensions would be to boost the importance of expanded Waqf Council meetings, to which East Jerusalem leaders are invited for consultation. These could be used both regularly and in times of crisis, in order to involve the local population and secure its support for decisions taken jointly. If the parties - Israel and Jordan, ideally in consultation with the Palestinian Authority - are to reach a compromise, they will need a body to negotiate and implement it. Given the absence of Palestinian political institutions in East Jerusalem, it may be wise to leverage such expanded Waqf Council meetings. King Salman reportedly passed a message to Prime Minister Netnayahu through senior U.S. officials, asking him to reverse the installation of metal detectors. This may present a ladder for Israel in case it accepts some kind of compromise. At the same time all parties should be cognisant that this crisis already has weakened King Abdullah and President Abbas, to the benefit of local leaders in Jerusalem, but with no other Muslim address at present, King Abdullah or his Waqf authorities need to visibly be part of whatever solution is reached. On Wednesday, the king formally requested that Netanyahu uninstall the metal detectors, but even (or especially) if the prime minister agrees, their coordination on the issue should not remain behind the scenes. Israel cannot manage the site without Muslim interlocutors. Indeed, the character and trajectory of this dispute suggests that even if acting together, Jordan and Israel cannot on their own alter management of the site without Palestinian participation and consent. They have refused this in the past. But as tensions at the holy site increase, it is high time to change course and include Palestinian leaders of East Jerusalem in the management arrangements. Their choice is between recognising a legitimate leadership body of East Jerusalem or sustaining a void from which violence all but certainly will sprout. Chile: Deputies must use historic opportunity to decriminalize abortion Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 19 July 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Chile: Deputies must use historic opportunity to decriminalize abortion, 19 July 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5970a1554.html [accessed 12 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. The Chilean Chamber of Deputies has an historic opportunity to put the country on the right side of human rights, Amnesty International said ahead of a debate today on the potential decriminalization of abortion under three circumstances. Late last night, the Chilean Senate passed a bill to decriminalize abortion under three circumstances: when the pregnancy results from rape or incest, when the life of the pregnant woman is at risk, and in cases of lethal foetal impairment, "Chile is finally taking a step away from the small number of countries that still expose women and girls to terrible suffering due to the cruel and draconian laws and policies that violate their human right to make free choices about their own bodies, health and lives," said Erika Guevara Rosas, Americas Director at Amnesty International. "This historic vote, although limited, is a testament to the tireless work done by activists in every corner of Chile to ensure the country respects and protects women's rights." "Chile's outrageous ban on abortion has no place in the country today. It is now in the hands of Chile's deputies to ensure that this bill becomes law and that, in practice, women can access abortion services without undue restrictions, without discrimination and without being discriminated against or punished for the mere reason of being a woman." Seven countries in the Americas ban abortions in all circumstances: Dominican Republic, Haiti, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Chile and Suriname Copyright notice: Copyright Amnesty International Morocco/Western Sahara: Verdict in Sahrawi trial marred by failure to adequately investigate torture claims Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 19 July 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Morocco/Western Sahara: Verdict in Sahrawi trial marred by failure to adequately investigate torture claims, 19 July 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5970a1944.html [accessed 12 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. A court today convicted 23 Sahrawi activists over deadly clashes in Western Sahara after failing to exclude evidence tainted by allegations of torture during the trial hearings, said Amnesty International. Early this morning the Rabat Court of Appeals sentenced the defendants to prison terms ranging from two years to life imprisonment in connection with the clashes that followed the forcible dismantlement of a protest camp in Gdim Izik, Western Sahara, in 2010, killing 11 members of the security forces and two Sahrawi protesters. "During the trial most defendants told the court they were tortured into 'confessing' or incriminating themselves or others. If the court was serious about offering them a fair trial, it would have conducted proper investigations into torture allegations by now, or excluded questionable evidence during the hearings," said Heba Morayef, North Africa Research Director at Amnesty International. "The failure of judicial authorities, over more than six years, to adequately investigate torture allegations in this case is a stain on today's verdict." The court has yet to make public its written ruling detailing the rationale for this morning's conviction. Trial observers told Amnesty International that eight of the accused were sentenced to life imprisonment, and 11 to sentences between 20 and 30 years in prison. Two defendants were sentenced to six and a half and four and a half years in prison respectively, and are expected to be released today as they have already spent this length of time in detention since their arrest in 2010. Two others were sentenced to two years' imprisonment, which they had effectively already served. A Moroccan military court had imposed similarly heavy sentences on the defendants in 2013 following a grossly unfair trial. In July 2016 Morocco's highest appeals court, the Court of Cassation, quashed this conviction citing the absence of conclusive evidence linking defendants to the violence in 2010, and ordered new proceedings before a civilian court. Despite recent judicial reforms, Morocco's courts have repeatedly convicted defendants on the basis of their statements to police during interrogation without adequately investigating claims that interrogators used torture or other ill-treatment to force them to incriminate themselves. Copyright notice: Copyright Amnesty International EU: Egypt's dark human rights record must not be swept beneath carpet Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 19 July 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, EU: Egypt's dark human rights record must not be swept beneath carpet, 19 July 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5970a2434.html [accessed 12 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. The EU appears in danger of softening its stance on human rights violations in Egypt by resuming annual high-level meetings with the Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs and his delegation in Brussels next week, said Amnesty International. The upcoming EU-Egypt Association Council meeting is set to take place in Brussels on 25 July. The meetings had been suspended after the 2011 uprising but with concerns over regional security and migration on the rise there are fears that EU member states are more willing to turn a blind eye to grave human rights violations in the country. "There is a real danger that concerns over Egypt's human rights record could be swept under the carpet as the EU prioritizes security, migration and trade at the expense of human rights. The EU must make absolutely clear at, and after this meeting, that it will not compromise over Egypt's human rights record," said David Nichols, Senior Executive Officer for EU foreign policy at Amnesty International. "Disturbingly, while civil society has been further restricted, security forces have been given free rein to commit widespread abuses including arbitrary detention, torture and unlawful killings. The EU must use its leverage over Egypt and be clear that they will not stay silent on Egypt's dark human rights record including while the Egyptian foreign minister is in Brussels next week" said David Nichols. The meeting takes place almost one and a half years since the horrific killing of Italian PhD student Giulio Regeni, and as an Irish citizen and prisoner of conscience, Ibrahim Halawa, spends his fourth year in prison while facing a grossly unfair mass trial. Neither case is mentioned in the EU Country report. Amnesty International calls on the EU to support a call for an effective, independent and impartial investigation into the disappearance and tragic death of Giulio and the immediate and unconditional release of Ibrahim Halawa. Amnesty International addressed these concerns in a letter sent to the High Representative of the EU, Federica Mogherini, on 4 July. Copyright notice: Copyright Amnesty International Bahrain: Human rights defender charged with terrorism Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 19 July 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Bahrain: Human rights defender charged with terrorism, 19 July 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5970a35e0.html [accessed 12 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. The Bahraini authorities' decision to bring terrorism charges against Ebtissam al-Saegh, a human rights defender detained since 3 July 2017, is a chilling blow to human rights in the country, said Amnesty International. Ebtisam al-Saegh was previously tortured, including by being sexually assaulted by members of the Bahrain National Security agency while she was held in custody last May. "Ebtisam al-Saegh is a prisoner of conscience who must be immediately and unconditionally released. Her only 'crime', is her bravery in challenging the government's appalling human rights record. By charging her with terrorism for her work on human rights, the Bahraini government is itself attempting to intimidate and silence civil society in Bahrain," said Samah Hadid, Director of Campaigns for the Middle-East at Amnesty International. "Amnesty International has strong reasons to believe that Ebtisam al-Saegh is at risk of torture and other ill-treatment. When she was arrested in May 2017 she was beaten and sexually assaulted by members of the National Security Agency. We are deeply concerned for her well-being. "There must be public outcry over the deteriorating situation in Bahrain. The silence of the UK government, which continues to insist that Bahrain is on a path to human rights reform, is deafening and shameful, and appears to have played a part in emboldening the Bahraini government to commit more human rights violations." Ebtisam al-Saegh was charged on 18 July 2017, in the presence of a lawyer, by the Terrorism Crimes Prosecution office, with "using human rights work as a cover to communicate and cooperate with Al Karama Foundation to provide them with information and fake news about the situation in Bahrain to undermine its status abroad". She has been detained for six months pending completion of the investigation. Ebtisam al-Saegh was arrested on 3 July 2017 after tweeting about the abuse of female detainees in Isa Town detention centre for women. She has been on hunger strike since, in protest at her arrest, her lack of access to her family and the fact that her lawyer is not allowed to attend her interrogation despite her requests to this effect. Amnesty International learned that she was being interrogated for 12 to 13 hours daily at an undisclosed location. When not interrogated, she is being held in solitary confinement at the Isa Town detention centre for women, on the outskirts of Manama. On 15 July, prominent human rights defender and prisoner of conscience, Nabeel Rajab, told his family that he had seen Ebtisam al-Saegh on a stretcher at the Ministry of Interior medical facility in al-Qalaa and asked them whether she had been involved in a car accident. He was unaware of her arrest. Ebtisam al-Saegh's husband who was able to visit her for a few minutes on 16 July said she was in a wheelchair at the time. Copyright notice: Copyright Amnesty International Sudan: Hundreds of Darfuri student protesters stopped at the capital's gates Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 19 July 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Sudan: Hundreds of Darfuri student protesters stopped at the capital's gates, 19 July 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5970a39c4.html [accessed 12 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. The Sudanese authorities must end the continued discrimination of Darfuri students at universities, said Amnesty International today as more than 1,000 Darfuri students of Bakht al-Rida University in White Nile State,descended on the capital Khartoum to demand the release of 10 of their colleagues accused of killing two police officers. The students are now blockaded on the southern edge of the capital Khartoum after they were stopped by National Intelligence Security Service (NISS) agents from delivering a statement listing their demands to the government. They also want 14 other colleagues who were expelled from the university readmitted. "These students only want to present a petition to their leaders, but instead of helping and protecting them, the NISS have chosen to block them, in callous disregard of their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly," said Muthoni Wanyeki, Amnesty International's Regional Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes. "Instead of stopping them, the authorities should protect them and ensure that their grievances are heard." The two policemen were killed on 9 May as they violently broke up clashes between ruling party and opposition students over disputed guild elections. Seventy students were arrested that day, all of them Darfuri. Investigations into the policemen's deaths are still underway. In January, Amnesty International issued a report in which it documented attacks on Darfuri university students going back three years. Copyright notice: Copyright Amnesty International Iraq: Execution Site Near Mosul's Old City Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 19 July 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, Iraq: Execution Site Near Mosul's Old City, 19 July 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5970a5c84.html [accessed 12 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. International observers have discovered an execution site in west Mosul, Human Rights Watch said today. That report, combined with new statements about executions in and around Mosul's Old City and persistent documentation about Iraqi forces extrajudicially killing men fleeing Mosul in the final phase of the battle against the Islamic State (also known as ISIS), are an urgent call to action by the Iraqi government. Despite repeated promises to investigate wrongdoing by security forces, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has yet to demonstrate that Iraqi authorities have held a single soldier accountable for murdering, torturing, and abusing Iraqis in this conflict. "As Prime Minister Abadi enjoys victory in Mosul, he is ignoring the flood of evidence of his soldiers committing vicious war crimes in the very city he's promised to liberate," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "Abadi's victory will collapse unless he takes concrete steps to end the grotesque abuses by his own security forces." International observers, whose evidence has proven reliable in the past, told Human Rights Watch that on July 17, 2017, at about 3:30 p.m., a shopkeeper in a neighborhood directly west of the Old City that was retaken in April from ISIS took them into an empty building and showed them a row of 17 male corpses, barefoot but in civilian dress, surrounded by pools of blood. They said many appeared to have been blindfolded and with their hands tied behind their back. They said the shopkeeper told them that he had seen the Iraqi Security Forces' 16th Division, identifiable by their badges and vehicles, in the neighborhood four nights earlier, and that night had heard multiple gunshots coming from the area of the empty building. The next morning, when armed forces had left the area, he told them, he went into the building and saw the bodies lying in positions that suggested they were shot there and had not been moved. He said he did not recognize any of those killed. The international observers also saw soldiers from the elite Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) in the area. They contacted Human Rights Watch by phone from the site and later shared five photos they took of the bodies. On July 17, another international observer told Human Rights Watch they spoke to a senior government official in Mosul who told them he was comfortable with the execution of suspected ISIS-affiliates "as long as there was no torture." The observer said a commander showed their group a video taken a few days earlier of a group of CTS soldiers holding two detainees in the Old City. They said the commander told them that the forces had executed the men right after the video was taken. Salah al-Imara, an Iraqi citizen who regularly publishes information regarding security and military activities in and around Mosul, published four videos allegedly filmed in west Mosul on Facebook on July 11 and 12. One video, posted on July 11, appears to show Iraqi soldiers beating a detainee, then throwing him off a cliff and shooting at him and at the body of another man already lying at the bottom of the cliff. Human Rights Watch had verified the location of the first video based on satellite imagery. Other videos showed Iraqi soldiers kicking and beating a bleeding man, federal police forces beating at least three men, and Iraqi soldiers kicking a man on the ground in their custody. A third international observer told Human Rights Watch on July 18 that they witnessed CTS soldiers bring an ISIS suspect to their base in a neighborhood southwest of the Old City on July 11. The observer did not see what happened to the suspect next, but said that a soldier later showed them a video of himself and a group of other soldiers brutally beating the man, and a second video of the man dead, with a bullet to his head. "Some Iraqi soldiers seem to have so little fear that they will face any consequence for murdering and torturing suspects in Mosul that they are freely sharing evidence of what look like very cruel exploits in videos and photographs," Whitson said. "Excusing such celebratory revenge killings will haunt Iraq for generations to come." A fourth international observer told Human Rights Watch on July 11 that the day before they had witnessed a group of CTS soldiers push a man whose hands were tied behind his back into a destroyed shop near the main road in the west to the Old City. They said they heard several gunshots, went into the shop after the soldiers had left, and found the man's body with several bullet holes in the back of his head. They shared the photo of the body. On July 10, the same observer said they saw Iraqi Security Forces just outside the Old City holding about 12 men with their hands tied behind their backs. They said an officer told them that the military's 9th Division had detained these men inside the Old City on suspicion of ISIS affiliation. They said they saw the soldiers lead the detained men just out of sight, then heard shots ring out from their direction. The observer was unable to verify what happened. On July 7, two additional international observers told Human Rights Watch that on different occasions in late June, they witnessed soldiers bring at least five suspected ISIS affiliates out of the Old City to the west, strapped to the hoods of Humvees, when temperatures in the city often reached 48 degrees Celsius, or 118 degrees Fahrenheit. The nongovernmental organization Mosul Eye has been documenting abuses by all sides in Mosul since 2014, and has posted numerous videos and witness statements about executions on its Twitter feed since July 14, with one reading: "Mass Executions 'Speicher Style' [a reference to an ISIS massacre in 2014] for the last survivors of the old city. ISF is killing and throwing bodies of everyone it finds to the river." As of July 10, the Iraqi military has prevented access to west Mosul for most journalists, limiting coverage of recent events inside the Old City. Iraqi forces should allow journalists access to west Mosul to report on the conflict and any alleged abuses, Human Rights Watch said. Throughout the operation to retake Mosul, Human Rights Watch has documented Iraqi forces detaining and holding at least 1,200 men and boys in inhumane conditions without charge, and in some cases torturing and executing them, under the guise of screening them for ISIS-affiliation. In the final weeks of the Mosul operation, Human Rights Watch has reported on executions of suspected ISIS-affiliates in and around Mosul's Old City. An Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs representative told Human Rights Watch on July 19 that he would request a government investigation into the allegations. Human Rights Watch has repeatedly raised concerns about allegations of ill-treatment, torture, and executions in meetings with Iraqi officials in Baghdad as well as with representatives from United States-led coalition member countries. Human Rights Watch does not know of a single transparent investigation into abuses by Iraqi armed forces, any instances of commanders being held accountable for abuse, or any victims of abuse receiving compensation. Iraqi criminal justice authorities should investigate all alleged crimes, including unlawful killings and mutilation of corpses, by any party in the conflict in a prompt, transparent, and effective manner, up to the highest levels of responsibility. Those found criminally responsible should be appropriately prosecuted. Extrajudicial executions and torture during an armed conflict are war crimes. "Relentless reports, videos, and photographs of unlawful executions and beatings by Iraqi soldiers should be enough to raise serious concerns among the highest ranks in Baghdad and the international coalition combatting ISIS," Whitson said. "As we well know in Iraq, if the government doesn't provide an accounting for these murders, the Iraqi people may take matters into their own hands." Copyright notice: Copyright, Human Rights Watch Poland: Draft Law Threatens Supreme Court Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 20 July 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, Poland: Draft Law Threatens Supreme Court, 20 July 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5970a63e4.html [accessed 12 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. A bill being rushed through Poland's Parliament would pave the way for government control of the Supreme Court, Human Rights Watch said today. The bill would terminate the mandate of existing Supreme Court judges, except those chosen by the government, and lead to a court in which all judges were effectively selected by the government. Parliament is set to vote on the bill on July 20, 2017. Under the draft law, the National Judicial Council (NJC) will select new judges. A July 12 law effectively ensures that the council's membership would predominantly consist of government appointees. The draft bill also states that the mandate of the first president of the Supreme Court, the most senior member on the bench, would expire when the incumbent turns 65. The current first president will turn 65 in November. "This is a blatant attack by Poland's government on the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law," said Lydia Gall, Balkans and Eastern Europe researcher at Human Rights Watch. "Poland's parliament should vote down this deeply flawed bill, which runs counter to European Union and Council of Europe standards." The Supreme Court plays a vital role in Poland. It supervises the work of lower courts, confirms the validity of parliamentary and presidential elections, and issues opinions on draft legislation. It has assumed greater importance since 2016 because the governing party has deliberately weakened the country's highest court, the Constitutional Tribunal, and undermined its ability to review the constitutionality of laws. It appears that the ruling party is trying to do the same to the Supreme Court, Human Rights Watch said. The draft law in its current state would call into question the independence of newly appointed judges and thereby undermine the Supreme Court, Human Rights Watch said. The law adopted on July 12 effectively gives the government control over judicial appointments. It gives parliament, which is controlled by the ruling party, the power to dismiss current members of the National Judicial Council and appoint 22 of its 25 members. The council is responsible for appointing judges, including Supreme Court judges, and safeguarding the independence of courts and judges. The law undermines the separation of powers between the executive and judiciary and poses a serious threat to the independence of Poland's justice system. The moves have faced some opposition in parliament. During a fast-track first and second reading of the draft Supreme Court law on July 18, President Andrzej Duda, who usually backs the ruling party, submitted amendments to the July 12 Act that would require a three-fifths majority in parliament to appoint judges. The change would make it more difficult for the ruling party to push through Supreme Court appointments. The government said on July 18 that it planned to include amendments reflecting Duda's to the draft law on Supreme Court. A parliamentary commission is reviewing the draft law ahead of the third and final reading and vote. Since it came to power in October 2015, the ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS) government has repeatedly undermined the rule of law. The Constitutional Tribunal has been a particular target. The governing majority failed to recognize the appointment of several duly appointed judges before the current government took power and passed laws that extended government influence over the tribunal and undermined its effectiveness and independence. The government has also refused to implement several court rulings that it viewed as unfavorable. The government has also passed laws that interfere with media freedom, restrict freedom of assembly and association and sexual and reproductive rights, and adopted a problematic counterterrorism law. The Polish government's attack on the rule of law has drawn wide condemnation from the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council of Europe's human rights commissioner and secretary general, and other international bodies. The European Commission in January 2016 triggered its 2014 rule of law mechanism against Poland, the first time it had used a procedure intended to address systematic threats to rule of law in member states. It includes three stages: a Commission assessment, dialogue with the member state, and recommendations and monitoring a member state's follow up of the Commission's recommendations. The European Commission issued recommendations to Poland for reforms to the Constitutional Tribunal in June 2016, which the Polish government has largely ignored. But the Commission has yet to take meaningful action in response. On July 19, the Commission first vice-president, Frans Timmermans, indicated that the Commission was planning infringement proceedings if the law were adopted. He said that the Commission was also considering proceedings under article 7 of the EU Treaty that if accepted by the Council of EU member states could lead to the suspension of Poland's voting rights. The Council of Europe's Venice Commission, a constitutional law expert advisory body, published opinions in March and October 2016 raising serious concerns about Poland's Constitutional Tribunal Act. The Polish government has ignored the concerns. On July 18, the Council's secretary general, Thorbjorn Jagland, sent a letter to the speaker of Poland's parliament expressing concern about the draft law on the Supreme Court and the National Judicial Council Act. He urged the Polish parliament to uphold Council of Europe standards. In April, the Council of Europe human rights commissioner, Nils Muiznieks, said the Polish parliament should reject amendments to the National Judicial Council Act because they would compromise judicial independence. The Polish government ignored these calls. The disturbing developments in Poland bear a striking resemblance to similar efforts by the Hungarian government to weaken its Constitutional Court, forcibly retire judges, and assert greater control over judicial appointments. The weak responses, and at times complete lack of responses, to developments in Hungary and Poland by other EU member states sends a signal that undermining the rule of law and flouting EU values carries few consequences, Human Rights Watch said. "The European Commission has a responsibility to protect compliance with EU treaty obligations and use every tool at its disposal to deal with attacks on core rights in Poland, and member states have a responsibility to support those efforts," Gall said. "Turning a blind eye to Poland's efforts to undermine these rights would potentially encourage further rights violations that would be detrimental to people in Poland and to the EU as whole." Copyright notice: Copyright, Human Rights Watch By PTI: stations Bengaluru, Jul 20 (PTI) Pro-Kannada activists today staged protests at some metro stations here and defaced signages in Hindi by blackening them, as they continued their protest against the alleged imposition of the language. Protests have been reported at Peenya, Rajajinagara, Yeshwanthpur, Jayanagara, Mysuru Road and Chickpete metro stations and Hindi wordings on the signages were blackened on a few of them, officials said. advertisement They said following the protest, security near most of the metro stations in the city has been tightened by deploying additional forces. Activists belonging to Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, a pro-Kannada outfit, shouted "dont want Hindi" slogans and also against metro officials. As the activists tried to block the entrance of metro stations by staging the protest, police removed them and at a couple of stations protestors were detained, police said. Signages in Hindi at atleast two metro stations in the city were covered earlier this month, following protests by pro-Kannada activists and on social media against "imposition" of the language. The protest against the "imposition" of Hindi in Bangalore metro triggered by the online campaign "#NammaMetroHindiBeda" has been gaining momentum since the beginning of this month. Kannada Development Authority (KDA) had also issued a notice to Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) on the issue. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah during his recent visit to Delhi had reportedly said he would lodge a protest with the Centre on "imposition" of Hindi. Recently, few activists belonging to a pro-Kannada outfit had defaced the name board of a few shops at a food court here for not bearing content in Kannada. PTI KSU RA BN ASV --- ENDS --- Greece: Lone Migrant Children Left Unprotected Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 19 July 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, Greece: Lone Migrant Children Left Unprotected, 19 July 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5970a6844.html [accessed 12 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Unaccompanied migrant children on the Greek island of Lesbos are being incorrectly identified as adults and housed with unrelated adults, leaving them vulnerable to abuse and unable to access the specific care they need, Human Rights Watch said today. "The misidentification of unaccompanied migrant kids on Lesbos as adults leads to real problems, including lumping them together with unrelated adults and denying them the care they need," said Eva Cosse, Greece researcher at Human Rights Watch. "Greek authorities need to take responsibility for properly identifying unaccompanied children and providing them the protection and care every child needs." On visits to Lesbos island from May 22 to 28 and June 27 to 30, 2017, Human Rights Watch spoke with 20 children, some as young as 15, who said they had been wrongly registered as adults by the Greek authorities. Under Greek and international law, unaccompanied children are entitled to special care and protection. But the flawed age assessment procedures that are being followed in practice mean that some of these children are wrongly deemed adults during registration, despite an assurance by Greek officials to Human Rights Watch that a proper, multidiscipline procedure is followed. Other children claim to be adults, believing it will allow them to avoid detention or because they follow bad advice from adults, but then realize they have made a mistake and try to persuade the authorities to register them correctly. They can spend months trying to change their official status, and in the meantime often continue to be treated as adults, or reach adulthood, known as "aging out," while waiting for their correct age to be assessed. Human Rights Watch found that officials who register new arrivals sometimes arbitrarily record children's ages as older than the children themselves give. Authorities also often require unaccompanied children to receive cursory dental examinations at the local hospital as a form of age assessment, following which authorities may insist the child is in fact an adult and register them as such. Human Rights Watch found this occurs despite a 2013 ministerial decision setting out a multidiscipline approach to age assessment, with medical examinations as an option of last resort and despite an assurance from Greece's Reception and Identification Service (RIS), a Greek government agency, that the principle of the best interest of the child always prevails. On the other hand, reception service officials do not usually question unaccompanied children who claim to be adults even when their appearance strongly suggests that they are well under 18. In practice, authorities fail to provide children with adequate information about their rights during the reception and identification process on the islands and take no steps to verify whether an individual claiming to be an adult is a child, creating a risk that trafficked children will not be identified and protected from further harm. While registered unaccompanied children should be transferred to safe accommodation, Greece has a chronic shortage of space. Pending placement in a shelter, the authorities often detain unaccompanied migrant children in police stations, immigration detention facilities, and European Union-managed asylum processing centers. As of June 20, 1,149 unaccompanied migrant children were on the waiting list for shelter, including 296 detained in such facilities. The problem has grown more acute since the arrival of more than 1 million people in the Greek islands in 2015 and 2016. Border closures in countries to the north have effectively trapped asylum seekers and migrants in Greece, and a deeply flawed EU deal with Turkey, signed in March 2016, has led Greece to restrict asylum seekers to the Greek islands with the aim of returning them to Turkey. Nongovernmental organizations on Lesbos told Human Rights Watch they have identified at least 60 people registered as adults who claim to be children. Children registered as adults are left to fend for themselves and are vulnerable to exploitation, trafficking, and other abuse. They live in official and unofficial sites with unrelated adult single men; are exposed to inhumane living conditions, including overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, and frequent incidents of violence; and are unable to go to school or otherwise access education. They have little or no access to care, protection, or specialized services, and are excluded from accommodation for unaccompanied children. Once the Greek authorities register unaccompanied children as adults for whatever reason, it is difficult, if not impossible, for them to change their status. Even when nongovernmental groups identify children as wrongly registered as adults, it can take months to overcome the burdensome bureaucratic procedures to establish their real age and register them as children. The process of being recognized as children took so long in some cases Human Rights Watch examined that the children had turned 18 during the intervening period. This undermined their ability to reunite with family members in other EU countries or to get specialized housing or services for children. Statements from these children about how they feel suggest the situation in which they find themselves in Greece is causing psychological harm and exacerbates existing mental health conditions, Human Rights Watch said. All the children interviewed reported experiencing psychological distress, including symptoms such as anxiety, depression, headaches, insomnia, and loss of appetite. Two children reported harming themselves. Authorities in Greece should urgently improve the quality of their age assessment procedures, bringing them into line with international best practices, Human Rights Watch said. Greek authorities should take steps to identify children, give children whose age is disputed the benefit of the doubt in close cases, and ensure that unaccompanied children have access to decent accommodation where they can receive care, education, counseling, legal aid, guardianship, and other essential services. Those who are determined to be over 18 should be accommodated in special housing for young adults and given access to adequate services, including psychosocial support and mental health services. The European Commission and the European Asylum Support Office should make use of their presence on the islands to ensure that the Greek authorities' age assessment methods and procedures fully comply with the legal safeguards provided by Greek and EU law, and that children are given the benefit of the doubt where results are inconclusive. The EU emergency relocation mechanism should also be urgently extended to unaccompanied children identified on the Greek islands, irrespective of nationality, and EU member states should accelerate relocation of unaccompanied migrant children. "Vulnerable kids in Greece who have endured dangerous journeys far from their families should not have to fight for months just to prove they are children," Cosse said. "Greece should do a better job identifying these children so they get the care they need and deserve." Registering Unaccompanied Migrant Children Greek authorities formally registered over 1,800 unaccompanied asylum-seeking and migrant children arriving in Greece in the first five months of 2017. Many of them are from Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq, countries beset by armed conflict and serious human rights abuses. Some of the others, such as children from Pakistan, were escaping discrimination and poverty. Greek legislation recognizes the government's obligations to care for and protect unaccompanied migrant children. Under Greek law the government is supposed to appoint a guardian for each child to represent them in any legal or judicial proceeding, to hear the child's views prior to any decision-making, and to act in their best interests. But Human Rights Watch found that authorities in Lesbos often register unaccompanied migrant children as adults. Invisible as children, and outside of care arrangements, these children are particularly vulnerable to violence, exploitation, and abuse. The Greek Reception and Identification Service (RIS) is required to provide for the reception of third-country nationals entering the islands under conditions that guarantee human rights and dignity in accordance with international standards. New arrivals are brought to EU-managed asylum processing centers on the Greek islands, the so-called hotspots, for identification and registration. The RIS is responsible for identifying and registering people who belong to "vulnerable" groups upon their arrival, which should include unaccompanied migrant children. The agency is supported in doing this by the Greek police; EU agencies, such as the border agency Frontex; UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency; the International Organization for Migration; and medical nongovernmental organizations. RIS is responsible for referring unaccompanied migrant children to social services and providing them with information on their rights, including their right to seek asylum. In a July 10 letter to Human Rights Watch, RIS said that particular attention is given to the procedures for unaccompanied children who "receive specific information adapted to their age or maturity about their legal status and the procedural possibilities offered at subsequent phases of the process." In practice on Lesbos, though, Human Rights Watch found that RIS is failing to meet its responsibilities toward these children. "Zahid," a boy from Pakistan who said he was 16 when he arrived on Lesbos in March 2016, described the inadequate procedure during his first encounter with the authorities: When I arrived, I was 16 but they [authorities] wrote on the papers 19. They didn't even take me to the doctor. . They asked me my name, my age, and then they took my fingerprints. I told them I was 16. They separated me from the other people and took me where the unaccompanied children are [a restricted section for unaccompanied children inside the Moria hotspot]. They kept me there for 10 or 15 days and then they took me out again. They never explained to me why, they just took me out. Then I stayed with other people, outside [the children's section]. I don't know why they changed my age. I asked them many times and the only thing they told me is to sign some papers. Fifteen months after his arrival, Zahid, today 17, was still being treated as an adult by the authorities and his real age hadn't been formally recognized. Children Who Claim to be Adults Human Rights Watch spoke with six children in Lesbos who said they falsely claimed to be adults when they arrived in Greece. They did so, they said, because they feared detention or because they heard false information from smugglers or other migrants that registration as a child would lead to worse outcomes, such as separation from friends and distant family. When they realized the unpleasant consequences of being registered as an adult or because, finally, they were correctly advised, they said they told officials that they wanted to change their age to the correct one, but faced many obstacles. "Hassan," a boy from Afghanistan, said he was 15 when he arrived in June 2016: Before doing my registration, several Afghans told me 'don't give your real age because they are going to keep you in the children's section.' They [the authorities] told me 'you look underage, if you have papers show them to us.' I said I don't have any papers and because the others had told me to not say I'm a minor, I said I'm an adult. He said it took two other unrelated adults traveling with him to say he is an adult to convince the authorities. The inadequacy of identification procedures means that there is a serious risk that trafficked children are not recognized as such. Hassan, who is now 16, lived for more than eight months with the general population of the Moria camp, mainly unrelated adult single men. At the time of our interview, in May, he had been living for two months in a protected area within the Moria hotspot that accommodates young men between the ages of 18 to 22 and some of those whose ages are disputed, run by the RIS. He said his age had been formally recognized by the Greek Asylum Service (GAS), in the context of the asylum process, but was still pending recognition by the RIS. "[RIS told me] 'You are a guest in our space and we are not responsible for you anymore.' I just wanted to know what will happen to me and whether I'll be transferred to a house [for unaccompanied children] and go to school." According to nongovernmental groups and children interviewed, when detention measures for unaccompanied children were relaxed on the island of Lesbos at the end of 2016, and children were allowed to go in and out of the section for unaccompanied migrant children, many children who had initially given a false age and registered as adults because of fear of detention said they changed their minds, wanting to register their real age. Others sought to do so when they received proper information from nongovernmental groups, which instructed them to tell the truth. Inadequate Age Assessment When authorities are in doubt as to whether a person is a child, Greek law requires that they must first give that person the benefit of the doubt, operating on a presumption of childhood, and second, perform a comprehensive age determination. UNHCR and the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child have instructed countries not to base age determinations solely on the child's physical appearance or on a single medical test, but also to consider psychological maturity and the margin of error of medical exams (which can be up to five years), and to give the benefit of doubt in making a determination. In ethical terms, such exams offer no medical benefit and the margin of error is so broad that the exams can't establish what they are intended to do. Best practices in age determination require a multidisciplinary approach. Any medical testing should be non-intrusive. X-rays for age determination are increasingly regarded as a violation of medical ethics because they expose children to radiological testing for no medical reason. While an age determination process is ongoing, the person should not be detained or otherwise accommodated with unrelated adults. As of October 2013, a decision by the health minister (MD 92490/2013) established for the first time an age assessment procedure applicable within the context of what was then called the First Reception Service, now the RIS. The ministerial decision says that in cases in which there is justifiable doubt about the age of a third-country national, and the person may possibly be a child, they are to be referred to the RIS medical control and psychosocial support team for an age assessment. Initially, the age assessment will be based on physical appearance, such as height, weight, body mass index, voice, and hair growth, following a clinical examination by a pediatrician. In case the person's age cannot be adequately determined, the psychologist and the social worker will assess the person's cognitive, behavioral, and psychological development. If a pediatrician is not available or the interdisciplinary staff cannot reach any firm conclusions - and only as a measure of last resort, the decision says - the person shall be referred to a public hospital for specialized medical examinations, such as dental or wrist X-rays. Staff there are to explain clearly their aims and the procedures to the person being examined. In a July 10 letter to Human Rights Watch, RIS said that, "In any case, the principle of the child's best interests, equal treatment, and proportionality must prevail. During the age assessment procedure as well as in case of doubts after its completion, the minority presumption prevails." Human Rights Watch found that the age assessment procedure provided in Greek law is not followed in practice on Lesbos. All 14 people interviewed who told the authorities they were under 18 when they arrived said they were registered as adults following a cursory age assessment, which in most cases consisted of a visit to the local hospital and a quick examination of their teeth. None of the children who had gone through this medical examination had first, or indeed ever, been interviewed by a psychologist or a social worker for an age assessment. Even though the procedure provided in Greek law had not been followed, RIS registered them as adults. "Akash," who is from Bangladesh and said he turned 18 in March, arrived on Lesbos in the summer of 2016, when he was 17. He said the authorities registered him as 18 following a quick visit to the hospital. "In the beginning, they wrote I was 17 but then they took me to the doctor and wrote down 18." He said: When they took me to the doctor, the doctor examined my teeth in order to define my age. But I don't understand. There are people who have their wisdom teeth at the age of 17, others at the age of 18 and others at the age of 22. The doctor just examined my teeth. They changed my age [to 18] and took me out [of the children's section]. Akash said he lived for more than four months with the general population of the camp before being transferred to a protected area inside Moria run by the RIS for people between the ages of 18-22. In early June 2017, he was transferred again outside, with the general population, due to lack of space. His real age was never formally recognized. "I tried as much as I could, but they [authorities] never accepted my age," he said. Contesting Designation as an Adult Once children are registered as adults, either following a cursory age assessment procedure, or because they initially claimed they were adults, it is difficult if not impossible for them to change their status to that of a child. Under Greek law, after a RIS age assessment procedure is completed, the person should be informed in a language they understand about the reasons for the decision. They have a right to appeal within 10 days, but RIS requires anyone who files an appeal to provide an original ID or original passport proving their age, which should be officially translated or verified, within this period. All children interviewed said they faced practical difficulties in getting identification documents proving their age within the 10-day period. Human Rights Watch found that all appeals brought by children interviewed, were rejected by RIS. In rejecting the appeals, RIS disregarded the proven and objective difficulties for children to verify or officially translate the documents or to get legal assistance. Some children said they had no parents or relatives in their home countries to provide the documents, and others had refugee profiles that could put them at risk if they contacted their embassies or relatives in their home countries. For most, their only chance to seek to establish their age was at a later stage, during the asylum interview, conducted either by Greek Asylum Service (GAS) staff or officers of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO). Greek law sets out guarantees for children in that procedure, including the appointment of a guardian to protect the child's rights and best interests throughout the age determination procedure, and the guarantee that a person who claims to be a child should be treated as such until the completion of the age determination procedure. The law also explicitly provides the applicant with the benefit of the doubt even after the conclusion of the procedure if the person's age has not definitively been determined. Human Rights Watch found that when it comes to children who have been wrongly registered as adults by RIS, the asylum service does not deviate from RIS findings unless explicit proof is provided. In a July 12 letter to Human Rights Watch, the asylum service confirmed that it cannot change data recorded by RIS and the police during initial registration "unless the applicant produces compelling evidence (e.g. an original passport not presented to RIS or the police) to the contrary." The procedure before the asylum service can last for months, and while it is ongoing, children interviewed by Human Rights Watch were treated as adults. "Anush," a boy from Afghanistan who said he initially registered as an adult in August 2016, tried to get his real age - 16 - recognized during his asylum interview in February 2017: Because I told them I am a child, they didn't ask me many questions. Basically, they asked me why I came from Turkey and didn't stay there. The interview lasted for an hour. They asked 'Why didn't you stay in Turkey? Why you didn't go to UNHCR offices and register there?' I told them that when I was in Turkey, a guy [smuggler] had me as some kind of a prisoner and also because I am under age I couldn't have access to school or go to the hospital. A worker with a nongovernmental group supporting "Anush" with his case said: He provided his original birth certificate more than two-and-a-half months ago. We went to EASO, provided it, and registered him as a minor. The document was checked by Frontex as to whether it's original. After waiting for more than two months, Anush goes to renew his asylum card and is given an appointment for a second interview, as an adult. We go again today, and the EASO officer says in front of Anush, and the lawyer, that we need to do a new registration and that they had forgotten we already submitted the papers. Today, Anush lost completely his trust in the system and us. At the time of our interview, in May, Anush was living with the adult population of the Moria camp and his real age hadn't been formally recognized yet. In a July 12 letter to Human Rights Watch, the asylum service said that if it appears that the asylum seeker is a child traveling alone, its officers are instructed to treat the case as such. The officer is obliged to notify the public prosecutor, who will act as the temporary guardian, and the National Center for Social Solidarity. In more general terms, the asylum service said that its officers are instructed to conduct the asylum interview always bearing in mind the best interest of the child. Children at Risk Unaccompanied children are some of the most vulnerable migrants in the world; international and European human rights law, as well as EU law, recognizes that vulnerability, and obliges countries to provide unaccompanied children with care. International law stipulates that the child's best interest is a primary consideration in any decision affecting the child and that children deprived of their family environment are entitled to special protection and assistance by the state. The failure to carry out proper age and vulnerability assessments means that many children are not recognized as children. Most find themselves without appropriate accommodation and therefore sleep in conditions that are overcrowded, unhygienic, and a risk to their physical health and mental well-being. They stay in open spaces on the Greek islands in official and unofficial sites, share tents or container housing with adult strangers, and are exposed to frequent incidents of violence. They are unable to go to school or otherwise access education. On an ad-hoc basis, and depending on capacity, authorities on Lesbos place people who are seeking to prove they are under 18 in protected areas within the Moria hotspot. Some of the children interviewed were accommodated there at the time of the interview. But increased arrivals and overcrowding have resulted in transfers of these children to places outside of the protected areas. Others have been living in the open space with unrelated adult single men since their arrival. There are no reliable estimates of the number of children who may be registered as adults but who haven't been identified by nongovernmental groups or others or otherwise made themselves known to the authorities and are not receiving the special protection and care to which they are entitled under Greek and international law. Anthi Karangeli, the director of RIS, confirmed that the lack of dedicated space on the island for age-disputed cases is problematic. "We can provide them with special treatment to the extent that space allows us," she said. "Samil," from Afghanistan, said he was 14 when he arrived in Lesbos. He said he spent more than nine months living with the general population in the camp. At the time of the interview in May, it had been a month since he had been transferred, along with his 19-year-old brother, to the section for unaccompanied children inside Moria. He said his real age was formally recognized by the asylum service at the end of April: I spent nine months in the tentand now I've been one month here [section for unaccompanied children]. When we were living in the tent [with adults], every day we were living in fear because of the many fights. Intense fear. I've been injured on my shoulder during a fight. Our tent was in the middle and it had been broken and burned twice. I've reached a point where I harmed myself three times. Recommendations The Greek government should: Ensure that there are sufficient and suitable alternatives to detention and end the unjustified detention of unaccompanied children, which deters children from registering as such; Establish suitable separate reception facilities for young adults and age-disputed cases on the Greek islands and mainland Greece, and in the meantime, ensure that there are adequate and protected places in existing facilities; Train RIS officers conducting initial screening and other officials, including Frontex, the European Asylum Support Office staff, and Greek Asylum Service officers, to correctly identify unaccompanied children, trafficking victims, and children with special protection needs, and to refer them to services as warranted; Ensure that qualified interpreters assist unaccompanied migrant children; Provide unaccompanied children who are illiterate with verbal and age-appropriate information about their rights and entitlements in Greece as children; Ensure that all age determination procedures use a multidisciplinary approach that does not rely solely on appearance or medical or dental examinations. In the limited instances in which medical tests are carried out, use non-intrusive and non-invasive examinations to the extent possible; In the case of uncertainty, give children whose age is disputed the benefit of the doubt and treat them as children; Treat those with age assessment pending cases before the Greek Asylum Service as children, until their case has been finally resolved; Re-examine cases of anyone assessed as an adult following inadequate and summary age determination procedures and until then, treat them as children; Reform Greek law to ensure that anyone contesting designation as an adult has reasonable and adequate time to provide identification documents proving their age; Provide free legal assistance for unaccompanied children, including those who claim to be under 18, in all administrative and judicial proceedings; Expedite reunification processes for older children and, on an equitable basis, work with other EU member states to effect reunification in cases where the state's delay has meant that children reach 18 during the process. Copyright notice: Copyright, Human Rights Watch Lebanon: Deaths, Alleged Torture of Syrians in Army Custody Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 20 July 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, Lebanon: Deaths, Alleged Torture of Syrians in Army Custody, 20 July 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5970a7344.html [accessed 12 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Lebanese authorities should conduct an independent, thorough, and transparent investigation into the deaths of Syrians in military custody and allegations of torture and ill-treatment in detention, Human Rights Watch said today. On July 4, 2017, the Lebanese military issued a statement saying four Syrians died in its custody following mass raids in Arsal, a restricted access area in northeast Lebanon where many Syrian refugees live. On July 14, Human Rights Watch received credible reports that a fifth Syrian detainee had also died in custody. A doctor with expertise in documenting torture reviewed photos of three of the men provided by their family lawyers to Human Rights Watch, which showed widespread bruising and cuts. He said the injuries were "consistent with inflicted trauma in the setting of physical torture" and that "any statement that the deaths of these individuals were due to natural causes is inconsistent with these photographs." Human Rights Watch also spoke with five former detainees, who said that army personnel beat and ill-treated them and other detainees. A military officer told Human Rights Watch that the army was investigating the deaths and would publish its findings. "While the Lebanese army's promise to investigate these shocking deaths is a positive step, the promise will be meaningless without transparent and independent accountability for anyone found guilty of wrongdoing," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "Anyone who supports the Lebanese army should support efforts to tackle such serious allegations of military abuse." On June 30, the Lebanese army announced it had raided two unofficial refugee camps in Arsal that day, and was met with suicide bombers, a bomb, and a grenade, resulting in the injury of seven soldiers. On July 15, the army released a statement saying that it detained 356 people following these raids. It referred 56 for prosecution and 257 to the General Security agency for lack of residency. A humanitarian organization official told Human Rights Watch that children were among those detained. The Lebanese army regularly conducts raids on unofficial refugee camps in Lebanon, but has not responded to questions from Human Rights Watch about the purpose of these raids. The raids came amid calls from Lebanese politicians for the return of refugees to Syria and reports of an impending military operation against armed groups on the Syrian border near Arsal. Human Rights Watch has not been able to confirm reports that Syrians died during the raids themselves, but a source in Arsal said the municipality received nine bodies, not including the five men who were reported to have died in custody. The army's July 4 statement said that four detainees who "suffered from chronic health issues that were aggravated due to the climate condition" died before being interrogated. It identified them as Mustafa Abd el Karim Absse, 57; Khaled Hussein el-Mleis, 43; Anas Hussein el-Husseiki, 32; and Othman Merhi el-Mleis. The army did not specify where it had detained them. Human Rights Watch spoke with a family member and a close acquaintance of two of the deceased, who said that they had no known serious health conditions. Both said that the army gave no reason for the arrests and did not notify the families of the deaths. On July 14, Human Rights Watch received reports that a fifth Syrian detainee, Toufic al Ghawi, 23, died in detention after the army transferred him to the Elias Hrawi government hospital. A witness in Arsal who saw the body before burial said, "Toufic didn't look human anymore. His flesh was torn apart." Human Rights Watch has not received photographs of the body. Additional evidence supports the allegations of abuse and torture during the arrests in Arsal and at military detention facilities. A witness in Arsal told Human Rights Watch that he had seen 34 former detainees with marks on their hands, legs, and backs, and in one case, on a former detainee's head. Human Rights Watch spoke with five former detainees who said they were mistreated, physically abused, and denied food and water, along with scores of other detainees during four to five days of detention without charge before being released. Human Rights Watch wrote to the military on July 10 to verify the number of those arrested, injured, or killed during the army raids; those still in custody; and the conditions of their detention, but has not received a response. Human Rights Watch also requested permission to enter Arsal to interview witnesses, but has not received permission. An army officer told Human Rights Watch that the army was not allowing "media organizations" to enter Arsal. Human Rights Watch shared its findings with the military and military prosecutor. Under international law, Lebanon has an obligation to investigate deaths in custody and hold those responsible to account. Human Rights Watch and local human rights organizations have long documented reports of torture and ill-treatment by security services including the army. Impunity for violence is a recurring problem in Lebanon. Even when officials have initiated investigations into deaths, torture, or ill-treatment, they have often not been concluded or made public. Human Rights Watch is not aware of cases where military personnel have been held to account. "The Lebanese public and the Syrian families of those who died in detention deserve a clear accounting of what happened to them and punishment for those found responsible," Whitson said. "Unfortunately, Lebanese authorities have a history of opening investigations in response to public pressure, but failing to conclude them or publish the results." Photographic Evidence of Torture Human Rights Watch received 28 photographs of three of the deceased men, taken at the Elias Hrawi government hospital in Zahle, from the law firm representing the families of the deceased. The lawyers said they were not able to locate Othman el-Mleis's body. Dr. Homer Venters, director of programs at Physicians for Human Rights, who has expertise in documenting torture, reviewed the photographs and shared his report: The photos reveal widespread physical trauma of the upper and lower extremities. The lack of defensive wounds suggests that these injuries were inflicted while the victims were restrained or otherwise incapacitated and the distribution of these injuries are consistent with inflicted trauma in the setting of physical torture. Several of the photos are consistent with lacerations caused from being suspended by the wrists. It would be reasonable to conclude that the deaths of these men is the result of in-custody violence, although the precise cause of death cannot be predicted based on the information and photographs submitted. Any statement that the deaths of these individuals was due to natural causes is inconsistent with these photographs. Corroborating Evidence of Torture and Mistreatment of Arsal Detainees Human Rights Watch spoke with five former detainees from Arsal who said they were detained without charge for four to five days. They said soldiers handcuffed them, hooded them with their shirts, put them on the ground in the sun, and stomped or hit anyone raising their head. "I moved my head up slightly, and immediately a soldier hit me with his boot," one man said. The men said soldiers then loaded them onto trucks "one over the other, as if they're shipping potato bags," and took them to multiple detention sites including Rayak Air Base in the Bekaa Valley and the military intelligence and military police bases in Ablah. At Rayak Air Base, they said, army personnel held more than 100 of them in one room overnight, denied them food and water, and did not allow them to use the bathroom. "They would beat whoever asked to go to the bathroom," said a former detainee in his 60s. They said that army personnel at Rayak beat, insulted, and threatened them and others. "They beat people, some with batons, others with the butt of a gun," one said. "I saw one soldier on the outside poking one of the detainees from the window with a bent skewer. He beat him, then he started cutting his faceuntil blood came out." The men interviewed said they were finally transferred to General Security, the agency in charge of foreigners' entry and residency, who did not mistreat them and released them. The former detainees said that the army never told them why they had been detained. One former detainee, interviewed on July 11, said: "I had to leave my son behind [in detention]. To this day, I don't know what has happened to him." Lebanese law limits pre-charge detention to 96 hours. Medical Reports Human Rights Watch also reviewed medical reports for three of the deceased, dated July 1 and 2, and prepared by a forensic doctor at the request of the general prosecutor, concluding that they had suffered heart attacks and a stroke, and that the bodies did not show marks of violence. A lawyer representing the families said she had received permission from a Judge of Urgent Affairs for a forensic doctor to examine the bodies, conduct an autopsy, and take medical samples to ascertain the cause of death. After she took the medical samples to the Hotel Dieu hospital in Beirut for analysis, the lawyer said, Military Intelligence personnel there demanded she turn them over, by order of the Military Information Directorate. She handed them over after the general prosecutor, Samir Hammoud, instructed her to do so. Following the military's intervention, she said that the X-ray, CT scan, and autopsy results have not been released to her or made public. The investigation into the men's deaths is now before the military court, the family's lawyer said. Human Rights Watch has previously raised concerns about the independence, impartiality, and competence of the Military Tribunal, where the majority of judges are military officers who are not required to have law degrees, and where trials take place behind closed doors. Copyright notice: Copyright, Human Rights Watch Iran: Halt Drug-Related Executions Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 20 July 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, Iran: Halt Drug-Related Executions, 20 July 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5970a7ae4.html [accessed 12 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. The Iranian government should immediately halt all executions for drug-related offenses while parliament debates amendments to reform the country's drug law, Human Rights Watch said today. Parliament is expected to vote in two weeks on an amendment to the drug law that would drastically increase the bar for a mandatory death penalty sentence. "It makes no sense for Iran's judiciary to execute people now under a drug law that will likely bar such executions as early as next month," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "It would be the height of cruelty to execute someone today for a crime that would at worst get them a 30-year sentence when this law is amended." On July 16, 2017, parliament approved a proposal to amend Iran's 1997 Law to Combat Drugs to limit the death penalty for some nonviolent, drug-related offenses. However, parliament sent the draft legislation back to the parliamentary judiciary commission for a fourth time to deliberate the proposed changes for certain offenses. Under Iran's current drug law, at least 10 offenses, including some that are nonviolent, are punishable by death, including possession of as little as 30 grams of synthetic drugs such as methamphetamines. The law also mandates the death penalty for trafficking, possession, or trade of more than five kilograms of opium or 30 grams of heroin; repeated offenses involving smaller amounts; or the manufacture of more than 50 grams of synthetic drugs. On December 6, 2016, 146 members of parliament introduced a draft amendment that sought to replace capital punishment for drug offenses with imprisonment for up to 30 years, while allowing the death penalty if the accused or one of the participants in the crime used or carried weapons intending to use them against law enforcement agencies. The death penalty also would still apply to a leader of a drug trafficking cartel, anyone who used a child in drug trafficking, or anyone facing new drug-related charges who had previously been sentenced to execution or 15 years to life for drug-related offenses. Under pressure from the judiciary and administration, however, the judiciary commission retracted part of their proposed amendments on July 9. It added the death penalty for nonviolent charges of "production, distribution, trafficking, and selling" of more than 100 kilograms of "traditional" drugs such as opium or two kilograms of synthetic drugs such as methamphetamines. The commission also restored the death penalty for possession, purchase, or concealing more than five kilograms of "synthetic drugs." In both cases the death penalty would only apply where the accused had previously been sentenced to more than two years for drug-related offenses. On July 18, Hasan Noroozi, the commission's spokesman, told IRNA news agency that the commission is adding "possession, purchase or concealing" 50 kilograms of "traditional" drugs to the offenses punishable by death. On April 9, the commission proposed to apply the amendments retroactively, which would dramatically reduce the number of people currently on death row in Iran. In addition, on July 5, judiciary commission members asked the judiciary to suspend executions of drug offenders until parliament could vote on the bill. A Human Rights Watch review of the Norway-based Iran Human Rights Organization's database, which documents executions in Iran, shows that Ghezelhesar and Karaj Central prisons have not carried out any executions since the beginning of Ramadan on May 26, but that other prison authorities in Isfahan, Western Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, Sistan and Baluchestan, and Khorasan Razavi, have continued to execute people convicted of drug offenses. The group said that the authorities have executed at least 39 people since July 5 on drug-related charges. In mid-July, Human Rights Watch interviewed via smartphone applications six family members of prisoners who are on death row. They said that they are hopeful that the new law would spare their loved ones from execution. The mother of a man executed in Khoram Abad prison in Lorestan province on June 24, said, "If authorities hadn't executed my son today, [under the new law] he would have been sentenced to imprisonment." Iran has one the highest rates of executions in the world. According to Amnesty International, in 2016, Iran executed at least 567 people, the majority for drug-related convictions. In December 2016, Noroozi, the parliamentary judicial committee spokesman, urged parliament to amend the law, stating that 5,000 people are on Iran's death row for drug-related offenses, the majority of them ages 20 to 30. Human Rights Watch has repeatedly documented serious violations of due process, torture, and other violations of the rights of criminal suspects facing drug-related charges. Such flawed judicial proceedings heighten grave concerns about the application of the death penalty. Under article 6(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Iran has ratified, countries that still retain capital punishment may apply the death penalty only for the "most serious crimes." The United Nations Human Rights Committee, the independent expert body that interprets the covenant, has said that drug offenses are not among the "most serious crimes," and that the use of the death penalty for such crimes violates international law. Human Rights Watch opposes capital punishment in all circumstances because it is inherently inhumane and irreversible. "Parliament should resist any pressure to curb reforms to the drug law and move forward with a bill that better protects the right to life," Whitson said. "This would be the first step in addressing the epidemic of executions in Iran and a move toward abolishing the death penalty." Copyright notice: Copyright, Human Rights Watch Libya: Incitement Against Religious Minority Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 20 July 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, Libya: Incitement Against Religious Minority, 20 July 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5970a7de4.html [accessed 12 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. The Supreme Fatwa Committee linked to one of Libya's competing governments should repeal a discriminatory religious edict accusing `Ibadi faith followers in Libya of "deviance" and adherence to an "infidel" doctrine, Human Rights Watch said today. The government linked to the committee, the Interim Government based in Al-Bayda, and parliament have yet to respond publicly to this edict. In July 2017, the Supreme Fatwa Committee under the General Authority for Endowments and Islamic Affairs, the religious authority of the Interim Government, issued a religious edict or fatwa on the suitability of an `Ibadi preacher leading prayers in a mosque in the Nafussa Mountains, in western Libya. In the edict, the committee said that the minority sect of Islam was "a misguided and aberrant group. They are Kharijites with secret beliefs and infidels without dignity." Kharijites is used to describe Muslims who rebelled against the Caliphate in the early ages of Islam. "Religious authorities in Libya should stop pandering to extremists by castigating minorities in incendiary language," said Eric Goldstein, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "The Interim Government should repudiate this dangerous edict and affirm that all faiths and sects deserve tolerance and equal protection." `Ibadi Muslims number between 300,000 and 400,000 in Libya, according to the Libyan Tmazight Congress, an organization that advocates on behalf of members of the Amazigh community. The `Ibadi faith is practiced by Amazighs in the Nafussa Mountains, Tripoli, and the western coastal town of Zuwara. Amazighs constitute 5 to 10 percent of the Libyan population. Neighboring Tunisia and Algeria also have `Ibadi Muslim residents. On July 10, the Amazigh Supreme Council, a body representing some Amazigh communities in Libya, decried the edict, as did The Libyan Tmazight Congress. On July 18, more than 200 Libyan writers, academics, activists, politicians, and journalists signed a statement in response to the fatwa, stating they "categorically rejected the sectarian religious discourse, which divides Libyans and strives to disseminate hate speech." Attacks against religious minorities in Libya have gone unpunished since the end of the 2011 uprising against the strongman Muammar Gaddafi. In 2012, armed groups with radical ideologies, attacked religious sites across the country, including in Tripoli, Zliten, and Misrata, destroying several mosques and tombs of Sufi religious leaders and scholars. Authorities at the time failed to stop the attacks and made no arrests. In 2015, an armed group that pledged allegiance to the extremist group Islamic State (also known as ISIS) murdered 21 mostly Egyptian Coptic Christians because of their faith, in the vicinity of the central coastal town of Sirte. Armed conflict and insecurity have plagued Libya since May 2014, and caused the collapse of central authority and the emergence of three competing governments, including the Interim Government headed by Abdullah Al-Thinni, based in the eastern part of the country. Key institutions, most notably law enforcement and the judiciary, are either dysfunctional or unable to exercise their powers. Given widespread insecurity across the country and lack of central authority, there is a real risk of persecution and attacks against `Ibadi faith members, who can be easily singled out and targeted, no matter where they are located, Human Rights Watch said. The incendiary edict issued by the religious authority in eastern Libya was in response to a request from an individual in the Nafussa Mountains in western Libya, who asked about the suitability of praying "behind" a preacher who followed the `Ibadi faith. The Interim Government's religious authority, the General Authority for Endowments and Islamic Affairs, oversees the Supreme Fatwa Committee as one of its divisions, and pays the salaries of staff and committee members. The Libyan National Army forces under General Khalifa Hiftar and Libya's parliament, the House of Representatives headed by Agilah Saleh, support the Interim Government. The Government of National Accord (GNA), the only internationally recognized and UN-backed authority in Libya, is based in Tripoli. Copyright notice: Copyright, Human Rights Watch Syria: Key Concerns for Raqqa Battle Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 13 June 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, Syria: Key Concerns for Raqqa Battle, 13 June 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5970a9844.html [accessed 12 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. The United States-led coalition, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and other local armed groups should make protecting civilians and respect for human rights a priority in the offensive to retake Raqqa from the Islamic State (also known as ISIS), Human Rights Watch said today. The offensive was announced on June 6, 2017. Key human rights priorities for anti-ISIS forces should include: taking all feasible precautions to avoid civilian casualties and investigating alleged unlawful strikes; ensuring that no child soldiers participate in the military operation; respecting detainee rights; providing safe passage to fleeing civilians and providing sufficient support to displaced people; and increasing efforts to survey and clear landmines and explosive remnants of war. "The battle for Raqqa is not just about defeating ISIS, but also about protecting and assisting the civilians who have suffered under ISIS rule for three and a half years," said Lama Fakih, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "Coalition members and local forces should demonstrate concretely that the lives and rights of the hundreds of thousands of civilians in Raqqa are a parallel priority in the offensive. On December 23, 2016, Human Rights Watch shared recommended human rights priorities with the US Defense Department, the Syrian Democratic Forces, the People's Protection Units (YPG), and the local Kurdish police, known as the Asayish, all of which are expected to be involved in the offensive and related security operations. On February 16, Human Rights Watch shared the same recommendations with the new US defense secretary. Up to 400,000 civilians are estimated to remain in Raqqa governorate, and 160,000-200,000 in the city of Raqqa, which ISIS captured in January 2014. Human Rights Watch staff last visited the city in April 2013. Avoid Civilian Casualties; Investigate Unlawful Strikes Human Rights Watch has documented several missile and aerial attacks that caused civilian casualties and were carried out by US-led coalition forces in Syria since they began operations there in September 2014. Rising civilian casualties from US-led coalition strikes have heightened concerns about whether adequate precautions are in place. On June 2, Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) published its monthly civilian casualty report covering Syria and Iraq. The report found that: "To date, based on information available, CJTF-OIR assesses that, it is more likely than not, at least 484 civilians have been unintentionally killed by Coalition strikes since the start of Operation Inherent Resolve." During the same period, Airwars, a United Kingdom-based nongovernmental organization that monitors airstrikes, estimated that the minimum number of civilian casualties from US-led coalition strikes in Syria and Iraq was more than 3,800, approximately eight times the number reported by the coalition. Despite having the authority and funds, the US has done very little to compensate those injured by strikes or the families of those killed. US military officials have said that non-US coalition members are responsible for at least 80 of the 484 fatalities, but none of the other coalition members have publicly admitted responsibility. As a result, as of May, the US stopped confirming its own responsibility for specific civilian casualties. Related Content Coalition members should take all feasible measures to ensure the protection of civilians and civilian objects during military operations. This includes maintaining international standards and procedures designed to prevent civilian casualties, and robustly and transparently reporting airstrikes and enemy and civilian casualties. This also requires promptly, impartially, and, thoroughly investigating instances in which civilian casualties may have occurred as a result of those operations; and providing compensation for wrongful civilian deaths and injuries and appropriate "condolence" or ex gratia payments for civilian harm. Based on its experience monitoring the Mosul air campaign in Iraq as well as other coalition airstrikes in Syria, Human Rights Watch urges coalition members to: Maintain measures to require the maximum levels of target verification and authorization prior to all air and ground-launched strikes. A central decision-making node, such as the Combined Joint Forces Land Component Command - Operation Inherent Resolve's "Strike Cell" in Baghdad, should evaluate and approve each strike and provide additional targeting information and recommendations as necessary. Taking this step where practicable is one way to ensure that targeting officers are equipped with more information about the target and the potential risks to civilians before a strike is approved. Additionally, multi-level approval systems that incorporate and synthesize large amounts of information from the battlefield can help minimize civilian casualties; When operating in densely populated areas where civilians and combatants are comingled, commanders should take all feasible steps to minimize the harm to civilians and civilian objects. The use of munitions with large payloads of high explosives in populated areas should be limited. These munitions can have a wide-area destructive effect, and it is not possible when using them to distinguish adequately between civilians and combatants, almost inevitably resulting in civilian casualties. Where feasible, commanders should require terminal attack controllers, who have the authority to approve the release of weapons to maintain the highest level of direct control over each strike, including both seeing the target and the attacking aircraft. Commanders should also limit the use of indirect-fire weapons - mortars, artillery, and rockets - and using unguided munitions - meaning that the firing unit does not see the target, but relies on spotters to provide targeting information. In all cases, commanders and targeting officers should select weapons and specific munitions to minimize civilian casualties to the maximum extent possible; When conducting airstrikes, use all available means to verify the presence and location of combatants, as well as the presence of civilians in the immediate vicinity. Anti-ISIS forces should also take into account the increasing use of civilians as human shields by ISIS. Any estimates of potential civilian casualties before a strike should take into account that many civilians remain trapped in ISIS-held territory and may not be readily observable from the air or by using advanced targeting equipment. Because of this, to reduce the risk of civilian casualties, surveillance, intelligence, and reconnaissance assets under the control of members of the US-led coalition should, where possible, be dedicated to conducting pattern-of-life analyses and locating and tracking civilians moving in and out of potential and future target areas in advance of operations; Prior to conducting strikes, carefully and rigorously verify information received from partner forces, including other members of the US-led coalition, using all available sources of information - aerial observations, information collected by personnel and military hardware, etc. This step is critical to avoiding acting upon erroneous targeting information; Coalition members should individually, robustly, and transparently investigate credible reports of civilian casualties and make public detailed findings of all of their investigations. These investigations should use a full range of tools, including interviews with victims and their families, consultation with human rights groups, surveillance and targeting videos, and forensic analyses. The public findings of investigations should include an explanation of the accountability measures coalition members used, the redress provided to victims or their families, and the process through which coalition members determined whether accountability or redress measures were necessary; Redress should include compensation for wrongful civilian deaths and injuries and for harm to civilians. The coalition should develop effective systems for civilians to file claims for condolence or ex gratia payments and to evaluate the claims. If the investigation finds that serious violations of the laws of war occurred, it should refer those responsible for appropriate criminal prosecution. Ensure that No Child Soldier Takes Part in the Campaign In doing research in northern Syria in February 2014, Human Rights Watch found that, despite promises in 2013 from the Asayish and the YPG to stop using children for military purposes, the problem persisted in both forces. The internal regulations of both the Asayish and YPG forbid the use of children under age 18. International law sets 18 as the minimum age for participation in direct hostilities, which includes using children as scouts, couriers, and at checkpoints. In a positive development, on June 5, 2014, the YPG admitted that the problem continued and pledged to demobilize all fighters under 18 within one month. In July 2015, however, Human Rights Watch released further evidence that the YPG and its female branch failed to adhere to obligations not to use child soldiers. The YPG sent Human Rights Watch a response on July 22, 2015, pledging to "follow up" on the cases cited. In November 2015, when Geneva Call, a nongovernmental organization dedicated to promoting respect by non-state armed groups for international humanitarian norms, was in Syria, the official YPG spokesperson acknowledged that child recruitment was a persistent problem, but that the YPG was working to remedy the situation. In October 2016, when Human Rights Watch was in northern Syria, the spokesman said that child recruitment had gone down "to a minimum" and that children were not fighting on the front lines. Human Rights Watch urges coalition members to: Vet armed groups before assisting them, and monitor their compliance with international humanitarian law, including the prohibition on the use of child soldiers, and investigate any credible allegations of abuses; Make clear to the Syrian Democratic Forces and other forces that recruiting children as soldiers is unlawful even if they are not serving a military function; discipline officers who allow children to serve under them; and encourage the forces to provide former child soldiers all appropriate assistance for their physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration; and Commit publicly to ceasing coordination with or assistance to armed groups that recruit and fail to demobilize child soldiers. Respect Detainee Rights During field investigations in Syria in February 2014, Human Rights Watch documented that the Asayish arbitrarily detained people in areas under their control and mistreated detainees, including those accused of terrorism-related offenses. Human Rights Watch found in October 2016 that the SDF had seemingly arbitrarily detained medical personnel for providing assistance to ISIS. Arresting authorities should not presume that someone is affiliated with ISIS or otherwise suspected of criminal activity based simply on gender, age, religious sect, or tribal name. Suspects should only be detained if there is individualized suspicion that they committed a crime. SDF forces and local authorities should stress to commanders and soldiers that it is not permissible to detain medical personnel who provide medical treatment to enemy combatants. The forces and local authorities should investigate credible allegations of arbitrary detention, ill-treatment, and torture of detainees and hold those responsible accountable. Any screening of displaced people by the SDF or other security forces should last only a matter of hours, in a way that is nondiscriminatory and ensures civilian protection in accordance with the laws of war and human rights law. Anyone held longer should be treated as a detainee, meaning that their detention should have a clear legal basis, and they should be in an authorized place of detention. Authorities working at the screening centers should have basic technical training for their tasks, and the authorities should provide them with the adequate resources to screen people as quickly and safely as possible. The forces should transparently inform humanitarian groups about capacity and procedures at the screening centers. Other recommendations relating to screening include: The authorities should promptly notify the families of detainees of the whereabouts of their relatives and publish overall numbers of detainees; Authorities should make medical care, including first aid, promptly available to everyone at screening sites; Authorities running the screening centers surrounding Raqqa should locate them as far from hostilities as possible; Authorities should promptly identify vulnerable people and give them first priority for screening, including people needing immediate medical assistance, and provide them with any assistance needed. Unaccompanied children should be treated in an age-appropriate manner, and female staff should screen women and girls; Authorities should make every effort to keep any child held for screening with a parent, and should only question children in the presence of a parent. If authorities screen children and suspect that they were child soldiers, treatment should focus on rehabilitation and social reintegration, not detention or prosecution. Under international norms, officials should seek at all times to release, protect, and reintegrate children unlawfully recruited or used, without condition, and children should be rapidly separated from adult fighters and handed over to "an appropriate, mandated, independent civilian process." In all cases, children should be detained or imprisoned only as a last resort and for the shortest appropriate period, separately from adults; The authorities should allow independent protection monitors at all screening centers; and Authorities should ensure that people being screened are treated respectfully and that conditions in the centers meet international standards. Provide Safe Passage to Fleeing Civilians, Sufficient Support to Displaced People According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than 200,000 people have been displaced as a result of the Raqqa operation, and up to 160,000-200,000 are estimated to remain in the city, including 40,000 children. The laws of war require all parties to the conflict to take all feasible steps to evacuate civilians from areas of fighting or where fighters are deployed and not block or impede the evacuation of those wishing to leave. Human Rights Watch has previously documented that ISIS uses civilians to protect its forces from attack. Deliberately using the presence of civilians to protect military forces from attack is the war crime of "human shielding." The presence of ISIS fighters among civilian does not absolve anti-ISIS forces from the obligation to target only military objectives, however. The creation of humanitarian corridors and the issuance of effective advance warnings of attack to the civilian population do not relieve attacking forces of their obligation to distinguish at all times between combatants and civilians and to take all feasible precautions to protect civilians. Corridors and warnings do not permit forces to treat civilians who remain as combatants subject to attack. Staff from humanitarian organizations working to meet the needs of those affected by fighting in Raqqa have told Human Rights Watch that civilians there will require access to health care, especially sexual and reproductive health for women and girls, food assistance, and potable water. Aid groups anticipate finding that health facilities and water pumping stations may have been severely damaged due to airstrikes and will need to be repaired or alternatives found and that there is most likely a shortage of medical professionals in the city. Raqqa is seen as a high-risk area for cholera. People displaced by the fighting in Raqqa are sheltering in other parts of the governorate, as well as in Aleppo, Idlib, and to a lesser extent Hama, Homs, and Deir al-Zour governorates. Many are in camps for displaced people. In its May 23 Raqqa situation report, OCHA said that in mid-May reports emerged that local authorities prevented internally displaced people from Raqqa governorate from leaving Ein Issa camp by confiscating their ID cards and travel documents. Camp authorities have since indicated that these rules will not be enforced and that displaced people will be able to leave the camps if they find sponsors. OCHA also said that for security reasons, displaced people had been allowed to relocate to rural areas but not towns such as Tell Abyad, Ayn Arous, and Kobane and that their identity documents had been confiscated at checkpoints if they tried to go to the towns. It said: Restrictions on freedom of movement, as shown by the situation in Mabrouka and Ein Issa, continue to be of concern. Some 3,500 families had reportedly been using their cars as shelter outside Ein Issa camp waiting for the authorities to return their identity documents. Communication devices are confiscated upon entry to Mabrouka camp. SDF and other forces should ensure that civilians are able to flee areas of fighting for safety and to get aid, including in areas controlled by the Democratic Union Party (PYD)-led autonomous administration in northern Syria. They should ensure the safety and security of humanitarian relief personnel at all times. Local authorities should allow freedom of movement for all displaced people in areas under their control, including those who want to live or travel outside of the camps. Movement restrictions should only be imposed if "provided by law and necessary to protect national security, public order, public health or morals, or the rights and freedoms of others," as outlined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Increase Efforts to Survey and Clear Landmines, Explosive Remnants of War Improvised mines, other types of explosive devices, and remnants of war pose a significant threat to civilians and hinder recovery in places that were under ISIS control. ISIS-planted improvised explosive devices will likely pose a major threat to civilians in the battle to retake Raqqa from ISIS. During a five-day investigation in the city of Manbij from October 4 to 9, 2016, Human Rights Watch collected the names of 69 civilians, including 19 children, killed by improvised mines planted by ISIS in schools, homes, and on roads during and after the fighting over control for the city. The total is most likely much higher because Human Rights Watch was not able to collect information from all neighborhoods and villages. Hospital staff said that they had treated hundreds of people injured by improvised mines. Nearly all the incidents documented appear to have been caused by victim-activated improvised explosive devices. Local military and civilian authorities should raise awareness among the displaced about the threat of improvised mines and develop capacity to rapidly clear homes and residential areas of mines and remnants of war to facilitate the return of the civilian population. Copyright notice: Copyright, Human Rights Watch UN refugee agency 'shocked' by reported airstrike and casualties in Yemen Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 19 July 2017 Cite as UN News Service, UN refugee agency 'shocked' by reported airstrike and casualties in Yemen, 19 July 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5970ace24.html [accessed 12 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is becoming more flexible and mobile, the head of that mission today said, by focusing on rapid deployment of troops and air surveillance. The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in DRC, Maman Sidikou, said the mission, known by its acronym MONUSCO, will close five fixed bases at the end of the month in the North-Kivu province. "MONUSCO changes its mode of operations, as it continues to fulfil its mandate, that is, continuing to back Congolese authorities' efforts for civilians' protection," said Mr. Sidikou. The new operations are already underway in the Kasai province, where some 350 MONUSCO troops have been deployed. The Mission is setting up an early warning system, including to improve its access to people. "To make the device more effective, it would be critical that communities swiftly transmit all security-related information to MONUSCO," the Mission's military authorities said. In March, the UN Security Council extended the mandate of MONUSCO for another year, but lowered the approved number of military personnel and military observers from 19,815 and 760, respectively, to 16,215 and 660. The Council tasked the Mission, with, among other responsibilities, ensuring effective and dynamic protection of civilians under threat of physical violence, including by preventing, deterring, and stopping all armed groups and local militias from inflicting violence on the populations. Russian bill is copy-and-paste of Germany's hate speech law Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 19 July 2017 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Russian bill is copy-and-paste of Germany's hate speech law, 19 July 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5970ad514.html [accessed 12 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns a Russian bill that would force social networks to remove "unlawful" content within 24 hours of notification. It is based very closely on a law that was adopted in Germany on 30 June. The Russian bill shows that when leading democracies devise draconian legislation, they provide repressive regimes with ideas. Submitted to the Duma on 12 July by members of President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party, the bill's references to the German law are explicit. RSF repeatedly criticized the German law on hate speech in social media as it progressed though Germany's parliament because of its potential for abuse. "Our worst fears have been realized," said Christian Mihr, RSF Germany's executive director. "The German law on online hate speech is now serving as a model for non-democratic states to limit Internet debate." The German law has also inspired the United Kingdom. A UK parliamentary report in April cited the German example when it recommended making social networks pay large fines for failing to remove hate speech quickly enough. Growing censorship Passed on first reading, the Russian bill would invite Internet users to report "unlawful" content and would give social networks 24 hours to remove all originals and re-posts. Several Russian legislators have proposed making social networks pay fines of up to 50 million roubles (735,500 euros) if they fail to comply. To avoid being fined, social networks would be tempted to extend the scope of their censorship, especially as the bill's definition of what constitutes unlawful content is very vague. Social networks subjected to government scrutiny would be obliged to send all notified content to the authorities every three months. Subjugated Russian Internet The proposed law, which if approved could take effect in early 2018, would contribute to the subjugation of Russia's Internet. Several hastily-negotiated bills in recent months would step up censorship of search engines and messaging services and would restrict access to software for anonymizing communications and bypassing website blocking. "This proposed law would take mass Internet censorship one stage further in Russia," said Johann Bihr, the head of RSF's Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk. "The goal is clear - to further restrict freedom of expression and information in a country where the number of imprisoned Internet users doubled in 2016." Russia is ranked 148th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2017 World Press Freedom Index. Ukraine: flawed official investigation into journalist's murder a year ago Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 19 July 2017 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Ukraine: flawed official investigation into journalist's murder a year ago, 19 July 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5970ade34.html [accessed 12 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. >Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and Ukrainian civil society groups have issued a joint statement condemning flaws in the investigation into well-known Belarusian-born journalist Pavel Sheremet's murder in Kiev exactly one year ago and calling for a new investigation that is complete, impartial, and transparent. Sheremet was killed by the blast from a bomb placed under the driver's seat of the car he was driving on 20 July 2016. He was on his way to Radio Vesti, where he hosted a morning programme. Despite President Petro Poroshenko's promise to shed all possible light on Sheremet's shocking murder, the police investigation was marked by many flaws during the ensuing months. An alternative investigation by a group of independent journalists revealed that the police failed to question key witnesses and analyse surveillance camera recordings. Above all, the official investigation seems to have ignored the presence of a former member of the intelligence services outside Sheremet's home on the night that the bomb was placed under the car he drove. The joint statement by RSF, the Institute for Mass Information (RSF's Ukrainian partner organization) and thirty other organizations says: "The failure to promptly follow up on these leads and to secure relevant forensic video evidence puts into doubt the effectiveness of the investigation and undermines public confidence in it." Condemning the "legacy of impunity" for those who attack or murder journalists in Ukraine, the statement adds: "We are convinced that without a radical change in the investigation process, (...) the investigation will bear no result." Sheremet helped to set up several independent media in Belarus, where he began his journalistic career. A critic of President Alexander Lukashenko's regime, he spent several months in jail there before moving to Russia. He resigned from a Russian TV job in 2014, criticizing the Kremlin's propaganda about Ukraine, and move to Kiev, where he was working for Radio Vesti and the news website Ukrayinska Pravda at the time of his death. Ukraine is ranked 102nd out of 180 countries in RSF's 2017 World Press Freedom Index. South Sudan blocks two news websites Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 20 July 2017 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, South Sudan blocks two news websites, 20 July 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5970ae3b4.html [accessed 12 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is alarmed to learn that South Sudan's government has for the past three days been blocking Internet and mobile phone access to two reputedly reliable news media. Internet and phone users in South Sudan have not able to access the Sudan Tribune and Radio Tamazuj since 17 July because the National Communications Authority, which regulates the media, ordered them blocked. Information minister Michael Makuei Lueth told Reuters that they were being blocked because their reporting was "hostile" towards the government. "This blocking of two major news websites is intolerable and we ask the authorities to restore access at once," said Clea Kahn-Sriber, the head of RSF's Africa desk. "Access to news and information is a fundamental right guaranteed bu South Sudan's 2011 provisional constitution." The Sudan Tribune, a Paris-based news site, and Radio Tamazuj, an independent news radio station, are respected sources of news about Sudan and South Sudan that circumvent efforts by the governments of both countries to censor the media. According to Radio Tamazuj, the South Sudanese government is using ZTE, a Chinese communications company and Internet service provider, to block access both its website and its mobile phone service. However, its shortwave broadcasts can still be heard. Adil Faris Mayat, the head of South Sudan's state-owned national TV broadcaster, has meanwhile been detained for the past ten days without being allowed access to a lawyer. South Sudan has fallen 20 places in RSF's World Press Freedom Index since 2015 and is now ranked 145th out of 180 countries. Syria : Austin Tice's family appeal to his captors, to governments Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 20 July 2017 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Syria : Austin Tice's family appeal to his captors, to governments, 20 July 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5970ae9f4.html [accessed 12 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Skeyes Centre for Media and Cultural Freedom today joined the parents of Austin Tice, a US journalist who was kidnapped nearly five years ago in Syria, in asking the US and Syrian governments to act quickly so that he can return home as soon as possible. Debra and Marc Tice, who have campaigned tirelessly on his behalf ever since his abduction on 14 August 2012, issue their latest appeal at a news conference at the Press Club in Beirut in the presence of RSF and Skeyes Centre representatives. At the time of his abduction, Austin Tice was freelancing for such leading international media outlets as the Washington Post, McClatchy, CBS and the BBC. "Austin was taken captive three days after his 31st birthday," Debra and Marc Tice said in a joint statement at the news conference. "We can only imagine the things he was dreaming of doing - what he might have accomplished, enjoyed, and experienced during these five important years of his early thirties, including his graduation from law school. We are willing to engage with any government, group, or individual who can help us in our efforts to secure Austin's safe release." They also referred to the video posted on YouTube six weeks after his abduction that showed him blindfolded and handcuffed between armed captors. This video continues to be the only evidence that he did not die on the day he disappeared. "We now realize that the response to that video was not appropriate," they said. "No one, including us, asked about a next step to engage toward Austin's release. Realizing this horrible mistake, we now plead with those holding Austin to reach out to us again and give us another chance to communicate." Alexandra El Khazen, the head of RSF's Middle East desk, said: "Austin Tice is the only US journalist still held in Syria. It is thanks to his courage and the courage of other foreign and Syrian journalists that the Syrian civil war can be regarded as one of the best covered conflicts of all times." Pointing out that governments are required by international law to protect journalists, El Khazen added: "Like Austin Tice's parents, we ask the Syrian and US governments to do everything in their power to bring this journalist home." Skeyes Centre executive director Ayman Mhanna said: "Austin Tice's release would be a source of hope not only for his family but also for media freedom in the region and for all the other journalists detained or missing in Syria. His return would be a step towards a positive resolution of the conflict and towards an end to the Syrian people's tragedy." RSF has been assisting and advising the Tice family since September 2012. In February 2015, around 300 US news websites participated in the #FreeAustinTice campaign, which was designed to draw the public's attention to his plight. Syria has been the world's deadliest country for journalists for the past several years. Acts of intimidation, arrests, kidnappings and murders are all frequent and constitute a gruesome tableau. It is ranked 177th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2017 World Press Freedom Index. By Siraj Qureshi: The growing radicalisation of both Hindus and Muslims, the two dominant communities in India, has fuelled religious debates at many levels across the country. Muslim scholars believe that radicalisation can be combated by promoting communal harmony and walking the path as shown by Prophet Mohammad, who had visualized Islam as a religion of peace. Replying to a question whether Prophet Mohammad spread Islam by the might of the sword, Haji Mohammad Pathan, a Muslim scholar said that Islam directed its adherents for truth, justice, safety and compassion. He said that Prophet Mohammad invited people to embrace Islam not by force but through enlightenment to attain the love of the Almighty Allah. advertisement Asked how a single man converted a large population of Arabs belonging to different tribes into Islam without using force, he quoted Holy Quran's verse 'La Aqra-fi-Al-Din' (there is no place for force/compulsion) and said that Arabs were never coerced to accept Islam, rather, those who embraced it had undergone hardships and borne cruelties like being made to lie down on smouldering sand with heavy stones put on them; placed in burning coal; murdered; made to leave their country and property etc., by their rulers/headmen, but they remained undeterred from their faith in Islam. ORGANISATONS LIKE TALIBAN, AL-QAEDA UNISLAMIC When India Today asked him that despite Prophet Mohammad's peace and justice, negating violence and coercion, why Islamic outfits like Daesh, Al-Qaeda and Taliban were killing innocent people in the name of Islam, he equated these organisations to thieves and bandits, and said that they were not true Muslims as they were indulging in unislamic acts. Quoting two verses from Quran, 'Man Katal Nafsa vagair nabz vo fasaad fi Allah Razi Fakanima Qatl al Naash Zamiyan Wamin al Yaha fikanama Al Haya Al Naash Zamadiya' (murder of any innocent was called the murder of the whole humanity and saving a life was like saving the whole humanity) and 'Al Zaval ahun Ali Allah Man Katal Razal' (a religion which debars pointing of weapon could not support violence in any way), Haji Pathan urged the people to epitomise the life of Sufi saints like Khawaza Garib Nawaz, Hazrat Qutub-e-Alam, Shah-e-Alam, Sheikh Salim Chishti, etc. who stressed on humanity, communal harmony and ultimate love to the Almighty. PROPHET WAS FOLLOWER OF JUSTICE While highlighting commitment and perseverance to the Prophet, he quoted an instance when he waited for three days for a man who promised to donate him money, although later he had forgotten it in his daily chores. Moreover, the Prophet was a strict follower of justice and had not even spared his daughter 'Fatima' who was once found guilty of theft. Haji Pathan said that despite being the crowned prince of both worlds, Prophet Mohammad lived a simple and ascetic life having no beautiful house, good wardrobe or cozy beds. Hazrat Ayesha (RA) wife of Prophet Mohammad had stated that the bed on which Mohammad used to sleep was made of leather, filled with wooden bark instead of cotton and also that in the life of Prophet Mohammad, she had not seen any spell of continuous three days when the family had eaten to the fill. For months their hearth could not be lit. advertisement STATUS OF WOMEN He said that before Prophet Mohammad was born, the condition of women was very miserable and their status in the society was just like the servants of men, merely the means of carnal pleasure. However, the Prophet ensured good life and comforts for women besides their education and equality with men folk. In India, he said, both the Hindu and Muslim communities have shown various examples of communal harmony, especially in the Agra division, which is known for its principle of 'Sulh-e-Kul' propounded by emperor Akbar, who himself was a great religious scholar and a follower of Sufi saint Sheikh Salim Chishti of Fatehpur Sikri. Also read: Agra: Muslims call Amarnath terror attack a 'satanic act' Also read: FACT CHECK: Was a Hindu man tortured by Muslim mob for stopping them from abusing PM Modi? advertisement --- ENDS --- Venezuela: People must have access to health-care services at all times Publisher International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Publication Date 27 June 2017 Cite as International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Venezuela: People must have access to health-care services at all times, 27 June 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5970bce54.html [accessed 12 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Every time a fight breaks out, health-care services spring up in action. Doctors, nurses and ambulance drivers risk their lives on a daily basis to treat the sick and wounded. In such a scenario, attacks against the health-care workers disrupt the flow of services. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) spoke to four people from the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement to hear their thoughts on protecting health-care services Rudy Lukamba, ICRC doctor, Venezuela For Rudy Lukamba, health-care services are about making sure that people in need of medical treatment get the right treatment from the ones qualified to offer it. "Anything that gets in the way of that undermines its vital role," he says. Whenever there is a natural disaster, armed conflict or any other violence, many services can get suspended. But closing down a hospital or a doctor's surgery has serious consequences. "In some countries, we've seen services shut down because of attacks on hospitals, ambulances or health workers," he says. "Health-care facilities have to stay open. It's a matter of life and death." Carlos Ruiz Pinto, national director for health at the Venezuelan Red Cross Everyone needs to look out for health-care services because, as Carlos Ruiz Pinto points out, "You never know when you might need them yourself." We should always respect those working in health care and be careful about how we treat people. "The loss of even one nurse puts thousands at risk, let alone that of an ambulance or a hospital," Mr Pinto says. Rafael Uzcategui, head of first aid at the Merida branch of the Venezuelan Red Cross "It's important that people respect health-care services so that we can do our jobs. Their trust is vital," says Rafael Uzcategui. His team members have been raising awareness of what they do, what the different units are and what their uniforms look like. "This has made our work a lot easier. When people see us coming, they know why we're there and help us do our jobs." Mr Uzcategui talks regularly to the local community and authorities. "It's something we do all the time. In the past, this enabled us to get inside restricted areas and treat those who needed our help." Protecting first-aiders is protecting health care Remedio Romero, chairman of the El Tigre branch of the Venezuelan Red Cross "The people that provide first aid are part of the country's health-care services, and we need to respect them and the work they do," says Remedio Romero. He trains first-aid workers not only in the technical aspects of the job but also in how they can generate respect for health-care services and ensure they can work in safety. He wants to develop this training further. "When things get rough, I always remind my volunteers to stay calm, be patient and show humility in both asking for and providing help," says Mr Romero. "This is also what respect is about." More needs to be done to clarify the fate of over 1,600 people missing in relation to conflict in Kosovo Publisher International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Publication Date 28 June 2017 Cite as International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), More needs to be done to clarify the fate of over 1,600 people missing in relation to conflict in Kosovo, 28 June 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5970bd534.html [accessed 12 November 2022] Comments All reference to Kosovo should be understood in full compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244. Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. 1,658 people who went missing in connection with the 1998-1999 armed conflict in Kosovo are still being sought by their families. In recent years, very little progress has been made in ascertaining their fate; in fact, the process has slowed down considerably. The years go by, but the passage of time does nothing to ease the pain of the families. Many of them are growing old and frail,' said Christine Beerli, vice-president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). "They have a right to know what happened to their relatives. Their suffering must not be ignored. Ms Beerli was speaking to the participants of a round-table that took place today at the ICRC's headquarters in Geneva. The round-table was convened to revive the issue of missing people - a matter of great humanitarian concern, and a source of considerable anguish to the families concerned - and to discuss what must be done next. It was attended by members of the Belgrade and Pristina delegations to a working group on missing people and by representatives of associations of missing people's families. The working group was established in 2004 and is chaired by the ICRC. Over 1,800 cases of missing people have been resolved through its efforts. Authorities on both sides must step up their efforts, as per their obligations, and do everything possible to obtain all the information necessary," Ms Beerli said. "And the international community must do more to support the humanitarian efforts of these authorities. At the round-table, the ICRC reiterated its commitment to providing answers for the families of missing people. In the past eight years, information obtained by the ICRC from national and international archives played a crucial role in more than 70% of all the cases of missing people that were resolved. The ICRC also pledged to devote more resources to archival research in the future; in this connection, it said that it was counting on the cooperation and the support of all those concerned. The authorities in Belgrade and Pristina were urged to take the steps necessary to hasten the tracing process, and to provide much-needed support for the working group. Meet the Gambian migrants under pressure to leave Europe Publisher IRIN Author Louise Hunt Publication Date 20 July 2017 Cite as IRIN, Meet the Gambian migrants under pressure to leave Europe, 20 July 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5970c3544.html [accessed 12 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. The Gambia's leader of 22 years, Yahya Jammeh, used to give Gambians good cause for claiming asylum, even if the majority were fleeing poverty rather than persecution. But with the autocratic president's exit in January, Gambians' grounds for international protection have suddenly become shakier, making them prime EU targets for rapid return, although they are not the only ones. Gambians are one of the top nationalities among the 93,000 mainly West African and Asian migrants who have arrived in Italy already this year. The majority, as in preceding years, are unlikely to qualify for asylum. And yet Italy, like most EU states, has had little success in forcibly returning them home or persuading them to leave voluntarily. Italy's threat to close its ports to foreign rescue vessels at the end of June prompted the EU to come up with an action plan promising more support, not only in deterring migrants from crossing the Mediterranean, but also in stepping up returns of those already on Italian soil. Left to fester Ebrima Gaye was 17 when he disembarked a rescue boat in Pozzallo, Sicily in July 2016. He spent seven months in a centre for minors near Syracuse. After turning 18 in March, he was shunted around several times before being sent to the Frasca Centre in Rosolini. Like many of the 2,000 extraordinary reception centres (CAS) scattered across Italy, Frasca was once a hotel. A white behemoth of a building, it sits on top of a scrubby hillside on the outskirts of town. Residents congregate in a large living area with a pool table, where young men sit slumped on chairs, staring at their phones while daytime television babbles in the background. Others lie on their beds in dorms that sleep up to 30, immobilised by the stultifying heat and boredom. The centre is meant to be an "emergency" short-term facility, but the overwhelming demand on Italy's reception system means camps like this one have become holding pens, while migrants' asylum claims move through the glacial legal system. Some residents have been there for a year. Under Italian law, asylum seekers who have a residence permit can seek work, but residents reported that they had been forbidden from working while living in this centre. Gaye's asylum application was rejected in May and he is waiting to appeal the decision. Almost a year after arriving, the reed-thin boy glumly admits he regrets making the journey. Before leaving, Gaye worked as a barber in his home village on the banks of the River Gambia. "I am the firstborn son, so I contributed to my family, but the money I was saving was very small. Many of my friends had taken 'the back way' [the irregular route to Europe via the Sahel and Libya], so I decided to go," he said. But Gaye's savings only got him as far as Agadez in Niger, then he had to beg his family to send him $2,400 to complete his journey. Prisoners of hope Gambia's new government has received unprecedented amounts of development aid from the EU to tackle its "back way" exodus with youth training and job creation programmes. But none of the young Gambians IRIN spoke to were persuaded by the promise of what has been dubbed "New Gambia". "I spent a lot coming here," Gaye said. "I could have had a good business in Gambia, but now I've been here a year and I have gained nothing. So it is better I stay here and try to find something for my future first." In a camp for minors in Messina, IRIN found another Gambian, Yahya Damfa*, much of the same opinion. "I'm not thinking about returning anyway," said the 17-year-old. "I haven't heard of any improvement yet (in The Gambia), I think it will take some time. I tell myself, 'if I have made it to Europe I'd rather manage here'." Once migrants like Gaye and Damfa have crossed the Mediterranean, the financial and psychological costs of the often-harrowing journey make the prospect of returning home empty-handed too much to bear. They become prisoners of hope. That hope, however futile, combined with the EU's poor record on returns are the fundamental factors perpetuating Europe's migration crisis, believes Gerald Knaus, chair of the European Stability Initiative, a Berlin-based think tank. "Anybody from West Africa who makes it to Libya [and] survives the boat trip is in Europe forever, irrespective of whether they get refugee status or not. Unless this changes, the flow will continue," he told IRIN. Low return rates Last year, 12,000 Gambians arrived in Italy, but just 15 were forcibly returned, according to Eurostat figures. There is currently no readmission agreement with The Gambia. The Italian government attempted to negotiate one with Jammeh's government in early 2016, but was unsuccessful. The Ministry of the Interior did not respond to IRIN's request for information on whether new negotiations have started. Knaus is hopeful that the Italian government will seriously consider ESI's policy proposal, which is being released this week. The so-called Rome Plan is based on a premise of "return realism", explained Knaus, who was involved in drawing up the controversial EU-Turkey Agreement. Knaus' new initiative urges the EU and member states to accept that poor countries that rely heavily on remittances currently have nothing to gain from taking back their citizens. According to the Rome Plan, member states should offer migrant-sending countries a certain amount of legal access in the form of scholarships or work visas in return for taking back their nationals who do not qualify for protection. "Legal access has never before been linked to controlling irregular access," Knaus said. "With this [plan] you have less suffering, it benefits the development of the country of origin and it's in line with the Refugee Convention." For now, Italy's response to its clogged up asylum and migrant reception system has been a series of immigration reforms introduced by interior minister Marco Minniti in April. They include the creation of 16 new repatriation centres. But without more readmission agreements with countries of origin, detaining more irregular migrants in the new centres will be pointless, believes Flavio di Giacomo, a spokesman for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Italy. "By law, migrants will only be able to stay [at the repatriation centres] for 60 days," he told IRIN. "If they cannot be repatriated, they will get an order to leave by themselves. It will only increase Italy's irregularity problem." The bottom line is that most Gambian migrants, who are unlikely to qualify for international protection or be deported, face a future of trying to survive in Italy's informal economy. Hustling to get by In Catania and other Sicilian cities, each migrant nationality has a speciality: Bangladeshis clean car windscreens, young Nigerian women, most trafficked from Edo State, sell themselves, and Gambians push drugs. They loiter in alleyways in Catania's red-light district of San Berillo, sleep in derelict squats, and wheel their worldly possessions along the streets in shopping trolleys. One Gambian teenager, holding a can of beer, staggers over to slur a greeting to staff from Oxfam's Open Europe programme, which supports irregularised migrants in Sicily. Back in Muslim-majority Gambia, such behaviour would be taboo. Migrants like Mouhag Nyang, a 29-year-old Gambian, are completely reliant on charities to support their needs. Nyang, who arrived in Italy in 2014, has been living in a homeless shelter in Catania for the past two years since failing to qualify for protection. Nevertheless, he would rather stay in Italy than return home. "For me, I see Italy is better; here they give us a place to sleep. I would have nothing to go back to in Gambia. My uncle sold my family compound to travel [the backway]." Di Giacomo believes that helping more of these migrants to return home with at least a small amount of cash could go some way towards addressing the shame issue. "Nobody wants to return empty-handed," he explained. "AVR [Assisted Voluntary Return] is trying to solve this through reintegration packages worth 1,600 euros, plus they are given 400 euros in cash at the airport in Italy, so that there is a possibility to start again when they return." The EU's action plan urges Italy to partner with IOM to increase the use of AVR and reintegration procedures. However, only one Gambian has opted to return via the programme so far this year. IOM is working with the Italian Ministry of the Interior to raise awareness with migrants about the opportunity to leave voluntarily with financial support, but di Giacomo is worried about a surge in demand. "We can only assist a maximum of 2,500 AVRs," he said, adding that funding for AVR still represents only a small portion of the overall EU budget for returns. For Gaye, such an opportunity could go some way towards addressing a difficult homecoming. "We are all praying to go back to our homeland, but to go back without achieving nothing is going to be so hard for me," he said. "My family would not agree to that, it would hurt them so much. Nobody wants to go back a loser." *name changed The production of this article has received funding from the Migration Media Award, funded by the EU. The information and views set out in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the European Union. Neither the European Union institutions and bodies nor any person acting on their behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein. My Poor Uncle Publisher Institute for War and Peace Reporting Author Inas Mohammed Publication Date 11 July 2017 Cite as Institute for War and Peace Reporting, My Poor Uncle, 11 July 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5970c5444.html [accessed 12 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. It was the morning of December 8, 2012. As I did every day, I prepared breakfast before tackling the other household chores with my sisters. After that, I helped my mother wash the mound of dirty clothes that had accumulated because of the lack of electricity. And as usual, I checked for warplanes. Up on the roof of the house I could see one flying over the nearby towns. It carried out a raid on the village of Deir Sunbul and another on a village in Jabal Zawiya. I called my father and sisters to watch the aftermath of the bombing. In seconds, a whole village was obscured by smoke. We stayed on the roof, watching, until lunchtime. But when we were inside seated for the meal, we once again heard the sound of a plane. Maybe the same plane that had bombed Deir Sunbul had returned to target us? In the kitchen, my mother began to scream, "Where are you? The plane is back!" We all screamed with fear until the sound disappeared. Our screams were then followed by a big explosion that broke all the glass in our windows. My sister ran towards my mother; we thought something bad had happened to her. But thankfully she was unhurt. We went up to the roof again to see dust filling the neighbourhood like a volcano had erupted. We thought the mosque near our house had been struck. Suddenly, we looked up to the sky to see the plane still flying overhead. "Hurry to the shelter to hide!" shouted my father. We all headed to the shelter close to our house. Within minutes of our arrival, we heard another explosion, followed a moment later by the sound of screaming from our beloved uncle's house. My uncle was disabled; he had been wounded in the October 1973 war. The injury he sustained in his left leg meant he could barely walk, and so he could only work in his small shop right next to his home. My uncle supported not only his own family, but that of his son who had lost his job when he defected from the regime. My mother came out of the shelter to see my cousin screaming,"My father was injured, he lost a foot!" My mother returned to tell us that the plane had targeted my uncle's shop. We all rushed out to check on the uncle we love so much. We went to his house, but couldn't find him. He had already been rescued and taken away. The street was full of people helping the injured and taking them to hospital. We waited for any news about my uncle, and I tried to console his daughters. Someone came to tell us that my uncle was still alive, but his condition was very serious. His right leg had been amputated. When my grandmother heard the news, she fainted. After we splashed her face with water, she regained consciousness and said, "Take me to see my son." A relative came to take her to the hospital, and we stayed on the side of the road waiting for more news. A car carrying a dead man came. We thought it might be my uncle and rushed towards the car. It turned out to be a martyr from a neighbouring town who had fled bombing there and moved into the house next to my uncle's shop. He fled his town to die in ours; there are no safe places in Syria anymore. A few minutes later, I heard people shouting. "The plane is back in the sky, get out of the street," they screamed, running like crazy people. What does one do in this situation? Do you keep looking for survivors under the rubble, or do you run for your own life? We had to go back to the shelter. An hour later, my cousin returned. He had my uncle's amputated right leg with him, and he had brought it back to bury it. My uncle would now be completely disabled. In Syria, death is slow and amid life, you are slowly buried. Inas Mohammed is a 23-year-old mother-of-two. Forced to abandon her university studies because of the security conditions in Damascus, she now works as an editor in Radio Fresh. Copyright notice: Institute for War & Peace Reporting Maldives: Halt first execution in more than 60 years Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 20 July 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Maldives: Halt first execution in more than 60 years, 20 July 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5970c58b4.html [accessed 12 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. It was the morning of December 8, 2012. As I did every day, I prepared breakfast before tackling the other household chores with my sisters. After that, I helped my mother wash the mound of dirty clothes that had accumulated because of the lack of electricity. And as usual, I checked for warplanes. Up on the roof of the house I could see one flying over the nearby towns. It carried out a raid on the village of Deir Sunbul and another on a village in Jabal Zawiya. I called my father and sisters to watch the aftermath of the bombing. In seconds, a whole village was obscured by smoke. We stayed on the roof, watching, until lunchtime. But when we were inside seated for the meal, we once again heard the sound of a plane. Maybe the same plane that had bombed Deir Sunbul had returned to target us? In the kitchen, my mother began to scream, "Where are you? The plane is back!" We all screamed with fear until the sound disappeared. Our screams were then followed by a big explosion that broke all the glass in our windows. My sister ran towards my mother; we thought something bad had happened to her. But thankfully she was unhurt. We went up to the roof again to see dust filling the neighbourhood like a volcano had erupted. We thought the mosque near our house had been struck. Suddenly, we looked up to the sky to see the plane still flying overhead. "Hurry to the shelter to hide!" shouted my father. We all headed to the shelter close to our house. Within minutes of our arrival, we heard another explosion, followed a moment later by the sound of screaming from our beloved uncle's house. My uncle was disabled; he had been wounded in the October 1973 war. The injury he sustained in his left leg meant he could barely walk, and so he could only work in his small shop right next to his home. My uncle supported not only his own family, but that of his son who had lost his job when he defected from the regime. My mother came out of the shelter to see my cousin screaming,"My father was injured, he lost a foot!" My mother returned to tell us that the plane had targeted my uncle's shop. We all rushed out to check on the uncle we love so much. We went to his house, but couldn't find him. He had already been rescued and taken away. The street was full of people helping the injured and taking them to hospital. We waited for any news about my uncle, and I tried to console his daughters. Someone came to tell us that my uncle was still alive, but his condition was very serious. His right leg had been amputated. When my grandmother heard the news, she fainted. After we splashed her face with water, she regained consciousness and said, "Take me to see my son." A relative came to take her to the hospital, and we stayed on the side of the road waiting for more news. A car carrying a dead man came. We thought it might be my uncle and rushed towards the car. It turned out to be a martyr from a neighbouring town who had fled bombing there and moved into the house next to my uncle's shop. He fled his town to die in ours; there are no safe places in Syria anymore. A few minutes later, I heard people shouting. "The plane is back in the sky, get out of the street," they screamed, running like crazy people. What does one do in this situation? Do you keep looking for survivors under the rubble, or do you run for your own life? We had to go back to the shelter. An hour later, my cousin returned. He had my uncle's amputated right leg with him, and he had brought it back to bury it. My uncle would now be completely disabled. In Syria, death is slow and amid life, you are slowly buried. Inas Mohammed is a 23-year-old mother-of-two. Forced to abandon her university studies because of the security conditions in Damascus, she now works as an editor in Radio Fresh. Copyright notice: Copyright Amnesty International Malaysia: Bangladeshi human rights activist detained Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 20 July 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Malaysia: Bangladeshi human rights activist detained, 20 July 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5970c5d44.html [accessed 12 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. The Malaysian authorities must immediately release a distinguished Bangladeshi human rights activist and former prisoner of conscience and allow him to speak at and participate in a conference on the death penalty, Amnesty International said today. The Malaysian authorities at Kuala Lumpur airport detained Adilur Rahman Khan, the Secretary of Odhikar, a leading Bangladeshi human rights organization, this morning as he arrived in the country to speak at a conference on the death penalty. "The Malaysian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Adilur Rahman Khan and allow him to participate in and speak at the conference," said James Gomez, Amnesty International's Director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific. "There is no justification for detaining him whatsoever. It is an outrage that a human rights activist cannot even travel freely to speak on a key human rights issue. Moreover, we understand that he still has not been given access to legal advice and is at risk of being deported." "We are concerned that this arrest and detention is the latest target in a growing trend to impose travel bans on human rights defenders entering Malaysia." Adilur Rahman Khan's detention is the latest in a series of cases where peaceful activists have been barred from entering the country, including Hong Kong political activist Joshua Wong, Indonesian human rights defender Mugiyanto Sipin and Singaporean political activist Han Hui Hui. Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network, the organizers of the conference, said that Adilur Rahman Khan was the only foreign participant not allowed into the country. Human rights campaigners from Amnesty International are among those in attendance. Copyright notice: Copyright Amnesty International Human Rights Watch Submission to the Universal Periodic Review of Burundi Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 20 July 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, Human Rights Watch Submission to the Universal Periodic Review of Burundi, 20 July 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5970c68a4.html [accessed 12 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Summary In late April 2015, the announcement by the ruling National Council for the Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD) that Nkurunziza would stand for a third term ignited protests in the capital Bujumbura, and later in other locations. Many Burundians believed that the president's third term violated a 2000 peace agreement that sets a maximum of two five-year presidential terms. Police suppressed the protests violently, shot dead dozens of demonstrators, and injured many others. Following a failed coup d'etat by a group of military officers on May 13, the government intensified its crackdown on protesters. Police arrested hundreds of people, including suspected opponents, many arbitrarily, and detained them for prolonged periods without trial. The political and human rights crisis that gripped Burundi in April 2015 deepened in 2016, as government forces targeted perceived opponents with increased brutality. The situation did not improve in the first half of 2017. Security forces and intelligence services-often in collaboration with members of the ruling party's youth league, known as Imbonerakure-were responsible for numerous killings, disappearances, abductions, torture, rape, and arbitrary arrests. Armed opposition groups also carried out attacks and killed ruling party members. Dozens of dead bodies, some mutilated, were regularly found across the country. The identity of the perpetrators was often unknown. At least several hundred people have been killed, and more than 415,000 Burundians have fled the country since 2015, most to Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The government has shuttered Burundi's once vibrant independent media outlets and left its dynamic civil society in tatters, with most opposition party leaders, human rights activists, and independent journalists forced into exile after repeated threats. The justice system is manipulated by ruling party and intelligence officials and judicial procedures are routinely flouted. Since the 2012 UPR of Burundi, the prosecutor general's office has set up multiple commissions of inquiry into human rights abuses, usually following critical reports by Burundian and international human rights groups or the United Nations. The Burundian government has used these commissions to try to show international actors that the justice system is able to investigate reports of abuses. However, these inquiries were biased and misleading, largely exonerating security forces and failing to hold those responsible to account. Since the start of this crisis, earlier progress the country had made in instituting democratic and judicial reforms, and helping overcome the deep ethnic divisions which led to massacres and other grave abuses since 1993, has been seriously undermined. This submission provides an overview of the human rights situation in Burundi with emphasis on violations since the current crisis began in April 2015. The submission outlines continuing concerns. This document is not intended as a comprehensive overview of the human rights situation in Burundi. Killings by Security Forces and Ruling Party Youth Since the crisis began in Burundi in April 2015, at least several hundred people have been killed by government security forces or members of the ruling party's youth league, known as the Imbonerakure. One of the worst incidents was in December 2015. On December 11, opposition members, with support from some members of the military, attacked three military positions and a military training center in Bujumbura. Police, military, and armed Imbonerakure pursued the attackers into Nyakabiga and Musaga, two neighborhoods where residents had demonstrated in large numbers against President Pierre Nkurunziza's third term in 2015. In Nyakabiga, armed opponents engaged the security forces in a sustained gun battle. It is unclear how many were killed on each side. Police, military and Imbonerakure then forced their way into houses and ordered residents to show them where young men or combatants were hiding, some shouting ethnic slurs at Tutsi residents. They killed scores of people in Nyakabiga and Musaga and carried out large-scale arbitrary arrests. The following day, some victims were found lying side by side, face down; they appeared to have been shot in the back or the head. Then-Prosecutor General Valentin Bagorikunda set up a commission of inquiry into the December 11 events. Summarizing its main conclusions on March 10, 2016, he did not mention killings of Bujumbura residents by the security forces. He claimed that those killed on December 11 were armed "combatants" wearing police or military uniforms.[1] Before the current crisis began, in late December 2014 and early January 2015, the military and police, assisted by Imbonerakure, committed at least 47 extra-judicial executions following a clash with an armed group in Cibitoke province. Cibitoke borders the Democratic Republic of Congo where some Burundian armed opposition groups are believed to operate. The victims were members of the armed group who had surrendered, following gun battles with the security forces. Police, military, or Imbonerakure then shot or beat many of them to death. Valentin Bagorikunda also set up a commission of inquiry to investigate the killings in Cibitoke, but the commission members failed to talk to key witnesses. Some local authorities intimidated witnesses, especially those who they believed had spoken to "foreigners", and warned them not to talk about these events. The commission's report, published in April 2015, was deeply flawed and misrepresented information collected from some witnesses. It claimed that almost all the combatants died during the fighting, with the exception of three who were killed by policemen acting on their own initiative. It stated that these policemen were arrested. Recommendations Give clear and public instructions to the security forces and intelligence services that extrajudicial killings will not be tolerated and that any individual suspected of carrying out, ordering, or in any way participating in unlawful killings will be brought to justice. Investigate the role of individuals in the security forces and intelligence services alleged to have participated in or ordered unlawful killings and suspend them from active duty until investigations have been completed. If there is sufficient and credible evidence, ensure that these individuals, as well as other individuals involved in such killings, are charged and tried, according to due process and in conformity with Burundian law. Investigate and prosecute Imbonerakure members suspected of crimes. Strengthen the independence of the judiciary, reinforce witness protection, and guard against political interference. Torture and Disappearances In 2016, there was a sharp increase in reports of torture by the intelligence services and the police, particularly of alleged opposition sympathizers. Intelligence agents beat detainees with hammers and steel construction bars, drove sharpened steel rods into their legs, dripped melting plastic on them, tied cords around men's genitals, and used electric shocks. Many tortured or injured detainees were denied medical attention. Disappearances and covert abductions increased in late 2015 and early 2016. In December 2015, Marie-Claudette Kwizera, of the human rights group Ligue Iteka, was driven away in a vehicle thought to belong to the intelligence services. She has not been seen again. In late July 2016, Jean Bigirimana, a journalist with the independent newspaper Iwacu, disappeared after leaving his home in Bujumbura for Bugarama, in Muramvya province. Unconfirmed reports indicate he was arrested by the intelligence services. In early August, two decomposed bodies were found in the Mubarazi River in Muramvya, one of which was decapitated and the other weighed down by stones. There was speculation that one of the bodies could have been Bigirimana but local authorities buried the bodies before determining their identities. In July 2016, the UN Committee Against Torture held a special session on Burundi and raised serious concerns about torture and other violations. The Burundian delegation failed to show up on the second day to answer the committee's questions, instead sending a statement requesting more time to respond. The committee rejected this request and released its concluding observations in August 2016. On January 24, 2017, unknown men allegedly attacked Muyinga's military base, Camp Mukoni. Twenty people were put on trial - seven soldiers, 12 civilians, and one policeman. Many were badly beaten and tortured during interrogations by the intelligence service, witnesses told Human Rights Watch[2]. Recommendations Immediately call for a halt to torture, including by publicly ordering Imbonerakure members to stop illegally detaining and ill-treating people. Seek the assistance of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and humanitarian agencies to identify victims of abuse who need medical assistance, and provide the necessary assistance, including specialized medical care outside their detention site. Rape and Other Abuses by Ruling Party Youth Members of the Imbonerakure and police, sometimes armed with guns, sticks or knives, raped women whose male family members were perceived government opponents. In some cases, Imbonerakure threatened or attacked the male relative before raping the woman. Women often continued to receive threats after being raped. Imbonerakure and police raped women who attempted to cross into Tanzania, apparently to deter them from leaving Burundi.[3] Imbonerakure also set up roadblocks and check points in some provinces. They extorted money, harassed passersby, and, despite having no powers of arrest, arrested people they suspected of having links to the opposition. They also went door to door, extorting money from residents. In early April 2017, a video emerged on social media showing about 200 members of the Imbonerakure gathered in northern Burundi, singing songs encouraging the rape of political opponents or their relatives.[4] Incitement to hatred, violence, and rape, particularly by the Imbonerakure, has become common in Burundi, almost always without condemnation by Burundian officials. Mass Arrests Scores of opposition party members have been arrested, ill-treated, and illegally detained, and other detainees taken to unknown destinations. Police almost never produced warrants at the time of arrest. Ruling party officials, police, and Imbonerakure arrested at least 16 members of the opposition party National Liberation Forces (FNL) at a bar in Kirundo province in March 2016. The police claimed they were conducting a political meeting without authorization. Many more FNL members were arrested in later months. On March 8 and 9, 2014, 70 people, mostly members of the Movement for Solidarity and Democracy (MSD) opposition party, were arrested, many of them arbitrarily. On March 21, 48 MSD members received sentences ranging from two years to life imprisonment for various charges, such as "rebellion" and "participation in an insurrectionary movement." In recent years, many other MSD members were arrested in separate incidents, and accused of being criminals or of participating in an insurrection. In late January and early February 2017, Burundian authorities released 58 MSD members in the context of a presidential pardon, which was announced on December 2016. Large-scale arrests, many of them arbitrary, continued throughout 2016. In May 2016, police arrested more than 200 young men and students in Bujumbura's Musaga neighborhood. Residents said the police ordered them to produce identity cards and "household notebooks," an obligatory register of all people living in each house. Police beat some detainees with belts and truncheons. After a grenade attack in Bujumbura's Bwiza neighborhood in May 2016, the police detained several hundred people. Police spokesperson Pierre Nkurikiye told a local media outlet it was "normal" to arrest people near the site of a grenade explosion and "among those arrested, there may be perpetrators of the attack." Police officials said all those arrested were later released. Abuses by Armed Opposition Groups Local journalists and human rights activists reported several grenade attacks and killings believed to have been committed by armed opposition groups. Other armed opposition attacks appeared to be more targeted and covert. Unidentified people attacked several bars in Bujumbura and elsewhere with grenades. Burundian media reported that in May 2016, an attack on a drinks depot and bar in Mwaro province killed a judicial policeman and injured several customers. During the same attack, a guard at the ruling party offices in Ndava, in Mwaro, was also killed as the attackers attempted to burn down the building. Three men were arrested in connection with the attacks. In Bururi province, unidentified gunmen shot dead several ruling party members in April and May 2016, including Jean Claude Bikorimana, on April 9. Three ruling party members were among four people shot dead at a bar on April 15; another attack on the same night killed a ruling party member, Japhet Karibwami, at his home. Civil Society and Media The country's once vibrant independent media and nongovernmental organizations have been decimated. In October 2016, the Interior Minister banned or suspended 10 civil society organizations that had spoken out against government abuses. Most leading civil society activists and many independent journalists remain in exile, after repeated government threats in 2015 and arrest warrants against several of them. On January 20, 2015, Bob Rugurika, director of the private station Radio publique africaine (RPA), was arrested, days after his radio station broadcast a series of reports about the September 2014 murder of three elderly Italian nuns in Bujumbura. He was charged with conspiracy to murder, violating confidentiality in criminal investigations, harboring a criminal, and failing to uphold "public solidarity." The Court of Appeal ordered his release on bail on February 18. In late April 2015, soon after protests against Nkurunziza's third-term bid started, the government closed RPA. It also stopped two other private stations, Radio Isanganiro and Radio Bonesha, from broadcasting outside the capital, disabled their telephone land lines, and prohibited all three stations from broadcasting live from demonstrations. The day after the attempted coup d'etat, on May 14, 2015, people presumed loyal to the president attacked the offices of RPA, Radio Bonesha, Radio Isanganiro, and Radio-Television Renaissance. Armed men in police uniforms threw a grenade in Radio Bonesha's office and destroyed its broadcasting equipment. The pro-ruling party Radio Rema FM was also attacked. The government announced an investigation into these attacks, the results of which are not known. On August 3, 2015, an unknown gunman on a motorcycle shot leading human rights activist Pierre Claver Mbonimpa in the face, when he was in his car. Mbonimpa survived with serious injuries. An outspoken critic of government abuses, Mbonimpa, president of the Association for the Protection of Human Rights and Detained Persons (APRODH), had been arrested and detained for four months in 2014 when he was charged with endangering internal and external state security and using false documents. Mbonimpa's son-in-law, Pascal Nshimirimana, was shot dead outside his house in Bujumbura on October 9, 2015, and his son, Welly Nzitonda, was shot dead on November 6, 2015, after being stopped by the police. On August 2, 2015, members of the intelligence services severely beat Esdras Ndikumana, correspondent for Radio France Internationale and Agence France-Presse, as he was taking photographs at the murder scene of former intelligence chief Nshimirimana. Antoine Kaburahe, director of the independent newspaper Iwacu, was summoned to the prosecutor's office in Bujumbura twice in November 2015 in connection with his alleged complicity in the May coup attempt. Recommendations Allow civil society activists and journalists, as well as international human rights organizations, to carry out their work without obstruction. Create the conditions required to allow civil society members in exile to return home in full security. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights In April 2009, Burundi criminalized consensual same-sex conduct for the first time, despite opposition from the Senate and recommendations during the 2008 UPR that Burundi "reconsider the inclusion in the draft criminal code of the provision criminalizing same-sex sexual relations." Burundi also did not follow the recommendations made during the 2012 UPR to repeal these provisions. Article 567 of the penal code, which penalizes consensual same-sex sexual relations by adults with up to two years in prison, violates the rights to privacy and freedom from discrimination. These rights are protected by Burundi's Constitution and enshrined in its international treaty commitments. Recommendations Decriminalize consensual same-sex relations by revoking relevant articles of the Penal Code. Remove discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity from other laws and state policies, including Burundi's educational policy. Non-Compliance with UN Commission of Inquiry on Burundi In September 2016, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution to establish a commission of inquiry into human rights violations in Burundi since April 2015, and to determine whether they may constitute international crimes.[5] Burundian officials have so far refused to work with the commission. In June 2017, the Commission of Inquiry on Burundi stressed the "persistence of serious human rights violations," which it says are taking place "in a climate of widespread fear." The Commission added that their "initial fears concerning the scope and gravity of human rights violations and abuses" in the country since April 2015 had been confirmed.[6] Recommendations Cooperate with the Human Rights Council-mandated Commission of Inquiry on Burundi and allow its members unhindered access to the country and relevant sites and people. [1] RTNB Burundi, "Enquete menee par Resultats d'une Commission ad hoc sur les allegations d'execution extrajudiciaire," March 10, 2016, video clip, Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=048rI7c0vgw (accessed June 28, 2017). [2] "Justice in Burundi: Torture First, Prosecute Later," Human Rights Watch dispatch, February 3, 2017, https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/02/03/justice-burundi-torture-first-prosec.... [3] "Burundi: Gang Rapes by Ruling Party Youth," Human Rights Watch news release, July 27, 2016, https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/07/27/burundi-gang-rapes-ruling-party-youth. [4] "A Vile Side of Ruling Party Youth League Members," Human Rights Watch dispatch, April 7, 2017, https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/04/07/vile-side-ruling-party-youth-league-.... [5] "Act Swiftly to End Impunity in Burundi," Human Rights Watch dispatch, September 28, 2016, https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/09/28/act-swiftly-end-impunity-burundi. [6] "Burundi: Persistence of serious human rights violations in a climate of widespread fear," Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights press release, June 15, 2017, http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=21752&L.... Copyright notice: Copyright, Human Rights Watch President-elect Ram Nath Kovind, too, comes from a humble background as President Narayanan. They both had their share of struggle before they started on the path to success in life. By Santosh Chaubey: India's President-elect Ram Nath Kovind is only the second Dalit President of the country. He won comfortably by cornering 66 per cent of the Presidential electoral college vote while his rival, another eminent Dalit politician, Meira Kumar got 34 per cent votes. The result of the presidential election held on July 17 was just a requirement for Kovind to take over India's apex constitutional job and the coveted Rashtrapati Bhavan at the Raisina Hills in Delhi. But since he is the second Dalit President in the country, he would obviously be compared with the first Dalit President of India, K R Narayanan who was in office from 25 July 1997 to 25 July 2002. advertisement Former President K R Narayanan, described by Jawaharlal Nehru as the best diplomat of the country, was known as a pro-active President with an official run that saw landmark active presidential interventions, three of which stand out, his flat no to the then BJP led Atal Bihari Vajpayee government on the Constitution's review in favour of the Presidential System in India, his conscious decision of returning the Union Cabinet advice on imposing the President's Rule in states and his advocacy for weaker sections for their under-representation in the Indian judicial service. THE CONSTITUTION'S REVIEW The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee had to dilute the terms of reference of the National Commission that it had constituted for the Constitution's review in 2000. After stern message from Narayanan who would go on to say that "we should examine whether the Constitution has failed us or we have failed the Constitution", that any Constitution review process could only be undertaken within its basic framework, preserving the sanctity of the Parliamentary System of India, the Atal Government was forced to change the basic mandate of the National Commission from 'the 'Constitution's review to review the working of the Constitution' with an assurance that the 'review will be done without interfering with the basic structure of the Construction'. The other most visible change that the former President's tough stand brought about was on who was going to head the National Commission to review the Constitution. Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his deputy L K Advani, reportedly, had requested former President R Venkataraman, a strong proponent of the Presidential System, to head the National Commission. But Narayanan's reservations on the Presidential System, coupled with objections from the BJP allies like DMK and TDP on Venkataraman, forced the government to shed the idea. Then it zeroed in on the name of the former Chief Justice of India (CJI) and former National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Chairman M N Venkatachaliah. But Justice Venkatachaliah only agreed to head the commission after he was given assurance that the basic structure of parliamentary framework of the Constitution would not be touched and his decision would prevail in recruiting the other ten members of the Commission. REFUSED TO APPROVE IMPOSITION OF PRESIDENT'S RULE IN UTTAR PRADESH AND BIHAR This one is a fine example to see how President Narayanan rose above party politics to upheld the dignity of the post that required, theoretically, unflinching loyalty to the Constitution and unwavering impartiality in dealing with the political parties irrespective of the President's previous political affiliation. advertisement In October 1997, President Narayanan returned the union Cabinet decision on imposing President's Rule under Article 356 in Uttar Pradesh for reconsideration. The United Front Government was led by Congress's I K Gujral. It didn't matter for Narayanan while returning the decision that he was a career Congress politician brought into politics by Indira Gandhi and was a Union minister in the Rajiv Gandhi cabinet. Gujral government respected his decision and the BJP-led UP government of Kalyan Singh escaped the dismissal. Almost a year after it, in September 1998, Narayanan returned the Union Government's file on imposition of the President's Rule in Bihar. The government in centre was of BJPs', led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee which had recommended the dismissal of the RJD government in Bihar led by Rabri Devi. In a series of dramatic developments, the Rabri government was able to demonstrate that numbers were in its favour - 182 MLAs in a legislative assembly of 325 members. The then NDA government had based its decision on imposing the President's Rule in Bihar citing corruption and Constitutional breakdown in the state but the clear majority in the Bihar assembly in Rabri Devi's favour could not override President Narayanan's conviction that dismissing an elected government in the case would be akin to acting against people's mandate and thus violating the spirit of the Constitution. The Atal Government didn't press further. advertisement These two decisions of President Narayanan remain unparalleled in the Indian political history. They effectively established the credibility of the institution of the President of India that it was not mere a decorative position with a rubber-stamp President to follow the diktats of the government of the day but an institution that housed the soul of the Indian Constitution. ADVOCACY FOR WEAKER SECTIONS IN THE INDIAN JUDICIARY K R Narayanan was vocal about under-representation of Dalits in the higher judiciary. He would often question the judges' appointment and transfer process in the High Courts and the Supreme Court, something that even invited confrontation with the judiciary. Narayanan on record had said even if deserving candidates from the weaker sections were available, they were ignored. He had written in November 1998, "I would like to record my views that while recommending the appointment of Supreme Court judges, it would be consonant with constitutional principles and the nation's social objectives if persons belonging to weaker sections of society like SCs and STs, who comprise 25 per cent of the population, and women are given due consideration." advertisement Making his point, he further wrote, "Eligible persons from these categories are available and their underrepresentation or non-representation would not be justifiable. Keeping vacancies unfilled is also not desirable given the need for representation of different sections of society and the volume of work which the Supreme Court is required to handle." Though the then CJI strongly refuted it ruling out any caste-based discrimination in the appointments in the higher judiciary, two successive CJIs, A M Ahmadi and J S Verma, had failed to recommend elevation of any High Court Dalit Justice to the Supreme Court, before CJI M M Punchhi recommended Justice K G Balakrishnan who was then the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court for the Supreme Court in March 1998. After the strongly-worded suggestion from Narayanan, the judicial circles started trying to figure out whom the President was referring to but CJI A S Anand, who succeeded Punchhi refused to elevate Balakrishnan as he was 53 then while the minimum age for the elevation to the Supreme Court was 55 as per the judicial convention being followed. Though exceptions could have been made for meritorious candidates, the Supreme Court Collegium ruled out doing so in Balakrishnan's case who was finally elevated to the top court in June 2000 after he turned 55 in May 2000. LIKE NARAYANAN, KOVIND, TOO, COMES FROM A HUMBLE BACKGROUND President-elect Ram Nath Kovind, too, comes from a humble background as President Narayanan. They both had their share of struggle before they started on the path to success in life. Kovind though may not have as illustrious a career as Narayanan had who was an IFS officer, a career diplomat, a union minister and the Vice-President before becoming the President of India, he has been a successful lawyer, practicing in India's apex court for years. And like Narayanan, he has also earned a reputation of playing by the rule book while being Governor of Bihar. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is all praise for him the way he has discharged his gubernatorial responsibility in the state. Like Narayanan, he has been speaking for the weaker sections going as far as to join agitation against laws that he considered anti SC/ST. His clean and non-controversial record will only help him. Let's see if he can follow in the footsteps of K R Narayanan, extending the legacy of the Presidents who restored the credibility of the institution. In his post-victory speech, an emotional Kovind said he was going to the Rashtrapati Bhawan as a representative of every Indian citizen who worked hard to arrange for an evening meal. Let's see where his conscience drives him. ALSO READ: Ram Nath Kovind elected India's 14th President, to take oath on July 25 Ram Nath Kovind's journey from a leaking mud-house to the palatial Rashtrapati Bhavan President-elect Ram Nath Kovind: PM Narendra Modi's first reactions on Twitter ALSO WATCH VIDEO: --- ENDS --- Body cameras for the Mooresville Police Department have arrived. Find out when they will be used. Mooresville-Decatur Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was 'gladdened by the extensive support' for Ram Nath Kovind among the Members of Parliament and across various states, whose MLAs voted today. By India Today Web Desk: In his first reactions on Twitter on Ram Nath Kovind winning the presidential election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the NDA nominee and wished him a "fruitful & inspiring tenure". "Congratulations to Ram Nath Kovind Ji on being elected the President of India! Best wishes for a fruitful & inspiring tenure," tweeted PM Modi, shortly after the Dalit leader won by an emphatic margin by securing over seven lakh votes. advertisement Modi said he was "gladdened by the extensive support" for Ram Nath Kovind among the Members of Parliament and across various states, whose MLAs voted today. "I thank members of the electoral college," Modi added. The Prime Minister also congratulated the losing nominee, Meira Kumar, and hailed the presidential election as a representation of India's democratic ethos. "I also congratulate Meira Kumar Ji for her campaign, which was in spirit of democratic ethos & values we all are proud of," he tweeted. BJP president Amit Shah also posted his congratulatory message on Twitter and called Kovind's victory historic. "Congratulations to Shri Ram Nath Kovind ji for emphatic victory in the 2017 Presidential elections. His victory is truly historic," Shah said. Also read: Ram Nath Kovind elected India's 14th President, to take oath on July 25 All you need to know about Ram Nath Kovind, 14th President of India Ram Nath Kovind set to enter Rashtrapati Bhavan: What do you know about the Raisina Hill palace? Ram Nath Kovind vs Meira Kumar: How votes are counted and President-elect is declared BJP's presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind: An ardent dog lover ALSO WATCH | Presidential polls: BJP leaders confident of Kovind's win --- ENDS --- More than 30 representatives of 140 families evicted by Phnom Penh authorities from their homes in the capitals Borei Keila area gathered on Thursday outside government offices to press for better compensation for their loss. The families had been moved following the January 2012 destruction of their homes for commercial development to Phnom Bat, an area 25 miles away in Cambodias Kandal province described by evictees as lacking running water, markets, hospitals, and schools. Sometimes I cant catch frogs or crabs [to eat], and I have to cut my hair to sell to support my family. I can only buy two kilograms of rice to cook each day, Kim Sarann, one of the Phnom Bat representatives, said on Thursday. Some days, we dont even have enough money to buy the water we need, Sarann said. I am asking Samdech [prime minister Hun Sen], who hears what I am saying now: Please pay attention to us. We are destitute! she added. The families eviction from their homes by the politically-connected Phanimex Co. five years ago followed a deal struck in 2003 by Hun Sen in which the firm agreed to construct ten new apartment blocks to accommodate displaced residents, sources told RFA in earlier reports. Phanimex built only eight of the buildings, though, and on Jan. 3, 2012 the homes of the 384 families living in Borei Keila were razed and the residents sent to settlements far from the capital in Tuol Sambo and Phnom Bat. Gathering outside Cambodias Ministry of Economy and Finance and Phnom Penh municipal offices on July 20, protesters from Phnom Bat demanded compensation of U.S. $5,000 per family and asked to be moved to one-room houses in Kandals Aung Dan village, an area better able to support their needs. Alternatively, grants of U.S. $10,000 per family would allow them to run businesses to support themselves in Phnom Bat, they said. Speaking to RFAs Khmer Service after meeting with city officials, protesters said they were promised that Phnom Penh governor Khoung Sreng would go personally within the next two weeks to inspect living conditions in Phnom Bat. If he fails to do this, they said, protesters will return to demand action from the prime ministers cabinet. Reported by Savi Khorn for RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Savannarith Keo. Written in English by Richard Finney. The former president of Cambodias opposition party has come out in support of a proposal to grant immunity to outgoing heads of state after Prime Minister Hun Sen dismissed it as a wicked trick meant to suggest his ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) will lose a general election set for next year. On July 15, veteran politician and former senior official of the royalist Funcinpec Party Lu Laysreng wrote a letter to Hun Sen and Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) President Kem Sokha, proposing that the leaders of the two parties controlling parliament draft a law guaranteeing immunity from prosecution for all prime ministers after leaving office. Hun Sen immediately rejected the proposal in a statement published by government-aligned Fresh News the following day, calling it a serious insult to the CPP that might appear as if [the ruling party] is preparing to lose the election, while the opposition party is about to seize victory. The proposal is wicked trick to make the public mistakenly think that the incumbent prime minister has been making serious mistakes, which is why he would support such a law, said the head of Cambodia, now in his 33rd year of leadership. He went on to slam the waning political power of the Funcinpec party since its success in the countrys 1993 election, and accused Lu Laysreng, who is now aligned with the CNRP, of ill intentions. The CPP won last months commune elections, but the CNRP received nearly 44 percent of all votes to the ruling partys 51 percent, in an outcome that many see as a bellwether for next years ballot. Speaking to RFAs Khmer Service Wednesday from France, where he has lived in self-imposed exile since 2015 to avoid questionable defamation charges, former CNRP President Sam Rainsy said such legislation was necessary to avoid conflict in the event of government change. We had better create this law, even though now some individuals may feel ashamed to [initiate it], he said. Our country is truly in need of such a law to ensure the smooth transfer of power and further progress of our democracy. Sam Rainsy also questioned why Hun Sen was no longer interested in being granted immunity, noting that the prime minister had been the one to propose a similar law during power-sharing negotiations held amid a post-election stalemate between the CPP and CNRP in 2013. Hun Sen personally proposed [at the time] thatshould the CNRP initiate such a law to protect the leaders of the ruling party from any [future] prosecution in the event of a power transfer [via election] to the CNRPthe CPP would definitely support it, he said. But [Hun Sen added that] it appeared improper to have the CPP initiate the law. Sam Rainsy said that negotiations centered on reforming the National Election Committee (NEC), the nations top electoral body, and the leadership of the National Assembly, or parliament, and the proposal was dropped. Responding to Sam Rainsys support for such a law, CPP spokesperson Sok Ey San echoed earlier statements from Hun Sen and called the proposal a bid by the CNRP to lure the ruling party into a trap. Even if the law is drafted by the CNRP and submitted to the National Assembly, he said, CPP lawmakerswho hold 68 parliamentary seats to the oppositions 55will not support it. The CNRP has yet to comment on whether it intends to pursue the proposal by drafting legislation for the National Assembly. Need for law Cambodian political analyst Chan Vibol told RFA that a law granting immunity to the outgoing prime minister would promote a spirit of compromise between Cambodias politicians in the event of a power transfer next year. There is a saying that when the water is rising, fish eat the ants, but when the water is receding, the ants eat the fish, and in this kind of political cultureshould power change handsCambodia will never enjoy any harmony, he said. Creation of such a law would help to resolve that kind of culture. We dont want to see revenge among politicians. But other experts have questioned the need for such a law, saying it could undermine the existing system. Ou Virak, a political analyst who heads the Future Forum think tank, recently told the Phnom Penh Post that the proposed law would incentivize bad behavior, and that he believed more substantive efforts were needed to build trust between the parties ahead of the election. If we did [pass this proposal], the prime minister could do whatever he wants, Virak said. To solve the problems we have at present, [we have to] demand our politicians have some flexibility, and give each other the confidence to take steps toward national unity. Political analyst Sok Touch told the Khmer Times that the proposal was a moot point because such mechanisms already exist. In the case that the prime minister does something wrong, the National Assembly has the right to vote for dropping the immunity of the prime minister, he said. If the prime minister holds his position until the end of his mandate, that means that he has not done anything wrong, so there is no need for this law. Reported by Chandara Yang for RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Sovannarith Keo. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. BJP's presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind and his family are fond of stray dogs and have been nurturing half a dozen dogs. By Ahmad Azeem: BJP's presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind is known for holding a variety of posts in the Indian polity, however, very little is known about his personal life and interests. Kovind, who was appointed the Governor of Bihar in 2015, stayed with his family in 144 North Avenue, New Delhi. He stayed there with his wife, daughter, son and daughter-in-law before assuming the office. advertisement Interestingly, his family comprised of few other members who stayed right outside house. These members were the stray dogs his family adopted. These dogs have been a significant part of Kovind's family. There are six dogs that are being nurtured by the family. Interestingly, the canines have been given very amusing names like, Lily, Kaalu, Kishmish, Katti, etc. Kovind's family takes care of these dogs religiously. Their daily routine involves feeding them nearly 2 litres of milk, chappatis and chicken. When one of the dogs get injured, the family goes out of its way to treat them. In case of injuries, the family rushes the dogs to the hospital. According to one of the house maids in the neighbourhood, one of the dogs named Kaalu suffered injuries and Kovind's son took him to the nearest hospital. There are nearly six dogs that are being nurtured by Kovind's family. The same maid added that once one of the dogs was captured by the dog catchers and the family rushed to its rescue. Neighbours said that family's love and devotion was returned by the dogs in the form of utmost loyalty. The stray dogs are always watchful and on guard and prohibit strangers from entering the plot. As Kovind appears all set to win the presidential election, a big question lingers over whether these dogs will be seen strolling at the Rashtrapati Bhavan? Also Read: Before Ram Nath Kovind vs Meira Kumar, a look at biggest, closest victory margins in presidential elections Like it or not, Ram Nath Kovind is all set to be your next President Advantage Ram Nath Kovind vs Meira Kumar today: All you need to know about Presidential Election ALSO WATCH: Dalit leader Ram Nath Kovind outruns big faces in Presidential Elections --- ENDS --- Millions of migrant workers who travel to work in China's richest cities are increasingly raising their voices in protest over discriminatory practices by local schools, using legal channels to argue that their children should be able to come along too. China's migrant workers are stuck with an unenviable choice; leave their children behind when they go where the work is, or take them along and risk disrupting their education. Cheng Hai, a rights lawyer who has supported migrant parents' campaign for equal access to schooling, said China's own laws require schools to offer education to all children. "In our country, primary school education is compulsory education," Cheng told RFA. "Therefore, compulsory education must also be unconditional in terms of the place of residence of children who follow their parents [outside their hometown]." He hit out at recent rule changes making it harder for migrant children to get school places in Beijing. "Any additional conditions are illegal, and in violation of the Compulsory Education Law," Cheng said. "This behavior by local government is an abuse of official power." Earlier this month, dozens of migrant parents faced off with police outside the Beijing municipal government buildings after they went to protest that local schools were turning their children away. Schools in the capital city are now requiring parents to have formal contracts with employers and fixed accommodation, which doesn't jibe with workers who are taken on at a day rate and are often forced to go where the work is at short notice. Reformed Hukou system Under the pre-2014 system, which dated back to the Mao era of collective farming and a planned economy, every household accessed services from its place of registration, posing huge social problems for China's hundreds of millions of migrant workers and their families. The reformed hukou system was supposed to be based on a person's place of residence and job, rather than their birthplace, and officials promised at the time that the transfer of hukou registrations to another place would become possible. But the promises haven't made life easier for migrants in practice, they told RFA. Before the reforms, parents needed to produce proof of residence, a family residence booklet, temporary residence permits for Beijing and a household registration document. In 2014, the city government said migrants were now required to produce proof of employment in Beijing. Parents say some schools have added their own bureaucratic hurdles for migrants, with some demanding more than 20 pieces of documentation. On , around 100 parents in the northern Beijing suburb of Changping staged a protest after their children were denied places in Huilongguan primary school in the district. Parents said they were given so little notice, that they now no longer have time to enroll at another school. No appeals process Professor Lan Yun of the Texas Institute of Technology's education department said the demonstrations showed the government hadn't thought through the implications of its actions. "There should be an appeals process when it comes to changing school districts," Lan said. "It's far too rushed to make a decision of this magnitude with just five days to spare." Lan said state schools in China should also be regulated by the central government when it comes to the fees they can charge. "There has been a law regulating compulsory education in China for nine years now," Lan said. "But forcing property developers to build new schools, or to make it clear what sort of educational provision there will be for children living in the area isn't the way to achieve this. "This comes within the remit of the government, not the property developer." Calls to the Beijing municipal government rang unanswered on the day of the protest. Migrant workers who move to towns and cities to seek work in factories say they are often treated as unwelcome interlopers, while their children are vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. China has nearly 20 million children aged under 14 who have followed their migrant-worker parents to cities, according to the China Children and Teenagers Fund. In , the deaths of five "left-behind" children of absent migrant workers in a dumpster in the southwestern province of Guizhou caused a public outcry. Reported by Yang Fan and Lin Ping for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. A North Korean employee works in a bank at the Joint Industrial Park in Kaesong just a few hundred yards north of the demilitarized zone that separates the two Koreas, Dec. 19, 2013. North Korean authorities are forcing all workers in factories and firms to obtain cash cards as a measure of convenience for receiving their salaries or purchasing items, though the cards will not likely replace the widespread use of cash in the isolated country, sources said. Authorities are pressuring workers in the capital Pyongyang and in the provinces to pay 2,000 North Korean won (U.S. $0.25) to receive cash cards, said a source from Yanggang province, who requested anonymity. They are encouraging them to use cash cards for deposits and withdrawals, he said. Though having a cash card from the countrys central bank has been considered a symbol of wealth up to now, ordinary residents who get one are worried about being ripped off by the regime of leader Kim Jong Un, he said. So they are hesitating to have one issued, the source said. The Central Committee is forcing managers and workers in factories and firms to have cash cards issued, even though managers dont understand the necessity of their use because they are accustomed to dealing with cash, he said. The use of the cash cards, also known as debit cards, appears to be limited to certain geographical areas because there are few opportunities to use them outside the capital and provincial cities, the source said. Cash cards can be used in Pyongyang, but there are no facilities or systems for them in rural areas, he said. Starting in August, employers will deposit workers salaries directly into cash-card accounts, said a source from Chagang province, who declined to be named. Secondary payment method Oil providers, water vendors, and gas vendors in provincial capital cities will be able to use cash cards, he said. ATM machines are located in Central Bank branches and post offices [in main cities] in every province for cash withdrawals, he said. A cash-card system is being installed for train ticketing services beginning in August, and others should be set up soon in every department store, library, movie theater, and pharmacy, making it essential for people to have a card, the source said. All peoples units [neighborhood-watch units] ask for Chinese currency when they collect money, he said, because paying with won is not popular and just about everyone in North Korea wants hard-to-get foreign currency. North Korean currency cash cards will only be a secondary method of payment though, and will not entirely replace the use of cash, especially in black markets where paper money is the only form of accepted payment, he said. Debit cards are nothing new in isolated North Korea. Residents of Pyongyang have been using electronic payment cards for purchases, according to a November 2012 report by the English-language Korea Times. One of the debit cards is offered by Koryo Bank as part of a joint venture with China, and the otherthe Narae cardwas issued by the Norths Foreign Trade Bank in 2011, the report said. The cards, which require prepayments in hard currency that is automatically converted to North Korean won when settlements are processed, are accepted by many hotels and department stores, especially those frequented by foreigners, such as diplomats and representatives of humanitarian organizations who work there. Reported by Sunghui Moon for RFAs Korean Service. Translated by Leejin Jun. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. By PTI: New Delhi, Jul 20 (PTI) Citing the case of former Calcutta high court judge C S Karnan, the government has once again asked the Supreme Court collegium to review the present document on appointment of judges, according to a senior government functionary. Secretary (Justice) in the Law Ministry has written to the Supreme Court Registrar General pointing to the July 5 judgement of the apex court in which two judges had called for the need to revisit the process of selection and appointment of judges. advertisement Referring to certain paragraphs of the concurring order on the Justice Karnan contempt case, the government has asked the collegium -- a body of Indias five top judges that clears judicial appointments to the high courts and the Supreme Court -- to review the memorandum of procedure. Judicial appointments as of now are being carried out based on the old MoP. After a bench headed by Justice J S Khehar ruled in December, 2015 in favour of a fresh Memorandum of Procedure (MOP) -- a document which guides appointments and elevation of Supreme Court and high court judges -- a new draft was sent to the collegium by the law ministry. After several rounds of talks, the collegium had once again sent back the draft to the law ministry reiterating its objections on various clauses. One of the clauses rejected by the collegium is on national security on which government wanted a right to reject recommendation for appointment as a judge. The judiciary had also objected a clause that calls for setting up a secretariat for vetting and clearing names for judges before the collegium takes them up. Parliament had passed the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act (NJAC). But the law, which sought to scrap the two-decade old collegium system was struck down by the apex court in October, 2015. In a separate order in December, 2015, the bench asked the government to come up with a fresh MoP in consultation with the CJI. PTI NAB ZMN --- ENDS --- The Reynolds Culinary Institute proposed for Richmonds East End has received $1 million pledges each from the Virginia Sargeant Reynolds Foundation and the Lipman Foundation. In addition, two other foundations, the Mary Morton Parsons Foundation and the Cabell Foundation, have issued challenge grants, offering to match donations dollar for dollar. The gifts were announced late Wednesday at a private event hosted by businessman Steve Markel and his wife, Kathie, to showcase the project and architectural renderings with key supporters. Richmond prides itself on being a food town and having a real top food scene, having great restaurants. It just makes sense that we should have one of the best culinary schools in the region as well, Markel said. The building and the kitchens inside the building truly will be modern state-of-the-art, with four amazing kitchens. One of them is a stadium seating-type kitchen that will allow demonstrations to take place. The technology in the building will be state-of-the-art. There will be a public courtyard on the first floor and a market kitchen to engage the community in the program and offer the community the opportunity to take advantage of what is going on in the school, Markel said. The Virginia Sargeant Reynolds Foundation was created from the estate of the late Virginia Sargeant Reynolds, the mother of J. Sargeant Reynolds, who was Virginias lieutenant governor when he died of a brain tumor in 1971. The Lipman Foundation was created in 1985. Mary Morton Parsons founded the Mary Morton Parsons Foundation in 1988. Robert G. Cabell III and Maude Morgan Cabell founded the Cabell Foundation in 1957 to support charitable organizations in Virginia. The culinary institute will cost an estimated $11.5 million and is proposed for a parcel at 2500 Nine Mile Road. Things are on track. We still hope to break ground sometime this fall with a loose time frame of finishing substantive completion sometime in the summer of 2019, said Joe Schilling, spokesman and special assistant to the president at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College. That includes both startup costs and an endowment that will kick off monies to subsidize both operations and scholarships for our students, Schilling said. The cooking school is part of a proposed development in Church Hill North at North 25th Street and Nine Mile Road that will include restaurants, apartments and retail space including a full-service grocery store in the supermarket-deprived East End. Architectural and design plans show the Reynolds Culinary Institute building with brick red-colored concrete exterior walls accented with gray painted steel and large expanses of clear windows on upper floors. Brooklyn, N.Y.-based ONeill McVoy Architects is the architectural firm on the project. The new culinary institute will be able to accommodate 700 students, more than double the programs current enrollment. The culinary program currently operates at the schools downtown Richmond campus. Wednesdays event was also intended to bring together potential partners in the project, Schilling said. Partnerships in the culinary space in Richmond, our sustainable agriculture and horticulture programs, will have a large footprint in the new facility, he said. According to documents presented in March to the Urban Design Committee of the Richmond Department of Planning and Development Review, the culinary school will have 23,000 square feet. Also as part of the complex, there will be 11,200 square feet of space for privately operated restaurants, 49 apartments totaling 50,796 square feet, and 7,800 square feet for retail space. A farm-to-table greenhouse showcasing how locally grown food is used in meal preparation is to be part of the school. WOODFORDIf hed had the chance, Paul Duke knows he would have served in the Army. Tank commander, he said, his voice soft and almost inaudible compared with the ventilator that keeps air pumping through his lungs. He is surrounded, in his room, by military paraphernalia: models of tanks, posters of war planes, videos of military documentaries and dramas, an autographed photo of Gen. Calvin Waller, second in command during Operation Desert Storm to Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf. He comes by his interest naturally: Both of his grandfathers served in World War II. Anything on military history, Paul is quite the buff, said his mother, Cheryl. He spent a lot of time during the first and second Iraq wars communicating by email with guys who were in the Army and Marine Corps there, said his father, Bill. Paul also is surrounded by the reality of his life at his familys Caroline County home: He lies in a hospital room, his body immobile and small from years of decline. A nurse is close by, and, of course, theres the hum of the ventilator attached to a tracheotomy tube inserted into his throat. Paul has needed a ventilator for 27 years, and five years ago he went on a feeding tube. He started using a wheelchair when he was about 12, but even that hasnt been of much use in recent years after he developed a compressed sciatic nerve, which made it so he could sit for only short periods. Paul has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a genetic disorder characterized by progressive muscle degeneration and weakness that primarily affects boys who usually, according to the Muscular Dystrophy Association, do not live beyond their teen years. Paul, now 47, has defied the odds. Cheryl is only half-joking when she tells people she has a medical degree from Duke University Paul Duke University. We would not be the people we are today had we not been given Paul, she said. Both of us were teachers, and we cared about our students, but there was not this level of understanding and concern and a desire to advocate for people with disabilities for justice and rights. Not that were out there marching and this kind of thing. We take a different path of educating people. Knowing what they had experienced, the Dukes Bill, Cheryl and most especially Paul, who despite his lack of independence has made helping others his mission launched a Virginia travel guide in 1989 for people with disabilities. Several editions later, the guide grew to more than 600 pages before printing costs became too expensive. It is now exclusively online in a digital version. The guide exists now as Accessible Virginia (www.accessiblevirginia.org), and it provides an invaluable resource for travelers with disabilities, said Caroline Logan, director of communications for Virginia Tourism, which links to Accessible Virginia through its website, www.virginia.org. Im just in awe of what theyve done, said Frank B. Atkinson, chairman of McGuire Woods Consulting and a partner with McGuireWoods law firm who was a student of Bill and Cheryls in the 1970s in Caroline County public schools and later became a family friend. McGuireWoods and McGuireWoods Consulting have been longtime sponsors of Accessible Virginia, and the law firm has provided pro bono legal services. They and their son have turned a challenge into not only something thats beneficial to others but almost a lifelong pursuit in terms improving opportunities for other disabled folks, Atkinson said. Its really a great example of turning trials into a real triumph. Keeping the Accessible Virginia website updated and afloat is of great concern to the Dukes Were each 71 years old, and were not going to be doing this for too many more years personally, Bill said. We need to get Accessible Virginia to a point that it can stand on its own, and we can bring in someone to take over from us but so is keeping themselves financially afloat. Decades of mounting medical bills have exhausted the Dukes retirement savings, a small inheritance and more, Cheryl said. Real estate and property taxes, combined with a $5,000 medical bill, left the Dukes in June uncertain whether they could make their next mortgage payment. Our financial situation has gone from dismal to dire, she said. High school friends have set up a GoFundMe campaign to help Paul (www.gofundme.com/paulduke). *** The Dukes live at the end of a long, unpaved driveway in an old farmhouse that belonged to Bills grandmother and before that to William Flegenheimer, a country doctor who never charged more than $3 for an office visit, Bill said. After the death of the physicians wife, Bills grandmother became his housekeeper and cook. Doc wanted to send me to medical school, Bill said. I said, No way in heck. I dont do well with blood. He wound up as a math major at Virginia Tech and taught high school advanced math, while Cheryl primarily taught history in middle school. Upon Flegenheimers death in 1967, he left the house to Bills grandmother, and before she died, Bill and Cheryl purchased the house from her. Their home is just down the road from the National Park Services Stonewall Jackson Shrine, the small outbuilding on a former plantation in Guinea Station where the Confederate general spent the final days of his life after being wounded in battle and having his left arm amputated. Paul was not diagnosed with Duchenne until age 6. Until then, his parents thought his different manner of walking may have been his attempt to imitate a grandfather who had rheumatoid arthritis. He wasnt the most graceful soul in the world, but he was quite active until about 10, Bill said. Then it became harder and harder for him to be ambulatory. We never shielded him from what was going to happen, said Cheryl. He knew that he was going to go in a wheelchair. He knew from going to muscular dystrophy camp. That showed him there was life after wheelchair. He would see older guys in wheelchairs. They were really good role models. He knew what was coming, but we werent ready, to be perfectly honest. First, Paul used a manual chair, but eventually his hands and shoulders weakened to the point he could no longer propel himself, which led to an electric-powered chair. At a party for his 20th birthday, he began having trouble breathing. His lips and fingernails turned blue, and his parents drove him to a hospital in Richmond where at one point he went into cardiac arrest. He died in my arms, Cheryl said. As Paul was wheeled into surgery, a resident physician jumped onto the gurney and performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation to restore his heartbeat. Paul survived, but from that point on life came attached to a ventilator. On the bright side, home ventilators at the time were becoming less clunky and less daunting to operate, enabling families to care for their loved ones at home. During the first six months after Paul went on the ventilator, he and his parents traveled 15,000 miles in a van, conducting training sessions for hotel chains interested in making their facilities more accessible for customers with disabilities. All of a sudden, Paul became a poster child for how you can live on a ventilator, Bill said. *** The spark that really set the Dukes on a path to becoming specialists in accessible travel came on an eye-opening 1984 family trip to Nova Scotia, where they were directed to a local chapter of the Canadian Paraplegic Association, which had produced an extensive guide for travelers with disabilities. After Paul began using a wheelchair, the Dukes had prepared for family outings by calling ahead and asking pointed questions about accessibility. After going out on a few forays and having difficulty about places being accessible and Paul not being able to get in, I developed my list of Moms questions, Cheryl said. But sometimes we did not get accurate information. Wed get to the place and there would be three or four steps (to get in), and Id say, I thought you said it was accessible, and theyd say, Oh sure, its accessible once you get up those steps youre fine. Thats when I learned that accessibility is in the eye of the beholder. But in Nova Scotia, years before the Americans with Disabilities Act became law, the Dukes found a place that was both accessible and welcoming. We got to Nova Scotia, and there were people with disabilities all over the place, Cheryl said. Pauls going, Im not the Lone Ranger out here. This is great! They sought out the local director of the Canadian Paraplegic Association and found accessibility was pitched as a business issue: The association convinced businesses that if they made themselves more accessible, they would start getting customers with disabilities. The experience inspired the Dukes to contact Virginia Tourism when they came home to see if the state had such a guide for those with disabilities. The answer: No, but thats a great idea. Why dont you do it? So, they did. They gathered a small amount of funding, sent out questionnaires to businesses and attractions based on Cheryls Moms questions that she used to ask before her family traveled and using the responses published a guide of 99 pages. Virginia Tourism distributed the free guides through state visitor centers, and the Dukes gave them out to disability organizations and by request. Virginia Tourism gave us street cred in the beginning, Cheryl said. We were coming from nowhere. We were two teachers. The Dukes assembled an advisory board all business people with disabilities and the guide grew larger over the years with each new edition, expanding the scope from mobility matters to issues of accessibility for travelers with a variety of disabilities. Organizations paid a fee starting at $50 to be included in the guide to help defray the cost of the guide, though the fee was waived for smaller nonprofits. The Dukes say it all makes perfect sense for businesses. People with disabilities spend hundreds of millions of dollars in Virginia every year, Cheryl said. Were out, were traveling, were doing and were spending money, she said. But were very choosy about who we spend our money with. The familys dedication to the project has made a critical contribution towards making Virginia a premier destination for all travelers, Virginia Tourisms Logan said in an email. By providing such thorough and comprehensive information on Virginias attractions and destinations, the Travel Guide for Persons with Disabilities helps to ensure that travelers have a safe, worry-free and enjoyable experience while discovering for themselves why Virginia is for Lovers, she wrote. As Pauls condition has declined and his level of required care has increased, so too has Bills and Cheryls health. It has been a couple of years since they were able to travel and conduct accessibility training programs for hotels and other businesses. The Dukes including Paul, working on a bedside computer, when he is able regularly update the website, which reached more than 4 million users in 2016, and they have plans for further expansion of coverage. Theyd like to include more about outdoor recreation available for those with disabilities, and Paul would like to reach more wounded veterans who live in Virginia or might be undergoing treatment in the state. For a few years, Accessible Virginia received funding from the state of Virginia, but that dried up with budget shortfalls. Now, the organization operates with corporate sponsors, fees paid by those included in the guide and grants. They are seeking more corporate sponsors. Were open to anyone who wants to reach the disability market, Cheryl said. Meantime, the Dukes try to remain optimistic that their health care coverage will continue to provide the necessary services for Paul to remain at home. Even then, they are still trying to pay decades of medical bills as new bills continue to arrive, prompting Cheryl to lament, It just never seems to end. Yet, said their friend Atkinson, the Dukes keep on coming. A unanimous Virginia Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a complaint from the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission against two judges accused of improper political activity. The commission asked the justices to censure former Virginia Court of Appeals Judge Rudolph Bumgardner III and former Circuit Judge Humes J. Franklin Jr. for campaigning against an Augusta County voter referendum question on moving the county courthouse from Staunton into the county last year. In a 16-page ruling Thursday, the justices concluded that there was not clear and convincing evidence showing that the two judges both retired but subject to recall to hear cases had violated the specific judicial canons as charged. Their actions did not amount to judicial misconduct that was prejudicial to the proper administration of justice warranting censure or removal from office, wrote Chief Justice Donald W. Lemons. The judges were supported by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Rutherford Institute and almost two dozen former presidents of the Virginia Bar Association who argued the two were exercising free speech rights. The court heard 40 minutes of argument on the question last month, but none of the justices asked any questions of the lawyers on each side. A member of the county Board of Supervisors complained to JIRC that the judges were violating a judicial canon, or rule, against political activity. The proposed courthouse move was rejected by voters last November. Last December, JIRC found that by clear and convincing evidence the complaints against them were well-founded and of sufficient gravity to constitute the basis for retirement, censure, or removal. The rule against political involvement is aimed at preventing damage to the public trust and confidence in an independent, impartial judiciary. The commission recommended that the Supreme Court censure the judges. Lawyers for the judges wanted the justices to dismiss the complaint. They argued, among other things, that JIRC misinterpreted and misapplied the terms political and political organization, which should be limited to mean only partisan political activity involving candidates and political parties. Thursdays opinion held that it was unnecessary to address the judges First Amendment arguments. Senior counsel for the petitioners argued that only broad contours could be laid down rather than a strict definition. The petitioners made a persuasive case for a broad definition of the right to privacy. By Anusha Soni: Hearing on right to privacy before the nine-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court continued for the second consecutive day today. The petitioners made a persuasive case for a broad definition of the right to privacy. Arvind Dattar, senior counsel for the petitioners, argued that right to privacy flows from Article 14 (right to equality), Article 19 (freedom of expression) and Article 21 (right to life). The court must not strictly lay the right to privacy under a single article, he said. advertisement Dattar argued that only the broad contours could be laid down rather than a strict definition. He said that neither the definition nor the restrictions should be laid exhaustively. Justice Chelameswar remarked that "the right to privacy may have vague contours but not clear boundaries". Justice Chandrachud questioned senior counsel Anand Grover arguing for the petitioners and posed that how far the right to not to disclose identity can be protected especially when the state is using or collecting the data for social welfare schemes. "So can a citizen refuse to give his name or details of his parents, or can a single mother choose not to share particulars of the father," questioned Justice Chandrachud. The apex court also questioned the extent of data use and protection. The court said that a distinction must be drawn between legitimate and illegitimate data. For example when a state uses artificial intelligence to predispose an investigation or to identify "future criminals", that profiling is illegal. If the data is collected for socio-economic scheme or program that data won't be termed as illegal profiling. Chief Justice of India JS Khehar, suggesting a broad definition, said, "Between liberty and privacy, there is a concept of dignity. If sharing one's information bothers one's integrity, then it will impinge upon privacy," and hinted that privacy can be read into Article 21 (right to life). The petitioners have finished their arguments. Now the Centre will begin its arguments on July 25. The nine-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court started hearing the right to privacy matter yesterday. It said that there is a need to define privacy and every aspect of liberty is not privacy. The Chief Justice-headed Constitution bench's observation came after senior counsel Gopal Subramaniam argued that fundamental ideas of liberty and freedom cannot exist without the right to privacy. ALSO READ | In democracy, liberty cannot exist without right to privacy, Gopal Subramanium argues in Supreme Court Aadhaar debate: Right to privacy fundamental? Hearing begins in Supreme Court Relief to Centre on Aadhaar, Supreme Court refuses to stay its notifications ALSO WATCH | How to link Aadhaar with your PAN card --- ENDS --- Visit the website of any candidate running for office in Virginia and youll typically find an about me or meet the candidate page. Here, candidates share with voters personal information about their families, values, education, and professional accomplishments. We may learn, for example, that a candidate is a lifelong Virginian, works in the health care field, has three children in public school, and attends a particular church. What we dont learn is whether a candidate has significant investments and stock holdings or major debts. We also dont learn who is funding their campaigns or giving them gifts. Earlier this year, Virginia Techs School of International and Public Affairs held a conference to address the challenge of rebuilding trust in government. The question of how government can restore public confidence featured prominently and for good reason. Former Gov. Bob McDonnells corruption scandal drew national attention and put the states lax ethics laws in the spotlight. McDonnells failure to disclose over $175,000 in gifts and loans from a businessman seeking his help highlighted the need for stricter rules and greater transparency. The General Assembly passed ethics reform legislation in 2015 and further tightened the rules this year, approving an aggregate $100 annual cap on gifts. According to a 2015 article in The Times-Dispatch, Del. Jennifer L. McClellan, the Democratic co-sponsor of the gift cap bill, said she hoped the tightened ethics rules will help lawmakers regain public trust. But given that trust in political leaders has plummeted to new lows, lawmakers have their work cut out for them. Strengthening ethics rules is a good start, but loopholes remain. For example, lawmakers rejected amendments to the gift cap bill that would have modified the definition of personal friend. They also expanded the definition of immediate family. Recall that McDonnell described the businessman who gave him gifts and loans as a personal friend, exempting him from disclosure requirements. The good news is that lawmakers who support greater disclosure can take independent, affirmative steps to earn back the publics trust. Voluntary disclosure does not require an act of law; it simply requires a willingness to be open and accountable to the people. Making personal and campaign finance disclosures publicly available and easily accessible sends a strong message to voters who want to elect candidates they can trust. Candidates for state office are required by law to disclose statements of economic interest, campaign contributions and expenditures, and certain gifts that they or their immediate family members receive. This information is public, but its not always easy to find. By linking to these disclosures from their campaign websites, candidates can provide important information about their financial holdings and debts, as well as whos funding their campaigns and how theyre spending their campaign money. For constituents who want to understand more about the candidates vying for their votes, these disclosures are just as important as information about a candidates education, values, and professional experience. Knowing, for example, that a candidate owns more than $50,000 in utility stock, or that he or she has vast real estate holdings or sizable debt sheds light on how a candidate may approach policymaking. And knowing who a candidates biggest funders are provides voters with valuable information about which businesses, associations, and organizations support that candidates political and policy agenda. Virginia is one of a few states that allow candidates to use campaign funds for personal use. There is growing bipartisan consensus that this loophole needs to be fixed, but until a law is passed, candidates are free to continue dipping into their campaign accounts to cover personal expenses. Given this weakness in the current law, voters should question how candidates are spending their campaign funds. A simple, direct link from their campaign websites to their campaign expenditure disclosures would provide voters with easy access to this essential data. In the wake of the McDonnell scandal, the importance of gift disclosures goes almost without saying. Lawmakers must disclose gifts worth more than $50, but they can and should go further than the law requires. They can pledge to accept no gifts or they can disclose every gift they receive, including gifts worth less than $50 and gifts from personal friends. As with their personal and campaign finance disclosures, candidates can easily link to this information from their campaign websites. Virginians visit candidate websites to learn more about the people who wish to represent their interests in Richmond. In addition to sharing with voters their credentials and accomplishments, candidates should disclose the financials behind their personal lives and campaigns. Voters want to elect candidates they can trust. Proactive transparency would send a strong signal to voters who are fed up with politics and politicians as usual. By India Today Web Desk: Katrina Kaif and Iulia Vantur have one thing in common- Salman Khan. If he shaped Katrina's career in Bollywood, he is helping Iulia establish herself in the singing industry. And it's not just their professional rapport with Salman that has grabbed eyeballs, but their personal equation with the Bajrangi Bhaijaan actor has always been in news. advertisement In fact, buzz has it that Salman's rumoured girlfriend Iulia Vantur is not happy with his closeness to Katrina. But the Romanian beauty rubbished the rumours when she made her way to Katrina's birthday bash in New York. Salman hosted a party for the birthday girl, and Iulia was one of the guests. If a report in Mid-Day is to be believed, Katrina and Iulia not only hugged each other, but also exchanged pleasantries. A source was quoted as telling the daily, "The awards gala got over around 3 am. Salman invited Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt, Karan Johar, Ramesh Taurani, Shahid and Mira Kapoor, Riteish Deshmukh and Preity Zinta to the do. When Katrina walked in at around 5 am, Iulia hugged her and exchanged pleasantries." In fact, this is not the first time that these two ladies have come face-to-face. "Last month, when Salman and Katrina were shooting at Mehboob Studio, Iulia dropped in on set and went to Katrina's vanity van to say hello. Iulia knows that Katrina is close to Salman and his family, and she has never tried to change that equation," added the source. ALSO READ: Salman Khan gifts an apartment to rumoured girlfriend Iulia Vantur? ALSO READ: Katrina Kaif or Iulia Vantur, who looks better with Salman Khan? ALSO WATCH: Salman Khan and girlfriend Iulia Vantur in Leh --- ENDS --- A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. RICHMOND Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Virginia has named a new president. Richmond native Jeff Ricketts takes over the position following former president Burke Kings promotion to oversee the insurance giants large group business segment across the country, the company said Wednesday. Since joining the company in 1984, Ricketts has held positions in sales and account management, covering all market segments from individual to large group, according to a news release. Over the past nine years, he worked as regional vice president of sales. King was promoted to his new position in May, but kept the title of president in the insurers Virginia market until now. King, who had joined Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Virginia in 1992, had been named president of Virginias dominant health insurer in 2008. Ricketts attended J.R. Tucker High School in Henrico County and graduated from James Madison University with a bachelors in business administration in management and management information systems. Virginia has always been my home and it is one of Anthems most important and exciting markets, having grown to more than 3 million members statewide, Ricketts said in a statement. According to the State Corporation Commission, Anthem Health Plans and HealthKeepers Inc. Anthems managed care plan held a combined 34.03 percent of the market share of Virginias accident and sickness insurance as of the end of 2016. Anita was transferred as her name also featured in D Roopa's report on VVIP perks given to Sasikala in the Bangalore Central Jail. By Rohini Swamy: R Anita, who was appointed as in-charge chief superintendent of the Central Prison, Bangalore, has now been transferred within less than a week after she assumed charge. Superintendent Anita was appointed on Monday in place of Krishna Kumar, who was transferred out in the wake of alleged large scale irregularities in the Bengaluru jail. She has been transferred to Dharwad and the Dharwad SP P Ramesh has been transferred to the Bangalore Central Jail. advertisement According to sources, Anita was transferred as her name also featured in D Roopa's report on VVIP perks given to Sasikala in the Bangalore Central Jail. In Roopa's report, it was mentioned that Anita had refused to give CCTV footage from the jail stating that the then chief superintendent Krishna Kumar had asked her not to. Later Anita had provided an edited copy to D Roopa. Anita was present when it was alleged that 32 convicts were beaten up inhumanly and shifted to various other prisons at Mysore, Ballari, Belagavi and Davanagere overnight. Allegedly, the prisoners were meted out this "inhuman" treatment because of their bid to stage a dharna inside the jail premises as they were not allowed to speak to (then) DIG (Prisons) D Roopa, who had visited the jail. Taking cognisance of a complaint about the alleged torture and transfer, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued notices to two top Karnataka prison officials. The issue of alleged preferential treatment to Sasikala, serving a four-year term in a disproportionate assets case, came to the fore after Roopa submitted a report to her superior, DGP (Prisons) H N Sathyanarayana Rao. Both DIG Roopa and DGP Rao were transferred after they sparred over the report in public. Also read: Bengaluru jail atrocities: Human rights commission slaps notices on Karnataka prison officials As DIG Roopa exposes jail perks to Sasikala, everything you need to know about VVIP prisoners How did she meet 82 people against 8 allowed? RTI filed over Sasikala meeting visitors in Bengaluru prison Cop vs cop in Karnataka over special treatment to Sasikala in Bengaluru jail Meet the firebrand top cop who exposed Sasikala's VVIP treatment in Bengaluru jail ALSO WATCH: D Roopa's report: Sasikala holds 5 cells, separate kitchen, conference room to herself --- ENDS --- Virginia Techs Marc Edwards will win half of a $250,000 award Friday for standing up to government authorities during the Flint, Mich., water crisis. Then, he plans to give his money away. Edwards, a Tech engineering professor pivotal in blowing the whistle on the infamous water crisis, will win the Disobedience Award from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab. He will share the award with Michigan pediatrician Mona Hanna-Attisha, who conducted medical research that aided in exposing the water crisis. The pair will accept the award at MIT on Friday evening in an event that will be streamed live online at media.mit.edu. In a telephone interview from the airport in Boston, Edwards said he is currently in negotiations to give the money to my fellow disobedient ones in Flint who helped expose the crisis. That includes the residents who reached out to Edwards and helped him conduct the water testing. Theyre deserving of the financial benefits. ... Theyll use it well, Im sure, Edwards said. The awards prize functions like a MacArthur genius grant, an accolade given to Edwards in 2007, giving no strings attached money to its winners. Its designed to reward people for standing up in the face of authority to challenge norms for the potential benefit of society. The prize is a one-time experiment, but could be repeated in the future, MIT Media Lab director Joi Ito wrote in a Medium post announcing the award. Edwards said the award is special because it promotes standing up in difficult situations. Society needs to do a better job of recognizing people who make a sacrifice for doing whats right, Edwards said. There are all kinds of awards for people who are obedient suck-ups. This one is different. Edwards fought against state and federal agencies, arguing that Flints water was inundated with lead particulate after local officials switched water sources in 2014 to save money. Edwards and a team of Tech students, faculty and researchers worked with local residents to test the water and identify the source of their lead-tainted water. Hanna-Attisha conducted tests on children to show elevated blood lead levels around the city. The work resulted in national attention on water infrastructure, a state of emergency, criminal charges against public officials and a switch back to an old water system. It also came at a great personal cost to Edwards who spent more than $150,000 of his discretionary research funds and personal money working on the project. He has since raised much of that money back through a GoFundMe campaign and an Ut Prosim grant award from Virginia Tech. He was also named a university distinguished professor, one of the highest honors bestowed on Tech faculty, earlier this year. The personal cost and professional risks of battling federal and state agencies was worth it, simply because children were protected from lead in water, Edwards said last year. This was priceless, he said. Well go to our graves knowing we stood up for Flint kids when no one else could or would. Other finalists for the award included: James Hansen, a scientist who studies climate change and is sometimes called the father of climate change awareness. Freedom University professors, a group of University of Georgia professors who taught undocumented students who were unable to afford their out-of-state tuition in Georgia even if they lived in the state long enough to be considered Georgia residents. Water protectors of Standing Rock, a group of Native Americans who began a camp to protest the Dakota Access Pipeline. RICHMOND An Albemarle County businessman who admitted defrauding a longtime friends widow of millions pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to wire and bank fraud. Victor M. Dandridge III, 53, was charged July 5 with: wire fraud, from January 2006 to last April; bank fraud against the Blue Ridge Bank, from May 2015 to last October; and wire fraud that victimized the Virginia Omicron Chapter House Association, for which he was president, in April 2014. His 10-page plea agreement calls for him to make $3,193,793 in restitution to a victim identified only as L.K.; $3,030,289 to the Blue Ridge Bank; and $118,527 to the Virginia Omicron Chapter House Association. Dandridge faces up to 70 years in prison and $1.5 million in fines when sentenced on Oct. 20 by U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson, though federal sentencing guidelines will likely call for a shorter term. He was allowed to remain free until sentencing. While L.K. was not identified in court or in court documents, Dandridge is being sued by Lynne Kinder of Richmond, who alleges 13 counts of financial misconduct over the management of the Kinder familys assets after the death of her husband Trey in 2005 at the age of 41. After pleading guilty Wednesday, Dandridge addressed Hudson and also turned to members of the Kinder family who were in the courtroom and said, Im sorry for what Ive done. He also accepted responsibility for what he had done. The judge said he appreciated that, but added: You have caused tremendous damage to this family. Lynne Kinders suit seeks $9 million, claiming that Dandridge diminished the familys fortune from 2007 to 2016 and accusing him of illegally managing money for other clients . The suit says Dandridge offered to help manage the assets for Kinder after her husband and his longtime friend died unexpectedly. Trey Kinder practiced corporate law at Hunton & Williams and worked at Wachovia Securities, where he was a managing director. In an eight-page statement of facts signed by Dandridge on Wednesday, he admitted that when John Doe apparently Trey Kinder, a close friend he had known since childhood died on Dec. 31, 2005, he left behind Victim No. 1, a widow with two children. Dandridge admitted he offered to help her handle finances and settle the estate. Dandridge also admitted that the victim told him that she wanted her money placed in conservative, low-risk investments . Instead, Dandridge diverted most of the victims money into bank accounts for entities that he owned and controlled. He told the victim that he would not take any management fees or compensation for his help. In truth and fact, Dandridge used most of Victim No. 1s money for his personal expenditures and to prop up his other failing businesses, according to the statement of facts. He also admitted that he had the victim authorize wire transfers to investments without explaining the risks or where the money was coming from . Furthermore, he admitted lying to the Blue Ridge Bank to obtain a promissory note, among other things. And he admitted that in April 2014, he refinanced the mortgage for the Virginia Omicron Chapter House Association, associated with the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, on Madison Lane in Charlottesville, for $330,000 when the balance on the existing mortgage was $204,000. He arranged for $100,000 in excess loan proceeds to be sent to a bank account he controlled . Dandridge has filed for bankruptcy in federal court in Lynchburg. The Campbell County Sheriffs Office is investigating an early morning break-in at a firearms store and shooting range that resulted in multiple guns being stolen. Campbell County Sheriffs Maj. L. T. Guthrie said Thursday morning that an alarm at Lynchburg Arms & Indoor Shooting Range, located at 113 Sunburst Road, had activated at 3:06 a.m. Deputies responded to the scene five minutes later and found the store had been broken into and a variety of firearms had been stolen. He didnt say how many guns were stolen but said they included handguns and semi-automatic rifles. Guthrie said the office hasnt seen firearms stolen in an incident like this recently, and he cant recall an incident at Lynchburg Arms & Indoor Shooting Range. Sheriffs Capt. Dwayne Wade said the metal gate in front of the building had been pulled up and the front entrance smashed in. Both he and Guthrie said the perpetrators seemed prepared and organized for the break-in. It didnt seem like it was just a random act, Wade said. ...It was a very quick break-in; they were only there a matter of seconds. Surveillance cameras at the business captured footage of the suspects, though Guthrie said their faces were concealed. He said there appears to be at least four suspects involved. That footage will be released today. Wade said investigators have been working to collect evidence from the scene. Investigators there earlier in the morning had recovered what they said were potentially tracks of footprints or tire treads. Wade said personnel with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are also assisting in the investigation. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Wade or Emerson at (434) 332-9708 or contact Central Virginia Crime Stoppers by calling 1-888-798-5900 or visiting www.cvcrimestoppers.org. The protests were organised by the BJP initially, but later the locals and other citizen forums like Shimla Nagrik Sabha besides NGOs, SFI and Communist Party also joined the protests. The shutdown was peaceful. By Manjeet Sehgal: A series of protests rocked the hill city Shimla on Thursday following the allegations that the local administration including the police were influenced by the families of gangrape accused. The protests were organised by the BJP initially, but later the locals and other citizen forums like Shimla Nagrik Sabha besides NGOs, SFI and Communist Party also joined the protests. The shutdown was peaceful. advertisement Roads were blocked at Chhota Shimla, Dhali, Victory Tunnel, Ghatna Hatti and also in Kotkhai where the incident took place. The protesters targetted the police and local administration and shouted slogans against political leaders including local MLA and chief minister besides police. "Money has been used to influence police officials. Those arrested are not the real culprits. They are roaming free. We want justice for the victim who was brutally murdered and gangraped. The CBI probe should begin immediately," a protester said, who refuse to be identified. Why police insists a CBI probe The police department has been at the receiving end after the issue snowballed. IG, who was heading the SIT, SP Shimla have been transferred and three cops including SHO Kotkhai have been suspended. Facing allegations of palm greasing and shoddy probe into the case, the police now wants that CBI probe the case. Himachal Pradesh High Court has already okayed a CBI probe on the request of the state government. "People accused police of graft and corruption. Our investigation was already moving in the right direction, but people are not happy. Let the CBI probe the custodial death and the gangrape and murder case," DGP Himachal Pradesh Somesh Goyal said. Medical report may throw more light on the brutality The police and state government authorities have not made the medical report public. There are allegations that the medical report of the victim was doctored to save the rapists. There are allegations that the victim was sedated and even raped when she was dead. There is also a confusion about the number of fractures and injuries which were found on the body of the victim. Are the actual perpetrators beyond the reach of police? The protesters and opposition has accused the police of saving the guilty and arresting the innocent. Custodial death of Suraj Singh also points fingers at the functioning of the police as he had allegedly threatened to expose the actual rapists. There are allegations that he was deliberately killed to deviate the investigation and to save the influential people. advertisement The state government is silent on the issue. However, it took action against the SIT members and other police officials, but it was too late. The incident has now taken a political colour. Opposition BJP has threatened to protest till the case is solved. "We will continue to protest till the victim gets justice. The issue has exposed the functioning of the state government which should be removed," says Suresh Bhardwaj, local BJP MLA. ALSO READ: Shimla gangrape case: Accused found dead inside Kotkhai police station Shimla rape outrage: How Himachal, other states fare in crime against women --- ENDS --- The Himachal Pradesh High Court has asked the CBI to form a three-member special investigation team to probe the case. By Manjeet Sehgal: Having failed to handle minor's gangrape and murder case effectively, senior Shimla police officers faced government's ire on Wednesday night as it transferred two senior cops including Inspector General of Police Zahur Haider Zaidi and SP Shimla DW Negi. The authorities have already suspended three police officials including SHO Kotkhai for dereliction of duties. Meanwhile, the Himachal Pradesh High Court has asked the CBI to form a three-member special investigation team to probe the case. The court directions came after the state government moved high court for a speedy probe. The court has also asked the chief secretary to probe the case and take action against the erring officials. advertisement The issue was also raised in Lok Sabha on Wednesday. A delegation of BJP MPs and MLAs also met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and apprised him about the situation demanding imposition of President's rule in the state. SHUTDOWN IN SHIMLA The BJP has also called for a Shimla shutdown today to protest against the state government. The police officials are accused of weakening the case to shield the guilty. Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has appealed the people to maintain peace assuring justice to the victim's family. He also criticised the BJP for making political capital out of the shameful incident. A minor school girl was gangraped and later murdered by prime accused Rajinder Singh and five others. One accused died after a scuffle with Rajinder on Tuesday night. The victim was reported missing on July 4 from Mahasu, Kotkhai in Shimla district. Two days later her body was recovered from a local forest. The accused Rajinder had given lift to the victim in his vehicle. The girl was gangraped and then brutally killed by the accused and his accomplices, who worked in an apple orchard. Her body was later dumped in the forest. There are allegations that the accused continued to rape the minor even when she was dead. The incident enraged the locals as crimes like this are rare in Himachal Pradesh. Locals launched protests and even ransacked the Kotkhai Police Station besides torching two police vehicles on Wednesday after one accused Suraj Singh died in custody. Also read: Shimla gangrape: Protesters ransack police station after suspect dies in custody Also read: Shimla rape outrage: How Himachal, other states fare in crime against women WATCH THE VIDEO HERE --- ENDS --- Outgoing Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., broke House rules, laws and standards of conduct related to conflicts of interest when members of her office assisted her husbands medical practice with Veterans Affairs, Medicare and Medicaid claims, the House Ethics Committee announced late Thursday. At the same time, the committee cleared the seven-term Nevada Democrat for actions she took to save a kidney transplant program at a hospital where her husbands medical practice had a lucrative contract. Those actions had been at the heart of a referral the committee received from the independent Office of Congressional Ethics. The committee on Thursday released a report on the case, a report prepared by the investigative subcommittee that handled the matter, the OCEs findings and Berkleys response. The investigative subcommittee did not recommend that Berkley be sanctioned and could not reach a consensus on whether a formal letter of reproval should be written. The committee agreed with its recommendation that the release of the investigatory report should serve as a reproval of Berkley for her violations. In no small part based on Representative Berkleys cooperative approach in this process and her candor, the Committee finds that no further action is necessary. Therefore, upon the submission of its Report to the House, the Committee considers this matter closed, a statement from Ethics Chairman Jo Bonner, R-Ala., and ranking member Linda T. Sanchez, D-Calif., said. I am pleased that a decision has now been reached and I thank my family, friends and colleagues for standing beside me throughout this process, Berkley said in a statement. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj issued a stern warning to Beijing, saying India is well equipped to defend itself. By India Today Web Desk: Speaking in Rajya Sabha today over the months-long border standoff with China in Sikkim's Doklam area, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj issued a stern warning to Beijing, saying India is well equipped to defend itself. "Over the years, China has been trying to get closer and closer to where the tri-junction point ends. It has done things like repair roads, re-tar them and things like that," Sushma Swaraj said while responding to a question in the Upper House on the India-China border dispute. advertisement "This time though, they came with bulldozers and construction equipment with the aim of breaching the point where the tri-junction ends. That is a threat to our security," said Swaraj. "We had to intervene at the trijunction point to stop China's unilateral attempt to change status quo because this would impact our security. We are willing to talk but both sides should take back their armies to original position," the foreign minister said. "The global community is supportive of India's stance," Swaraj added. Swaraj's statement came a few hours after reports emerged that Bejing was not keen on bilateral talks with India over the contentious issue. Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said on Tuesday, "We have stated many times that we hope the Indian side will get a clear understanding of the situation (and) immediately take measures to withdraw the troops that illegally crossed the border back to the Indian side of the border." India, on the other hand, has not sought any bilateral meeting from the Chinese side. Both sides are playing by the ear. If there is any indication of de-escalation and a window of opportunity opens up, the two sides might reconsider a meeting between the Special Representatives. ALSO READ: Doklam row: India-China bilateral talks ruled out till border standoff is resolved Withdraw, capture or get killed: Former Chinese diplomat gives India 3 options on Doklam Former Army chief on Doklam standoff: China a strategic threat, India can't back off Now, China moves military equipment to Tibet. Should India be scared? WATCH: China trying to change status quo in Doklam: Sushma Swaraj --- ENDS --- By India Today Web Desk: TV actor and Khatron Ke Khiladi contestant Karan Wahi had slammed the makers of Sony TV's newly-launched show Pehredaar Piya Ki for its regressive content. The actor took to Facebook to lash out at the makers but later deleted his post. However, actor Suyyash Rai, who is also a part of the show took to Instagram and defended the show. He posted a picture of his and Tejasswi Prakash and wrote, "Pehredaar Piya Ki. @tejasswiprakash baby smile plz. Guys watever @imkaranwahi said its his pov no1 can question him neither me nor you guys. But this doesnt change the fact that WE the whole team of #PPK we love this show and we all have worked really hard for it and we still are andddd we will ?? our motive is to entertain you guys not promote child marriage or anything. This show is different, plz dont judge it and jump onto conclusions. If a channel like @sonytvofficial has approved the show they must have thought something right? Even d producers must have thought a lot before making this and investing soo much money. It's my req to all, plz watch it first and then decide. Maybe m wrong MAYBE but let's wait n then decide. Love to all n thanku for sucha good response for the frst epi.@tejasswiprakash baby smile plz." (sic) advertisement Karan Wahi, who had to face backlash from the show's fans on social media was glad that Suyyash took his post in the right way. He commented on his post and wrote, "Honestly I don't understand y people r goin bizzrk about my opinion...It's my opinion on a promo and I am sure I can have one ... like i said in the comment hope it is great fr u and all actors .. I am glad u took it in the right way. I hope everyone was like this ... bt nva mind."(sic) It feeels great actually to be TROLLED .. good or bad atleast i know my opinion matters ... #wecanbebetterthanthis- Karan Wahi (@karan009wahi) July 19, 2017 It's sad that Karan Wahi is being trolled for speaking his mind. He took to Twitter and wrote, "It feeels great actually to be TROLLED .. good or bad at least i know my opinion matters ... #wecanbebetterthanthis." my opinion is MINE ... i dont judge the book by its cover but then dont sell me a misleading cover...Its an opinionU r free not to agree- Karan Wahi (@karan009wahi) July 19, 2017 --- ENDS --- Kevin P. Coughlin/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo spoke at a July 19 luncheon for the Long Island Association where he outlined the historic $5.6-billion transformation of the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR). The LIRR system overhaul is part of New Yorks $100 billion infrastructure program and includes 100 capital projects on the commuter line that the governors office says will modernize transportation across the region. The projects are expected to increase capacity on the system by more than 80 percent. The 100 projects moving forward include the Main Line Third Track, Double Track, Jamaica Station Reconstruction, renovating 39 LIRR stations and eliminating grade crossings. With the complete transformation of the Long Island Rail Road, New York is recapturing the bold ambition that made our infrastructure the envy of the nation and building for the future. The LIRR is the backbone of the regions economy, and the strength and resiliency of Long Island requires bold, transformative investments to bolster our transportation network, Gov. Cuomo said. The governors office notes that the LIRR projects are moving forward thanks to the partnerships between the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, state and local officials and the communities of Long Island. The state is fortifying 12 bridges and replacing and upgrading 13 electric power substations on the LIRR system, as well as enhancing 39 stations. Additional key projects of the program include: The $2-billion LIRR Main Line Third Track Expansion Project will add a third track to 9.8 miles along the congested Main Line of the LIRR between Floral Park and Hicksville and eliminate all seven street-level grade crossings within the project corridor. The $387.2-million, 12.6 mile double track project will enable the LIRR to provide more frequent off-peak service to the Ronkonkoma Branch in both directions and is expected to be completed next summer 16 months ahead of MTAs planned schedule. The state is building the $128-million Mid-Suffolk Storage Yard in Ronkonkoma to provide additional space for car maintenance, inspections and servicing, which will allow LIRR to increase service during the morning rush. The project includes the construction of 11 additional tracks and a new 28,000 square-foot command facility. The $375-million project to reconfigure the tracks at Jamaica Station and make signal upgrades. Higher speed switches, new signals, new and extended platforms are included in this project. From the previously unthinkable Third Track and Second Track projects to state-of-the-art technology and signal upgrades, we are daring to imagine better and delivering for the people of New York once again, said Gov. Cuomo. A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed a modest increase in U.S. producer prices in the month of June. The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand inched up by 0.1 percent in June after coming in flat in May. Economists had expected prices to remain unchanged. The uptick in producer prices reflected continued growth in prices for final demand services, which rose by 0.2 percent in June after a 0.3 percent increase in May. The Labor Department said most of the increase can be attributed to a 0.3 percent advance by the index for final demand services less trade, transportation, and warehousing. Prices for transportation and warehousing services edged up by 0.1 percent, while prices for trade services dipped by 0.2 percent. The report also showed a modest decrease in energy prices, which slipped by 0.5 percent in June after plunging by 3.0 percent in May. On the other hand, prices for food climbed by 0.6 percent in June following a 0.2 percent drop in the previous month. Excluding food and energy prices, core producer prices crept up by 0.1 percent in June after climbing by 0.3 percent in May. Core prices had been expected to rise by 0.2 percent. Compared to the same month a year ago, producer prices were up by 2.0 percent in June, reflecting a slowdown compared to the 2.4 percent increase in May. The annual rate of growth in core producer prices also slowed to 1.9 percent in June from 2.1 percent in the previous month. On Friday, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched report on consumer prices in the month of June. Consumer prices are expected to inch up by 0.1 percent, while core consumer prices are expected to rise by 0.2 percent. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News (Agencia CMA Latam) - Argentina's Finance Minister Nicol?s Dujovne said that the country's primary deficit - the result of income and expenses before debt payments was equivalent to 1.5% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the first half of 2017 - lower than the 2% target set for the period. In a press conference, the minister reported that the primary deficit amounted to 144.285 billion pesos, while the government target was at 195 billion pesos. Dujovne also said that "during the first half of the year revenues grew slightly more than expenses" compared to the same period last year. "In 2017 we are committed to reaching a maximum primary deficit of 4.2% of the GDP. We will meet that goal, and we will make every effort to overtake it," said the minister. by Agencia CMA Latam For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com Economic News What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more. Editors Pick United Airlines Holdings Inc. is giving pilots a 5 percent pay raise as promised during a pandemic cost-reduction deal, reports said. The pay hike is months ahead of schedule following the airline's return to profitability and positive outlook. The news came as the airline is struggling to come to terms on a new contract with its pilots' union, The Air Line Pilots Association or ALPA. Elon Musk, in his first meeting with Twitter staff following the acquisition, warned that the social media platform could file for bankruptcy next year, reports said. The news comes as more and more key employees are leaving Twitter following the recent mass layoff. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said its watching Twitter with deep concern after the company's top privacy and compliance officer Deutsche Telekom AG reported Thursday significantly higher profit in its third quarter with improved revenues. Further, the German telecom major lifted its dividend, and also raised fiscal 2022 guidance for the third time in the current financial year. Meanwhile, the shares were losing around 3 percent in the morning trading in Germany. Japan-based Astellas Pharma Inc. (ALPMY, ALPMF) announced Thursday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted orphan-drug designation to gilteritinib in patients with acute myeloid leukemia or AML. Gilteritinib is a receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor of FLT3 and AXL, which are involved in the growth of cancer cells. The company said Gilteritinib has demonstrated inhibitory activity against FLT3 internal tandem duplication as well as tyrosine kinase domain, two common types of FLT3 mutations that are seen in up to one third of patients with AML. The Orphan Drug Designation program assigns status to drugs and biologics intended for the safe and effective treatment, diagnosis or prevention of diseases or disorders that affect fewer than 200,000 people in the United States. Astellas said it is currently investigating gilteritinib in various AML patient populations through several planned and already initiated Phase 3 trials, including the registrational ADMIRAL trial in relapsed/refractory FLT3+ AML. Gilteritinib was discovered through a research collaboration with Kotobuki Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., and Astellas has exclusive global rights to develop, manufacture and potentially commercialize gilteritinib. Steven Benner, senior vice president and global therapeutic area head, oncology development, Astellas, said, "Fewer than 10,000 Americans will be diagnosed with FLT3 mutation-positive AML this year and while that may be a small percentage of the overall population, it is an important group of patients who are deserving of potential new treatments." For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News A Brooklyn couple claims that JetBlue booted them from a flight after their 1-year-old daughter kicked a passenger's seat. However, the airline has a different story to tell. According to the airline officials, the couple were removed from the flight after "a verbal altercation that included physical threats." On July 2, Tamir Raanan and his wife Mandy Ifrah were returning to New York from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, when their daughter Eden began kicking another passenger's seat. According to Daily News, Ifrah apologized to the annoyed passenger. However, "Before we know it, the pilot says we're going back to the gate and then security came onto the flight and said we have to get our things and get off the flight," Ifrah told The News. "We kept asking, 'What's the reason you're kicking us off the flight?'" Meanwhile, JetBlue claims that "after a verbal altercation that included physical threats and profanities against a nearby customer, the aircraft door was reopened and our airports team politely asked the customers to step off to discuss the situation." JebBlue says that the customer refused repeated requests. Law enforcement escorted them out of the gate area and they were provided with a refund. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Tejashwi Yadav is on a two-day visit to Delhi, reportedly to meet noted lawyer Ram Jethmalani. While speaking to the media he said that some people were trying to meddle in Mahagathbandhan. Tejashwi Yadav is on a two-day visit to Delhi and is expected to meet noted lawyer Ram Jethmalani. By Rohit Kumar Singh: Bihar's Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav has slammed the BJP government for trying to jeopardise the Mahagathbandhan between Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Janata Dal (United) (JDU). Speaking to the media in Delhi, he reiterated that the mandate of people in Bihar affirms support for the Mahagathbandhan and it should be respected at all costs. advertisement "People of Bihar gave us mandate which must be respected. I don't know why some people are trying to create confusion as part of a conspiracy", said Tejashwi Yadav. "Mahagathbandhan has always been intact and will continue to remain so", added the Bihar Deputy Chief Minister. Tejashwi Yadav is on a two-day visit to Delhi and is expected to meet noted lawyer Ram Jethmalani in connection to the CBI case against him over corruption charges. Also read: Was 13, didn't even have a moustache. Not quitting: Tejashwi Yadav Also read: Despite CBI, ED raids and corruption taint, Nitish Kumar unlikely to break ties with Lalu Prasad Yadav Also read: As Nitish Kumar decides on dumping Tejashwi Yadav, Lalu's son is hitting political worries for a six --- ENDS --- Attorney General Jeff Sessions indicated Thursday he has no plans to resign despite criticism from President Donald Trump over his decision to recuse himself from the investigation of Russian meddling in last year's election. "I have the honor of serving as attorney general," Sessions said at a press conference. "It's something that goes beyond any thought that I've ever had for myself." He added, "We love this job, and we love this department and I plan to continue to do so as long as that is appropriate." The comments come after Trump suggested in an interview with the New York Times that he would not have nominated Sessions as Attorney General if he knew the former Senator would recuse himself from overseeing the Russia investigation. "Sessions should have never recused himself, and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before he took the job and I would have picked somebody else," Trump told the Times on Wednesday. An early Trump supporter, Sessions recused himself from the investigation in March amid revelations he failed to disclose meetings with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. during the presidential campaign. Trump argued that Sessions recusing himself shortly after taking over as Attorney General was "very unfair to the president." "How do you take a job and then recuse yourself? If he would have recused himself before the job, I would have said, 'Thanks, Jeff, but I'm not going to take you,'" Trump said. "It's extremely unfair and that's a mild word to the president." For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Special counsel Robert Mueller has reportedly expanded his investigation of alleged collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign to include President Donald Trump's transactions. A report from Bloomberg citing a person familiar with the probe said Mueller is examining a broad range of transactions involving Trump's businesses as well as those of his associates. The report comes a day after Trump suggested in an interview with the New York Times that Mueller would be crossing a "red line" by looking into his and his family's finances. "I would say yes," Trump said when asked if Mueller's investigation would cross a "red line" if it expanded to look at his family's finances. "I think that's a violation. Look, this is about Russia." The Times noted Trump never said he would order the Justice Department to fire Mueller, nor would he outline circumstances under which he might do so. The person told Bloomberg investigators are looking at Russian purchases of apartments in Trump buildings, Trump's involvement in a controversial SoHo development with Russian associates, the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow and Trump's sale of a Florida mansion to a Russian oligarch in 2008. Trump lawyer John Dowd said he was unaware of the expansion of the investigation but argued the transactions mentioned are well beyond the mandate of the special counsel. Bloomberg said the investigation partly stems from a wide-ranging money-laundering probe launched by then-Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who was fired by Trump in March. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News President Donald Trump's nomination of former Justice Department official Christopher Wray as FBI Director was unanimously approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 20-0 in favor of Wray's nomination, paving the way for his confirmation by the full Senate. Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said the unanimous vote is a strong indication of the members' faith in Wray's abilities to lead the federal law enforcement agency. Democrats on the committee expressed their admiration for Wray but also took the opportunity to raise concerns about Trump's views about the FBI. Wray was nominated to succeed former FBI Director James Comey, who was fired by Trump in May in a highly controversial move. Senator Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the committee, said the FBI must remain "free from political influence" and suggested Wray's commitment to the rule of law "will be put to the test" by Trump. During his confirmation hearing last week, Wray said the FBI's work would only be driven by the facts under his watch. "If I am given the honor of leading this agency, I will never allow the FBI's work to be driven by anything other than the facts, the law, and the impartial pursuit of justice. Period," Wray said in prepared remarks. "My loyalty is to the Constitution and the rule of law," he added. "They have been my guideposts throughout my career, and I will continue to adhere to them no matter the test." Wray said he was not asked for a pledge of loyalty during his selection process in contrast to claims by Comey, who alleged Trump asked for his loyalty during a meeting at the White House. "No one asked me for any kind of loyalty oath at any point during this process, and I sure as heck didn't offer one," Wray said. Wray is currently a litigation partner at the King & Spalding law firm, where he chairs the firm's Special Matters and Government Investigations Practice Group. King & Spalding says the group represents companies, audit and special committees, and individuals in a variety of white-collar criminal and regulatory enforcement matters, parallel civil litigation, and internal corporate investigations. Wray was New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's personal lawyer during the so-called "Bridgegate" investigation into lane closures on the George Washington Bridge. From 2003 to 2005, Wray served as the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Justice Department's Criminal Division under former President George W. Bush. Wray previously served as an Associate Deputy Attorney General and in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia. (Photo: King & Spalding) For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Political News (Agencia CMA Latam) - Oil companies which operate in Brazil welcomed the local oil market regulator proposal to change rules regarding the local content requirements in contracts signed from 2005 onwards, arguing that current rules are "practically impossible" to comply with. Local content rules in Brazil determine that companies exploring and producing oil in the country must ensure preference in contracting local suppliers whenever their offerings present price, delivery time and quality equivalent to those of other suppliers invited to submit proposals. However, since 2011 companies made 225 requests to bypass those rules, and most of them are still waiting for a final decision. The current plan aims to reduce the need for local content usage and is now under public consultation. The Brazilian Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels Institute (IBP), whose affiliates include Petrobras, Sinopec, Chevron and other oil companies, believes the proposal is positive and will help in luring investments to the oil sector. "The measure will allow many projects that are currently halted to fulfill their obligations of local content, unlocking investments at a time when the entire production chain in the industry demands a resumption of activities," said IBP. Estimates indicate that changes to local content rules would unlock R$ 240 billion in investments between 2017 and 2021, the installation of 20 offshore platforms and drilling of more than 900 wells. In a statement, the IBP said that it believes that the ANP measure will benefit mainly the state of Rio de Janeiro, which concentrates most of the oil production activity in Brazil and is currently facing a profound financial crisis. by Agencia CMA Latam For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com Economic News What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more. The total number of terrorist attacks in 2016 dropped 9 percent compared to 2015, while fatalities caused by the attacks fell 13 percent, the department said in a report on global terrorism. By Reuters: The number of terrorist attacks worldwide and deaths from such attacks dropped in 2016 for the second straight year, driven by decreases in Afghanistan, Syria, Nigeria, Pakistan and Yemen, the US State Department said on Wednesday. The total number of terrorist attacks in 2016 dropped 9 percent compared to 2015, while fatalities caused by the attacks fell 13 percent, the department said in a report on global terrorism. advertisement The Sunni militant group Islamic State was the deadliest terrorist group last year, carrying out 20 per cent more attacks in Iraq and causing 69 per cent more deaths there compared to 2015. Data compiled by the University of Maryland for the State Department showed there were a total of 11,072 terrorist attacks worldwide last year, resulting in more than 25,600 deaths. Of those deaths, 6,700 were of perpetrators of the attacks. Terrorist attacks took place in 104 countries in 2016, but the majority occurred in just five countries: Iraq, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan and the Philippines. CASUALTIES IN TERROR ATTACK Three-quarters of all deaths from terrorist attacks took place in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Nigeria and Pakistan. The report spoke positively of recent efforts by Sudan, which was placed on the list of US - designated state sponsors of terrorism in 1993 because of its support of Palestinian and Lebanese militant groups. "Notwithstanding this history, countering terrorism is today a national security priority for Sudan, and Sudan is a cooperative partner of the United States on counterterrorism," the report said. Other US - listed state sponsors of terrorism are Iran and Syria. Former US President Barack Obama temporarily lifted sanctions on Sudan in January for six months, suspending a trade embargo, unfreezing assets and removing financial sanctions. President Donald Trump's administration last week postponed for three months a decision on whether to permanently lift the sanctions. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters in June that no matter what decision is made on the Sudan sanctions, the designation of Sudan as a state sponsor of terrorism will remain in place. A June filing with the Justice Department showed that Sudan had hired law firm Squire Patton Boggs LLP at a monthly fee of USD 40,000 to represent Sudan's interests in Washington, including avoiding a "snap back" of US sanctions. Also Read: US keeps Pakistan on list of countries providing safe haven to terrorists US keeping Pakistan on safe haven of terrorists list is extension of Modi-Trump's joint statement Amarnath Yatra terror attack: Army chief tells jawans to keep up pressure on terrorists advertisement WATCH | Terrorists threatened before firing on Amarnath yatris: Where did govt go wrong --- ENDS --- By PTI: (Eds: Repeating after a correction in para 12) By Lalit K Jha Washington, Jul 20 (PTI) A key congressional panel has voted to impose tougher conditions on Pakistan to receive US assistance and authorised the secretary of state to suspend aid if Islamabad fails to take effective actions against terrorist groups. The House Appropriations Committee yesterday approved by voice vote the 2018 State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill, which seeks certification from Rex Tillerson for disbursement of US aid to Pakistan, making it conditional for Islamabad to take action against terrorist groups. advertisement The bill now heads to the House of Representatives for consideration. It provides USD 47 billion in regular discretionary and Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funding. This is USD 10 billion fewer than the amount earmarked for fiscal year 2017, when counting additional funds provided last year in the Security Assistance Appropriations Act. Within this amount, OCO funding totals USD 12 billion, which supports operations and assistance in areas of conflict, such as Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. The bill says that none of the funds appropriated by this Act under the Economic Support Fund, the International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement, and the Foreign Military Financing Programme for Pakistan may be made available unless the secretary of state certifies to the committees that Islamabad is taking action against terrorist groups. Under the bill, the secretary of state is asked to certify that Pakistan is cooperating with the US in counter- terrorism efforts against the Haqqani network, the Quetta Shura Taliban, Lashkar-e-Tayba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, al-Qaeda, and others, including taking effective steps to prevent such terrorist groups from basing and operating in Pakistan and carrying out cross-border attacks into neighbouring countries. The secretary of state is also required to certify that Pakistan is not supporting terrorist activities against the US or coalition forces in Afghanistan, and Pakistans military and intelligence agencies are not intervening extra-judicially into political and judicial processes in Pakistan. The certification needs to include that Pakistan is "not financing or supporting schools" linked to the Taliban or any designated terrorist group and that Islamabad is preventing the proliferation of nuclear-related material and expertise. The bill says the secretary of state should "suspend assistance" to Pakistan if it fails to make measurable progress in meeting its benchmarks. While the secretary of state can waive these conditions in the name of national interest, the draft bill says that funds appropriated by this Act under the Foreign Military Financing Programme for Pakistan may be made available only to support counterterrorism and counterinsurgency capabilities in that country. advertisement This means Pakistan would not be able to get F-16 fighter jets with American aid. In an accompanying report, the committee noted the continued importance of US assistance to secure and stabilise Afghanistan and Pakistan. Understanding that the staffing and programming requirements in these countries will remain under continuous review and, for that reason, the committee said it has not designated specific funding recommendations. The committee urged Voice of America to consider expanding Sindh language broadcasting. PTI LKJ ABH ZH --- ENDS --- US Senator John McCain has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer, his office said on Wednesday. By Reuters: US Senator John McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee known for political independence during more than three decades in the Senate, has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer, his office said on Wednesday. The 80-year-old lawmaker and former Navy pilot, who was re-elected to a sixth Senate term in November, has been recovering at home in Arizona since undergoing surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix last Friday to remove a blood clot from above his left eye. advertisement Tissue analysis since that procedure revealed that a brain tumor known as a glioblastoma was associated with the clot, his office said. Glioblastoma is considered a grade IV tumor, the most malignant of gliomas. It can be very aggressive and spread into other parts of the brain quickly, according to the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas. McCain's doctors said he was recovering from his surgery "amazingly well" and that his underlying health was excellent. His treatment options include a combination of chemotherapy and radiation, his office said. "The news of my father's illness has affected every one of us in the McCain family," McCain's daughter Meghan McCain said in a statement on Twitter. "My grandmother, mother, brothers, sister, and I have all endured the shock of the news, and now we live with the anxiety about what comes next." She said the family was familiar with the experience of battling cancer since her father had fought it previously, and that through all of this, McCain himself was the "most confident and calm" of all of them. McCain has had non-invasive melanomas removed at least three times. He also overcame injuries suffered as prisoner of war in Vietnam, where he endured beatings and torture by his North Vietnamese captors. Some questions about McCain's health arose during a recent Senate hearing when the lawmaker, normally a keen interrogator of witnesses, rambled during questioning of former FBI Director James Comey. His doctors told CNN on Wednesday, however, that he had no sign of neurological impairment before or during his surgery. WISHES FOR SPEEDY RECOVERY His fellow members of Congress rushed to offer tributes to the lawmaker and wishes for his quick recovery. Known for an independent political streak, ready wit and strong opinions, McCain is one of the best-known and most popular US lawmakers among his peers and the media. A group of Republicans meeting to discuss healthcare policy on Wednesday evening prayed together for McCain. Senator Lindsey Graham, McCain's close friend, said McCain had told him he was eager to get back to work, Senator John Hoeven told reporters. advertisement While known as a fierce advocate for strong US military action overseas, McCain also has a reputation for working with Democrats on issues from clamping down on campaign finance abuses to immigration reform. This week, McCain called for a bipartisan approach to overhauling the US healthcare system. US President Donald Trump said that "Senator John McCain has always been a fighter," adding: "Get well soon." Former Democratic President Barack Obama, who defeated McCain for the White House in 2008, called McCain "an American hero and one of the bravest fighters I've ever known. Cancer doesn't know what it's up against. Give it hell, John." McCain was one of Congress' most vocal critics of Obama's foreign policy, but he has also raised questions about Trump, a fellow Republican. CRITICISM OF TRUMP McCain found himself to be a brief side issue in the race for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination when he criticised then-candidate Trump, who responded by saying McCain was not a war hero because he had been captured by the Vietnamese. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called McCain, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, a hero and said he looked forward to having him back in Washington. advertisement McCain, the son and grandson of admirals, was a US Navy pilot. His plane was shot down over Vietnam in 1967 and he spent 5-1/2 years as a prisoner of war. One of McCain's proudest moments as a US senator was working to pass legislation banning torture in 2015. When he was offered release because of his father's rank, McCain refused to be freed before those who had been held captive longer. He finally returned to the United States in 1973, with other prisoners of war. McCain's absence this week has complicated efforts by Trump and his fellow Republicans to repeal Obama's Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare. McCain's absence from Washington makes it difficult for McConnell to gather the 50 votes he needs in a chamber where the party holds only a 52-48-seat margin. His absence could also complicate progress toward passing the annual National Defense Authorization Act, a $700 billion piece of legislation setting policy for the Department of Defense that must pass every year. Also Read: US keeps Pakistan on list of countries providing safe haven to terrorists India's response to Doklam more reasonable than China's: Ex-White House official to India Today advertisement India-US-Japan's Malabar naval exercise is a message gift-wrapped for China WATCH | What happens when Donald Trump gets a WhatsApp message from PM Modi --- ENDS --- Local Samoan communities in New Zealand and Australia have been urged to support products from Samoa by purchasing fresh taro and a range of new frozen products launched last week at Fale o Samoa in Mangere, Auckland. The new line of frozen products included breadfruit, taro, taamu (Alocasia macrorrhiza) and manioc. The Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries (M.A.F) and the Scientific Research Organisation of Samoa (S.R.O.S), Laaulialemalietoa Asiata Leuatea P.F. Schmidt launched the new frozen products in front of some 200 people and Samoan media. Minister Laaulialemalietoa said they knew that 90 per cent of people who consumed taro in New Zealand were Samoan and he urged them to consider buying Samoas fresh and frozen produce. A blessing of the launch was made by Father Michael Endemann followed by the Ministers keynote address and then short speeches from the Samoan exporter Jacinta Silva and New Zealand Labour M.P. Aupito Sua William Sio before ending with refreshments that included taro samples. Pacific Trade Invest (P.T.I.) New Zealand has worked closely with exporters and key stakeholders from the taro industry in Samoa to help grow exports to New Zealand. The value of fresh taro exports from Samoa has significantly increased from about NZ$600,000 in 2014 to NZ$2.1 million in 2016. P.T.I. Trade Development Manager Joe Fuavao said, The volume of taro exports from Samoa to New Zealand are gradually building and it is important that strict level of quality control is maintained to ensure that this trend continues. This aligns well with the proactive role that the Government of Samoa is taking on enforcing strict quality standards and systems for export. Samoas fresh taro exports were halted indefinitely when taro leaf blight devastated Samoan taro in 1993. The taro blight wiped out a multi-million-dollar taro industry for Samoa and exports fell dramatically from 100 containers monthly. After years of research and development, Samoa has gradually built its exports to about 20 containers a month. Minister Laaulialemalietoa Schmidt said, So here we are again, taro is coming back through fresh and frozen commodities. This was very important for the economic development of Samoa over the past 30 years. Some 60-70% of Samoas economic development depends on agriculture, he said. The launch was important because sales would go back to the farmers directly. Not everyone in Samoa works in factories, has businesses, works in government 80% of our people are traditional people who work on the land. Samoas cross breeding research has resulted in the development of several varieties of taro. Five taro varieties were identified for the export market. An awareness and improved understanding of the unique attributes of each variety (for example such as taste profiles and health benefits) could open doors to new markets for Samoan taro exporters, P.T.I.s Joe Fuavao said.The launch was an important occasion for the Government of Samoa and the Samoan community. Although New Zealand re-opened the market for Samoas taro four years ago, this is the first time in more than 20 years that frozen taro had been exported into New Zealand and Australia markets. Minister Laaulialemalietoa Schmidt said frozen taro was a new idea and they were building their capacity to supply taro to a range of markets. The frozen products had a shelf life of 6-7 months and was processed, packaged and exported to the markets requirements. It was also the only way to overcome all the biosecurity requirements of New Zealand the Minister said.Frozen taro exports to Australia has grown with four containers launched in Melbourne and another four in Brisbane in May and a total of 15 containers was exported to Sydney over the past 18 months. Samoa frozen taro launches have been planned in Wellington and Christchurch next month. Do you think there should be a limit on the number of terms for the Prime Minister? The question has surfaced following the governments decision to change the Head of State after two terms in office. Deidre Fanene asked in todays Street Talk and this is what people said: Tina Vaipua - Magiagi If the Head of States position has been limited to five years then I think the PMs position should also be five years. Give the chance to other people who have been in Cabinet for so long. We also need to hear from other people and their ideas because we have been hearing from Tuilaepa for almost 20 years now. Jolly Ulumoto - Laulii I think the terms should be limited. If Cabinet decided to change the current law for the Head of State, then they should also consider changing the law for the Prime Minister. They cannot change one and leave the other one, its unfair. Give the chance to other members of Parliament and the people to vote for the next Prime Minister. Pouli Faapouli - Utualii Well, I agree with the thought because the Head of States position is one position that they should never have touched in the first place. If this is the case then I think the P.M. should also have a limited time. I say five years for the position and then change, because Samoa needs changes and a change is good. Moe Lei Sam - Taufusi I agree that there should also be a limited time for the Prime Minister position. The reason is because our country is in a mess because of the current Prime Ministers leadership. We need someone that prioritises the people rather than the development of the country in terms of buildings, cables etc. Tuilaepa has been Prime Minister for so long now and I tell you the people are suffering. So we need to have someone else with fresh ideas. Penina Gase - Matautu Of course there should be a limited time for the prime minister as well. We have to look at the current situation of the country and ask the questions. Are the people happy? Can the people afford the cost of living? Do they have everything they need? If those questions can be answered then that is the answer for that question. If the people are not happy then we should consider new members to run our country, people who prioritizes the needs of the country. Kimberly Motu - Faleasiu Its not a bad idea it should be considered by the cabinet. If they can change the law for the Head of State then they should be able to change the law for the Prime Minister position as well. Its all for good cause the people want to hear someone different who have new ideas so I think the government should consider it, especially Tuilaepa. The Samoa Observer and the Chinese Embassy launched a Chinese version of The Samoa Observer Tusitala Short Story Competitions book, Our Heritage, the Ocean yesterday at Vaitele. The writer was one of the speakers at the launch. This is what he said: Your Excellency, Ambassador Wang Xuefeng, First Secretary, Madam Tong Xin, Distinguished quests, Members of the Media, Friends. Greetings to you all. Let me begin by saying, this is a very special day for us all, here at the Samoa Observer. It is special, since today, we are celebrating history being made, right here, at the Samoa Observer, premises. And this historical event, I am talking about here, as you are now all aware, is the launching of the Chinese language version of the book of short stories, titled Our Heritage, the Ocean. Published originally in the English language, the book is made up of stories written by Pacific Islands authors, as well as others submitted by New Zealand, and Australian writers. And now that Our Heritage, the Ocean, is also in the Chinese language, I feel duty-bound to explain how this development that is decided to be cherished, had come about. The decision to have the book translated into the Chinese language, with the idea of making it available to the Chinese readership both in China and elsewhere, was that of the Chinese Ambassador for Samoa, His Excellency Wang Xuefeng, and the First Secretary, Madam Tong Xin. As for Our Heritage, the Ocean, the book is the product of the inaugural short story competition of that name, that the Samoa Observer had begun two years ago. In this years edition, 18 stories submitted by Pacific Island writers, as well as those submitted from New Zealand and Australia authors, will be published. Later, it is understood that the books Chinese version, will also be published. However, the knowledge that the book Our Heritage, the Ocean has been translated into the Chinese language, as well as subsequent editions of it as they come around, is so gratifying if feels as this is, a dream come true. Which is why I like to say thank you one more time, Your Excellency, Ambassador Wang Xuefeng, and First Secretary, Madam Tong Xin, for making it happen. Soifua. A large number of people taking medications for Alzheimers actually might not have the disease, according to early evidence from a study presented Wednesday. But detection may become easier if an experimental blood test ultimately proves accurate, said another report released on the same day. Both announcements were made during the Alzheimers Association International Conference in London. Together, they could help doctors provide more accurate diagnoses and eventually find effective treatments. Existing drugs for Alzheimers disease only temporarily slow down the loss of cognitive function; they have no effect on the underlying course of the condition, which causes brain degeneration. A third research project was launched at the conference, this one aimed at seeing whether non-drug lifestyle changes could reduce peoples risk of developing Alzheimers disease. Called the POINTER study, its funded with $20 million from the Alzheimers Association and will be conducted in the United States. Advertisement The discovery that many people diagnosed as having Alzheimers instead suffer from some other type of memory loss was made through the IDEAS study, which presented results among nearly 4,000 people with mild cognitive impairment or dementia. Those participants brains were scanned with PET imaging technology to detect plaques of beta amyloid, a toxic protein that defines Alzheimers. Only about 54 percent of those with mild cognitive impairment had the plaques, while nearly 71 percent of those with dementia did. That meant significant numbers of the study participants didnt have Alzheimers disease. Roughly 67 percent of doctors changed medical management for their patients after the PET scans, the new study reported. The IDEAS undertaking was launched last year at UC San Francisco to better document the use of PET scans in diagnosing and treating Alzheimers. Each of these scans costs thousands of dollars, and it hasnt been entirely clear whether the results are clinically useful. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services generally doesnt pay for these scans, except when theyre given in certain clinical studies. The agency agreed to pay most of the $100 million cost of the study to better determine usefulness. Diagnostic advance Dovetailing with the IDEAS study, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, said they have developed a blood screening test for amyloid build-up in the brain. If the blood tests accuracy is confirmed, it will greatly bring down the cost of detecting Alzheimers, said Keith Fargo, Director of Scientific Programs & Outreach at the Alzheimers Association. There were some false positives, but there werent many false negatives, said Fargo, speaking by phone from the London conference. That means patients who test negative can skip the PET scan, and their doctors can look into other causes of cognitive problems. Those whose blood test is positive can then get a PET scan for a definitive diagnosis, he said. Neuroimaging specialist Arthur Toga of USCs School of Medicine explains how his lab melds imaging research on Alzheimers disease patients with other data to obtain a better understanding of the disease process. Interview conducted in March 2017. Dr. Paul Aisen, an Alzheimers expert at the University of Southern California, said from the London meeting that the blood test is promising. Its the best that I have seen indicating the likelihood of amyloid in brain, from a blood sample alone, said Aisen, who directs the USC Alzheimers Therapeutic Research Institute in San Diego. The test could be useful for studies the USC Alzheimers institute is conducting on patients who have amyloid plaques but are cognitively normal, Aisen said. We think thats the best time to target amyloid before it has caused substantial damage, he said. While those studies may change the course of Alzheimers therapy in the future, for the present day, knowing whether cognitive problems are caused by Alzheimers may not change medical treatment that much, Aisen said. These (already approved) medications do not carry serious risks and many clinicians use them for cognitive symptoms that are not related to Alzheimers disease, Aisen said. Thats why I say this answer is not as valuable (for therapy) as it might seem. Life decisions Overall, experts said having an accurate diagnosis is crucial to planning care for people experiencing cognitive decline. An Alzheimers diagnosis indicates that the cognitive impairment will be steadily progressive, and unless there are major advances in treatment, will ultimately lead to dementia, loss of independence and death, Aisen said. Knowing that diagnosis can help families prepare for the consequences. The POINTER report on preventive lifestyle changes is an expansion on an earlier Alzheimers study being conducted in Finland about revising peoples lifestyles. That previous analysis, called the FINGER study, discovered mental benefits from exercise, nutritional counseling, social activities and better management of other diseases the patient may have. First results from the FINGER study show a reduction in the rate of cognitive decline, said Fargo of the Alzheimers Association. Later results are meant to show whether protection against cognitive decline extends until death. Because Finland is a small, ethnically homogenous country with good education and health care, the findings may not apply in other societies, Fargo said. The United States or even just California presents a greatly different landscape, which is large, geographically vast and has people of all different races and ethnicities, Fargo said. Will this kind of intervention make a difference in our diverse population? Those interested in learning more about clinical trials on Alzheimers disease, including the POINTER study, can go to j.mp/alztrials for further details from the Alzheimers Association. The group also offers a free service called TrialMatch, which helps consumers choose clinical studies that are appropriate for them. Limited options Alzheimers disease is the 6th leading cause of death in the United States, with 110,561 people who died in 2014, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 5 million Americans may have the disease said the National Institute on Aging. Unless some way of stopping the condition is found, that number is projected to rise to 16 million by 2050. Among the nations leading causes of death, Alzheimers is the only one with no proven cure or preventive measure or even a way to slow down progression of the disease. A 2013 study estimated that in the United States, caring for people with dementia cost an estimated $159 billion to $215 billion in 2010. The largest single cause of dementia is Alzheimers disease. Related articles Alzheimers begins long before symptoms of memory loss appear, study suggests Aspirin relative might help Alzheimers UC San Diego to take part in key Alzheimers trial Science Playlist On Now In a first, scientists rid human embryos of a potentially fatal gene mutation by editing their DNA On Now Space station flyovers visible from San Diego this week 0:55 On Now UCSD's 'ghost drivers' begin testing people's reaction seemingly empty cars 1:29 On Now 10 interesting facts about Mars On Now Kids can add years to your life On Now LA 90: SpaceX launches recycled rocket On Now Big passions, big giving: Malin Burnham 2:30 On Now Big passions, big giving: Darlene Shiley 2:40 On Now Big passions, big giving: Joan and Irwin Jacobs 2:45 On Now Ocean temperatures warming at rapid rate, study finds bradley.fikes@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1020 By PTI: (Eds: Updating with McCains India views) By Lalit K Jha Washington, Jul 20 (PTI) US senator John McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee and the current chairman of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee, has been diagnosed with an aggressive brain cancer, his office said. The tumour was diagnosed after the 80-year-old veteran politician and prisoner of the Vietnam War underwent a surgery on July 14 to remove a blood clot from his left eye, said the Mayo Clinic, where the procedure was performed. advertisement Tests revealed thataprimary brain tumour- glioblastoma - wasassociated with the blood clot, it said in a statement. Glioblastoma is an aggressive brain cancer and its prognosis is generally poor. Senator Edward M Kennedy survived less than 15 months after he was found to have the tumour in 2008. "The senator and his family arereviewingfurther treatment options with his Mayo Clinic care team. Treatment options may include a combinationofchemotherapy and radiation. The senators doctors say he is recovering from his surgery amazingly well andhis underlying health is excellent," the hospital said in a statement. McCain, a votary of strong India-US relations, wrote an Opinion piece on CNN when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the US last year, seeking warmer bilateral ties. The Senate Armed Services Committee chairman wrote that the India-US defence ties was a "significant achievement". "But what encourages me the most is not the road we have travelled, but rather the path that lies ahead," he said in the piece. He said he believes there was "no limit to our potential, and I will be working hard to ensure these principles are carried into the next administration and the next Congress." "And in a time when threats seem to be only increasing and chaos increasingly fomented, I see in India a country that can and should fight with us to maintain global security. In the coming years, I see an India that provides critical stability in a rapidly changing Indian Ocean region." McCain even urged the US to treat India the "same as it does its close partners and allies." Chaired by McCain, the Senate Armed Services Committee this week asked the Pentagon to work closely with India in cyber and space operating domains at strategic, operational and tactical levels. Now, after McCains cancer diagnosis, the Indian Embassy in Washington DC wished him a "speedy recovery." US President Trump has sent his thoughts and prayers to McCain and his entire family. "Senator John McCain has always been a fighter. Melania and I send our thoughts and prayers to Senator McCain, Cindy, and their entire family. Get well soon," he said. advertisement Former President Barack Obama tweeted: "John McCain is an American hero and one of the bravest fighters Ive ever known. Cancer doesnt know what its up against. Give it hell, John." House Speaker Paul Ryan said McCain has always been a warrior. "Its who he is. I know John is going to fight this with the same sheer force of will that has earned him the admiration of the nation. And all of us, not as Republicans or Democrats, but as Americans, are behind him." House Armed Service Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry said McCain is a patriot. "I know that the courage and the remarkable spirit and tenacity that has marked his life will guide him in the challenges ahead." In a statement, McCain appreciated the outpouring of support he has received over the past few days. McCains office said he was in good spirits as he continues to recover at home with his family in Arizona. "Further consultations with Senator McCains Mayo Clinic care team will indicate when he will return to the United States Senate," it said. advertisement McCain, who was re-elected to his sixth term in the Senate in 2016, served as an aviator in the US Navy before entering politics. He spent five and a half years as a prisoner of the Vietnam war. PTI LKJ CK ABH AKJ ABH --- ENDS --- Gene drive technology, studied as a way of fighting mosquito-borne diseases, probably wont work well in nature, according to a study published Thursday. Insect populations quickly evolve resistance to gene drives, stated the study, conducted in fruit flies. This is partly due to the genetic diversity of populations in the wild. The study was published in the journal PLOS Genetics. Advertisement The previous day, the federal agency DARPA announced a $14.9 million grant to University of California researchers to develop gene drives to defenses against Zika, chikungunya, dengue and yellow fever, all carried by various mosquito species. UC Riverside scientist Omar Akbari leads the project. UC San Diego scientists Ethan Bier and Valentino Gantz were the first to demonstrate a working gene drive system in insects, using fruit flies. With UC Irvines Anthony James, they engineered mosquitoes resistant to a species of the malaria parasite Plasmodium. The gene carrying this trait self-replicates, spreading itself preferentially through a population. That researchs potential piqued DARPAs interest, prompting the grant to find defenses against mosquito-borne diseases that threaten the United States. Demonstrating the gene drive system in a controlled laboratory setting is one thing. But making it work in an uncontrolled environment outside the lab will be far more difficult, the study said. Gene drives are engineered with CRISPR gene editing technology, a more efficient approach than earlier possible. The study found that the nature of CRISPR-created gene drives gives them a propensity to also produce resistance genes, through a process called non-homologous end joining that repairs DNA breaks. Bier said the study outlined problems he had already considered, and that ways around these problems could be found. There isnt anything we didnt anticipate, Bier said. The spread of resistance should be minimized by the approach taken with the malaria gene drive, Bier said. The gene doesnt attack mosquitoes, it attacks the parasite infecting mosquitoes. So in this instance, this should have very little effect, in causing resistance, Bier said. For further reading DARPA funds UC gene drive research against mosquito-borne diseases Resistance complicates use of gene drive to control dangerous pests Indias Tata gives UCSD $70M in hot area of genetics UCI establishes Malaria Initiative to fight deadly disease in Africa UCSD gene drive technology offers life-transforming power Engineered genes can self-propagate Science Playlist On Now In a first, scientists rid human embryos of a potentially fatal gene mutation by editing their DNA On Now Space station flyovers visible from San Diego this week 0:55 On Now UCSD's 'ghost drivers' begin testing people's reaction seemingly empty cars 1:29 On Now 10 interesting facts about Mars On Now Kids can add years to your life On Now LA 90: SpaceX launches recycled rocket On Now Big passions, big giving: Malin Burnham 2:30 On Now Big passions, big giving: Darlene Shiley 2:40 On Now Big passions, big giving: Joan and Irwin Jacobs 2:45 On Now Ocean temperatures warming at rapid rate, study finds bradley.fikes@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1020 San Diegos SkySafe, which has developed security technology that can take control of rogue drones, said Thursday that it has raised $11.5 million in a first round of institutional funding led by well-known Silicon Valley venture firm Andreessen Horowitz. The 15-employee start-up also has landed a $1.5 million Department of Defense contract to deliver a mobile counter-drone prototype system for use by Navy Special Warfare units. This new Series A funding round will enable SkySafe to get its technology deployed quicker, said Chief Executive Grant Jordan. The company is planning a series of demonstrations, tests and exercises for the Defense Department in coming months, with an aim of getting its vehicle mounted technology in the field in 2018. Advertisement The demand on the military side has risen drastically just over the last six months, said Jordan, who also co-founded the company. ISIS has been weaponizing drones in Iraq and Syria. They have been using off-the-shelve DJI Phantom 4s to drop grenades. So it has very much come to the forefront. SkySafe allows authorities to enforce airspace rules for drones which Jordan said is key to expanding the industry. The technology can detect, identify, track and take over control, when necessary, of individual drones within monitored airspace. On the mitigation side, we focus a lot of effort on building tools that dont have spillover effects on other systems, said Jordan. One of the problems that military customers have when trying to counter these threats with traditional heavy jammers is they dont want to knock out their own communications. So they are really looking for the surgical effects that we are able to create. In addition to the military, SkySafe is targeting operators of airports, prisons, stadiums and critical infrastructure as potential customers. Founded in 2015 by a team of cybersecurity and drone experts from UC San Diego, the Air Force Research Lab and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, SkySafe raised $3 million in seed funding last year. Andreessen Horowitz participated in that seed round as well. General Partner Lars Dalgaard has joined SkySafes board of directors. Based in Menlo Park, Andreessen Horowitz has backed Facebook, Skype, Slack, Lyft, Twitter, Oculus and myriad other tech firms since it was founded in 2009. They really understand the drone market and where it is headed, said Jordan. They see the need for these enforcement systems to really roll out commercial applications. Business mike.freeman@sduniontribune.com; Twitter:@TechDiego 760-529-4973 After 17 months of inspection and analysis of wells at the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility, state engineering and safety enforcement experts concluded Wednesday that the facility is safe to resume operations, although on a limited basis. This has been a very precise and directed safety review, said Ken Harris, supervisor at the Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR). Im confident that the field is safe and can be reopened safely. But Timothy Sullivan, the executive director at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), said that out of an abundance of caution, storage capacity at Aliso Canyon will be restricted to about 28 percent of the facilitys maximum capacity just enough to avoid energy disruptions in the Los Angeles area. Advertisement We expect it could be between a week or two to resume operations of the field, Sullivan said, adding that steps must be completed before injections can resume. Southern California Gas, the operators of Aliso Canyon, said those steps include a leak survey of the facility and a flyover to measure methane emissions at the site. Aliso Canyon is the site of the largest methane leak from a natural gas storage facility in U.S. history. The leak was first detected in October 2015 but was not permanently contained until February 2016, forcing the evacuation of more than 8,000 households in the Porter Ranch neighborhood. All told, about 100,000 metric tons of methane were emitted. According to a UC Davis study the total greenhouse gas pollution equaled the emissions of a half-million cars driven for a year. SoCalGas, a subsidiary of San Diego-based Sempra Energy, has been arguing since November to reopen the site, saying it is safe and insisting the facility is needed to assure reliability to the California energy grid. Aliso Canyon is an important part of Southern Californias energy system, the utility said in a statement, supporting the reliability of natural gas and electricity services for millions of people. But many residents in Porter Ranch have insisted that the site remain closed, as have some environmental groups. I think its absolutely ludicrous that theyre claiming this facility is safe, Alexandra Nagy of Food and Water Watch said to The Associated Press. From my perspective this facility will never be safe. While Wednesdays move opens the door to restart the site, the long-term future of the facility is still up in the air. An independent investigation into the cause of the leak is underway and last year Gov. Jerry Brown issued a proclamation that called for an assessment of the long-term viability of all natural gas facilities in California. Within minutes of the joint announcement Wednesday by the CPUC and DOGGR, the head of the California Energy Commission sent a letter to the president of the CPUC urging the commission to make plans to close Aliso Canyon. My staff is prepared to work with the CPUC and other agencies on a plan to phase out the use of the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility within 10 years, Robert Weisenmiller, the CECs chairman said. Bill Powers, a San Diego engineer and consumer advocate, said SoCalGas has cried wolf on the facilitys necessity, pointing to warnings made last year by the utility as well as some state agencies of up to 14 days of power outages due to the loss of Aliso Canyon that did not materialize. All of this is just a drumbeat to try and create in the publics mind some fear of a gas shortage when there is nothing to fear if (SoCalGas) balances their system, which they have not been doing and the state has not been insisting on it, Powers said. SoCalGas has countered that Aliso is necessary to respond to imbalances in the energy system, particularly during times when the grid is under stress, such as in the summer when customers turn up their air conditioners and in the winter when they fire up furnaces. Bret Lane, the president of SoCalGas, sent a letter on April 28 to the CPUC, the CEC and the California Independent System Operator, citing weather predictions for a warmer than normal summer this year. Californians cannot rely on luck, Lane said, and energy reliability should not depend upon unusually mild weather conditions. The 17-month safety review leading up to Wednesdays announcement was conducted by experts from Lawrence Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore and Sandia National Labs and looked over each of the 114 wells at Aliso. About 60 percent of the wells have now been taken out of operation and isolated from the facility, according to DOGGR and the CPUC. The remaining wells are subject to a series of requirements, including real-time pressure monitors and daily well head inspections. SoCalGas said new regulations call for gas to only flow through newly installed and pressure-tested, inner steel tubing. Aliso Canyon is home to the largest daily deliverability the amount of gas that can be withdrawn from a storage facility each day of any storage facility west of the Rockies, estimated at 1.9 billion cubic feet per day. According to federal figures, Aliso Canyon has a total storage capacity of 86 billion cubic feet of natural gas. The CPUCs Sullivan said Wednesday there is currently 14.8 billion cubic feet of gas in the field. Business rob.nikolewski@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1251 Twitter: @robnikolewski ALSO Is Aliso Canyon needed to keep the power on this summer? SDG&E says its ready for a long, hot summer Feds look to prevent future Aliso Canyon natural gas leaks Wetter weather and continued growth in renewable energy sources resulted in some big changes in electricity generation in California in 2016, according to numbers recently released by the California Energy Commission. Natural gas still accounted for the largest single share of in-state power generation but the amount deployed dropped 10 percent last year. The difference was largely replaced by electricity produced by large hydro facilities home to reservoirs that started to fill up at the end of 2016 as one of the wettest winters on record began and production from wind and solar, which each posted double-digit growth. Advertisement Natural gas has quickly developed as a dominant fuel, not just in California but across the country. Supplies have grown due to enhanced production techniques and that has resulted in lower prices. In 2015, natural gas accounted for just under 60 percent of in-state generation while large hydro facilities hamstrung by a years-long drought accounted for less than 6 percent. But rain and a vastly improved snowpack in the Sierra Nevada resulted in a big gain for electricity from large hydroelectric sources, with large facilities more than doubling their share of in-state generation to 12.31 percent. And that number is in good shape to hold up in 2017 because the wet weather across the state continued during the first few months of the year. In February, there were reports of snowpacks at more than 180 percent of normal and in early April Gov. Jerry Brown declared the states four-year drought had officially ended. In general, when the runoff and snowmelt numbers are plentiful, Californias hydroelectricity is less expensive to buy than electricity generated by plants using natural gas-fired generation. That, energy commission analyst Marc Pryor said, leads to an increase in hydro and decrease in natural gas. Its not a one-for-one (relationship), Pryor said, but its definitely noticeable. Whats also noticeable is the impact from renewable sources, solar and wind in particular. Renewable energy in 2016 made up 27.9 percent of in-state electric generation, up from 24.5 percent the previous year. That may not appear to be a big gain but its nearly a three-fold increase from 10 years earlier. Plus, compared to 2015, wind saw a 10.8 percent increase while solar jumped 31.5 percent. Whats more, the solar number across the state is actually higher than whats reflected in the California Energy Commission (CEC) data because the commission does not have a mechanism to track rooftop solar projects erected by homeowners and small businesses. The commission numbers account for solar systems that are 1-megawatt and larger. Weve been talking about the growth of renewables and it just keeps a steady drumbeat, said energy commission spokesman Albert Lundeen. Every year it continues to grow. Natural gas as a percentage of in-state generation dropped below the 59 percent mark in the CEC numbers for the first time since 2011. The Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility in the Los Angeles area remained offline throughout 2016 but Pryor said he did not think that contributed to the 2016 decline in natural gas generation. I think there was enough supply in the system to serve it, he said. Aliso Canyon spewed more than 100,000 metric tons of methane into the air between October 2015 and February 2016, forcing the evacuation of 8,000 households in the Porter Ranch neighborhood. Nuclear energys share of in-state generation remained steady, at 9.55 percent, virtually unchanged from 2015. However, Diablo Canyon is the only nuclear plant left in California and its operator, Pacific Gas & Electric, has plans before the California Public Utility Commission to shut down the facility by 2025. Before the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station was taken offline in January 2012, nuclear power accounted for 15 to 18 percent of in-state generation. In its absence, natural gas helped fill in the gap. Nuclear power, as well as large hydro, is not counted in the CEC definition of renewable energy but when they are, Californias generation from sources that do not emit CO2 accounted for 49.7 percent of total in-state generation in 2016. Thats up from 39.8 percent in 2015. Meanwhile, the amount of coal in California continues to drop, accounting for less than 0.2 percent of in-state electric generation. According to the CEC, about 97 percent of coal-fired electricity was generated by power plants outside California from states such as Utah, Oregon and New Mexico and by 2026 the amount generated is expected to decline to zero. In 2014, San Diego Gas & Electric, along with Southern California Edison and the California Department of Water Resources, eliminated coal from its power generation mix. Total California In-State Electric Generation 2016: 198,227 gigawatt-hours 2015: 196,195 gigawatt-hours Source: California Energy Commission Business rob.nikolewski@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1251 Twitter: @robnikolewski ALSO Hydropower poised for comeback in California, thanks to a wet winter The 10 largest power plants in the world: Hail, hydro! Californias electric grid prepares for a solar eclipse this summer The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego invites the community to experience an evening of all-access culture tonight at Downtown at Sundown. Held the third Thursday of every month, the three-hour shindig includes DJ-spun tunes, drink specials at the adjacent Stone Brewing Company Store and free guided tours of the current exhibitions. Tours are held at 5:30 and 6:45 p.m. All of the museums galleries are open, as is the SDSU Downtown Gallery at Kettner Boulevard and Broadway. The museum offers two-hour parking for $2 in the One America Plaza underground parking structure at Broadway and India Street. After that, its $1.75 per 12 minutes. Downtown at Sundown: 5 to 8 p.m. tonight. Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, Jacobs Building, 1100 & 1001 Kettner Blvd., San Diego. Free admission. mcasd.org Advertisement carolina.gusman@sduniontribune.com Sandra Dibble spends most of her work day south of the border where shes as confident as a hometown journalist, embraced by a network of Mexican reporters and the vibrant culture of Tijuana. As a border reporter at the San Diego Union-Tribune, Dibble covers news, events and issues at the border and in Mexico, and relays how it affects the people of San Diego. A lot of what I end up doing is looking for linkages between south and north, Dibble said. Advertisement The 23-year U-T veteran covers topics including the North American Trade Agreement (NAFTA), law enforcement, culture, environmental issues and border infrastructure. Not just breaking news, you take an issue and you put it into perspective, said Dibble, who said her favorite stories are news features. Dibble considers her news feature, Mexicos New Plan to Save Rare Vaquita Porpoise, one of her more important stories. It described an event involving the endangered species and Mexicos plan to prevent the extinction of the mammal. Its global news because its a dying species, Dibble said. Other stories Dibble covers have more of an impact on the daily life of San Diegans, such as her recent piece on the planned 57-hour closure of southbound lanes at the San Ysidro border crossing. Dibble believes stories are not for the reporter, but for the audience. Your opinion does not matter; youre not that interesting, Dibbles explained. Whats interesting is the information so get the facts out there. An international journalism fellowship, which led her to work in Mexico, kindled her career in border reporting. Dibble studied Spanish in high school and now speaks like a native. Through her work and travel, she has immersed herself in the Mexican culture. She enjoys spending her free time south of the border, visiting the opera, going to classical concerts and perfecting the Mexican ballroom dance, Danzon. She has also spent time singing with a Tijuana opera chorus. Theres so much to do in Tijuana, culturally, Dibble said, so I love going down there just because I know the scene. Mia Rollins is a member of the U-T Community Journalism Scholars Program. The sounds of drills and hammers were drowned out by the giggles of young architects as they lifted, twisted and shifted cardboard boxes and plastic sheets to create life-sized shelters. Homes for the Homeless engaged fifth- through ninth-graders over two weeks to plan, design and construct temporary enclosures for transients throughout San Diego County. Offered by College for Kids, a summer enrichment program for academically advanced students, it was one of 17 offerings at Southwestern College this year. Advertisement Each team of four to five students worked together to create a unique sleeping and storage space. A typical structure resembled a refrigerator box turned on its side. Some included slanted or domed roofs and others incorporated a small door or an entirely open side. They served as prototypes for structures that could efficiently and temporarily house homeless people. Made entirely of materials that could be found on the streets, the structures were designed and modeled by the students in miniature, using toothpicks, cardboard and duct tape before they built the life-sized versions. We guide kids through the architectural design process, said teaching assistant Endo Rosales. One group sliced through a flexible piece of corrugated plastic to create a roof that will allow rainwater to drain from the structure. Another group bound wooden stakes with cable ties to create a foundation. They really let their imagination soar, instructor Diana De La Torre Arredondo said. They have to come up with the dimensions, the materials that they need. De La Torre Arredondo created this course three years ago, inspired by the growing number of homeless she observed. According to a 2016 federal report, San Diego County has the fourth largest homeless population in the United States. We recognize that theres a great need in the community, De La Torre Arredondo said. We thought it would be great to see if the children in our community could help come up with solutions. Students constructed the contraptions by utilizing science, technology, engineering and mathematical concepts. Isabella Burruel, 10, used mathematics skills to design and construct the roof for her groups structure. "(We measured) the width, the length (of the roof), Isabella said. "(Then we calculated) the perimeter and the area. Students learned to integrate aspects of physics to create more structurally sound abodes. Students have to understand the science behind it, De La Torre Arredondo said. "(They have to) make sure that the dimensions work well, that the door is large enough for someone to go in through. Over the course of the program, students combined STEM educational concepts, architectural design skills and grassroots philanthropy in a way that gives back to their communities. Its really fun to build something that you have a good intention for, said Aviana Garcia, 11. Its fun thinking of ways we can help. For more information: https://dept.swccd.edu/cfk/ Shayna Kobrinetz is a member of the U-T Community Journalism Scholars Program. Instructors with names like Miss Curiosity and Galaxy Gaby squirted a soapy solution onto a green tablecloth as their students dipped straws into suds and blew bubbles, creating a frothy mural that represents constellations. This rudimentary study of outer space is part of a five-day NASA Space Academy for children ages 6 to 11. Its goal is to teach students science, technology, engineering and mathematic topics that relate to astronomy. The summer camp at the La Mesa Community Center was organized by Mad Science, a Canadian-based company founded more than 30 years ago. Advertisement These kids, theyre our future, said Erika Garcia, president and owner of Mad Science of San Diego. These programs spark their imagination and may get them interested in science-related careers. Hopefully, they make the world better for us. Mad Science partners with NASA to guide the camps curriculum, which focuses on the planets, the forces of flight and gravity, and other astro-physical topics. After demonstrating a miniature model of NASAs early Mercury spacecraft, instructors Gabriela Galaxy Gaby Meraz and Olive Ann Miss Curiosity Curl asked, Who would likely be inside of the rocket? One student shouted aliens and the room erupted in laughter. They are learning, but they are definitely having a good time, Meraz said. Jason Allen, 8, enjoyed the programs study of rockets. My favorite part ... is that they fly up in the air, Jason said. As students ate snacks and played tag in the adjacent room during a break, Curl prepared for the next educational activity, hanging maps of different constellations. I never learned science growing up, not (the way) theyre learning, Curl said. This program uses a lot of math. It teaches reasoning and that we have to expect to make mistakes and try again until we prove or confirm something. To understand how force and physics affect the flight of aircraft, Galaxy Gaby and Miss Curiosity conducted an experiment. A drinking straw was strung on fishing line tied to two folding chairs placed about 10 feet apart. A balloon, representing the rocket engine, was taped to the straw. After inflating the balloon, it was released. The students cheered as it accelerated across the line. Newtons third law of motion makes the balloon go in the opposite direction (than the release of the air), said Curl, a retired school teacher. In this experiment, you get to see it in motion. Mad Science conducts after-school programs, special events, birthday parties, and workshops throughout the year in San Diego County and internationally. I wish they had Mad Science when I was in school, Garcia said. Im learning every time the instructors go through classes. I get wowed by the experiments, or shooting rockets up in the air just like a little girl. For more information: sandiego.madscience.org Diego Dela Rosa is a member of the U-T Community Journalism Scholars Program. In a high school lab, kids are encouraged to spend their summer playing with food, making music with bananas and microwaving candy into a messy muck -- all in the name of science. The Sally Ride Science Junior Academy invited youth in grades six through 12 to don goggles and gloves and learn practical applications of science from researchers and experts. Organized by UC San Diego, the academy took place at Mission Bay High School in Pacific Beach for four weeks. Participants chose from 19 different courses including Introduction to Circuits Using Makey-Makey, Messy Science, Virtual Reality with Google Cardboard and Slimy Sea Creatures. Advertisement In the circuits course, one project challenged students to attach wires to a circuit board sold as part of the Makey-Makey electronics invention kit. The panel was then connected to a computer and an array of bananas. The computer was programmed to treat the fruit as piano keys. Upon striking the bananas, the electronic circuit was completed and the computer produced musical tones. The lesson taught students the basics of conductivity. While some students hovered around the banana piano, eighth-grader Kiera OBrien got creative and made her own invention. Im going to cut out cardboard and Im going to make a game controller, she said. Another project had the young scientists nuke stacked Starburst candies in a microwave oven so they could stretch the colorful goo to simulate layers of the earth. We talked about the rock levels and what (the Starburst candies) were representing, said Tatum Semmens, a sixth grader at the academy. UCSD partnered with San Diego Unified School District to offer the program at the high school, a more accessible location for students than the La Jolla college campus. The programs goal is to inspire young people to consider careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and to prepare them for the jobs that dont yet exist. We need to mine the pipeline for the next generation of students to come to UC and for the national work force, said Edward Abeyta, Ph.D., director of pre-collegiate and career preparation programs at UCSD. The academys mentors and educators are professionals and graduate students in STEM fields, such as oceanography and seismology. The students are learning from the instructors but the instructors are also learning how to instruct and how to convey their science in a way that is appropriate for middle school and high school students, said instructor lead Debbi Kilb, Ph.D. Its a two-way street where both are learning -- not just one group. UCSD hopes the academy specifically will ignite more interest in STEM careers for girls, though it is open to boys, too. We need to start sparking that interest much earlier on, Abeyta said, finding that area of interest that students can unlock ... and connect it to something thats interesting in the field of STEM. For more information: sallyridescience.com Mia Rollins is a member of the U-T Community Journalism Scholars Program. Students with gloved hands held a test tube in one and an eye dropper in the other as they modeled the process of growing human cells. In this four-week summer program, high school students transformed into college-level researchers on a campus known for its world-class advancements in bioengineering. Eighteen of those students participated in the tissue engineering and regenerative medicine cluster at the California State Summer School for Mathematics and Science, or Cosmos, a residential program hosted at UC San Diego. Advertisement High school students are not really exposed to engineering, said Charles Tu, Ph.D., Cosmos faculty director at UCSD. Wed like to increase access. During the summer program, students learned about tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. They were given in-depth lessons for using lab equipment, where they conducted their own research. One of the biggest barriers to students getting into this area is actually learning the techniques hands-on, said Robert Sah, Ph.D., professor of bioengineering at UCSD. It takes a lot of experience and practice to grow the cells that you want, and not grow bacteria and other cells that you dont want. Tissue engineering is the replication of body tissue for restoring or improving that which is damaged. Scientists then develop regenerative medical treatments, such as engineered skin to treat wounds and burns. In the Powell-Focht Bioengineering Hall, program participants are encouraged to think and reason independently as they conduct assigned lab experiments. In school, we dont really go into the specifics of any labs, said Simran Sadhwani, 15. Here weve been able to think by ourselves about the procedure that needs to go next and apply more critical thinking. Students applied to one of four campuses UC Davis, Irvine and Santa Cruz also host Cosmos and were placed in one of 10 clusters, which cover a variety of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) topics. The program is (meant to) challenge them, Tu said, to be the future leaders of STEM. Working cooperatively, the lab experiments conducted by instructors and students during the summer program sometimes have shaped more advanced research. Last year we tried a new approach to reengineer micro-organs en vitro, said Roberto Gaetani, Ph.D., research scientist in bioengineering at UCSD. We had a very positive result, and Ive been continuing to work in my lab on this project. Many of the participants plan to build upon the knowledge they have learned as they consider higher education and career options. San Diego-based students are encouraged to maintain their ties with UCSD as continuing interns. For me, its sparked an interest in being able to cure diseases in the future, said Sydney Milo, 16. Im excited to do something that hasnt been done before. For more information: jacobsschool.ucsd.edu/cosmos Sabrina Pascua is a member of the U-T Community Journalism Scholars Program. About four years ago, the village head had dumped garbage in the premises, boasting that a road will be constructed there for the betterment of the locality. By Rajat Rai: A middle school in the Jharwa village of Khorabar Vikas Khand has earned a unique name - Kude Waala School - because, as the name suggests, it is located right in the middle of a garbage dump yard. The municipal corporation of Gorakhpur regularly dumps the city waste here. Brijnandan Verma, one of the teachers in the school, told Mail Today: "About four years ago, the village head had dumped garbage in the premises, boasting that a road will be constructed there for the betterment of the locality. Since then, the mounds of trash kept growing and now the place has become a 60-feet tall dumping ground for the city." advertisement "We are annoyed because people refer to it as 'Kude Waala' school. We have not been able to fill even 30 per cent of total seats since the last four years," said Sanjay Maurya, another teacher. SEWAGE WITHIN SCHOOL Not only this, there is a huge pond in front of the school that is filled with water round the year. "In 1998, the adjoining canal leak created this huge pit. Besides rain water, the sewage of the village also flows in it. The school almost drowns during the rainy season and it takes about two to three months for it to dry completely. The school barely functions for five to six months," said Chandra Prakash, who lives nearby. According to stats, there are four male and three female teachers in the school and the student strength is 40. It runs classes from sixth to eighth standard. STINKY FOOD The students, who have no choice but to study in unhygienic conditions, often complain of health problems. "Even the midday meal served to us stinks. We are not able to eat or use the toilet as it is located near the pahad (dump). We often fall sick," shares Vipin, a class 6 student. "We avoid coming to school during the rains because when it rains heavy, it becomes nearly impossible to go back home," said Laxmi, a class 8 student. When contacted, Prem Chand Sharma, the Basic Siksha Adhikari (BSA) said: "I just joined here and have come to know about this through you. If there is such a problem, we will initiate necessary action." Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath, who visited the constituency on July 9, had gave strict instructions to the medical, administrative and police personnel to spread awareness for preventing JE and encephalitis. Also Read Haryana shocker: Baby snake found in mid-day meal at government school Facing Opposition fury over Aadhaar for mid-day meal, government says benefits to continue without card --- ENDS --- The League of United Latin American Citizens has honored Alma Loe, a researcher and manager at Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific, with its Excellence in Service Award for leading the Pay It Forward anti-homeless initiative in San Diego. She received the award on July 6 at the nonprofit organizations 88th annual convention in San Antonio, Texas. Also commonly known as LULAC, the league is the largest and oldest Hispanic organization in the United States. The Pay It Forward project, which Loe founded in 2013, brings together volunteers to collect and distribute clothing, blankets, shoes and other other vital supplies to the homeless several times each year. The program estimates that more than 900 homeless people, many of them military veterans, have been assisted during the past four years. Advertisement Others can help out by reaching out to me directly and being part of Pay It Forward either by providing donation items or volunteering to disseminate water, food, clothes, etc., she wrote in an email. A former San Diego-based Navy radioman 3rd class, Loe left the service in 1999. She has 16 years of experience supporting Americas submarine programs, with an expertise in communications. She currently provides integration management on the Submarine Platform Automated Digital Network System. Her position includes helping to ensure that American submarines can operate alongside underwater forces from the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Canada and other nations. Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific previously honored Loe with its On the Spot Award for her work supporting the U.S. Pacific Fleets Submarine Force. Born in Los Angeles Countys Sun Valley, Loe was raised in the inner city of San Diego. After her Navy enlistment, she worked full time as a civilian employee in the submarine program, studied business management at San Diego State University and raised two children alongside her husband, Daniel. They now live in the Eastlake area of Chula Vista. Military Videos On Now D-Day paratrooper from Coronado jumps again in France at age 96 On Now Remembering war's fallen, one name at a time On Now In Ramona, an airplane and an aviator provide living lessons on World War II 1:43 On Now Video: Navy's newest vessel sails into San Diego and a new future in surface warfare On Now Video: U.S. Navy files homicide charges over warship collisions On Now Stopping Marine hazing On Now Video: U.S. Navy Air Crew Grounded After Creating Vulgar Sky Drawing On Now Navy says Asia Pacific ship collisions were avoidable On Now Hundreds of recruits get sick at Marine boot camp On Now Cutler Dawson Talks Navy Federal cprine@sduniontribune.com The Navys newest littoral combat ship, the Gabrielle Giffords, is slated to open its hatches to the public this weekend with a few rules to keep visitors safe. The Independence-class warship is set to host free tours at the Broadway Pier on Saturday and Sunday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The downtown pier is located on North Harbor Drive, just north of West Broadway. Expect security screenings prior to boarding the ship. All visitors 18 or older must show a valid state or federal government-issued photo identification card, and all children must be accompanied by an adult. Advertisement Visitors are asked to bring as few personal items as possible so theyre better able to navigate the ships corridors. The Navy bans knives, firearms, clubs, chemicals such as Mace and all aerosol spray cans. Also barred are fireworks, flammable liquids, illegal drugs or paraphernalia, large bags and purses, backpacks and large camera bags. The pier has no holding area for bicycles, baby strollers, scooters or pets. The Giffords will not be accessible to many mobility-challenged people. Tours might not be appropriate for young children. All others should be in good physical condition to safely climb steep ladders, the Navy advised. People wearing high-heeled shoes, flip-flops or attire deemed inappropriate such as bathing suits will be turned away. The warship arrived in San Diego on July 5. Its named in honor of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, an Arizona Democrat who survived a 2011 assassination attempt in Tucson, Arizona. As the ninth littoral combat ship in the Navys arsenal, the vessel is designed to wage war on both the high seas and shallow waters around the globe. Fast and nimble with a distinctive trimaran hull borrowed from racing yachts and commercial ferries, the Giffords can be configured to handle anti-submarine and anti-mine operations. Military Videos On Now D-Day paratrooper from Coronado jumps again in France at age 96 On Now Remembering war's fallen, one name at a time On Now In Ramona, an airplane and an aviator provide living lessons on World War II 1:43 On Now Video: Navy's newest vessel sails into San Diego and a new future in surface warfare On Now Video: U.S. Navy files homicide charges over warship collisions On Now Stopping Marine hazing On Now Video: U.S. Navy Air Crew Grounded After Creating Vulgar Sky Drawing On Now Navy says Asia Pacific ship collisions were avoidable On Now Hundreds of recruits get sick at Marine boot camp On Now Cutler Dawson Talks Navy Federal cprine@sduniontribune.com A commissioned officer in the Navy SEALs faces sex-crime charges stemming from an alleged assault on a woman in November, according to his criminal charge sheet. On June 29, Navy officials charged Lt. Joseph Joey Benevento with two violations of military law for allegedly placing the woman who isnt identified on a bed, removing her pants and penetrating her without consent. The incident allegedly occurred at an undisclosed location in San Diego on Nov. 6. Rear Adm. Timothy Szymanski, commander of the Coronado-based Naval Special Warfare Command, has greenlighted a preliminary investigation. No decision has been reached on whether Benevento will proceed to what are called Article 32 proceedings, which resemble a civilian grand-jury hearing. Advertisement Messages placed at Beneventos office, on a personal telephone and social media sites on Wednesday werent returned. On Friday, Beneventos criminal defense attorney Michael Waddington insisted his client was innocent. LT Benevento is not guilty and we intend to fight these false allegations to the end, Waddington wrote in an email. This case was investigated by local authorities and they declined to prosecute. Now, the Navy is on a witch hunt. Citing the ongoing probe and potential for upcoming court-martial proceedings, Navy Special Warfare officials declined to comment. Benevento, 33, hasnt been incarcerated. He is the third local SEAL to be charged with sex crimes since January. In April, SEAL Team One Petty Officer 1st Class Gregory Kyle Seerden was extradited from Coronado to Virginia following allegations that he used his mobile telephone to film himself molesting a child. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Kyle Irving, a member of the Coronado-based SEAL Team Five, also faces court-martial for allegedly raping a civilian woman in San Diego in late 2015. Benevento was on Naval Special Warfare Commands roster when he got charged. Military records indicate that he enlisted in the Navy in 2006. An online biography indicated that he had graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelors degree in history that same year. It also listed military staff positions that Benevento held, plus several operational units he led on multiple deployments in the Middle East and Afghanistan. His decorations include two Joint Service Achievement Medals, two Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals, and the Joint Service Commendation Medal, according to the biography. The biography was removed after The San Diego Union-Tribune asked authorities to provide Beneventos charge sheet. Military Videos On Now D-Day paratrooper from Coronado jumps again in France at age 96 On Now Remembering war's fallen, one name at a time On Now In Ramona, an airplane and an aviator provide living lessons on World War II 1:43 On Now Video: Navy's newest vessel sails into San Diego and a new future in surface warfare On Now Video: U.S. Navy files homicide charges over warship collisions On Now Stopping Marine hazing On Now Video: U.S. Navy Air Crew Grounded After Creating Vulgar Sky Drawing On Now Navy says Asia Pacific ship collisions were avoidable On Now Hundreds of recruits get sick at Marine boot camp On Now Cutler Dawson Talks Navy Federal cprine@sduniontribune.com More than 500 veterans of the battles for Fallujah, Iraq, gathered at Camp Pendleton on Friday for a ceremony commemorating the 10th anniversary of Operation Phantom Fury. The assault by more than 13,000 U.S., British and Iraqi troops that began on Nov. 8, 2004 the second major offensive that year in the insurgent-held town was the most ferocious of the Iraq War, as well as the worst urban combat for the Marine Corps since the 1968 fight for Hue, Vietnam. Fridays gathering outside the 1st Marine Division headquarters was a family reunion of sorts for active-duty service members and veterans. It was one marked by war stories, bear hugs and somber reflections on advances this year by Islamic State militants who took Fallujah from Iraqi government forces. Advertisement Second Battle of Fallujah reunion I came to see my brothers, said Travis Greenwood, 31, of Dallas, who was a corporal on his second Iraq tour during the November push into Fallujah. He fought house-to-house with fellow infantrymen from India Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, losing quite a few friends in combat. Greenwood described the battle as an all-around mission that went from total destruction to humanitarian assistance. From clearing out the city, killing or capturing all the insurgents, to letting the civilians come back in the city, he remembered. Regarding recent developments in Iraq, Its discouraging, but (the Iraqis) have got to take action for themselves. We liberated them and we sacrificed great men to get them to a stable country, Greenwood said. Its on them to continue that. Of course its going to be devastating to us who were there, to see something that we bled and died for get taken back over. 1 / 12 Mike Anderson Sr., left, whose son Cpl. Mike Anderson Jr. was killed in the Second Battle of Fallujah, puts his arm around Marine veteran Sgt. Jason Arellana, who was with Anderson in Fallujah. (Hayne Palmour IV / UT San Diego) 2 / 12 Marine veteran Joel Jimenez, left, and 1st Lt. Dan Dinneen, who were together during the Second Battle of Fallujah, greet after they arrived. (Hayne Palmour IV / UT San Diego) 3 / 12 The current commander of the 1st marine Division, Major Gen. Lawrence Nicholson, has a conversation with people before the start of the ceremony. (Hayne Palmour IV / UT San Diego) 4 / 12 Those attending 10-year anniversary ceremony for the Second Battle of Fallujah watch as the color guard marches. (Hayne Palmour IV / UT San Diego) 5 / 12 Retired Lt. Gen. Richard Natonski, left, who cmmanded the 1st Division during the battle, carries a wreath wth current commander Major Gen. Lawrence Nicholson. (Hayne Palmour IV / UT San Diego) 6 / 12 Retired Lt. Gen. Richard Natonski, right, and current commander Major Gen. Lawrence Nicholson salute a wreath for the fallen. (Hayne Palmour IV / UT San Diego) 7 / 12 As Marines stand by the insignias of all the military units involved in the Second Battle of Fallujah, retired Lt. Gen. Richard Natonski, commander of the 1st Marine Division during the battle, speaks. (Hayne Palmour IV / UT San Diego) 8 / 12 Vets and active duty Marines listen during the First Marine Divisions commemorative ceremony for the Second Battle of Fallujah. (Hayne Palmour IV / UT San Diego) 9 / 12 Retired Lt. Gen. Richard Natonski, who was the commander of the 1st Marine Division during the Second Battle of Fallujah, speaks. (Hayne Palmour IV / UT San Diego) 10 / 12 Col. Kurt Kempster, left, and the Marine vets he was with during the Second Battle of Fallujah talk after the ceremony for the battle. (Hayne Palmour IV / UT San Diego) 11 / 12 Marines who were with the Combat Service Support Battalion during the Second Battle of Fallujah pose for pictures. (Hayne Palmour IV / UT San Diego) 12 / 12 Marine veterans who fought together in the Second Battle of Fallujah Coy Reyes, left, and Earl Catagnus greet each other after the ceremony. (Hayne Palmour IV / UT San Diego) Iconic chapter Maj. Gen. Lawrence Nicholson, current commanding general of the 1st Marine Division, reflected on the Fallujah milestone Friday. Ten years ago today, we faced a very daunting challenge. We took on what would become one of the iconic battles of our Corps, he said. A year after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Fallujah had become a charnel house where jihadist terrorists who were aligned with al-Qaeda tortured and beheaded their enemies. About 3,000 insurgents were dug into this town in Anbar province, protected by booby traps and tunnels leading to ammunition stockpiles. About 70 percent of Fallujahs population of roughly 300,000 fled in anticipation of the fighting. In a letter on the eve of the battle, then-Maj. Gen. Richard Natonski expressed confidence that the joint force of Marines, soldiers and sailors would know how and when to switch off the killing instinct while limiting collateral damage to the towns infrastructure and residents. During house-to-house fighting that month, the 1st Marine Division and supporting forces encountered suicide bombers, mosques piled with weapons and extremists high on amphetamines who continued fighting after getting shot multiple times or losing a limb. Much of Fallujah ended up being leveled as the coalition fired more than 6,000 rounds of artillery and more than 19,000 mortars into the town, Natonski said. Buildings packed with enemy fighters were evaporated by danger close airstrikes of precision munitions called in across the street from coalition forces. We faced an enemy that wanted nothing more than to kill Americans, Natonski, who retired as a three-star general, said after the Friday ceremony. You cant bring back a life, but you can always rebuild a building. Disheartening events By Nov. 16 of 2004, U.S. military officials announced that Fallujah had been secured, although fighting continued that winter against pockets of insurgents. By then, 38 U.S. troops, six Iraqi soldiers and an estimated 1,200 insurgents had been killed, the Marine Corps said. Among Gold Star families of the fallen who attended Fridays event were relatives of Marine Cpl. Michael Anderson Jr., 21, of Modesto. He was fatally shot on Dec. 14, 2004 as his squad traveled from house to house on rooftops searching for enemy combatants, his father, Michael Anderson Sr., told the Los Angeles Times that month after speaking with his sons squadmates. He told me they went into hostage slaughterhouses and saw women and children who were disemboweled, with their feet cut off only four or five hours before. The bodies were still warm, Anderson said. Coalition forces immediately began rebuilding the town as it was cleared of insurgents. Sunni residents of Anbar province largely boycotted Iraqs national election in January, but Fallujah had the highest turnout, Natonski said. Yet the battles for Fallujah failed to stop the rise of the Sunni insurgency in Iraq and Abu Musab al-Zarqawis al-Qaeda in Iraq organization, which was responsible for mass bombings and incitement of sectarian strife. Recent events in the Middle East have been very disheartening and disappointing to those who were there 10 years ago. However, despite that fact, those who fought in Fallujah have every right to be proud of their performance on the battlefield, Natonski said during the ceremony. You fought for your country, you fought for Iraq and the people of Iraq, and you fought for your brothers, and in the best traditions of the United States armed forces. Thank you message The first battle for Fallujah, Operation Vigilant Resolve, commenced in April 2004 after four Blackwater security guards were ambushed and killed. Two of their mutilated bodies were hung from a bridge. Inaccurate reports of wanton killing of civilians during the first battle inspired public outcry and a premature end to the battle. Under the newly formed Fallujah Brigade of local Iraqis meant to secure the city, insurgents merely retrenched and fortified their defenses, erecting sniper positions. During the second engagement in November, scores of journalists traveling with coalition forces served as eyewitnesses to the combat and a check on insurgents propaganda, Natonski said. Among the few light-hearted memories recounted by Natonski of an otherwise harrowing period of combat was the live turkey a Marine squad captured and carried, fattening it up for a Thanksgiving feast. There was also the Corps birthday celebration that Nov. 10, when troops blasted the Marines Hymn across town using Army psychological-operations loudspeakers. The violence in Iraq that year as the insurgency flared affected all ranks. Natonski and his personal security detail were shot at every day in Fallujah, he said. Thank you, on behalf of our families most of all, Natonski told a group of his former protectors crowding around him Friday. Nicholson, the 1st Marine Division commander who was then a colonel, was severely wounded in Iraq in September 2004 by a rocket-propelled grenade attack that also killed his communications officer. Nicholson returned to duty with the division in Iraq on Christmas Eve, following a round of surgeries in the United States, Natonski said. About 7 p.m. on the eve of the second Fallujah battle, Natonski and Marine Sgt. Maj. Wayne Bell shared a coffee break on the hood of a Humvee with a U.S. Army sergeant major. A couple hours later when their troops crossed the line of departure, the Army sergeant major was the first killed, felled by a sniper. No, I just had a cup of coffee with this guy, he cant be dead, Bell recalled thinking of his fellow senior enlisted adviser. Thats how the war started for me. Plans by a U.S. company to construct a state-of-the-art brewery in the Baja California capital of Mexicali are moving forward despite opposition of a group of local farmers and the cancellation of a state aqueduct project to supply water to the future facility. A spokesman for Constellation Brands, which supplies Mexican-made Corona and Modelo beers to the U.S. market, said on Wednesday that the company is building its own water delivery system to the plant, located south of Mexicali off the road the San Felipe. The project, set to launch operations in late 2019, represents an investment of more than $1 billion. Though endorsed by the Baja California state government, the project has been fiercely opposed by a group of Mexicali farmers who say the water is earmarked for agricultural use, and should not be diverted to industry. Advertisement The group, Comite Ciudadano de Defensa del Agua en Baja California, claims that the water targeted for Constellation Brands would have come from an aquifer that is overdrawn. The aquifer needs to recover before these investments can be approved, said Rigoberto Campos, the committees leader. Constellation Brands said it is undeterred by the cancellation of the states 30-mile aqueduct project, and is proceeding with its own plans. The company expects to use about 7 million cubic meters of water per year once the plant is at full capacity, and says that the volume represents less than one percent of the supply for the Mexicali Valley, an important agricultural region that produces alfalfa, cotton, and winter vegetables. Constellation Brands vice president for corporate communications, Michael McGrew, said the project promises significant economic benefits to the Mexicali region with the creation of 750 permanent jobs and 3,000 to 4,000 more while the facility is under construction. We are one of the biggest investors in Mexicali, if not the biggest investor, McGrew said. By the end of 2019, Constellation Brands expects to open the plant with a capacity for producing five million hectoliters per year, he said; that is the equivalent of 58 million cases of beer, with each case representing 24 12-ounce bottles. McGrew said the plan is to double that capacity to 10 million hectoliters, with the possibility of producing up to 20 million hectoliters annually. Based in New York state, Constellation Brands is the third largest U.S. beer producer, with facilities in two other northern Mexico border statesCoahuila and Sonora. Mexicalis proximity to the U.S. border was an important factor in the companys decision to locate there, as all of its product will destined for the U.S. consumers. Opponents of the states planned aqueduct filed suit to block construction of the aqueduct, alleging that the government had not obtained an environmental permit for the project. It was canceled last month by the Baja California Water Commission. Gov. Francisco Vega de Lamadrid said Tuesday that the cancellation was as a result of the companys lack of a water quota, but added that I imagine there have to be other alternatives to supply water to Constellation Brands and other companies in the area. But it is a federal issue, he said, adding that the state does not determine water quotas. The states cancellation of the aqueduct has no bearing on the project, McGrew said. Constellation Brands is investing its own funds to build the needed infrastructure, he said, and has a commitment for the water from the Baja California Public Service Commission for Mexicali, an agency known as CESPM. Beer Videos sandra.dibble@sduniontribune.com @sandradibble San Diego will have its own version of a march in support of education Saturday, although its a bit different from similar ones planned nationally that day. Were kind of the black sheep of the march thats happening on July 22, said Jabez LeBret, chairman of the March for Education, which is scheduled to begin with speakers at 10:15 a.m. at Civic Center Plaza, 1200 Third Ave., in downtown San Diego. LeBret said the event is one of about 20 marches that have been organized around the large March for Public Education in Washington, D.C. Advertisement The website for the Washington, D.C. march states the event is in response to the Trump administrations proposed cuts to fundamental of programs that serve children. LeBret said organizers for the Washington, D.C. march oppose for-profit and private schools and do not want charter schools expanded. That stance doesnt reflect the San Diego regions diverse makeup of educational opportunities, he said. LeBret said he and his wife plan to open a tuition-free, private boarding high school in North County for 350 students next year. San Diegos March for Education is not recognized in the March for Public Educations website as an affiliated event. Speakers at the San Diego event include San Diego Unified School District Executive Director of Secondary Schools Cheryl Hibbeln, author and education reform advocate Grant Lichtman, San Diego Workforce Partnership President and CEO Peter Callstrom and MakerCon Co-Chair Travis Good. Following the speakers, a march will begin at about 11 a.m. and head through Little Italy and end at Washington Elementary School, 1789 State St., where an educational expo will be held until 3 p.m. The expo will feature booths highlighting educational opportunities throughout the county, with participants including Coleman University, CSU San Marcos, Grossmont College, San Diego Unified, Ideate High Academy, Urban Discovery Academy, Reality Changes, the San Diego Makers Guild, Steam Maker Workshop, Kitchens for Good, Halstrom Academy and others. Homeless Playlist On Now San Diego hepatitis outbreak continues to grow: 481 cases On Now Homeless entrenched in booming tent city along Santa Ana River On Now San Diego mayor agreed to homeless hub, then delayed, advocates say On Now Homeless outreach in San Diego On Now Video: Street Art: Portraits of San Diego's Homeless #8 On Now In poverty himself, 'Water Man Dave,' is the fearless saint of San Diego's homeless 5:41 On Now Video: Homeless living in cars find safe havens 2:21 On Now Street Art: Portraits of San Diego's Homeless #7 On Now Pitching a tent plan for San Diego's homeless On Now Homeless efforts get $80M boost for various services gary.warth@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @GaryWarthUT 760-529-4939 Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions has expanded the authority of law enforcement to seize criminal suspects money and property, bucking a movement in Congress and many states to rein in a practice that critics said led to flagrant abuses and was unconstitutional. The Justice Department announced Wednesday it was restoring so-called adoptive forfeitures, where local or state authorities can seize valuable assets from suspects under federal law, circumventing more restrictive state laws. Asset forfeitures are controversial because law enforcement agencies often take possession of cars, homes, jewelry and cash from suspects implicated in drug deals or other crimes without first obtaining convictions or, in some cases, indictments. Advertisement Such practices have led to criticism that local and state law enforcement agencies have deliberately misused the law to seize property that could help fund their operations. Partly as a result, two dozen states have restricted asset forfeitures. In 2015, then-Atty. Gen. Eric Holder drastically curtailed the practice amid growing concerns in Congress that police were improperly seizing valuable belongings from suspects without any convincing connection to crimes. In the previous eight years, adoptive forfeitures mostly by the Drug Enforcement Administration had garnered about $880 million, according to a March report by the Justice Departments Inspector General. The report found that many of the forfeiture cases were not linked to provable crimes. It cited a case in South Florida that led to seizures of $49 million but not one criminal indictment. Both liberal and conservative legal organizations have condemned forfeitures. In a rare bit of bipartisanship, Republicans and Democrats in Congress have joined forces to sponsor bills intended to curb the practice, although none has passed. Sessions opposed some of those reform measures as a U.S. senator from Alabama. Since he was confirmed as attorney general, the nations highest law enforcement official, he has moved to reinstitute several aggressive drug war policies. He has instructed prosecutors to file the most severe offenses against criminal suspects, for example, ending another Obama-era policy that tried to ease long mandatory sentences for nonviolent offenders. At a news conference Wednesday, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said the Justice Department would require more stringent oversight and training to help prevent abuses by police during asset forfeitures and make sure that such seizures meet constitutional standards. We heard loudly and clearly from local police agencies that they think this is a valuable tool, Rosenstein said. He said the new policy will not require criminal convictions before police can take possession of a suspects property. But, he added, there has to be evidence of a crime. Under the new policy, local authorities must ask the Justice Department to intervene within 15 days, and demonstrate probable cause before seizing any suspected contraband. Sessions said the new rules will help protect against abuses and allow people to contest the seizures. In the vast majority of cases, this is really not an issue, Sessions told reporters. He said that 4 out of 5 forfeiture cases are uncontested. Theyre not challenging [the seizures] because this was usually drug money, and they know it was drug money, he said. Some law enforcement officials attended the announcement and applauded the policy change. Seizing ill-gotten gains breaks the backs of criminal groups, they said, adding that the criminals depend on the confiscated funds to support their budgets. For eight years, we felt we didnt have the support of this department, and we finally feel that we do, said Ron Brooks, speaking for the National Narcotics Officers Association Coalition. But Darpana Sheth, senior attorney for the Institute for Justice, a conservative legal group, said many forfeitures are uncontested simply because people dont have the resources to fight the government. Its not surprising that the only defenders of this program are the ones who stand to financially benefit from it, she said of police and prosecutors. Liberal groups also have condemned forfeitures. Kanya Bennett, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, said the new order bucks widespread public opinion that seizing assets of people who have not been convicted is unjust and un-American. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-California, who sponsored legislation this year to more tightly regulate asset forfeiture, called the new policy a troubling decision for the due process protections afforded to us under the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution. Criminals shouldnt be able to keep the proceeds of their crime but innocent Americans shouldnt lose their right to due process, or their private property rights, in order to make that happen, Issa said in a statement. Six members of the Senate urged Sessions in a May 31 letter to revise the asset forfeiture policies in light of increasing indications that the Supreme Court views the practice as unconstitutional. Instead of revising forfeiture practices in a manner to better protect Americans due process rights, the [Justice Department] seems determined to lose in court before it changes its policies for the better, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, one of the six, said in a statement Wednesday. joseph.tanfani@latimes.com @jtanfani There are five members in the Uttar Pradesh cabinet including Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his two deputies who are not a member of the Legislative Assembly or Council in the state. There are speculations that one of the Deputy CMs may be shifted to New Delhi. By Siraj Qureshi: With the Presidential election out of the way, the attention of the BJP leadership is likely to turn towards the Uttar Pradesh, where Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and four of his ministers are yet to become members of the UP legislature. More than four months have passed since the government was formed in Uttar Pradesh, but UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is still holding on to the post of Gorakhpur Member of Parliament whereas Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya is an MP from Allahabad. advertisement The other ministers, who are not members of the UP legislature, include deputy chief minister Dr Dinesh Sharma. He does not hold any legislative position anywhere. He was the Mayor of Lucknow when he was appointed as the Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. Sharma is still to resign from the post as Lucknow Mayor. UP TO HAVE JUST ONE DEPUTY CM? Political analysts are predicting that in the current scenario, there is only one seat vacant in the UP Legislative Council, while there are five contenders for that seat. They believe that UP may be left with just one Deputy CM in the days to come. The buzz in Lucknow is that one of the Deputy CMs could be included in the Union Cabinet while the remaining four including the CM could contest assembly by-elections. The decision on this matter is likely to be taken in the last week of July or first week of August when BJP President Amit Shah will be in Lucknow on a three-day visit. There is no bar on unelected persons from becoming a minister either in the states or at the Centre. But, such a minister is required to seek election to the respective legislature. WHO RESIGNS AND WHO STAYS Speculation is rife that Keshav Prasad Maurya may continue to represent Allahabad in the Lok Sabha and become part of the Narendra Modi cabinet. On the other hand, Yogi Adityanath will resign from the post of Gorakhpur MP and contest assembly election. An MLA from Gorakhpur region is likely to vacate a seat for him. The BJP may send UP Minister Mohsin Raza to the Legislative Council from the vacant MLC seat. He is being presented as the Muslim face of the party in Uttar Pradesh. For Dr Dinesh Sharma, it is proving difficult to find an assembly seat in the Lucknow district. There are signals that Neeraj Bora, MLA from Lucknow North could resign from his seat paving way for Sharma. Neeraj Bora could contest election to the office of Mayor of Lucknow. advertisement However, there is another speculation going on about Dinesh Sharma that he is reluctant to contesting election. In that case, Dinesh Sharma could also be inducted in the Modi cabinet at the Centre. This entire exercise is expected to be over in August after election for Vice-President is over. ALSO READ | Agra: Violence breaks out as police arrests Hindu activists for attacking Muslim grocers in Fatehpur Sikri Probe into PETN powder found in UP Assembly paused under mysterious circumstances Agra: Bajrang Dal activists attack police station to rescue 5 from lock-up, 14 held ALSO WATCH | What is PETN explosive that was found in Uttar Pradesh Assembly? --- ENDS --- San Diego, the only city in the region that has allowed legal marijuana storefronts to open, gave final approval on Thursday to the 16th such business the first dispensary to be approved since last August. The new dispensary, which was approved unanimously by the Planning Commission, will be located in a 4,400-square-foot, second-story suite at 2425 Camino Del Rio South, just east of Texas Street and south of Interstate 8. The commission unanimously rejected on Thursday a second dispensary proposed farther east in Mission Valley at 3456 Camino Del Rio North, between I-8 and the San Diego River near Qualcomm Stadium. Advertisement Commissioners said the reason for the rejection was that the site is 150 feet from a planned campus of Audeo charter school, which is affiliated with the San Diego Unified School District. The two proposed dispensaries are part of a new wave of dispensaries spurred by loosened city regulations and the states legalization of recreational marijuana. RELATED: New wave of legal marijuana dispensaries coming to San Diego The City Council voted this winter to allow dispensaries approved to sell medical marijuana to also begin selling recreational marijuana when the state finalizes regulations for such businesses in late 2017 or early 2018. Of the 16 dispensaries approved by the city, 10 have opened. The other six including the one approved on Thursday must complete tenant improvements and get final OKs from the city on issues like parking lot striping and signage. The dispensary approved on Thursday was OKd despite concerns raised by some nearby sensitive uses, including schools and churches. It is within 1,000 feet of Gateway Christian Church, Our Lady of Peace private high school and two public schools Warren Walker Middle School and Marjorie Cook Education Center. The city last year loosened its regulations to allow such businesses within 1,000 feet of sensitive uses if there is a freeway, large wall or some topographical feature in between. The reasoning is that such barriers impede direct physical access to the dispensaries by children and other users of parks, schools and churches. Those new rules alleviated concerns related to the nearby schools, but not the church. However, city officials said the church appears to be operating in violation of city codes because officials failed to apply for a change in use from office to place of assembly. Proponents of the rejected dispensary stressed that the charter school hasnt yet opened, but the commissioners said it should have been a red flag that the school district owned property within 150 feet of the proposed dispensary site. david.garrick@sduniontribune.com (619) 269-8906 Twitter:@UTDavidGarrick A woman walking in the middle of a street near Alvarado Hospital was critically injured when she was hit by a pickup and possibly a second vehicle Wednesday night, San Diego police said. The 44-year-old woman was walking down Alvarado Road when the eastbound 2010 Nissan Frontier struck her about 9 p.m., police Officer John Buttle said. Paramedics who happened to be nearby saw the collision and provided first aid. She was taken to a hospital with injuries considered life-threatening, Buttle said. Advertisement The pickup driver, a 25-year-old man, was not suspected of being under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Traffic investigators said there was evidence that a second vehicle hit the woman while she was lying on the ground from the first collision. Breaking News Email: david.hernandez@sduniontribune.com Phone: (619) 293-1876 Twitter: @D4VIDHernandez Accusations of gender discrimination are growing at the Salk Institute, where a third female professor has sued the La Jolla science center for allegedly giving preference to men in pay, promotions, grant funding and leadership positions. Beverly Emerson, a prominent biochemist who studies how genes contribute to disease, filed a lawsuit this week that described the institute as an antiquated boys club that has been systematically undermining and marginalizing its three female full professors. She was referring to herself and fellow Salk biologists Vicki Lundblad and Katherine Jones, who separately sued the institute for gender discrimination last week. A full professor is the highest rank possible for faculty members. Advertisement On Thursday, Salk officials again rejected the claims of gender bias. Emerson was in Europe and couldnt be reached for comment. In recent days, the institute has called Jones and Lundblads allegations unfounded, and has asserted that both women trailed their peers in producing high-quality work and attracting research grants. Its very unusual for a research institution to publicly criticize a researchers work, and its equally unusual for the Salk Institute to suffer from a public airing of discord. The Salks legal turmoil comes just as the fabled institute known internationally for its consistent focus on making groundbreaking, fundamental discoveries in the biological sciences is finalizing its premier fundraising gala for next month. The controversy has generated plenty of discussion among researchers nationwide, including in the widely followed Science Magazine, but its unclear if the unrest will affect the institutes ability to recruit top-tier scientists and bring in significant donations from the private sector. Among non-Salk scientists who have spoken out publicly about the lawsuits is Carol Greider at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, a Nobel laureate who shared the prize with Elizabeth Blackburn the Salks current president. Ive known (Emerson) for over 30 years, been to many conferences with her. And her science is fabulous, Greider said Thursday. She questioned the Salks public relations strategy of portraying Lundblad and Jones as subpar. You dont disparage the people that are saying there is a problem, Greider said. The high road to take is to acknowledge that the problem exists everywhere, which all of us know, and that they want to work toward resolving it. By ceasing to diss their own faculty, that would go a long way to lowering the tensions ... Greider also praised Blackburn as a longtime and strong proponent of female scientists. I certainly have received her support, and she has actively spoken out in support of women in science, Greider said. Blackburn said in a statement Thursday: As a woman who has seen first-hand the extraordinary contributions female scientists have made to science and health research, I have both a personal and professional interest in ensuring that women are valued, supported and encouraged to be at the forefront of this critical work. I would never preside over an organization that in any way condones, openly or otherwise, the marginalizing of female scientists, she added. We are saddened and deeply disappointed by the misrepresentations made by our colleagues in these claims, which we will defend against vigorously. Underscoring their lack of merit, the characterizations already have been debunked by other current female professors at the institute who have flourished here. Latest allegations Emerson joined the Salk in 1986, when she was hired as an assistant professor. Her latest contract will end in late December. She filed her lawsuit Tuesday in San Diego Superior Court. At the Salk, she claims in her lawsuit, Very few females have made it to the level of full professor, and those who have, have endured numerous discriminatory reprisals minimizing their successes, including slower promotion processes, lower pay regardless of their experience and scientific contributions; and less access to crucial services needed to win grants, publish in the most prestigious journals and build an overall reputation of excellence. She also alleges in the lawsuit that theres been an unequal distribution of resources, including both in donor funding and laboratory staff; exclusion from opportunities for high-value grants from private donors and foundations; denial of nearly all leadership and professional advancement opportunities within the Salk Institute; and a hostile environment in which (women) are undermined, disrespected, disparaged and treated unequally. Emerson said Salk administrators including Blackburn, former institute president William Brody and former board chairman Irwin Jacobs of Qualcomm fame have known about this discrimination, yet done absolutely nothing to stop it or right the wrongs ... Jacobs said Thursday that he wasnt in a position to comment because he hadnt seen Emersons lawsuit. Brody has yet to respond to requests since Saturday for comment on the litigation. Emerson is seeking a jury trial. Shes asking for an unspecified amount of money to cover, among other things, what she sees as lost pay over the decades. Shes also requesting punitive damages. On Thursday, Jones said since she and Lundblad filed their lawsuits last week, they have received an outpouring of support and encouragement from scientists and colleagues across the nation. It really has hit a nerve ... that feels like it is far beyond our individual circumstances, she added. So thats why I think you see the very strong support we got in science from real leaders of the scientific community. Because they understand how important this issue is, and they want to take control of that narrative now so that it doesnt damage the enthusiasm over women in science on a day-to-day basis. Jones and Lundblad are represented by the same law firm, while Emerson has a different attorney. Emersons scientific background Like Lundblad and Jones, Emerson is prominent in biomedical research. In 2015, her collective body of work led to her being elected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the worlds largest general scientific organization. Besides getting praised from Greider at Johns Hopkins, Emersons scientific credentials were endorsed on Thursday by UC Santa Cruz researcher Nader Pourmand, who collaborated with her on a 2014 study on how cancer develops resistance to chemotherapy. Emerson was the senior author of that report, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The project demonstrated how breast cancer cells can evolve resistance to chemotherapy drugs more quickly than scientists had assumed. Pourmand said Emerson is well-known among peers for her expertise in chromatin, a combination of DNA and proteins that form chromosomes. How chromatin is packaged can cause genetic changes that lead to certain diseases. She is really precise she always does good work, Pourmand said. Meanwhile, Greider and UC Berkeley biologist Michael Eisen disputed one of the Salks metrics for evaluating its faculty members: The number of times their work has been published in prestige journals such as Science, Nature and the New England Journal of Medicine. In its critiques of Jones and Lundblad issued Friday, the institute had faulted them for their lack of studies published in such journals. The push for profits distorts the kind of science featured in those publications, said Eisen, a cofounder of the open-access journal PLOS. And women are hurt disproportionately by this emphasis, he said. Theres some good evidence to suggest that women have a more difficult time getting their work published in these journals because it is kind of an old boys network to get in in the first place, Eisen said. So it is particularly problematic to say, Well geez, these women arent performing at the level of their male colleagues using, you know, a metric thats known to be biased against women. To me, the fact that the Salk said that is a tacit acknowledgment that theyre using a gender-biased system to evaluate these women. Concerns about the way the Salk treats female scientists isnt new. The institute produced private studies in 2003 and last year that examined the hiring, promotion and funding of female faculty members, as well as leadership opportunities for them. Emerson said in her lawsuit that both analyses revealed serious problems. Her claim, along with similar ones from Jones and Lundblad last week, could not be verified yet because the Salk hasnt made the reports public. In the United States, women receive about half of all the doctoral degrees awarded in scientific fields but represent only 21 percent of full professors on the faculty of research institutions, according to a 2012 report from the National Science Foundation. The numbers are similar for the life sciences. * Related articles Salk Institute strikes back in gender discrimination feud 2 top female scientists sue Salk Institute for gender discrimination A Scientists Life: 10 Things Salks Beverly Emerson Has Done A Scientists Life: 10 Things Salks Vicki Lundblad Has Done Science Playlist On Now In a first, scientists rid human embryos of a potentially fatal gene mutation by editing their DNA On Now Space station flyovers visible from San Diego this week 0:55 On Now UCSD's 'ghost drivers' begin testing people's reaction seemingly empty cars 1:29 On Now 10 interesting facts about Mars On Now Kids can add years to your life On Now LA 90: SpaceX launches recycled rocket On Now Big passions, big giving: Malin Burnham 2:30 On Now Big passions, big giving: Darlene Shiley 2:40 On Now Big passions, big giving: Joan and Irwin Jacobs 2:45 On Now Ocean temperatures warming at rapid rate, study finds Twitter: @grobbins gary.robbins@sduniontribune.com UPDATES: 5:55 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details. This article was originally published at 1:25 p.m. Several board members of the San Diego nonprofit Reality Changers have resigned in protest of founder Christopher Yanov, saying he has resisted efforts to professionalize the charity. Yanov, who founded Reality Changers with $300 and built the organization into a $2 million-plus fundraising powerhouse that helped send more than 1,000 disadvantaged students to college, has brought in a slate of new directors who he says better reflect the community served by the organization. Weve been trying for years to get the board to be more reflective of the people we serve, he said. The bylaws allowed me address those issues and Im proud to have done so. Advertisement Longtime board Chairman Robert Freund was voted off the board in April as soon as the new board was installed. Freund co-signed a letter on July 14 with three other directors, who announced their resignations, citing broken promises to donors, damaging staff reductions and resignations of key senior staff. Freund and board members Richard Evans, Heather Bergman and Maddy Kilkenny said Yanov jeopardized the future of the nonprofit he founded more than 15 years ago by ignoring recommendations to strengthen bylaws and adopt stricter oversight measures. You have resisted our efforts to put the plans, processes and people in place to avoid the near-disasters of the recent past and position us to meet challenges and opportunities ahead, the resignation letter states. Former board member Malcolm Bund quit in April just after Yanov added the new directors. He did not sign the resignation letter circulated last week. Another board member, Eduardo Guerra, walked out of the April meeting, according to board minutes, but Yanov said Guerra has not formally resigned his board seat. According to the charitys founding documents, Yanov is permitted to appoint some board members at the annual meeting. After that, directors can also be elected by a plurality of board members, the bylaws state. Those who resigned were elected under that process. Yanov said he is the designated spokesman for the organization by policy and therefore the new chairwoman of the board, Perla Garcia, would not be available for comment. Garcia, contacted directly by U-T Watchdog, declined to comment. She is identified on the groups website as a Reality Changers graduate from 2006. Allowing an organization president, founder or executive director to personally appoint a majority of board directors is not among the best practices of nonprofit boards, experts say. Former directors complained that Yanov installed the six new unelected board members in April and immediately called on them to approve a slate of agenda items for which they were not fully prepared. You asked these just-appointed members with little if any familiarity with our operations to pre-approve a budget that didnt even exist in draft form, in essence insisting that they betray their fiduciary responsibility, the resignation letter states. At the same meeting, you requested that they grant you a vacation which would not count against your actual vacation time, a clear instance of gross negligence given that your accumulated vacation balance already far exceeds what the organization can afford, the letter goes on to say. Yanov, 38, said the budget is routinely approved before the upcoming fiscal year, then formally adopted after the previous budget year is closed out. He also said the vacation award approved by his new board in April was later determined to be too vague and was rescinded in June, though he declined to provide a copy of the June board meeting minutes reflecting that. The directors who left are all current or retired business professionals. The six new directors are identified as Reality Changers alumni, parents of Reality Changers students and community residents. Yanov said he is in the process of recruiting more professionals to the board of directors and expects to install them later this year. Were really excited about the new board we have, he said. In the meantime, for two months we will miss their expertise. Freund, the former board chairman, said he had great appreciation for the work Yanov accomplished in building Reality Changers into a healthy organization. He signed the resignation letter Friday even though the new directors voted him off the board in April. When it comes right down to it, while an organization like Reality Changers is a not-for-profit business, it is still a business, said Freund, a retired real estate executive. The primary duty of a board and each director is to exercise their deep experience and perspective to guide, oversee and ensure sustainable growth of that business. Freund told supporters in an email Wednesday that Yanov declined to accept guidance from nonprofit experts consulted by the former chairman to help strengthen the organization. Our elected board extended its best efforts to discharge its duties, he said. We regret the founder has failed to do his. Kilkenny, a public relations strategist who also serves on the governing boards of Civic San Diego and the USS Midway Museum, said Reality Changers appears to do terrific work getting first-generation youth into college but has not satisfactorily documented graduation rates. The organization has never presented me with data to support success or failure, and it doesnt seem to be a priority, she said. Reality Changers is too large and operates with too significant of a budget to not track and report outcomes. Yanov responded, We have an extensive tracking process that has been key to our recent successes. Pat Libby, who founded the Nonprofit Institute at the University of San Diego and now works as a consultant, said the allegations from former board members are troubling, in part because she knows several of them to be thoughtful, reasonable and experienced nonprofit volunteers. Its sad that an organization that does such great work has found itself in this situation as it will likely damage its reputation, she said. The Reality Changers mission is to promote college for under-served communities and first-generation scholars. The charity issues direct scholarship grants and helps students apply for financial aid from colleges and universities. The nonprofit was formed in 2001 and formally incorporated in 2009. It now raises and spends millions of dollars a year in government grants and direct contributions. According to its 2015 federal tax filing, Reality Changers raised about $2.2 million and spent approximately $2.3 million, lowering its net assets to just over $566,000. It reported scholarship grants of $745,774 the same year. In 2016, the organization switched its reporting periods from calendar years to fiscal years, or July to June. The tax filing for the six months ending June 30, 2016 shows Reality Changers raised $808,000 and spent $869,000, lowering its net assets to $504,000 Yanov said he raised nearly $3 million in the latest fiscal year. The founder/president reported a 2015 salary of $126,626, compared to the $66,057 that he was paid in 2009. Watchdog Videos On Now Sexual misconduct accusers worry deputy is being protected 6:16 On Now City funded $2-million waterfront bathroom 1:26 On Now Public water district charges customer for legal work, response to records request On Now Video: Tiny homes won't be reused amid housing, homeless crisis On Now Attorney General seeks documentation for Miss Middle East On Now Rep. Hunter probe covers possible fraud On Now Video: SDG&E delaying solar credit for some low-income housing tenants On Now Video: Former San Diego Junior Theatre teacher sentenced for sex with teen girl 0:24 On Now Video: Shelter volunteers believe they were fired for finding a dog a home 0:49 On Now McKamey Manor is leaving San Diego 3:35 jeff.mcdonald@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1708 @sdutMcDonald San Diego police Officer Josh Hodge couldnt attend Comic-Con this year. So he found a way to celebrate the event with a series of superhero tweets. Just to kind of have fun with it and provide a safety message, said Hodge, who handles social media for the San Diego Police Department. Hes spent hours on his computer this week, turning photos of Chief Shelley Zimmerman, city streets, badges and even police helicopter pilots into clever comic book-style artwork to post on Twitter. Advertisement He said he and Sgt. Lisa McKean came up with the idea to send out messages in the spirit of Comic-Con. Im a huge comic book fan, said Hodge, who took time off from work last year to attend the festivities. Captain Americas my favorite because of the time era right after the war, in the early 50s, and what he represents - good, for people. A short public safety video of Zimmerman in the Gaslamp Quarter shows the police chief with heroes and villains popping up around her. She assures viewers that her officers will keep the city safe from evil-doers, even for Zombies. In other creations, Hodge layered images of Batman, Wonder Woman and Spiderman across police badges. In another, a Gaslamp Quarter scene is peppered with Lego figures offering pedestrian safety tips. Hodge said some of his designs took hours of work in Photoshop, adding filters, color grades and dialog bubbles. He added the fake Gotham Gazette flag and headline onto the rooftop photo of Zimmerman, taken by Giving Back Magazine. I didnt tell her about it first, Hodge said. She loved it. We are here @Comic_Con & everywhere in our beautiful city. Public safety is a shared responsibility. Partner with us to put a stop to crime. pic.twitter.com/Vb0yVsRCIt San Diego Police Department (@SanDiegoPD) July 20, 2017 Remember SDPD is always here 24/7/365 to keep America's Finest City safe. pic.twitter.com/gKgTOZ4REP San Diego Police Department (@SanDiegoPD) July 19, 2017 SDPD will be at #SDCC17 ensuring a safe time is had by all. @Comic_Con pic.twitter.com/qZUWHkKHtB San Diego Police Department (@SanDiegoPD) July 18, 2017 Comic-Con Videos On Now "The Frame Guy" On Now Video: Comic-Con: Game of Thrones cast signing On Now Video: At Comic-Con, the waiting may be the hardest part On Now The History Channel show "Vikings" honor fallen characters who have recently risen to Valhalla. On Now The Big Bang Theory cast returns to San Diego On Now Video: Comic-Con pick up lines On Now Comic-Con karaoke: They're 'Hooked on a Feeling' On Now Comic-Con confessions: 11 cosplayers share hilarious secrets On Now Video: Comic-Con weddings, vow renewals at the Geek Love Chapel On Now Video: Kevin Eastman, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles inventor, takes victory lap at Comic-Con 619-293-1710 debbi.baker@sduniontribune.com twitter.com/Debbi_Baker Using an arresting or colorful anecdote to illustrate a larger issue is one of journalists (and story-tellers) most basic strategies. The best examples are litrally, as Chris Traeger would say, unforgettable. Heres one: Reporter Jason Song began a 2009 Los Angeles Times account of how difficult it is to fire a tenured teacher in California with a story about a teacher taunting an eighth-grade student over a failed suicide attempt and still keeping his job in L.A. Unified. Its rare for such an anecdote to trigger a wide-ranging debate over its implications and intentions. But thats what The New York Times columnist David Brooks managed to accomplish with a July 11 piece headlined How We Are Ruining America, which asserted that the upper-middle-class is increasingly separated from the bottom 80 percent of America not just because of its wealth and elite education but because it leads lives that are qualitatively different and full of intimidating cultural codes. The anecdote that Brooks used to make this point prompted an instant debate about whether he was a minority-baiting hot-take artist, an insufferable twit or worse. Initially, few were ready to say Brooks had put his finger on a genuine societal problem. Heres the anecdote: Recently I took a friend with only a high school degree to lunch. Insensitively, I led her into a gourmet sandwich shop. Suddenly I saw her face freeze up as she was confronted with sandwiches named Padrino and Pomodoro and ingredients like soppressata, capicollo and a striata baguette. I quickly asked her if she wanted to go somewhere else and she anxiously nodded yes and we ate Mexican. Advertisement What a writer at The Washington Post jokingly called The Anecdote That Shall Not Be Named led to Brooks being ripped all over the internet and beyond. Some thought he was trafficking in stereotypes. The obvious implication is that tacos exist in a totally different cultural caste than those Italian subs. It is common, accessible and, most importantly, cheap a cuisine even Brooks flustered friend could love, wrote Wonkblogs Caitlin Dewey. Others detected more than a little condescension in the anecdote. For any woman who has ever felt overwhelmed or scared by a sandwich menu, David Brooks is here for you sweetie, VICE writer Eve Peyser tweeted. Hell help. Brooks sounds like the lunch date from hell and embodies every gross attitude that people hate about elites, GQ writer Jack Moore chimed in. Still others reveled in what they saw as Brooks obtuseness. I took David Brooks out for banh mi once, but staring at the baguettes, he wept for the fate of the West, and so we drank paint instead, cultural writer Patrick Blanchfield tweeted. And many people just poked fun at him. Recently I took a friend of mine with a giant nail in her skull to lunch. We went to a fancy bistro with exotic menu items: chlorine tablets, noodle floats, extendable nets and the like. It dawned on me that we were actually in a pool supply store, and that there was no friend; the nail, it turns out, was in my skull. It was a parable of cultural decline, wrote The Weeks Simon Maloy. But as the piling on wound down, more than a few writers launched a backlash to the backlash, arguing that sniping over The Anecdote That Shall Not Be Named ignored Brooks powerful point: America may like to think its not like England and doesnt have a class problem, but it does, and the problem is getting steadily worse. On Twitter, the London Guardians Chris Arnade who has spent years in the U.S. writing about racial and cultural gaps depicted the reaction as reflecting what Brooks was talking about: David Brooks: There is an in group that hordes valid cultural capital. In group: No there isnt. (Quickly starts meme mocking David Brooks.) V the K, a pseudonym for a blogger over at the site GayPatriot, agreed with Brooks that ... ... the American upper middle class is screwing over the lower middle and working classes, and one of the ways they keep other people down is through self-conscious social-status signaling. But the other ways are also notable, and [Brooks] notes them. ... New York, San Francisco, Portland and Seattle enact housing and zoning laws specifically intended to restrict the availability of housing. (They call it Smart Growth.) What this does is restrict the housing supply so that the upper middle class can be assured that the value of their homes will increase. They also game college admissions to ensure that the elite colleges act as connection clubs for their own kind. Rod Dreher, a former columnist at The Dallas Morning News, chided those who mocked Brooks, arguing they shouldnt minimize the fact that status clues play a central role in how people interact. Dreher noted that disdain cuts both ways: Im really sensitive to this stuff because for years I had to live with the disdain of some members of my Louisiana family for my allegedly fancy-pants and inauthentic tastes. It was all class anxiety on their part, but they found a way to put the knife in emotionally over these things. They were reverse snobs, and were at times really mean about it. I dont believe that is excusable. That said, the fact that I was far more comfortable moving in cosmopolitan settings, and had more cosmopolitan tastes, meant that I had doors open for me, professionally and otherwise, that they would not have had. Much of this is just normal sociology. Every society has its codes of behavior. A New York City lawyer who relocated to small-town south Louisiana would find himself totally at sea, culturally, until he learned the local ways. Yet some of the criticism coming Brooks way was thoughtful, not dismissive. Slate writer Osita Nwanevu noted that Brooks call for an understanding of cultural barriers getting in the way of non-elites progress barriers building off what she calls upper-class privilege isnt much different from campus rhetoric assailing white privilege and asserting grievances that Brooks and other conservatives have long mocked. She wrote that what Brooks seems ... ... to implicitly call for is a kind of class-based political correctness: a sensitivity toward the ways subtle interactions or even mere words can alienate the underprivileged and a willingness to self-censor to avoid perpetrating small slights slights we might as well call microaggressions against working-class acquaintances. ... Conservative writers are happy to suggest rightly that coastal elites should be habitually engaged in the checking of their own class privilege and mindful always about the ways in which their preferences, and culture, and language can create environments hostile to the less affluent. But it is evidently absurd to suggest that people should similarly attune themselves to other forms of privilege and nonclass barriers. Provocative stuff. Brooks sandwich story has given us a lot to chew on. Reed, who apologizes for the dumb joke in the last sentence (these are trying times for everyone, he explains), can be reached at chris.reed@sduniontribune.com. Twitter: @chrisreed99 Twitter: @sdutIdeas Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & Opinion The 114 campuses of the California Community College system play a crucial role in educating the states workforce and helping people of all ages build new careers and new lives. But Vision for Success, an internal assessment of how the community college system is performing, features some deeply disappointing findings. The two most striking: -- Within six years of enrollment, just 48 percent of students at most transfer to a four-year university or complete a degree or certificate. -- Students routinely waste their time and money and taxpayers money taking courses they dont need to graduate in their majors. Sixty credits are normally needed to complete an associate degree, but graduates average 87 credits. That creates extra problems because it has the side effect of making it more difficult for others to get into classes they need to graduate, delaying their graduations. Advertisement Thankfully, the systems chancellor, Eloy Ortiz Oakley, wants to do something to help its more than 2 million students. At his behest, the California Community College board unanimously approved a plan meant to improve graduation and completion rates and to reduce the excess units problem. In 2012, the community college system launched an initiative with similar goals, so success now is not assured. But Ortiz and the board deserve credit for being frank about their systems shortcomings. Twitter: @sdutIdeas Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & Opinion This should scare everyone the same politicians in Sacramento responsible for Californias crumbling roads and fraying infrastructure want to fix our countys regional transportation agency, the San Diego Association of Governments. Never mind that for decades SANDAG has been a shining example of regional cooperation where elected officials from 19 local governments big, small, inland, coastal, urban and rural work well together on issues that cut across jurisdictional boundaries. Sacramento has pointed a bulldozer named Assembly Bill 805 at SANDAG. Granted, SANDAG is not perfect. Recently a botched revenue forecast related to last years Measure A put the agency in the headlines. However, when that problem came to light, the board acted decisively and unanimously to launch an investigation. That examination, led by the attorney who prosecuted Enron, will leave no stone unturned and will result in reforms consistent with any and all problems discovered. In short, SANDAGs board is taking care of business. So why is Sacramento taking aim at SANDAG? Power, of course. AB 805 would seize it from virtually every community in North County and East County and bestow that power upon a chosen few cities in the South County. The fact that this squeeze play would disenfranchise half the countys residents doesnt seem to faze the bills proponents. In fact, AB 805s advocates seem so intent on seizing power they are willing to say anything. They claim that disadvantaged communities arent getting their fair share of SANDAGs money. That is false. The countys most disadvantaged communities from San Diego south to the Mexican border and from the ocean east to the border of La Mesa are already receiving funding proportional to their population. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on renovation of the Trolley Blue Line, construction of the South Bay Rapid and ongoing efforts to complete the Bayshore Bikeway. They claim that smaller cities, like Del Mar, have as much voting power as larger cities like Chula Vista. That is also false. Chula Vistas vote is already more powerful than that of Del Mar, La Mesa, Oceanside, Lemon Grove, Encinitas, Solana Beach, Escondido, Vista, Carlsbad, El Cajon, San Marcos, National City, Imperial Beach, Coronado, Santee and Poway. SANDAGs current voting structure balances the interests of small and large cities in the same way the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives check and balance each other. Each item before the SANDAG board must pass two voting thresholds. One is a tally vote a single vote for each jurisdiction, giving the small cities a meaningful seat at the table. The other is a weighted vote based on population, protecting the interests of the largest cities. The result is collaboration and consensus building. Considering that 71 percent of residents countywide work outside their home communities, such an approach is critical to the regions ability to develop transportation solutions that serve everyone. AB 805 would destroy that balance and allocate power based strictly on population giving Chula Vista and San Diego a stranglehold on every decision made. Regional cooperation would be shredded. Equally troubling, AB 805 would permanently crown those two cities mayors as SANDAGs leaders in perpetuity without regard for their knowledge, interest, availability or commitment. By contrast, the current procedure whereby board members elect the chair and vice chair, giving careful consideration to each candidates leadership abilities, commitment and ability to work collaboratively is a model of fairness. Make no mistake, AB 805 is an all-out assault on SANDAG and local control. That is why 16 of SANDAGs 19 member agencies (with two abstentions) voted to oppose it in its current form. Certainly, SANDAGs member cities are open to considering some provisions of AB 805. We want the agency to be as effective as possible and are willing to discuss its structure and workings. But those discussions should be open and take place locally not in the corridors of the Capitol where they know little, and care even less, about our countys future. We have a good system in place that has withstood the test of time one that forces all of us, with different perspectives and values, to have real dialogue and reach compromise. SANDAGs transportation planning, along with its work on habitat conservation, climate change, binational matters and energy planning, hinges on such regional collaboration and cooperation. Mindful of that, and the divisive times in which we live, we should resist efforts that seek to divide us, and instead work together to build a better SANDAG and a better San Diego. AB 805 is not the answer. Vaus is mayor of Poway. Downey serves on the Coronado City Council. Email: editor@pomeradonews.com A Rancho Bernardan will be among scores of motorcycle riders participating in the inaugural SD Rides4ALZ, a 100-mile journey into the local mountains to raise money for those affected by Alzheimers disease. Jeff Shea said he is participating on Aug. 13 for several reasons, including personal experience with the disease since his paternal grandfather and father had Alzheimers and one of my best friends is in the middle of it right now. He added, Its a very tough battle to go through (for families). The ride is also being organized by some of his friends who work at San Diego Gas & Electric, one of the rides corporate sponsors. His company, the Rancho Bernardo-based Shea Realty, is also among the event sponsors. The goal is to raise $60,000 through rider fees, rider sponsorships and event sponsors. As of Tuesday morning, more than $45,000 had been raised according to the rides website. Proceeds will go toward helping local families impacted by Alzheimers disease and to help advance critical local research for a cure. Organizers said 100 percent of the money raised will stay in San Diego County, where Alzheimers is the third-leading cause of death. Per the events website, almost 65,000 San Diegans suffer from Alzheimers or another form of dementia and they are loved and cared for by more than 150,000 others. Alzheimers San Diego is the only local organization that provides a broad range of free in-person programs and services targeted specifically to families affected by a dementia diagnosis and provided by masters level social workers. We strongly believe that in the absence of a cure, the best treatment is good care and that will remain our driving force for the years ahead, according to the website. For more about the organization, go to alzsd.org. Sheas personal fundraising goal is $5,000 and as of Tuesday morning he was just over halfway there, with $2,580 pledged. To donate on his behalf, go to tinyurl.com/AlzRide17-Shea. The ride will likely take up to three hours and include traveling to Lakeside, Alpine, Lower Otay Lake and Imperial Beach. It will start on Sunday, Aug. 13 at San Diego Harley-Davidson, 5555 Kearny Villa Road. Check-in is at 8 a.m. and the ride will begin at 10 a.m. It will finish at another San Diego Harley-Davidson, at 4645 Morena Blvd., the after-partys venue. Cost is $35 per rider or $15 per passenger or to only attend the after-party from 1:30 to 4 p.m. All participants must be 21 or older. For details, go to alzsd.org/events/rides4alz. Shea said as of Tuesday, there were around 60 riders registered and if we can get 100 that would be awesome. He will be riding his Harley-Davidson Road King, which he calls Blackie and said is beautiful. Shea, who started riding as a youth on dirt and street bikes, said he has owned Blackie for 10 years and in that time has ridden around 17,000 miles, sometimes accompanied by his wife, Mary. He has done many group rides in the past, such as teddy bear rides and poker rides, for many reasons including the camaraderie among the biker community. Bikers are awesome people, he said. They will stop and help you. There is an incredible camaraderie among people who love riding and helping other people. There are a lot of ex-military, Vietnam era (riders) and its just fun. Among group rides he recently participated in was one last month that benefitted the Ronald McDonald House. He said around 100 participated and he enjoyed setting off with the young patients at Rady Childrens Hospital watching and waving at the riders as they took off. Compared to when he rides alone or with a few friends, Shea said a group ride of this size typically travels at a slower pace because everyone is being very careful. We are way more cautious, which slows things down (compared to) when we can spread out more and go faster, he said. (In big groups) were like ants crawling up a hill, but Ive never seen accidents on a ride like this. Email: rbnews@pomeradonews.com LOS ANGELES (AP) As if trying to escape a recurring nightmare, most of the survivors of O.J. Simpsons Trial of the Century refuse to talk about it on the 20th anniversary of the tragedy. And that includes Simpson who sent word from prison that he has nothing to say. Two members of the famous defense dream team are dead and only one, F. Lee Bailey, continues a campaign to prove to the public that the acquitted defendant truly was not guilty of the murders of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ronald Goldman. Here is a look at what became of the key players: __ Advertisement Judge Lance Ito, still on the Los Angeles Superior Court bench, has presided over some 500 trials since the Simpson case made him famous. He long ago took his name plate off his courtroom door because it kept getting stolen. He is not standing for re-election this year and will retire in 2015 with few plans other than to learn to play guitar. __ Gil Garcetti, Los Angeles district attorney during the Simpson trial, was re-elected to another term in spite of criticism of his handling of the case. He later changed careers, focusing on photography, and traveled the world taking pictures that were published in six books to raise awareness of social needs such as water wells in Africa. He has been consulting director of TV crime dramas, The Closer and Major Crimes. His son, Eric, is mayor of Los Angeles. __ Marcia Clark, who prosecuted Simpson unsuccessfully, was paid $4 million for her memoir of the case and wrote a series of mystery novels. She never tried another case and stopped practicing law, though she has appeared as a TV commentator on high-profile trials. __ Chris Darden, the co-prosecutor criticized for having Simpson try on the so-called murder gloves, left the district attorneys office following the trial and became a defense attorney. He wrote a memoir of the trial and has published several mystery novels. __ Mark Fuhrman, the detective who said he found a bloody glove at the Simpson home, pleaded no contest and was fined for denying on the stand that he had used the N-word. He was host of The Mark Fuhrman Show in Spokane, Washington, until it was canceled in 2007 when the station was sold. Hes also a forensic and crime scene expert for Fox News. __ Robert Shapiro, the first member of Simpsons defense team, launched a foundation to help drug addicted youngsters after his son, Brent, fatally overdosed in 2005. He was one of the founders of LegalZoom.com, a do-it-yourself document service for people bringing lawsuits. __ Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr., Simpsons lead attorney who coined the phrase, If it doesnt fit, you must acquit, wrote a memoir revealing his rift with Shapiro over control of the defense case. He expanded his law firm to 15 states and was the success story of the team until he was stricken with brain cancer and died in 2005 at 68. __ Barry Scheck, the lawyer who introduced the science of DNA to jurors and to the public watching on TV, attacked police methods of evidence collection and demolished the prosecutions forensic evidence case. He and co-counsel on the Simpson case, Peter Neufeld, founded The Innocence Project that uses DNA evidence to exonerate wrongly convicted prisoners. They have helped overturn hundreds of cases. __ F. Lee Bailey, famed for his role in the trials of Dr. Sam Shepard and heiress Patty Hearst, was a part-time member of the Dream Team who exposed detective Mark Fuhrmans racist statements. Bailey later was disbarred in Massachusetts and Florida for misconduct in handling a clients case. He continues to seek readmission to the bar and has written a lengthy treatise on why he believes in Simpsons innocence. __ Robert Kardashian, a close friend of Simpson, renewed his lapsed law license to participate in the trial. Simpson stayed at his home after the killings were discovered and Kardashian read to the public a rambling message from Simpson as he was fleeing from police in a white Ford Bronco. Kardashian died at the age of 59 in 2003 from esophageal cancer. His ex-wife, Kris, and his children, Kourtney, Kim, Khloe and Rob, became famous after his death with their reality show, Keeping Up With the Kardashians. __ Kato Kaelin, known as Americas most famous house guest, was living on Simpsons property when he claimed to hear a bump in the night that prosecutors suggested was Simpson returning from the murders. Kaelin tried to extend his moment in the spotlight to show business after the trial and is now involved in promoting a clothing line called, Katos Potatoes. __ Kim Goldman, Ron Goldmans younger sister, was 22 when she burst into hysterical sobs when the not guilty verdict was read. She counsels troubled teens as executive director of the Southern California-based nonprofit The Youth Project and is a speaker to victims rights group. She is the author of two books. Her latest, Cant Forgive: My Twenty-Year Battle With O.J. Simpson, was published last month. Goldman, 42, is divorced and lives in a Southern California suburb with her 10-year-old son. __ Fred Goldman, Ron Goldmans father, relentlessly pursued O.J. Simpson through civil courts for more than a decade. Goldmans family seized Simpsons Heisman Trophy, the rights to his movies, a book he wrote about the killings and other items to satisfy part of a $33.5 million judgment by a civil court jury that held Simpson liable for the killings. Goldman, a 73-year-old former architect, lives with his wife, Patti, in Arizona, where he works in retail sales. Cant afford to retire, says Goldman, who adds he has put what share of the judgment hes recovered into the Ron Goldman Foundation for Justice that he founded with his wife and daughter. Shivani was arrested from a five-star hotel in Chennai on Monday and brought to Delhi for custodial interrogation. By Atir Khan: Enforcement directorate on Monday arrested the director of two Dubai-based firms Shivani Saxena for money laundering in the AgustaWestland case. Shivani today admitted that her company had financial transactions with Delhi lawyer Gautam Khaitan, who was arrested in 2014 for his alleged involvement in money laundering in the Chopper scam. But she claims that there was no transactions made on personal grounds. advertisement According to the agency, Shivani's interrogation will help track the money trail and also identify politicians linked to the case. ED sources said during her custodial interrogation, Shivani revealed that UHY Saxena and M/S Matrix Holdings Ltd, both Dubai-based companies which were run by her along with her chartered accountant husband Rajeev Saxena, received funds in their accounts from M/S Interstellar Technologies Ltd, Mauritius. Shivani said UHY is a chartered accountant firm and it is their business to deal with money transactions, however, she is not aware of any proceeds of the crime. The agency's case is that Shivani and Rajeev have remitted/transferred huge amount of money from their companies in Dubai to various companies that they own in India. They had invested the money in real estate projects and both have ownership in a property at a posh locality in Mumbai. The couple is said to have close links with various Indian political leaders. Thus, they may have helped route the money into India for distribution to those involved in the murky deal. It is alleged the kickbacks for bagging the deal were distributed among some defence officials, bureaucrats and politicians. Shivani was arrested from a five-star hotel in Chennai on Monday and brought to Delhi for custodial interrogation. ED officials had issued a lookout circular for her as both Shivani and Rajiv did not present themselves on recent ED summons. Her mobile phone was seized and she was remanded to four-day ED custody. According to ED officials, Rajeev is said to be close to several Indian politicians and has been evasive in probe. Shivani's lawyer Mohit Mathur, however, said, "She visited India at least 15 times in the last three-and-half years due to her father's illness. She was questioned several times before her arrest as well". Mathur said that his client had not received any proceeds of crime. According to ED investigations, Gautam Khaitan had opened various companies in Dubai. Khaitan was instrumental in running M/S Interstellar Technologies Ltd from Mauritius and has allegedly played a major role in routing the kickback money. advertisement As per ED's probe in the chopper deal, M/S AgustaWestland laundered 20.74 million Euros to M/S IDS Sarl Tunisia. Further 12.4 million Euros were transferred from M/S IDS Sarl, Tunisia to M/S Interstellar Technologies Ltd, Mauritius. M/S UHY Saxena, Dubai and M/S Matrix Holdings Ltd, Dubai was also used for laundering the proceeds of crime from M/S Interstellar Technologies Ltd, Mauritius. Shivani will be produced in Delhi Court on Friday. ALSO READ | AgustaWestland chopper scam: Dubai firm director arrested for money laundering AgustaWestland chopper scam: Ex-Indian Air Force chief SP Tyagi gets bail AgustaWestland scam: Delhi Court issues fresh non-bailable warrant against Christian Michel ALSO WATCH | AgustaWestland scam: CBI moves HC seeking cancellation of Tyagi's bail --- ENDS --- By Sweta dutta: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has put Metro Man E Sreedharan back on track. The priest-turned-politician's pro-development push is set to see the train system chug into six cities of the state even before their population eligibility make the cut. Sreedharan delivered his home project, Kochi Metro, last month. On turning 85, he planned to "hang his boots", and met the UP CM to convey his decision of retiring from his advisory role to the state government. advertisement "The UP CM not only did not allow me to tender my resignation but added the responsibility of planning metros for three more cities. He is very keen on getting the metro to his own constituency, Gorakhpur," Sreedharan said in Kochi on Thursday. While the first phase of metro will be commissioned for commercial operations in state capital Lucknow any time now, the home turfs of Adityanath and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be gifted a metro rail much before they make it to the merit list. "While the phase I project, a 10.5-km line for Lucknow is ready for inspection by the Commissioner for Metro Rail Safety and will be thrown open to the public once it gets a nod, detailed project reports for Varanasi have already been made," said Sreedharan. "The UP CM now wants metros in Agra and Meerut too, along with Kanpur. For Meerut, there are already plans of linking it with the Rapid Rail." MORE BUSINESS A boom in the development of mass transit metro projects in India is not only helping free up choked roads, but is also generating business opportunities as the country ploughs funds into updating its creaky public transport system. Adityanath's metro push, however, has to circumvent a wall of heritage structures in UP's temple towns. The plan for Varanasi proposed by Sreedharan met with the CM's disapproval as it went precariously close to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple. "We are now going to redesign the plan and are working on a light metro project for the city that will cost less, reduce noise and vibrations," Sreedharan added. Metro projects are usually commissioned for cities with a population of over two million (20 lakh) residents whereas light metro, which is yet to be implemented in any Indian city so far, is proposed for those with population between one and two million. State governments, however, can plan or propose a metro system in advance, looking at a city's long-term transportation requirements, tourism indices and a comprehensive mobility plan is drafted to study the feasibility of the project. advertisement Comparing the construction of metro rail with China, Sreedharan pointed out, "While China builds 300 km of metro rail per year, India lags far behind with only 22 km a year." As the dust settles following rumours of his running for the post of President, Sreedharan insists he was never spoken to about a possible nomination. "It was entirely kite-flying by the media. No one from the government spoke to me about it. In fact even if someone did, I would have turned it down. I am 85. Do you think I will survive another five years?" he laughed. As the Delhi Metro grapples with unprecedented delays in line openings and commuter rush, Sreedharan, who introduced the transport system to the city, said, "Ever since I retired from Delhi Metro, I ensured that even my shadow does not hover around the place. The new MD and team are very competent. The challenges today are very different but they have worked very well."Also WATCH: Also Read Bengaluru: Police to arrest those who painted Hindi signboards black at Namma Metro stations Bengaluru: Pro-Kannada group blacken Hindi sign boards at metro stations --- ENDS --- advertisement Oakland Park, FL -- (SBWIRE) -- 07/20/2017 -- Thomas R. Cutler met with the Manufacturing Media Consortium in Athens, Greece last week. Cutler reported that the meeting with several hundred members of the European members of the Manufacturing Media Consortium addressed increasing global trends in e-commerce and robotic automation. The professional organization includes journalists, editors, economists, and other industrial leaders worldwide. Members write about trends, data, case studies, and profiles, in the manufacturing, industrial, and distribution sectors. Cutler works with thousands of media outlets to expand manufacturing media coverage. Cutler is ranked as the leading manufacturing journalist worldwide and a contributing editor for hundreds of publications annually. Thomas R. Cutler has been writing extensively about manufacturing and industry for more than twenty years. According to Cutler, "The dynamic stories of global manufacturers and best-practices create a never-ending stream of feature articles and important, newsworthy content. There are challenges to be sure along with opportunities for growth and worthy of media attention which is the purpose of the global Manufacturing Media Consortium." About TR Cutler, Inc. TR Cutler, Inc. was founded seventeen years ago by Thomas R. Cutler. Cutler is the President and CEO of Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based, TR Cutler, Inc., (http://www.trcutlerinc.com), the largest manufacturing communication firm worldwide with four dozen industry experts and thought leaders on staff. Cutler maintains extraordinary relationships with clients, journalists, editors, economists, trendsetters, and key business leaders worldwide and has become a key resource for those writing about the manufacturing sector. Cutler founded the Manufacturing Media Consortium in 1999, which now has more than 6,000 global members including journalists, editors, publishers, and economists, worldwide writing about trends, industrial data, manufacturing case studies, material handling profiles, and robotics feature articles. Cutler works with thousands of media outlets to expand the coverage and importance of the manufacturing media coverage. Cutler has authored more than 6,000 articles for a wide range of manufacturing periodicals, industrial publications, and business journals each published in leading monthly trade magazines, B2B periodicals, blogs, and marquis publications globally. Cutler is the most published freelance industrial journalist worldwide, and more than 3500 industry leaders follow Cutler on Twitter daily at @ThomasRCutler. Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 07/19/2017 -- MarketResearchReports.biz now features a report, titled "Travel and Tourism Industry Business Outlook and Procurement Survey H1 2017." The report reviews opinions of executives on the business overview and procurement activities for the review period between June and November 2017. As per the finding of the report, procurement expenditure for travel and tourism companies is anticipated to climb up by an average of 5% during the forecast period. In addition, more than half of executives in the travel and tourism industry estimate supplier prices to increase during the same period. View Report @ https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/reports/1213995/travel-and-tourism-industry-business-outlook-and-procurement-survey-h1-2017-market-research-reports The rising disposable income of people around the world is one of the primary growth stimulants of the global travel and tourism industry. The increased spending power has resulted in the rise in domestic and outbound tourism. Moreover, governments worldwide are proactively engaged in designing policies that promote and develop the travel and tourism sector in their countries, which has a positive impact on the overall industry. Rapid globalization is also playing an instrumental part in the development of the industry. The increase in the number of people traveling for business and trade purposes is contributing to the expansion of the industry. On the flip side, the volatile prices of oil are adversely affecting the growth of the industry. Oil prices influence several factors such as airlines fees, travelers' spending power, and destination choices. Natural disasters and other environmental issues have the potential to destroy sceneries and holiday destinations and bring climatic change. Therefore, the rising environmental issues are hampering the growth prospects of the global travel and tourism industry. Get Sample Copy Of This Report @ https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1213995 Nevertheless, the advent of online travel services and resources is opening new avenues for players in travel and tourism industry. An increasing number of people prefer the internet to book hotel accommodation and travel tickets to traditional travel agents, as it provides convenience and ability to compare various deals and prices. Moreover, organizations are intending to increase their reliance on the technology in order to reduce their internal operating cost. The travel and tourism industry is one of the world's largest industries. This industry plays an important role in supporting economic growth development of a country. It is a large source of generating employment besides serving as a noteworthy foreign exchange generator. External merits of travel and tourism include the development of the education, social, and infrastructure sectors. View Press Release @ https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/pressrelease/5292/rising-disposable-income-of-people-worldwide-to-escalate-growth-of-travel-and-tourism-industry Developed regions have always been popular tourist destinations. Each year, Europe receives massive tourist arrivals. Besides this, it also produces a prodigious number of travelers. However, developing countries are expected to witness a significant growth in the travel and tourism industry. Countries such as Brazil, India, and China are expected to offer lucrative opportunities for the industry. The widening base of middle-class population and the booming medical tourism sector are providing a fillip to the industry in these countries. Amidst the intensifying competition, participants in the global travel and tourism industry are focusing towards improving their sustainability operations and operational efficiency. New product development and expansion in geographical outreach are some of the go-to strategies of the majority of key players. There is expected to be a significant increase in the mergers and acquisition activities in the industry over the next six months. About MarketResearchReports.biz MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries. Contact Mr. Nachiket State Tower 90 Sate Street, Suite 700 Albany, NY 12207 Tel: +1-518-621-2074 Website: http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz FLORENCE, S.C. Francis Marion Universitys School of Health Sciences is the recipient of a two-year federal grant worth more than $1 million that is designed to improve both the quality and availability of healthcare in rural areas of the state. The grant, part of the Health Resources Service Administrations Advanced Nursing Education Workforce (ANEW) program, will provide scholarship and academic support for students in FMUs fast-growing Nurse Practitioner program. The ANEW Program supports innovative academic-practice partnerships to prepare primary care advanced practice registered nursing students to practice in rural and underserved settings through academic and clinical training. The FMU plan approved for the grant is designed to encourage students to choose rural or medically underserved locations for their required clinical rotations. By intentionally placing students in those locations, the program aims to push more students into post-graduate employment in those areas. FMUs location in the Pee Dee Region of South Carolina puts it in an ideal position to launch this initiative. It already has a highly successful Nurse Practitioner program, and it is surrounded by areas that are both rural and medically underserved (the later being an official federal designation). Fifteen full-time and five part-time Family Nurse Practice students will be involved in the program. The grant will assist with their tuition and expenses. The grant also pays for additional equipment and additional adjunct staff to help oversee the clinical experiences. Deborah Hopla, director for FMUs Nurse Practitioner program, says a number of practice partners in rural areas are already signed on to serve as preceptors for the program. The ANEW grant, says Hopla, just increases momentum for what was already the programs primary thrust. FMU is committed to bringing quality healthcare to this state and this region, Hopla said. The Nurse Practitioner program is a big part of that. FNPs are, and will be, a critical part of the health care delivery in the future, in especially in underserved areas. Ruth Wittmann-Price, dean of the FMU School of Health Sciences, calls the ANEW grant a perfect fit. Bringing healthcare to a region in desperate need of more quality health professionals, is our mission, Wittmann-Price said. This is another piece of that puzzle. FMUs ANEW grant is one of 50 awards nationwide, part of a $31.8 million program. In the past two years, FMUs School of Health Sciences has received five HRSA grants worth more than $5 million. The ANEW grant is the second grant awarded to FMU during HRSAs most recent grant funding cycle. FLORENCE, S.C. Harvest Hope was blessed Thursday morning with 35,000 pounds of ribs a donation from Smithfield Foods and W. Lee Flowers & Company. The food ultimately will provide approximately 200,000 meals to those in need in the Pee Dee. Thirty-five thousand pounds is a huge blessing of protein, good, great meat product, Harvest Hope chief executive officer Denise Holland said. This is just a huge blessing. Meat is a hard product for us to have. We typically have to purchase it, so we have to use our donor dollars. This comes to us totally as a donation and a great donation to us, especially in the summertime when children are out of school. Dennis Pittman, senior director of hunger relief for Smithfield Foods, said the meat will be something for the folks here in eastern South Carolina to put on the grill and enjoy. A lot of us take that for granted, but a lot of folks don't have the chance to pick what they're going to have to eat, he said. They're struggling each and every day to have something to eat. We're hoping that by bringing in this load of ribs, we'll be able to add a little something special to the table of folks here who sometimes don't get the same food that many of the rest of us get. Pittman said helping hungry homes has found across the nation that protein is the most difficult thing for food banks to get. Smithfield is a protein company, he said. We're the largest pork company in the world, so we feel like we have the responsibility, not only to provide food for the chains and grocery stores but also to help out those who may not be able to afford to buy this product in a grocery store. Harvest Hope provides roughly 100,000 meals per month in the Pee Dee, Holland said. Meat is needed by hungry people, and we have a lot of people to feed in the Pee Dee, she said. "I would love it if the community would, one, go to IGA and KJ's markets and support them and Smithfield," Holland said. "Buy your Smithfield products, do that, because all of that comes back through homes for the hungry to help us provide food for hungry people. Pittman called on residents to step up to be a food bank volunteer or to have a food drive in their church or neighborhood. This is all about people helping people, he said. Don't wait for someone else to do it. Smithfield, along with Feeding America Food Banks, needs your help in trying to stamp out hunger in the United States. Holland also called for donations to Harvest Hope. One dollar provides five meals, and 98 cents of every dollar goes directly to feeding hungry people," Holland said of Harvest Hope. WASHINGTON - It wasn't quite a wicked-witch-is-dead Munchkin happy dance, but the white noise of foregone conclusions drowned out Republicans' relatively muted regret over their failure to repeal and replace Obamacare. It was never gonna happen. Not no how. Partly this is because the GOP version of reform would have first done harm to our most vulnerable citizens: the elderly, the disabled and the poor. Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins cited drastic Medicaid cuts as her reason for withholding support of the so-called "Better Health Reconciliation Act." Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul also said he wouldn't support the bill, because it didn't go far enough in repealing Obamacare. When two more GOP senators Mike Lee of Utah and Jerry Moran of Kansas defected Monday night, the deal was undone. Lee said the bill failed to repeal all of the Obamacare taxes. He also said the bill didn't go far enough in lowering premiums for middle-class families or in loosening costly regulations. Thus, the weeks-long tornado of hot tempers and chill winds culminated Tuesday morning when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell realized he didn't have enough votes. Health care is such a mind-numbing boondoggle that one must take frequent breaks from thinking about it. Therefore, let us pause for a moment to applaud the relatively unknown L. Frank Baum (1856-1919), author of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz." Neither the passage of time nor the contempt usually bred by familiarity seems to dim the popularity or the seemingly eternal applications of his masterwork. In my experience as a columnist, I've found few issues, characters or moments whether writing about Bill Clinton's steamy White House encounters or McConnell's bland ruminations on regret that don't benefit from Baum's contextual frameworks. There. Now to yawn-inspiring health care reform in all its failed foregone-ness. During almost a decade of writing sporadically about health care in its various iterations, I've interviewed dozens of people from a mix of related fields: medical, business, legislative and political. Not once have I found a single person who thought the GOP could pull off a repeal and replace. Why? First, because the vast majority of Americans are fundamentally opposed to allowing others to suffer. And second, sort of, the ACA affects one-sixth of the U.S. economy. How does one untangle a knot of 20 million strings? Why not just repeal and replace California and call it a day? It would be easier. The fact is, Obamacare was never perfect, nor should anyone have expected it to be. Today, we have a health care system in pitiful disrepair, as insurance companies opt out of exchanges, premiums continue to climb and healthy young people forgo insurance premiums that would have subsidized coverage for unhealthy older Americans and the less fortunate. Therein lies the crux of the least solvable problem inherent in such a gargantuan, multifaceted overhaul: It denies, emphatically, the nature part of being human, which is in constant tension with government-mandated insurance coverage. The central question is: How do you make it cost-effective as well as fair? Many Americans simply don't see the fairness in a system that requires them to pay high premiums for others' poor health, some of which is, let's face it, earned. Not deserved, but sometimes resulting from poor lifestyle choices. Why, indeed, should a single, childless 30-year-old male who runs three miles a day, eats rationally, doesn't drink, smoke or take drugs, be saddled with insurance premiums to cover pregnancy, abortion, alcoholism, addiction, or an abundance of health consequences resulting from obesity and inertia? For that matter, why should women have to subsidize men's sexual dysfunction curatives when, by the way, men don't have to pony up for women's corresponding post-menopausal, medically appropriate intercessions. Here you see one of the finer-print dilemmas. We'd rather force nuns to concede tacit approval of abortion than insist that insurance subsidies be tied to healthy behaviors. I'm sorry if this sounds heartless; the brain calls it reality. No wonder Obamacare was so difficult to craft and a replacement equally so. There are simply too many moving parts to make the sucker float and too many reasons to not sink it. Since McConnell's repeal-only idea seemed doomed Tuesday afternoon after GOP Sens. Collins, Shelley Moore Capito and Lisa Murkowski said they oppose immediate repeal, perhaps, finally, Republicans and Democrats can snap on their wizard hats and cobble something workable together. After all, it's the only thing they haven't tried yet. Kathleen Parker's email address is kathleenparker@washpost.com. The Shipulse solution captures critical shipboard data to provide insights for better decision making, fuel savings and optimized vessel performance. The data captured covers fuel consumption, bunkering activity, engine, hull and propeller performance. BV will market Shipulse across its network to offer complementary services and analysis tools based on ship modelling capabilities, data analysis across fleets, and the ability to integrate BV software, such as weather routing and trim optimization, with Shipulse. Chia Yoong Hui, ceo of Ascenz, said: The key value of Shipulse is to bring critical performance information as accurately and seamlessly as possible to shipowners. Tihomir Kezic, regulatory services director at BV, said: By joining forces with Ascenz we are able to provide solutions to shipowners that connect compliance with performance management to help ensure efficiency and environmental performance as well as safe operations. In addition to providing ship performance benefits, the Shipulse solution also incorporates a CarbonComply module that monitors and reports requirements for MRV (monitoring, reporting and verification) compliance. As an EU MRV recognized organization, BV recognizes Ascenzs CarbonComply module. The CarbonComply feature enables automated monitoring and reporting of ship carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions under EU-MRV regulation requirements. The system is also able to detect and classify different voyage stages such as sea passages, maneuvering, drifting and to identify when a ship is either moored or at anchor. This then allows for greater granularity from profiling emissions associated with a sea passage versus that from time spent when anchored. This would seem to put a damper on the Indonesian governments effort to improve services at seaports as the infrastructure is still seen to creak under added stress. Indonesia's Transportation Ministrys maritime affairs director general, Antonius Tonny Budiman, said the longer dwell time was caused by an increase in freight volume at the ports, particularly prior to the Idul Fitri holiday. There are long queues. It affects dwell time, Tonny said, adding that his office would evaluate activities at ports to make sure dwell time can be immediately shortened. If there were problems in loading and unloading activities, the system would be improved, but if the problem is administrative, Tonny warned he would punish officials who caused the problem. Funding requirements may even spike to MYR250bn if other mega-projects get off the ground, local media reported. This estimate may swell to over MYR250bn if large-scale projects such as the third Port Klang at Carey Island and the Melaka Gateway projects take off, said the rating agency's co-head of infrastructure and utilities ratings, Davinder Kaur Gill. While noting that the financing needs of the Malaysian and regional port sectors would be massive if all the announced expansion plans are launched in the near future, she also expected these projects to have a gradual roll-out. Davinder said Malaysian ports' container-and cargo-handling prospects are expected to remain healthy in 2017 but growth would be in line with the pace of global economic recovery and throughput growth was expected to remain in the low single-digit levels, similar to the 3% seen last year. Prospects for the key national ports - including Westports Holdings, Northport (Malaysia) and Pelabuhan Tanjung Pelepas - remain stable, benefiting from the strengthening local and regional economic outlook, she said. Nonetheless, in the immediate term they are still vulnerable to the effects of the current trend towards protectionism and changes in shipping alliances, she added. While prospects for regional trade expansion are still encouraging, the long-term growth of South-East Asian ports must be analysed in the context of economic growth, the regions upcoming new port capacity and the requirements of the newly formed shipping alliances, Davinder said. It was unclear where the funds would be sourced from. Kuantan Port is owned by a consortium consisting of IJM Corp, with a 60% stake and the remainder taken up by Chinese firm Beibu Gulf Holding (Hong Kong). SBCP is part of the Sabah Ports Group, which in turn is a wholly-owned unit of Malaysian-listed Suria Capital Holdings. Malaysian conglomerate MMC Corp has a 70% stake in PTP, with the remainder owned by AP Moller Maersks APM Terminals. Accordingly, the Los Angeles Times reported on Tuesday that the latest certification decision came down to last minute drama as the president signaled a desire to push forward with his campaign-trail promise to rip up the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which he referred to as the worst deal ever negotiated. Such action was apparently opposed by some of his top advisors, who indicated that US allies and the other signatories to the deal would need advance notice before the US moved unilaterally to dismantle it. In an apparent effort to reconcile this advice with his commitment to hardline policies on Iran, the president asked for plans as to how to continue getting tougher on the Islamic Republic while the JCPOA remained in place. The substance of the resulting plans seemingly came into focus on Tuesday, when the White House announced the imposition of yet more sanctions on individuals and entities with alleged ties to the Iranian military, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, and the countrys controversial ballistic missile program. Eighteen individuals and business entities were targeted by these new sanctions, 16 of them being Iranian, one Turkish, and one Chinese. In concert with the announcement of the sanctions, the US State Department cited specific motivating factors behind the measure, including the Iranian militarys support of fast-attack boats that are generally operated by the IRGC and have been used in the harassment of US Navy vessels transiting the Persian Gulf. This is one of a number of activities that the Islamic Republic has used to demonstrate defiance of the US. The ongoing development and testing of ballistic missiles is another, and the underlying defiance has been directed not just against the US but also the United Nations and Irans regional adversaries. UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which was passed alongside the implementation of the nuclear agreement, calls for Iran to avoid work on weapons like ballistic missiles, which are capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. Irans compliance with that resolution is a separate issue from its compliance with the JCPOA, but it has been raised by the US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley on more than one recent occasion to highlight he continuation of Iranian misbehavior. Irans other malign activities are serving to undercut whatever positive contributions to regional and international peace and security were intended to emerge [from the JCPOA], the State Departments commentary on the new sanctions explained. In an earlier address to the UN Security Council, Haley cited these activities, including ballistic missile work and regional provocations, as symbols of the true nature of the Iranian regime. Last month, the IRGC actually deployed half a dozen ballistic missiles in an attack on ISIL targets in eastern Syria, but at least one general in the hardline paramilitary opined that the attack would be a message for the US and Saudi Arabia, among others. Whats more, high-ranking regime officials including the supposedly moderate President Hassan Rouhani have repeatedly affirmed that they will continue developing ballistic missiles as part of a more general military buildup, regardless of international disapproval. These facts arguably indicate that Iran is becoming more dangerous over time, and thus they supplement Secretary of State Rex Tillersons declaration to Congress on Monday that the Islamic Republic is already one of the most dangerous [adversaries] to U.S. interests and regional stability. Like Trump, Tillerson has been extremely critical of the Iranian regime since first taking office, at which point he advocated for a full review of the JCPOA, with an eye toward strengthening its enforcement. More recently, and in light of political realities surrounding the nuclear deal, the administration as a whole seems to have shifted focus away from enforcement on this particular issue and toward confronting Iran over parallel issues. On Tuesday, UPI quoted one unnamed official as saying the White House intends to employ a strategy that will address the totality of Irans malign behavior. But that official and others also said the administration now intends to work together with allies to address perceived flaws in the JCPOA, although they declined to elaborate. Both the sanctions announcement and this more general commentary met with a predictably critical response from Iranian officials. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said, for instance, that he perceived the Trumps affirmation of Iranian compliance and his pursuit of additional pressure on other issues to send contradictory signals. According to the UKs Daily Telegraph, Zarif then went on to say that creates the impression in Iran that the United States hostility toward Iran will never end. Of course, the above-mentioned provocations and Irans widely recognized status as the worlds leading state sponsor of terrorism are all regarded by American and other Western policymakers as signs of greater hostility on the Iranian side. Zarifs criticisms were immediately belied by a vote in the Iranian parliament that was described as an urgent measure to respond to US adventurism in the Middle East. According to AFP, the bill orders a 260 million dollar increase for missile development programs under the regular Iranian military, and an increase in the same amount for the Revolutionary Guars foreign operations wing, the Quds Force, which is responsible for much of the Islamic Republics support of terrorism and its intervention into regional conflict zones including Syria and Yemen. These interventions and terrorist activities were also specifically highlighted by State Department remarks on Monday and Tuesday. Many critics of the JCPOA have observed that Irans anti-Western rhetoric and provocations have actually increased in the two years since negotiations concluded. These actions are not limited to the maritime confrontations and ballistic missile tests but also include law enforcement crackdowns on dual nationals and native Iranians who have alleged ties to Western entities, or even sympathy for Western lifestyles. Details emerged on Tuesday about another in a series of dual nationals, after the Iranian judiciary announced that it had handed down a 10-year prison sentence for an unnamed individual who was later identified as the Chinese-American Princeton graduate student Xiywe Wang. According to the Associated Press, the 36-year-old was doing research for his doctorate in Eurasian history when he was arrested and accused of espionage on the basis of his having scanned thousands of pages of documents something that his advising professor described as standard scholarly practice. Wang joins several others who have been sentenced in recent months on vaguely substantiated accusations of spying, including the San Francisco resident and prospective graduate student Robin Shahini, the information technology expert Nizar Zakka, the Iranian-American businessman Siamak Namazi, and his father Baquer. The contract value amounts to approximately $69.2m and the project will commence in the autumn of 2017 with completion slated for the spring of 2020, the company announced. Stockholm Norvik Port, a new port for ro-ro trafic and containers, will be constructed in Norvikudden located 60 km south of Stockholm. The port will have seven berths for container ships and ro-ro ferries. Boskalis will construct 1,100 m of quay wall according to the design of the Port of Stockholm. The depth of the quay wall will vary between 16.5 and 10.5 m. Part of the quay wall will be constructed by installing heavy precast concrete elements produced by Boskalis with the assistance of a large crane. Between September 2016 and March 2017 Boskalis also executed land reclamation activities for the new Stockholm Norvik Port. For this purpose around 1m cu m was dredged using a large variety of dredging equipment. The Boskalis strategy is designed to benefit from the key macro-economic drivers that fuel global demand in our selected markets: global trade, increasing energy consumption, population growth and the challenges of changing climate conditions. This project is driven by the growth in global trade, the company said. Chairman of Maritime London, Lord Mountevans, along with 10 London shipping reps were in town for the 4th Greek-British Shipping Forum hosted by the pro shipping British Ambassador in Greece, Kate Smith, and attended by some 100 Greek shipowners and representatives of enterprises in the sector. Benefits of continuing to foster the strong long-standing relationship between Britain and Greece, in particular their shipping industries, was the thrust of the message. Indeed, this was emphasised by the Ministers of shipping of each country, both of whom have had Brexit very much in mind. In a recorded message, John Hayes, UK's minister of State for Transport, said, "working with Greece will help keep the UK a major maritime nation and trading partner". Hayes, said the fundamentals of London remain strong. Brexit does not mean the withdrawal of the UK from Europe, but presents the opportunity for the country to work outside, as the "vote showed the people wanted to be more independent". "Traditional ties between our two people will continue," Greece's Shipping and Island Policy minister, Panagiotis Kouroumplis said in reply, adding "this cooperation in the field of shipping can have concrete and beneficial results for both". He said the two countries already cooperate closely in shipping matters, like at IMO, as both believe the transportation of goods should be protected. Kouroumplis has himself recently been in London promoting the attributes of the Greek shipping cluster should London-based shipping companies look for an alternate home post Brexit. The minister met with IG P&I clubs chairman, Hugo Wynn-Williams, and other P&I executives promoting Piraeus. Some 11 of the 13 IG members already operate offices in Greece but are not licensed insurance companies. He said the government is trying to make the Greek flag more accessible by eliminating red-tape, before saying "the government wants to ensure the best possible cooperation between the UK and EU". "We have always believed the UK and EU are united. Through cooperation we will be able to solve any problems in shipping". The UK party in Greece all cited the close relationship between the two maritime countries and the contribution of London-based Greek shipowners to both the UK and Greek economies, stressing prospects for further growth in their financial relations. London will remain the "best one-stop-shop for business", declared Lord Mountevans, a former shipbroker, mayor of London's 'square mile' and now chairman of Maritime London. "The legal regulatory climate in London is unmatched," he said, continuing "the City is working to make London the most cyber safe place in the world". Doug Barrow, director of the ambitious UK Ship Register, said the goal is to expand the UK register. "We want to be the choice of quality owners looking for a flag outside their home flag," he said. He said the register "is changing to meet the needs of our customers, but we will not sacrifice quality for growth". Nevertheless, no clear answers were provided as to what Brexit will mean for foreigners who work in shipping offices or the tax status of shipowners based in Britain. The latter question carries significant weight as it appears foreigners who have completed 15 years in the UK with non-dom status (paying a steady annual tax amount) will now be taxed as British citizens, even for incomes earned in the rest of the world. When questioned by shipowners in the audience, Lord Mountevans agreed "the non-dom tax was an issue" before saying "it is expected to stay as it is", adding, "I would like to see more incentives for shipowners". He also said, as did others, it is too early to know how the general climate will develop and the impact the Brexit process will have as it moves forward. Gordon and Nephew argued in their article, In fact, the deal is doing exactly what is was supposed to do: prevent Iran from acquiring enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon, demonstrate to the Iranian public the benefits of cooperation with the international community, and buy time for potential changes in Iranian politics and foreign policy, and added, Anyone who thought a deal would immediately change Irans regional agenda or who maintains that, if only America and its partners had insisted on such changes in the talks they would have materialized, has a misguided sense of what sanctions and diplomatic pressure can accomplish. Having been deeply involved in the negotiations, we think its important to be clear about the purpose, enduring benefits, and inevitable limitations of the agreement. The co-writers wrote, What the deal has done, at least for the next decade, is deter any realistic threat of a near-term Iranian nuclear weapon. The United States should use that decade wisely: standing up to and imposing costs on Iranian transgressions, supporting US allies in the region, making clear to the Iranian public that the West is not an enemy, and preparing for the day when some of the deals restrictions will no longer apply. If, by 2030, Iran has not demonstrated that its nuclear program is exclusively peaceful and that it is willing to live in peace with its neighbors, the United States and its international partners will have difficult decisions to make about how to handle the issue going forward. They conclude, saying, But since there is a chance that Iran will have different leaders or policies by thenthe current Supreme Leader will almost certainly be gone, and a new generation may have come to powerwhy make those difficult decisions now? The Iran deal has bought valuable time. Squandering that time without a better plan would be foolish. It is said that Malley and Gordon were both very close to former President Obama and Hillary Clinton. Many opinion polls showed that they expected to be a members of Hillary Clintons team, had she won. Many other Democrats strongly defend the nuclear deal. In his article for ASHARQ AL-AWSAT, Eyad Abu Shakra talks about what he refers to as Liberal Democrats. He says, Those Liberal may be divided into two camps: 1. Progressive apologists led by president Obama himself, who tacitly admire Tehrans revolutionary rhetoric against militaristic and conservative Arab regimes. 2. Trusted Israel friends who believe that civil and sectarian wars within and between its neighboring states would be the best guarantee for Israels safety and security. He says further that Israels interests have always been a strategic policy of every US administration, but the fate of the Arab countries never occupied a high position in Obamas list of political priorities, recalling how he reneged on almost everything he promised in what was his historic 2009 Cairo speech. This fate hit an all-time low after the collapse of his Red Lines many had thought existed in Syria to prevent Bashar Al-Assads massacring of his own people by chemical weapons and other means. Since the nuclear deal, nothing has changed in Iran. Former Secretary of State John Kerry reiterated that the JCPOA negotiations were restricted to the nuclear file, and never touched on other regional issues. Eyad Abu Shakra says that it was well known that among those regional issues was the IRGCs occupation of four Arab capitals, its destruction of cities in both Syria and Iraq, and its uprooting and displacing tens of millions of Syrians and Iraqis most of whom were Sunni Arabs! He adds that ISIS has provided the perfect excuse to redraw the boundaries of the New Middle East, and the much sought after factor to justify bringing down everything, leaving only failed states, sectarian animosities, epidemics of ignorance and intolerance, and systematic destruction of institutions, landmarks of civilizations and cultural heritage. He concludes, The whole Middle East has paid and is still paying a heavy price for the decade the nuclear deal has gifted to Iran. Press Release July 20, 2017 De Lima: Protect children from online violence Senator Leila M. de Lima has filed a bill seeking to ensure that children are protected from harmful materials in the Internet, especially now that it is easy to go online using different devices at any time of the day. De Lima has filed Senate Bill (SB) No. 1499, also known as the Online Child Safety Act, which requires commercial establishments and public institutions to use appropriate filtering devices that will restrict children's access to harmful materials. "Our children are the most vulnerable against exploitative acts and other Internet- based crimes. The shroud of anonymity that the Internet gives the perpetrators makes the danger to our children greater," de Lima said. "Hence, it is even more imperative for us to establish safeguards for our youth when they use the Internet." The filtering devices mentioned under SB 1499 are the softwares installed in the computer or any programs activated from the service provider or any other such device that can effectively block unwanted websites particularly those containing sexually explicit and/or violent materials. Aside from violent pictures, graphic image files, articles, recordings and writings, these harmful materials also include other matter of any kind that is deemed offensive. "For children especially, the Internet provides unique educational opportunities and even serves as their primary source for research. However, the onset of this technology has also brought about a different venue for child predators and perpetrators of crime," de Lima said. De Lima's proposed bill further proposes the identification of a website that may contain materials harmful to children by mandating a "tag" created by the National Telecommunication Commission (NTC) be displayed initially when such websites are accessed. Under SB 1499, it is the duty of all internet-service providers and duly-licensed commercial establishment owners to report suspected and actual operation of website containing materials that are harmful to children over the Internet, to the nearest law enforcement office in the locality. A staunch advocate of human rights, De Lima's proposed SB 1499 is just among her efforts to protect children from violence. This year, she also filed Senate Bill No. 1348, which proposes to prohibit corporal punishment and all other forms of "humiliating and degrading" acts imposed on children and Senate Bill 195, which seeks to impose stiffer penalties on those who involve children in their criminal activities. Notably, individuals who are over 18 but unable to protect themselves from abuse because of physical or mental ability are also protected by this bill. Press Release July 20, 2017 HONTIVEROS TO MILLENNIALS: "WINTER IS HERE," LEAD RESISTANCE VS. AUTHORITARIANISM In a youth and student forum held at the St. Scholastica's College- Manila on Tuesday, Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros urged the Filipino millennials to lead the way against, what she termed, the government's "growing authoritarianism." Dubbed as the "#YouthResist Alt-SONA," student leaders from different universities protested what they called President Rodrigo Duterte's "killing spree" that resulted to 12,000 homicide cases, including at least 8,000 deaths due to the abusive war-on-drugs. "We stand here because we want to send a clear and strong message to this government. We stand here today to tell this government that the millennials are watching. That you are not blind," Hontiveros said. Hontiveros pointed to the government's war on drugs, plans for "unli-Martial Law," the culture of sexism and impunity, and the reinstatement of dirty cops, particularly those accused of killing Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa, as glaring examples of Duterte's growing undemocratic rule. She called on the millennials to lead the way in opposing 'rising authoritarianism', and praised their social awareness and involvement. "I have seen firsthand your courage and patriotism. We will take back the democracy they are stealing from us. We know this darkness will pass because you, the young have the light," Hontiveros said. "Winter is here," resistance is also here Borrowing a phrase from the popular television series Game of Thrones, Hontiveros said that the youth should lead the resistance against Duterte's rising authoritarianism. "Yes, winter is here. The night gathers. But so is our resistance. The resistance is here. You are the resistance. We are the resistance," Hontiveros said. The Youth SONA was organized by#YouthResist, a broad coalition of different youth and student groups such as the Millenials Against DICTATORS (MAD), the Student Council Alliance of the Philippines (SCAP), and Akbayan Youth. A federal indictment was unsealed by prosecutors on Monday, that charged Mohammed Reza Rezakhah and Mohammed Saeed Ajily in connection with an year long international conspiracy targeting Arrow Tech of Burlington and its Projectile Rocket Ordnance Design and Analysis System (PRODAS). This proprietary software is regulated by the U.S government because it is used in the development of missiles, bullets and other warheads. Arrow Tech produces Professional Ballistics Software Tools used by most US Government Labs and Commercial Ammo Manufactures. Prosecutors allege that Mr. Rezakhah and Mr. Ajily, along with a third co-conspirator, Nima GoJestaneh, operated a company, Dongle Labs, that sold illegal copies of PRODAS to Iranian customers. This is a violation of both export licensing requirements and U.S-imposed sanctions. According to a superseding indictment filed last April in a Vermont federal court, but not unsealed until Monday of this week, Mr. Ajily advertised what he referred to as his group of software hackers and crackers and their ability to circumvent Western sanctions against Iran by hacking the servers of software manufacturers and cracking software protections in order to obtain software for Iranian entities, including government entities and purported research centers and military production industries, all in contravention of Western sanctions against Iran. On Monday, the Justice Department said that an arrest warrant has been issued for Mr. Rezakhah, 39, and Mr. Ajily, 35. Both men currently appear on the FBIs list of most wanted cybercriminals. If apprehended and extradited, they face an eight-count indictment including charges of conspiracy, hacking and fraud, as well as violating export regulations and economic sanctions. Previously, in December 2015, Golestaneh was arrested and pled guilty to related counts of federal wire fraud and computer hacking, but was reportedly pardoned by former President Obama in January 2016 as part of a prisoner swap with Iran, that was allegedly arranged during talks between Washington and Tehran regarding the latters nuclear program. This was reported as a one-time gesture of releasing Iranian-born prisoners who were not charged with terrorism or any violent offenses in a trade-off for the Iran nuclear agreement and Tehrans pledge to free five Americans. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The thrill of art in print guides San Franciscos second annual Art Book Fair, opening Friday, July 21, at the Minnesota Street Project. Its a chance for more than 100 publishers from the Bay Area and across the United States to come together and showcase artists books and catalogs, and monographs of artists works that might not be seen otherwise. The second annual Art Book Fair is the result of a three-way collaboration between the Minnesota Street Project and two local publishers: Colpas Luca Antonucci and David Kasprzak, and Park Lifes Jamie Alexander and Derek Song. The San Francisco fair was inspired by similar book fairs in Los Angeles and New York. We are looking to provide an event, a venue and a market for the great independent art publishing in the Bay Area, Alexander says. Its kind of a gathering where everybody can get together and show off their wares. Carlos Valladares/Courtesy of the artist. Photos by Korey Luna. With the fair so new to the city, theres a surfeit of ways its organizers can explore where it will go in the coming years. Eager to replicate the success of last years Art Book Fair, the focus is on making this years fair more robust, with more special programming and a heavier international and LGBTQ presence. On that note, whats sure to be one of the weekends biggest highlights is a panel discussion on Queer Threads: Crafting Identity and Community, a new art book published by Ammo Books. The panelists include John Chaich, co-editor of the book, and four other featured Bay Area artists: Jai Andrew Carrillo, James Gobel, Ramekon OArwisters and Angie Wilson. Chaich and the artists will discuss the 192-page book, which spotlights 30 contemporary queer artists working in the mediums of fiber art and textiles, and craft traditions such as crochet, knitting and quilting. It is the companion book of the exhibition of the same name, which was held at the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art in New York in 2014. Chaichs vision for the book, he says, was to make something that could live as comfortably at an art school library as it could at Urban Outfitters, with broad appeal to academic and non-specialized readers. We really wanted the book design to give you the experience of a studio visit, he says. He says he appreciates events like the Art Book Fair where the work of queer artists can be seen in such a public, intimate setting. I think the place of art-book fairs in a digital age really speaks to an audiences hunger for the tactile, finely crafted object, he says. We have instant access to hundreds of images online at any given hour, but a book encourages us to slow down, focus and appreciate the thoughtfulness of lines, language and how those work together. After the talk, OArwisters will lead a Crochet Jam. Carlos Valladares/Courtesy of John Chaich OArwisters, whose art explores his identity as a black queer man coming of age in the Jim Crow South, has struggled to find a place in traditional galleries for nearly 25 years. Thats one reason why events like the Art Book Fair and art books like Queer Threads hold such importance and subversive potential. I had to ask myself, What do I really want from these mostly white male museum curators? OArwisters says. They dont really see my experience; they see the icon of the black male. So I felt, instead of me going to others, why dont I do it for and with others? That was the genesis of not only his artworks appearance in Queer Threads, but also Crochet Jam, a collaborative art-making event he started in 2012 in honor of his grandmother, with whom hed spend hours quilting quietly and calmly. The rules are simple: You crochet for hours at a time. Dont know how to crochet? No problem; OArwisters and others will help teach you. This calm, relaxing and peaceful atmosphere was just what a confused little black queer boy needed when the world outside was often negative, hostile and unforgiving, he says in an interview with Danny Orendorff in the book. Its his own unique way of giving love and artistic consciousness back to a world that refused (and still refuses) people like him. I feel very empowered, he says on the Crochet Jam. It makes liberation a form of art. Carlos Valladares/John Chaich San Francisco Art Book Fair: Preview 6 to 10 p.m. Friday, July 21; fair, 11a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, July 22; 11 to 5 p.m. Sunday, July 23. 1275 Minnesota St., S.F. For a complete list of exhibitors and other information, go to www.sfartbookfair.com S.F. Art Book Fair highlights Queer Threads panel discussion and book signing. 1 p.m. Saturday, July 22, in The Lounge. Crochet Jam, led by Ramekon OArwisters. 2 to 3 p.m. Saturday, July 22, in the Minnesota Grove. Lonnie Holley and Chris Johanson have collaborated on a unique zine, which will be on sale at the Paulson Fontaine Press table. Tamara Shopsin will perform Swingin Salami, a performance piece involving salami, sandwiches and other eats. 3 to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 22, in the Media Room. For a complete list of exhibitors and other information, go to www.sfartbookfair.com Tracy Brandi looked at an 8-foot-tall projector screen in San Franciscos Crissy Field on Thursday morning. Half a world away, three students at Catholic University in Nairobi, Kenya, looked back. The screen, which sits inside a gold-painted shipping container, connects people around the world through video chats. For three years, a New York company has set up the screens they call portals to connect people who would otherwise never meet and now theres one in San Francisco. My name is Tracy and I live in San Francisco. Ive lived here for about 50 years, Brandi told the students in Nairobi. So what do you do? What are your professions? Were studying law, said Laura Eileen, one of the students. Wonderful, she said. My husband is a lawyer. The global conversations may not always be profound. But Brandi and others say the portals, which are free, offer a rare opportunity to step into another culture. The body-size screen in Crissy Field, not far from the Golden Gate Bridge, is part of a network of 30 portals stationed in 11 countries, including such hard-to-reach nations as Iraq, Rwanda and Afghanistan. All thats required for the other country is to have high-speed Internet and a willing host, such as a university. Paul Kuroda/Special to The Chronicle Each portal has a projector and speakers that allow people to see and speak with counterparts in a similar portal in a shipping container, a tent or a regular building. San Franciscos portal opened Thursday and will connect visitors to a variety of countries Thursdays through Sundays until it closes Sept. 24. Shared_Studios, the company that runs the program, created the first portal in 2014 to link participants in New York City and Tehran. Founders Michelle Moghtader and Amar Bakshi are former journalists. Bakshi called Moghtader one day and said he wanted to find a way to connect people across the world in a way that felt like they were in the same room. What began as a cool idea soon became a company and a worldwide project. Now the company is staffed by artists, educators and ex-journalists. Moghtader committed full-time to setting up portals with the Skype-like technology. This is technically something you can do in your home, Moghtader said. But when you do, its within your own cocoon and network. This allows people to branch out and collapse space. Paul Kuroda/Special to The Chronicle In New York, the first group of portal users spoke with the people in Tehran for less than 10 minutes. But as the project went on, people stayed talking for almost an hour at a time. Soon, reservations filled up. Kate Bickert, a senior director with the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, worked with Moghtader recently to bring a portal to San Francisco after her own experience. While visiting the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., in January, Bickert and her teenage daughter slipped into a portal that had been set up inside. Across the globe in an Iraqi refugee camp in Erbil, three young men who had escaped from Islamic State-held Mosul entered one, too. Bickert, her daughter and the Iraqis who otherwise would never meet talked about their lives for 45 minutes as if they were in the same room, not 7,000 miles and worlds apart. One of the most surprising things was how real the interactions felt with the folks on the other side, Bickert said. I went into it thinking it was like a Skype or FaceTime call, but because of the scale, you are talking with people who are life-size. Its real life. Every portal, even in the refugee camp, is staffed by a curator who facilitates translations and answers questions. They recommend that participants register online to guarantee a spot. Reservations for the San Francisco portal can be made at sharedstudios.com/sf. The company has placed portals in more than 10 U.S. cities, including Detroit, Los Angeles, Chicago and Baltimore. Some portals are permanent, but others, like San Franciscos, travel to different cities throughout the year. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. So far, about 40,000 people around the world have used the portals, Moghtader said. In each session, she said she sees people making connections and learning about other cultures. Paul Kuroda/Special to The Chronicle Making the portal discussions work from country to country is a huge, logistical project, Moghtader said, referring to the time differences and set-up arrangements. But the work is worth it for the small, human connections, she said. Moghtader remembers one conversation between a man in Connecticut and another in Iran. After making small talk for a while, the Iranian man turned to a more personal topic. He told the American stranger that there was a girl he liked, but he wasnt sure how to tell her. Could he offer any advice? Moghtader doesnt know what the Connecticut man advised but she said that wasnt really the point. With a complete stranger, you can take your most intimate concerns and talk about it a bit more freely, she said. I think being in a gold container allows you to step outside of your world and put your worries behind you and feel what someone else is going through. Alison Graham and Lizzie Johnson are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: agraham@sfchronicle.com, ljohnson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @alisonkgraham, @LizzieJohnsonnn San Francisco is getting a new Navigation Center possibly as early as next spring thanks to a $10 million gift from the state. The money is the result of months of discussions among Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, Mayor Ed Lees office, the citys Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, and Supervisor Hillary Ronen. Its the first time the state has set aside funding specifically for a Navigation Center in the city, said Sam Dodge, a deputy director at the citys homelessness department. And city officials are hoping the new center will be in a permanent location the four Navigation Centers now open are all temporary. I think its important that the state is recognizing what cities and counties are facing with rising homelessness and contributing to proven solutions, Dodge said. This is a game changer for us. Ting called homelessness the biggest issue in San Francisco right now. I was proud that the state stepped up to the plate in supporting Navigation Centers, which have been chosen as the No. 1 way for the city to fight homelessness. The Board of Supervisors must approve accepting the money from the states general fund. Navigation Centers are key components in San Franciscos fight against its deep-rooted homelessness problem. City outreach counselors select who is admitted to the centers, which help connect chronically homeless people with a range of health and social services to move them toward stable housing. Unlike other homeless shelters, occupants are permitted to bring their partners, pets and belongings. The Mission District, which Ronen represents, appears to be the likely site of the new center, according to a May 31 letter Ronen and Lee sent to state lawmakers. The Mission neighborhood is experiencing an acute public health crisis, the letter stated. Over the past several years we have seen a drastic increase in the number of tent encampments and improvised structures concentrated in residential areas within the Mission. They continued, The citys Department of Real Estate is currently working to identify sites; however, no land currently owned by the city is suitable for a permanent Navigation Center in and near the Mission District. The urgency of finding that site is heightened by the pending closures of two Navigation Centers in the Mission District which, together, have enough space to house 195 people. The centers, at 1515 S. Van Ness Ave. and 1950 Mission St., are scheduled to close within months of each other between March and June of next year. The city struck agreements to use those sites while their developers lined up building permits and financing before starting construction. The 1950 Mission St. location will be developed as affordable housing, and the 1515 S. Van Ness site will be market-rate housing. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Once one or more possible sites for the new Navigation Center are located, the mayors office will have the final say over where it goes. The city will look at locations it can purchase outright or lease for an extended period, Ronen said. She and her staff have been scouring industrial areas of the Mission, looking for spaces of 25,000 square feet or larger. We need a permanent site, and I wanted to secure that money to make sure that could happen, Ronen said. I went to Phil (Ting) and asked him for help doing that, and he stepped up to the plate and said, Lets make this happen. Im hell-bent on fixing the tent encampment crisis, and I refuse to accept that people are going to languish in the streets. San Francisco has two other Navigation Centers, one in the Dogpatch neighborhood that opened in May and has 64 beds. The other, at the Civic Center Hotel at 12th and Market streets, opened in June 2016 and has 93 beds. All four of the current centers are paid for with city funds and philanthropic contributions. Dominic Fracassa is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dfracassa@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dominicfracassa MARIPOSA The battle to save one of Californias popular Gold Rush towns from wildfire appeared to turn in the favor of fire crews Thursday as slightly cooler weather and favorable winds helped firefighters hold the advancing flames to nearby hills. Still, parts of the 2,000-person city of Mariposa, a much-visited gateway to Yosemite National Park, remained threatened by the Detwiler Fire as was the smaller community of Coulterville 30 miles to the north. In between the two towns, along normally scenic Highway 49, the fire had left a blackened moonscape of charred oaks and pine across some 70,000 acres as it continued to grow. Just 10 percent of the fire was reported contained Thursday afternoon. At least 99 structures were confirmed burned, 50 of them residences. The fire, now Californias second largest this year, has fed off a bounty of grass and shrubs that sprouted from a near-record wet winter. The peak fire season, which started late because of the rains, has recently emerged as one of the most active in years. More than 200,000 acres have burned statewide since Jan. 1, twice the five-year average, according to state and federal figures. Whats important here is we have been having over 50 fires a day statewide, and thats a significant workload, said Ken Pimlott, director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. So its not just about fighting the fire here (in Mariposa). With about a dozen large wildfires burning in California on Thursday, the Detwiler Fire remained the most menacing. Its northern head, near Lake McClure outside Coulterville, was causing the greatest stir. More than 3,700 firefighters were battling the blaze, using 462 engines, 82 bulldozers and 13 helicopters. Charles Trout, 42, a Turlock (Stanislaus County) resident who was visiting the area to try his luck at panning for gold, was scared off when the skies turned dark around the lake. They told us the fire was cresting the mountain in 20 minutes, he said, pointing to a nearby ridge. We know fire moves fast, so we got out of there. Residents of Coulterville, population 200, remained under evacuation, as did thousands to the south. John Cox, 42, who relocated to Mariposa from Merced two years ago to shake the bustle of city life, said fleeing from fire was not what he signed up for. A handful of blazes this summer have already rattled the foothill community, but none like this one. I moved here because it was very relaxing for me, but its not now, Cox said. With firefighters holding the line on the fire just north of Mariposa, authorities said they may begin letting some residents return to their homes as soon as Thursday night. The fire behavior is not nearly as intense as it was in the past few days, said Pimlott, with Cal Fire. That gives firefighters a chance to engage in their plan and put containment lines in. We can truly say we are starting to turn the corner on this fire. Mariposa resident Murryah Martinez, 34, who has been staying at a shelter in Oakhurst, said she was glad to hear that officials were planning to lift some evacuation orders by the weekend, but shes also nervous. Going back home, its going to be scary because I dont know what I'll find, she said. Im just overwhelmed and anxious. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Rick Loomis, 49, already knows what hell find. He learned that his mobile home west of Mariposa, where he lived with his girlfriend and 15-year-old son, David, was destroyed. I just dont know what to do or where were going to go, Loomis said. Theres just a lot of important things in my life I dont have anymore. It just changes everything. I got to start over. Mariposa, which sits about an hours drive west of Yosemite, was settled in 1849 and still retains much of its Wild West charm. Its old saloons, restaurants and inns are a popular tourist destination, especially in the summer as visitors make their way to the national park. Several roads in the region remained closed because of the fire, including sections of Highway 140, a popular route into the park. While smoky skies were reported in Yosemite, all sights and services were open. Chronicle staff writer Peter Fimrite contributed to this report. Evan Sernoffsky and Kurtis Alexander are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com, kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky, @kurtisalexander Bystanders spotted a 300-pound security robot prostrate in a shallow fountain in the middle of a Washington, D.C., office and restaurant complex on Monday. The news raced across the Internet. We were promised flying cars, instead we got suicidal robots, tweeted Bilal Farooqui, founder of the San Francisco online health app-maker CrystalMD, which has an office in the complex. More than 130,000 retweets later, humorous reactions from around the Internet poured in including from Knightscope, the Mountain View startup that made the K5 robot. I heard humans can take a dip in the water in this heat, but robots cannot. I am sorry, said K5 in an official statement, the company quipped in a Tuesday tweet. Knightscope robots patrol shopping centers, corporate campuses and parking lots. Currently, 34 robots are in the hands of 26 clients across six states, according to the company. Twitter This K5 robot toppled into an indoor fountain with low-rise stairs leading into the water. No people were involved, and Knightscope is investigating the incident, according to Stacy Dean Stephens, vice president of marketing and sales. MRP Realty, which manages the Washington property, introduced the robot dubbed Steve in a Facebook post early last week. A memorial with flowers, tissues and photographs has sprung up on the robots charging pad. MRP Realty did not respond to a request for comment. This is trial-and-error kind of stuff, Gartner robotics analyst Gerald Van Hoy said. The next generation will have a better sense of sensors. Robot companies across the industry benefit and learn from malfunctions like this, he said. The incident rate is low, and Van Hoy expects the number of security robots to increase. Van Hoy suggested the K5s sensors likely interpreted the low-rise stairs into the fountain as a slope, resulting in the fall. To fix this error, Knightscope would simply have to upgrade the robots sensors, he said. Another possibility is that the robots software was not programmed to handle changes in light intensity, according to Winncy Du, director of the Robotics, Sensors and Machine Intelligence Laboratory at San Jose State University. A dramatic change in lighting could have fooled it into misinterpreting the stairs, leading to the fall. Du said robots are programmed to make decisions based on a set number of scenarios and conditions. The more scenarios programmed into the robot, the more reliable it is but the longer it takes to make a decision. This weeks incident is minor in comparison with two others Knightscope has faced in the past year. In April, a Knightscope robot was knocked over in a Mountain View parking lot; police described the attacker as drunk. And last summer a K5 ran over a toddler, who suffered minor injuries, at the Stanford Shopping Center. The K5 moves around on patrol like its human counterparts. As a result, people react to it the same way they might react to a human in that situation with some limits, according to MIT Media Lab researcher Kate Darling. Well feel bad for it getting beat up, but at the same time we know its just a robot and cant be harmed, she said. Hence, the public is walking this line of treating it like a human, but not really. Knightscope is playing along with the jokes on social media, but news about a malfunction could also decrease trust in the product, Darling said. We need these things to do much better than humans to be accepted. But the fact that humans are empathizing with machines at all is a good sign for the industry, according to Van Hoy. Thats kind of an advance for robotics because you start to anthropomorphize these robots, he said. Its one of the big hurdles that they have to get over. Isha Salian is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: isalian@sfchronicle.com Evan Sernoffsky / The Chronicle A man was shot dead in the middle of the afternoon near Hayward on Wednesday as he pushed his 3-month-old son in a stroller on the sidewalk, police said. The homicide was reported around 3 p.m. on the 200 block of Willow Avenue in an unincorporated area of Alameda County, said Sgt. Ray Kelly, a spokesman for the Alameda County Sheriffs Office. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Conservative columnist Ben Shapiro, the latest right-wing pundit whom a Republican student organization has tried to bring to UC Berkeley, wont be allowed to speak on the campus under the conditions the group has proposed, school officials said Wednesday. The Berkeley College Republicans want to host Shapiro on Sept. 14 at a campus location able to accommodate 500 people. But campus officials say none is available on that day, unless the group is willing to pay a potential rental fee. They say they may be able to find a venue of that size on another date, or a smaller venue on Sept. 14. Campus officials previously refused to give the Republican group permission to host conservative commentator Ann Coulter in April because of the lack of an appropriate venue. Coulter threatened to show up anyway, but didnt. The Berkeley College Republicans is also the group that invited Milo Yiannopoulos to campus in February, but his appearance was called off at the last minute when rioting broke out in Sproul Plaza outside the hall where he was to speak. Mr. Shapiro is welcome on our campus, UC Berkeley officials wrote in a letter Wednesday to the Republican student group. They offered to meet with the students to figure out a time and place for Shapiros visit. Berkeley blocks Ben Shapiro! came the indignant response in the form of a news release from the Berkeley College Republicans and Young Americas Foundation, a conservative speakers bureau. Berkeleys inability to find a lecture hall more than two months in advance is laughable. The groups have sued UC Berkeley and University of California President Janet Napolitano over the Coulter affair. Spencer Brown, a spokesman for Young Americas Foundation, said Wednesday that UC Berkeley officials were engaging in blatantly anti-free speech and unconstitutional actions against conservative speakers. More for you Conservative students test UC Berkeley with latest speaker invite UC Berkeley officials told the Republican student group that campus police would need to conduct a security assessment that might rule out certain hours for the event an indication that officials may not allow Shapiro to speak during evening hours. Shapiro, a 33-year-old graduate of Harvard Law School, is not given to the type of outrageous, attention-grabbing statements that have polarized fans and foes of Yiannopoulos and Coulter. He doesn't even support President Trump. He uses his Web-based "Ben Shapiro Show" and other online columns to oppose abortion, criticize the "self-righteous media" and to wade into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict firmly on the side of Israel. Shapiro says its an outright lie that Palestinians want peace in the Middle East, and calls the two-state solution stupid. As at many college campuses across the country, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a live wire at UC Berkeley, with long arguments common between students who are passionate on both sides. Campus spokesman Dan Mogulof emphasized the willingness of UC Berkeley to work with the students to find a time and place for Shapiro to speak. COVID Resources Coronavirus Map Tracking COVID-19 cases across the Bay Area and California. The way to do this is not by press release, Mogulof said, but by sitting down together. Update: A description in this story describing Shapiro's views was updated Sept. 15, 2017. Nanette Asimov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: nasimov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @NanetteAsimov The August issue of Vanity Fair includes a one-page word portrait by Dave Eggers about our California governor, printed alongside an Annie Leibovitz photo portrait of Jerry Brown. Eggers describes having attended a news conference at which Brown and German environmental minister Barbara Hendricks talked about a joint effort to reducing carbon emissions. When someone mentioned the word legacy, the governor said he didnt have one. I dont know what a legacy is. In the minds of certain media types, legacy is the central organizing principle of governmental activity. But it is not my organizing principle. (Certain media types? The governors disdain may be the only thing he has in common with President Trump.) Later in the news conference, when somehow the subject raises its head again, in the middle of words about climate change, the governor reiterated his passion for action and lack of passion for pondering how he will be remembered by historians: When the enemys firing, you have to fire back. ... Were on the field of battle here. Climate is changing. Global warming is occurring. Later, when youre ready for your dotage and have nothing else to do, invent a legacy I guess. But were in the middle of doing things here. On the other hand, in the legacy-land across the Atlantic, Randy Alfred noticed that the House of Windsor, formerly the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, was 100 years old on Monday, July 17, 2017. The name was changed during World War I because so many Britons were anti-German. The family Windsor was named after Windsor Castle, which was named after its Windsor, Berkshire, location. On this side of the Atlantic, says Alfred, dachshunds became Liberty Pups (a renaming akin to the future creation of Freedom Fries), and San Franciscos German Hospital became Franklin Hospital (its now California Pacific Medical Center Davies campus). Joe Mac poses the riddle: What has 28 legs, four new hips and 23 teeth? The front row of last Sundays closing matinee of A Night With Janis Joplin, says Mac, who worked for six weeks as a front-of-house usher at the show. I havent seen that much energy at the theater in a while, he said, with many of the audience being of the age where they remembered seeing Joplin perform in the 1960s. When the doors to the theater opened after intermission, so much pot smoke wafted into the theater that the staff was happy just from the contact high. Mac describes himself as fitting into the audience demographic. There were so many walkers, canes, wheelchairs and other mobility devices parked in the back of the theater at some performances that I dubbed them heavy metal matinees. What a joy to work this show. There were 2,405 participants in the creation of LotusLive at the Asian Art Museum last Saturday, thereby earning a place in the Guinness book for the worlds largest human flower. This, in conjunction with Flower Power, the Asians Summer of Love tribute show, was an attempt to break a 2014 record of 2,297 human flower-formers at the Rochester Lilac Festival. Organizers, worried that the count of people wouldnt be sufficient, snagged theatergoers on their way to Hamilton, and herded some 40 Chinese tourists into participation, whether or not theyd been intending to participate in the event. By the time they were in, said a witness, they were high-fiving each other and the neighbors around them. Participants were given colored plastic ponchos to wear. Since Saturday was a hot day, someone proclaimed the record-breaking event as the cheapest sauna in town. And the FOR-SITE Foundation, which brought the works of Ai Weiwei to Alcatraz, the works of Andy Goldsworthy to the Presidio, and the works of many artists to Home Land Security at Fort Winfield Scott in the Presidio, will install Sanctuary at the Fort Mason Chapel from Oct. 7 to March 11. This exhibition will be interactive, involving hand-woven prayer rugs created by 36 artists from 22 countries creating 4-by-6-foot rugs to offer a multiplicity of perspectives on the basic human need for sanctuary. Visitors will remove their shoes and walk or sit on the rugs, to quietly reflect on our shared humanity. FOR-SITE was established in 2003 by gallerist Cheryl Haines to focus on site-specific art, to (says its site) inspire fresh thinking and important dialogue about our natural and current environment. Leah Garchik is open for business in San Francisco, (415) 777-8426. Email: lgarchik@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @leahgarchik Public Eavesdropping Then they took us to this restaurant that was like the Tonga Room, but instead of at the Fairmont, the way it would be if it were at a Travelodge. Man in the Castro, overheard by Mark Abramson The story of the Giants bullpen struggles in 2017 cannot be told without mentioning a huge loss. Left-hander Will Smith, acquired from Milwaukee in a midseason deal a year ago, was ticketed for the eighth inning until he blew out his elbow and underwent Tommy John surgery on March 30. Smith did not hesitate Wednesday when asked whether he hopes to be on the active roster next Opening Day. Hell, yeah, he said. You never want to get too far ahead because there are always setbacks, but its a personal goal Ive set for myself. To achieve it, Smith is doing something counterintuitive. He plans to wait until the six-month mark post-surgery to begin playing catch, longer than the normal 4 to five months, so he can further strengthen his arm. There is no rush because he will not pitch this year anyway, and he believes that could cut his rehab time on the back end. Smith, who turned 28 on July 10, hopes to have a normal spring training of bullpen sessions and live batting practice. The medical staff then can assess when to let him pitch in a game. Smith has had no real setbacks and has become an upbeat, near-constant presence in the clubhouse, keeping a promise to remain with the team for the most part rather than confine himself to the Giants rehab facilities in Arizona. Barring a trade, the Giants could boast a more formidable back end of the bullpen in 2018 with a presumably healthy Mark Melancon, Sam Dyson, Hunter Strickland and Smith. Trade talk: The Yankees deal for third baseman Todd Frazier and others Tuesday has heightened the Red Soxs interest in Eduardo Nunez. Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported that Boston is expected to scout the potential free agent more thoroughly in the coming days. Nunezs hamstring strain remains an issue. He was under orders not to bust loose on the bases Tuesday because of continuing soreness, and he did not start Wednesday. On the other hand, Nunez is playing well. He had three hits Tuesday, including a walk-off single, one night after he failed to reach base for the first time in 34 games, ending the longest streak in the majors this year. He also hit a pinch single Wednesday. Henry Schulman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. On deck Thursday vs. Padres 7:15 p.m. Channel: 11 Chacin (8-7) vs. Bumgarner (0-3) Friday vs. Padres 7:15 p.m. NBCSBA Cahill (4-3) vs. Samardzija (4-11) Saturday vs. Padres 1:05 p.m. NBCSBA Perdomo (4-5) vs. Moore (3-10) Leading off Another HBP: Prospect Ryder Jones was hit in the left wrist by a pitch Tuesday in his first game back at Sacramento after a right-wrist injury. He will miss a few games. Henry Schulman The Giants appear to be bringing home a World Series hero. Third baseman Pablo Sandoval is expected to sign a minor-league deal with the Giants as soon as he clears waivers, after the Red Sox gave up on him less than three years into a five-year, $95 million deal. MLB.com reported that Sandoval and the Giants have reached an agreement, with Sandoval expected to report to Triple-A Sacramento. The club would not confirm it because Sandoval has not cleared waivers. The ultimate goal is to bring him back to San Francisco. Sandoval signed with Boston shortly after he caught the final out of the 2014 World Series for the Giants. His time with the Red Sox has been a disaster due to injuries, poor performance and bad conditioning. He hit .237 with 14 homers in 575 at-bats since the start of the 2015 season. The Red Sox released Sandoval on Wednesday with more than $50 million left on his deal. They would be responsible for all but the major-league minimum between now and the end of his contract, after the 2019 season, meaning the Giants would be on the hook for less than $1.5 million total. The Giants would have to show some forgiveness to bring Sandoval back. He kicked the organization pretty hard on his way out the door, saying he had planned his exit for a year and that the Giants lied to his agent about a multiyear offer in spring training of his final year. Sandoval also said he would not miss anybody with the Giants except for manager Bruce Bochy and outfielder Hunter Pence. The Giants have a need, with third base prospect Christian Arroyo out until at least September with a fractured hand and Eduardo Nunez on the trading block. Henry Schulman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: hschulman@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hankschulman Anyone who doubts the value of supporting a venerable commuter train system between San Jose and San Francisco should spend a little time on Highway 101. Actually, anyone who manages to spend just a little time on Highway 101, where traffic quagmires are routine, should consider himself or herself lucky. Imagine what that 50-mile stretch would be like without Caltrain, which carries 62,000 passengers on weekday commutes, when it runs at 125 percent of capacity. Fortunately, expansion is on the horizon with the Trump administrations recent decision to release a $647 million federal grant as the last funding piece that will upgrade the trains from diesel to electric power. The electrification project is projected to nearly double Caltrains passenger capacity. Gov. Jerry Brown, Sen. Dianne Feinstein and political and business leaders from the Bay Area deserve great credit for pressing U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao to free up that federal contribution to complement the local, regional and state funds that are going into the project. Yet Caltrain still needs to upgrade something else: its revenue reliability. Caltrains operating budget is dependent on a highly unusual arrangement in which its funding partners in San Francisco, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties make annual contributions based on ridership. This injects unacceptable volatility into a system that is so essential to the region. As a more stable alternative, Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, has authored SB797, which would give the three counties in Caltrains domain the authority to ask voters for an eighth-cent sale tax to raise about $100 million a year. That would cover the annual contributions by those three counties, while leaving up to $70 million a year for maintenance and new infrastructure. Even on a Sunday afternoon, you cant go down (Highway) 101, Hill said of the need for traffic relief. If we want to sustain what we have, we need to make quick improvements. Its important to note that the proposal, if passed by the Legislature, would need to undergo several more steps before the tax could take effect. There will be plenty of time for additional public input. Before even going to the ballot, it would require: A two-thirds vote of the Caltrain board. Approval from the transit districts in San Francisco and San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. Approval from each countys board of supervisors. And ultimate passage would require approval of two-thirds of the voters in the three counties. SB797 cleared the Senate, and recently advanced through the Assembly Local Government Committee on a 6-3 vote. The only registered opposition has come from the California Taxpayers Association, which has argued that businesses already face a significant tax burden, and Hills bill imposes a regressive tax on disadvantaged communities, according to the legislative analysis. However, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, representing 400 employers, has been a prime supporter of SB797. It recognizes the link between keeping transportation moving and the economy moving in this critical corridor. As for the oppositions argument about the impact on disadvantaged communities, there is nothing advantageous about being stuck in traffic. The California Legislature should pass SB797 as an essential first step toward letting local voters who ride Caltrain or drive on Highway 101 decide whether an eighth of a cent on each $1 purchase is a wise investment. A critical corridor How important is that corridor between downtown San Jose and downtown San Francisco? It contains: 1.6 million jobs 54 percent of all patents filed from the state 20 percent of the states gross domestic product 13 percent of the states sales tax revenue At the foot of Kings Creek Meadow this week, you could peer across the pristine greenery and gnarled forest up to the volcanic flank of 10,457-foot Lassen Peak and have no idea how much snow hit the volcano this winter. You will soon be able to see for yourself. With a roar and a push in the coming week, snowplows will finally punch through the remaining snowpack on the Lassen Park Highway and open Highway 89 at the latest date on record. The previous latest opening was July 21 in 1995. With August only 12 days away, the parks vast landscape is finally opening for hiking, camping and boating, with some landmark exceptions. At the 8,500-foot Lassen Park Highway pass, crews with heavy equipment dug out the parking area last weekend for the Lassen Peak trailhead. They left walls of snow 10 to 15 feet high along the edge of the parking lot. It provides an inkling of what came last winter: Snow was piled as high as 30 feet on the Bumpass Hell Trail (which is still closed, with no projected date to open) and as high as 40 feet in some drifts. For many, Lassen is overlooked because it is outside the west-to-east band from the Bay Area to Tahoe/Yosemite. Compared to Yosemite, it gets only 10 percent of the visitors, roughly 400,000 to 4 million in a typical year. This year, because of Lassens delayed launch and the prolific waterfall show in Yosemite Valley, the disparity is expected to be wider than ever. If you go, this is what you will find: Camping: Five of seven of Lassens campgrounds are open and the remaining two are expected to open by July 28. Distant and beautiful Juniper Lake (with access out of Lake Almanor) and Summit Lake North (delayed by removal of hazardous trees) on the Lassen Park Highway are the last to open. Last week, Summit Lake South opened (but, for now, still has no piped drinking water). The camping cabins at Manzanita Lake are mostly booked for the next month. There are four dates with cabins available through mid-August, then there is good availability for the last week of August. Hiking: The best trails that have been clear of snow include Mill Creek Falls from near Southwest Campgrounds hike-in sites, Cluster/Twin Lakes Loop from Summit Lake along Lassen Park Highway, Paradise Meadow from Hat Lake along Lassen Park Highway, Cinder Cone, Widow Lake, Snag Lake from Butte Lake, and Boiling Springs Lake and Devils Kitchen from Warner Valley. Snow-covered trails: Some of the best trails still covered by snow include Bumpass Hell along the Lassen Park Highway, Kings Creek Falls (the only access is from the horse trail and the railing is gone at the overlook), and Terrace, Shadow and Cliff lakes. Lassen Peak: From a distance, it might appear that much of the snow has melted off the gray volcano, but that can be skewed by your vantage point. The 2.2-mile trail to Lassen Peak is under snow for the first half of the route along the switchbacks, then is melted off in spots up to the caldera rim. You hit snow again for the final push, but the summit plug dome crag is snow-free. To attempt it, crampons and ski poles are required for those with snow-travel skills. At park headquarters, Karen Haner said the delayed opener for the Lassen Park Highway could have been pushed well into August if Caltrans had not joined in the mission. Caltrans stepped in to help, Haner said. Were forever grateful. She said crews have been working from each side of the pass (at the foot of Lassen Peak). One section of impassable road, located roughly between the pass and Kings Creek, is all that remains. Theyve made one pass through, Haner said. Theres some downed trees, rockfalls, and thats what slows things down. The south side (from the Lassen Peak trailhead to park entrance at Southwest Entrance Station) is good. Hot weather has accelerated the snowmelt. When they open it up (and sun hits the asphalt), it tends to melt off pretty fast. Tom Stienstra is the outdoors writer for The Chronicle. His outdoors report can be heard on KCBS (740 and 106.9) at 7:35 a.m., 9:35 a.m. and 12:35 p.m. Saturdays. Email: tstienstra@sfchronicle.com If you want to go Location/distances: Lassen Volcanic National Park is 50 miles east of Red Bluff, 158 miles from Sacramento, 216 miles from Concord, 237 miles from San Francisco. Cost: The $20 entry fee per car ($15 per motorcycle) is good for a week. Several annual and lifetime passes accepted. 2017 free days: Aug. 25, Sept. 30, Nov. 11-12. Webcams: www.nps.gov/lavo/learn/photosmultimedia/webcams.htm Cabins: Camping cabins at Manzanita Lake, $70 to $95 (including all fees) per night, no electricity, includes heat; 19 available by reservation, one first come, first served; reserve at www.recreation.gov or (877) 444-6777; info at www.lassenrecreation.com or Manzanita Lake Camper Store, (530) 335-7557. Note: Bring sleeping bag and camping gear; camping gear rental packages available. Available dates: At least one or more camping cabins are available for July 26, Aug. 13, 15, 20, 27-31 and Sept. 1-4. Campgrounds along Lassen Park Highway: Manzanita Lake, 179 sites (pull-through RV sites available), $24, elevation 5,900 feet; Summit Lake South, opened Saturday, 48 sites, $15, dry camping (no piped water until system repair), elevation 6,700 feet; Summit Lake North, 46 sites, $22, projected to open July 28 (hazardous tree removal), elevation 6,700 feet; Southwest Walk-in, 20 sites, $16, first come, first served, elevation 6,700 feet. Remote campgrounds: Butte Lake, 101 sites, $15 (dry camping through Thursday, then $20 when water available), elevation 6,100 feet; Juniper Lake, 18 sites, $12, projected to open July 28, elevation 6,800 feet; Warner Valley, 18 sites, $16, elevation 5,600 feet; first come, first served. Reservations: Reserve at www.recreation.gov or at (877) 444-6777. Camp notes: Roughly half the parks campsites are available by reservation, half are first come, first served; campgrounds rarely fill Sundays through Thursdays and often have availability on weekends; at Manzanita Lake, Loop D is for tents only, no generators; at Summit Lake, Loop 3 is for tents only, no generators. Information: Visitor Center, (530) 595-4480; headquarters, (530) 595-4444; www.nps.gov/lavo. How to get there To southwest entrance: From San Francisco, take the Bay Bridge east and continue on Interstate 80 for 53 miles to the exit for Interstate 505. Take I-505 north for 34 miles to a merge with Interstate 5 and continue north for 95 miles to the exit for Central Red Bluff-Highway 36/Antelope Blvd. Take that exit to a stop sign and Antelope Boulevard, turn right and go 2.3 miles to a left turn lane for Highway 36. Turn left and go 43 miles to Highway 89. Turn left and drive 5.3 miles to the entrance station. To Manzanita Lake entrance: Use directions above to Red Bluff, then continue north on I-5 for 15 miles to the exit for Anderson/Deschutes Road-Factory Outlets. Take that exit, continue 0.8 of a mile and merge onto Highway 273 north and go 0.2 mile to Factory Outlets Drive. Turn right and drive 0.2 of a mile to Deschutes Road and continue on Deschutes for 4.2 miles to Dersch Road. Turn right on Dersch and drive 12.5 miles to Highway 44. Turn right on Highway 44 east and drive 26 miles to Highway 89/Lassen Park Highway. Turn right and go 1.2 miles to the entrance station. Tom Stienstra Democratic strategists say the Republican failure to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act will have repercussions in Californias 2018 election, and the potential victims are nine House Republicans who voted for the GOP plan and are being targeted by the Democrats. But that wishful thinking may be premature at this point. The nine made themselves politically vulnerable, Democratic operatives say, by supporting the overhaul that passed the House in May and would have led to millions of Californians losing health coverage. It was widely assumed the Senate would pass a less-drastic bill, giving them political cover. Since that didnt happen, theyre left with a vote on their records that looks both unkind and ineffective, since the GOPs 7-year-long promise to get rid of Obamacare appears to be dead. California Republicans cant turn back time and undo the damaging vote they took to kick 23 million Americans off their health insurance and jack up premiums for millions more, said Drew Godinich, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. They own the Republican health care disaster, and it will haunt them in 2018. That prediction may be a bit optimistic, even when applied to the seven Republicans representing House districts that Hillary Clinton won in November, most of them in the Central Valley and Southern California. Yet the DCCC is so confident in its ability to flip Republican districts that it expanded its number of targeted GOP-held seats to nine of the 14 California seats that Republicans hold, after internal polling made Democrats feel they had a fighting chance. These districts are going to be very difficult for the Democrats to win, said Darry Sragow, publisher of the nonpartisan California Target Book, which analyzes California political races. Even in districts Clinton won, You have to look at the data and look at voters who have voted in those districts. Its going to be very difficult for the Democrats to pick up one or more seats, said Sragow, a former longtime Democratic strategist in California who has managed several statewide races. And the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, which analyzes races nationally, hasnt changed its ratings of California races based on the health care overhaul collapse. At the rate of news, Cook Political Report House Editor David Wasserman said, this legislative moment could be a distant memory by next November. But that hasnt dampened Democratic enthusiasm or the amount of money behind it. Forty-three Democratic candidates most of whom have never held or sought public office are lining up to challenge the nine targeted Republicans, according to party officials. Because it is early in the cycle, many havent raised much money. However, several of them have shown early fundraising muscle or as the political pros call it viability. One of the most viable is Josh Harder, who is one of seven Democrats and one independent who have filed papers to take on Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Turlock (Stanislaus County), in the 10th district. Harder, a former venture capitalist who grew up in the Central Valley, raised $403,590 in the most recent fundraising quarter, his first thats nearly as much ($498,237) as Denham over the same period. However, Denham, like most incumbents, has more than $1 million in cash on hand, according to campaign fundraising reports. Of the 43 challengers who the DCCC says have filed campaign papers, six raised more than $200,000 in the most recent fundraising period and eight others raised more than $100,000, according to a study by Sragow and Target Book research director Rob Pyers for Politico that was released Wednesday. In the next few days, however, party officials plan to release a new plan to harness the prodigious fundraising power of Democrats living in California. The House Majority PAC will create a new fund that will enable donors to contribute directly to the races targeted in California. Keeping Democratic money in California means a lot to state donors frustrated with seeing their campaign contributions spent on races in other states. In the 2016 cycle, Californians contributed $88 million to House and Senate campaigns nationally, $49 million of that to in-state campaigns, according to the nonpartisan National Institute on Money in State Politics. Its a very clever idea, and I think its worth a shot, Sragow said. But it is my experience that what big contributors want is that they want to contribute to a winner. Finding a sure winner will be challenging, and basing a campaign on opposition to President Trump only goes so far in a congressional race, where local issues normally take precedence and the candidates are community members. A Washington Post/ABC News survey released Wednesday showed that while a majority (52 percent) of registered voters want Democrats to win back control of Congress in 2018, only 24 percent said their congressional midterm vote will be to oppose Trump. Thats only slightly more than the 20 percent who said they will cast a ballot with the intent of supporting the president. And while Trumps approval ratings continue to dive 36 percent in the Post/ABC poll the Post found that only 6 in 10 voters who strongly disapprove of Trumps job performance say they are also certain to vote in 2018 midterm elections. Overall, 58 percent of voters say they are certain to vote next year, while 72 percent of strong Trump backers are certain they will vote. Its a mistake to think that ideology drives congressional races, Sragow said. Plus, in an analysis of the then-seven targeted House California races that Sragow and Pyers did for Politico in May, they wrote that the districts are much more conservative than their support of Clinton indicates. Last year, five of the districts voted against a California school construction bond that passed statewide, and six snubbed an advisory measure opposing the Citizens United Supreme Court campaign finance decision that the rest of the state voted to pass. Every Democrat running for office will have to choose whether they will cater to the fringe, said Jack Pandol, a spokesman for the National Republican Campaign Committee, or side with mainstream Californians to fix the broken status quo. Plus, while Democrats may see a swarm of candidates filing to run for Congress as a sign of early enthusiasm, more candidates isnt necessarily better in the long run, analysts said. Not only can it dilute their fundraising power, but if they turn on one another in a nasty primary, it could help the incumbent Republican. If I was calling the shots for the Democrats, Sragow said, I would much rather have one solid candidate in every race to consolidate around. But its early. Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli One sketcher draws during her pedicure, another while dining solo at a French bistro in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood. Even the most mundane activities become fodder in the pen-wielding hands of an urban sketcher. The San Francisco Bay Area Urban Sketchers are a group of irregularly observant individuals who abide by the mantra that anyone and anything is deserving of a quick sketch. You'll find them perched in Civic Center Plaza capturing the overlooked crevices of San Francisco City Hall or even on BART, heads bowed as they attempt to scribble out a portrait before the passenger moves. A 29-year-old motorcyclist from New Orleans was killed Wednesday evening after crashing into a truck near the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco, officials said. The motorcyclist, who was declared dead at the scene, was identified Thursday as Jacob Mizelle by the city Medical Examiners Office. OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) Oakland has become the latest California city to ban the sale of flavored tobacco. The East Bay Times reports that the city council voted unanimously around midnight Wednesday to prohibit the sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored blunt wraps. The vote comes a month after San Francisco approved a similar ban. Top 5 Vendors in the Global Air Curtain Market from 2017-2021: Technavio Technavio has announced the top five leading vendors in their recent global air curtain market report until 2021. This research report also lists 15 other prominent vendors that are expected to impact the market during the forecast period. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170719006059/en/ Technavio has published a new report on the global air curtain market from 2017-2021. (Graphic: Business Wire) Competitive vendor landscape The growth of the global air curtain market is primarily attributed to the rapid urbanization and population growth in developing countries such as India, Indonesia, and Vietnam. The commercial segment uses air curtains extensively to improve the ambiance in buildings, while the industrial segment uses air curtains to insulate buildings from the influence of the surrounding external environment and vice-versa. Increase in airborne as well as mosquito-borne diseases such as the Zika Virus is expected to increase the installation of air curtains in the residential sector, especially in developed countries. The global air curtain market is diversified with the presence of international and regional vendors. Many regional vendors provide air curtain systems at lower prices than international vendors to accentuate their market presence. Anju Ajay Kumar, an industry expert at Technavio for research on engineering tools, says, "Though several new vendors are foraying into the market, they find it difficult to compete with international vendors in terms of quality, fetures, functionalities, and services. The competitive environment in the market is likely to intensify during the forecast period with an increase in product extensions, technological innovations, and strategic M&A." This report is available at a USD 1,000 discount for a limited time only: View market snapshot before purchasing Buy 1 Technavio report and get the second for 50% off. Buy 2 Technavio reports and get the third for free. Top five air curtain market vendors Berner International Berner International manufactures commercial, industrial, and architectural air curtains that prevent heat exchange through open doorways, thereby resulting in energy savings. The company has helped create a healthy and comfortable environment, and reduce utility bills for its customers. Mars Air Systems Mars Air Systems has been a manufacturer of high-quality air curtains for the past 50 years. The air curtains offered by the company help in protecting the building environment from windborne dirt, dust and fumes, and help reduce utility bills. The company offers air curtains for various end-users such as the food and beverage, HVAC and mechanical systems, docks and doors, and specialty industries. Mitsubishi Electric (News - Alert) Mitsubishi Electric is the leader in the manufacture and sales of electric and electronic equipment used in industrial automation, energy and electric systems, electronic devices, information and communication systems, and home appliances. The main aim of Mitsubishi Electric is to promote energy-saving products and systems to provide solutions for environmental and energy issues. Panasonic (News - Alert) Panasonic manufactures and distributes electronic and electric products in Japan and worldwide. The company provides various business solutions such as communication solutions, security systems, professional audio-visual solutions, terminal solutions, document and imaging solutions, IT solutions, and recording media. Toshiba (News - Alert) Carrier Toshiba Carrier is engaged in the design, manufacturing, distribution of equipment, devices, control systems, compressors, and other parts and accessories for air conditioning, cooling, heating and freezing, ventilation, hot water supply applications. Looking for more information on this market? Request a free sample report Technavio's sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report including the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more. Browse Related Reports: About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 10,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at [email protected]. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170719006059/en/ This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Stanford University was placed on alert Thursday as police investigated a report of a sexual assault on a student that occurred Wednesday in on-campus housing, with officials saying the suspect is a 53-year-old man the victim knew. The Stanford University Department of Public Safety issued an alert at 5:46 p.m. Wednesday, warning students that a rape had occurred on the west side of campus about 1:30 a.m. The victim knew her attacker, whom police were seeking for questioning, according to the department. The suspect is described as approximately 6-feet, 3-inches tall, 180 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. The Department of Public Safety and the university are investigating the incident, Bill Larson, a department spokesman, said Thursday. Wednesdays assault comes a little more than a week after a coalition of students wrote an open letter to administrators in the Stanford Daily, encouraging them to uphold Title IX protections for sexual-assault victims and to take sexual assault seriously. It is well past time that this university and this country move forward in the fight to eradicate sexual violence from places of learning. Enough is enough, the students wrote. Larson would not say whether the suspect in Wednesdays assault has any link to the university. Were not releasing anything that might compromise or jeopardize the investigation or might point to the identity of the victim, Larson said. We go to great lengths to protect our victims. Filipa Ioannou is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: fioannou@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @obioannoukenobi The Dadland of Keggie Carews first book is a vast expanse indeed. Spurred by her enigmatic fathers retreat into dementia, Carew determined to uncover his past, and with it, hers. Tom Carew, known with affection as the mad Irishman, was a British special operations officer during World War II. Specifically, he was a Jedburgh, one of 300 officers dropped behind enemy lines to train guerrilla fighters. To understand his military history required archival deep-diving, while plumbing the (relatively) peaceful years involved sifting through diaries and letters, sorting out generations of mismatched marriages (temperament, class), and engaging in capacious acts of empathy and imagination. Selected in part for their rebellious natures, Jedburghs were rule-breakers whose intensely dangerous work demanded unorthodox thinking. Even among their number, Carew was viewed as fearless, napping en route to white-knuckle missions. After training members of the French resistance, often a whisper from death, he parachuted into Burma to organize local forces against the Japanese. His daughter imagines it viscerally: They move quickly and quietly in league with the jungle, through vast curtains of trailing vines, behind deafening insect cacophonies at dusk, with the flickering camouflage of light cascading through the canopy like silver coins. A scout reports the imminent danger of tiger. At one point, her father survived by clinging to a rafter of a hut; had the Japanese soldier searching for him looked up instead of helping himself to the rice in a pot, Tom Carew would have been killed and any possibility of Keggie and her siblings extinguished: The fine splinter of time between existing and not existing. Her dad earned the Croix de Guerre. Yet he said he was briefly threatened with court martial for defending Aung San (father of Aung San Suu Kyi), who fought the Japanese but was later accused by the British of treason. Postwar, the mad Irishman wrestled with debt and burned through marriages first to the mysterious Margo; then to Keggies mother, Jane, who worked in codes and ciphers during the war, and whose rage became clinically toxic. His third wife, a nefarious entity identified only as Stepmother, jealously guarded access, determined to stick a pin in the balloon of any good time. Carew juxtaposes deep and recent past with ease, nesting the intimate into the political. She ranges from her fathers friendship with William Colby the CIA head who died in a 1996 canoeing accident that many considered suspicious to hilariously misguided capers. Incapable of solving a problem in a conventional manner, Tom Carew drilled a hole through the floor of his car, enabling him to pee through a siphon onto the road, he thought until the ferocious stench required investigation. Turns out the car had a double bottom, and he had drilled through only the first. Keggie, flaunting convention herself, took off for Barcelona at seventeen, then knocked around the U.S. and off the grid into South America, until her frantic father used embassy connections to help find her. It had never occurred to her that hed worry. It was Stepmothers death that finally allowed Keggie to draw closer. As his memory failed, she attended Jedburgh reunions with him, meeting men whose esteem never dimmed. (At the last of these, one elderly fellow died during cocktail hour; later, her father slipped meat still dripping gravy into his pocket to take to his dogs). On visits to her home, he insisted on sleeping in the shed, demanding household jobs which hed botch driving Keggie nuts while breaking her heart. With morbid secrecy I study your old hand with my younger eye, knowing that soon it will be a lifeless one; it rests on the kitchen table, then fiddles with your penknife; your knuckles and finger joints are a collection of small boulders now, almost bursting through the tissue of thin, speckled skin, she writes. Your whole body has become geological. Stones and flinty bones. Crags. Hills. Furrows. Fissures. ... I am now the spy. Her father laughs hard and weeps often, for his lost past, his lost self a bereavement we all recognize, or will. Part memoir, part biography, part military history, Dadland is also a lovingly unconventional elegy for a generation. Dawn Raffels most recent book is The Secret Life of Objects. Email: books@sfchronicle.com Dadland By Keggie Carew (Atlantic Monthly Press; 415 pages; $26) U.S. and European authorities said Thursday that they had shut down two of the largest online black markets, AlphaBay and Hansa Market, and arrested their operators. AlphaBay, the largest so-called darknet market, was taken down in early July at the same time the authorities arrested the reported founder of the site, Alexandre Cazes, a Canadian man who was living in Bangkok. Cazes killed himself in his jail cell shortly after he was arrested, authorities said Thursday. He was 25. After AlphaBay went down, users streamed to one of its largest competitors, Hansa Market. But on Thursday, the Dutch national police announced that they had taken control of Hansa Market in June and had been operating the site since then, monitoring vendors and customers and gathering identifying details on those involved in the 50,000 transactions that took place. Two men were arrested in Germany in June and accused of operating Hansa Market. When darknet markets are shut, their users typically move quickly to new markets. But on Thursday, news of the joint operation sent the community into a panic. DO NOT MAKE NEW ORDERS ON ANY DNM ANY MORE! a popular post on Reddit said Thursday, using initials for darknet markets. You got this one law enforcement, the post said. AlphaBay and Hansa Market were successors to the first and most famous market operating on the darknet, Silk Road, which authorities took down in October 2013. AlphaBay grew into a business with 200,000 users and 40,000 vendors 10 times the size of Silk Road the Justice Department said Thursday. The site recently came under scrutiny because many of its vendors sell synthetic opioids, like fentanyl, which play a central role in the nationwide overdose epidemic. Authorities said 122 vendors had been advertising fentanyl on the site. Hansa Market had about 1,800 vendors selling drugs of all sorts, Dutch authorities said Thursday. This is likely one of the most important criminal investigations of this entire year, I have no doubt about that, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said at a news conference Thursday. Most of this activity was for illegal drugs, pouring fuel on the fire of the national illegal drug epidemic. AlphaBay went down in early July, prompting speculation that it had been seized by authorities. The man said to be the founder and leading operator of the site, Cazes, was arrested at his home in Bangkok on July 5, officials said Thursday. Cazes, originally from Canada, had his laptop open and was logged in to AlphaBay at the time of his arrest, allowing authorities to gain access to all its hidden servers and financial accounts, according to legal documents unsealed Thursday. Access to AlphaBay ceased at the same time as Cazes arrest, but authorities did not immediately take credit for the operation, and some AlphaBay administrators said they were working to get the site back up. Darknet sites are reached with special browsers that obscure the location and identity of the user and the server, making it hard for officials to locate and shut them down. Dutch authorities said they had been able to use Hansa as a trap to catch vendors and customers fleeing AlphaBay. Authorities said that in the days after AlphaBay went down, the number of vendors operating on Hansa jumped to 8,000 on an average day from 1,000. Authorities have moved quickly to seize Cazes significant assets, including properties in Antigua, Cyprus and Thailand; 10 vehicles, including a Lamborghini and a Porsche; and financial assets of about $18 million. Some of Cazes money was in the virtual currencies used on AlphaBay: bitcoin, ether and Monero. He also had bank accounts in Liechtenstein, Thailand and Cyprus. AlphaBay and Hansa Market are the latest in a long line of darknet markets to rise quickly and then get taken down by law enforcement. So far, new contenders have been quick to take over the business. Even before AlphaBay went down, it had several large competitors. In the last few weeks, a site known as Dream Market has emerged as the leading player. On Thursday, Dream Market had 57,000 listings for drugs and 4,000 listings for opioids. Critics will say that as we shutter one site, another will emerge, and they may be right, Andrew McCabe, acting director of the FBI, said Thursday. We know that removing top criminals from the infrastructure is not a long-term fix, he added. There is always a new player waiting in the wings ready to fill those shoes. For now, though, users congregating on Reddit were on guard. It would be advised to go quiet for a little while, a user going by the screen name 1ntr4sp3ctive wrote. Nathaniel Popper and Rebecca R. Ruiz are New York Times writers. California insurance regulators announced this week that they have reached a settlement with Kaiser Permanente to address its repeated failures to provide patients with timely access to mental health services. Under the agreement the result of two years of negotiations between the state Department of Managed Health Care and Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Kaiser has agreed to hire an outside consultant for three years to help it address the access problems and improve oversight of its behavioral health program. The agreement also acknowledges steps the plan has already taken to improve access, including hiring 850 additional behavioral health therapists in the past five years. This is a really huge deal, and its going to impact the lives of millions of Kaiser (health plan) members who need mental health services, said Shelley Rouillard, director of the managed care department, one of the states two insurance regulators. For the first time Im aware of, Kaiser has committed to fixing the access problems that their enrollees have had in regards to mental health services. The plan agreed to make corrections in six areas, including identifying all patient requests for appointments that do not meet the states timely access rules. If the plan fails to meet benchmarks laid out in the agreement, it could incur up to $1 million in fines. In a statement posted on the Kaiser Permanente website, Dr. Patrick Courneya, Kaisers executive vice president and chief medical officer, wrote that the agreement shows the path for continued improvement. More importantly, it is an acknowledgment of the significant achievements that Kaiser Permanente has made in our ongoing work to improve mental health care in California. In an additional statement, Courneya said: We have invested nearly $1 billion in recruiting additional skilled therapists and physicians, adding new treatment facilities, and making many other improvements over the past several years, and we will continue to make significant investments for years to come. The settlement follows years of warnings by the managed care department that Kaiser was violating state law by failing to get patients into appropriate treatment soon enough. As a result, Kaiser in 2013 agreed to pay a $4 million fine one of the largest ever paid by an insurer in the state. In 2015, the department found that some Kaiser patients still had to wait weeks or even months to see a psychiatrist or a therapist. In one example cited in its report, a sexual assault victim diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and major depression was prescribed an antidepressant in an initial visit but struggled to obtain a follow-up appointment. The patient, who was not identified, tried to get both individual and group therapy visits, according to the report. Her psychiatrist responded by offering psychotherapy in the community at the patients expense and suggested that the patient investigate appropriate group therapy in the community because weekly individual therapy was not available in the Plan, and Plan group therapy did not address sexual assault. The patient was eventually able to schedule an appointment with a Kaiser therapist five months after her initial visit, the report said. Just last month, the department found that Kaiser had solved some of the deficiencies cited earlier but that other problems remained. After each follow-up report from the state, Kaiser responded by saying it was proud of its progress on behavioral health and was committed to making further improvements. Rouillard said the managed care department has been working closely with Kaiser on a settlement since the 2015 report. If we were to fine them another multimillion-dollar fine, that wouldnt really fix the problem, Rouillard said. We really needed them to commit to spending their vast resources on fixing the problems. The agreement closes out the deficiencies identified in past surveys and starts the clock all over again as of today, Rouillard said. Patients who experience problems with access to health care, whether they are insured by Kaiser or another plan, can contact the Department of Managed Health Cares help center . Jenny Gold is a senior correspondent with Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent part of the Kaiser Family Foundation, which is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente. Email: jgold@kff.org Twitter: @JennyAGold A man shot to death as he pushed his 3-month-old son in a stroller Wednesday on a sidewalk near Hayward was identified Thursday. Hayward resident Daniel Deltoro, 29, was pronounced dead at the scene around 3 p.m. Wednesday on the 200 block of Willow Avenue in an unincorporated area of Alameda County, said Sgt. Ray Kelly, a spokesman for the Alameda County Sheriffs Office. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Conservative columnist Ben Shapiro, the latest right-wing pundit whom a Republican student organization has tried to bring to UC Berkeley, wont be allowed to speak on the campus under the conditions the group has proposed, school officials said Wednesday. The Berkeley College Republicans want to host Shapiro on Sept. 14 at a campus location able to accommodate 500 people. But campus officials say none is available on that day, unless the group is willing to pay a potential rental fee. They say they may be able to find a venue of that size on another date, or a smaller venue on Sept. 14. Campus officials previously refused to give the Republican group permission to host conservative commentator Ann Coulter in April because of the lack of an appropriate venue. Coulter threatened to show up anyway, but didnt. The Berkeley College Republicans is also the group that invited Milo Yiannopoulos to campus in February, but his appearance was called off at the last minute when rioting broke out in Sproul Plaza outside the hall where he was to speak. Mr. Shapiro is welcome on our campus, UC Berkeley officials wrote in a letter Wednesday to the Republican student group. They offered to meet with the students to figure out a time and place for Shapiros visit. Berkeley blocks Ben Shapiro! came the indignant response in the form of a news release from the Berkeley College Republicans and Young Americas Foundation, a conservative speakers bureau. Berkeleys inability to find a lecture hall more than two months in advance is laughable. The groups have sued UC Berkeley and University of California President Janet Napolitano over the Coulter affair. Spencer Brown, a spokesman for Young Americas Foundation, said Wednesday that UC Berkeley officials were engaging in blatantly anti-free speech and unconstitutional actions against conservative speakers. UC Berkeley officials told the Republican student group that campus police would need to conduct a security assessment that might rule out certain hours for the event an indication that officials may not allow Shapiro to speak during evening hours. Shapiro, a 33-year-old graduate of Harvard Law School, is not given to the type of outrageous, attention-grabbing statements that have polarized fans and foes of Yiannopoulos and Coulter. He doesn't even support President Trump. He uses his Web-based "Ben Shapiro Show" and other online columns to oppose abortion, criticize the "self-righteous media" and to wade into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict firmly on the side of Israel. Shapiro says its an outright lie that Palestinians want peace in the Middle East, and calls the two-state solution stupid. As at many college campuses across the country, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a live wire at UC Berkeley, with long arguments common between students who are passionate on both sides. Campus spokesman Dan Mogulof emphasized the willingness of UC Berkeley to work with the students to find a time and place for Shapiro to speak. The way to do this is not by press release, Mogulof said, but by sitting down together. Update: A description in this story describing Shapiro's views was updated Sept. 15, 2017. Nanette Asimov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: nasimov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @NanetteAsimov [July 19, 2017] Global Quantum Cryptography Industry LONDON, July 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- This report analyzes the worldwide markets for Quantum Cryptography in US$ Million. The report provides separate comprehensive analytics for the US, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of World. Annual estimates and forecasts are provided for the period 2016 through 2024. Market data and analytics are derived from primary and secondary research. Company profiles are primarily based on public domain information including company URLs. Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/131240/ The report profiles 27 companies including many key and niche players such as - ID Quantique SA - MagiQ Technologies, Inc. - Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. - Nucrypt LLC - Oki Electric Industry Company Ltd. Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/131240/ QUANTUM CRYPTOGRAPHY MCP-1812 A GLOBAL STRATEGIC BUSINESS REPORT CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION, METHODOLOGY & PRODUCT DEFINITIONS Study Reliability and Reporting Limitations Disclaimers Data Interpretation & Reporting Level Quantitative Techniques & Analytics Product Definitions and Scope of Study II. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. INDUSTRY OVERVIEW Secure Communications - Defining the Need for Cryptography Quantum Cryptography Offers Highly Protected Communications A Pictorial Illustration of Quantum Cryptography: Will the future be Quantum-driven? Quantum Networks Bypass Hacking and Become Secure Adoption in End-use Sector Table 1: Global Quantum Encryption Market by End-Use Segment (2020 & 2030): Percentage Breakdown of Sales Revenues for Large-Scale Enterprises (including Banks); Research Institutions, Government Agencies & Defence Establishments; Small Scale Enterprises & Public Utilities; and Others (includes corresponding Graph/Chart) Adoption in Regional Markets Regional Initiatives in Quantum Cryptography Field Competitive Scenario Key Players in the Quantum Cryptography Market 2. MAJOR GROWTH DRIVERS, TRENDS & ISSUES Growing Popularity of Crypto Cloud Computing System Quantum Cryptography Driven by BYOD Policy Implementation Researchers Striving to Overcome Limitations in Terrestrial QKD networks Satellite QKD Networks to Complement Terrestrial QKD Networks China Launches the World's First Quantum Satellite Moving Beyond Point-to-Point Communications - An Important Step to Improve Commercialization Prospects Quantum Access Network with Improved APDs to Enable Quantum Cryptography for Multiple Users Threat of Cyber Crime Buoys Demand for Quantum Cryptography Solutions in Government Agencies Growing Use of Cyber Security Solutions in Public Utilities Demand for Cyber Security in Defense Sector on the Rise Business Enterprises Drive Demand for QC-based Secure Communication Systems Table 2: Global Market for IT Security Products by End-Use Application (2020 & 2030): Percentage Breakdown of Sales Revenues for End-point Security, Identity Authentication & Access Management, Internet Security, Messaging Security, Network Security, and Others (includes corresponding Graph/Chart) Financial Services - A Key End Use Market for Information Security Solutions Table 3: Leading Targets of Fraud (2016): Percentage Breakdown of Number of Breaches by Type of Asset (includes corresponding Graph/Chart) Factors Affecting Implementation of Cyber Security Solutions by Enterprises Worldwide - Ranked in Order of Influence Securing Internet Transaction: An Opportune Application Area for Quantum Cryptography Quantum Cryptography to Secure Mobile Transactions Table 4: World M-Payment Market (In US$ Million): 2016, 2018, and 2020 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart) Strong Need for QKD Systems Compatibility with Existing Telecom Networks New Protocol to Bring Quantum Cryptography to Mobile Telecommunications Table 5: Worldwide Mobile Data Traffic by Device Type (2016 & 2018) - Percentage Share Breakdown of Monthly Data Traffic Volume for Laptops, Non-Smartphones, Smartphones, Tablets, and Others (includes corresponding Graph/Chart) Table 6: Worldwide Mobile Data Traffic by Application (2016 & 2018) - Percentage Share Breakdown of Monthly Data raffic Volume for Video, Data, File Sharing, and M2M, (includes corresponding Graph/Chart) Relativistic Quantum Cryptography to Ensure Secure Bit Commitment Refinement of Photon Detectors Essential for Widespread Adoption Researchers Identify Alternative Method to Sidestep Technical Flaw in Photon Detectors Advanced Secure Communications through Improved Single- Photon Emitter High Cost of Infrastructure and Hardware: A Cause of Concern Dire Need for Established Standards 3. QUANTUM COMPUTERS - A MAJOR THREAT Advent of Quantum Computers and Ensuing Security Breaches Involvement of Governments and Technology Companies Skepticism Persists . Software Development Efforts Gear Up Corporate and Regional Initiatives towards Quantum Computing Quantum Computing Poses Serious Threat to Encryption Extent of Threat Quantum Computing Driving Conventional Cryptography to Obsolescence Time Frame for Quantum Computers to Become a Reality Urgent Need for Post-Quantum Cryptography Opportunities Abound Despite Risks Increasing Interest among Cryptographers towards Post Quantum Cryptography Google Initializes Post Quantum Cryptography Experiment 4. CRYPTOGRAPHY - A PRELUDE Cryptosystems A Symmetric Cryptosystem Unconditionally Secure or Perfect Cryptosystem How Does One-Time Pad Works? One-Time Pad Cryptosystem: The Hurdles Classical Cryptography Private Key Cryptography System Public Key Cryptography System How Does Public-Key Cryptography Works? Public-key Cryptosystems in Common Use RSA Cryptosystem ElGamal Cryptosystem Elliptic Curve Cryptosystems McEliece Cryptosystem Limitations in Public-key Cryptosystems Led to the Emergence of Quantum Cryptography 5. QUANTUM CRYPTOGRAPHY - AN OVERVIEW A Prelude Quantum Theory Quantum Mechanics in Cryptography Quantum Cryptography and the Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) Classical Cryptography Vs. Quantum Cryptography Quantum Cryptography: An Evolution Scan Global Premiere for Quantum Cryptography in 2004 Uncertainty Entanglement Quantum Cryptographic Procedure A Pictorial Representation of Polarization Readings Quantum Key Distribution: A Primer Key QKD Protocols Data Transmitting Process Data Receiving/Recovering Process Quantum Key Distribution with "BB84" Protocol Pictorial Representation of Quantum Bit (or Qubit) Polarization Matching for "BB84" Protocol for Transmitting and Receiving Process Ekert 91 Protocol for QKD Quantum Key Distribution with "B92" Protocol Pictorial Representation of Quantum Bit-Polarization Matching for "B92" Scheme's Transmitting Side Pictorial Representation of Quantum Bit-Polarization Matching for "B92" Scheme's Receiving Side SARG04 Protocol for QKD Continuum Based Coherent One Way Protocol Major Steps Involved in QKD Process Raw Key Extraction Error Estimation Key Reconciliation Privacy Amplification Position-based Quantum Cryptography: A Review What is the Bounded- and noisy-quantum-storage model? Applications QC for Secure Financial Transactions Secure Voting Smart Power Grid 6. RESEARCH/INNOVATIONS IN QUANTUM CRYPTOGRAPHY Research of Satellite-based Quantum Encryption for Longer Distances Waterloo Quantum Space Project Receives Canadian Government Support Newer Innovations Enable Fast and Secure Quantum Cryptography One-way Quantum Steering to Drive Quantum Cryptography 7. RECENT INDUSTRY ACTIVITY SK Telecom Enters Agreement with Nokia for Quantum Cryptography Quintessence Labs Receives Additional Capital Investment from Westpac Group ID Quantique SA announces partnership with China Quantum Technologies SK Telecom Invests in ID Quantique Nokia Acquires Alcatel-Lucent KPN Implements End-to-end Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) Acronis Partners with ID Quantique 8. PRODUCT LAUNCHES SK Telecom Announces Successful Testing of Advanced Quantum Repeater BT and Toshiba Launches UK's First Quantum Security Showcase ZTE Launches the World's First OTN-based Quantum Encryption Transport Solution KEYMILE Launches the New Encryption Card Alibaba releases Quantum Cryptography Communication product 9. FOCUS ON SELECT GLOBAL MARKET PARTICIPANTS ID Quantique SA ( Switzerland ) MagiQ Technologies, Inc. ( USA ) Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. ( Japan ) Nucrypt LLC ( USA ) Oki Electric Industry Company Ltd ( Japan ) QuintessenceLabs, Inc. ( Australia ) Raytheon BBN Technologies ( USA ) SeQureNet SarL ( Italy ) SK Telecom (Korea) Toshiba Corp. ( Japan ) Universal Quantum Devices ( Canada ) 10. GLOBAL MARKET PERSPECTIVE Table 7: World Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Quantum Cryptography by Geographic Region - US, Europe , Asia-Pacific , and Rest of World Markets Independently Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for Years 2016 through 2024 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart) Table 8: World 14-Year Perspective for Quantum Cryptography by Geographic Region - Percentage Breakdown of Dollar Sales for US, Europe , Asia-Pacific , and Rest of World Markets for Years 2017 & 2024 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart) III. MARKET 1. THE UNITED STATES A.Market Analysis Battelle Sets Up the First Commercial QKD System in the US Strategic Corporate Development Select Key Players B.Market Analytics Table 9: The US Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Quantum Cryptography Market Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for Years 2016 through 2024 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart) 2. EUROPE A.Market Analysis Russia Ties up with India to Provide QKD Technology for Blocking Hackers The German Aerospace Center (DLR) Technology Facilitates Transmission of Quantum Key from Air to Ground Strategic Corporate Developments Product Launch Select Key Players B.Market Analytics Table 10: Europe Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Quantum Cryptography Market Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for Years 2016 through 2024 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart) 3. ASIA-PACIFIC A.Market Analysis Chinese Scientists Build the World's First Quantum Satellite Network North Korea and South Korea Race for QC Commercialization for Military Communication Advantage Strategic Corporate Developments Product Launches Select Key Players B.Market Analytics Table 11: Asia-Pacific Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Quantum Cryptography Market Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for Years 2016 through 2024 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart) 4. REST OF WORLD A.Market Analysis Canada Select Key Player B.Market Analytics Table 12: Rest of World Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Quantum Cryptography Market Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for Years 2016 through 2024 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart) IV. COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE Total Companies Profiled: 27 (including Divisions/Subsidiaries - 28) The United States (6) Canada (1) Japan (7) Europe (5) - Germany (1) - The United Kingdom (2) - Rest of Europe (2) Asia-Pacific (Excluding Japan) (9) Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/131240/ About Reportbuyer Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers http://www.reportbuyer.com For more information: Sarah Smith Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 208 816 85 48 Website: www.reportbuyer.com View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-quantum-cryptography-industry-300491183.html SOURCE ReportBuyer [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] HONOLULU Groups have filed a human rights complaint that aims to jump-start an investigation into condition among foreign workers in Hawaiis commercial fishing industry. Turtle Island Restoration Network announced on Wednesday that they filed the complaint last week with the Inter-American Human Rights Commission. The filing asks the panel to determine the responsibility of the U.S. for human rights violations against foreign workers in Hawaiis longline fishing fleet. An investigation by the Associated Press into the seafood industry revealed that hundreds of men are confined to Hawaii boats that operate due to a federal loophole that exempts the foreign fishermen from most basic labor protections. Many come from impoverished Southeast Asian and Pacific nations to take the jobs, which can pay as little as 70 cents an hour. The fleet catches $110 million worth of luxury seafood annually. The petition, which the Pacific Alliance to Stop Slavery and Ocean Defenders Alliance joined, was filed on July 13 with the agency that can make non-binding recommendations to government officials and policymakers. The Inter-American Human Rights Commission is an autonomous body of the Organization of American States, which works to protect human rights in the hemisphere. The U.S. is a member of that organization. Hawaiis longline fishery operates in a void of regulation. Government at the state and federal level is failing to ensure even the most basic human rights for these workers, said Cassie Burdyshaw, advocacy and policy director for the Turtle Island group. Since initial reports, little has changed in the industry that provides ahi tuna and other fish to American and overseas consumers at a premium price. A Hawaii lawmaker introduced measures to create more oversight but they failed. The lobby was out full force to kill this bill, just as I expected, said state Rep. Kaniela Ing, who pushed the measures. In written testimony submitted during legislative hearings, Jim Cook and Sean Martin of the Hawaii Longline Association argued that foreign fishermen possess legal standing and have legal recourse. However, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents now stamp Refused on every fishermans landing permit. That means they are technically not allowed to set foot on U.S. soil, customs officials said. The state requires fishermen to be legally admitted to the U.S. to get fishing licenses. Caleb Jones is an Associated Press writer. WASHINGTON Republican leaders pushed toward a Senate vote Tuesday on resurrecting their nearly flat-lined health care bill. Their uphill drive was further complicated by the ailing GOP Sen. John McCains potential absence and a dreary report envisioning that the number of uninsured Americans would soar. The White House and GOP leaders fished Thursday for ways to win over recalcitrant senators, including an administration proposal to let states use Medicaid funds to help people buy their own private health insurance. But there were no indications theyd ensured the votes needed to even start debating the partys legislative keystone, a bill scuttling and supplanting President Barack Obamas health care law. Dealing with this issue is whats right for the country, said Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. It was certainly never going to be easy, but weve come a long way, and I look forward to continuing our work together to finally bring relief. As leaders tested revisions that might attract GOP votes, others began comparing the process with the trade-offs they scorned seven years ago as top Democrats pushed Obamas overhaul. Its almost becoming a bidding process lets throw $50 billion here, lets throw $100 billion there, said Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn. Its making me uncomfortable right now. Its beginning to feel a lot like how Obamacare came together. In a blow, the Congressional Budget Office said McConnells latest bill would produce 22 million additional uninsured people by 2026 and drive up premiums for many older Americans. Congress nonpartisan fiscal analyst also said it would boost typical deductibles the money people must pay before insurers cover costs for single people to $13,000 that year, well above the $5,000 theyd be expected to pay under Obamas statute. Many people with low income would not purchase any plan even if it had very low premiums because of that exorbitant deductible, the budget office said. That dire outlook resembled one the office released last month on McConnells initial bill, which the leader had to withdraw as Republicans rebelled against it. Thursdays report seemed unlikely to do much better to help win over balking moderate Republicans upset over millions of voters losing coverage and cuts in Medicaid, the health insurance program for the poor. These included Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Ohios Rob Portman and West Virginian Shelley Moore Capito. Alan Fram is an Associated Press writer. WASHINGTON President Trump on Wednesday urged members of his new voter fraud commission to approach their task with a very open mind, despite having spent months making unfounded claims, without evidence, that millions of fraudulent ballots had been cast against him. Speaking at the first meeting of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, Trump also questioned the motives of states that have refused to comply with the commissions request for extensive personal voter information, suggesting they had something to hide. AL DRAGO/NYT WASHINGTON The Supreme Court on Wednesday temporarily allowed the Trump administration to enforce restrictions on the nations refugee program, but it let stand a court order from Hawaii that grandparents and other relatives who want to travel to the United States to visit family must be admitted while the case proceeds on appeal. The justices, in a brief order, rejected the administrations request that it clarify the scope of their decision in June temporarily reinstating the ban but allowing people with a credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States to enter the country. The court said the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco should address the question. STEPHEN CROWLEY/NYT WASHINGTON President Trumps persistent overtures toward Russia are placing him increasingly at odds with his national security and foreign policy advisers, who have long urged a more cautious approach to dealing with the foreign adversary. The uneasy dynamic between the president and top aides has been exacerbated by the revelation this week of an extended dinner conversation between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the recent summit in Germany. The previously undisclosed conversation, which occurred a few hours after their official bilateral meeting, raised red flags with advisers already concerned by the presidents tendency to shun protocol and press ahead with outreach toward Russia, according to two U.S. officials and three top foreign officials. Mother Nature is cranking up the heat in the Bay Area again, but this time she's being much kinder. As a ridge of high pressure moves into Northern California, temperatures will begin to rise Thursday and peak over the weekend. But the system isn't going to bring the furnace-hot heat we saw in the past two heat waves this month. "We'll see a few degrees additional warming each day through Sunday," said Charles Bell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Monterey. "But it's going to be nothing like the past incidents where we had upper 90s to 110." Bell added: "It's kind of what we talk about as typical mid-July weather, warm but not excessively." Temperatures will soar as high as 100 degrees in the far-interior cities of the East Bay, such as Concord and Livermore, and far-interior spots around the North Bay, such as Santa Rosa, over the weekend. These area will cool off to the upper-50s to low-60s at night. "The coast should be comfortable, a lot of 60s and lower 70s," Bell says. "In the overnight hours, I would expect clouds at the coast and in the bay and then sunshine by afternoon. RELATED GALLERY: Things to do in San Francisco when the weather is beautiful Berkeley and Oakland are forecast to reach the mid-70s on Saturday and Sunday with the lows overnight reaching 55 to 6o. More for you Nevada is choking on smoke from a California fire Downtown San Francisco is forecast to hit the upper-60s and low-70s. Ocean Beach might not get above 60 degrees. "It's kind of a nice summertime weather now," Bell says. "Not too hot. Humidity will be relatively low. If people can get to the coast, it will be very comfortable." The hot temperatures will likely peter off Monday with many urban locations around the Bay Area expected to be in the 50s next week. Syniverse Enables Cable & Wireless Seychelles to Improve LTE Roaming User Experience Syniverse today announced that it has signed an agreement with Cable & Wireless Seychelles to help the operator improve roaming experiences for inbound and outbound roaming customers. The agreement builds on a multiyear relationship and marks another step in Cable & Wireless Seychelles' ability to deliver the highest level of roaming experience and maximize revenues in a rapidly growing tourism market. "LTE (News - Alert) is quickly moving from a preferred service to a must-have service, and it's increasingly a standard that our customers expect to have access to anytime, anywhere," said Jack Maher, Head of Roaming and Carrier Relations, Cable & Wireless (News - Alert) Seychelles. "Following our launch of full LTE roaming service, our goal is now ensuring that our roamers have the best-possible LTE roaming quality of experience. Our work with Syniverse (News - Alert) is an important step in this process that will enable us to provide better data on our roamers' usage and better management of their service." LTE roaming has become a critical mobile service in the Seychelles as the number of tourists and visiting, or inbound, roamers has soared over the past few years and far exceeded the nation's 94,000-plus citizens. According to the United Nations World Travel Organisation Tourism Barometer, the Seychelles saw a more than 18 percent rise in number of tourists in 2015, making it one of the world's top 10 fastest-growing countries for tourism, and, in 2016, this number rose by almost 11 percent to 304,000 visitors from 275,000. To help Cable & Wireless Seychelles better manage the oaming experiences for this growing number, Syniverse will implement Syniverse Network Monitoring and Alerting as part of its global, reliable and secure platform. The service uses Syniverse's roaming-data-monitoring product, Total Visibility, to provide a holistic approach to roaming that enables operators to efficiently and proactively solve subscribers' problems and tailor their individual experiences in real time. With a flexible, cloud-based framework, Syniverse Network Monitoring and Alerting enables an operator to select only the capabilities that specifically pertain to its specific service features and implementation requirements. "With the GSMA (News - Alert) predicting that 75 percent of the world's population will be covered by 4G-LTE networks by 2020, it's mission-critical for operators to be able to ensure that they can deliver the highest quality of roaming experience possible to meet customers' rising demands," said Nour Al Atassi, Regional Vice President and Managing Director, Middle East and Africa. "Our Network Monitoring and Alerting and global platform will give customers greater insight into their roaming usage and ability to manage roaming costs. At the same time, Cable & Wireless Seychelles will be able to better provide the best customer experience and maximize its roaming revenue." Syniverse's agreement builds on a long-standing customer relationship with Cable & Wireless Seychelles as well as on Syniverse's recent LTE work. Syniverse began working with Cable & Wireless Seychelles in 2008 with the implementation of data clearing services offered through Syniverse's Revenue Management portfolio, built on the relationship with the use of Risk Management services and GRX services, and most recently expanded the relationship with the implementation of LTE roaming service. About Syniverse Syniverse is the leading global transaction processor that connects approximately 1,500 mobile service providers, enterprises, ISPs and OTTs in nearly 200 countries and territories, enabling seamless mobile communications across disparate and rapidly evolving networks, devices and applications. We deliver innovative cloud-based solutions that facilitate superior end-user experiences through always-on services and real-time engagement. For more than 30 years, Syniverse has been simplifying complexity to deliver the promise of mobility - a simple, interoperable experience, anytime, anywhere. For more information, visit www.syniverse.com, follow Syniverse on Twitter or connect with Syniverse on Facebook. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170720005218/en/ [July 20, 2017] Wipro Limited Announces Results for the Quarter Ended June 30, 2017 under IFRS Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT, BSE: 507685, NSE: WIPRO) today announced financial results under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for its quarter ended June 30, 2017. Highlights of the Results Gross Revenues of Wipro Limited were Rs 136.3 billion ($2.1 billion 1 ), an increase of 0.2% YoY. ), an increase of 0.2% YoY. IT Services Segment Revenues in dollar terms were $1,971.7 million, a sequential increase of 0.9% (Non-GAAP constant currency increase of 0.3% sequentially) and 2.1% YoY (Non-GAAP constant currency increase of 3.4% YoY). IT Services Segment Profits 2 were Rs 21.9 billion ($339 million 1 ), a decrease of 5.8% YoY. were Rs 21.9 billion ($339 million ), a decrease of 5.8% YoY. IT Services Margins for the quarter was 16.8%. Net Income 3 for the quarter was Rs 20.8 billion ($321 million 1 ), an increase of 1.2% YoY. for the quarter was Rs 20.8 billion ($321 million ), an increase of 1.2% YoY. Board approves Buyback proposal of Rs 110,000 million ($1.7 billion1) at a buyback price of Rs 320 ($4.951). Performance for the quarter ended June 30, 2017 "We delivered revenues above the upper end of the guidance range. Our focus on Digital combined with our investments in client mining have resulted in strong growth in Top accounts," said Abidali Z. Neemuchwala, Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Board. "The brand refresh is reflective of the transformation we are driving at Wipro and how we are helping our customers in their digital journeys." "The impact on operating margins by rupee appreciation and salary increases was partially offset by strong business efficiencies. We continue to sustain robust cash generation," said Jatin Dalal, Chief Financial Officer. "The announcement to buyback equity shares is part of our philosophy to deliver efficient returns to shareholders." Outlook for the Quarter ending September 30, 2017 We expect Revenues from our IT Services business to be in the range of $1,962 million to $2,001 million*. * Guidance is based on the following exchange rates: GBP/USD at 1.29, Euro/USD at 1.11, AUD/USD at 0.75, USD/INR at 64.46 and USD/CAD at 1.33. For the convenience of the reader, the amounts in Indian Rupees in this release have been translated into United States Dollars at the noon buying rate in New York City on June 30, 2017, for cable transfers in Indian Rupees, as certified by the Federal Reserve Board of New York, which was US $1= Rs 64.62. However, the realized exchange rate in our IT Services business segment for the quarter ended June 30, 2017 was US$1= Rs 66.06 Segment Profit refers to Segment Results Total. Net Income refers to 'Profit for the period attributable to equity holders of the Company' Capital Allocation The Board of Directors approved a buyback proposal, subject to the approval of shareholders through postal ballot, for purchase by the company of up to 343.75 million equity shares of Rs 2 each (representing 7.06% of total equity capital) from the shareholders of the company on a proportionate basis by way of a tender offer. The buyback price will be Rs 320 ($4.95) 1 per equity share payable in cash for an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs 110,000 million ($1.7 billion) 1 in accordance with the provisions of Companies Act, 2013 and the SEBI (Buy Back of Securities) Regulations, 1998 (Buyback Regulations). Additional information regarding the terms and conditions of the buyback will be disclosed in due course in accordance with Buyback Regulations. per equity share payable in cash for an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs 110,000 million ($1.7 billion) in accordance with the provisions of Companies Act, 2013 and the SEBI (Buy Back of Securities) Regulations, 1998 (Buyback Regulations). Additional information regarding the terms and conditions of the buyback will be disclosed in due course in accordance with Buyback Regulations. Further to the announcement on April 25, 2017, the Company, during the quarter ended June 30, 2017, allotted Bonus equity shares of Rs 2/- each in the ratio of 1:1 (one bonus share for every one share held) to the shareholders of the Company who were on the Register of Members of the Company as on June 14, 2017, which was the Record Date fixed by the Board of the Directors of the Company for this purpose. IT Services Wipro continues its momentum in winning large deals globally as described below: Wipro has won a multi-year engagement with a large utility company in the United States to deliver data center, disaster recovery, service desk and end user services. This program will drive greater automation and improve services to end customers through the use of analytics and the Wipro HOLMES Artificial Intelligence PlatformTM. Wipro has won a multi-year contract from a Europe-headquartered oil and gas major to transform their IT infrastructure and security platform. Wipro will support the client in the design and development of a business-aligned IT backbone that will form the foundation of their digitization strategy. Wipro has won a multi-year digital transformation deal to automate and digitize the 'Order to Entitlement' operations for a global technology company, headquartered in North America. Leveraging proprietary technology such as the Wipro HOLMES Artificial Intelligence PlatformTM, Data Discovery Platform for analytics and Wipro BASE)))TM, Wipro will implement process digitization, drive process efficiencies and improve customer experience for the client. Wipro has won a five-year engagement with a global pharmaceutical major to provide service desk and end-user computing services, across locations. The project, which will leverage Wipro HOLMES Artificial Intelligence PlatformTM and includes a unique hyper-personalization initiative, will improve productivity and significantly enhance user experience at the client organization. A large North American insurer has awarded an IT infrastructure contract to Wipro. Wipro will provide data center services and Enterprise Command Center services that will manage a wide range of IT operations for the client. Wipro has won a multi-year managed services engagement with a key IT delivery arm of the Government of India (GoI). The program will enable GoI to effectively regulate and monitor e-governance transactions and the implementation of central government sponsored schemes at the grass-roots level. A large state in South India has chosen Wipro to implement IT network infrastructure across 30 districts in the state, as part of the "State Wide Area Network 2.0' project. A leading telecom major, as part of their managed services engagement renewal, has chosen Wipro for transforming their operations, which includes process simplification and robotic process automation. The program will improve the telecom company's agility to launch new services, and will help them provide an enhanced customer experience in addition to facilitating process and cost optimization. Digital highlights Wipro will help an American IT company develop enterprise-grade distributed ledger blockchain solutions. As part of this engagement, Wipro will build an Ethereum-based test bed for scalability and performance testing, and a user interface for smart contracts applications. Wipro has been selected by a global logistics company to set up a joint innovation center that will reimagine the customer's digital journey. We will start the innovation journey by introducing next generation mobility solutions that the client's associates and freight drivers will use for pickups and deliveries. Over the next couple of years, we will work through and bring to fruition a number of process transformation ideas. The Latin American entity of one of the largest U.S. Banks has chosen Wipro as their strategic partner to significantly change how it delivers new products and services and integrates with its partner eco-system at a greater speed. Wipro will set up and run an API and Microservices factory as part of their digital transformation journey. Wipro will set up multiple agile teams, bring in two-speed delivery model and complete the work in an output-based model for the bank. Clix Capital Services Pvt. Ltd. has selected Wipro as the primary technology partner to help design, build and maintain their digital channels and digital infrastructure that will connect to underlying transaction systems and provide infrastructure on a cloud model. This engagement is for a term of 5 years. A few of the notable wins in Cloud Applications leveraging our Appirio cloud services are as follows: A diversified financial services company has chosen Wipro to implement its new cloud-based sales and service transformation program. This follows the successful completion of a comprehensive strategy assessment by Appirio. A global storage firm has selected Wipro to deploy their Quote-to-Cash, Field Service and Service Management processes. A global pharmaceutical organization has selected Wipro to transform their "Quote-to-Cash" processes. Wipro has been chosen as a partner to digitize the go-to-market processes of a marquee sales consulting firm. One of the world's leading biotherapeutics organizations has selected Wipro to reimagine their worker experience processes. Delivery Excellence Backed by a proven track record in enabling banking technology in India, Wipro enabled the successful roll-out of PayTM Payment Bank's digital banking operations in May 2017. "Wipro was selected from a strategic partner perspective and what we saw in Wipro was the ability to grab hold of what we were trying to transform. The solution was an end-to-end integrated service across all service towers being IT, Finance and Customer Service. That was critical for us to drive the globalization and the productivity that we felt we could accomplish by bringing these groups together," said Tim Wightman, Vice President - Application & Technology Services, Levi Strauss & Co. "Wipro is a trusted partner and a safe pair of hands who have supported Nisa's business over a decade with its Oracle Retail Solutions," said Peter Walker, Head of Business Systems, Nisa Retail. "The Wipro relationship has allowed us to remain reactive and meet any industry challenges that have been thrown at us, the close working relationship to our business has been very beneficial to us and ensured that when new opportunities arise we can deliver solutions in a timely manner." Awards and accolades Wipro has been named an IDC Health Insights HealthTech Rankings Enterprise 25 Company. The rankings categorize and evaluate global providers of information technology to healthcare payers and providers. IDC named Wipro as a "Leader" in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Digital Transformation Consulting and Systems Integration Service Providers 2017 Vendor Assessment (doc #US41523517, June 2017). The report recommended end users to consider Wipro when looking for Artificial intelligence-enabled automation and human-centric design approach for digital transformation in their businesses. Wipro was recognized as a "Leader" in the first ever Everest Group PEAK Matrix assessment on IT Infrastructure automation. Everest Group said that Wipro enjoys an early mover advantage in the overall services automation space with its HOLMES platform. Wipro's strong experience in the workplace and cloud services space has helped build a credible automation suite targeting these service areas. Wipro was named as a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Finance and Accounting BPO Services 2017 Vendor Assessment (doc #US41237717, June 2017). The IDC MarketScape said that Wipro is perceived as very competent in its industry, technical, and functional capabilities, with industry-specific breadth and depth of F&A business process services. IT Products Revenue for the quarter ended June 30, 2017 was Rs 6.3 billion ($98 million1), an increase of 7% YoY. Please refer to the tables at the end for reconciliation between IFRS IT Services Revenue and IT Services Revenue on a non-GAAP constant currency basis. About Non-GAAP financial measures This press release contains non-GAAP financial measures within the meaning of Regulation G and Item 10(e) of Regulation S-K. Such non-GAAP financial measures are measures of our historical or future performance, financial position or cash flows that are adjusted to exclude or include amounts that are excluded or included, as the case may be, from the most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with IFRS. The table at the end of the release provides IT Services Revenue on a constant currency basis, which is a non-GAAP financial measure that is calculated by translating IT Services Revenue from the current reporting period into U.S. dollars based on the currency conversion rate in effect for the prior reporting period. We refer to growth rates in constant currency so that business results may be viewed without the impact of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, thereby facilitating period-to-period comparisons of our business performance. This non-GAAP financial measure is not based on any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles and should not be considered a substitute for, or superior to, the most directly comparable financial measure calculated in accordance with IFRS, and may be different from non-GAAP measures used by other companies. In addition to this non-GAAP measure, the financial statements prepared in accordance with IFRS and the reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures with the most directly comparable IFRS financial measure should be carefully evaluated. Results for the quarter ended June 30, 2017, prepared under IFRS, along with individual business segment reports, are available in the Investors section of our website www.wipro.com. Quarterly Conference Call We will hold an earnings conference call today at 07:15 p.m. Indian Standard Time (09:45 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time) to discuss our performance for the quarter. The audio from the conference call will be available online through a web-cast and can be accessed at the following link- http://services.choruscall.eu/links/wipro170720.html An audio recording of the management discussions and the question and answer session will be available online and will be accessible in the Investor Relations section of our website at www.wipro.com. All product names, logos, and brands are property of their respective owners. About Wipro Limited Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT, BSE: 507685, NSE: WIPRO) is a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company. We harness the power of cognitive computing, hyper-automation, robotics, cloud, analytics and emerging technologies to help our clients adapt to the digital world and make them successful. A company recognized globally for its comprehensive portfolio of services, strong commitment to sustainability and good corporate citizenship, we have over 160,000 dedicated employees serving clients across six continents. Together, we discover ideas and connect the dots to build a better and a bold new future. Forward-looking statements The forward-looking statements contained herein represent Wipro's beliefs regarding future events, many of which are by their nature, inherently uncertain and outside Wipro's control. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding Wipro's growth prospects, its future financial operating results, and its plans, expectations and intentions. Wipro cautions readers that the forward-looking statements contained herein are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results anticipated by such statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding fluctuations in our earnings, revenue and profits, our ability to generate and manage growth, complete proposed corporate actions, intense competition in IT services, our ability to maintain our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which we make strategic investments, withdrawal of fiscal governmental incentives, political instability, war, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, unauthorized use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our business and industry. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, Annual Reports on Form 20-F. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. We may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. We do not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by us or on our behalf. Wipro limited and subsidiaries CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED INTERIM STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION (Rupees in millions, except share and per share data, unless otherwise stated) As of March 31, As of June 30, 2017 2017 2017 Convenience translation into US dollar in millions (unaudited) - Refer to footnote 1 ASSETS Goodwill 125,796 126,488 1,957 Intangible assets 15,922 15,518 240 Property, plant and equipment 69,794 71,023 1,099 Derivative assets 106 497 8 Investments 7,103 9,769 151 Investment in equity accounted investee 353 5 Trade receivables 3,998 3,998 62 Non-current tax assets 12,008 14,585 226 Deferred tax assets 3,098 3,930 61 Other non-current assets 16,793 19,172 297 Total non-current assets 254,618 265,333 4,106 Inventories 3,915 3,434 53 Trade receivables 94,846 97,954 1,516 Other current assets 30,751 31,571 489 Unbilled revenues 45,095 46,509 720 Investments 292,030 317,718 4,917 Current tax assets 9,804 8,526 132 Derivative assets 9,747 5,233 81 Cash and cash equivalents 52,710 54,317 841 Total current assets 538,898 565,262 8,749 TOTAL ASSETS 793,516 830,595 12,855 EQUITY Share capital 4,861 9,731 151 Share premium 469 2,043 32 Retained earnings 490,930 506,940 7,844 Share based payment reserve 3,555 2,151 33 Other components of equity 20,489 19,850 307 Equity attributable to the equity holders of the Company 520,304 540,715 8,367 Non-controlling interest 2,391 2,439 38 Total equity 522,695 543,154 8,405 LIABILITIES Long - term loans and borrowings 19,611 32,487 503 Deferred tax liabilities 6,614 7,630 118 Derivative liabilities 2 - - Non-current tax liabilities 9,547 8,545 132 Other non-current liabilities 5,500 4,429 69 Provisions 4 2 - Total non-current liabilities 41,278 53,093 822 Loans, borrowings and bank overdrafts 122,801 113,712 1,760 Trade payables and accrued expenses 65,486 73,905 1,146 Unearned revenues 16,150 15,921 246 Current tax liabilities 8,101 12,083 187 Derivative liabilities 2,708 2,626 41 Other current liabilities 13,027 14,911 230 Provisions 1,270 1,190 18 Total current liabilities 229,543 234,348 3,628 TOTAL LIABILITIES 270,821 287,441 4,450 TOTAL EQUITY AND LIABILITIES 793,516 830,595 12,855 Wipro limited and subsidiaries CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED INTERIM STATEMENTS OF INCOME (Rupees in millions, except share and per share data, unless otherwise stated) Three Months ended June 30, 2016 2017 2017 Convenience translation into US dollar in millions (unaudited) Refer to footnote 1 Gross revenues 135,992 136,261 2,109 Cost of revenues (96,389 ) (97,111 ) (1,503 ) Gross profit 39,603 39,150 606 Selling and marketing expenses (10,141 ) (10,146 ) (157 ) General and administrative expenses (7,599 ) (7,264 ) (112 ) Foreign exchange gains/(losses), net 984 353 5 Results from operating activities 22,847 22,093 342 Finance expenses (1,336 ) (1,474 ) (23 ) Finance and other income 5,200 6,200 96 Share of profits/(loss) of equity accounted investee (1 ) Profit before tax 26,711 26,818 415 Income tax expense (6,122 ) (5,994 ) (93 ) Profit for the period 20,589 20,824 322 Attributable to: Equity holders of the company 20,518 20,765 321 Non-controlling interest 71 59 1 Profit for the period 22,073 20,824 322 Earnings per equity share: Attributable to equity share holders of the company Basic 4.17 4.29 0.07 Diluted 4.16 4.28 0.07 Weighted average number of equity shares used in computing earnings per equity share Basic 4,914,727,772 4,845,115,238 4,845,115,238 Diluted 4,926,794,736 4,851,070,943 4,851,070,943 Additional Information Segment Revenue IT Services Business Units BFSI 33,630 34,934 541 HLS 19,928 19,150 296 CBU 20,725 20,535 318 ENU 17,356 17,464 270 MNT 29,538 29,342 454 COMM 9,911 8,831 137 IT SERVICES TOTAL 131,088 130,256 2,016 IT PRODUCTS 5,930 6,343 98 RECONCILING ITEMS (42 ) 15 - TOTAL 136,976 136,614 2,114 Segment Result IT Services Business Units BFSI 6,994 5,441 85 HLS 2,855 2,734 42 CBU 3,775 2,934 45 ENU 3,025 3,651 57 MNT 5,954 5,175 81 COMM 1,502 1,449 22 OTHERS - - - UNALLOCATED (837 ) 532 8 TOTAL IT SERVICES 23,268 21,916 340 IT PRODUCTS (368 ) 31 - RECONCILING ITEMS (53 ) 146 2 TOTAL 22,847 22,093 342 FINANCE EXPENSE (1,336 ) (1,474 ) (23 ) FINANCE AND OTHER INCOME 5,200 6,200 96 SHARE OF PROFIT/(LOSS) OF EQUITY ACCOUNTED INVESTEE (1 ) - PROFIT BEFORE TAX 26,711 26,818 415 INCOME TAX EXPENSE (6,122 ) (5,994 ) (93 ) PROFIT FOR THE PERIOD 20,589 20,824 322 Segment result represents operating profits of the segments and dividend income and gains or losses (net) relating to strategic investments, which are presented within "Finance and other income" in the statement of Income. The Company is organized by the following operating segments; IT Services and IT Products. The IT Services segment primarily consists of IT Service offerings to customers organized by industry verticals. The industry verticals are as follows: Banking,Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI), Healthcare & Lifesciences (HLS), Consumer Business Unit (CBU), Energy, Natural Resources & Utilities (ENU), Manufacturing & Technology (MNT), Communications (COMM). IT Services segment also includes Others which comprises dividend income relating to strategic investments, which are presented within "Finance and other income" in the statement of Income. Key service offerings to customers includes software application development and maintenance, research and development services for hardware and software design, business application services, analytics, consulting, infrastructure outsourcing services and business process services. In the IT Products segment, the Company is a value added reseller of desktops, servers, notebooks, storage products, networking solutions and packaged software for leading international brands. In certain total outsourcing contracts of the IT Services segment, the Company delivers hardware products, software licenses and other related deliverables. Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Constant Currency IT Services Revenue to IT Services Revenue as per IFRS ($MN) Three Months ended June 30,2017 IT Services Revenue as per IFRS $ 1,971.7 IT Services Revenue as per IFRS $ 1,971.7 Effect of Foreign currency exchange movement $ (12.1 ) Effect of Foreign currency exchange movement $ 24.2 Non-GAAP Constant Currency IT Services Revenue based on previous quarter exchange rates $ 1,959.6 Non-GAAP Constant Currency IT Services Revenue based on previous year exchange rates $ 1,995.9 View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170720005776/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Ken Ham, the founder of a Noah's Ark attraction called Ark Encounter at a biblical theme park in Williamstown, Ky., is drawing reactions from the LGBTQ community after he stated on Twitter that "Christians need to take back the rainbow." Ham's declaration came following the installation of rainbow lights outside of the Ark, and a statement announcing that the Ark will be lit up by these lights every night. The 510-foot Ark, which opened in 2016, is touted on its website as "most authentic full-size replica of Noah's Ark in the world." It is a sister attraction to the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Ky. Those in the LGBTQ community, particularly the ones who use Twitter, are having fun with Ham's announcement, and are commending Noah for being "so progressive." (See some of the reactions in the above gallery.) Unrelated to the new lighting program, the Ark Encounter is facing some legal trouble, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader. In late June, Ark Encounter LLC sold the land on which it stands for just $10 to a nonprofit "affiliate" called Crosswater Canyon, despite the land parcel being worth approximately $48 million. Then, its request to be exempted from a safety tax because of its religious ties was rejected due to Ark Encounter being a for-profit company. Before the sale, the company had been previously required to add a 50-cent-per-ticket tax (on $40 tickets) to upgrade the city's emergency services. Future taxes that would have come from tickets and the sale of the property, however, are reportedly also supposed to help finance local county schools. The managing party of the Ark Encounter is now currently trying to reach an agreement on the matter with the city. Alyssa Pereira is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at apereira@sfchronicle.com or find her on Twitter at @alyspereira. [July 20, 2017] Redline Communications AGM Voting Results and Q2 Conference Call Notice TORONTO, July 20, 2017 /CNW/ - Redline Communications (www.rdlcom.com) Group Inc. (TSX: RDL) ("Redline" or the "Company") announces that the five nominees listed in the Management Information Circular for the 2017 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders were elected as Directors of the Company at the meeting held in Toronto, Ontario yesterday. Detailed results of the vote for the election of directors held at the meeting are set out below. Director Votes For % Votes Withheld % Eric Demirian 10,677,703 100.00% 200 0.00% David Roberts 10,677,703 100.00% 200 0.00% Nizar Somji 10,677,703 100.00% 200 0.00% Robert Williams 10,677,703 100.00% 200 0.00% John Wilson 10,677,703 100.00% 200 0.00% In addition, Redline reports that shareholders voted in favour of the appointment of BDO Canada LLP as auditors of the corporation. Full details of all policies and proposals are more fully described in the Company's Management Information Circular as filed on www.sedar.com. Second Quarter Results Conference Call Notice Redline will issue its second quarter results by press release after close of trading on Wednesday August 9, 2017. A conference call to discuss the results has been scheduled for the following day August 10, 2017 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. To participate in the call, please dial 1-647-427-7450 approximately 10 minutes before the conference call, and provide passcode 56370080. A recording of the call will be available through August 18, 2017. To listen to the rebroadcast please dial 1-416-849-0833 and provide the same passcode. A webcast of the call will be available for replay via Redline's website. About Redline Communications Redline Communications (www.rdlcom.com) is the creator of powerful wide-area wireless networks for mission-critical applications in challenging locations. Redline networks are used by oil and gas companies to manage onshore and offshore assets, by militaries for secure battlefield communications, by municipalities to remotely monitor infrastructure, and by telecom service providers to deliver premium services. Hundreds of businesses worldwide rely on Redline to engineer, plan and deliver ruggedized, secure and reliable networks for their M2M, voice, data and video communications needs - in locations that include the deserts of the Middle East, the rainforests of South America, and the frozen Alaskan slopes. For more information visit www.rdlcom.com. SOURCE Redline Communications Group Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] MATTOON -- Jim Shaffer, Shelbyville, received the 2017 Lake Land College Clem Phipps Exemplary Trustee Award at the July 2017 board of trustees meeting. The award was named after Clem G. Phipps, first chair of the Lake Land College Board of Trustees, to recognize former trustees who have demonstrated leadership and dedication to Lake Land College and the community. Shaffer was first elected to the Lake Land College Board of Trustees in 1981 and served the college for the next 30 years. During his tenure, he was elected chairman twice and served on numerous committees. Jim is a quiet man, is a thoughtful listener, and thinks carefully through topics. When he speaks, his words are well respected because he has carefully considered the topic at hand and because of the respect to which he is held, Max Jaeger said. Shaffer represented Lake Land College as a member of the Illinois Community College Trustees Associations Legislative Committee, making numerous trips to Washington D.C. to advocate for student focused education policy. Jim was an excellent role-model for the student trustee (many times an ag major) and always had a supportive word and lead by example for the student trustee serving in a very responsible position in the college, Jaeger said. Shaffer helped establish the John Deere ProTech training program and facilitated discussion and policy decisions that helped the Lake Land College Agriculture Division become nationally known for excellence. During his tenure, the colleges enrollment grew, campus developed and outreach expanded with the opening of extension centers. His service spanned five different college presidents. In addition to the Clem Phipps Exemplary Trustee Award, Shaffer received the 2016 Lake Land Distinguished Service Award for his outstanding service to the college. Shaffer and his wife Sandy have three children, Mike, Steve and Christy, and five grandchildren, Cassy, Megan, Brendan, Payton and Ashton. Central Texas police discovered a stash of meth last week worth $2 million after pulling a 23-year-old over for speeding, according to a news release from the Austin Police Department. Seline Lizbeth Ayala was arrested July 12 in Austin and is facing federal drug trafficking charges, according to APD. Around 11:20 p.m., Lake Land College Adult Ed offers free welding classes MARSHALL -- Lake Land Colleges Adult Education is offering free welding classes in Marshall, Pana and Sullivan for the fall semester. Orientation will be held the first night of class as follows: Eastern Region Center at the Forsythe Center, 224 S. Sixth St., Marshall -- Aug. 7 and 14 at 5 p.m. Western Region Center, 600 E. First St., Pana -- Aug. 7 and 17 at 5 p.m. Sullivan High School, 725 N. Main St. -- Aug. 1 and 8 at 5 p.m. For more information, contact Adult Education at 217-238-8292 or email adulteducation@lakelandcollege.edu. ERBA extends deadline for scholarship program CHARLESTON -- The Embarras River Basin Agency, Inc. (ERBA), in cooperation with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) through the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG), will have scholarships available for income eligible individuals who want to attend college this fall. ERBA serves the following nine counties: Clark, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland, Douglas, Edgar, Jasper, Lawrence and Richland. A limited number of $500 scholarships will be awarded to eligible applicants in each of these counties. To be eligible for consideration, applicants must be attending an Illinois college, university or community college as a full-time student this fall, have at least a C average, and must meet CSBG income guidelines. All interested individuals are encouraged to apply. You may pick up an application at the local ERBA office in the county which you reside and schedule an appointment to return your completed application before July 28, 2017. For more information, contact Taneya Higginbotham, field worker, Coles County ERBA, at 217-345-4840. General information The Coles County Council on Aging offices are located at the LifeSpan Center, located at 11021 E. County Road 800 N., Charleston (northeast of Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center). The telephone number for the Coles County Council on Aging and LifeSpan Center is 217-639-5150. The telephone numbers for the programs are: Coles County LSVP, 217-639-5155; Telecare, 217-639-5166; Family Care Giver Resource Center, 217-639-5168; and Dial-A-Ride, 217-639-5169 or 1-800-500-5505. Peace Meal Lunch at LifeSpan is served at noon. July 24-28 Suggested donation for lunches is $3.50 for those over 60, and $6 for those under 60. Monday Captains seafood cake w/tartar or cocktail sauce, macaroni and cheese, Italian mixed vegetables, orange juice, dinner roll, peaches. Tuesday Chicken enchiladas, brown rice vegetable pilaf, Harvard beets, whole grain wheat (1), apricots. Wednesday Meat loaf, mashed potatoes w/gravy, seasoned greens, Texas toast, dreamsicle dessert. Thursday Taco salad w/meat, beans, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, sour cream and taco sauce, Mandarin oranges, taco chips, cake. Friday Turkey or cheese salad, vegetable soup, sunshine salad, crackers, whole grain wheat (1), watermelon. Calendar of events July 24-28 Bingo: If you are interested in playing Bingo at your LifeSpan Center on our newly scheduled Bingo days, please call your LifeSpan Center Welcome Desk and register in advance 217-639-5150. Registration is required in order to secure a spot for bingo games. Monday 11-11:45 a.m., Zumba, $5 per class; noon-12:30 p.m., Peace Meal Lunch at LSC. Tuesday 9-10 a.m., mens coffee group Mattoon Health Care; 9-10 a.m., Arthritis Foundation exercise class, $1 per class; 10-10:45 a.m., chair yoga, $5 per class; 10-11 a.m., Wheel of Fortune with Mason Point; 11-11:45 a.m., Zumba Gold Toning Class, $5 per class; noon-12:30 p.m., Peace Meal Lunch at LSC; 1 p.m., movie LifeSpan Family Theater; 1-3 p.m., Mattoon/Charleston Art Guild new members welcome; 1:30 p.m., Parkinsons Support Group. Wednesday 9-11:30 a.m., Healthy Living; 10 a.m.-noon, quarterly office hours with Illinois Attorney General Liaison; 10:30-11:30 a.m., Bible study; 10:30 a.m., bingo with Heritage Woods of Charleston; 11-11:45 a.m., Zumba Gold, $5 per class; noon-12:30 p.m., Peace Meal Lunch at LSC; 12:30-3:30 p.m., card games with Lifes Journey Senior Living; 1 p.m., Its Your Safety Program; 1-3 p.m., ladies game of pool for all ages; 1 p.m., movie LifeSpan Family Theater; 2-3 p.m., Qigong Tai Chi; 3-3:30 p.m., LSVP Balance class. Thursday 9-10 a.m., Arthritis Foundation exercise class, $1 per class; 10-10:45 a.m., chair yoga, $5 per class; 10:30 a.m., bingo with Douglas Rehabilitation & Care Center; 11-11:45 a.m., Zumba Gold Toning Class, $5 per class, $35 for 12 classes; 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., Charleston-Mattoon Christian Womens Club luncheon, $9 inclusive, by reservation only; noon-12:30 p.m., Peace Meal Lunch at LSC; 1 p.m., movie LifeSpan Family Theater. Friday 11-11:45 a.m., Zumba, $5 per class; noon-12:30 p.m., Peace Meal Lunch at LSC; 1 p.m., movie LifeSpan Family Theater. Dial-A-Ride This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate If you're in Mountain View, it's hard to mistake a Google campus bicycle. The multicolored cruisers aren't the kind you'd see frequently rolling around town. The bright colors are perhaps exactly what's been drawing the attention of locals who have been spotting Google's bikes away from the tech office, at the bottom of the Stevens Creek bed instead. And the problem has become more serious in the last few weeks, according to Tim Oey, president of the Friends of Stevens Creek Trail organization. "Something has happened recently," Oey said. "Someone was purposefully (dumping bikes in the creek)." According to the Mountain View Voice and NBC Bay Area, some Peninsula residents are annoyed by the increase in dumping, in part because they say Google isn't working harder to prevent the bikes from being stolen in the first place. Google announced it is taking action against the uptick in thefts Wednesday, but previously, local groups like Oey's were retrieving bikes themselves or fishing them out of the creek. Just last weekend, the group picked up six abandoned bikes from the river. "It just seems wrong that we have someone who is so wealthy that they have these throwaway bicycles," one local resident named Steven Chandler told the Mountain View Voice. "It feels like Google is too high up to go down and pull their bikes up." The root of the problem, as Wired wrote in 2013, is that the bikes are not locked or tracked, leaving them vulnerable to theft. In the past, they've even ended up for sale on Craigslist. But lately, Oey says he believes the increased abandoning of Google's bikes is "malicious." "These were dumped in areas that were hard to see," Oey said. "Bikes were tossed in remote sections as much as possible." The development is especially problematic, he says, not just because dumping anything in the creek is an environmental threat, but also because some parts of the creek are eroded from recent rains and dangerous to walk near. Nevertheless, he says Google's team usually picks up any reported bikes within a day, and that the company has "a great support of the community." Google currently has an "active team" that searches for stray bikes in neighborhoods nearby or anywhere they're reported to be seen, but the company reportedly admitted to the Mountain View Voice that they're aware the problem with bike theft has grown. In response, they say they're actively working to curb the issue. "We are working with the City of Mountain View to spread the word more broadly about how we can get Gbikes back home," says Katherine Williams, a spokesperson for Google. "We're actively brainstorming ways to reduce loss during the summer months and are adding staff/piloting new technology such as GPS tracking." The company also says it is increasing the number of vehicles that collect bikes daily. Alyssa Pereira is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at apereira@sfchronicle.com or find her on Twitter at @alyspereira. While Dublin beckons with reminders of its stirring modern history on nearly every street corner, the best place to commune with the ancient soul of Ireland is its lush countryside. Iron Age monuments pepper the landscape, and while most sights are little more than rock piles, just standing next to a megalith that predates the pharaohs is stirring. An ideal spot to experience the spirit of Old Eire is the Boyne River Valley, which offers a world-class concentration of historical and spiritual sites just an hours drive north of Dublin. The most popular attraction there is the archaeological site of Bru na Boinne, or, dwelling place of the Boyne. Upon arrival, visitors get appointments to tour the 5,000-year-old-passage tombs: Newgrange and Knowth (rhymes with south). Thought-provoking and mind-bogglingly old, these tombs can give you chills. Exploring them, you begin to understand the reverence that ancient people had for nature, and the need they felt to bury their dead in great tombs. These massive grass-covered burial mounds were built with a deep chamber inside, reached by a narrow stone passage. Both tombs are worth seeing, but if you have time for just one Id pick Newgrange, because you can go inside (bonus: its also the more famous of the two). Dating from 3200 B.C., Newgrange is 500 years older than the pyramids at Giza. Like Stonehenge, the ancients aligned this monument with the stars. At dawn on the winter solstice, the suns rays hit a small roof box opening above the narrow passage. The beams reach deep into the burial chamber, illuminating its inner reaches for 17 minutes with a natural light show. While we know nothing of Newgranges builders, this most certainly was a sacred spot for a cult of the dead, a cult of the sun, or both. This grassy mound, 250 feet across and 40 feet high, is ringed by dozens of kerbstones, each about 9 feet long and weighing 5 tons. In front of the doorway lies the most famous of the kerbstones, the 10-by-4-foot entrance stone. Its left half is carved with three mysterious spirals, which have become a kind of poster child for prehistoric art. A guide takes visitors deep into the tomb down a 60-foot, narrow passageway, leading to the cross-shaped central chamber under a 20-foot-high, igloo-type, stone dome. The ancients placed bones and ashes here, under 200,000 tons of stone and dirt, to wait for that special winters moment. In an awe-inspiring climax, the guide turns off the lights, submerging you in total darkness. Then he switches on a distant light that gradually brightens, re-creating the rays of the sun as seen on the shortest day of the year. A short drive to the south takes you to the Hill of Tara the most important center of political and religious power in pre-Christian Ireland. This is where Irelands ancient kings claimed their throne, and where St. Patrick preached his deal-clinching sermon that converted the pagans to Christianity. Aerial views of the hill show plenty of mystifying circles and lines, but on ground level theres more to feel than to see. As you wander among the well-worn ditches and hills, youll see the Mound of Hostages (a Bronze Age passage grave, c. 2500 B.C.), a couple of ancient sacred stones, and a war memorial. Standing on the Hill of Tara, its powerful to imagine the history of this land as you take in views over the Emerald Isle. Farther north in the same valley, the pastoral, riverside site of the Battle of the Boyne is one of Europes most pivotal battlegrounds. In the battle that occurred here, the Protestant British broke Catholic resistance, establishing Protestant rule over all Ireland and Britain. The sites visitors center is housed in a mansion built on the battlefield, but the real attraction is reached by crossing the River Boyne on a metal bridge. This spot, called Oldbridge, is where the most frantic action took place on that bloody day in 1690. If youre there in the summer, go on a Sunday afternoon for a living history demonstration. Guides clad in 17th century garb give musket-firing demos and re-create a cavalry charge at full gallop. The green Boyne Valley is a joy by car, and all the sights described here are within a 30-minute drive of one another. The valleys roads may be tiny, but theyre well marked with tourist-friendly road signs. If you eat your Weetabix and get an early start, you could see the entire region in a day: Visit the capital of ancient Irish kings, crawl through burial mounds older than the pyramids and be back in Dublin in time for dinner and a pub crawl. Rick Steves writes European travel guidebooks and hosts travel shows on public television. Email: rick@ricksteves.com Adel Hana/Associated Press GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip A power-sharing deal between two former arch foes is slowly taking shape in Gaza and could lead to big changes in the Hamas-ruled territory, including an easing of a decade-long border blockade. In the latest sign that the Egypt-backed understandings are moving forward, Hamas permitted more than 2,000 supporters of its former nemesis, Mohammed Dahlan, to stage a rally in Gaza City on Thursday. They held up banners with large photos of the ex-Gaza strongman and signs reading, Thank you, Dahlan. AIN ISSA, Syria Some 250 residents of Raqqa province Thursday became the latest batch to graduate from a brief U.S. training course, part of an internal security force to hold and secure areas as they are captured from Islamic State militants. The graduation ceremony in the desert town of Ain Issa, north of Raqqa, was attended by a few American trainers who oversee the force and its preparation. Members will man checkpoints, identify Islamic State sleeper cells and detect explosives. The U.S. has partnered with a Kurdish-dominated coalition fighting force known as the Syrian Democratic Forces in the fight against Islamic State in Syria, but the issue of who would hold and administer predominantly Sunni Arab areas freed from the militants is an uneasy one. U.S. officials say once Raqqa is liberated, the SDF will hand over local governance to the Raqqa Civilian Council, a local group of primarily Arab locals who will govern and administer essential service. Col. Joseph Scrocca, a spokesman with the U.S.-led anti-Islamic State coalition, said in an email last month that security will be provided by the Raqqa Internal Security Forces, a vetted multiethnic force expected to reach approximately 3,500 members. Wissam, a Kurdish resident of Ain Issa who gave only his first name, is one of the trainers. He said so far around 800 forces have been trained and deployed around at least five areas in Raqqa province. One American official at the site said the Internal Security Forces of Raqqa are not a combat or police force, but are trained to be a hold force in the areas as they are liberated from Islamic State militants. The training program appears to be accelerating as the campaign to liberate Raqqa enters its seventh week and the need for a security force to secure the city post-Islamic State becomes more pressing. Critics say the Kurdish-led SDF forces and the affiliated Kurdish administration are not apt for holding the majority Arab province. The newly graduated force is comprised mostly of Arab cadets. For Wissam Eid, a 17-year old resident of Raqqa, this is personal. His twin brother was shot in the head by the Islamic State after they detained him for seven months in late 2015. It was his mother that urged him to join the new force. If you arrest a Daesh, just drink his blood, she told me, Eid said, using a variation on an Arabic saying. Sarah El Deeb is an Associated Press writer. The Plimmerton house at the centre of Ngatata Love's fraud case must be sold, as it is tainted by the proceeds of crime and its value is eroding as the mortgage is nearly $100,000 in arrears, a judge has ruled. Last October, former Treaty negotiator and Wellington-based Maori leader, Love was jailed for two years and six months after being found guilty of obtaining significant sums by deception. He and Skiffington used a $1.5 million payment from a land developer, given as a premium for access to valuable land owned by the Wellington Tenths Trust, to pay for the house. Love chaired the trust at the time and former trustees gave evidence at the trial that they had never been told of the payment. Wellington High Court Justice Karen Clark has ordered the official assignee to sell the Moana Road property, valued at $1.75 million, after an application from the Commissioner of Police. A restraining order on the house was granted in 2014, while Love was appealing his conviction and sentence, which was ultimately unsuccessful. The house is registered as belonging to Love, Lorraine Skiffington, and Arahi Trustee Services. The mortgage on the property is about $1 million, and arrears as at June 22 this year totalled $96,500, Westpac Bank told the court. Skiffington argued that the arrears had been manufactured by the bank, but the judge said that the dispute was between her and Westpac and couldn't bar the application for a sale order. Earlier this week, Justice Clark ruled that assets belonging to Skiffington and Strategic Directionz, a trust of which she is the sole director and shareholder, are now frozen, pending the outcome of an attempt by the Tenths Trust to pursue Skiffington for unjust enrichment. Skiffington was charged alongside Love, but was granted a permanent stay as she was declared medically unfit to stand trial. Her lawyer was successful in getting the first hearing set down for the sale order adjourned due to her deteriorating health and was concerned she was unable to accurately recall details of the transactions from years earlier. "With regard to the hearing before me it did not appear that Ms Skiffingtons interests in opposing the application have been compromised by her personal circumstances," Justice Clark said. "Ms Skiffington filed extensive affidavit evidence the day before the hearing. Up to the minute correspondence was included. Even accepting that the affidavit apparently took many months to complete it was apparent to me that Ms Skiffingtons interests were comprehensively and ably advanced by her counsel." (BusinessDesk) Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: The Warehouse Group FY23 First Quarter Sales Update PEB - Interim Financial Results to be Announced 24 November 2022 EROAD H1 FY23 Results and Conference Call Details MFB - Appointment of Chief Executive Officer HFL - Annual report for the year ended 31 August 2022 November 11th Morning Report GMT - Customer demand supports strong first-half operating result EVO - Embark Education announces Special Dividend BLT - Strategy reset and revenue growth Mainfreight Half Year Financial Results 30 September 2022 Meredith College I'd never heard of this College, but being there gave me the opportunity to think about my good Massachusetts friend, Meredith Wirtz. My Hotel was in fact at 3800 Hillsborough Rd, Durham, which is 25 miles away. I'd have been hard pressed to find it without the GPS/SatNav. I was staying at the Hilton, Durham near Duke University. It was a good choice. I arrived at Noon three hours before check in time but the extremely pleasant young man at the desk found out that my room had already been prepped so I was all set to go. More about the Hilton later. There was a nearby I'd never before eaten at a Cracker Barrel (it's a bit of a Southern institution, having been founded in Tennessee). I'll not be in a hurry to go back. The menu is biased in favour of high calorie, high fat content southern comfort food. I was able to find a salad with grilled chicken which was good. At the risk of offending I have to say that never before have I seen so many (apparently morbid) obese people in one place. (O.K., O.K., I am an Anglo-Yankee snob!) I'll try to redeem myself to my southern friends by telling you that at dinner that day (with my friend George Blaisdell Jr.- we knew each other in Pittsfield) I ate catfish and grits! Back to the Hotel. The front desk and shuttle 'bus staff were as helpful and friendly as you can imagine. (I made this clear in my Expedia review of the Hotel). I asked "are you trained to be super-friendly?" "Yes", said one, "but we probably got our jobs because most of us are friendly by nature. We love our work". It turned out that there were three of us who were heading to Sam Rodman's consecration the next day. We got to chat to the staff (none of them had ever heard of the Episcopal Church!) One of them asked "are you Catholics or are you Christians?", and "do you believe in Jesus or in Mary?" We explained that we are Christians, but that some Episcopalians also claim to be Catholic. We said that we love Jesus, and that some Episcopalians are devoted to Mary. I said "We are a very broad Church. You could be in an Episcopal Church and think that you are in an evangelical "thank you Jesus" Church. You could be in another, and think that you were in a Roman Catholic Church". "But I" I continued, "I am a nekkid Episcopalian". The young woman asked "what does that mean?". I countered "you'll see when I leave for the consecration tomorrow". She looked puzzled, and then said "that's a joke isn't it?" Laughter all around! There was a bonus. The hotel shuttle 'bus drove us to within sight of the Duke Chapel, and met us after the service. I've written before about the Consecration itself and my visit to Church and lunch with my pal Kadi. The return journey was a bit hairy. Once again it was on Delta. The first leg from RDU-ATL was greatly delayed. Kudos to the Gate staff member who gave us frequent and timely updates. He was great. I was sweating, lest I missed my connection from ATL-SRQ. I took my seat, only to find out that I was in the wrong row, such an embarrassment to this fairly frequent flyer. I apologized to the passengers and promised that I would go back to school to learn the difference between 12 and 11. That relieved the tension. Then my heart sank. The man in the seat next to me (in a two seat) row, was super sized. I inwardly groaned. But then he asked me the time of my next flight, and using his hand-held he checked my departure time and gate from ATL- SRQ. And when we got to the gate at ATL he stepped aside so that I could depart the plane before him. Helpful guy! I ran down the long concourse in Terminal B, raced down the elevator, jumped on the under ground railway to Terminal E, rushed up two escalators and got to my gate just as the announcement "this is the final boarding call" was being made. All hot, bothered, and out of breath I apologized to the cabin crew. They were not fazed. "Welcome aboard" said one "would you like some water?" Oh yes indeed, I wanted some water. This morning I got an e-mail from Delta apologizing for the RDU-ATL delay, and asking for my comments. This I did and lauded to high heaven the work of the gate agent in RDU and the Cabin staff at ATL.. I hope that my praise and thanks is relayed to them. On the ATL-SRQ leg I was in a window seat in a three seat row. In the row in front of me was a Mum and Dad with a wee child who was in a special child seat which was secured by the seat belts in the middle seat, but had her flying backwards, so I could see her lovely face. I was intrigued to watch her. Her Mum gave her a small stuffed toy in a transparent and hinged plastic box. She figured out how to open the box, chuckling as she did so. Her Dad gave her a cookie, one of those sandwich cookies with peanut butter in the middle. The little girl worked determinedly to separate one half from the other. When she succeeded she did what you or I would do: she licked off the peanut butter before chomping the two halves down. What a joy to see her as she experimented and learned. As we descended into SRQ (I knew that we were near because I could see the Sunshine Skyway Bridge), this sweet baby had a melt down. She sobbed and screamed I decided to ignore it.. We landed, and a woman in front of this family made a patronising comment to the Mum and added "my ears are still hurting". (Liar, liar, pants on fire!) I leaned over to the Mum and said "don't worry. She's a little child and little children cry and scream, it's not a big deal". As I arose from my seat, the man to my right said "any parent knows that if your child is screaming you give it a bottle". I was out of patience. I responded with 'I am single and I have never had a child. But I know that wee children sometimes melt down and get into a crying/screaming jag and that's O.K . with me". He did not respond. I wanted to add "if that bothers you, think about all the hungry little children in refugee camps, whose screams we cannot hear". But I kept my counsel and zipped my lips. It was nearly midnight and we were very tired. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Amir Allen Alishahi left Iran with his family during the 1970s. At first, the Alishahis went to Beirut, Lebanon, until a civil war broke out there. "It took us three months to get out of Lebanon. My brother and I went back to Tehran, and stayed there for six months," recalled Alishahi. But since Iran wasn't deemed safe by his father, Alishahi and his brother found themselves in a boarding school in England. "I felt like we were in Dracula's castle. It was always rainy and dreary. I immediately started a campaign to get out of there to get to America," said Alishahi. His father, the late Hassan Alishahi, was the first person to obtain a real estate license in Iran, according to Alishahi, so he knew he could succeed in the business in America. So in 1977 the younger Alishahi convinced his father to immigrate to the United States. They settled on Staten Island. And it wasn't long before the father-son team opened their own real estate agency in the borough. "I feel like I started in real estate in Kindergarten. I really grew up in it," he said, noting he has been licensed for more than 30 years After many years in the business, the elder Alishahi, who died last year, retired. Two years ago, Alishahi opened Cyrus Charter Property & Land Company in an historic home in New Dorp. SHELTERZOOM Alishahi has partnered with Chao Cheng-Shorland, owner and creator of Mindsz.com and managing director of iFuture Services, "to launch a business that will revolutionize the real estate business," said Cheng-Shorland. Said Alishahi: "Real estate is so antiquated. There is such a resistance to keep it this way. Nothing has changed since I got into this business. ...We will be creating an entire new platform for doing real estate. It will greatly benefit the buyers, sellers and brokers." In October, he and Cheng-Shorland plan to launch ShelterZoom Corp., as a web and mobile application. "They are going to do to real estate what Amazon has done to retail," said Donna Fagan, director of public relations for ShelterZoom. LAKEMAN-CORTELYOU-TAYLOR HOUSE While Alishahi is moving forward to integrate new technology into the real estate business, he has an appreciation for historic architecture and homes with "character." That is evident in the space in which he chose to locate his office. At 300 years old, the Lakeman-Cortelyou-Taylor House in New Dorp -- Alishahi's office -- is one of the oldest buildings on Staten Island. At 300 years old, the Lakeman-Cortelyou-Taylor House in New Dorp -- Alishahi's office -- is one of the oldest surviving buildings on Staten Island. (Staten Island Advance/Tracey Porpora) The house was built in circa 1680 by Abraham Lakeman, a prominent Islander. Among the many owners of the house was Aaron Cortelyou, who purchased it in 1751, and whose son-in-law subsequently sold it to Joseph Taylor in 1794. The house was saved from the wrecking ball more than once. Alishahi completed some renovation work before moving his offices to the historic home. "We did what we had to do to turn it into an office. But we kept the character of the home," he said. CYRUS CHARTER PROPERTY & LAND COMPANY AT A GLANCE Website: www.cyruscharter.com Address: 2286 Richmond Rd., New Dorp. New Businesses in Focus is a weekly column that relates the stories of new Staten Island businesses owners. If you have a new business on Staten Island, e-mail porpora@siadvance.com. FOLLOW TRACEY PORPORA ON FACEBOOK STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A Staten Island man allegedly used a real estate investment scam to bilk elderly victims out of nearly $2 million over 14 years, authorities announced Thursday. Yevgeniy Braziler, 40, was arrested and charged with securities fraud, mail fraud and wire fraud, officials said. He was arraigned Thursday in Brooklyn federal court and released on $500,000 bail. "Mr. Braziler allegedly fleeced elderly investors when he devised a scheme to separate them from their hard earned money and secure retirements. Postal inspectors will never tolerate the financial abuse of anyone regardless of their age," Philip R. Bartlett, the inspector-in-charge of the New York Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, said in a release. Braziler and his associates set up three fake real estate companies -- Buffalo Housing, Tri-State and Liberty State -- to solicit money from elderly investors, according to the indictment. The companies, officials said, would purchase, renovate, rent and re-sell the properties in Buffalo, Niagara Falls and the New York area. The alleged scam ran from 2002 to 2016. In his sales pitch, Braziler promised investors between a 6 and 60 percent profit, according to court records. Investors sent one of the fake real estate companies $978,000, and Braziler used the money to buy a property for $12,000 while he and his associates kept the rest, officials said. One victim invested $165,000 and another gave $150,000. In total, the victims, most of whom were elderly, sent Braziler more than $1.8 million, authorities said. According to the indictment, Braziler used the money for personal expenses, including credit card payments, pet supplies, alcohol, restaurants and his child's school tuition. "As alleged, the defendant targeted the elderly with lies and deceit. We will bring the full force of the law to bear on those, such as the defendant, who take advantage of our vulnerable neighbors," stated Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Bridget M. Rohde. Braziler is due back in court Aug. 17. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Police are searching Thursday morning for an escaped parolee in Stapleton. A large number of police personnel and vehicles from various units including EMS, K-9 and Aviation, responded shortly before 7 a.m. According to Assistant Chief Edward Delatorre, the NYPD's borough commander, state parole officers were attempting to take the man into custody for a parole violation. The suspects' hands were handcuffed behind his back when he escaped from a residence at 283 St. Paul's Ave. at about 6:45 a.m., according to the NYPD's Deputy Commissioner of Public Information. At one point, the suspect was thought to have fled a couple of blocks away into a wooded area at Van Duzer and William streets. Delatorre added that the man, who was wearing a white T-shirt and underwear when he escaped, is believed to still be in the area. Police do not believe he is armed. Police blocked off Van Duzer Street at Prospect Avenue for a time, forcing traffic onto Prospect. Van Duzer is a highly used route for commuters headed to the Staten Island Ferry. Van Duzer now is open to traffic. Several other streets were also closed temporarily as a result of the search, including Wave and Sands streets where they intersect with Bay Street. As of approximately 9 a.m., the search for the man was extended several blocks in every direction. An NYPD spokesman was unable to supply further information about the incident. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Police have identified a man they say escaped from custody in Stapleton early Thursday morning. Parolee Hector Calo, 41, escaped from 283 St. Paul's Ave. while in the custody of the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) at about 6:45 a.m. Thursday, according to a statement from the NYPD's Deputy Commissioner of Public Information. The parolee was handcuffed behind his back at the time of the incident, police said. "During a home visit to his approved residence, parolee Hector Calo fled from parole officers and other DOCCS staff," said a statement from Thomas Mailey, director of public information for DOCCS. "The department is working closely with the New York Police Department to locate the individual." In 2013, Calo was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison, plus five years' post-release supervision, in connection with a Manhattan burglary, according to information from the DOCCS. He was conditionally released in August 2015. Calo is described by police as a light-complexioned Hispanic man who stands about 5 feet, 6 inches tall and weighs about 140 pounds. He has brown eyes and brown hair and was seen wearing a white tank top, dark-colored shorts and black sneakers. Late Thursday morning, residents expressed concerns about their safety. Stanley Diaz, who lives in the neighborhood with his two nieces, ages 7 and 9, said he was worried because he didn't know what happened. "[The police] came in and searched the yards in the morning, but didn't say why. So we stayed inside with the girls just in case of anything," he said. "I didn't know nothing about it; that's the crazy thing." A worker at nearby Ga Ga Day Care on Prospect Street said employees were taking extra precautionary measures, including alerting parents of the situation Thursday morning. "It's very, very scary," she said. "I have never seen anything like this." But Jimmy Estevez of Jimmy's Deli on Van Duzer Street said despite hearing helicopters circling overhead in the morning, "Everything is fine." His only complaint was that fewer people came into the deli Thursday morning. "Nobody is around, maybe because of that," he theorized. Anyone with information about Calo may visit the NYPD's Crime Stoppers website, call the Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-8477 (TIPS) or 1-888-577-4782 (PISTA) for Spanish, or text their tips to 274637 (CRIMES), then enter TIP577. All calls are strictly confidential. -- Advance staffer Allie Griffin contributed to this report. A European animal health company is planning a research-and-development complex in west Lincoln. According to documents filed with the Lincoln-Lancaster County Planning Department, Huvepharma, which has its headquarters in Sofia, Bulgaria, wants to build a 30,000-sqaure-foot complex on an 8.6-acre site just south of Southwest 40th and West O streets. The site is directly south of Cross-Dillon Tire and across 40th street to the west from the Lancaster County Jail. Huvepharma, which makes vaccines, feed additives and other animal health products, has a small Lincoln operation at 540 W. Industrial Lake Dr. that it inherited in 2014 when it bought Viridus Animal Health. It has other U.S. operations in Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia and North Carolina. According to the redevelopment plan filed with the city, Huvepharma plans to build two buildings, which will be connected: a 10,000-square-foot building with offices and microbiology lab space and a 20,000-square-foot building with lab space for animal research. The company said the new complex will specialize in animal vaccine testing and development. The project's estimated cost is $4.75 million, about $690,000 of which would come from tax-increment financing. Tax-increment financing, known as TIF, uses the expected property taxes generated by the increased value of a redevelopment project to finance bonds that can be used to pay for parts of the project that have a public benefit. Once built, the complex is expected to create 10 new jobs with salaries of anywhere from $45,000-$100,000, according to the documents filed with the Planning Department. Huvepharma officials could not be reached for comment. By clicking Agree, you consent to Slates Terms of Service and Privacy Policy and the use of technologies such as cookies by Slate and our partners to deliver relevant advertising on our iOS app to personalize content and perform site analytics. Please see our Privacy Policy for more information about our use of data, your rights, and how to withdraw consent. Agree Editors note: Ground Zero visits restaurants in nearby towns during July. SNYDER -- They come to Adies Restaurant & Lounge for the macaroni salad. Owner Rick Marsoun, 63, goes through 15 gallons of it a week. During graduation time -- those two weeks or so in May -- 100 gallons of it will fly out the door. I dont know, Marsoun said when asked why diners love his macaroni salad so much. Its kind of crazy. The salad is mayonnaise -- or is it Miracle Whip? -- made with what appears to be a canneroni-type pasta. Its a family recipe that Marsoun keeps close to the vest. If you ask him, he wont tell you, Adies employee Pat Svehla said. He likes to hide it. Thats not entirely true, Marsoun said. Its not really a secret, but I dont like to give it out, he admitted. Its kind of a restaurant code. The macaroni salad, along with the homemade, old-fashioned goulash ($3.25, bowl), are house favorites. The goulash, too, is a family recipe, featuring meat and a ginger snap broth. No noodles. No veggies. I had a lady here who had been to Hungary, Marsoun said. She told me it tasted exactly like a Hungarian goulash. Of course, there are other reasons to go to Adies in this small Nebraska town, 17 miles north of North Bend on Nebraska 79. The burgers and hamburger steaks are hand-pattied. The salad dressings are made in-house. The prices are small-town reasonable, with the ribeye steak the most expensive entree at $14.50, and the restaurant is, well, a museum of sorts. By the entrance hang 20 old rifles, among the 50 or so guns on display. A bunch of six-shooters hang in a line above the booths. Beneath the pistols are a number of old lanterns on a shelf, including one that came off the front of a locomotive, Marsoun said. Two wagon wheels separate the dining and bar areas. My dad used to buy junk, Marsoun with a laugh. I never used to, but now I do. But the stuff I buy, I dont bring to the restaurant. Thats because theres not much more room for it. I guess my dad wanted to give people something to remember us for, Marsoun said. Marsons parents, Adolph and Marian, opened Adies 62 years ago. Adie is a nickname for Adolph. Over the years, the small town bar and grill has become a cornerstone of the community numbering around 300. We see people from Wayne, West Point, Hartington, Ponca -- people either going to or from Lincoln for a Husker game or something, he said. Somehow they end up going through Snyder on 79. My wife and I did just that. We were returning to Lincoln last weekend after attending a music festival in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. We detoured west from our usual route -- U.S. 77 -- to check out Adies and the macaroni salad, which had received several positive comments on the food blogs. I ordered it instead of a lettuce salad to precede my $8.50 hamburger steak and gems (another word for tots). My wife ordered it as a $2 side to her fish sandwich ($3.45). It didnt disappoint, reminding me of pasta salads that pop up at my family gatherings. It made the stop at Adies all that more memorable. Most of us look forward to being a grown-up. As we mature, we realize how much we dont know. Members of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, otherwise known as OLLI, share a few important life lessons theyve learned as they have grown older. OLLI is an adult learning membership program for men and women 50 and older. 1. Learning never stops. Learning doesn't stop, no matter how many degrees you have. It's a life-long process. Embrace learning to broaden your horizons. Dorothy Anderson, 77, said she is a perennial student. In her early 20s and as a senior at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, she looked forward to being a real adult and hoped for an interesting life. I was always taking graduate courses at UNL while working just for fun, she said. Today, Anderson is an active member and volunteer for OLLI at UNL. She joined OLLI immediately after retiring in April of 2007. She has taken so many OLLI courses, trips, seminars and has attended so many special events that its hard for her to remember just how many courses she has taken. She is absolutely certain of one thing: My first impression was that I loved it. Such quality. The things I would say about living a happy and successful life that I didnt know when I was 20 is that one must be willing to adapt to change, value good long-term relationships with family and friends, the importance of living a physically healthy lifestyle and one must keep learning, Anderson said. 2. Brain health is important. Just as your body needs TLC, so does your brain. So dont ignore it. Susan Major, 67, first participated in an OLLI class that was a team-taught course on the brain. It brought together experts from many fields. She was very impressed both with the quality of the lectures and the insightful contributions from participants. My chosen field of study, linguistics, has made it clear to me just how important an active, inquiring brain is to the goal of aging well," Major said. "Also, I know that keeping the brain 'fit' is great fun and bestows its own reward on those who continue to learn. 3. Be open to change. If there is one thing we can be certain of, it is that change is inevitable. We will transition from one stage of our lives to another. Each change represents a move to a different purpose. Marvin Almy, 72, has been an OLLI member since 2008 and has also served as part of OLLIs volunteer leadership on the Advisory Council, as well as on several committees. The first OLLI class he took was titled "Great Decisions, a DVD course tackling a different global challenges facing America. I was impressed with the topics presented and the intelligent participation by the other OLLI members in the class, Almy said. Little did I know at the time that after presenting the class for two years, the instructor would prevail on me to continue facilitating the class and I have done so now for several years. As he passes through the various stages of his life, he recognizes how his perspective has changed. Things that I might have considered important in previous stages of life aren't so important now," Almy said. "Things that I would never have thought I'd be involved with or enjoy now, can be very pleasant and satisfying. It's nice to learn how life has a way of shaping you to adjust to your current situation. 4. Make the most of today. Today is an opportunity to do something more and youll never get it again. So don't waste it. At age 72, I have been blessed with family and experiences that have led me most of my adult life to say: I got another day, how can I make the most of it? Dennis Berens said. OLLI is a great contributor to my continued education and life experiences. Best of all, the sessions that I have attended have been presented by people who care about their audiences, about our community, our state and nation. Many of my fellow attendees have become friends and also have added to my education and daily fulfillment. 5. Open yourself to new experiences. Some of us may spend a lot of time daydreaming about things we wish we had done or were doing in life. The bottom line is simple: If we are afraid to try new things, we may never discover something we love doing. I wouldn't say I always wanted to act, sing and dance, but an encounter with another OLLI member at least put the idea in place, Carla Fetch, 68, said. At the time she began participating in OLLI, the OLLI/LCP Radio Active Players performance group were going to do a USO show. As a personal tribute to my dad, I decided to audition," Fetch said. "I was scared to death. I practiced an audition piece and sang a solo on the stage of the Lincoln Community Playhouse. I was terrified. I showed up, sang and I DID it! Wonders of wonders, I was selected for the cast. Now, I am hooked. This had been a real growing experience, she said. You really don't know until you try. So just go for it. For more information about the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, go to olli.unl.edu, or call 402-472-6265 about membership and a catalog. 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The Select Committee into the Establishment of an ACT Integrity Commission heard evidence from its first witnesses on Thursday. The man had boasted to a friend: "That's 12 years in jail if cops find out." Credit:Karleen Minney Among them was parliamentary ethics advisor Stephen Skehill, who suggested public hearings could do irreversible damage to the reputations of the innocent and all evidence should be heard behind closed doors. He said a body with coercive powers, like the proposal in the ACT, could uncover evidence that was inadmissable in court and any rulings of misconduct or corruption were merely an "opinion". She has arrived at a delightful but crowded exhibition representing about 40 artists, mainly from the Canberra region. She has proceeded to go through CMAG's collection in search of bird imagery, together with a few strategic loans from other collections. Aviary is an exhibition curated by Deborah Clark, who argues that "in Canberra, we live in a virtual aviary". Jan Brown, Self-portrait as a bird, 1997, CMAG, gift of the artist 2008 in Aviary . Veteran artist Jan Brown, now aged in her mid-90s, has long been obsessed with bird imagery and forms the nucleus of this exhibition. Although Brown has spent years observing and depicting birds in her drawings, prints and sculptures, they always seem to possess an anthropomorphic character, whether it be like puffed-up administrators full of self-importance or arrogant artists who seem to look down on the world from Olympian heights. A little gem in the show is Brown's pencil drawing Self-portrait As a Bird (1997), where she shows herself sitting on a perch with a frown on her face and a condemning gaze. Although birds may act out roles as in the human arena, the beauty of Brown's aviary is that each bird is a character with an individual personality and our world is slightly poorer for the loss of each bird. One of my favourite works in the show is Kevin Gilbert's colour linocut Colonising Species (1989). Gilbert lived for many years in Queanbeyan and may have been the first Aboriginal artist to turn to print making. When asked about any funny incidents from the family running the Red Hill supermarket for more than 50 years, Olympia Maleganeas doesn't take long to answer: "Well, there was that time John found Mrs Whitlam's earrings". The Maleganeas family - headed by Chris and Olympia - have sold the Red Hill supermarket they built and opened in 1966, the official handover to the new owners taking place on July 10. Olympia and Chris Maleganeas with four of their five sons (l-r) John, Michael, Steven and Con (Christopher was absent) at the Red Hill supermarket the family ran for 51 years. Credit:Karleen Minney "It was a big decision but we just felt it was time to move on," oldest son John said. The family became an intrinsic part of the inner-south Canberra community over the next 51 years, all five sons working in the shop alongside their parents, serving diplomats, defence force personnel, public housing tenants, public servants, school kids, and, yes, the occasional former prime minister. A man who went missing from Canberra's south has been found safe and well, police say. William Missingham, 29, was last seen on Saturday in Kambah. Police called for the public's help to find him as they held concerns for his welfare. Police were looking for William Missingham. ACT Policing said Mr Missingham was found about 6pm Thursday. Essendon have resolved to avoid any more slip-ups on their road to the AFL finals - and that starts with North Melbourne on Saturday. The Bombers sit 10th on the ladder at 8-8 and are on track to play in September if they can replicate the form shown in their last-out belting of St Kilda. A win over the Kangaroos will place them in the top eight, at least temporarily. But they can't afford to drop any more matches to sides ranked below them. One of the world's largest defence companies is being urged to build a new fleet of combat vehicles in Victoria if its bid for the Australian Army's most expensive acquisition contract in history succeeds. A letter signed by every federal Coalition MP in the state was sent this week to BAE Systems after the company was shortlisted to provide the first wave of 225 armoured reconnaissance vehicles under the Defence Department's "LAND 400" project. Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne, in the turret of an armoured vehicle at Victoria's Puckapunyal army base recently. Credit:Corporal Max Bree The MPs said Victoria's manufacturing skills, workforce capacity, supply chain and infrastructure were "unmatched by any other state". The letter, sent to BAE Systems Australia chief Glynn Phillips, said the work would be especially important to the state economy following the recent string of car company shutdowns. Watching the ball fly backwards and forwards over the net at Wimbledon at the weekend in such a great moment of international sporting spirit, my mind kept drifting to the isolationist madness of Brexit. There's no "love all" in this game and Britain is going to lose. In this 13th excruciating episode, "the Major" is brilliantly recast as Boris Johnson, but I have to say that Margaret Thatcher would make a much better Sybil than Theresa May. Brexit is a disaster but, despite our longstanding traditional rivalries, many of us feel close to Britain. Long nights over the Monopoly board on summer holidays brought the streets of London into our antipodean campsites across this wide brown land. The British parliament and the Conservative government have been in turmoil over Brexit for the past week. The Tories brought this on by running the ill-fated referendum on whether people wanted to stay in the trading bloc of Europe. The discovery of this axe-head grindstone inside the Kakadu National Park has rewritten the history of Australia. Credit:Glenn Campbell And now the digging was coming to an end. It was Clarkson and his colleagues' second six-week period of fossicking in this ancient Aboriginal campsite called Madjedbebe which sits, incongruously, within the Jabiluka uranium mining lease in Kakadu National Park. Traditional owners Simon Mudjandi, Rosie Mudjandi, May Nango and Mark Djanjomerr at the Kakadu rock shelter where Australian history has been re-written. Credit:Glenn Campbell Clarkson had been there back in 2012. Other archaeologists had dug there in the early 1970s and in 1989, their findings proving inconclusive. Now it was more than halfway through 2015, and laboratories waited to examine and prove or disprove what Clarkson and his colleagues believed the campsite signified, which was that it contained the oldest evidence of the occupation of Australia, so old it would rewrite everything about the continents' human history. The axe-head grindstone found at the site. Credit:Glenn Campbell The elders of the Mirrar people didn't need history to be rewritten. They'd lived it. Mark Djandjommer, an old man with a grey beard, remembers sleeping at Madjedbebe when he was a boy of eight or nine, just like his ancestors. It was a well-established stop-over on an ancient track his family took when, he says, they wanted to avoid the parties of armed white men hunting the buffalo that once roamed Kakadu in huge numbers. And yes. Among the rock paintings of turtles and crocodiles, catfish and stick figures holding spears adorning the wave-like wall at Madjedbebe, are pictures of white men with guns. But when the archaeologists came and wanted to find out more, the Mirrar community figured they had the right to ownership of whatever was discovered. They weren't to be trifled with. The Mirrar had, after all, stood up in the late 1990s to a mining giant that wanted to dig uranium out of their country just a couple of kilometres from Madjedbebe The stance of the Mirrar, supported by several thousand protesters and organisations such as the Australian Conservation Foundation, the Wilderness Society and Friends of the Earth, effectively stopped the Jabiluka uranium mine Rio Tinto inherited the mine in 2000 when it took over the uranium producer Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) as part of its purchase of the iron ore giant North Ltd. In 2002, Rio's chairman Sir Robert Wilson, made clear his company didn't want more fuss: he declared there would be no mining at Jabiluka without the consent of the Mirrar. In 2005, the traditional owners got it in writing: the Jabiluka Long-Term Care and Maintenance Agreement states there will be no mining without the informed, written consent of the traditional owners. The mine site is now returning to nature, and the Jabiluka mining lease begins to expire in 2024. The Mirrar want that lease gone as soon as possible from their country. If Madjedbebe turned out to be a site of major significance to the world, it couldn't hurt their cause. Justin O'Brien, the CEO of the Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation which represents the Mirrar, says archaeology is seen widely in Aboriginal Australia as exploitative. Some archaeologists held the view that ancient sites and artefacts were of universal significance and access to them should be automatic. That's not the way the Mirrar saw it. The archaeological team was given a choice by the Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation. Agree to share everything found at Madjedbebe with the people who have always owned that country, or go somewhere else. The archaeologists would be required to provide access to field notes and images taken in the field. The Mirrar would have an editorial say apart from matters of strict science over the way they and the site were portrayed in publications. They would be included in decisions about how artefacts would be curated, and what would be returned to the soil. "This landmark agreement is a recognition that the work is taking place on Mirrar country, that they have both a physical and spiritual link to it and they should have a say," says O'Brien. Clarkson's team which also won permission from the ERA mining company to dig within the mining lease signed up. It turned out to have significant benefits. When human remains began to turn up the ancient bones of 17 people would eventually be unearthed Clarkson and his colleagues feared the dig would be over immediately. By then, however, the Mirrar felt they had a stake in knowing of what might lie beneath. They granted permission for the bones to be removed and stored, so long as they were returned to the earth when the work was complete. O'Brien was awed at what was being found. He recalls standing within the pit where a campfire had been established tens of thousands of years ago. "Here was the fireplace, clear as day, and scattered around were the stones used to grind the seeds of waterlillies, which are called anden," says O'Brien, who is married to an Indigenous woman. "These people still do exactly that today. They make a paste out of the ground seed, make it into a bread and bake it on the coals. "You get a sense of the great antiquity and continuity of this culture because aspects of this lifestyle exist to this day. That's time immemorial, right there." As the 2015 dig neared its end, Associate Professor Clarkson, to give him the title that comes with his position at the University of Queensland, thought the hole in the ground beneath its majestic sandstone overhang had given up all its secrets to him. Such secrets they were. Stone hatchets piled against the back wall at different periods separated by tens of thousands of years, their cutting edges still polished sharp. The earliest of these hatchets would prove to be the first such tools fashioned anywhere in the world by maybe 20,000 years. That fireplace surrounded by grinding bowls. A fat midden containing shells and animal bones, the remains of countless feast. Finely wrought stone spear heads. Yes. And 17 sets of human bones. But there at the last minute, right at the bottom of the hole, 2.5 metres down, sat a stone carefully chipped into a perfect rectangle, its flat surface turned to the light for the first time in longer than is properly imaginable. "This was really exciting," says Clarkson. "It was a grindstone, grooved on one side from shaping axe heads you could see all the scratches from the stone-on-stone action. "The people who had lived there would have laid it on the ground and spent enormous amounts of hours shaping their axe heads. "It looked as if it had been laid there the day it had been finished with and left for 65,000 years." The idea that a modest rectangle of stone could be "beautiful" may not resonate with those who expect their archaeology to come in intricately worked gold and dug from Roman and Viking settlements. But the Romans and the Vikings, the Egyptians building pyramids and even the neolithic people who raised the stones of Stonehenge lived only yesterday compared with those Australian Aborigines who crafted the grinding stone that lay at the bottom of the pit beneath the great sandstone massif that had sheltered at least 2600 generations. So, who are this column's inveter8 contributors? Allan Gibson, of Cherrybrook, who earlier this week suggested Eric Shackle, of Castle Hill, at 97, may have been C8's oldest contributor, says his first published item was in the mid '70s. "I reported the Australian flag on the GPO was flying at half mast." Pam Doherty, of Gladesville, recalls getting an item published 27 years ago about her then five-year-old son, Mike, getting his first haircut. "How would you like it, Mike?" asked the barber. "Just like my dad's," said Mike, "with a hole on top." Peter Riley, of Penrith, says his first item was published a decade earlier on July 4, 1980. How times have changed. "On page 2 there was a Dick Smith ad calling on everyone to send a telegram or telex to the Tasmanian premier to protest the proposed damming of the Franklin River." John Fry, of Lillian Rock, can go back further. He recalls his carpet snake got a mention in 1979 when he took it to work. "That snake repaid me that evening by biting the hand that feeds it. I had it on the bench at work while eating a chicken drumstick. It struck at the drumstick and missed, biting my hand instead." So many veteran contributors wrote in Roger Anderson, of Dundas, Jan Carroll, of Potts Point, Doug Wormald, of Armidale, and Kersi Meher-Homji, of St Ives, to name a few. Thank you all for stirring the memories. While recovering in hospital, Shari wrote this note to her family. Credit:Fairfax Media That's thanks to Ian Davies. But here's the irony about this 78-year-old Brisbane father, and grandfather. He's also spent the past 31 years helping to rehabilitate the criminals responsible for some our most savage crimes. First on the Corrective Services Commission. Then on the Serious Offenders Review Committee. Then, for the past five years, the Queensland parole board. That's meant he's not been able to speak out publicly; to give us the benefit of the wisdom he's built up over more than three decades. But now, with a new parole board announced, he can and he says he's decided to do that, despite being warned he shouldn't. Thank goodness. With the political tit-for-tat over crime, it's rare that we are able to access the expert advice, we need to hear. So here are a few of Ian Davies' views: Parole Serious child sex offenders and violent domestic abusers, who leave their victims disfigured, should not be granted parole periods. Jail. Full stop. And he believes our judges need to think more about the sentences given to those who sexually abuse children. "As far as sex offences against children, I don't understand their thinking. It's my pet hate. No one should touch a child," he says. Drugs Ian Davies believes about one third of prisoners in our jails have an ice addiction. Drugs, including prescription drugs, continue to make their way into jails. "Some of these pushers are making hundreds of thousands of dollars doing that stuff. It's a big market," he says. Children as young as 10 are taking drugs, and many are moving quickly from juvenile detention to adult prisons. "Where are they getting these drugs from? It's got to stop," he says. Inmates Some prisoners are taking taxpayers for a ride, launching judicial review claims when they don't get their own way. And it's the taxpayer who stumps up with the money for them to do that. Ian Davies says it is costing millions of dollars. "Queensland is the only state with it. We've got to have a watchdog but ensure it is not misused," he says. While on prisoners, Ian Davies believes they should be forced to work, while in jail. At the moment, it's voluntary. People outside jail have to work, but prisoners are given free clothes, and food. "I don't know why labour was stopped," he says. Perhaps the families of those who refuse to work should have to pay for their own food, or clothes? Jail It was unfair to label jail as comfortable. Life inside is regimented, and the right to think for themselves is taken away from prisoners. "One day would be as long as a week for those on the outside," he says. The worth of bracelets, given to keep track of prisoners once they leave jail, is limited, he says. "A bracelet only tells you where they are; not what they are doing." Education Ian believes that something has gone dreadfully wrong with our education system, where those who could not keep up academically were being cast aside. Literacy levels in jail were appalling, with prisoners unable to spell basic words like "around" and "tomorrow". The son of Cecil the lion - Zimbabwe's beloved big cat, whose death at the hands of an American trophy hunter triggered widespread outrage two summers ago - has been killed as well, according to officials at Hwange National Park. Officials said Xanda, who was 6 and had several cubs, was fatally shot several days ago by another trophy hunter in Zimbabwe. Cecil the lion was shot dead in 2015. Credit:Wildlife Conservation Research Unit via AP "We can't believe that now, 2 years since Cecil was killed, that his oldest Cub Xanda has met the same fate," the Facebook group Lions of Hwange National Park said Thursday. "When will the Lions of Hwange National Park be left to live out their years as wild born free lions should?" Officials said Xanda was killed during a hunt organised by Richard Cooke Safaris. The group did not respond to a request for comment. The company's political connections have fed the headlines. Steve Bannon was a CA board member until he became President Trump's chief advisor. In the past few months, articles in publications including the UK's Observer and Guardian have alleged links between CA and its right-wing American billionaire backer Robert Mercer, and far-right British politician Nigel Farage, the Leave.eu campaign and Brexit. Nix denies that CA worked on the Leave.eu campaign, and CA has threatened legal action against the Guardian Media Group over the stories. (In May, the UK Information Commissioner announced it would investigate the use of data analytics for political purposes, particularly those deployed during the EU referendum campaign. "Our contact with Cambridge Analytica remains ongoing," a commission spokesperson tells Good Weekend.) When I emailed Cambridge Analytica's New York-based public relations company to request an interview with Nix, I'd explained I wanted to profile him. Little has been written about Nix as a character. "A polo-playing Old Etonian" is about all Google reveals. Yet he is, for better or worse, a man of our times. CA's work on the Trump campaign has focused attention on the opaque, tentacled and ballooning world of big data, which has profound implications for our consumer behaviour, society, privacy and ethical and political systems, and has created a new sphere of criminal activity. "People are working out ways to monetise personal information and behaviours to sell to others," says Professor Dave Lacey, a cyber-security academic at Queensland's Sunshine Coast University and the managing director of IDCARE, Australia and New Zealand's National Identity and Cyber Support Service. Beyond that, says big data expert Vanessa Teague, an academic in the University of Melbourne's School of Computing and Information Systems, the industry uses "highly intimate" data to manipulate people politically. "It seems plausible that CA's efforts with individualised political advertising had a substantial effect on the outcome of [the election of] the most powerful person in the world," she says. We have somewhere close to four or five thousand data points on every adult in the United States. Alexander Nix Nix didn't read the email I sent to his flacks. About 10 minutes into our interview, as I'm coaxing him to share stories about his London childhood and education, he pauses mid-answer. He's bristling and thinking hard. His jaw shifts almost imperceptibly from side to side. "I thought this was a business interview," he says. No, I say, and show him the original email I sent to his PR company. "I think I've wasted your time; I didn't read the information," he says, shifting in his seat as though to stand. "I'm quite a private person. I don't think it's necessarily in my best interests to share my life with other people. I'm sorry about that. But I'm just feeling uncomfortable about this. I don't think that I want to be the story." Nix has frequently talked about the number of individual data-points Cambridge holds on people: factual, attitudinal and behavioural. "We have somewhere close to four or five thousand data points on every adult in the US," he told a summit in New York last year. Think about that for a moment: 5000 data-points on about 220 million Americans. Name, gender, birth year, postal code and email are just five items we all commonly supply. Nix claims CA has around 4995 other pieces of information about most American adults. Seemingly innocent personality tests assume more sinister qualities when you realise they are designed to harvest data. I point out to Nix the irony that his business relies on a massive amount of information about other people yet he is unwilling to share his own. "But not intrusive information," he protests. " 'Will you eat Weetabix or Cornflakes for breakfast?' is hardly raking through someone's background." I'VE BEEN TAKING other free personality tests. "Which animal's blood runs in your body?" asks one doing the rounds on Facebook. (Answer: "The warm blood of a tiger.") "Your friends have written your eulogy! Take a look now," suggests another. ("She is sunshine mixed with rain, creating a beautiful rainbow.") It's easy to think of such quizzes as just a bit of fun, a salve for our increasingly narcissistic souls, but David Watts, the Victorian Commissioner for Privacy and Data Protection, issues a warning: "If a service is free, you are the product; the service is just there to get your information. Nothing comes in life for free." To take those quizzes, I had to give Social Sweethearts, their Koln-based creator, access to my Facebook account. The Social Sweethearts' home page has sub-headings including "Make People Smile", "Data-Driven Approach", "Artificial Intelligence" and "Machine Learning". I request an interview with CEO Daniel Minini who, in an illustration on the homepage, resembles a young George Michael: smiling, affable, open. He's not open to an interview, though. "PR-Team Social Sweethearts" tells me to send my questions via email. "If you sign up to our service with Facebook Authentication we may only access data that is understood by Facebook as public information," is the reply to my question about what information the company takes from my Facebook page. The answers reassure me, to a point, that what can be scooped from my profile is dictated by the Facebook privacy settings I myself have put in place. "We can assure you: we don't sell user data!" says PR-Team Social Sweethearts. For the purposes of this article, I take three other personality quizzes popular on Facebook, then email the companies behind them to try to learn where my data goes and what it's used for. One email bounces back. Two go unanswered. I will never know what was taken from me when I had some fun on Facebook. But kooky quizzes created by companies like Social Sweethearts, or ostensibly more serious personality tests such as the OCEAN version offered on Cambridge Analytica's website, are just one source of data. There are countless others being collected by any number of players, including government agencies and companies such as Experian, Acxiom and Nielsen. (Any company working in the sphere of big data would say they de-identify people's information). "Every time we do anything, we're contributing to this information out there," Dave Lacey says. I ask him about the scale of the industry but, down the phone line from Queensland, I sense him shaking his head. "It's like trying to nail jelly to a wall; you're trying to define a market that is indefinable," he says. Jodie Sangster, the CEO of the Association for Data-Driven Marketing & Advertising, offers nothing more concrete. "There are analytics companies, technology companies, consulting firms it's just vast and there are a lot of people and businesses involved in the chain." ALEXANDER NIX thaws somewhat as we move from his personal story to the subject of his data company. He says that, while Cambridge Analytica doesn't have databases on Australians, there's a "huge amount of data available in Australia that can be commercially acquired". It is enough, he says, for CA to be able to undertake work for Australian commercial and political clients. "We think this is a very exciting market because there's a huge economy ... but some of the technologies and methodologies we developed in the US and are prevalent there aren't yet available here, so if we can introduce those, there could be a lot of opportunity to help companies." Cambridge Analytica mines data but CEO Alexander Nix doesn't like giving away much about himself. Credit:Getty Images NIX SHARES JUST A LITTLE MORE OF HIMSELF. He confirms that his full name is Alexander James Ashburner Nix. He is 42. He grew up in London's Notting Hill, and went to school at the ultra-exclusive Eton, where boys wear black tailcoats and white Eton collars to class. At Manchester University, he studied the history of art. "It was something that I always have been incredibly passionate about," says Nix, who is now a collector and patron; he supports the up-and-coming London artist Hormazd Narielwalla, who uses Savile Row tailors' discarded patterns as the foundation of his collages. "When I get spare time, I will frequently try to find a museum or a gallery." But it was never his intention to pursue a career in the art world. "I just thought this was the last opportunity to study something that I cared about. I was pretty adamant I'd go into finance." After graduating, he spent some months in the Mexico City office of Baring Securities as a junior analyst. He had a year or two back in the UK in advertising, then time in Argentina with a business providing e-CRM (electronic customer relationship management) solutions. In 2000, in London again, he went into corporate finance, before joining Cambridge Analytica's affiliate British company, SCL Group, in 2003. He remains a director of SCL (Strategic Communications Laboratories). SCL, says Nix, is mainly focused on "government and defence work". Its projects have included assisting a client's counter-narcotics program by collecting population data in 13 Mexican cities under the influence of drug cartels; data collection about extremist recruitment across the south and south-east Pacific for a counterterrorism client; and data collection, analytics and strategy development "for the Ukrainian government in pursuit of their goal to win back control of Donetsk". (In March, SCL refuted media claims it had worked on military disinformation campaigns.) CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA was formed in 2013 as a vehicle for SCL to enter the US political market. (CA also works in other countries; Nix says that, every year, it contributes to seven or eight prime ministerial or presidential election campaigns in "well-established democracies".) Its US arrival coincided with reclusive hedge-fund tycoon Robert Mercer's increasing interest in politics. According to a New Yorker story in March, the libertarian decided to fund a big data project to focus on his political interests. He sank around $US5 million into Cambridge Analytica. The Mercers initially backed Ted Cruz's Republican presidential nomination and CA worked for that campaign until Cruz dropped out of the race in May, 2016. When the Mercers switched their support to Trump, Cambridge and Alexander Nix moved with them. "We put an awful lot into that campaign," says Nix. According to US campaign finance data, the Trump campaign paid CA nearly $8 million in 2016. In Trump Tower on the night of November 8, the CA team ran complex statistical models as votes came in. "We had a pretty clear indication by Florida, which is about 8.30 in the evening, what was going to happen," says Nix. Around midnight, he left Trump Tower. First, he stopped by the Midtown Hilton Hotel where Republicans were celebrating at the official Trump election party. Then, at around 3am, he returned to CA's office and, with colleagues, downed Scotch and reflected on the campaign. After assisting Donald Trump during his presidential campaign, Cambridge Analytica's Alexander Nix was among those who eagerly watched the results on election night last November. Credit:Mark Wilson "It was a tremendous experience to work on, be part of and ultimately win an election campaign of that magnitude," he says. But in the weeks following the election, as Nix enjoyed a polo-playing holiday in Argentina with his wife and three young children, commentators started to question whether CA's work had actually had any real impact on Trump's win, especially given that Hillary Clinton's campaign also deployed formidable data analytics operations. Many have dismissed psychographic data analytics such as those which Cambridge claims to use as "snake oil". Meanwhile, the extent to which psychographics were deployed in the campaign is unclear. At conferences in the past few months, Nix has talked about what CA had available for the Trump campaign a "huge amount" of voter survey data, research and technological infrastructure and "hundreds of thousands or millions of OCEAN profiles" the company had collected that enabled it to "form a model to predict the personality of every single adult in the United States of America". Yet, in a statement about the campaign, the company said: "Cambridge Analytica did not have the opportunity to dive deeply into our psychographic offering because we simply did not have the time." In May, Hillary Clinton shared her thoughts on CA's contribution: "You can believe the hype on how great they were or the hype on how they weren't, but the fact is, they added something They married content with delivery and data. And it was a potent combination." AUSTRALIA'S PRIVACY AND DATA LAWS are stricter than those in the US, where individuals' data-points seem to bob about in an open market and so were able to be netted for Cambridge Analytica's work on the Trump campaign. Still, I want to know what data of mine is floating around in this world of "surveillance capitalism", a term coined by American author and retired academic Shoshana Zuboff. I consider my online activity: the cookies that track my clicks; my social media accounts Instagram, Twitter and Facebook plus the third-party apps Facebook hosts like those personality tests. I discover a free site called Stalkscan, which scrapes all the public information held on someone's Facebook account and aggregates it in one place, including everything they've ever "liked". I think about the apps on my phone MyFitnessPal, RunKeeper and Sleep Cycle which retain information about my health and wellbeing. And I think about Google, which knows more about us than our closest confidantes ever will and can blend a person's data from their activity on multiple Google products (from maps to search) to deliver ever more targeted advertising. "Remember, Google's customers are advertisers, not users," says academic Vanessa Teague. "So the service to Google's customers is that they can get good data about how effective their ads are." (In June, Google announced it would no longer scan emails held in free Gmail accounts for the purposes of ad personalisation.) I dig through my wallet. I have debit and credit cards. "Every Australian who's ever applied for a bank loan, a credit card or a mobile phone would have a presence on a credit-reporting agency's systems," says Dave Lacey, of IDCARE. I have loyalty cards: Flybuys, Country Road, Sportscraft, Witchery, Jigsaw, Dan Murphy's, Hyatt and Wholefoods House. I apply to Sportscraft and Flybuys for a copy of the information they hold on me, as I'm entitled to do by law. Sportscraft has on record my name, email, address, age and transaction history. It knows when I've had to go up a size. Flybuys has my name, address, email, birthday, details of the rewards I have redeemed, details of when I've shopped, where I've shopped (including at partners such as Liquorland) and how much I've spent. Coles holds the information about my shopping trolley history. I request an interview with Adam Story, Coles' general manager (Flybuys, loyalty and customer relationship management) but my request is denied. Evidently, Story doesn't want a relationship with every customer. In April, he sat on a data conference panel in Sydney with CA's Nix. "You need to make sure your marketing team can truly harness the data with always the customer's needs and expectations in mind," Story told the audience. "At Coles, our team has been trained to leverage the right tech platforms ... to deliver a truly personalised experience." I read the fine print: the Flybuys privacy policy. It's a grey zone that seems to allow for a great deal of leveraging, and a great deal of sharing: "To make it easy for you to deal with Participants and other Wesfarmers group companies (including Coles) and provide you with a more personal and consistent experience, we may exchange and combine personal information with them for the purposes described in our respective privacy policies We and Wesfarmers group companies may exchange your personal information with service providers engaged to assist with services including data processing, data analysis, information broking" But as IDCARE's Dave Lacey says, "everyone's in this game". Woolworths has a stake in the data analytics firm Quantium, which has claimed to have datasets on 22.6 million Australians and "data and technology partnerships" with companies including Woolworths, NAB, Facebook and Foxtel (which explains why it says that, every day, it knows where 3.6-million remote-control clicks take Australian TV viewers). All of which might explain why Alexander Nix has so much confidence in the "huge amount" of data available in Australia for commercial acquisition. During interviews with subjects for this article, Experian, a global data and analytics company with offices in Sydney and Melbourne, is repeatedly mentioned as a data broker where CA might potentially do its shopping. Its corporate logo has appeared in Nix's conference presentations. It is also a major credit reporting agency. I request an interview with an Experian executive. But in a surprise turn of events, my request is denied. No one wants to talk about big data. Instead, a PR firm emails me a statement: "Across the world Experian collects data from a range of sources to create marketing tools which our customers use to help target their communications in the most effective way. Wherever we operate, we act in strict accordance with the law and our own code of conduct. Today, we do not offer big data solutions to political parties in Australia and we do not have a commercial relationship with Cambridge Analytica." Not today, but what about tomorrow? IT'S ONE THING FOR A PILE OF DATA to be gathered about me or you and crunched for the purposes of sending us micro-targeted advertising material designed to persuade us to buy a tube of advanced whitening toothpaste or a new car with a compact yet spacious interior. It's quite another when it can potentially shift election results. One night in April, Nix's colleague Matt Oczkowski dined at the National Press Club in Canberra with a group of Coalition representatives. It was, says an insider, "a loose group of interested people", including at least one federal minister and several senior staff. It is believed that a group of Labor identities also met with Cambridge Analytica. But CA's representatives are not the only travelling salesmen to have visited Australia in the past few months. "They've been all over us like a rash," says one Coalition figure, referring to the overseas data analysts, pollsters, strategists and researchers who have come touting for business during a sedentary phase of the American election cycle. "A lot of them are trying to wedge commercial work off perceived high-level political links," says another. (In an attempt to see what other work CA might have picked up here, I email the Australian office, registered at an address in Sydney, and request to speak with local boss Allan Lorraine, an "experienced automotive professional", according to his LinkedIn profile. No response. Later, Nix says Lorraine is just a consultant to the business and can't speak on its behalf.) Those I talk with on both sides of politics, none of whom want to be named, are cynical about both how much Cambridge's offering contributed to Trump's success and its relevancy in Australia where, unlike in the US, voting is compulsory and a preferential system is in place. "There is a fair amount of puff in all of this activity," says one. Another tells me: "Somehow in the space of six months they turned themselves into a superstar machine, which I just don't buy." All point out that Australian political parties, to one degree or another, are already in the business of big data, using a combination of the electoral roll, focus group research, telephone surveys, polling and previous electoral results to build models of voters, what matters to them, and what their most persuadable issues are. Nix would argue that CA's expertise gives the company the capacity to dive even deeper. "It's all about understanding the motivations of the target audience and trying to understand at a very granular level why people might undertake a certain behaviour, whether that's joining a terrorist organisation or smoking cigarettes or eating fast food," says Nix. With that information, companies or political parties can micro-target segmented audiences with "addressable" ad technology in Nix's words, "nuanced in order to reflect the way you see the world". Speaking at the Hamburg conference, Nix said: "Pretty much every message that Trump put out was data-driven." But in the business of micro-targeting, there are bigger culprits than Cambridge Analytica. "What my research shows is that you can predict whether someone is liberal basically just by looking at the music they listen to, or the movies they watch, or the books they read," says Michael Kosinski, a global pioneer in psychometrics, the science of psychological measurement. Speaking from his office at Stanford University, he continues: "You don't even need to know those things because Google knows those things. So if I'm a politician I can go to Google and say, 'Please target people who recently searched for those 10 things.' On Facebook it's similar you go to FB and say, 'Can you please send this message to people who do A, B, C and D.' " I ask Melbourne academic Vanessa Teague about micro-targeting. "Yes, it just cuts out the noise of all the alternative viewpoints that would otherwise complicate a person's political decision-making," she says. "How sweet." Other experts have similar concerns. Suelette Dreyfus, a lecturer in the School of Computing and Information Systems at the University of Melbourne, believes the tools of the big data industry will help politicians to lie better. "It is a manipulation of the most extraordinarily customised nature." In the Sydney hotel lobby, Nix protests the suggestion that CA's work of data gathering and information dissemination is subliminally manipulative. "All we're trying to do is to make sure that you receive the most relevant communications; if you care about the Second Amendment, why do you want to be bombarded with leaflets on pro-choice?" He doesn't resile from CA's contribution to the Trump campaign. "We're a service provider and we're just trying to provide the best possible service for our clients." At the end of his address at the Hamburg conference, Nix took questions from a panel. One man, flushed in the face, said he had just one question. "If it's really true that you helped Trump get into office, are you happy putting a misogynist buffoon [into] the most powerful job in the world who's now f...ing up our world?" Nix answered the man's question calmly. It wasn't the role of people sitting in other countries to cast their opinions on what was a free and fair election or on the self-determination of the American people, he said. As we wind up our interview, he tells me CA will be working on the US midterm elections in November next year. "It's going to be interesting to see how that's going to play out." Australia's psychiatrists are urging the government to lift the ban on nicotine-containing electronic cigarettes, saying their mentally ill patients, many of whom are heavy smokers, could "significantly benefit" from the devices. In a submission to the federal government's e-cigarette inquiry, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) said the mentally ill were more likely to smoke and be heavy smokers, cutting their life expectancy by 20 years compared to the general population. "E-cigarettes ... provide a safer way to deliver nicotine to those who are unable to stop smoking, thereby minimising the harms associated with smoking tobacco and reducing some of the health disparities," it said. Choosing to have, to raise and to enjoy your own children is akin to making a purchase like opting for a extra-wide-screen TV or a sporty SUV. Some have argued children are similar to a "private consumption good". Questions like that have provoked decades of debate among economists. If that's the case, there's no reason for government's to subsidise childcare or maybe even public schools. Other economists have taken the view that children are crucial for the reproduction of society. They are the workers and taxpayers of the future and without them society cannot not be sustained. If that's the case, public investment in the education and care of young children is one the best things a government can do. A few decades ago the behaviour of families was largely ignored by economists. But nowadays household decisions about everything from childcare to housework have become an important focus for many in the profession. An elderly pilot is among three men charged after allegedly plotting to make an island-hopping drug run from California to Australia carrying ice worth about $255 million. The Australian Federal Police allege the trio intended to use a six-seater plane to ferry the massive haul of ice across the Pacific Ocean, but the scheme never got off the ground. Plans to fly the small plane from the west coast of the United States to a regional Victorian air field was "unique", federal police Superintendent Krissy Barrett said. "Now I'm not a good flyer at the best of times but that's certainly not a plane I would have wanted to be on," she added. The department has been approached by private-sector players who want to take over claims processing, benefit assessment, call centres and registrations. Private-sector players want to take over Medicare's claims processing, benefit assessment, call centres and registrations. Credit:Peter Braig The federal government is considering bringing in a private player to take over Medicare's payment system but documents released under FOI laws show that big business is hungry for a much bigger chunk of the Medicare pie. Big companies want to take over the processing of Medicare claims and assess eligibility for benefits as well as run the agency's call centres and other functions, internal Health Department documents reveal. The documents were release after an FOI request by the Community and Public Sector Union, which is bitterly opposed to any outsourcing, fearing its members at Medicare's parent department Human Services might lose their jobs. There were also fears over the privacy implications of allowing the private sector or multinational corporations wide access to the medical and welfare records of millions of Australians. The idea has been controversial since the Health Department called in August 2014 for expressions of interest from private players to take over Medicare, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and some Veterans Affairs benefits. The government was forced to hose down what it called "alarmist exaggerations" that there was to be a "sell-off of Human Services" on the cards or that 20,000 public service jobs might be lost. But according to the internal Health Department documents, some of the firms jostling for the work are thinking much bigger than the department or its minister. Do you want a well-paid government job in a prize-winning workplace that offers big bonuses to most staff? The Future Fund Management Agency in Melbourne is hiring two mid-level investment analysts, and the potential rewards are immense. But you'd best apply quickly. It does not recruit often because it does not need to: its 90 staff are among the happiest in the federal public service, and they barely ever take a day off. The agency was responsible for paying the bureaucracy's biggest performance bonuses last year, including a $633,216 payment to one of its senior executives. The state government will redirect $10 million from emergency cheap hotel-room style accommodation for homeless people in crisis to encourage new models that offer people more support. Pru Goward, Minister for Social Housing, announced on Thursday that $10 million would be diverted from the state government's temporary accommodation budget and given to non-government organisations with the brief to provide a better model of supported accommodation. Nigel Blakemore, one of the community organisers. The homeless being moved on from Martin Place on June 24, 2017. Credit:Anna Kucera The state government spent up to $30 million a year on temporary hotel rooms for people in crisis in 2012, Fairfax Media reported. Those rooms can include low-cost motels and caravan parks, which are used on a temporary basis for people at points of crisis. But Ms Goward said people could be left without enough support in the rooms. A group founded by the Church of Scientology has been targeting schools in NSW and Victoria with brochures and a documentary about the dangers of psychiatrists, antidepressants and ADHD medication. The Australian office of the Citizens Committee on Human Rights which was established by the Church of Scientology this week sent material about the "psychiatric drugging of Australian children" to every principal in NSW. Schools were asked to screen a 50-minute documentary that accuses the psychiatric profession of lying and says its practices are "killing our children, our families and our communities". It includes footage of children popping pills and claims that there is "no evidence that depression is caused by chemical imbalance". One person spent up to $13,500 funding the registration of as many as 90 Liberal members to attend a contentious reform convention this weekend, sparking accusations they are trying to "buy" the party. The revelation comes amid accusations a group aligned with former prime minister Tony Abbott is trying to "stack" the event due to be held at Rosehill racecourse this weekend. Fairfax Media revealed on Monday that the group, the Democratic Reform Movement, was paying for registrations of members to attend. The group is backing a motion to be considered at the meeting put up by the Federal Electorate Conference in Mr Abbott's seat of Warringah to hand more power to Liberal party members in preselections of state and federal candidates. Detailed plans for a light rail line along Parramatta Road linking Sydney's central business district to Burwood were developed by the state's transport agency, but were abandoned several months ago. Fairfax Media has obtained extensive planning documents for a Parramatta Road light rail line, developed last year and early this year for Transport for NSW. The project, estimated to cost up to $2.7 billion, would aim to take advantage of the WestConnex motorway to be completed in 2023. The light rail line would include about 15 stops on Parramatta Road, and the route would run between Burwood Station and a terminus near Museum Station. A NSW conwoman whose seven years of scams in three continents cost charities and governments close to $700,000 has been sentenced to at least six months in jail. Samantha Azzopardi, 28, pushed her luck too far this year when she posed as a 13-year-old Sydney high school student named Harper Hart and repeated a lie that had previously fooled authorities in Ireland and Canada. Samantha Azzopardi pretended to be a 13-year-old Sydney high school student named Harper Hart. Credit:Calgary Police Azzopardi claimed she was a child sex-trafficking victim but, when authorities investigated, they realised she wasn't what she seemed. She pleaded guilty in June to four fraud offences. Plenty of colourful language has been deployed during the long fight inside the NSW Liberal Party over reforming preselection rules. The current system has been described as "corrupt" and rorted by factional bosses and lobbyists, while there are warnings an alternative being proposed will unleash "ethnic branch stackers" and empower the party's hard right wing, derided by factional opponents as the "Taliban". Beyond the verbal fireworks, though, when 1400 party members descend on Rosehill racecourse for the Party Futures Convention this weekend, it will boil down to one key question: how much power should you give to members? The NSW Liberals might be the current focus in Australia, thanks largely to it being seen as another opportunity for a flare-up in the tensions between Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull. But it's a question being asked by political parties across the globe. A 71-year-old woman is facing charges after a child died after being struck by a car in Sydney's north-west on Wednesday afternoon. The three-year-old boy was struck by a Kia Carnival while walking with his mother in Eastwood just before 4pm. He was taken to The Children's Hospital at Westmead where he died a short time later. Following police inquiries, the woman was charged with dangerous driving occasioning death and negligent driving occasioning death. Police are appealing for witnesses after a motorcyclist died while on his way to work on the Gold Coast. Emergency services were called to Tallebudgera Creek Road near Gibsonville Street after reports a motorcycle had crashed into a culvert, an underground tunnel about 11.20am on Thursday. Police have appealed for witnesses to either crash to come forward. Credit:Glenn Hunt The rider, a 51-year-old Tallebudgera Valley man, was pronounced dead at the scene. Police believe the crash may have happened as early as 6.30am after initial inquiries suggest the man was supposed to start work at 7am. Police are appealing for information after a number of "sophisticated" ATM robberies across Brisbane's north over the past six months. Operation Papa Dodgeball has been set up to investigate four ATM break-ins at shopping centres between January and June that police believe are linked. Police said the thieves could have "prior knowledge to specific ATMs, they could be comfortable with brand, make or model of that particular ATM". Credit:Sarah Keayes Police said they were all "sophisticated" early morning break-ins and on three occasions, a "significant quantity of cash" had been stolen. The first break-in happened on January 15 about 4.30am when the thieves unsuccessfully tried to break into an ATM at an Albany Creek shopping centre. Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath is the latest government member to admit to using a private email account. Overnight, Minister Mark Bailey was stood aside from his ministerial duties after a Crime and Corruption Commission investigation. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk with Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath, who admitted she had used a private account from "time to time" to access government documents from home. Credit:Tertius Pickard The CCC found Mr Bailey raised a "reasonable suspicion of corrupt conduct" in deleting work-related emails from his private account, mangocube6@yahoo.co.uk. He had been contacted by the Electrical Trade Union boss Peter Simpson via the private account about the merger between Energy Super and Equip Super. RSPCA Queensland spokesman Michael Beatty said it was the biggest cockfighting investigation RSPCA had even done. They raided one property in Cairns, three in Gympie, one on the Sunshine Coast, two in North Brisbane, three in South Brisbane and one West of Ipswich. Several raids have been carried out in Queensland in relation to cockfighting. RSPCA inspectors located and seized 186 fowl. Credit:RSPCA Queensland (Supplied) "With this particular one, it has been an ongoing investigation for over a year," he said. "We were quite surprised it was as wide-spread as it is and also there would seem there are a lot of fighting cocks actually exported overseas into Southeast Asia." Mr Beatty said it was information from the public that prompted the investigation and he was confident charges would be laid. "The charges will be laid under the Animal Protection Act which is what we prosecute under, there was no police involvement in this particular case on any of the properties." Two ministers will share responsibility for MP Mark Bailey's mega-portfolio in a temporary Queensland cabinet shake-up. It comes after Mr Bailey was stood aside from his ministerial duties following a Crime and Corruption Commission investigation. Mark Bailey's portfolios have been divided between two ministers. Credit:Glenn Hunt The CCC found Mr Bailey raised a "reasonable suspicion of corrupt conduct" in deleting work-related emails and deactivating his private account. In a statement, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said Treasurer Curtis Pitt would take on the role of Acting Energy, Biofuels and Water Supply Minister. In the darkest hours of tropical nights, professor Zenobia Jacobs trekked into the scrub of Kakadu National Park in search of the tiniest of time-capsules. Her job was to collect grains of sand from an archaeological dig within an ancient Aboriginal rock shelter known as Madjedbebe. She collected samples every five centimetres as the dig progressed right down to 2.5 metres. She could not expose a single grain to sunlight. Elon Musk tamped down expectations about Space Exploration Technologies Corp's new rocket designed to carry private citizens into space, saying whoever chooses to be among the first passengers will need to be "brave". The SpaceX Falcon Heavy, a rocket with two extra boosters attached and a total of 27 engines that must fire simultaneously, would have enormous stresses and had been difficult to test on the ground, Musk said on Wednesday in Washington. He jokingly urged attendees of a conference on the International Space Station to watch the first attempted launch. "It's guaranteed to be exciting," he said. When asked whether the risks would make potential customers pause before signing up for a flight, he said: "I want to make sure we set expectations accordingly." Japanese student Yosuke Kanno was the first to die in the Bourke Street tragedy, but the last to be named. Mr Kanno, 25, was walking outside the Royal Arcade in Bourke Street Mall on January 20, when a car allegedly driven by Dimitrious Gargasoulas began mowing down pedestrians. Mr Kanno died at the scene. He was named on Thursday during a coronial hearing into his death and the deaths of the five other Bourke Street victims: father Matthew Si, schoolgirl Thalia Hakin, Sydney woman Jess Mudie, financial consultant Bhavita Patel and three-month-old baby Zachary Bryant. Former Ballarat priest Paul David Ryan will front a Melbourne court next month over a string of historical child sex offences. The 68-year-old was charged this month with multiple offences against a number of alleged victims from across Victoria. Paul David Ryan has been charged with a string of child sex offences. The charges include rape, indecent assault and sexual penetration of a child under 16 years old. Detectives from Victoria Police's Sano taskforce, the squad set up to investigate historic child sexual abuse, are believed to be investigating Mr Ryan in the wake of evidence revealed in the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. A Church of Scientology group has been targeting Victorian schools with propaganda about the dangers of psychiatrists, antidepressants and ADHD medication. It has prompted Education Minister James Merlino to urge principals to toss out the DVDs, letters and glossy pamphlets from the Scientology group. "We trust that they are able to choose correctly what information is useful for their school and I am confident this would be thrown in the bin," he said. Earlier this week, the Australian office of the Citizens Committee on Human Rights which was established by the Church of Scientology sent material about the "psychiatric drugging of Australian children" to every principal in the state. Former Victoria Police commissioner Simon Overland will take the reins of a troubled Melbourne council which has lost its two most recent chief executives. The 55-year-old, who resigned from the force in 2011 under a cloud after a two-year stint in the top job, was on Thursday named chief executive of Whittlesea Council, in Melbourne's north. Simon Overland resigned as Victoria Police commissioner after two years. Credit:Craig Abraham It's the latest chapter in a colourful career for Mr Overland, who has worked as secretary for the Department of Justice in Tasmania since his departure from Victorian law enforcement. "I feel very honoured in accepting this important appointment," he said of his local government appointment. A hotel boom in Melbourne is being driven by a shortage of rooms, a thriving tourism industry, and according to one prominent city real estate agent a realisation by developers that the Andrews government will approve towers mixing hotel accommodation with apartments. In the past two years alone, 14 hotels from prestigious chains like the Mandarin Oriental and the Shangri-La have been approved by Planning Minister Richard Wynne. On Tuesday, Melbourne City Council gave its support to a new Marriott hotel planned for Docklands where a flurry of new hotels are opening. "We can't build hotels fast enough," said Lord Mayor Robert Doyle, whose city council estimates more than 8050 hotel rooms are in the pipeline. A Turnbull government inquiry into Indigenous incarceration has found WA woman Ms Dhu's death in custody is a prime example of the "tragic consequences" for Aboriginal people imprisoned for minor unpaid fines. In October the government announced the Australian Law Reform Commission would investigate the Indigenous incarceration crisis, which Attorney-General George Brandis has described as a "national tragedy". Ms Dhu died after she was held at South Hedland police station in WA. Credit:ABC News The inquiry, which was headed by federal court judge Matthew Myers, revealed none of the 11 women investigated by the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody who died in jail were imprisoned for serious offences. The report highlights the case of Ms Dhu, whose first name is not used for cultural reasons, who died while spending three days locked up at South Hedland Police Station in August 2014 for $3622 of unpaid fines. A drug-affected man who attacked a truck driver with a hammer in a remote service station toilet, leaving him with a permanent brain injury, has destroyed an innocent victim's life, a Perth judge says. Stephen Christopher Darroch, 45, forced his way into a service station toilet in Meekatharra, in WA's Mid West region, in September last year and struck Ross Tapper several times to the head in an unprovoked attack while the victim's partner sat in the truck unaware. Stephen Christopher Darroch jailed for six years. When he was arrested 70km away and taken to Mount Magnet police station, Darroch requested a phone call and then punched an officer, knocking the victim's glasses off his face before he was restrained. Darroch was sentenced in the WA District Court on Thursday to six years in jail and must serve at least four years behind bars before he can be eligible for parole. A pilot has been credited for saving nearly 900 passengers when his last-minute manouevre prevented a mid-air collision. Air Seychelles captain Roberto Vallicelli had just taken off from Mauritius airport when he realised the Airbus A330 he was flying was headed straight into the path of an Emirate Airbus A380 - the world's largest passenger jet, the Daily Mail reported. The map shows the Air Seychelles flight's sudden change in trajectory to avoid the Emirates jet. Credit:The Aviation Herald/Google Earth Vallicelli made a sharp right turn, narrowly avoiding a collision which would likely have killed as many as 892 passengers. Emirates flight EK-703, which had begun its descent into Mauritius, had reported an incorrect altitude to air traffic control, according to the Aviation Herald. Air traffic control did not acknowledge the mistake when they passed the erroneous reading on. London: The European Union has issued a "please explain" to Britain after a week of intense Brexit negotiations ended in disagreement and division - while British Prime Minister Theresa May announced she is off for a walking holiday in the Alps. And Australia could have to wait another two years after Brexit before it can start negotiating a free-trade deal with Britain, it emerged on Thursday. Britain is due to leave the European Union in March 2019, but it wants an implementation phase to follow Brexit to avoid a cliff-edge transition for businesses. Trade Secretary Liam Fox told the BBC "another two years wouldn't be too much to ask" if it was needed for a smooth Brexit for businesses. The UK might not be able to strike new trade deals during this phase. Arizona Senator John McCain has been diagnosed with a brain tumour after doctors removed a blood clot above his left eye last week. The 80-year-old Republican has glioblastoma, an aggressive cancer, doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix said. "On Friday, July 14, Senator John McCain underwent a procedure to remove a blood clot from above his left eye at Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix," his office said in a statement on Wednesday. "Subsequent tissue pathology revealed that a primary brain tumour known as a glioblastoma was associated with the blood clot." Istanbul: Syrian rebel commanders say they are disappointed in the Trump administration's decision to end a covert CIA weapons and training program for opposition fighters, an initiative that began under president Barack Obama but that fizzled out amid battlefield losses and concerns about extremism within rebel ranks. "We definitely feel betrayed," said General Tlass al-Salameh of Osoud al-Sharqiya (Eastern Lions), a group affiliated with the Free Syrian Army. Salameh and his deputies say they have received CIA support to rout Islamic State from areas of eastern Syria but that they have also fought battles against pro-government forces. Syrian Internal Security Forces receive weapons during their graduation ceremony, at Ain Issa desert base, in Raqqa on Thursday. Some 250 residents of Raqqa are the latest batch to graduate from a brief US-training course. Credit:AP "It feels like we are being abandoned at a very difficult moment," Salameh said. "It feels like they only wanted to help when we were fighting [IS]. Now that we are also fighting the regime, the Americans want to withdraw." The news infuriated Republican senator John McCain, a day after he was diagnosed with an aggressive brain cancer. He branded the move "irresponsible, short-sighted" and one that "plays into Russia, Assad's hands". PHILIPSBURG:--- The government of St. Maarten through the Ministry of VROMI will begin re-routing the Beacon Hill entrance in order to prevent the loss of life and or injuries due to jet blast. Minister Emmanuel said that the department found a possible solution which is close off the Beacon Hill entrance, and reroute the entrance to Beacon Hill and the businesses located in that area. The Minister said despite the large sign boards warning people of the danger visitors to the island still go to the area and hold on to the fence for the jet blast thrill. He said that management of PJIAE will have to get involved in solving the problems because the intention is to move the airport fence further away, remove the dividers and the concrete edge from Beacon Hill. The Minister further explained that at some point government would have to do something to avoid injuries and or death since not so long ago someone was seriously injured and most recently a loss of life. SMN News understands that one of the possibility government is looking at is to reroute the entrance through the entrance to Bada Bing and Marys Boon. However, this has not been confirmed. Premiums will increase which the private sector has problems with --- Finance Minister --- SHTA objecting to high cost. PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Health Emil Lee reacted to the statements made by the SHTA on the implementation of the National Health Insurance ( NHI) which they also requested be postponed. Minister Lee made clear that he do believe the discussion on the NHI is a good discussion because everyone deserves to have quality healthcare. He said St. Maarten have been discussing the NHI since 2009 when he was the president of the SHTA. Lee went on to explain that St. Maarten was given an instruction by the Kingdom Council whereby they must implement the NHI by the end of 2017. This means by the end of the year the Minister must present the draft law on the restructuring of the healthcare system to Parliament He said already the window is tight meaning that he does not have much time based on the instruction and while he does not want anyone to think that the discussions on the NHI are combative there are a few things he does not agree with. Asked if the SHTA was given sufficient information as they indicated to the CFT that they did not have sufficient information on the NHI Minister Lee said he does not agree with the CFT and the SHTA because information on the NHI have been ongoing for years now. In addition to that Minister of Finance Richard Gibson Sr said that he also met with the SHTA and their concerns is the high cost that will come with the implementation of the NHI. The Minister of Finance said that he strongly believes that St. Maarten would have to implement some sort of indirect taxes whereby visitors to the island will contribute to the NHI. He made clear that this does not mean that the premiums will not go up but it will not go up as high. In supporting the proposals made by the Minister of Finance Minister Lee he also suggested that a taxation be placed on tobacco and alcohol and even sugar beverages. Minister Lee further explained that each time patients are not able to pay their bills for healthcare government have to pick up the tab. He explained that even people in the private sector would take private insurance while they are working and when they go on pension they return to the government healthcare system which allows them to pay a premium based on their income. Asked by SMN News if he thinks the private sector will pay their healthcare premium when it is increased knowing that SZV claimed to have almost $200M on the streets which ATS and SZV is trying to get businesses to pay off. The Minister said that government have been working on compliance and it is something they discuss almost on a daily basis. It should be noted that SHTA is not the only ones that have been protesting the implementation of the NHI, but healthcare institutions such as the White and Yellow Cross, Mental Health and healthcare professionals. PHILIPSBURG:--- Why even bother at this time to write about the qualifications of a parliamentarian when the next parliamentary election is all the way in 2020? Sadly, this has been the mentality in the past that has led us to vote for persons based, on friendship, family ties, and family tradition, instead of looking at the qualifications, qualities, and experience of the candidates. One of the reasons why we have not paid much attention to the qualifications of parliamentarians is because, during election time, our politicians campaign as if they were running to become ministers in government. However, they failed to point out the difference and the separation between parliament and government. To summarize, the people elect the parliamentarians and the parliamentarians, in turn, appoint the ministers. Therefore, if we want a good Council of Ministers, we must vote for noble, qualified parliamentarians who would ensure that we get a good government. Besides the four criteria for parliamentarians listed in the constitution, parties, as well as the people, should hold candidates to a high standard. Article 49 of our Constitution states that to be eligible for membership of Parliament, a person must be a resident of Sint Maarten, a Dutch national, have attained the age of eighteen years and must not have been disqualified from voting. As far as the age is concerned, a person can be on a partys slate at age 17; as long as he/she turns 18 by the time the oath has to be taken. Based on the Constitution, anyone with the Dutch nationality can become a parliamentarian in Sint Maarten. In this regard, it is interesting to note that the constitutions of neighboring countries like St Kitts and Nevis, the Commonwealth of Dominica and the Territory of Anguilla clearly stipulate that be elected, persons must be connected to the country or territory by birth or descent. If such a criterion were applied in Sint Maarten, many persons would not be eligible to become members of parliament, including me as well as several of our current MPs. Revising the nationality article will require a constitutional amendment, which needs the approval of the other countries of the kingdom. The criterion must not have been disqualified from voting relates to the final verdict of a court of law. In other words, once the court case of a prospective parliamentarian is still in appeal he/she has all rights to join a party or to establish a party. The prospective parliamentarian also has the right to campaign, to be elected, to take the oath of office and to function as a member of parliament until he/she receives the final guilty verdict. This is the reason why MP Silvio Matser is still functioning as a Member of Parliament. Even though the court in the first instance, as well as the joint court of justice, found him guilty of tax evasion, he has appealed the case at the High Court in The Hague and consequently has the right to function as a parliamentarian until he receives the final judgment from the latter court. We may not agree with the law but we must abide by it. In addition to the constitutional criteria mentioned earlier, it is important that we also evaluate prospective parliamentarians based on several other qualifications such as love for Sint Maarten, Dutch language skills and integrity. If persons have a love for Sint Maarten, it will show in their involvement in the community. They will be engaged, in one way or another, in trying to better the society. Their motive for getting in politics would be for the sake and the good of the people and not for personal gain. They should ascribe to, and live by, the principles of integrity, transparency, accountability, and love for the country. How many of the 125 candidates who took part in the 2016 elections are still visible and active today? Even many of them, who have been elected to parliament, often do not see the need to represent us as we expect them to. One parliamentarian has not attended parliamentary meetings in months. At times, several of our parliamentarians have refused to attend meetings. Not too long ago, the minority faction in parliament even declined to represent us at a high-level kingdom meeting. This is really not the kind of representation that we expect from our parliamentarians! As far as Dutch language skills are concerned, it is important that prospective parliamentarians have at least a working knowledge of the Dutch language. It is interesting to note that the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Dominica includes a language qualification stating that to be qualified to be elected a person must be able to speak and read the English language. Admittedly, Sint Maartens constitutional and judicial systems are very much embedded in the Dutch system. It is obvious that Dutch supersedes the English language when we read the disclaimer at the bottom of each page of a translated law: No rights can be derived from the English translation. The SMCP believes that if voters take the additional qualifications into serious consideration when electing parliamentarians, Sint Maarten would have a stronger, better qualified, integrity-based parliament, which in turn would appoint ministers to the Council of Minister, based on their professional, experiential and ethical qualifications. Wycliffe Smith Leader of the Sint Maarten Christian Party Sen. Deb Fischer said Thursday she believes Senate Republicans who want to scrap Obamacare and move forward with a GOP health care replacement plan haven't lost that battle yet. "The best strategy is to repeal and replace at the same time," Fischer said during a telephone conference call from Washington. "I believe we still have the opportunity to do that," she said. Fischer said the Senate will consider a motion Tuesday to proceed by moving directly to the House-approved health care bill and then allowing amendments and debate to begin on a revised proposal. President Donald Trump has urged the Senate to remain in session through its traditional August recess to get that job accomplished, Fischer pointed out, "and I agree with him." Fischer noted that most Republican senators "campaigned on and were elected on repealing Obamacare" and suggested that it's time to act on that promise rather than back away now in the face of divisions that appear to have deadlocked the Senate bill. "We have to work this out," she declared. "In my opinion, this is not a political exercise against (former) President Obama," the Nebraska Republican senator told one questioner. "I am supporting and will vote to repeal because of the harm I see to Nebraskans and Americans," she said. This is "a promise we made to Nebraskans and a promise made to Americans that we would fix this mess that we are in," Fischer said. And next week is the time to begin to keep that promise, she said. Asked to grade Trump's performance on the issue, Fischer said she would give the president an A or a B. Sixty votes will be required to move ahead with a health care replacement bill and, as of Thursday, Senate Republicans remained short of that required number in terms of commitments. Volaris Group, a Constellation Software company, Enters into Agreement to Acquire a Provider of Insurance Software TORONTO, ONTARIO (Marketwired) 07/19/17 Constellation Software Inc. (Constellation) (TSX: CSU) today announced that its wholly-owned division Volaris Group (Volaris) has entered into an agreement to acquire a provider of Insurance software. Completion of the acquisition remains subject to mutually agreed closing conditions. About Volaris Group Volaris acquires, strengthens and grows vertical market technology companies. As an Operating Group of Constellation Software Inc., Volaris is all about strengthening businesses within the markets they compete and enabling them to grow whether that growth comes through organic measures such as new initiatives and product development, day-to-day business, or through complementary acquisitions. Learn more at . About Constellation Constellation Software acquires, manages and builds vertical market software businesses. Contacts: Constellation Software Inc. Jamal Baksh Chief Financial Officer (416) 861-9677 AVST Supports Microsoft Customers Transitioning from Exchange Online Unified Messaging FOOTHILL RANCH, CA (Marketwired) 07/20/17 This week that as of July 2018 they will be discontinuing support for Session Border Controllers to connect third-party PBX systems to Exchange Online Unified Messaging (UM). This news forces many Microsoft customers to seek an alternative Unified Messaging solution for Office 365 that can connect to their existing on-premise PBX. Today (AVST) announced a significant promotion to ease the economic impact of this UM challenge for enterprises. AVST provides Microsoft customers with an enterprise-class UM solution that enables them to continue using their existing PBX investments until they are ready to transition to the cloud and Skype for Business. AVST not only delivers Unified Messaging that is compatible with Office 365 and third-party PBX environments, but also provides enhanced functionality around Voice Messaging, Automated Attendant, Interactive Voice Response, and Call Center solutions. While alternative solutions require an immediate PBX replacement, AVSTs industry-leading telephony interoperability provides Microsoft customers with an evolutionary solution for achieving their migration goals to Skype for Business. While the discontinuation announcement leaves less than a year for Microsoft customers to complete their migration, AVSTs Unified Communications platform delivers a unique enterprise-class UM solution that offers the following benefits: Integrates with all leading PBX/IP-PBX phone systems Avaya, Cisco, Microsoft and more; Ability to continue using Exchange UM Outlook forms; Enables a migration from existing premise-based PBX to Skype for Business Premise or Cloud over time; and A promotion designed to economically provide an enterprise-class Unified Messaging solution that integrates with their current on-premise PBX. There are many Office 365 Exchange Online UM customers that use a third-party PBX and are not ready to rush to Skype for Business as their phone system. In this scenario, consider AVST, said . AVSTs extensive experience with enterprise-class telephony and Unified Messaging makes it an ideal solution for customers looking for a flexible alternative to Exchange Online UM. As a long-time Microsoft Gold Partner with competencies in Communications and Messaging, combined with 35 years of PBX integration experience, AVST is uniquely qualified to deliver Unified Messaging to Microsoft enterprise customers worldwide, said AVST CTO Tom Minifie. With the recent news that Exchange Online UM will no longer directly support third-party PBXs, we are pleased to offer customers an alternative that will enable them to continue to enjoy the benefits of Exchange-based UM, regardless of their current or future PBX, with no interruption in service. To learn more about how AVST can help future-proof communications infrastructure investments, please visit . With more than 35 years of continuous innovation, Applied Voice & Speech Technologies, Inc. (AVST) is a trusted developer of software-based, enterprise-class Unified Communications (UC) solutions. Our mission is to design, deliver and support communications solutions that transform the productivity of individual workers, teams and enterprises while leveraging the value of their existing and evolving IT infrastructure. Thousands of businesses worldwide rely on AVSTs advanced voice, mobility, team communications, and business process UC solutions to meet their mission-critical communications requirements. The world-class interoperability and flexibility of AVSTs UC platform provides a future-proofed bridge to their digital future. Headquartered in Orange County, California, AVST maintains facilities in Seattle, Washington, Victoria B.C., Canada, the United Kingdom, and has remote sales offices throughout the United States. AVSTs UC solutions are sold and supported worldwide by an extensive network of resellers and OEM partners. To learn more about AVST, our products and partners, please visit or you can follow us at , or . Embedded Video Available: Stephanie Olsen Lages & Associates (949) 453-8080 The 16-year-old student denied the weapon was his when authorities discovered it in his backpack. Everything you need to know about No. 20 Notre Dame's game vs. Army Saturday in Philadelphia Here's everything you need to know about Saturday's college football matchup between No. 20 Notre Dame and Navy. Kickoff is noon Court records say 19-year-old Hailey Boutin of Elwood was sentenced Monday in Dawson County District Court. She had pleaded guilty to misdemeanor vehicular homicide after prosecutors lowered the charge from a felony. Authorities said Boutin likely was distracted by a text message on her cellphone Sept. 19, moments before running a stop sign about 10 miles south of Cozad on Nebraska 21 and slamming into another vehicle. The impact caused the other vehicle to roll several times, killing a passenger, 59-year-old Mary Robertson, who lived in Cozad. The crash seriously injured Robertson's husband, 64-year-old Monte Robertson, who was driving. Georgetown, SC (29440) Today Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. High 76F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Low 56F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2016 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement Currently, the health care system consists of the in-patient and out-patient sectors, but economists in the industry are convinced that the digital sector will soon join them. Germany currently spends a total of 350 billion euros ($403 billion) per year on health care, and the high-tech segment will certainly siphon some of that money off from the traditional sectors like hospital and practice care. Muschenich expects the digital medical care sector in Germany to be worth 100 billion euros by 2025. "From an organizational standpoint, the digital sector will come before the two other sectors," Muschenich says. In the future, he explains, doctors will become dependent on getting references from digital systems. Experts at the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute (GDI), a future-oriented think tank in Switzerland, likewise believe that smartphones will become the "core interface" of the health care system. "Cost pressures will push the system towards digital," says Karin Frick, head of research at GDI. "It seems logical for patients to undergo an initial examination using smartphone systems. Companies that understand that first will be the winners." THE PRODUCERS Not far from the airport in Hamburg, on Rontgen Street -- named after the German physicist who discovered the electromagnetic radiation used in X-rays -- the German headquarters of Philips can be found. Today, the Dutch multinational is no longer the same company it was for the almost 100 years prior to 2014 and the change can even be seen in the architecture. Floors here have been given the names of different Hamburg neighborhoods and meetings are held in "boxes." The CEO has a desk in an open-plan office space and next to the restrooms, there are mounted pods for employees' mobile phones. Televisions that bear the Philips name no longer have anything directly to do with the company -- the brand has been licensed out. The light bulb division has likewise been sold off. The only thing left is medical equipment. "Wherever I go, I have to explain that the Philips of today is purely a medical technology company," says Peter Vullinghs, Philips head in Germany and manager of 4,800 employees. He does, though, see parallels with the television business, which he once ran. "They went from being high-end products to simple consumer goods. The same thing is now happening with medical technology," he says. A slew of new competitors has joined the market, including Vullinghs says, Google, Apple, Samsung and IBM. Dr. Automobile and Expendable Doctors Philips is a leader in the electric toothbrush sector. Some models have sensors that track tooth-brushing behavior and can display the information with the help of a smartphone app. While the company still sells large pieces of equipment for clinics and hospitals, an increasing number of apps for private consumers are also being developed. The company makes a fall detection sensor for the infirm which can determine how serious the fall was and whether emergency help is necessary. The Philips Vital Signs Camera software can determine from a simple mobile phone picture a patient's heart and breathing frequency and can even perform and EKG -- with astonishing accuracy. Business models are also changing. Whereas standard practice has long been that clinics and hospitals periodically buy large pieces of equipment worth several thousand, or even millions, of euros, use fees for such machinery could be the future. Philips' portable ultrasound machine Lumify, for example, which is linked to a smartphone to produce high-resolution images, includes a monthly software subscription fee. Philips sees midwives as a promising market for the device. They could perform a scan on site and then send the results to a gynecologist. Further in the future, it seems likely that software could be developed to take over the analysis of the ultrasound scans entirely. Siemens Healthineers, the medical technology division of the German technology giant Siemens, is taking a somewhat more conservative approach. "Our customers are not the patients, but continue to be hospitals and medical practices," says Arthur Kaindl, head of Digital Health Services. Every hour, some 200,000 patients are examined with the help of Siemens equipment worldwide. Taken together, the resulting database could soon become more valuable than the machines themselves. Data, after all, is priceless. "It looks like we will ultimately be producing software that helps doctors make a diagnosis," Kaindl says. Such support could ultimately evolve into technology taking over some of the tasks traditionally performed by doctors, but medical equipment manufacturers, if they are willing to say such a thing at all, only do so if they are guaranteed anonymity. They are wary of unnecessarily angering their clients, including clinics, first-aid responders and medical specialists. Competition from Unexpected Places Artificial respiration equipment specialist Drager, based in Lubeck, believes the development is coming slowly but surely. Even today, doctors are increasingly relying on software support for such complicated procedures as weaning patients off of artificial respiration. It has also become common for doctors to transfer monitoring data to their mobile phones. The U.S.-based company Johnson & Johnson has even developed a machine together with Sedasys that can take care of short-term anesthesia more or less on its own -- for a 10th of the price commanded by an anesthesiologist. But the manufacturer has since stopped selling the product due to low sales figures. Digital products experience more rapid success when patients benefit directly. Medtronic, for example, has introduced a system for diabetics in Germany. By way of a sensor planted under the skin, blood sugar levels are measured constantly and shown on the patient's smartphone. A pump injects the exact amount of insulin necessary. But even if such systems help patients, that doesn't mean that all doctors accept them. "Unfortunately, we have found that there are still practices that aren't connected to the Internet," says Michael Struck, head of the diabetes division at Medtronic. Another problem is that doctors receive no financial benefit for introducing patients to the smartphone system. Time, though, is of the essence. The new technological possibilities currently opening up have meant that companies are entering the medical market that few expected -- like automobile manufacturer Audi. For years, the company has been developing a kind of mobile health center. Convinced that self-driving cars will provide drivers with a sudden block of free time, Audi engineers have been experimenting with in-vehicle wellness treatments. Breathing exercises are recommended on the basis of so-called biofeedback and EKG analyses while a vibration massage system is also being developed. But the company has much more ambitious goals as well. "The car is perfect for medical examinations," says Christiane Stark, who heads the project Audi calls Fit Driver. Automobile interiors offer a private and protected space and already, they are full of countless sensors. "A basic examination of the driver would be no problem in the near future," Stark says. From there, it would be simple to establish a secure connection to a remote doctor. If an in-person consultation were necessary, the car's navigation system could send the vehicle to the nearest applicable facility. Whereas Tesla crashes receive a fair amount of attention, particularly when drivers rely on the onboard autopilot, other incidents go almost unnoticed -- such as one from last July. A man driving his Tesla on a highway in the U.S. suffered a pulmonary embolism, but was able to enter the address of the next hospital into his navigation system. The car drove him there automatically even as he suffered in the driver's seat. The man survived, likely thanks to his Tesla. Which raises the question: Will cars of the future be able to detect life-threatening conditions automatically? "It is certainly possible," says Audi expert Stark. And medical professional Muschenich is willing to go even further: "Patients will arrive at the doctor with a complete diagnosis. They can be produced by their car or by their smartphone." THE HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANIES Jens Baas enjoys talking about the digitalization of medicine -- so much so that our interview, originally scheduled for one hour, ultimately lasts for almost three hours. By the end of it, a small crowd of people is standing outside of his office who were supposed to have had meetings with him. He merely laughs. Baas, 50, is head of the Techniker Krankenkasse, Germany's largest public health insurance company. Joining the company's management was hardly a lucrative move for Baas, a medical doctor by training, coming as he did from a top position at the Boston Consulting Group. One might think that Baas, who collects historical surgical instruments in his free time, might take sides with medical doctors. But then he says things like: "The medical profession is going to change radically. Soon, software will be able to recognize an increasing number of patterns and will become a valuable partner to doctors -- the kind of support that they don't currently have. The role of doctor will then increasingly become that of a competent go-between." Baas believes that the profession is on the brink of vast changes. "In five to 10 years, there will be a gigantic shift," he says. Baas likes to see himself in the role of a digital promoter. "We have to move, otherwise pressure will come from the outside," he says. He means large companies that are moving into digital but also startups that aim to streamline the medical profession, just like Amazon did with the retail industry. Health insurance companies are often the first place up-and-coming digital companies turn to -- particularly because insurers hope that digital tools will reduce medical costs in the long term. Still, many ideas nevertheless find themselves faced with significant hurdles. Doctors in Germany, for example, are prohibited from performing remote examinations that are unaccompanied by an in-person visit. Payment questions for remote examinations have likewise not yet been resolved. But on the internet, such provincialism is not an option and pressure is rising from overseas. The American clinic chain Mayo, famous worldwide for its broad array of specialists, is hoping to treat 200 million patients a year by 2020. Such a goal wouldn't be achievable, though, with the brick-and-mortar clinics the company currently has in the U.S. Rather, the company is looking towards online consultations. "Through digitalization, medical care is becoming an export product," says Markus Muschenich -- a situation that would certainly have advantages, but also disadvantages. Not only sick people would be able to search for experts around the world, but health insurance companies would also be able to search for cheaper health care providers overseas. Baas, the head of the German health insurance company, has no trouble imagining such a thing. "If our legal framework allows it and it is advantageous for patients, I think it's possible that medical services in the future could be purchased from overseas," he says. THE DOCTORS At conventions, doctors like to joke that there should be a fee for having to perform "Google purges" on some patients, namely those who have done a bit of internet research and discovered diseases that they never before knew existed. A few clicks and suddenly they think they have some sort of incurable condition. Making fun of "Dr. Google" is an easy way to get a few chuckles out of fellow doctors, but the opposite is also true: Advice generated by software can be a big help. Amazon's voice service Alexa, for example, has long been able to help out with CPR. It not only issues a reminder to call an ambulance, but also gives instructions on how to perform cardiac massage. The Facebook bot Gyant can determine via chat whether a person might have become infected with the Zika virus. People around the world have taken advantage of the service, which is free and requires no waiting. And currently, a study is making headlines which proves that a computer algorithm was better at predicting heart disease than the guidelines followed by real live doctors. "A license isn't enough to protect doctors from competition," says digital entrepreneur Muschenich. He believes that bots will soon pose a serious challenge to doctors, particularly when it is no longer clear whether a person or a software program is responsible for a diagnosis. "Doctors must prove that they are just as good. That will become increasingly difficult when artificial intelligence reaches its full potential." How long will patients continue to trust dermatologists when a software program is able to compare strange skin developments with millions of images within just seconds? Will blood pressure -- which, as studies have shown, tends to be higher when taken in a doctor's office -- continue to play a role relative to the results delivered by a smartwatch, which unobtrusively takes measurements several times an hour? Muschenich believes that things will change drastically once digital systems develop to the point that they are better and cheaper than doctors. Many believe that medical studies programs as currently constituted hardly do anything to prepare students for the digital challenges on the horizon. Will patients continue to be impressed by doctors' expertise when they can get the same information elsewhere in a way that is much easier to understand? Will doctors continue to be able to budget mere minutes for consultations when they are competing with bots that have all the time in the world and patiently answer every question, even if it is asked multiple times? Will patients continue to accept a wait of three months for an appointment and one hour in the waiting room for an, on average, seven-minute conversation with a doctor when there are digital alternatives available that are just as good? THE PATIENTS A survey recently conducted by the medical startup incubator Flying Health found that a majority of patients would already prefer to receive medical consultation from a certified app than from a doctor -- regardless of distance from the medical practice or waiting times. "The quality of doctors adheres to the principles of Gaussian distribution," says Muschenich. "There are some excellent ones and some complete failures -- and a wide field of doctors who are okay but not perfect." Muschenich believes that technology gives patients more control. "They can now check to see if doctors really know what they're talking about." In the coming world of digital medicine, there remains an enormous Achilles heel: data security. The more medicine becomes digitalized, the more vulnerable patients become. Already, the databases of three of the world's largest medical equipment manufacturers -- Medtronic, St. Jude Medical and Boston Scientific -- have been hacked. In May, a Windows security loophole shut down hospitals in the United Kingdom. Software providers often argue that a user's identity doesn't matter for the service provided. But companies like Drawbridge have developed a system to assign various devices to a specific user by, for example, merging data from websites and apps, analyzing the times they were used and tracking geolocation. Furthermore, many health apps don't have high data protection standards and far from all of them have received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. What happens when patients use their work phone and their employer is able to monitor the telephone's most important functions? Will employers be able to access sensitive health information? And where will patients save all of their important health data? The electronic health record would only then be suitable if every patient had complete access to it and could decide alone with whom to share the information therein. And these questions will become even more sensitive when genetic information is included. "Data protection cannot become the knockout argument. If done correctly, the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages," says Muschenich. Philips manager Peter Vullinghs agrees: "Too much data protection could even prove deadly in the medical field." But are they right? The technology is already there and it is constantly improving. And patients themselves are increasingly ready for digital medical care. There will continue to be a need to sit across from a real person who projects the authority of a medical professional. But will this person need to be a licensed medical professional, or will training in patient communication be sufficient? Despite how quickly the medical sector is changing, the doctor of the future will still be a human being for now. Despite all of the innovation, smartphone medicine won't take over overnight. Indeed, in the medical field it tends to take an average of 17 years from the development of a new method or machine to its widespread use. That was even the case for tools that went on to become standard for 200 years. It took the stethoscope 20 years from its invention in 1816 to overcome massive resistance from doctors. And today, many medical professionals no longer want to set it aside -- despite the availability of alternatives. Rome (Italy), July 19, 2017 (SPS) - The outstanding member of Parliament of Italy and president of the Parliamentary Group of Solidarity with the Saharawi People, Stefano Vaccari, condemned the illegal and arbitrary sentences against the Sahrawi political prisoners of the group Gdeim Izik. The Italian deputy told reporters in his country that "all the accusations are not fair and even more unjust according to what Human Rights Watch collected, on what the Saharawi prisoners suffered, such as the use of torture for get confessions ". Stefano Vaccari adds in his statements quoted by the press that "what happened indicates that the matter was not settled according to justice and that again we experienced harsh sentences against defenseless and innocent people." "for that reason, we are very worried and we consider that what happened, violates human rights and international conventions," says the Italian deputy. On the other hand, the president of the Friendship group with the Saharawi people, stated the need to "encourage international observers to visit the territory with the aim of reporting human rights violations in occupied Western Sahara," he says, and clarifies that "The problems surrounding forensic evidence indicate that prisoners have been tortured and ill-treated during their captivity." Finally, Stefano Vaccari, advocates the need to "find a solution to the Western Sahara conflict through the exercise of the right to self-determination of the Saharawi people." SPS 125/090/TRA Algiers, July 20, 2017 (SPS) - Ambassador of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) to Algeria Bachraya Hamoudi Bayoune denounces the heavy prison sentences handed down Wednesday against the political prisoners of Gdeim Izik. These prison sentences were predictable, considering the political nature of the trial, which concerns detainees defending a just cause and claiming their rights to freedom and independence, he said. In a statement to APS, Bayoune said "the sentences passed by the Moroccan court "were predictable, because the trial was purely political and the only fault of the defendants was claiming their rights to freedom and independence." "These sentences would further strengthen Sahrawis' determination to continue their struggle and condemn Moroccan repression against the Sahrawi people, who claim their right to freedom and self-determination," he added. The Sahrawi diplomat underlined that the Polisario Front, the only legitimate representative of Sahrawi people, will continue its cooperation with international human rights organizations with a view to exerting pressures on Moroccan authorities to abide by the law.SPS 125/090/700 Lima (Peru), 20 July 2017 (SPS) - The representative of the Frente POLISARIO in Peru, Mr. Khadija Al-Mujtar, participated with the diplomatic corps accredited to Peru in the commemorative celebrations of the 38th anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution, hosted by the Embassy of Nicaragua in Peru. The ceremony was also attended by political and cultural figures who visited an exhibition on the revolution and the struggle of the Nicaraguan people. Where was the opportunity for the Sahrawi diplomat to communicate with many members of the diplomatic corps. SPS 125/090/TRA This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate STAMFORD About 30 patrol officers received a crash course in administering the opiate antidote drug Narcan and were issued applicators of Narcan at their lineup Wednesday afternoon. Police and emergency medical services officials said the reason for the change in policy allowing police officers to administer the drug is because of a steep rise in overdoses in Stamford coupled with a fear that police officers may become contaminated by particularly strong strains of the opioid drugs they encounter, such as Fentanyl. Chief Jon Fontneau said the police department takes the problem of illegal drugs in Stamford very seriously and it has a large full-time narcotics squad. Now we are working this problem medically, not only for our citizens but for our police officers. What our fear is, there has been a large spike in the recent past and we attribute that to Fentanyl, which is coming from China through the Canadian border, Fontneau said. Fontneau said the drug is very powerful and can be absorbed through the skin and the patrol officers dealing with narcotics on a daily basis may not know what they are handling. So, we want to be prepared if one of our officers goes down as well, he said. Fontneau said he is trying to get all of his squads issued the Narcan packages as soon as possible. The packages issued Wednesday came from the state Department of Public Health and each dose costs about $30. The packages will be distributed to uniformed patrol officers first and then they will go to other first responders, whether it be narcotics, the K-9 squad and others, Fontneau said. Joe Larcheveque, deputy chief for Training and Performance Improvement for Stamford Emergency Medical Services, said he went back 30 months, looking at the number of times Narcan was administered by his medics and found its usage has soared. Larcheveque, who conducted the training session to the patrol officers Wednesday afternoon, said Narcan was administered 32 times in June, more than triple the roughly 10 times a month average in 2015. In the last seven or eight months it has steadily gone up, Larcheveque said. June was the most administrations of Narcan we have ever had. jnickerson@stamfordadvocate.com; T he Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrived at the Brandenburg Gate yesterday and were greeted by Chancellor Merkel. She should have said, Welcome home!. Ever since 1914, we have tried to persuade ourselves that our royal family are as British as Yorkshire pudding, Aylesbury duck or Cornish clotted cream. But we all know, of course, that this is not the case. There are some things that the Germans just happen to do better than anyone else. We all know that if you want to buy kitchen appliances, you would be mad not to buy German. Ice cream? Of course, buy Italian. Wine? Of course, New Zealand (where else?). But you would be insane to buy a dishwasher that is not rightly named Bosch. Likewise, most sensible people, if they wanted a car that actually worked, would buy German. And, by a similar token, if it is a king or queen that you require I am speaking of the comparatively short time since the year 800 you need to go to the homeland or the Heimat when the Emperor Charlemagne, a German, began modern European civilisation. Royalties just happen to be among the commodities, like bland sausages and flowery white wine, that Germany produces. Charlemagne, the Habsburgs, the Hohenzollerns All the European Royals apart from the aberration of the extinct French kings, are really Germans. Ours included. When the Emperor of Germany, to whom, rather whimsically, we always refer as the Kaiser the Emperor Wilhelm II heard that his cousin George V was renaming the family the House of Windsor, he quipped: So! From now on, I suppose, we shall look forward to performances of the Merry Wives of Saxe-Coburg! Duchess of Cambridge's wardrobe in Poland and Germany 1 /18 Duchess of Cambridge's wardrobe in Poland and Germany July 21, 2017 Wearing pale lilac as she arrives at the main railway station in Berlin AP July 20, 2017 Wearing Markus Lupfer to Clarchens Ballhaus for a reception with young entrepreneurs and creatives in Berlin AP July 20, 2017 Wearing Markus Lupfer to Clarchens Ballhaus for a reception with young entrepreneurs and creatives in Berlin PA July 20, 2017 Wearing a Breton stripe top to take part in a rowing race between the twinned town of Cambridge and Heidelberg and against Prince William Getty Images July 20, 2017 Wearing a Breton stripe top to take part in a rowing race between the twinned town of Cambridge and Heidelberg and against Prince William Getty Images July 20, 2017 Wearing Jenny Packham for a visit of the German Cancer Research Center Getty Images July 19, 2017 Wearing Alexander McQueen at the 'Queen's Birthday Garden Party' in the garden of the residence of the British ambassador in Berlin AP July 19, 2017 Wearing Alexander McQueen at the 'Queen's Birthday Garden Party' in the garden of the residence of the British ambassador in Berlin EPA July 19, 2017 Wearing Catherine Walker at the airport on the flight from Warsaw to Berlin Getty Images July 19, 2017 Wearing Catherine Walker at the airport on the flight from Warsaw to Berlin PA July 18, 2017 Wearing Erdem while laying a rose at the monument to the fallen shipyard workers of 1970 during a visit to the European Solidarity Centre in Gdansk Getty Images July 17, 2017 Wearing Polish designer Gosia Baczynska while attending a party at the British ambassador to Poland's residence in honour of The Queen's birthday Getty Images July 17, 2017 Wearing Alexander McQueen on her arrival at the airport in Warsaw Getty Images July 17, 2017 Kate wearing Alexander McQueen on the family's arrival at the airport in Warsaw EPA It was a good joke, and based on the simple truth that European royalties are German. Prince Philip, the best thing that ever happened to the royal family in the past 100 years, is a German. Prince Albert, the best thing to happen to Britain in the 19th century, was a German. It is devoutly to be hoped that someone has explained this to Wills and Kate as they return to the Heimat. Our royal family are our most ancient link with Europe. Indeed, we should not have a link with Europe at all if it were not for them. Whatever the consequences of Brexit and of course, all sensible people hope that the Brexit talks break down and we remain within the EU one thing remains sure. Our dear Queen who looks more and more like her purely German grandmother, Mary of Teck is our head of state, and the so-called House of Windsor is really the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, a totally German family and one of the best things that ever happened to this country. I t's difficult to know whether to cheer or cry. This paper has been told that the Government is considering a special City visa, so foreigners can go on working in our financial services industry. Its a bit like hearing the good news that someone who has shot themselves in the foot has gone to the chemist to buy some bandages. Britains home as the global centre of financial services depends on it being a place that welcomes talent from across Europe and the world. But the overriding message these talented people, and the firms that employ them, have heard in the past year is that foreigners are no longer welcome. That small, elite group who describe themselves as free-market pro-immigration Brexiteers might protest, but consider this: the Prime Minister has publicly called citizens of the world citizens of nowhere, a message that was heard everywhere. Twelve months on from our referendum, the immigration status of Europeans already working in finance in the UK remains unclear entirely due to the pig-headedness of Downing Street, which could resolve the issue at a stroke. Meanwhile, there is no information at all about the immigration arrangements for the workforce that banks, insurers and law firms might want to bring here in the future. That and our determination to withdraw from the single market is why countries like Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and now, especially, President Macrons France, are falling over themselves to roll out the tapis rouge. They have notched up early successes US giant Citibank announced this week it is moving operations out of London and creating a European sales and trading hub in Frankfurt. Sadly, many more will follow. News that Britain is considering introducing a special financial services visa might help stem the flow. We hope it does, but fear it wont. The new protectionist arrangements we are imposing, which prevent UK-originated financial products being freely sold in Europe, remain a huge obstacle, and most will treat promises to legislate for new bankers visas in this hung parliament with scepticism. It also poses the bigger question: what about all the other sectors of the economy that need a supply of labour from abroad but lack the loud voice of finance? What about the restaurant staff, computer programmers, care workers, delivery riders, farm workers, architects and nurses? One thing we know about central government is that it has almost no clue what the labour demands of an open free market economy will be in the years ahead. So we will support any efforts to apply the Band-Aid to our self-imposed wounds but shouldnt we consider not pulling the trigger in the first place, and go on having an immigration system that welcomes the hard-working of the world whether they are bankers or baristas? Generous London The angry scenes yesterday at the public meeting at Kensington Town Hall, where Elizabeth Campbell was officially confirmed leader of the council, and which was attended by 70 of the 255 people who survived the fire, were proof, if we needed it, that emotions are still running high among the survivors. Yet, five-and-a-half weeks on, there are grounds for hope for the community. There has been a massive outpouring of public generosity towards the survivors. It was evident in this papers appeal, which has raised more than 6 million. Now our Dispossessed Fund is to begin paying fresh start grants of 10,000 to each of the 158 families who escaped the fire. Hearteningly, the Work and Pensions Secretary, David Gauke, says these payments will not affect benefit entitlements. It is a compassionate and sensible response which will help traumatised people who are trying to rebuild their lives. L ondon zoo today opened its latest animal attraction featuring the most colossal creatures to ever walk the earth - dinosaurs. As well as paying a visit to the lions, gorillas and penguins, visitors to the Regents Park attraction will now come face-to-face with animals from 65 million years ago. The new ZSL Zoorassic Park attraction includes about a number of life-sized, motorized dinosaurs that move and interact with visitors. Each is fitted with sensors, meaning they move, roar and even spit at human guests when they get up close. On arrival to the attraction, families will be given their own passports and walk through a time tunnel that transports them back millions of years. They will then meet dinosaurs including gentle giant the brachiosaurus, the towering tyrannosaurus rex and the horned triceratops. The armour-plated edmontonia - a tank-like dinosaur covered in spikes - and the flying pterodactyl are also in the attraction. Dinosaurs at London Zoo - in pictures 1 /6 Dinosaurs at London Zoo - in pictures Alex Lentai Alex Lentai Alex Lentai Alex Lentai Alex Lentai At the end, visitors will travel forward in time to 2050 to learn about the work ZSLs conservationists are doing to stop todays creatures becoming extinct like the dinosaurs. Entry to Zoorassic Park, which opens on Saturday and will be open for six weeks, is included in the ticket price of the zoo. 50 free things to do in London 1 /66 50 free things to do in London A Cockroach Tour at the Science Museum Get a bug's eye view of the human race with the Science Museum's Cockroach Tour. Step into their shells (literally) and explore how science and technology are influencing our climate. Every Saturday and Sunday at 2pm and 4pm. sciencemuseum.org.uk Columbia Road Flower Market Come rain or shine, this East End institution peddles its colourful flora every Sunday from 8am-3ish. You'll get the best bargains as it starts to warm down. Check out the adjacent galleries, coffee shops and boutiques which open up at the weekend too. columbiaroad.info Getty Climb up Big Ben Did you know you can wear yourself out climbing up all 334 steps of Big Ben to hear the Great Bell chime the hour up-close? As well as taking in stunning views across London, you can also explore behind the clock faces. Guided tours only at 9am, 11am and 2pm every Monday-Friday. Book ahead. parliament.uk Getty In-store gigs at Rough Trade East Brick Lane's independent record shop hosts regular free gigs from the likes of Kendrick Lamar (pictured), Gabrielle Aplin and Foals. Wristbands are given out one hour before kick-off. roughtrade.com Getty Kerb Street Food Markets Making cities taste better one street food market at a time, Kerb are the ultimate foodie guerillas. Find them at King's Cross (Tuesday-Friday), the Gherkin (Thursday) & UCL (last Wednesday of every month). Feast with London's best traders including Mother Flipper burgers and the Meringue Girls (pictured). kerbfood.com (Picture: David Loftus) Hackney City Farm Give your kids a dose of the countryside in the concrete jungle at one of London's city farms. Our favourite is Hackney City Farm, which is packed with donkeys, pigs and chickens. Open from 10am4.30pm every day except Monday. hackneycityfarm.co.uk Play table tennis at PING Tables at Earl's Court hangout PING are free on a first come, first served basis. Don't miss tournament Tuesday. Games of Beer Pong are positively encouraged. weloveping.com Alfie's Antiques Market A hidden gem full of gems, this Marylebone market is an indoor haven for antiques, vintage, collectables and 20th Century design. Open 10am-6pm Tuesday to Saturday. alfiesantiques.com Gigs and club nights at the Social This central London bar has been going for 15 years. Theres a great range of weekly club nights with a mixture of resident and guest DJs spinning the tunes from house and disco to funk and hip-hop, plus showcases of some of the best new bands around. thesocial.com Lunchtime concerts at St-Martin-in-the-Fields Every Monday, Tuesday and Friday at 1pm you can listen to tomorrow's classical music stars, from pianists to choirs, play and sing for free at this beautiful church on the edge of Trafalgar Square. No ticket required. stmartin-in-the-fields.org Nike Training Club You can register for these free womens exercise classes via Facebook around two weeks in advance. Theres yoga, running and general fitness training sessions held in a mixture of indoor and outdoor locations including Clapham Common, Victoria Park and the exercise space in the Nike Town shop. facebook.com/NikeTrainingClubUK Walk the Tamsin Trail in Richmond Park Walk, run or cycle around the seven mile perimeter of London's largest royal park and try to spot a herd of Red Fallow deer (pictured). Don't worry - there are plenty of tea stops along the way. royalparks.org.uk Popcorn at Heaven One of London's biggest weekday club nights, Popcorn is one for hedonists who like to dance to house, hip hop and even cheese for seven hours on a Monday night. Just grab a wristband from G-A-Y Bar in Soho for free entry. popcorn-heaven.com The Queen's House at Greenwich Designed by Inigo Jones in 1616, this Italian Renaissance-style mansion marked a departure from Tudor architecture and houses a fine art collection of maritime paintings. Open Daily 10am-5pm. rmg.co.uk Guided tours of Tate Modern Tate Modern is spectacular to look at just from the outside (approach from the Millennium Bridge for the best view) and you can also join a free tour lasting 45 minutes and led by in-house experts, at 11am, 12pm, 2pm & 3pm. No booking required unless for a group of more than 10. tate.org.uk Karaoke at Paradise by Way of Kensal Green Think you've got the X-factor? Hire the private karaoke room (which takes up to 25 guests) for no fee every Monday and Tuesday. Boy George (pictured) has had a go. There's even a button to press to order booze. Call 020 8969 0098 to book. theparadise.co.uk Friday Night Skate Can you hold your own on rollerskates? Join a marshalled street skate (bladers welcome) which meets at Wellington Arch in Hyde Park at 8pm every Friday. Weather dependent. lfns.co.uk Evensong at Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey is always open to those who wish to worship. Come for the evensong service to hear the dulcet tones of the Abbey choir. Every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday at 5pm or Saturday & Sunday at 3pm. westminster-abbey.org Meditate at Inner Space Those who need some respite from the grind of life can drop in to Inner Space for free lunchtime and evening meditation and positive thinking classes. innerspace.org.uk Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace Everyone should watch the Queen's Guardsmen in action at least once in their life. The changing of the guard takes place at 11.30am on odd days (2, 4, 6 etc) throughout the month. royal.gov.uk Ain't Nothing But The Blues Bar This Soho stalwart claims to serve up the best blues on this side of the pond seven nights a week. From Sunday to Thursday, entry is free all sweet night long and it's free before 8.30pm on Friday and Saturday. aintnothingbut.co.uk Watch a trial at the Old Bailey Anyone can attend the public galleries of London's premier criminal court the Old Bailey to watch trials in session. Be warned, you can't take in bags, cameras or mobile phones and there's no cloakroom. Open Monday to Friday, 10am-1pm and 2pm-5pm. cityoflondon.gov.uk Rex Features New Act Night at the Comedy Cafe Theatre Forget big arenas and ticket prices to match, this night in Shoreditch is where many a comedy star, including Jimmy Carr and Mickey Flanagan, cut their teeth. Every Wednesday at 7.45pm. comedycafetheatre.co.uk Natural History Museum Volcanoes, dinosaurs and a full-sized blue whale skeleton are just some of the wonders of the Natural History Museum. nhm.ac.uk NHM The Curve Gallery at the Barbican Centre The Curve is always hosting exciting installations that carry no charge but might come with queues, such as Random International's Rain Room (pictured). barbican.org.uk Gigs at Birthdays This mini bar/club has staged many a free gig, including an impromptu one from Bloc Party (pictured) that prompted massive queues. Make sure you refuel upstairs first. birthdaysdalston.com Ceremony of the Keys This 700-year-old ceremony is the nightly locking up of the Tower gates. Its a popular event and for dates in 2014 youll need to apply in writing, but online bookings are being taken for January 2015 onwards. hrp.org.uk Piano recitals at Bar Nightjar Recently voted the world's second best bar for its stupendous cocktails, this Old Street speakeasy also does a fine line in live music. Most nights there's a charge, but entrance to Piano Tuesdays is on the house. barnightjar.com Whitechapel Gallery Around since 1901, the Whitechapel Gallery can be counted on for pioneering new talent in contemporary art - think Rothko and Frieda Kahlo. The best part? Admission to exhibitions is free. whitechapelgallery.org Turner Collection at Tate Britain The Clore Gallery at Tate Britain boasts the world's largest collection of Turner paintings. Over 300 oil paintings, sketches and watercolours chart his development from boyhood to mature master and elevator of landscape art. tate.org.uk Turner, Joseph Mallord William 1775-1851, Norham Castle, Sunrise c.1845 (Tate) Portobello Road Antiques Market Yes you will have to wade through SLR-wielding tourists, but wandering up the two-mile Portobello Road is still a good day out: roam antiques stalls, stock up on bargain bowls of fruit and veg, and explore the fashion market. Open every Saturday from 9am-10am. portobellomarket.org Rex Features Backpacks, trails & workshops at the V&A Borrow a backpack for your mini art fiends (suitable for 5-12 years) and embark on hands-on activities, jigsaws, stories, puzzles and games to be enjoyed in and around the V&A. No need to book, available every day from the Sackler Centre. vam.ac.uk Victoria and Albert Museum, London Mediatheque at BFI Southbank Like old movies? The BFI has a ready-to-watch archive of nearly 3000 films and TV series. Simply log on at a viewing station and get reacquainted with old classics from London Town (pictured) to Ab Fab. bfi.org.uk Courtesy of BFI Mediatheque The Alibi Dalston hotspot The Alibi is always free entry. Don't miss the dive bar's film (Monday) and karaoke (Tuesday) nights . thealibilondon.co.uk Lunchtime recitals at The Royal Opera House The ROH holds regular lunchtime recitals where you can catch rising orchestral and choral stars. Seats can be reserved online nine days before the concert and always go fast. They also run free backstage tours for nosey parkers. roh.org.uk Peter Mackertich courtesy of the Royal Opera House Good gym 'Do good, get fit' is the mantra at play here. Join this group of runners and and you'll be sent on community-helping missions such as visiting the elderly. Everyone wins. goodgym.org Angel Comedy On most Saturday nights the likes of Tony Law (pictured) will tickle your ribs for free from 8pm. angelcomedy.co.uk The Wellcome Collection One for curious cats, this free gallery is all about medicine, life and art through the ages. Make the most of the library, cafe and temporary collections such as Death: A Self-Portrait (pictured). Don't miss their uber-popular Thursday night events. wellcomecollection.org Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Lunchtime music at the Royal Festival Hall Find a seat in the Clore Ballroom and simply listen. You'll be treated to jazz, folk and world music from rising stars and established ensembles. Every Friday southbankcentre.co.uk Parliament Hill The view from here is one you need to see and will revive even the most world-weary Londoner, especially on a clear day. And there's a lido nearby for brave swimmers. cityoflondon.gov.uk The Wallace Collection A treasure trove in a historic townhouse setting, the Wallace Collection allows you to gawp at old masters, vintage armour, porcelain and furniture. Open to art buffs seven days a week, 10am-5pm. wallacecollection.org Be in the BBC audience Get your 15 minutes of fame and apply for tickets to be in the audience of a BBC TV show. These guys are entranced by Question Time... bbc.co.uk Friday nights at Catch Every Friday is free at this Kingsland Road bar and club. Expect anything from live bands to Nineties dance, indie and hip hop. thecatchbar.com Speakers' Corner Speeches and debates have been taking place at the north-east end of Hyde Park since the 1800s. Stop by to hear wide-ranging views on a huge variety of topics. Or why not rock up and give a speech yourself? royalparks.org.uk Pic: Alex Lentati British Museum Not only is it a rather stunning piece of architecture, the British Museum is also an archive of fantastic art and artefacts from all over the world, including the Rosetta Stone and Elgin Marbles. Find anything from African textiles to a virtual autopsy of an Egyptian mummy. Open daily 10am-5pm. britishmuseum.org Trustees of the British Museum Borough Market Rain or shine, Borough Market is a great place to refuel after a walk down the river, with hog roasts, lamb burgers and many other culinary delights. A real London institution. Full market open Wednesday-Saturday. boroughmarket.com Lectures at LSE LSE puts on regular public lectures and everyone is welcome. Expect star speakers - past guests include Kofi Annan (pictured), Bill Clinton and Mervyn King. lse.ac.uk LSE / Nigel Stead Broadway Market Sandwiched between London Fields and the Regent's Canal, this old Hackney market is now a hipster hunting ground. Get on your fixie and munch on the trendiest galettes, store up on fresh veg and have a mooch around the vintage clothes stalls. It's easy to while away a day at the cafes which spill on to Broadway. Open on Saturdays 9am-5pm. broadwaymarlet.co.uk Eric Huang Flickr CC World music and exhibitions at Rich Mix East London's premier cultural centre, Rich Mix hosts open mic spoken word nights, exhibitions, acoustic music (with free cake!) in its bar. richmix.org.uk Museum of London 450,000 years of London history are on display in the permanent galleries at the museums City and Docklands locations and you can even browse a number of collections online. museumoflondon.org.uk This weekend, the zoo is also launching its summer sleepovers, meaning guests can stay overnight at the zoo and see the dinosaurs after hours. The sleepovers will take place on various dates in the next two months - starting at 7pm and running until 10am in the morning. Prices start at 85 per person and include entrance to the zoo on the following day. Visit zsl.org. Two and a half years feels like six, says hard-working Vasilis Kyritsis of incongruously titled The Clumsies in Praxitelous, Athens. Inscribed with as many tattoos as there is graffiti on an average Athenian wall, Kyritsis is one of five partners who took just two months to restore the century-old property into a labyrinthine bar, now ranked No 9 by the Worlds 50 Best Bars. We are the architects, ideas, PRs and bartenders. We climb time-worn marble steps past a long, buzzing table by the sunlit courtyard to a salon where tree-like exposed timbers carve through the centre. Its like the building took its clothes off, I remark. We then return to a stairwell encased in an elevator-like cage. But theres no elevator to success, says Kyritsis, irony-free. I believe in hard work, focus, not the illusion of talent. Nikos Bakoulis, another partner, perfects a potion alluding to the ingredients of a Greek salad in the kitchen-like Lab at The Clumsies heart. Balanced on a well-scrawled whiteboard, an evil eye looks on. Adjoining, 10 guests may, for a total of 100, hire The Room, playing pool on red baize while absorbing bespoke cocktails. For mine, Kyritsis takes inspiration from Metaxa, a smooth rose, violet and orange-scented, mahogany-hued spirit distilled in Athens and blended with island Muscat wine. Its not a cognac, its Metaxa, he says, delivering a hypnotic from the boldly illustrated Genesis menu. Evoking a Manhattan, it fuses Metaxa with bourbon, fig and goats cheese and bears leather and barrel cellar notes, being so substantial it feels like it could break the sides of my small glass. The drinks soul is in its link to Samos, an island 170 miles east, full of olives, lemons and, of course, Muscat, stroked by the eastern Aegean... (theclumsies.gr) T ucked away on a back lane the approximate width of a Range Rover and a half is the unassuming gate to Elisabeth Murdochs farm. Also on the property is an enormous purpose-built party barn almost as big as Westminster Hall. Here, this weekend, guests will converge from all over the Cotswolds an area that is to Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire what Kurdish territory is to Iraq and Syria to celebrate her wedding to the artist Keith Tyson. What is interesting is not the bash itself although if her 500,000 New Years party is anything to go by it will be a monster with Diptyque candles the size of buckets but the tribes in assembly. This is one of those rare occasions (like the Cornbury Festival on the Great Tew Estate) where representatives from across the adjoining counties will congregate like sultans in the pre-war Arabian desert. Its where the shifting spheres of power can be read broadly in terms of who has the biggest parties and the most influential friends. Murdochs party barn has on other evenings hosted David and Samantha Cameron, Rebekah Brooks, David Baddiel, Charles and Celia Dunstone, Tessa Jowell and her husband David Mills, Eric Fellner, Hugh Grant, Jimmy Carr and TV presenter Richard Bacon to name a few. Somehow the industries of politics, media, business, film, art and fashion can co-exist under the spell of a thumping DJ with cocktails on tap. But its a mistake to lump this lot under the catch-all banner The Chipping Norton Set. These party barns are actually diplomatic tents. And as the Cotswolds swells in popularity, so it absorbs more of west London, so the tribes subdivide. On Friday evenings Range Rovers stretch the length of the M40, now dubbed the west London corridor, to this patch of England 25 miles across and 75 miles long. It used to be proper countryside, grumbles one early settler. Now it is a suburb of London. Indeed. David and Victoria Beckham have joined the ranks of weekend migrants, buying a 6.15m barn on the Great Tew Estate from Nicholas Johnston a school friend of David Cameron. Its a far cry from Beckingham Palace in 1999. Youd struggle to call it a mansion, says a local resident. Its an ordinary, medium-sized farmhouse not far from Soho Farmhouse, created by Nick Jones of Soho House where log cabins have bicycles and wellies parked outside, converted milk floats ferry around guests and where there are two massive party barns. Princess Olympia of Greece and a friend at her 21st birthday More recently Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece threw a party for his 50th and his daughter Olympias 21st up the road in Farmington. The event was so ostentatious and royalty-flecked that when pictures appeared on Instagram at a time of poverty marches in London and economic meltdown in Greece, it was compared to the excesses of Marie Antoinette. King Felipe of Spain joined the Queen of the Netherlands, Princess Michael of Kent, Paris Hilton and her sister Nicky Rothschild, Valentino Garavani and India Hicks (who concealed her nudity with a body painted shirt). Without irony, revolution was the dress code and Princess Olympia wore 640 Gucci trainers with a couture gown. The extravaganza near-eclipsed probably the most incredible party thats been held in the Cotswolds ever, two months earlier. That was Apple chief designer Sir Jony Ives 50th birthday party thrown by Matthew Freud, which had U2, Jools Holland and Lily Allen playing live and novel features such as make your own spin painting which could then be verified by Damien Hirst. Speeches were made by everyone from Ben Stiller via satellite link to Stephen Fry and Noel Gallagher it set a new benchmark in the arms race to throw the most extreme party for miles. Kate Moss out in the Cotswolds with her dog Archie / Joan Wakeham/REX/Shutterstock It was pure Freud in that his guest lists tend to include a changing cast of characters, from Hollywood A-listers to game show hosts to Gordon Brown the former Prime Minister. (Fortunately for Ive there was no Instagramming and therefore no backlash.) A few weeks later Noel Gallagher ventured up to the Cotswolds to have his storming 50th up the road in Aynhoe Park rather than in London. So where does the flashy Cotswolds scene fit in with the older, scruffier Chipping Norton one? And how as innocent Londoners are we supposed to navigate the complex social networks? In a tired voice, one long-term resident explains. This is going to sound ridiculous but there are two sides to Chipping Norton, and its a bit like north and south of the river in London. Murdoch, like her ex-husband Matthew Freud, lives near Burford, which might as well be France to those in Chipping Norton. Pavlos of Greece, meanwhile, is in Farmington, a totally different town. Its like putting Chelmsford in with Guilford. In the middle is Kingham, home of Lord Bamford of the JCB family, and his wife Carole, founder of Daylesford organics. You cant lump the Cotswolds in with each other. You cant say, Right, there you are, theres the Cotswolds and its presided over by Matthew Freud, because it isnt. Matthew is Burford. Thats 11 miles away for f***s sake. Elisabeth Murdoch and Keith Tyson / Dave Benett/Getty Images The Chipping Norton Set, as they were known, are east. Once the centre of the political universe, their houses were a brisk walk over a couple of fields from each other. David Cameron, the most important man in politics, and Rebekah Brooks, the most powerful woman in the media, enjoyed we learned kitchen suppers, presumably roasted in an Aga and sloshed down with a couple of bottles of Burgundy. Meanwhile we imagined Jeremy Clarkson and Sam Cam smoked fags and flicked between Holby City and House of Cards on the telly. It always sounded oddly cosy for what was supposed to be an intriguing power nexus. Up the road fellow Set member Alex James from Blur was making cheese and boring Radio 4 programmes, and throwing raves with Charlotte Tilbury in his party barn. This all still goes on, Im assured people popping round to each others houses to eat sandwiches and sausage rolls but, despite counting billionaire businessman Tony Gallagher in their number (he owns Sarsden Estate and hosted Camerons 50th birthday party), the Chipping Norton Set are emphatically not flashy. Nor are they the star attraction any longer. Put simply, says the old-timer, everyone in the Cotswolds drives a Range Rover. But there are those with green Range Rovers with muddy back seats covered in dog hair and those with shiny black Range Rovers that are parked if the traffic is bad in favour of a helicopter. The little group that live in one end are perfectly happy with their lives and theres all that other flash stuff at the other end. One lot are hunting, shooting, fishing, the other pouting, shopping, tanning. They tend to come up for the weekend, go to Soho Farmouse, go swimming, look out of the corner of their eyes to see how thin the person on the next bed is, explains a resident. Then they compete to see who can eat the smallest amount of food and then just go back to London. Its not like tucking in to a f***ing great roasting pig outdoors or whatever. In the week, adds another resident, the Farmhouse is full of London graduate sexy mummies feeding their kids when they cant be arsed to cook. David Beckham enjoys a new hobby in Great Tew To confuse matters there are many groups and sub-groups in between, cross-pollinating and trading in different currencies (one is power, Im told; another is connections; another still is taste). Elisabeth Murdochs crowd incorporates big money and media: she is friendly with Charles Dunstone and his wife Celia (who went on her hen night) as well as Brooks and her husband Charlie; who in turn overlaps into the horsey, hunting, Chipping Norton scene along with his eccentric sister Annabel Brooks. Murdoch also straddles the creatives artists, actors, architects, writers and film-makers that span a sweep of territory in the east: actor Tom Hollander, architect Tom Bartlett, artist Johnny Yeo, as well as Working Title founder Eric Fellner and his partner Laura Bailey. Elsewhere in the area are Jemima Khan and journalist Simon Kelner, the philosopher Alain de Botton, film-maker Nick Love and writer Alice Brudenell-Bruce. What about Kate Moss? She has the best party weekends, says a former guest, who lists Rita Ora, Kyle DeVolle and Rosemary Ferguson (who lives with her husband, artist Jake Chapman, only a few miles from Moss) as fellow attendees. But as far as locals are concerned, Kate Moss lives miles away. Ive never encountered her in the country, I only ever see her in London. Same as everyone else. The younger scene, a more Tatler tribe described as cool not cash, orbits around the pubs. Among them are Charlie Crossley and his florist wife Willow, who own The Swan in Ascott-under-Wychwood and the Bull Inn in Charlbury. Chloe Delevingne has her sisters Poppy and Cara to stay and the artist and photographer Nadav Kander is believed to stay in Great Tew. Noel Gallaghers 50th birthday party at Aynhoe Park The history of the long march from London into the Cotswolds started with a fashion for renting cottages on the three great estates Great Tew (owned by the Johnstons), Blenheim (owned by the Marlboroughs) and, later, Sarsden (owned by Tony Gallagher). And then their friends started to venture up to have Sunday lunch with the very, very few people who actually lived here, explains one resident. And they thought, God theyve got electricity and water and they havent got scurvy, so we could actually live here. And its only an hour from London their bit of London. So more and more and more people started moving there. Freud and Murdoch were among these early pioneers, renting from Sunny Marlborough (they even married at Blenheim, before moving to Burford), as was Simon Kelner before he bravely moved to Woodstock. And then once everyone started writing about the Chipping Norton Set, everyone wanted a piece of the action. Even Amanda Holden tried to get in. Demand became so strong there were waiting lists for the smallest hut and hovel. To say the Chipping Norton Set are relieved that the heat of the spotlight has swivelled on to new money is an understatement. But there are drawbacks to the arrival of the new, more glamorous scene. Sign marking the Cotswold Way footpath in the village of Broadway / Alamy Stock Photo It used to feel very much like the countryside. When you go through that cut on the M40, the cut that you see in the credits of The Vicar of Dibley, an amazing view reveals itself. You always felt that youd left the home counties and you were in the proper countryside. But now its just a funnel for Range Rovers. Its almost as if Notting Hill has absorbed the Cotswolds. Perhaps the final comment should come from one observer who has been a long-time regular at Cotswolds events. I think what weve seen is the creation of a British version of the Hamptons. Its all very Gatsby-ish. Its where fashionable London wants to be seen at play. Everyone vies to own the swankiest estates and throw the most lavish parties. They say they want privacy, but actually they want everyone to know how special they are, how charmed their lives are. In a way its a product of the 25 years of City boom weve witnessed. I wonder whether it will survive the ice chill of perennial Brexit. T he Metropolitan Police today faced warnings that acid attacks had the potential to become a fashionable crime among Londoners. Deputy Commissioner Craig Mackey was told that unless it was urgently tackled it was in danger of becoming an epidemic. The capital has seen a rise in acid attacks with 455 in London over the last year, two thirds of which were against people. Last week six people were doused with corrosive liquid on Londons streets in just 24 hours. Labour London Assembly member Andrew Dismore told him: We have something that is at risk of becoming a fashionable crime, like moped crime went through the roof. If it does then it is in danger of becoming an epidemic, which it isnt at the moment. Mr Mackey revealed that police had started seeing gang members using acid attacks as a weapon of choice against their rivals. He claimed they had not yet moved lock, stock and barrel to the brutal form of attack but that there was some evidence of use. The majority of victims in London are between 15 and 29 and a third are Asian, he said. East London had become a hot spot for the crime. The police chief also raised the possibility of making it illegal to carry corrosive substances in anything other than their original container. These are often difficult to open and suspects tend to transfer the acid into a squeezy bottle. Mr Mackey insisted Scotland Yard was taking the rise in acid attacks seriously but said he was confident that it could be designed out with prevention measures in the longer term. A young man is fighting for life after he was ploughed into by two teenagers allegedly driving a stolen car in south west London. Police attempted to stop a car in Stormont Road, in Wandsworth, shortly before 1.15pm on Friday, but the teenagers drove on before hitting a 26-year-old man. Having hit the young man in Clapham Common North Side, the two teenage boys drove on before ploughing in`to another car in Sisters Avenue, police said. The 26-year-old was rushed to hospital, where he is in a critical condition. His next of kin have been informed. The driver of the car the two teenagers hit was not seriously injured. The two teenagers one aged 16 and another aged 17 - were arrested on suspicion of aggravated taking of a vehicle and driving away. The 16-year-old was taken to hospital following the crash, but has since been discharged and is being held in custody. The 17-year-old was also taken to a south London hospital. He was later discharged and is also being held in custody. The Independent Police Complaints Commission has launched an investigation into the incident. A Met Police spokesman said: The car failed to stop for police and in Clapham Common North Side, at the junction with Forth Bridge Road, the car was in collision with a pedestrian. The pedestrian - a man aged 26 - was taken to a south London hospital. He is described as being in a critical condition. His next of kin have been informed. The car carried on until it collided with another car in Sisters Avenue. The driver of this car was not seriously injured. A man accused of mowing down a Muslim man in the Finsbury Park terror attack is due to face trial in the New Year. Darren Osborne, 47, is accused of mowing down Akram Ali, 51, as he left an east London mosque after Ramadan prayers. One man died and nine people were taken to hospital after a van crashed into a group of worshippers near the Finsbury Park mosque in the early hours of Monday June 19. The area was busy with Muslim worshippers attending Ramadan night prayers at the time. Finsbury Park attack June 19 1 /33 Finsbury Park attack June 19 Treating the wounded: Paramedics and police at the scene of the crash in Finsbury Park James Gourley/Rex The suspect is pinned to the ground by brave members of the public Forensic investigators examine the van Jeremy Selwyn James Gourley/Rex Features Injured: Paramedics take one of the wounded away James Gourley/Rex Features Rescuers: Emergency services staff treat victims after a vehicle hit pedestrians in Finsbury Park Thomas van Hulle/PA Crash: The scene in Seven Sisters Road PA Response: An armed police officer mans a cordon on the Seven Sisters Road at Finsbury Park Yui Mok/PA Shock: Local people observe prayers at Finsbury Park Yui Mok/PA Emergency service workers at Finsbury Park in north London Yui Mok/PA Fears: Police officers talk with local people at Finsbury Park Yui Mok/PA Paramedics: Ambulances in Finsbury Park Jennifer Heape/PA Police on one of the cordons in north London Yui Mok/PA Patrol: Armed officers near Seven Sisters Road Yui Mok/PA Cordon: Police in Finsbury Park Yui Mok/PA People scuffle near a police cordon near Finsbury Park EPA PA Muslims pray on the street NIGEL HOWARD Armed Police at the scene in Seven Sisters Road Nigel Howard Finsbury Park attack: The scene at Seven Sisters Road where a van believed to be involved mounted the pavement Jeremy Selwyn Forensic investigators at Finsbury Park PA The suspect is put in the back of a police van after being restrained at the scene Police at the scene neat Seven Sisters Road Chloe Chaplain Aerial view of forensics at the scene of Seven Sisters Road Jeremy Selwyn Flowers are left near the scene at Seven Sisters Road Chloe Chaplain Osborne, 47, of Glyn Rhosyn, in Cardiff, is charged with the murder of Mr Ali and attempted murder. He appeared at the Old Bailey via video link from Belmarsh prison wearing a dark grey T-shirt and light beige trousers. The charges state he murdered Mr Ali on June 19 and attempted to murder "persons at the junction of Seven Sisters Road and Whadcoat Street, London" on the same date. He spoke only to confirm his identity to the court before a timetable for his case was set out. Mr Justice Holroyde set a trial for January 22 next year. The trial is expected to go on for two weeks and will be heard at the Old Bailey. It is expected to be prosecuted by senior barrister Jonathan Rees QC and presided over by Judge Richard Marks QC. A plea hearing will take place on a date to be fixed in the week beginning November 13 before Judge Marks. Osborne, who sat with his face covered by his hand, was remanded in custody. T he jury in the trial of a man accused of battering a five-year-old boy to death in a south-east London park has been sent out to consider a verdict. Marvyn Iheanacho, 39, denies causing Alex Malcolm's fatal head and stomach injuries during a violent assault on the evening of November 20 last year. During the trial at Woolwich Crown Court, the jury has previously been told that witnesses heard a "child's fearful voice saying 'sorry"', loud banging and a man screaming about the loss of a shoe. Prosecutors say the banging could have been from "repeated assaults" on Alex in Mountsfield Park in Catford, south east London. Iheanacho, from Hounslow, west London, denies murdering the child, who is the son of his then-partner, Lilya Breha. Following the incident doctors at Lewisham Hospital tried to resuscitate Alex, but a CT scan revealed he was suffering from severe brain swelling, and he was transferred to King's College Hospital. On November 22, two days after the alleged attack, he was pronounced dead after an unsuccessful operation. The jury of seven men and five women were sent out at 12.38pm on Thursday before being sent home at 3.05pm, with deliberations to continue on Friday. A teenage woman was murdered and another left seriously injured when they were attacked inside a house in Kingston. On Wednesday evening, police were called to a hospital in south west London after a woman in her 20s was admitted with stab injuries. Officers were told there may be another victim, and they rushed to an address on leafy residential street Coombe Lane West. When police arrived they discovered the body of a 19-year-old woman. Earlier in the evening, at around 5pm, police had been called by someone raising concerns about two women in the area, but an extensive search found no trace of them. It was not until more than two hours later that they received the tip-off from the hospital and discovered the two victims. Two men, aged 33 and 28, have been arrested on suspicion of murder and a 29-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender. Police have launched a murder investigation. The victims are believed to have known the suspects. Detective Chief Inspector Sam Price said: "We are doing everything we can to fully understand the circumstances of this despicable attack on two young women. The death of the 19-year-old woman is being treated as murder and the attack on the 21-year-old is being treated as attempted murder. We are appealing for anyone with information to contact us. "At this early stage it is believed the two victims were taken to an address before being attacked. We also understand that the victims were known to their attackers. Enquiries continue to establish the motive for this incident." The woman in her 20s remains in a serious condition in hospital. Anyone with information is asked to contact the incident room on 020 8721 4066 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. A moped gang has been caught on camera smashing into a west London luxury bike dealership and wheeling out a rare superbike worth 28,000 before riding off on it. The bike, a H2 Carbon Kawasaki, is a limited edition model and one of only six in the UK and 120 in the world. The rare motorbike had been acquired by Daytona Motorcycles for a specific customer and was being held for collection. The gang travelling on three scooters were caught on camera entering the premises, in Ruislip Manor, just after midnight on Tuesday. Footage: Video shows the gang wheeling the bikes out of the shop After disabling the shutters and ramming through the glass doors, the suspects moved several less-expensive bikes out the way before getting their hands on the Kawasaki. Jack Rayment, who works in the shop, told the Standard: They moved four bikes out the way until they could get this specific one off its plinth. They knew exactly what they were looking for. Rare: The H2 Carbon Kawasaki is a limited edition model Speaking about the limited edition bike, he said: It is quite hard to get the chance to buy one. The customer had been waiting a while. Any biker or anyone who knew anything about bikes would immediately recognise it. This is why we are trying to get as much information out there as possible. As well as the bike, the gang took three crash helmets, worth 600 each, and another bike which they dumped around the corner from the store. Police in Hillingdon arrived at the scene just moments before the thieves made off towards Victoria Road. A Met spokesman said: Around five suspects, all riding mopeds and wearing dark clothing and crash helmets, forced entry to the shop by damaging the front shutters and door at around 00.50am on Tuesday July 18. Two motorcycles and other items were stolen. One was found abandoned nearby. Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101, Tweet @MetCC or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. T his is the shocking moment a man was thrown into a busy road and repeatedly stabbed by a gang of thugs behind Brixtons O2 Academy. The man had been walking a woman to her car before the unprovoked attack, which happened as crowds flooded out of a Stormzy gig at the popular music venue. Video footage has been released showing at least five males, all dressed in dark clothing, push the man into Stockwell Road causing him to fall to the ground, before the assault was carried out. The 29-year-old was rushed to hospital by a passing motorist. Nothing was taken from him and his injuries were non-life threatening, police said. Police want to speak to these men after the attack / Metropolitan Police The woman, also aged 29, escaped on foot and was not hurt. Detective Constable Sarah Mustoe, the officer in the case, said: "This appears to have been an unprovoked attack in a very busy area. A show at the O2 Academy had just finished, so there would have been a lot of people on the streets heading home after a night out. "The motive behind the attack is unclear, and the suspects have not hesitated to inflict what could have been very serious or even fatal injuries using knives. We would ask anyone who recognises the people in the CCTV to come forward." Police said there was nothing to suggest a link between the gig and the attack; however they could not confirm whether or not the group had attended the concert. They are hunting six males, aged between 13 and 25, after the incident on May 4. Anyone with information that could assist with the police investigation is asked to call Lambeth CID via 101 or via Twitter @MetCC. Dear Mr. Dad: I'm a divorced mom and am thinking about dipping my toes back into the dating world. My biggest concern is how my dating life will affect my children (ages 5 and 8), so I want to do this the right way. How long after a divorce should I wait? How long should I wait before letting my kids meet someone I'm going out with? And on the other side, what do you suggest that I tell (or don't tell) someone I'm dating about my having kids? A Lamborghini supercar rented in Switzerland vanished without a trace after being driven hundreds of miles across Europe to London. The boss of the luxury car rental firm today told of his "disappointment" after the 250,000 car disappeared from GPS tracking systems in an Ikea car park in north London after an epic 600 mile journey from central europe. Managing director of Scheiwiller Automotive Luxury Car Rental in Zurich, Adriano Scheiwiller, said a smartly dressed woman with an Irish passport hired the black Lamborghini Huracan Spyder on Friday. He said she told him the car was needed to drive to a business meeting in Strasbourg and that she would return it on Sunday. A GPS tracker shows the route taken from Zurich to London However when she failed to return the car, the company traced it all the way to London using its in-built GPS. Mr Scheiwiller said: The customer was supposed to bring the vehicle back on Sunday. The passport provided by the woman who hired the car Unfortunately, she drove to London with the car and stole my Lambo. She was between 45 and 50 years old as in the passport photo. And very well dressed and a good character apparently, so she could play Hollywood with us. The GPS shows the route taken by the car across France and the English Channel, then through Kent into London. Meanwhile a supercar spotter sent the company a photograph of an identical Lamborghini in Brompton Road in Knighsbridge on Sunday. An identical Lamborghini was photographed in Brompton Road / Willem Duijff/@wdcarphotography However the tracker went dead later that day while the car was in the car park of Ikea off Angel Edmonton Road in north London. Mr Scheiwiller added: I sent two friends in London to the last place of the tracker signal, they have searched there for several hours without success unfortunately. I am very disappointed and angry that my vehicle is gone. Mr Scheiwilller now believes that the passport they were shown by the woman, who paid a deposit of just over 2,500, was a fake. The company have also appealed on Facebook, and is offering a reward of 5,000 Swiss francs (a little over 4,000) to anyone who can help him find the car. He said he reported the matter to Scotland Yard and they had been assisting him. The Met has been approached for a statement. U p to 500 people were forced to leave shops and homes as up to 72 firefighters tackled a huge blaze in north London. Emergency services raced to the scene in Burnt Oak, Edgware after dozens of 999 calls from witnesses. Images and video footage showed huge plumes of smoke rising from the fire at a workshop in Watling Avenue. Half a single storey workshop at the back of a parade of shops with flats above was alight, London Fire Brigade said. Workshop blaze: A car engulfed in flames at the scene of the fire (@HarrowMPS) / @harrowmps Burnt Oak Tube station was closed and Watling Avenue sealed off as emergency services dealt with the fire. Witnesses said the entire parade of shops and flats was evacuated over fears gas cylinders at the site of the fire could explode. Workshop fire: Smoke billows into the sky as firefighters tackle a blaze in Burnt Oak, Edgware / @fattyturner The brigade confirmed a hazard zone had been put in place as cylinders were believed to be involved in the incident. A photo posted by local borough police officers showed what appeared to be a car at the workshop engulfed in flames. Mark Cording, 31, who lives in Burnt Oak, said he was getting his haircut when a little boy came running into the barbers saying there was a fire. I came out and saw and I saw big, black plumes of smoke filling the streets. It was mayhem, very mad. We kept getting moved back by the police. I heard a small explosion, a pop so, I think thats why the police were concerned with getting everyone back as quick as they could. Emergency service vehicles line Watling Avenue / @sparkloaf26 Some people were walking calmly, some of the kids were running. Mr Odling said emergency crews were still at the scene and people waiting to return to their shops and homes at about 6.30pm. He added: The smoke seems to have gone now, I think its calming down but the fire crews are still here and the residents are still out on the streets. LFB received the first of 45 999 calls from members of the public at about 3.40pm. Residents were finally allowed by into their homes shortly before 9pm. Station Manager Sean Madeley, who was at the scene, said: "The fire was in the workshop behind a shop and flats. Gas cylinders were involved in the incident. Smoke could be seen for miles / @yiannisc "As a result, a hazard zone was set up as cylinders can explode when exposed to heat. Crews worked hard in arduous conditions to cool the cylinders and damp down pockets of fire." Fire crews from Stanmore, West Hampstead, Finchley, Hendon, Wembley, Tottenham and Mill Hill fire stations were attending. The cause of the fire is not known at this stage. A tearful Grenfell Tower survivor held up the key to her destroyed flat as she pleaded with councillors to help victims of the devastating fire. The woman, who lived on the tenth floor of the tower, was one of numerous victims to address members of Kensington and Chelsea Council at an emotional public meeting on Wednesday evening. One man held up debris from Grenfell Tower as victims slammed the council's actions in the aftermath of the deadly blaze. People in the public gallery shouted shame on you as Tory councillors spoke at the town hall, while members of the administration admitted feeling "shame" at their response. The meeting was overshadowed by protests outside, with hundreds of demonstrators chanting Justice for Grenfell and murderers as the meeting began. At least 80 people died in the fire at Grenfell Tower. Protest takes place outside Kensington Town Hall ahead of council meeting Numerous members and survivors told stories of being ignored in the weeks following the fire at the full council meeting the first held since the blaze on June 14. One Iranian woman told councillors of painful memories of friends who died at Grenfell Tower as she held up the key her 10th floor flat. Speaking through a translator, she said: Im here to represent those who died innocently and they are powders now their bodies powders - and those survivors who are burning inside themselves and nobody hears them and nobody listens to them. They say they understand us but the truth of the matter is they dont." Members of the public gallery addressed councillors for almost two hours / REUTERS The woman then held up the key to her 10th floor flat to councillors and added: This has got a lot of memories for me. Every time I look at this key and want and I ask what is the difference between us human beings? A young woman heckles councillors from the public gallery. (NIGEL HOWARD) / NIGEL HOWARD She added: Why do you judge people because of what theyve got their wealth? Why dont you care about human beings right here? The woman went on: I beg that you dont tell us lies. I beg that you dont waste our time. I beg you and I ask you, I want you to talk to us. Dont let the other survivors die and their lives ruined because of the traumas. A survivor holds a piece of building debris as he blasted councillors / REUTERS We need you right now. A woman who said her teenage niece had perished in the blaze then addressed the chamber. She said her brother and sister-in-law could not speak in public because "their pain is too huge" and that councillors should be embarrassed by their "totally inadequate" response. A public gallery packed with former Grenfell Tower residents and an over-spill room containing at least 150 community members and volunteers were present. Six extra chairs were placed on the chamber floor underneath the public gallery at the request of survivors, some of whom indicated they may wish to speak during the meeting. Elizabeth Campbell Has Never Been Inside A Council Block At least one person was let in midway through the meeting after furious banging on the locked door separating the public gallery from the chamber floor was heard. Shortly after a survivor told the room he had been living in a hotel room with one double bed for him, his wife and three children since the tragedy. "I was forgotten about," he explained. The main problem residents were facing was a lack of action, he said. "You know who done something for us?", he asked. "The residents of north Kensington. Our community. Our neighbours." The meeting saw Elizabeth Campbell formally elected as its new leader after the resignation of Nicholas Paget-Brown. She was booed and heckled as she apologised to victims and admitted the council did not do enough to help victims in the fires aftermath. Members of the council had planned to meet in June, but the meeting descended into chaos when it was scrapped as journalists entered the room. Kensington and Chelsea council had opted to exclude the media and the public, citing allowing the public to enter would likely result in disorder. A 1,500 strong signature petition calling for the entire council to resign was also debated by the councillors on Wednesday. The meeting was brought to an abrupt end after a member of the public collapsed, who was was helped to her feet by medics and was assisted as she walked from the room. D ragons' Den entrepreneur Levi Roots has slammed calls to move the Notting Hill Carnival to another site in London in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster. The chef and musician first began selling his famed Reggae Reggae Sauce at the west London carnival in the early 90s and in recent years has sponsored the event. He said the devastating June 14 blaze is being used as "an excuse" to resurrect calls to move the carnival. Roots went on to accuse Greg Hands, the Tory minister for London and MP of nearby Chelsea and Fulham constituency, of wanting to stop it because it is "controlled by Caribbean people". Earlier this month Mayor of London Sadiq Khan rejected a request by Mr Hands to consider moving the location because of its close proximity to Grenfell Tower. Roots said: "It's not the first time, it's always been under threat, it's just another excuse. "A few years ago they were talking about putting it in Hyde Park and it's always this reason to try and stop it because it's a Caribbean festival controlled by Caribbean people." The call to move the event prompted an angry response from some quarters, including London rapper Stormzy, who called Mr Hands a "scumbag" for making the suggestion. He tweeted: "Look at this scumbag tryna using the Grenfell tragedy for their 'get rid of carnival' agenda. We ain't buying it mate." Roots said: "You cannot have a million people in one place and you don't get trouble in there. "I cannot understand why they are expecting this to be the squeakiest clean no-violence event. It's absolutely impossible." Loading.... The Jamaican-born businessman, 59, was speaking as he promoted a new compilation album of some of his favourite reggae hits. The record features tracks from Bob Marley, Maxi Priest and Shaggy as well as two tracks by Roots who credits his business success to the song he performed on the BBC show in 2006. The Mobo-nominated musician said: "Music has always been the greatest part of my life especially when people saw me on Dragons' Den all those years ago." "It was the music that brought the attention I think I would have come a cropper if I didn't have the guitar." Additional reporting by Press Association. B oris Johnson was introduced to a state-of-the-art robot during a diplomatic visit to Japan, during which he hopes to strengthen trade deals. The Foreign Secretary arrived in the country on Thursday for top level cyber security, defence and trade talks. As part of the visit, he met a humanoid robot at Research Institute for Science and Engineering in Tokyo. Amusing pictures show Mr Johnson shaking hands with the robot, named Wabian2, before adopting a bizarre stance that made the politician look as though he was sizing up the android. Boris Johnson meets a humanoid robot in Tokyo 1 /5 Boris Johnson meets a humanoid robot in Tokyo Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson shakes hands with a humanoid robot Wabian2 at the Research Institute for Science and Engineering at Waseda University's Kikuicho Campus in Tokyo AFP/Getty Images Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson gestures as he looks at a humanoid robot at the Research Institute for Science and Engineering at Waseda University's Kikuicho Campus in Tokyo AFP/Getty Images Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson looks at a humanoid robot Wabian2 at the Research Institute for Science and Engineering at Waseda University's Kikuicho Campus in Tokyo AFP/Getty Images Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson looks at a humanoid robot Wabian2 at the Research Institute for Science and Engineering at Waseda University's Kikuicho Campus in Tokyo AFP/Getty Images The robots at the centre which works closely with the University of Birmingham have been designed to help in disaster situations and with healthcare. On arriving in the country on Thursday, Mr Johnson said he had gone to Japan to build on our historic relationship, which is based on common values, support for democracy, human rights and free and open markets. Japanese companies invest more than 40 billion in the UK and our commercial relationship is stronger than ever, he added. We do great work together on everything from defence and security to education, research and innovation. Mr Johnson will head to New Zealand and Australia after he leaves Japan. L ike many 16-year-olds, Jess Oghenegweke didnt have a clue what to do with her life. She was in what she calls that transitional teenage period where she knew she wanted to expand her horizons but felt too socially awkward to break out. Fast-forward four years and Jess is a radiantly happy and confident young woman, who just landed her dream job as an apprentice at Radio 1, and is enjoying every minute of her hectic work and the social whirl in London. She dates the change to the week she joined National Citizen Service, the programme that gets teenagers to experience life away from home and to undertake character-building activities, from abseiling to volunteering in the community. I didnt know what to do with my life and I wasnt very confident, said Jess. I had no idea what I was interested in. NCS taught me how to deal with social situations and got me to try out so many different things that I would never have done without that support. I found my voice. All the skills and experience I built up through NCS led to my getting where I am now. Jess Oghenegweke / Matt Writtle This week, NCS reached a milestone after six years of growing popularity when it launched its first meeting of a new board of high-profile patrons recruited to help steer its growth and inspire the next generation. Chaired by ex-premier David Cameron, who came up with the idea for NCS more than a decade ago, the 18 patrons include the Southbank Centres artistic director Jude Kelly, business leader Carolyn Fairbairn, Army chief General Sir Nick Carter and former TV presenter Floella Benjamin. Mumsnet founder Justine Roberts, one of the patrons, said parents were waking up to the importance of getting sulky teens to learn soft skills. We can all get stuck in the trap of thinking its all about getting straight As at GCSE, she said. But all parents really want for their kids is for them to be confident and assured and have great social skills and learn to empathise with other people. Almost all the NCS graduates who came along to the launch of the patrons board said the scheme had made them more confident and able to deal with social situations. Sarah Al Saedi, 19, came across it on a YouTube video. My first thought is that it looked like a very cheap holiday for 50, she said. Sarah Al Saedi / Matt Writtle I was a bit of a social butterfly at the time, but I didnt have much real confidence. I would find it nerve-racking to be in a room full of strangers. Afterwards, I gave a speech at the House of Commons to a room with 100 MPs in it something I could never have done before NCS. Patron: Karen Bradley / Matt Writtle Every NCS scheme is slightly different but they all involve two or three weeks away from home; socialising, having fun with activities such as rafting and kayaking, learning new skills and, finally, giving something back to the community. Terry Obeng, 21, now in his second year at City, says charity work has become a big part of his life because of NCS. He joined the programme at 16 while at Dulwich College and decided to raise awareness about young carers for his social action project in the final week. We had the idea of handing out lollipops to children in Lewisham high street, so that the kids would then get their mums and dads to come over and listen to us. Since NCS I have continued to get involved in volunteering. Im on the rag team at university and fundraising for good causes is now a big part of my life. A big attraction of NCS for many teens is that it is seen as a plus on their CVs. Apprentice star Karren Brady, the businesswoman and vice-chairman of West Ham United, became a patron after learning that NCS graduates from poorer backgrounds were 50 per cent more likely to get to university. The key to getting your CV looked at is to make it stand out, said the Tory peer. When I see a CV that says someone has done NCS I know they are going to be motivated and active. Terry Obeng / Matt Writtle Michael Lynas, the chief executive of NCS Trust, evangelises about how it has fostered ambition and hope in youngsters from difficult backgrounds. I have seen young people who think their future is already written for them at 16 suddenly realise that they can actually rewrite that future, he said. For David Cameron, the creation of NCS is one of his proudest achievements as PM. Whether it is on social integration, building a strong society or social mobility, this programme shoots the lights out, he said. He got the idea after a campaign stop when an elderly man recalled his National Service. He said, Im not saying bring back National Service, but the thing is, we all did it together, recalled Mr Cameron. It resonated strongly with me. Duncan Lyon / Matt Writtle At the time, Mr Cameron was detoxing the Tories by getting activists to undertake social action projects, like rebuilding decrepit community spaces. From the start, he saw NCS as a way to get teens volunteering. It was at the heart of trying a different approach, not just for the Conservative party but for the country, he said. NCS was one of the greatest manifestations. Before NCS, young people were the least likely to volunteer and are now some of the most likely. The programme is costly, at about 1,400 for each young person, and Mr Cameron admitted it amounts to a big intervention by the state. But the result has been an increase in social action, social concern and a big increase in volunteering. For young people taking part, the biggest benefits are the soft skills of confidence and empathy, he said. You need more than good GCSEs and A-levels nowadays, you need those key skills and experiences that make you a rounded person with confidence, teamwork and the ability to relate to other people, he said. Those skills are going to be more and more important in the world of work that we have today. Cameron Duncan Lyon, 18, who stayed in NCS as a leader, says his activities, ranging from rock climbing to raising money for a boy with cerebral palsy, have made him a happier person. I wouldnt change a moment, he said. D iane Abbott suffered yet another numbers blunder as she was questioned over Labour's plans for police funding. The Shadow Home Secretary struggled when she was asked about rising crime figures in England and Wales and the Labour Partys plans for 10,000 extra police officers. In an interview with ITV News, the Labour politician floundered when she was asked how the party would raise the money to fund the plans. Ms Abbott said: "What we've said is that we would find the money to recruit the 10,000 police people by cutting the, cutting... We would find the money because we would look at capital gains tax. "The Tories have cut capital gains tax and we want to restore it and that would give us, I think, 170..." At this point, Ms Abbott paused momentarily and said "sorry" to someone off camera, before continuing: "We would find the money by restoring levels of capital gains tax." She appeared to be looking desperately off camera for help from her aides, before claiming the party would make 300m through reversing cuts to Capital Gains Tax. The embarrassing interview comes after the Shadow Home Secretary stumbled over the same police funding figures in a radio interview during the General Election campaign. Conservative MP Luke Hall said: "Yet again Diane Abbott's inability to answer simple questions about Labour's proposals show that Jeremy Corbyn and his team simply aren't up to the job. "Labour's sums simply don't add up - they'd borrow money forever, meaning more and more money would be wasted on debt interests, leaving it to our children and grandchildren to foot the bill. "Just like their promise to students wasn't worth the paper it was written on, you simply can't trust anything Labour promise because they can't pay for it." The Labour politician, a close ally of Leader Jeremy Corbyn, was briefly replaced as Shadow Home Secretary after she fell ill towards the end of the General Election campaign. Ms Abbott had been heavily criticised for a series of car crash interviews. T heresa May is to take a three-week holiday walking in the Alps with her husband Philip. The Prime Minister and Mr May will leave on Monday for five days in northern Italy then return briefly to the UK to attend commemorations of the centenary of the battle of Passchendaele in Belgium. They will then depart once again for Switzerland for a further two weeks, before returning to work in Downing Street on August 14, said a Number 10 spokeswoman. Unlike some of her predecessors, Mrs May has not named a minister who will take charge of the business of government while she is away. The Number 10 spokeswoman said that "various ministers will be on duty over the period", while Mrs May will be "constantly updated" by Downing Street on developments in her absence. She joked on Wednesday that fellow Conservatives may be relieved that she is not returning to Wales, where she made the fateful decision to call a snap election while walking in Snowdonia with husband Philip at Easter. "I think there are many people who are grateful I'm going to the Alps and not to Wales again," she told LBC radio. Mr and Mrs May are regular summer visitors to the Alps, and the Prime Minister has named the Swiss regions of Zermatt and the Bernese Oberland as two of her favourite destinations because they are both "fantastic for walking". B ritain and the European Union clashed today over the UKs Brexit divorce bill, which could spiral to tens of billions of pounds. The EUs chief negotiator Michel Barnier accused Cabinet minister David Davis of failing to give enough details about the UKs stance on the expected payment for progress to be made towards a full deal. In a thinly veiled criticism of the UKs readiness for the second round of talks, which started this week in Brussels, Mr Barnier said: As I said clearly to David, clarification of the UK position is indispensable for us to negotiate and for us to make significant progress on this financial dossier, which is inseparable from the other withdrawal dossiers. What we want, and we are working on this, is an orderly withdrawal for the United Kingdom. An orderly withdrawal means accounts must be settled. Mr Barnier said a deal would not be achieved through incremental steps and that the EU had laid out its position on the divorce bill on May 29. United Kingdom Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, David Davis, next to Michel Barnier / EPA As soon as the United Kingdom is ready to clarify the nature of its commitments, we will be prepared to discuss this with the British negotiators, he added. Mr Davis, the Brexit Secretary, said talks about the divorce bill had been robust but there was a lot to be positive about in some areas, including on Britains future nuclear arrangements if it is no longer a full member of the Euratom agency. On the financial settlement, he said: We both recognise the importance of sorting out the obligations we have to one another, both legally and in a spirit of mutual co-operation. The British team is understood to think its EU counterparts are being unclear on what they believe the legal obligations are over the divorce bill too, so there is frustration on either side. However, Mr Davis, who called for flexibility on both sides to reach a deal, said: Overall Im encouraged by the progress we have made on understanding each others positions. He said the talks had demonstrated the UK had made a fair and serious offer on citizens rights and that there were many concrete areas where we agree, as well as areas where there will be further discussion, which will be a priority in the next round of talks. In a clear point of division, Mr Barnier stuck to Brussels insistence that the European Court of Justice must continue to have a say over the rights of EU citizens who remain in Britain after Brexit. Underlining his position on the fundamental importance of citizens rights being protected by EU law and the ECJ, Mr Barnier said: This is not a political point we are making, its a legal one. "Simply, if there is to be continuity of EU law, that has to be framed by case law of the court. Only the court can interpret EU law. Its not a choice, its an obligation. He also said it had been agreed the UK should clarify at the third round of talks next month how it intends to maintain the Common Travel Area between Northern Ireland and Ireland. Almost 100 British civil servants have been in Brussels for four days of talks with their EU counterparts this week. There are growing concerns over how advanced the UKs position is on Brexit given the rows between Cabinet ministers. Mr Barnier added: This weeks experience has quite simply shown that we make better progress where our respective decisions are clear. The second round of talks aimed to identify areas of agreement and divergence. Mr Barnier said the third round must be about clarification. A row has erupted among anglers after the largest freshwater fish ever caught in Britain died. Some say the female carp known as Big Rig, imported from Israel in 2009, was fed to death after owner Rob Hales grew it from a weight of 39lb when he bought it in 2014 to 71lb 4oz when it was caught from a lake in Shropshire last year. But others say it should have been given a place in the official record books. Judges refused to award it a place because they claimed it had been "grown under an artificial feeding regime". Big Rig was 3lb 3oz heavier than the official record holder, a 68lb 1oz carp caught in Berkshire in 2016. Glad it's dead. It made a mockery out of our sport, wrote one man on the Facebook page of magazine Carp Talk. What was expected to happen a fish of that size from a complete different climate and conditions? wrote another. Big Rig, which died last week during egg spawning, was the largest freshwater fish in the UK to be snagged by an angler yet never found a way into record books. When an application was made to the British Record Fish Committee by Tom Doherty, 33, who was reported to have caught Big Rig at a weight of 70lb 4oz last October, he was told it did not qualify as it was a cultivated fish. Mr Hales has denied that the fish died because of its weight, telling the Times: Big Rig's death was definitely spawning related. RACINE PUBLIC LIBRARY RACINE The Racine Public Library, 75 Seventh St., is offering these free events: BONK at the Zoo, 6 p.m. Saturday, July 22. The free BONK! performance series performance will feature pop-infused folk rock group Lost Lakes and the alternative folk group the Oscillators. It will be held at the Racine Zoo, 2131 N. Main St. Camp NaNoWriMo Drop-in Sharing Session, 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 26. Teens in grades six through 12 may share their writing. For more information, contact Carrie Richmond at carrie.richmond@racinelibrary.info. Family Movie Night, 5:30 p.m. Thursday, July 27. A film will be shown in the librarys atrium. Call 262-636-9245 or go to www.racinelibrary.info for movie information. Childrens book authors visit and book-signing, 1:30 p.m. Thursday, July 27. Hilda and Emily Demuth, authors of Hatties War and Plank Road Winter, will discuss the local history in their novels and offer related craft activities for readers of all ages. Books will be available for purchase and signing. To register for an event, call 262-636-9217, unless otherwise noted, or go to www.racinelibrary.info. A valid library card is required. WATERFORD PUBLIC LIBRARY WATERFORD The Waterford Public Library, 101 N. River St., will offer the following: Old World Wisconsin photo display. A traveling display of Old World Wisconsins annual photo contest winners will be on display at the library during library hours from Tuesday, July 25, through Tuesday, Aug. 29. Book Club, 5:30-7 p.m. Wednesday, July 26. Black River by S.M. Hulse will be discussed. Copies of the book will be available at the circulation desk. Advance registration is required. For more information, call 262-534-3988 or go to www.waterford.lib.wi.us. BURLINGTON PUBLIC LIBRARY BURLINGTON The Burlington Public Library, 166 E. Jefferson St., will offer the following: Bubble Blast, 1 p.m. Tuesday, July 25. Children of all ages may have bubble fun in Wehmhoff Square Park, 166 E. Jefferson St. Mammal Exploration, 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, July 26. Attendees ages 5 and older will learn about mammals from a Department of Natural Resources expert. Lego Build, 10 a.m. Thursday, July 27. Attendees will build Legos. Teacher Night at the Library, 5:30-6:30 p.m. Thursday, July 27. Burlington Elementary School District teachers will be at the library to read with children and do projects with a different theme each week. Maxwell Street Days Storytime. Ms. Jane will lead storytimes at 10 a.m., noon and 2 p.m. Saturday, July 29. For more information, call 262-342-1130 or go to www.burlingtonlibrary.org. T he Treasury has launched a battle in Whitehall for a City visa to protect the vital stream of international talent to the financial sector after Brexit, the Standard has learned. New City minister Stephen Barclay is due to meet immigration minister Brandon Lewis next week to make the case for special rules because of the importance of the sector to the UK economy and tax revenues. It follows concern among business leaders that Theresa Mays ambition to slash net immigration levels to below 100,000 is a threat to the ability of financial companies to fill key posts and allow a free flow of personnel between international offices. Mr Barclay is expected to point out that banks pay 24 billion in taxes to the exchequer, while the insurance and financial sector employs more than a million people around the country and makes a trade surplus of 60 billion. There is strong support among business leaders for bankers and other specialists needed by the sector to be exempted from immigration curbs promised by Mrs May. The City of London Corporation has proposed regional visas so that London could set higher migrant limits than those preferred by areas such as Yorkshire where there is higher concern about immigration. Banks are a massive contributor to the exchequer's pot of money. / Dan Kitwood/Getty Images TheCityUK lobby group proposed a digital skills visa recently to ensure firms have access to IT technicians who are vital to modern financials. The Treasury would prefer a sector based visa to a so-called London visa, reflecting the fact that at least a third of the sector is spread across the country. About 51 per cent of the 121 billion generated for the UK in 2016 by finance and insurance was in London, and almost a third of the workforce in the Square Mile is international. Mrs May has promised the EU citizens currently living in the UK will be able to stay for life by applying for settled status, but that would not guarantee a future supply of personnel. Brexit Secretary David Davis travelled to Brussels today for an update with EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier on a week of talks on the rights of EU citizens in Britain and Britons abroad. Meanwhile, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said he had no problem with a transition period for Britain to quit the EU but said that could not mean delaying leaving the single market or customs union. We have to leave the EU first of all to keep faith with the voters who instructed us to do that, he said. Dr Fox was in Geneva to meet World Trade Organisation chiefs to discuss the UKs post-Brexit arrangements. The UK is seeking to replicate its current EU trade obligations at the WTO as it takes a seat in its own right after Brexit and Dr Fox said the organisation was very positive about the process. T he Duke and Duchess of Cambridge burst out laughing as they tried their hand at making pretzels. The royal couple were given a culinary lesson when they visited the picturesque German city of Heidelberg to celebrate the local culture, food and people. William and Kate rolled out the pastry into long sausage shapes then were shown how to flick and cross them over in one movement to create the snack's classic shape. Local baker Andreas Gobes, part of a guild whose members put on the pastry display, said: "Catherine was a little bit more talented than William but they both did a great job. "This type of pretzel is a speciality for the region so we wanted to show them that. "In this region it has a special shape thin arms and a thick body with salt and it's red brown colour." The Duke and Duchess visited Heidelberg, which is twinned with Cambridge, while on a three-day tour of Germany. The city is located on the riverside and overlooked by the ruins of its famous castle The royal couple wandered through the central market square, where a British-German market offered local food and drink. This evening they will attend a Berlin reception in the mirrored hall of Clarchens Ballroom opened in 1913. It is one of the last remaining old ballrooms in Berlin, and will play host to a reception for some of the most creative and innovative names in the world of art, culture, style, fashion and technology. A nine-year-old boy walking in a New Mexico desert stumbled upon a rare 1.2 million years old skull from a distant relative of the elephants. Jude Sparks tripped over something sticking out of the ground, which his brother Hunter dismissed as a big fat rotten cow. But Jude, now 10, said he knew it wasnt usual, and it turned out to be a stegomastodon, an ancient, tusked mammal related to mammoths and elephants. The brothers were exploring the desert in the Organ Mountains with their parents, who later contacted Professor Peter Houde at New Mexico State University. They all returned to the site to find an entire skull that was as big as Jude. A team from the university and volunteers then spent a week excavating the remains, which Professor Houde told National Geographic magazine were eggshell thin. He hopes the fossil will eventually be available for public exhibit. Experts believe the extinction of stegomastodons correlates to the arrival of mammoths as the global climate changed. Another near intact stegomastodon fossil was found by a stag party in New Mexico in 2014, which is now in the state Natural History Museum. T he International Space Station has become the first location not on planet earth to feature on Google Maps Street View. Astronauts helped to create 360-degree panoramas of the insides of all of the 15 modules of the ISS for viewers to take a virtual tour. The interactive images, which can be accessed on the Google Maps Planet page, were launched for the 48th anniversary of the first manned mission to the moon. Annotations appear alongside the pictures, highlighting things like where the astronauts work out, where they do scientific experiments and what kind of food they eat. The images offer incredible views of Earth from the space station / Google Tech giant Google said it hoped to inspire people to explore the science and engineering involved in space exploration. Its project manager Alice Liu told the BBC: "Every [ISS] component had to be flown on a space shuttle or rocket and constructed and connected in space. And it had to be done with such precision that it formed a hermetic environment to support life. Astronauts helped to create 360-degree panoramas of the ISS / Google Ms Liu said the annotation technology used could be later rolled out to some of her firm's other Street View locations in the future. This is not the first time a 360-degree tour has been captured in Space. Astronauts can be seen in the International Space Station In 2015, the European Space Agency published interactive pictures of the ISS. And last year Nasa used images taken on its Pathfinder mission to Mars to make clips for virtual reality headsets. D onald Trump has wished Senator John McCain a speedy recovery after the former US presidential candidate announced he has brain cancer. Doctors said the Arizona senator has been diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive cancer. The 80-year-old and his family are reviewing further treatment, including a combination of chemotherapy and radiation. Senator McCain vowed to beat the disease and has been recovering at his Arizona home after doctors at the Mayo Clinic removed a blood clot above his left eye. Senator John McCain was diagnosed with brain cancer after surgery to remove a blood clot / Getty Images North America President Trump said in a statement issued by the White House: "Senator John McCain has always been a fighter. "Melania and I send our thoughts and prayers to Senator McCain, Cindy, and their entire family. Get well soon." The doctors said Mr McCain is recovering from his surgery amazingly well and his underlying health is excellent. South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said Mr McCain told him by phone on Wednesday: "Yeah, I'm going to have to stay here a little bit longer, take some treatments. I'll be back." Mr McCain was the Republican Party's presidential nominee in 2008, when he was defeated by Barack Obama. Mr Obama tweeted: "John McCain is an American hero & one of the bravest fighters I've ever known. Cancer doesn't know what it's up against. Give it hell, John." Mr McCain, who served in Vietnam, has a lifetime of near-death experiences, including surviving the July 1967 fire and explosion on the USS Forrestal that killed 134 sailors. In October 1967 his navy aircraft was shot down into Truc Bach Lake in Hanoi, and he spent more than five years n a North Vietnamese prison. "The Hanoi Hilton couldn't break John McCain's spirit many years ago, so Barbara and I know - with confidence - he and his family will meet this latest battle in his singular life of service with courage and determination," said former President George HW Bush. Early in the 2016 campaign, Mr McCain largely held his tongue when Mr Trump said: "He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren't captured." He stuck by Mr Trump at times seemingly through gritted teeth - until the release a month before the election of a lewd audio tape in which the tycoon said he could kiss and grab women. Declaring that the breaking point, Mr McCain withdrew his support and said he would write in "some good conservative Republican who's qualified to be president". A model arrested in Saudi Arabia after a video of her wearing a miniskirt went viral has been released without charge. The controversial footage, posted earlier this week on the Snapchat account of a young woman called Khulood, shows her wandering empty alleys in the heritage village of Ushaiqer, about 95 miles north of Riyadh, dressed in a short skirt and cropped top. According to the ultra-conservative kingdom's state-owned TV network, the woman was briefly detained by police on the grounds of indecent dress after the clip spread swiftly online. "She was released without charge and the case has been closed by the prosecutor," a statement from the Saudi Centre for International Communications said. Khulood claimed the footage had been posted to social media without her knowledge, according to reports. A Riyadh police spokesman explained in a statement to CNN: "She admitted to visiting the site in question with a male guardian, and that the viral videos were published by an account attributed to her without her knowledge." Her arrest on the grounds of wearing indecent clothing followed an outpouring of outrage from conservative social media users who castigated her breaking of strict Saudi dress codes. Saudi writer Ibrahim al-Munayif told 41,000 Twitter followers that women should stick to the rules. Just like we call on people to respect the laws of countries they travel to, people must also respect the laws of this country, he wrote. Outside of their homes and all-female settings, women in Saudi Arabia are mandated by a Sharia-based law system to wear 'modest' clothes including a full-length loose-fitting cloak known as an abaya. They are also expected to carry scarves in case they are asked to cover their head by the countrys religious police, known as the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice. However, many leapt to the defence of the young woman, citing double standards in a country where despite strict laws on female conduct, pornography is widely accessible. "What about Hassan Jameel? Hypocrites," asked one Twitter user, posting the widely circulated picture of the wealthy Saudi businessman kissing popstar Rihanna in a swimming pool earlier this summer. "Leading the world in visiting the porn sites isn't a problem. But wearing [a] miniskirt is a serious problem," wrote another. A cub of Cecil the Lion, the animal shot dead by a US dentist in 2015, has also been shot and killed by trophy hunters, it emerged today. The six-year-old lion, Xanda, who was in his prime, was killed just outside the Hwange National Park in north west Zimbabwe, not far from where Cecil was killed in 2015, according to the Telegraph. It is believed he was shot dead by professional hunter Richard Cooke from RC Safaris, who when realising the lion was being monitored handed his collar back to researchers. The Lions of Hwange National Park posted on Facebook: "Today we heard that a few days ago, Xanda, the son of Cecil the Lion has been shot and killed in a trophy hunt. Demonstrators protest the killing of Cecil the Lion in 2015 / AP "Xanda is still a young father at 6.2 years old and has several young cubs. We can't believe that now, two years since Cecil was killed, that his oldest cub Xanda has met the same fate." According the Telegraph, the death of the young lion was discovered thanks to an electronic collar which monitored Xanda's movements in the area. Andrew Loveridge from the Department of Zoology at Oxford University, which has a team supplying and fixing collars which monitor the lions in the Hwange National Park told the newspaper: "I fitted it last October. "It was monitored almost daily and we were aware that Xanda and his pride was spending a lot of time out of the park in the last six months, but there is not much we can do about that." The shooting of Cecil the Lion in 2015 sparked outrage across the globe and caused widespread anger among conversationalists. He was killed with a rifle in Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park, as part of an organised hunt by Walter Palmer, an American recreational big-game hunter. Celebrities and politicians led the global backlash to the shooting. T he legacy of Boaty McBoatface will live on through the irreverent name of a new train in Scandinavia. Swedish rail network MTR Express, which ran a competition to name its new engine, said it would give the public what it wants by calling it Trainy McTrainface. An online poll found 49 per cent of respondents backed the name over alternatives Poseidon, Hakan and Miriam, which the rail firm said was "global revenge". The bold move comes after the hopes of many Britons were dashed when the UK's National Environment Research Council refused to honour a public poll to name a new boat last year. Despite Boaty McBoatface winning the popular vote in a non-binding online call for suggestions, NERC instead christened its new research vessel the RRS Sir David Attenborough. Trainy will join a new fleet of engines, including trains named Glenn, Ingvar and Estelle, due to run between Gothenburg and Stockholm from autumn. MTR said the decision over the UK's McBoatFace was a disappointment felt across the world. The train company said it hoped the name Trainy would "be received with joy by many, not only in Sweden". T he Giants Club, the conservation initiative supported by the Evening Standard, yesterday announced that it would stage Africas first Conservation and Tourism Investment Forum in October. The event, which will be held in Uganda, was announced by the countrys president, Yoweri Museveni, at a special press launch at State House in Entebbe. He said this would be a unique opportunity to harness the financial muscle of the worlds leading hotel and lodge operators to raise vital funds to support Ugandas wildlife. Uganda has Africas fastest-growing elephant population but, with urgent development needs and a limited budget, the country lacks adequate financial resources to fully support its conservation requirements. By inviting conservation-motivated investors to help build a nature-based economy, we will rehabilitate and manage Ugandas network of protected areas while delivering economic growth, Mr Museveni said. The Giants Club was created by the conservation charity Space for Giants and its patron is Evgeny Lebedev, the Evening Standards proprietor. It has been working with its partners, the United Nations Development Programme and African Wildlife Foundation, to help the Ugandan government identify which of the countrys 3.1 million hectares of wildlife zones would suit new international investment. Ugandas Giants Club Conservation and Tourism Investment Forum will then present the best of those opportunities to interested companies who are committed to wildlife-friendly development. Their investment will help preserve and manage Ugandas protected areas. The event follows the inaugural Giants Club summit held in Kenya last year which saw 3.8 million committed to conservation and was followed by the burning of Kenyas stockpile of seized ivory, drawing international media attention. Its understandable that in the present economic climate, governments must prioritise where they spend their money, and conservation may not be top of the list, said Max Graham, chief executive of Space for Giants, the conservation organisation behind the Giants Club. But its also true that there are legions of companies around the world who are very keen to take up that slack, to fund conservation of wilderness areas in ways that also build their businesses. The Forum, uniquely, helps to bring these two sides together, the investors and the authorities, in a way that will drive economic benefits and environmental ones too. The Giants Club, of which President Museveni is one of four founding presidents along with the leaders of Kenya, Gabon and Botswana, unites African heads of state, conservationists, philanthropists and global companies. Its objective is to protect half of Africas elephants by 2020. On Sunday, July 23, visitors are invited to come and journey back to Racine Countys early days at the Caledonia Historical Village on Five Mile Road, just east of Highway 38. The village, which is owned and operated by the Caledonia Historical Society, will hold a free open house from 1 to 4 p.m. that day. And docents, dressed in period costumes, will be available on the grounds that afternoon to share information about what life was like in that area in the 1800s. Our goal with the docents is to help guests that visit the village to experience the history of Caledonia, said Chuck Miles, president of CHS. The Caledonia Historical Village is a collection of buildings and other structures, most of which have been moved to the site and lovingly renovated and maintained by members of the CHS. Structures on the grounds include the original 1877 Town Hall for the Town of Caledonia (which later became the Village of Caledonia); the 1902 Milwaukee Road railroad depot, which was moved to the historical village from what is now Sturtevant in 2010; a 1927 cupola-style caboose; the Ruud Cabin, a log cabin that dates to about 1840 and was originally located on the west side of Highway 31 just north of Four Mile Road; the Myers Museum, a newly constructed building designed to represent a livery stable and blacksmith shop of the late 1880s; and the 1919 Botting Road machine shed, which is the latest addition to the village. The two-story Botting Road machine shed, which looks like a barn, is the only building not yet open to the public. It was rebuilt on its new foundation at the village in January and is still in the restoration process. It is a work in progress, Miles said. Appreciating the past While the village grounds are always open during the day, the buildings are not. The summer open house events allow visitors the opportunity to not only venture inside the buildings, but to see the many artifacts the CHS has collected that tell the story of Caledonias settlement. Inside the Town Hall, for example, is a postmasters desk, along with a lot of historical information about Linwood School. And, in the log cabin, guests can get an appreciation for what daily life was like for the areas early settlers, who slept on a rope beds and used fireplaces for heat and cooking. They can also see the different size trunks used by people of various means, as they traveled here from their homeland, Miles said. Many had left their families in Europe and traveled for nearly a month by sea, and then by wagon across the country, to get here. And everything they wanted to bring with them often had to fit inside one trunk, he said. These are just a few examples of what visitors can learn about during the CHS summer open house events, which began in May and will continue on the fourth Sunday of the month through September. This years events are part of the societys celebration of the 175th anniversary of the establishment of Caledonia, which took place in February of 1842, according to Miles. Heritage Festival, too The CHS will also hold its annual Heritage Festival on Sept. 9 and 10, the theme of which is Back to the Past. The festival will feature Civil War re-enactors, sawmill demonstrations, craft and food vendors, period-specific childrens activities and more. Members of the CHS have also invited anyone with local family history to join in the anniversary celebration by sharing a brief family memory, tradition or local story at the festival. Anyone interested in doing so can contact Chuck Miles at ridingsmarter@gmail.com. Festival admission and parking are free, but donations are accepted and will help the CHS to continue its efforts in collecting and disseminating Caledonia history. In addition to visitors from throughout Racine and Milwaukee counties, Miles said the historical village has also welcomed guests from as far away as Lake Geneva, Jackson, Hartford and far northern Wisconsin. We are amazed, at times, at where people come from to visit us, he said. Reaching out The society is working on becoming more visible, and has been using social media, including a Facebook page and Twitter account, to get the word out. We are always looking for people to work with us, Miles said. While he has lived in Caledonia for 40 years, Miles said he only recently connected with the CHS after attending one of the festivals at the village. And, when he did, he learned a lot. The more I learned about it, the more I liked it. We have a lot of fun, working to keep the property updated. Anyone interested in getting involved, or just learning more about Caledonia history, is invited to attend a CHS meeting. The public meetings are held at 6:30 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month in the historical village, during the summer months, and at the Caledonia/Mount Pleasant Memorial Park the rest of the year (more information at http://caledoniahistoricalsociety.org). Those who are interested may also contact Miles directly, via email, at ridingsmarter@gmail.com. RACINE The father of a toddler who died from a gunshot wound last week has been charged in connection with the shooting. Police found 3-year-old JereMiah Pitt shot and killed on the morning of July 12 in the upper unit of a home in the 1800 block of Howe Street. On Wednesday morning, prosecutors charged 30-year-old Jeffrey L. Pitt Jr., of the 700 block of Wisconsin Avenue, with first-degree reckless homicide, first-degree recklessly endangering safety and possession of a firearm. A second man, Laquan L. Russell, 27, of the 1800 block Mead Street, is charged with obstructing an officer and harboring a felon by falsifying information. The allegations Jeffrey Pitt, the boys father, reportedly told police he took five shots of alcohol before coming home on the night of July 11. When he got home around 7 p.m., he took JereMiah into the living room and put on a movie, he said. He then passed out with the toddler nearby and his other son lying on his chest, the complaint states. When he woke up at 6 a.m. Pitt found the child dead, he told police. Police found JereMiah on the floor with a single gunshot wound to the chest. A spent .40 caliber shell casing was found next to his body, according to the criminal complaint. After initially denying any possession of a firearm, Pitt reportedly told police he went to bed that night with a loaded .40 caliber gun in his waistband. Pitt said he did not wake to anything in the night, didnt hear any sounds and didnt feel anyone remove the firearm from his waistband, the complaint states. Finding JereMiah dead and the gun missing the next morning, Pitt reportedly learned Russell had taken the gun from the floor during the night. After Russell later gave him the gun back, Pitt counted the rounds in clip and chamber and determined one of the rounds was missing, according to the complaint. Pitt then reportedly asked Russell to dispose of the gun and take his other child away from the home. Russell initially denied any knowledge of a gun but eventually told investigators he spotted the gun lying on the floor on the night of July 11-12 and brought it downstairs, the complaint states. The next morning, when Pitt told him JereMiah was dead and asked where the gun was, Russell handed the gun to Pitt, police said. Russell later told police he took the gun from Pitt to dispose of it along the alley behind the house and led officers to its location. An officer who collected the gun found the chamber empty and the magazine one round short of fully loaded. In court During an initial appearance in Racine County Circuit Court on Wednesday afternoon, Racine County Court Commissioner Alice Rudebusch found probable cause to pursue the charges against Pitt and Russell. Rudebusch set the bond for for Pitt, who was convicted of possession of cocaine with the intent to deliver in 2006, at $100,000. The bond for Russell, who has been convicted of an assortment of misdemeanors, was set at $25,000. In requesting bond for Russell, Assistant Racine County District Attorney Rebecca Sommers noted Russell left a loaded gun in an alley where it would have been easily accessible by the public. Pitt and Russell are slated to appear in court again at 8:30 a.m. on July 27 for preliminary hearings. Both men remained in custody as of Wednesday at the Racine County Jail. WATERFORD Waterford Community United Methodist Church is planning a Benefit for Burlington concert from 7 to 8 p.m. Friday, July 28. The concert is scheduled to feature the Burlington Kiwanis Civic Band performing at the church, 455 S. Jefferson St. The event is free, but cash donations are encouraged to benefit Burlington flood victims. Donations of cleaning supplies will also be accepted to replenish the stock at Love, Inc., the Burlington social services agency. The Burlington Kiwanis Civic Band has been under the direction of Chris Peterson since 1977. The band includes 45 members from all over southeastern Wisconsin with a range of experience and ages, from high school students to retirees. BURLINGTON A week after what city officials called a "100-year flood" hit Burlington, City Hall is back open again. Mayor Jeannie Hefty announced it on her Facebook page Wednesday morning, though she added phones, internet and email access are still not working and some services are limited. The night before, Hefty led the first City Council meeting since the flood at the city fire station, 165 W. Washington St. Third District Alderman Tom Vos expressed concern about the power outage caused by the flooding of the We Energies substation off Maryland Avenue near the Fox River. "A lot of the loss of power was caused because the substation was built a block off the river. We lost power because we lost the substation. And I'm very concerned about that," Vos said. Vos said residents are concerned it would happen again and suggested the company build a dike around it or move it all together. "The minute we lost the power, we lost the sump pumps," Vos said. "This could happen again. So what are we going to do?" After the meeting, We Energies spokesman Brian Manthey said the incident is the first in 60 years at the location. "I'm sure other people have not seen anything else like this in their time in Burlington," Manthey said. "It doesn't preclude the fact that we may look at what we can do to mitigate any kind of future event like that." Burlington Fire Chief Alan Babe told the council the issue needs to be part of a later review of lessons learned in the disaster. Hefty commended We Energies officials for being a part of the disaster recovery in the city, where the power was out for four days for some residents. Disaster costly City Administrator Carina Walters told the council the disaster may be costly for Burlington as county, state and federal dollars are sought to help offset expenses. "I will be frank. There will be dollars coming out of our general fund for this disaster," Walters said. "Repairs to the dam would be included in that bottom line." Residents are still expected to call 211 to report their damage. "We're back tracking and going back to those properties for the assessment," Walters said. As of Tuesday, about 50 percent of 441 damaged properties identified through the hotline had been physically assessed by city staff. Echo Lake Dam Burlington officials announced that the Echo Lake dam is fully open. Officials have been slowly opening it inches at a time since July 14 to minimize issues downriver. The Fox River was at 9.9 feet as of 8:45 p.m. Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. The river crested at 16.1 feet at the flood's peak. "The entire issue is if there is a 100-year flood, the dam wouldn't break. This was probably over a 100-year flood. It didn't break," Walters said. The dam and the still-shuttered Jefferson Street Bridge are scheduled to be assessed next week. Vos said he hopes the state will move up its timeline to replace the aging bridge. Second District Alderman Ruth Dawidziak praised Hefty and city staff for their efforts during the flood. "I really think Burlington set the bar for responding to something like this. You guys were there. You were pulled in all directions and it is very humbling to be a part of this team," Dawidziak said. Burlington resident Kay Moran also thanked city officials for their efforts. "I want to thank everyone in this room. Everyone has gone above and beyond. It makes me very proud of being part of this community," Moran said at the meeting. Moran suggested a celebration or street fair and fundraiser for those who still need help in the community. Hefty said something like that is in the planning stages. Gov. Scott Walker offered a change to his budget plan this week to Republican leaders feuding over how to pay for road projects in an effort to break a 20-day impasse, but its unclear if its enough to get both houses back to the negotiating table. Theres no deal yet. Thats for sure, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said Thursday after he relayed to his members the governors offer to use $200 million slated for tax cuts for road projects instead, drawing down bonding levels. But Walkers offer did win support from Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, and Assembly Republicans, who in letters to Walker and Senate Republicans on Thursday said they accepted the governors proposal and want to resume work on the 2017-19 state budget as early as next week. The proposal that you outlined yesterday is a positive step forward in our desire to find a long-term solution and we believe the leadership that you have displayed has bridged the gap between our two houses, Assembly Republicans wrote Thursday. Walkers offer came as lawmakers Thursday wondered if a possible state incentive package for technology giant Foxconn would affect budget deliberations. Assembly Republicans have been fiercely against Walkers and Senate Republicans proposals to borrow millions in the 2017-19 state budget without increasing revenue sources to pay for the projects. Senate Republicans put forward their own budget proposal this week that included $712 million in new bonding for roads. But Senate Republicans arent yet ready to say theyre on board. Fitzgerald told reporters hes still not clear what the details are of Walkers offer, and that Vos also this week floated the idea of taxing electric vehicles to bring in new revenue for road projects an idea that should be discussed further. Walker told reporters in Sturtevant on Thursday that he hopes Senate Republicans will come back with a reasonable adjustment to the offer, according to audio provided by Walkers office. Walkers offer eliminates a $203 million tax cut that would instead be used to reduce or completely wipe out all new transportation bonding in the 2017-19 state budget, the governor told reporters. I hope were getting close, Walker said. Part of my role as a leader not just in my party but over all the state is to listen and try to figure out how to bring different interests together. Fitzgerald said he doesnt yet know if he has enough votes to pass a new state budget. He said his members still want to do more to move toward eliminating the personal property tax in Wisconsin and some have concerns about other issues that need to be addressed including the budgets structural deficit and spending out of the states general fund. The Legislatures budget-writing committee hasnt met since June 15, and Fitzgerald said meeting next week as Assembly Republicans have asked may be too aggressive, but the committee could meet the first week of August. He also said his members have a lot of questions about state officials and lawmakers work on crafting an incentives package to lure giant Taiwanese iPhone manufacturer Foxconn to Wisconsin, and whether that effort affects the current state budget. A lot of members want to talk about how the Foxconn thing folds into this and I (said) I dont have have any information. I know theyre working on a (memorandum of understanding) but we dont have anything yet so I said just kind of keep an open mind on that, Fitzgerald said. I still believe, and I think most of the members agree with me, that it should be a separate bill from the budget and I dont think there has to be any linkage necessarily to this budget in any way other than if there is a transportation issue on the (I-94) north-south and somehow that could be folded in. If lawmakers settle on an incentive package, it wont be in the new budget, but moves to help fund the package could be part of current budget negotiations, Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette, said in an interview with the Wisconsin State Journal. Foxconn is part of the long-term conversations about the budget, said Nygren, co-chairman of the Legislatures budget committee. He said the potential incentive package is not directly affecting passage of a new state budget, which was due July 1, but he said lawmakers are considering how any incentive package could affect future budgets. Nygren agreed that any incentive package for Foxconn would be contained in separate legislation. Foxconn employs about 1 million people to assembly iPhones and smartphones for BlackBerry and Sony. The company is considering building a $7 billion U.S. plant that could employ as many as 10,000 people to build display panels. Foxconn officials also are looking at building in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas. Fitzgerald told The Associated Press, which first reported about the incentives package, that lawmakers are talking about huge, big numbers to offer to Foxconn officials. Fitzgeralds spokeswoman Myranda Tanck said that while Fitzgerald was aware of efforts to bring Foxconn to Wisconsin, all negotiations with the company are being conducted with the administration and have not significantly included legislators. Blog Archive Apr 2010 (22) May 2010 (25) Jun 2010 (8) Jul 2010 (12) Aug 2010 (18) Sep 2010 (19) Oct 2010 (29) Nov 2010 (30) Dec 2010 (18) Jan 2011 (13) Feb 2011 (21) Mar 2011 (23) Apr 2011 (19) May 2011 (31) Jun 2011 (36) Jul 2011 (46) Aug 2011 (26) Sep 2011 (12) Oct 2011 (15) Nov 2011 (17) Dec 2011 (7) Jan 2012 (18) Feb 2012 (4) Mar 2012 (12) Apr 2012 (18) May 2012 (10) Jun 2012 (21) Jul 2012 (8) Aug 2012 (15) Sep 2012 (7) Oct 2012 (17) Nov 2012 (20) Dec 2012 (10) Jan 2013 (58) Feb 2013 (59) Mar 2013 (60) Apr 2013 (98) May 2013 (134) Jun 2013 (204) Jul 2013 (293) Aug 2013 (351) Sep 2013 (363) Oct 2013 (347) Nov 2013 (374) Dec 2013 (440) Jan 2014 (544) Feb 2014 (475) Mar 2014 (525) Apr 2014 (527) May 2014 (470) Jun 2014 (408) Jul 2014 (472) Aug 2014 (522) Sep 2014 (441) Oct 2014 (471) Nov 2014 (496) Dec 2014 (535) Jan 2015 (535) Feb 2015 (520) Mar 2015 (579) Apr 2015 (657) May 2015 (679) Jun 2015 (673) Jul 2015 (728) Aug 2015 (803) Sep 2015 (923) Oct 2015 (921) Nov 2015 (801) Dec 2015 (791) Jan 2016 (782) Feb 2016 (835) Mar 2016 (929) Apr 2016 (864) May 2016 (946) Jun 2016 (1044) Jul 2016 (882) Aug 2016 (1035) Sep 2016 (966) Oct 2016 (918) Nov 2016 (854) Dec 2016 (885) Jan 2017 (879) Feb 2017 (777) Mar 2017 (896) Apr 2017 (872) May 2017 (850) Jun 2017 (851) Jul 2017 (971) Aug 2017 (1040) Sep 2017 (998) Oct 2017 (1144) Nov 2017 (1046) Dec 2017 (838) Jan 2018 (873) Feb 2018 (769) Mar 2018 (885) Apr 2018 (808) May 2018 (827) Jun 2018 (820) Jul 2018 (840) Aug 2018 (854) Sep 2018 (844) Oct 2018 (851) Nov 2018 (870) Dec 2018 (912) Jan 2019 (919) Feb 2019 (827) Mar 2019 (957) Apr 2019 (913) May 2019 (1007) Jun 2019 (934) Jul 2019 (949) Aug 2019 (936) Sep 2019 (910) Oct 2019 (920) Nov 2019 (874) Dec 2019 (908) Jan 2020 (941) Feb 2020 (848) Mar 2020 (898) Apr 2020 (848) May 2020 (822) Jun 2020 (787) Jul 2020 (819) Aug 2020 (858) Sep 2020 (841) Oct 2020 (873) Nov 2020 (811) Dec 2020 (780) Jan 2021 (765) Feb 2021 (716) Mar 2021 (819) Apr 2021 (805) May 2021 (815) Jun 2021 (824) Jul 2021 (830) Aug 2021 (832) Sep 2021 (791) Oct 2021 (754) Nov 2021 (683) Dec 2021 (693) Jan 2022 (694) Feb 2022 (654) Mar 2022 (740) Apr 2022 (745) May 2022 (748) Jun 2022 (701) Jul 2022 (704) Aug 2022 (702) Sep 2022 (699) Oct 2022 (737) Nov 2022 (268) The Executive approved on Thursday a Code of Conduct for the members of the Government of Romania, which establishes, among other things, that the general principles governing the conduct of ministers are "the supremacy of the Constitution and the law, the priority of public interest, professionalism, moral integrity and transparency in holding public office." According to a Government statement, the code regulates conduct and ethics rules for ministers, and its main objective is "to make sure the official duties of public dignitaries members of the government are carried out under rules of integrity, impartiality and transparency as a means of promoting good governance and democracy." "The general principles governing the conduct of the members of the government are the supremacy of the Constitution and the law, the priority of the public interest, professionalism, moral integrity and transparency in carrying out the duties of the public dignities. Therefore, the members of the Government will be under an obligation to declare by any available means any instance generating conflict of interest or office incompatibility. Furthermore, the use of their own name or image in advertising actions for the purpose of promoting a commercial activity is forbidden," the statement reads. The members of the Government are under an obligation to ensure, according to law, administrative transparency, in order to maintain public trust in the integrity, impartiality and effectiveness of the public administrations and institutions they represent. "In their public activity, the members of the government invited to public debates of any kind, in their official capacity, are under an obligation to present the official position of the Romanian Government. Also, if there is no official position of the Government, they will have to make known the fact that the opinion expressed does not represent the official point of view of the Government." The statement says the complaints regarding the violation of the Code of Conduct by the members of the government are brought to the attention of the prime minister through the General Secretariat of the Government. "The prime minister shall discussthe matter with the members of the Cabinet, deciding by consensus on the best ways to solve them. Serious deviations from the ethical conduct are subject to analysis within the Government." In a phone conversation on Thursday with President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, Romania's Prime Minister, Mihai Tudose, said that Romania will continue its assistance programmes to the Republic of Moldova and its support for Moldova's pro-European journey, official sources tell AGERPRES. The sources add that Tudose told Tusk that Romania will continue to be the most involved EU member state in persuading Moldova to keep on a European journey. Thursday's conversation is part of a regular consultation mechanism with European leaders started by Tudose on a recent visit to Brussels, according to the sources. In the same conversation, Tusk commended the Romanian PM for making good on commitments made at discussions with European leaders. Tudose is scheduled to visit Moldova on Friday. On Wednesday, July 12, Burlington and surrounding communities were hit by Mother Nature and in typical Midwestern fashion, our communities rose to the occasion and looked Mother Nature in the eye. There was tremendous flood damage that day for our families, friends and neighbors. As Love Inc.s Board of Directors president, I want to personally recognize our staff, volunteers and board members for digging in and getting to work in the wake of this event. I would also like to recognize and thank the people and organizations across southeastern Wisconsin for the outpouring of support shown to our organization. Loves mission: A community network helping our neighbors in need. This mission echoed throughout the Burlington and surrounding areas last week for those directly affected by the flooding. Our own facilities were impacted by the flooding on July 12. We suffered substantial loss of donated items in our warehouse. Our stores in Burlington all suffered minor water damage. Our employees secured the buildings and our stores were closed until Monday. Our employees all reported to work on Thursday, cleaning up along with a group from the Volunteer Center of Racine coming in to assist. Our case management team got to work to help our neighbors in need. They reached out to Feeding America, which by Friday afternoon had delivered a semi load of food to be distributed to anyone that needed assistance. Kwik Trip arrived with pallets of water. These are just a few examples of the generosity that was shown last week. Our doors were open Saturday and Sunday assisting more than 300 families in their time of need with cleaning supplies and food. Donations poured in from all over southeastern Wisconsin. Mothers with their children, along with area church groups, were there volunteering; people and organizations were stopping by with cleaning supplies and water and asking what they could do. For these people and organizations, we are deeply grateful. You provided the time and supplies that were necessary to help our neighbors. Love Inc. is a product of the Burlington community. We are self-sustaining with all of our revenues coming from the stores and donations from the community. There is no government funding for our programs. Weve been providing services and helping those in need for more than 30 years and we will continue to be here long after the cleanup is completed and Burlington and the surrounding area is back and strong. We have a lot to be proud of in our community, and this past week once again showed us all what a special place it is. On behalf of the entire Board of Directors of Love Inc., I want to thank you all for your support and assure you that we will be here doing what we do best helping our neighbors in need. The $100 million second phase of The Boulevard, a retail and office development across Brentwood Boulevard from the Galleria, will break ground early next year. The office, retail and residential complex just south of the existing Boulevard development is expected to be complete by the end of 2019. The Boulevard is a great brand that appeals to many residents and visitors in the St. Louis region, said Sol Barket, a St. Louis native and founder of Chicago-based Condor Partners. This next phase will undoubtedly further enhance the development by offering more opportunities for people to live, work, play and dine. A joint venture of Condor and Edwards Realty Group purchased the Boulevard late last year from Pace Properties, which had long planned a second phase. The original Boulevard, opened in 2004, contains Missouris only Crate and Barrel and the metro areas only Soft Surroundings, as well as office space and apartments. The next phase will contain about 200,000 square-feet of new retail and 75 apartments, similar to the first phase. It will also include about 100,000 square-feet of office space, garage parking and a sky bridge connection between the offices and garage. The Boulevards location and amenities are unique to the area and, with Clayton experiencing vacancy rates at all time lows, this project couldnt come at a better time, said Dave Biales, who specializes in office leasing for commercial real estate firm JLL. JLL is marketing the project. Richmond Heights last year approved $15.3 million in tax increment financing to assist the project. The developers will also receive assistance through a special 1 percent sales tax on purchases through a Transportation Development District. Pace said the project was expected to cost up to $90 million when the former project owner pitched it for TIF assistance last year, rather than the $100 million anticipated now. The first phase cost $45 million to develop. Residents are moving in to the new 26-story apartment tower on South Meramec Avenue in downtown Clayton, the newest in a handful of apartment buildings proposed in the city. Known as "Two Twelve," the development at 212 South Meramec Avenue is a joint venture between two Chicago firms, CA Ventures and White Oak Realty Partners. The building has space for ground floor commercial tenants and has 250 apartments ranging from 592 to 1,366 square-feet, the developers said in an announcement. Rents range from $1,706 to $4,415 for one-, two- and three-bedroom units. The building includes a rooftop deck and pool, fire pit and grills, a fitness center and yoga studio and a resident lounge. It's been a long time coming for the project first proposed in early 2014 as developer interest in Clayton was heating up. But the project proposed for the affluent inner-ring suburb ran into resident opposition after the city agreed to a 50 percent property tax abatement. Citizens sued to block the project later that year. Eventually, the original developer, GTE Properties, sold its interest in the project and White Oak and CA Ventures took over in 2015. A settlement in the lawsuit was reached in 2016 that reduced the tax abatement to 20 percent, which officials said would generate about $4.9 million more in tax revenue over 20 years. Since the high-rise was proposed, other big developments have moved ahead in downtown Clayton, including the planned expansion of Centene Corp.'s corporate headquarters, an Indianapolis developer's proposal for a 25-story apartment tower and Opus Group's 120-unit luxury apartment project. St. Louis' minimum wage will soon to drop to $7.70, but who benefited from the short-lived increase to $10 an hour? Economist Charles Gascon and Senior Research Associate Daniel Eubanks looked into the issue and their findings were released in May by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Gascon and Eubanks suggest policymakers differentiate between city residents and city workers. Among 32,500 city residents who earn less than $10 an hour, only 19,900 were affected by the raise. Because the majority of city workers commute from outside the city, about 23,000 non-residents also benefited. Another crucial distinction is between low-wage workers and low-income households. More than half of those living in poverty have no one in their household who is employed. Moreover, many minimum wage workers are often young workers taking their first job, Gascon and Eubanks wrote. So, low wages may not be associated with low household income. Only 9,500 resident workers who earn less than $10 per hour live in households that earn below the median annual income of about $35,000. Those workers represent 48 percent of the 19,900 residents less than $10 an hour. Gascon and Eubanks say other policies, such as earned-income tax credits and housing assistance, can do more to help low-income residents. St. Louis' minimum wage ordinance went into effect in May, raising the wage floor to $10 an hour within the city limits. Missouri's statewide minimum is $7.70 an hour, and a state law pre-empting local minimum wages takes effect Aug. 28. WASHINGTON Exxon Mobil Corp. must pay a $2 million fine for showing reckless disregard for U.S. sanctions on Russia while Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was the oil giants CEO, the Treasury Department said Thursday. Exxon sued the U.S. government to stop the fine. Treasury said that Exxon violated sanctions when it signed contracts in May 2014 with Russian oil magnate Igor Sechin, chairman of government-owned energy giant Rosneft. The U.S. blacklisted Sechin, Tillersons longtime business associate, as part of its response to Moscows actions in Ukraine and annexation of Crimea. The same month that Exxon signed the deals, Tillerson said the company generally opposes sanctions and finds them ineffective. Exxon maintained it had done nothing wrong. Hours after the fine was announced, the Texas-based company sued Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and the government, saying the U.S. had clearly told companies that doing business with Rosneft was allowed just not with Sechin himself. The Treasury Department argues that the government never gave Exxon or anyone else a reason to believe there was an exception for professional dealings. The government noted that its website at the time explicitly warned companies not to enter any contracts signed by people on the blacklist. The U.S. said that the presidents of two Exxons subsidiaries and Sechin had signed eight legal documents in May 2014. That same month, Neil Duffin, president of subsidiary Exxon Mobil Development, signed several deals to continue their work on the massive Sakhalin oil and natural gas project on Russias eastern coast. Tillerson had played a central role over the years in developing that multibillion dollar deal. Tillerson knew both Sechin and Russian President Vladimir Putin for more than a decade before he became secretary of state. The Treasury Department called the violation an egregious case and noted that Exxon is a sophisticated and experienced oil and gas company that has global operations and should know better when it comes to U.S. sanctions. It leveled the maximum civil penalty of $2 million for the breaches. Exxons suit asks the court to set aside the fine. Ask Clemence Pereur how bakery culture in the U.S. differs from bakery culture in her native France, and she unspools a Hollywood-soundstage dream of Paris. In America, you have fast food everywhere, she says. In France, you have bakeries. You walk, and every two minutes you have a bakery. We go to bakeries. We go for lunch. We buy baguettes. An apropos case in point: Like Home French Cafe & Pastry, which Pereur opened in February near the intersection of Lindell Boulevard and Vandeventer Avenue, is a very short walk from a Rallys, a Crazy Bowls & Wraps and a Dominos Pizza. Eating lunch at one of those three? Stroll over to Like Home afterward for a jewel of a tarte citron ($4.50), its thin sugar crust filled with a lemon custard calibrated to be as refreshing as it is sweet. Or make Like Home a one-stop restaurant for lunch and dessert and, yes, a baguette to take home for dinner. Pereur hails from Conde-Sainte-Libiaire, a small town near Paris. By the time she was 14, she knew she wanted to be a chef. At 17, she received a diploma in cooking and service. Her initial restaurant experience soured her on the industry, however. Her boss believed women should cook at home, not in professional kitchens. Pereur quit and went to business school. Still, cooking remained her first love, and after business school, she earned degrees in pastry and then in chocolate, working across the industry (hotel, restaurant, chocolatier) while she did. Then, she remembers thinking, I want to see something. I want to discover a new culture. She saw an advertisement online for an internship position at the St. Louis Club in Clayton and said, Why not? The internship lasted one year. Pereur returned to France, but shed grown to love St. Louis and decided to open a pastry shop here. Her mother, Christine Pereur, came with her. After working as a hairdresser and a stay-at-home mother to Clemence and her sister, the elder Pereur herself had gone back to school and earned a pastry and a bread degree. The Pereurs cafe is a small, cheery space. The main decor element is temptation. The display case of the days baked goods beckons you from the counter. Shelves teem with Like Homes retail products, bags of multicolored marshmallows and jars of salted-caramel sauce among them. Dont resist your sweet tooth. But dont overlook Like Homes savory menu, either. On my first visit, I was so enthusiastic about the brie sandwich ($11), I barely left room for dessert. (Nevertheless, I persisted.) You could call this a ham-and-brie sandwich paper-thin slices of prosciutto are layered over the cheese but this is really about the slabs of earthy brie melting into the baguettes crevices. For a more balanced ham-and-cheese sandwich, Like Home offers a traditional croque monsieur ($10) and its egg-topped companion, the croque madame ($11). The French Dip is an American creation, not French, but Like Homes roast-beef sandwich ($12) is a more than passable example, with thinly sliced beef, American cheese and caramelized onion on a crusty baguette with a side of rich jus for dipping. There is quiche, of course. A wedge with ham, bacon and Gruyere ($9) is nearly as filling as the brie sandwich. La Tartine Saumon ($12) layers an open-faced baguette with smoked salmon, cream cheese, tomato and fresh mozzarella, all served hot, and artichoke hearts, served chilled. I doubted this arrangement of ingredients and temperatures, but they jibed, with the crisp, tangy artichoke an unexpectedly fine foil to the salmons natural flavor. The selection of pastries and breads changes daily, though you can usually expect to find rows of colorful macarons as well as croissants and those crusty, nicely chewy baguettes. That simple tarte citron was my favorite Like Home sweet, though first among equals might be a better description. Unsurprisingly, given her extensive education and experience, Clemence Pereur shows her skills across a range of desserts, from the decadent silken chocolate cream inside an eclair ($4.50) to a light, playful Caribbean Cake with ripe passionfruit and pineapple flavors and a hint of coconut ($4.50) to a seasonal variation on the classic clafoutis with peaches ($4). Like Home can count itself as part of the past few years vital boomlet of great St. Louis bakeries: Pint Size Bakery, La Patisserie Choquette, Union Loafers and Nathaniel Reid Bakery. If there isnt a bakery on every corner yet, our Paris fantasy isnt quite so difficult to envision now. Where Like Home French Cafe & Pastry, 3855 Lindell Boulevard 2 stars out of four More info 314-319-0099; likehomecommealamaison.com Menu French cafe fare and pastries Hours 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Wednesday-Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday (closed Monday-Tuesday) Fair Good Excellent Extraordinary ST. LOUIS A Missouri appeals court has affirmed that it was right for St. Louis Community College to charge an undocumented student international tuition under a Missouri law that the Legislature changed in 2015. The ruling came last week in the case filed in 2016. The student, identified as Jane Doe, enrolled at St. Louis Community College before the fall of 2015, expecting to pay $103 per credit hour as a student who lives in the community college district in St. Louis County. According to the ruling, the student has lived in St. Louis County since fourth grade. A few weeks later, she received a notice that she would instead be charged the international tuition rate of $215 per credit hour. She filed a petition seeking to reverse that decision, which stemmed from a change to state law that summer that college leaders said mandated they charge so-called DACA students the highest tuition rate either the out-of-state or international rate. DACA students, or those who are part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, came to the U.S. as young children and are undocumented through no fault of their own. Before the rule change in 2015, DACA students in Missouri were eligible to receive scholarships. Those who graduated from high school had the added benefit of paying in-state tuition once enrolled in a state college. A lawmaker who backed the change argued it was an issue of fairness, saying students who are undocumented shouldnt have the same benefits as legal residents. At the time, several college leaders publicly disagreed. Lawsuits like the one filed by the St. Louis Community College student popped up across the state during the last few years. The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouris legal director Tony Rothert, who represents Jane Doe in this case, said he and his client are disappointed by the ruling. Theyre seeking other avenues to address the language change to the law from 2015, including whether its something the Missouri Coordinating Board of Higher Education can address. A spokesperson for the state Department of Higher Education said neither the department nor the (coordinating board) is involved in conversations about tuition rates for DACA students. Rothert said hes in favor of the dissenting opinion, filed by Judge Lisa S. Van Amburg, which argues this problem in Missouri is fallout from a flawed federal immigration system. COLUMBIA, Mo. It used to be that when people thought of the University of Missouri, it was all about black and gold, the rock M in Memorial Stadium and, of course, the columns. But that was before student protests, an upheaval in leadership, state budget cuts and declining enrollment created a crisis for the states flagship university, and, to some extent, the entire four-campus University of Missouri System. This abrupt turn was on full display this week as the systems Board of Curators held a retreat at the Bradford Research Center outside of Columbia to hash out a way forward through several mounting challenges. Years ago, such gatherings and board meetings were sleepy affairs, with the board known for its calm, discreet and deliberative approach engaging in abstract conversation about vision and long-term strategy. The heavier talks used to happen elsewhere, with the responsibility to interpret and implement strategies falling on system staff and campus leadership. This week though, the conversation was far more urgent, with candor and tough talk as the coin of the realm. Throughout Tuesday and Wednesday, curators wrestled with how to regain public trust, recast the image of the Columbia campus in particular and reinvent higher education amid mounting financial stress. Some even wondered aloud whether the state was best served with the systems current structure, in which Mizzou, the University of Missouri-St. Louis, the University of Missouri-Kansas City and Missouri University of Science and Technology are separate but governed under one umbrella the University of Missouri System. Curator David Steelman, of Rolla, is one of a few proponents on the board who believes the word system should be dropped. Instead, he argues the schools all operate as the University of Missouri with four campuses. I tend to think if were one ship, were stronger, he said. But I cant get a feel after four years on the board whether the people in this room feel like were one ship or four ships or seven ships. The logistics on that idea are fuzzy, as each campus has, over time, evolved separately, with differing approaches on everything from human resources to the delivery of online classes. Theyre also accredited separately. Leaders expect to hire a consultant within the week to help identify systemwide duplication. In the interim, university system President Mun Choi who was installed in his position in March has made an effort to address some of that by merging multiple divisions between the system office and Mizzou. Accountable to taxpayers Barb Bichelmeyer, provost of the University of Missouri-Kansas City, argued that the events at Mizzou in 2015 demonstrated how the four campuses are tethered together, particularly in terms of public perception. Bichelmeyer was referring to racist incidents at and near Mizzou, which triggered student protests and, ultimately, toppled campus and system leadership. Those events, she said, significantly impacted everything I did as a provost in my first year. With new leadership in place at the system and a permanent chancellor coming to Mizzou, it was clear during the two-day session that rebranding is the next big effort but not just of Mizzou, and not just for prospective students. Curators also spoke broadly about reaching out to the general public to promote the benefits of programs like MU Extension, as well as research that helps the economy. Ideally that marketing would come as students themselves share their stories with the public and with legislators. System leaders have recently stated the need to prove to legislators that the university is on the path to becoming a good steward of state dollars. In January, Gov. Eric Greitens announced funding withholds to all public colleges, followed by a dip in state funding for the current budget year and finally, more withholds. The cuts affect all public schools, but coupled with a dip in tuition revenue projections at Mizzou, UMKC and UMSL, they add pressure for the system. Amid that political action in Jefferson City, the Board of Curators has itself undergone a transformation, with three new members appointed by Greitens two Republicans and one Democrat. The governor is set to appoint two more curators and the student representative in coming weeks, according to multiple sources, meaning his appointees will form the majority on the nine-person board. The new voices have, in some cases, shifted the conversation on the board, particularly when it comes to making the system more accountable to taxpayers. Jeff Layman, a senior vice president at the Morgan Stanley investment office in Springfield, is among the new Republican curators appointed by Greitens. He said the difficult position the University of Missouri faces now cannot be blamed entirely on what happened in 2015. Leaders at recent board meetings have told curators about Mizzous first-ever strategic enrollment plan. Meanwhile curators are pushing for system and campus leaders to prioritize projects that require funding. Layman pointed to those as examples of a changing tide. How do we spend the money is an issue Layman said colleges everywhere are battling. Money is allocated where its treated the best, he said, adding that the days of anything else are over. Tough talks Throughout this weeks conversation, its clear the curators, the campus leaders and the president are seeking new ways to define their roles and how the four campuses are led. No more does it appear curators will be content with deferring to campus and system leaders to hash out solutions to the biggest issues they face. Board chairman Maurice Graham, a St. Louis lawyer, wants the public to see the board as a body that will solve problems, not just identify them. Its important that the public and those people who care about the university know what the Board of Curators is doing to address some of the issues that weve experienced not just in Columbia but the four campuses, Graham said. These are issues that all universities are talking about but that have particular significance for us. The board needs to address problems such as falling enrollment and negative perception aggressively and with great transparency, he said. Since he took the helm of the board in January, the group has opened part of each meetings agenda to tackle a pressing issue through public dialogue. The newest three curators appear comfortable with that approach, which is raw and sometimes uncomfortable. Each played a key role in the conversations this week addressing the systems challenges. Layman, one of the three new additions, said he volunteered to be on the board because of how important the university system is to the state. It merits the difficult talks, he said. The board is very serious about having open and honest conversations about where we currently stand, he said. I believe thats necessary in order to move forward as we focus on our very bright future. JEFFERSON CITY A Republican state senator who has blocked efforts to launch a prescription drug monitoring program in Missouri is criticizing Gov. Eric Greitens attempt to start his own version. Sen. Rob Schaaf told the Post-Dispatch that the governors decision to award a no-bid contract worth $250,000 to Express Scripts to help start a monitoring program raises red flags about how much latitude the governor has when it comes to spending money. And, Schaaf said, it is doubly concerning that the St. Louis-based pharmacy benefits management company donated money to Greitens campaign for governor, as well as to his inauguration festivities. It just has the look of impropriety about it, said Schaaf, a doctor from St. Joseph. Schaaf, a vocal critic of the new governor, has opposed prescription drug monitoring programs because of privacy concerns surrounding the creation of a database containing the medical records of Missourians. Greitens, who is touring the state this week to unveil various initiatives designed to address drug abuse, announced Monday he was awarding Express Scripts a contract to have the company mine data to help identify which doctors might be overprescribing addictive drugs such as Vicodin and OxyContin. Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services Director Randall Williams told the Post-Dispatch that a no-bid contract was being used because the opioid epidemic has created an emergency situation. Plus, he said, Express Scripts already has much of data needed for the program. During the election, Express Scripts gave Greitens Democratic opponent, former Attorney General Chris Koster, $13,000. Campaign finance records show the company gave Greitens $25,000 after the election and then also provided funds for his inauguration. Greitens did not release how much each inaugural benefactor contributed. Schaaf, a member of the Senate Budget Committee, said he not only questions the no-bid contract concept, but he is unsure where Greitens is coming up with the money after he slashed $250 million in state spending on June 30 because of a tighter-than-expected budget. There are a lot of technical, accounting and budgetary questions I have about the mechanism the governor has proposed to fund his program, Schaaf said. Im kind of mystified where hes going to get the money. In general, Schaaf said he supports efforts to stop people from doctor shopping, in which they seek out multiple doctors for prescription painkillers. But, he said the program outlined by Greitens is unlike any of the monitoring programs in 49 other states and in multiple counties in Missouri. During the legislative session, Schaaf lifted his long-running blockade on a prescription drug monitoring program after securing some concessions, including adding a feature that scrubs the data every six months. It moved out of the Senate without a filibuster from Schaaf, but failed to advance in the House after opponents said the changes weakened the proposed law too much. In the wake of Greitens announcement, key lawmakers and statewide groups representing doctors and pharmacists said their push for a prescription drug monitoring program would continue. In a joint statement, the Missouri State Medical Association, the Missouri Pharmacy Association and other medical organizations said they favor a program that can be used by physicians, pharmacists and other dispensers to identify and prevent addiction. This helps patients and their families before the problem begins instead of reacting to the problem once the addiction has occurred, resulting in increased incarceration costs to taxpayers, in addition to the devastation to families, the statement reads. 14 flood victims of Banke, Bardiya still awaiting relief Hundreds of people displaced by floods in Banke and Bardiya are still forced to live in temporary shelters even almost four years after the disaster, Demand for premium motorcycles revs up Owning a two-wheeler used to be a means of getting from point A to point B, with commuter motorcycles being the preferred choice for many people. But as Nepal becomes more developed, people are starting to look for that wow factor when buying a new motorcycle. The article Late-night deal preserves sanctions relief for Iran" (July 19) states that President Donald Trump wants to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal but was only dissuaded temporarily by his national security team. Exiting this hallmark agreement would be short-sighted and a historically disastrous blunder of policy. When President Obama took office, our most pressing concern in the Middle East was the hard-charging Iranian nuclear program. Yet Obama garnered support from all our allies, plus Russia and China, to blunt Iran's drive for the bomb. Now North Korea is charging toward nuclear weapons, and the Trump administration is learning how hard it is to build a coalition to stop such a threat. Let him solve the North Korea problem before he destroys the Iran solution already in place. Yes, the Iranian hardliners are still disruptive in the region. But the Iranian people want to do normal business with the West and have elected a moderate. Yes, the Revolutionary Guards will cling to their enormous power against the best interests of their own people. But why break our word and give the hardliners ammunition against the moderates? It makes no sense. Let's hope Trump listens to his national security experts and not his primary source of intelligence, Fox News and other assorted conspiracy theorists, who were against everything Obama accomplished, including the landmark Iranian agreement. Ed Protzel University City I am appalled by the response of the Post-Dispatchs editorial board, who complained about the measure signed into law by Gov. Eric Greitens to establish a prescription drug monitoring program. In the continuing vendetta against Gov. Greitens, the Post-Dispatch focuses on a good plan sponsored by Rep. Holly Rehder, R-Sikeston, which was blocked by legislators to prevent a meaningful database from being enacted into law. For years, state senator and doctor Rob Schaaf has blocked any opioid database. The Post-Dispatch is remiss in not delving into why a physician does not want doctors who run opioid pill mills from being discovered and punished. Why did State Rep. Shamed Dogan, R-Ballwin, declare the executive order wrong and liken it to executive orders issued by past President Obama? The Missouri Legislature prefers to focus on protecting their gravy train gifts from lobbyists, free steaks and event tickets rather than pass any meaningful legislation. Legislators have been stalling for over a decade while thousand of Missourians have died from drug overdoses. Rather than considering the executive order issued by the governor as a good but not perfect first step in the right direction, the Post-Dispatchs editors characterize the governors working with professionals in the drug abuse field as a negative. The editorial board should be ashamed, for focusing on a first-step measure from the governor rather than uncovering why the Legislature refuses to help save lives. Stuart Katz Chesterfield The research project High-level dialogue with private sector keystone actors in the seafood industry, led by the centre's associate professor Henrik Osterblom, won Sweden Impact Award 2017s category Social Sciences and Humanities. The award rewards "synergy between world class research and societal impact". The winner was announced during the Network for Advancing and Evaluating the Societal Impact of Science (AESIS) annual conference, Impact of Science, in June 2017. This was the first time the award was organised in Sweden. It is part of the international AESIS Network, set up to demonstrate and stimulate societal impact of science. About the initiative The award is an acknowledgement of several years efforts to convene the most significant actors within the seafood industry. It all started in 2015 when research led by Henrik Osterblom identified 13 transnational corporations controlling 11-16% of wild marine catch and up to 40% of the largest and most valuable fish stocks. They were described as keystone actors because they dominate all parts of seafood production, operate through an extensive global network of subsidiaries and are profoundly involved in fisheries and aquaculture decision-making. Today, the initiative has materialised into one of the most important cross-sector collaborations within the global seafood industry. It marks the first time that companies from Asia, Europe and the US have come together with the aim to end unsustainable practices such as overfishing, modern slavery and destructive impacts on habitats and non-target species. During the UN Oceans conference in New York in early June 2017, Osterblom and Knut Nesse, CEO of Nutreco, a global leader in animal nutrition and aquafeed, presented the SeaBOS initiative. Accompanied by H.R.H Princess Victoria of Sweden, an Advocate for the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and Isabella Lovin, Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden, they presented a statement that called for action to protect our oceans. The initiative will work to include more companies and report on progress on an annual basis, starting with a meeting in June 2018. Read more about the Seafood Business for Ocean Stewardship initiative here Dismal poll showing set to top Congress CWC agenda The ruling Nepali Congress has called a Central Working Committee meeting for Monday. DSP Sharma suspended The Home Ministry on Wednesday suspended Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Sanjeeb Sharma Das, whose name was recommended for promotion to Superintendent of Police. Pakistan Army has rejected stance of Afghan defence ministry on Wednesday terming it unwarranted and against efforts of Pakistan for border coordination. Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) reported that information regarding Operation Khyber Four was shared with Resolute Support Mission twice. Read more: Khyber Agency blast, 4 people killed including security official Media cell of the military reiterated that Pakistan Army is desirous of trustworthy security coordination against common enemy. To level accusations is part of agenda of forces which do not wish to see peace in the region. A Pakistan Army soldier, identified as Sepoy Abdul Jabbar, was martyred as the military targeted terrorists hideouts in the Rajgal Valley area of Khyber Agency. At least 13 militants were killed and six others were injured, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) announced on Thursday. Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General had announced launching of Khyber-4 military campaign on July 16 under Operation Radd ul Fassad in the critical area in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) to wipe out terrorists from the region. According to the ISPR, Operation Khyber-4 is moving ahead as planned. Advancing in the multiple directions troops including special services group have cleared 90 square kilometer area of terrorists and squeezing them out. It said terrorist had laid a number of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which were detected, recovered and neutralized by the armys engineers counter IED teams. Many terrorists hideouts have been destroyed in targeted strikes by Pakistan Air Force (PAF), Army Aviation and Artillery. So far 13 terrorists have been killed and 16 injured. During exchange of fire a soldier Sepoy Abdul Jabbar laid his life for the motherland, the ISPR statement said. Ex-king undergoes angioplasty at Norvic Former monarch Gyanendra Shah underwent an angioplasty procedure at Norvic Hospital on Wednesday to reopen his blocked blood vessels. Shah was rushed to the hospital after he complained of chest pain. Nepalis may not be able to exchange banned IC Nepalis holding banned Indian banknotes of IRs500 and IRs1,000 denominations may not be able to exchange them for legal tender as India remains silent on the issue, Nepal Embassy officials in New Delhi said. A lot of bottle Some myths and realities about alcohol By Prof. Raveen Hanwella View(s): View(s): Nearly three decades ago,when starting my career in psychiatry, I asked my teacher and mentor Diyanath Samarasinghe why he has chosen to devote so much of his professional life to educating and campaigning against the use of alcohol and tobacco. I still remember his answer. He said, A person has to choose what he would do in life and I decided to make alcohol and tobacco my primary focus since they are the two most important preventable causes of human misery in the world. His words remain true even today. The first part of the title for my article is taken from a book by Derek Rutherford. The writer who came out of the temperance movement he is now nearing the end of his career but remains the chairman of the Global Alcohol Policy Alliance. His book first published in 1988 is now out of print. Here is what he says in the preface. There is in fact an industry whose product is considered to contribute to: 40,000 premature deaths in the United Kingdom, at least 1000 deaths of children and young people each year, one in five patients occupying general hospital beds, two of three attempted suicides, half of all crime, half of all cases of battered wives, half of all homicides, two out of five fires. Would you think that something ought to be done about it? The industry is the drink trade and the product is alcohol. What is alcohol? There are different types but the variety that is consumed is ethyl alcohol. It is produced when natural sugars in fruits, grains or vegetables are acted upon by yeast in a process called fermentation. Beer is produced by the fermentation of barley whereas wine is produced by the fermentation of grapes. Spirits, a stronger alcoholic brew is produced by boiling fermented liquors. Alcohol boils at a lower temperature than water and the vaporised alcohol is condensed in tubes. To be classed as a spirit it must contain at least 20% alcohol. Beer has about 4-7 percent ethyl alcohol, wines from 10-20 percent and spirits such as whisky and vodka 40-50 percent. Let us look at some of the problems associated with alcohol in more detail. There are two main medical conditions associated with alcohol. When a person consumes a large amount of alcohol in one sitting he becomes intoxicated or drunk. If a person consumes a significant quantity of alcohol over a period of time he may become addicted or dependent. Alcohol dependence has two main characteristics, tolerance and withdrawal symptoms. When persons become tolerant to alcohol they can drink larger amounts without showing any apparent effects. When dependent individuals suddenly stop drinking they experience characteristic withdrawal effects such as tremors, sweating, elevated blood pressure and, in severe withdrawal or delirium tremens, confusion and even death. Alcohol consumption affects all organs of the human body. The Royal College of Physicians in the early 80s proposed safe limits for the United Kingdom of 21 units a week for men and 14 for women with one unit being 8 grammes of alcohol. To translate that into understandable terms, a glass of wine has one unit, a pint of beer two units and a bottle of spirits 30 units of alcohol. It was thought that if a person consumed alcohol within these limits he or she would not suffer any damage to their organs. However, this view is no longer supported by evidence. Latest studies show that any amount of alcohol raises the risk of cancer, the risk being greater if your consumption is more. All persons who drink are not addicted. Is it necessary that all who drink should reduce their drinking? Why not target only those who have problems with alcohol? It was Sir Geoffrey Rose, the great epidemiologist who pointed out the Prevention Paradox in 1981. Applied to drinking the argument goes like this. The number of units a person consumes per day if plotted on a graph would follow a bell-shaped curve starting at zero. Some members of the population do not drink at all, a few drink heavily and the majority drink an average amount. To reduce the number who drink heavily you have to shift the entire curve to the left. That means that all persons have to drink a bit less. The paradox is that though the benefit of this reduction is minimal for the individual it is significant for the entire population. Indeed there is evidence to support this. The majority of experts agree that the number of individuals harmed by alcohol depends on the average per capita consumption of alcohol. It is a simple equation, higher the alcohol consumption, more the alcohol-related social and health harm. Lower the alcohol consumption, less the alcohol-related social and health harm. What is the most effective way to reduce total alcohol consumption in a society? It has been repeatedly shown that the most effective way is to increase the price of alcohol. It has been argued that increasing the price of licit alcohol would drive people to drink illicit alcohol and thereby suffering more health damage. This is untrue. When the price of licit alcohol is raised, the price of illicit alcohol too increases. All drinkers reduce their average consumption. The effect on the health of a country of such a move is significant. In 1981 in Britain when the price of alcohol relative to average disposable income was increased for the first time in 30 years, average consumption fell by 15 percent. This translated to a 16 percent reduction in offences due to drunkenness, a 4 percent decrease in drunk driving and a 4 percent reduction in cirrhosis deaths. Another effective strategy is the restriction on hours of sale and the density of liquor outlets. This aspect was highlighted recently when a prominent minister suggested that closing liquor outlets on Poya days actually increased alcohol consumption. His argument was that people who drink would in anticipation buy and stock their alcohol prior and drink even more. Barbor in his influential book, Alcohol, No Ordinary Commodity, highlights 10 best practices (besides alcohol taxes) in preventive alcohol policies. Some of these are interventions in the physical availability of alcohol such as the minimum purchase age, government alcohol monopolies, and restrictions on the times of sale and the density of outlets selling alcoholic beverages. He writes, In sum, there is strong and reasonably consistent evidence from a number of countries that changes to hours or days of trade have significant impacts on the volume of alcohol consumed and on the rates of alcohol-related problems. When hours and days of sale are increased, consumption and harm increase and vice versa. I end with a quote from Derek Rutherford, The Government has to strike a balance between freedom for those wish to drink, whilst minimising the adverse effects on society as a whole. Whilst state prohibition of alcohol is on no ones agenda, even the most extreme adherents of the market force philosophy must recognise that no drug can be retailed like food or commodities. And alcohol is a drug. If it had been invented today, it would never have been legalised. Paddy transplantation slows as monsoon takes a break The pace of paddy transplantation has slowed in the Central and Eastern development regions due to fluctuations between the active and weak spells of the monsoon. However, the transplantation rate in the Far and Mid-Western and Western regions has been better than expected. Qatar ambassador briefs PM on latest situation Qatari Ambassador Yousuf Bin Mohammed al-Hail on Wednesday called on Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and briefed him on the latest situation in Qatar in the aftermath of four Gulf nations decision to impose a blockade on the tiny oil-rich kingdom. Ram Nath Kovind elected India's 14th President Ram Nath Kovind, former Bihar Governor, has been elected India's 14th President on Thursday. A man in his 70s spent three days stuck in his campervan after becoming wedged between the front seat and foot pedal. The man finally received help on Sunday when the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust was tasked to fly the man to Waikato Hospital. A spokesperson for the rescue chopper says the man had fallen over inside the campervan and become wedged between the front seat and foot pedal. The patient was in this position for three days and was extricated by ambulance and fire crews. The man was suffering from tissue damage to his left leg and hypothermia. He was transported to Waikato Hospital in serious condition. A deep low is developing around New Zealand with gales, intense winds in some pockets and very low air pressure at the centre - but not everyone will have bad weather. The MetService has issued a severe weather warning for the Bay of Plenty. Read more about that here. With the low so massive that it engulfs New Zealand its easy to assume everyones in for rough weather, says WeatherWatch.co.nz But larger lows often spread the energy further afield, so as the centre of the low crosses the South Island on Friday there will be a real variety of weather around the country with a showery mild north and a stormy wet south. Lets start with the centre of the low. The centre is where the winds are calmest. Across Friday this calm centre tracks across the upper South Island and towards North Canterbury and the Pacific Ocean. Rain is likely but the strongest winds are further out from the centre. Winds circle clockwise around the centre which means the North Island has norwesters (mild) and the South Island south of this centre will have soueasters (colder). The bulk of the heaviest rain is in the southern half of the low - in other words, the South Islands east coast is most exposed to heavy rain that may cause slips and flooding. Mainly Otago, Canterbury and maybe Southland. These areas may get 150 to 200mm of rain around coastal hills, which may well cause slips, flooding and affect travel on highways/roads. In the North Island there will be heavy rain (mainly today and tonight) then by Friday there will be mild norwesters and showers. This means the east of the North Island will be very different to the east of the South Island at the same time on Friday with the centre of the low separating them apart. The norwest flow in the North Island means regions like Hawkes Bay and Gisborne may have a fairly sunny or dry Friday with highs up to 17 or 18 degrees, while patchy rain or showers affect the western North Island across the day. Its a big system and will take at least 72 hours to cross New Zealand. As the centre of this low drifts further east on Friday and then Saturday we may see rain turning to heavy snow in the mountains of the South Island and therefore Alpine Passes. Rain in the east of the South Island and north of New Zealand looks to ease later on Saturday. While rain in the Upper North Island on Saturday doesnt currently look severe, it may be heavy enough to cause localised slips and minor flooding due to so many areas reaching saturation point. Methamphetamine valued at $130,000 and $80,000 cash has been seized following a covert police operation involving the Southern and Waikato Police districts. The investigation targeted an alleged drug distribution network that supplied methamphetamine from Waikato to the lower South Island. The six week operation also resulted in the seizure of cannabis plants, dried cannabis head, and other items indicative of drug dealing. A Taser gun was also seized. Police searched addresses in rural Otago and Hamilton yesterday. A 48-year-old man was arrested and charged with conspiracy to supply methamphetamine. He will appear in the Dunedin District court today. Cash seized in Waikato search warrants. The Southern Districts Organised Crime group worked tirelessly to dismantle this drug supply and its encouraging for everyone to see the work pay off, says Detective Inspector Steve Wood. The dedication of this team and the continued support from members of the public highlights that police and our communities will not tolerate this sort of behaviour. This operation was an excellent example of cooperation between police districts to achieve a common goal of making our respective communities safer. It signals that police across the country are working together to remove this destructive product from our communities. Drug use is a driver of numerous other crimes so operations of this nature will continue to be a priority as part of our districts Methamphetamine Action Plan. The demand for methamphetamine is fed by those addicted and interventions are required in order to help these people. Alongside investigations and prosecutions, we continue to work with Southern Health and other providers. The Waikato Organised crime team also executed a search warrant yesterday afternoon and subsequently arrested a 28-year-old female in Hamilton. She has been charged with supplying methamphetamine and will appear in the Hamilton District Court today. This offence carries a maximum penalty of life, under the Misuse of Drugs Act. Detective Inspector Graham Pitkethley, Investigations Manager for the Waikato police, says the destruction methamphetamine causes across the community cannot be underestimated. There are individuals and groups that seek to make money at the expense of those that have addiction issues and are driving the social harm across New Zealand, these groups and individuals will continue to be targeted. However, like our Southern counterparts, Waikato Police are working closely with a variety of government agencies and NGOs in addressing the addiction problems within the Waikato District and encouraging those with addiction issues to seek help. I encourage those who have methamphetamine addiction problems within the Waikato to contact the numbers listed below. If you have concerns about any person who is using or abusing drugs, please contact the Drug Alcohol Helpline on 0800 787 797 or visit alcoholdrughelp.org.nz) for information and support. Anyone with any information on the manufacture and supply of illicit drugs is asked to please speak to Police, in confidence, so we can prevent further harm. Information may also be reported anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 111 555. The Tauranga Maori Business Association is hosting a Maori business networking event tonight, with Minister for Maori Development Te Ururoa Flavell as a special guest. Ao Pakihi Dawn of a New Business is taking place at Bay of Plenty Regional Councils office in First Ave, Tauranga, from 5.30pm. The events purpose is to bring association members together to network and receive updates from the minister regarding the state of the Maori economy, policy and legislative changes afoot. In particular, members are keen to hear what the Maori SME sector should expect from the Maori Party if they are part of the government following Septembers election. The event will also showcase some of the associations members, including the successes and challenges they have faced in their entrepreneurial journeys. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and gain useful information on how to advance their own business ventures. Special interest speakers will also be discussing the Regional Maori Economic Development Strategy for the Bay of Plenty. For more information regarding this event, please refer to the Facebook event link here. Alternatively, email info@tmba.org.nz for further information. Britains former attorney general, Dominic Grieve, made a short visit to Gibraltar last week, following previous contact with the attorney general of the Rock, Michael Llamas. After a meeting with the chief minister, Fabian Picardo, Grieve was updated on Brexit issues by deputy chief minister Dr Joseph Garcia, who holds the Brexit portfolio in Gibraltar. Garcia also showed him round the airport and took him to the border, so he could gain a closer understanding of issues affecting Gibraltar. Brexit challenges are taking up a great deal of political time in Gibraltar, as the chief minister recently pointed out in an interview with Sky News, and Garcia flew to London again this week, partly for a meeting of the Joint Ministerial Committee on Brexit and also for discussions with ministers. He met with Lord Callanan, who is now responsible for aviation matters at the Department of Transport, to explain the historical background to the problems created for Gibraltar in the field of civil aviation in the European Union, and discussed border issues with the new minister of state for Immigration, Brandon Lewis. Garcia explained the importance of a frictionless frontier to Gibraltar post-Brexit and highlighted that this was significant in respect of residents on both sides of the border, frontier workers and tourists. He outlined a number of potential solutions which the Gibraltar government had looked at in this respect. The deputy chief minister then briefed the UKs shadow minister for Europe, Khalid Mahmood, on the challenges that Gibraltar faces as it prepares to leave the European Union together with the United Kingdom. He again went over the border issues and outlined the importance of access to the UK market, among other matters. An ex-banker who had close ties to the former PP government of Jose Maria Aznar was found dead on Wednesday morning on a hunting estate near Villanueva del Rey (Cordoba). A ranch worker found the body of 69-year-old Miguel Blesa inside his vehicle with a fatal shotgun wound to his chest. Police suspect that he took his own life. Blesa was head of Caja Madrid from 1996 to 2010 and was accused in a series of legal cases involving malpractice at the bank. In the most high profile case, Blesa was sentenced in February this year, along with other bank executives, for using company credit cards for private expenses. A six-year prision term was on hold pending an appeal, the outcome of which is imminent. RJP-N rejects proposal to put statute revision bill to vote The Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal (RJP-N) on Wednesday told the governing parties that it was not for putting the constitution amendment bill to vote in Parliament and called for addressing its other demands. Rs 23.73 million Indian support for postal roads Indian on Wednesday handed over a cheque for Rs 23.73 million to construct two road stretches of the Postal Highway. CORTLANDVILLE, N.Y. -- Two people died and seven others were injured early Thursday morning after a taxi van crashed in Cortland County. The vehicle was traveling west on Bennie Road in Cortlandville around 2:50 p.m. when the van veered off the road, said Lt. Todd Caufield, of the Cortland County Sheriff's Office. The van struck a utility pole before crashing into a tree, he said. Nine people -- including the driver -- were in the van. The driver and one passenger were pronounced dead at the scene, Caufield said. The seven other passengers were injured, he said. One passenger was airlifted to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse, while two other passengers were rushed by ambulance to the hospital, Caufield said. Ambulances took the four remaining passengers to Cortland Regional Medical Center, he said. The names of the nine people involved in the crash were not released. The conditions of the passengers were not immediately available, Caufield said. The cause of the crash remains under investigation. In addition to deputies, the New York State Police, Cortlandville Fire Department, TLC Ambulance, Dryden Ambulance, National Grid, and Rick & Rich Towing responded to the scene. Gavin Strickland Gavin Strickland, 19, lost his car after he drove from Syracuse to Toronto for a rock concert and then couldn't remember where he parked it. (Twitter | @gpstrickland31) Dude, where's my car? A Syracuse teen has made headlines in Canada after losing his car because he couldn't remember where he parked for a rock concert. Gavin Strickland, 19, drove across the border to see Metallica in Toronto on Sunday. He left his blue-green Nissan Versa Sedan somewhere on the first floor of an underground parking garage, then took an $8 cab ride to see the heavy metal band at the Rogers Centre. After the show, he couldn't find his car simply because he couldn't remember where he left it. According to the Toronto Star, he spent hours looking for it, sleeping on benches before calling his parents to admit his mistake. "I told him, 'don't come back to the U.S. without a car!'" Gavin's father Eric Strickland told the newspaper with a chuckle. Eric said Toronto police gave Gavin something to eat and "took him in," even driving him around for three hours to help find the vehicle. By Tuesday, the search looked hopeless and Gavin's parents paid for a Greyhound bus back to Syracuse. "You can only do so much screaming at him," Eric told the Star, even though this is apparently the second time it's happened. According to the publication, Gavin also forgot where he parked his car last winter when he went to another rock concert in New York. Supposedly, a spare key fell out of his pocket near the car and someone took it for a brief ride; police found it shortly after, near the venue, with no damage and unlocked. The Stricklands got lucky again early Thursday morning when Gavin's car was found more than a day after posting a Craigslist plea for help. "Our doofy son parked the car in an indoor parking garage," the Craigslist ad said, offering a reward of $100 to anyone who could help find it. A photo was included, with details about its whereabouts: "near a Starbucks... a strange spiral outdoor sculpture, and possibly a bank- maybe RBC? The car has US Florida license plates, a small Canadian flag affixed to the door frame, and a Bernie Sanders bumper sticker." By Thursday morning, the Craigslist post had been updated to say the car was found, parked in a charging station. The Stricklands told syracuse.com that they thanked the woman who found it and will be making a donation to her favorite charity. But the incident had already gone viral. "My friend who lives in Canada just sent me a screenshot of her Facebook news feed with the news story of me. I've literally become famous," Gavin wrote on Twitter early Thursday. "This morning I had a radio interview and in about an hour I will have a video chat with a news channel in Canada. This is crazy." "I've become famous over a lost car." Dude found his car! NY teen who lost his car in Toronto after Metallica concert tells us why he's glad his folks posted funny Craigslist ad pic.twitter.com/TCuZs8NI0V CBC Morning Live (@CBCMorningLive) July 20, 2017 Gavin's parents, Eric and Michele, tell syracuse.com they moved from Central New York to Florida in 2008 "to escape winter," but still come back every summer to stay in Radisson. Gavin graduated high school in Florida last year and moved to Syracuse to live in his own apartment. "He has supported himself for a year by working a number of jobs and has grown up a lot," Eric said. Eric told the Star he bought the car for his son last year, to get to work at Lowe's and, starting this fall, to classes at Onondaga Community College. But after losing the car twice, his parents aren't letting him drive to another concert anytime soon. According to Toronto's City News, Gavin took an Uber to another rock concert in Syracuse on Wednesday: K-Rockathon at the Lakeview Amphitheater. To the Editor: I wish to respond to the article regarding the recent report from the group Reclaim New York ("Report: NY taxes leave families with no way to save for the future," July 18, 2017). While the group may technically be "not-for-profit," it is certainly not "non-partisan" as its website claims. The group's executive director, Brandon Muir, was a speaker at the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference and two of the directors are from the Mercer family (the hedge fund tycoons who were major contributors to the Donald Trump campaign and are part owners of Breitbart). The report gives a hypothetical example of the taxes and necessary expenditures paid by a median income family of four. The family pays almost as much on health insurance each month as they do on income taxes and property taxes combined. The report attacks taxation, but says nothing about the savings the family could have under a single-payer healthcare program. (I'm sure it's just a coincidence that Robert Mercer is the co-CEO of an investment firm that has significant holdings in the health insurance industry.) The report also blames the high cost of necessary goods on taxes and regulation, but says nothing about corporate greed. The report seems to sympathize with the "need" for corporations to raise prices without giving consideration to the fact that Wegmans, for instance, made $6.8 billion in revenue in 2014 and that the Wegman family alone was valued at $4 billion in 2015. I'm all for tax reform and making sure government spending is responsible, but this report misses the bigger picture. Eric Graf Syracuse The writer is the Green Party candidate for Syracuse Common Council in the 2nd District. Related links in Opinion: >> Cuomo's proposed 'Amazon tax' would hit NYers in the wallet (Commentary) >> 'Amazon tax' commentators were wolves in sheep's clothing (Your letters) >> Criticism of Reclaim New York is an attempt to silence it (Your letters) Ben Carson,Candice Jackson,Kellyanne Conway Acting Assistant Secretary of Civil Rights Candice Jackson has come under fire recently for her comments on campus sexual assaults. Jackson, center, is picture with Kellyanne Conway and Ben Carson during the 2016 presidential campaign. (Evan Vucci) ALBANY, N.Y. -- New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has joined a nationwide group urging U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to keep federal protections for college sexual assault victims. Schneiderman and 19 other attorneys general today sent DeVos a letter spelling out their concerns over reports that Department of Education is planning to roll back Title IX guidance issued under the Obama administration. The letter comes on the heels of comments made by Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Candice Jackson. In an interview with The New York Times previewing plans to roll back current guidance, Jackson said 90 percent of campus sexual assaults allegations "fall into the category of 'we were both drunk,' 'we broke up, and six months later I found myself under a Title IX investigation because she just decided that our last sleeping together was not quite right." Jackson has since issued an apology. The attorneys general acknowledge the apology in their letter, but say the comments have already signaled to survivors that their concerns are not taken seriously by this administration. The state lawyers say they have doubts about whether Jackson can be trusted to oversee this area. DeVos has held a series of "listening sessions" on the topic of sexual assault since the reports first surfaced. Last week, she met separately with groups of sexual assault survivors and people who said they were falsely accused of sexual violence on campus. In their letter, the attorneys general say they recognize the importance of fairness, but worried that a "rushed, poorly-considered effort to roll back current policies sends precisely the wrong message to all students." The guidance, first issued by the Obama administration in 2011, instructs colleges and universities on how to respond to incidents and reports. It required colleges to appoint a local coordinator and establish clear procedures for investigations and hearings. Under this guidance, the Department of Education has increased its investigations into colleges' procedures. The department has initiated 408 of these investigations, 344 of which remain open. CORTLANDVILLE, N.Y. -- A Tompkins County college has released the name of a student killed in a taxi van crash Thursday morning. Seven others hospitalized were also college students at the same college, Tompkins Cortland Community College, according to a statement Thursday afternoon from Orinthia Montague, president of of the college. Second-year student Roberto Eduardo Mata Lopez was killed when a taxi he and seven other students were riding in crashed, Montague said in a letter sent out to the campus community. Lopez was a member of the college's Global Connections program, a dual-degree program that allows college students from other countries to come to TCCC during their summer breaks to get an associate's degree to complement the degrees they're pursuing back home. Lopez was originally from the Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra in the Dominican Republic, Montague said. The Cortland County Sheriff's Office said the taxi was headed west on Bennie Road in Cortlandville at 2:50 a.m. when it went off the roadway, striking a utility pole and a tree. Lopez and the driver, who has not been named, were pronounced dead at the scene. The seven other students in the taxi were all hospitalized. Three were taken to Cortland Regional Medical Center where they were treated and released, according to the college. Four others were taken to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse. One has since been released, and the other three are believed to be improving, the college president said. "Regardless of your faith, please join me in keeping all our students and their families in your thoughts and prayers," Montague stated in the letter. Lopez's family is traveling to New York, the college said. A dean and the college president will meet them at the airport and bring them to campus, the college said. College staff, including one of the college's nursing faculty members, are at the hospital to remain in communication with the medical staff and the students, the college said. The college canceled classes today and stationed counseling staff in the residence halls. Three local Catholic priests held mass on campus in Spanish, and dining services staff has been delivering meals to students in their residence halls, according to the college. The Cortland County Sheriff's Office is continuing to investigate the crash. The second sex On July 6, a woman who was observing Chhaupadi, died of a snakebite in Dailekh. And in December 2016, police investigated the death of a 15-year-old girl in Accham who was banished to a poorly-ventilated shed because she was menstruating. Reports say she suffocated after lighting a fire to keep warm. Update: 4:52 p.m.: Man killed in Cortland County taxi crash was international student, college states CORTLANDVILLE, N.Y. -- A Finger Lakes community college announced a student was one of the people killed in a taxi crash early Thursday morning in Cortland County. Classes have been canceled for the day, according to a statement by Orinthia Montague, president of the Tompkins Cortland Community College in Dryden. "Our heart and prayers are with the families of the victims, all of our Global Connections students, and the entire Tompkins Cortland community," the college stated. The sheriff's office said a taxi van carrying nine people was headed west on Bennie Road in Cortlandville at about 2:50 a.m. when it went off the roadway. The taxi hit a utility pole and crashed into a tree. The driver and one other person -- the TC3 student -- were killed and pronounced dead at the scene, deputies said. The seven others in the vehicle were also injured and hospitalized. The college said its counseling staff is available and that it's working to assist families affected by the crash. Further information will be released after families of those involved have been notified, Lt. Todd Caufield said. The investigation is ongoing. Billionaire Elon Musk says he has "verbal" government approval to construct an ultra-high-speed underground transportation system in the Northeast. In a series of tweets, Musk said he has plans to build a system that would take people from New York to Washington in 29 minutes, according to USA Today. Experts said the massive costs and bureaucratic hurdles of a such a project would make it extremely difficult to pull off. The Washington Post noted that Musk has been known to talk big and overpromise in the past. Still, he's involved in some exciting ventures, including the Space X private space travel firm and electric-car manufacturer Tesla. Musk is also chairman of solar energy company SolarCity, which is building a massive plant in Buffalo. He was also involved previously with PayPal. One of Musk's latest ventures is a firm called The Boring Co., dedicated to building faster and more efficient tunnel-boring machines, USA Today said. One outcome could be to use the machines to construct tunnels for a transportation system known as Hyperloop, which would hurtle passengers through underground tubes in high-speed pods. Musk didn't say exactly who he had permission from, according to the Post. But the White House acknowledged it had some promising conversations with Musk. Amtrak, which controls much of the current rail corridor from New York to Washington, did not have an immediate comment, USA Today said. A representative of New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority said the agency would look into whether it had contact with Musk. The Post said that Musk appeared to be moderating his comments as the day wore on. He wrote later that he still had a lot of work to do on formal approval. He also said he was optimistic things would move rapidly, the Post said. Officials in New York City, Washington and Philadelphia said they'd had no contact with Musk or were unaware of the project, according to the Post. Google on Tuesday announced a highly anticipated launch of its new job search aggregation technology, following last months announcement of its Google for Jobs program at the companys annual I/O conference. The initiative will allow Google users to search for jobs either on mobile devices or personal computers, and to use a set of filters to obtain highly targeted results pulled from many different sites across the Web. During his keynote presentation last month, Google CEO Sundar Pichai noted that the company has wanted to use its machine learning capabilities to find ways to make an immediate impact on peoples lives. Google has invested a great deal of time, effort and resources to enhance its machine learning for job search capabilities over the past year, Pichai noted, pointing to last years introduction of a Google Jobs API, a vertical machine learning model. Machine Learning The Google Jobs API utilizes two proprietary ontologies to deliver results that match both employers and job seekers needs. The occupational ontology, based on the O*Net Standard Occupational Classification, includes 30 broad job categories on top, followed by 1,100 occupational families, and then 250,000 specific occupations. The skill ontology includes 50,000 specific hard and soft skills with various relationships. The Google search technology allows users to filter job searches by various criteria for example, commuting distance or specific methods of transportation such as bus, rail or car. It can filter by seniority, benefits, employment type or other information. Google tested the API with several partner firms, including Johnson & Johnson, FedEx, CareerBuilder and HealthSouth. Eighteen percent of applicants at Johnson & Johnson were more likely to apply for work once the technology was added to the mix, Pichai said. The technology was able to search for jobs across all levels of experience and wage levels, including jobs that are particularly hard to search for, such as retail and hospitality jobs. Click Image to Enlarge The Google Jobs API on the J&J careers site enables candidates to find open positions across the company in a much more intuitive and relevant way, said Sjoerd Gehring, global vp of talent acquisition at Johnson & Johnson. Based on completely different search technology and a different taxonomy, the Google Jobs API is able to serve up more relevant jobs which the candidate might have missed out on otherwise, he told TechNewsWorld. Ultimately, this partnership brings more relevant jobs to candidates, creating more economic opportunity. Threat Level Google is working with a number of different organizations among them LinkedIn, Monster, WayUp, DirectEmployers, CareerBuilder, Glassdoor and Facebook to bring users the most comprehensive job listings possible, said Nick Zakrasek, a product manager at Google. Google is publishing open documentation for all job providers including third-party platforms and direct employers, whether large or small so that their job openings are more discoverable, he added. The Google technology competes directly with Indeed, which also aggregates job searches across multiple sites, noted Michael Jude, a research manager at Stratecast/Frost & Sullivan. However, our experience shows clearly that search is useful only if it has all the jobs, said Paul DArcy, senior vice president at Indeed. For this reason, Indeed focuses on comprehensiveness, working relentlessly to get every job on Indeed, including jobs from 3 million employers that post directly to Indeed. Most of these jobs are not available on any other job site, he told TechNewsWorld. Job search is one of the most important searches in ones life, he continued. Weve always assumed the largest companies in the world would enter the jobs space. Indeeds strategy remains the same: We continue to focus on relentlessly innovating to help people get jobs. This is our sole mission, and we have nearly 5,000 employees dedicated to building the technologies and services that provide job seekers the best chance to get hired. Google had no information to share regarding how its service compares to Indeed, said spokesperson Susan Cadrecha. However, to ensure even more jobs are listed over time, were publishing open documentation for all jobs providers, from third-party platforms or direct employers, big or small, detailing how to make their job openings discoverable in this new feature, she told TechNewsWorld. Facebook earlier this year launched its own job search capabilities, but that effort is not likely to have much of an impact, Frosts Jude told TechNewsWorld, due to the stigma many employers associate with using social media sites for job searching. Facebooks partnership with Google may have brighter prospects, however. We launched the ability to apply to jobs on Facebook to make it faster and easier to find the right job, said Gaurav Dosi, product manager at Facebook. Weve been thrilled to hear from people and business owners alike that Facebook has helped take the work out of their search, he told TechNewsworld, and we think this partnership with Google will make everyones search that much easier. What Google Gains The new job search technology will serve two purposes, said Zach Fuller, an analyst at Midia Research. It will function as a driver of additional revenue by making Google act as a recruiter for talent, while diversifying the stream from Adwords-based advertising, he told TechNewsWorld. It also will serve as a testing ground for Googles AI capabilities. By implementing AI into the process, I perceive it is a way for Google to familiarize users with what will be a core technology for the company, Fuller said.You have to wonder what took Google so long to do this, remarked Jim McGregor, principal analyst at Tirias Research. Google is definitely behind the curve on searching for jobs, but with the largest search engine in the world, it makes perfect sense that using Google would be more natural for people because we google for everything, he told TechNewsWorld. Its possible Google may have another motive gathering additional information to find talent for its own company, McGregor suggested. With the high competition for critical high-tech talent, he said, this may give Google a leg up on the job pool. UN Resident Coordinator Julliand calls on DPM Mahara Valerie Julliand, the UN resident coordinator, called on Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Krishna Bahadur Mahara on Wednesday. Microsoft on Monday announced the availability of its first public release candidate for SQL Server 2017, which includes full support for Windows, Linux and Docker containers. SQL Server on Linux improves on earlier previews with several key enhancements, including active directory authentication; transport layer security to encrypt data; and SQL Server Integration Services that add support for Unicode ODBC drivers. SQL Server 2017 has demonstrated faster performance than competitive databases or older SQL Server versions with new benchmarks, Microsoft said, including the world record TPC-H 1-TB non-clustered data warehousing benchmark achieved this spring using SQL Server 2017 on Red Hat Enterprise Linux and HPE DL380 Gen 9 hardware. Among early adopters are Dv01, a financial technology startup, which began using an open source database on a rivals cloud, but got 15 times faster performance on SQL Server 2017, according to Microsoft. Another customer, Convergent Computing, has moved some Tier 2 applications to inexpensive, white box servers using SQL Server 2017 on Linux. Convergent started fiddling with SQL on Linux last year, said Rand Morimoto, president of the company. After evaluating the initial performance of the new platform, Convergent added applications as Microsoft added functionality, he told LinuxInsider. Convergent now has half a dozen business applications including financial systems data analysis and client communications management systems running successfully on Linux, Morimoto said. The company can get the same performance while running these SQL/Linux instances on lower power, he said, allowing it to recapture resources allocated to other applications. Were anticipating over the next 24 months that will translate to a decrease in costs of at least 34 percent, Morimoto said. As we scale our SQL instances using SQL/Linux, we feel we can effectively increase capacity by 40 to 50 percent without having to allocate more resources. Advantage Azure? The move is the latest indication of Microsofts growing warmth toward open source. CEO Satya Nadella has shifted the companys philosophy away from competition and toward cooperation. It recognizes that forcing customers onto Windows servers isnt a good long-term play for a couple of reasons, noted Rebecca Wettemann, vice president of research at Nucleus Research. For starters, Microsoft is laser-focused on bringing customers to Azure, making the desire to fight the Windows server battle less important, she told LinuxInsider. Windows is still a dominant player in the enterprise server space, Wettemann acknowledged, but with the growth of people writing for Linux, and the growth of Linux servers in the enterprise, Microsoft recognizes that customers want to run their database of choice on Linux so opening SQL to Linux puts Microsoft into the hands of more potential users. The release seemed timed to coincide with last weeks announcement of Microsofts Azure Stack, which likely will have a huge impact on the private cloud market, noted Paul Teich, principal analyst at Tirias Research. The availability of SQL Server on Linux will ensure that Microsoft customers that dont want a full off-premises commitment to the Azure cloud have a familiar and licensed database available for on-premises deployment of Azure Stack, he told LinuxInsider. Its a half step for customers who want to modernize their code a little bit but have concerns that keep them out of a multitenant cloud, Teich said. They want the flexibility to take advantage of a hybrid cloud if needed. Customer Demand There is demand for stable, scalable databases, said Ron Pacheco, director of product management for Red Hats platform business unit though he could not speak to any specific level of demand that might be driving Microsofts strategy. Customers are openly embracing the open source development model, even for their own internally developed applications, he told LinuxInsider, as it leverages the collective intelligence of a large community of mutually interested parties that yields very fast innovation. Microsoft first announced plans to offer SQL on the Linux platform early last year, noting that it was important to make the database available across multiple platforms. Enterprise customers have gravitated toward Linux not only for its relatively lower costs, but also for its fewer security risks. Linux is the dominant operating system of the cloud and of open source tools and platforms, said Doug Henschen, principal analyst at Constellation Research. Microsoft needed to make Azure attractive to cloud developers across platforms, he pointed out. Microsoft had to fill that gap, Henschen told LinuxInsider, and indeed, it recently introduced a MySQL cloud service the open source database that runs on Linux. There are several takeaways from Microsofts announcement of SQL Server 2017 RC1, suggested Al Gillen GVP for software development and open source at IDC. Microsoft is truly supporting a mixed open source/Windows support model, he told LinuxInsider. Further, SQL Server on Linux is a competitive alternative to Oracle on Linux, giving customers that want an enterprise-quality database that is commercially supported on Linux two choices, Gillen pointed out. Clearly, he said, there is room to grow the SQL Server business into the Linux space. As Uber reels from the fallout of a sexual harassment scandal that led to this weeks ouster of Travis Kalanick and several of his top executives, the company faces twin dilemmas: how to clean up its corporate work environment and restock its executive ranks; and how to maintain credibility with its customer base and core team of street level drivers. (Photo credit: Dan Taylor / Heisenberg Media Travis Kalanick Uber controls more than 80 percent of the domestic ride-sharing market, by many estimates, and it competes strongly in major cities around the world. However, rival firms like Lyft, Juno and others have taken advantage of Ubers recent turmoil and are nipping at its heels. Their goal is to take its drivers, woo its customers, and step out of the way while Ubers corporate image disintegrates. While the search for a new executive team continues, Uber must focus on three things, according to Roger Lanctot, director of automotive connected mobility at Strategy Analytics. It must 1) continue to attract customers; 2) continue to recruit quality drivers; and 3) develop a positive relationship with local regulators a battle Uber has had to fight every time it has entered a new market. The battle for passengers and drivers thats a hearts-and-minds kind of thing, Lanctot told TechNewsWorld. People are just feeling icky about using Uber. Theyre feeling just enough that theyre changing patterns of using Uber to using another local alternative. Rebuilding the Brand Lyft and other rivals have been winning the battle to attract talent, said Lanctot, because the perception among ride-sharing drivers is that Uber fosters a hypercompetitive culture that makes drivers feel like they are on their own without much support, while Lyft, on the other hand, gives a sh*t about quality and service. For example, Lyft last month unveiled new incentives to make it easier for drivers to control their work life and make more money. Scheduled pickups which Lyft claims its the first in the industry to offer give drivers up to seven days warning about a customer appointment. Lyft also unveiled Power Zones in 17 cities, which allow drivers to get paid more for driving in particular areas during certain hours. Further, Lyft now offers a new app just for drivers. While Uber was in the throes of its executive shakeup, Lyft earlier this week quietly doubled the default tip options for passengers on rides costing US$25 or more. Tip options now default to $2 to $10 on the more expensive rides from the old $1 to $5, and passengers also can opt for custom tips. Lyft recently entered a partnership with autonomous vehicle firm nuTonomy, with plans to pilot its technology in Boston. The firm, founded by CEO Karl Iagnemma and Emilio Frazzoli, has been testing its autonomous vehicle technology in Singapore since the summer of 2016. Ubers harassment scandal has not impacted the core product of the company, argued Steven Polzin, director of mobility policy research at the University of South Floridas Center for Urban Transportation Research. However, it has seriously damaged the companys brand and attractiveness to investors and potential employees, he said. My perception is that the shenanigans regarding governance of Uber have most impacted their business reputation with investors, and their credibility as a future IPO or place of employment for talent, Polzin told TechNewsWorld. Its likely Uber will face a more difficult time with government regulators in the future, he said, given the companys damaged reputation for employee relations, corporate culture and leadership. I do think the cumulative pressure on Uber will have an impact, as regulators are less likely to be intimidated and/or bullied going forward, Polzin said. Saving Drivers While the focus in recent days largely has been on Ubers corporate culture, there is another area where the company needs to tighten things up significantly, and thats with its still critically important base of ride-sharing drivers. Along with its astronomical growth, Uber has faced numerous battles with drivers. Many have complained over workplace rules and compensation issues, and they have sought union protection in key cities, including New York and Seattle. Uber on Tuesday sent an email announcing a series of compensation and work rule changes geared toward improving its relationship with its core group of drivers, who are critical to the companys current business model. The company unveiled plans to allow drivers to receive tips, with the new policy initially changing in Seattle, Houston and Minneapolis. Additional cities will be added over the next several weeks, and the system will expand nationwide by the end of next month. Riders will have the option of tipping the driver when asked to rate their experience using the mobile app, and will be given up to 30 days to add the tip to their charges. The launch of in-app tipping followed an April ruling by New Yorks Taxi and Limousine Commission to require the option after the Independent Drivers Guild, which represents 50,000 ride hail drivers, launched a public campaign to change Ubers policy. Uber also announced that it would pay drivers a cancellation fee if customers canceled trips after more than two minutes down from five minutes. Also, after two minutes of waiting for customer pickups, drivers will earn a per-minute rate Uber announced the addition of injury protection insurance through Aon, which covers driver injuries and lost revenue. It also introduced additional perks toward its Quest driver incentive program, which gives drivers bonuses for reaching a certain number of trips in a given time period. The new incentives enable drivers to cash out their earnings instantly and allow all trips to count toward Quest. Despite those actions, Uber has still failed to address core driver issues on the ground, said Leonard Smith, director of organizing at the Teamsters Local 117 in Seattle. Everything that weve seen so far points to direct employees at Uber, he told TechNewsWorld. We havent really heard about drivers issues. Uber exercises direct control over how much drivers make, yet claims they are independent contractors, Smith said. After factoring in the costs of operation and the amount of money drivers have to pay back to Uber, some drivers are only bringing home $3 an hour, he maintained, noting that the majority of people we work with are struggling to put gas in the car. Restoring Faith In terms of Ubers upper ranks, the damage to executive recruiting and corporate branding likely require Uber to look for talent outside the company, said Karl Brauer, executive publisher for Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book. It reflect how much people had lost faith in Travis, he told TechNewsWorld. Bringing in a strong female candidate, Brauer suggested, would go a long way toward sending a message that Ubers upper ranks understand they have a problem that needs to be addressed. Jude Sparks was hiking in the New Mexico desert back in November with his parents and playing with walkie-talkies with his brothers when he made an accidental discovery. The little boy was running farther up when he tripped on part of a tusk, which turned out to be a rare and largely intact 1.2 million-year-old stegomastodon skull. Ice-Age Fossil Discovery My face landed next to the bottom jaw. I looked farther up and there was another tusk, recalled Sparks, now age 10. The boy simply knew it wasnt an ordinary find. While his younger brother Hunter believed it was a cow skull, their parents thought the discovery looked a lot like an elephant. The family then got in touch with New Mexico State University professor Dr. Peter Houde, having seen his YouTube video interview on a similar fossil found years ago. Houde was quick to recognize it: the remains of a long-gone stegomastodon, with Sparks tripping over its fossilized tusk. This is really very unusual to find, Houde said, adding that while he frequently received calls and emails about potential fossilized finds, this one was entirely different. Houde explained that so far, Sparks Ice-Age fossil discovery may only be the second intact skull found in the state. The family got lucky to visit the site that revealed the fossil after episodes of strong rain. He estimated the jaw to weigh around 120 pounds, and the entire skull as little as one ton. This skull is actually delicate: it is mostly hollow, its surface thin as eggshell. Stegomastodon Revisited The biology professor and the family visited the fossil a day after they found it, and following months of securing permits and taking care of the logistics, the skull was finally excavated last May. The jaw and two pieces of tusk, on the other hand, were previously taken to the Vertebrate Museum at the university. The stegomastodon a creature that lived at least 1.2 million years ago wasnt a dinosaur, and in fact existed relatively recently that it may have been hunted by humans. In contrast, dinosaurs existed during the Mesozoic era, which came to an end around 66 million years earlier. The study and reconstruction of the stegomastodons fossil will take years to be done, but it will eventually be on public display. Applauding the Sparks familys move to contact a scientist regarding the precious find, Houde encouraged others to also establish contact with experts instead of doing the digging on their own. If [the Sparks] tried to do it themselves, it could have just destroyed the specimen, he said. In 2014, a bachelors party at the Elephant Butte Lake State Park in the state led a group of friends to stumble on an ancient elephant fossil. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Voice grows in party to change electoral symbol As infighting spirals in the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) with top leadership engaged in power tussle, the partys electoral symbol once against burst onto the scene during a Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting on Wednesday. Written by the winners History is written by the winners, and the losers do not have a place in it. In the case of Nepal, and more specifically in the case of Dalits, their history has not been written yet. "Dialogue and negotiation in Venezuela, found at the Paris Forum for Peace, three friends: the governments of France, Argentina and the Republic of Colombia," said the president... | Read More Heads up to prevent injury from falls Morning walks in my neighborhood are one of the most enjoyable parts of my day. I love the coolness of daybreak and the special sightings of the stag and two does that frequent our open space. I also enjoy my walk because each day at... 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A historic trade agreement with China will allow exports of milled rice from the United States, providing a big opportunity for Louisiana rice mills and farmers, agriculture officials said Thursday. "This is a, I don't want to say a saving grace, but it's definitely a huge accomplishment for the rice industry as a whole," said Glenden Marceaux, a rice farmer and president of the Louisiana Independent Rice Producers Association. China consumes the equivalent of the entire U.S. rice crop every 13 days, according to USA Rice, a global advocate for the U.S. rice industry. The U.S. Department of Agriculture expects China to import 5.3 million tons of milled rice in 2017-18. Agriculture officials are hopeful the milled rice exports can lead to shipments of rough rice harvested from the field. Louisiana is the United States' third-largest rice producer, trailing only Arkansas and California, LSU AgCenter economist Michael A. Deliberto said. The state produced 1.4 million tons of rice in 2016 on 420,821 acres. The crop, after value-added activities, was worth $407.2 million. Louisiana already exports well over 60 percent of the rice it produces, Marceaux said. "With this protocol, the U.S. has the opportunity to gain a new rice export customer, and that customer is the largest in the world," Deliberto said. "That is encouraging news to rice producers who have been facing lower commodity prices over the past couple of years." The U.S. is projected to produce 6.9 million tons of rice in 2017-18. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that China will produce 159.5 million tons of rice and will import 5.5 million tons in 2017-18. China opened its rice market when the country joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, but U.S. rice was barred from the market because the two countries lacked a protocol to protect against the introduction of certain pests into China. Rice mills will be inspected by Chinese sanitation officials before exports can begin, so shipments of U.S.-milled rice to China could be several months away. The state's two major rice mills have agreed to the protocol, and the agreement will boost packaged products Louisiana sells overseas, Marceaux said. Demand for U.S.-milled rice, at least initially, is expected to be strongest in coastal areas of China among higher-income consumers and in the hotel and restaurant trade. "Food safety is a major issue for China's consumers, and U.S. rice is well positioned as a safe, high quality food," Chris Crutchfield, chairman of the USA Rice Asia/Turkey Promotion Subcommittee told The Associated Press. "We have promotion programs up and running in China in anticipation of today's signing and exports to come. We'll tailor our promotion activities going forward to include large trade seminars here and in China to educate Chinese consumers about the types and qualities of U.S. rice." The China deal also could help strengthen rice prices, which have been low for some time, and would help farmers, Deliberto said. Futures prices are hovering around $12 per 100 pounds. That's up from around $10 a year ago, mainly because flooding in Arkansas and Missouri are expected to reduce production. Deliberto said Louisiana's rice acreage typically ranges between 410,000 and 490,000 acres, with about 70 percent of the crop produced in southwest Louisiana. The crop has to be irrigated so it requires a higher degree of management than corn or soybeans, he said. Rice prices will have to increase significantly to take acreage from other crops. Marceaux said rice acreage has shrunk the past couple of years for economic reasons. No one wants to overproduce something they can't sell, he added. Rough rice exports the rice harvested from the field have been steady to Central and South America, he said. Otherwise, Louisiana's producers would be in a bind. Louisiana's exports of rough rice also including shipments originated in other inland states and exported through New Orleans were valued at $444 million in 2016, while milled rice exports were valued at $252 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The milled rice that China wants will help replace a void left by Iraq, once one of the biggest markets for long-grain rice, he said. "It's going to be a big economic upturn, I think," Marceaux said. "It may take a little while to get fully engaged in that market with the exports, but I see nothing but a plus." The agreement is a tremendous leap towards selling U.S. rice in China and caps a decade of effort by the rice industry and U.S. government to open access to the world's largest rice importer, said USA Rice Chairman Brian King. GONZALES For the first time, the Ascension Parish Council on Thursday will try out a new appeal procedure for proposed subdivisions its Planning Commission has rejected, weighing in directly on the running battle in Ascension over continued growth amid infrastructure strains and worries about flooding. The developers of the 32-lot Hudson Cove subdivision along La. 42 in the Galvez area are appealing the commission's 2-1 decision in April to deny the project over its drainage plans and the severe flooding that happened in August in that area near the Amite River. Citing flooding concerns, Ascension Parish Planning Commission rejects proposed subdivision in Galvez GONZALES Not more than an hour after being sworn into office, newly appointed Ascension Pa The August 2016 flood inundated 6,400 homes and businesses in the parish and hit the Galvez, St. Amant and Sorrento areas that are closest to the Amite River Basin the hardest. +11 Ascension eyes moratorium on certain kinds of housing development GONZALES For years in Ascension Parish, individual homes and sometimes entire subdivisio Previously, Ascension government had an obscure, rarely used appeal process that routed denied projects to a three-member Planning Commission Appeals Board appointed by the parish president. For years the parish Planning Commission, which is appointed by the council, rarely rejected proposed subdivisions, so use of the board was equally rare. But the board got more action last year as the commission took a more assertive stance on denying projects. In three instances last year for Brookstone in Prairieville, Camellia Cove outside Gonzales, and Oakbourne in Dutchtown the Appeals Board overturned denials by the seven-member commission despite commissioners' concerns about flooding and traffic. That last appeal board vote in December 2016 to overturn denial of Camellia Cove and Oakbourne prompted charges from a commissioner that the process was "in the tank" for developers and "stinks with the stench of corruption." While those comments, from now former Commissioner Douglas Foster, drew criticism from the volunteer Appeals Board members and the parish administration, the 11-member council soon abolished the board and gave itself the final say instead, as neighboring parishes already do, leading to Thursday's vote. Despite the changes in Ascension, one constant remains: Baton Rouge lawyer David Cohn, who prevailed each time before the old Appeals Board last year. Cohn is now representing the developer of Hudson Cove, which he says met all parish requirements and should have been approved in April. For Cohn, the fight over Hudson Cove revolves around the same issue those other denied projects did: whether the commission had enough evidence of potential harm in order to deny a subdivision that otherwise met parish regulations. One central question is: Will the decision stand up in court? Various court decisions and an opinion from the Louisiana Attorney General's office wrote for Ascension in May 2016 note that when commissions make these types of decisions, they must do so with the understanding that, if taken to court, a judge would rule their decision through a "strict scrutiny analysis," one of the highest legal thresholds. Ascension appeals board allows blocked subdivisions to proceed GONZALES Whether the historic flood that inundated an estimated 6,400 homes and businesses Cohn said Wednesday the commission did not receive any additional information that would cross that legal bar and separate Hudson Cove from any other projects approved in past. "It's flawed reasoning," he said of the commission's decision. The commissioners who rejected Hudson Cove found otherwise after residents brought pictures of flooding in August over La. 42 and on the proposed site of the subdivision, a swampy tract near the Amite River. Now it will be up to the council to say which side is right when members meet 6 p.m. inside council chambers at the Courthouse Annex, 828 S. Irma Blvd., Gonzales. The appeal is one several matters on the council's agenda, which includes a $1 million software contract with Tyler Technologies and ratification of some of Parish President Kenny Matassa's top administrators weeks after his administration implemented major aspects of an organizational review of parish government. Late last fall, the council held off on the ratification votes called for in the home rule charter until the review had been completed. WHITE CASTLE An audit that flagged questionable spending of taxpayer money has prompted an investigation of this Iberville Parish towns financial practices. The issues the District Attorneys Office for the 18th Judicial District says it has targeted for investigation include the town's handling of payroll disbursements; questionable travel and per diem expenses; undocumented transactions using town-issued credit cards and failure to follow the requirements of the state's Public Bid Law. "This District Attorney's Office is in the process of requesting the Legislative Auditor's Office assistance in the investigation," Assistant District Attorney Scott Stassi said in a prepared statement. "This investigation intends to review the actions and/or inactions of the town of White Castle to determine if further action is warranted." Mayor Gerald Williams Wednesday said he was puzzled by the DA's actions. Most of the issues detailed in the audit report, which was released in May, have already been corrected, he said. "We've taken corrective measures, Williams said. But I'll go through it all again because I have nothing to hide," he said. Williams' tenure as head of the town's administration has not been without controversy. The town's previous annual audit, covering financial transactions for the fiscal year ending in September 2015, found that residents were overcharged for natural gas by nearly $100,000 and that the mayor was receiving mileage reimbursements when a town ordinance prohibited him from doing so. Also last year, Williams had to defend several pay increases he received after a political adversary tried to say he illegally had the Town Council double his pay. However, town records showed the Town Council had improperly lowered the salary for the position before Williams took office. And in April 2016, a state district court judge ordered the town to pay $13,000 in civil penalties, attorney fees and court costs associated with a public records lawsuit filed by two residents who were denied access to town records. Williams and his administration were ordered to turn over the public documents associated with the lawsuit. White Castle ordered to pay $13,000 for failure to comply with states Public Records Law PLAQUEMINE The town of White Castle will have to cough up about $13,000 in taxpayer money The audit findings at the heart of the DA Office's current investigation uncovered eight discrepancies with the town's financial procedures for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2016. The report by auditors hired to conduct the towns annual audit found 10 instances in which employee time cards did not agree with the respective hours listed in the town's check register. Auditors further noted that time cards were rarely reviewed for approval by supervisors. When auditors did a sample testing of 15 travel and mileage reimbursement payouts for the fiscal year, they found employees expensed $1,850 worth of meals for which no receipts were submitted. The report also says the mayor approved two reimbursements to himself for $840 in travel expenses, a practice the auditors frowned upon. Auditors said several employees received excess mileage reimbursements of $257 for three trips, while another was reimbursed $752 on documentation that didn't match the dates of the event the employee reported attending. Two other reimbursements totaling $663 were paid with no documentation explaining their business purpose, the audit says. In their review of credit card statements for three of the town's charge accounts, auditors found three instances where employees rang up hotel stays totaling $4,122, without providing receipts to justify the use of taxpayer money for the overnight stays. Mayor pay for mileage, utility overcharges are focus of White Castle audit report WHITE CASTLE An audit report released Monday says the town overcharged residents for natur A nearly $200 charge at a Wal-Mart also lacked a receipt and the town's card was used by one employee on a $100 co-pay for medical charges, according to the audit report. The 2016 report goes on to say the town deposited more money into the savings accounts of employees than what was deducted from their payroll checks. The excess deposits totaled $10,485 $7,826 of which was attributed to the ex-husband of the town clerk. And the report claims the town may have violated the state's public bid law by paying approximately $2,068 more for several police vehicles that were available at a lower price under state contract. "Audits and laws pertaining to government agencies are intended to protect the public by deterring public officers and employees from abusing their positions of public trust," Stassi said. "While no criminal charges have been determined thus far, the result of this investigation will be presented to a grand jury to contemplate any wrongdoing." The mayor said Wednesday the town has hired an outside human resources firm to correct the personnel/payroll issues cited in the audit report. The town is also amending its travel and credit card policies to stress the need for supporting documentation, like receipts, for all future reimbursements and expenses, he said. As for the excess deposits in employee savings accounts, the town is making arrangements for "timely reimbursements" from employees impacted by the slip up, the report claims. "I don't understand the purpose of the investigation. Until I meet with the DA's Office I don't have that much to say," Williams said. "Nothing malicious was going on. That's why it's puzzling." Purchases made via links on our site may earn us an affiliate commission A Baton Rouge contractor accused of fraud in four parishes, primarily over flood related work, is now facing similar counts in St. John the Baptist Parish over work he was hired to do after a 2016 tornado, authorities said. St. John Sheriff Mike Tregre said Wednesday arrest warrants have been issued for Matthew Morris, owner of Complete Construction Contractors in Baton Rouge, on counts of home improvement fraud, misapplication of payments by contractor and insurance fraud. Tregre said the counts stem from allegations that Morris cheated victims whose homes were damaged in the EF2 tornado that struck the parish in February 2016. The new counts in St. John make the fifth parish in which Morris is facing criminal allegations over his business activities. In May, investigators with the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff's Office issued warrants for counts of bank fraud and illegal transmission of monetary funds over a $250,000 line of credit that Morris took out with South Louisiana Bank of Houma. Morris used property liens that he placed on some of his contracting customers as collateral for the loan. Customers who had the liens have challenged their validity, sheriff's deputies have said. In Livingston, Morris is facing contractor fraud counts not only in unincorporated Livingston Parish but also in Walker and Denham Springs. Morris will be booked on the St. John counts when he can be transported to the Sherman Walker Corrections Center in LaPlace, Tregre said. Morris is currently being held at the Livingston Parish Jail. Morris, 39, 21313 Turkey Creek Drive, Baton Rouge, has been indicted in East Baton Rouge, Ascension and Livingston parishes on counts including contractor and insurance fraud, filing false public records, theft and extortion. Morris has maintained he is "100 percent" innocent of the charges against him. His attorneys have said the allegations are really contractual disputes that belong in civil court. More recently, Morris has said he agreed to lift the property liens he placed against his customers. Law enforcement agencies have said Morris charged clients for work he didn't do for homeowners flooded in August, taking most of their insurance proceeds before giving them a large final bill to finish the job on their gutted homes. When victims balked at the big bills and terminated their contracts, Morris would file liens against their homes for fees and charges that the victims had challenged, though Morris maintained they were legitimate or called for in the contract. The liens, nonetheless, hindered people's ability to finish restoration of their homes. Tregre said victims in St. John the Baptist Parish continue to come forward to file complaints against Morris. Additional counts against him are expected. Joe McPherson, a managing partner in a nursing home and a former state Senator, speaks against HB152 on Wednesday, May 10, 2017, during testimony on the bill by Rep. Tony Bacala, R-Prairieville. The bill, which Bacala said would reduce nursing home dependency by expanding opportunties for elderly and disabled people to use home and community-based services, was involuntarily deferred, effectively killing it, after a vote in the House Health and Welfare Committee. The chemical company at the center of a controversy over air pollution in St. John the Baptist Parish is digging in against residents who are demanding it take more drastic steps to curb emissions of a likely carcinogen called chloroprene. Officials with Denka Performance Elastomer agreed in November to spend $17.5 million on technology aimed at sharply cutting the amount of chloroprene coming from its plant in LaPlace after a study by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency showed residents in St. John Parish had a higher risk of cancer from airborne pollutants than any other area of the country. The EPA study, released in 2015, traced the risk to the plant, which for nearly half a century has been using chloroprene to produce neoprene, a synthetic rubber. The chemical was only classified as being particularly dangerous in 2010, amid studies suggesting it could cause lung, liver and kidney cancers. LaPlace chemical plant, criticized for releasing 'likely carcinogen,' cited for 50 potential Clean Air Act violations After sending investigators into the Denka Performance Elastomer plant for five days last ye Since then, controversy has continued to engulf the plant, with residents urging the company to take safety measures beyond those in the agreement made last year. But in a letter made public this month, Denka officials said they would take no further steps beyond what was already promised, at least for now. Jorge Lavastida, the company's plant manager, wrote to the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality in late June, saying the company has already "devoted substantial resources" to emission control. In a statement to The Advocate, Lavastida said, "These projects not only have been done voluntarily and proactively, but most companies would not even entertain the thought of spending this type of time and money without being ordered to do so." Plans to retrofit the plant with emission reduction technology began in earnest eight months ago, when officials reached a voluntary consent agreement with state regulators. The plant pledged to reduce emissions of chloroprene by 85 percent before the end of 2017. Some residents have said that goal isnt nearly ambitious enough, pointing to air monitoring results that have been taken since last spring by researchers with the EPA. An analysis done in March shows that in a year's time, residents had been exposed to an average of between 12 and 58 times the amount of chloroprene the EPA says puts residents at increased risk of cancer. An 85 percent reduction still would mean "unacceptable" exposure, according to activist group Concerned Citizens of St. John. The group asked Denka to further reduce emissions, suggesting safety measures that go beyond those laid out in the November agreement. Residents also urged the plant to reduce or stop production altogether. In his letter to the state, Lavastida said some measures the residents had proposed would be too dangerous. He said officials still were studying the feasibility of others. State health officials and regulators say the risk posed by the plant is unclear, arguing that the long-term effects of chloroprene exposure are not well understood, especially when levels spike and dip over time. Measurements show the air around the plant at times has contained as much as 765 times the amount considered risky by the EPA. But sometimes, the data show no chloroprene at all. Chuck Brown, secretary of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, has accused some environmentalists of "fear-mongering." The EPA has said "more detailed assessments are needed" to "accurately characterize" health risks caused by chloroprene. In the meantime, more than a dozen residents filed suit against Denka in June. The suit, which seeks class action status, asks the court to force the plant to stop production until chloroprene readings go down. "We feel this is a nuisance and trespass interfering with the community's right to live and enjoy their property, said Eberhard Garrison, one of the lawyers representing the residents. In response to the lawsuit, Lavastida said the company had always worked within limits allowed in Louisiana. He called the EPA's methodology in determining cancer risk highly flawed, pointing to discrepancies between the national agencys recommendation and regulatory standards enforced by officials in Louisiana. State regulations allow 857 micrograms of chloroprene per cubic meter for an eight-hour average more than 4,000 times the amount the EPA says might cause harm to humans during long-term exposure, or about 70 years. It remains to be seen whether regulatory standards in Louisiana will change as a result of further study, but Lavastida said the decision should be up to the LDEQ and EPA, not to residents. The company is strongly committed to taking all appropriate legal measures to defend itself against the claims, he said. FILE - This Sept. 27, 2011, file photo shows a gopher frog at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans. The nonprofit Pacific Legal Foundation wants the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a declaration that Louisiana timberland is critical habitat for an endangered frog found only in Mississippi. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says a network of ponds so shallow they dry up in the summer makes the 1,500-acre tract the only potential breeding ground outside Mississippi for dusky gopher frogs. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File) ORG XMIT: NYJK402 Thousands of historic Japanese commercial records seized during World War II have been returned to Tokyo as part of a significant cultural milestone from the National Archives of Australia. The largest move of its kind from Australia, the gift will see more than 3300 archival boxes of business documents, journals, posters, catalogues, meeting minutes, shipping records and even some personal photographs returned to Japan. The gift is described as a first for the National Archives. The items were seized by authorities under laws preventing trade with Australia's enemies and have been held by federal government authorities since the 1950s. National Archives of Australia director-general David Fricker said the gift of more than 800 metres length of items had been considered for some years, as the records provide a unique insight into the personal and business lives of Japanese people living in Australia. To achieve Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame status usually requires a lifetime of achievement, but the changing nature of business has seen a young upstart join the esteemed ranks. For games developer Halfbrick, the Brisbane-based company's induction was 2 billion downloads in the making. Halfbrick chief executive Shainiel Deo's company has made Queensland's Business Leaders Hall of Fame. Credit:Glenn Hunt Halfbrick was among six new admissions to the Hall of Fame on Thursday night, joining companies Blackmores, Queen and Walkers Limited and individual entrants Dimity Dornan and George Chapman. Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame committee member Peter Little, Emeritus Professor at Queensland University of Technology's business school, said Halfbrick's inclusion was a sign of changing times. A recent study suggests a surprising way to boost your creative powers: use "switch-tasking". Jackson Lu and colleagues at Columbia University asked participants to complete tasks involving convergent thinking and divergent thinking. Some were instructed to work on one task during the first half of their allotted time and then switch to a second task. Others were told to alternate between tasks at preset intervals, and the third group were allowed to switch between tasks at their discretion. In both experiments, those who alternated between tasks at set intervals outperformed everyone else. Switch-tasking means we deliberately alternate between problems, whereas when we multitask we fool ourselves into thinking we're doing several things at once. Credit:Getty Images Yet when asked which approach they preferred, most said they would choose to switch between tasks at their own discretion, presumably because they feel it gives them maximum autonomy and flexibility. However, the researchers argue that few of us recognise when we're becoming cognitively "fixated"; when our thinking is becoming "stuck". The best way to overcome this rigidity, they suggest, is to switch between tasks at regular, preset intervals. Regular switching encourages us to look at a task from new angles when we return to it, making it easier to generate more fresh ideas. Lu's findings are not without precedent. Steven Smith and colleagues at Texas A&M University asked participants to list as many examples as possible of two different categories. Participants who were instructed to switch regularly between the two categories generated more solutions than those who completed one category listing and then switched to the second. It was Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (well before Russell Crowe in Gladiator) who said, "What we do now, echoes in eternity." How right he was. A few simple words written 120 years ago are ringing through our political landscape today; Section 44 of our constitution has seen the removal of two senators in the last week. As ex-Greens senators Scott Ludlam and Larissa Waters will ruefully tell you, Section 44 disentitles a person who is "under any acknowledgment of allegiance, obedience, or adherence to a foreign power, or is a subject or a citizen of a foreign power" from standing as a candidate for parliament. Does anyone seriously imagine Ludlam kept a secret allegiance to New Zealand? And Waters was simply born in Manitoba; her Canadian citizenship a simple accident of her parents' careers and local laws. What makes things more perverse is that to be an MP in New Zealand you need only be a citizen, enrolled to vote and have lived there for three years. In Canada the Charter of Rights and Freedoms states that every citizen has the right to sit in Parliament. So in three years Ludlam could potentially be an MP in Wellington, while Waters could sit in Ottawa next to Justin Trudeau. Wage fraud is the sinister underbelly of Australia's third-largest export earner, tertiary education. One in four students at Australian universities has come from offshore. Not only did those 300,000 young people pay a total of $22 billion in tuition fees in 2016, surging by a fifth from the previous year, they pumped billions more into the community through rent and other living expenses. One without the lot. Credit:Tom Cliff They have been of great benefit to the economy, but the economic circumstances have been challenging for them. Thousands of these students struggle financially, and survive by working in menial roles in workplaces that are exploiting and underpaying them, often taking advantage of their imperfect English and their fear of creating strife and losing their visas, even though they are legally permitted to work here. They work, predominantly in food outlets and convenience stores, alongside locals who are also being scandalously underpaid. There is bountiful evidence, much of it the result of investigations by The Age, that wage fraud is committed widely and brazenly. The latest alleged example came a few days ago when the Fair Work Ombudsman launched legal action against Melbourne restaurants Dainty Sichuan and Tina's Noodle Kitchen, which allegedly paid employees as little as $10 an hour, well below the legal minium, while they worked 10 hour-plus shifts, sometimes seven days a week. The ombudsman says the two restaurants underpaid staff by more than $30,000 in just two weeks. Since publishing the story, The Age has been contacted by a large number of students with similar stories. But perhaps there is reason for optimism: the Fair Work Commission is using its recently expanded resources and strengthened sanctions to tackle the abuse. After investigations in The Age detailed widespread wage fraud in the $170 billion-a-year franchise industry and elsewhere, the Coalition government took to last year's election a commitment to a tenfold increase in fines, a $20 million funding increase for the Fair Work Ombudsman and the appointment of the former head of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Professor Allan Fels, as the chief of a new Migrant Worker Taskforce. Jordon Steele-John is studying politics and history at university but he's about to ask his teachers for a deferral. They shouldn't mind - he's about to make political history as Australia's youngest-ever senator. After a week of soul-searching, the 22-year-old Green has decided to take up the Senate seat left vacant by Scott Ludlam. In an exclusive interview with Fairfax Media, the disability advocate said he has the full support of Richard Di Natale and his parliamentary team - despite speculation he was pressured to stand aside for a more conventional candidate. "I have experienced no pressure whatsoever," Steele-John said. "I've only experienced the total and complete support of the entire party to come to whatever decision I felt was right for me and for the party." It's been a gloomy old week in Melbourne town but this week's list is full of colour to lift your spirits. The stock room at Miss Louise is full to bursting and needs a good clearance to make way for new stock that's arriving next week. The four-day Super Sale has designer styles from just $200. Brands include Alexander McQueen, Saint Laurent, Sergio Rossi and Tods. Stock will be replenished every day and expect queues at peak times. 205 Collins Street, Melbourne. Friday-Saturday 9am-5pm, Sunday 11am-5pm, Monday 9am-5pm. The Miss Louise super sale starts this Friday. At February's David Jones winter launch, Jesinta Franklin's impersonation of the dancing girl emoji in a red Romance Was Born dress was one of the standout moments from the show. This weekend, the popular designer is holding a warehouse sale with up to 50 per cent of its Queen of the Night (autumn 2017) and Whispering Angel (summer 2016) collections, plus samples. A few hours after sunset on Thursday, a jacaranda tree that has been missing for nearly nine months was returned to the University of Sydney's quadrangle. It isn't exactly the same as the iconic tree that stood in the quadrangle for 88 years before collapsing in October last year, but it is as close as you can get. Sydney University Grounds Manager Mark Moeller and ground staff with a jacaranda tree which was successfully cloned from the original tree in the main quadrangle. Credit:Wolter Peeters The new tree is a genetically-identical clone of the original jacaranda, grown by grafting cuttings from the original plant to the root of another jacaranda tree. "There's a little scar on the base of the tree, you can see it if you look carefully," the university's landscape and grounds manager Mark Moeller said. "But it's genetically-identical from the ground up." One of Sydney's most congested suburbs has been revealed as a hot spot for speeding drivers, according to new figures released by NSW Police. In what will surely come as a surprise to anyone who has driven to Sydney Airport lately, Mascot is one of the worst areas for speeding offences in NSW. The top ten suburbs for speeding offences in NSW have been revealed. While traffic around the domestic and international terminals is often gridlocked, 2,125 drivers were caught speeding in the area in the last financial year. Mascot ranked third on the list of the state's worst suburbs for speeding offences. Queensland's corruption watchdog boss says a minister deleting his private email account was not a serious allegation in the "scheme of things" and was instead a "technicality". Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey was stood aside from his ministerial duties following a Crime and Corruption Commission investigation. Mark Bailey has been stood aside pending an investigation into his deletion of work-related emails. Credit:AAP Images The CCC found Mr Bailey raised a "reasonable suspicion of corrupt conduct" in deleting work-related emails and deactivating his private account, mangocube6@yahoo.co.uk. CCC chair Alan MacSporran said some attachments from Mr Bailey's emails from his personal account could not be recovered. Washington: The US Justice Department said on Thursday it had shut down the dark web marketplace AlphaBay, working with international partners to knock offline the site accused of allowing a global trade in drugs, firearms, computer hacking tools and other illicit goods. Authorities said the law enforcement action was one of the largest ever taken against criminals on the dark web, part of the internet that is accessible only through certain software and typically used anonymously. AlphaBay allowed users to sell and buy opioids, including fentanyl and heroin, contributing to a rising drug epidemic in the United States, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said at a news briefing in Washington, DC to announce the action. "The dark net is not a place to hide," Sessions said. "This is likely one of the most important criminal investigations of the year - taking down the largest dark net marketplace in history. As the teddy bear crossed the X-ray screen, Australia Post workers noticed strange long shapes inside it. Inside the stuffed animal, they found lizards, taped up and set to be smuggled out of the country as part of Australia's lucrative and illegal wildlife trade. Blue tongue lizards found in a teddy bear were taped from head to tail. Turtles are wrapped in socks and hidden in hollowed out books. Scorpions are stuffed into speakers. Snakes are bound in masking tape and put in parcel post. In some instances, people strap rare bird eggs to their chests to keep them warm as they try to sneak them past customs. WAPU President George Tilbury said the officer - a 55-year-old father-of-four - was lucky to be alive after the alleged attack at a home in Parkin Street, after police attended over reports of family violence. Gruesome images of the senior constable's injuries were released on Thursday afternoon as the WA Police Union highlighted the dangers faced by officers across the state. The officer was rushed to Royal Perth Hospital where he received a number of stitches to his wound. A WA police officer lost a litre of blood and received 25 stitches to his head after being attacked with a Samurai sword on the job in Rockingham on Wednesday. Police claim the man left the house before the officers arrived but while they conducted inquires at the address the man returned and attacked the senior constable with a Samurai sword. The officer was struck to the head and sustained a large gash and a fractured skull. He also required 25 stitches to fix the wound and remains in a stable condition at Royal Perth Hospital. Mr Tilbury said it was merely the latest example of the danger faced by officers but said he didn't want to use the case to try and force the WA government to reconsider its stance on the police's pay model. "These are horrendous injuries and highlight the dangers and difficulties police officers face on a daily basis when they put their lives on the line," he said. "I don't want to highlight this and make it political and relate it to our pay plan at all, but what this is is another incident where one of our members has been attacked, and they are attacked on a daily basis. Washington: US President Donald Trump said that he never would have appointed Attorney-General Jeff Sessions had he known Sessions would recuse himself from overseeing the Russia investigation that has dogged his presidency, calling the decision "very unfair to the President." In a remarkable public break with one of his earliest political supporters, Trump complained that Sessions' decision ultimately led to the appointment of a special counsel that should not have happened. "Sessions should have never recused himself and if he was going to recuse himself he should have told me before he took the job and I would have picked somebody else," Trump said. In a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times, the US President also accused James B. Comey, the FBI director he fired in May, of trying to leverage a dossier of compromising material to keep his job. Trump criticised both the acting FBI director who has been filling in since Comey's dismissal and the deputy attorney-general who recommended it. And he took on Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel now leading the investigation into Russian meddling in last year's election. Trump said Mueller was running an office rife with conflicts of interest and warned investigators against delving into matters too far afield from Russia. Trump never said he would order the Justice Department to fire Mueller, nor would he outline circumstances under which he might do so. But he left open the possibility as he expressed deep grievance over an investigation that has taken a political toll in the six months since he took office. Brussels: The European Commission has warned Poland it was "getting very close" to taking the unprecedented step of withdrawing Warsaw's voting rights at EU summits, unless it stepped back from reforms that would undermine judicial independence. Frans Timmermans, the commission's first vice-president, said the executive was prepared to take the so-called nuclear option of triggering Article 7 of the EU's treaties. The Polish government has faced growing protests in recent days after moving last week to overhaul the entire judicial system, a move that has triggered the latest in a series of clashes with Brussels. "If these laws are applied, justice will fall under political control," Mr Timmermans said after a meeting of all 28 EU commissioners. The family of the Melbourne woman missing in the Canadian wilderness believe she may still be alive, and are calling for the Australian government to provide extra resources to find her. Sophie Dowsley, 34, has been missing since taking a hiking trip around Statlu Lake on July 8 with her Canadian boyfriend Greg Tiffin, 44. The lake is in the Coast Mountains, about three hours' drive from Vancouver. Mr Tiffin's body was pulled from the lake by a dive team on July 18. New Delhi: "Who?" That was the reaction of most Indians when they heard that Ram Nath Kovind, who was announced as India's new president on Thursday, was first nominated for the post. Kovind, 71, is only the second dalit a member of the lowest caste in India since independence to occupy the largely ceremonial post. Few had heard of this low-profile and soft-spoken lawyer who was the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's choice to be the occupant of the presidential palace in New Delhi, originally built to house British viceroys. Kovind gained an overwhelming majority to beat Meira Kumar, also a low-caste dalit candidate, who was backed by the centrist Congress party. The head of the Minneapolis Police Department says that Australian woman Justine Damond did not have to die. Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau cut short her leave to return to the city where the Australian woman was gunned down by an officer on Saturday. Addressing a press conference, she said she had spoken to Ms Damond's grieving fiance Don and assured him a full and fair investigation into the shooting would take place. "I will do everything in my power to make sure due process is followed and justice is served," she said. Los Angeles: Justine Damond's devastated Australian family are poised to file a massive civil lawsuit in the US courts against the City of Minneapolis and the police officer who shot her dead. Ms Damond's family have hired one of Minnesota's top trial lawyers, Robert Bennett, who says claims the policeman felt he was being ambushed were ludicrous. Officer Mohammad Noor shot Ms Damond from the passenger front seat of his police car, shooting across his partner Matthew Harrity and through the open window. Officer Harrity's lawyer, Fred Bruno, told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune it's reasonable to assume any police officer would be concerned about being ambushed. Washington: US President Donald Trump's extended, rambling new interview with The New York Times provides perhaps the clearest picture yet of his conviction that he is above the law - a conviction, crucially, that appears to be deeply felt on an instinctual level - and of his total lack of any clear conception of the basic obligations to the public he assumed upon taking office. There are numerous worrisome moments in this interview, from his incoherence on the healthcare debate ("pre-existing conditions are a tough deal") to his odd asides about history (Napoleon "didn't go to Russia that night because he had extracurricular activities, and they froze to death"). But I wanted to highlight the sum total of the picture that results from three things Trump said. Trump flatly declared that if Attorney-General Jeff Sessions had told him in advance that he would recuse himself from the Russia probe, "I would have picked somebody else." Just as bad, Trump also said that Sessions' recusal was "very unfair to the president" ie. unfair to him. Trump said clearly that if special counsel Robert Mueller is examining his family's finances, he would view that as an abuse of his role. While Trump declined to say whether he would try to get Mueller removed, he said he would view any such overstepping as a "violation". In at least two exchanges, Trump was asked directly about the fact that Donald Trump jnr's email chain showed that the information offered to his campaign in advance of the now-notorious meeting came from the Russian government. In one of them, he strongly suggested that being open to such information was no biggie. In the other, he dismissed the offer itself as "standard political stuff". First, Sessions. The attorney-general recused himself from overseeing the FBI probe into Russia's undermining of our election, and possible Trump campaign collusion with Russia, because it had become obvious that he could not preside over an impartial investigation, given the lack of clarity around his own dealings with Russia while serving on the Trump campaign. if the people of Biafra want Republic of Biafra, it will be a reality during my administration. ----Donald Trump Donald Trump I wi... NOTICE OF SALE Case No.: 3:21-cv-00770-SVH BY VIRTUE of that certain Decree of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina heretofore granted in the case of ... NOTICE OF LIEN SALE Extra Space Storage will hold a public auction to sell personal property described below belonging to those individuals listed below at the location indicated: Store # ... NOTICE TO CREDITORS OF ESTATES All persons having claims against the following estates are required to deliver or mail their claims to the indicated Personal Representatives, appointed to administer these... Jose Rojas-Meliton, 41, was sentenced by 361st District Judge Steve Smith after a jury deliberated his fate for about an hour Wednesday afternoon in the punishment phase of his trial. According to a previous story in The Eagles archives, the victim told Bryan police Rojas-Meliton pulled a knife on her before sexually assaulting her when she was 13. Charges were not filed at the time because investigators did not have enough evidence, police said. Rojas-Meliton also moved to Mexico before returning to Bryan in 2002. Even if it isn't finished until he's 99, former president George H.W. Bush says he wants to ride the proposed high-speed rail train from Houston to Dallas. According to a report in the Altoona Mirror, Bush's bucket list also includes seeing the Houston Astros in the World Series and seeing the Houston Texans in the Super Bowl. Jean Becker, Bush's chief of staff, told him the high-speed rial project might not be completed until he's 99. "I'm in," he told her. Bush and his wife, Barbara, are in Kennebunkport, Maine, for the summer The Bryan school district administration will soon ask trustees for a tax ratification election to lower the overall tax rate by one cent. Christie Whitbeck made the announcement to the Bryan Rotary Club on Wednesday. She told attendees that the district has the opportunity to give local property owners some tax relief and earn millions more in state funding by restructuring the districts tax rate, but it needs voter approval to do so. Bryan property owners currently pay a total of $1.35 per $100 valuation toward public schools 31 cents of this is called the I&S rate and goes toward paying off the districts debt, while $1.04 is called the M&O rate and goes toward district maintenance and operations. Whitbeck said administrators want voter approval to drop the I&S rate by 3 cents and raise the M&O rate by 2 cents. Whitbeck points to conservative financial management by Amy Drozd, the districts assistant superintendent of business services, as the reason the district is able to lower the I&S rate. She said Drozds aggressive payment schedule has enabled the district to get rid of debts sooner. By raising the M&O rate, the district can claim two additional golden pennies from the state. Golden pennies are the first six pennies in the M&O tax rate after $1. The state matches the revenue the school district receives for each of these cents in their tax rate. According to the Texas Education Agency Office of School Finance, voter approval is needed to claim the fifth and sixth penny, or in other words, to raise the M&O tax rate from $1.04 to $1.05 or $1.06. Administration will present a proposal for a tax ratification election to the school board soon, said Brandon Webb, the districts executive director of communications and public affairs. If the board approves the measure, an election is expected sometime early fall. A Bryan man convicted earlier this week of aggravated sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl in 2000 has been sentenced to 75 years in prison. Jurors convicted Jose Rojas-Meliton, 41, in less than 20 minutes Tuesday afternoon of sexually assaulting the girl at knifepoint almost two decades ago. Wednesday's testimony was for the punishment phase of the trial, during which jurors could recommend a sentence between five and 99 years for the first-degree felony for which they had convicted Rojas-Meliton the previous day. After about an hour of deliberation, jurors recommended a 75-year sentence, which 361st District Court Judge Steve Smith handed down late Wednesday afternoon. "You stole my innocence," the sexual assault survivor, now 30 years old, told Rojas-Meliton after the sentencing. "I am not the person I could have been had you not done this." Rojas-Meliton's mother, Josefina Meliton, testified Wednesday that her son had been born in Mexico City and had spent the first 16 years of his life in Mexico. Meliton, who has been living in Santa Barbara, California, for 20 years, said she remained involved in her son's life "in every way," talking with him and his family over the phone weekly and recently has been sending the family -- Rojas-Meliton and his wife have four children -- about $300 every month. Meliton said she came to Bryan from California to testify on her son's behalf because, "I am the mother. He's my child." Defense attorney Neeley Lewis called multiple members of Rojas-Meliton's family to take the stand Wednesday to testify on behalf of his client. "I admire my dad," Rojas-Meliton's 18-year-old son said from the stand as he started to cry. "He's done so much for this family. I see how long my dad works, gives us food, clothes, anything we needed." Meliton testified that Rojas-Meliton worked long hours in the construction industry, a statement later echoed in testimony from Rojas-Meliton's other children. According to court records, Bryan police booked Rojas-Meliton into jail on May 10, 2016, holding him on a $200,000 bond. There is no listed date of release. Rojas-Meliton's son said he had missed his father over the past year, during which he was 17 and in his last year of high school, a time he called, "a great moment in my life." "My dad wasn't there for those crucial moments," he said. "It really took a lot away from me." Just before each side gave their closing arguments, the state called a woman to testify Wednesday afternoon. The final state-called witness, a woman who is now 33 years old and who had never before spoken out, testified that Rojas-Meliton had also sexually assaulted her sometime around 1998. Testimony from the trial suggested Rojas-Meliton had also sexually assaulted another teenager in the past year and a half. "One of the reasons this kind of crime is so destructive is that if you don't stop an abuser," the cycle of abuse continues, Ekua Assabill, prosecuting the case for the state alongside Ryan Calvert, told the jury in her closing argument. "This is a man who has been brutalizing vulnerable women for generations and generations," Assabill said. Neeley asked the jury to place his client on probation since Rojas-Meliton had not previously been convicted of a crime, which he said would allow "his family [to] be put back together." Shortly before the jury began their deliberations, Calvert argued that probation was not appropriate for this case, since "there are little girls in the distance" who could be vulnerable to Rojas-Meliton, a man he described as a "predator." Calvert told the jury the Brazos County District Attorney's Office had not taken the case in 2000 because, "when we decide whether we're going to charge someone with aggravated sexual assault of a child, we endeavor as hard as we possibly can to make good and sure that they're guilty," but in 2000 all they had was "the word of a child." "We gave him the benefit of the doubt 17 years ago, and [other people] paid that price," Calvert said. Rojas-Meliton will be eligible for parole in 30 years. The outcome of the investigation likely will trigger sweeping changes throughout A&M System universities and agencies by prohibiting spouses and close family members of senior administrators from doing business with the System. Over the past seven years since Karan Watson took over as provost at the states largest public university, her wife Nancy Watson, owner of a conflict resolution company in Bryan-College Station has received $438,733 from the university for training services. The audit highlighted $9,838 that she was paid by the provosts office and $105,767 from the Office for Diversity, which reports to the provost. Watson takes issue with the audit, describing it as misleading and saying the conclusions drawn were a subjective belief unsupported by any actual evidence. Though the inquiry found the arrangement violated the A&M Systems ethics policy and cited five areas in which the provost failed to comply with the code of conduct, it did not find any evidence that she pressured or tried to influence staff to hire her spouse, according to a six-page document from the auditor, which answers to the A&M System Board of Regents. Tuesdays action taken by President Michael K. Young was in response to a whistleblowers complaint lodged in May, marking the third grievance that accuses the Watsons of similar possible ethics violations connected to Nancy Watsons business, the Center for Change and Conflict Resolution. Young sent the complaint the same day it was filed to the auditors office, which is standard procedure in such a circumstance, A&M officials said. Karan Watson said Wednesday that she was surprised when she learned of Youngs decision. She said she believes she was not afforded due process in the matter and denied a meaningful opportunity to respond to the allegations in the report. She said she disagreed with the findings and can only speculate as to the motives of those persons who prompted this action. [We] have endeavored to avoid the appearance of any such violations, Watson wrote in a five-page response to the audits findings, adding that she regularly reported her relationship with Nancy Watson on her annual disclosure form. That compliance also was noted in the audit. Through a university spokesperson, Young declined to comment on Watsons remarks. A senior administrator at A&M said before the whistleblower complaint being filed, he was not aware of Nancy Watsons private business. Watson, who announced her retirement last August and was given a farewell party at the close of the semester in May, had opted to stay on until her replacement arrived. A month ago, Carol A. Fierke, dean of the Rackham Graduate School and vice provost for academic affairs in graduate studies at the University of Michigan, was hired as provost and was expected to take over in mid-October. However, Young said in an email to top administrators this morning that Fierke will start Sept. 1. The email did not address the situation with Watson. Douglas Palmer, professor of educational psychology in the College of Education and Human Development, will serve as interim provost until Fierke arrives. He recently served as interim chief operating officer over Texas A&M University at Galveston and previously was dean of the College of Education and Human Development at A&M from 2006 until 2015. Faculty Senate Speaker Angie Hill Price, an associate professor of manufacturing and mechanical engineering technology, said she could not comment on Watsons removal but did say she and her colleagues are looking forward to working with interim Provost Palmer and future Provost Fierke in advancing the mission of the university. Karan Watson, who was hired at A&M 34 years ago, will remain on faculty. She holds the position of regents professor in the departments of electrical and computer engineering, and computer science and engineering. She said she has been in a relationship with Nancy Watson for 32 years and that they were married in California in 2008. Gay marriage was not recognized in Texas until a June 2015 Supreme Court ruling, which required all 50 states to legalize same-sex unions. The audit outlined ethical issues that the Watsons failed to comply with, including that system employees should adhere to all system policies and regulations; avoid any actions that would create appearance that they are violating the law, policies of the system or regulations; not hold direct or indirect financial interests or other interests that are in conflict with the conscientious performance of their official duties and responsibilities; and should act impartially and not give preferential treatment to any private, public organization or individual. Previous complaints The role of provost is among the most high-profile of the university administration and was described recently by Young as second in charge for the university. It serves as the chief academic officer, with responsibilities including the management of the universitys academic mission, the planning, budgeting, supervising and reviewing educational programs, and acts as a point of contact for outside institutions including accreditation agencies, the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, the Texas Legislature and others. In fiscal year 2011 (under then-President R. Bowen Loftin) and in the fall of 2014 (under interim President Mark Hussey), two similar complaints were filed. Both resulted in auditors suggesting the university ask for requests for proposals to draw in more vendors offering similar services from which the university could choose. Karan Watson said Wednesday that neither she nor her wife were made aware of the previous two investigations. Nancy Watsons business was selected from among two other vendors and awarded $20,000 per year for a five-year period. Following the second complaint, the university entered into an agreement with a total of six vendors, including the Center for Change and Conflict Resolution, for services set to expire January 2018. This replaced the previous agreement. The Center for Change and Conflict Resolution, which has done work for the university since 2003, is the only vendor of the six to be used by the university in the past three years. Although auditors reported that employees interviewed throughout several departments the report didnt specify how many said their selection of Nancy Watsons business was based on positive past experience or recommendations, there still remained the appearance of a conflict of interest. Karan Watson said she believes the reports analysis to be misleading. She said the majority of the Office of Diversitys 56 payments to the Center for Change and Conflict Resolution pre-dated Dr. Nancy Watsons appointment as a member of the staff and noted the list of preferred vendors for the university is managed by Jerry Strawser, executive vice president of finance and operations. In addition to her role as a private vendor, Nancy Watson also has worked part time since 2015 on staff in the Office of Diversity as director of climate enhancement initiatives and was promoted earlier this year to a separate part-time faculty position clinical associate professor. In the report, auditors said Nancy Watsons staff position with the Office of Diversity was of particular concern given that her university duties overlapped with the services provided by her company. She is in a position to encourage departments to obtain the type of training provided by her business, which creates a conflict with the proper discharge of her official duties, auditors wrote in the report. Serving as both a vendor and an employee in the same subject matter areas is ill-advised and creates an unavoidable conflict of interest. The auditors noted Nancy Watsons staff position was approved by the president of the university, but that they could not find documentation immediately available that showed Watsons faculty position was similarly cleared of nepotism concerns. Karan Watson said the conflict of interest allegation between Nancy Watsons staff role and her external capacity through her business to be simply a subjective belief unsupported by any actual evidence. Although the report alleges a conflict of interest, the report does not describe how Dr. Nancy Watsons business interest substantially conflicted with the discharge of her or [my] official duties and responsibilities, a requirement of the TAMU policy, Watson said. Concern also was expressed over the fact that a link to the Center for Change and Conflict Resolutions website is posted on Nancy Watsons official Texas A&M web page; auditors suggested its removal. Both women told auditors Karan Watson made it a point to recuse herself from matters dealing with Nancy Watson or her business. Auditors said in the report that Karan Watson told them complaints generally occur after her relationship with Nancy is discussed at any kind of public event. A reception recognizing Watsons years of service as provost was held April 28, during which Watson told auditors she had spoken about their relationship. Perception of conflict Moving forward, the auditors recommended university officials should determine if the services provided by Nancy should be provided by her as an employee or as a vendor, as they believe it is not appropriate for her to serve in both roles. As for Karan Watson, the auditors found she should have made a greater effort to ensure the perception of a conflict of interest was mitigated. Operating in part under the assumption that everyone knew about their relationship does not adequately address the conflict of interest created when someone in Karans position is married to a vendor to whom the university has paid a considerable amount of money, auditors wrote in the report. Karan Watson said she took issue with this finding and said she believes she and her wife took more than the steps required or expected by TAMU to ensure transparency and full disclosure. She said A&M policy does not require more and that it is unclear what more [I] should have done beyond disclosing [our] relationship and recusing [myself] from all matters associated with Dr. Nancy Watson and the center. The auditors report states that they expect to see a policy presented to the A&M System Board of Regents expanding upon the 2015 Texas State law prohibiting state agencies from contracting with a business owned by the CEO of an institution or a member of their family. The proposal would be for the system to extend the prohibition to include senior administrators, preventing what unfolded under Watson from happening. Watson announced last August that she intended to step down from her role as provost at the end of May 2017. In a university statement at the time, Young thanked Watson for her many years of remarkable service to the university and said she has been critical to the current era of unprecedented excellence and opportunity for Texas A&M. Watson was appointed as A&Ms first female provost and executive vice president in March 2011 after serving in the interim role since July 2009 and as associate provost and dean of faculties between 2002 and 2008. In addition to her responsibilities as provost, she served in numerous leadership roles over the years, including as interim vice president and associate provost for diversity, associate dean for academic affairs in the College of Engineering and a member of the faculty senate. The Texas Tech University graduate first joined the Texas A&M faculty in 1983 at the age of 26 as a member of the College of Engineering. Texas A&Ms outgoing Provost and Executive Vice President Karan Watson has been removed from her position after an internal audit found significant conflict of interest issues tied to business dealings her spouse had with the university, according to documents obtained by The Eagle. The investigation is likely to trigger sweeping changes throughout A&M System universities and agencies by prohibiting spouses and close family members of senior administrators from doing business with the System. Over the last seven years since Karan Watson took over as provost, Nancy Watson owner of a conflict resolution company in Bryan-College Station was paid $438,733 by the university for training services. The audit highlighted the $9,838 she was paid by the provosts office and the $105,767 from the Office for Diversity, which reports to the provost. Though the inquiry found the arrangement violated the A&M Systems ethics policy and cited five areas in which the provost failed to comply with the code of conduct, it did not find any evidence that she pressured or tried to influence staff to hire her spouse, according to a six-page document from the auditor, which answers to the A&M System Board of Regents. The action taken by President Michael K. Young was in response to a whistleblowers complaint made in May, marking the third grievance accusing the Watsons of similar possible ethics violations connected to Nancy Watsons business the Center for Change and Conflict Resolution. Young sent the complaint the same day it was filed to the auditor's office, A&M officials said. Karan Watson said Wednesday that she was surprised when she learned about Youngs decision. She said believes she was not afforded due process in this matter and denied a meaningful opportunity to respond to the allegations in the report. She said she disagreed with the findings and "can only speculate as to the motives of those persons who prompted this action. (We) have endeavored to avoid the appearance of any such violations, Watson wrote, adding that she regularly reported her relationship with Nancy Watson on her annual disclosure form. That also was noted in the audit. Through a university spokesperson, Young declined to comment on Watson's remarks. An senior administrator at A&M said prior to Young receiving the whistleblower complaint, he was not aware of Nancy Watson's business. Watson, who announced her retirement last August and was given a farewell party at the close of the semester in May, had opted to stay on until her replacement arrived. A month ago, Carol A. Fierke, dean of the Rackham Graduate School and vice provost for academic affairs in graduate studies at the University of Michigan, was hired as provost and was expected to take over in mid-October. However, Young said in an email to top administrators this morning that Fierke will start Sept. 1. The email did not address the situation with Watson. Douglas Palmer, professor of educational psychology in the College of Education and Human Development, will serve as interim provost until Fierke arrives. He recently served as interim chief operating officer over Texas A&M University at Galveston and previously was dean of the College of Education and Human Development at A&M from 2006 until 2015. Faculty Senate Speaker Angie Hill Price, an associate professor of manufacturing and mechanical engineering technology, said she could not comment on Watsons removal, but did say she and her colleagues are looking forward to working with interim Provost Palmer and future Provost Fierke in advancing the mission of the university. Karan Watson, who was hired at A&M 34 years ago, will remain on faculty. She holds the position of regents professor in the departments of electrical and computer engineering, and computer science and engineering. She said she has been in a relationship with Nancy Watson for 32 years and that they were married in California in 2008. Gay marriage was not recognized in Texas until a June 2015 Supreme Court ruling, which required all 50 states to legalize same-sex unions. Previous complaints The role of provost is among the most high-profile of the university administration described recently as second in charge for the university by Young. It serves as the chief academic officer with responsibilities including the management of the universitys academic mission, the planning, budgeting, supervising and reviewing educational programs, and acts as a point of contact for outside institutions including accreditation agencies, the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, the Texas Legislature and others. In fiscal year 2011 under then-President R. Bowen Loftin and in the fall of 2014 under interim President Mark Hussey two similar complaints were filed. Both resulted in auditors suggesting the university ask for requests for proposals to draw in more vendors offering similar services from which the university could choose. Karan Watson said Wednesday that neither she nor her wife were made aware of the previous two investigations. Nancy Watsons business was selected from among two other vendors and awarded $20,000 per year for a five-year period. Following the second complaint, the university entered into an agreement with a total of six vendors, including the Center for Change and Conflict Resolution, for services set to expire January 2018. This replaced the previous agreement. The Center for Change and Conflict Resolution is the only vendor of the six to be used by the university in the past three years. Although auditors reported that employees interviewed throughout several departments the report didnt specify how many said their selection of Nancy Watsons business was based on positive past experience or recommendations, there still remained the appearance of a conflict of interest. Karan Watson said she believes the reports analysis to be misleading. She said the majority of the Office of Diversitys 56 payments to the Center for Change and Conflict Resolution pre-dated Dr. Nancy Watsons appointment as a member of the staff and noted the list of preferred vendors for the university is managed by Jerry Strawser, executive vice president of finance and operations. In addition to her role as a vendor, Nancy Watson also works part-time on staff in the Office of Diversity as director of climate enhancement initiatives and was promoted earlier this year to a separate part-time faculty position clinical associate professor. In the report, auditors said Nancy Watsons staff position with the Office of Diversity was of particular concern given that her university duties overlapped with the services provided by her company. She is in a position to encourage departments to obtain the type of training provided by her business, which creates a conflict with the proper discharge of her official duties, auditors wrote in the report. Serving as both a vendor and an employee in the same subject matter areas is ill-advised and creates an unavoidable conflict of interest. The auditors noted Nancy Watsons staff position was approved by the president of the university, but that they could not find documentation immediately available that showed Watsons faculty position was similarly cleared of nepotism concerns. Karan Watson said conflict of interest allegation between Nancy Watsons staff role and her external capacity through her business to be simply a subjective belief unsupported by any actual evidence. Although the report alleges a conflict of interest, the report does not describe how Dr. Nancy Watsons business interest substantially conflicted with the discharge of her or (my) official duties and responsibilities, a requirement of the TAMU policy, Watson said. Concern was also expressed over the fact that a link to the Center for Change and Conflict Resolutions website is posted on Nancy Watsons official Texas A&M web page; auditors suggested its removal. Both women told auditors Karan Watson made it a point to recuse herself from matters dealing with Nancy Watson or her business. Auditors said in the report that Karan Watson told them complaints generally occur after her relationship with Nancy is discussed at any time of public event. A reception recognizing Watsons years of service as provost was held April 28, during which Watson told auditors she had spoken about their relationship. Perception of conflict Moving forward, the auditors recommended university officials should determine if the services provided by Nancy should be provided by her as an employee or as a vendor, as they believe it is not appropriate for her to serve in both roles. As for Karan Watson, the auditors found she should have made a greater effort to ensure the perception of a conflict of interest was mitigated. Operating in part under the assumption that everyone knew about their relationship does not adequately address the conflict of interest created when someone in Karans position is married to a vendor to whom the university has paid a considerable amount of money, auditors wrote in the report. Karan Watson said she took issue with this finding and said she believes she and her wife took more than the steps required or expected by TAMU to ensure transparency and full disclosure. She said A&M policy does not require more and that it is unclear what more (I) should have done beyond disclosing (our) relationship and recusing (myself) from all matters associated with Dr. Nancy Watson and the center. The auditors report states that they expect to see a policy presented to the A&M System Board of Regents expanding upon the 2015 Texas State law prohibiting state agencies from contracting with a business owned by the CEO of an institution or a member of their family. The proposal would be for the system to extend the prohibition to include senior administrators, preventing what unfolded under Watson from happening. Watson announced last August that she intended to step down from her role as provost at the end of May 2017. In a university statement at the time, Young thanked Watson for her many years of remarkable service to the university and said she has been critical to the current era of unprecedented excellence and opportunity for Texas A&M. Watson was appointed as A&Ms first female provost and executive vice president in March 2011 after serving in the interim role since July 2009 and as associate provost and dean of faculties between 2002 and 2008. In addition to her responsibilities as provost, she served in numerous leadership roles over the years including as interim vice president and associate provost for diversity, associate dean for academic affairs in the College of Engineering and a member of the faculty senate. The Texas Tech University graduate first joined the Texas A&M faculty in 1983 at the age of 26 as a member of the College of Engineering. Making a return to our two favourite summer locations, Mount Maunganui and Nelson in early January 2023, we've got whiff of the first release lineup and me oh my, yes boy This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 5 1 of 5 Alex von Kleydorff / Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 2 of 5 Leslie Lake / Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 3 of 5 4 of 5 Contributed Photo / Contributed Photo Show More Show Less 5 of 5 NORWALK A local doctor implicated in last weeks crackdown on over-prescribing narcotic pain killers and defrauding health care insurers has been arrested in Canada. Ramil Mansourov, 47, of Tokeneke Road, Darien, was arrested just hours after federal authorities here issued an alert that he may have fled to Canada. NORWALK On October 5, 2016, Wyatt Davis turned 21. Rather than celebrate with margaritas and jello shots, Davis and his family feared the changes that lie ahead. Davis was born with severe cerebral palsy and developmental delays, and is unable to be left alone. For 21 years, hed been part of the Westport School District, and received funding through the Town of Westport to support the services and aid he requires. On October 6, 2016, the school district could have cut off his funding, and on a normal year, he would have transitioned that day to being funded by the state. But with uncertainty at the state level, the district allowed him to remain a student at Staples High School for the rest of the year. Thats something were very grateful to the Town of Westport for, and we give them credit because its not something they had to do, said Wyatts father, Brett Davis, who runs a family business in New Rochelle, N.Y. His wife is a teacher. The younger Davis became an official graduate of Staples High School on June 15. His family now pays out of pocket for Wyatt to spend three days a week at STAR, Inc., a Norwalk-based nonprofit provider of day and residential services for children and adults with developmental disabilities, so that they can continue to work. But at $1,800 per month, its a hefty expense and only part of the bill that encompasses Wyatts health needs. Though he is here at STAR, he is not funded at all, said Brett Davis, Wyatts father. This was something that was told to us by (the Connecticut Department of Developmental Services) that this would probably happen, so my wife and I made provisions to fund him for June and July, knowing he was going to have a major surgery on his hip in early August and be out for seven weeks. But its is not nearly enough. Our daughter is in law school ... we can right now only afford to send him three days a week. That would be some of the funds that we would have been giving to our daughter because law school is ridiculously expensive, and we just flat out told her, That money has to go to your brother. The Davis family isnt unique. There are 225 to 300 new graduates with intellectual developmental disabilities every year in Connecticut, according to Win Evarts, the executive director of The Arc of Connecticut, an advocacy organization dedicated to protecting the rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The state has provided funding to graduates since the 1980s when organizations like STAR fought to create such a line item in the DDS budget. Its so frustrating to me because back in the late 1980s high school grads werent even a line item on the budget and we fought so hard with the state to pull that out as a line item, said STAR Executive Director Katie Banzhaff. We know who these kids are we should be able to plan to the person how many graduates there will be in the state each year. And then to just say, nope, theres no money for them, is just unbelievable. The state has yet to pass a biannual budget for the fiscal year that began July 1. As a result, an emergency interim budget was put in place by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. The interim budget cut DDS funding by 10 percent for day services and up to 18 percent for residential services at places like STAR. Roughly 90 percent of the states population of people with developmental disabilities are cared for in private facilities like STAR. In order to cope with the cuts, DDS has implemented a number of policies, including six furlough days and funding cuts for graduates. Though there have been gaps in funding in the past, theyve only lasted one or two months. Now, Brett Davis said his family has been told there likely will be no funding for Wyatt or any other graduate for at least two years. According to the letter that got given to us, until there is a budget, he will have no funding, and then theres a possibility that graduates may not be included in the budget at all, Davis said. If he doesnt have the funding, we dont have the money. There is literally nothing for him to do and my son needs somebody, hes not somebody who can stay home. Banzhaf said shes worried about the impact these cuts will have on the graduates who, for 21 years, have had support services to help them work toward independence. For students graduating from high school who we have been transitioning and working with and preparing them for adult life, now to have to sit home is devastating for that individual, Banzhaf said. Theyre going to lose ground in terms of the skill building that was on track and it impacts the family if both family members work. That means somebody has to quit their job to stay home and watch their kid if their child cant be left unsupervised, which is the majority of the people we serve. Alison Jacobsons son is still two years from graduating, but the likelihood he will graduate without state funding is a growing concern as the budget crisis only grows. Jacobson, who serves on the STAR board of directors, said shes not sure what her family will do if the funding doesnt return. For people like me, who have two years to go, its a ticking time bomb, Jacobson said. "I have no idea what we will do. They transition from a very supportive, five-days-a-week environment for growth and support and independence ... and then its gone ... Not only is that a cost factor per family, its a negative impact on the individual with developmental disabilities. You cant sit idle for two years without losing the skill base and the initiative and the independence that youve gone through 21 years. That affects the individual young people. NORWALK Motorists emerging from under the Metro-North Railroad Bridge at Fort Point Street soon will have to stop before continuing eastward or turning left onto South Smith Street. The Norwalk Traffic Authority this week approved creating an all-way stop at the intersection of Fort Point and South Smith streets immediately north of the bridge. Motorists coming out from under the bridge now need not stop before turning left onto South Smith Street or turning right to continue on Fort Point Street. And thats posed problems, according to officials. We had some accidents but everything is a very close call, said Fred Eshraghi, traffic engineer in the citys Department of Public Works. When youre coming out (from) under the bridge, you dont care about anybody, because you dont have a stop sign, so we want to stop that. A change in the traffic pattern on nearby Reynolds Street is also driving the creation of the all-way stop. About a year ago, the city switched Reynolds Street from two-way to one-way westbound traffic to provide sufficient space for on-street parking. Before the change, many motorists leaving the public works center or leaf drop-off site on South Smith Street used Reynolds Street to get to Fort Point. They now must exit directly onto Fort Point Street, bringing additional traffic to the intersection. Michael Yeosock, assistant principal engineer in the public works department, said there is a sight-line concern at the intersection. A mirror is mounted on the building on the north side of the intersection to help motorists see whats coming, but vehicles often emerge too quickly from beneath the railroad bridge. Its very hard to get out of South Smith Street from the leaf place, Yeosock said. Youve got this traffic coming around (the corner) there and you cant really see to the right. A stop sign and yellow warning sign reading Traffic From Right Does Not Stop now stands at the exit of South Smith Street onto Fort Point. A stop sign and similar warning reading Caution Vehicles From Left Do Not Have To Stop stand on the east side of the intersection. In about a month, a new stop sign will with blinking warning will be placed on the south side of the intersection. New stop signs with blinking warnings as well as pavement markings and fresh centerline stripes also will be added, according to officials. Motorists likely will face new challenges when the Connecticut Department of Transportation replaces the railroad bridge as part of the larger Walk Bridge replacement project. A preliminary report prepared by the DOTs engineering consultant, Parsons Brinckerhoff, earlier this year shows Osborne Avenue closed, Fort Point Street regulated to alternating one-way signalized traffic and East Avenue closed to northbound traffic at their respective bridges. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Nury Chavarria, of Norwalk, who was supposed to be deported Thursday to Guatemala, has taken sanctuary in a New Haven church. Pastor Hector Otero, of Iglesia de Dios Pentecostal in Fair Haven, has opened his facility for Chavarria, who was to depart from Newark Airport on Thursday evening, leaving behind her four U.S. citizen children, who range in age from 9 to 21. New Haven has a network of people who have been working for months helping immigrants prepare for possible deportation, including looking for churches that would be willing to serve as sanctuaries. We are here today because we are people of good conscience who want to do whatever we need to do to protect Nury Chavarria and her children, activist Kica Matos said at a 5 p.m. press conference in front of the Pentecostal church. Matos is the director of immigrant rights and racial justice at the Center for Community Change and one of the organizers that helped arrange the last-minute sanctuary effort starting late Wednesday night. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who became aware of the case Thursday, went to the church later Thursday evening. He said ICEs decision to deport Chavarria is an example of lies told by President Donald Trumps administration that its immigration policies are directed at the bad guys. Malloy said a working mother, dealing with her share of hardship, raising her children here, does not meet that definition. It doesnt make sense, he said. I am here to say this individual case is a wrong, but I am also very concerned that the greater wrong is when the American people are lied to about what their government is doing. If everything I have learned so far about this particular case bears up, then we are being lied to about this case and apparently other cases, as well, Malloy said. He said her circumstances havent changed, but the governments policies on immigration have changed. Id like to see a better result for her. I am also very concerned as to what this means on a larger basis, the governor said. He said these actions by the government keep immigrants from reporting crimes, which makes them vulnerable to being victims themselves. Malloy said he is accepting the decision by a church to offer its own form of sanctuary, to Chavarria, but he said applying the term sanctuary to a city is not accurate. There is no definition of what a sanctuary city is. The attorney general (Jeff Sessions) makes things up. We know that from other things he has said in the relatively short period of time that he has been attorney general, Malloy said. Ultimately, he said the state cant do much to change these policies except to make its voice known. He said he hopes a broader audience of Americans will understand every time we accept being lied to, or misled by our government, we are endangering our personal freedom and that is part of what is at stake here. Malloy came to the podium with Hayley Chavarria, 9, Nury Chavarrias youngest child. Hayley said her mother is someone I love more than anyone in the world. She is not a criminal and has a positive attitude about everything. I want her to stay. I love her so much. My message to President Trump is dont separate my family. The governor spoke at what was the second press conference of the day at the church. Earlier, Otero, the Rev. Abraham Hernandez, Rabbi Herbert Brockman and others, backed by more than a dozen supporters, addressed the issue. Matos said all over the state, thousands of people have supported Chavarria. All are in favor of her remaining in the United States, she said. Otero said Scripture says people must identify themselves with widows and orphans and the stranger. We hope that this case will be resolved as expeditiously as possible in a way that she may be able to fill the needs and the challenges that this life offers her, Otero said. He appealed to the government agents handling the case to see the merits of Chavarrias position. Hernandez said they have upgraded the facilities at the church to make it more accommodating for someone to live there. He said the childrens aunt is helping them in Norwalk and the churches will be raising funds to help the family cover the basic necessities. A large contingent of women at the church were inside with Chavarria and are taking turns bringing her food and making her at home. How long this goes on is up to ICE, Matos said, who she hoped will reconsider deportation. Brockman recalled the story of a small village in France that stood up to the Nazis who wanted to deport all the Jews there to death camps. The day before the deportation was to begin, the Protestant minister said this could not happen in the community. Brockman said at the end of the war, 6,000 children had been saved by the efforts of that town. Brockman praised Otero for what he is doing for Chavarria. It resounds in my heart historically and in my conscience today, he said. We as a Jewish community will do whatever we can to support his efforts, to support those who are vulnerable in our community. Brockman said about a month ago, the church leaders met with ICE officials and U.S. Attorney Deirdre Daly and they reaffirmed churches, schools, hospitals and rallies remain sensitive spaces where ICE will not conduct a raid. That protocol was originally put out in 2011 under the Obama administration. Chavarria, who is the sole supporter of her children, was first given a stay in 2010, something that has been renewed annually since then. When she went for her annual check-in with the ICE office June 21, she was told to buy a one-way ticket to Guatemala for July 20. Chavarria met with the leaders of Oteros church around noon Thursday and told them them that she wanted to seek sanctuary. Attorney Glenn Formica will continue to represent Chavarria before ICE for any applications on relief that may become available, but Chavarria is retaining new counsel relating to issues regarding sanctuary. Otero was the first pastor in the area to pledge his church would provide short-term sanctuary to immigrants seeking to avoid deportation. Chavarria, a resident of Norwalk, has been living in Connecticut for 24 years, arriving here at age 19 and seeking asylum from Guatemala. After several years, asylum was denied to Chavarria, who had applied in Massachusetts. Her brother and father were successful in their cases, which were heard in New York. In April, a group of 30 churches from the New Haven area got advice on how they could help immigrants, as well as the legal ramifications of harboring an undocumented person. They were told that it is illegal to offer sanctuary with the intention of blocking immigration officials from finding an individual. A lawyer from the New Haven Legal Assistance Association told the group that they can protect themselves from any federal criminal liability by making their decision public and naming the individual. Under such a scenario, they are not hiding the person. Under the Obama administration, more than 2.5 million immigrants were deported during his time in office, but in the later years, the grounds for deportation were narrowed, with a concentration on persons with criminal convictions. The definition of those targeted by the Department of Homeland Security under President Trump has been expanded to basically cover all 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country. Formica said Chavarrias circumstances have not changed since she was granted stays for multiple years in a row by ICE. In his mind, deporting her means the use of discretion in these cases is over under Trump. The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse said ICE has closed fewer than 100 cases each month in the first six months of the current administration. In President Barack Obamas second term, an average of 2,400 were closed, according to TRAC. The other churches in the area that have agreed to be sanctuaries are First and Summerfield United Methodist Church in New Haven and Congregation Mishkan Israel in Hamden, which is led by Brockman. Brockman said Mishkan Israel is still running the details past its legal advisers and will have to create a space in which someone could reside. He said he has had some questions from the congregation as to what this will mean for them. Brockman said he is answering them frankly, but at the same time he said the synagogue should respond to our human obligations. We as a religious organization have a responsibility to respond. More than 800 churches and some synagogues across the country have declared themselves sanctuaries, according to the Voice of America. The Migration Policy Institute reported that more noncriminal immigrants are being arrested under Trump. A quarter of those arrested, 10,845, did not have criminal convictions. This compares to 14 percent, or 4,242 individuals, during the same time in 2016. Bret Michaels' resume includes, but is not limited to, being the frontman for Poison, winning 2010's Celebrity Apprentice, starring on Rock of Love With Bret Michaels and launching a line of pet clothing dubbed Pets Rock at PetSmart and a luggage collection at Overstock. Oh, and he also has a rock star suite at the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya. But who doesn't have one of those, right? I spoke with the multifaceted music man about creativity, risk taking and his opinion on a certain former boss who is now leader of the free world. What does the word entrepreneur mean to you? Its a person who handles the world of business in a free-spirited manner. To be a good entrepreneur, you need to have that inner fire, nerves of steel, creativity and perhaps most important of all, the desire to take risks. You have to be confident without being arrogant. You are a leader but you can be led, which means that you need to listen to everyone around you. An entrepreneur doesnt lose who they are and they manage to stay relevant. Related: All 7 Shark Tank Stars Share Tips on How to Become a Millionaire That sounds a lot like the definition of a successful musician. Youre right. A musician stays true to who they are and looks out there to try and be relevant. It works for an entrepreneur as well. You talk about taking risks. Whats the greatest risk youve taken as an entrepreneur? I like a challenge. When I was in the middle of working on Rock of Love, I was asked to do Celebrity Apprentice. People around me said, "Youre nuts. Why would you take a risk like that? A lot of people look really bad on that show." But that challenge was a turn on to me. Im from Pennsylvania and come from a family of veterans. Were always up for a firefight. Its not that I dont have fear. I just have enough courage to move forward. What was Donald Trump like when he was lording over Celebrity Apprentice? Trump was so unpredictable. Hes actually a very funny guy. When I was on the show I was what every entrepreneur should be: focused. I kept my eyes on the prize. I was totally focused on winning. I tried to be the best listener. It worked. I won. Youre always optimistic. Is that a necessary ingredient for an entrepreneur? I think so. Im a dreamer but Im also a realist. I call myself a "drealist". You need to dream. You put a lot of hard work in to make that dream a reality. Related: 11 Habits of Truly Happy People How did the music industry prepare you for all of your other business and TV projects? It taught me one thing: adapt or die. What was it like when Nirvana pricked the hair metal bubble in 1991? I accepted that that was part of rock and roll. First of all, I loved Nirvanas music and the other bands that came out of Seattle. We took Alice in Chains on its first arena tour. I loved everything about Nirvanas Smells Like Teen Spirit. I loved the video. I loved the song. To me Teen Spirit sounded like a new version of Wild Thing. I learned to adapt during the 90s. When you have a company, things will shift. You have to make changes on the fly. Related: This Elon Musk Heavy Metal Music Video Will Rock You Into the Future What are you working on? Im always working on music, but I have my attention on other things as well. Thats my entrepreneurial side. Im working on a show called Surrealestate. Itll be just like what it sounds like, surreal real estate. Maybe someone wants to build a farm in the middle of the city. Maybe someone wants an amazing body of water in the middle of Arizona. Im also going to be in Sharknado 5. Youll enjoy the opening scene. Any favorite inspirational quotes? "Have fun but get it done." Im quoting myself! How would you rate Trump as an entrepreneur? Donald Trump would be at the very top. Trump has the entrepreneurial spirit. He also has tough skin. Were you surprised he won the presidency? No. America is built on capitalism. Trump is all about capitalism and he is patriotic. You have to put money back into the pockets of people to make democracy work. Hopefully, Trump can make America a better place and I think he can do that if he starts with the entrepreneurial spirit. Related: Here's What Former 'Celebrity Apprentice' Winner Bret Michaels Really Thinks About Trump 3 Ways to Unlock Your Success Origin Story Television Business in India has a New Competitor Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved This article originally appeared on entrepreneur.com This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate NORWALK Ted White knew he wanted to find a way to help students give back to the community. What he didnt know is exactly how he would make that happen. So he gave it some thought. He had a friend who he heard delivered sandwiches to the homeless around the city each Saturday as a part of service for the Community Advent Christian Church. As a family and consumer science teacher at Nathan Hale Middle School, White knew working with his students to make food for the church group to hand out to the homeless seemed like an easy fit. The only problem: it was summer break. Thankfully, White serves as a counselor for the Norwalk Public Schools Elementary Personal Fulfilment Camp. There, he spends five weeks each summer working with four periods of kids each day cooking food and eating it. He decided to make a change to one of those periods one day each week this summer. White decided he would work with kids each Friday of the camp during a period called Cooking Fun, and have the campers help assemble sandwiches to to be passed out to the citys neediest residents. On Fridays, White said, we give up our cooking and eating time to give back. Since getting started the first week of camp, Fridays have become our favorite day of the week, White said. On a recent Friday morning, White stood at a long table in a room at Nathan Hale Middle School along roughly 15 elementary-aged students, placing slices of bologna, ham and cheese on to bread to produce a total of about 60 sandwiches. During the assembly, White asked the students why it was important to do what they were doing. To help other people, one said. Because its the right thing to do, another yelled out. White and his students were able to receive donations from the Stop & Shop on Connecticut Avenue to make the sandwiches. ShopRite also gave them a discount. His friend at the church volunteered to take the sandwiches and distribute them to people around the city each Saturday morning. Overall, White said its been an experience that has brought him and the students a lot of joy, in addition to the lessons it teaches about the importance of giving back. Its also a new tradition, White said, he hopes continue on for many summers to come. KSchultz@thehour.com; 203-842-2567; @kevinedschultz Craig Handley and Tony Ricciardi started a company that speaks their customers languageliterally. Their business, ListenTrust, is a bilingual, live-agent, English-Spanish sales and customer service company. When consumers need help in English or Spanish, theres a good chance a ListenTrust agent answers the phone and fixes the problem in either tongue. In a decade, theyve generated over $1 billion in sales for clients. Theyre on track to boost revenue by almost 60 percent over the next two years. And when disaster struck (twice), they saved the company from the brinkthanks to unbelievable hard work and perseverance. It started when Handley and Ricciardi saw a gap in the call center market back in 2001: Spanish-speaking sales and customer service agents were rare. Few companies saw the need to communicate with Spanish speakers in their native language. But Handley and Ricciardi saw the demographic was a growing economic forceone that would want to buy, sell and receive service support in Spanish. Fast forward to today: ListenTrust employs more than 1,000 agents who speak Spanish, English or both. Clients source ListenTrust to handle sales and customer service callsand ListenTrust is good at selling their clients products on these calls. We have skilled agents who deeply understand the sales process and how to sell our clients products in Spanish and English, says Handley. He says these customer service calls consist of around 25 percent sales and 75 percent customer service inquiries, which he predicts will be 50/50 within a few years. The result is happy customers for ListenTrust and its clients. So happy, the company is on track to do an estimated $17 million in revenue this year, a substantial increase from the $13.5 million achieved in 2016. That revenue comes from the money ListenTrust makes on a per minute, per hour, or performance basis for each call. How has the company come from nowhere to dominate this market, despite experiencing every challenge in the entrepreneur's playbook? Their secret is a laser-focus on culture, both that in their company and of the Spanish-speaking market. Training employees to quit. ListenTrusts company culture starts with a simple, and shocking, premise. When we hire you, we tell you exactly what were doing: training you to quit, enthuses Handley. This isnt some BS corporate policy that employees secretly roll their eyes about. Handley, Ricciardi, and upper management work directly with employees to chart where they want to go in their lives and exactly how to get there. The program targets six pillars of personal development from career goals to intellectual growth. The result is a clear blueprint for each employee on how to achieve their dreams and how ListenTrust fits into that picture. Employees then receive one-on-one mentorship, online training, and live events to get them there. Image credit: ListenTrust The result is positive and pragmatic. People see that the fastest way for their dreams to come true is to master our sales process and become an expert, says Handley. The program is called DreamTrust internally, and it has created market-beating success. ListenTrust today averages a save rate (preventing a return or cancellation) of 15 out of every 100. The competition averages one or two out of every 100. With one client, ListenTrust outperformed significantly less expensive call centers in India and the Philippines. Even though they had a higher cost than those locations, they created enough revenue to add several million dollars in additional profit to their clients bottom line. When ListenTrust moved into English-speaking call centers, they continued to dominate. The company took a campaign from another center doing $8 in revenue per call and within a month ListenTrust agents produced $24 per call on the same campaign. Even with live U.S.-based agents, competitors couldnt come within $6 of our revenue per call, says Handley. Handley and Ricciardi believe DreamTrust creates a competitive moat that competitors cant touch. People think were a call center, says Ricciardi. But were really providing positive ripples in everyones lives that make them better in every area. Our turnover since starting DreamTrust has dropped from 24 percent to 4 percent, says Handley. How to build a bulletproof company and culture. Weve been working toward the culture we have now for over a decade, says Ricciardi. But it wasnt always easy. Early in the companys life, Handley got blindsided by a couple of major client reversals. ListenTrust went from making $50,000 a week in profit to losing $70,000 a week, overnight. Handley literally lived out of the company offices in Mexico for months to turn the business around. We went to every one of our suppliers with extreme cuts, says Handley. ListenTrusts suppliers tried to negotiate, so Handley closed nearly all his supplier accounts. We had nothing to lose since we were going out of business if we couldnt turn revenue around, explains Handley. He let suppliers sit for up to two weeks, then told each they had one last opportunity to earn ListenTrusts business back. The strategy worked. Handley and Ricciardi shaved $4 million off its annual expenses and turned the company around. Image credit: ListenTrust This type of hustle, resilience and good humor in the face of adversity are trademark Handley and Ricciarditheir personalities are the secret ingredients to the ListenTrust success story. They laughingly describe themselves as goofballs, and its easy to get the impression these guys are having just too much fun while making money hand-over-fist. Handley is fond of talking about all his insane adventures. Hes driven a snowmobile across a live volcano, jumped out of a plane from over 30,000 feet (one of fewer than 200 civilians to do so) and with his abiding interest in music, performed as the opening act at one of the concerts for the rapper Coolio. He even scored an invite to billionaire Richard Bransons private island after impersonating a security guard to get backstage at an event Branson was speaking at. Im a strong-looking guy, so I dressed in something a security guard might wear and walked in the back, flashing a badge with a piece of paper stuck on it that said Security, laughs Handley. I walked up to Richard, handed him my business card wrapped in a $20 bill and said This is the first $20 were going to make together. Branson loved the approach. Handleys been back to Necker Island half a dozen times since. Handleys no stranger to this type of fearless hustle. He got his start cold calling for customers in his moms basement and failed his way through three different companies before striking gold with ListenTrust. His reasoning: if he can live the life of his dreams, anyone willing to work hard enough can too. Ricciardis background makes him just as passionate about building a company where employees can achieve their dreams. After previously working in toxic corporate work environments, he made it his career mission to create a bulletproof company culture. But there was pushback against some of the firms efforts to build an incredible cultureand it came from their own staff in Mexico. Employees didnt want to talk about personal issues with managers and executives, especially sensitive topics that might have related to their personal goals, like eliminating personal debt. Many people were guarded at first and didnt want to talk about issues like that, says Ricciardi. "You cant blame them. They werent used to managers who cared about their personal goals and well-being." Handley adds, A lot of companies in Mexico and internationally dont view or treat their employees like we do. But over time, Handley and Ricciardi won. Image credit: ListenTrust DreamTrust started to work as more people bought into the programs initiatives. With more employees bought in, Handley and Ricciardi had the excuse they needed to pursue their obsession with culture. They quickly found out that their obsession was rewarding personally and financially. Forrester Research came in to do a study to see how we could improve happiness. There were 45 total questions around things like the cleanliness of the building, our security, and the parking situation, says Handley. It turned out that a raise of 50 cents an hour increased performance, but happiness stayed the same. Interestingly, giving that money to charity instead ending up improving both performance and happiness. Happier employees were found to have higher close rates. The lesson? It was profitable to do good, says Handley. Machine learning with a human advantage. Today, ListenTrust is busy solidifying its diligently forged culture across every part of the company. That's more important than ever, given the firms growth trajectory. With advancements in machine learning and artificial intelligence, Handley and Ricciardi see the future of the call center business as one where humans and machines work hand in hand to provide better service. We believe AI, predictive models, and algorithms are really going to change the type of calls were going to handle and how those calls are processed, says Ricciardi. This technological shift could help the company better identify who wants to buy and who doesnt and tailor offers appropriately for the best possible outcome. That means better service and prices for customers. Image credit: ListenTrust But it also means Handley and Ricciardi are committed to keeping ListenTrusts human connection to its clients and their customers as strong as possible. So far, Handley and Ricciardi have done that by fanning the spark of culture at ListenTrust into a flame, giving the firm an immense advantage over its rivals. Its an advantage that shows no signs of abating. When you ignite something, the fire gets stronger. Were on fire, adds Ricciardi. Related: Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved This article originally appeared on entrepreneur.com I just finished reading your story, An Uncertain Future, about a Norwalk mother, Nury Chavarria, who faces deportation. She was born in Guatemala, and like so many others, fled her home country to come to America and create a better life for herself and her family. She was 19 years old at the time. Since then, she became a mother of four one with cerebral palsy. In addition to being a full-time mom, she has worked hard as a housekeeper, for the same employer, for 15 years. Under the Obama administration, Nury was considered a low priority for deportation. Keeping families intact was seen as more important than breaking them apart. But this is not the case under our current administration. At first, we were assured that only the bad guys would be forced to leave. Criminals, we were told. Is Nury a criminal for seeking a better way of life? Apparently, the threat and injustice of someone like Nury is too great to not be addressed by President Trump. And our economic woes are not going to be fixed by breaking apart immigrant families and goes against the cherished values our country was built upon. Personally, Ive meet several extremely hardworking immigrants who wanted to become legal citizens and tried unsuccessfully to do so. They made virtually nothing for their hard work. They took jobs that no one else wanted and came here for very basic reasons of safety or security. My grandparents came here from Italy seeking a better life, but it wasnt a matter of survival for them and immigration laws were different then. I spoke to one man from Guatemala who had previously been a government worker. I asked him why he didnt want to go back to Guatemala since life was so tough here and he hadnt gotten his citizenship yet. His answer was that hed most likely be killed. Really?? His response was an opportunity for me to learn more. According to Newsweek (Dec. 13, 2016), theres a common phrase that Guatemalans say about violence in their country: En Guatemala, la vida no vale nada. It means: In Guatemala, life is worth nothing. During the countrys bloody and genocidal 36-year civil war, about 200,000 people were killed or disappeared and buried in mass graves. In his limited english, he went on to say that they hunt for people and kill them. I had no idea. What would YOU do? Having said that, does our system need to change? Yes, it does, but instilling fear and breaking apart families that have already created a life here with their families are not family values I can support. Nancy Follis is a resident of Norwalk. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate STAMFORD Some of the citys most impressive homes are clustered on several blocks just north of downtown. Revonah Woods, the stately enclave steps from the Ridgeway Shopping Center east of Bedford Street, is comprised of Revonah Avenue and side streets Chester and Urban. Most of the homes in this neighborhood were built between 1910 and 1930, including one that typifies the style of that time at 25 Chester St. The 3,500-square-foot Georgian colonial was purchased in 2009 by Cara and Elliot Naumann. Cara, a high school science teacher, had been pregnant with their daughter and the couple was living in an 1870 farmhouse in Rockland County. Elliot Naumann is a real estate developer in Manhattan. They were introduced to their Chester Street home while another buyer had it under contract. The deal fell through after the city denied the buyers request to turn a first-floor sunroom into a dental office. Now that sunroom is a music room overlooking the .35-acre property and Homer Lee Wise Memorial Park, a public green space that provides a wooded barrier between 25 Chester and Bedford Street. The sunroom on the opposite end of the house is used as a playroom. No stranger to historic dwellings, the Naumanns set out to renovate their 1923 home, peeling back layers of carpet and linoleum to reveal its original features. Theres a lot that goes into restoring a historic house, Cara Naumann said, playing with her 15-month-old son in the formal living room, which has one of the homes two fireplaces. The other is in the kitchens dining nook. This house wasnt in great shape when we bought it, but it wasnt in terrible shape, either. The couple took steps to retain the homes vintage character during their renovations, which included refurbishing the floors and four-and-a-half bathrooms. The wainscoting added to the entryway was designed to match the original. Two panels of the original carpentry remain on either side of the front door an antique Dutch door that no longer separates in two. The house also retains its slate roof and Yankee gutters, a drainage system built into the roof that is common in vintage homes. It requires more maintenance, though it is not visible from the roofline. Naumann says the first owner was a lock and key maker whose hardware is featured throughout the house. Its not clear what relation the owner had to the citys notable lock manufacturer Yale & Towne. The rest of the home blends vintage charm and modern convenience. The kitchen was moved from the butlers pantry to a larger space farther back in the house. The pantry still has a service stairway leading to four second-story bedrooms. The third floor features a master bedroom suite with a cavernous walk-in closet. Naumann says its the closet shell miss most when her family moves to Merion Station, Pa. That and the peaceful music room and formal dining room, where her family hosts twice weekly religious dinners. They belong to Congregation Agudath Shalom less than a mile away on Strawberry Hill Avenue. Revonah Woods was meant to be farther away from the downtown, but the downtown, Ridgeway and Bulls Head crept up around it. Naumann says its quicker for her to walk to the Ridgeway Shopping Center than to drive there. One of the biggest draws of the neighborhood is convenience. On a street lined with colonials and tudors, 25 Chester on the market for about $1.09 million stands out for its sturdy and attractive granite block exterior. We had it appraised years ago and the man who came said if theres ever a tornado, Im knocking on your door, Naumann said. eskalka@stamfordadvocatec.com Those who live in Connecticut may find the idea of traveling to vacation in our state a little strange when compared to places like Seychelles and Tuscany. But travel site Expedia puts Greenwich on the same level as those destinations. The site recently named the top 26 most extravagant vacations around the world (in no particular order) and Greenwich made the cut. July 18 WILTON A Wilton man is facing assault charges after a lovers quarrel grew physical, police said. Police said they were phoned by a distressed caller from a Wilton residence around 1 p.m. Tuesday. The caller told police that she and her boyfriend, 23-year-old Zachary Orsher, were arguing over an undisclosed matter when the dispute intensified. The victim told police that she tried to remove herself from the situation, but Orsher physically restrained her and would not let her leave. Police said that once the victim freed herself from Orsher, she attempted to call police. However, Orsher took her phone from her as she was dialing, and refused to give it back, police said. Eventually, the unnamed woman managed to escape the residence to a nearby gas station where she finally contacted police, who stopped by the residence and took Orsher into custody. Orsher was charged with first-degree unlawful restraint, third-degree assault, disorderly conduct and interfering with a 911 call. He was released on a promise to appear in court Wednesday morning. July 17 WILTON A Ridgefield man is facing drunk driving charges after he slammed into a telephone pole and caused power outages in the surrounding neighborhood, police said. Robert Richeson, 20, was driving up Ridgefield Road around 5 a.m. Sunday morning when he swerved off the road and struck a telephone pole, police said. The force of the accident snapped the telephone pole, causing power outages in the surrounding neighborhood for nearly two hours. When police arrived on the scene, they reported smelling a strong stench of alcohol emanating from Richeson. A breath test later revealed that Richeson was more than double the legal limit with a blood alcohol content of .18. Richeson was charged with driving under the influence and failure to drive right. He was released on $260 bond, and he was given a court date on July 27. WILTON Wilton was hit with more car break-ins this weekend, as police are reporting two more burglaries in North Wilton. Police said that two cars in a single driveway at a residence on Pheasant Run Road were burglarized at some point between the late-night hours of Sunday and the early morning Monday. The car owners didnt recognize a theft had occurred until they left for work early Monday morning. About $150 in cash was stolen between the two vehicles, police said. Both cars were unlocked at the time of the theft. Police are asking any potential eyewitnesses, or anyone with information, to contact the Wilton Police Department at 203-834-6260 and ask to speak with the investigating officer, Shawn Frendt. July 14 WILTON A Bethel man is facing multiple failure to appear charges following an arrest stemming from his alleged theft of eight packs of Red Bull from a local market, police said. Back in December, police charged 28-year-old Jeffrey Valentine with conspiracy to commit sixth degree larceny after employees of Caraluzzis Market in Georgetown accused him of the theft. Employees told police that they saw Valentine loading eight 12-packs of Red Bull into a grocery cart and walking out of the store without paying. Though they were unable to stop Valentine from fleeing, police said that they were able to jot down his cars license plate, which police later used to track him down. Charges were formally brought against Valentine, however the 28-year-old failed to show up at his court date. When bail enforcement officers finally tracked down Valentine and brought him to justice, Wilton police learned that he had two additional failure to appear arrest warrants out of Waterbury and Danbury. Valentine was charged with three counts of failure to appear. He was released on an $8,000 bond, and he is scheduled to appear at Norwalk on July 24, Waterbury on July 25 and Danbury on July 26. For the second July in a row, Dewey Duff and his father decided to offer pop to a cop. But this year, firefighters were also invited. And the menu was expanded. Duff, 10, and his dad, James, were stationed outside First Presbyterian Church Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, ready to present a beverage or cool treat to anyone in uniform. This time, they were under a shade tent, and Dewey was with his pal, Stetson Dye. Dewey wanted to do it again because last year was really fun, he said. Last year, they gave free pop and bottles of water to Grand Island police officers and Hall County Sheriffs deputies. Added this year were ice cream treats, Gatorade and Popsicles. A sign in the street welcomed law enforcement and firefighters. We got your 6, the sign read. In military and law enforcement terminology, 6 is ones back. Signs on James Duffs pickup said We support GIPD and Thank you GIFD. The father and son extended an invitation to firefighters this year because Grand Island budget talks have had them under stress, James Duff said. The Duffs were on duty from 3 to 8 p.m. each day. Grand Island Police Chief Robert Falldorf stopped by Wednesday afternoon. A little while later, the Duffs were visited by Police Officers Butch Hurst and Wendy Piercy. Hurst said its nice to see all public support for the police, but its even nicer when it comes from young people. A woman stopped just to make a $5 contribution. The thank-you stand saw a lot of action Tuesday, when Grand Island Fire Chief Cory Schmidt and about 15 firefighters swung by with a pair of fire trucks and other vehicles. A fire truck and police car had a contest to see who had a louder siren, James Duff said. The fire engine won. Police canine Haus visited. So did a member of the Nebraska State Patrol. A couple of dozen families also stopped in Tuesday, said James Duff, a former Marine. Duff, 44, noted that officers have to wear vests while enforcing the law on hot summer days. Thanking them for their work is the least we can do, he said. Dewey Duff had a stack of red plastic fire helmets to hand out, courtesy of the fire department. He also had stickers to distribute. Arrayed on the table were patches and stickers hes received from law enforcement, including a tactical response team patch. Not every kid at school has one of those. This fall, Dewey Duff will begin the sixth grade at Westridge Middle School. This isnt the end of the Duffs salute to emergency responders. Theyll be back next year. James Duff would like to see it get bigger every year. What does an old farmer do when it is too hot to work outside? Move inside to enjoy the air-conditioning powered by a solar spill and continue research on the public interest of the Keystone XL Pipeline. Last week, I spent some time with the Nebraska Department of Revenues response to the Public Service Commission. Following is a summary of that response. Property tax: It would be difficult to gauge the impact to counties. Sales and use tax: The amount of sales and use tax liabilities that would be expected is unknown and cannot be determined accurately. Income tax: The income tax liability is unknown and cannot be determined. Nebraska Advantage Act: Transportation of tangible personal property is a qualified business under the Advantage Act. These tax incentives could include a refund of sales taxes paid and investment and employment credits against income taxes. At this time TransCanada has not applied for the Advantage Act. I examined the Department of Revenues information about the Advantage Act. I soon discovered that personal property taxes can also be exempt under the higher tiers. A very helpful employee from the Department of Revenue provided information about the Nebraska Advantage Act. Before giving answers to all my questions, he consulted with others in the department and called me back. His response, If TransCanada applies for Tier 6 of the Advantage Act, their personal property taxes would be exempt for 10 years. Besides all the other arguments for not placing a tar sands pipeline in Nebraska, the taxes argument for KXL just went down the drain. There is no public interest in KXL. On the morning of July 2, seven high school students from Immanuel United Methodist Church left Edwardsville at 3 a.m. and made the 750-mile trip to Niagara Falls. NY. Using a community center, formerly a Catholic school, as their base, the youths went out into the Niagara Falls area to help at a local Salvation Army, work at a soup kitchen, paint, and create landscaping. The trip was organized by YouthWorks, a Minnesota-based religious group that has planned summer mission trips for more than 30,000 students and adult leaders. Accompanying the Edwardsville group were six adults. During their stay the group was split into two groups, both of which joined six other mission groups from around the country. The youth shared cooking and cleaning responsibilities, had individual devotions each night, and participated in large group gatherings, a church service, and group devotions. One of the groups focused on painting, landscaping and helping in the soup kitchen while the other visited Our Lady of Peace, which provides skilled nursing care and serves Alzheimers and dementia patients. They were out of their comfort zone, thats for sure. But after sitting down with them for a while, they actually had a good time and felt good about it, said Dave Rader, one of the youth leaders on the trip. While the three waterfalls that straddle the border between the U.S. and Canada have made Niagara Falls one of the top tourist destinations in the world, the city of Niagara Falls and the Niagara Falls area in general has struggled because of a loss of heavy industry. After the youth group had returned to Edwardsville, they spoke at a recent church service. One of the biggest takeaways, they said, was realizing how good they have things in their own backyard. You know, you think of Niagara Falls you think of the wonderful, beautiful scenery, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, Rader said. But this place is very poor and very downtrodden because of all the factories that have closed over the years. And a lot of people needed help. Speaking for the youth, Rader added, I think they realized how lucky they are. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Inforial (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta, Indonesia Thu, July 20, 2017 Sebastian Partogi The Jakarta Post/Jakarta Medieval Europes irrational craving for South Asian spices has largely shaped Indonesia and the world as we know it today. It is fair to say that people across the globe are more familiar with the Silk Road trade route than that of the Spice Trail. Aside from being a fascinating and complicated story, the Spice Trail has also left its mark on the contemporary life of Indonesia and the world. Starting from a few centuries before Christ (BC), spices have been traded from South Asia to the Middle East and Europe through Arab and Chinese middlemen. Spices were essential to human life at that time, because it helped preserve foods and add flavors to it, while preserving the bodies of the dead among Muslims. According to historian JJ Rizal, with technological advancements, particularly in cartography and astronomy, in the 15th and 16th centuries, European explorers such as the Italian Christopher Columbus and the Portuguese Vasco da Gama braved the unknown to discover for themselves the places from which these spices originated. The purpose was to seize control of the commodities so that they no longer needed middlemen. Previously, the [South Asian] traders hid the maps to their territories so the Europeans could not find them, Rizal said. The expeditions were very aggressive, ambitious and, sometimes, delusional. Jack Turner writes in his book Spice: the history of a temptation (2004) that for the sake of spices, fortunes were made and lost, empires built and destroyed and even a new world discovered. He continues, however, that to modern eyes, it might seem a mystery that spices should ever have exerted such a powerful attraction. Looking back, those European did have a reason behind the obsession. Due to the social structure of medieval Europe, which was highly feudalistic, all worldviews were dictated by that of the palace, kings and aristocrats. If you owned the expensive spices, you would be counted as part of the elites, he explained. The European elite at that time did not only use spices to preserve foods; they also incorporated spices into their lifestyle to enhance the originally bland taste of their wines and to be used as fragrances spices were even believed to have a potent power as an aphrodisiac. He added that the potent power of spices had somehow been mystified through literature, Greek mythology and religious works, perpetuating the aspiration to own spices as a denotation of social class among Europeans. This is basically a public relations product; a communication construct that used fiction and mythology, Rizal explained. The abovementioned public relations practice of ancient times similar to how we sell products today could explain why explorers sacrificed even their lives for spices. Hundreds of da Gamas crew died in a 1498 expedition. Similarly, Giles Milton writes in his book Nathaniels Nutmeg (1999) that in 1527, Hugh Willoughby with his crew froze to death in around 1554 as they traversed the North Pole to find a shortcut to the spiceries of Southeast Asia. - (-/-) European traders eventually arrived in Indonesia in the late 16th and early 17th century, trading nutmegs, cloves and mace as their trinity of the most expensive and luxurious spices in Europe. No wonder: the spices were available only in the Banda Islands of Maluku. During these centuries, many Indonesian kingdoms and sultanates had been able to turn their economic resources into intellectual ones by educating their people, thereby helping them to reach their glory days. The Sriwijaya kingdom in Sumatra, Banten province, as well as the Gowa sultanate in Makassar, South Sulawesi, were among them. The glory days, unfortunately, did not last long. Around 50 years after the spices were discovered and cultivated in Europe, their worth declined steeply, forcing the Dutch to exploit other commodities, such as sugar and tea. Furthermore, Dutch traders were given political authority by the Netherlands and soon found themselves involved in internal conflicts among local kingdoms as they lent local royals support under certain deals. Sultan Haji from Banten, for example, asked for the Dutch to support him economically to topple his father from power. Colonialism will never happen without the role of locals, Rizal explained. Rizal said colonialism then contributed to creating nationalism among Indonesians and the invention of the Indonesian language to unify the countrys independence pioneers. The long history of spices that has shaped the country and many parts of the world deserves more recognition. In a bid to boost awareness of the Spice Trail, the Culture and Education Ministry has been involved in a number of programs, including bringing the route into spotlight during the 2017 Europalia festival, in which Indonesia will serve as a guest country. Dubbed as the largest and most prestigious cultural festival in Europe, the event will run from Oct. 10 to Jan. 21, 2018, in Belgium and neighboring countries. The Ministrys director general of culture, Hilmar Farid, lamented the fact that despite its historical significance in many areas such as education, nation building, trade and the creative economy the history of the Spice Trail has gradually been forgotten by Indonesians. China has invested a lot to bring the Silk Road to international recognition. It is part of their diplomatic framing, Hilmar said. He added that Indonesian people should also learn about the knowledge system possessed by their glorious ancient kingdoms to look for clues on how to build the nation. Implementing connectivity in terms of physical infrastructure will not be enough, he said. We also need to boost our connectivity to our historical background, Hilmar said. A hundred secret spices According to the 13th edition of the Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA) journal published in 1999 by the Blackhuys Publishers, Leiden, the Southeast Asian region is home to approximately 50 major spices, with the addition of other minor spices. During the Spice Trail era, three Indonesian spices found only in the Banda Islands became the stars of the trade: nutmeg, clove and mace. Aside from this trinity of spice, pepper which came from India to Indonesia was also heavily traded at that time. Below are brief explanations taken from the journal about these four spices: - (Antara/Syifa Yulinnas) NUTMEG AND MACE (Myristica fragrans) Nutmeg most probably originated in Indonesia from the southern Moluccan islands, especially Ambon and Banda. The first record in Europe, in Constantinople, dates from 54 AD. By the end of the 12th century, nutmeg became generally known to Europeans. It is sold whole or grounded to be used mostly for savory dishes, pickles and ketchups. Nutmegs essential oils contain bactericidal, fungicidal and insecticidal activities, which was why it was used by Europeans to preserve food. - (JP/Markus Makur) CLOVES (Syzygium aromaticum) First cultivated in Maluku and New Guinea, cloves have been traded since Chinas Han dynasty in around 200 BC. Stories about the trade and spread of cloves are full with intrigue and violence. Apart from pepper, no other spice may have played a comparable role in world history. Clove has been used to flavor food and for medical purposes. It suppresses bad breath and soothes toothaches while acting as a stimulant. Nowadays, more than 90 percent of cloves are used with tobacco to manufacture cigarettes. - (JP/Severianus Endi) PEPPER (Piper nigrum) Native of Western Ghats of Kerala State, India, it reached Indonesia as early as 100 BC, brought by Hindu colonists. Pepper has been used to flavor and preserve foods. The use of pepper for food has increased in the last few decades, particularly in Indonesia and Malaysia, thanks to tourism and industrial development. - (-/-) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Inforial (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta, Indonesia Thu, July 20, 2017 Sebastian Partogi The Jakarta Post/Jakarta When the average Indonesian is asked to narrate the nations history before its independence in 1945, most of them will probably talk about colonization by Europeans, particularly the Dutch, and the painful stories of exploitation and violence associated with it. Hilmar Farid, the Culture and Education Ministrys general director of culture, said this partial historical comprehension had instilled a defeatist attitude among some Indonesians. He said a lack of awareness had driven some Indonesians, like other peoples who have been colonized or governed by authoritarian leaders, to adopt an enduring sense of victimhood. This in turn makes us prone to blame external forces for our national problems, he claimed. Historian JJ Rizal, meanwhile, said this sense of helplessness at being victimized by colonists had also given birth to narrow nationalism, which often shifted into xenophobia and chauvinism, attitudes we can easily see in many Indonesians today. Indonesias history as a civilization goes back a long way before the Dutch colonists came [around the 17th century]. Far before that, we had already engaged in international trade, with ancient kingdoms who reached their glory days before and during the 17th century and even beyond, Hilmar, who is also an historian, told The Jakarta Post at his office. Indonesias long history cannot be separated from the history of the spice trade spanning thousands of years, with the arrival of colonists around the 16th and 17th century marking the spice trails most significant historical epoch. Kompas, kompas.com, Kompas TV, The Jakarta Post, National Geographic Indonesia Lifelike Pictures and the Bina Museum Indonesia foundation have just launched a project illuminating the spice trade chapter of our history with a series of publications. The spice trail expedition by Europeans to Asia, which kicked off around the 15th century, is very important, not just to Indonesia but also the globe. It marked the interaction between countries, sparking cross-cultural exchange that resulted in the modern economic and socio-political world we know today. By learning about the spice trail, we learn about our process of becoming [a nation called] Indonesia. If we want to be successful as a nation, we have to look to our roots, Rizal said separately. - (-/-) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Dwi Atmanta (The Jakarta Post) Venice, Italy Thu, July 20, 2017 09:15 1941 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a99f191 4 People Tintin-Wulia,venice-biennale,Venice,indonesia-contemporary-art-and-design,Indonesian-artists,history,1965-mass-killing,Chinese-descents Free Those who are familiar with the communist purge in 1965 will easily understand that the Denpasar-born artist is referring to a dark chapter in Indonesian history. Exploring the latest works of Indonesian artist Tintin Wulia, 45, may give a semblance of following the thrilling adventures of her namesake, the famous investigative journalist character created by Belgian cartoonist Herge. The short movie 1001 Martian Homes, the dome-shaped installation Not Alone and another installation work, a staircase called Under the Sun, now being staged simultaneously at the Indonesian pavilion at the Venice Art Biennale 2017 in Italy and on the sixth floor of the Senayan City shopping mall in South Jakarta until mid-November, will thrust visitors into a journey to the future but at the same time provoke a sense of deja vu. Read also: Venice Biennale: A missed opportunity to keep Indonesia 'on the map' The trinity of art works, entitled 1001 Martian Homes, is indeed a humanitarian message that knows no time and space boundaries. In this project I stripped off time and place so that we can recognize a repetitive pattern in the history of humankind, she says of her works. The National Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf) selected Bali-born, Brisbane resident Tintin as the Indonesian representative at and sponsored her participation in the prestigious Venice art event, taking into account her internationally acclaimed achievements. When watching the movie, those who are familiar with the communist purge in 1965 will easily understand that the artist is referring to this dark point in Indonesian history, when thousands fell victim to extra-judicial killings and many others were detained without trial. There are too many similarities, rather than coincidences, between reality surrounding the anticommunist crackdown and the imaginary political persecution the characters in the movie claim to have endured. And the fact that the characters were political prisoners in their real lives all but underlines Tintins intention to contribute to the efforts to rewrite the sad episode of Indonesian history, which have intensified since the start of the reform era in 1998. Walk of fame: Artist Tintin Wulia passes an alley in the Arsenale area of Venice, Italy, on her way to the venue of the Art Biennale 2017. (JP/Dwi Atmanta) Take Tedjobayu Sudjojono, who recalls how he struggled to memorize the title of the 16 editions of the encyclopedia that he used to read in his childhood in order to survive psychological pressures while in exile on Mars as a political prisoner in 2065. As long as I could remember the titles I was sane, he says. Tedjo is not just following the script Tintin and her team have prepared. He is recounting his 14-year exile on Buru Island in Maluku, where he spent his time rewriting formulas in physics that he had learned. By comparison, another Buru political prisoner Pramudya Ananta Toer survived his exile through writing novels which later almost led him to be the first Indonesian to win the Nobel Prize for literature. In fact Tedjo and his close friend Hersri Setiawan, who also appears in 1001 Martian Homes, starred in the documentary film Pulau Buru Tanah Air Beta(Buru Island, my homeland) directed by Hersris son historian Ken Setiawan, the screening of which was met with intimidation from hard-line groups in Jakarta last year. Ken helped Tintin in the 1001 Martian Homes project. For Tintin the art works represent her own search for the truth behind the 1965-1966 atrocities, which anthropologist Robert Lemelson refers to as an Indonesian tragedy in his 2009 documentary movie. Tintin is neither a historian nor an anthropologist, but her passion for the truth-seeking exercise, which she says is driven by the disappearance of her grandfather Liauw Liong Kee in the 1965 turmoil, constitutes awareness of the countrys new vision of Indonesian history. Tintins knowledge of geopolitics is obvious in her choice of video footage of NASAs space exploration in 1965 taken from the United States space agencys Highlights 1965: A Progress Report as an illustration in her movie. She says she wants to show the US indifference to the humanitarian tragedy that was unfolding in Indonesia then. She earned a PhD in art from RMIT University, Melbourne in 2014 through her work, which investigated the flux of geopolitical borders, made and unmade by people. Humanitarian message: Tintin Wulias pieces, entitled 1001 Martian Homes, are on display on the sixth floor of the Senayan City shopping mall in South Jakarta. (JP/Jerry Adiguna) Tintin says she does not intend to link the communist purge with the US in any way, as some foreign and Indonesian scholars have done. Neither does she argue for any interpretation that connects her work with the US role in the 1965 crime against humanity in Indonesia. There is a classic adage that remains prevalent until today that history belongs to the victors. While acknowledging the gross human rights violations Indonesias official history rules out any foreign intervention in the tragedy. Plus there has never been any admission of guilt from the government as representatives of the state to the victims. As an artist Tintin has the luxury of exercising her power of imagination and improvisation through her use of metaphors and symbols. For many they blur facts and fiction, but at the same time they enrich the discourse on the historical juncture of 1965, about which many of the Tintin generation are unaware. My intention is to trigger discussions and I want to make people question and think. Its more important for us to open our minds than rest on one single interpretation, she says. The Not Alone installation, which emulates her 2012 work The Butterfly Generator, is a 2-meter-diameter dome made of thousands of hexagonal modules made of laser-cut clear acrylic, electronic cables that include electroluminescent wires and processor boards bearing 228 glowing LED lights. Their arrangement is said to represent the stars of Sagittarius. The other work, Under the Sun, features a stairway leading to a hidden room, along which guests can see blinking eyeballs (which actually belong to other guests) of various sizes on the wall. There is nothing like Explorers on the Moon, Prisoners of the Sun or The Secret of the Unicorn in Tintins art works, but she and Herge share much in common: They both offer adventures of the mind. What happened in Indonesia in 1965 also took place elsewhere in the world at different times, which evinces that we are not alone. And it may recur somewhere, someday in the future, she says. Tintin is not talking nonsense. History does repeat itself. Interaction: A visitor discusses with artist Tintin Wulia her video 1001 Martian Homes at the Indonesian pavilion during the Venice Art Biennale 2017. (JP/Dwi Atmanta) Connecting with the past The 1965 tragedy is a theme Indonesian contemporary artist Tintin Wulia has been engaging with for quite a long time. For one thing she is personally connected with the events, although she was born 17 years after they occurred. Her grandfather Liauw Liong Kee suddenly disappeared as the crackdown on communists that followed the aborted coup attempt blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) on Sept. 30 was imposed in several places across the country, including Bali, where Liauws family lived. Liauw was then a member of Baperki, an organization linked to the PKI, and which was founded by Indonesians of Chinese descent. For years the large family kept the story a secret. Neither Tintins grandmother nor father would discuss it, except to say that Liauw had gone missing. She says she could not subdue her curiosity and tried to find the answers to the circumstances that led to the forced disappearance of her grandfather. Only after the fall of then president Soeharto in May 1998 did she begin to collect the long-buried memories of her grandmother, father, aunts and uncles about the event. It was a Herculean effort as the primary sources in her search for the truth were growing older and were reluctant to reopen past wounds. My grandmother suddenly phoned me, asking me to return to Bali when the May riots erupted in Jakarta. Something unusual happened to her, Tintin recounts. Tintin was a student at Parahyangan University in Bandung, West Java, at the time and was barely affected by the violence in Jakarta, which to some extent targeted Chinese-Indonesians. The Jakarta tragedy must have revived the memory of 1965 when her home in Denpasar was burned down and her husband was taken away from her, Tintin says. From a relative, Tintin heard how he had tried to ask a Bali Police officer about the whereabouts of Liauw. But there was no document recording Liauws arrest, how he died or where he was buried. Strange. Everybody in Denpasar must know what happened that day, Tintin says. Until today her search has not borne any fruit, but her personal experience has inspired some of her art works, including her most recent ones now being staged in the 2017 Venice Art Biennale, Italy, and the Senayan City shopping mall in South Jakarta. An unforgettable experience when performing at the Cemeti art house in Yogyakarta in 2008 gave her truth-seeking endeavors a boost. A security guard in the art house immediately knew what my art work was all about. He was a smart student but had been denied access to university because his father was linked to the PKI, she recollects. She said she had to defy her fears when preparing for her latest exhibition. My only concern was a radical group would turn up for a raid, she said, referring to Muslim hard-line groups that have broken up film screenings and discussions on the 1965 tragedy. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, July 20, 2017 14:00 1941 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a9b0dda 1 City Gunadarma-University,bullying Free After days in the media spotlight due to a viral video that exposed student bullying at Gunadarma University, university administrators finally suspended the perpetrators for 12 months. They will not be allowed to attend the university during this period. The universitys deputy rector, Irwan Bastian, said students with the initials AA,YLL and HN were the main bullies. After listening to explanations from some parties and referring to campus regulations, we decided to suspend the three for 12 months, he said during a press conference on Wednesday night in Depok. Irwan said the bullying of a 19-year-old student happened at the Depok campus in West Java on July 14 in the afternoon. Besides suspending the three perpetrators, Gunadarma University also sanctioned 10 others. A student with the initials PDP was suspended for six months while the other nine students were given warning letters. Irwan said university representatives had spoken with the victims family and they accepted the campus decision. The victims family filed a lawsuit, he said as quoted by kompas.com, adding that the university condemned bullying. Irwan said the university planned to draft a special regulation on students with special needs. (dra) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, July 20, 2017 22:00 1940 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a9bf8dd 1 Politics Hizbut-Tahrir-Indonesia,HTI,National-Police,Tito-Karnavian,disbandment,Perppu,Pancasila,NKRI Free National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian has called on Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI) to take legal action against its official disbandment should the Muslim group deem it unacceptable. He added that instead of responding with violence, HTI followers should challenge in court the governments decision to revoke the organizations legal status. If HTI cannot accept the decision, they can use any legal mechanism, he told journalists in Jakarta on Thursday. Tito further warned that police would use Article 107b of Law No.27/1999 on State Security to take action against any acts of violence. (Read also: Hizbut Tahrir to challenge disbandment by government) The government disbanded HTI on Wednesday for conducting activities that contradict the Pancasila state ideology and the principle of the Unitary State of the Republic Indonesia (NKRI). The revocation of HTIs status as a legal entity was based on presidential regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) No.2/2017 on Mass Organizations, which was issued on July 10. Separately, National Police spokesperson Insp. Gen. Setyo Wasisto said police would not seal HTIs offices, adding that the government only banned the organization, not its religious activities. But if in their religious activities, they spread messages that defy the Pancasila and NKRI, we might take security measures against them, he said. HTI is set to file a lawsuit with the Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN) to challenge the revocation of its legal status. (ecn/ebf) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, July 20, 2017 22:15 1940 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a9bfeaf 1 Politics House,Instagram,KPK,graft,corruption,inquiry,house-inquiry,#KPK,#KPKInquiry Free A crude attack against the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) launched via the House of Representatives official Instagram account has violently thrown the tense relationship between the two institutions into the public spotlight. Since House Speaker Setya Novanto was named a suspect in an e-ID graft case on Monday, five sarcastic posts related to the KPK have been posted on the Houses Instagram account, the address of which is @dpr_ri. Comments from several experts were quoted in the posts. The latest post, which says KPK kerjanya nguping (The KPK can keep an ear to the ground only), was posted on Wednesday and has received at least 3,000 comments, most of which are negative, as of 12:30 p.m. on Thursday. Arent peoples representatives supposed to contribute to graft eradication, even only by wiretapping? someone with the account @reyzaldiel wrote in a comment box. The post was screenshot and posted by a Hellena Y. Souisa onto her Twitter account, with a message: Please clarify @DPR_RI, what's the meaning behind this post?" Two other posts on @dpr_ri contain pictures carrying messages, which read KPK is too scared to face the House inquiry special committee and Special Committee will keep going." Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) activist Tama S. Langkun said the posts showed the House did not manage its official social media account wisely. People will feel disappointed to have entrusted their mandate to the House if it makes such posts on its social media account, Tama told The Jakarta Post on Thursday. (yon/ebf) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) New Delhi, India Thu, July 20, 2017 19:28 1940 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a9bc76c 2 World India,election,hindu,presidency Free Ram Nath Kovind was elected India's new president Thursday, the second time since independence a head of state has been chosen from the bottom of the Hindu caste system. Kovind won the largely ceremonial position with more than 65 percent of the vote by members of India's parliament and state assemblies, the election commission said. The 71-year-old former lawyer and state governor from the marginalised Dalit community was nominated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling party for post. The opposition Congress Party also put forward a Dalit candidate, a former parliamentary speaker Meira Kumar. But Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party assembled enough electoral college votes to push through its candidate and the outcome was expected. "Congratulations to Shri Ram Nath Kovind Ji on being elected the President of India! Best wishes for a fruitful and inspiring tenure," Modi wrote on Twitter. Analysts said the election of Kovind would help Modi tighten his grip on power and accrue political capital by sending an important message to the Dalits, a long-disdained electoral group once known as "untouchables". Dalits, who number around 200 million in the nation of 1.3 billion, are among India's poorest communities and relegated to the margins of society. Despite legal protection, discrimination is rife and Dalits are routinely denied access to education and other advancement opportunities. Modi had hailed the rise of Kovind, the son of a farmer and former Supreme Court lawyer, from "a humble background". India's prime minister wields executive power, but the president can send back some parliamentary bills for reconsideration and also plays a guiding role in the process of forming governments. Topics : India election hindu presidency Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Jon Afrizal (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, July 20, 2017 14:28 1941 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a9b4507 4 Business HealthcareServices,equipment,dependency,imports Free Indonesia needs to reduce its dependency on imported healthcare equipment, an official has said. Central Java provincial health agency head Yulianto Prabowo said the contribution of local products to healthcare equipment was only 6 percent. The distribution permits for the equipment are now controlled by foreign companies, Yulianto said while opening a healthcare equipment factory in Semarang on Wednesday as reported by kompas.com. As such, he stressed the need to encourage local healthcare equipment makers to produce more products to help reduce the countrys dependency on imported products. The total annual value of the healthcare equipment market in Indonesia is Rp 12 trillion (US$900 million), said Yulianto, adding that hospitals and healthcare clinics in Central Java spent about Rp 1.2 trillion per year on the equipment. He expressed the hope that the procurement process for equipment could become more transparent to avoid unhealthy competition. I hope all prices for healthcare equipment will be listed in an e-catalogue so that it is fair for all stakeholders, he added. He also encouraged hospitals and other institutions to purchase local healthcare equipment products as local factories had started to produce various items such as laboratory tools, radiology equipment, operation tables, wheelchairs and patient beds. We need good quality products, but it doesnt mean that we have to import, he added. (bbn) Topics : HealthcareServices equipment dependency imports Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ni Komang Erviani (The Jakarta Post) Denpasar, Bali Thu, July 20, 2017 23:00 1940 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a9c26c9 1 National Ajapa-japa-tobacco,japa-japa-tobacco,synthetic-psychoactive-substance,Denpasar-Police,Kerobokan,bali,drug-abuse,drugs-use,drugs Free Denpasar Police have arrested an Italian man for allegedly possessing tobacco adulterated with a kind of synthetic psychoactive substance locally called "ajapa japa." Jan Andrea Gentilini, 25, was apprehended by the polices drug squad at a friends house in the Puri Kusambi housing complex in Kerobokan, North Kuta, Bali, on June 30. The police made an announcement about the arrest only on Thursday. Denpasar Police narcotics division chief Comr. I Wayan Arta Ariawan said on Thursday the arrest followed an investigation conducted by the police. We got information there was an Italian man who had often used drugs. From that information, we launched an investigation, Arta said. The police arrested Gentilini at about 3 a.m. local time on June 30 and they claimed they found a small pack of ajapa japa tobacco in his bag. We checked it and found the ajapa japa tobacco pack weighing 0.45 grams, Arta alleged. According to police, Gentilini admitted he had used ajapa japa tobacco for the last two years. "He said he had used ajapa japa tobacco in that house three times," Arta claimed. Police also claimed Gentilini said he bought the tobacco from someone for Rp 100,000 (US$7.50) per pack, which they said he usually rolled into three cigarettes. "Ajapa japa tobacco could cause a hallucination effect to those who use it," Arta explained. The effects of ajapa japa have been described as similar to those of marijuana, only 10 times stronger. The police said they will charge Gentilini under articles 112 and 127 of the 2009 Narcotics Law, which carry a maximum sentence of 12 years imprisonment upon conviction. (ebf) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Stefani Ribka (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, July 20, 2017 10:23 1941 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a9a00d8 1 Business palm-oil,exports,May-2017 Free Exports of palm oil products increased by just 2 percent on a monthly basis to 2.6 million tons in May, the latest data from the Indonesia Oil Palm Producers Association (GAPKI) shows. Approaching Ramadhan, demand for palm oil usually surges, but this time around, exports were up only slightly, said GAPKI executive director Fadhil Hasan. He said exports declined across all markets; to Pakistan by 31 percent to 142,210 tons; to the Middle East by 23 percent; to China by 7 percent and to Europe by 2 percent. Pakistan shifted much of its demand for the commodity to Malaysia as the latter, starting from May, imposes a zero export tax for crude palm oil (CPO) derivatives, contrary to Indonesia, which imposes export levies for similar products. Pakistans palm oil imports from Malaysia surged to more than 1 million tons in that month from a previous monthly import volume of 500,000 tons. Total exports for the first five months increased by 29 percent annually to 12.1 million tons, while production growth was stagnant in the same period, leading to low CPO and derivative stocks of 621,000 tons in May. The CPO price ranged between $695-$740 per ton in May; $640-$725 per ton in June and below $700 per ton in the first week of July. It is projected that the price will hover around $650-$690 per ton in the next two weeks. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Fedina S. Sundaryani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, July 20, 2017 11:20 1941 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a9a7854 1 Business Papua,West-Papua,infrastructure-development,connectivity,Jokowi Free President Joko Jokowi Widodo has called on his ministers to cooperate with regional governments to boost the construction of infrastructure in Papua and West Papua to help the two provinces expand connectivity with other regions in the country. Taking these regions out of isolation, West Papua in particular, is essential in order to increase job opportunities and boost human development, the President added. We have focused our efforts on expediting infrastructure development over the past two years in order to boost West Papuas connectivity with other regions in Indonesia, he said during the opening of a closed-door meeting at the State Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday. [::Strides in infrastructure not enough for Papua: Leader::http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/05/11/strides-in-infrastructure-not-enough-for-papua-leader.html] Connectivity is essential for West Papua not only to open up isolated areas, but also to cut down logistics costs and increase the competitiveness of local products. Jokowi called on related parties to accelerate the development of ports in Sorong, Bintuni and Kaimana in West Papua and also airports in the region. Moreover, the President also asked the administrations of the two provinces to take advantage of its available natural resources to increase the social and economic welfare of locals. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, July 20, 2017 21:44 1940 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a9bf6a9 1 City drug-smuggling,drug-dealer,police,arrest Free National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian has said the force would take a tougher approach against drug dealers, following the largest ever seizure of crystal methamphetamine, locally called shabu-shabu, from China last week. The police arrested four Taiwanese men who allegedly attempted to distribute the drugs in Greater Jakarta and shot dead one for resisting arrest. In a press conference at the Jakarta Police station on Thursday, Tito claimed that a lot of drug dealers thought that Indonesia was a potential market because they considered its drug laws weaker than those of Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines. On this occasion, we want to emphasize that the police would act firmly and toughly, especially against the foreign [drug dealers]. I even told [officers] to act by custom,' which means if they resist [arrest], shoot. In this case, one Taiwanese was shot dead, Tito said. Tito alleged that the suspects had used a cruise ship, called the Wanderlust, to smuggle one ton of crystal meth from Taiwan to Indonesia. After dropping the drugs off, the Wanderlust went to the Java Sea, Karimata Strait and Batam. Through cooperation with the customs and excise directorate and the National Narcotics Agency (BNN), the police found the ship in Batam. Tito said the police would search the docked cruise ship to find out whether the suspects had carried any drugs other than the crystal meth. (hol/cal) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, July 20, 2017 14:41 1941 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a9b51d0 1 Business KAI,LRT,loan-syndication,capital-injection Free State-owned railway operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) says it will soon establish a loan syndication for the development of the light rail transit (LRT) service in Greater Jakarta, following the disbursement of government funds for the project. We will soon start the process of arranging the syndicated loan so that the project will not stall, said PT KAI president director Edy Sukmoro on Wednesday, as reported by kontan.co.id, after the company had finally secured a Rp 2 trillion (US$150.2 million) state capital injection (PMN) for the LRT project. To fund the Rp 27.5 trillion project, the railway company required an estimated Rp 9 trillion in equity from the state to allow it to access a Rp 18.5 trillion syndicated loan from banks. With the newly approved injection, it has so far obtained Rp 4 trillion in equity. Edy said he would be talking to the representatives of several banks to ensure their participation. We will talk about how much we need from the banks, he said. He added he would also talk to state-owned construction company PT ADhi Karya, the developer of the LRT project, about potential funds from the Transit Oriented Development (TOD). The LRT's construction is set in two phases. The first phase will install a 43.3-kilometer track from Bogor, West Java, to Jakarta, and includes construction of the Cibubur-Cawang, Bekasi Timur-Cawang and Cawang-Dukuh Atas sections. This initial phase is expected to be completed in 2019. The second phase will construct a 38.5-kilometer track comprising the Cibubur-Bogor, Dukuh Atas-Palmerah-Senayan and Palmerah-Grogol routes. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, July 20, 2017 21:50 1940 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a9bf847 1 Politics corruption,Ratu-Atut-Chosiyah,KPK,Jakarta-Corruption-Court Free Former Banten governor Ratu Atut Chosiyah has been found guilty and sentenced to five years in prison for her role in a graft case surrounding a 2012 project to procure medical equipment in the province. The judges at the Jakarta Corruption Court also ordered the defendant to pay a Rp 250 million fine or serve an additional six months imprisonment in default. Earlier, Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) prosecutors demanded the judge sentence the defendant to eight years in prison and impose a Rp 250 million fine. Atut told the court she accepted the verdict. The former governor was found guilty of misusing the budget for Bantens health agency in 2012, causing Rp 79.7 billion (about US$6 million) in state losses. Atut was indicted along with her younger brother, Tubagus Chaeri Wardana aka Wawan, who was accused of directly appointing the companies to carry out the project. Ratu Atut is now serving a seven year prison term for bribing then Constitutional Court chief justice Akil Mochtar over an election dispute in Banten in 2013. The former governor gained notoriety for building a political dynasty, with many of her relatives controlling strategic political posts in the province. (kuk/ary) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Caroline Chen and Joe Sobczyk (Bloomberg) Washington Thu, July 20, 2017 10:38 1941 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a9a026a 2 Politics senator-john-mccain,brain-cancer Free Senator John McCain was diagnosed with a type of brain cancer that was discovered when doctors removed a blood clot above his left eye, his office said Wednesday night. Tissue tested after the procedure last Friday revealed a glioblastoma, the statement said. Scans done afterward showed the cancerous tissue was removed and the 80-year-old Arizona Republican has been recuperating at home since the procedure. The senator and his family are reviewing further treatment options with his Mayo Clinic care team, according to McCains office. Treatment options may include a combination of chemotherapy and radiation. Glioablastoma is an aggressive form of brain cancer, making up about 15 percent of all primary brain tumors, according to the American Brain Tumor Association. Patients typically undergo surgery first to remove as much of the tumor as possible, then are treated with radiation and chemotherapy to slow the growth of any remaining malignant cells that cannot be removed. While theres been a wave of new cancer treatments that are changing the outlook for certain types of tumors like skin cancer and some blood cancers, the brain continues to be a difficult organ to treat, largely due to the blood-brain barrier, a membrane that protects the brain from foreign invaders, but also prevents many drugs from crossing. The challenge is compounded by the mix of cell types in a glioblastoma, according to Susan Chang, director of the University of California, San Franciscos division of neuro-oncology. The cells dont all behave the same way, so even when you kill some, the residual cells can take hold and grow again, so youre fighting a constant uphill battle to get rid of every last cell, she said. Median survival for adults with aggressive glioblastoma is about 14.6 months, according to the American Brain Tumor Association, and 10 percent of patients survive for five years. Senator Ted Kennedy, who died in 2009 after being diagnosed with brain cancer one year prior, had a malignant glioma, a category which includes glioblastomas. Beau Biden, son of former Vice President Joe Biden, died from a brain cancer in 2015. Though his family did not disclose what form of brain cancer he suffered from at the time, Joe Biden said in an NPR interview broadcast last month that it was glioblstoma. Congressional Career A Vietnam War hero, McCain has been in Congress representing Arizona since 1983, first in the House then the Senate four years later. He was the 2008 Republican presidential nominee. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement that McCain is a hero to our conference and a hero to our country. He has never shied from a fight and I know that he will face this challenge with the same extraordinary courage that has characterized his life. .@SenJohnMcCain is a hero to our Conference and a hero to our country. pic.twitter.com/Ld2lQH1mMn Leader McConnell (@SenateMajLdr) July 20, 2017 The surgery came at a critical time in McConnells efforts to pass health-care legislation, with every GOP vote crucial to advancing a bill. The majority leader had planned a procedural vote this week on his plan to replace Obamacare but said last weekend he was postponing it pending McCains return. After that bill lost GOP support, McConnell is planning a procedural vote next week on a plan to simply repeal most of Obamacare -- and again he can lose no more than two Republican votes amid united Democratic opposition. A close friend, Senator Lindsey Graham said he talked by phone with McCain, who said he wants to get back to work in the Senate. Statements of Support President Donald Trump issued a statement saying he and first lady Melania Trump are sending our thoughts and prayers to Senator McCain, Cindy, and their entire family. Former President Barack Obama, who defeated McCain in the 2008 presidential election, said on Twitter that the senator is an American hero, and the former president urged him to "give it hell" in his fight against cancer. John McCain is an American hero & one of the bravest fighters I've ever known. Cancer doesn't know what it's up against. Give it hell, John. Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 20, 2017 McCains 2008 running mate, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, said on Facebook, "John McCain is one tough fighter -- we know hell face this diagnosis with courage and strength." McCain, a former Navy pilot, was North Vietnams most prominent prisoner of war, spending 5 1/2 years of captivity in Hanoi and refusing an offer by his captors to be granted early release in an effort to sap POW morale. McCain is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and early this year he called for spending $430 billion more on defense above existing levels over five years. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Madrid Thu, July 20, 2017 08:20 1941 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a99cd1f 2 World Madrid,bank,graft-convict,suicide Free The former head of Spanish bank Caja Madrid, who was convicted of graft along with ex-IMF chief Rodrigo Rato, was found dead Wednesday with a gunshot wound to the chest, police said. The body of Miguel Blesa, 69, was discovered inside a car at a private estate in Villanueva del Rey in the southern province of Cordoba, a Guardia Civil police spokeswoman said. Spanish media said his death appeared to be a suicide but police refused to confirm it, saying only that the authorities were investigating. Spanish daily El Pais said Blesa was having breakfast with friends at the hunting estate and left the table to move his car. He was found dead shortly after, it added. His body will undergo an autopsy at a forensics institute in Cordoba on Thursday to determine the cause of death, the regional government of Andalusia said in a statement. Blesa, one of the figureheads of Spain's financial crisis who had links to senior members of the governing Popular Party, was chairman of Caja Madrid until it merged with six other troubled savings banks to create Bankia. A court in February sentenced him to six years in jail for misusing the bank's corporate credit cards. Rato, the one-time head of the International Monetary Fund who chaired Bankia between 2010 and 2012 when it was nationalised, was sentenced to four-and-a-half-years in prison over the same scandal. The two men had appealed against their sentences and had been released on bail while the case was resolved. In total, 65 former staff were found guilty of using corporate credit cards for irregular expenses such as buying jewels, paying for holidays or expensive clothes. A total of 12 million euros is said to have been spent on the so-called "black cards". The case sparked widespread anger when the scandal first broke in 2014, at a time when Spain was recovering from years of recession and a banking crisis partly triggered by Bankia's massive bailout. Blesa was accused of setting up the scheme and was found guilty of having misappropriated 435,00 euros. In 2013 he because the first prominent banker to go behind bars since the start of Spain's financial crisis. He was jailed as part of a probe into Caja Madrid's purchase in 2008 at an inflated price of the City National Bank of Florida, but was released 15 days alter after that case was dropped. Blesa was in the middle of another lawsuit involving irregular bonuses during his time at Caja Madrid. He always denied any wrongdoing. "This has affected my image, my honor and my family," he said last year during his trial for the "black cards" affair. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Hanoi Thu, July 20, 2017 09:17 1941 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a99f59c 2 World conservation,animal-conservation,Vietnam Free Vietnam agreed Wednesday to rescue more than 1,000 bears from illegal farms across the country, in a move to end the traditional medicine trade in the creatures' bile. Though bile farms are already outlawed in Vietnam, bears are still captured and caged in illicit facilities where their bile is extracted using invasive and painful techniques. Vietnam's Administration of Forestry (VNFOREST) and non-profit group Animals Asia signed an agreement Wednesday to rescue all remaining bears from farms, committing to end bile trade and close all facilities within five years. "This is a truly historic day," Animals Asia CEO Jill Robinson at the signing in Hanoi, adding that the decision "will lead to the definitive end to bear bile farming here in Vietnam". Bear bile farming has been outlawed in Vietnam since 1992. But many bile farms use a legal loophole allowing them to raise the animals as pets. There are about 1,200 bears in captivity in Vietnam today, down from more than 4,000 in 2005, caged in more than 400 bear farms across the country. Animals Asia estimates it will cost up to $20 million to rescue and build enough sanctuaries to house the bears, and called on donors, companies and the government to pitch in. "We cannot do this by ourselves, the government needs to take responsibility for the wildlife in the country," said Tuan Bendixsen, Vietnam director for Animals Asia. Officials said funding is the main hurdle to rescuing the bears and putting an end to the trade. "We face difficulties finding funds to prevent and stop the hunting and rescue of wild animals," VNFOREST deputy director Cao Chi Cong said. Bendixsen warned that bile farms could move into neighbouring Laos or Cambodia, and urged countries to adhere to an international convention that bans cross-border bear and bile trading. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (AFP) Manila Thu, July 20, 2017 12:17 1941 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a9ac982 2 SE Asia #Philippines,#Duterte,#attack Free The Philippine government's peace talks with communist rebels teetered near collapse Wednesday as President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to end negotiations after suspected guerrillas shot and wounded five of his bodyguards in an ambush. Aides said Duterte was not in the convoy when gunmen opened fire on two Presidential Security Group vehicles on the southern island of Mindanao, where troops have also been battling Islamic State group-inspired gunmen for nearly two months. "The president directed the government panel... not to resume formal peace talks unless the reds (rebels) agree to stop their attacks against government troops in Mindanao," said a statement issued by the presidential palace. The rebels have been in off-and-on peace talks with the government since Duterte, a self-described socialist, was elected last year. Both sides have since declared unilateral ceasefires, but these did not last. Duterte suspended formal peace talks in May after both sides failed to resolve a dispute over a rebel order for fighters to step up attacks. On Tuesday Duterte separately ordered negotiators to informally meet communist counterparts in Europe in the coming days and raise the issue, Dureza told ABS-CBN television a day later. But Duterte's peace adviser Jesus Dureza later announced that the government was also cancelling the planned informal talks with the rebels due to Wednesday's attacks by the communists' 4,000-member armed wing the New People's Army. The communist party, which is waging Asia's longest-running insurgency, called on its guerrillas on Tuesday to launch offensives in response to Duterte's plan to put Mindanao under martial law until the end of the year. Mindanao is already under a 60-day martial rule as the security forces battle Islamist militants in Marawi city, but on Tuesday the Duterte government said it needed more time to accomplish the mission. "The situation on the ground necessary to provide the desired enabling environment for the conduct of peace negotiations are still not present up to this time," Dureza said in a statement. The communist insurgency began in 1968 and the military says it is now mostly waged in Mindanao. The rebellion has claimed an estimated 30,000 lives. Wednesday's ambush appeared to dash hopes for an early political settlement to the insurgency. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, July 20, 2017 13:15 1941 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a9afcdd 1 News Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,Tourism-Ministry,Borobudur-Temple,Magelang Free In a ceremony on Wednesday, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Pandjaitan and Tourism Minister Arief Yahya officially launched the operation of the Borobudur Tourism Authority Board (BOP). The establishment of Borobudur BOP is based on the Presidential Regulation No. 46 of 2017 that was signed by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo on April 11. The target for the BOP is to turn the Buddhist temple into a national and international cultural destination that will attract 2,000,000 overseas tourists by the year 2019. Read also: Borobudur among National Geographics 15 iconic adventures Borobudur is being developed as a destination that has a heritage appeal to it. It has been recognized by the UNESCO as a world cultural heritage. The development will focus on the 3As elements namely attraction, accessibility and accommodation, said Arief. The key to the success is easy access from and the New Yogyakarta International Airport in Kulonprogo, he added. The minister also said that 75 percent of overseas tourists travel to Indonesia by air, 24 percent by sea through Riau Islands from Singapore. BOPs main responsibilities will be to manage, coordinate and facilitate the planning, development and controlling of Borobudur tourism area. The establishment of selection team, an assessor and administration preparation will be done on August 1 to 4 whilst the choice for president director should be announced on August 31. There will be 10 candidates for the president director position and will be narrowed down to three people. Out of the three of them, one will become Borobudur BOP president director, he said. Read also: Obama calls for preservation of Borobudur Temple The new approach of 'One Destination, One Management' will reduce the potentials for conflict. One Destination One Management serves to minimize the potential for conflict so that the management of tourism can be sustainable and useful for the local people while maintaining its sustainability, said coordinating ministry of maritime affairs deputy of infrastructure coordination Ridwan Djamaluddin. Borobudur BOP consists of authoritative and coordinative areas that will integrate all tourist attractions in Joglosemar and will not touch Borobudurs zone 1-4. Meanwhile, The National Tourism Strategic Area (KSPN) consisting of Borobudur, Dieng, Karimunjawa, and Sangiran will be packed into a single destination. Also, the BOP will be in charge to develop three national destinations such as Solo-Sangiran and surrounding areas, Semarang-Karimunjawa and surrounding areas, Borobudur-Yogyakarta and surrounding areas. (asw) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, July 20, 2017 11:08 1941 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a9a1032 1 News Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,Tourism-Ministry,10-new-bali,tourism-promotion Free Tourism ministry recently conducted a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) to talk about the marketing strategy of the ministrys10 priority destinations. The ministry's archipelago tourism marketing development deputy Esthy Reko Astuti said that the 3As (Access, Attraction, and Accommodation) of the 10 priority destinations are still being developed. According to her, these three elements have to walk hand in hand with promotion. Read also: Six glamping sites in Indonesia for adventure seekers This event is important as part of formulating a marketing target for the 10 priority destinations, or the 10 New Balis, that has been established by the president and tourism ministry, said Esthy. For marketing strategy, the ministry uses the DOT (Destination, Original, and Time) approach. The promotion strategy uses the BAS (Branding, Advertising, and Selling) approach, and for media strategy, the POSE (Paid Media, Owned Media, Social Media, and Endorser) approach is being used. To filter all inputs and ideas and make it into one formula for promoting 10 new Balis, weve invited all stakeholders from the tourism Penta helix consisting of scholars, businesspeople, community, government, and media, Esthy added. The FGD was attended by 60 representatives from the 10 priority destinations, while the government was represented by tourism departments from North Sumatra, Bangka Belitung, Banten, Jakarta, Central Java, East Java, West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara, Southeast Sulawesi and North Maluku. The business side was represented by airline companies namely Garuda Indonesia, Sriwijaya and Lion Group. Read also: North Rally 2017 Wonderful Indonesia to explore Indonesia for three months Communities were represented by the Indonesian History Community (KHI), while scholars representatives came from Pancasila University along with national media. Several tourism associations such as GIPI, PHRI and ASITA also attended the event. In 2017, tourism ministry is targeting for 280 million tourist visits, 265 million are local tourists while the rest 15 million are from overseas. To reach the target, the ministry came up with the 10 new Balis. In order to support the 10 new Balis, we have to do an evaluation on the competitiveness of 10 priority destinations in a quantitative way. We have to move together in the spirit of Indonesia Incorporated, evaluation and monitoring need to be done to win the competition, said tourism minister Arief Yahya. (asw) To celebrate the release of Annabelle: Creation on August 11th, Warner Bros Pictures and New Line Cinema invite fans to brave to ultimate scare challenge. Yes, it does sound like some kind of horrific nightmare, but later this month guests have the chance to babysit the demonic Annabelle doll from The Conjuring universe. The possessed doll arrived in London today along with actress Sofia Varslauskaite, ready to star in a terrifying new Annabelle: Creation horror experience, set in a purpose-built Victorian Mansion on the site of the Town Hall in Stratford. The immersive experience has been conjured up by some of the terrifying minds of the creative team behind David Copperfield, also in close consultation with filmmakers including director David F. Sandberg. With sound effects and immersive theatre, as well as actual props from the anticipated Annabelle: Creation, its guaranteed to terrify visitors. The experience is just 20 minutes, but thats definitely enough to do the job. As visitors will be asked to babysit the seemingly innocent Annabelle doll, theres no doubt that there will be some surprises in store. Annabelles House will open its doors to the public in East London for a limited time from 27th July. It marks the release of Annabelle: Creation, a new chapter in the Conjuring universe, which lands at UK screens on 11th August. You can apply for tickets here. A self-confessed drug dealer who called the police when he was the victim of crime has himself been arrested. David Blackmon, 32, called 911 reporting that someone had stolen a bag of cocaine and cash from his car. David Blackmon (Okaloosa County Sheriffs Office) Specifically the thief had made off with $50 (about 38) and a quarter ounce of cocaine which had been in his cars central console. Okaloosa County Sheriffs Office in Florida took the call, from Blackmon, on the morning of July 16. A deputy sheriff attended and looked in the car. A spokesman for the Sheriffs office said: The deputy, however, spotted cocaine still in that spot. He also found a crack pipe on the floorboard by the drivers door and seat and a crack rock on the centre console by the cocaine. The money was not located. Details of the unusual call and arrest were shared on the sheriffs Facebook and Twitter accounts. Blackmon, from Fort Walton Beach, was charged with possession of cocaine, resisting arrest with violence and possession of drug paraphernalia. 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Namun jangan khawatir, disini sebagai situs slot gacor MGS88 kami akan memberikan penjelasan lengkap mengenai tentang istilah yang ada di RTP SLOT dibawah ini. By Damali Mukhaye: Forum for Democratic Change Lord Councilors led by Nakawa one councilor Alice Amony have attacked the minister for Kampala Betty Kamya over her plans to take a section their leaders to Kyankwanzi. Kamya was recently quoted in the media as saying that she would take a section of councilors to Kyankwanzi to meet the president of Uganda and discuss some of the issues affecting them including the KCCA budget. However, the councilors are asking Kamya not to waste tax payers money on the trip that will yield no fruit. Addressing the media at city hall in Kampala Amony said they do do not need to go to Kyankwazi to have their grievances addressed since the issues affecting the people of Kampala are in Kampala. BY YAHUDU KITUNZI: Uganda Muslim Supreme Council has launched the first ever Islamic Education Curriculum for both Nursery and Primary schools in Uganda. The 2nd Deputy Mufti of Uganda Shk. Ali Muhammad Waiswa says this is aimed at improving Islamic education in the country. Sheikh Waiswa says the supreme council is already in the process of developing a National Islamic Educations curriculum for secondary schools. The curriculum, he says represents years of research, field-testing and evaluation by a technical team with support from the Uganda Muslim Youth Development Forum. Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Private Schools in the ministry of Education Ismail Mulindwa has expressed the Ministrys support for the Islamic education curriculum and that it is the process of streamlining the Muslim schools ownership. By Damali Mukhaye: Officials from Uganda National Examinations Board have asked government to pay the examination fees for students under the universal education programs on time to enable them carry out their mandate without ease. Speaking during the commissioning of the new printery this morning, the UNEB executive secretary, Daniel Odongo said whereas other students who are in private schools pay their examination fees on time, those registered under the Universal Secondary and Primary Education programs are usually left behind. He says this also affects the marking of exams thus delaying the release of final results He also called upon the government to also increase the development fund for the board for purchase of essential materials like answer scripts for candidates. Several public meetings this week in Watertown Here's a look at who's meeting this week and what they'll be discussing. An opportunity for foodies and beer lovers to get lost in a world of food and drink from a hand-selected range of food trucks and breweries from around New Zealand. It's our annual Labour Weekend tradition ...The Sound 'Hall Of Fame' Countdown... Where we honor the greatest 500 songs of all time as voted by you. INDIANAPOLIS A longtime Albion attorney has resigned from the state bar association amid an Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission case and pending charge of theft in Noble County. The Indiana Supreme Court accepted the resignation of Diane Miller, 60, July 13 and closed her disciplinary proceeding at the state. Miller is facing a Level 5 felony charge of theft in Noble County for allegedly making $63,000 in unauthorized withdrawals from an estate she was entrusted to manage. That case is still pending in Noble Circuit Court. The Supreme Court order states her resignation came with a requirement of an acknowledgement that there is presently pending an investigation into or a proceeding involving allegations of misconduct and that Respondent could not successfully defend herself if prosecuted. Now removed from the Indiana State Bar Association, Miller is no longer allowed to practice law. She will be eligible to petition for reinstatement in five years, but the misconduct admitted in her resignation as well as any other allegations of misconduct can be considered by the state at that time. Millers criminal case has not yet been resolved. A pretrial hearing on Friday was continued to a later date. In that case, Miller is accused of improperly accessing funds from an estate she was managing between August 2015 and January 2016. A woman contacted the Noble County Sheriffs Department in May 2016 to report she noticed money was being withdrawn from her parents estate account. The woman was not able to access the money herself but was able to monitor the activity of the bank account when she spotted the transactions. She found several checks that were written and cashed by Miller, totaling approximately $63,000, according to the court documents. The value of those 15 checks ranged from $1,000 to $9,500 and were withdrawn over a period between Aug. 11, 2015, and Jan. 29, 2016. The woman hired an attorney, who contacted Miller to ask about the withdrawals. At that time, Miller asked for a week to replenish the money and made a deposit of $61,500 in the estate account on May 31, according to court documents. When asked why she had withdrawn the money, Miller told police she used some of it for personal medical expenses, but did not say where the rest of it had gone, according to the court documents. Miller had worked as an attorney in Noble County for decades, handling thousands of cases spanning criminal cases, divorces, small claims and other types of civil filings. There are more than 2,000 Bschools in India where students pay between Rs.2-6 lakh fee hoping to find their dream career. Unfortunately, most of these schools (beyond the Top 100) are actually running on meager 20-40 per cent placements. Remaining students leave the campus either without a job or end up working on some low skill base job. Think about this two in three of all MBAs in India remain either unemployed or severely under-employed. To find out why our MBAs are not employed, Elements Akademia conducted an intensive nation-wide research amongst the HR heads of more than 40 companies from various verticals, 60 MBA / PGDM colleges across 12 cities and more than 3,000 students and MBA aspirants. This research brought us face-toface with some startling revelations. In sectors like BFSI, KPO, pharmaceutical, FMCG, etc, there will be approximately a million new jobs in the next three years sufficient to absorb most MBAs in India. However, these companies continue to work on a three to five per cent hiring rate as 95 per cent of all applicants are rejected, despite having job openings. The research found that the industry needs certain skills beyond the regular AICTE/University MBA curriculum before it can hire a candidate. However, the academia continues to teach what it has been teaching for many years. This result in todays classic paradox corporate world continues to have jobs but keeps complaining that there are not enough employable candidates. And students keep complaining of lack of jobs despite degrees. Experts suggest that 70 per cent of the hiring decision gets taken in the first five minutes of the interview. Since most entry level jobs in Tier 2 (and beyond) B-schools involve either sales or customer service, deep technical knowledge is often not essential. Unfortunately, HR interviewers lament that most students lack in the following: Attitude and ethics were the most difficult to correct: Being pedantic almost never works in improving someones attitude. Still most college professors and principals continue to hope that by repeating their unsolicited advice multiple times, their students may listen. But even the use of innovative techniques like story telling has had mixed results. In reality the effect of few hours of class was often drowned by their 22 years of grounding. While some borderline cases did change, for the most part the already good ones became better. Grooming and confidence, on the other hand, were the easiest to correct: Steady practice in small batches of 15-25 students, with people of similar ability carefully chosen and put together, and then giving every individual a chance to speak helped tremendously. Workshops involving specially trained grooming instructors, emphasising on Dress to Impress created impact. The process requires strict discipline so that everyone gets time to speak. Communication skills development: This involves honing our listening skills and practise being crisp and logical in our responses. The second concern for most Tier II colleges is the inability of students to speak in English. A scientific module which covers specific grammar and spoken English /pronunciation, especially tailored for adults is required. Current awareness: An everyday quiz on current awareness developed reading habits in the students. Managerial skills: A good corporate style game followed by an intense and deep debrief and repeated twice or thrice can at least sensitise people and make them cautious towards exhibiting the right behaviour. While it would be ambitious to think that a two hour team work session will make everyone a great team player, still we have seen a significant improvement in the level of maturity and intent after this sensitisation. Sales/customer service and practical domain knowledge: The challenge that most tier II colleges face is that the major chunk of students are freshers without any previous experience in any domain. Adding to this, average faculty of these colleges also has limited quality industry experience. So their ability to train students on practical industry-oriented knowledge is very limited. The best practice may be to get a significant portion of training. Experience was the tricky one: Most companies wanted experience before a degree. Most HR managers were not convinced that a two month part time project can replace a relevant work experience. The only long terms solution may be for the colleges to recruit only experienced students, especially for a postgraduate course. Rigorous comprehensive bridge training can correct each of the above gaps, but obviously requires will and sustained effort. There is no proof that quick fix solutions work but improving fundamental aspects like English, presentability, corporate exposure or attitude requires guided effort. (The writer is with Eastern Institute for Integrated Learning in Management, Kolkata) A 30-year-old woman from a village in Gujarat has sought the help External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to bring back the body of her husband, who she claimed has died at a jail in Pakistan. Jivuben Chauhan, a resident of Paldi village in Una tehsil of Gir Somnath district, wrote a letter in this connection to Swaraj on Tuesday. The woman said in her letter that her husband Kana Laxman Chauhan (37) and the latter's brother-in-law Kana Govind, both fishermen, were arrested near the port of Jakhau in Kutch district some months back by the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency for allegedly violating the country's water territorial boundary in the Arabian Sea. The woman, who has three daughters and two sons, told PTI yesterday that she recently received a letter from Govind in which he wrote that her husband suddenly died in the Pakistani prison on July 5. She said her husband and Govind were lodged in the same jail in Pakistan. The woman said Govind sent his letter through another fisherman from Gir Somnath district who was also earlier arrested by Pakistani authorities but released on July 9. The released fisherman visited her house on July 12 and handed her Govind's letter informing about her husband's demise, the woman said. After getting the information, Chauhan wrote to Swaraj, saying she has till date not received any communication from the External Affairs Ministry or the Indian High Commission's office in Islamabad about her husband's death. Due to this reason, I seek your help for doing the needful in the matter, Chauhan said in her letter to Swaraj. I along with my five children and my mother-in-law have been living in a rented premises in the village. I have been working as a labourer at a site to earn our livelihood since the arrest of my husband several months ago, she said. In the letter, the woman also requested Swaraj for a probe into the sudden death of her husband in the jail, as she claimed that he had never written to her about suffering from any disease while being lodged there. Rajya Sabha MP Parimal Nathwani, who belongs to Dwarka in Gir Somnath district, said has written to the external affairs minister to take up with her Pakistani counterpart the issue of expediting the process of bringing home the body of the fisherman so as to enable the deceased's family to perform his last rites. Gujarat Fishermen Association's senior vice president Veljibhai Masani said he has also written a letter to Swaraj to help in bringing back the fisherman's body. Taking note of the recent suicides by farmers reportedly after receiving loan recovery notice from their banks, the Uttarakhand government has announced to launch a soft interest loan scheme. Chief Minister Trivendra Rawat said, On 25 September, we will launch a special scheme for small and BPL farmers by offering them Rs. 1 lakh loan at 2 per cent interest. Three farmers committed suicide and two others suffered heart attack after they were served notice by their banks in the state. The Rawat government in Uttarakhand is celebrating the centenary birth anniversary of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay as the year of poors welfare. Under it not only soft interest loan will be introduced, but efforts will be made to strengthen the cooperative banks. For this, the government will provide Rs. 1,000 crore to cooperative banks. Besides this, cooperative banks will operate 114 micro ATMs in the hill state. Rawat made this announcement in Dehradun on Wednesday. Congress has made farmers death a political issue, demanding loan waiver. The state government was under pressure after Yogi Adityanath government in UP waived off farmer loan. The Congress created had raised the issue in the Monsoon session held last month. Mossack Fonseca is a Panamanian law firm that helps clients hide their wealth using offshore bank accounts and shell companies. Eleven million documents have been leaked from this law firm. Among the named clients were Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's family members. As owners of a range of companies from steel to sugar mills, the Sharifs are among Pakistan's richest families, and have often been accused of corruption and money laundering. The leak of the Panama papers has added fuel to the fire. Three of PM Nawaz Sharif's children have been named Maryam, his daughter and his potential successor; and Hasan and Hussain, his sons, whose leaked records show that they own London real estate through offshore companies administrated by the Panamanian firm. Holding assets overseas is not illegal in Pakistan, but the non- declaration of these assets has raised eyebrows: Journalists and members of the public view the undeclared assets as a ploy by the Sharif family to evade taxes or launder money. Public demonstrations arose condemning Sharif and his family. All such demonstrations came to a halt after hundreds of people were arrested under the assembly law, a provision known as Section 144 that was introduced during the colonial period. Human rights groups have disputed Section 144, claiming that it grossly violates freedom of expression. This claim received support in a statement by Amnesty International: "Pakistan's constitution guarantees people the rights to freedom of assembly, expression and movement. The authorities should immediately and unconditionally release all the people arrested solely for exercising their rights and allow them to protest peacefully." There has been no concrete and reliable evidence that could prove the Sharifs' innocence. The one thing that they set their foot down is on the fact that they have done nothing wrong. They have denied all the charges that have been brought against them. Official investigations of the evidence seemed to prove the family's guilt. Maryam, Sharif's daughter, tried to falsify the documents that she handed to the investigators to hide the fact that they were owners of particular London apartments. The font that she had used to manipulate the documents in her favor was Calibri, a font that came to public use after the documents had been drafted. Moreover, the family declared to the Supreme Court that their London properties were bought through investments in companies owned by the Qatari ruling family. The most recent defense offered by the Sharif family brought to the Supreme Court's notice is that they were targeted for political aims. Imran Khan, the leader of Pakistan's political opposition, issued a swift call for action by stating that the country's accountability watchdog, its tax authorities and its election commission must take action. The sudden support for the PM and his government in parts of Punjab and Sindh provinces was seen by the public as an attempt to whip up public support in case of a ruling that was unfavorable to Nawaz Sharif by the Supreme Court. Nawaz Sharif's son Hussain denied having been a part of any illegal activity: "Those apartments are ours and those offshore companies are also ours. There is nothing wrong with them and I have never concealed it, nor do I need to do that." It is legal, according to British laws and laws of other countries, to avoid unnecessary tax through offshore companies. Imran Khan's call for the National Accountability Bureau to investigate was met with a confident response of innocence. Hussain announced that he would present himself to any judicial or investigative authority in Pakistan. Hussain also called on Imran Khan to prove that Nawaz Sharif had not declared his assets and stated that if he could prove it, the family would accept wrong-doing and serve the punishment for it. To add to the current situation in Pakistan with the leak of the Panama papers, Pakistan's relation with India has yet again kicked up a storm. Last month Pakistani military killed a number of Indian soldiers during a crossborder revenge attack in Kashmir. This attack was in response to Indian military opening fire and killing two Pakistani civilians. With India being in possession of 120 warheads and Pakistan around 130, in addition to both countries not being signatories of the 1968 Treaty for Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, some fear that these two historic rivals are heading towards a nuclear war. India's passenger jets have now been barred from Pakistan's airspace and half of India's diplomats in Pakistan have been ordered home. Pakistan followed suit. Pakistan is obviously a volatile state facing pressure internally and externally. (The writers are, respectively, a professor of law and a third-year law student at the Jindal Global University, Sonipat.) The handloom industry of India resonates with our countrys rich and diverse culture. As we know, this industry has the highest employment rate after agriculture andalso it accounts for 4 per cent of the GDP, 14 per cent of industrial production and 17 per cent of the countrys total export earnings. This makes the handmade textile industry one of the most important industries for our economy. Not only this, this sector also showcases our countrys impeccable skill, ingenuity and expertise to the world. More so, handlooms have a low carbon footprint, or none, as they consume less infrastructure, technology and power. These are all well-known facts. However, what is less talked about is the importance of sustainability of handlooms in the ever-growing fashion industry of India. Owing to the intensifying pressure for companies to become more sustainable, designers in the fashion industry, by and large, have started giving importance to the handloom sector of our country. The handloom products play a major role in the world of fabrics. Around 45 lakh people are directly or indirectly engaged in this sector. Even in the recently held Textiles India 2017 Summit, which was inaugurated by Prime Mnister Narendra Modi in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, a lot of pertinent issues related to Indias handloom sector were discussed along with several facets of the textiles industry at large. This one-of-a kind mega exhibition showcased Indias strength in the entire gamut of textile and apparel value chain, from fibre to fashion. The exhibition aimed to strengthen the textile value chain in India and offered a perfect environment for B2B engagements to explore new partnerships, business relationships, investment opportunities and technological tie-ups across various segments. Prime Minister Modi highlighted the growing demand for products with zero carbon footprints, during the summit. He said efforts should be made to promote handloom and organic products, and further explore the niche markets that demand such products. He stressed that additional research should be made to develop fabric from other natural sources too as this will establish India as valued partner for countries seeking growth and investment opportunities in the textile sector. Likewise, concurring with the Prime Ministers point of view, some of the experts in the fashion industry also reiterated that the traditional techniques have an amazingly low carbon footprint which is much more sustainable in the long run than the use of technology. Experts' take Experts and most of the eminent fashion designers, who attended fashion shows at the Textiles India 2017 summit, were of the view that sustainability is the way to take fashion forward. They consensually agreed to the fact that some of the dying heirloom techniques and the vibrant handloom sector of our country need immense support from the fashion industry to sustain. The fashion shows were fully supported by stalwarts from the fashion industry, including designers like Anita Dongre, Manish Malhotra, Ritu Kumar and Tarun Tahiliani among others. The show presented a compelling story of the textiles of India, focusing on innovations in craft and design. It was the largest curated presentation of Indian textiles on the runway that unfolded the story of growth and development of the Indian textiles sector and its transformation to become a global power. Inspired by the seven key notes of music that form the Sargam, a fundamental base for any tradition of music, the show celebrated textiles of our country and showcased the entire spectrum through seven key segments covering Cottons, Silks,Wools, Embroidery, Hand-Dyed and Hand printed, Modern/Industrial and Futuristic Sustainable textiles of India. Leading Indian designers joined hands with master-craftsmen to showcase their work in heritage handlooms, handicrafts as well as modern and futuristic textiles. The textile panaroma spanned across regions and states of the Gujarat, North-East India, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Assam. The fashion show featured designs from a combination of 31 established and emerging designers and master craftsmen and weavers from across different textile traditions, languages and states of India. One of the distinguished fashion designers of India, Manish Malhotra, said, I dont think the potential of the handloom sector of our country is being fully utilised. I also feel that, apparently, lot of designers are talking so much about it and its revival but not doing enough. But the government is being very good. PM Modi is being very forthcoming and passionate about it. The story of the evolution of cottons in India was showcased by designers such as Anavila Misra, mastercraftsmen Chaman Siju from Kutch and Richana Khumanthem from Manipur as well as Wendell Rodricks for Goa Kunbi Cotton Handlooms. The rich legacy of Indian silk included Banarasi Silks by Sanjay Garg, Meghalaya Ryndia Silk by Daniel Syiem and Tussar handlooms from Jharkhand by Shruti Sancheti. Rahul Misra and Rajesh Pratap Singh among others showcased the story of evolution of Wool. The Embroidery category was presented by eminent designers such as Anamika Khanna, Anita Dongre, Manish Malhotra, Ritu Kumar, Rohit Bal, Sabyasachi, Tarun Tahiliani among others. Young gen next label Poochki collaborated with master craftsman Berulal Chippa from Rajasthan to showcase Bagru handicraft and Vineet Rahul collaborated with Mohammed Yusuf Khatri from Bagh, Madhya Pradesh to showcase Bagh handicrafts in high end fashion. Gaurav Gupta and Pankaj; Nidhi presented modern textiles and in the final segment Abraham and Thakore, Amit Aggarwal, Hemang Agrawal and Manish Arora presented modern and futuristic textiles that included man-made fibres, metal yarns and sustainable recycled fabrics. Manoj Jain, Director, Development Commissioner (Handlooms), Union Ministry of Textiles, representing his ministry and its initiatives on handlooms and fashion, said a lot has been done by the government to protect and promote our handloom sector. He said, To promote handlooms, one of the major initiatives is the launch of India Handloom brand (IHB) by PM Modi in 2015. It focuses on uses of natural fibres such as cotton, wool, silk, and jute, and provides branding to the products for distinction. He added, So far more than 400 producers have been registered across the country and last years sale is 110 crores. Besides, we have adopted 315 block level clusters across the country. Renowned fashion designer Suket Dhir said, Handloom sector needs mass patronage. It needs little more understanding and sensitivity. Both powerloom and handloom should co-exist. There is a new momentum and new designers are coming up and getting involved, which is putting more focus on reviving dying heirloom techniques. Marketing is key In todays world of technological advancement, marketing is pertinent to the growth and development of handloom industry. Indias ace designer and textile conservationist, Ritu Kumar, said, Marketing is very essential to boost the sale of handloom products. With the younger designers also getting involved, there is much visibility of handlooms in todays time. Designer Tarun Tahiliani reiterated, Many of the younger generation do not want to continue in the profession of weaving as the weavers are not paid due credit and are not recognised enough. They are not celebrated. Their products should be marketed enough so that the consumers get recognition of who the manufacturer is. Ritu added, Thailand, with just one fabric, Thai silk has utilised it fully for their incredible Thailand campaign. If government of India makes incredible Indian textile campaign based on our diverse handlooms, it would make a lot of difference. Furthermore, Susanne Goetz, Associate Professor, Department of Textile and Surface Design Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, said, I think there is great potential for branding for Indian textiles. Outside India, the characteristics of fabrics from specific regions are not known. It needs to be marketed well. Transparency that goes beyond certification, is required which would bring to fore where is the product from and who made it. Technology also has a major role to play as it will let them connect to bigger market. From first President Rajendra Prasad to newly elected Ram Nath Kovind, the Rashtrapati Bhavan has hosted all the first citizens with love and care. Here is a list of those who occupied the most coveted post of the country. Ram Nath Kovind (2017-): A Dalit leader from Kanpur and an advocate by profession, Indias 14th President Ram Nath Kovind was born on 1 October 1945 at Kanpur Dehat, Uttar Pradesh. He is a former president of the BJP Dalit Morcha. He also served as the national spokesperson of the party. He took over as Governor of Bihar on 8 August 2015 and resigned from the office recently after he was picked as the nominee for the presidential poll. He was elected twice to the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh 1994-2000 and 2000-2006. He is married to Savita Kovind and has a son, Prashant Kumar, who is married, and a daughter, Swati. Pranab Mukherjee (2012 2017): He is the 13th President of India, he had been in office since 25 July 2012. He will demit office on 25 July 2017. In a political career spanning six decades, Mukherjee was a senior leader of the Indian National Congress and occupied several ministerial portfolios in the Government of India. Mukherjee got his break in politics in 1969 when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi helped him get elected to the Rajya Sabha on a Congress ticket. Pratibha Patil (2007 2012): Patil was the first woman to become the 12th President of India. A member of the Indian National Congress, Patil previously served as the Governor of Rajasthan from 2004 to 2007. During her tenure, she commuted death sentence in 19 cases and rejected petitions of three. APJ Abdul Kalam (2002 2007): Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam was the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007. A career scientist-turned-statesman, Kalam was intimately involved in India's civilian space programme and military missile development efforts. He was known as the Missile Man of India for his work on the development of ballistic missile and launch vehicle technology. He was the first scientist to become a President in 2002. Kalam was affectionately known as the People's President and also received the Bharat Ratna. Kocheril Raman Narayanan (1997 2002): Popularly known as KR Naranayanan, he was the 10th President of India. He served as ambassador to Japan, United Kingdom, Thailand, Turkey, China and the US. He was referred to by Nehru as 'the best diplomat of the country'. Elected as the ninth Vice President in 1992, Narayanan went on to become first Dalit-origin President in 1997. He was the first and, so far, only member of the Dalit community, to hold the post. Shankar Dayal Sharma (1992 1997): He was the ninth President and eighth Vice President of the country. He was also chief minister (19521956) of Bhopal, and Cabinet Minister (19561967), holding the portfolios of Education, Law, Public Works, Industry and Commerce, National Resources and Separate Revenue. He was the President of the Indian National Congress in 19721974 and returned to the government as Union Minister for Communications from 1974 to 1977. The International Bar Association presented Sharma with the 'Living Legends of Law Award of Recognition' for his outstanding contribution to the legal profession. R Venkataraman (1987 1992): A lawyer, Indian independence activist and politician, Ramaswamy Venkataraman was the eighth President of India. He was elected to Lok Sabha four times and served as Union Finance Minister and Defence Minister. He also served as a State minister under K Kamaraj and M Bhaktavatsalam. Giani Zail Singh (1982 1987): He was the seventh President of India serving from 1982 to 1987. He was a politician with the Indian National Congress party before becoming the President. His presidency was marked by Operation Blue Star, the assassination of Indira Gandhi, and the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. He died of injuries in 1994 after a car accident. Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (1977 1982): Reddy was the sixth President of India, serving from 1977 to 1982. Beginning a long political career with the Indian National Congress party in the Indian independence movement, he went on to hold several key offices in independent Indiaas the first Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, a two-time Speaker of the Lok Sabha and a Union Ministerbefore becoming the youngest-ever Indian president. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (1974 1977): He was the second Muslim to be elected as the fifth President of India from 1974 to 1977 and also the second President of India to die in office. He served as the President during the time of Emergency. VV Giri (1969-1974): Varahagiri Venkata Giri, also known as VV Giri, was the fourth President of India from 24 August 1969 to 24 August 1974. As President, he was the only person to be elected as an independent candidate and later was succeeded by Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed as President in 1974. After end of his term, he was honoured with the Bharat Ratna in 1975. Dr Zakir Hussain (1967 1969): He was the third President of India, from 13 May 1967 until his death on 3 May 1969. An educator and intellectual, Husain was the country's first Muslim president, and also the first to die in office. He was also the shortest serving President of India. He served as Governor of Bihar from 1957 to 1962 and as Vice President of India from 1962 to 1967. He was the co-founder of Jamia Milia Islamia, serving as its Vice Chancellor from 1928. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1962 1967): An Indian philosopher and statesman, he was the first Vice President of India (19521962) and the second President of India. He was one of the first to receive the Bharat Ratna, in 1954, and was also the first to lead the line of five Presidents to receive the Bharat Ratna till now. He was awarded with a knighthood in 1931 and honorary membership of the British Royal Order of Merit in 1963. Rajendra Prasad (1950 1962): When India became a Republic in 1950, Prasad was elected its first President by the Constituent Assembly. Following the general election of 1951, he was elected President by the electoral college of the first Parliament of India and its state legislatures. As President, Prasad established a tradition of non-partisanship and independence for the office-bearer and retired from Congress party politics. Prasad encouraged the development of education in India and advised the Nehru government on several occasions. The Opposition walked out of the Rajya Sabha on Thursday after Union Minister Prakash Javadekar accused it of suffering from "selective amnesia" on lynching cases. A visibly angry Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad hit back by saying that notwithstanding who was in power, the "Parivaar" (a reference to the Sangh family or Hindutva groups) people were found involved in every communal riot in the country. "When I condemn mob lynching, I do not suffer from selective amnesia like some of our Opposition colleagues," Javadekar said as he mentioned the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and the killing of 'karsevaks' in Godhra in Gujarat in 2002. "In 1984, Sikhs were lynched or burnt alive, at least 3,000 of them. In 2002, Ram bhakts returning from Ayodhya were lynched in Godhra. We condemn all such incidents," the Human Resource Development Minister said. He said there were 16 mob lynchings in 2012 and 14 in 2013. "Where are the culprits involved in the lynchings in 2012 and 2013? Where are the culprits involved in anti-Sikh riots of 1984? Very few of them are in jail, rest are roaming free," he said. In response, Azad, a senior Congress leader, stood up and retorted: "Let me say that in all the communal riots that occurred in India, people from your 'parivaar' were found involved." He said it was the Congress that fought for the country's freedom and "not you people". "We are staging a walkout in protest," the former Union Minister said. Pakistan summoned on Thursday the Indian Deputy High Commissioner for a second consecutive day and lodged a formal protest over ceasefire violations in Jammu and Kashmir resulting in the killing of two civilians. The Director General of South Asia at the Foreign Ministry, who summoned the Indian diplomat, condemned the "unprovoked ceasefire violations" by the Indian Army in Nikial and Nezapir sectors along the Line of Control (LoC) on Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry said. "Despite calls for restraint, India continues to indulge in ceasefire violations. In 2017 to date, Indian forces have carried out 594 ceasefire violations along the LoC and international border," the statement said. "The deliberate targeting of civilians is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity and international human rights and humanitarian laws," the Indian diplomat was told. The Director General also urged India to respect the 2003 ceasefire pact and investigate the incidents of truce violations. Pakistan and India had declared a ceasefire along the LoC, the de facto border which divides Kashmir between them. On Wednesday too, the Indian diplomat was summoned to the ministry and was told that India should permit the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan to play its mandated role in Jammu and Kashmir. Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday said that PM Narendra Modi took up the H1B issue "without using the word H1B". "Without using the word H1B visa, there was extensive discussion on its spirit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump," Sushma said in the Rajya Sabha in response to an Opposition member's question on the issue. "Proud to say PM Modi was able to make President Trump agree that Indian skilled professionals are contributing greatly to the American economy," she added. V Maitreyan of the AIADMK raised the visa issue and asked the government to elaborate if US President Donald Trump and PM Narendra Modi spoke about the H1B visa issue. Earlier in the day, Congress leader Anand Sharma took up the issue of US deciding to cut the number of H1B visas, and restriction on Indian IT professionals working in the US. "There is not even a mention of IT professionals in the joint statement issued by India and United States following the Prime Minister's visit to the country, Anand Sharma said in the Rajya Sabha. H1B visa is an employment-based, non-immigrant visa category for temporary workers. An employer offers a job and applies for the applicants H1B visa petition with the US Immigration Department. According to reports, Trump had signed an executive order in April to tighten the rules of the H1B visa programme to stop visa abuses. He earlier had said that his administration is going to enforce Hire American rules that are designed to protect jobs and wages of workers in the US. With the first round of vote counting for the presidential poll coming to an end, NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind was leading over oppositions Meira Kumar by 60,683 votes. As per reports, Kovind was polled over 83,624 votes against Meira Kumars 22,941 votes at the end of the first round of the counting. As per the rule of proportional representation, the total votes cast by elected lawmakers across India add up to around 11 lakh. The first round of counting has ended and there are seven more to go. The counting began on Thursday morning in the Parliament. The result was expected by the evening that would decide the successor of President Pranab Mukherjee, who demits office on 25 July, the day when the new president will take oath. There would be eight rounds of counting, and the announcements regarding the counting trend would be made after every round. Polling to choose the successor to President Mukherjee was held simultaneously at 32 polling stations one in Parliament House and one each in 29 state assemblies and two union territories with assemblies. As per reports, people at the native village of Ram Nath Kovind had already started celebrating in anticipation of his win. A court here on Thursday granted bail to two Sikh militants, accused of hijacking an Air India plane in 1981 to Lahore, Pakistan. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Jyoti Kler granted bail to Tajinder Pal Singh and Satnam Singh and asked them to furnish a personal bond of Rs 2 lakh and two sureties of like amount each. The court directed them not to tamper with evidence or influence witnesses in the case. The court earlier on Tuesday granted two-day interim bail to the duo after they appeared before it. The case against them dates back to September 29, 1981, when they allegedly hijacked an Air India plane from New Delhi en route to Srinagar via Amritsar and forced it to land in Lahore, Pakistan, where they were arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment. Both were deported in 2000 from Pakistan after serving life-term for hijacking. They had later sought their discharge from the case but a sessions court had dismissed their plea. In 2011, the Delhi Police had chargesheeted them under various sections 121 (waging war against the government of India), 121A (conspiring to commit certain offences against the state), 124A (sedition) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The Delhi High court had also dismissed their plea seeking stay on the sessions court order and asked the trial court to proceed with the matter. China on Thursday reiterated that it won't talk to India until New Delhi withdraws troops from Doklam where both armies have been locked in a stand-off for more than a month. China has repeatedly said the withdrawal of troops from Doklam was the precondition for any "meaningful dialogue" with India over the festering border row in the Sikkim section of the border. "Our diplomatic channel is unimpeded and the withdrawal of the Indian border troops is the precondition for any meaningful dialogue and the communication between the two sides," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said at a press conference. "The incident that happened in Sikkim section is quite clear that the Indian border troops illegally trespassed into Chinese territory," Lu added. The borders of India, Bhutan and China meet at Doklam, which holds strategic importance to all three. China calls Doklam its own but India and Bhutan call it Bhutanese territory. India, a close ally of Bhutan, stopped the Chinese Army from building a road in Doklam in June, leading to the face-off between New Delhi and Beijing. Now both armies are eyeball-to-eyeball at Doklam. India says it wants to resolve the issue diplomatically. Pankaj Tripathi is another theatre graduate who has cemented his place in the Hindi film industry after toiling for more than a decade. The National School of Drama (NSD) graduate, who has delivered impressive performances in films such as Gangs of Wasseypur, Masaan and Nil Battey Sannata, said coming from theatre, Bollywood was always about survival for him. I didn't come in the industry to change anything. I came here only to survive. I had done plays and Hindi theatre pays peanuts. For a married man with a family, I had to survive first. I would do one-scene roles at the time. And now work is seeking me. I can afford to choose parts today. This has not been handed over to me by anyone. I have bled drop-by-drop, like water seeps from a vessel, Tripathi told in an interview. It is certainly a good time for the actor as four of his films Gurgaon, Munna Michael, Bareilly Ki Barfi and Newton are ready to hit the screen. Tripathi is looking forward to the role of Kehri Singh, a farmer-turned-real-estate-tycoon in the Shanker Raman-directed Gurgaon. I play a father in the film who is close to his daughter. It is a very internalised performance. It is a layered character with lots of complexities. Kehri is no saint but I always try to find the humanity in the character no matter how dark it is. I am really looking forward to the film. Quoting Sahir Ludhianvi's lyrics, Ye duniya agar mil bhi jaye to kya hai, Pankaj said an actor becomes more internal as an individual if he has faced struggle or has achieved what he/she set out for. I think we also get tired. Sometimes a vacuum develops when we have nothing to lose. Reach the top or perish while struggling are two quite similar situations. As a character artiste, Tripathi said he had less chance of being rejected by the audience than the main lead. I was offered 10 Sultan Qureshi-type roles after 'Gangs of Wasseypur'. But I did not want to repeat that as I have little fear of being rejected by the people. We have freedom to experiment as an artiste unlike lead heroes. I never became a hit, so naturally I will never flop. We can strike a balance between commercial and indie cinema. Big films help your reach a wider audience and doing independent films keeps your artistic side happy. Tripathi said striking this balance was important as an actor because mainstream cinema helps indie films stay afloat. If commercial cinema won't be there, independent films won't be able to survive. Multiplexes will become banquet halls. Cinema is like a temple. Tripathi said even if the content was serious and message-driven, the storytellers could not shirk their responsibility to deliver an entertaining plot. There's a fine line between being effortless and bloodless. Roles that I do are entertaining, they have 'ras'. I don't do boring roles in the name of realist or truthful cinema. I want the stories that I do to be interesting for the audience too. The Shanker Raman-directed film, also starring Akshay Oberoi and Ragini Khanna, releases on August 4 with Shah Rukh Khan-Anushka Sharma starrer Jab Harry Met Sejal. Tripathi, who worked with Shah Rukh in Dilwale, is not worried about the film clashing with the superstar's project. Clash is when the fight is between equals. I want Shah Rukh's film to go houseful so that ones who don't get tickets will end up watching our film. A soldier gunning down the officer who reprimanded him for using a cell-phone on the frontline, jawans airing their grievances on social media and the Army reporting about 100 stress-related deaths a year, all point in an ominous direction. Indiscipline ~ of which suicide/fratricide are extreme examples ~ can often be traced to a failure of leadership, which includes man management as much as providing the gung-ho on the battlefield. Sadly, it must be asked if the officers of today are adequately equipped to get the best from their men. A modern Army boasts not only the most advanced technology in terms of weapons and equipment, but personnel powerfully motivated to perform their onerous tasks. It has long been lamented that quality youth do not accord high priority to a military career, so there is scope for apprehension over the standard of leadership: a standard that in prevailing circumstances calls for a lot more than spit-and-polish on parade. For though the majority of soldiers still hail from rustic stock, the young men have enhanced aspirations that may not be addressed in the colonial ethos of a tradition-rich service. In the unfortunate incident under focus, the officer belonged to the Armoured Corps, the current shortage of officers had him seconded to a Rashtriya Rifles unit of men from the Madras Regiment. The professional gap may have been bridged, but the emotional bonding may not have been as strong as desirable. The soldier could well have been using his cell-phone to talk with family or friend and resented the call being interrupted. There is need for counselling in such matters, the scanty reports available point to the cell-phone being damaged ~ was it snatched from him? Jawans, including those in the paramilitary, accord high priority to maintaining contact with home and officers must learn to deal with that. Remember that when defence minister George Fernandes pulled strings for a satellite-phone service to be provided at the Siachen Base Camp, the soldiers were happy to pay the high tariff involved. This is only one example of aspirational changes that officers now have to factor in, the earlier gap between officers and men has been narrowed. Soldiers, particularly those deployed on internal security duties, have to be enlightened on the objectives of their task: the days of theirs not to question why ended long ago. Understanding the complexities of the job might help avert confrontation with civil rights issues: as raised by the apex court in relation to killings in Manipur, and by the High Court in respect of J-K. A sensitive defence minister is urgently required, the Army has to grow up beyond the stage of formally commending the use of a civilian as a human shield. That arrogant monster can turn inwards too. Kwik Trip, which already dominates the convenience store market in suburban Dane County with its low prices and customer-friendly amenities like no-fee ATMs, is expanding its presence in Madison, announcing Wednesday that it is buying PDQ Stores. This gives us a presence inside the Beltline and that fits perfectly with where we want to be, said David Niemi, a spokesman with La Crosse-based Kwik Trip, which signed an agreement to acquire the assets of Middleton-based PDQ, which includes 15 company-operated convenience stores in Madison, another eight in the area, 11 elsewhere in Wisconsin and one in California. A purchase price was not announced because it was a private sale, according to Niemi. PDQ is employee-owned and has four major shareholders who approved the deal after conferring with the employees, Niemi said. Kwik Trip is owned by the Zietlow family. A competitor offered a gloomy outlook at best for the other convenience stores in Madison because of Kwik Trips low prices for inside sales. (Kwik Trip) is a huge company. We cant compete with them. Itll be tough for everybody else to do business in Madison, said Farooq Shahzad, president of Capitol Petroleum, which owns 17 Petro Marts in Madison one more than Kwik Trip will own in the city after the PDQ sale is finalized. Kwik Trip currently has 337 stores in Wisconsin. Its only presence in Madison is a store that doesnt sell gasoline on the UW-Madison campus, a full-service store at the American Center and a Tobacco Outlet, which is also part of the Kwik Trip organization, on Sherman Avenue. It has 19 other stores in the county. It also has another 147 stores in Minnesota and 82 in Iowa. The stores are called Kwik Star in Iowa because a chief competitor in that state is called QuikTrip. The company, which does about $5 billion in gross sales annually, employs about 19,000 workers, Niemi said. The acquisition of PDQ includes licenses to sell alcohol for each store, which was a key part of the deal, according to Niemi. Kwik Trips policy is to open stores only where the company can sell all of its many products, including alcoholic beverages. That had been difficult in Madison as well as in Milwaukee because of the policies of both cities to limit new licenses to sell alcohol, Niemi said. About 1,000 new jobs will be created after the sale is finalized because the company will double and sometimes triple the amount of employees that PDQ employs at each of its stores, Niemi said. Most of those jobs which include kitchen work, loading and unloading, and product demonstrations that arent part of the PDQ blueprint will be part-time. None of the current PDQ employees are assured of a job with Kwik Trip, but all are encouraged to apply for jobs with the company, Niemi said. The company, which hopes to finalize the sale in October, also plans to spend $30 million to $35 million to re-image all of the PDQ stores into Kwik Trip stores, according to Niemi. The majority of PDQs stores will get an interior facelift that includes new shelving, while the smaller ones will be remodeled. The company plans to have the entire project finished by mid- to late October, he said. A PDQ spokesman did not return calls asking for a comment on the sale. PDQ has been around for 65 years, and Kwik Trip for 52 years, and they have enjoyed success as family-owned operations with similar business mindsets, according to Niemi. For instance, Kwik Trip and PDQ both like to build two stores across from each other on one street so customers dont have to make tough turns in traffic to get in and out. Its a good fit for us, Niemi said. Sam Jacobson opened the first PDQ called Tri Dairy in 1949, added a second one 13 years later and, following a suggestion by his wife, Mary, changed the name to PDQ, which was short for Pretty Darned Quick, a popular phrase from the World War I era, according to the company website. In 2009, Jeff Jacobsen sold PDQ to the employees. The John Hansen family founded Kwik Trip in Eau Claire in 1965. It was co-owned by the Hansen and Zietlow families starting in 1972, and the Hansens sold their interest to the Zietlows in 2000. Fast-growing Kwik Trip, which has opened 200 stores since 2013, has developed a strong reputation for luring customers inside with its fresh and hot food, coffee and beverages and a number of other products at prices that are usually the lowest in the area. I choose between Kwik Trip, PDQ and Kelleys Market where I live because there isnt a grocery store nearby and Kwik Trips prices are more on the fair side, said Ryan Johnson, 43, who lives on the North Side near the town of Westport border. Kwik Trip, which regularly rates high in consumer surveys, has the lowest prices because the companys campus in La Crosse includes a kitchen that makes soups, salads, pizzas and other hot food, as well as all the bread and buns under its labels, along with a warehouse where more than 6,000 different products flow through to its stores. Many of Kwik Trips stores include large walk-in beer coolers, wood fixtures, tile floors and other amenities to give it an upscale look. They also include customer-friendly touches such as free and easy-to-use air compressors for inflating tires. That is a business weapon that has no peers in this area and creates a gap in prices that will lure customers away from the citys other convenience stores, according to Capitol Petroleums Shahzad. We have to pay a commission to a third party for the products we sell, and Kwik Trip avoids that. So they can undersell, theyve got the free ATM, they do things we cant afford to do. Hes going to kill the little guys, he said. Shahzad said Capitol Petroleum turned down a very good offer from Kwik Trip to buy all the Petro Marts about a month ago. They want to add 50 stores a year. Thats what they told me, Shahzad said. I think this time they offered PDQ too much money that couldnt be refused. Just a few months ago, on 2 March last, while my family and friends were were busy celebrating the marriage of my son and I was busy greeting guests, I saw a stately person, looking a little stressed yet composed, gracefully walking towards me holding a stick in hand. It took me no time to recognise and feel elated at seeing the great Naresh Chandra. But I was saddened to see him, a pale shadow of his previous vibrant self. We were meeting after a long gap and I was delighted that a man I had always admired was present to bless the newly-weds. I silently prayed for his good health. That great soul is no more. I first met Naresh Chandra in 1986. A Rajasthan cadre IAS officer of the 1956 batch, he was proactive and self-driven. He emitted energy yet bore a strong, grounded look with grace. Such were the vibes between us that our first meeting of a few minutes turned into an association of decades. Through the years, we met many times, interacted closely and developed a close relationship based on respect and admiration. In all my interactions, I experienced the warmth in his behaviour and a concern for people and society. A man with an exceptional sense of integrity, Naresh Chandra always impressed me. Indeed I was not alone, for he was respected equally by civil servants, diplomats, politicians, world leaders and top industrialists of this country and the world who knew him. Naresh Chandra worked in many important positions at the national and international levels. He had been Defence Secretary, Home Secretary, Industry Secretary, Cabinet Secretary, adviser to PM, Governor of Gujarat and Indian Ambassador to the USA. He played many key roles in realising the nuclear vision of the nation and in establishing the liberalised economy in the country. In fact, the blue print of liberalisation though prepared earlier was finalised when he was Cabinet Secretary in the Chandrasekhar government. He was also the ambassador to the USA and played a key role when Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee decided to test nuclear weapons. In all, he worked under four prime ministers. When in 1989, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi looked for a man to play the critical and confidential role of supervising our nuclear programme, the responsibility was entrusted to then defence secretary, Naresh Chandra. I always believed Naresh Chandra was the best possible example for young civil servants. In fact, I once asked him to name bureaucrats who had impressed him a lot. He named two. One was R C Bhargava, who is presently the Chairman of Maruti and the other was Shailaja Chandra, a 1966 batch UT cadre IAS officer who was the chief secretary of Delhi. Meeting him was always an honour. The same can be said about his brother Girish Chandra Saxena who served as Secretary, RAW and was former governor of Jammu and Kashmir. He passed away a few months ago. Ethics are reason. And mans greatest weapon is his reason. I always thought that Naresh Chandra always conducted himself with the strength of his exemplary character. Let me narrate an incident. During a conversation when he was ambassador to the USA, he mentioned that he was looking for a silver candle stand to gift to the then US President, Mr Bill Clinton. I found a piece and gave it to him the next day. When he asked me for the bill, I hesitated as I felt awkward being reimbursed for a friendly gesture to a man who never demands anything in a country where taking gifts is an everyday practice. However, he insisted and said it was to be charged to the embassy. When I kept demurring, he did not press me. Days passed and one fine moment I received a letter. To my surprise it was a letter of thanks from the then President and first lady of USA, Mr and Mrs Clinton, for the gift they had received. My goodness!, I said to myself, Naresh Chandra would never take credit that does not belong to him. And he will give everyone his due. Such remarkable judiciousness and sense of fairness are indeed rare. What an ethical man he is. Out of pride, I talked about this incident to everyone around and showed the letter. My son, then a school-going kid, was so thrilled that he took the letter of appreciation and pinned it on the school notice board. Even today when I think of the incident, tears come to my eyes. There are no words that can express the loss I feel at Naresh Chandras passing. Here was a man who left an indelible mark on the sands of time. (The writer is Chairman, Paras Foundation and can be reached at [email protected]) With Parliament now in session, domestic affairs are once more in the forefront of public attention. The Prime Ministers energetic progress through diverse lands, which included a pioneering visit to Israel, had crowded out the normal day-today activity of the Government, including diplomatic dealings, but as matters change and old problems revive, some of the harsher realities to be faced by the country have once more risen to the surface. Abroad, the PM vigorously rallied international opinion against all forms of terrorism, to measurable good effect, but shortly after his return the terrorists struck hard in an effort to disrupt the annual pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave in Kashmir. This was not the first such attack, for the large numbers of annual pilgrims who come from the plains are vulnerable to terror attacks, but despite the risks they have refused to be deterred. Though protection for the pilgrims has become ever tighter, given the numbers involved and the difficulties of the terrain to be patrolled, it can never be absolute. The terrorists, ever lurking for an opportunity, have struck whenever they had the chance and they did so again this time, taking a terrible toll of human lives. For decades, such terror strikes have been mounted with the purpose of dividing communities and fomenting strife between them. Support from across the border is a key factor. This is Indias biggest security challenge, deliberately aimed at damaging the basic structure of the country and its secular and inclusive character. Over the years, as armed bigots have continued their outrages against peace and order, the people of Kashmir have maintained their composure and tolerant disposition, notwithstanding the crescendo of violence to which their land has been subjected. At the same time, new generations of boys and girls have been schooled in disaffection and their activities like stone-pelting have proliferated. This could have encouraged the instigators and led them to believe that an attack at Amarnath would be divisive and lead to a cascade of further incidents. But the reality was entirely different. The people of the Valley came out in indignant repudiation of what had been done in their land. Far from joining in, they showed their rejection of the violence and divisiveness inflicted in their name, in order to affirm their own distinctive values and way of life. Not In My Name is a rallying call that has gained currency as a response to sectarian extremists who, unchecked, have hunted down their quarry in different parts of the country; the concerted response from Kashmir similarly dissociates that part of the country from the sectarian sentiments of the perpetrators of the Amarnath attack. No less striking, and with important practical consequences, is the chorus of sympathy towards Kashmir from all sides, including senior leaders of the Government. In the midst of outbreaks of trouble when terrorists are active and have to be confronted, Kashmiri sentiment can be overlooked as the security apparatus grapples with the immediate task before them. No end to this task is presently in sight but some significant shifts in sentiment need to be noted. After the recent attack the pain and distress of Kashmir have been recognised with greater emphasis, and also the fortitude of its people. The countrys top leadership has made a big effort to reach out to the Kashmiri people, in terms that address the tribulations of the people, and the message they have communicated goes beyond the familiar reiteration of the need to restore security and law-and-order as an essential prelude to further remedial activity. In this, there could be the hint of a shift that can be the precursor to a more comprehensive and constructive way of meeting the current challenge. Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has been especially forthright on the subject and her views merit serious consideration. As she put it, the recent events in J&K have brought all communities closer in promoting their shared interests and beliefs. Their newly affirmed readiness to work together has strengthened the State Assembly by making it a genuine forum for debate and decision. In these improved circumstances, the Chief Minister sees the opportunity for revival of dialogue to address the dangers within the State, and has called for resumption of talks between contending parties. This is a bold step, for the countrys ruling party, the BJP, Ms Muftis coalition partner, has not yet taken any initiative in this direction, and channels for dialogue, where they exist, have been starved of attention. Indeed the notion of entering into dialogue with adversaries does not fit comfortably with the stern official policy towards contrary opinion to be seen in Kashmir and elsewhere. In pressing her point, the Chief Minister has observed that readiness to talk should not be regarded as some sort of appeasement. Mufti has also not shied away from calling for resumption of Indo-Pak dialogue that has been languishing for the last few years. She observed that PM Modi had made more than one effort to open lines of communication with Pakistan and lamented the lack of response from the other side. Nevertheless, she seems to be of the view that this is a good time to revive the process, and many may share her judgment though few have been so articulate in expressing it. The Chief Ministers observations throw into relief some of the abiding considerations that affect the Indo-Pak relationship. Over the years, there have been many ups and downs, much strife and conflict, but the shared ways of life and deeply embedded social values they have in common remain. There is thus a very special flavour to their interaction when it occurs: only recently PM Modi met his Pakistani counterpart at a multilateral meeting, and though there was nothing much at stake, the fact that they met and shook hands was the only talking point in their respective countries. Such gestures remind us that, however infrequent the occurrence, there is no curbing the expectation of better things when representatives of the two countries do meet. Maybe the events of the last few weeks can now nudge the two countries into starting to talk again. There is a large agreed agenda of issues that need to be discussed, and though the dialogue has stuttered, bold leadership can give new momentum and take matters forward again. All the evidence indicates that efforts to improve relations and build a structure of peace with the neighbour enjoy public support and sympathy. The call given by the Chief Minister, which is in the spirit of the present state of relations, can encourage the two countries to make a fresh effort. (The writer is India's former Foreign Secretary) Khawajasira, the Urdu language equivalent for transgender in Pakistan, was the title of the chief eunuch in the Mughal court. Eunuchs were royal slaves who not only served as custodians of the harem but also enjoyed unrestricted access to the kings private chambers, wielded enormous power in the palace court, and possessed the elevated status of nobles in society. As close royal aides, transgender persons were appointed as generals, governors, judges and teachers, according to their upbringing, education and experience. The less cultivated among them were employed in lower administrative ranks. In the slave market of mediaeval India, eunuchs were sold at a price three times higher than an average man. Defined as a person who identifies with a gender other than the one assigned at birth, khawajasira has been adopted by human rights activists as a substitute for more customary (but derogatory) terms used to identify the transgender community. Today, not all khawajasira are eunuchs; the majority of them are male, biologically speaking, who adopt a feminine persona, i.e. their manner and appearance is more commonly associated with the female gender. Still, under Pakistans criminal laws, all transgender persons are legally considered eunuchs. Even the groundbreaking judgement on transgender rights by the Supreme Court in 2009 (and subsequent judgements in 2012) refers to khawajasira as eunuchs. Pakistani laws are based on a thick text of colonial legislations, which not only has primacy in current legislation, but also determine the social attitudes and public morality of contemporary society. In contrast to their dignified status during the Mughal era, nowadays in our society to be transgender is widely regarded as a social pathology, its people inherently morally bankrupt and criminally suspect. The pejorative assignation of sexual deviancy stems from a 19thcentury European view of politics, domesticity and gender, which was inherited and applied by the East India Company as it gained hegemonic control over the Indian political sphere. Given the prominent role of the khawajasira in the Mughal administration, British colonialists perceived them as a threat to their territorial control that had to be eliminated. The British took steps to stop their community from growing, and prohibited the employment of otherwise highly competent khawajasira in the British Indian administration. With the reins of power passed to the Crown, they began the task of social engineering British India. The lives of the transgender community were to be governed under the infamous Criminal Tribes Act, 1871. Under this colonial law, from the elite khawajasira to subaltern hijra, the community was considered equivalent to a tribe whose criminal intent was determined by their transgender-ness, and thus brought under the surveillance and control of the colonial state. By yoking the community under draconian laws as petty criminals, their movements were policed, their living quarters raided and their public performances banned on grounds of obscenity. When the Mughal empire fell, the khawajasira too fell from grace, never able to regain what they had lost. From being trustworthy politicians, bureaucrats and generals of the Indian royalty and elite, they were reduced to being a laughing stock and counted among the poorest of the poor treatment they continue to suffer from. Although the revenge of the British colonialist seems total and the destruction of transgender groups complete, the khawajasira continue to resist the colonial and post-colonial control of their sexuality and survive to date as subalterns of Indian history, silenced and unheard by society. Todays spectacle of the khawajasira begging on the street originates from the custom of toli, the collection of alms, as an everyday form of colonial resistance as well as an economic strategy to gain an alternate livelihood. Moreover, the very act of begging turned them into ascetics whose blessings, it is believed, can allow a woman to conceive a male child. After centuries of neglect and shame, the world of the transgender community in Pakistan is rapidly transforming. While the judiciary is to be credited for recognising non-binary gender, the role of the legislature in allowing transgender people their rights of equal citizenship, admitted by the courts, through relevant legislation must also be commended. In this regard, the role of the National Commission for Human Rights, the federal ombudsmans office and transgender rights activists is laudable in drafting a bill tabled in parliament for the protection and advancement of our transgender community. It is a moment of reckoning for legal mores and public morality, which has held the potential and promise of this community in chains for far too long. A new era must begin. (The writer is vice president of the Council of Social Sciences Pakistan. Dawn/ANN.) Celebrating its three years in the Indian market, Chinese tech giant Xiaomi is holding its 3rd Anniversary sale on Thursday and Friday (July 20-21) and is offering mouth watering deals to consumers exclusively on Mi.com, Amazon and Flipkart. To begin with the much awaited new Mi Max 2 smartphone was on sale at 10 am followed by a Re 1 flash sale at 11 am and 1 pm for products like the Redmi 4A and 4 smartphones. The bidding sales will take place every two hours starting at 2 pm for products like the Redmi Note 4, Air purifier, selfie stick, VR play, Mi Router among others. To ensure that yours is the winning bid, it should be unique and the lowest for the time-slot. Heres a quick look at the best offers: Mi Max 2: Probably the highlight of the 3rd anniversary sale is the availability of the much hyped Mi Max2 as smartphone will be available on all major e-commerce platforms and offline stores only on 27 July. With a price tag of Rs 16,999, the phone comes in matte black colour with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage. It has 6.4-inch full HD display powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor, 12MP rear camera and 5MP front camera. With a powerful 5300 mAh battery at work, Xiaomi has promised a two-day battery life. Redmi Note 4 bidding sale: There are four slots and each one has a set of three different products on offer. To register, users have to share about the sale on social media and login to their Mi.com account on the Mi.com website. Xiaomi is offering a maximum of Rs.500 cash back for SBI card users as well as Rs.2000 off on Goibibo domestic hotel bookings. In addition, discount vouchers are also up for grabs. Discounts on accessories: Concessions ranging from Rs.100 to Rs.1,500 can be had on a host of items like earphones, headphones, air purifier bundle, router and VR headset as well. Telugu filmmaker Puri Jagannadh, who was quizzed by Telangana's excise officials probing a drug racket, has lashed out at television news channels, saying they destroyed his life. After nearly a day-long questioning by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Wednesday, the well-known director posted a video on his Twitter account to vent his feelings. Denying any links with the accused arrested in this case, he said the channels ran special programmes to sensationalise things "knowingly or unknowingly". "In fact, they destroyed my life. My mother, wife, children and brothers are still in shock. Not only us, but many other families are suffering," said Puri, who is one of the 12 Tollywood personalities to be served notices by the SIT. Puri, who is also a producer and script writer, said he was hurt by the manner in which the media conducted itself. "I know the journalists. I had always been friendly with them. I will meet them again. But they disturbed me a lot. If there is anything, the SIT officers will decide," he said. The director, famous for the 2006 movie 'Pokiri' starring Mahesh Babu, said he always liked and respected the police department and made many films on them. He pointed out that he even made a movie 'Ism' on the journalists. The 50-year-old said the SIT officers asked him several questions about the allegations against him. "I told them clearly that I have no links with Calvin gang and never met Calvin," he said referring to Calvin Mascrenhas, the kingpin of the racket. "I am ready to go whenever they (SIT officers) call me again. Basically I am a very responsible person. Not only drugs, I was never into anything which is illegal," he added. Puri has received support from actor Prakash Raj. "It is high time we the people and the media realise it's not fair to sensationalise issues before the complet(e) truth comes out," tweeted Prakash Raj. 'A city is a place where there is no need to wait for the next week to get the answer to a question, to taste the food of any country, to find new voices to listen to and familiar ones to listen to again- Margaret Mead. Conveying a rich cultural and historical heritage, Bongaon assimilates a harmonious union of all castes, creeds and religions. It is one of those towns in India taking important part in export and import of both goods and cultural elements. Situated in North 24 Parganas, West Bengal, it is a border town almost touching Bangladesh. Petrapole, the largest land port in Asia, is a part of this border. The trains that used to pass through Petrapole to Bangladesh, which had stopped for a period of time, had begun again named Maitri Express. NH-34 also passes through Bongaon. In accordance to communication with Bangladesh, it is like the route of transit. During the partition of Bengal movement, Bongaon played an essential role and was highly affected by the language movement of Bangladesh in 1971. Moreover, the most striking feature of all, Bongaon celebrates Independence Day both on 15 and 18 August. Bibhutibhusan Bandopadhyay, who penned Pather Pachali, Ichamati and Aranyak,was born in Bongaon. Dinabandhu Mitra, a famous playwright, who wrote Nildarpan,was also a part of this town. Talking about another luminary, Rakhaldas Bandyopadhyay, the founder of the Mohenjo-Daro civilisation was also brought up in Bongaon. In due course, this place has been changed, modernised and many tourist attractions like Manishangan, Nildarpan Bhaban, Hanging Setu, Manosa Temple are established here but the eye-soothing greenery still prevails. Besides, an artificial forest Parmadan, widely known as a popular picnic spot has come up which is famous for its resident wild animals. On the other hand, a very old Nilkuthi stands like a dome of visible existence of the British regimes tyranny over nil or indigo farmers. At Petrapole, military parade like that of Wagah border, Punjab, goes on with splendor which is an irresistible attraction to the visitors. Durga puja, the quintessence of religion and cultural dogma which accelerates the emotions of well-being, is celebrated with unparalleled pomp and gaiety. During this festival, Bongaon wears the garment of elusive beauty. The Durga Puja of Bongaon is as famous as that of Kolkata, only with a more lingering sense of traditional proponents. Thus, Bongaon is a beautiful, peaceful town which has enthralled and is still enthralling the minds of its citizens with its pleasures and mesmerising beauty. It might not be an exotic place, but it highlights the spirit of bygone ages. (Coordinator, Class VIII, Bongaon High School) From the moment our 10-seater private Cessna plane landed at Koh Kood's dusty runway at Trat, we sensed excitement and adventure. A short speedboat ride later, we were at the jetty where the smiling staff of Soneva Kiri greeted us with cold towels and welcome drinks. Hidden away on the island of Koh Kood, Thailand's fourth largest but least populated island, award-winning eco-luxury resort Soneva Kiri nestles within a lush tropical rainforest. It advocates "Slow Life" and barefoot luxury, a way of life that promotes a cleaner and healthier way of living. We were whisked off by our own electric buggy to our villa. The four-bedroom accommodation overlooks the glorious Gulf of Siam and offers lounge areas, two outside showers, a gym, a sunken bath, two infinity pools with a slide into the pool. From luxurious spa treatments to private excursions to nearby islands, meals in hidden away locations, fully equipped PADI diving and training courses, local cultural experiences, visiting the local fishing communities and nearby temples, snorkelling, kayaking, diving, stargazing, cooking and coconut oil-making classesthere was so much to do on the secluded island. Far from the madding crowd A fascinating tour around the island took us back to an untouched Thailand. Wewere enthralled by glistening rainforests, tinkling waterfalls and traditional rural life of the local fishing communities. Koh Kood is also host to two stunning ancient makka trees, whose age is said to be somewhere between 200 and 500 years old. With fat, rotund trunks and knobby aerial roots, they look surreal indeed. Also surreal is the island's landscape. Everywhere we were followed by chirping birds, lush foliage and the scent of blossoms. We took long walks on the beach, snorkeled and swam. And then swam some more beneath a waterfall. The three-tiered Nam Tok Khlong Chao waterfall has tonnes of milky foam crashing over a moss-covered cliff into a large, inky pool. "Nam means water and tok means fall", our affable guide, Real explained as we trekked over slippery boulders to the waterfall. He explained that when King Rama VI visited the spot in 1911, he gave it the royal name Anamkok in commemoration of Ong Chiang Lue, a Vietnamese King who took refuge in the Kingdom of Siam during King Rama I's reign in the late 18th century. A beach picnic The next day, we headed to the jetty where a boat took us over the glutinous ocean for a lunch on North Beach. An enchanting zephyr blowing over a crystalline ocean, we feasted on juicy burgers, a Greek salad, deep-fried Basa and a seafood platter, all cooked fresh by chefs on the beach! All was washed down with fresh fruit juices. To work off the calories, we played beachball and frisbee. We kayaked on surf-tipped waves. What a picnic it turned out to be. Environmental sustainability Koh Kood's fragile ecosystem necessitates that its 4,000- odd residents as well commercial establishments adhere to strict environmental guidelines. Consequently, the island boasts of no public transport; mega marts, beer bars or eateries swarming with tourists. There aren't even any roads on Koh Kood. There's little Internet access, and few cars. Electricity is minimal; homes and hotels rely on generators or solar power. Local bamboo doubles as building material for homes as well as commercial establishments simply because as a local put it "the material allows cool breezes to pass through". The island's chefs leverage local produce to cut down on food miles and carbon footprint. Yet every meal is a feast of flavours here. We breakfast among the treetops in the Treepod where croissants, yoghurt, cheeses and sandwiches are ziplined straight by our intrepid "flying waiter" to our rattanand-steel basket. We also dine deep in the bowels of mangroves at Khun Benz's Thai restaurant. The eatery is so exclusive, it is open only twice a week and counts among its regular guests many Hollywood greats. Chef Benz constructs authentic meals around fresh local produce. Our taste buds are tickled by the delicate flavours of a banana blossoms salad with shrimp, deepfried crispy sweet corn, sea bass soup with Thai herbs, wok-fried morning glory with oyster sauce, red curry pork with pineapple and tantalizing bowls of Tab Tim Grob, the signature Thai dessert (red rubies in coconut milk). Innards exploding, we beg the chef to stop sending us more food! Soon days blurred into a week and it was time to bid adieu to Koh Kood. Really, why does time always fly by faster when one is having so much fun? FACT FILE: Accommodation:Soneva Kiri Six Senses Resort located at Trat offers 35 luxurious villas overlooking the Gulf of Siam. It also offers diving, snorkelling, fishing, kayaking, a private beach, children's facilities, fitness and cookery lessons and free wifi access. It has four restaurants, an ice-cream and a chocolate parlour, an observatory and a spa. How to get there: Koh Kood is a remote island. Fly to Bangkok from where one can hire a private plane (90 minutes). A key Taliban commander, along with two other militants, was killed on Thursday in Afghanistan's Badakhshan province, an army official said. "On receiving a tip-off, security forces raided a Taliban hideout in Argo district, killing the commander Mullah Noorullah and two others," the official told Xinhua news agency. Mullah Noorullah, according to the official, was a notorious insurgent and key commander of the group in Badakhshan province, who was behind the murder of two female police officers in the same district earlier this year. His death could prove to be a major blow to the militants, the official added. It has been a big year for China's military as the People's Liberation Army (PLA) prepares to celebrate its 90th birthday. In April this year, China's first domestically produced aircraft carrier was launched, followed by the debut of its new generation of destroyer in June. In July, the country's first aircraft carrier allowed visits by the public for the first time. As the 90th birthday approaches, the country's army has shown how much its military capacity has grown, reports Xinhua news agency. The PLA has come a long way since its birth during the armed uprising in Nanchang city on August 1, 1927 when it had only 20,000 soldiers. Ninety years later, China boasts of two million servicemen, making it the world's largest military force. Besides the growth in numbers, the PLA has armed its soldiers with world-class equipment. During China's epic V-Day parade in September 2015, the country displayed its Dongfeng-5B intercontinental strategic missiles, designed to carry nuclear warheads, and its Dongfeng-21D anti-ship ballistic missiles, described by some media as the "carrier killer". Other cutting-edge weaponry included the PLA's state-of-the-art tanks, unmanned aerial vehicles and its new generation of airborne early warning and control aircraft, carrier-based fighters and attack helicopters that fly low across the sky. In April, China launched its second aircraft carrier in a Dalian shipyard in the northeastern province of Liaoning. It is the first carrier designed and built by China. The country's first carrier, the Liaoning, was a refitted Soviet Union-made carrier put into commission by the PLA Navy in 2012. Another Navy development was the launch of a new destroyer, a domestically designed and produced 10,000-tonne vessel. The destroyer is the first vessel of China's new generation of destroyers equipped with new air defence, anti-missile, anti-ship and anti-submarine weapons. All this can be seen in a video titled "PLA Today" released by the Ministry of National Defence last week, Xinhua reported. The 16-minute English-language video, with Chinese subtitles, displayed a host of unmanned "smart" military vehicles, reconnaissance robots and drones, followed by footage of live-fire drills in the South China Sea and the East China Sea in July last year. "If war is declared, we are ready," one line said. The video was not the PLA's only bid for attention on social media. The military debuted a five-episode live-streaming programme on China's Twitter-like Weibo service on Tuesday. The first episode featured China's airborne troops and showed the tough training soldiers must undergo. In 2017, China, the world's second largest economy, budgeted 1.04 trillion yuan ($153 billion) for annual military expenditures. The figure is second only to the US, which has a military spending budget of $583.7 billion. North Korea on Thursday said that it was "nonsense" for South Korea to hope to improve inter-Korean ties while taking a confrontational policy against Pyongyang without giving up its dependence on the US. The remarks came three days after Seoul proposed inter-Korean military talks on July 14 to ease tensions along the border and Red Cross talks on August 1 to resume reunions of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, reports Yonhap News Agency. Rodong Sinmun, North Korea's state-run daily, called on South Korea to make a decision over whether to stick to its sanctions-oriented approach toward Pyongyang and submission to the US. "Ditching confrontation and hostility is a precondition for opening the door for the two Koreas' reconciliation and unity," the daily said. South Korea's dialogue offer came after President Moon Jae-in during his speech in Berlin earlier this month proposed ways to bring permanent peace to the divided peninsula. Moon earlier vowed to seek a dual-track approach of North Korea's denuclearisation and engagement with Pyongyang. On Monday, the government said that it wants North Korea to show a response via the now-suspended communication channels. Seoul's Unification Ministry said that North Korea did not respond to a South Korean official's call at a liaison office at the truce village of Panmunjom. A ministry official said that President Moon does not see the newspaper's comment as North Korea's official response to Seoul's dialogue offer. He said that it may be difficult for the two Koreas to hold talks on Friday, given the short period for preparation and the disconnected communication lines, even if Pyongyang gives a positive reply later in the day. "But it is important for South and North Korea to take initiative in resolving issues on the Korean Peninsula," the official said, adding, "There is no deadline for Seoul's efforts (to improve ties) via dialogue." Qatar's Ambassador to the US has called for an end to the ongoing "blockade" of his country by a coalition of Arab countries while defiantly asserting that they could live under the embargo indefinitely. "There is no damage to our economy. Qatar is solid in its economy and we are comfortable and we can continue like this forever," Ambassador Meshal bin Hamad Al-Thani told CNN on Wednesday. The Middle East was plunged into one of its worst diplomatic crises in decades on June 5 when four countries Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates announced they would be cutting ties to Qatar over its alleged support of terrorism. They provided a list of 13 demands to the Qatari government, including shuttering the Al Jazeera media network and reducing diplomatic ties with Iran. Qatar's Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said the list was "made to be rejected". The Qatari envoy to the US said the crisis was counterproductive to the region and to the fight against terrorism. "The State of Qatar has demonstrated its constructive approach to resolve this crisis and we have called many times to have a meeting to sit and discuss this so now it's up to the boycotting countries to decide and come to the table," he said. Al-Thani's comments came as representatives for the four nations boycotting Qatar appeared willing to slightly relax their strict demands on the isolated state. At a briefing in New York on Wednesday, Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the UN Abdullah bin Yahya Al-Mouallimi emphasised the importance of the six principles for renewal of diplomatic relations with Qatar, which were agreed to by boycotting nations on July 5 in Cairo. The six principles were much less strict than the original demands and were made up of broad requests such as "suspending all acts of provocation and speeches inciting to hatred or violence" according to reports. They don't include any action against Al Jazeera. Still, there are no talks arranged between Qatar and the boycotting nations, despite US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's efforts during his visit to the region in July, CNN said. remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. Organisation: Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited (UETCL) Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda Reports to: Senior Projects Accountant (Donor) About US: Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited (UETCL) is responsible for bulk purchase of electricity from the generating companies and selling the electricity in bulk to the distribution companies throughout Uganda. UETCL is also responsible for all exports and imports of electricity to Uganda. UETCL envisions: To become a leading strategic business partner in the transmission and Single Buyer Business and to support sustainable energy development in Uganda. Job Summary: The Projects Accountant will support the Senior Projects Accountant (Donor) by managing both the financial and administrative function in the Projects Accounts office in the most efficient manner so as to implement the ISDB funded projects. Responsibilities: Key Duties andResponsibilities: data in to the system for the ultimate purpose of producing Project Final Accounts for the ongoing Donor Funded Projects: Capture available accountingdata in to the system for the ultimate purpose of producing Project FinalAccounts for the ongoing Donor Funded Projects: Capture Contractor Invoices/Certificates into the Accounting System. Capture Available counterpart funding expenses in to the Accounting System. Coding Data and categorizing the expenditure captured according to the agreed categories. Generating the necessary Financial Statements for review. Preparation of Financial input to Quarterly Reports for the Projects; Prepare and submit accurate financial information for the quarterly reports. Assist in Preparation of Donor Accountability Reports Agree on forecasts for the next expenditure period as required in the financial manuals Project Payments in accordance with disbursement policies pertaining to each Loan portfolio/GoU regulations: Assist in preparation ofProject Payments in accordance with disbursement policies pertaining to eachLoan portfolio/GoU regulations: Process Project Payments as and when approvals are given; Tasked with the preparation and update of all ledgers. maintain Main Contractor Management Schedules in accordance with laid down Payment procedures and contractual obligations: Identify, develop andmaintain Main Contractor Management Schedules in accordance with laiddown Payment procedures and contractual obligations: Maintain up-to-date Project Contractor payment schedules. Reconcile contractor payments and ledgers. Keenly monitor contractor price billing schedules. Monitor Contractual obligations;- contract and guarantee expiry, payment terms etc. the Special Accounts: Prepare replenishments tothe Special Accounts: Reconcile IsDB special accounts to determine replenishable levels. Prepare expenditure categorization ready for replenishments. Obtain quarterly, bi-annual fund requirements from Project coordination for input in replenishment requests. Organize Expenditure Justifications as attachments to support replenishment applications. External Audit of the Projects: Assist in coordination ofExternal Audit of the Projects: Avail expenditure supporting documentation to external Auditors including counterpart expenditure supporting documentation during Audit of Projects. Offer appropriate explanations to External Auditors on Disbursement issues. Perform any other duties as may be assigned from time to time. Experience: Qualifications, Skills andExperience: The ideal applicant for the Projects Accountant job placement should hold a Bachelors degree in Commerce or Business Administration or Finance or any other business related field. Part qualification and/ or membership of the internationally recognised professional institutions such as ACCA, CPA, CIMA, ICPAU etc. At least five years of post University qualification experience as Project Accountant in a commercial environment with a bias in financial management, contract management and budgeting. Computer proficiency i.e. ability to work with any of the Sun Systems Accounting packages 5.2, 5.3 and or 5.4 and use basic computer software like Ms-office packages. Excellent analytical ability, goal oriented and self-driven individual who thrives on taking on responsibility and achieving results both independently and as part of a team. Show commitment to meeting deadlines. Efficient and effective in administration. Willingness to work long hours. Good IT skills. Excellent interpersonal good communication skills. Team work and business awareness. a valid National Driving Permit. Holda valid National Driving Permit. How to Apply: All candidates are strongly encouraged to send their applications enclosing photocopies of academic qualification certificates and testimonials along with their curriculum vitae indicating contact postal address, daytime contact telephone, fax or e-mail and giving three (3) referees to: The Manager, Human Resource and Administration Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited P.O. Box 7625 Kampala. Uganda st July 2017 Deadline: 21July 2017 Job Title: Senior Field Assistant Organisation: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Position No.: 10026757 Vacancy Notice: 022/2017 Reports to: Field Officer Field Officer Duty Station: Uganda Post Grade: GL5 About UNHCR: The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was established on December 14, 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly. UNHCRs mandate under the Statute of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is to lead and co-ordinate action for international protection to refugees; seek permanent solutions for the problems of refugees and safeguard refugee rights and well-being. UNHCR has an additional mandate concerning issues of statelessness, as it is given a designated role under Article 11 of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. Job Summary: The Senior Field Assistant will be supervised by the Field Officer and will perform a variety of functions related to Field activities within the office. The supervisor defines work processes and provides regular advice and guidance. The incumbent keeps frequent internal contacts with staff members in the same duty station to exchange information and with the external contacts generally with officials of national and international institutions, leaders of the refugee community, local population and/or Implementing Partners (IPs) on routine subject matters under the direction of the supervisor. Responsibilities: Key Duties andResponsibilities: Offer support in monitoring the implementation of UNHCR programme including the delivery of all assistance items and monitoring of infrastructure. Assist in administrative tasks as required such as preparation of reports and meeting authorized personnel and assisting them during field missions. Act as interpreter in the exchange of routine information, contribute to related liaison activities and respond directly to routine queries. The Senior Field Assistant will collect data and other information relevant to UNHCR and report to the supervisor accordingly Keep regular contacts with local authorities and implementing partners as requested by supervisor. Work in close coordination with implementing partners, assist in the reception, registration and provision of assistance to persons of concern to UNHCR. Follow up, on a regular basis, the overall situation of persons of concern in camps and other areas where they have been accommodated and report accordingly. Undertake other relevant duties as required. Key Performance Indicators: UNHCR office has sufficient administrative and local support for the field activities thus better able to meet the needs of persons of concern. UNHCR policies, standards and procedures are constantly and coherently applied in the area of responsibility (AoR). Experience: Qualifications, Skills andExperience: The ideal candidate for the United Nations UNHCR Senior Field Assistant job placement should have secondary education with post-secondary training/certificate in Business Administration, Law, Political Science or related field. At least five years of previous job experience Good computer skills. Excellent knowledge of English and working knowledge of another relevant UN language; Excellent knowledge of Aringa is an added advantage. How to Apply: All interested Ugandan nationals who wish to join the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the aforementioned capacity are encouraged to click on the link below and follow the application instructions after reviewing the job details. th July 2017 Deadline: 25July 2017 For more of the latest jobs, please visit https://www.theugandanjobline.com or find us on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UgandanJobline There are currently four manufacturers making life-like robotic dolls worldwide, but experts predict that, in coming decades, they could become widespread, used not just as a fetish, but for sexual therapy and as companions for lonely, disabled or older people. Noel Sharkey, emeritus professor of robotics and artificial intelligence at the University of Sheffield, and cofounder of the Foundation for Responsible Robotics, said it was time for the government and the public to decide whether to regulate pleasure bots. FRR operates from the Hague Institute for Global Justice at the Hague and runs consultations on all areas of robotics. It has 200 members, including some of the worlds eminent robotics academics. I can tell you that robots are certainly coming, Sharkey said at the launch of the new consultation report in central London. The concern is that this is going on and nobody is talking about it. People snigger about them, but we are going to see them a lot more. They are being proposed for the elderly in care homes, which I think is controversial. If you have severe Alzheimers, you cant really tell the difference. We need to think about as a society what we want to do about it. The report found that up to two thirds of men and about 30 per cent of women were in favour of using sex robots, which currently cost between 4,000 and 12,000, and can be customised by sex, height, hair colour, eye colour and even personality. Companies are also starting to incorporate artificial intelligence, so that robots can communicate and respond to human emotions. Doll brothels already operate in South Korea, Japan and Spain, while the first robotic oral sex coffee shop opened in Paddington, west London, last year. The report said that as robotics, telecommunications and virtual reality merged, sex dolls could become silicon replicas of a long-distance partner, enabling couples to have virtual sex and even speak to each other through the dolls mouth. The authors, however, warned that the march of sex robots raised serious moral and ethical questions that needed to be addressed. They warned that users could become socially isolated or even addicted to the machines. AFP Its very sad because its going to be a one-way relationship, said Sharkey. If people bond with robots, it is very worrying. You are loving an artefact that cant love you back, and the best they can do is fake it. The report also warned of a darker side to the industry in which companies were programming shy or reluctant personalities into their dolls so that users could feel they were forcing the robots to have sex. TrueCompanions robot Roxxxy Gold, for example, can be set to the Frigid Farah personality. Japanese sex doll manufacturer Trottla has also started selling schoolgirl dolls for paedophiles. The company was created by a self-confessed paedophile Shin Takagi, who claims he has never harmed a child because he uses the doll. Although some experts claim such robots could prevent the rape of women, or the abuse of children, the report warns that it could exacerbate the problem. Philosophy professor and robot ethicist Patrick Lin of California Polytechnic said: Treating paedophiles with robot sex-children is both a dubious and repulsive idea. Imagine treating racism by letting a bigot abuse a brown robot. Would that work? Probably not. The ethics of sex robots goes beyond whether anyone is physically harmed. The authors said it may be necessary to criminalise robotic rape and to build in handled roughly sensors like those used in pinball machines to prevent users developing violent sexual tendencies. And, they called for a complete ban on child sex dolls. Aimee van Wynsberghe, assistant professor of ethics at the Delft University, the Netherlands, and cofounder of FRR, said: There isnt a conversation happening in the general public about what is acceptable, permissible and what should be promoted. This is a preliminary step to engage policymakers, academics, the tech industry and the general public. The consultation report is on the FRR website and people are invited to comment on it. The panel hopes to make final recommendations next year. India has claimed international support in its current standoff with the Chinese. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said all countries understood that whatever India's actions are appropriate. "The law is on our side," Sushma Swaraj said in Rajya Sabha, responding to series of questions on the current situation ALONG the China border. Explaining the situation at the border, Swaraj said India-China border was yet to be demarcated, as was China and Bhutan. "According to 2012 agreement between India and China, all three countries at the Bhutanese tri-junction have jurisdiction and the issues will be decided by them. "China has been constructing and repairing roads since them. But this time, they came with a bulldozer and they want to point out that the status quo is changed, Swaraj added. If they change the status quo of tri-junction, our security is affected, she said. Talking about the South China Sea, she said India's position was very clear. "There should be freedom of navigation and unimpeded commerce." As Chinese want to be a maritime power, they are building ports in Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. To those who say that India is being surrounded, I want to add that India is quite capable of taking care of itself, she warned. Calling the talk of war in the Chinese media as posturing, senior defence and strategic experts believe that India and China may not go for a full-scale war, but skirmishes cannot be ruled out. The heights of the Dokalam Plateau are occupied by the tents with both the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the Indian Army soldiers digging in their heels to not clear off the area. The issues at the tri-junction of India, China and Bhutan elevating into a standoff, media reports constantly focussing on the words of war between the two countries have been coming. The Chinese state-backed 'Global Times' wrote, "If India stirs up conflicts in several spots, it must face the consequences of an allout confrontation with China along the entire LAC." Analysing the current situation defence and strategic experts consider it as posturing by China which may not lead to a full fledged war, but ingress by the Chinese Army in areas which they find vulnerable cannot be ruled out. Major General D.K. Mehta (Retd.) said the situation created by the Chinese PLA at the Dokalam plateau is a part of psychological operation to pressurise India. Talking of the war scenario, Major General Mehta said it to be highly impossible as both nations have mature methods to handle matters. General Mehta considers if war takes place, then the advantage will lie with India due to its lower heights. In mountain warfare, the ratio to win the war is said to be 1:9, for one soldier, the enemy will have to field nine soldiers to overwhelm the attack. "Yes, the Chinese can mobilise troops, add force for which the signature would be available as we now have a reasonably good all-weather systems in terms of satellite and the other surveillance capabilities. I am sure a very close watch would be on by us." While a war is ruled out, transgression can be the other method employed by China to pressurise India. Major General B.K. Sharma cautions that the Chinese may create other trouble spots in order to compel India to withdraw from Dokalam. Major General Sharma, Heading the Centre for Strategic Studies and Simulation (CS3) of the United Services Institution, says that we should be ready for fabricated ingress in other regions by the Chinese as then they will start the policy of quid-pro-quo. He also sees no possibility of a full-blown war. Reinforcing the analysis of the generals, sources, well aware with the Chinese border informed that there have not been any significant movement of military forces in the Tibetan region in the last two months. He also added that for India, the tipping point will be when there's a significant troop movement across the 11 bridges that join the northern parts of the 1,100 kilometers of Tsangpo with the southern part of Tibet. Line of Actual Control (LAC) is of 3,488 km long. China has deployed about 15-16 divisions along the Line of Actual Control starting from the Karakoram Pass up to the Arunachal Pradesh (LAC 3,488 km). This entire area comes under the Western Theatre Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. In case of the war, China can also move four to five divisions, which are stationed in the Xinjiang province, in the north of the Jammu and Kashmir, to cover the Ladakh sector. But no unusual movement by the Chinese at the LAC since last two months. They explained it as Chinese tactics to pressurise India. Coming to the military infrastructure in Tibet, China has five operational air fields. In addition, there are four-five landing strips, which may not be able to hold operations due to the lack of operational capabilities. In order to increase the weight-carrying capacity of the fighter aircrafts, which comes down due to Tibet being a plateau, the length of the runways of the air bases have been increased in the recent times. Also, the Second Artillery is deployed in the region and also the Chinese have developed a capability to move the troops swiftly by deploying their mechanised regiments, which are equal to the size of the Indian Brigades. Both, India and China, have been taking measures to strengthen the infrastructure and the military presence along the borders. Since 2009, China is doing an annual division-level movement, supply and logistics exercise. The exercise continues in Tibet to mobilise the infrastructure. It is a transregional support operation. India is busy constructive strategic roads and is raising an independent mountain strike corps. Hardening the stance as adopted by the Chinese also is seen as face saving exercise so that the plan of the Chinese President Xi Jinping of placing his loyals into the Central Committee, a seven-member Politburo Standing Committee (PBSC) and 25-member Politburo (PB) goes through. In all this, the PLA cannot be seen backing off. Bharat Karnad, Research Professor at the Centre for Policy Research, considers the stance of the Chinese approach into the bluff and bluster mode. "The Chinese believe that India may be deterred and intimidated by their rhetoric, provocative actions and will withdraw from Dokalam Plateau. It is not going to happen." Analysing the border positions in military terms, he added that the Chinese cannot do much. India has enough troops in both the eastern and northern sectors facing China. The central sector is virtually impassable for both sides; high passes will make it difficult for big build-ups. He is also of the opinion that China will not go nuclear as then India has also enough leeway to even it out. Professor Karnad believes that India has handled the Dokalam standoff well and is playing it cool. There is nothing to worry about, not that Chinese do not have their military, as India has sufficient forces and prepositioned supplies to ward off any Chinese threat, Former Army Chief General Bikram Singh sees Dokalam as a potential escalation. He says, "The faceoff at Dokalam, given the hardened stance of both sides, has the potential to escalate tensions between the two regional powers. Since hostilities will be detrimental to the long terms interests of both sides, it is imperative that the tensions are diffused through dialogue." He further says that it is equally important that the media continues to exercise maturity and balance in reporting on this incident. It is equally important that both sides scrupulously refrain from Jingoism and muscle flexing. The BJP-led NDA governments efforts to consolidate the saffron partys base in Odisha by honouring the state's past has led to competitive politics in th e state. As part of this race, the Union government is commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Paika rebellion by holding a gala function, to be graced by President Pranab Mukherjee, at Delhi on Thursday. Kins of martyrs of the mutiny, 150 of them, are being send for the event by the BJP. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday urged the Centre to declare 'Paika Rebellion' as the First War of Indian Independence, a day after the state cabinet resolved to demand it. "I request the Government of India to consider this proposal positively so that the people of India appreciate, in correct perspective, the events that led to the Indian freedom struggle and our historic independence from foreign rule," Patnaik wrote to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh. Patnaik said that the 1817 Paika Rebellion of Odisha qualified to be called as the "First War of Indian Independence" not simply because it took place four decades prior to the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny, but due to its very nature and characteristics. He stated that the rebellion, popularly known as 'Paika Bidroha', was a broad based and well organised struggle against the oppressive rule of the East India Company. The issue is expected to become an emotional one, as Odisha takes pride in its glorious past and the politicians are constantly reviving it. The BJP and BJD are hoping to win the support of the kshatriyas and chashas (farming communities), who constitute a sizeable chunk of OBCs. Paikas are a part of these communities, but when there was a call for war by the erstwhile kings of Odisha they were part of the militia. The politics over Paika rebellion began during the last Parliament budget session. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced as part of the budget that the NDA government will commemorate the 200th anniversary of Paika rebellion along with the centenaries at Gandhis Sabaramati Ashram in Ahmedabad and centenary of Champaran satyagraha in Bihar. Following this, the Odisha government in its budget for the current financial year announced a special schemeBasudha, in memory of Bakshi Jagabandhu, leader of the rebellion. The then finance minister of state, Pradip Kumar Amat, said while presenting the budget, "In the bicentenary year of Paika Bidroha (rebellion), we propose to launch a new schemeBuxi Jagabandhu Assured Water Supply to Habitations (Basudha)as a befitting tribute to the memory of the legendary leader Bakshi Jagabandhu." He said, the scheme had two components for drinking water supply initiatives with provision of Rs 315 crore for urban area and Rs 750 crore for rural regions. According to Ashok Panda, minister of tourism and culture, the department would soon submit a proposal to the centre with full documentary support in favour of Odishas demand that the rebellion be declared as first war of independence in India. In March 1817, Paika rebellion began along the coastal line of Odisha with Khurda as the centre. It was a war against the British East India Company rule in India. Bakshi Jagabandhu,who was the commander of forces of Raja of Khurda, led the Paikas by projecting Lord Jagannath of Puri as the symbol of Odia unity. Later, the rebellion spread to other parts of the state. But within months, British forces quelled it and Bakshi spent the rest of his last life as a prisoner. Panda claims that the state culture department has been organising different programmes since August of 2016 with regard to the Paika rebellion. The Odisha government wants to project Paika rebellion as something unique in India. State government said, "The Paika rebellion represents the emergence of an organised rebellion against foreign rule in India. It played the role of a torch-bearer and catalyst in shaping the peoples movement of resistance, which ultimately led to the Indian independence movement." Odisha government has requested centre to issue a postage stamp to mark the occasion. The chief minister has also requested the centre to start a train from Bhubaneswar to Mumbai in memory of Bakshi Jagabandhu. Panda has said the state government is planning to hold Amar Jyoti Stambha, like Delhi, at Bhubaneswar in memory of the martyrs. He said, Odisha will organise a national seminar on Paika rebellion at Delhi. The BJP, with Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan as its chief ministerial candidate, has successfully given Paika rebellion its due national recognition. Chief minister Patnaik will be attending Thursday's Delhi programme. While BJP and BJD are fighting over the Paika rebellion and Bakshi Jagabandhu's legacy, the untimely death of Lalatendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra, a fiery leader, left Congress out of the race. Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Bhubaneswar in last April, in connection with BJPs national executive, had felicitated the descendants of 16 families involved in the uprising though controversies broke out later. Anyway, it is clear that BJP is taking up local emotive issues to browbeat the regional party BJD, which shows that national parties have to adopt state wise agenda to face provincial parties. Abids used to be the happening area in Hyderabad many years ago, but now it is frequented only by sentimentalists. Still, there are a couple of restaurants here popular for serving original Hyderabadi foodlike Grand Hotel, started by 12 Iranians who came here from Mumbai. Today, the restaurant is run by Mohammed Jaleel Farokh Rooz, whose family acquired it when the Iranians returned to their home country in the late 1960s. Rooz worked as a pharmacist and a lawyer in the US before returning to Hyderabad to run the restaurant. We were once famous for our roast mutton and mutton chops, he says. But since our old cook died, we havent been able to replace him. Earlier, when the busy postal department was located right behind the hotel, it used to be open 24 hours. Now we keep it open the whole night only during Ramzan, says Rooz. I converted the hotel rooms into a dining hall, and, today, it is popular for its multi-cuisine menu. Despite this, people mostly come here for well-known Hyderabadi dishes like mutton and chicken biryani and mutton masala. The breakfasts at Grand Hotelkhichdi with kheema and khatta, bhaji gurda (spinach and liver) with roti and kheema with rotiare also popular among regulars. Grand Hotel has the distinction of being the only hotel in the city which makes a popular starterchicken gulmohar, chicken pieces stuffed with kheema and spices. Hyderabad is probably best known for its mutton biryani, large quantities of which are, surprisingly, cooked by men. In fact, some royals, too, like Nawab Mehboob Alam Khan, were famous for their biryanis. The marinade of the biryani is supposed to be a holy secret known only to a few. Some also include saffron-soaked yoghurt, milk or water in between layers of meat and rice in the biryani. Murgh sufiyani kebabs The city is also known for the variety of kebabsserved here with sliced onions, mint and limeand lukhmi, which is a pastry stuffed with meat. If you swear by meat, then Hyderabad is the place to be; try the slow-cooked mutton masala with a variety of rotis, which are large and made with whole wheat in some places and maida in others. Earlier, with its limestone walls and wrought iron chairs, the restaurant had an old world charm. Rooz regrets changing the look of the hotel. But, lets see, he says. Someday, I might bring back the old style again. He has converted a balcony above the eaves into a cosy little sit-out, which gets fully booked during the weekends. Being listed on online platforms like Swiggy and Zomato has ensured that he gets bookings from across Hyderabad and Secunderabad. On the ground floor of the hotel, Rooz sells Irani chai and biskoots. The tea, made at the right temperature with the correct mix of sugar and brewed leaves, is quite addictive. It is also because we serve it from a samovar heated over coals, he says. He has had many famous personalities visiting his restaurant, like artist M.F. Husain, former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh T. Anjaiah, and former home minister of the state M.M. Hashim. As far as hardships go, Mary Zimmerman has faced some of lifes worst. Between losing a total of six children and caring for her husband of 65 years following a stroke that left that previously independent man in need of help, it was easy for her to feel battered down. But God had different plans, Zimmerman said, and she didnt want to let Him down with the life she was given. I dont want to meet God empty-handed, Zimmerman said. To fulfill this, the longtime Winonan has donated her time and resources by raising money for tsunami victims through the sale of her homemade pies, writing books about grief and God after the death of her 16-year-old son in 1976, and most recently by purchasing and donating images of the Devine Mercy devotion for local organizations and residents. Zimmermans claim to local fame came from a motivation to help tsunami victims in Sri Lanka. She decided to raise money through selling her pies. She began baking and baking and baking and baking. Soon, she made her 1,000th pie and donated the thousands of dollars she made from the sales to the tsunami relief. But her talents are not limited to the kitchen. Zimmerman said she enjoys writing and said she often finds herself consumed by the Holy Spirit in her writings, inspiring her to keep writing more. The first two books she wrote primarily focused on her grief over the death of her 16-year-old son, and she received requests for the book from others who were also handling a loss. Her following two books and a third writing, focus on finding faith and keeping it. Zimmerman has also had her writings about her faith published in local and larger publications. In her columns and writings, she explained how she hopes others can find some semblance of faith, just as it helped her cope with her depression and grief. That is also where the Devine Mercy devotion entered into her life. Zimmerman said she finds comfort in the story of Sister Faustina seeing Jesus and finding her own peace and trust in her faith. Sister Faustina went on a quest to find someone who could paint what she saw in order to bring that peace to others. The paintings and prints feature a classic European depiction of Jesus Christ with colorful beams of light shining down from his heart. In the devotion, it is said that Jesus wanted everyone to have access to this image of him, and Zimmerman decided to make that her new mission for the community. Instead of baking or writing, she began collecting. She gathered up enough money to purchase a large canvas for Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary worth hundreds of dollars. The image was so large it had to come in on a semi-truck, but the former pie lady could not just stop there. She also continued to save enough and received donations to purchase the images for the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, St. Francis Church in Rochester, Minn., Cotter High School and St. Stans. She is still saving to donate the large retractable images to organizations of any denomination, and she has dozens of smaller images she gives away to others as well. For Zimmerman, the story of the devotion brings peace, but sharing the devotion brings her happiness in helping others. When you do things for others, you help yourself, Zimmerman said. As to where her helpful spirit will lead her next, Zimmerman is unsure, but she is faithful it will be worth her and Gods time. Iran continues to be the worlds leading state sponsor of terrorism, the Trump administration said Wednesday in a new report that also noted a decline in the number of terrorist attacks globally between 2015 and 2016. In its annual Country Reports on Terrorism released Wednesday, the State Department said Iran was the planets foremost state sponsor of terrorism in 2016, a dubious distinction the country has held for many years. It said Iran was firm in its backing of anti-Israel groups as well as proxies that have destabilized already devastating conflicts in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. It also said Iran continued to recruit in Afghanistan and Pakistan for Shiite militia members to fight in Syria and Iraq. And, it said Iranian support for Lebanons Hezbollah movement was unchanged. In terms of non-state actors, the report said ISIS was responsible for more attacks and deaths than any other group in 2016, and was seeking to widen its operations particularly as it lost territory in Iraq and Syria. It carried out 20 percent more attacks in Iraq in 2016 compared with 2015, and its affiliates struck in more than 20 countries, according to the report. Iran has been designated a state sponsor of terrorism by the State Department and subjected to a variety of U.S. sanctions since 1984, and many of the activities outlined in the report are identical to those detailed in previous reports. But, this years finding comes as the Trump administration moves to toughen its stance against Iran. The administration is expected to complete a full review of its policy on Iran next month. President Donald Trump has been particularly critical of the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by the Obama administration and only reluctantly certified early this week that Iran remained entitled to some sanctions relief under its provisions. Iran remained the foremost state sponsor of terrorism in 2016 as groups supported by Iran maintained their capability to threaten U.S. interests and allies, said the report, the Trump administrations first, which was released just a day after the administration slapped new sanctions on Iran for ballistic missile activity. Some of those sanctions were imposed on people and companies affiliated with Irans Revolutionary Guard Corps, which the report said continues to play a destabilizing role in military conflicts in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. Iran used a unit of the IRGC, the Quds Force, to implement foreign policy goals, provide cover for intelligence operations and create instability in the Middle East, the report said. It added that Iran has publicly acknowledged its involvement in Syria and Iraq. Hezbollah worked closely with Iran to support the attempt by Syrian President Bashar Assads government to maintain and control territory, according to the report. And with Iranian support, Hezbollah continued to develop long-term attack capabilities and infrastructure around the world, it said. The report also accused Iran of supplying weapons, money and training to militant Shia groups in Bahrain, maintaining a robust cyberterrorism program and refusing to identify or prosecute senior members of the al-Qaida network that it has detained. As in previous reports, Sudan and Syria were also identified as state sponsors of terrorism. In its final days, the Obama administration suspended some sanctions against Sudan in recognition of that countrys improved counterterrorism record. In early July, the Trump administration extended those suspensions by three months. Countries can be removed from the list at any time following a formal review process, but the report offered no explanation for why Sudan remains on it. In fact, it said counterterrorism is now a national priority for the Khartoum government and that Sudan is a cooperative partner of the United States on counterterrorism, despite its continued presence on the state sponsors of terrorism list. Despite the activities of Iran and groups like the Islamic State in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and Syria, and Boko Haram and al-Shabab in Africa, the total number of terrorist attacks in 2016 decreased by 9 percent from 11,774 in 2015 to 11,072, according to statistics compiled for the report by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism at the University of Maryland. That reduction was accompanied by a 13 percent decrease in deaths from 28,328 to 25,621 from such attacks over the same period. Of those killed in 2016, 16 were American citizens, including seven in high-profile attacks in Brussels in March and Nice, France, in July. Seventeen Americans were injured in the Brussels attack and three in Nice, the report said. The report attributed the drops to fewer terrorist attacks in Afghanistan, Syria, Nigeria, Pakistan and Yemen. At the same time, the report said attacks in the Congo, Iraq, Somalia, South Sudan and Turkey increased between 2015 and 2016. (AP) Islamic leaders have been fueling the situation since last Fridays fatal terror attack on Har Habayis. Amid this, there are calls that all PA (Palestinian Authority) residents head to Har Habayis on Friday for prayers instead of visiting their local mosque. Jerusalem police are reportedly taking unprecedented steps to prepare for possible Islamic violence on Har Habayis on Friday. Ynet reports that in addition, the IDF has placed five battalions on alert should they be needed. They would be responding to violence in areas of Yehuda and Shomron, which may in in sync with activities on Har Habayis. The Jerusalem Waqf is also calling on Israeli Arabs to head to Jerusalem, and many are reportedly heading to the capital before Friday in the event Israel Police prevent buses from arriving on Friday. Police are on alert status and may take preemptive measures to prevent violence on Har Habayis on Friday. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) Candidate? Post office boss Moya Greene, pictured with the Duchess of Cambridge Redoubtable Post Office boss Moya Greene's accelerated appointment to EasyJet's board to find a replacement for ITV-bound Carolyn McCall raises eyebrows. As a former transport minister in her native Canada, and a proven FTSE 100 boss, some think Moya should consider herself for the job. It would mean inevitable jousts with the carrier's excitable majority shareholder, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou. But after her long tussles with Post Office union reps, blonde-bobbed Moya's well versed in keeping angry silverbacks in order. Tory peer and multi-millionaire businessman Lord Howard of Rising a friend of the Queen took a swipe at the CBI in the House of Lords this week. He mocked it for consistently getting on the wrong side of history and making a mess of its predictions, particularly on Brexit. 'The CBI's record of forecasting makes Mystic Meg look like the prophet Elijah,' he said. Here, here! Though I suspect that is Greville Howard, 76, off the invitations list for future CBI dinners. BBC's sleekly attired economics editor Kamal Ahmed, 49, was listed among the corporation's top earners yesterday, inside the 150,000-199,000 salary bracket. Worth every penny, I'm sure. But his equally accomplished colleague, tousle-haired business editor Simon Jack, 46, failed to make the list at all. Deep waters. Re BBC fees, sensitive Amstrad mogul Lord Sugar lends support to Gary Lineker over his 1.8million salary, tweeting, with Don Corleone-like solemnity: 'You should not worry. 'You are in a market where presenters are paid at going rates. You have shown loyalty.' His Lordship's Apprentice fee wasn't published yesterday but, to give the old brute his due, he donates every penny to charity. Embattled British Airways has made a cheery new safety video, featuring foul-mouthed chef Gordon Ramsay, comedian Rob Brydon and Rowan Atkinson (as Mr Bean) instructing passengers what to do during an in-flight emergency. Faced with this nauseating trio, some passengers might welcome a sudden loss in cabin pressure, but perhaps I'm being unkind. Are fund managers starting to beat the market? The active fund management industry has been taking fire for some years from the rise of passive investing and recently a boot from the financial watchdog over fees. But there is a spot of good news for our embattled fund managers. A note landed in my inbox this week from Tom Becket, of wealth manager Psigma Investment Management, highlighting that an increasing number of UK active funds are beating the market this year. That, of course, simply means that fund managers are doing the job they are paid to do, but nonetheless for us investors who havent entirely bought into the passive investing-only dogma its worth a look. UK fund managers are beating the market this year after a dismal 2016 Psigma looked at the UK All Companies sector (a category it dubs mostly pointless but one the industry is fond of) and found that so far this year, 191 of 264 funds had returns better than the FTSE All-Share. That compares to just 42 out of 259 funds beating the market in 2016. Becket said: Of course it is premature to state it conclusively, but the first half of 2017 might well have seen the start of a revival or renaissance for active equity funds in the UK. The cynics (me amongst them) would say it was long overdue after a mostly dismal 2016 (and in some places over the longer run), but there are signs that a corner has been turned. So, is this just a flash in the pan, or the start of a trend? Becket points to a decline in returns, where active funds' outperformance ebbed away to become underperformance, which started in the wake of the financial crisis. The arrival of huge waves of quantitative easing pumped trillions of dollars and hundreds of billions of pounds and euros into the financial system and fuelled a rising tide floats all boats rally, where nearly every asset imaginable has gone up in value. The tide is now turning, however, with the US raising rates and talking about winding down QE and central banks in the UK, Europe and Japan also at least weighing up taking their foot off the gas. So what happens next? Becket reckons the penchant for passive investing will stay strong but we will return to a world where active managers are better rewarded for finding good companies. That means that mixing low-cost passive funds with active funds where they can really deliver, could be a wise move. This makes sense. The problem with the passive vs active debate is that it doesnt have to be an all or nothing decision. A belief that index investing is the simplest and most reliable way to tap into the ability of companies to deliver profits from putting money to productive use, doesnt also mean that you cannot believe that some people are good at picking shares. The problem is finding those fund managers in advance and hence investors tendency to a herd mentality, as they follow big names around and dedicate very little time to looking for smaller funds or new talent. The difficulty here is working out who is a real rising star and who is just flavour of the month. We try to play our part in highlighting up-and-coming funds and investment trusts at This is Money and get our readers an insight into their managers but theres more to be done. Thats why we will soon be introducing a new regular look at managers who might be off-the-radar for most, to help investors decide whether they would do a good job of looking after their money. As for what makes a good fund manager? Thats highly subjective and is something where doing your own research is essential. I try to look for fund managers with a clear strategy outlined in an easy to understand way, who have ideas that make them stand out from the market, show a willingness to think differently and a commitment to their investors and lower fees. Trying to find all that out about someone is tricky though and even if you can do so, picking an active fund manager will always require a leap of faith. Do look before you leap though and consider whether a tracker fund could do the job better. Cathryn Ross, chief exec of water regulator Ofwat has joined BT A top regulator has been recruited by BT as boss Gavin Patterson fights back over criticism of his handling of its Italian fraud scandal. Cathryn Ross, the chief executive of water regulator Ofwat, is understood to be taking charge of the telecom company's regulatory affairs division a key role which will oversee the way the firm behaves. Her appointment comes after a bruising year for BT. The legal separation of its network and cables arm, Openreach, has begun but is being closely scrutinised by telecoms watchdog Ofcom. Meanwhile, Patterson is also juggling a massive cost-cutting drive, the fallout of a 530million Italian accounting scandal and a 14billion pensions deficit. In January, BT was forced to write down the value of its Italian business by 530million after years of 'inappropriate behaviour' in a major embarrassment for the company and Patterson. BT found evidence of improper accounting practices that had resulted in 'the overstatement of earnings in our Italian business over a number of years'. The head of BT Europe, Corrado Sciolla, and BT Italy chief executive Gianluca Cimini lost their jobs over the scandal. BROADBAND PRICE WAR TalkTalk is mounting a television and broadband price war as it seeks to rebuild its business after 2015s hack attack. The telecoms firm yesterday revealed it had brought in 20,000 customers in the three months to June 30, continuing a surge in growth earlier this year. It came as it announced a broadband and TV bundle, including Sky Sports, that it claimed was the lowest-priced in Britain. The growth was in stark contrast to the 9,000 customers it lost over the same period last year, when it was still reeling from the hack that saw it lose the personal data of about 157,000 people. But Patterson is also under huge pressure to prove that he is capable of putting the company back on track. Ross's appointment will beef up the boardroom before new chairman Jan du Plessis takes over from Sir Michael Rake in November. A spokesman for BT last night confirmed that chief strategy officer Sean Williams, who currently handles regulatory affairs, was leaving but would not confirm Ross's appointment. Ofwat chairman Jonson Cox said only that Ross was leaving for a private sector role, adding: 'We are sorry to see her go and wish her every success in her new role.' Ross was yesterday called a 'transformational leader' after pushing for major changes in the water industry, going into battle with companies over pricing and introducing competition from smaller firms. Her experience at the regulator will be valuable to BT as it prepares to lock horns with Ofcom in the coming year. BT caved to pressure from the watchdog in March to separate Openreach from the rest of its business, but is due to retain ownership of the new company and will still set its overall budgets stopping short of giving it full independence. The arrangement sets the stage for further clashes about the future roll-out of broadband. Openreach is consulting with BT's rivals such as Sky, TalkTalk and Vodafone after long-standing criticism that it has favoured BT and relied too heavily on its slower network of copper wires rather than investing in cutting-edge fibre cables. It was handed a record 42million fine earlier this year for a 'serious breach' of industry rules after it cut compensation payouts to providers for delays in installing high-speed lines. Alongside its boardroom shake-up, BT has responded to the accounting scandal at BT Italia by vowing to replace PwC as auditors and bringing in KPMG to lead an investigation. He looks set to overtake Bill Gates as the world's richest man - but Amazon chief Jeff Bezos looks like he's also had an image overhaul. As the online giant unveiled its new app service, Bezos, 53, caused a stir with his macho new look - particularly as it is in such contrast to his previous nerdy appearance when Amazon started out in the mid-90s. Back then Bezos ran the business from a garage at a house he had rented in Seattle, USA. Amazon boss and father-of-four Jeff Bezos in 1999, left and today, right, after his dramatic makeover Social media sites went into a frenzy as they compared Bezos who is worth around 75billion with his previous image. Many remarked how the father of four looked younger and notably more muscular at a tech conference in Idaho. It is thought Bezos has become a health nut and regularly works out. 'Congratulations Jeff Bezos on your change in personal brand from 'business ascetic' to 'prefers killing with his bare hands,' one commented. Amazon has just launched Spark in the US, a social network that identifies products that appear in pictures and lets users click through to buy them. Users of the service are asked to pick subjects they like, such as books, technology or food, and will then be shown pictures others have shared of them. Economist Albert Ruiz added: 'Jeff Bezos looks like he just stepped off the set of Fast And The Furious.' Bezos famously wrote the business plan for Amazon while driving from New York to Seattle. He originally listed 20 things he wanted to sell but chose just books. In 1999 he patented the idea of buying items with just one click a decade before it was possible. HOLMEN Leslie E. Hewines Msgt USMC Ret., 82, of Holmen passed away Friday, July 14, 2017, at the Bethany Riverside Care Center. He was born in Canton, Ohio Sept. 28, 1934, to Leslie and Emma (Snyder) Hewines. He married Loretta Svoboda June 9, 1956, and later divorced but remained very close friends throughout their lives. Leslie served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1951 to 1971, serving in Korea and two tours in Vietnam. Retiring after 20 years with the rank of Master Sargent. Leslie was very respected for his military service and remained involved in programs that honored military veterans. He was also so proud to be able to be a part of a Freedom Honor Flight. Following his retirement from the Marine Corps, Leslie worked at River City Steel as a welder. He absolutely loved to paint and enjoyed woodworking, fishing and coin collecting. Leslie also enjoyed telling jokes and making people laugh. Above all else though, he loved spending time with his children and grandchildren. He is survived by a special friend, Loretta Mooney; his children, Jay (Sue) Hewines of La Crosse, Tracy (Dale) Sacia of Holmen and Randy (Cheryl Blackstone) Hewines of La Crosse; nine grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents; and Frank and Harriet Svoboda who meant the world to him. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, July 24, at the Dickinson Family Funeral Home, 1425 Jackson St., La Crosse. Pastor Allison Cobb will officiate and burial with military honors will be in the Mormon Coulee Memorial Park Cemetery. Friends may visit with the family at the funeral home from 10 a.m. Monday, until time of services. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to the Freedom Honor Flight. Information and online condolences may be given to the family at www.dickinsonfuneralhomes.com. We would like to to extend a special thank you to Bethany Riverside for the care and compassion they provided to our father. SIMUNYE RSSC employees are now required to provide breath specimens for analysis of alcohol content in their system, before entering premises of the two sugar factories run by the company. The Royal Swaziland Sugar Corporation (RSSC) MD, Nick Jackson, said this was one of the measures that have been undertaken by the company in order to curb industrial fatalities. He said this while making a presentation during a tour of Simunye Sugar factory by Zambia President Edgar Lungu yesterday. Everyone who enters the gate has to blow their breath and if it goes green, then it means you have a problem, said Jackson. The precise name of the device that is used for collecting and analysing the breath specimen was not revealed but it was only described as a sophisticated device. RSSC security officers demonstrated how the device functions when the president and his delegation entered the premises of the factory. Some cabinet ministers, security officials and journalists, provided their breath specimen before entering the factory. Meanwhile, during Jacksons presentation, President Lungu asked how the company was ensuring that there were no industrial fatalities. In response, Jackson told the president that RSSC has committed a lot of resources in ensuring the safety of its workers. However, he told the president that the company has suffered quite a number of industrial fatalities in the past couple of years. We have had injuries in the past, something which is very disturbing, he stated. Meanwhile, Jackson said Lungus tour of the Simunye sugar factory provided an opportunity for RSSC to showcase its world class agricultural infrastructure and further display what the country had to offer in terms of sugar production. Jackson said the company was proud to be visited by a head of State. We are here to showcase Swaziland, he stated briefly. MBABANE While many women pray for the safe return of their husbands who were reported missing, Tenele Dlamini wants a divorce from her allegedly missing partner. Dlamini filed the divorce papers seeking a final decree of divorce at the Mbabane Magistrates Court. Her decision came after her husband, Bandile Khoza, allegedly went missing from her rented flat at Mbuluzi since January this year. She said since her husband left her house, he never came back, something which has left her with the view that he was no longer interested in their marriage. I have tried to locate him but my efforts yielded no results. His relatives say they normally see him in different places around Mbabane but since he left, I have never come across him, Dlamini alleged. The duo was married in community of property in September 2011. Their marriage was witnessed by church members and their families. However, two years after their marriage, the couple is said to have started encountering problems in their union. Dlamini informed the court that they were faced with financial problems at their homestead, in that her husband was allegedly no longer providing any financial support. Reasons He never worked longer than three months and he had no valid reasons for that. I became a breadwinner in the relationship, yet I had a husband who didnt want to work and support his family, she alleged. She said she reported the matter to Khozas family and the church elders but nothing changed. EZULWINI Almost 15 years after vacating his seat in senate, former Senator Walter Bennett is still a signatory to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Swaziland Branch. He, along with former Attorney General (AG) Majahenkhaba Dlamini, were cited as signatories to an account held at Swaziland Building Society (SBS), which although has E106 268.46, has remained dormant. This was revealed by the CPA Executive Committee chairperson, Lobamba Lomdzala MP Marwick Khumalo, during the Annual General Meeting (AGM), which was held yesterday at the Swaziland Water Services Corporation (SWSC) auditorium. The MP said, however, they were presently in the process of changing the signatories as they were also able to round up other former signatories in the likes of former Senator Bhutana Dlamini, Senator Winnie Magagula, Bennett and the former AG. Khumalo said the financial institutions which are both SBS and Nedbank Swaziland have assured them that the monies were still there. It was reported that arrangements had already been made to at least complete the process by next week Monday. Bennett was a legislator during the Seventh and Eighth Parliaments. Meanwhile, the Treasurer of the branch, Senator Adam Bomber Mthethwa, said the financial position of the branch was not a good one, when he presented the CPAs financials. In total, the CPA only has E139 694 in three separate accounts held at SBS and Nedbank Swaziland. Mthethwa said because of the poor state of finances, the branch would continue to rely on government to finance most of its programmes and activities. He said all three accounts were dormant. The senator said the activation of the accounts was on course and that the previous signatories were cooperating in the process which he hoped would be completed by next Monday. MBABANE Another shocking detail has been unravelled on the mutilated body of Qiniso Mhlanga, whose body was found dumped in a river at Sidwashini. Following the post-mortem that was conducted yesterday at the Mbabane Government Hospital, family members noted the thinned skin around Qinisos neck, making the bronchi a bit visible. I have heard stories of children being abducted and mutilated but I never thought this deed will come to the towns, said Make Simelane, a neighbour to Qiniso. The young boy was a pupil at Qedusizi Primary School. Make Simelane said these words during Mhlangas post-mortem at the hospital while in the company of the deceaseds older brother Maqhawe Nkhosi and the victims aunt, Winisile Xaba. Qinisos mother, Bonisile Vilane, did not attend the post-mortem. We did not want her to relive the trauma. Seeing her son once when confirming the body was enough. The sight is too tragic for any mother to experience, said Simelane while in tears after seeing the body. Simelane continued stating that this deed, which was done to Qiniso, was pure evil. How can a child be attacked in this manner? He only travelled a small distance from school and who should have possibly plotted such? Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams Tom Allon You remember that kid who sat in the back row, kind of slumped over, who never seemed to be paying attention in class but still got As on most of the tests? He sometimes bombed a pop quiz, but otherwise seemed luckier than his work ethic would have you believe. Well, it isnt a perfect analogy, but Mayor Bill de Blasio is something like that student. He is knocked in the media for going to the gym in Brooklyn around 10 a.m. each day and for his occasional progressive protest junkets, like the recent one to Hamburg but its hard to argue with some of the results of his administration thus far. On the big stuff public safety, education and affordable housing hes followed through on his campaign promises and delivered more than most expected. But there have been some sloppy subjects, too. Listen up class, because here is the mayors first-term report card: Public safety: A Its very hard to argue with the results of these first four years murders are down from all-time lows, and most categories of crime have gone down as well. What is remarkable is that these impressive stats were accomplished while driving down so-called stop-and-frisks by 93 percent! De Blasio has essentially debunked all those who thought the only way to keep crime low was to use aggressive tactics that became prevalent in the Bloomberg administration. I was one of the skeptics, but am now a convert to the idea that you can keep crime down without heavy, proactive policing. Education: B+ Universal pre-K has been a remarkable achievement that many have touted in the past, but until de Blasio, no one was able to execute. For that alone, his education legacy will be a strong one. However, it is the education from K12 that has largely inched up with stronger graduation rates (but lower standards) and essentially static results on reading and math tests. Carmen Farina was a safe choice for chancellor and it will be interesting to see if she decides to stay for the second term. Most experts think she will not, and her successor will be pivotal in cementing the mayors education reforms. Affordable housing: B+ The mayor has been proudly touting the pace of preserving and creating affordable housing units but, alas, it is only a drop in the bucket. The mayor and his team get an A for effort, but a much lower grade for creativity. The real estate community has been pleasantly surprised at how friendly de Blasio has been in general, but those who advocate for low-income New Yorkers have loudly voiced their displeasure with the mayor. In a likely second term, the mayor has to be bolder on this and pick up the pace before the city becomes even more unaffordable for most people. Homelessness: F This has been the single biggest failure of this administration. Not only have the ranks of the homeless mushroomed, but the fact that homeless people seem ubiquitous in the city now leads to a sense that quality of life is deteriorating. The mayor must take control here and figure out a more effective way to build transitional housing and to step up the pipeline of mentally ill homeless people to treatment rather than the streets. This will be the true test of the next term if it gets much worse, we will be seeing tabloid headlines reminding us of the disorder in the city in the pre-Giuliani era. Transportation: D Yes, we know that the MTA is really controlled by the governor, but the mayor still gets a bunch of appointees to the MTA board and has a bully pulpit to pressure Andrew Cuomo and the MTA to get things back on track. Not to mention the fact that the mayor could make larger capital contributions to the MTA budget to get those damn antiquated signals replaced before our grandchildrens time. If Cuomo and de Blasio dont act rapidly here, they will both go down as failures, while millions of straphangers dread and curse their chaotic daily commute. Im sorry, but a trolley in Brooklyn and Queens and a nice ferry system are mere distractions when the subway arteries are afflicted with a fatal blockage. Well, it looks like the mayor missed the Deans List again because of a few problem subjects. Maybe hell work harder and smarter in his second term. Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams By Bill Parry New York Citys first-ever comprehensive cultural plan, based on the feedback from nearly 200,000 residents in the past year, was released at Material for the Arts in Long Island City Wednesday. The 180-page report called CreateNYC lays out a blueprint for expanding on the unparalleled strengths of the citys cultural sector, while targeting investments to address historically underserved neighborhoods across all five boroughs. The plan also reaffirms the citys commitment to cultivating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive cultural workforce that reflects New York Citys residents. CreateNYC is the result of Local Law 46 of 2015 sponsored by City Council Majority Leader Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside) and Councilman Steve Levin, who represents Greenpoint, Williamsburg and several other arts-oriented neighborhoods in Brooklyn. It was signed by Mayor de Blasio in 2015. This is a city of unmatched cultural richness that expresses itself on sidewalks, in storefronts, in museums, theaters and parks in every corner of the five boroughs, de Blasio said. New York City is the world capital of art and culture. If we are going to continue to live up to that title, we must use every tool we have to ensure that every resident, in every neighborhood, has the same access to cultural opportunities. CreateNYC is the first comprehensive roadmap to lifting up the arts and culture across the city now its time to roll up our sleeves and get to work. The plan is aimed at keeping New York an artist friendly city in a time of skyrocketing rents and a variety of economic pressures. Van Bramer called the completion of the first cultural plan for the city a profound and historic achievement. Weve built a plan that will guide our efforts to make art and culture more accessible to all, to empower and train the next generation of artists, and to fully support established and emerging cultural organizations in every borough, especially in areas that are traditionally underserved, Van Bramer said. From the beginning of this journey, the development of the cultural plan has been a deeply democratic process, drawing on the perspectives of people from every neighborhood and all walks of life. Throughout the engagement process, New Yorkers made it clear that they value the role that culture plays in their community. A Sienna College Research Institute phone survey conducted for CreateNYC found that: 97 percent of the respondents said that arts and culture are important to the overall quality of life in New York City and 77 said they wish they were able to attend more arts and cultural activities. This is an exciting moment for everyone who cares about culture in New York City, and as we discovered throughout this process thats virtually everyone, Cultural Affairs Commissioner Tom Finkelpearl said. We are proud to be the largest local funder of art and culture in America and with CreateNYC in hand, we can make sure that our investments in this singular asset help to address concerns, opportunities, hopes and priorities that residents voiced loud and clear. Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams By Bill Parry The city brought charges against a Ridgewood landlord for retaliating against immigrant tenants after they reported him to the Commission on Human Rights for discrimination based on their immigration status. In March, the commission served the landlord a notice of the complaint, alleging discrimination after Make the Road New York brought the case to the commission. In a response letter to the commission, the unidentified landlord denied the allegations and sent a copy to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which included tenants personal information, in violation of the retaliation protections within the citys Human Rights Law. My landlord has been harassing and threatening me and my family for over a year. Most recently, he started threatening us with ICE unless we moved out of our apartment immediately, said a tenant and member of Make the Road New York. With the help of Make the Road New York and the Commission on Human Rights, I know that I have rights, and I no longer feel that I have to live in fear. The commission is now charging the landlord with retaliation against his tenants and is filing a complaint against him on behalf of the city. The commission is not releasing the names of the tenants out of fear for their safety, and will not name the landlord because the investigation is ongoing. Our message is loud and clear: We will hold landlords accountable for discrimination in our city, Mayor Bill de Blasio said. We stand with tenants, regardless of their origin in Queens and across the five boroughs. The commission, which has the authority to fine violators with civil penalties of up to $250,000 for willful and malicious violations, as well as compensatory damages for victims, has notified the landlord of the retaliation charges and was awaiting a response. The commission will not hesitate to take action against bad actors when they retaliate against New Yorkers who have reported discrimination, said Assistant Commissioner of the Law Enforcement Bureau Sapna V. Raj. The NYC Human Rights Law makes it illegal to retaliate against any individual for reporting discrimination, regardless of the immigration status. Everyone in New York City deserves the right to live free from discrimination and harassment and should not fear for their safety when reporting violations of the law. The commission is currently investigating 291 claims of discrimination on immigration status, and/or national origin, with 89 of the claims specifically about housing. This repeated harassment and retaliation against immigrant tenants is unlawful and unacceptable in New York City, said Commissioner Nisha Agarwall, of the Mayors Office of Immigrant Affairs. It is very unfortunate that certain bad actors feel emboldened to follow Washingtons lead in hostility towards immigrants. We are proud of our colleagues at the NYC Commission on Human Rights for taking action, standing with our fellow New Yorkers, and making clear that immigrants rights must be respected in our city. Learn more about housing protections against discrimination in New York City at www.nyc.gov/ fairh ousin g. If you or someone you know believes they are the victim of discrimination or harassment by their landlord, call the commissions infoline at 718-722-3131. Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams By Bill Parry Motorists in Queens can use their cell phones to pay parking meters remotely now that the citys Department of Transportation activated its ParkNYC mobile payment system that was already available in the other boroughs. An online system links registered license plate numbers to NYPD traffic enforcement agents handheld devices that confirm payment. In last years State of the City, we promised pay-by-cell at every metered parking space in New York City and we have delivered, Mayor Bill de Blasio said. We know that especially here in Queens, parking can be a challenge, but ParkNYC now makes it a bit easier with no paper receipt and the ability to quickly get on your way. Now that mobile payment is live everywhere, I encourage drivers to give it a try by downloading the easy-to-use app onto their phones. DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg used a smartphone to demonstrate ParkNYC at a metered spot along 108th Street in Forest Hills Tuesday as the system went online in Queens. It is now available at all 85,000 metered parking spots in the five boroughs. Now, drivers no longer have to scramble for change, and they dont even have to walk to a Muni-meter to get a receipt that could blow away from their dashboard. With no added fees, mobile alerts that let you know when time is running out on your spot and the ability to extend a parking session without returning to the car, ParkNYC offers a great convenience to New York drivers. The ParkNYC mobile app is available for download at no cost for iPhones in the App Store and for Android at Google play. The website www.parkn yc.org includes more information about registration and FAQs and can also be used for remote payment without downloading the ParkNYC app. Transactions can also be made by voice call to an automated phone system. So many Queens residents rely on a car especially those without easy access to transit to get around our borough, and parking is always a challenge, Queens Borough President Melinda Katz said. ParkNYCs mobile payment system is a useful tool to help make that day-to-day struggle a little bit simpler. Now with the expansion of ParkNYC to Queens, its easier to shop and dine at Queens shops and restaurants just a little bit longer and enjoy the Worlds Borough even more. Once the app is downloaded, users can enter personal information, provide the license plate number and load the ParkNYC wallet, which works like an EZPass, loading increments as low as $25. After parking, he or she enters the six-digit unique zone number for block and length of time. After confirmation, the driver is set. Motorists can extend their time if it is running out and maximum time has not already been reached, while parking time can be extended without returning to the car. Even though I do not drive a car, the convenience being afforded by this new technology is self-evident, City Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz (D-Forest Hills) said. Muni-meters will continue to accept coins and credit or debit cards for drivers who dont want to use ParkNYC. Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams By Mark Hallum A broad array of capital improvement projects is underway to overhaul the Long Island Rail Road to accommodate the modern needs of its ridership. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced last week a total of $5.6 billion in state funds would be spent adding additional tracks, renovating about 40 stations and adding vital infrastructure to increase train capacity by 80 percent. Cuomo referred to the nearly 70 decades of little improvement to the LIRRs infrastructure as a period of stagnation in a recent release, which detailed full upgrades to Jamaica and Flushing stations in Queens, as well as new systemwide signaling for the entire network and an overhaul of tracks. With the complete transformation of the Long Island Rail Road, New York is recapturing the bold ambition that made our infrastructure the envy of the nation and building for the future. The LIRR is the backbone of the regions economy, and the strength and resiliency of Long Island requires bold, transformative investments to bolster our transportation network, Cuomo said. From the previously unthinkable Third Track and Second Track projects to state-of-the-art technology and signal upgrades, we are daring to imagine better and delivering for the people of New York once again. The Third Track is an expansion project for the 9.8-mile stretch of the Main Line between Floral Park and Hicksville and eliminates all seven street-level crossings within the construction zone. It will cost an estimated $2 billion. Renderings show an almost unrecognizable downtown Flushing station with a canopy over a single entrance. The station is currently undergoing improvements. It is not ADA-accessible and provides little shelter for commuters on the platforms. To get from one platform to the other, riders are forced to go around the block at Main Street. About $375 million will reconfigure tracks, install new signals and other infrastructure at Jamaica Station, which has seen some updates since it was built in 1913, according to the governors office. Wifi, charging stations and heated enclosures will comprise some of the new features. Cuomo has pulled these funds together in the lead-up to what he has called the summer of hell for public transit riders in New York City which started July 8. While Penn Station has reduced its capacity by 19 percent for eight weeks as Amtrak completes a series of long-overdue repairs affecting service for LIRR, NJ Transit and Amtrak customers, the governor has also declared a state of emergency for the citys subways. This has suspended some of the bureaucracy tied to capital improvements to expedite the installment of a signal system to replace the current outdate technology developed in the 1890s and to secure $1 billion for the MTAs capital improvement funds. The LIRR reported a relatively minor dip in ridership in the first two weeks of the summer of hell, according to transit officials at a Monday MTA board meeting. LIRR President Patrick Nowakowski presented figures which showed a dip of about 11,000 riders through Penn Station, compared to the baseline of 86,000, during the morning peak hour on Week Two. Evening peak hour through the transit hub only saw a drop of about 4,000 commuters. Bridgewater looks to become a regional nightlife hub in western PA Bridgewater bars offer patrons a nightlife experience that is unique from any other in western Pennsylvania North Creek You can take the train from Saratoga Springs to North Creek, and now you can pedal your way farther into the Adirondacks, thanks to a startup company that offers so-called rail bike tours. Revolution Rail Co. is offering excursions on a stretch of track several miles north of the North Creek rail station, on a line that linked to Tahawus, where iron ore and later titanium dioxide were mined. The vehicles are similar to paddle boats on rail wheels, with passengers sitting upright as they pedal themselves north about three miles, then turn around and pedal back south. En route, they cross a trestle bridge spanning the Hudson River. The vehicles come with two or four seats. The two-seaters cost $70, and the four-seaters $130. The trip takes about two hours. "We are really excited to launch this fun family activity and open up a stretch of track that has never been open for passenger service," said Robert Harte, who with Michael Dupee launched Revolution Rail. While passengers can drive to the North Creek station, off Route 28 in the town, they can also take the Saratoga and North Creek Railway train. The train will run Thursdays through Sundays for much of the summer, starting in late July, departing from Saratoga Springs' Amtrak station at 10 a.m., arriving in time to connect with the 12:30 p.m. rail bike tour, then returning on the 3 p.m. departure to Saratoga. At one time, the train, operated by Iowa Pacific Holdings, served hot meals prepared on board in its full-length dome cars and even offered cocktails on the return trips. It couldn't be determined Tuesday what services are available. Calls to the railroad weren't returned. Trains will continue to operate through Columbus Day weekend, though not on Columbus Day itself. The rail bike tours, meanwhile, are scheduled to continue through Oct. 31. More details: www.revrail.com and www.sncrr.com This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate WASHINGTON, D.C. For a veteran politician like Rep. John Faso, the writing on the wall is clear: Prospects of getting his Medicaid-related amendment through the congressional meat-grinder anytime soon are virtually nil. The amendment, co-sponsored by Rep. Chris Collins, R-Williamsville, and aimed at halting New York counties' Medicaid contributions to Albany, passed the House in May as part of the GOP health care bill. And it resurfaced in all the subsequent Senate iterations, too. But even with President Donald Trump flogging Republican senators to get it to his desk for signature, the Senate's bid to repeal and replace Obamacare appears scuttled. ''I don't think a Republican-only approach can pass, based on the last six months,'' Faso said in an interview Thursday. ''I'm intensely practical.'' The Kinderhook Republican sidestepped a question on whether the 2010 Affordable Care Act Obamacare is here to stay, but acknowledged a bipartisan solution is the only path forward at this point. ''I'm certainly prepared to work with people on bipartisan basis to fix the problems that are all too apparent in the Affordable Care Act,'' he said. ''We should try in good faith to find reforms to lower costs, and increase availability of health care. There are no magic wands.'' Faso's amendment would have cancel out the obligation of New York's counties to chip in for the state's share of Medicaid's cost. Faso campaigned in 2016 on the issue as a matter of property-tax relief for upstate New Yorkers. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has bitterly opposed the amendment, saying it would leave a $2.3 billion hole in the state's hefty obligation to fund Medicaid, the 52-year-old federal-state program providing health care for the poor. Cuomo and state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman have said Faso's proposal infringes on the state's sovereign rights, charging that there is no legitimate federal interest in telling the state how to divvy up its Medicaid contribution. Faso insisted his amendment would not harm New York's end of providing Medicaid to more than 6 million New Yorkers, more than half of them in New York City's five boroughs. The shifted cost could be made up in cutting waste from state spending and the Medicaid program itself, he said. He cited audits by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, one of which last month reported that the state collected over $160 million in Medicaid drug rebates after auditors identified shortcomings. Auditors also found $78 million in rebates that hadn't been submitted to drug manufacturers. Although the amendment could come up in a future negotiation between Republicans and Democrats to spruce up Obamacare, Faso is not holding his breath. One major obstacle would be Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, who has called the Faso measure ''re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic.'' To compensate for the revenue loss, ''Who's going to have to pay the higher taxes?'' Schumer told New York reporters Wednesday. ''The county taxpayer or the state taxpayer? They're the same people.'' Faso's strategy going forward is to pursue his measure as a standalone bill. He introduced such a measure in April as the Property Tax Relief Act. Another more likely possibility is to attach it to a larger piece of legislation moving through Congress. The equities of the Faso proposal revolve in large measure around New York City and its historically tenuous relationship with upstate, especially when it comes to taxes and spending. The bill would cancel the Medicaid tax for 57 New York counties but not New York City, which has its own income tax. New York's five boroughs are home to 57 percent of those on Medicaid in the state. The city's large low-income population and costly public hospitals are the major contributing factors. But New York City chips in 71 percent ($5.9 billion) of the counties' share of Medicaid. Overall, the federal government pays about 51 percent, New York state 35 percent and the counties plus New York City 13 percent, according to the Albany-based nonpartisan Empire Center for Public Policy. And while the current county tax arguably is not fair to upstate property owners, the Faso solution might prove unfair to city residents, said E.J. McMahon, the Empire Center's research director. ''You'd be forcing (people in New York City) to subsidize a share of county Medicaid costs while continuing to pay a share of their own Medicaid costs,'' McMahon said. Faso's vote for the House health care bill has yielded a fair amount of opposition in his sprawling district, including angry protests and calls for him to stand before voters in town halls. Faso is among six New York House Republicans, including Rep. Elise Stefanik of the North Country, whom Cuomo and Democrats have vowed to go after in next year's elections. How exactly the state Democratic Committee, which has raised funds for that effort, will spend its war chest in those districts remains to be seen. Faso insists he doesn't worry very much. ''Everyone has a First Amendment right, but the country is facing extraordinary financial turmoil and my objective here is to try and do the right thing,'' he said. ''The election is 17 months away.'' Matt Hamilton in Albany contributed reporting. dan@hearstdc.com MARIPOSA Gold Countrys southernmost town, a collection of old saloons and bygone buildings that now peddle mostly ice cream and local wine to tourists, stood nearly empty Wednesday as a raging wildfire just west of Yosemite forced thousands to flee. Flames from the fast-moving Detwiler Fire were tearing across a grassy ridgeline just above the 1850s-era community, burning homes as it charred some 48,000 acres of foothills to the north and leaving residents and visitors anxious about the fate of historical Mariposa. This is not good. This is not good, said Charlotte Allen, as she took in the frightening sight of thick smoke passing by the Miners Inn, where she worked the front desk and was yet to evacuate. We always get fires, but never this close. Firefighters, aided by about 20 helicopters and planes, were waging a fevered battle to keep the blaze from pushing into the 2,000-person city. Already 29 structures had burned, but another 4,000 homes and businesses remained in the fires path, authorities said. Im praying and hopeful theyll contain it before it gets into town, said Deb Harwood, who just two weeks ago retired to the foothills from the Bay Area. Harwood was forced to flee her new mobile home in Mariposa this week and was staying at an evacuation center 45 miles away in Oakhurst. Several who left their homes because of the fire went to Oakhurst after the evacuation center in Mariposa had to be evacuated. Meanwhile, as far away as Yosemite Valley, lights flickered on and off as the inferno barreled across power lines and roads 30 miles west of the park. Smoke clouded views of popular Half Dome and El Capitan while portions of Highway 49 and Highway 140, a primary route to Yosemite, were shut down. All park sights and services, however, remained open. The past few weeks have brought hot, dry weather to the Sierra foothills, often in the triple digits, which has combined with erratic winds in recent days to fuel the Detwiler Fire. The heat is not expected to let up, with temperatures forecast to warm slightly in coming days. The blaze, which began Sunday several miles north of Mariposa, is another mark of Californias late but extraordinarily busy peak fire season. While a wet winter left hills and valleys much moister than normal this year, once they dried out, a bumper crop of grass and brush emerged as easy prey for fire, particularly at lower, hotter spots like Mariposa. Also, the Mariposa area is ground zero of the states tree mortality epidemic. Tens of millions of trees have died because of the recent drought and a bark beetle infestation in the central and southern Sierra, a die-off that authorities fear only intensifies fire. About 186,000 acres have burned across California this year, according to state and federal figures about 50 percent more than this time last year and nearly double the five-year average. The Detwiler Fire ranks among the biggest so far, and with fire officials estimating just 7 percent containment Wednesday, the potential for growth remains high. The cause remains under investigation. Late Tuesday, Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in Mariposa County, which will help get more money and manpower to the area. About 2,200 firefighters were battling the blaze Wednesday afternoon, with the foremost goal of halting its southerly push. Its backing slowly down a hill and there are multiple fire engines and strike teams in there to keep the fire from reaching Mariposa itself, said Jordan Motta, spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Its just all hands on deck right now. Motta said the strong show of force by firefighters appeared to have slowed if not stopped the fires forward momentum, at least for the time being. Janet Kirkland, 72, another evacuee, was most concerned about her 20-year-old African gray parrot named Rookie. She had time to pack up her two dogs, but the bird remained at her house, which she was not optimistic about. Ive resigned myself to the fact that I may not have a home to come back to, she said. Evan Sernoffsky, Sarah Ravani and Kurtis Alexander are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com, sravani@sfchronicle.com and kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky, @SarRavani and @kurtisalexander This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Albany The first arguments in a case that could grant collective bargaining rights to tens of thousands of farm workers were heard in the State Supreme Court Thursday. The case revolves around Crispin Hernandez, a dairy worker who sued Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration last year after alleging he was intimidated, and ultimately fired, for voicing complaints about mistreatment at an upstate farm. As is the case in many other states, New York farm workers are not allowed many of the collective bargaining rights given to other laborers, having been excluded from legal worker protections for roughly 80 years. That, advocacy groups say, has left workers, who are often foreign-born, not fluent in English, and largely dependent on their employers for housing and other amenities, perpetually vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. Last year Cuomo said his administration would decline to fight Hernandez's case, which is being brought by the New York Civil Liberties Union and two upstate workers' rights groups, effectively granting overnight union rights to tens of thousands of workers. But soon after, the New York Farm Bureau was allowed to challenge the case. The Farm Bureau has for years argued that the changes would be financially devastating on farms, where the length of work days is largely determined by weather. By excluding farm workers from those protections, the plaintiff's lawyers argued Thursday, the state's labor laws are in direct conflict with the fundamental right to organize and, thus, are unconstitutional. "When the language is clear, that's how we need to interpret the constitution," argued NYCLU attorney Erin Harrist. "And the language here is crystal clear. It says 'employees.' It does not say 'some employees.'" Because the state's labor laws were informed by what she called "offensive and horrific" language that she said was aimed at disproportionately affecting minority groups, the court should remedy their consequences. The Farm Bureau, meanwhile, alleged Thursday that the suit was simply a way for NYCLU to subvert the state Legislature, wherein similarly minded bills have been tried and failed for decades. "This is not a case that was filed to solve an actual controversy," Brian Butler said. "This is a big issue that needs to be resolved by the Legislature," he said. "... The fact that they haven't acted doesn't mean we should sidestep" lawmakers. Rather, he said NYCLU's aim was for a legal "rubber stamp." "That's not what the judiciary is intended for," Butler said. But the NYCLU argues that the court has a duty to remedy what it says are unconstitutional exclusions. "Really it comes down to the question that this is a fundamental right in the constitution," Harrist said. "And it's the court's job to adjudicate the constitutionality of legislation. Which is why this is the appropriate forum for this case to be heard." "It is a constitutional question," she said. She also dismissed the idea that the NYCLU was coordinating with Cuomo's administration to further the decades long push. "There was no smoky, backroom deal here," she said. If won, the case would be a huge step for workers' rights groups, who have been fighting with little success to remedy the effects of the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act, which excluded a mostly-minority farm workforce from labor protections. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate "Hunger Games" star Jennifer Lawrence vomited during a Broadway adaptation of George Orwell's "1984," but she says it was not the harrowing torture scene that made her toss her cookies. The actress' stomach problems were first reported by Page Six. The play's upsetting staging has reportedly caused audience members to faint, although until Monday night, no one apparently has thrown up. Those who have read "1984," are well aware of a nausea-inducing scene involving a cage and a rat. According to a Page Six source, "Midway through the show, Jennifer Lawrence bolted from her seat. Several people saw her getting sick in the lobby. The ushers were very helpful and courteous in helping her out." The site quoted a friend of Lawrence, who said the visceral staging had nothing to do with the actress' stomach distress. "She caught the stomach flu from her nephews," the source said. It's not the first time Lawrence has publicly puked. At a Guy Oseary-Madonna party in 2014, she got sick and threw up on a porch. She told Seth Meyers: "I was in such bad condition, and I look behind me while I'm puking, and Miley Cyrus is there like, 'Get it together.'" SARATOGA SPRINGS Rod Johnson cannot accept the idea that his 20-year old granddaughter will be 75 years old before fish in the Hudson River might be safe to eat regularly. The 73-year-old Lake Luzerne resident was among more than 100 people who came to a Saratoga Springs hotel Wednesday to tell the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that the seven-year, $1.7 billion cleanup of toxic PCBs from the river is not finished. "EPA does not stand for General Electric Protection Agency," said Johnson, during a two-hour meeting held by EPA as part of its review of whether dredging done by GE was effective. "You are here to protect us, the common guy." Mike Groll See video of portion of hearing Last month, EPA released its draft 1,000-page report, which concluded that it is too soon to tell if the project can be called a success. The project dredged out about 310,000 pounds of PCBS from the river between Fort Edward and Troy, or 72 percent of what is now known to be in the river. That means about 120,000 pounds still remain along the bottom, including in the navigation channel of the state-owned Champlain Canal. On Wednesday, EPA Project Director Gary Klawinski told Johnson and others at the meeting that EPA needs eight more years of measuring PCB levels in the river and in fish to "get a good handle on the trends." Part of the EPA's plan also relies on "monitored natural attenuation" for PCBs to reach safe limits. That means the agency will observe whether PCBs are declining naturally over time, a step that opponents said meant only hoping and waiting. For now, it appears that is will be "more than 55 years" before it will be safe for someone to eat Hudson River fish at least once a week, Klawinski said, citing the report. That kind of time frame has drawn fire from the state Department of Environmental Conservation, which has been pressing EPA to force GE to conduct more dredging. "This is an unacceptably high level of contamination," said DEC Case Manager Kevin Farrar, who read a department statement at the meeting. "We disagree with EPA's conclusions in this report. EPA must abandon its wait-and-see approach." State Assembly member Carrier Woerner, a Round Lake Democrat, brought a letter signed by 40 state lawmakers asking for continued dredging by GE. "We need to you continue to require GE to clean this up," she said. "Please consider putting GE back in the river." Lee Jamison, a 35-year resident of Stuyvesant in Columbia County, questioned whether EPA would "even be around in another 55 years to stay on this," especially given the massive budgets proposed this year for the agency by the administration of President Donald J. Trump. Klawinski responded, "I cannot answer, because I just don't know." But he also vowed that EPA would not be "abandoning the cleanup" and said that EPA will consider "all concerns" before deciding to make its report final. Several environmental advocacy groups had harsh words for EPA. "What we are seeking here is an exercise in covering up what has been an inadequate cleanup so far," said Richard Webster, legal program director for Ossining-based Riverkeeper. Manna Jo Greene, environmental director for the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater and a member of the Ulster County Legislature, said EPA was "hearing no evil, speaking no evil and seeing no evil." Albany resident Aaron Mair, who recently was national president of the Sierra Club, called the EPA report "garbage." He said federal officials were serving "GE shareholder value ... corporate influence is driving the science, which is driving the outcome." He said EPA already showed it won't order further dredging by allowing GE last year to dismantle its PCB processing facility in Fort Edward that was handling the river dredging. Althea Mullarkey, a policy analyst for the advocacy group Scenic Hudson, was slightly more charitable toward EPA, saying its report was based on "wishful thinking." On Tuesday, both U.S. senators from the state asked EPA Administration Scott Pruitt to schedule another meeting in New York City. EPA had scheduled just two meetings, this one and one in Poughkeepsie. EPA has set a Sept. 1 deadlines to take written comments on the report. No transcript was taken at the Saratoga Springs meeting, and nothing said there will be part of the record that EPA reviews prior to its final decision. ALBANY The row house where Monday night's devastating blaze on Madison Avenue began may have been in violation of the city code. An Albany building official said Wednesday that 406 Madison Ave. one of four historic buildings razed in the wake of the inferno that displaced more than a dozen people "may have been rented at the time without an active residential occupancy permit," which indicates that it was in violation of the city code. The official, Robert Magee, director of the Department of Buildings and Regulatory Compliance, said in an email that the building's owner was cited in the summer of 2015 for failure to obtain the residential occupancy permit. Magee said in October 2016 the city sent the owner a reminder letter but did not appear to receive a response. Fire Chief Warren Abriel had told reporters Tuesday at a City Hall news conference he did not know of any code violations for any of the buildings that burned. Magee said at the time of the fire the city knew of no code violations against 406 Madison. But he said the city now believes there may be code violations based on the statements of displaced tenants and because the contact information for the building owner is different than the address itself. Tax records identified the owner as Carl Cazalet, Magee said. Cazalet could not be reached Wednesday. Magee stopped short of saying there were definite code violations in the building because officials were not called to the property. He noted the code enforcement officer who issued the citation in 2015 is no longer with the department and records do not show what resolution, if any, was reached. The fire, reported at 8:50 p.m. on Monday, tore through buildings at 404, 406, 408 and 410 Madison Ave., which had to be razed. Mayor Kathy Sheehan said at the news conference that officials were hoping to save 412 Madison Ave. Magee identified the owners of the other buildings as Michael Duder (404 Madison); Roman S. Radomyslsky (408 Madison); Evan A. Reeder (410 Madison) and Sterling Metro Properties (412 Madison). Efforts to reach the owners were unsuccessful Wednesday. Magee said because the buildings were all built in the 1860s, they would have been exempt from needing certificates of occupancy. But if the buildings were being rented out, their owners would have needed to obtain ROPs under the city code. The building at 412 Madison Avenue, which officials are hoping to salvage, had an up-to-date ROP, Magee said. He said 410 and 408 Madison Ave. appeared to have been owner-occupied and, as a result, not needed the residential occupancy permit. He said 404 Madison Ave. appeared to have valid ROPs through October this year. He said the department initially had difficulty performing an inspection on that building after a permit application was filed in January 2015 but no citation was issued, indicating the inspection took place and permits were issued. Also Wednesday, the mayor announced that fundraising efforts have begun on behalf of the fire victims. The Interfaith Partnership for the Homeless in Albany was coordinating financial donations with the city and SEFCU through a Madison Avenue Fire Relief Fund. A news release from the city said donors may contribute money to individuals and families at any SEFCU branch or by logging onto www.InterfaithPartnership.com and noting "Madison Avenue Fire Relief Fund" on the donation. Clothes were not being accepted, but those in need could visit the partnership at 176 Sheridan Ave. or call there at (518) 434-8021. Every business on Lark Street will have a jar or basket to collect donations. On Saturday, the Savoy Taproom at 301 Lark Street is holding a $10-a-head fundraiser with proceeds to benefit the fund. The release noted that earlier this week, the American Red Cross held an event joined by Sheehan, Troy Mayor Patrick Madden and Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy for a "Sound The Alarm" campaign to get 1,000 free smoke alarms installed across the three cities on Oct. 14. When Benny Raymond posted this photo of his then-3-year-old daughter, Wednesday, people commented on her rosy cheeks peeking under a flowery hat and curls. "Did you put makeup on her? Retouch this photo? She really can't be that freaking cute, can she?" one commenter asked. "Little miss ... the sweetest with her rosy cheeks..." said another. No makeup or retouching required. Raymond, of Malta, said Wednesday's cheeks were so red because she had to navigate "crowds of her fans" at the Saratoga Race Course. It was a few days before the track's hat contest last year (they missed the actual day of that contest, her dad says; a shame because Wednesday loves her hats), and Raymond's employer, video game developer Vicarious Visions, was hosting a day of fun at the track for its workers. But it took a little time to actually get to the meet-up spot. "People we passed by were constantly stopping to see 'the adorable girl in the hat,'" Raymond said in an interview over Facebook messenger, adding many people wanted her photo. "By the time we caught up with the rest of my co-workers, I knew I had to take a few photos to capture. She's pretty excited here, holding the tickets of the 'best named' horses she helped me pick. Her cheeks are so red from the long hot walk through the crowds of her fans." He wanted a few photos for himself, snapping this one with his iPhone. Though he enjoys photography as an occassional hobby, Raymond said he and his wife break out the digital camera only so often. Dressing up and shopping for clothes at thrift shops with her mom are some of Wednesday's favorite hobbies, Raymond said. In addition to the flowered hat in the photo, he said she has seven more hanging on her wall. Like Raymond, many of the entries to our #SaratogaBestShot contest were of children, enjoying the track in their own way. But there were also shots by the oval, of successful bets, and a horse of a different color. Sara Tracey Washington A White House commission opened a contentious inquiry into voter fraud Wednesday with a string of assertions that corruption has sapped citizens' faith in election results, and a promise by President Donald Trump to thwart some states' refusal to cooperate with the inquiry. Democratic critics denounced the investigation even as the president spoke, accusing Republicans of deliberately undermining that faith based on nonexistent evidence to create a pretext for measures to suppress opposition votes. In remarks to his Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, Trump cast the panel's work as a nonpartisan commitment to "upholding the ballot box and the principle of one citizen, one vote." He pledged that its work would be open to inspection and would "fairly and objectively follow the facts wherever they may lead." But he also made his own views clear, alluding to his widely derided charge that his 3-million-vote loss in the popular vote to Hillary Clinton in November's election was entirely due to fraud. "During the campaign and after, people would come up to me and express their concerns about voter inconsistencies and irregularities," he said. "In some cases having to do with very large numbers of people in certain states." Trump offered no evidence to back those reports, and election officials in all 50 states have reported few or no illegal ballots cast in November. Academic studies and other investigations have repeatedly concluded that election fraud is minuscule, and that misrepresentation at the ballot box, the kind of fraud most often cited as a problem, is almost nonexistent. The commission has met fierce resistance from voting-rights advocates ever since Trump created it in May. Many state election officials joined the outcry this summer after being asked to provide data on all 200 million registered voters to the panel for analysis. The former Democratic secretary of state in Missouri, Jason Kander, took aim in a news conference Wednesday at Republican claims that voter fraud is pervasive and that Democrats oppose reining it in. In fact, he argued, such claims are a charade meant to scare voters into supporting restrictions on the ballot. "This is not really a policy difference between the two parties," he said, but "a political strategy for them that's no different from where they run their TV ads, or where they send mailers, or whose doors they knock on. That's what voter suppression is about for them." At the meeting Wednesday, some of the 12 commissioners offered ambitious plans for using data from both state and federal sources to scour the nation for what they have long called a hidden threat undiscovered noncitizens, felons, people who vote in more than one state and other malefactors. The panel's vice chairman and day-to-day overseer, the Republican secretary of state in Kansas, Kris Kobach, told the group that he had uncovered 128 cases of noncitizens who registered or tried to register in Kansas elections, but that the true number could be as great as 18,000. With access to data nationwide, he said, "this commission will have the ability to find answers to questions that have never been fully answered before" about the extent of illegal voting. The panel's critics were contemptuous, noting that Kobach's own far-reaching anti-fraud campaign had secured one conviction of a voting noncitizen since 2011 of a Peruvian who registered before completing the naturalization process in a state with 1.8 million registered voters. Overall, he has obtained nine voter fraud convictions since 2011, all but one for voting in two states. The Trump commission is the fourth blue-ribbon inquiry in the last 17 years into what went wrong in a general election and how to remedy those problems. Beyond that, it bears no resemblance to its predecessors. For one thing, the commission, which is headed by Vice President Mike Pence, began saddled with at least seven lawsuits challenging its conduct, its transparency and even its reason for being. Two more complaints were filed with federal agencies against two of its 12 members. For another, a range of experts and ordinary citizens already has written off its legitimacy, noting that it is led by and filled with some of the nation's most zealous proponents of the notion that fraud is a huge threat to democracy. Some commissioners say criticism has been unfair. They say they have open minds or they will not sign on to any conclusions that are predetermined. "We are disappointed with those who choose to condemn the commission even before it has met and certainly before its work product is known," the president of one conservative advocacy group active on election issues, Harvey Tettlebaum of the Lawyers Democracy Fund, said in an email this week. And conservatives say there is now so much concern about the integrity of elections that the public demands more safeguards against fraud. Washington Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee known for his independent streak over more than three decades in the Senate, has brain cancer, his office disclosed Wednesday night in a statement from the Mayo Clinic. The statement said the medical condition was discovered after McCain, 80, underwent a procedure to remove a blood clot above his left eye at the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix. "Subsequent tissue pathology revealed that a primary brain tumor known as a glioblastoma was associated with the blood clot," the statement said. "Treatment options may include a combination of chemotherapy and radiation." Dr. Eugene S. Flamm, chair of neurosurgery at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx, said "a glioblastoma is the most common and most malignant of brain tumors." The median survival is about 16 months, he said. The illness of McCain, a former Navy pilot who was captured and held as a prisoner during the Vietnam War, had implications this week for the health care debate. His absence caused Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the majority leader, to postpone a floor fight until McCain returned to Washington. The diagnosis shook the Senate, where McCain is popular despite his occasional disputes with colleagues in both parties. McConnell called McCain a hero to Senate Republicans and the nation at large. "He has never shied from a fight, and I know that he will face this challenge with the same extraordinary courage that has characterized his life," McConnell said. SCHENECTADY - Mayor Gary McCarthy is throwing his political muscle behind a political newcomer eyeing a City Council seat. The mayor has acknowledged that for the past month or so he has been going door to door in the city asking people to consider Dammoni Farley while getting petitions signed in hopes of getting the Woodlawn resident on the ballot. A review of Farley's petitions at the county Board of Elections shows that McCarthy signed off as a witness on one of them as state election law requires. "I've been supportive of Mr. Farley, said the two-term mayor, adding he has known Farley for several years. "He's a good guy, he's involved in the community and I'd like to see him even more involved" McCarthy also lauded Farley for his willingness to helping youngsters and people in general. Despite the plaudits, the mayor stopped short of formally endorsing Farley, hinting that an announcement to that effect may come in the near future. His vigorous support of Farley comes even though Schenectady Democrats earlier this year unanimously endorsed City Council incumbents, Marion Porterfield, John Mootooveren and Karen Zalewski-Wildzunas, who are all seeking another term for the three seats up for grabs. "The math works out so that somebody comes out on the short end of the stick," added McCarthy. That kind of talk and harsh political reality has fueled speculation in the community that the mayor is hoping Farley can knock off Porterfield during the Sept. 12 party primary. In 2014, Porterfield and Vince Riggi voted against plans to bring a casino to the Electric City. She conceded Wednesday that the mayor and some other Democrats were not happy with that dissenting vote on the casino and the fact that she doesn't always vote along party lines. "I believe I'm in the cross-hairs of the mayor," said Porterfield, adding that the mayor's discontent with her is more political than personal. "I think I represent democratic values very well. I also consider myself to be a progressive person, and maybe that's the part that that's troubling for some people." The mayor declined comment when pressed about any political beef he may have with Porterfield. "I went to high school with her, we're friends," said McCarthy. "We've worked together on some things." Schenectady Democratic Chairman Richard Naylor Tuesday said he expects there will be an primary. "Why he's supporting another candidate, I don't know," said Naylor of McCarthy's support for Farley. "He is the mayor, and he has his prerogative in terms of working with people, and a number of us have discussed this generally, and he seems to like this candidate, and it's a free country." He said Farley was interviewed by the party committee, and while they though highly of him, they thought he needed "to get more experience and work his way up." The Democrats could file a challenge to Farley's petitions in a bid to derail his campaign and avert a primary. Zalewski-Wildzunas did not return a call Wednesday and Mootooveren, who said he is on vacation, said he didn't want to make any public comments until after speaking with McCarthy. The 36-year-old Farley, a married father of two boy, ages 10 and 12, said Wednesday that his candidacy is all about transformation. "I want to be supported on my own merit and I believe I am," he said about McCarthy being in his corner. He recalled conversations with Joe Allen years ago about all the problems in the city and how Allen, the first black City Council member, would his mentor and family close family friend would encourage him to consider getting into politics to make a change. In 2015, Allen passed away. Farley, who is black, as is Porterfield, said some of his top priorities are touting the benefits of home ownership, making the local economy more inclusive, and providing better services to veterans and senior citizens. He rejected the notion that his candidacy could potentially split the black community. "This campaign is about transformation, not just change, and how we do that is by building a strong inclusive economy where people have opportunity for investment and home ownership," he said, adding that will lessen the blow when things go awry nationally, said Farley who works as a community outreach specialist for the Schenectady school district and owns a small consulting company. Editor's note: This story originally was published Aug. 3, 1989. TROY As the large coffin holding the tiny body of their daughter was lifted down the center aisle at Holy Trinity Church, Stephen White, father of murder victim Mei-Ling White, burst into tears, while the girl's mother, Tuyet, wailed uncontrollably. Eight days after her battered, bruised and sexually assaulted body was found, Mei-Ling White was mourned Wednesday in the same church she visited Christmas Eve to observe a Nativity scene on the altar. "I wish I had the ability to convince Mei-Ling's mom, her dad and her sisters that Mei-Ling did not die alone," the Rev. Frank Mullen told the misty-eyed mourners. "In faith, we know that she died with her guardian angel, and her guardian angel led her through the portals of Heaven." Presiding at a "Mass of the angels" for the murder victim he described as a "holy innocent," Mullen said it was difficult to fathom why God allows defenseless children to suffer abuse and violence as 8-year-old Mei-Ling had. "Our only understanding of the mystery is that God permitted his only son to be crucified," the priest said. Assisting the priest at the service was altar boy Jason Rainer, a classmate of Mei-Ling's at School 12. Mullen recalled that Stephen White brought Mei-Ling and her younger sister to the church on Christmas Eve to view the Nativity scene. "I saw their sparkling, bright eyes, I looked at the smile on their faces, and putting it all together, I said to myself, 'This has to be an act of faith.'" Tuyet White sobbed loudly for much of the service. Stephen White dabbed at the tears streaming down his cheeks. Outside the church, a Troy police officer investigating the unsolved homicide used a portable video camera to film those who emerged from the aging wooden structure, many who proceeded to St. Joseph's Cemetery for a burial service. "Unfortunately, we don't have a good solid suspect," Assistant Chief Joseph West said in an interview. "I've got all my detectives tied up on this and we're doing everything we can" to identify Mei-Ling's killer. West said Troy police enlisted the aid of Albany Police Detective Dick Powell Wednesday in hypnotizing a woman who was walking near Mei-Ling's Phelan Court home when the girl disappeared the morning of July 21. The woman spotted a man in a vehicle who was "acting very suspiciously and she got very upset," West said. Under hypnosis Wednesday, "she did give us some additional information" and "we're running that down right now," West said. At this point, however, "we're not sure if (the man in the vehicle) is tied in or not" with Mei-Ling's murder, West said. Clutching a bouquet of flowers as she arrived at the funeral, Jane Doughney of Brunswick, a Rensselaer County legislator, said, "We have to start looking into child abuse much more heavily. The pornography that they sell in all the stores, the television, those are the things that put these thoughts into people's minds. I can't think of anything more devastating than to have something like this happen to a small, defenseless child." The number of child homicide victims in New York jumped significantly in 1988, when 86 children aged 14 or under were murdered, compared with 67 in that age range a year earlier, according to Richard Ross, spokesman for the state Division of Criminal Justice Services. An analysis of the 1987 child homicides showed that only four of the victims were killed by strangers and the vast majority were murdered by family members, friends or acquaintances, Ross said. No such analysis has been prepared yet for the 1988 murders, he said. A funeral fund set up for Mei-Ling's family at Troy Savings Bank had generated $12,049 in contributions by Wednesday afternoon, according to figures supplied by the bank's vice president, Harry J. Robinson. Police believe that Mei-Ling was raped, sodomized and beaten, according to sources familiar with the probe. An autopsy has determined that the girl was asphyxiated. "I'm very confident that we'll make an arrest," said Troy police Detective Sgt. Robert Paul, who transported forensic evidence in the Mei-Ling case to the FBI's National Crime Laboratory. "It's just a matter of time." NEW YORK (AP) A New York City couple has pleaded guilty to enslaving two children from South Korea who were in their care. Fifty-four-year-old Jeong Taek Lee and his wife, 50-year-old Sook Yeon Park, both pleaded guilty to two counts of labor trafficking Wednesday. Lee was sentenced to five months of probation. Park was sentenced to six months in prison along with five years of probation. Washington Lecturing fellow Republicans, President Donald Trump summoned GOP senators to the White House Wednesday and told them face-to-face they must not leave town for their August recess without sending him an "Obamacare" repeal bill to sign. "I'm ready to act," Trump said, putting the responsibility on Republican senators, not himself. During last year's presidential campaign he had declared repeatedly that it would be "so easy" to get rid of the Obama law. Trump's comments Wednesday came just a day after the latest GOP health care plan collapsed in the Senate, leading Trump himself to say it was time to simply let President Barack Obama's health care law fail. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had indicated he was prepared to stick a fork in the Republican bill and move on to other issues including overhauling the tax code. But in an apparent change of heart, in keeping with his erratic engagement on the issue, Trump pressured McConnell to delay the key vote until next week, and he invited Republican senators to the White House for lunch. There, with the cameras rolling in the State Dining Room, Trump spoke at length as he cajoled, scolded and issued veiled threats to his fellow Republicans, all aimed at wringing a health care bill out of a divided caucus that's been unable to produce one so far. "For seven years you promised the American people that you would repeal Obamacare. People are hurting. Inaction is not an option and frankly I don't think we should leave town unless we have a health insurance plan," he said. Seated next to Nevada Sen. Dean Heller, who is vulnerable in next year's midterm elections, Trump remarked: "He wants to remain a senator, doesn't he?" as Heller gave a strained grin. Still, it seems improbable that the White House lunch will change the calculus in the Senate, where McConnell has failed repeatedly to come up with a bill that can satisfy both conservatives and moderates in his party. Two different versions of repeal-and-replace legislation fell short of votes before coming to the floor, pushing McConnell to announce Monday night that he would retreat to a repeal-only bill that had passed Congress when Obama was in office. Emerging from the White House lunch, McConnell told reporters that the Senate would vote next week to move ahead on the straight-up repeal, and "I have every expectation that we will be able to get on the bill." That remains to be seen. Almost as soon as that plan was unveiled it was killed off as three GOP senators, one more than McConnell can afford to lose in the narrowly divided Senate, announced opposition. Complicating matters further, in his comments at the White House lunch Trump was back to supporting repeal and replace legislation, not just repeal. "We have no choice, we have to repeal and replace Obamacare," Trump said. "We can repeal it but the best is repeal and replace." Notwithstanding the mixed messages, what was clear Wednesday was that after promising for seven years to repeal and replace "Obamacare" and using the issue to obtain majorities in Congress and the White House many Republican senators are reluctant to abandon the effort, even as some acknowledge it would take a dramatic intervention to change the outcome. "Know anybody who can work miracles?" said GOP Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas ahead of the White House lunch. As Chuck Grassley of Iowa got on board the bus that would ferry senators to the Trump lunch, he tweeted: "I'm eager to replace Obamacare and I'm the first one on the bus to the Whitehouse to find the magic to get to 'yes.'" The three senators who are publicly opposed to moving forward on the repeal-only bill are Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia. Asked before the lunch if there was anything the president could say to change her mind, Capito said: "I think he just needs to see where the differences are again." The lunch came some 24 hours after Trump appeared to write the whole effort off entirely, telling reporters: "I think we're probably in that position where we'll just let Obamacare fail. We're not going to own it. I'm not going to own it. I can tell you that the Republicans are not going to own it. We'll let Obamacare fail and then the Democrats are going to come to us and they're going to say, 'How do we fix it?'" Many Republicans support the repeal-only approach that McConnell plans to try to bring up for a vote next week, and they questioned how senators who voted for that idea two years ago could oppose it now. But for others, the implications are too severe now that the bill could actually become law with a Republican president in the White House ready to sign it. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that more than 30 million people would lose insurance over a decade under the legislation. Murkowski told reporters that repealing the Affordable Care Act without the promise of a replacement would cause uncertainty and chaos. She suggested a better approach might be to go back to the committee room and work on a bipartisan basis. COON VALLEY The Vernon County Sheriffs Department evacuated campers near the Kickapoo River, and from the Sidie Hollow and Esofea campgrounds early Thursday after 1 to 2 inches of rain had fallen by 10 p.m. Wednesday, and 3 to 5 inches more fell in the early morning hours. Dozens of state, county and municipal roads sustained damage. Organizers cancelled Saturdays Coon Creek Trout Fest after floodwaters tore up the Coon Valley park in which the seventh annual event was to take place. Hwy. 56 was closed in Liberty, and Hwy. 131 near Viola had water over it. The assistant fire chief in Ontario said all intersections of Hwy. 131 and 33 were flooded and impassable. A rural Ontario resident was evacuated, and downtown businesses were damaged. About 200 customers in Chaseburg were expected to be without power until Friday morning. Power company officials said poles and wires were down in that area. Westby-Christiana firefighters helped evacuate Living Waters Bible Camp north of Westby, residents below the Jersey Valley dam and campers in Timber Coulee before sunrise. Genoa firefighters responded to a barn fire in the town of Harmony, and a mudslide blocked Cook Hill on Hwy. 56. Vernon Countys emergency dispatch center received more than 75 calls by 4:30 a.m. from motorists reporting a large road construction sign down in the middle of Hwy. 14/61 near Vang Road, in the town of Coon. It was struck by several motorists. A large crowd gathered all day along the Hwy. 14/61 bridge to see the devastation left behind after 7 inches sent Coon Creek over its banks to consume the park in Coon Valley. The scene was reminiscent of 10 years earlier, when on Aug. 18, 2007, torrential storms resulted in raging floodwaters throughout the Coulee Region and a large portion of eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin were later proclaimed federal disaster areas. Steve Spano was a cyber-warrior in the Air Force, retiring as a Brigadier General. After retiring, the Albany native became a business leader for Amazon Web Services. He moved out and up and joined the front lines in the battle to help organizations defend against cyber-attacks in his present job as the president and COO for CIS (Center for Internet Security), a nonprofit located in East Greenbush. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Troy Denise Dunham got her miracle. Dunham, who has served as coordinator of the Mount Ida Food Pantry since it opened in 2000, was on edge earlier this year when she learned that the Mount Ida Community Baptist Church was closing its doors. The church on Congress Street housed the food pantry, and Dunham wasn't sure if she and a core group of volunteers would be able to find another space in the area. More Information Mission continues at Mount Ida To make a donation to the Mount Ida Food Pantry, call 518-458-1167 or go to http://www.youcaring.com/mtidafoodpantry -836081. See More Collapse It took a few months, but the food pantry found a new home just four doors down at the Mount Ida Preservation Association Hall at 548 Congress St. "We are grateful to the Mount Ida Preservation Association for opening its doors to us," Dunham said. "In 2016, we served 37 infants, 191 children, 337 adults and 28 seniors resulting in 2,526 visits and this new space will allow us to continue to serve those in the neighborhood." Dunham grew up in the once densely packed Mount Ida neighborhood on the hill above downtown Troy. Over the years, she has watched businesses close, families move and buildings disappear, victims of decay or demolition. As the neighborhood faltered, Dunham's affection for it and her loyalty to its residents grew more resolute. She runs a home day care business two blocks from Mount Ida Preservation Association Hall, where the food pantry is already up and running. That's where Dunham and volunteers can found on Saturday mornings, distributing food to more than 500 neighbors in need. "We at the preservation association are happy to help keep this vital resource in our community," the Mount Ida Preservation Association Board of Directors said in a statement. "The association will always be ready to act as a catalyst in its mission to preserve or restore those resources which make Mount Ida special." The pantry serves people most in need those making choices between paying the bills, buying medication or putting food on the table. Many residents who use the service can't afford transportation and live within walking distance of the pantry. That's why Dunham is so relieved to have found a new space to call home. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter. "We see familiar faces each week," Dunham said, mentioning seniors, vets and parents working two or more jobs to make ends meet. "But sometimes the food runs out by the end of the month, so we always try to make sure there's something here for them." In addition to donations and food drives, the pantry receives funds through the Food Pantries for the Capital District and the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York. It provides food for five days of healthy meals, including fresh produce, eggs, formula and personal hygiene items. Hannaford in Wynantskill donates bread and sweets. The pantry is open from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. "We're really a big family, where we hang out on Saturdays and help others," Dunham said. "People come for emotional support, advice, guidance or just a kind, listening ear." "We are very grateful to everyone in the community who helped to make this possible," added Natasha Pernicka, executive director of the Food Pantries for the Capital District. "This is a great example of what we can do by working together." jpatterson@timesunion.com @JenSPatterson 518-454-5340 As the deadline for the Knowledge Transfer (KT) looms, the ICMSA has said that its clear that the terms and conditions of the scheme along with the mandatory paperwork are proving overly cumbersome and acting as a disincentive. Patrick Rohan, chairperson of ICMSAs Farm and Rural Affairs Committee, has called for the Department to recognise that fact and at least make sure that the payments due to farmers under the scheme are made on time in order that some farmer confidence in the scheme can be retained The deadline of July 31 is just two weeks away and it is very hard to envisage the required work being completed within that timeframe, he said. What ICMSA thinks should happen at this stage is that a further extension should be considered where the documentation required would be submitted by that certain later date but that payments would not be further delayed, said Mr Rohan. While much of the required work has been completed by the farmers on the ground, the associated reports have yet to be uploaded to the Departments system, said Mr Rohan. He pointed out that it was estimated that only 50 per cent of completed Farm Improvement Plans had been uploaded. It should be recognised that much of this responsibility lies with the participating consultants and veterinary practitioners, so it is unreasonable to expect farmers to endure delayed payments as a result, he said. Mr Rohan said that this was why ICMSA thought that a new deadline should be set for the paperwork while the payments to farmers should be processed immediately. Mr Rohan said that ICMSA was not being wise after the event and noted that his association had from the very start highlighted its concerns in relation to the KT schemes complexity. The discussion group model has many merits but the KT model as operated- is in serious danger of over-complicating the concept and it is important that steps are now taken to restore farmer confidence in the scheme and ensure farmers continue to participate.. A decision by Tipperary County Council to examine the former military barracks in Nenagh for possible use as housing has been welcomed by Cllr Seamus Morris. The barracks has been in a derelict state for decades and a report in 2006 gave it about five or six years before it would become impossible to retain. Now, Cllr Morris has discovered that there is EU money to bring old military buidlings back into public use and has asked the council to look at it under the Government's Rebuilding Ireland Land Map for Housing. It is a fantastic site in an area of the town which could do with revitalisation, said Cllr Morris. The barracks is past fixing. It can't be saved, but that is not to say it can't be put to public use with a mix of housing, he said. I am not willing to wait for it to fall on somebody. The Sinn Fein councillor said he hoped the council would draw up a master plan for the development of the area, similar to the one it has drawn up for Stereame on Limerick Road. The barracks is dear to the hearts of the people of Nenagh and they would love to see it coming back into public use, he said. No one was injured but nearly every major roadway was damaged by thunderstorms that pounded the La Crosse region Wednesday night and Thursday morning with up to 7 inches of rain, winds of 60 mph and flash flooding. Meanwhile authorities are bracing for more rain expected to fall Friday even as rivers continue to rise. Emergency crews rescued at least three people from flooded homes, La Crosse County sheriff's Chief Deputy Jeff Wolf said. Some dangerous situations, but there are no injuries that we are aware of, he said. Several residents on Kammel Coulee Road in Vernon County were rescued after they were trapped inside by the rising Mormon Creek. Emergency crews also rescued a driver stuck on a bridge in Bangor, La Crosse County Emergency Management Director Keith Butler said. Every state and county highway but Interstate 90 and Hwy. 53 received at least some damage, from shoulder washouts to failed culverts, said La Crosse County Highway Commissioner Ron Chamberlain. Four bridges were washed out and another four were under water Thursday. Every bridge will need to be inspected. Crews were repairing a washed-out portion of Breidel Coulee Road in the town of Shelby Thursday morning and clearing mud from Hwy. 33, which Chamberlain said sustained the most damage. Hazards are marked, and a list of road closures is posted on the La Crosse County Sheriff's Department Facebook page. "We will do our level best to restore traffic wherever possible, whenever possible," Chamberlain said. Chamberlain said road damage could easily top $1 million, while Butler encouraged residents to report private property damages to Great Rivers 211 so that authorities can better estimate total losses, which could qualify the region for disaster assistance. In La Crosse, storms downed tree limbs and power lines and flooded intersections. La Crosse police responded to dozens of hazard calls and 25 stranded motorists overnight, while city firefighters rescued a driver stuck in about 4 feet of water at 15th and Cass streets early Thursday. There were literally vehicles that were floating, Division Chief Tom Wallerich said. Storm water washed out the intersection of 23rd Street and Park Drive in La Crosse, opening a chasm about 25 feet deep. Utilities manager Mark Johnson said it appeared water went over the curb and began eroding the bank above the La Crosse River marsh. It ate away the earth, causing water mains, storm sewer lines and the roadway above them to collapse. The bank went first and it just kept working itself back, he said. Three nearby properties were without water Thursday morning but Johnson expected to restore service with temporary hookups. Johnson estimated it could take days to repair the damaged pipes and fill the hole. He was waiting on a contractor with large enough equipment to handle the job. Additional rainfall in the forecast could complicate repairs. About 4,500 Xcel Energy customers in the La Crosse area lost power, and more than 1,300 remained in the dark Thursday afternoon. Xcel spokeswoman Christine Ouellette said crews were expecting to have electricity restored by 11 p.m. but multiple lines and poles needed to be replaced and high waters were hindering access to some places. Many roads and intersections throughout the region remained flooded Thursday, and motorists are reminded never to navigate water covered roads. A flash flood watch is in effect through Saturday morning as the area braces for another storm that could dump up to three inches Friday. While some waters were receding Thursday, the La Crosse River continued to rise. "We're in trouble, at least for a couple of days," Butler said. Trempealeau County In the city of Arcadia, several hundred people voluntarily evacuated flooded neighborhoods and the downtown area beginning about 2:30 a.m., Mayor Robert Reichwein said. The evacuation included the overnight shift at Ashley Furniture, a major manufacturer in Arcadia, a city of 2,900 about 45 miles north of La Crosse. Reichwein said Turton Creek overflowed its banks, also flooding the main thoroughfare, Hwy. 95, in Arcadia. The Red Cross has set up a shelter at Holy Family Catholic Church in Arcadia for evacuees. About 75 people from from Galesville were evacuated Thursday morning. Nearby, the Buffalo County Sheriff's Department reports roads in the southern half of the county have become impassible due to high water. There is a report of a mudslide along Hwy. 95 near Fountain City. Vernon County One-and-a-half to 2 inches of rain had fallen by 10 p.m. Wednesday, and 3 to 5 inches more fell during today's early morning hours. The Vernon County Sheriffs Department evacuated campers near the Kickapoo River, and from the Sidie Hollow and Esofea campgrounds. Hwy. 56 is closed in Liberty, and Hwy. 131 near Viola also has water over it. The assistant fire chief in Ontario said all intersections of Hwy. 131 and 33 are flooded and impassable. A rural Ontario resident was evacuated, and downtown businesses were damaged. This weekend's Coon Valley Trout Fest is canceled. About 200 customers in Chaseburg will be without power until Friday morning. Power company officials say poles and wires are down in that area that simply can't be reached at this time. Westby-Christiana firefighters helped evacuate Living Waters Bible Camp north of Westby, residents below the Jersey Valley dam and campers in Timber Coulee before sunrise. Genoa firefighters responded to a barn fire in the town of Harmony, and a mudslide blocked a Cook Hill on Hwy. 56. Vernon County's emergency dispatch center received more than 75 calls by 4:30 a.m. from motorists reporting a large road construction sign down in the middle of Hwy. 14/61 near Vang Road, in the town of Coon. It was struck by several motorists. Monroe County Monroe County emergency management officials report 39 families were evacuated and 47 families were affected by high water. Water was starting to spill over the dam at Perch Lake in Sparta Thursday afternoon, and authorities advised those who live along the river to consider evacuating. Also in Sparta, Long Court has been evacuated, and portions of Walrath Street and South Water Street are closed. Residents of Riverside Trailer Park on South K Street area also were encouraged to evacuate. Evacuation centers are set up at the Barney Center and St. Patrick's Church in Sparta. Sandbags are available at the county's dog pound site. For more information, call Monroe County emergency management at 608-269-8709. Crawford County Strong winds caused power outages and some damage. The areas most affected include the city and town of Prairie du Chien and the town of Bridgeport. Multiple hangars were damaged or destroyed in the storm. Sandbagging began in Steuben due to the projected rise in the level of the Kickapoo River. Tornado reported in northeast Iowa An EF-1 tornado began about 5 miles west of McGregor, Iowa, at 6:08 p.m. and tore a 5.7 mile path through the city before dissipating over the Mississippi River eight minutes later, according to the National Weather Service. It brought winds of 110 mph and was responsible for two minor injuries and damage to buildings. The storms also damaged homes, buildings and crop fields in northern and northeast Iowa. The National Weather Service says wind gusts to 75 mph and heavy rain were reported Wednesday evening in several locations. Residents and officials report trees and power lines have been knocked down, leaving hundreds of people without electricity. Authorities say a semitrailer was toppled on Interstate 35 near Hanlontown, and a man was taken to a hospital in Waukon after his barn blew over, pinning him inside until rescuers arrived. Trails, golf courses closed Drugan's Castle Mound golf course is closed until further notice because of flooding, while the storms left Forest Hills Golf Course littered with rocks and logs that tumbled from the bluffs. We basically have erosion from one end to the other, general manager Keith Stoll said. There is mud spewed everywhere. An underpass for golfers filled to 9-feet of water and left about 1 feet of mud in its wake. Course officials hope to reopen half of the course next week, depending on when debris can be removed and weather. Its a lot of clean up, Stoll said. Trails in upper and lower Hixon Forest as well as the La Crosse River marsh are closed until further notice as the La Crosse Parks Department assesses damage from Wednesday night storms. More rain in the forecast [July 19, 2017] Global Mobile Operators - Regional Leaders - Overview and Statistics NEW YORK, July 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- International expansion has strengthened the operations of many mobile operators In 2017 the global mobile market has its sights firmly set on the opportunities offered through mobile data as well as looking for potential new revenues streams presented by the enterprise sector, data mining, 5G and international expansion. Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p03748538/Global-Mobile-Operators-Regional-Leaders-Overview-and-Statistics.html Mobile saturation has occurred in many of the developed markets and this has forced some of the operators to look for new opportunities particularly those offered by expanding regionally or internationally. This has occurred in most regions of the world and as a result some operators have become powerful and dominant regional leaders. In Latin America, for example, the mobile market continues to be dominated by a small number of operators which each have businesses in multiple countries. These include Telefonica Group; Mexico's America Movil, trading as Telcel in its domestic market and as Claro in the remaining 16 markets in the region; Telecom Italia, AT&T Mexico and Millicom International. The dominance of these operators is being gradually eroded however as a result of efforts by a number of national regulators to facilitate the entry of MVNOs and to encourage the participation of smaller players in spectrum auctions. In the more developed markets of Asia, growth is shifting away from a focus on subscriber numbers and towards the expansion of new generation platforms and increased data usage driven by value-added services and increased ARPUs. There are those companies such as SingTel, Vodafone, and Axiata (formerly Telekom Malaysia International) that have built a substantial presence around the Asian region beyond their own domestic market through their shareholdings in operators in multiple other markets. In the Pacific region; the Australian mobile market is dominated by the three major mobile network operators Telstra, Optus, and Vodafone (VHA), though there are numerous MVNOs which have a significant market share. These have been able to offer LTE services on a wholesale basis since early 2016, thus encouraging growth in the LTE sector and cementing the role which MVNOs play in the overall market. Fiji is one of the telecoms leaders in the South Pacific region, along with Papua New Guinea. Similar to many developing nations, it is heavily reliant on mobile technologies rather than fixed lines. The percentage of unique mobile ubscribers in Fiji sits at around 69%. Vodafone Fiji Limited (VFL) and Digicel Fiji are the major mobile operators and the only MVNO is Australian company, Inkk Mobile which operates on VFL's network. Three mobile service operators provide services in Papua New Guinea including Digicel, Bmobile (Vodafone), and Citifon (Telikom PNG). However, in February 2017 it was announced that Dataco, Bmobile and Telikom PNG would be merged together to form Kumul Telikom. The three entities would be able to share resources and infrastructure, making it potentially more cost effective and competitive. Although there are a large number of network operators across the African continent, and also smaller niche MVNO players, there are also a small number of pan-regional network operators. These include Millicom, Orange Group, Vodacom and Bharti Airtel. Some rationalisation of their operations continues as these players adjust their strategies to fit in with market positions and expectations. There are a number of companies which have a large presence in the Middle East . Zain, Ooredoo and MTN are three examples of companies operating in multiple markets and the international players of Orange and Vodafone also operate in region. As with Latin America and Africa , the European region is notable for having half a dozen pan-European operators with interests in several key markets. These main players include Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica, Vodafone Group, Hutchison and TeliaSonera. There has been much jostling among these operators as they seek to strengthen their presence in particular markets. This has in turn caused some disquiet among national regulators and European competition authorities, which are keen to preserve a quorum of key players (generally four) within a given market. This BuddeComm publication provides a global overview of the mobile market, supported by statistics as well as an overview of the mobile markets for each major region of the world. Country case studies for each region are also included, along with identification of the major MNOs and MVNOs operating in each region/country. Key developments: - Data mining will be the next driver of mobile revenue; - Mobile operators need to rethink their business models; - For new ideas, the industry should look towards the OTT players; - Operators in Latin America will need to invest in LTE infrastructure and enhance their mobile data and broadband offerings in a bid to secure revenue growth; - Whilst there are still developing markets in Asia which are continuing to grow their mobile subscriber base at high annual rates, total market growth in the region has eased considerably in the last few years. This is not surprising given that a significant number of markets have well and truly saturated over the last year or so. - Digicel, which has an expanding business across Samoa and Fiji in the Pacific, built a $500 million mobile network in PNG, becoming the country's largest non-mining investor; - Although ARPU remains relatively low for operators, considering the level of disposable income in the region, Africa remains a key area for investment among players; - There are several dozen MVNOs in the US market, most of them small and with a regional focus; - While population increases across Europe mean that there is a steady influx of new mobile subscribers, the market has a sufficiently high penetration rate that growth is largely lateral, in that subscribers are migrating from 2G to 3G and LTE networks. As a result, the proportion of 2G subscribers is falling sharply, and while there remains steady, if slow, growth in the 3G sector this will also begin to fall from late 2017 or 2018 as subscribers shift to LTE networks. This movement is being encouraged by network operators which hope to capitalise on revenue derived from greater take-up of mobile broadband and data services; - Although MVNOs were late to arrive in the Middle East , several have launched services and captured market share. FRiENDi and Virgin Mobile MEA are two notable MVNOs which operate in several markets and there are a number of domestic players as well. Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p03748538/Global-Mobile-Operators-Regional-Leaders-Overview-and-Statistics.html About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. http://www.reportlinker.com __________________________ Contact Clare: [email protected] US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-mobile-operators---regional-leaders---overview-and-statistics-300491113.html SOURCE Reportlinker [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [July 19, 2017] CenturyLink launches Managed Security Services 2.0 to help Asia Pacific organizations protect against cyber risks and achieve secure digital transformation Newly enhanced cybersecurity suite enables customers to proactively monitor their IT enterprises utilizing advanced threat detection and incident response capabilities SINGAPORE, July 19, 2017 /CNW/ -- CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE: CTL) today announced its Managed Security Services 2.0 suite is now available in Asia Pacific (APAC), continuing the company's global expansion of its cybersecurity portfolio. As cyber attacks become more sophisticated, CenturyLink Managed Security Services 2.0 empowers organizations to be more proactive in how they protect against, detect and respond to threats. The enhanced suite delivers advanced security monitoring, threat detection and incident response services to help organizations improve their cybersecurity posture as they continue their digital transformation efforts. Francis Thangasamy, CenturyLink's vice president, IT services and managed hosting, Asia Pacific explains, "Security is the top concern that holds many companies in the region back from digital transformation. While more than 55 percent of APAC companies already have a formal digitization strategy, about 35 percent of enterprises expressed concerns about a potential failure to secure sensitive data1. Our enhanced suite can help organizations address their cybersecurity challenges head-on by leveraging behavioral-based detection technologies." CenturyLink Managed Security Services 2.0, which builds on CenturyLink's comprehensive platform of managed security offerings, offers flexible deployment options and helps organizations avoid increased spending with a predictable operating expense model that combines human skill with complete transparency so customers can see and verify th work being done on their behalf. The platform integrates with existing security information and event management (SIEM) systems, and supports entire IT stacks via a single, intuitive portal. The enhanced suite delivers: Security log monitoring with trending and threat analysis: Consolidates event data from an IT enterprise and security devices via a comprehensive log correlation and monitoring service, with 24/7/365 support from GAIC-certified security analysts. With this service, deep historical insights are added to log data and integrated with threat intelligence to enable comprehensive reporting via a MSS portal, helping internal security teams understand their evolving threat landscape. The portal enables customers to create detailed, custom dashboards and reports on security events and incidents. Consolidates event data from an IT enterprise and security devices via a comprehensive log correlation and monitoring service, with 24/7/365 support from GAIC-certified security analysts. With this service, deep historical insights are added to log data and integrated with threat intelligence to enable comprehensive reporting via a MSS portal, helping internal security teams understand their evolving threat landscape. The portal enables customers to create detailed, custom dashboards and reports on security events and incidents. Threat intelligence: Provides information from more than 50 intelligence feeds and is standard for every security log monitoring customer. Threat intelligence information is then correlated and integrated into an organization's IT enterprise and mapped to their critical assets. Advanced threat intelligence is also available to provide real-time information to protect against new threats aimed at organizations today. Provides information from more than 50 intelligence feeds and is standard for every security log monitoring customer. Threat intelligence information is then correlated and integrated into an organization's IT enterprise and mapped to their critical assets. Advanced threat intelligence is also available to provide real-time information to protect against new threats aimed at organizations today. Incident management and response: Provides an overlay team of security experts to vet incidents and respond quickly and effectively to possible attacks and breaches. Provides an overlay team of security experts to vet incidents and respond quickly and effectively to possible attacks and breaches. MSS portal: Provides a single, customizable dashboard for customers to view and track security events and potential incidents. The risk of cyber threats is growing in APAC. The Global Risks Report 2017 by the World Economic Forum ranks cyberattacks as one of the most significant risks of doing business in Asia Pacific2. Meanwhile, 85 percent of Singapore-based CIOs expect more cyberattacks due to a shortage of skilled IT security professionals3. CenturyLink Managed Security Services 2.0 signifies CenturyLink's ongoing commitment to accelerating and securing digital transformation for APAC organizations. A recent study conducted with 451 Research showed that APAC enterprises saw better risk management (23 percent) as one of their four digital transformation goals. About CenturyLink CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL) is a global communications and IT services company focused on connecting its customers to the power of the digital world. CenturyLink offers network and data systems management, big data analytics, managed security services, hosting, cloud, and IT consulting services. The company provides broadband, voice, video, advanced data and managed network services over a robust 265,000-route-mile U.S. fiber network and a 360,000-route-mile international transport network. Visit CenturyLink for more information. 1 451 Research; APAC Businesses Leap Forward in Pursuit of Digital Transformation, May 24, 2017 2 CFO Innovation; W.E.F Report Reveals the Biggest Risks For Doing Business in Asia Pacific, April 13, 2017 3 Robert Half; Cyber-attacks in Singapore to increase as CIOs face IT security talent shortage, September 15, 2016 View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/centurylink-launches-managed-security-services-20-to-help-asia-pacific-organizations-protect-against-cyber-risks-and-achieve-secure-digital-transformation-300490933.html SOURCE CenturyLink, Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [July 20, 2017] The Era of Chairman Cho Hyun-joon Begins at Hyosung Hyosung Group (KRX:004800), a leading textile manufacturer, announced that Chairman S.R. Cho resigned as CEO, effective July 14, 2017. Former Hyosung Group Chairman S.R. Cho said on July 14 that he would resign as CEO due to his advanced age and declining health. He has handed over the management reins to Chairman Cho Hyun-joon, making him the third-generation manager of the group. Despite his old age, former Chairman S.R. Cho has fulfilled his responsibilities as CEO to stabilize the management of Hyosung. He decided to step down as his global anagement began to bear good fruits, with the group achieving its best performances for two years in a row, and also as the management systems have been stabilized under Chairman Cho Hyun-joon. Chairman Cho Hyun-joon in his inauguration ceremony in January emphasized building business competences to the highest level in the world and promised his full support for efforts to deliver the world's best quality and services. He demonstrated his global management ability. Driven by the high-tech fabrics division in his charge, Hyosung's operating profit exceeded 1 trillion won last year. The group has joined an honorable "club of Korean companies with 1 trillion won or more operating profit" for the first time in 60 years after it was founded in 1957. Former Chairman S.R. Cho has taken Hyosung global by leading ceaseless management innovations and the globalization of its flagship businesses since he took office as chairman in 1981. As a citizen diplomat representing the private sector of the Korean economy, he has worked hard to enhance its status in the global market. He served as chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries, chairman of the Korea-US Business Council and chairman of the Korea-Japan Economic Association. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170720005489/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [July 20, 2017] BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology Returns to Montreal Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO): WHAT: The Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) will host the 2017 BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology, the world's largest industrial biotechnology and partnering event. WHEN: July 23-26, 2017 WHERE: Palais des congres de Montreal in Montreal, Quebec, Canada Monday, July 24 11:45 am Award: George Washington Carver Award for Innovation in Industrial Biotechnology Jeff Broin, Chairman & CEO, POET 12:00 pm Panel Discussion: Why Bet on Renewables? Attracting Private Capital for Renewable Chemical Commercialization Brian Baynes, Partner, Flagship Pioneering William Byun, Principal, Conchubar Capital Advisory Pavel Molchanov, SVP & Equity Analyst, Raymond James & Assc. Felipe Pereira, Chemicals Sector Manager, Brazilian National Development Bank 3:45 pm Panel Discussion: Biotech and the Future of Food Ingredients, Flavorings, and Personal Care Gwen Rosenberg, President, Rosenberg Business Communications Jim Lacoponi, SVP Industrial Products, Amyris Markus Pompejus, VP Innovation and Scouting Bioscience Research, BASF Corporation Joachim Schulze, Managing Director, EW Biotech GmbH Jill Zullo, Vice President, Bioindustrials NA, Cargill Tuesday, July 25 8:30 am Panel Discussion: Second Generation Biofuels Poised for Big Wins Jim Lane, Editor and Publisher, Biofuels Digest Pramod Chaudhari, Executive Chairman, Praj Industries Ltd. Marc Delcourt, CEO, Global Bioenergies Jonas Markusson, Innovation and Product Development Manager, SEKAB Hermann Pengg, Head of Renewable Fuels & Lifecycle Analysis, Audi AG Dr. Anthony Lynham, Minister for State Development, Natural Resources and Mines, Australia Mena Salib, Manager of Aircraft Noise and Emissions, Air Canada 11:45 am Award: Rosalind Franklin Award for Leadership in Industrial Biotechnology Vonnie Estes, Industry veteran and independent consultant 12:00 pm Panel Discussion: Effectively Communicating the Benefits of Industrial Biotechnology Rebecca Coons, Senior Editor, Chemical Week, IHS (News - Alert) Chemical Melody Bomgartner, Senior Business Editor, Chemical & Engineering News Doris de Guzman, Senior Consultant, Bio-Materials & Intermediates, Tecnon Orbichem Stephan Herrera, VP Strategy & Public Affairs, Evolva Herman Betten, Global Head of Public Relations, DSM (News - Alert) Sylvie Latieule, Director, Info Chimie Magazine Wednesday, July 26 11:45 am Award: BIO Leadership and Legacy Award in Industrial Biotechnology Dr. Gord Surgeoner, OOnt, former president of Ontario Agri-Food Technologies (OAFT) 12:00 pm Panel Discussion: A Revolution (News - Alert) in Biobased Products and Packaging Richard P. Eno, Senior Partner, Roland Berger LLC Thijs Rodenburg, CEO, Rodenburg Biopolymers Michael Saltzberg, Global Business Director, Biomaterials, DuPont Industrial Biosciences Gustavo Sergi, Renewable Chemicals Business Director, Braskem Puneet Trehan, Materials Innovation & Development Leader, IKEA Bob Walsh, SVP Energy Sector, Intrexon All programs at the 2017 BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology are open to members of the media. Complimentary media registration is available to editors and reporters working full time for print, broadcast or web publications with valid press credentials. Videos of the event may be available on BIO's YouTube channel, following the event. For more information on the conference please visit https://www.bio.org/events/bio-world-congress. For assistance, please contact [email protected]. About BIO BIO is the world's largest trade association representing biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations across the United States and in more than 30 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of innovative healthcare, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products. BIO also produces the BIO International Convention, the world's largest gathering of the biotechnology industry, along with industry-leading investor and partnering meetings held around the world. BIOtechNOW is BIO's blog chronicling "innovations transforming our world" and the BIO Newsletter is the organization's bi-weekly email newsletter. Subscribe to the BIO Newsletter. Upcoming BIO Events BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology July 23-26, 2017 Montreal, Canada View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170720005871/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [July 20, 2017] SDS Introduces Advanced ANDRO 10.3-Inch Retrofit Touch Screen for BMWs Safe Drive Systems, the leading developer and distributor of advanced, active, auto safety technologies, will be exhibiting a large retrofit touch screen for BMWs at Bimmerfest East 2017. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170720005901/en/ SDS introduces ANDRO 10.3 touch screen for BMWs (Photo: Business Wire) The new ANDRO 10.3-inch anti-glare screen, which meets all BMW OEM quality requirements, is compatible with BMW 1/2/3/4 series models manufactured since 2013, as well as the new X1, which was introduced last year. It is specifically designed to replace older 6.5-inch legacy screens. "This advanced, Android touch screen goes beyond industry standards by allowing the driver to connect to online music applications such as Apple (News - Alert) Music and Spotify, as well as navigation systems such as Waze, among others, which can be downloaded anywhere," notes SDS Vice- president Amir Weizer. "The screen affords a driving exprience comparable to those featured by other leading luxury cars, such as Tesla, and, via its built-in USB port, can be connected to external devices that employ HD or other video formats," Weizer adds. "And for BMW owners, what's particularly important is that its installation does not compromise the car warranty in any way." Integrated with BMW's iDrive Computer System The new screen is fully integrated with iDrive, BMW's computer system that controls most secondary vehicular functions. It can also be retrofitted to connect to a rear-view camera, and because it supports BMW's Park Assist System (PAS), it provides a more expansive view when the driver is in the process of reverse parallel parking. The screen, moreover, features a new NBT EVO user interface, enabling effortless installation and operation. Available beginning on August 10, the screen may be purchased on BMW dealer websites, from automobile leasing companies and dealerships. It is priced at $955, payable in four convenient payments. Installation, which takes about 20 minutes and can take place either at any BMW dealership or at the customer's residence, will cost $125. Bimmerfest East 2017, the largest BMW car show in North America, will be held July 29-30 at Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey. *** BMW, 1 SERIES, 2 SERIES GRAN TOURER, 3 SERIES, X1 and IDRIVE are trademarks of Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft, registered in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks cited herein are the property of their respective owners. Use of these names, logos, and brands does not imply endorsement. About SDS Founded in 2008, Safe Drive Systems (SDS) was established with a simple mission - to save lives. For that reason, SDS's affordable aftermarket collision avoidance devicesare designed to maximize technology to prevent or reduce the severity of the type of vehicle accidents that, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), cause 90% of vehicle fatalities. In 2016, the company began to market additional high-quality automotive technological solutions such as Android (News - Alert) screens, smartphone car packages and a Cobra-code vehicle control system. Headquartered in New York, the company is passionate about reducing fatalities on roads and highways around the globe, and, as a result, over 100,000 SDS solutions have been deployed worldwide. Website- www.safedrivesystems.com Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/safedrivesystems/ Twitter- twitter.com/safedrivesystem View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170720005901/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [July 20, 2017] Accenture Completes Acquisition of LabAnswer, Expands Ability to Improve the Discovery of New Products through Accenture Scientific Laboratory Informatics In a move to provide organizations with more comprehensive scientific informatics capabilities, Accenture (News - Alert) (NYSE: ACN) has completed its acquisition of LabAnswer, a leading U.S.-based research and laboratory informatics technology consulting firm. The acquisition, which was first announced on June 1, 2017, enhances Accenture's ability to apply digital technologies to revolutionize scientific and laboratory processes across a variety of industries and spanning the entire product lifecycle. It also coincides with the launch of Accenture Scientific Informatics (News - Alert) Services, which combines LabAnswer's scientific and laboratory informatics expertise with Accenture's strategic and business consulting capabilities, industry platforms, innovation approach and global scale. Leveraging digital technologies such as automation, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, analytics and cloud, in combination with a fundamental redesign of the scientific user experience, Accenture Scientific Informatics Services helps organizations better capture, manage, integrate and analyze complex scientific data. This can improve the discovery and manufacturing of new products, improve quality, ensure compliance, reduce time to market and improve operational efficiency. Completing the acquisition of LabAnswer dramatically increases the breadth of our R&D and manufacturing capabilities and enables us to be a leading provider of scientific and laboratory consulting and technology services to a variety of innovation-based industries and government agencies," said Brad Michel, a managing director in Accenture's Life Sciences practice and lead for Accenture Scientific Informatics Services. "We are very excited to welcome the LabAnswer team to Accenture. Together, we will help our clients innovate and transform their operations by streamlining scientific processes from early stage research through development and onto manufacturing and quality control, with the ability to partner from the earliest stages of strategic planning through to implementation and support." Founded in 1990 with approximately 250 employees, LabAnswer is a privately-held and a leading laboratory informatics consultancy specialized in providing independent insights for the design, build, deployment, externalization and ongoing support of enterprise scientific data solutions. Headquartered in Sugar Land, TX, it serves clients in several industries in addition to lfe sciences, including consumer goods, resources, chemicals, energy and government. LabAnswer provides services to support scientific and laboratory functions in the research, quality and manufacturing functions of organizations in these industries. About Accenture Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions - underpinned by the world's largest delivery network - Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With more than 411,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com. Forward-Looking Statements Except for the historical information and discussions contained herein, statements in this news release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "may," "will," "should," "likely," "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "projects," "believes," "estimates," "positioned," "outlook" and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. These include, without limitation, risks that: the transaction might not achieve the anticipated benefits for Accenture; Accenture's results of operations could be adversely affected by volatile, negative or uncertain economic conditions and the effects of these conditions on the company's clients' businesses and levels of business activity; Accenture's business depends on generating and maintaining ongoing, profitable client demand for the company's services and solutions including through the adaptation and expansion of its services and solutions in response to ongoing changes in technology and offerings, and a significant reduction in such demand or an inability to respond to the changing technological environment could materially affect the company's results of operations; if Accenture is unable to keep its supply of skills and resources in balance with client demand around the world and attract and retain professionals with strong leadership skills, the company's business, the utilization rate of the company's professionals and the company's results of operations may be materially adversely affected; the markets in which Accenture competes are highly competitive, and Accenture might not be able to compete effectively; Accenture could have liability or Accenture's reputation could be damaged if the company fails to protect client and/or company data from security breaches or cyberattacks; Accenture's profitability could materially suffer if the company is unable to obtain favorable pricing for its services and solutions, if the company is unable to remain competitive, if its cost-management strategies are unsuccessful or if it experiences delivery inefficiencies; changes in Accenture's level of taxes, as well as audits, investigations and tax proceedings, or changes in tax laws or in their interpretation or enforcement, could have a material adverse effect on the company's effective tax rate, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition; Accenture's results of operations could be materially adversely affected by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; Accenture's business could be materially adversely affected if the company incurs legal liability; Accenture's work with government clients exposes the company to additional risks inherent in the government contracting environment; Accenture might not be successful at identifying, acquiring, investing in or integrating businesses, entering into joint ventures or divesting businesses; Accenture's Global Delivery Network is increasingly concentrated in India and the Philippines, which may expose it to operational risks; as a result of Accenture's geographically diverse operations and its growth strategy to continue geographic expansion, the company is more susceptible to certain risks; adverse changes to Accenture's relationships with key alliance partners or in the business of its key alliance partners could adversely affect the company's results of operations; Accenture's services or solutions could infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others or the company might lose its ability to utilize the intellectual property of others; if Accenture is unable to protect its intellectual property rights from unauthorized use or infringement by third parties, its business could be adversely affected; Accenture's ability to attract and retain business and employees may depend on its reputation in the marketplace; if Accenture is unable to manage the organizational challenges associated with its size, the company might be unable to achieve its business objectives; any changes to the estimates and assumptions that Accenture makes in connection with the preparation of its consolidated financial statements could adversely affect its financial results; many of Accenture's contracts include payments that link some of its fees to the attainment of performance or business targets and/or require the company to meet specific service levels, which could increase the variability of the company's revenues and impact its margins; Accenture's results of operations and share price could be adversely affected if it is unable to maintain effective internal controls; Accenture may be subject to criticism and negative publicity related to its incorporation in Ireland; as well as the risks, uncertainties and other factors discussed under the "Risk Factors" heading in Accenture plc's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and other documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements in this news release speak only as of the date they were made, and Accenture undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements made in this news release or to conform such statements to actual results or changes in Accenture's expectations. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170720005915/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [July 20, 2017] Lease Analytics Funds Machine Learning Research at the University of North Texas DALLAS, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Oil and Gas consulting firm, Lease Analytics, announced today that it has established the Human Intelligence and Language Technologies Lab (HiLT) Fund at the University of North Texas (UNT) in Denton, Texas. This fund supports faculty and graduate research in the development of new techniques to recognize and infer meaning from specific images, words, phrases or sentences. The algorithms produced will have potential broad application in industry and government agencies interested in the growing fields of data analytics, and could make skilled human analysts far more productive in analyzing large volumes of current and historic documents. "We will use this fund to find new ways to tag oil and gas leases and contracts with categories of interest, and improve classification, search and clustering beyond word presence," said Eduardo Blanco, co-director of the HiLT Lab. HiLT is within UNT's College of Engineering, and its interests include Natural Language Processing (NLP), Machine Learning (ML), and Cognitive Science. HiLT's primary focus is on comutational semantic models that facilitate machine understanding of text and spoken dialogue. "We are very excited to support the faculty and students at UNT," said President and CEO of Lease Analytics Tom Agnew. "UNT has had a preeminent position in both oil and gas accounting and information sciences. Our most capable data scientists have come from the graduate program at UNT. This research will drastically reduce back office error rates, and I look forward to seeing the results of this project." About Lease Analytics, LLC Lease Analytics is based in Dallas, Texas, and applies deep learning technology to solve complex problems in the oil and gas back office, from acquisition to divestiture. Lease Analytics provides Revenue Recovery and Land Data Cleanup services to oil and gas companies. The company uses the most advanced data mining techniques to analyze land and accounting records to uncover errors and omissions, while generating significant savings in time and money. Please visit www.lease-analytics.com for more information. About the University of North Texas The University of North Texas's Department of Computer Science and Engineering is one of the oldest in the state of Texas, graduating its first class in 1977. The department is one of the 2017 "Best Colleges for Computer Science in America", according to Niche.com. The University is also in the top 20 percent of 2017 "Best Colleges in America". The main campus is located in Denton, Texas, with satellite campuses in Dallas and Fort Worth. Please visit https://engineering.unt.edu/ for more information about UNT's College of Engineering and http://hilt.cse.unt.edu/about.html for more information about the HiLT Lab. Contact: Tom Agnew 1-214-736-9055 [email protected] View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lease-analytics-funds-machine-learning-research-at-the-university-of-north-texas-300491901.html SOURCE Lease Analytics, LLC [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [July 20, 2017] Global Demand for RF/Microwave Semiconductors to Exceed $4.5 Billion in 2022 ROCKVILLE, Md., July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Global demand for RF/Microwave Semiconductors is forecast to exceed $4.5 billion in 2022, according to the Global RF/Microwave Semiconductors Industry-Update 2017, released March 2017 by Engalco Research. RF/Microwave Semiconductors are expected to continue to outpace other segments of this market, driven by strongly increasing demand for communications and radar systems notably digitally enhanced systems and active arrays. Global RF/Microwave Semiconductors Industry - Update 2017 is a 69-page analytic and strategic report focusing on the players (75 profiles) and the industry: diodes, transistors and MMICs/RFICs. This very substantial update of the first issue includes silicon-based RF chip-sets (SiGe BiCMOS, RF CMOS, etc.) as well as compound semiconductor-based. Total addressable markets are included (separately for diodes, transistors and MMICs/RFICs) for 2016 and 2022. The abve aspects and other key insights are featured in Global-RF-Microwave-Semiconductors Industry-Update 2017. Total demand and markets are segmented by product in terms of: Discrete RF diodes Discrete RF transistors Microwave MMICs MM-Wave MMICs More information about the report is available at: https://www.marketresearch.com/Engalco-v3148/Global-RF-Microwave-Semiconductors-IndustryUpdate-10648469/ About Engalco Research: Engalco Research is a tech-sector industry analysis, market forecasting and publishing concern that has been led by Terry Edwards for almost 28 years. With strong experience in all relevant commercial and defense segments, the firm specializes mainly in the RF/microwave, wireless, fiber-optics, photonics and related electronics industry sectors. The firm has been responsible for a large number of published market reports and the completion of many private client projects in these sectors. Engalco's mission is to continue providing a range of vital types of analysis, research and publishing services based upon the firm's specialist capabilities. Terry Edwards has a strong background in microwave integration research followed by a related deep market research experience that extends back to the mid-1980s. He has written several books on microwaves and fiber optic technologies, through the publishers John Wiley & Sons and also with Artech House. Featured related report titles include: Amplifiers, Oscillators and Integrated Microwave Assemblies (AOIMAs) Compound Semiconductor MMICs (CS MMICs) MMICs Into MM-Wave Systems Press Contact: Corinne Gangloff +1 440.684.9600 [email protected] View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-demand-for-rfmicrowave-semiconductors-to-exceed-45-billion-in-2022-300491907.html SOURCE MarketResearch.com Amgen stock hits high on earnings, prospects of obesity drug In one of the worst years for the stock market since the 2008 financial crisis, Thousand Oaksbased Amgen is showing no signs of weakness. As of Wednesdays market close, the... Council approves rules to limit self-storage growth Future self-storage facilities in the city of Thousand Oaks will be excluded from prime commercial areas, according to a new ordinance adopted by the City Council this month. In a... Dealership does Distinguished thing SPECIAL TRIPChildren from Boys & Girls clubs in Camarillo, Simi Valley and Moorpark, and Oxnard and Port Hueneme attended Misty Copelands Oct. 18 appearance in the Distinguished Speaker Series at... Westport Slice Of Life Man in critical condition following a stabbing in Westport One person is in critical condition following a stabbing in the Westport area of Kansas City, Missouri. Police were called to the area of Westport Road and Roanoke around 5:30 p.m. When they arrived they found a man suffering from a stab wound. The victim was rushed to an area hospital in critical condition. Kansas City High Crime Help Wanted Job description for new position in KCMO: Reduce crime KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Mayor Sly James's office is looking for someone to fill a new position. The job description: reduce crime. As of July 19, Kansas City, Missouri is sitting at 79 homicides for the year. Kansas City Metro Homicide Tracker Supporters say what the city is doing now isn't working. Crash Consequences In KCK Teen charged in crash that killed his four friends, stealing SUV and fleeing the scene KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- An 18-year-old man has been charged with several crimes in connection to a fatal crash in KCK that killed four of his friends. Nicholas Cook, who already has a juvenile record, was driving a stolen truck when he lost control and crashed. JoCo Family Drama Aftermath Overland Park man charged with murder in his stepfather's death OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - Johnson County prosecutors have filed charges against a man they say shot and killed his stepfather during a family dispute in Overland Park. Phillip Stanley is charged with one count of first-degree murder and is being held in the Johnson County jail on a $1 million bond. More Deets On Carjacking Suspect Couple Woman wanted in toddler kidnapping & stolen car incident now in custody in WYCO Kansas City, KS - Six days after a 3-year-old girl was kidnapped in a stolen car, and found safe a couple of hours later, the two people accused of stealing the vehicle are now in jail. Kerri Reich, 29, turned herself over to authorities in Wyandotte County on Tuesday morning, July 18. Midweek marks the beginning of the Kansas City crime surge and here are SOME of the top news stories focusing on increasing local violence. Take a look:Developing . . . KANSAS CITY INSIDERS TOUT MISSOURI STATE SENATOR JASON "BIG RED" HOLSMAN LOOKING AT THE 6TH AT LARGE!!! 6th District at large potential candidates currently are: Stacey Johnson-Cosby - Councilman Scott Taylor's PIAC rep, Neighborhood Tourism Fund, Chairperson, South Kansas City Alliance . . . Stacey is a Sly and Taylor cheerleader DaRon McGee - State Rep 36th district, DaRon will be looking for east side help and will be on the tail end of his 2nd Term. He's proven himself a good fundraiser and formidable campaigner. Jason Holsman - State Senator - Jason is termed out in 2020 and backed down from chasing Statewide office when he had his chance. Many, many more are thinking about running . . . The Council races are already shaping up and thanks to our blog community we've got FIRST LOOK at some of the contenders.First and foremost . . .From a campaign finance perspective, he'll be able to outspend any of his contenders and the Council run is a smarter move than trying to compete in the already crowded Mayoral race.Here's the word from a KICK-ASS KCMO Insider:Developing . . . Courthouse Drama Getting Worse More charges, suspects announced in Jackson County Jail probe Additional charges and suspects have been announced in a corruption probe at the Jackson County Detention Center. Additional charges were filed Tuesday against two corrections officers at the jail and three others. Four people, including two corrections officers, were originally charged in connection with a bribery scheme to smuggle contraband cell phones and other items to inmates. Kansas City Bikes Hit Hard Harley-Davidson lays off nearly 100 Kansas City workers Harley-Davidson Inc. announced Tuesday that it plans to lay off 180 hourly workers at its plants in Milwaukee and Kansas City. Out of the 180 plant workers, union leaders said, 97 will be from Kansas City. Harley stated that the cuts are based on poor earnings in the second quarter and will begin within the next few months. Last Hope Against NO-BID Revenue Grab?? AECOM touts experience in KCI terminal competition - Kansas City Business Journal Burns & McDonnell has been billing the team it's building to compete for the $1 billion modernization of Kansas City International Airport as the hometown team. But representatives of a competing team begin assembled by Los Angeles-based AECOM says it will be just as local and a lot more experienced. Fighting Sunflower State Drying Up Conservation Effort Spearheaded By Brownback Slowing Depletion Of Ancient Aquifer After decades of alarming headlines, Kansas may be on the verge of preserving an ancient groundwater resource that helped make it an agricultural powerhouse. Since the Dust Bowl years of the 1930s, researchers have warned that farmers were pumping water from the part of the massive Ogallala aquifer that underlies Kansas faster than nature could replace it. Big Bucks For Kansas City Schools Kansas City Neighborhood Academy receiving $500,000 for 'smart' program KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The City of Kansas City has roughly 20 charter schools within KCPS school boundaries. One of the newest charter schools, Kansas City Neighborhood Academy, just received a $500,000 investment from SchoolSmartKC. Kansas City Neighborhood Academy is a local charter school that is sponsored by KCPS. Rosie hotness starts this latest look at all the important Kansas City news this evening. Checkit:And this is thefor right now . . . Kansas City Wild Life Recovery Red-tailed Hawk being nursed back to health in Kansas City Kansas City, MO - A Red-tailed Hawk is being nursed back to health after being struck by a car near 61st and Ward Parkway.The two-year-old male raptor suffered injuries to its head and a wing. After being hit the bird hobbled to a flower bed of a nearby home. Construction Season Continues Coming to your area soon: Bridge work and slow traffic Motorists are likely to hate this, at least in the short run. More work is coming on Interstate 470, which will be rehabbing 11 bridges all along the highway through Lee's Summit. Between 50,000 to 80,000 cars use the route daily, according to the Missouri Department of Transportation. Local Walking Life Improvement Independence Avenue improvements to focus on streets in effort to help pedestrians KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- One of the city's heaviest traveled pedestrian areas is on its way to getting a facelift, but they're not starting with the sidewalks where people walk. Instead, the focus for Bobbi Baker-Hughes and the Independence Avenue Community Improvement District is the streets. "Every day it gets busier. Show-Me Conservation Lesson University Of Missouri And Other Schools With Tiger Mascots Commit To Tiger Conservation The University of Missouri is among a consortium of schools with tiger mascots that are ramping up efforts to address the dwindling global tiger population. The University of Missouri (Truman the Tiger,) Louisiana State University (Mike the Tiger), Auburn University (Aubie the Tiger) and Clemson University (The Tiger and Tiger Cub) are committing to more and better research, education and awareness, across disciplines, related to tiger conservation efforts. Kansas City Comeback Moss comes up big as Royals get wild walk-off win over Tigers | FOX Sports KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Brandon Moss doubled off the wall in the ninth to score the tying run, and Alex Gordon drove him home with a sacrifice fly to bail out closer Kelvin Herrera and give the Kansas City Royals a 4-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday night. This morningbut we also take a peek at the top Kansas City MSM links to start the day. Take a peek:is the #TBT song of the day and this is thefor right now . . . Kansas City's rigged election has now encountered public outcry via social media.Remember . . .And now, our info has been confirmed by the newspaper:In general, this exemplifies the problem with the mail-in ballot vs. an open & public vote that was denied to locals in order to secure the desired outcome.Developing . . . Greeks took 237,000 more trips outside the borders and had 1.1 million overnight stays more compared to the same period in 2016 Greeks have taken more trips abroad and had more overnight in the first quarter of 2017 compared to the past four years, according to Bank of Greece data. More specifically Greeks took 237,000 more trips outside the borders and had 1.1 million overnight stays more compared to the same period in 2016. Up until the end of March, 1.58 million trips were recorded, from 1.34 million in 2016, 1.47 million in 2015 and 1.21 million in 2014. Departures increased both in terms of Individual travelers as well as package tours. Most of these trips were to Bulgaria. In general, the number of trips to the neighboring country reached record levels of 389,100 visits. The Bank of Greece also recorded a rise in travels to Turkey, reaching 121,700 visits, after a major decline in 2015. An upward turn was also recorded to Germany, Britain, the Netherlands, Austria, Spain and Cyprus. On the contrary, less Greeks traveled to the U.S.A., Russia, the Czech Republic, Italy, France and Poland. Overnight stays of Greeks abroad in the first quarter surpassed 9.9 million, compared with 8.8 million in the same period in 2016. Almost double were the overnight stays in the UK, reaching 1.6 million. The average length of stay for Greeks abroad fell to 6.3 nights, compared with 6.6 nights in the first quarter of 2016. According to the available data, the highest average length of stay was recorded in Egypt (28.6 nights), in Britain (21.8 nights), in the U.S.A. (21.6 nights), Russia (19.1 nights), Spain (16 nights) and Cyprus (13.6 nights). On the contrary, the shorter duration was recorded in Bulgaria (1.6 nights), in Turkey (3 nights) and in the Czech Republic (3.9 nights). Nevertheless, despite the increase in visits by Greeks to destinations outside the country, travel expenses decreased by 59.6 million euros. In total, the Greeks spent 403.1 million euros in the first quarter, compared with 462.7 million in the same period in 2016, 436.5 million in 2015 and 415 million in 2014. Britain ranks first in the list with the highest travel costs for Greeks, amounting to 55.6 million euros. Read more here. RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons Copyright: Dimboukas License: CC-BY-SA Source: greekreporter.com Greeces role in international financing institutions was discussed on Tuesday in a meeting of the Government Council for Economic Policy, headed by Deputy Prime Minister Yannis Dragasakis. In addition, the Finance Ministry was authorized to start talks regarding Greeces participation in the New Development Bank, in which the BRICS states hold shares. The Greek government has already ensured Greeces participation in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). According to the Deputy Prime Minister, through Greeces participation in international development institutions, Greek businesses and bodies are called to utilize the financing of projects realized in the member countries. Greek companies will also be able to ask performance bonds from the international development banks in order to realize infrastructure projects. Read more here. RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons Copyright: DaveOinSF~commonswiki License: CC-BY-SA Source: int.ert.gr/ Bahrain's His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa has ratified the new Unified Family Law after it was approved by the kingdom's Shura Council. His Majesty hailed the executive-legislative cooperation which benefited the nation and citizens, said a BNA report. He made the statement in the presence of His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al-Khalifa and His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Premier, as he received Speaker Ahmed bin Ibrahim Al-Mulla and Shura Council Chairman Ali bin Saleh Al-Saleh. Deputy Speakers, Shura Council vice chairpersons, heads of committees were also present at the Sakhir Palace. They all greeted HM the King marking the endorsement of the Unified Family Law. HM the King welcomed them all and expressed thanks and appreciation to HRH the Premier and HRH the Crown Prince for the executive-legislative cooperation. He commended the Speaker and Shura Council chairman, MPs and Shura members for their dedicated role in passing the crucial law unanimously. HM the King underscored the crucial importance of the Family Law which, he said, bolsters Bahraini judiciary and strengthens guarantees that protect litigators rights and preserve Bahraini families cohesion. "The new law represents another milestone in our comprehensive development and a landmark legal chapter that protects the family entity", HM the King said. He hailed the new legislation as a source of pride for all Bahrainis and quantum leap that bolsters the Kingdoms standing and pioneering role among advanced and civilized nations. HM the King commended the role of the Supreme Council for Women (SCW) for advocating and supporting the promulgation of the Unified Family Law which, he said, will contribute to bolstering the stability of Bahraini family and woman and promoting their role within society. "We ordered the establishment of the family law review committee to ensure the new legislation complies with the Islamic Sharia precepts", he said, adding that Bahrain would always guarantee all citizens liberties and rights. "With our national unity and cohesion we will grow even stronger and achieve further strides", HM the King said, taking pride in Bahrains deep-rooted Arab and Islamic identity. His Majesty King received a cable of congratulations from Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, wife of HM the King and President of the Supreme Council for Women, on the issuance of the Family Law. The Opec Board of Governors has confirmed the appointment of Saudi Arabia's Dr Ayed S Al-Qahtani as the new director of Research Division. The board also appointed new heads for the Energy Studies and Petroleum Studies departments. Dr. Al-Qahtani has been advisor to Saudi Arabias Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources, and current Opec Conference president, Eng. Khalid A. Al-Falih, since July 2016. He had previously led Saudi Aramco's Global Economic & Energy Outlook. He has also formerly served as senior project manager for global energy scenarios at the World Energy Council and the vice-chair of the industry advisory committee of the Riyadh-based International Energy Forum. The previous incumbent in the poisition was Dr Omar S Abdul-Hamid, also from Saudi Arabia. Dr Abderrezak Benyoucef has been appointed as the new head, Energy Studies Department. He hails from Algeria and has been acting director of studies and knowledge management, Sonatrach/Algerian Petroleum Institute (API), since November 2015. Behrooz Baikalizadeh has been appointed as the new head, Petroleum Studies Department. Baikalizadeh, from Iran, has been general manager, Opec and International Energy Fora, and his countrys Opec national representative, since June 2016. He had previously held a number of positions at the Ministry of Petroleum. Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, Opec Secretary General, welcomed the new appointments and also praised the commitment and dedication of their predecessors in office. The Vienna-based Opec Secretariat currently has 133 staff, comprising 42 nationalities. - TradeArabia News Service An Air Seychelles pilot and his co-pilot have been commended for avoiding what would have been a fatal mid-air collision with an Emirates A380 plane last week, reports said. Captain Roberto Vallicelli and First Officer Ronny Morel, who were flying an Air Seychelles Airbus A330 over Mauritius, made a sharp turn in order to dodge an Emirates Airbus A380 - the world's largest passenger jet - which was headed straight into his path, said the Mail Online report. The Emirates plane was flying from Dubai to Mauritius last Friday, and had been cleared to make its descent by air traffic control. The Air Seychelles aircraft had just taken off from the airport in Mauritius and was heading toward Mahe Island, and straight into the path of the Emirates plane. The Emirates Airbus A380-800 from Dubai to Mauritius, flying at 40,000 feet, was cleared to descend to 38,000 feet by air traffic control; the crew read it back as 36,000 feet, which was not corrected by air traffic control, according to an Aviation Herald report. The Air Seychelles Airbus A330-200 flying from Mauritius to Mahe Island (Seychelles), had been cleared to climb to 37,000 ft and was climbing through 33,000 when the Emirates descended through 38,000. Both crews could see each other when the traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) alert was initiated and the Air Seychelles turned right to avoid a collision. Meanwhile, Emirates said in a separate statement shared to local media: Emirates has received reports of an event on July 14, 2017 in relation to aircraft separation involving flight EK-703 in Mauritius airspace. The matter has been reported to the respective air transport authorities and Emirates will extend its full cooperation to any investigation. The safety of our passengers and crew is of utmost importance. Air Seychelles said in a statement Monday: We commend our Captain Roberto Vallicelli and Seychellois First Officer Ronny Morel who were operating the HM054 flight from Mauritius to Seychelles on the evening of Friday 14 July 2017. Their training standard and operating protocols immediately kicked in which demonstrates the extremely high standards of training which our Air Seychelles pilots attain. We highly commend them for what they have done, Air Seychelles added. Tajawal, a Dubai-based online travel booking site, has collaborated with Visa to provide Visa Checkout to its customers in Kuwait. As the first online travel agency in the Mena region to integrate Visa Checkout on their website earlier this year, tajawal is now rolling out the service across multiple markets, to provide users in the region with the most convenient booking process possible, the company said. Visa Checkout offers cardholders a simple and secure digital payment method that allows for registered users to complete their purchase at the click of a button. By logging into their Visa Checkout account, payment and billing information are automatically populated, eliminating the step to manually enter the information with every purchase. More than 300,000 online merchants worldwide, including some of the largest global retailers, now offer the service, while more than 20 million Visa customers have registered with Visa Checkout. Muhammad Chbib, tajawal co-founder and CEO, said: Hassle-free and secure payment is one of the main considerations for online shoppers and with Visa Checkout, we are not only offering them a solution provided by a globally trusted source, we also simplify their experience compared to the traditional checkout process, especially when they book flights and hotels with tajawal on mobile devices. Mohamed Meabed, tajawal co-founder and CTO, said: Travelers in the region have become more comfortable with online travel bookings and have evolved to expect more sophisticated technology and flexible payment options when they make online purchases. With more than 4,000 Visa Checkout bookings on our UAE platform per month, since launching the service six months ago, we can clearly see that our users appreciate the convenience and security the new payment method provides. Amit Vij, Visas country manager for Kuwait, said: Innovations like Visa Checkout help to remove friction from the e-commerce payment process, bringing significant benefits to both the customer and the merchant. With Visa Checkout integrated into its systems, tajawal can now offer its customers an online payment experience that is as easy, convenient, and seamless as swiping a Visa card in a traditional retail setting. To promote the launch of Visa Checkout as a payment option on tajawal.com.kw, a special offer on all flight and hotel bookings can be redeemed by registered users, who choose to pay with Visa Checkout on tajawal.com.kw until August 18, the company said. - TradeArabia News Service ITR opens its 2018 Travel roadshow in India, Middle East, Singapore & Australia (TRAVPR.COM) INDIA - July 20th, 2017 - International Travel Roadshow (ITR) opens its 2018 Calendar with 3 Mega Events. ITR is the right platform to meet the potential buyers from Tourism industry. International Travel Roadshow (ITR) 2018 India - is the 6th version of the luxury roadshow scheduled at 4 Major cities in india Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai & Bangalore. Unlike any other roadshow, ITR offers 2 full days in each city. Yes this is the One and Only roadshow being organized for 2 days in each city which helps exhibitors to meet more potential buyers in each city. The concept of this roadshow is to cover 4 Exhibitions in 1 Roadshow which saves lot of time and money for the exhibitors. This mega event expects the footfall of 1200 potential outbound tour buyers from Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai & Bangalore. ITR India is scheduled on February 2018 to target 70+ days of summer holidays in India (April, May & June). International Travel Roadshow (ITR) 2018 Middle East is the 7th version of Luxury roadshow scheduled in Top 3 richest & hot outbound cities in Middle East Dubai (2 days), Abhu dhabi (1 day) & Kuwait (1 day). This fabulous show is scheduled in the month of April 2018 to target the long summer season in Middle east (April to September). The ultimate goal of this event is to make sure that our exhibitors gain ROI as soon as possible. Here is another Ice-breaker travel roadshow from ITR. Just imagine of tapping the untapped luxury market in the world. Yes. ITR Edition 8 is planned in Australia & Singapore. Do you know that Australia ranks as 9th highest travel spending market in the world ?. Not just that, 42 trips have been booked for every 100 people in Australia each year. ITR Australia is scheduled during August 2018 in Melbourne (1 day), Sydney (2 days) and the richest city in Australia Brisbane (1 day). To add icing on the cake, We have included 1 Day roadshow in Singapore since most of the flights to Australia fly through Singapore with long lay-over. You can make a great business deal instead of sitting in the airport. ITR focuses on the quality of the roadshow and thus doesnt allow walk-in invitations. Moreover, ITR pre-schedules appointment with the top-notch tour-selling agents on a one-to-one basis. Travel Sellers love ITR since it focuses on the superlative goal of maximizing the ROI of its exhibitors. ITR Exhibitors include Top DMCs, Resorts, Airlines, Technology companies from 5 continents over 70 countries with Luxury 5 star hotels like Shangrila, Four Seasons, Jumeriah, Park Hyatt, Banyan Tree, Angasana, Centara Grand Thailand, Amari, Residence Mauritius & Maldives, World Leading DMCs like Jetwing Travels Sri Lanka, Amazing China, Travel CEO, Travelink Tours Egypt, Lac Hong Voyages Vietnam, Karusan Travels Sri Lanka, Flame Tours Azerbaijan, African Hartbeest Safaris, SMAILING TOUR DMC BALI Indonesia, Bidadari Tour Bali Indonesia and Airlines like Air India and Maldivian Airlines. To know more about ITR Roadshow visit http://www.InternationalTravelRoadshow.com or email us at itr@orangetrips.com or call us at +91 7204061248 / +91 9036050636 ### Tribune News Service Chandigarh, July 20 A vehicle thief, who used to steal two-wheelers for joyrides, has been arrested by the Chandigarh Police. With his arrest, six cases of vehicle theft have been solved and 17 two-wheelers have been recovered. DSP (East) Satish Kumar said the accused, Appu, alias Anbhu, a resident of Sector 21, was arrested on a tip-off at a naka in Sector 28. The accused was riding a stolen motorcycle at the time of his arrest. The accused confessed that he had stolen the motorcycle from Sector 27. Inspector Jaspal Bhullar, SHO of the Sector 26 police station, said during questioning, the accused gave information about having stolen another vehicle. The police got his two-day remand during which 15 more two-wheelers were recovered from different part of the city on the disclosure made by the accused. Eleven motorcycles and six scooters have been recovered, said a police official. Used to abandon vehicles The accused used to steal the vehicles for joyrides after taking liquor. He used to abandon the vehicles after these ran out of fuel. The police said the accused did not sell the vehicles. 2 held with stolen car, mobikes Two vehicle thieves have been arrested by the Chandigarh Police. Three motorcycles and a car have been recovered from their possession. Sources said Ravi Kumar and Harsh, alias Billa, both residents of Sector 56, were arrested for vehicle thefts by a team of the Palsora police post. Inspector Rajdeep Singh, SHO of the Sector 39 police station, said the accused were arrested at a naka near a government school in Sector 56 on a tip-off that they were riding a stolen motorcycle. The police said Ravi Kumar was a mechanic while Harsh was a school dropout. Both were drug addicts. The accused were looking for some customer to sell the vehicle. Sandeep Rana Tribune News Service Chandigarh, July 20 The case of a 10-year-old girl, who got pregnant after being raped allegedly by her maternal uncle for seven months, has reached the Supreme Court. After a petition of the local police for her abortion was rejected by Additional District and Sessions Judge Poonam R Joshi here on July 18, citing risk to her life, a PIL was today filed in the apex court for aborting her foetus. The case will be taken up on Friday. In the petition, advocate Alakh Alok Srivastava has sought urgent directions to the respondents to immediately bring the rape victim to New Delhi, get her thoroughly medically examined by a better medical board, preferably comprising doctors of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, and upon receiving a better medical opinion, to ensure that the 26-week pregnancy of the victim is safely terminated. The PIL has further sought framing of guidelines for constituting a permanent medical board in each district of the country comprising the best medical experts for termination of pregnancies beyond 20 weeks in exceptional cases, particularly involving child rape victims. A native of Nepal, Kul Bahadur, was arrested a few days ago for the crime. Sandeep Dikshit Sandeep Dikshit AN unnamed US navy top brass sought to enlighten us about the end game behind the recent week-long excitement in the waters of the Bay of Bengal involving navies of the US, India and Japan. They [China] will know that we are standing together and that it is better to stand together, he said at the end of the war-like maneuvers involving, as breathless defence correspondents put it, three aircraft carriers for the first time. Like all naval exercises this comes with a name, this one is called the Malabar. It began in 1992 as India began reaching out to the other side of the Cold War divide and has now assumed proportions that are the interest of every sea-faring nation in the world because it involves Japan, India and the US with a very interested onlooker in Australia, all of whom disagree with Beijings modus operandi of reworking the power equations in the region. Astute as they are, the Chinese would have noticed that the famed US aircraft carrier Nimitz came for the exercises with a leaner complement of accompanying warships. The Japanese contributed two warships. More than war-fighting machines, they remain symbols of Shinzo Abes overturning of Japans post World War law forbidding its participation in international conflicts. Australia, which was kept out of the Malabar exercises, is still reorienting its navy for a blue water role. Clearly, the comforting words of the American naval officer and the temporary presence of a number of warships in the Bay of Bengal can have no impact on the border standoff on the India-China-Bhutan tri-junction or dampen the Sino-Pakistani tango where Beijing has promised to do the heavy lifting for a massive infrastructure buildup that straddles Indian Kashmir. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recently jet-setted to the US, Russia, Spain, France and Germany, all with a thriving military-industrial complex. Very few have responded to his call to manufacture military hardware on Indian soil, partly because most would not wish to rework their equations with China. The belligerent realists who have come to dominate the Indian foreign policy may draw comfort from the Donald Trumps maiden defence budget that has a few lines about India. So far India has largely bought surveillance and detection equipment from the US while going slow on offensive platforms like fighters, tanks and submarines. Both sides have their reasons. The US had abruptly suspended the Malabar exercises after India conducted the nuclear tests in 1998. As part of US sanctions at that time, Pentagon even ordered the British to seize Indian Navys helicopters that had come for repairs because they had American parts. Indias strategic planner learnt their lessons. Just like they were left stranded after the US withdrew military assistance in 1965 (and unwittingly left a vacuum filled by the Soviet Union) after India had clashed with Pakistan, they realised military trade with the US can be halted anytime if it conflicts with American foreign objectives. The proximity brought about by the foreign policies of successive Indian administrations has caused those apprehensions to recede. There is even talk of the US transferring its F-16 manufacturing facility to India. But the US will not easily offer any of the top-end offensive military platforms without a demonstrative expression of strategic closeness. This could be tactical such as positioning Indian armed forces in Afghanistan. But to get into the real meat of the US arms industry, this is inadequate. Even countries in a client-patronage relationship with the US like Pakistan have been let down on crucial occasions (Kargil War) or rewarded for their occasional usefulness with a few military toys that are grossly inadequate for a full-fledged war. The US would ideally like to sink a long strategic hook into India that makes the alliance irreversible. One element signing of three military agreements has been on the table since the Manmohan Singh-AK Antony era. The duo withstood immense American pressure to sign these agreements because that would have meant an irreversible entry into critical defence systems that countries with independent foreign policies try to prevent. The Modi government has succumbed to the easiest of the three military agreements. But even its complexities have meant that the two sides could not operationalise the pact for the Malabar exercises. The signing of the other two pacts will certainly cause the Russians to turn lukewarm in supplying top-end military hardware to India. With neither a credible sea denial strategy in hand or adequate military platforms to deter China, it was inevitable that the bluster in foreign policy would have a short shelf life. The Army Chief made a show of muscularity by dashing to Sikkim when the faceoff with the Chinese began. Three weeks later, he has reverted to expiating on Kashmir. This approach has brought negative returns with Pakistan as well. High on Chinese backing, utility for the Arabs and Russian mending of fences, Islamabad has little appetite for dialogue on New Delhis terms. The attempt to square Pakistans meddling in Kashmir with reciprocal interference in Balochistan has suffered a massive blowback with the arrest of the former Indian Naval officer. Nepal too is not looking too good and India has been left with too few diplomatic tools to turn the situation around. The antipathy with China could have been best avoided when Nepal was looking to balance Indias testiness with approaches to Beijing. This cul de sac may have persuaded Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar to complain that the Dokalam military standoff between India and China has blown out of proportion due to supra-nationalism beyond the authority of one national government. Apart from the usual suspects and slogans boycott of Chinese manufactured goods, annexure of Kailash Mansarovar the Foreign Secretary may also be hinting at the wind being provided to the sails of hyper-nationalists by foreign strategic experts with the single point agenda of showing up China poorly. India has been hedging against Chinese dominance for nearly two decades. But its policy makers eschewed bluster towards China in favour of painstaking incremental diplomatic dexterity. The three years of belligerence may have turned the clock back. Lt Gen Pramod Grover (retd) Lt Gen Pramod Grover (retd) The Indus waters have for long been a bone of contention between India and Pakistan after the division of the drainage basin. The major portion did go to Pakistan but under the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) regulations, India can use 20 per cent of the total discharge of this system. Therefore although at a seminal advantage, Pakistan unfortunately has been unable to optimise it. Thus water is becoming an existential issue for Pakistan, with fast-depleting fresh water resources and endangering food security. Further, the storage capacity at the facilities developed by Pakistan is a quarter (indicating a paltry 150 cubic metres per person) of the minimum requirement of 120 days. Further as per Lt Gen Muzamil Hussain, Chairman Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), Pakistan wastes fresh water worth $25 billion annually. India on the other hand, within the constraints of the IWT, has and further endeavours to maximise the utilisation of the western river waters both for irrigation and the generation of hydropower. This is more often than not objected to by Pakistan as it chooses to attribute most Indian projects as some sort of violation of the IWT. Pakistan never hesitates to raise the issue at international forums, where very often it has lost its pleas. Unable to utilise the available water, Pakistan has, of late, requested China to provide water security as a part of CPEC during their sixth joint meeting on the issue in December 2016. This request is being perceived as a vital and strategic, given worsening Pak-India ties. To fulfil their obligation, the Chinese experts visited Pakistan to study the Indus basin's potential and held a series of meetings with WAPDA's top mandarins, besides making field visits. They also studied WAPDA's 2025 Vision and proposed a plan to increase the water storage capacity of Pakistan and also assist in generation of hydropower. Subsequently, they advanced this understanding with a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) during the May Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) conference in Beijing to construct five dams that will form a cascade on the Indus river. The 400-km cascade of dams on the Indus will stretch all the way from Gilgit-Baltistan to the existing Tarbela Dam near Islamabad. China will provide about $50 billion through its agency National Energy Administration (NEA). It has been reported that the first allocation of funds will take place next year. The proposal includes the construction of (i) Bunji Hydro-power Project (7,100 MW) near Skardu in PoK, (ii) Diamer Basha Dam (4,500 MW) in PoK, (iii) Dasu Hydro-electric Project (4,320 MW), (iv) Patan Hydropower Project (2,200 MW) and Thakot Hydropower Project (4,000 MW). The proposal will effectively convert this huge river into a series of lakes. The proposal is based on the assumption that it will provide requisite water security to Pakistan, in addition to generation of hydropower. The terms and conditions of infrastructural development and operations are still not clear. Perhaps Pakistan is overlooking an important fact regarding the flow of the Indus. The river distinctly flows from an area of higher precipitation towards a drier zone in the plains of the Punjab and Sindh, where its flow becomes sluggish and highly braided. Further, the quantum of water from the tributaries too is consistently declining. This dire situation may have a direct impact on water availability from a river that is Pakistan's lifeline. Ample proof is the highly reduced discharge in to the Arabian Sea between 2001 and 2009. The proposed dams may also lead to the submergence of a major part of the Karakoram Highway, initiating displacement and relocation of millions of people who will perhaps lose their livelihood as the agricultural fields will no longer be replenished by deposition of fresh, fertile sediments. The question is: Will the construction of a series of dams be of major benefit to Pakistan? The IWT has survived so far mainly because of India's benevolence and strict adherence. It is under tremendous pressure at present due to the existing political situation in the subcontinent and paucity of water in the Indus and its tributaries. The Sino-Pak proposal of constructing dams in disputed territory will put provisions of IWT under severe pressure. With limited space for talks, it is bound to make Pakistan's water relationship with India extremely tense. The Chinese role may cast a mortal blow to IWT and even force India to withdraw from it. India has to appreciate that inclusion of water security into CPEC essentially is a political choice for Pakistan and China though the issue does not fall within the otherwise commercial mandate of OBOR. We need to understand the nuances of this collusive action by Pakistan and China in PoK and raise objections to the Chinese presence there. In fact, we should press for vacation of PoK by Pakistan as our ultimate aim. Indus the lifeline of Pakistan The Indus river is the largest river as also the national river of Pakistan. It provides the key water resources for the country's economy, its agriculture, supports some heavy industry and also provides the main supply of potable water in Pakistan. Rising in Tibet at an altitude of 5,188 metres near the Mansarovar lake, it flows west and northwestwards before it enters the Indian territory in Jammu and Kashmir. It forms a big gorge near the Indo-Tibet border and pierces the Kailash range several times. Flowing through Ladakh, Baltistan and Gilgit, it finally emerges out of the hills at Attock. Tributaries joining the main river are the Yartag, Zaskar, Dras, Shyok, Shigar, Nubra, Gilgit and Hunza in Jammu and Kashmir. It enters Pakistan near Chilas. Further down, it receives the Kabul, the Kurram, the Tochi and the collective flow of the well-known Punjab tributaries the Sutlej, Beas, Ravi, Chenab and Jhelum and falls into the Arabian Sea near Karachi. The snows and glaciers of the Himalayas, Karakoram and the Hindu Kush ranges of Tibet, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh and Gilgit-Baltistan (PoK), largely feed the Indus system. The writer, the former Chief of Staff Western Command, is an expert on the Indus Waters Treaty Tribune Reporters KANGRA, July 20 Hundreds of students of MCM DAV College boycotted their classes and took to streets against the government and the police for dealing roughly with the Kotkhai minors rape. The protesting students were raising the slogans for justice to the Kotkhai minor. They marched through the main market of the town and protested at Tehsil Chowk of the town and blocked the highway. The students held a protest on the premises of the SDM office too and raised anti-police slogans. They observed a two-minute silence. The Shahpur Students Association took out a candlelight march and demanded sacking of the state government and imposition of the Governors rule in the state in view of the deteriorating Law and order situation. Chail closed Solan: The locals took out a march against the brutal killing and gangrape of a Kotkhai girl at Chail where all business establishments remained closed till afternoon. The locals marched through the town and raised slogans demanding justice for the minor girl. They also raised questions at the inept handling of the police and demanded immediate justice for the girl. The people expressed their solidarity with the family of the deceased and said the real culprits should be arrested soon. Similar protests were also witnessed at Solan last evening where people had gathered on The Mall in protest against the shoddy investigations. Students on roads in Mandi, Kullu Mandi: The public outrage against the Kotkhai gangrape is spreading rapidly across the state and a large number of people and students staged a protest in Mandi and Kullu today. ABVP and SFI students blocked road at Dhalpur Chowk in Kullu for 20 minutes and raised slogans against the government. They submitted a memorandum to the DC, Kullu, and sought justice to the victim. Members of the VHP also submitted a memorandum to the DC. Similarly, protests were reported in Mandiand people were demanding a fair probe. Pratibha Chauhan Tribune News Service Shimla, July 20 Even as protests continued throughout the day 9 there was a emergency-like situation in the Secretariat and Police Headquarters. The buildings had been cordoned off and all gates locked as a guard against public fury. The protests and public wrath spilling on to roads during the last few days pushed the government into huddle as not just vehicular but all public movement between the two gates of the Secretariat was stopped from 11 am. Such was the security that even Secretariat employees were not allowed to enter or leave and it was only at 3 pm that the gates were opened. Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh remained closeted with his aides, including Irrigation and Public Health Minister Vidya Stokes and Industry Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, in his office in the Secretariat. There were reports that all ministers had been summoned to the capital immediately. He also spoke to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and apprised him about the steps taken by the government. The Chief Minister, accompanied by Mukesh Agnihotri, went to Raj Bhawan at 11.30 am to meet the Governor. Virbhadra apprised Acharya Devvrat about the steps taken by the police to bring the culprits to book. The Governor is learnt to have asked the CM to get an impartial inquiry into the incident, keeping in view public sentiment. The Governor also conveyed the concern expressed by various social and political organisations, who met him in the aftermath of the rape and murder incident. The scene was no different at the Police Headquarters at Nigam Vihar where the fear of public fury was evident. A wall of police personnel had been created at the entrance to prevent the angry mob from entering the office, which houses the offices of the DGP and all high-ranking officers. The offices of the DC and SP too remained heavily guarded in anticipation of the protests. The BJP today gave a call for complete bandh in Shimla. Besides the BJP, some other organisations like the Nagrik Sabha also took out a protest. The Congress has also decided to observe a two-hour Maun Vrat at all block and district headquarters and suspended its Padyatra on July 21. Amid this rant for justice for the victim and her family, political parties are trying to gain political mileage. Despite the CM requesting the CBI to take over investigation, the necessary action on its part is yet to be taken. Emergency-like situation Lalit Mohan Tribune News Service Dharamsala, July 20 Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has come under sharp criticism for his statements regarding the Kotkhai rape and murder case. The CM said in Mandi yesterday that such kind of incidents kept on happening in society. One of the supporters of Virbhadra Singh Chief Parliamentary Secretary Neeraj Bharti expressed displeasure over the CMs statement on his Facebook post today. I am not satisfied with government officials and the Chief Ministers stand on the Kotkhai rape and murder case, said Bharti. The post went viral among bureaucrats, politicians and various other circles. Bharti had earlier also evoked controversies through his Facebook posts, but it is for the first time that he has criticised the CM. Senior Congress leader GS Bali, while talking to mediapersons, said the incident had brought a bad name to the state and every section of society should act responsibly. BJP MP from Kangra Shanta Kumar issued a statement criticising the government and the police for its role in the case. There is no high command in the Congress, otherwise Virbhadra Singh had been removed till now, he said. BJP MP from Hamirpur Anurag Thakur said the CM was issuing insensitive statements in the case. The statements issued by the CM are insulting. The people are getting restive and the government should immediately handover all documents in the case to the CBI so that a fair probe could be held, he said. Senior Congress leader Kishan Kapoor alleged that the CM was trying to protect some influential people in the case. The anger of the people is spilling on to the streets against the present government. The CM should step down immediately, he said. College students in Nurpur, Dharamsala, Kangra, Mandi, Dalhousie and Una took out protest march. Social activists have called for peace march for the victim at various places. We have called a candlelight march for the victim and to show our support to the family, said Varinder Choudhary, a social activist. The BJP has given a call for bandh in Dharamsala tomorrow to protest against the state government over the case. Ishfaq Tantry Tribune News Service Srinagar, July 20 The police today produced 12 accused in the DSP lynching case before the court of Sub-Registrar, Srinagar, which remanded them in judicial custody till August 2. Deputy Superintendent of Police Mohammed Ayub Pandith was stripped and lynched by a mob outside Jamia Masjid in the Nowhatta area of old Srinagar on June 22, triggering an outrage in Kashmir. Earlier on July 7, Kashmir IGP Muneer Khan had said the police had cracked the case by arresting three or four persons. However, as 12 accused were produced today before the court, the police showed the date of arrest of the most of the accused as July 17 and requested for their police remand for further investigation. Most of the persons have been arrested before July 17, but were shown arrested on this particular date. We vehemently resisted the police custody of the accused, said advocate Ajaz A Dar, who represented many of the accused before the court. On July 12, the police also claimed that Hizbul Mujahideen militant Sajid Ahmad Gilkar, who was killed in an encounter in Budgam, had played a key role in the lynching. Gilkar played a key role in the lynching of DSP Mohammad Ayub Pandith of the security wing, a police spokesman had said. Gilkar went underground and joined the Hizbul Mujahideen after the lynching incident, he said. The police, which has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT), has recovered the belongings (of the DSP), such as the identity card and the pistol. Tribune News Service Srinagar, July 20 Governor NN Vohra and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti have expressed grief and sorrow over the death of six persons in a cloudburst in Thathri town of Doda district on Wednesday night. The Governor, expressing grief over the loss of precious lives, conveyed his heartfelt sympathy to the families of those killed in the cloudburst, triggered by a flash flood. The Governor is saddened to also learn about the damage caused by the flash flood to residential and commercial properties and a school. He has advised urgent start of restoration work on the damaged properties and provision of relief. The Chief Minister has directed the district administration to intensify rescue and rehabilitation operations, provide adequate medicare to the injured and make arrangements for shelter, food and other facilities for the people affected by the cloudburst and consequent flash floods. Mehbooba has asked the Minister for Public Health Engineering, Irrigation and Flood Control, Sham Lal Choudhary, to rush to Doda and oversee the relief and rescue operations. National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and working president Omar Abdullah have also expressed grief and shock over the loss of human lives due to the cloudburst. They prayed for peace to the departed souls and wished speedy recovery to the injured. They expressed solidarity with the families which lost their dear ones and sought specialised treatment for the injured. Leader of the Opposotion in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad has also expressed grief and shock over the loss of lives in the Thathri catastrophe and conveyed his condolences to the bereaved families. Azad urged the state government and the district administration to immediately arrange relief and rehabilitation measures for the people who had suffered. Vikram Sharma Tribune News Service Jammu, July 20 The government has rejected any likelihood of talks with separatists or other fundamental groups in the Valley unless the level of terrorism and violence comes down substantially. Already some attempts were made to reach out to separatists and other fundamental groups but they shut their doors to the delegations from the Centre. Besides, there is a clear message from the Centre that unless the Valley returns to normal, the government will not take any initiative for talks, said Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh talking to The Tribune. He said the time was not opportune as well as atmosphere not conducive to take any step for dialogue. Admitting that the scenario in the Valley was steadily changing, Nirmal Singh said people were trying to come out of the false consciousnesses created over the years by the forces inimical to peace and stability in the region. On the frequent killing of soldiers on the border as well as while battling insurgency in the Valley, the Deputy Chief Minister expressed anguish. The unfortunate killings like those of Lt Ummar Fayaz, Naik Mudasser Ahmed, Lance Naik Mohammad Naseer and DSP Mohammed Ayub Pandith are highly condemnable. But these have also started alienating people of Kashmir from the separatist propaganda and radicalisation supported by the Hurriyat and its mentor, said Nirmal Singh. When asked why the BJP had not given a serious thought to scrapping Article 370, which has been the greatest impediment for the states total integration with India, the Deputy Chief Minister said the issue was under consideration and needed a constitutional amendment. Since it would be a constitutional amendment, the Bill would have to be passed by both Houses of Parliament with two-thirds majority and has to be signed by the President, said Nirmal Singh, adding that first it would have to be passed by the constituent Assembly of J&K before it is sent to Parliament. Tribune News Service Ludhiana, July 19 The Mayor has clarified that he had written to the Department of Local Bodies to recover rent dues from the shopkeepers of Chaura Bazar and he never asked for regularisation of encroachments. Harcharan Singh Gohalwaria said a huge amount was due to around 300 shopkeepers of the bazar. In case, the encroachments were removed by the MC, it will not be able to recover the dues, which have been pending for decades. I had sent the letter to the department. I requested the department to recover the rent before taking action, said the Mayor. When asked the letter sent by the Local Bodies Department clearly mentioned that at this stage, it was not possible (regularisation), the Mayor said there must be some misunderstanding. On being asked if action would be taken against the shopkeepers, the Mayor said the MC would act as per law. Whatever action has to be taken, will be taken, he added. The Department of Local Bodies had sent a letter recently, which said regularisation of encroachments by shopkeepers was not possible at this stage as a COCP was pending in the High Court. The MTP had said the MC would submit an affidavit as to what the state government says about the encroachments and action would be taken against these soon. New Delhi, July 20 Airlines have no authority to impose flying ban on anybody, including parliamentarians, and the law of the land should take its course, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien said on Thursday. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) The remarks came after SP member Naresh Agrawal raised the issue of recent flying ban imposed by major domestic airlines, including state-owned Air India. Agrawal wanted to know if the airlines could impose such restrictions. According to him, such an action was a breach of privilege of the Members of Parliament. To this, Kurien said agreed that Agrawal has raised a valid point that if any MP has committed a crime or something against the law, the law of the land should take its course. Airlines are not given the authority to punish anybody. I think the government should take note of it. MPs are also citizens ... if they commit a crime or mistake, the law of the land should take recourse to it, the Deputy Chairman said. He further said it is a punishment imposed on an MP for some crime...This cannot be done. This is not a thing to be punished by airlines. Congress MP Anand Sharma suggested to the Deputy Chairman that the word crime should be replaced with violation. However, Kurien said if a person beats up someone, it is a crime. Different airlines yesterday lifted the flying ban on TDP MP J C Diwakar Reddy after urgent notices from the court to the government and the aviation regulator DGCA on the lawmakers plea against the action of domestic carriers. On June 15, Reddy got into a verbal spat with IndiGo ground staff at Visakhapatnam airport and threw a printer kept at the airline counter after he was informed that boarding for his flight to Hyderabad had closed. Reddy was the second MP after Shiv Senas Ravindra Gaikwad who was banned from flying domestic airlines. A flying ban was imposed on Gaikwad in March this year after he repeatedly hit an Air India officer with slippers for not providing him a business class seat on an all-economy flight. The ban was lifted after a fortnight following an undertaking from him that he would desist from such conduct in future. PTI New Delhi, July 20 The Navy has asked six international submarine makers to submit their bids to produce the next lot of undersea vessels. India is looking to make six submarines as follow-on to the six Scorpene-class subs already being manufactured jointly by French company DCNS and Mazagon Docks Limited, Mumbai. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Called Project 75 (I), the six vessels would be an upgrade over Scorpene. The Navy last night issued a request for information to six foreign original equipment manufacturers for the approximately $10 billion project. Among the six firms are Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Russia's Rosoboronexport Rubin Design Bureau, France's Naval Group, Germany's ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, Spain's Navantia and Sweden's Saab. The selected firm will have to make vessels in India in collaboration with an Indian partner and is also transfer technology as part of Delhis new defence policy. TNS Stop firing at schoolkids, Pak told Director General of Military Operations Lt Gen AK Bhatt on Thursday spoke to his Pakistani counterpart Maj Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza and asked Pakistan not to target civilians. Lt Gen Bhatt reminded Maj Gen Mirza that the act of firing at schoolchildren at LoC did not behove an Army. Simran Sodhi Tribune News Service New Delhi, July 20 India today played cautious and maintained that talks were the way forward when it came to resolving the month-old Doklam standoff. China has maintained that Indian troops need to withdraw as a pre-condition for any meaningful dialogue to begin. Gopal Baglay, official spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, today chose not to directly answer questions on the Chinese pre-condition for talks but emphasised that diplomatic channels had not been impeded. Indias response to the situation so far has been mellow, in contrast to the Chinese posturing which has been overly aggressive. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) The spokesperson said Bhutan wants China to go back to the status quo that existed on the ground before June 16 and in essence India also wants that status quo to be restored. Speculation has been rife that differences between India and Bhutan have arisen over the Doklam crisis. Differences between India and China should never become a dispute...Weve said diplomatic channels are available and have been available. To the best of my understanding they have never stopped, said Baglay when asked whether India will approach any international bodies such as the UN to intervene in the dispute. Earlier in the day, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj made a strong statement in the Rajya Sabha and demanded that China withdraw its troops for the talks to begin. We are saying that if a dialogue is to be held, then both should withdraw (their troops), she said. The Chinese action is a challenge to our security, Swaraj said, adding that India was not doing anything unreasonable. She added that foreign countries are with India. They feel that China is being aggressive with a small country like Bhutan. Bhutan has protested, including in writing. All the countries feel Indias stand is right and the law is with us, Swaraj added. New Delhi, July 20 Ram Nath Kovind was on Thursday elected President of India. He defeated former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar to the post. The presidential election on July 17 saw close to 100 per cent polling. A total of 771 Members of Parliament and 4,109 legislators were eligible to cast votes. The two presidential nominees National Democratic Alliances (NDA) Ram Nath Kovind and Oppositions Meira Kumar are both from the Dalit community. Here is a list of achievements of previous Raisina Hill occupants. Rajendra Prasad (1950-1962): Prasad was the first President of Independent India and stayed in office for the longest term of around 12 years. Post the completion of his tenure, he quit the Congress and set up new guidelines for parliamentarians which are still followed. Prasad played a major role in forming the Bihari Students Conference in 1906 and served as the president of the Constituent Assembly that drafted the Constitution of India. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1962-1967): September 5, the birthday of Radhakrishnan, one of the most learned scholars and statesmen of the nation, is celebrated as Teachers Day in India. He was one of the first to receive the Bharat Ratna, in 1954, and was also the first to lead the line of five Presidents to receive the Bharat Ratna till now. Shortly before his death in 1975, he was honoured with the Templeton Prize for his work. Dr Zakir Hussain (1967-1969): Dr Hussain was the countrys first Muslim president, who occupied the office for the shortest period. His untimely death two years after being elected made VV Giri the first acting President of India. Dr Hussain was an avid intellectual educator and the co-founder of Jamia Millia Islamia University. Varahagiri Venkata Giri (1969-1974): Giri resigned two months after being appointed as the acting President of India, following the death of Dr Zakir Hussaian as he wanted to become an elected President. He was later elected as the fourth President of India in 1969. After India attained Independence from the British, VV Giri had been appointed as the High Commissioner to Ceylon. In 1957, he headed a team of prominent public personalities and academicians to establish The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE) and received the highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna, in 1975, for his contribution in the area of public affairs. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (1974-1977): Ahmed served as the President of India during the time of Emergency. He was the second Muslim to be elected as the President of India and also the second to die in office. Ahmed was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Pristina, in Kosovo, in 1975. In his honour, a medical college Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Medical College has been named at Barpeta, Assam. Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (1977-1982): Reddy was the sixth President of India and the first to be elected unopposed and the youngest to occupy Rashtrapati Bhavan. One of the incredible feats that Reddy achieved was that he renounced residency at the Rashtrapati Bhavan and took a 70 per cent cut in his salary as a gesture toward the poor economic conditions of the masses in 1977. Giani Zail Singh (1982-1987): The only Sikh President of India till now, Singh also served as the Chief Minister of Punjab. He came under the scanner during Operation Blue Star, when then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered the security forces to combat Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his armed followers in the Golden Temple, Amritsar. Since the order to the armed forces has to come directly from the President, questions were raised as to how Gandhi managed to order the Army to carry out the mission. Ramaswamy Venkataraman (1987-1992): As a President of India, Venkataraman had the distinction of working with four prime ministers. Before being elected as the President, Venkataraman served a stint as the Governor of the International Monetary Fund, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the Asian Development Bank. He was also among the delegates of India at the United Nations General Assembly and was also elected the President for life of the United Nations Tribunal. Shankar Dayal Sharma (1992-1997): Sharma earlier served as the eighth Vice-President of India and the Chief Minister of Bhopal. As the member of the Congress, he accompanied the movement against the Nawab of Bengal, who expressed desire to retain the princely state. Sharma was arrested in 1948 for leading a public agitation against the Nawab. During his tenure, Sharma rejected the mercy petitions in all 14 cases placed before him. KR Narayanan (1997-2002): Popularly known as KR Naranayanan, he was the first Dalit-origin President of India. Narayanan, who formerly served as a diplomat, served as Indias ambassador to China and the United States. As a President, he always explained his decisions to the nation, and brought openness and transparency in the functioning of the President. During his tenure, Narayanan dissolved the Lok Sabha twice firstly he refused to dismiss the Kalyan Singh government in Uttar Pradesh in 1997 and a year later, the Rabri Devi government in Bihar in 1998. APJ Abdul Kalam (2002-2007): Known for his role in the development of Indias ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programmes, APJ Abdul Kalam was the first scientist to become a President in 2002. Kalam was affectionately known as the Peoples President and also received the Bharat Ratna. During his tenure as the President of India, Kalam rejected one case and commuted a death sentence in another, while he did not decide on 23 other cases. Pratibha Patil (2007-2012): Patil was the first woman to become the President of India. During her tenure, she commuted death sentence in 19 cases and rejected petitions of three. She was also criticised for allegedly using government funds for taking trips overseas, often accompanied by relatives. She also made headlines for alleged acquisition of land in Pune and Maharashtra to construct her retirement home. Pranab Mukherjee (2012-2017): The outgoing President, Pranab Mukherjee, who served as the 13th President of India, will demit office on July 25. Before entering into politics, Mukherjee worked as a lecturer and journalist. Mukherjee is the only President who served all the major portfolios at the Centre Foreign, Defence, Commerce and Finance at different times in his political career. He rejected 30 cases of death sentence and commuted to life the death sentences of four convicts. During his term, he has spent a considerable amount of time promoting the need for improving standards of higher education and holding the compass to the political leadership to remain steadfast in observing Constitutional probity. In 1984, Mukherjee was voted as the Best Finance Minister in the World by the Euromoney magazine and is the only finance minister to serve the post both, in the Pre-Liberalisation and Post-Liberalisation eras. ANI The states top agriculture official announced Thursday that hes retiring from his position next month. Ben Brancel, a three-term secretary of the states Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, announced at a meeting with DATCP board members in Tomahawk that hes retiring Aug. 13. I have given this much thought about when is the right time to retire. I came to the conclusion that there always will be unfinished business to be done, but now is the time to return to my familys farm full-time in Marquette County as we plan for our first ever production sale, Brancel said in a statement. My son and daughter-in-law are now the sixth generation to farm the land. My first job was a farmer, and my last job will be a farmer. Brancel was first appointed by Gov. Tommy Thompson in 1997 and served until 2001, when he resigned to become state director of the U.S. Department of Agricultures Farm Service Agency. In 2009, he left that post to become the state liaison for UW-Madisons College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. He returned as DATCP secretary in 2011 after he was reappointed by Gov. Scott Walker, and was reappointed in 2015. Always a strong advocate for Wisconsin farmers, Brancel has had a respected voice on the state and national levels by combining his experience running a dairy operation for 22 years and knowledge of the state political system with his easy-going demeanor. Born and raised in Marquette County, Brancel graduated from UW-Platteville with a degree in animal science and took leadership roles in a number of agricultural organizations. He served in the Legislature from 1986 to 1997 and was Assembly speaker in 1997 before Thompson appointed him to his first term as DATCP secretary. Brancel thanked Walker in his statement for giving him the opportunity to serve farmers, protect consumers and support businesses. I am very appreciative of my leadership team and the entire staff at the department, Brancel said. The service the agency provides to the public is second to none. I am humbled by the great opportunities I have had My work has taken me around the world, something I never would have imagined when I was young working in my barnyard. New Delhi, July 20 India said on Thursday it is ready for talks with China with both sides first pulling back their armies to end the tense standoff in the Sikkim sector, stressing the need for a "peaceful resolution" of border issues. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Chinese and Indian soldiers have been locked in a face-off in the Doklam area in the southernmost part of Tibet in an area also claimed by Indian ally Bhutan for over a month after Indian troops stopped the Chinese army from building a road in the disputed area. China claimed it was constructing the road within its territory, and has been demanding immediate pull-out of the Indian troops. Responding to supplementaries during Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said China intends to unilaterally change the status of the tri-junction with Bhutan, posing a challenge to India's security. On the stand-off at Doklam, she referred to the written agreement between India, China and Bhutan in 2012 that the three nations will together decide on the boundaries at the tri-junction point. The Minister said China has been constructing roads earlier too, but now they have brought in bulldozers and excavators. "We are saying that the matter can be resolved through talks, but both sides have to first take back their armies," she said. The Minister also said India was not "unreasonable" on the Doklam border issue and that all nations were with it. Observing that China was demanding the withdrawal of the Indian troops from the tri-junction point, she said India has been saying that both countries would have to withdraw their armies before amicably resolving the dispute through talks. Swaraj said "their (China's) intention was to reach the tri-junction so that they can unilaterally end the status of the tri-junction. It was only then that India came into the picture. "If China unilaterally changes the tri-junction point, then India's security is challenged," she said, adding that Bhutan has protested in writing to China on this issue. Swaraj said "all countries are supporting us and they understand that the stand taken by India on the issue is not wrong" as they realise that China is getting aggressive with Bhutan. "India's position is not wrong on the tri-junction and all nations are with it. The law is with our country and all are realising this," she said. Separately, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay told reporters that India has been in "close contact" with the Bhutan government on the border issue. "India's approach is to have a peaceful resolution of issues on border with China," he said underlining the understanding at the Astana meeting that differences between India and China should not be allowed to become disputes. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had met Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in June in Kazakh capital Astana. "So, it is obvious that every responsible power, person and player in the world prefers peaceful resolution of matters," Baglay said. Asked whether India has briefed other countries on the issue, Baglay said it would not be appropriate for him to comment on diplomatic interactions on sensitive matters. PTI Jupinderjit Singh Tribune News Service Chandigarh, July 20 Bholath MLA Sukhpal Khaira was chosen as the Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly today, with majority of the 19 other Aam Aadmi Party MLAs recommending his name in a one-on-one meeting with national party convener Arvind Kejriwal in New Delhi. HS Phoolka, who had resigned as the Leader of Opposition to focus on fighting cases of the 1984 anti-Sikh riot victims, also backed Khaira. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Khaira got preference over other contenders after about 15 MLAs met in Chandigarh on July 17 where they agreed to support him on the ground that he was the only experienced legislator. One of the main contenders, Nazar Singh Mansahia, withdrew his name in Khairas favour in the meeting itself. Three MLAs, it is learnt, expressed strong reservation against Khairas name today, arguing that he would nurture his personal agenda more than toeing the partys line and ideals. However, when Kejriwal and MP Bhagwant Mann announced that majority of the MLAs were in favour of Khaira, all MLAs gave their consent. The Leader of Opposition gets a Cabinet Minister rank and status. Talwandi Sabo MLA Baljinder Kaur was another contender for the post. Party sources said the Delhi leadership felt that the party may get divided if Khaira was not given a chance. Khaira, at present the Chief Whip of the party, had openly protested against the selection of Bhagwant Mann as state party president. Khaira faces a daunting task as he has to keep the party flag high in the Assembly, besides ensuring discipline. His first challenge would be to find a way out of privilege action against him by the Speaker. Khaira had during the Budget Session last month gone live on Facebook from the Assembly, against the rules. He was suspended for the session. A privilege committee will hear the allegation against him. Meanwhile, commenting on his election, Khaira said it was a moral victory of hard work and truth against sycophancy and money power. Khaira had remained a Congress MLA from 2007 to 2012. His father Sukhjinder Singh was an Akali leader who remained Education Minister twice. New Delhi, July 20 His wasn't the name that newspaper readers were familiar with or the face that television viewers knew. Today, Ram Nath Kovind walked away from that quiet past -- and into the record books as India's president-elect. The former Bihar governor and old BJP hand, described variously as low profile, unassuming and affable, had an easy win to the country's highest constitutional post, securing more than 65 per cent of the votes in the electoral college. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) As celebrations broke out in his ancestral home in Paraunkh village in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur Dehat, the 71-year-old Kovind became the first BJP member and only the second Dalit to be elected to Rashtrapati Bhavan. Stepping away from quietude to the spotlight of constant scrutiny that comes with being the country's first citizen, he was picked for the job by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) from Raj Bhavan in Patna, where he had struck an easy working relationship with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Read: Ram Nath Kovind elected President of India It was perhaps Kovind's non-confrontational approach to politics that led the JD(U) chief to back him for the president's office even though he had been critical of his appointment as the governor, but later it led to the curious situation of the party endorsing the opposition's candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi for the vice-president's post. This easy demeanour has stood the Kanpur-born former lawyer in good stead, say political watchers. He is not just a Dalit leader, but is known for his organisational skills and is a loyal member of the BJP, attributes that not many in the larger NDA family can boast of. Names of several presidential probables from the NDA stable had done the rounds, but Kovind, a former national spokesperson of the party, was not among them. While the choice surprised political watchers, it was seen as an astute move for a party working overtime to expand its social base and win over new constituencies. And one that has delivered dividends. Kovind is married and has a son and a daughter. It was a measure of his public persona that though his wife Savita was by his side during the weeks of campaigning, his children were not seen much or written about. BJP chief Amit Shah said the party's parliamentary board went through a long list of potential candidates before choosing Kovind, who was its MP in Rajya Sabha for two terms and headed its Dalit Morcha. Kovind's links to the party's controversial Hindutva politics are tenuous. Sources say he was drawn more to the politics of social empowerment of Dalits and other weaker sections than the plank of religion. Kovind, a commerce graduate who also studied law at Kanpur University, practised in the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court. He was also the central government's standing counsel in the apex court from 1980-93. His official profile on the Bihar governor's website describes him as a crusader for "rights and cause of weaker sections of society specially Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes/OBC/ minority..." from his student days. The BJP has been seeking to widen its base beyond its traditional constituencies of upper castes and trading classes and has succeeded to a large extent, as seen in the UP assembly polls. Kovind, who headed Dalit Morcha from 1998 to 2002, also led the All-India Koli Samaj. Elected to the Rajya Sabha in April 1994 from Uttar Pradesh, he served two consecutive terms till March 2006. He joined a stir by SC/ST employees in 1997 when Dalits and others protested against orders issued by the Central government, which were rescinded by Atal Bihari Vajpayee when the NDA came to power. As an advocate, Kovind took the lead in providing free legal aid to weaker sections, especially the SC/ST women, and poor and needy girls under the aegis of the Free Legal Aid Society in Delhi. Known for his work in the field of education, he served as a member on the board of management of the Dr BR Ambedkar University, Lucknow, and was a member of the board of governors of the Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata. India's 14th president will take oath on July 25, when he will take over from veteran politician Pranab Mukherjee. PTI Tribune News Service Chandigarh, July 20 Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh today directed the states legal aid team to extend help to the two Sikhs who were facing double jeopardy prosecution or punishment of a person twice for the same offence for hijacking a Srinagar-bound Indian Airlines plane and taking it to Lahore in 1981. The Chief Minister said Satnam Singh and Tejinder Pal Singh, after completing their sentence in Pakistan, were now facing trial in India on sedition charges, which their counsel described as a classic example of double jeopardy. He said the duos life would be spent facing one trial after the other for the same set of facts. While the hijacking was condemnable, any attempt to prosecute the two who had already served life term in Pakistan for the crime would amount to a serious travesty of justice, the Chief Minister has said in a statement. Damdami Taksal opposes fresh trial Amritsar: Sikh seminary Damdami Taksal on Thursday slammed the Delhi Police for filing a supplementary challan in a court to initiate a fresh trial against Satnam Singh and Tejinder Pal Singh. Damdami Taksal head Harnam Singh Khalsa asked the Chief Justice of India to intervene in the matter. Khalsa cited the case of Bholanath Pandey and Devendar Nath Pandey, who had hijacked a plane in 1978 to seek the release of then opposition leader Indira Gandhi and the withdrawal of all cases against her son Sanjay Gandhi. The diametrically opposite approach in the two cases reveals double standards. The Congress gave the party ticket to the Pandeys, who went on to win the Assembly elections. In both incidents, the hijackers neither possessed weapons nor harmed passengers. They wanted to register a protest and seek the release of their respective leaders, he added. Deepkamal Kaur Tribune News Service Jalandhar, July 20 Canadian MP Rameshwar Singh Sangha, a native of Jandu Singha village near here, will meet CM Capt Amarinder Singh on his first visit here since he won two years ago. Chairman of the Canada-India Parliamentary Friendship Group, Sangha has been meeting various dignitaries of the state and the Centre to foster business and cultural ties between the two countries. On his 11-day tour, the MP from Brampton Centre will meet Amarinder tomorrow. Though the CM had refused to meet Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan calling him a Khalistani sympathiser, he perhaps has no such issues with the MP who has remained aligned with the Congress in the past. Meanwhile, Sangha was in Delhi today where he met Union Minister of Steel Birender Singh. There are some meetings with other union ministers lined up for tomorrow. I will be touring Haryana and Himachal Pradesh too and I am holding discussions regarding possible tie-ups in education, trade, science and technology and youth empowerment, said the 72-year-old leader of the Liberal Party. Born in Pakistan, Sangha studied in Government Janta High School at Jandu Singha, after which was admitted in Lyallpur Khalsa College. I could study for a year only as I was inducted in the Indian Air Force. I served for 16 years before retiring as a Sergeant, he shared. Sangha was a Congress leader in Jalandhar till about three decades back. He had even won the Cooperative Bank elections in 1982 defeating Akali stalwart Kuldeep Singh Wadala. Ravi S Singh Tribune News Service New Delhi, July 20 Chief Minister Amarinder Singh today met Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, seeking central assistance to the state, including one-time settlement of Rs 6,000 crore bank loans of farmers and settlement of cash credit limit (CCL)-related debt. In the meeting that lasted for about 40 minutes, Amarinder sought conversion of the Rs 6,000-crore loan into term loan. If the Centre obliges, more than four lakh farmers will benefit. A Punjab government functionary said Jaitley directed the ministrys officials to give a positive consideration to the issues raised by the CM. Amarinder said of the total debt of small and marginal farmers waived by the state, Rs 3,600 crore was cooperatives loan, with the remaining Rs 6,000 crore pertaining to commercial banks (both national and private). He alleged that these banks lent unethical loans to the distressed farmers, driving them into a vicious cycle of debt. Besides, he urged for settlement of Rs 31,000-crore CCL-related debt. He pointed out that Rs 18,500 crore interest on Rs 12,500-crore CCL legacy gap was exorbitant as it would mean that the state would end up paying Rs 270 crore every month for the next 20 years. This would incapacitate the state with regard its welfare schemes. Besides, he urged for the reconsideration of states proposal to the Centre for pre-payment of the high interest bearing NSSF loan of Rs 22,100 crore and market loan of Rs 33,938 crore to swap them with low-interest bearing loans. This would save interest burden of over Rs 3,363 crore. The CM also sought waiver of GST on langar purchases and parshad given at places of worships of all religions. Amarinder also met Road Tansport Minster Nitin Gadkari. Haryana CM ML Khattar and Jammu and Kashmir Deputy CM Nirmal Singh were also present. The proposed Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway and pending Punjab roads were discussed. Tribune News Service New Delhi, July 20 Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday sought from the Central Government one-time settlement of the Rs 6,000 crore loans taken by the states farmers from the national and private banks. Such a settlement will benefit 4.5 lakh of the states beleaguered farmers, the chief minister told Finance Minister Arun Jaitely at a meeting here. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Capt Amarinder sought the ministers intervention to convert the Rs 6000 crore loan into term loan by giving requisite directions to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Of the total debt of small and marginal farmers waived by the state, Rs 3600 crore relates to loan from cooperatives, with the remaining Rs 6000 crore coming from banks. These banks, said the chief minister, were giving unethical loans to the farmers, pushing them into a vicious cycle of debt. Read: Farm loan recoveries drop, banks stop fresh lending in Punjab He also discussed with the finance minister the issue of settlement of Rs 31,000 crore CCL related debt to ease the cash-crunched states financial burden. He requested Jaitley to set up a committee on the issue. The chief minister pointed out that the Rs 18,500 crore interest on the Rs 12,500 crore Cash Credit Limit (CCL) legacy gap was exorbitant as it would mean that the state will end up paying Rs 270 crore every month for next 20 years at the cost of welfare schemes of the state. The chief minister also raised the issue of losses incurred by the state on procurement. He pointed out that of the Rs 40,000 crore procurement undertaken every year the state was suffering a loss of Rs 55,00 crore, including about Rs 3,500 crore on payment of instalments and interest on outstanding CCL debt. The chief minister also urged the finance minister to waive off GST on langar and prasad given at gurdwaras, temples, churches and mosques. The finance minister has directed department officials to look into all the issues and coordinate with officials from Punjab Government to resolve them. WE desire to correct an error which crept in to the paragraph under the above heading which appeared in our issue of the 18th instant. The criminal proceedings taken against a leading businessman of the town, we are informed, did not proceed to the end but the case against all the accused was adjourned sine die by the district magistrate. We many also mention incidentally that although the representation of the shopkeepers backed by most of the municipal commissioners was submitted to Major Coldstream that officer had made over charge to Mr. Worsley before the matter came up before the municipal committee. We express the hope that the resolution passed by the committee by an overwhelming majority under the presidency of Mr. Worsley will receive his early and favourable consideration and that no time will be lost in obtaining the requisite sanction so that a standing source of irritation may be a thing of the past. Washington, July 20 A bellicose China has mounted an aggressive and expansionist policy to further its influence in the region at the expense of established borders and sovereignty of other nations, according to a report by Republican lawmakers in the US Congress. While tensions between China and Taiwan have persisted since the 1950s, China has now mounted an aggressive and expansionist policy towards other nations in the region in order to enlarge their sphere of influence, the Republican Study Committee said in its report on Wednesday as the House of Representatives initiated steps to pass the annual budget. The Chinese have done so at the expense of established borders and the sovereignty of other countries, many of which are key US allies. Small and remote islands like the Senkaku Island chain, as well as the Spratly and Paracel Islands, are now being threatened by Chinas Navy, the report said. These territorial claims over shoals and reefs pose a deceivingly greater threat to the region than their geographic size would suggest, the committee said. The report, however, made no reference to the ongoing border standoff between India and China in the Sikkim sector. Allowing for a bellicose China to seize these blips on a map would further embolden the country to threaten key United States treaty-bound allies, the report said. In November 2013, China unilaterally declared an Air Identification Zone over the disputed East China Sea, encompassing parts of Japanese and South Korean airspace. This measure has forced international civilian airliners traversing this zone to report to Chinas Air Force, bringing geostrategic tensions into the airspace domain, it said. The Chinese military build-up, the report said, threatens the basic freedom of navigation on the high seas that has always been a bedrock security, diplomatic, and commercial principle of the United States. Many of our allies, including Australia, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, and even Vietnam have become increasingly concerned over Chinas posturing, and have all clamoured for a more robust US security commitment in this vital and strategic region, it said. To deter China, the Republican Study Committees budget supports an increase in US shipbuilding account, in order to reestablish its Navys global reach and capabilities. Specifically, the RSC supports an increase in the Navys fleet size to 350 fighting ships to maintain presence in the 18 maritime regions where the United States has critical national interests, it said. PTI xWashington, July 20 US senator John McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee and the current chairman of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee, has been diagnosed with an aggressive brain cancer, his office said. The tumour was diagnosed after the 80-year-old veteran politician and prisoner of the Vietnam War underwent a surgery on July 14 to remove a blood clot from his left eye, said the Mayo Clinic, where the procedure was performed. Tests revealed that a primary brain tumour glioblastoma was associated with the blood clot, it said in a statement. Glioblastoma is an aggressive brain cancer and its prognosis is generally poor. Senator Edward M Kennedy survived less than 15 months after he was found to have the tumour in 2008. The senator and his family are reviewing further treatment options with his Mayo Clinic care team. Treatment options may include a combination of chemotherapy and radiation. The senators doctors say he is recovering from his surgery amazingly well and his underlying health is excellent, the hospital said in a statement. McCain, a votary of strong India-US relations, wrote an Opinion piece on CNN when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the US last year, seeking warmer bilateral ties. The Senate Armed Services Committee chairman wrote that the India-US defence ties were a significant achievement. But what encourages me the most is not the road we have travelled, but rather the path that lies ahead, he said in the piece. And in a time when threats seem to be only increasing and chaos increasingly fomented, I see in India a country that can and should fight with us to maintain global security. In the coming years, I see an India that provides critical stability in a rapidly changing Indian Ocean region. McCain even urged the US to treat India the same as it does its close partners and allies. The Indian Embassy in Washington DC wished him a speedy recovery. US President Trump has sent his thoughts and prayers to McCain and his entire family. Senator John McCain has always been a fighter. Melania and I send our thoughts and prayers to Senator McCain, Cindy, and their entire family. Get well soon, he said. Former President Barack Obama tweeted: John McCain is an American hero and one of the bravest fighters Ive ever known. Cancer doesnt know what its up against. Give it hell, John. PTI Wave of support for us senator Take it from the author the interior of his trucks back in the 90s were nowhere near as nice as this one. File photo Believe it or not, once upon a time I had a job driving trucks. This was back in the early 1990s, right after I got out of college. I went to work for a brand-new marketing firm that targeted trade shows nationally. The entry-level job was an Operations Manager. It was a fancy title. But basically you did everything around the place except for janitorial work including driving trucks to trade shows all over the country. I didnt have a CDL then mainly because the company was too cheap to pay for it and it didnt really need Class 8 hauling capacity, either. Instead, it rented Class 7 straight trucks from the local Ryder dealer, and we took those out on the open highway to wherever we needed to go: Vegas, Orlando, Miami, Chicago, Anaheim And a funky little truck show in Louisville, Kentucky, that we bitched about incessantly. At the time, I had no idea what a fixture that truck show would become in my life a few years down the road. Looking back on it, it was a pretty miserable experience. I lasted a bit more than a year-and-a-half and it surprises me today that I made it that long. But Im stubborn like that. The company told us all the time that because we were a startup, we needed to operate smart and cheap. But the reality was we were running just a shade inside of the law. Looking back on it, we were lucky no one got hurt. Or worse. To be fair to Ryder, the cabover trucks we were in werent even remotely specd for long-haul driving. No cruise control. Bench seats (the passenger seat could not be adjusted). AM radios. And manual transmissions although they were automotive-grade, so at least we didnt have to deal with double-clutching and high/low ranges. And the trucks were governed to about 65 mph. All that said, driving was my favorite part of the job. I didnt mind being alone. And I definitely liked being way beyond the reach of any bosses dreaming up stuff for me to do. Plus, it was a pretty cool way to see the country first-hand. Much different than looking down at it from an airplane seat the way I do today. I never really considered truck driving as a career. But I dont think I wouldve minded it a lot if thats what Id wound up doing. It wasnt the worst job I ever had. It couldve easily been made a lot better if Id been given better equipment. And I can think of way worse ways to make a living. At the time, I never would have thought Id one day wind up being a journalist covering the North American trucking industry. And its funny how often I think back on that brief time behind the wheel when Im talking to drivers, or fleet and OEM executives today. For example, you dont have to sell me too hard on the value of ergonomics, driver comfort features or safety systems. I understand the strain drivers feel being away from loved ones for long periods and missing important holidays and events. I have some real-world insight into the prejudices the driving public holds against trucks and truck drivers. And I totally understand when drivers say theyd like fewer rules and regulations dictating how they do their jobs. And I really get it when they say they dont like Big Brother sitting in the cab with them looking over their shoulder. A lot has changed since my brief stint on the nations highways. But a lot of the core issues and pain points drivers face today have not. But theres no doubt the equipment today has gotten light-years better and safer than it was 20 years ago. I cant match their miles or their experience, but I cant help but smile when I hear old school drivers today tell newbies they dont know how good they have it. Because they dont. Denise Rondini It seems to be an age-old quandary for fleets: keep maintenance and repair in house, or outsource it. According to MacKay & Company surveys, fleets consistently say they want to outsource more of their maintenance and repair yet year after year they do not do so. For outsourcing to be successful the fleet has to find a provider that is a good fit for its operation. There is no quick formula you can use to find the perfect company, be it dealer, independent repair garage or truck stop, to outsource service work to. However, there are some actions you can take that will get you close to finding the service provider(s) that will mesh best with your operation. A good place to start is with a list of expectations of not only the types of work you need to have completed, but also things like the hours in which you want work performed, how often and in what manner you want to be communicated with during the repair process, and even what types of reports you expect once the repair is completed. For a complete list of questions to ask service providers, see this issues cover story. While checking on service providers online is a good way to narrow the field, a visit to the service providers location is one of the best ways to determine if the company is a good fit for you. Another is talking to other customers of the shop that run equipment similar to yours. Going to the shop gives you an idea of the culture of the service provider. If its culture is similar to yours, it is more likely they will do what it takes to meet your needs, especially in crunch times. Joe Laux, CEO of River States Truck and Trailer, says you should look for someone who is willing to customize their maintenance and repair policies to match yours. This is especially important if you are going to perform some maintenance and repair in house in addition to outsourcing. You want to make sure all repairs are completed following your procedures, all the necessary data is collected about the repair, and that reports from external providers contain the same information as reports from your internal service work. Another key factor to remember in the outsourcing equation is that fleets and service providers have different ways of determining success. According to Kenneth Calhoun, vice president of customer relations at Truck Centers of Arkansas, while both sides measure asset utilization, the assets being utilized are different. For the fleet it obviously is going to be the piece of equipment and the driver. For the service provider it is bay space and technicians. Fleets need to be careful that they are not the ones slowing the repair down. Nothing is more frustrating [for a service provider] than knowing what is wrong with the truck, having the parts to fix it, but not having the approval from the fleet to go forward and being unable to pin someone down to get that approval, Calhoun says. Bruce Greer, president of Kroeger Equipment and Supply, adds, Fleets make money hauling freight. Shops make money repairing trucks. As long as we keep repairing trucks and they keep hauling freight, we will all make money. Laying out expectations by both parties and defining processes at the beginning of the relationship will allow fleets to get the most out of their trucks and drivers, and shops to keep bays and technicians engaged and busy. That translates into profits for both. It may turn out that the ELD mandate that hits in December will not have much further impact on driver productivity as so many fleets have already made adjustments to their operations. Photos: iStockPhoto You could argue that the federal mandate requiring the use of electronic logging devices for most trucks involved in interstate commerce could be the biggest shakeup the trucking industry has seen since President Jimmy Carter signed the Motor Carrier Act of 1980 37 years ago this month, which deregulated the interstate trucking industry. Trucking companies large and small have expressed for quite some time their concerns that the ELDs to be required come December will cut productivity, meaning less revenues and profits. Yet while that may happen, especially for those waiting until the last minute to get on the ELD bandwagon, there are indications that negative productivity effects will be outweighed by other productivity gains fleets have made in recent years and by other changes that can be made. My take on ELDs and productivity losses is that looking at the industry in total, you wont see much impact going forward, says Chris Kemmer, consultant at CK Commercial Vehicle Research. This spring, her firm conducted a fleet productivity survey of nearly 60 decision-makers from small, medium and large for-hire, private and municipal operations. She believes that for those required to add ELDs, there will certainly be some who lose productivity, at least in the beginning. However, Kemmer also found there have been so many other changes in trucking improved vehicle performance, automated transmissions, and even shop management programs, for instance that any loss of productivity from ELDs will be offset. There are so many other things that are counteracting that loss from ELDs, that, in my view, and its only my opinion, that at the end of the day you wont see a specific tightening of capacity because of this ELD mandate, Kemmer says. Some even believe ELDs can and ultimately will actually improve fleet productivity. The way the hours of service rules are set up, if youre going to efficiently work that, then you have to plan for a five-day week, says Duff Swain, president of trucking consultancy Trincon Group. And thats very easy then to have that sixth day, or the seventh day, or second shifts available to have more than one driver per truck. Thats a major improvement in productivity, when you plan that way. According to Swain, the carriers that are having a problem with ELDs and are afraid of them cutting their productivity are the same ones that are not effectively using their technology, or who dont have the ability to plan. To him, this means fleets need to take full advantage of enterprise system software to process all the data they get from customers, as well as working with customers several days in advance, to drive efficiency. Such a process also needs to include driver managers, and even having sales people who go out and find customers who fit their lanes and who will have the kind of freight that makes the equipment most efficient. The net result of all this is not only productivity, Swain says drivers also are happier. You know, theyre getting more miles with less effort than they ever have before. And theyre home on a regular basis, and thats huge as far as retention goes, he explains. Another factor in how much a trucking fleets productivity is affected by the upcoming ELD mandate is how well a carrier has enforced hours of service rules in the past, says Steve Rush, president and owner of Carbon Express, a New Jersey-based tanker operation with a little more than 50 trucks. He believes the majority of fleets have not strongly enforced driver hours of service rules, and theyre the ones who will lose a lot of productivity. That, he says, will force these carriers to adjust their rates. Researcher Chris Kemmer has found that many other things, such as improved vehicle performance and the adoption of automated transmissions, are counteracting the productivity loss incurred with ELDs. Theyre going to have to adjust their pricing, or theyre not gonna make this cut, Rush says. I think that this mandate is not much different than when deregulation came. Those that didnt adapt and adjust to deregulation went, and a lot of carriers went out. And I think thats gonna happen here. Like Swain, Rush believes the coming ELD mandate and its effects on productivity will change how fleets schedule drivers. For instance, Driver 1 gets in the truck at 8 a.m. and works until 8 p.m. Driver 2 gets in the truck at 8 p.m. and works until 8 a.m. Carbon Express is currently moving a lot of its loads this way, because Rush believes dispatching can no longer be one driver, one truck, one load. David Rousch, president of KSM Transport Advisors, a financial advisory services firm for trucking and logistics operations, says such changes in driver scheduling can work, but with one caveat. It makes sense because you have more than one driver on a given truck and you keep that truck running during periods when driver A is not available to drive for whatever reason, he says. Youre going to improve productivity, but again, its just so very difficult to implement in the real world. You have to have dedicated or managed or engineered fleets and/or lanes in order to make that happen. The more dense your lanes are, the more velocity youre going to be able to have, he explains. Even taking the notion of slip seating or relaying out of the mix, he says, youre better able to plan and keep drivers moving if you have denser lanes with more load choices. I think that thats the realistic way for truckload carriers to improve their productivity or their velocity, is by really focusing on density and generating more choices in a given geographic area. Too many carriers, he says, make the mistake of accepting loads they shouldnt, just to keep customers happy. I mean you send a driver to Montana, lets say, because their shipper has a load that goes there and youre afraid to turn it down. That drivers out there, its gonna take a long time to get him reloaded, youre probably gonna have a long deadhead. Youre gonna go to a third party broker to get them loaded because you dont have a customer there. And that kills productivity. If carriers address these types of issues, Rousch believes, they will get a much better handle on what their drivers capability for productivity really is and what drivers barriers to productivity really are. Steve Rush of Carbon Express figures the carriers that will be hardest hit by the ELD mandate will be the ones that did not enforce hours of service rule in the past. Even fleets that are slow to embrace the types of changes advocated by Rousch, Swain, and Rush will see productivity improvements with ELDs in the simplest terms, contends Ray West, senior vice president and general manager of transportation management systems at TMW. There was a lot of concern about productivity when ELDs first came along, and there was a lot of pushback from drivers on it. [But] what the drivers that went on it wound up finding out is that they actually picked up a little bit of time over the paper log, because the ELDs were not in 15-minute increments, he explains. Despite being controversial, especially with drivers and small fleets, there is evidence ELDs will bring productivity gains. Just ask David Bates, senior vice president of operations at the less-than-truckload carrier Old Dominion Freight Line, which has some 11,000 tractors. He said the fleet began employing ELDs in 2008, with the full rollout completed in 2010. They are able to measure a number of productivity metrics, such as mpg per driver, idle time, acceleration time and others. With the December ELD mandate drawing closer, Bates says he doesnt believe this will give Old Dominion any real distinct advantages over its direct, large, competitors. However, he predicts the mandate will be a big factor in productivity for less-than-truckload and truckload carriers that run 30-50 trucks who may not have been following hours of service rules closely. Now that they cant forge logs, now theyve got to run legal, thats going to mean certain runs they use to do, they cant do them anymore, because the drivers are going to have to be in compliance with the DOT regulations, Bates says. Photo: Paccar Financial Another Hail Mary Pass has been flung to try and slow the advance of the electronic logging device rule. On July 18, Rep. Brian Babin (R-TX) introduced the ELD Extension Act of 2017 (H.R.3282) to extend the current initial implementation date for the ELD mandate from December 2017 to December 2019. The bill has been referred for consideration by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The day before Babins bill came out, the House Transportation Committee attached a rider to the DOT funding bill that could end up delaying or repealing the electronic logging device mandate. Both Babins bill (either as a standalone act or attached to other legislation) and the committees rider would have to survive the legislative maw of the House and Senate even tougher to do in this very turbulent year on Capitol Hill to end up as final legislation and then be signed into law by President Trump before the ELD mandate could be slowed or stopped. The political reality is that it is only remotely possible that either measure will become law. And even if one did, it would more than likely not be in place before the mandate kicks in this December. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association applauded the new bill. We thank Rep. Babin for realizing the serious problems associated with implementation that can only be avoided by putting off the mandate, said Todd Spencer, OOIDA executive vice president. The agency has failed to answer important questions from Congress and industry stakeholders about this mandate, he continued. This includes issues related to enforcement, connectivity, data transfers, cybersecurity vulnerabilities, and many other legitimate, real-world concerns. Related: Could House Bill Slow or Even Stop ELD Rule? Correction Frank Lloyd Wright died at age 91. An earlier version of this story listed the age incorrectly. A scandalous affair and a shocking mass murder may have played a part in Frank Lloyd Wrights decision in 1928 to design a home in Tulsa for his cousin. Westhope, a distinctive concrete block and glass home at 3704 S. Birmingham Ave., was built for the family of Richard Lloyd Jones, publisher of The Tulsa Tribune. Americas pre-eminent architect, Wright had scandalized Chicago society in 1909 by leaving his wife and six children and running away with the wife of a client. Five years later, Wrights mistress and six others were savagely murdered by a crazed hatchet-wielding servant. Wright was out of town when, on Aug. 15, 1914, cook Julian Carlton killed Mamah Borthwick Cheney, her two children and four others. Carlton also set fire to Taliesin, the Wisconsin home Wright had built for his mistress. Carltons motive remains a mystery, as he drank poison and died in jail seven weeks later without explaining his actions. Beset by grief, lawsuits, a disastrous second marriage and the publics changing taste in design, Wright may have needed the Tulsa job. However, he immediately locked horns with his cousin. Jones wanted a home in the architects signature Prairie style. But what he got was a futuristic house built of formed concrete blocks stacked into pillars, interspersed with vertical glass panels. 'A pickle factory' The home was built on a knoll, then located outside the city limits. The original budget of $40,000 ballooned to $100,000 for the 8,443-square-foot home. During construction, neighbors were increasingly baffled by the house and wanted to know what it was, according to Frank Lloyd Wright, a biography by Meryle Secrest. A pickle factory, Jones replied. He was then asked, Do they have to build them like this? Wright was proud of his design, though, reportedly saying during one visit, The damn thing is even more beautiful than I had imagined. The flat roof began to leak as soon as Jones, his wife Georgia and their three children moved into Westhope in 1931. Furious, Jones made a long-distance call to his cousin. Dammit, Frank. Its leaking on my desk! Jones said. Richard, why dont you move your desk? Wright replied calmly. (The desk was built-in.) Mrs. Jones was more philosophical. This is what we get for leaving a work of art out in the rain, Georgia Jones said. Despite such problems, the Jones family grew to enjoy their unusual home. This Tulsa home has proved the practical reasoning behind Wrights ideas, wrote Gretchen Haralson in a 1955 Tribune article. The Joneses have no fire hazard in this concrete home. There is no expensive millwork. The clerestory lighting brings the moon in and sunlight is there all year without glare. Rooms melt into each other. 7,000-pound rock After Jones death in 1963, his family sold the home to architect M. Murray McCune, who succeeded in having the property listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. He also updated the kitchen and installed air conditioning, concealing the vents with grills made using Wrights original patterns. A 1991 story said the house contained five bedrooms, 4 baths, five fireplaces and a five-car garage. There is a lap pool, cabana, fountain, fish pond and two original Wright-designed light fixtures. The home has its quirks, Mona Shoup wrote in a 1990 World story. Such as the front door, which blends into the glass panels so seamlessly that visitors cant find it. Thats a Frank Lloyd Wright signature, said then-owner Dwight Holden, who lived there with his wife, Sandra, and two daughters. He likes to have some mystery about the doors. The home has changed hands several times over the years, but at least one object remains: a 7,000-pound petrified rock. Recessed lighting radiates from concrete columns, each of which has its own light switch. Holden said the living room alone has 57 lights, making changing bulbs a weekly chore. Turning out all the lights at night is comparable to putting a 5-year-old to bed, he said. There are few places to hang a picture, and anyway you would need a concrete drill, Holden said. Plumbing and electrical repairs must be done by workers accustomed to the houses eccentricities. Barbara Tyson, a member of the family that founded Tyson Foods Inc. in Springdale, Ark., currently owns the property, which is valued at about $1.3 million by the Tulsa County assessor. And what of the architect? Wright found happiness again with his third wife and rebuilt his reputation, culminating with one of his most significant achievements, the Guggenheim Museum in New York, which opened in 1959 six months after his death at 91. Read more Throwback Tulsa stories. Stunned by a letter saying a federal grant awarded two years ago has been terminated, Tulsa agency staffs are now scrambling to save teen pregnancy-prevention programs. Without notice, the federal government eliminated a five-year Teen Pregnancy Prevention grant from the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Adolescent Health. Plus, a proposed budget has zeroed out all funding for family planning programs. This comes at a time when Oklahoma is making significant and sustained improvements in reducing teen births, even though the state rate is still the second highest in the United States, barely trailing Arkansas. Since 2012, the state teen birth rate has fallen by 26 percent, with Tulsa Countys decrease at 28 percent. More impressive: Tulsa County teen births have gone down 41 percent since 2007. It takes a lot of moving parts for that kind of turnaround, from accurate education to access to contraception. These cuts affect our ability to do outreach, such as sex education in schools and clinical staff education, said Laura Ross-White, program manager for the Family Health Coalition at the Community Service Council of Greater Tulsa. This is a step back for Tulsa, she said. We have recently celebrated nationally recognized results for reducing teen birth rates because of the established infrastructure for sex education and awareness that OAH (Office of Adolescent Health) funding helped us build. These cuts mean Tulsa is going to lose the ability to do outreach to teens who are most at-risk for teen pregnancy or repeat teen pregnancies. Beyond biology: Tulsas $7.5 million federal grant paid at about $1.5 million a year will end next June, cutting off the final two years. It funds education for area teenagers through a collaboration between the Community Service Council, Youth Services of Tulsa and the Tulsa Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, of which I am a board member. The Choctaw Nation and Oklahoma City-County Health Department also receive grants from the program, for a combined $4 million not arriving as expected. In Tulsa, the grant pays for programs such as Union Public Schools heralded Carrera program and classes for seventh- and ninth-graders in Tulsa Public Schools. These are evidence-based, medically accurate programs going beyond just biology. Young people need to understand consent, recognize healthy relationships, learn negotiation skills, and set education and career plans before choosing to have children. Youth Services has reached 17,000 students since 2010 a rate of at least 6,000 a year. By giving young people accurate information, we believe they make better decisions, said David Grewe, executive director of Youth Services. By providing comprehensive teen pregnancy prevention, it includes not just avoiding pregnancy but also establishing healthy relationships and goal setting. Its a holistic approach to helping young people. The elimination of (Teen Pregnancy Prevention) grants stops that work and puts young people at risk of bringing babies into the world they are not prepared for. With comprehensive pregnancy prevention, we know that our staff is educating them with the information they need. Programs cut: Just a couple of days after the Tulsa agencies were notified, the U.S. House Appropriations Committee released the proposed budget bill for Health and Human Services. It cut the entire family planning budget from $286 million to nothing. The Title X Family Planning Program has been a Republican target for years because about $25 million goes to Planned Parenthood clinics. Oklahomas Fourth District Congressman Tom Cole, who oversees the HHS budget on the Appropriations Committee, told Congressional Quarterly the bill would be full of Republican policies. The overall HHS bill decreases overall allocations by $542 million for fiscal year 2018. Refugee services is the other significant cut in the budget, while the National Institutes of Health would get a $1.1 billion bump. Expensive results: Texas is an example of what could happen. In an effort to reduce abortions, the Texas Legislature in 2011 slashed family planning funding by 67 percent, which shuttered 82 clinics. A Texas A&M University study by professor Analisa Packham and accepted for publication in the Journal of Health Economics looked at how this affected public health. Teen births increased by 3.4 percent within four years, and abortion rates increased by 4.9 percent within the first two years, which is significant considering that nationally abortion is at an all-time low. Another study in 2015 by Yao Lu from the Analysis Group and David Slusky of the University of Kansas found that when Texas women had to drive an additional 100 miles to a health clinic, the rate of receiving preventive screenings dropped by 11 percent for breast exams, 18 percent for mammograms and 14 percent for Pap tests. Reproductive health is womens health. The Take Control Initiative in Tulsa provides long-acting reversible contraception, or LARC, and health information to low-income women. Laura Bellis, program director for the Take Control Initiative, said that for every dollar invested in publicly funded family planning services, about $7 in Medicaid expenses is saved by keeping women and their children healthy. Cuts to family planning means less access to essential resources, like LARC, that help families have healthy preconception practices, Bellis said. Cuts to affordable access to family planning services would result in rises in maternal morbidity and mortality rates in our community. Cuts to publicly funded family planning are going to lead to more expenses in the long run. Its more expensive to have teen pregnancies than to fund contraception, Ross-White said. Its cheaper for our community to pay for LARC than to pay for a teen pregnancy and subsequent care once the child is born. Tulsa police on Wednesday named a man charged in an April 1 homicide and robbery as their weekly Most Wanted suspect. Derrick Walker, 26 and another man, Terry Markell Buckley, 31, are alleged to have brandished pistols as they entered a residence in the 2600 block of North Rockford Avenue and robbed three people. Walker is accused of fatally shooting Carlos Record, 42, during the robbery. Buckley is accused of pistol-whipping one of the homes occupants. Walker and Buckley reportedly are members of the Red Mob Gang and/or Green Team, according to court documents. Buckley has been in the Tulsa Jail since March 28. Walker is wanted on charges in the April 1 incident and in two other criminal cases. In the April 1 home invasion case, Walker is charged with first-degree murder, robbery with a firearm, unlawful possession of a controlled drug with intent to distribute and a gang-related offense. In the other cases, he is charged with two counts of shooting with intent to kill, use of a vehicle in the discharge of a firearm, transporting a loaded firearm, a gang-related offense and a revocation after a previous conviction on alcohol-related crimes, according to court records. Once arrested, he will be held without bond, according to the news release. Walker is described as black, about 5-foot-7 and about 130 pounds. Anyone with information may contact Crime Stoppers by phone at 918-596-COPS (2677), online at p3tips.com/918 or through the Tulsa Tips app, which can be downloaded from the Google Play or iTunes stores. The homicide tip line may also be reached at 918-798-8477 or emails sent to homicide@cityoftulsa.org. NEOSHO, Mo. A Missouri police chief held a news conference Thursday after the fatal shooting of a Tulsa man by an officer, but he declined to release several details about the incident. The slain man was later identified as 52-year-old Joshua D. Daniels. Police in Neosho said Daniels exited his vehicle at a Loves Travel Stop early Thursday, removed a handgun from behind his body and raised it toward the officer, who then shot him. At the news conference, Neosho Police Chief David Kennedy declined to release the police officers name, the type of gun Daniels reportedly pointed at the officer and the nature of his fatal wounds. This not only affects Neosho, but Newton County and every officer that wears a badge, Kennedy said, addressing questions about the police officer involved in the shooting. According to Neosho police, officers responded to a report of a possibly intoxicated man at Loves, located near Interstate 49 about two miles north of the city limits. A Neosho officer stopped the mans vehicle in the parking lot behind the travel stop around 2:17 a.m., just before the shooting, Kennedy said. A second officer was stationed in front of the business and provided assistance after the shooting, he said. Kennedy said the investigation of the shooting has been turned over to the Missouri Highway Patrol. Neosho police confirmed the officer was on paid administrative leave while the shooting is under investigation. There was no dash board camera (activated) and the body cam was not activated because the officer exited the vehicle very quickly, said Neosho Police Lt. Robert Sharp. Later Thursday, Daniels body was undergoing an autopsy in Kansas City, said Paul Richardson, public information officer for the city of Neosho. The coroner said Daniels was shot twice, with wounds in the upper torso and right arm. Toxicology reports will be back in 10 days, the coroner said. Neosho is about 112 miles northeast of Tulsa, just south of Joplin, Missouri. A new program at Tulsa Community College could be the first step toward higher education requirements for Tulsa County Sheriffs Office corrections officers. TCC will offer a Corrections Certificate starting this fall with a goal of improving job training for prospective jail corrections officers. Tulsa County Sheriff Vic Regalado said he hopes the certificate fixes the ongoing problem of turnover rates at the David L. Moss Criminal Justice Center. Regalado said he hopes the program, though not mandatory for applicants, will produce more qualified, committed candidates and become a part of curriculum required for internal advancement. If theyre going to take the time to get this education under their belt and get this certificate program, we believe through that commitment they know what theyre coming in to, Regalado said. Moving into the future, we hope it becomes a part of our promotion process. The program consists of 15 credit hours at TCCs Northeast Campus, 3727 E. Apache St. The five classes, mostly human services courses, focus on psychology, drug addiction and mental health. Regalado said he chose the selection of classes because correction officers in todays facilities have more responsibilities than only watching inmates. Officers have to understand and know how to handle complex issues, including addiction, gangs and mental health issues, Regalado said. Patrick Green, TCCs interim vice president for workforce development, said TCSO approached the college in 2016 with catalogs in hand to help build the curriculum around the offices needs. They had done a lot of the prep work beforehand, Green said. It was just whether or not we were still delivering those courses, whether we could group them the way they wanted them to be. For now, TCSO corrections officers must have a minimum of a high school diploma or GED, the same as Oklahoma Department of Corrections requirements, according to the Sheriffs Office website. Regalado said he wants to see how many people take the classes before making the certificate mandatory, with the program eventually expanding to what he sees as an associate degree for corrections officers. We hope that if it takes root and the interest is there, that in order to become a corrections officer, you have to have a two-year degree in corrections or at minimum, a certificate, Regalado said. Thats where I think we will see the benefits of what were doing here today. We believe that educated equals dedicated. Phyllis Radcliffe, an award-winning Tulsa communications professional and bank executive who inspired and mentored many of the communitys young working women, died Tuesday. She was 90. A memorial service is set for 10 a.m. Saturday at First United Methodist Church in Jenks. Gary Kelleys AddVantage Funeral Service is in charge of arrangments. Radcliffe enjoyed a 36-year career with First National Bank in Tulsa. She started as a secretary and, despite never having more than a high school diploma, would work her way up to vice president, bank marketing officer and public affairs manager. She retired in 1991, having served under eight bank presidents. Throughout her career and retirement, Radcliffe volunteered for various groups. She handled marketing and public relations for the Tulsa Area United Way for many years, and helped in similar roles with the area Red Cross and American Diabetes Association chapters. She also served on boards for the Red Cross and March of Dimes, as well as Executive Women International, of which she was chairwoman-elect at the time of her retirement. In 1980, Radcliffe served as president of the Tulsa Press Club. At the time she was only the second woman to hold the top spot, after the Tulsa Worlds Julie Blakely in 1950. Radcliffe also contributed time to the Jaycees, Journey of Hope and other organizations, and was a longtime active member of First United Methodist in Jenks, where in later years she served as church historian. A self-described plain old ordinary country girl who didnt care for the spotlight, Radcliffe did cast a tall shadow, especially in her influence on fellow professional women across the Tulsa area. Becky Frank, chairwoman and chief executive officer of the Schnake Turnbo Frank public relations firm, said not only was Radcliffe a great example as a trailblazer for women in the corporate world, but she went on to impact many of those women directly. One of the many things I loved about her was that she wanted others to have the same career opportunities, Frank said, and she fostered many mentoring relationships with young women in the community. As part of that, she said, Radcliffe impressed upon them the importance of giving back through charity opportunities. Phyllis was beautiful, innovative and full of grace, Frank added. She was a lady, and one who lived her life to serve others. Born Phyllis Sullenger on an oil lease near Sapulpa, where her father worked as a pumper, Radcliffe later moved to Jenks. She graduated from Jenks High School in 1944 but couldnt afford to go to college. The following year she married Phillip Radcliffe. Before joining the bank, she worked clerical jobs at various companies. That previous experience also included office manager of a radio station in Beeville, Texas, where she had her own half-hour program, Ladies Only. Among her honors, Radcliffe received a lifetime achievement award from the Tulsa chapter of Women in Communications and was once named advertising executive of the year by the Tulsa chapter of the American Advertising Federation. She was preceded in death by her husband, Phillip. Her survivors include her son, Phil Radcliffe. Cast and crew from upcoming SBS drama Sunshine attended the World Premiere screening at ACMI in Melbourne, last night. The event officially kicked off the opening of the Series Mania TV festival, being held across the weekend. In attendance were ACMI CEO Katrina Sedgwick, Film Victoria CEO Jenni Tosi, Series Mania Francois-Pier Pelinard-Lambert, SBS Managing Director Michael Ebeid, SBS Director of Content Marshall Heald, SBS Drama Exec Sue Masters, Essential Media producer Ian Collie, SPA CEO Matthew Deaner, actor Wally Elnour, writers Matt Cameron & Elise McCredie and cultural consultant Ez Eldin Deng. Amongst the largely-industry audience there were many members of Melbournes South Sudanese community who were full of praise for seeing positive representations on screen. The series debuts on SBS in October. Series Mania has a sell-out crowd for its Vince Gilligan session on Sunday as the creator of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul speaks and there is a host of free screenings across the weekend. Remaining tix can be booked at ACMI. Theres a TV executive working at Network TEN who I have only met a handful of times, but whom producers have said wonderful things about. Her name is Cherrie Bottger and she is TENs Head of Childrens Television. For the past 16 years Cherrie has championed childrens television, especially Drama productions, at TEN. With the exception of ABC, it is TEN that has the best track record in making Childrens TV in this country. Her credits include H20: Just Add Water, Rock It!, Ocean Star, The Elephant Princess, Pearlie, Me & My Monsters, Sam Fox: Extreme Adventures, Scope, Mako: Island of Secrets, Get Ace, Toasted TV, Random & Whacky and of course, Brissys very own Totally Wild. I shudder to think how hard thats been at a cash-strapped network with a revolving door of CEOs. Tomorrow Totally Wild will celebrate 25 years on air. Ironically, yesterday TEN CEO Paul Anderson, together with Nines Hugh Marks and Sevens Tim Worner all fronted at a parliamentary hearing in a unified front to recommend their networks no longer be required to meet a quota for childrens television. What a shame someone like Cherrie wasnt there instead to share her memories of how monsters and mermaids, teen spies and princesses, fairies and turtles had lit up the imaginations of the thousands of kids who watched them. According to the big 3 execs, the kids of Australia arent watching kids telly any more. Or if they do, its on dear old ABC. If nobody is watching it why should they have to make it, they argued? But networks have quietly shuffled childrens TV off to the multichannels (indeed TEN was one of the first) and replaced afternoon viewing with lashings of news, US soaps and game shows. But mostly news. That makes destinations much harder to find especially given there isnt even unity on the best timezones. While 9GO! has Kids WB, 7flix (which isnt even available to rural kids) has Jessie but ELEVEN has Everybody Loves Raymond. Networks may have met their recent obligations with quotas but the programming, which is the other part of the equation, has failed to nurture it. Parents well remember sitting down to Wonder World, Round the Twist, Shirls Neighbourhood, The Henderson Kids, Spellbinder,The Sleepover Club, Ocean Girl and Heres Humphrey. These days youre lucky to spot Humphrey in the closing credits of Carols by Candlelight. Saturday Disney gets the chop after 26 years. The new-look Hi-5, a brand Hugh Marks former company owned, is averaging just 10,000 viewers. Of course it doesnt make economic sense to maintain it. But networks have shuffled the content around their platforms while ABC has built destinations (witness the outrage at the very thought of flipping Sesame Street and Play School timeslots). According to network bosses kids are watching My Kitchen Rules, The Block and Masterchef. Yes they are. Because networks have programmed accordingly. The success of Australian Ninja Warrior, hugely popular with kids, shows the power of family viewing. Networks want to make more of those and less of childrens TV, scripted or otherwise. But while Ninja Warrior may encourage us to sign up to the local gym, it does little for our imagination in the way that H20: Just Add Water does. The Bachelor offers little in Australian storytelling that Esben Storm did in Round the Twist. And House Rules has none of the Australian voice you will find in Lockie Leonard. Australian Childrens TV has a reputation of being amongst the best in the world. A show like Beat Bugs, which screens on 7TWO, is winning rave reviews overseas. The global following for Dance Academy is extraordinary. These things are still possible in 2017 with a more comprehensive approach. It is disappointing networks are advocating to shirk their responsibilities to generations of Australian children, at a time when they have $127m licence relief. As the custodians of public spectrum, this is unacceptable. If the ground rules have to change to bring about a more level playing field to support the economic model, then this is the argument to make. Nearly all of our TV execs are storytellers at heart, many of whom grew up watching some of the shows I have mentioned here. Some like Cherrie Bottger, along with a band of producers and writers, still see merit in our children seeing themselves upon the screen. This week she said, We believe Totally Wild delivers a unique experience to young Australian audiences. Without the incredibly talented team who have appeared on camera, and those that have worked behind the scenes over the past 25 years, this would never have happened. Childrens TV -and in particular childrens drama- is crucial to identity and to our imagination. And thats just irreplaceable. Sudanese refugee Noah, 27, admits that when he first came to The Grange he wasnt sure what to expect. But after meeting the manager of the farmhouse an instant friendship was struck, which is still going strong two years later. The Grange is a 1750s farmhouse and permaculture site, home to ponies, guinea pigs and sheep. It sits amidst ten acres of lush and tranquil landscape in rural Norfolk in the east of England. Six years ago, residents Ben and Sophie decided to open the farm to refugees and asylum-seekers in the UK. It is a decision they say they have never regretted. The refugees who visit every week can learn different skills such as painting, weaving, ceramics, cooking and agriculture. We dont really have any expectations of anyone, says Ben. But what we normally find is that people have skills to share and they dont normally have an expression for that. "They realize that an asylum-seeker is not a statistic, its a real person." Noah, who had been studying medicine in Sudan before he was forced to flee, heard about The Grange from another organization called New Routes which organizes weekly transport to the farm. At the time, he was a newly arrived asylum-seeker with hardly any connections in the community. Before I came here, I stayed at home, says Noah. I felt I was in prison and I couldnt practice my English with anyone. The first time Noah came here, he came with two other Sudanese men, says Ben. They were very quiet, straight on their phones, sort of buried in their own little world. One day he asked if he could build an oven and we said, go for it, because we enable opportunity as much as possible. He built the most beautiful oven and made bread for everyone and we realized he is a cook. He is an amazing cook. Refugees who visit can learn skills such as painting, weaving and ceramics. When Noah arrived in the UK, he was detained for 72 hours before being transferred to a reception facility, which became his home for a month before he moved to Norwich. But not all those who come to the UK are detained for a short time like Noah. There is currently no limit on the time the UK government can detain asylum-seekers and UNHCR is advocating for the increased use of alternatives to detention. In 2016, over 38,000 people sought asylum in Britain, according to the Home Office, and 13,200 asylum-seekers were held in immigration detention. Over 3,200 were being detained under immigration rules at the end of March 2017. Now Noah has a leave to remain permit, allowing him to work and study in the UK with the possibility of applying for citizenship after a few years. Eager to learn new skills to help him fully integrate into British society and give something back to the community, Noah is currently studying English, chemistry and biology so he can go back to university and study medicine. In his free time, he acts with a local theatre group and eagerly awaits Mondays so he can sign up for the bus that takes him and others to the Grange later in the week. Ben says the local community has been very supportive of the farms initiative. We have people donating things, donating time, volunteering and a lot of people who might have been mistrustful of asylum-seekers because of what they read in the media. They realize that an asylum-seeker is not a statistic, its a real person who has been through trauma and has a lot to offer. The fact that they come here, share their food and cooking from all over the world, has really been fantastic for the village, concludes Ben. We feel privileged to just be accepted by them. Barretts Grove, London, by Amin Taha + Groupwork British Museum World Conservation and Exhibitions Centre by Roger Stirks Harbour & Partners Command of the Oceans, Chatham, by Baynes & Mitchell Hastings Pier by dRMM Photography Studio by 6A, London The Vernon Economic Development Association (VEDA) is happy to announce that Azizi Chocolates is a new tenant at the Food Enterprise Center (FEC). Azizi Chocolates is owned and operated by Zara Escobar, originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, who moved to Viroqua two years ago with her partner because they wanted to live in a rural area with a strong community. Escobar began making chocolate five years ago when she lived in Hawaii and made very small amounts of rolled chocolates to sell at the farmers market there. I was inspired to take a chocolatiering course last year, she said, because Ive always wanted to dive deeper into the craft of working with chocolate. This propelled me into starting this business. Her business name, Azizi Chocolates, comes from her family heritage. She explains, Azizi was the name of my Lebanese great-great grandmother, and it means precious and powerful. My love of food came from this side of the family. My grandparents used to make elaborate Lebanese food, and my visits there were centered around eating and cooking. The influence of her family goes beyond her business name, however; its set the high standard for it. I used to make baklava with my grandfather, she said. He would explain the particulars of each step, and we had to do it all with exact perfection. Later we would enjoy with gusto knowing that it was the best it could be. I find myself remembering my grandfather often as I make chocolates. In these chocolates I honor my ancestors and their robust enjoyment of the food they made. As a result of learning early to strive for perfection, Escobar searches for fine flavor chocolate to use in her chocolates. I support chocolate makers who use cacao from smaller farms growing interesting cacao that has been roasted only enough to bring out the fabulous flavors in that particular bean, she said. The makers I support do direct-trade and pay an above-market price for the cacao. They include the farmers in the process and enable them and their families to thrive. Buying this kind of chocolate is the only way for me, especially because much of commodity cacao is farmed by farmers stuck in poverty, with no way to get out, and the slave labor that is still prevalent in many cacao-growing areas. This fine-flavored cacao, she said, is mixed with fair-trade spices, organic coconut milk, and locally farmed fruit to make dark, creamy confections of which you only need one or two to make your day. Im also committed to providing just as many vegan options as not! Beginning this summer, Escobar is using one of the commercial kitchens at the VEDA-owned and operated Food Enterprise Center at 1201 N. Main St. in Viroqua. Right now, shes only selling limited amounts of chocolate to the Driftless Cafe and other small accounts or events. Otherwise it is not publicly available at the moment, she said, adding that she plans to start out selling boxes of dipped truffles this winter through a Chocolate of the Month Club. More good news for us chocolate lovers: Escobar plans to be at the Viroqua Farmers Market in September, taking holiday orders and selling at holiday markets in the region. Look for more opportunities to buy her fine chocolate as her business grows. VEDA welcomes Azizi Chocolates and wishes it much sweet success! For more information, email Escobar at zaraescobar@azizichocolates.com. More news stories about VEDA and FEC VEDA and the Food Enterprise Center have recently been featured in two national news magazines. Here are the links to the online articles: Wilbur elected to board George Wilbur, town supervisor of the town of Whitestown, was elected to serve on the VEDA Board of Directors at our annual membership meeting held in May. A graduate of Marquette University Law School, Wilbur is an attorney in private practice in La Farge, specializing in real estate and criminal law. He had been an owner/broker in Wilbur Realty with an office in La Farge from 1984 to 1996. Early in his legal career, he served as Vernon County District Attorney from 1997 to 1999. He is also the former chair and current secretary of the Vernon County Bar Association and a member of the Vernon County Sobriety Court Steering Committee. Prior to becoming a lawyer, he was a principal figure in Kickapoo Stove Works Ltd, which manufactured Kickapoo wood stoves and furnaces. He feels his broad career experience in manufacturing, marketing, real estate, small business and law will assist the VEDA board in evaluating opportunities for job creation in Vernon County. I see my initial role on the Board as learning about VEDAs operations and finances and the opportunities for economic growth in Vernon County that VEDA can facilitate, Wilbur said. I have agreed to serve on the Board because I believe in contributing to the common good of our community. VEDA has been very successful in creating jobs and expanding the economic horizons of Vernon County, and I am pleased to be a part of that effort. King Air Research Aircraft to Be Featured At Cheyenne Frontier Days UW Department of Atmospheric Science Senior Engineer Nick Mahon adjusts controls in the interior of the King Air research aircraft. (UW Photo) The University of Wyomings Department of Atmospheric Science will offer an opportunity to learn more about the role it has in the state at the 2017 edition of Cheyenne Frontier Days (CFD). UWs research aircraft, King Air, along with other observing facilities supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), will be on display at the Wyoming National Guard open house. The event will be Wednesday, July 26, from 10:45 a.m.-3 p.m., at the 153rd Airlift Wing of the Wyoming Air National Guard, located at 217 Dell Range Blvd. The King Air research aircraft (tail number N2UW) is a specially instrumented Textron Beechcraft King Air 200T twin engine turbo-prop modified specifically to conduct atmospheric research. Typical missions, which can fly up to altitudes of 28,000 feet, include studies of boundary layer structure, air-sea interactions, cloud and aerosol physics, troposphere profiling and atmospheric chemistry. About 50 percent of the research conducted with King Air is related to cloud physics. Another 30 percent focuses on aerosols and air quality, and 20 percent of the aircrafts research hours are spent on the exchange of energy between the surface of the Earth and its lower atmosphere. Housed in the Universitys Donald L. Veal Research Flight Center, Wyoming King Air is the only NSF-supported aircraft facility owned by a university. The Department of Atmospheric Science has operated aircraft for atmospheric research for more than 50 years, and King Air is the third aircraft in the series. We welcome the opportunity to reach out to the Wyoming community at Cheyenne Frontier Days, says Al Rodi, UW professor of atmospheric science and director of the Flight Center. We are proud of the support weve had from Wyoming and the university over several decades in developing this facility, and are looking forward to showing folks what we do, and how it ties into state interests such as water, energy development and regional environment. Jeff French, a UW assistant professor of atmospheric science, poses with the King Air research aircraft in the background. (UW Photo) In addition to King Air, NSF-supported atmospheric science research facilities on hand will include the NSF/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) C-130 aircraft equipped with LIDAR and cloud-sensing radar; and the Center for Severe Weather Research Doppler on Wheels truck-mounted weather radar. These facilities are used to research a wide range of atmospheric phenomena from severe weather to drought to air quality. As part of the display, staff from each facility will be on hand to answer questions and distribute information to interested attendees. Only shuttle bus traffic will be allowed on the base due to security and parking restrictions. Shuttle buses will leave continuously from the north side between Dillards and Sears at Cheyennes Frontier Mall, located at 1400 Dell Range Blvd., beginning at 10:45 a.m., and from CFD Park. The last bus to the open house will leave at 2:45 p.m. Pedestrian foot traffic also will be allowed at the main gate. Vendors will sell food and beverages on base during the open house. The event takes place following the traditional United States Air Force Thunderbirds flyover at 9:30 a.m. The U.S. Navy parachute team, The Leap Frogs, also is scheduled to perform at the event at 1:30 p.m. Event organizers expect 2,500 attendees. All visitors must bring a valid ID. No weapons, including pocket knives, coolers or containers will be allowed on the base. Security personnel may search all bags. A 23-year-old Tomah man and 17-year-old juvenile male were referred to the Monroe County District Attorney for allegedly sexually assaulting a girl numerous times beginning when she was 10 years old. According to the report, the girl, now 16, told police of three incidents in which Jack William Nabors touched her breasts and exposed his genitals and another incident in which he touched her breasts on top of her clothes and tried to move his hands up her shorts. The girl told police that Nabors would offer her alcohol and drugs so she would forget about the incidents. The report says police obtained text messages from Nabors asking for sex and nude photos from the girl. The juvenile male, the girl told police, forced her to have sexual intercourse approximately 20 times between the ages of 10 and 13 and often grabbed her breasts during the assaults. The juvenile male reportedly told police he had sex with the girl twice and said he felt horrible afterward. Nabors was referred for sexual assault of a child, repeated acts of sexual assault, exposing genitals to a child and bail jumping. The juvenile male was referred for sexual assault of a child and repeated acts of sexual assault. Nabors has an initial appearance Aug. 8 before Monroe County Circuit Judge Mark Goodman. Panchos Mexican Restaurant, located in Downtown Summerlin, will introduce hand-selected Panchos Barrel Select Reposado tequila in honor of National Tequila Day on Monday, July 24 (Photo courtesy of Panchos Mexican Restaurant). Tequila lovers will savor the subtle, yet complex flavors of the rested tequila, bottled exclusively for Panchos. After aging for eight months in a single barrel, Panchos Barrel Select Reposado tequila is made of French limousin oak handpicked by the Panchos team. Pours of Panchos Barrel Select Reposado tequila will be available for purchase exclusively at the restaurant, priced at $11. The signature tequila will also be offered in the Panchos Paloma, made with Panchos Barrel Select Reposado tequila, sparkling grapefruit soda and lime juice, priced at $11.75. In celebration of the tequila tasting holiday, complimentary tastings of Panchos Barrel Select Reposado tequila will be available in the cantina. Reservations may be made by calling 702-982-0111. For those seeking a taste of the unexpected, the otheroom is for you. Now open at The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace, the Las Vegas outpost of this stylish and unique bar concept out of LA and New York celebrated its Grand Opening in high style this past weekend. Local tastemakers were treated to samples from the innovative cocktail program and selection of gourmet bites as well as a first-of-its-kind alcohol-infused soft serve ice cream. Known for its sexy atmosphere and premium selection of fine wines and craft beers, the cocktail program and select food menu are exclusive to the otheroom Las Vegas location. While the show-stopping ice cream blends the best of liquid libations and delectable dishes, other menu highlights include the house special Shiitake Burger, the Short Rib Grilled Cheese, Maple Bacon Tots, and a melt-in-your-mouth charcuterie plate. To accompany the food, select from one of several unique cocktails from the cheeky drinks menu like the Smokey and The Bandit. This twist on the popular Mule incorporates Basil Haydens Bourbon with smoked peach liqueur, fresh lemon, Angostura, and ginger beer served in a chilled copper mug. Or, try the Brazilian Wax featuring Avua Prata Cachaca, Tanteo Jalapeno Tequila, fresh lime, pineapple juice, basil, passionfruit and li hing. If youre up for an experience with your cocktail, ask for a Smoked Manhattan and watch as the specialty cocktail smoker transforms the flavors of your drink and seduces your senses as the sweet aroma of cherry wood fills the air. If sampling is more to your liking, the otheroom also boasts an impressive flights menu. These include premium flights of Don Julio, Patron, Hennessy, Macallan, Glenmorangie, Mezcal, a unique Japanese whiskey flight, and a build-your-own beer flight. No matter your taste, you are sure to find something satisfying yet unexpected on the otheroom menu while enjoying the chic, candle-lit aesthetic. Featuring industrial, yet glamorous, brick and metal finishes, the otheroom offers patrons a seductive setting that blends both masculine and feminine touches. A curated playlist of contemporary, chill tunes further enhances the vibe while rotating local art installations are a treat for the eyes and are available for purchase. Tax, Accounting, and Audit in Vietnam 2017-2018, the latest publication from Dezan Shira & Associates, is out now and available for complimentary download through the Asia Briefing Publication Store. This edition of Tax, Accounting, and Audit in Vietnam, updated for 2017, offers a comprehensive overview of the major taxes foreign investors are likely to encounter when establishing or operating a business in Vietnam, as well as other tax-relevant obligations. This concise, detailed, yet pragmatic guide is ideal for CFOs, compliance officers and heads of accounting who need to be able to navigate the complex tax and accounting landscape in Vietnam in order to effectively manage and strategically plan their Vietnam operations. Taxation permeates business transactions in Vietnam, and a strong understanding of tax liabilities enables foreign investors to maximize the tax efficiency of their foreign investment while ensuring full compliance with all tax laws and regulations. This guide overviews taxes for businesses and individuals and discusses accounting and audit in the Vietnam business context. We discuss Vietnams tax laws and administration, corporate income tax, value-added tax, and individual income tax calculation and applicability. We also cover such topics as annual compliance requirements and profits/dividends repatriation. In the international taxation context, we address such topics as transfer pricing and double taxation treaties. This simple and easy to understand guidebook will be of practical use to all executives involved in handling company finances concerning Vietnam, including: Chief Executive Officers Chief Financial Officers Accounting Managers Tax Specialists The content of this guide was compiled by Dezan Shira & Associates staff in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, providing corporate establishment, business advisory, tax advisory and compliance, accounting, payroll, due diligence and financial review services to foreign investors in emerging Asia. Related Reading: Dezan Shira & Associates is a pan-Asia, multi-disciplinary professional services firm, providing legal, tax and operational advisory to international corporate investors. Operational throughout China, ASEAN and India, our mission is to guide foreign companies through Asias complex regulatory environment and assist them with all aspects of establishing, maintaining and growing their business operations in the region. This brochure provides an overview of the services and expertise Dezan Shira & Associates can provide. An Introduction to Doing Business in Vietnam 2017 will provide readers with an overview of the fundamentals of investing and conducting business in Vietnam. Compiled by Dezan Shira & Associates, a specialist foreign direct investment practice, this guide explains the basics of company establishment, annual compliance, taxation, human resources, payroll, and social insurance in this dynamic country. In this issue of Vietnam Briefing, we discuss the prevailing state of labor pools in Vietnam and outline key considerations for those seeking to staff and retain workers in the country. We highlight the increasing demand for skilled labor, provide in depth coverage of existing contract options, and showcase severance liabilities that may arise if workers or employers choose to terminate their contracts. Those willing to bring down our government prefer a world government over ruling our constitution. George H.W. Bush and John McCain fit this category. The preferred socialist Bernie Sanders and Marxist Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump. Guess what? A former left-wing Democrat broke ranks with his party (his words) to save the country from anti-American radicals. Dennis Kucinich knows about government leaks. These federal level Marxist Democrats are willing to bring on the calamity of an overthrown government. Kucinich says government leakers to major news organizations are determined to destroy Trump. The former Democrat representative calls it a covert action, a danger to our country. After eight years of Obama-coddling radical Islam, this collusion of radicals Obama called "fundamental change for America," the elite were oh-so-sure Hillary's election would complete the fundamental change. Their only recourse after having lost is a Third World-type coup. Kucinich says no president in modern history has been so accosted by such vitriolic attack vitriolic being sarcasm and stinging. He says Charles Schumer and colleagues in the House should quit fanning the flames if our democracy is to endure. I say Marxists, Islam and elitists don't want our constitution or republic to endure. I've identified Schumer, Pelosi and other radicals before. To have a liberal like Kucinich in agreement is quite satisfying. Try prayer for our country. Craig V. Jones, Sparta Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shakes hands with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Ankara in February 2017. (Photo: AFP/Kayhan Ozer) The moves mark a further escalation of tensions between NATO allies Germany and Turkey, who are at loggerheads over a wide range of issues. This month, Turkey arrested rights activists including Amnesty International's Turkey head Idil Eser and German citizen Peter Steudtner on terrorism charges, which Berlin has labelled "absurd". "Unfortunately we have constant cause to talk to Turkey about civil and press freedoms," government spokesman Steffen Seibert told a news conference. "We think it is important to review aid in light of the latest developments." Seibert was referring to a package of assistance totalling three billion euros that the EU has promised to Turkey to help stem flows of migrants, mostly from conflict zones in the Middle East, into Europe. The deal has helped to sharply reduce the number of arrivals and has been especially welcomed by Germany, the preferred destination for the migrants, and Chancellor Angela Merkel. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel cut short his holiday to deal with the latest rise in tensions with Turkey, whose ability to rekindle Europe's refugee crisis could harm Merkel's prospects in a national election due in September. The six rights activists are among tens of thousands of Turks swept up in a crackdown that followed last year's failed coup against Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. Many have accused Erdogan of using the dragnet as an excuse to purge opponents. "Claims of terrorist links are absurd," the German foreign ministry said in a statement demanding consular access to its citizen and the release of all the activists. "It is appalling to accuse Amnesty and other rights organisations of terrorism." Bilateral relations have already been tested by, among other issues, Turkey's arrest of Deniz Yucel, a Turkish-German dual national who is a correspondent for the German newspaper Die Welt, on similar terrorism and propaganda charges. Ankara is seeking the extradition of army officers whom it accuses of involvement in the coup attempt. Berlin has declined to return the men, who have sought asylum in Germany. The decree will make sure less buyers get their fingers burnt Among the big projects to be launched is An Khanh New City Developments sale of its first phase this quarter. The mega $2 billion project is developed by South Koreas Posco E&C and Vietnams Vinaconex, located in Hanois Hoai Duc district, along the Thang Long Boulevard. Scheduled for completion in 2013, the city is expected to supply 6,440 apartments, equivalent to 392,319 square metres of accommodation, enough for 30,000 people. Even though Hoa Phat Group, the investor in a more than 1,000 apartment Mandarin Garden in Cau Giay districts Tran Duy Hung road, refused to release its launching time, real estate experts predicted the project would be soon launched. At the beginning of this month the CT7D, located in Le Van Luong street and invested by Nam Cuong Group and the FLC Landmark Tower of FLC Group will also be launched, with a total of 200 units and prices ranging from VND23 million ($1,200) to VND28 million ($1,470) per square metre. In Gia Lam district, over the Red River, the second lot of Rung Co Residentials belonging to the Eco Park is also being launched, with around 1,500 apartment units. In addition, Victoria Van Phu, Star City, Diamond Tower and Song Da City View will also add apartments to the mix. Real estate consultant CBRE Vietnam expected that there would be 3,000 units in Hanoi launched this quarter, compared to 1,950 units in the third quarter. There were more than 4,600 units launched in the second quarter. This decline, according to CBRE Vietnam, could be due to the Decree 71, effective on August 8, 2010 providing guidance on the Housing Law, which caps the proportion of units sold via capital contribution contracts at 20 per cent with the remaining 80 per cent sold on transaction floors. This decree, CBRE Vietnam said, had put a pressure on developers with low financial capabilities and enhanced market transparency. However, CBRE Vietnam executive director Richard Leech said new project launches would continue trending towards more affordable options. With the opening and improvement of major infrastructure routes, the capitals western and southern districts are attracting new residents with easier access for commuting into the core urban districts, Leech said. He said that the Decree 71 was expected to benefit the market by enhancing transparency, placing pressures on developers with low financial capabilities, lessening the threat of price bubbles and limiting speculative forces. Tran Nhu Trung, Savills Vietnam associate director, said the Decree 71 had showed off its advantages to clearly regulate five types of mobilising capital investment. However, Trung said the procedures to implement Decree 71 were still complicated and wasted customers time and energy. The more simple it [decree] regulates, the more it is practical in the real life, Trung said. US President Donald Trump speaks alongside US Attorney General Jeff Sessions after Sessions was sworn in as Attorney General, at the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, in February 2017 AFP/SAUL LOEB WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday (Jul 19) he never would have hired Attorney General Jeff Sessions if he had known the top law official would recuse himself from a probe into Russia's alleged election meddling. In an interview with the New York Times, the president also criticized Sessions' recent testimony before a Senate panel which is investigating possible collusion between Moscow and the Trump campaign, saying he had given "some bad answers." Sessions recused himself from overseeing the Russian probe in March after the Washington Post reported that he met twice with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the campaign. But Trump said Sessions had acted unfairly in taking the job in the first place if he had felt in any way compromised. "How do you take a job and then recuse yourself? If he would have recused himself before the job, I would have said, 'Thanks, Jeff, but I'm not going to take you,'" Trump said. "It's extremely unfair - and that's a mild word - to the president." In an appearance before the Senate Intelligence Committee in June, Sessions vehemently denied any collusion with Russia to tilt last year's US election in Trump's favor, branding the suggestion an "appalling and detestable lie." He also engaged in testy exchanges with several senators who pressed him for details on his discussions with Trump - which he refused to provide in the name of confidentiality. "Jeff Sessions gave some bad answers," the president said in his interview with the Times. "He gave some answers that were simple questions and should have been simple answers, but they weren't." UOB is the first Singaporean bank to receive the licence for a foreign-owned subsidiary in Vietnam The bank will become the first Singaporean financial institution to set up a 100-per-cent foreign owned entity in Vietnam. This licence would enable UOB to extend its branch network beyond Ho Chi Minh City and offer its financial services to businesses and consumers in other cities. The Singaporean bank considers setting up a branch in Hanoi, which is Vietnams gateway to fast-developing cities in the northern region, such as Haiphong, Quang Ninh and Hai Duong. Wee Ee Cheong, deputy chairman and CEO of UOB, said that the in-principle licence marks the start of a new chapter for the bank in Vietnam. "We have had a longstanding presence in Vietnam and given our regional network, have over the past two decades helped our clients across Asia to identify and to invest in business opportunities in the country Wee said. He added that with the in-principle licence, UOB looks forward to helping clients do business in Vietnam, one of the fastest developing countries in Asia. The bank also promises to support Vietnamese companies by connecting them to cross-border opportunities throughout extensive network. Business advisory services and financial solutions such as trade finance, cash management and project financing will also be made available to Vietnamese corporate clients. Workers at a garment production line of Star Fashion Company in Phu Nghia Industrial Park, Ha Noi. - VNA Photo Trong Dat The seminar, titled 50 years of ASEAN: ASEAN Economic Community - Opportunities for Vietnamese enterprises, was jointly organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) and the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA). Discussions focused on the AECs role in facilitating the entry of Vietnamese businesses to enter Southeast Asian markets, and businesses approach to this potential. Le Luong Minh, ASEAN Secretary General, noted that Viet Nam has been an important factor in the regional blocs development throughout. The country has actively co-operated with other members to drive the regional economy towards greater participation in the global value chain, he said. Viet Nam was a regional spearhead for the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and free trade agreements with the Eurasian Economic Union and the European Union, he added. The AEC can maximise the nations competitiveness alongside the blocs collective power, boosting bilateral and international trade, Minh said. Agreeing with Minh, Viet Nams Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung said over the 22 years that it has been an ASEAN member, the countrys economic progress has become increasingly entwined with the blocs growth, more so with the establishment of the AEC in late 2015. Since Viet Nam became a signatory to the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement, the blocs members have collectively become the countrys second biggest trade partner with an average annual growth rate of 14.5 per cent in the last decade, he said. Bilateral trade turnover increased from around US$19 billion in 2006 to $41.36 billion in 2016. ASEAN is now Viet Nams third biggest export market and also the third most prolific supplier of materials for the nations manufacturing industry, said Dung. He also confirmed that ASEAN was one of Viet Nams most important foreign investors, with a total registered capital of $64 billion as of 2016. The bloc also acts as a link between a multitude of investments by multinational companies and the Vietnamese market. Industrial projects initiated by ASEAN countries in Viet Nam are now centred in the manufacturing, processing and assembling industries, he noted. He stated that ASEAN was an important factor in Viet Nam being able to maintain and accelerate stable economic growth over past decade. The realisation of AEC is a key objective for all members and their business communities. Income gap To boost regional co-operation, it is necessary that the income gap among ASEAN countries and other regions be narrowed. Dung also pushed for greater economic integration to enhance the regions competitiveness. He urged Vietnamese entrepreneurs to take the initiative and participate in the AEC by cementing their place in the ASEAN market, help set the rules and anticipate market trends for themselves and the ASEAN community. He pledged that the Vietnamese Government would continue economic reforms, paying heed to the concerns of the business community. MOFA's Assisstant Minister Vu Quang Minh said the seminar was a good opportunity for businesses from all ASEAN countries to meet and share their experiences, ideas and methods towards help the community overcome integration challenges. He said AEC marked a new level of ASEAN co-operation that is people-centred. He asked Vietnamese businesses to broaden their knowledge of the AEC and awareness of its importance. Just 16 per cent of companies in the country seem to have a strong understanding of such concept, he said. Hidetoshi Nishimura, President of ERIA, also affirmed ASEANs importance for Viet Nams growth, saying a common market with a productive basis would bring equal opportunities to all members and their peoples. True appeal Prominent economist Vo Tri Thanh of Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM), said that the AEC needs foster attractive, favourable conditions and political support to truly appeal to businesses from Viet Nam. Local businesses should also have the urge to connect and the professionalism to cooperate. Representatives from the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV) also said that many Vietnamese firms supplying parts to FDI multinational companies did not have enough funding to expand production and take on larger projects, which might be a reason behind their hesitation in actively joining the AEC. Two hundreds representatives from Viet Nam and other countries attended the seminar in preparation for the ASEANs 50th Anniversary Celebration on August 8, 2017. My father-in-law is losing his health insurance, Pam told me. She stopped to chat as we perused the booths at the Stockholm Art Fair. Stockholm, population 66, has one of the best art fairs in western Wisconsin. Judging by the license plates, the fair is high on the list for Minnesotans too. The 44th annual fair was held on the grounds of the city park overlooking Lake Pepin, the widest spot in the Mississippi River. Over 100 artists were eager to share their health care stories and sell their creations. There were few bugs. Weather was warm but not too hot. Colors were everywhere. The air smelled of fresh roasted nuts, gyro meat and kettle corn. Organic beef, wood-fired locally sourced pizza and maple ice cream kept hunger at bay. Talented regional musicians kept folks entertained as neighbors sat on straw bales under a tent. Many shared treasures and pointed out favorite artists. Under the surface, though, folks worried. My conversations were almost exclusively about health care. Pam told me how a local health plan, La Crosse-based Health Tradition, is quitting the federal marketplace Healthcare.gov next year. Others shared how loved ones recently received letters from Anthem or Health Tradition dropping coverage next year. Recently, Wisbusiness.com reported roughly 23,000 will be affected by the pull out of Anthem and Health Tradition. Insurers blame the uncertainty in federal operations, rules and guidance including cost-sharing reduction subsidies. This statement translates into: as Congress debates cutting help to people who need it, companies realize they may not have the customers to make a plan work. In the insurance world, the larger the pool, the lower the risk. But if folks dont have help buying insurance and younger people get cheaper plans, the folks who are left sicker and older end up with more expensive plans and, maybe, none at all. The Affordable Care Act is not perfect. But it was carefully balanced to share the risk the basic element of keeping health care affordable for all. Many artists and musicians are self-employed. The Affordable Care Act and Healthcare.gov created a way for self-employed and small business owners to buy health coverage. Many artists I spoke with are older, coming to the profession later in life. Many of us over 50 have pre-existing conditions and need regular health care. Artists expressed concerns about the limited health coverage available in Buffalo and Pepin counties. These counties recently joined the dubious ranks of counties with only one health plan under the Healthcare.gov marketplace. Because of federal uncertainty, five counties, include La Crosse, are down to only one provider next year under the marketplace. Farmers feared losing health coverage or changing long-standing relationships with providers. The fear of losing health care is stressful I heard and felt it as conversation after conversation shifted to health insurance. As I watched the vibrantly dressed people soaking in the imaginative art, I thought about how experiencing the art fair provided a balm for our stressful lives. Gazing at the pottery I nearly bumped into a retired physician and his wife. He also saw the attraction people found to art as a way to heal our stressed world. He shared his experiences over the years. When I ask How are you? what do you think is the number one complaint I get? he asked. Patients say to me Im stressed, doctor. When I open up the hood and look inside, I see stress. Art brings beauty. It softens the heart, the doctor shared. The art fair helps make it better. I watched men in florescent orange with camo, a woman in sheer black lace with her back covered in tattoos and another in a brightly colored African dashiki. People came together creating their own art among all the wares for sale. In all of this diversity was a beautiful harmony. Somehow, we must take this approach to health care. A plan unique for each person. Respecting our own individuality and needs. Also, in harmony with others. Sharing the risk. Working for all. Democrat Kathleen Vinehout, Alma, represents the 31st state Senate District. Dunkirk. Photo: Warner Bros. In Dunkirk, Christopher Nolan has made a stark and harrowing war movie muddled by his signature Nolan Time, that arty temporal scramble that he thinks is more illuminating than it is. Briefly, Nolan Time consists of several (in this case three) parallel temporal lines that appear to be out of sync but prove, in the end, to conform to a Higher Synchronization not the work of God or Fate but of steadfast individuals bravely exercising free will. My own free will is exercised by not falling in line with the many and vocal Nolanoids, but Ill credit him in Dunkirk with getting many of the externals dead right. His springboard is an event that is cherished by Brits and less familiar to Americans, who tend to think of World War II as beginning with Pearl Harbor and the belated entry of the United States. It happens to be one of the most triumphant military retreats in the history of the world. By mid-1940, the Nazis had swept across Europe and pushed at least a quarter-million Brits (at minimum) to the beaches of northern France, the edge of the continent almost close enough, as the characters in Dunkirk wishfully insist, to see the Mother Country across the channel. What was nowhere near in sight was help. By then, the Royal Navy had lost nearly 30 big ships, the Luftwaffe dominated the skies, and the waters teemed with U-boats. Churchill and company couldnt afford to lose many more warships with the looming German invasion of the homeland Operation Sea Lion. I saw Dunkirk in IMAX, where the combination of size and a fat, square frame made even the panoramas seem like close-ups. Nolan and director of photography Hoyte Van Hoytema (my new favorite name) contrive one of the most vivid opening shots Ive seen. A group of soldiers moves warily along a street, away from the camera, surrounded by falling leaflets warnings dropped from German planes to surrender or die. A moment later, all but one of them is, in fact, dead. The survivor, Tommy (Fionn Whitehead), is identified in one of Nolans ambiguous titles as the Mole, which is easy to remember since he has a big one where his cheek meets his chin. Identifying himself as English, he moves past French defenses and onto the beach, where the Brits are queued up with characteristic patience. He wastes no time in picking up a stretcher and trying to get onto a medical boat carrying the wounded. Here, Nolan and his editor Lee Smith begin their crosscutting song and dance. In the skies above, Spitfire pilots Tom Hardy and Jack Lowden take off to protect the fleet by shooting down Luftwaffe planes ever mindful in the ticking-clock way of most thrillers of their limited fuel supplies. (Hardy wears an oxygen mask for at least 90 percent of his screen time it seems to be a running joke that directors insist on covering his great face.) Across the (small) pond in England, Mark Rylance loads his small pleasure boat with life vests, aided by two teenage boys, his son (Tom Glynn-Carney, a handsome blond lad who looks as if hes on leave from Slytherin) and his sons mate (Barry Keoghan) steps ahead of soldiers attempting to requisition the craft. Rylance isnt heading out on holiday. He wants to make the rescue run to Dunkirk himself. He will later say, Men my age dictate this war, why should we not fight it? And he has one other, more predictable reason. Over his many films, Nolan has shown little talent for staging and editing action, but hes marvelous at designing single shots, in this case the vertiginous plunges of planes and a series of terrifying beach bombardments. The explosions come in a line, moving toward a protagonist (and the camera) at near-precise intervals, all but vaporizing the next man over. (The soldiers rise from the ground, briefly survey the damage, and get back in their queues, as Brits are wont to do.) Nolan has pointedly omitted the showers of gore and viscera that have become so common (in many cases thanks to CGI) in recent war films. There are a few dried, brick-red stains on the wounded, but I dont recall a drop of flowing blood. It turns out that Nolan doesnt need explicit carnage to make you sick over the loss of life. The horror is reflected in the face of Kenneth Branagh as the naval commander who stations himself on a pier at the waters edge and watches some of his men die, the rest perhaps on the verge of death. If Dunkirk has a fulcrum, its Branagh, to whom all narrative threads lead. What we dont know at first about the crossing threads is that the cutting is not just among different locations but different time periods. That hits us forcefully when Cillian Murphy, whom weve met as a shivering, shell-shocked soldier helped from a mid-channel wreck by Rylance, appears in a subsequent scene as a forceful boat commander so forceful that hes capable of telling desperate survivors of another sunken boat that theres no more room and they have to keep swimming. Theres a great deal to hold in our heads: connections to make, holes to fill, people to keep straight. (One Directions Harry Styles is in there somewhere, another smudged face with good cheekbones.) Tying the disparate scenes together is Hans Zimmers score, which keeps a steady 4/4 beat while never resolving a chord. The brass is muffled, the strings saw but dont cut. The churning soundscape serves as a reminder that time is running out but that the soldiers (and the audience) is stuck in a kind of void. As the gray waves become even more unruly (Branaghs commander says hed rather face them than the dive bombers), the vision of a cruel and implacable nature approaches real tragedy. The problem is when Nolan turns upbeat, when narrative threads begin to merge and cold fear is replaced by warm sap. The appearance of Englands small boats is appropriately heart-swelling, testament to the bravery and resourcefulness of the common man that makes Dunkirk one of the few bright spots in a war whose barbarity still eats into the mind. But Rylances firm but moist determination at the helm and Hardys stoic Spitfire maneuvers are another matter. For all Nolans modernist techniques, his cavalry-is-coming cliff-hangers are eye-rollers overlong, corny, and clunkily edited. When the structure of Dunkirk becomes visible, when it stands as a mathematical demonstration of brave individual choices lining up in a tidy row, you might realize that youve been had. Or maybe not. Although I find most of Nolans work to be pulp bloated by pomposity, a good many intelligent people love his films. Apart from its philosophical heft, Nolan Time has the benefit of psyching audiences out, keeping them so busy trying to make linear sense of what theyre watching that they miss the obviousness of the plotting. Nolanoids I know talk about needing to go back and see the movies again as if to demonstrate how challenging he is. But needing to rewatch something because you cant make sense of it the first time isnt exactly a testament to a directors skills as a storyteller. What Nolan plus IMAX can do is go big. Spitfire swerving, boat tippings, men dropping to the sand as planes scream by it doesnt get any better. That first shot of men on a street in a shower of paper on which their deaths are foretold brilliant. Somewhere inside the mess that is Dunkirk is a terrific linear movie. Naomi Watts. Photo: Dominique Charriau/WireImage Naomi Watts is having a very busy summer, despite the fact that some of her projects havent exactly been massive hits. She tried to carry out her sons plan for murder in Colin Trevorrows Book of Henry, which flopped so badly some wondered if it would get the director forced off Star Wars. She starred in Gypsy, Netflixs psychological thriller that asks just how sad one woman can get while riding the Metro North. And, as we learned recently, she didnt do Big Little Lies, televisions premier mom drama. At least Watts has a role in David Lynchs Twin Peaks: The Return, and what might be the single most fascinating account on Instagram. This is an attempt to figure out why we cant look away from it. Jackson McHenry: Hunter, Im fascinated by Naomi Watts at all times, but especially this summer. I recently lost most of a Saturday to Gypsy, a show that is not good, but has an excellent Stevie Nicks cover for a theme song, which was enough to lull me into watching far too many episodes. That, in turn, reminded me to watch Mulholland Drive (shes a great actress!) and to start obsessively following her Instagram, in which she shares mundane details from the life of someone who is extremely famous and yet somehow not afraid to overshare. For instance, this morning, Naomi screenshotted a text conversation between herself and Lynch, an enigmatic auteur whom she talks to like an old friend. Watts has teased her texts with Lynch before on her Instagram stories (Naomi Wattss Instagram stories are also great), but in this shot alone in which it appears the two are planning a Comic-Con Twin Peaks event there are so many things to note: Lynch uses the heart emoji. He calls her both maam and BITCH. She makes fun of his meditation. She has 32 unread texts! Before I descend into madness, please help me figure out what is going on here. Hunter Harris: Jackson, Im so glad we get to unpack this. Naomi Watts really is everywhere right now (except Monterey). Lets start with these unread texts: Its gotta be a group text, right? In my fantasy, shes planning a project with Diane Kruger and Sienna Miller, two other blonde white women who didnt make the Big Little Lies roster. Perhaps a limited series that might one day be described as Big Little Liesadjacent. Probably coming soon to Hulu. One thing I love about her Instagram is that she posts photos and videos from set that are actually enjoyable, which feels rare nowadays. Her Insta is a trove of on-set shenanigans and girls nights. (I am only slightly miffed that there were barely any shots of the very chic interiors from 3 Generations.) What would you call this silent short from the set of Ophelia to promote The Book of Henry? Naomi Watts is bringing back silent movies. JM: This is like if you watched Love Actually once years ago and then decided that communicating through poster boards was a normal thing people did. She did a similar thing when she announced a Reddit AMA while done up like she was in an Interview magazine shoot. Also, Im so glad you mentioned Naomis girls nights, because Naomi loves to catch up with her other famous friends. She ran into Isabelle Huppert at Cannes. She did a Gypsy promo event with Goop. She had lunch with seemingly every famous mom in Hollywood, and also Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Then, perhaps in a whole different category, there are Naomis photos with her good friend from Australia, Nicole Kidman. She loves to post birthday photos with Nicole, and they are always a delight. (Kidman does not have an Instagram account, and thus does not reciprocate.) Theres so much going on in the use of # you alone! HH: That shower cap photo really is something to behold. The story behind it: At the Crystal + Lucy Awards in 2015, Kidman took the opportunity to re-create a Jane Campion role she passed on early in her career, which called for her to kiss another woman while they both wore shower caps. Imagine them thinking up this stunt during a wine night, Nicole sipping a glass of Malbec, saying, You know, Im showing up to this awards show in a few weeks, and I have this idea Id also like to believe that she and Nicole end all their texts to one another with you. Its like their thing. That just feels right. I, like most of America, did not see The Book of Henry. But I did see this photo of Naomi Watts walking on a beach with a Nerf gun in her hand, which is apparently kind of similar to a subplot from that movie? Naomi Wattss secret Instagram skill is that shes a feed for all seasons: Shes great at beaches and exceptionally good at snow days. JM: The use of #janebond in that Nerf instagram convinces me that Naomi Watts has thought about what it would be like to be James Bond at least once, after which she send off a text to Rachel Weisz that read something like, Rachel! How are you?? And how is Daniel??? Is he gonna do more of those movies??? Brunch soon, xoxo. We also need to point out that Naomis sneakily good at promo-ing her past, current, and future projects. A painting in a museum reminds her of King Kong. Shes snuck in some Glass Castle promo with Brie Larson. An older photo of Liev Schreiber is tagged #raydonovan. Speaking of which, we should probably mention how much (or little) Naomi Watts chooses to reveal about her personal life. Though she and Schreiber split up last September, she still enthusiastically posts photos of him with their two sons on occasions like birthdays or Fathers Day. Im happy theyre making it work, and Im happy she doesnt confuse him with Joshua Jackson, since I mix up the Kruger-Jackson and Watts-Schreiber breakups constantly. Theres nary a trace, however, of her new beau Billy Crudup (according to People), unless hes in a few of those 32 unread texts. What do we make of this? HH: As someone who only watched the Billy Crudup scenes in Gypsy, I am very in favor of this relationship. (I also want to make sure were pronouncing Crudup correctly: Its Crew-dup.) I would eagerly double tap any photo thats Watts-Crudup related, but I like that this is a relationship thats hiding in plain sight. Im sure shell gradually and gingerly introduce him to her Instagram feed. There will be no goofy shots from their Tribeca walks in the near future; shes got enough #content to #curate as it is! If theres anything I want from her feed next, its a Reese-worthy livestream. Id take it over a second season of Gypsy. Seacrest. Photo: Rich Fury/Getty Images Its official: Local busy guy Ryan Seacrest will return to American Idol, the show that made him a household name. After negotiations, lowballing, renegotiations, and soul-searching, Seacrest has decided to fit the ABC reboot into his schedule, confirming the news on Live With Kelly and Ryan. According to a June Hollywood Reporter profile, Seacrests return comes with a $10 million paycheck and an executive-producer title. Who am I if not the American Idol guy? he asked the magazine (and, likely, himself). Seacrests return, which once seemed inevitable, took a lot of hand-wringing. He met with ABC and producer Fremantle North America, and even huddled with Katy Perry to convince her to come on as the reboots anchor judge for $25 million. But during salary negotiations, his offer was pitifully low roughly half the size of its first because the new arrangement would require less of its famously busy host, THR reports. For a minute, he even withdrew his name completely from any involvement in the show. But now hes back, baby! And this side hustle has Live! co-host Kelly Ripas blessing. This post has been updated throughout. Men are just candy. That description comes from one of Empiricals most treasured writers, Belinda Lacroix (Lois Smith), lamenting the stigma of being labelled a romance novelist. Men decide the genre is silly and so it gets completely written off, even though, as Liza is quick to point out, romance novels are all about women being the heroes (and having great sex). Sure, theyre talking about Belindas body of work, but they are also talking about Younger itself, a show that doesnt always get the attention it deserves simply because of the genre its been labelled as. Younger, too, is superficially about love and lust and sex, but deep down its about strong ladies coming together and being the heroes of their own stories. Aw, look at Younger getting all meta! Oh, Belinda Lacroix, so fabulous and wise and now, so, so dead. Charles, Diana, and Millennials newest associate editor Liza take Belinda (who only wears Pepto Bismol pink, mind you) out for their annual lunch. After dropping those self-referential bombs on behalf of the show, she dies on the toilet. Liza sees those pink-clad feet slide out from under the stall and it is already too late. There is a silver lining and Im not just talking about watching Peter Hermann deliver the line Thanks for showing your pink, but Im not not talking about that either. Belinda was publishing royalty, so naturally her all-pink funeral is filled with the whos who of authors. They pay their respects, of course, but Kelsey wastes no time introducing herself to Lachlan Flynn, one of her favorites, and reminding him that his spy novels have an audience with women. If his current editor (the very cute and extremely well-dressed Zane Anders) doesnt realize that, maybe Lachlan should think about getting himself a new one. What a funeral, huh? Kelsey and Liza need a stiff drink. After everything, it looks like these two ladies are back on track. It does seem a little extreme for Kelsey to completely forgive Liza so quickly after the amount of grief she gave her, but Kelsey explains that she now understands Liza was lying in order to help her kid she hopes her own mother would be able to do something like that for her. Im not totally sold, but I also wasnt looking forward to another six episodes of Kelsey mean-girling Liza, so here we are. What really interests me is Joshs reaction to Kelseys sudden change of heart. They were stewing in their anger together. They were a team! Will Josh tell Kelsey the real reason he and Liza broke up? Will Kelsey be #TeamCharles? I feel like Kelsey would be #TeamCharles. Now that word is out that Josh is moving on by way of hooking up with cute coffeehouse girls (Maggie lets Montana know whom shes sleeping with and the guilt is so unbearable, blondie immediately confesses to Liza), Kelsey is all about encouraging Liza to move on as well. If Lizas belated birthday drinks (she quietly turned 41 in the midst of the Kelsey-Liza Civil War) are any indication, Kelsey is very onboard with Liza dating men her own age. She takes her pal to a bar thats more Lizas speed or, as Lauren asks, Is this an assisted living facility? and Liza ends up chatting with a very handsome man named Diego. He lives in Connecticut, hes renovating an old bank in Brooklyn, hes got very well-developed forearms, and the next day, after he gives Liza a tour of that old bank, they end up in bed together. Oh, also, hes married. He comes clean after Liza tells him about her 27-year-old secret and everything-but-the-papers divorce. Diego doesnt see a difference between his lie and hers: Shes 27 at work, hes single in NYC. He isnt completely wrong. Diegos lie is much more morally icky, of course, but they are both lying to people they love. As hunky as Diego is, this seems way more complicated than Liza bargained for. Kelsey, too, is dealing with some romantic complications. Lachlan Flynn takes her up on her offer to discuss his future, only when she goes to meet him, its Zane who shows up. If there was such a thing as too many handsome men in one episode of television, this would be it. But there isnt, so keep them coming, Younger. The two get very flirty and as punishment for Kelsey trying to poach one of his authors, Zane invites her to a party that night. Ugh, Kelsey has to go on a fancy date with a fancy man who may be very sure of himself but is also a complete gentleman. KELSEYS LIFE IS SO HARD. In all seriousness, her life is about to get a little harder. She and Zane may be hitting it off, but shes getting texts from Lachlan who is still very much interested in her editorial services. Romantic entanglements abound! All these less-than-perfect dates with hunky men are exhausting, so its no surprise that at the end of the night, Liza walks in on Maggie, Kelsey, and Lauren whos nursing a broken heart from a major fight and apparent breakup with Max having a girls night on the sofa at the loft. Liza wastes no time hopping on that couch, snuggling with Kelsey (I KNOW, YOU GUYS), and sipping on one of Maggies margaritas. After all, thats what Younger is all about: Women coming together to take control of their lives. And also watch The Crown. Its Trout Season Dianas. Pink. Coat. I mean, Ive seen trumpet sleeves before but these are TRUMPET SLEEVES. You could fit an entire human inside of them. (Please let it be me.) I love that even though Liza gets a promotion, shes still asked to stay on as Dianas assistant. You cant break that dream team up. Oh, Diana. Upon hearing that Belindas last words were Men are just candy, her first reaction is Its a great book title. SHE ISNT WRONG. Please imagine Diana Trout actually sitting on Barbara Walterss lap. It brings endless enjoyment. A couple of fast-moving storm systems moved through the southwest end of Vernon County on Wednesday, July 12. Storms produced heavy rain and strong winds, resulting in downed power lines and minor crop damage. Heavy rain on Wednesday morning sent the banks of the Coon Creek overflowing in Coon Valley covering the walking path and reaching well into the park. Volunteers in Coon Valley were busy all week cleaning up the park in preparation for the 7th annual Coon Creek Trout Fest this Saturday, July 22. In Lower Chaseburg the county closed Hwy. 162 at 8 p.m. on Wednesday evening due to water over the bridge. Traffic was rerouted until the road was reopened on Thursday, July 13, at 5:30 a.m. Vernon Electric Cooperative had about 90 members lose power as a result of the storm early Wednesday evening. The majority of outages were in the Purdy, Red Mound, Genoa area, with several more in rural Viroqua and Westby. Several individual outages were also reported throughout the service area. Vernon Electric representative Dave Maxwell said most of the outages were caused by wind knocking tree limbs onto power lines and the majority of power was restored to Vernon Electric customers by 10:30 p.m. Wednesday evening. All service has since been restored. Vernon County Emergency Management Coordinator Chad Buros said the storm produced small hail, heavy rain and strong wind caused minor crop damage. There were also reports of flooded basements throughout the county. The Kickapoo River was near flood stage on Thursday, July 13. In Viola, the river was at 10.1 feet (flood stage, 14 feet) and at Readstown the river was at 9.76 feet, (flood stage, 11 feet). Buros said people need to keep a careful eye on the weather, which can change very quickly especially when heat and humidity are present. Western artists Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell did much to shape the publics imagination of the American West through their illustrations, paintings and sculpture, but they shouldnt be seen as mirror images, said Western art scholar B. Byron Price. Price, director of the University of Oklahomas Charles M. Russell Center for the Study of Art of the American West, will speak at the Mayborn Museum at 11 a.m. Thursday on Remington & Russell: Art of the Trail. His lecture, part of the 150th anniversary of the Chisholm Trail, also highlights the opening of the Mayborn Museums show Off the Range: The Art and Architecture of the Trail which features several Remington bronzes. This exhibit was made possible by a loan from the Texas Baptist Historical Collection in Waco. Remington and Russell are always considered the representative artists of the American West, particularly the Cowboy West. Theyre spoken so often as a set of bookends, but theyre really not, Price said. Price pointed out multiple differences between the two artists, though they shared a common interest in the Old West of the late 19th and early 20th century. The New York-born Remington lived primarily in the East, Russell, a St. Louis, Missouri, native, the West. Russell was an actual cowboy for 12 years while Remington, at best, was a sheep rancher for a short period. Russell was a self-taught artist. Remington took classes for awhile at Yale Art School. Remington was the better technician, but Russell had the spirit, the center director said. Ive been in a lot of ranch houses and bunk houses that had Russell prints on the wall, but none have had a Remington print. Russells Western roots may have aided that spirit. He was a descendant of William Bent, founder of the famous trading post Bents Fort in Colorado and likely heard Bents stories of cowboys and Native Americans whenever Bent and his traders passed through St. Louis, Missouri, on their visits to the East, Price said. Russells thousands of letters to friends and acquaintances, many illustrated in the margins, also capture much of his personality. His letters are choice . . . funny today and insightful, Price said. If the center director has a slight leaning toward Russell, its understandable: The center collaborated with the C.M. Russell Museum of Great Falls, Montana, to create a catalogue raisonne that documented every piece of art and illustrated correspondence that Russell created in his lifetime, some 4,000 items. The two western artists might have met during Russells visits to New York City, the first of which was in 1903, before Remingtons death in 1909. At that time, Russell was expanding his art into cast bronzes, a medium that proved one of Remingtons legacies in American art. Remington really brings a lot to the table (in his bronze work). In my opinion, thats where he made his greatest influence on American art, Price said. Remington had a gift of infusing motion into the metal, capturing the energy and movement of bronco busters and cowboy riders in his sculptures. As visitors to the Mayborns exhibit will see, the western artist also displayed an ability to achieve balance in his moving figures despite their weight. Remingtons bronzes show an aspect to western art that characterized the work of both men, telling stories with their images. That set them apart from their peers and has made their work so enduring, even if it sometimes lacks in accuracy, Price noted. When it comes to paintings and drawings of life on a cattle trail, much less the Chisholm Trail , neither artists works features many examples. Its more in Remingtons work than Russells, Price said. The Chisholm Trail was largely played out by Russells time. You dont find many paintings of the Trail. Welcome to my world where the hyphen between the words Italian and American is the bridge between espresso and Thanksgiving pumpkin pie, red wine and pit barbecue, the Amalfi Coast and Hilton Head Island, and with life in Georgia. There are lots of stories about my Italian n I am also an amateur tour guide. The Summer of 2015 I organized a Girls' Trip to Italy for 23 women to Rome and the Amalfi Coast. We had so much fun that we did it again in 2019 with 31 women, this time to Tuscany and northern Italy. Oh, and I wrote a book -- An Ocean, an Airplane, and Two Countries Full of Kisses. Check it out below ... onna. Dear reader, we're asking for your help to keep local reporting available for all. Your financial support keeps stories like this one free to read, instead of hidden behind paywalls. We believe when reliable local reporting is widely available, the entire community benefits. Thank you for investing in your neighborhood. Start your day with LAist Sign up for How To LA, delivered weekday mornings. Subscribe On Wednesday, state regulators cleared the way for the reopening of the notorious Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility, which was home to the largest accidental methane leak in U.S. history. The state's Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources and the California Public Utilities Commission ruled that the facility is safe "to operate and can reopen at a greatly reduced capacity.'' The facility, which is operated by Southern California Gas Co., is located in northwest San Fernando Valley near Porter Ranch. It was home to a massive natural gas leak beginning in October 2015 that forced thousands out of their homes and spewed 109,000 metric tons of methane into the air. The incident sickened many residents and "effectively doubl[ed] the methane emissions rate of the entire Los Angeles Basin," according to the L.A. Times. Governor Brown declared a state of emergency over the leak in January 2016. The leak was capped in February 2016, and the facility has been largely out of use since. The Daily News reports that activists have been working for more than a year to try and permanently shut down the gas wells. Wednesday's decision from the state's Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources will clear the way for the storage facility to reopen in a limited capacity. City News Service reports that it will be restricted to about 28% of its operating capacity, or "just enough to avoid energy disruptions in the Los Angeles area," according to California Public Utilities Commission Executive Director Timothy Sullivan. "While I am disappointed in the State's decision to resume operations at the Aliso Canyon Natural Gas Storage facility, I am encouraged that the CA Energy Commission will proceed with a plan to permanently close the facility within ten years," L.A. City Councilman Mitchell Englander, who represents many communities affected by the leak, said in a statement Wednesday evening. "The gas leak of 2015-16 was the largest in our nation's history and showed the danger of operating such facilities near residential areas. And while State regulatory agencies have taken steps to improve safety at the facility, the only way to ensure that history does not repeat itself is through permanent closure of the facility." County Supervisor Kathryn Barger also expressed her disappointment over the reopening. "The facility should remain closed until the root cause analysis and energy reliability study are completed and the health concerns of our impacted residents are fully addressed to the satisfaction of county health officials," she said in a statement. A McLennan County water district is seeking an injunction against Lehigh Cement Co. and alleges the business is improperly pumping millions of gallons of water from the Trinity Aquifer without necessary permits at its plant off Highway 84, not far from the Waco Regional Landfill. Officials from the Southern Trinity Groundwater Conservation District in Waco allege in a lawsuit filed this week in 414th State District Court that Lehigh Cement owes thousands of dollars for its water use over the past decade and possibly more in civil penalties for pumping water from a well without a permit from the district. The lawsuit asks Judge Vicki Menard to issue an injunction to block Lehigh from drawing water from a well on its property at 100 S. Wickson Road until the company obtains a permit. No hearing on the injunction request had been set as of Thursday. Calls to Lehigh Cement seeking comment on the lawsuit were not returned, and an employee declined to name the companys attorney. Water district general manager Scooter Radcliffe said he hopes the matter can be resolved without the need for an injunction. We are going to try to work with them the best way we can and try to get them to contact us so we can get this thing resolved as quickly as possible, Radcliffe said. The Texas Legislature created the Southern Trinity Groundwater Conservation District in 2007 to protect groundwater resources in the Trinity Aquifer and the Brazos Alluvium Aquifer. The district set up a permitting program to regulate the drilling, equipping, operating or completing of non-exempt water wells within the district. Its rules prohibit withdrawals of groundwater from non-exempt wells without a valid historic use production permit or non-historic use production permit from the district, the lawsuit says. The Texas Water Development Board notified the water district in March that Lehigh had been pumping groundwater from the Trinity Aquifer since before 2007. The boards records show Lehigh pumped about 57 million gallons in 2007, 36 million gallons in 2008, 37 million gallons in 2009, 56 million gallons in 2010 and 56 million gallons in 2011, 46 million gallons in 2012, 46 million gallons in 2013, 16 million gallons in 2014, 49 million gallons in 2015 and 8 million in 2016. The defendants have no permitted rights from the district to withdraw groundwater from the Trinity Aquifer from this well for industrial use, the suit alleges. Each day that defendants withdraw water from a well without authorization constitutes a separate violation of the districts rules. The district charges 3 cents per 1,000 gallons pumped, sometimes 4 cents or more, Radcliffe said. At the 3-cent rate, Lehigh would owe about $1,700 in groundwater production fees on 57 million gallons, he said. The suit also states Lehigh could be liable for civil penalties of between $100 and $10,000 for each violation and for each day of violation, plus attorneys fees. According to the suit, Radcliffe contacted Lehigh plant manager Tom Del Vecchio in early March after the state water board notified the district about Lehigh operating without a permit. Mr. Del Vecchio indicated he was unable to talk and that he would talk to Mr. Radcliffe after he returned to his office, the suit states. As of March 20, 2017, neither Mr. Del Vecchio nor any other representative of defendants had contacted the district. Radcliffe arranged to visit Lehigh on March 20. Employees told him the company has a well with a 75-horsepower motor that produces 147 gallons per minute. Mr. Del Vecchio told Mr. Radcliffe that he would send the matter up the chain and someone would contact him, the suit alleges. As of July 17, 2017, defendants had not contacted the district. During a demonstration in downtown Wacos Heritage Square, about 50 Waco Independent School District sixth- and seventh-graders held empty, decorated plates up high in silent solidarity and sweltering Texas heat Wednesday. The plates represent children facing food insecurity in the United States, about one in five children, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. After the gesture and a few speeches, row by row, the students took the empty plates and dumped them in a gray barrel labeled with black marker, 2018 Budget Plan. The students are part of the first Freedom School endorsed by Children Defense Fund in Waco and hosted by Baylor University. Wednesdays protest was part the funds National Day of Social Action, which encourages students to engage with a social justice issue, Freedom School site director Susan Duty said. The new summer programs goal is to teach students about civil rights though culturally relevant topics. The students marched from Heritage Square up Austin Avenue, then circled back to the square down Washington Avenue. Chanting and holding handmade signs, they were opposing a 2018 Congressional budget proposal that could cut money for programs that prevent childhood hunger, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Some of our students rely on these to be fed, and kids all across the country rely on this for sort of that basic necessity, Duty said. Part of the Children Defense Fund Freedom School message is that students feel empowered at the end of the summer. Most of these issues are relevant to their lives, and we want them to understand they are citizens now. It doesnt start when they turn 18. More than 78 percent of Waco ISDs 15,000 students are in the free lunch program, and about 7 percent are in the reduced-price lunch program, according to school district demographic data. All of the students who participated Wednesday go to Cesar Chavez Middle School. More than 85 percent of the 891 students at Cesar Chavez receive free or reduced-price lunches, according to district data. For some, this was their first protest. This march was one experience Ill never forget. I know I can cooperate with people when we really try and work together, Amiaha Jimenez, 11, said. I hope people learn from my speech that they can do anything and that they need to think about things from other peoples perspectives instead of just theirs. Karina Santacruz, whose son and nephew both marched in Wednesdays protest, said having children weigh in on social issues opens the door for them to make a difference for themselves and their peers. Its beautiful to see these kids come together for something so big and something that can really change the future for their generation, Santacruz said. No matter what goes on in their lives, I want them to walk away knowing they can make a change. As she watched her son and nephew walk back toward Heritage Square holding their signs against child hunger, she said her heart swelled with pride because she is constantly trying to teach them to stand up for whats right. These kids are not just at a camp or having fun, theyre actually doing work. They already knew about how one in five kids are going to bed hungry. They already knew things like food insecurity, said Craig Nash, the Texas Hunger Initiatives childhood hunger specialist, after the march. John H. Lovelace, Jr. Aug. 8, 1956 - July 17, 2017 John Henry Lovelace, Jr., 60, of Waco, died Monday morning, July 17, 2017, after a lengthy illness. John was an organ donor and donated his eyes to Donate Life Texas. A memorial service will be held 10:00 a.m., Friday, July 21, at Wilkirson-Hatch-Bailey Funeral Home, with the Rev. Greg Brumit officiating. John was born on August 8, 1956, to John Henry Lovelace, Sr. and Sally Sadler Lovelace. He attended Waco schools and graduated from Waco High School in 1974. John went on to become the owner of Turf N Trees, sharing his talents of landscaping with his customers. He also was a paramedic for Rural Metro Ambulance Company and was recognized with several awards, including Paramedic of the Year and the Bellmead Life Saver Award. John received his Associates in Applied Science degree in nursing, certified as a RN, and lovingly cared for critically ill patients at Hillcrest Medical Center for over 10 years. John was a member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church. On June 15, 1985, John married the love of his life, Ginger Ann Miller. Together they worked and served the Waco community through the Brazos River Festival, Cotton Palace Pageant, and the board of directors of The McCullough House. On December 27, 1990, they were blessed with their only child, John H. Lovelace, III, "Trae".John was passionate about hunting, shooting and raising champion Labrador Retrievers. He was a true outdoorsman, being a member of the Texas State Rifle Association, NRA, and numerous Waco gun clubs. The times he enjoyed the most were the hunting trips with Trae and showing his labs at Field Trial Hunt Tests around Texas. John's motto was: "You never can have too many guns or dogs." John was preceded in death by his parents, Sally and Henry Lovelace, Sr.; and his grandparents. Left to cherish his memory are his wife, Ginger; son, Trae; and a precious granddaughter, Lilly Grace Lovelace, who lovingly called him Papa. Survivors also include his mother-in-law and father-in-law, Barbara and Floyd Miller of Waco; sister, Sarah of Fredericksburg and her children, Shelby and Brandon; his brother-in-law, Ross Miller and wife, Suzanne, of Austin and their children, Mallory and Milam. The family requests that memorials be made to the McLennan County Pack of Hope at www.packofhope.org or the Waco Humane Society. The family invites you to leave a message or memory on our "Tribute Wall" at www.WHBfamily.com. Sandra Payne Morris, 68, of East Mountain, Texas, passed away Friday, July 14, 2017. Graveside services will be at 10:00 a.m., Friday, July 21, at Rosemound Cemetery, 3201 S. 12th St., Waco. The family will receive visitors 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., Thursday, July 20, at Pecan Grove Funeral Home, 3124 Robinson Drive, Waco. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabias hostile policies toward Yemen, Syria, Qatar and Iran are failing. The desert kingdoms broader strategy: a desperate attempt to erode the Islamic Republic of Irans growing power and influence over these domains and beyond. In a long history of intense religious rivalry, Saudi leadership seeks to choke Irans economy by steeply cutting its own oil output, hoping to complicate Irans overtures to international businesses. Oops, too late! The Iranian regime is excited about engagement with other countries following its 2015 nuclear agreement with the West. Asian and European companies are now investing in Irans energy sector, which promises high returns on investment. Irans oil minister, Bijan Namdar Zangeneh, says Iran is negotiating with BP, Russias Gazprom and Lukoil and Malaysias Petronas, among other international companies. Frances Total signed a $5 billion gas deal with Iran this month. I can assure you this isnt the last one. Well see other contracts being made within the next few weeks, Deputy Minister of Petroleum for International Affairs Amir Hossein Zamaninia said at a recent conference in Istanbul. He was referring to Austria, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Germany and Denmark, all of whom have expressed interest in investment opportunities in Iran. Denmark, for instance, proposed a $1 billion investment contribution to Irans development plans. Iran itself already stands to reap between 65 percent and 70 percent of the international investments, estimated at $200 billion so far. Thus, Saudi Arabias notion of snuffing Irans economy through oil prices is a failed one. Between petrochemicals and gas exports, Iran hopes to have a major impact on the global oil market. Irans oil-industry officials previously put total investments required in various sectors of the oil industry at $445 billion: $230 billion in oil, $130 billion in gas, $20 billion in refining and delivering oil products and $65 billion in the petrochemical industry. Mr. Zangenehs disclosure of these investments comes at a crucial time as the political landscape of the Middle East shifts faster and faster. And dont write off China and Russia, key supporters of Iran. Im certain Chinese and Russian companies will win lucrative contracts that ensure access to Irans oil and natural resources. Meanwhile, Iran is capitalizing economically on its growing influence in the region at the expanse of Saudi Arabias botched policies. To solidify its economic influence in the region, Iran aims to export its goods to its neighbors: Iraq, Pakistan, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. Iran already has engaged Turkey in negotiations regarding transfer of Iranian gas to Europe. I can see how a project such as this will benefit not only Iran but also Russia and Turkey. What Saudi leadership has failed to foresee is that the demand for gas is expected to grow in countries like China, India, Iran, the United States and even their own country. What of the much-debated prospect of sanctions on Iran? Unlikely! Someone forgot to tell Saudi decision-makers that Iran has about 18.2 percent of the worlds proven gas reserves, ahead of Russia and Qatar, according to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy. China and the Middle East are expected to lead the way in gas demand growth, 28 percent and 24 percent respectively, over the projected period to 2035, according to Cedigaz, a research group that specializes in the energy industry. Given Irans supply and the international communitys demand, widespread global sanctions against Iran simply wont happen. I agree with Foreign Affairs magazine: The Saudi royal family is licking its wounds after its disastrous, unrealistic and flat-out ill-conceived campaign against Qatar, where we have some 10,000 U.S. troops based. Qatar is forging economic ties with Iran and Turkey. One things sure: The regions geopolitics now play to Irans favor. Saudi rulers must accept that they cant force oil prices to return to pre-2014 levels of $120 per barrel. Thats a bygone era. Their plan to target Iran economically has flopped miserably, even given the Trump administrations implementation of some sanctions this week while also acknowledging Irans compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal. International corporations are seizing the opportunity to forge economic ties with Iran. What might happen when Chinas Silk Road project is completed? Will all roads lead to Tehran? Stay tuned. If you want to understand white evangelicalism in the Age of Trump, you need to know Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas. Jeffress is not a household name in the United States, known mainly in Southern Baptist circles. But he has recently gained national attention as a court evangelical my term for a Christian who, like the attendants and advisers who frequented the courts of monarchs, seeks influence through regular visits to the White House. Such court evangelicals are changing the religious landscape in the United States. The Trump presidency is only six months old, but it is already beginning to alter long-standing spiritual alignments. It seems as though Christians are not changing Trump, but rather that Trump could be changing Christianity. Historians will write about this moment in terms of both continuity and change. On one hand, court evangelicals are part of a familiar story. For nearly half a century, evangelicals have sought to influence the direction of the country and its laws through politics. But Trump has forced them to embrace a pragmatism that could damage the Gospel around the world and force many Christians to rethink their religious identities and affiliations. The court evangelicals have befriended Trump as a way to win his approval and advance their agenda of making the United States a Christian nation. If Trump believes in their agenda, he has done little to prove it. He does not attend church regularly and his references to Christianity are mostly scripted political talking points. The court evangelicals have largely turned a blind eye to Trumps indiscretions. When he recently made disparaging remarks about MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski, they were mostly silent. Only Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University, the largest Christian university in the world, made a public statement about the tweet. He told Fox News that when Trump hits them back on Twitter I actually appreciate that. Over the Fourth of July weekend, court evangelicalism was on full display in Washington during a Kennedy Center event honoring veterans. Sounding like a 17th-century Puritan delivering a jeremiad calling the new Israel back to its spiritual roots, Jeffress described Trump as a messianic figure whom God had raised up to save the United States from spiritual ruin. Jeffress said, but in the midst of that despair came November the 8th, 2016, and that day . . . God declared that the people, not the pollsters, were going to choose the next president of the United States. Historians trace the court evangelical phenomenon to the early 1970s when popular evangelist Billy Graham remained loyal to President Richard Nixon, to quote biographer Grant Wacker, long after most Americans smelled a rat. When Nixon resigned in shame, Graham was embarrassed. He admitted that Nixons magnetism clouded his judgment. In 1993, Graham urged young evangelists to avoid his mistake. In the 1980s, Ronald Reagan appealed to evangelical concerns about big government, the threat of communism and legalized abortion. Christian political movements such as the Moral Majority and the Christian Coalition educated an entire generation of evangelicals to believe that Christian political engagement was tied solely to electing Republican politicians and controlling the Supreme Court. Very few evangelicals criticized these efforts to advance a Christian agenda through politics; those who did could not compete with the economic prosperity and Cold War victories that Reagan delivered. But some who rode this wave of evangelical political power had a hard time sleeping at night. In 1999, two architects of the Moral Majority Michigan pastor Ed Dobson and syndicated columnist Cal Thomas published Blinded by Might: Can the Religious Right Save America? As they reflected on 20 years of their own political activism, Dobson and Thomas concluded that the movement to change the world through politics had failed. All that was left in the wake of a generation of political crusading was a cast of characters who had succumbed to the aphrodisiac of power and had sacrificed their spiritual authority in the process. Around the time Dobson and Thomas published their book, the Christian Right was mobilizing against the many infidelities of Bill Clinton. James Dobson (no relation to Ed), a popular radio host known best for founding the Colorado Springs ministry Focus on the Family, chided Clinton for his adulterous affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky and argued forcefully, in a September 1998 letter to supporters, that Clinton did not deserve evangelical support because he was a liar, immoral, lacking in character and motivated by raw political power. But the court evangelicals allegiance to Trump is taking them into a new and dangerous place. Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush (who famously claimed that Jesus was his favorite philosopher) had their flaws, but they were both men of character who possessed a respect for the history and integrity of the office of president. When they were tested Reagan in the fight against communism, Bush during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 they responded with moral courage and leadership for the whole country. Trump is different. His campaign and presidency has shed light on a troubling wing of American evangelicalism willing to embrace nationalism, populism, fear of outsiders and anger. The leaders of this wing trade their evangelical witness for a mess of political pottage and a Supreme Court nomination. Not all evangelicals are on board, of course. Most black evangelicals are horrified by Trumps failure to understand their history and his willingness to serve as a hero of the alt-right movement. The 20 percent of white evangelicals who did not vote for Trump many of whom are actually conservative politically and theologically now seem to have a lot more in common with mainline Protestants. Some in my own circles have expressed a desire to leave their evangelical churches in search of a more authentic form of Christianity. Other evangelicals are experiencing a crisis of faith as they look around in their white congregations on Sunday morning and realize that so many fellow Christians were willing to turn a blind eye to all that Trump represents. If the court evangelicals were students of history, they have learned the wrong lesson from evangelical political engagement of the 1970s and 1980s. Trumps presidency with its tweets and promises of power requires evangelical leaders to speak truth to power, not to be seduced by it. Landfill ideas I read with interest our mayor discuss the process of expanding and selecting future landfills for our thriving city [Running out of both space and time, Kyle Deaver, Sunday]. While only having been a resident of Waco for about four months, I am very familiar with the growth in Waco, living in what seems a perpetual road and housing construction zone, near North River Crossing CR 185 and China Spring Road FM 1637. I was once on a town council (Huachuca City, Arizona) from March 1992 till November 2000. We had a landfill a mere two blocks from the town hall. It grew and grew and eventually started blocking mountain views to the east. We started looking at our options. We explored waste-to-energy plants and even waste converted to fuel pellets or briquettes. There was even a clean-burning technology that converted trash to a fuel oil called carbonized fuel slurry. This would be burned in steam boilers, with the steam then being run through a turbine generator to make electricity. Flash forward to 2008 when I was working in the Energy and Utilities branch of Army HQ and I had a chance to tour a waste-to-energy plant in Alexandria, Virginia, run by a company called Covanta. And for the past seven years I worked for the U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory as the renewable energy application researcher in Energy Branch. In that position I worked with wind energy, solar energy and waste-to-energy projects. I saw Army posts seriously work in these areas. The first large-scale solar energy (photo-voltaic or PV) project was a 2-megawatt system installed over a closed landfill at Fort Carson, Colorado, about 10 years ago. Now many PV systems on closed landfills exist all over the United States. So before the City of Waco gets on the bus to Abilene (is that Kansas or Texas?) and focuses on landfills (bigger, better and more), maybe it should look at some alternatives. Im sure Covanta could figure out a way to turn your existing and older landfills into energy plants. And that is a lot of land for PV or even small wind systems. Arbor Wind makes a nice 60-kilowatt Darius Vertical axis machine well suited for urban areas (quiet and bird-friendly). And there are probably many companies that would produce a solid fuel system from garbage. So what brought me to Waco? A position with Aramark as senior energy manager for Baylor University. Food for thought. Bill Stein, Waco Pack off the kids! Finally I can agree with Republican Congressman Bill Flores about something: President Trump needs to pack up all of his kids, including his son-in-law Jared Kushner, and get them completely out of the White House. We did not elect his son, his daughter or his son-in-law and they only seem to be making further problems and headaches for the Trump administration! John Cawthron Sr., McGregor WAHOO The waiting game begins for Howard Hanson fans, now that hearings for the next entry to the Nebraska Hall of Fame are complete. Public hearings in David City, Omaha and Holdrege were held in July, and testimony was given in support of the 12 nominees for the hall of fame. Supporters Jerry Johnson, Saunders County Historical Society Board Member Mary Bergan, Dr. Larry Erickson and Eric Bachenberg all attended the first meeting July 12 in David City. Bergan said there were 12 Hanson supporters at the first meeting. Johnson said there were five presentations given at the David City meeting and two of them were for Hanson. Erickson gave a rousing speech that induced applause at its conclusion and Bachenberg used his 10-minute presentation to play the panel of Hall of Fame commission members a portion of Hansons Pulitzer Prize winning symphony, Johnson said. The first hearing had a good showing of support and the group felt encouraged after the hearing, he added. Bergan also presented letters of support for Hansons nomination from Don Johnson, retired Nebraska Music Educators president and Scott Watkins, associate professor of music at Jacksonville University in Florida. For the July 13 hearing at the Mormon Trail Center at Historic Winter Quarters in Omaha, Bergan made a short presentation. She said her short speech to the commission members was about the Hanson House, which is his birthplace that still stands in Wahoo. Johnson gave a presentation to the commission on July 19 at his hometown of Holdrege. Johnson said his emphasis would be on Hansons leadership in regard to a major change in music education at the time. Hanson won the Pulitzer Prize in 1944 for one of symphonies and was the director of the famed Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y. The wait will not be long for Hanson fans, as the Nebraska Hall of Fame Commission will make their decision about the hall on Aug. 2 at the State Capitol. No more than one person can be added to the Nebraska Hall of Fame every five years. A bust commemorating the person chosen for the Nebraska Hall of Fame will be placed in the State Capitol in 2019 after a sculptor is appointed in 2018. . WAVERLY Kayla Pracht and Brandon Unverferth both described their European tour as exciting and one that they will never forget. It is also one that they encourage other young musicians to take part if its ever offered to them. Pracht from Waverly High School and Unverferth from Raymond Central High School recently spoke about their experience with the Voyageur's International Ambassadors of Music tour that took them to six European countries and performing in four of them. Joining Pracht from Waverly were Garrett Wells, MacKenzie Post, Bentley Tonniges and Caleb Giesler. They all performed in the band with Giesler also singing with the choir. Unverferth was joined by Ellen Dexter. Both of them played in the band. Voyageur's International has been sponsoring music tours for 47 years, taking trips to Europe every other year. This year, 252 Nebraskans were in the tour group which consisted of 17 in a string ensemble, 120 in the choir, 138 in the band all accompanied by 26 staff and 43 family members. Students were nominated to take part in the tour by their high school band director. We all met at Henderson for a meeting, Pracht said. That is where we learned where we were going, what we were going to do, and how much it would cost. I wanted to go right away as it sounded exciting, Unverferth said. I always wanted to go to Europe and it was really cool. But before they left, students met for two days in Fremont and rehearsed. They left June 2 and toured in England, France, Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria and Italy. We played concerts in Watford, England, Crans-Montana, Switzerland, Seefeld, Austria, and Rothenberg, Germany she said. They were gone just over two weeks, she said. We had day trips to Italy, France and Liechtenstein. She added that she met a lot of band students while on the trip, but the Waverly students stayed pretty close together. We were never scared, Pracht said. But we were told to keep in groups of four or five and to always be aware of our surroundings. And we had no problem. Unverferth said that the band played mostly marches, which were well received by those attending. We even got a standing ovation after we played Stars and Stripes at one of the concerts, Pracht said. Her favorite place they visited was in London. Its just a real cool town, she said. Lots of old architecture, they spoke the same language and they just went about their day like we werent there. The other countries they had to carry cards with basic phases written on them such as hello, goodbye and wheres the toilet, she said. Unverferth said his favorite place was Switzerland. Its a beautiful country. I could have spent my whole time there. Both agreed that it was a trip well worth it. If a band or vocal student has the opportunity to go, they should, Unverferth said. This content is expired! Unfortunely this content is expired and cannot be viewed anymore; if You are the owner of this content please login to our Website, go to our access panel and enable this content again. A Rome subway driver is currently under investigation for causing bodily harm and violating health and safety procedures after a passenger was caught in the doors of a Metro B train and dragged along the platform of the capital's central Termini station on the evening of 12 July. Rome prosecutors have been consulting technical data from the train as well as studying footage of the incident which allegedly shows the driver eating in the cabin moments before checking the rear-view mirrors and departing the station without realising a passenger was stuck in the doors. Commuters rushed to the assistance of 43-year-old Belarusian Natalya Garkovich who suffered multiple fractures after being dragged the length of the platform before apparently being released at the start of the tunnel after passengers managed to force open the doors. Prosecutors are also investigating whether lack of maintenance contributed to the apparent failure of the train's alarm system as well as the possible malfunctioning of the doors, which are supposed to be equipped with sensors to detect obstruction. The driver, who did not learn of the situation until the next subway stop at Cavour, says he is "devastated" but insists he was "not reckless". His colleagues described him as an "experienced and responsible driver" to Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera. Located in the Colle Oppio district, this sprawling outdoor venue is divided into several sections including a Caribbean bar, healing area and a stage for live art performances. Against a backdrop of sitar music and incense, Voodoo Bar has a chilled-out atmosphere, offering cocktails and tropical street food, as well as yoga and meditation sessions. Only at Oshkosh! Anyone whos been to AirVenture Oshkosh is familiar with the phrase, but it so often proves true. The event is so prestigious that it has an almost unique ability to bring together rare and amazing aircraft in combinations impossible to arrange anywhere else. This year is no exception. First of all, we are going to see two B-29 Superfortresses flying together for the first time in four decades when Doc takes to the skies with FIFI. There is also the 75th anniversary celebration for the 8th Air Force on Saturday, July 29th. This should see the three current strategic bomber types in the US Air Force inventory; a B-1, B-2, and B-52 fly in formation for the first time at a civilian air show. A stream of warbird bombers, including the B-29s, a pair of B-17s, up to a dozen B-25s and an A-20 will follow closely behind this amazing sight! But of similar importance, WarbirdsNews can also confirm that three P-63 Kingcobras will join a P-39 Airacobra in the air at AirVenture this year, something likely not seen since the days of the Cleveland Air Races back in the late 1940s! Thanks to sponsorship from BELL Helicopter, the efforts of pilot Mark Todd, Tim Savage and Warbird Digest, and yes, us here at WarbirdsNews, this historic flight will take place. The P-63s scheduled to appear are the CAF Dixie Wings recently restored P-63A, John Bagleys P-63C-5 and the Kingcobra from the CAF P-63F Sponsor Group. The P-39Q belongs to the CAF Central Texas Wing. The CAF Dixie Wings P-63A 42-68941, wearing authentic markings from its time as a test aircraft with NACA, will also perform a heritage flight with a current NASA Northrop T-38. The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was the predecessor of todays NASA, which makes this flight so significant. Bell Aircraft initially used the CAFs P-63A as a test platform, but transferred her to NACA in January 1945 for use in a series aerodynamics tests. This unique Kingcobra flew again for the first time in forty years this past February 18th, following a sixteen year restoration involving many thousand hours of volunteer labor. The Bell P-63C-5 Kingcobra is owned and operated by John Bagley as part of the Legacy Flight Museum in Rexburg, ID. This is a magnificently restored aircraft, and won Grand Champion Warbird at Oshkosh in 1998 when owned by former Apollo 8 commander Frank Borman. The CAF P-63F Sponsor Groups Kingcobra also underwent a recent rebuild, though far less demanding than the CAFs P-63A. She made her first post-restoration flight on April 14th, 2016 near Houston, Texas. This Kingcobra, serial 43-11719, is unique and one of just two P-63Fs ever built. The CAF Central Texas Wings P-39Q is one of only two flying Aeracobras in the world. The CAF CenTex Wing recently added new nose art to the little fighter. The left side has Big D stenciled on it, while the right side has a red Pegasus motif. Captain Jack Ogilvie, a native of Dallas, Texas flew a P-39 with these markings in North Africa during WWII. Jack Ogilvie visited with the CAF unit at their Wings Over Dallas air show last year, which prompted the nose art change in his honor. As the current program stands, the Cobras should be flying together on several different days during AirVenture 2017, but please be sure to check the EAAs daily program published during the event, as schedules can sometimes change with very little notice. The flight of FOUR Cobras flying together is something which is sure to impress and something you will likely Only see at Oshkosh! EDITOR'S NOTE: The High Court overturned Cardinal George Pell's conviction for historic child sex offences in a judgment handed down April 7, 2020. In a unanimous decision all seven High Court judges found Victoria's Court of Appeal should not have upheld Pell's conviction It found the evidence could not support a guilty verdict. Cardinal George Pell will keep his honorary role at AFL club Richmond as he faces sex offence charges. Cardinal George Pell. Credit:AP Tigers chief executive Brendon Gale has released a statement, confirming Cardinal Pell still has strong links to the club. Pell signed with the Tigers in the late '50s, but did not play for them in the then-VFL before he joined the priesthood. Melbourne small forward Jeff Garlett is in doubt for Saturday's clash with Port Adelaide after returning home to Western Australia to deal with a family bereavement. Garlett is believed to have travelled straight to WA from Darwin after Saturday night's loss to Adelaide. Jeff Garlett of Melbourne. Credit:Getty Images The club is unsure exactly when Garlett will return to Melbourne, but the Demons will allow him to take as much time as he needs. The jokes started as soon as the media alert landed in inboxes at lunchtime on Tuesday. Greens senator Larissa Waters would make an "important announcement" at 1.30pm - the exact same wording as Scott Ludlam's career-ending "important announcement" the Friday before. Surely lightning couldn't strike twice, could it? Then again, the wags noted, Waters was born in Canada ... ha ha ha. But the guffaws turned to sheer amazement when the senator fronted cameras outside Queensland Parliament House in Brisbane. With her baby daughter and partner watching on, Waters fought back tears as she apologised that after checking her situation in the wake of the Ludlam snafu, she had learned she was an unwitting dual citizen, too. Section 44 of the Constitution had struck again. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton is confident the Manus Island detention centre will close in October, despite only 70 refugees having been processed for resettlement. Mr Dutton, who will soon take responsibility for a newly announced super portfolio overseeing Australia's domestic security, said he would close the centre "tomorrow" but was at the mercy of an American timetable. An agreement was struck between Australia and the United States in the dying days of the Obama administration to resettle up to 1250 of the asylum seekers detained on the island. Tony Abbott has revealed he was advised against the creation of a new British-style Home Affairs ministry when he was prime minister and implied his successor Malcolm Turnbull should produce any new advice supporting the "massive bureaucratic change". Mr Abbott, who has just returned from a week-long holiday in Croatia, took to the airwaves on Wednesday to criticise the creation of the super-ministry, which won't be in operation until next year. In an interview with 2GB's Ben Fordham, Mr Abbott said the same idea was put to his government but officials advised against it. "The advice back then was that we didn't need the kind of massive bureaucratic change which it seems the prime minister has in mind," he said. Engineers at the Massachussetts Institute of Technology in Boston have designed a robotic furniture system that can maximise space in small apartments. They've called it Ori Systems, inspired by origami, the Japanese art of paper folding. With millions of people living in cities, we need a new way of designing for smaller spaces, explained Ori Systems co-founder Hasier Larrea. Now you see it, now you don't. Robotic furniture transforms a room at the touch of a button. "Ori is at the convergence of two macro trends, mass urbanisation and the digitalisation of the physical world," he said. "This system tackles the three biggest challenges that studio renters are facing: lack of a separate space, lack of a proper living area or dining area, and lack of storage." A woman found dead in the shower at a Melbourne city buck's party was an Australian soldier. The Australian Defence Force on Wednesday confirmed the 20-year-old woman from Western Australia was a member of the army. But questions remain about how she came to meet the 11-man buck's group, who had booked out a room on the 10th floor of CBD hotel Oaks on Market. It is believed the woman, who was wearing a black long-sleeved top, blue denim shorts and white runners, returned to the hotel room with the men on Saturday night. Several members of the group had been partying at a King Street nightclub. Fears are held for a Melbourne hiker who has yet to return from a trek on a dangerous track in British Columbia. Sophie Dowsley, 34, and Canadian boyfriend Greg Tiffin, 44, have not been seen since their hiking day trip to Statlu Lake on July 8. Melbourne woman Sophie Dowsley, 34 and Greg Tiffin, 44, are missing in Canada. Investigators believe the couple were last seen on Saturday at a business in Harrison Hot Springs. However, when they didn't show up for work on Monday, authorities were called. A man has been charged with sexually assaulting two girls in the South West of WA almost 30 years ago. Police allege the 47-year-old man sexually assaulted the two girls, who were aged 13 and 15 at the time, in Balingup, Bridgetown, Greenbushes, Hester and North Greenbushes. Man, 47, has been charged with sexually assaulting two girls in the South West of WA. It's alleged the man befriended the families of the girls before he abused them. The Greenbushes man originally appeared in the Bunbury Magistrates court on June 1 charged with two counts of aggravated indecent assault and one count of sexual penetration of a person under the age of 16 without consent. 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27 (4) Feb 26 (1) Feb 25 (1) Feb 24 (2) Feb 23 (2) Feb 22 (4) Feb 21 (2) Feb 20 (2) Feb 19 (2) Feb 18 (2) Feb 17 (2) Feb 16 (2) Feb 15 (1) Feb 14 (1) Feb 13 (1) Feb 12 (2) Feb 11 (1) Feb 10 (2) Feb 09 (1) Feb 08 (1) Feb 07 (1) Feb 06 (1) Feb 05 (5) Feb 03 (1) Feb 02 (1) Feb 01 (1) Jan 31 (4) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (4) Jan 28 (2) Jan 27 (5) Jan 26 (5) Jan 25 (5) Jan 24 (3) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (4) Jan 21 (3) Jan 20 (3) Jan 19 (4) Jan 18 (3) Jan 17 (2) Jan 16 (4) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (5) Jan 13 (5) Jan 12 (5) Jan 11 (4) Jan 10 (3) Jan 09 (5) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (4) Jan 06 (3) Jan 05 (4) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (6) Jan 02 (3) Jan 01 (4) Dec 31 (4) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (5) Dec 28 (5) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (4) Dec 24 (1) Dec 23 (4) Dec 22 (3) Dec 21 (5) Dec 20 (5) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (4) Dec 17 (5) Dec 16 (4) Dec 15 (6) Dec 14 (4) Dec 13 (4) Dec 12 (5) Dec 11 (5) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (5) Dec 08 (4) Dec 07 (4) Dec 06 (5) Dec 05 (4) Dec 04 (4) Dec 03 (4) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (3) Nov 30 (4) Nov 29 (4) Nov 28 (5) Nov 27 (4) Nov 26 (4) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (5) Nov 23 (4) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (4) Nov 20 (4) Nov 19 (5) Nov 18 (4) Nov 17 (4) Nov 16 (3) Nov 15 (5) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (4) Nov 12 (4) Nov 11 (4) Nov 10 (3) Nov 09 (3) Nov 08 (3) Nov 07 (4) Nov 06 (4) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (3) Nov 03 (2) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (3) Oct 30 (4) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (4) Oct 27 (3) Oct 26 (3) Oct 25 (3) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (3) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (3) Oct 20 (3) Oct 19 (3) Oct 18 (3) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (4) Oct 15 (5) Oct 14 (3) Oct 13 (6) Oct 12 (4) Oct 11 (4) Oct 10 (3) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (3) Oct 07 (3) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (4) Oct 04 (3) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (3) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (3) Sep 29 (3) Sep 28 (3) Sep 27 (3) Sep 26 (5) Sep 25 (5) Sep 24 (4) Sep 23 (5) Sep 22 (4) Sep 21 (4) Sep 20 (5) Sep 19 (4) Sep 18 (5) Sep 17 (5) Sep 16 (4) Sep 15 (5) Sep 14 (4) Sep 13 (3) Sep 12 (6) Sep 11 (6) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (4) Sep 08 (3) Sep 07 (3) Sep 06 (3) Sep 05 (4) Sep 04 (4) Sep 03 (3) Sep 02 (3) Sep 01 (4) Aug 31 (3) Aug 30 (3) Aug 29 (4) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (4) Aug 26 (3) Aug 25 (4) Aug 24 (4) Aug 23 (3) Aug 22 (3) Aug 21 (3) Aug 20 (5) Aug 19 (4) Aug 18 (3) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (5) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (3) Aug 12 (4) Aug 11 (3) Aug 10 (3) Aug 09 (4) Aug 08 (2) Aug 07 (2) Aug 06 (2) Aug 05 (2) Aug 04 (2) Aug 03 (3) Aug 02 (4) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (2) Jul 30 (5) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (3) Jul 27 (3) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (6) Jul 24 (3) Jul 23 (4) Jul 22 (4) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (4) Jul 18 (4) Jul 17 (4) Jul 16 (4) Jul 15 (5) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (4) Jul 12 (4) Jul 11 (5) Jul 10 (5) Jul 09 (2) Jul 08 (2) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (2) Jul 05 (2) Jul 04 (3) Jul 03 (4) Jul 02 (5) Jul 01 (3) Jun 30 (2) Jun 29 (3) Jun 28 (4) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (5) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (5) Jun 23 (3) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (2) Jun 20 (4) Jun 19 (3) Jun 18 (3) Jun 17 (1) Jun 16 (5) Jun 15 (5) Jun 14 (2) Jun 13 (5) Jun 12 (4) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (2) Jun 09 (2) Jun 08 (2) Jun 07 (2) Jun 06 (2) Jun 05 (2) Jun 04 (2) Jun 03 (2) Jun 02 (4) Jun 01 (3) May 31 (4) May 30 (5) May 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27 (3) Feb 26 (3) Feb 25 (3) Feb 24 (4) Feb 23 (4) Feb 22 (3) Feb 21 (4) Feb 20 (4) Feb 19 (3) Feb 18 (3) Feb 17 (3) Feb 16 (5) Feb 15 (4) Feb 14 (3) Feb 13 (4) Feb 12 (3) Feb 11 (3) Feb 10 (4) Feb 09 (4) Feb 08 (3) Feb 07 (4) Feb 06 (3) Feb 05 (3) Feb 04 (3) Feb 03 (5) Feb 02 (4) Feb 01 (3) Jan 31 (3) Jan 30 (3) Jan 29 (4) Jan 28 (3) Jan 27 (2) Jan 26 (4) Jan 25 (3) Jan 24 (5) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (4) Jan 21 (3) Jan 20 (3) Jan 19 (6) Jan 18 (4) Jan 17 (3) Jan 16 (4) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (4) Jan 13 (3) Jan 12 (6) Jan 11 (4) Jan 10 (4) Jan 09 (3) Jan 08 (4) Jan 07 (3) Jan 06 (4) Jan 05 (3) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (5) Jan 02 (4) Jan 01 (3) Dec 31 (2) Dec 30 (2) Dec 29 (2) Dec 28 (3) Dec 27 (3) Dec 26 (2) Dec 25 (2) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (3) Dec 22 (3) Dec 21 (3) Dec 20 (4) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (5) Dec 17 (3) Dec 16 (3) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (2) Dec 11 (6) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (4) Dec 08 (6) Dec 07 (5) Dec 06 (3) Dec 05 (3) Dec 04 (4) Dec 03 (3) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (4) Nov 30 (2) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (3) Nov 27 (2) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (5) Nov 24 (4) Nov 23 (6) Nov 22 (5) Nov 21 (4) Nov 20 (2) Nov 19 (5) Nov 18 (7) Nov 17 (5) Nov 16 (4) Nov 15 (6) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (4) Nov 11 (3) Nov 10 (3) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (3) Nov 07 (2) Nov 06 (2) Nov 05 (2) Nov 04 (4) Nov 03 (4) Nov 02 (4) Nov 01 (2) Oct 31 (3) Oct 30 (4) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (2) Oct 27 (3) Oct 26 (3) Oct 25 (2) Oct 24 (2) Oct 23 (2) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (2) Oct 20 (3) Oct 19 (3) Oct 18 (2) Oct 17 (2) Oct 16 (2) Oct 15 (2) Oct 14 (4) Oct 13 (2) Oct 12 (3) Oct 11 (2) Oct 10 (2) Oct 09 (4) Oct 08 (4) Oct 07 (4) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (4) Oct 04 (5) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (6) Oct 01 (6) Sep 30 (5) Sep 29 (3) Sep 28 (3) Sep 27 (7) Sep 26 (4) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (5) Sep 23 (8) Sep 22 (3) Sep 21 (3) Sep 20 (6) Sep 19 (3) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (5) Sep 16 (7) Sep 15 (3) Sep 14 (4) Sep 13 (3) Sep 12 (5) Sep 11 (5) Sep 10 (5) Sep 09 (7) Sep 08 (5) Sep 07 (2) Sep 06 (7) Sep 05 (4) Sep 04 (4) Sep 03 (2) Sep 02 (2) Sep 01 (2) Aug 31 (3) Aug 30 (3) Aug 29 (3) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (3) Aug 26 (4) Aug 25 (3) Aug 24 (3) Aug 23 (3) Aug 22 (4) Aug 21 (4) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (4) Aug 18 (3) Aug 17 (2) Aug 16 (2) Aug 15 (5) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (5) Aug 12 (10) Aug 11 (5) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (5) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (6) Aug 05 (5) Aug 04 (5) Aug 03 (3) Aug 02 (5) Aug 01 (7) Jul 31 (5) Jul 30 (4) Jul 29 (4) Jul 28 (3) Jul 27 (3) Jul 26 (5) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (5) Jul 23 (5) Jul 22 (7) Jul 21 (5) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (5) Jul 18 (6) Jul 17 (5) Jul 16 (5) Jul 15 (6) Jul 14 (4) Jul 13 (3) Jul 12 (2) Jul 11 (2) Jul 10 (2) Jul 09 (2) Jul 08 (2) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (2) Jul 05 (2) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (3) Jul 02 (2) Jul 01 (8) Jun 30 (6) Jun 29 (4) Jun 28 (6) Jun 27 (6) Jun 26 (6) Jun 25 (6) Jun 24 (6) Jun 23 (4) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (4) Jun 19 (5) Jun 18 (8) Jun 17 (6) Jun 16 (5) Jun 15 (5) Jun 14 (5) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (4) Jun 11 (6) Jun 10 (4) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (5) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (3) Jun 05 (3) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (3) Jun 02 (3) Jun 01 (4) May 31 (2) May 30 (2) May 29 (2) May 28 (2) May 27 (4) May 26 (4) May 25 (3) May 24 (2) May 23 (2) May 22 (3) May 21 (5) May 20 (4) May 19 (2) May 18 (3) May 17 (3) May 16 (3) May 15 (4) May 14 (5) May 13 (3) May 12 (4) May 11 (3) May 10 (4) May 09 (4) May 08 (4) May 07 (3) May 06 (2) May 05 (3) May 04 (4) May 03 (2) May 02 (3) May 01 (3) Apr 30 (3) Apr 29 (4) Apr 28 (2) Apr 27 (3) Apr 26 (4) Apr 25 (2) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (2) Apr 22 (2) Apr 21 (4) Apr 20 (4) Apr 19 (5) Apr 18 (7) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (10) Apr 15 (5) Apr 14 (3) Apr 13 (4) Apr 12 (5) Apr 11 (4) Apr 10 (4) Apr 09 (7) Apr 08 (4) Apr 07 (7) Apr 06 (4) Apr 05 (7) Apr 04 (5) Apr 03 (4) Apr 02 (5) Apr 01 (5) Mar 31 (5) Mar 30 (5) Mar 29 (7) Mar 28 (6) Mar 27 (5) Mar 26 (5) Mar 25 (6) Mar 24 (5) Mar 23 (5) Mar 22 (5) Mar 21 (4) Mar 20 (3) Mar 19 (6) Mar 18 (6) Mar 17 (2) Mar 16 (4) Mar 15 (5) Mar 14 (4) Mar 13 (5) Mar 12 (5) Mar 11 (4) Mar 10 (4) Mar 09 (2) Mar 08 (5) Mar 07 (4) Mar 06 (3) Mar 05 (4) Mar 04 (6) Mar 03 (4) Mar 02 (4) Mar 01 (5) Feb 28 (6) Feb 27 (4) Feb 26 (4) Feb 25 (6) Feb 24 (2) Feb 23 (3) Feb 22 (4) Feb 21 (6) Feb 20 (2) Feb 19 (6) Feb 18 (4) Feb 17 (2) Feb 16 (3) Feb 15 (6) Feb 14 (6) Feb 13 (6) Feb 12 (9) Feb 11 (5) Feb 10 (3) Feb 09 (4) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (7) Feb 06 (3) Feb 05 (4) Feb 04 (5) Feb 03 (4) Feb 02 (3) Feb 01 (3) Jan 31 (4) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (3) Jan 28 (2) Jan 27 (2) Jan 26 (3) Jan 25 (4) Jan 24 (4) Jan 23 (2) Jan 22 (2) Jan 21 (5) Jan 20 (4) Jan 19 (5) Jan 18 (4) Jan 17 (4) Jan 16 (3) Jan 15 (4) Jan 14 (3) Jan 13 (3) Jan 12 (3) Jan 11 (2) Jan 10 (8) Jan 09 (6) Jan 08 (2) Jan 07 (2) Jan 06 (3) Jan 05 (2) Jan 04 (2) Jan 03 (2) Jan 02 (2) Jan 01 (2) Dec 31 (2) Dec 30 (3) Dec 29 (3) Dec 28 (3) Dec 27 (2) Dec 26 (2) Dec 25 (2) Dec 24 (2) Dec 23 (2) Dec 22 (2) Dec 21 (2) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (2) Dec 18 (3) Dec 17 (2) Dec 16 (2) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (2) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (3) Dec 10 (5) Dec 09 (3) Dec 08 (3) Dec 07 (2) Dec 06 (3) Dec 05 (3) Dec 04 (5) Dec 03 (4) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (3) Nov 30 (4) Nov 29 (4) Nov 28 (2) Nov 27 (2) Nov 26 (2) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (2) Nov 23 (2) Nov 22 (2) Nov 21 (2) Nov 20 (3) Nov 19 (3) Nov 18 (2) Nov 17 (2) Nov 16 (5) Nov 15 (5) Nov 14 (4) Nov 13 (2) Nov 12 (2) Nov 11 (2) Nov 10 (2) Nov 09 (2) Nov 08 (2) Nov 07 (3) Nov 06 (6) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (5) Nov 03 (5) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (5) Oct 31 (7) Oct 30 (5) Oct 29 (4) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (2) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (4) Oct 24 (4) Oct 23 (4) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (2) Oct 20 (3) Oct 19 (2) Oct 18 (2) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (5) Oct 15 (4) Oct 14 (2) Oct 13 (2) Oct 12 (4) Oct 11 (5) Oct 10 (4) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (3) Oct 07 (3) Oct 06 (2) Oct 05 (5) Oct 04 (5) Oct 03 (4) Oct 02 (4) Oct 01 (5) Sep 30 (2) Sep 29 (2) Sep 28 (3) Sep 27 (6) Sep 26 (2) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (3) Sep 23 (2) Sep 22 (2) Sep 21 (2) Sep 20 (2) Sep 19 (3) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (3) Sep 16 (2) Sep 15 (4) Sep 14 (3) Sep 13 (5) Sep 12 (4) Sep 11 (6) Sep 10 (2) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (5) Sep 07 (5) Sep 06 (4) Sep 05 (4) Sep 04 (3) Sep 03 (2) Sep 02 (3) Sep 01 (3) Aug 31 (2) Aug 30 (2) Aug 29 (3) Aug 28 (6) Aug 27 (3) Aug 26 (2) Aug 25 (2) Aug 24 (3) Aug 23 (2) Aug 22 (3) Aug 21 (5) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (3) Aug 18 (2) Aug 17 (5) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (5) Aug 13 (2) Aug 12 (2) Aug 11 (2) Aug 10 (2) Aug 09 (2) Aug 08 (5) Aug 07 (5) Aug 06 (6) Aug 05 (2) Aug 04 (5) Aug 03 (2) Aug 02 (3) Aug 01 (2) Jul 31 (4) Jul 30 (2) Jul 29 (2) Jul 28 (2) Jul 27 (2) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (2) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (2) Jul 21 (3) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (2) Jul 18 (3) Jul 17 (4) Jul 16 (5) Jul 15 (2) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (2) Jul 12 (3) Jul 11 (2) Jul 10 (2) Jul 09 (2) Jul 08 (2) Jul 07 (2) Jul 06 (2) Jul 05 (2) Jul 04 (2) Jul 03 (2) Jul 02 (2) Jul 01 (3) Jun 30 (3) Jun 29 (7) Jun 28 (3) Jun 27 (2) Jun 26 (3) Jun 25 (1) Jun 24 (2) Jun 23 (3) Jun 22 (5) Jun 21 (3) Jun 20 (2) Jun 19 (2) Jun 18 (2) Jun 17 (2) Jun 16 (2) Jun 15 (2) Jun 14 (2) Jun 13 (3) Jun 12 (3) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (2) Jun 09 (4) Jun 08 (2) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (5) Jun 05 (3) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (2) Jun 02 (2) Jun 01 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(1) Mar 30 (1) Mar 27 (1) Mar 25 (1) Mar 22 (2) Mar 19 (1) Mar 18 (1) Mar 16 (1) Mar 15 (2) Mar 13 (1) Mar 12 (1) Mar 11 (1) Mar 10 (1) Four region teams look to advance tonight in football playoffs Advertisement By Adam Morton Jul. 19, 2017 | PADUCAH, KY By Adam Morton Jul. 19, 2017 | 03:14 PM | PADUCAH, KY On Wednesday, the Hope Unlimited Family Care Center hosted a neighborhood block party at their Paducah location. The center located at 1101 Jefferson Street offered free hot dogs, face painting, and a bouncy house. Paducah Bank's Wow Wagon handed out free ice cream and Julia Waddell provided balloon animals for the kids. Hope Unlimited Development Director Anne Bidwell said they had been discussing the idea for a block party for a while. "We have a big open backyard, and it's been a dream for a long time for us to open that up and just have a block party for all of our neighbors." Bidwell said. Bidwell noted that the party was a great way for the community to get connected. Nicole Farley is the Executive Director of Hope Unlimited and says Wednesday's event is exactly what they had imagined. "I think it was exactly what our prayer was and that was just to show our community and our neighborhood that we really love them," Farley said. Farley said they want to be known as a family care center. She said they will help families with any need they may have. "Our purpose is to really help families to move from just surviving to truly thriving." She added. Bidwell mentioned that the center has several services including pregnancy tests, and a clinic offering medical services. They also provide parenting classes. It's not only women's services that are offered at the Hope Unlimited Family Care center, said Family Resource Director Derek Waddell. Waddell said, "Anything that really has to do with the mens' side of what Hope Unlimited does that falls under my category." some of those programs include fatherhood programs, and Jobs for life programs. Hope Unlimited also offers a pornography addiction recovery program. Hope Unlimited Family Care is a non-profit organization that serves families with children under 18, offering many services for all. All services are funded by donations from the community. They also operate a store offering clothing and other items at thrift store prices. All proceeds are put back into the Hope Unlimited Center. Hope Family Center is open 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Thursday. There is a 24 hour drop box at the location, For more info call 270-442-1166. Hope Unlimited thanks the partners that helped with the block party. They are Parker's Drive in, Coca-Cola, First Baptist Church, and Broadway United Methodist Church. By West Kentucky Star Staff Jul. 19, 2017 | 09:38 PM | MAYFIELD, KY Two people face drug and gun charges following a traffic stop in Mayfield Wednesday. According to the Graves County Sheriff's Office, deputies stopped a vehicle for a moving violation on Commonwealth Drive. The vehicle was occupied by 21-year-old Daniel Crump and 21-year-old Jasmine Seay. During a search of the vehicle, police found guns, knives, drugs, drug paraphernalia, ammunition, and ski masks. Crump and Seay were arrested and taken to the Graves County Jail. Inside the jail, Seay was searched and deputies found a pipe that reportedly tested positive for methamphetamine. Crump was charged with failure to wear a seat belt, carrying a concealed deadly weapon, possession of a handgun by a convicted felon, possession of a controlled substance, possession of cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia. Seay was charged with failure to wear a seat belt, carrying a concealed deadly weapon, possession of a controlled substance, possession of methamphetamine, possession of cocaine, possession of drug paraphernalia, tampering with physical evidence and promoting contraband. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 20/07/2017 (1941 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The Manitoba government says it will cover the cost of the abortion pill Mifegymiso when administered in specified health-care facilities. Rochelle Squires, minister responsible for the status of women, said Thursday that Manitoba has added the drug to the provinces formulary. Two locations in Winnipeg the Womens Clinic and Health Sciences Centre and one in Brandon that currently provide surgical abortions, will be allowed to offer medical abortions using Mifegymiso free of charge to clients. PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Doctors at other locations will be able to administer the drug after undergoing a six-hour training program. However, women may have to pay some or all of the cost, unless they are are on social assistance. Today were not talking about expanding the service (abortion); were talking about enhancing the choices (between medical and surgical abortion), Squires said in an interview. What you can appreciate is our government didnt want to be compelling other institutions or regions or even doctors to be providing and expanding abortion coverage, she said. Health Canada requires physicians to take a six-hour online course before prescribing Mifegymiso to patients. The specific site of care, in a clinic, rural community or urban centre, will be determined as the number of physicians trained to provide this treatment increases, Squires said. Mifegymiso will be an eligible benefit through pharmacare. Women who choose to access the drug through a family physician or specialist will not have to pay for the drug if they have reached their Manitoba pharmacare deductible, Squires said. Once the drug is a pharmacare benefit, women on Employment and Income Assistance will have access to treatment at no cost, she said. In March, the first medical abortion in Manitoba using Mifegymiso was performed at Health Sciences Centre. The drug was approved for use by Health Canada two years ago. Mifegymiso consists of a pack of six pills, with two mifepristone tablets to be taken under doctor supervision and four misoprostol tablets to be taken at home the next day. A prescription costs $350. The Manitoba NDP had been calling on the province to make the drug available to women across the province at no charge. NDP MLA Nahanni Fontaine said the government has failed to take into account the needs of women and girls living in The North. Theyve created a two-tiered accessibility plan for Manitoba women, she said. I want to see it fully paid for regardless of whether or not you have pharmacare, regardless of whether or not you are on social assistance. If you are a Manitoba woman or girl and you choose to have an abortion, and you want to have access to the abortion pill, you should be able to access that totally free. Four other provinces are already doing that, Fontaine said. Alberta is set to join Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick as the provinces that will cover the cost of the drug and make it readily available. Fontaine accused the Pallister government of having a poor record on womens health, citing the closure of the Mature Womens Centre and the firing of lactation consultants at the Womens Hospital. Mifegymiso is listed by the World Health Organization as an essential medicine, she said, and the Pallister government should be doing more to make it generally available. This pill can be a game changer for women, but it is beyond the scope of many doctors and clinics, particularly those in rural and remote communities, to stock and dispense this essential medicine, she said. Meanwhile, Squires said the province will review its policies regarding Mifegymiso in six months time. larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 20/07/2017 (1941 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Despite the laments of Premier Brian Pallister and other premiers, Ottawa is firm on its deadline: Canadians will be able to legally use recreational marijuana on July 1. Health Minister Jane Philpott said in Winnipeg on Thursday that civil servants across Canada are already preparing for legalization and there will not be an extension, as requested by Pallister. He has been adamant that the deadline will come before Manitoba can be ready to cover all the health, justice, safety, sale and production issues that need to be met. It was a campaign commitment of our government, Philpott said. We are always interested in collaboration. "We did not speak about any deadlines" on the health-care accord, federal Health Minister Philpott said. (Wayne Glowacki / Winnipeg Free Press) At the officials level, theres a tremendous amount of background work being done. Asked about Manitobas refusal to sign to the federal health accord, Philpott said she has given the order to direct hundreds of millions of dollars to Canadas provinces and territories for improved home care and mental health services to everywhere but Manitoba. However, she said she has not given Manitoba a deadline to join the accord or risk losing this years share of $11 billion in funding for mental health and home care over the next 10 years. Philpott met Thursday with Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen but not with Premier Brian Pallister, who said recently he can go forever without signing what he contends is a bad health-care deal for Manitobans. While she wouldnt detail what aspects of legalizing marijuana she discussed with Goertzen, she said Ottawa is concerned about keeping cannabis out of the hands of kids and the profits out of the hands of criminals. On Wednesday, premiers from across Canada laid out five issues for the federal government to clarify, such as enforcement and taxes, in order for provinces to stick to the July 1 deadline to legalize marijuana. Pallister had led the charge for an extension. The federal Conservatives said Thursday that the premiers were right to push for more time, because the Liberals hadnt laid out a specific pot plan in their election platform. We now have legal questions from our premiers, we have implementation questions, and the Liberals refuse to even entertain any of those discussions, said federal Tory leader Andrew Scheer. Its just another troubling sign that theyre not actually working in a collaborative manner; that theyre not working in partnership with different levels of government. Scheer also agreed with Pallisters comments Wednesday, that legalizing marijuana amid NAFTA renegotiations could threaten the trade deal. I think its fair to say that anything could become an issue, Scheer said. They dont have a plan to make sure that that doesnt affect the negotiations. "I think it's fair to say that anything could become an issue": Tory leader Andrew Scheer. (Sean Kilpatrick / The Canadian Press files) Speaking about the health-care accord, Philpott said she has already signed off on distributing the money in very short order everywhere in Canada other than Manitoba. Weve very recently come to a common understanding with all of the other provinces and territories on how the framework around the types of projects in mental health and home care theyre going to be doing, and we have proceeded with instructions for how this money is to begin to flow, Philpott said. We are always open to good conversations, and I had a great conversation with Minister Goertzen that touched on this, and we will continue to have a dialogue, and always keep the health needs of Manitobans and all Canadians at the forefront, Philpott told reporters. We did not speak about any deadlines, Philpott said. Philpott said that she and Goertzen talked about diabetes and opioid issues here, but would not say whether she offered funding Thursday as an incentive to get Manitoba to sign the accord. We didnt discuss any specifics, she said. Goertzen told the Free Press that he met with Philpott for 45 minutes, but wont disclose what he characterized as private talks. Manitoba is the last holdout to sign what Ottawa calls a health accord Pallister wont use the word accord because he says no negotiations have taken place. Im not signing on to it because its dangerous for health care, dangerous for Manitobans, the premier told reporters at the end of June. We can go forever because its a bad deal, a dangerous deal. Provincial health minister Kelvin Goertzen: tight-lipped on conversation with federal counterpart. (John Woods / Winnipeg Free Press) Earlier this spring, Pallister said he was prepared to sign on to the accord if Ottawa gave Manitoba additional money for Indigenous health care, particularly to combat diabetes and kidney disease, and if the federal government guaranteed it would proceed with the factory of the future research facility in Winnipeg. Pallister later said he also wanted additional federal money to deal with the opioid crisis. Even if Pallister wont sign, Manitoba will still receive its share of a three per cent increase in federal health transfer payments. Pallister says Manitoba needs double that from Ottawa to meet Manitobans health care needs. with files from Larry Kusch, Dylan Robertson nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 20/07/2017 (1941 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A recent arrival from the Philippines, Jake Madula was like a little kid in the candy shop when talking about the life he was going to build for his family in Russell. Madulas life ended tragically on Monday in a single-vehicle rollover near Rossburn. In the wake of the 36-year-olds death, friends and co-workers are remembering Madulas dedication to his loved ones and his fun-loving spirit, while hoping to raise money so his body can be repatriated to the Philippines. Supplied Jake Madula, who died in a single-vehicle rollover Monday, with his wife Emely and their five-year-old son JM. His family back home, that was his dream, Elmer Pimentel said. The friends, both Filipinos, once lived in the same house in Russell, where Madula often spoke of his family and his excitement of bringing them to Canada. Pimentel got to watch them interact when Madulas wife, Emely, and son, JM, 5, moved to Russell after Madula became a permanent resident. Jake is really a wonderful person, he said. Hes a good father to his son and a good provider to his family. Madula worked a number of side jobs to ensure his family was taken care of, said Christine Diores, a friend who also grew up in the Philippines. He worked hard for his family. That was his dream, to bring his family over here and build a life, she said. Madula arrived in Canada in June 2013 as a foreign worker, employed at the Russell Inn as a carpenter. More recently, he was a contractor and was about to start a part-time job at a bee farm. He took the lead on the work site, said Mike Stasiuk, construction foreman at the Russell Inn. If there was something that needed to be done, he took charge, he said. He was the real spirit on the crew. Police said Madula died when he was ejected from a vehicle on a gravel road near Rossburn, roughly 140 kilometres northwest of Brandon, at 12:40 p.m. on Monday. According to a friend, Madula jumped out of the truck as it veered off-course and the other three occupants remained inside. One passenger received minor injuries and the driver and another passenger were not hurt. Several locations in Russell are seeking donations on behalf of the family to pay for repatriation and other expenses. A GoFundMe account has also been established (gofundme.com/help-us-bring-jake-home). Brandon Sun Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 20/07/2017 (1941 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Arlen Dumass first task at Manitobas newly elected grand chief is to remind Canadas Prime Minister and provincial premiers that First Nations are equal partners in Confederation and expect to be treated better. Im going to use that support and that confidence I have with my colleagues and move very strongly towards developing meaningful ways for us to collaborate federally and provincially, said Dumas during a phone call from Thompson Thursday. Dumas was elected Wednesday in a landslide vote on an unprecedented first ballot by chiefs who represent more than 12 per cent of Manitobas population. JESSICA BURTNICK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Mathias Colomb Cree Nation Chief Arlen Dumas was elected grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Wednesday. I think the election signals an opportunity and a time for change, Dumas said of his victory. He won 33 out of 54 votes at the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs election in Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation in Nelson House, located 80 kilometres north of Thompson. Dumas succeeds Pine Creek chief Derek Nepinak, who served two terms before announcing he would not take any more titles in the colonial system. Dumas praised his predecessor for leading during troubled times. You have to keep in mind Grand Chief Nepinak survived the Harper years and the villainization of our chiefs during that era, Dumas said referring to the friction and outright animosity between Canadas First Nations and the former federal Conservative government led by Stephen Harper. Movements such as Idle No More were born out of that tension and contributed to the growth of a grassroots form of activism through social media that altered the face of indigenous politics in Canada. Dumas is the first chief from a remote, isolated First Nation to be elected to the top AMC post, which traditionally alternates between Manitobas 63 southern and northern chiefs. He has been the long-time chief of Mathias Colomb Cree Nation at Pukatwagan, 700 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, and is widely respected among environmentalist and Indigenous-rights advocates in Canada for asserting Indigenous land rights. Dumas said hell be using his mandate to solidify unity among Manitobas Indigenous leaders and to draw the attention of his federal and provincial counterparts to long-standing poverty-related issues. Canada consistently ranks as one of the worlds top countries when it comes to standards of living, but First Nations are nearly always ranked near the bottom alongside Third World countries using the same statistical yardsticks. The new grand chiefs first task is to put the countrys non-Indigenous leaders on notice that its in everyones interest to even out the standards. I want to send a letter to all the federal and provincial ministers informing them that I am the grand chief and I have this support, and they need to start preparing and become ready to a accept that opportunity to work with us in a meaningful way, Dumas said. Im not asking for anything. Im demanding it, and I feel I have the mandate from the chiefs to do it. Chiefs are overwhelmed by socio-economic issues in their communities and feel hamstrung by federal and province funding and policy restraints which prevent efforts to raise living standards, he said. We have to acknowledge the work chiefs have done. Theyre inundated with issues and they havent had people working with them on the federal and provincial level who have the same initiative, Dumas said. He was careful to use language that levelled the playing field and emphasized equality between First Nations and other levels of government. I challenge my colleagues out there, whether theyre federal or provincial ministers, to really take a look at it (their relationships with First Nations), Dumas said. His assertions struck the same note of dissatisfaction the countrys Indigenous leaders expressed earlier this week about their relationships with federal and provincial levels of government. Were not just another special interest group, Assembly of First Nations national chief Perry Bellegarde told reporters while explaining why he and the other top two Indigenous leaders in the country boycotted a session set aside for them separately at the premiers meeting in Edmonton. As leaders we say we need to help with youth suicide, with overcrowding, with all these things. Well if were not (getting it), we need to take an analysis on whats impeding that. Unfortunately, there are stagnant bureaucracies that need adjusting to ensure our governments are able to serve their constituents the way theyre meant to, Dumas said, adding hell use his three-year term to be be visible and on the ground. His first visit will be the Peguis commemoration of the Selkirk Treaty Friday. I want to make every effort to support our chiefs and our communities and draw attention to issues, celebrate our people and good things we have, and also draw attention to the things we need to work on, he said. alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 20/07/2017 (1941 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. OTTAWA Churchills mayor is inviting the prime minister to visit the cut-off northern community after gas prices jumped to $2.33 a litre Thursday and further enraged town residents. Omnitrax, which owns the towns port and rail line, later said the price hike was a mistake. Rail service to the town was shut down May 24, cutting off ground transportation in and out of Churchill, whose 900 residents must now rely on costly air shipments of food and supplies. JOE STOVER PHOTO Two photos of a gas pump in Churchill on July 20, 2017 show gas rising to $2.33/litre before dropping to the normal $1.70/litre rate in the afternoon, after a mistake by Omnitrax led to a sudden price hike for the cut-off town. July 20, 2017 Omnitrax shut down the port a year ago, cancelling grain shipments and laying off 100 workers. But Churchills biggest price hike happened Thursday morning, as gas prices soared 63 cents a litre. Mayor Michael Spence said it was mind-boggling given that Omnitrax said last week it still had 200,000 litres of fuel inventory in Churchill. Omnitrax said the price jump was an error. It released a statement through a Toronto public relations firm, Edelman, Thursday afternoon. The notification of the new price, which was determined based upon the current methodology of pricing new fuel received into inventory, was released automatically. This was an error, and we apologize for any confusion and frustration it may have caused the people of Churchill. The price increase has been reversed, the statement said. The company said it received 300,000 litres of fuel July 13 through an emergency marine fuel supply operation that cost roughly 30 per cent more than its last rail shipment. While the price was corrected by Thursday afternoon, Spence said it speaks to how the company has treated the town. On Tuesday, Omnitrax said it wouldnt fund the $20 million to $60 million in repairs needed on the rail line because its not economically viable. We cant continue to be the hostage of Omnitrax. This is not acceptable, and it shouldnt be happening in Canada, he said. Churchill resident Joe Stover worked his last shift at the port in October 2015. With no full-time work, hes watched living costs rise, and was alarmed last month when grocery shelves started to become empty. If they had to raise the price because it costs more to ship in, I suppose I understand, he said. But it doesnt make it easier on people theyre sick and tired of paying ridiculous prices. Stover said the price jump sparked rumours gas will hit $4 per litre. Everything that has to do with this company seems to be confusing. You never know with them. Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister said Wednesday the federal government needs a plan for the rail line and port, before Manitoba decides whether to chip in for repairs. The federal Conservatives echoed Pallisters remarks Thursday, and noted that both levels of government have already given Omnitrax millions of dollars to maintain the line. I know that it can be a bit difficult, because this cant just be sustained through taxpayers dollars; it has to be a sustainable track, said Manitoba Tory MP Candice Bergen. Tory Leader Andrew Scheer said remote, northern communities usually need extra government help, but there has to be a sustainable path where its not a long-term burden on the taxpayer to assist a private company. Spence said both governments should copy Quebecs Plan Nord, a multi-year economic plan for mining, tourism and energy. He plans to invite Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to Churchill to see the plight of its residents and the potential of the Arctic gateway. There has been speculation Trudeau will visit Winnipeg during the Canada Summer Games in Winnipeg, which take place from July 28 to Aug. 13. Trudeaus spokesman said Thursday he cant confirm the prime ministers schedule for next week. As for Stover, he said friends who live in southern Manitoba often express sympathy for the towns troubles, but he said theyre also losing their northern gateway. Churchill belongs to all Manitobans. dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 19/07/2017 (1942 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. OTTAWA Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister says hes waiting for Ottawa to decide on the future of the Port of Churchill, before choosing whether to pay for repairs to the rail line that has cut off the northern community for eight weeks. Both the rail line and port are owned by Omnitrax, a Denver-based company that refused Tuesday to pay $20 million to $60 million to repair the rail line. Speaking with reporters Wednesday in Edmonton, Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister said he wouldnt respond to Omnitrax, which has received millions in federal and provincial funds. Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister speaks at a press conference during the Council of Federation meetings in Edmonton Alta, on Tuesday July 18, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson Omnitraxs enthusiasm for running the rail line, to put it mildly, has worn thin, said Pallister. That being said were acting in good faith to work with them, to make sure that we give them every opportunity to fulfill the requirements of the contracts theyve signed. Rail service was shut down on May 24, cutting off ground transportation in and out of Churchill, a town of 900 people now relying on costly air shipments of food and other supplies. Omnitrax has said the severely damaged track on the Hudson Bay Railway is not economically viable, raising suspicions the company is seeking a bailout. The company also closed the Port of Churchill last August after grain exporters grew wary of the rail lines multiple issues. Pallister said Wednesday he wont commit to anything regarding the rail line, until the federal government decides on the future of the towns port. To have a discussion around one without talking about the other is not going to be productive, he said. The premier said hed written twice to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau seeking clarity on how Ottawa plans to proceed. A spokeswoman for federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau said Wednesday that Omnitrax is still under legal obligations to operate the rail line and Port of Churchill, because it accepted federal funds. A July 2008 agreement saw Ottawa give $20 million to refurbish the rail line, and another $4.1 million in 2012 for the Port of Churchill, which Omnitrax closed last August. Under the 2008 agreement, Omnitrax cannot significantly reduce, discontinue, abandon the [rail] line, wrote Delphine Denis. The company is bound by the terms and conditions set out under both agreements. Pallister said Wednesday he isnt yet considering putting Omnitrax in default of the millions the province has provided in recent years. Although there is no commercial business plan to back it up, a consensus is growing in the North that any solution going forward that does not include Omnitrax is the most preferred one. Omnitrax chief commercial officer Peter Touesnard said efforts to sell the rail line have been put on hold since flooding damage halted service between Gillam and Churchill in late May. Although talks have been going on for more than a year to sell the railroad and the Port of Churchill to Missinippi Rail Consortium, led by Mathias Colomb First Nation chief Arlen Dumas, no real progress has been made. (Dumas was elected grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs on Wednesday. It is not clear how that will impact efforts by Missinippi to acquire the assets from Omnitrax.) Another consortium of Northern First Nations and communities interested in making a pitch led by Mike Spence, the mayor of Churchill and Christian Sinclair, the chief of Opaskwayak Cree Nation, called One North, is still in the process of putting its business plan together. After Omnitrax provided a lengthy technical briefing on Tuesday, Ted Bland, chief of York Factory First Nation and Spence both expressed their desire to see the railroad carry on with new ownership and management. Spence said that the companys exhaustive technical analysis of the flood damage on Tuesday was probably done as means to leverage a government buy out, which Spence has been advocating for for some time. Bland said, I think they (Omnitrax) want to force the government to do the work or provide the funding. I dont think there is any commitment on Omnitraxs behalf to put any new dollars in. They basically stated that. I think its time for them to hand it over. They should step aside and give the opportunity to another company and let them operate it. There is no real interest from them to do it. The company sent a vague statement Wednesday: We will provide updates on our discussions with government and other stakeholders as events warrant, wrote Hilary Sloan, from the Toronto public-relations firm Edelman. The areas NDP member of Parliament, Niki Ashton, said it was offensive for Omnitrax to say the line was not viable, and repeated previous calls to nationalize the rail line. This is an American company that has benefitted from public funds time and time again. They have been all too happy to make their profits while letting the rail line and Port fall into disrepair, Ashton wrote. This fiasco underscores the need for the federal government to step in and show leadership on behalf of our North and Canada. The repairs must be prioritized. Churchills Liberal MLA, Judy Klassen has requested an emergency meeting with Pallister. Its unacceptable and downright unfair to subject residents to soaring food prices, fuel shortages and job losses, she wrote in a statement. dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 20/07/2017 (1941 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. OTTAWA Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister has convinced his fellow premiers to push Ottawa for clarity on marijuana legalization and to ask for an extension if the federal government doesnt answer their questions. At the premiers annual summer meeting Wednesday in Edmonton, Pallister pushed for an extension on the federal Liberals commitment to legalize recreational pot by Canada Day 2018. The prime minister wants to stick to his deadline. Thats super-duper, Pallister said. He needs to then hear what the premiers of his country, our country, have said we need help with. Jason Franson / THE CANADIAN PRESS Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister speaks during the final press conference at the Council of Federation meetings in Edmonton Alta, on Wednesday. Alberta Premier Rachel Notley listed five issues she said need to be addressed in order for the provinces to get on-board with legalization: road safety and enforcement, preparation and training on distribution, taxation, public education, and supply and demand and how that might affect the black market. Premiers around this table agreed that should the federal government not engage adequately on these issues, we will need more time to implement the federal governments decision, Notley said. Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne said the issues are critical. The starting point is: Have we met the public safety concerns? Are we sure that we have the provisions in place to protect youth (and) do we understand what the highway traffic implications are? she said. We have to make sure that we can keep people safe. The federal plan would have provinces decide how to sell marijuana, where it will be allowed and what the minimum buyers age should be. Last month, the Liberals said theyd make marijuana available for purchase by mail if provinces such as Manitoba didnt have rules in place by the deadline. While Pallister had pushed for a year-long extension for this monumental undertaking, Notley didnt say how much time the provinces would seek if they request a deadline. The premiers have struck a working group to seek answers from Ottawa and to provide recommendations by November on how to move forward. Pallister said all the leaders have concerns about legalized cannabis that need to be addressed and we have one chance to get it right. Later, in a conference call with reporters, he said it was dangerous to legalize pot while the U.S. starts renegotiation the North American Free Trade Agreement. A trade impact with the United States seems to be self-evident. I would think there wouldnt be a worse time to rush into legalizing marijuana, Pallister said. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was asked Wednesday at a stop in Quebec City if there is any flexibility to the July 1 deadline. He replied the goal is still to have the law passed by next summer. We are continuing to work with the provinces to make sure the framework will be in place a soon as possible. Trudeau said right now young people have easy access to marijuana when they shouldnt and criminals and streets gangs are making millions through illegal sales. We need to put an end to this policy that does not work, he said. We are continuing to work with the provinces to make sure the framework will be in place as soon as possible. The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police on Wednesday concluded a national conference in Montreal where president Mario Harel warned that organized crime wont simply withdraw from the marijuana market when recreational cannabis becomes legal. Harel said extra funds will be needed for equipment and to train officers to detect drug-impaired drivers. Pallister said he was also pleased the premiers pushed Trudeau to come up with a plan to deal with asylum-seekers crossing the U.S. border near towns such as Emerson. with files from The Canadian Press dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 19/07/2017 (1942 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The last time Nofa Mihlo Rafo saw her son was on Aug. 3, 2014. Emad Mishko Tamo was only nine years old, sobbing and reaching out for his mother when ISIS militants captured and separated them as the pair attempted to escape the besieged town of Sinjar in northern Iraq, where thousands of Yazidi men, women and children were murdered or abducted. For nearly three years, Mihlo Rafo who came to Winnipeg along with four of her children in January as government-sponsored Yazidi refugees knew nothing of Emads whereabouts. He was captured and imprisoned, but Mihlo Rafo had no way of knowing whether her son was dead or alive. WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Nofa Mihlo Rafo with her children from left, Maher, Rebar, Vian and Eman in Winnipeg. The Yazidi refugee family was recently sponsored by the government to begin a new life here was contacted last week by a cousin who spotted one of her two missing sons on social media after he was freed from IS. Then, on Sunday, she spoke to him on the phone. Emad had been liberated from ISIS capture by Iraqi forces in Mosul, where theyve been fighting since October, and a picture of him, face dirty and cut, arms covered with dust, began to circulate across social media. Within hours of the photos posting, Mihlo Rafo heard Emads voice again. Hed been shot in the arm in June and was cut by shrapnel in the right side of his stomach, but received medical treatment in a refugee camp in Dohuk, a safe place in Kurdistan compared to Sinjar or Mosul. A video of Emad in the hospital shows him telling his mom that hes OK, and in another, Emad says in Kurdish, Take me to Canada to my mom. At first, Mihlo Rafo couldnt believe her son survived. Though there was always hope theyd be reunited, the information came as a shock. I thank God hes still alive, Mihlo Rafo, 38, said through a translator on Wednesday. Talking to him was an emotional experience, especially given all she, her family and her people have already lost. For two years, Mihlo Rafo was imprisoned and made a sex slave by militants. She was beaten mercilessly and hit in the head and she still has no clue where her husband, along with one other son, is. They lost their home, their family and any sense of security in their home country. When Iraqi forces bombed the ISIS prison camp she and others were kept in, dust rose up and blinded her for six hours. Mihlo Rafos voice is raspy, still affected by the smoke. Over 200 people were held in that prison, Mihlo Rafo said, and inmates barely saw sunlight in the horrendous conditions. Thankfully, she was able to get to Canada safely with four of her children not long after. Now, in their apartment at IRCOM House, a newcomer housing project in the West End, Mihlo Rafo is pleading for the governments assistance in bringing Emad to Winnipeg. Her four children, some of whom including three-year-old Rebar were barely old enough to have known Emad. Rebar was only six months old when the family was forced from home. They cant wait to reunite, Mihlo Rafo said. Hell be playing with them again. The Yazidi Association of Manitoba, the Kurdish Initiative for Refugees and Winnipeg Friends of Israel are urging the government to bring Emad to Winnipeg. Steven Maman, the founder of the Liberation of Christian and Yazidi Children of Iraq (CYCI), has been instrumental in the campaign. CYCI has assisted thousands of Yazidi people in Iraq since 2014. SUPPLIED Nofa Mihlo Rafo's son Emad. The Yazidi refugee family was recently sponsored by the government to begin a new life here was contacted last week by a cousin who spotted one of her two missing sons on social media after he was freed from IS. We will help financially and raise awareness to get the government to expedite the process, Maman said. Hadji Hesso of the Yazidi Association said hes sent Mihlo Rafos story to every MP in Manitoba in hopes of inspiring them to take action. Its amazing hes alive, but there are so many thousands who arent or are being held by ISIS militants, said Hesso, who arrived in Manitoba as a refugee in 2000. Mihlo Rafo is thankful for the assistance the governments already given her family, but desperately wants her son to come to Winnipeg. Emads injuries make talking on the phone a challenge, but it was clear to Mihlo Rafo just how much he misses her and his siblings. After all this time, at least I heard his voice, Mihlo Rafo said. Its a sound Mihlo Rafo wasnt sure shed ever hear again. ben.waldman@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 19/07/2017 (1942 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. An aptly named Lord Selkirk Sugar Maple tree has been planted at city hall to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Selkirk Treaty. Two-hundred years after their ancestors signed the treaty, which allowed the Selkirk Settlers to live and farm within two miles of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, the current Lord Selkirk and Brokenhead Ojibwa Nation Chief Jim Bear joined Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman Wednesday to help plant the tree. Its a story of peace and partnership between the First Nations and the newcomers to this land, Bowman said. What a beautiful symbol of peace and partnership. JUSTIN SAMANSKI-LANGILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Peguis Coun. Glennis Sutherland, Brokenhead Chief Jim Bear, Lord Selkirk James Alexander Douglas-Hamilton and Mayor of Winnipeg Brian Bowman help to unveil the Lord Selkirk Sugar Maple Wednesday at city hall. Bear, a descendant of Chief Peguis, said the treaty enabled the settlers to share First Nations land and to live in peaceful co-existence with the First Nation people. The current Lord Selkirk, James Alexander Douglas-Hamilton, said when his ancestor signed the treaty with Chief Peguis and four other Indigenous chiefs, it was the first treaty in what would become Western Canada. It gave the Selkirk Settlers an excellent opportunity to survive in this land, he said. Without their help, the settlers may well have perished. Kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 20/07/2017 (1941 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. If you think Winnipeg has seemed more parliamentary in recent days, youd be correct. The Peg was the host for two conferences gathering parliamentarians from around the globe over the last week. The first was the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians, composed of female parliamentarians of the provincial and territorial legislatures and the federal parliament. The second was the Canadian Region Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Conference, hosted by the Manitoba legislative assembly, which began Tuesday and runs until today. This conference covers a range of topics such as heckling, Indigenous topics, mental health and working with the media. Jacques Boissinot / The Canadian Press Files Quebec MNA Catherine Fournier (centre) is escorted to her seat by Parti Quebecois Leader Jean-Francois Lisee and party whip Carole Poirier at the legislature in Quebec City. There were MLAs, MPPs, MPs and MNAs from across Canada at both conferences, which also included international delegates from as far away as the Turks and Caicos. At both sessions, the importance of having the elected representatives reflect the diversity of the people they represent was discussed. For years, the typical elected official was white, male, middle-aged and either a lawyer or a businessman. We now see younger faces, more women, more Indigenous people, more people of colour and abilities. Its a good change, and opens up the echo chamber to more voices. In short, some progress has occurred, but its slow and has been marked by leaps forward and steps back. Sandy Mayzell wants to ensure progress is maintained by including boys in discussions about the importance of female representation as a human right. Shes a filmmaker from Victoria, B.C., who has created new curriculum for teachers to be implemented in grades five to eight. It teaches the importance of women in Canadian history and allows students both male and female the opportunity to research the importance of women in the growth of Canada. As Mayzell suggests, Canadian students need to know that women have been, and continue to be, instrumental in building this country, because if you look for us in the history books, youd be hard pressed to find many of us there. Nowadays, awareness of the Famous Five is growing but theres a long way to go, she said, referring to the five female activists, including Nellie McClung, who pioneered Canadian womens rights in the 1880s and 90s. Mayzell piloted her curriculum in five Victoria schools and after five years of fine-tuning its now available for all teachers in Canada, online at dancingbackwards.ca. Mayzell believes that if boys dont see women in positions of power, then they also cant understand the importance of womens contributions and cant be allies in gender equality as a human right. Mayzell is correct. Boys need to be allies for girls, and for men to be allies for women is important (and conversely, women need to be allies for men.) It works in board rooms as much as it works in politics. Every time a man interrupts a woman, takes credit for her work, or relies on sexist tropes to demean her, another man is in the background allowing it to happen. On Tuesday, the focus at the conference was on millennials and how to ensure that more young people are represented in politics. On that panel was Catherine Fournier, elected to represent the Parti Quebecois in a byelection in a Montreal riding in 2016 at the age of 25. Daniel Blaikie, the MP for Elmwood-Transcona, wanted to know more about how she sees the future for millennials. Blaikie is also young and not the usual face you see in the job as a member of parliament, with his background in the trades as an electrician. Fournier talked about the need for politicians to listen more to younger voices and to be interested in moving outside partisan lines to ensure that government policy reaches beyond ideology and instead reflects the diversity of the individuals represented. And its more than that. When female political representatives and other women in positions of power face death and rape threats and are subjected to sexist emails and taunts on social media, men need to see this as abusive and an affront to human rights, and to call the perpetrators out . I know Blaikie understands this, and I hope the new curriculum launched by Mayzell will be implemented in Canadian schools to reinforce that point. That would be an important step in making harassment of women on the basis of gender a thing of the past, and making it easier for the next generation of girls to seriously consider putting their names on the ballot. Shannon Sampert is the former perspectives and politics editor at the Winnipeg Free Press. She is now the director and editor-in-chief of EvidenceNetwork.ca and an associate professor of political science at the University of Winnipeg. s.sampert@uwinnipeg.ca Twitter: @PaulySigh The Islamic States self-proclaimed caliphate, the brutal state the extremist group ruled for three years in Syria and Iraq, is rapidly collapsing. After months of grueling combat, Iraqi troops have finally retaken Mosul, their countrys second-largest city, at the cost of thousands of lives and the destruction of its ancient center. In neighboring Syria, Kurdish and Arab fighters with American advisers are closing in on Islamic States capital of Raqqa. The United States and its allies are winning the major battles. But they are still in danger of losing the war. The fall of Mosul and Raqqa wont solve the problem that led to Islamic States rise: the misrule of Sunni Muslim areas by governments in Baghdad and Damascus. It wont even eliminate the terrorist threat that Islamic State poses to the West. Instead, itll open a vacuum and if the Middle East has shown us anything over the past decade, its that when theres a vacuum, bad things can happen. In the short run, Islamic State still holds big chunks of territory in Syria and Iraq. The group has been displaced from its two biggest cities, and there are persistent reports that its leader, Abu Bakr Baghdadi, is dead. But the rest of its leadership has already moved the de facto headquarters from Raqqa to Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria. Islamic State has been weakened, but it hasnt been destroyed. There is still a tough fight ahead, the U.S. commander in the region, Lt. Gen. Stephen J. Townsend, warned last week. Islamic State wasnt originally a caliphate. It began as an underground guerrilla group, Al Qaeda in Iraq. American and Iraqi forces almost destroyed the group, but it moved into Syria and evolved. The groups biggest mistake almost unique among terrorist groups was its brash declaration of statehood in a desert territory vulnerable to the U.S. Air Force. Now its evolving again, into what one terrorism expert calls Islamic State 3.0. Many of its militants have scattered and returned to the earlier, traditional model: clandestine cells with no fixed territory. Theyre already carrying out small-scale attacks in Iraq and Syria and they are probably still capable of launching attacks in Europe as well. Many of the Trump administrations national security officials know that history painfully well, and firsthand. Defense Secretary James N. Mattis and national security adviser H.R. McMaster both commanded troops in Iraq. Weve all seen the results of leaving ungoverned areas, Mattis said recently. Its not like you can say, Im going to quit. Mattis and his aides have offered a plan at least, the outline of a plan to fill the governance vacuum in areas taken from Islamic State. It begins with a continued U.S. military presence. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., has told Congress that he expects U.S. advisors to be in Iraq for years to come. In Iraq, the governance plan relies on Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to step up efforts at reconciliation between the Shia Muslim majority and the Sunni Muslims who were Islamic States base of support. But reconciliation hasnt taken hold yet; Abadi is being opposed by Nouri Maliki, the pro-Iranian former prime minister whose sectarian policies fueled Islamic States rise. In Syria, the problem is even more complicated. The United States is organizing local councils to try to govern areas that fall vacant when Islamic State withdraws. But theres a rival claimant to power: the Russia-backed government of Bashar Assad. The most likely scenario is for the Assad regime to reassert its influence with help from Russia and Iran, Charles Lister, a Syria expert at the nonpartisan Middle East Institute, told me. That would merely lead to a new cycle of repression and rebellion. Then theres the need for economic reconstruction, a multibillion dollar challenge in both countries. The United States wants wealthy Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, to shoulder most of that burden, but the oil states havent stepped up. Theres no real money for reconstruction, from either the United States or our wealthy allies in the region, said Richard A. Clarke, a former counterterrorism adviser under Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Eventually, that will create conditions ideal for Islamic State or some other terrorist group to come back. It will be as though we built a terrorist breeding ground. When Trump was campaigning last year, he claimed he had a secret plan to destroy Islamic State very, very quickly. Instead, to his credit, he listened to Mattis and endorsed an intensified version of the strategy he inherited from President Obama. But now, to make it stick, hes going to have to continue the military campaign and add a better-funded diplomatic and reconstruction campaign, too. That wont be easy for a president who has proposed to slash spending on diplomacy and foreign aid by roughly 30 percent. It will be tempting, for some, to celebrate the fall of Raqqa, declare the war over and pull out. But thats not how counter-terrorism works. The only way to end the threat from Islamic State in whatever guise it adopts is to stay in the fight a good deal longer. With North Koreas successful intercontinental missile test this month, Americans again woke up to breathless alarm over possible military strikes and the specter of a North Korean nuclear attack a virtual repeat of the hype in April when it looked as if a sixth North Korean nuclear test was imminent. Why are we so afraid of North Korea? The media and policymakers like to remind us that North Korea produces one bombs worth of nuclear material every eight weeks. By most accounts, if nothing changes, the regime will build a nuclear arsenal able to hit the U.S. mainland in the mid-2020s. Its also perfectly true that, with a bad decision or two, the U.S. could stumble into a devastating conflict on the peninsula that would cost millions of lives, put U.S. troops in harms way and might even spark a nuclear exchange. That being said, we must put the situation into proper perspective. What has been lost amid the incessant punditry, news coverage and irresponsible headlines suggesting that North Korea can already hit California, is that deterrence on the Korean peninsula is alive and well. The balance of power, moreover, strongly favors the U.S. not North Korea. The U.S. is the most powerful nation in the world. Our military is second to none, outspending the next eight countries combined. Our fighting men and women are the best-trained, most technically advanced force in history. We have thousands of nuclear weapons and many more precision-guided conventional bombs. Our warplanes, ships, drones and cyber capabilities are the envy of all. Most importantly, the American experiment one committed to democratic values and the rule of law has allowed us to become the worlds sole superpower. In contrast, we have North Korea, a totalitarian state that consistently fails to meet the basic needs of its 23 million people. The United Nations World Food Program says 70 percent of the Norths citizens did not have enough food to eat in 2016. An estimated 25 percent of the Norths children are physically stunted. The country ranks 213 out of 230 countries in GDP per capita. The North does have a 1.2-million-man military; but an International Institute of Security Studies report found that the Norths conventional forces rely on increasingly obsolete equipment, with little evidence of widespread modernization. In other words, their equipment is old. Who should be afraid of whom? For all its idiosyncratic behavior, outlandish threats and actions, and gruesome human rights record, the North Korean government is not suicidal. It knows that, in a large-scale confrontation with South Korea and the U.S., the North Korean leadership and the country itself would cease to exist. The U.S. must therefore maintain its policy of the strongest deterrence. At the same time, however, assuming the U.S. actually wants to solve this problem rather than simply contain it, we must offer more material carrots to the North meaningful security assurances, a semblance of political legitimacy and access to the international economic system. This more flexible approach would, in turn, assuage Chinese concerns about regime collapse in North Korea. Indeed, once convinced the U.S. had a political solution in mind, China might be more willing to wield much harsher sticks truly crushing sanctions on food and energy, particularly oil and coal. U.S. action cannot be driven by outdated policies, stereotypes and presidential tweets when overreaction in a high-stakes standoff could lead to catastrophic miscalculation. Above all, the U.S. must lead, and do so with confidence, not fear. As former Secretary of Defense William Perry has said, We must take North Korea as it is, not as we wish it to be. While this is often interpreted to mean we shouldnt expect the country to comply with international standards (it wont), it also means that we cant view North Korea as a super-villain. North Korea is a desperately poor country led by a desperately misguided regime. The threat North Korea poses is serious, but not an imminent one to the U.S. homeland. So lets not make things worse by scaring ourselves and adding to the risk of another Korean War. JUNEAU A Beaver Dam man entered a not guilty plea Wednesday to charges of his seventh offense of drunken driving. Randall Quiring, 52, is charged with his seventh offense of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated. He could face up to 12 years in prison and a $25,000 fine if convicted. According to the criminal complaint, Beaver Dam police responded to the 200 block of Wayland Street June 24 at 4:40 p.m. after Quiring crashed the pickup truck he was driving into a parked AT&T van. The caller believed Quiring was intoxicated as he was stumbling outside the vehicle. Beaver Dam Police asked who was driving and Quiring approached the officer with a tea bottle in one hand and announced he was the driver. The police officer noted that he slurred his words and the officer asked him if he had been drinking. Quiring admitted to drinking two to three 16-ounce Bud Light beers. He also admitted to smoking marijuana while he was at his friends house. According to the complaint, Quiring told officers that he began drinking at 1 p.m. and then stopped between 2:30 and 3 p.m. He left his friend at 4 p.m. and told officers that he had not felt intoxicated at that time. Quiring submitted to a breathalyzer test that resulted in a reading of a blood-alcohol level of .20. Quiring was convicted of OWI in 1989, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2007 and 2009. A telephone scheduling conference will occur Sept. 5. The Wisconsin State Horse Council District 3 along with the City of Columbus Parks and Recreation Department and the Wisconsin Equine Foundation will host Horses in the Park on Oct. 21 at Firemans Park in Columbus. The park will be full of horses, ponies, mules and donkeys and their people doing what they do best: mounted archery and shooting, re-enacting, barrel racing and pole bending, driving, trail riding, polo and more. The day will include educational classes and information for everyone, from the parents of a horse-crazy child who want to learn more before purchasing to the retired woman who finally has the time and resources to realize her lifelong dream of horse ownership. The event will support local nonprofits such as 4-H groups, riding clubs, Wisconsin interscholastic horse associations and more. A partial list of the days clinicians and their topics include: Lee Sacket, Your Horse Needs That Pedicure, What You Need Your Farrier For. TJ Clibborn, So You Want to Adopt a Mustang. Smokie Brannaman: Fat, Fear and Fifty: You Finally Got Your Dream Horse but Now Are Afraid to Ride. The pavilion will be bustling with activity the entire day. Sponsors are needed to help defray the cost of this first-time event for advertising and other expenses. A $100 sponsorship will help bring a great activity to Columbus. Organizers hope the event will draw people from Sun Prairie and Madison, Beaver Dam, Portage and Janesville. Sponsorship may be tax deductible as the Wisconsin Equine Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. Make checks payable to: Wisconsin Equine Foundation, Horses in the Park, W12350 Tiedt Road, Columbus, WI 53925. If you have any questions or know someone who would like to volunteer, please contact Melanie Lichtfeld at 608-444-5333 or 608-222-4528. A somewhat divided Columbia County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday approved a zoning ordinance change that, in effect, gives the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources some authority to determine whether emissions from a small manufacturer really and truly stink. By a 25-3 vote, the County Board approved an array of changes to zoning regulations, but the only aspect that generated any discussion or controversy was the provision that is intended to provide measurable, enforceable standards to determine whether an odor is objectionable. The County Boards Planning and Zoning Committee wrestled with this issue last month before agreeing, not unanimously, to propose the ordinance changes to the full board. At issue: A new rule, which spells out that light manufacEr, turers may not create or release any emissions with odors that can be considered objectionable by the Department of Natural Resources under applicable Wisconsin rules. Supervisor Dan Drew of the town of Pacific, one of the supervisors who voted no, said he thinks local authorities, and not the DNR, should be charged with safeguarding the quality of life for Columbia County residents. Whether something stinks in the neighborhood is not necessarily the states problem, Drew said. Joining him in voting against the measure were Supervisors Tim Zander of the town of Columbus and Adam Field of Portage. Supervisor Barry Pufahl of Pardeeville said he, too, had concerns about involving the DNR in local regulations of factory emissions. However, he voted with the majority, he said, because the ordinance change attempted to set some measurable standards as to whether an odor is detectable or objectionable. The ordinance, as previously written, said, Light manufacturing uses shall not create any odor, noise, heat, vibration or radiation that has the potential to be detectable at the lot line. Supervisor Fred Teitgen of the town of Dekorra, who is chairman of the Planning and Zoning Committee, said the ordinance, as previously written, was impossible to enforce and could have been used to keep out any potential manufacturing endeavor, simply because the potential for odor existed. In response to a question from Supervisor Bruce Rashke of the town of Wyocena, Corporation Counsel Joseph Ruf said the primary entity that would enforce the ordinance would be the staff of Columbia Countys Planning and Zoning Department. But the DNRs role, he said, would be to set and apply standards for determining whether an odor is objectionable. For example, the DNR has protocols that call for testing for odors in multiple, random locations. Is it perfect? No, Ruf said. Supervisor Susanna Bradley of the town of Caledonia said she is satisfied that the DNR can be a resource for dealing with complaints about noxious odors in the county, and that the DNR will act when called upon rather ignore a complaint or delay a response. I hope that we are still able, in this country, to press our government leaders to do what theyre supposed to do, she said. China News on Women Sorry, the page you requested was not found. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Womenofchina.cn, try visiting the Womenofchina Home page Leslie Page, director of Woonsocket Harris Public Library, displays some of the new computer gear the library won to stage a demonstration project about how libraries can become more relevant in the digital age. In partnership with the city's planning department, the library intends to interview scores of city residents about how to improve the quality of life in the city. SNC-Lavalin and Holtec team up on SMR development 18 July 2017 Share The USA's Holtec International has signed a teaming agreement with Canada's SNC-Lavalin to collaborate in the development of Holtec's SMR-160 small modular reactor (SMR). Holtec's vision for SMR-160 (Image: Holtec) Under the agreement, SNC-Lavalin - parent company of Candu Energy - will provide Holtec with a range of nuclear engineering services, including supporting the licensing of the SMR-160 reactor. Holtec said, "The partnership aims to vigorously accelerate the reactor system's ongoing development and international licensing efforts by linking SNC-Lavalin's world-class nuclear team with Holtec's SMR team." Holtec's 160 MWe small modular reactor uses low-enriched uranium fuel. The factory-built reactor's core and all nuclear steam supply system components would be located underground, and the design incorporates a wealth of features including a passive cooling system that would be able to operate indefinitely after shutdown. No active components, such as pumps, are needed to run the reactor, which does not need any on-site or off-site power to shut down and to dissipate decay heat. Preston Swafford, SNC-Lavalin chief nuclear officer and executive vice president of nuclear, said: "We know that the global nuclear market for safe, economic nuclear power continues to grow. Partnering with Holtec in the SMR-160 brings us a 'walk away safe' reactor design that will deliver a clean, affordable and reliable electricity supply satisfying regional and nation state power needs." Holtec CEO and president Kris Singh added: "With SNC-Lavalin's contribution of a high calibre cadre of experts, Holtec is poised to deliver on our SMR promise, to re-invigorate nuclear power for a world in dire need of a weather-independent and carbon-free source of energy." Holtec has previously secured engineering, design and qualification support for its work on the SMR-160 from the Shaw Group and URS Corporation, and has a strategic alliance with utility PSEG Power, operator of three nuclear units at Salem and Hope Creek in southern New Jersey. In August 2015, Mitsubishi Electric Power Products Inc signed a long-term partnership agreement with Holtec to develop the instrumentation and control systems for the SMR-160. The project was selected by the US Department of Energy in 2012 as one of three SMR projects to potentially be demonstrated at its Savannah River site in South Carolina. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission is carrying out pre-application activities on the reactor design. Holtec said it expects the initial licensing application by the end of 2018. Researched and written by World Nuclear News Related topics Ghanaian research reactor now set to run on LEU 20 July 2017 Share The conversion of Ghana's research reactor to run on low-enriched uranium (LEU) instead of highly-enriched uranium (HEU) has been completed. It is the first of five such Chinese-supplied reactors outside of China to be converted. Members of the Chinese technical team make adjustments after the LEU core is inserted in the GHARR-1 (Image: NNSA) The Ghana Research Reactor, known as GHARR-1, is a low-power research reactor with maximum thermal power level of 30kW. It is a commercial type of the Miniature Neutron Source Reactor (MNSR) designed, manufactured and constructed by the China Institute of Atomic Energy. Fuelled with 90.2% HEU, the reactor is designed for use in universities, hospitals and research institutes, mainly for neutron activation analysis, production of short-lived radioisotopes, education and manpower development. The GHARR-1 reactor - located at the National Nuclear Research Institute of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) - started operations in December 1994. In 2006, efforts were initiated to convert Chinese-designed MNSRs from HEU to LEU fuel. The GHARR-1 is the first of five such MNSR reactors outside of China eligible for conversion and fuel return to China. Under a project involving China and Ghana, as well as the USA and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the HEU core was removed from the reactor in August 2016 and a new LEU core installed. This operation was completed on 13 July. Over the span of the project, a team of experts from the US Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), the IAEA, China and Ghana performed detailed analyses to confirm the feasibility and safety of operating GHARR-1 with LEU fuel. The team fabricated and tested a new LEU fuel to ensure it would meet the reactor's needs and worked together to overcome complex logistical hurdles to ship the LEU fuel from China to Ghana. NNSA said, "This successful conversion was the culmination of over a decade of complex scientific and political cooperation among the three countries and the IAEA, and it furthers NNSA's ongoing effort to minimise the use of HEU in civilian applications." David Huizenga, NNSA acting deputy administrator for defence nuclear non-proliferation, said: "NNSA is extremely pleased to be supporting this cooperative international effort to convert MNSRs. We applaud the successful conversion of the MNSR at the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission and will apply what we've learned to future reactor conversions." NNSA said it is cooperating with Nigeria, China and the IAEA to convert Nigeria's MNSR in 2018. Researched and written by World Nuclear News Related topics The Earliest Examples Of Cargo Cults A cargo cult is a religious movement usually practiced in remote island nations where believers link prosperity with the return of a savior. The history of cargo cults is traced to the late 19th century and early 20th century in the period when remote islands in the world's oceans were explored by European explorers. The earliest form of cargo cultism was observed during the Fijian Tuka movement of 1885 during British exploitative plantation colonialism of the islands. The Tuka Movement revolved around a local leader in Fiji known as Tuka who had experienced the harsh conditions brought by the British colonialists which caused widespread reminiscent of ancestral efficacy. Tuka taught his followers that for the island to regain its lost cultural glory, the residents of the island needed to return to their traditional beliefs and practices. Tuka was subsequently arrested and exiled by the British authorities who saw him as a rebel. Cargo Cultism In Melanesia The best studied and most famous example of cargo cultism occurred in Melanesia during the Second World War. Melanesia is the Pacific region which encompasses several islands including the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and Vanuatu. During the Second World War, Japanese and Allied Forces engaged in the Pacific theater of war and set up bases in several islands in Melanesia. While the war continued, the forces received fresh supplies which were airdropped from military planes. The native population of these islands experienced a huge cultural shock since most of them had no prior contact with the outside world. The native Melanesians were astonished by the advanced technology possessed by their new visitors who often shared weapons, food, and clothing with them. The locals who had observed the forces conducting military drills and parades thought the activities were religious rituals which resulted in the arrival of the cargo. After the war had ended and the forces withdrew from the islands, the locals were left wondering where they would obtain the power to summon the cargo from the sky and began creating replicas of the military equipment used by the forces. A cargo cult formed which believed that a Western figure known as John Frum would be their savior who would return with the cargo. The cargo cult revolving around John Frum still exists to date despite numerous efforts from the US Navy to explain the source of the cargo. According to believers of the cult, John Frum was a white man from the US armed forces who appeared to Melanesian elders in the 1930s. Other Examples Of Cargo Cults Since the late 19th century, many forms of cargo cults have come up in many remote locations. Some of the few which still exist include the Prince Phillip Movement in Tanna Island where believers worship the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Phillip. Another cargo cult is the Turaga movement which is practiced by natives of the Pentecost Island, Vanuatu. The Tom Navy Movement is another cargo cult practiced on Tanna Island and is believed to be based on a Mississippi-born serviceman, Tom Beatty. Cargo Cults And Christianity The advent of cargo cultism has brought a controversial explanation of the origin of Christianity. Soon after the Second World War, The US Navy embarked on a mission to convince believers of cargo cults to drop their beliefs. However, the natives were adamant in their beliefs comparing their beliefs to Christians who have been waiting for the coming of Christ for more than 2,000 years. This statement has been cited by several scholars when arguing on the origin of Christianity. Spanish is the official language of Nicaragua. The country has several Indigenous languages, many of which have become extinct, while others are spoken by small groups of Nicaraguans. Official Language of Nicaragua Spanish is regarded as the official language of Nicaragua. It is spoken by about 90% of the countrys population. The Central American Spanish dialect is spoken in the country. Spanish is widely used in government administration, media, as a medium of instruction in educational institutions, and by the public in their daily lives. Use of English in Nicaragua Two forms of English are spoken in Nicaragua: Creole English, with about 30,000 speakers, and Standard English, with about 20,334 speakers. Creole English is prevalent along the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua due to the influence of both the African and English heritage in the region. Large sections of the population of cities in this region, like Bluefields, speak Creole English. Standard English is spoken by expats from English-speaking countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. English is also widely used by those involved in Nicaragua's tourism sector. Indigenous Languages of Nicaragua Several indigenous languages are spoken in Nicaragua, as listed below. Miskito The Miskito language is the most spoken Indigenous language of Nicaragua, with about 154,400 native speakers. The language is spoken by the Miskito people inhabiting the Caribbean coastal region, to the northeast of Nicaragua. The highest population of Miskito speakers is concentrated in the North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region. The language belongs to the Misumalpan language family of Native American languages. Sumo Another Indigenous Misumalpan language, Sumo, is spoken by the Sumo people of Nicaragua. These people live mainly on the eastern coast of the country. There are several dialects of the Sumo language, with some being so different from the others that they can be treated as separate languages. Rama Rama, a Chibchan family language, is a severely endangered Indigenous language of Nicaragua. The language was described as dying quickly as early as 1862. Revival efforts to save the languages were not successful. The language was previously spoken by the Rama people living on the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua and the Rama Cay island. However, over the years, the Rama people began to speak a new form of Creole English, the Rama Cay Creole, instead of the Rama language. Minority Languages Spoken in Nicaragua Garifuna The Garifuna language is spoken by the Garifuna people living in Nicaragua. The language belongs to the family of Arawakan languages but uses loanwords from European and Carib languages. Speakers of this language arrived in Nicaragua from Honduras after the British deported these people en masse from their native land in the Antillean islands to Honduras in 1797. Immigrants from other parts of the world also speak their native languages in the country. Chinese, Arabic, Italian, German are spoken in the country by the respective minority groups. However, these people usually can also speak in Spanish and/or English. Although some countries or regions have declared independence, they are only partially recognized de jure independent states. The international community does not universally recognize these polities despite having significant (de facto) control over their territories. Kosovo, tucked in Southeastern Europe and sandwiched between Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, and North Macedonia, is one of the partially recognized states in Europe. Although it declared independence from Serbia in 2008, Kosovo is recognized by 98 of the 193 United Nations (UN) member states, 26 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members, and 22 European Union (EU) member states. Serbia does not recognize its sovereignty, with the two sides currently working to normalize their relations. Where Is Kosovo? Map of Kosovo. Kosovo is a tiny landlocked country in Southeastern Europe located on the Balkan Peninsula. It strategically lies on the peninsulas center and is enclosed to the north and east by Serbia, West by Montenegro, Southwest by Albania, and Southeast by North Macedonia. Being a landlocked country, Kosovo has no access to the Mediterranean Sea and can only access the Adriatic Sea through either Montenegro or Albania. The Kosovo-Serbian border stretches for about 380 km along Kosovos eastern and northern edges. However, Serbians have, on numerous occasions, claimed North Kosovo since they form the majority, preventing access by Kosovo custom officers and police. Pristina is Kosovos capital and largest city. Located near the Goljak Mountains, in the northeastern part, it occupies about 572 km2 and hosts about 200,000 people, mostly ethnic Albanians. It is approximately 520 km to the south of Belgrade (Serbias capital) and 90 km to Skopjes (North Macedonia) north. Its strategic location makes it Kosovos financial, economic, commerce, and political center. Pristine also hosts the countrys government, parliament, as well as the prime minister and presidents residences. Is Kosovo A Country? Flag of Kosovo. Kosovo is the worlds second-youngest country, only older than South Sudan, formed from Sudan in 2011. After years of conflict and strained relations with Serbia, Kosovo declared her independence on February 17, 2008. Although Serbia, alongside 94 other UN member states, including China and Russia, does not recognize its sovereignty, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Kosovo was rightfully an independent and sovereign state. Kosovo is a democratic republic, with politics taking place under a parliamentary representation. The government of Kosovo is divided into three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The executive branch comprises the president, prime minister, and cabinet. The president serves as the head of state while the prime minister heads the government. Kosovos current president is Vjosa Osmani, while Albin Kurti is the prime minister. The Assembly of Kosovo comprises 120 members elected directly every four years through a secret ballot. 20 of the 120 seats are reserved for minority groups, including Serbs, Egyptians, Romani, Bosniaks, Goran, Ashkali, and Turks. Once the assembly is constituted, it elects the countrys president to serve for a five-year term, renewable only once. The Assembly also elects a prime minister and approves their cabinet nominees. The judiciary is an independent branch, responsible for administering justice. Brief History The 13th-century Pec Monastery, built during the reign of the Serbian Kingdom. Kosovos history is closely linked with the histories of the neighboring countries, particularly Serbia and Albania. Its strategic location and abundant natural resources made it a favorable place for human settlement as early as the Neolithic period. The Dardani are probably the earliest and most important tribe to have lived in present-day Kosovo. During the Roman period, Kosovo became one of the Byzantine Empires most important provinces. The region experienced numerous raids from around the 4th century CE, leading to mass Slavic migration in the 6th and 7th centuries. In the 9th century, Kosovo fell to the First Bulgarian Empire, but the Byzantine Empire restored its control in the late 10th century. The Serbian Empire took control of Kosovo and ruled the region until the mid-15th century. Kosovo became the Serbian Kingdoms religious, cultural, and political center. From 1455 to 1912, the Ottoman Empire occupied Kosovo, first as part of Rumelia and later as a separate Vilayet (province). The Vilayet included the present-day Kosovo territory, Montenegro, northern Albania, western Serbia, and northwestern North Macedonia. The Ottomans introduced Islam and attracted numerous ethnic Albanians, who took up prominent positions in the government. However, the Kingdom of Serbia, which once possessed the Vilayet of Kosovo, planned on getting their land back, leading to the Serbian-Ottoman War between 1876 and 1878. In 1912, the Balkan League defeated the Ottomans in the First Balkan War and drove them out of their region. Western Kosovo was absorbed by the Kingdom of Montenegro, while Eastern Kosovo fell to the Kingdom of Serbia. In 1922, Kosovo became part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, culminating in the creation of the Republic of Kosova in 1990 and the Kosovo War of 1998-99. At the end of the war, at least 10,300 civilians had been killed, mostly ethnic Albanians. The post-war events included talks over Kosovos final status and subsequent independence declaration on February 17, 2008. Demographics Kosovo has an estimated population of 1.8 million people, with Albanians as the ethnic majorities. The minority ethnic groups are Serbs, Romani, Turks, Gorani, and Bosniaks. Albanians account for about 88% of the total population, while Serbs are about 7%. Pristina is the largest municipality, followed by Prizren (187,000) and Ferizaj (101,000). Although numerous languages are spoken in Kosovo, Albanian and Serbian are the countrys official languages. Albanian is the first language for about 95% of the population, while Serbian is used as the first language by 1.6% of the population. Other languages are Bosnian, Turkish, and Roma. Islam is the largest religion in Kosovo, with 95.6% of the countrys total population being Muslims. Christian adherents constitute 3.7%, with the majority being Roman Catholics. Islam was introduced into the country by the Ottomans. Today, Kosovo has Europes second-highest proportion of Muslims after Turkey. Geography The Sharr Mountains, Kosovo. Kosovo is a landlocked country in the Balkan Peninsula, covering about 10,887 km2, of which only 1% is water. Although the country does not border any sea or ocean, it has rich water sources, including rivers that flow into the nearby Aegean, Adriatic, and Black Seas. Drini i Bardhe is the countrys longest river at 140 km, while Lumebardhi i Prizrenit is the shortest river, at 18 km. Besides rivers, there are natural and artificial lakes and streams in the country. Kosovo has diverse relief and landscape, with the Sharr Mountains dominating the southeastern and southern edges. The western edge is distinguished by the Albanian Alps. At 2,658 m, Velika Rudoka, located in the Sharr Mountains, is Kosovos highest peak. The Prokletije, considered part of the Dinaric Alps, is one of Europes inaccessible and complex mountain range regions. Besides the mountain, two plains, Dukagjini plains in the west and Kosovo plains in the east, also define Kosovo's topography. Kosovos climate is mostly continental due to its proximity to the Adriatic and the Aegean Seas. The mountainous regions are the coldest areas, while the southern area is the warmest, where the Mediterranean climate is prevalent. Kosovo receives a mean annual precipitation of 600-1,300 mm, while the mean annual temperature is 9.5 C. Wildlife A bear in a sanctuary in Kosovo. Kosovo has abundant biodiversity, habitat, and ecosystems. Although the country represents just about 2% of the Balkan Peninsulas total area, it represents about 18% of Europe and 25% of the peninsulas flora. The Mediterranean climate has enabled plants, such as terebinth, fragrant virgins bower, and wild asparagus, to thrive in the area. The Sharr woodland area hosts 86 vascular plants, while the Prokletije areas have about 125 endemic plant species. Some of the countrys endangered floral species are carnation, globe-flower, Didiers tulip, European yew, and field elm. The hills and plains are home to numerous animals, including deer, bears, ravens, rabbits, starlings, and magpies. The mountainous regions host quails, partridges, squirrels, and storks. Lakes and rivers contain trouts, salmon, scuba, gudgeon, eel, carp, catfish, and torpedo. Economy Vineyard in Rahovec, Kosovo. Although Kosovo's economy has suffered from strained Kosovo-Serbia relations, its GDP has grown, especially after the declaration of independence. The countrys economy is transitional, with major development taking place in the construction, retail, and trade sectors. The economy is highly dependent on FDI and foreign remittance. Comparatively, Kosovo is one of Europes poorest countries, with a per capita GDP of $4,649. About 17% of the population lives well below the poverty line, and 30% of the working-age population are not engaged in meaningful employment. Agriculture and tourism contribute significantly to the countrys economy. Agriculture contributes over 30% of the GDP, with wine production as one of the most successful industries. The US and Germany are the two main destinations for Kosovo wine. The countrys main tourist attractions are the rock formations, mountains, rivers, lakes, and historical cities, such as Peja, Prizren, and Gjakova. Taiwan, officially and constitutionally known as the Republic of China, is recognized as a sovereign entity by the Holy See as well as 19 member states of the United Nations. It maintains diplomatic relations with 57 other member states of the UN, although they are unofficial. The states recognize the Taiwanese government as a representative of the Chinese people but not as an independent state. Relations With the People's Republic of China The Peoples Republic of China claims sovereignty over Taiwan and its territories. In 2005, China enacted what was called an "anti-secession law" towards Taiwan against military intervention from the US on Taiwan's independence. The law formalized China's policy to use non-peaceful means against the Taiwanese independence movement in the case of a declaration of independence. This created tensions between the two entities. Neither China nor Taiwan sees their relations as foreign. They prefer to use the term Cross-Strait relations in referring to their geographical separator, the Taiwan Strait. The Taiwanese and Chinese governments do no interact directly. However, relations between the two sides have been warming up since 2008 with the promotion of cross-strait links and increased economic and social interchanges between them. Bilateral Relations The relations between Taiwan and other nations vary from state to state. Entities like Kiribati and the Holy See recognize Taiwan and have embassies in Taipei. 57 other member states of the UN maintain unofficial and non-diplomatic relations with Taiwan. 106 nations, among them 46 African countries, have no form of relations with Taiwan. There are also ten entities, among them Serbia, that neither recognizes China nor Taiwan. Over the years, the recognition of Taiwan's independence has decreased with many nations shifting allegiance to Beijing. This could be attributed to the rise of China as a superpower. Relations With International Organizations Many international organizations have excluded or downgraded the Republic of China due to pressure from China. In some cases, Taiwan may only retain full participation if it uses names such as "Chinese Taipei" or "Taiwan, China". Taiwan has however been a part of several major international treaties. Transport and Communications Due to the sensitivity of the issue regarding Taiwan's status, airlines of various nations have set up their subsidiaries to operate services in Taipei. They operate under a different name and omit their national symbols. The International Telecommunication Union officially allocated Taiwan the International Dialing Code +886 in 2006. A man in Michigan, was arrested for sexually abusing a young boy. His arrest brought unwanted attention as he is the brother of an elected official. 58-year-old Richard Hoffman, who is the brother of Oakland County Commissioner Bob Hoffman, faces charges of criminal sexual conduct involving a child. Hoffman was arrested after police investigated a complaint that he sexually abused a young boy. Police did not release the exact age of the child. However, according to the police report, the child is under 13 years old. The suspect was charged with one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a person under age 13 and four counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a person under age 13. County Commissioner Bob Hoffman said that he was very surprised by the allegations made against his brother who works as a contractor. Iam very shocked and saddened over the allegations. Richard is a great guy, one of the most giving people I know, Bob said. Bob added that he knows little about the case, but he hopes justice will prevail. He added that people should not jump to conclusions as he is innocent until proven guilty. (Scroll down for video) When children are young, parents warn them about the dangers of getting into cars with strangers. However, this rule should apparently apply to adults as well. Authorities in Australia, are asking women not be afraid to come forward and file complaints if they are sexually assaulted by Uber drivers. This comes after three Uber drivers were arrested over a short time for sexually abusing women in their vehicles. One driver, 41-year-old Muhammad Naveed of Sydney, was jailed for a minimum of 6 years and 4 months and a maximum of 9 years in prison for raping a woman. According to prosecutors, Naveed picked up the intoxicated woman from a bar. He drove her to a gas station, where he bought condoms. He then drove to a secluded area where he raped the woman. Naveed told the court that the sex with the 22-year-old woman was consensual, but the evidence showed otherwise. Judge Deborah Payne said Naveed clearly took advantage in the most terrible way. In another incident, a 47-year-old Uber driver from Queensland, who has not yet been named, was arrested and had been charged with the rape and deprivation of liberty for raping a teenage girl three times. In the latest incident, a 37-year-old Uber driver appeared in Brisbane Magistrates Court. He is accused of raping a 16-year-old girl. Police said that the latest two incidents are not related and they believe there are more women who have been victimized by Uber drivers. Wednesday, July 19, 2017 AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) -- For 30 years, racers and vendors would begin setting this day in July for the Augusta Southern Nationals. Many people still want to know why Lucas Oil pulled out of the event at the very last minute after tickets had been sold and vendors booked. Liz Owens spoke with the chairman of Augusta Southern Nationals this Wednesday morning. He says Lucas Oil has still not explained why it waited so late to cancel. He said it was Lucas himself who made the final decision to withdraw from Augusta. Lucas oil has not returned On Your Side's calls or e-mails. The only explanation the company has given for pulling out of Augusta is due to "reoccurring financial losses". Augusta Southern Nationals has refunded $16,000 worth of online tickets so far. They don't have a count on how many were sold in stores yet. On Monday the local board met to discuss all of its losses due to the cancellation. The estimate is about a $100,000. Right now, those involved with the race are gathering receipts and bills to present to Lucas Oil. According to the chairman of Augusta Southern Nationals, Lucas Oil did verbally promise to pay for the losses the board suffered from such a short notice of cancellation. If you bought a ticket online then you should have already received a refund. If you purchased your ticket from an outlet or an individual, please go back to them with your ticket for a refund. If you bought a ticket at Greg's Gas Plus you need to go to the West Martintown Road location in North Augusta for a refund. Make sure you have your ticket with you to get a refund. Londons June 14 Grenfell Tower fire was not an accident but a crime against the working class. It is the outcome of decades of cost-cutting and deregulation by successive governments, for the benefit of the corporate elite. One hundred peopleand perhaps many morehave burned to death solely because they are poor and working class in a society in which the only people deemed to matter are the super-rich. The catastrophe was both predicted and avoidable. Yet those responsible have not been held to account for their neglect of basic safety, their cuts to fire services and their cover-up of the disaster itself. The true death toll has not even been released, despite authorities knowing that many families have members still missing. The conditions that led to the Grenfell fire exist globally, including in Australia where the same flammable cladding has been widely used in hundreds of residential and commercial buildings. A catastrophe was only narrowly averted in 2014 when the Lacrosse apartment building in Melbourne went up in flames. Tens of thousands of people across the country are living in what are effectively death traps. To defend its interests, the working class must take matters into its own hands. Homes, schools, hospitals and other public buildings must be made safe. The criminals in high places must be brought to justice. The SEP public meetings will outline a socialist and internationalist perspective against the domination over society by a capitalist oligarchy. We urge workers and young people to attend. Sydney Sunday, July 23, 2.30 p.m. Duchess Room, Coronation Club 86 Burwood Rd, Burwood Tickets: $7/$5 concession Brisbane Wednesday, July 26, 6.30 p.m. Community Meeting Room, Ground Floor Brisbane Square Library, Brisbane City (enter via Brisbane Square, cnr George & Queen St) Tickets: $5/$3 concession Melbourne Sunday, July 30, 2.30 p.m. Meat Market 5 Blackwood Rd, North Melbourne Tickets: $5/$3 concession Wellington, New Zealand Sunday, July 30, 4 p.m. Meeting Room 1, Russell Keown House Corner of Laings and Queens Drive Lower Hutt After the June 14 Grenfell Tower disaster in London, Australian authorities offered crocodile tears for the victims and promised action over flammable cladding on buildings across the country. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, backed by opposition Labor leader Bill Shorten, declared that federal and state governments would initiate a national audit of buildings. Turnbull said a Senate inquiry into non-conforming building products, originally established in 2015, would expand its investigations. State governments claimed they would identify unsafe buildings. These promises were an attempt to deflect the concerns of people living or working in what is estimated to be thousands of fire-prone and unsafe buildings in major cities. The official cynicism is underscored by the fact that only a handful of flammable-clad buildings have been identified. These include the Royal Womens Hospital and Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre in Melbourne and the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane. Asked yesterday about the Princess Alexandra Hospital, Queensland Health Minister Cameron Dick contemptuously declared: Every building in Queensland has combustible material in it. We have to determine what is the risk. The PA Hospital has stood there for 17 years. It is a concrete building that has cladding around itits quite different to the Grenfell situation. Other structures previously identified by a Victorian Building Authority investigation in 2016 have been deemed safe to occupy by state government or municipal authorities, despite many building owners failing to implement compliance orders. No-one residing in dangerous premises has been evacuated and provided alternative accommodation. No builder has been charged for using flammable aluminium cladding, or for falsifying material safety documents. According to recent testimony to the Senate hearing, these practices are rampant. Victorian Planning Minister Richard Wynne ludicrously insisted that a Grenfell-type disaster is not possible because Australia has the best building codes of any first-world country. Such claims are false. Governmentsfederal, state and municipal, and from every political stripeare not only aware there are thousands of unsafe and defective buildings. They have created the conditions for their existence. During at least the past four years, firefighters, building engineers, strata management bodies and others have issued reports warning that flammable cladding and other unsafe building practices are rife and a major disaster is inevitable. These warnings and the obvious lessons from two serious firesone in 2012 at Euro Terraces in Bankstown, Sydney and the other at the Lacrosse apartment block in Melbournes Docklands area in 2014have been wilfully ignored by government authorities. In the Bankstown fire, a Chinese student was killed and her friend seriously injured when an apartment caught fire. A 2015 coroners inquest said the young woman would not have died if there had been sprinklers. The multi-storey building was just 10cm less than 25-metres high and therefore did not legally require sprinklers. The coroner called on the New South Wales (NSW) government and Australian Building Codes Board to change building safety laws, including to make sprinklers compulsory in all new multi-level residential premises. He also called for a new system of fire safety checks so certifiers were properly qualified and independent of developers and builders. These appeals fell on deaf ears. In October 2015, Australias High Court instead ruled that an apartment owners corporation in Sydney could not sue the Brookfield Multiplex company for major construction defects. The judges asserted that the company had no duty of care. The NSW government then introduced retrospective legislation that undermined the ability of owners to sue over building defects, by slashing building warranties from six years to just two. One month later, a near-fatal fire erupted at the Lacrosse building in Melbourne. The blaze engulfed one side of the aluminium-clad 23-storey apartment block within minutes. The Lacrosse fire was not an isolated incident. Flammable cladding has precipitated fatal blazes since 2008 in France, the US and the Middle East. Three years on, the Lacrosse building is still occupied and the dangerous cladding remains in place. The deadline for its replacement is not until next July and the apartment owners, not the construction company, are being forced to pay. In April last year, Strata Community Australia denounced the Senate inquiry for dragging the chain. The peak body, which represents apartment and housing unit residents, urged the parliamentary parties to produce a plan within 100 days to stop the use of flammable cladding and other non-compliant products. The statement received no official response. Testimony to the Senate inquiry over the past week, from firefighting and emergency service authorities, engineers and strata corporations, has provided further evidence of poor building laws and safety practices. Last Friday, Federal Safety Commissioner Alan Edwards admitted that his agency had no resources and had not conducted a single building materials audit in the previous seven months. Yesterday, Fire Protection Association of Australia CEO Scott Williams told a hearing that hundreds of aluminium-clad buildings under-25 metres tall presented the greatest risk, because they were not legally required to have sprinklers. Other experts said faulty sprinklers and forged safety documentations were widespread. Australian authorities, assisted by the construction trade unions, are fully responsible for thousands of people, owners and renters alike, facing the risk of a Grenfell Tower-type catastrophe. Following World War II, state governments built and administered large-scale affordable public housing schemes. Consecutive Labor and Liberal-National governments systematically abandoned these schemes in the 1990s on the demand of the property, construction and real estate companies. Building safety was deregulated and inspection privatised under the banner of removing red tape. Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) national secretary Dave Noonan this week told the media that union members dont want to be complicit in building buildings that later could catch fire and potentially kill people If that means banning [flammable cladding], then ban it we will. Despite the years of warnings and previous fires, however, the unions have taken no action to prevent the use of flammable cladding. One significant factor is that the unions have lucrative interests in the building and property market, including through investments from the $16 billion CBUS superannuation scheme. Federal and state governments continue to insist they will act on Senate hearing recommendations. The three-year inquiry, however, has yet to issue a single finding and its deadline has been extended six times in the past two years. There is still no clear end-date. Two weeks ago, the federal government met with state housing and construction ministers, who agreed to set up flammable cladding taskforces. Little credence can be given to these taskforces. Victorias will be headed by former Labor deputy premier John Thwaites and ex-Liberal premier Ted Baillieu. Both presided over the development of the Docklands area and building deregulation that enabled non-compliance to flourish. Irrespective of the evidence presented to the Senate hearings, the governments will do everything possible to block the necessary steps being taken to make buildings safe. The primary concern of the political establishment is protecting the profits of the banks and corporations, and preventing any collapse of Australias speculative real estate market. The Grenfell Towers disaster and last weeks deaths of three people in a Honolulu apartment block are not accidents, but crimes for which capitalism is responsible. They further reveal the utter incapacity of the profit system to provide one of the most essential social rightssafe and affordable housingto millions of working people. Workers, students and youth are clearly confronted with the need to organise independently of the trade unions and other agencies that defend the profit system. New broad-based organisations of political struggle are required which will involve residents, building workers, firefighters, safety engineers and other sections of the working class. Only then will the real situation in apartments, units and homes, as well as office blocks, schools and health facilities, be laid bare, those responsible exposed and action taken to rectify the safety breaches. Everything that has been revealed, both prior to and since the Grenfell Tower disaster, testifies to the need for a workers government committed to socialist policies that meet social need, not the profit interests of a wealthy elite. The major banks and conglomerates, including the large construction companies, must be expropriated from their corporate owners and placed under the democratic control of the working class. Sun Zhengcai, a contender for a role in the top Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership, was suddenly removed from his post last weekend. He is reportedly under investigation by the partys anti-corruption agency. His ousting is a sign of sharp inner-party tensions ahead of the CCP congress later this year, at which President Xi Jingping is expected to consolidate his grip on power. Sun was removed as party boss of the inland industrial mega-city of Chongqing on Saturday and replaced by Chen Miner, who is viewed as a trusted protege of Xi. Few details have been released officially. A source in Chongqing told the South China Morning Post that Sun was suspected of a serious violation of party discipline. Such allegations are likely to spell an abrupt end to his political career. Sun, 53, the youngest member of the CCPs 25-member Politburo, was seen as a leading candidate for a position on the partys highest decision-making body, the seven-member Politburo Standing Committee. He was promoted to the Politburo in 2012 along with Hu Chunhua, party chief of Guangdong province. The two were regarded as possible replacements for Xi and Premier Li Keqiang when their two terms in office expire at the 2022 congress. Xi and Li were installed as the top leadership at the 2012 congress following the removal of Bo Xilai as Chongqing party boss. Bo, along with his wife, was eventually arrested, tried and convicted of corruption charges. Sun was his replacement. Bo was not ousted over corruption, which is rife at every level of the bureaucratic apparatus, but as a result of differences over economic and foreign policy. He was the most public representative of sections of the CCP bureaucracy who rest on the large state enterprise sector, which global finance capital demands be reduced or eliminated. While fully supportive of capitalist restoration, Bo advocated the transformation of the biggest state-owned enterprises into Chinese champions or challengers to existing global corporations. Bos support for state-owned enterprises and revival of Maoist-era songs made him the rallying point of new left and neo-Maoist groups. Like Bo, this amorphous grouping did not represent socialism in any sense. It advocated concessions to the working class to avert a social explosion and protect the CCP regime. Bo was also supported by sections of the military that pushed for a tougher stance against the menacing military build-up by the US and its allies in Asia against China. By contrast, Xi and Li were associated with the strategy of the dominant sections of the CCP leadership: a further opening up of the economy to foreign investors that would inevitably undermine the monopoly position of state-owned enterprises, and, as far as possible, avoid a direct confrontation with the US. The 2013 central committee plenum set out sweeping pro-market restructuring in line with the China 2030 report jointly produced by the World Bank and Chinas State Council. Xi also launched a far-reaching anti-corruption drive that he exploited to remove many of Bos closest supporters, including former security chief and Politburo Standing Committee member Zhou Yongkang. The new left and neo-Maoist groups, along with their websites and publications, were also suppressed. Over the past four years, Xi has considerably strengthened his grip on power. He exploited the stock market plunge in 2015 and the panicky response, with which Li was closely associated, to marginalise the premier. Xi has established small leadership groups under his control, including the Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs. This body, rather than the premier, now sets overall economic policy. As a result Xi, who is the head of the party and the military as well as the president, has concentrated power in his hands. At this years annual National Peoples Congress in March, leading officials referred to the core leader of the partyreflecting his dominant position. Li slavishly declared that Xi, as core leader, was of crucial and far-reaching significance for ensuring the flourishing and long-term stability of the party and country. Xis prominence led to much commentary in the American and international media on his emergence as the uncontested leader, and the possibility he might extend his rule beyond two terms. A comment published by the US government-funded Voice of America in March was headlined Is Xi Jinping Putin-izing China? Sun Zhengcais ousting comes ahead of the key CCP congress in October or November at which both the Politburo and the Politburo Standing Committee (PSC) will be restructured. A large number of members of both bodies, including a majority of the PSC, are expected to stand down as they reach retirement age. The appointment of new members is regarded as a guide to those who will assume the top jobs in 2022 when the next generation is due to take over. Xi may be planning to stack the leadership bodies with his supporters and lay the basis for a break from recent tradition in order to stay on for a third term. However, Suns removal could also reflect ongoing divisions and infighting within the CCP and state apparatus amid a slowing economy, sharpening social tensions and the rising danger of trade war and war with the United States. Significantly one of the chief accusations against Sun appears to be that he did not do enough to eradicate Bos influence in Chongqing. In February, after a two-month investigation, the partys disciplinary officials criticised Sun and other city leaders for not having completely rooted out the pernicious ideological legacy left by Bo and his chief supporter Wang Lijun. On Monday, Suns replacement Chen Miner was reported as pledging to resolutely eliminate the evil legacy of Bo and Wang thought from thinking, politics and work style. No one appears to be accusing Sun of being another Bo. The South China Morning Post wrote: Sun did not pose a challenge to Xis power in the way that Bo potentially could, and his low-key personality was in stark contrast to Bos unabashed ambition and desire for attention, which had always raised eyebrows [in the top leadership]. However, Suns replacement does suggest that the divisions over economic and foreign policy reflected in the purge of Bo and his supporters have not disappeared. Moreover, other sections of the CCP apparatus have criticised Xi from the opposite standpointnot proceeding fast enough with pro-market restructuring and not doing enough to placate Washington. On the eve of last years National Peoples Congress, an open letter by loyal Communist Party members was rapidly suppressed. It called on Xi to resign on these grounds and accused him of causing the unprecedented problems and crises in all political, economic, ideological and culture spheres facing the country. While the internal life of the CCP is always subject to heavy censorship, the ousting of Sun could be a sign of new political turmoil in the lead-up to this years party congress. Yesterday, the World Socialist Web Site published an account of the inaugural meeting of a political formation calling itself the Coalition for Peace, Revolution, and Social Justice (CPRSJ) in Los Angeles. Zach Medeiros, a member of Socialist Party USA, responded in the comments section to the article (under the name Ghost of Gene Debs, 2016). Below is a reply to his comment. Mr. Medeiros: While I disagreed with almost everything that was said at the meeting, I attempted to present an accurate account of what occurred. Your response does not dispute the substance of the presentations, the positions that were taken, or the language that was used in the discussion. In particular, the depiction of Washingtons intrigues in Syria as a revolution is a political fraud. Your report on Syria, which endorsed this depiction, failed to answer several basic questions. What is this revolution? Who are its leaders? What are their political histories? Where can a written programmatic record of their political lives be found? Every serious revolutionary movement has a documented history of factional struggle. Where is such a history to be found in relation to what you and numerous other petty-bourgeois tendencies are hailing as a revolution? Above all, what social interests are involved and how are they reflected in the different parties, leaders, and institutions? Like the New York Times, you are falsely attempting to give the anti-regime forces in Syriawhich, in fact, largely consist of sectarian militias backed by the US and its alliessome sort of progressive and left coloration. In your remarks, you implied that anyone who refused to line up behind this CIA-backed regime change operation was an enemy of the Syrian people. You jokingly label yourself a running dog of American imperialism. The irony is misplaced. You should take a hard look at how closely your position lines up with the State Department agenda. The general thrust of all the presentations at the meeting was, in fact, to denounce Russia, China, and Iran. You claim that you called for direct humanitarian aid instead of direct humanitarian intervention, but the difference of one word does not alter very much. Who will be providing this direct humanitarian assistance? And to whom? The uncritical use of the word humanitarian in this context says rather a lot. The world has unfortunately had plenty of experience already with the lethal consequences of humanitarian assistance from America. Iran and Syria are countries that have been historically targeted by imperialism. The fight against their bourgeois regimes is a task of the international working class, not sectarian religious forces armed by US and European imperialism. The struggle of the working class in the United States in solidarity with its class brothers and sisters around the world is, in the first instance, a struggle against American imperialism. As for Russia, you do not dispute that the presentations characterized that country as imperialist. This terminology is simply the modern iteration of the old state capitalist/bureaucratic collectivist line that was, prior to the dissolution of the USSR, promoted by the Shachtmanites and tendencies like that of Raya Dunayevskaya (to which Kevin Anderson adhered). The history of Shachtmanism illustrates the reactionary political implications of state capitalist theory. The definition of Russia as imperialist serves to legitimize US-backed regime change operations targeting states aligned with Russia, and even within Russia itself, under the guise of supporting national liberation. (See: Behind the designation of Russia and China as imperialist: A case study in theoretical charlatanry). And in the case of Syria, it serves as a justification for the efforts to topple Assad, instigated by the US and its allies, which have resulted in the horrendous destruction and loss of life that you described in your presentation. You claim that the phrase working class was used in the presentations. Amid all the verbal confusion of the meeting, I did not recall the phrase being used. In any event, the one genuinely revolutionary force in American society clearly did not occupy the central place in any perspective being advanced by this coalition. In the CPRSJ Principles of Unity, for example, class oppression and imperialism are lumped together as part of a long list that includes racism, sexism, heterosexism, nativism, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, and environmental destruction. I have now had a chance to review Ms. Afarys remarks, which have been posted online. When she referred to the working class, it was to claim that since 2008 the working class has been won over by appeals to racism, sexism and homophobia. This coincided with references to white supremacy and claims that racial divisions represent the fundamental or essential characteristics of American society. You complain that the WSWS casts your motives into question. But Marxism concerns itself not with personal motives but rather with the class content of a political line. Whatever the personal motives of each individual involved may be, there are objective social interests behind political positions. As things presently stand, it is hoped that yesterday's article and this exchange will provide WSWS readers with enough information to distinguish for themselves between our very different political orientations. Sincerely, Tom Carter Yesterdays article, together with Mr. Madeiros response (under the username "Ghost of Gene Debs, 2016") can be found here. General Pierre de Villiers, the chief of staff of the French armed forces, resigned yesterday after a week-long public conflict with President Emmanuel Macron over the defence budget. De Villiers issued a communique stressing his reservations about planned military budget cuts and attacking Macrons policies as a threat to national security. In the current circumstances, he wrote, I believe I can no longer preserve the type of army which I believe is necessary to guarantee the protection of France and the French people, and to support the ambitions of our country. Consequently, I have drawn the conclusions that were imposed on me and presented, today, my resignation to the president of the Republic, who accepted it. De Villierss resignation is without precedent outside times of war. The last time Frances top officer resigned was in 1961, at the height of the Algerian war crisis, when General Jean Olie stepped down after the attempted April 21, 1961, coup detat in Algiers led by officers opposed to Algerian independence and to the government in Paris. This breakdown in Macrons relationship with the army is all the more remarkable in that Macron has aggressively courted the military. During the presidential election campaign, he discussed restoring the draft and pledged an almost 50 percent increase in defence spending, to 2 percent of Frances gross domestic product (GDP), by 2025. When, on July 11, Public Accounts Minister Gerald Darmanin announced a temporary, one-year defence budget cut of 850 million, however, de Villiers led a public revolt against the move. De Villiers appeared the next day at a meeting of the National Assemblys defence committee attended by many first-term legislators of Macrons newly founded The Republic on the March (LRM) party. He denounced the budget cuts and, to applause from the committee, concluded, I am not going to let anyone f*ck me like that. The committees president, leading LRM member Jean-Jacques Bridey, supported him: Not a single soldier should die due to insufficient equipment. Our armies need resources. Macron responded on July 13 by publicly upbraiding de Villiers in front of his subordinates at a reception for the army brass before the July 14 Bastille Day military parade. Addressing the officer corps, Macron said: I find it undignified to have certain debates in public. I have made certain commitments. I am your leader. I know how to keep the commitments that I have made to our fellow citizens and to the army. And on this score, I do not need any pressure or comments. De Villiers responded by posting a provocative letter on his Facebook page on Bastille Day. He wrote, Unusually, I will keep silent on the subject of my next post, which proved to be his resignation letter. Without naming Macron, he cited General Charles Delestraints July 1940 speech on the Nazi conquest of France, before Delestraint entered into the armed Resistance to the French government and its collaboration with the Nazis. De Villiers wrote, Even though defeat was a fact, his speech was a firm appeal to reject the mentality of a beaten dog or a slave. Months later, acting on these words, he became the leader of the Secret Army. Arrested, tortured and deported, he died at the camp in Dachau on April 19, 1945, less than three weeks before the final victory which he had actively help bring about. This evocation of Delestraint, while intended to wrap de Villiers in the aura of resistance to Nazism, also contained a definite threat. Several of Delestraints fellow leaders of the pro-capitalist, Gaullist factions of the Resistance who survived World War II, like Georges Bidault and Jacques Soustelle, ended up aligning with far-right forces during the Algerian war and supporting the 1961 putsch. The ongoing public confrontation between the president of France and the leader of its armed forces points to the collapse of democratic forms of rule across Europe. European imperialisms growing military aggressiveness in the quarter century since the Stalinist bureaucracy dissolved the Soviet Union in 1991, together with growing social inequality and class conflict at home, have vastly strengthened the political position of the military. European armies not only joined US-led neo-colonial wars from Afghanistan to Iraq, Libya, and Mali, but emerged as key forces in domestic politics. The growing mood of popular revolt against austerity, social inequality and militarism in Europe was recorded in this years Generation What poll of young people in Europe. It found that more than half of European youth, and over 60 percent of French youth, would be willing to join a large-scale uprising against the political system. As it becomes ever clearer that Europe is entering into a pre-revolutionary situation, the ruling class leans ever more heavily on the army and the far right. In Germany, which launched in 2014 the re-militarization of its foreign policy and a major escalation of military spending, far-right academics and historians are campaigning to rehabilitate Hitler and the Nazis. After an extensive neo-Nazi network was discovered this spring in the German army, including officers posted in France, leading news magazine Der Spiegel published an article by military historian Sonke Nitzel calling for Nazi officers to again be held up as role models. In France, the army was assigned to domestic patrol duty after terror attacks in 2015, under a state of emergency that suspended basic democratic rights and ended judicial oversight of the security forces policing operations. The state of emergency was then used to justify a brutal crackdown on mass protests by youth and workers against a widely unpopular labour law that Macron now aims to use to impose deep cuts on workers pay and benefits. These are intended to fund the multibillion-euro increase in military spending that Macron is preparing. Macron sought to cultivate the military and police agencies, as well as the far right, as a political base for his reactionary policies. He offered a Republican salute to defeated neo-fascist presidential candidate Marine Le Pen on the night of his election. Now, as he pushes for defence spending cuts to maintain a balanced budget before the cuts against the workers go fully into effect, Macron is facing a revolt from officers who refuse any limitations on their prerogatives. While de Villiers has resigned his position, there is little reason to believeafter he issued a call for resistancethat this will resolve the conflicts that are erupting inside the French ruling elite. Not only are budget conflicts set to intensify, but de Villiers himself has broad support in far-right circles. His brother is Philippe de Villiers, the leader of a right-wing nationalist and anti-European Union (EU) party based in the Vendee region, the Rally for France (RPF), who indicated his sympathies for Marine Le Pen in the presidential elections this year. While Philippe de Villiers did not formally endorse Le Pen, Arise France (DLF) leader Nicolas Dupont-Aignan did. Le Pen and leading RPF and DLF officials all praised de Villiers after his resignation yesterday in official statements. Le Pen denounced Macron as arrogant, saying that his handling of the crisis with de Villiers illustrates the very serious excesses and the extremely worrying limitations of Mr. Macron, both in his attitudes and in his politics. For the second time in a week, anger erupted at a meeting called by Kensington and Chelsea Council and Londons Metropolitan Police. A meeting Tuesday was held almost five weeks to the day of the June 14 Grenfell fire, with around 150 people gathered at the Notting Hill Methodist church in North Kensington. The meeting was called by the Grenfell Response Team, established by the government and the local council following the fire. Noticeable by her absence was council leader Elizabeth Campbell, who was denounced by residents last week over the role of the council in creating a death trap of Grenfell Tower and its inhumane treatment of the survivors and local residents in the aftermath. Speaking on behalf of the Conservative-run council was Barry Quirk, the interim chief executive. There were no representatives from the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO)the arms-length organisation that ran Grenfell Tower on behalf of the council. Representing the Metropolitan Police was Detective Inspector Simon Fox, who is responsible for the recovery of bodies at the scene. Around a dozen uniformed police officers were dotted around the room creating an intimidating atmosphere. The attempt by the authorities to try to placate anger by putting some fresh faces onto the platform did not work. Local resident Jacqui Haynes said, Because of that, they can also get away by saying Oh that wasnt us, we werent there or We are looking into what we do now. What theyve done is take away the people who are responsible so they dont have to answer, and they just put in people who cant answer, because they werent there. Many shouted liars as the panel sought to justify their inaction and failure to bring anyone to account for the deaths of at least 80 people. Others shouted that the cabinet of Kensington and Chelsea Council and the police leading the criminal investigation should resign. The hostility directed at the platform was centred on condemnations of them as representatives of the ruling elite, who only cared about the interests of the rich. Grenfell Meeting A survivor, Mahad, said that residents of council housing estates in north Kensington, where Grenfell Tower is located, were not poor or uneducated... We are rich, rich in dignity. Pointing at the platform he said, You are dishonouring all of us, traumatising a whole community You have been put in a position of trust and you have let the people down. Opposing the long-term goal of the council to socially cleanse the area of working class residents, he said, We will look after our children and our future. Theres no way that you who work for the rich folks are going to push us out of our homes and our community. Another woman demanded to know why Campbell was not at the meeting, stating, I want to know where the leader of the council is... These bloody people suffer all their lives. They work for you lot to get your bloody wages Why isnt she here telling us whats happened? Seventeen year old Rihanna described how her eight-year-old nephew was greatly distressed at losing his teacher in the fire: Growing up in this community, I loved it. But this whole tragedy has made me see that we have no support from you... Its hard to watch people fall, jump, lose their families. Another resident described the Grenfell inferno as This disgusting thing that has happened to our children and our families. The TMO [Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation] is nowhere to be seen This isnt right. Its the TMOs fault and the TMO has to sit in the chair in front of all these people and answer the questions. They dont care about those lives. The governments going on holiday this week. Yeah, everythings finished. No it wont finish! Residents vented their anger at the fact that only a fraction of the 20 million raised by charities and fundraisers for the victims of the Grenfell fire had been distributed. A BBC report revealed that just 800,000 has been handed to those affected. The Red Cross donated 4.8 million to the London Emergency Trust, who are tasked with distributing the money. However, they have handed over only 158,000 so far to just 16 of the people affected. Residents spoke out against the callous indifference of the government and local authority to the survivors, who five weeks on have not been rehoused, despite a personal pledge by Prime Minister Theresa May. One audience member said to applause, When are you going to house them? We know there are people who are booked into hotels until September 1. When are you going to give them housing? From the first hours after the Grenfell fire, central and local government did nothing to assist devastated survivors who had lost family members and everything they owned. The local working class community were left to fend for themselves, with other residents nearby forced to step in to provide basic supplies and shelter for the victims. How wide the gulf is between the powers-that-be and residents was demonstrated when an audience member asked every person from the community who had volunteered to help after the fire to stand up. He said, speaking about the council, this is every single person who does your job, as around a third of the room stood up. The catalogue of crimes committed by the political elite and corporations that resulted in the Grenfell inferno, and which fuels the resentment of residents towards them, continues to grow by the day. On the day of the meeting, the government revealed that 243 buildings in 57 local authority areas that have cladding similar to that on Grenfell had failed combustibility tests. This represents a 100 percent failure rate. Of these, 235 are high-rise residential towers, a combined school/residential building, another school and six buildings at five National Health Service trusts. The day after the meeting it emerged that the cladding and insulation that Grenfell was encased in generated the same amount of heat as would burning 51 tonnes of pinewood. According to research carried out on the claddings plastic core by the University of Leeds, it would have burned as quickly as petrol. Planning documents seen by the university revealed that 18 tonnes of insulation foam and eight tonnes of cladding panels were attached to the tower. The uncoordinated and ad hoc removal of dangerous cladding from tower blocks is creating even greater dangers. In many cases, external cladding has been removed from high rises by local authorities only to leave highly combustible insulation exposed. In the city of Salford, combustible insulation has been left exposed for weeks on blocks that house more than 1,000 people. A fire safety expert, Arnold Tarling, told the Guardian that Pendleton Together Housingthe housing association who run the blocks on behalf of Labour-run Salford Councilhad exposed insulation on the exterior of a building. This is not safe because of the risk of the fire spreading over the surface. It doesnt comply with building regulations... They have guaranteed there is definitely a fire risk. In the wake of Tuesdays collapse of the Senate Republicans efforts to repeal Obamacare, President Donald Trump summoned GOP senators to the White House on Wednesday and demanded that they keep working to repeal and replace the 2010 health care overhaul. Trump contradicted Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who had announced Tuesday that he would hold a vote next week on a bill to repeal Obamas Affordable Care Act (ACA) devoid of a new plan to replace it. The bill would instead delay for two years implementation of the repeal while Congress worked to fashion a substitute plan. McConnell had called for the vote knowing he lacked the 50 Republican votes needed to pass the measure, with four GOP senators having declared they would not support it. He had proposed the clean repeal bill after two more Republicans announced Monday night that they would vote against the White House-backed repeal and replace legislation (Better Care Reconciliation Act), bringing to four the Republican opponents of that measure and dooming it. Following the lunch meeting with Trump, McConnell said he would proceed with a vote next week, without making clear whether the Senate would be voting on the repeal bill or the repeal and replace measure. Either option would represent a devastating and unprecedented attack on health care for tens of millions of people. According to the Congressional Budget Office, a simple repeal of the ACA would strip 32 million people of health coverage by 2026, while the Republican repeal and replace legislation would deprive 22 million over the next decade. The latter bill would impose $770 billion in spending cuts over 10 years to the federal-state Medicaid program, which currently covers some 70 million poor and elderly Americans, and impose spending caps, meaning Medicaid would cease to be an open-ended, guaranteed entitlement program. It would also sharply raise premiums and deductibles from the already outrageously high Obamacare levels and give the wealthy hundreds of billions in tax cuts. The Democratic Party response to Republican disarray over health care is to step up its campaign for negotiations with the Republicans to pass a bipartisan bill that would fix Obamacare to make it even more punitive for working people and more profitable for the giant insurance companies. The statements of leading Democratic politicians and the editorials and commentaries in newspapers generally aligned with the Democrats, such as the New York Times and the Washington Post, make clear that the overriding focus of the establishment opposition party is the defense of the capitalist market and the interests of the health care industry, not the health care needs of working people. On Tuesday, Democratic Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer held a press conference at which he spelled out his priorities. Denouncing the White House and congressional Republicans for continuing to deny the insurance markets the certainty they need, he said the GOP could start today working with the Democratsto stabilize the markets Schumer endorsed a proposal from Democratic senators Thomas Carper and Tim Kaine (Hillary Clintons vice presidential running mate in 2016) to create a permanent reinsurance program for the individual health insurance market. One of the key demands of the insurance industry, such a program would provide billions in taxpayer funds to reimburse private insurers for high costs linked to care for particularly sick policyholders. This call to stabilize the insurance markets has become the mantra of those factions of the political establishment and media calling for a bipartisan alternative to the Republican repeal and replace proposals. In none of the statements of leading Democrats or liberal newspapers can one find a call to expand medical coverage to the entire population, reject all proposals for cuts in already hopelessly inadequate benefits, or in any way rein in the profiteering and power of the insurance and pharmaceutical monopolies. Nor are there clear statements opposing in principle the termination of Medicaid as an entitlement programwhich everyone in the political and media establishment knows is the first step to dismantling and privatizing Medicare and Social Security. Wednesdays Washington Post carried an op-ed piece by Neera Tanden, president and chief executive officer of the Center for American Progress (CAP), and Topher Spiro, the organizations vice president of health policy. The CAP is a Democratic Party think tank, founded and chaired by John Podesta, White House chief of staff to President Bill Clinton, counselor to President Barack Obama, and chairman of the Hillary Clinton campaign in 2016. Headlined Time for the parties to work together, the column puts forward a proposed bipartisan plan tailored to the demands of the insurance industry. Our plan, the authors write, calls for the Senate to pass those portions of the [Republican] BRCA that would help stabilize insurance markets. They specifically call for a government guarantee of Obamacare subsidies to health insurers, federal funds to reinsure the firms, and government intervention to provide coverage in those areas deemed insufficiently profitable by the corporations. This approach is echoed in editorials published Wednesday by both the Times and the Post. The Times writes: Under the human approach, with a stronger health care system a shared goal, Republicans and Democrats could work together to fix the marketplace problems and restore confidence among insurance companies. The Post, under the headline Time for repair, not repeal, editorializes: The House and Senate Republican health care bills contained a variety of provisions that would have shored up existing individual health insurance markets. Those can be copied and pasted into a new, bipartisan bill. The Times also features an op-ed piece by Ohio Governor John Kasich, a leading Republican opponent of the White House health care bills and champion of negotiations with the Democrats to come up with a bipartisan compromise. Between 1983 and 2001, Kasich served nine terms as a right-wing budget-cutter and opponent of entitlement programs in the House of Representatives. He left to make a fortune as an investment banker with Lehman Brothers, a position that ended when the banks reckless and semi-criminal speculative activities led to its declaration of bankruptcy on September 15, 2008. The failure of Lehman was the event that triggered the global financial crisis and Great Recession. Kasich spells out more clearly the agenda that underlies the maneuvers of the Democrats and the euphemistic commentaries of the liberal press. He calls for shoring up the profits of the insurance companies first, and then moving to gut Medicaid: After two failed attempts at reform, the next step is clear: Congress should first focus on fixing the Obamacare exchanges before it takes on Medicaid. Once we see these repairs taking hold, Congress should then take up needed improvements to Medicaid as part of comprehensive entitlement reform. Under conditions of broad and explosive popular opposition to attacks on health carewith polls showing a derisory level of support for the Republican billsthe maneuvers between the Democratic Party and Republican dissidents amount to a conspiracy against the American people. The aim, in the name of defending health care, is to impose further cuts for the masses and increased subsidies for the corporate elite. The last thing the Democrats want is for the mass popular anger that exists to be mobilized in a struggle against the corporate plunderers who are consigning many thousands of people to untold suffering and an early grave. The declarations of Bernie Sanders and others that the evident failure of the Republican health care bills is a victory for the people should be rejected with contempt. Working people must be warned against any illusions that the Democrats can be pressured to defend their access to decent and affordable health care. The entire framework of the official debate on health care is reactionary. It is entirely premised on the subordination of the need for health care to the profit greed of the corporations and the functioning of the capitalist market. The bipartisan assault on health care is one more demonstration of the incompatibility of basic social and human needs with the capitalist profit system. One or the other must go! The right to quality health care for all can be secured only through the independent mobilization of the working class, by means of the class struggle, in opposition to the entire political establishment, including both of the major parties, and the capitalist system it defends. Decent health care is possible only on the basis of the expropriation of the insurance, pharmaceutical and hospital corporations and their transformation into public utilities democratically controlled by the working populationthat is, on a socialist basis. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced on Tuesday what he called the most significant reform of Australias national intelligence and domestic security arrangements in more than 40 years. His announcement, while obviously seeking to shore up his own position in the increasingly fractured Liberal-National Coalition, represents another major step toward creating a police-state apparatus. Turnbull said a new Home Affairs Ministry will take control over the key federal police and intelligence forces, as well as the immigration and border protection departments and agencies, bringing them under one minister for the first time in Australias history. A new US-style Office of National Intelligence, headed by a Director-General of National Intelligence, also will be created in the prime ministers office, expanding the Office of National Assessments. The announcement was the second security proclamation by Turnbull in as many days. On Monday, flanked by masked Special Forces commandos, he unveiled expedited powers for the federal government to call-out the military to deal with domestic violence. Turnbulls government and the corporate media have gone into overdrive to present these moves as responses to a supposed increased danger of terrorist attacks. The prime minister and his home affairs minister-designate, Immigration and Border Protection Minister Peter Dutton, yesterday blitzed the television and radio talk shows. But like every other measure imposed since 2001 under the fraudulent banner of the war on terror, these steps contain far broader powers to monitor and suppress social unrest and political dissent. The Home Affairs Ministry will bring together security agencies that have received unprecedented expansions in their resources and powers over the past 16 years. They include the main political spy agency, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Australian Border Force (ABF). Successive governments, both Liberal-National and Labor, have boosted these agencies on a bipartisan basis, creating an immense network of surveillance and repression, with vast powers. They can hack into computers, monitor all social media, detain and interrogate people without trial, and revoke visas and citizenships. ASIO has more than trebled in size. The AFP has added an entire para-military arm. The ABF, which works closely with the military, has become a heavily-armed force that repels refugee boats, detains people at airports and hunts down workers and students allegedly violating or overstaying their visas. The super ministry, supposedly modeled on Britains Home Office, will also take charge of the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC), the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre and the Office of Transport Security. ACIC was itself established last July as a super agency with national criminal intelligence, information-sharing and law enforcement support functions. ACIC has coercive powers to secretly interrogate people and compel them to answer questions. Other security agencies will also be strengthened. Turnbull also announced that he will appoint his Cyber Security Special Adviser as the head of a 24/7 Australian Cyber Security Centre to boost cyber security. The Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), the primary electronic eavesdropping agency that partners the US National Security Agency, will be upgraded into a statutory agency. The Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) will be authorised to monitor entire classes of Australian citizens overseas and supply targeting information to Australian military units, such as those in the US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Similar new powers will be handed to the ASD and the Australian Geo-spatial Intelligence Organisation (AGO), the military mapping agency. At a media conference, Turnbull insisted the changes were driven purely by his desire to keep Australians safe. He declared: It is not about politics. It is about safetyAustralians public safety. Anxious to head off public hostility toward the measures, he added: This is not a United States-style Department of Homeland Security. To provide a fig leaf of legal scrutiny over this giant apparatus, the attorney-general will continue to issue search and questioning warrants under the ASIO Act, and authorise special operations under the Intelligence Services Act. These provisos were apparently added to Turnbulls plan at the last minute in a bid to camouflage its authoritarian character. Turnbull said the restructure was a captains call. He overrode known opposition by senior ministers, including Attorney-General George Brandis, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, Defence Minister Marise Payne and Justice Minister Michael Keenan. Apart from objections to the diminishing of their own powers, there were concerns in the cabinet that the new structure would too openly smack of a police state. Some ex-security officials and media commentators, notably Greg Sheridan, the Australians foreign editor, expressed similar fears. Sheridan said the changes could affect public confidence in the security agencies. Other former security chiefs voiced concerns that the new ministry would be too bureaucratic and sprawling. The government has refused to release the report of an intelligence review conducted over the past year by former top Australian officials Michael LEstrange and Stephen Merchant, and Sir Iain Lobban, former director of Britains intelligence control centre, the Government Communications Headquarters. To release even a declassified version of that report would give a glimpse into the political and strategic calculations being made in ruling circles. The state apparatus is being bolstered to deal with social and political disaffection under conditions of intensifying austerity, inequality and war preparations. The document could also reveal pressure applied from Washington and London for a revamp as part of the global US-led Five Eyes surveillance network. Under media questioning, Turnbull said the review did not recommend the new super ministry. This only underscored his immediate motives in elevating Dutton, a key figure in the Coalitions conservative faction, as a security tsar to counter opposition from that faction and its former leader, Tony Abbott, whom Turnbull deposed as prime minister in September 2015. Abbott has called into question the super-ministry plan, claiming that the security agencies themselves advised against it when he mooted the scheme as prime minister. Opposition Labor leader Bill Shorten was quick to guarantee bipartisan support for the restructure, revealing that Turnbull briefed him before making the announcement. Shorten nevertheless called for the release of the security agencies advice on the plan and questioned Turnbulls obvious anxiety to cling to the prime ministers post by promoting Dutton. Ever since Turnbulls government narrowly survived last Julys double dissolution election it has been wracked by in-fighting, including public criticism by Abbott. It confronts deepening public antagonism. Many of its key budget measures to slash social spending remain stalled in the Senate because of fear of popular opposition. Around the world, under the banner of the war on terror, the ruling classes are strengthening the state apparatus to suppress the public disaffection produced by the ruthless drive for corporate profit and the growing danger of war. In Britain, troops have been deployed on the streets in recent months. In France, President Emmanuel Macon has continued a state of emergency that has been used to suppress protests over his regressive labour laws. This weeks security announcements are a clear warning that the Australian capitalist class and its political servants are moving in the same direction. Today marks six months since the inauguration of Donald Trump, bringing to power the most right-wing government in the history of the United States. On January 20, the day of Trumps inauguration, the World Socialist Web Site referred to it as an event that will live in infamy. With the election of Trump, we wrote, History has caught up with American capitalism. The protracted process of economic and social decay has been covered over for decades with democratic phrases that served to disguise the gap between the official political myths and the underlying reality. But the mask has now come off. Donald Trump personifies the corruption, ruthlessness, parasitism and essentially fascistic mindset of the capitalist oligarchs who control the United States. The past six months have provided ample confirmation of this prognosis. Trumps domestic policy has centered on ripping up whatever remains of the social programs initiated in the 1930s and 1960s, attacking immigrant workers and refugees, destroying public education, eliminating corporate and environmental regulations, and pushing for a massive tax cut for the rich. On foreign policy, Trump is intensifying militarist violence abroad, focused first on completing a campaign planned and initiated by President Obama to destroy the city of Mosul, killing thousands. The Trump administration has launched military strikes against Syria, dropped the largest nonnuclear weapon in the US arsenal on Afghanistan, and threatened countries throughout the world. This agenda is deeply unpopular. Trumps inauguration was greeted with mass protest demonstrations throughout the country and internationally. The actions of his administration since January 20 have deepened the broad-based hostility to Trump, who, according to the most recent polls, has achieved an unprecedented level of unpopularity within an extremely short period of time. However, six months after the inauguration, the popular opposition has not found any significant expression in the form of an organized mass left-wing movement centered on the critical issues of social inequality, attacks on democratic rights and the escalating military operations of the United States. This situation is due, above all, to the efforts of the Democratic Party and its allies to subvert and channel popular hostility to Trump behind the interests of the faction of the ruling class and the state that they represent. Let us review the record of the Democratic Party since the election of Trump on November 8, 2016. The initial response of the Democrats to Trumps victory was to pledge a peaceful transition. Obama insisted that elections are an intramural scrimmage, with both sides on the same team. Senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and other left Democrats pledged to work with Trump insofar as he carried out policies that benefited the working class. This provisobased on the absurd notion that a Trump administration could be pressured to carry out policies in the interest of workersserved no other purpose than to sow illusions and oppose action independent of the Democratic Party. This was followed by an effort to direct popular opposition to Trump behind an increasingly frenzied, pro-war and neo-McCarthyite campaign around what is considered within sections of the ruling class to be Trumps overly accommodating relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The opposition of the Democrats is centered not on Trumps right-wing, pro-corporate policies, or the grave danger his administration poses to basic democratic rights, but on concerns that Trump is subordinating the basic strategic imperatives of American imperialism to his own business interests. Whatever its criticisms of Trump, the Democratic Party and the various middle-class protest organizations that tail behind it are irreconcilably hostile to any attempt to organize the working class on an independent basis. The basic conclusion that must be drawn from this experience is that there can be no serious fight against the agenda of the Trump administration without a fight against the whole political establishment and the capitalist system upon which it is based. Separate from the political warfare in Washington, social anger is building up, which, when unleashed, will disrupt all the plans and schemes of the ruling elite and its political representatives. The destruction of health care, poverty-level wages, mass indebtedness, the dismantling of public education, the war on immigrant workers, escalating police violence and unending war have produced a wellspring of opposition among tens of millions of people. The working class must be armed with a program that addresses its needs. Not a single social or democratic right can be won without a frontal assault on the wealth of the ruling elite and its dictatorship over social and economic life. The unprecedented fortunes amassed by a criminal and parasitic ruling elite must be seized and used to resolve the desperate social crisis facing the vast majority of the population. The giant corporations and banks must be transformed into public utilities, under the democratic control of the working class. There is immense and growing popular opposition not only to the Trump administration, but to the capitalist system. There are many signs of increasing working-class militancy, and it is only a matter of timeand not much time at thatbefore class-based anger breaks through to the surface of social and political life. The critical challenge is to provide this emerging movement with a clear political program and perspective. This is a period in which the perspective of revolutionary socialism can and will win a mass audience. This is the perspective upon which the Socialist Equality Party and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality are fighting. We urge all of our readers to draw the conclusions that arise from six months of the Trump administration. Join the SEP and IYSSE. Make the decision to fight against war, inequality and dictatorship. Make the decision to fight for socialism. Minneapolis city officials released transcripts Wednesday of two 911 calls made by 40-year-old yoga instructor Justine Damond to report what she suspected to be a rape happening near her house shortly before she was killed by police officers outside her home. I can hear someone out the back and I, Im not sure if shes having sex or being raped, Damond told a dispatcher in the first call. And I think she just yelled out help, but its difficult, the sound has been going on for a while, but I think, I dont think shes enjoying it, Damond said. Damond placed a subsequent call with 911 concerned that no police officers had yet arrived to check out the disturbance. Two officers, Matthew Harrity and Mohammed Noor arrived shortly afterwards, pulling up in the alley behind the womans house with the lights of their squad car off. The attorney for Minneapolis police officer Matthew Harrity told reporters Wednesday that it was reasonable to assume the officers believed they were being ambushed when his partner, Mohamed Noor, shot Damond, also known as Justine Ruszczyk, through the drivers side door of their cruiser Saturday night. Its certainly reasonable to assume that any police officer would be concerned about a possible ambush under these circumstances, attorney Fred Bruno stated at a press conference on Wednesday. Harrity told investigators that as they reached the end of the alley he heard a loud noise nearby and immediately after Damond, who was unarmed and wearing her pajamas, approached the cruisers drivers side window. Noor, in the passenger seat, suddenly opened fire across Harrity, shooting Damond through the drivers side door. An autopsy determined that Damond, who died on the spot, was killed by a single gunshot to the abdomen. Her death has been ruled a homicide. While Minneapolis police officers are required to wear body cameras and all squad cars have dash cams, no video of the incident exists; the officers had not turned on their body cameras and the dash cam had also been turned off. Damonds killing has sparked outrage across the US and in her home country of Australia where her family has demanded an explanation of why she was killed. Approximately 300 people gathered at a vigil Wednesday morning in Sydney to mourn her death. Noor and Harrity have both been placed on paid administrative leave until the state investigation is concluded. After two deadlocked juries DA drops charges in killing of Samuel DuBose On Tuesday, Ohio prosecutor Joseph T. Deters of Hamilton County announced in a press conference that the county had decided to drop any further efforts to prosecute Raymond Tensing, a former University of Cincinnati police officer who killed Samuel DuBose at a traffic stop in 2015. The decision comes after two trials that ended with deadlocked juries. Tensing, who is white, was first charged with murder and voluntary manslaughter 10 days after stopping DuBose, a 43-year-old black man, on July 19, 2015. The officer had initially reported that he had been forced to shoot DuBose during the traffic stop because he was being dragged by the car and was nearly run over. On the day Tensing was arrested, however, his initial account was exposed as a lie. Body camera footage was released to the public showing that the officer had shoved his gun into the car window and yelled stop after he saw DuBose turning on the ignition in the middle of the stop, after which Tensing fired a single round into the mans head. It was only after the shot that the car lurched forward and came to a stop down the street as Tensing ran after it. Deters told reporters that his decision not to retry Tensing came after meeting with jurors in the case and being told that the officer would never be convicted because some jurors would never vote to convict a police officer. We had two jurors that simply would not find a police officer guilty, he said. Period. Deters initially decried the officers actions in 2015 and described the incident as a pretty chicken-crap stop. On Tuesday, he stated, I dont like it. My opinion of this case has not changed from two years ago tomorrow and its not going to change. Deters delivered the news to DuBoses family on Tuesday before the press conference and reported, Needless to say, theyre very upset with what the decision was. It was horrible. DuBoses sister spoke to reporters after the press conference and explained that she thought the decision would encourage police officers by sending a message that they will not face criminal penalties for killing people. She said that Tensing was judged by the jurors who didnt want to convict because they valued Tensings life more. It wasnt about evidence. Deters has referred the issue to the US Attorneys office for the Southern District of Ohio, which will allow federal authorities to explore the case for possible federal civil rights violations. Deters told reporters that the US Attorneys office called the county prosecutors office about the case and that his staff had already met with federal authorities to review the evidence. Such referrals are made by district attorneys in police violence cases knowing that prosecutions for civil rights violations are highly unlikely. The standards of evidence for bringing charges in federal civil rights cases are much higher than in state criminal cases. An investigation by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review found that between 1995 and 2015, under the administrations of former presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, federal prosecutors refused to bring charges against 96 percent of police officers accused of civil rights violations. This trend continues under the Trump administration. US Justice Department decides not to charge New Mexico police officers who killed James Boyd Federal prosecutors announced on Tuesday that they would not be filing civil rights charges against the two former Albuquerque police officers, Dominique Perez and Keith Sandy, who killed a mentally ill homeless man in 2014. A state District Court judge declared a mistrial in October last year after a jury could not reach a verdict on second-degree murder charges. James Boyd was a 38-year-old homeless man who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and was involved in a standoff with officers at his illegal campsite in a wealthy neighborhood in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains. Nineteen officers were involved in the standoff. Officer Sandy threw a flash grenade toward Boyd while another unleashed a police dog. Boyd, who appeared to be confused, pulled out two pocketknives and stood in place. Both Sandy and Perez fired fatal shots into him within five seconds. At the time of Boyds killing, the Albuquerque Police Department had already been under scrutiny by the Department of Justice for a pattern of using unnecessary force, including deadly force. A report was released by the department shortly after Boyds death, recommending that the local agency scale back its use of force. The District Attorney Raul Torrez of Bernalillo County had already announced in February that he would not retry the murder case. The US attorney for New Mexico, James D. Tierney, stated in a news release that there was not enough evidence to meet the high legal standard required to prosecute a civil rights case. The decision comes after it has been reported that the Trump administration has been asking the Justice Department to scale back investigations into allegations of civil rights violations involving local law enforcement agencies. The administration has also asked that the department stop pushing local agencies to reform use-of-force polices when it comes to police killings. The Justice Department has since called for the review of 14 such reformation decrees across the nation. The city police union in Albuquerque applauded the US Department of Justice for its decision. Union President Shaun Willoughby said, This is the end of a nightmare for these two officers. Boyds family has settled a complaint against the city for $5 million. TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) -- Many community members are speaking out about recess in elementary schools, and why it's so important to make sure that kids continue to have this time in the Sunshine State. "I fundamentally believe, after an hour and a half, it's just time to take a break," says Jane Marks, a family therapist. "And during that break, you're more likely to get, as I said before, a reset button. We're able to approach the task from a new angle. Sometimes we have more clarity, and I think the importance of recess for most young children is critical for personal growth and development." Last Friday, the Florida Department of Education told school superintendents that there's nothing in a new law that indicates where recess has to take place. This new law, which was passed earlier this year and goes into effect for the upcoming school year does say that elementary schools are required to have 100 minutes of "free play" every week in addition to the physical education they already receive. According to this law, free play must be safe, supervised, and unstructured. Whether recess is outside or inside due to weather, teachers appreciate the option. "There should be options to have recess indoors or outdoors, depending on the activity, depending on the weather," says Dr